ZODIAC: SIGNS OF THE APOCALYPSE -- DVD review by Porfle

Just in case you haven't been paying attention, here's a tip: if the DVD cover says "SyFy Channel Original", then chances are it isn't the latest rival for 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY as "Best Science-Fiction Movie Ever Made." Or even "Best Science-Fiction Movie Made This Week." But whether or not it's worth watching anyway is subject to a number of amorphous factors that are in a constant state of flux.

For example, ZODIAC: SIGNS OF THE APOCALYPSE (2014) actually starts out looking like it might be an above-average entry in SyFy's ongoing effort to populate the world with staggeringly bland Canadian sci-fi flicks. When archeologists discover a stone-carved "astrology board" in a cave in Peru, they call upon the last surviving expert in such things to figure out what it means.

That happens to be semi-retired smarty-pants Neil Martin--played by old standby Joel Gretsch of GLASS HOUSE: THE GOOD MOTHER and "The 4400"--who's been out of circulation while raising his now-grown son Colin (Reilly Dolman), an irritating lad with a penchant for second-guessing his old man.

But when they join romantically-available female archeologists Kathryn Keen (Emily Holmes) and young, blonde Sophie (Andrea Brooks) at the cave, something weird happens as the astrology board somehow powers up and connects with a mysterious, newly-discovered ninth planet which has just appeared in front of the sun.

Soon after we learn that a strange stone also found in the cave possesses secret powers which react with the rogue planet and might possibly be needed to head off global calamity when Mother Nature herself starts attacking the human race Zodiac-style!

I know you probably can't believe you just read that--I can't believe I just wrote it, either. While it all sounds like a foolproof blueprint for solid sci-fi entertainment, it's at this point, believe it or not, that the movie starts to get a little silly. Basically a rehash of another SyFy end-of-the-world tale, 12 DISASTERS (OF CHRISTMAS), it's pretty much just another excuse to pile on several scenes of poorly-rendered CGI destruction (one for each of the 12 signs of the Zodiac) for which these movies are not only well known but celebrated by bad-movie fans.

As so often is the case, these calamities--which include a tsunami, a giant typhoon, a deadly meteor storm, mega-hurricane-force winds, and killer lightning bolts--all occur within a small enough area to menace our heroes, who must outrun them all in various minivans and other vehicles. So we get lots of scenes of the principal characters driving around haphazardly with crudely-rendered CGI doodles swirling around them.

Meanwhile, there's the inevitable government bad guy, Agent Woodward (Aaron Douglas, "Battlestar Galactica"), who wants the stone for its "weapons potential" and will stop at nothing to get it. Thus, the bickering father-and-son team and their lovely female companions must flee cross-country and track down reclusive billionaire Harry Setag (Christopher Lloyd), who has, for some reason, already built the giant mechanical device needed to stop the Zodiac apocalypse and which is powered by, you guessed it, the precious stone.

If this all sounds like nonstop edge-of-your-seat suspense and heart-pounding excitement, then rest assured--it isn't. As in most other SyFy disaster flicks, the worst of the ongoing global apocalypse is mainly referred to in the dialogue. Poor old Paris, we learn, has been obliterated yet again and this time we don't even get to see it. The Zodiac weather anomalies that we do see are pretty nutty since they're actually shaped like astrological signs--which is just goofy--and the CGI used to depict them is downright laugh-provoking at times.

When not strictly functional, the dialogue is similarly amusing. At one point government baddie Woodward is arguing with a junior agent who allows that Martin may be right about this Zodiac stuff since, after all, the last natural disaster, a massive volcanic geyser, did indeed resemble the sign for Aries. "Yeah, and atomic explosions look like mushrooms," Woodward retorts, "but I don't wanna put 'em on my pizza." Later, after yet another tense scene in which the good guys drive away real fast from some menacing CGI, Sophie exclaims, "I think I just crapped my third grade homework!"

The best parts of the movie are supplied by two of the characters Martin and company encounter during their adventure, the first being a crazed but lovable survivalist named Marty (Ben Cotton, STAN HELSING, THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK) who gives them shelter in his well-stocked underground bunker, and the second, everyone's favorite oddball Christopher Lloyd, who appears late in the story to eccentric things up for a few minutes while supplying some vital last-minute exposition.

The Anchor Bay/Starz DVD is in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound. Subtitles are in English and Spanish. There are no extras.

What it all boils down to is this--if you don't like bad movies even if they're fun, you're probably not part of the intended audience for this one. But veterans of the typical "SyFy Original Movie" who just keep coming back for more will happily lower their expectations enough to allow ZODIAC: SIGNS OF THE APOCALYPSE to come into their homes and entertain them. And chances are they'll be glad they did.

Buy it at Amazon.com

ZODIAC: SIGNS OF THE APOCALYPSE -- DVD review by Porfle

HI-8: HORROR INDEPENDENT EIGHT -- DVD review by Porfle

Essentially a love letter to VHS and independent shot-on-video filmmaking, Wild Eye Releasing's HI-8: HORROR INDEPENDENT EIGHT (2013) gathers eight leading indy directors, arms them with low-tech equipment, and lets them loose to make the kind of blood 'n' guts "SOV" flicks they did when they were teenagers.

Of course, it all looks like it was shot on camcorder because that's exactly how it was done. Given that, it still looks pretty good and is anything but the unwatchable crap that some camcorder movies are.

Still, if LAWRENCE OF ARABIA is the visual bottom line for you as a film viewer, HI-8 definitely isn't going to cut it. This is mainly for those who are already diehard fans of this type of entertainment, even though there's no reason people who have never seen a shot-on-video feature in their lives can't have fun with it.

The list of rules that co-producer/co-writer/director Brad Sykes gave to the other participating directors (Tim Ritter, Donald Farmer, Todd Sheets, Chris Seaver, Ron Bonk, Tony Masiello, and Marcus Koch) included staying away from CGI, green screen, fancy lighting effects, or anything else not available to them during their formative years as filmmakers.

These limitations, however, only served to get their creative juices flowing in other ways, with an emphasis on both clever storytelling and wild, over-the-top practical effects. Much of the focus, in fact, is on gore, gore, and more gore.

Nostalgia for the good old days of VHS is evident in Brad Sykes' wraparound segment, "No Budget Films Presents...", in which we find three teenagers making their own camcorder horror movie which comes back to bite them in a big way by the film's end. Not much happens in this one, but the final scene has some downright wicked makeup effects.

"The Tape" offers another wallow in VHS nostalgia as two guys packing away the inventory of a going-out-of-business video store happen upon an unknown tape called "Bloodgasm." Tim takes it home and is thrilled to find that it's a lost SOV "masterpiece" with unbelievably realistic gore (well, you have to use your imagination there) and becomes obsessed with tracking down the filmmaker. When he does, he gets more than he bargained for.

The theme of "Switchblade Butchers" is that the couple that slays together stays together. When a woman discovers that her husband is a serial killer, her initial shock gives way to an unexpected desire to join in the "fun" and before long she's slashing away with equal abandon. Lots of squirty fake blood and a tongue-in-cheek attitude, along with a giddy performance by Kristine Renee Farley and a bit of a twist ending, make this one especially fun.

"A Very Bad Situation" begins with a (stock footage) meteor shower that brings some kind of space virus along with it, resulting in (gasp!) extreme tentacle carnage! This one takes place entirely within a barricaded garage but a lot happens in a short time with only four characters--including a very twitchy stranger with an axe--who remain at each others' throats until one of them monsters out big time with the help of some particularly wet practical effects that resemble a poor (but happy) man's version of Rob Bottin's work on THE THING.

But even that can't hold a candle to my favorite, "Gang Them Style." When a bargain-basement Snake Plissken named "Mongoose McCready" rescues his Nana (who wears an eye patch) from the old folks' home during the latest zombie apolcalypse, he finds himself saddled with an entire crew of old folks who just don't know how to behave in an action movie. The typical Hollywood tough guy is hilariously spoofed here as are some of the most popular zombie movie tropes.

"The Request" is a nifty tale in which a late-night deejay is haunted by the telephone voice of someone who's supposed to be dead. Poetic justice with an ironic twist ends this one in the vein of the old E.C. comics along with more nice makeup effects.

"Thicker than Water" presents a couple in which certain latent dysfunctions suddenly become overt when the woman kidnaps her boyfriend's former lover and insists that he prove his love by helping her force-feed his hapless ex a Drano cocktail. The most comical entry is "Genre Bending", a table-turning tale of stalkers and victims which searches just a little too long for its punchline.

"The Scout" finds an aspiring actress trapped in a Mojave desert nightmare when a director scouting film locations disappears, leaving her trapped in the middle of nowhere with a killer. And finally, "No Budget Films Presents..." returns just before the fadeout to wrap things up in chilling fashion.

The DVD from Wild Eye Releasing is in 1.33:1 widescreen with 2.0 sound. No subtitles. Bonus features include a commentary track with producers Brad Sykes and Josephina Sykes, the featurette "The Making of Hi-8", trailers and teasers, and a photo gallery. The film is also available, fittingly enough, on a special VHS edition at Wild Eye's website.

While HI-8: HORROR INDEPENDENT EIGHT may occasionally appear sloppy and slapdash, there's creativity behind this stuff and darn if it isn't a hoot to watch. There are no lofty artistic aspirations here--just a loosey-goosey conglomeration of horrors for us to have some morbid fun with.

Buy the DVD at Amazon.com
Buy the VHS edition at Wild Eye Releasing

HI-8: HORROR INDEPENDENT EIGHT -- DVD review by Porfle

BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON -- Blu-ray review by Porfle

It starts off just as you might expect, perhaps just as you want it to, with a bloody, brutal attack on an unsuspecting merchant vessel by screaming, war-faced, sword-slinging pirates who seem to have just come flying out of the gates of hell.

But for anyone waiting for this series to settle into an extended version of a "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie, BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (from Starz! and Anchor Bay Entertainment) will confound their expectations by choosing instead to show us the (more or less) realistic everyday lives of pirates who care less for boys' adventure exploits than they do the bottom line. For them, piracy is a business complete with all the behind-the-scenes struggles for power and devious schemes to one-up the competition.

As such, much of the series takes place between voyages upon the dry land of 17th-century Nassau in the Bahamas, where Eleanor Guthrie (Hannah New) fences the stolen booty and, as per family tradition, pretty much runs the place as did Tina Turner's "Auntie Entity" in MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME. The pirates, meanwhile, drop their "Arr, matey" guises here and worry about the next profit-generating enterprise while deciding whether or not to elect a new captain.

The latter is currently the main concern of Captain Flint (Toby Stephens) of the pirate ship The Walrus, a tough but mysterious sea dog who is losing the trust of his crew by showing signs of a hidden agenda which threatens to lead them to ruin.

While motivating his mutiny-prone crew with a lofty new scheme to locate a wrecked Spanish galleon called the Urca de Lima, which is said to contain a huge fortune in gold, Flint gradually alienates his trusted second-in-command Gates (Mark Ryan, THE PRESTIGE, CHARLIE'S ANGELS) when evidence emerges that the captain's real motives involve a Puritan woman named Miranda Barlow (Louise Barnes in a fetching performance) with whom Flint shares dark secrets.

While the rift grows between Flint and his men, melodramatic machinations churn like a primetime soap opera amongst the denizens of Nassau's pirate island New Providence, with volatile rival Captain Vale (Zach McGowan, TERMINATOR SALVATION) and his cunning toady Rackham (Toby Schmitz) aiming to unseat Eleanor as the island's chief power whatever the cost.

Vale turns out to be one of the series' most interesting and unpredictable characters, his storyline adding zest when all the other dramatic complications vying for our attention threaten to bog things down.

Eleanor faces further conflict with both her own father Richard Guthrie (Sean Cameron Michael) and a former lover, exotic prostitute Max (Jessica Parker Kennedy), whose betrayal by Eleanor turns her into a dangerous enemy when she eventually joins forces with Vale and Rackham.

Behind it all, there's young John Silver, who survived that first furious attack with nothing but his quick wits and whom Flint now allows to live because he holds in his memory the key to finding the Spanish galleon Urca de Lima. How Silver not only stays alive but manages to gain status and potential for profit within his tenuous situation makes him a major player in the story.

What all of this ultimately amounts to, at first anyway, is a series that seems to take forever to get cranked up and is only occasionally enlivened by the kind of ship against ship pirate mayhem that this sort of story just naturally makes us want to see. Early episodes consist of hours of land-locked and not all that riveting exchanges about business, impending mutiny, and the inevitable romantic entanglements that never manage to achieve enough depth to really sustain interest.

Good dialogue would have helped, but it isn't really all that scintillating, either. While refreshingly adult in some ways, there are some aspects such as the jarringly crude sex scenes and artless overuse of profanity, which I found gratuitous. Way too many scenes end with someone simply saying "F*** you!", which usually means that the writers have run out of interesting ways for their characters to communicate with each other.

Fortunately, a major action setpiece on Flint's anchored vessel, which turns out to be, in its blood-splattered brutality, the antithesis of the standard swashbuckling swordfight, helps to spice things up while we're waiting for the show to finally grab us.

But only later on, around episode four or so, do things begin to heat up when the various dramatic threads finally weave themselves together in compelling fashion and begin to pay off big time, while that slow, teasing build-up to action suddenly erupts into a gloriously spectacular sea battle (especially for a television production) between The Walrus and another ship in order to steal its cannons. Even here, the growing conflicts between Flint, Gates, and the rest of the crew continue toward an ultimate breaking point.

After this, BLACK SAILS gains a watchability that carries it over even the less-than-thrilling stretches as our interest in both Flint's adventures and Eleanor's struggle to keep the island from falling into Captain Vale's hands grows more intense. Even the melodramatic stuff that I considered mere filler before starts heating up in ways that make it all compelling, while the characters I thought little of before gradually get more and more interesting.

This includes real-life (though highly fictionalized) figures Vale, Rackham, scrappy female pirate Anne Bonny, and perhaps a few others I'm yet unaware of, along with literary characters such as John Silver and Billy Bones from Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island."

The show makes an admirable attempt to lend an everyday realism to the world of the pirate as opposed to what we're used to seeing--peg-legged scoundrels with parrots on their shoulders spouting lines like "Avast ye!" and "Yo ho ho!"--although too often certain characters are overly modernized, which tends to make them both bland and anachronistic.

As for star Toby Stephens, he has grizzled nicely since DIE ANOTHER DAY and looks the part of a seething, scheming pirate captain who's more interested in the bottom line than the next swashbuckling adventure. He holds the screen well during his scenes and is an interesting protagonist although he sometimes underplays the part.

The production design is attractive and fairly convincing, save for the occasional fake-CGI shot and the sort of annoying Shaky-Cam that simply wobbles continuously for no apparent reason.

The 3-disc Blu-ray set from Anchor Bay Entertainment is in 1.78:1 widescreen with English Dolby TrueHD 7.1 sound and subtitles in English SDH and Spanish. Disc three contains the following bonus featurettes:

Black Sails: A Look Inside
Dress To Kill
Pirate Camp
Folklore Is Finished: Pirate Politics
A Place In History
Building The Behemoth

The final battle of the season is a real blowout while it lasts, nicely conveying a sense of disorienting chaos and mounting peril as enemy cannons blast Flint's ship (and much of its crew) to smithereens. It's intense and cathartic after such a long build-up, yet so brief that it leaves us wanting more just as the season nears its end. So I was left more or less eager to see season two but not really chomping at the bit as much as I should be. So far, BLACK SAILS: SEASON ONE isn't quite "must-see" TV--at this point, it's more like "might-see."

Buy it at Amazon.com:

Blu-ray
DVD

 

BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON -- Blu-ray review by Porfle

FEAR CLINIC from Anchor Bay Entertainment -- Accepting Appointments on Blu-ray and DVD February 10 (UPDATED WITH COVER ART)

Time to face your fears. What if your fears faced you?

ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT DARES YOU TO ENTER THE...

FEAR CLINIC

Starring Robert Englund, Fiona Dourif, Corey Taylor, Angelina Armani and Thomas Dekker

  

Step Into The Fear Chamber Starting February 10, 2015 on Blu-ray™ and DVD

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – After terrifying audiences from coast to coast – Closing Night Event at ScreamFest 2014 Los Angeles and Opening Night Screening at 2014 New York City Horror Film Festival – Fear Clinic, the latest excursion into unrelenting terror will be released on Blu-ray™ and DVD on February 10, 2015 by Anchor Bay Entertainment. The highly anticipated shocker stars horror icon Robert "Freddy Krueger" Englund, Fiona Dourif, Angelina Armani, Thomas Dekker, as well as Stone Sour and Slipknot lead vocalist Corey Taylor in his acting debut, and is directed by Robert G. Hall (Lightning Bug, Laid to Rest, ChromeSkull: Laid To Rest II).

With blood-chilling special effects by award-winning FX creators Robert Kurtzman and Steve Johnson, Fear Clinic will take viewers on an unforgettable journey into the very soul of terror itself. SRP is $26.99 for the Blu-ray™ and $22.98 for the DVD, with pre-book on January 7.

Co-written by Hall and Aaron Drane, the film is based on the critically acclaimed and fan favorite 2009 FEARnet.com series. When trauma-induced phobias begin to re-emerge in five survivors a year after their horrifying tragedy, they return to the "Fear Clinic," hoping to find the answers they need to get cured.

Dr. Andover (Robert Englund), a fear doctor who runs the clinic, uses his "Fear Chamber" to animate their fears in the form of terrifying hallucinations. However, the good doctor soon begins to suspect that something more sinister may be at work, something that yearns to be more than just an hallucination...

Bonus features on Fear Clinic Blu-ray™ and DVD to be announced.

About Anchor Bay Entertainment Anchor Bay Entertainment is a leading home entertainment company. Anchor Bay acquires and distributes feature films, original television programming including STARZ Original series, children's entertainment, anime (Manga Entertainment), fitness (Anchor Bay Fitness), sports, and other filmed entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray™ formats. The company has long term distribution agreements in place for select programming with AMC Networks, RADiUS, and The Weinstein Company. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Anchor Bay Entertainment has offices in Troy, MI, as well as Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Anchor Bay Entertainment (www.anchorbayentertainment.com) is a Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) business, www.starz.com.

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FEAR CLINIC Blu-ray™Street Date: February 10, 2015
Pre-book: January 7, 2015
Cat. #: BD62075
UPC: 0 1313 262075-6
Run Time: 95 minutes
Rating: R (pending)
SRP: $26.99
Format: Widescreen 2.40:1 1080p
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

FEAR CLINIC DVDStreet Date: February 10, 2015
Pre-book: January 7, 2015
Cat. #: DV62074
UPC: 0 1313 262074-9
Run Time: 95 minutes
Rating: R (pending)
SRP: $22.98
Format: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Buy it at Amazon.com

FEAR CLINIC from Anchor Bay Entertainment -- Accepting Appointments on Blu-ray and DVD February 10 (UPDATED WITH COVER ART)

"ZOMBIE KILLERS: ELEPHANT'S GRAVEYARD" arrives February 3, 2015 on Blu-ray and DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment (UPDATED WITH COVER ART)

Even in a world overrun with zombies, life goes on. But for how long?

ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT GOES HUNTING WITH ZOMBIE KILLERS: ELEPHANT’S GRAVEYARD

COMING FEBRUARY 3, 2015 TO BLU-RAY™ AND DVD

Life Begins With Death

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The rural town of Elwood has always been a "bubble" against the backdrop of an organism-based epidemic where infected humans don’t die, instead they roam to spread the infection in a grisly, horrific way. Those who escape must survive—by any means necessary. But at what price?

On February 3, 2015, Anchor Bay Entertainment presents Zombie Killers: Elephant’s Graveyard, an exciting survival thriller about a fallen world that’s provocative as it is chilling. Written and directed by B. Harrison Smith and with a stellar genre cast including Billy Zane (Electrick Children, Titanic, Dead Calm), Dee Wallace (E.T., The Howling), Mischa Barton ("The O.C.," Walled In), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp, Satan’s Playground), and Brian Anthony Wilson (Law Abiding Citizen, Limitless), Zombie Killers: Elephant’s Graveyard is presented in an unrated version on Blu-ray™ and DVD with an SRP of $26.99 for Blu-ray™ and $22.98 for DVD. Pre-book is December 31, 2014.

In the film, the "Zombie Killers" are a small band of young adults, trained by military vet Seiler (Zane), who have sworn to protect the town and aim for the head if anything threatens Elwood's last survivors.

Bonus features on Zombie Killers: Elephant’s Graveyard Blu-ray™ and DVD include the behind-the-scenes featurettes "Bloodbath and Beyond," "The Look of Zombie Killers: Elephant’s Graveyard," and "Zombie Killers: Elephant’s Graveyard Behind the Scenes."

About Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment is a leading home entertainment company. Anchor Bay acquires and distributes feature films, original television programming including STARZ Original series, children's entertainment, anime (Manga Entertainment), fitness (Anchor Bay Fitness), sports, and other filmed entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray™ formats. The company has long term distribution agreements in place for select programming with AMC Networks, RADiUS, and The Weinstein Company. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Anchor Bay Entertainment has offices in Troy, MI, as well as Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Anchor Bay Entertainment (www.anchorbayentertainment.com) is a Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) business, www.starz.com.

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ZOMBIE KILLERS: ELEPHANT’S GRAVEYARD Blu-ray™
Street Date: February 3, 2015
Pre-book: December 31, 2014
Cat. #: BD62596
UPC: 0 1313 262596-6
Run Time: 104 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
SRP: $26.99
Format: Widescreen (2.40:1) 1080p
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

ZOMBIE KILLERS: ELEPHANT’S GRAVEYARD DVD
Street Date: February 3, 2015
Pre-book: December 31, 2014
Cat. #: DV62595
UPC: 0 1313 262595-9
Run Time: 104 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
SRP: $22.98
Format: Anamorphic Widescreen (2.40:1)
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish  

Buy the DVD at Amazon.com

"ZOMBIE KILLERS: ELEPHANT'S GRAVEYARD" arrives February 3, 2015 on Blu-ray and DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment (UPDATED WITH COVER ART)

An Open Letter to Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un, from Lloyd Kaufman and the Troma Team

An Open Letter from Troma's Lloyd Kaufman to Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un

New York, N.Y., December 19, 2014 - Greetings from Tromaville! We here at Troma Entertainment wish to publicly express our adulation for the supreme leader, Kim Jong-Un; Great Successor, Young Master, Brilliant Comrade, founder of the first ever "K-pop" girl band in North Korea (Moranbong), and our Lil' Kim. In light of recent events, Troma wishes to distance itself from Hollywood's unforgivable disrespect for the Great One.

Troma stands proudly with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and offers our sincerest apologies for this shameless, disrespectful, and tasteless terrorist film "The Interview". Do not worry--if the film is released, our box office analysts have projected at most a 20% success ratio for the film, much like North Korea's beloved space program.

Our political and social code stands in stark contrast to the evil imperialist lapdogs Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, Rupert Murdoch, Time Warner, and the like. Since our founding in 1974, Troma has only produced films that are of upstanding socialist values, such as 'Surf Nazi's Must Die' and 'The Toxic Avenger' (going as far as only including its 28 state-approved haircuts for all our actors).

For 40 years The Outstanding Leader and his ancestor Gods have been the role model for Troma Entertainment. This is evidenced by the fact that we have patterned our economic strategy of "no revenue" on the North Korean economic model. Kim Jong-Un has also inspired us (like his father before him, who learned to walk and talk at the age of three weeks and wrote 1500 books in three years) with how well he treats his loyal citizens and how happy he has made them... We can say with great pride that, likewise, our employees have not asked for any pay raises and are so happy in their work that they do not ask for Christmas bonuses or overtime pay, wholeheartedly enjoying their six-day work weeks as well as their enforced "volunteer" work.

Your researchers have concluded that North Korea is the second happiest country behind China, and we want to be happy too. If the People's Republic needs any of our private emails or passwords, we will fax them to you promptly. Any who refuse will be sent to a prison labor camp, along with their families, for three generations of punishment. We would also like to assure you and the state for the record that the dishonorable propagandists James Franco and Seth Rogen will not be cast in our upcoming film 'The Toxic Avenger 5: Toxie Goes to Chernobyl.' Most important, we pray that none of these recent obscenities have tainted your pure and chaste friendship with our greatest national treasure, Dennis Rodman.

ALL HAIL THE YOUNG MASTER.

Lloyd Kaufman and the Troma Team


Subscribe to TROMA: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4O0LNYmaOczcSMHA_FE1Mw

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For more information on Troma Entertainment or Lloyd Kaufman please visit: www.troma.com or www.lloydkaufman.com

You can also "Like" and "Follow" Lloyd at www.facebook.com/troma.entertainment and www.twitter.com/lloydkaufman


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Established in 1974 by Yale friends Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, Troma Entertainment is one of the longest-running independent movie studios in United States history, and it's one of the best-known names in the industry. World famous for movie classics like Kaufman's "The Toxic Avenger", "Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead", "Class of Nuke 'em High", "Mother's Day" and "Tromeo & Juliet", Troma's seminal films are now being remade as big-budget mainstream productions by the likes of Brett Ratner, Richard Saperstein, Akiva Goldsman and Steven Pink. Among today's luminaries whose early work can be found in Troma's 800+ film library are Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Jenna Fischer, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Costner, Fergie, Vincent D'Onofrio, Samuel L. Jackson, James Gunn and Eli Roth. Troma's latest productions are "Return to Nuke 'Em High: Volumes 1 & 2". Visit Troma at www.troma.com, www.lloydkaufman.com, www.twitter.com/lloydkaufman and www.tromapast.tumblr.com.

An Open Letter to Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Un, from Lloyd Kaufman and the Troma Team

Seasons Greetings from Tromaville! Lloyd Kaufman Presents "A Christmas Carol"



Seasons Greetings from Tromaville!

Lloyd Kaufman and the Troma Team
Thank their Fans for Four-Decades of Support with
Troma's "A Christmas Carol!"

New York, N.Y., December 18, 2014 - Greetings from Tromaville! In honor of Troma Entertainment's 40th Christmas, Legendary filmmaker Lloyd Kaufman is releasing another wonderful Holiday video - Troma's "A Christmas Carol." The video, shot and edited in the famous Youtube Space NY, follows the hugely successful "A Halloween Carol" from earlier this year. "The Holidays are all about giving, especially re-giving" said Kaufman, "and I think it's safe to say this is some of the best re-giving we've ever done."

Troma's "A Christmas Carol"

Watch Troma's "A Christmas Carol" now on Troma's YouTube Channel, Tromamovies. Troma has over 80,000 subscribers and is one of the only film companies to offer hundreds of full length movies to its subscribers free of charge.

Subscribe to TROMA: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4O0LNYmaOczcSMHA_FE1Mw

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For more information on Troma Entertainment or Lloyd Kaufman please visit: www.troma.com or www.lloydkaufman.com

You can also "Like" and "Follow" Lloyd at www.facebook.com/troma.entertainment and www.twitter.com/lloydkaufman

-----------------------------------------
Established in 1974 by Yale friends Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz, Troma Entertainment is one of the longest-running independent movie studios in United States history, and it's one of the best-known names in the industry. World famous for movie classics like Kaufman's "The Toxic Avenger", "Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead", "Class of Nuke 'em High", "Mother's Day" and "Tromeo & Juliet", Troma's seminal films are now being remade as big-budget mainstream productions by the likes of Brett Ratner, Richard Saperstein, Akiva Goldsman and Steven Pink. Among today's luminaries whose early work can be found in Troma's 800+ film library are Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Jenna Fischer, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Kevin Costner, Fergie, Vincent D'Onofrio, Samuel L. Jackson, James Gunn and Eli Roth. Troma's latest productions are "Return to Nuke 'Em High: Volumes 1 & 2". Visit Troma at www.troma.com, www.lloydkaufman.com, www.twitter.com/lloydkaufman and www.tromapast.tumblr.com.

Seasons Greetings from Tromaville! Lloyd Kaufman Presents "A Christmas Carol"

THE RED ROAD: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON Bows on DVD March 10, 2015 From Anchor Bay Entertainment

"Best New Series" --Rolling Stone

ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENTPROUDLY RELEASES
"THE RED ROAD:THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON"

Two Worlds Collide on DVD March 10, 2015

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Get ready for the powerful new series that has critics raving. On March 10th, Anchor Bay Entertainment releases SundanceTV’s tense and gritty drama "The Red Road: The Complete First Season" on DVD. Available as a 2-disc set, "The Red Road: The Complete First Season" contains all 6 episodes from the series the Philadelphia Inquirer says, "has a hypnotic power, a strange rhythm of dread that makes it far more interesting than most network dramas." The release also contains insightful bonus features about the making of the show, including behind-the-scenes footage and an introduction to cast and crew.

"The Red Road: The Complete First Season" is a gripping, dramatic thriller that presents two distinct visions of America today as played out through the conflict between two different men. The series revolves around a local sheriff struggling to keep his family together while simultaneously policing two clashing communities: the small town where he grew up just outside of New York City, and the neighboring mountains—home of a federally unrecognized Native American tribe. After a terrible tragedy and cover-up further divides these worlds, an uneasy alliance is forged between the officer and a dangerous member of the tribe.

As each of the two men find themselves increasingly compromised by the other and the emotional ghosts of their collective pasts begin to emerge, the lives of both quickly unravel, leading to terrible consequences.
 
The exceptional cast features Martin Henderson (Devil’s Knot, The Ring, Smokin’ Aces), Jason Momoa (Wolves, "Game of Thrones," the upcoming Batman v. Superman), Julianne Nicholson (August: Osage County, "Boardwalk Empire"), Tamara Tunie ("Law And Order: Special Victims Unit," "The Good Wife"), Annalise Basso (Oculus, Standing Up), Allie Gonino ("The Lying Game," Hidden Away), Kiowa Gordon (Twilight, Wind Walkers), Lisa Bonet (High Fidelity, "The Cosby Show") and Golden Globe®, nominee Tom Sizemore (Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, Pearl Harbor, Heat).

Bonus Features:
•Sundance On Set: THE RED ROAD
•Behind The Screen: THE RED ROAD
•THE RED ROAD: Cast And Crew

Here is the complete first season of the acclaimed new series all in one package! "The Red Road: The Complete First Season" is a compelling and addictive journey filled with twists, turns, thrills and surprises that will have you wondering where the next turn will take you…and where this road ends.

The second season of "The Red Road" will begin airing in the spring of 2015 exclusively on SundanceTV.

About SundanceTV
 SundanceTV is making and celebrating television as distinctive as the best independent films. Working with today's most remarkable talent, SundanceTV is attracting viewer and critical acclaim for its original scripted and unscripted series. Launched in 1996 and owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc., SundanceTV delivers on the spirit of founder Robert Redford's mission to celebrate creativity. For more information got to www.Sundance.tv.com.

AboutAnchor Bay Entertainment
 Anchor Bay Entertainment is a leading home entertainment company. Anchor Bay acquires and distributes feature films, original television programming including STARZ Original series, children's entertainment, anime (Manga Entertainment), fitness (Anchor Bay Fitness), sports, and other filmed entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray™ formats. The company has long term distribution agreements in place for select programming with AMC Networks, RADiUS, and The Weinstein Company. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Anchor Bay Entertainment has offices in Troy, MI, as well as Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Anchor Bay Entertainment (www.anchorbayentertainment.com) is a Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) business, www.starz.com.

"The Red Road: The Complete First Season" DVDStreet Date: March 10, 2015
Pre-book: February 4, 2015
Cat. #: DV62304
UPC: 013132623047
Run Time: 264 Minutes
Rating: Not Rated
SRP: $29.98
Format: 1.78:1/16x9
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH and Spanish

 

THE RED ROAD: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON Bows on DVD March 10, 2015 From Anchor Bay Entertainment

END GAME -- movie review by Porfle

(NOTE: This review originally appeared online at Bumscorner.com in 2006.)

1993's IN THE LINE OF FIRE gave us Clint Eastwood as a Secret Service agent on the trail of a wacko assassin whose goal was to kill the President. END GAME (2006) opens with the assassination of the President and then shows us how Secret Service agent Alex Thomas (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) discovers a dark conspiracy behind the "lone assassin" and puts his life on the line to find out who's behind it.

Both Eastwood's Frank Horrigan and Gooding's Thomas suffer from guilt related to a President's death; Horrigan, because he wasn't quick enough to take the bullet meant for JFK, and Thomas, because the assassin's bullet struck the President only because it changed direction after passing through his outstretched hand.

As Thomas takes some time off from the job to languish in his lakeside home and see how fast he can drain several bottles of hooch, investigative reporter Kate Crawford (Angie Harmon, GLASS HOUSE: THE GOOD MOTHER) starts digging into the killer's past.

She uncovers a link between him and a secretive government agency that may have been involved in the assassination, and is alarmed to find that everyone she is receiving information from is being systematically murdered by some bad guys in a black van.

When she goes to Agent Thomas' house for further help, the black van shows up there as well, and things get rather explosive. Thomas begins to buy Kate's conspiracy theories after he himself becomes a target, and together they work their way toward the truth as things get darker and more dangerous at every turn.

END GAME isn't quite a top-of-the-line Hollywood blockbuster but it's definitely worth watching. The production values are very good and the story kept me interested from start to finish.

There are plenty of great action scenes, too, especially when Thomas and a ten-man strike force invade a factory where the black-van guys are holed up and get into a furious shoot-out with them, which leads to a cool car chase in which the main bad guy (Peter Greene, who played "Zed" in PULP FICTION) attempts to discourage Thomas from pursuing him by machine-gunning oncoming vehicles off the road. At first Thomas is too determined to let even this slow him down, but the next vehicle headed toward them is a loaded school bus...

Everyone behind the camera does fine work here, and the cast is highly capable. Cuba Gooding has a talent for creating sympathetic characters without overplaying, which he demonstrates here with his deft performance. Former "Baywatch Nights" regular Angie Harmon is particularly good as well -- her intrepid reporter is likably tenacious and funny, and she and Gooding make a great team.

Old fave James Woods is excellent, as usual, but doesn't get nearly as much screen time as I hoped after seeing him on the DVD cover, though he makes the time he does have count. Familiar television veteran Jack Scalia gives us a likable President (for a little while, anyway), and his First Lady is well played by Anne Archer, who was the wife of Harrison Ford in two of the "Jack Ryan" movies.

The homeless man who first supplies Kate Crawford with information before being bumped off will be recognized by "Dark Shadows" fans -- he's David Selby, who played the werewolf Quentin Collins on that classic series. And the vicious killer who tries to terminate Agent Thomas's investigation, as I mentioned before, is played by none other than "Zed" from PULP FICTION, Peter Greene. ("Zed's dead, baby...Zed's dead.")

Not coming off quite as well, however, is Burt Reynolds as a retired Army general who still likes to keep his irons in the political fire. Burt's heart doesn't really seem to be in his performance here, and his alarmingly advanced state of cosmetic surgery (looking at his tightly-stretched face may give you a tension headache after awhile) distracts from what ultimately ends up being a pretty irrelevant character anyway.

After suffering through [a particularly bad movie] last night, I needed to watch a real movie to help me drag myself out of the depths of cinematic despair, and END GAME was just the ticket. It's not in the same league as IN THE LINE OF FIRE or one of the Jack Ryan movies, but I was certainly very well entertained for an hour and a half, and that's good enough for me.

Buy it at Amazon.com

END GAME -- movie review by Porfle

"MUCK" arrives from Anchor Bay Entertainment March 17, 2015 on Blu-ray and DVD

The Lucky Ones Are Already Dead

ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT WADES INTO THE...

MUCK

With Kane Hodder, Lachlan Buchanan, 2012 Playboy PMOY Jaclyn Swedberg, and Lauren Francesca

The Race for Survival Begins March 17, 2015 on Blu-ray™ and DVD; Limited Theatrical Engagement starts Friday, March 13th!

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – This St. Patrick’s Day, Anchor Bay Entertainment invites fans for a little bit’o the green and a LOT of the red with MUCK, a chiller seething with the greatest fear of all: that nowhere is safe! The directorial debut of Steve Wolsh, who also wrote and produced, MUCK reads like a bloody love letter filled with just the sort of jolts horror fans have been waiting to hear – and see!

Shot in state-of-the-art 4K Ultra HD resolution, MUCK is packed with old-school effects, shocks – and yes, breasts – that stick with you, creating terror with effects and stunts without the use of CGI. MUCK arrives Tuesday, March 17th – uncut, uncensored, and unrated – available on Blu-ray™ for $26.99 and $22.98 for the DVD. Pre-book on February 11th.

For fans who like their 4K horror on the big screen, MUCK will also have a limited theatrical engagement starting Friday, March 13th.

After narrowly escaping an ancient burial ground, long forgotten and buried underneath the marshes of Cape Cod, a group of friends emerge from the thick, marshy darkness, tattered and bloody, lucky to be alive. They have already lost two of their friends in the marsh, presumably dead. They stumble upon an empty Cape Cod vacation house alongside the foggy marsh and break in to take shelter.

Whatever was in the marsh is still after them and soon after one of them goes for help, the rest of the group learns that the evil in the marsh is not the only thing that wants them dead. Something worse, something more savage, was lying in wait just outside the marsh, in the house.

What happens next is unspeakable horror that cannot be unseen. These unlucky travelers spend their St. Patrick's Day trapped between two evils forcing them to fight, die, or go back the way they came.

Featuring Kane Hodder (Hatchet, Jason Voorhees in four of the Friday the 13th films), Lachlan Buchanan ("Pretty Little Liars"), Puja Mohindra (Foreign), Bryce Draper (Bound) and YouTube Sensation Lauren Francesca (iwantmylauren), MUCK is throwback horror at its best.

www.getthemuckout.com

About Anchor Bay Entertainment
Anchor Bay Entertainment is a leading home entertainment company. Anchor Bay acquires and distributes feature films, original television programming including STARZ Original series, children's entertainment, anime (Manga Entertainment), fitness (Anchor Bay Fitness), sports, and other filmed entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray™ formats. The company has long term distribution agreements in place for select programming with AMC Networks, RADiUS, and The Weinstein Company. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Anchor Bay Entertainment has offices in Troy, MI, as well as Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Anchor Bay Entertainment (www.anchorbayentertainment.com) is a Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) business, www.starz.com.

https://www.facebook.com/AnchorBay
https://twitter.com/Anchor_Bay
http://instagram.com/anchorbayent
https://www.youtube.com/user/starzmedia
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MUCK Blu-ray™
Street Date: March 17, 2015
Pre-book: February 11, 2015
Cat. #: BD62847
UPC: 0 1313 262847-6
Run Time: 98:27
Rating: Not Rated
SRP: $26.99

MUCK DVD
Street Date: March 17, 2015
Pre-book: February 11, 2015
Cat. #: DV62467
UPC: 0 1313 262467-9
Run Time: 98:27
Rating: Not Rated
SRP: $22.98

"MUCK" arrives from Anchor Bay Entertainment March 17, 2015 on Blu-ray and DVD

Sci-Fi Thriller "Alien Rising" on VOD & DVD

SCI-FI THRILLER
"ALIEN RISING"

STARRING LANCE HENRIKSEN AND JOHN SAVAGE

Breaking Glass Pictures and Pathfinder Films are partnering for the release of Dana Schroeder's sci-fi thriller Alien Rising starring Lance Henriksen (The Terminator, Aliens), Brian Krause (Charmed, Another World) and John Savage (The Deer Hunter, Hair). 

Alien Rising is the story of a savvy ex-homeland security agent and martial arts expert is forced to a remote island to help the military unlock the secrets of an extraterrestrial technology.

Alien Rising will be released on VOD (iTunes, Cable VOD, Amazon Instant) on December 2, 2014 and DVD January 20, 2014.

Lisa Morgan (Hathaway) is an ex-homeland security agent and highly competent martial artist who gets drawn into the nefarious plans of the egomaniacal Colonel Cencula (Henriksen). He runs a top-secret research facility, buried in an extinct volcano on an uncharted tropical island.

Cencula plans to use alien technology to build an army of drone soldiers. Morgan becomes an unwitting accomplice to the rogue Colonel's plans until she discovers the true nature of the research. She must stop him from succeeding at all cost.

Buy it at Amazon.com

Sci-Fi Thriller "Alien Rising" on VOD & DVD

IN THE LAND OF THE CANNIBALS -- DVD review by Porfle

It's the same old story...senator's daughter gets kidnapped by cannibals in the Amazon jungle, a group of hardened commandos armed to the teeth must go in to rescue her.

But with exploitation director Bruno Mattei (HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD, CAGED WOMEN, RATS: NIGHT OF TERROR, SS EXTERMINATION LOVE CAMP) at the helm--working under the name "Martin Miller"--that same old story has a cockeyed, oddball approach all its own, and IN THE LAND OF THE CANNIBALS, aka "Land of Death", "Nella terra dei cannibali", and "Cannibal Holocaust 3: Cannibal vs. Commando" (2003), will either bore you silly or have you floating on a cloud of bad-movie bliss.

Like his other cannibal epic from the same year, MONDO CANNIBAL, this was shot entirely in the Philipines and actually boasts some dandy jungle locations. It's also pleasantly passable in certain other areas such as nice camerawork, a rousing musical score, and an overall look that transcends what must have been a pretty low budget.

Unfortunately, this culinary curio also displays the usual wooden acting, horrendous dubbing, and richly dumb (but enjoyably so) dialogue that we expect from one of these potluck potboilers.

After we meet the two main characters--brawny head commando Lt. Wilson (Lou Randall) and his surly, know-it-all jungle guide, a local mercenary named Romero (Claudio Morales, co-star of MONDO CANNIBAL)--they and the rest of their trigger-happy team are transported via helicopter into a harrowing jungle nightmare festooned with flesh-eating, poisoned-arrow-shooting natives crawling out of the shrubbery at every turn.

Mattei tries to invoke an ALIENS atmosphere at first with cool-as-ice Romero napping peacefully in the chopper before they all rappel into the bush (an act described as "an elevator into hell") and stiff-necked Lt. Wilson being exposed as a novice whose combat experience has been mostly simulated.

There's also a tough-cookie female commando named, oddly enough, "Vasquez" (Ydalia Suarez) and a no-nonsense black sergeant, Sgt. Cameron (Silvio Jimenez)--as in "James Cameron" for those keeping score. The other two guys, Kruger and Smith, are pretty non-descript, although I think one of them is Irish. Anyway, any in-depth character development that may occur during this story is entirely accidental.

Once the commandos start nosing around in the jungle looking for the lost senator's daughter and her hapless entourage, things get rather boring (I found myself nodding off a few times) until they begin to encounter different tribes who respond to them with varying degrees of hostility. Mattei tries to shock us with close-ups of wormy, decaying bodies, several having been skinned alive, and people gorging themselves on some really nasty stuff.

What there's precious little of in IN THE LAND OF THE CANNIBALS, surprisingly enough, is actual cannibalism. It's hardly the gorefest that its counterpart MONDO CANNIBAL was, going instead for more of an action-packed shoot 'em up vibe.

Once our heroes locate and abscond with their prize, Sara Armstrong (Cindy Matic), now regarded by her superstitious captors as some kind of mystical creature due to her blonde hair (shades of KING KONG and no doubt scores of other jungle yarns), the film becomes a non-stop orgy of bullet-riddled fun as seemingly hundreds of cannibalistic creeps get mowed down by machine guns and grenades galore.

This furious finale, with everyone trying to "Ged to da choppa!" PREDATOR-style, is all pretty low-tech, no-squibs action--the extras simply pretend to get shot up all over the place and the commandos empty clip after clip into them while dodging arrows and spears. As is traditional in this sort of action flick, we see our favorite characters cut down one by one as we wonder who the final survivor or survivors will be.

The DVD from Intervision Picture Corp. is in full frame with Dolby Digital stereo sound. No subtitles. The only bonus feature is a trailer.

While taking itself seriously as an action thriller, IN THE LAND OF THE CANNIBALS is the kind of movie that's so dumb, it's almost indistinguishable from a deadpan comedy. Maybe that, in addition to the fact that it's well-made enough to be mildly watchable, is why I managed to derive a few palatable tidbits of entertainment value from it.

Buy it at Amazon.com

IN THE LAND OF THE CANNIBALS -- DVD review by Porfle

Which Film Scared the Pants Off William Friedkin? NYFCC Winner "THE BABADOOK!"

"I’ve Never Seen a More Terrifying Film than THE BABADOOK. It Will Scare the Hell Out of You as it Did Me." – William Friedkin, director of THE EXORCIST.

***WINNER***NEW YORK FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION "BEST FIRST FEATURE"

IFC Midnight
presents

THE BABADOOK
Written and Directed by Jennifer Kent

Synopsis:
Young widow Amelia lives with her seven-year-old son, Samuel, who seems to get odder by the day.

His father’s death in an accident when driving Amelia to the hospital to give birth to him may have something to do with the boy’s unnerving behavior, which scares other children and perhaps even his own mother.

But when a sinister children’s book called Mister Babadook mysteriously appears—and keeps reappearing—Amelia begins to wonder if there’s a presence in the house more disturbed than her son.

Jennifer Kent’s visually stunning debut genuinely frightens us with the revelation that the things that go bump in the night may be buried deep inside our psyches, not just in the basement.

"The Babadook" is Now Playing in Theaters Across the Country
And on Cable VOD

Amazon Instant Video

 

Which Film Scared the Pants Off William Friedkin? NYFCC Winner "THE BABADOOK!"

Young Jane Fonda on Broadway -- See Clip Now From SundanceNow Doc Club

A young Jane Fonda rehearses for a starring role in a Broadway play, then opens to devastating critical notices.

JANE, directed by Drew Associates, captures a rare and oft forgotten piece of film and theater history. A young Jane Fonda prepares for her tumultuous starring role on Broadway in "The Fun Couple."

The Drew Associates filmmakers track Fonda's every move during the production as she strives to legitimize herself as an actress and remove herself from the shadow of her father, Henry Fonda.

The film follows Jane through demanding rehearsals, testing the play for out-of-town audiences and, finally, opening night in New York. Though the show opens to devastating reviews, Jane's love of acting, her determination and her resilience shine through the biting criticism.

YouTube link 



ABOUT SUNDANCENOW DOC CLUB:

SundanceNow Doc Club is the member-based advertising free streaming video service dedicated to documentaries, providing the global community of doc fans a place to discover and watch unforgettable films they can't find anywhere else, handpicked by expert programmers with unique perspectives. Recent releases include the exclusive digital premiere of SHOAH and the powerful "Fight the System" program. Memberships for SundanceNow Doc Club begin at the low monthly price of $4.99 for an annual subscription or $6.99 per month for a month-to-month subscription. Viewers can watch via web, iPhone, iPad, Android and Roku platforms. Chromecast platform coming soon. For more information, visit www.DocClub.com. 

Young Jane Fonda on Broadway -- See Clip Now From SundanceNow Doc Club

Wild Eye Releasing's Retro Anthology "Hi-8" Coming to DVD December 16th

Wild Eye Releasing's Horror Anthology

Hi-8: Horror Independent 8 Available Nationwide

On DVD December 16th

"Essential viewing ... knows how to squeeze every drop of blood from every dollar spent while still being able to deliver the big scare." -Ain't It Cool News

New York, NY - Wild Eye Releasing has announced the December 16th DVD release of Hi-8: Horror Independent 8. The eight-part anthology brings together some of the most recognizable names in home video horror of the past 30 years, capturing the creative essence of low budget, shot-on-video filmmaking. The DVD release of Hi-8 will be available nationwide (SRP $14.95).

Called "The Expendables of shot on video horror" by Horror Hound Magazine, the directors for Hi-8 are Tim Ritter (Killing Spree), Brad Sykes (Camp Blood), Marcus Koch (100 Tears), Ron Bonk (The Vicious Sweet), Donald Farmer (Demon Queen), Todd Sheets (Zombie Bloodbath), Chris Seaver (Mulva), and Tony Masiello (SOV: The True Independents), who have returned to 80s and 90s style, gore-laced storytelling.

All eight segments feature only practical effects and all directors were forbidden to use any post-Internet technology, including HD cameras, green screen, CGI or found footage. Like the V/H/S series, Hi-8 brings together independent genre filmmakers to spin tales of terror on tape.

HI-8: Horror Independent 8 (Official Trailer)

Pre-Order Hi-8 on DVD

Order Hi-8 on VHS

The DVD release of Hi-8 will exclusively include a commentary with producers Brad Sykes and Josephine Sykes, The Making of Hi-8, teasers and trailers, and behind-the-scenes images. A Special Edition VHS release of Hi-8 is available exclusively on the Wild Eye Releasing website.

Wild Eye Releasing's Retro Anthology "Hi-8" Coming to DVD December 16th

HBO Home Entertainment Announces "The Wire: The Complete Series" in HD, Blu-ray

HBO® Unveils New High-Definition Re-Mastering of Award-Winning Hit Series The Wire®

In the six years that have passed since the conclusion of the HBO series The Wire, the critically acclaimed drama has turned into a worldwide phenomenon that has been hailed as "one of the best and most original series on television in decades" by the New York Times.

Now, new and old fans of the series can watch the show like never before thanks to a brand new High-Definition upgrade of all 60 episodes, which will debut in December on HBO Signature® and HBO GO®. The Wire: The Complete Series will be available to own on Digital HD Monday, January 5, 2015 and on Blu-rayTM in Summer 2015.


•The entire series has been beautifully re-mastered in 16x9 Full-Frame HD from more than 8,000 reels of original 35mm camera negative, allowing for a tighter fit on widescreen TVs and computer/tablet screens. The original negatives were scanned, edited, dust-busted and color-corrected with great care and attention taken to stay true to the look and feel of the original Standard-Definition 4x3 version.

•The Wire: The Complete Series in HD will be available for the first time as a full series purchase at iTunes, Google Play, X-Box Video and Vudu on January 5. Individual episodes and seasons will be available through all of HBO's Digital HD retailers.

•To celebrate the HD launch, HBO Signature will air the entire series consecutively, one season per day starting with season 1 on Friday, December 26 at noon. The marathon will wrap with season 5 on Tuesday, December 30.

•This will be the first time The Wire has aired on a linear HBO channel since Season 5 wrapped in 2008, as well as the first time that all five seasons of the entire series have aired consecutively on the network.

•All 60 episodes will also be available in HD on HBO GO starting December 26.

About The Wire:

The Wire depicts an American urban dystopia, framed in our time, in which easy distinctions between good and evil and crime and punishment are challenged at every turn. In five successive seasons, the series depicts a Baltimore in which institutional prerogatives, economic inequalities and a brutalizing drug war confound the efforts to advance the city and its people.

The series' first season lays out the futility of the drug war, while the second highlights the deindustrialization and the death of the working class. The third season introduces the city's political culture and lays out the forces that stand in the path of actual reform. The fourth season addresses the educational system and the actual opportunities that remain to coming generations. The fifth and final season examines the media culture and its role in perpetuating the status quo.

Amid all of this, carefully drawn characters on both sides of the law and from a variety of Baltimore cultures move forward as best they can, human to a flaw, struggling against a system that seems weighted against civic progress.

HBO Home Entertainment Announces "The Wire: The Complete Series" in HD, Blu-ray

"BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON" on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital HD - coming January 6, 2015 from Anchor Bay Entertainment

"Ambitious...Unexpected...Is its own little treasure" – The Hollywood Reporter

 

ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT SETS SAIL FOR A WILD AND WICKED ADVENTURE

"BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON"
 

                  ON BLU-RAY™ + Digital HD with Ultraviolet™

AND DVD JANUARY 6, 2015
 

Three-Disc Set Contains All 8 Episodes and New Bonus Features!  
 

Beverly Hills, Calif. – Anchor Bay Entertainment releases "BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON" the acclaimed STARZ Original series on Blu-ray™ + Digital HD with Ultraviolet™ and DVD on January 6th, 2014. "From executive producer Michael Bay (Transformers, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor) and his Platinum Dunes partners Brad Fuller and Andrew Form (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Purge), the Emmy® Award-winning first season of "Black Sails" follows the story of Captain Flint (Toby Stephens), the most brilliant and feared pirate captain of his day, who takes on a fast-talking young addition to his crew who goes by the name John Silver (Luke Arnold). Threatened with extinction on all sides, they fight for the survival of New Providence Island, the most notorious criminal haven of its day – a debauched paradise teeming with pirates, prostitutes, thieves and fortune seekers, a place defined by both its enlightened ideals and its stunning brutality. The series is created by Executive Producers Jonathan Steinberg (creator "Jericho," "Human Target") and Robert Levine ("Touch").

The 3-disc set is filled with exciting behind-the-scenes featurettes that give insight into the lavish production and inspired performances. The SRP is $59.99 for the Blu-ray™ + Digital HD with Ultraviolet™ and $49.98 for the DVD. Pre-book is December 3rd.

"BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON" begins in 1715 The Golden Age of Piracy in the Caribbean is at its apex. The former British colony of New Providence Island is now lawless territory, controlled by a few dozen of the most notorious pirate captains in history. The most feared among them is Captain Flint (Toby Stephens). s the British Navy returns to these waters, and the threat of extinction looms, another side of Flint emerges. A man driven by deep, complicated, even romantic motives. He will ally himself with the beautiful Eleanor Guthrie (Hannah New), daughter of the local smuggling kingpin who turns the pirates’ loot into profits. Together, they forge a plan to hunt the ultimate prize, and by winning it, stave off reclamation of their home by a resurgent empire. Arrayed against them are a series of opponents: rival captains, jealous of Flint's power; Eleanor's father, whose ambitions for the island conflict with his daughter’s; and a young sailor, recently recruited onto Flint's crew, who will somehow manage to constantly undermine his captain’s agenda. His name is John Silver (Luke Arnold).

New Bonus Features:

BLACK SAILS: A Look Inside
Dress To Kill
Pirate Camp
Folklore Is Finished: Pirate Politics
A Place In History
Building The Behemoth

Here, then, is all the dangerous adventures of our brethren of the sea in one beautifully packaged bold and bawdy set - "BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON" – is one epic treasure not to be missed!

The second season of "Black Sails" will begin airing January 24th, 2015 exclusively on STARZ.

About Anchor Bay Entertainment Anchor Bay Entertainment is a leading home entertainment company. Anchor Bay acquires and distributes feature films, original television programming including STARZ Original series, children's entertainment, anime (Manga Entertainment), fitness (Anchor Bay Fitness), sports, and other filmed entertainment on DVD and Blu-ray™ formats. The company has long term distribution agreements in place for select programming with AMC Networks, RADiUS, and The Weinstein Company. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Anchor Bay Entertainment has offices in Troy, MI, as well as Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia. Anchor Bay Entertainment (^{www.anchorbayentertainment.com) is a Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) business, www.starz.com.}About Starz  Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) is a leading integrated global media and entertainment company with operating units that provide premium subscription video programming on domestic U.S. pay television channels (Starz Networks), global content distribution (Starz Distribution) and animated television and movie production (Starz Animation), ^{www.starz.com.}
Starz Networks is a leading provider of premium subscription video programming through the flagship STARZ® and ENCORE® pay TV networks which showcase premium original programming and movies to U.S. multichannel video distributors, including cable operators, satellite television providers, and telecommunications companies. As of June 30, 2014, STARZ and ENCORE serve a combined 55.9 million subscribers, including 22.0 million at STARZ, and 33.9 million at ENCORE, making them the largest pair of premium flagship channels in the U.S. STARZ® and ENCORE®, along with Starz Networks’ third network MOVIEPLEX®, air more than 1,000 movies monthly across 17 linear networks, complemented by On Demand and authenticated online offerings through STARZ PLAY, ENCORE PLAY, and MOVIEPLEX PLAY. Starz Distribution develops, produces and acquires entertainment content, distributing it to consumers globally on DVD, digital formats and traditional television. Starz Distribution’s home video, digital media and worldwide distribution business units distribute original programming content produced by Starz, as well as entertainment content for itself and third parties. Starz Animation produces animated TV and movie content for studios, networks, distributors and audiences worldwide.


"BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON"
Blu -ray™ + Digital HD with Ultraviolet™Street Date: January 6, 2015
Pre-book: December 3, 2014
Cat. #: BD61420
UPC: 013132614205
Run Time: 456 Minutes
Rating: Not Rated
SRP: $59.99
Format: Widescreen Presentation 1.78:1
Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Subtitles: English SDH and Spanish

"BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON" DVD
Street Date: January 6, 2015
Pre-book: December 3, 2014
Cat. #: ST61419
UPC: 013132614199
Run Time: 456 Minutes
Rating: Not Rated
SRP: $49.98
Format: Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation 1.78:1
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH and Spanish

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"BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON" on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital HD - coming January 6, 2015 from Anchor Bay Entertainment