CliqueClack

Fringe and 30 Rock come to an end on home video

With this week’s TV on DVD and Blu-ray home video releases, we bid one final farewell to Fringe, 30 Rock and Private Practice. The most recent seasons of Flashpoint, Royal Pains and Rookie Blue also make their home video debuts, and reality TV is represented with Cake Boss and Gold Rush. The recent TV movie remake of Steel Magnolias comes home this week, Doctor Who’s sidekick K-9 gets a full series release, another season of The Dick Van Dyke Show comes to Blu-ray, Warner Brothers celebrates the TV legacy of Superman to tie in with the new Man of Steel movie, and BBC celebrates the 75th anniversary of The Great Gatsby to tie in with the new movie. To see all of the home video releases coming on May 7, have a look at our shopper’s guide and click on a link to make a purchase or to get more information. Each purchase you make through a link also helps support our efforts here at CliqueClack, and we thank you for that support.

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Jack Reacher, Safe Haven, Mama and more come to home video

Tom Cruise. Jessica Chastain. Josh Duhamel. Julianne Hough. Two of these stars have worked together before (Cruise and Hough in Rock of Ages), and two of them almost worked together (Chastain dropped out of Oblivion to star in Zero Dark Thirty). All four of them can be seen on this week’s new home video releases. In addition to Jack Reacher, Mama, and Safe Haven, this week’s releases include an indie with a lot of buzz, Upstream Color, and a sci-fi flop that’s been inexplicably refitted for 3D on Blu-ray, Gamer. There is also a large collection of classic films getting the high def treatment including An Officer and a Gentleman, The Great Escape, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Verdict, and Shadow of a Doubt (one of my favorite Hitchcock films). To see these and the other titles coming on May 7, please take a look at our shopper’s guide and click on a link to make a purchase or to get more information. And remember, any purchase you make through a link will help support our efforts here at CliqueClack. And for that, we thank you!

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Win passes for Fast & Furious 6 in Pennsylvania

PLEASE NOTE: ALL PASSES FOR THIS SCREENING HAVE BEEN CLAIMED. THIS OFFER IS CLOSED.

CliqueClack has teamed up with Universal Pictures and Allied Integrated Marketing of Philadelphia to offer our readers free advance screening passes to one of the summer’s hottest tickets — Fast & Furious 6! The film reunites the original cast — Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Ludacris, and Tyrese — with the added attraction of Dwayne Johnson! The screening will take place on Tuesday, May 21, 7:30 PM at UA King of Prussia. We have a very limited number of Admit Two passes available on a first come, first served basis. All you need to do is leave us a comment telling us why you need to see this movie. Please take a look at the rules for this giveaway:

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Win tickets to see Peeples in DC or Baltimore

This offer has closed.

CliqueClack has partnered with Lionsgate and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer our readers in the D.C. and Baltimore areas free passes to the advance screening of Peeples, starring Craig Robinson, Kerry Washington, David Alan Grier, S. Epatha Merkerson, Melvin Van Peebles and Diahanne Carroll. The film is produced by Tyler Perry. All you need to do to win is leave us a comment telling us why you want to see the movie. Please take note:

• CliqueClack will email you a unique GoFoBo code to print out a maximum of two Admit One passes. These codes will not be valid for more than one registered GoFoBo account.
• You MUST state which city you want passes for. We will not reply to comments that do not contain this information.
• GoFoBo codes are limited and the offer will expire when all codes have been claimed or on the day of the screening.
• ONE comments per person, per email address, per IP address. We want all of our readers to have an opportunity and we do check for duplicate comments.
• If there are passes remaining on the day of screening, those will be distributed to any duplicate comments held in reserve.
• Passes are distributed on a first come, first served basis.

Screenings will take place as follows:

• Tuesday, May 7, 7:00 PM, AMC White Marsh, Baltimore, MD
• Tuesday, May 7, 7:00 PM, Regal Gallery Place, Washington, DC

Again, passes are very limited so leave your comments now!

Iron Man 3 is good, but doesn’t live up to expectations

I could easily sum up the following review of the latest Iron Man flick in once sentence: It’s a damn shame it followed Marvel’s The Avengers instead of preceding it. There’s little to outright complain about Iron Man 3 (but don’t worry, I’ll get to that), but there wasn’t one moment in the entire film that I wasn’t thinking about how much more I would be enjoying it if Joss Whedon had written and directed instead of Drew Pearce and Shane Black.

Before we dive in the flick, a quick note: we’re going to be doing something different with this review. Fellow Clacker Chuck Duncan and I will both be weighing in with our thoughts on the flick. Also, considering the way the story works itself out, there are a couple of points that we’ll discuss that will live on a second page, with great big spoiler warnings for those who haven’t watched the film yet. Trust me; stay away until after you’ve taken in Iron Man 3 in its “full glory.”

If you’ve been living under a rock, we’ll start with a quick primer. Following the events of The Avengers, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. While things with his girlfriend Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) seem to be normalizing, the stress of nearly seeing Earth invaded (and almost dying in the defense) is weighing heavy. The United States is now under a new threat, the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), sort of an Osama Bin Laden/Kurtz mashup who has been taking credit for explosions across the country. Mix in a newly branded Iron Patriot (Don Cheadle as James Rhodes) and scientists Maya Hansen and Aldrich Killian (Rebecca Hall and Guy Pearce) and you’ve got a great cast and a fairly strong story.

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She sets lofty goals that can’t be reached

Between the years of 1886 and 1887, H. Rider Haggard’s serialized novel “She: A History of Adventure” was published in The Graphic magazine. The story tells the tale of a group of adventurers who discover the existence of the lost ancient city of Kor, which predates the Egyptians, and its ruler Ayesha, or She-who-must-be-obeyed. Ayesha takes interest in one of the group, Leo, because he resembles her lost love Kallikrates, whom she murdered in a jealous rage 2000 years earlier. But Ayesha sees that Leo may be in love with another woman, Ustane, who helped lead Leo and his friends to Kor. Ayesha convinces Leo that he is Kallikrates and can have eternal life if he bathes in the immortal fire, but things go horribly wrong when she tries to prove to him that what she says is true.

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American Idol: Messing with the formula

For the last couple weeks, we’ve known the season 12 winner of American Idol is female. (We haven’t had a girl win the competition since Jordan Sparks garnered the top spot – and as the youngest winner ever – during the finale of season 6 in 2007.) And, with the exit of Lazaro Arbos a couple weeks ago (the lone remaining guy in the gaggle of gals on the show), it goes without saying the streak will finally be broken.

Or … will it? I’m not so sure.

Idol could pull another “trick” out its sleeve and reinject one of the guys back into the competition. There could be yet another turn of events unprecedented in the annals of Idoldom. Hell … some goofy campaign could come along and rewrite the rules so that Nicki Minaj and/or Mariah Carey could take the whole ball of wax. *choke*

Yes … there’s been that kind of ruckus raised during the show of late. And it’s not lending well to the overall scheme of things. Continue reading 'American Idol: Messing with the formula' »

Beyond the Wall: Do you view Stannis Baratheon a little differently now?

After last week’s incredible episode “And Now His Watch Has Ended,” Game of Thrones had set a very high bar for “Kissed By Fire” to meet. There are some — Ivey yes, Bob no — that think that this week’s installment was actually the better of the two. Despite the argument that no one could ever win (especially Bob, since he’s wrong), it is impossible to deny that it was pretty great television. From the battle between the Hound and Beric Dondarrion to an Emmy-worthy bath (Brienne and Jaime and not Ygritte and Jon, for those of you with your minds in the gutter), this episode brought the goods.

Lost behind Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s outstanding performance, however, was a couple of scenes that showed a different side of Stannis Baratheon. We’ve only seen him as a battlefield commander: leading war rooms or men into battle, treating with his enemies — and his family, because in Westeros those things are rarely mutually exclusive — or “conspiring” with the most jacked-up wartime consigliere on television today, the Lady Melisandre.

This week’s Beyond the Wall will focus on Stannis. Do these new scenes paint the would-be king in a different light, or is he still the unwaveringly cold man we’ve always known him to be. But first, a reminder of the Spoilers that will likely follow. Beyond the Wall is intended for those who have already read the books that Game of Thrones is based on. So, unless you were wondering why Shireen was singing Patchface’s song, you should probably skip this post.

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See The Great Gatsby first in Maryland, DC or Virginia

PLEASE NOTE: ALL PASSES FOR THESE SCREENINGS HAVE BEEN CLAIMED. THIS OFFER IS CLOSED.

CliqueClack has partnered with Warner Brothers Pictures and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer our readings in the Baltimore, D.C. and Norfolk areas free passes to the advance screening of Baz Lurhmann’s The Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Isla Fisher, Joel Edgerton and Tobey Maguire. All screenings are presented in 3D and will take place as follows:

• Monday, May 6, 7:00 PM, Cinemark Egyptian, Arundel Mills Mall, Hanover, MD — all passes for this screening have been claimed
• Tuesday, May 7, 7:00 PM, Regal Majestic, Silver Spring, MD — all passes for this screening have been claimed
• Monday, May 6, 7:00 PM, AMC Lynnhaven, Virginia Beach, VA  — all passes for this screening have been claimed

We have a limited number of passes for each screening available on a first come, first served basis.  All you need to do to claim yours is:

• Leave a comment telling us why you want to see this movie.
• Please specify which screening you wish to attend. We will not respond to any comments without a city listed.
• Only one comment per email/IP address. Any duplicates will be held in reserve and spare passes will be distributed the day of the screening.
• Please make sure the email address you have entered is correct. We cannot respond to misspelled email accounts.

This offer will end when all of the passes have been claimed, or by Noon the day of the screening, whichever comes first. Please note that passes do not guarantee you a seat as screenings are overbooked to ensure a full house. CliqueClack has no control over the number of passes available or the seating arrangements at the theaters. Please plan to arrive early to secure a place in line. These passes are sure to be a hot ticket, so leave your comments now (and don’t forget to mention the city!).

The Great Gatsby opens in theaters nationwide on May 10th.

Ben-Hur gets a small screen re-do, while modern classics get HD makeovers

It’s a very slow week for TV shows on home video when the biggest releases are modern classics. The third season of Star Trek: The Next Generation gets its high definition makeover for Blu-ray, and the already upgraded complete series of Friends gets individual releases for seasons one and two. A big screen classic gets a small screen re-do with the miniseries Ben-Hur starring everyone’s favorite Original (Vampire Diaries fans will understand), Joseph Morgan. The cast also includes a bevy of familiar TV faces including Kristin Kreuk, Emily VanCamp, Hugh Bonneville, Alex Kingston, Ben Cross, and one movie star, Ray Winstone. In addition to these titles, there is more on tap from the WWE, PBS, and Nickelodeon, plus some rare TV classics. To see all of the April 30th releases, 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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