HIGH DEF UNIVERSE

Reviewed by Sean Ferguson

A treasure trove of hearty laughs is yours when two of the funniest, most action-packed Muppet movies of all time make their Disney Blu-ray debut in a 2-Movie Collection. From the special star-studded lunacy in Muppet Treasure Island to the jewel-heist hilarity ofThe Great Muppet Caper, these two classic comedy-adventures are packed with mirth, mayhem and, of course, Kermit, Miss Piggy, Animal, Fozzie, Gonzo and all your Muppet favorites.  Jim Henson’s whodunit heist-movie The Great Muppet Caper and the silly and swashbuckling high-seas adventure, Muppet Treasure Island, both restored and remastered, are loaded with unforgettable music and sparkling special effects. Two great movies plus a treasure trove of bonus features make the Collection the perfect holiday gift for Muppet fans and the entire family when it finally makes its Blu-ray debut this December.

Reviewed by Allie Schembra

Reviewed by Allie Schembra

The hypnotic Toad Road, presented by Spectrevision, unfolds like a hallucinatory cross between the films of Harmony Korine and the Blair Witch Project. James kills time with his small town druggie friends until he meets new arrival Sara. But just as James wants to change his lifestyle, Sara wants him to take her further into mind-altering experimentation and introduce her to the local legend of Toad Road, a spot in the forest rumored to be home to the seven gates of hell. A unique fusion of documentary-like realism and otherworldly terror, Toad Road is a mesmerizing trip.

Reviewed by Jami Ferguson

Hold onto your donuts! Season 16 of the The Simpsons - the longest-running scripted show in television history — includes all 21 hilarious episodes, tons of meticulously slapped together special features, plus a veritable who’s who (woo-hoo!) of celebrity guest voices, including Fantasia Barrino, Jason Bateman, Gary Busey, James Caan, Stephen Hawking, Eric Idle, Jane Kaczmarek, Lucy Liu, Liam Neeson, Amy Poehler, Ray Romano and plenty more!

Reviewed by Sean Ferguson

Making a top ten list of Blu-rays is always a difficult thing for me to do.  The fact that there’s so many excellent releases that I haven’t seen yet just makes it even harder because I know a lot of them would be on my list, not to mention that the year isn’t over yet and I still have more movies that I haven’t even reviewed yet.  Plus, I’ve spent most of the year focused on just watching the movies I need to review so there’s a stack of movies that I’ve bought that I haven’t had a chance to watch yet.  So with that in mind, I’ve decided to make a list of the Top 10 Blu-rays that I’ve actually seen and most likely reviewed, and another list of Blu-rays that I probably would have included on this list if I had seen them.  For my top ten I’ve decided to rate them based on a variety of reasons including: my affection for them, their audio/video quality, and what kind of special features were offered.  I’ve also grouped several of them together to free up slots because if I added every awesome Star Trek set that was released this year they would take up most of my list and they are all equally good.  That being said, all of these movies would make excellent holiday gifts:

From the creative team behind “Pillars of the Earth,” “The Mentalist” and “Heroes,”“Being Human” is Syfy’s re-imagining of the acclaimed BBC original series created by Toby Whithouse. “Being Human” follows four paranormal, 20-something roommates living in a Boston brownstone – vampire “Aidan” (Witwer), werewolves “Josh” (Huntington) and “Nora” (Hager) and ghost “Sally” (Rath) – as they struggle to resist the temptations of their true natures. As the third season of “Being Human” returns, the four learn that there is a price to pay for getting what they want. Watching the characters hide their dark secrets from the world, while helping each other navigate the complexities of living double lives and trying to be human, viewership for the third season averaged 1.8 million viewers, making “Being Human” a Top 10 Cable Program in its time period among adults 18-49 and 25-54. Season 4 of “Being Human” premieres January 2014 on Syfy.

Created by award-winning writers/ producers Steven Bochco and Michael Kozoll, the critically acclaimed television series HILL STREET BLUES became one of the most seminal drama series by virtue of its powerful writing, gritty realism, emotionally charged storylines and incredible ensemble cast, including Daniel J. Travanti, Veronica Hamel, Bruce Weitz and Betty Thomas, among other notables.  Throughout its seven year run on network television (1981-1987), HILL STREET BLUES took viewers inside the heart of a racially torn, crime-ridden precinct of an urban metropolis.   Each episode charts a day in the life on “The Hill,” balancing the characters’ personal lives with their professional ones.  ”Let’s be careful out there,” advises Sgt. Esterhaus every morning at roll call, before sending out his officers and detectives to patrol their city’s streets, where the peace is kept thanks to a tenuous trust between the police and the people they protect.  Yet as dangerous as their precinct is, the men and women of Hill Street often find that their biggest battles involve protecting themselves from the Public Defender’s office, self-serving bureaucrats … and each other.

How far would you go to protect your family? Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) is facing every parent’s worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) arrests its driver, Alex Jones (Paul Dano), but a lack of evidence forces his release. Prisoners follows a distraught father as he takes matters into his own hands and hunts down the man he suspects abducted his daughter and her friend.  Led by Jackman and Gyllenhaal, Prisoners features an all-star cast including Oscar nominee Viola Davis (The Help, Doubt), Golden Globe Award nominee Maria Bello (A History of Violence, The Cooler) and Oscar nominee Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow), with Academy Award winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter) and Paul Dano. 

A new kind of Cold War begins in the sci-fi action thriller Ice Soldiers, unleashing on Feb. 25 on Blu-ray and DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Dominic Purcell (TV’s “Prison Break,” Blade Trinity), Adam Beach (Cowboys & Aliens, Flags of Our Fathers) and Michael Ironside (X-Men: First Class, Terminator Salvation) lead a hard-hitting cast in this gritty, militaristic adventure about a scientific expedition that unearths three genetically engineered Russian super soldiers frozen in ice since the height of the Cold War. Now, the team must stop the killing machines at all costs or risk the total destruction of the Western world.

With friendship, teamwork, original songs and plenty of laughs, the beloved characters from the Swan Princess franchise return for a fifth engagement when The Swan Princess: A Royal Family Tale debuts on Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital* Feb. 25 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The all-new, CG animated musical tale is a must-see for the whole family. This uplifting installment follows the exciting adventures of Princess Odette and Prince Derek shortly after the Royal Family adopts a young girl named Alise. Princess Alise is soon taken into the forest and Princess Odette, Prince Derek and their trusted woodland friends must work together to find a way to help her return home.

Each year, Rabbit plays Easter Bunny, but this year, he’s decided it’s “Spring Cleaning Day,” and he orders everyone to hop to it: scrubbing, dusting, and mopping. All his pals are disappointed – especially little Roo – until Rabbit learns that putting others first and showing friends how much you care turns every day into a precious gift. Sparkling with unforgettable songs and a never-before-seen bonus treat, this delightful “egg-stravaganza” shows why love, hope and friendship are always in full bloom in the Hundred Acre Wood!

Reviewed by Jami Ferguson

The Act of Killing, the breakout documentary that won over audiences at such important film festivals as Toronto, Telluride, SXSW, True/False and Berlin (where it won the Audience Award) and went on to record-breaking box-office openings in New York and other major markets, comes to Blu-ray and DVD on January 7, 2014, from Drafthouse Films, in conjunction with Cinedigm.  In this inventive and critically-acclaimed documentary by Joshua Oppenheimer and executive produced by documentary titans, Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man, Into the Abyss) and Errol Morris (The Thin Blue Line, The Fog of War), the filmmakers examine a country where Indonesian death squad leaders are celebrated as heroes, challenging them to reenact their real-life mass-killings via musical numbers, action and comedy sequences and other genres of the American movies they love. The hallucinatory result of Oppenheimer’s daring idea is a cinematic fever dream, an unsettling journey deep into the imaginations of mass murderers and the shockingly banal regime of corruption and impunity they inhabit.

Experience the wonder of this timeless tale as you reunite with your favorite characters and meet new friends. Disney’s beloved movie classic continues in this new digital master of The Jungle Book 2 – on Blu-ray for the first time, and wilder than ever in breathtaking high definition!  Now that Mowgli’s living in the “man-village,” he cherishes his new best friend and little brother, but he still has that jungle rhythm in his heart.  He misses hanging out with happy-go-lucky Baloo the bear and Bagheera the panther.  Yearning for freedom, Mowgli runs off into the jungle – and encounters his enemy Shere Khan!  This time, he’ll need both his new human family and his old jungle friends to help save the day.

Image Entertainment announces the high-definition release of Blind Date on Blu-ray for the first time, a slapstick romantic comedy with an all-star cast. Starring Bruce Willis (The Sixth Sense), Kim Basinger (No Mercy) and John Larroquette (TV’s Night Court) and directed by Blake Edwards (The Pink Panther film series), Blind Date is available on Blu-ray on January 14, 2014.  When Walter Davis (Bruce Willis, The Sixth Sense) is set up with gorgeous Nadia Gates (Kim Basinger, No Mercy), the perfect Blind Date dissolves into disaster in this sexy comedy caper.

Kino Lorber is proud to announce the Blu-ray and DVD release of Himalaya, a film by Éric Valli which won Cesar Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Original Score and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 72nd Academy Awards® in 1999. Himalaya was a huge box office hit in Europe, and also enjoyed great popular success in the U.S., where it remained on the Variety top film box office chart for over six months.  Filmed over seven months in the forbidden Dolpo region of Nepal, Himalaya tells the story of a generational struggle for the leadership of a tiny mountain village between its proud old chief and a headstrong young caravanner. The balance of power shifts uneasily as they make their annual salt trek across the Himalayas.  A visually striking and spiritually captivating portrait of life in one of the world’s most extraordinary places, Himalaya is both intense drama and a gorgeous tapestry of the fast disappearing traditions of Tibetan life.

Though Bonnie Parker (Holliday Grainger, Jane Eyre) & Clyde Barrow's (Emile Hirsch, Into the Wild)  crime spree is legendary, their story has never been told quite like this. Fueled by their passion for each other and Bonnie's obsession with fame, the couple committed increasingly dangerous robberies, leaving a trail of blood - and headlines - behind them. Aided by Clyde's sixth sense, they stayed one step ahead of the law until their final, fateful showdown. Also starring Academy Award winners Holly Hunter (Best Actress, 1993, The Piano,) and William Hurt (Best Actor, 1985, Kiss of the Spider Woman), Bonnie and Clyde is powerful, gripping entertainment.

Reviewed by Jami Ferguson

A favorite from the ’90s, this fun Miramax film stars Freddie Prinze Jr. (I Know What You Did Last Summer) and Rachael Leigh Cook (Josie and the Pussycats) as an unlikely but charismatic high school duo. Matthew Lillard (Scream), Paul Walker (Fast Five), Jodi Lyn O’Keefe (TV’s “Two and a Half Men”), Kevin Pollak (Red State), Kieran Culkin (Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World), Elden Henson (Lords of Dogtown), Gabrielle Union (Bad Boys II) and Anna Paquin (HBO’s “True Blood”) also star, alongside music sensations Usher Raymond and Kimberly “Lil’ Kim” Jones.  After being dumped unexpectedly by his gorgeous and popular girlfriend (O’Keefe), high school heartthrob Zack Siler (Prinze) bets he can turn any girl into a prom queen. He selects the school’s biggest nerd, Laney Boggs (Cook), as the subject for his popularity experiment, unbeknownst to her. After an amazing makeover and getting to know Laney, Zack falls for her. But when Laney discovers the truth about the bet, Zack is forced to realign his priorities and win back her affection.

Reviewed by Sean Ferguson

Ring in the holidays with a new 30th Anniversary Special Edition of Mickey’s Christmas Carol.  Disney’s timeless tale sparkles like never before on Blu-ray and Digital Copy, with fully-restored classic holiday shorts, plus all-new bonus features!  Make the season merry as Mickey, Goofy, Donald and all their pals star in a heartwarming retelling of Dickens’ unforgettable holiday tale. Ebenezer Scrooge (Scrooge McDuck) is far too greedy to understand that Christmas is a time for kindness and generosity. But with the guidance of some wise ghosts (Goofy and Jiminy Cricket) and a bunch of newfound friends, Scrooge learns to embrace the spirit of the season. Share this wonderful holiday treat with the whole family.

Reviewed by Jami Ferguson

Just in time for the holidays, Sony Pictures Animation’s The Smurfs 2 reunites the world’s favorite three apple-high creatures, bringing loads of laughs for every member of the family. Earning more than $321 million in theaters worldwide to date, the film stars Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays and Hank Azaria and features the voice talents of Katy Perry as Smurfette, George Lopez (Rio) as Grouchy, Anton Yelchin (Star Trek Into Darkness) as Clumsy, and Alan Cumming (TV’s “The Good Wife”) as Gutsy. New additions to the franchise include Christina Ricci (Bel Ami) as Vexy, J.B. Smoove (Think Like a Man) as Hackus, John Oliver (TV’s “The Daily Show”) as Vanity and Brendan Gleeson (The Company You Keep) as Victor. The late Jonathan Winters reprises his role as the original Papa Smurf. Directed by Raja Gosnell (The Smurfs, Scooby Doo), the film also includes celebrity voice guests stars including Mario Lopez, Jimmy Kimmel, Fred Armisen, Shaun White, Shaquille O’Neal, and many others.

Who knows what evil lurks in the shadow of men? The Shadow knows! Adapted from the long-running classic radio program and Walter B. Gibson’s popular pulp fiction, legendary crime-fighting superhero The Shadow comes to life in the 1994 film adaptation THE SHADOW, starring Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) from visionary filmmaker Russell Mulcahy (Resident Evil: Extinction, Highlander). Brimming with non-stop action and suspense, this wildly entertaining cinematic adventure also stars John Lone (The Last Emperor), Penelope Ann Miller (Carlito’s Way), Peter Boyle (Everybody Loves Raymond), Ian McKellen (X-Men), Jonathan Winters (The Smurfs) and Tim Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show).

Chris Lilley, Australia's critically acclaimed comedian/actor/writer, is at it again! Recipient of an American Film Institute Award for Best Comedy Series and Best Performance in a Television Comedy for his earlier comedy series, Summer Heights High, Lilley amps up his acutely-observed, character-based comedy stylings in the groundbreaking mockumentary We Can Be Heroes, which follows the daily lives of five very special individuals who are among the thousands of citizens vying for the prestigious title of "Australian of the Year." As portrayed by Lilley, the five nominees are from different parts of the country and represent the full spectrum of the country's society. We Can Be Heroes on DVD has over two hours of extra content including deleted scenes, outtakes, a behind-the scenes featurette and "Ricky at the Logies" feature.

Created by award-winning writers/producers Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, the critically acclaimed television series L.A. LAW held court in primetime during the course of its eight-season run on network television from 1986 through 1994. Winner of fifteen Primetime Emmy Awards, four Golden Globes and numerous honors and accolades, L.A. LAW takes viewers inside the inner sanctum of a fictional Los Angeles law firm of McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney & Kuzak. There, a team of ambitious and competitive attorneys must face the conflicts between their personal desires, their obligations as lawyers, and their principles as human beings.

Reviewed by Jami Ferguson

Experience big dreams and even bigger laughs when Turbo arrives on Digital HD on October 22 and on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD on November 12. Taking the fun-filled spirited adventure of the film, the Blu-ray and DVD are packaged with a Turbo pullback toy racer, while supplies last, making it a great gift for the holidays!  Directed by David Soren and from the team behind other Dreamworks family favorite franchises like Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda, Turbo has an incredible voice cast of today’s biggest stars: Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Michael Peña, Snoop Dogg, Maya Rudolf, Michelle Rodriguez and Samuel L. Jackson.

Reviewed by Jami Ferguson