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Saturn 3
BD - Adam (Kirk Douglas) and
Alex (Farrah Fawcett) are two scientists stationed deep beneath
the barren surface of Saturn's third moon, Titan. They live
together in idyllic isolation in a space-age Eden, seeking new
forms of food for an exhausted planet Earth. Their perfect world
is interrupted when Benson (Harvey Keitel) arrives as Saturn
goes into eclipse and cuts off communication with the rest of
the solar system. Aided by his 'helper robot' Hector, James
reduces life to one single purpose…survival. The robot becomes
violently unmanageable. For Adam and Alex, their only hope is to
flee, but the homicidal robot stands in their way. Produced and
directed by legendary filmmaker Stanley Donen (Singin’
In The Rain,
Charade and Seven
Brides For Seven Brothers), Saturn 3 is a
pulse-pounding study in sci-fi suspense.
Blu-ray Release date: December 3rd,
2013
I Put a Spell on You - Nina Simone
BD Audio - "I Put
a Spell on You", a song originally by Screamin' Jay Hawkins.
The original version gave the song an ironic theme, but Nina
transformed it into a thrilling love song, complete with horns
and strings. It had become one of her most well known songs. She
used the title for her autobiography I Put A Spell On You
(1992). The Beatles drew inspiration from the song for their
song "Michelle". Blu-ray
Audio Release date: October 30th, 2013
World Cinema Project (Criterion) - Volume
1 BD -
Established by Martin Scorsese in 2007, the World Cinema
Project expands the horizons of moviegoers everywhere. The
mission of the WCP is to preserve and present marginalized and
infrequently screened films from regions generally ill equipped
to preserve their own cinema history. This collector’s set
brings together six superb films from countries around the
globe, including Senegal (Touki bouki), Mexico (Redes),
India and Bangladesh (A River Called Titas), Turkey (Dry
Summer), Morocco (Trances), and South Korea (The
Housemaid). Each is a cinematic revelation, depicting a
culture not often seen by outsiders on-screen.
Blu-ray Release date: December
10th, 2013
Day of the Animals
BD - An interesting
low-budget entry in the post-Jaws
animals-run-amok genre (which also owes more than a little to
Hitchcock's
The Birds), this noisy,
violent thriller features the prophetic premise of a widening
gap in the ozone layer (thanks to human indulgences in hairspray
and other aerosol products) which unleashes brain-frying
radiation and causes assorted woodland creatures to go for the
throats of unsuspecting Sierra backpackers. As if that weren't
horrific enough, the poor kids are also placed in the position
of defending themselves against a rampaging Leslie Nielsen --
whose hammy performance will probably have fans of the Naked
Gun series and their ilk waiting for a punch line that never
arrives. Perennial B-movie couple Christopher George and Lynda
Day George round out the cast. Day of the Animals is also
known as Something Is out There.
Blu-ray Release date: November
26th, 2013
Breaking Bad - The Final Season
BD - Episodes 9-16 of the
fifth and final season of the blackly comic American drama
starring Bryan Cranston as Walter White, a high school chemistry
teacher turned crystal meth producer. Walter turned to drugs
after being diagnosed with lung cancer, hoping to pay off his
weighty medical bills and provide for his family in the event of
his death. Unfortunately, becoming involved in the drugs
industry brings with it numerous complications, and the power
and wealth it generates may not be easy to give up. In this
series, Walter's increasingly ruthless behavior brings him
perilously close to the clutches of his brother-in-law, DEA
agent Hank Schrader (Dean Norris).
Blu-ray Release date: November 26th, 2013
World Cinema Foundation - Volume 1
BD -Founded in 2007 and
overseen by Martin Scorsese, the World Cinema Foundation (WCF)
has spearheaded efforts to preserve, restore, and annually re -
present neglected masterpieces of world cinema, particularly
those from areas of the globe that have not traditionally been
highlighted in prevailing evaluations of film, or which have
lacked the financial, technical, or governmental infrastructure
to ensure their preservation. In this Masters of Cinema package
are film from Turkey (Metin Erksan's Dry Summer, 1964),
Morocco (Ahmed El Maanouni's Trances, 1981) and
Kazakhstan (Yermek Shinarbaev's Revenge, 1989)
Blu-ray Release date: November
25th, 2013
Tous les Matins du Monde
BD - Jazzman-turned-director
Alain Corneau brings his extensive musical savvy to All the
Mornings of the World. Jean-Pierre Marielle stars as
legendary 17th-century baroque composer and cellist M. de Saint
Colombe. Believing the only "true" music is that which is
written down, Sainte Colombe is vehemently opposed to performing
in public. This stance is challenged by the composer's protégé,
Marin Marais (Gerard Depardieu), a man of more commercial
sensibilities. Leisurely and luxurious, All the Mornings of the
World deservedly swept France's Cesar Awards (the Gallic
equivalent of the Oscars). Watch for Gerard Depardieu's
real-life son Guillaume Depardieu as the younger Marin Marais.
All the Mornings is better known by its original French
title, Tous les Matins du Monde.
Blu-ray Release date: November
19th, 2013
The Secret Six - Wallace
Beery gives a powerhouse performance in this hard-boiled
Pre-Code crime saga costarring Clark Gable and Jean Harlow in
her M-G-M debut. Beery stars as Louis Scorpio, a stockyard
worker who takes over a bootlegging gang run by small-town
hoodlum Johnny Franks (Ralph Bellamy in his screen debut).
Muscling into the big city rackets, Scorpio is targeted by the
Secret Six, a masked tribunal that works with reporter
Carl Luckner (Gable) to dig up the dirt that could convict the
mobster and send him straight to the chair. Borrowed from Howard
Hughes, Jean Harlow was cast as one of Scorpio’s molls, sharing
a few scenes with the up-and-coming Gable. Although his part was
small at first, Gable’s role was beefed up during production,
eventually tripling in size. Within a year, the pair would
become two of M-G-M’s biggest stars, reteaming five more times
before Harlow’s untimely death in 1937. DVD Release Date:
October 16th, 2012
Sanguivorous - It
incorporates a physical acting style that draws heavily from
butoh, a form of Japanese dance. A young woman suffering strange
hallucinations and physical ailments discovers that she is the
descendant of an ancient line of European vampires, and she and
her boyfriend are soon captured by older vampires and drawn into
the darkness. DVD Release Date: November 19th, 2013
Jean Harlow - 100th Anniversary Collection
- BOMBSHELL Glamour queen Lola (Harlow) is quitting the
movie biz – something her manipulative press agent (Lee Tracy)
can’t allow! THE GIRL FROM MISSOURI Eadie’s not easy! A
plucky bachelorette (Harlow) intends to bag a New York
millionaire…without abandoning her virtue. RECKLESS
Harlow goes dramatic as a Broadway star accused of murder after
the death of her high-living, high-society hubby. With William
Powell, the last real-life love of Harlow’s short life.
RIFFRAFF She works in a cannery. He’s a fisherman. But their
playful romance is fated to give way to a tragedy surrounding
union activism. She’s Harlow, he’s Spencer Tracy. SUZY A
heroine buffeted by fate! Harlow, Cary Grant and Franchot Tone
in a World War I triangle of romance and spy intrigue.
PERSONAL PROPERTY Glittery fun! Debt-ridden socialite Harlow
puts on a show of wealth to impress a suitor who’s also making a
pretense of fortune. Robert Taylor is the butler who sees
through the ruses. SARATOGA The flag is up for
thoroughbred fun as Harlow is engaged to a millionaire, but
drawn to Clark Gable. DVD Release Date: November 14th, 2011
Reckless - Reckless is a
delightfully breezy screwball comedy from the same director
(Victor Fleming) and star (Jean Harlow) responsible for the
celebrated Bombshell (itself a film à clef loosely based
on Clara Bow) -- with the added appeal of William Powell. One
can readily see the chemistry between the two stars at work,
which would lead to their impending marriage at the time of
Harlow's death a year later. The sets for the Broadway number
that Harlow's Mona Leslie performs in are also extraordinary.
Mona Leslie (Jean Harlow) is an up-and-coming Broadway actress,
dancer, and singer, who leads a happy-go-lucky, freewheeling
lifestyle; bailed out of jail by family friend Ned Riley
(William Powell), a sports promoter who loves Mona but won't
slow down his lifestyle long enough to give her the satisfaction
of admitting it, she performs in a bizarre "benefit" show, only
to discover that she has an audience of one, wealthy admirer Bob
Harrison (Franchot Tone). He declares his love for her and a
romance does develop, but when he proposes marriage, he
discovers that his upper-crust set won't accept a showgirl as
one of their blue-blood crowd. DVD Release Date: October
25th, 2011
The ABCs of Death - The
ABC s OF DEATH is perhaps the most ambitious anthology film
ever conceived with productions spanning fifteen countries and
featuring segments directed by over two dozen of the world's
leading talents in contemporary genre film. Inspired by children
s educational books, the motion picture is comprised of twenty -
six individual chapters, each helmed by a different director
assigned a letter of the alphabet. The directors were then given
free reign in choosing a word to create a story involving death.
Provocative, shocking, funny and ultimately confrontational,
THE ABC s OF DEATH is the definitive vision of modern horror
diversity. Monster Pictures are proud to present this
alphabetical arsenal of destruction orchestrated by what
Fangoria calls "a stunning roll call of some of the most
exciting names in horror across the world". DVD Release
Date: July 22nd, 2013
The Girl From Missouri -
Originally titled Eadie was a Lady, this Jean Harlow vehicle was
slated for release under the title Born to be Kissed, but the
new Production Code vetoed this "suggestive" cognomen. After a
brief and uncomfortable period as One Hundred Percent Pure, the
film was finally shipped to theaters as The Girl From Missouri.
Harlow plays Eadie, a sexy gold-digger who promises to remain
chaste until she finds a wealthy husband. Travelling to New York
in the company of her best friend Kitty (Patsy Kelly), Eadie
manages to keep that promise, though for a while it looks as
though she'll succumb to the charms of playboy T. R. Paige Jr. (Franchot
Tone). Once Paige has proven that his intentions are basically
honorable, Eadie must break down the resistance of T. R. Paige
Sr. (Lionel Barrymore), who is dead-set against his son's
romance and intends to frame the girl in a compromising
position. She gets even with Paige Sr. by framing him, but
there's still a couple of reels to go before the happy ending.
Except for some provocative costuming, Jean Harlow's character
is essentially decent, thereby "cleansing" some of the more
risque elements of this enjoyable romantic comedy. The film's
best line is delivered by Patsy Kelly who, when propositioned by
an elderly roue, snarls "Look at this! Death takes a holiday!
DVD Release Date: October 25, 2011
Bombshell - Jean Harlow is
the "bombshell" of the title, a popular movie actress named
Lola. Though she seemingly has everything a girl could possibly
want, Lola is fed up with her sponging relatives, her "work til
you drop" studio, and the nonsensical publicity campaigns
conducted by press agent Lee Tracy. She tries to escape
Hollywood by marrying a titled foreign nobleman, but Tracy has
the poor guy arrested as an illegal alien. Finally Lola finds
what she thinks is perfect love in the arms of aristocratic
Franchot Tone, but she renounces Tone when his snooty father C.
Aubrey Smith looks down his nose at Lola and her profession.
Upon discovering that Tone and his entire family were actors
hired by Tracy, Lola goes ballistic--until she realizes that
Tracy, for all his bluff and chicanery, is the man who truly
loves her. Allegedly based on the career of Clara Bow (who, like
Lola, had a parasitic family and a duplicitous private
secretary), Bombshell is a prime example of Jean Harlow
at her comic best. So as not to mislead audiences into thinking
this was a war picture, MGM retitled the film Blonde
Bombshell for its initial run. DVD Release Date: October
25th, 2011
Out in the Dark - Nimer, an
ambitious Palestinian student in the West Bank, dreams of a
better life abroad. One fateful night in Tel Aviv, he meets Roy,
an Israeli lawyer, and the two fall in love. As their
relationship deepens, they are both confronted with the harsh
realities of a Palestinian society that refuses to accept Nimer
for his sexual identity, and an Israeli society that rejects him
for his nationality. When Nimer s close friend is caught hiding
illegally in Tel Aviv and sent back to the West Bank, where he
is brutally murdered, Nimer is forced to choose between the life
he thought he wanted and his love for Roy. DVD Release Date:
November 5th, 2013
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