That Time of The Week – DVD & Blu-ray Reviews From Us to You…

Well, here we are again…

This time, we’ve got an abundance of titles from all areas of entertainment; from tv series to documentaries, to award winning feature films to cult classics.

Now that you’ve seen Captain America: Civil War and the tv season is winding down, there’s plenty of time to check out the new titles within.

Fire up those queues and clear out that shopping cart…it’s That Time of The Week!

 

Joy

Joy is the wild story of a family across four generations, and centers on the girl who becomes the woman who founds a business dynasty and becomes a matriarch in her own right. Betrayal, treachery, the loss of innocence and the scars of love pave the road in this intense emotional and human comedy about becoming a true boss of family and enterprise facing a world of unforgiving commerce. Allies become adversaries and adversaries become allies, both inside and outside the family, as Joy’s inner life and fierce imagination carry her through the storm she faces.

Oscar Winner Jennifer Lawrence stars with fellow Oscar Winner Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Edgar Ramirez, Isabella Rossellini, Diane Ladd, Virginia Madsen, Elisabeth Rohm and Dascha Polanco. Like David O. Russell’s previous films, Joy defies genre to tell a story of family, loyalty, and love. Extras include featurettes, interview with David O. Russell & Jennifer Lawrence and gallery.

Last Word: I have a sort of unconditional love for director David O. Russell, so it’s hard for me to admit that this film wasn’t my favorite. While all the usual suspects (Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, to name a few) perform with excellent timing and deprecating humor, I felt the story was diminished by the fact that the typically fluid, fun yet exciting nature we’ve come to love in Russell’s films, was over-exaggerated, a bit contrived, and pretty slow.

Now, the story of Joy is actually fun and interesting. It’s a true story about a woman who single-handedly creates a corporation from her invention of the self-wringing mop—this after taking care of her broken-hearted soap-opera obsessed mother, dealing with her ex-husband, who awkwardly lives in her basement, and juggling her father’s move in/move out situations depending on whether or not he has a girlfriend.

Joy is thwarted at every turn not only by familial dysfunction, but bad luck, and irrational circumstances that render her helpless. Her mop invention is incredibly fitting here, as she is so often the rag (of her family) that is used to clean up mess after mess without any consideration for her wants, needs, or happiness.

There was a lot of great content to be used, but the presentation was executed in an almost cocky and disingenuous way—I don’t think it was totally intentional, at least I hope not. But the mood was just too inconsistent. And maybe the purpose of the unsteady aspect was to mirror the characters’ discombobulated lifestyles, but I’d say that’s a pretty far-fetched notion and, regardless, it didn’t work. The unfortunately inauthentic quality of Joy began during the opening scene with a kitschy voice-over. That wise-old-grandmother gimmicky storytelling feature instantly gave the film a child-like satirical air. Not only was it unnecessary, it was out of place considering the grandmother was in the film a minuscule amount. Other pitfalls include pace, odd nightmare-dream sequences, and simply unrealistic character traits.

Flashbacks and expository recaps of Silver Linings Playbook as well as American Hustle, are fluid and relevant, the same just cannot be said about Joy. The first hour is an assembly of disjointed scenes that reflect past and present slights and slims of Joy’s childhood, but they don’t add anything to the film, but instead elongate the already two-plus-hour running time. The story of Joy’s movement forward is far more interesting than her past. We don’t need nightmares of stress—Jennifer Lawrence does a perfect job presenting that stress in her facial expressions, no more is necessary.

Here I will say that David O. Russell indeed knows how to direct his actors, regardless of the pitfalls of this film, the director knows how to make a film look great. His consistent extreme close-ups and over-the-shoulder point of view shots accompanied by an amazing soundtrack, equally inspire sympathy and pump up the audience respectively. The presentation of the claustrophobic house in which Joy’s dysfunctional family resides is done with the same delight as the overbearing environment of Silver Linings Playbook, but many scenes that start off strong, end up goofy instead of genuine. Don’t get me wrong, I was entertained throughout, but those funny scenes, either ones of depressive humor, witty dialogue, or empowering success, weren’t enough to merit this film a success.

During the brief shining scenes, that most often include Bradley Cooper (I say that trying my hardest not to be biased), or Jennifer Lawrence solo (without interaction with other characters), the film sparkles. The soundtrack picks up, the mood lifts, and just as you’re ready to change your opinion of the movie, the rhythm shifts right back to another slow moving set of circumstances that are just disappointing. Joy isn’t a bad movie. It’s just very much not David O. Russell’s finest. I’m guessing there will be other movies that might be more worthwhile seeing on Christmas Day, but if you love Russell’s familiar cast and the humor that they offer, grab a morning mimosa and enjoy it. Emphasis on the mimosa. (– Caitlyn Thompson)

 

Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon

From the 1970s thru the 1990s, there was no hipper, no more outrageous comedy in print than The National Lampoon, the groundbreaking humor magazine that pushed the limits of taste and acceptability – and then pushed them even harder.

Parodying everything from politics, religion, entertainment and the whole of American lifestyle, the Lampoon eventually went on to branch into successful radio shows, record albums, live stage revues and movies, including Animal House and National Lampoon’s Vacation, launching dozens of huge careers on the way.

Director Douglas Tirola’s documentary Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon – tells the story of its rise and fall through fresh, candid interviews with its key staff, and illustrated with hundreds of outrageous images from the mag itself (along with never-seen interview footage from the magazine’s prime).

The film gives fans of the Lampoon a unique inside look at what made the magazine tick, its key players, and why it was so outrageously successful: a magazine that dared to think what no one was thinking, but wished they had.  Extras include featurettes, and additional interview footage.

Last Word: One of the main criticisms of political correctness is that it insists that the offended be allowed to dictate the intention and extent of his or her perceived injury.  It works under the supposition that all insult emerges from ignorance;  that the offending party was unintelligent or unsophisticated;  and that re-education be implemented once proper apologies have been made.

The founders of National Lampoon, Douglas Clark Kenny and Henry Beard, were Harvard kids who, within two years of graduating, published Bored Of The Rings, a stinging parody of J.R.R. Tolkien that sold 750,000 copies.

They were smart guys who really liked make people laugh, and who didn’t give a fuck who it bothered.  What set them apart from mere class clowns was their bracing, encompassing intellect and their view that satire was an innately hostile act.

Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon describes how Kenney and Beard created a magazine whose raison d’être was to dispassionately observe how much bad taste a joke could bear before collapsing.  Reverberating with arrogance and superiority, the brilliant staff at National Lampoon (Kenney, Beard, Anne Beatts, Michael O’Donoghue, Chris Miller, PJ O’Rourke, Michael Gross) savaged both The Vietnam War and the anti-war movement.  They ran meticulously detailed Volkswagen ads built around Ted Kennedy’s Chappaquiddick disaster (“If Ted Kennedy drove a Volkswagen, he’d be president, today!” read the copy beneath the photo of a buoyant Bug.)

They were geniuses who were out to make people laugh or piss people off.  Whichever side you were on was up to you. The largely Catholic or WASP writers at National Lampoon looked to the brilliant Lenny Bruce’s smartass Jewish outsider’s perspective (particularly his bits like “How To Relax And Colored Friends At Parties” and “Let Me Explain Jewish and Goyish To You”) and scrupulously removed any sense of social righteousness.  Bruce’s barbed underdog commentary was replaced by an equally revolutionary parody/evocation of a drunk millionaire complaining about the help at a cocktail party.  The writers at Lampoon, at the outset of the anti-comedy tradition, inhabited outrageous humor and never broke character.

The film consists of plenty of interviews, all of which are entertaining.  Surprises include a humble and visibly melancholy Chevy Chase discussing the talents of Kenney and his own arch-rival, John Belushi. Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon will be of interest to two possibly-overlapping groups of people:  big fans of ‘underground comedy’ of the 1970s; and people who think that any subject is fair game for satire. Figure out which group you’re in and give it a look. (– Guy Benoit)

 

Dr. Kildare: The Complete Fifth Season

Dr. Kildare‘s swansong fifth season carried with it some significant changes to the show’s format. No longer a once-weekly one hour drama, Dr. Kildare was now a twice-weekly half hour serial with storylines stretching over multiple parts and, perhaps even more excitingly, James Kildare M.D. (Richard Chamberlain) and Dr. Leonard Gillespie (Raymond Massey) were now being broadcast in color.

This 7-Disc, 58-Episode Collection starts out on a high note as James Mason guests as a damaged doc whose psyche Kildare must battle to save. Then it’s time for Kildare take up his first teaching assignment, shortly before the hospital gets a new-state-of-the-art kidney machine. But which patients will be chosen?

Notable guests include Dean Stockwell, Cloris Leachman, Fred Astaire, Audrey Totter, Kim Hunter, Darren McGavin, Basil Rathbone, James Earl Jones, Ricardo Montalban, Martin Balsam, William Shatner, John Saxon, James Mason, Naomi Stevens, Tony Bill, Sam Waterston, Sorrell Booke, Robert Reed, Leslie Nielsen, Victor French, Norman Fell, Kathy Garver, Harry Morgan, Ricardo Montalban, Lesley Ann Warren, Alan Reed, Jack Nicholson, Murray Hamilton and George Kennedy.

 

The New Adventures of Gilligan: The Complete Series

Less than a decade after its three season stint on television, Gilligan’s Island reigned supreme as a smash syndication success story. Picking up new fans each and every year, with scores of them being the after-school crowd, a revival via animation was a Gilligan-apropos no-brainer (sorry, little buddy!).

And said revival comes with nearly a full complement of original castaways!

Thanks to the returning talents of Bob Denver (Gilligan), Alan Hale, Jr. (the Skipper), Jim Backus (Thurston Howell III), Natalie Schafer (Mrs. Howell) and Russell Johnson (Professor), we don’t miss a beat as Jane Webb joins the ensemble to voice both Mary Ann and Ginger.

Along the way, Gilligan picks up a hirsute sidekick, Snubby the monkey, but the way-out mix of comedy, shtick, silliness and sentiment that made Gilligan’s Island a perpetual favorite remains the same for this Saturday morning incarnation.

Episodes include:

• Off Limits: Mr. Howell tricks the other castaways (except the Professor) into building him a private beach club with the promise of membership, but upon completion he decides that they are not qualified to join. He and Lovey soon grow bored by themselves, and when a typhoon destroys their club, they are forced to reevaluate their snobbery.
• Looney Moon: Gilligan and the Skipper discover a pirate’s treasure chest, and the other castaways all fight over the gold inside. They soon come to believe a Pirate ghost is after them, and become paranoid. The Professor uses Gilligan and some glowing paint to trick them and bring them back to their senses.
• Raven Mad: The Castaways begin to notice that many of their personal possessions are missing, and start accusing one another of being the thief, unaware that the actual culprit is a raven.
  Father of His Island: The castaways decide that life on the island is too chaotic, and that better leadership is needed. After a long series of arguments and an election, they end up with Gilligan as president.
• Wrong Way Robot/ Yeah, Would You Want Your Sister to Marry One?: A geological sampling robot, launched from Cape Kennedy, and meant to explore other planets ends up crashing on the island. With the Professor busy on the other side of the island, the other castaways become convinced that the robot is an alien, and soon let their prejudices about the “alien” and each other cause havoc. When the Professor returns and explains things to them, they realize that the robot could end up saving them, and that they’d been bigoted toward it the whole time.
• Opening Night: Ginger feels her acting career is over, because she has been trapped on the island for so long. The other castaways decide to pretend they are filming a TV special to raise her spirits, unaware that the fake camera Gilligan builds is actually transmitting signals to a nearby aircraft carrier.
• Lollipop Casserole: The Castaways, feeling lazy, force all their chores upon Gilligan, but when they eat the dessert he prepares for them after dinner (using strange beans he found on the other side of the island), they all revert to a childlike mentality, leaving Gilligan stumped as to how to change them back.
• The Loners: The Castaways are all craving some solitude, and they each decide to live on their own, leaving Gilligan confused and alone at the compound, with only various animals for company. Things get more complicated when Gilligan digs up an old hot air balloon…
• The Ego Trip / Kon-Tacky: Famous explorer Lars Hyerback arrives on the island, and finds the castaways, and they believe rescue is at hand, but unfortunately Lars is such an egotistical scatterbrain that he can’t remember where his boat is. Meanwhile, the Professor’s seismic equipment falsely indicates an incoming disaster, adding to the chaos.
• The Olympiad: The Professor determines that the island will sink in 25,000 years, but the rest of the castaways mistake the disaster as being imminent. The Skipper builds a raft, and they hold an athletic contest to determine who will command the vessel.
• Their Own Image: The Skipper misunderstands a conversation, and believes Mary Ann is in love with Gilligan, so he sets about to turn Gilligan into a real man. This eventually leads to Gilligan accidentally saving the Howells lives, and they then adopt Gilligan as their son. Mr. Howell then proceeds to try to turn Gilligan into G. Howell the first, but is almost too successful, and Gilligan becomes a snob, too good for anyone.
• The Disappearing Act: Ginger begins to feel unappreciated, and after overhearing the Professor explaining ESP, decides to pretend she has the ability to see the future. This backfires, and the castaways decide she is a liar who can’t be trusted. Meanwhile, a trunk full of magic gear washes up on one part of the island, and a pair of escaped convicts washes up on another. Gilligan decides he wants to put on a show for everyone, while Ginger tries in vain to convince everyone that she has seen the convicts and their boat.
• A Sinking Feeling: Mr. Howell hears a story on the radio that leads him to believe lead will soon be more valuable than gold, so he lies to Gilligan to get his help in mining it. Meanwhile, a whaling boat washes ashore, and the rest of the castaways work on getting it seaworthy, unaware that Mr. Howell’s lead stockpile will soon ruin their plans.
• The Reluctant Hero: After a misunderstanding involving a lion, the other castaways are convinced they have to teach Gilligan to be more brave. Their plans repeatedly backfire, but eventually they learn there is more to being a man than heroics.
• The Same Old Dream: Gilligan has a dream about a mysterious stranger that teaches him how to turn the radio into a transmitter, so that the castaways can send a rescue message. Everyone gets so involved in trying to get Gilligan to remember his dream, that they don’t notice an actual mysterious stranger is on the island, spying on them.
• Sputtering Eagle: While flying a toy airplane, Gilligan causes the Professor to hit his head, and he develops amnesia. While only temporary, this ends up being a serious problem when Gilligan discovers the wreckage of a real plane in the jungle, because the Professor is the only one who knows how to fly it.
• Super Gilligan: Tired of seeing his fellow Castaways becoming apathetic about their daily chores, the Skipper begins bullying everyone into action. While out searching for food, Gilligan is kissed by a strange flower, which gives him super powers. The other Castaways enlist Gilligan’s help to end the Skipper’s bullying, unaware that they should be using his powers to try to escape the island.
• Marooned Again: Mr. Howell decides that he wants to build a resort on the island, so that once rescued, he can add to his fortune. The other castaways are initially skeptical until he butters them up with promises of lucrative positions once the resort is open. While working on the resort, Gilligan digs up a boat, but shortly thereafter it is found in pieces, leading to suspicion amongst the castaways.
• Live and Let Live: Frustration with the animals on the island (especially Gilligan’s new elephant friend) leads the castaways to attempt relocate them to the other side of the island. Meanwhile, two jewel thieves show up on the island, looking for a place to temporarily hide a priceless gem.
• Wheels on Parade: Dissatisfaction with the island car leads the castaways to fixing it up, but afterwards they can’t decide whose turn it is to use it. They solve the problem by all building their own cars, leading to traffic and chaos, and eventually the island’s first courtroom trial.
• The Movie Makers: Gilligan and Snubby find a crate full of old Naval movie equipment, and the castaways decide it would be fun to make a film. They get so busy arguing over what it should be about, and who the star is, that they ignore Snubby, who repeatedly tries to show them a film with instructions on how to build a rescue boat.
• Silence Is Leaden: A series of practical jokes leads to the Skipper and Mr. Howell refusing to talk to one another. Their feuding complicates the Professor’s plan to build a radio tower to help them communicate with a satellite scheduled to fly over the island.
• The Great Train Robbery: With typhoon season approaching, the Professor draws up plans for a train, and tracks leading to a cave, so that the castaways can get to shelter quickly and safely. No one follows his plans properly, however, leading to chaos when an actual typhoon approaches, and Mr. Howell steals the train to ferry his valuables to safety first.
• Moderation: The Professor’s instruments predict prolonged drought, and with food supplies dwindling, the castaways decide to build an irrigation system and start a farm. Mr. Howell cheats though, using the Professor’s photo enlarging fluid as fertilizer. The others discover this, and begin doing it too, resulting in giant, but inedible, crops.

 

The Driftless Area

Pierre Hunter (Anton Yelchin), a bartender with unyielding optimism, returns to his tiny hometown after his parents’ death.

When he falls for the enigmatic Stella (Zooey Deschanel), Pierre is unknowingly pulled into a cat-and-mouse game that involves a duffel bag full of cash, a haphazard yet determined criminal (John Hawkes), and a mystery that will determine all of their fates.

With Alia Shawkat, Frank Langella, Aubrey Plaza, and Ciarán Hinds. Zachary Sluser’s film, based on the novel by Tom Drury, is a contemporary fable about the ways we struggle to control time and fate in a possibly predetermined universe.

Extras include making of.

 

The Revenant

Leonardo DiCaprio gives an Oscar Winning performance in Oscar Winner Alejandro G. Inarritu’s cinematic masterpiece.

Inspired by true events and the winner of 3 Oscars, The Revenant follows the story of legendary explorer Hugh Glass (DiCaprio) on his quest for survival and justice. After a brutal bear attack, Glass is left for dead by a treacherous member of his hunting team (Tom Hardy).

Against extraordinary odds, and enduring unimaginable grief, Glass battles a relentless winter in uncharted terrain. This epic adventure captures the extraordinary power of the human spirit in an immersive and visceral experience.

Extras include documentary A World Unseen.

Last Word: Living on the frontier in the 1820s isn’t easy. Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) and John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) are part of a crew of trappers who have to battle Indians and the elements on a daily basis. When Glass is mauled by a bear (in one of the most intense animal attack scenes I’ve ever seen), he’s left for dead by Fitzgerald and young Jim Bridger (Will Poulter). Somehow, though, he doesn’t die…and begins a trek to get his revenge.

Filmed in the actual elements you see on screen (not a single CGI snowflake was used), this is one of the most brutal non-horror films I’ve seen in a long time. Just the bear attack scene alone is worthy of any gore film, but even without the action and brutality, the story of revenge and greed is enough to make any filmgoer squirm for some form of let up. All three of the leads deserve all of the accolades they’ll get. And don’t you worry. They’ll get them.  (– Mark Wensel)

 

Ip Man 3

Igniting the screen in the role that made him an icon, Donnie Yen (returns to the blockbuster martial arts series as Ip Man, the real-life Wing Chun grandmaster who mentored Bruce Lee.

When a ruthless real estate developer (Mike Tyson) and his team of brutal gangsters make a play to take over the city, Master Ip is forced to take a stand against the crooks, thugs, gunmen, and another rival Wing Chun master (Jin Zhang) to protect his students, his city, and his own family.

Fists will fly as some of the most incredible fight scenes ever filmed, choreographed by the legendary Yuen Woo Ping, come to life in this genre classic.

Extras include featurettes, interviews and trailer.

 

And Then There Were None

As the world teeters on the brink of World War II, 10 strangers are invited to isolated Soldier Island. Among them are young secretary Vera Claythorne (Maeve Dermody), soldier Philip Lombard (Aidan Turner), General John MacArther (Sam Neill), spinster Emily Brent (Miranda Richardson), and Judge Lawrence Wargrave (Charles Dance).

With seemingly nothing in common, the guests wonder who their mysterious host may be. But the ominous reason for their visit soon becomes clear…and by the end of the night, the first of them is dead.

Based on the bestselling crime novel of all time by Agatha Christie, this “TV event of the year” (The Guardian, UK) boasts an all-star cast also including Anna Maxwell Martin, Toby Stephens, Burn Gorman, Noah Taylor, and Douglas Booth.

Extras include featurettes, interview and gallery.

Episodes include:

• Episode #1: Ten strangers are persuaded to retreat from their troubled lives and travel to Soldier Island, an isolated rock off the Devon coast, where all is not as it seems.
• Episode #2: As the guests make plans to combat the killer, the body count rises, and dreadful secrets are brought to light.
• Episode #3: With their numbers dwindling, the remaining guests have very different reactions to their situation as everything becomes a fight for survival.

 

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2

In 1974, horror fans rejoiced upon the release of Tobe Hooper’s masterpiece, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The movie raised the stakes of in-your-face filmmaking and changed the face of horror.

Twelve years later, Hooper and the Sawyer clan are back with this deviously entertaining sequel, starring Dennis Hopper in one of the most deliciously crazed performances of his career.

For a decade, Texas Ranger Lefty Enright (Hopper) has sought to avenge the brutal murder of his kin by the cannibalistic Sawyer family – Leatherface, Chop-Top, The Cook and Grandpa. With the help of a radio DJ (Caroline Williams), who’s also bent on putting an end to the terror, Lefty finds his way to the Sawyers’ underground slaughter shop, where a battle of epic proportions will soon rage… and the line between good and evil gets chopped to bits!

Extras include commentaries, alternate credits, deleted scenes, trailers, tv spots, galleries, feature length documentary with outtakes, location visits, and interviews.

 

The Lady in the Van

Based on the true story of Miss Shepherd, a woman of uncertain origins who “temporarily” parked her van in writer Alan Bennett’s London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years. What begins as a begrudged favour becomes a relationship that will change both their lives.

Filmed on the street and in the house where Bennett and Miss Shepherd lived all those years, acclaimed director Nicholas Hytner reunites with iconic writer Alan Bennett (The Madness of King George, The History Boys) to bring this rare and touching portrait to the screen.

Starring Maggie Smith, Dominic Cooper and James Corden.

Extras include commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes and trailer.

 

Silicon Valley: The Complete Second Season

After taking the tech world by storm last season at TechCrunch Disrupt, Richard and rest of the Pied Piper team – Erlich, Jared, Dinesh and Gilfoyle – look ahead to a bright and profitable future. But their success may be in jeopardy, thanks to big changes at Raviga, the company created by Peter Gregory, and Nucleus, the competing compression platform launched by Hooli CEO Gavin Belson.

Starring a talented ensemble of series regulars, including Thomas Middleditch as Richard Hendricks; T.J. Miller as Erlich; Josh Brener as Big Head; Martin Starr as Gilfoyle; Kumail Nanjiani as Dinesh; Zach Woods as Jared; Amanda Crew as Monica; Matt Ross as Gavin Belson; Suzanne Cryer, who joins the cast as Raviga managing partner Laurie Bream; and Jimmy O. Yang as Jian-Yang. Guest star Ben Feldman returns as Ron LaFlamme; new guest stars include Chris Diamantopoulos as Russ Hanneman and Alice Wetterlund as Carla.

Extras include commentaries, featurette and deleted scenes.

Episodes include:

• Sand Hill Shuffle: Following their success at TechCrunch Disrupt, the guys of Pied Piper find themselves aggressively courted by every VC in Silicon Valley. Later, Richard makes a decision about the company’s future and faces big news from Hooli.
• Runaway Devaluation: In the wake of Hooli’s bombshell, Richard and the guys struggle to find a backer as they face legal and financial woes. Dinesh tries to put an end to the Kickstarter campaign for his cousin’s new app. Richard gets a surprising offer.
• Bad Money: While considering Gavin’s proposal, Richard is approached by Russ Hanneman, an image-conscious billionaire who wants to back Pied Piper. Monica must face a high-strung Laurie. Gavin finds a new strategy in dealing with the enemy.
• The Lady: Richard butts heads with Erlich over a prospective hire. Big Head gets a promotion, but faces the consequences of becoming part of the tech elite. At a board meeting, Monica and Richard are outvoted; Jared institutes a workplace-discrimination policy.
• Server Space: An over-stressed Richard struggles to find Pied Piper office space, drawing the ire of a nosy neighbor; Big Head’s management style is questioned.
• Homicide: When Monica encourages the guys to pounce on a livestream opportunity, Erlich reconnects with his old mentee, Double-A, an energy drink billionaire, but Richard finds out their friendship isn’t quite what Erlich thinks.
• Adult Content: Richard finds himself with few options and pursues an unconventional client; Gavin looks for success in failure; Dinesh woos a woman online.
  White Hat/Black Hat: Richard grows paranoid when Pied Piper competes for a client; Erlich and Jian-Yang work on a pitch.
• Binding Arbitration: When Pied Piper and Hooli enter binding arbitration, Erlich demands to be put on the stand, while Big Head finds himself propped up and Richard faces a moral dilemma. Meanwhile, Jared, Dinesh and Gilfoyle debate philosophy and their livestream.
• Two Days of the Condor: An unexpected real-life drama draws a spike in traffic to Pied Piper’s livestream and leaves them fighting to hold things together–literally, and while Erlich considers his future, Richard scrambles to save Pied Piper’s.

 

The Stuff

Are you eating it …or is it eating you? The Stuff is the new dessert taking supermarket shelves by storm. It’s delicious, low in calories and – better still – doesn’t stain the family carpet… What’s not to like?!

Well, for a start it has a life of its own, and we’re not talking friendly live bacteria… Young Jason seems to be the only one who doesn’t love The Stuff – in fact he won’t go anywhere near it, after having seen the pudding crawling around the fridge one night. What’s more, everyone who eats The Stuff has started acting really weird…

Now, teaming up with wise-cracking industrial saboteur “Mo”, Jason must put a stop to The Stuff and the organisation behind it or face a gooey, gloopy demise.

Coming courtesy of horror auteur Larry Cohen (director of the It’s Alive series and scribe behind the Maniac Cop trilogy), The Stuff is a titillating treat for the taste-buds which blends elements of films such as Street Trash with the straight-up B-movie flavour of The Blob. So grab a spoon and dig on into The Stuff – the taste that delivers… much more than you bargained for! Extras include documentary, introduction, trailer, and booklet.

 

Haven: Complete Final Season

The town of Haven has been cut off from the rest of the world by a mysterious fog bank and is on its own.

Through journeys into the past, the future, and the very fabric between worlds, events in Haven hurtle towards a cataclysmic showdown.

Will the heroes be able to rid Haven of “the Troubles” forever, or will the town and its inhabitants continue to suffer the curse?

Watch and see as tensions rise, allegiances shift and in a harrowing closing chapter, the mystery of “Croatoan” is finally revealed.

Extras include commentaries, featurettes, and interviews.

Episodes include:

• See No Evil: Audrey, Nathan and Duke’s victory over William feels hollow as they deal with the aftermath–Duke on death’s door, Mara in control of Audrey’s body, and a strange trouble supernaturally silencing citizens all over town.
• Speak No Evil: With Duke continuing his search for Jennifer and Nathan struggling to find some shred of Audrey in Mara’s cruel personality, Dwight must shoulder the heavy burden of holding Haven together.
• Spotlight: Nathan makes a desperate play to protect Mara from the furious citizens of Haven, leaving Dwight and Duke to deal with a deadly trouble that threatens to burn the town to the ground.
• Much Ado About Mara: With Dwight now leading The Guard, he and Nathan come to a crossroads over what to do about Mara. Dwight wants her to end the troubles–at any cost–but Nathan is convinced that Audrey’s still in there.
• The Old Switcheroo – Part 1: Vince and Dave journey to North Carolina to investigate the mysteries of Dave’s past, but their probing unearths a body swapping trouble that affects our people back in Haven.
• The Old Switcheroo – Part 2: Mara capitalizes on the fallout from the latest trouble, forcing Nathan and Duke to make a desperate and dangerous gamble to get Audrey back before they lose her forever.
• Nowhere Man: With the threat of Mara finally under control, Audrey and Nathan are reunited at last–until a paranormal trouble tears them apart.
• Exposure: Audrey is forced to call in some outside help to cope with harsh new realities: she is no longer immune to the troubles, and Nathan may be lost forever.
• Morbidity: When Audrey and dozens of Haven citizens are affected by a mysterious illness, the symptoms threaten to expose Haven’s secrets to a dangerous newcomer.
• Mortality: Haven’s heroes are torn over how to deal with an inquisitive CDC scientist, who could expose the secret of the troubles to the world, but may also hold the key to curing them forever.
• Reflections: Duke’s roiling troubles and a new threat to Audrey force them each to seek the help of potentially dangerous allies.
• Chemistry: Divided loyalties put Haven’s heroes at odds with one another. A terrifying revelation changes everything.
• Chosen: As Mara’s endgame is finally revealed, worlds threaten to collide as Audrey and Nathan pursue a plan to stop her once and for all.
• New World Order: Dwight struggles to keep order when Duke’s trouble wreaks havoc around town.
• Power: As conditions grow increasingly desperate in Haven, Dwight struggles to maintain control over a terrified population.
• The Trial of Nathan Wuornos: The citizens of Haven put Nathan on trial for his life, and it’s up to Dwight and Charlotte to clear his name.
• Enter Sandman: Dwight and Charlotte work on a way to free Audrey from the Sandman’s stasis before he can trap her in his mind forever.
• Wild Card: While Charlotte and Audrey work on their new plan to end the troubles, Nathan and Dwight investigate a threat that seems to be thwarting their attempts.
• Perditus: Nathan receives otherworldly aid as he tracks down a terrifying killer.
• Just Passing Through: Nathan and Vince travel back to 1983 to learn the secret of how Croatoan has found a way into Haven.
• Close to Home: Nathan enters the terrible Void, where he encounters an old adversary.
• A Matter of Time: Audrey and Duke search for a way to save Nathan from the Void.
• Blind Spot: Plans for building a new barn are complicated when an old trouble brings the Haven Police Station to life.
• The Widening Gyre: Nathan and Dwight race to rescue Audrey from Croatoan, but the consequences of Duke’s dark destiny wreak havoc on their plans.
• Now: Haven’s heroes struggle to rebuild the Barn in the face of mounting obstacles.
• Forever: Nathan struggles to return to Haven as Dwight reconsiders his future.

 

Panic in Year Zero

Released just before the Cuban Missile Crisis, this chiller-thriller realistically details what might happen to the survivors of a nuclear attack.

Screen legend Ray Milland (X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes) leads a superb cast that includes Jean Hagen (The Asphalt Jungle) and Frankie Avalon (Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine).

Harry Baldwin (Milland), his wife (Hagen) and their two teenaged kids, Rick (Avalon) and Karen (Mary Mitchell, Dementia 13) are heading to the mountains from Los Angeles for a weekend of fishing as they see a mushroom cloud forming over the L.A. skyline.

With the highways and towns jammed by panicking motorists, rampaging looters, heavily armed survivalist and doped-up punks, Milland and his family decide to head to the shelter of their fishing spot, awaiting more news about nuclear disaster.

Featuring gorgeous black-and-white cinematography by Gilbert Warrenton (The Man Who Laughs) and top-notch direction by Ray Milland (A Man Alone). Extras include introduction and commentary.

 

Misconduct

When an ambitious lawyer (Josh Duhamel) is seduced by his ex-girlfriend (Malin Akerman) and presented with evidence incriminating a corrupt pharmaceutical executive that she works for, he finds himself caught in a power struggle between the pharmaceutical magnate (Anthony Hopkins) and his firm’s senior partner (Al Pacino).

When the case takes a deadly turn, he must race to uncover the truth before he loses not only his wife (Alice Eve), but his career, and possibly his own life.

Extras include making of and deleted scenes.

 

Dangerous Men

In 1979, Iranian filmmaker John S. Rad moved to the U.S. to shoot his dream project, a rampaging gutter epic of crime, revenge, cop sex and raw power.

Just 26 years later, he completed an American action film masterpiece that the world is still barely ready for today: Dangerous Men.

After Mina witnesses her fiance’s brutal murder by beach thugs, she sets out on a venomous spree to eradicate all human trash from Los Angeles. Armed with a knife, a gun, and an undying rage, she murders her way through the masculine half of the city’s populace. A renegade cop is hot on her heels, a trail that also leads him to the subhuman criminal overlord known as Black Pepper.

It’s a pulse-pounding, heart-stopping, brain-devouring onslaught of ’80s thunder, ’90s lightning, and pure filmmaking daredevilry from another time and/or dimension. Blades flash, blood flows, bullets fly and synthesizers blare as the morgue overflows with the corpses of Dangerous Men.

Extras include commentary, featurette, interview, public access tv episode, booklet and trailer.

 

Miracle Beach

A romantic comedy-fantasy set in the Southern California beach scene. Scotty McKay (Dean Cameron, Summer School) is a down on his luck yuppie who used to have it all, but has lost everything, even his girl.

One day he and his buddies discovers a magic lamp which conjures the very lonely and beautiful Jeannie (Ami Dolenz, She’s Out of Control) and she grants them their every wishes. Soon the guys are carousing in splendor surrounded by their hearts desires.

Unfortunately, it isn’t enough for Scotty, who really wants his sexy super-model neighbor and asks Jeannie to make him more desirable, but as she disobeys her commands and interferes with Scotty’s wishes, all sorts of mayhem ensues.

Pat Morita (The Karate Kid), Alexis Arquette (The Wedding Singer), Allen Garfield (Busting), Vincent Schiavelli (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ghost) and Martin Mull (Clue, Mr. Mom) all co-star in this hilarious and heart-warming comedy about finding one’s true love.

 

The Major

A modern day drama, The Major is a riveting tale of treachery, morality and the consequences of conscience.

Set against Russia’s bleak, bitter winter landscape, Sergey Sobolev (Denis Shvedov), a police major driving recklessly across an icy stretch of highway, hits and kills a young boy. The boy’s mother Irina (Irina Nizina) finds her already unbearable pain and anguish compounded when a cover-up is set in motion to protect Sergey.

Events soon spin out of control with double-crosses, betrayals and duplicity at every turn. The Major is not for the faint of heart. It’s a thrilling, edge-of-your-seat drama that draws the viewer deeper and deeper into the action, leading to an unexpected and heart-pounding climax.

 

Ulee’s Gold

Sometimes a man’s true strength lies in his power to grow from the forces that sting the heart and cut deep into the soul. Peter Fonda, in the performance of his career, received a Best Actor Golden Globe and a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a man who escapes one war only to find himself at battle with an even greater enemy – his wounded spirit.

Third-generation Florida beekeeper Ulee Jackson (Fonda) may have gotten out of Vietnam alive, but he left a part of himself behind. Now he methodically tends his bees, carefully provides for those who need him, and vigilantly keeps his emotions at bay.

But when both his family and livelihood are threatened by a long-buried secret, Ulee must break through his emotional walls, find the strength to change, and begin life anew.

Writer and Director Victor Nunez directed this gut-wrenching drama with a fine cast that includes Patricia Richardson, Tom Wood and Jessica Biel. Extras include B-roll footage and soundbites.

 

The Fool

A dramatic tale worthy of Dostoyevsky, The Fool tells the story of one man s fight against a corrupt political system. Dima (Artyom Bystrov, Break Loose) is a young man eking out a living in modern day Russia as a plumber s assistant while working to finish college. Called out late one night to inspect a leak at a derelict housing community, he discovers a major structural problem and a building on the verge of collapse. In his attempt to save the lives of the eight hundred residents, Dima will find himself drawn into a world of dark secrets and cancerous corruption, where politicians and power players live by their own code and where tragic consequences are but a grim afterthought.

The Fool, written and directed by Yury Bykov, features Artyom Bystrov, Natalya Surkova, Boris Nevzorov and Yury Tsurilo.

 

Little House On The Prairie: Season 9

It’s a fond farewell for the Ingalls, in the ninth and final season of this unrivaled series, when they decide it’s time to leave their “little house.”

Relish all 21 uncut episodes filled with exciting changes like when the Wilders take in their sweet niece Jenny; when Laura wins a book-writing contest; when Nancy runs away; and when Willie surprises the family with his engagement.

Also includes movie, Bless All The Dear Children.

Guest stars include Shannen Doherty, Billy Barty, Ralph Bellamy, Geoffrey Lewis, and Vera Miles.

Episodes include:

• Times Are Changing – Part 1: The Ingalls can’t make ends meet so they move to the city to find work. John and Sarah Carter buy the little house. Laura has decided she wants to spend more time with Rose so the town has hired a new teacher, Etta Plum. Almanzo’s brother, Royal has come to visit and brings with him, his daughter, Jenny.
• Times Are Changing – Part 2: Almanzo’s brother, Royal, has a serious heart condition. He dies and leaves Jenny devastated. She tries to drown herself so she can go to heaven to be with her poppa.Welcome to Olesonville: While cleaning out a home in Walnut Grove that she recently purchased, Harriet comes across a bearer’s bond that apparently requires everyone in town to pay her $10,000 each.
• Rage: A man named Mr. Stark learns that because of his family’s debt, they will be evicted from their home.
• Little Lou: A little person named Lou becomes the single father of a baby girl when his wife dies in childbirth.
• The Wild Boy – Part 1: A traveling side-show, run by Dr. Joshua McQueen, features the “Wild Boy of the North” as its main attraction.
• The Wild Boy – Part 2: Matthew’s life has taken a complete turn, thanks to the love and support of so many people in Walnut Grove, and he is now living happily with Mr. Edwards.
• The Return of Nellie: The Olesons are thrilled to learn that Nellie is returning home for a visit, but Nancy is not pleased about sharing the spotlight.
• The Empire Builders: Having a railroad built to pass directly through Walnut Grove sounds like a wonderful idea for many town residents, particularly since it would increase the size and popularity of the area.
• Love: Laura’s childhood friend, Jane Canfield, comes back to Walnut Grove. Despite being blind, she develops a fondness for Isaiah Edwards (who is twice her age), and the two fall in love. Jane’s vision is restored when she receives eye surgery. Isaiah is hopeful about building a future with her, but negative input from his friends turn this into one of the most difficult decisions of his life.
• Alden’s Dilemma: Mr. Edwards is suspicious of a handsome young minister sent to Walnut Grove by the diocese and Reverend Alden feels his position is threatened.
• Marvin’s Garden: Dr. Marvin Haynes has been practicing in Walnut Grove, but his failing eyesight prevents him from renewing his license, leaving him angry and depressed over the loss of his career.
• Sins of the Father: Sarah Carter’s estranged father Elliot shows up unexpectedly with painful news. As the man plans an extended visit and causes trouble throughout town, it becomes evident why he was separated from his daughter’s family for so many years. Over time, Sarah must come to terms with the fact that she never really had a healthy relationship with her father, and time is running out to fix it.
• The Older Brothers: The Older Brothers is a gang that used to have a notorious reputation.
• Once Upon a Time: After substituting for Etta Plum at Walnut Grove’s school, Laura realizes that being a housewife is not enough for her restless spirit.
• Home Again: Charles is forced to address Albert’s recent criminal behavior. The two of them take a trip back to Walnut Grove, and Charles is hopeful that the experience will straighten out his son.
• A Child With No Name: With the birth of a beautiful baby boy in the spring, it appears that Laura and Almanzo’s family is now complete.
• The Last Summer: When young Jason Carter accepts his first job as an assistant to an aging woman in Walnut Grove, he just wants to earn some money and buy his mother a birthday gift.
• For The Love Of Blanche: On his way back from Sleepy Eye, Isaiah Edwards meets up with a dying old man, whose last request is for Isaiah to take care of his 3-year-old Blanche.
• May I Have This Dance: Laura receives an unexpected inheritance from an ailing friend, which promises huge changes for the Wilder family.
• Hello And Goodbye: Mr. Montague, a renowned author who is undergoing research for his next book, moves in with Laura and Almanzo at their newly implemented boarding house.

 

Human Face of Big Data

Nearly everything we do today leaves an indelible digital trail: Where we live. What we search. What we read. Where we go. What we buy. What we say. All of this data is being recorded and stored.

The rapid emergence of internet-connected data devices and the massive gathering and analyzing of real-time data are helping to create a central planetary nervous system in which individuals have become human sensors, helping map and measure the planet while, at the same time, mapping intimate details of the lives of each and every one of us. In the technology industry, this phenomenon is commonly known as “Big Data.”

And there is a very human side to this data that often is overlooked or untold.

Narrated by actor Joel McHale, the award-winning film features compelling human stories, captivating visuals and in-depth interviews with dozens of pioneering scientists, entrepreneurs, futurists and experts to illustrate powerful new data-driven tools, which have the potential to address some of humanity’s biggest challenges, including health, hunger, pollution, security and disaster response.

The program features conversations with 30 leading voices in the field of data science, artificial intelligence, technology and digital medicine, including (in alphabetical order): Linda Avey, co-founder of 23andMe; entrepreneur John Battelle of Federated Media; Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter and Square; New York Times journalist Charles Duhigg; Nathan Eagle of Jana and MIT; global security advisor and author Marc Goodman; MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito; Aaron Koblin, director of Google Creative Lab; author and futurist Tim O’Reilly; Jennifer Pahlka of Code for America; Erik Swan and Rob Das of Splunk; Jay Walker, director of TEDMED; and more.

 

Lamb

Lamb, based on the novel by Bonnie Nadzam, traces the self-discovery of David Lamb in the weeks following the disintegration of his marriage and the death of his father.

Hoping to regain some faith in his own goodness, he turns his attention to Tommie, an awkward and unpopular eleven-year-old girl.

Lamb is convinced that he can help her avoid a destiny of apathy and emptiness, and takes Tommie for a road trip from Chicago to the Rockies, planning to initiate her into the beauty of the mountain wilderness. The journey shakes them in ways neither expects.

Extras include commentary, gallery and deleted scenes.

 

Albert: Up, Up And Away!

Join in the non-stop fun and breathtaking adventure of Albert – Up, Up And Away! Inspired by the beloved children’s book, Albert by Ole Lund Kirkegaard, this lively, animated tale whisks you on a journey that has to be seen to be believed!

Albert is a smart and cheeky boy, but his taste for mischievous pranks make him a menace in his small hometown. When he accidentally destroys the statue of a local hero and famous hot-air balloon captain, Albert is determined to make up for his mistake. He decides to venture into the world with his best friend Egon… and return as a hot-air balloon captain himself! But Albert and Egon’s quest takes a detour when a mean bandit takes advantage of the clueless boys to help him steal the world’s largest diamond.

Adventure and excitement hit an all-time high in Albert – Up, Up And Away!

 

American Experience: Space Men

In the late 1940s, the notion of space travel remained squarely in the realm of science fiction. But a young Army doctor at Edwards Air Force Base, John Paul Stapp, had an entirely different view and began experiments on how g-force—intense acceleration and deceleration—affected the human body. To test this, he helped design a rocket sled powered by multiple engines that was stopped abruptly with a hydraulic brake. Over and over again, Stapp himself hurtled down the track. Then, in 1954, he boarded the sled for his most extreme ride. In a blaze of smoke and flames, the rocket shot Stapp down the track at over 600 miles per hour. When the sled hit the brake, Stapp’s body, traveling close to the speed of sound and withstanding nearly four tons of pressure, slammed into safety belts. His radical experiment had proven that a human could endure more than double the generally accepted g-force limit of the time. Time’s cover lionized him as “The Fastest Man on Earth.”

After a decade in which the U.S. and the Soviets had been vying for geopolitical dominance, Americans were caught completely off guard on October 4, 1957 when news broke that the Soviet Union had launched Sputnik nearly 140 miles above the earth. Suddenly putting a man in space became a national priority, and Project Manhigh received funding to develop rigorous physical and psychological tests. Before long the new National Aeronautics and Space Administration—NASA—began work on its own manned space program, Project Mercury, which seized the nation’s attention as well as all the funding. NASA asked Stapp for his assistance in selecting their first astronauts, and Stapp used his regimen of tests to help reduce the 69 candidates down to the world famous Mercury 7.

By the summer of 1960, Stapp was back at work with the Air Force on one last high-altitude balloon experiment. He named it Project Excelsior, Latin for “ever upward,” and brought in a daring young test pilot named Joseph Kittinger for the job. With the advent of rocket-powered jets, the need for an ejection system to allow pilots to bail out was essential. If a parachute opened too soon, the pilot would suffer a slow journey through the poisonous stratosphere. If it opened too late, the body would not withstand the force of spin during an extended free fall. On August 16, 1960, Kittinger lifted off. Within 90 minutes, he had reached 102,800 feet, breaking the altitude record set by Simons back in 1957. Kittinger looked up to the heavens. “Lord take care of me know,” he said, and jumped. By the time he touched down on the warm New Mexico sand, he had survived the longest free fall and the longest parachute jump in history—nearly 20 miles in 13 minutes and 45 seconds.

Less than a year later, Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin would become the first man in space. Eight years later, Neil Armstrong would walk on the moon. The age of manned ballooning had run its course, but the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space programs would owe a great deal to the ground-breaking efforts of Stapp and his small band of renegade explorers.

“Sending people into the upper atmosphere on a large balloon doesn’t seem as incredible as leaving footprints on the moon,” says author Francis French. “But America may not have gotten to the moon if it wasn’t for pioneers like Stapp and Kittinger and Simons asking the questions that needed to be answered before we could get on with the business of flying in space.”

 

Daniel Tosh: People Pleaser

No one is safe from Daniel Tosh.

In his biting fourth special, he takes on everyone from couples who can’t conceive and parents of sick children to hoarders, marathoners, his own detractors and even his fans.

Politically incorrect and brutally honest, Tosh takes hilarious shots at the worst members of society — including himself.

 

 

 

 

A Dog Named Gucci

A Dog Named Gucci is a timely and poignant documentary about a 10-week old puppy who was doused with lighter fluid and set on fire. Hearing the puppy’s cries, college professor Doug James ran to help. After chasing away the abusers, and at the request of Gucci’s young runaway owner, Doug took the puppy in as his own. Thus began a 16-year odyssey of love, devotion, and perseverance. Together with legislators, Doug and Gucci worked to create what became known as the “Gucci Bill,” changing Alabama law, and making domestic animal abuse a felony.

The film also spotlights three other dogs who, with their owners, have made an incredible impact on the laws protecting animals. These include Louis Vuitton, from Montgomery, Alabama, the first dog to test the Gucci Law; Susie from North Carolina, who has a felony abuse law named in her honor and was the 2015 American Humane Association’s Hero Dog of the Year; and Nitro from Queens, New York whose ultimate sacrifice in an Ohio kennel led to the state’s first felony animal abuse laws.

 

Death Becomes Her

First, there’s actress Madeline Ashton (Meryl Streep), who’s gaining more wrinkles than good screen roles.

Then, there’s her former friend, Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn), who loses her fiancé to Madeline and subsequently doubles her weight.

Finally, there’s Madeline’s husband, Ernest (Bruce Willis), a renowned plastic surgeon who spends his nights drunkenly cursing the day he met his wife.

Enter a beautiful enchantress (Isabella Rossellini) who changes their lives — and deaths — forever, giving the two narcissistic arch rivals a magic potion from a beautiful enchantress that promises eternal youth.  However, after they kill each other in their battle for the man they love , the potion revives them as the undead; and they are forced to maintain their deteriorating bodies forever. Extras include making of, featurette, gallery and trailer.

 

Dillinger

The runaway success of Bonnie and Clyde in 1967 proved massively influential: it made stars of Faye Dunaway and Warren Beauty, introduced a new form of violence to the movies, and inspired a stream of imitators, including Bloody Mama, Martin Scorsese’s Boxcar Bertha and the directorial debut of John Milius, Dillinger.

Milius presents John Dillinger as an almost mythical figure, tracing the rise and fall of the Depression era s Public Enemy Number One as he takes on the banks and the G-men, led by the infamous Melvin Purvis.

Starring Sam Peckinpah favorites Warren Oates and Ben Johnson as Dillinger and Purvis, and with a supporting cast including Harry Dean Stanton, Richard Dreyfuss and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas,

Dillinger is a top drawer gangster picture: explosive, stylish and hugely entertaining. Extras include commentary, interviews, gallery, trailer, and booklet.

 

Backtrack

Oscar winner Adrien Brody leads this spellbinding thriller that crackles with nail-biting suspense.

Peter Bower (Brody), a psychiatrist haunted by the tragic death of his young daughter, suspects that his patients are linked by a shocking event from the past. Battling to keep his sanity, Peter begins a perilous journey to uncover the mystery… and the terrifying secret he most fears.

Extras include featurette.

 

 

 

Sssssss

Strother Martin (Cool Hand Luke) and Dirk Benedict (Battlestar Galactica) star in this eerie tale of a respected snake expert who masks a frightening desire to transmute a man into a king cobra.

Realizing that his new lab assistant, David (Benedict), is the perfect specimen, the demented doctor begins administering injections of “immunization serum.”

Soon, David begins experiencing strange side effects: his skin is shedding while his body shape is changing. But before he realizes the horrible truth, the metamorphosis from human to serpent has begun.

This thriller, directed by Bernard L. Kowalski (Attack of the Giant Leeches), also stars Heather Menzies (Piranha) and Reb Brown (Howling II and TV’s Captain America). Extras include interviews, gallery, trailer and radio spots.

 

Son of Saul

October 1944, Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Saul Auslander is a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando, the group of Jewish prisoners isolated from the camp and to assist the Nazis in the machinery of large-scale extermination. While working in one of the crematoriums, Saul discovers the body of a boy he takes for his son.

As the Sonderkommando plans a rebellion, Saul decides to carry out an impossible task: save the child’s body from the flames, find a rabbi to recite the mourner’s Kaddish and offer the boy a proper burial.

Extras include commentary, deleted scenes and Q&A at the Museum of Tolerance.

 

Hot in Cleveland: Season 6

Three 40-something best friends from Los Angeles, Melanie, Victoria and Joy (Valerie Bertinelli, Wendie Malick and Jane Leeves), are flying to Paris when their plane makes an emergency landing in Cleveland. Realizing that all the norms from Los Angeles don’t apply anymore, they decide to reinvent themselves in a city that values real women and stay where they’re still considered hot and get to know Elka (Betty White), the sassy caretaker of the house they’ve rented.

Guest stars include Craig Ferguson, Dave Foley, Mario Lopez,  Robert Wagner, Will Sasso, Rhys Darby, Ben Vereen, Ernie Hudson, Stacy Keach, Georgia Engel,  Missi Pyle, Mackenzie Phillips,  Brian Baumgartner,  William Baldwin, Amber Valletta, Gladys Knight, Barry Livingston, Garry Marshall, Matt Walsh, George Takei,  Yvette Nicole Brown, Marla Gibbs, Dennis Haskins, Jim O’Heir, Marla Sokoloff, John Kassir, Carol Burnett,  Chris Colfer, Juliet Mills, Bob Newhart, Huey Lewis and Thomas Gibson.

Episodes include:

• Comfort and Joy: Joy decides whether to marry Mitch, Simon, or Bob. Victoria’s new CGI movie proves challenging in ways she didn’t expect. Elka tries to bring film jobs to Cleveland.
  Fear and Loathing in Los Angeles: The ladies head to L.A. to meet Zed Simms, the creator of Victoria’s new TV show. Elka tries to convince Zed to move the production to Cleveland.
• Bossy Cups: Inspirational coffee sleeves encourage the women to try new things. Joy helps Victoria create lifestyle videos for her website. Melanie tries to install shelves without Frankie’s help. Elka stirs up romance with Jim.
• Naked and Afraid: Elka throws a party to sway the vote of a rival politician; Melanie questions her cute neighbor; Joy avoids romance with the Sinder app.
• Tazed and Confused: Joy and Bob take Victoria for a ride-along to prepare for her detective role. Elka and Melanie battle Agnes and Mona in a game competition at Stormi’s.
• Out of Our Minds: Melanie and Jack try to spice up their relationship. Victoria becomes the spokesperson for a new vodka brand. Joy’s new hairstyle backfires when she meets Owen’s office crush. Elka and Mayor Deacon have a scandalous affair.
• Cold in Cleveland: The Christmas Episode: Mortified by an old Christmas movie she made, Victoria tries to get the rights from her ex-husband. Melanie and Sally compete over decorations. Joy spends Christmas without her mother but finds an unlikely proxy.
• The Young and the Restless: Melanie enlists Joy’s help to convince Jenna to go to medical school. Victoria obsesses over a nude scene for her new show. Elka takes “Councilman for the Day,” Lance, under her wing.
• Bad Boys: Melanie, feeling smothered by her boyfriend, Jack, enlists Frankie’s help to break off their relationship. Victoria’s dad, Alex, comes to town with a shocking announcement. Elka tries to fight off Alex’s advances.
• We Could Be Royals: Joy’s younger sister, Jill, comes to visit. Melanie helps Victoria write a children’s book. Elka and Mamie Sue welcome British royalty to Cleveland.
• About a Joy: Joy and Bob try to deal with Wilbur being bullied at school. Joy sorts out her feelings for Bob. Victoria is trying to keep up with her 20-something boyfriend. Wilbur’s bully brings back memories for Melanie.
• One Wedding and One Funeral: Joy competes with Canadian Joy for Bob’s affection. Elka enlists Melanie’s help when her affair with the mayor takes an unexpected turn. Victoria hires a bodyguard.
  Scandalous: After the Mayor’s death in Elka’s bed she assumes the duties as acting Mayor. Mean while the girls and Bob try to cover-up for Elka and search for also shot him.
• Family Affair: The women take DNA tests to learn about their ancestries; Melanie pretends to be someone else.
• All Dolled Up: Elka believes that Bob has given Joy a voodoo doll; Melanie doses her boyfriend with estrogen.
• Bad Girlfriends: Melanie becomes jealous when Dane plays Victoria’s love interest on stage; Joy persuades Bob to watch the film “Love Actually”; Elka is a guest on a political talk show.
• Duct Soup: The gang helps Joy’s son plan the rehearsal dinner for his wedding. An unexpected guest from Joy’s past shows up.
• Cleveland Calendar Girls: Joy learns something new about Bob when they take engagement photos. Melanie goes on a date with herself. Victoria tries to get a new driver’s license photo. And Elka and Mamie pose nude for charity.
• Kitchen Nightmare: Melanie deals with a temperamental chef; Victoria tries to impress a restaurant critic.
• All About Elka: Victoria directs her mother and son in a musical; Elka auditions for a part in Victoria’s play.
• Say Yes to the Mess: Victoria and Melanie try to adjust to Joy moving out; Bob tries to impress Joy’s mother.
• Vegas Baby/I Hate Goodbyes: Joy and Bob’s Paris wedding plans get derailed when they find out there’s a baby available for adoption in Las Vegas. Everyone comes along, including Bob’s dad and Mamie. While they’re there, Victoria reconnects with a long-lost love.

 

Jane Got A Gun

Jane Hammond (Natalie Portman) has built a life on the rugged western plains with her husband Bill “Ham” Hammond (Noah Emmerich) and young daughter.

When Ham stumbles home riddled with bullets after a run-in with the relentless John Bishop (Ewan McGregor) and his gang, she knows they will not stop until her family is dead.

In desperation, Jane turns to Dan Frost (Joel Edgerton), a man from her past, for help. Haunted by old memories, Jane’s past meets the present in a heart-stopping battle for survival.

 

 

The Beverly Hillbillies: The Official First Season

Follow the backwoods Clampett clan as they strike it rich, load up the truck, and move to Beverly…

Hills that is!

Experience the down-home charm of Jed (Buddy Ebsen), Granny (Irene Ryan), Elly May (Donna Douglas), and Jethro (Max Baer Jr.), as these country folk adjust to a new life of fabulous wealth and everything that comes with it.

Guest stars include Charles Lane, Brian Kelly, Bea Benaderet, Lola Albright, Paul Winchell, Lyle Talbot, Eleanor Audley, and Shirley Mitchell.

Extras include the extended pilot and sponsor messages from Kellogg’s and Winston cigarettes.

Episodes include:

• The Clampetts Strike Oil: A rural Ozark family relocates to Beverly Hills after oil is discovered on their property worth $25 million. After finding oil on the land, the family is surprised when Mr. Brewster (Frank Wilcox) of the OK Oil Company offers to buy it. After much coaxing by Cousin Pearl (Bea Benaderet), Jed (Buddy Ebsen) sells the swamp and moves the family to a mansion in Beverly Hills. Upon their arrival, they are arrested because of a case of mistaken identity but are later returned to the mansion safely.
• Getting Settled: The rough-hewn Clampetts are mistaken for servants as they try to adapt to their new environment.
• Meanwhile, Back at the Cabin: Jane Hathaway finds that making the Clampetts more sophisticated will be harder than expected, while Pearl Bodine tries to get the attention of Mr. Brewster.
• The Clampetts Meet Mrs. Drysdale: Mr. Drysdale tries furiously to make the Clampetts more acceptable to his socially-conscious wife.
• Jed Buys Stock: Upon Mr. Drysdale’s advice to buy good stock, Jed purchases cows, pigs, and chickens to raise.
• Trick or Treat: The homesick Clampetts decide to go door-to-door meeting their Beverly Hills neighbors, not knowing it is Halloween.
• The Servants: Yet another Drysdale attempt to “reform” the Clampetts goes awry when he tries to loan his servants to the hard-working family.
• Jethro Goes to School: The headmistress (Eleanor Audley) of an exclusive private school for boys is astonished to find the teenaged Jethro enrolled in her fifth grade.
• Elly’s First Date: Misunderstandings abound as the spoiled college student Sonny Drysdale attempts to woo Elly May, only to flee to his mother in the end. Louis Nye guests as Sonny Drysdale.
• Pygmalion and Elly: Sonny resumes his high-class courtship of Elly May, by playing Julius Caesar and Pygmalion.
• Elly Races Jethrine: The Clampetts try to get Sonny to propose to Elly May, as Cousin Pearl steps up her efforts to get Jasper Depew to marry her daughter Jethrine.
• The Great Feud: The Clampett clan takes great offense when Sonny Drysdale jilts Elly May, and they start a feud with the Drysdales to avenge their kinfolk’s honor.
• Home for Christmas: The Clampetts return home to the hills to celebrate Christmas, where Cousin Pearl is still trying to win Mr. Brewster’s hand in marriage.
• No Place Like Home: Back in the hills, the Clampetts aid Cousin Pearl in her efforts to “get hitched” to Brewster.
• Jed Rescues Pearl: Jed and Mr. Brewster contrive to end Cousin Pearl’s pursuit of the oil man with his public surprise proposal.
• Back to Californy: Upon returning to Beverly Hills, Granny and Pearl spar over who is the “woman of the house”.
• Jed’s Dilemma: As the Granny-Pearl feud continues, Jed tries to calm things down by taking a sightseeing tour of Beverly Hills.
• Jed Saves Drysdale’s Marriage: When his wife is away, Mr. Drysdale requests a female member of the Clampett family to perform housekeeping duties for him.
• Elly’s Animals: Many animals and even the police respond to the unique sounds from Pearl’s yodeling lessons.
• Jed Throws a Wingding: Two of Pearl’s most ardent former suitors come to visit her in Beverly Hills.
• Jed Plays Solomon: Granny calls the police in an attempt to stop Pearl’s incessant yodeling, but her plan backfires when the officers discover her still.
• Duke Steals a Wife: Duke, the Clampetts’ bloodhound, uses his animal magnetism to draw Jed and a Frenchwoman together.
• Jed Buys the Freeway: A conman gives Jed a “bargain” when he offers to sell Griffith Park, the Hollywood Bowl, and the freeway to the millionaire.
• Jed Becomes a Banker: When a rival bank challenges him to a skeet shoot, Mr. Drysdale has no choice but to enlist the sharpshooting skills of Jed by making him a bank vice president.
• The Family Tree: A prominent genealogist finds evidence that Jed’s ancestors came to America prior to the arrival of the Mayflower.
• Jed Cuts the Family Tree: After much excitement about the family entering the “high society life”, Jed lies to the genealogist to get things back to normal.
• Granny’s Spring Tonic: A fortune hunter sets her sights on Jed.
• Jed Pays His Income Tax: Jed and Granny are suspicious of a tax collector from the IRS.
• The Clampetts and the Dodgers: After playing golf with Jethro, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Leo Durocher wants to sign him as a pitcher.
• Duke Becomes a Father: Duke and Jed become reacquainted with their French lady friends.
• The Clampetts Entertain: After securing the Clampett account, Mr. Drysdale is in line for a pay raise.
• The Clampetts in Court: It’s a case of one man’s word against another as the Clampetts are accused of reckless driving in court.
• The Clampetts Get Psychoanalyzed: A psychiatrist may have bitten off more than he can chew when he starts treating Jethro.
• The Psychiatrist Gets Clampetted: The psychiatrist shows great interest in Granny’s home remedies for various ailments.
• Elly Becomes a Secretary: Believing he needs their help, the Clampetts volunteer to work at Mr. Drysdale’s bank.
• Jethro’s Friend: Jethro’s friend Armstrong enjoys the less rigid lifestyle he encounters during a visit to the Clampett mansion.

 

19-2, Season 1

Officer Nick Barron (Adrian Holmes) patrols the streets of Montreal with Station 19’s newest squad member, Ben Chartier (Jared Keeso).

Back on the job after a shooting incident, guilt-ridden Nick immediately clashes with overzealous Ben.

As the wary new partners respond to some of the city’s most violent and bizarre crimes, they learn the high cost of life on the force—both on and off duty.

Absorbing and authentic, with an outstanding ensemble cast, this award-winning drama follows first responders beyond the crime scenes and into their own messy lives. Extras include featurette.

Episodes include:

• Episode 1: Still riddled with guilt after a shooting, seasoned police officer Nick Barron returns to Station 19 following temporary leave. He is partnered with Ben Chartier, a transfer from a small, rural police force. Their relationship starts off on a bad note after a split-second decision initiates an internal investigation.
• Episode 2: While Nick is haunted by memories of his former partner, Ben’s girlfriend surprises him with a visit and leaves him on edge after being evasive about their future. Tempers simmer when the officers respond to a vandalism call that spirals out of control.
• Episode 3: The first of the month is “Welfare Day,” which forces Ben and Nick to confront an array of crimes and contentious citizens. Just when they think their hellish shift is over, the partners must break up a volatile domestic disturbance.
• Episode 4: Ben feels more alone than ever when Catherine delays her move to Montreal. Then he questions Tyler’s abilities when the officer botches an arrest of a gang of rapists, nearly costing Nick his life. Later, Nick brings Harvey to Sergeant Houle’s BBQ and starts a fight with a superior.
• Episode 5: Ben gets some time off and heads home, where Catherine urges him to reconcile with his family. With Ben gone, Nick has to partner with his nemesis, J.M., and the two bicker endlessly. On top of that, Nick worries about finding long-term care for Harvey.
• Episode 6: Ben and Nick’s cover-up comes back to haunt them when they break up a confrontation between rival gangs in a park. Tensions between the two are alleviated when they care for two abandoned children, and Ben becomes infatuated with social worker Amelie.
• Episode 7: Nick and Ben continue to clash when they pull over a public figure for a DUI. To make matters worse, Ben and Amelie begin dating but hide the relationship from Nick. When Theo acts out, Nick and Isabelle grow closer despite Nick’s on-again,-off-again relationship with Audrey.
• Episode 8: An amber alert has Station 19 on edge as they search for the two kidnappers. Ben and Amelie continue dating without Nick’s knowledge. Nick decides to make a commitment to Audrey, but Isabelle’s rekindled feelings complicate matters.
• Episode 9: After Ben and Amelie’s relationship comes to light, Nick remains at odds with his partner. But when one of Station 19’s own is brutally assaulted, the two must put aside their problems as they battle between their need for revenge and their duty as cops.
• Episode 10: Ben and Nick mediate a domestic dispute, only to be called back when tragedy strikes. Beatrice loses her patience with Tyler after a near-fatal road accident. While Nick is on temporary leave, Ben is paired with J.M. and later becomes part of a special investigation.

 

Crazylegs Crane

After appearing as a supporting character in the Tijuana Toads, Blue Racer and Dogfather cartoons, Crazylegs Crane earned a starring role in his own series of animated shorts, released theatrically internationally, and later broadcast as part of The All-New Pink Panther Show.

In sixteen short comedies, the dim-witted, flight-challenged bird hatch elaborate schemes to dominate his swampy home.  When not tripping over the complexity of his own backfiring plots (much to the shame of his ever-embarrassed son), the dopey crane is foiled by a mischievous dragonfly who playfully reminds Crazylegs he’s not the mastermind he thinks he is.

Extras include commentaries, and documentaries.

Episodes include:

• Animal Crack Ups: Crazylegs promises his son that he will catch a dragonfly and his pursuit of one leads to a local circus and some unexpected encounters.
• Flower Power: Watering the flowers in a garden, Crazylegs has to deal with a malicious weed that doesn’t want the flowers around.
• Sonic Broom: Crazylegs competes with a witch in attempting to catch Dragonfly.
• Barnacle Bird: Aboard a ship, Crazylegs Crane has to deal with a shark and a dog in his pursuit of Dragonfly.
• Nest Quest: Crazylegs spring cleans his nest and decides he needs a big home for a bird his size. To that end, Crazylegs looks to build himself a home like people have.
• Trail of the Lonesome Mine: Crazylegs tries to get gold out of a mine that Dragonfly has found.
• Winter Blunderland: Crazylegs tries deal with the frigid conditions of winter and catch Dragonfly at the same time.
• Storky And Hatch: Crazylegs scrambles to retrieve a cue ball that he thinks is an egg fallen out of his nest.
• King Of The Swamp: Crazylegs defends his title as the self proclaimed swamp king from other swamp animals even as he tries to catch the dragonfly.
• Bug Off: Crazylegs listens to his conscience in his attempts to fly after and catch the elusive Dragonfly.
• Sneaker Snack: Crazylegs competes with a rival in his pursuit of the elusive dragonfly.
• Crane Brained: Crazylegs is challenged by his son to find food for the family.
• Beach Bummer: Crazylegs and Dragonfly go to the beach but run afoul of a guard looking for an admission fee and his dog.
• Fly by Knight: Crazylegs dons a suit of armor and attempts to break into a castle where the dragonfly is located.
• Jet Feathers: Crazylegs adopts different forms of flying such as a flying suit, a balloon and a plane in his efforts to catch the dragonfly.
• Life With Feather: Crazylegs tries to show his son how to catch a dragonfly.

 

The Inspector

The screen’s most comically inept detective wreaks havoc on the boulevards of Paris as he, with the help of his sidekick Deux Deux, wages his single-minded (and narrowsighted) battle for justice.

Initially presented as theatrical attractions, the cartoons gained a much greater audience when they were broadcast as part of the Pink Panther animated television series.

This special edition collects all 34 episodes of The Inspector, on two discs.

Extras include commentaries, and documentaries.

Contains the following cartoons:

• The Great De Gaulle Stone Operation: The Inspector is determined to retrieve the famous DeGaulle diamond from the three-headed jewel thief, the Matz-O’Reilly Bros, who are attempting to steal it.
• Reaux, Reaux, Reaux Your Boat: The Inspector is after the notorious smuggler Captain Clamity and his sidekick Crab Louie.
• Napoleon Blown-Aparte: The Mad Bomber escapes from Le Prison and swears vengeance on the Commissioner by blowing him up with an endless amount of bombs.
• Cirrhosis of the Louvre: The insidious criminal known as The Blotch plans to steal all the paintings from the Louvre, and the Inspector and Deux Deux arrive to foil his plot.
• Plastered in Paris: The Inspector and Deux Deux chase a fugitive known as “X” across the globe.
• Cock-A-Doodle Deux Deux: The largest diamond in the world, The Plymouth Rock, has been stolen from Madame at her chateau, and the Inspector finds out the suspects are all chickens.
• Ape Suzette: The Inspector thinks he is fighting a diminutive sailor but an ape gets in all the punches.
• The Pique Poquette of Paris: The Inspector goes after Spider Pierre an expert pickpocket.
• Sicque! Sicque! Sicque!: During an investigation at the Château de Vincennes, Sergeant Deux Deux clumsily drinks a swig of the formula of a mad scientist and therefore transforms as Mr. Hyde, in routines, goes torturing the Inspector.
• That’s No Lady—That’s Notre Dame: Trying to catch a purse snatcher, the Inspector sets up a sting operation by disguising himself as a woman and soon falls afoul of the Commissioner’s jealous wife.
• Unsafe and Seine: The Inspector and Deux-Deux go on an undercover search for an agent across the world.
• Toulouse La Trick: The Inspector handcuffs Toulouse Le Moose and himself to prevent Toulouse from escaping, but it causes problems on the way to the station.
• Sacré Bleu Cross: When they go after Hassan the Assassin, Deux-Deux gives the Inspector an unlucky rabbit’s foot.
• Le Quiet Squad: The Commissioner is overworked and needs absolute quiet or he goes into uncontrolled fits of temper. The Inspector is assigned to look after him, but has trouble with a noisy cat.
• Bomb Voyage: The Commissioner is kidnapped by extraterrestrials, and the Inspector goes to rescue him.
• Le Pig-Al Patrol: The Inspector is sent after biker Pig Al and his biker gang.
• Le Bowser Bagger: The Inspector is given Private Bowser, a very energetic dog, in his efforts to track down a thief.
• Le Escape Goat: After being fired for letting Louie Le Finke escape, the Inspector tries to stop him from taking vengeance on the Commissioner, but ends up becoming part of the manhunt himself.
• Le Cop on Le Rocks: The Inspector is sent to prison having been mistaken for a bank robber who looks exactly like him. He soon realizes that his backfiring attempts to escape adds even more years to his sentence.
• Crow De Guerre: The Inspector is continually outwitted by a crow that steals jewels.
• Canadian Can-Can: Sent to Canada on an exchange programme, the Inspector is sent after
• Two-Faced Harry, who has an innocent face on his front and an evil face on his back.
• Tour de Farce: Through his own mistake, the Inspector is stranded on a deserted island with burly convict Mack Le Truck, who is trying to kill him.
• The Shooting of Caribou Lou: On holiday in Canada as a Mountie, the Inspector is kidnapped by the diminutive but aggressive fur trapper Caribou Lou.
• London Derriere: Having chased international jewel thief Louie Le Swipe around Europe, the Inspector tries to nab him in London. Unfortunately, he runs afoul of the no-gun laws and works alongside a British police captain.
• Les Miserobots: The Inspector is fired after being replaced by an efficient police robot. He tries to destroy it, but his attempts backfire.
• Transylvania Mania: The Inspector is sent to find a scientist who is making monsters without a license. The scientist is Dracula who needs a brain for his latest monster, and the Inspector arrives at just the right moment.
• Bear De Guerre: The Inspector goes quail hunting but runs afoul of a brown bear who thinks he is being hunted.
• Cherche Le Phantom: The Inspector searches for a wanted gorilla from the Paris Zoo and a phantom that is hiding in the opera house.
• Le Great Dane Robbery: The Inspector must get past a vicious dog named Tiny in order to retrieve a code cipher stolen from a French intelligence unit. On top of that, the Inspector is not happy this assignment came right before his scheduled vacation on a sea cruise, and pours on the effort so as not to miss the boat.
• Le Ball and Chain Gang: The Inspector tries to get into the house of an argumentative couple named Charlie and Edna.
• La Feet’s Defeat: The Commissioner assigns the Inspector and Deux-Deux to capture Muddy La Feet and encounter many booby traps, which Deux-Deux sets off.
• French Freud: A crooked Russian actress, Melody Mercurochrome and her “maid” (i.e. husband in drag also a psychiatrist) are trying to kill the Inspector to get at the Du Barry diamond.
• Pierre and Cottage Cheese: A Chinese robot named Charlie tries to help the Inspector capture Dirty Pierre Le Punk, who lives in a cottage.
• Carte Blanched: The Inspector discovers he has accidentally stolen a shopping cart from his local supermarket. A malignant voiceover suggests numerous ways to get rid of it before he is caught.

 

The Ant and the Aardvark

Originally produced for theatrical release (and later broadcast as part of The New Pink Panther television series), The Ant and the Aardvark revived the timeless cartoon conflict of predator and prey, and modernized it with an irreverent sense of humor and a splashy color palette emblematic of the late 1960s and early ’70s.

This special edition includes all seventeen episodes of The Ant and the Aardvark, as well as interviews with the men and women who collaborated on these animated classics.

Extras include commentaries, and documentaries.

Includes the episodes:

• The Ant and the Aardvark: The Ant’s quiet lunch is disturbed by a hungry blue Aardvark.
• Hasty But Tasty: While trying to catch the Ant, who’s riding a miniature motorcycle, The Aardvark is bedeviled by the portable “Instant Hole” which removes the ground beneath him on the edge of a cliff and lets the air out of a balloon suspending the Aardvark in the air.
• The Ant From Uncle: To bar the Ant from subterranean refuge, the Aardvark strives to plug every ant hole in existence and, to his dismay, discovers a hole of volcanic proportions which is the dwelling of Charlie’s huge, older kin.
• I’ve Got Ants in My Plans: After breaking up a formal Ant dinner, the Aardvark fights over possession of the Ant with a rival green aardvark.
• Technology, Phooey: The Aardvark builds a flamboyant computer (with a speaking voice resembling Paul Lynde) to assist in catching the Ant.
• Never Bug an Ant: The Aardvark obtains a real vacuum to suck the Ant out of his home.
• Dune Bug: The Ant is spending his vacation at the beach, while the Aardvark doggedly pursues him. In addition, a nearsighted lifeguard mistakes the Aardvark for a dog, which are not allowed on the beach without a leash.
• Isle of Caprice: Stranded on a desert island, the hungry Aardvark tries to avoid a shark while making his way to a nearby island swarming with ants.
• Scratch a Tiger: After the Ant removes a thorn from a tiger’s paw, the tiger repays the favor by protecting the Ant from the hungry Aardvark.
• Odd Ant Out: The green aardvark returns as he battles over a can of Chocolate Covered Ants with the Aardvark.
• Ants in the Pantry: In an effort to eat, the Aardvark tries to rid a house of its ant infestation.
• Science Friction: The Aardvark chases after the Ant, who is being studied by a local scientist.
• Mumbo Jumbo: The Ant is a member of the Brothers of the Forest Lodge #202, who pledge to always help one another in a time of distress via shouting the call “Zimbula Zoombula”, which constantly prevents the Aardvark from having lunch.
• The Froze Nose Knows: The Aardvark tries his best to capture the Ant during a sudden snowy winter.
• Don’t Hustle an Ant with Muscle: After ingesting a bottleful of vitamins, the Ant gains super-human strength.
• Rough Brunch: The Ant seeks refuge from the Aardvark with his termite cousin Term at the termite’s huge house.
• From Bed to Worse: After being hit by a truck, the Ant and the Aardvark find themselves recuperating in an animal hospital where the Aardvark deals with a dog.

 

Wabbit S1 P1: Hare-Raising Tales

In this series, the Looney Tunes will leave the sitcom world and return to their slapstick-comedy roots.

Each episode of Wabbit contains four shorts, starring Bugs Bunny from the Looney Tunes as the main character. Other characters, such as Wile E. Coyote and Yosemite Sam, show up to annoy him.

Some characters are given new traits: Wile E., for example, is Bugs’ smart-aleck neighbor, while the Tasmanian Devil (renamed “”Theodore Tasmanian””) is employed as an accountant, though he represses his true self.

Added in are new characters – a squirrel named Squeaks and a childlike version of Bigfoot – who come to befriend Bugs. Likewise, Bugs faces new villains, but not without the help of his friends

Includes the shorts:

Buddha Bugs, Now and Zen, The Inside Bugs, Sun Valley Freeze, St. Bugs and the Dragon, Leaf It Alone,The Bigfoot in Bed, World Wide Wabbit, For the Love of Acorns, The Game Is a Foot, The Grim Rabbit, The Wringer, White House Wabbit, Bugsbarian, Not Lyin’ Lion, Ice Ice Bunny, Wabbit’s Wild, All Belts Are Off, Wabbit’s Best Friend, Annoying Ex-Boydfriend, Bugs vs Snail, To Catch a Fairy, Bugs in the Garden, Scarecrow, Painter Paint Hare, The Spy Who Bugged Me, Hareplane Mode, Bugs of Steel, Big Troubles, Manner Maid, Bugsfoot, Grim on Vacation, Carrot Before the Horse, Trunk with Power, Snow Wabbit, Aromatherapist, Raising Your Spirits, Dust Bugster, Computer Bugs, Oils Well That Ends Well, Your Bunny or Your Life, Misjudgment Day, Splashwater Bugs, Fwee Wange Wabbit, Beaver Fever, Coyote.Rabbit.Squirrel, Pain & Treasure, Office Rocker, The Survivalist of the Fittest, The IMPoster, Bugs Over Par and Fast Feud.

 

The 5th Wave

In The 5th Wave, four waves of increasingly deadly attacks have left most of Earth decimated.

Against a backdrop of fear and distrust, Cassie (Chloë Grace Moretz) is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother. As she prepares for the inevitable and lethal 5th wave, Cassie teams up with a young man who may become her final hope – if she can only trust him.

Also starring Maggie Siff, Zackary Arthur, Ron Livingston, Nick Robinson, Talitha Bateman, Nadji Jeter, Alex Roe, Tony Revolori, Liev Schreiber, Maria Bello, Alex MacNicoll, and Maika Monroe.

Extras include commentary, featurettes and gag reel.

 

Independence Day: 20th Anniversary Edition / Ultimate Collector’s Edition

Experience the original Oscar-Winning sci-fi epic that launched a new era in blockbuster filmmaking.

Director Roland Emmerich, producer Dean Devlin and an all-star cast including Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman join forces to deliver the ultimate encounter between powerful aliens and the human race.

When massive spaceships appear in Earth’s skies and blast destructive beams of fire down on cities all over the planet, a determined band of survivors must unite for one last strike against the invaders before it’s the end of mankind.

Extras include special edition and original theatrical cuts, documentary, commentaries, and trivia track.  Ultimate Collector’s Edition includes limited edition alien ship replica and collectible booklet.

 

The Choice

Based on Nicholas Sparks’ best-selling novel, written for the screen by Bryan Sipe, and directed by Ross Katz, The Choice stars Benjamin Walker, Teresa Palmer, Maggie Grace, Alexandra Daddario, Tom Welling and Academy Award nominee Tom Wilkinson, in a touching love story that will make viewers laugh, cry, and wonder how far they would go to keep the hope of love alive.

Travis is a fun-loving, smooth-talking bachelor who’s never considered a serious relationship—until he falls hard for his beautiful new neighbor, Gabby.

But when fate threatens Travis and Gabby’s love, Travis must make a choice that will alter their lives forever in this unforgettably moving romance.

Extras include commentary, featurettes and deleted scenes.

Top Gun: 30th Anniversary Edition

Tom Cruise stars as Maverick, a talented training pilot in an elite U.S. school for fighter pilots. When he stumbles upon some MiG’s over the Persian Gulf, and his wingman panics, Maverick cleverly talks him through the situation to safety. Consequently, he is moved up in rank and sent to the Top Gun Naval Flying School.

There he has several conflicts with other students while trying to live up to his deceased father’s reputation. Unable to cope with the death of his best friend, and fellow pilot, Goose, Maverick contemplates dropping out, but follows through with his dream and ultimately becomes one of the “best of the best.”

Top Gun also stars Meg Ryan, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, Tom Skerritt and Michael Ironside.

Extras include commentary, making of, tv spots, interviews, featuretes, storyboards and music videos.

 

Remember

Remember tells the story of Zev Guttman (Academy Award Winner Christopher Plummer), a 90-year-old struggling with memory loss who is living out his final years in a serene retirement home.

A week following the death of his beloved wife Ruth, he suddenly gets a mysterious package from his close friend Max (Academy Award  Winner Martin Landau), containing a stack of money and a letter detailing a shocking plan.

Both Zev and Max were prisoners in Auschwitz, and the same sadistic guard was responsible for the death of both their families-a guard who, immediately after the war, escaped Germany and has been living in the U.S. ever since under an assumed identity.

Max is wheelchair-bound but in full command of his mental faculties; with his guidance, Zev will embark on a cross-continental road-trip to bring justice once and for all to the man who destroyed both their lives. Extras include commentary and featurettes.

 

Emelie

As their parents head out for a date in the city, the three young Thompson children immediately take to their new babysitter Anna (Sarah Bolger, Into the Badlands, Once Upon a Time), who seems like a dream come true: she’s sweet, fun, and lets them do things that break all of their parents’ rules.

But as Anna’s interactions with them take on a more sinister tone, the kids realize that their caretaker may not be who she claims to be, and soon it’s up to big brother Jacob to protect his siblings from the increasingly nefarious intentions of a very disturbed woman.

Featuring a tour-de-force performance from Bolger and its three young leads, Emelie is a multidimensional, nail-biting thriller that proves trust can be the most deadly of weapons. Extras include making of and trailers.

 

A Kiss Before Dying

He had looks, charm… and killer instinct! Beneath his clean-cut looks… was a cold-blooded killer. Robert Wagner (Hart to Hart, The Pink Panther) gambled with his clean-cut image to play the ruthless, conniving killer in this unrelenting thriller co-starring Jeffrey Hunter (The Searchers), Virginia Leith (Fear and Desire), Joanne Woodward (Three Faces of Eve), Robert Quarry (Madhouse), George Macready (Gilda) and Mary Astor (The Hurricane).

Based on the novel by suspense master Ira Levin (Rosemary’s Baby, The Stepford Wives), A Kiss Before Dying is riveting, sure-fire entertainment you can’t miss.

Wagner is Bud Corliss, a darkly handsome college boy so obsessed with wealth that he’d do anything to get it. When his rich girlfriend gets pregnant and is threatened with disinheritance, Bud stages her suicide, sending her plummeting from the roof of a high-rise.

It’s the perfect crime… until the dead girl’s sister begins to unravel Bud’s deadly scheme.

Beautifully shot in Cinemascope by the great Lucien Ballard (The Wild Bunch, The Killing) with top-notch direction by veteran Gerd Oswald (Crime of Passion).

 

Sharkansas Women’s Prison Massacre

Just when you thought it was safe to swim in the Arkansas Bayou…

When a fracking mishap accidentally rips apart the earth’s crust, the resulting hole opens up a gaping underground waterway leading to a vast and mysterious subterranean ocean somewhere deep below. Instantly, giant prehistoric sharks begin wending their way upward toward a murky bog in the heart of the Arkansas bayou.

Unfortunately for a group of female prisoners on a work detail in the swamp, the deadly sharks attack without warning – pinning a hapless group of potential victims in a small deserted cabin in the heart of the wetlands. For these wayward women, death may be the only means of escape! Get ready for a wild ride when Dominque Swain and Traci Lords come face to face with the deadliest prehistoric man-eaters nature has ever spawned.

Extras include commentary and gallery.

 

Brokenwood Mysteries, Series 2

After transferring from a big city to the small town of Brokenwood, Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd (Neill Rea) has settled into the relaxed rhythms of country life. His methodical young assistant, Detective Kristin Sims (Fern Sutherland), has adapted to Shepherd’s unconventional ways—and even tolerates listening to country music in his 1971 “classic” car.

Despite the growing accord between the mismatched pair, all is not well in Brokenwood, where passions simmering beneath the sleepy surface regularly erupt into gruesome crimes.

In these four feature-length mysteries, Shepherd and Sims contend with a potential serial killer, a group of egocentric thespians, a family of territorial fishermen, and the mysterious death of Shepherd’s favorite singer.

Filmed on location in New Zealand’s beautiful North Island, these engrossing mysteries boast compelling characters, dry humor, and piquant wit. Extras include featurette and gallery.

Includes the episodes:

• Leather and Lace: The Brokenwood Cheetahs are a local rugby team of legendary status. Their losing streak of 50 straight games has broken national records. So when their hapless coach, Arnie Langstone, is found dead – stripped naked and strapped to a goalpost – some think it might be blessing in disguise – perhaps now they might start winning again.  But amidst this DSS Mike Shepherd is perplexed by several other issues. Firstly, why was a pair of women’s underwear stuffed down Arnie’s throat? And what do the neatly embroidered initials ‘G.G.’ signify? But then a second body is discovered and Mike and his team are stretched to the limit. Is this the work of a serial killer or merely a puzzling co-incidence?
• To Die or Not to Die: When a young cast member of The Brokenwood Theatre Society collapses and dies at the end of a performance of Hamlet, the initial belief is that it was from natural causes. However, Mike detects there is ‘something rotten in the state of Brokenwood’ when he gets a whiff of a lethal poison. In doing so he uncovers a complex web of ego driven dissention amongst the troupe. Was Ben Faulkner expended to create opportunity for another young rising star? Or can his death be linked to the words of the Bard himself? And how did Jared end up playing the lead role? As Mike and his team investigate the hidden secrets of this curious group of thespians ‘To be or not to be’ takes on a whole new meaning.
• Catch of the Day: The bucolic coastal waters off Brokenwood support a thriving fishing industry. But when Jared discovers a severed human hand in a crayfish pot it appears to be harbouring something far more sinister. Who does the hand belong to and are they still alive? The finger is pointed at the Keely family; fishermen for generations who are very protective of their patch. But what about the deceased’s wife who was out at sea, out of cell phone range and out for a good time? And the volunteer fisheries officer seems to be a man who is doing God’s work as much as protecting the marine life. As Mike, Kristin and Breen set about fathoming the dark undercurrents of the coastal sea they will be surprised by what lies beneath.
• Blood Pink: Holly Collins is not only DSS Mike Shepherd’s favourite country musician she’s also playing in Brokenwood. Unfortunately it turns out to be her final gig. When she is found electrocuted it appears to be a rock’n’roll suicide. But then again it could have been a drunken accident – or, as Mike suspects, it is perhaps something less obvious. With a careless note scrawled in lipstick the only clue, Mike has to set aside his personal interest in the victim and strike the right note with Holly’s dysfunctional band members: Slim Fingers, Waylon Strings and Jesse James. But the more he finds out, the more he needs to know and the less he likes what he learns.

 

Steele Justice

You don’t recruit John Steele… You unleash him!

When the police needed someone to stop the Vietnamese Mafia, there was only one choice. The Vietnam War didn’t end for John Steele… it just changed locations. Martin Kove (The Karate Kid) stars as Steele, a battle-hardened, spirit-scarred vet unable to find his niche in mainstream America. But when Southern California’s drug-running Vietnamese mafia murders his best friend, Steele finds a new war to fight – and unleashes an action-packed array of blazing firepower and deadly finesse known as Steele Justice.

Written and directed by Robert Boris and featuring a top-notch cast that includes Sela Ward, Ronny Cox, Bernie Casey, Soon-Tek Oh, Peter Kwong, Al Leong, Jan Gan Boyd and Sarah Douglas.

 

Submerged

A limousine joyride goes berserk in this breathless, pulse-pounding thriller.

Jonathan Bennett stars as an ex-soldier turned bodyguard hired to protect a young woman. But while cruising with a group of friends one night, their stretch limo is run off the road and into the water by a gang of ruthless kidnappers — who then dive in to finish the job.

Suddenly it’s sink or swim, as the bodyguard must fight to keep the vehicle from becoming a watery grave.

This edge-of-your-seat thriller, directed by Steven C. Miller, also stars Cody Christian, Talulah Riley, Rosa Salazar, Tim Daly and Mario Van Peebles.

 

Assassination

The Secret Service has never been this lethal! Hard-hitting action, cross-country adventure and a government conspiracy that goes all the way to the top!

In this pulse-pounding political thriller, action superstar Charles Bronson (Mr. Majestyk) is at his rugged best as a man on a mission to protect the First Lady from ruthless assassins. When veteran Secret Service Agent Jay Killian (Bronson) is assigned to protect the president’s pampered and difficult wife (Jill Ireland, Breakheart Pass), he knows she will be a handful.

But what he doesn’t know is that assassins are out to kill her! Not only must Killian use his lethal experience to shield the First Lady from danger… he must also do it while tracing her would-be murderer to the highest office in the land!

From Peter Hunt, the director of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Shout at the Devil and Death Hunt.

 

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

Get Spots On With The First Superheroes Of Paris!

Marinette and Adrien live what appears to be a normal life – going to school and dealing with friends, family and growing up. But when the evil Hawk Moth threatens their beloved city of Paris, they transform into the superheroes Ladybug and Cat Noir, using super powers gained with the help of their magical pets! Hawk Moth is using his evil energy to transform normal people into super villains, so our two heroes need to use all their skills to defeat him!

And if that wasn’t enough for this super-powered pair to deal with, each of them also has a secret crush on the other… though neither knows the other’s secret identity! It will take a lot – friendship, teamwork and skill – to outwit Hawk Moth and keep Paris safe! Extras include animatics.

Featuring seven incredible episodes!

• The Bubbler: Armed with his magic bubbles sword, Nino becomes the Bubbler and plans to rid Paris of all the parents.
• Mr. Pigeon: When Mr. Ramier is akumatized as Mr. Pigeon, he gains the ability to communicate with birds and plans to turn Paris into a nature reserve for his bird friends.
• Stormy Weather: After losing a contest to become a TV host on a children’s channel, Aurore is transformed into Stormy Weather.
• Timebreaker: After Alix’s friends break her father’s priceless watch, she is akumatized into Timebreaker, traveling back in time to save the watch.
• Copycat: When Cat Noir becomes a burglary suspect, Ladybug must find a way to prove his innocence.
• The Pharaoh: When a young historian gets akumatized into the Pharaoh, he plans to bring an ancient Egyptian princess back to life by sacrificing Alya; Ladybug and Cat Noir must face an army of mummies.
• Lady Wifi: After being wrongfully suspended from school for one week, Alya is akumatized into Lady Wifi, a villain who will stop at nothing to expose Ladybug.

 

East Side Sushi

Single mom Juana can slice and dice anything with great speed and precision.

After working at a fruit-vending cart for years, she decides to take a job at a local Japanese restaurant, which provides security and benefits. Intrigued by the food, she learns to make a multitude of sushi on her own, fusing it with her own culture.

When she attempts to become a sushi chef, she is shut down since she is the “wrong” race and gender.

Against all odds, Juana embarks on a journey of self-discovery, determined to not let anyone stop her from achieving her dream.

Extras include deleted scenes and featurettes.

 

Deadpool

Based upon Marvel Comics’ most unconventional anti-hero, Deadpool tells the origin story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson, who after being subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopts the alter ego Deadpool.

Armed with his new abilities and a dark, twisted sense of humor, Deadpool hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life.

Extras include deleted/extended scenes, gag reel, featurettes, commentaries, and galleries.

Last Word: Let’s be honest, superhero movies haven’t always been good to us fans. Aside from the last installments of the X-Men and Marvel movies, we’ve had our intelligence insulted, our childhoods molested and our pride decimated. And that’s just Fantastic Four.

So when the Deadpool test footage starring Ryan Reynolds (an actor who made us cringe through Green Lantern and X-Men Origins where he played Deadpool) made its way online, we cheered with excitement, but we couldn’t help but wonder how the studio would manage to screw it up. It was a given, right? Deadpool has laughed in the face of my lowered expectations while doing a piss dance on my thoughts of uncertainty.

Things start off with a bang with opening credits that will have you laughing in your seat even before the movie starts. We find Wade Wilson, an ex-Special Forces operative who is now a sociopath working as a mercenary who spends his time outsmarting and beating teenage stalkers, exchanging in sarcastic banter, probably not bathing, and drinking at Sister Margaret’s Home for Wayward Girls, which is actually a dive bar for fellow mercenaries run by his best friend Weasel (T.J. Miller). Life is rather mundane until he meets the enigmatic prostitute, Vanessa Carlysle (Morena Baccarin), whose crazy matches his crazy to create a perfect circle of sex-crazed crazy. In between all the holiday “balls in holes” sarcasm and various nude shots, Wilson discovers he has stage four cancer. In light of the unfortunate news, Wilson discovers his inner Sweet November and spares Vanessa the pain of watching him die by abandoning her.

When all hope is lost, a mysterious recruiter (played by Jed Ress) makes Wilson an offer he can’t refuse… because there wouldn’t be much of a plot if he did. Wilson can either die of the cancer which is ravaging his body or undergo a torturous experiment performed by Ajax, a way-too sadistic scientist who has a panache for household cleaners. The experiments will either trigger his mutant gene and cure his cancer while unknowingly making him a slave to the secret program, or just kill him. The process goes on for weeks, but works with the small side effect of him looking like a walking sun-dried Freddy Krueger.

After discovering he has incredible healing abilities, Wade’s goal is to get his old body back, along with his girl and possibly a chimichanga or two. However, Wade has to find Ajax first as he happens to be the only person who can fix his pizza-like situation.

After donning various costumes and being gifted with the name of “Deadpool” by his friend Weasel, Wade spends his days stalking Vanessa, living with a blind woman who loves to build cabinets, and killing a ton of bad guys in his search for Ajax. All goes well until his plans are rudely interrupted by X-Men’s Colossus (Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) who, in a graphic yet downright hilarious battle that involves broken limbs and a severed hand, try to get Deadpool to join the mutant team.

Stripped down to its essence, Deadpool is anti-superhero packed in a straightforward revenge/love story. However, it’s also a redemption story for all comic book/superhero fans. True to the comics, Deadpool is just a “bad guy who gets paid to fuck people up.” Like the Deadpool character, it also happens to be refreshingly unique, action-packed and effortlessly funny.

The movie is true to the beloved comics, Deadpool breaks the fourth wall on many of occasions to provide commentary to the commentary, speak freely about about masturbation and defecation, drop random yet cleverly placed references to the Spin Doctors, The Matrix, Sinead O’Connor, Judy Blume’s Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, the Taken franchise, and much appreciated pop-culture references that pop into his bullet-filled head.

When watching the movie it’s easy to see why it had such a hard time getting made, despite studios over-saturating the superhero movie market. It’s truly unlike anything we’ve seen in this medium; Deadpool does not fall in the category of your sappy hero. There is no teenage angst or cookie-cutter happiness or black-and-white staleness. The beauty behind the movie is its freedom, it embraces the pure psychotic nature of Wade’s violence, brashness, and cocky attitude. Knowing that Deadpool will always heal, we see action sequences filled with gleeful ridiculousness that matches his cynicism.

The non-linear writing is fresh and crisply switches between past and present while serving as a much needed device to break up the true sadness of Wilson battling cancer and being tortured. However, the movie is nothing without Ryan Reynolds whose Deadpool story is his only chance at true redemption. By the first action sequence and joke told, the audience soon forgets the disrespectful horribleness that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Green Lantern and Blade: Trinity. This is the role he was born to play, not wasting a single moment to pass up the opportunity he fought for, he possesses the language, chemistry and bravado of the character.

The cast matches Reynolds’ perfection, with playful banter that feels like everyone is close friends off the set. Baccarin is kind and accepting while also a fighter, vulnerable and damaged. She is the ying to Reynolds’ yang. Miller, a master of ad-lib, is delightful as he bounces jokes effortlessly with Reynolds. Even newcomer Hildebrand as a goth X-Men-in-training is a delight onscreen, sending angry texts while trading blows with Gina Carano’s Angel Dust. Kapicic’s Colossus’, a towering menacing giant brings all heart and meaningful speeches which are ignored by Deadpool. Skrein, as Ajax and the butt of many Deadpool’s jokes, is deliciously evil as the man who feels no pain. Even smaller roles like Dopinder, a taxi driver and acquaintance, are able to keep with the zaniness of the movie, taking Deadpool’s words about love too much to heart.

Unlike other superhero adaptations, Deadpool was made for only $58 million dollars, but never felt like it went to waste. The visuals are stunning, as Miller’s background made the action sequences look and feel rich and creative. The choreographed acrobatics and hand-to-hand combat, swift gunplay, and katana-battles take full advantage of its R-rating – with carefully a crafted body count that is both satisfying and plentiful; further establishing the anti-hero nature of the character– but never making the violence uncomfortable and gratuitous.

Taking over five years for the script to be made, Deadpool is a love letter to fans. It’s time for a vivid, bad ass bright superhero movie that breaks out of the mundane paint-by-numbers adaptation. It opens the doors to relatable weird and quirky characters that we can root for while laughing out loud. Deadpool was worth every year; a multi-layered, flawed, funny character that opens the doors to many more like him. Today is a good day to be a comic book fan in an age where all is welcomed. (– Dana Abercrombie)

 

Where to Invade Next

Just when we need him most, America’s favorite political provocateur, Michael Moore, brings us his latest award-winning film, Where To Invade Next.

Honored by festivals and critics groups alike, Where To Invade Next is an expansive, hilarious, and subversive comedy/documentary in which the Academy Award-winning director confronts the most pressing issues facing America today and finds solutions in the most unlikely places.

The creator of Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine has returned with an epic movie that’s unlike anything he has done before – an eye-opening call to arms to re-capture the American Dream and restore it to, of all places, America.

Last Word: Despite the title, Where to Invade Next isn’t a military strategy guide, but rather a brilliant look at global routines in other civilized countries that the US could take a cue from.

Where to Invade Next is subversive documentarian and divisive liberal political pundit Michael Moore’s latest movie and his first film since 2009. Moore takes us around the globe to point the camera back at ourselves in a different light as he uses invasion as a metaphor for cafeteria style policy changes that we could use in the United States as a means for treating our citizens better.

Stylistically, the movie isn’t as aggressive or pushy as his other films. This one takes an already much described ‘kinder and gentler’ style as Moore visits these other countries to tackle everything from free health care to school lunches.

Where to Invade Next may just have enough style and grace to appeal to both sides of the aisle and at the very least get a conversation going about what changes would or could happen here at home for a better tomorrow.

The concept is simple; Moore ‘invades’ a number of foreign countries to plant an American flag on their turf (something we’ve been doing for hundreds of years) as he meets with and consults with regular people, policy makers, prison guards and ex-Presidents to see how things are done on the other side.

The movie starts in Italy, where a young couple of a police officer and clothes buyer regale Michael with their vacation schedule. Italians are given 85 days of vacation a year and that doesn’t include an extended maternity or paternity leave for parents, and also a 13th month of pay in December (what we may consider a Christmas bonus). Yes, all of these vacation days are paid time off, on top of the two hours of lunch with the family that these well-taken care of workers are allowed to take each day at their own homes.

As some of the Italian CEOs point out, a well rested, well taken care of worker gets sick less, has the energy to perform their job well and there is no conflict between the profit of the company and the welfare of the workers. Moore plants his first flag in the Ducati factory floor (with the first CEO of any company to meet Moore on a factory floor)!

Where to Invade Next invades many other countries and has a scathing look at our American school lunch programs by sitting down with some kids in France who are eating for an hour a day, almost as if lunch was a class where kids learn to share food and eat respectfully with one another, with a pitcher of water to wash down lamb kebabs, couscous, a cheese and flan for a meal that appeals to all senses.

Also on the school grounds in Finland, we hear of the dangers of our American teaching policy of teaching for standardized tests, as the Finnish kids are given 0-20 minutes of homework a day and are encouraged to spend the rest of their time socializing and playing with their friends. Finland focuses more on creativity and independence than we do in the States, and has the highest rated schools in the world.

Other countries invaded by Moore and his crew include Slovenia (free college), Germany (where they teach about the dangers of repeating the Holocaust daily and without covering anything up), Portugal (decriminalized drug use), Norway’s innovative prison system, and the dominance of female lead politics and board rooms in Iceland.

The point to be made about this film is that with given our resources, we could ourselves be nicer to our neighbors, our kids, our environment, our people of color and to our women if we adopted some of these smart tactics at home. It’s hard to pick a favorite invasion here but I’ve never wanted to live abroad as much as after seeing this movie!

This movie inspires, if not just inspires the discussion about how real change can happen in a short period of time. Let the detractors say that Moore picked some highlights of these global economies without pointing out some of the negatives in the—such as higher taxes in certain countries.

Higher taxes to sustain these lifestyles are absolute truth, but arguing against the documentary doesn’t help you understand the artful big picture he’s illustrating here. There are plenty of other countries in the world he could have focused on and invaded, like any Asian country for example, not expressed in the film, where schools are very highly rated (Japan) but students work harder than they do in the United States, are more stressed out, and kids go to school more days of the year, rather than less.

Some reviewers have called Where to Invade Next a more subversive film than his previous films and to that point I would more disagree than agree with that point.

What it is might be a more easy to digest film than his other more irritated works, and may be the spoonful of sugar for the mainstream to take a dose of the truths he is getting at, and more people can start to understand this liberal hero as he stands up to the man once again.

This time, he’s not pointing the microphone at the chair, he’s pointing it at all of us an asking “What are you going to do about things, here, now, and today to make it all better for all of us, not just yourself”? (– Clay N Ferno)

 

Regression

Minnesota, 1990. Detective Bruce Kenner (Ethan Hawke) investigates the case of young Angela (Emma Watson), who accuses her father, John Gray (David Dencik), of an unspeakable crime.

When John unexpectedly and without recollection admits guilt, renowned psychologist Dr. Raines (David Thewlis) is brought in to help him relive his memories and what they discover unmasks a horrifying nationwide mystery.

Extras include featurettes.

 

 

The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane

Growing up can be murder! Unusually bright thirteen-year-old Rynn (two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster, The Accused, Silence of the Lambs) lives in a big old house with her reclusive father… all alone.

Or does she?

When Rynn’s nosy landlady (Alexis Smith) and a lecherous neighbor (Martin Sheen, Apocalypse Now, Badlands) begin to suspect that this little girl is hiding a dark and dangerous secret, Rynn is determined to preserve her isolated existence at any cost especially if anyone dares to go down in the cellar.

A chilling and haunting cult classic, this razor-sharp story of suspense also stars Scott Jacoby (Bad Ronald) and stands as a chilling, unforgettable thriller loaded with twists and turns.

Extras include commentary, interview with Martin Sheen, conversation with Sheen and director Nicolas Gessner, and trailer.

 

Synchronicity

Daring physicist Jim Beale has invented a machine that can fold space-time and ruthless corporate tycoon Klaus Meisner will stop at nothing to get it.

When Jim uses the machine to tear open the fabric of the universe, a rare Dahlia appears from the future. But in order to keep the rights to his invention he must prove that it works by finding the flower’s identical match in the present. Jim soon discovers that the Dahlia lies in the hands of the mysterious Abby, who seduces him into revealing his secrets.

Convinced that she is in league with Klaus to take ownership of his life’s work, Jim travels back in time to stop the conspiracy before it can happen. But once in the past, Jim uncovers a surprising truth about Abby, the machine, and his own uncertain future.

Extras include commentary, interviews, music video and trailer.

 

You’ll Like My Mother

Why did they fear Francesca’s baby? Oscar winner Patty Duke stars in the tense and claustrophobic psychological thriller, You’ll Like My Mother.

When her husband is killed in Vietnam, Francesca Kinsolving (Duke) finds herself alone… and pregnant. She makes her way to Minnesota in order to meet her late husband’s mother, certain that she’ll be greeted with open arms.

But Francesca soon discovers that there may be more to the Kinsolving family than she ever imagined… and that this simple family reunion is only the beginning of a waking nightmare.

Rosemary Murphy, Richard Thomas, and Sian Barbara Allen (who was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance) also star.

Extras include new interviews, gallery and trailer.

 

Scream: The TV Series Season 1

Adapted from the late Wes Craven’s iconic film Scream, MTV’s popular teen slasher series, Scream: The TV Series starts as a YouTube video going viral, soon leads to problems for the teenagers of Lakewood and serves as the catalyst for a murder that opens up a window to the town’s troubled past.  A group of teens – with two old friends struggling to reconnect at its heart – become lovers, enemies, suspects, targets and victims of an assassin who’s out for blood.

Features today’s hottest young actors including Bella Thorne (The DUFF), Willa Fitzgerald (For the Love of a Dog), Bex Taylor-Klaus (The Last Witch Hunter), Carlson Young (Premature), and Jason Wiles (“Third Watch”).

Extras include gag reel, deleted scenes and gallery.

Episodes include:

• Pilot: The murder of a high school student stirs memories of a similar slaying that took place twenty years prior in the small town of Lakewood.
• Hello, Emma.: Another teen’s death raises questions and causes yet another rift between Emma and Audrey. A provocative podcaster shows up to report on the town’s murders, past and present.
• Wanna Play a Game?: Emma learns that her mother has been keeping more secrets just as the Killer challenges her to a dangerous game.
• Aftermath: Emma receives a mysterious message leading her and Audrey in search of answers.
• Exposed: After a scandalous video leak, Emma discovers a heartbreaking secret.
• Betrayed: Emma learns that the new prime suspect in the Lakewood murders is someone close to her.
• In the Trenches: Emma races against the clock to save a friend from the Killer’s dangerous game of hide and seek.
• Ghosts: Emma reels from another death and uncovers a new secret from the past.
• The Dance: Emma doubts that the real Killer has been caught, so she teams up with Piper to find answers at the big Halloween Dance.
• Revelations: Emma races to save another loved one and finally finds out the Killer’s identity.

 

The Jim Gaffigan Show: Season 1

Inspired by Jim Gaffigan’s real life, The Jim Gaffigan Show explores one man’s struggle to find a balance between fatherhood, stand-up comedy and an insatiable appetite.

Gaffigan stars as a fictionalized version of himself as a stand-up comedian raising five children in a two-bedroom New York City apartment. The series also features an outstanding supporting cast including Ashley Williams, Michael Ian Black, and Adam Goldberg.

The hilarious first season includes guest appearances by Alec Baldwin, Matthew Broderick, Macaulay Culkin, John Mulaney, Gilbert Gottfried, Janeane Garofalo, Hannibal Buress, Jimmy Fallon, Judah Friedlander, Chris Rock and more.

Includes the episodes:

• Pilot: Pilot episode introducing Jim, his family, and friends as he struggles to find balance between fatherhood, comedy, and food.
• Super Great Daddy Day: While running errands for Jeannie, Jim mixes up his son’s drawing with his daughter’s school application. The Gaffigans now have to sit through their daughter’s school interview hoping that no one caught
• Red Velvet If You Please: Jim tries to stop eating junk food and is then faced with his greatest challenge: a child’s birthday cake. A hungover Dave goes with Jim to a kid’s birthday party where unbeknownst to him, he is mistaken as a homeless man.
• A Night at the Plaza: Jim plans a romantic anniversary that includes a Broadway show and stay at The Plaza hotel. The night is interrupted by visits from Daniel, Dave, Dave’s girlfriend and her jealous ex. Not quite the anniversary Jim had planned.
• In the Name of the Father: Jim and Jeannie agree to have dinner with Daniel and his father Art to serve as buffers in their tense father/son relationship. After finishing dinner Dave joins the group for their wild night.
• Go Shorty, It’s Your Birthday: Jeannie swears that she wants no celebration or present for her birthday. Jim obeys and celebrates Dave’s birthday instead. Jim learns the hard way that sometimes women still want to be celebrated even if they say otherwise.
• My Friend the Priest: Jim has finally been asked to do “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.” Jeannie, trying to make a friendship happen between Jim and their Priest Father Nicholas, invites him to tag along. An already nervous Jim is not pleased.
• Superdad: “Time Out New York” features Jim on its cover, calling him “Superdad.” Jeannie is happy for him, but upset that the article leaves out any mention of her. Jim tries to make things right.
• The Bible Story: Jim stops to pick up a Bible for Jeannie on the way to do stand up. Jim is now stuck carrying around a massive Bible and the paparazzi snap a photograph. The photo creates a media frenzy about Jim’s faith.
• Maria: Jeannie’s baby sister Maria visits. Despite Jim and Jeannie’s best attempts to keep them apart, Dave and Maria arrange a date. Jeannie decides to follow Maria and Dave to spy on their date, and ends up on a wild goose chase.
• Wonderful: Jim turns down a show in Australia since he can’t leave his family. Now his kids who just had the flu have lice. At wits’ end, Jim wishes that he never got married and had kids. He quickly learns to be careful what you wish for.

 

Bob Hope: Entertaining the Troops

The legendary Bob Hope, one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century, was best known for his Christmas specials. Traveling with special guests, he visited US troops in dozens of locations around the world, performing on battleships and battlefields — and sometimes even accompanied by the sound of fighter jets overhead. His missions were often dangerous, his schedule brutal, yet for thousands of servicemen and women far from home there was no one like Hope for the holidays.

Bob Hope: Entertaining the Troops features three TV Christmas Specials: a rare, never-before-released 1951 special from The Korean War Era , along with shows from 1970 and 1971 – two of the most-watched shows in TV history! Featuring Hope’s hilarious monologues and guest stars aplenty, these shows prove that laughter is truly the best medicine, regardless of the time zone or terrain.

Includes:

• The Bob Hope Christmas Special: Around the World with the USO (Original Airdate: January 15, 1970) — Hope and company embark on another Christmas tour to entertain the troops, starting with a send-off from the White House. The 16-day tour then continues through Germany, Italy, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Guam, and on-board the USS Ranger and the USS Sanctuary. Highlights include Neil Armstrong, recently back from his historic moon walk, answering questions from the service members, and Connie Stevens singing the “Wedding Bell Blues” to four service members named Bill.
• The Bob Hope Christmas Special: Around the Globe with the USO (Original Airdate: January 14, 1971) — Hope visits U.S. military bases to entertain the troops and bring them Christmas cheer, starting with rehearsals at West Point and with stops in England, Germany, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Alaska, and to the USS John F. Kennedy in the Mediterranean, and the USS Sanctuary in the South China Sea. Highlights include Hope and Lola Falana doing a song and dance, Hope trading zingers with Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench, plus a routine with Ursula Andress, Gloria Loring and Miss World Jennifer Hosten.
• Chesterfield Sound Off Time (Airdate: December 23, 1951) – This rare, never-before-released special was filmed during the Korean War aboard the aircraft carrier the USS Boxer. Highlights include Hope and Connie Moore crooning “I Wanna Go Home (With You)”, the Nicholas Brothers performing their acrobatic style of tap dancing, and Hope, in an extended comedy sketch, taking command of the ship and sailing it on a secret mission.

 

The Witch

In this exquisitely made and terrifying new horror film, the age-old concepts of witchcraft, black magic and possession are innovatively brought together to tell the intimate and riveting story of one family’s frightful unraveling in the New England wilderness circa 1630.

Upon threat of banishment by the church, an English farmer leaves his colonial plantation, relocating his wife and five children to a remote plot of land on the edge of an ominous forest – within which lurks an unknown evil.

Strange and unsettling things begin to happen almost immediately – animals turn malevolent, crops fail, and one child disappears as another becomes seemingly possessed by an evil spirit.

With suspicion and paranoia mounting, family members accuse teenage daughter Thomasin of witchcraft, charges she adamantly denies.

As circumstances grow more treacherous, each family member’s faith, loyalty and love become tested in shocking and unforgettable ways. Writer/director Robert Eggers’ debut feature, which premiered to great acclaim at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival – winning the Best Director Prize in the U.S. Narrative Competition – painstakingly recreates a God-fearing New England decades before the 1692 Salem witch trials, in which religious convictions tragically turned to mass hysteria. Told through the eyes of the adolescent Thomasin – in a star-making turn by newcomer Anya Taylor-Joy – and supported by mesmerizing camera work and a powerful musical score, The Witch is a chilling and groundbreaking new take on the genre. Extras include commentary, featurette, Q & A and gallery.

Last Word: Robert Eggers’ Sundance sensation The Witch is a remarkable debut, but does it live up to the fantastic hype?

Well, yes and no. The buzz is overwhelming at this point, so it’s bound to disappoint if you’re expecting The Greatest Horror Film of All Time. But you’ve likely never seen anything quite like it before. Even if you finish watching the film with a vague feeling of “Is that all there is?” you won’t regret seeing this uniquely haunting film.

Eggers’ debut is about a family in 1630 New England who leaves their settlement after the stern patriarch William (Ralph Ineson) clashes with the religious elders. Refusing to yield to the majority, he takes his family – wife Katherine (Kate Dickie), eldest daughter Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), son Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw), young twins Mercy and Jonas (Ellie Grainger and Lucas Dawson), and baby Samuel – to an isolated spot where they try to eke out a living on the edge of a forbidding forest.

Soon enough, things start going terribly wrong.

The crops won’t grow, but much more disastrously, baby Samuel disappears in Thomasin’s care. Katherine grows increasingly despondent and can’t help blaming her daughter. Their desperate, near-starvation existence adds a note of hysteria to the growing mistrust among family members: William is keeping secrets from his wife and the twins spend most of their time talking to the family’s rambunctious goat, Black Phillip, which strikes Thomasin as odd and maybe even a little sinister.

With William’s strict teachings to his children that they are all born full of sin, any little transgression is regarded as proof of their sinfulness. In this kind of atmosphere, it’s no surprise that the children willfully play at forbidden games and joke about which one of them might be a witch. Or that Caleb had a crush on his older sister Thomasin since she’s very pretty and there are no other girls for miles.

When yet another tragedy strikes, the jokes become actual accusations and watching the family turn on each other is horrific enough in its own way. Taylor-Joy is fantastic as Thomasin, who as the eldest, has the most pressure put upon her. As the intimidating father, Ineson is also terrific, although as the film begins, his thick English accent and old-fashioned way of speaking is hard to follow at first.

This is one of those horror films that’s at it’s strongest when it focuses on the toxic family dynamic, rather than something “out there” that’s trying to destroy them. It’s only when the film veers sharply and undeniably into the supernatural that the film falters. What was best implied or hinted at is almost laughable when portrayed explicitly.

You may not find the sudden switch in the film’s tone as jarring as I did and you may even applaud the over-the-top ending. But, honestly, would we be talking about the movie at all without that utterly demented finale? Whatever else you want to say about it, it’s the most memorable movie ending in years.

Even though I was underwhelmed with The Witch, I’ll watch whatever Eggers does next. He’s signed on to direct a remake of the classic silent horror film Nosferatu, and I’m very interested to see what he’ll do with it. Werner Herzog put his own compelling stamp on the vampire film and Eggers certainly has the potential to do so as well. (– Sharon Knolle)

 

Dirty Grandpa

Jason Kelly (Zac Efron) is one week away from marrying his boss’s uber-controlling daughter, putting him on the fast track for a partnership at the law firm.

However, when the straight-laced Jason is tricked into driving his foul-mouthed grandfather, Dick (Robert De Niro), to Daytona for spring break, his pending nuptials are suddenly in jeopardy. Between riotous frat parties, bar fights, and an epic night of karaoke, Dick is on a quest to live his life to the fullest and bring Jason along for the ride.

Ultimately, on the wildest journey of their lives, “dirty” Grandpa and his uptight grandson discover they can learn from one another and form the bond they never had.

Dirty Grandpa also stars Dermot Mulroney, Jason Mantzoukas, Aubrey Plaza, Julianne Hough and Zoey Deutch.

Extras include commentary, featuettes and gag reel.

 

Mr Selfridge: Season 4

After nearly 20 years of setting trends and pushing traditions, Selfridge’s is still going strong as the triumph of London’s Oxford Street.

But Harry (Jeremy Piven)’s potentially dangerous appetite for entertainment and women, while always a problem, has reached its peak.

Now, he struggles to keep the reins of the store he loves, in the face of old troubles, new opportunities, and unsettled scores. Katherine Kelly returns to the series to play alluring and enterprising socialite Lady Mae. The dashing Sacha Dhawan  also joins the cast as young entrepreneur Jimmy Dillon. New arrivals Emma Hamilton and Zoe Richards, play the infamous Dolly sisters—the sensational, ground-breaking performers who contributed to Harry’s fall from grace.  The Selfridge’s colorful staff returns, including Amanda Abbington as Miss Mardle, Tom Goodman-Hill as Mr. Grove, Ron Cook as Mr. Crabb, Trystan Gravelle as Victor Colleano, and others.

Extras include featurettes.

Includes the episodes:

• Episode 1: It’s 1928 and nine years on, retail magnate Harry is enjoying his time at the heart of the Roaring Twenties. In store, while about to unveil a new monument he receives a very special visitor – though a later accident places his role at the helm in jeopardy. Elsewhere, Mr Grove celebrates his birthday in the company of his now 19-year-old daughter Meryl, and store favourite Kitty Edwards is keen to show off her luxurious new abode – while her sister Connie has some exciting news.
• Episode 2: After his accident Selfridge is annoyed with his son Gordon whom the newspapers report is taking over. Returning to the store he upsets Mae when he insists the Dolly Sisters take part in the promotion of her fashion wear. Selfridge opens a new technology department. Mae takes on a black seamstress. Mr Grove’s daughter upsets the customers on her first day. Kitty and Frank Edwards come to terms with Connie’s news. Tragedy once again strikes Selfridge when he returns home to find his mother, Lois dead in the chair, having died in her sleep.
• Episode 3: Despite the loss of his mother Selfridge continues gambling and womanising particularly with Rosie Dolly. He embarks on a dubious cash raising scheme on the stock exchange with new found friend Jimmy Dillon. This infuriates Gordon as it involves the provincial stores that he had built up. Kitty Hawkins meets her heroine Elizabeth Arden who offers her a job in New York that does not please her husband. Mr Grove has a fall, to be told by doctors he has a terminal illness.
• Episode 4: Pleased with the money he has made on the stock exchange Selfridge acquires new stores on the continent announcing it in Biarritz at party with his friend Jimmy Dillon, the Dolly Sisters, and journalists that he has flown over. Mae meets him there to implore him to make peace with his son Gordon. The party gets out of hand and Frank Edwards unable to control events and a story concerning Rosalie Selfidge’s marriage is published. Miss Mardle on hearing of his health returns to see Mr Grove. The Dolly sisters become involved in a film project but the backers pull out and Selfridge bankrolls the film with money he had intended to pay off his gambling debts to London gangster D’Ancona.
• Episode 5: The ground floor of the department store is transformed into a film set as the Dolly Sisters and famed-actor Bumby Wallace shoot “Double Trouble”. Miss Mardle is reconciled with Mr Grove and his children. Kitty comes to realise what happened in France between Frank and another journalist. Mae reconnects with old-flame Victor Colleano, to Jimmy’s annoyance, at Selfridge’s party for the completion of the film. D’Ancona sends Selfridge a message as the party is in full swing.
• Episode 6: Selfridge’s debts to D’Ancona come home to roost when his inability to pay starts to affect his family. Rosalie has her possessions taken and Gordon has to sell the Northern stores through a deal Jimmy Dillon has brokered. Selfidge ends his relationship with the Dolly sisters. Mr Grove and Miss Mardle are married. Frank tells Kitty she should take the job in New York offered by Elizabeth Arden. Jimmy Dillon jealous of Victor Colleano’s rekindled friendship with Mae results in a fight and Colleano falling from a balcony.
• Episode 7: Kitty Edwards leaves for her new job in New York and after seeking advice from Selfridge, Frank goes with her. Gordon Selfridge resolves a law suit between his father and press baron Lord Wynnstay. Meryl Grove pleads for Mae’s black seamstress who has been given extra work and ends up sacking her. Selfridge’s consolidation plans are put on hold when he agrees to Jimmy Dillon’s scheme to buy iconic Bayswater store Whiteleys. Lord Wynnstay’s reporter finds a connection between Colleano, Selfridge, D’Ancona and Jimmy Dillon.
• Episode 8: Whiteleys accounts prove a problem to Selfridge. Mr Crabb inspects the books – and finds suppliers unpaid and no stock in the store. Mr Grove retires, is retained as a consultant to Whiteleys – but is unable to fulfil this commitment, dying peacefully in his garden. Mae reinstates her seamstress Tilly Brockless after Meryl Grove pleads her case. Selfridge comes up with plan to restock Whiteleys. Lord Wynnstay’s reporter’s investigation unsettles Mae.
• Episode 9: Jimmy Dillon struggles to run Whiteleys as suppliers refuse to lift their embargo. He hatches a secret plan with a reluctant Crabb to save the store. Miss Mardle struggles with the children’s and her own grief and Mr Crabb offers a solution. Connie Towler goes into labour. Lord Wynnstay’s exposé of Dillon comes to a head and he confesses to Selfridge who feels his trust betrayed by him and Mae who had her suspicions.
• Episode 10: March 1929. Jimmy Dillon’s final act leaves Selfridge shaken and Gordon struggling to hold things together. Mae leaves for Paris. He returns to the store and promotes Miss Mardle to deputy manager and his attempt to woo the supplies backfires when the embargo is extended to Selfridge’s. Gordon approaches the main shareholder Civic Assurance, and brokers a deal to save the store who agree as long as Selfridge stands down. Mr Crabb also retires. On the 20th anniversary Selfridge leaves the store to be met by Mae.

 

THE DAMNED: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead

Filmed around the globe over three years, and world-premiered at SXSW 2015, THE DAMNED: Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead tells the story of the third prong in the holy trinity of U.K. punk. In advance of both the Sex Pistols and the Clash, The Damned was the first U.K. punk band to release a single (1976’s immortal “New Rose”), the first to release an album (’77’s frenetic Damned Damned Damned), and the first to tour America (planting their flag at CBGB in April 1977). Now in their 39th year, The Damned are the only band from London’s 1976 Punk Rock Big Bang still touring the world today.

In addition to Damned founders Captain Sensible, Dave Vanian, Rat Scabies and Brian James, the film includes appearances by such one-time bandmates as The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, Mick Jones (The Clash) and Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, as well as such rock and/or punk luminaries as Nick Mason (Pink Floyd), Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols), Steve Diggle (Buzzcocks), JJ Burnel (The Stranglers), Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode), Billy Idol, Ian MacKaye (Minor Threat/Fugazi), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Keith Morris (Black Flag/Circle Jerks/OFF!), Dexter Holland (The Offspring), Jack Grisham (T.S.O.L.), and more.

Taking its name from the title-track of the Damned’s 1979 album, Machine Gun Etiquette, the film charts the band’s unique history, bitter infighting and legendary bad behavior (drummer Scabies is blamed for creating punk’s “gobbing,” or spitting, phenomenon); it takes viewers into the toilets once scrubbed by Captain Sensible and viewers follow the Damned on their world-wide 35th anniversary tour in 2011 — with estranged band founders Scabies and James seen on screen answering that trek with a snarling celebration of their own. In a bizarre twist of fate, other former members find themselves being treated for the same form of cancer by the same doctor in the same Welsh cancer ward; elsewhere, the band’s founding members are seen grappling with their legacy, and the fallout from missed and/or bungled business decisions that have kept them painfully working class for most of the past four decades. Extras include featurettes.

 

Candy

Candy Christian (Ewa Aulin) is an innocent yet luscious high school student and when fate sends her on a far-out journey of sexual discovery – Candy on her trippy travels, encounters lust and lunacy at the hands of a drunken poet (Richard Burton), a Mexican gardener (Ringo Starr), a patriotic general (Walter Matthau), a mad surgeon (James Coburn), and a mystic guru (Marlon Brando).

Can the world’s most stalwart members get their own sweet piece of Candy?

Or will a final freaky twist swallow her whole forever?

John Astin, Charles Aznavour, John Huston, Elsa Martinelli, Florinda Bolkan, Anita Pallenberg, Enrico Maria Salerno and boxing legend Sugar Ray Robinson co-star in this notoriously sexy ’60s satire, featuring music by The Byrds and Steppenwolf and based on the novel by Terry Southern (Easy Rider) and Mason Hoffenberg that scandalized the decade!

Screenplay by the great Buck Henry (The Graduate) and directed by actor Christian Marquand (Of Flesh and Blood). Extras include interview with Buck Henry, interview with Kim Morgan, trailer, and radio spots.

 

I Saw What You Did

It starts as a game…and there’s no end in FRIGHT!

A simple prank call turns into a night of person-to-person terror in I Saw What You Did, a movie that dials up the suspense!

Teenagers Libby and Kit have found a new way to entertain themselves: by calling up random strangers and tormenting them with a warning: “I saw what you did, and I know who you are.”

But when a man who has recently murdered his wife becomes their latest victim, the tables are quickly turned… and this wrong number may mean that their number is up!

Joan Crawford (What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?, Trog) and John Ireland (Terror Night) are among the stars in this chiller produced and directed by the great William Castle (The Tingler, House On Haunted Hill).

Extras include trailer and gallery.

 

Hired To Kill

Starring legendary actors Oliver Reed (Gladiator, The Brood) and George Kennedy (The Delta Force and the Naked Gun series), Hired to Kill is a hugely entertaining action flick featuring guns, girls and a plethora of budget-busting explosions for good measure.

Action movie staple Brian Thompson (whose brief turn in 1984’s The Terminator led to a starring role in the 1986 Sylvester Stallone vehicle Cobra) stars as Frank Ryan, a mercenary sent to track down a rebel leader in hostile territory.

Posing as a fashion designer, he’ll be aided by a posse of beautiful – but deadly – women.

Whilst the opportunity to see Oliver Reed chewing up the scenery behind an elaborate moustache merits the price of admission alone, Hired to Kill is also noteworthy as being co-directed by Nico Mastorakis – the man behind such cult favourites as Island of Death and The Zero Boys.

Extras include commentary, interviews, trailer, gallery and booklet.

 

Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?

This cerebral, quirky comedy explores midlife crisis through a rock-music composer’s perspective.

Screen legend Dustin Hoffman (The Graduate) plays a neurotic songwriter at the peak of his career, can’t seem to love anybody – least of all himself. He becomes increasingly depressed as his delusional paranoia – fueled by a mysterious stranger who has been bad-mouthing him.

Even his therapist (Jack Warden, The Verdict) can’t seem to help. However, when he meets the eccentric, aspiring actress (Barbara Harris, The War Between Men and Women), he realizes it’s his last chance for true love.

For his role as the prolific singer-songwriter, Hoffman performed live (in character) with Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show at the iconic rock palace, Fillmore East, in New York City. Comedy great Dom DeLuise (Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie) co-stars in this cult classic directed by Ulu Grosbard (True Confessions). Barbara Harris was nominated for a 1972 Best Supporting Academy Award for her wonderful performance.

 

For Men Only / School for Sex

Before becoming the director of some of British cinema’s most gruesome horror films (such as Frightmare, Schizo, and The Flesh and Blood Show), Pete Walker was a pioneer of the distinctively British sexploitation genre known as “slap and tickle”.

As the codes of censorship began to relax in the mid-1960s, Walker was among the first entrepreneurs brazen enough to cater to the public’s appetite for sexploitation, first as a burlesque club comedian, then as a producer of 8mm stag films (visually stark and gritty, but relatively tame by today’s standards).

Eventually, Walker made the transition to theatrical films, and his long and tumultuous career as a director was set in motion.

For Men Only explores the naughty goings-on behind the scenes at the Puritan Magazine Group, a family-friendly publishing company that hides a tantalizing secret.

In School for Sex – a smash hit when it appeared on the screens in London’s West End – a wealthy playboy (Derek Aylward) opens a finishing school for devious young women. This edition presents the standard UK cut, as well as a sampling of more explicit nude scenes intended for release in more sexually liberated markets.

Extras include interview documentary, rare nudie films, School for Sex trailer and alternate footage.

 

Killer Force (The Diamond Mercenaries)

In this edge-of-the-seat action thriller, Telly Savalas (TV’s Kojak) plays Harry Webb a ruthless security mastermind for an international diamond syndicate trying to stop the disappearance of millions of dollars worth of gems from a South African mine.

Peter Fonda (92 in the Shade) is Webb’s deputy, Mike Bradley, who has begun to realize how bloodthirsty his boss really is. With his girlfriend, Clare (Maud Adams, Octopussy), Bradley joins up with some ex-mercenaries, Major Chilton (Christopher Lee, The Oblong Box), John Lewis (Hugh O’Brian, Ambush Bay) and ‘Bopper’ Alexander (O.J. Simpson, Firepower) to plan a million-to-one-odds diamond heist.

But Webb is keeping heavy surveillance on all happenings and nothing will stop him from destroying everyone involved.

Top-notch direction by the great Val Guest (The Quatermass Xperiment, The Day the Earth Caught Fire).

 

Dementia

A disabled war veteran is in bad hands when his family hires the live-in nurse from hell in this intense psychological shocker.

George (Gene Jones of The Hateful Eight and The Sacrament) is an aging ex-soldier haunted by memories of Vietnam and struggling to reconnect with his estranged son and granddaughter.

But when he suffers a stroke and is diagnosed with dementia, George is left in the care of Michelle (Halloween‘s Kristina Klebe), a seemingly sweet nurse with a disturbing dark side.

At the mercy of a psychopath with a hypodermic needle, George becomes a prisoner in his own home, caught in a sadistic game of cat and mouse as brutal as anything he experienced in Vietnam.

In his feature debut, director Mike Testin masterfully keeps the tension mounting – until it explodes in delirious violence

 

Power Rangers: Ninja Sentai Kakuranger: The Complete Series

Before Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, There Was Super Sentai!

See where the worldwide phenomenon began with the original Japanese series that inspired the Power Rangers franchise!

It’s been a long time since the great war between the Three God Generals and the Youkais, an ancient race of monstrous spirits.

Since then, imprisoned in a cave protected by the mystical Seal Door, their leader Daimaou and his Youkai army wait, planning for the day they can finally strike.

That day has arrived and it is up to the Kakurangers, along with the Three God Generals, to defeat the Youkais, before Daimaou’s villainy destroys Earth!

 

Angie Tribeca: Season 1

From executive producers Steve (The Office) and Nancy Carell (The Office), Angie Tribeca follows a squad of committed LAPD detectives who investigate the most serious cases.

At the center is Angie Tribeca, a lone-wolf detective played by Rashida Jones.  Hayes MacArthur is her partner, Jay Geils. Jere Burns plays the squad’s apoplectic lieutenant. Helping solve each complex case are detective Danny Tanner, played by Deon Cole; Dr. Monica Scholls, the brilliant, bespectacled medical examiner played by Andrée Vermeulen; and detective David Hoffman, Tanner’s K9 German Shepard partner played by Jagger.

Guest stars include Lisa Kudrow, Gary Cole, James Franco, Adam Scott, Jeff Dunham, Sarah Chalke, John Michael Higgins, David Koechner, Amy Smart, Keegan-Michael Key, Bill Murray, Cecily Strong, Gene Simmons, Danny Trejo and Ryan Hansen.

Extras include featurettes.

Episodes include:

• Pilot: Angie Tribeca is assigned a new partner, Jay Geils, to find the mayor’s blackmailer and bring him to justice.
• The Wedding Planner Did It: Tribeca tracks down a baker’s murderer before anyone else gets hurt.
• The Famous Ventriloquist Did It: Tribeca delves into the salacious world of American ventriloquism to investigate a murder.
• The Thumb Affair: Tribeca and Geils search high and low for a missing priceless work of art.
• Commissioner Bigfish: Tribeca and Geils poke around into a prostitution ring, but the lieutenant is afraid of what they might uncover and orders them to stop.
• Ferret Royale: Illegal pet ferrets are leaking into California, so Tribeca and Geils follow a trail that leads them to a high stakes poker game.
• Tribeca’s Day Off: Ordered to take a day off, Tribeca dabbles in civilian life, while Tanner and Geils solve a murder on a golf course.
• Murder in the First Class: Another dead passenger arrives at LAX, so the gang goes undercover aboard an airplane to catch the killer in the act.
• Inside Man: A band of British gangsters robs another bank, and after Tribeca and Geils infiltrate the gang, they somehow get stuck in prison.
• The One with the Bomb: Tribeca will stop at nothing to save a kidnapped Geils before time runs out.

 

Cop Rock: The Complete Series

Part singing.
Part dancing.
All COP.

Steven Bochco (Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue) brings you another bold take on the police procedural genre with the provocative and notorious Cop Rock.

Combining the gritty, character-driven drama Bochco fans expect with the pulsating rock and show-stopping grandeur of musical theatre (including songs composed by Grammy, Emmy, and Oscar winner Randy Newman), Cop Rock followed the lives of detectives and officers who didn’t just walk the beat… but had the slick moves to keep the beat as well!

Cop Rock is finally on DVD – a cause for both celebration and a long-overdue reappraisal of a series that has been called one of the most unusual programs of all time. Reopen the investigation today on one of television’s most talked-about series: Cop Rock.

Extras include interviews, text commentary on pilot and printable press kit.

 

CAROL + 2: The Original Queens of Comedy

Carol Burnett was born ready for prime time, but the last major step before The Carol Burnett Show began its incredible run in 1967 occurred a year earlier.

CBS promised Burnett her own special, provided she could deliver a major star for the show. She phoned Lucille Ball and the rest is history.

CAROL + 2 aired in 1966, uniting two zany redheads with the always unpredictable Broadway dynamo Zero Mostel for an hour of comedy and song.

From Carol’s familiar earlobe-tug gesture to comic sketches and musical numbers and a rousing finale, you’ll get a clear snapshot of things to come for Burnett. Carol’s wedding anniversary sketch with Mostel points to future marital angst moments with Harvey Korman.

She offers a variation of her beloved Charwoman character when she and Lucy clean up at the William Morris Agency as imaginary “charwomen of the board” of showbiz central, finishing with a duet on the spirited Chutzpah. (This was the second televised appearance of the Charwoman, who became a staple of the series and icon of its animated opening. The first, included here in a bonus sketch, was on Carol’s 1963 special, Carol & Company.)

Also on this jam-packed DVD is the 1972 CBS television movie version of Once Upon a Mattress, in which Carol reprises her 1959 Tony-nominated Broadway debut role as Princess Winnifred the Woebegone. Joining her are Ken Berry, Bernadette Peters and Jack Gilford, all of whom (in addition to Lucille Ball) would guest star on The Carol Burnett Show multiple times over its eleven seasons. The Burnett legacy represents a vital part of broadcast history, and these special performances illustrate why she remains an entertainment phenomenon for all time.

 

The Winding Stream

The Winding Stream tells the tale of the musical Carter and Cash families, the dynasty at the heart of country music.

Starting with the Original Carter Family – A.P. Carter, his wife Sara and sister-in-law Maybelle – this film traces the flow of their influence through generations of musicians, the transformation of that act into the Carter Sisters and Mother Maybelle, the marriage of Johnny Cash and June Carter, and the efforts of the present-day family to keep this musical legacy alive.

It is an epic saga and one that’s never been told in its entirety on film.

The film, from award-winning director and musician Beth Harrington (of Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers) tells these stories and others through narrator-less interviews.

The story is punctuated with studio performances by celebrated roots music practitioners like Johnny and June Carter Cash, George Jones, Rosanne Cash, Sheryl Crow, Kris Kristofferson and others. The film’s goal is to illuminate the foundation-forming history of this multigenerational musical family. Country music would not be what it is without them.

The families has bridged styles, genres and generations, and it’s no exaggeration to say there would have been no folk revival in the ’60s without the Carters, no country-rock bands in the ’70s, and no alt-country hipsters in our present era.

 

The Red Skelton Show: The Early Years, 1951-1955

The incomparable Red Skelton returns to America’s living rooms in The Red Skelton Show: The Early Years, 1951-1955!

This amazing ninety-episode collection is a perfect showcase for Red’s indisputable comic genius as well as a delightful journey back to the Golden Age of Television.

Throughout Red’s incredible run on network television, his parade of classic characters, including Clem Kadiddlehopper, Cauliflower McPugg, Willie Lump Lump, and Freddie The Freeloader, had audiences at home and in the studio rolling with laughter.

A gaggle of guest stars and musical acts joined in the fun on a weekly basis, cementing Red’s reputation as one of America’s most beloved comedians.

In this specially selected collection, drawn from the Red Skelton vault exclusively by Timeless Media Group, generations of fans can experience the pleasures of these classic episodes, many never before seen on DVD. Featuring appearances by a legion of Hollywood legends (including Jackie Gleason, Johnny Carson, Diahann Carroll, John Wayne and many more), The Red Skelton Show: The Early Years, 1951-1955 is a fabulous opportunity to enjoy one of America’s pioneering comedians at the top of his game.

Extras include bonus episodes, dress rehersal and biography.

 

The Nasty TERRIBLE T-KID 170: Julius Cavero

T-KID is recognized as being one of few, who have left their mark on the history of graffiti. He came up in the golden age of Hip Hop and became one of the leading figures in the emerging New York graffiti scene.

Few artists today can tell a tale like his; a ghetto childhood, gang banging and daring feats of graffiti.

His work, featured in the book Subway Art by Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant, made him an international legend. His style, 3-D letters and unique characters, has been a source of inspiration for many other writers from all four corners of the globe.

To this day, he is still a style master, a pioneer of Hip Hop culture, and a significant part of the artistic heritage of the graffiti movement.

 

Veep: Season 4

Having become president after her predecessor stepped down, it remains to be seen whether her term will outlast that of America’s shortest-serving president, William Henry Harrison.

With the stakes for Selina (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and her team higher than ever before, she must still run for election, and over the course of the season’s 10 episodes they will grapple with how to make her seem “presidential.”

The series, created by Oscar nominee Armando Iannucci, features an ensemble cast including Tony Hale, Anna Chlumsky, Reid Scott, Matt Walsh, Timothy C. Simons, Sufe Bradshaw, Kevin Dunn, Gary Cole and new series regular Sam Richardson. Recurring guests this season include Hugh Laurie Patton Oswalt and Sarah Sutherland.

Extras include deleted scenes

Episodes include:

• Joint Session: Twenty-four hours before Selina’s first major speech as President, her staff frantically tries to work out how she can say two completely opposite things at the same time. Gary questions his worth.
• East Wing: The President’s staff prepares for her state visit with the Israeli Prime Minister. Mike tries out a new look for his more visible role. Teddy does Jonah a favor, while continuing to invade his personal space.
• Data: When the personal details of a previously anonymous girl mentioned by the President are leaked, Selina’s team tries to find a scapegoat for the data breach. While Mike is about to make a dreadful error, the President hosts the annual Easter Egg Roll.
• Tehran: As part of her Middle East peace-talks tour, President Meyer makes an historic trip to Iran, where an American reporter is being detained. Back in DC, Dan is wooed by lobbyist Sidney Purcell; VP Doyle stands in for the President at a Rainbow Jersey event.
• Convention: At the party convention, Selina and her staff scramble against the clock to avert a major internal crisis. Amy grows increasingly infuriated with the President’s new advisor Karen, who is coaching Catherine on her First Daughter speech to the convention.
• Storms and Pancakes: Selina tries to match her running mate’s effortless charm at a fundraiser, while an impending hurricane looks like it could be good news for her image.
• Mommy Meyer: A dramatic incident in the White House leaves the President shaken, while Tom James’s ‘mis-speak’ at a Q&A looks like it could make her day even worse. Mike tries to sell the press on Selina’s Families First bill.
• B/ill: With the Families First Bill growing increasingly toxic, Gary sets up a clandestine meeting with Dan and Amy to persuade them to lobby against it. Meanwhile, Selina attempts to keep working while ill in bed with the flu.
• Testimony: While Selina fields questions from the press, members of her staff testify before a congressional committee about whether the Families First vote was intentionally sabotaged–and who was really behind the data breach.
• Election Night: On Election Night, Selina and her staff find their nerves growing frayed as each state result is called.

 

The Manhattan Project

Can anyone stop this Armageddon? A high school science whiz kid builds an atomic bomb as a prank… only to trigger a horrifying race against time – The Manhattan Project is an intelligent, gripping and entertaining thriller with a satisfyingly suspenseful finale.

Teenage genius Paul (Christopher Collet, Firstborn) realizes the lab of Dr. Mathewson (John Lithgow) his mother’s (Jill Eikenberry) new boyfriend, isn’t really developing lasers… it’s building nuclear bombs.

To expose the lab’s secret mission, Paul and his girlfriend Jenny (Cynthia Nixon) steal some plutonium, build a bomb and enter it in a science fair.

But the military learns of Paul’s plans and pursues him with lethal intent. Now, as time is running out, only Dr. Mathewson can save Paul… and stop the unthinkable from occurring!

Co-written and directed by Marshall Brickman, the co-writer of Woody Allen’s all-time classics Sleeper, Manhattan, and Annie Hall.

 

Mustang

From director Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Mustang is a bracing and timely story about vibrant young women living in a world of sexual repression.

It’s the last day of school in a coastal village in modern-day Turkey, and five orphaned sisters celebrate their summer freedom by innocently frolicking in the surf with some boys.

But a stern neighbor reports their supposedly lewd behavior to their grandmother. Fearful that the sisters’ marriage chances have been harmed, the grandmother holds them as virtual prisoners in their home and brings in a parade of potential husbands.

It falls to the youngest sister, 13-year-old Lale (Günes Sensoy), to engineer the girls’ escape from their increasingly oppressive new existence.

Extras include cast interviews, short film and trailer.

 

Solarbabies

Who will rule the future? Jason Patric, Jami Gertz, Lukas Haas, James Le Gros and Peter DeLuise blast into action in this sci-fi stunner about a desolate world run with an iron fist!

In this excitement-on-wheels futuristic thriller, a sinister corporation known as the E-Protectorate rules the desert wasteland of post-apocalyptic Earth. Beyond ruthless, the E-Protectorate hoards water and takes children from their families to train them to work for the corporation.

But when a group of young rebels discovers an extraterrestrial sphere with healing powers, they set out to release the planet from the clutches of the oppressors. With its dazzling visual effects and mesmerizing score (Maurice Jarre, Ghost), Solarbabies is pure entertainment from start to finish.

The stellar cast also includes Richard Jordan, Adrian Pasdar, Charles Durning and Sarah Douglas.

 

Back Roads

Running from the past and backing into love! Sally Field reunites with her Norma Rae director Martin Ritt (Hud, Paris Blues) for this engaging road comedy that also stars Tommy Lee Jones and David Keith.

Field plays Amy Post, a hooker with a heart of gold who winds up on the road to California with Elmore Pratt (Jones), a crooked former prizefighter with maybe one good fight left in him. Sharing a turbulent relationship, the pair heads west from the Deep South – each banking on the new beginnings that beckon the dreams that may come true once they reach the Golden State.

M. Emmet Walsh and Nell Carter add touches of flavor to this gritty, absorbing story of two people living on the fringe, and their intriguing journey.

Featuring gorgeous widescreen cinematography by the great John A. Alonzo (Chinatown, Scarface) and a rousing score by the legendary Henry Mancini (The Pink Panther, Breakfast at Tiffany’s).