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 Mayanswas filmed on location at the sites of actual Mayan settlements.
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.
An everyday moment triggers a crisis in the lives of a happy, successful British couple in MASTERPIECE: The Child in Time,Ian McEwan’s haunting tale of a lost child and redeemed love, starring Cumberbatch and Kelly Macdonald.
PBS Distribution releases the program on DVD April 3. It will also be available for digital download.
Adapted from McEwan’s 1987 Whitbread Prize-winning novel, which critic Christopher Hitchens called the author’s “masterpiece,” this film earned high praise during its recent UK broadcast. The Guardian found it “a deeply affecting portrait of loss and what that does to love,” and TheTimes lauded it as “a rarity: nuanced, unmawkish, unsentimental.”
Cumberbatch stars as Stephen Lewis, a noted children’s book author, and Macdonald plays his wife, Julie, a professional musician. They are the doting parents of Kate (played by Beatrice White), an impish four-year-old, their only child. Then one day Kate mysteriously disappears during a shopping outing with Stephen. It’s every parent’s worst nightmare, and it upends Stephen and Julie’s lives in extraordinary ways.
The Child in Time also stars Stephen Campbell Moore as Charles, Stephen’s publisher and best friend; and Saskia Reeves as Charles’ wife, Thelma. Charles gets Stephen appointed to a government commission on child care reform in hopes of taking his friend’s mind off Kate, who by this point has been missing for three years. But to Stephen, whose vivid memories of Kate are ever present, the committee’s direction seems maddeningly out of touch with what children actually need.
Kate haunts every aspect of Stephen’s life—as a phantom at his side, a voice in his ear, a fleeting glimpse in a crowd of school children.
Estranged from Julie due to the stress of their mutual loss, Stephen makes an attempt to reconnect, going to the village where she now lives.
There he is overcome with a powerful feeling of déjà vu at a pub called The Bell, where he spots a woman who appears to be from a moment in time, decades ago, and the woman acknowledges him. He is certain he has been there before, but he can’t think when.
Meanwhile, Charles has abruptly left his publishing job and retired to the country with Thelma, where he reverts deeper and deeper into his boyhood in a disquieting reversal of normal aging.
With the gentlest touch of the fantastical, this riveting story takes viewers in and out of the present, past, and future, exploring the twin themes of the title—childhood and time—and leading to a conclusion that is as surprising as it is gratifying.
Reflecting NOVA’s unparalleled 44-year-old commitment to long-form science programming, this installment examines the latest evidence surrounding one of the greatest mysteries in Earth’s history–the sudden extinction of the dinosaurs. Through interviews, footage of scientists working at sites around the world and stunning digital recreations of events from 66 million years ago, NOVA: The Day the Dinosaurs Died vividly brings to life the compelling scientific inquiry around this epic catastrophe.
PBS Distribution releases the program on DVD March 20. It is also available for digital download.
At the end of the Cretaceous Era, after 170 million years of dominance, more than 700 species of dinosaurs disappeared from the fossil record virtually overnight. In the 1980s, the hypothesis emerged that an asteroid impact was the catalyst. But the supporting evidence, including the exact nature of the global chain reaction an asteroid impact may have initiated, has been slowly emerging over decades. The Day the Dinosaurs Died details the efforts of scientists to flesh out what happened in the days and weeks after the asteroid impact. Will they find the smoking gun that provides definitive proof?
The program visits an unprecedented, multidisciplinary scientific expedition to drill into the Chicxulub Crater site off the coast of Mexico, the leading suspect for the impact site. It also travels to South Dakota, Argentina and other sites where paleontologists hunt fossils. Finally, the program visually reconstructs the hell on earth–tidal waves, dust clouds, sudden mountain formation– that wreaked global havoc and doomed the dinosaurs.
I still think Christopher Plummer should have won the Oscar for his marvelous performance as billionaire J. Paul Getty in All the Money in the World. He got to work a little more than a month before the film’s theatrical release; Plummer replaced Kevin Spacey after KS made some nasty headlines over his love for young boys. (The recasting tale in told in one of the Blu-ray and DVD’s extras, “Recast, Reshot, Reclaimed”.
All the Money in the World follows the kidnapping of 16-year-old John Paul Getty III (played by Charlie Plummer) and the desperate attempt by his devoted mother Gail (Michelle Williams) to convince his billionaire grandfather (Christopher Plummer) to pay the ransom. When Getty Sr. refuses, Gail attempts to sway him as her son’s captors become increasingly volatile and brutal. With her son’s life in the balance, Gail and Getty’s advisor (Mark Wahlberg) become unlikely allies in the race against time that ultimately reveals the true and lasting value of love over money. Just to be safe, the film is advertised as being “inspired by historical events. Certain scenes, characters and dialogue have been fictionalized for dramatic purposes.”
This Oscar-nominated thriller makes its eagerly awaited home entertainment debut with must-own bonus features, including eight deleted scenes and three featurettes inspired by the true events of this shocking tale and an inside look at its already-legendary production.
Join director Ridley Scott and the cast and crew as they discuss the fast-paced and exciting way Scott filmed this epic movie–including looks into the wardrobe, locations and score- in “Ridley Scott: Crafting a Historical Thriller.” In “Hostages to Fortune: The Cast,” hear from the award-winning cast as they share the research they did to connect to their real-life characters. Finally, go behind the scenes of this unprecedented film’s production with “Recast, Reshot, Reclaimed,” which offers an inside look at the urgent recasting of the character J. Paul Getty, a little over a month before the movie’s theatrical release.
It’s a violent flick, but not a boring one. Executive produced by Kanye West, Honor Up is written and directed by Damon Dash and follows the character OG, played by Dash, who is torn between his dedication to his family and honoring his street code.
The film also stars rappers Cam’ron, Murda Mook, Blackface and Smoke DZA, and features an appearance by Nicholas Turturro. Dash stars as OG, a drug lord’s lieutenant struggling to maintain the code of honor—protect the family—within his unruly crew after a Harlem shootout. Also featuring Stacey Dash, this film reveals a deadly underworld where beats pound as bullets fly, and even outlaws must live by the code.
The Harlem crime saga arrives on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital April 17 from Lionsgate. The film is currently available On Demand.
“You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die. A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”
― E.B. White,Charlotte’s Web
Every time we read the book or watch the animated film (yes, the book is much better; no wonder it won the Newbery Medal from the American Library Association), we think of White’s genius and the web of life lessons he has woven.
Varèse Sarabande has just released the first-ever CD of the film’s soundtrack. The album features original songs and lyrics by the legendary duo of Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, with performances by the film’s stars Debbie Reynolds, Agnes Moorehead and Paul Lynde. GayS relish this trio: Paul was a major queen, and rumors still exist that Debbie and Agnes were long-time lovers.
The film was released in 1973. Young farm pig Wilbur (voiced by Henry Gibson) attempts to avoid a dire fate. Of all the barnyard creatures, Wilbur’s staunchest ally is Charlotte (voiced by Reynolds), a thoughtful spider who devises an intriguing plan to keep the gentle little swine out of the slaughterhouse. Although Charlotte’s efforts, which involve words written in her delicate web, seem far-fetched, they may just work.
Not every girl next door in a former Playboy model. Unless you’re Kendra W. Bassett. No, the “W” does not stand for “wonderful” but “Wilkinson”, her maiden name before she hooked up with and married her husband, Hank Bassett. He’s now making the transition from NFL football player to business man and she’s balancing motherhood and her business ventures.
And so they star in Kendra on Top in, as some call it “the shocking reality series that follows America’s favorite reality queen.” In the upcoming Kendra on Top: Season Six (MPI Media Group), Kendra relocates from Los Angeles to Las Vegas for a life-changing opportunity, one that could propel her career in a dynamic new direction.
But will her time away from her family and friends have a disastrous effect? And can her marriage to survive the distance?
Meanwhile, rumors of a tell-all book resurface, fracturing an already fragile relationship with her mother, Patti. When Kendra finds out, she’s forced to give her mother an ultimatum: Forget about writing the book or never see your grandchildren again.
The season culminates in a shocking reunion you’re going to have to see to believe. It’s all in the new double-DVD set of all 16 episodes of the hit reality show.
We love that source known as “unknown”. And we often love his/her quotes. Like this one: “Running is nothing more than a series of arguments between the part of your brain that wants to stop and the part that wants to keep going.”
We now run to tell you about a great new First Run Features film, that honors a city and its historic marathon. From its humble origins 120 years ago to the present day, Boston immerses the viewer into the wondrous kaleidoscope of the oldest annually contested marathon in the world.
Evolving from a workingman’s challenge to welcoming foreign athletes and eventually women, the iconic race
played no small part in paving the way for the
modern marathon and mass participatory sports.
Narrated by Oscar winning Boston native Matt Damon, Boston features many of running’s greatest champions including Shalane Flanagan, Meb Keflezighi, Bill Rodgers, Frank Shorter and Joan Benoit Samuelson.
The documentary pays such homage to Boston that its Executive Produced is Academy Award nominee and Boston Marathon competitor Frank Marshall; its original soundtrack was recorded by members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Face it: I will come in last. Boston (the city and documentary) always comes in first.
Black History Month is winding down, but there’s one more PBS Distribution program that is a must-see, must-own DVD. Slavery and the Making of America, produced by THIRTEEN/WNET New York, is a landmark series documenting the history of American slavery from its beginnings in the British colonies through the years of post-Civil War Reconstruction. The program examines the integral role slavery played in shaping the new country’s development, challenging the long held notion that it was exclusively a Southern enterprise.
https://youtu.be/P5OFiWL5LRE
Through the remarkable stories of individual slaves, the program offers fresh perspectives on the slave experience and testifies to the active role that Africans and African Americans took in surviving their bondage and shaping their own lives.
