VOL. 109
THE 5-MAN ARMY (1969) - THE 7 FACES OF DR. LAU (1964) - THE FRONT (1976) - GILMORE GIRLS: THE SERIES (2000-2007) - LOONEY TUNES CARTOONS: THE COMPLETE SERIES (2019-2020) - THE DARK BACKWARD (1991)
THE 5-MAN ARMY (1969)
Blu-ray
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: PG
Duration: 110 Minutes
Special Features:
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GILMORE GIRLS: THE SERIES (2000-2007)
LOONEY TUNES CARTOONS:
THE DARK BACKWARD (1991)
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen
Director:
Cast: Peter Graves, James Daly, Bud Spencer, Nino Castelnuevo
Spaghetti western The 5-Man Army (1969) is directed by Don Taylor (Damien - Omen II) and was co-scripted by Marc Richards and Dario Argento (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage), a Zapata western set in 1914 where "the Dutchman" (Peter Graves, Red Planet Mars) has put together a specialized band of outlaws and criminals to steal half a million dollars in gold from a heavily guarded military train to fund the Mexican Revolution. His team is comprised of demolitions expert Captain Nicolas Augustus (James Daly, Planet of the Apes) who served in the military with the Dutchman, the brutish and hulking Mesito (Bud Spence, They Call Me Trinity), Japanese sword-expert Samurai (Tetsuro Tamba, Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs), and former circus acrobat Luis (Nino Castelnuovo, Strip Nude For Your Killer). Handsomely mounted and action-packed, this one is less political than most Zapata westerns and seems content to lay into the action and humor of it all, even a double-triple cross at the end is played with humor. the cast is solid, Graves is a little too squeaky clean for the role here, but he's a charmer still, and seeing Bud Spence as the enormous Mesito busting heads is much fun. We also get a terrific score by Ennio Morricone (Cinema Paradiso) that classes the picture up quite a bit. The new Blu-ray from Warner Archive is gorgeously restored with great color and depth, if you're fan of stuff like The Guns of Navarone, The Dirty, and the The Magnificent Seven, all of which theis film seemingly borrows from, I cannot imagine that you are not going to have a blast with this Italian produced western.
Special Features:
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2:07)
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7 FACES OF DR. LAU (1964)
Blu-ray
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 100 Minutes 3 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: George Pal
Cast: Tony Randall, Barbara Eden, Arthur O'Connell, John Ericson
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 100 Minutes 3 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: George Pal
Cast: Tony Randall, Barbara Eden, Arthur O'Connell, John Ericson
7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964) was the final film directed by the legendary George Pal (The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm), an adaptation of the 1935 novel The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney. The film stars Tony Randall (TV's The Odd Couple) as the titular Dr. Lai, an elderly Chinese man who rolls into the Western frontier town of Abalone, Arizona and sets up a peculiar circus that has an deep effect on the townspeople, who are in the midst of considering selling their town to a crooked business tycoon Clint Stark, played by Arthur O'Connell (The Power). The title 7 Faces of Dr. Lau is based on the fact that the multi-faced Randall plats not just the titular character, but the fantastical creatures and characters that populate his circus, including as Merlin the Magician, Pan, the God of Joy, Great Serpent, the snake-haired Medusa, blind future-seer Apollonius of Tyana, and even the Abominable Snowman! Other notable appearances include Barbara Eden (The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm) as widowed librarian Angela Benedict, and Royal Dano (Ghoulies II) as one of Stark's henchmen. The fantastical western set flick is just a lot of fun, seeing Randall in a total of eight roles, most of them being completely unrecognizable, is a testament to the actors chops, as well as make-up effects of Oscar-winner William Tuttle. The film also showcases a terrific stop-motion Loch Ness Monster sequence by Jim Danforth (Clash of the Titans). The new restoration on Blu-ray from Warner Archive is an absolute delight, it looks brilliant, and I appreciated the handful of extras, including a 12-min archival featurette of Tuttle Bill Tuttle, the Oscar-winning head of the MGM make-up department, we see him working on a wax mold for Humpy Dumpty using wax and plaster of Paris, creating the mold, and a brief tour of his studio as he shows off famous face molds of Doris Day, Martha Ray, Fred Astaire, Jimmy Durante Paul Newman, Clark Gable, Anne Francis, and more.
- King of the Duplicators (12:23)
- Tom and Jerry Cartoon: The Cat Above and The Mouse Bow (6;40) directed by Chuck Jones
- Theatrical Trailer (3:09)
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THE FRONT (1976)
4K Ultra HD + Digital
Label: Sony
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: PG
Duration: 94 Minutes 46 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen
Director: Martin Ritt
Cast: Woody Allen, Zero Mostel, Herschel Bernardi, Michael Murphy,, Andrea Marcovicci
The Front (1976) is directed by former backlisted director Martin Ritt (Paris Blues) and was written by blacklisted screenwriter Walter Bernstein (Fail-Safe), it's a film that examines the Communist "witch hunts" of the '50s with a sense of humor, and stars fallen comedy icon Woody Allen as Howard Prince, a restaurant cashier, and part-time bookie, who "fronts" for a writer-friend Alfred (Michael Murphy, Phase IV) to submit TV scripts on his behalf when he is blacklisted for his subversive political affiliations. He submits the scripts to network producer Phil Sussman and finds good work on a TV series that hires Catskills comedian Hecky Brown (the also blacklisted Zero Mostel, The Producers). The gig fronting for Alfred is so successful that other blacklisted screenwriters approach him, and he strikes similar deals with them. Eventually his success attracts the attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), who utilize Hecky, who is being threatened with being blacklisted because he once subscribed to the communist rag The Daily Worker to impress a woman he was trying to sleep with, to dig up dirt on his new friend Howard. It's certainly the most humorous telling of Hollywood anti-communist witch hunt, and surprisingly it works. Allen is funny as the clueless and well-meaning loser Howard, but for me it was Zero Mostel who steals the show, he has that Catskill's funnyman energy, but also poignant sadness and despondency as well, meeting a grim end, which fuels the finals scene of Howard brought in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee to testify, with a memorable final line. The new 4K Ultra HD release from Sony includes the Audio Commentary with Actress Andres Marcovivvi and Film Historians Nick Redman and Julie Kirgo that first appeared on the OOP Twilight Time Blu-ray, as well as the Theatrical Trailer, a Slipcover and a redemption code for a digital copy.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Actress Andres Marcovivvi and Film Historians Nick Redman and Julie Kirgo
- Theatrical Trailer
- Slipcover
- Digital Copy
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42-Disc Blu-ray Set
Label: Warner Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 6732 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 (Season 1-5), DTS-HD MA 5.1 )Seasons 6,7, A Year in the Life) with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD
Cast: Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Melissa McCarthy, Keiko Agena, Yanic Truesdale, Scott Patterson, Kelly Bishop, Edward Herrmann, Liza Weil, Jared Padalecki, Milo Ventimiglia, Sean Gunn, Chris Eigeman, Matt Czuchry
I know this set is making a lot of Gilmore Girls fans quite happy, collecting the original seven season run, plus the follow-up series Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. To be honest this series was never for me, yeah, I'm that guy, but the wife and daughters would watch this and I would just tune out. The series follows the arc of three generations of women matriarch Emily Gilmore (Kelly Bishop, Wonder Boys), her daughter Lorelai (Lauren Graham, Bad Santa), and her granddaughter Rory (Alexis Bledel, Sin City) in the town of Stars Hollow, a charming and idyllic place chock full of quirky characters with heartwarming stories and plenty of melodrama that kept my wife coming back for the duration of the series. The 42-disc set arrives in a pair of Epik-Pak high volume keepcases, each disc gets it's own tray so no stacked discs here folks. The reverse side of the wraps feature episode/special features listings, and the two keepcases slide into a sideloading slipcover.
Special Features:
Season 1
- Welcome to the Gilmore Girls
- Gilmore Goodies and Gossip - Rory's Dance: On-Screen Factoids
- Gilmore-isms
Season 2
- A Film by Kirk
- International Success: How Other Countries Welcome the Girls
- Gilmore Goodies and Gossip - A Ticket, A Tasket: On-Screen Factoids
- Who Wants To Argue?
Season 3
- All Grown Up
- Who Wants To Fall In Love?
- Our Favorite '80s
Season 4
- Gilmore Goodies and Gissip
- Who Wants To Get Together?
Season 5
- Gilmore Girls Turns 100
- Behind the Scenes of the 100th episode
- Who wants To Talk Gilmore?
Season 7
- Gilmore Fashionistas
- A Best friend's Peek Inside the Gilmore Girls with Keiko Agena
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THE COMPLETE SERIES (2019-2020)
Label: Warner Bros.
Region Code:
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 150 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Cast: Bob Bergen, Candi Milo, Eric Bauza, Fred Tatasciore, and Jeff Bergman
Looney Tunes Cartoons; The Complete Series (2019-2024) ran for six seasons on HBO Max, a sort of soft reboot of the classic Looney Tunes franchise, which when it was originally announced made my eyes roll straight into the back of my head. I didn't want to have any of it, and I never even gave it a chance. Well, shame on me, because I have been binging this six-disc set all week, and it's pretty fantastic stuff. They've brought back iconic Looney Tunes characters including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Tweety Bird, Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Taz, Marvin the Martian, and many others, with updated storylines and using digital animation tools, but for the most part they have kept the classic character designs, keeping the 6-8 minute run time with the same vibrant opening title cards and fun music cues, now provided by composers Carl Johnson and Joshua Moshier. The recreation of the iconic voices is pretty spot on as well, credit to the voice talents, including Eric Bauza, Jeff Bergman, Bob Bergen, Fred Tatasciore, Candi Milo for keeping things traditional, honoring the work of Mel Blanc and others. The humor is toned down in some ways, a lot of the original shorts would not pass muster these days for various reasons, but the sight gags and slapstick humor and razor-sharp wit on display here never left me wanting. This is very much in the spirit of the original theatrical shorts, it's not some cynical re-imagining, which is what I had imagined it would be, and I am pleased as punch to say I love this spin on an old favorite, If you've been enjoying the classic Looney Tunes restorations from Warner Archive I say jump head first into this delightful set to further satisfy your cravings for animated laughs and giggles, pretty sure you won't regret it.
Special Features:
- Looney Tunes Presents: Sports Made Simple
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Blu-ray
Label: Sony Pictures
Region Code:
Rating: R
Duration: 103 Minutes 39 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo or Spanish with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Adam Rifkin
Cast: Judd Nelson, Bill Paxton, Wayne Newton, Lara Flynn Boyle
The Dark Backward (1991), directed by Adam Rifkin (Detroit Rock City) is a black-comedy about a garbage man named Marty (Judd Nelson, Breakfast Club) who aspires to be a stand-up comic. The film is set in some dark dystopian city where it's always night, the streets are littered with trash, and the Blump corporation seems to own everything. The only fan of his stand-up is his pal Gus (Bill Paxton, Aliens), a fellow garbageman who always carries an accordion with him. It's Gus who convinces sleazy talent agent Jackie Chrome (Wayne Newton, Vegas Vacation) to check out his stan-up, which goes over like a lead balloon. Soon after his waitress girlfriend Rosarita (Lara Flynn Boyle, Twin Peaks) dumps him. When Gus notices a large lump growing in the center f Marty's back he goes to see a quack Dr. Scurvy (James Caan, Thief) he doesn't think much of it, dismissing him, but over the next few days a full grown arm with a hand grows out of Marty's back. It freaks him out but because of it Chrome gives him a shot, re-branding him with the stage name "Desi the Three-Armed Wonder Comic," with Gus now providing accordion accompaniment. The new revised act goes gangbusters, while his stand-up still stinks people are curious about a man with a third arm, and he begins to climb the ranks of entertainment. This is a dark and wildly strange flick, I had never even heard of it till i found it on DVD for $3 over a decade ago at Big Lots, I saw a Judd nelson/Bill Paxton movie I'd never seen, with James Caan and Lara Flynn Boyle, I thought 'what the fuck is this?', I have to watch it. I was not disappointed, a bizarre dissection of showbiz filtered through an icky dystopian world where everyone is sweating constantly, you have to wonder how did this ever get made, let alone released theatrically. The truth is, nowadays it would not, but the early 90's was a strange and special time for independent cinema, they took more risks and celebrated, even annoyingly weird cinema-farts like this one. I am shocked that Sony are re-issuing this on Blu-ray, shocked, but also grateful, I love this fucked-up showbiz tale, there's nothing else quite like it, it's sort of gross and weird, and I love it that about it - I mean, this cast is fucking nuts, too, How I ask? The Blu-ray upgrade from Soiny looks and sounds terrific, plus we get all the archival extras from the previous 2007 special edition DVD.
Special Features:
- Introduction by writer/director Adam Rifkin (2:55)
- Audio commentary by Rifkin, producer Brad Wyman, and actors Judd Nelson and Bill Paxton
- Deleted Scenes with Introduction by Rifkin (17:50)
- Outtakes (6:12)
- 15th Anniversary Q&A with Rifkin, Wyman, Nelson, and Paxton (39:10)
- "Blumps Squeezable Documentary" Making-Of Featurette (30:06)
- Animated Clip from the film (1:31)
- "Catch My Dreams" Clip Compilation (3:31)
- Cannes Promo Shorts (5:04)
- Head Nerd (1:26)
- James Caan (1:59)
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