Category Archives: DVDs

Aug 22 2014
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DVDs, Television

It’s Miller Time

Will Arnett & JB Smoove star in hit dysfunctional-family sitcom

The Millers: The First Season

DVD $49.99 (CBS Home Entertainment)

TheMillers_S1_DVD_3D

Divorced reporter Nathan Miller (Will Arnett) was looking forward to the single life with his co-worker/wingman (JB Smoove)—until his parents (Margo Martindale and Beau Bridges) totally botched up his plans. One of the hottest, funniest new comedies of last fall’s TV season—which also featured guest appearances from Roseanne Barr, Andy Richter, Jeffrey Tambor, Jerry Van Dyke and others—comes packaged with several bonus features, including a behind-the-scenes look at the production and a mock-serious interview with Arnett.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Aug 12 2014
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DVDs, Movies

Tour of Duty

Bullets fly in second action-packed ‘Jarhead’ military adventure

Jarhead 2

Jarhead 2

Blu-ray $34.98 (Universal 1440 Entertainment)

Inspired by the original Jarhead, based on U.S. Marine Anthony Swofford’s best-selling 2003 book about his experiences in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, this fictional direct-to-DVD spin-off features an all-new cast in another dusty, nitty-gritty combat adventure, this time as platoon mates stationed in Afghanistan who risk their lives to help a woman escape her Tailban pursuers. The movie stars Stephen Lang, Esai Morales and Cole Hauser, and gets a extra dose of authenticity with Josh Kelly, who served as a U.S. Army Ranger in Afghanistan and Iraq before beginning his acting career.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Aug 04 2014
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DVDs, Movies

One Man Show

Tom Hardy owns the road in intense, riveting ‘Locke’

LockeLocke

Blu-ray $24.99 / DVD $19.98

British actor Tom Hardy is outstanding in this one-man show as a Ivan Locke, a husband, father and by-the-books construction supervisor, alone in a car, driving at night—and confronting, over his phone, a situation in his life that for the first time can’t be easily, neatly managed. Intense, riveting and powerfully cinematic, it’s a journey in which Locke learns that the road to becoming a better man is a long, sometimes dark and lonely one, with both endings and beginnings. Bonus features include a making of feature, and director commentary.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Aug 04 2014
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DVDs, Pop Culture, Television

Small-screen cut-ups

Marx Brothers celebrated in roundup of TV appearances

 The Marx Brothers TV Collection

The Marx Brothers TV Collection

DVD $39.97 (Shout! Factory)

 

Fans of classic television will flip over this roundup of more than 50 performances by the comedic trio of Groucho, Harpo and Chico on dozens of TV shows of the 1950s and ’60s (alongside Jack Benny, Dick Cavett, Dinah Shore, Red Skelton, Perry Como, Jackie Gleason, and many others), plus TV commercials and those-were-the-days episodes of Championship Bridge, Celebrity Golf and Celebrity Billiards, and a 40-page book of rare photos from the Marx Brothers family archive, program notes and an essay by a Marx Brothers historian.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Jul 30 2014
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DVDs, Pop Culture, Television

Top Cops

On the Emmy-winning beat with the detectives in ‘Blue’

NYPD Blue S6

NYPD Blue: Season Six

DVD $34.99 (Shout! Factory)

 

One of TV’s groundbreaking “cop” shows of the 1990s, this Emmy-winning network series ran for 12 successful seasons before finally hanging up its badge in 2005. This collection of all 22 season six episodes, available for the first time on DVD, continues the nitty-gritty, true-to-life adventures of New York police detective Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) as he and his precinct partners (Kim Delaney, James McDaniel, Gordon Clapp) welcome a new cast mate, former Silver Spoons star Rick Schroder, in his breakthrough “grownup” TV acting role.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Jul 29 2014
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DVDs, Movies, Pop Culture

Far Out Man

Johnny Depp stars in head-trippy futuristic sci-fi thriller

Transcendence2Transcendence

Blu-ray $35.99 / DVD $28.99 (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment)

What are the limits of artificial intelligence? In this sci-fi, not-too-futuristic thriller, Johnny Depp plays a researcher working on a machine that combines the knowledge with human emotion—a computer with consciousness, or “transcendence.” But forces are afoot to stop him, even as the secrets of the universe await—and the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Co-stars include Rebecca Hall, Cillian Murphy and Paul Bettany, and the Blu-ray comes with several making-of featurettes.

 —Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Jul 22 2014
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DVDs, Pop Culture, Television

Lights, Action, Wahlbergs

Donnie, Mark, other Wahlbergs star in reality-TV show

Walhburgers_cov

Wahlburgers: The Complete First Season

DVD $19.98 (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)

The A&E reality-TV series about the Wahlbergs, centered around their family-owned restaurant in the Hingham, Mass., shows a domestic, hometown side to the Hollywood lives of actors Mark and Donnie, alongside their cousin Paul and their mom, Alma. Season one episodes includes various eatery escapades and offsite adventures, including visits from Mark’s fiancé, actress Jenny McCarthy, and Joey McIntyre, his former musical mate in the s’80s “boy band” New Kids on the Block.

 

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Jul 22 2014
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DVDs, History

War All Over

A round-up of HISTORY programs commemorates WWI centennial

100 Years of WWI100 Years of World War I

DVD $14.98 (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)

The first “war of mass destruction,” harnessing new powers of weaponry, technology and telecommunications in ways that had never been done—or seen—before, left 15 million dead, 20 million injured and changed the world’s perception of battle forever. Packaging together four HISTORY channel programs, including a new multi-part mini-series, this comprehensive roundup commemorates the centennial of America’s game-changing entry into global warfare with more than five hours of expert interviews, info gleaned from eyewitness accounts and high-tech re-creations.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Jul 10 2014
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DVDs, History, Humor, Pop Culture, Television

Red, White & Snoopy

Charlie Brown & Co. reanimate American history highlights

This Is America, Charlie Brown

This is America, Charlie Brown

DVD, $26.99 (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment)

Originally airing in 1988 as an eight-part CBS miniseries, this delightful animated roundup of recently remastered 24-minute TV specials features a crash course in American history as Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the beloved Peanuts gang sail on the Mayflower, discuss the U.S. Constitution, watch the Wright brothers take wing at Kitty Hawk, dream of space travel, meet several presidents, explore the roots of American music and its composers, and bring other red, white and blue milestones to educational and entertaining cartoon life.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Jul 10 2014
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DVDs, Movies

Grand Getaway

All-star cast scrambles in quirky romp against storybook backdrop

Grand Budapest Hotel

The Grand Budapest Hotel

Blu-ray $39.99, DVD $29.98 (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)

 

Director Wes Anderson’s latest quirky romp, set against the storybook-like backdrop of a once-grand Eastern European resort hotel, sends its all-star cast of F. Murray Abraham, Jude Law, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey Keitel, Bill Murray, Edward Norton and Saoirse Ronan scrambling after a priceless stolen painting, trying to solve a puzzling murder mystery, and skittering across the snowy landscape on sleds, skis, trains, and motorcycles. Blu-ray bonus content includes several behind-the-scenes and making-of features, including an on-location guided tour with Bill Murray, who has appeared in every movie the director has ever made.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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