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Blu Monday: Audrey & Sophia – We Are Movie Geeks

Blu Monday

Blu Monday: Audrey & Sophia

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Your Weekly Source for the Newest Releases to Blu-Ray

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

BOCCACCIO ’70 (1962)

Synopsis: Four legendary filmmakers direct some of Europe’s biggest stars in BOCCACCIO ’70, a landmark anthology film. Mario Monicelli (Big Deal on Madonna Street), Federico Fellini (8½), Luchino Visconti (The Leopard) and Vittorio De Sica (Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow) direct Sophia Loren, Anita Ekberg, Romy Schneider and more through four stories of unashamed eros. Modeled on Boccaccio’s Decameron, they are comic moral tales about the hypocrisies surrounding sex in 1960s Italy. Monicelli’s “Renzo e Luciana” (cut out of the original American release) is a frothy tale of young love and office politics in the big city. Fellini’s notorious “Le tentazioni del dottor Antonio” features Ekberg as a busty model in a milk advertisement whose image begins to haunt an aging prude. Visconti’s “Il Lavoro” stars Romy Schneider as a trophy wife enduring her husband’s very public affairs, and De Sica’s “La Riffa” raffles off a night with Sophia Loren to a lucky ticket holder during a small town fair. Bursting with passion and sly satire, Boccaccio ’70 is a glittering showcase for some of the greatest talents in movie history. (Kino.com)

Special Features:

  • Poster
  • Stills Gallery

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S: 50th Anniversary Edition (1961)

Synopsis: Struggling writer Paul Varjak moves into a New York apartment building and becomes intrigued by his pretty, quirky neighbor Holly Golightly. Holly’s lifestyle confuses and fascinates Paul; in public she flits through parties with a sexy, sophisticated air, but when they’re alone she changes into a sweetly vulnerable bundle of neuroses. (blu-ray.com)

Special Features:

  • Commentary by producer Richard Shepherd
  • Original Theatrical Trailer
  • Featurettes
  • Photo Galleries: The Movie, Production, Publicity

BRIDE FLIGHT (2008)

Synopsis: A romantic drama that charts the lives of three women from different backgrounds, forever changed when they emigrate to New Zealand as war brides. (highdefdigest.com)

Special Features: Unknown.

BRIDESMAIDS: Unrated (2011)

Synopsis: Annie, is a maid of honor whose life unravels as she leads her best friend, Lillian, and a group of colorful bridesmaids on a wild ride down the road to matrimony. Annie’s life is a mess. But when she finds out her lifetime best friend is engaged, she simply must serve as Lillian’s maid of honor. Though lovelorn and broke, Annie bluffs her way through the expensive and bizarre rituals. With one chance to get it perfect, she’ll show Lillian and her bridesmaids just how far you’ll go for someone you love. (blu-ray.com)

Special Features:

  • Audio Commentary
  • Extended & Alternate Scenes
  • TV Commercial
  • Gag Reel
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Digital Copy
  • Featurette
  • Extended & Alternate Scenes

CASANOVA ’70 (1965)

Synopsis: Nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Screenplay, Casanova ’70 is a raucously funny sex romp starring Marcello Mastroianni at his charismatic peak. Directed by Italian comedy legend Mario Monicelli (Big Deal on Madonna Street), it finds army officer Andrea (Mastroianni) dealing with a particularly strange case of impotence: his libido only gets aroused in the middle of near-death experiences. So while candle-lit dinners leave him cold, a female lion tamer or a General’s wife expand his lust to dangerous proportions. After a visit to a psychoanalyst, he fears his vice will lead to an early grave, so he attempts to live as a celibate with the virginal beauty Gigliola (Virna Lisi), but he is only delaying his inevitable descent back into sin. Packed with bed-hopping hijinks, a parade of gorgeous actresses, and Mastroianni’s hilariously dry wit, Casanova ’70 is a colorfully ribald gem from the Golden Age of Italian comedy. (Kino.com)

Special Features:

  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Stills Gallery

CHROMESKULL – LAID TO REST 2: Unrated Director’s Cut (2011)

Synopsis: “ChromeSkull” is the sequel to the 2009 horror hit “Laid to Rest.” It brings back ChromeSkull, who barely escaped death in the first movie and is hell-bent on continuing where he left off… and forging a new path of terror and destruction. (highdefdigest.con)

Special Features:

  • Audio Commentary
  • Behind-The-Scenes
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Bloopers
  • Trailer

DEAD HEAT: Midnight Madness Series (1988)

Synopsis: Roger Mortis and Doug Bigelow are cops that are chasing crooks that are dead serious about crime. Or should I say they are chasing dead crooks perpetrating serious crimes? Seems some nutcase has learned how to bring back the dead and is sending them on crime sprees. Now these indestructable goons are in the way of officers Mortis and Bigelow. To even things up, when Mortis is killed (in the line of duty, of course) he gets a jump start from the Resurrection machine and takes the fight to the zombie bad guys. (highdefdigest.com)

Special Features: Unknown.

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HARUHI SUZUMIYA (2010)

Synopsis: Ten days before Christmas, it seemed like just another ordinary day for the SOS Brigade; Haruhi came up with another one of her crazy ideas to hold a Christmas party in the club room. But things got weirder from there… The next day Kyon woke up to a world in which Haruhi didn’t exist and no one besides him had any memory of her. How can someone like Haruhi Suzumiya, who’s supposed to be center of the universe, just vanish? (highdefdigest.com)

Special Features:

  • Featurettes
  • ASOS Brigade episode
  • Teasers, trailers, and commercials

DUMBO: 70th Anniversary Edition (1941)

Synopsis: Ostracized from the rest of the circus animals, poor Dumbo the elephant is separated from his mother, who is chained up in a separate cage after trying to defend her child. Only brash-but- lovable Timothy Mouse offers the hand of friendship to Dumbo, encouraging the pouty pachyderm to exploit his “different” qualities for fame and fortune. (blu-ray.com)

Special Features:

  • Cine-Explore
  • Disney View
  • “What Do You See?” & “What Do You Know?” Games
  • “Celebrating Dumbo” Featurette
  • Animated Shorts: “The Flying Mouse” & “Elmer Elephant”
  • Deleted scene – “The Mouse’s Tale”
  • Deleted Song – “Are You a Man or a Mouse?”
  • Taking Flight: The Making of Dumbo – A journey back to the origins of the film as everybody’s favorite baby elephant takes wing.
  • The Magic Of Dumbo: A Ride of Passage – Witness the excitement and magic of Disneyland’s most popular ride through the eyes of a child.
  • Audio Commentary with Pete Docter, Paula Sigman and Andreas Deja
  • Sound Design Excerpt from The Reluctant Dragon
  • Original Disney Television Introduction

AN INVISIBLE SIGN (2010)

Synopsis: Mona Gray (Jessica Alba) is a 20-year-old loner who, as a child, turned to math for salvation after her father became ill. As an adult, Mona now teaches the subject and must help her students through their own crises. (highdefdigest.com)

Special Features: Unknown.

LADY DEATH (2004)

Synopsis: Brian Pulido’s cadaverous comic book heroine springs to animated life in the full-length, made- for-video anime film ‘Lady Death’. In 15th-century Sweden, an innocent young maiden named Hope discovers that her beloved father is, in fact, the Devil in disguise. Condemned to be burned at the stake by the local townsfolk, Hope strikes a deal with Lucifer to spend eternity in Hell in exchange for escape from her igneous death. But once in the fiery depths, Hope breaks the pact and transforms herself into the voluptuous, white-haired warrior Lady Death, battling to wrest control of Hell away from her demonic father in a last-ditch effort at salvation. Director Andrew Orjuela, screenwriter Carl Macek (‘Robotech: The Movie’), and composer Bill Brown (‘Any Given Sunday’) imbue Pulido’s epic tale with a Neil Gaiman-meets- Bruegel style of animation perfectly suited to its gothic subject matter. (highdefdigest.com)

Special Features: Unknown.

LE BEAU SERGE (1958)

Synopsis: Of the hallowed group of Cahiers du cinéma critics turned filmmakers who transformed French film history, Claude Chabrol was the first to direct his own feature. His absorbing landmark debut, Le beau Serge, follows a successful yet sickly young man (Jean‑Claude Brialy) who returns home to the small village where he grew up. There, he finds himself at odds with his former close friend (Gérard Blain)—now unhappily married and a wretched alcoholic—and the provincial life he represents. The remarkable and stark Le beau Serge heralded the arrival of a cinematic titan who would go on to craft provocative, entertaining films for five more decades. (Criterion.com)

Special Features:

  • New digital restoration (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
  • New audio commentary featuring Guy Austin, author of Claude Chabrol
  • Claude Chabrol: Mon premier film, a documentary by Francis Girod on the making of Le beau Serge, featuring interviews with Chabrol and actor Jean-Claude Brialy
  • Segment from a 1969 episode of the French television series L’invité du dimanche in which Chabrol revisits Sardent, the town he grew up in and Le beau Serge’s location
  • Theatrical trailer
  • New and improved English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty

LES COUSINS (1959)

Synopsis: In Les cousins, Claude Chabrol crafts a sly moral fable about a provincial boy who comes to live with his sophisticated bohemian cousin in Paris. Through these seeming opposites, Chabrol conjures a darkly comic character study that questions notions of good and evil, love and jealousy, and success in the modern world. A mirror image of Le beau Serge, Chabrol’s debut, Les cousins recasts that film’s stars, Jean-Claude Brialy and Gérard Blain, in startlingly reversed roles. This dagger-sharp drama won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and was an important early entry in the French New Wave. (Criterion.com)

Special Features:

  • New digital restoration (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
  • Audio commentary featuring film scholar Adrian Martin
  • Theatrical trailer
  • New and improved English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Terrence Rafferty and excerpts from actor Jean-Claude Brialy’s memoir, about costar Gérard Blain

THE OTHERS (2001)

Synopsis: On the secluded Isle of Jersey in the final days of World War II, a young woman waits in vain for her beloved husband to return from the front. Grace has been raising her two young children alone in her beautiful, cavernous Victorian mansion, the one place she believes them to be safe. But they are not safe. Not anymore. When a new trio of servants arrives to replace the crew that inexplicably disappeared, startling events begin to unfold. Grace’s daughter reveals she has been communicating with unexplained apparitions that come and go in every room of the house. At first, Grace refuses to believe in her children’s scary sightings, but soon, she too begins to sense that intruders are at large. Who are these numinous trespassers? And what do they want from Grace’s family? In order to discover the truth, Grace must abandon all of her fears and beliefs and enter the otherworldly heart of the supernatural. (blu-ray.com)

Special Features:

  • A Look Inside The Others: Production Featurette
  • The Others Visual Effects Gallery
  • Xeroderma Pigmentosum: What is it? The Story of a Family Dealing with the Disease
  • An Intimate Look at Director Alejandro Amenábar
  • Stills gallery

Ray Harryhausen Double Feature: SHE/THINGS TO COME (1935/1936)

Synopsis:

SHE – An all-powerful woman who has been given the Flame of Eternal life and who dwells in an Arctic snow palace. Based on H. Rider Haggard’s 1887 novel.

THINGS TO COME – Beginning before World War II and travelling to 2036 AD, this journey predicts a host of modernities before following a rocketship to the moon. Massey is a future leader determined to restore law and order. Based on the story by H.G. Wells and written for the screen by Wells.

Special Features:

  • Includes THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (1932) on DVD

SCARY MOVIE 2 (2001)

Synopsis: A follow-up spoof that picks up from where the original satire left off, taking aim at supernatural thrillers such as “The Exorcist” and “Stigmata” among others. This time around, Shorty, Ray, Cindy and Brenda are tricked by their professor into visiting a haunted house as part of a school project. (blu-ray.com)

Special Features:

  • Deleted and Extended Scenes
  • Behind the Scenes
  • Behind the Makeup
  • Here Kitty, Kitty
  • Scary Effects
  • Special Effects Tou

SCARY MOVIE 3: Unrated (2003)

Synopsis: Roving reporter Cindy Campbell sets out to find a hard news story in the middle of television sweeps. She soon uncovers an outrageous onslaught of globe-threatening developments including alien invaders, killer videotapes, freaky crop circles, prophecies of The One, eerie-eyed children, ambitious white rappers and even a run-in with Michael Jackson. Faced with conspiracies of massive proportions, and a crew of very strange people following her around, Cindy must fight to stop evil from taking over the world yet again. (blu-ray.com)

Special Features:

  • Audio Commentary with Director David Zucker, Producer Robert K. Weiss, and Writers Craig Mazin and Pat Proft
  • Deleted and Extended Scenes with Optional Audio Commentary
  • Making Scary Movie 3
  • Making Scary Movie 3… FOR REAL
  • Outtakes and Bloopers
  • Alternate Ending with Optional Audio Commentary
  • Hulk vs. Aliens – Behind the Scenes of the Alternate Ending

SCROOGE: 2-Disc Special Edition (1935)

Synopsis: Scrooge, the ultimate Victorian miser, hasn’t a good word for Christmas, though his impoverished clerk Cratchit and nephew Fred are full of holiday spirit. But in the night, Scrooge is visited by spirits of another color. (highdefdigest.com)

Special Features: Unknown.

SETUP (2011)

Synopsis: A group of friends plan out a detailed heist that turns deadly when one betrays the other by taking off with the goods. Taking matters into his own hands, Sonny seeks out his revenge teaming up with the most dangerous mob boss in town to get back what is rightfully his. When he finally comes face to face with his longtime friend he will be forced to make a life changing choice. (highdefdigest.com)

Special Features:

  • Audio commentary with co-writer/director Mike Gunther
  • The Making of Set Up
  • Weapons on the set of Set Up
  • Interviews with cast and crew

SPOOKY BUDDIES (2011)

Synopsis: In Spooky Buddies, the lovable “Buddies”–talking pups B-Dawg, Budderball, Buddha, Mudbud, and Rosebud–embark on a spine-tingling journey across town to a shadowy mansion shrouded in legendary secrets. In a race against the mysterious Howlloween Hound, the Buddies and some new friends–Pip, Zelda, Rodney and Skip–must stop Warwick the Warlock to save the world from his dastardly deeds. Their brave exploits in this trick-or-treat adventure highlight the importance of friendship, courage and teamwork. (highdefdigest.com)

Special Features:

  • DIGS: Rosebud Edition
  • All-New Music Video “Monster Mash”

THE STRANGE CASE OF ANGELICA (2010)

Synopsis: The new film from master filmmaker Manoel de Oliveira, “The Strange Case of Angelica” is a magical tale about a young photographer who falls madly in love with a woman he can never have, except in his dreams. Late one night, Isaac is summoned by a wealthy family to take the last photograph of a young bride, Angelica, who mysteriously passed away. Arriving at their estate, Isaac is struck by Angelica’s beauty. But when he looks through his lens, the young woman appears to come to life. From that moment, Isaac will be haunted by Angelica day and night. (highdefdigest.com)

Special Features:

  • Douro, Faina Fluvial (Labor on the Douro River) (1931, 20 minutes): The first film from Manoel de Oliveira, in a new 2K restoration.
  • Audio commentary by film critic and curator James Quandt
  • Oliveira L’Architecte (1992, 60 minutes): Documentary by Paolo Rocha
  • Absoluto (2010, 35 minutes): A conversation with Manoel de Oliviera
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Booklet featuring essay “Late Oliveira” by Haden Guest, Director of the Harvard Film

THE SWORD WITH NO NAME (2009)

Synopsis: In 19th-century Korea, a bounty hunter becomes the bodyguard of the queen he secretly loves. (blu-ray.com)

Special Features: Unknown.

TAJOMARU: AVENGING BLADE (2009)

Synopsis: “TAJOMARU is the famous ‘bandit’ of the forest from RASHOMON. Whoever kills Tajomaru inherits his name, status and sword. A royal brother leaves his kingdom to protect the princess he loves, only to find a series of harrowing adventures along the way which lead him back to where he came from, and then disinheriting his past to become the bandit TAJOMARU.” (highdefdigest.com)

Special Features: Unknown.

Terry Pratchett’s GOING POSTAL (2010)

Synopsis: Moist von Lipwig is a con man and a charlatan—and he loves every minute of it. From confidence tricks to far-reaching financial fraud, von Lipwig revels in hoodwinking, fleecing, and otherwise ripping off the citizens of Ankh-Morpork. When the law finally catches up to him, the city’s shrewd leader, Lord Vetinari (Charles Dance), offers von Lipwig a choice: he can take over the derelict post office… or suffer a painful death. The reluctant postmaster finds himself in charge of thousands of undelivered letters, commanding a charmingly deranged staff of misfits, and at odds with corrupt businessman Reacher Gilt (David Suchet), who will stop at nothing to crush his competition. Along the way, he falls under the spell of the icy Adora Dearheart (Claire Foy), much to her chagrin. In this delightful adaptation, Moist von Lipwig needs every ounce of his considerable charm and cunning to restore the post office, trounce Gilt, and win Adora’s affections. (highdefdigest.com)

Special Features:

  • Terry Pratchett video introduction
  • Audio commentary with director Jon Jones
  • Cast, crew, fan interviews
  • Deleted scenes
  • Blooper reel
  • Image galleries

VAMP: Midnight Madness Series (1986)

Synopsis: Two fraternity pledges go to a sleazy bar looking for strippers to entertain their college friends. They have problems with transportation, Biker gangs, and worst of all, the staff of the bar, all of whom seem to be vampires, with Grace Jones playing the head vampire. (highdefdigest.com)

Special Features: Unknown.