We knew from the trailers Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters was either going to be goofy fun or a terrible misfire. Since it wound up a little bit of each, it did surprisingly well during a weak box office period, so much so that Paramount last week said they were developing a sequel. Now comes word that the film is being released on Home Video in June. Here are the formal details:

Fans Can Be the First to Own the Fast-Paced Thrill Ride on Digital Download May 21st

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (March 26, 2013) –  The fabled siblings are all grown up and hell-bent on tracking and killing witches wherever they hide in the no-holds-barred epic of modern action and adventure Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, taking flight on Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD and On Demand June 11, 2013 from Paramount Home Media Distribution.  The film will also be available early for Digital Download on May 21st.  “Destined for cult status” (Rick Florino, ArtistDirect.com), Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is filled with “super crazy action and mind-blowing thrills” (Shawn Edwards, Fox-TV) and stars Jeremy Renner (The Avengers, The Bourne Legacy), Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace), Famke Janssen (X-Men), Thomas Mann (Beautiful Creatures) and Peter Stormare (The Big Lebowski).  Written and directed by Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow), the film earned more than $200 million at the global box office and a sequel is in development.  The sly and ingeniously wicked movie tells the story of the brother and sister team seeking to avenge their parents’ deaths.  But after a lifetime of hunting witches, Hansel and Gretel now must face an evil greater than anything they’ve seen: a terrifying new threat so massive, it could destroy the world as we know it.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters will be available in both its original theatrical version and an unrated version with never-before-seen footage that was too intense for theaters in a Blu-ray/DVD combo or a three-disc Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD combo, both with UltraViolet™.  The combo packs boast revealing special features that take audiences behind-the-scenes for a look at the reinvention of the story, an in-depth examination of the gruesome witches and an up close and personal visit with the extraordinary troll, Edward.  The film will also be available as a single-disc DVD that includes the theatrical version of the film.

The Blu-ray releases available for purchase will be enabled with UltraViolet, a new way to collect, access and enjoy movies.  With UltraViolet, consumers can add movies to their digital collection in the cloud, and then stream or download them – reliably and securely – to a variety of devices.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack

The Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters Blu-ray is presented in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital and English Audio Description and English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.  The DVD in the combo pack is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 TVs with English 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital and English Audio Description and English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.  The combo pack includes access to a digital copy of the film as well as the following:

Blu-ray

• Feature film in high definition (Unrated version)
• Reinventing Hansel & Gretel
• The Witching Hours
• Meet Edward the Troll

DVD

• Feature film in standard definition (Theatrical version)

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack

The Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD combo includes all of the above, as well as a Blu-ray 3D in 1080p high definition with English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital and English Audio Description and English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.  The Blu-ray 3D includes the theatrical version of the film.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters Single-Disc DVD

The single-disc DVD is presented in widescreen enhanced for 16:9 TVs with English 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital and English Audio Description and English, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.  The disc includes the theatrical version of the film in standard definition.

Ender’s Game has been percolating for years and the film adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s best-selling novel is finally being released in November. Here’s the first one-sheet for the movie and Summit Entertainment has released a new synopsis for the film.

In the near future, a hostile alien race called the Formics have attacked Earth. If not for the legendary heroics of International Fleet Commander Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley), all would have been lost. In preparation for the next attack, the highly esteemed Colonel Hyrum Graff (Harrison Ford) and the International Military are training only the best young minds to find the future Mazer.

Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a shy but strategically brilliant boy, is recruited to join the elite.  Arriving at Battle School, Ender quickly and easily masters increasingly difficult challenges and simulations, distinguishing himself and winning respect amongst his peers. Ender is soon ordained by Graff as the military’s next great hope, resulting in his promotion to Command School.  Once there, he’s trained by Mazer Rackham himself to lead his fellow soldiers into an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth and save the human race.

Based on the best-selling, award winning novel, ENDER’S GAME is an epic adventure which stars Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, with Abigail Breslin and Harrison Ford.

Sometimes you are born for a life of adventure and sometimes adventure recruits you into its cause. For George Lucas, the latter approach is preferable as witnessed in Luke Skywalker in Star Wars and Willow Ufgood in Willow. While Skywalker unknowingly had it in his blood, Willow was far more the ordinary person thrust into an extraordinary cause.

Lucas conceived of Willow’s tale back in 1972 and kept it rattling around his mind until technology was sophisticated enough to tackle it on film. Casting Warwick Davis as Wicket in Return of the Jedi probably began the move from backburner to the front of the production slate even though it was another five years before the film began production. By then, Lucas was no longer interested in directing, instead choosing Ron Howard to mount his first major fantasy. By then, Howard, who was a directing contemporary of Lucas although they traveled in different circles, had just finished Cocoon, a science fiction tale dosed with lots of humanity, and that’s apparently what Lucas wanted.

What we got in 1988, though, was an uneven tale with loads of nice scenery and nifty Industrial Light & Magic special effects but none of the characters sang and Howard definitely seemed out of his element. A new edition, with an excellent transfer, has just been released on Blu-ray by 20^th Century Home Entertainment.

The story is not especially original as Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh) of Nockmaar wants no rivals and to forestall a prophecy, has every pregnant woman in the kingdom imprisoned. Of course, a woman manages to give birth to her child, who turns out to be Snow White, er, The One. To protect her, the mother sacrifices her child, sending it in a small boat on the river where it is found by Willow’s children. Willow is a Hobbit, er, Nelwyn; a farmer, happily married, and not seeking a change in his life. The baby, though, upends everything, especially as the Queen’s hounds come hunting. Willow and the baby, Elora Danan, flee, encountering Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), who is a handsome Daikini; a disgraced knight who swings a mean sword. Following instructions, Willow will risk everything to safely deliver the child to the good king and queen of Castle Tir Asleen. Meantime, Madmartigan encounters and romances Bavmorda’s daughter, Sorsha (Joanne Whalley), getting his just reward. For the two hour and six minute running time, you pretty much know what’s going to happen, and you’re rooting for the heroes.

The screenplay, written by Bob Dolman (How to Eat Fried Worms), based on Lucas’ long-simmering concepts, is overly predictable and none of the characters manage to sparkle. Kilmer is too grim, Marsh too broad. Davis’ title character is earnest but flat, given little to work with. Even former Munchkin Billy Barty is overly broad as The High Aldwin, the magician who takes Willow on as an apprentice. He’s forgiven considering how awful the Brownies (Kevin Pollak and Rick Overton), the two French-accented companions, are. That said, Howard still shows the film’s potential in some lovely quiet moments between the characters. Saddled with a so-so story and inexperienced with the demands of special effects, these are few and far between, which just makes us yearn for more. Darker than your typical kids’ fantasy, this overall holds up on rewatching, which has explained its enduring commercial success. As recently as last month Kilmer tweeted there will be a sequel, but after all this time, it remains wishful dreaming.

Shot partly in New Zealand, it has lovely views and the SFX are fine for when they were crafted but clearly budgetary constraints kept some of the more exciting set pieces from completion, saving them for use in the Marvel adaptation or novelization (speaking of which, go find the Chris Claremont-penned of tie-in sequel novels). James Horner delivers a familiar and lackluster score, that doesn’t help the overall feel of being a retread.

The new transfer is superior to the 2001 DVD release. Lucas and company personally oversaw the work so the print is clean and the colors are well balanced. The THX soundtrack is equally glorious and makes for an improved viewing experience.

The special features have chosen to skip the Davis commentary from the previous release but does offer up the other ones, including Willow: The Making of an Adventure (23:29), a 1988 documentary; From Morf To Morphing (17:24), with visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren; and, Willow: An Unlikely Hero – Personal Video Diary of Warwick Davis (10:53), with some interesting on-set videos he shot during production.

New to the disc is Willow: Deleted Scenes with Ron Howard (12:32) includes the completely dropped subplot with Sorsha’s father, some of Willow performing magic tricks, and a “fish boy” scene that ILM couldn’t quite get right. There is also a brief one minute-plus montage of the film’s lush Matte Paintings.

Author Mark Bousquet interviews New Pulp Author Bobby Nash at Atomic Anxiety. They talk about everything from the writing process, Bobby’s novels, podcasting, those exciting Pulp Ark Award wins for Bobby and The Ruby Files, and much more. There is also an excerpt from Bobby’s story from the award-winning The Ruby Files Vol. 1 you won’t want to miss.

Check out Atomic Interview #3: Talking THE RUBY FILES and the 2013 Pulp Ark Awards With Bobby Nash at http://atomicanxiety.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/atomic-interview-3-talking-ruby-files-and-the-2013-pulp-ark-awards-with-bobby-nash/

Filled with charm, action and irreverent humor this original story features characters, locations and vehicles across the entire LEGO Star Wars universe including Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, C-3P0, R2-D2, Darth Maul, and more.   When the premiere of LEGO Star Wars:  The Empire Strikes Out aired on Cartoon Network, it became the number-one telecast of the day with kids ages 6-11 and boys ages 2-17. Written by Emmy Award winner Michael Price (The Simpsons), the show features many of the beloved Star Wars voice-actors fans know and love including Anthony Daniels, Sam Witwer, Ahmed Best and more.

Thanks to our friends at Lucasfilm we have two copies of the DVD to give away.

SYNOPSIS:

HOLD ON TO YOUR BRICKS….FOR AN ALL-NEW ANIMATED ADVENTURE!

Your favorite characters are back to save the galaxy in LEGO® Star Wars®: The Empire Strikes Out™. The heroes of the Rebel Alliance including heroic Luke Skywalker, swaggering Han Solo and steadfast Princess Leia have no time to celebrate their victory over the Empire as a new Imperial threat arises. But as Jedi-in training Luke embarks on this next mission, he discovers that his celebrity status as a “Death-Star-Blower-Upper” can be a double-edged lightsaber when he’s constantly mobbed by crazed fans. So much for secret missions! Meanwhile, Darth Vader and Darth Maul are locked in a hilarious “Sith-ling” rivalry as they compete for the Emperor’s approval. It’s an action-packed comic adventure that’s out of this world!

In order to win your very own copy of LEGO Star Wars:  The Empire Strikes Out on DVD, simply answer the following question. Your answer must be submitted by 11:59 p.m., Thursday, March 28, 2013. The judgement of ComicMix will be final.

What television network did LEGO Star Wars:  The Empire Strikes Out premiere on? 

• Cartoon Network
• Nickelodeon
• ABC Family
• The Disney Channel

After a strong start to this television season, NBC has fallen behind to some of the lowest ratings in their history. This week, REVOLUTION (along with THE VOICE) returns to prime time and with hopes of turning things around. Eric Kripke and Elizabeth Mitchell tell us more about why the rest of this season will be so important for REVOLUTION fans, plus some new DOCTOR WHO and a week of free STAR TREK.

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