“The Great Debaters” is coming out on the shelves May 13^th!!!

I have a copy to giveaway!!! Please post your name; I will draw the winner Wednesday. You don’t want to miss this movie - it is inspirational to the core.

“The Great Debaters” is a wonderful and provoking film written beautifully by Robert Eisele and directed very tightly by Denzel Washington who plays the lead role.

This film sets forth the traditional values and dignity the American spirit needs, once again. Even though it’s a historical story, it has everything to do with society today.

Eisele wrote the spirit of this film and Washington brought it to life with some very young and talented actors (Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, Denzel Whitaker.)

Forest Whitaker also stars making this the first film were two black Oscar winners star in the same movie.

As a side note:  I had a chance to interview Robert Eisele about writing the script for “Debaters” and working with Washington.  Eisele spoke very highly of Washington’s ability to take the character to another depth, something you can only understand by watching him work on the set.

I must acknowlege Oprah Windrey for producing this film!!!

Popularity: 1% [?]

Hiya, Kids!! A ‘50s Saturday Morning — the 4-DVD box set is packed with 21 complete episodes culled from some of America’s iconic television classics, including Kukla, Fran And Ollie, Howdy Doody, Lassie, Annie Oakley, Flash Gordon, Time for Beany, The Paul Winchell Show, The Roy Rogers Show, Captain Z-RO, The Rootie Kazootie Club, Winky Dink And You, Super Circus, Andy’s Gang, The Cisco Kid, Sky King, The Magic Clown, Kids And Company, Junvenile Jury, The Pinky Lee Show, and Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.  Each DVD from Hiya, Kids!! is designed like a Saturday morning programming block from the era, with shows for the very young first on the menu.  As the older siblings “wake up,” the programs become more and more “sophisticated.”

Hiya, Kids! sound like a fun set to play for the kids. They won’t be sharp cuts and blow ups, but pure, unadulterated, in the clear, and childlike entertainment.   

Check out the trailer: Hiya, Kids!

Popularity: 1% [?]

Appropriately, it has been ten years since I discovered Joy Division. Having read an appealing article about them in a newspaper, I took the risk and, during a school trip abroad, forked out whatever amount of francs in the Louvre’s music store for a copy of Unknown Pleasures, with its enigmatic yet enticing cover. Popping the CD in my player, I was suddenly immersed in a world never experienced before. Within the first few seconds of ’Disorder’, its steady but muted beat, robotic yet somehow human, the strange bass tune and spiky guitars, combined with dark and profound vocals, I knew Joy Division were something special. Most people know them by their song Love Will Tear Us Apart, which was abused in a Heinekan ad a few years ago. But the band were much more, an almost literary lyricism combined with a sound that felt entirely unique. It was a sound that lasted only briefly, for the lead singer, Ian Curtis, committed suicide at the age of 23.

Joy Division have been depicted twice in cinema already. Firstly, in 2002’s 24-Hour Party People, which was a playful biopic of pretentious broadcaster and music label owner Tony Wilson. Then, last saw a film about Curtis, called Control, which received much critical acclaim. And now, we see a seemingly definitive documentary on the band being released (briefly in UK cinemas, and then on DVD in the US in June), also called Joy Division.

Directed by Grant Gee, who has directed several music videos, as well as the Radiohead documentary Meeting People is Easy, the documentary conducts intimate interviews with most of the keys players in the band’s history. Band members, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris are all present. You’d think that after so many years of the band’s legacy, the remaining members would be tired of retelling the same stories. Yet there’s still times when the sadness breaks through. Read on »

Popularity: 1% [?]

 NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: 40^TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

Chaos descends upon the world as the brains of the recently deceased become inexplicably reanimated, causing the dead to rise and feed on human flesh. Check out the features; there is even the original script.

DVD Special Features

• Audio Commentary by Writer/Director George A. Romero, Producer/Actor Karl Hardman, Actress Marilyn Eastman and Writer John A. Russo
• Audio Commentary by Producer Russel W. Streiner, Production Manager Vince Survinski, Judith O’Dea, Actor Bill Hinzman, Actress Kyra Schon and Actor Keith Wayne
• One For The Fire:  The Legacy of Night Of The Living Dead
• Duane Jones” Final Interview
• Speak To The Dead
• Night Of The Living Dead Trailer
• Still Gallery
• Original Script DVD-ROM

Popularity: 1% [?]

DIARY OF THE DEAD

A group of film students are making an independent horror film when they become trapped in a world being consumed by flesh-eating zombies. In an obsessive, unflinching eye, one filmmaker documents each death on camera.  As the lucky survivors take final refuge, the film continues to roll, recording every detail for future generations… if any survive. This movie is just too scary for me.

Special Features include:

• View Film With Audio Commentary By Writer/Director George Romero, Director Of Photography Adam Swica And Editor Michael Doherty
• Character Confessionals
• The First Week
• The Roots
• Familiar Voices
• For The Record: The Making Of Diary Of The Dead

Popularity: 1% [?]

A new DVD series, the MERIDIAN COLLECTION, a compilation of acclaimed, groundbreaking and influential films from around the world. Lionsgate plans to release two high-end DVDs every three months drawing from its own library, which includes more than 2,000 European films from Studio Canal. Through the MERIDIAN COLLECTION, Lionsgate will present significant works of world cinema in elite quality editions of the highest technical standards that celebrate their creative impact.

In the Hollywood Reporter, Anne Parducci, executive VP of marketing at Lionsgate said that with the MERIDIAN COLLECTION, “Lionsgate is specifically targeting fans of art house films. That’s why the extras tend to be focused on the making of the film, with little room for gimmicks, games or frills. We want to be able to capitalize on the fact that there are consumers out there who have an affinity for specific films,” Parducci said. “These are really the definitive presentations of these movies: We’re taking what that film is known for and why it is considered influential and then exploring that further through the special features.”

Here is what the critics have to say about these two films.

THE RED VIOLIN

“Has the kind of sweep and vision that we identify with elegant features from decades ago” -Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Original Score, The Red Violin stars Samuel L. Jackson as an appraiser tracing the vast, storied history of a priceless violin across numerous countries and generations.  This Meridian Collection DVD features a digitally remastered transfer with new 5.1 Dolby Digital Sound and includes filmmaker commentary and two new featurettes, a musical feature with composer John Corigliano and a documentary on violins and violin auctions.

DIVA

“A celebration of the abundant joys and possibilities of filmmaking.” - Los Angeles Times

Available on DVD in a new digitally mastered transfer approved by director Jean-Jacques Beineix, Diva launched the Cinema du Look movement and drew wide acclaim for its innovative visual style. Originally released in 1981, Diva was re-released theatrically in 12 markets across the country in November 2007 to rave reviews.  The Meridian Collection DVD of this intricate and stylish French thriller also features remastered audio, multiple interviews with the cast and crew, as well as audio commentary with director Jean-Jacques Beineix.

I have asked for giveaway copies of both films. Please stay tuned and come back for the DVDs Giveaways!

Popularity: 1% [?]

Download link 

Hudson Milbank (Matthew Perry) is convinced that he’s going insane. But he’s just met the perfect girl (Lynn Collins, The Lake House) and struggles to be his most charming self. Meanwhile, he frantically seeks a cure for his anxieties and goes through a string of therapists who turn out to be crazier than him. Co-starring Kevin Pollak (The Usual Suspects) and Academy Award winner Mary Steenburgen as a hilarious lusty psychiatrist, Numb will warm the heart of anybody who has ever teetered on the edge of a breakdown. Numb is on the shelves May 13^th! 

Popularity: 1% [?]

Even though Steven Soderbergh next project is with Matt Damon called “The Informant,” the innovative director is setting up his next film, “The Girlfriend Experience,” a feature that centers on the world of prostitution from the vantage point of a $10,000-a-night call girl.

“Girlfriend” is the second film after of his six picture deal he made to direct low-budget films distributed simultaneously in theatrical, on cable TV and on DVD. His first film was “Bubble.”

Soderbergh prefers an adult film actress versus star power to play the lead role. “Bubble” used mainly non-pros.  

As some may recall Soderbergh breakthrough film “sex, lies & videotape.”  Speculation is that “Girlfriend” will be an exploration of sexual relationships like “sex, lies & videotape.”

Another speculation is that, like “Bubble,” “Girlfriend” will be shot partly improvisational by working out the beats of the film. “Girlfriend” is predicted to be shot within 14 days this fall.

The title refers to a phenomenon in which wealthy men pay not just for the quality of a sexual encounter but also for a woman who will play the role of a perfect girlfriend. The arrangement apparently involves more intimacy than the usual prostitution relationship. It appears Soderbergh did extensive research to hit the reality of the interior look at a woman who makes $1 million a year in the business.

Popularity: 1% [?]

First time on DVD! It’s “Johnny and the Sprites: Meet the Sprites”

GIVEAWAY!! 

Simply post your name and I will draw the winner Wednesday, April 30th!

The DVD contains six episodes, Sing Along with Johnny & the Sprites and Original Shorts.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Karin you won!!! Congratulations!!!

Karin this is what you won: A DVD collection of 33 episodesof the series by J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5. The series is based upon the popular Mattel Toys. When solar flare wreaks havoc on Jayce’s father’s botanical experiments, they flee from his accidental creations: Saw Boss and his band of ruthless mutated plant life called the Monster Minds. Now it is up to Jayce, joined by the valiant Lightning League, to reunite with his father and combine the two halves of the magic Root amulet—the only object capable of purging the universe of Saw Boss and his army forever.

Popularity: 1% [?]