New Blu-ray Reviews

Firestarter Blu-ray Movie  

Blu-ray + UV Digital Copy

Universal Studios | 1984 | 114 min | Rated R | Sep 02, 2014 | Martin Liebman

A couple who participated in a potent medical experiment gain telekinetic ability and then have a child who is pyrokinetic.

Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller

For No Good Reason Blu-ray Movie  

Blu-ray + DVD

Sony Pictures | 2012 | 90 min | Rated R | Sep 02, 2014 | Martin Liebman

A chronicle of the life and art of Gonzo visionary Ralph Steadman. Steadman rose to prominence in the early 1970s during the fallout from the love and hope which swept the Western world the decade prior. This decadent, desperate, and legendary time for music, literature, art, and philosophy proved a creative catalyst for Ralph, as did his developing relationship with writer Hunter S. Thompson.

Biography / Documentary

14 Blades Blu-ray Movie  

Jin yi wei

Starz / Anchor Bay | 2010 | 113 min | Rated R | Sep 02, 2014 | Martin Liebman

At the dawn of the Ming Dynasty, in order to consolidate all power and keep his bloodline on the throne, the Emperor established a secure system of defence for himself by taking young orphans off the street and training them to the highest martial arts standards to become his secret guards. Called Jinyiwei (the Brocade Guards), these warriors operated under their own code of law, led by the most skilled of their number, Qinglong. Bestowed upon him as leader is a box containing 14 steel blades, eight of which are to be used for interrogation and the remaining six for execution. When the Imperial Court is usurped by the evil eunuch Jia, Qinglong is assigned to steal a list identifying those still loyal to the Emperor. But unknown to him, the Jinyiwei themselves have fallen under the control of Jia, who, in league with an exiled noble, Prince Qing, is plotting to rebel against the Emperor and seize power.

Action / History / Thriller / Martial arts / Foreign / Period

Heavenly Sword Blu-ray Movie  

Cinedigm | 2014 | 87 min | Not rated | Sep 02, 2014 | Jeffrey Kauffman

A power-hungry ruler known as King Bohan seeks to obtain the long-protected "Heavenly Sword" in order to use its devastating power for evil.

Animation / Fantasy

They Came Together Blu-ray Movie  

Blu-ray + UV Digital Copy

Lionsgate Films | 2014 | 83 min | Rated R | Sep 02, 2014 | Jeffrey Kauffman

When Joel and Molly meet, it's hate at first sight: his big Corporate Candy Company threatens to shut down her quirky indie shop. Plus, Joel is hung up on his sexy ex. But amazingly, they fall in love, until they break up about two thirds of the way through, and Molly starts dating her accountant. But then right at the end...well you'll just have to see.

Comedy / Surreal

Graduation Day Blu-ray Movie  

Blu-ray + DVD

Vinegar Syndrome | 1981 | 97 min | Rated R | Sep 09, 2014 | Brian Orndorf

After a high school track runner suddenly dies after finishing a race, a killer begins murdering her friends on the school track team one by one.

Horror / Mystery / Thriller

The Musketeers: Season One Blu-ray Movie  

BBC | 2014 | 600 min | Not rated | Aug 26, 2014 | Kenneth Brown

Hit the streets of 17th-century Paris in this adaptation of Alexander Dumas' classic, where law and order is more of an idea than a reality.

Action / Drama / History / Romance / Period

Hal The Movie Blu-ray Movie  

Haru | Limited Edition / Blu-ray + DVD

FUNimation Entertainment | 2013 | 60 min | Rated TV-14 | Sep 02, 2014 | Jeffrey Kauffman

Kurumi’s heart was broken by the sudden death of her boyfriend in a tragic airplane accident. Forced to carry on without her beloved Hal, she fell into a reclusive and joyless existence. Kurumi had given up on the world, but a brilliant scientist devised a plan to win her back. By melding futuristic technology with the binary equivalent of human emotion, they created an ultra-lifelike robotic surrogate to take Hal’s place – and lure Kurumi from her shroud of solitude. Resistant at first, this shattered beauty slowly yielded to her feelings of longing – and took comfort in the company of a robot. Though their unique bond grew stronger with each passing day, Kurumi and Hal would soon discover that nothing about their artificial love story was quite as it seemed.

Anime / Drama / Romance / Sci-Fi / Foreign

The Flintstones Blu-ray Movie  

Blu-ray + UV Digital Copy

Universal Studios | 1994 | 91 min | Rated PG | Aug 19, 2014 | Brian Orndorf

The Flintstones and the Rubbles are modern stone-age families. Fred and Barney work at Slate and Company, mining rock. Fred gives Barney some money so he and Betty can adopt a baby. When Fred and Barney take a test to determine who should become the new associate vice president, Barney returns the favor by switching his test answers for Fred's, whose answers aren't very good. Fred gets the executive position, but little realizes that he's being manipulated by Cliff Vandercave to be the fall guy for an embezzlement scheme

Comedy / Crime / Family

Pit Stop Blu-ray Movie    

Blu-ray + DVD

Arrow | 1969 | 91 min | Rated BBFC: 12A | Apr 07, 2014 | Dr. Svet Atanasov

Grant Willard sponsors drivers in a "new" form of race car driving called The Figure Eight. The rise and fall of one such driver is the whole story behind PIT STOP.

Action / Drama / Sport

The Full Monty Blu-ray Movie  

20th Century Fox | 1997 | 91 min | Rated R | Aug 05, 2014 | Jeffrey Kauffman

Set in the British steel town of Sheffield, a group of out-of-work steel workers are organized by fun loving, slightly irresponsible Gaz into a Chippendale-style dance troupe. The group is made up of Dave, Gaz's overweight best friend who has recently been struck with impotency; Gerald, an ex-forman and amateur ballroom dancer; Horse, an old guy with dance moves that slightly resemble the funky chicken, the bus stop, and the bump; and Guy, who, despite his love of classic Hollywood musicals, is hopelessly cursed with no sense of rhythm. Despite these handicaps, they are soon dancing to the sounds of Donna Summer, Hot Chocolate, Gary Glitter, Sister Sledge, and Tom Jones.

Comedy / Drama

Star Trek: The Compendium Blu-ray Movie  

Star Trek / Star Trek Into Darkness - IMAX Edition / Blu-ray + UV Digital Copy

Paramount Pictures | 2009-2013 | 2 Movies | 259 min | Rated PG-13 | Sep 09, 2014 | Martin Liebman

See individual titles.

Action / Adventure / Sci-Fi

Watamote: Complete Collection Blu-ray Movie  

Sentai Filmworks | 2013 | 300 min | Rated TV-MA | Aug 26, 2014 | Jeffrey Kauffman

At the tender age of 15, Kuroki Tomoko has already dated dozens and dozens of boys and she’s easily the most popular girl around! The only problem is that absolutely none of that is real, and her perfect world exists only via dating games and romance shows. In fact, the sad truth is that she gets tongue tied just talking to people, and throughout middle school she’s only had one actual friend. All of which makes Kuroki’s entrance into the social pressure cooker of high school a new and special kind of hell. Because while Kuroki desperately wants to be popular, she’s actually worse off than she would be if she was completely clueless as to how to go about it. After all, the things that work in “otome” games rarely play out the same way in reality, especially when the self-appointed “leading lady” isn’t the paragon she thinks she is. There’s not much gain and plenty of pain ahead, but even if it happens again and again, there’s always someone else to blame in WATAMOTE ~ No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular!

Anime / Comedy / Drama / Comic book / Foreign

Follow That Dream Blu-ray Movie  

Limited Edition - SOLD OUT

Twilight Time | 1962 | 109 min | Not rated | Aug 12, 2014 | Jeffrey Kauffman

When the Kwimper family car runs out of gas on a new Florida highway and an officous state supervisor tries to run them off, Pop Kwimper digs in his heels and decides to do a little homesteading. He and his son Toby and their "adopted" children - Holly, Ariadne and the twins - start their own little community along a strip of the roadside. The fishing is good and the living is easy until the mob sets up a gambling operation and the state supervisor sics a sexy social worker on the Kwimpers in an effort to take away Ariadne and the twins.

Comedy / Musical

High School Confidential Blu-ray Movie  

Olive Films | 1958 | 85 min | Not rated | Aug 26, 2014 | Jeffrey Kauffman

A tough kid comes to a new high school and begins muscling his way into the drug scene. As he moves his way up the ladder, a schoolteacher tries to reform him, his aunt tries to seduce him, and the "weedheads" are eager to use his newly found enterprise, but he has his own agenda. After an altercation involving fast cars, hidden drugs, and police, he's accepted by the drug kingpin and is off into the big leagues. A typical morality play of the era, filled with a naive view of drugs, nihilistic beat poetry, and some incredible '50s slang.

Crime / Drama

The Possession of Michael King Blu-ray Movie  

Blu-ray + DVD + UV Digital Copy

Starz / Anchor Bay | 2014 | 83 min | Rated R | Aug 26, 2014 | Martin Liebman

Michael King, who doesn't believe in God or the Devil. Following the sudden death of his wife, Michael decides to make his next film about the search for the existence of the supernatural, making himself the center of the experiment - allowing demonologists, necromancers, and various practitioners of the occult to try the deepest and darkest spells and rituals they can find on him - in the hopes that when they fail, he'll once and for all have proof that religion, spiritualism, and the paranormal are nothing more than myth. But something does happen.

Horror

Jersey Shore Massacre Blu-ray Movie  

Attack Entertainment | 2014 | 88 min | Rated R | Aug 26, 2014 | Michael Reuben

A typical weekend down the shore takes a bizarre turn into the mysterious New Jersey Pine Barrens as six girls and five obnoxious fist-pumpers become the unsuspecting targets of a deranged killer.

Comedy / Horror

The Normal Heart Blu-ray Movie  

Blu-ray + UV Digital Copy

HBO | 2014 | 133 min | Rated TV-MA | Aug 26, 2014 | Michael Reuben

The battles of a gay activist to raise awareness of, and gain government support in the fight against, HIV/AIDS during the early 1980s. Adapted from the play.

Drama

Chaplin's Mutual Comedies Blu-ray Movie  

The Floorwalker / The Fireman / The Vagabond / One A.M. / The Count / The Pawnshop / Behind the Screen / The Rink / Easy Street / The Cure / The Immigrant / The Adventurer / Blu-ray + DVD

Flicker Alley | 1916-1917 | 400 min | Not rated | Aug 19, 2014 | Dr. Svet Atanasov

Flicker Alley and The Blackhawk Films® Collection are proud to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Little Tramp with the premiere of Chaplin’s Mutual Comedies, a 5-disc Blu-ray/DVD box set, presented for a limited time in a collector’s edition SteelBook case. The collection features 12 newly restored films (The Floorwalker, The Fireman, The Vagabond, One A.M., The Count, The Pawnshop, Behind the Screen, The Rink, Easy Street, The Cure, The Immigrant, and The Adventurer), all scanned under the aegis of Association Chaplin at a resolution of 2,000 lines from original 35mm prints gathered from archives all over the world, then digitally assembled and restored, a collaborative effort of Lobster Films in Paris and L’Immagine Ritrovata in Bologna, Italy. Each film offers the option of either improvised piano accompaniment or a full orchestral score. Among the many well-known composers and musicians featured are Eric Beheim, Neil Brand, Timothy Brock, Antonio Coppola, Carl Davis, Stephen Horne, Robert Israel, the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Maud Nelissen, Donald Sosin, and Gabriel Thibaudeau.

Comedy / Drama / Short

What's New Pussycat? Blu-ray Movie  

Kino Lorber | 1965 | 109 min | Not rated | Aug 26, 2014 | Brian Orndorf

A fashion editor seeks psychiatric help when he can't stop beautiful women from pursuing him.

Comedy