Category Archives: DVDs

Oct 10 2013
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DVDs, Pop Culture

Oh, The Horror!

Four new re-releases set the mood for Halloween

Halloween ComboCast a retro spell for Halloween with some classic, blood-curdling horror flicks. Director John Carpenter’s iconic Halloween, which got the whole teenager-in-danger genre rolling back in 1978, celebrates its 35th anniversary on a bonus-loaded Blu-ray (Anchor Bay, $34.99). The Exorcist: 40th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray includes documentaries, commentary and a tour of the movie’s locations with author William Peter Blatty (Warner Home Video, $49.99). The Amityville Horror Trilogy Deluxe Collector’s Edition features all three movies about one of the haunted-est houses of ‘em all on Blu-ray (Scream Factory, $69.97). And Chucky: The Complete Collection packages six fright films about the tiny terror of toy land (Universal Home Entertainment, Blu-ray $84.98, DVD $34.96).

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Oct 04 2013
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DVDs, Pop Culture

The Dependable Villain

New collection celebrates the dastardly talents of Vincent Price

VincentPriceCollection2The Vincent Price Collection

Blu-ray ($79.97, Scream Factory)

In the 1960s, Vincent Price became lionized as one of Hollywood most dependably deplorable villains, especially in a string of low-budget flicks in which he played an assortment of madmen, zealots and other horribly unhinged offshoots of humanity. This deluxe collection of six of his movies from that era (Fall of the House of Usher, The Haunted Palace, The Masque of the Red Death, Pit and the Pendulum, Witchfinder General and The Abominable Dr. Phibes) comes with an assortment of top-notch bonus content, including interviews with schlock-king director Roger Corman, who worked with Price on many of his films; commentaries; still photos; and a 24-page booklet.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Oct 01 2013
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DVDs, Music, Pop Culture

Stamp of Approval

Coming soon to a mailbox near you: Ray Charles!

Ray_Charles_Forever_Cover2Ray Charles Forever

CD/DVD ($18.98, Concord Records)

Why does this new Ray Charles CD/DVD combo look like a postage stamp? Because it’s part of the celebration around the recent release of the U.S. Postal Service Icons Forever Stamp honoring the enduring rhythm and blues singer. With 12 re-mastered studio tracks (including “Song For You,” “Ring Of Fire,” “Till There Was You,” “Imagine” and “America The Beautiful”), a DVD of live performances and interview segments, it’s a multimedia reminder of a performer whose decade-spanning career has generated more than 100 albums, made him one of the original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, spawned an Academy Award-winning movie—and now put him in the mailbox! (It’s on sale at major Post Office locations, an online at usps.com.)

 —Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Oct 01 2013
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DVDs, Pop Culture

Brad Vs. The Zombies

It’s the end of the world, but Mr. Pitt’s on the job

WorldWarZ_BWorld War Z

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

It’s a global zombie apocalypse, but don’t worry: Brad Pitt’s on the job! The world’s hunkiest United Nations crisis-control specialist gets called into action for the assignment of his life when a sweeping pandemic begins turning entire countries into rampaging armies of the undead. Can he save his own family, let alone the whole world? Bonus features include documentaries on how the bestselling novel on which the film was based made the transition from page to screen; the scientific realities of “zombie” behavior in nature; and several behind-the-scenes looks at the international massive production on location in Philadelphia, South Korea and Jerusalem.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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Sep 24 2013
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DVDs, Pop Culture

‘Kings’ Rule a Glowing, Golden Summer

A modern-day indie-flick Huck Finn tale

TheKingsofSummerThe Kings of Summer

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

This film festival coming-of-age charmer, popular enough to break out into the mainstream sunlight in some movie markets, tells the tale of three teenage buddies who, in a bold act of summer independence, run away from their suburban homes to build their own house in the woods and live off the land. With young stars Nick Robinson (from TV’s Melissa and Joey), Gabriel Basso (the movie Super 8) and Moises Arias (from TV’s Hannah Montana) joined by familiar TV players Nick Offerman (Parks and Recreation), Alison Brie (Community) and Megan Mullally (Will and Grace), it’s a modern-day Huck Finn fable about families, friendships and young hearts on the glowing, golden cusp between childhood and maturity.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

Sep 11 2013
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DVDs, Pop Culture, Television

How Norman Got ‘Psycho’

TV’s ‘Bates Motel’ serves up a creepy-cool contemporary prequel

BatesMotelS1Bates Motel: Season One

$49.98 Blu-ray / $44.98 DVD (Universal Studios Home Entertainment)

Even if you’ve never seen Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic Psycho, you can still get appreciate the deep, darkly chilling vibes of this modern-day prequel set in a creepy old manor above a motor inn where very bad things just keep happening to teenage Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore), his clingy mom (Vera Farmiga) and the people around them. Last season’s critically acclaimed hit TV series, a moody mix of scares, suspense and twisty surprises, comes with deleted scenes and a panel discussion with the cast and creative team.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

Sep 11 2013
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DVDs, Movie Reviews, Pop Culture

‘Fugitive’ Runs With New Baggage

20th anniversary Blu-ray loaded with bonus features

TheFugitiveThe Fugitive

Blu-ray $19.98 / Warner Home Video

The 20th anniversary high-def re-release of the 1993 action-thriller, about a doctor (Harrison Ford) wrongly convicted for the murder of his wife, escaped from federal custody, looking for the mysterious one-armed man who did the dirty deed, and relentlessly pursued by a persistent U.S. Marshal (Tommy Lee Jones), comes with an all-new reunion interview with its two stars and director, plus a behind-the-scenes featurette, a look at the making of the movie’s spectacular train-crash scene, and other extras.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

Sep 04 2013
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DVDs

A Hip Hocus-Pocus Caper

Magicians have rarely ever looked so cool

NowYouSeeMe2Now You See Me

Blu-ray $39.99 / DVD $29.95 (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)

Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Dave Franco and Isla Fisher star in this mesmerizing hocus-pocus caper about a group of hip young magicians whose signature trick—cleaning out money from bank vaults and giving it away to their audiences—attracts the attention of a team of FBI agents (Mark Ruffalo and Mélanie Laurent). Like most magic acts, there’s more going on than meets the eye! But this movie’s neatest trick: making stage magicians look sexy, hip and cool. Bonus features include a look behind the scenes, commentary, and “A Brief History of Magic” documentary.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

Sep 04 2013
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DVDs

‘Shane’ Comes Back

Iconic Western gets 60th anniversary hi-def dust-off

ShaneShane

Blu-ray $19.98 / Warner Home Video

Director George Stevens’ 1953 Western, acclaimed as one of the most iconic cowboy movies of all time, stars Alan Ladd as a stoic drifter who comes to the aid of a homesteading family menaced by a wealthy cattle baron and his terrifying hired gun (Jack Palance). And just try to keep a dry eye during the final parting scene between Shane and the family’s son, so memorably played by a young Brandon De Wilde. (“Shane! Come back!”) This 60th anniversary Blu-ray edition features commentary by the late director’s own son, who served as the movie’s production assistant.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

Aug 27 2013
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Here Comes The Bride!

Family comes together for weekend of here-comes-the-bride mayhem

The Big WeddingThe Big Wedding

Blu-ray $24.99 / DVD $19.98 (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)

Big wedding, big stars, big laughs, big cast—Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams, Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried and Topher Grace headline this rollicking romantic comedy about a family trying to get through a wild wedding weekend full of secrets, shocks and surprises before it becomes a full-blown fiasco! A behind-the-scenes feature shows just how much fun the cast had creating all the here-comes-the-bride mayhem.

—Neil Pond, American Profile Magazine

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