09.26.11 | Chris Cummins | New Releases This WeekPrint this Post
Tags: Ernest Borgnine
Did you hear that? It's the sound of classics rolling in! This week's new DVD and Blu-ray releases are dominated by a variety of yesteryear favorites -- everything from a new anniversary edition of Ben Hur to collections showcasing everyone from Lucille Ball to Ma and Pa Kettle. There's some recent releases available as well, along with plenty of TV offerings both classic and contemporary. So let's check out what titles you'll be wanting to get your hands on in the week ahead!
Ben Hur (50th Anniversary Collector's Edition)
Eleven Oscars, including Best Picture, went to this classic adaptation of the Lew Wallace story of Palestine in the time of Christ. Charlton Heston stars as a Jewish prince sent to the galleys after being falsely accused of trying to murder a Roman governor. His road to vengeance against Roman nobleman Stephen Boyd, the childhood friend who betrayed him, leads Heston to compete in a dangerous chariot race, depicted in one of cinema's most breathtaking action sequences. With Martha Scott, Hugh Griffith; William Wyler directs. This limited-edition collector's edition includes a hardbound book and a reproduction of Charlton Heston's personal diary.
Ma & Pa Kettle Complete Comedy Collection
Looking for timeless laughs? Then check out this five-disc set includes "The Egg and I," "Ma and Pa Kettle," "Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town," "Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm," "Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair," "Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation," "Ma and Pa Kettle at Home," "Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki," "The Kettles in the Ozarks," and "The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm."
Frothy romantic farce about Maggie Putnam (Debbie Reynolds), a showgirl who falls for penniless Air Force sergeant Joe Fitzpatrick (Glenn Ford). Joe wins a shiny red Lincoln Futura (a car that would later become TV's Batmobile) in a raffle and the pair get hitched. But Maggie tests his love when she forbids him from touching her for a full 30 days. With Fred Clark, Eva Gabor, Edgar Buchanan.
Paddy Chayefsky's TV play was adapted by Gore Vidal for this big-screen drama. Bette Davis stars as the working-class Bronx housewife whose dreams of a grandiose wedding for daughter Debbie Reynolds begin to outgrow what cabbie husband Ernest Borgnine can afford. Understated tale also stars Rod Taylor, Barry Fitzgerald; directed by Richard Brooks.
Follow the true story of Belgian-born Sister Ann Sourire, a guitar-playing nun who wrote the song "Dominique" for a motherless young boy. With help from a compassionate priest and a record producer, the song hits the charts and lands Sister Ann a spot on "The Ed Sullivan Show" before she must reconsider her newfound fame. Debbie Reynolds, Ricardo Montalban, Greer Garson, Katharine Ross star.
Inventive comedy with darkly humorous touches about a television writer (Glenn Ford) targeted by a blackmailer who has naked photos of his Broadway actress wife (Debbie Reynolds) taken years earlier. Ford murders the cad, then hides the body near the site of his new gazebo, but things get very confusing when the body appears elsewhere. Carl Reiner, John McGiver also star.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Michael Bay's third film about the robots who are "more than meets the eye" concerns a Cybertronian spacecraft that crashes on the moon in 1961...and the impact it has on humanity 50 years later. As Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) teams with new girlfriend Carly Spencer (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley), Optimus Prime, and the rest of the heroic Autobots, he is thrust into a battle to save the Earth from the evil Sentinel Prime and the dastardly Decepticons. WithJohn Turturro, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Frances McDormand, and John Malkovich.
The Lucille Ball RKO Comedy Collection, Vol. 1
Carol Meeley (Lucille Ball) is the wife of a dimwitted bank teller (Joe Penner) who finds himself accused of collaborating with a gang of robbers. Carol's only hope of clearing her husband's name is by proving he's not nearly smart enough to be a criminal, in the comedic caper "Go Chase Yourself" (1938). With Richard Lane, June Travis. Next, in order to claim a $20 million inheritance, Nancy Crocker Fleming (Ball) simply hires a temporary husband (James Ellison). But their cross-country trip to Reno for a quickie divorce leads to a series of comedic-and romantic-entanglements, in "Next Time I Marry" (1938). Lee Bowman, Granville Bates co-star. And, some of the greats of radio comedy team up for the frantic farce "Look Who's Laughing" (1941). Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy land their plane in Wistful Vista, home of Fibber McGee and Molly, and decide to build an aircraft factory there. Ball co-stars as Bergen's secretary; with Harold Peary, and Jim and Marian Jordan.
Army Wives: The Complete Fifth Season
The friendships between four women and one man who live on a U.S. Army base with their spouses are the focus of this Lifetime drama. Claudia Joy is the unofficial leader of the group; Denise struggles to maintain the appearance of a model military wife; newlywed Roxy tries to fit in; Pamela is a cop-turned-homemaker; and therapist Roland's wife just returned from Afghanistan. Kim Delaney, Catherine Bell, Brigid Brannagh, Sterling K. Brown star. All 13 episodes from season five-including "Line of Departure," "Soldier On," "Strategic Alliances," "Countermeasures," and "Farewell to Arms"-are featured in a three-disc set.
Bored To Death: The Complete Second Season
Struggling Brooklyn-based writer Jonathan Ames (Jason Schwartzman) begins moonlighting as an unlicensed private detective as he nurses wounds left by the girlfriend who recently dumped him and wrestles with his lack of literary success. Created by real-life author Jonathan Ames, HBO's quirky, film noir-inspired comedy also stars Zach Galifianakis as Jonathan's neurotic best friend Ray Hueston, and Ted Danson as his boozy editor and mentor George Christopher. All eight episodes from the second season-including "Escape from the Dungeon!," "Make It Quick, Fitzgerald!," "I've Been Living Like a Demented God," "The Case of the Grievous Clerical Error," and "Super Ray Is Mortal"-are collected in a two-disc set.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: The Eleventh Season
They're not psychics, but the dead speak to them. William Petersen, Marg Helgenberger, George Eads, Jorja Fox, Gary Dourdan and Paul Guilfoyle are the forensics experts of the Las Vegas Police Department's CSI unit, using high-tech science and old-fashioned detective work to solve the city's most baffling and violent crimes. All 22 episodes from season 11-including "Shock Waves," "Man Up," "Targets of Obsession," "Unleashed," and "In a Dark, Dark House"-are featured in a six-disc set.
Can you say spinoff? The setting may have changed, but the emphasis remains on crime and detection in the first "CSI" spin-off. David Caruso stars as Lt. Horatio Caine, a former homicide detective who now heads an elite forensics unit which includes ballistics expert Emily Procter, underwater specialist Adam Rodriguez, streetwise investigator Rory Cochrane, and Khandi Alexander. All 22 episodes from season nine-including "Fallen," "On the Hook," "Wheels Up," "Caged," and "Mayday"-are featured in a six-disc set.
How I Met Your Mother: The Complete Season Six
Told in flashbacks, this imaginative CBS sitcom follows the quest of Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor), a young man spurred by the impending wedding of friends Marshall (Jason Segel) and Lily (Alyson Hannigan), to find the girl of his dreams. With help from self-proclaimed dating expert pal Barney (Neil Patrick Harris), Ted sets his sights on the beautiful Robin (Cobie Smulders). But is she destined to be his true love? Bob Saget narrates as the voice of Ted from the future. All 24 sixth-season episodes-including "Big Days," "Unfinished," "Blitzgiving," "Landmarks," and "Challenge Accepted"-are featured in a three-disc set.
Who loves you baby? Find out with this release! All 25 episodes from the second season-including the two-part "The Chinatown Murders," "Slay Ride," "Loser Takes All," "Queen of the Gypsies," and "I Want to Report a Dream"-are featured in this six-disc set.
Easterner Buster Keaton decides to "Go West" to make a name for himself as a cowpoke, managing to befriend a bovine named Brown Eyes along the way, in a silent comic gem. With Kathleen Myers. Next, milquetoast socialite Buster poses as famed boxer "Battling Butler" to impress a girl, only to wind up facing the real McCoy in a fight. Keatonesque mix of slapstick and pathos also stars Sally O'Neil.
The F.B.I.: The First Season, Vol. 2
With plotlines that were often based on actual cases, this 1965-74 crime drama followed Inspector Lewis Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.), a seasoned agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as he went after mob bosses, extortionists, escaped cons, and other dangerous criminals. With Philip Abbott as Erskine's boss, Arthur Ward; and Stephen Brooks as his partner, Special Agent Jim Rhodes. The remaining 15 episodes from the debut season-including "The Chameleon," "Special Delivery," "The Divided Man," "The Plunderers," and "The Bomb That Walked Like a Man"-are featured in a four-disc set.
The ornery doctor returns! All 21 episodes from the sixth season-including "Broken," "Instant Karma," "Black Hole," "Open and Shut," and "Help Me"-are featured in a five-disc set.
Based on the renowned 2001-2003 BBC comedy, this NBC mockumentary series chronicles the interoffice politics at the Dunder Mifflin Paper Supply Company in Scranton, Pennsylvania. As tactless boss Michael (Steve Carell) presides over his staff-which includes clueless assistant Dwight (Rainn Wilson), bored office drone Jim (John Krasinski), put-upon secretary Pam (Jenna Fischer), and wise temp Ryan (B.J. Novak)-a hilarious glimpse into the contemporary American workplace is revealed. All 25 episodes from the sixth season-including "Gossip," "Mafia," "Scott's Tots," "Manager and Salesman," and "Whistleblower"-are featured in a five-disc set.
The creepy classic finally hits Blu-ray! Duane Bradley and his little telepathic twin brother, Belial, have come to New York City looking for the doctors who operated on them years earlier. When they find the creeps, Belial pops out of his wicker basket and wreaks havoc. Frank Henenlotter's novel horror film stars Kevin Van Hentenryck, Terri Susan Smith, Beverly Bonner. And be sure to read What's in the Basket? and What's in the Basket This Time?
For details and availability of more of this week's new releases, click here.
Here's a look at last week's DVD and Blu-ray releases.
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