By David Weiner
11:00 AM PDT, May 21, 2013
Channing Tatum and Rooney Mara experience serious Side Effects; Ah-nold is back in The Last Stand; take a bite out of True Blood season five; Elizabeth Taylor rules as Cleopatra and more in this week's new releases.
1 / 15
New on Blu-ray & DVD: May 21
Open Road Films
Channing Tatum and Rooney Mara experience serious Side Effects; Ah-nold is back in The Last Stand; take a bite out of True Blood season five; Elizabeth Taylor rules as Cleopatra and more in this week's new releases.
Side Effects
Open Road Films
In some instances, death may occur… Channing Tatum and Rooney Mara's relationship undergoes the true test when prescription medication enters the mix in Steven Soderbergh's psychological thriller. Mara plays a troubled woman who is taking major amounts of prescription drugs to help her deal with the anxiety surrounding the pending release of her husband (Tatum) from prison. Jude Law plays a psychiatrist who gets into a relationship with her – and realizes that it may be a deadly mistake. Catherine Zeta-Jones also stars.
Beautiful Creatures
Warner Home Video
Jeremy Irons and Viola Davis, Emmy Rossum, Alice Englert, Alden Ehrenreich, Thomas Mann and Zoey Deutch star in this entertaining film based on the first novel in the best-selling series by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. Set in the spooky south, Ethan (played by Alden) is a young man longing to escape his small town, and Lena (played by Alice) is the new girl with a dark secret – she comes from a family of witches (they prefer the term "casters"). When she turns 16 her powers will be claimed by either the forces of light or darkness, and with only weeks before her birthday, the two lovers are caught in a tug-of-war between good and evil.
True Blood: The Complete Fifth Season
HBO
The fangtastic HBO series gets the blood pumping: Sookie's best friend is dead and an old vampire foe has returned to wreak havoc on the human race as a vampire civil war is brewing. Includes all 12 episodes and bonus features including captivating back stories, enhanced viewing and extensive audio commentaries.
Parker
FilmDistrict
Jason Statham with Jennifer Lopez team up for this smart and sexy thriller that finds a professional thief (Statham) with a solid code of ethics double-crossed and left for dead. Determined to seek revenge, he disguises himself as a rich Texan amid the rich and famous of Palm Beach and teams up with J.Lo's savvy insider to get the job done and get away clean. Bonus features include commentary by director Taylor Hackford.
The Last Stand
Lionsgate
He said he'd be back… Arnold Schwarzenegger returns to the big screen opposite Johnny Knoxville as Sheriff Owens, a former LAPD officer who moves to a small border town after a botched operation in Los Angeles. While protecting the town of Sommerton Junction, the most wanted drug kingpin in the country is driving towards the border at 200 MPH and it's up to Arnold to make the last stand and stop the kingpin before he slips across the border and disappears forever.
Struck By Lightning
New Video Group
Glee star Chris Colfer strikes out on his own in this quirky teen comedy about Carson Phillips, a high school senior with big dreams to get out of his small town. Carson will do whatever it takes to make his dreams come true -- even if that means blackmail. Struck By Lightning also stars Rebel Wilson, Christina Hendricks, Sarah Hyland, Allison Janney and Dermot Mulroney.
Stand Up Guys
Lionsgate
Tough guys Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin channel Goodfellas in their new comic crime thriller that casts Pacino as Val, a guy who is finally released from prison after 28 years, having been incarcerated for refusing to give up one of his close criminal associates. Picked up by his best friend Doc (Walken), the two soon re-team with another old pal, Hirsch (Arkin), and go out on the town to make up for decades of lost time, indulging in sex, drugs and crime. But Doc has a dangerous secret, tasked by a former mob boss to take out Val. Can the men find an acceptable alternative, or will they be forced to confront their past once and for all?
Cleopatra on Blu-ray
FOX
The classic, almost mythical production starring the mesmerizing Elizabeth Taylor as the glamorous and cunning queen of Egypt and Richard Burton as Roman leader Mark Antony – a mega-budgeted film featuring elaborate sets and costumes that nearly bankrupted Twentieth Century Fox -- is now on Blu-ray in celebration of its 50th anniversary! The 243-minute premiere version of the film has been meticulously restored and artfully packaged with a full-color book featuring rare images from the making of the film, plus bonus materials including Cleopatra’s lost footage, the film’s original theatrical premieres in both New York and Los Angeles, commentary from Chris Mankiewicz, Tom Mankiewicz, Martin Landau and Jack Brodsky, behind-the-scenes featurettes and more.
Howl's Moving Castle & My Neighbor Totoro on Blu-ray
Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Two of Academy Award-winning director Hayao Miyazaki’s (2002's Spirited Away) finest animated features make their Blu-ray debut! Witness some of the most unforgettable and imaginative imagery in these two enteraining, energetic tales about the magic of friendship and second chances. Features the vocal talents of such stars as Christian Bale, Josh Hutcherson, Billy Crystal, Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Emily Mortimer, Blythe Danner and Lauen Bacall.
Ultimate Gangster Collection: Classic & Contemporary on Blu-ray
Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Just in time for Father's Day, Warner Bros. is releasing two ultimate collections featuring the greatest gangster films ever made in two volumes – Classics and Contemporary. The Contemporary collection is a 5-disc set with five crime films that include Martin Scorsese’s GoodFellas, The Departed and Mean Streets; Heat starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer; and The Untouchables (a Paramount film) starring Kevin Costner, De Niro and Sean Connery. The four films in the Classics collection, remastered for their Blu-ray debuts, include The Public Enemy and White Heat with legendary performances by James Cagney; Little Caesar with Edward G. Robinson; and The Petrified Forest starring Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis and Leslie Howard. The Classics collection also includes the feature-length documentary Public Enemies: The Golden Age of the Gangster Drama. Both collections also include 32-page booklets with images and additional information about each film.
Vacation & Vegas Vacation on Blu-ray
Warner Home Video
The hilarious Chevy Chase comedy classics are back, with National Lampoon's Vacation celebrating its 30th anniversary with a special edition, while the fourth film in the franchise, Vegas Vacation, is on Blu-ray for the first time! The 30th anniversary edition of National Lampoon's Vacation includes the A&E special Inside Story: National Lampoon's Vacation, as well as an introduction by Chase, Randy Quaid and Matty Simmons, and commentary by Harold Ramis, Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron and Matty Simmons.
The Aquabats! Super Show! Season One!
Shout Factory
From the mind of Yo Gabba Gabba! co-creator and Aquabats! frontman Christian Jacobs comes the ultimate show featuring the crimefighting, surf-rock supergroup! With plenty of comedy, music videos, outlandish villains and guest appearances by such stars as "Weird Al" Yankovic, Jon Heder and Lou Diamond Phillips, The Aquabats! Super Show! is here to entertain!
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise
Shout Factory
Mel Brooks shares a treasure trove of great anecdotes and even gets serious in this first-ever, complete documentary about the showbiz legend that he has actually has agreed to do. In addition to Brooks' perspective and witticisms, friends and colleagues including Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Cloris Leachman, Joan Rivers, Tracey Ullman and, of course, Carl Reiner talk up the man, the myth and the comedy legend.
Captain America: Collector's Edition on Blu-ray
Shout Factory
Fans of the Marvel Comics character can catch the little-seen but highly entertaining 1990 version, now on Blu-ray! Matt Salinger plays the crime-fighting superhero Steve Rogers in a story that spans from World War II to present day. A brave American soldier who volunteers to undergo experiments to become a new super-soldier, codenamed "Captain America," Rogers battles the superhuman Nazi warrior Red Skull (Scott Paulin), only to be locked in suspended animation and awaken 50 years later to save the President of the United States (Ronny Cox) from assassination.