Releases for the Week of January 28

From the Big Screen:

“Rush”, “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2,” “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” “The Fifth Estate” and “Last Vegas.” For more information on these and other releases this week, see the Weekly Guide to Home Video Releases.

Collectibles:

There’s a mixed bag of releases this week to add to your collection, highlighted by three Paramount films from the cusp of the 1960/1970s, when the studio system was being buried and a new generation of American filmmakers was overturning the apple cart; these three films represent photo for The April Fools old-style Hollywood filmmaking: In “The April Fools” (1969), starring Jack Lemmon, Catherine Deneuve, Peter Lawford, Jack Weston, Myrna Loy, Charles Boyer, Kenneth Mars, Melinda Dillon, Harvey Korman and Sally Kellerman, Howard Brubaker (Lemmon) is a newly promoted man trapped in a loveless marriage. Catherine’s (Deneuve) marriage would be ideal if her husband (who, unknown to Howard, is his boss) weren’t a womanizer. When Howard and Catherine meet at a trendy party for New York’s corporate elite, they decide to escape and explore the city instead. Soon the pair find themselves falling in love and deciding to run off to Paris. All they have to do now is tell their spouses … “Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?” (1971) follows Georgie Soloway (Dustin Hoffman), a hit love-song writer who ironically can’t love others, or himself. Although he’s rich, successful and seemingly on photo for top of the world, he spends his days dreaming of suicide and trying to track down a man named Harry Kellerman, who has been spreading outrageous lies about him. Co-stars Barbara Harris and Jack Warden … In “The War Between Men and Women” (1972), starring Jack Lemmon, Barbara Harris, Jason Robards and Herb Edelman, Peter (Lemmon), a near-sighted cartoonist, abhors women, children and dogs but falls for Theresa (Barbara Harris), a divorcee who comes bag and baggage with all three. Peter and Theresa couldn’t be more wrong for one another, but Cupid has a sense of humor and soon the pair finds themselves dangerously close to living happily ever after … if they can overcome flirtatious ex-husbands, clashing lifestyles and Peter’s potential blindness. Features live-action and animated sequences based on the artwork of James Thurber.

With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, Warner has put together the “Nicholas Sparks Limited Edition DVD Collection,” a boxed set with the seven films based on Sparks’ novels: “Safe Haven,” “The Lucky One,” “Dear John,” “Nights in Rodanthe,” “A Walk to Remember,” “Message in a Bottle” and “The Notebook.” Sparks is one of the world’s best-selling authors and romantic photo for Nicholas Sparks Limited Edition DVD Collection storytellers: all 17 of his novels have been New York Times bestsellers, have been published in more than 50 languages, and have sold more than 90 million copies worldwide (including more than 60 million copies in the U.S.). This is the first time these films have been together in one collection. On DVD only for $69.97. Extras include a special postcard set with images from each film and a letter from Sparks as well as all the extras on the original DVD releases.

And, closing out January from The Criterion Collection comes a Blu-ray/DVD Combo of “The Long Day Closes” (1992), a glorious cinematic expression from the unique sensibility of Terence Davies (“Distant Voices, Still Lives”; “The Deep Blue Sea”). Bursting with enchantment and melancholy, this autobiographical film takes on the perspective of a quiet boy growing up lonely in Liverpool in the 1950s. But rather than employ a straightforward narrative, Davies jumps in and out of time, swoops into fantasies and fears, summons memories and dreams. A singular filmic tapestry, “The Long Day Closes” is an evocative, movie- and music-besotted portrait of the artist as a young man. In a new, high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack on the Blu-ray. Extras include commentary by Davies and director of photography Michael Coulter; an episode from 1992 of the British television series “The South Bank Show” with Davies, featuring on-set footage from “The Long Day Closes” and interviews with cast and crew; new interviews with executive producer Colin MacCabe and production designer Christopher Hobbs; the trailer; and a booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Koresky.

From TV to DVD:

“The Agatha Christie Hour: Complete Collection” contains 10 tales of intrigue and romance from renowned mystery writer Agatha Christie: “The Case of the Middle-Aged Wife”; “In a Glass Darkly”; “The Girl in the Train”; “The Fourth Man”; “The Case of the Discontented Soldier”; “Magnolia Blossom”; “The Mystery of the Blue Jar”; “The Red Signal”; “Jane in Search of a Job”; “The Manhood of Edward Robinson.” Four-disc set, $59.99 from Acorn Media … “Agatha photo for Downton Abbey Season 4 Christie’s The Queen Of Crime Collection” includes three feature-length Agatha Christie mysteries: “Sparkling Cyanide” (2003 adaptation starring Pauline Collins and Susan Hampshire), “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?” (1980 adaptation starring Francesca Annis) and “Seven Dials Mystery” (1981 adaptation starring John Gielgud). Three-disc set, $49.99 from Acorn Media) … “Bonnie & Clyde” (2013), starring Emile Hirsch, Holliday Grainger, Sarah Hyland, Elizabeth Reaser, Holly Hunter and William Hurt, is a miniseries retelling of the legend of Depression-era gangsters Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, broadcast simultaneously on History, Lifetime and A&E. On DVD and Blu-ray from Sony … “Downton Abbey Season 4” is a three-disc DVD, $49.99; three-disc Blu-ray, $54.99 of the fourth season, which airs on PBS until Feb. 23. From PBS Distribution … Beginning in 2008 and culminating at Mardi Gras 2009, the five episodes of “Treme: The Complete Fourth Season” (2013) (the last season) revisit the musicians, chefs, Mardi Gras Indians and other familiar New Orleanians who continue to rebuild their lives, their homes and their culture in the aftermath photo for Treme: The Complete Fourth Season of Katrina. On DVD, $39.98; Blu-ray Disc, $49.99; from HBO … “Treme: The Complete Series BLU-RAY” (2010-13) features all 36 episodes from all four seasons, plus all of the extra features from each individual release that highlight the music, food and culture of the show. Also included is a bonus disc that offers more than a dozen music videos from the series. $134.99 from HBO … “Vera, Set 3” (2013) is the third series of the acclaimed British mystery series, based on the award-winning novels by Ann Cleeves. Brenda Blethyn stars as cantankerous but brilliant detective DCI Vera Stanhop who solves unthinkable crimes in four new feature-length mysteries. Four disc set with “Castles in the Air,” “Poster Child,” “Young Gods” and “Prodigal Son”, $59.99 from Acorn Media.

Buzzin’ the ‘B’s:

While on their honeymoon in Morocco, Scott and Taylor Dolan set off on a day trip through the Sahara and get involved in a deadly car accident in the middle of the desert in “Collision” (2013), starring Frank Grillo, Jaimie Alexander, Charlie Bewley. The couple finds themselves stranded in the middle of the remote desert with no way home and soon lies and betrayals are revealed, as well a shocking discovery: nothing happens by chance. On DVD and Blu-ray from Lionsgate … In “Concussion” (2013), starring Robin Weigert, Maggie Siff, photo for Collision Johnathan Tchaikovsky, Janel Moloney and Ben Shankmen, a middle-class wife and mother with a growing feeling of discontent suffers a concussion that unleashes her latent sexuality that sends her on an erotic journey to take on an alter ego, Eleanor, acquire a pied-a-terre in Manhattan and work as a high-class escort while keeping her sordid new career a carefully guarded secret from her unsuspecting family. From RADiUS-TWC/Anchor Bay … In “Antisocial” (2013), a New Year celebration between a small group of friends turn into a vicious fight for survival when a mysterious viral outbreak forces them to stay indoors — and their only link to the outside world is their phones, laptops, and other tech devices. Stars Michelle Mylett, Cody Ray Thompson, Adam Christie, Ana Alic, Romaine Waite and Ry Barrett. From Breaking Glass Pictures/Monster Pictures/Vicious Circle Films … As if “Sharknado” (in which thousands of sharks terrorize Los Angeles when it’s hit by a freak hurricane) wasn’t enough to bogle the mind, we now get “Stonados” (2013): When a tornado appears in the waters south of Boston, former storm chaser Joe Randall is intrigued by the unusual weather. But as twisters begin to strike across the Boston shoreline, Joe quickly realizes this is no ordinary storm photo for The Beast of Hollow Mountain/The Neanderthal Man Double feature front: the storms are hurling large stones all over the Eastern seaboard. Stars Paul Johansson, Sebastian Spence and Miranda Frigon. From ARC Entertainment … After a mysterious and bloody massacre in her isolated country house leaves her parents and younger brother dead, no one believes 11-year-old Neve that an evil force within the house caused the deaths … until whatever killed her family follows her to her new home in “Dark Touch” (2013), starring Missy Keating, Marcella Plunkett, Padraic Delaney and Charlotte Flyvholm. From IFC Films … “Argento’s Dracula” (2012) is horror maestro Dario Argento’s luridly violent and erotic take on the Dracula legend, starring Thomas Kretschmann, Marta Gastini, Asia Argento, Rutger Hauer and Unax Ugalde. On DVD, 3D Blu-ray/Blu-ray Combo from IFC Films … “The Beast of Hollow Mountain/The Neanderthal Man Double Feature” is a double dose of 50s high-camp: “The Beast of Hollow Mountain” (1956): Guy Madison, Patricia Medina. An American cowboy living in Mexico discovers his cattle is being eaten by a giant prehistoric dinosaur. “The Neanderthal Man” (1953): Robert Shayne, Richard Crane, Doris Merrick, Joyce Terry, Beverly Garland. A mad scientist uses his new serum on his housekeeper, turning her into an ape-woman. Like most crazed scientists, he then tries the serum on himself, creating … The Neanderthal Man. In a two-disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo from Scream Factory/Shout! Factory.

On the Indie Front:

In “I Used to Be Darker” (2013), starring Deragh Campbell, Hannah Gross, Ned Oldham, Kim Taylor, Nicholas Petr and Geoff Grace, a Northern Irish runaway finds herself in trouble in Ocean City and she seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore. But they have problems of their own: they’re trying to handle the end of their marriage gracefully for the sake of their daughter, just home from her first year of college. In the days that follow, the family struggles to let go of the past while searching for new things to hold onto. From Strand Releasing … In “A Perfect Man” (2013), starring Liev Schreiber and Jeanne Tripplehorn, a womanizer, caught cheating by his wife, inadvertently falls back in love with her over the phone when she pretends to be another woman. From IFC Films.

Special Interest:

  • “The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross”: (2013) Written and presented by Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., director of W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University, this six-hour series explores the evolution of African-Americans, as well as the multiplicity of cultural institutions, political strategies, and religious and social perspectives they developed — forging their own history, culture and society against unimaginable odds. $34.99 from PBS Distribution.photo for African-American Leaders: Past & Present
  • “African-American Leaders: Past & Present”: (2013) Five telefilms that tell the stories of five influential African-Americans. The in-depth profiles of Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Thurgood Marshall and Barack Obama delve into their lives, the experiences that shaped them and the impact they’ve had on history. Two-disc DVD, $14.98 from Lionsgate.
  • “The Booker” (2013) Steve Scarborough doesn’t like what’s happened to professional wrestling — its metamorphosis from theater for the masses with easily recognizable “good” and “bad” characters, moral lessons about right and wrong to a reliance on shock tactics and fake fighting — so he’s set about to change it, one match at a time. This documentary chronicles the triumphs and tragedies of Scarborough’s singular journey, as he takes his Platinum Championship Wrestling from idea to reality. Shot over the course of four years, “The Booker” follows Scarborough’s monumental efforts to take his burgeoning wrestling school from the back room of a theater space with four students to a full-fledged wrestling show at a 2,500 seat arena. From IndiePix Films.photo for Forward 13: Waking Up the American Dream
  • “Forward 13: Waking Up the American Dream”: (2013) The foreclosure crisis made personal. Caught in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, director Patrick Lovell, one of 10 million people who lost their homes, finds himself asking why he and so many Americans were blindsided by the economy’s implosion. How could his pursuit of the American Dream — starting a business, providing for his new family, and owning a home — drive him to financial ruin? Coinciding with the exponential growth of the Occupy Wall Street movement, Lovell embarks on a cross-country journey to discover what happened to the America originally founded to be free from tyranny. Conversations with a broad spectrum of energy and political academics, OWS protestors, professional developers, real estate agents, and attorneys all lead to the same conclusion: the system is broken. From Cinema Libre Studio.
  • “It’s Better to Jump”: (2013) The city of Akka, on the coast of Israel, has protected its citizens for centuries with a massive sea wall. However, economic and social changes are pressuring generations of Palestinians to leave. This documentary captures the spirit of Akka’s Arab residents and their continuing tradition of leaping into the sea from the wall as an expression of self-determination. From Cinema Libre Studio.
  • “Somali Pirate Takedown: The Real Story”: (2009) The real story behind the Somali Pirate capture of the Maersk Alabama, including never-before-seen footage, interviews with members of the crew, new footage of the pirates, the Navy’s maneuvers — and the kill shots that saved the life of Captain Richard Phillips. From the Discovery Channel. $14.93 from Cinedigm.

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