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
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
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
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,
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.
- “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.
- “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.