MONDO RONDO! Rondo Award Winners Announced!

"Long live the Rondos!" - Ain't It Cool News
"I love Rondo!" - Guillermo del Toro

Well, it's all over but the screaming, and the winners of this year's annual Rondo Awards have been announced. Here is a complete list of the results:

http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/59121/winners-Gasp-13th-Annual-Rondo-Hatton-Classic-Horror

For even more information, visit the official website here:

http://rondoaward.com/

Congratulations to all the lucky (and deserving) winners! And to all the nominees as well. It's certainly been a great year!

MONDO RONDO! Rondo Award Winners Announced!

Live from Tribeca 2015: Arnold Schwarzenegger Predicted the Future of the Film Industry (Interview Excerpts)

From Indiewire.com:

Arnold Schwarzenegger Explains How He Predicted the Film Industry's Future

In Maggie, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the downbeat parent of a teenager (Abigail Breslin) bitten by a zombie. Spending most of the movie caring for ailing girl and anticipating her death, Schwarzenegger's character in director Henry Hobson's debut is far different from others he's played in the past. That extends to the movie as well; opening day-and-date in the U.S. on May 9, Maggie marks a much smaller production than anything the actor has done before. But Schwarzenegger said that the movie gels with the way he's worked for years.

In New York for the film's premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, he spoke Indiewire Deputy Editor Eric Kohn about his history with independent productions, his thoughts on the state of special effects, how he predicted the globalization of the film industry decades ago, how OJ Simpson was originally slated to be the Terminator and how Oliver Stone's script for Conan was originally budgeted for $78 million - in 1980!

Below, please find select excerpts; for the entire interview, visit: http://www.indiewire.com/article/arnold-schwarzenegger-explains-how-he-predicted-the-film-industrys-future-20150423


How do you usually choose your projects?

Most of the jobs I've done, I've gotten them myself, and then agents make the deal. People come up to me in restaurants and say, "Arnold, I've got this great script." They send you stuff. They give you stuff in the gym. For Eraser, I was hanging out with Lorenzo di Bonaventura. I was sitting on a chairlift in Sun Valley. It is snowing. The snow is coming down. You can't even see three feet in front of you. And we're taking off in the chairlift to go skiing together. The chairlift takes off and he goes, "By the way, Arnold." He pulls the script out for Eraser and gives it to me. He says, "Put it in your jacket, read it, I'm here this whole weekend." That's normally the way it happens. There's no agent, no nothing. That's how the Terminator thing happened - Mike Medavoy coming up to me after a movie and going, "Arnold, you have to play Reese. We have OJ Simpson as the Terminator." Of course, it all changed later.

How do you think the film industry has changed since you first hit it big?

To me, the important thing is that my movies can play anywhere and people will understand the drama, the action, or whatever and get entertained....It has to play the same way in all the different continents. That's very important - from the beginning, when I was getting started, I always looked at everything in a global way, whether it was body-building or fitness promotion. Even though I passed environmental laws in California, I was thinking about how to make it effective all over the world. It's always about the world.

With movies, even though I had big fights in the beginning, I remember that with Universal Studios we were going to do promotion for Conan the Barbarian and I said, "Let's go to 10 countries." They said, "No, no, that's not how we do it. We visit three countries - England, France, and the Cannes Film Festival " I wanted to go to Italy, Germany, Japan. I kept at it and eventually they sent me to 10 countries, but they thought it was a little out there. They said, "This guy just likes to travel around." But it had nothing to do with traveling around. I thought that the world was the marketplace, not just America.

Now look what happened. I was totally on the money. I'm so happy today because I was so right and way ahead of the curve. Now, in China, The Fast and the Furious made like $400 million and will end up making more over there than in America. China's right behind America. So the world is very important for box office and making big movies. You need to go to China, Japan, African nations. You need to go to these places and make sure they're building theaters all over the world. It's a world economy.

Special effects have gone through incredible changes since you first started out. But sometimes they overwhelm the story. Does that ever bother you?

It seems to me that visual effects are very welcome. For instance, if the T-1000 and the T-800 have a fight scene, and you want to go beyond just pushing each other around like it's a UFC fight - which we see all the time on television - you can only do that with visual effects. I cannot tell the story without that ability to grab you, throw you by your head up against the ceiling so you land in this wooden floor, and since you weigh 1,000 pounds, each time you hit the wooden floor it goes down to the next room. That's the power you have. Otherwise it becomes a UFC fight where human beings are hitting the floor. People don't want to see that. They want to see a machine do it. What does that look like? For that you need visual effects.

For example, there's one scene [in Terminator: Genisys] where he grabs me and throws me up against the wall, 15 feet up, to show the power these machines have. So it's a different type of fight scene. The only way that's possible is with visual effects. So it shouldn't take anything away. If you use it wisely, I think it's great.

For instance, on Conan, Oliver Stone wrote a scene with the Tree of Woe. We had to take that scene out because that scene alone cost $20 million. His script was budgeted at $78 million - in 1980! Only because it was impossible to be done in those days as a visual effects. Today you can do it just like that. You can create a scene that is so spectacular, to show what this tree does, why everyone is so frightened of it that they couldn't get through. It was a really well-written scene but you couldn't shoot it in those days. That's why I think visual effects are great, but when it's not that kind of a scene, you have to get back down to acting and developing the characters. I've seen it myself firsthand on action movies how directors and producers don't pay as much attention to the development of the characters because they focus so much on the big stuff. James Cameron is the only one I've seen who's really so good in the details of the scene but also with the big things. He doesn't compromise one versus the other.

About Indiewire®

Indiewire® is the leading news, information, and networking site for independent-minded filmmakers, the industry and moviegoers alike, Indiewire launched on July 15, 1996 and re-launched with a bold new approach on January 12, 2009 from new parent company SnagFilms. Two-time winner of the Webby Award for best film website (most recently, in 2012), Indiewire was lauded as a "must read" by Variety, branded the "online heartbeat of the world's independent film community" by Forbes, and dubbed "best indie crossroads" by film critic Roger Ebert. 

For more in-depth Indiewire coverage on the premieres and personalities at this year's Tribeca Film Festival, visit: http://www.indiewire.com/category/festivals/

 

Live from Tribeca 2015: Arnold Schwarzenegger Predicted the Future of the Film Industry (Interview Excerpts)

THE ADMIRAL: ROARING CURRENTS -- DVD Review by Porfle

Thrilling in a way that's seen all too rarely in action cinema, THE ADMIRAL: ROARING CURRENTS (2014), the most-watched film in the history of South Korea, manages to combine moving human drama with one of the most epic sea battles ever filmed.

The film opens in 1597 right in the middle of the Japanese invasion of Korea and feels like a sequel since the Koreans have just suffered a major defeat. As what's left of their ragtag forces lick their wounds, venerable Admiral Yi Sun-sin (OLDBOY star Choi Min-Sik) prepares for a new attack in which over 300 Japanese ships, led by ruthless General Kurushima (Ryu Seung-Ryong, WAR OF THE ARROWS) will take on the Admiral's meager 12 ships as they stand as the last defense of the Korean mainland.

This simple storyline consists of two parts: the spectacular sea battle which takes up the entire second half of the film, and the events leading up to it. Since we know that sooner or later things are going to explode in a non-stop barrage of all-out naval warfare, director Kim Han-min (WAR OF THE ARROWS, HANDPHONE) is able to take his time with a long, involving build-up in which the Admiral contemplates the enormity of his seemingly impossible task, with his men severely demoralized and gripped with fear in the face of the impending one-sided clash.

Fans of OLDBOY and LADY VENGEANCE will already appreciate the talents of Choi Min-Sik. His deeply-felt portrayal of the Admiral conveys the old man's wisdom, courage, and tactical cunning along with a world-weariness that taxes his own resolve. On the other side, Ryu Seung-Ryong plays his opposite number Kurushima with the dark, cruelly intimidating air of a Sith Lord whose superior forces make him virtually unbeatable.

The Admiral's plans remain a mystery to us even as we watch him quietly formulating them as he looks out upon Myeongryang Strait off the southwest coast of the Korean Peninsula, where Kurushima's ships must pass on their way to shore. In the meantime, the story touches upon the various physical and emotional hardships suffered by not only the soldiers but also the lowly civilians caught in the crossfire of war. What we see is often brutal and horrific.

When the enemy ships finally appear on the horizon like a plague of locusts, and the Admiral's forces sail out to meet them in what appears to be a suicide charge, THE ADMIRAL: ROARING CURRENTS explodes into one of the most intensely exciting maritime clashes ever filmed. Even less patient viewers for whom the first half was rather tedious should find it worth the wait when this brilliantly-staged and frequently amazing sequence gets under way.

Actual full-sized ships are expertly combined with almost seamlessly-wrought CGI to create a fully convincing effect. Ships blast each other with cannons while their crews swarm into close battle in a lengthy succession of astonishing images made even more amazing when the movements of the sea itself, in the form of raging whirlpools and currents, are revealed to be part of the Admiral's desperate plan to beat the odds and defeat the Japanese naval juggernaut.

The DVD from CJ Entertainment is in 16 X 9 widescreen with Korean and English 5.1 and 2.0 soundtracks, and English subtitles. In addition to a teaser and trailer, there's a half-hour of highlights from the film. The Blu-ray also contains an exclusive video, "The Making of The Admiral: Roaring Currents."

After its dramatically resonant first half, THE ADMIRAL: ROARING CURRENTS becomes the epic we hoped it would be and then some, coming close to matching even the visual grandeur of John Woo's 2008 epic RED CLIFF. It's action filmmaking at its most exhilarating.

Buy it at Amazon.com:
Blu-ray
DVD

THE ADMIRAL: ROARING CURRENTS -- DVD Review by Porfle

HALT AND CATCH FIRE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

You don't have to be a computer whiz to appreciate "Halt and Catch Fire", the AMC series about an upstart electronics company in Dallas, Texas taking on monolithic IBM in a race to come up with the first portable personal computer. In fact, even the most borderline "tech savvy" viewer such as myself can find plenty here to be entertained by even as the geek-speak flies right over our heads.

Set in the early 80s (with RETURN OF THE JEDI still in its first theatrical run) Anchor Bay's HALT AND CATCH FIRE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON captures the furiously competitive world of the burgeoning PC industry with ample amounts of drama and suspense. In this fictionalized account of real-life events, Cardiff Electronics boss John Bosworth (Toby Huss, JERRY MAGUIRE, COWBOYS & ALIENS) makes a fateful decision when he hires the brash and manically driven Joe McMillan (Lee Pace, THE RESIDENT, THE HOBBIT), an ex-IBM exec, as his head of product development.

Joe causes chaos by weeding out the less imaginative employees and channeling ever-increasing resources into building a faster, cheaper PC, one which weighs less than fifteen pounds and can be carried in a briefcase. Much of the show's watchability comes from seeing him plunge recklessly forward through any personal, professional, or financial crisis as though his life depended on it, with an almost sociopathic singlemindedness. Hints of his past, including an unfortunate childhood trauma and his ousting from IBM (John Getz of THE FLY will guest-star as his IBM exec father), make him even more of an ongoing mystery.

For his core team, Joe drafts hardware genius Gordon Clark (Scoot McNairy, 12 YEARS A SLAVE, BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE), an office drone still haunted by the inexplicable failure of his own brilliant innovations in the field (Joe recognizes his potential and reignites it by tasking him to reverse-engineer the IBM computer chip), and software savant Cameron Howe (Mackenzie Davis, BAD TURN WORSE), a punky, videogame-addicted college student who seems to have cut her teeth on writing computer code.

The big drama isn't just in whether or not they can come up with the technological breakthroughs they're striving for--they're also trying to do all of that without causing Cardiff electronics to go out of business, mainly due to legal actions brought against it by their monolithic competitor IBM. After reverse-engineering that IBM chip, the team must then come up with their own non-copyrighted version that will pass legal muster and do so before the company goes under.

Between Gordon's marital problems with wife Donna (Kerry Bishé), another tech head working for Texas Instruments, and the unhealthy sexual relationship between Joe and Cameron, the show features plenty of non-computer-related mischief that also manages somehow to be relevant in various ways to the ongoing professional intrigue. The characters are far from perfect and often display less-than-admirable traits, which makes them more believable and identifiable.

The 80s-era period atmosphere is good, although the Georgia locations don't convey much of a "Texas" vibe and neither do some of the less-than-authentic accents. (Guest stars Jean Smart and Texas-born Annette O'Toole are exceptions.) When the resident eggheads start spouting volumes of computer lingo at each other, it reminds me of the techno-gibberish used on "Star Trek: The Next Generation"--I don't really have to know exactly what it all means to appreciate its dramatic impact.

The entire season builds up to the big electronics sales convention in Las Vegas where the team goes to unveil their big gamble to their peers along with the rest of the world. Here, just when we think all is finally well and that a major victory is at hand, a shockingly unexpected and near catastrophic setback gets them scrambling into damage control mode again.

The 3-disc Blu-ray set from Anchor Bay (10 episodes, approx. 435 minutes) is in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound and subtitles in English and Spanish. Extras consist of three featurettes--"Remaking the 80s", "Rise of the Digital Cowboys", and "Setting the Fire: Research and Technology"--along with a brief behind-the-scenes look at all ten episodes. Also contained are instructions on how to instantly stream and download a digital HD ultraviolet copy of the series.

HALT AND CATCH FIRE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON succeeds in taking something totally foreign to me and making it interesting. It's fun seeing all the dramatic stuff that went into the creation of this amazing invention that most of us take for granted every day.

Buy it at Amazon.com:
Blu-ray
DVD

HALT AND CATCH FIRE: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Alchemy Acquires Bernard Rose's "FRANKENSTEIN"

ALCHEMY ACQUIRES BERNARD ROSE’S FRANKENSTEIN

FROM SUMMERSTORM ENTERTAINMENT

Alchemy Takes US Rights to Thriller Following Its World Premiere at Brussels Fantastic Fest Where it was awarded the Grand Prize

LOS ANGELES, CA, APRIL 22, 2015 – Film House Germany (FHG) announced today that Alchemy has secured the US rights to horror legend Bernard Rose’s (CANDYMAN, IVANSXTC) FRANKENSTEIN, from Summerstorm Entertainment following it’s highly acclaimed World Premiere at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival where it was awarded the grand prize, the Golden Raven Award.

FRANKENSTEIN is produced by Gabriela Bacher for Summerstorm, Heidi Jo Markel for Eclectic Pictures, Jennifer Holliday Morrison for Bad Badger, and Summmerstorm’s parent company, Film House Germany’s Christian Angermayer and Klemens Hallmann. Conor Charles is co-producing for Eclectic Pictures. Avi Lerner is executive producing and Nu Image is handling international sales. 

On confirming the sale, producers Gabriela Bacher and Heidi Jo Markel said: ‘Alchemy is the perfect partner to bring this modern take on a timeless story to American audiences. Alchemy’s acquisition is testament to the worldwide demand and hunger for new, contemporary visions and well-crafted filmmaking - audiences have never seen a monster quite like this.’

The modern-day adaptation of the classic thriller was written and directed by Bernard Rose and stars Xavier Samuel (TWILIGHT, FURY), Carrie-Ann Moss (THE MATRIX TRILOGY), Tony Todd (CANDYMAN), and Danny Huston (BIG EYES, AMERICAN HORROR STORY).

FRANKENSTEIN is set in present day Los Angeles, and is told entirely from the perspective of The Monster. Artificially-created and left for dead by a husband-and-wife team of eccentric scientists, Adam is faced with nothing but hostility and aggression as he comes to grips with the horrific nature of humanity, and the violence of those that made him.

The deal was negotiated by Jay Cohen at Gersh on behalf of the filmmakers, and Steve Break, VP of Acquisitions for Alchemy.

FRANKENSTEIN is one of a number of projects from Film House Germany’s robust slate, joining the likes of Jalmari Helander’s BIG GAME starring Samuel L. Jackson and THE DEVIL’S VIOLINIST, also directed by Bernard Rose.

ABOUT ALCHEMY

Alchemy is a leading independent distributor of film and television content across all platforms and windows in North America. Alchemy develops tailored distribution strategies across all platforms, from theatrical release to DVD, digital, VOD, and television. Under CEO Bill Lee’s direction, the company has distributed the work of some of the world’s finest filmmakers including Richard Linklater, Werner Herzog, Gregg Araki, Dito Montiel, John Hillcoat, John Turturro, Lee Daniels, Oren Moverman and James Cameron. Recent successes include ELSA & FRED, FADING GIGOLO, WHAT MAISIE KNEW, RAMPART, and BERNIE.

Alchemy boasts the independent industry’s pre-eminent end-to-end supply chain solution for physical and digital distribution of content to major retailers. The company has the largest footprint of any independent supplier to bricks and mortar businesses, and is one of only two independent aggregators for Target, where Alchemy represents 75% of all independent titles sold. It is also the leading supplier to digital platforms including iTunes, Netflix and VOD.

The company owns a catalog of 665 film titles and has deals for the ongoing distribution of film titles and programming for clients including PBS Distribution, nCircle, Phase 4 Films, Magnolia, MPI Media Group, Well Go, Music Box Films, Inception, and Hammer Horror, among many others.

About FILM HOUSE GERMANY/ SUMMERSTORM ENTERTAINMENT

Film House Germany is a multi-faceted media company, covering the development, financing, production, and co-production of film and TV for audiences worldwide. Headquartered in Berlin, with outposts in London and Los Angeles, Film House Germany was founded in 2011 by entrepreneur Christian Angermayer. It’s the parent to both Egoli Tossell Film and Summerstorm Entertainment.

Film House Germany has strategic alliances with Basil Iwanyk’s Thunder Road Pictures and Navid McIhargey’s Vandal Entertainment, in addition to strong relationships with other major production companies, and leading distribution partners around the world.

Past projects include: Jon S. Baird’s FILTH; Ron Howard’s RUSH; Michael Hoffman’s Academy Award Nominated film THE LAST STATION; and Olivier Assayas’ lauded mini-series CARLOS.

ABOUT ECLECTIC PICTURES

Heidi Jo Markel founded Eclectic Pictures in 2004 by striking a First-Look deal with Millennium Films to create high-quality theatrical independent features. With a focus on strong female-driven characters, environmental and socially conscious thematics, Eclectic's more than a dozen films cross all genres. Notable films with exceptional filmmakers include: LOVELACE, SOLITARY MAN, TRUST, PLAYING FOR KEEPS, OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN and the upcoming SEPTEMBERS OF SHIRAZ, FRANKENSTEIN and LONDON HAS FALLEN. With numerous projects in development with various distributors, the power of ECLECTIC PICTURES is to evolve projects to realize their fullest potential.
 

Alchemy Acquires Bernard Rose's "FRANKENSTEIN"

"THE BADGER GAME" Red Carpet World Premiere on Wednesday, April 29th

THE BADGER GAME

World Premiere & Red Carpet

Wednesday, April 29th

WHAT: THE BADGER GAME World Premiere and Red Carpet Arrivals

THE BADGER GAME, the award-winning indie thriller which has wowed festival audiences nationwide, is a twisted tale about infidelity and extortion, taking viewers on a harrowing journey, galvanized by wicked humor, violence, lust, suspense and unprecedented levels of cynicism.

WHEN: Wednesday, April 29, 2015 
                    
TIME: 7:45 pm – Red Carpet Check in;
             8:30pm – Red Carpet opens
             9:30pm – THE BADGER GAME screening intro by directors Tom
                               Zambeck and Josh Wagner, with cast/crew

WHERE: Downtown Independent Cinema
                251 S. Main Street
                Los Angeles, CA 90012
                (213) 617-1033

WHO: Celebrities planning to walk the Red Carpet include: THE BADGER GAME co-writers and co-directors Tom Zambeck and Joshua Wagner; Stars Augie Duke, Patrick Cronen, Jillian Leigh, Sam Boxleitner, Sasha Higgins, Aria London, Josh Eichenbaum, and Marc Siciliani; Producer/composer RJ Gallantine, London May (composer, from the band Samhein and The Glenn Danzig Experience), and editor Ethan Maniquis(co-director of MACHETE).

DETAILS: Liam (Boxleitner) is a successful advertising executive with money to burn and a healthy appetite for infidelity. Alex (Duke) is his scorned mistress, hell-bent on revenge against the married man who wronged her. At first, the plan seemed simple: take Liam hostage and threaten to expose his indiscretion, unless he pays a ransom. But Alex knows she can’t do it alone. Enter her unhinged brother Kip (Cronen), exotic dancer Jane (Higgins), and desperate wallflower Shelly (Leigh). With the table set and the team in place, Liam soon finds himself held against his will - his perfect world about to crumble. Forced to reckon with four mysterious captors and impossible odds, his only hope is to turn the quartet against each other and make it through the night alive.

The Badger Game has impressed festival audiences across the country. Named official selections at the 2014 Arizona Underground Film Festival and the Twisted Celluloid Film Festival, the film won Best Drama honors at the 2014 Laughlin International Film Festival as well as Best Thriller, Best Supporting Actress (Jillian Leigh) and "Most Cool" awards at the Pollygrind V Festival.  

"THE BADGER GAME" Red Carpet World Premiere on Wednesday, April 29th

Revealed! Late Actor Steve McQueen's Aftershave Turned Women On

From MovieZoot.com

CHRISTIAN DIOR'S EAU SAUVAGE...

Revealed! Late Actor Steve McQueen's Aftershave Turned Women On

He was known for wearing Christian Dior’s Eau Sauvage, which contains the stimulating chemical Hedione. With his ice cool demeanor and smoldering good looks, it’s no surprise that the actor Steve Mcqueen was attractive to women.

But new research suggests he may have had a little help. From his aftershave.

Scientists have discovered that McQueen’s fav--Dior’s Eau Sauvage--contains a chemical called Hedione that stimulates an area of the brain responsible for releasing sex hormones in women.

Based on the evidence, it appears the aftershave containing this ingredient in the proper dosage can literally turn women on.

READ MORE

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Revealed! Late Actor Steve McQueen's Aftershave Turned Women On

"Sesame Street: Count on Elmo"--Packed With Fun and Engaging Number-Centric Stories!

SESAME STREET: COUNT ON ELMO

ON DVD AND DIGITAL JULY 7, 2015

Features Over Two Hours of Fun with Elmo and Bonus Elmo’s World Episode!

BURBANK, CA (April 15, 2015) – Get ready to learn with everyone’s favorite furry red monster, Elmo, as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) and Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, release Sesame Street: Count on Elmo on DVD and digital July 7, 2015. For more than 45 years, families across America have looked towards Sesame Street's beloved Muppets to help children everywhere grow smarter, stronger and kinder by learning their ABCs, building their inner strength and developing their moral compass – along with a lasting love of learning. These important lessons continue in the latest Sesame Street DVD, as Elmo and friends teach children to love math in Sesame Street: Count on Elmo. Order due date is June 2, 2015.

Kids can rely on their Sesame Street friends for lots of fun, laughs and counting in Sesame Street: Count on Elmo. When the Noble Counting Prize committee is looking for the World’s Greatest Counter, Elmo knows that his friend The Count is perfect for the prize. Elmo, Grover, Abby and Cookie Monster try and capture The Count’s amazing counting skills on camera so they can enter him in the contest, but everything goes awry! Will The Count win the prize or will it be a Count-astrophe? Kids will learn about friendship and math concepts such as numbers, counting, and enumeration. With over 2 hours full of friendship and fun, kids will really enjoy counting along. Featuring the new song "Count on Friends," this DVD also includes the bonus video Pre-School is Cool: ABC’s With Elmo.

"Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is thrilled to release Sesame Street: Count on Elmo as the next Sesame Street home video adventure," said Mary Ellen Thomas, WBHE Vice President Family & Animation Marketing. "Elmo has become one of the most loveable preschool characters of all time. We are very happy to be releasing Count on Elmo on DVD and digital, and helping Elmo continue to teach preschoolers in a fun and engaging way."

Celebrating its impressive 45th anniversary this season, Sesame Street is the longest-running program in children’s television. The series has received more Emmy awards than any other show in television history, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award.

About Sesame Workshop
 Sesame Workshop is the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street which reaches 156 million children across more than 150 countries. The Workshop’s mission is to use the educational power of media to help all children reach their highest potential. Delivered through a variety of platforms, including television programs, digital experiences, books and community engagement, its research-based programs are tailored to the needs of the communities and countries they serve, helping children everywhere grow smarter, stronger and kinder. For more information, visit us at www.sesameworkshop.org.

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.

Buy it at Amazon.com

 

"Sesame Street: Count on Elmo"--Packed With Fun and Engaging Number-Centric Stories!

"OLD 37"--Epic Pictures and Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada To Distribute Highly Anticipated Horror Film

OLD 37 Wins Best Feature Film Award at HorrorHound Film Festival

Music from The Used, Circa Survive, Sheppard + more

April 15, 2015 - OLD 37, a psychological slasher about two brothers (Kane Hodder + Bill Moseley) posing as paramedics who intercept 911 calls in a retired old ambulance, has partnered with Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada and Epic Pictures Group for the film's North American distribution. Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada will be handling the Canadian market, while Epic's growing distribution division, Epic Pictures Releasing, will be handling the United States.

EPIC Pictures COO, Shaked Berenson stated, "We are proud to add this highly anticipated gem to Epic's growing release slate. Fans will surely appreciate Travers' gritty characters and intense atmosphere." Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada shares a similar sentiment where Susan Curran Director of Marketing and Acquisitions notes that "OLD 37 is one heck of a ride full of gore and terror. We're delighted to be working with Big Picture Media for the Canadian home video and digital release." Epic's CEO, Patrick Ewald added "In OLD 37 you have Kane Hodder (who played Jason in four of the Friday the 13th movies) and Bill Moseley (from Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects and House of a 1000 corpses), playing a pair of deranged brothers who work as paramedics to exact revenge on unsuspecting teenagers. How much better can you get in a horror film?"

Fresh off the worldwide premiere at HorrorHound Film Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio where the film won the award for Best Feature Film, the audience went wild. OLD 37 writer and producer Paul Travers and actor Kane Hodder were on site for a Q&A after the premiere and the positive reactions in the theater were palpable. HorrorHound Film Festival Director Jason Hignite said "OLD 37 comes through with in-your-face visceral horror."

Fast paced and blood soaked, OLD 37 taps into the most basic human fear, vulnerability. The words "don't worry I'm a paramedic" will make you think twice before dialing 9-1-1. For more information on OLD 37, please visit http://www.OLD37TheMovie.com.

The film stars Kane Hodder (Friday the 13th, Hatchet) and Bill Moseley (The Devil's Rejects, House of 1000 Corpses) as twisted brothers working together to exact revenge on some careless teen drivers. Already featured by Fangoria, MTV, The Insider, J14 Magazine, DreadCentral, BloodyDisgusting, IHorror, HorrorHound and more, the star cast includes Brandi Cyrus, (Hannah Montana, Zoey 101), Caitlin Harris (The Secret Life of the American Teenager), Olivia Alexander (Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader, Killer Eye), Maxwell Zagorski, Maggie Keane Williams (Audition), Ben Schneider, Mindy White (States, Lydia), Sascha Knopf (Shallow Hal, Expiration Date) and more. 

OLD 37 features a performance from Aria winners Australian rock band, Sheppard. The band, which performs live in a party scene in the film, also has 4 songs featured on the soundtrack. Each song is off their new debut full length Bombs Away, which premiered at #2 on the ARIA Charts and is certified gold. Sheppard recently signed with manager Scooter Braun (Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande), got signed to Universal Republic, and have played on ELLEN and Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show and Live with Kelly + Michael. They currently have over 125 million streams on Spotify, putting them in the top 50 most played artists.

Other musicians featured on the OLD 37 soundtrack include The Used, Circa Survive, Night Riots, States, Death On Two Wheels, Survival Guide, DariusTX, and Emii.

Written and produced by Paul Travers with producing partners, Carrie Alton, Evan Greenhill, Dayna Ghiraldi, music composed by Darius Holbert (Hobo With A Shotgun, World's Greatest Dad, Cedar Rapids), blood, guts and scares provided by Brian Spears and Pete Gerner (We Are What We Are, Late Phases, VHS), this team is ready to bring the sirens.

For more information on OLD 37, please visit:

Website: http://www.OLD37TheMovie.com
Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/OLD37themovie
Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/OLD37MOVIE
Merch Store: http://old37.bigcartel.com/

Epic Pictures Releasing is the domestic distribution division of Epic Pictures Group, a leading independent studio, specializing in the financing, production and distribution of commercial feature films and family entertainment. Epic's recent productions include SXSW 2015 Audience Award Winner TURBO KID and Gregg Turkington, John C. Reilly's Sundance's critically acclaimed ENTERTAINMENT.

About Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada
  Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada is the Toronto based office of Anchor Bay Entertainment, a leading independent home entertainment company celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2015. Anchor Bay acquires and releases a wide array of filmed entertainment in the theatrical and home entertainment markets, including STARZ Original series, children's entertainment, fitness (Anchor Bay Fitness), sports and specialty films on Blu-ray™ and DVD formats. The company has long-term distribution agreements in place for select programming with The Weinstein Company, AMC Networks and RADiUS, among others. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Anchor Bay Entertainment (www.anchorbayentertainment.com) is a full service distributor in the North American market. Anchor Bay Entertainment is a Starz (NASDAQ: STRZA, STRZB) business, www.starz.com.

"OLD 37"--Epic Pictures and Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada To Distribute Highly Anticipated Horror Film

Korean Movies & Dramas to Stream on Facebook for the First Time + "Friend II" Free April 15-16

KOREAN MOVIES TO STREAM ON FACEBOOK

CJ Entertainment Partners with Walla to Bring Korean Movies and Dramas to Facebook for the First Time

KIM Woo-bin's "Friend II: The Legacy" to Be Offered Free for 48 hours on April 15-16

 Los Angeles, CA (April 15, 2015) — CJ Entertainment, Asia’s premier entertainment company and Korea’s #1 filmmaker and distributor, announced today that they are partnering with Walla, a video-on-demand streaming service app to bring the hottest in Korean movies and television to fans on Facebook. Beginning April 15, fans in the United States can watch movies on demand directly from the CJ Entertainment USA, KCON and Mnet America Facebook pages.

In conjunction with the US theatrical release of #1 youth comedy Twenty, viewers who visit CJ Entertainment USA's Facebook page on April 15-16, can get a double dose of Twenty’s uber-hot star, KIM Woo-bin, for free as he flexes his action chops in Friend II: The Legacy. Other titles available for purchase include: I AM, Black Eagle, FLU, Masquerade, Fists of Legend, The Tower, The Berlin File as well as the latest action hits No Tears for the Dead and The Divine Move. Prices will range from $1.99- $3.99. Korean dramas will be available at a later date.

Walla is a new way for studios to deliver and distribute their content directly to end users through social media. In partnering with Asian entertainment guru CJ Entertainment, Walla showcases its new application and taps into the digitally savvy, fast growing k-pop and k-drama audience.

ABOUT CJ ENTERTAINMENT Launched in 2005, CJ Entertainment America (CJ Ent.Am) is the U.S. arm of Asia’s premier entertainment company and Korea’s #1 filmmaker and distributor, CJ Entertainment & Media (CJ E&M). Since 1995, CJ E&M has provided original, award-winning content – across an array of genres, including drama, comedy, action, sci-fi/horror and special interest – for theatrical, television, DVD, digital download, interactive game publishing/portals and music. The cornerstone of the Korean entertainment industry – boasting the country’s largest and most significant library, with hundreds of films – CJ E&M is also a singular presence throughout Asia, Europe and in the United States and a key force in popularizing contemporary Korean and Pan-Asian cinema around the world. Top films include Snowpiercer, The Man From Nowhere; The Good, the Bad, the Weird; A Bittersweet Life; Joint Security Area; and the Vengeance trilogy, to name a few. Visit us online at: www.cj-entertainment.com.

Korean Movies & Dramas to Stream on Facebook for the First Time + "Friend II" Free April 15-16

THE GLASS MAN -- Movie Review by Porfle

Starting out downbeat and just getting more depressing as it goes along, the intermittently interesting THE GLASS MAN (2011) is almost as much of a chore for the viewer as it is for its terminally hard-luck protagonist.

Andy Nyman of KICK-ASS 2 plays young executive Martin Pyrite (pyrite of course means "fool's gold", a surprisingly on-the-nose reference), who's just been fired from his company where he's now a scapegoat and a pariah. Tens of thousands of pounds in debt, the increasingly desperate Martin hopes for a miracle while trying to keep the news from his pampered wife Julie (Neve Campbell).

Anyone who's been in financial straits will not only identify with this but may also find it uncomfortable to watch. But it gets worse. Julie turns a cold shoulder to Martin when she suspects him of cheating on her with a co-worker, leading to a long bedroom scene with him tearfully blubbering to her as she's passed out on sleeping pills while maudlin piano music pounds away on the soundtrack. Hard to watch, right?

But it gets worse. Later that night, a very big, very scary debt collector named Pecco (James Cosmo, THE LAST LEGION, "Game of Thrones") shows up at his door demanding immediate payment for a debt that he's just bought from someone else. Martin's broke, of course, so Pecco offers him a way out--he'll erase the debt if Martin helps him do a few "things."

James Cosmo, you'll probably recall, was the biggest, scariest guy in BRAVEHEART, and when Pecco starts to intimidate Martin with his mere overbearing presence, you believe it. Needless to say, Martin finds himself going along with the plan and driving Pecco to some potentially horrible date with crime.

I don't know whether to call it "suspense" or just plain "dread", but by now it's starting to get pretty much unbearable for any viewer who can sympathize with Martin's plight. Still, it's an interesting situation with plenty of potential, especially when the relationship between the two men starts going in unexpected directions.

But then, from out of nowhere, there comes a big plot twist. I can't even talk about it, it's such a plot twist. It's the kind of plot twist that either makes the movie a whole lot better, or just makes you go "Huh?"

After that, the interesting direction in which the story seemed to be headed just sort of petered out, and what was meant to make it more unpredictable had the opposite effect. I still wanted to see how it all turned out, but mainly out of morbid curiosity.

Writer-director Cristian Solimeno, who's also an actor (MOTHER OF TEARS, RUSH) and plays the part of an eccentric old friend from whom Martin tries to borrow money, directs the film as though we're seeing everything from Martin's dazed, off-kilter perspective.

Performances are fine, particularly Nyman's jittery little schlub and Cosmo's intimidating ogre. Neve Campbell is good although she doesn't really have much to do besides act spoiled, bitchy, and asleep in turns.

I can't really say I enjoyed THE GLASS MAN, even though it's a well-made film that managed to hold my interest even when I wanted to bail out. But it's also a pretty unpleasant slog through unrelieved depression, so if you're in the mood for a feelgood popcorn flick you'll probably want to set this one aside for another time.

Runtime: 108 minutes
Format: 1:85 Flat
Sound: Dolby SR
Genre:
Country: USA
Language: English
Website: www.TheGlassManMovie.com 


 

THE GLASS MAN -- Movie Review by Porfle

WINDSOR DRIVE -- Movie Review by Porfle

The visually exciting WINDSOR DRIVE (2015) is unlike any film I've seen in quite a while. I don't think I could handle many like it, but on the rare occasion one like it comes along, it's a fulsome and very welcome movie experience.

Tommy O'Reilly has a James Dean intensity as aspiring actor River Miller, who is haunted by the death of his beautiful girlfriend Jordana (Jillian Murray, BAD ASS). Did he kill her? Is that why his head is such a mental disaster area? The bits and pieces we're shown are teasingly unrevealing but we do see enough to understand that River is already off the deep end from his very first close-up.

It doesn't help when he rents a room in the quaint old Hollywood cottage of the equally quaint young couple Wilfric (Kyan DuBois), a slyly enigmatic soul with a pointy waxed moustache, and his shadowy Goth-belle paramour Ivy (Anna Gurji). Both seem to have strange designs on River but we're never sure if they're romantic or simply sick and manipulative.

River's fever-dream flashbacks of Jordana's death (is she the wrapped body we keep seeing him dragging across the floor?) sabotage his later relationships with pathetically-needy Brooke (Samaire Armstrong, IT'S A BOY GIRL THING, NOT ANOTHER TEEN MOVIE) and unfaithful Ivy, and overshadow his budding love affair with sweet June (Mandy Musgrave), the secretary of a pitiless casting director he's desperately courting for a role.

But how much of this is real, and how much is just a twisted conglomeration of fact and fiction swirling through his fractured psyche? Multi-talented filmmaker Natalie Bible' has a field day directing and editing the timeline of his story in a stream-of-consciousness form that seems to have been cut into pieces and thrown into the air for the viewer to reassemble like a jigsaw puzzle.

Sometimes we'll see something as it happens (usually from someone else's point of view) and then see it replayed as River perceives it, in ways both dreamlike and nightmarish, fueled by guilt, in an endless loop of mocking repetition.

This sort of storytelling is tricky but Bible' manages to both intrigue us and keep us guessing as the pieces tumble haphazardly into place with a free-flowing combination of realism, impressionism, and surrealism, along with whatever else adds to the effect. Rather than the usual narrative it's more like a long musical piece meant to engage our emotions and excite the imagination.

Tommy O'Reilly is excellent as is the rest of the cast in bringing T.R. Gough's challenging script to life. The cinematography is endlessly eye-pleasing. Karsten Shreve's powerful musical score intensifies the film's impact at every turn.

Not everyone will like what the wildly imaginative Natalie Bible' is going for here--it's the kind of off-kilter experience that many movie watchers go out of their way to avoid. But I found WINDSOR DRIVE to be an intensely, immersively cinematic gem, and one of the best screen depictions of madness I've ever seen.

Runtime: 83 minutes
Format: 1:85
Genre: Thriller
Sound: Dolby SR
Country: USA
Language: English
Website: www.windsordrivemovie.com

WINDSOR DRIVE -- Movie Review by Porfle

Christoph Waltz Denies He’s James Bond’s Nemesis in “Spectre”

Christoph Waltz has denied rumors about him playing Blofeld in "Spectre," calling the claims "absolutely untrue."

The two-time Oscar winner said it was Internet speculation that had him playing Blofeld and he was adamant that wasn’t the case. "This is absolutely untrue. That rumor started on the Internet and the Internet is a pest. The name of my character is Franz Oberhauser."

Despite his denials, Waltz continues to be linked with playing 007’s greatest nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the cat-stroking, evil genius behind the Spectre global criminal organization. Blofeld is considered by many fans the best Bond villain and has been played in the past by Donald Pleasance, Telly Savalas, Max Von Sydow and Charles Gray. Blofeld was also the chief inspiration for Dr. Evil from the "Austin Powers" series.

The "Django Unchanied" star said he did hesitate a little on doing a Bond film, but he was convinced by the quality of the people working on "Spectre." "I did hesitate, yes, I always hesitate. You ask yourself, hang on. What James Bond are we talking about? The thing about "Spectre" is that it’s not the work of hack writers. It does not have a hack director. The actors are not hams. The action sequences in Mexico are extravagant to say the least. The scenes in Austria are traditional Bond action in the snow. These films with Daniel Craig have shifted the tone. They don’t depend on a set formula that forces actors simply to go through the motions."

A respected dramatic actor, Waltz also said he can find artistic fulfillment with Bond films particularly as he has paid his dues earlier in his career. He observed, "A James Bond film can be artistically fulfilling. Absolutely it can. It can be complex and it can be interesting. I consider Bond movies to be an extension of popular theatre. A kind of modern mythology."

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Christoph Waltz Denies He’s James Bond’s Nemesis in “Spectre”

7 IN THE TORTURE CHAMBER -- Movie Review by Porfle

7 IN THE TORTURE CHAMBER (2012) starts off with a blonde babe being bound and tortured in her kitchen by a psycho in a George Bush mask (Marc Sheffler of LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT fame) who proceeds to carve her up with power tools before literally ripping her face off. And with that, the line is effectively drawn between those who say "Cool!" and those who will most likely choose to skip the rest of the picture.

But what first appears as though it's going to be a grueling excursion into torture porn (which I really don't care much for at all) then settles down into a more lightweight stroll through wannabe "Friday the 13th" territory (which I don't care much for either). It seems the opening, which probably used up most of the SPFX budget, was intended to get gorehounds going "ooh" and "ahh" right off the bat and hoping for more. Which they won't get.

What they do get is the story of Madison (Lina Esco), an incorrigible teen whose parents (including an unbilled Stephen Furst, ANIMAL HOUSE's "Flounder" and director Griff Furst's dad) send her to a sort of reform school-slash-summer camp called "Crystal Lake Treatment Center." Here, she is harrassed by the three horny guys who act as guards and terrorized by her fellow juvenile delinquents.

The film makes a limp effort at a "Reform School Girls" vibe with new-girl Madison vs. the bad chicks, while managing to squeeze in some "Porky's"-style T & A when we see the drooling guards peeking at the girls' shower room through a hole in the wall just in time for some softcore lezzie action.

At this point, things have gotten so dull that a little torture porn would be welcome if only to add some variety. After a lengthy stretch of this sort of stuff, with the guards getting more brazen and even the seemingly sympathetic camp administrator (the beautiful Wendy Carter) turning out to be cruel and corrupt, the psycho from the first scene suddenly appears from out of nowhere (still wearing his George Bush mask) to stalk and kill everyone he can get his grubby little hands on.

The subsequent kills, for those keeping score, are disappointingly tame and the suspense is practically non-existent. To make things worse, the film is all over the place technically, with confusing editing, below-par directing, and some of the worst sound ever. (I'm hoping the latter will be fixed on the finished DVD as I'm judging this from a barebones screener.) The only saving grace is a final twist that comes off as pretty nifty compared to everything leading up to it.

The final DVD will be released by Indican Pictures. I don't have any info on extras or other technical features.

I usually go pretty easy on well-meaning zero-budget flicks, but after a strong start 7 IN THE TORTURE CHAMBER goes straight downhill. In its lackluster effort to duplicate the atmosphere of FRIDAY THE 13TH, it manages to make SLEEPAWAY CAMP look like a Hitchcock film.


 

7 IN THE TORTURE CHAMBER -- Movie Review by Porfle

WEST OF THUNDER -- DVD Review by Porfle

After an introduction that soberly recounts the infamous massacre at Wounded Knee, I was expecting WEST OF THUNDER (2012) to be some sort of preachy tract. Fortunately, there's more to it than that--it's actually only semi-preachy, with enough entertainment value to make it passably diverting and an overall air of supernatural oddness which, at times, makes it come off as downright peculiar.

A tall, dark stranger named Henry Seed (Dan Davies, ED GEIN: THE MUSICAL), who looks like something out of a spaghetti Western but with a decidedly more placid and wry demeanor, comes striding out of the desert and into a small South Dakota town in 1899. In a rather on-the-nose way, his first words to himself echo the film's main theme: "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil."

Thus begins Henry's mysterious mission to avenge the wrongs committed against the Lakota, the remnants of whom reside on a nearby reservation, in a variety of ironic ways best described as "poetic justice." A man who received a medal of bravery for killing innocents is compelled to commit suicide; another man who once denied starving Indians any of his surplus of food one winter sees all the stock in his store go rotten after Henry, Mandrake-like, waves his hand over it; and so on.

We expect Henry to put that sidearm of his to use at some point, yet WEST OF THUNDER has little gunplay save for a street duel between two local boys that he smilingly instigates merely by willing it. He has that same self-amused look that Billy Jack displays before kicking some middle-aged fat guy's ass, and he clearly has a wicked sense of humor while toying with his victims. ("May you be in Heaven thirty minutes before I know you're dead" he delights in telling a medicine show quack while toasting him with his own vile brew.)

But Henry doesn't just go around beating people up. The most interesting thing about these revenge scenarios is the way he engages his victims in deceptively calm discussions of morality before confronting them with their crimes. And then he beats them up, or better still, levels some other kind of poetic justice against them for, either by action or inaction, doing wrong against the Lakota.

Another interesting aspect of the story is the fact that the Lakota themselves aren't too sure how they feel about this. They know Henry is some kind of dark spirit of vengeance from the West (this somehow has great significance), yet they aren't all eager to follow his path. This will eventually lead Henry to take what I found to be an unexpected course of action, one which bypassed the usual dramatic finale found in most Westerns in favor of an ending that is willfully anti-climactic. Odd.

WEST OF THUNDER proceeds at its own deliberately slow, placid pace, alternating eerie moments of fitting revenge with thoughtful philosophical interludes. The film has a low-budget indy feel, unrefined and rough-hewn at times but also pleasingly stylish, with some terrific interior and exterior locations and nice period detail. Dan Davies makes the character of Henry Seed interesting by never overplaying or trying too hard to be scary or intimidating, and the rest of the performances are good as well.

The DVD from Indican Pictures is in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 surround sound. I reviewed a barebones screener but the finished product is supposed to include a short documentary entitled "Mitakuye Oyasin: We Are All Related."

A sober attitude in regard to its subject matter keeps the film from descending into silliness or resorting to shock value or empty sensation. And once I realized there wasn't going to be a big finish, I was okay with how the story just kind of drifted to a stop. WEST OF THUNDER, strangely enough, seems satisfied to be little more than a pleasantly unexciting diversion with a thoughtful message.

Buy it at Amazon.com

WEST OF THUNDER -- DVD Review by Porfle

First Look--"FRANKENSTEIN" starring Xavier Samuel, Carrie-Ann Moss and Danny Huston

From Bernard Rose’s FRANKENSTEIN starring Xavier Samuel (Twilight, Adore, Fury), Carrie-Ann Moss (The Matrix Trilogy) and Danny Huston ("American Horror Story", Big Eyes)

This modern day adaptation of the classic tale by Mary Shelley will world premiere this coming weekend at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival.

FRANKENSTEIN is set in present day Los Angeles and told entirely from the perspective of the Monster. After he is artificially created, then left for dead by a husband-and-wife team of eccentric scientists, Adam is confronted with nothing but aggression and violence from the world around him. This perfect creation-turned disfigured monster must come to grips with the horrific nature of humanity.

Rose directed from his original script based on the Mary Shelley’s classic novel. Xavier Samuel stars as the Monster, with Carrie-Ann Moss as Elizabeth Frankenstein, Danny Huston as Victor Frankenstein, and Tony Todd as Eddie, reuniting with his Candyman director Rose.

Special Effects Make-up was designed by six-time Emmy nominee Randy Westgate (X-Men Origins: Wolverine).

First Look--"FRANKENSTEIN" starring Xavier Samuel, Carrie-Ann Moss and Danny Huston

ECHOES -- DVD Review by Porfle

Sleep paralysis: a frightening condition that many of us have experienced first-hand. So naturally, it's an effective theme for horror films to exploit because we can identify with the fear, the helplessness--the sheer vulnerability--that comes with it.

While some films such as 2012's ultra-creepy SHADOW PEOPLE explore this in great depth, it's only one element of the moody, atmospheric thriller ECHOES (2014). Our heroine, Anna (the gorgeous Kate French of "One Tree Hill" and "The L Word"), is an aspiring screenwriter whose bouts with insomnia cause her to seek solace in alcohol and pills. This concerns her agent and boyfriend Paul (Steven Brand, THE SCORPION KING), who suggests they take a rest leave in his secluded desert hideaway.

The angular, sleekly-designed little house with all-glass walls in the middle of nowhere is a perfect location for what happens next. After Paul is called back to the city on business, Anna's solitude in these strange surroundings intensifies her insomnia and the subsequent night terrors that come with it. This comes to a head one morning when she wakes to find the glass wall of her bedroom covered in strange numbers crudely scrawled in mud.

 

Jeremy (Steve Hanks), a former caretaker for Paul who lives in a trailer nearby claims ignorance, but Anna suspects he knows more about the cryptic graffiti than he's letting on. Paul, naturally, scoffs at the whole thing upon his return, especially since by then the numbers have mysteriously disappeared. But after further investigation Anna discovers that a woman who formerly lived in the house disappeared in the desert years earlier, and that she may have been linked to Paul.

But just as we start to suspect the boyfriend, ECHOES pulls a fast one on us that really changes the game and makes us wonder just what the hell's going on. The most overtly supernatural thing that's happened so far, it turns an otherwise standard suspense thriller into a possible story of possession and revenge from beyond the grave.

In his feature debut, writer-director Nils Timm shows both skill and restraint in depicting these events amidst an effective atmosphere of isolation and creeping dread. Moreover, he doesn't go for the easy shocks and jump scares of most recent creep flicks but instead builds a growing sense of unease marked by a few genuinely chilling moments.

Performances by the small cast are good and refreshingly low-key. Of note to genre fans is the presence of Billy Wirth of THE LOST BOYS and BODY SNATCHERS fame (he was also one of the very first contestants on "American Gladiators"!) as a roadside mystic and probable charlatan who claims that he can help Anna get in touch with the inner forces she's plagued with. (Both get more than they bargained for.)

The DVD from Anchor Bay is in 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound and subtitles in English and Spanish. No extras.

ECHOES captures the deadening hopelessness of insomnia and night terrors while managing to give us a lingering fright or two against the broad-daylight backdrop of the arid desert. While nothing to lose sleep over, it's a modestly effective thriller that should easily keep you awake till the end.

Buy it at Amazon.com:
Blu-ray
DVD

ECHOES -- DVD Review by Porfle

HBO Home Entertainment Announces "Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Series" on Blu-ray and DVD

"Intoxicating... a new benchmark for the medium" - The Hollywood Reporter

"One of the best shows on television" - New York Daily News

BOARDWALK EMPIRE®: THE COMPLETE SERIES

All 56 Episodes Available in Blu-ray TM and DVD Collector's Set May 19, 2015

Features New Bonus Disc Containing Exclusive Never-Before-Seen Content

New York, N.Y., February 12, 2015 - Throughout its five-season run, the hit HBO® series Boardwalk Empire stood "at the pinnacle of TV achievement" (Philadelphia Inquirer), garnering 18 Emmy® Awards and critical accolades for its superb cast and its unfaltering attention to 1920s period detail.

From Academy Award®nominee and Emmy®Award winner Terence Winter and Academy Award® -winning director Martin Scorsese, the series chronicles the life and times of Enoch "Nucky" Thompson (Golden Globe winner Steve Buscemi) as he undergoes vicious power struggles and deals with opportunistic rivals - including Arnold Rothstein, Lucky Luciano and Al Capone - at a time when Prohibition proved to be a major catalyst in the rise of organized crime in America.

Now, fans of the "spectacular" (Rolling Stone) series will have a chance to own all 56 episodes in a collector's box set when Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Series comes to Blu-ray ($239.99; includes a Digital HD copy) and DVD ($199.99) on May 19, 2015, just ahead of Father's Day.

In addition to the bonus features previously included on individual season releases, Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Series includes an exclusive bonus disc containing never-before-seen content, including:

•Building The Boardwalk - Executive Producer/Director Tim Van Patten and crew discuss how the Atlantic City boardwalk was brought to life

•Shooting The Series - Learn how the look of the series was developed through conversations with Directors of Photography Jonathan Freeman and Bill Coleman

•Designing The Series - Production Designer Bill Groom and Set Decorator Carol Silverman discuss their process and the challenges faced in creating the authentic look of the series

•Visual Effects - Whether bringing to life Atlantic City or Havana, Cuba, Visual Effects Supervisor Lesley Robson-Foster illustrates the creation of some of the show's award-winning visual effects

•The Final Shot: A Farewell To Boardwalk Empire* - A look back with the cast and crew as they discuss the origins of the show, their favorite moments and more

•Anatomy Of A Hit* - Creator/Executive Producer/Writer Terence Winter, Executive Producer/Director Tim Van Patten and Executive Producer/Writer Howard Korder discuss the choreography for some of the series' most murderous hits

*The Final Shot: A Farewell to Boardwalk Empire & Anatomy of a Hit are not exclusive to the box set.

Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Series
Blu-ray with Digital HD, DVD
Street Date: May 19, 2015
Order Date: April 14, 2015
Rating: TV-MA
Runtime: Approx. 56 hours (not including bonus materials)
Price: $239.99 Blu-ray with Digital HD (20 BD discs)
Price: $199.99 DVD (20 SD discs) 
                                                                           
About HBO Home Entertainment®
HBO Home Entertainment develops, distributes and markets an extensive array of critically-acclaimed and groundbreaking programs in three formats: Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD throughout the world. Releases include the global hits Game of Thrones®, True Blood® and Girls®, favorites such as The Sopranos®, Sex and the City® and Entourage®, and multiple Emmy Award-winning mini-series The Pacific® and Band of Brothers®. The company's catalog contains hundreds of titles including the Peabody Award-winning children's program Classical Baby, provocative programs from HBO Documentary Films including The Weight of the Nation, innovative movies from HBO Films including Game Change and Behind the Candelabra,and comedy specials featuring stand-up performers like George Lopez and Ricky Gervais. Launched in 1984, HBO Home Entertainment has offices in New York, London and Toronto and the company's releases are sold in over 80 territories around the world.

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Blu-ray
DVD

HBO Home Entertainment Announces "Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Series" on Blu-ray and DVD