User blog:Ceauntay/This Week on Blu-ray and DVD - April 26, 2011

A long and awaited final episode of Rita Christensen's most popular book series of all-time, "Jane Hoop Elementary: The Final Rush: Part 1" is coming home this week to DVD & Blu Ray. The end has just begun. After the sad death of their good friend David Johnson (Nick Richards), Danny Gorden (Blake Brown), Alec Gutzwiller (Ben Linkin) and Rebecca Henry (Amy Tammie) goes on a big mission together to destroy the Final Rush, by collecting all three most powerful objects they have carried - The First, The Crytsal Power and the Magic Ball - hidden in three places. With all three, they combine them with the ultimate power together can become a one true superhero. They also are in their long way to be battling off against Catwoman into the final battle of good vs. evil, they go face to face to take over the world and their city of Cincinnati.

Experience Part 1 of the Epic Finale in a stunning Blu Ray Disk including a first look of the first scene "Jane Hoop Elementary: The Final Rush: Part 2" before it opens in theaters on July 8, 2011. Bring it home on Friday, April 29, 2011.

At the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, Bob Dylan caused a ruckus when he followed up three acoustic numbers with an electrified set at a festival that had forbidden performers to be wired. Traditionalists like Pete Seeger were so outraged that, according to Arlo Guthrie, they tried to pull the plug on Dylan. In the crowd, some cheered while others booed. But from that moment on, folk music was changed. It's Dylan's birthday next month, not now, but three releases this week celebrate the man and his music: a Blu-ray of "Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back," the vintage documentary that Ranjan Pruthee says brings Dylan's rebel image to life (clip); a Blu-ray of "The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival, 1963-1965" (which includes footage of that rebellious performance—trailer); and a DVD of "Bob Dylan Revealed," a new 2011 documentary. If I were Dylan, who turns 70 this year, I'd look in the mirror to make sure I looked okay. It almost feels like a tribute. Then again, maybe this week all things indie and quirky are blowin' in the wind. For the first week that I can remember, there isn't a single big-studio big title being released. But don't think twice, it's alright. The times they are a-changin', and maybe it's time you took a look at some "out there" offerings.

This is a good week to sample anime, for example. "Eden of the East: The King of Eden" (on Blu-ray and DVD) features the usual masters of war, with power brokers, apocalyptic scares, and, just like a woman, a hero who already saved the planet once and seems poised to do so again. Kenji Kamiyama's film has a distinctive look to it, and maybe the New York setting is a way to bring newbies to anime (trailer). The other anime offering worth a look this week is the more traditionally animated "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time,", about a teenage girl who discovers she has the ability to move through time like a rolling stone (trailer). At first she tries to do what all of us would do--become a voyeur and manipulate time to her advantage--but then she discovers that it's desolation row when you try to do something like that, positively 4th Street. The biggest title this week is probably "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (Criterion Blu-ray) (trailer), based on a book by "gonzo" journalist Hunter S. Thompson and starring Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro and Tobey Maguire. Terry Gilliam directed this film, which prompted only one star from Roger Ebert. He must have been hopping mad and mumbling "I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more" as he wrote his review, because the rest of planet just accepted it as just another story about a gonzo journalist who goes to Vegas with his psychopathic lawyer to have psychedelic experiences. Dean Winkelspecht gave it a 9 out of 10 in an earlier review. . . so I guess Dean and Roger won't be hosting a TV show together any time soon.

The highest-profile foreign language release this week is "3 Idiots" (2009), a comedic romp (It's alright Ma, I'm only bleeding) that broke all sorts of box-office records in India (clip). College and college pals get spoofed, but there's also a little wedding crashing, a funeral that gets weird, and a little subterranean homesick blues in the "Animal House" vein. I don't know. They still look like idiots to me.

Two other foreign-language films are worth noting. "The Scent of Green Papaya," a sensuous, visceral film about a Vietnamese girl who goes becomes a servant in the home of a musician and eventually becomes involved with him, even though he is engaged (trailer). Anh Hung Tran's film was nominated for an Oscar and won both the Golden Camera and Award of the Youth at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. And from France comes "Betty Blue" in (what else?) Blu-ray, about a handyman who meets a wildly unpredictable young woman who encourages him in his writing and seems like just what he needed. . . until her behavior becomes more erratic and he begins to realize it's all over now baby blue (trailer). But how do you get rid of a psycho girlfriend? Or do you even want to?

Maybe it takes a superhero, or a whole bunch of them to rescue you during a week that has no blockbuster releases. Something like Vol. 1 or 2 of "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes," out on DVD this week from Disney, who, you may recall, acquired Marvel after they sold Miramax and is now running this old show on Disney XD (trailer). Play it again, Mr. Tambourine Man.

Here are select new releases for the week of April 26, 2011: BLU-RAY Betty Blue (Original Theatrical Release) (1986 French romantic drama) Blood Out (2011 direct-to-video action) Blow Out (Criterion) (1981 Brian De Palma crime drama/mystery) Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back (1967 documentary) Chawz (2009 South Korean comedy-horror) Cinderella - Birmingham Royal Ballet Daylight (1996 Sylvester Stallone action-adventure) Dementia 13 (+ DVD) Dinoshark (2010 made-for-TV sci-fi) Dorm That Dripped Blood, The (+ DVD) Eden of the East: The King of Eden (+ DVD) (anime) El Topo (1970 Mexican fantasy-Western) Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998 Hunter S. Thompson "adventure") 5 Centimeters per Second (2007 anime) Girl Who Leapt Through Time, The (2006, anime) Human Planet Holy Mountain, The (1973 German fantasy-comedy) Jolene (2008 indie drama) K-On! Vol. 1 (anime) Machine Girl (2008 Japanese crime-comedy) Other Side of the Mirror, The: Bob Dylan Live at the Newport Folk Festival, 1963-1965 Poor Pretty Eddie (+ DVD) (1975 drama-horror) Sacrifice (2011 indie crime thriller) Scent of Green Papaya, The (1993 Vietnamese drama) Sniper: Reloaded (2011 action-drama) South Park: Season 14 Terror, The (+ DVD) (1963 Roger Corman B movie) Universe, The: The Complete Series Megaset RECENT RELEASES Blood Out (2011 direct-to-video action) Human Planet Marvel's The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Vol. 1 Marvel's The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Vol. 2 Sniper: Reloaded (2011 action-drama) Summer Eleven (2010 teen girl coming-of-age drama) TCM: Moguls & Movie Stars - A History of Hollywood CATALOG TITLES Blow Out (Criterion) (1981 Brian De Palma crime drama/mystery) Invitation to the Dance (1956 wordless Gene Kelly dance-fantasy) Others, The (2001 Nicole Kidman mystery-thriller) Others, The (2-Disc Collector's Edition) (2001 Nicole Kidman mystery-thriller) TV-ON-DVD American Experience: Stonewall Uprising (PBS) Date with the Angels: 1957-1958, Starring Betty White Dinoshark (2010 made-for-TV sci-fi) Demob (British WWII-era comedy) Doc Martin: Collection, Series 1-4 Elvis Costello, Spectacle: Season 2 Forgiveness (2010 PBS documentary) Growing Pains: Season 2 Lucy Show, The: Season 4 Mongolian Death Worm (2010 SyFy) More Sex & the Single Mom (TV drama) Nova: Making Stuff President's Book of Secrets, The (History channel) Revenge of the Bridesmaids (2010 TV romantic comedy) South Park: Season 14 Stan Lee's Superhumans (History channel) Student Services (French, 2010 TV hooker movie) Testees: Complete Series (2008 comedy) Universe, The: The Complete Series Megaset Upstairs Downstairs (2011 British) INDIE/ART-HOUSE/FOREIGN Adua & Her Friends (1960 Italian dramedy) Bob Dylan Revealed (2011 documentary) Dhobi Ghat (Mumbai Diaries) (2010 drama) Importance of Being Earnest, The (2002 dramedy) Jolene (2008 indie drama) My Girlfriend Is a Gumiho (2011, Korean) Opa! (2005 treasure-hunt comedy) 3 Idiots (2010 Indian comedy) Sacrifice (2011 indie crime thriller) Yanni: A Living Legacy (indie bio) ANIME Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box 5 5 Centimeters per Second (2007) Girl Who Leapt Through Time, The (2006) K-On! Vol. 1 Naruto Shippuden: Box Set 6 Shinkai: Collection