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Ming-liang Tsai's Acclaimed Drama 'Stray Dogs' Dated for Blu-ray[teaser]The Grand Jury Prize Winner at the 70th Venice International Film Festival is bound for Blu-ray in January. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, the Cinema Guild will be releasing 'Stray Dogs' on Blu-ray on January 13. A single father makes his meager living holding up an advertising placard on a traffic island in the middle of a busy highway. His children wait out their days in supermarkets before they eat with their father and go to sleep in an abandoned building. As the father starts to come apart, a woman in the supermarket takes the children under her wing. There are real stray dogs to be fed in Tsai's everyday apocalypse, but the title also refers to its principal characters, living the cruelest of existences on the ragged edges of the modern world. 'Stray Dogs' is many things at once: minimal in its narrative content and syntax, as visually powerful as it is emotionally overwhelming, and bracingly pure in both its anger and its compassion. One of the finest works of an extraordinary artist. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, a lossless 5.1 soundtrack, and supplements include: Journey to the West, a film by Tsai Ming-liang (2014, 52 minutes), Theatrical Trailer, the Blu-ray exclusive Tsai Ming-liang Master Class at the Cinémathèque Française, and a booklet featuring essay by Jonathan Rosenbaum. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $34.95. You can find the latest specs for 'Stray Dogs' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it is indexed under January 13. Order the Blu-rayPosted Wed Nov 26, 2014 at 06:00 AM PST by: -
'Battlestar Galactica: The Remastered Collection' and 'Battlestar Galactica: The Definitive Collection' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]The classic original sci-fi series and the 1980 spin-off are bound for Blu-ray in May. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Universal says they are preparing 'Battlestar Galactica: The Remastered Collection' and 'Battlestar Galactica: The Definitive Collection' for Blu-ray on May 12. From renowned writer/producer Glen A. Larson, the creative force behind Knight Rider, The Six Million Dollar Man, and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, comes the groundbreaking TV series that launched one of the most beloved sci-fi franchises in history, available in widescreen and high definition as Battlestar Galactica: The Definitive Collection and Battlestar Galactica: The Remastered Collection. These essential collections for Battlestar Galactica devotees include all 24 explosive episodes of Battlestar Galactica: The Original Series plus the complete 10-episode spin-off series, Galactica 1980. Newly remastered in 16:9 widescreen presentation for the very first time, Battlestar Galactica: The Remastered Collection features both pioneering series meticulously reformatted to be optimized for the HDTV viewing experience. Battlestar Galactica: The Definitive Collection also includes both series in 4:3 Full Frame as they were originally televised, plus the theatrical version of the premiere episode "Saga of a Star World," presented in 1.85:1 widescreen for the ultimate collector. This epic adventure, which provided the inspiration for the critically acclaimed 2004 Syfy reimagined series, comes with over 4 hours of bonus features, including over 3 hours of deleted scenes from Battlestar Galactica: The Original Series. These collections also includes featurettes such as "Glen Larson on the Creation of Battlestar Galactica" and "Stu Phillips: Composing the Score" with an inside look at the genesis of this remarkable production, and "Remembering Battlestar Galactica," a 45-minute retrospective documentary featuring cast and crew on the making of this ground-breaking series. Suggested list price for the Remastered Collection is $119.98 while the Definitive Collection is set at $149.98. You can find the latest specs for 'Battlestar Galactica: The Remastered Collection' and 'Battlestar Galactica: The Definitive Collection' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where they're indexed under May 12. Order the Remastered Blu-ray Order the Definitive Blu-rayPosted Tue Nov 25, 2014 at 01:00 PM PST by: -
Blu-ray Pre-Orders for the Action-Packed 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1' starring Jennifer Lawrence Now Live[teaser]Pre-order your copy of the Blu-ray now. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Lionsgate says 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1' will be coming to Blu-ray in the coming months. The worldwide phenomenon of The Hunger Games continues to set the world on fire with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, which finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage. Specs and supplements have yet to be revealed, but suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $39.99. You can find the latest specs for 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it is indexed under PENDING. Order the Blu-rayPosted Tue Nov 25, 2014 at 12:00 PM PST by: -
High-Def Digest Asks Kevin Smith, John Turturro, Jim Rash, and Nat Faxon to Share their Favorite Film ScenesEver since I was old enough to crawl, I've loved everything about movies. I loved how they were made, the visual effects, the acting, the dialogue, and the whole movie-making process. I would and still do quote dialogue from movies on a regular basis. The first piece of dialogue I remember quoting in front of people was Robin Williams' monologues as Adrian Cronauer from 'Good Morning, Vietnam'. And yes, I remembered the entire thing, complete with dialects and accents. As I got older, I became more interested in not being in front of the camera (Yes, I was an actor and model - JC Penney Husky Size), but being behind the camera, making movies and writing screenplays. Heck, it's what I did in college for five years, and still continue to work in that field today. One of my favorite questions to ask people I meet is 'What are some of your favorite scenes from movies that have always stuck with you?" I like this question more than the usual "What is your favorite film, because it causes the person to think harder on which films they hold close to their hearts and are more passionate about. Fortunately for me, I've been very lucky over the past several years in being a journalist. Since about 2002, I've been able to interview a wide variety of filmmakers, actors, and writers for their latest film or the work they are most known for. One of the questions I always ask everyone is, 'What are some of your favorite scenes from movies that have always stuck with you?" The answers are always fun and often spectacular. I've included some of my favorites beloew. If you all enjoy these little videos, I'll keep making them. Here are the first three. Kevin Smith (Director and actor of 'Clerks', 'Mallrats', 'Chasing Amy', and 'Tusk') I had the distinct honor of talk with the legendary director Kevin Smith in Austin, TX at Fantastic Fest 2014. Smith is one of the pioneers of the indie film genre with cult hits such as 'Clerks', 'Mallrats', 'Chasing Amy', 'Dogma', 'Jersey Girl', and 'Red State'. His new film, 'Tusk' is quite the film. I've never seen anything like it. In the video, we discuss his 'Red State' premiere in Kansas City, 'Tusk', and his favorite scene in film, which might surprise some of you. It was a pleasure to talk with him and go see 'TUSK'. Enjoy! John Turturro (Actor and director of 'Fading Gigolo', co-star of 'The Big Lebowski', and 'Rounders') I had the great pleasure of sitting down with the legendary actor/writer/director John Turturro to discuss his new film, 'Fading Gigolo'. We talked about making the movie, casting Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Sofia Vergara, and Liev Schreiber, as well as some of his favorite moments in film. We even got Mr. Turturro to reprise his Jesus Quintana character from 'The Big Lebowski' and asked him about his bowling skills and the tournament with the Dude and Walter. It was such a fun interview in Dallas, TX., and his film 'Fading Gigolo' is one of the best films of the year. Go See it. His favorite scenes from movies are from 'Angels with Dirty Faces', 'Casablanca', 'On the Waterfront', 'The Godfather', 'Mean Streets', and 'Dog Day Afternoon'. Skip to the 6:14 mark to hear his response. Jim Rash and Nat Faxon (Actors and Directors of 'The Way Way Back', 'The Descendants', 'Community', and 'Beerfest') I sat down with writers/actors/directors Jim Rash and Nat Faxon a few weeks ago in Dallas to discuss their amazing film, ‘The Way Way Back‘. They couldn’t have been nicer and we had a great conversation about the filmmaking process, some of their favorite movies, and much more. Their favorite scenes from movies are from 'Raising Arizona', 'Broadcast News', 'Wet Hot American Summer', 'Ordinary People', 'Major League', 'Naked Gun', 'Austin Powers', and 'SNL'. Skip to the 7:20 mark to hear their response. Part 2 is coming soon, where you can expect interviews from Keanu Reeves, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and many more.Posted Tue Nov 25, 2014 at 10:01 AM PST by: -
Israel Horovitz's Comedy 'My Old Lady' Starring Kevin Kline Announced Blu-ray[teaser]The film co-stars Maggie Smith and Kristin Scott Thomas. Pre-order are available here. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Universal says 'My Old Lady' will be released on Blu-ray on January 27. Mathias (Kevin Kline) is a down-and-out New Yorker who travels to Paris to liquidate a huge, valuable apartment he has inherited from his estranged father. Once there, however, he discovers a refined old woman Mathilde (Maggie Smith) living in the apartment with her daughter Chloé (Kristin Scott Thomas). Mathias quickly learns that the apartment is a "viager" – an ancient French system for buying and selling apartments – and that he will not actually get possession of the apartment until Mathilde dies. While working with a Parisian real-estate dealer (Dominique Pinon), to sell his contract for the apartment, Mathias discovers that Mathilde and his father were lovers for more than 50 years. The Blu-ray/Ultraviolet combo pack will feature 1080p video, a lossless 5.1 soundtrack, and the only supplement will be 92nd Street Y Annette Insdorf Interview with Kevin Kline and Israel Horovitz. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $34.98. You can find the latest specs for 'My Old Lady' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it is indexed under January 27. Order the Blu-rayPosted Tue Nov 25, 2014 at 10:00 AM PST by: -
Lenny Abrahamson's Offbeat Comedy 'Frank' Announced for Blu-ray[teaser]The R-rated film starring Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson, and Maggie Gyllenhaal will be available on Blu-ray in December. Pre-orders are now available. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Magnolia will be releasing 'Frank' on Blu-ray on December 9. Michael Fassbender stars as Frank, a genius rock musician who performs wearing a giant fake head that he never removes. Things get rocky between his protective bandmate Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and newcomer Jon (Domhnall Gleeson), who is convinced they're meant for stardom. The band lands their biggest gig, but are they ready? And is the world? Specs haven't been revealed yet, but supplements include: AXS TV: A Look at Frank and Theatrical Trailer. Suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $29.98. You can find the latest specs for 'Frank' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under December 9. Order the Blu-rayPosted Tue Nov 25, 2014 at 08:00 AM PST by: -
'The ABCs of Death 2' Dated for Blu-ray[teaser]The horror sequel is set to arrive on Blu-ray in February. Pre-order the Blu-ray. [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Magnolia will be releasing 'The ABCs of Death 2' on Blu-ray on February 3. 'The ABC’s OF DEATH 2' is the follow-up to the most ambitious anthology film ever conceived with productions spanning from Nigeria to UK to Brazil and everywhere in between. It features segments directed by over two dozen of the world's leading talents in contemporary genre film. The film 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 rein in choosing a word to create a story involving death. Specs and supplements haven't been revealed yet, but the suggested list price for the Blu-ray is $29.98. You can find the latest specs for 'The ABCs of Death 2' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under February 3.Posted Tue Nov 25, 2014 at 06:00 AM PST by: -
HDD Deal of the Week: 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' Blu-rays Up To 75 Percent Off[teaser]Getting a jump start on Black Friday, Amazon is offering huge savings on the classic TV series on Blu-ray![/teaser] Amazon is selling 'Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 1' for $19.99, 'Season 2' for $31.99, 'Season 3' for $31.67, 'Season 4' for $31.67, 'Season 5' for $31.29, and 'Season 6' for $31.91. Click here to beam these great deals to your Blu-ray collection today! This offer is available from now through November 30.Posted Mon Nov 24, 2014 at 12:29 PM PST by: -
Criterion's February Blu-ray Titles Now Available for Pre-Order![teaser]The distributor has revealed its upcoming slate of February releases, including Nicolas Roeg's 'Don't Look Now' and Yasujirô Ozu's 'An Autumn Afternoon.' [/teaser] In an early announcement to retailers, Criterion is preparing 'Every Man for Himself,' 'A Day in the Country,' 'Don't Look Now,' 'An Autumn Afternoon,' 'Fellini Satyricon,' and 'Watership Down' for Blu-ray throughout the month of February. 'Every Man for Himself' (February 3) - After a decade in the wilds of avant-garde and early video experimentation, Jean-Luc Godard returned to commercial cinema with this work of social commentary, star-driven and narrative while remaining defiantly intellectual and visually cutting-edge. 'Every Man for Himself,' featuring a script by Jean-Claude Carrière and Anne-Marie Miéville, looks at the sexual and professional lives of three people—a television producer (Jacques Dutronc), his ex-girlfriend (Nathalie Baye), and a prostitute (Isabelle Huppert)—to create a meditative story about work, relationships, and the notion of freedom. Made twenty years into his career, the film was, according to Godard, a second debut. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, an uncompressed French mono soundtrack, and supplements will include: Le scénario (1979), a short video created by director Jean-Luc Godard to secure financing for Every Man for Himself; New video essay by critic Colin MacCabe; New interviews with actor Isabelle Huppert and producer Marin Karmitz; Archival interviews with actor Nathalie Baye, cinematographers Renato Berta and William Lubtchansky, and composer Gabriel Yared; Two back-to-back 1980 appearances by Godard on The Dick Cavett Show; Godard 1980, a short film by Jon Jost, Donald Ranvaud, and Peter Wollen, featuring Godard; Trailer; PLUS: An essay by critic Amy Taubin. Order the Blu-ray 'A Day in the Country' (February 10) - This bittersweet work from Jean Renoir, based on a story by Guy de Maupassant, is a tenderly comic idyll about a city family’s picnic in the French countryside and the romancing of the mother and grown daughter by two local men. Conceived as part of a larger project that was never completed, shot in 1936, and released ten years later, the warmly humanist vignette 'A Day in the Country' ranks among Renoir’s most lyrical films, with a love for nature imbuing its every beautiful frame. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, an uncompressed French mono soundtrack, and supplements will include: Introduction by director Jean Renoir from 1962; New interview with Renoir scholar Christopher Faulkner about the film’s production; New video essay by Faulkner on Renoir’s methods; Un tournage à la campagne, an 89-minute 1994 compilation of outtakes from the film; Interview with producer Pierre Braunberger from 1979; Screen tests; PLUS: An essay by film scholar Gilberto Perez. Order the Blu-ray 'Don't Look Now' (February 10) - Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie mesmerize as a married couple on an extended trip to Venice following a family tragedy. While in that elegantly decaying city, they have a series of inexplicable, terrifying, and increasingly dangerous experiences. A masterpiece from Nicolas Roeg, 'Don’t Look Now,' adapted from a story by Daphne du Maurier, is a brilliantly disturbing tale of the supernatural, as renowned for its innovative editing and haunting cinematography as its explicit eroticism and unforgettable denouement, one of the great endings in horror history. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, an uncompressed English mono soundtrack, and supplements will include: New conversation between the film’s editor, Graeme Clifford, and film writer Bobbie O’Steen; "Don’t Look Now," Looking Back, a short 2002 documentary featuring Roeg, Clifford, and cinematographer Anthony Richmond; Death in Venice, a 2006 interview with composer Pino Donaggio; Something Interesting, a new documentary on the writing and making of the film, featuring interviews with Richmond, actors Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland, and coscreenwriter Allan Scott; Nicolas Roeg: The Enigma of Film, a new documentary on Roeg’s style, featuring interviews with filmmakers Danny Boyle and Steven Soderbergh; Q&A with Roeg at London’s Ciné Lumière from 2003; Trailer; PLUS: An essay by film critic David Thompson. Order the Blu-ray 'An Autumn Afternoon' (February 17) - The final film from Yasujiro Ozu was also his last masterpiece, a gently heartbreaking story about a man’s dignifed resignation to life’s shifting currents and society’s modernization. Though widower Shuhei (frequent Ozu leading man Chishu Ryu) has been living comfortably for years with his grown daughter, a series of events leads him to accept and encourage her marriage and departure from their home. As elegantly composed and achingly tender as any of the Japanese master’s films, 'An Autumn Afternoon' is one of cinema’s fondest farewells. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, an uncompressed Japanese mono soundtrack, and supplements will include: Audio commentary featuring film scholar David Bordwell, author of Ozu and the Poetics of Cinema; Excerpts from Yasujiro Ozu and “The Taste of Sake," a 1978 French television program, featuring critics Michel Ciment and Georges Perec, that looks back on Ozu’s career; Trailer; PLUS: Essays by critic Geoff Andrew and scholar Donald Richie. Order the Blu-ray 'Fellini Satyricon' (February 24) - Federico Fellini's career achieved new levels of eccentricity and brilliance with this remarkable, controversial, extremely loose adaptation of Petronius's classical Roman satire, written during the reign of Nero. An episodic barrage of sexual licentiousness, godless violence, and eye-catching grotesquerie, 'Fellini Satyricon' follows the exploits of two pansexual young men—the handsome scholar Encolpius and his vulgar, insatiably lusty friend Ascyltus—as they move through a landscape of free-form pagan excess. Creating apparent chaos with exquisite control, Fellini constructs a weird old world that feels like science fiction. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, an uncompressed Italian mono soundtrack, and supplements will include: Audio commentary featuring an adaptation of Eileen Lanouette Hughes’s memoir On the Set of “Fellini Satyricon”: A Behind-the-Scenes Diary; Ciao, Federico!, Gideon Bachmann’s hour-long documentary shot on the set of Fellini Satyricon; Archival interviews with director Federico Fellini; New interview with cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno; New documentary about Fellini’s adaptation of Petronius’s work, featuring interviews with classicists Luca Canali, a consultant on the film, and Joanna Paul; New interview with photographer Mary Ellen Mark about her experiences on the set and her iconic photographs of Fellini and his film; Felliniana, a presentation of Fellini Satyricon ephemera from the collection of Don Young; Trailer; PLUS: An essay by film critic Michael Wood. Order the Blu-ray 'Watership Down' (February 24) - With this passion project, screenwriter-producer-director Martin Rosen brilliantly achieved what was thought difficult, if not impossible: a faithful big-screen adaptation of Richard Adams’s classic British dystopian novel about a community of rabbits seeking safety and happiness after their warren comes under terrible threat. With its naturalistic hand-drawn animation, dreamily expressionistic touches, gorgeously bucolic background design, and elegant voice work from such superb English actors as John Hurt, Ralph Richardson, Richard Briers, and Denholm Elliott, 'Watership Down' is an emotionally arresting, dark-toned allegory about freedom amid political turmoil. The Blu-ray will feature 1080p video, an uncompressed English 2.0 soundtrack, and supplements will include: New interview with director Martin Rosen; New appreciation of the film by director Guillermo del Toro; Defining a Style, a 2005 featurette about the film’s aesthetic; trailer; PLUS: An essay by comic book writer Gerard Jones Order the Blu-ray Suggested list price for each Blu-ray is $39.95. You can find the latest specs for all of the titles listed above linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where they're indexed throughout February.Posted Mon Nov 24, 2014 at 12:00 PM PST by: -
Blu-ray Features Added for Walter Hill's 'Supernova', starring James Spader and Angela Bassett[teaser]The 2000 space adventure arrives on Blu-ray in January. [/teaser] As previously reported, Scream Factory will be releasing 'Supernova' on Blu-ray on January 13. Supernova is a science fiction thriller that chronicles the high-stakes adventures of a deep space hospital ship and its six member crew. When their vessel, the Nightingale 229, answers an emergency distress signal from a distant galaxy, the crew soon finds itself in danger from the mysterious young man they rescue, the alien artifact he smuggled aboard and the gravitational pull of a giant star about to go supernova -- the most massive explosion in the universe. Specs have yet to be revealed, but supplements include: The Making of Supernova featuring new interviews with actors Lou Diamond Phillips and Robert Forster, producer Daniel Chuba and filmmaker Jack Sholder; Deleted Scenes; Alternate Ending; and Theatrical Trailer. You can find the latest specs for 'Supernova' linked from our Blu-ray Release Schedule, where it's indexed under January 13. Order the Blu-rayPosted Mon Nov 24, 2014 at 10:00 AM PST by:
