By Harley Lond - 06/30/14 at 10:16 PM CT
THIS WEEK'S THEATRICAL RELEASES:
"The Lunchbox":
A mistaken delivery in Mumbai's famously efficient lunchbox delivery system connects Ila, a neglected housewife, to Saajan (Irrfan Khan), a lonely man on the verge of retirement. Through a series of exchanged notes that they pass back and forth through the lunches, Saajan and Ila find comfort in their unexpected friendship. Gradually, 
their notes become little confessions about their loneliness, memories, regrets, fears, and even small joys. They each discover a new sense of self and find an anchor to hold on to in the big city of Mumbai, a city that so often crushes hopes and dreams. Still strangers physically, Ila and Saajan become lost in their virtual relationship, one that could jeopardize both their realities. The Lunchbox
THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS:
"The Twilight Zone: Essential Episodes (55th Anniversary Collection)" contains 17 essential must-have episodes: "Walking Distance," "Time Enough at Last," "The Hitch-Hiker," "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street," "A Stop at Willoughby," "The After Hours," "The Howling
Man," "The Eye of the Beholder," "Nick of Time," "The Invaders," "The Obsolete Man," "It's a Good Life," "The Midnight Sun," "To Serve Man," "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," "Living Doll" "The Masks." $29.95 from Image Entertainment ... "The Final Terror" (1983), directed by Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive") and starring John Friedrich, Rachel Ward, Adrian Zmed, Mark Metcalf, Daryl Hannah, Ernest Harden Jr. and Joe Pantoliano, is one of the most sought-after and long-lost slasher films from the 80s, about a group of young campers out for what they hope will be a fun-filled weekend who find their plans spoiled by a disguised, merciless killer who stalks the forest in search of new victims. In a Blu-ray/DVD Combo from Scream Factory/Shout! Factory.BUZZIN' THE 'B'S:
Based on Mike Peters' (of the Alarm) true rock-and-roll hoax of 2004, the wry British film "Vinyl
" (2012), starring Phil Daniels, Jamie Blackley, Perry Benson, Keith Allen and Julia Ford, follows a washed-up rocker who hoodwinks top record labels, radio DJs and the entire rock music world by releasing his new pop punk single under a fictitious teenage band's name. On DVD, Blu-ray Disc from Shout! Factory ... "Afflicted
" (2013), starring Derek Lee and Clif Prowse, is a 
horror thriller that follows two best friends who set out on the trip of a lifetime around the world. Their journey, documented every step of the way, soon takes a dark and unexpected turn after an encounter with a beautiful woman in Paris leaves one of them mysteriously afflicted, and they race to uncover the source before it consumes him completely. On DVD, Blu-ray Disc from Sony ... In "No Vacancy
(aka The Helpers)" (2012), starring Christopher Michael Jones, Jo Jo Wright and Dallas Lovato, seven friends on a road trip to Las Vegas are forced to stop at a roadside motel for help when their car breaks down, where they're trapped, tortured and killed off one at a time. From Lionsgate ... While on a mission to retrieve fugitives in Vietnam, Dao, a commander in the Emperor's army, finds himself in the middle of a deadly conflict raging between a tyrannical crime boss, and the peaceful town that he has under his thumb in "Once Upon a Time in Vietnam
" (2013 -- Vietnam), starring Dustin Nguyen, Ngo Thanh and Roger Yuan. From Lionsgate ... "Scavenger Killers
" (2013) is a modern spin on the Bonnie and Clyde legend in which a charming judge and a hot criminal defense attorney go on a maniacal killing rampage in the name of justice. Stars Robert Bogue, Rachael Robbins, Eric Roberts, Charles Durning, Robert Loggia, Dustin Diamond, Suzi Lorraine and Angela Little. From Midnight Releasing ... "Infliction
" (2013) is a horror thriller based on "found footage" taken from the 
cameras used by two psychotic brothers who documented a murder spree in North Carolina in 2011. Written and directed by Jack Thomas Smith. From Virgil Films ... Banned and heavily censored the world over, "Cannibal Holocaust
" (1980 -- Italy) is a film that surpasses its reputation as a shot-gun blast to the senses. A New York University professor returns from a rescue mission to the Amazon rainforest with the "found footage" shot by a lost team of documentarians who were making a film about the area's local cannibal tribes and who experienced brutal death at the hands of the savage South American tribe of flesh-eaters. This footage is so intense, so graphic and so unflinching in its realism that the director and producer of "Cannibal Holocaust" were arrested upon its original release and the film seized. Nothing you have seen before will prepare you for this uncompromising masterpiece of cinematic nihilism. Stars Robert Kerman, Gabriel Yorke, Francesca Ciardi, Perry Pirkanen, Luca Barbareschi, Salvatore Basile. New hi-definition digital restoration of the original director's cut with stereo re-mix and original mono mix, making its Blu-ray debut from Grindhouse Releasing/CAV Distributing.FOREIGN:
When a successful businessman driven by money learns that his biological son was switched with another child after birth, he must make a life-changing decision and choose his true son or the boy he raised as his own in "Like Father, Like Son
" (2013 -- Japan), starring Masaharu Fukuyama, Machiko Ono. From IFC Films.FOR THE FAMILY:
"Monster High: Clawesome Double Feature" (2014) consists of two short Monster High animated features about the everyday, relatable life of teens in high school. Except these students just happen to be monsters. They brave the horrors of high school, facing the same trials and tribulations as everyone else -- the social aspects of fitting in, standing out, crushes, first dances ... and overall survival. The two movies: "Fright On!" and "Escape From Skull Shores." On DVD, Blu-ray/DVD Combo from Universal ... "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Good, the Bad, and Casey Jones" (2013) features six episodes from the second season, $14.99 from Nickelodeon/Paramount.FROM TV TO DVD:
"Anna Karenina" (1977) is a three-disc set with all 10 episodes of the BBC miniseries adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's masterpiece, which aired on PBS's Masterpiece Theatre in 1978. $59.99 from Acorn Media ... "Helix: The Complete First Season" (2014) is a three-disc set with 13 episodes of the sci-fi series about a team of scientists from the Centers for Disease
Control who travel to a high-tech research facility in the Arctic to investigate a possible disease outbreak, only to find themselves pulled into a terrifying life-and-death struggle that holds the key to mankind's salvation or total annihilation. On DVD, Blu-ray Disc from Sony ... "Hinterland, Series 1" (2013), filmed on location in the starkly beautiful coastal town of Aberystwyth, follows DCI Tom Mathias (Richard Harrington), a brilliant, brooding loner newly arrived in this isolated land of mountainous terrain and close-knit villages after 10 years with London’s Metropolitan Police, who confronts a series of mystifying murders. Four-disc set with four feature-length episodes, $59.99 from Acorn Media ... "Lovejoy, Series 1" (1986) is a three-disc set with 10 episodes featuring Ian McShane as a roguish antiques dealer who can't resist a well-honed con -- especially when he can help the less fortunate. $49.99 from Acorn Media ... Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe star in "A Young Doctor's Notebook: Season One" (2012), a dark and brilliantly hilarious four-part comedy noir -- set on the eve of the Russian Revolution -- based on the semi-autobiographical short stories by the celebrated Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov. $19.96 from BBC Home Entertainment.Check out other July 1-7 DVD releases and reviews at OnVideo.
