Jackie Chan Double Feature: Crime Story & The Protector Blu-ray & DVD (Shout! Factory)
A Jackie Chan Double Feature…a Bruce Lee documentary…and low-budget kung fu. It’s a good week to be a fan of Asian cinema! If you’re interested in any of the following titles, you can support the site by ordering through our affiliate. We appreciate it!
Here are your Blu-ray and DVD releases for the week of 1/15/13:
ASIAN CINEMA
Jackie Chan: Crime Story/The Protector (Blu-ray/DVD) – it’s a Jackie Chan Double Feature from Shout! Factory, featuring Kirk Wong’s “Crime Story” (1993) and the American film “The Protector” (1985). Please note, only the Blu-ray version contains Jackie Chan’s Hong Kong cut of “The Protector” and it is in Standard Definition
I Am Bruce Lee (Blu-ray/DVD) – this 2012 documentary released by Shout! Factory speaks to popular athletes and martial artists about the one, the only, the legend that is Bruce Lee
China Heavyweight (DVD) – this riveting 2012 documentary explores China’s changing economic landscape as a former heavyweight champion canvasses the Chinese countryside for potential fighters to train
Shaolin Deadly Kicks/Chase Step By Step (DVD) – Screen Magic Films presents two obscure 1974 kung fu films on one disc. It’s 177 minutes of Wu Tang-style action, though we cannot vouch for the image quality of these releases
Shaolin Temple/Four Robbers (DVD) – more low-budget kung fu action from Screen Magic Films
FOREIGN
Farewell My Queen (Blu-ray/DVD) – Diane Kruger (“Inglourious Basterds”) and Lea Seydoux (“Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”) star in this 2012 French-language costume drama about Maria Antoinette
The Tin Drum (Blu-ray/DVD) – the Criterion Collection presents this controversial 1979 German-language film about a 3 year-old boy who wills himself not to grow older in protest of the Nazis
17 Girls (DVD) – in this 2011 French-language film, seventeen teenage girls living in a small town become pregnant at the same time, baffling the community (and their boyfriends)
MAINSTREAM
Taken 2 (Blu-ray/DVD) – first they took his daughter, now they’ve taken his wife. Big mistake. Liam Neeson is back to make the bad guys pay in the 2012 sequel to the popular Luc Besson-produced original film
To Rome With Love (Blu-ray/DVD) – Woody Allen follows up “Midnight in Paris” with this 2012 romantic comedy set in Rome
Branded (Blu-ray/DVD) – what if all the advertising we see around us was part of an “Inception”-style physic conspiracy? Find out in this 2012 action/thriller
About Cherry (Blu-ray/DVD) – James Franco co-stars in this 2012 indie drama about an innocent small town girl who becomes pulled into the world of adult films
Allegiance (Blu-ray/DVD) – this 2012 military drama looks at a National Guard unit who is called to serve in Iraq circa 2004 and the decision one soldier faces when his friend goes AWOL
Love Me (Blu-ray/DVD) – in this 2012 thriller, a teenage girl discovers that her charismatic new boyfriend might be involved in a missing persons case
Counterpunch (DVD) – a promising young boxer looks to redeem himself after a stint in prison. This 2012 drama co-stars Steven Bauer (“Scarface”) and “Machete’s” Danny Trejo
NEW TO BLU-RAY
Wake in Fright (Blu-ray/DVD) – this obscure but acclaimed 1971 Australian thriller stars Donald Pleasance as a man who enters a world of moral degradation after becoming stranded in a backwoods Australian town
The Man Who Knew Too Much (Blu-ray/DVD) – Alfred Hitchcock would later remake this film as the more well-known version starring Jimmy Stewart, but Criterion Collection presents the 1934 original starring Pete Lorre, now in hi-def
Sleeper (Blu-ray) – Woody Allen’s 1973 comedy set in the far future, now on Blu-ray
Hannah & Her Sisters (Blu-ray) – the 1986 comedy from Woody Allen, considered by many to be one of his best films
CLASSICS
Gentlemen’s Agreement (Blu-ray) – in order to expose anti-Semitism, Gregory Peck’s journalist character poses as a Jew in this 1947 effort from Elia Kazan (“On the Waterfront”)
Wild River (Blu-ray) – Montgomery Clift stars in this 1960 film from acclaimed director Elia Kazan (“East of Eden”)
CULT
Black Cobra/The Big Fight (DVD) – Screen Magic Films presents two action movies on one disc, including Fred ‘The Hammer’ Williamson in 1987’s “Black Cobra,” an Italian-blaxploitation take on Stallone’s “Cobra”
HORROR
The Possession (Blu-ray/DVD) – Sam Raimi produces this 2012 possession-and-exorcism flick that performed surprisingly well at the box office
Lightning Bug (Blu-ray) – this 2004 coming-of-age film follows a teen who longs to become a make-up artist for horror movies but who first must overcome small town prejudices
Interested in any of these movies? If so, we hope that you’ll consider ordering from our affiliate to help support this site. Thank you!
