Category: Blu-Ray Review

Willem Dafoe in THE LOVELESS Available on Blu-ray July 9th From Arrow Video

Willem Dafoe in THE LOVELESS will be available on Blu-ray July 9th From Arrow Video

“THEY RE GOING NOWHERE… FAST!”

The United States, late 1950s. A time of generational conflict, of immense social change, of bold fashions and toe-tapping music just some of the elements that collide in thrilling fashion in The Loveless, the feature debut of both its star, Willem Dafoe (To Live and Die in LA), and its directors, Monty Montgomery (producer, David Lynch s Wild at Heart) and future Academy Award®-winner* Kathryn Bigelow (Near Dark, Detroit).

A motorcycle gang roars into a small southern town en route to the Daytona races, unnerving and angering the locals with their standoffish attitude and disrespect for social niceties. When one of their number, the charismatic Vance (Dafoe), hooks up with sportscar-driving Telena (Marin Kanter, Endangered Species), he incurs the wrath of the girl s father, setting the gang on a collision course with the rest of the town as simmering tensions boil over into violent retribution.

Raw, angry and honest, The Loveless evokes, with unflinching clarity, both an attitude and a bygone era, exploring the tensions between two very different Americas now fully restored and presented in high definition for the first time in this feature-packed new edition from Arrow Video!

* 2010, Best Director, Best Picture: The Hurt Locker. ACADEMY AWARD® is a registered trademark and service mark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

·  Brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative by Arrow Films, approved by co-writer/co-director Monty Montgomery and director of photography Doyle Smith

·  High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation

·  Original lossless mono audio

·  Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

·  New audio commentary with co-writer/co-director Monty Montgomery, moderated by Elijah Drenner

·  No Man s Friend Today: Making The Loveless, new video interviews with actors Willem Dafoe, Marin Kanter, Robert Gordon, Phillip Kimbrough and Lawrence Matarese

·  U.S. 17: Shooting The Loveless, new video interviews with producers Grafton Nunes and A. Kitman Ho

·  Chrome and Hot Leather: The Look of The Loveless, new interviews with production designer Lilly Kilvert and director of photography Doyle Smith

·  Relentless, new audio interview with musician Eddy Dixon

·  Extensive image gallery, including on-set photographs, storyboards and original production documentation

·  Theatrical trailer

·  Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx

·  FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Peter Stanfield

Robert Pattinson in HIGH LIFE Arrives on Blu-ray and DVD July 9th

An A-list cast stars in the haunting, thrilling, and visually stunning space odyssey High Life,arriving on Blu-ray™ (plus Digital) and DVD July 9 from Lionsgate. The film will also be available on Digital on June 11 and On Demand on June 25 from A24. Visionary director Claire Denis brings this eerie sci-fi film to life with stars Robert Pattinson, Academy Award® winner Juliette Binoche (1996, Best Supporting Actress, The English Patient), André Benjamin, and Mia Goth. “A stunning space odyssey that will blow your mind” (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone), the Rotten Tomatoes Certified Fresh™ film premiered at the 2018 Toronto Film Festival to rave reviews. TheHigh Life Blu-ray and DVD will include two making-of featurettes and will be available for the suggested retail price of $24.99 and $19.98, respectively.

Monte (Pattinson) and his baby daughter are the last survivors of a damned and dangerous mission to the outer reaches of the solar system. The crew—death-row inmates led by a doctor (Binoche) with sinister motives—has vanished. As the mystery of what happened unravels, father and daughter must rely on each other to survive.

BLU-RAY / DVD SPECIAL FEATURES

·         “Audacious, Passionate, and Dangerous: Making High Life” Featurette

·         “Visualizing the Abyss: The Look of High Life” Featurette 

CAST

Robert Pattinson         Damsel, Good Time, Twilight franchise

Juliette Binoche          The English Patient, Chocolat, Ghost in the Shell 

André Benjamin          TV’s “American Crime,” Jimi: All Is By My Side, Semi-Pro

Mia Goth                     Suspiria, The Secret of Marrowbone, A Cure for Wellness

SWING KIDS Starring K-pop Star Do Kyung-soo Now Available on Blu-ray

Beloved K-pop star Do Kyung-soo leads the rhythm in SWING KIDS, which debuted on Blu-ray June 18th from Well Go USA Entertainment. In order to get through the trials and tribulations of war, soldiers at a POW camp find a way to cope through dance. Directed by Kang Hyoung-Chul, the film also stars Jared Grimes (“Manifest”), Park Hye-Su (Will You Be There?), Oh Jung-Se (Rosebud, Fabricated City) and Kim Min-Ho (“Queen for Seven Days”).

In this swinging musical drama set during the Korean War, the soldiers at a POW camp plan a tap show to distract both themselves and the prisoners from the hardships of war. Led by a former Broadway dancer and a rebellious North Korean soldier, the band of prisoners find a new sense of freedom in dancing..

SWING KIDS has a runtime of approximately 134 minutes and is not rated.

Dolph vs Zombies! DEAD TRIGGER Arrives on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital July 2nd

Dolph Lundgren leads an epic battle against a horde of bloodthirsty zombies in Dead Trigger, on Blu-ray™ (plus Digital), DVD, and Digital July 2 from Lionsgate. This film is currently available On Demand. Based on the popular first-person shooter game of the same name, and from a producer of Machete Kills, the film also stars Autumn Resser, Romeo Miller, and Isaiah Washington. The Dead Trigger Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $21.99 and $19.98, respectively.OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS

After a mysterious virus kills billions and creates scores of zombies, the government develops a video game – Dead Trigger – that simulates the outbreak, then recruits the game’s best zombie killers to combat the real-life horde. Led by Captain Kyle Walker (DolphLundgren) to Terminal City, the virus’s point of origin, the players’ mission is simple: find the team of scientists working on a cure. But wiping out the city’s undead legions will test every Dead Trigger skill they possess.

CAST

Dolph Lundgren                      Rocky IV, Johnny Mnemonic, The Expendables franchise

Autumn Reeser                       Sully, TV’s “The O.C.” and “Entourage”

Romeo Miller                           Honey, TV’s “Famous In Love” and “Romeo!”

Isaiah Washington                  TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” Exit Wounds, Hollywood Homicide

Frank Sinatra in NONE BUT THE BRAVE Available on Blu-ray From Warner Archives

Great new for Frank Sinatra fans. NONE BUT THE BRAVE is currently available on Blu-ray From Warner Archives. Ordering information can be found HERE

A crippled C-47 transport crash-lands on a remote Pacific island. For the Marines aboard, World War II becomes smaller, but no less deadly. The atoll is held by a Japanese platoon, also cut off from its command.

Debuting director Frank Sinatra stars in this suspenseful war saga, joined by Clint Walker, Tony Bill and Olympic champion Rafer Johnson. After initial bullet-laced confrontations, the Japanese leader (Tatsuya Mihashi) offers to swap water for the aid of Pharmacist Mate Maloney (Sinatra), whom he has mistaken for a doctor. When Maloney amputates the leg of a Japanese soldier and saves his life, peace results. But can it last? There are two sides to every war. None but the Brave skillfully shows the heroism of both.

Frank Sinatra added “director’ to his astonishing resume of wonder with this taut anti-war drama that looked back at World War II with a prescient message for a nation currently wading into the morass of Vietnam. A Japanese-American co-production (the first such venture) and adapted from a Japanese story, None But The Brave plays out a parallel tale of two sides enjoying a fragile truce told from the perspective of its narrator (Tatsuya Mihashi, High and Low), a reluctant soldier in command of a group of stranded Japanese soldiers. When a crippled C-47 carrying a complement of Marines crash lands on their island, the War in the Pacific plays out in miniature. Director Sinatra wisely lays back in his role as Pharmacist Mate turned medic Maloney, giving the heavy lifting to Mihashi and Clint Walker (The Dirty Dozen) as the commander of the American forces – eliciting powerful performances from both. This oft-overlooked war drama gets the sheen it long deserves with this sharp and striking presentation in 1080p HD. 16×9 Letterbox

AMERICAN HORROR PROJECT Vol. 2 Available on Blu-ray June 25th From Arrow Video – DREAM NO EVIL, DARK AUGUST, and THE CHILD

Continuing its mission to unearth the very best in weird and wonderful horror obscura from the golden age of US independent genre moviemaking, Arrow Video is proud to present the long-awaited second volume in its American Horror Project series co-curated by author Stephen Thrower (Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents).

Starting off with a little-seen 1970 offering from underrated cult auteur John Hayes (Grave of the Vampire, Garden of the Dead), Dream No Evil is a haunting, moving tale of a young woman’s desperate quest to be reunited with her long-lost father – only to find herself drawn into a fantasyland of homicidal madness. Meanwhile, 1976’s Dark August stars Academy Award-winner Kim Hunter (A Streetcar Named Desire) in a story of a man pursued by a terrifying and deadly curse in the wake of a hit-and-run accident. Lastly, 1977’s Harry Novak-produced The Child is a gloriously delirious slice of horror mayhem in which a young girl raises an army of the dead against the people she holds responsible for her mother’s death.

With all three films having been newly remastered from the best surviving film elements and appearing here for the first time ever on Blu-ray, alongside a wealth of supplementary material, American Horror Project Volume Two offers up yet another fascinating and blood-chilling foray into the deepest, darkest corners of stars-and-stripes terror.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

  • Brand new 2K restorations from original film elements
  • Original uncompressed PCM mono audio
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Reversible sleeves for each film featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by The Twins of Evil
  • American Horror Project Journal Vol. II – limited edition 60-page booklet featuring new writing on the films by Stephen R. Bissette, Travis Crawford and Amanda Reyes

DREAM NO EVIL

  • Filmed appreciation by Stephen Thrower
  • Brand new audio commentary with Kat Ellinger and Samm Deighan
  • Hollywood After Dark: The Early Films of John Hayes, 1959-1971 – brand new video essay by Stephen Thrower looking at Hayes’ filmography leading up to Dream No Evil
  • Writer Chris Poggiali on the prodigious career of celebrated character actor Edmond O’Brien
  • Excerpts from an audio interview with actress Rue McClanahan (The Golden Girls) discussing her many cinematic collaborations with director John Hayes


DARK AUGUST

  • Filmed appreciation by Stephen Thrower
  • Brand new audio commentary with writer-director Martin Goldman
  • Brand new on-camera interview with Martin Goldman
  • Brand new on-camera interview with producer Marianne Kanter
  • The Hills Are Alive: Dark August and Vermont Folk Horror – author and artist Stephen R. Bissette on Dark August and its context within the wider realm of genre filmmaking out of Vermont
  • Original Press Book

THE CHILD

  • 1.37:1 and 1.85:1 presentations of the feature
  • Filmed appreciation by Stephen Thrower
  • Brand new audio commentary with director Robert Voskanian and producer Robert Dadashian, moderated by Stephen Thrower
  • Brand new on-camera interviews with Robert Voskanian and Robert Dadashian
  • Original Theatrical Trailer
  • Original Press Book

John Travolta and Morgan Freeman in THE POISON ROSE Coming to Blu-ray June 25th

Oscar® nominee John Travolta (1994, Best Actor, Pulp Fiction) and Oscar® winner Morgan Freeman (2004, Best Supporting Actor, Million Dollar Baby) appear onscreen together for the first time ever in The Poison Rose, available on Blu-ray™ (plus Digital), DVD, and Digital on June 25 from Lionsgate. This film is currently available On Demand. 

Based on the novel of the same name by Richard Salvatore and directed by George Gallo (the writer of Midnight Run and Bad Boys) comes a Texas tale of murder and corruption also starring Famke Janssen, Kat Graham, Peter Stormare, Ella Bleu Travolta, with Robert Patrick and Brendan Fraser. The Poison Rose Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $21.99 and $19.98, respectively.
OFFICIAL SYNOPSISJohn Travolta, Morgan Freeman, and Brendan Fraser (The Mummy franchise) lend their talents to this searing detective thriller. Travolta plays Carson Philips, a hard-drinking L.A. private eye who takes a case in his old hometown of Galveston, Texas. While searching for a missing woman, Philips must confront a crime boss (Freeman), a shady doctor (Fraser), a sexy club singer (Kat Graham, “The Vampire Diaries”), his former lover (Famke Janssen, X-Men franchise) — and his own dark, disturbing past.

BLU-RAY AND DVD SPECIAL FEATURES

  • Audio Commentary with Director George Gallo and Writer-Producer Richard Salvatore

UNDER THE SILVER LAKE Arrives on Blu-ray and DVD July 18th

Experience the film that Time Out New York calls “a hypnotic and inspired neo-noir” (Joshua Rothkopf) when Under the Silver Lake arrives on Blu-ray™ and DVD June 18 from Lionsgate. The film will also be available on Digital and On Demand from A24 on April 23. Directed by David Robert Mitchell (It Follows), the film stars Academy Award® nominee Andrew Garfield (2016, Best Actor, Hacksaw Ridge), Riley Keough (American Honey, Logan Lucky, Mad Max: Fury Road), and Topher Grace (BlacKkKlansman, War Machine, Delirium), and was nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival. The Under the Silver Lake Blu-ray and DVD will include two making-of featurettes and will be available for the suggested retail price of $24.99 and $19.98, respectively.

From the dazzling imagination that brought you It Follows, Under the Silver Lake stars Andrew Garfield and Riley Keough in a delirious fever dream about one man’s search for the truth behind the mysterious crimes, murders, and disappearances in his East L.A. neighborhood.

BLU-RAY / DVD SPECIAL FEATURES

·         “What Lies Under the Silver Lake” Featurette

·         “Beautiful Specter” Featurette

CAST

Andrew Garfield                   Hacksaw Ridge, Silence, Breathe

Riley Keough                        American Honey, Logan Lucky, Mad Max: Fury Road

Topher Grace                                    BlacKkKlansman, War Machine, Delirium

No Static at All! FM Available on Blu-ray July 2nd from Arrow Video

FM (1978) will be available on Blu-ray July 2nd from Arrow Video

The airwaves crackle with the delectable sound of smooth rock in FM, a riotous comedy about the heady world of late-70s US radio.

Michael Brandon (Four Flies on Grey Velvet) stars as Jeff Dugan, the ultra-cool program director at Q-SKY Radio, LA’s number one rock station. Dugan encourages a free-wheeling culture at work, employing an array of eccentric DJ personalities: Mother (Eileen Brennan, Private Benjamin), a husky, world-weary ex-hippie; Eric Swan (Martin Mull, Clue), a mad-cap romantic looking for love, and The Prince of Darkness (Cleavon Little, Blazing Saddles), a cool cat who keeps the night-time airwaves alive. But when the station’s future is thrown in to jeopardy by corporate bosses looking to cash-in, the Q-SKY troupe are forced to batten down the hatches and turn up the volume – will a fully-fledged rock ‘n’ roll rebellion save the day?

Legendary cinematographer John A. Alonzo (Chinatown, Scarface) directs this slickly-produced rock film, which combines hilarious studio hijinks with epic footage of Linda Ronstadt and Jimmy Buffett in concert. FM also boasts an incredible platinum-selling soundtrack featuring a pantheon of AOR greats including Steely Dan, The Doobie Brothers, Eagles and Tom Petty (who also cameos). Now, High Fidelity meets High Definition as FM debuts on blu-ray with a selection of exciting new extras.

Special Features and Technical Specs:

  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation transferred from original film elements
  • Uncompressed stereo 2.0 PCM audio soundtrack
  • Mono 1.0 music and effects track
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • No Static at All, a newly filmed interview with Michael Brandon, the star of FM
  • Radio Chaos, a newly filmed interview with Ezra Sacks, the writer of FM
  • The Spirit of Radio, a newly filmed video appreciation of the era of FM radio and the FM soundtrack by the film and music critic Glenn Kenny
  • Extensive gallery of original stills, promotional images and soundtrack sleeves
  • Original trailers
  • Reversible sleeve featuring two original artwork options
  • First pressing only: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by writer and critic Paul Corupe

Lucio Fulci’s THE NEW YORK RIPPER Available on Blu-ray June 25th From Blue Underground

Lucio Fulci’s THE NEW YORK RIPPER (1982) will be available on Blu-ray June 25th From Blue Underground

Someone Is Taking A Big Bite Out Of The Big Apple!

A blade-wielding psychopath is on the loose, turning The Big Apple bright red with the blood of beautiful young women. As NYPD detective Fred Williams (Jack Hedley of FOR YOUR EYES ONLY) follows the trail of butchery from the decks of the Staten Island Ferry to the sex shows of Times Square, each brutal murder becomes a sadistic taunt. In the city that never sleeps, the hunt is on for the killer that can’t be stopped!

Co-written and directed by acclaimed horror maestro Lucio Fulci (ZOMBIE, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD) and filmed on location in the mean streets of New York City, this is one of Fulci’s most savage and controversial thrillers. Now Blue Underground is proud to present THE NEW YORK RIPPER in a new 4K restoration from its original camera negative, completely uncut and uncensored, and fully loaded with exclusive new Extras!

Bonus Materials

  • Audio Commentary with Troy Howarth, Author of Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films
  • The Art Of Killing – Interview with Co-Writer Dardano Sacchetti
  • Three Fingers Of Violence – Interview with Star Howard Ross
  • The Second Victim – Interview with Co-Star Cinzia de Ponti
  • The Broken Bottle Murder – Interview with Co-Star Zora Kerova
  • ‘I’m an Actress!’ – 2009 Interview with Co-Star Zora Kerova
  • The Beauty Killer – Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci
  • Paint Me Blood Red – Interview with Poster Artist Enzo Sciotti
  • NYC Locations Then and Now
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Poster & Still Gallery
  • BONUS! THE NEW YORK RIPPER Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD by Francesco De Masi
  • BONUS! Collectable Booklet with new essay by Travis Crawford
  • WORLD PREMIERE! New 4K Restoration from the uncensored original camera negative
  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD Widescreen 2.40:1 feature presentation
  • Audio: 7.1 DTS-HD (English); 1.0 DTS-HD (English, Italian); 1.0 Dolby Digital (French, Spanish)
  • Subtitles: English SDH, Francais, Espanol, English for Italian Audio

Exclusive Limited Collector’s Edition includes Blu-ray, DVD, Soundtrack CD, collectable booklet, reversible sleeve, and 3D lenticular slipcover (First Pressing Only)