That Time of The Month: The Latest DVD & Blu-ray Releases

So, that went by fast.  We’re already in November and man oh man, there’s some great discs out there.

This installment has some amazing films and tv series that you need to check out.  (And if you’re smart, add to your Holiday Wish List.)

Without further adieu, fire up your queues, and fill up your shopping cart!

 

The Iron Giant: Signature Edition

Warner Bros. / Released 9/6/16

Winner of nine Annie Awards, remastered and enhanced with two all-new scenes conceived for the film’s original release, The Iron Giant is the tale of an unlikely friendship between an alien robot from outer space (voiced by Vin Diesel) and a rebellious boy named Hogarth (voiced by Eli Marienthal).

A bedraggled mom (voiced by Jennifer Aniston), a paranoid government agent (voiced by Christopher McDonald) and a sympathetic beatnik (voiced by Harry Connick, Jr.) all conspire to turn Brad Bird’s The Iron Giant into a gigantic, out-of-this-world adventure.

Extras include commentary, making of, deleted scenes, motion gallery and trailer.

Last Word:  I love The Iron Giant. It IS my favorite animated film of ALL TIME. It is a treasure and unfortunately, like most treasures, a lot of people have yet to find it.

I still can’t believe that this film isn’t the highest grossing animated film of all time. In fact I can’t believe that this film ostensibly brought down Warner Bros Animated film department in 1999.  The perfect blending of traditional hand drawn animation and almost seamless computer 3D animation, The Iron Giant, should have been a hallmark of film making and usher in a new world of animated feature.

One not just for kids, but for everyone.

What went wrong?  Why did no one see it?  It blows my mind that people I know have yet to see this movie; a perfect film.

The Iron Giant, for those of you who don’t know, is the beautiful story of a boy and his love for an enormous metal man that has mysteriously fallen to earth in coastal Maine in the mid 1950’s after the launch of the Russian Sputnik satellite began it’s orbit around the Earth and further deepened the fear and paranoia of the Cold War between the US and the USSR.

The young boy, Hogarth Hughes, discovers and helps the Iron Giant and quickly becomes its only friend in this strange new world. Hogarth helps Giant learn right and wrong, teaches it about life and death, and that it can be whatever it chooses to be. All is going swimmingly until a call to the Government brings in a skeptical government agent who begins to threaten the likelihood of a happy ending to the boy and his robot’s friendship forever.

Funny, thoughtful and intriguing, The Iron Giant has everything anyone with some semblance of a heart or soul could want. It will make you laugh and pull at the heartstrings with all it’s might.

Written and directed by Academy Award winner Brad Bird (Ratatouille, Incredibles, Tomorrowland) and based on a book of the same name by Ted Hughes, Bird’s adaptation has given us is a heartfelt story love and friendship that will span the ages.

The movie also features a great voice cast as well.  Jennifer Aniston as Hogarth’s mom, Annie, is surprisingly great at voice acting and should do more of it. Harry Connick Jr. is perfectly cast the beatnik artist/junk dealer, Dean, who helps Hogarth protect The Iron Giant. Christopher McDonald as Kent Mansley, “I work for the Government.”, absolutely steals almost every scene he is in and really embodies the emotional fear mongering that the government is capable of. Especially at that time. Eli Marienthal is Hogarth Hughes. He immerses you emotionally and viscerally in this story and you feel everything Hogarth does because of it. Without his performance this movie doesn’t work.

Rounding out the cast are a group of wonderful supporting players featuring, John Mahoney as the Army General, Cloris Leachman as Mrs. Tensedge, James Gammon as Floyd. Special mention must go to Vin Diesel in his greatest role ever as The Iron Giant (only seconded by his turn as Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy). Only speaking about 52 words the entire film. the emotional rollercoaster he takes you on beginning with the reveal of the robot to the dramatic and emotionally draining ending of the film is nothing short of amazing.

The film is a blend of traditional hand drawn 2D animation and seamlessly blended 3D computer animation we are all so inured to now a days. Not wanting to have the 3D animation of the giant be distracting tot the audience, Bird and crew developed a “wobble to the lines of the computer animated elements to give it that natural “hand drawn” feel. The film is a loving homage to the films of Bird’s youth that inspired and led him to be an animator himself. The characters are all so beautifully developed and realized that you love every moment of them even the awful “G”-Man, Kent Mansley. You will become completely invested in their lives and story from the get go.

This film is so amazing that my best friend, a person whom his entire life had never cried once in all the time I have known him, at the end of the film, opening day in 1999, when we saw it, said to me, tears in his eyes, “there is no greater love than the love a boy has for his giant robot.”

I always convey this story about when I first saw this movie with a friend of mine, to emphasize it’s impact and power it has.  This film is a gift. A gift sent from the mind of Brad Bird to all of us. (– Benn Robbins)

 

Now You See Me 2

Lionsgate / Released 9/6/16

The Four Horsemen (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, and new team member Lizzy Caplan) return for a second mind-bending adventure, elevating the limits of stage illusion to new heights and taking them around the globe.

One year after outwitting the FBI and winning the public’s adulation with their Robin Hood-style magic spectacles, the illusionists resurface for a comeback performance in hopes of exposing the unethical practices of a tech magnate. The man behind their vanishing act is none other than Walter Mabry (Daniel Radcliffe), a tech prodigy who threatens the Horsemen into pulling off their most impossible heist yet.

Their only hope is to perform one last unprecedented stunt to clear their names and reveal the mastermind behind it all. The cast also includes Michael Caine, Mark Ruffalo, Jay Chou and Morgan Freeman. Extras include commentary and featurettes.

 

The Flash: The Complete Second Season

Warner Bros. / Released 9/6/16

Last year, the S.T.A.R. Labs Particle Accelerator exploded, creating a dark matter storm that struck forensic scientist Barry Allen – bestowing him with super-speed and making him the fastest man alive.

But Barry wasn’t the only person who was given extraordinary abilities that night.

The dark matter also created meta-humans – many of whom have wreaked havoc on the city. With the help of the S.T.A.R Labs team, Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon and Dr. Harrison Wells, Barry protects the people of Central City from these powerful new threats as The Flash.

Following the defeat of Allen’s arch-nemesis Eobard Thawne (aka Reverse Flash), Team Flash must quickly turn their attention to the singularity swirling high above Central City, consuming everything in its path. Armed with the heart of a hero and the ability to move at super speeds, Barry charged into the eye of the singularity, but can he actually save his city from impending doom? Extras include Arrow crossover episode, featurettes, 2015 Comic-Con panel, deleted scenes and gag reel.

Includes the episodes:

• The Man Who Saved Central City: Still feeling responsible for Eddie’s death, Barry pushes his friends away and tries to protect the city on his own; Cisco assists Joe with the Meta Task Force.
• Flash of Two Worlds: A mysterious man has a warning about an evil speedster intent on destroying The Flash; a determined officer wants to join Joe’s meta-human task force.
• Family of Rogues: Barry and the team ally with the kidnapped Captain Cold’s sister, but Barry feels duped with he learns Snart is working on something with his father; Joe faces a difficult decision.
• The Fury of Firestorm: Barry and the team look for another Firestorm match for Dr. Stein. When the team meets Jefferson Jackson, Caitlin has her reservations about whether Jax is the right match for Dr. Stein. Iris surprises Joe while Barry and Patty grow closer.
• The Darkness and the Light: Barry learns a new breacher, Dr. Light, has come through the portal and sets off to capture her. Jay tells Barry that Dr. Light was not a threat on Earth-2 and that Barry can reason with her. However, during a fight with The Flash, she blinds him and drops some shocking news about Zoom. Meanwhile, Barry and Patty go out on a date.
• Enter Zoom: Barry and his team plan to trap Zoom with Linda’s help while Joe is against it.
• Gorilla Warfare: Barry races to rescue Caitlin when Grodd kidnaps her; Cisco plans a date with the new barista at Jitters; Patty thinks Barry is hiding something.
• Legends of Today: When Vandal Savage attacks Kendra Saunders, Barry takes Kendra to Starling City, seeking Oliver’s protection; Harrison asks Jay to test a new serum to make Barry run faster.
• Legends of Yesterday (Arrow episode):  In Part Two of the epic Flash crossover event, Oliver and Barry hide Kendra Saunders and Carter Hall in a remote location while they figure out how to defeat Vandal Savage.
• Running to Stand Still: Weather Wizard returns to break Captain Cold and the Trickster out of Iron Heights, but Barry is determined to not let that happen. Meanwhile, Joe and Iris meet Wally West. Harrison Wells agrees to work with Zoom against Barry.
• Potential Energy: Barry and the Star Labs team hunt down The Turtle who can slow down time. Barry faces a choice on whether or not he should reveal his secret identity to Patty.
• The Reverse-Flash Returns: Dr Harrison figures out how to induce Cisco’s ability. They hence learn that Eobard Thawne is still alive. Iris is saying farewell to her mother. Patty realizes there’s more to Barry than meets the eye.
• Fast Lane: Barry tries to team up with Dr. Harrison but finds out Harrison prefers working alone. The Flash fights a new meta-human. Iris researches her brother’s drag racing. Dr. Harrison starts stealing Barry’s speed.
• Welcome to Earth-2: Dr. Harrison, Cisco and Barry travel to Earth-2 to save Harrison’s daughter. Barry assumes the role of his doppelganger, who’s married to Iris. He then encounters alternate-Caitlin and alternate-Ronnie, who are Zoom’s agents.
• Escape from Earth-2: On Earth-2, the team asks for help from an unexpected source to find Zoom’s lair, while on Earth-1, Caitlin tries to perfect Velocity-9 so Jay can stop the Geomancer.
• King Shark: When King Shark escapes from an A.R.G.U.S. holding tank, Lyla and Diggle travel to Central City to warn The Flash. King Shark shows up at the West house and attacks Joe, Iris, Wally and Barry.
• Trajectory: Trajectory arrives in town intent on creating maximum chaos. Trajectory’s antics are misinterpreted as having been perpetrated by The Flash himself. Barry must thus act quickly to uncover the mystery of who is causing damage, so others do not think it is him, and what may be driving her mad desire for speed and destruction.
• Flash Back: After the shocking revelation of Zoom’s real identity, Barry is more determined than ever to get back to Earth-2 to stop Zoom forever. Desperate to find a way to increase his speed, Barry decides to travel back in time and masquerade as his earlier self in order to get his arch-nemesis, Dr. Harrison Wells/Eobard Thawne, to teach him how to run faster. However, things do not go as planned and Barry is stunned to face familiar foe Hartley Rathaway, as well as old friend Eddie Thawne. Iris makes peace with her past in order to embrace her future
• Versus Zoom: Barry, having now learned how to travel between the different Earths, decides to take the fight to Zoom.
• Back to Normal: A meta human with super strength named Griffin Grey mistakes Harry for Earth-1 Harrison Wells and kidnaps him, demanding that Wells cures him from his current condition. Realizing another brilliant Wells could track Griffins location, Barry asks Jesse to help. Meanwhile, Wally corners Joe about the Flash.
• Rupture: Zoom arrives back on Earth-1 intent on taking over Central City. Barry and Wells come up with a plan to stop Zoom once and for all but it’s extremely dangerous. Unsure if he should take the risk, Barry reaches out to both fathers for advice. Henry is adamantly opposed to Barry risking his life again but Joe thinks he can handle it which puts the two men at odds with each other. Meanwhile, Cisco is shocked when he vibes the Earth-2 villain Rupture, who happens to be his brother Dante’s doppelganger. Rupture came to this Earth seeking justice for Reverb’s death. Iris tells Barry how she feels about him ..
• The Runaway Dinosaur: Iris volunteers to act as the bait in a plan to trap Girder in S.T.A.R. Labs; Barry struggles to go back to his old life.
• Invincible: Zoom unleashes an army of Earth-2 meta-humans, the leader of which is Black Canary’s doppelganger, Black Siren; Joe worries when Wally goes out to help The Flash.
• The Race of His Life: After Zoom reveals his true plan, Barry vows to do whatever it takes to stop him.

 

Supernatural: The Complete Eleventh Season

Warner Bros. / Released 9/6/16

Supernatural: Season Eleven plunges Sam and Dean Winchester (Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles) into extreme peril as they face The Darkness, a sinister new menace unleashed upon the Earth.

They continue their monster-hunting missions, battling the usual werewolves, black-eyed demons and even a vengeful ghost in a stuffed bunny costume, but with a sharp new focus: destroy The Darkness. Needing all the help they can get, the brothers turn to fallen angel Castiel (Misha Collins); the King of Hell, Crowley (Mark A. Sheppard) and even an unassuming God (Rob Benedict)- only to come face to face with Lucifer and Crowley’s power-hungry witch-mother Rowena (Ruth Connell).

Strap yourself in for the Winchesters’ darkest adventures yet as they journey between Heaven and Hell. Extras include commentary tracks, featurettes, 2015 Comic-Con panel, deleted scenes, and gag reel.

Includes the episodes:

• Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire: Dean and Sam dealing with the aftermath of freeing the darkness on earth.
• Form and Void: Jenna winds up in a dangerous situation and calls Dean for help, leaving Sam to deal with monsters on his own.
• The Bad Seed: Sam and Dean try to help Castiel recover from Rowena’s spell, while searching for Amara who has now grown into a young girl. Rowena tries to use her powers to protect herself from the Winchesters, while Crowley tries to use Amara for his personal gain.
• Baby: Sam and Dean’s road trip to fight monsters and demons is chronicled entirely from the Impala’s perspective.
• Thin Lizzie: Sam and Dean investigate a series of murders at a local B&B that also happens to be Lizzie Borden’s old home. When a man tells them he saw a little girl around the B&B around the time of the murders, the brothers realize Amara may be responsible.
• Our Little World: Castiel seeks out Metatron’s help to stop the Darkness. However, Metatron is pretty happy with his new life as a freelance videographer for the local news and isn’t inclined to help the Winchesters or Castiel.
• Plush: Sheriff Donna calls Sam and Dean for help after a horrific murder with supernatural elements happens in her town. Sam continues to have visions and asks God for help, which frustrates Dean.
• Just My Imagination: Sam is shocked when his imaginary childhood friend, Sully, makes an unexpected appearance. Sam tries to understand why he is seeing Sully now. Even more surprising, Dean can see him too.
• O Brother, Where Art Thou?: With Amara leaving a trail of bodies on her search for God, Sam enlists Crowley and Rowena to set up a meeting between him and Lucifer in the cage.
• The Devil in the Details: Now that he has Sam in the cage with him, Lucifer offers Sam a way out but it comes with a steep price. Dean and Castiel look into the angel smiting that might have killed Amara.
• Into the Mystic: Sam and Dean investigate a case where people are suffering violent deaths after hearing a mysterious song.
• Don’t You Forget About Me: Claire believes recent murders in town are supernatural and asks Sam and Dean to investigate. However, Sheriff Mills tells the guys that Claire has been getting into trouble lately and has been attacking normal people and accusing them of being monsters.
• Love Hurts: Sam and Dean investigate a set of murders on Valentine’s Day and discover they are dealing with an ancient curse. Once kissed by the curse, the person is marked to die.
• The Vessel: Sam and Dean convince Lucifer (unknowingly, thinking he’s Castiel) to send them back in time to find a hand of God which could destroy Amara.
• Beyond the Mat: Sam and Dean attend a wrestling match to relive one of their fondest memories, but when a wrestler turns up dead, they suspect foul play.
• Safe House: After dangerous creature is released into an old house, a mother and child are comatose. Sam and Dean find that Bobby and Rufus tracked the same creature so the Winchesters look to the past to catch the monster before any one dies.
• Red Meat: Sam and Dean battle a pair of werewolves who have captured two victims. Just as the brothers are about to win, one of the werewolves shoots Sam. Dean gets his brother and the victims out of the house but learns a pack of werewolves are hot on their tail, hoping to kill them all.
• Hell’s Angel: Lucifer tries to assert himself into heaven; Crowley tells Sam and Dean they must take down Lucifer.
• The Chitters: Sam and Dean are visiting a small town in Colorado where people are mysteriously disappearing every 27 years. While they are investigating, the boys encounter a pair of hunters seeking revenge on the monster causing the disappearances.
• Don’t Call Me Shurley: Amara unleashes a dark fog on a small town that causes everyone to go mad. Dean and Sam realize this is a stronger version of the original black vein virus Amara previously unleashed.
• All in the Family: Concerned for Castiel, Dean and Sam devise a plan to rescue Lucifer from Amara’s clutches.
• We Happy Few: Sam and Dean face their biggest challenge yet. Rowena makes her move.
• Alpha and Omega: Chuck tries to lock Amara away for good but then faces some unexpected complications.

 

Love & Friendship

Sony / Released 9/6/16

From director Whit Stillman, Love & Friendship is an adaptation of young Jane Austen’s novella Lady Susan, believed to have been written in the mid 1790s but revised up to a fair copy prepared in 1805 and finally published by her nephew, James Edward Austen-Leigh, in 1871.

Set in the 1790s, earlier than most Austen tales, Love & Friendship concerns beautiful young widow Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale) who has come to Churchill, the estate of her in-laws, to wait out colourful rumours about her dalliances circulating through polite society.

Whilst ensconced there, she decides to secure a husband for herself and for her daughter, Frederica, played by Morfydd Clark.

Chloë Sevigny, plays Lady Susan’s friend and confidante Alicia Johnson, with Stephen Fry as her husband, the “very Respectable” Mr. Johnson.

The waters are troubled by the arrival at Churchill of the handsome, eligible Reginald DeCourcy (Xavier Samuel) and silly but cheerful — and very rich — Sir James Martin (Tom Bennett).

Lady Susan’s designs are vehemently opposed by the DeCourcy clan: Reginald’s sister, Catherine DeCourcy Vernon (Emma Greenwell); his mother, Lady DeCourcy (Jemma Redgrave) and father, Sir Reginald DeCourcy (James Fleet). But Susan’s brother-in-law, magnanimous Charles Vernon (Justin Edwards), prefers to see her, and everyone, with a benevolent regard.

After a series of dramatic turns at Churchill, Lady Susan finally risks destruction when her jealous rival, Lady Lucy Manwaring (Jenn Murray), arrives in London to make a shocking revelation, leading to the denouement of denouements. Extras include a featurette.

 

Money Monster

Sony / Released 9/6/16

Lee Gates (George Clooney) is a bombastic TV personality whose popular financial network show, “Money Monster” has made him the money wiz of Wall Street.

But after he hawks a high tech stock that mysteriously crashes, an irate investor Kyle Budwell (Jack O’Connell) takes Gates, his crew, and his ace producer Patty Fenn (Julia Roberts) hostage live on air.

During a tense standoff broadcast to millions on live TV, Lee and Patty must work furiously against the clock to unravel the mystery behind a conspiracy at the heart of today’s fast-paced, high-tech global markets.

The ensemble also includes Dominic West, Condola Rashad, Chris Bauer, Caitriona Balfe, Christopher Denham, Lenny Venito, Aaron Yoo, Dennis Boutsikaris, Emily Meade, and Giancarlo Esposito. Extras include featurettes, deleted scenes and music video.

 

Road House

Shout! Factory / Released 9/6/16

Dalton (Patrick Swayze) is the best bar bouncer in the business, but he’s anything but “typical.” He’s a little small for his trade, has a degree in philosophy and he believes in “being nice.”

But when he’s hired to clean up the meanest, loudest and rowdiest bar south of the Mason-Dixon Line, the Double Deuce in the small town of Jasper, he’s pushed to his breaking point.

Turns out Jasper is controlled by an evil sadist (Ben Gazzara) who doesn’t want anyone meddling with “his” town. After he sends his goons to bust up the Double Deuce, all hell breaks loose.

Now it’s “no more nice guy” for Dalton as he starts busting heads, leading him to the all-time, no-holds-barred showdown of the century. The cast also includes Kelly Lynch, Sam Elliott, Marshall R. Teague, Julie Michaels, Red West, Jeff Healey, Kevin Tighe, John Doe, and Keith David.  Extras include new 2K scan, commentary tracks, making of featurettes, vintage interviews, trailer.

 

American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson

20th Century Fox / Released 9/6/16

Taking you inside the O.J. Simpson trial with a riveting look at the legal teams battling to convict or acquit the football legend of double homicide, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story is based on the book The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson by Jeffrey Toobin.

The series explores the chaotic behind-the-scenes dealings and maneuvering on both sides of the court, and how a combination of prosecution overconfidence, defense shrewdness, and the LAPD’s history with the city’s African-American community gave a jury what it needed: reasonable doubt.

The ensemble includes Cuba Gooding Jr., Nathan Lane, John Travolta, David Schwimmer, Bruce Greenwood, Courtney B. Vance, Sarah Paulson, Jordana Brewster, Christian Clemenson, Kenneth Choi, Sterling K. Brown, Rob Morrow, Robert Morse, Evan Handler, Larry King, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Selma Blair, and Connie Britton.

Includes the episodes:

• From the Ashes of Tragedy: The murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman lead the LAPD to the home of O.J. Simpson.
• The Run of His Life: With O.J. Simpson missing in the white Bronco, Robert Shapiro and Robert Kardashian deal with the fallout, as the D.A.’s office and LAPD scramble to save face and find him.
• The Dream Team: Marcia Clark announces that O.J. Simpson has been charged. Robert Shapiro seeks advice from F. Lee Bailey and comes up with a provocative strategy. As Shapiro starts putting together “The Dream Team”, he must convince O.J. to hire Johnnie Cochran.
• 100% Not Guilty: Johnnie Cochran brings an energy that transforms the case.
• The Race Card: As the trial begins, Christopher Darden and Johnnie Cochran face off in court. Chris has doubts about Mark Fuhrman as a witness. The jury visits the crime scene.
• Marcia, Marcia, Marcia: As Marcia Clark juggles her home and work obligations, she starts to feel the public scrutiny of her appearance.
• Conspiracy Theories: Conspiracy theories start to arise around the case. The prosecution debates whether they should have O.J. Simpson try on the gloves in court.
• A Jury in Jail: Months into the trial, cut off from their families, society and the media, the jurors grow stir crazy and start becoming unlikely targets for the prosecution and the defense. Meanwhile, the country gets an introduction to the science of DNA evidence.
• Manna from Heaven: Johnnie Cochran and F. Lee Bailey head across the country to get their hands on the Mark Fuhrman tapes. Judge Ito must decide whether the tapes, and the racial epithets they contain, are admissible.
• The Verdict: The prosecution and defense make their closing statements, the jurors deliberate, and the verdict comes down.

 

South Park: The Complete Nineteenth Season

Comedy Central / Released 9/6/16

This stunning and brave 19th season of South Park follows a serialized model for the first time in the show’s history.

The season is built around an extended satire of political correctness beginning when a new socially conscious principal comes to town.

In other episodes, Mr. Garrison makes a bid for the White House, Randy takes the lead in gentrifying the town, and everyone is looking for their safe space.

Extras include Mini Commentaries, deleted scenes, #socialcommentary, and game trailer.

Includes the episodes:

• Stunning and Brave: The boys express their utmost respect for Caitlyn Jenner in the most stunning and brave South Park ever.
• Where My Country Gone?: Garrison wants to build a wall to keep out all of the undocumented immigrants.
• The City Part of Town: The town of South Park is gentrifying and Kenny thinks it’s time to get a job.
• You’re Not Yelping: Cartman considers himself the top on-line restaurant reviewer in South Park.
• Safe Space: Cartman is the latest victim of body shaming.
• Tweek x Craig: The Asian girls in school are drawing dreamy pictures of Tweek and Craig.
• Naughty Ninjas: The citizens of South Park decide they no longer need a police force in town.
• Sponsored Content: Jimmy’s integrity as a newsman runs smack into PC Principal’s ideology.
• Truth and Advertising: PC Principal disappears with two of the 4th grade students.
• PC Principal Final Justice: Kyle has chosen a dangerous alliance over his friendship with Stan.

 

Daddy Long Legs

Kino Lorber / Released 9/6/16

This classic Cinemascope musical directed Jean Negulesco (Road House) received three 1955 Oscar nominations and featured the incomparable Fred Astaire (Top Hat) in some of his most stunning dance sequences.

Daddy Long Legs follows a young French girl (Leslie Caron, An American in Paris) through college, her education sponsored by a mysterious man with long legs.

Millionaire Jervis Pendleton III (Astaire) is from old money, and although generous with his wealth, he must learn how to give of his emotions.

Amid sparkling musical numbers and dream sequences, comic relief comes from Fred Clark (Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine) as Pendleton’s assistant and Thelma Ritter (Pillow Talk) as his secretary. Beautifully shot by the great Leon Shamroy, the cinematographer for The King and I, Cleopatra and Planet of the Apes. Extras include commentary, Moviefone News with optional commentary, London premiere footage, and trailer.

 

Tale Of Tales

Shout! Factory / Released 9/6/16

Sea monsters, monarchs, ogres, and sorcerers collide in this epic film from the visionary director of Gomorrah.

Based on three spellbinding stories of magic and the macabre by 17th-century folklorist Giambattista Basile, Tale of Tales unleashes a barrage of mind-bogglingly gorgeous and fantastical imagery as it brings to life the misadventures of three kings.

In the kingdom of Longtrellis, the King (John C. Reilly) and his Queen (Salma Hayek) attempt to conceive a child through very unusual means. Meanwhile, in Highhills, the none-too-bright monarch (Toby Jones) marries his daughter off to a brutal ogre while developing a strange obsession with breeding a giant flea.

At the same time, the sex-obsessed ruler of Strongcliff (Vincent Cassel) is in for a shock when the woman with whom he falls in love is not quite what she seems. Overflowing with surreal, dazzling surprises, this intoxicating cinematic spectacle is a delirious excursion into the dark heart of fairy tales. Extras include trailer and making of.

 

Haunted Honeymoon

Kino Lorber / Released 9/6/16

What do you get when you combine three of Hollywood’s most hysterical talents with a creaky old castle and a werewolf legend? An amiable, kinky blend of hijinks and horror that’ll leave you howling with laughter! Gene Wilder, Gilda Radner and Dom DeLuise star in this ingenious, amusing horror comedy that’ll put a smile on your face – and keep it there.

At the mansion of his great aunt Kate (DeLuise), Larry (Wilder) is undergoing a psychological procedure designed to rid him of his irrational phobias… by frightening them right out of him! But the jolts and frights may turn out to be the least of his problems when Kate names him her sole heir.

Suddenly, the entire family seems a little too vigorous in participating in his therapy – leading Larry to believe that one of his jealous kin may be murderous… and that another may be a werewolf. The film’s star Gene Wilder co-wrote and directed this hilarious comedy… featuring great performances by Jonathan Pryce, Peter Vaughn, Paul L. Smith and Jim Carter.  Extras include trailer.

 

My Bodyguard

Kino Lorber / Released 9/6/16

An easygoing teenager, Clifford Peach (Chris Makepeace) is finding it less than easy to fit in at his new high school, where a tough-talking bully (Matt Dillon) terrorizes his classmates and extorts their lunch money.

Refusing to pay up, Clifford enlists the aid of an overgrown misfit, Ricky Linderman (Adam Baldwin), whose mere presence intimidates students and teachers alike.

But their “business relationship” soon turns personal as Clifford and the troubled loner forge a winning alliance against their intimidators – and a very special friendship with each other.

Ruth Gordon, Martin Mull, Joan Cusack, Jennifer Beals and John Houseman round out a truly remarkable cast in this delightful coming-of-age comedy and triumphant tribute to the underdog. Written by Alan Ormsby and directed by Tony Bill. Extras include commentary, TV spots and trailers.

 

Grandview, U.S.A.

Kino Lorber / Released 9/6/16

Grandview, U.S.A. joins together unforgettable stars in a quirky romantic comedy set in a town like no other.

Jamie Lee Curtis is Michelle “Mike” Cody, proprietor of a demolition derby.

Patrick Swayze is her star driver “Slam” Webster, who’s just as fast as he is reckless.

Everything changes when high school graduate Tim Pearson (C. Thomas Howell) crashes into their lives, leading to an unlikely romantic triangle with hilarious and heart-wrenching consequences.

Randal Kleiser, the director of Grease and The Blue Lagoon, unties a brilliant cast of familiar faces including Jennifer Jason Leigh, M. Emmet Walsh, Troy Donahue, John Cusack and Joan Cusack.

Together, they make Grandview, U.S.A. the kind of place you never want to leave.

 

The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother

Kino Lorber / Released 9/6/16

Leave it to legendary funnyman Gene Wilder to write, direct, and star in an uproarious Sherlock Holmes mystery film spoof that goes far beyond the scope of elementary comedies.

After spending decades living in the shadow of his more famous and successful sibling, Consulting Detective Sigerson Holmes (Wilder) is called upon to help solve a crucial case that leads him on a hilarious trail of false identities, stolen documents, secret codes and exposed backsides.

Featuring an outrageous ensemble cast that includes Madeline Kahn as the seductive singer, Marty Feldman as Holmes’ bug-eyed assistant, and Dom DeLuise as an eccentric opera star turned blackmailer, this fun-filled caper packs a slew of clues and loads of laughs. Co-starring Leo McKern, Roy Kinnear and John Le Mesurier. Extras include commentary

 

All the Way

HBO / Released 9/6/16

All The Way offers a riveting behind-the scenes look at President Lyndon B. Johnson’s tumultuous first year in office after the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Staking his presidency on what would be an historic unprecedented Civil Rights Act, Johnson finds himself caught between the moral imperative of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the expectations of the southern Democratic Party leaders who brought Johnson to power. As King battles to press Johnson while controlling more radical elements of the Civil Rights Movement, Johnson navigates the bill through Congress, winning a landslide victory against Barry Goldwater, but causing the South to defect from the Democratic Party.

The ensemble includes Bryan Cranston, Anthony Mackie, Melissa Leo, Frank Langella, Bradley Whitford, Stephen Root, Todd Weeks, Ray Wise, Ken Jenkins and Joe Morton. Extras include featurettes.

 

The Darkness

Universal / Released 9/6/16

From the producers of The Purge and Insidious, comes this terrifying supernatural thriller starring Kevin Bacon and Radha Mitchell.

When their young son (David Mazouz) brings home five mystical stones he found on their family’s camping trip to the Grand Canyon, Peter (Bacon) and Bronny (Mitchell) begin to notice strange things happening in their house.

Having awakened dark forces bound to the rocks, the family fights for survival as malicious demons feed off their fears and threaten to destroy them.

Extras include alternate ending and deleted scenes.

 

Hard Target 2

Universal / Released 9/6/16

Retired mixed martial artist Wes “The Jailor” Baylor (Scott Adkins) can’t refuse a million-dollar purse he’s offered for one final bout in Myanmar.

But when he arrives for the fight, he learns he’s been tricked into becoming the target of a human hunt. Carrying only water and a ruby-filled money belt for the last person standing, Wes must outsmart the heavily armed group that has paid to kill him.As he fights for his life in the treacherous jungle terrain, the hunters become the hunted.

Also stars Robert Knepper, Rhona Mitra, Ann Truong, Temuera Morrison, Adam Saunders, Jamie Timony, Peter Hardy, Sean Keenan and Sahajak Boonthanakit. Extras include commentary, featurettes and deleted scenes.

 

Equals

Lionsgate / Released 9/6/16

In this gripping and emotional sci-fi romance from acclaimed director Drake Doremus (Like Crazy), Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult play Nia and Silas, two people who work together in a futuristic society known as “The Collective.”

A seemingly utopian world, “The Collective” has ended crime and violence by genetically eliminating all human emotions. Despite this, Nia and Silas can’t help noticing a growing attraction between them, leading them to a forbidden relationship—at first tentative, but then exploding into a passionate romance.

As suspicion begins to mount among their superiors, the couple will be forced to choose between going back to the safety of the lives they have always known, or risk it all to try and pull off a daring escape. Extras include featurettes and commentary.

 

The Meddler

Sony / Released 9/6/16

With a new iPhone, an apartment near the Grove, and a comfortable bank account left to her by her beloved late husband, Marnie Minervini (Susan Sarandon) has happily relocated from New Jersey to Los Angeles to be near her daughter Lori (Rose Byrne), a successful (but still single) screenwriter, and smother her with motherly love.

But when dozens of texts, unexpected visits, and conversations dominated by unsolicited advice force Lori to draw strict personal boundaries, Marnie finds ways to channel her eternal optimism and forceful generosity to change the lives of others – as well as her own – and find a new purpose in life.

Also stars J.K. Simmons, Jerrod Carmichael, Cecily Strong, Lucy Punch, Casey Wilson, Jason Ritter, Sarah Baker, Michael McKean, Laura San Giacomo, and Harry Hamlin.

Extras include commentary, gag reel and featurettes.

 

Snoopy, Come Home

Paramount / Released 9/6/16

Small Dogs. Big Secrets.

When America’s most beloved beagle suddenly goes missing, the whole Peanuts gang bands together to bring him back home in this full-length feature from renowned cartoonist Charles M. Schulz and the Academy Award-winning musical team of Richard and Robert Sherman.

With “Dogs Not Allowed” signs everywhere he turns, Snoopy and his newfound feathered friend Woodstock (making his big screen debut), leave the comforts of home behind and head for the highways in search of their true place in the world.

Camping out, eating up and just living the life of the open road, the intrepid twosome make their way across the country, dodging possessive pet-collectors, less-than-hospitable hospital workers, and bullying bus drivers on their way to reveal Snoopy’s secret past – only to discover that there really is no place like home in this heartwarming story featuring Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and the whole gallery of your Peanuts favorites.

 

A Boy Named Charlie Brown

Paramount / Released 9/6/16

When in Doubt, Spell it Out!

Join Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy and the whole Peanuts gang in their very first big screen adventure. Take a jazzy joyride through the streets of Manhattan, with delightfully trippy dream sequences, imagination-filled musical interludes, and icy flights-of-fantasy – all as Charlie Brown sets out to bolster his shaky confidence at the National Spelling Bee.

The prolific, much-honored cartoonist Charles M. Schulz and franchise director Bill Melendez weave a world made of witty dialogue, magical security blankets and bright-eyed beagles, all set to an Academy Award-nominated score by Rod McKuen and Vince Guaraldi.

So take a break from the books, the dictionaries, the encyclopedias and thesauri, and sit for a spell with the Peanuts gang as they learn that if at first you don’t succeed, take a step back. Maybe a nap. Then grab the closest beagle… and dance.

 

Urge

Lionsgate / Released 9/6/16

Things get out of control when a group of friends try an experimental new drug in the insane thrill ride, Urge.

A group of friends take a lavish weekend getaway to an island where a mysterious club owner (Pierce Brosnan) introduces them to Urge, a new designer drug that allows them to live out their wildest fantasies.

But what starts out as a fun night of partying soon takes a sinister turn when their primal impulses become uncontrollable.

The ensemble also includes Justin Chatwin, Ashley Greene, Alexis Knapp, Bar Paly, Chris Geere, Nick Thune, and Danny Masterson. Extras include a featurette.

 

The Ones Below

Magnolia / Released 9/6/16

The Ones Below, the debut feature from writer-director David Farr, is a dark, modern fairy tale in which the lives of two couples become fatally intertwined. Kate (Clémence Poésy) and Justin (Stephen Campbell Moore) live in the upstairs flat of a London house.

Thirty-something, successful and affluent, they are expecting their first baby. All appears well on the surface though Kate harbors deep-rooted fears about her fitness to be a mother and her ability to love her child.

One day, another couple, Jon (David Morrissey) and Theresa (Laura Birn), move in to the empty apartment below.

They are also expecting a baby and, in stark contrast to Kate, Theresa is full of joy at the prospect of imminent motherhood. Pregnancy brings the women together in a blossoming friendship as Kate becomes entranced by Theresa’s unquestioning celebration of her family-to-be. Everything changes one night at a dinner party in Kate and Justin’s flat.

Kate begins to sense that all is not as it seems with the couple below. Then a tragic accident throws the couples into a nightmare and a reign of psychological terror begins. Extras include featurettes and trailer.

 

The Neighbor

Starz/Anchor Bay / Released 9/6/16

In the town of Cutter, Mississippi, most people keep to themselves.

Military vet John (Josh Stewart) is working to escape his uncle’s drug running business and build a new life with his girlfriend, Rosie (Alex Essoe).

But John’s plans take an abrupt turn after he returns home to find his girlfriend missing, with the only clue leading to his secretive neighbor, Troy (Bill Engvall).

After sneaking onto Troy’s property, John discovers the dark truth about his neighbor, and the secrets Troy keeps in the cellar.

 

 

 

The Bodyguard

Well Go USA / Released 9/6/16

Retired Special Agent Ding (Sammo Hung) makes a home in a quiet village on the Russia / China border.

He befriends a young girl whose father, in debt with the mob, disappears – leaving her in Ding s care.

Now he must recall his superior strategic and tactical skills to save both their lives.

Extras include making of and trailer.

 

 

 

Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War

Disney / Released 9/13/16

Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War finds Steve Rogers leading the newly formed team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. But after another incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability, headed by a governing body to oversee and direct the team.

The new status quo fractures the Avengers, resulting in two camps-one led by Steve Rogers and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark’s surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability.

Extras include featurettes, Doctor Strange sneak peak, commentary, gag reel and deleted and extended scenes.

Last Word:  I’ve learned there are two types of Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.  There are those that favor original storytelling and filmmaking while squeezing in the contractual franchise obligations with reluctance—James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy being the primary example. Hell, even the first two Captain America films stand on their own two feet.  Captain America: Civil War is the second type of Marvel affair, drowning in everything it owes to the cinematic universe it is a part of.

Referencing past films, teasing future ones and never successful in being its own present entity, Civil War suffers from a serious case of too-itis. It’s too much. It’s too many. And yet, it’s all too little at the same time.  And it’s all too bad. Covering the falling out and eventual head-to-head between two of Marvel’s most interesting characters, Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Tony Stark (Iron Man), Civil War gets lost in its obvious attempts to pander and please the fanboy base that’s continuously throwing dollars at these films like a stripper draped in Comic-Con attire.

That being said, those who have thoroughly invested themselves in the entirety of this universe—eating up every new addition like a weekly serial installment of some sensational TV show—will likely deem this one of the best Marvel films to date. It knows its audience and cuddles them in, strokes their hair, whispers in their ear and tells them everything is going to be alright. It gives them exactly what they want. Civil War is the cinematic equivalent of an eight-year-old boy playing with his action figures in the bathtub, designed for a far older crowd still trapped in that arrested development. With an overload of new characters pimping their future movies (Black Panther! Spider-Man 3.0!), new character associations (Ant-Man and Captain America are teaming up!) and a deliriously kinetic major action set piece involving a dozen familiar faces duking it out in epic fashion, this is exactly what the fans desire.

Personally, I felt like I was watching living, breathing products battling over who can sell the most merchandise.  This is a movie for those who favor name-brand characters and sensation and flashy eye candy over visual storytelling and originality.  To be fair, compared to Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Marvel’s latest is a masterpiece. But one could say the same about staring at a plain wall compared to Snyder’s headache-inducing disaster. But we shouldn’t be comparing Civil War to the only other big budget superhero versus superhero out there. We should be comparing it to all superhero films, all action-adventure films, ALL films. And compared to all films, this isn’t one.  It’s a damn toy commercial. (– Greg Vallente)

 

The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Ninth Season

Warner Bros. / Released 9/13/16

Prepare to enter phase nine of television’s perpetual laughter experiment as The Big Bang Theory successfully fuses the elements of science and sitcom. Our two genius roommates – Leonard and Sheldon – and their friends are back once again (smarter, but no wiser).

Last season, Sheldon went soul-searching (on a train, of course) and was prepared to make some substantial revisions on his Relationship Agreement with Amy, when everything changed. Leonard, meanwhile, was off to Vegas with Penny to finally tie the knot in the season finale. Howard finds himself alone with Bernadette after the sudden passing of his mother; while Raj is not only talking to women – he’s getting exclusive with Emily (Laura Spencer).

Together, they will all learn that life is far more complicated outside of the lab as love and friendship never produce predictable results. Guest stars include Laurie Metcalf, Keith Carradine, Michael Rapaport, Wil Wheaton, Stephen Merchant, Adam Nimoy, Analeigh Tipton, Elon Musk, Bob Newhart, Jane Kaczmarek, June Squibb, Christine Baranski, Sara Gilbert, Adam West, Stephen Hawking, John Ross Bowie, Blake Anderson, and Judd Hirsch. Extras include 2015 Comic Con Panel, featurettes and gag reel.

Includes the episodes:

• The Matrimonial Momentum: Penny struggles with Leonard’s confession that he kissed another woman as they prepare to get married in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, Sheldon doesn’t know what to do after Amy pushes pause on their relationship.
• The Separation Oscillation: Leonard and Penny try to work through their marital issues. Meanwhile, Sheldon films a special episode of “Fun with Flags” after his breakup with Amy, and Bernadette feels guilty about withholding a secret from Penny.
• The Bachelor Party Corrosion: The guys’s skills are put to the test when they get a flat tire on the way to Mexico for Leonard’s bachelor party. The girls throw Penny a mini-bachelorette party.
• The 2003 Approximation: An impending change to his living arrangements inspires Sheldon to revert to 2003, before he met Penny and Leonard. Raj and Howard form a band for the comic book store.
• The Perspiration Implementation: Kripke expresses interest in Amy while leading a fencing lesson for the guys. Meanwhile, Stuart seeks help from the girls in getting more women interested in the comic book store.
• The Helium Insufficiency: Leonard and Sheldon go to great lengths to secure the helium they need during a nation-wide shortage. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang try to find Amy a new boyfriend on a dating app.
• The Spock Resonance: While being interviewed for a documentary about Spock from Star Trek, Sheldon struggles to suppress his emotions about his recent break-up from Amy. Meanwhile, Howard and Bernadette butt heads over renovating his mother’s house.
• The Mystery Date Observation: Sheldon, Howard and Raj post an ad online to find a new girlfriend for Sheldon. Penny and Bernadette decide to spy when Amy is secretive about who she is dating.
• The Platonic Permutation: On Thanksgiving, Sheldon and Amy try to spend time together as friends and go to an aquarium, Howard reluctantly agrees to volunteer at the soup kitchen with Bernadette, Raj and Emily, and Penny discovers that Leonard knows more about her than she thought.
• The Earworm Reverberation: Sheldon has a revelation when he realizes why a song was stuck in his head. Meanwhile, Amy invites Dave over for dinner despite their previously awkward date, and Howard and Raj become obsessed with a fan of their band.
• The Opening Night Excitation: Leonard, Howard and Raj have to decide who will take their extra Star Wars movie ticket, while Sheldon plans something special for Amy’s birthday.
• The Sales Call Sublimation: Penny gets more than she bargained for when Leonard agrees to meet with a psychiatrist on her behalf to make a sale. Meanwhile, Sheldon and Raj collaborate on an astronomical discovery, and Howard and Bernadette’s happiness is short-lived after Stuart moves out.
• The Empathy Optimization: After being forced to deal with a sick Sheldon, the rest of the gang try to treat themselves to a Sheldon-free weekend.
• The Meemaw Materialization: Sheldon is thrilled when his Meemaw comes to visit, but his excitement quickly fades when she butts heads with Amy. Meanwhile, Raj meets a girl at the comic book store who makes him question his relationship with Emily.
• The Valentino Submergence: Sheldon and Amy host a Valentine’s Day episode of “Fun with Flags”, Leonard and Penny grapple with getting older, Howard and Bernadette find a surprise in their hot tub and Raj is torn between Emily and Claire.
• The Positive Negative Reaction: Bernadette reveals her pregnancy to Howard and the rest of the gang.
• The Celebration Experimentation: The gang convince Sheldon to celebrate his birthday and throw him a party.
• The Application Deterioration: Leonard, Sheldon, and Howard run into problems when they file for a patent for their infinite persistence gyroscope. Meanwhile, the girls give Raj dating advice when Emily reaches out to him after their breakup.
• The Solder Excursion Diversion: Amy is shocked at a revelation from Sheldon after she buys him a new laptop. Meanwhile, Raj sells out Leonard and Howard after they lie to their wives in order to attend an early screening of a movie.
• The Big Bear Precipitation: Secrets are revealed when Amy and Sheldon join Penny and Leonard on a weekend cabin trip. Raj is more excited about Howard’s and Bernadette’s impending parenthood than they are.
• The Viewing Party Combustion: The gang pick sides when a small argument between Leonard and Sheldon erupts into a heated fight during a “Game of Thrones” viewing party.
• The Fermentation Bifurcation: Sheldon and Bernadette spend the evening together while the rest of the gang go to a wine tasting party, but things get uncomfortable for Raj when Penny’s ex-boyfriend Zack shows up and takes an interest in Claire.
• The Line Substitution Solution: Sheldon hires Stuart to spend the day with Amy when he would rather go to the movies. Meanwhile, Penny struggles to make a connection with Leonard’s mother when she comes to visit.
• The Convergence Convergence: Leonard and Penny try to have a wedding ceremony that everyone can attend, but it creates serious conflict among Sheldon’s mother and Leonard’s divorced parents. Meanwhile, Howard and Raj become convinced the government is out to get them.

 

Conjuring 2

Warner Bros. / Released 9/13/16

The supernatural thriller brings to the screen another real case from the files of renowned demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren.

Reprising their roles, Oscar nominee Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson star as Lorraine and Ed Warren, who, in one of their most terrifying paranormal investigations, travel to north London to help a single mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by malicious spirits. Extras include featurettes and deleted scenes.

Last Word: The sequel to 2013’s horror hit The Conjuring takes paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren (Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson) to London for the infamous Enfield Haunting, in which a little girl seems to be channeling the spirit of a particularly malicious ghost who won’t accept that he’s really dead. The jump scares are numerous, but the film is about as subtle as a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

If you watched The Enfield Haunting, last year’s excellent (and far more subtle) British mini-series about the same infamous case that inspired Poltergeist, you’ll find the scares even more trumped-up, especially the Marilyn Manson-esque nun that continually haunts Lorraine.

The film begins with Ed and Lorraine very briefly investigating another notorious ’70s haunting in Amityville, where Lorraine sees a vision of Ed’s death. She wants to stop taking on new cases, until a priest asks them to check on the haunting in Enfield as it’s already too much of a media circus for the Church to investigate directly.

Lorraine reluctantly agrees to the consultation, making Ed promise not to get involved if the haunting is real. Of course, he can’t keep that promise when they meet 11-year-old Janet (Madison Wolfe) whose distress appears entirely genuine.

Wolfe is very sympathetic as Janet and the supernatural phenomena begin subtly enough at first. The worn old leather chair in the corner begins rocking by itself and a swing in the backyard starts swinging on its own when there is no wind. But soon Janet is levitating, growling and speaking in a deep, guttural voice, and furniture is shooting across the room.

That, at least, is in keeping with what was portrayed in The Enfield Haunting, which did not feature the Warrens at all. According to Justin Playfair, another investigator who was portrayed by Matthew McFadyen in the mini-series, the Warrens’ involvement was limited to just one day, and nothing like the dramatic showdown we see in Wan’s film ever took place. But hey, Hollywood!

One character who remains is Maurice Grosse (played here by Simon McBurney), who believes Janet, even when a skeptic claims she has proof the entire haunting has been faked. In the mini-series, he’s played by Timothy Spall and is the focus of the story. His own tragic tale, in which he lost a daughter, is briefly mentioned in The Conjuring 2, but it makes for a deeper, more compelling arc than Wan’s razzle-dazzle spooky nun demon. Oh, and the entire room full of crosses that turn upside down one by one? Also (allegedly) never happened. But then, the entire haunting, while heavily documented, is still considered an elaborate hoax by many.

One of the manifestations of the Enfield demon in The Conjuring 2 is “The Crooked Man,” a long, angular figure from the children’s magic lantern. When he appears, larger than life, he strongly resembles the frightening title spook from the much-better The Babadook.

The Conjuring is still the better, more subtle film, with more genuine scares. As a rule, I’m not a fan of exorcism horror movies, since they all tend to play out exactly the same way, which is why I was disappointed when The Conjuring went that route. But there’s nothing as deliciously spooky in the sequel as the clapping game of hide-and-seek in which not just the humans are playing.

Patrick Wilson is looser and a lot more likeable than he was in the first film. (He gets to do a surprisingly great Elvis impersonation at one point.) And Vera Farmiga is always terrific. I’d love to see more cases of theirs, but I’d prefer one that was more closely based on eyewitness accounts.

If you haven’t see The Enfield Haunting and you’re looking for a movie that will make you jump, this will likely do the trick. My friend (who never saw the mini-series) clutched my arm or my hand tightly numerous times throughout the film and later apologized for nearly cutting off my circulation. (– Sharon Knolle)

 

Aliens 30th Anniversary Edition

20th Century Fox / Released 9/13/16

James Cameron directed this critically acclaimed sequel starring Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, the sole survivor of the Nostromo’s deadly encounter with the monstrous Alien.

After drifting through space in hypersleep for 57 years, Ripley returns to Earth, haunted by nightmares of the past. Although her story is initially met with disbelief, she agrees to accompany a team of Colonial Marines back to LV-426…and this time it’s war! Includes both Theatrical and Special Editions. The ensemble cast includes Michael Biehn, Bill Paxton, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, Carrie Henn, William Hope, Mark Rolston and Jenette Goldstein.

Extras include featurettes, galleries, deleted scene montage, commentary, collectible art cards and a book featuring art from the Dark Horse Comics Aliens series with an all-new cover created exclusively for this 30th Anniversary Edition

 

Transformers: The Movie

Shout! Factory / Released 9/13/16

The year is 2005… For millennia, the heroic Autobots, led by Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), have been at war with the evil Megatron (Frank Welker) and his Decepticons over control of their home planet of Cybertron.

However, an even greater threat – Unicron (Orson Welles), a colossal converting planet that devours everything in its path – is heading right for Cybertron. The only hope is the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. Will the Autobots be able to save themselves and their home world in time?

An all-star cast, including Judd Nelson, Leonard Nimoy, Eric Idle and Robert Stack, brings this inimitable, explosively entertaining Autobot adventure to life.

Includes Both Widescreen (1.85:1) And Full Frame (1.33:1) Versions.  Extras include commentary, documentary, featurettes, archival featurettes, animated storyboards, trailers, and tv spots.

 

Longmire: The Complete Fourth Season

Warner Bros. / Released 9/13/16

Longmire returns for its fourth season with more mystery, drama and dark secrets from Absaroka County, Wyoming.

The new season finds unflappable Sheriff Walt Longmire and his deputies trying to put the troubling events of the past behind them. The mysterious White Warrior who tormented Branch is dead. Walt’s best friend Henry Standing Bear is a free man. Longmire’s right-hand deputy Victoria “Vic” Moretti is newly divorced.

And the mystery of Walt’s wife’s murder is seemingly resolved. But just as it looks like a second chance is truly possible for everyone, the opening of the new casino on the Reservation brings dark new problems to Walt’s corner of Wyoming.

And his fresh start is further threatened as it becomes clear that some people cannot truly move on until they have either forgiven past injustices or avenged them.

Includes the episodes:

• Down by the River: In the wake of discovering a dead body in the river from a supposed suicide, Walt soon discovers evidence pointing to murder. Walt makes it his mission to bring Nighthorse to justice.
• War Eagle: The investigation into Branch’s death continues. Walt looks into a death at the old Japanese internment camp. Henry considers taking up where Hector left off.
• High Noon: Cady gets a new job offer while Vic worries Walt wants her to lie for him. Nighthorse continues his egotistical posturing and Barlow implodes with his own malice.
• Four Arrows: Walt moves on after a standoff with Barlow. A tourist is found dead in a luggage bag left behind a tour bus heading to the casino, causing more tension between Walt and Nighthorse. Henry looks to help an abused mother and her son.
• Help Wanted: Walt suspects a chain robbery when a late veterans husband is shot during a break in and a warehouse full of pharmaceuticals is robbed. The sheriffs department is scouting for new recruits.
• The Calling Back: A young Cheyenne girl is raped on the reservation, creating problems between the wildcatters at the oil rig workers and the Cheyenne people. Vic is evicted from her home, forcing her to move in with Cady.
• Highway Robbery: A highway robbery which leaves one person dead and another barely alive, sets off an investigation involving a string of robberies. Henry begins taking steps in bringing justice to Gabriela’s attackers.
• Hector Lives: When a former suspect in a rape case ends up dead in another county, Walt and Vic aren’t convinced the death is an accident.
• Shotgun: The shooting of Gab’s remaining rapist has unintended consequences. Walt tries to figure out motives for the deaths and continues spending time with Dr Moynihan. Henry takes Gab to a medicine woman. Zack has a stalker.
• What Happens on the Rez…: Henry gets Gab to safety but danger follows. Ferg misses Zack and Vic missteps with Eamon. Walt meets the medicine woman and progresses with the Doc. Mathias makes an arrest in the ‘Hector lives’ campaign. Jacob makes a proposal to Cady.

 

Raising Cain

Shout! Factory / Released 9/13/16

When Jenny cheated on her husband, he didn’t just leave…he split.  From master of terror Brian De Palma comes this stylish psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final frame.

Carter Nix (John Lithgow) is a respected psychologist, loving husband and devoted father who decides to take a year off to help raise his daughter. Carter’s wife Jenny is pleased to have her attentive husband home – at first.

When Carter shows obsessive behavior toward their daughter, Jenny becomes concerned, and to complicate matters, Jenny’s old flame re-enters her life.

But nothing can prepare her for the emergence of Carter’s multiple personalities, and a fiendish plot to recreate the infamous experiments of his deranged father. Extras include both theatrical and director’s cut, interviews, featurette, trailer, and video essay.

 

The Monster of Piedras Blancas

Olive Films / Released 9/13/16

The sleepy little lighthouse community of Piedras Blancas has a big problem when bodies begin piling up (thankfully there’s the ice room at Kochek’s Store for meats and groceries) and a scale from a thought-to-be-extinct prehistoric amphibian is found nearby.

Could this be the work of … The Monster of Piedras Blancas?

For a town photographed in black & white, Piedras Blancas is teeming with colorful characters.

There’s Sturges (John Harmon), the lighthouse keeper who makes it a ritual to leave food out near a secluded beach cave for, well, something; Lucy (Jeanne Carmen), Sturges’ zaftig daughter, a free thinker who clearly doesn’t pay attention to daddy’s warnings about skinny dipping near the cave; Lucy’s boyfriend Fred (Don Sullivan), a young man more than willing to keep an eye on Lucy; and the dedicated man of science Dr. Sam Jorgensen (Les Tremayne) who’s out to solve the mysterious murders. It will become painfully obvious to Sturges (and the unfortunate inhabitants of Piedras Blancas): never miss a feeding!

The Monster of Piedras Blancas, directed by Irvin Berwick, co-stars Forrest Lewis, Frank Arvidson and Wayne Berwick and is photographed by Philip Lathrop, two-time Academy Award nominee for Best Cinematography.

 

Metalstorm: The Destruction Of Jared-Syn

Shout! Factory / Released 9/13/16

Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn is the science fiction battle of the ages with giant Cyclopians and an intergalactic magician in this futuristic adventure set on the desert planet of Lemuria.

A miner and his daughter Dhyana (Kelly Preston) fall prey to the evil dictator Jared-Syn’s reign of terror. Dogen (Jeffrey Byron) the brave peacekeeping ranger, must save Dhyana and the rest of her planet from the brutality of Jared-Syn (Mike Preston), his son, Baal (R. David Smith), and the hideous Cyclopian warlord, Hurok (Richard Moll). If Dogen does not find Dhyana in time, she will be sacrificed to Jared-Syn’s strange life-giving crystal.

Take a space-age journey into the farthest reaches of the imagination with dazzling special effects and a story that will excite fantasy fans of all ages.

This sci-fi action film was directed by Empire Pictures founder Charles Band (Puppetmaster, Trancers) and also features his Trancers star Tim Thomerson. Extras include new High Definition 2D and 3D transfers, gallery,radio spot, and trailer.

 

Marauders

Lionsgate / Released 9/13/16

When an untraceable group of elite bank robbers executes the perfect heist, making off with millions in cash and leaving a dead bank manager in their wake, the FBI agents investigating the robbery/homicide (Christopher Meloni, Dave Bautista, and Adrian Grenier) begin to uncover signs of corruption involving the bank’s owner (Bruce Willis) and his high-power clients.

As they dig deeper into the case, the Feds realize that things are not what they seem, and in order to untangle a complicated web of deception and corruption they must push themselves to the brink – where the lines between right and wrong are often blurred.

Extras include commentary, deleted/extended scenes, featurette and interviews.

 

Yours, Mine and Ours

Olive Films / Released 9/13/16

Based on the book Who Gets the Drumstick, Yours, Mine and Ours, stars Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda as Frank and Helen Beardsley, parents to a blended family of twenty.

When Navy officer Frank Beardsley meets nurse Helen North (with a little help from mutual friend Darrel Harrison, played by Van Johnson) there’s an undeniable attraction although both are apprehensive about any potential romantic involvement, having recently lost their spouses leaving them responsible for raising ten children and eight children respectively.

When they decide to wed, unconventionality turns into hilarity in the wacky Yours, Mine and Ours.

Directed by Melville Shavelson from a screenplay by Mort Lachman and Shavelson and a story by Bob Carroll Jr. and Madelyn Davis based on the Helen Beardsley book, Yours, Mine and Ours features supporting performances by Tim Matheson, Tom Bosley, Gary Goetzman, Morgan Brittany and Tracy Nelson.

 

Road House

Kino Lorber / Released 9/13/16

When love turns to rage… the consequences are deadly!

This slam-bang drama of troubled love, murder and unique revenge in a sleazy nightclub is a noir classic filled with suspense, dramatic punch and a macabre demonstration of a wildly jealous man who is bent on ruining two lives.

Jefferson Robbins (Richard Widmark) owns a roadhouse near the Canadian border that is managed by his playboy buddy Pete Morgan (Cornel Wilde) and cashier Susie Smith (Celeste Holm). After a trip to Chicago, Robbins brings back Lily Stevens (Ida Lupino), a chanteuse with whom he is obviously smitten.

When Robbins goes on a hunting trip with some pals and plans to ask Lily to marry him upon his return… Pete and Lily share some intimate time together and fall in love. The news sends Robbins into a psychopathic tailspin, beginning a game of endless brutality, making the lovers suffer for their betrayal. Directed by Jean Negulesco. Extras include commentary, and featurette.

 

Wonders Of The Arctic

Shout! Factory / Released 9/13/16

The Arctic has always been a place of mystery, myth and fascination. The Inuit and their predecessors adapted and thrived for thousands of years in what is arguably the harshest environment on Earth.

Today, the Arctic is the focus of intense research. Instead of seeking to conquer the north, scientist pioneers are searching for answers to some troubling questions about the impacts of human activities around the world on this fragile and largely uninhabited frontier.

Wonders of the Arctic centers on the ongoing mission to explore and come to terms with the Arctic, and the compelling stories of the many forays into this captivating world. Narrated by Victor Garber. Extras include bonus video and 4K trailers.

 

Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe

Olive Films / Released 9/13/16

The prolific Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe producer (as well as the director of several episodes) Franklin Adreon, would helm a number of the highly popular and entertaining Republic Pictures theatrical serials including The Invisible Monster and Radar Men from The Moon.

Commando Cody, the venerable Sky Marshal of the Universe (Judd Holdren), along with trusted aids Joan Gilbert (Aline Towne) and Ted Richards (William Schallert) and later joined by Dick Preston (Richard Crane), must foil the various schemes of The Ruler (Gregory Gay), an evil alien life form hell-bent on taking over Earth.

Includes all twelve pulse-pounding episodes of Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (including Enemies of the Universe, Nightmare Typhoon, Robot Monster from Mars and the exciting final installment, Captives of the Zero Hour), as directed by Fred C. Brannon, Harry Keller and Franklin Adreon and featureing Craig Kelly, Dale Van Sickel, Gloria Pall, and William Henry.

 

Jekyll and Hyde Together Again

Olive Films / Released 9/13/16

While researching a drug that would make surgeries obsolete, Dr. Daniel Jekyll (Mark Blankfield) inadvertently discovers a substance that unleashes the animal that lives inside every man. Using himself as a guinea pig, Jekyll reverts from his shy, self-effacing, serious self to the hyper-sexual, party-‘till-you-drop alter ego, Mr. Hyde.

Jekyll and Hyde … Together Again, was directed by Jerry Belson, written for the screen by Monica Johnson, Harvey Miller, Jerry Belson and Michael Leeson, co-stars Bess Armstrong as Mary, Jekyll’s loving fiancée; Krista Errickson as Ivy, Hyde’s lusty paramour; and Tim Thomerson as Jekyll’s smarmy colleague Dr. Knute Lanyon.

 

 

Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler

Kino Lorber / Released 9/13/16

A truly legendary silent film, Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler had a major impact on the development of the crime thriller, building upon the work of the pioneering French film serialist Louis Feuillade (Les Vampires) and firmly establishing it as a significant film genre.

This epic two-part tale was originally released as two separate films, respectively subtitled The Great Gambler and Inferno, and that format is reproduced here.

The plot revolves around the pursuit of arch fiend Dr. Mabuse, a gambler, hypnotist, master of disguises and all-around criminal mastermind.

Mabuse was the prototype for the sort of evil genius super-villains that would later become common in movies, whether it be in the James Bond pictures or in comic book adaptations like Superman and Batman.

The film is dominated by the presence of Rudolf Klein-Rogge as Mabuse. A top German actor of the silent era, he is best known today for his performance as the mad scientist Rotwang in Lang’s Metropolis. Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler contains many of the elements that were expected from the crime genre at the time, including characters who slip in and out of disguise, mind control, gambling clubs, exotic women, brutal henchmen and unexpected plot twists. Lang’s directorial ability to handle such pulp material in a masterful fashion, while also using it as a way to examine the decadence of Germany in the 1920s, reaffirms his status as one of the true greats of the silent era. Extras include documentary.

 

The Measure of a Man

Kino Lorber / Released 9/13/16

In The Measure of a Man Vincent Lindon (Mademoiselle Chambon) gives his finest performance to date as unemployed everyman Thierry, who must submit to a series of quietly humiliating ordeals in his search for work.

Futile retraining courses that lead to dead ends, interviews via Skype, a workshop critique of his self-presentation by fellow jobseekers; all are mechanisms that seek to break him down and strip him of identity and self-respect.

In his award-winning performance, Vincent Lindon is quietly heartbreaking, revealing the soul of the unemployed. Extras include director interview and trailer.

 

Scorpion: Season Two

CBS / Released 9/13/16

America’s favorite misfit geniuses are back! Elyes Gabel stars as the leader of Scorpion, a team of prodigies who use their intellect to solve the world’s deadliest problems.

Also starring Robert Patrick as tough-as-nails Homeland Security agent Cabe Gallo, and Katharine McPhee as Paige, a former waitress who interprets the “normal” world for the team, while they help her understand her withdrawn, genius son.

Guest stars include Gene Simmons, Peri Gilpin, Izabella Miko, Doug Savant, Jeff Fahey, Penn Jillette, Drew Carey, Joely Fisher, Eric Roberts, Horatio Sanz, Scott Porter, Josh Randall, and Joshua Leonard. Extras include commentaries, deleted scenes, gag reel and featurettes.

Includes the episodes:

• Satellite of Love: The new Director of Homeland Security reunites the team when a nuclear powered Russian satellite is knocked out of orbit and must be diverted before it detonates over Southern California.
• Cuba Libre: Team Scorpion heads to Cuba when a woman from Cabe’s past pleads for him to help catch a Serbian war criminal.
• Fish Filet: In order to save the lives of three judges, Sylvester goes undercover in a federal prison. Team Scorpion must break him out when his life is threatened.
• Robots: The Navy enlists three members of Scorpion on a classified mission in a top-secret submarine 300-feet below the surface. When the crew discover Walter, Happy, and Cabe using comms to communicate with the rest of their team back in the garage, they confiscate and destroy them. But an explosion sends the sub, and everyone on board, to the bottom of the ocean floor with limited oxygen and without any way to get help or notify anyone where they are.
• Super Fun Guys: The team goes undercover on the set of a superhero movie in Kazakhstan to dismantle a nuclear missile being sold by terrorists.
• Tech, Drugs, and Rock ‘n Roll: Walter’s attempt to “normalize” goes horribly wrong when a nefarious virus is uploaded to his computer, turning Scorpion’s new “smart” building project into a burning death trap with people locked inside.
• Crazy Train: The team tries to stop a runaway train that Paige and Ralph are on.
• Area 51: Megan’s condition get’s most worse. Walter starts to get frustrated about not being able to help her and in Walter’s crazy quest for investors the CIA appears in the garage with the promise of a big payday.
• US vs. UN vs. UK: Team Scorpion is blackmailed to break into the United Nations to assist in the assassination of a menacing arms dealer. Also, Sylvester makes a bold move to protect Megan’s wishes.
• Arrivals and Departures: As Megan’s condition worsens, the team gathers at the hospital. As they arrive, they find a pathogen has infected the hospital threatening all of their lives.
• The Old College Try: The Scorpion team goes under cover at a college to discover who is holding the federal reserve for ransom. Walter tries to help Ray, while Paige is trying to get Walter to express grief about Megan.
• Dam Breakthrough: Its Christmas Eve and Team Scorpion must prevent a catastrophe when torrential rains create a large crack in a dam. The fight to save an entire town from the threat of it wiping out an entire town in its wake.
• White Out: In order to save a United States Special Forces unit from certain death, the Scorpion Team must get through the very low temperatures of Antarctica to connect to a satellite in order to save the soldiers. Toby risks his life to save Happy.
• Sun of a Gun: Sylvester comes face to face with his estranged father, a retired general, who asks Team Scorpion for help when he believes that a dictator in Africa has uncovered a deadly World War II-era weapon of mass destruction and intends to use it.
• Da Bomb: Team Scorpion is tasked with helping NASA’s top secret rocket launch, but they must sabotage their own mission when Walter’s date from the previous night has a bomb strapped to her chest.
• Fractured: When a powerful earthquake hits LA, Team Scorpion must prevent a pinched gas line from causing a massive explosion.
• Adaptation: While Team Scorpion works to stop an influx of drugs being smuggled into the country via drones, Walter gives Happy and Toby an ultimatum on their new relationship.
• The Fast & the Nerdiest: After Sylvester scores big on The Price Is Right, Team Scorpion must infiltrate a high-end car smuggling operation about to ship bioweapons to South America
• Ticker: When Los Angeles’ blood supply is hacked and deemed unusable because of fear it’s been tainted, Team Scorpion must find the culprit in order to save a young girl in desperate need of a heart transplant.
• Djibouti Call: Scorpion is sent on a secret mission to Djibouti, Africa. Cabe is captured. The Team must save him. While Walter has suspicions about the purpose of the mission and concerns over Paige’s interest in new Homeland protégé, Tim Armstrong.
• Twist and Shout: Team Scorpion’s mission to recover the remains of fallen Marines in Vietnam is threatened along with their lives when a deadly tornado heads directly towards them.
• Hard Knox: Team Scorpion is hired by the Department of Defense to break into Fort Knox and “steal” a precious artifact in order to test their security, but they must break in a second time when they find something dangerous hidden inside the object.
• Chernobyl Intentions: In Chernobyl, Sylvester and Paige become trapped inside a decaying nuclear reactor that the team is trying to repair before a tragic meltdown.
• Toby or Not Toby: The team races against time to stop an unstable ex-member of Scorpion, Mark Collins who kidnaps and threatens to kill Toby if his demands are not met.

 

Empire: The Complete Second Season

20th Century Fox / Released 9/13/16

Welcome back to the Lyons’ den, with all its passion, music, and jaw-dropping performances!

Three months have passed since Lucious Lyon’s (Oscar Nominee Terrence Howard) shocking arrest. Now, released from prison, he and Cookie (Taraji P. Henson in her Golden Globe-winning role) enter a hostile competition to dominate the music industry.

Despite an ongoing feud between their sons Jamal and Hakeem, a stunning betrayal may unite the family against an outside takeover of Empire Records.

Meanwhile, Cookie learns a frightening truth about her new lover, and tragedy tests Andre’s newfound faith.

Guest stars include Chris Rock, Marisa Tomei, Ludacris, Kelly Rowland, Ne-Yo, Pitfall, Adam Rodriguez, Adam Rodriguez, Clarence Williams III, Bre-z, Vivica A. Fox, Alicia Keys, Rosie O’Donnell, Naomi Campbell,and Leslie Uggams. Extras include uncut music performances, featurettes, and music video.

Includes the episodes:

• The Devils Are Here: Three months after his arrest, Lucious tries to run Empire Entertainment while in federal lockup; Cookie stages a star-studded concert in support of Lucious while Andre, Hakeem, Anika and Mimi Whiteman attempt a hostile takeover.
• Without a Country: Cookie and her cohorts decide to start their own small record label, but it’s off to a bumpy start as everyone has different visions for the new label. As his first project for the new company, Hakeem decides to form a girl group and woos a hot Latina lead singer proving that he can be more than just an artist.
• Fires of Heaven: Cookie and Anika work together behind Lucious’ back to pull off a surprise performance that catches the eye of Pitbull. Meanwhile, Lucious tracks down Frank Gathers’ daughter, Young Ma, to try to convince her to sign with him at Empire, while Hakeem is hard at work on his girl group, Mirage a Trois. Also, Andre and Rhonda hope their baby-on-the-way will be the key that unlocks Lucious’s cold heart and opens the door for Andre to return to the Empire fold.
• Poor Yorick: Despite their feud, the Lyons decide to collaborate on a project that will benefit both companies; Lucious wants to make Vernon disappear.
• Be True: Cookie and Anika work with Laz to throw an event to launch their company, showcase their artists and premiere a song written by Hakeem; Jamal works on his music with Ne-Yo; Hakeem begins a relationship.
• A High Hope for a Low Heaven: Cookie and Lucious have to work together to protect their children; Jamal wants to get back into the studio; Andre discovers a disciple.
• True Love Never: Lucious considers a partnership with Jago, the founder of a streaming music company; Andre must achieve a delicate balance between his new values and his career; Hakeem tries to turn Laura into a star.
• My Bad Parts: Lucious releases a rap by Freda, which causes Hakeem to issue a rap-battle challenge; Cookie’s sister visits; Jamal tries to land a big sponsorship deal; Anika receives life-altering news.
• Sinned Against: A former prison mate helps Cookie and her sister, Candace a deep connection forms when Jamal works with a critically acclaimed pop star; Cookie makes a discovery about Laz.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Lucious makes a reckless move that could jeopardize everything; Cookie plans a concert at the prison where she was incarcerated for 17 years.
• Death Will Have His Day: Lucious declares he will do anything to regain his power, but Cookie has her own ideas; a major tragedy changes the lives of the Lyon family.
• A Rose by Any Other Name: Camilla sinks her claws into Hakeem, the acting Empire CEO, while the rest of the Lyon family members try to get him back on their side; Jamal gets backlash from his fans; Rhonda and Andre’s marriage is tested.
• The Tameness of a Wolf: Tensions rise between Lucious and his sons; Lucious recreates a traumatic interaction with his mother for a new music video; Tiana and Laura fight to be spotlighted during the Mirage a Trois tour.
• Time Shall Unfold: Lucious releases his video and tries to maneuver his way back into the CEO position at Empire; Andre learns about his grandmother’s mental illness as a way to better understand his own struggle; Anika makes a revelation.
• More Than Kin: Lucious holds a fundraiser as part of a campaign to prove he should return as Empire’s CEO; Hakeem considers whether or not to be a father to Anika’s child.
• The Lyon Who Cried Wolf: The discovery of a dark secret throws a wrench into Lucious’ deeply personal music video about his mother; secret affairs compromise Hakeem and Jamal; Rhonda thinks she knows the identity of her attacker.
• Rise by Sin: Hakeem struggles to find a place for his fiancé, Laura, in his career and family; Cookie reveals the truth about Freda’s father to Jamal; Jamal makes a sacrifice for Lucious.
• Past Is Prologue: After a life-changing experience, Jamal refuses to make music until his family ends its seemingly endless cycle of violence and fighting. Meanwhile, the Feds are tailing Anika because they want to force her to testify against Lucious. In order to protect her family, Cookie organizes a meeting at Hakeem and Laura’s wedding with various people from her and Lucious’ past.

 

Suspects, Series Three and Four

Acorn Media / Released 9/13/16

Filmed from an eyewitness perspective with improvised dialogue, this one-of-a-kind procedural delivers an immersive, authentic look at police investigations.

Detectives Martha Bellamy (Fay Ripley, Cold Feet, New Tricks), Jack Weston (Damien Molony, Being Human, Ripper Street), and Charlie Steele (Clare-Hope Ashitey, Children of Men) are back to solve a series of all-new mysteries in contemporary London.

From an arson attack that leaves a teenager fighting for his life to a copycat murder that could be the work of a serial killer, Martha and her team work tirelessly to expose the truth behind each crime.

Includes the episodes:

• The Artist: Art teacher Abigail Lincoln is found dead at the sixth form college where she worked by handy-man Harry Webster, a man with a conviction for violence, who had recently been sacked for harassing Abigail for being a Lesbian. At the same time Charlie learns that Abigail was about to report the principal, Rory O’Hanlon, for having an affair with student Melissa Parker whilst Rory’s stepson Dylan had been sending Abigail abusive texts. Melissa is caught on CCTV disposing of the murder weapon but there will be another death before the police solve the case.
• Victim: Sian Jenkins is pulled from the Thames, unconscious and suffering from burns. Two years earlier she had disappeared and now her father Neil, a former alcoholic, works for the homeless, a white van similar to his being seen at the spot where she was found. DNA found under Sian’s nails is that of Josie Wilson, another missing girl whose father Mike also appeals for her to be found. Sian’s belongings are found at her friend Lewis’s flat and he is charged but then Josie turns up, also suffering from burns and amnesia. Jack suspects that both girls have been abducted and …
• Safe from Harm: Teenager Asif Khan is seriously injured after a petrol bomb is thrown into the family home. His father Jamal accuses shady businessman Gregor Forrester of intimidating him into a property deal and using disgraced former policeman David Eboda, a former mentor to Jack, as his heavy. When Forrester’s son Zach goes missing it seems that Jamal is out for revenge though he has an alibi, which is more than Forrester has for the night of the arson attack. A secret love triangle and an attempt to give the illusion of a kidnapping are revealed before the case is closed.
• Connections: After teenager Mandy Granger goes missing the body of a young girl is found dumped on waste ground though Mandy’s mother Natalie claims it is not her daughter. The police discover that Mandy made the 999 call and CCTV reveals her violent father Andrew fighting with Jez, her boyfriend, who is a transsexual previously called Julie and Andrew is arrested. Then Oliver, who dated Jez when she was Julie, is in the frame, having sent her abusive texts. A drunken party which got out of hand eventually holds the key to who killed Jez and what happened to Mandy.
• AWOL: Martha and the team investigate a missing person’s case after a father stages a dramatic protest to persuade the army to search for his AWOL son. Recently returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, the young soldier had been out drinking with three of his army pals the night he disappeared.
• Revenge: The detectives reopen a cold case when a person involved in that crime dies in a brutal copycat murder. Believing it might be a revenge killing, the detectives bring in the first victim’s sister for questioning.
• Ricochet: Reverend Daniel Matthews is a pillar of the community and runs a boxing club for disadvantaged youth. But when he is shot in a drive-by, the detectives wonder who could have wanted him dead.
• Rough Justice: After being brutally attacked in her own home, an elderly woman claims she was robbed of her life savings, which she kept in her spare room, but the team has doubts. Despite a number of suspects, the truth proves difficult to find.

 

Being Canadian

Passion River Films / Released 9/13/16

When Calgarian Rob Cohen – perhaps better known as an Emmy Award-winning writer/producer on such TV series as The Simpsons, American Dad and The Big Bang Theory – originally moved to L.A. to pursue his dreams of becoming a comedy writer, he quickly realized that his new friends and colleagues knew nothing but the usual stereotypes about his beloved homeland. After years of frustration at people outside of Canada not knowing, caring, or even thinking about Canadians (aside from viewing them as vanilla Americans-lite, who spend most of the year encased in ice, “hunting moose with hockey pucks”), Cohen decided to embark on an epic personal quest, traveling from one end of his beloved homeland to the other, to prove that being Canadian is more than just maple syrup and Mounties.

The result is Being Canadian, a fun, light-hearted romp through the Great White North, nominated for “Best Documentary Film” by the Writers Guild of America.

To answer the most pressing questions, such as “What does it mean to be Canadian?”, “What is our national identity”, “What about Canada creates so many funny people?” and “What the hell is poutine?”, Cohen spoke with some of Canada’s most famous and accomplished citizens, including Dan Aykroyd, Martin Short, Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, Seth Rogen, Mike Myers, William Shatner, Dave Foley, Cobie Smulders, Will Arnett, Howie Mandel, Rush, Alanis Morissette, Michael J. Fox, Paul Shaffer, Alex Trebek, Jason Priestly, David Steinberg and many more.

 

All Things Must Pass

Filmrise / Released 9/13/16

Established in 1960, Tower Records was once a retail powerhouse with two hundred stores, in thirty countries, on five continents.

From humble beginnings in a small-town drugstore, Tower Records eventually became the heart and soul of the music world, and a powerful in the music industry. In 1999, Tower Records made $1 billion. In 2006, the company filed for bankruptcy. What went wrong? Everyone thinks they know what killed Tower Records: The Internet.

But that’s not the story.

All Things Must Pass is a feature documentary film examining this iconic company’s explosive trajectory, tragic demise, and legacy forged by its rebellious founder Russ Solomon

Last Word: I used to travel for an old job.  As soon as I arrived at my hotel, I would open a phone book and look for the record stores. I knew that if I found a cluster, I would find all of the other cool and weird things that city had to offer nearby.  This tactic rarely if ever failed me and I owe this to the early success of Tower Records.

At the time that I had this job, I was also working part-time for an independently owned chain of record stores. Those were some of the most joyous times in my life, exchanging the histories of bands and record labels with customers and co-workers. We traded with each other the secrets that lit fires in our souls and kindled the flames of friendships with the discovery of a shared emotional response. I hold this experience near and dear to my heart.

This was not Empire Records, though that movie got some aspects of the environment right. This, according to the great new Colin Hanks directed documentary All Things Must Pass, was more akin to the Tower Records experience. The raucous, familial atmosphere is covered with an admiration that borders on being reverent. This worship might make the story too precious, but Hanks tempers this by openly discussing the warts and all aspect of working at Tower.

It’s not all about the atmosphere in the store. Founder Russ Solomon is prominently featured in interviews throughout the film as well as many of his surviving corporate staff. Most started by working in stores and worked their way up to Vice-President and director positions by helping with the worldwide expansion of Tower in the 70s and 80s. Possibly my favorite part of the movie involved the story of Tower Japan And Ken Viducich, the shipping/receiving clerk who went to Japan and opened their Asian flagship because he understood shipping logistics.

The story of Tower’s demise is one that should feature prominently in MBA programs. Unlike the starry eyed Sound City documentary, All Things Must Pass is the kind of documentary that is technically informative while still remaining accessible and generally entertaining. If this is is the directorial debut of Colin Hanks, I cannot wait to see what he does next. (– Joe Yezukevich)

 

The Dwarvenaut

Kino Lorber / Released 9/13/16

The Dwarvenaut gives viewers a glimpse into the visionary mind of Brooklyn-based artist and entrepreneur Stefan Pokorny.

Director Josh Bishop weaves together memories of Stefan’s tumultuous childhood with his modern day escapades to paint a mesmerizing portrait.

An art prodigy obsessed from a young age with the game Dungeons & Dragons, Stefan navigates absurd adventures-from Midwestern game conventions to the canals of Venice to Bushwick dive bars-on a quest to bring his most ambitious miniature sculpture project to life through a multimillion dollar Kickstarter campaign.

Part philosopher, part jester, he preaches the virtues of fantasy gaming as a vehicle for uniting the human race on his whimsical, bizarre life’s journey.

Extras include commentaries, deleted scenes, Kickstarter videos and shorts.

 

King Jack

Well Go USA / Released 9/13/16

Jack is a scrappy fifteen year-old kid stuck in a run-down small town.

Trapped in a violent feud with a cruel older bully and facing another bout of summer school, Jack’s got all the problems he can handle.

So when Jack’s aunt falls ill and his runty younger cousin must stay with him for the weekend the last thing Jack wants to do is look after him.

Unfortunately no one really cares what Jack wants. Set over a hazy summer weekend, King Jack is a tough and tender coming of age story about friendship and finding happiness in rough surroundings.

 

 

Presenting Princess Shaw

Magnolia / Released 9/13/16

The true story of the incredible Princess Shaw and the enigmatic composer Kutiman, who discovers her from the other side of the world.

By day, Samantha Montgomery cares for the elderly in one of New Orleans’s toughest neighborhoods. By night, she writes and sings her own songs as Princess Shaw on her confessional YouTube channel. Raw and vulnerable, her voice is a diamond in the rough.

Across the globe, Ophir Kutiel creates video mash ups of amateur YouTube performers. Known as Kutiman, he is a composer, a musician, and a pioneering video artist embraced by the world of fine art. Kutiman “transforms sampling into a multimedia art,” whether at his home on a kibbutz in Israel or at a live performance at the Guggenheim in New York.

Two strangers, almost 7,000 miles apart, begin to build a song. The film unfolds as Kutiman pairs Princess Shaw’s emotional performances in a beautiful expression of generosity and compassion, revealing the bona fide star underneath and her fight to never give up on her dreams.

 

Beauty and the Beast: 25th Anniversary Edition

Disney / Released 9/20/16

In a quaint French village during the late 18th century, Belle, a bright and beautiful young woman, finds escape from her ordinary life, and the advances of a boorish suitor, Gaston, by reading books.

Meanwhile, off in a castle in the distance, a cruel young prince is cast under the spell of an enchantress who turns him into a tormented beast, while transforming his servants into animated household objects.

In order to remove the curse, the Beast must discover a true love who will return his affection before the last petal falls from an enchanted rose.

When Belle’s inventor father stumbles upon the Beast’s castle and is taken prisoner, Belle comes to the rescue and agrees to take her father’s place. With the help of the castle’s enchanted staff, she sees beneath the Beast’s exterior and discovers the heart and soul of a human prince.

Extras include 3 versions of the film, featurettes, commentary, song selection, song selections, plus digital only supplements including featurettes, bonus scenes, music, work in progress edition, trailers, tv spots and more.

Last Word: This movie is beautiful. It was one of the first animated movies aided by CGI, and despite its age, it holds up beautifully. The music, composed by legendary Alan Menken with lyrics by the great Howard Ashman, is some of the best to ever come out of Disney. In an age before celebrity voices dominated animation, Beauty and the Beast smartly utilized Broadway stars, and the quality and character they bring to each voice is undeniable.

Princess culture is often regarded as damaging, promoting the idea that women need to be rescued or require a prince to save them. But in this case, Belle, despite her status as a captive, is very much the heroine of the story. Like Cinderella stories throughout time, what appears to be a story supporting the status quo is actually sneaking through valuable messages for little girls.

Belle’s defining trait is her love of books. She loves the sense of adventure she feels, even when trapped in her small town, when she cracks open a novel. They open her mind and help her see her father’s extraordinary vision for his inventions, even when no one else does. And unlike her fellow villagers, she does not view the Beast or the talking housewares with fear, but curiosity. Her education makes her compassionate, brave, and open to love.

Gaston spends most of the movie pursuing Belle for no reason other than she’s beautiful. He mocks her books and her compassion, and he’s the person that rallies the mob to kill the beast. Through all his brash displays of machismo and stupidity, Belle maintains both her calm and her boundaries. She knows she wants better for herself than to become his “little wife.” She would rather go on adventures, but even if she cannot, she seems perfectly fine to be alone. She knows her value and her capabilities, and she does not need a man to help her. This makes the moment when she returns for the beast, to tell him how she feels, that much more impactful. She’s not looking for a prince, she’s seeking an equal who understands her worth.

A frequently cited problem with Beauty and the Beast is that it follows standard “dream girl” tropes. Belle, a woman on put on a idealized pedestal by a man, exists only to change that man for the better. And while it’s true that Belle does not have much of an arc in the movie, it is clear that she is a whole person with an internal life. It’s easy to imagine what her life looks like outside of the runtime. While the Beast is little less well-drawn (character-wise, not animation), he does eventually let Belle go, trusting her autonomy in a way that Gaston does not. He loves her because she is a caring person, and he knows he cannot stifle that. When she comes back, he knows it is love, and he treasures it.

At the end of the day, Beauty and the Beast is a gorgeous movie about a self-assured woman with a love for reading who draws the attention of two jerks. One jerk learns, through her example, the he is a jerk and adjusts accordingly. The other does not and falls off a turret into some jagged rocks. The real takeaway is that women can change the world if we let them. Otherwise, we’re on a path to certain destruction. I’d say that’s a pretty powerful message — one that certainly deserves twenty-five years of relevance, and, hopefully, another twenty-five more. (– Samantha Garrison)

 

Labyrinth: 30th Anniversary Edition

Sony / Released 9/20/16

From the imagination of Jim Henson.

Babysitting infant stepbrother Toby on a weekend night isn’t young Sarah’s (Jennifer Connelly) idea of fun. Frustrated by his crying, she secretly imagines the Goblins from her favorite book, Labyrinth, carrying Toby away.

When her fantasy comes true, a distraught Sarah must enter a maze of illusion to bring Toby back from a kingdom inhabited by mystical creatures and governed by the wicked Goblin King (David Bowie).

Extras include commentary, anniversary Q & A, featurettes, making of documentary, and trailers.

 

Beware! The Blob

Kino Lorber / Released 9/20/16

The Blob returns… more outrageous than ever in this 1972 sequel to the popular sci-fi classic!

Plenty of familiar faces, including Robert Walker Jr., Larry Hagman, Sid Haig, Burgess Meredith, Dick Van Patten, Godfrey Cambridge, Cindy Williams, Carole Lynley, Gerrit Graham and Shelley Berman add to the fun.

A geologist (Cambridge) unwittingly brings home an unusual frozen piece of debris from the North Pole. But when it accidentally thaws, the hungrier-than-ever Blob comes to life again, consuming nearly everyone in its path and terrorizing the town.

No one is safe as it crawls into a bowling alley, oozes its way across an ice rink, becoming grotesquely bloated with the blood of its victims… can this bizarre creature ever be stopped? TV legend Larry Hagman directed this cult classic, the only feature film he ever directed – upon its 1980s re-release, the film was tagged “The Film that J.R. Shot!”. Extras include commentary, alternate title sequence.

 

The Originals: The Complete Third Season

Warner Bros / Released 9/20/16

The original vampire-werewolf hybrid Klaus Mikaelson and his brother Elijah have spent 1,000 years fighting to protect their dysfunctional family. And now that Klaus and the hybrid Hayley share an infant daughter, Hope, the stakes are higher than ever.

Season Three finds Klaus and Elijah estranged from each other, while adjusting to life with their long-lost sister, Freya. Hayley suffers mightily at the hands of Klaus’ petty vengeance, while Marcel and Davina rule the city. Cami and Vincent are tangled in a surprising mystery involving the newest resident of New Orleans – the first vampire ever sired by the Mikaelsons. Extras include 2015 Comic-Con, featurettes, unaired scenes, and gag reel.

Includes the episodes:

• For the Next Millennium: In the season premiere, Klaus learns that an old vampire friend named Lucien has arrived in New Orleans with a mysterious agenda involving the Mikaelson’s sire lines.
• You Hung the Moon: Elijah and Jackson are concerned when Hayley fails to show up during the full moon. Lucien delivers an unsettling warning about the war brewing.
• I’ll See You in Hell or New Orleans: Cami is caught off-guard when she finds herself face to face with Lucien and is surprised when he reveals some unexpected information about his past with Klaus.
• A Walk on the Wild Side: Elijah considers attending a gala thrown by a mysterious group of ancient vampires known as the Strix, which Hayley invites herself to attend with him.
• The Axeman’s Letter: As the war among the sire lines continues, Klaus receives an unexpected visit by a figure from his past. Davina struggles with her role as Regent and seeks advice from Hayley.
• Beautiful Mistake: Klaus tries to figure out where Aurora’s loyalties lie. A dangerous run-in with a member of the Strix leads Hayley and Marcel to make an unsettling discovery.
• Out of the Easy: Klaus and Elijah invite Lucien, Tristan and Aurora to a Thanksgiving gathering in an attempt to negotiate a truce.
• The Other Girl in New Orleans: After learning that Cami’s life is in danger, Klaus is forced to engage in one of Aurora’s devious games and follow a series of clues she’s left behind for him.
• Savior: Klaus keeps a watchful eye on Cami. Hayley’s attempt at a quiet Christmas with Jackson and Hope results in an unexpected surprise. Vincent reevaluates a decision.
• A Ghost Along the Mississippi: Vincent, in his newly resumed role as Regent, is forced to use magic against his will. Klaus, Elijah and Freya enact a risky plan that leads to a tense showdown with the Strix.
• Wild at Heart: Elijah reluctantly aligns with Aya. Meanwhile, a desperate Davina is approached with an offer that could bring her closer to reuniting with Kol.
• Dead Angels: When a powerful weapon that could take down the Mikaelsons for good ends up in the wrong hands, Klaus finds himself in a tense standoff with an unlikely foe.
• Heart Shaped Box: Aurora uses Freya as bait to lure Klaus and Elijah into a dangerous trap. Davina finds a way to conjure up Kol.
• A Street Car Named Desire: Freya enlists the help of Stefan Salvatore, an old friend of Klaus’, whose unexpected arrival may be the key to his and Elijah’s survival.
• An Old Friend Calls: When Klaus learns that Cortez, an old vampire with a vendetta against him, has arrived in New Orleans, he finds himself forced to deal with this new threat.
• Alone with Everybody: Tensions inside the compound build as Kol comes face to face with his brother Finn. Klaus and Hayley seek shelter with her former pack.
• Behind the Black Horizon: Elijah and Finn travel to Mystic Falls where they run into Deputy Matt Donovan, who doesn’t like new vampires in his town.
• The Devil Comes Here and Sighs: During Jazz Fest, an unlikely team of Mikaelson foes take Klaus hostage. Davina turns to Marcel and Vincent for help when Kol’s erratic behavior worsens.
• No More Heartbreaks: Hayley and Elijah travel to the bayou in hopes of getting a potential antidote to save Cami’s life. Davina confronts Lucien and learns some heartbreaking information.
• Where Nothing Stays Buried: An unexpected showdown between Klaus and Lucien forces Freya to take matters into her own hands, setting off a life-changing chain of events.
• Give ‘Em Hell Kid: With the help of Detective Kinney, Vincent and Kol travel to the ancestral world to put a stop to the witches.
• The Bloody Crown: After months of thwarting off deadly attacks, the Mikaelson siblings finally come face to face with the one person who could lead to their ultimate demise.

 

2 Broke Girls: The Complete Fifth Season

Warner Bros / Released 9/20/16

In 2 Broke Girls, Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs star as Max Black and Caroline Channing, best friends and opposites who met waitressing at the same Brooklyn diner.

In season five, the girls continue to wait tables at the diner while trying to build their business, Max’s Homemade Cupcakes, operating out of an after-hours cupcake window at the diner.

While trying to work their way out of “broke,” and realizing they are more alike than they thought, they’re surrounded by their offbeat, colorful “work family” at the diner: Oleg, the overly flirtatious cook; Earl, the hip 75-year-old cashier; Han, the eager-to-please owner of the diner; and Sophie, the girls’ outrageous upstairs neighbor.

Guest stars include Ryan Hansen, Kevin Meaney, Jackée Harry, Mo Gaffney, Ed Quinn, George Hamilton, John Michael Higgins, Steven Weber, Robert Costanzo, Steve Agee and Lisa Lampanelli. Extras include unaired scenes and gag reel.

Includes the episodes:

• And the Wrecking Ball: Max, Caroline, and the diner crew rally together, when the city seeks to demolish the diner and cupcake window to build an I-MAX theater. Meanwhile, believing she is an expectant mother, Sophie takes many pregnancy tests.
• And the Gym and Juice: Max and Caroline get part-time jobs at the juice bar at a gym to enjoy free use of the gym’s locker room after their shower breaks; Caroline has a run-in with a group of rich moms who are jealous of the attention she’s getting from a sexy trainer.
• And the Maybe Baby: When the girls run into Caroline’s newly engaged ex, Andy, Caroline wonders if she made a mistake when she sees how much he supports his fiancé’s career.
• And the Inside-Outside Situation: Max and Caroline’s cupcake shop is boycotted after they refuse to sell cupcakes to an artist named “I”, who wants to put cocktail weenies in them.
• And the Escape Room: Han insists the diner gang attends a mandatory night out in an “Escape Room Club” when he feels they aren’t working together as a team, they soon find themselves locked inside the “Alice in Wonderland”-themed room.
• And the Not Regular Down There: Max is both puzzled and curious when the new guy she is dating expresses hesitations about intimacy because he is “not regular down there.” Also, Sophie and Oleg struggle to get pregnant.
• And the Coming Out Party: Caroline’s grandmother wakes from a coma and does not know that she and the rest of her family is broke. Caroline tries to ward off telling her the bad news by throwing her one last hurrah lunch with the help of Max and the gang.
• And the Basketball Jones: Oleg’s pro-basketball playing cousin comes to town to play a game against Max’s favorite team, but chaos ensues when the girls interfere with the game and risk ruining their cupcake business’ reputation in the process.
• And the Sax Problem: Max and Caroline try to convince Earl’s ex girlfriend Ruby to let him play at her club with his former band.
• And the No New Friends: When Max reconnects with an old friend, Caroline feels jealous and attempts to try to make some new friends of her own.
• And the Booth Babes: Max and Caroline make a deal in order to get into a gaming convention, where they learn Han’s friend has based video game characters on them.
• And the Story Telling Show: Caroline attracts the attention of a Hollywood executive when she shares her riches-to-rags tale at storytelling night; Sophie and Oleg look for a surrogate.
• And the Lost Baggage: Max tags along with Caroline as she travels to Los Angeles on a film studio’s dime to discuss the idea of making her riches-to-rags life story into a movie. While there, Max loses her luggage but finds a new crush.
• And You Bet Your Ass: Caroline is torn when the studio writers reveal they won’t portray Max in the project; Max is being spoiled by her new Hollywood beau, Randy, who sets Caroline up on a date with his friend, Bob.
• And the Great Escape: Max pet-sits Randy’s dog, Bruno, who escapes with a cannibalistic serial killer loose in their neighborhood; Caroline sets up meetings with actresses who are interested in playing her.
• And the Pity Party Bus: Caroline signs the rights to her life story to be turned into a movie; Max is heartbroken when Randy breaks up with her via his therapist Elliot, Caroline rents a party bus in attempt to cheer her up.
• And the Show and Don’t Tell: When the girls go to prison to see Caroline’s father, Martin, perform in a musical, they tell him they plan to use Caroline’s movie money to convert their cupcake window into a dessert bar.
• And the Loophole: When the girls decide to look for larger space for their dessert bar, Han sets them up Evie, a real estate agent who has a crush on him; Randy surprises Max at the diner hoping to patch up their relationship.
• And the Attack of the Killer Apartment: In an attempt to get to know Max’s world better, Randy asks to spend the night at her apartment; Caroline works on getting a liquor license for their dessert bar.
• And the Partnership Hits the Fan: When a law firm courting Randy for a job invites him and Max to dinner at a hip new restaurant, the evening veers off course when their eclectic cuisine doesn’t sit well with Max.
• And the Ten Inches: When Max and Caroline need more space for their renovated dessert bar, they’re willing to do just about anything to convince Angie, the brash owner of the pizza place next door, to rent them her back office.
• And the Big Gamble: Max and Caroline learn Han is in trouble with a gang when he can’t pay a substantial debt he amassed from gambling on Women’s tennis.

 

Pele: Birth of a Legend

IFC / Released 9/20/16

Pelé. A name known around the world, a sports legend who changed soccer forever, and a national hero who carried the hopes and dreams of a country on his back. But before he was an icon, he was a kid from the slums of São Paulo, Brazil – so poor that he couldn’t afford a real soccer ball.

Charting his meteoric rise – from scrubbing floors to support his family to honing his electrifying playing style on the streets to leading Brazil’s national team to its first World Cup victory at the age of 17 – Pele: Birth of a Legend vividly brings to life one of the greatest sports stories of the 20th century. F rom producers Brian Grazer and Colin Wilson, Pele: Birth of a Legend stars Vincent D’Onofrio , revered Brazilian musician Seu Jorge and Rodrigo Santoro. It was an Official Selection at the Tribeca Film Festival.

 

 

Thanks for the Memories; The Bob Hope Specials

Time Life / Released 9/20/16

Bob Hope, the greatest entertainer of the 20th century, moved from Broadway to radio to movies to television as easily as a pro golfer sinking a two-foot putt.

There was no better showcase for his prodigious talents then his NBC comedy-variety TV specials, which began in 1950 and spanned five decades and ten presidential administrations from Harry Truman to Bill Clinton.

Hope’s hilarious TV specials – many of which are still among the most watched shows of all time — became a vehicle for the stars of the day and defined the variety show for generations of loyal fans.

Whether he was ringing in the festive Christmas season with the biggest celebrities in Hollywood, along with major figures from the worlds of sports, music and politics, or bringing a taste of home to servicemen and women scattered thousands of miles from their families with his legendary USO shows, Hope’s warmth and goodwill knew no boundaries. He knew, whether home or abroad, laughter was truly the best medicine.

And, for more than 50 years, Hope served it up like no other entertainer in history.

Thanks for the Memories: The Bob Hope Specials features 13 digitally restored and unedited specials from Bob’s career, including The Bob Hope Chevy Show (1956), A Bob Hope Comedy Special (1963), A Bob Hope Comedy Special (1965), Chrysler Presents A Bob Hope Comedy Special (1966), Chrysler Presents A Bob Hope Comedy Special (1967), The Bob Hope Christmas Special (1968), Highlights of a Quarter Century of Bob Hope on Television (1975), Joys (A Comedy Whodunit) (1976), Bob Hope’s World of Comedy (1976), Texaco Presents The Bob Hope All-Star Christmas Comedy Special (1977), The Hilarious Unrehearsed Antics of the Stars (1984), Bob Hope: The First 90 Years (1993), and Bob Hope…Laughing with the Presidents (1996). Guest stars include Jack Benny, Bing Crosby, Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball, James Cagney, Tony Bennett, Barbra Streisand, Dean Martin, George Burns, Sammy Davis Jr., Groucho Marx, Don Rickles, John Wayne, Johnny Carson, Presidents Truman, Kennedy and Clinton, Raquel Welch, Charo, Milton Berle, James Garner, Mark Hamill, Olivia Newton-John, Barbra Streisand, Tuesday Weld, The Muppets, Brooke Shields, Burt Reynolds, Mr, T, Elizabeth Taylor and many more.

 

The Rift

Kino Lorber / Released 9/20/16

Ray Wise stars in this underwater horror film in the tradition of Leviathan and DeepStar Six! The experimental submarine Siren 1, designed by Wick Hayes (Jack Scalia), is missing.

The rescue team, headed by Captain Phillips (R. Lee Ermey) and scientist Robbins (Wise), embark on a mission to find the missing sub. Complicated by the addition of Wick’s estranged wife Nina (Deborah Adair) to the rescue team, the tension mounts as the Siren 2 dives deeper than any sub has gone before.

What the crew finds in the furthermost darkest recesses of the ocean is more ghastly and horrifying than they could ever imagine!

Also known as Endless Descent, co-starring Ely Pouget and directed by cult director Juan Piquer Simon (Pieces, Slugs) The Rift features a brand new HD master. Extras include interviews.

 

ma ma

Oscilloscope / Released 9/20/16

Academy Award-winning actress and producer Penélope Cruz delivers an extraordinarily emotional performance in ma ma, the newest film from acclaimed director Julio Medem.

Honoring the high melodrama of Pedro Almodóvar and Douglas Sirk, ma ma follows Magda (Cruz) as she experiences tragedies and miracles alike.

Just as Magda is diagnosed with breast cancer, she meets Arturo (Luis Tosar), a devoted husband and father in the midst of unspeakable loss.

Their chance encounter leads both down a path of strength, grace, love, and rebirth.

 

 

Modern Family: The Complete Season 7

20th Century Fox / Released 9/20/16

Quackery rules the roost when Phil adopts a trio of orphan ducklings and the rebellious Dunphy kids spread their wings.

Meanwhile, Cam and Mitchell face financial hurdles and wild frat boys, Jay and Gloria “farm” out Joe’s preschool education and Manny leaps into the dating game.

But will the big question finally be answered: are Haley and Andy destined to be together?

The laughs, lunacy and love have never been more alive.

Extras include making of an episode, featurette, deleted and alternate scenes and extended episode.

Includes the episodes:

• Summer Lovin’: Haley loses out on Andy and gets back with Dylan. Alex and Sanjay plan their breakup for when they leave for school. Mitchell takes up art instead of finding a new job. Jay and Gloria try to get Joe in a good preschool.
• The Day Alex Left for College: Haley drops Alex off at school, where they meet her intense new roommate. Phil asks Luke to help him show a house, but he’d rather be with his friends. And everybody else is looking for an excuse to get out of Lily’s soccer game.
• The Closet Case: Mitchell takes a job with his dad’s rival. Luke and Manny visit Alex at college to meet a girl. Gloria is upset when a cheerleader doesn’t decorate Manny’s locker. Phil and Claire play chicken when Dylan moves into the house.
• She Crazy: Phil builds a habitat for the duck eggs and convinces Lily to help him hatch them; Claire is anxious about telling Jay her ideas for closets; Gloria and Manny assist each other with their “crushes”; Cam bonds with frat guys.
• The Verdict: Claire is excited to give Haley and Alex a great experience for “Bring Your Daughter to Work Day” but the staff is not making it easy, and Phil takes Luke and Manny’s class out for community service day, which becomes a teachable moment in more ways than one. Elsewhere, Gloria is thrilled to be on jury duty leaving Jay to help out at Joe’s pre-school and he is not happy about it at all. Cam and Mitch disagree over which of their friends to invite to their party, so could Gloria help mediate?
• The More You Ignore Me: Luke is arrested, and Phil is surprised by Claire’s reaction. Mitchell has a new job offer to ponder. Cameron helps Gloria uncover the secret recipe for her family’s sauce. Jay is set to receive an award from the Chamber of
• Phil’s Sexy, Sexy House: Haley sneaks into the fancy house Phil is selling for some alone time, but discovers that other people had the same idea. Meanwhile, Jay secretly plans a trip for the family, and Manny tries to use his brother Joe to impress a girl.
• Clean Out Your Junk Drawer: Gloria pays for all three couples to have a Sunday afternoon group therapy session, but nobody else is taking it seriously. Meanwhile, Haley and Alex discuss whether they should dump their boyfriends.
• White Christmas: Gloria makes plans for the family to have a “White Christmas,” but the weather does not cooperate. Jay makes a decision about the future of his business. Alex makes a new friend. Haley and Andy continue to fool around in secret.
• Playdates: The Dunphy kids make a last-minute birthday surprise for Mitchell, and run into Ray Liotta. Jay is uncomfortable with the father of Joe’s new play date. Claire asks Phil to not pick up the bill at lunch. Cam helps Lily with a new crush.
• Spread Your Wings: While Phil visits a lonely Alex at CalTech, Claire tries to get rid of the ducks. Gloria and Cam have to steal some peppers to fill their sauce recipe. Jay helps Mitchell with Lily’s sleepover.
• Clean for a Day: Claire’s efforts at cleaning house brings resistance from her family and a bittersweet memory for Alex. While Jay sneaks off for flying lessons with Cameron, Mitchell tries to help Gloria learn how to play golf.
• Thunk in the Trunk: Claire’s new position means Phil feels like a housewife. Gloria’s provocative sauce ad gets Jay jealous. Mitch and Cam rent the apartment above their own, but end up spying on their guests
• The Storm: During an electrical storm, Phil tries too hard to prove that he’s useful, Jay desperately tries to make an appointment at a bar, Manny has an embarrassing moment with Claire, and Mitch and Cam try to save Lily’s failing birthday party.
• I Don’t Know How She Does It: Claire doesn’t tell Phil that she’s using an assistant to do all her family chores. Jay, Gloria and Manny each try to keep an embarrassing secret from each other. Mitch and Cam try to find out why they’ve been blacklisted at gay weddings.
• The Cover-Up: Phil hides a secret about his new client from Claire, but Claire has her own secret about her yoga instructor. Jay needs help to find the identity of an online troll. Cam has an accident while forcing Lily to learn how to ride a bike.
• Express Yourself: Phil talks Claire into a last-minute trip to Paris, and Andy has a wild night out in Las Vegas with Haley. Jay’s bathroom remodeling project frustrates Gloria, and Mitchell can’t sleep when Cameron’s sister comes to visit.
• The Party: Manny and Luke are in charge of babysitting Lily so that the adults can enjoy a day to themselves. Claire and Gloria have a lovely trip to the spa planned; Phil and Mitch nerd out in the movies; Jay and Cam go to a sports bar to watch the big fight. Things started going awry though when the fire alarm goes off back at the house, Claire is convinced the boys are secretly throwing a party.
• Man Shouldn’t Lie: Claire takes in a stray dog and tries to hide it from Phil. Gloria persuades a reluctant Jay to make a new friend. Mitchell tries to persuade the drummer in a Christian rock band he suspects of being gay to come out of the closet.
• Promposal: Mitchell helps Luke out with his “promprosal,” sparking Cam’s jealousy. Claire discovers that there is a mole for Jay in the company. Phil and Gloria confront a competitor who stole Gloria’s sauce recipe.
• Crazy Train: The family travels by train to Dede’s wedding. Phil and Cam help a mystery writer with his book, Jay’s comment puts the wedding in jeopardy, Claire helps Mitch write the toast, and Luke and Alex meet possible romantic interests.
• Double Click: Jay struggles as he returns to the job, and Claire is in a no-win situation having to fire an employee. Mitchell and Cam fight over who keeps Lily for the summer. Meanwhile, Phil and the kids struggle with relationships and change.

 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

Paramount / Released 9/20/16

After super villain Shredder escapes custody, he joins with two mutant henchmen, Bebop and Rocksteady, to unleash a diabolical plan to take over the world. Now the brothers Turtle, Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo and Raphael, must team up with April O’Neil and their new, hockey-masked ally Casey Jones, to battle their enemies and face their biggest threat ever: the notorious Krang. Extras include featurettes, Easter eggs and deleted scenes.

Last Word:  Out of the Shadows takes place almost a year after our overly buffed heroes saved the city, and in keeping with their ninja training, they’ve maintained a low profile by fighting in the shadows, watching the New York Knicks lose, from the rafters of Madison Square Garden, and arguing over the last slice of pizza. Meanwhile, April O’Neil (still played by Megan Fox) has gone undercover, investigating Baxter Stockman (in Tyler Perry form), a brilliant and respected scientist who may have ties to Shredder (now played by Brian Tee). Unsurprisingly, Shredder escapes police custody (in the most epic Fast and Furious way possible), and the Turtles, with the help of a new ally in corrections officer turned hockey vigilante, Casey Jones, (played Stephen Amell) go about bringing the villain to justice… again.

In the mix of secret plans and teleporting, Shredder teams with the infamous Krang, a disembodied alien brain whose purple ooze will help him dominate the world by turning two dimwitted loyal followers into their true animal spirits: a warthog and rhino in the form of Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (WWE’s Sheamus).

Breathe. Did you get all of that? Good.

Watching Out of the Shadows is watching a laughable movie franchise get a second chance at life and deciding not to completely waste it this time around. A complete opposite from the previous installment, I not only remembered the movie, but I remembered enjoying myself while watching it. This is a movie about talking and crime fighting turtles, which means you’re not getting Shakespeare but you are getting a sequel with heart, depth, and action sequences so well-crafted by the Fast and Furious/Transformers team, it’ll have you glued to the screen waiting for Vin Diesel and The Rock to start punching things as Megatron and Optimus Prime look jealously from afar while sharing popcorn. They even make Megan Fox effortlessly walk and talk at the same time. She even slides under a door. #Progress

Not to be outmatched by the action, the creative team paid attention to the many flaws of the first movie, making an actual cohesive story line and friendlier looking turtles. As a result we are finally given a Turtles movie instead of the “April O’ Neil Story” and O’Neil is finally the investigator all young boys and miserable married men deserve.

While there are plenty of jokes about pizza, farting, and Splinter, there’s finally conflict and an inner struggle the brothers go through. They want to be accepted by the humans they protect but there’s a real fear of how humans would react if the turtles were to reveal themselves. One even goes so far as to suggest using Krang’s ooze to change the course of their lives forever; and with their distinctive personalities their views on brotherhood and identity are questioned.

With this improved script comes a new cast. Tyler Perry, whom I last saw in Gone Girl, completely nerds out as Stockman. Bringing a genuine performance to the role, he’s a natural fit. Funny, corny, and geeky, Perry looks and feels like he’s having fun instead of just reciting lines or playing to a camera desperately hoping someone laughs (I’m talking to you, Madea). He bounces around the screen with infectious nervous excited energy, funny enough for children yet never overstaying his welcome. Not once does he feel like a caricature or a cartoon, this is Baxter in the flesh, yet he manages to make the role his own, adding a special quirk to the character that’s highlighted when he’s around O’Neil.

Amell as Casey Jones is basically Amell as Casey Jones but he’s fresh faced, energetic, and flexible. He blends with the cast so well that this doesn’t even feel like it is his first movie. Juggling scenes with the Turtles, flirting with O’Neil, and standing up to the police department, he manages to remind us he’s capable of more than what we see in Arrow, especially during the fight scenes. Watching him balance hockey pucks, sticks, and various acrobatics, you can’t but hope the CW is somewhere taking notes. The fight scenes are where he truly shines but he also has a relaxed chemistry with the cast that makes me appreciative when he’s onscreen. Rounding out the newcomers is Brian Tee who replaces Tohoru Masamune as Shredder, the true villain we deserved (and I would have remembered) in the previous movie. Without much dialogue, he is menacing, dark, and overpowers the screen. Making me long for more Tee.

However, the true stars of this movie are Farrelly and Williams. Watching them together in human form, you can easily feel their chemistry. Minus the fart jokes and surprising penis joke, it’s as if they locked these two in a room together without a script and secretly filmed them. Even in CGI form not a single ounce of chemistry is lost and in fact they even look good in this form. The coloring is crisp, fun, and original to the cartoon.

The CGI effects have improved since the last film, and are not only effective for Rocksteady and Bebop but for the remaining cast. The Turtles looks are softer, making them resemble their cartoon selves more. Much like Gollum from the Lord of the Rings franchise, their eyes are the center of their emotions. There’s even minute details from a smile to a downcast stare. All hail, motion capture!

Is Out of the Shadows perfect? Heck no. There are a slew of problems: way too many characters and story lines going on at the same time where nothing feels fully resolved. Characters will go missing for several scenes at a time, resulting in plot holes. Krang will randomly appear out of nowhere and pop-up scenes later without much explanation. Krang’s design is so cartoony with the blurp noises and slime it took me completely out of the moment. Not once did I think, “this is a villain.” Again and again I just wanted Shredder to step on Krang to end this laughable suffering. There was no explanation of their bond, no reason for them to associate with each other, no chemistry, and sadly, none of the back-and-forth banter from the cartoon.

One of the saddest missed opportunities comes from actress Brittany Ishibashi, who plays Shredder’s daughter. I’m letting you know she plays Shredder’s daughter because not only does the movie not acknowledge her bad-assness, it doesn’t even acknowledge her existence — not unless you call one line an acknowledgement. Despite replacing Minae Noji, she partakes in a fight scene that’s just disrespectful to the character’s entire essence.

Overall, Out of the Shadows is a step in the right direction. Fun, exciting battles with an actual story. It’s going to be destroyed by critics, however, this isn’t a movie for critics. This is finally a movie for fans of the Turtles and a great way to introduce newcomers to the franchise… if the Nickelodeon animated version isn’t available. (–Dana Abercrombie)

 

Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

Universal / Released 9/20/16

Now that Mac (Seth Rogen) and Kelly Radner (Rose Byrne) have a second baby on the way, they are ready to make the final move into adulthood: the suburbs.

But just as they thought they’d reclaimed the neighborhood and were safe to sell, they learn that the new occupants next door are a hard-partying, out-of-control sorority, led by Shelby (Chloe Grace Moretz).

Mac and Kelly are to team up with their charismatic ex-neighbor and now secret weapon, Teddy (Zac Efron), since the ladies of Kappa Nu aren’t going down without a fight. Extras include deleted scenes, featurettes, gag reel, and commentary.

 

High Noon (Olive Signature)

Olive Films / Released 9/20/16

One of the great treasures of the American cinema, High Noon stars the legendary Gary Cooper as lawman Will Kane, a marshal who stands alone to defend a town of cowardly citizens against a gang of killers out for revenge.

Engaged in the fight of his lifetime, Kane stands to lose everything when the clock strikes noon – his friends, his honor, and his Quaker bride, played by Grace Kelly in one of her first screen roles.

Unfolding in real time, the tension builds as we race ever closer to the climactic duel from which the film takes its name.

For his career-defining role, Cooper would go on to win the Oscar for Best Actor. High Noon’s stellar cast also includes Lloyd Bridges, Thomas Mitchell, Katy Jurado, Otto Kruger, Lon Chaney, Henry Morgan, Jack Elam and Lee Van Clef .

High Noon won a total four Academy Awards including Best Editing, Best Score (Dimitri Tiomkin) and Best Song, “Do Not Forsake Me, Oh My Darlin’,” written by Tiomkin and Ned Washington and sung by Tex Ritter. High Noon also received Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Extras include new 4K restoration, featurettes and trailer.

 

Johnny Guitar (Olive Signature)

Olive Films / Released 9/20/16

Johnny Guitar stars Oscar winner Joan Crawford as Vienna, a saloon owner with a sordid past. Persecuted by the townspeople, Vienna must protect her life and property when a lynch mob led by her sexually repressed rival, Emma Small  attempts to frame her for a string of robberies she did not commit. Enter Johnny Guitar (Sterling Hayden), a guitar-strumming ex-gunfighter, who once was—and perhaps still is—in love with Vienna.

With the leads at their operatic best, the table is now set for an epic showdown in this one-of-a-kind western from director Nicholas Ray.

A bizarrely veiled allegory for the McCarthy-era Red Scare, Johnny Guitar was misunderstood upon its initial release. One of the most original takes on the western genre—the women are far tougher than the men—Johnny Guitar is praised by fans, filmmakers, and critics alike as groundbreaking. Boasting superb supporting performances, Johnny Guitar features Ernest Borgnine, Scott Brady, Ward Bond, Paul Fix, Royal Dano and John Carradine. Notably, Johnny Guitar’s indelible title song was a collaboration between the Academy Award-winning composer Victor Young, and co-writer and songstress Peggy Lee. Extras include new 4K restoration, commentary, introduction by Martin Scorsese, featurettes, and trailer.

 

Twin Peaks: The Original Series, Fire Walk With Me & The Missing Pieces

Paramount / Released 9/20/16

“She’s dead. Wrapped in plastic.”

Date: Friday, February 24, 1989: Homecoming Queen Laura Palmer is found dead, washed up on a riverbank, and wrapped in plastic sheeting.

FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper is called in to investigate the murder of this young woman in the small, Northwestern town of Twin Peaks.

What he doesn’t know is that in Twin Peaks, no one is innocent.

The groundbreaking series created by David Lynch and Mark Frost comes to Blu-ray featuring both seasons of the original series, the pilot episode with an alternate international ending and the feature film prequel, Fire Walk With Me. Including nearly 90 minutes of deleted and alternate scenes form the film; the set also features high definition Log Lady introductions for each episode, picture upgrades to many shots in the TV series and hours of material about the fascinating story behind the celebrated pop culture classic.

The ensemble includes Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Ontkean, Mädchen Amick, Dana Ashbrook, Richard Beymer, Lara Flynn Boyle, Sherilyn Fenn, Warren Frost, Peggy Lipton, James Marshall, Everett McGill, Jack Nance, Joan Chen, Ray Wise, Piper Laurie, Kimmy Robertson, Eric Da Re, Harry Goaz, Michael Horse, Sheryl Lee, Russ Tamblyn, Kenneth Welsh, Moira Kell, David Duchovny, Billy Zane, Moira Kelly,David Bowie, Chris Isaak, Miguel Ferre, Harry Dean Stanton, Heather Graham, Kiefer Sutherland, and David Lynch.

Includes the episodes:

• Pilot: The small northwest town of Twin Peaks, Washington is shaken up when the body of the Homecoming Queen, Laura Palmer, is discovered washed up on a riverbank, wrapped in plastic.
• Traces to Nowhere: Agent Cooper enjoys the comforts of the Great Northern Hotel; Bobby Briggs and Mike Nelson are released from jail; Doctor Hayward hands over the autopsy report on Laura Palmer; Cooper and Truman interview Josie Packard; Audrey Horne and Donna Hayward vow to solve Laura’s murder; Sarah Palmer has a vision of a gray-haired man; Doctor Jacoby conceals important information.
• Zen, or the Skill to Catch a Killer: Ben Horne’s brother, Jerry, arrives in Twin Peaks. He and Donna decide to be together. Ben and Jerry travel to One Eyed Jacks and meet with it’s madam, Blackie O’Reilly.
• Rest In Pain: The next morning, Cooper meets with Audrey, who confesses to leaving him the note about One Eyed Jack’s. Cooper tells Truman he can’t remember who the killer was in his dream, but insists the dream is a code to solving the crime.
• The One-Armed Man: Cooper questions Dr. Jacoby, who suspects Leo Johnson is the killer. Cooper’s supervisor, Gordon Cole, calls in with Albert’s report. Josie Packard spies on Ben Horne and Catherine Martell.
• Cooper’s Dreams: Cooper and company have tea with the Log Lady. The Log Lady tells them there was a third man following after Leo and Jacques the night Laura died. At Jacques Renault’s cabin Cooper, Hawk, and Truman find Waldo the bird.
• Realization Time: Audrey cons her way into working at the perfume counter where Laura worked. She discovers that it’s being used as a recruitment post for One Eyed Jack’s. James, Donna and Maddy plan to lure Jacoby away from his office. Cooper and Big Ed go under cover at One Eyed Jack’s.
• The Last Evening: Audrey is hired at One Eyed Jack’s, but is caught in a trap when her father arrives. Cooper gets Jacques Renault to reveal the details of Laura’s last night in the cabin.
• May the Giant Be With You: A wounded Agent Cooper has a vision of a giant who gives him several clues about the murder of Laura Palmer. Shelly and Pete recover from the mill fire, but Josie and Catherine are missing.
• Coma: Albert determines that neither Leo nor Jaqcues killed Laura, but he is unable find any leads into who shot Cooper. Cooper says they must find the third man, who he believes to be Bob, the gray-haired man. Albert reports that Cooper’s ex-partner, Windom Earle, escaped from an insane asylum.
• The Man Behind the Glass: Ronette is attacked in her hospital bed by an unseen person. Jean Renault, brother of Jacques and Bernard, plans to blackmail Ben Horne for the release of Audrey. Donna meets with Harold Smith, a shut-in who had befriended Laura. Albert and Truman have a strange confrontation.
• Laura’s Secret Diary: Leland confesses to killing Jacques Reanult. Andy wants to take a new sperm count test. Rumor spreads that a food critic is coming to Twin Peaks. Jean asks Ben to set a trap for Cooper in exchange for Audrey’s life.
• The Orchid’s Curse: Cooper discovers he had forgotten about the message under his bed. Shelly and Bobby begin Leo’s home care. Sternwood hears pretrial motions and declares Leo not fit for trial.
• Demons: James saves the girls from a tormented Harold. Cooper brings Audrey home. Bobby and Shelly learn that their insurance plans have backfired. Donna tries to convince Truman that Harold Smith has Laura’s secret diary. Cooper’s boss, Gordon Cole, arrives with an upsetting message for Cooper.
• Lonely Souls: Cooper and the One-Armed Man inspect guests at the Great Northern. Hawk finds Harold Smith dead by his own hand�with a mysterious suicide note and the diary torn to shreds. Leo speaks to Bobby about “new shoes.” Audrey confronts her father about One Eyed Jacks.
• Drive With a Dead Girl: Donna and James wonder why Maddy left so suddenly. Norma’s mother arrives with news that she’s married a new man, Ernie Niles. Cooper tells Leland they arrested Ben Horne for Laura’s murder. Ben tells Jerry the only person who can prove his innocence is the missing Catherine. The One-Armed Man escapes custody.
• Arbitrary Law: Albert returns to examine Maddy. Cooper asks for twenty-four hours to finish his case. James and Donna reaffirm their love. Andy accidentally leads Donna and Cooper back to Mrs. Tremond’s house. Cooper is given a missing page from Laura’s diary, describing the same dream he had.
• Dispute Between Brothers: Leland is laid to rest and Sarah Palmer tries to accept all that has happened to her family. Dr. Jacoby returns from Hawaii. Cooper prepares to leave Twin Peaks. Mayor Milford objects to his brothers engagement to a younger woman.
• Masked Ball: Mrs. Briggs talks about her husband’s disappearance into the woods. Nadine is put on the wrestling team, where she falls for Mike Nelson. James is hired by a mysterious wealthy woman named Evelyn Marsh.
• The Black Widow: Ben takes Bobby under his wing in a hope to destroy Hank and Jean. However, Ben’s mental state is starting to crack. Cooper starts to look at buying real estate. Major Briggs’s supervisor reveals that Briggs was studying transmissions from the woods. Andy and Dick learn of Little Nicky’s troubled life.
• Checkmate: Major Briggs has no memory of the place he was taken, but now has an odd tattoo on his neck. Andy and Dick break into Little Nicky’s files. Mike and Nadine begin an affair.
• Double Play: Windom Earle has taken his first victim in the deadly chess game. Audrey tells Bobby they have to save Ben from his civial war fantasy. Leo awakes and attacks Shelly, but Bobby is able to fend him off. Doc Hayward offers the true story of Little Nicky’s past.
• Slaves and Masters: The police look for James in the Marsh murder. Bobby and Shelly tell Truman Leo escaped and Bobby reveals that he saw Hank shoot Leo the night the mill burned. Albert returns to Twin Peaks with information on Windom Earle, and ends up looking at Josie for the murder of Jonathan and the attempted murder of Cooper.
• The Condemned Woman: Truman puts Hank in prison for the attempted murder of Leo, while Hank points the finger at Josie for the murder of Andrew Packard. Albert reveals that Josie shot Cooper.
• Wounds and Scars: Harry sinks into a deep depression after Josie’s death. Josie’s body holds more questions then answers. Norma’s troubled sister, Annie, arrives in Twin Peaks. Wheeler and Audrey hit it off.
• On the Wings of Love: Harry is attacked by Jones in his sleep. Audrey and Wheeler begin a relationship. Gordon Cole returns with a report that Windom Earle worked with Major Briggs on Project Bluebook.
• Variations On Relations: Cooper and company find the mysterious petroglyph. Windom Earle befriends a rock and roll youth, and tells him tales of places called the White and Black Lodge. Pete helps Catherine open the first puzzle box. Lana wants Milford to rig Miss Twin Peaks. Annie and Cooper go for a nature walk.
• The Path to the Black Lodge: Bobby and Shelly reaffirm their love. Cooper calls Shelly, Donna and Audrey together to warn them about Earle. Briggs shows Cooper a tape of Windom Earle making a report on his quest for the Black Lodge. Donna discovers pictures of her mom and Ben Horne. Wheeler is called away on an emergency. Leo worries about Shelly.
• Miss Twin Peaks: Windom Earle sets his sites on the Miss Twin Peaks contest. Lucy chooses a father for her baby. Leo is punished when he frees Major Briggs. Cooper unlocks the key to entering the Black Lodge.
• Beyond Life and Death: Agent Cooper follows Windom Earle and Annie into the depths of the Black Lodge. Big Ed and Norma get a shock when Nadine suffers head trauma. Andrew and Pete unlock Eckhardt’s final box while Audrey stages her act of civil disobedience.
• Fire Walk With Me: In the folksy town of Deerfield, Washington, FBI Agent Chet Desmond inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended, and, after experiencing dark visions and supernatural encounters, Agent Dale Cooper chillingly predicts that the culprit will claim another life. Meanwhile, in the similarly cozy town of Twin Peaks, hedonistic beauty Lara Palmer hangs with lowlifes and seems destined for a grisly fate.

 

Warcraft

Universal / Released 9/27/16

The peaceful realm of Azeroth stands on the brink of war as its civilization faces a fearsome race of invaders: orc warriors fleeing their dying home to colonize another. As a portal opens to connect the two worlds, one army faces destruction and the other faces extinction. From opposing sides, an unlikely set of heroes are set on a collision course that will decide the fate of their families, their people and their home.

So begins a spectacular saga of power and sacrifice in which war has many faces, and everyone fights for something. Directed by Duncan Jones, Warcraft stars Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper, Toby Kebbell, Ben Schnetzer, Rob Kazinsky and Daniel Wu.

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

Last Word: To be brutally honest, if not a fan of the games or never having played them, then this movie may not be the best choice to see. The entire movie of Warcraft is largely for the true old school fans of the franchise, this reviewer included in that. The writing of the movie leaves a lot to be desired when introduced to characters, places, race, magic and so on. There really aren’t many introductions in this film, so it kind of gets off to a running start and sets the pace to be action packed and minimally story driven. While it appears that way at first, the story does quickly develop and the familiarity of characters finally begins to take hold, but it really did this movie a disservice by taking so long. There are so many characters within the world of Warcraft that it can be hard to follow at times as to whom did what to whom and which characters possess which abilities.

That being said about the lack of introduction, Warcraft was a truly fun and enjoyable movie, even if not a fan of the games but still a fan of fantasy. The movie starts off with CG heavy Orcs but it is not a distraction, and proves to work well within the world of the movie. Since the movie is about fantasy creatures and magic, the CG and visual effects has the room to be a little campy, and not entirely realistic. In truth though, ILM, WETA and all others involved in the visuals of the film did a truly great job. Warcraft had a great feeling to it, and the world in which it exists feels like a coherent place and everything fits.

The overall look of everything felt so classically “Warcraft” that it was truly brilliant. The Orcs looked as huge and threatening as they should, and a lot of the background ones looked just like the grunts and peons of the games. There were dwarves in the film that looked identical to dwarves that have been in the previous games, as well as WoW (World of Warcraft), and elves even appeared in a few scenes too and looked spot on to what dedicated fans are familiar with.

Even the Dark Portal itself looked perfect and as ominous as it had in the early games. Everything looked great for sure and was nothing but true eye candy for pre-existing franchise fans. The locations were familiar as well and truly looked like how they should. Stormwind and Ironforge looked just as they have in the past games and even in WoW as well. Warcraft felt full-on fantasy and should be rewarded for it, as it completely immerses viewers in the worlds of Azeroth and Draenor and should get fans amped up for the possibility of sequels.

Onto more film related aspects of Warcraft. The director, Duncan Jones, (son of the late David Bowie) did a fine job handling this fan dependent film as he is no film veteran yet, but he still is no novice to the medium. Jones directed Moon and Source Code, and is familiar with enough to be able to get by, and know how to please the audience since both of those films had good results as well. The directing of the film was not that big of a deal here and neither was the acting.

While there are some familiar faces in the film, most of the actors are still pretty young and up-and-coming in their careers. The acting did not need to be that good, since the audience is mostly there to see the battles and the magic, and not follow characters. Also, Warcraft is a fantasy story, which means do not get attached to characters as many of them may die in this film or the next. The main story of the film, while somewhat familiar for the Warcraft fans, was still different enough that things that may have been canon in the games is now altered for the on-screen version of the story. This is fine, as there are so many stories in the Warcraft realms that some liberties for the sake of film are a must. The cinematography of the film is also on par and is pretty normal for majority of the picture, but there were some shots that were really cool, including in a couple battle scenes where various angles got interesting and gave way to fun compositions. The score of the film was also adequate, as it just needed to be a classical sounding score with nothing too special, since the film was more reliant upon the visuals and communicating, and the score just adds to the overall aesthetic of emotions in shots for this film.

Again, the best for the fans is the fact that this movie finally exists at all. Here, all that has been seen of the Warcraft characters and worlds in any detail before has been that of cinematic cut scenes from the games, as well as just the run of the mill, in-game play in WoW. This felt a lot like that, but strung together into a familiar storyline and brought to life. For the fans of the franchise, this movie truly was a treat with so many direct nods from the games, besides characters and locations that were like home. There was even a birds-eye-view shot of a few villages and encampments that felt like the old strategy games of Warcraft’s early years. Besides that, some of the creatures, armor, magic and so on were nods to the past Warcraft.

There was even the sheep spell, as well as a ride or two on the back of a gryphon, and maybe a murloc in the background somewhere. Seeing characters like Gul’dan, Garona, Lothar, Llane, Durotan, Medivh and so on, were a pure treat. Some of the chants from crowds in the films were actual recordings of fans from BlizzCon 2014, so that was a cool nod in there. Also, the movie set up the possible sequel that would be one of the most important stories in the entire Warcraft universe.

The baby that is born to Durotan and Draka during the course of the film is named Go’el and becomes one of the most pivotal and vital characters in all of Warcraft. Go’el is a personal favorite, and excites this reviewer to the potential of the sequel or sequels as they would be even better than this first film for the franchise. If a sequel or two are made, then the probability of seeing more races like trolls, night elves, the undead, harpies, tauren, wyverns, centaurs, gnomes, goblins, dragons, and the burning legion may be very high. The future stories within the Warcraft world are better and more intense than this one, and would draw larger audiences and be even more fun than this film was. Maybe even Leeroy Jenkins could be in a sequel.

To recap, Warcraft was a super fun film to watch for the established fan, and may be a fun watch for the fantasy fans, but may require explaining or research after the film. Acting was okay, score was good, story was fine but the visuals were the best. This is a film to see for fantasy fans, whether on the big screen or not. See it for the great visuals, the world it is building, and the potential of amazing sequels. See it, enjoy it, and choose allegiances wisely.  FOR THE HORDE!! (– Joel Siegel)

 

The Shallows

Sony / Released 9/27/16

In the taut thriller The Shallows, when Nancy (Blake Lively) is surfing on a secluded beach, she finds herself on the feeding ground of a great white shark.

Though she is stranded only 200 yards from shore, survival proves to be the ultimate test of wills, requiring all of Nancy’s ingenuity, resourcefulness, and fortitude.

Extras include featurettes and deleted scenes.

Last Word: A fairly entertaining thriller, The Shallows does spend an awful lot of time testing the boundaries of logic and utilizes one of cinema’s most beloved and clichéd tropes: the super-smart animal with an agenda.

In this case, it’s a great white shark.

Blake Lively, mourning the recent loss of her mother, visits an unspecified foreign beach, to spend the day surfing.  She meets a few fellow surfers and although warned about the possibility of sharks, she has nothing to worry about until she’s alone when she’s knocked off her board by a very large great white, leaving her stranded on a small rock island two hundred meters from shore.  For the rest of the film it’s the shapely Mrs. Reynolds versus the shark, who out guesses her every move attempting to escape.  The Shallows isn’t meant to be taken seriously, and shouldn’t, but it’s a great way to kill an hour and a half.

 

Central Intelligence

Warner Bros. / Released 9/27/16

The story follows a one-time bullied geek who grew up to be a lethal CIA agent (Dwayne Johnson), coming home for his high school reunion. Claiming to be on a top-secret case, he enlists the help of the former “big man on campus” (Kevin Hart), now an accountant who misses his glory days.

But before the staid numbers cruncher realizes what he’s getting into, it’s too late to get out, as his increasingly unpredictable new friend drags him through a world of shootouts, double-crosses and espionage that could get them both killed in more ways than he can count.

Extras include commentary, gag reel, featurettes and alternate scenes.

Last Word: The buddy comedy continues to work as cinema’s most tried and true sub-genres.  It’s success, however, generally is dictated with one simple caveat: casting.  In Central Intelligence, you have Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, two entertainers who not only understand and cultivate their public personas, but also embrace them, resulting in one of the most well-engineered team ups in recent cinematic history (Don’t believe me?  They’re currently filming 2017’s Jumanji together).

That being said, Central Intelligence is a fairly standard studio comedy, that truly works only because of the casting.  Both Johnson and Hart are great, but kudos to director Rawson Marshall Thurber, who surrounds the duo with solid performers including Aaron Paul, Jason Bateman, Amy Ryan, Ryan Hansen, Kumail Nanjiani, and Thomas Kretschmann.  A worthwhile watch made better thanks to the duo’s palpable chemistry.

 

Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates

20th Century Fox / Released 9/27/16

Hard-partying brothers Mike (Adam Devine) and Dave (Zac Efron) place an online ad to find the perfect dates (Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza) for their sister’s Hawaiian wedding.

Hoping for a wild getaway, the boys instead find themselves outsmarted and out-partied by the uncontrollable duo.

Extras include deleted and extended scenes, alternate storyline, gag reel, Funny or Die shorts, commentary, featurettes and gallery.

Last Word:  Why do we watch movies?  To learn?  To tap into an emotion?  To simply be entertained?

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, a mouthful of a title that explains the plot of the film fairly succinctly, is not a good film and despite it being based on a true story, it’s not even particularly believable. But it is entertaining.

Dave and Mike Stengal (Efron and DeVine) are two loud, well-intentioned brothers who have brought disaster to every family event they attend with their hard partying over the top behavior. And now, with their younger sister Jeanie set to marry her fiance, Eric in Hawaii, the Stengal brothers are warned by their father that they must bring wedding dates and reign in their behavior so as not to ruin Jeannie’s ceremony.

Where do two saavy guys find dates? Craigsist. Quickly, the duo are flooded with offers from women looking for a Hawaiian vacation. Their ad goes viral and soon they find themselves pitching themselves on local television. That’s where they catch the attention of party girl Tatiana (Plaza) and her best friend, the recently abandoned at the alter Alice (Kendrick). Tatiana and Alice push all right buttons of the Stengal brothers and soon find themselves in Hawaii.

From there, the antic begin as the girls slowly reveal their true personalities which are far more extreme than Mike and Dave ever were. And with that comes the antics and hijinks. There’s no need to spoil any other reveals than you’ve already seen in the marketing, but simply Mike and Dave is funny and succeeds for a large part because of the comic timing and delivery of the four leads. The film is unexepectedly sweet and you’ll surely laugh and finish the film with a smile on your face.  In other words, you’ll be entertained.

 

Neon Demon

Broad Green Pictures / Released 9/27/16

A sumptuous horror-thriller, set in the highly competitive and often vicious world of fashion modeling, where the term “eat their own” takes on a decidedly new meaning. When aspiring model Jesse moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will use any means necessary to get what she has. Extras include commentary and featurettes.

Last Word:  The city of Los Angeles should replace the HOLLYWOOD sign with the words “Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch’entrate”, or “Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here”, the famous words by Dante that adorn the gates of Hell. At least the Los Angeles that’s captured in Nicolas Winding Refn’s new film, The Neon Demon.

The acclaimed Danish director of the popular neo-noir film Drive (2011), starring Ryan Gosling and the brutal Bronson (2008), about career-criminal Michael Peterson, has returned. He has turned his ever precise and unique eye on the horror genre.  The Neon Demon, on the surface, tells the age old tale of young ingenue newly arrived in LA to become a model and is seemingly eaten up and swallowed by the fashion world she wishes to be in. Under the fragile surface of gloss and glimmer lies the true story.  This is Refn’s take on the classic story and the results are frightening.

Nicolas Winding Refn loves to turn genres on their head. His tale is seen through the distorted lens of the horror film.  Beat by beat he builds the crescendo of suspense to a final unsuspected climax.  Think Showgirls (1995) and Tony Scott’s The Hunger (1983) meets Let the Right One In  (2008). The uneasiness and foreboding in this film is suffocating, and you aren’t sure from where to get air from. It is all around yet there is no way to breathe.  Everything is exactly as you would expect. Or is it? To say, would be to give the whole thing away and that is not what I am here to do.

The visuals were stunning and slick like a 1980’s, glossy, high fashion photo shoot. Refn picks his shots carefully and sparingly. He also shoots in chronological order as to allow the actors to develop as the story is told. Written with sparing dialogue the story is mainly told through its striking visuals. The acting was perfectly executed by the entire cast. It had to be with so much of the story left to visual cues and not on the actual dialog.

The main quartet of actresses are sublime; Elle Fanning, as Jesse, the Georgia girl turned cutthroat runway model is about as different than her Aurora in Maleficent (2014) as you can get. She is as haunting as she is beautiful. Her transformation is disturbingly believable. Jena Malone’s Ruby, a make-up artist who is first bewitched by Jesse’s allure is fantastic in a role that will surely be talked about in the months ahead. Rounding out the four main ladies are Australian actress, Bella Heathcote who recently played Jane Bennet, in this year’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and supermodel turned actress, Abbey Lee who was seen escaping Immortal Joe in 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road as The Dag, one of the five wives. They play Gigi and Sarah respectively, two rival models who befriend Jesse and also compete with her for the same modeling jobs.

The slow methodical pacing of the story is sometimes surreal and is often juxtaposed with the jarringly intense sequences that are well timed and thought out. Refn’s exploration of the genre he was trying to encapsulate is masterful. In true Nicolas Winding Refn nature, he loves to both laude and make fun of the arthouse films he is sometimes pigeon-holed into and that is so great. For me it was the source of a lot of the humor in this film.

What I AM here to do is say, I loved it AND I have no idea how to recommend this film to anyone.  This film is hilarious.  It has, however, a sense of humor that is not for everyone. Keanu Reeves, who plays the failed actor now motel manager where Jesse lives is creepy as fuck yet has an underlining humor about him that is unsettling.  This movie is like Roman Polanski, Russ Meyer, Tony Scott, and Nicholas Roeg had a baby with David Lynch and that baby ate Lars Von Trier and then made The Neon Demon.  Though that alone makes me want to tell everyone to go see it.  So, go see it. (– Benn Robbins)

 

Bill & Ted’s Most Excellent Collection

Shout! Factory / Released 9/27/16

Wyld Stallyns couldn’t drag you away from this MOST EXCELLENT COLLECTION! From the past to the future, and to Hell and back… witness the triumphant travels of history’s most significant slackers Bill & Ted, in a bodacious, two-film Blu-ray set that’ll have you tuning up your air guitar for a stellar solo!

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure finds our non-heinous heroes (Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves) in danger of flunking History – a most odious proposition! But when the righteous Rufus (George Carlin) arrives in a time-traveling phone booth, the dense dudes discover their destiny… and call on the past’s biggest names for help!

In Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, the titular time travelers aren’t making history — they are history! When an evil-doer from the future sends eviller robot twins of Bill & Ted to assassinate and replace good, non-robot Bill & Ted, the guys wind up face to face with the Grim Reaper (William Sadler)! Can the now-dead duo escape, defeat their evil doppelgangers, and win their Battle of the Bands contest?  Extras include commentaries, documentaries, featurettes, interviews, vintage EPK, and trailers.

 

Chopping Mall

Lionsgate / Released 9/27/16

High tech robots equipped with state-of-the-art security devices have been recruited as the new mechanical “night watchmen” for the Park Plaza Mall.

When a jolting bolt of lightning short circuits the main computer control, the robots turn into “killbots”…on the loose after unsuspecting shoppers!

Four couples are trying to make it after-house in a mattress store. They make it all right…in the morgue!

Extras include featurettes, commentaries, isolated score and trailers.

 

Lady in White

Shout! Factory / Released 9/27/16

The ghosts of the dead can’t rest without the help of the living in this terrifying horror film starring Lukas Haas, Len Cariou, Alex Rocco and Katherine Helmond, Lady In White is presented here in both its original theatrical release and the never-before-released full-length director’s cut.

Frankie Scarlatti (Haas) lives in a small town with a deadly secret. For a decade, a serial child killer has eluded police, and the death toll continues to rise. Then, one night Frankie gets locked in his school and witnesses the ghost of the first victim being murdered. Now, aided by the girl’s restless spirit, Frankie takes it upon himself to bring her assailant to justice. But in a town with no strangers, the killer may be closer than he knows.

Extras include three cuts of the film, commentary, deleted scenes, promotional short film, trailers, tv and radio spots, and photo gallery.

 

Cell

Lionsgate / Released 9/27/16

Stephen King’s best-selling novel is brought to terrifying life in this mind-blowing thriller starring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson.

At the Boston airport, Clay (Cusack) witnesses a scene of chaotic mayhem when an electronic signal turns hundreds of cell phone users into rabid killers.

Desperate to find his estranged wife and son, Clay teams with a train driver (Jackson) to battle the horde of murderous “phoners” as the city descends into apocalyptic madness.

Extras include commentary and making of.

 

Two Films By Douglas Sirk

Cohen Media / Released 9/27/16

A Scandal In Paris: From the memoirs of François Eugène Vidocq, the elegant thief turned chief of police of all Paris, comes this rediscovered classic of melodrama and romance.

George Sanders is at his debonair best as we see him climb from clever criminal through the ranks of French society in the early 1800’s, with seemingly nothing to stop him from the biggest heist of his career … except, perhaps, the charms of a young lady. Extras includes trailer and commentary.

Lured: A serial killer is on the loose in London, luring young women into his web through ads placed in the personal column.

Scotland Yard’s bait to ensnare the villain is a young American dance hall girl (played by a stunning Lucille Ball), who encounters a series of likely suspects, including the always dashing George Sanders as a sophisticated playboy and an unforgettable Boris Karloff as a mad fashion designer.” Restored from 35MM nitrate and safety material. Extras includes trailer and commentary.

 

Reign: The Complete Third Season

Warner Bros. / Released 9/27/16

Reign begins its third season with Mary and Francis realizing that they are more powerful together then apart. They believe there is hope for them to move forward, leaving behind the anger and hurt from the past. Elizabeth, “Virgin” Queen of England, is new to the Court.

Still early in her reign, Elizabeth faces opposition on all sides, particularly from men who doubt a woman’s ability to rule. Like Mary, and Catherine de Medici, she struggles to hold onto power and love.

The women have much in common, and Mary and Elizabeth are reluctant foes, but foes nonetheless, each positioned by birth and fate to destroy one another still holds dear.

Includes the episodes:

• Three Queens, Two Tigers: In England, Elizabeth is now being counseled by Catherine de Medici, together they seek Mary’s downfall. In France, Francis must deal with his declining health.
• Betrothed: As Francis’ condition worsens he has plans for Mary’s future and the next King of France.
• Extreme Measures: When King Antoine makes an unexpected return. Mary and Francis turn to an unlikely ally to help hide Francis’ condition and secure his family’s future.
• The Price: After Mary receives an urgent message from her ailing mother about the dire situation in Scotland, she finds herself looking to Francis for aid. Catherine finds herself up against Narcisse as she fights to become the regent to Charles. Meanwhile, Elizabeth faces continued pressure to wed.
• In a Clearing: As the king Francis returns to life, Nostradamus is back with a new prophecy about his death. Meanwhile the English ambassador is offering Mary a chance at peace by signing away her claim to the English throne.
• Fight or Flight: As everyone tries to come to terms with Francis’ death, new struggles arise for both Mary and queen Catherine for her to be voted regent. New relationships are born and some are starting to tare.
• The Hound and the Hare: When Prince Don Carlos of Spain visits France, Mary uncovers a dark secret he is hiding and enlists in Catherine to advise her on how to handle. When Gideon, the new ambassador from English court arrives, suspicions arise about what his true intentions are, while Bash’s pursuit of the mysterious killer comes to a head at Greer’s tavern.
• Our Undoing: As Mary and Catherine deal with the aftermath of Prince Don Carlos’ accident, Mary realizes that she will have to marry for the good of her country and not follow her heart. When Catherine is accused of poisoning Francis, Lola is shocked when Mary thinks Narcisse framed Catherine in order to become Regent of France.
• Wedlock: Claude is forced to marry someone selected by Narcisse. Meanwhile, a surprising discovery is made by Elizabeth, and it could alter her reign; and Mary asks Gideon to help her confirm her suspicions about Prince Don Carlos.
• Bruises That Lie: As she works to form political alliances, Mary tries to resist falling for Gideon; Catherine and Narcisse continue to battle for power over the Regency; Claude endures the fight of her life on her wedding night.
• Succession: Charles’ coronation gets closer as Mary discovers who poisoned Elizabeth and Catherine becomes a different kind of victim of the castle’s killer.
• No Way Out: Mary might have to sacrifice her cousin’s life to save her own, as she and Gideon find themselves in uncharted emotional territory. Catherine’s past returns to haunt her, while Lola and Elizabeth become unlikely allies.
• Strange Bedfellows: Mary, in order to protect Elizabeth, unknowingly puts Gideon’s life in danger. To save him, Mary turns to another Englishman for help – Robert Dudley. Meanwhile, Bash is determined to track down the men behind the threats to Catherine.
• To the Death: Mary realizes her need to return to Scotland is becoming increasingly imminent and that along with the help of Bash, she must raise her own army to save her throne. Elizabeth enlists Lola’s help to find out information about her mother, which backfires when Lola gets caught.
• Safe Passage: Lola tells Mary she may have a chance to get to Scotland. A murder takes place and Catherine is framed for it. Mary must decide if she should help Catherine or leave for Scotland. If Mary helps Catherine it could eliminate the possibility of safe passage to Scotland.
• Clans: When Mary returns to Scotland, she must keep her royal identity a secret as her country has taken a turn for the worse. Bash is kidnapped by druids. Elizabeth once again jeopardizes Lola’s plans to leave England.
• Intruders: Mary and bash race against time to stop anyone taking the Scottish throne. Catherine must help Charles.
• Spiders in a Jar: Charles escapes the Red Knights, at the cost of an old friend. Mary returns home, but not everyone is happy. Narcisse’s attempt to rescue Lola takes a twist when she chooses to carry out a risky mission.

 

The Wonder Years: Season Six

Time Life / Released 9/27/16

One of the most critically lauded sitcoms of the late 80s and early 90s, The Wonder Years captured the angst of growing up in suburban middle-class America in the late ’60s, as seen through the life and times of Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage).

Audiences eagerly followed his evolution as a typical teenager who remembered every moment of his transition from childhood with excruciating detail and remarkable hindsight.

And, now, after six Emmy Award-winning seasons, The Wonder Years comes to a close as Kevin, Paul, and Winnie enter 11th grade and are growing up – dealing with sex, lies, and the lure of rock and roll.

Season 6 finds Kevin and his friends coping with the challenges of high school.

He joins the wrestling team, gets conned by the goof-offs he hires to paint his teacher’s house, and preps for the SAT with Paul (Josh Saviano) and Winnie (Danica McKellar). In the Arnold household, the men endure their annual fishing trip, Norma (Alley Mills) gets a high-paying job, Jack (Dan Lauria) is frustrated by a lukewarm evaluation at work and tries to start his own business, and Wayne (Jason Hervey) has a new girlfriend – who’s 23, divorced, and has a baby. Kevin’s delivery job leaves him no time to spend with Winnie, an enthusiastic volunteer with the McGovern campaign. He sneaks out in his father’s new car to try and take her to a Rolling Stones show, frets over what to give her for Christmas and gets in trouble for calling her perfect. The regular poker game reveals big problems among the guys, but more seriously, after an innocent mistake, Kevin lets everyone believe that he and Winnie spent the night together. When she leaves to take a lifeguard job at a summer resort, Kevin follows, and while making their way home they take refuge in a barn and spend a very special Independence Day together in the final memorable episode.

This new-to-retail 4 DVD set includes more than two hours of specially-produced bonus features, which includes the one-hour ABC broadcast of the series finale, featurettes and more. Also included are more than two dozen songs as they were featured in the original broadcast with classics by The Association, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The Beach Boys, Canned Heat, The Champs, Eddie Cochran, Joe Cocker, Nat King Cole, The Everley Brothers, Marvin Gaye, Lesley Gore, Grateful Dead, Ben E. King, The Miracles, The O’Jays, Helen Reddy, Johnny Rivers, The Rolling Stones, Sam & Dave, Frank Sinatra, Stealers Wheel, Steely Dan, Hank Williams, Tammy Wynette, and many others. Extras include featurettes, interview and one hour series finale.

 

Edge of Winter

Sony / Released 9/27/16

Recently divorced and laid off from his job, Elliot Baker (Joel Kinnaman) is desperate to spend more time bonding with his sons, Bradley (Tom Holland) and Caleb (Percy Hynes White).

What starts as family day trip to teach his boys how to shoot turns into a nightmare when they become stranded.

As they retreat to a desolate cabin, Elliot’s mounting fear of losing custody pushes him to the edge.

The brothers quickly realize that the man responsible for keeping them safe has now become their biggest threat.

 

 

 

Who Gets the Dog?

20th Century Fox / Released 9/27/16

Alicia Silverstone and Ryan Kwanten star in this heartfelt romantic comedy about what happens when puppy love goes to the dogs.

After six years of marriage, successful physician Olive (Silverstone) and her struggling ice hockey hubby Clay (Kwanten) decide to call it quits. And although the split is amicable, they both want custody of their beloved dog Wesley.

Facing a court-ordered 60-day review to determine who’ll get custody, Olive and Clay each try their doggone best to win over the judge – and the pooch. But no matter who “wins,” everyone will lose – unless man’s best friend can somehow reunite the couple in this fun, charming story.

 

 

City of Gold

MPI Home Video / Released 9/27/16

In the richly penetrating documentary City of Gold, Pulitzer Prize-winning food critic Jonathan Gold pulls back the curtain on the perceived superficiality of Los Angeles to show us a genuine and vibrant world where ethnic cooking is a kaleidoscopic doorway to the mysteries of an unwieldy city and the soul of America.

Combing through colorful neighborhoods in his green pickup truck, Gold sniffs out his next strip mall discovery – whether Oaxacan grasshopper soup, hand-cut tonkotsu ramen or a particularly unctuous pad see ew.

As piping-hot platters are served up, so are stories of immigrants whose secret family recipes are like sacred offerings pledged for the opportunity to build their American Dream.

With his eternal curiosity, razor-sharp intellect and existential longing, Gold is a culinary geographer casting his light upon a vibrant and growing cultural movement where food is the gateway for experiencing how we live.

 

Jericho Series 1

Acorn Media / Released 9/27/16

Acorn TV’s new British Western stars Jessica Raine as Annie Quaintain, a widowed mother-of-two who is forced to start a new life in the remote town of Jericho in the rugged Yorkshire landscape.

She is able to find a home for her family, but must also provide lodging for the rowdy railroad workers passing through.

When handsome worker Johnny Jackson (Hans Matheson) shows up on her door, he brings with him a load of trouble that could threaten Annie’s new life.

Love, loss, and intrigue abound in this British western set in 1870s Yorkshire.

Includes the episodes:

• Episode S01E01: Widow Annie Quaintain arrives with her children in the shanty town of Jericho, which has sprung up around the construction site of a railway viaduct. Annie’s hopes of forging a new life there soon run into problems.
• Episode S01E02: Annie unwittingly allows railway detective Bamford to get dangerously close to her family in his search for Red Killeen, while Johnny’s participation in a wrestling match threatens to expose his involvement.
• Episode S01E03: In a bid to protect the inhabitants of Jericho from rogue traders Coates makes some serious enemies. Martha’s condition worsens leading to panic breaking out amongst the townsfolk as the fever spreads.
• Episode S01E04: Johnny feels increasingly isolated as news of his true identity spreads through the town. Facing financial ruin, Charles welcomes an offer of investment from wealthy Methodists – until they insist he cleans up Jericho.
• Episode S01E05: Annie finally persuades George to return home, but in doing so threatens to bring a dark secret back to the surface. As the money for the viaduct begins running out Charles delays paying the workers, prompting a strike.
• Episode S01E06: Johnny and Annie are shocked to hear where Charles plans to open the new quarry – right where Red’s body is buried. The townsfolk rally round Jack’s widow to prevent his grave being disturbed but Charles wins her over.
• Episode S01E07: Johnny is the prime suspect for the killing of Red Killeen and, despite Annie’s pleas, his brother washes his hands of him. With a makeshift court set up in the tavern for Johnny’s trial, George begins buckling under the pressure.
• Episode S01E08: Things are looking up for Jericho with the success of the new quarry. However, the collapse of a mine-shaft leaves both Blackwood brothers trapped. Coates is the only man with the expertise to help.

 

The Disappearance

Acorn Media / Released 9/27/16

The series follows the disappearance of Léa, a teenage girl in inner-city Lyon, and the subsequent police investigation to find her.

As more of Léa’s secrets come to light, her family wonders how well they really knew their daughter. Alix Poisson (The Returned) and Pierre-François Martin-Laval star as Léa’s parents and François-Xavier Demaison as the police commander investigating the case

Includes the episodes:

• Episode S01E01:When teenager Lea does not return home from a music festival, her parents contact the police, who uncover areas of Lea’s life that her family knows nothing about.
• Episode S01E02: Lea’s distraught family comes under suspicion and tensions rise in the disappearance of their daughter. A late-night call gives them hope.
• Episode S01E03: The search for Lea gathers steam when a lead comes from a call in the night. False leads and lying witnesses plague the investigation. A confession sends Julien into a frenzy and when the police dig, this time they find something.
• Episode S01E04: Police continue to interrogate their only suspect. A body is found, but is it Lea’s? Flo is ready to consult a psychic to get some answers. Lea’s disappearance takes its toll on Chris, and more of Lea’s secrets are exposed.
• Episode S01E05: Bad news is delivered and the Morel family falls into a state of upheaval as they all try to cope with their new reality. Flo’s disdain with her son grows and Julien becomes obsessed with the photos taken at Lea’s birthday celebration.
• Episode S01E06: A suicide and a note left on an iPad sends the investigation to the next stage. Chris helps the Morels deal with their loss – especially Zoe whom Chris cares for by day. Tom provides Zoe a gift that softens his mother’s anger against him.
• Episode S01E07: A pendant and a pregnancy change the focus of the investigation. Romain discovers information that sends him into a rampage and shows him a secret part of Lea’s life that even he did not know about. The Morels marriage starts to crumble.
• Episode S01E08: The finale reveals Lea’s killer, but only after taking us through twists and turns. The Morel’s try to move on with their new reality, but Tom and Julien struggle to accept their new family dynamic. The final twist leaves everyone broken.

 

Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever

Time Life / Released 9/27/16

When Motown 25: Yesterday · Today · Forever aired on NBC on May 16, 1983, it was an immediate sensation and became one of the most talked about concerts and TV specials ever.

In an era before social media, Motown 25 was a true water-cooler event, marking the first time that music fans saw Michael Jackson do the moonwalk (aka: the six seconds that changed the world), in addition to many other buzzworthy moments — reunions by the Miracles and the Supremes; the first battle of the bands between The Temptations and Four Tops; and the hottest comedian in the world at the time, Richard Pryor, as host.

Taped before a live audience Motown 25 featured virtually every Motown artist from the company’s inception, including Jackson moonwalking during “Billie Jean” and performing “I Want You Back” with The Jackson 5, Marvin Gaye crooning “What’s Going On”, Smokey Robinson with “The Tears of a Clown”, Stevie Wonder soulfully singing “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)”, Diana Ross with “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”, The Temptations with “My Girl”, Four Tops with “Baby I Need Your Loving” and many more! A seminal event in pop culture history, this concert event would go on to provide the backstory for the Tony-nominated Broadway play, “Motown: The Musical”, as well as set the bar for all future televised concert events. Extras include interviews, roundtables, featurettes, rehearsal footage and making of.

 

X-Men: Apocalypse

20th Century Fox / Released 10/4/16

Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy lead a powerhouse cast in director Bryan Singer’s extraordinary follow-up to X-Men: Days of Future Past.

After thousands of years, Apocalypse – the world’s first and most powerful mutant – has awakened to find a world led by humans. Intent on cleansing the Earth of mankind, he recruits a group of mutants to create a new world order.

In a desperate race to save humanity, Professor X (McAvoy) leads the young X-Men in an epic showdown – against an unstoppable enemy – that will determine the fate of the world. Extras include deleted/extended scenes, commentary, gag reel, featurettes and gallery.

Last Word:  X-Men: Apocalypse is terrible. It’s a two and a half hour set-up to a story that never comes together. The film picks up ten years since most of the action of Days of Future Past. Yet amazingly there’s no effort to make any of the characters seem any older (except for Alex Summers, who went from enlisted soldier to sporting a mullet). The prologue introduces us to Apocalypse in Ancient Egypt (which is very heavy on CGI, something omitted by most history books). His soul is transferred to the body of Oscar Issac (who, in addition to being buried in terrible make-up, delivers his least interesting performance in his filmography), who is then buried for the next several thousand years. The film then reintroduces familiar faces and introduces younger versions of previously depicted characters (Jean Grey, Scott Summers, Nightcrawler and Storm).

Meanwhile CIA Agent Moira McTaggert is investigating the existence of Apocalypse as he conveniently returns at the, wait for it…same exact moment! Charles and Hank head to visit Moira (who has no memory of previously knowing Charles; he erased her mind after getting paralyzed by a stray bullet in First Class). Apocalypse recruits Four Horseman to help destroy the Earth, conveniently recruiting the first four mutants he encounters; Storm, Angel, Psylocke and Magneto (The usually excellent Fassbender who, like many actors in the film, seems like he’s fulfilling his contract, and delivers a dull performance).  Also slumming is Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence, who, doesn’t even bother donning Mystique’s blue make-up for most of the film, and seems bored.

And that’s the rub. It’s boring. The franchise continues to contradict itself (Alex now has a brother close in age in Scott, Warren Worthington III’s Angel doesn’t work in conjunction with the events of X-Men 3 and the appearance of William Stryker who had been replaced by Mystique at the end of Days of Future Past.

And, yes, Hugh Jackman shows up as Wolverine for a few minutes. And yes, it’s gratuitous.

The first words spoken in 2000’s original X-Men film by Patrick Stewart were, “Mutation: it is the key to our evolution.”  Bryan Singer was the right director to bring the X-Men to the screen. He’s overstayed his welcome. This isn’t from the director of The Usual Suspects. This is from the director of Jack The Giant Killer.  The evolution is over. The X-Men franchise deserves to be extinct.

 

The Venture Bros.: The Complete Sixth Season

Adult Swim / Released 10/4/16

Perfectly situated in the heart of New York City, Season 6 is a dream come true, offering a buyer top-of-the-line drama and danger in every direction.

Relax and unwind from a long day in the lab in your luxurious, spa-like, master bath, where floor-to-ceiling windows offer spectacular views of approaching enemies from every direction. Extras include commentaries and deleted scenes.

Includes the episodes

• All This and Gargantua-2: Join the Ventures-and pretty much everyone they’ve ever crossed paths with-as they rocket to the Gargantua-2 space station for an epic adventure that will change the Ventureverse as we know it.
• Hostile Makeover: The Ventures are back! And they’re movin’ on up to a deluxe apartment in the sky. But will mo’ money bring mo’ problems? And can The Monarch handle the commute?
• Maybe No Go: As White & Billy grapple with their arch enemy back in the old ‘hood, Doc realizes he can’t face his new responsibilities alone when a whale of an enemy shows him how they arch uptown.
• Faking Miracles: Doc discovers a mysterious invention that could make or break Dean’s chances of getting into college, while The Monarch makes a bad first impression on Dr. Mrs. The Monarch’s co-workers.
• Rapacity in Blue: A brutish supervillain launches an assault on the Ventures. Will Doc’s latest invention, or a mysterious blue vigilante, save the day? Probably not.
• Tanks for Nuthin: Billy and Dr. Venture are the laughing stock of the internet. Meanwhile the death of a G.U.I.L.D. member has Dr. Mrs. The Monarch investigating who this new blue vigilante truly is.
• It Happening One Night: A legion of avant-garde supervillains redefines the art of arching Dr. Venture while Hank looks for love in a den of ninjas.
• A Party for Tarzan: In a case of mistaken identity, the Guild targets Dr. Venture for assassination, pooping his party for a fancy new friend.
• Red Means Stop: The Guild of Calamitous Intent sets a trap for Blue Morpho with a notorious villain as the bait. Meanwhile, two battered men struggle to escape from their mysterious imprisonment.

 

Vikings: The Complete Fourth Season, Volume One

20th Century Fox / Released 10/4/16

Vikings returns for a gripping fourth season. Season 3 culminated with the extraordinary battle in Paris, where Ragnar (Travis Fimmel) seized victory from the jaws of defeat–but still returns to Kattegat dangerously ill. Thoughts of his death galvanize the forces who seek to succeed him as king, including his wife Queen Aslaug (Alyssa Sutherland) and his oldest son, Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig).

Meanwhile, Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) continues power struggles with her calculating, former second in command, Kalf (Ben Robson); Rollo (Clive Standen) betrays his Vikings heritage by remaining in Frankia and Floki (Gustaf Skarsgård) is seized for his brutal actions to the Christian priest Athelstan.

Joining the stellar cast this season is Peter Franzén as King Harold Finehair, a complex character who seeks to be King of Norway and a potential threat to Ragnar; Jasper Pääkkönen as Halfdan The Black, King Harold’s violent younger brother; and Dianne Doan as Yidu a completely different character within the world of the Vikings who fascinates Ragnar. Extras include extended episodes, and featurettes.

Includes the episodes:

• A Good Treason: As Ragnar lies in his sick bed in Kattegat, events unfold beyond his control.
• Kill the Queen: Ragnar and Floki are still at odds; Rollo makes great attempts to win over his new bride, Princess Gisla; Bjorn’s survival skills are put to the test; King Ecbert sets the task for his son Aethelwulf to rescue Queen Kwenthrith.
• Mercy: Ragnar tells Floki he has to pay a heavy price for his actions. Rollo finds an ally in Count Odo. Bjorn Ironside finds more than he bargained for in the wilderness.
• Yol: Ragnar gets to know the new slave woman while Rollo reveals his ambitions to his wife. Bjorn meets an unexpected warrior on his way home.
• Promised: Halfdan the Black arrives in Kattegat. Floki reveals a secret to Finehair. Ragnar and Yidu become closer. Meanwhile Lagertha settles a score.
• What Might Have Been: Ragnar reveals his plan to raid Paris again, and although the fleet is storm-tossed as it sets out, the challenge lies in Frankia where Rollo awaits. Meanwhile, Ecbert dispatches Aethelwulf and Alfred on a pilgrimage to Rome.
• The Profit and the Loss: Now aware that Rollo has betrayed him, Ragnar carries out his plan of attack, which has dire consequences. Ecbert is given an offer from Prince Wigstan of Mercia. Harbard causes a stir with the women of Kattegat.
• Portage: After facing defeat on the river, Ragnar refuses to retreat, prompting him to change his methods of attacking Paris. Count Odo’s plot against Charles and Rollo backfires. Ecbert now rules Mercia, which dissatisfies Kwenthrith.
• Death All ‘Round: The Vikings finally reach the river. Aetheulwulf and Alfred reach Rome. Erlendur makes his move against Bjorn. Sigurd makes a shocking discovery in Kattegat. Ecbert is crowned king in Mercia.
• The Last Ship: A ferocious battle between the Vikings and the Franks eventually comes down to Ragnar against Rollo. The outcome will seal the fate of the two brothers.

 

Penny Dreadful: The Final Season

Showtime / Released 10/4/16

Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett), Dr. Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway), Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney), Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton), the Creature (Rory Kinnear), and Lily (Billie Piper) must each face their own monstrous selves.

But for Vanessa Ives (Eva Green), accepting her demons could exact a terrible cost and plunge the world into darkness.

Extras include featurettes.

Includes the episodes:

• The Day Tennyson Died: Ethan is a prisoner under Inspector Rusk’s watch heading through America. Sir Malcolm meets a mysterious Native American while in Africa. Frankenstein gets a visit from an old friend: Dr. Jekyl. Vanessa seeks the help of a very intriguing and interesting doctor.
• Predators Far and Near: Lily and Dorian, rescue a young woman. Sir Malcolm continues on his journey with the enigmatic Kaetenay. Meanwhile, Ethan gets some unexpected help from Hecate. Dr. Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll hatch a plan. Vanessa’s relationship with Dr. Sweet grows but, unbeknownst to her, evil forces are tracking her every move.
• Good and Evil Braided Be: Vanessa Ives is confronted by a familiar face who will reveal a clue to her past.
• A Blade of Grass: With the help of Dr. Seward, Vanessa undergoes hypnosis to relive her time in the Banning Clinic.
• This World Is Our Hell: Hounded through the desert by Kaetenay and others, Ethan faces a reckoning. In London, Victor makes a dire modification to Jekyll’s cure for madness.
• No Beast So Fierce: Vanessa contacts her old friend Ferdinand Lyle for help. Lyle introduces her to Catriona Hartdegen. Lily, Dorian and Justine put their plan in motion. Ethan, Sir Malcolm and Hecate arrive at Talbot’s ranch.
• Ebb Tide: Lily sends her legion of women on a gruesome mission, Vanessa makes an ominous choice, and Kaetenay’s visions drive Ethan toward his destiny.
• Perpetual Night: While an apocalyptic pestilence enshrouds London, Victor decides Lily’s fate and Ethan comes face-to-face with the evil that seduces Vanessa.
• The Blessed Dark: Sir Malcolm and his allies battle the fiend laying claim to Vanessa, the Creature faces a baleful demand, and Ethan makes a heartrending choice.

 

Swiss Army Man

A24 / Released 10/4/16

Outrageously fun and deeply affecting, Swiss Army Man is a gonzo buddy comedy that is the feature film debut of acclaimed music video directors Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan (collectively known as DANIELS, and responsible for the visionary “Turn Down For What” video, among many others).

Bursting with limitless creativity in both form and content, Swiss Army Man goes from the absurd to the emotional to the whimsical to the profound and back again. Hank (Paul Dano) is stranded on a deserted island, having given up all hope of ever making it home again.

But one day everything changes when a corpse named Manny (Daniel Radcliffe) washes up on shore; the two become fast friends, and ultimately go on an epic adventure that will bring Hank back to the woman of his dreams. Swiss Army Man creates a world like no other-a place of pure fantastical imagination, brimming with magical realism yet featuring two characters whose dreams and fears are entirely relatable.

Dano and Radcliffe both fully commit to their directors’ audacious vision, and their work is exceptional, finding the perfect balance of humor and heart that drives the whole film. A celebration of all the wonders cinema has to offer, Swiss Army Man is a cultural phenomenon in the making; a surreal and wholly original examination of human vulnerability and connection that must be experienced. Extras include featurettes, commentary, deleted scenes and Q & A with filmmakers.

 

Prince: The Movie Collection

Warner Bros. / Released 10/4/16

The film career of the late legendary musical artist Prince’s only three acting performances are collected in The Movie Collection.

Purple Rain:  This is the story of The Kid (Prince), a young glam rock/R&B artist whose just trying to make it at the biggest club in Minneapolis, which is run by Morris Day and his band, The Time.

When Apollonia shows up, his world gets turned upside-down. She wants to make it, too. Will it be Morris or The Kid who helps her get what she wants? And will The Kid get what he wants? Will his bandmates ever get one of their songs in the set? How much abuse can his mother take from his father? It just seems like everything is happening to The Kid all at once.

The first problem I had with this movie is that there is NO WAY that I will ever believe that Prince lives with his parents. Just like I will never believe that he ever worked at a five and dime. If you told me that he lived on Venus and worked at a love factory, I would believe that. But this downtrodden, normal life? Nope. Just not buyin’ it. Especially since he has incredibly expensive looking clothes, and extravagant stage show and a killer bike. Why is he still living with his abusive parents who hardly even seem to notice when he’s there?

The second thing I noticed was that no one can act. No one. Everyone is overwrought with emotion in every scene. Even the happy, silly scenes seem forced. (Oh man, that Abbott & Costello routine between Morris and his lackey.) And the chemistry just isn’t there for anyone. The Kid and Apollonia don’t really seem like they’re in love. They just seem to be going through the histrionic motions of something nearing a relationship. And, seriously… there’s one point where there’s just NO going back for The Kid. He ruins it and Apollonia should NEVER go back to him. Ever.

But there’s still something really compelling about this movie, and that something is the music. That’s why everyone loves this movie so much. It’s not the dark plot that includes spousal abuse and Morris Day really about to drunkenly rape Apollonia. ALL of the music is great. There’s not one misstep in that department. Not even the Apollonia 6 song. It’s all fun, sexy, emotional, great, passionate music that makes everything else just kind of get a pass. And that performance of the title song just blows everything else out of the water.

There’s also Prince showing his silly side which, honestly, I never knew he had. He had some genuinely funny moments. Much funnier than Morris, who was just kind of an ass throughout the film. I wouldn’t say “Don’t watch Purple Rain.” Not at all. It’s a decent enough flick. But be ready for some cringeworthy bits. I wouldn’t be too upset with you if you just fast forwarded through all of the talking parts and only watched the music. And maybe any scene with Apollonia. She was beautiful.  Extras include commentary, featurettes, music videos, trailer and MTV Premiere Party original broadcast.

Under the Cherry Moon:  Shot in fairly stark black and white, Under The Cherry Moon is the story of Christopher Tracy and Tricky (Prince and Jerome Benton), two dirty, rotten scoundrels who date/marry old women for their money. When they meet Mary (Kristin Scott Thomas), she turns Christopher’s world inside out. She’s a spoiled little rich girl whose father is…a gangster? A businessman? Someone with power? I honestly have no idea.

Of course, he’s in love with her when she strips naked at her birthday party to shock everyone. Of course, she’s attracted to him right away. Of course, she hates him not long after they actually meet. Of course, she falls more in love with him as the movie goes on.

The time on this movie says that it’s an hour and thirty-nine minutes long, but I’m pretty sure it was more like eighteen hours. The comedy falls flat (“Wrecka Stoh”? Really?), the drama is just silly and, while there’s music throughout the film, there are no true performances in it. Which means that they took away the one thing that truly brings people into a Prince movie. Seriously, no one goes to see him act.

And, for someone who has so much sexual charisma, he never has ANY chemistry with his actresses. Throughout the movie, I kept wondering if he and Kristen were even in the same movie. And the sex scenes…let’s just not talk about those. Under The Cherry Moon is dry, slow, boring and not saved by some great music. And it’s PG-13. How does a person like Prince make a PG-13 movie? By scaling himself back. WAY back.  Yeah. No way would I ever recommend this movie to anyone. With Purple Rain, I could at least say that his musical performances were amazing and there was some kitsch factor to the rest of the movie. This one doesn’t have anything going for it.  Extras include trailer.

Under the Graffiti Bridge (1990):  Well, at least he’s performing again.  Minneapolis is a weird place. Not only does it produce musicians like Prince and Morris Day, but it apparently has the most cartoonish clubs this side of Toon Town.  The Kid and Morris are up to their old tricks again, in this “unofficial” sequel to Purple Rain. (I really don’t know what makes it “unofficial.” The only important person from the first one who isn’t here is Apollonia and, by 1990, Prince could do pretty much whatever he wanted, including make a sequel to a movie he made.)

This time, though, Prince brought some other friends along. George Clinton and Mavis Staples play other club owners who are somehow all under Morris’s thumb. The Kid owns his own club…but only half. So Morris is trying to tell him what kind of music to play. The Kid wants to do gospel/pop/R&B. Something like that. But Morris knows that that won’t make him any money.  Man, I don’t know. Everybody’s fighting over their clubs and the music. Prince/The Kid has apparently gone Christian. And there’s an angel named Aura (Ingrid Chavez) who both Kid and Morris want to schtup. (Morris in a devilish way, Kid in a sexy Christian way.)  If you know anything about Christian mythology, you know where this is going. Especially after Aura says, “There’s still good in Morris. I know I can bring it out.”

Graffiti Bridge is not a good film. No way, no how. But it’s a damn sight better than Under The Cherry Moon and it’s not supposed to be as realistic as Purple Rain, so the bad acting and silly musical numbers sort of work, here.  The problem is that the music isn’t nearly as good. The late 80s were kind of a terrible time for music. The cool experimentation with synths was over and now people were just throwing it in everywhere. The Jimmy Jam/New Jack Swing style had taken over EVERYONE. And Prince fell victim. (In fact, Jimmy Jam and Terry Stewart were members of The Time and are in the film.) While the style works for some folks (most of the Jacksons), it really doesn’t sit too well with Prince. It makes him pretty generic, actually. I can’t say that, after having just finished this movie, I actually remember a single song from it.

There’s also the fact that Prince was trying to dance like Michael Jackson. He’s got moves, definitely. But the whole “street dance” thing doesn’t work so well for him. He’s amazing on stage. In the street, not so much.  That’s not even getting into a slightly incoherent script (Madonna called it “a piece of shit” when the part of Aura was offered to her), wooden acting (as always) and a set that looks like it might have worked really well in a high school musical. Extras include trailer. (– Mark Wensel)

 

The Passion Live

Shout! Factory / Released 10/4/16

Tyler Perry, Seal, Trisha Yearwood, and Chris Daughtry headline a powerful and moving retelling of one of the Bible’s greatest stories: The Passion.

The Passion tells the 2000-year-old story of the last hours of Jesus Christ’s life on Earth through passages from the Bible and a variety of popular music, sung by the cast and arranged specifically for the event by executive producer and hit music producer Adam Anders (Glee, Rock of Ages).

Set in the present, the event follows the dramatic and inspirational story of Jesus of Nazareth as he presides over the Last Supper, and is then betrayed by Judas, put on trial by Pontius Pilate, convicted, crucified and resurrected.

This epic event was broadcast live from some of New Orleans’ most iconic locations, while featuring a procession of hundreds of people carrying a 20-foot, illuminated cross from outside the Superdome to the live stage at Woldenberg Park on the banks of the Mississippi River.

 

Winter: The Complete Series

Acorn Media / Released 10/4/16

After years of solving serious crimes, Detective Sergeant Eve Winter (Rebecca Gibney) has grown weary of the brutality and resigned herself to a quieter life.

But when the search for a missing girl in a small Australian town uncovers five dead bodies in a field, Eve is convinced by her old partner and ex-flame, Lachlan McKenzie (Peter O’Brien) to join the case.

Now drawn back into detective work, Winter next leads a task force to investigate the murder of a 23-year-old mother.

The case grows more complex when a federal agent (Matt Nable) shows up with information linking the crime to the attempted murder of another young woman.

Includes the episodes:

• Skeletons: One woman is murdered, one woman is a victim of a hit and run on the same night. They both share the same tattoo. What links them together? Detective Sergeant Eve Winter leads the task force assigned to investigate the murder of the young 23-year old mother Karly Johansson at Rocky Point, a fishing town south of Sydney. The case is soon complicated when Federal Agent Jake Harris joins the investigation, causing tension with Eve.
• Gone Girl: Two detectives – ex-lovers, start working together again to find the killer of a loving wife and mother. They discover a link to a federal case, but are being shut out of that investigation. One of the detectives believes it could be that the killer is a man who got away with killing his wife at the same cliff – but he’s not talking. Do all these cases really intersect? Or are they being misled – and if so, who’s really behind it all? Are there other women with the same tattoo, does it mean something special?
• The Bridge: Eve’s sister and psychologist Melanie attempts to unlock Indiana’s memory via hypnosis. Luke reveals a secret that may lead her one step closer to Karly’s killer. Meanwhile, Lachlan’s affair with deputy Tammy Davis is on fire, while Eve and Jake move forward at a slow pace.
• The Inside Man: In the aftermath of the case, Eve and Jake take comfort in each others arms. Eve is called before Professional Standards, where she becomes convinced that there is a leak within the task force – with deadly repercussions.
• Blow Up: Knowing there’s a leak in the department, Eve keeps Indiana holed up at her place. Indiana finally shares the secret of the last conversation the two sisters had. The police leak is revealed – but is it too late for a member of Winter’s team.
• Back to the Start: Eve takes Indiana back to Rocky Point, hoping she will remember what happened on the day Karly Johansson was murdered. Indiana’s presence sets off a chain of events even Eve could not have predicted.

 

Banshee: Final Season

HBO / Released 10/4/16

Created by Jonathan Tropper and David Schickler, this MAX action drama charts the final twists and turns that follow Lucas Hood, an ex-convict who assumed the identity of sheriff in the Amish-area town Banshee, where his former lover and partner-in-crime was living under her own alias, Carrie Hopewell.

The final season takes place two years after Lucas gave up his badge after a bloody, multimillion-dollar heist at the Camp Genoa Marine Base which proved costly: Carrie’s husband Gordon was killed, and Lucas’s longtime computer-hacker partner, Job, was abducted by a shady criminal ring.

After settling a score with a “recruiter” from Lucas’s past whom he hoped would have intel on Job, Lucas went on a bender before being rescued by an unlikely savior, Proctor’s niece. Emerging from a self-imposed exile, Lucas returns to Banshee to find it a changed town. Brock Lotus is now sheriff, Kai Proctor is the mayor, and the old “Cadi” police station has been replaced by a state-of the-art facility. A new deputy with ties to Proctor, Nina Cruz, has joined Brock’s team, along with Kurt Bunker, the skinhead-turned-deputy who continues to make amends for his dark past while fighting the racist overtures of the group led by his younger brother Calvin. After reuniting with Carrie, their daughter Deva, and ex-boxer Sugar Bates, Lucas becomes immersed in a new Banshee crisis: rooting out a vicious serial murderer whose latest victim is someone near and dear to his heart. Extras include commentaries, deleted scenes, recaps, prequel videos, and featurettes.

Includes the episodes:

• Something Out of the Bible: A New Challenge for Banshee PA’s Crew of misfits as season 4 opens to heightened problems needing to be fixed on both sides of the Law. New this season, Eliza Dushku hits the scene and the hunt for Jobe ensues from S3 cliffhanger finale. Officer Hood, Carrie, Proctor, and the gang all return for a climactic, all or nothing run taking the ‘fun’ in dysfunction… To the extreme.
• The Burden of Beauty: Carrie turns vigilante, while Brock suspects Lucas in the serial killings.
• The Book of Job: Job is being tortured. With help of Fat Au, Carrie and Hood find the man who took Job from the camp. Kurt and Maggie continue their relationship. The Bowman request their daughter’s body. Brock makes an arrest in the Bowman case.
• Bloodletting: Hood has been arrested for Rebecca’s murder. FBI agent Veronica Dawson has come to Banshee to take over the serial killer case. Carrie attacks a Proctor drug processing factory. Another woman has been taken. Job’s nightmares continue.
• A Little Late to Grow a Pair: Proctor takes his anger out on the Amish. Watts has plans to take the Brotherhood in a direction that angers Calvin. Dawson and Hood roust an S&M club. Cruz starts to suspect Carrie as the vigilante. Lotus publicly calls out the killer.
• Only One Way a Dogfight Ends: With help from Lucas, Dawson narrows her search for Declan Bode, a Satanist ‘person of interest’ in Banshee’s serial murders. Calvin throws down a gauntlet to Proctor, and to Kurt. Carrie’s recent vigilantism ends up putting both her and Deva in peril.
• Truths Other Than the Ones You Tell Yourself: After receiving the voice message from Veronica, Hood and Brock go out looking for her. Meanwhile things get more heated between Calvin and Proctor.
• Requiem: Proctor has to deal with an angry brotherhood, Calvin faces Kurt, while Hood and Veronica come to a big realization.

 

The Wailing

Well Go USA / Released 10/4/16

In this unbelievably tense supernatural thriller, a foreigner’s mysterious appearance in a quiet, rural village causes suspicion among the locals – suspicion which quickly turns to hysteria as the townspeople begin killing each other in brutal outbursts for seemingly no reason. As the investigating officer watches his daughter fall under the same savage spell, he agrees to consult a shaman for answers – unknowingly escalating the situation into something far more dangerous.

Over six years in the making, director Na Hong-jin’s meticulously crafted follow-up to the globally acclaimed The Yellow Sea and The Chaser (his third to premiere at the Festival de Cannes) smashed box office records upon its debut in South Korea, where fans are already making return viewings to catch new clues and debate what’s sure to be the most talked-about ending of 2016. Extras include featurettes.

Last Word: There is a myriad of clever diversions contained within Goksung (The Wailing), the ambitious and nearly three hour long horror film by director, Na Hong-Jin, but there is, as in almost all significant works of horror, a deliberate allegory formed by its terror, so let’s start with the first diversion and the foundation of the film’s theme conveyed through the utilization of the archetypal cinematic character of the bumbling policeman, here named Jong-goo (Kwak Do-Won).

We first meet Jong-goo at his modest home in the village of Goksung, where he is employed as a police sergeant. It is the early morning when our sergeant receives the call that his presence is requested at the scene of a possible murder, which given the diminutive size of Goksung, should create a moment of urgency within Jong-goo, but he instantly gets derailed by his mother-in-law at the suggestion of breakfast with the family. Sure, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but this simple dereliction of duty, though presented comically, mischievously sets up the beginning Na’s criticism of contemporary Korean familial structure and its effect on Korean society.

After breakfast, Jong-goo eventually arrives to the scene of the crime, and it is a ghastly one. A horrifically pustuled and bloody man sits in a catatonic state on the porch of his home after he has taken a blade to multiple victims, which draws a look of bewildered disgust from Jong-goo. We immediately get the sense that he has not seen this level of carnage before and whatever instincts he may have developed as a police sergeant are taking a backseat to his cowardly and complacent persona in this moment. Rendered facile, Jong-goo takes direction from what seems to be junior officers and fumbles around the viscera until he stumbles upon a strange plant that holds images of human skulls. Is this Jong-goo’s instinct finally kicking in, or is he just distracted like a small child would be in the face of adult business? Perhaps the answer lies in a scene later that evening at the police station when Jong-goo and his partner are confronted by another classic cinematic character, this time from Japan, in the form of a brooding, Ringu-styled faceless woman. Her appearance at the station doors sends Jong-goo and his partner into an almost teenager-like late night horror movie-watching freakout.

The following day, when another series of murders occurs, and Jong-goo goes to investigate, he is again the target of comedic diversion when an ominous, white-clad woman, who appears deranged, begins to playfully throw stones at the sergeant and his partner. After Jong-goo’s partner leaves the rock throwing to interview a dermatologist in the hope of finding a correlation between the rash-covered murderers, Jong-goo speaks to the woman in white, who explains to the sergeant the details of the crime that she witnessed and then points a finger to the source of the wrongdoing, a newly arrived elderly Japanese man who represents the historic nemesis of the Korean people, and, for Na, another potential diversionary answer to the community’s tragedies. Earlier in the film, Jong-goo’s partner asserted that the same Japanese man had raped a woman in the village, but the assertion is done in a way that makes you question the role of police in that community, as the crime is spoken about as gossip and not as an ongoing investigation. As Na’s setup would suggest, the officers now have a suspect, but is that based on facts or simply past prejudices?

Even though the officers now have a lead suspect, and they know that they are handling something out of the ordinary (the woman in white did claim that the Japanese man is a ghost which is met with skepticism from Jong-goo), they are lackadaisical in their pursuit, that is, until Jong-goo’s daughter becomes the next victim of this seemingly supernatural curse that affects her like a physical and mental cancer, causing her to develop welts, rapidly consume food, and utter profanity at her family. Only now, upon seeing this threat to the community descend on the one person that Jong-goo cares about other than himself, does he begin to take action, action that is more becoming of an angry father than an officer who is serving his community.

As Jong-goo wants to confront the suspected man but does not speak Japanese, his partner calls his younger cousin, who happens to be a deacon training to become a Roman Catholic priest and who is the first representation of organized faith in the film, to serve as an interpreter. The officers tear apart, without a legal warrant, mind you, the Japanese man’s home looking for evidence and find a shaman and serial killer photo shrine, much to the chagrin of our fledgling priest, who seems less concerned about their discovery and more concerned about the illegality of the officer’s actions, which again serves as another example of the officers putting their interests ahead of their community’s, for anything they find on this impassioned search cannot be considered as evidence. The priest is then attacked by the Japanese man’s black as coal, ferocious devil-dog, which almost mystically calms down once his owner arrives to find his home vandalized. Jong-goo, after threatening the mysterious Japanese man and asking him to leave the village, returns home to find his daughter more ill than before. It is at this point that Jong-goo’s mother-in-law recommends the use of a shaman, which he does not object to, so she finds the best one that money can buy, and so our rent-a-shaman arrives, and he is the height of western fashion, which considering his spiritual occupation is a very bad omen.

Director Na here sets up a narrative where the viewer is not sure as to whom is the malevolent spiritual force, but the faithless Jong-goo, who rejects Christianity and only turns to the shaman as a last resort, continues to believe that he knows what is best, especially when it comes to saving his daughter. With the shaman, comes a ritualistic sacrifice of chickens and goats to rescue his daughter, so now, Jong-goo becomes complicitous in the demise of these animals, which opens up the potential of the officer being responsible for not only the disturbance of the human order of his community but also for the affront to the natural order of his surroundings, surroundings that are highlighted throughout the film vis-à-vis the lavish cinematography from Hong Gyeong-Pyo (Mother, Snowpiercer). Regardless of these transgressions, Jong-goo arrogantly states on multiple occasions, “Remember, daddy is a police officer, and he will take care of this.”

Jong-goo’s confidence in his ability to save his daughter and control the evil possessing her may seem nobile upon first appearance, but this opens up the narrative to the proliferation of the evil and what may be the core message of the film, the negative effects of filial hubris on Korean society; filial hubris being the placing of family above all and anything else, including in this case, higher beings and those you are sworn to protect. Here, Na touches on an issue in contemporary Korean society that has become the subject of many critically acclaimed films over the last decade, including Lee Chang-dong ’s 2011 film, Poetry, and Bong Joon-ho’s 2009 film, Mother. Both films possess matriarchal figures who go beyond the letter of the law in order to save members of their respective families who are accused of wrongdoing. But, both Lee’s and Bong’s films view their protagonists as positive forces of justice in terms of doing whatever is necessary in order to save one’s family, whereas Na’s officers in The Wailing negate the order of law inherent within their occupation as officers to aid Jong-goo’s family, which proliferates, rather than stops the mayhem destroying the community, suggesting that perhaps the true evil is the officers’ negligence towards the people they serve. This is a bold statement by Na that he delivers through an effective horror framing where right and wrong are blurred by both demonic and human evil.

Na masterfully uses some fairly grotesque visuals and concepts as diversionary elements in The Wailing to throw you off the trail of not only the cause of evil in the film but also his core social critique of a nepotistic Korean society that chooses to direct anger towards ancient enemies while rotting from within due to outdated familial imperatives that keep people from forming the necessary communities to battle evil as a whole, united front. Na’s striking visuals and moments of intense suffering may cause you to feel a level of confusion due to your own empathy for individual characters and may also distract you from the director’s thesis detailed above, but that is indeed Na’s intention for his beautifully executed allegory. The Wailing will most likely go down as one of the finest uses of the horror genre as metaphor for a society’s woes, in the same way that George Romero’s Night of The Living Dead used the zombie trope to examine America’s issues during the civil rights movement. (– Generoso Fierro)

 

Into The Forest

Lionsgate / Released 10/4/16

Over 30 miles from the nearest town, and several miles away from their nearest neighbor, two sisters Nell and Eva (Ellen Page, Evan Rachel Wood)  struggle to survive as society begins to decay and collapse around them.

No single event precedes society’s fall. There is talk of a war overseas and upheaval in Congress, but it still comes as a shock when the electricity runs out and gas is nowhere to be found.

The sisters consume the resources left in the house, waiting for the power to return. Their arrival into adulthood, however, forces them to reexamine their place in the world and their relationship to the land and each other in this stirring end-of-the-world thriller.

Extras include commentary and featurette.

 

The Last King

Magnolia / Released 10/4/16

Based on true events, The Last King is set in civil war-ravaged Norway.

Aided by rebel group the Birch Legs, the Norwegian King fights for survival against the Church’s Bishopsmen, who seek to supplant the throne. On his deathbed after falling ill, the King soon welcomes a son, born in secrecy, as half the Kingdom wants him dead. Tasked with guarding the only remaining heir to the throne, two Birch Legs warriors, Skjervald (Jakob Oftebro) and Torstein (Kristofer Hivju) escape with the infant and must traverse treacherous landscapes to protect their future King.

Extras includes interview, music video and trailer.

 

Joshy

Lionsgate / Released 10/4/16

After his engagement suddenly ends, Joshy and a few of his friends decide to take advantage of what was supposed to be his bachelor party in Ojai, California.

In their attempt to help Joshy deal with the recent turn of events, the guys turn the getaway info a raucous weekend filled with drugs, booze debauchery, and hot tubs.

Cast includes Thomas Middleditch, Adam Pally, Nick Kroll, Jenny Slate, Brett Gelman, Lauren Graham, Aubrey Plaza, Alison Brie and Jake Johnson.

Extras include commentary.

 

Diary of a Chambermaid

Cohen Media / Released 10/4/16

Léa Seydoux follows in the footsteps of Paulette Goddard and Jeanne Moreau as Célestine, a resentful young Parisian chambermaid who finds herself exiled to a position in the provinces where she immediately chafes against the noxious iron rules and pettiness of her high-handed bourgeois mistress (Clotilde Mollet), must rebuff the groping advances of Monsieur (Hervé Pierre), and reckon with her fascination with the earthy, brooding gardener Joseph (Vincent Lindon).

Backtracking past the fetishism of Buñuel’s version to Octave Mirbeau’s original 1900 novel, Benoît Jacquot has one eye on contemporary France: the sense of social stiflement, Célestine’s humiliating submission to Madame’s onerous terms of employment, Joseph’s virulent anti-Semitism.

But the turn-of-the-century setting saw the rise of Freudian ideas about the human unconscious and so Jacquot takes care to look past the characters’ outward behavior and appearance to the repression and compulsions that lie behind.

Extras include making of and trailer.

 

The Demolisher

MPI Media / Released 10/4/16

Tormented by a crippling sense of responsibility for his disabled wife, Samantha (Tianna Nori), an ex-policewoman, seemingly ordinary cable repairman Bruce (Ry Barrett) channels his sense of injustice into a dark path of vigilantism.

Donning riot gear and taking to the streets to right the seemingly infinite number of wrongs committed every day, Bruce becomes The Demolisher, a one-man wrecking ball tearing through a neon-lit city blighted by crime and hatred.

As his tenuous grasp on reality weakens with each foray into the urban decay that surrounds him, Bruce’s rage eventually reaches a boiling point that may cost him his own life as well as the lives of the innocent he thought he was protecting.

Extras include behind the scenes, deleted scenes, filmmakers Q & A, and trailer.

 

My Many Sons

Well Go USA / Released 10/4/16

My Many Sons follows the true story of legendary basketball coach, Don Meyer (Judge Reinhold), who, despite becoming wheelchair-bound after a nearly fatal car wreck, passed Bobby Knight to become the most winning basketball coach in NCAA history.

Produced by Brad Wilson and Casey Bond and directed by Ralph E. Portillo, this inspirational motion picture is a story of character, relationships, and turning young boys into men.

 

 

 

 

 

We Bare Bears – Viral Video

Cartoon Network / Released 10/4/16

We Bare Bears follows three bear siblings: Grizzly (Eric Edelstein), Panda (Bobby Moynihan) and Ice Bear (Demetri Martin), who try to fit in to society and make friends.

Whether they’re looking for food, trying to make human friends, or scheming to become internet famous, it’s obvious that being a bear in the civilized, modern world is tough.

They have a lot to learn about the trendy residents that surround their humble Bay Area cave, but at least they have each other.

The Bears’ favorite way to get around town is by bearstack, where Grizzly stands atop Panda who stands atop Ice Bear who walks them wherever they want to go.

In We Bare Bears: Viral Video, the bear trio open up their own food truck, try to become Internet stars by making a viral video and try to save their home when it’s threatened by a construction project. Panda develops a big crush on a woman who saves his life after he suffers a peanut allergy attack. Grizz becomes obsessed with a bear-sized burrito and takes it with him everywhere he goes. The bear brothers meet Chloe, a very smart girl who observes them for her college presentation and they also get to know Charlie, a Bigfoot who spends a weekend in their home.

Includes the episodes:

• Viral Video: The Bears think they have what it takes to make and star in a viral video, but when Nom-Nom decides that they don’t, Grizz breaks into the koala’s limo in an effort to change his mind.
  Our Stuff: After the bears play a little pickup basketball (they’re very bad), they go back to grab their stuff by the side of the court only to find it’s been stolen!
• Food Truck: The Bears open up a food truck after being disappointed by the food options available to them.
• Chloe: Chloe spends time with the Bears in an effort to research them for an upcoming presentation.
• Jean Jacket: The Bears find a bedazzled jean jacket in a dumpster. It’s just about the coolest thing they’ve ever seen and seems to make the wearer of the jacket extremely lucky.
• Panda’s Date: When a vendor at the Farmer’s Market sticks Panda with an EpiPen reviving him after an allergic reaction, Panda comes to in the arms of his dream girl.
• Burrito: Grizz likes Burritos. A lot. So much so that after a restaurant makes a Bear-Sized Burrito, Grizz can’t bring himself to eat such a majestic work of art.
• Sush Ninjas: The Bears take it upon themselves to be the police of the theater sneaking up like ninjas to shush people who ruin the movie for others with their bad manners.
• My Clique: Chloe, a child prodigy, finds it difficult to connect with her much older classmates. The Bears take her under their wing showing her how to make great college friends.
• Charlie: You know that one annoying friend who just can’t get the hint? That’s Charlie, and he’s Bigfoot.
• The Road: This episode takes place when the Bears are young cubs!
• Occupy Bears: When the city plans to destroy the Bears’ cave in order to make way for a new cell phone tower, Grizz and Panda must find evidence from their past that proves they have rights to their land.

 

I Love Lucy: Superstar Special #1

Paramount / Released 10/4/16

Two classic episodes of I Love Lucy have been colorized with a vintage look for kids all ages!

Lucy and Superman: When Stevie Appleby, Caroline’s son, has a birthday party the same day as Little Ricky’s, Lucy looks for unusual entertainment to lure the children. Ricky remembers that Superman is in town, and he invites him. But when Ricky is unable to corral Superman, Lucy is left with no choice but to dress as the Man of Steel herself. George Reeves makes a special guest-star appearance in this episode

L.A. At Last!: Lucy arrives in Hollywood with stars in her eyes. She heads for The Brown Derby, a celebrity hangout, where she encounters Eve Arden and William Holden — and inadvertently presents Holden with a custard pie in the face. Hollywood legends William Holden and Eve Arden guest-star as themselves.

The special comes in both colorized and black & white versions of the classic episodes in their original broadcast length with footage not available on CBS broadcast.

 

Wild Oats

Starz/Anchor Bay / Released 10/4/16

Eva (Shirley MacLaine), a widow and retired history teacher, enjoys a quiet life. Everything changes when she receives a life insurance check accidentally made out for $5,000,000 instead of the expected $50,000.

At the not-so-gentle urging her best friend Maddie (Jessica Lange), Eva deposits the money and the two friends head to the Canary Islands with every intention of living it up. But their fantasy is short-lived when they discover that they have become media sensations overnight.

Fugitives from justice, the two are forced to outwit a trio of conmen, led by the local Wine “warlord”, Carlos (Santiago Segura), outmaneuver a dogged life insurance agent Vespucci (Howard Hesseman) who has teamed up with Eva’s daughter, Crystal (Demi Moore), and outrun the law.

What they don’t expect is to be good at it.

 

Iverson

Kino Lorber / Released 10/4/16

Iverson is an eye-opening documentary charting the rise of the basketball great Allen Iverson, told in his own words.

From his poverty-stricken childhood in Virginia to controversial run-ins with the law to iconic Philadelphia 76ers All-Star, Iverson’s audacious rejection of convention and off-the-court embrace of hip-hop sent shockwaves through the NBA and influenced an entire generation of athletes and fans.

 

 

 

 

 

Spillover – Zika Ebola & Beyond

PBS / Released 10/4/16

In 2015, a mysterious virus, eventually identified as Zika, first appeared in Brazil, flooding clinics with patients. Health care workers and researchers working in Brazil made a startling connection between the increase in prenatal Zika virus infections and the growing number of babies born with microcephaly and other devastating birth defects. The year before, as the world watched in horror, the Ebola virus tore through the heart of West Africa, leaving some 12,000 dead in its wake.

The outbreak was historic: ten times worse than all other Ebola outbreaks combined. And beyond the headlines, out of the spotlight, other threats were unfolding at the same time: legions of viruses were continuing their march around the globe, largely unreported.

Nipah. Chikungunya. MERS. All are diseases caused by viruses that reside in animals and spill over into humans. Over the last half century, the number of spillover diseases has increased rapidly. What’s behind the rise in spillover viruses? What can we do to stop them? And what have we learned from the ultimate containment of Ebola?

Spillover – Zika Ebola & Beyond is a harrowing drama that follows scientists into the world’s hot zones in a search for answers. And it does so while providing much needed scientific context for the most recent Ebola and Zika outbreaks. Battle-hardened health workers and survivors share their untold stories, such as how a courageous band of Nigerians jumped into the breach to stop Ebola from turning into a truly global pandemic.

Spillover – Zika Ebola & Beyond extends to the new frontiers of disease detection, prevention, and containment. The film travels the world with virus hunters who are tracking old enemies while vigilantly looking out for new foes. Along with cutting-edge science, the film investigates low-tech, but tried-and-true methods to stop viruses from spreading. And the film delves into the microscopic world of viruses to see how they turn our own cells against us to produce legions of infectious offspring. Through in-depth interviews with leading public health experts and epidemiologists, viewers find out how human behaviors increase the likelihood of spillover events, and how science is learning to anticipate, and tame, spillover events.

Filmed on four continents, Spillover – Zika Ebola & Beyond sheds light on one of the most important public health challenges of our time—predicting and stopping the next pandemic. The film is a rich mix of cutting edge science and inspiring personal stories of both tragic loss and selfless heroism. Graphics reveal the invisible world of viruses—organisms that reside in the nether land between being “alive” and “dead”—and animation portrays some of the most dramatic moments of the recent Ebola crisis.

Answers to burning questions, and hope against a seemingly endless onslaught of disease, come together in Spillover – Zika Ebola & Beyond.

 

It’s a Rockabilly World

Virgil Films/ Released 10/4/16

Directed by the award winning Brent Huff, It’s a Rockabilly World focuses on the vibrant scene known as “rockabilly” and the people who follow this subculture religiously.

The term dates back the mid-1950s, where it was coined to describe the music – rock-n-roll played by hillbillies – from performers like Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. It’s revival in the 1980s captured the hearts of millions of people as it grew into a complete lifestyle – incorporating cars, clothing, hairstyles and tattoos that all venerate that mid-century decade.

It’s a Rockabilly World details it’s humble beginnings to the global sensation it is today, not only in the United States but overseas in Europe, South Africa and even Japan.

The colorful cast brings you right onto the rockabilly scene-describing how and why they fall in love with this cultural phenomenon. People ranging from Elvis impersonators to actor/musician Drake Bell to everyday working class citizens show you why they wear, pierce, and tattoo themselves so distinctively while driving lowboy Deuce coupés and T Bucket hot rods. This is the type of scene where people from all walks of life give it their all and are not ashamed to do so. It’s a Rockabilly World pulls back the curtain on this outlandish and vibrant lifestyle and shows the good, the bad, and the HIP!

 

Perry Mason: The Complete Series

Paramount / Released 10/4/16

All nine seasons of the longest-running legal drama in television history are now available in this unique complete collection.

Based on the bestselling novels by Earle Stanley Gardner, Defense attorney Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) defends dozens of falsely accused people over the course of this long-running courtroom drama, and he manages to clear each and every one of them, usually by drawing out the real criminal on the witness stand.

Also starring Barbara Hale in her Emmy winning role as Perry’s loyal secretary Della Street, William Hopper in Emmy nominated role as private investigator Paul Drake, Ray Collins as Police Lieutenant Arthur Tragg, and William Talman as District Attorney Hamilton Burger. The star-studded series includes 271 unforgettable episodes!

The series featured a who’s who of Hollywood with a guest cast that included Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, Frances Bavier, Diane Ladd, Dub Taylor, Norman Fell, Barbara Eden, Malachi Throne, Henry Corden, Dick Clark, Michael Conrad, Harvey Korman, Lee Van Cleef, Paul Winfield, James Sikking, Murray Hamilton, Daniel J. Travanti, George Kennedy, Ellen Burstyn, DeForest Kelley, Bert Convy, George Takei, Yvonne Craig, Claude Akins, Lyle Talbot, Ryan O’Neal, Leonard Nimoy,Bill Mumm, Jack Weston, Cloris Leachman, Paul Winchell, Jerry Van Dyke, June Lockhart, Lloyd Bochner, Michael Ansara, Michael Rennie, Michael Parks, Hugh O’Brian, David Hedison, John Agar, Bette Davis, Marion Ross, Angie Dickinson, Gary Lockwood, Lee Meriwether, James Hong, Joyce Van Patten, Pat Priest, Keye Luke, Richard Jaeckel, Alan Hale Jr., Barbara Bain, Mark Goddard, Michael Constantine, Frances Reid, Adam West, Gary Collins, Gary Collins, Noah Beery Jr., Mary Ann Mobley, James Coburn, Nancy Kulp, Gavin MacLeod, Allan Melvin, Phyllis Coates, Werner Klemperer, William Schallert, Sue Ane Langdon, Sue Ane Langdon, Fay Wray, Stafford Repp, Robert Armstrong, Strother Martin, Jackie Coogan, Julie Adams, Victor Buono, Denver Pyle, Neil Hamilton, and Les Tremayne.

 

Les Cowboys

Cohen Media / Released 10/11/16

A vast prairie, a country and western gathering somewhere in the east of France.

Alain is a central figure in this community. He’s dancing with his daughter, Kelly, 16, as his wife and their young son, Kid, watch from the sidelines. But on this day, Kelly disappears, and the family falls apart.

Alain embarks on a relentless search for his daughter, even though it costs him everything and takes him to some far-off places.

Dark unsettling places, where his sole support is Kid, who sacrifices his youth to accompany his father on this seemingly endless quest.

Extras include trailer and making of.

 

Slugs

Arrow / Released 9/27/16

From celebrated Spanish director Juan Piquer Simon, the man behind the truly demented slasher flick Pieces (1982), comes a terrifying tale of mutant slugs on the rampage in small-town America.

The townsfolk of a rural community are dying in strange and gruesome circumstances. Following the trail of horrifically mutilated cadavers, resident health inspector Mike Brady is on the case to piece together the mystery. He soon comes to a terrifying conclusion – giant slugs are breeding in the sewers beneath the town, and they’re making a meal of the locals!

Based on the novel by acclaimed British horror author Shaun Hutson, Slugs outdoes its creature feature peers by adding an extra dose of gross-out gore into the equation, culminating in one of the most squirm-inducing animal attack movies ever to slither its way across screens. Extras include commentaries, interviews, promo reel and trailer.

 

Dead-End Drive-In

Arrow / Released 9/20/16

One of Quentin Tarantino’s favourite directors, Brian Trenchard-Smith was a key figure in the Ozploitation movement, responsible for The Man from Hong Kong, Stunt Rock, Turkey Shoot, BMX Bandits… and dystopian cult classic Dead-End Drive-In!

Set in a near-future where the economy has crumbled and violent gangs play havoc in the streets, the powers-that-be have decided to lure the delinquent youth into drive-in cinemas and keep them there. No longer just a place to watch trashy movies and make out, these outdoor picture shows have become concentration camps for the unruly and unwanted.

With its day-glo colour scheme, new wave soundtrack and extraordinary stunt work, Dead-End Drive-In is in the tradition of Ozploitation milestones Mad Max and The Cars That Ate Paris only very, very eighties.

Extras include commentary, stunt man documentary, Hospitals Don’t Burn Down, Trenchard-Smith’s 1978 public information film told in pure Ozploitation fashion, gallery and trailer.

 

Phantom of the Theatre

Well Go USA / Released 10/11/16

A haunted theatre, filled with the vengeful spirits of a tragically-trapped performance troupe murdered in a fire 13 years ago, waits for the once-grand palatial playhouse to re-open with a new show … and bring in new victims..

From Director Raymond Yip (Iceman, The Warlords) the team that thrilled audiences with The House That Never Dies  brings a new, harrowing chronicle of horror to life (and perhaps death). Starring Ruby Lin, Simon Yam, and Tony Yang.

 

 

 

 

 

Sherpa

Lionsgate/ Released 10/11/16

Every year, Western mountain climbers make news ascending Mount Everest.

But the compelling stories of the Sherpas, the Nepalese guides who risk their lives to provide for their families, have gone untold — until now.

Sherpa chronicles a fateful 2014 expedition and the tragic avalanche that spurred the Sherpas to make a stand for human rights and respect.

Sherpa will forever change the way you look at the world’s most famous mountain — and the brave guides who navigate it. Extras include making of and deleted scenes.

 

 

The Astro-Zombies

Kino Lorber / Released 10/11/16

A film that has it all… a mad astro-scientist (John Carradine) reviving corpses at his laboratory; two gore-crazed, solar-powered killer robot zombies; a bloody trail of girl-next-door victims; Chinese communist spies; deadly Mexican secret agents led by the insanely voluptuous Tura Satana and intrepid CIA agent Wendell Corey hot on their trail and trying to figure it all out!

This cult favorite was written, produced and directed by cult legend, Ted Mikels melds into a high-powered fusion the films of Ed Wood, Russ Meyer and George Romero with undead cannibal gore chills… hot-pants sexploitation thrills… ’60’s sci-fi mumbo-jumbo and Cold War espionage intrigue.

Extras include commentaries, Rifftrax track, and trailer.

 

The Infiltrator

Broad Green / Released 10/11/16

Based on a true story, Federal agent Robert “Bob” Mazur (Bryan Cranston) goes deep undercover to infiltrate Pablo Escobar’s drug trafficking scene plaguing the nation in 1986 by posing as slick, money-laundering businessman Bob Musella. Teamed with impulsive and streetwise fellow agent Emir Abreu (John Leguizamo) and rookie agent posing as his fiancé Kathy Ertz (Diane Kruger), Mazur befriends Escobar’s top lieutenant Roberto Alcaino (Benjamin Bratt).  Navigating a vicious criminal network in which the slightest slip-up could cost him his life, Mazur risks it all building a case that leads to indictments of 85 drug lords and the corrupt bankers who cleaned their dirty money, along with the collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, one of the largest money-laundering banks in the world.

Extras include commentary, featurettes and deleted scenes.

Last Word: The true story behind The Infiltrator is amazing: A customs official goes undercover as a money launderer and manages to take down one of the biggest drug cartels in the business. And it’s hard not to see echoes of Bryan Cranston’s Walter White as he begins to like the power and thrill of his undercover identity, the flashy “Bob Musella.”  But while the film is a solid one, it never reaches the level of Breaking Bad or the best crime drama classics.

The Infiltrator is directed by Brad Furman, whose previous films – Runner Runner and The Lincoln Lawyer – I haven’t seen. You can’t help but wondering how great this story would have been in the hands of, say, Martin Scorsese.  So, okay, Furman isn’t Scorsese and this isn’t Goodfellas. But The Infiltrator is still a compelling drama as Mazur gets in deeper and deeper into the Colombian drug organization and the various bankers who happily help keep all that drug money afloat.

The ’80s setting is enjoyable and the supporting cast is unusually strong: The under-appreciated John Leguizamo is very good as Bob’s risk-addicted partner Emir; as is Diane Kruger as Kathy, the untried agent who proves to be a quick-thinking asset in the field as Bob’s faux fiancée. Olympia Dukakis shows up briefly as Bob’s materialistic aunt, who’d be just as happy if he were as corrupt as the criminals he’s trying to take down.

Benjamin Bratt is smoothness itself as drug lord Roberto Alcaino, whom Bob and Kathy can’t help liking after Alcaino and his wife welcome them into their inner circle. The closer they get to nailing their targets, the more they find themselves torn – can they betray these people who’ve befriended them? Bob seems less conflicted, but for newcomer Kathy, the emotional toil is a lot higher.

Also worth mentioning: Irish actor Joseph Gilgun (vampire Cassidy on Preacher), who here plays a con that Mazur springs to play his bodyguard and lend authenticity to the sting. Although his role is small, Gilgun makes a big impression as the guy who knows the real life that Mazur is pretending to live. And hey, good to see Streets of Fire‘s Michael Paré in a small role as an informant.

It’s hard to know exactly what’s been changed from the real story, but every time someone is ready to blow the whistle on Bob or Emir, fate intervenes in an all-too-convenient way. Those are two damn lucky guys. Ultimately, the film falls somewhere between American Hustle and The Departed. Fans of Cranston won’t want to miss it, but they’ll likely leave wishing for just a bit more. (– Sharon Knolle)

 

Approaching the Unknown

Paramount / Released 10/11/16

Written and directed by Mark Elijah Rosenberg, winner of the Sundance Institute/NHK Award (2014), Approaching the Unknown follows Captain William D. Stanaforth (Mark Strong) as he embarks on a one-way solo mission, taking humanity’s first steps toward colonizing Mars.

Although the entire world is watching him, he is completely alone in a dark and distant sea of stars. Stanaforth rockets bravely through space facing insurmountable odds, but as the journey takes a toll on his life-sustaining systems, he is forced to make impossible choices that threaten his sanity, mission and very existence.

The film also stars Luke Wilson, Sanaa Lathan, Anders Danielsen Lie and Charles Baker.

 

Mike & Molly: The Complete Sixth Season

Warner Bros. / Released 10/11/16

Billy Gardell’s Mike and Melissa McCarthy’s Molly return for another warm-hearted season of laughs about a working-class Chicago couple who always find a way to make true love work.

In Season Six, Molly continues to work as a published author, but her determined pursuit of a career in writing is also creating difficulties in her relationship with Mike. And there’s no relief for Mike, either – with his in-laws living under the same roof at home and his best friend and fellow Chicago PD Officer partner Carl McMillan at work, Mike’s got his own world of drama to deal with.

But at the end of the day, Mike & Molly have each other.

Extras include gag reel.

Includes the episodes

• Cops on the Rocks: Long-time police partners Mike and Carl attend a couples-counseling session in an effort to heal their fractured work relationship. Meanwhile, after Peggy decides not to take part in a promotional radio interview, Molly decides to go solo.
• One Small Step for Mike: To nudge Mike toward getting more exercise and taking better care of himself, Molly buys him a fitness device that monitors his walking, but Mike comes up with a better use for it.
• Peg O’ My Heart Attack: After Peg suffers a heart attack after an intense argument with Molly, Mike blames his wife, who immediately sets out to make amends.
• Super Cop: Mike becomes hyper-vigilant after his wallet is stolen from the squad car while taking a nap.
• Joyce’s Will Be Done: Joyce reveals she’s leaving her house to Victoria in her will, which leaves Molly in shock.
• The Good Wife: Molly’s leisure activities between novels become an issue with Mike, as he wants her to be the perfect homemaker.
• Weekend With Birdie: It isn’t puppy love for Molly when Mike brings home a stray dog for the weekend.
• The Wreck of the Vincent Moranto: Mike is upset and disappointed when Vince bails on finishing a do-it-yourself project they started together.
• Baby, Please Don’t Go: Molly meets up with a former student who is pregnant and living on the street, so she invited her home.
• The Adoption Option: The adoption agency schedules a home visit, and Mike and Molly sweat over everyone being on their best behavior.
• Baby Bump: Mike and Molly discover her pregnant former student isn’t sure what she’ll do after the baby is born, so Molly attempts to reunite her with an estranged sister.
• Curse of the Bambino: Carl badgers Mike to go with him to see his psychic, while Peggy pesters Molly to attend her church, where they pray for something they’ve all been wanting and waiting for.
• I See Love: The series ends with an impromptu get-together during which the Flynn and the Biggs families recall what has brought them to the present point in time, which results in one last confrontation between Joyce and Peggy.

 

Blood Father

Lionsgate/ Released 10/11/16

Mel Gibson delivers nonstop, no-holds-barred action in this dynamic thrill ride.

When his estranged teenaged daughter (Erin Moriarty) is targeted by a drug cartel, ex-convict John Link (Gibson) must call upon connections from his criminal past and his own lethal skills to save his daughter’s future.

Diego Luna, Michael Parks, and William H. Macy costar in this explosive story of how far one man will go to save his family.

Extras include featurette.

 

 

Dark Water

Arrow / Released 10/11/16

After terrifying audiences worldwide with the blockbuster J-horror classic Ring and its sequel, director Hideo Nakata returned to the genre for Dark Water, another highly atmospheric, and critically acclaimed, tale of the supernatural which took the common theme of the “dead wet girl” to new heights of suspense and drama.

Based upon on a short story by Ring author Koji Suzuki, Dark Water follows Yoshimi, a single mother struggling to win sole custody of her only child, Ikuko. When they move into a new home within a dilapidated and long-forgotten apartment complex, Yoshimi begins to experience startling visions and unexplainable sounds, calling her mental well-being into question, and endangering not only her custody of Ikuko, but perhaps their lives as well.

Beautifully shot by the same cinematographer as Ring and Pulse, and featuring an especially unnerving sound design, Dark Water successfully merges spine-tingling tension with a family’s heart-wrenching emotional struggle, creating one of the very finest and most unsettling contemporary Japanese horror films. Extras include interviews, documentary, and trailer.

 

Vamp

Arrow / Released 10/4/16

Two fraternity pledges head to a seedy part of town to find some entertainment for their college friends but are faced with bloodthirsty vampires!

Keith (Chris Makepeace) and AJ (Robert Rusler) want to make the right impression at college and so they devise a plan to get them into the best frathouse on campus.

They head to the After Dark Club where they want to find a stripper for a party their friends won’t forget, instead they find themselves among vampires led by Kinky Katrina (Grace Jones)!

Almost certainly an influence on From Dusk til Dawn, Vamp is superbly designed by many of Grace Jones’ own award-winning collaborators and features stunning effects by four-time Oscar winner Greg Cannom (The Lost Boys, Bram Stoker’s Dracula).

Delivering laughs and scares in equal measure, with the added bonus of vampy sex appeal, Vamp is a comedy horror romp with real bite! Extras include documentary, rehearsals, gallery, bloopers, and Richard Wenk’s celebrated short film, Dracula Bites the Big Apple (1979).

 

The Hills Have Eyes

Arrow / Released 10/11/16

Horror master Wes Craven achieved critical and commercial success with the likes of Scream and A Nightmare on Elm Street – but for many genre fans, the director’s seminal 1977 effort The Hills Have Eyes remains his masterpiece.

Taking a detour whilst on route to Los Angeles, the Carter family run into trouble when their camper van breaks down in the middle of the desert.

Stranded, the family find themselves at the mercy of a group of monstrous cannibals lurking in the surrounding hills.

With their lives under threat, the Carters are forced to fight back by any means necessary.

As grueling a viewing experience today as it was upon initial release, The Hills Have Eyes stands alongside the likes of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Night of the Living Dead as one of the defining moments in American horror cinema. Extras include postcards, poster and 40 page booklet.

 

Adventure Time – The Complete Sixth Season

Cartoon Network / Released 10/11/16

It’s one crazy adventure after another for human boy, Finn, and his best friend, Jake, a 28-year old dog with magical powers. They’re out to have the most fun possible and they sure do find it exploring the Land of Ooo!

Whether it’s saving Princess Bubblegum, battling zombie candy, taunting the Ice King or rocking out with Marceline the Vampire Queen, with Finn & Jake it’s always Adventure Time!

Extras include animatics, concept art, featurette and song demos.

Includes the episodes:

• Jake Suit: Jake is sick and tired of Finn using his body as a suit of armor.
• Be More: Finn and Jake disguise themselves as MOs in order to infiltrate the MO factory.
• Frost & Fire: After Flame Princess battles Ice King, Finn has an exciting dream.
• Sky Witch: Marceline is on a top-secret mission tracking Maja the Sky Witch.
• Earth & Water: Princess Bubblegum subjects Flame Princess to a series of tests to gauge Fire Princess’ fiery tendencies.
• Too Old: Finn, Jake and Princess Bubblegum discover a talented mutant named Lemonsqueak at The Pageant of Mutants.
• Time Sandwich: Jake crafts the most delicious sandwich ever.
• The Vault: Jake and BMO help Finn tap into his repressed memories to uncover a secret past.
• Love Games: Slime Princess needs a husband or else she’ll lose the Slime Kingdom to her obnoxious sis.
• Dungeon Train: All aboard! Finn and Jake discover a train where every car is a dungeon filled with a new foe for Finn to fight.
• The Box Prince: Finn meets the Box Prince (a cat with a box on its back) and discovers the Box Kingdom has been taken over by an impostor.
• Red Starved: Finn, Jake and Marceline are trapped in an underground cavern with no red in sight.
• We Fixed a Truck: Finn finds an old truck, and Jake calls Banana Man to help with the repairs.
• Play Date: Sick and tired of babysitting Ice King while the Ice Kingdom is being rebuilt, Finn and Jake call up an old friend to hang out with their houseguest.
• The Pit: Kee-Oth the Blood Demon has kidnapped Jake, taken him back to his dimension and thrown him in a pit.
• James: Finn and Jake are excited when Princess Bubblegum invites them to help her collect samples in the Desert of Wonders.
• Root Beer Guy: Root Beer Guy works a boring job during the day and writes mystery stories at night. But his life is about to change when he witnesses Finn and Jake kidnapping Princess Bubblegum!
• Apple Wedding: Tree Trunks and Mr. Pig are getting married!
• Blade of Grass: Finn and Jake decide it’s time for Finn to get a new sword.
• Rattleballs: Finn practices his sword fighting skills at the candy junkyard, where he meets an old gumball robot named Rattleballs.
• Red Throne: When Flame King breaks out of his prison and takes over the Flame Kingdom again, Flame Princess turns to the one person she believes she can trust… Finn!
• Betty: A magical disaster leaves Ice King powerless.
• Lemonhope Story I: Lemonhope sets off on the greatest adventure of his lemony life.
• Lemonhope Story II: Though Lemonhope finds refuge from the desert, he might not be able to escape the ghosts of his past.
• Bad Timing: Love is in the air when Lumpy Space Princess reconnects with an old classmate.
• Billy’s Bucket List: Finn finds the hero Billy’s bucket list and decides to complete the unfinished items as a final tribute.

 

The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series

Paramount / Released 10/11/16

One of television’s most rightly revered series, The Twilight Zone (which originally ran from 1959-64) stands as the role model for TV anthologies.

Its trenchant sci-fi/fantasy parables explore humanity’s hopes, despairs, prides and prejudices in metaphoric ways conventional drama cannot.

With its inimitable brand of disturbing fantasy and nightmarish science fiction, creator Rod Serling’s series puts its characters into situations that allow the human psyche to be probed in ways conventional drama cannot.

Encapsulated in Serling’s narration, the parables and plot twists of The Twilight Zone touch on everything from Cold War anxieties to “what if” flights of fancy. The series also served as home to some of the greatest writers the medium has ever seen including Serling, Richard Matheson, Charles Beaumont, Ray Bradbury, Earl Hamner, Jr., George Clayton Johnson, Reginald Rose, and Jerry Sohl.

Among the amazing actors who appeared in the series were Jack Klugman, Burgess Meredith, James Best, Bill Mumy, Stafford Repp, Paul Mazursky , Marjorie Bennett, William Shatner, Lee Marvin, Cliff Robertson, Russell Johnson, Fritz Weaver, Martin Landau, Martin Balsam, Jack Warden, Claude Akins, Ross Martin, Jack Weston, Jonathan Harris, Warren Oates, Dean Stockwell, Olan Soule, Art Carney,John Carradine, Rod Taylor, Kevin McCarthy, Roddy McDowall, Keenan Wynn, Shelley Berman, Peter Falk, Buster Keaton, Elizabeth Montgomery, Agnes Moorehead, Dennis Weaver, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, Robert Duvall, Pat Hingle, Dennis Hopper, Mickey Rooney, Telly Savalas, Jackie Cooper, Wally Cox, Diana Hyland, Dan Duryea, Sebastian Cabot, Vera Miles, Buddy Ebsen, Cloris Leachman, Jonathan Winters, Carol Burnett, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Shelley Fabares, Mariette Hartley, George Takei, Murray Hamilton, Sydney Pollack, Strother Martin, R.G. Armstrong, Richard Kiel,Nancy Kulp,Barbara Barrie, Sterling Holloway, Leonard Nimoy, Lee Van Cleef, Dub Taylor, Ron Howard, William Schallert, James Doohan, Alan Napier, Michael Conrad, Henry Corden, Julie Newmar, John Astin, Burt Reynolds and Don Rickles.

 

Len and Company

MPI Home Video/ Released 10/11/16

Rhys Ifans goes to eleven as a rock star staring down a personal crisis in this smart, acerbic comedy.

He plays Len, a punk rocker-turned-in-demand pop producer, who, following a very public meltdown, retreats to his country home for some time away from the pressures of the business.

His solitude is interrupted, however, when he receives a visit from some surprise guests his estranged son (Jack Kilmer) and pop star protégé (Juno Temple) who arrive with complications of their own and who shake the prickly Len out of his stupor. Propelled by an irresistible performance from Ifans,

Len and Company offers wry and incisive observations on fame and family.

 

Star Trek 50th Anniversary TV and Movie Collection

Paramount / Released 9/6/16

The original Star Trek adventure that started the enduring sci-fi pop culture phenomenon. The classic series focuses on the 23rd century adventures of Captain James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock, and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, a powerful interstellar spacecraft dispatched by Earth-based Starfleet Command to explore the galaxy.

Kirk commands a large crew of men and women aboard the starship, which can travel at speeds surpassing the speed of light. Their five-year mission – with a mandate from Starfleet – is to seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no man has gone before.

This epic limited edition gift set includes 30 Blu-ray Discs featuring all new disc art and every feature film and television show made with the original crew, plus a brand new, multi-part documentary with nearly 2 hours of new footage chronicling the franchise’s amazing 50-year journey.

Enclosed in collectible packaging, the set includes the Animated Series remastered on Blu-ray for the first time ever, the newly released Director’s Cut of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, an exclusive Starfleet pin commemorating the 50th anniversary and new mini-posters for the first six feature films designed by acclaimed artist Juan Ortiz. Over 20 hours of previously released bonus content is also included in this comprehensive collection.

The original series includes 69 episodes (plus the original pilot, The Cage) and featured such notable guest stars as Grace Lee Whitney, Janos Prohaska, Malachi Throne, Ted Cassidy, Jeffrey Hunter,Gary Lockwood, Joan Collins, Ricardo Montalban, Jill Ireland, Clint Howard, Sally Kellerman, Michael J. Pollard, John Colicos, Julie Newmar, William Schallert, Jane Wyatt, William Marshall, Frank Gorshin, Mariette Hartley, Elinor Donahue, Teri Garr, Vic Tieback, Yvonne Craig, Charles Napier, Stanley Adams, Sid Haig, David Soul, Keye Luke, Mark Lenard, and Fred Williamson.

Also included is the complete animated series,featuring 22 episodes and utilizing many of the same writers and actors, remastered for the first time and all of the films featuring the original cast including:

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The Federation calls on Adm. James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the crew of the Starship Enterprise to contain an immense nimbused object that’s on a crash course with Earth. After investigating, the crew discovers that the alien cloud harbors artificial intelligence with an ominous primary directive. Crisis strikes when a probe dispatched by the energy cloud attacks the crew, abducting navigator Lt. Ilia (Persis Khambatta). An android look-alike containing her memories shows up soon after.
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Director’s Cut: As Adm. James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and Capt. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) monitor trainees at Starfleet Academy, another vessel from the United Federation of Planets is about to try out the planet-creating Genesis Device in a seemingly deserted portion of space. In the process, two of Kirk’s officers are captured by Khan (Ricardo Montalban), an enemy Kirk thought he’d never see again. Once more, Kirk takes the Enterprise’s helm, where he meets Khan’s ship in an intergalactic showdown.
• Star Trek III: The Search For Spock: Adm. James T. Kirk (William Shatner) has defeated his archenemy but at great cost. His friend Spock has apparently been killed, the USS Enterprise is being scrapped, and starship physician Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley) has taken ill. McCoy’s odd behavior is evidence he’s harboring Spock’s katra, or animating spirit, and Kirk seeks to take the Enterprise back to the Genesis Planet and find his friend. Rebuffed, Kirk takes dramatic action that results in war with deadly Klingons.
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: Living in exile on the planet Vulcan, the ragtag former crew of the USS Enterprise steal a starship after receiving a planetary distress call from Earth: a space probe has entered into orbit around Earth, disabled global power on the planet and evaporated the oceans. Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and the rest of the officers travel back in time to retrieve now-extinct humpback whales, which Spock has deduced will communicate with the probe and send it away from Earth.
• Star Trek IV: The Final Frontier: A renegade Vulcan makes Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), McCoy (DeForest Kelley) and the Enterprise go to a planet at the center of the galaxy.
• Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country: A renegade Vulcan makes Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), McCoy (DeForest Kelley) and the Enterprise go to a planet at the center of the galaxy.
• Star Trek: The Journey to the Silver Screen: New 50th Anniversary multi-part documentary covering the journey to the silver screen and through six feature films.

 

Me Before You

Warner Bros. / Released 8/30/16

When Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke) — Lou, as she’s known—unexpectedly loses her waitressing job she must scramble to replace the income that her tight-knit family depends upon.

Desperation drives her to take a job as a caregiver to Will Traynor (Sam Clafin), a man who used to be a wealthy banker with an adventurous soul, living life to the very fullest, but for whom those days are in the past.

After a tragic accident, Will lost the desire to live and now keeps everyone at a distance with his caustic, overbearing attitude. But unlike his family, Lou refuses to tiptoe around him or cater to his moods.

In fact, her sparkling personality and easy nature are hard for even Will to ignore, and soon enough each becomes exactly what the other needs.”

The film also stars Oscar nominee Janet McTeer, Charles Dance, Brendan Coyle, Stephen Peacocke, Matthew Lewis, Jenna Coleman, Samantha Spiro, and Vanessa Kirby. Extras include featurette, deleted scenes and outtakes.

 

Genius

Lionsgate / Released 9/6/16

A stirring drama about the complex friendship and transformative professional relationship between the world-renowned book editor Maxwell Perkins (who discovered F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway) and the larger-than-life literary giant Thomas Wolfe.

Based on the biography Max Perkins: Editor of Genius by Pulitzer Prize-winner A. Scott Berg, Genius stars Colin Firth as Perkins, Jude Law as Wolfe, Nicole Kidman as Aline Bernstein, a costume designer sharing a tumultuous relationship with Wolfe, Laura Linney as Louise Perkins, Max’s wife and a talented playwright, Guy Pearce as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Dominic West as Ernest Hemingway. Extras include featurettes.

 

A Bigger Splash

20th Century Fox / Released 9/6/16

Rock legend Marianne Lane (Tilda Swinton) is recuperating on the volcanic island of Pantelleria with her partner Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts) when iconoclast record producer and old flame Harry (Ralph Fiennes) unexpectedly arrives with his daughter Penelope (Dakota Johnson) and interrupts their holiday, bringing with him an A-bomb blast of nostalgia from which there can be no rescue.

A Bigger Splash is a sensuous portrait of desire, jealousy and rock and roll, under the Mediterranean sun.

Extras include featurettes, photo gallery and trailer.

 

Limitless: Season 1

Paramount / Released 9/6/16

After an old friend introduces him to a dangerous new pill called NZT-48, aimless twenty-something Brian Finch (Jake McDorman) is able to use every part of his brain, making him the smartest person alive when he is on the drug.

Utilizing his enhanced abilities, Brian helps FBI agent Rebecca Harris (Jennifer Carpenter, Dexter) with her caseload, as well as attempting to track down the deadly drug’s manufacturer and figure out why Brian is the only person immune to its fatal side effects.

Making matters more complicated is the involvement of mysterious U.S. Senator Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper), who may have more at stake than expected. Based on the hit movie, this action-packed first season continues the film’s pulse-pounding story and never lets up.

Regular cast includes Hill Harper, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Tom Degnan and Michael James Shaw. Guest stars included Catherine Mary Stewart, Marc Blucas, Eddie Pepitone, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Sam Robards, Tim Reid, Tate Donovan, Analeigh Tipton, Greg Germann, Blair Brown, Ron Rifkin, and Colin Salmon

Includes the episodes:

• Pilot: Brian Finch’s life takes an extraordinary turn when he uses a mysterious drug, NZT, that allows him to access his full brain capacity. However, when an NZT-related murder lands Brian on the FBI’s radar, he uses the drug in an attempt to stay ahead of the authorities long enough to clear his name.
• Badge! Gun!: Brian risks his new FBI job when he disobeys orders to stay out of the investigation into a renowned journalist’s murder.
• The Legend of Marcos Ramos: When Brian helps Agents Harris and Boyle investigate the murder of a retired FBI agent, they’re shocked to find a link to the elusive head of a notorious drug cartel.
• Page 44: Brian’s loyalty to the FBI is tested when Sands, Senator Edward Morra’s representative, demands he steal the FBI’s secret files on NZT. Also, Agent Harris is emotionally conflicted when she learns what her estranged father left her following his death.
• Personality Crisis: Brian learns a shocking secret about Rebecca’s late father but worries that telling her will land him in legal trouble.
• Side Effects May Include…: When Brian begins to experience the side effects of NZT again, Senator Morra demands he betray Rebecca in exchange for another inoculation.
• Brian Finch’s Black Op: When Brian calls in sick for a day off from the FBI, the CIA abducts him from home to borrow his NZT-enhanced capabilities for a black ops mission.
• When Pirates Pirate Pirates: When Naz is detained on suspicion of funding terrorism, Brian and Rebecca’s efforts to clear her name lead them to Naz’s daughter, Ava (Michelle Veintimilla), who reveals a family secret Naz is keeping from the FBI.
• Headquarters!: Brian offers to use NZT to capture the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” criminals in two weeks, in exchange for Naz giving him his own personal work “headquarters” at the agency.
• Arm-ageddon: When Boyle’s former military buddy is accused of murder and blames it on the loss of control of his prosthetic arm, Boyle asks Brian to help determine if the artificial limb was hacked.
• This is Your Brian On Drugs: When Agent Casey Rooks and his SWAT team skim 80 NZT pills for themselves from the recovery of stolen inventory, it starts an internal investigation that is viewed through the shifting perspectives of Brian’s immediate circle at the FBI.
• The Assassination Of Eddie Morra: When an assassin makes an attempt on Senator Edward Morra’s life, Brian is ordered to sabotage the FBI’s investigation into it in order to prevent exposing the Senator’s connection to NZT.
• Stop Me Before I Hug Again: Brian embarks on his first FBI field assignment when he travels to Quantico to lend his skills to the bureau unit that catches serial killers.
• Fundamentals of Naked Portraiture: When a developer at the tech think tank Brian frequents is murdered, he and Rebecca interview the robotic version of the victim that she created before her death for clues to the killer’s identity.
• Undercover!: After a list with the real identities of undercover bureau operatives leaks, Brian develops a personal connection with FBI Agent Lucy Church, a tenacious rule-breaker, when he helps her finish a field case before she’s exposed.
• Sands, Agent of Morra: When Sands, Senator Morra’s deadly representative, enlists Brian’s help to eliminate an immediate threat he needs to keep secret from the politician, Brian learns Sands’ dangerous and shocking past.
• Close Encounters: Brian and Rebecca are placed under quarantine by the CDC after being exposed to an unknown substance after investigating a citywide blackout.
• Bezgranichnyy: When Brian’s closest relationships implode due to his inability to cut ties with Eddie Morra, he goes rogue from the FBI to free himself from the senator’s control.
• A Dog’s Breakfast: Brian’s double life unravels when Senator Morra makes contact just as Brian’s placed under 24-hour surveillance by the FBI following his rogue trip to Russia.
• Hi, My Name Is Rebecca Harris: When Rebecca learns the truth about her father’s death, she takes NZT for the first time and uses it to seek justice for his murder.
• Finale: Part One!: When NZT floods the streets of New York City and threatens to become a national epidemic, the FBI partners with the DOJ in a city-wide manhunt to find the lab producing the drug.
• Finale: Part Two!!: Following a stunning betrayal to their team, Brian and the FBI race to stop an NZT-enabled Sands and his associates from orchestrating an international incident.

 

Sweethearts of the Gridiron

Well Go USA / Released 9/6/16

The Rangerettes, regular Texas college students, star as themselves in director Chip Hale’s documentary about the nation’s first precision dancing drill team. Started from scratch, the Rangerettes were the brainchild of a fiery little woman named Gussie Nell Davis.

Conceived at first as a way to keep football spectators in the stands during halftime rather than drinking and brawling under them, the Rangerettes changed footballs halftime entertainment forever, and became the model for all precision dance teams in the country.

Hale followed the team for a year, and was given unlimited access to a world only the Rangerettes themselves ever get to see.

The story he tells is one of passion and determination as he follows five “Hopefuls” during pre-training and tryouts. Their greatest hope? To become members of the long red, white, and blue line.

 

Compadres

Lionsgate / Released 9/6/16

Two unlikely compadres make an unbeatable team in this action-comedy filled with high-octane thrills and outrageous laughs.

Tough-as-nails Mexican cop Garza (Omar Chaparro) wants justice after a ruthless cartel kingpin frames him and kidnaps his girlfriend—but he’ll need the help of a 17-year-old American computer hacker named Vic (Joey Morgan).

As cultures clash and an FBI agent (Eric Roberts) closes in, the relentless cop and the computer geek race to bring down the crime boss.

 

 

Charlie’s Angels – The Complete Series

Mill Creek / Released 9/6/16

From producer Aaron Spelling, Once upon a time, Sabrina Duncan (Kate Jackson), Jill Munroe (Farrah Fawcett), and Kelly Garrett (Jaclyn Smith) were police officers whose skills were being wasted in menial duties. A mysterious millionaire named Charles Townsend (the voice of John Forsythe) took them away from all that by opening his own private investigation agency and hiring these gorgeous ladies as his operatives with John Bosley (David Doyle) acting as their assistant and liaison.

In season two, San Francisco police academy graduate Kris Munroe (Cheryl Ladd) takes the place of her older sister, Jill, in the trio; in the fourth season, Tiffany Welles (Shelley Hack), a Boston police academy graduate, takes Sabrina’s place; and in the fifth and final season, model-turned-private investigator in training Julie Rogers (Tanya Roberts) fills the void left after Tiffany’s departure when she is given a temporary private detective license.

The procedural introduced an era of ‘jiggle tv”, which had the ladies strut around in revealing costumes, often under the guise of going undercover, highlighting their physical attributes. And although there were complaints that the show lacked substance, it was nevertheless an entertaining action series.

Guest stars include Tommy Lee Jones, David Ogden Stiers, Anne Ramsey, Richard Mulligan, Kim Basinger, Tom Selleck, Robert Loggia, G.W. Bailey, Rene Auberjonois, Dick Sargent, Fernando Lamas, Ida Lupino, Sammy Davis Jr., Craig T. Nelson, Norman Fell, Don Ho, Jim Backus, Phil Silvers, James Darren, Ross Martin, Martin Kove, Robert Pine, James Sikking, Bibi Besch, Jack Albertson, Vic Morrow, Christopher Lee, Jane Wyman, Patti D’Arbanville, Antonio Fargas, Gary Lockwood, Sonny Bono, Richard Jaeckel, Lyle Waggoner, Dan Haggerty Richard Anderson, Edd Byrnes, Joanna Cassidy, David Hedison, Sally Kirkland, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Vincent Schiavelli, Barry Bostwick, Dirk Benedict, Bill Duke Dean Martin, Scatman Crothers, Dick Sargent, Michael Conrad, Robert Urich, James Hong, Stephen Collins, Jamie Lee Curtis, Casey Kasem, Ray Wise, Gary Collins, Robert Davi, Billy Barty, Jonathan Frakes, Bubba Smith, Audrey Landers, Bert Convy, Gavin MacLeod,Bernie Kopell, Fred Grandy, Ted Lange, Lauren Tewes, Kim Cattrall, Timothy Dalton, Ed Begley Jr., Cesar Romero, Robert Englund, Louis Jordan, Tab Hunter, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Loggia, Ray Milland, Robert Reed and Patrick Duffy.

 

Friday the 13th: The Series – The Complete Series

Paramount / Released 9/6/16

Micki Foster inherits an antique store from her Uncle Lewis, but this is no ordinary antique shop.

Lewis made a deal with the devil — in exchange for material wealth, he will sell cursed antiques. Micki, along with cousin Ryan and her partner, retired magician Jack, have the duty of recovering the antiques to be sealed in their basement, where the items can’t cause more harm.

Notable guest stars included R.G. Armstrong , Jill Hennessy, Lolita Davidovich, Henry Czerny, Tia Carrere, Sarah Polley, Vanity, Ray Walston, Keye Luke, John Byner, Enrico Colantoni, Billy Drago, David Proval, Fritz Weaver, and Colm Feore.

 

The Fits

O-Scope / Released 9/13/16

Eleven-year-old tomboy Toni (a showstopping Royalty Hightower) is bewitched by the tight-knit dance team she sees practicing in the same Cincinnati gymnasium where she boxes.

Enamored by the power and confidence of the strong community of girls, Toni spends less and less time boxing with her older brother, and instead eagerly absorbs the dance routines and masters drills from a distance, and even pierces her own ears in an effort to fit in.

But when a mysterious outbreak of fainting spells plagues the team, Toni’s desire for acceptance becomes more complicated. Gorgeously shot and with a mesmerizing score, The Fits is a transformative experience and a marvelous portrait of adolescence.

 

The Legend of Tarzan

Warner Bros. / Released 10/11/16

It’s been nearly a decade since Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgård), also known as John Clayton III, left Africa to live in Victorian England with his wife Jane (Margot Robbie).

Danger lurks on the horizon as Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz), a treacherous envoy for King Leopold, devises a scheme that lures the couple to the Congo. Rom plans to capture Tarzan and deliver him to an old enemy in exchange for diamonds. When Jane becomes a pawn in his devious plot, Tarzan must return to the jungle to save the woman he loves.

The film also stars Samuel L. Jackson, Djimon Hounsou, John Hurt and Jim Broadbent.

Extras include featurettes.

Last Word: Often visually stunning, this take on Burroughs’ classic pulp character is well worth a look.  With CGI creations replacing the practical effects utilized so effectively in 1984’s Greystoke, The Legend of Tarzan both expands the scope, but might very well seem dated in the near future.  Performance wise, Skarsgård cuts an impressive Lord of the Jungle, but often seems to be relying a bit on his passing resemblance to Greystoke‘s Christopher Lambert.  Robbie often seems a bit miscast and Jackson’s role often is utilized as nothing more than comic relief.  Waltz’s character is a fairly straightforward mustache twirling villain.  Some of the effects are fairly spotty, but like Burroughs’ other recent box office casualty, John Carter, The Legend of Tarzan is an overall entertaining, pure popcorn movie that’s worth a watch.

 

Feed The Beast: Season 1

Lionsgate / Released 10/11/16

For Tommy (David Schwimmer) and Dion (Jim Sturgess), two friends on the brink of losing everything, a dusty pipe dream of opening an upscale restaurant in their hometown of the Bronx is all they have left to turn their lives around.

Together, Tommy and Dion take on the insanity of the New York restaurant world, navigating its underbelly of petty criminals, corrupt officials, and violent gangsters.

Based on the Norwegian television series, Bankerot.

Extras include commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes and gag reel.

Includes the episodes:

• Pilot Light: In debt with the mob, Dion tries to convince Tommy to go after their dream of opening a restaurant in the Bronx.
• Father of the Year: Tommy and Dion court an unlikely investor – Tommy’s estranged father. TJ’s troubles at school lead to a dangerous misunderstanding at home.
• Screw You, Randy: Tommy and Dion bring Thirio to life with Rie’s designs. But in order to pay for it all, the guys have to resort to crime.
• Secret Sauce: Tommy and Dion scheme to reclaim Thirio from Aidan’s arrogant chef. Meanwhile, Dion’s reckless scramble to pay the Tooth Fairy puts TJ at risk.
• Gimme a T: Tommy lashes out as he struggles through Rie’s birthday for the first time since her death. Meanwhile, Dion gets some life-changing news.
• The Wild West: Revisiting the past, Tommy questions Dion’s friendship with Rie. Uninvited guests threaten to derail the restaurant’s soft opening.
• Tabula Rasa: Facing a restaurant with no patrons, Dion reluctantly seeks help from his former mentor. this leads Tommy to a startling revelation. Ruth Cline (Kathryn Kates), returns!
• In Lies the Truth: Now knowing the truth about Dion’s betrayal, Tommy starts to unravel. The Tooth Fairy offers Dion a solution to all of his troubles.
• Be My Baby: Tommy confronts Dion over his worse fears about his son. Meanwhile, TJ takes matters into his own hands with his tormentor.
• Fire: TJ tries to figure out the disturbing truth of Rie’s death by piecing together his memories. Tommy makes a bold offer to the Tooth Fairy to settle Dion’s debt.

 

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries Collection

Acorn Media / Released 8/30/16

Armed with a razor-sharp wit (and a ladylike pistol), Essie Davis stars as the glamorous Miss Phryne Fisher, a lady detective in 1920s Australia with a fabulous sense of fun and a flair for solving crimes.  Based on the popular detective novels by Kerry Greenwood, the series is filmed on location in Melbourne with stellar period detail and production values. Extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes, cast interviews, and more.

Includes the episodes:

• Cocaine Blues: Invited to a relative’s home where a murder has just occurred, Phryne soon finds herself in a world of drug smuggling and illegal abortion. As she sets about solving the first crime, she ends up getting embroiled in the other two.
• Murder on the Ballarat Train: On a train ride to the country, Phryne saves the life of a fellow passenger–but can’t prevent the death of the young woman’s mother. In tracking down the killer, she picks up a couple of runaway girls and begins to earn the respect of Inspector Jack Robinson.
• The Green Mill Murder: Phryne goes out for a night of dancing at Melbourne’s top club, but the fun comes to an end after one of the patrons is stabbed to death. When a friend becomes the chief suspect, Phryne not only has to prove he didn’t do it–she has to prove who did.
• Death at Victoria Dock: The shooting death of a Latvian anarchist sets Phryne off in pursuit of the dead man’s fiancée. In the process, she enters a dangerous underworld and puts not just herself in danger but her maid, Dot, as well.
• Raisins and Almonds: Phryne investigates a murder in Melbourne’s Jewish community, where the motives are masked by politics, romance, and religion. Though the police make a quick arrest, Phryne believes the key to the case lies in an ancient Hebrew text.
• Ruddy Gore: Two deaths onstage at a Gilbert and Sullivan show are followed by an attempt on Phryne’s life and, eventually, a new romance in Chinatown. At first Phryne thinks the killings are connected with the modern-day opium trade, but soon she turns her attentions to explanations from the past.
• Murder in Montparnasse: The widow of a French painter visits Melbourne, reawakening in Phryne memories of her time in Paris after the Great War. When the woman disappears, Phryne begins to fear for the safety of her two assistants, Bert and Cec.
• Away with the Fairies: When a magazine columnist dies under mysterious circumstances, Phryne finds petty jealousies, deception, and, perhaps, a motive for murder among the dead woman’s colleagues. Following the paper trail, Phryne searches for clues in the writer’s unpublished files.
• Queen of the Flowers: A leisurely walk along the beach leads to Phryne’s newest case after the body of a young woman washes ashore. Meanwhile, an unexpected visitor shows up at her house–the supposedly dead mother of one of Phryne’s wards.
• Death by Miss Adventure: A female night-shift worker dies when her hair gets caught in the factory machinery. The police suspect accidental death, but Phryne smells foul play and Dot goes undercover to get at the truth.
• Blood and Circuses: Phryne joins the circus to investigate a murder the police have little chance of solving–and takes a journey into a dark part of her own past. When Phryne gets some unexpected news, she fears the case closest to her heart may now be closed forever.
• Murder in the Dark: Suspicion falls on the entire household when a body is found in the pool at Phryne’s aunt’s house on the eve of a lavish party. While Jack Robinson investigates the case, Phryne discovers a link to her sister Janey’s death.
• King Memses’ Curse: With a madman on the run, Phryne throws caution to the wind in order to find answers she has been seeking since childhood. However, she may have to put herself in the clutches of her nemesis in order to finally lay her ghosts to rest.
• Murder Most Scandalous: Miss Phryne Fisher is back! When Jack’s father-in-law is implicated in the brutal murder of a prostitute, Phryne decides to perfect her ‘fan dance’ in order to go undercover at a gentleman’s club.
• Death Comes Knocking: Phryne plays host to ghostly soldiers and exotic spiritualists and Aunt Prudence is swept up in the new spiritualist fad and enlists a famed psychic to contact her dead godson.
• Dead Man’s Chest: Buried treasure and pirate legends bubble to the surface in the seaside holiday town of Queenscliff and Phryne finds herself at the pointy end of a Spanish dagger.
• Deadweight: When a gang leader is found dead outside a travelling boxing tent, Phryne’s investigation leads her into the dangerous but thrilling world of fight rigging and tribal payback.
• Murder A La Mode: When Phryne arrives at the exclusive fashion house of Madame Fleuri for a fitting, she unexpectedly finds herself amidst a crime scene, and everyone present is a suspect!
• Marked For Murder: Set amidst the passion & fanaticism of 1929 Australian Rules football. When Phryne is duped into investigating the coach’s missing ‘lucky cap’, she discovers a gruesome murder instead.
• Blood At The Wheel: When the driver of the ladies’ motorcar rally team is found dead in her roadster, Phryne is up in arms struggling to convince Jack that her friend’s death was no accident.
• The Blood Of Juana The Mad: Now estranged, Phryne and Jack step around each other to investigate a murder and the disappearance of a valuable manuscript.
• Framed For Murder: Phryne journeys into the twilight world of silent movies. When a lead actor and a director are murdered, Phryne steps in to solve the crime and save the production.
• Death On The Vine: When Phryne arrives at an idyllic vineyard to investigate a suspicious death, hostile townsfolk do everything they can to drive her out of town, and Hugh prepares for a perfect proposal.
• Dead Air: There’s a new wireless in the Fisher household, but there’s a murder on the airwaves. Dot suffers the realisation that she doesn’t want to relinquish working for Miss Fisher when she marries.
• Unnatural Habits: The gothic world of a halfway house for pregnant and wayward girls sets the scene for the death of a teenager. Phryne & Jack realise the threads of the crime lead closer to home than they suspected.
• Murder Under The Mistletoe: Phryne and company head to a chalet to celebrate “Christmas in July,” but when they get there they find one of the residents dead, electrocuted while hanging festive lights. Two other deaths quickly follow, though not before Jack and Constable Collins arrive on the scene and Phryne begins to figure out which of the chalet’s residents might be the next victim.
• Death Defying Feats: A sabotaged guillotine leaves a magician’s assistant dead onstage and the magician confessing to murder-not of his assistant, but of his wife 10 years earlier. Phryne enters a world of deception and illusion and decides that to solve the crime, she needs to get in on the act.
• Murder and the Maiden: The body of an unidentified woman is found outside the perimeter of a Royal Australian Air Force base, and an airman is missing. Is there a connection? Phryne finds one when she traces the dead woman to a group of Russian leftists and a deadly conflict between the airmen and the base’s unionized workers.
• Murder and the Mozzarella: The strangling of an old lady in her restaurant’s kitchen signals the latest flare-up in a feud against a rival Italian eatery. But with organized-crime involvement and grudges stretching back to the old country, this is no ordinary food fight.
• Blood and Money: When street urchins from a local gang begin to disappear from a poor neighborhood of Melbourne, suspicion falls on a hospital employee who has been using them in his petty crime operation. Cuts on two dead boys suggest they were involved in knife fights, until Phryne and Jack realize there was a darker purpose to the killings.
• Death and Hysteria: One of the patients in a controversial sanatorium for women is electrocuted in her room. Though it could have been a tragic accident, Phryne has other ideas. What kind of appliance was the woman plugging into the electrical outlet-and where is the appliance now?
• Death at the Grand: A concierge is stabbed and pushed to his death from the rooftop of the Grand Hotel, an establishment that was once a part of Melbourne high society but has now fallen on hard times. Jack calls Phryne in on the case, which looks like a robbery gone wrong until a strange connection to the Fisher household emerges.
• Game, Set & Murder: At a female tennis tournament hosted by Phryne, one of the competitors dies from a spider bite before she even steps onto the court. When it emerges that the spider had been deliberately placed in the woman’s empty tennis shoe, it becomes clear that someone has not just a determination to win, but a willingness to kill.
• Death Do Us Part: A prize-winning scientist is murdered on the grounds of the Royal Observatory-and a killer who has traveled halfway around the world catches up with a member of the Fisher family. Phryne must save a life and help restore an old marriage, even as she celebrates a new one.

 

The Thing


Shout! Factory / Released 10/11/16

In the winter of 1982, a twelve-man research team at a remote Antarctic research station discovers an alien buried in the snow for over 100,000 years. Soon unfrozen, the form-changing alien wreaks havoc, creates terror… and becomes one of them. Extras include commentaries, trailers, tv spots, radio spots, galleries, interviews, documentary, tv broadcast version, outtakes, vintage featurettes & product reel and annotated production archive.

Last Word: This was Carpenter’s first big-budget studio film; he had more money and more time to make a movie than ever before, and he did not squander his resources. It was his most serious film to date.

Along with the producers, Carpenter decided to go back to the original novella, Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr. (Astounding, August 1938), in which the beast was a mind-absorbing shape-changer rather than a Frankensteinian strongman as in the 1951 film. He also employed Ennio Morricone to compose an orchestral score rather than write an electronic score himself. Special care was given to the creation of the despicable monster. According to interviews included on the Blu-ray, Carpenter considered his primary task to be making the monster believable. He delegated this task to 22-year-old Rob Bottin who rose to the occasion by constructing some of the most unforgettable (even if you want to) slimy toothy tentacled horrors in film history. It’s much better than CGI.

The Thing was panned by critics at the time, mostly because of its gore; indeed, the movie is slightly gratuitous. Audiences avoided the film probably because they were in the mood for friendly aliens in 1982. E.T. had been released just before The Thing, and, as Carpenter puts it in his commentary, “Theirs was sweet and ours was mean.” I remember seeing Siskel and Ebert’s television review, with Ebert hating it and Siskel giving it a grudging positive review. When I went to see it with my friend Bruce, there were only four people in the whole theater. I loved it, perhaps because I had recently read a comic book adaptation of the original story (in Starstream #1) and was glad to see the movie’s fidelity to its source. I also recognized the use of the same burning title opening sequence as in the 1951 film.

It was not until the 1990s that sci-fi and horror fans began to come around. As I write this more than 20 years after the initial release, Carpenter’s Thing is rightfully recognized as a masterful blending of horror and science fiction. To appreciate the film one must, I think, not concentrate solely on the monster. Think about the men, each of them isolated in one way or another. MacReady has his scotch and his little shed. Clark has his dogs. Windows has his radio. Blair has biology. No two men dress alike. Note how the men are comrades yet always annoyed at each other, as in Carpenter’s first film, Dark Star.

Above all note the crescendo of paranoia. As Carpenter himself has said, the main theme of the movie is mutual distrust among mankind. Note how this contrasts from the somewhat-similar Alien in which the crew works together against the space beast. John Scalzi faults Carpenter’s Thing for its lack of characterization, but I think Scalzi missed it. (– David E. Goldweber)

 

Carrie

Shout! Factory / Released 10/11/16

Based on the best-selling Stephen King novel, Carrie has become a pervasive, pop-culture touchstone for anyone who’s ever wanted to get even.

At the center of the terror is Carrie (Sissy Spacek), a high school loner with no confidence, no friends… and no idea about the extent of her secret powers of telekinesis. But when her psychotic mother (Piper Laurie) and sadistic classmates finally go too far, the once-shy teen becomes an unrestrained, vengeance-seeking powerhouse who, with the help of her “special gift,” causes all hell to break loose in a famed cinematic frenzy of blood, fire and brimstone!  The cast includes Amy Irving, William Katt, Betty Buckley, Nancy Allen, John Travolta and P. J. Soles.

Extras include 4K scan, original trailer, trailer gallery,interviews, location featurette, tv and radio spots, a look at Carrie: The Musical, still and text gallery.

Last Word: With Halloween, this is probably the most respected B-horror film of the 70s. Like Halloween it is taught, tense, sharp, and finely crafted. Like Halloween it seems uncommonly precise amidst a decade fraught with ponderous and overlong movies of all types. Lots has been said about Carrie, largely commending Spacek’s performance (which modulates effortlessly from naive confusion to girlish joy to teenage angst) or De Palma’s direction (which modulates effortlessly from wholesome happiness to shocking bloodshed). Other people praise Piper Laurie’s frightening performance as the religious fanatic mother, or the interesting conflict between one kindly couple who wants to help poor Carrie and a second mean couple who wants to humiliate her. The ending was imitated many times, most famously in Friday the 13th.

De Palma uses slow motion or tracking shots to keep visuals lively. He juxtaposes sound and silence to heighten or anticipate moods. He tells the story with an uncanny rhythm; the prom scene begins halfway through the film rather than in the final minutes as we might expect. The calm before the storm is 20 minutes long rather than the expected two. The storm itself strikes more than once.

De Palma is known primarily as a director of thrillers and action films, and his most acclaimed films fall outside the scope of my book, but most of his 1970s output crosses over into horror, slasher, fantasy, or exploitation. His early films were satires, but starting with Sisters he began to cultivate an intense stylized image-driven directorial style derived from Alfred Hitchcock. He was frank about following Hitchcock right from the start.

Besides admitting his love for Hitchcock, De Palma has also admitted that he intends to be a stylist, fitting his stories around the images rather than vice versa. He has also admitted that he loves to treat the theme of voyeurism in his films. If you can allow him these three caveats – Hitchcock, style over substance, and voyeurism – then you must admit that De Palma’s films are fierce, gripping, and hard to forget.  (– David E. Goldweber)

 

Impractical Jokers: The Complete Fourth Season

Warner Bros. / Released 10/11/16

From New York to Miami, the stars of truTV hit series Impractical Jokers give viewers access to hilarious dares and punishments that could only come from the minds of life-long friends.

As a result, Joe Gatto, James “Murr” Murray, Brian “Q” Quinn and Sal Vulcano have an active fanbase that tunes in week after week to see how they will outdo themselves with their special brand of high jinx.

Extras include the Impractical Jokers 100th Episode Live Punishment Special, Bloopers, Promos and Deleted Scenes.

Includes the episodes:

• Look Out Below: The Jokers lack hospitality as bumbling bellhops, pitch bizarre inventions to a confused focus group, and serve lunch with a side of awkward when they man hot dog stands.
• The Great Escape: Murr, Joe, Sal and Q strike the wrong chord as music instructors and try to save face in a humiliating focus group face-off.
• Field of Screams: The guys must identify the Joker behind the humiliating commands in a voice disguising challenge.
• Nationals Disaster: Murr, Joe, Sal, and Q fumble through the aisles of a grocery store, and re-gift the kooky contents of a mystery bag.
• Toasted: Joe, Murr, Sal, and Q get in a pickle serving up humiliating tasks as deli waiters, and later they step behind the counter asking customers to settle a series of silly debates.
• Scarytales: The guys are forced to look for love in all the wrong places at a singles’ event, and then phone it in making embarrassing calls on strangers’ cells.
• Bigger in Texas: Joe, Sal, Q, and Murr head to the Lone Star State in a special episode that proves even embarrassment is bigger in Texas.
• Snow Way Out: The guys give a taste of their awkward customer service at a liquor store and take tickets of humiliation at a deli counter.
• Takes the Cake: Joe, Sal, Q, and Murr try to warm up to strangers at a ski lodge and pull up a chair as uninvited guests at an Italian restaurant.
• Joker’s Playhouse: The guys have to keep a straight face as the other Jokers act out bizarre scenes, then they try to get an embarrassing word in edgewise with strangers at the park.
• Make Womb for Daddy: The guys bite off more than they can chew serving customers at a sub shop, and they team up at a food court to perform a mystery task based on ambiguous hints from their partner.
• Puncture Perfect: Joe, Sal, Q, and Murr have to complete a series of bizarre tasks at a video game store, and race with rock climbers to get them to repeat a bizarre word before they reach the top.
• Junk in the Trunk: Joe, Sal, Q, and Murr feel the wrath of disapproving focus groups after nonsensical presentations and try to reach out and touch strangers at the mall with anything but their hands.

 

SuperMansion – Season 01

Sony / Released 10/11/16

Titanium Rex (voiced by Bryan Cranston) is an aging superhero who has long been the head of the League of Freedom, a once-proud assembly of superheroes that isn’t what it used to be. The irritable Titanium Rex finds himself playing mentor to a new crop of Millennial-aged heroes who have little interest in their noble profession. Much to Titanium Rex’s dismay, they’re all thrown together to live in the SuperMansion, where the young heroes learn how to harness their superpowers and fight for justice, liberty…and the need to stay relevant to society.

Also starring Zeb Wells and Keegan-Michael Key, with hilarious guest stars Seth Green, Chris Pine, Nick Kroll, Ron Perlman, Matthew Senreich and more.

Includes the episodes:

• Groaner’s Wild: The League of Freedom damages a national monument and gets called before Congress and investigated by a military accountant and Black Saturn has a showdown with his nemesis, the Groaner.
• They Shoot Omega Pets, Don’t They?: An old colleague of Titanium Rex is found dead and the League of Freedom care for his orphaned pets while investigating the mysterious death.
• Let’s Talk About Rex: Titanium Rex has an embarrassing encounter with the interstellar super villain Blazar and has to save his public image. Elsewhere: Black Saturn tries to find out who is eating his food and Brad tries to take advantage of Cooch.
• A Shop in the Dark: American Ranger’s former sidekick and current Secretary of Defense Kid Victory joins the League for dinner; Rex tries to get more funding; Ranger struggles with Kid Victory’s lifestyle; and the rest of the League goes grocery shopping.
• Puss in Books: Sgt. Agony discovers Cooch is illiterate and the League of Freedom helps her prepare for the GED. Also: American Ranger searches for the American dream and Jewbot wants to be an inspirational influence.
• Unfortunate Son: Black Saturn is cut off financially and confronts his rich parents then involves Lex in a bid to restart his allowance; and Jewbot explores the life of a caregiver. Meanwhile, Titanium Rex attempts to cancel the mansion’s cable subscription.
• Babes in the Wood: Rex and Ranger’s camping trip doesn’t go as planned when the rest of the League tags along; Rex waits for the perfect time to reveal a secret to Ranger; Saturn hides his relationship with Lex; Jewbot goes offline; and Cooch doesn’t do well in nature.
• Lex: Lex Lightning shows up on Titanium Rex’s doorstep and claims to be his illegitimate daughter. Also: Rex grapples with fatherhood and American Ranger, Black Saturn, and Brad start a rock band to impress Lex.
• A Midsummer Night’s Ream: Black Saturn starts dating after a cat burglar breaks his heart; and Rex, Ranger and Brad try a sadistic new workout regimen with personal trainer Johnny Rabdo. Meanwhile, Lex tries to get on Cooch’s good side as Jewbot struggles with gender identity.
• Brad Medicine: Brad’s nefarious origins are revealed as his past catches up with him; and the rest of the League looks for an escape from Titanium Rex’s game night. Meanwhile, American Ranger discovers the joys of the modern internet.
• The Inconceivable Escape of Dr. Devizo: The League of Freedom prepares for the worst as Dr. Devizo plans his escape from the mansion’s underground prison; Rex attempts to match wits with Devizo; Black Saturn goes undercover; and American Ranger seeks retribution for Gloria’s betrayal.
• Lexanity: Billionaire defense contractor Ivan Whiff tries to lure Lex away from the League. Meanwhile, Jewbot administers routine physicals for the League, causing Ranger to disavow modern medicine and Brad to discover he may be allergic to Cooch.
• Lex as a Weapon: In the Season 1 finale, Dr. Devizo orchestrates a jailbreak of the League’s most dangerous villains; Rex’s past comes back to haunt him; and the League’s worst fears are realized.

 

Brain Games Season 7

National Geographic / Released 10/11/16

National Geographic Channel’s Emmy-nominated series returns for its seventh and final season, with all-new, eye-opening,jaw-dropping episodes.

From a castle in England to the New Jersey shore, host Jason Silva and renowned guest experts engage volunteers in experiments, games and exercises that reveal fascinating truths about the workings of the human brain.

This season explores topics like the brain’s amazing, if sometimes inconvenient, selective memory function, how we relate to religious ideology, and whether or not we’re literally born to be bad. Plenty of interactive, do-at-home experiments enhance your brain capacity and improve your perception in this entertaining, illuminating show that proves sometimes it’s fun to let someone “get inside your head.”
Includes the episodes:

• Meet the Brain: Get ready to meet your brain. It will engage you, amaze you and help you understand yourself like never before. After all, it’s the one physical system on earth capable of looking at itself.
• The God Brain: Jason Silva travels to Israel to explore “The God Brain.” New research has uncovered that believing in God may be hardwired in our brains.
• Brains Behaving Badly: Jason Silva meets people who personify the word “survivor,” and puts their brains to the test – revealing common characteristics of survivors and how to tap into the brain’s survival instinct.
• Life of the Brain: Jason Silva heads to the New Jersey Shore to see where your brain started as a baby where it is going as an adult and into old age.
• Super Senses: Jason Silva leads viewers through a series of games and experiments designed to show that the brain has far more than just five senses.
• The Survivor Brain: Jason Silva meets people who personify the word survivor,and puts their brains to the test – revealing common characteristics of survivors and how to tap into the brain’s survival instinct.

 

The Pit


Kino Lorber / Released 10/18/16

Jamie wouldn’t kill anyone… unless Teddy told him to! Twelve-year-old Jamie (Sammy Snyders) is one creepy kid… he has a perverse obsession with sex, his only friend is an evil teddy bear, and he’s the only one who knows about the hole in the forest where he feeds raw meat to a ravenous pack of mutant troglodytes.

Jamie will teach everyone a lesson: the kids who teased and bullied him, the mean old lady down the street, even his pretty new babysitter.

Soon they – and his entire town – will face the flesh-eating horror of The Pit!

The one and only directorial effort by Lew Lehman with a script by documentarian Ian A. Stuart and featuring a wonderful cast that includes Jeannie Elias, Sonja Smith and Richard Alden.  Extras include interviews and commentary.

 

The Earth Dies Screaming

Kino Lorber / Released 10/4/16

Their target: Humanity. Their mission: Total Annihilation!

The world has just been decimated by an unstoppable, merciless army of killer robots, and millions of innocent souls have been wiped out!

Only a handful of survivors have managed to escape the deadly alien apocalypse, and they must endure a non-stop struggle to save themselves from destruction, and somehow find a way to defeat the marauding death machines… before the entire human race becomes extinct!

Legendary Hammer director Terence Fisher (Horror of Dracula) directed this Sci-Fi thriller written by Harry Spalding under the pseudonym Henry Cross and starring Willard Parker, Virginia Field, Dennis Price and Thorley Walters.

Extras include commentary and animated photo gallery.

 

Chosen Survivors

Kino Lorber / Released 10/4/16

They are mankind’s last hope… and the terror has only just begun!

After a devastating global nuclear holocaust, a carefully selected group of 11 citizens are sent deep into the bowels of Planet Earth, where they will remain until it is safe to return to the surface and start re-populating the world!

But something else is lurking in this subterranean refuge…a deadly, rampaging of inhuman terror that won’t stop until it has exterminated them all, one by one!

TV veteran Sutton Roley (Combat, Mannix) directed classic Sci-Fi thriller starring Jackie Cooper, Alex Cord, Richard Jaeckel, Bradford Dillman, Pedro Armendariz Jr., Diana Muldaur, Lincoln Kilpatrick  and Barbara Babcock. Extras include commentary.

 

6 Plots

Lionsgate / Released 10/4/16

After passing out at a party, Brie wakes up to a strange phone message: a lunatic has abducted her six friends and buried them in boxes around the city.

Each box has its own deadly terror — water, gasoline, insects — waiting to kill its occupant.

To add to the sadistic thrills, the killer is streaming footage of the trapped kids on the Internet — and to each other.

Forbidden to call parents or police, Brie must use her wits to locate her friends’ six death traps before their time runs out.

Extras include featurette.

 

Guilt: Season 1

Lionsgate / Released 10/18/16

The definition of guilt is being responsible for wrongdoing or a crime. In the murder of Molly Ryan, many are guilty in different ways, but only one is truly guilty of her murder.

When Natalie’s sister Grace (Daisy Head) becomes the prime suspect in her roommate Molly’s murder and popular target for the press and in social media, Natalie (Emily Tremaine) leaves her life in Boston and heads to London to defend her.

With the help of an ethically questionable ex-pat lawyer Stan Gutterie (Billy Zane), Natalie starts to question how innocent her sister may really be as more ugly truths start to come out. In this one-hour soapy drama, the mystery will twist through all layers of London society – from a posh but depraved sex club and all the way up to the Royal Family itself.

Extras include featurette, bloopers and deleted scenes.

Includes the episodes:

• Pilot: When a young woman is brutally murdered in her London flat, the search for her killer leads to scandal and intrigue stretching from underground sex clubs to the highest levels of the Royal Family.
• American Psycho: As the investigation into Molly Ryan’s murder heats up, all eyes are watching what Grace does next. With instructions from Stan to not leave, Grace is determined to attend Molly’s memorial service.
• Exit Wounds: Now that Molly’s murder has become a world-wide story, Grace becomes the target of social media bullying. While Grace is reeling from the social slander, Stan is forced to turn his attention to fixing her step-father James’ situation which may hit too close to the Molly Ryan case.
• Blood Ties: Natalie discovers that crown prosecutor Gwendolyn may not be as unbiased in her investigation of Grace as she would have others believe. Detective Sergeant Bruno feels trapped when a past indiscretion threatens to be exposed and he must decide if he will let it affect the Molly Ryan murder case.
• The Eye of the Needle: Grace is devastated after Luc is arrested and Stan can only offer him a plea deal.
• A Simple Plan: While Luc is on lockdown at the police station, Gwen tries to finally get the piece of information she has been desperately looking for to link Grace to Molly’s murder. But, with Luc sticking to his story that he and Grace were on the roof together all night and Stan working every angle to get Luc out, Gwen is running out of time. Detective Bruno decides to jump in to play good cop and is shocked by what he discovers. Grace teams up with Roz to deflect suspicion off of Grace by planting evidence on a new suspect with ties to The Courtenay sex club. They recruit …
• A Fall from Grace: As the Molly Ryan murder case ramps up, the case against Grace has never looked worse. Natalie reveals to Stan that Molly worked as a prostitute at The Courtenay, and that Grace may have as well. Stan buries any Courtenay connection to Grace, but tips off the press to Molly’s connection to this dark, dangerous world. Natalie confronts Grace with what she’s discovered and, if anything, leaves even more disturbed by her sister’s potential guilt – especially after Bruno shows her a tape of Grace planting evidence. But before giving up on her sister completely, Natalie …
• Eyes Wide Open: As Stan works on Grace’s defense, Graces struggles to remember a chunk of missing time on the night of Molly’s murder. Stan wants to bring in a forensic psychiatrist who specializes in Memory Recovery Therapy to help discover what Grace might have blacked out from that night.
• The Crown v Atwood: Stan and Gwen face off in the courtroom as the Grace case finally begins. Natalie and Bruno try to find new evidence to prove Grace’s innocence before it’s too late, and Grace pursues another way of gaining her freedom.
• What Did You Do?: After the real person behind Molly’s murder is revealed, Grace takes matters into her own hands.

 

American Masters: Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You

PBS / Released 10/25/16

With unprecedented access to Lear, his work and his massive personal archives, Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You combines stories from his turbulent childhood and early career with his groundbreaking TV success (All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Maude) and social activism. The documentary also features colorful stories from Lear’s family, friends and collaborators, including John Amos, George Clooney, Alan Horn, Bill Moyers, Rob Reiner, Phil Rosenthal and Russell Simmons, as well as cinéma vérité moments with Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Jon Stewart, Amy Poehler and Lena Dunham.

The documentary traces how a poor Jewish kid from Connecticut started writing for The Colgate Comedy Hour with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, created All in the Family and became one of TV’s most successful showrunners. All character-driven, with theatrical sets and live audiences, Lear’s TV series changed not only the face of national television but the content of national discourse. Bringing provocative subjects like war, poverty and prejudice to 120 million viewers every week, Lear proved that social change was possible through an unlikely prism – laughter – and created some of the greatest moments in television history.

Last Word: Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You is the name of the engrossing new documentary about one of the legends of television.  The title is taken from a bumper sticker distillation of Lear’s humanistic philosophy (no, really – it’s a bumper sticker on his car). Lear, best known for shepherding some of the most groundbreaking sitcoms in TV history, is given his just due here. This is not a worshipful whitewash, but a warts and all look at a committed, moral man who’s still going strong in his nineties.

We learn about his difficult childhood with his criminal father, who was a strong inspiration for Archie Bunker (according to Lear, he would even tell his wife to “Stifle!” when he felt she was getting out of line).

Norman’s rotten relationship with his dad colored much of his outlook (and output); he even admits at one point that it probably still affects him to this day. And while one could argue he was a far, far better family man than his father was, it becomes clear that he didn’t spend nearly as much time with his wife and daughters as he did with his TV shows.  There are more than a few times throughout the doc when Lear becomes emotional, oft times wiping tears from his eyes. Moments like these have power, all the more because it is essentially a nonagenarian looking back upon his entire legacy, in his art, his life and his activism.

The segment on his activism is quite interesting, as Lear took on the Moral Majority and their hypocrisy, censorship and intolerance. Bill Moyers labels Lear “a true patriot”, a comment that usually causes bile to rise in my throat.  In Lear’s case, Moyers is absolutely correct. The talking heads and behind-the-scenes segments are intercut with “reenactments” of Lear’s childhood, with a young actor portraying Lear as a boy.  This stuff is always hit-or-miss, but directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady pull it off.

Other “arty” devices, such as a cut from a seagull to a warplane, are a bit less effective (there IS an amusing match cut involving The Flying Nun, however).  The meat of the movie, of course, deals with Lear’s years in television.  This is the best stuff: his almost daily battles with Carroll O’Connor and Esther Rolle over content, his all-out war with the networks’ “program practices” (or, as Lear labels it, censorship), his decision to develop The Jeffersons after listening to complaints from African-Americans that blacks are always represented as poor, etc.

As with some other recent docs on entertainment bigwigs (De Palma, Altman, et al), one might wish more time had been spent on specific works or topics. I would have loved to have heard some stories about one of my favorite film comedies, Cold Turkey, for which Lear wrote the script. But the focus of the doc is where it should be: on his life, his TV legacy and his activism.  A satisfying, entertaining and very enlightening film, Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You is well worth your time if you have any interest in entertainment history, censorship, and, ah hell, history period.  (– Dean Galanis)

 

Trouble Man


Kino Lorber / Released 10/18/16

Mr. T is a One Man Army! Cold as ice, hard as steel, and dressed to thrill, a private investigator known only as “Mr. T” (Robert Hooks) is hired by two thugs to find out who’s stealing form their gambling operation.

Armed with deadly martial arts mastery and an arsenal of weapons, Mr. T battles his way through a dangerous maze of violence, turf wars and even murder – while still finding time for the ladies, movies don’t get any cooler than Trouble Man!

Featuring wonderful direction by Ivan Dixon (The Spook Who Sat by the Door), original score and songs by music legend Marvin Gaye and a kick-ass cast that includes Paul Winfield, Ralph Waite, Paula Kelly, Jeannie Bell, Gordon Jump, Felton Perry and Julius Harris.  Extras include commentary.

 

The Laughing Policeman

Kino Lorber / Released 10/18/16

Eight people know who the killer is… and they’re all dead!

It’s tough beat for San Francisco police lieutenant Jake Martin (Walter Matthau, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three) when he has to investigate a city bus massacre in which a madman opened machine gunfire on eight people. It’s even worse when Martin discovers his former partner is one of the victims.

But as he investigates the grisly murders, Martin not only discovers unsavory things about his partner, but he finds that many of the victims had shady lives, which shrouds the killer’s identity even more.

Veteran Hollywood filmmaker Stuart Rosenberg directed this action-packed thriller with an amazing cast that includes Bruce Dern, Louis Gossett Jr., Cathy Lee Crosby, Anthony Zerbe, Joanna Cassidy, Val Avery, Mario Gallo and Paul Koslo.  Extras include commentary, interview and animated montage of images.

 

Fuzz

Kino Lorber / Released 10/18/16

With razor-bright wit and an excellent cast that includes Burt Reynolds, Raquel Welch, Tom Skerritt, Jack Weston and Yul Brynner, this uproarious action-comedy about an incompetent police force is an absolute laugh riot!

Adapted from the satirical 87th Precinct Mysteries, Fuzz is a slick police thriller so rip-roaringly funny; it would be a crime not to see it.

The undercover policemen of Boston’s 87th Precinct are armed and dangerous – and the streets just aren’t safe from their bumbling detective work!

And when a mysterious extortionist begins carrying out his fiendish scheme to assassinate prominent city official, no tactic is too outrageous for this goofy, ham-fisted squad who will stop at nothing to solve the high-profile case and save their city from the grips of a ruthless, diabolical madman.

Directed by Richard A. Colla (Zig Zag, Battlestar Galactica).  Extras include commentary and Trailers From Hell.

 

Independence Day Resurgence

20th Century Fox / Released 10/18/16

Twenty years after mysterious aliens nearly wiped out humankind, they’re back with a vengeance in this explosive sequel to the original blockbuster hit, Independence Day!

Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth developed a vast defense program to protect the planet, led by Jeff Goldblum, returning as brilliant scientist David Levinson.

But nothing could prepare us for a new invasion of unprecedented scale – and only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can save our world from extinction. Extras include commentary, making of, featurettes, gag reel, deleted scenes, gag reel and galleries.

Last Word: It makes my blood boil the way people crap on Independence Day with faint praise.  It’s as if the god of film punditry shouted down from the heavens, declaring that if you liked the movie, you don’t know jack squat about film. That’s why a lot of contemporary critics, bloggers, columnists, etc. say that they really liked the movie…but they throw in additional commentary such as, “You need to turn your brain off to watch it because it’s not a great film” in order to save face.

Guess what: movies aren’t made to be analyzed. They’re meant to be an escape where you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. The original Independence Day was a thrill ride that wowed movie goers everywhere.

Independence Day: Resurgence did nothing of the sort, so feel free to crap on this film all you want because it doesn’t even deserve the faintest of praise.

As a big fan of its predecessor, this is a shame because I really wanted to like it, however, as my wife and I walked out of the theater, we couldn’t help but point out all the flaws that are impossible to overlook, whether you’re “turning your brain off” or not.

One of the many things that made the original film so good is that every moment was given enough time to allow it sink in so the emotional impact would resonate to the desired result. ID:R moved at a quick 120 minutes while jumping from set piece to set piece. It’s as if the writers and director Roland Emmerich sat in a room and purposely set out to give each moment no more than what they felt was the minimal amount of time for each scene to set in.

The film starts off by checking in with Bill Pullman’s former President, Thomas Whitmore who’s been experiencing visions of the aliens, which have left him old and ragged, with no explanation as to why the telepathic link to the alien left such a lasting and negative impression.

The audience then meets an all grown up Patricia Whitmore and Dylan Hiller before getting properly reunited with the former President. The same thing happens with the two youngsters as Liam Hemsworth’s ESD (Earth Space Defense) hotshot pilot, Jake Morrison is introduced. And before you know it, yes, the same damn thing occurs when Jeff Goldblum’s David Levinson is brought back into the fold. Of course, before anything is allowed to sink in, the story, which is full of the most conveniently placed plot points allowed for the aliens to return twenty years later to take their shot at destroying the Earth.

Now, we all knew the aliens would come back, otherwise there is no movie, however, there was no explanation as to why it took them so long to return.

There is this little quip about the alien’s technology not advancing after all this time. It was painfully obvious that the line was only put in the script to explain why the ESD pilots were able to get a handle on it so quickly, which didn’t make sense because if they saw the same 3000-mile wide space ship as the audience, it was obvious that the aliens have new toys in their toy box. THEY HAD A GRAVITY WEAPON.

Another thing the first film did so well was establishing the global scope of the alien’s devastation. Washington DC, China, England, Area 51 and the Moon might as well have been neighboring towns who get together every Friday night to watch their high school football teams play one another.

When Earth gets put through the ringer this time around, the audience is thrusted into the crisis mid-stream. There was little to no set up that showed the look of fear on people’s faces as they ran for their lives. Speaking of people, the new cast were given by the numbers characters with none of the heat and soul that made us care about the original cast the first time around.

Those who were upset with 20th Century Fox for snubbing Mae Whitman, who played Patricia Whitmore in the original film, for model turned actress Maikia Monroe (It Follows, The Guest), can breathe a sigh of relief. Mae Whitman dodged a bullet. The new President and her cabinet left so little of an impression that killing them and/or keeping them around made no difference. Except for the character who served as Levinson’s political aid. He was completely annoying instead of the misunderstood bumbling idiot of an administrator he was supposed to be.

Will Smith was sorely missed. His absence showed how much charisma he brought in 1996 as there was a complete void of anything remotely resembling humor here. None of the jokes came close to sticking their landing and were more intrusive than anything else. Jeff Goldblum was the best thing about the film and triggered the much needed and welcomed nostalgia, but his star didn’t have to shine too bright in order to stand out in this utter mess of a story.

All of the original characters are in much different stages in their lives, but with the exception of Levinson, none of their journey is explained. I hope this isn’t considered too much of a spoiler, but some of the OG characters perish, and it was infuriating to watch because their deaths were either completely wasted and glossed over with zero regard for what their legacy means to the “franchise.”

Besides Goldblum, there were a couple good things.

The CGI was really, really good. Unfortunately, it was such a disaster fest on screen that most of the visual effects got lost in the shuffle. There was a mention about how those who were orphaned due to the attacks in 1996 don’t seem to hold the same human currency as those who were not. That would have been something interesting to dive into, but the subject was never touched upon again. The final battle in the third act was fun to watch unfold, even if the screen was cluttered with CGI, however, something that occurs puts a mighty big black mark on the whole deal.

I truly wish I wasn’t penning this review, but Independence Day: Resurgence doesn’t deserve a quarter of the 41.6 million dollars it made over opening weekend. This is the epitome of a cash grab that has zero regard for what fans loved about the original.

Hopefully, this crummy sequel will go quietly into the night and vanish without a fight. (– Atlee Greene)

 

Salem’s Lot

Warner Bros. / Released 10/18/16

Sinister events bring together a writer (David Soul) fascinated with an old hilltop house; a suave antiques dealer (James Mason) whose expertise goes beyond bric-a-brac; and the dealer’s mysterious, pale-skinned “partner” (Reggie Nalder) in Salem’s Lot — a blood-curdling shocker based on King’s novel and directed by Tobe Hooper (Poltergeist).  Extras include commentary and trailer.

Last Word: I liked Salem’s Lot very much, largely because it was old-fashioned: the vampires do not have to be “hip” and “cool,” and the line between good and evil does not have to be blurred.

Our hero is hard-nosed and cynical, but he is a Good Guy. He even shares his heroics with a horror-movie-obsessed adolescent. The villains are smarmy and cruel, with scarce a hint of charm. The action is restrained, but this makes it feel realistic. Hooper lets the story unfold piece by piece, character by character. Shocks and scares do not come every five minutes, but come they do. This is not the most extreme or original vampire story around; in fact the master vampire is designed to resemble the original Nosferatu. The movie’s main appeal is probably the complexity of the design and the fullness of the characters.

Going into it, I was worried about the three-hour running time, but I was pleased to find it justified by the rich layers of character-interrelationships. I was quite interested in the eager-but-cautious Real Estate Guy, the determined-but-worried Constable, the lonely Gravedigger, the unlucky Plumber. I haven’t read the book, but I suspect these characters were depicted there in even greater depth; for example, it might be further explained why both the heroes and villains are drawn to the mysterious house.

James Mason gives the best performance of the movie as the vampire=s henchman; he’s very good at unexpectedly pausing between certain words but then not pausing between others. David Soul (our hero) is most famous for playing Hutch on Starsky and Hutch. Fred Willard (Spinal Tap, Best in Show) appears in a memorable supporting role. Note: the movie was originally shown on TV, and you can spot the commercial breaks, but for many viewers this adds an extra element of fun. (– David E. Goldweber)

 

Stephen King’s Cat’s Eye

Warner Bros. / Released 10/18/16

A wandering supernatural feline’s adventures provide the linking story for Stephen King‘s Cat’s Eye — a dead-on ‘thrillogy’ scripted by King and directed by Lewis Teague (Cujo).

The staff at Quitters Inc. promises to help nicotine fiend Dick Morrison (James Woods) kick the habit.

Next, a luckless gambler (Robert Hays) is forced into a bet involving a stroll around a building – on the five-inch ledge encircling the 30th floor.

Finally, our wayfarer kitty rescues a schoolgirl (Drew Barrymore) from a vile, doll-sized troll.

Cast includes Alan King, Kenneth McMillan, Candy Clark, James Naughton, Tony Munafo, Court Miller and Russell Horton.  Extras include commentary and trailer.

 

Stephen King’s It

Warner Bros. / Released 10/18/16

Welcome to Derry, Maine. It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown.

Only in Derry the haunting is real.

In 1960, seven outcast kids known as “The Loser Club” stumbled upon the horror, a malevolent force, with the ability to transform itself into its prey’s worst fears, exploiting the phobias of its victims. Taking the form of a sadistic, wisecracking clown called Pennywise, the friends travel down to the city’s sewers to defeat it.

Twenty-eight years later the childhood friends, Richie Tozier (Harry Anderson), Eddie Kasbrak (Dennis Christopher), Stan Uris (Richard Masur), Beverly Marsh (Annette O’Toole), Mike Hanlon (Tim Reid), Ben Hanscom (John Ritter), and Bill Denbrough (Richard Thomas), now grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness make good on a promise and return to Derry after Pennywise has returned meaner, angrier, and deadlier, once again murdering children.  And only the onetime Loser Club can destroy…It.

Extras include director and cast commentary.

 

Child’s Play

Shout! Factory / Released 10/18/16

Child’s Play opens with serial killer Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif) taking refuge in a doll factory. Dourif is killed by the cops, but not before he has invoked a voodoo curse which transfers his soul into one of the dolls.

That particular doll, nicknamed Chuckie, is unwittingly purchased by Karen Barclay (Catherine Hicks) for her son Andy (Alex Vincent). Several murders occur shortly thereafter; all evidence points to Andy, who insists that his cherub-faced doll is responsible.

Detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon), the man responsible for Charles Lee Ray’s death, doesn’t swallow Andy’s story, but he agrees to investigate because he’s sweet on Andy’s mom.

But the real terror takes hold when the deranged doll becomes determined to transfer his evil spirit to a living human being… Andy!  Extras include new 2K scan commentaries, interviews, special effects footage, featurettes, convention footage, vintage featurette, trailer and still gallery.

 

Nighthawks

Shout! Factory / Released 10/18/16

Sylvester Stallone and Rutger Hauer star in this riveting story of suspense and intrigue that starts in London, continues in Paris and reaches its chilling conclusion on the streets of New York.

When Europe’s most feared terrorist (Hauer) explosively announces his presence in Manhattan, two elite undercover cops (Stallone and Billy Dee Williams) are assigned to stop him before he strikes again. But the ruthless terrorist has other plans for the city – and the detectives.

This edge-of-your-seat thriller, directed by Bruce Malmuth (Hard to Kill), also stars Lindsay Wagner, Persis Khambatta, Nigel Davenport  and Joe Spinell.

Extras include interviews, trailer, radio spots, and still gallery.

 

The Night Of

HBO / Released 10/18/16

In The Night Of, Pakistani-American college student Nasir “Naz” Khan, who lives with his parents in Queens, NY, takes his father’s taxi to go to a party in Manhattan.

But what starts as a perfect night for Naz becomes a nightmare when he’s arrested for murder.

The series examines the police investigation, the legal proceedings, the criminal justice system and Rikers Island, where the accused await trial.

The ensemble cast includes John Turturro, Riz Ahmed, Michael Kenneth Williams, Bill Camp, Jeannie Berlin, Poorna Jagannathan, Payman Maadi, Glenne Headly, Amara Karan, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Paul Sparks, Ben Shenkman, Afton Williamson, Paulo Costanzo, Ned Eisenberg, Mohammad Bakri, Nabil Elouahabi, Ashley Thomas, Glenn Fleshler, and Chip Zien.

Includes the episodes:

• The Beach:  A shy Pakistani American college student, Naz, spends a night with a quirky, mysterious girl, and finds her dead the next morning.
• Subtle Beast: As attorney Jack Stone counsels Naz, lead detective Dennis Box investigates the crime.
• A Dark Crate: Awaiting his formal arraignment at Rikers Island, Naz realizes that his survival, or perhaps his demise, rests with a particular inmate, Freddy.
• The Art of War: Naz weighs the pros and cons of copping a plea as Stone opens a window to Andrea’s past.
• The Season of the Witch: Box reconstructs Naz’s whereabouts on “the night of”.
• Samson and Delilah:  As prosecutor Helen Weiss prepares for trial, Naz’s alliance with Freddy deepens.
• Ordinary Death: The defense presents its case in the trial of The State v. Nasir Khan.
• The Call of the Wild:  A controversy surrounding the defense puts Stone in the spotlight as Naz’s trial reaches its climax.

 

Return of Dracula

Olive Films / Released 10/18/16

For those who like their vampires with that certain European panache, The Return of Dracula is sure to thrill. Francis Lederer stars as the titular Count – this time using the pseudonym Bellac Gordal – as he travels from his Transylvania home to the United States. In the guise of being a distant relative on vacation, The Count takes up residence at the home of the Mayberry family in sunny California.

Quicker than you can say “I like my stake rare,” The Count … er … Gordal is up to his old nocturnal tricks and comes under the scrutiny of young Rachel Mayberry (Norma Eberhardt) whom Gordal has set his sights on, which may be her undoing.

The Return of Dracula, directed by Paul Landres (The Vampire) from Pat Fiedler’s script, co-stars Ray Stricklyn, Virginia Vincent, John Wengraf, Gage Clarke, Jimmy Baird and Greta Granstedt.

Last Word: Gramercy Pictures made several entertaining B-flicks in its time including Monster that Challenged the World and this one, Return of Dracula. After the success of Hammer’s striking Dracula and Frankenstein pictures in 1957 and 1958, the stage was set for a rebirth of horror after a decade of science fiction. Here, vampirism is treated traditionally in all respects: reflections, crosses, coffins, wooden stakes, you name it.

The only original element – besides sticking Dracula into a cheery unsuspecting small-town family home in the 1950s – is Dracula’s propensity to announce himself to his victims before he bites them. He approaches the young women in their beds at night, but always makes sure to wake them, putting them into quasi-hypnosis as he shows himself and declares that he has come to free them from their flesh. Playing Dracula, the suave older Francis Lederer (Blood Creature) gets all the best lines: “There’s only one reality, and that is death… The flesh is only an illusion… The heart beats only when it is drunk with blood.”

Fans may be disappointed that all action is downplayed until the brief climax. We see no fangs, no bite-marks, not even any contact between Dracula and his victims. He approaches, and then the screen goes black. Perhaps he kisses them instead of biting them? Fans may also wish for better atmosphere and music. Everything is well staged and well shot, with some nice use of dry ice inside coffins, but something feels impatient about the whole production.

A Val Lewton-inspired “walk” sequence (even including a “bus”) runs for a minute but should have been three times that. More interesting characters also would have helped, but thankfully the focus is on Dracula most of the way. A European Van Helsing type appears at the opening and returns for the conclusion. Landres directed The Vampire for Gramercy just months before Return of Dracula. (– David E. Goldweber)

 

Special Effects

Olive Films / Released 10/18/16

From the writer & director of It’s Alive, Larry Cohen’s Special Effects casts a satirical eye on Hollywood, viewed through the prism of the horror film genre.

When the fresh-faced Oklahoma country boy Keefe (Brad Rijn) comes looking for his wife Mary Jean (Zoe Tamerlis), a wannabe actress, he soon discovers the seamy side of Tinsel Town when Mary Jean is found dead and he’s the prime suspect.

With a few swipes at Hollywood archetypes (Eric Bogosian as Christopher Neville, a once-revered Wunderkind director; Zoe Tamerlis as Mary Jean look-alike, Elaine, a budding actress who isn’t beyond manipulating the situation for her own benefit), Special Effects offers chills, thrills, shrieks, and a few laughs along the way.

Written and directed by Larry Cohen, Special Effects also stars Kevin O’Connor and Richard Greene in supporting roles.

 

The Bride of Re-Animator

Arrow / Released 10/18/16

The success of Stuart Gordon’s hit horror-comedy Re-Animator meant that a sequel was all but inevitable. The resulting follow-up, Bride of Re-Animator – this time helmed by director Brian Yuzna (Society, Return of the Living Dead 3) – would prove that there was a good deal more life left in the story of Dr. Herbert West and his ghoulish exploits.

It is 8 years since the Miskatonic massacre. Unperturbed by the disastrous outcome of his previous meddling with the dead, Dr. West (again played by Jeffrey Combs) continues his research into the phenomenon of re-animation; only this time, he plans to create life – starting with the heart of his young protégé Dan’s dearly deceased, Meg Halsey.

Surely nothing could go wrong? With special effects master Screaming Mad George (the man behind the infamous “shunting” sequence in Society) on hand to contribute a host of characteristically weird and wonderful creations – including zombified bats and a one-eyed finger spider – Bride of Re-Animator is a more than worthy successor to Gordon’s original cult classic.

Extras include both restored rated and unrated versions of the film, commentaries, featurettes, and deleted scenes.

 

Table For Five

Kino Lorber / Released 10/18/16

J.P. Tannen (Jon Voight) wants a second chance to be a father to his children… but someone else has taken his place.

Determined not to just be a friendly “uncle” in their lives, he gets permission from his ex-wife Kathleen (Millie Perkins) and her new husband (Richard Crenna) to take the kids on a Mediterranean cruise. But shortly after setting sail J.P. finds that reconnecting with his kids isn’t going to be as easy as he had hoped: his youngest son has learning disabilities, his daughter harbors resentment and his eldest son is rebellious. Feeling overwhelmed, and reverting to his old irresponsible ways, J.P. is convinced that he’s a failure as a father.

 

Serial Killer 1

Kino Lorber/ Released 10/18/16

Franck (Raphaël Personnaz) is an eager rookie homicide squad inspector.

When a woman is found with her throat cut, he shrewdly unearths parallels between previously unrelated cases.

Before he knows it, Franck is caught up in an eight-year obsessive hunt for Serial Killer 1, a man whose very existence is questioned by others.

Loosely based on the investigation into real-life murderer Guy Georges, aka the Beast Of The Bastille (whose lurking disorder is deftly captured by Adama Niane), the story milks suspense from the procedural aspects of the manhunt, the false leads, dead ends, and the stifling bureaucracy of a police force hindered by dwindling budgets and a knee-jerk insistence on outdated, traditional methods.

 

Teen Wolf: Season 5, Part 2

20th Century Fox / Released 10/18/16

Reeling from crushing losses, Scott struggles to put his pack back together while the Dread Doctors’ final creation, a creature known as The Beast, terrorizes Beacon Hills. Extras include featurette.

Includes the episodes:

• The Last Chimera: Scott, Malia, & Stiles scramble to find a way to save Sheriff Stilinski from an unknown toxin while Liam & Mason search for the whereabouts of Hayden’s body and the other dead chimera bodies.
• Damnatio Memoriae: Without the support of his pack, Scott considers that the Dread Doctor’s success could mean for Beacon Hills.
• Codominance: Kira’s mother sets out on a journey with Kira to help her maintain control of her dark side; Lydia receives a surprise at Eichen House.
• The Sword and the Spirit: As Scott tries to put his pack back together, Malia and her new ally set out to rescue Deaton from The Desert Wolf.
• Amplification: After finding out that Lydia is in danger, Stiles makes a plan to break her out of Eichen House; Theo has his own plans as he joins Deucalion in a quest to kill Scott.
• Lie Ability: While trapped in Eichen House with Theo and the Chimera pack, Scott tries to rescue Lydia before time runs out.
• A Credible Threat: Scott and the pack try to use a charity lacrosse game to figure out the identity of the Beast.
• Maid of Gévaudan: The Pack are trying to figure out how to defeat the Beast of Gévaudan that the Maid of Gévaudan, Marie-Jeanne Valet, faced in 1765. As Gerard Argent, recounts Valet’s story to Scott’s pack in hopes they can deduce the creature’s weaknesses.
• The Beast of Beacon Hills: Now that the beast’s identity is known, Scott and his pack race against time to stop the Dread Doctors.
• Apotheosis: Loyalties are tested and new alliances forged as Scott and his friends work to stop the Beast before Beacon Hills is razed to the ground.

 

Our Kind Of Traitor

Lionsgate / Released 10/18/16

While on holiday in Marrakech, an ordinary English couple, Perry and Gail (Ewan McGregor and Naomie Harris), befriend a flamboyant and charismatic Russian, Dima (Stellan Skarsgard), who unbeknownst to them is a kingpin money launderer for the Russian mafia.

When Dima asks for their help to deliver classified information to the British Secret Services, Perry and Gail get caught in a dangerous world of international espionage and dirty politics.

The couple is propelled on a perilous journey through Paris and Bern, a safe house in the French Alps, to the murky corners of the City of London and an alliance with the British Government via a ruthless and determined MI6 agent (Damian Lewis).  The cast also includes Jeremy Northam and Mark Gatiss.  Extras include deleted scenes and featurettes.

 

Doctor Thorne

Anchor Bay / Released 10/18/16

Doctor Thorne (Tom Hollander) lives a quiet life with niece Mary in Greshamsbury, home of the Gresham family. Unbeknownst to others, the Greshams have lost their fortune and the snobbish matriarch Lady Arabella (Rebecca Front) has a scheme to regain it via an arranged marriage with her son and an American heiress.

However, her son is in love with Mary (Stefanie Martini), which complicates Lady Arabella’s plans.

From Julian Fellows, the creator of Downton Abbey, Doctor Thorne also stars Richard McCabe, Harry Richardson, Alison Brie and Ian McShane.

Includes the episodes:

• Episode One: 1855. Doctor Thorne’s penniless niece, Mary, is devastated to learn that she is the illegitimate child of his late brother. Mary falls in love with the heir to the Greshamsbury Estate, Frank. Frank is under instructions to save his family from financial ruin by marrying money. Doctor Thorne acts as both physician and business advisor to a railway millionaire, who holds the fate of Greshamsbury.
• Episode Two: It’s Election Day, and Sir Roger Scatcherd wins the respect of the voters, but succumbs to ill health. Doctor Thorne does his best to ease the pain, but he senses the end is near. Scatcherd’s son, Louis, is called for and he takes an immediate shine to Mary. Dr Thorne endeavours to embrace his new position as Louis’ guardian, but is horrified to learn that he has romantic designs on his niece.
• Episode Three: Frank plucks up the courage to propose to Mary and Dr Thorne gives him his blessing, but not before he has filled him in on the scandalous truth surrounding her birth. Lady Arabella continues her persecution of Mary, and is furious when Frank tells her he is set on marrying Dr Thorne’s penniless niece. When Mary accepts, Louis vows to take his revenge upon the Greshams by seizing their estate.
• Episode Four: While Frank and Mary plan their upcoming nuptials, Lady Arabella determines not to give up without a fight. She persuades Mary that marrying Frank would selfish, and if she truly loves him she should set him free. Meanwhile, Louis is struggling with his unpopular position in society and Mary’s rejection. He takes great pleasure in insulting the Greshams when they invite him for dinner.

 

We The People: The Market Basket Effect

Kino Lorber / Released 10/18/16

We the People: The Market Basket Effect traces the events that led 25,000 employees and 2 million customers across New England to stand behind embattled CEO Arthur T. Demoulas and wrest control of a multibillion dollar grocery empire from an activist board of directors led by Artie T.’s cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas.

A vivid and thorough portrayal of the most memorable labor protest in recent American history, We the People investigates a question at the heart of ongoing economic debate: can regular people really band together to alter the balance of power in major corporations, or is the case of Market Basket a fairytale victory?

Extras include featurettes and deleted scenes.

 

Lights Out

Warner Bros. /  Released 10/25/16

When Rebecca left home, she thought she left her childhood fears behind.

Growing up, she was never really sure of what was and wasnt real when the lights went out and now her little brother, Martin, is experiencing the same unexplained and terrifying events that had once tested her sanity and threatened her safety. A frightening entity with a mysterious attachment to their mother, Sophie, has reemerged.

But this time, as Rebecca gets closer to unlocking the truth, there is no denying that all their lives are in danger once the lights go out.

Extras include deleted scenes.

Last Word: Lights Out began with what seems to be the best of intentions. A metaphor for depression, it really gave the appearance of showing how the disease affects not only the afflicted, but entire families. The first half was colored with shades of The Babadook, last year’s excellent foray into grief and parental guilt. But instead, it got lost in crafting clever, unmotivated jump scares to the point where it ends up destroying any and all good intentions by ending with the message “sometimes, suicide is the answer,” but only after reminding us again and again that hysterical women need men to save the day.

So, let’s start with the end and work backward. Sophie chooses to kill herself because it is the only solution for saving her family. Depression is a disease that loves to spread that lie — but it’s just that, a lie. When people die by suicide, it’s not a choice in the way Sophie’s was. It’s the end of a long, hard battle with a brutal illness that still carries with it a stigma — particularly for women. This movie effectively reinforced the lies depression plants in the brain, that loved ones would be better off without the depressed person, so even though Diana might be gone, her specter remains over the audience. That’s worse than a typical horror movie jump scare tag. With a little more thought and a lot less devotion to cool moments, Lights Out could have transcended its genre to really say something. Instead, it perpetuated the problem it was purporting to solve.

In the same vein, Diana was, at one point in the film’s timeline, a real teen-aged girl struggling with some serious mental and physical health problems. She was shocked to death by doctors. Sophie was her only friend. The movie paints her devotion to Sophie as psychotic, but never explains when it turned from perfectly understandable within that context to completely deranged. It’s just assumed that of course a sick young woman would turn into a crazy jealous ghost. I mean, duh, amirite? A piece is missing in explaining Diana’s behavior, especially since she initially seems perfectly fine with Sophie’s children. It’s the adult men that she, understandably, does not trust.

Those adult men — two of Sophie’s husbands and Rebecca’s almost-boyfriend — are all portrayed as noble victims. They care so much that they are willing to sacrifice themselves to the disease without ever bothering to speak to Sophie or find her agency in any of this. They dehumanize her and assume she’s incapable of decision-making rather than dig to find the woman still in there, fighting for her life and her children. Similarly, Rebecca’s boyfriend Bret steamrolls her wishes to continue living a single life and remain uncommitted. It’s clear from the artwork on her walls she still carries scars from her childhood, but he insists, and eventually she relents, because of course she does. Every women, when facing hysteria, needs a man to light her way. And those that don’t accept men’s help become hateful monsters, deserving only our scorn.

Lights Out was based on the director’s previous short — a thrilling visual exercise. Instead of hiring a female screenwriter to flesh out the female voices, paint-by-numbers extraordinaire Eric Heisserer, of such gems as The Thing and Nightmare on Elm Street remakes, was brought on to lend his special brand of pedantry. Now, I know a studio isn’t going to take a massive risk on some new writer, especially when the director is also fresh and untested, but after the last two banner years for female-driven horror, couldn’t they have sprung for someone more interesting? It’s frustrating to see such a fascinating premise flushed down the drain by the status quo. (– Samantha Garrison)

 

The Exorcist III

Shout! Factory /  Released 10/25/16

For more than fifteen years Police Lieutenant Kinderman (George C. Scott) has been haunted by the death of his friend Father Damien Karras.

Now, on the 15th anniversary of the exorcism that claimed the priest’s life, Kinderman’s world is once again shattered when a boy is found decapitated and savagely crucified.

It’s just the beginning of a nightmare series of bizarre religious murders.

The brutal murders bear the hallmarks of the infamous Gemini Killer…who died in the electric chair fifteen years earlier.

But when a psychopath claiming to be the Gemini Killer reveals intimate, gruesome details that only the true killer could possibly know, Kinderman is confronted with a horrifying truth that he cannot explain…and that will shake him to the core.

The Exorcist III is author/filmmaker William Peter Blatty’s personal vision of what followed after The Exorcist. Like the original, The Exorcist III combines elements of a detective story, a theological puzzle, and an unforgettable study in terror. Extras include both theatrical and director’s cuts, interviews, featurettes, deleted prologue, deleted scene/alternate takes/bloopers, vintage featurette and interviews, trailers, tv spots and photo galleries.

 

Nerve

Lionsgate /  Released 10/25/16

Industrious high school senior, Vee Delmonico (Emma Roberts), has had it with living life on the sidelines.

When pressured by friends to join the popular online game Nerve, Vee decides to sign up for just one dare in what seems like harmless fun.

But as she finds herself caught up in the thrill of the adrenaline-fueled competition partnered with a mysterious stranger (Dave Franco), the game begins to take a sinister turn with increasingly dangerous acts, leading her into a high stakes finale that will determine her entire future.  Extras include featurettes, outtakes and more.

 

The Quiet Man: Signature Edition

Olive Select /  Released 10/25/16

Sean Thornton (John Wayne), an American boxer with a tragic past, returns to the Irish town of his youth.

There, he purchases his childhood home and falls in love with the fiery local lass, Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O’Hara). But Kate’s insistence that Sean conduct his courtship in a proper Irish manner with matchmaker Michaleen Oge Flynn (Barry Fitzgerald) along for the ride as chaperone is but one obstacle to their future together; the other is her brother, “Red” Danaher (Victor McLaglen), who spitefully refuses to give his consent to their marriage, or to honor the tradition of paying a dowry to the husband.

Sean couldn’t care less about dowries or any other tradition that might stand in the way of his happiness. But when Mary Kate accuses him of being a coward, Sean is finally ready to take matters into his own hands. The Quiet Man would go on to win two Academy Awards in 1953, including Best Director (John Ford) and Best Cinematography and received five more nominations including Best Picture, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor (McLaglen). Extras include commentary, Maureen O’Hara tribute, featurettes and making of.

 

The Herschell Gordon Lewis Feast

Arrow /  Released 10/25/16

In 1963, director Herschell Gordon Lewis pulled a cow’s tongue out of an actress’ mouth on camera, and in doing so, changed the landscape of horror cinema forever.

That sequence was just one of numerous gruesome gags featured in Blood Feast, the film credited as being the world’s first gore movie.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the modern gross-out movies of today owe their very existence to the pioneering efforts of H.G. Lewis.

But whilst Lewis is most widely celebrated for his blood-and-guts epics (Two Thousand Maniacs!, The Wizard of Gore et al.), there’s more to the prolific director than splatter.

From tales of sordid photographers (Scum of the Earth) to sex robots (How to Make a Doll), from biker girl-gangs (She-Devils on Wheels) to youths-run-amok (Just for the Hell of It), and from psychic witches (Something Weird) to hard liquor-loving hillbillies (Moonshine Mountain), the filmography of H.G. Lewis reads like a veritable wish-list of exploitation movie madness.

Now, for the first time ever, Arrow Video is proud to present fourteen of the Godfather of Gore’s most essential films (including nine Blu-ray world debuts), collected together at last and packed full of eye-popping bonus content. So put your feet up, pour yourself a glass of good ol’ moonshine, and prepare yourself for a feast – H.G. Lewis style!

Includes the films: Blood Feast, Scum of the Earth, Two Thousand Maniacs, Moonshine Mountain, Color Me Blood Red, Something Weird, Gruesome Twosome, A Taste of Blood, She-Devils on Wheels, Just for the Hell of It, How to Make a Doll, Wizard of Gore, This Stuff’ll Kill Ya and Gore Gore Girls.  Extras include commentaries, outtakes, featurettes, interviews, vintage shorts, radio spots and trailers.

 

Wolf Lake

Kino Lorber/  Released 10/25/16

Screen legend Rod Steiger (In the Heat of the Night) heads a powerful cast in this violent and bloody clash between a WWII veteran and Vietnam army deserter.

Steiger plays Charlie, an ex-Marine who lost his only son in the Vietnam War. He and his friends George (Richard Herd), Sweeney (Paul Mantee) and Wilbur (Jerry Hardin) fly to a remote Canadian hunting lodge for their annual outing.

There they meet the lodge’s new caretaker (David Huffman) and his beautiful girlfriend (Robin Mattson).

The tension mounts and the hatred slowly builds when Charlie finds out the new caretaker is a deserter.

The two men clash as Charlie and his buddies start terrorizing the young couple… playing a sick game of survival. But when David is pushed too far, the hunters become the hunted and surviving the night at Wolf Lake becomes a challenge to all. Written and directed by western legend Burt Kennedy.  Extras include interviews.

 

Agatha Raisin, Series 1

Acorn Media /  Released 10/25/16

In this funny and intriguing new mystery series, a London PR whizz, Agatha Raisin (Emmy-nominated actress Ashley Jensen, Catastrophe, Extras, Ugly Betty), turns amateur sleuth as she becomes entangled in mischief, mayhem, and murder when she opts for early retirement in a small village in the Cotswolds.

In the feature-length pilot movie, the Quiche of Death, high-flying London PR executive Agatha Raisin fulfills a lifelong dream of retiring to a small village. Desperate to fit in, she enters the local quiche-baking competition, only to find herself a suspect when her entry kills the judge.

To save her reputation, Agatha sets out to solve the murder, with the help of her former assistant, Roy (Mathew Horne); eager Detective Constable Bill Wong (Matt McCooey); and her cleaner, Gemma (Katy Wix). Along the way, Agatha discovers that she has a talent for crime solving, even if it means her new life in the country is not the quiet idyll she had imagined. The movie co-stars Jamie Glover, Hermione Norris, and Robert Bathurst.

In the eight-episode first season, Agatha finds her hopes of a quiet life are dashed when more murders start occurring in her village. Drawn into their mysteries, Agatha attempts to solve the crimes…often in rather unorthodox ways. Extras include featurette.

Includes the episodes:

• Walkers of Dembley: A group of ramblers argue with Sir Charles, owner of the palatial Barfield House, about a footpath on his land. When the most vocal of the ramblers is found murdered in the field the next day, the dead woman’s friend asks Agatha to help find her killer.
• Hell’s Bells: As the village prepares for a visit from the bishop, Agatha joins the church bell ringers. Then the ambitious leader of the group, a seemingly perfect young widow, turns up dead in the bell tower. Agatha suspects foul play, despite the suicide note left near the body.
• The Wellspring of Death: The parish council chairman is found by the wellspring with his head bashed in. He was the deciding vote in a council dispute about whether or not to grant Ancombe Water Company access to the village. Agatha investigates the crime while doing PR for the company.
• The Potted Gardener: A number of Carsely gardens are vandalized just before the village garden competition. Later, Mary is found strangled and buried in her own flowerpot. Agatha presses James for information about Mary, since he knew her best, but it turns out that Mary had more dirt than anyone knew.
• The Vicious Vet: The arrival of a handsome young vet to Carsely prompts most of the village women’s pets to suddenly fall ill, drawing the ire of their husbands. Agatha lands a dinner date with the vet, but he’s given a lethal dose of horse tranquilizers the very next day.
• The Day the Floods Came: Agatha helps organize a less-than-perfect wedding at Barfield Manor. The morning after, the bride is found dead in the river, still wearing her wedding dress. Agatha pretends to be working on a reality TV show to get the bridesmaids to open up.
• Witch of Wyckhadden: Following a hair disaster, Agatha decides to spend some time away from Carsely. She wanted a spa retreat but accidentally booked the paranormal activity package at a creepy castle. When the local “witch” is killed nearby, all the guests staying at the castle become suspects, including Agatha.
• Murderous Marriage: A wedding is halted mid-vow by the arrival of a familiar face. But when he turns up dead in a ditch the very next day, Agatha tops the list of suspects and must race to prove her innocence.

 

Janet King, Series 2: The Invisible Wound

Acorn Media /  Released 10/25/16

In Series 2, Janet remains devastated by the unsolved murder of her partner, Ash, two years earlier. Her professional life is no less challenging, as the attorney general tasks Janet with heading a royal commission into serious firearm crime.

Recruiting some of her old team from the Department of Public Prosecutions, Janet begins piecing together how illegal guns enter the country.

When the commission discovers evidence related to Ash’s murder, Janet comes closer to finding the killer who tore her family apart.

But uncovering the truth makes Janet and the high-profile commission a target for criminals and politicians alike.

Extras include featurettes and photo gallery.

Includes the episodes:

• The Invisible Wound: When a man shot dead on Australia Day marks 19 shooting deaths in the past 15 months, the attorney general asks Janet to head a royal commission into gun crime. Before she begins work on the commission, Janet finishes up an inquest into the suicide of an army corporal suffering from PTSD.
• Here and Now: After the shooting at Elaheh’s house, her family says they have no idea who would want to harm them, but Janet and Andy believe they know more than they’re letting on. Meanwhile, Janet is summoned to court by her sister-in-law.
• In Plain Sight: Reeling from what the ballistics report revealed, Janet lashes out at Andy, who knew all along about the gun that killed Ash. With their key witness to the illegal gun operation murdered, Janet suspects a mole in the commission. Lina convinces Elaheh to make a public appeal.
• The Smoking Gun: When the team discovers a link between Todd’s murder and the PTSD case, Janet calls in Lance Corporal Parker and Major Hamilton for questioning. Janet meets with her paternal donor, but his position on the embryos is not what she had expected.
• Apprehended Violence: After discovering the cargo of illegal firearms, the commission allows the shipment to continue in hopes of finding out who will pick it up. Under political pressure from the media, the attorney general demands a report on the royal commission’s progress, despite Janet’s protestations that they aren’t ready.
• The Thaw: The undercover operation goes awry, with deadly consequences. Her cover blown, Bianca offers protection to Felix. Janet, Richard, and Lina prepare for their anticorruption hearing.
• The Heart of It: The commission finds a connection between Major Hamilton and Robbie Carter, the social-media face of crime victims. The attorney general gives Janet an ultimatum-either resign from the commission or risk her reputation in a public hearing.
• The Long Goodbye: With the commission suspended, the gun shipment is finally picked up. Janet secures damning evidence for the people involved, but without a clearance from the anticorruption hearing, all the work the commission completed could be in vain.

 

Private Property

Cinelicious Pics / Released 10/25/16

A major rediscovery for noir and crime fans, Private Property had essentially vanished following a very brief release in the early 1960s — until now.

Private Property begins as two homicidal Southern California drifters (played to creepy, Peeping Tom perfection by Warren Oates and Corey Allen) wander off the beach and into the seemingly-perfect Beverly Hills home of an unhappy housewife (Leslie Stevens’ real-life spouse, Kate Manx).

Shimmering with sexual tension and lensed in stunning B&W by master cameraman Ted McCord, Private Property is both an eerie, neo-Hitchcockian thriller and a savage critique of the hollowness of the Playboy-era American Dream.

Warren Oates delivers his first great screen performance here as one of the murderous vagabonds, years before he emerged as one of the finest character actors of his generation; his bizarre, voyeuristic Lennie-and-George relationship with the underrated Corey Allen is fueled by a barely-suppressed homoeroticism.

Shot almost entirely in the Beverly Hills home where director Stevens and lead actress Manx lived at the time, Private Property is a simmering thriller tinged with deeply unnerving elements of autobiography–and all the voyeurism anyone could ask for. New 4K restoration also includes interview, trailer and essay.