New Blu-ray Reviews

A Madea Christmas Blu-ray Movie  

Blu-ray + UV Digital Copy

Lionsgate Films | 2013 | 100 min | Rated PG-13 | Nov 25, 2014 | Jeffrey Kauffman

Madea dispenses her unique form of holiday spirit on rural town when she's coaxed into helping a friend pay her daughter a surprise visit in the country for Christmas.

Comedy / Drama / Holiday

Caged Animal Blu-ray Movie  

The Wrath of Cain

Phase 4 Films | 2010 | 84 min | Rated R | Dec 07, 2010 | Martin Liebman

A former kingpin of the streets, Miles Cain Skinner, is doing life in prison. He is feared and respected among the inmates. When Cain’s nemesis Redfoot is transferred to the same prison, Cain’s wrath is unleashed in a savage showdown with no surrending, no retreating, no mercy.

Action

Sam Whiskey Blu-ray Movie  

Kino Lorber | 1969 | 97 min | Rated PG-13 | Nov 11, 2014 | Brian Orndorf

Sam Whiskey is an all-round talent, but when the attractive widow Laura offers him a job, he hesitates: he shall salvage gold bars, which Laura's dead husband stole recently, from a sunken ship and secretly bring them back to the mint before they are missed. But how shall he manage to get several hundred pounds of gold into the mint without anyone noticing?

Comedy / Western

Dracula Blu-ray Movie  

Blu-ray + UV Digital Copy

Universal Studios | 1979 | 109 min | Rated R | Sep 02, 2014 | Brian Orndorf

In early 20th-century England, the bloodthirsty, but also charming and seductive Count Dracula tries to create an immortal bride, but must contend with Professor Abraham Van Helsing.

Horror / Romance / Supernatural / Period

Into the Woods Blu-ray Movie  

RLJ Entertainment | 1991 | 152 min | Not rated | Dec 02, 2014 | Michael Reuben

A baker and his wife journey into the woods in search of a cow, a red cape, a golden slipper and some yellow hair — all necessary to lift the curse that has kept them childless. They meet up with a cast of characters drawn from classic fairy tales in a modern re-imagining of those stories. From the original Broadway production of the musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine.

Adventure / Comedy / Drama / Fantasy / Musical / Dark humor

Time Bandits Blu-ray Movie  

Criterion | 1981 | 116 min | Rated PG | Dec 09, 2014 | Dr. Svet Atanasov

A young boy accidentally joins a band of time traveling dwarves as they jump from era to era looking for treasure to steal.

Adventure / Comedy / Fantasy / Sci-Fi

The November Man Blu-ray Movie  

Blu-ray + UV Digital Copy

20th Century Fox / Relativity | 2014 | 108 min | Rated R | Nov 25, 2014 | Jeffrey Kauffman

Legendary ex-CIA operative Peter Devereaux emerges from retirement to protect Alice, a witness with knowledge of a vast conspiracy. They are pursued by David Mason, a top agent who is also Peter's former protégé.

Action / Thriller

Ride in the Whirlwind Blu-ray Movie  

Criterion | 1966 | 82 min | Not rated | No Release Date | Dr. Svet Atanasov

A trio of cowhands are mistaken for robbers and must outrun and hide from a posse of bloodthirsty vigilantes in the wilds of Utah.

Western

The Shooting Blu-ray Movie  

Criterion | 1966 | 81 min | Not rated | No Release Date | Dr. Svet Atanasov

A bounty hunter and his sidekick are talked by a mysterious woman into leading her into the desert on a murkily motivated revenge mission. Things are further complicated by the addition to their crew of an enigmatic drifter who seems to delight in sadistically toying with the two men.

Western

I Am Santa Claus Blu-ray Movie  

Virgil Films & Entertainment | 2014 | 89 min | Not rated | Nov 11, 2014 | Michael Reuben

This documentary follows the lives of five professional Santas for an entire year, as they anticipate and prepare for Christmas season and then return to their "real" lives during the off-season.

Comedy / Documentary / Drama / Holiday

The Shooting / Ride in the Whirlwind Blu-ray Movie  

Criterion | 1966 | 2 Movies | 164 min | Not rated | Nov 11, 2014 | Dr. Svet Atanasov

See individual titles for their synopses.

Western

Beware the Batman: Season 1 Part 2: Dark Justice Blu-ray Movie  

Warner Archive Collection

Warner Bros. | 2013 | 286 min | Rated TV-PG | Sep 30, 2014 | Kenneth Brown

Another night falls in Gotham City and the ever-vigilant Dark Knight watches over his city and its citizens. With the help of his ex-secret agent butler, Alfred, and sword-wielding assassin Katana, the Batman wages a tireless war against Gotham’s twisted criminal underworld. Buckle up for 13 all-new adventures from the first season, and ride along as Batman battles the evil machinations of Professor Pyg, Magpie, Mister Toad and criminal mastermind Anarky. It’s a crime-fighting collection of hidden clues, cool tech and detective thrills as Batman prowls in the shadows, ready to deliver action-packed excitement and justice!

Action / Animation / Crime / Comic book

The Picture of Dorian Gray Blu-ray Movie  

Warner Archive Collection

Warner Bros. | 1945 | 110 min | Not rated | Nov 18, 2014 | Michael Reuben

In 1886, the dissolute Lord Henry Wotton meets Dorian Gray posing for talented painter Basil Hallward. Dorian wishes that his portrait could age instead of him. Over the years, as Lord Henry corrupts him, Dorian remains the same, while his friends age, but his picture discloses his evil life. Can he still have salvation or is his soul trapped in the doomed painting?

Drama / Fantasy / Horror / Romance / Thriller

Sunday Without God: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie  

Sentai Filmworks | 2013-2014 | 325 min | Rated TV-MA | Oct 21, 2014 | Jeffrey Kauffman

On Sunday, God Abandoned the World…Fifteen years ago, God abandoned the world and closed the gate to Heaven, leaving the souls of humankind trapped in limbo. With the dead unable to rest and the living unable to have children, the world is slowly coming to a halt. The only key to mankind’s salvation rests with the Gravekeepers, mysterious beings charged with the task of sending the deceased to their final resting place. Twelve-year-old Ai, one of the last children in the world, soon finds herself shouldered with the burden of becoming her village’s newest Gravekeeper. But beneath the village’s unassuming exterior lies a dark secret that is revealed with the arrival of a gun-wielding stranger in black. With her position as a Gravekeeper now uncertain, Ai has no choice but to set out to put the living dead to rest. But in a world where no one can die, is death truly the ultimate blessing? A journey unlike any other begins as Ai unlocks the secrets to life and death on SUNDAY WITHOUT GOD!

Adventure / Anime / Drama / Fantasy / Supernatural / Foreign

Tari Tari: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie  

Sentai Filmworks | 2012 | 325 min | Rated TV-PG | Nov 18, 2014 | Jeffrey Kauffman

The last year of high school is always a time of both looking forward and looking back. Ahead of you lives the future, alternately bright and scary. Behind you lie memories, both happy and sad. And somehow, in the course of one year, you have to reconcile those two and decide where your life is going to go. For Wakana Sakai, who had started studying music, it’s time to face the tragedy that made her abandon that path. For Sawa Okita, it’s about her dreams of riding professionally. And for Konatsu Miyamoto, it’s about bringing her friends together through the magic of song. Can something as simple as the formation of a chorus club really help solve the hurts and pangs that come with growing up? Can music bring people together despite their differences? Join in the chorus, pick up the rhythm and discover the answers in TARI TARI!

Anime / Drama / Music / Foreign

Justified: The Complete Fifth Season Blu-ray Movie  

Blu-ray + UV Digital Copy

Sony Pictures | 2014 | 607 min | Rated TV-MA | Dec 02, 2014 | Martin Liebman

After U.S Marshal Raylan Givens finds himself in hot water over the shooting of a Miami crime boss, he is reassigned to the last place on Earth he'd rather be; Harlan County, Kentucky, where he was born and raised. There he must deal with his ex-wife, criminal father, an old friend turned white supremacist, and the latter's former sister-in-law who quickly rekindles her attraction to Givens. Kentucky won't be the same now that the cowboy marshal is home.

Action / Crime / Drama / Western

Sherlock: The Complete Seasons 1-3 Blu-ray Movie  

Limited Edition Gift Set / Blu-ray + DVD

BBC | 2010-2014 | 3 Seasons | 810 min | Rated TV-14 | Nov 04, 2014 | Kenneth Brown

Sherlock Holmes stalks again in a thrilling contemporary version of Arthur Conan Doyle's classic, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as the go-to consulting detective in 21st century London, with Martin Freeman as his loyal friend, Dr. John Watson, and Rupert Graves as the long suffering Inspector Lestrade. Fast-paced, funny, and surreally true to the hero's fantastic gifts for deduction.

Crime / Drama / Mystery

Stalingrad Blu-ray Movie    

20th Anniversary Edition

Arrow | 1993 | 138 min | Rated BBFC: 15 | Nov 03, 2014 | Dr. Svet Atanasov

German soldiers see a summer mission of 1942 turn hellish when the ferocious Russian winter sets in.

Drama / War / Foreign

The Expendables 3 Blu-ray Movie  

Unrated Edition / Blu-ray + DVD + UV Digital Copy

Lionsgate Films | 2014 | 1 Movie, 2 Cuts | 132 min | Unrated | Nov 25, 2014 | Jeffrey Kauffman

The Expendables come face-to-face with a ruthless arms trader who is making it his mission to kill them all.

Action / Adventure / Thriller

Birdman of Alcatraz Blu-ray Movie  

Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT

Twilight Time | 1962 | 147 min | Not rated | Nov 11, 2014 | Jeffrey Kauffman

In 1912, the notorious and violent prisoner Robert Franklin Stroud is transferred to the Leavenworth Prison convicted for murdering a man. When a guard cancels the visit of his mother Elizabeth Stroud due to a violation of the internal rules, he stabs and kills the guard and goes to trial three times. He is sentenced to be executed by the gallows, but his mother appeals to President Woodrow Wilson that commutes his sentence to life imprisonment. However, the warden Harvey Shoemaker decides to keep Stroud in the solitary for the rest of his life. One day, Stroud finds a sparrow that has fallen from the nest on the yard and he raises the bird until it is strong enough to fly.

Biography / Drama