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Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Classic Films on Blu-ray: January 10, 2017

classic-films-on-blu-ray-january-10-2017

Check out all the new oldies-but-goldies newly released on Blu-ray this week. We have the romantic comedies "Spanglish" and the classic "His Girl Friday", the 2003 Oscar-nominated animated feature "Les Triplettes De Belleville", two solid hair-raising thrillers from the 1980s, "Dead of Winter" and "The Survivor", the Michael Mann produced actioner "Band of the Hand", the laugh-out-loud comedy "Scavenger Hunt", the classic Spaghetti western "The Unholy Four", François Truffaut's "The 400 Blows", the World War II drama "Battleground" and the 1951 historical epic "David and Batsheba".

Check out all the classic films released on Blu-ray after the jump.








CLASSIC FILMS


SPANGLISH (2004)


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Product Description: John Clasky (Adam Sandler) is a devoted dad whose skills as a chef have afforded his family (Téa Leoni, Cloris Leachman) a very upscale life, including a summer home in Malibu and a breathtaking new housekeeper, Flor (Paz Vega), who has recently immigrated to L.A. from Mexico, and is trying to finda better life for her remarkable daughter, Cristina (Shelbie Bruce), who is rapidly embracing the American way of life. When Flor and Cristina move in with the Claskys for the summer, Flor has to fight for her daughter's soul as she discovers that life in a new country is perilous...especially when you're being embraced by an affluent, eccentric American family!

Purchasing Links: Blu-ray

Director: James L. Brooks

Starring: Adam Sandler, Téa Leoni, Paz Vega, Cloris Leachman

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Runtime: 131 min

Rating: PG-13 for some sexual content and brief language

Language: English

Studio: Sony

Special Features:
  • None





LES TRIPLETTES DE BELLEVILLE (2003)


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Product Description: You've never seen anything like THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE, a wildly inventive and highly original animated feature crowded with colorful characters and fantastic imagery. Kidnapped by mysterious, square-shouldered henchmen, a Tour de France cyclist named Champion is spirited across the ocean to the teeming metropolis of Belleville. His grandmother and faithful dog follow his trail and are taken in by a trio of eccentric jazz-era divas. The motley sleuths follow the clues to an Underground betting parlor and now the chase is on! Richly imagined, wildly inventive and acclaimed as one of the best films of the year, "TRIPLETS is terrific!" - Richard Corliss, TIME MAGAZINE.

Purchasing Links: Blu-ray

Director: Sylvain Chomet

Starring: Michèle Caucheteux, Jean-Claude Donda, Michel Robin

Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama

Runtime: 78 min

Rating: PG-13 for images involving sensuality, violence and crude humor

Language: English

Studio: Sony

Special Features:
  • None





DEAD OF WINTER (1987)


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Product Description: Award winner Mary Steenburgen* and Roddy McDowell star in the chilling Dead Of Winter. When struggling actress Katie (Steenburgen) is offered the opportunity to replace an actress who has suffered an emotional breakdown during a film shoot, she jumps at the chance for the role of a lifetime. Arriving at the filming location – an isolated mansion in upstate New York – and getting to know her two mysterious benefactors, Dr. Lewis (Jan Rubes, Witness), and Mr. Murray (McDowell, Fright Night), she begins to suspect there's more to the story… but she can't quite put her finger on it. As the pieces fall into place and the weather outside turns frightful, Katie's quest for stardom becomes a fight for survival in this twisty thriller from the director of Bonnie & Clyde.

Purchasing Links: Blu-ray

Director: Arthur Penn

Starring: Mary Steenburgen, Roddy McDowall, Jan Rubes, William Russ

Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller

Runtime: 100 min

Rating: R

Language: English

Studio: Shout! Factory

Special Features:
  • Interview With Actress Mary Steenburgen
  • Original Theatrical Trailer
  • TV Spots
  • Still Gallery





BAND OF THE HAND (1986)


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Product Description: Welcome to the jungle, Miami-style, where fast cars, dirty deals, hot women, and acid-washed jeans all come with the turf. While serving time in a grueling rehab program in Florida's Everglades, five young felons bond together to form an unlikely union. When they return to Miami's dangerous ghetto, the five former criminals wage a lethal war on the drug kingpins who rule the underworld of murder and mayhem. BAND OF THE HAND goes for the jugular, never once loosening its grip until its heart-stopping climax!

Purchasing Links: Blu-ray

Director: Paul Michael Glaser

Starring: Stephen Lang, Michael Carmine, Lauren Holly, Laurence Fishburne, James Remar

Genre: Action, Crime, Drama

Runtime: 109 min

Rating: R

Language: English

Studio: Mill Creek Entertainment

Special Features:
  • Mone





THE SURVIVOR (1981)


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Product Description: When a 747 crash lands in a Sydney suburb - a still-spectacular sequence that helped make this the most expensive Australian film of its time - the inferno kills everyone on board except the pilot (Robert Powell of JESUS OF NAZARETH and TOMMY) who emerges from the wreckage miraculously unscathed. But as a local psychic (Jenny Agutter of AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON) begins to communicate with the spirits of the doomed passengers, it will unlock a nightmare of madness, murder and supernatural horror.

Hollywood legend Joseph Cotten in his final film performance co-stars in this shocker directed by British film icon David Hemmings (BLOW-UP, DEEP RED) and produced by Ozploitation maverick Antony I. Ginnane (THIRST, PATRICK, TURKEY SHOOT), featuring haunting cinematography by Academy Award® winner John Seale (THE ENGLISH PATIENT, MAD MAX: FURY ROAD) and now transferred in 2k HD for the first time ever.

Purchasing Links: Blu-ray

Director: David Hemmings

Starring: Robert Powell, Jenny Agutter, Joseph Cotten

Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Runtime: 87 min

Rating: Not Rated

Language: English

Studio: Severin

Special Features:
  • Not Quite Hollywood Extended Interviews with Producer Antony I. Ginnane and Cinematographer John Seale
  • The Legacy of James Herbert
  • Robert Powell on James Herbert - Archive TV Special On Location Featuring Interviews with Stars Joseph Cotten and Peter Sumner
  • Archive TV Interview with David Hemmings
  • Archive TV Interview with David Hemmings and Robert Powell
  • Antony I. Ginnane Trailer Reel
  • TV Spot





SCAVENGER HUNT (1979)


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Product Description: It s a mad, mad mob of maniacs in a wild and hilarious $200,000,000 winner-takes-all Scavenger Hunt! The nutty and newly-departed millionaire s will was specific: his fifteen would-be heirs are to participate in a highly-unusual Scavenger Hunt and whoever finds all the items first, wins his entire estate! Richard Benjamin (Catch-22), James Coco (Murder by Death), Scatman Crothers (Silver Streak), Ruth Gordon (Where s Poppa), Cloris Leachman (High Anxiety), Cleavon Little (Blazing Saddles), Roddy McDowell (Fright Night), Robert Morley (Topkapi), Richard Mulligan (A Fine Mess), Tony Randall (The Odd Couple), Vincent Price (Madhouse), Meat Loaf (Fight Club) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator) portray only a few of the wonderful and zany characters who fight each other for the biggest stakes ever... and it s a mad dash through the San Diego Zoo and through the streets of Hollywood to find everything from an ostrich to a commode. Wonderfully directed by Michael Schultz (Car Wash, The Last Dragon).

Purchasing Links: Blu-ray

Director: Michael Schultz

Starring: Richard Benjamin, Roddy McDowall, James Coco, Scatman Crothers, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cloris Leachman, Dirk Benedict

Genre: Comedy

Runtime: 116 min

Rating: PG

Language: English

Studio: Kino Lorber

Special Features:
  • Audio Commentary by Director Michael Schultz
  • Interview with Star Richard Benjamin
  • Interview with Actor Richard Masur
  • Reversible Blu-ray Art





THE UNHOLY FOUR (1970)


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Product Description: When a violent gang robs a bank, they also commit arson because the diversion eases their getaway. While the local prison is burning, four of its inmates profit from the general turmoil too. Among the four escapees is Ciakmull, a young man suffering with amnesia, who only remembers about his previous life that he has been home in the town Oxaca. For lack of a better idea all the fugitives go there. It shows that Ciakmull is not forgotten in Oxaca. Lion Udo, the father of one of the bankrobbers, recognises Ciakmull. He, whose clan has a feud with Ciakmull's family, takes advantage of his condition by turning him against his own kin. Before this plan works out, however, Ciakmull is warned on time by one of his fellow fugitives. Soundtrack by Riz Ortolani (Il Sorpasso, Don't Torture a Duckling).

Purchasing Links: Blu-ray

Director: Enzo Barboni

Starring: Leonard Mann, Woody Strode, Pietro Martellanza

Genre: Western

Runtime: 95 min

Rating: Not Rated

Language: English

Studio: Kino Lorber

Special Features:
  • Reversible (Chuck Mool) cover art
  • Original trailers for Navajo Joe, A Reason to Live A Reason to Die and Sabata





THE 400 BLOWS (1959)


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Product Description: François Truffaut’s first feature is also his most personal. Told through the eyes of Truffaut’s cinematic counterpart, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), The 400 Blows sensitively re-creates the trials of Truffaut’s own difficult childhood, unsentimentally portraying aloof parents, oppressive teachers, and petty crime. The film marked Truffaut’s passage from leading critic to trailblazing auteur of the French New Wave.

Purchasing Links: DVD, Blu-ray

Director: François Truffaut

Starring: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier

Genre: Crime, Drama

Runtime: 99 min

Rating: Not Rated

Language: English

Studio: Criterion Collection

Special Features:
  • Audio Commentaries
  • Interviews
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Essay





DAVID AND BATSHEBA (1951)


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Product Description: For this woman, he broke God s own Commandment! Screen legend, Gregory Peck (Yellow Sky, Night People) stars in this gripping retelling of the beloved Old Testament story. King David (Peck) has killed Goliath, prevailed in countless battles, but cannot vanquish his illicit love for the beautiful Bathsheba (Susan Hayward, Rawhide, I Want to Live). David sends her husband, Uriah (Kieron Moore, Arabesque), into a hopeless battle, setting into motion his own downward spiral. Neglecting kingdom and faith, he incurs the wrath of God, the destruction of his country and the ill will of his people, who expect Bathsheba to pay the ultimate price for adultery.

This gorgeously shot, rapturously acted and deeply moving tale of love, obsession, tragedy, loss and redemption is as beautiful as it is timeless. Directed by the great Henry King (Prince of Foxes) and co-starring Raymond Massey (The Hurricane). Nominated for five Oscars including Best Screenplay by Philip Dunne (The Robe) and Best Cinematography by four-time Academy Award winner Leon Shamroy (Planet of the Apes) ---- Cinematographer, Leon Shamroy was nominated for 18 Academy Awards and won four: The Black Swan (1943), Wilson (1945), Leave Her to Heaven (1946) and Cleopatra (1964).

Purchasing Links: Blu-ray

Director: Henry King

Starring: Gregory Peck, Susan Hayward, Raymond Massey, Kieron Moore, John Sutton, Jayne Meadows

Genre: Drama, History, Romance

Runtime: 116 min

Rating: Not Rated

Language: English

Studio: Kino Lorber

Special Features:
  • "Once in 3000 Years" with Gregory Peck and Susan Hayward
  • Original Theatrical Trailer (Color)
  • Original Theatrical Trailer (B&W)
  • TV Spot (B&W)
  • Trailers for Yellow Sky, On the Beach, I Want to Live, Rawhide and Billy Two Hats





BATTLEGROUND (1949)


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Product Description: December 1944. A civilian victim of the Battle of Bastogne scrounges through garbage to find a scrap of food. “I don’t even see those things,” a war-numbed GI says. “I want to remember them!” his buddy snaps. Bastogne veteran Robert Pirosh remembers with his Oscar-winning* screenplay for Battleground, a gripping tale of 101st Airborne troops resisting Hitler’s fierce, final counteroffensive. Directed by William A. Wellman (The Story of GI Joe), the superb cast includes James Whitmore as a bantam rooster of a sarge and Van Johnson as a wisecracking PFC (as in “Praying for Civilian”). Rugged and unsparing, Battleground — nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture — makes sure we all remember.

Purchasing Links: Blu-ray

Director: William A. Wellman

Starring: Van Johnson, John Hodiak, Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Don Taylor, Richard Jaeckel

Genre: Action, War, Drama

Runtime: 118 min

Rating: Not Rated

Language: English

Studio: Warner Archive Collection

Special Features:
  • None





HIS GIRL FRIDAY (1940)


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Product Description: One of the fastest, funniest, and most quotable films ever made, His Girl Friday stars Rosalind Russell as reporter Hildy Johnson, a standout among cinema’s powerful women. Hildy is matched in force only by her conniving but charismatic editor and ex-husband, Walter Burns (played by the peerless Cary Grant), who dangles the chance for her to scoop her fellow newswriters with the story of an impending execution in order to keep her from hopping the train that’s supposed to take her to Albany and a new life as a housewife. When adapting Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s smash hit play The Front Page, director Howard Hawks had the inspired idea of turning star reporter Hildy Johnson into a woman, and the result is an immortal mix of hard-boiled newsroom setting with remarriage comedy. Also presented here is a brand-new restoration of the 1931 The Front Page, the famous pre-Code adaptation of the same material, directed by Lewis Milestone.

Purchasing Links: Blu-ray

Director: Howard Hawks

Starring: Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Runtime: 92 min

Rating: Not Rated

Language: English

Studio: Criterion Collection

Special Features:
  • New 2K restoration of Lewis Milestone’s The Front Page (1931), made from a recently discovered print of the director’s preferred version
  • New interview with film scholar David Bordwell about His Girl Friday
  • Archival interviews with director Howard Hawks
  • Featurettes from 1999 about Hawks, actor Rosalind Russell, and the making of His Girl Friday
  • Radio adaptation of His Girl Friday from 1940
  • New piece about the restoration of The Front Page
  • New piece about playwright and screenwriter Ben Hecht
  • Radio adaptations of the play The Front Page from 1937 and 1946
  • His Girl Friday trailers
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring essays on His Girl Friday and The Front Page by film critics Farran Smith Nehme and Michael Sragow









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