Independent U.S. distributors Olive Films have announced that they will add a number of new titles to their Blu-ray catalog in November. Amongst them are John Turturro's
Romance & Cigarettes, Gary Sinise's
Of Mice and Men, and John Sayles's
Eight Men Out.
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
Based on the memoir by Vanity Fair columnist Toby Young, How To Lose Friends and Alienate People stars Simon Pegg (Shaun of The Dead) as journalist Sidney Young, a fictionalized version of the author.
Hired by Sharpes magazine editor Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges, The Big Lebowski), Sidney moves from his native England to the United States to write celebrity profiles for the glossy monthly. Much like oil and water, Sidney does not mix well with his interview subjects, the Sharpes staff or people in general. Despite biting the hand that feeds him, turning "celebrity" into "mockery," Sidney soon finds himself in the limelight when he's promoted. But he'll discover that fifteen minutes of fame is indeed fleeting.
Featuring a game cast of performers, including Kirsten Dunst (Spider-Man), Danny Huston (Children of Men), Megan Fox (Transformers), Gillian Anderson (TV's The X-Files) and featuring cameos by Thandie Newton (Mission: Impossible II), Chris O'Dowd (Bridesmaids), James Corden (Into The Woods) and Brian Austin Green (TV's Beverly Hills 90210), How To Lose Friends & Alienate People displays the biting wit and profane sense of humor one expects from a film satirizing the vain world of celebrity.
Robert B. Weide (TV's Curb Your Enthusiasm) directs from a screenplay by Peter Straughan (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) based on the memoir How To Lose Friends & Alienate People by Toby Young.
STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 24.
Romance & Cigarettes
Original and audacious. Contemporary and classic. Director John Turturro's (The Big Lebowski) Romance & Cigarettes is a romantic comedy, a musical drama and, above all, a showcase for an amazing cast of talented actors lead by James Gandolfini (TV's The Sopranos) and Susan Sarandon (Bull Durham).
Romance & Cigarettes is the story of a marriage on the brink of collapse. A mid-life crisis has given Nick (Galdonfini), a Queens, NY ironworker a roving eye much to the bewilderment of his wife Kitty (Sarandon). The object of Nick's affection is Tula (Kate Winslet), a romantic in the truest sense of the word. Paying homage to classic Hollywood musicals, borrowing from The Singing Detective and Pennies From Heaven, a jukebox musical where heartfelt feelings are verbalized not through spoken word but through song and dance. From Dusty Springfield ("Piece of My Heart") and Elvis Presley ("Trouble") to Cyndi Lauper ("Prisoner of Love"), the musical numbers are as eclectic as the characters mouthing them.
Romance & Cigarettes, directed by John Turturro from his original screenplay features performances by Steve Buscemi (Fargo), Bobby Cannavale (TV's Boardwalk Empire), Mandy Moore (A Walk To Remember), Mary-Louise Parker (Bullets Over Broadway), Aida Turturro (TV's The Sopranos), Christopher Walken (True Romance), Barbara Sukowa and Elaine Stritch (TV's 30 Rock).
STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 24.
Heartbreakers
In the fine tradition of comedy caper films such as How To Steal A Million, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Gambit, comes Heartbreakers starring Sigourney Weaver (Alien) and Jennifer Love Hewitt (TV's Party of Five) as a mother and daughter con team.
Set in Palm Beach, Heartbreakers follows the escapades of Max (Weaver) and Page (Hewitt) Connors, two con artists who use beauty and brains to bilk big bucks from their perspective suitors.
Page's plan for a solo career is threatened when confronted by the IRS (in the form of Anne Bancroft, The Miracle Worker) for back taxes. So, it's time for one last job. And what a last job it'll be. With their sites set on tobacco tycoon William B. Tensey (Gene Hackman, The Birdcage) it looks like their problems are solved.
Enter former con, Dean Cummano (Ray Liotta, Goodfellas) and potential con (and romantic interest), Jack Withrowe (Jason Lee, Almost Famous) and the stage is set for comic confusion of the highest order.
Heartbreakers, directed by David Mirkin (Romy and Michele's High School Reunion) from a screenplay by Robert Dunn (Sweet Lies), Paul Guay (Liar Liar) and Stephen Mazur (Liar Liar) co-stars Jeffrey Jones (Ferris Bueller's Day Off), Nora Dunn (Bruce Almighty), Sarah Silverman (School of Rock) and Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover).
STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 24.
Of Mice and Men
Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck's beloved novella (adapted for the screen by renowned playwright Horton Foote, Trip To Bountiful, Convicts) comes to the screen under the direction of actor/director Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump), and brought vividly to life by John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich) as Lennie, Ray Walston (Kiss Me, Stupid) as Candy, Joe Morton (Speed) as Crooks, Casey Siemaszko (Back To The Future) as Curly, and Sherilyn Fenn (Fatal Instinct) as Curly's sultry wife.
STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 24.
Eight Men Out
The scandal that gave the nation's favorite pastime a black eye is dramatically rendered in the John Sayles (Lone Star) scripted and directed Eight Men Out. Based on Eliot Asinof's book Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series, the film traces the gambling conspiracy by members of the Chicago White Sox to lose the 1919 World Series in order to win a huge gambling payday. The film features an impressive cast including John Cusack (Say Anything), Charlie Sheen (Wall Street), D.B. Sweeney (Taken 2), David Strathairn (Lincoln), Michael Lerner (Barton Fink), Clifton James (WUSA) and Christopher Lloyd (Back To The Future).
STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 24.
Mr. Saturday Night
The rise and fall of those in the spotlight -- politicians, athletes and entertainers -- is the stuff of great drama, and in the case of Mr. Saturday Night, great comedy as well. Director and star Bill Crystal traces the trajectory of stand-up comedian Buddy Young, Jr. (Crystal, When Harry Met Sally…) and his monumental fall. From humble beginnings, performing stand-up comedy routines in the Catskills, to his meteoric rise as television's reigning King of Saturday Night Comedy programming, Crystal plums the highs and lows of a comic genius whose self-destructive behavior jeopardizes his personal life and career.
STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 24.
Making Mr. Right
Making Mr. Right is directed by Academy Award nominee Susan Seidelman (Best Short, The Dutch Master) and stars two-time Academy Award nominee for Best Supporting Actor John Malkovich (Places In The Heart, In The Line of Fire).
The reclusive, malcontent and somewhat narcissistic Dr. Jeff Peters (John Malkovich, Being John Malkovich) has been tasked with building a robot for an unmanned space mission. Although built in his own image, the robot, Ulysses (also played by Malkovich), must still be taught human behavior. Enter public relations expert Frankie Stone (Ann Magnuson, Love At Large). Not only taxed with publicizing Ulysses, but teaching human emotions that will sustain him during his prolonged space mission, Frankie soon finds herself attracted to the sweet and innocent creation as if he were… human.
Packed with a cast of eccentric characters (including Glenne Headly, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; Laurie Metcalf, TV's Roseanne; Polly Bergen, Move Over, Darling; and Ben Masters, Mandingo) who bring the Floyd Byars (Masterminds) and Laurie Frank (Love Crimes) script to life, Making Mr. Right is Susan Seidelman's (She-Devil) comic take on finding (or perhaps a better word would be creating) the perfect mate.
Contributing to the proceedings is the work of ace cinematographer Ed Lachman (Desperately Seeking Susan, Far From Heaven and HBO's Mildred Pierce), production designer Barbara Ling (The Doors) and a soundtrack courtesy of Chaz Jankel (D.O.A.) featuring "Happy Together" by The Turtles.
STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 24.
Smooth Talk
Smooth Talk is director Joyce Chopra's (The Lemon Sisters) dramatic rendering of the Joyce Carol Oates short story "Where Are you Going, Where Have You Been?" starring Laura Dern (Jurassic Park) and Treat Williams (Prince of The City).
High school sophomore Connie Wyatt (Dern), a 14-year-old girl on the verge of becoming a woman, is anxious to escape the boredom of family farm life before the school year starts. Feeling tethered to her home and under the thumb of an overbearing mother, Connie will find herself in dangerous waters when a flirtatious day out at the mall leads to a meeting with the mysterious and charismatic Arnold Friend (Williams).
Mary Kay Place (The Big Chill), Levon Helm (Coal Miner's Daughter), Elizabeth Berridge (Amadeus) and William Ragsdale (Mannequin On The Move) co-star in this powerful film adaptation.
STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 24.
Undercover Blues
Undercover Blues, directed by Herbert Ross (Academy Award nominee for Best Director, The Turning Point) and features Academy Award nominees Kathleen Turner (Best Actress, Peggy Sue Got Married), Stanley Tucci (Best Supporting Actor, The Lovely Bones) and Richard Jenkins (Best Actor, The Visitor).
Before there was a Mr. & Mrs. Smith there was a Mr. & Mrs. Blue. Kathleen Turner (Romancing The Stone) and Dennis Quaid (The Big Easy) star as undercover spies Jane and Jefferson Blue in Herbert Ross' (Steel Magnolias) comic caper Undercover Blues.
Following the birth of their daughter, Jane and Jefferson decide to take a well-deserved break from the spy game for a shot at normalcy. Those plans are short lived when they're called into help deal with the villainous Czech arms dealer, Novacek (Fiona Shaw, Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone). Adding to the chaos is Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada) at his comic foil best as Muerte, a petty criminal who consistently crosses paths with the Blues while working the New Orleans tourist trade.
No strangers to the comedy and adventures genres, Turner and Quaid supply romance and laughs in equal measure in Undercover Blues written by Ian Abrams (TV's Early Edition) and co-starring Tom Arnold (True Lies), Richard Jenkins (The Mod Squad) and Park Overall (TV's Empty Nest).
STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 24.
It Runs in the Family
Two-time Golden Globe nominee Fred Schepisi (Best Director & Best Screenplay, Evil Angels) directs three generations of the Douglas family: three-time Academy Award nominee Kirk (Best Actor, Champion, The Bad and the Beautiful, Lust for Life), two-time Academy Award winner Michael (Best Actor, Wall Street; Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), and Cameron.
No stranger to navigating filmic family dramas (Six Degrees of Separation, Plenty), director Fred Schepisi shepherds three generations of the Douglas acting dynasty (Kirk Douglas, Michael Douglas and Cameron Douglas) in the dramatic-comedy It Runs In The Family.
Set in New York, the affluent Goldberg family is a living, breathing soap opera, with its strained father-son dynamic and marital issues. Mitchell Gromberg (Kirk Douglas, Spartacus) is recovering from a stroke; son Alex (Michael Douglas, Fatal Attraction) seems to have hit a mid-life crisis, questioning not only his work in the family-founded law firm, but his relevance within the family itself; and grandson Asher (Cameron Douglas, Mr. Nice Guy) simply put, is a lost soul.
Rounding out the family dynamic is Mitchell's wife Evelyn (Diana Douglas, Plains, Trains and Automobiles) and Alex's wife Rebecca (Bernadette Peters, Pennies From Heaven) - two women who weather marital strife and familial discord while maintaining a cool composure.
It Runs In The Family, written for the screen by Jesse Wigutow (Sweet Friggin' Daisies), features supporting turns by Rory Culkin (You Can Count On Me), Michelle Monaghan (Gone Baby Gone), Sarita Choudhury (A Perfect Murder) and Annie Golden (Hair).
STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 24.
Larger Than Life
Bill Murray is the master of quirky characters, so it's little wonder that portraying a motivational speaker who inherits an elephant would be a natural fit. Larger Than Life is madcap, screwball comedy fun at its best. Directed by Howard Franklin (Quick Change) from Roy Blount, Jr's screenplay (story by Pen Densham and Garry Williams), Larger Than Life features a cast that includes Jeremy Piven (Entourage), Janeane Garofalo (Wet Hot American Summer), Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyer's Club), Linda Fiorentino (Men In Black) and Pat Hingle (WUSA).
STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 24.
At First Sight
Leads Val Kilmer (Top Gun) and Mira Sorvino (Mighty Aphrodite) prove that romantic dramas (and the tugging of heartstrings) never go out of fashion. Inspired by classic Hollywood tearjerkers Dark Victory and An Affair To Remember, At First Sight tells the story of Amy Benic (Sorvino) and Virgil Adamson (Kilmer), an attractive New York couple navigating their way through an illness that will test their love and resolve. Helmed by producer-turned-director Irwin Winkler (producing credits include Raging Bull, Rocky), At First Sight features supporting performances by Nathan Lane (The Birdcage), Kelly McGillis (Top Gun), Steven Weber (Single White Female) and Bruce Davison (Longtime Companion).
STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 24.
Almost an Angel
Paul Hogan, Academy Award nominee (Best Original Screenplay, Crocodile Dundee) and Golden Globe winner (Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical, Crocodile Dundee) is reunited with his Crocodile Dundee leading lady Linda Kozlowski in the heart-tugging comedy Almost An Angel.
Crocodile Dundee's Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski are teamed once again in the romantic comedy Almost An Angel, directed by John Cornell (Crocodile Dundee 2) from a screenplay by Paul Hogan. Terry Dean (Hogan), a professional burglar with a conscience, wakes up in a hospital room after being struck by a car while saving a young boy's life. Believing that he's met God (played by an uncredited Charlton Heston, The Ten Commandments) and a chance at redemption as an angel-in-training, Terry's new calling provides the viewer with plenty of laughs in the heartwarming Almost An Angel.
Directed by John Cornell (Crocodile Dundee 2) from a screenplay by Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee), Almost An Angel co-stars Elias Koteas (Living Out Loud) and Larry Miller (The Nutty Professor).
STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 24.
The Kid from Cleveland
Russ ("Rusty") Tamblyn (West Side Story) stars alongside George Brent (Dark Victory) and Lynn Bari (The Bridge of San Luis Rey) and the Cleveland Indians baseball team in his first feature film, the heartwarming The Kid From Cleveland.
Johnny Barrows (Tamblyn), a young man heading toward a life of juvenile delinquency as his home life spirals out of control, sneaks into the 1948 World Series and seeks friendship by playing a sympathetic orphan. He finds stability and mentorship in sportscaster Mike Jackson and the Cleveland Indians (playing themselves), who try to set Johnny on the right path in this touching story for the whole family.
STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 24.
Voodoo Man
Zombies, adventure and romance, Voodoo Man has them all!
Bela Lugosi (Dracula) stars as Dr. Richard Marlowe, a "mad" scientist intent on bringing his late wife Evelyn (Ellen Hall, Lawless Code) back from the dead using voodoo magic in the atmospheric chiller, Voodoo Man directed by William Beaudine (The Panther's Claw).
By using the essences of the young women he's captured and aided by his associates Nicholas (George Zucco, House of Frankenstein) and Toby (John Carradine, Son of Frankenstein), the voodoo doctor will find his plan jeopardized by the derring-do of intrepid screenwriter Ralph Dawson (Michael Ames, Hang 'Em High).
Voodoo Man co-stars Henry Hall (Murder in The Big House), Huntz Hall (The Bowery Boys), Empty Hall (The Horrible Dr. Hichcock), Annie Hall (The Diane Keaton Story) and Schlitz the Wonder Cat as Bowzer.
STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 24.
Roar
Produced over the course of ten years, Roar is an audacious cinematic experiment: a thriller showcasing the majesty and ferocity of African lions, filmed on location amidst dozens of actual untrained cats. Photographed by Jan De Bont (d.p. of Die Hard and director of Speed), the result is a spectacular achievement—though often terrifying to watch—as actors (not stunt men) flee, wrestle, and come face-to-face with the massive hunters.
Writer/director Noel Marshall stars as Hank, a doctor and outspoken naturalist in Africa who allows lions, tigers, cheetahs, and other big cats to roam freely around his remote estate. While away protecting animals from poachers, Hank's family—including Marshall's real-life wife and daughter, Tippi Hedren (The Birds) and Melanie Griffith (Working Girl)—arrive at his home and are stalked by the massive lions that have overrun the house.
Not surprisingly, many members of the cast and crew suffered injuries during the making of the film though care was taken to ensure that no animals were harmed. Since filming Roar, Hedren has become an advocate for the protection of big cats, founding the Roar Foundation and the Shambala Preserve.
Special Features:
- Optional English subtitles
- The Making of ROAR
- Q&A with Cast and Crew at ROAR rePremiere at The CineFamily, Los Angeles, CA (4/7/15)
- The Grandeur of ROAR - an essay by Tim League
- Feature Audio Commentary with John Marshall and Tim League
- Trailer (2015)
- Photo Gallery
STREET DATE: NOVEMBER 3.