Independent U.S. distributors Olive Films will add a number of new titles to their Blu-ray catalog. Amongst them are Harry Hook's
Lord of the Flies (1990), Jodie Foster's
Little Man Tate (1991), and Jason Bloom's
Bio Dome (1996).
Teachers
A student bleeds from a stab wound. The school psychologist goes stark raving bonkers over the ditto machine. A teacher reassuringly checks the snub-nosed .38 tucked into her briefcase. The driver's ed training car seems to be missing. Yes, it's just another Monday morning at JFK High School. Outrageously funny, deeply dramatic and intensely human, Teachers blows the lid off of America's troubled public schools. Nick Nolte delivers an exceptional performance as a teacher burned out after years of struggling with the system. JoBeth Williams is the feisty lawyer and ex-student who awakens both his ideals and his lost ardor. As the savvy but unyielding vice-principal, Judd Hirsch is outstanding as he heads a fine supporting case including Laura Dern, Ralph Maccio, Crispin Glover, Richard Mulligan and Lee Grant. STREET DATE: APRIL 21.
Lord of the Flies
After a harrowing plane crash into the sea, a group of American military cadets finds itself marooned on a deserted island. Realizing the minimal chances of being rescued, the boys band together out of fear and desperation. But as the island paradise becomes their own, competition and power struggles split them into two packs. Ralph (Balthazar Getty) leads one group and preaches civilized ingenuity and togetherness, but Jack (Chris Furrh) wants nothing of it and builds a faction of barbaric hunters who ultimately go to war with Ralph. This powerful shift in conscience transforms ordinary kids into primal killers, setting off a devastating battle of good versus evil and presenting a haunting metaphor for the savage in us all. STREET DATE: APRIL 28.
Little Man Tate
Fred Tate (Adam Hann-Byrd) is a gifted pianist, a math genius, an incredible artist... and he's only seven years old. But this child prodigy is also adrift. Shunned by his peers and bored by his schoolwork, Fred is stifled by his environment. Desperate to encourage his potential, yet afraid he'll miss out on a normal childhood, his single mom Dede (Foster) reluctantly allows a psychologist (West) to enroll Fred in a school for exceptional children. But when he's rushed headlong into academia, Dede's worst fears are realized - Fred is more isolated and alone than ever. And it's up to Dede to become what little Freddy's been looking for all along... a Mom. STREET DATE: APRIL 28.
Hollywood Shuffle
The best example of urban guerilla filmmaking is ironically - and happily - also one of Hollywood's most triumphant success stories. Actor Robert Townsend (I'm Gonna Git You Sucka!), decrying the lack of good roles for black actors, puts his money where his mouth is and co-scripts (with Keenen Ivory Wayans), directs and stars in this "exuberant, tirelessly energetic, funny, appealingly mean-spirited and easy-to-life" comedy (Janet Maslin, The New York Times) that took Tinseltown by storm!
Actor wannabe Bobby Taylor (Townsend) dreams of landing a role...any role. But in a town where the best black roles are usually jive-talkin' gangsta stereotypes, Bobby learns that you have to make your own parts - even if they're just in your head. Spoofing everything from Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and Eddie Murphy to Siskel & Ebert, Bobby's vivid imagination - and Hollywood Shuffle - are "an exhilarating blast" (New York)! STREET DATE: APRIL 28.
Harry & Son
This touching comedy/drama was directed, written, produced by and stars Oscar winner Paul Newman in one his strongest and most heartfelt screen performances in a career including many noble films like
The Verdict and
The Sting. Also starring Robby Benson, Ellen Barkin, Morgan Freeman, Joanne Woodward, and Ossie Davis. STREET DATE: APRIL 28.
Firewalker
This smashing, no-holds-barred adventure stars action legend Check Norris (Missing In Action) and Oscar Winner Lou Gossett (An Officer and a Gentleman) as a pair of treasure-hunters with a knack for finding danger at every turn! After a long career of mishaps, wrong turns and utter failures, archaeological adventures Max and Leo (Norris and Gossett) are ready to call it quits... until a spunky blonde beauty with an ancient treasure map hires them to guide her into Central America to find Aztec Gold. But as they draw closer to the priceless bounty, they are unaware that a powerful, vengeful spirit is tracking their every move and will stop at nothing to protect the sacred treasure! STREET DATE: APRIL 21.
Dance With Me, Henry
One of the greatest comedy teams of all time keeps one step ahead of the law and the criminals in this wild and wacky farce. Abbott and Costello, together for the last time, prove they're still on first with rapid-fire timing and gags galore!
All Lou Henry (Costello) wants is a happy life with his two adopted children and to run Kiddyland, the local amusement park. But the local welfare board thinks he's an unfit father, and is determined to take the children away! To make things worse, his friend Bud (Abbott), always up to his eyes in gambling debt, has now run afoul of the mob and needs Lou's help. Can Bud and Lou get back on the merry-go-round, or will they end up in a real shooting gallery? STREET DATE: APRIL 21.
Cooley High
It's 1964. JFK has just been assassinated. Martha & the Vandellas, Little Stevie Wonder and the Four Tops rule the airwaves. And two high school students discover themselves - and the taste of freedom - for the first time. Preach (Glynn Truman), a serious-minded writer, and his best friend Cochise (Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs), a basketball hero headed for college, are best friends at Cooley High. Together they cut classes to go to the zoo, crash parties, put the hustle on some hustlers and dream about getting out of their impoverished, rough neighborhood. But when an innocent joy ride makes them the targets of two vengeful hoods, their already uncertain futures seem even further out of reach. Featuring a "well handled mix of comedy and drama with a soundtrack of Motown gold" (Blockbuster Entertainment Guide) and a "universal appeal" (Los Angeles Times), Cooley High is the best American comedy so far this year (Village Voice)! STREET DATE: APRIL 21.
Blue Sky
It was a time when blond bombshells splashed Life Magazine covers and A-bomb tests mushroomed in the desert. The older generation believed in their government, while younger people protested against it. And Blue Sky captures it all! Politically charged and erotically explosive, this highly combustible film features powerful performances by Jessica Lange (Rob Roy) in an Academy Award-winning role, and dynamic Oscar-winner Tommy Lee Jones (Men In Black).
Hard-working, mild-tempered Army scientist Hank Marshall (Jones) has his hands full with explosive nuclear reactors and the equally-volatile Carly (Lange), his beautifully spirited and emotionally vulnerable wife. While he's conducting tests in Nevada, she succumbs to the advances of his superior officer! But her infidelity is not the only dilemma the Marshalls have to face. When a deadly military cover-up puts Hank in jeopardy, it's up to Carly to munster the courage and strength to save the man she loves! STREET DATE: APRIL 21.
Bio-Dome
They're weird, they're wild... and they're going totally environmental! Two deadbeat dudes are about to trade beer and pizza for soymilk and tofu in this outrageously funny comedy from the producers of Dumb And Dumber.
Before Earth Day 1996, the closest Bud (Pauly Shore) and Doyle (Stephen Baldwin) had ever come to a garbage dump was the floor of their apartment! So when their ecology- conscious girlfriends ask them to stop wasting time and start cleaning waste, the dimwitted duo makes it clear that they'd rather talk trash than pick it up. But their world suddenly changes when they're accidentally trapped inside Bio-Dome -- a yearlong experiment with no fast food or cable television! Will Bud and Doyle adapt to their newfound habitat... or will their very presence spell extinction for them, the project - and perhaps the entire planet?! STREET DATE: APRIL 21.