Category Archives: DVDs

DVDs, Movies, TV

“Secrets of the Dead: Scanning the Pyramids” solves a 4,500-year-old mystery

The secrets the dead reveal!

Following the publication of Nature‘s article acknowledging the greatest discovery in Egypt’s Khufu pyramid for more than 1,000 years, Secrets of the Dead: Scanning the Pyramids (PBS Distribution) unveils the adventure behind this revelation in this new documentary. The only one of the Seven Wonders of the World still standing, the Great Pyramid of Khufu has fascinated people for centuries. Tracing the origin of the legends of secret chambers hidden in the heart of the pyramid, the program shows what lies within, solving a 4,500-year-old mystery, by following the first scientific mission in 30 years to be authorized by the Egyptian government to examine the pyramids of Egypt.

Passionate about ancient history, the global team of Scan Pyramids consists of particle physicists, experts in innovation and 3D technologies, and engineers in thermal imaging from Egypt, France, Japan and Canada. For more than two years, they explored every corner of the pyramid, using non-invasive technologies including infrared cameras, 3D scanners and cosmological particle detectors located inside and outside the monument. Their search detected unknown cavities in the Great Pyramid of Khufu for the first time since the Middle Ages. Viewers are able to witness Scan Pyramid’s adventures and successes in this extraordinary scientific and historical journey through time and space that led to this historic discovery.

DVDs, Movies, TV

The harrowing journey of Sudan, the last male of his sub-species, the Northern White Rhinoceros, is told in “The Last Rhino”

Meet Sudan, the last male of his sub-species, the Northern White Rhinoceros. NATURE: The Last Rhino (PBS Distribution) tells his harrowing journey through the international cast of characters who have been involved in Sudan’s life, from when he was snatched as a calf from his mother’s side in war-torn Central Africa, to his captivity as a prized exhibit in a cold, concrete zoo behind the Iron Curtain while poaching devastated his kind to extinction back home.

Now at 43 years old and half-blind, Sudan is living out his days under 24-hour armed guard, on a protective sanctuary in Kenya. As his kind nears its last hour, scientists and animal experts turn to technology in a race to save the Northern White Rhino before it dies out forever.

DVDs, Movies

Sid Haig! Pam Grier! Christopher Lee! Bruce Lee! Greats from my childhood . . . in a slew of great flicks from VCI/MVD Entertainment

Sid Haig! Pam Grier! Christopher Lee! Bruce Lee! Greats from my childhood . . . in a slew of great flicks from VCI/MVD Entertainment.

What comes after World War III? A spaceship returns from deep space to find the Earth in The Aftermath of a nuclear and biological war. The streets are filled with mutated survivors feeding off the weak and a Manson-like figure called Cutter (Sid Haig) is reigning terror down on all others. Aftermath, The [Blu-ray + DVD]Cutter and his gang of mercenary thugs are systematically murdering all the male survivors and enslaving women and children. This cult classic 1982 post apocalyptic sci-fi movie makes its Blu-ray debut. The Aftermath was originally banned in the UK and labeled a “Video Nasty” and contributed to its cult status!

Animal desires . . . human lust! Such is the glory and gore of Twilight People. Matt Farrell (John Ashley) is plucked from the sea while skin-diving and taken to the foreboding fortress of Dr. Gordon. He is to become part of the doctor’s diabolical experiment to create a race of super people. This twisted and maniacal doctor’s experiments have so far only created terrifying and hideous creatures.

His human guinea pigs, freed by the doctor’s own daughter, turn the island hideaway into a bloodbath of revenge and terror! Cult Film Queen Pam Grier is featured as “Panther Woman”.

A college student Nan is researching the history of witchcraft in City of the Dead. Taunted by her brother and fiance, who have voiced their concerns, Nan arms herself with resolve and drives to the small New England village of Whitewood. She is glad she was able to count on the support of her professor. A bit anxious but consumed with curiosity, she will soon embark herself on the journey of her life! Legendary Christoper Lee stars; this remastered edition includes a 45-minute interview with him, as well as a feature length commentary by Lee.

https://youtu.be/VVgpCqmlrlQ

 

Bruce’s Deadly Fingers, finally released  for the first time ever in widescreen high definition and produced from a new 2K scan from the 35mm original negative. If you are a fan of the master, Bruce Lee, and other “Bruceploitation films,” then this deluxe Blu-ray + DVD combo is a must for your film collection! After malicious gangsters capture Bruce Lee’s ex-girlfriend, a young martial artist attempts to rescue her and the late master’s book containing lethal techniques for killing with one’s fingers. Plenty of Kung-fu action and mayhem including a particularly gruesome scene involving the torture of a girl with a deadly snake!

DVDs, Movies

“Daughter of the Nile” is a rediscovered gem in the filmography of Taiwanese auteur Hou Hsiao-hsien, courtesy of Cohen Film Collection

Hou Hsiao-hsien’s Daughter of the Nile is the groundbreaking 1987 drama from one of modern world cinema’s most acclaimed filmmakers, and Cohen Media Group celebrates the film’s 30th anniversary with 4K digital restoration.
A rediscovered gem in the filmography of Taiwanese auteur Hou Hsiao-hsien, Daughter of the Nile is a neon-lit, contemporary drama inspired by the heroine of a Japanese manga series. With Hou’s gentle but keen observation, the film follows a young woman and her brother as they float along the periphery of the Taipei underworld, intriguingly blending gangster tale with mood-drenched introspective drama. Based on the personal experiences of frequent Hou screenwriter Chu T’ien-wen, the film is a profoundly moving observation of marginalized youth.
The film won the Special Jury Prize at the 1987 Turin International Festival of Young Cinema and was entered into the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.
Hou Hsiao-hsien emerged in the ’80s to become one of the leading figures, along with Edward Yang and Chen Kunhou, of the New Taiwanese Cinema, a movement away from the kung fu films and overwrought melodramas of the past to an emphasis on realistic portrayals of everyday life, a style often compared to Italian neorealism. Hou’s Daughter of the Nile sits among a string of masterpieces-A Summer at Grandpa’s, A City of Sadness, The Puppetmaster, Flowers of Shanghai-that led him to be voted Director of the Decade for the 1990s in a poll of American and international critics put together by The Village Voice and Film Comment. His most recent film, The Assassin,brought him the Best Director prize at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.
In addition to offering digitally restored picture and sound, Cohen Film Collection’s release boast a wealth of extras. Both the Blu-ray and DVD include an audio commentary track by film scholar Richard Suchenski, a new interview with Asian cinema expert Tony Rayns and the 2017 rerelease trailer.
DVDs

The news is Ugga Mugga: PBS Distribution releases “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood: It’s a Beautiful Day Collection”

 

Call it an ugga mugga event. Fred Rogers  would be proud that we hark back to some nonsense song that was sung on episode 58 on his relentless series. (We were never a fan. Please.) Those who do remember Cornflake S. Pecially, Daniel Striped Tiger, Lady Aberlin, Betty Sweatermaker, Sara Saturday, Prince Tuesday, Mr. McFeely and other odd denizens on his neighborhood will relish the new DVD Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood: It’s a Beautiful Day Collection (PBS Distribution).

Fred Rogers pauses during a May 27, 1993 taping of his show " Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

 This four-disc set of 32 memorable episodes and more than 15 hours of content celebrates the 50th anniversary of the beloved Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, the pioneering children’s television series from The Fred Rogers Company. Mister Rogers helps children learn the importance of being kind to others, appreciating what makes everyone unique, recycling and taking care of our planet, and much more in the classic series. The new release also includes a very special bonus episode, the series premiere, in original black-and-white.  

Image result for fred rogers

Through his popular daily TV visits, generations of young children have grown up with the kind and gentle Mister Rogers, who created a calm and safe place that welcomed all to his neighborhood. With real-life guests, adventurous field trips and charming make-believe segments, the iconic Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood encouraged kids ages 2-5 to learn about themselves and the world around them, speaking directly to the series’ young audience with his unique one-to-one affirmation of their self-worth. Celebrity guest stars have included Tony Bennett, Julia Child, Margaret Hamilton, Michael Keaton, Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis, Rita Moreno and Bill Nye.

Sneakers and sweaters not included.

 

DVDs, TV

PBS Distribution brings the first two seasons of “Unforgettable” to DVD. We promise the show is unforgettable!

It’s a series that remains unforgotten. Yes, it’s that good.

PBS Distribution will be releasing the first two seasons of Masterpiece Mystery!: Unforgotten on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD. Two stone-cold cases of murder test the wits of crime-solving duo Detective Chief Inspector Cassie Stuart and Detective Sergeant Sunny Khan, played by Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar in two seasons of the critically acclaimed UK crime series.

Save the dates: Unforgotten Season 1 will be available on DVD and Blu-ray April 24; Unforgotten Season will be available on DVD and Blu-ray May 15. Both programs will also be available for digital download.

The Telegraph (London) called Unforgotten’s opening episodes “the gateway to a labyrinth of absorbingly interconnected lives,” adding that Walker and Bhaskar portray “two of the most credibly ordinary cops currently on the TV beat.”

The Australian (Sydney) singled out screenwriter Chris Lang as “a cunning master of parallel plotting. Compelling stuff.” And The Independent (London) lauded the remarkable supporting cast of “unforgotten and unforgettable actors.”

Joining Walker and Bhaskar is Peter Egan, who appears in both seasons as Cassie’s father and Tom Courtenay, who won a best supporting actor BAFTA for his role in the series. Also appearing in Season 1 are Gemma Jones, Trevor Eve, Cherie Lunghi, Bernard Hill, Hannah Gordon and Ruth Sheen.

Guest stars in Season 2 include Badria Timimi, Mark Bonnar, Lorraine Ashbourne and Rosie Cavaliero.

https://youtu.be/OWUUFkTBmGg

Season 1 opens with a human skeleton found beneath a basement. The remains could be centuries old—or four decades, as comes to light upon further investigation of the crime scene. Cassie and Sunny eventually discover the victim was a young man, Jimmy Sullivan and his nearly-disintegrated pocket diary leads the detectives to a list of names that may hold the key to solving the murder.

The list of names includes Sir Phillip Cross (Eve), a mobster who bribed his way into the aristocracy; Father Robert Greaves (Hill), a beloved vicar with a dark secret; Lizzie Wilton (Sheen), a reformed skinhead; and Eric Slater (Courtenay), an elderly, disabled bookkeeper taking care of his wife, Claire (Jones) who is suffering from dementia. They all lead very different lives, but something links them, something that explains Jimmy’s final resting place and the torture marks found on his bones.

Season 2 starts innocently enough with a routine river dredging operation. When the scoop brings up a soggy, old suitcase, the workers open it and find a corpse sealed up so long that the tissues have turned to a soapy substance. Gruesome forensic work identifies the victim as David Walker, a businessman missing for twenty-five years.

Cassie and Sunny locate Walker’s wife, Tessa Nixon (Ashbourne), now remarried. A hard-bitten DI herself, Tessa reminds her fellow police officers that “sixty-three percent of all murder victims are killed by their partners.”

“You’ll be thinking that, won’t you?” she says. “I would be.”

But Cassie and Sunny have other suspects to consider. A pager found with Walker’s remains leads them to Sara Mahmoud (Timimi), a Muslim teacher who wishes she’d never heard of David Walker. Other clues connect Walker with Colin Osborne (Bonnar), a gay attorney in the process of adopting a young girl with his partner; and Marion Kelsey (Cavaliero), a harried nurse in a children’s cancer ward.

The puzzle pieces won’t fit together—until, as The Telegraph admiringly notes, Cassie has an inspiration that climaxes in “the perfect ending.”

DVDs, TV

April’s bounty of must-see, must-have PBS programs arriving on DVD

PBS Distribution continues to make news with four special, must-see programs that will be available on DVD in April.

The New York Cantors (available April 10 )
Three young cantors, all rising stars in the world’s Jewish music scene, are brought together in Amsterdam’s revered 17th century Portuguese Synagogue for a concert of Jewish sacred and secular music arranged for orchestra and choir. The New York Cantors DVDThe New York Cantors are comprised of Brooklyn-born Yaakov (Yanky) Lemmer, cantor of the Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York City; Azi Schwartz, a native of Israel and cantor at New York’s Park Avenue Synagogue; and Netanel Hershtik, cantor at The Hampton Synagogue, Westhampton Beach, New York, also Israeli-born.

Understanding the Opioid Epidemic (available April 10)
Through personal stories and interviews with experts, this program reveals the tragic impact of the overuse of prescription painkillers on individuals, families and communities. They are stories that often begin with medical treatment for moderate to severe pain that evolve into drug addiction and death.Understanding the Opioid Epidemic DVD In addition to the personal stories of those impacted by the opioid crisis, the documentary explores the dramatic increase in the use and acceptance of prescription painkillers.

Impossible Builds, Volume 1 (available April 24)
This is an “access all areas” look at the creation of some of the world’s most ambitious, complex, and technologically advanced construction projects. From subaquatic homes and the ultimate in billionaire luxury, to futuristic towers and pencil thin skyscrapers – these are the structures they said could never be built.

Impossible Builds, Volume 1 DVD

But now, using revolutionary technology and cutting-edge construction materials, three previously impossible builds are taking shape across the world. And the program is on site to follow their progress every step of the way.

Survival Guide for Pain-Free Living with Peggy Cappy (available April 24)
Anyone who has lived with pain knows how physically and emotionally debilitating it can be. This is why Peggy’s most popular programs have addressed how yoga can be used to alleviate pain and cope with various challenges from arthritis to back pain.

https://youtu.be/9VPfubWxVLY

In this show, Peggy and Lee, a neuromuscular therapist, offer effective strategies for dealing with pain day-by-day and highlight stories of those who once suffered pain but are now living pain-free.

 

 

DVDs, Movies

Danny Trejo, Lance Henriksen and Tom Berenger headline “Gone Are the Days”, an epic Western saga of a fading gunman’s quest for justice

Gone are the days of classic westerns, right? Nope.

Danny Trejo, Lance Henriksen and Tom Berenger headline Gone Are the Days, an epic Western saga of a fading gunman’s quest for justice. Seeing his days are growing short, Taylon (Henriksen) rises from his deathbed, puts on his spurs, and hits the trail in search of redemption. He crosses the desert to a gold-rush town, where he finds his estranged daughter working in a brothel.

But to earn her freedom, he must confront the town’s vengeful sheriff (Berenger)—who has an old score to settle with Taylon. With his days winding down, the aging gunman sets out on an epic quest to perform one last good deed, hoping to save his soul.

Including a never-before-seen behind-the-scenes featurette along with cast and crew interviews, the Gone Are the Days arrives on Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital), DVD and On Demand April 10 from Lionsgate.

DVDs, Movies

Eek! Evil aliens lurk here and there in the nifty “Curse of the Mayans”

Proof that some treasures should remain buried: For eons, the Mayans prophesized that on December 21, 2012–the end-date of the 5,126-year cycle of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar–there would be a cataclysmic, earth-shattering event. As it turned out, 2012 wasn’t the end, but the beginning in Curse of the Mayans, a chilling sci-fi thriller set in the dark jungles and unexplored cenotes of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula.

In present day, American professor Dr. Alan Green (played by Steve Wilcox) discovers a manuscript that may hold the keys to the lost Mayan culture. After traveling to Mexico, he hires an expert team of cave divers, led by Danielle Noble (Carla Ortiz), to explore a submerged labyrinth of ruins left behind by the ancient civilization before their mysterious disappearance. But when the team unwittingly stumbles upon an underwater prison and unintentionally frees the evil alien beings trapped within, they are forced to fight for their survival and prevent the extraterrestrial apocalypse predicted by the Mayans long ago.
Better yet: Curse of the Mayans was filmed on location at the sites of actual Mayan settlements.
DVDs, TV

Two NOVA programs take viewers out of space … and that’s a great treat

Sometimes we are please to tell you about NOVA programs that are, well, out of space. Witness:

NOVA: Black Hole Apocalypse (PBS Distribution, releasing April 3)
Black holes are the most enigmatic, mysterious, and exotic objects in the universe. In Black Hole Apocalypse, NOVA investigates recent surprising discoveries about black holes that have raised deep questions and brought astrophysicsto a major crossroads.  Guided by astrophysicist and novelist Janna Levin, viewers journey to the weirdest places in the cosmos to explore the profound mysteries of these gravitational monsters.

Where do they come from?  What’s inside them?  What happens if you fall into one?  And what can they tell us about the nature of space, time, and gravity?  Through dynamic CGI animation, Levin illustrates the principles of gravity, and even takes a trip to the edge of the black hole at the center of our galaxy. What will happen if she gets too close?

NOVA: The Impossible Flight (PBS Distribution, releasing April 10)
It is one of the greatest aviation undertakings of our time: a 26,000-mile perilous journey to circle the globe in a plane that doesn’t use a single drop of fuel. The launch of the Solar Impulse II in March 2015 is the culmination of a 13-year bold endeavor to push the boundaries of human flight and demonstrate the potential for renewable energy.

In this program, NOVA embarks on an ambitious quest with two intrepid pilots and a team of brilliant engineers, meteorologists, and flight controllers as they design, construct, and fly around the world in the first zero-fuel, solar-powered airplane.