Category Archives: DVDs

DVDs, Movies

Don’t be a stick during the holidaze, man. Opt for “Stick Man.”

The holidaze are coming. And don’t be a stick in the mud about it. Be a Stick Man instead.

From Magic Light Pictures, the makers of The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom, come this beautifully animated adventure that tells the tale of Stick Man and his epic adventure across the seasons in order to make it home to his family in time for Christmas. This film, to be released on DVD by Public Media Distribution, LLC on November 8, is  based on the beloved children’s book written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Stick Man  will also be available for digital download.

While out for a jog, Stick Man is carried away from his family tree by a mischievous dog eager to play fetch. As he tries to make his way back to his “Stick Lady Love and their stick children three,” things only get worse as he finds himself farther and farther from home. Alone and weary, Stick Man longs to be reunited with his family for Christmas. Will a chance encounter with Santa Claus be his ticket home?

What a joyous hoot. What talented performers. Martin Freeman voices Stick Man, Hugh Bonneville voices Santa, and the story is narrated by the absolutely fabulous Jennifer Saunders. Also helping bring Donaldson’s alluring and bouncy rhymes to life in this heartwarming family treasure are Rob Brydon, Sally Hawkins and Russell Tovey.

In addition to featuring this charming tale, the DVD includes a behind the scenes documentary about the transformation of the delightful book into a captivating film. In this 20-minute video, viewers are treated to a look into how the design of the characters and environments came about, and the creation of the beautiful film score.

Watch. Savor. Repeat. Do the mall haul. Season’s greetings!

Celebrity Chatter, DVDs, Movies

Octogenarian Julie Newmar is still the cat’s meow . . . meow!

We have always thought Julie Newmar to be the cat’s meow. Those of a certain age cherish her role as Stupifying Jones in the Broadway musical Lil’ Abner (it was a non-speaking role she would go on to reprise in the 1959 film).  We still cherish her role as Swedish vixen Katrin Sveg in Broadway’s tasty The Marriage-Go-Round (1958).  Three years later, she reprised that role for the big-screen. We could go on and on. Remember her May 1968 spread in Playboy? And then, of course, is the historic era when she donned the feline ears that would forever etch her name in fanboy history.

The 83-year-old Newmar gives voice to Catwoman in the all-new, feature length animated film Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders. It’s now available via Digital HD, and will be released on Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD on November 1.

http://https://youtu.be/x1pc-yFjcSY

Our pal at Warner Bros. Home Entertainment shared some wonderful inside info from the Catwoman herself . . . purr-fect bites from a purr-fect villian!
julie_newmar_photo_21We’ll give you a purr-fect present if you can name the other two actresses who played the villainess.

Meow!

DVDs, Movies

Starving for a staggering 4K UHD? We dish out this quartet of dynamic “Hunger Games”

Hungry for more Hunger Games? We get the news, we share the news. Coming out November 8 will be this quartet of 4K UHD release. Save the date, savor the inside info . . .

Experience the blockbuster phenomenon franchise like never before when The Hunger Games series arrives on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray and Digital HD) from Lionsgate. Jennifer Lawrence stars as Katniss Everdeen, the girl on fire, who took the world by storm with a four-film cumulative worldwide box office of more than three billion bucks.

With four times the resolution of Full HD and High Dynamic Range (HDR) that delivers the brightest, most vivid and realistic color and greatest contrast, the titles pack lots o’ punch
The Hunger Games 4K UHD
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 4K UHD
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 4K UHD
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 4K UHDthg_4k42

THE HUNGER GAMES 4K UHD/BD SPECIAL FEATURES

  • Audio Commentary with Editor Stephen Mirrione, Visual Effects Supervisor Sheena Duggal, and Supervising Sound Editor Lon Bender (4K only)
  • “Game Maker: Suzanne Collins and The Hunger Games Phenomenon” Featurette
  • “The World Is Watching: Making The Hunger Games” Featurette
  • “Letters from the Rose Garden” Featurette

THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE 4K UHD/BD SPECIAL FEATURES

  • Audio Commentary with Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson
  • “Surviving the Game: Making The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” Documentary
  • Deleted Scenes

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1 4K UHD/BD SPECIAL FEATURES

  • Audio Commentary with Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson
  • “The Mockingjay Lives: The Making of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” Documentary
  • “Straight from the Heart: A Tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman” Featurette
  • “Songs of Rebellion: Lorde on Curating the Soundtrack” Featurette
  • Lorde “Yellow Flicker Beat” Music Video
  • Deleted Scenes

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 2 4K UHD/BD SPECIAL FEATURES

  • “Pawns No More: Making The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2” Documentary
  • The Hunger Games: A Photographic Journey
  • Cinna’s Sketchbook: Secrets of the Mockingjay Armor
  • Panem on Display: The Hunger Games: The Exhibition
  • Jet to the Set (Blu-ray only)
  • Audio Commentary with Director Francis Lawrence and Producer Nina Jacobson

 

 

DVDs, TV

“Forces of Nature” offers a four-part PBS/BBC documentary that may knock you out of your seat

It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature. The forces that have kept the Earth on the move since it was formed billions of years ago are explored in a series so fascinating, it may knock you of your seat. Really.

https://youtu.be/Ck_G2tFGTEY

Forces of Nature, a BBC co-production, will hit DVD and Blu-ray on November 1 from PBS Distribution. The program will also be available for digital download.

In each of the four episodes, the series illustrates how we experience Earth’s natural forces, including shape, elements, color and motion. Although we can’t immediately feel the motion of Earth’s fundamental forces, we witness the consequences, such as tidal bores surging through the Amazon rainforest or the intense and ruinous power of hurricanes.

Shape 
We can’t directly see the forces that govern Earth, but we can see their shadows in the shapes of nature that surround us. If we understand why these shapes exist, we can understand the rules that bind the entire universe.

Elements
The forces of nature make Earth a restless planet, but they also turned our ball of rock into a home for life. How did our planet’s ingredients, the chemical elements, come together and take that first crucial step from barren rock to a living world?

 Color
Earth is painted in stunning colors. By understanding how these colors are created and the energy they carry, we can learn the secret language of the planet.

Motion
The forces of nature have kept Earth on the move since it was formed billions of years ago. Though we can’t feel the motion, we experience the consequences–from tidal bores surging through the Amazon rainforest to the ruinous power of hurricanes.

 

Books, DVDs, TV

“Poldark Season 2” comes to Blu-ray and DVD, a must on PBS fans’ Santa’s wish list

Neither pestilence, starvation nor betrayal can stop Ross Poldark from fighting for justice in his native Cornwall. Aidan Turner returns as the ex-officer, class warrior, lover and mining entrepreneur, called by The New York Times “the noblest, hottest, most down-to-earth hero.”

Also back is co-star Eleanor Tomlinson, playing Demelza, the miner’s daughter who is Ross’ equal in passion, wit, and daring—which is, of course, why they marry.

PBS Distribution will be releasing Masterpiece:  Poldark Season 2 on DVD and Blu-ray on November 22, 2016. The program will also be available for digital download.

New this season—or thrust into prominence from last—are Gabriella Wilde as Caroline Penvenen, a flirtatious young heiress under the watchful eye of her rich uncle, Ray, played by John Nettles; Luke Norris as earnest young doctor Dwight Enys, who only has time for his patients—and for Caroline; and Henry Garrett as Captain McNeil, Ross’ old comrade from the war, now hunting smugglers and an opportunity to woo a certain married lady.

All of these characters inhabit the imaginative world created by Winston Graham in his bestselling Poldark novels, published between 1945 and 2002. Comprising 12 volumes, the epic commences in 1783, as British officer Ross Poldark returns to Cornwall, fresh from the American Revolutionary War. Poldark: Season 2 takes the plot into Graham’s fourth volume, Warleggan.

Viewers of the first season will recall that Ross shocks his relatives and neighbors when he shows up from America, since all had presumed him dead. Then he sets about upending their lives—threatening the copper mining interests of his uncle and cousin, Charles and Francis Poldark, and the rival operation of upstart George Warleggan. He is also ensnared in a romantic web that connects him, Francis, and George to the beautiful Elizabeth. Nevertheless, Ross happily marries Demelza and they have a daughter. But in the final episode of Season 1, an epidemic takes the child away, and a shipwreck and drowning are blamed on Ross.

So at the start of Poldark Season, Ross stands accused of murder and “wrecking”—luring a cargo ship to the rocks for plunder. It’s a capital offense, the judge is unsympathetic, hostile witnesses have been bribed and Ross appears headed for the gallows. It’s just the first in a string of suspenseful episodes every bit as precipitous as the steep cliffs of Cornwall.

 

Celebrity Chatter, DVDs, Movies, Music, TV

Dolly Parton busts in to wish fans and family happy holidaze, straight to DVD

I remember spending Christmas one year with Dolly Parton, just in time for yet another Redbook cover story about the holidays. I wondered how someone who grew up so dirt-poor could be happy if the Jolly Fat Man never showed to Pigeon Forge? Dolly’s favorite present . . . the “corn cob dolls Mama made.”

DOLLY PARTON'S CHRISTMAS OF MANY COLORS: CIRCLE OF LOVE -- Season: 1-- Pictured: Dolly Parton as Painted Lady -- (Photo by: Quantrell Colbert/NBC)
Dolly Parton as Painted Lady  (Photo by Quantrell Colbert/NBC)

This year, the 40DD-17-36 star “stars” in yet another Christmas special, one that went straight to DVD by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. The Big Names include Jennifer Nettles, Ricky Schroder and Gerald McRaney. Dolly introduces Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors – Circle of Love film and serves as narrator.  The DVD, and also contains deleted scenes and three brand new featurettes including behind-the-scenes interviews. Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors – Circle of Love will premiere this holiday season on NBC.

DVDs, Movies

Holy Heroes of Yesteryear! “Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders” has a trio of surprises

Everything old is new again.

The spotlight shines on the trio of iconic stars of Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders. Adam West steps behind the microphone to bring Batman to fully animated fruition. Burt Ward joins the fun as Batman’s sidekick, Robin, giving The Boy Wonder his voice in animated form. And Julie Newmar once again dons her feline ears to bring Catwoman to life. They may own top billing, but Steven Weber and Thomas Lennon also lead the way as trustworthy butler Alfred Pennyworth and Chief O’Hara, respectively. The full-length animated feature film also boasts a supporting cast of notable voices from across all entertainment mediums and some of the best-loved animated properties.

We take wing and make the intros.

  • Jeff Bergman as the Joker and the revered Announcer. Bergman is well-known as a voice of Bugs Bunny for more than a quarter of a century on series like Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production, The Looney Tunes Show and Tiny Toon Adventures, and has provided a wide variety of impressions of live and animated celebrities (from Fred Flintstone and Homer Simpson to John Goodman and Paul Sorvino) for Family Guy.
  • William Salyers as The Penguin. Salyers is the actor behind the beloved Rigby in the longtime animated hit The Regular Show, and has voiced characters in wildly popular video games like Mass Effect 2 & 3 and Fallout 4.
  • Wally Wingert as The Riddler. Wingert, an avid Batman ’66 fan, has been featured as Cubot for Sonic Boom, a regular in popular anime series like Bleach and Naruto: Shippuden, and has voiced a plethora of characters (from Austin Powers to The Grinch) for the Family Guy animated series. He maintains a strong connection to the Dark Knight as the voice of Edward Nigma/The Riddler for the Batman: Arkham series of video games.
  • Lynne Marie Stewart as Aunt Harriett. Stewart burst on the entertainment scene in the ’70s with roles in American Graffiti, M*A*S*H and Laverne & Shirley. Most recently seen in hit films (Bridesmaids) and TV series (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Stewart holds a particular affection in the hearts of Pee-wee Herman fans for her recurring role in the Paul Reubens character’s films and TV series as Miss Yvonne.
  • Jim Ward as Commissioner Gordon. Ward has provided voices for hundreds of animated films, TV series and video games, including multiple roles for Ben 10, and as Captain Qwark for Ratchet & Clank. He is well known for voicing Chet Ubetcha on The Fairly Oddparents, and Professor Charles Xavier in Wolverine and the X-Men.
  • Sirena Irwin as TV show host Miranda Moore. Irwin is a regular contributor on the ever-popular SpongeBob SquarePants animated series, and has made a pair of notable voice “appearances” in the DC Universe Original Movies Justice League: Throne of Atlantis and Superman: Unbound.

So what’s the fuss? It’s back to the ’60s as Batman and Robin spring into action when Gotham City is threatened by a quartet of Batman’s most fiendish foes–Penguin, The Joker, Riddler and Catwoman. The four Super-Villains have combined their wicked talents to hatch a plot so nefarious that the Dynamic Duo will need to go to outer space (and back) to foil their arch enemies and restore order in Gotham City. It’s a truly fantastic adventure that will pit good against evil, good against good, evil against evil … and feature two words that exponentially raise the stakes for both sides: Replicator Ray. Holy Multiplication Tables!

Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders is available to own on Digital HD; it arrives November 1 from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD.

 

 

 

 

 

DVDs, Movies

We not josh: “Joshy,” Jeff Baena’s follow-up to “Life After Beth,” offers laughs and sadness

It’s been called “an intimate, star-studded comedy that functions like an indie blockbuster, but it feels too big to be considered a regular indie, with a massive cast and its appetite for humor more equivalent to a studio project than any Sundance film.”

Did someone say “humor?” Indeed. Joshy, the set-up for writer/director Jeff Baena’s follow-up to  Life After Beth may sound familiar: This is a film about a life-changing reunion at a rented house. But not right away: The space for the Ojai, California bachelor party for Joshy (a marvelous Thomas Middleditch) was rented long before he suffered heartbreak from a cancelled engagement, and now it’s become a guy’s weekend.

After his suddenly ends, Joshy and a few of his friends decide to take advantage of what was supposed to be his bachelor party in .  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. As the film unravels, so do the laughs . . . and the sadness. joshyheader2

 

After earning lots of laughs at its Sundance Film Festival premiere, Joshy has arrived on Blu-ray (plus Digital HD), DVD (plus Digital) and Digital HD from Lionsgate. Rounding out the hilarious cast is Adam Pally, Nick Kroll and Jenny Slate.

We refuse to say anything more, except Joshy is a must-see.

 

DVDs, Movies, TV

Say hello to the “Little House on the Prairie” with a trio of warm and fuzzy films

It may be a little house on the prairie, but the love inside is bigger than what’s found in those huge, cold mega-mansions. Lionsgate is celebrating the hit series that stole America’s heart now that Little House on the Prairie: Legacy Movie Collection has arrived on DVD (plus Digital) and Digital HD.9e89e3d5-1fcb-45b6-87e4-e4720764a697_1-c10e5b0940d564ec804c38444c575942

We offer you to say hello to the family fave as you prepare to say farewell to this legendary western drama with three movie adventures: Look Back to Yesterday, Bless All the Dear Children and The Last Farewell. These restored and remastered movies will be available individually on Digital HD.

The story of the Ingalls family concludes with this trio of heartwarming movies—newly restored and remastered for optimal sound and picture quality. Rediscover the timeless adventure of Little House on the Prairie as Albert displays courage in the face of a serious illness; Laura and Almanzo race to find their missing baby daughter; and the community of Walnut Grove unites to defend its town in these inspiring and exciting moments that fans will treasure.

DVDs, TV

“Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Second Season” makes Santa’s list chilling and thrilling

ftwd-s2-have-15-episodes

The best way to make your Halloween happy? We treat you will the news that AMC’s fan favorite Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Second Season arrives on Blu-ray + Digital HD and DVD on December 13 from Anchor Bay Entertainment.

Living in the same universe as The Walking Dead,  season one of Fear the Walking Dead explored a blended family who watched a burning, dead city as they traversed a devastated Los Angeles. In season two, the group aboard the Abigail is unaware of the true breadth and depth of the apocalypse that surrounds them; they assume there is still a chance that some city, state or nation might be unaffected . . . some place that the Infection has not reached.

But as Operation Cobalt goes into full effect, the military bombs the Southland to cleanse it of the Infected, driving the Dead toward the sea. As Madison, Travis, Daniel, and their grieving families head for ports unknown, they will discover that the water may be no safer than land.

  • In addition to show stars tarring Kim Dickens,  Cliff Curtis,  Frank Dillane, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Rubén Blades, Mercedes Mason, Lorenzo James Henrie and Colman Domingo , Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Second Season introduces new cast members including Dougray Scott, Arturo Del Puerto, Daniel Zovatto, Veronica Diaz, Danay Garcia, Carlos Segura and Alfredo Herrera.There. You have thrilling and chilling news to make your Halloween happy . . .  and a perfect guide to add to Santa’s list!