Twentieth Century Fox 75th Anniversary Gift Set Debuting on DVD December 72

TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX CELEBRATES 75 YEARS OF INNOVATIVE, GROUND-BREAKING AND AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKING


Fox Home Entertainment To Commemorate and Promote Fox’s Library and Legacy With Collectible Gift-Sets, Gift With Purchase Programs And Unique Partnerships


Visit WWW.FOX75TH.COM For A Chance To Win $75,000,
Limited Edition Posters, Blu-ray and DVD Products

Los Angeles, CA April 13, 2010 – Today, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment kicked off a 12-month marketing, promotions, publicity and media campaign to honor and promote the studio’s legacy and library. The celebration will include the release of more than 300 films on Blu-ray Disc and DVD, showcasing a remarkable, rich and unparalleled heritage of great movies, Academy Award®-winners and box office smashes featuring a cast of the greatest movie stars and directors from yesterday and today.

FOX 75TH ANNIVERSARY MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Fox’s year-long celebration will include extensive catalog releases of more than 300 of the studio’s most notable films on Blu-ray Disc and DVD and will be supported by event publicity campaigns, national advertising, retail and account specific promotions, internal and studio driven special events and limited-edition gift with purchase promotions.

FOX75TH.COM
The studio has launched a dedicated Web site – www.fox75th.com – that will feature information about upcoming Blu-ray Disc and DVD products, theatrical releases and national and local events and promotions tied to the 75th Anniversary campaign.

The website provides consumers with a chance to win a prize daily from Fox Home Entertainment. Prizes include a chance to instantly win $75,000 or a special limited edition poster, Blu-ray Disc or DVD. Complete rules and eligibility requirements are available at www.Fox75th.com.

PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS
Fox Home Entertainment will release a selection of seasonally timed singles, double and triple features and classic quads on DVD representing some of Fox’s most recognizable films. Each product includes a gift with purchase offer to redeem a limited edition 75th anniversary commemorative movie poster. Each poster features a globally recognized and iconic film image from Fox’s 75 years of glamour, dynamic duos, rebels, cult classics, screams, sci-fi and music.

The first product wave representing critically acclaimed films timed to awards season is available in stores now. Product includes:

SINGLES ($14.98 and $19.98 US / $16.98 and $21.98 Canada MSRP)
Nine titles including:
-THE KING AND I, LOVE ME TENDER, ALL ABOUT EVE, GENTLEMEN’S AGREEMENT, ALL THAT JAZZ, LOVE IS A MANY-SPLENDORED THING, ROMANCING THE STONE, HELLO DOLLY! AND THE GANG’S ALL HERE 

DOUBLE FEATURES ($14.98 US / $16.98 Canada MSRP)
Nine collections including:
-THE COMMITMENTS/THE FULL MONTY, AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER/EVER AFTER, MOULIN ROUGE/TRISTAN & ISOLDE, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE/JUNO, WALK THE LINE/WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S ROMEO & JULIET AND GARDEN STATE/SAY ANYTHING…, among others. 

TRIPLE FEATURES ($22.98 US / $25.98 Canada MSRP)
Seven collections of award-winning dramas, comedies and sci-fi films in 75th branded packaging include:
-AWARD-WINNING DRAMA: THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND/MASTER AND COMMANDER/WALL STREET 
-AWARD-WINNING COMEDY: THE FULL MONTY/M*A*S*H/MY COUSIN VINNY 
-AWARD-WINNING SCI-FI: THE ABYSS/ALIEN/ALIENS 

CLASSIC QUADS ($19.98 US/ $21.98 Canada MSRP)
Three collections of Fox studio classics in 75th branded packaging include:
-ANNA KARENINA/A FAREWELL TO ARMS/LES MISERABLES/THE SUN ALSO RISES 
-AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER, LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN/A LETTER TO THREE WIVES/PEYTON PLACE 
-ANNA AND THE KING OF SIAM/COLE PORTER’S CAN-CAN/DADDY LONG LEGS/STAR!

Upcoming seasonally available product waves will include family friendly films timed to Easter, a selection of dramas timed to Mother’s Day, westerns and war films timed to Father’s Day, key comedies in time for summer vacation, sci-fi and horror films timed to Halloween and a selection of collector’s edition and gift box sets for the holidays.

BLU-RAY DISC
Fox will release a selection of event titles on Blu-ray Disc for the first time. Event titles making their Blu-ray Disc debut in Q3 and Q4 2010 include:

ALIEN ANTHOLOGY
All four Alien films digitally restored and available together in a six disc set packed with extras
 
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (35TH ANNIVERSARY)
New special features including live cast re-enactments and RHPS karoake

THE SOUND OF MUSIC (45TH ANNIVERSARY)
Digitally restored with 7.1 audio and never before seen interactivity and features
 
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S ROMEO & JULIET 
New high definition transfer and BD Live special features including Live Lookup
 
MOULIN ROUGE!
New high definition transfer and BD Live special features
 
THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS
All-new Director’s Definitive Cut and interviews with Daniel Day Lewis

COMMEMORATIVE BOX SET
To cement the Fox 75th Anniversary promotion, Fox will premiere the most comprehensive collection of Fox films ever to be released on DVD this fall in a lavish collectible package. This unique collection was handpicked by studio chairmen Tom Rothman and Jim Gianopulos based on several criteria including cinematic merit, historic significance, cultural impact and commercial and critical success. Titles include ALL ABOUT EVE, AVATAR, BUTCH CASSIDY & THE SUNDANCE KID, CLEOPATRA, DEVIL WEARS PRADA, GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES, ICE AGE, JUNO, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, MINORITY REPORT, PATTON, WALL STREET, and more.

Exact title configurations, packaging and release dates for Fox 75th Blu-ray Disc and DVD releases will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC (TCFHE) is a recognized global industry leader and a subsidiary of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, a News Corporation company. Representing 75 years of innovative and award-winning filmmaking from Twentieth Century Fox, TCFHE is the worldwide marketing, sales and distribution company for all Fox film and television programming, acquisitions and original productions on DVD, Blu-ray Disc, Digital Copy, Video On Demand and Digital Download. The company also releases all products globally for MGM Home Entertainment. Each year TCFHE introduces hundreds of new and newly enhanced products, which it services to retail outlets from mass merchants and warehouse clubs to specialty stores and e-commerce throughout the world.

Follow Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment on Twitter @FoxHomeEnt

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ExTERMINATORS -- DVD review by porfle

If listening to the Dixie Chicks warble "Goodbye Earl" gives you a lift, then you'll probably enjoy ExTERMINATORS (2009).  Unless, that is, you're one of those weirdos who prefer their comedies to actually be funny.

After getting fired from her accountant job and then divorcing her lazy, no-good husband for cheating on her, mousy Alex acts out her anger by decking a bespectacled guy in a department store.  (It's the usual cliche' of two women fighting over a piece of merchandise during a clearance sale, but this time Alex's opponent happens to be a man in order to comply with the film's theme.)  Anyway, this lands her in a rage-management therapy group along with several other women who have "man problems", including Stella (Jennifer Coolidge), who owns a pest control service, and punky, chain-smoking fruitcake Nikki (Amber Heard). 

When they witness another woman in their group (Joey Lauren Adams) being slapped around by her husband, they follow him in Stella's car one night and accidentally run him off a cliff.  The grateful widow then gives them $10,000 before leaving town to start a new life.  This comes just as a creepy IRS agent named Hutt (Sam Lloyd, the creepy TV-Guide guy from "Seinfeld") is breathing down Stella's neck about her back taxes.

To Alex's dismay, Stella and Nikki go into the lucrative man-killing business, and, with more and more potential customers joining their therapy group, they make a killing (intentional pun!) as the body count escalates rapidly.  Torn between friendship and morality, things get worse for Alex when she falls in love with Dan (Matthew Settle), the lead detective on the case, and then discovers that Hutt, who's been stalking her, has amassed enough videotape evidence to convict all three of them.
 

ExTERMINATORS presents a world in which roughly 99% of all men are leering, groping pigs who deserve to die, while the women who kill them aren't bloodthirsty psychos but simply lovable flakes. This makes whatever they do not only okay but downright cute, whether it be vehicular homicide, the old bludgeon-and-dismemberment routine, or simply setting a frat guy on fire for being a drunken ass. 

We're even conditioned for the distaff revenge fantasy to come when some of the early therapy sessions get borderline real and veer toward the preachy side.  But then the screenplay tries to have it both ways by showing Alex's disdain for such vigilante actions--at least, up until the point where she herself has something to gain by them.

Nevertheless, even if all this sounds to you like a surefire formula for hilarious black comedy, the film's dull script, meandering pace, and lackluster direction will eventually cure you of that notion.  Heather Graham, who used to be in good movies like BOOGIE NIGHTS, injects as much life as she can into her limp character by acting alternately perky and jittery, and by wearing giant glasses that make her look like that egghead kid from the "Foghorn Leghorn" cartoons.  Matthew Settle's "Dan" exists only to represent that one-percent of males who are harmless simps, and to give the filmmakers a chance to insert a series of romantic scenes such as the "meet stupid" and the ever-popular "goofy one-knee proposal."
  

Amber Heard spends the entire film either puffing cigarettes like a non-smoker pretending to be a chainsmoker, or sucking on Tootsie Pops ("Nikki" seems to have some kind of weird oral fixation), but her quirky affectations are more irritating than amusing.  Her high-school flashback story about having sex with a jock's "retard" brother for fifteen dollars and then getting stiffed (the jerk!) is just...oh, what's the word...disturbing?

Most disappointing of all is proto-MILF Jennifer Coolidge, because she's usually so effortlessly hilarious in such films as BEST IN SHOW and GENTLEMEN BRONCOS.  I've never seen her give a more lifeless, dispirited performance than she does here.  Strangely enough, the lengthy gag reel found on the DVD showcases her usual flair for funny improvisations, yet only her least inspired takes seem to have found their way into the final cut.

The DVD from Image Entertainment is in 1.85:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound.  No subtitles or chapter list.  In fact, the only two clickable items listed on the menu are "Play" and "Gag Reel." 

I was rooting for the creepy IRS stalker guy while watching ExTERMINATORS, when I assume I was actually supposed to be on the girls' side.  Then again, I was also rooting for the movie to be on the funny side, and that didn't work out, either.


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Go to check out for all of the final details and in a few weeks get your new Blu-ray(s).

"MERANTAU" Coming To Blu-ray and DVD December 28

Showcasing the unique form of martial arts style, Tiger Silat in MERANTAU coming to Blu-ray and DVD December 28 from Magnolia Home Entertainment

Synopsis: Leaving the simple life of a young man in rural Sumatra, Yuda must undergo merantau, a traditional rite of passage in which a young man must leave his family’s home to make it on his own. After heading to the big city of Jakarta, Yuda begins his trial of merantau. He quickly learns that living in the big city is very different from all he has ever known. After a young boy tries to steal his wallet, he is plunged into a violent world of human trafficking where his martial arts skills are tested in a rapidly escalating spiral of violence.

Actors: Iko Uwais
Directors: Gareth Evans
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
Number of discs: 1
Rated: R (Restricted)
Studio: Magnolia
DVD Release Date: December 28, 2010
Run Time: 106 minutes


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THE LOST TRIBE -- DVD review by porfle

A sense of familiarity hangs over THE LOST TRIBE (2009), which seems like a rehash of elements from several other movies.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing, since there are lots of entertaining monster flicks that aren't all that original.  But the fact that this one is so well acted (especially by the impressive Emily Foxler), imaginatively directed by Roel Reiné, and attractively photographed makes it all the more disappointing when it starts to lose steam in its second half.

Two couples--Anna & Tom and Joe & Alexis, plus loner Chris--are on a sailing cruise somewhere in the Mediterranean when they come across a man floating on a piece from a wrecked boat.  He's so frantic that he must be sedated, but during the night he awakens and desperately takes control of the sailboat, dashing it into a reef and sinking it.  The others barely make it to shore, where they find the man's body and bury it.  Later, they discover the grave empty and splattered with blood.

Naturally, Tom (Nick Mennell) ventures into the jungle by himself when he hears strange noises.  Anna (Emily Foxler), goes in search of him when he fails to return, and eventually the entire group is traipsing around in the bush.  They discover the remains of a military encampment and an anthropological dig, but no people.  Meanwhile, there are mysterious, hairy figures darting about in the treetops and communicating with each other in gutteral growls, and one by one the helpless castaways start disappearing.


What we know that they don't know is revealed in a goofy subplot in which the missing link between ape and man is unearthed, and the Vatican, fearful that the discovery will validate the theory of evolution once and for all, unleashes killer priest Father Gallo (Lance Henriksen) upon the hapless scientists with orders to terminate them.  Which he does, in sadistic and decidedly unpriestly fashion. Ooh, that ee-vil Vatican!  Well, Gallo soon finds himself the last survivor of his team after they're wiped out by the ape creatures (it turns out that the missing links aren't quite missing after all), but that doesn't stop him from continuing to kill anyone else who shows up.  Which brings us back to...

...our hapless heroes, whose ranks are thinning rapidly.  The first half of THE LOST TRIBE is pretty suspenseful and we never quite get a good look at the creatures as they swoop down out of the trees and snatch people away.  As the main characters start to turn on each other, their true colors are revealed in interesting ways.  For once, thank goodness, the fat guy (Marc Bacher) doesn't turn out to be the most selfish and cowardly of the bunch.  That honor goes to Chris (Hadley Fraser), who wants to go back to the beach and wait for the Coast Guard to show up rather than search for Tom.  Not a healthy move for ol' Chris, or Joe's ditzy blonde girlfriend Alexis (Brianna Brown), who tags along with him and becomes the object of a quick snatch-and-grab.  Anna and Joe, meanwhile, meet up with none other than unkindly Father Gallo, who's still in a terminating mood.

While the trailer for THE LOST TRIBE gives away just about every freakin' plot point in addition to fully revealing the ape creatures themselves, I'll try to avoid spoiling everything and simply say that Final Girl stays alive long enough to witness the others being either executed by papal decree or devoured by a bunch of ravenous missing links.  (Come to think of it, there's no way I can avoid spilling at least some of the beans, so you might want to skip the next paragraph.)


For some reason, the ape creatures have what resembles "Predator" vision, and since Final Girl obviously saw that movie she discovers that she can become invisible to them by smearing herself with mud and sticky grape juice.  Thus, we get a long sequence of her sneaking around in the secret ape cave looking for her missing companions until finally the beasts surround her and start to close in.  This is where she meets the dreaded Alpha Male (Terry Notary), who expresses an urgent desire to either eat or mate with her.   

All of this manages to be fairly involving for awhile, but toward the end it starts to get a little tiresome.  The ape costumes aren't all that impressive, and I had to wonder where in the evolutionary process these half-ape, half-human creatures acquired the ability to hop around like giant grasshoppers and soar around through the treetops like flying squirrels.  About halfway through the movie we see them chowing down on a human buffet, which is pretty disconcerting, and after that scene they never seem quite as menacing again. 

The whole weird "Catholic conspiracy" subplot, along with Lance Henriksen's character, are quickly forgotten and what's left of the story just sort of peters out.  An emotional high point is reached when Final Girl discovers the fate of her boyfriend during the cave sequence, but EDEN LAKE covered this sort of devastating emotional territory much more effectively.  A lot of THE LOST TRIBE's second half, in fact, reminded me of EDEN LAKE but with hairier monsters. 

The DVD from Image Entertainment is in 2.35:1 widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound.  Subtitles are in English and Spanish.  Extras include a commentary with producer Mohit Ramchandani and actor Hadley Fraser ("Chris"), a "behind-the-scenes" featurette, and the trailer. 

According to IMDb, this film was originally shot as "The Forgotten Ones" with Jewel Staite ("Firefly", "Stargate: Atlantis") in the lead role, but the producers thought they could do better and filmed it all over again.  (Unlike 1936's TARZAN ESCAPES, which was the subject of a similar re-do, "The Forgotten Ones" has reportedly been released overseas.)  It would be interesting to compare the two versions.  As it is, THE LOST TRIBE is a well-made film that should hold your interest, but fails to live up to its potential.   


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Weigh anchor with HARPOON: WHALE WATCHING MASSACRE, on Blu-ray and DVD December 7th from Image Entertainment

"(A) carefully crafted, intelligent addition to the horror genre." —     Movie Talk

"The kill scenes are well executed and pack some nice gore, including …an actual deck-mounted harpooning (hell yeah!) and more." —    Dread Central

Welcome aboard! Our course heading – pure terror!

HARPOON: WHALE WATCHING MASSACRE FROM IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT Featuring ‘Leatherface’ Gunnar Hansen

Setting sail onto DVD , Unrated DVD and Unrated Blu-ray™ December 7

Chatsworth, CA – A whale-watching expedition will promise many things:  the scent of fresh, sea air; the sound of the crashing, high seas and just maybe a sight of one of nature’s most magnificent creatures. Usually. On December 7 Image Entertainment presents Harpoon:  Whale Watching Massacre, the terrifying tale of a pleasure cruise gone deadly wrong.    Harpoon:  Whale Watching Massacre will be available at an SRP of $27.97 for the DVD .  In addition, fans can experience the unrated DVD with two additional minutes of extra “slumgullion” for an SRP of $27.97 and the unrated Blu-ray™ for $29.97.  Pre-book is November 9th.

On the cold waters off Iceland ’s coast, a boatload of international tourists set off on a whale-watching expedition. But when a freak accident leaves their captain mortally wounded, they are stranded…and suddenly the ocean’s loveliness turns ominous. 

Help seems to arrive in the form of a helpful whaler (Gunnar Hansen, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) who offers to take them back to shore, but instead leaves them on a decaying whaling barge. 

At first they believe they’re alone, until they discover that the barge is already occupied by a deranged family, determined to hunt each one down in a night of oceanic terror!  Forced to overcome cultural as well as personal differences, the tourists become comrades in fear…willing to brave the high seas to survive an ocean of blood.

Written by award winning novelist and lyricist Sjon Sigurdsson (collaborator with The Sugarcubes, writer for Björk), Harpoon: Whale Watching Massacre has been called Iceland ’s initial foray into the slasher/horror movie genre.  Gutsy and graphic, it puts its crew in circumstances that are both inventive and unimaginable.  When a day of leisure becomes a night of terror, who succumbs…and who survives?

Harpoon:  Whale Watching Massacre DVD
Genre:                         Horror, Feature Film
Rating:                         R
Rating Reason:             Bloody violence, language, some nudity and drug use
Languages:                   English 
Format:                        Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio:                          Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:                       N/A
Year:                            2009
SRP :                            $27.97
Street Date:                  December 7, 2010
Pre-Book:                    November 9, 2010
Length:                         82 minutes
UPC :                            014381677324
Cat#:                            CVI6773 DVD

Harpoon:  Whale Watching Massacre DVD (unrated)
Genre:                          Horror, Feature Film
Rating:                          Unrated
Languages:                   English 
Format:                        Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio:                          Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:                       N/A
Year:                            2009
SRP :                            $27.97
Street Date:                  December 7, 2010
Pre-Book:                    November 9, 2010
Length:                         84 minutes
UPC :                            014381680522
Cat#:                            CVI6805DVD

Harpoon:  Whale Watching Massacre Blu-ray™ (unrated)
Genre:                         Horror, Feature Film
Rating:                          Unrated
Language:                     English
Format:                        Anamorphic Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio:                          DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 
Subtitles:                       N/A
Year:                            2009
SRP :                            $29.97
Street Date:                  December 7, 2010
Pre-Book:                    November 9, 2010
Length:                         84 minutes
UPC :                            014381677454
Cat#:                            CVI6774BD

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FADE TO BLACK -- DVD review by porfle

Oliver Parker's FADE TO BLACK (2006) has been described as "a movie lover's movie."  Or, more specifically, an old movie lover's movie, since you have to be reasonably familiar with early 20th century cinema in order to really appreciate it.  First off, you have to know who Orson Welles was.  Which, unfortunately, leaves out a large percentage of the current moviegoing public.

For the rest of us, the fact that Danny Huston is portraying a young Welles in an apocryphal tale of post-war intrigue and murder during a film shoot in Rome is a pretty enticing lure.  All that's needed is for Huston to give us a convincing portrayal of Welles, and for writer-director Oliver Parker to deliver a story that takes full advantage of its potential.  Which, more or less, is what they did.

Having just split from his beautiful actress-wife Rita Hayworth and finding his career in a bit of a slump, Welles arrives in a politically-volatile Rome in 1948 to star as Cagliostro in a Dumas adaptation called "Black Magic", while also trying to get a film version of "Othello" off the ground (at least this much is true).  It's fun watching Welles try to insinuate his directorial influence into the not-so-great production which clearly seems beneath him, while getting a vicarious look at the inside workings of the famous Cinecitti studios. 

During a take, the company is shocked when a costumed extra named Dellere (Frano Lasic), whom Welles has met previously, staggers into the frame and dies after whispering a single word: "Nero."  The police deem it a drug overdose, but a dubious Welles starts delving into the mystery himself, with the help of his young Italian bodyguard Tommaso (Diego Luna).  Tommaso, an ex-cop, leads Welles into a dark world of political intrigue and danger where shady government officials and crime bosses such as "Lucky" Luciano threaten the overly-inquisitive thespian with death or, even worse, professional disgrace.


The tangled plot is pretty easy to follow if you just ignore most of it.  What's really interesting is the idea of lanky, ego-driven sophisticate Welles weaving his way through all this cloak-and-dagger stuff like a character from one of his own movies.  It takes a while to become accustomed to Danny Huston in the role--he looks the part, but you miss that familiar voice.  Huston, in fact, sounds more like his father, legendary filmmaker John Huston, than the bass-toned Welles.  But he gives it his best shot, and it eventually becomes less of an effort to accept him in the role. 

I like the humorous touches such as Welles' frustration with playing second fiddle to his ex-wife in the public eye (reporters keep calling him "Mr. Hayworth"), and a throwaway shot of the slender Welles eagerly stuffing himself with delicious Italian food in an open-air restaurant (we all know where that's going to go).  Huston acquits himself convincingly in the more dramatic scenes, whether romancing a reluctant Italian actress named Lea Padovani (Paz Vega), whom he discovers is linked directly to the murder of Dellere, or venturing into perilous situations where he doesn't belong and then having to sweat his way out of them. 

Interestingly, director Parker, who helmed 2007's I REALLY HATE MY JOB (which I really hated), makes little attempt to imitate any kind of late-40s filmmaking style.  Although the rich colors and noirish lighting are evocative of the era, the look of FADE TO BLACK is a somewhat mismatched combination of formal style and hand-held naturalism which I could never totally settle into.  This isn't a big problem, though, and the modern-looking photography makes the "Black Magic" rushes and silent-movie clips that we see (which are very well-done) look more convincing by contrast.  Some of Parker's quirky editing choices, while not always successful, are interesting as well.


As the likable Tommaso, Diego Luna (MILK) ably conveys the inner conflict that motivates his character to overcome his fears and plunge into political turmoil, while his loyalty to the impetuous Welles draws him into even deeper peril.  Paz Vega (SPANGLISH) is okay as Lea, although I never found her convincing as the stunningly glamorous film star whom Welles is supposed to find so irresistible.  In a minor role as Welles' CIA-connected friend Pete Brewster, Christopher Walken gives the film some poster-friendly star power just by strolling through it.

The DVD from Image Entertainment is in 2.35:1 widescreen with Dolby 5.1 surround sound and English and Spanish subtitles.  The sole extra is the film's trailer. 

While hardly memorable, I found FADE TO BLACK a diverting "what if" tale that takes a while to get warmed up but eventually begins to pay off for the patient viewer.  The idea of Orson Welles as the reluctant hero in a real-life thriller which rivals the fictional intrigue of his own movies is fun, and Parker and Huston just manage to pull it off.  I wonder, though--if they ever decide to give John Huston the same treatment, who are they going to get to play him?


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HUNT TO KILL -- DVD review by porfle

"Stone Cold" Steve Austin is back to look stiff and kill people in his latest action vehicle, HUNT TO KILL (2010), which should please his fans who are easily pleased.  Others may feel inclined to hunt for something else to watch.

A prologue features Austin and the venerable Eric Roberts, one of my all-time favorite actors, as Texas border patrol agents staking out a trailer in the desert.  Steve just got a promotion, and for some reason best pal Eric gives him a James Bond watch with a band that can be unraveled into a rope. Not that he'll have any use for it sometime later in the movie when he really needs a rope, of course.  Roberts, who currently seems to be making a living simply by showing up for awhile in various movies, is so relaxed here that he seems on the verge of taking a blissful nap during every take.  It isn't hard to figure out that the lifespan of his character is roughly the same length of time that his pre-titles cameo role in this movie will last.  As soon he's killed during a botched raid on the trailer, a heartbroken Steve moves to Montana to live in the woods...and hunt.  Hunt to kill, that is.

Meanwhile, we see a gang of thieves who have just pulled off a big bank heist, and their gray-haired leader, Lawson, double-crosses everyone and absconds with the bonds.  But Banks (Gil Bellows, THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) secretly planted a bug on the guy and with the help of their electronics expert, Geary, they track Lawson all the way to the woods of--you guessed it--Montana, where he plans to cross the border into Canada.  Since these city slickers will need a guide, they take Steve's rebellious, incredibly annoying daughter Kim (Marie Avgeropoulos) hostage and force him to lead them through the forest on Lawson's trail.  Naturally, the baddies commit all sorts of indignities against Steve and his daughter along the way, which we just know Steve is keeping track of so that it will be just that much more satisfying when he eventually gets a chance to slaughter them all later.

An aside--Steve's daughter in this movie is so annoying from the start that I hate her.  She's cute, but I hate her.  It's obvious that before the movie's over she'll gain a newfound respect for Dad after he saves her from the bad guys, just like Mary Elizabeth Winstead in LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, but it'll be too little, too late.  I permanently hate her.  Unfortunately, we know there's no way Kim can die because her being held hostage is the only reason Steve doesn't just go ahead and wipe out all the bad guys in the first ten minutes of the movie.
 

Anyway, it all sounds like a pretty good premise, but we mostly get more interaction than regular action as the group does a lot of trudging around in the woods and arguing with each other.  Bellows enjoys overplaying the crazy-funny psycho Banks and taunting Steve to the breaking point, which we know he's about to reach because his immobile stare becomes slightly more intense.  These moments usually end with someone pointing their gun at Kim's head while her deadly Dad restrains himself and makes another notation in his mental "I'm going to kill you later" notebook.  Not much happens in the first half of the movie, although one of the bad guys actually does lay hands on Kim--and not in a nice "faith-healer" type of way--so Steve avails himself of the opportunity to treat him like a giant piece of crunchy-style KFC chicken until Banks steps in.

Complications arise in their pursuit of Lawson, and Steve is forced to rappel down the side of a cliff to retrieve a certain backpack.  Although they don't have any rope, Steve remembers the handy James Bond watch that Q...I mean, Eric Roberts gave him before the titles.  And sure enough, the magical watchband unravels into roughly a hundred feet of thick, durable rope.  I haven't seen anything this hard to believe since that "Matt Helm" movie where Dean Martin pulls a suitcase-sized kit out of his car trunk and builds a helicopter. 

Eventually, Steve gets separated from the rest of the group as Kim continues to act as their unwilling guide.  Just to show us what a badass he is, he barely winces while digging a slug out of his gut with a red-hot knife.  Then he runs across a crossbow that someone has conveniently left in the woods, makes some arrows along with a couple of spears, and goes into hunt-to-kill mode.  Meanwhile, as the bad guys begin to get on each others' nerves, we're treated to a fun dust-up between irritating tech-guy Geary and Banks' girlfriend, Dominika (Emilie Ullerup).
 

Dominika, by the way, is a gorgeous blonde babe who wields a gun and likes to tie people up, automatically making her my favorite character.  The fact that she ties up Steve's annoying daughter and drags her around like a dog on a leash for most of the movie gives it a certain fetishy goodness that I won't even attempt to explain.  At any rate, watching her kick Geary's whiny ass is one of the film's high points. 

Without going into detail, the rest of the movie consists of a few mildly interesting hunt-kills and some really bad one-liners, until inevitably it all comes down to Steve versus Banks.  Their extended chase and fight sequence isn't all that exciting, with Banks' Chucky-like ability to keep bouncing back from apparent death getting a little dumb after awhile.  The comical sight of Steve Austin doing a speeded-up wheelie on a four-wheel ATV leads to the film's second explosion (the first being that trailer way back in Texas).  All in all, the best fight in the film is probably Steve's burly brawl with the beefy Gary Daniels as "Jensen", who delivers some roundhouse kicks and other fancy moves against our dogged hero's more traditional two-fisted style.

The DVD from Anchor Bay is in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and English and Spanish subtitles.  Extras include a commentary track with director Keoni Waxman (Steven Seagal's THE KEEPER) and actor Michael Eklund ("Geary"), plus a very low-key "behind-the-scenes" featurette and a trailer.    

Steve Austin is a reliable tough-guy hero who makes okay action flicks, and you know what you're going to get when you watch one so there's no use expecting anything more.  HUNT TO KILL is like a bologna sandwich--neither great nor awful, but good enough to tide you over until something tastier comes along. 


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Kung Fu Classic SHAOLIN MANTIS Explodes Onto DVD 11/16

A NEW KUNG FU STYLE ARRIVES WITH DEADLY RESULTS IN "SHAOLIN MANTIS"

Latest Dragon Dynasty Installment Of Shaw Brothers' Classic Debuts On DVD November 16 From Vivendi Entertainment And The Weinstein Company

"Judged on Kung Fu action alone, Shaolin Mantis is a winner" - Kung Fu Cinema

UNIVERSAL CITY, CA - Full of non-stop action and spectacular Kung Fu, the Shaw Brothers' classic Shaolin Mantis explodes onto DVD November 16 from Vivendi Entertainment and The Weinstein Company.  From director Lau Kar-Leung (The 36th Chamber of Shaolin) comes the thrilling origin story of the highly effective and dangerous Mantis Fist Kung Fu.  Starring Kung Fu cinema legends David Chiang (One Armed Swordsman) and Liu Chia Hui (Kill Bill films, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin), the tale begins when Wai Fung (Chiang) is sent to infiltrate the Tien family to gather evidence of their rebellion against the king. 

Soon discovered as a spy, Fung is soundly defeated by the evil Tien brothers and ejected from the house.  Retreating to the wilderness after his devastating loss, Fung observes the delicate and intricate movements of a praying mantis.  Finding inspiration from the insect, he develops the deadly Mantis Fist Kung Fu and returns to seek vengeance on his enemies.  Featuring mesmerizing fight scenes and compelling drama, the newest Dragon Dynasty installment Shaolin Mantis will be available for the suggested retail price of $19.97.

Synopsis:
David Chiang (One-Armed Swordsman) invents a new fighting technique - the Mantis Fist - to battle his way through a deadly stockpile of villains as he seeks revenge for his wife's murder. Featuring "spectacular kung fu choreography and a standout action performance for David Chiang" (Mark Pollard, Kung Fu Cinema), this Shaw Bros. classic instantly emerged as one of the genre's very best!

BASICS
Price: $19.97
Street Date:  November 16, 2010
Order Date:October 12, 2010
Catalog Number:  WN2959
Languages:  English/ Mandarin (English/Spanish subtitles)
Running time: 101 minutes
Rating: NR

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Martial Arts Thriller KILL ZONE on Blu-ray Disc 11/30

"KILL ZONE" -- THE ULTIMATE MARTIAL ARTS ACTION-THRILLER DEBUTS IN HIGH DEFINITION

Martial Arts Legends Donnie Yen And Sammo Hung Star In The Dragon Dynasty Favorite, Arriving As An Ultimate Edition Blu-Ray Disc November 30 From Vivendi Entertainment And The Weinstein Company

"An all-star smack-down that will get fans salivating...a must see item!" - Daily Variety

Synopsis: Detective Chan (Simon Yam) relentlessly pursues vicious crime boss Po (Sammo Hung) for the death of his brother.  Unable to tie him to the murder, Yam eventually resigns himself to the fact that Po will never pay for his crimes and prepares to retire from the force.  His replacement, Ma (Donnie Yen) is a principled, committed cop who is a deadly martial arts expert and has no problem using his skills to bring down the bad guys.  Ultimately, the two manage to grab Po in what turns out to be one of the bloodiest confrontations ever filmed! 

Starring: Donnie Yen (Seven Swords), Sammo Hung (Legend of the Dragon) and Simon Yam (Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life)

Bonus Features:
Audio commentary by Hong King cinema expert Bey Logan
Exclusive interviews with director Wilson Yip and stars Sammo Hung, Simon Yam, Donnie Yen and Wu Jing
Trailer Gallery
Price: $19.97
Order Due Date: October 26, 2010
Street Date: November 30, 2010
MPAA Rating: NR
BD Catalog #: WN01399
Run Time: 93 mins
Languages: English & Cantonese


Read our original KILL ZONE review

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Gerry Anderson's SPACE PRECINCT: The Complete Series 5-DVD set coming November 23rd from Image Entertainment

“For 20 years I was in the NYPD.  Now?  Well, let’s just say I transferred to another precinct...”

LAW AND ORDER BEYOND ALL EARTHLY BORDERS!  GERRY ANDERSON ’S SPACE PRECINCT: The Complete Series

Landing on DVD and Digital Download November 23

CHATSWORTH, CA – Welcome to Demeter City .  It has all the “qualities” of a modern city:  population crowding, traffic problems, a soaring crime rate.  It is also half way across the galaxy.  On November 23 Image Entertainment presents sci-fi legend Gerry Anderson’s (“Space 1999,” “Thunderbirds,” “UFO”) Space Precinct: The Complete Series -- the chronicles of two cops battling the cosmic criminals that menace their new world. Gerry Anderson, a holder of the M.B.E. (Member of the Order of the British Empire ) for his services to Animation, displays his unique talents here, with the use of complex make-up techniques, special effects and puppetry.  Alien offenders never looked so real!   This 5- DVD set presents all 24 episodes of the series, and will be available at an SRP of $49.98 and will also be available via digital download.  Pre-book is October 26th.

Lieutenant Patrick Brogan (Ted Shackelford – “Dallas”, “Dirty Sexy Money”), a veteran of New York’s  mean streets, and his rookie partner Officer Jack Haldane (Rob Youngblood – “NYPD Blue”, “Sliders”) have a new beat.  They have been transferred to the planet Altor, where it is their job to protect the law-abiding citizens of Demeter City .  Lost amongst planetary felons, galactic gangs…all the debris of criminal constellations…it is their job to investigate crimes committed by aliens as well as humans.

Also starring Simone Bendix (“The Inspector Lynley Mysteries”) and Jerome Willis (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer), and with directors such as John Glen (For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill) and Sidney Hayers (“Magnum P.I.”, “Remington Steele”, “The A Team”) at the helm, Space Precinct is a thrilling, otherworldly ride through an unruly universe. 

Space Precinct is a high-speed, mind-bending journey into inter-galactic realms – the adventures of men who have crossed light-years to uphold the law! The Space Precinct DVD will be available prior to the Syfy Channel marathon from November 30th through December 1st.

For more information, check out www.spaceprecinct.com, featuring over 500 never-before-seen behind the scenes photos from the making of the series, along with complete episode guides with full cast & crew, as well as breaking news about the series and links to all things Gerry Anderson. 

About Image Entertainment
Image Entertainment, Inc. (OTCQB: DISK) is a leading independent licensee and distributor of entertainment programming in North America, with approximately 3,000 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 exclusive CD titles in domestic release and more than 450 programs internationally via sublicense agreements. For many of its titles, the Company has exclusive audio and broadcast rights, as well as digital download rights to over 2,100 video programs and approximately 400 audio titles containing more than 5,600 individual tracks. The Company is headquartered in Chatsworth , California . For more information about Image Entertainment, Inc., please go to www.image-entertainment.com.

Space Precinct: The Complete Series DVD
Genre:             Action/Adventure, Sci-fi/Fantasy, Television, Crime/Criminals
Rating: Not Rated
Languages:       English 
Format:            1.33 Aspect Ratio
Audio:              Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Year:                1995
SRP :                $49.98
Street Date:      November 23, 2010
Pre-Book:        October 26, 2010
Length:             1063 minutes
UPC :                014381675429
Cat#:                REH6754 DVD

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DAMNED BY DAWN on Blu-ray and DVD November 9th from Image Entertainment

BEHOLD THE DAWN OF AN ALL-NEW TERROR…


IMAGE ENTERTAIMENT PRESENTS "DAMNED BY DAWN"


Coming to Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital Download November 9

Chatsworth, CA – With Halloween approaching, get in to the “spirit” of things when Image Entertainment releases the Australian horror import Damned By Dawn November 9th. A riveting rollercoaster ride in the tradition of such chiller classics as The Evil Dead and Drag Me To Hell, Damned By Dawn has already been embraced by horror fans at Fright Fest, A Night of Horror International Film Festival and Screamfest. SRP for the DVD is a bone-cracking $27.97, while the Blu-ray™ SRP is a blood-curdling $29.97. In addition, the film is also available via diabolical digital download. Pre-book is October 12th.

The feature directorial debut of talented Australian director Brett Anstey, Damned By Dawn is produced by Odin’s Eye Entertainment, and pays homage to the classic Hammer Horror films of yore. After receiving a mysterious gift from her dying grandmother, Claire (Renee Willner), takes her new boyfriend home to meet her family who live on an isolated property in the country.  The family reunion begins well enough, but Claire becomes increasingly uneasy with her grandmother's medicated mumblings about the banshee coming for her during the night.  Later that night, the family is awoken by piercing shrieks and Claire's worst fears become a waking nightmare as the Screaming Banshee and her army of undead return to unleash blood-soaked fury on them all.

In addition to writing and directing the film, Brett also created the 400+ visual effects shots during the 18-month production schedule. Fangoria called the film “serious fun…and you can’t knock a film with flying skeletons,” while horrornews.net declared it “highly original and gushes a full dose of chills!” As Quiet Earth so eloquently said: “Sick of waiting for Evil Dead 4? Check out Damned by Dawn!”

ABOUT IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT
Image Entertainment, Inc. is a leading independent licensee and distributor of entertainment programming in North America , with approximately 3,000 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 exclusive CD titles in domestic release and more than 450 programs internationally via sublicense agreements. For many of its titles, the Company has exclusive audio and broadcast rights and, through its subsidiary, Egami Media, Inc. has digital download rights to over 2,100 video programs and approximately 400 audio titles containing more than 5,600 individual tracks. The Company is headquartered in Chatsworth , California . For more information about Image Entertainment, Inc., please go to www.image-entertainment.com.

ABOUT ODIN'S EYE ENTERTAINMENT
Established in 2006 by Michael Favelle, Odin's Eye Entertainment (OEE) is a Sydney based Production and International Sales Agency that specializes in working with both emerging and established filmmakers.  OEE is not focused on any sole genre, however it is attracted to films that are unique, fresh and stand out in the marketplace.

Damned By Dawn Blu-ray™
Genre:                          Horror, Feature Film
Rating:                          R
Language:                     English 
Format:                        Enhanced for 16x9 TVs
Audio:                          DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Year:                            2009
SRP :                            $29.97
Street Date:                  November 9, 2010
Pre-Book:                    October 12, 2010
Length:                         84 minutes
UPC :                            014381679052
Cat#:                            ODE6790BD
Bonus Features:            Feature Commentaries; Making The Damned Film; Trailer

Damned by Dawn DVD
Genre:                          Horror, Feature Film
Rating:                          R
Language:                     English 
Format:                        Enhanced for 16x9 TVs
Audio:                          Dolby Digital 5.1
Year:                            2009
SRP :                            $27.97
Street Date:                  November 9, 2010
Pre-Book:                    October 12, 2010
Length:                         84 minutes
UPC :                            014381676129
Cat#:                            ODE6761DVD
Bonus Features:            Feature Commentaries; Making The Damned Film; Trailer

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EARTHSTORM -- movie review by porfle

I really like imminent-doom-from-space movies like ARMAGEDDON, DEEP IMPACT, WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, and their directionally-inverted counterpart, THE CORE.  The makers of EARTHSTORM (2006) obviously like them, too, because their movie is very similar to these in several ways except a very obvious one: budget.  It's an epic disaster flick scaled down to barely the size of a Sci-Fi Channel movie (which, in fact, it is), with most of the drama taking place in--as Paul's very clean grandad from A HARD DAY'S NIGHT might have put it--a cheap CGI shot and a room, a barebones space shuttle interior and a room, and a room and a room.

After a title sequence that resembles the opening of "Star Trek:The Next Generation", the movie kicks off with the moon being struck by a huge asteroid.  Not only does this send a shower of huge meteorites raining down upon the Earth, but it also causes a gradually-widening crack that threatens to break the moon itself into pieces.  Worldwide weather chaos ensues as well, and we get to see the usual idiot newsguys standing in the middle of it as they breathlessly give us the play-by-play.  The CGI in the "meteors hit city" scenes is okay--not great, but not actually laughable, either.  It's a small-scale disaster, to be sure, but if you scale down your expectations to match, then it's not so bad.

Scientist Lara Gale (Amy Price-Francis) is summoned to the ASI, or "American Space Institute" (which is the equivalent of NASA in the alternate dimension in which this story seems to take place), by her colleague Dr. Garth Pender (John Ralston), to help whip up some kind of solution to the problem.  Lara's late father predicted that this scenario might someday occur and came up with his own theoretical remedy, based on his belief that the interior of the moon was composed mainly of iron.  This, however, was ridiculed by his peers in the scientific community, including the President's current Chief Scientific Advisor, Victor Stevens (Dirk Benedict), one of those characters whose sole purpose is to arbitrarily laugh off all the rational solutions proposed by our heroes and insist on doing things the stupid way.  Benedict, who was Starbuck on the original "Battlestar Galactica" and Face on "The A-Team", is used to playing stupid characters and does a pretty good job here.

The plan, as it is, consists of sending astronauts to the moon to blow up some nukes and cause the crack to collapse in upon itself.  In ARMAGEDDON, the fate of mankind rested on the world's greatest oil driller.  Here, it requires the expertise of ace building-blower-upper John Redding (Stephen Baldwin), who just happens to be the world's greatest demolition expert.  He gets summoned to ASI headquarters, and we just know that before you can say "Press the button, Stamper!", he's gonna end up having to go into space himself to make sure the job gets done right.  Upon hearing the plan, he protests, "I don't know anything about the moon!" to which Dr. Pender responds, "Nobody knows more about how things collapse in on themselves than you."  Well, you can't argue with that.

After a bunch of scenes consisting of people in rooms talking to each other, with a few "ehh" disaster shots thrown in here and there, we get to the film's most gripping sequence: the launch of the shuttle during a furious tropical storm.  With time running out and no backup plan, Redding and the two shuttle pilots must go for broke and take off even as various systems hover in and out of "no-go" status and the storm rages around them.  Things also get pretty tense during the shuttle's approach to the moon through a dense field of debris.  By this time, I wasn't expecting ILM-level effects, so I found these scenes visually adequate.  What sorta had me scratching my head, though, was the fact that they seem to have gravity on board the shuttle.  I guess you just can't simulate having a big lug like Stephen Baldwin floating around weightless without spending some serious cash.

Speaking of which, these Baldwin brothers really are a bunch of big lugs, aren't they?  Don't get me wrong--I like them.  But they look like the kind of guys you'd see hanging out at a Flintstone family reunion.  Alec used to be the slim, handsome one--his "Flintstones" character would probably be a movie star named "Rock Granite" or something--and Stephen was the lanky, kid-brother one.  Daniel, the middle Baldwin, was the original "big lug" type of the three.  Now, they're all starting to look more and more alike as Alec and Stephen's physical appearance begins to move closer toward the middle ground inhabited by Daniel.  A time-lapse montage of close-ups from their movies, in chronological order, would probably look like one of those transformation scenes in THE WOLF MAN.  One of these days we won't even be able to tell them apart, and they'll be able to star in an all-Baldwin remake of WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH.

Anyway, once Redding and the astronauts reach the moon, they discover that the nuke plan isn't going to work and that an alternate plan based on the theories of Dr. Gale's late father must be improvised (which will vindicate the old guy at last).  Take that, you dumb old President's Chief Science Advisor!  This leads to a sequence similar to one in APOLLO 13 in which the eggheads at mission control must devise a way to utilize only the equipment and resources available on board the shuttle to conquer the problem.  And a certain level of suspense is maintained as the shuttle is bombarded by debris while the clock ticks down to the point beyond which it will be too late to save the Earth. 

Stephen Baldwin does a good job and is likable in his Barney Rubble kind of way.  The supporting players are good, particularly Matt Gordon as "Albert", one of the eggheads running around mission control like a chicken with its head cut off, and Richard Leacock as "Ollie", the mission control guy who wants to abort the shuttle liftoff.  I also liked Redding's building-demolition helper, Bryna (Anna Silk).  She's very appealing in a "girl-next-door" kind of way.  Does Bryna get together with Redding in the end, like I wanted?  I'll put it this way--no.  GRRRRRRRR!!!  The final romantic pair-ups in this movie are infuriatingly wrong, and made me want to smash the DVD into little pieces, mix it with mashed potatoes and gravy, and eat it, thus symbolizing my total victory over this film and everyone involved. 

But on further reflection, I decided that such a course of action would probably be overdoing it a bit.  After all, EARTHSTORM is just a low-rent sci-fi actioner that is fairly entertaining if you catch it in the right mood, and it's not going to kill me if it doesn't end exactly the way I wanted it to.  But Stephen Baldwin's character and Amy Price-Francis' character ending up together?  Pffft--never gonna work.  Just wait'll she sees how much hair this guy's gonna leave in the tub every time he takes a shower.


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THE LEGEND OF BLOODY MARY -- Movie Review by Porfle

A weird and irritating little horror flick, THE LEGEND OF BLOODY MARY (2008) is like a wrestling match between a bad movie and a pretty good movie, and the bad one keeps beating the pretty good one into submission.

The bad movie is about a college guy named Ryan (the boring Paul Preiss) who has terrifying nightmares every night since his sister Amy disappeared many years before.  Ryan's girlfriend Rachel (Irina Costa, in a not-bad performance) can't take it anymore and leaves him, but not before setting him up for a consultation with Father O'Neal (Robert J. Locke), a slobby-looking "unconventional" priest who resembles a cross between Jim Belushi and Peter Jackson. 

Ryan tells the padre that he thinks his sister was abducted by Bloody Mary, a ghostly hag who jumps out of the mirror if you say her name three times (shades of CANDYMAN).  Coincidentally, Father O'Neal just happens to be excavating a nearly area where he hopes to find the remains of an old Salem village in which all of the citizens were wiped out. 

Local legends, along with some recovered diaries from the time, tell of a young pregnant woman named Mary Worth (no relation to the comic strip character) who was tied to a tree and brutally slashed to death by the townspeople for adultery and heresy, and who vowed revenge.  Executed before a mirror to punish her for her vanity, the ghost of Bloody Mary now uses mirrors to strike out at the descendants of her murderers.

The pretty good movie is about what happened to Ryan's sister Amy (Rachel Taylor) and her friends on that fateful night many years ago.  Following the instructions on a website called "The Bloody Mary Game"--which, ostensibly, has already caused several previous players to vanish from the face of the earth--Amy stands before the mirror on a dark and stormy night and chants "I believe in Mary Worth" three times.  She barely survives what happens next, although she can't remember it later.  Meanwhile, some of her girlfriends are planning a party and think that the Bloody Mary game would be a perfect diversion.  Amy tries to talk them out of it but they're determined to go through with it, leading to some pretty scary consequences.

If the credits didn't list John Stecenko as the sole director, I'd swear two different guys each helmed half of the script and then jammed the disparate results together.  The present day scenes are awful--washed-out home video-style cinematography, really bad camerawork with the lens wavering around in people's faces like a gnat, annoying music, very pedestrian acting (except for Irina Costa), a couple of misplaced song montages--just generally bad.

Then we get to the flashback stuff with Amy and her friends, and the movie is well-photographed, nicely acted, and loaded with atmosphere.  Rolling thunder and constantly flashing lightning punctuate these scenes in spookily lit houses, in which unsuspecting teenage girls make ill-advised plans to tempt fate in deadly ways.  Whenever the movie switched back to the present day with Ryan and Father O'Neal, I couldn't wait for it to return to the good part so I could see how it would turn out.  Already, it was giving me a nice case of the creeps.

But just as it's building up to something that promises to be really scary...or at least pretty scary...we're dumped back into the bad part of the movie and are stuck there until the end.  Amy and her friends, and by far the only worthwhile thing about THE LEGEND OF BLOODY MARY, are frustratingly forgotten.

The Ryan story does manage to come up with a somewhat lively conclusion, but it's poorly staged and hardly the sort of thing I'd anticipated.  It's really baffling to me that director Stecenko and co-writer Dominick R. Domingo had such a good thing going with one storyline and then truncated it in favor of the vastly inferior one.  An entire movie about Amy and the other girls being terrorized by Bloody Mary in their dark, storm-ravaged houses--along with the equally interesting scenes of young Mary's trial and execution in old Salem--might've made a dandy horror flick.  But as it is, THE LEGEND OF BLOODY MARY is like a bowl of creamy, delicious ice cream topped with dog barf.


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TAPOUT: THE COMPLETE SERIES from Image Entertainment, coming to DVD and Digital Download October 19th

BEFORE YOU FIGHT YOUR WAY OUT…YOU HAVE TO FIGHT YOUR WAY IN! IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS THE UNDERGROUND CAGEFIGHTING CULTURE THAT IS OVER THE TOP!

TapouT: THE COMPLETE SERIES

The Action Begins on DVD and Digital Download October 19

Chatsworth, CA – They started out by selling t-shirts out of their car at Mixed Martial Arts ( MMA ) events.  Ten years later, the TapouT Crew has its own apparel brand, the largest in the sport.  Influential and insane, they used their unique mixed martial madness to develop their own television reality show: “TapouT.” On October 19, Image Entertainment will release TapouT: The Complete Series: the program that documents the Crew’s efforts to discover the next MMA star.  Both outrageous seasons – that’s 20 episodes, over 14 hours! - will be available on a 5- DVD set at an SRP of $29.98, and will also be available via digital download. 

TapouT: The Complete Series follows the TapouT Crew (the late Charles “Mask” Lewis Jr., Dan “Punkass” Caldwell, Tim “SkySkrape” Katz) as they travel around the country, in search of promising MMA fighters to develop and possibly sponsor.  Viewing “bush league” bouts in academies and gyms from Wisconsin to Hawaii , they choose their fighter. 

Episodes included in TapouT: The Complete Series are:  Diamond in the Rough, Little Fireball, Hot Head, The Search Continues, Charuto, Sergio, Sunshine, Rob Roy, Einstein, Highlights / Preview Episode, Lighty and Glover, Dany Lauzon, Greg McIntyre, Johny and Jake, Albert Manners, John and Julie, Pat Curran, Travis Marx, TJ Cook, and Mike Campbell.

Each exciting episode includes unbelievable fighters with incredible stories, leading up to a dramatic conclusion as each fighter gets one shot to impress the crew and show off his skills in the cage. Featuring TapouT friends old and new, including MMA superstar Chuck Liddell and UFC President Dana White, TapouT: The Complete Series is a must-have for any mixed martial arts fan!

About Image Entertainment
Image Entertainment, Inc. is a leading independent licensee and distributor of entertainment programming in North America , with approximately 3,000 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 exclusive CD titles in domestic release and more than 450 programs internationally via sublicense agreements. For many of its titles, the Company has exclusive audio and broadcast rights, as well as digital download rights to over 2,100 video programs and approximately 400 audio titles containing more than 5,600 individual tracks. The Company is headquartered in Chatsworth , California . For more information about Image Entertainment, Inc., please go to www.image-entertainment.com.

TapouT:  The Complete Series   DVD
Genre:             Special Interest, Television, MMA/Mixed Martial Arts, Sports/Recreation
Rating:             Not Rated
Languages:       English 
Format:            Anamorphic Widescreen (1.33:1)
Audio:              Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles:           N/A
Year:                2007
SRP :                $29.98
Street Date:      October 19, 2010
Length:             892 minutes
UPC :                014381670820
Cat#:                ID6708PGDVD


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LEGENDS of the SUPERHEROES - Rare Batman (Adam West) TV Special comes to DVD

Warner Archive Collection proudly announces the DVD premiere of the rarely seen and long awaited release of…

LEGENDS OF THE SUPERHEROES

Starring Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin

Available for the FIRST TIME EVER ON DVD, exclusively from the WarnerArchive.com: http://bit.ly/WAC_SuperHeroes

Meticulously restored from the original Two-Inch Master (once thought lost) this rare treasure is a must see for any Batman/superhero fan.  The DVD release includes two episodes THE CHALLENGE and THE ROAST (seen on TV), plus Deleted Scenes (never before seen).

Synopsis:

Heroes and villains of DC Comics square off in the two-part, live-action, made-for-TV (with a laugh track!) smackdowns of Legends of the Super Heroes. The Challenge: Batman and Robin (Adam West and Burt Ward of the live-action Batman TV series) lead The Flash, Green Lantern and more JLA members against The Riddler (Frank Gorshin reprising his TV role), Mordru, Weather Wizard and other Doom-dealers. The Legion’s ultimate gambit: trick the heroes into downing a diabolical depowering drink! The Roast: Poking fun beats swapping punches when celebrity host Ed McMahon emcees a rowdy rave-up. Who knew DC Super Heroes and villains packed as much verbal wit as physical grit when not locked in mortal combat? These Legends will leave you laughing.