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A Beautiful Life
(2011 -- China) Qi Shu, Ye Liu. A beautiful real-estate agent accidentally bumps into a straight-laced, lonely cop and a friendship is born -- despite the fact that she's having a tortuous affair with a married man. As the woman gradually abandons her materialistic values and falls in love with the good-hearted cop, it becomes apparent that he is suffering from a disease that is robbing him of his mental faculties. (China Lion/NewVideo).
The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
(2011) A treasure trove of 16mm material shot by Swedish journalists who came to the U.S. drawn by stories of urban unrest and revolution in the 1960s. Gaining access to many of the leaders of the Black Power Movement -- Stokely Carmichael, Bobby Seale, Angela Davis and Eldridge Cleaver among them -- the filmmakers captured them in intimate moments and remarkably unguarded interviews. Thirty years later, this lush collection was found languishing in the basement of Swedish Television. Director Goran Olsson and co-producer Danny Glover bring this footage to light in a mosaic of images, music and narration chronicling the evolution one of our nation's most indelible turning points, the Black Power Movement. $24.98. (IFC Films).
Branded to Kill
(1967) When Japanese New Wave bad boy Seijun Suzuki delivered this brutal, hilarious, and visually inspired masterpiece to the executives at his studio, he was promptly fired. "Branded to Kill" tells the ecstatically bent story of a yakuza assassin (Joe Shishido, the chipmunk-cheeked superstar from "Gate of Flesh") with a fetish for sniffing boiled rice who botches a job and ends up a target himself. This is Suzuki at his most extremethe flabbergasting pinnacle of his sixties pop-art aesthetic. New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition. Extras: Video piece featuring new interviews with Suzuki and assistant director Masami Kuzuu; interview with Suzuki from 1997; new interview with actor Joe Shishido; original theatrical trailer; booklet featuring an essay by critic and historian Tony Rayns, author of "Branded to Thrill: The Delirious Cinema of Suzuki Seijun," and a statement by the film's art director, Sukezo Kawahara. Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (The Criterion Collection).
Champions
(2011 -- China) Dicky Cheung, Miu Tse. Inspired by true events, the film tells the story of China's search for the martial artist to bring their national sport of Wushu to the world during the Olympics hosted in Beijing. Competing for the honor of demonstrating the sport of Wushu on behalf of China, millions of martial artists come together to show off their strength and skills. With a chance to represent their country's national sport at the Olympics, honor is on the line for two men ... and the road to the Games is paved with hardship and heartbreak, and their journey will test their strength, skill and spirit to its limits. Extras: Making-of featurette. (Lionsgate).
Circumstance
(2011 -- Iran) Nikohl Boosheri, Sarah Kazemy. A provocative coming of age story that cracks open the hidden world of Iranian youth. As culture wars and politics define the country, a wealthy Iranian family struggles to contain their personal lives as their children lead a group of friends in Tehran to rebel against the constant oppression. Atafeh and Shireen's lifelong friendship has turned sexual, and they dream of escaping to Dubai, while Atafeh's brother harbors a dangerous obsession. Extras: Commentary by cast and crew, behind-the scenes-featurette. (Lionsagte).
City of God BLU-RAY DEBUT
(2002 -- Brazil) Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen. (Lionsgate).
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
(2011) Andy Lau, Bingbing Li, Carina Lau, Tony Leung Ka-fai. Extras: "The Making of Detective Dee," "Creating the Characters," "Weapons, Stunts and Action," "The World of Dee," production stills gallery, behind-the-scenes stills gallery, poster gallery. Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (Indomina Releasing/Vivendi Entertainment).
Eames: The Architect and the Painter
(2011) Design history was born in a cavernous warehouse on a gritty street in Venice Beach, California, where Charles and Ray Eames set up their Renaissance-style studio in the optimistic flush of American victory during World War II. Jason Cohn and Bill Jersey's definitive cinematic foray into the world of the Eames is the first film to be made about Charles and Ray since their deaths -- and the only one that peers deeply inside the link between their artistic collaboration and sometimes tortured love for one another. Narrated by James Franco, the film brings to light a virgin cache of archival material, visually stunning films, love letters, photographs and artifacts produced in mind-boggling volume by Charles and Ray with their talented staff during the hypercreative 40-year epoch of the Eames Office. The work of Charles and Ray Eames remains an ideal of design at its most virtuous - an alchemical combination of beauty and purpose. Their light and whimsical designs became emblematic of a new West Coast lifestyle whose influence reached Europe, Asia, and beyond. Though the Eameses are best known for their ubiquitous furniture and the signature innovation of the classic Eames chair, this essential documentary shows Charles and Ray applying the same process of inquiry to architecture, exhibitions and their quirky, beautiful films. $29.95. Extras: Bonus scenes. (First Run Features).
Elusive Justice: The Search for Nazi War Criminals
(2011) Candice Bergen narrates this new documentary providing a definitive account of efforts -- official and unofficial -- to locate, prosecute and punish fugitive Nazis around the world. In the aftermath of the World War II, the Allies declared the Nazi party a criminal organization and pledged to prosecute and punish all those who took part in genocide and crimes against humanity. During the Nuremberg Trials, approximately 1,000 Nazi officials were convicted of crimes against humanity; but hundreds of thousands of suspected war criminals evaded prosecution -- by returning to the societies they’d helped destroy; by concealing their war records, by assuming false identities; by fleeing Europe; or by serving the Allies as spies and scientists. Thousands of Nazi criminals are presumed to be alive. Filmed in eight countries over the course of three years, "Elusive Justice" profiles the men and women who took matters into their own hands and succeeded in tracking down Nazi fugitives when official institutions failed. $24.99. (PBS Distribution).
Family Guy Volume 9
(2006=07) Three-disc set with 14 episodes. Extras: Uncensored footage, deleted scenes, side-by-side animatics, three featurettes, commentaries. (Fox).
Gunsmoke: Season Five, Volume Two
(1959-60) Three-disc set with 20 episodes, $42.99. (CBS Home Entertainment/Paramount).
Heavenly Creatures: The Uncut Version BLU-RAY DEBUT
(1994) Kate Winslet, Melanie Lynskey. (Lionsgate).
If You Are the One: Love and Marriage
(2010 - China) Honglei Sun, Yicong Wu. Picks up where director Feng Xiaogang's popular first romantic comedy ends: Wealthy middle-aged retiree Qin Fen and serious-minded young airline attendant Xiaoxiao enter into a trial marriage by living together full-time in a tropical villa, where they learn more about each other and what it takes to make romance blossom. (China Lion/NewVideo).
Kung Fu Panda 2
(2011) Voices of Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Oldman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Michelle Yeoh, Danny McBride, Jean-Claude Van Damme, James Hong, Seth Rogen. Available as an Awesome Double DVD pack and an Awesome Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy pack. Extras: "Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness" debut episode of Nickelodeon's new television series; "Kickin' It with the Cast" with the new faces who have joined Po's journey including Gary Oldman, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Victor Garber and Michelle Yeoh and catch up with the returning cast; deleted scenes; commentary; "World of DreamWorks Animation" promos and more; sneak peek at DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon Arena Spectacular; "Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters" all-new Po adventure; "Panda Stories"; "Kung Fu Shuffle" in which Master Shifu teaches the best way to find a hidden radish in an update of the classic shell game; "Ni Hao—Learn Chinese!": Choose from more than 50 Kung Fu Panda-inspired words and learn how to say and draw the symbol in Chinese; DVD-ROM: "Legend of the Wu Sisters Game" and printables coloring pages, connect the dots, 3D fortune tellers, stand-up 3D characters, pencil toppers and mazes; two free memberships -- each good for game play through April 2012 and valued at $5.95 each per month to the online virtual" Kung Fu Panda World." Blu-ray adds "Animation Inspiration" that follows Po and the Furious Five on their journey throughout China, with footage of real locations that served as inspiration for the film; "The Animators' Corner," which features interviews with creators, animators, cast and crew, along with storyboards, music and commentary; trivia track with pop up trivia, Po style. (DreamWorks).
The Life & Times of Tim: The Complete Second Season
(2010) Two-disc set with 10 episodes, $29.98. (HBO).
Meet Me in St. Louis BLU-RAY DEBUT
(1944) Dir.: Vincente Minnelli; Judy Garland, Margaret O'Brien, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Leon Ames, Tom Drake, Marjorie Main, June Lockhart, Hugh Marlowe, Chill Wills. Premium Blu-ray book packaging ($35.99) including more than 40 pages of photos, trivia and more. Extras: Introduction by Liza Minnelli; commentary by Garland biographer John Fricke with Margaret O'Brien, screenwriter Irving Brecher, songwriter Hugh Martin and daughter of producer Arthur Freed, Barbara Freed-Saltzman; "Meet Me in St. Louis: The Making of an American Classic" (Narrated by Roddy McDowall); "Hollywood: The Dream Factory" (Emmy-Award winning 1972 MGM-TV special, narrated by Dick Cavett); "Becoming Attractions: Judy Garland" (1996 TCM special); "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1966 TV pilot with Shelley Fabares and Celeste Holm); "Bubbles" (1930 Warner Bros. short featuring Judy Garland at age 7); "Skip to My Lou" (Rare 1941 musical short with "Meet Me in St. Louis" composers Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane); audio vault: "Boys and Girls Like You and Me" outtake (reconstruction using still photographs) and Lux Radio Theater Broadcast from December 2, 1946. (Warner).
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
(2011) James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton. Also available on Blu-ray Disc. Blu-ray Extras: Deleted scenes, "Pre-vis for the Future," "Capturing Caesar -- Script to Screen," "Studying the Genius of Andy Serkis," "Multi-Angle: Rocket Cookie Scene," "A New Generation of Apes," "Breaking Motion Capture Boundaries," "Breaking New Sound Barriers: The Music and Sound Design of Rise of the Planet of the Apes," "Ape Facts" (Chimpanzee, Gorilla, Orangutan), commentary by director Rupert Wyatt, commentary by writers Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, character Concept Art Gallery. (Fox).
The Rocketeer BLU-RAY DEBUT
(1991) Dir.: Joe Johnston; Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton. (Disney).
Sledge Hammer! The Complete Series
(1986) Five-disc set with all 41 episodes of the funny cult comedy about a clueless cop who always gets results. $34.98. (Image Entertainment).
Spin City: The Complete Sixth Season
(2001-02) Four-disc set with all 22 episodes from the show's last season, $29.98. (Shout! Factory).
Swamp People: Season Two
(2011) Four-disc set with 16 episodes, $24.95. Extras: Additional footage. (A&E).
Switched at Birth: Volume 1
(2011) Two-disc set with 10 episodes, $29.99. (Disney).
Tanner Hall
(2011) Rooney Mara, Georgia King, Amy Ferguson, Brie Larsen, Amy Sedaris, Chris Kattan, Tom Everett Scott. A provocative peek into the private, sometimes reckless, and always scandalous world of a privileged all-girls boarding school. Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (Anchor Bay).
Tokyo Drifter
(1966) In this jazzy gangster film, reformed killer Phoenix Tetsu's attempt to go straight is squashed when his former cohorts call him back to Tokyo to help battle a rival gang. This onslaught of stylized violence and trippy colors got director Seijun Suzuki in trouble with Nikkatsu studio heads, who were put off by his anything-goes, in-your-face aesthetic, equal parts Russ Meyer, Samuel Fuller and Nagisa Oshima. "Tokyo Drifter" is a delirious highlight of the brilliantly excessive Japanese cinema of the sixties. New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition. Extras: Video piece featuring new interviews with Suzuki and assistant director Masami Kuzuu; interview with Suzuki from 1997; original theatrical trailer; booklet featuring an essay by film critic Howard Hampton. Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (The Criterion Collection).
The Undying
(2009) Robin Weigert, Anthony Carrigan, Jay O. Sanders, Sybil Temtchine, Wes Studi. Seduced by the ghost of a Civil War soldier, whose spirit dwells in her new home, Dr. Barbara Haughton contrives to have him live again in the body of a man who died in her hospital, giving the doctor more than she bargained for. Extras: Commentary, photo gallery. (MTI Home Video).
Velvet Goldmine BLU-RAY DEBUT
(1998) Dir.: Todd Haynes; Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Toni Collette, Eddie Izzar, Christian Bale. (Lionsgate).
Vietnam in HD
(2011) Through a collection of color Vietnam footage never seen by the public from private collections, museums, the U.S. government, veterans and news organizations as well as sources from Vietnam, Vietnam veterans tell their stories and relive their struggles, courage and fears. This six-hour miniseries spans the massive initial troop build-up in 1965 to the fall of Saigon a decade later. $24.95. Also available on Blu-ray Disc, $34.95. (A&E).
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
The film is a new take on "The Planet of the Apes" franchise, acting as an origin story set in present day San Francisco where man's own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. Oscar-winning visual effects house WETA Digital --employing groundbreaking technologies developed for "Avatar"-- have created photo-realistic apes rather than costumed actors. James Franco stars as Will Rodman, a neuroscientist trying to develop a cure for Alzheimer's disease by testing on chimpanzees, giving them a human level of intelligence. After a test subject's baby, Caesar, is orphaned, Will decides to raise him at home on his own with his Alzheimer-stricken father (John Lithgow). What begins simply as a continuation of his experiment quickly turns into a problem for Will, as Caesar is taken away from him and forced to live in a primate facility. As Caesar's intelligence continues to grow, he begins to stake his claim as the leader of his new primate counterparts, which will ultimately lead to the rise of the planet of the apes.
Vitals: Director: Rupert Wyatt. Stars: James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton.
2011, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 110 min., Science Fiction, Box office gross: $175.306 million, Fox.
Fright Night
Remake of the 1985 gothic horror cult classic. Charley (Anton Yelchin) is a high school senior who's on top of the world -- he's running with the popular crowd and dating Amy (Imogen Poots), the most coveted girl in school. But trouble arrives when Jerry (Colin Farrell) moves in next door. He seems like a nice guy -- at first. But there's something not quite right, and no one else, including Charley's mom (Toni Collette) seems to notice. After his classmates start to mysteriously disappear without a trace, Charlie discovers that there is more to his new neighbor than meets the eye. Now he must do all he can to protect his mom and Amy from meeting the same fate as his schoolmates.
Vitals: Director: Craig Gillepsie. Stars: Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, Toni Collette, David Tennant, Imogen Poots, Christopher Mintz-Plasse.
2011, CC, MPAA rating: R, 106 min., Horror, Box office gross: $18.114 million, DreamWorks.
Kung Fu Panda 2
Po is now living his dream as The Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five. But Po's new life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. Po must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will he be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed.
Vitals: Director: Jennifer Yuh. Stars: Voices of Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Gary Oldman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Michelle Yeoh, Danny McBride, Jean-Claude Van Damme, James Hong, Seth Rogen.
2011, CC, MPAA rating: PG, 91 min., Animated Family, Box office gross: $165.230 million, DreamWorks.
Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
Action-packed, visually breathtaking Sherlock Holmes-style mystery choreographed by master Sammo Hung, set in an exquisitely realized steampunk version of ancient China. On the eve of her coronation as Empress (Carina Lau), China's most powerful woman is haunted by a chilling murder mystery: Two men in charge of building a gigantic monument to her have burst into flames, leaving behind only black ash and skeletal bones. Recognizing this threat to her power, she turns to the infamous Dee Renjie (Andy Lau), a man whose unparalleled wisdom is matched only by his martial arts skills. As he battles a series of bizarre dangers, he unveils a chilling truth that places his life, and the future of an entire dynasty, in peril. Vitals: Director: Tsui Hark. Stars: Andy Lau, Bingbing Li, Carina Lau, Tony Leung Ka-fai.
2011 -- Hong Kong, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 122 min., Action, Box office gross: $.459 million, Indomina Releasing.
Meet Me in St. Louis
(1944)
The Rocketeer
(1991)
(1966) (Criterion)
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December 12, 2011
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