A very cool idea with some excellent actors, but it never got up off the ground in my opinion.  When a sudden plague of blindness devastates a city, a small group of the afflicted band together to triumphantly overcome the horrific conditions of their imposed quarantine.  It was beautifully shot and has some very cool intentions.  It’s worth a look.

I love this show and its opening theme song.  I’m so sad it got cancelled.  Writer turned private-eye Jonathan Ames was last spotted duking it out in a dean’s office, (almost) saving Super Ray from a stalker, and endorsing George’s decision to resign from his glossy magazine gig. This season Jonathan will come face-to-face with “furries,” hang with Dick Cavett, and go on the ultimate oedipal investigation.  Very high recommendation.  Looks great and sounds wonderful as almost all HBO releases do.  Plus it has some fun extras.

• Four commentaries with creator Jonathan Ames, actors Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson, Zach Galifianakis, & John Hodgman, and episode directors Michael Lehmann, Tristram Shapeero, & Adam Bernstein
• Inside the Episodes featurettes
• Deleted scenes
• Outtakes

No, not the horror film, but rather the visual and beautiful film in the vein of ‘Baraka’.  A stunning visual symphony in seven movements, CHRONOS embarks on a spellbinding and unprecedented cinematic journey across the world of natural beauty and manmade monuments, exploring the very essence of time. A milestone in the history of giant screen films, CHRONOS imparts a unique vision of our planet – the first non-verbal, non-fiction motion picture filmed in time-lapse photography, scored with exotic instrumentation in a multi-channel Surround soundtrack. Prepare to travel through history in the ultimate home theater experience that may just change the way you look at the world and our place in it.  Highly recommended for you cinephile lovers and high-definition enthusiasts.

• Filmmaker’s commentary
• Globe image locations
• Annotations presenting detailed information about each location

I can’t believe it has been 20 years since this film was released.  It still holds up.  The Hand That Rocks the Cradle is director Curtis Hanson’s suburban horror story of a demented nanny bent on revenge for past wrongs. Peyton (Rebecca De Mornay) was once a happily married woman, but when her doctor husband is accused of assaulting a patient and he commits suicide, her world falls apart and she plots revenge. Claire (Annabella Sciorra), the woman who made the accusation, hires Peyton as a nanny, not knowing of their past involvement. Peyton then proceeds to terrorize the family, attempts to seduce the husband and generally destroy Claire as she feels she has been destroyed. The film, while somewhat implausible, is saved by the strong performances of Sciorra and De Mornay. Rebecca De Mornay has not given such a good performance since Risky Business, and she manages to make Peyton both believable, frightening and sympathetic. De Mornay has many great moments, but the scene, where she slowly destroys a bathroom in her impotent rage is unbelievably powerful. Hanson, a superb director of thrillers, manages to bring all the elements together to make The Hand that Rocks the Cradle a frightening psychological thriller and an interesting look at a woman’s obsessive hatred and envy.  I’m quite surprised there were virtually no extras on this besides a trailer.  For shame.

I actually enjoyed this film when it came out back in 1993.  I don’t know why, but I did.  I keep hearing rumors of a sequel too.  Well, here is the original film in all its glory on bluray.  Sadly no extras.  What gives?  You’re in for a devil of a time when three outlandishly wild witches — Bette Midler (BEACHES, BIG BUSINESS), Sarah Jessica Parker (HONEYMOON IN VEGAS), and Kathy Najimy (SISTER ACT) — return from 17th-century Salem after they’re accidentally conjured up by some unsuspecting pranksters! It’s a night full of zany fun and comic chaos once the tricky 300-year-old trio sets out to cast a spell on the town and reclaim their youth — but first they must get their act together and outwit three kids and a talking cat! Loaded with bewitching laughs, HOCUS POCUS is an outrageously wild comedy that’s sure to entertain everyone!

This is not my favorite HBO show, but it still proves for a good time.  Plus Lake Bell is so amazing and one of the most beautiful women in the world.  This half-hour comedy focuses on the urban adventures of Ben (Bryan Greenberg) an aspiring designer who has seen previous passion projects derailed by fate and fortune, and Cam (Victor Rasuk), Ben’s best friend, free spirit and would-be mogul. This season, as they continue to hustle to get their CRISP line of T-shirts and hoodies off the ground following a (potentially) lucrative trip to Japan, Ben and Cam scour the downtown NYC scene for new business connections, following any lead they can get to get noticed in the ultra-competitive fashion industry. Among those who rub shoulders with Ben and Cam in and around the city are Ben’s ex-girlfriend Rachel (Lake Bell), an interior decorator now searching for meaning after a globe-spanning trip to Africa and Europe; Domingo (Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi), a well-connected street pal with his own “entrepreneurial” business; David “Kapo” Kaplan (Eddie Kaye Thomas), a hedge-fund manager and high-school acquaintance; and Cam’s cousin Rene (Luis Guzmán), an ex-con who is eying his own get-rich scheme by marketing his Rasta Monsta energy drink.  Great release with good extras.

• Three commentaries with creator/executive producer Ian Edelman, executive producer Julian Farino, and actors Bryan Greenberg & Victor Rasuk
• Three Days Downtown featurette
• Inside the Series featurette

Sadly, this series got cancelled as well.  I wish it didn’t, because it was really on to something.  I miss these characters.  Picking up approximately six months after the end of Season Two, Ray (Jane) and his unlikely pimp Tanya (Jane Adams, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) are taking matters into their own hands by opening the ‘Happiness Consultants Wellness Center for Women’ – a front for their gigolo business. Meanwhile, Lenore (Rebecca Creskoff, Justified: The Complete Second Season) seeks revenge for stealing her ‘lifestyle’ idea, and transforms a twenty-five-year-old busboy named Jason (Stephen Amell, The Tracey Fragments) into a new male hooker to rival Ray.  I highly recommend this show.  You’ll love it.

• Hung: Inside the Series featurette with creators/executive producers Colette Burson and Dmitry Lipkin
• Four audio commentaries with Colette Burson and Dmitry Lipkin and writers Julia Brownell, Drew Lindo, Eduardo Machado, and Micah Schraft
• Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy featurette with Lennie James’ Charlie
• Wellness Center Walkthrough of the new set conducted by Colette Burson
• Damon & Darby’s “Where is Henry Ford?” music video
• Alternate ending
• Deleted scenes

As you know, I just love horror films, especially ones from the early 80’s.  It’s cool to see Eli Roth involved with this release.  Directed by Charles Kaufman and written by Kaufman and Warren Leight, the original Mother’s Day follows three young women abducted by homicidal momma’s boys Ike and Addley, while camping. Ike and Addley are goaded by their “Mother” into violent and graphic acts of torture against the three women. While doing everything to stay alive, the three women muster the courage escape, and serve their maniacal abductors some old-fashioned justice!  A great addition to any horror collector’s bluray shelf.

• Audio commentary
• Behind the scenes

• New featurette with Eli Roth

Just stop and click the picture link above.  You are going to want to own this.  On 17-year-old Kate’s last weekend in town before heading to college, she and her geeky friends head to SpaceCON, the local sci-fi convention. There Kate meets Paul, a recently turned teen vampire. When Kate tries to make a move on him, he bites her in the neck. Soon Kate and her friends discover that Paul is not the only vampire at the convention, and it is now up to them to stop the undead and find a way to save Kate before she too turns. The third feature written and directed by 18-year-old phenomenon Emily Hagins, MY SUCKY TEEN ROMANCE is a smartly comic take on the horrors of adolescence.   Very high recommendation.

• Behind the Scenes
• A Deleted Scene
• “Cupcakes” Short Film
• Blooper Reel

Boobs, blood, and fish.  What more could you want?  Prepare for double the action, double the terror and double the D’s. The prehistoric school of bloodthirsty piranhas are back and this time, no one is safe from the flesh-eating fish as they sink their razor sharp teeth into the visitors of summer’s best attraction, The Big Wet Water Park. Starring Danielle Panabaker, Matt Bush, David Koechner, Chris Zylka, Katrina Bowden, Gary Busey, Christopher Lloyd and David Hasselhoff.   Insane, stupid, silly, yet a lot of fun at midnight with friends while under the influence.

• Commentary with the filmmakers
• The Story Behind the DD
• The Hofftastic World of David Hasselhoff
• Wet and Wild with David Koechner
• Busey’s Bloopers
• Short film: A Lesson with John McEnroe
• Deleted scenes

I feel like this didn’t get the release it deserved.  It needs more on it.  More than just being in hi-def.  I love this film with a passion.  It’s one of my favorite horror films.  That being said, this looks great on bluray.     A dedicated student at a medical college and his girlfriend become involved in bizarre experiments centering around the re-animation of dead tissue when an odd new student (Jeffrey Combs) arrives on campus.

I really enjoyed this Stephen King film.  It’s not my favorite, but it’s still scary.  Brian Krause and Alice Krige star in this terrifying tale of modern-day vampires who prey on virtuous young women. Madchen Amick is the sexually curious virgin who falls for the new boy in school (Brian Krause), only to learn too late that he’s a life-sucking Sleepwalker. Mutating at will from golden boy to savage monster, Krause stalks Amick to feed his seductive mother. As the tension mounts (and the casualties pile up), the town’s tabbies gather for a final, chilling showdown with the monsters in their midst — and we all know it’s not nice to hurt people’s felines… With cameo appearances by Stephen King and Clive Barker, Stephen King’s Sleepwalkers is “sexy, sleek, and horrifyingly scary.  Great horror movie addition.

Criterion rolls out the red carpet yet again with ‘Umberto D.’  This neorealist masterpiece by Vittorio De Sica follows the daily life of an elderly pensioner as he struggles to make ends meet during Italy’s postwar economic recovery. Alone except for his dog, Flike, Umberto is determined to maintain his dignity in a city where human kindness seems to have been swallowed up by the forces of modernization. His simple quest to satisfy his most fundamental needs—food, shelter, companionship—makes for one of the most heartbreaking stories ever filmed, and an essential classic of world cinema. Great stuff here.  Highly recommended.

• That’s Life: Vittorio De Sica, a fifty-five-minute documentary made for Italian television in 2001
• Video interview with actress Maria Pia Casilio from 2003
• Trailer
• A booklet featuring an essay by critic Stuart Klawans and reprinted recollections by De Sica and Carlo Battisti, who plays Umberto D.

That’s it for this week.  Stay tuned on Friday for the ultimate Harry Potter Wizards collection.