By David Weiner
4:59 PM PST, February 11, 2014
Cameron Diaz and an all-star cast go wild in The Counselor; Harrison Ford commands Ender's Game; Robert Redford is adrift at sea in All is Lost; The Best Man Holiday celebrates and more in this week's new releases.
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New on Blu-ray & DVD: February 11
20th Century Fox
Cameron Diaz and an all-star cast go wild in The Counselor; Harrison Ford commands Ender's Game; Robert Redford is adrift at sea in All is Lost; The Best Man Holiday celebrates and more in this week's new releases.
The Counselor
20th Century Fox
Cheetahs, trip wires, a slick Brad Pitt, a slinky Cameron Diaz, a cool Michael Fassbender and Javier Bardem crazy hair: It all adds up to one wild Ridley Scott movie based on Cormac McCarthy's first screenplay! Fassbender plays the title character, who gets in way over his head when he gets involved with the drug trade. Set in the Southwest, the dusty thriller also stars Penelope Cruz, Dean Norris, John Leguizamo and Natalie Dormer.
Ender's Game
Lionsgate
When an alien race threatens our very existence, will the brilliant mind of a boy on the verge of manhood be the key to our survival? Harrison Ford stars in this action-packed, futuristic thriller that follows the recruitment and rigorous training of Ender Wiggan (played by Asa Butterfield), a shy-but-strategically brilliant boy who is put through the paces at Battle School in outer space. Can he rise through the ranks and demonstrate a fierce ability to out-think those who are more physically imposing than him? Based on the bestseller by Orson Scott Card and directed by Gavin Hood, Ender's Game co-stars Hailee Steinfeld, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis and Abigail Breslin. Special features include an exclusive 45-minute "making of" featurette, deleted and extended scenes, filmmaker commentary and more.
Austenland
Sony Pictures
Keri Russell dives into the deep end as a fan of the classic novelist of romance/class politics in Austenland, co-starring Jane Seymour and Jennifer Coolidge. Based on the bestselling novel by Shannon Hale, the comedy casts Keri as Jane, a woman who is so obsessed with all things Jane Austen that she spends her life savings on a trip to an eccentric resort where guests experience complete immersion in the Regency era. Armed with her bonnet, corset and needlepoint, Jane strives to avoid spinsterhood, but has a difficult time determining where fantasy ends and real life -- and maybe even love -- begins. Produced by Twilight author Stephenie Meyer and co-starring JJ Feild, Bret McKenzie, Georgia King, Ricky Whittle and James Callis of Battlestar Galactica, bonus features include commentary with Meyer and director Jerusha Hess, plus a spirited Q&A with the cast of the film.
All Is Lost
Sony Pictures
Robert Redford delivers one of the most stunning and acclaimed performances of his career as a lone man struggling to survive on the sea in All Is Lost. The gripping survival drama of courage and perseverance features the Oscar winner as a man who must battle to survive after his boat is wrecked in the open seas. The film was written and directed by J.C. Chandor, the Oscar-nominated writer of Margin Call. Bonus features include commentary by the director and producers as well as captivating, in-depth behind-the-scenes featurettes including a look at the film's director, star, music and more.
The Best Man Holiday
Universal
It's The Big Chill for a new generation as Morris Chestnut hosts his old college pals 15 years later -- and very little has changed -- in the highly anticipated follow-up to 1999's The Best Man, which has Chestnut, Taye Diggs, Regina Hall, Terrence Howard, Sanaa Lathan, Nia Long, Harold Perrineau, Monica Calhoun and Melissa De Sousa reuniting over the Christmas holidays, only to discover just how easy it is for long-forgotten rivalries and romances to be ignited. Malcolm D. Lee is also at the helm for this sequel to his directorial debut, which also features new cast member Eddie Cibrian.
The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box
Image Entertainment
An all-star cast including Michael Sheen, Sam Neill, Ioan Gruffudd, and Game of Thrones vixen Lena Headey star in this edge-of-your-seat thriller based on the novel by G.P. Taylor, which casts Aneurin Barnard as Mariah Mundi, a young man whose life is turned upside down when his parents vanish and his younger brother is kidnapped. Teaming up with Will Charity of the Bureau of Antiquities, a trail of clues leads them to the darkly majestic, steam-powered Prince Regent Hotel. Infiltrating the hotel to spy on Luger, Mundi soon discovers a hidden realm of child-stealing monsters, deadly secrets, and the existence of a long-lost artifact with devastating supernatural power. Directed by Jonathan Newman, The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box also stars Tristan Gemmill, Oliver Stark, Ian Reddington and Keeley Hawes. Bonus features include a "making of" featurette.
The Jungle Book on Blu-ray
Disney
Disney goes way beyond the "Bare Necessities" with the all-new Jungle Book Diamond Edition, on Blu-ray for the first time. The 19th and last animated film that Walt Disney personally touched is based on Rudyard Kipling's classic tales and follows the adventures of Mowgli, a jungle boy making his way back to the man-village with the wise panther Bagheera and his best friend, the happy-go-lucky Baloo the bear, by his side. Along the way he meets the hypnotic python Kaa, an elephant troop and the swingin' monkeys led by King Louie the orangutan -- all the while making sure to avoid the menacing tiger Shere Khan. Bonus features include an alternate ending, Bear-E-Oke intermission hosted by Baloo, Music, Memories & Mowgli: A Conversation with Richard M. Sherman, Diane Disney Miller and Floyd Norman, The Bare Necessities: The Making of The Jungle Book and much more.
Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth
HBO
Controversial former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson bares all in this one-man stage show directed by Spike Lee. Raw, honest, powerful and full of humor, the film features Tyson opening up about his troubled youth, landmark boxing career, key people in his life, controversies, time in prison, self-examination, family and new beginnings. Bonus features include a featurette with interviews with Lee and Tyson, along with executive producer/writer Kiki Tyson and executive producer Jon Kilik, that discuss the story behind Undisputed Truth.
Rocky Heavyweight Collection
20th Century Fox
Sylvester Stallone's iconic character is back on Blu-ray with all six knockout Rocky sagas in one "Heavyweight Collection." From the Oscar-winning 1976 champ Rocky all the way to the comeback flick Rocky Balboa 30 years later, relive the triumphs and tragedies of Philadelphia's rags-to-riches-to-rags heavyweight champ! Bonus features include 8mm Home Movies of Rocky narrated by director John G. Avildsen and production manager Lloyd Kaufman; video commentary with Sylvester Stallone; the three-part documentary In the Ring and featurettes on the makeup, music, directing and camera work of the Rocky movies; tributes to Burgess Meredith and James Crabe; Stallone on a 1976 episode of the Dinah! talk show and much more.
Killing Kennedy
20th Century Fox
Rob Lowe takes on the role of a lifetime, portraying President John F. Kennedy in the film based on the best-selling book Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard. The story follows the trajectories of two men -- JFK and Lee Harvey Oswald (played by Will Rothhaar) – as they each head on a track that would alter the course of history, culminating in not one but two shocking deaths that stunned the nation. The film also stars Ginnifer Goodwin as Jacqueline Kennedy, Jack Noseworthy as Bobby Kennedy and Michelle Trachtenberg as Marina Oswald.
Wadjda
Sony Pictures
Explore the hilarious, heartbreaking and inspiring world of Wadjda, a fun-loving 10-year-old girl with big dreams and loads of optimism living in Saudi Arabia. She has her heart set on a beautiful new bicycle, but her mother won’t allow it, fearing repercussions from a society that sees bicycles as dangerous to a girl's virtue. Determined to buy the bike on her own, Wadjda must grapple with the many contradictions that challenge her world. Bonus features include filmmaker commentary, a "making of" featurette, DGA Q&A and more.
The Americans: Season One
20th Century Fox
Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys headline this suspenseful thriller about undercover Russian spies in 1980s Washington. D.C. Philip and Elizabeth Jennings seem to be a typical suburban couple, but they're actually lethal KGB agents plotting to bring down America. As the Cold War escalates, Philip and Elizabeth must take extreme measures to continue their mission and keep their true identities hidden. But when an FBI agent moves in across the street, they become ensnared in a pulse-pounding game of cat and mouse. Bonus features include filmmaker commentary , deleted scenes, a gag reel, Executive Order 2579: Exposing The Americans, Perfecting the Art of Espionage and more.
The Armstrong Lie
Sony Pictures
The shocking story of Lance Armstrong's scandalous fall from grace is chronicled in this riveting documentary from Oscar winner Alex Gibney, who had unprecedented access to both the Tour de France and Armstrong, who became the center of a federal criminal investigation and an investigation by the US Anti-Doping Agency after years of denying allegations of doping and condemning ex-cyclists who were guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs -- and was ultimately stripped of his 7 Tour de France titles. Bonus features include filmmaker commentary, deleted scenes and a Q&A with Alex Gibney, Frank Marshall, Bill Strickland, Jonathan Vaughters & Betsy Andreu.
Dallas: The Complete Second Season
Warner Home Video
Dallas said goodbye to one of the most iconic television villains of all time, J.R. Ewing, devilishly brought to life by series star Larry Hagman, in the second season of this TNT series. The four-disc DVD collector’s set features all 15 episodes from the second season, plus over 3.5 hours of exclusive bonus features, including an exclusive interview with the late Larry Hagman, an extended-cut episode with never-before-seen footage from J.R. Ewing’s funeral, a cast and crew tribute to Hagman, and more.