DVDs

Blockbuster 'The Dark Knight' release party in Chicagoland!

prchicago — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:33:47 -0700

BAT FANS TO LINE UP
FOR ANTICIPATED “DARK KNIGHT” RELEASE

AT MIDNIGHT EVENTS
AT BLOCKBUSTER

Oak Lawn
Store to Feature Special Midnight DVD Release Party

FOR INFORMATION
CONTACT:

Toni Antonetti, PR Chicago,
847-949-0097, toni@prchicago.com

Peace Arch to release 'The Deal' on DVD, Blu-ray on Jan. 20, 2009 with William H. Macy, Meg Ryan

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:32:26 -0700

I just received the following press release.

Peace Arch Home Entertainment to Release Romantic Comedy ‘The Deal’ on DVD, Blu-ray on Jan. 20, 2009
Film Stars Oscar-Nominated Actor William H. Macy, Golden Globe-Nominated Actress Meg Ryan

LOS ANGELES (November 21, 2008) – Peace Arch® Home Entertainment, LLC, the U.S. home entertainment joint venture between Peace Arch® Entertainment Group Inc. (AMEX:PAE - News) (Toronto:PAE.TO - News) and ContentFilm plc (AIM:CFL), will release the romantic comedy The Deal, starring Oscar®-nominated actor William H. Macy and Golden Globe®-nominated actress Meg Ryan, on DVD and Blu-ray January 20, 2009.

In The Deal, featuring an all-star cast including LL Cool J, Elliot Gould and Jason Ritter, Macy plays Charlie Berns, a veteran Hollywood movie producer who has a run of bad luck until opportunity literally knocks on his door.

When his idealistic screenwriter nephew comes bearing a fantastic script, Charlie decides to postpone his self-pity to option the script and pitch it to the studios. Soon Charlie is making deals, pulling off one of the biggest hustles in the history of the movie industry. Only Charlie’s sharp-witted development executive, Deidre Hearn (Ryan), who is contending with her own problems, catches on to his scam.

The mischievous, smart screwball satire about renegade producers dealing in love and movie making was labeled “side-splittingly funny” by The Montreal Gazette at this year’s Just For Laughs Festival following its premiere at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Directed by Steven Schachter, with the screenplay written by Macy and Schachter, the film is based on the novel The Deal by Peter Lefcourt. Peace Arch® Home Entertainment, LLC, will offer The Deal for $29.99 SRP and for $34.99 on Blu-ray at all major U.S. retailers.

Talent:

* William H. Macy (Wild Hogs, Bobby, Thank You For Smoking)
* Meg Ryan (The Women, Against the Ropes, In the Land of Women, Kate and Leopold)
* LL Cool J (Last Holiday, Edison, S.W.A.T., Any Given Sunday)
* Elliot Gould (Ocean’s Thirteen, Ocean’s Twelve, “Friends”)
* Jason Ritter (W., Happy Endings)

“The Deal” Specifications:

Street Date: January 20, 2009
Pre-Book Date: December 16, 2008
Run Time: 100 minutes
Rating: R For Sexual Content and Language
Genre: Comedy
SRP: $29.99
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 WIDESCREEN (1.78:1)
Language: English
Subtitles: Spanish, English Closed Captions
Blu-ray: $34.99 SRP
Aspect Ratio: High Definition 1080p (1.78:1)
Language: English
Subtitles: Spanish, English for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired

Bonus Features:

* “Making The Deal” featurette
* Digital copy of the film

About Peace Arch Entertainment Group Inc.
Peace Arch Entertainment produces and acquires feature films, television and home entertainment content for distribution to worldwide markets. Peace Arch is one of the leading independent theatrical and home entertainment distributors in North America, and owns one of the largest libraries of top quality independent feature films in the world, featuring more than 1,000 classic and contemporary titles. For additional information, please visit www.peacearch.com.

About ContentFilm plc
ContentFilm plc (AIM: CFL) is a pre-eminent owner of media rights supported by strong film, TV and digital sales divisions. Further information on the company and details of the individual titles that make up the company’s available library is at www.contentfilm.com.

'Traitor' with Don Cheadle available on DVD, Blu-ray on Dec. 19, 2008

HollywoodChicago.com — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:59:01 -0700

I just received the following press release.

Academy Award Nominee Don Cheadle Headlines ‘Traitor’: A Taut, Topical, Political Thriller From Overture Films, Anchor Bay Entertainment
Available on DVD and Blu-ray on Friday, Dec. 19, 2008

BURBANK, CA – Academy Award® nominee, four-time Emmy Award®-nominee and Golden Globe®-Award winner Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda, Crash, Ocean’s 11, 12 and 13) gives a riveting performance in the topical and taut political thriller Traitor, which comes to DVD and Blu-ray on Friday, December 19, 2008 (pre-book November 16, 2008). This critically-acclaimed film also stars Guy Pearce (Memento, L.A. Confidential), Said Taghmaoui (“Lost”, Three Kings), Neal McDonough (“Desperate Housewives”, Flags of Our Fathers) and three-time Golden Globe®-Award nominee Jeff Daniels (Dumb and Dumber, Terms of Endearment).

Traitor is directed by screenwriter Jeffrey Nachmanoff (The Day After Tomorrow), based on an original story he wrote with five-time Golden Globe® nominee Steve Martin (The Pink Panther, Father of the Bride 1 and 2, Roxanne). SRP is $29.98 for the DVD and $39.98 for the Blu-ray.

Traitor is a taut international thriller set against a puzzle of covert counter-espionage operations. When straight-arrow FBI agent Roy Clayton (Pearce) investigates a dangerous international conspiracy responsible for a prison break in Yemen, a bombing in Nice and a raid in London, all clues seem to lead back to former U.S. Special Operations officer, Samir Horn (Cheadle). But a tangle of contradictory evidence emerges, forcing Clayton to question whether his suspect is a disaffected former military operative—or something far more complicated. Obsessed with discovering the truth, Clayton tracks Horn across the globe as the elusive ex-soldier burrows deeper and deeper into a world of shadows and intrigue. Traitor is written and directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff (screenwriter of The Day After Tomorrow).

Special features on the Traitor DVD include audio commentary with writer/director Jeffrey Nachmanoff and actor Don Cheadle, “Action! The Stunts and Special Effects of Traitor” and International Espionage: An In-Depth Look at Traitor’s Exotic Locations.” The Blu-ray release will offer he same elements plus a bonus disc with a digital copy of the feature film and will be BD-Live enabled.

Critics and audiences have been unanimous in their praise of Traitor: Joe Neumaier of NY Daily News says, “Nachmanoff fills the movie with a sense of gripping, ‘70’s style grittiness. Its story…moves like the tautest of spy thrillers…” Robert Butler of the Kansas City Star adds Traitor, “blends the elements of the international thriller…with a haunting personality study. Jeff Craig of Sixty Second Preview raves, “Smart and serious, Traitor is a top-notch thriller.” And Pete Hammond of Hollywood.com calls Traitor “this year’s Bourne Ultimatum, a nail-biting, relentless suspense thriller that will have you on edge for two solid hours.”

In addition, critics have singled out Cheadle’s powerful performance: A.O. Scott of the New York Times raves, “Cheadle’s performance gives Traitor a sense of ethical gravity and real intrigue … (he’s) as subtle an actor as any working in movies today.” “Cheadle remains the go-to man for a film like this,” raves Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times. “Don Cheadle … reaffirms his excellence,” stated Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune. “Don Cheadle has been one of the best reasons to go to the movies in recent years,” claims David Denby of the New Yorker. Christy Lemire of the Associated Press also calls Cheadle’s performance, “as smart and nuanced as ever.”

About Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment is the home entertainment division of Starz Media, LLC. It includes the Manga Entertainment brand. It distributes feature films, children’s entertainment, fitness, TV series, documentaries, anime and other filmed entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray formats. It is the exclusive distributor in the U.S. of the theatrical titles from Overture Films. Headquartered in Burbank, CA, Anchor Bay Entertainment has offices in Troy, MI, as well as Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Starz Media is a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Capital Group.

About Overture Films
Overture Films develops, produces, acquires, and distributes feature length, theatrical motion pictures worldwide. The studio is a wholly owned unit of Starz Media, a controlled subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation attributed to the Liberty Capital Group NASDAQ: LCAPA, LCAPB), a tracking stock group of Liberty Media Corporation. Its affiliated companies, Anchor Bay Entertainment and Starz Entertainment, make the films available domestically to viewers via home video, premium television, Internet and other outlets.

“Traitor” DVD
Street Date: December 19, 2008
Pre-book: November 16, 2008
Cat. #: DV80012
UPC: 0 1313 80012-9 0
Run Time: 114 Minutes
Rating: PG-13
SRP: $29.98
Format: Widescreen Presentation (16x9 1.78:1)
Audio: Dolby Surround 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Bonus Features: Audio commentary with writer/director Jeffrey Nachmanoff and Actor Don Cheadle, “Action! The Stunts and Special Effects of Traitor” and “International Espionage: An In-Depth Look at Traitor’s Exotic Locations” featurettes, theatrical trailer.

“Traitor” Blu-ray
Street Date: December 19, 2008
Pre-book: November 16, 2008
Cat. #: N3054
UPC: 0 1313 83054-8 0
Run Time: 114 Minutes
Rating: PG-13
SRP: $39.98
Format: Anamorphic Widescreen (2.40:1) 1080p AVC MPEG-4
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Bonus Features: Audio commentary with writer/director Jeffrey Nachmanoff and Actor Don Cheadle, “Action! The Stunts And Special Effects of Traitor” and “International Espionage: An In-Depth Look at Traitor’s Exotic Locations” featurettes, theatrical trailer, BD-Live enabled and bonus disc with a Digital Copy of the feature film.

The State DVD release and televised reunion

Dustin — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 12:44:14 -0700

Soon the State DVD will be release and they will have a televised reunion to coincide.

Chud has details:

http://chud.com/articles/articles/15069/1/THE-STATE-DVD-RELEASE-TO-COINC…

Milestone's restored DVD release of Sessue Hayakawa's 'The Dragon Painter' from 1919 coming

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:46:11 -0700

I just received this press release.

The Milestone Cinematheque Presents ‘The Dragon Painter’
Restored by the George Eastman House Motion Picture Department
New digital master featuring original tinting
New ensemble score by composer Mark Izu
Deluxe bonus features include full-length feature film:
Thomas Ince’s THE WRATH OF THE GODS, starring Sessue Hayakawa

THE DRAGON PAINTER
CAT #: MILE00108
ISBN #: 978-1-933920-07-8
UPC #: 784148010847
SRP: $29.95
STREET: March 18, 2008

SYNOPSIS:
Sessue Hayakawa was one of the great stars of the silent cinema. In many films he played a dashing, romantic lead - a rarity for Asian actors in Hollywood, even today. Hayakawa became so popular and powerful that he was able to start Haworth Pictures to control his own destiny. The Dragon Painter was the finest of the Haworth productions. Beautifully acted, gorgeously shot (with Yosemite Valley filling in for the Japanese landscape), and lovingly directed, the film is an absolute marvel.

Hayakawa plays Tatsu, an artist living as a hermit in the wilds of Japan. Thought mad by the local villagers, he believes that his princess fiancée has been captured by a dragon. His obsession leads to artistic inspiration. It isn’t until a surveyor comes across Tatsu in the mountains that his genius is discovered. The surveyor informs the famed artist Kano Indara about his discovery. Kano is desperate to find a male heir to teach his art, but when Tatsu meets Kano’s daughter (played by Hayakawa’s wife, Tsuru Aoki) and sees only his lost princess, a clash of wills brings the household to the brink of disaster.

Long considered lost, The Dragon Painter was rediscovered in a French distribution print and brought to the George Eastman House for restoration with the original tints. The film survives today as a tribute to Hayakawa’s great artistry and a shining example of Asian-American cinema.

Bonus Features:
The full-length feature, Thomas Ince’s The Wrath of the Gods (1914), starring Sessue Hayakawa, Tsuru Aoki and Frank Borzage. Restored tinted print courtesy of George Eastman House.
A copy of the script for The Wrath of the Gods, courtesy of George Eastman House.
How to Build Your Own Volcano by Jack Theakston!
1921 short subject, Screen Snapshots (1921) with Sessue Hayakawa, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle and Charles Murray (courtesy of Larcas Productions).
The Dragon Painter press kit
The original novel by Mary McNeil Fenollosa in PDF format
Four Stills Galleries!

Stanley Kubrick Special Editions - DVD Review

Shadow Puppet — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:08:32 -0700

Just in from Total Film:

Nearly a decade has drifted since his sudden death, but Stanley Kubrick’s astonishing oeuvre – it’s easy to forget he made just 13 films – continues to loom like a monolithic shadow. Megalomaniac giant, superhuman obsessive and hermit genius, he often seemed more myth than moviemaker. But Kubrick was a visionary culture-grinder of the modern era, leaving behind a collection of truly unique spectacles, all with big questions throbbing inside their unforgettable structures.

It’s been a long, typically Kubrickian wait, but finally a worthy DVD boxset gathers five of his greatest films in scrubbed-up Special Editions (also available separately).

Click here to read the full Total Film report.

Netflix will be exclusively Blu-ray

Dustin — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 14:07:57 -0700

http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/11/netflix-picks-blu-ray-good-luck-renti…

Early 'There Will Be Blood' DVD Specs

MagnoliaFan — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:28:24 -0700

Looks like PTA is to join the Spielberg commentary boycott. Via Cigarettes and Red Vines:

> there is no commentary track, nor will there ever probably be one again. paul mentioned to me how alot of the buzz has been taken from doing them because people quote them back verbatim to him in interviews and fun/flippant comments are regarded as gospel. (not a quote, but the gist of what was said)

> the behind-the-scenes footage we reported ages ago that was being shot by austin lynch will, as of this point, not be included on the dvd as a ‘that moment’ style feature. paul said it all turned out wonderfully but that the footage might take away the magic of the film itself saying “it’s just a bunch of people in a desert standing around making a movie.”

> there is an extremely old documentary/footage that was found about mining and oil production from the era. they are planning to cut in jonny greenwood’s score over top of it and make a presentation out of it.

That truly sucks. PTA’s are among the best, most fun commentaries I’ve heard. And “That Moment” is a great, informal, feature-length behind-the-scenes doc for “Magnolia.”