CliqueClack

TV on DVD April 23rd spotlights PBS and reality TV

PBS makes a big splash in this week’s TV on DVD releases with the Masterpiece series “Mr. Selfridge,” the Ken Burns documentary The Central Park Five, and the story of Space Shuttle Columbia: Mission of Hope. Reality TV is also featured with programs varying from cute animals — Too Cute Puppies — to ghostly encounters — A Haunting. Classic TV westerns, animation and kids’ shows are represented this week, and fans of cheese will be thrilled with the home video release of Syfy’s Saturday night creature feature Pegasus Vs. Chimera. To see all of the releases for April 23, take a look at our shopper’s guide and click on a link to get more information or to make a purchase.

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Big movies coming to the small screen

After a very slow couple of weeks for home video releases, the studios are loading up April 23 with a little something for everyone, from the modern day noir of Gangster Squad to the true life drama of The Impossible to everyone’s favorite dinos leaping off the screen in Jurassic Park 3D. There are even more theatricals, a collection of smaller films that have played in select cities or gone directly to video, a couple of classics from the Criterion Collection, a new Warner Archive Collection release on Blu-ray, and even more classics making their high definition debuts. To see all of the titles coming this week, have a look at our shopper’s guide and click on a link to make a purchase or to get more information about a title. And remember, any purchase made at Amazon.com through a link will help support our efforts here at CliqueClack.

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Win free passes to The Big Wedding in D.C.

This offer has expired.

CliqueClack has partnered with Lionsgate and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer our readers in Washington, D.C. free passes to the advance screening of the new comedy The Big Wedding, starring Robert DeNiro, Katherine Heigl, Diane Keaton, Amanda Seyfried, Topher Grace, Ben Barnes, Susan Sarandon and Robin Williams. The screening will take place on Tuesday, April 23, 7:00 PM at the AMC Mazza Gallerie. All you need to do is leave a comment telling us why you want to see the movie.  We will send you a special code to download up to two Admit One passes from GoFoBo.com. When leaving your comment, please make sure your email address is correct or we will not be able to respond.

Passes are limited and available on a first come, first served basis. One comment per email/IP address will be honored. Multiple comments will be held in reserve and any extra passes will be distributed on the day of the screening. Passes do not guarantee you a seat as the screenings are overbooked to ensure a full house. CliqueClack has no control over the seating or the number of passes available. This offer could end at any time, so have a look at the trailer above and let us know why you want to attend The Big Wedding!

Win free passes to a screening of Pain and Gain in D.C. or Baltimore

These offers have expired.

CliqueClack has teamed with Paramount Pictures and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer our readers in the Baltimore and D.C. areas free passes to an advance screening of the new film Pain and Gain, starring Dwayne Johnson, Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Mackie, Rebel Wilson, Ken Jeong and Ed Harris. The screenings will take place at the following locations:

• Tuesday, April 23, 7:00 PM at Regal Gallery Place in Washington, D.C.
• Tuesday, April 23, 7:00 PM at Cinemark Egyption at Arundel Mills, Hanover, MD

Passes are limited and available on a first come, first served basis. To receive your special GoFoBo code, please read the instructions very carefully:

• Leave a comment on this post telling us why you want to see the movie
• Be sure the email address you entered is correct (double check it!). We cannot respond to comments with an incorrect email address.
• One comment per email/IP address will be accepted. Comments from multiple IP addresses will be held in reserve, and any extra passes will be distributed on day of screening.
• Please state which screening you wish to attend: D.C. or Baltimore. We will not be able to respond to comments without this information.
• Passes do not guarantee you a seat. You must arrive early, as screenings are overbooked to ensure a full house. CliqueClack has no control over the seating at the theaters.
• Passes are limited and this offer could end at any time.

Have a look at the official trailer, and then leave a comment if you’d like to see this movie before anyone else!

Disconnect is a muddled and emotionally distressing look at modern technology

Technology is now a part of our lives and most likely will be that forever, unless there’s a massive societal collapse. Can’t rule anything out, of course. But the same fears about technology also have been around forever: it makes things impersonal, it will ruin society, people will be victimized, etc. Morality tales of technology gone wrong have been around since technology was introduced, from John Henry to The Matrix. Some of it is based on legitimate fears, other times it’s a fear of change. But the real answer is the same as it’s always been: you must accept that change will always happen and find balance in your life. Don’t be consumed by technology nor eschew it entirely. There is another way.

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Oblivion is beautiful, but doesn’t live up to expectations

Tom Cruise’s latest film Oblivion isn’t the actor’s first dalliance with the Science Fiction genre, but it is much different than anything he’s done before. The film presents a – relatively – familiar story and adds in a couple of – relatively – familiar twists, but leaves the audiences wondering what it was they just spent the last two hours watching. While I found the story straightforward, more than a couple people leaving the theatre professed confusion.

Cruise is Jack Harper, a member of a two-man crew working as a part of small a planet wide effort to salvage what is left of Earth in the year 2077. Seems that in 2017, aliens attacked us by first destroying the Moon – throwing the planet into geological crisis – before invading. We’re told that humanity was only able to overcome the aliens, called Scavs, by launching nuclear weapons. We won the war, but lost the planet. What is left of society is evacuated to Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, while the team of Jack and his partner Victoria (a surprisingly good Andrea Riseborough) work to maintain the security drones that protect the massive machines that collect what is left of Earth’s most important resource – water – for transfer off-planet.

At first, Jack comes across as a normal guy… a particularly gifted mechanic who enjoys his time on the ground more than Victoria wishes he did. But all is not as it seems (a refrain that will become familiar), as it is revealed Jack is having very specific dreams 2017 that he should not have. Prior to their Earth-side deployment, Jack and Victoria had their memories wiped so that they could share none of humanity’s secrets if captured by the few Scavs still on the planet. Plus? Jack’s not eighty. When an older space vessel crash-lands near him, he begins to realize they are more than dreams.

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Game of Thrones Readalong: And Now His Watch Has Ended

Each week, CliqueClack provides folks that are trying to read George R. R. Martin’s epic A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels along with the HBO series a little help. For as long as HBO provides us with screeners, we’ll help provide the point in the novels that you should have read through to keep ahead of each episode. As I have mentioned each week, with all of the show’s (wonderful) deviations from the books, it can be a difficult task. But we’ve got you covered.

My goal is to make these posts as spoiler-free as possible, just sharing the information on which chapter you need to read though in order to stay ahead. Also, I’ll be leaning on Tower of the Hand, a great reference for fans of ASOIF and Game of Thrones – their spoiler filters are ingenious — as a touchstone for which chapter I’m referring to.

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Game of Thrones employs humor to counter the more horrific storylines

There have been some criticism that Game of Thrones’ third season has started a little slower than in previous years. This week’s installment, “Walk of Punishment,” should quiet all of the doubters. The third episode kicked off what is going to be an exciting, eventful ride that will last all season long. As Bob and Ivey look back at this episode, the one thing that we can promise you is that there will be no Jaime/hand puns found in this week’s Beyond the Wall.

Instead of the horror and tragedy that ended the episode, we’re going to look at the opposite elements in this week’s installment. In the context of the series as a whole, “Walk of Punishment” was FUNNY. There were several scenes — none of which were directly lifted from the original text — that added a touch of humor usually not found in Game of Thrones. This week, we’ll take a look at those scenes, and how they added to the episode as a whole.

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WWE superstars and Sci-Fi hereos come to home video

There is not a single new TV show coming to home video this week, but if you remember the Sci-Fi Channel’s take on Flash Gordon (before it was rebranded Syfy) and always wondered why it wasn’t available on DVD … your wishes have been granted! In addition to Flash, the WWE and UFC have some new DVDs on tap, and HBO’s documentary about Ethel Kennedy also comes to home video. Full series collections of Friends and Gilmore Girls also get repriced re-releases. To see what else is released on April 16, have a look at our shopper’s guide and click on a link for more information or to make a purchase.

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Django Unchained comes to DVD and Blu-ray

It’s another week of home video releases with a single major title — the Oscar-winning Django Unchained — and a collection of smaller theatrical films and direct-to-video offerings making their home video debuts. Disney has a new nature film Wings of Life, and the oddly named A Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia (meaning it takes place nowhere near Connecticut) is also released. Classic film buffs will get a kick out of Twentieth Century Fox’s catalog releases this week, and cult film aficianados will be very happy with Criterion’s new DVD/Blu-ray release of Repo Man. To see all the films released on April 16, have a look at our shopper’s guide and click on a link to get more information or to make a purchase.

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