Category Archives: DVDs

May 14 2014
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DVDs, Pop Culture, Television

Life on ‘Mars’

Fan fervor revives cult favorite on big screen

Veronica Mars

Veronica Mars

Blu-ray $29.98, DVD $28.98 (Warner Bros. Home Entertainment)

 

Veronica Mars, a young super sleuth played by Kristen Bell, had many a prime-time close call and built up a sizeable TV following before the network bid her farewell in 2007. Earlier this year, however, due to fan clamor, Bell and the show’s creator, Rob Thomas, brought Veronica back in a full-length movie that also featured most of the series’ other original cast members. A selection of Blu-ray features, including a making-of doc, gag reel and on-set shenanigans with the actors and crew, make this home release a must-have for the Veronica faithful.

 

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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May 07 2014
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DVDs, Movies

‘Sorcerer’ Returns

Roy Scheider stars in director William Friedkin’s ’70s cult thriller

Sorcerer

Sorcerer

Blu-ray $27.95 / DVD $12.96 (Warner Home Video)

 

This 1977 thriller from director William Friedkin, who was coming off an Oscar-winning hot streak of The French Connection and The Exorcist, wove together four desperate characters in a suspenseful saga about international refugees in a South American jungle hellhole who take on a dangerous job for hire because each of them had nothing else to lose. It was never a big hit, maybe because it only had one recognizable star (Roy Jaws Scheider), possibly because audiences were misled by the title to expect something “supernatural” from the director who’d just made a film about the devil. It did go on, however, to find a cult following, and this new Blu-ray restoration—which comes with a 40-page book of color photos from the production—brings it back to all its grungy glory and sweat-soaked ’70s splendor.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Apr 30 2014
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DVDs, Movies

Dreaming & Doing

Ben Stiller directs & stars in charming rom-com-adventure remake

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Blu-ray $39.98, DVD $29.98 (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)

 

Most modern-day viewers are too young to remember the original movie with this title, a 1947 adventure-comedy romp starring Danny Kaye. Here Ben Stiller takes the same basic premise and runs with it, directing and starring in this delightful and fanciful tale of a timid LIFE magazine photo editor who gets a little too caught up in his daydreams—until his daydreams become an amazing, life-changing real adventure. Kristen Wiig, Shirley MacLaine and Sean Penn round out the cast, and the bounty of bonus content includes several deleted and alternate scenes and behind-the-scenes mini-features about the making of the movie.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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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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