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28 September 2015

LionsGate sings LOVE AND MERCY (review)

Paul Dano and John Cusack play Beach Boy's singer/songwriter Brian Wilson at different times of his life when mental illness stimulated his creativity and then made him vulnerable to manipulation.  Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti also star.

REVIEW LINK: LionsGate (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

LOVE AND MERCY Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles
  • Audio Commentary by director/producer Bill Pohlad and executive producer/co-writer Oren Moverman
  • "A California Story: Creating the Look of LOVE AND MERCY" featurette
  • "A Side/B Side: Portraying the Life of Brian Wilson" featurette
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Theatrical Trailer  
  • Previews
  • Digital download code

Kino Lorber crosses BAD MAN'S RIVER (Review)

In this Philip Yordan-scripted western from the director of HORROR EXPRESS and PANCHO VILLA, a gang of bank robbers become involved with Mexican revolutionaries and beguiling senoritas on the hunt for a million dollar check.  Lee Van Cleef, James Mason, Gina Lollobrigida, Gianni Garko, Simon Andreu, Lone Fleming, Eduardo Fajardo, Aldo Sambrell, Sergio Fantoni, and Diana Lorys star.

REVIEW LINK: Kino Lorber (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

BAD MAN'S RIVER Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
  • Previews

Kino Lorber calls him CAPTAIN APACHE (review)

Lee Van Cleef, Carroll Baker, and Stuart Whitman star in the Philip Yordan-scripted western CAPTAIN APACHE.  On the hunt for the killers of the Indian Commissioner, Captain Apache stumbles upon a conspiracy involving a brothel owner, an illegal arms dealer, the Mexican army, and possibly the American military in this American/Spanish co-production.

REVIEW LINK: Kino Lorber (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

CAPTAIN APACHE Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
  • Previews

Synapse Films conjures up MORITURIS: LEGIONS OF THE DEAD (review)

LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT meets gladiator gore when two Romanian schoolteachers take a road trip with three Italian guys to a rave purportedly deep in the forest.  When they stumble across an ancient Roman hunting ground, victims and attackers become prey to the living dead.

REVIEW LINK: Synapse Films (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

MORITURIS: LEGIONS OF THE DEAD Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
  • Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 stereo
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Trailer

Intervision and Severin sentanced to THE JAIL: THE WOMEN'S HELL (review)

Jennifer, Carol, and Lisa are the newest inmates at "The House of Lost Souls" a jungle prison where the outside world no longer exists.  Forced to submit to the indignities of the warden, the staff, and their fellow inmates, they plan a daring escape and soon find themselves as "the most dangerous game" in a brutal womanhunt.  From director Bruno Mattei.

REVIEW LINK: Intervision Picture Corp. (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

THE JAIL: THE WOMEN'S HELL DVD specs:
  • 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
  • English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
  • Interview with actress Yvette Yzon and actor Alvin Anson
  • Interview with screenwriter Antonio Tentori and producer Giovanni Paolucci
  • Trailer

Twentieth Century Fox visits SLEEPY HOLLOW: SEASON TWO (review)

The second season of Fox's outrageous take on "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" from the creators of the HAWAII FIVE-0 reboot, SCORPION, and the upcoming LIMITLESS series finds eighteenth century soldier Ichabod Crane battling the the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse in twenty-first century America with cop Abby Mills.

REVIEW LINK: Twentieth Century Fox (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

SLEEPY HOLLOW: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French DTS 5.1
  • Optional English SDH, French, Spanish, and Dutch subtitles
  • Eighteen episodes on four BD50 discs
  • Audio Commentary by show runner Mark Goffman and actress Nicole Beharie on "Mama"
  • Audio Commentary by show runner Mark Goffman and actor Tom Mison on "The Akeda" and "Tempus Fugit"
  • "Mystery and Mythology: Secrets of Season Two" featurette
  • "Monsters and Mayhem: The Creatures of Season Two" featurette
  • "Hollow History" featurette
  • "A Salute to Sleepyheads" featurette
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Gag Reel

24 September 2015

Vinegar Syndrome books a NIGHTMARE WEEKEND (review)

Dale Midkiff, Andrea Thompson, and Robert Burke make early appearances in this totally oddball Floridian/British/French/Indian co-production from he eighties about a mad scientist who invites a trio of nubile coeds to a mansion for the weekend to be the unwitting guinea pigs for a behavior-altering computer system that turns them into psychotic zombies.

REVIEW LINK: Vinegar Syndrome (US) Region ALL Blu-ray/Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

NIGHTMARE WEEKEND Blu-ray/DVD specs:
  • Blu-ray:
    • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
    • English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono 
    • Optional English SDH subtitles
  • DVD: 
    • 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
    • English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
  • Interview with effects artist Dean Gates
  • Interview with on-line producer Marc Gottlieb
  • Theatrical Trailer

Severin Films targets a TURKEY SHOOT (review)

In futuristic 1995 Australia, obedience is freedom and defiant individuals are labeled deviants and sentenched to rehabilitation camps that are actually a front for human hunting by wealthy individuals.  Steve Railsback and Olivia Hussey star.

REVIEW LINK: Severin Films (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

TURKEY SHOOT Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
  • Audio Commentary by director Brian Trenchard Smith
  • The Ozploitation Roundtable discussion with Brian Trenchard-Smith, cinematographer Vincent Monton, and producer Anthony Ginnane
  • Interview with Brian Trenchard-Smith
  • "Blood and Thunder" memories featurette with actress Lynda Stoner, and actors Michael Craig and Roger Ward
  • "Not Quite Hollywood" extended interviews with Brian Trenchard-Smith, Anthony I. Ginnane, Steve Railsback, Lynda Stoner, Roger Ward, Gus Mercurio, and Bob McCarron (77 minutes)
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • "Escape 2000" Alternate Title Sequence

22 September 2015

Arrow Films is scorched by THE BURNING (review)

Gael Garcia Bernal stars and produces this ecological western variation on RAMBO as a mysterious man on the trail of nomads who are running farmers off their land along the river, resorting to arson and violence when they come up against resistance.  When a farmer is killed and his daughter taken by the gang, the man with no name stalks them through the jungle and leaves a string of deadly traps in his path.

REVIEW LINK: Arrow Films (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

THE BURNING DVD specs:

  • 16:9 anamorphic 2.39:1 widescreen
  • Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Making-of Featurette

Arrow Films targets a GOOD KILL (Review)

Ethan Hawke stars as an air force pilot on his third tour as a pilot of weaponized drones blowing up targets from the comfort of a Las Vegas military base.  Feeling like a coward for not assuming the same level of risk as his targets, he descends into self-loathing as he is forced to work with the CIA on more ambiguous targets.  As his family life crumbles under the weight of his self-recrimination, he commits an act of defiance that will have repercussions on his career.

REVIEW LINK: Arrow Films (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

GOOD KILL DVD specs:
  • 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
  • English Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Optional English HoH subtitles
  • Making-of
  • Interviews with Ethan Hawke and director Andrew Niccol
 More Arrow Films reviews at Review Archive: Arrow Films.

MVD Visual explores Clive Barker's Origins with SALOME and THE FORBIDDEN (review)

Long before THE BOOKS OF BLOOD, HELLRAISER, and NIGHTBREED, Clive Barker was working with his erotic, grisly, and transgressive themes and characters on the stage and in two rarely seen short films.  SALOME is an avant-garde telling of the biblical myth shot in the basement of a floral shop.  THE FORBIDDEN is closest to HELLRAISER and THE HELLBOUND HEART in its story of an artist whose creations render him vulnerable to the influence of specters both sensual and demonic.  Pinhead himself Doug Bradley and HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II's Pete Atkins star along with Clive Barker (giving viewers The Full Monty).

REVIEW LINK: MVD Visual (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

CLIVE BARKER'S ORIGINS DVD specs:
  • Clive Barker's seventies shorts SALOME and THE FORBIDDEN
  • 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
  • Silent with Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo music tracks
  • Interview with Clive Barker, Pete Atkins, and Doug Bradley

Cinema Libre delivers a MESSAGE FROM HIROSHIMA (review)

George Takei narrates this documentary on the seventieth anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing in which its survivors attempt to create a vivid picture of life in the city center before their lives were irrevocably changed forever.

REVIEW LINK: Cinema Libre (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

MESSAGE FROM HIROSHIMA DVD specs:
  • 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
  • Japanese/English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
  • Burnt-in English subtitles for Japanese dialogue
  • Closed-captioning for the English narration
  • Interview with director Masaaki Tanabe
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Picture Gallery
  • Previews

Simply Media wishes GET WELL SOON (review)

In this short-lived nineties Britcom from the makers of STEPTOE AND SON (which would be remade over here as SANFORD AND SON), twenty-year-old Roy is checked into a tuberculosis sanatorium after the war to recover and finds his relaxation hindered by the machinations of his roommate, a "merry widow", his mother and absentee father, a fascist roommate (played by DOWNTON ABBEY's Hugh Bonneville), a fey orderly, a prison warden of a nurse, and a soldier who thinks the war is still on.

REVIEW LINK: Simply Media (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

GET WELL SOON DVD specs:
  • Six episodes on one dual-layer disc
  • 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
  • English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
  • Optional English HoH subtitles

Acorn Media meets MR. AND MRS. MURDER (Review)

Professional forensic cleaners and amateur detectives Charlie and Nicola Buchanan and their long-suffering niece Jess clean up crime scenes and solve murders while their detective pal Peter takes the credit.  Charlie uses his wits and his encyclopedic knowledge while impulsive Nicola uses her intuition to get under the skin of suspects but find themselves sifting through plenty of dirty laundry along the way.

REVIEW LINK: Acorn Media/RLJ Entertainment (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

MR. AND MRS. MURDER DVD specs:
  • Thirteen episodes on two dual-layer DVDs (9 1/2 hours)
  • 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
  • English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo 
  • Optional English HoH subtitles
  • Behind the Scenes
  • Cast Interviews
  • Extended Footage
  • Picture Gallery

Disney invites CINDERELLA to the ball (review)

Kenneth Branagh helms this visually-stunning live-action adaptation of CINDERELLA with Cate Blanchett as a wickedly wicked stepmother, DOWNTON ABBEY's Lily James as Ella, and GAME OF THRONES' Richard Madden as the prince.

REVIEW LINK: Disney (US) Region A Blu-ray/Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDCompare)

CINDERELLA Blu-ray/DVD combo:
  • Blu-ray:
    • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
    • English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1; French Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Descriptive Audio) Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
  • DVD:
    • 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
    • English Dolby Digital 5.1; French Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo)
  • Optional English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles
  • "A Fairy Tale Comes to Life" (Blu-ray Exclusive)
  • "Costume Test Fun" (Blu-ray Exclusive)
  • "Staging the Ball" (Blu-ray Exclusive)
  • "Alternative Opening: Ella's Childhood" (Blu-ray Exclusive)
  • "Ella's Furry Friends" (3:43)
  • Short Film "Frozen Fever" (7:56)
  • Digital HD Download Code

Warner Archive satiates THE HUNGER (review)

Catherine Deneueve, David Bowie, and Susan Sarandon star in Tony Scott's lavish eighties vampire film sporting music by Bauhaus and Iggy Pop and a legendary lesbian vampire love scene.  Based on the novel by Whitley Strieber.

REVIEW LINK: Warner Archive (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

THE HUNGER Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
  • Optional English SDH subtitles
  • Theatrical Trailer

Scorpion Releasing enjoys a SAVAGE WEEKEND (review)

BLADE RUNNER's William Sanderson, HE KNOWS YOU'RE ALONE's Caitlin O'Heaney, and RE-ANIMATOR's David Gale star in this early Canon Films slasher about a masked killer stalking horney Manhattan-ites out for a relaxing weekend upstate.

REVIEW LINK: Scorpion Releasing/Kino Lorber (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

SAVAGE WEEKEND Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
  • Interviews with actor William Sanderson, actor Jeffrey Pomerantz, and actress Caitlin O'Heaney
  • Theatrical Trailer

21 September 2015

Mr. Bongo rediscovers THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT (review)

Based on the labyrinthine gothic novel by Jan Potocki, THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT follows the travails of a French soldier in the Sierra Morena mountains of Spain, his supernatural encounter with a strange pair of sisters, the web of events that prevent him from trying to escape his uncertain fate.

REVIEW LINK: Mr. Bongo (UK) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
  • Polish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
  • Optional English subtitles

14 September 2015

Arrow Video USA tells IMMORAL TALES (review)

Walerian Borowczyk's saucy anthology includes kissing (and blowing) cousins, budding sexuality in a soon-to-be-saint, the exploits of "Bloody Countess" Elizabeth Bathory (played by Paloma Picasso), and the kinky exploits of the Borgia family in four fleshy stories.

REVIEW LINK: Arrow Video USA (US) Region A/B Blu-ray/Region 1/2 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

IMMORAL TALES Blu-ray/DVD combo:
  • Blu-ray:
    • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
    • French LPCM 1.0 mono
  • DVD
    • 16:9 anamorphic 1.66:1 widescreen
    • French Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Introduction by Borowczyk expert Daniel Bird "Love Reveals Itself: Making IMMORAL TALES" featurette
  • "Obscure Pleasures: A Portrait of Walerian Borowczyk" archival interview
  • "Blow-ups" featurette
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Reversible Sleeve
  • Collector's Booklet

Arrow Video USA is ravished by THE BEAST (review)

Walerian Borowcyzk's naughty take on the French legend of The Beast of Gevaudan (also the source for BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF) finds an American heiress in an arranged marriage to a French aristocrat's simple-minded son.  As their relatives manipulate and scheme to make the profitable union successful, the young heiress learns that the legend of a horny beast in the forest is no fairytale.

REVIEW LINK: Arrow Video USA (US) Region A/B Blu-ray/Region 1/2 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

THE BEAST Blu-ray/DVD combo:
  • Blu-ray:
    • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen
    • French/English LPCM 1.0 mono
  • DVD:
    • 16:9 anamorphic 1.66:1 widescreen
    • French/English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Introduction by critic Peter Bradshaw
  • "The Making of THE BEAST" documentary
  • "Frenzy of Ecstasy: Evolution of THE BEAST"
  • "The Profligate Door: Borowczyk's Sound Sculptures"
  • "Boro Brunch" reunion featurette
  • Commercials:
    • "Holy Smoke"
    • "Tom Thumb"
    • "The Museum"
  • "Gunpoint" short film by Peter Graham
  • "Behind Enemy Lines" interview with Peter Graham
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Reversible Cover
  • Collector's Booklet

Kino Lorber goes BUSTING (review)

Elliot Gould (MASH) and Robert Blake (IN COLD BLOOD) are two vice cops who have had it with corruption and inside deals in Peter Hyams' BUSTING, on DVD-R courtesy of MGM's manufactured on demand line.  Allen Garfield, Sid Haig, and Antonio Fargas also star.

REVIEW LINK: Kino Lorber (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

BUSTING Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
  • Audio Commentary by director Peter Hyams
  • Selected Scenes Commentary by Elliot Gould
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Previews

Vinegar Syndrome pumps FLESH AND BULLETS (review)

Yvonne DeCarlo, Cornel Wilde, Aldo Ray, and Cesar Romero have blink-and-you'll-miss-'em cameos in this low-rent R-rated take on STRANGERS ON A TRAIN from porn auteur Carlos Tobalina.  Two divorced men paying alimony and child support decide to kill each others wives but they both find themselves falling for their intended victims.

REVIEW LINK: Vinegar Syndrome (US) Region 0 NTSC DVD (DVD Drive-in)

FLESH AND BULLETS DVD specs:
  • 16:9 anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen
  • English Dolby Digital 1.0 mono
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Full Alternate cut THE WIFE CONTRACT from VHS (twelve minutes longer)
More Vinegar Syndrome reviews at Update the Tags: Vinegar Syndrome.

13 September 2015

Mr. Bongo confined to THE HOURGLASS SANATORIUM (review)

In this Polish fantasy from Wojciech Has (THE SARAGOSSA MANUSCRIPT), a young man travels to visit his "dead" father in a remote sanatorium where time does not behave as it does in the real world.  Entering a surreal dream world, he is assailed by childhood memories entangled with fantastic adventures that may entrap him forever in the world of sleep.  Based on the story collection by Bruno Schulz.

REVIEW LINK: Mr. Bongo (UK) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

THE HOURGLASS SANATORIUM Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen
  • Polish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
  • Optional English subtitles

Film Movement canonizes FRANCESCO (review)

Mickey Rourke and Helena Bonham Carter star in this daring interpretation of the life of Francis of Assisi from provocative director Liliana Cavani (THE NIGHT PORTER).

REVIEW LINK: Film Movement (US) Region ALL Blu-ray (DVDCompare)

FRANCESCO Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.78:1 widescreen
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 stereo
  • Cannes Press Conference Footage
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Previews
  • Booklet with essays by Liliana Cavani and critic Aaron Hills
More Film Movement reviews at Update the Tags: Film Movement.

10 September 2015

Simply Media lives AN ACTOR'S LIFE FOR ME (review)

John Gordon Sinclair stars as an out-of-work Scottish actor trying to catch his big break in this hilarious short-lived British sitcom from the nineties.  You'll laugh uproariously as he lands a big role in a Kim Basinger film that's not all it's cut out to be, lies his way into traction for an action film role, prepares for his West End debut amidst backstage drama, and goes to extreme ends to keep girlfriend's parents from finding out he is starring in a softcore stage farce, among other adventures.

REVIEW LINK: Simply Media (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

AN ACTOR'S LIFE FOR ME DVD specs:
  • Six episodes on one dual-layer disc
  • 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
  • English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
  • Optional English HoH subtitles

Simply Media boards with HUGH AND I: SERIES 1 AND 2 (review)

The classic BBC sitcom HUGH AND I hits DVD from Simply Media.  Only twenty episodes out of seventy-one survive, and they are all presented here.  Terry drags his mother and their border Hugh along on a number of get rich quick schemes that usually prove costly, war with their pretentious neighbors, and make disastrous home repairs.  Vi Stevens, Wallis Eaton, Mollie Sugden and Jill Curzon also star.

REVIEW LINK: Simply Media (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

HUGH AND I SEASONS 1 AND 2 DVD specs:
  • Twenty remaining episodes on three dual-layer discs
  • 4:3 non-anamorphic 1.33:1 fullscreen
  • English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono
  • Optional English HoH subtitles

06 September 2015

LionsGate pulls an AMERICAN HEIST (review)

Adrien Brody, Hayden Christensen, Jordana Brewster, and rapper Akon star in this New Orleans-set heist film in which an ex-con drags his younger brother into a daring bank job with his ex-cellmates and turns the younger man's life entirely upside down.

REVIEW LINK: LionsGate (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDCompare)

AMERICAN HEIST DVD specs:
  • 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
  • English Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Optional English and Spanish subtitles
  • "Creating a Complex Caper" behind the scenes featurette
  • Previews
  • Digital Download Code

04 September 2015

LionsGate's THE AGE OF ADALINE (review)

Blake Lively stars as a woman who inexplicably stopped aging and has spent the past eighty years alone and afraid to fall in love again until she meets a man who could make her stop running.  Harrison Ford and Ellen Burstyn also star.

REVIEW LINK: LionsGate (US) Region A Blu-ray/Region 1 NTSC DVD/Digital HD (DVDCompare)

THE AGE OF ADALINE Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD combo specs:
  • Blu-ray:
    • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen
    • English Dolby Atmos 7.1.4, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, and English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
  • DVD:
    • 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
    • English and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 and English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo
  • Optional English SDH, English, and Spanish subtitles
  • Audio Commentary by director Lee Toland Krieger
  • "A Love Story for the Ages" featurette
  • "Style Throughout the Ages" featurette
  • "Discovering Young Harrison Ford" featurette
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Previews

Film Movement learns THE LESSON (review)

A Bulgarian school teacher trying to give her students a lesson in honesty when her wallet is stolen by one of them finds her own integrity increasingly compromised as she struggles to secure the money for delinquent house payments before her family's home is sold at auction.

REVIEW LINK: Film Movement (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

THE LESSON DVD specs:
  • 16:9 anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen
  • Bulgarian Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
  • Optional English subtitles
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Short Film "Crooked Candy"
  • Previews
More Film Movement reviews at Update the Tags: Film Movement.

Film Movement tips THE CHAMBERMAID (review)

In this quirky German film, a socially-awkward chambermaid lies under the beds of hotel guests to vicariously experience their lives from the mundane to the steamy.

REVIEW LINK: Film Movement (US) Region 1 NTSC DVD (DVDBeaver)

THE CHAMBERMAID DVD specs:
  • 16:9 anamorphic 2.35:1 widescreen
  • German Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 stereo
  • Optional English subtitles and closed captioning
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Short Film
  • Previews
More Film Movement reviews at Update the Tags: Film Movement.

01 September 2015

Kino Lorber and Sergio Sollima go FACE TO FACE (review)

Arthouse star Gian Maria Volonte goes FACE TO FACE with Italian exploitation great Tomas Milian in Sergio Sollima's psychological western on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.  Forced out of his job as a Boston college professor due to poor health, Brad Fletcher heads to Texas to recuperate only to become the hostage of dangerous outlaw Beauregard.  Getting a taste of the violent life, Fletcher becomes a member of Beauregard's gang and is soon vying for the position of leader by pitting brain against brawn.  William Berger and Lydia Alfonsi also star.

REVIEW LINK: Kino Lorber (US) Region A Blu-ray (DVD Drive-in)

FACE TO FACE Blu-ray specs:
  • 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen of the 93 minute American version
  • English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono
  • Standard Definition Version of the 112 minute Italian Version with English subtitles
  • Trailer for NAVAJO JOE

Acorn Media/RLJ are Agatha Christie's PARTNERS IN CRIME (review)

Agatha Christie's "Young Adventurers" Tommy and Tuppence Beresford are back in this new take starring LITTLE BRITAIN's David Walliams and CALL THE MIDWIFE's Jessica Raine as the couple who become embroiled in mysteries that have wider political implications for the future of post-war Britain.

REVIEW LINK: Acorn Media/RLJ Entertainment (UK) Region 2 PAL DVD (DVDBeaver)

PARTNERS IN CRIME: SERIES 1 DVD specs:
  • Six episodes on two dual-layer discs
  • "The Secret Adversary" (3 episodes)
  • "N or M?" (3 episodes)
  • Behind the Scenes
  • The Style of PARTNERS IN CRIME
  • "Time Out" with Clarke Peters