Showing posts sorted by date for query bunny game. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query bunny game. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Monday, January 19, 2026

MORE WARNER ARCHIVE MULTI-FILM COLLECTIONS ARRIVING IN JANUARY & FEBRUARY 2026!



BROADWAY ON THE BIG SCREEN 6-FILM COLLECTION 
FRED ASTAIRE 4-FILM COLLECTION 
JAMES STEWART 4-FILM COLLECTION 
ROBERT TAYLOR 4-FILM COLLECTION 
SPENCER TRACY 4-FILM COLLECTION

We are getting several more 4-film and 6-film collections from Warner Archive highlighting the iconic work of Hollywood screen legends James Stewart, Fred Astaire, Robert Taylor, Spencer Tracy in four-film sets, plus a themed six-film set celebrating Broadway on the Big Screen! These have all previously been issued on Blu-ray a single release edition from Warner Archive, and these are repackaged with the same great transfers and extras as the previous releases, and are great budget-minded and space-saving editions for classic film buffs and movie-lovers. Each set arrives in an oversized keepcase with flipper trays housing the individual discs, the artwork for each collection featuring a collage of the original artworks. They are available for order or pre-order from all major online retailers, including Amazon, MovieZyng and Physical Media Land - I have provided links below!  

BROADWAY ON THE BIG SCREEN 6-FILM COLLECTION
(1955-1971) 

Six big stage musical favorites are brought together for this dazzling collection of musical favorites. Frank Loesser's GUYS AND DOLLS starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, Rosalind Russell and Natalie Wood star in GYPSY, the dynamic choreography of Bob Fosse adds zing to Doris Day in THE PAJAMA GAME and Gwen Verdon in DAMN YANKEES, Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse shine in Lerner and Loewe's BRIGADOON, and Ken Russell's wild imagination creates an homage to the genre as Twiggy stars in THE BOY FRIEND.

GUYS AND DOLLS (1955) 
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 155 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video; 1080p HD Widescreen (2.55:1)
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Cast: Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, Vivian Blaine, Stubby Kaye

Hollywood legends Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra and Vivian Blaine (from the original Broadway cast) are dazzling in this Frank Loesser (How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying) masterpiece. Featuring hits like "Luck Be a Lady" and "A Woman in Love," this smash film version of one of Broadway's most popular musicals is guaranteed rip-roaring "four-star entertainment" (New York Daily News).

Special Features: 
- The Goldwyn Touch (23:54)
- From Stage to Screen (26:41)
- More Guys and Dolls Stories: Adelaide (00:51), Brando Dance Lesson (1:34), Goldwyn's Career (2:38), On the Set (1:12), Rehearsing Adelaide (1:29) 
- Musical Performances: Fugue for Tinhorns (1:42), I'll Know (5:01), Guys and Dolls (3:26), Adelaide (3:34), Luck Be a Lady (3:14), Sue Me (3:15)
- Theatrical Trailer (4:53)

GYPSY (1962) 
Label: Warner Archive 
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 143 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.41:1) 
Director: Mervyn Leroy
Cast: Rosalind Russell, Natalie Wood, Karl Malden

Ringing with the showbiz sass of its Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim score, the film version of the Broadway hit Gypsy takes you on a grand vaudeville tour. It sweeps you up in the roller-coaster relationship of Louise (Natalie Wood), the wallflower later to blossom into sophisticated stripper Gypsy Rose Lee, and her ambitious mother, Rose (Rosalind Russell who's performance won her a fifth Best Actress Golden Globe Award). Karl Malden scores as Herbie, the salesman who falls for Rose - to his exasperation. Full of terrific tunes (Everything's Coming Up Roses and Small World among them), Gypsy will certainly entertain you and definitely make you smile.

Special Features: 
Songs: Wherever We Go (2:39), You Couldn't Get Away From Me (3:37)
- Trailer (3:36)

THE PAJAMA GAME (1957) 
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration:  101 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: George Abbott, Stanley Donen
Cast: Doris Day, Carol Haney, Eddie Foy Jr., Reta Shaw, Barbara Nichols

Labor and management at the Sleeptite Pajama Factory aren't sleeping much lately: A proposed 7 1 2-cent hourly wage increase is why -- and a strike may result. But negotiations here involve snappy stars, terrific tunes and dynamic dances as Doris Day, John Raitt and a Broadway-seasoned cast play The Pajama Game. Songs by the Damn Yankees duo of Richard Adler and Jerry Ross and choreography by Bob Fosse generate lots of "Steam Heat," all whipped together delightfully under the direction of two musical masters of stage and screen, George Abbott and Stanley Donen. Besides "Steam Heat" (showcasing the quirky brilliance of dancer Carol Haney), catch "Hey There," "I'm Not at All in Love," "Hernando's Hideaway," "Once-a-Year Day" and other all-time-great numbers. For peerless entertainment, negotiate no further. Nothing's quite the same as The Pajama Game!

Special Features: 
- Song Selection
- Deleted Musical Sequence "The Man Who Invented Love"(3:02) 
- Theatrical Trailer (3:17)

DAMN YANKEES (1958) 
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 111 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: George Abbott 
Cast: Tab Hunter, Gwen Verdon, Ray Walston

Step up to the plate for Damn Yankees, the rousing movie of the 1,019-performance Broadway grand slam that imports nearly all the original New York lineup, including Tony Award -winning stars Gwen Verdon as luscious vamp Lola and Ray Walston as her slyly Satanic boss Applegate. Hollywood's Tab Hunter suits up as potential lost soul and Washington Senators slugger Joe Hardy, revealing a freewheeling fun side unseen in previous roles. The Pajama Game duo of Richard Adler and Jerry Ross serve up an out-of-the-park home-run score, including "Whatever Lola Wants" and "Heart." Choreographer Bob Fosse provides all the right moves, and he joins Verdon on-screen in performing "Who's Got the Pain?" No pain here, just pure pleasure.

Special Features: 
- Song Selection
- US Theatrical Trailer (2:31)
- UK Theatrical Trailer (2:32)

BRIGADOON (1954) 
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 108 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.55:1)
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Cast: Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse, Elaine Stewart, Barry Jones, Hugh Laing, Albert Sharpe, Virginia Bosler, Jimmy Thompson, Tudor Owen, Owen McGiveney, Dee Turnell, Dody Heath, Eddie Quillan

Look on a map and you won't find it. Look in your heart and there it will be. Enchantment is a place -- and a movie -- called Brigadoon when Gene Kelly stars in and choreographs a lyrical film adaptation of the 1947 Broadway musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (My Fair Lady, Camelot). Vincente Minnelli directs this otherworldly tale of vacationing New Yorkers (Kelly and Van Johnson) who discover a Scottish village that comes to life once every 100 years for one day only. There, Kelly and a town lass (Cyd Charisse) share the love of a lifetime -- one seemingly allotted just 24 hours. But fear not, there's magic and timeless songs hereabouts: "Almost Like Being in Love," "The Heather on the Hill" and more!

Special Features: 
Deleted Scenes: Come to Me, Bend to Me (3:29), From This Day On (4:38), Sword Dance (3:00), There but for You Go I! (Audio Only) (4:15)
- Trailer (3:45)

THE BOY FRIEND (1971) 
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 138 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1)
Director: Ken Russell 
Cast: Twiggy, Christopher Gable

Special Features: 
- Vintage Featurette: All Talking . . . All Singing . . . All Dancing (8:40)
- Trailer (2:47)

Buy It!

FRED ASTAIRE 4-FILM COLLECTION (1948-1968)

The one and only Fred Astaire is unforgettable in four of his unforgettable musicals. Fred stars with Judy Garland in Irving Berlin's EASTER PARADE, he-costars with the glamorous Cyd Charisse in THE BAND WAGON and SILK STOCKINGS, and made his final screen musical appearance with Petula Clark in Francis Ford Coppola's magical screen version of FINIAN'S RAINBOW

EASTER PARADE (1948) 
Label: Warner Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 103 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen 
Director: Charles Walters
Cast: Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Ann Miller

If you can't join 'em, beat 'em! When his long-time dance partner abandons him for the Ziegfeld Follies, Don Hewes decides to show who's who what's what by choosing any girl out of a chorus line and transforming her into a star. So he makes his choice and takes his chances. Of course, since Fred Astaire portrays Don and Judy Garland plays the chorine, we know we're in for an entertainment sure thing.

Special Features: 
- Audio Commentary with Fred Astaire's daughter Ava Astaire McKenzie and Garland's biographer John Fricke
- Easter Parade: On the Avenue (2005, 34:25)
- "Mr. Monotony" Outtake (3:09)
- "Mr. Monotony" Dailies (18:11)
- Radio Promo - Audio Only (4:24)
- 3/11/1951 Screen Guild Theater Broadcast - Audio Only (54:00)
- Theatrical Trailer (1:59)

THE BAND WAGON (1953)
Label: Warner Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 112 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director:
Cast: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Judy Garland, Petula Clark, Ann Miller

Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse dazzle in director Vincente Minnelli’s classic, featuring numbers set in a train station (“By Myself”), a penny arcade (“A Shine on Your Shoes”), a backlot Central Park (“Dancing in the Dark”) and a smoky cafĂ© (“The Girl Hunt”). As the hallmark song which originated here goes, “That’s Entertainment!”

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Liza Minnelli and Michael Feinstein
- Get Aboard! The Band Wagon (2005, 37:09)
- The Men Who Made the Movies: Vincente Minnelli 1973, 58:25): 
- Short: Jack Buchanan with the Glee Quartet (6:00)
- Tex Avery Short: The Three Little Pups (6:46)
- Theatrical Trailer (3:14)

SILK STOCKINGS (1957)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 118 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40;1) 
Director: Rouben Mamoulian
Cast: Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, anis Paige, Peter Lorre, George Tobias, Jules Munshin, Joseph Buloff, Wim Sonneveld

You'd think chilled borscht pulses in her veins. She's Nina Yoshenka, a lovely yet severe Soviet envoy sent to Paris to rescue wayward comrades from the perils of champagne and capitalism. But there may be a thaw in Nina's Cold War. She meets Steve Canfield, a smoothly brash American who won't take nyet for an answer. Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse recapture the magic of their The Band Wagon pairing in this musical based on the same-titled 1955 Broadway hit and on the famed 1939 Greta Garbo comedy Ninotchka. Set to witty Cole Porter tunes, spiked with laughs and featuring the two leads dancing the Eugene Loring-Hermes Pan choreography into timeless emotion, Silk Stockings shows why elegance and fun never go out of style.

Special Features;
- Cole Porter in Hollywood: Satin and Silk (2003, 10:01)
- Vitaphone short: Paree, Paree (1934, 20:53)
- Short: Poet and Peasant Overture (1955, 9:07)
- Theatrical Trailer (2:57)

FINIAN'S RAINBOW (1968)
Label: Warner Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 145 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Cast: Fred Astaire, Petula Clark, Tommy Steele, Don Francks, Keenan Wynn, Barbara Hancock, Al Freeman, Ronald Colby, Dolph Sweet, Wright King, Louis Silas

He wears a ratty old cardigan instead of tails, a battered felt hat in place of a topper -- but one glimpse of those agile feet and you know he's Fred Astaire. The great entertainer sang and danced his last musical lead in Finian's Rainbow, director Francis Ford Coppola's exuberant movie of the 1947 Broadway hit. Astaire plays an Irish rogue who plants a stolen crock of leprechaun gold in the soil near Fort Knox to reap what he thinks will be a rich harvest. In tow are his spirited daughter (Petula Clark), a love-struck leprechaun (Tommy Steele) and a bigoted Southern senator (Keenan Wynn) transformed by misbegotten magic. The treasurable Burton Lane/E.Y. Harburg score includes "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?," "Look to the Rainbow," "If This Isn't Love" and "Old Devil Moon." Watching it, you'll be in clover. Four-leaf all the way.

Special Features: 
- Audio Commentary with Director Francis Ford Coppola
- Francis Ford Coppola: DVD Introduction (5:26): 
- The World Premiere of Finian's Rainbow (25:37)
- Theatrical Trailer (2:58)

Buy It!
#ad 

JAMES STEWART 4-FILM COLLECTION (1940-1962)

The legendary James Stewart takes the spotlight here with four of his best performances. In Ernst Lubitsch's charming THE SHOP AROUND THER CORNER, Stewart co-stars with Margaret Sullavan in the comedic love story that was later remade as YOU'VE GOT MAIL. Director Frank Borzage's THE MORTAL STORM once again co-stars Stewart and Sullavan, in a dark drama reflecting the growing Nazi threat in Europe. Stewart is electrifying in director Anthony Mann's Technicolor western masterpiece THE NAKED SPUR, and finally Stewart portrays a Western settler in the all-star epic HOW THE WEST WAS WON

THE SHOP AROUND THER CORNER (1940) 
Label: Warner Home Entertainment
Region: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 99 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)  
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Cast: James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan, Frank Morgan, Joseph Schildkraut, Sara Haden, Felix Bressart, William Tracy, Inez Courtney, Sarah Edwards, Edwin Maxwell, Charles Halton, Charles Smith

Tell bickering Budapest gift-shop workers Alfred and Klara that they love each other and they might call you crazy. No lover can compare to the romantic, secret pen pal each knows only as Dear Friend. What Alfred and Klara dont know, of course, is that they are each others Dear Friend. In the third of their four luminous screen pairings, Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart star in this valentine to love wrapped in the ribbon of director Ernst Lubitsch s trademark touch wit instead of buffoonery, sentiment instead of sentimentality, affection instead of attitude. As enchanting today as it was yesterday, The Shop Around the Corner will cheerfully reward your patronage.

Special Features: 
- The Miracle of Sound (1940, 10:57)
- Screen Guild Players (29:46) - aired 9/29/40, strarring Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Frank Morgan
- Lux Radio Theater (59:53) Aired6/23/41, starring Don Ameche and Claudette Colbert, was directed by Sanford Barnett and produced by Cecil B DeMille.
- Theatrical Trailer (4:05) 

THE MORTAL STORM  (1940)
Label: Warner Home Entertainment
Region: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 100 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: Frank Borzage
Cast: Margaret Sullavan, James Stewart, Robert Young, Frank Morgan, Robert Stack

The Mortal Storm is the story of Hitlers rise to power as seen through the microcosm of one German family. What may seem small and personal is instead towering, a bold revelation of the brutality of the Nazi regime that so infuriated propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels that he banned all M-G-M movies in Germany. In their fourth and final teaming, Margaret Sullavan and James Stewart play sweethearts, evoking the tender, romantic empathy that always marked their work together. They lead a sterling cast in director Frank Borzages sweeping tale of the political and human chaos that rips a family apart, sets child against parent and lover against lover, and leads to savagery, sacrifice and heroism.

Special Features: 
- MGM Cartoon: Peace on Earth (1939, 8:30) 
- WB Short Films: Meet the Fleet (1940, 20:18) 
- Theatrical Trailer (2:47) 

THE NAKED SPUR (1953)
Label: Warner Home Entertainment
Region: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 91 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: Anthony Mann
Cast: James Stewart, Janet Leigh, Robert Ryan, Ralph Meeker

"Plain arithmetic. Money splits better two ways instead of three," smooth talking outlaw Ben Vandergroat reasons to his captors, three bounty hunters thrown together by chance. They're taking to justice in Abilene, but Ben has other ideas. If he can set the men against each other -- play on their greed, their fears, their vanities -- he may be able to make his break to freedom. In the third of his five landmark Anthony Mann-directed Westerns, James Stewart stars as the relentless leader of bounty hunters caught in the snare of the hunted (Robert Ryan). Tough, sweating with tension and towering as tall as its breathtaking Colorado Rockies setting, The Naked Spur is simply "one of the best Westerns ever made." (Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide).

Special Features;
Pete Smith-narrated Specialty Short; Things We Can Do Without (1953, 8:50)
- Animated Short: Little Johnny Jet (7:04)
- Theatrical Trailer (2:44)

HOW THE WEST WAS WON (1962) 
Label: Warner Home Entertainment
Region: Region-Free
Rating: G
Duration: 162 Minutes 40 Seconds 
Audio: English TrueHD, DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.89;1) 
Director: George Marshall, Henry Hathaway, John Ford
Cast: Agnes Moorehead, Carolyn Jones, Carroll Baker, Debbie Reynolds, Eli Wallach, George Marshall, George Peppard, Gregory Peck, Harry Morgan, Henry Fonda, Henry Hathaway, James Stewart, John Ford, John Wayne, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Raymond Massey, Richard Widmark, Russ Tamblyn, Spencer Tracy, Walter Brennan

Henry Fonda, Gregory Peck, Debbie Reynolds, James Stewart and John Wayne are among the big names in this big saga following a family's move West through generations - marked by the spectacles of a heart-pounding raging river ride, a thunderous buffalo stampede and a bracing runaway train shootout. Via technological advances, this panoramic winner of three Academy Awards can now be seen with a resplendent, restored clarity eliminating it's original three-panel join lines and in roof-raising Dolby 5.1 audio.

Special Features:
- Audio Commentary by filmmaker David Strohmaier, Cinerama, Inc. Director John Sittig, Film Historian Rudy Behlmer, Music Historian Jon Burlingame, and Stuntman Loren James
- David Strohmaier's 2002 Documentary: Cinerama Adventure (93.00)
- 1080p Smilebox Curved Screen Simulation


ROBERT TAYLOR 4-FILM COLLECTION (1950-1956) 

One of M-G-M's most popular leading men, Robert Taylor displays his star quality in four of his very best M-G-M films. 1950's DEVIL'S DOORWAY casts Taylor as a Native American Civil War veteran facing violence and hatred upon his return from the battlefield. Taylor is unforgettable in 1952's IVANHOE, a richly Technicolored epic co-starring Elizabeth Taylor, THE LAST HUNT is a taut CinemaScope action classic from Director Richard Brooks, and Taylor gives one of his most unforgettable performance in William A. Wellman's overlooked masterpiece WESTWARD THE WOMEN

Label: Warner Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 84 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual- Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1) 
Director: Anthony Mann 
Cast: Robert Taylor, Louis Calhern, Paula Raymond

Shoshone tribesman and Civil War hero Lance Poole (Robert Taylor) returns home with a Congressional Medal of Honor on his chest and a saddlebag full of dreams about prospering as a cattleman on his family's land. But Native Americans have no citizenship, no property rights. The courts, despite the efforts of Lane's attorney (Paula Raymond) offer no remedy. Lance and his people must fight to keep their land. Devil's Doorway, the first of the dozen or so groundbreaking Westerns by auteur filmmaker Anthony Mann (The Naked Spur) is one of the earliest films sympathetic to the plight of Native Americans, standing alongside the same year's Broken Arrow. Perhaps not coincidentally, Lane Poole's tribal name is Broken Lance.

Special Features: 
- Droopy short; The Chump Champ (7:17) 
- Tom & Jerry short; Cue Ball Cat (7:06)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (1:48) 

IVANHOE (1952)
Label: Warner Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 106 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1) 
Director:
Cast: Robert Taylor (I), Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, Emlyn Williams, Robert Douglas, Felix Aylmer, Harold Warrender, Sebastian Cabot, Norman Wooland, Guy Rolfe, and Finlay Currie

Stand and pledge loyalty -- or prepare to lie cold beneath your shields. Chivalrous knight Wilfrid of Ivanhoe is determined to restore Richard the Lionhearted to England's throne. Gallantry and costumed pageantry combine in this crowd-pleasing nominee for 3 Academy Awards , including Best Picture. Robert Taylor plays the title role, and Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Fontaine also star in a rousing adaptation of Sir Walter Scott's novel. The film's jousting tournament is , a galloping display of steeds and stouthearted men. Most spectacular of all is the siege of Torquilstone Castle, a wave-after-wave combat of arrows, fire, boulders, battering rams and blades. To the battlements!

Special Features:
- Classic Cartoon: Tom and Jerry in "The Two Mouseketeers" (1952, 7:26) 
- Theatrical Trailer (1:52) 

THE LAST HUNT (1956)
Label: Warner Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 103 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director:
Cast: Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger, Lloyd Nolan, Russ Tamblyn, Debra Paget

Robert Taylor (Quo Vadis) and Stewart Granger (The Prisoner of Zenda) team up in this "grim, fierce, raw-boned outdoor fare" (Variety) filmed on location in rugged Custer State Park, North Dakota. Charlie Gilson (Taylor), a mean-spirited hunter, joins reserved Sandy McKenzie (Granger) on a great government-sanctioned buffalo hunt that will keep the buffalo population under control and make the men rich. Joining them are Woodfoot, an old, one-legged skinner (Lloyd Nolan), and Jimmy (Russ Tamblyn), a half-Indian boy. But trouble begins to break the team apart when Charlie kills a group of Indians whom he accuses of stealing his horses. Charlie's subsequent mistreatment of the lone survivors -- an Indian woman and her child -- forces Sandy to realize that his partner is consumed with hate...and that he enjoys killing more than just buffalo. "Raw, real and rugged" (L.A. Examiner), The Last Hunt is so intense and powerful that its stark images will stay with you long after the film ends.

Special Features: 
- MGM Parade TV Promo #1 (3:32) 
- MGM Parade TV Promo #2 (7:45) 
- Theatrical Trailer (3:46) 

Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 115 Minutes 53 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1) 
Director: William A. Wellman
Cast: Robert Taylor, Denice Darcel, Hope Emerson, John McIntire

They are rugged pioneers and brave trailblazers who tame the wild west. These are the women of the great frontier -- that's right -- the women! Based on historical record, this wagon-train saga details a 2,000-mile journey from Chicago to California. The men seek gold; the women seek matrimony. Both strike pay dirt! Buck Wyatt (Robert Taylor) is a tough, experienced scout who leads a wagon train comprised of two ex-showgirls (Denise Darcel and Julie Bishop), a hearty widow (Beverly Dennis) and fifteen men who act as guides. When one of the men disobeys Buck's orders not to fraternize with the ladies, Buck shoots him, causing the others to desert. Instead of turning back, the determined women insist on going on, learning to ride, shoot, and drive mules. Although treacherous terrain and a deadly ambush lay ahead, these tough ladies are filled with the American frontier spirit, and nothing will stop them! Based on a story by Frank Capra, and directed by signature gusto by the masterful William Wellman, Westward the Women is a cinematic masterpiece.

Special Features: 
- Audio Commentary by Scott Eyman
- Vintage MGM featurette "Challenge of the Wilderness" (10:30)
- Lux Radio Theatre Broadcast 12/29/52 with Robert Taylor (49:14) 
- MGM cartoons: Texas Tom (6:44), The Duck Doctor (7:03)
- Original Theatrical Trailer (3:36) 


SPENCER TRACY 4-FILM COLLECTION (1936-1955) 

Screen legend Spencer Tracy gives magnetic performances in four of his great M-G-M classics. Fritz Lang's 1936 masterpiece FURY gave Tracy one of his first great screen roles, while he showed off his comedic gifts along side William Powell, Myrna Loy and Jean Harlow in LIBELED LADY. He leads Robert's Rangers in the 1940 Technicolor adventure NORTHWEST PASSAGE, and displays his immortal talents in John Sturges' 1955 CinemaScope thriller BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK.

FURY (1936) 
Label: Warner Archive 
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 92 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1) 
Director: Fritz Lang 
Cast: Sylvia Sidney, Spencer Tracy

Joe Wilson, a wrongly jailed man thought to have died in a blaze started by a bloodthirsty lynch mob, is somehow alive...but dead to all he ever stood for and perhaps ever will be, because Joe aims to ensure his would-be executioners meet the fate that he miraculously escaped. Spencer Tracy is Joe, Sylvia Sidney is his bride-to-be, and Fury lives up to its volatile name with its searing indictment of mob justice and lynching. In his first American film, director Fritz Lang (Metropolis, The Big Heat) combines a passion for justice and a sharp visual style into a landmark of social-conscience filmmaking. In the 49 years before this movie's release, some 6,000 people in the U.S. were victims of lynch mobs. The Fury over those tragedies -- and over other injustices to come -- remains.

Special Features: 
- Audio Commentary with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, with recorded comments by late director Fritz Lang recorded by Bogdanovich in 1965. 
- Theatrical Trailer (2:12) 

LIBELED LADY (1936) 
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 99 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1) 
Director: Jack Conway 
Cast: Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy, Spencer Tracy, Walter Connolly, Charley Grapewin, Cora Witherspoon, E.E. Clive, Bunny Beatty, Otto Yamaoka, Charles Trowbridge, Spencer Charters, George Chandler, William Benedict, William Newell

Bill Chandler (William Powell ) is one of America's great anglers, a sports fisherman without peer, doom in waders to the wiliest trout. And that isn't the only fish story Chandler tells. Four of Hollywood's greatest stars -- Powell, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy -- reel in this whopper of a screwball romantic comedy classic nominated for a Best Picture Oscar . It all starts when society diva Loy slaps newsman Tracy with a libel suit. Tracy enlists fiancee Harlow and down-on-his-luck Powell in a counter maneuver involving a rigged marriage, a phony seduction, a fabulously funny fishing scene, fisticuffs, broken promises and hearts, and, eventually, true love for all. This Lady is one fine catch.

Special Features: 
- Classic MGM Shorts: Keystone Hotel (1935, 14:53), New Shoes (1936, 10:23), Little Cheeser (1936, 9:22), Leo Is On The Air (13:30)
- Theatrical Trailer (2:47)

Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 128 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS HD-MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: King Vidor
Cast: Spencer Tracy, 
Robert Young, Ruth Hussey

Spencer Tracy and a stellar supporting cast grab muskets , gun powder and knives, and head out for adventure in Northwest Passage, a lavish Technicolor retelling of French and Indian War heroics, based on Kenneth Roberts' best seller. Tracy plays a true-life explorer Major Robert Rogers, the intrepid leader of the celebrated Roberts' Rangers fighting force that took on one of the most challenging expeditions in military history. Tracy's portrayal brilliantly captures the American pioneering spirit, but he had to muster up his own will to carry it off. "It isn't exactly fun to work in bitter cold and be sloshing through mud all day" he said. For twelve grueling weeks of location shooting, he endured trapsing through swamps, crossing rapids, and climbing mountains. Of this rousing epic (released shortly after Gone With the Wind), The New York Times wrote, "Now that the 'Wind' has stopped ruffling your hair, you can have it lifted, scalp and all in Northwest Passage.

Special Features: 
- Vintage Featurette: Northward, Ho! (9:25) 
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2:01) 

BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (1955) 
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 82 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.55:1) 
Director: John Sturges
Cast: Spencer Tracy, Robert Ryan, Anne Francis, Dean Jagger, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine, John Ericson, Lee Marvin, Russell Collins, Walter Sande

Folks in Black Rock have their own way of welcoming mysterious, one-armed stranger John J. Macreedy. He's welcome to leave. Or they'll make sure he leaves in a pine box. Two-time Academy Award winner* Spencer Tracy (a 1955 Best Actor Oscar nominee for this film) plays World War II veteran Macreedy, who keeps his own counsel about why he's come to Black Rock and who keeps his wits about him when confronted with threats and violence. Director John Sturges (The Great Escape) ramps up the tension while revealing Macreedy's mission and the town's grim secret. Robert Ryan, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin are among the town's thugs and lap dogs. "I'm half horse, half alligator," one says. They'll find Macreedy is even tougher stuff.

Special Features: 
- Audio Commentary by Film Professor Dana Polan
- Trailer (3:26)

Saturday, May 31, 2025

THE EPITAPH VOL. 97 - FIRST SEASON, COMPLETE SERIES, AND COLLECTOR'S VAULT EDITION!

THE EPITAPH VOL. 97 - FIRST SEASON, COMPLETE SERIES, AND COLLECTOR'S VAULT EDITION!

DUNE: PROPHECY: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (2025) - WACKY RACES: THE COMPLETE SERIES (1968) - BEN 10: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION (2005-2021) - LOONEY
TUNES: COLLECTOR'S VAULT VOL. 1 (1936-1963) - THE DREW CAREY SHOW: THE COMPLETE SERIES (1995-2004)

DUNE: PROPHECY - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (2025) 
3-Disc 4K Ultra HD 

Label: Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment 
Region Code: Region-Free 
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 392 Minutes 
Audio: Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1) with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 2160p HD Widescreen (2.00:1) 
Directors: Anna Foerster, John Cameron, Richard J. Lewis
Cast: Emily Watson, Olivia Williams, Travis Fimmel, Jodhi May, Mark Strong, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina, Josh Heuston, Chloe Lea, Jade Anouka, Faoileann Cunningham, Edward Davis, Aoife Hinds, Chris Mason, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Camilla Beeput, Jihae, Tabu, Charithra Chandran, Jessica Barden, Emma Canning, Yerin Ha, Barbara Marten

A prequel series set 10,000 years before the events of Dune proper, and 80 years after humankind has defeated the "thinking machines", this six-episode Max series is inspired by the novel Sisterhood of Dune, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. The main focus of the series establishes the nascent origins of the sect of what would become the Bene Gesserit. At it's heart we have Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson, Red Dragon). the Revered Mother of the Sisterhood, and her sister Reverend Mother Tula Harkonnen (Olivia Williams, Rushmore) as the plot and scheme to maintain power and influence within the Imperium, particularly as advisors to Mark Strong as advisors to  Padishah Emperor Javicco Corrino (Mark Strong, Sherlock Holmes), but that grip is threatened by the arrival of mysterious character named Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel, Raised By Wolves) who quickly finds favor from the Emperor, becoming his most trusted advisor. It's a somewhat familiar story, but be sure to keep in mind that the original Dune was written six decades ago before many of these familiar elements were so well-worn by pop culture, from Star Wars to Game of Thrones, with plenty of palace intrigue, literal cutthroat plot machinations, double and triple agents, and all wrapped-up in the sci-fi and fantasy trappings of the Dune universe. I will say, it helps if you are well-read in the Dune mythos, or at least a fan of the previous films, both David Lynch and  Denis Villeneuve, to give you a bedrock of familiarity, but it's not ruinous if not, my wife loves the show on it's own merits well-enough, but the myriad characters and various houses vying for power and influence can be a bit dizzying, not to mention a 30 year time shifts as we see events from Valya and Tula's younger lives and the elements that shaped them, played in their youth by Jessica Barden and Emma Canning, respectively. The show looks superb with gorgeous wardrobe and set design, and it looks plenty familiar, not too far removed from either of Villeneuve films, which might sound odd given that it tales place 10,000 years prior, but that is sort of explained in a way by the lack of technology I think. If you're a fan of the two recent film adaptations I think this prequel series is a no-brainer, it's well-acted, the plotting and machinations are delicious, and while it does take a lot of time establishing character and familiarity, the final few episodes deliver the goods and pays off quite nicely. The 3-disc 4K UHD set looks and sounds terrific with HDR10 and Dolby Atmos upgrades, truly a gorgeous looking production and a sharp sounding presentation, when Valya used her "voice: it is so creepy, and the track is nicely immersive as well. We also get roughly 90-minutes of extras, and a slipcover. 

Special Featurettes:
Disc 1
- Entering the Dune Universe (2:58) 
- Houses Divided (2:47) 
- Inside the Episode #101 (2:58) 
- Inside the Episode #102 (5:24)
Disc 2
Truth or Lie (5:38) 
- Expanding the Universe (2:32) 
- Inside the Episode #103) (2:58)
- Inside the Episode #104) (4:51)
Disc 3
- Behind the Veil (34:45)
- Building Worlds - Home Entertainment Exclusive (13:04) 
- Inside the Episode #105 (4:20)
- Inside the Episode #106 (6:13)
- Slipcover 


Buy it!
#ad

WACKY RACES: THE COMPLETE SERIES (1968)
2-Disc Blu-ray set 

Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free 
Duration: 368 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.33:1)
Directors: William Hanna, Joseph Barbera
Cast: Paul Winchell, Janet Waldo, John Stephenson

I grew up on watching   as steady diet of Hanna-Barbera cartoons, a lot of them in syndication and re-runs, and I will be honest, not all of them appealed to me, but when we had four channels on the TV you watched what was on, it was really as simple as that, especially f the weather was bad and you couldn't go outside, or were grounded, as I often was, I was a bad kid folks, sorry Mom. The Wacky races was a short-lived show, only 17 episodes, but it had a pretty good life in syndication, each episode featured the same 11 racers vying to win different rallies around the country. We had  -- which include The Gruesome Twosome, The Slag Brothers, Professor Pat Pending, The Red Max, Penelope Pitstop, The Ant Hill Mob Sergeant Blast and Private Meekly, , Lazy Luke and Blubber Bear, Peter Perfect, Rufus Ruffcut and Sawtooth, and the evil moustache twirling Dick Dastardly and his snickering canine sidekick Muttley. these last two are he best remembered, and benefitted from their on spin-off series, Dastardly & Muttley In Their Flying Machines (1`969-1970), and guest starring on various cartoons through the years. While I was and am still not a fan of this zany and threadbare animated series, the good news is that if you are a fan, that Warner Archive once again knock it out of the park with heir restoration, all 17 episodes have been restored from the original camera negative, and I believe for the first time on home video presented in the original 2-part episode format complete with opening and closing credits. The epodes have been cleaned-up but not digital scrubbed, grain is present throughout, colors are vibrant, and the animation lines are intact and looking solid. We even get some archival extras that originally appeared on the 2004 DVD set. 

Episodes: 
Disc 1
1. See-Saw to Arkansas & Creepy Trip to Lemon Twist (21:43)
2. Why Oh Why Wyoming & Beat the Clock to Yellow Rock (21:49)
3. Mish Mash Missouri Dash & Idaho A Go Go (21:38)
4. The Baja-Ha-Ha Race & Real Gone Ape (21:50)
5. Scout Scatter & Free Wheeling to Wheeling (21:39)
6. By Roller Coaster to Upsan Downs& The Speedy Arkansas Traveler (21:51)
7. The Zippy Mississippi Race & Traffic Jambalaya (21:37)
8. Hot Race to Chillicothe & The Wrong Lumber Race (21:43)
9. Rhode Island Road Race & The Great Cold Rush Race (21:38)
Disc 2
10. Wacky Race to Ripsaw & Oil’s Well That Ends Well (21:36)
11. Whizzin’ to Washington & The Dipsy Doodle Desert Derby (21:30)
12. Eeny Miny Missouri Go! & The Super Silly Swamp Sprint (21:39)
13. The Dopey Dakota Derby & Dash to Delaware (21:31)
14. Speeding for Smogland & Race Rally to Raleigh (21:47)
15. Ballpoint, Penn. or Bust & Fast Track to Hackensack (21:36)
16. The Ski Resort Road Race & Overseas Hi-Way Race (21:27)
17. Race to Racine & The Carlsbad or Bust Bash (21:32)

Special Features: 
- Featurettes: Rearview Mirror: A Look Back at Wacky Races (19:44) 
- Spin-Out Spin Offs (10:50)
- Facts Trivia Track (21:38) 
- Audio  Commentaries on these segments: Fast Track To Hackensack; Overseas Hi-Way Race, The Ski Resort Road Race, Ballpoint, Penn or Bust 

Buy it!
Physical Media Land - use code: MOVIEDEAL at checkout to get 5% off your entire order! 

BEN 10: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION 
(2005-2021) 
37-Disc DVD Set 

Label: Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment 
Region Code: 1
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 4340 Minutes 
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: Fullscreen (1.33:1) 

Cartoon Network’s Ben 10 was a show I would occasionally watch with my kids when it first aired, and while I am not the target audience I will say the show was pretty dang entertaining. As a dad I was always thankful when what the kids watched was at least tolerable for me, and this show was more than tolerable. With that said, I am by no means an informed fan with much knowledge of the show, which about a kid named Ben Tennyson, who discovers the Omnitrix - an extraterrestrial device that looks like a wristwatch, but it actually contains the DNA of various alien species, allowing Ben to transform into them at will, which he uses to fight evil on Earth and around the universe, forging alliances, facing new threats, and exploring alien worlds. This set advertises that it collects all four series of the show, plus two animated movies. Just glancing at the discs and looking at the series history I will say that it is actually not a complete set, as the Ben 10: Ominverse series is missing 40 of the 80 advertised episodes, so be aware of that the 37-disc set arrives in a pair of high volume keepcases with stacked disc, another bummer, and those are housed inside a slipbox, which is not rigid, but also not cheap the set has some great artwork on the slipbox and keepcases, and the disc inside have some fun artwork on them as well. A little bit of research I did made it appear that the final 40 episodes of the Omniverse series were never released on DVD previously, so this set appears to be just a repackage of the previous individual season set that were available, alongside the archival extras, but sadly it is advertised as The Complete Collection, when it is in fact The Incomplete Collection, which will be a bummer for anyone buying this expecting all 227 episodes, and only getting 187, that's a fuck-up.


Buy it!
Amazon
#ad

LOONEY TUNES: COLLECTOR'S VAULT VOL. 1
(1936-1963) 
2-Disc Blu-ray

Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 362 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Directors: Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett, Tex Avery, Robert McKimson
Cast: Voices of: Mel Blanc, Bea Benaderet, June Foray, Sara Berner, Arthur Q. Bryan, Stan Freberg

Warner Archive continue to open the vaults and restore classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies toons on Blu-ray, but with a slight re-branding. previously we've had four volumes of the Looney Tunes Collector's Choice Blu-ray releases, each a single-disc release, which were also collected as a Collector's Choice Vols. 1-4 set. Now they have rebranded, and are calling this new collection Collector's Vault Vol. 1, and we get two disc. The first disc is advertised as 25 choice toons never before on DVD or Blu-ray, while disc two features selected cartoon favorites, making their HD debut. Now, there are a few exceptions, some of these toons have previously been released as special features on live-action films that Warner Archive have released, and there's a double-dip with the "Double or Mutton" which was actually already included in the Collector's Choice Vol. 4 set, which they have acknowledged was an oversight, with WAC vowing to give us an additional short on the next volume to make up for it. I like the way they have organized these alphabetically, when you him 'Play All' you get a varied and vibrant assortment of toons from different eras spanning the '30s through the '60s. Loads of familiar favorites here like Sylvester and Tweety, Wile. E Coyote and the Roadrunner, Daffy Ducks, Bugs Bunny , Elmer Fudd, and Foghorn Leghorn, as well as favorites that have been little seen on Blu-ray like Pepé Le Pew and Speedy Gonzales, and a couple of interesting oddball characters. Also, notably this set features the debut appearances from Yosemite Sam's debut on "Hare Trigger", and the little stinker himself Pepe Le Pew first appears in "Odor-able Kitty". It's a terrific set, and there's something ere for everybody, and for the current price of 21,00 on Amazon you're less than .50 cents for each short, which is crazy.

Shorts:
Disc 1 - 25 all never before included remastered in any DVD or Blu-ray Looney Tunes collection:
1. BARS AND STRIPES FOREVER, 1939 (7:42)
2. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, 1934 (7:37)
3. A DAY AT THE ZOO, 1939 (7:05) )
4. THE DIXIE FRYER, 1960 (6:13)
5. DOUBLE OR MUTTON (6:38)
6. EACH DAWN I CROW, 1949 (7:59)
7. EASY PECKIN’S, 1953 (6:27)
8. FEATHER DUSTED, 1954 (6:45)
9. FOX IN A FIX, 1951 (7:06)
10. GOOD NIGHT ELMER, 1940 (6:32)
11. THE GOOFY GOPHERS, 1940 (7:12)
12. I'D LOVE TO TAKE ORDERS FROM YOU, 1936 (7:53)
13. A KIDDIES KITTY, 1955 (7:01)
14. LET IT BE ME. 1936 (7:51)
15. OF FOX AND HOUNDS, 1940 (9:20)
16. QUACKODILE TEARS, 1962 (6:02)
17. READY, WOOLEN AND ABLE, 1960 (6:07)
18. ROBIN HOOD MAKES GOOD, 1939 (7:45)
19. THE SQUAWKIN' HAWK, 1942 (6:36)
20. TERRIER-STRICKEN, 1952 (6:51)
21. TWEET AND LOVELY, 1959 (6:31)
22. TWEETY'S CIRCUS, 1955 (7:05)
23. TWO'S A CROWD, 1950 (6:54)
24. WILD ABOUT HURRY, 1959 (6:52)
25. ZIP 'N SNORT, 1960 (5:54)

Disc2 - 25 all never before included remastered in HD as part of any Blu-ray Looney Tunes collection:
26. AIN’T SHE TWEET, 1952 (7:08)
27. BANTY RAIDS, 1963 (6:18)
28. BIRTH OF A NOTION, 1947 (7:02)
29. BYE BYE BLUEBEARD, 1949 (7:11)
30. CAT-TAILS FOR TWO, 1953 (6:39)
31. DAFFY DILLY, 1948 (7:06)
32. DAFFY DUCK AND EGGHEAD, 1938 (7:34)
33. GEE WHIZ-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z, 1957 (6:34)
34. GONZALES’ TAMALES, 1957(6:19)
35. HARE CONDITIONED, 1945 (7:13)
36. HARE TRIGGER, 1945 (7:53)
37. HARE TRIMMED, 1953 (6:54)
38. HORTON HATCHES THE EGG, 1943 (9:48)
39. LITTLE BOY BOO, 1954 (6:41)
40. MUCH ADO ABOUT NUTTING, 1953 (6:50)
41. ODOR-ABLE KITTY, 1945 (7:15)
42. PAST PERFUMANCE, 1955 (6:59)
43. PORKY’S DUCK HUNT, 1937 (8:48)
44. RABBIT PUNCH, 1948 (7:41)
45. RED RIDING HOODWINKED, 1955 (6:56)
46. RHAPSODY RABBIT, 1946 (7:36)
47. SNOW BUSINESS, 1953 (7:04)
48. TOM TURK AND DAFFY, 1944 (7:16)
49. TWO CROWS FROM TACOS, 1956 (7:10)
50. ZOOM AND BORED, 1957(6:16)

Special Features:
- None

Buy it!
Amazon
Moviezyng
Physical Media Land - use code: MOVIEDEAL at checkout to get 5% off your entire order!

THE DREW CAREY SHOW: THE COMPLETE SERIES
(1995-2004) 
27-Disc DVD Set

Label: Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment
Region Code: 1
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 86 Hours
Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Cast: Carey, Diedrich Bader, Christa Miller, Ryan Stiles, Kathy Kinney, Craig Ferguson, John Carroll Lynch, Cynthia Watros

The Drew Carey Show: The Complete Series, that's right, all nine seasons arrive on a 27-disc DVD set for the first time ever. This was easily one of my favorite late-'90s/early '00s sitcoms, with the comedian playing a version of himself as a sort of everyman who works at a department store. Hs friends include Lewis (Ryan Stiles) and Oswald (Diedrich Bader, Dead & Breakfast), friend and future girlfriend Kate (Christa Miller, TV's Scrubs). We also have his frenemy/co-worker Mimi Bobeck (Kathy Kinney, Arachnophobia), with her heavy make-up and signature bright blue eye shadow, sort of the Newman to Carey's Seinfeld, plus his brother Steve, played y the always amazing John Carroll Lynch. it was a solid show, and it holds up quite well from the episodes that I sampled. I will say that this 27-disc set is advertised as 'The Complete Series', but there are special episodes are not included, those are "Drew’s Dance Party Special", "Drew Carey’s Back-to-School Rock ‘n’ Roll Comedy Hour – Parts 1 & 2" and "What’s Love Got to Do with it?", so complete it is not, and also not all the original music was licensed for home video, and as such musical compositions in certain episodes of this series have been replaced or altered from their original broadcast versions. I will give WB credit for indicating the missing episodes and music on the slipbox at east, unlike the Ben 10 set. The 27-disc set arrives in two oversized, high volume clear keepcase housing the discs, which are not stacked, which I appreciated - these are both housed inside a sideloading slipcover.

Special Features:
- Life inside the Cubicle from the Season 1 DVD

Buy it!
Amazon
#ad

Saturday, November 6, 2021

IT'S NOTHING MAMA, JUST A GAME (1974) (Mondo Macabro Blu-ray Review)

IT'S NOTHING MAMA, JUST A GAME  (1974)
AK.A. BEYOND EROTICA
A.K.A. LOLA 

Label: Mondo Macabro
Region Code: Region Free
Rating: Unrated 
Duration: 89 Minutes
Audio: Spanish and English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: JosĂ© MarĂ­a ForquĂ©
Cast: David Hemmings, Alida Valli, Francisco Rabal, Andrea Rau, Nuria Gimeno

This little seen Spanish gem from 1974 stars David Hemmings (Deep Red) as Juan, a plantation-owner who with help from his enabling mother Louise (Alida Valli, Suspiria) and doting housekeeper Maria (Lucila Herrera) is able to indulge his wildest cruelties; denigrating the hired help, assaulting them, dressing them in rabbit-fur bikinis and bunny ears and hunting them on horseback with a pack of vicious dogs like wild beasts. 

The flick opens with one of these hunts, with Juan pursuing a young woman named Lucia (Nuria Gimeno, Bell from Hell) through the jungle, who unfortunately gets her foot stuck in a bear-trap before being savaged to death by Juan's dogs. The local villagers seem to know something is not quite right at the plantation, but as it's the only source of income in area they let it slide; preferring to believe the story that Lucia was killed by a mother dog who was mad at the young woman for stealing away her puppies. 

With Luca dead Juan's mother quickly hires a new housemaid named Isabel (Rudy Hernández), but she is not to Juan's liking, throwing herself into his arms to easily, and he instead sets his eyes set on the alluring Lola (Andrea Rau, Daughters of Darkness), the daughter of one of the estate security officer. His mother tries to dissuade him from pursuing her but his mind is made up. At the dinner table when Lola is serving soup Juan feels her up, and she dumps a bowl of chicken noodle soup over his head, and continues to rebuff his advances, even fighting off an attempted rape, but her fighting spirit proves irresistible and Juan sets out to break her spirit. 

Eventually he tires of spying on her from his hammock outside her window and imprisons her in an abandoned horse training facility where he sets about breaking her spirit by starving her, preparing her to be the latest bunny-fur clad prey for a new hunt, but Lola proves to be a bit more stubborn and determined that Juan is prepared for. . 

Throughout the film there are flashbacks to Juan growing up with his father who was a sadistic tyrant who ruled the plantation with fear, regularly raping the women in his employee and brutalizing the hired help. Juan's is traumatized by his upbringing and his father's death, and has grown into a sadistic piece of shit, but we also see how impotent and weak is he as well. Also figuring into the bizarre psychosexual weirdness is his late father's brother Tio (Francisco Rabal, Sorcerer) who wants a larger stake in the finances of plantation, to that end hiring a psychologist, who's a dead ringer for Wes Craven) to have him declared mentally incompetent. 

It's a psychologically twisted and perverse bit of Franco-era Spanish exploitation, with a chilly and layered performance from Hemmings, who apparently didn't have the greatest time making the movie. Rau is also quite fantastic as the woman who proves to me stronger than Hemmings' psycho-sadistic character had bargained for, managing to turn the tables on him with a slightly ambiguous finale that leaves plenty to chew on when the credits start rolling. Interestingly the film has a load of exploitative elements but doesn't go for a bare it all aesthetic, while there is some eye-catching Rau nudity the rape scenes and violence are shot in a way that leaves a lot to the imagination. I wouldn't say it was an overly stylish production but it is handsomely  lensed with some interesting angles and editing. There's a lot of layers to appreciate it about it, with themes of white colonialism and the power and impunity the wealthy wild over lower class, plus more lurid wickedness, and some unsavory animal cruelty by way of Hemming's Juan who when not hunting beautiful women like beasts is shooting rabbits that have already caught in snares. It's a fascinating performance from Hemmings, unlike anything I've seen him in before, and well worth seeking out. 

This is not a film I had seen before, only having seen a murky clip of it under the title on Beyond Erotica on YouTube some years ago, and I was never able to track down a copy of it, so I am appreciative of Mondo Macabro for making it available widely with a fantastic looking looking Blu-ray. 

Audio/Video: It's Nothing Mama, Just A Game (1974) arrives on region free Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro in 1080 p HD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. This is a new restoration sourced from a new 4K scan of the original 35mm negative and it looks great. Very filmic and non-digitized with a fine looking grain structure and precious few blemishes. are solid with a only a few scenes looks slightly washed out from age, but overall a filmic and fantastic presentation. 

Audio comes by way of English and Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.O with optional English subtitles. It seems that both are dubbed options but I think the English track has the edge, particularly since it has Hemmings dubbing his own voice. 

Onto the extras we get a brand new commentary from film critic/author Kat Ellinger who does a lovely job of talking about the career of director José María Forqué, filmmaking in Spain under the rule of Franco and the censorship, the colonialism and psychosexual themes and quite a bit more.
There's also an 18-minute video essay Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely by Chris O'Neill that explored Hemmings career, spanning fifty years, which made me realize I have only seen a handful of his titles and need to make a deep dive into his filmography. We also get 5-minutes of alternate title trailers (Beyond Erotica, Lola), a 7-minute alternate Spanish title sequence and a fourteen-minute Mondo Macabro trailer reel, which is an event unto itself! The single-disc releases arrives in a standard keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork. This was also previously available as a red case limited edition release from Mondo Macabro with a sleeve of reversible artwork, lobby card reproductions and a booklet. 


Special Features:
- NEW! Audio Commentary by Kat Ellinger
- NEW! Video Essay 'Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely'  on the career of David Hemmings by Chris O'Neill (18 min) 
- Alternate Title Trailers: Beyond Erotica (2 min), Lola (3 min) 
- Alternate Title Sequence (7 min) 
- Mondo Macabro Previews (14 min)

This unsettling flick definitely has a Most Dangerous Game vibe to it, but it's perverse and weird along the lines of something Seven Women for Satan (also on Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro). Those elements combined with magnetic turns from Hemmings and Rau makes for something quite special, a wicked euro-cult treat steeped in psycho-sexual sadism.   

Screenshots from the Mondo Macabro Blu-ray: 



















































Extras: