If you lived at Downtown Abbey, chances are you shopped at Selfridge’s. Harry Gordon Selfridge was a charismatic American who, in his twenty-five years working at Marshall Field’s in Chicago, rose from lowly stockboy to a partner in the business which his visionary skills had helped to create. At the turn of the twentieth century he brought his own American dream to London’s Oxford Street where, in 1909, with a massive burst of publicity, Harry opened Selfridge’s, England’s first truly modern built-for-purpose department store. Designed to promote shopping as a sensual and pleasurable experience, six acres of floor space offered what he called “everything that enters into the affairs of daily life,” as well as thrilling new luxuries—from ice-cream soda to signature perfumes. This magical emporium also featured Otis elevators, a bank, a rooftop garden with an ice-skating rink, and a restaurant complete with orchestra—all catering to customers from Anna Pavlova to Noel Coward. The store was “a theatre, with the curtain going up at nine o’clock.” Yet the real drama happened off the shop floor, where Mr. Selfridge navigated an extravagant world of mistresses, opulent mansions, racehorses, and an insatiable addiction to gambling. While his gloriously  iconic store still stands, the man himself would ultimately come crashing down.

Fancy window displays, cosmetic counters, merchandise you can touch, and other marketing breakthroughs had to start somewhere, and they sprang from the genius of Chicago native Selfridge, who combined guile, taste, boldness, the poise of a swindler, and the seductive charm of a Casanova – all qualities which spelled success as much as they spelled trouble.

Mr. Selfridge marks the first television role for Jeremy Piven since his portrayal of movie agent Ari Gold in the hit series Entourage. Now, the three-time Emmy winner tackles another power player in the world of glitz: Henry Gordon Selfridge, father of the renowned London department store that bears his name and which opened to astonishment and some disdain in 1909.

Whatever the latest sensation, Mr. Selfridge hitches his star to it. Truly, in his personal life as in his business, he is addicted to the sensational – which creates exciting complications for all concerned.

Mr. Selfridge is adapted from the novel “Shopping, Seduction & Mr. Selfridge,” written by Lindy Woodhead but adapted by Andrew Davies. The cast includes Zoe Tapper (Stage Beauty) as Ellen Love, showgirl, temptress and the sexy “face of Selfridge’s.” Frances O’Connor (Madame Bovary) as Rose, Harry’s loyal but independent wife. Gregory Fitoussi (Spiral) as the mercurial Henri LeClair, window designer extraordinaire. And Aisling Loftus (Case Histories) as spunky shop girl Agnes Towler, who gets the lucky break of her life thanks to a chance encounter with Harry Selfridge.

Mr. Selfridge premiers Sunday, March 31, 2013 on MASTERPIECE CLASSIC on PBS. Check your local listings for showtimes.

Helmed by Swiss director Baran bo Odar, this is his first feature film and it is a finely crafted drama using a brutal crime to investigate the myriad forms of human misery. His earlier work was the critically acclaimed short, Under The Sun. And even though the film is to a certain extent focused on police procedure and the hunting of a pair of killers, the director’s real interest here seems to lie in the after effects of a horrible human tragedy and all of the corrosive, never-ending feelings of those who knew the victims both intimately and remotely. Grief is one of the most powerful of human emotions, and Baran bo Odar explores this sensation with unparalleled enthusiasm.

The Silence begins 23 years ago on a hot summer day, when a young girl named Pia is brutally murdered in a field of wheat.  Now, on the exact same date in the present, 13-year-old Sinikka is missing, her bicycle abandoned in the same spot.  As Krischan, the retired investigator of the unresolved case, and his younger colleague David struggle to solve the mystery of these parallel crimes, Sinikka’s distraught parents are trapped in an agonizing period of waiting and uncertainty.  Meanwhile, their daughter’s fate rips open old wounds in the heart of Pia’s mother, who is visited by an unexpected guest with an eerie connection to her daughter.  The unrelenting summer heat lies over the quaint family homes like a bell jar and behind closed doors, worlds begin to fall apart.

Gripping performances by top European actors – headed by Ulrich Thomsen (Cinemax’s Banshee, In a Better World, Fear Me Not, The Celebration), Sebastian Blomberg (The Baader Meinhof Complex), Katrin Sass (Good Bye, Lenin!) and Burghart Klaussner (The White Ribbon, The Edukators) – enrich this intense drama far beyond the crime genre.

This is a truly gripping motion picture and should not be missed. The Silence opens in theaters March 8, 2013.

“Argo” is available on Blu-ray Combo Pack for $35.99 and on single disc DVD for $28.98.  The Blu-ray Combo Pack features the theatrical version of the film in hi-definition on Blu-ray, and the theatrical version in standard definition on DVD.  Both the Blu-ray Combo Pack and the single disc DVD include UltraViolet, which allows consumers to download and instantly stream the standard definition theatrical version of the film to a wide range of devices including computers and compatible tablets, smartphones, game consoles, Internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players.*

In addition to the Oscar^®, presented to producers Grant Heslov, Affleck and George Clooney, “Argo” won Golden Globe, BAFTA and Critics’ Choice Awards for Best Picture.   Affleck also won the Golden Globe, BAFTA Award, Critics’ Choice Award and Directors Guild of America Award for Best Director.

Affleck also stars in the film, leading an ensemble cast, which won the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award^® for Outstanding Motion Picture Cast Performance.  Arkin has also been recognized with Oscar^®, Golden Globe, BAFTA Award, Critics’ Choice and SAG Award^® nominations for his performance in the film.  “Argo” also stars Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Victor Garber, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Scoot McNairy, Rory Cochrane, Christopher Denham, Kerry Bishé, Kyle Chandler and Chris Messina.

Screenwriter Chris Terrio, won Oscar^® and Writers Guild of America awards for his screenplay, based on a selection from The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez and the Wired Magazine article “The Great Escape,” by Joshuah Bearman.

Synopsis and Credits

On November 4, 1979, as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point, militants storm the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage.  But, in the midst of the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor.  Knowing it is only a matter of time before the six are found out and likely killed, the Canadian and American governments ask the CIA to intervene. The CIA turns to their top “exfiltration” specialist, Tony Mendez, to come up with a plan to get the six Americans safely out of the country.  A plan so incredible, it could only happen in the movies.

Warner Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with GK Films, a Smokehouse Pictures production, “Argo.”  David Klawans, Nina Wolarsky, Chris Brigham, Chay Carter, Graham King and Tim Headington are the executive producers, with Amy Herman co-producing.

Blu-Ray and DVD Elements

“Argo” Blu-ray Combo Pack contains the following special features:

·        Feature Length Picture in Picture: Eye Witness Account

·        Audio Commentary with director Ben Affleck and writer Chris Terrio

·        Rescued from Tehran: We Were There

·        Argo: Absolute Authenticity

·        Argo: The CIA & Hollywood Connection

·        Escape From Iran: The Hollywood Option

“Argo” Standard Definition DVD contains the following special features:

·        Rescued from Tehran: We Were There

Digital Distribution Elements

“Argo” is available for download from online retailers including iTunes, Xbox, PlayStation, Amazon, Vudu and CinemaNow.

The film is also available digitally in High Definition (HD) VOD and Standard Definition (SD) VOD from cable and satellite providers, and on select gaming consoles.

Andy Lau (Infernal Affairs, House Of Flying Daggers, numerous others) is Roger, a successful movie producer. Deanie Ip ( Crying Heart, Dances With The Dragon) is Ah Tao, who has worked for Roger’s family as a nanny and maid over the course of four generations. When Roger comes home to find Ah Tao has suffered a severe stroke and is unable to care for herself, he agrees to help her relocate to a nursing home.

As they live in the super-crowded global city of Hong Kong, this facility is right in the middle of a city street, making it easy for the residents – ranging widely in terms of age, health and mental alertness – to receive visitors and take chaperoned strolls around the bustling neighborhood.  Although the facility is not necessarily the most luxurious or cozy of environments, it seems to suit Ah Tao well enough now that her working life is over.

But Roger is conflicted because he wants to provide the help himself, but fears more than anything that his efforts will fail this woman who is, by all accounts, a very important member of his family. She needs his kindness but doesn’t want to be a burden. As their roles reverse, he becomes her caregiver and comes to understand just how much she means to him.

Ann Hui’s other films include Ordinary Heroes, Night and Fog, and A Simple Life won Best Director at the 2011 Golden Horse Fil Festival and the 2012 Hong Kong Film Awards, where it also won Best Picture. This film was Hong Kong’s official submission to the 2012 Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

A Simple Life will be available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital beginning February 26, 2013 from Well Go USA.

The premise for this story is decent, and it comes off better than one might think, mostly thanks to the performances of Cusack and Carpenter, whom I believe a vastly underrated talent at this stage in her career. I would love to see her get even more challenging roles and wish she were in this film more. Cusack is, by now, one of those actors who can take any character and situation and twist it into several different directions depending upon his mood. He does a very smart job here and gives a fine performance, probably better than the material requires. He infuses the rather stereotypical character of Fletcher with a few of his own quirks, and you can tell that this actor truly enjoys the challenge of playing a character whose psyche is adrift and off of center. He truly shines in this role.

The Factory is directed by Morgan O’Neil (“Drift,” “Solo”) from a screenplay by O’Neil & Paul A. Leydon (“Tatua”) and is produced by Joel Silver (“The Matrix” trilogy), Susan Downey (“Sherlock Holmes,” “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows”) and David Gambino (“Whiteout,” “The Brave One”). A Dark Castle Entertainment production, The Factory stars John Cusack (“The Raven”, “2012,” “Identity”), Jennifer Carpenter (“Dexter”), Mae Whitman (“Parenthood,” “Arrested Development,” “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”), Dallas Roberts ( “Supernova”), Sonya Walger (“Lost”) and Mageina Tovah (“Joan of Arcadia,” “Spider-Man 2,” “Spider-Man 3”).

The Factory will be available on single disc DVD for $27.95. The single disc DVD features a standard definition copy of the film and UltraViolet. UltraViolet allows consumers to download and instantly stream the standard definition theatrical version of the film to a wide range of devices including computers and compatible tablets, smartphones, game consoles, Internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players.

Own it on DVD or Digital Download starting 2/19/2013. See the trailer here.

Stand Up Guys stars Academy Award® winners Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin in a surprisingly touching action comedy as three retired gangsters who reunite for one epic last night.

Val (Pacino) is released from prison after serving twenty-eight years for refusing to give up one of his closest associates.  His best friend Doc (Walken) is the only one waiting at the prison to pick him up. Very soon the two old buddies find their old driver and third member of the trio, Hirsch (Arkin).  Their bond is as strong as ever, and the three reflect on freedom lost and gained, the value and lasting meaning of loyalties ebbed and flowed, and days of glory gone by.  And despite their age, their capacity for mayhem remains very much alive and well – bullets fly as they make a hilariously valiant effort to compensate for the decades of crime, drugs and sex they’ve missed.

One of the friends holds a very dangerous secret. He’s been put in an impossible situation by their former mob boss, and his time to find an acceptable alternative is running out.  As the sun rises on the guys’ legendary reunion, their position becomes more and more desperate and they finally confront their past once and for all.

Stand Up Guys is a joy to watch. It has a few bumpy moments but overall it is still better than most of the stuff out there which passes for “story.” And considering the wealth of talent available in the 60-something crowd, I think this is also a very smart idea and a timely one for the current market. Christopher Walken, Al Pacino and Alan Arkin are truly acting titans. They’re the kind of actors who have no problem making any character their own, or even stealing the scene should the whim come upon them. But they are professionals and, just like the characters they play in the film, they live up to their code and deliver some of their best work in their careers.

I think director Fischer Stevens and his production crew made some smart choices in focusing on strong supporting talent, most especially in the very fine actresses whose presence helps to reveal some of the more subtle and silly aspects of these aged tough guys and their code of honor. Lucy Punch is the daughter of a well-known madam, still running Mom’s brothel after all these years and with a character and charm just as down-to-Earth and resilient as her mother, according to Walken. Julianna Margulies plays Hirsch’s daughter, an E.R. nurse who has seen it all and who is comfortable talking about the old days when these two tough guys bounced her on their knees, even across Val’s hospital bed which is tented due to a slight overdose of the ‘blue’ pill. And Vanessa Ferlito shows off her usual tough-but-beautiful exterior as a young woman they find in a trunk, stripped bare and tied up. They help her get revenge upon the animals who would treat a lady in such a way, including Craig Scheffer as one of the Jargoniew brothers; a family of violent thugs whose predilection for violence is legendary.

Everything in Stand Up Guys feels just right and I left the film feeling satisfied and upbeat, as though I had just had a short visit with some old friends and we parted in good spirits. There is a hint of sadness in the ending, but I think that says quite a bit for a film and its filmmakers when it can succeed in producing more than one emotion at a time from its audience. I recommend this film without reservation. It is a playful nostalgia trip and I hope it reaches the audience numbers it deserves.

Here’s the official trailer: Stand Up Guys.

For more info on this great gem, visit:

Official site: http://standupguysfilm.com/

Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/StandUpGuysMovie

Stand Up Guys was produced by Lakeshore Entertainment and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and is being released by Lionsgate on February 1, 2013.

Do yourself a favor; see it!

For this version of the Young Justice (League) team, being a teenager means proving yourself over and over – to peers, parents, teachers, mentors and, ultimately, to yourself. But what if you’re not just a normal teenager? What if you’re a teenage Superhero? How much harder does that make it to prove yourself in a world of superheroes with super powers, of super villains and super secrets? Would you really be ready to come of age in such a world? And would you be ready for rites of passage with life or death implications? Are you ready to join the ranks of the great heroes and prove you’re worthy of the Justice League? The Young Justice Invasion series is clearly aimed at a much more mature audience than the first series. And that is just one part of what makes this series so much fun.

The members of this Young Justice squad include Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian and Artemis – will find out… whether they have what it takes to be a proven hero. The latest season of the critically acclaimed series jumps ahead in time 5 years to re-introduce the original squad and adds all new members, including: Nightwing, Wondergirl, Blue Beetle, Batgirl, and Beast Boy. This season also features a very powerful storyline as our young heroes fight off a secret alien invasion affecting the entire planet.

Young Justice new episodes will air until end of December 2012 on Cartoon Network DC Nation program. Reruns will run every week though at least March 2013.

Young Justice Invasion: Destiny Calling Season 2, Part 1 includes:
-Over 3 hours of content on 2 discs!
-3 episodes from Batman The Brave & The Bold as EC.
-A digital comic as EC.

You can see a clip here.

Young Justice Invasion: Destiny Calling Season 2, Part 1 is available beginning January 22, 2013!

When this film was initially released it was a milestone in the history of the motion picture, for it heralded the beginning of the “talking” motion picture. Until The Jazz Singer, all feature-length films were silents. In other words, there was no sound. People’s lips would move on the screen, but you would have to read a title card which would be inserted into the frame. There was live music accompaniment in the form of either a small orchestra, small band, or a piano or a pipe organ. But no sound effects. No talking voices. No soundtrack music. Can you imagine that?

Some of you may be able to. Some of you might have been alive back then. In either case, you should definitely check out this special release of this classic film. Produced by Warner Bros. with its Vitaphone sound-on-disc system, the movie stars Al Jolson, who performs six songs. Directed by Alan Crosland, it is based on a play by Samson Raphaelson.

The Jazz Singer tells the story of young Jakie Rabinowitz defying the traditions of his devout Jewish family by singing popular tunes in a beer hall. Punished by his father, a cantor, Jakie runs away from home. Some years later, now calling himself Jack Robin, he has become a talented jazz singer. He attempts to build a career as an entertainer, but his professional ambitions ultimately come into conflict with the demands of his home and heritage.

The Jazz Singer stars entertainment legend Al Jolson in a story that bore a few similarities to his own life story. Jolson portrays a would-be entertainer whose show business aspirations conflict with the values of his cantor father (Warner Oland). The Jazz Singer began life as a 1925 Broadway play, and was revived early in 1927, starring George Jessel. The part was offered to Jolson, who was then at the height of his popularity.

Jolson had broken new ground on the stage and sold millions of phonograph records. Just his name on the marquee of a Broadway theater, or on a piece of sheet music, almost always guaranteed success. He found the challenge of conquering the screen via the new Vitaphone technology irresistible.

The movie premiered at the Warner Theater in New York City on October 6, 1927 and soon became a national phenomenon, limited only by the relatively small amount of theaters (200) which were already equipped with Vitaphone’s sound-on-disc technology (a process developed by Western Electric and Warner Bros. wherein a 16” disc was synchronized with standard 35mm projection equipment). The film was a smash everywhere it played, and led to the installation of sound equipment all over the nation. Less than 2 years later, nearly 8000 theaters were wired for sound. Fueled by Jolson’s charisma and Vitaphone, The Jazz Singer created the momentum for “talking pictures” that couldn’t be stopped. Silent films would soon become virtually extinct.

Directed by Alan Crosland, the film co-stars Warner Oland, May McAvoy, and Eugenie Besserer. Among the hit songs featured in the film are Jolson’s trademarks, “Toot-Toot-Tootsie, Goodbye,” “Dirty Hands, Dirty Face,” “My Mammy,” and a then-new song composed by Irving Berlin …“Blue Skies.”

On April 25, 1917, Samson Raphaelson, a native of New York City’s Lower East Side and a University of Illinois undergraduate, attended a performance of the musical Robinson Crusoe, Jr. in Champaign, Illinois. The star of the show was a thirty-year-old singer, Al Jolson, a Russian-born Jew who performed in blackface. Later, in a 1927 interview, Raphaelson would describe the experience as follows: “I shall never forget the first five minutes of Jolson—his velocity, the amazing fluidity with which he shifted from a tremendous absorption in his audience to a tremendous absorption in his song.” Raphaelson explained that he had seen emotional intensity like Jolson’s only among synagogue cantors.

Some years later when he was pursuing a professional literary career, Raphaelson wrote a short story, “The Day of Atonement,” about a young Jew named Jakie Rabinowitz, and it was based on Jolson’s real life. The story was published in January 1922 in Everybody’s Magazine. Raphaelson later adapted the story into a stage play, The Jazz Singer. A straight drama, all the singing in Raphaelson’s version takes place offstage. With George Jessel in the lead role, the show premiered on Broadway in September 1925 and became a hit. Warner Bros. acquired the movie rights to the play on June 4, 1926, and signed Jessel to a contract. Moving Picture World published a story in February 1927 announcing that production on the film would begin with Jessel on May 1.

But Jessel would not be the star of the film. The story goes that Jessel was not comfortable with sound, yet. And to do a sound film Jessel wanted a bonus or else a new contract. And to do the film in blackface was something Jessel absolutely refused to do. Warner Bros. contacted Eddie Cantor to try to get him to help work things out with Jessel, but Cantor would not get involved. In the end, Raphaelson went to the man who inspired the story in the first place, Al Jolson. Jolson took the part, signing a $75,000 contract on May 26, 1927, for eight weeks of services beginning in July. There have been several claims but no proof that Jolson invested some of his own money in the film. Jessel and Jolson, also friends, did not speak for some time after—on the one hand, Jessel had been confiding his problems with the Warners to Jolson; on the other, Jolson had signed with them without telling Jessel of his plans. In his autobiography, Jessel wrote that, in the end, Jolson “must not be blamed, as the Warners had definitely decided that I was out.”

According to scholar Corin Willis the function and meaning of blackface in The Jazz Singer is intimately involved with Jack’s own Jewish heritage and his desire to make his mark in mass American culture—much as the ethnically Jewish Jolson and the Warner brothers were doing themselves. Jack Robin “compounds both tradition and stardom. The Warner Brothers thesis is that, really to succeed, a man must first acknowledge his ethnic self,” argues W. T. Lhamon. “The whole film builds toward the blacking-up scene at the dress rehearsal. Jack Robin needs the blackface mask as the agency of his compounded identity. Blackface will hold all the identities together without freezing them in a singular relationship or replacing their parts.”

Special features in this release include the full-length documentary feature, The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk. The 93-minute film covers the 30+ year struggle to successfully unite sound and image on motion picture screens. The fascinating narrative of failures and triumphs is propelled by insights from notable film historians as well as interviews from many talents who reveal their personal experiences of this tumultuous period in film history.

A separate disc includes more than four hours of extraordinary Vitaphone shorts (see more detail below), unique and historic rarities that capture performances from the era’s great entertainment legends: Burns & Allen, Baby Rose Marie, Weber & Fields, Blossom Seeley and Benny Fields and many others.

The Jazz Singer will now be offered in an extra premium 3-Disc Blu-ray book format showcasing the feature on Blu-ray for the very first time. The book also includes 90 pages of all of the reproductions, photos and content only previously available in the original 3-Disc DVD Deluxe Edition such as behind-the-scenes collector’s cards, lobby cards, souvenir program, a booklet with reproductions of vintage documents and post premiere telegram from Al Jolson.

Special features include a commentary from film historians Ron Hutchinson (founder of The Vitaphone Project) and Vince Giordano, a selection of vintage shorts and cartoons, a 1947 radio show adaptation featuring Jolson, and more.

Special Features:

·         Commentary by film historians Ron Hutchinson (founder of The Vitaphone Project) and Vince Giordano

·         Collection of vintage cartoons and shorts:

o    “Al Jolson in ‘A Plantation Act’“ - 1926 Vitaphone short

o    An Intimate Dinner in Celebration of Warner Bros. Silver Jubilee – 1930 short

o    I Love to Singa - Classic 1936 WB parody cartoon directed by Tex Avery

o    Hollywood Handicap – Classic 1938 M-G-M short with Al Jolson appearance

o    A Day at Santa Anita - Classic Technicolor WB 1939 short with Al Jolson & Ruby Keeler cameo appearance

·         1947 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast starring Al Jolson (audio only)

·          Theatrical Trailer

The Early Sound Era

·         Feature-length historical documentary The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk

·         Two rarely-seen Technicolor excerpts from Gold Diggers of Broadway (1929 WB film, most of which is considered lost)

·         Studio shorts celebrating the early sound era:

·         Finding His Voice (1929 Western Electric animated promotional short, produced by Max Fleischer)

·         The Voice That Thrilled The World - Warner Bros. short about sound

·         Okay for Sound 1946 WB short celebrating the 20^th anniversary of Vitaphone

·         When Talkies Were Young 1955 WB short looking back at the early talkies

·         The Voice from the Screen – 1926 WB ‘demonstration’ film explores the Vitaphone technology, and looks at the making of a Vitaphone short.

Vitaphone Shorts

In the 1920’s Warner Bros. began producing a series of short films which utilized the Vitaphone process. These films ran the gamut from musical theater legends and vaudeville acts, to dramatic vignettes and classical music performances from the most prestigious artists of the era.

Most of these were shorts considered lost for decades, until a consortium of archivists and historians joined forces with a goal to restore these magnificent time capsules of entertainment history. Up until now, contemporary audiences have only been able to see these shorts via rare retrospective showings in a few large cities, or through the limited release of a restored handful of the earliest subjects, which were part of a 1996 laserdisc set.

Over 3 1/2 hours worth of rare, historic Vitaphone comedy and music shorts:

·         Elsie Janis in a Vaudeville Act: “Behind the Lines”

·         Bernado Depace: “Wizard of the Mandolin”

·         Van and Schneck: “The Pennant Winning Battery of Songland”

·         Blossom Seeley and Benny Fields

·         Hazel Green and Company

·         The Night Court

·         The Police Quartette

·         Ray Mayer & Edith Evans: “When East Meets West”

·         Adele Rowland: “Stories in Song”

·         Stoll, Flynn and Company: “The Jazzmania Quintet”

·         The Ingenues in “The Band Beautiful”

·         The Foy Family in “Chips off the Old Block”

·         Dick Rich and His Melodious Monarchs

·         Gus Arnheim and His Ambassadors

·         Shaw and Lee: “The Beau Brummels”

·         Larry Ceballos’ Roof Garden Revue

·         Trixie Friganza in “My Bag O’ Tricks”

·         Green’s Twentieth Century Faydetts

·         Sol Violinsky: “The Eccentric Entertainer”

·         Ethel Sinclair and Marge La Marr in “At the Seashore”

·         Paul Tremaine and His Aristocrats

·         Baby Rose Marie: “The Child Wonder”

·         Burns & Allen in “Lambchops “

·         Joe Frisco in “The Happy Hottentots”

Below are some clips from the film:

·         You Ain’t Heard Nothin’ Yet -  http://youtu.be/22NQuPrwbHA

·         Decisions - http://youtu.be/hhQT4Tuv4SA

·         Dirty Hands, Dirty Face -  http://youtu.be/R2_yCNF30_E

The Jazz Singer is available beginning January 8 from Warner Home Video on Blu-ray™.

Set 6 episodes aired in the UK in 2008-2009 as Volume XIX: Tracks, Volume XX: The Siren, Volume XXI: Ghost Train, and Volume XXII: Shooter. These episodes feature an investigation into a teenager’s murder, the sensational automobile accident and death of a man and his famous fiancee, a teenager’s fatal fall from a Ferris wheel, and a jewelry robbery gone wrong. They have never been aired in the U.S. before.

Starring David Hayman (Sid and Nancy) as DCSI Mike Walker and Victoria Smurfit (About A Boy, Ballykissangel) as DCI Roisin Connor, two dedicated investigators on the London police force. The series follows each of their cases from the scene of the crime to the jury’s verdict, portraying with uncompromising realism the professional and personal pressures which these profoundly committed detectives endure. The series co-stars Dorian Lough as DS David “Satch” Satchell and Vince Leigh as DS Sam Palmer. Special guests include Roy Marsden (P.D. James’ mysteries), Vincent Regan (Lockout, 300), Benjamin Whitrow (Pride and Prejudice), and Sally Dexter (Dalziel & Pascoe, Sugartown).

If you’re a fan of the series you’re going to want to see these final episodes. The characters grow even closer in these last four episodes and the story arcs are even stronger and grittier than any which have come before. Available as of January 1, 2013, don’t miss Trial & Retribution Set 6.

This is one of the BBC’s finest period piece series since Lark Rise To Candleford. The actors are all superbly talented and the writing is exceptional for a TV series. But that is something the Brits have all over American television, for the most part. Sure, there are some good shows on American TV, but I will always tune in a program like Downton Abbey over almost anything else. And Season 3 continues the tradition of quality with this diverse cast of characters we here on the revolutionary shores have come to know and love.

I think the thing I like most about this series is that it parallels Britain’s history, reflecting upon it through the much-slanted eye of the good denizens of the Abbey. Each member of this family carries some aspect of the real world within the fabric of their design, and that aspect is one which asserts strong differences between Downton and many other series.

With 17.1 million tuning in across the seven episodes, making Downton Abbey, Season 2 the most-watched Masterpiece series on record. It was also the most talked-about.

The war is over, but intrigue, crisis, romance, and change still grip the beloved estate in the thrilling new season of Downton Abbey. Written and created by Julian Fellowes, with its all-star returning cast and Oscar-winning guest star Shirley MacLaine, Downton Abbey, Season 3 premieres January 6, 2013 on Masterpiece classic!

The Great War is over and a long-awaited engagement is on, but all is not tranquil at Downton Abbey as wrenching social changes, romantic intrigues, and personal crises grip the majestic English country estate for a third thrilling season. With the return of its all-star cast plus guest star Academy Award®-winner Shirley MacLaine, Downton Abbey, Season 3 airs over seven Sundays on PBS beginning in January 2013.

Written and created by Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey, Season 3 is a Carnival Films and Masterpiece coproduction, in association with NBCUniversal. The series won an impressive six Primetime Emmy® Awards and a Golden Globe® in its first season. Recent honors for Season 2 include multi-category nominations from the Critics’ Choice Awards and from the Television Critics Association.

Executive Producer Gareth Neame remarks, “What a rollercoaster it has been to be part of this truly global phenomenon. We couldn’t be more thrilled by the way American critics and audiences have taken Downton to their hearts and I’m so excited to be getting the third season ready for everyone to see.”