The Best in Twisted can be Found in ALFRED HITCHCOCK: The Ultimate Collection on Bluray!

Jeri Jacquin

Coming on Bluray is the most amazing collection of films by one of Hollywood’s iconic storyteller and filmmaker as Universal Pictures Home Entertainment brings ALFRED HITCHCOCK: The Ultimate Collection.

Known as the Master of Suspense, Alfred Joseph Hitchcock has brought suspense and mystery to the big screen. Coming to Hollywood in 1939, he worked the town with a unique style that made him a staple on the big screen and small.

Introducing theatre goers to his work is the 1927 film The Lodger that began the idea of a thriller. In 1939, it would be another Hollywood great David O. Selznick brings Hitchcock into the fold and the two often disagreed on the films being made. The film REBECCA the next year is America’s first glimpse at what he could do.

For several years after Hitchcock mixed genres with such films as MR. & MRS. SMITH and SABOTEUR. One of my favorites is the 1945 film SPELLBOUND and it could be easily because of Gregory Peck but honestly it is also the amazing story.

He would follow it up with NOTORIOUS with another stellar actor in Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman who was also in SPELLBOUND. These films should be a must-see because they are an introduction to this amazing collection of films on Bluray.

PSYCHO was released in 1940 starring Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh and brought audiences the first fear of showers that continues with me at least! In 1963, Hitchcock brings another side of fear with Rod Taylor and Tippi Hendren being stalked by THE BIRDS. Tippi Hendren returns in 1964 with a psychological thriller in MARNIE. 

What makes this collection amazing are the fifteen films including PSYCHO, THE BIRDS, VERTIGO, REAR WINDOW, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, THE MAN WHO KNEW TO MUCH, MARNIE, SABOTEUR, SHADOW OF A DOUBT, ROPE, THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY, TORN CURTAIN, TOPAZ, FRENZY and FAMILY PLOT.

The actors in these films range from Jimmy Stewart, Paul Newman, Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, Sean Connery, Joseph Cotton, Bruce Dern and John Forsythe. Let us not forget the actresses that include Kim Novack, Shirley MacClaine, Tippi Hendren, Ingrid Bergman, Julie Andrews, and Karen Black. That is absolutely a list of stellar talent.

But the Bluray collection doesn’t stop there as ALFRED HITCHCOCK: The Ultimate Collection also includes seven television episodes from Alfred Hitchcock Presents and three television episodes from The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

Still not enough? Well then, how about fifteen hours of Bonus Features that include: Documentaries, Expert Commentaries, Interviews, Screen Tests, Storyboards and so much more!

Each disc comes with a look at the original posters and colorful list of each discs bonus feature. Also included is a stunning 58-page booklet that is filled with color information and tucks neatly into the creative box with film photos.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us all to experience and re-experience in our own home theatres. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

It doesn’t seem enough to say this is the collection that Hitchcock fans need to have in their home entertainment library. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has truly outdone themselves because ever film in this collection is a masterpiece! Each film brings something unique, thrilling and yes, keeps me still leery of birds and shower curtains!

The holidays are here and Hitchcock wouldn’t mind at all being in a film fans stocking! I am a fan of rainy days and trust me when I say a cup of something warm, a fuzzy blanket and a stretch on the couch will be happening because these films are what these kinds of days are made for.

From Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on stunning Bluray is ALFRED HITCHCOCK: The Ultimate Collection!

In the end – there is no mind like Hitchcock’s!

FIREFLY Land on Bluray with a Stellar 15th Anniversary Collectors Edition

Jeri Jacquin

Available on Bluray from 20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment and writer/director Joss Whedon is the amazing series that keeps bringing fans back again and again is the series FIREFLY.

It is the year 2517 and mankind has found its way into a new star system in their Firefly-class ship. Aboard the ship is the crew of Serenity is Captain Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and first mate Zoe Washburne (Gina Torres). Veterans of the Unification War, they join other settlers and refugees who live away from the central government.

Now dealing in smugglings, two of their passengers River Tam (Summer Glau) and brother Dr. Simon Tam (Sean Maher) join the crew. Along with Zoe’s husband Wash (Alan Tudyk), Inara Serra (Morena Baccarin), Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin), ship’s mechanic Kaylee (Jewel Staite) and the Serenity’s moral compass Derrial (Ron Glass).

From the moment the series begins, Captain Mal looks for abandoned ships to salvage. After a confrontation with an Alliance federal agent, Mal brings Simon and River aboard the Serenity.

Finding an abandoned ship, the crew also find Reavers and are attacked and the Alliance docks with the Serenity. Knowing that Simon and River are at risk, the rest of the crew is interrogated while the two passengers hide. This won’t be the only time the brother and sister will be put to the test.

When the Serenity needs engine repair that causes the life support system to be inoperable, the crew has only one hope – to find a passing ship. Putting the crew in shuttles, Mal remembers how the crew of the Serenity came to be.

With the ship in working order, it is River who now needs help. Simon needs to find a hospital but it is Jayne that has other plans. The Alliance isn’t going to reward Jayne’s actions and neither is Mal who has the choice of life and death.

Mal’s unexpected wife has returned and wants his help to relieve a wealthy gent of his funds. Once they come in contact, Mal is given a shock that is either a good thing or bad depending on how he wants to handle Saffron’s antics.

Zoe and Mal are surprised to hear of the passing of their friend from the Battle of Serenity Valley, Tracey. They learn what their friend had been doing and how the Alliance was not only after Tracey but what he had been doing. Putting his crew in jeopardy, Mal is faced with the ultimate decision.

Inara needs Mal and the crews help when her friend Nandi is having trouble in her brothel. A man named Ranse Burgess is threatening one of the women who is pregnant. But what happens between Mal and Nandi could change everything.

River becomes disoriented and the crew isn’t sure whether there is a safety issue. It is Jubal Early they should be concerned with as the bounty hunter captures Simon. The safety issue isn’t an issue any longer when River does what she must to help her brother and the crew of Serenity.

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment brings award-winning global product and new entertainment to DVD, Bluray, and Digital HD. There amazing collection offers fans an opportunity to expand their own home libraries with the best films. To discover what other titles they have please visit www.fox.com.

The Bluray includes the fantastic Bonus Features of the **New** Firefly Poster and Collectible Character Cards Inside Packaging as Gift With Purchase for a Limited Time Only, Disc One: Here’s How It Was: The Making of Firefly Featurette, Disc Two: Firefly Cast Roundtable: Lunch with Joss, Nathan, Alan and Ron, Disc Three: Serenity: The 10^th Character Featurette, Deleted Scenes, Alan Tudyk’s Audition, Joss Sings the Firefly Theme, Joss Tours the Set and Gag Reel.

FIREFLY aired on Fox in 2002 and cancelled by episode eleven. What is amazing about this is that FIREFLY won a Primetime Emmy in 2003 for Outstanding Special Visual Effects. Even TV Guide ranks it as one of the shows “Cancelled Too Soon” to which fans couldn’t agree more.

For those that attending San Diego Comic Con International, it is clear that FIREFLY isn’t about to be forgotten anytime soon. Every year there is a cry for the show to be started up once again and ears listening for Joss Whedon to say ‘yes, it will happen’.

I have met Nat Fillion and asked him if he would be on board and I heard him say it at several Con’s - “it was everything and how can everything not be enough?” In other words, those fourteen episodes are as perfect of a FIREFLY world as we are going to get close to and that’s okay actually.

That’s what continues to make the series special and 20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment knows that. Capturing it in an amazing box set, this 500 year into the future look at characters that walk about on Earth today shows no signs of stopping fans from keeping FIREFLY a part of their home entertainment library.

Watching FIREFLY once again is such a joy because of the fantastic mesh of actors that brought Serenity to life. It is a series that is full of action, storyline and even has sharp humor that I enjoy. Let this 665 minute 3-disc DVD Collectors Edition be a way to bring more fans into the fold and let them in on the adulation for our favorite Captain – Nathan Fillion!

In the end – hang on for the ride of your life!

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Commemorates 20 Years of Slaying in a DVD Box Set

Jeri Jacquin

It has been twenty years since Buffy introduced us to a series that still brings fans to their feet. If you are ready to revisit the gang, well, 20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment has put together an amazing boxed set that is going to deserve a special space in your home entertainment library with BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER!

Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is a young girl going about her life as any other teenager would arriving in Sunnydale with her Mom Joyce (Kristine Sutherland). Except for one thing, Buffy isn’t exactly a normal teenager. In fact, she comes from a line of Vampire Slayers who battle the forces of evil. Getting her through it all is her Watcher Giles (Anthony Steward Head) and the Watchers’ Council.

Trying to start over, Buffy attends Sunnydale High and meets Xander (Nicholas Brendon) and Willow (Alyson Hannigan). It doesn’t take long before The Master (Mark Metcalf) becomes a threat wanting to take over Sunnydale through the portal of Hellmouth.

Buffy and the Scooby Gang also deal with the vampires Spike (James Marsters) and Drusilla (Juliet Landau) (although I find the name Spike hilarious). The young Slayer also finds love with Angel (David Boreanaz), a vampire who has a curse that could put a stake right through their relationship. Devastated by the pain she thinks she has caused, Buffy leaves Sunnydale.

Not for long however as Angel needs her help but that isn’t the only thing that is about to change as Giles is replaced by the Watcher’s Council with Wesley (Alexis Denisof). Buffy isn’t happy with anything they are doing and decides to go it on her own. Of course all of this as Graduation Day approaches and the Mayor (Harry Groener) decides to become a total demon – literally – bringing about one big graduating sending off!

Buffy and Willow decide to attend college in Sunnydale but Xander decides to become a member of the working class. Buffy learns there is a military group called The Initiative below the campus and Spike’s return doesn’t last long. Giving him a little technology boost, Spike becomes one of the Scooby Gang. Buffy meets Riley Finn (Marc Blucas) and they begin dating but all the joy is put on hold when a creature named Adam (George Hertzberg) go after Buffy and The Initiative.

When a Hell God named Glory (Clare Kramer) is on the search for a special key, what comes next hits closer to home, especially when the key is Buffy’s sister Dawn (Michelle Trachtenberg). Giles returns because of Buffy’s demands to The Watcher’s Council as Spike comes to terms with his own feelings by leaving. Buffy discovers that Glory has taken Dawn and the only way to get her back is by her own life sacrifice.

But her life isn’t about to be taken without the Scooby Gang coming in to help but Buffy isn’t exactly happy about the return. The crazy continues when Xander after proposing to Anya (Emma Caulfield) is left at the altar, Dawn is lashing out, Willow is addicted to the unusual and now The Trio is trying to kill an already worn out Buffy. When Giles tries to help set everything back to order, Spike loses control and seeks out a demon who will help make him evil again. He wants to hurt Buffy in the worst way and the demon obliges!

When the Turok-Han vampire army is raised, there is a shaking up everywhere. The Watchers’ Council is demolished and Slayers begin seeking refuge with Buffy. Led by Caleb (Nathan Fillion) who is an evil preacher, the Hellmouth bursts with demons. Willow must help to bring power to the Slayers and Angel returns to help as well.

In an epic finale, all the vampires and Hellmouth begin a battle with an ending no one could see coming!

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment brings award-winning global product and new entertainment to DVD, Bluray, and Digital HD. There amazing collection offers fans an opportunity to expand their own home libraries with the best films. To discover what other titles they have please visit www.fox.com.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Bonus Features include **New** Official Buffy Dark Horse Comic Book Featuring Exclusive Cover and Coloring Sheet Inside Packaging as a Gift with Purchase for a Limited Time Only, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete series Season 1-7 along with Special Features Material from Previous Seasons.

Created by Joss Whedon, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER began it’s run in 1997 on The WB. The series would continue until 2003 (and that’s quite a run folks) signing off on UPN.

That didn’t stop the Buffy-ness train from rolling strong as fans continue to celebrate all things BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. The spin off ANGEL is another series created by Joss Whedon giving the dark character time in Los Angeles as a private detective. There would also be cross over appearances because, lets be honest, you can’t keep these two apart for long.

There is also the comics of BUFFY that was taken on by Dark Horse with Whedon writing an eight-issue storyline. There are also BUFFY novels published by Pocket Books with sixty stories in all. If video games are your thing then know that BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER has it’s place there as well.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER made lists that included TV Guide, Empire, The Hollywood Reporter, Time, AOL TV and Rolling Stones 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

That means that you get to celebrate Buffy and the Scooby Squad again and again with this frakken cool as hell box set from 20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment. There are 39 discs containing 144 episodes and Special Features that are going to blow your mind.

The Comic Book by Dark Horse and the Original Coloring Sheet are extras that are more fun than a vampire slayer admirer should be allowed to have.

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER is a series that took risks and reached into the farthest parts of our imagination to thrill us each week. Gellar and the amazing cast of characters gave us action, thrills, suspense, mystery and made it all look so very seamless and easy.

Trying to be a normal teen is hard enough but when you are a slayer and evil is pretty much guaranteed to show up on your doorstep, Buffy and the gang gave us their all. This is a group of characters that fans line up to see again and again with no hesitation in their dedication to good storytelling and fantastic characters.

Now, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Commemorates 20 Years of Slaying with one of the best boxed sets I’ve ever seen. This is a marathon waiting to happen like no other and 20^th Century Fox Home Entertainment does it in style.

In the end – they brought slaying to a whole new level!