Category Archives: DVDs

Apr 23 2014
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DVDs, Television

The Heat on the ‘Hill’

A royal roundup of the classic ’80s TV series

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Hill Street Blues: The Complete Series

DVD, $199.99 (Shout! Factory)

 

In the early 1980s, there were no smarter, sharper cops on TV than the ones who worked the metropolitan beat of Hill Street, the ones who began each day hearing the encouraging words of Sgt. Esterhaus (Michael Conrad) telling them to “Be careful out there.” This superb, first-time roundup of all 144 acclaimed episodes, which received 26 Emmy Awards during its seven-year network run, includes a bounty of bonus content, including the original 1981 pilot episode, a 24-page commemorative book, commentary by some of the show’s outstanding ensemble cast, writers and creators, and on-set gags and practical jokes.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Apr 23 2014
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Books, DVDs, Movies, Pop Culture

Go, Bilbo, Go

Everyone’s favorite hobbit is halfway home

The Hobbit_The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Blu-ray Combo Pack $35.95/DVD $28.98 (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment)

Lord of the Rings fans, you’re halfway there: This sprawling sci-fi spectacle marks the midpoint of the cinematic trilogy based on the enduring fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien in which hobbit protagonist Bilbo Baggins traverses Middle Earth on an epic quest laden with many dangers—and a gazillion special effects. The all-star international cast features Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly and Orlando Bloom, and bonus content includes several behind-the-scenes production documentaries hosted by director Peter Jackson, and a music video for Ed Sheeran’s “I See Fire,” the movie’s theme song.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Apr 16 2014
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DVDs, Movies

One Hot Holiday

Winslet, Brolin steam up more than the kitchen in ‘Labor Day’

Labor Day

Labor Day

Blu-ray $39.99 / DVD $29.99 (Paramount Home Media)

Based on a best-selling romance novel by Joyce Maynard, this dreamy drama stars Kate Winslet as a neglected single mom whose life intersects with a mysterious, troubled stranger (Josh Brolin) over one steamy weekend noted in the title—and things get heated in more ways than one. (Just wait for the peach pie-making scene.) Director/writer Jason Reitman (Juno, Up in the Air) also works in a subplot about teenagers fumbling with bubbling hormones, for younger viewers. Extras include a making-of documentary, deleted scenes and commentary.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Apr 10 2014
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DVDs, Movies

Not So Funny

A parable of fame and how far people will go for a taste of it

The King Of Comdy_BD

The King of Comedy

Blu-ray $24.99 (Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment)

 

Don’t be mislead by the title: There’s not a lot of ha-ha in this quirky tale of a would-be stand-up comedian (Robert De Niro) who kidnaps a successful New York City talk-show host (Jerry Lewis) to get a long shot a stardom. Directed by the great Martin Scorsese, it’s long been regarded as a prickly modern parable about the high price of fame and the extremes to which some people are willing to go for even a fleeting taste of it. This neat-o 30th anniversary Blu-ray package features interviews with the director and stars, a making-of documentary and deleted scenes.

 —Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Apr 01 2014
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DVDs, Movies

Anchors Away!

Cast of original comedy returns for more TV shenanigans

Anchorman 2

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Blu-ray $39.99, DVD $29.99 (Paramount Home Entertainment)

Will Ferrell, Steve Carrell, Paul Rudd, Christina Applegate and the rest of the original cast return in this hilarious sequel about a 1970s TV-reporting dream team now wrecking round-the-clock havoc in the ’80s on cable-TV’s first 24-hour news network. For a splurge, get the Blu-ray: It’s loaded over four hours of bonus content, including a raunchy R-rated version with 763 (!) new jokes not in the original; commentary by the stars and director; gags, goofs and deleted scenes; rehearsal footage and auditions; and much more.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

 

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Apr 01 2014
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DVDs, History, Movies

Trials & Triumph

Terrific cast, searing true story in Oscar-winning ‘Slave’

12YearsASlave_BD

12 Years a Slave

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

 

With its Oscar for Best Picture capping off a run as one of the most celebrated films of 2013, director Steve McQueen’s epic adaptation of a true American slave’s odyssey is often difficult to watch, but becomes something triumphant to behold. The all-star cast (which includes Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sarah Paulson, Paul Dano and Paul Giamatti) is anchored by the riveting powerhouse performances of Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup, a free black man kidnapped and sold into slavery, and Lupita Nyong’o, who received the Academy Award for Supporting Actress as Patsy, a fellow captive. Extras include several behind-the-scene features, including Ejiofor reading passages from Northup’s autobiography, on which the movie was based.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Mar 26 2014
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DVDs, Movies

Still the Champ

‘Rocky’ six-pack proves palooka’s staying power

Rocky Heavyweight Collection

Rocky Heavyweight Collection

Blu-ray $59.99 (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)

 

You can’t keep Hollywood’s most iconic palooka down, and he certainly goes the distance in this roundup of all six Rocky movies, from Sylvester Stallone’s original underdog saga that got it all started (1976) to his out-of-retirement comeback in Rocky Balboa (2006). A generous array of extras makes this a true knockout for fans of the franchise: commentary from Stallone; the actor’s appearance on a 1976 episode of Dinah!; a three-part making-of documentary; multiple behind-the-scenes features; a tribute to actor Burgess Meredith; and an interview with cigar-chomping boxing writer and sports historian Bert Sugar.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Mar 26 2014
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DVDs, Movies, Television

Old Testament Twosome

Oscar-winning 1949 relic gets new Blu-ray shine

Samson and Delilah

Samson and Delilah

Blu-ray $22.98 (Paramount Home Media)

 

Available for the first time on hi-def Blu-ray, this 1949 epic tale one of the Old Testament’s most famous couples won two Academy Awards (for art direction and costumes) and starred Victor Mature and Hedy Lamar as the fabled Israelite strongman and the beautiful temptress who betrayed him—and gave him the most famous haircut in history. See: Samson subdue a lion! See: Samson slay an army of Philistines! See: Samson bring down the the temple! And see: Angela Lansbury as Delilah’s older sister, four decades before Murder, She Wrote!

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Mar 20 2014
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DVDs, Movies

Folk Odyssey

Coen Brothers capture ’60s vibe in tale of struggling singer

Inside Llewyn Davis

Inside Llewyn Davis

Blu-ray $35.99, DVD $30.99 (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)

The Coen Brothers’ darkly comic odyssey about a Greenwich Village folk singer in the early 1960s struggling against odds that seem hopelessly stacked against him—and mostly because of him—hums along to a terrific, bountiful authentic soundtrack by producer T Bone Burnett, the cast (which includes Oscar Isacc, Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake), Marcus Mumford and other performers. Bonus features include a 40-minute making-of documentary, which includes interviews with the cast, directors and musicians, and a look at how the moviemakers created a folk scene of half a century ago in modern-day New York City.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Mar 20 2014
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DVDs, History, Music, Pop Culture

Musical Mecca

Documentary spotlights magic of Muscle Shoals sound

Muscle Shoals

Muscle Shoals

Blu-ray $29.98 / DVD $26.98 (Magnolia Home Entertainment)

Is it something in the water? On the Tennessee River in Alabama is one of the South’s musical treasures, a near-mystical place where some of the most vital music of all time has its roots. This rousing documentary examines the “Muscle Shoals” sound and its creator, producer Rick Hall, who brought black and white musicians together at his recording studios (often with Hall’s famed staff musicians, the Swampers) to make records with Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eric Clapton, Carrie Underwood and many others singing stars.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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