DVDs, Movies, Music

“Grease” is still the word, 40 years after Sandy and Danny become hopelessly devoted

Grease is the word. Still, 40 years after bubbly musical was released. It’s got a groove, it’s got a meaning and it’s still a cultural phenomenon 40 years after its original release.  The iconic celebration of high school life in the ’50s, Grease is the way you’ll be feeling with a new 40th Anniversary Edition on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital April 24 from Paramount Home Media Distribution.

Featuring an explosion of song and dance, as well as star-making performances from John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, Grease made an indelible impact on popular culture.  40 years later, the film remains an enduring favorite as legions of new fans discover the memorable moments, sensational soundtrack and classic love story.  Boasting unforgettable songs including “Greased Lightnin,” “Look At Me, I’m Sandra Dee,” “Summer Nights,” “Hopelessly Devoted To You,” “Beauty School Drop Out” and, of course, “Grease,” the film is a timeless feel-good celebration.

Paramount worked with director Randal Kleiser to restore the film to its original vibrancy with the highest quality sound, picture resolution and color.  The original negative was scanned and received extensive clean up and color correction using previously unavailable digital restoration tools such as high dynamic range technology.  In addition, the audio was enhanced from a six-track mix created for an original 70mm release, giving the music more clarity.  The resulting picture and sound create an exceptional home viewing experience.
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The Grease 40th Anniversary Edition 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Combo Packs include the fully restored version of the film plus an all-new, in-depth exploration of the little-known origins of what would become a Broadway play and then a feature film and worldwide phenomenon.  “Grease: A Chicago Story” features new interviews with writer Jim Jacobs and original cast members of the Chicago show.  In addition, the discs include the original song the title sequence was animated to and an alternate ending salvaged from the original black & white 16mm work print discovered by director Randal Kleiser.

 

Both the 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Combo Packs also feature more than an hour of previously released bonus material, including a sing-along, vintage interviews with the cast, deleted scenes and more.  Plus, the Blu-ray Combo comes in collectible packaging with 16 pages of images laid out like a high school yearbook.  In addition, a Grease Collection will be available in a Steelbook Locker, which includes the 40th Anniversary Blu-ray of Grease, as well as Grease 2 and Grease: Live! on Blu-ray for the first time.

DVDs, TV

Campbell Scott lends his vocal talent to the captivating “Arctic Wolf Pack”

At the very northern edge of North America is Ellesmere Island, where the unforgiving Arctic winds tear through the tundra, dipping temperatures to 40 below zero. Running through this shifting sea of snow and ice is one of the most hardened predators on the planet, the White Wolf.

But as the spring melt approaches, these roaming hunters must adapt to being tethered parents as new additions to the pack have just been born. With their herds of prey continuing to move, viewers witness a desperate race to keep up and bring back a kill to the hungry mothers and cubs. Traveling farther and farther away from their den each day puts these hunters and their children at risk in this fight for survival.

This captivating experience has been caught on NATURE: Arctic Wolf Pack (PBS Distribution). This documentary is narrated by Campbell Scott.

Books

Save the date (June 19), remember the name of a hot new novel: Siobhan Adcock’s “The Completionist”

Every once in a while we come across a book that we simply love. The latest example: The Completionist (Simon & Schuster, $26), the thrilling new novel from acclaimed author Siobhan Adcock. Truly a novel of the times, and in the spirit of Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, The Completionist is an inventive, deeply human mystery set in a future that holds our own world in a black mirror.

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This impossible-to-put down novel follows an ominous near-future society in which water no longer naturally exists, birth rates have plummeted, and technology is omnipresent, even inside human bodies. A troubled young Marine, Carter Quinn, returns home from a brutal war to discover one of his sisters has disappeared without a trace, and the other is naturally pregnant, a rare and rmiraculous event that puts her independence in jeopardy. As Carter sets off to find his sister Gardner, he discovers startling truths about his society, and the terrifying implications the fertility crisis has on women, including his own sister Fred. A system meant to keep the few pregnancies as safe as possible only puts women in dire situations to keep up with impossible standards.

Willing to do anything to protect his sisters, Carter’s efforts lead him to painful realizations about his family, his society, and himself, all culminating in a stunning conclusion you won’t see coming.

We promise you will be gripped. We promise this is a perfect beach book. We promise you will thank us once you read Adcock’s tome, officially published on June 19.

DVDs, Movies

March 30, 1985: The day Derek and Nancy Haysom were murdered . . . killing for love

It remains one of the most brutal crimes of our times.

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Haysom crime scene photos

On March 30, 1985, Derek and Nancy Haysom are discovered brutally murdered at their home in Lynchburg, Virginia. The arrest and conviction of the couple’s daughter Elizabeth, a scholarship student at the University of Virginia, and her boyfriend Jens Söring, the brilliant son of a German diplomat, set off a media frenzy, becoming the first trial of its kind to be nationally televised. But what if the justice system got it all wrong?

The gripping true crime tale Kliiling for Love untangles the web of romantic obsession and betrayal that may have led an innocent man to make the ultimate sacrifice for love: take the fall for a murder he didn’t commit. The IFC Films theatrical release, called “engrossing and unnerving” by the Daily Telegraph, features the voices of Daniel Brühl and Imogen Poots.

DVDs, Movies, TV

Meet Tyrus Wong, this pioneering artist and his impact on American art and popular culture

Tyrus Wong  has always been dear to us.

Make the “deer.”

People worldwide have seen the Disney animated classic Bambi and have been deeply moved by it, but few can tell you the name of the artist behind the film. Even fewer are aware of this pioneering artist’s impact on American art and popular culture. Until his death at the age of 106, Tyrus Wong was America’s oldest living Chinese American artist and one of the last remaining artists from the golden age of Disney animation. The quiet beauty of his Eastern-influenced paintings caught the eye of Walt Disney, who made Wong the inspirational sketch artist for Bambi. Filmmaker Pamela Tom corrects a historical wrong by spotlighting this seminal, but heretofore under-credited, figure.

Learn the truth, witness his genius, in American Masters: Tyrus (PBS Distribution).

Born in Canton (now Guangzhou), China, right before the fall of the Chinese Empire, Wong and his father immigrated to America in 1919, never to see their family again. The film shows how he overcame a life of poverty and racism to become a celebrated painter who once exhibited with Picasso and Matisse, a Hollywood sketch artist and Disney Legend.

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Previously unseen art and interviews with Wong, movie clips and archival footage illustrate how his unique style–melding Chinese calligraphic and landscape influences with contemporary Western art–is found in everything from Disney animation (Bambi) and live-action Hollywood studio films (Rebel Without a Cause, The Wild Bunch, Sands of Iwo Jima, April in Paris) to Hallmark Christmas cards, kites and hand-painted California dinnerware to fine art and Depression-era WPA paintings. The film also features new interviews with his daughters and fellow artists/designers, including his Disney co-worker and friend Milton Quon and curators and historians of Wong’s work.

Books, Celebrity Chatter

Gossip galore: Immerse yourself in “Jackie, Janet & Lee: The Secret Lives of Janet Auchincloss and Her Daughters, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Princess Lee Radziwill”

I’ve seen Jackie Kennedy at a Broadway theater, explaining to her then-lover Maurice Tempelsman what a CD was. (That item ran in Liz Smith’s column.) I’ve seen Ethel Kennedy go nuts on Hyannis’ Main Street. Now I am getting closer to other Kennedy kin with Jackie, Janet & Lee: The Secret Lives of Janet Auchincloss and Her Daughters, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill (St. Martin’s Press, $29.99).

To truly understand Jackie, one of the most iconic women of the 20th century, is to understand the powerful bond she shared with her mother Janet Auchincloss, and younger sister, the enormously complex Lee Radziwill. The relationship between the three women and how it came to impact Jackie’s life as one of the most famous of America’s First Ladies has never before been revealed in its entirety, until now. J. Randy Taraborrelli breaks through the mystery surrounding the lives of these enigmatic women and takes readers into the big and small moments of their lives, weaving a captivating psychological portrait of two famous sisters and their ferociously protective and ambitious mother.

Jackie Kennedy, JFK, and Princess Lee Radziwill at the christening of Lee’s daughter, Anna Christina Radziwill, Crypt Chapel, Westminster Abbey, 1961.

Janet Lee Bouvier was a formidable woman from a wealthy family who, in 1928, married the dashing but unpredictable Jack “Black Jack” Bouvier.  Though she had two children with him—Jackie and Lee—Janet’s marriage was far from a happy one as she had to cope with her husband’s infidelity. She flouted convention by defying her powerful, religious father James T. Lee and chose divorce at a time when it was taboo. Janet would then make the ultimate sacrifice for her daughters when she wedded the well-heeled Hugh Auchincloss. Though he could guarantee financial stability, he also made it clear to Janet that he could never consummate the marriage. A woman stunningly ahead of her time, Janet bore a daughter—Jackie’s and Lee’s half-sister, Janet— using her own version of artificial insemination, a science practically unheard of in the 1940s.

The story continues with Jackie’s marriage to Senator Jack Kennedy, (who becomes President of the United States in 1960), and Lee’s royal union to the dashing Prince Stanislaw Radziwill.  But soon, the Greek shipping mogul Aristotle Onassis enters Lee’s life and begins an affair with her. Rather than allow Lee to bring scandal to the steps of the White House, Janet forces her to choose family over her love for Onassis.

The First Lady and her sister Lee Radziwill ride a camel in India. Jackie’s agent, Clint Hill, signaled to them to cross their legs, to avoid any embarrassing photos being taken.

Taraborrelli breaks astonishing new ground by also telling the story of Jackie’s war with Bingham Morris, her mother’s third husband. After she realizes that Janet is the victim of shocking elder abuse, it becomes the greatest battle of Jackie’s life to vanquish Morris from her mother’s home. As the 1980s came to a close and Janet slips into Alzheimer’s disease, Jackie continues to care for her daily while Lee finds herself emotionally ill-equipped to do so, causing significant turmoil between the sisters. This stunning family story is based on never-before-published letters from Jackie, herself.\

Wow.

Celebrity Chatter, DVDs, Movies, Music

“Up in Smoke” is 40! The film “started stoner movies and is still going strong so smoke it up one more time” says Cheech

Fire up the home entertainment system and call your buds because the ultimate stoner comedy is celebrating its 40th anniversary.  The high-larious cannabis cultural epic  breakthrough Up in Smoke will “grab you by the poo poo” all over again when it arrives on Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD April 10 from Paramount Home Media Distribution.  A special Deluxe Collector’s Edition, pairing the Blu-ray with the original soundtrack on CD and Vinyl LP in deluxe packaging, will arrive the following week from Rhino, featuring a newly recorded 2018 version of the title song “Up In Smoke.”

In 1978, Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong made their feature film debut in Up in Smoke, the outrageously funny classic inspired by their now legendary comedy routines of the early ’70s.  Following massive success with more than 10 million comedy albums sold, four Grammy nominations and a win for Best Comedy Recording for Los Cochinos, Cheech and Chong took Hollywood by storm when Up in Smoke became a smash hit, establishing the pair as the reigning comedy duo of a new generation.  Today, the film still has viewers rolling in the aisles and maintains surprising cultural relevance four decades after its original release.

“The greatest thrill is making your first movie and this one has been seen and been influential all over the world for over forty years,” says Richard “Cheech” Marin.   “Up in Smoke started stoner movies and is still going strong so smoke it up one more time.”

Adds Thomas Chong: “Where did the time go? Fortyyears ago we made low budget movies that grossed over 100 million and are still being watched all over the world. And it also helped legalize an important medicine.  I am so proud that a movie bearing a title of a simple song I wrote would be so influential for so many years.”

Cheech and Chong play wannabe musicians and stoners who unwittingly smuggle a van made of marijuana from Mexico to L.A.  Their drug-laced humor keeps their spirits high as they unknowingly elude the police and meander their way to an outrageous finale at the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood where Cheech performs in a pink tutu and Chong plays drums in a red body suit with a Quaalude logo.

The Blu-ray Combo Pack features a brand new short-form documentary entitled “How Pedro Met the Man: Up In Smoke at 40,” which chronicles the duo’s comedy history, as well as the origins and impact of the film itself. Capturing a complex and fascinating pop culture odyssey, the documentary incorporates new interviews with Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong and producer/director Lou Adler along with archival footage.  The Combo Pack is also loaded with previously released bonus material including deleted scenes, commentary, a music video and more.

The Deluxe Collector’s Edition is presented in a 12 x 12 package, limited to 5,000 copies.

The set pairs the Blu-ray with the original soundtrack on CD and Vinyl, as well as a 7-inch picture disc, oversized “Up In Smoke” rolling papers, a film poster and booklet with new essays by both Cheech and  Chong, along with rare and unseen photos. In addition to the new version of “Up In Smoke,” the CD also features another previously unreleased version of the song from 1978 with an additional Spanish verse by Cheech.

DVDs, TV

“FRONTLINE: Exodus: The Journey Continues” tells the intimate, firsthand stories of refugees and migrants caught in Europe’s tightened borders

Over one-and-a-half million refugees and migrants have smuggled themselves to the West since 2015, fleeing countries besieged by violence and poverty in search of safety and a better life. But the countries these refugees dreamed of reaching have changed.

FRONTLINE: Exodus: The Journey Continues is a stunning sequel to the  2016 documentary FRONTLINE: Exodus and tells the intimate, firsthand stories of refugees and migrants caught in Europe’s tightened borders, facing heightened nationalism and rising anti-immigrant sentiment. As this global migration and refugee crisis continues, with countries becoming less and less welcoming to those seeking refuge, this documentary is an eye-opening look at the evolving crisis that draws on footage filmed by the refugees themselves.

The program will be available on DVD April 17. The program is also available for digital download.

Books

Let us steer you to Ryan Brutt’s “Muscle Car Barn Finds”

It’s no secret among car collectors and enthusiast that the pursuit of “lost” cars is what drives many gearheads. Finding an abandoned, restorable car is one of the most common dreams among collectors and a touchstone for the hobby. Top shows like the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and Chicago’s Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals have added special classes devoted to original and barn find vehicles.

Muscle Car Barn FindsAuthor and photographer Ryan Brutt has the muscle. He is the “automotive archaeologist”, author of the CarsInBarns blog and a monthly columnist for Hot Rod magazine.

We switch gears and steer you to the fact that  Brutt has selected his best muscle car images for Muscle Car Barn Finds: Rusty Road Runners, Abandoned AMXs, Crusty Camaros and More! (Quarto Drives, $35). No searching the back roads required–just kick up your feet and begin your barn-finding adventure by turning the page.

 

DVDs, TV

Hugh Bonneville offers a revolutionary new telling of the son of God in “Jesus: Countdown to Calvary”

Praise the Lord! Hugh Bonneville offers a revolutionary new telling of the story of an itinerant Jewish healer and preacher, who went from hero to victim in a single week, 2000 years ago, and ended up dead on a cross. In this documentary, Hugh Bonneville sets out to discover why that one execution, in a century when as many as 500 people were killed in a single day by the Romans, had such seismic, lasting and global impact, for better and for worse.

Jesus: Countdown to Calvary (Public Media Distribution) will be available on DVD April 24. The program is also available for digital download.

https://youtu.be/erujYRdXxrY

For the first time on television, world-renowned actor and Cambridge theology graduate, Hugh Bonneville reveals how a perfect storm of political intrigue, power struggles and clashing religious passions combined, in a single week, to cause the event that changed the world: the killing of Jesus.

Bonneville uses all the investigative and storytelling tools at his disposal to reveal the context, characters and chain of events behind  that tumultuous week. In the process, he finds that this is no dusty religious story, but a political thriller, shot through with intrigue, spin, conspiracy, power battles, betrayal and terror.