News

DVD Playhouse—July 2011

By Allen Gardner

The Music Room (Criterion) Satyajit Ray’s 1958 masterpiece looks at the life of a fallen aristocrat as a metaphor for an India that is not only becoming Westernized, but modernized technologically and culturally beyond recognition. When the beloved music room, where he has hosted lavish concerts in the past, starts falling into disrepair as attendance drops steadily, the man realizes his way of life is vanishing. Stunningly shot in black & white, one of Ray’s finest works. Bonuses: Documentary on Ray from 1984 by Shyam Benegal; Interviews with Ray biographer Andrew Robinson and filmmaker Mira Nair; Excerpt from 1981 roundtable discussion between Ray, critic Michael Ciment, director Claude Sautet. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Full screen. Dolby 1.0 mono.

Beauty And The Beast (Criterion) Jean Cocteau’s sublime adaptation of the classic fairy tale become a beloved classic upon its 1946 release, and hasn’t faded since.

Your Weekly Source for the Newest Releases to Blu-Ray Tuesday, June 14th, 2011 Gerard Depardieu stars in 36th Precinct (2004) from Palisades Tartan Video. Aaron Eckhart fights against a devastating alien invasion in Battle: Los Angeles (2011) Martin Lawrence & Brandon T. Jackson star in Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son (2011) Sean Patrick Flanery & Willem Dafoe star in The Boondock Saints (1999) Steve McQueen & Edward G. Robinson star in The Cincinnati Kid (1965) Owen Wilson stars in The Farrelly brothers’ Hall Pass – Blu-Ray/DVD Combo (2011) Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix – Ultimate Edition (2007) Harry Potter & The Half-blood Prince- Ultimate Edition (2009) Theresa Russell stars in Nicolas Roeg’s Insignificance – Criterion Collection (1985) Keanu Reeves stars in the futuristic sci-fi actioner Johnny Mnemonic (1995) Ray Stevenson, Val Kilmer & Christopher Walken star in Kill The Irishman (2011) Magnet presents the period epic Kingdom Of War: Parts 1 & 2 – Two-Disc Edition (2006) Legend Of The Fist: The Return Of Chen Zhen – Collector’s Edition...

Most of you didn’t seem to care for it, but, that certainly didn’t stop it from performing decently at the box office did it?

It made close to $3 million after 5 weeks in theaters, late last year, on a budget of about $1.6 million.

And now, N-Secure is heading to home video land – specifically DVD and Blu-ray, in a deal with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Bonus features will include a behind-the-scenes mini-documentary titled, Inside N-Secure.

Release date for both is set for June 14th. Costs? $17.99 for the DVD; $26.99 for Blu-ray. You can pre-order right now, via Amazon.com.

N-Secure features an ensemble cast, including Lamman Rucker, Tempestt Bledsoe, Essence Atkins, Elise Neal, Cordell Moore, and others. It was written by Julius Lewis & Christine Taylor; David M. Matthews directed.

The trailer follows again below, if you missed it the first time:...

To be honest Cosby kid Tempestt Bledsoe hasn’t had what one could call an A-list career after leaving the long running and still popular TV show with Bill Cosby. No doubt her lowest point so far has been a supporting role in the recently released alleged thriller N-Secure which is currently in the lead for the title of the Worst Film of 2010 (or at least the Most Unintentionally Funniest Film of 2010)

However, things might be looking up for Vanessa Huxtable since it was just announced that she will replace Nicey Nash as the host of the Style Channel series Clean House, in which Ms. Bledsoe will visit different families around the country helping them to clean up their messed up lives.

Ok so it isn’t the greatest gig on TV but, hey, at least she’s back on TV on a weekly basis. She can only go up from here.

It is no wonder that Nashville entrepreneur Julius Lewis wrote more than just the checks for N-Secure. You know your seeing a film written by a guy who simply wants to make a movie where the main character talks to themselves, revealing what their face should. Let’s call this a “duh” moment that a test screening might have stopped. This isn’t the only thing wrong with N-Secure, I’m convinced a feature film instantly doomed when it opens with a montage of “happy couple” going out, living and loving. If you a regional film funded by non-professionals who decide to make a film because you like movies – you know further doom is around the corner when the camera lingers on names of local brands and restaurants for too long.

This filmmaking probably exists in every city lurking in the shadows of film artists in the avant-garde. Buffalo is...

In a quiet weekend in the arthouse world, documentary Waiting for "Superman" battled back to the top of the heap. Last weekend's champ N-Secure fell to second, while Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger had a mostly unsuccessful expansion. Finishing in 13th place among all releases, Waiting for "Superman" was up four percent to $774,502 at 290 locations. "Superman"'s per-theater average of $2,671 wouldn't necessarily guarantee further expansion for most movies, but, with Paramount Vantage's hefty marketing muscle behind it, it will likely be hitting more theaters next weekend. Since opening last month, the documentary has earned $3.7 million. Yielding first place to "Superman", urban drama N-Secure fell 53 percent to $551,096 at 445 theaters. In ten days, it's made $1.97 million.You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger was up 57 percent to $432,016, but that was due to its jump to 402 theaters from 118 last weekend. The movie's $1.84 million total was still far behind...

A few days late on this… but here ya go anyway.

The next film in the Twilight series , titled, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Parts 1 & 2, will see the addition of 3 black female vampires to its cast.

Tracey Heggins, Judi Shekoni and Toni Trucks. Heggins is best known for her role in Barry Jenkins’ feature film debut, Medicine for Melancholy; Brit Shekoni was featured in the UK TV show Eastenders; and Trucks had a role in Musics and Lyrics, with Drew Barrymore, and co-stars in N-Secure – a film we’ve profiled on this blog.

As for what their respective roles in Breaking Dawn will be – Heggins and Shekoni will play descendants of the The Amazon Coven, considered among the oldest vampires in the world, who have existed for centuries outside of human civilization, and don’t maintain a human form. Heggins’ character’s name will be Senna, and Shekoni’s will be Zafrina.

While it was comparatively unheralded prior to release, N-Secure managed to easily top all limited releases in its debut weekend. Waiting for "Superman" had another solid showing, and John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy expanded its way up the chart. Tea Party documentary I Want Your Money was unable to grab much cash from audiences, while Clint Eastwood's Hereafter had a strong limited . N-Secure opened to $1.17 million at 486 locations, which was good for 14th place on the overall weekend chart. The drama had a poor $2,400 per-theater average. This was a recent pick-up for Freestyle Releasing, and it yielded the distributor's biggest opening since The Collector from last July. Waiting for "Superman" nearly doubled its theater count to 182 and was up 16 percent to $742,725. This was the documentary's largest weekend yet, though its per-theater average of $4,081 was a step down from past sessions. Through its fourth weekend, "Superman" has earned $2.52 million. Nowhere Boy...

Both have been covered previously on this blog. One seemed to appeal to most of you, the other didn’t as much.

Regardless of what you think you know of either, both open in theaters today, in limited releases, and you’re encouraged to go see one, or both of them this weekend to find out if your preconceptions are confirmed or negated.

I’ve seen one – Legacy (my review of it Here). And I’ll be giving N-Secure a look over the weekend, since New York is one of the cities in which it’s opening, with a review of it to follow sometime thereafter.

Legacy stars Idris Elba, and was written and directed by newcomer, Thomas Ikimi; N-Secure features an ensemble cast, including Lamman Rucker, Tempestt Bledsoe, Essence Atkins, Elise Neal, Cordell Moore, and others. It was written by Julius Lewis & Christine Taylor; David M. Matthews directed.

To...

N-Secure the new indie drama opening this weekend will be showing at several Birmingham area theaters. In the film which stars Lamman Rucker (Why Did I Get Married?/Why Did I Get Married Too?), Essence Atkins, Cordell Moore, Tempestt Bledsoe, Denise Boutte and Elise Neal, a successful man's corrupt character leads to his downfall. The movie is directed by David M. Matthews and co-written by Julius Lewis and Christine Taylor and was filmed in the neighboring state of Tennessee. It can be seen at the following theaters: Carmike The Summit 16 Regal 16 Cobb Theaters-Hollywood 16 Cinemas...