Superman Unbound
Blu-ray Multipack | DVD | Instant Video
Directed by James Tucker
Starring Matt Bomer, Stana Katic, Molly C. Quinn, John Noble
Release Date: May 7, 2013

First and foremost, I’m not a huge Superman fan. I prefer my heroes a bit more…mortal, you know? That said, I am sometimes forced to reassess a character based on who is writing the storyline, script, what have you. Animated superhero shows have a certain appeal to me, regardless of the main characters. Watching the Super Friends on Saturday morning is probably one of my favorite childhood memories and I find any excuse to try to relive that excitement. And the chance to watch and discuss Superman Unbound was way too cool to pass up. Now on to the review…

DC Entertainment does love to change up the voice actors quite a bit, don’t they? This incarnation of the Man of Steel is voiced by none other than White Collar star Matt Bomer. This became a very distracting issue for me, just to let you know. I kept envisioning Big Blue as an art thief in New York and not the Kryptonian hero of Metropolis. But maybe that’s just me [...]

Today’s Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon today is the Singin’ In The Rain: 60th Anniversary Collector’s Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo box set for 58% off and The Forever Marilyn Blu-ray Collection Blu-ray Edition, which contains seven movies starring Marilyn Monroe, for 74% off.

- Singin’ In The Rain: 60th Anniversary Collector’s Edition – $35.49 (58% off the list price of $84.99).

- The Forever Marilyn Blu-ray Collection – $35.49 (74% off the list price of $99.98).

Note, this deal is only for today, Wednesday, May 8, 2013, until 11:59pm PST while supplies last [...]

Pawn
DVD | Blu-ray | Streaming
Directed by David A. Armstrong
Starring Ray Liotta, Nikki Reed, Forest Whitaker, Marton Csokas, Sean Faris, Michael Chiklis, Stephen Lang, Common, Max Beesley, Ronald Guttman
Anchor Bay Films
Originally Released: April 23, 2013

Pawn is one of those convoluted crime thrillers, told out of sequence, making up pieces to a puzzle that will cause you to keep guessing throughout the movie. Featuring Michael Chiklis and Ray Liotta among many other big names, and alongside a stellar performance by Sean Faris, this is one of those gangster/heist style mystery flicks that provides more questions than it does answers, though resonant of movies like Dog Day Afternoon.

Pawn is set in a small-town diner, which is taken over by three British gangsters planning a robbery of the location. The diner serves as a legitimate front for a big name in organized crime, and while the gangsters think they’re in the job for the money, their leader Derrick (Michael Chiklis) is after a very specific item: a hard drive with data that contains names of big players. [...]

The Blu-ray box set deal of the week over at Amazon this week is for the Star Wars: Prequel Blu-ray Trilogy (3-disc set with Episodes I-III) and Star Wars: Original Blu-ray Trilogy (3-disc set with Episodes IV-VI) for only $32.99 each (that’s 53% off the list price of $69.99). This offer ends May 4, 2013.

There’s also the entire saga Blu-ray box set of all six movies, Star Wars: The Complete Saga, that’s currently available for the discounted price of $88.95. With the full box set is 9 discs, including one all the The Star Wars Documentaries [...]

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 3 – Blu-ray
Starring Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, Wil Wheaton, Colm Meaney, Whoopi Goldberg
Paramount Home Entertainment
Release Date: April 30, 2013

Paramount is slowly but surely remastering and enhancing each season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and now sees the release of the Blu-ray for Season 3, which was the season when the series really took off. When TNG started coming out on DVD, Season 3 was the first box set I purchased, because while I’m a great fan of TNG, I’ve had difficulty sitting through some of those early episodes where the show was still finding its footing in the late 1980s (although, the pilot was awesome). Back in those days, people were used to one Star Trek and one Star Trek only. Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov – those were the characters who entered people’s living rooms each week and these are who viewers wanted to see. TNG was initially met with resistance, especially since it had a new Captain commanding a new Enterprise in the future. [...]

Right now, Amazon is selling the Firefly: The Complete Series box set on DVD for only $14.99 (that’s 70% off the list price of $49.98) and Blu-ray for only $19.99 (that’s 50% off the list price of $89.99).

The series was created by Joss Whedon and starred Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, and Adam Baldwin.

See below for a list of bonus features included in the DVD and Blu-ray box sets [...]

The Gold Box spotlight deal of the day at Amazon today is the Fast and Furious 1-5 Bundle on Blu-ray for only $37.99 (that’s 63% off the list price of $102.90).

The DVD bundle is also on sale today for only $27.49 (that’s 62% off the list price of $71.90).

The Blu-ray bundle has all five Fast & Furious movies on Blu-ray as well as a Digital Copy, along with bonus features for all the movies like commentary, deleted scenes, and behind-the-scenes features.

- The Fast and the Furious
- 2 Fast 2 Furious
- The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
- Fast & Furious
- Fast Five

Note – this deal is valid only for today, Wednesday, April 24, 2013 til 11:59pm while supplies last [...]

In 1981, maverick Pittsburgh filmmaker George Romero, still hot off the smashing worldwide success of his full-color zombie horror epic Dawn of the Dead, made the most personal movie of his career: Knightriders. An intimate and action-packed story of a traveling troupe of artists, actors, and stunt riders who engage in jousting matches on souped-up motorcycles, Knightriders was the first major screen role for future star Ed Harris and overcame lackluster box office and initial audience reception to become a cult classic that continues to endure as one of Romero’s finest movies more than three decades later.

British home entertainment outfit Arrow Video has granted Knightriders its first release on Blu-ray in the entire civilized this month and is celebrating the occasion in high style by giving the movie a full restoration and some new in-depth supplements. (A new Knightriders Blu-ray will be out this July for the U.S.) [...]

In honor of today being Superman’s 75th Birthday, Amazon currently has the Superman: The Motion Picture Anthology (1978-2006) Blu-ray box set on sale.

This 8-disc deluxe set includes all five Superman films to date, along with expanded/director cuts for the first two films, as well as over 20 hours of bonus features, like movie deleted scenes; commentaries; Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman; documentaries and TV specials; the 1940s cartoons; the George Reeves Superman material; and much more.

Films included are:

- Superman The Movie
- Superman The Movie: Expanded Edition
- Superman II Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
- Superman III
- Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
- Superman Returns [...]

Zombie Flesh Eaters
Blu-ray | DVD
Directed by Lucio Fulci
Starring Ian McCulloch, Tisa Farrow, Richard Johnson
Arrow Films
Release Date: December 3, 2012

Right night, Amazon has the Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy Blu-Ray Edition Gift Set for only $47.99 (that’s 60% off the list price of $119.98).

Also, the price of the standard edition Blu-Ray is down to $39.96 (that’s 50% off the list price of $79.98), while the DVD has been reduced to only $24.99 (that’s 50% off the list price of $49.98) [...]

Samsara
Blu-ray | DVD | Instant Video
Directed by Ron Fricke
Theatrical Release Date: August 24, 2012
Blu-Ray Release Date: January 8, 2013

From the creators of the 1992 award-winning documentary Baraka comes Samsara – a visual treasure beyond price. Both films are non-verbal and gather an overwhelming fund of thought and a very remarkable volume of rare images of locations on planet Earth that have the tendency to both startle and hypnotize. Baraka acknowledged our planet and the life that inhabits it. It was astonishing in its vast extent of novel images that have not been replicated since. The vivid freshness of that film’s imagination was once thought to be unparalleled. In 2012, Baraka’s director Ron Fricke and his production team released to our senses Samsara, which, uncannily, harbored the same eye-popping 70mm format its predecessor used and even discerning more distinctness this vast planet of ours tends to hide from us.

Samsara provides for its audience images that are more disturbing than the scenic, contemplative ones apparent in Baraka. This is clearly deliberate because Samsara is not concerned with meditating on the magnificence that earth supplies, rather it is a somewhat unsettling film that roams the vastness of this planet (25 countries filmed over the course of five years) with an intent on discovering images that coincide with the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth within Hinduism and Buddhism [...]

The Gold Box spotlight deal of the day over at Amazon today is the Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection Blu-ray box set for $249.99 (that’s 50% off the list price of $499.99).

This 31-disc box set comes with all 8 Harry Potter films in Blu-ray, DVD, and UltraViolet digital format, as well as over 37 hours of special features, including new ones for this limited-edition set.

- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 [...]

On March 19, 2013, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey comes to DVD ($14.99), Blu-ray (for $25.99), and 3D Blu-ray Combo Pack (for $27.99). If you pre-order now, you’ll lock in those lower prices (the retail price is 28%-48% higher than the pre-order prices); Also, if you purchase the Lego Lord of the Rings video game for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 or Nintendo Wii, you can receive $15 off your pre-order purchase of The Hobbit 3D Blu-ray or Blu-ray editions. Visit the Sale page to make your purchases.

To coincide with the release of The Hobbit, Amazon has The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy Extended Edition Blu-ray box set on sale right now for only $49.99 (that’s 58% off the list price of $119.98 and $30 less than the usual discounted price at Amazon).

The 15-disc extended edition LoTR Blu-ray set box contains the extended versions of all three of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films — The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King — along with over 26 hours of behind-the-scenes and making-of bonus material, including the Costa Botes documentaries. It also comes with the digital versions of the films [...]

The recent Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven, Traffic) thriller Side Effects is making its way to home video with the announcement that the movie will be arriving on Blu-ray and DVD on May 21st. If you can’t wait until then, it will also be available via digital download beginning on May 7th.

The movie stars Rooney Mara (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Social Network) as a woman who begins suffering from terrifying anxiety after her husband (Channing Tatum — Magic Mike, 21 Jump Street) is released from prison for insider trading. Seeking an answer, she sees psychiatrist Dr. Banks (Jude Law — Sherlock Holmes, Road to Perdition), who prescribes her an experimental new drug, which ends up having deadly side effects. [...]