New on Disc: 'Shark!' and more …

Shark!

Olive, Drama, $19.95 DVD, $29.95
Blu-ray, ‘PG.’
Stars Burt Reynolds, Arthur Kennedy, Barry Sullivan, Silvia Pinal.
1969. Shark! features a pre-Deliverance/Cosmopolitan centerfold Burt Reynolds under the tutelage of a stylistically shaky Samuel Fuller, who certainly made no claims for the result. The picture is hardly any lost treasure (which, as a matter of fact, is what motivates the characters). Instead, it’s the kind of provocatively cast action junk to see to keep your hand in. For a cheapie likely not shot on the greatest film stock ever invented, the Olive Blu-ray captures a surprising amount of detail if you like sweaty or even grimy faces in close-up. In addition to bookending shark sequences that don’t look fake, there are a couple amusing scenes where Reynolds (or his stuntman) more or less bench-presses plural bad guys over his head and gives them the big heave.
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Front Page Woman

Available through online retailers via Warner Archive
Warner, Drama, $18.95 DVD, NR.
Stars Bette Davis, George Brent, Roscoe Karns.
1935. Launched by a catchy title that hasn’t lost any marquee allure (at least for journalists) over nearly eight decades, this Warner Bros. newshound melodrama offers one of the more twisted views of how events of the day get conveyed to a junk-ravenous public. In Front Page Woman, in which its implied feminist angle is exploited all the way, co-smitten Bette Davis and George Brent do get flirty on occasion, yet mostly exist to stab each other in the back while competing on stories for rival publications. The bandying here has farcical components, and we’re asked to swallow a story that is played at least marginally straight — and thus seems all the more bizarre.
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'Despicable' Glasses at Best Buy

With Despicable Me 2 looming in theaters, Best Buy is offering a pair of exclusive 3D glasses for fans planning to see the animated sequel.

The glasses, which are styled as Minion goggles, cost $4.99 with the purchase of select 3D and Blu-ray movies, such as the original Despicable Me, The Lorax or ParaNorman, offered at $19.99 each.

In addition, Best Buy is taking preorders for the Despicable Me 2 Blu-ray combo pack. A $14.99 deposit comes with a sneak peek of the movie on Best Buy's CinemaNow digital service and a digital copy of the film before its disc release.

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New on Disc: 'Help!' Blu-ray and more

Help! (Blu-ray)

Universal Music, Comedy, $29.98 Blu-ray, NR.
Stars The Beatles, Leo McKern, Eleanor Bron.
1965. There definitely is a nostalgic kick to seeing the Beatles in color (even Eastman Color) after the black-and-white of A Hard Day’s Night — and watching them perform several very strong tunes staged with director Richard Lester’s standard ingenuity. In contrast to Night’s quasi-documentary structure, Help! brandishes a fairly loony concept about a despotic religious sect leader (Leo McKern) who covets one of Ringo’s rings. This is the kind of movie where smiles are constant without the guffaws to stoke them, but the numbers are something else again. The restoration crew claimed in 2007 that the DVD looked as good, and probably better, than 1965 prints. Blu-ray ups this ante, and the sound is imposing for its day.
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The Only Game in Town

Available via www.ScreenArchives.com
Twilight Time, Drama, $29.95 Blu-ray, NR.
Stars Elizabeth Taylor, Warren Beatty.
1970. This predominantly two-person indoor romance is actually a fairly enjoyable little movie that has mellowed some over the decades. Beatty plays a compulsive gambler and cocktail pianist who keeps blowing the nest egg that’s supposed to get him to New York, forcing him to become an unlikely roommate with a woman who has finally gotten a bit wary of waiting around for her more moneyed suitor to divorce his wife. Though there’s some grain here that’s probably representative of its 1970 appearance, occasional scenes brandish old-school Hollywood glamour, including a pleasing final shot shared by two performers who apparently brought full conviction to the project.
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Best Buy Deals With HBO

When the new products aren’t exciting enough to warrant any special promotions, retailers step up their efforts to clear out inventory. This week, Best Buy touted 35% off TV DVD boxed sets at its HBO section, with shows such as “Veep” and “True Blood” offered as low as $12.99 each season.

Best Buy also continued to tout its CinemaNow digital streaming service, offering 10 free digital movies with the creation of a new online account at CinemaNow.com.

Another big promotion that popped up at Best Buy was the chance to pick up $7.50 in Despicable Me 2 movie coupons with select Universal catalog titles, including the original Despicable Me.

Walmart began taking preorders for the eventual Despicable Me 2 Blu-ray from Universal, even though the movie doesn’t arrive in theaters until July 3. The deal includes a limited-edition Minion toy.

Walmart also began offering some exclusive titles, including Cody the Robosapien ($12.96 DVD) from Anchor Bay and The Dragon Pearl ($12.96 DVD, $14.96 Blu-ray) from Ketchup Entertainment.

 

 

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New on Disc: 'Dark Command' and more …

Dark Command

Olive, Western, $19.95 DVD, $29.95 Blu-ray, NR.
Stars John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Walter Pidgeon, Roy Rogers.
1940. Given a W.R. Burnett novel as its source plus direction by action specialist Raoul Walsh just before he began spending the next dozen years at Warner Bros., modest Republic Pictures probably felt justified shelling out $750,000 for its biggest production in a long time — though it always helps when there’s some financial return, which did materialize in this case. Though the casting headlines were John Wayne and his Stagecoach co-star Claire Trevor, there are some unexpected bonuses. One standout is the opportunity this epic affords to see Roy Rogers playing what used to be called a “young hothead.” And yet, the picture is finally stolen by Walter Pidgeon. For a Republic release that began showing up on TV when Eisenhower was still president, Olive’s is, visually speaking, a pleasing enough no-frills rendering that remains tightly spun over 94 minutes.
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A Life of Her Own

Available through online retailers via Warner Archive
Warner, Drama, $18.95 DVD, NR.
Stars Lana Turner, Ray Milland, Louis Calhern, Tom Ewell.
1950. Nobody seems to be, or to have been, very crazy about this polished MGM soaper with Lana Turner cast as a fashion model — and this would include director George Cukor, who not for the last time would have the censors and studio suits on his tail over one of his movie’s content. If Life does fade some after act one, the Cukor hustling-bustling “business” in the model agency offices, nightspots and a horribly depressing women’s hotel is more than adequately kinetic to watch.
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New on Disc: 'Life Is Sweet' and more …

Life Is Sweet

Criterion, Drama, $29.95 DVD, $39.95 Blu-ray, ‘R’ for language and a scene of sensuality.
Stars Alison Steadman, Jim
Broadbent, Claire Skinner, Jane Horrocks.
1990. The Mike Leigh trademarks of superbly well-rounded characters and on-point ensemble acting were the ones Life Is Sweet set in motion for, comparably speaking, more of a mass audience than before. Though, truth to tell, Leigh had been slogging away in this basic milieu for years. Proof of this is in the supplements of this Criterion release, which I can almost swear gives Life a more vivid color palate than what I saw in theaters more than two decades ago. Future Oscar winner Jim Broadbent and the year’s National Society Best Actress winner Alison Steadman (married in real life to Leigh at the time) play a financially humble couple in the north-of-London suburbs whose struggles include a get-rich-slowly scheme involving the sale of food out of a trailer.
Extras: The Criterion supplements include an essay by critic David Sterritt, a newly recorded Leigh commentary, a 1991 Leigh interview and five short films.
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The File on Thelma Jordon 

Olive, Drama, $24.95 DVD, $29.95 Blu-ray, NR.
Stars Barbara Stanwyck, Wendell
Corey, Paul Kelly, Joan Tetzel.
1950. There was never even a Thelma VHS, so this one’s way overdue in getting a home release. Barbara Stanwyck plays a woman who warns the police of a possible future intruder who may be casing the house of an elderly aunt who’s loaded with jewels. Once we get the sense it’s all a smokescreen for a heist she herself plans to carry out, she pulls an assistant D.A. into her web.
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Late Deals For Dad's Day

Stores had plenty of options for gift givers in the week before Father's Day.

Best Buy offered a slew of discounts, with steelbook Blu-rays for Warner's The Hangover, The Hangover Part II, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight at $9.99 each. Best Buy also had a buy one, get one free deal on Sony Pictures Blu-rays such as Ghostbusters, Drive, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Zombieland, at $9.99 each.

Target offered a number of recent Blu-ray hits for sale, such as $12 for Skyfall and Taken 2.

As far as exclusive content went, Best Buy offered 15 minutes of exclusive behind-the-scenes footage through its CinemaNow streaming service with the purchase of Paramount's Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters Blu-ray combo pack.

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New on Disc: 'Leave Her to Heaven' and more …

Leave Her to Heaven

Available via ScreenArchives.com
Twilight Time, Drama, $29.95 Blu-ray, NR.
Stars Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, Vincent Price.
1945. That 20th Century Fox studio chief Darryl F. Zanuck personally produced it and music department chieftain Alfred Newman scored it qualified this three-strip feast of underlyingly nasty Technicolor noir as a preconceived blockbuster of its day — though, if anything, the movie version of novelist Ben Ames Williams’ bestseller may have a better critical reputation now than it did going on 70 years ago. Gene Tierney plays a woman who is possessive to sociopathic extremes after feeling shortchanged by her beloved father’s death. But she knows what she wants: a broken engagement to politically ambitious Russell (Vincent Price) and marriage to Richard (Cornel Wilde) within days of meeting the latter on a train. Heaven is one of the most beautiful-looking movies ever made.
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Sincerely Yours

Manufactured on demand through online retailers via WBshop.com
Warner, Drama, $18.95 DVD, NR.
Stars Liberace, Joanne Dru, Dorothy Malone, William Demarest.
1955. Notorious merely for existing but also as one of Warner’s biggest money losers of its decade, Liberace’s only starring
vehicle divides into somewhat unequal thirds as a concert film, a medical drama and a sexual skirmish for ultimate possession of Lee’s loins between co-stars Joanne Dru (patiently loyal secretary) and Dorothy Malone (sweet soul of a society girl on what turns out to be a romantic whim). This is one weird 115-minute package. Whether all this automatically translates into absolutely one of the worst movies ever is a possible subject of debate.
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Retailers Ready to 'Die Hard'

The arrival of Fox’s A Good Day to Die Hard, the fifth entry in the “Die Hard” action franchise, attracted some decent retail attention in an otherwise crowded week.

Best Buy offered a deluxe version of the Blu-ray combo pack with an exclusive beverage opener for $2 more than the regular combo pack. Best Buy also offered a $5 savings when the new film was bought with earlier movies in the franchise on Blu-ray, offered at $9.99 each, with a set of the first four films offered at $29.99.

Walmart continued its practice of offering bare-bones versions of new movies, offering A Good Day to Die Hard as both a single-disc Blu-ray and a DVD with no extras, in addition to the configurations available everywhere else.

Walmart also had an exclusive Die Hard Legacy Collection of all five films in one Blu-ray boxed set for $39.96.

Another Fox title, the direct-to-video 12 Rounds 2: Reloaded, was the focus of a different promotion at Best Buy. This one offered a $10 coupon for pay-per-view cable purchases.

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New on Disc: 'Jubal' and more …

Jubal

Criterion, Western, $19.95 DVD, $29.95 Blu-ray, NR.
Stars Glenn Ford, Ernest Borgnine, Rod Taylor, Valerie French.
1956. Even on a handsome spread, it can be lonely for a straying wife way out there on the range when her romantic choices are husband Ernest Borgnine and the otherwise bunkhouse-designated Rod Steiger. This is the motivating plot point of an underrated Delmer Daves Western that, aside from the missing racial angle, has more than a little bit of Othello thrown in, just so that Borgnine lovers can get some culture. At the very least, Steiger performs heavy-duty Iago labors, though as Daves expert Kent Jones notes in his Criterion liner notes, the heavy Steiger plays also has a lot of similarities with his even lonelier-guy “Jud” in the screen version of Oklahoma!, which had hit theaters just a few months earlier. No singing duets this time, however.
Based on a novel by Paul I. Wellman, whose writings were the source of several Westerns that included Apache and The Comancheros, Jubal is a well-paced CinemaScope/Technicolor tale of frisky knickers and what happens when a more eligible male, Jubal (Glenn Ford), is discovered in a state of outdoor exhaustion by Borgnine, who offers a job and human kindness at his spread. Cast as Borgnine’s wife is Valerie French, who is quite good at conveying the frustrations of a French-Canadian looker who thought she had a ticket to the promised land but instead has to endure a well-meaning husband. 
Steiger’s innate hamminess is even less bridled than usual here, but it kind of works opposite Ford’s more repressed brand of intensity. Borgnine, who was just coming off his Marty Oscar win, is again all “good guy.”
The Technicolor here doesn’t quite melt in your mouth, but at least Columbia Pictures was still utilizing the process in ’56, so it is still within hailing distance of striking. The casting rewards extend to Charles Bronson in a sympathetic role as a Jubal defender (and he’ll need it) and Jack Elam as a neighbor ranch hand who isn’t given much to do but comes off as less than pleasant in the scenes that he has.
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Duffy of San Quentin

Manufactured on demand through online retailers via Warner Archive
Warner, Drama, $18.95 DVD, NR.
Stars Paul Kelly, Louis Hayward, Joanne Dru, Maureen O’Sullivan.
1954. This fact-inspired prison picture about Warden Clinton T. Duffy has been something of a lost film, ever since it failed to be included in the 1961 package of post-1949 holdings Warner sold to TV. The irony of lead Paul Kelly playing Duffy after he himself served time for manslaughter simply gives the movie too much of a curiosity factor. As it turns out, Kelly (a good actor who was especially memorable in Crossfire and The High and the Mighty) is just right in the role, and Duffy himself was a remarkable prison reformer.
Given the job because the prison board can’t agree on anyone else, Kelly’s Duffy immediately puts his stamp on what is initially intended to be a 30-day interim assignment. The focus here is on a railroaded prisoner (Louis Hayward), which kind of loads the narrative deck. A somewhat provocative inclusion is a pretty cigarette-prone nurse of 29 (Joanne Dru), who chums it up with the cons and is attracted enough to Hayward to call him “Romeo.” Through it all, Duffy goes home to dinner amid a warmer environment provided by his wife (Maureen O’Sullivan).
The movie is just off-center enough to reward “curio time.” There’s even a little visual distinction here, and it’s no surprise: The cinematographer was John Alton, who was the King of Noir — at least in so far as cameramen were concerned.
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