"Gone with the Wind" 75th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition Arrives Sept. 30

 

“America’s most popular film. Enormous in every way.”

Los Angeles Times, Kenneth Turan

  

75^th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition

Arrives September 30

Limited & Numbered, With New Collectible Packaging, New Memorabilia and New Special Features

Nationwide Celebrations Scheduled

On September 30, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) will honor one of the most celebrated motion pictures of all time with the Gone with the Wind
75^th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition on Blu-ray™ and Digital HD with UltraViolet.

 

Gone with the Wind -- the quintessential Hollywood epic and still history’s all-time domestic box-office champion ($1.6 billion[1]), with more tickets sold than any other movie ever made – is a “must have” for classic film collectors. It will be fittingly presented in limited and numbered sets, with new collectible packaging, new enhanced content and new collectible memorabilia. The memorabilia includes a replica of Rhett Butler’s handkerchief and a music box paperweight playing Tara’s theme with an image on top of the Rhett-Scarlett kiss. Also included is a 36-page companion booklet featuring a look at the immortal style of Gone with the Wind, written by New York fashion designer and Project Runway finalist Austin Scarlett, whose signature look reflects the romantic elegance of the Gone with the Wind era.

 

The new special features include footage of Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh attending the original movie premiere in Atlanta and Old South/New South, a journey through today's South, revisiting the real-life locations depicted to see how the world of the Old South continues to inform life in the New South’s cosmopolitan world. Gone with the Wind 75^th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition will be available for $49.99 SRP.

 

75^th Anniversary Celebrations Nationwide

To commemorate the 75^th anniversary of Gone with the Wind, the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin will launch the exhibition, “The Making of ‘Gone With The Wind.’” For the first time in more than 25 years, three original gowns worn by Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara, including the iconic green curtain dress, will be exhibited together along with replicas of the film’s other gowns. Additionally, more than 300 items from producer David O. Selznick’s archive will be displayed, including behind-the-scenes photographs, storyboards, correspondence, production records, audition footage and fan mail. Turner Classic Movies is one of the sponsors of the exhibition which runs from September 9 – January 4, 2015.

 

On September 22, WBHE will partner with The Actors Hall of Fame in a special 75^th Anniversary Gone with the Wind fundraising gala to benefit dramatic arts education in schools. Hundreds of stars and industry leaders will arrive ‘in costume’ at the historic Culver Studios where many key scenes of the movie were filmed. The gala will be streamed live from the Mansion on digital and social media around the world. Planned highlights of this special evening include the dedication of the Olivia de Havilland Dramatic Arts Education Center and a recreation of the famous Virginia Reel dance scene from the movie, with student actors in period costumes and a silent auction including Gone With The Wind memorabilia. For additional information on the events, go to www.hrc.utexas.edu and http://actorshalloffame.org/  respectively.

 

About the Movie

Gone with the Wind, lauded as one of the American cinema’s grandest, most ambitious and spectacular pieces of filmmaking, was helmed by Victor Fleming in 1939, the same year as the director’s The Wizard of Oz. It captured 10 Academy Awards^®[2] including Best Picture, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress for Hattie McDaniel, the first Oscar awarded to an African-American actor. Margaret Mitchell’s Pulitzer-prize winning novel, on which the film is based, has been translated into 16 languages, has sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide, and even now, continues to sell 50,000 copies a year.

 

Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Olivia de Havilland, Leslie Howard and Hattie McDaniel star in this classic epic of the American South. On the eve of the Civil War, rich, beautiful and self-centered Scarlett O'Hara (Leigh) has everything she could want - except Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard). As the war devastates the South, Scarlett discovers the strength within herself to protect her family and rebuild her life. Through everything, she longs for Ashley, unaware that she is already married to the man she really loves (Gable) - and who truly loves her - until she finally drives him away. Only then does Scarlett realize what she has lost ... and tries to win him back.

 

Special Features:

• Featuring footage including Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh attending the original movie premiere in Atlanta
• Old South/New South NEW! Take a journey of discovery through today's South, revisiting the real-life locations depicted in Gone With the Wind, from Gettysburg to Atlanta to New Orleans, to see how the world of the Old South - and the themes depicted in the film - continue to inform life in the cosmopolitan world of the New South.

 

Gone with the Wind 75^th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition

Street Date: September 30, 2014

Order Due Date: August 26, 2014

Pricing: $49.99 SRP

Cat/UPC: 1000446620/6000079798

 

Note: All enhanced content and premiums listed above are subject to change.

Academy Awards® and Oscar® are both registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Blu-ray Disc™ and Blu-ray™ and the logos are the trademarks of Blu-ray Disc Association.

Warner Home Video Blu-ray Discs™ offer resolution six times higher than standard definition DVDs, as well as extraordinarily vibrant contrast and color and beautifully crisp sound. The format also provides a higher level of interactivity, with instant access to extra features via a seamless menu bar where viewers can enjoy features without leaving or interrupting the film.

About Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) brings together Warner Bros. Entertainment's home video, digital distribution and interactive entertainment businesses in order to maximize current and next-generation distribution scenarios. An industry leader since its inception, WBHE oversees the global distribution of content through packaged goods (Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD) and digital media in the form of electronic sell-through and video-on-demand via cable, satellite, online and mobile channels, and is a significant developer and publisher for console and online video game titles worldwide. WBHE distributes its product through third party retail partners and licensees, as well as directly to consumers through WBShop.com and WBUltra.

 

ABOUT DIGITAL HD WITH ULTRAVIOLET

Digital HD with UltraViolet allows fans to watch a digital version of their movie or TV show anywhere on their favorite devices. Digital HD with UltraViolet is included with the purchase of specially marked Blu-ray discs. Digital HD with UltraViolet allows consumers to instantly stream and download movies and TV shows to TVs, computers, tablets and smartphones through UltraViolet retail services like CinemaNow, Flixster, Target Ticket, VUDU and more. For more information on compatible devices go to wb.com/ultravioletdevices. Consult an UltraViolet Retailer for details and requirements and for a list of HD-compatible devices.

 

Stream rare and hard-to-find movies and TV shows at Warner Archive Instant; purchase discs at Warner Archive Collection. Even more at www.wbshop.com or www.wbultra.com

  

---

[1] Domestic gross. adjusted for inflation (according to www.boxofficemojo.com)

[2] 1939 (12^th)                   ACTRESS – Vivien Leigh

                                                ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE  – Hattie McDaniel

                                                ART DIRECTION  – Lyle Wheeler

                                                CINEMATOGRAPHY (Color) – Ernest Haller, Ray Rennahan

DIRECTING -- Victor Fleming

FILM EDITING -- Hal C. Kern, James E. Newcom

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION -- Selznick International Pictures

WRITING (Screenplay) -- Sidney Howard

SPECIAL AWARD To William Cameron Menzies for outstanding achievement in the use of color for the enhancement of dramatic mood in the production of Gone with the Wind.

SCIENTIFIC OR TECHNICAL AWARD (Class III) For important contributions in cooperative development of new improved Process Projection Equipment: F. R. ABBOTT, HALLER BELT, ALAN COOK and the BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL COMPANY for faster projection lenses; The MITCHELL CAMERA COMPANY for a new type process projection head; MOLE-RICHARDSON COMPANY for a new type automatically controlled projection arc lamp; CHARLES HANDLEY, DAVID JOY and the NATIONAL CARBON COMPANY for improved and more stable high-intensity carbons; WINTON HOCH and the TECHNICOLOR MOTION PICTURE CORP. for an auxiliary optical system; DON MUSGRAVE and SELZNICK INTERNATIONAL PICTURES, INC. for pioneering in the use of coordinated equipment in the production, Gone with the Wind.

"Gone with the Wind" 75th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition Arrives Sept. 30

THE FORBIDDEN GIRL -- DVD review by porfle

I'm not sure what I just watched, but it was called THE FORBIDDEN GIRL (2013) and it was about...uhh...give me a minute...

At first I thought it was going to be an intense fright flick which would go for the sort of RING-type scares that are so common nowadays. Toby McClift (Peter Gadiot, NIGHT WOLF, "Caesar") is secretly meeting his girlfriend Katie (Jytte-Merle Böhrnsen) in a crypt at night when suddenly she's carried off screaming by some kind of jerkily-edited demonic entity surrounded by black CGI smoke. Hmm, looks like this might get scary.

But this spook tale is even more fanciful than THE RING because Toby's father--a pastor who's your stereotypical fundie religious fanatic--has "forbidden" him to experience normal relations with a woman lest he release evil into the world. (One of the disadvantages of being some kind of mystical "chosen one", y'see.)

Well, Toby ends up in the nut house over the whole thing, but when he gets out he manages to score a tutoring position in a huge Gothic mansion for a reclusive young girl named Laura Wallace who is actually, as it turns out, his beloved Katie.

And just as we're muttering "No way!" to ourselves, we meet the mistress of the house, Lady Wallace (Jeanette Hain, THE WHISTLEBLOWER), a bedridden old crone who seems to be undergoing a HELLRAISER-style rejuvenation process, and her protector-lover Mortimer (Klaus Tange), a blonde bundle of sinewy hostility with a penchant, we soon learn, for turning into that black CGI smoke monster we got a glimpse of earlier.

Anyway, the whole affair quickly develops into the sort of shadowy, leaf-strewn Gothic romance blather that we used to read about in comic books like "House of Mystery", with Toby pledging to free Laura/Katie from the lonely bondage of her tower room while the power of his love conquers whatever Lady Wallace and Mortimer can throw at him with whatever supernatural powers they eventually turn out to have. And boy, do they ever have plans--evil plans--for the both of our hapless young lovers.

What those plans are finally start to emerge from the murky enigma that is THE FORBIDDEN GIRL until some late revelations put a little life into the largely dopey and dull story. What gets us by until then is that exquisite Gothic setting and some lush production design, which, although weighed down by lots of unfortunate CGI (when will they ever learn that CGI isn't scary?), will serve as the backdrop for a confusing but lively climax featuring generous amounts of rather fine boobage.

Still, none of this is very scary or menacing. In fact, some of the earlier passages, in which Toby doubles for the usual female heroine in this "stranger in a creepy mansion" sort of story, are almost ADDAMS FAMILY-like. Gadiot's stiff, rather childlike acting style and a sometimes almost whimsical musical score also add to what amounts to a kind of precious theatricality to the proceedings.

Till Hastreiter, a capable director, goes for some lightweight Ken Russell/David Lynch surrealism in an early dream sequence but reverts to the "kitchen sink" style of throwing anything that might stick at the film's blustery finale, which will either have you thinking "Hey, this is pretty cool, and...boobs!" or scratching your head at the sheer eye-boggling inanity of it all.

The DVD from Inception Media Group is in 16x9 widescreen with Dolby 5.1 surround sound and English subtitles. A trailer is the sole extra.

I'm still not even quite sure whether or not I was entertained by THE FORBIDDEN GIRL, but I do know that it was mildly interesting for awhile, and then it got all "Wow! Stuff's, like, happening!" near the end, and then there was one ending too many, and then the fadeout left me thinking, "Well, that was--huh?"

Buy it at Amazon.com

THE FORBIDDEN GIRL -- DVD review by porfle

THE RIDDLE -- movie review by porfle

(NOTE: This review originally appeared online at Bumscorner.com on March 15, 2007. In April of that year THE RIDDLE became the first movie to premiere as a free DVD insert in the U.K. newspaper The Daily Mail.)

　
"A box without hinges, key, or lid...yet inside, a golden treasure's hid."

Are you one of those people who knew right away that the answer to this was "an egg" because you're good at solving riddles? Mike Sullivan isn't. It takes him almost a whole movie to sort out the answer to THE RIDDLE (2007), a low-key, deliberately-paced mystery thriller with a literary bent, set along the muddy banks of London's Thames River. But that's a good thing, because it's a lot more fun watching him get to the bottom of things the hard way.

Mike (Vinnie Jones) is a tabloid journalist who wants to graduate from covering dog races to crime reporting. His aggressively nosey foray into the suspicious death of a construction worker puts him at odds with a shady police detective named Willis (P.H. Moriarty), who seems to have other interests in crime besides solving it.

Mike's boss, Roberta (Vanessa Redgrave), also has reasons for wanting him to stay off the case and gives him the sack when he refuses. But he does have an ally--smart, perky Kate (Julie Cox, of the "Dune" TV miniseries), a police press officer who takes a liking to Mike and wants to help him sort out the truth.

Meanwhile, a vivacious older woman named Sadie (Vera Day), who runs the pub where Mike hangs out and has a penchant for riddles, stumbles upon a remarkable find in her cellar--an unpublished manuscript by Charles Dickens himself. But before she can parlay this discovery into untold riches, she's found dead on the riverbank.

Determining to find out who killed his friend and why, Mike soon begins to suspect a link between her murder and the death of the construction worker, along with the recent drowning of a young drug-addicted woman in the Thames. His investigation will eventually uncover questionable activities involving a sleazy construction company CEO named Roberts (Jason Flemyng) and a member of Parliament, Forsyth (Michael Fenton Stevens), who, it turns out, was a personal friend of Sadie.

All of this would make for a fairly interesting story on its own, but that's just the half of it. When Mike gets his hands on the Dickens manuscript (entitled "The Riddle") and begins reading it, the story seems to have odd parallels to his current investigation. Dickens (Derek Jacobi) himself narrates it for us, telling the tale of a young writer named Cedric Skenshal and his wife, who is slowly going mad. Her sister Alice moves in to help care for her, after which the tale soon darkens to include mysterious death, blackmail, and murder.

How this story is eventually resolved not only relates in a strange way to Mike's current concerns, but also seems to mean more to Dickens than a mere work of fiction--especially when the esteemed author starts whispering clues and warnings to Mike in his dreams. "I've got enough trouble with real crime, let alone made-up ones by Dickens," he complains to Kate at one point.

THE RIDDLE is writer-producer Brendan Foley's follow-up to 2005's kickass crime drama JOHNNY WAS--the script was a finalist in the 2001 Big Break international screenwriting contest--and his first film as director. He handles the job quite assuredly for a first-timer and shows some flashes of style, especially in the sequence where Mike gets drugged and seduced by a mysterious woman named Margot (Clemmie Myers). She waits for him to pass out in bed and then stands there in her bra and panties casually snapping pictures of his investigative notes to a driving techno beat. It may not sound like much in print, but visually it's pretty cool.

The darkly-lit Dickens scenes are seemingly intrusive at first, but become more interesting as the importance of the century-old tale grows in relation to the rest of the story. As in JOHNNY WAS, Foley shows a knack for exploring the seedier side of London, and makes the most of a relatively modest five-million-dollar budget to bring his smartly-written screenplay to life.

The cast is exceptional, especially Vinnie Jones (JOHNNY WAS, X-MEN:THE LAST STAND, LOCK, STOCK, AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS), who has recently become one of my favorite actors. He's convincing as anything from a ruthless killer to the likable sort he plays here, and, in the tradition of the classic movie tough guys, is always interesting to watch. Julie Cox gives a fun performance as Kate, whose quirky romance with Mike is one of the most appealing aspects of the film--they make a delightful non-glamorous movie couple as they gradually warm up to each other.

Still lovely at 67, Vera Day (LOCK, STOCK, AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS, WOMANEATER, ENEMY FROM SPACE) shines in her brief scenes as the ill-fated Sadie. Ruthless CEO Roberts is played with plenty of slime by Jason Flemyng, familiar as the sniveling Netley of FROM HELL and Dr. Jekyll in THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN.

Also notable are Mark Asante as Mike's construction worker friend Dwayne, P.H. Moriarty as the loathesome detective Willis, Shelly Goldstein as the mad Mrs. Skenshal, British comedian Mel Smith ("Not The Nine O'Clock News", THE PRINCESS BRIDE) as Dickens expert Professor Cranshaw, and, of course, the formidable Vanessa Redgrave in the small role of Mike's devious boss, Roberta.

Best of all, perhaps, is Derek Jacobi ("I, Claudius", UNDERWORLD: EVOLUTION, GLADIATOR) as a nameless old tramp who haunts the muddy shoreline of the Thames, scrounging for various discarded items and always on the lookout for the occasional "manna from heaven" that comes his way.

Long-haired and scruffy, the tramp sees and knows more than one might think, and his help, in exchange for coffee and sandwiches ("Beef!" is his favorite) proves invaluable to Mike and Kate. The tramp is a great character--funny, wise, prone to occasional outbursts of theatricality, and a bit mystical--and Jacobi, who also plays Dickens, gives a wonderful performance.

What is the secret behind THE RIDDLE? (Part of the answer lies in this review.) All is revealed in the exciting final scene, which includes murder, a confession or two, and a twist that is pretty surprising unless you're one of those people who are good at solving riddles and have already figured it out. Which Mike Sullivan isn't, thank goodness, or it would've been a really short film.

Buy it at Amazon.com

THE RIDDLE -- movie review by porfle

LITTLE FISH -- movie review by porfle

(NOTE: This review was originally posted at Bumscorner.com in 2006.)

Labeled a "psychological thriller" and promoted with a trailer promising a dark tale that'll have you on the edge of your seat, LITTLE FISH (2005) only qualifies as such for five or ten minutes near the end, and even then just barely.

The rest of the time it's simply the story of a reformed heroin addict named Tracy (Cate Blanchett) who dreams of buying a video store in the "Little Saigon" district near Sydney, Australia where she's worked for the past four years, but she can't get a bank loan to save her life. She's also busy trying to help her surrogate father Lionel (Hugo Weaving), a former national rugby hero, who is fighting his own losing battle against heroin now that his dealer-slash-lover Brad (Sam Neill) has retired from the drug underworld.

But Brad's underling Steve (Joel Tobeck) secretly keeps the business going on his own and eventually enters into a big drug deal with Tracy's ne'er-do-well brother Ray (Martin Henderson) and her ex-lover Jonny (Dustin Nguyen), who has just returned after spending four years in Canada trying to get his drug-addled life back together.

Jonny's return complicates Tracy's already messed-up life, especially when he persuades her to "borrow" money from the video store where she works and invest it in the drug deal, which will supposedly pay off enough for her to buy it at last. But as usual in stories such as this, such a scheme seems destined to fail.

Cate Blanchett gives a casual and restrained performance as Tracy and is a likable main character whose struggle to better herself keeps this very leisurely-paced film interesting throughout. Hugo Weaving is also very good as the drug-ravaged ex-athlete who maintains a strong fatherly relationship with Tracy long after breaking up with her mother, and it's fun to see him in a role so different from the ones he played in the MATRIX and LORD OF THE RINGS trilogies (Blanchett is also miles away from her "Galadriel" character from RINGS).

Sam Neill gives his usual reliable performance, and the rest of the cast is good, especially Noni Hazlehurst as Tracy's long-suffering mother Janelle.

Director Rowan Woods' informal, documentary-style camerawork gives the story a contemplative, dreamlike quality that makes us feel as though we're inside Tracy's head, viewing all the inevitable uncertainties of life from her disoriented point of view. As events spin slowly but surely out of control, this dreamlike quality threatens to turn nightmarish at any point, but never quite does. The brief scenes of tension and suspense near the end of the film as the drug deal threatens to go wrong (as we feared it would) never reach a real crescendo, and the film ends with a frustrating lack of resolution.

I didn't exactly feel as though I'd wasted my time watching it, but I certainly expected more of an ending than seeing three people silently strolling into the ocean at dawn and splashing around for awhile. They seem to be cleansing themselves of the horrid events of the night before, which is nice, but all of the problems that the story has saddled them with thus far still remain and the fade-out comes at least a scene or two too early to satisfy me.

So, while I did enjoy watching it to a certain extent, LITTLE FISH left me unfulfilled and wishing that scriptwriter Jacqueline Perske had taken the time to think of an ending.

Buy it at Amazon.com

LITTLE FISH -- movie review by porfle

"Batman 25th Anniversary Two-Disc Edition" from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Nov. 11



Celebrating 75 Years of Caped Crusader Entertainment…
 

Batman 25th Anniversary Edition
Debuts November 11

in New Diamond Luxe Packaging

 



Burbank, Calif., August 14, 2014 – To help mark Warner Bros. Entertainment (WBE) and DC Entertainment’s milestone 75th anniversary of DC Comics’ popular Batman character, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) will release Batman 25^{th Anniversary Two-Disc Edition,} a new Blu-ray™ edition debuting November 11 (at $24.98 SRP) in the studio’s distinctive new sleek Diamond Luxe collector-style packaging. With its state-of-the-art sophisticated and durable design, the new packaging is perfect for those wishing to add this edition to their home libraries. Also included is Batman: The Birth of the Modern Blockbuster -- a look at the phenomenal marketing, extensive merchandising and franchise foresight that set the template for the next 25 years of tentpole pictures.

WBHE and DCE’s year-long celebration, befitting the world’s most popular Super Hero, will boast new products from WBE and DC Entertainment in numerous areas – comics, TV, Interactive Entertainment, Consumer Products and more. There is a new commemorative 75th anniversary Batman logo and an exclusive "Cape/Cowl/Create" art exhibit, featuring 20 contemporary artists’ interpretations of The Dark Knight’s iconic cowl headpiece and cape from the new Batman: Arkham Knight video game. Various other events are taking place throughout the year.

In addition to releasing Batman 25th Anniversary Two-Disc Edition, WBHE will also feature the highly anticipated release of the 1960s Batman: The Complete Television Series for the first time ever. Other new home entertainment releases include animated films Son of Batman and Batman: Assault on Arkham.

In announcing the Batman 75th anniversary initiative in March, WB Chairman and Chief Executive Kevin Tsujihara noted, "Batman is an incredibly important property with multi-generational appeal across all of the Studio’s businesses, and we’re proud to celebrate this milestone anniversary. From billion-dollar blockbuster films to TV, home entertainment, video games and consumer products, The Dark Knight continues to resonate with audiences worldwide and rightfully deserves his place as a global pop culture icon for the ages."

About the Movie
In 1989, director Tim Burton breathed new life into one of the most complex and intriguing characters in popular culture. Burton cast off the 1960s camp depiction of the Dark Knight and launched for Warner Bros. one of the most popular comic book film series ever. Batman was the top-grossing movie that year and subsequently became a global phenomenon.

Tim Burton’s vision and Michael Keaton’s performance as the Caped Crusader combine perfectly to capture Gotham City’s sinister atmosphere and Batman’s brooding nature. Jack Nicholson stars in a memorable performance as the maniacal Joker and Kim Basinger is Vicki Vale, the beautiful and resourceful photojournalist desired by both men. Featuring songs by Prince and a score by Danny Elfman, Batman won the 1990 Oscar® for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration (Anton Furst and Peter Young).

　
Special Features

Batman: The Birth of the Modern Blockbuster (NEW) Discover how the film's phenomenal marketing, extensive merchandising and franchise foresight set the template for the next 25 years of tentpole pictures.
　
Note: All enhanced content listed above is subject to change.

Academy Awards® and Oscar® are both registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Blu-ray Disc™ and Blu-ray™ and the logos are the trademarks of Blu-ray Disc Association.

Warner Home Video Blu-ray Discs™ offer resolution six times higher than standard definition DVDs, as well as extraordinarily vibrant contrast and color and beautifully crisp sound. The format also provides a higher level of interactivity, with instant access to extra features via a seamless menu bar where viewers can enjoy features without leaving or interrupting the film.


About Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc.
 
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) brings together Warner Bros. Entertainment's home video, digital distribution and interactive entertainment businesses in order to maximize current and next-generation distribution scenarios. An industry leader since its inception, WBHE oversees the global distribution of content through packaged goods (Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD) and digital media in the form of electronic sell-through and video-on-demand via cable, satellite, online and mobile channels, and is a significant developer and publisher for console and online video game titles worldwide. WBHE distributes its product through third party retail partners and licensees, as well as directly to consumers through WBShop.com and WBUltra. 

"Batman 25th Anniversary Two-Disc Edition" from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Nov. 11

FORTY SHADES OF BLUE -- movie review by porfle

(NOTE: This review was originally posted at Bumscorner.com in 2006.)

FORTY SHADES OF BLUE (2005) won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, which just goes to show that the Sundance Film Festival probably isn't a very fun film festival to go to. In fact, they probably shouldn't use a term that's derived from the word "festive" in their name if this is the sort of film that turns their crank. Maybe "Sundance Film Ordeal" would be more fitting.

I'm not saying I hated or even actually disliked this movie, just that if I were on that jury I wouldn't have voted for for something so slow and boring. The main credit for whatever interest I had in it goes to the two lead actors, especially the great Rip Torn as Alan James, a Memphis music-biz legend with a long career as a top rhythm and blues performer and record producer.

Offstage and away from his admiring public, he tends to be a puerile old fart who throws tantrums in the recording studio and can only relate in a meaningful way with groupies and little kids, such as his three-year-old son, Sam, with whom he gleefully plays children's games.

Sam's mother is Alan's current love interest, Laura, a wispy, introspective Russian beauty who met him while he was on a business trip in Moscow. Laura is played by Dina Korzun, who is another reason this movie is as watchable as it is. At first I didn't like her distant, disaffected manner much, but eventually I began to appreciate Korzun's eccentric acting style more and more as she slowly revealed the nuances of her character.

Laura's main problem is that she doesn't really love Alan anymore, and is tired of being left alone at parties and stood up for dinner dates while Alan wanders off with his latest sexual distraction. She tolerates this because he actually loves her in his own way, and because he gives her a pampered lifestyle she never could've had back in Russia, but without even realizing it she's begun to yearn for something more. Which is where Alan's son comes into the picture.

Michael (Darren E. Burrows of TV's "Northern Exposure") is Alan's semi-estranged offspring from a former marriage, whom Dad has invited to come help him celebrate his winning a lifetime achievement award of some sort, and also to hopefully patch things up between them. Well, before you can say "wuh-woh", Michael and Laura start to develop feelings for each other that soon lead to clandestine bed-ins in various hotel rooms. Yes, of all people, they "complete" each other.

Although, of course, their unlikely relationship is doomed from the start. To make things worse, Michael really cares for his wife, who is pregnant with their first child, and Alan, bless his heart, has chosen this unfortunate moment in time to finally, and very publicly, ask Laura to marry him--even though he's beginning to suspect that things between Laura and Michael are getting disturbingly intimate.

Burrows isn't very interesting as Michael--he may resemble a young Michael Parks, but his morose presence is far removed from Parks' inventively oddball acting style. Dina Korzun is rather fascinating to watch as the movie progresses and Laura becomes more and more conflicted, until finally she is unable to hide an overwhelming despair.

But it's Rip Torn's performance that is the main reason to stick it out all the way to the end. He's a great actor, and makes the most of his character. When Alan finally realizes that he's lost Laura--probably his one true love in life--for good, Rip makes us feel it.

All artsy-fartsy trappings aside, FORTY SHADES OF BLUE is pure soap opera--an updated version of the kind of stuff people like Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson used to star in--but it's pretty good soap opera if you can just stay awake long enough to see it through. I didn't like the abrupt ending very much, though, because just when it started getting good, it was over. Hmm...I couldn't wait for this movie to end, but it ended too soon? Talk about conflicted.

Buy it at Amazon.com

FORTY SHADES OF BLUE -- movie review by porfle

H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS -- DVD review by porfle

(This is a repost of my very first online movie review, posted at Bumscorner.com in 2005. I had just bought the DVD of Timothy Hines' notorious H.G. Wells adaptation--the original version, that is--and decided to choose it as my debut title. Thanks to Mike Eschelman of Bumscorner for giving me my start.)

This certainly is a familiar title these days! I haven't seen the mega-bucks Steven Spielberg version or that other one with C. Thomas Howell and Jake Busey in it yet, but it's a pretty good bet that the absolute worst of the current bunch is "H.G. Wells' The War Of The Worlds" (Spielberg didn't mention Wells in his title, and the other one only has one "The" -- that's how you tell them apart), which is now available on DVD.

I'd seen the trailer online and was aware that this film's budget was way too small for cinematographer/editor/writer/director Timothy Hines to afford any really expensive CGI. But the shot of Big Ben getting blown in half by a Martian heat ray and crashing into a bridge looked pretty decent, and the quick glimpses of advancing tri-legged Martian war machines didn't seem too bad. I figured at that price (under nine dollars) I couldn't go wrong, so I picked up a copy and gave it a chance. Three seemingly interminable hours later I was wanting my money back really, really bad.

The script by Hines and Susan Goforth (who also produced and plays a role in the film) sticks close to Wells' novel, retaining the original period and locations and much of the text itself. The costumes are very authentic-looking. But as soon as we see the main character of the film sitting there with what resembles a glob of spinach glued to his upper lip, we know something's wrong. (Actor Anthony Piana also portrays this character's twin brother later in the film, without the fake mustache.)

From the very first scene this film looks like it was done by the same people who shoot dramatizations for shows like "Unsolved Mysteries" and "America's Most Wanted." It's hard to believe that anyone ever considered releasing this to theaters instead of directly to DVD -- I can't imagine sitting in a movie theater witnessing this amateurish effort actually being projected for an audience.

The computer effects look like something out of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force", only slightly less realistic. I read somewhere online that Hines actually created them on his laptop, and I don't doubt it. As a viewer, it's really hard to suspend your disbelief when everything looks like really bad video game graphics.

Not only that, but almost every shot uses some kind of inept computer effects, even for simple backgrounds, both indoors and out, and the green-screen stuff is so bad that the contours of the actors' heads keep changing when they move. Distant soldiers and horses look like cartoons; people riding in carriages are manipulated against fake backgrounds like characters on "South Park." And some scenes which are supposed to take place at night are filmed in broad daylight, with a strip of star-bedecked black added to the top of the frame.

It just keeps getting worse. The first casualties of the Martian death ray burst into flames, become computer-generated skeletons, and then keep on thrashing around even after all their flesh has been totally vaporized. The Martians themselves are just plain dumb-looking -- sort of like Fruit Roll-Ups with eyes and tentacles. Their war machines look okay, but are clumsily-animated.

The performances fall into two categories: bad silent movie-type mugging, and tiresome overacting. Director Hines is no help, though, making his actors walk, trot, or sprint from one place to another in several unnecessary scenes, or simply having them stand there and make faces denoting various emotions as they pretend to witness spectacles that the special effects can never hope to depict. Much of his direction appears to have consisted of phrases like "Okay, look sad! Action!" or "Okay, look horrified! Action!", or "Quick! Jog over there! Action!"

Did I mention that this thing is three hours long? And those are doctor's office waiting room hours, not Happy Fun Theme Park hours.

There is one pretty good thing about this movie -- the music. The opening titles, in fact, are the best thing about it, with an impressive theme (the synth often sounds convincingly orchestral) and the cool way that the text slowly moves forward like in "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome." Sometimes I pop the DVD in and watch this first minute or so just so I don't feel like I totally wasted my money on it. There's a danger in doing this, though -- if I'm not careful, I actually see part of the movie before I can hit the "stop" button.

Buy it at Amazon.com

Originally posted Tuesday, June 28, 2005

H.G. WELLS' THE WAR OF THE WORLDS -- DVD review by porfle

LOW WINTER SUN: THE COMPLETE SERIES -- DVD review by porfle

After seeing him play good guys in the fairly interesting psychological thriller ANNA and now this, AMC's one-season cop show LOW WINTER SUN: THE COMPLETE SERIES (a 3-disc, ten-episode DVD set from Anchor Bay), I have now officially forgiven Mark Strong for being the totally boo-hiss Frank D'Amico in KICK-ASS. (The fact that I hated him for that in the first place is a testament to his acting skills.) So now, I can accept him in the role of a morally conflicted homicide cop who's the good guy except for one tiny little catch--his cop character is also a cop-killer.

That's right, the term "good guy" can be pretty relative. Here, Strong plays Detroit homicide detective Frank Agnew, a former hero whom you might call a "faded flower" of departmental integrity. We know this isn't going to be your standard police procedural when the series opens with Frank and fellow detective Joe Geddes (Lennie James, "The Walking Dead") murdering Geddes' now-former partner Brendan McCann in cold blood and disposing of the body by staging a fake suicide.

The viewer is thrown for a loop from the first minutes. Here we have the show's two lead cops pretending to investigate their fellow detective's brutal homicide while actually doing their best to sabotage said investigation until the case goes cold. When a witness crops up claiming to have seen a tall, bald white guy and a medium-sized black guy--namely, Frank and Geddes--plunging the dead McCann's car into the river, they respond by contradicting, confusing, and discrediting him until he doesn't know what he saw.

The first episode (entitled, simply enough, "Pilot") establishes the basics--crooked good cops, crooked bad cops, crooked bad guys. In short, crooked everything. Interdepartmental tension grows when Internal Affairs sets the small but tenacious Lt. Simon Boyd (David Costabile) loose in the squad room. McCann, it seems, has been under scrutiny for quite awhile due to his shady dealings with drug traffickers, leading to the murder of some small-time dealers and the disappearance of a prostitute-witness named Katia (Mickey Sumner).

To complicate things even further, Frank was in love with Katia and is now obsessed with finding her. Geddes, on the other hand, doesn't want her found because she knows too much about his own involvement with McCann's extracurricular activities.

The plot is so twisted that lead characters Frank and Geddes alternate between working together to stall the case, and being at each others' throats due to their wildly conflicting motives. Their boss, Lt. Dawson (Ruben Santiago-Hudson), just wants everything to work itself out in any way necessary so he can move up the ladder and get a corner office with a view. Perhaps the biggest threat to Frank and Geddes, strangely enough (aside from Internal Affairs man Boyd), is Detective Dani Khalil (Athena Karkanis), since her honesty and integrity have yet to be hopelessly corrupted.

While all of this is going on, we get to know the criminals with whom McCann was secretly dealing and, at times, even empathize with their ambition to break out from under the thumb of local Greek crime boss Alexander Skelos (Alon Aboutboul) and make it on their own. Husband and wife team Damon and Maya Callis (James Ransone, Sprague Grayden) know they're playing with fire, especially when Damon hatches a dangerous plan to hit Skelos which Maya is strongly against because of the danger it poses to their children.

And yes, our heroes Frank and Geddes themselves have a long personal history with the two which, like just about everything else in this show, leads to plenty of complications down the line.

We're meant to be ambivalent toward almost all of the main characters in LOW WINTER SUN, and for the most part the writers pull this off. This can be rather stimulating to watch as standard good-bad stereotypes are manipulated to make us wonder sometimes who we should be rooting for or against. It also makes for storylines that are wildly unpredictable, especially since most of these characters are a highly volatile bunch prone to violent acting out.

The downside of this series is that all of the good stuff takes a while--several episodes, in fact--to come together enough to demand our attention and make us insatiably eager to see what happens next. At times, the show tries too hard to be "gritty" (in one scene, Frank tells Geddes that they're trying to push a "square turd down a round toilet") and the early going is filled with long, uninteresting dialogue scenes that make us yearn for the next sudden shock or explosive confrontation.

Around the third disc, however, things heat up to the point that I was watching in rapt attention as Frank, AWOL from a pressing court date while being sought by his own police department, goes through a life-shattering meltdown--a magnificent, self-destructive breakdown of epic proportions. (Mark Strong has a field day in these final episodes.) Geddes, meanwhile, continues to be an increasingly complex character who knows he's sold his soul but is trying to salvage what's left of it even as we keep being surprised by what he is capable of.

Stylistically, the series is a bit murky-looking at times but keeps the handheld-camera thing on an acceptably functional level like the old show "Homicide: Life on the Streets" rather than going full-out "NYPD Blue." Much of the show's "gritty" quality comes from its production design--the squad room, in particular, looks like it should either be totally renovated or condemned for demolition.

The 3-disc DVD set from Anchor Bay is in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and subtitles in English and Spanish. Extras include the featurettes "A Look at 'Low Winter Sun'", "Detroit Grit", and "Designing the Precinct." There are also brief featurettes for each episode and a wealth of deleted scenes.

With its excellent leads and a fine supporting cast, LOW WINTER SUN rewards patient viewers who can make it through the slower early going until the final episodes catch dramatic fire. It's a shame the series wasn't picked up for a second season and given a chance to get even better--it would've been interesting to see where the writers went with it. But these ten episodes are fairly self-contained and supply enough of a resolution to not leave us hanging.
Buy it at Amazon.com

LOW WINTER SUN: THE COMPLETE SERIES -- DVD review by porfle

TCM: Three New Greatest Classic Films Collections

 

New from Turner Classic Movies & Warner Home Video

December 2

Three New Greatest Classic Film Collections Include

Cary Grant Vol. 2, Taylor & Burton and Bogie & Bacall

 

BURBANK, Calif. , August 5, 2014 – Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (WBHE) and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) are adding three new collections to their TCM Greatest Classic Films: Legends line, which spotlights Hollywood’s greatest legends. Available December 2, the newest additions are Cary Grant Vol. 2, Taylor & Burton and Bogie & Bacall.  Each collection features four classic films and is affordably priced at $27.92 SRP.

 

To build further momentum for these titles, WBHE has set the street date for the collections to coincide with the airing of one film from each collection on TCM. Additional promotional support will include on-air promotional spots on TCM and print advertising in TCM's Now Playing guide.

 

ABOUT THE COLLECTIONS

 

TCM GREATEST CLASSIC FILMS: LEGENDS – CARY GRANT VOLUME 2

 

 

  SYLVIA SCARLETT (1935) - Katharine Hepburn is Sylvia Scarlett, a woman who disguises herself as a man to evade the law. Cary Grant is jewel smuggler Jimmy Monkley, a competing young grifter. The two find themselves cooperating on a heist...and caught in a web of romantic entanglements.

 

GUNGA DIN (1939) - Grant, Victor McLaglen and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. star as cheeky British soldiers armed with battlefield gallantry as they combat a murderous sect in colonial India. Director George Stevens orchestrates teeming battles and boisterous humor from a screenplay by Joel Sayre and Fred Guiol.

 

DESTINATION TOKYO (1943) - Grant plays the captain of a submarine making its battle-strewn way from San Francisco to the Aleutians and into the enemy’s front yard. Delmer Daves (who co-wrote with Albert Maltz) directs, while John Garfield leads an array of costars playing boys-next-door gone to war.

 

ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944) - Frank Capra breezily directs this classic farce written by Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein based on the Broadway hit. A frazzled drama critic’s two maiden aunts put a secret ingredient in their wine – and the result is howlingly hilarious, with Grant at his comic best.

 

 

TCM GREATEST CLASSIC FILMS: LEGENDS – TAYLOR & BURTON

 

 

THE V.I.P.s (1963) - Fog rolls in, grounding air traffic. Over the next fateful night, elite passengers awaiting London-to-U.S. flights must face problems instead of fleeing them. Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and more deliver romantic melodrama mixed with wry comedic flourishes.

 

THE SANDPIPER (1965) - Rapturous Big Sur is the backdrop as a minister (Burton) is torn between his yearnings for a beautiful free spirit (Taylor) and his love for his wife (Eva Marie Saint). Directed by Vincente Minnelli from a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo and Michael Wilson.

 

WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? (1966) - Taylor and Burton are ideal as malevolent marrieds in first-time film director Mike Nichols’ searing film of Edward Albee’s groundbreaking play (written for the screen by Ernest Lehman). The movie won a total of five Oscars®[1] and remains a taboo-toppling landmark.

THE COMEDIANS (1967) - Romantic and political passions are set ablaze in Haiti during the brutal rule of Papa Doc Duvalier. Burton and Taylor lead a ‘who’s who’ cast of stars caught up in the strongman’s reign of terror in a story as disturbing and redeeming as mankind’s conflicted heart.

 

 

TCM GREATEST CLASSIC FILMS: LEGENDS – BOGIE & BACALL

 

 

TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1944) - World-weary Harry Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) changes his mind about helping the Free French when a sultry siren (19-year-old Lauren Bacall in her screen debut) comes along. Full of intrigue and racy banter, this is the thriller that brought Bogart and Bacall together.

 

THE BIG SLEEP (1946) - L.A. private eye Philip Marlowe (Bogart) takes on a blackmail case and trails murderers, rogues, the spoiled rich and more. Bacall costars under Howard Hawks’ brisk direction of William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett and Jules Furthman’s ace adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s novel.

 

DARK PASSAGE (1947) - Bogart is a prison escapee framed for murder who emerges from plastic surgery with a new face. Bacall is his lone ally, and the chemistry between the leads is undeniable. Agnes Moorehead plays a supporting role as a venomous harpy in Delmer Daves’ stylish film-noir thriller.

 

KEY LARGO (1948) - Outside, a hurricane swells. Inside, a sadistic mobster (Edward G. Robinson) holds a hotel owner (Bacall), her invalid father-in-law (Lionel Barrymore) and an ex-GI (Bogart) at gunpoint in this classic from director John Huston (who co-wrote the screenplay with Richard Brooks).

 

                                                             Order Information:

Street Date: December 2, 2014

Order Due Date: October 28,, 2014

SRP: $27.92 for each collection

 

TCM Greatest Classic Films: Legends -  Cary Grant Vol. 2 MAT: 1000491025	TCM Greatest Classic Films: Legends -  Taylor & Burton MAT: 1000491021
TCM Greatest Classic Films: Legends -  Bogie &  Bacall MAT: 1000491023

 

Academy Award(s)® and Oscar(s)® are registered trademarks and services marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

 

About Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) brings together Warner Bros. Entertainment's home video, digital distribution and interactive entertainment businesses in order to maximize current and next-generation distribution scenarios. An industry leader since its inception, WBHE oversees the global distribution of content through packaged goods (Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD) and digital media in the form of electronic sell-through and video-on-demand via cable, satellite, online and mobile channels, and is a significant developer and publisher for console and online video game titles worldwide. WBHE distributes its product through third party retail partners and licensees, as well as directly to consumers through WBShop.com and WBUltra.

 

About TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection

TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection is a partnership between Warner Home Video and Turner Classic Movies. The initiative combines the strengths of the companies in serving both serious film buffs and a new generation of movie lovers. The TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection builds on the success of previous joint initiatives between Turner Classic Movies and Warner Home Video, including the TCM Archives series and the TCM Spotlight series.

 

Warner Home Video, which owns the world’s largest film library, has more Best Picture Oscar® wins than any other studio and its films have garnered more than 300 Academy Awards®.

 

Turner Classic Movies is currently seen in more than 85 million homes and will support Warner Home Video and the new collection with extensive marketing. TCM’s marketing plan includes print ads in TCM’s popular Now Playing guide, banners on tcm.com, and on-air mentions by the network’s renowned primetime host, Robert Osborne.

 

 

About Turner Classic Movies (TCM)

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is a two-time Peabody Award-winning network that presents great films, uncut and commercial-free, from the largest film libraries in the world. TCM, which is available in more than 85 million homes, features the insights of hosts Robert Osborne and Ben Mankiewicz, plus interviews with a wide range of special guests. Currently in its 20th year as a leading authority in classic film, TCM offers critically acclaimed original documentaries and specials; film series like The Essentials, hosted by Robert Osborne and Drew Barrymore, and Friday Night Spotlight; and annual programming events like 31 Days of Oscar® in February, Summer Under the Stars in August and TCM Essentials Jr. during the summer. TCM also connects with movie fans through such events as the annual TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood and the TCM Classic Cruise, as well as through the TCM Classic Film Tour in New York City . In addition, TCM produces a wide range of media about classic film, including books and DVDs, and hosts a wealth of material online at tcm.com and through the Watch TCM mobile app.

 

TCM is part of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company. Turner Broadcasting creates and programs branded news; entertainment; animation and young adult; and sports media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

 

Connect with TCM:

 

Website: http://tcm.com

Pressroom: http://news.turner.com/tcm

Facebook: http://facebook.com/tcmtv

Twitter: http://twitter.com/tcm | http://twitter.com/tcmpr

TCM: Three New Greatest Classic Films Collections

THE MARSH -- movie review by porfle



(This review originally appeared online at Bumscorner.com in 2007.)

You know how nerve-wracking it is when you think you're alone and someone sneaks up from behind and grabs you? THE MARSH (2006) loves to do that. It does it so frequently, in fact, that you begin to expect it and the effect is diminished, although every once in a while your guard is down and it grabs you again. But is it really scary? No.

Claire (Gabrielle Anwar) is a children's book writer/illustrator who has been having horrible nightmares about a little girl and a scary old house, and when she happens to see the house on TV, she travels to the sleepy community where it's located and rents it. Before long, she starts seeing the ghosts of the little girl and a teenage boy who seem to be trying to tell her something. These random appearances are where some of the movie's best "gotcha!" moments occur--the "shock" makeup on the boy is particularly effective.

The town's newspaper editor and local historian, Noah Pitney (STARGATE: UNIVERSE star Justin Louis, who also played Sarah Polley's husband in the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake) seems immediately attracted to Claire and supplies her with information about the house--years ago, a boy named Brendan and a little girl named Rose were lost in the nearby marsh and never found--but is skeptical of any ghostly manifestations. Eventually Claire begins to suspect that he's holding something back from her and can't quite trust him.

She finally seeks the help of a paranormal investigator named Hunt (Forest Whitaker) after finding his business card under a sofa (he's been summoned there before). After touring the house, Hunt advises Claire to check into a motel. She doesn't, so he agrees to help. "What do they want from me?" she asks at one point, to which he replies, "I don't know, but one thing's for sure...it's you they want it from."

Their investigation will soon turn up evidence of foul play involving some of the town's leading citizens, for which certain entities in the spirit world now seem intent upon seeking revenge. And somehow, Claire herself is connected with the whole thing.

THE MARSH wants to be really scary but only knows how to startle you now and then. There's some good CGI whenever Claire's bedroom reverts back to its original state on the night Brendan and Rose disappeared, but as the remake of THE HAUNTING so effectively demonstrated, CGI isn't scary. Neither are a bunch of wind effects, flashing lights, and a loud soundtrack. As evidenced in an early scene, a mere shadow on the wall can be a lot more frightening than any of that over-the-top stuff.

But like so many of these haunted house movies, the filmmakers give us a spooky set up with some potential and then, throwing sublety aside, try to hammer us with a lot of frenetic activity. It's interesting to look at but it isn't scary, and ultimately ends up being rather pedestrian. Rod Serling churned out more effective stuff than this on a weekly basis back in his "Night Gallery" days.

The final resolution of the mystery is okay but not all that interesting, with a twist that we've seen numerous times before. What we're left with is a mildly entertaining spook story that looks good, with some nice performances (especially from Forest Whitaker, who's always worth watching), but not nearly enough of the truly spine-chilling stuff that the first half of the movie sets us up for. Then again, I didn't think THE CHANGELING with George C. Scott was all that scary, yet I know people who still shiver at the mention of it. So your mileage may vary.

Buy it at Amazon.com

THE MARSH -- movie review by porfle