Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Blu-ray 28th April Release

The Reader [Blu-ray]

Weinstein Co. / 2008 / 124 Minutes / Rated R
Street Date: April 28, 2009







Genres: Drama

Starring: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, Matthias Habich
Director: Stephen Daldry

Disc Features:

  • Featurettes (56 minutes)

  • Deleted Scenes (41 minutes)

  • Theatrical Trailer

The Uninvited [Blu-ray]

Paramount Home Entertainment / 2009 / Rated PG-13
Street Date: April 28, 2009







Genres: Horror

Starring: Kevin McNulty, David Strathairn, Emily Browning
Director: Charles & Thomas Guard

Plot Synopsis: The china-doll features of Emily Browning (A Series of Unfortunate Events) are the eerie center of The Uninvited, an American remake of the wildly popular Korean horror film A Tale of Two Sisters. Browning stars as Anna, a young girl being released from a mental hospital following the harrowing death of her mother. But when she returns home, she discovers her father (David Strathairn) has fallen under the sexual spell of her mother's former nurse, Rachael (Elizabeth Banks, Zack and Miri Make a Porno), despite the open hostility of Anna's sister Alex (Arielle Kebbel, John Tucker Must Die). When Anna sees the ghost of her mother point at Rachael and scream "Murder!", Anna and Alex begin to investigate Rachael's past and make some unsettling discoveries. The Uninvited combines two horror trends: Twist endings (in this case, more than one) and recycling Asian horror images (particularly wet, crawling corpses). There's nothing particularly outstanding about The Uninvited, but it's superior to more lackluster Asian horror remakes like One Missed Call. The three lead actresses all have strangely glossy faces that look molded out of plastic, which adds a perhaps unintentional layer of creepiness.

Disc Features:
• Featurette: "Unlocking the Uninvited"
• Deleted scenes and alternate ending

Bride Wars [Blu-ray]

Fox Home Entertainment / 2009 / 89 Minutes / Rated PG
Street Date: April 28, 2009







Genres: Comedy, family

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Kate Hudson
Director: Gary Winick

Plot Synopsis: How important is the perfect wedding? Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Liv (Kate Hudson) have been best friends since childhood and each has always dreamed of an extravagant wedding at the Plaza hotel. When both friends get engaged in the same week, they rush to the exclusive wedding planner Marion St. Claire (Candice Bergen) to book the perfect weddings at the Plaza hotel. The reservations get mixed up and both weddings end up scheduled on the same day and, since there are no other suitable openings available at the Plaza, the friends find themselves in the impossible situation of having to decide who will sacrifice her long-held dream and change venues. It turns out that neither woman is willing to give up her plans for a perfect wedding and the friends turn against one another in a hilarious battle that results in everything from blue hair to rumors of pregnancy and embarrassing home videos accompanying one bride's walk down the aisle. Can even a life-long friendship survive the emotional turmoil of two weddings gone wrong? Bride Wars is an amusing look at the trials of friendship and love that's sure to inspire laughter and perhaps even a tear or two.


Hotel for Dogs [Blu-ray]

DreamWorks Home Entertainment / 2009 / 100 Minutes / Rated PG
Street Date: April 28, 2009






Genres: Comedy, family

Starring: Emma Roberts, Jake T. Austin, Lisa Kudrow, and Don Cheadle
Director: Thor Freudenthal

Plot Synopsis: Everyone deserves a loving family, but foster kids Andi (Emma Roberts) and Bruce (Jake T. Austin) have been placed with a flaky couple who care more for their aspiring rock careers than their foster children. Even though Andi and Bruce's mischievous tendencies repeatedly get them into trouble, the siblings are essentially good kids who care deeply for one another and their secretly adopted dog Friday. After a close call with the local pound, the kids end up searching for Friday in an abandoned old hotel where they find several stray dogs seeking shelter. The kids' compassion for the homeless dogs compels them to begin caring for the strays and they soon join forces with three other local kids to take in strays from across the city. Bruce is a clever inventor whose innovative gadgets ensure top-notch care and constant entertainment for all the dogs (as well as a multitude of laughs from the audience). Unfortunately, Bruce's and Andi's devotion to the dogs eventually causes them to pass up what may be their last chance for a better foster home. When the police storm the hotel and take all the dogs to the pound, the kids make a daring attempt to rescue the dogs that will likely land them in separate group homes. Can social worker Bernie (Don Cheadle) somehow convince the authorities, and perhaps a loving family, that the children were just doing what was right? Hotel for Dogs is a funny family film based on Lois Duncan's book of the same name and is appropriate for most ages 5 and older in spite of its PG rating for mild thematic elements, language, and some crude humor.

Disc Features:
  • Audio Commentary - The fun kicks off with this group chat, with director Thor Freudenthal and producer Ewan Leslie, and young cast members Emma Roberts and Jake T. Austin. This is actually better than most group tracks, were the participants talk over each other or just make jokes. All four have something to offer, with nice coverage of the production side, as well as the character and stories. It's also fun to hear Roberts and Austin, who are full of the enthusiasm typical of young actors. A fun commentary.
  • Featurette: "The Making of 'Hotel for Dogs'" (HD, 19 minutes) - The main featurette, all the commentary participants return for the usual on-set interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, but it's the dogs that are the real star of this show. And the stars behind them are the trainers, who here have to work with the actors to get all the action to line up (as surprisingly little CGI was used).
  • Featurette: "K-9 Casting" (HD, 6 minutes) - A closer look at assembling the dogs for the film, which required carefully selecting size, breed, and ability.
  • Featurette: "Bark On Cue" (HD, 5 minutes) - Another cute featurette on dogs, this time looking at the often-elaborate training methods required to get all the dogs to work together in a shot.
  • Featurette: " That's the Coolest Thing I've Ever Seen" (HD, 6 minutes) - Finally, we take a break from the canines to check out the production design of the hotel itself, particularly the various contraptions seen throughout the movie.
  • Deleted Scenes (HD, 11 minutes) - Next up are eight deleted scenes. Nothing here is exceptional, though there is some nice interaction between Roberts and Austin. Quality is strong, with most of the scenes looking close-to-final cut quality.
  • Still Galleries (HD) - There are three in all: "On-Set Action," "Puppy Love" and "Dog People."
  • Theatrical Trailer (HD) - Finally, we have the film's original theatrical trailer in full HD.










What Doesn't Kill You [Blu-ray]

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment / 2008 / 100 Minutes / Rated R
Street Date: April 28, 2009






Genres: Thriller, drama.

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Mark Ruffalo, Amanda Peet, and Donnie Wahlberg
Director: Brian Goodman

Plot Synopsis: Brian (Mark Ruffalo) and Paulie (Academy Award® nominee Ethan Hawke, Best Actor In a Supporting Role for Training Day, 2001) are two lifelong friends who grew up like brothers on the gritty streets of south Boston. They started early as street thugs living by the criminal code, doing petty crimes and misdemeanors that grew increasingly more serious. Eventually they fall under the sway of organized crime boss Pat Kelly (Brian Goodman). As Brian becomes increasingly lost in a haze of drugs and 'jobs,' he consistently disappoints his loyal wife (Amanda Peet) and their two sons. Torn between the desire to be a good husband and the lure of easy money, Brian must make the hardest choice of his life.

Disc Features:
  • Audio Commentary - This thoughtful track allows writer-director-actor Brian Goodman and writer-actor Donnie Wahlberg, who was instrumental in getting the project off the ground, the chance to get under the skin of this very personal movie.
  • Deleted and Alternate Scenes (SD, 16 minutes) – Thirteen deleted and alternate scenes give us additional glimpses of character.


Back Catalogue Blu-ray:

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)