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OnVideo's Weekly Guide to Home Video Releases
Adjust Your Tracking: The Untold Story of the VHS Collector
(2013) Documentary dispels the myth that the original home video format is dead and buried. Some see VHS as worthless plastic, but "Adjust Your Tracking" shows a vibrant world of collectors and movie fans who are keeping the format, and the movies, alive. Over 100 collectors, filmmakers, producers, and video store owners express how VHS changed their lives. Travel back to the days of video rental stores with those who still buy, sell, rent and trade the format that will not die. Two-disc Special Edition, $19.95. Formats: DVD. Extras: Commentary with co-directors Dan Kinem and Levi Peretic, commentary with producers Josh Schafer and Matt Desiderio, extended interviews with industry veterans including Lloyd Kaufman, behind-the-scenes documentary, three short films by the directors, deleted scenes, festival Q&A footage, trailers, Easter eggs. (VHShitfest).
Almost Human
(2014) Graham Skipper, Vanessa Leigh, Josh Ethier. A young man abducted by aliens returns two years later as something other than human, and goes on a grisly rampage of murder. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc. Extras: Commentaries, making-of featurette, behind-the-scenes featurette, theatrical trailer. (IFC Midnight/MPI Media).
Alpha Alert
(2013) Jennifer Morrison, Josh Stewart, James Frain, Stephen Rider. When a terrorist attack on Washington, D.C., leaves three war veterans suffering from PTSD trapped in an elevator together, the isolation and highly stressful situation brings previous wartime experiences to the surface. Formats: DVD, VOD, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). Extras: Interviews with director Matthew Thompson and actors Morrison, Stewart and Rider. (Lionsgate).
The Angela Mao Ying Collection
Six action-packed martial-arts films featuring martial-arts sensation Angela Mao Ying, the Queen of kung fu: "When Taekwondo Strikes "(1973), "The Tournament (1974)," "Stoner" (1974), "The Himalayan" (1976), "A Queen’s Ransom" (1976) and "Broken Oath" (1977). Formats: DVD. $34.93. (Shout! Factory).
Breaking Through
(2014) A documentary about people, pride and power that features several openly LGBT elected officials and their journeys from self-doubt to triumph. Featured officials include Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay U.S. Senator in history, Alex Wan, the first gay man to serve on the Atlanta City Council, and Kathy Webb, the first openly gay Arkansas State Representative. The documentary reveals their past struggles with poverty, bullying and religious expectations, in addition to their sexual orientation and gender identity. Formats: DVD, VOD. Extras: Extended director's cut, the festival cut, a music video and a featurette on the filmmaker's journey. (Breaking Glass Pictures).
DCI Banks: Season One
(2013) Based on the bestselling "Inspector Banks" novels by Peter Robinson, "DCI Banks: Season One" follows the tenacious Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks (Stephen Tompkinson) and his headstrong partner Annie Cabbott (Andrea Lowe) as they attempt to solve three gruesome crimes in the Yorkshire, England countryside. Formats: Two-disc DVD, $34.98. (BBC Home Entertainment).
Death in Paradise: Season One
(2011) Quintessentially British cop Richard Poole (Ben Miller) is a fish out of water when he is sent to the tiny Caribbean island of Saint-Marie to investigate a murder, but his new partner, DS Camille Bordey (Sara Martins) is instinctive, feisty, brilliant and beautiful, the rest of the Saint Marie police force certainly have their own unique way of doing things and -- though Poole would never admit it, they make a perfect team -- so perfect that his temporary assignment becomes permanent. Formats: Two-disc DVD set with eight episodes, $34.98. (BBC Home Entertainment).
Four of Hearts
(2013) Darrin Dewitt Henson, Nadine Ellis, Michelle Krusiec, Gabriel Olds, Victoria Gabrielle Platt. Stuck in a six-month sexual "dry spell," a young husband and wife decide to rekindle their love life by having a one-night stand with another couple. Formats: DVD. (One Village Entertainment).
The Good Witch's Gift
(2008 -- TV) Catherine Bell, Chris Potter. Third in the "Good Witch" Hallmark Channel Original Movie franchise. Nightingale (Bell) and sweetheart police chief Jake Russell (Potter)'s plans to wed on Christmas eve is disrupted when a mysterious man from Jake's past returns to town. Formats: DVD, Digital. (Cinedigm).
The Grand Budapest Hotel
(2014) Dir.: Wes Anderson; Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Jude Law, Harvey Keitel, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Lea Seydoux, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Owen Wilson. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, VOD, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). Extras: "Bill Murray Tours the Town"; "Kunstmuseum Zubrowka Lecture"; "The Society of the Crossed Keys"; "The Making of the Grand Budapest Hotel": "Part 1 - The Story," P"art 2 - The Society of the Crossed Keys," "Part 3 - Creating The Hotel," "Part 4 - Creating A World"; Mendl's secret recipe; promotional featurettes: "Cast" and "Wes Anderson"; stills gallery; theatrical trailer. (Fox).
Hearts and Minds
(1974) A startling and courageous film, Peter Davis's landmark 1974 documentary unflinchingly confronted the United States' involvement in Vietnam at the height of the foment that surrounded it. Using a wealth of sources -- from interviews to newsreels to footage of the conflict and the upheaval it occasioned on the home front -- Davis constructs a powerfully affecting picture of the disastrous effects of war. Explosive, persuasive, and wrenching, "Hearts and Minds" is an overwhelming emotional experience and the most important nonfiction film ever made about this devastating period in history. High-definition digital restoration, supervised by director Peter Davis and cinematographer Richard Pearce, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray.
Formats: Blu-ray/DVD Dual Format Edition. Extras: Commentary featuring Davis; a collection of over two hours of never-before-seen outtakes from the film, including interviews with presidential adviser George Ball, broadcast journalist David Brinkley, French journalist and historian Philippe Devillers, political activist Tony Russo, and General William Westmoreland; a booklet featuring essays by Davis, film critic Judith Crist, and historians Robert K. Brigham, George C. Herring, and Ngo Vinh Long. (The Criterion Collection).
House of Cards: The Complete Second Season
(2014) Four-disc set with 13 episodes. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc. Extras: Five featurettes: "Two Houses," "Table Read," "Direct Address," "Politics for Politics Sake" and "Line of Succession." (Sony).
Invasion of the Scream Queens
(1992) 20th anniversary special edition of the cult documentary that offers an inside look at what it takes to be a scream queen, with behind-the-scenes stories about the making of some of the most classic horror films of our time, including "The Hills Have Eyes," "I Spit on Your Grave," "Slumber Party Massacre," and many more. The film takes you back to a time when the term "Scream Queen" was brand new and promised the hottest actresses in the most outrageous low budget horror movies. Formats: DVD. Extras: New interview with director Donald Farmer; deleted/extended interviews; excerpt featuring Linnea Quigley from the out-of- print book that started it all, "Invasion of the Scream Queens." (Wild Eye Releasing).
James Thurber: The Life and Hard Times
(2000) The first major documentary on the life and work of one of America's greatest humorists. Known for his classic short story, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," Thurber was a legendary contributor of prose and cartoons to The New Yorker magazine where he worked for many years. Narrated by George Plimpton, this documentary includes interviews with Edward Albee, John Updike, Alistair Cooke, Roy Blount Jr., Fran Lebowitz and others. Formats: DVD. (First Run Features).
Jimmy P.
(2013) Benicio Del Toro, Mathieu Amalric, Gina McKee, Larry Pine. A Native American Veteran suffering from a series of psychological issues after WWII develops a deeply powerful friendship with his progressive French psychoanalyst as they discover and attempt to understand the source of his illness. Formats: DVD. (IFC Films).
Joy Ride 3: Road Kill
(2014) Ken Kirzinger, Kirsten Prout, Dean Armstrong, Jesse Hutch, Ben Hollingsworth. Rusty Nail, the vengeful trucker with a penchant for pain and a desire to punish injustice, is back for another deadly detour. The nightmare begins when a group of young street racers take a desolate shortcut on their way to the Road Rally 1000 where a chance encounter with Rusty soon turns deadly as he stalks, taunts, and tortures his next victims with deranged delight. Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, VOD, Digital. Extras: Pre-vis sequences, "Road Rage: The Blood, Sweat and Gears of Joy Ride 3," "Riding Shotgun With Declan O'Brien: Director's DIE-aries," "Finding Large Marge, commentary. (Fox).
Judex
(1963) This effortlessly cool crime caper, directed by Georges Franju ("Eyes Without a Face"), is a marvel of dexterous plotting and visual invention. Conceived as an homage to Louis Feuillade's 1916 cult silent serial of the same name, "Judex" kicks off with the mysterious kidnapping of a corrupt banker by a shadowy crime fighter (American magician Channing Pollock) and spins out into a thrillingly complex web of deceptions. Combining stylish sixties modernism with silent-cinema touches and even a few unexpected sci-fi accents, "Judex" is a delightful bit of pulp fiction and a testament to the art of illusion. New 2K digital film restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray.
Formats: Blu-ray/DVD Dual Format Edition. Extras: Interview from 2007 with the film's co-writer Jacques Champreux, the grandson of Louis Feuillade, co-creator of the silent serial "Judex"; interview from 2012 with actor Francine Berge; "Franju le visionnaire," a 50-minute program from 1998 on the director's career and imagination; a booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Geoffrey O'Brien, along with reprinted writings by and excerpted interviews with Franju. (The Criterion Collection).
The Lego Movie
(2014) Voices of Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, Will Ferrell, Alison Brie, Will Arnett, Morgan Freeman, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum. Formats: Two-disc DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo, Everything Is Awesome Edition (Blu-ray + DVD + UltraViolet Digital HD + Vitruvius minifigure + Collectible 3D Emmet photo + Bonus 3D movie), VOD, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). Extras: Feature commentary, "Batman: A True Artist," "Michelangelo and Lincoln: History Cops," "Enter the Ninjago," "Bringing LEGO to Life," "Everything Is Awesome" sing-along, "See it! Build it!," "Stories From the Story Team," "Fan-Made Films: Top Secret Submissions," outtakes, additional promotional content, alleyway test, deleted scenes. Everything is Awesome Edition adds "Dream Job: Meet the LEGO Builders." (Warner).
Masterpiece Mystery!: The Escape Artist
(2014) David Tennant stars as a defense lawyer with a perfect record of courtroom wins and a perfect family to go with it -- until things go horribly wrong. Co-starring in this legal
Meth Head
(2013) Lukas Haas, Blake Berris, Necar Zadegan, Wilson Cruz. Winner of 12 festival awards, this is a cautionary tale about extremes. Stuck in a dead end job and saddled with a family that doesn't understand him, Kyle Peoples (Lukas Haas) meets up with a new family of friends and fun to escape from his reality. But their love of crystal meth eventually costs Kyle everything -- his job, his lover, his family and his home. Kyle must choose: life or meth. Formats: DVD, Digital. (Randon Media/Cinedigm).
The Monkey's Paw
(2013) C.J.Thomason, Stephen Lang, Michelle Pierce, Corbin Bleu, Daniel Hugh Kelly. After Jake Tilto acquires a mystical "monkey's paw" talisman that grants its possessor three wishes, he
No Clue
(2013) Amy Smart, Brent Butt, David Koechner, Kirstin Prout. In a case of mistaken identity, a premiums salesman is hired as a private detective by a woman to find her missing brother; naturally he gets way in over his head and becomes tangled in a web of corruption, fraud and murder. Formats: DVD. Extras: Commentary with Brent Butt and director Carl Besssal, behind-the-scenes featurette. (Entertainment One).
Picnic at Hanging Rock
(1975) This sensual and striking chronicle of a disappearance and its aftermath put director Peter Weir on the map and helped usher in a new era of Australian cinema. Set at the turn of the 20th century, "Picnic at Hanging Rock" concerns a small group of students from an all-female college and a chaperone, who vanish while on a St. Valentine's Day outing. Less a mystery than a journey into the mystic, as well as an inquiry into issues of class and sexual repression in Australian society, Weir's gorgeous, disquieting film is a work of poetic horror whose secrets haunt viewers to this day. Remastered high-definition digital film transfer, supervised and approved by director Peter Weir, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray. Formats: Blu-ray/DVD Dual Format Edition. Extras: Extended interview with Weir; new piece on the making of the film, featuring interviews from 2003 with executive producer Patricia Lovell, producers Hal McElroy and Jim McElroy, and cast members; new introduction by film scholar David Thomson; "A Recollection ... Hanging Rock 1900" (1975), an on-set documentary hosted by Lovell and featuring interviews with
Power Rangers Megaforce: Ultra Defenders
(2013) Four episodes, $14.98. When menacing robots attack using a powerful weapon, the Megaforce team looks to the sixth Ranger, Robo Knight, along with Rico the Robot, to help fend off major destruction. Formats: DVD, VOD, Digital. (Lionsgate).
Regular Show: The Complete Third Season
(2011-12) Three-disc set with all 40 episodes of the award-winning and critically-acclaimed animated series that stars a blue jay named Mordecai and his best friend Rigby, a raccoon, who
Scott & Bailey: Season One
(2011) Gripping murder mysteries face two female detectives -- Detective Constable Rachel Bailey (Suranne Jones) and her partner Detective Constable Janet Scott (Lesley Sharp) -- one motherly, the other emotionally immature -- who have varying levels of success applying their eccentric outlooks on life to their police cases and private lives. The highest rated new drama in the UK for 2011. Formats: Two-disc DVD with six episodes, $34.98. (BBC Home Entertainment).
This is America, Charlie Brown
(1988) Snoopy and the Peanuts gang celebrate landmark events in U.S. history in this two-disc collection featuring eight re-mastered Peanuts TV specials that depict key historical American moments: "The Mayflower Voyagers," "The Birth of the Constitution," "The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk," "The NASA Space Station," "The Building of the Transcontinental Railroad," "The Great Inventors," "The Smithsonian and the Presidency," "The Music and Heroes of America." Formats: DVD, $26.99. (Warner).
Top Hat & Tales: Harold Ross and the Making of the New Yorker
(2001) chronicles the early years of The New Yorker, from its fledging beginnings under its legendary creator and editor Harold Ross, to its rise as an indispensable American institution. Interviews with celebrated writers and cartoonists such as John Updike, David Remnick, Roger Angell, Lee Lorenz, and Roz Chast reveal how The New Yorker's signature style and content was shaped by its early contributors, including E.B. White, James Thurber, Charles Addams, Janet Flanner, J. D. Salinger, and more. Film clips, home movies and images from the anthology of The New Yorker covers and cartoons illustrate this look at one of journalism's most revered publications. Formats: DVD. (First Run Features).
Walk of Shame
(2014) Elizabeth Banks, James Marsden. A reporter's dream of becoming a news anchor is compromised after a one-night stand leaves her stranded in downtown L.A. without a phone, car, ID or money -- and only eight hours to make it to the most important job interview of her life.
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray Disc, Digital, UltraViolet (cloud). (Universal).
Wilfred The Complete Third Season
(2013) 13 episodes.
Formats: DVD. (Fox)
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