By David Weiner
12:55 PM PDT, June 11, 2013
Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Oz the Great and Powerful; House of Cards and The Newsroom first seasons; Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters; Snitch; Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon 40th anniversary Blu-ray edition and more this week…
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New on Blu-ray & DVD: June 11
Disney
Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Oz the Great and Powerful; House of Cards and The Newsroom first seasons; Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters; Snitch; Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon 40th anniversary Blu-ray edition and more this week…
Oz the Great and Powerful
Disney
This fantastical film imagines the origins of author L. Frank Baum's beloved Wizard of Oz, with James Franco as Oscar Diggs, a small-time circus magician and flimflam man with dubious ethics. Hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he first thinks he's hit the jackpot -- until he meets three witches, Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone’s been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil and put his own magical talents to the test to transform himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz, but a better man as well. Bonus features on the Blu-ray Combo Pack include a blooper reel, a personal take on the movie by Franco and behind-the-scenes featurettes.
The Newsroom: The Complete First Season
HBO
HBO's critically acclaimed show from creator/executive producer Aaron Sorkin includes stars Jeff Daniels, Sam Waterston, Emily Mortimer, John Gallagher, Jr., Allison Pill, Dev Patel, Olivia Munn and Jane Fionda and follows the ACN news team on their quixotic mission to reclaim the legacy of Murrow and Cronkite in the face of a fickle audience, corporate mandates and tangled personal relationships to deliver the news with integrity. The Newsroom: The Complete First Season Blu-ray and DVD includes the full 10-episode season along with extensive bonus materials including deleted scenes, audio commentaries, exclusive interviews, a look at the show's sets and The Rundown, in which stars and producers discuss in detail their experiences shooting the first season in a roundtable setting.
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
Paramount
Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton take on the classic title fairytale characters – only this time, they're all grown up and making up for that "traumatic gingerbread-house incident" that went down when they were just kids. Armed with an arsenal of medieval weapons and playthings, Hansel and Gretel must face off with a new, evil witch (played by Famke Janssen) and her coven, who are kidnapping children for a nefarious plan. Special features include the behind-the-scenes featurettes Reinventing Hansel & Gretel, The Witching Hours and Meet Edward the Troll.
Snitch
Summit Entertainment
Dwayne Johnson plays a tough dad forced to drive for a ruthless drug cartel to save his son in this gritty action-thriller directed by former stunt master Ric Roman Waugh. Based on a true story, Snitch finds Johnson as a concerned father faced with a dramatic choice after his teenage son is wrongly accused of a drug distribution crime. With his boy facing a minimum prison sentence of 10 years, the desperate and determined Johnson makes a deal with the U.S. attorney to work as an undercover informant and infiltrate a dangerous drug cartel (whose key player is played by Benjamin Bratt). Willing to risk everything to free his son, can Johnson make it out alive? Susan Sarandon and Barry Pepper also star.
House of Cards: The Complete First Season
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Oscar nominee David Fincher teams up with Kevin Spacey for this clever and hard-edged thriller of political revenge. Spacey is ruthless and cunning Congressman Francis Underwood, who with his wife Claire (Robin Wright) will stop at nothing to conquer everything in Washington D.C.'s shadowy world of greed, sex, and corruption. Kate Mara, Michael Kelly, Kristen Connolly, Sakina Jaffrey, Constance Zimmer and Corey Stoll co-star.
Enter the Dragon: 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition
Warner Home Video
One of the greatest martial arts movies of all time – and major box-office hits -- starring the iconic Bruce Lee celebrates four decades with a brand-new, re-mastered Blu-ray release. Lee plays a martial arts student recruited by an intelligence agency who uncovers a white slavery and drug-trafficking ring located on a secret island fortress. Along with martial arts champions Roper (John Saxon) and Williams (Jim Kelly), Lee infiltrates the stronghold and enters Han’s brutal mixed martial arts tournament, culminating in an epic fight-to-the-death battle. New bonus materials on the Enter the Dragon 40th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition include three new featurettes on the film and Lee's legacy, plus vintage footage and featurettes, collectible art cards, lenticular card and an embroidered patch.
No Pryor Restraint: Life in Concert
Shout Factory
The original King of Comedy gets his due with an incredible, essential boxed set from Shout! Factory celebrating the life and profane-but-profound work of one of America's greatest comedians. The set contains 7 CDs and 2 DVDs with over 12 hours of prime Pryor hilarity spanning the years between 1966 through 1992 – including nearly two hours of previously unreleased stand-up performances and rare recordings from the Pryor archives. The deluxe book also contains rare photos, multiple essays, exclusive celebrity tributes, a discography, a filmography and a personal note penned by Richard Pryor's widow, Jennifer Lee Pryor. Includes three complete concert films – 1979's Live in Concert, 1982's Live on the Sunset Strip and 1983's Here and Now. CDs include 1971's Craps (After Hours) and 1975's …Is It Something I Said?
The Emperor's New Groove & Kronk's New Groove on Blu-ray
Disney
When the young and spoiled Emperor Kuzco (voiced by David Spade) is transformed into a llama by his sinister advisor Yzma (Eartha Kitt) and her henchman Kronk (Patrick Warburton), it takes a thoughtful peasant named Pasha (John Goodman) to restore the kingdom and show Kuzco just how much fun it is to be true to yourself. The fun film is paired with the sequel Kronk’s New Groove on one Blu-ray!
Atlantis: The Lost Empire & Milo's Return on Blu-ray
Disney
Michael J. Fox voices the hero Milo Thatch as he and his fearless crew dive into the mysteries of the sea and discover the Lost City of Atlantis, on Blu-ray for the first time in a 2-movie collection Blu-ray Combo Pack containing Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Atlantis: Milo’s Return.
Lilo & Stitch and Lilo & Stitch: Stitch Has a Glitch on Blu-ray
Disney
The story of a little Hawaiian girl and her vicious alien buddy is now on Blu-ray in a special edition containing both Lilo and Stitch and its hysterical sequel Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch.
Killing Lincoln
20th Century Fox
This suspenseful thriller based on The New York Times best-selling novel (written by Bill O’Reilly and his researcher and partner Martin Dugard) delivers a thrilling perspective into the criminal mind of John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators in an eye-opening account of the events surrounding the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. Narrated by Tom Hanks and produced by Tony Scott and Ridley Scott, the film stars Billy Campbell as Lincoln. Special features include commentary, an interview with O'Reilly and Uncovering the Truth: The Making of Killing Lincoln.
Rizzoli & Isles: The Complete Third Season
Warner Home Video
Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander are back as Boston detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles, close friends and complete opposites who together solve some of Boston's most notorious crimes. In addition to all 15 gripping episodes of the enormously popular third season, special features include behind-the-scenes featurettes, unaired scenes and a gag reel.
Major Crimes: The Complete First Season
Warner Home Video
Major Crimes picks up where The Closer left off, following one of TV's favorite squad of detectives in the LAPD's Major Crimes division as they head into bold new territory under the leadership of a new boss: Captain Sharon Raydor (played by Mary McDonnell). Can the squad adjust to their new department head while continuing to close the department's highest profile cases, given her long history of internal investigations targeting them and their previous boss? The DVD features all 10 episodes from the new drama’s freshman year, plus behind-the-scenes extras including four featurettes, deleted scenes and a gag reel.