Tales from the Crypt, the campy-yet-excellent horror staple of the early 90s television, is back in news as producers are hoping to reignite that spark once again with a modern reboot. After 15 years of being off the small screen, the horror series will be returning to television.

The new series is being developed by Gil Adler, a producer on the original HBO series, and Andrew Cosby, best known for his work on Eureka. The hour-long series will be based on the comics. Unlike it’s predecessor, the new series will not follow the anthology format, but will follow a standard series format using the characters in an ongoing storyline format.

Those of you who read the original comic books will see this is a strange turn of events as the comics didn’t have much in the way of returning characters. Other than The Crypt-Keeper, The Vault-Keeper and The Old Witch, all other characters and the “victims” of the stories always changed. It is also being reported that  The Crypt-Keeper, The Vault-Keeper and The Old Witch are not going to be part of the new series.

The original HBO series, which spawned collectibles and movies through out the 90s, ran for seven seasons. It attracted an impressive stable of directors and actors including Robert Zemeckis, Dan Aykroyd, Steve Buscemi, Tim Curry, Whoopi Goldberg, Teri Hatcher, Kirk Douglas, Joe Pesci, Brad Pitt, Ewan McGregor, Malcom McDowell, Bob Hoskins, Brooke Sheilds, Benicio Del Toro, Demi Moore, Martin Sheen, Richard Donner, Walter Hill, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Hanks, William Friedkin, Tobe Hoober and Michael J. Fox.

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This week’s pick is the 1980 military/science fiction classic The Final Countdown directed by Don Taylor, which stars Kirk Douglas (Capt. Matt Yelland), Martin Sheen (Warren Lasky), James Farentino (Air Wing Cmdr. Richard Owen/Richard Tideman), Katherine Ross (Laurel Scott), Ron O’ Neal (Cmdr. Dan Thurman), Charles Durning (Senator Samuel Chapman) and Co-Troma Films creator Lloyd Kaufman (Lt. Cmdr. Lloyd Kaufman).

The film opens in 1980 where a civilian analyst Warren Lasky (Sheen) is sent aboard the U.S.S. Nimitz (America’s largest nuclear powered aircraft carrier) on a fact finding mission. The ship’s commanding officer, Capt Matt Yelland (Douglas) sees Lasky’s presence as a nuisance but tries to extend him as much courtesy as possible while he’s there to report for the Department of Defense.

Things appear to be running smoothly as the Nimitz and several other escort ships are on a routine training exercise in the Pacific Ocean when a fierce storm comes out of nowhere. The Nimitz passes through a storm unlike any ever recorded. A piercing sonic shrill throws the crew into disorientation and wreaks havoc on the ship as it passes through to calmer seas. At first the crew is dazed and unaware of what has happened to them. Capt. Yelland sounds general quarters and the ship goes to battle stations. Capt. Yelland, Lasky, Cmdr. Thurman (O’Neal) and Cmdr. Owen (Farentino) try to piece together just what has happened to the ship and to them.

The Captain calls for a meeting of all his department heads to find out why they are unable to contact their escorts, Pacific Command, or anyone for that matter. Capt. Yelland orders an F-8 Crusader photo reconnaissance flight to make a run over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii to see if there was a possible nuclear strike.

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Paths of Glory (1957) is one of the first masterpieces from acclaimed director Stanley Kubrick. It was loosely based on a rather obscure novel by Humphrey Cobb who published the story in 1935 about an actual group of French soldiers who were tried and condemned to death for cowardice in the face of the enemy during World War I.

The film opens up in 1916 where the narrator informs the audience that after two long years, the war has evolved into a series of trench warfare where victory was measured in precious yards. A series of trench fortifications ran from the Swiss frontier to the English Channel which stopped the advancing German army within thirty or so miles of Paris. Kirk Douglas plays the leading role as Col. Dax who is a company commander and chosen by the General Corp to defend three men who are chosen as scapegoats during a failed attack on an impregnable German position.

Rounding out the fantastic cast is veteran character actor, George Macready (Brig. Gen. Paul Mireau) who is the man behind the court martial of the defendants, Adolphe Menjou (Maj. Gen. Broulard), Ralph Meeker (Cpl. Philippe Paris), Wayne Morris (Lt. Roget), Richard Anderson (Maj. Saint-Auban), Joe Turkel (Pvt. Pierre Arnaud), and Timothy Carey (Pvt. Maurice Ferol) who strikingly looks a lot like John Turturro. If there is ever a remake, Turturro ought to be cast as Pvt. Ferol.

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Like most weeks, this time around we’ve got another bunch of new movies and TV shows hitting DVD and Blu-ray. Some of them are new, some are old and some are hitting Blu-ray for the first time.

Of the ones hitting stores today, we’re most interested in the Blu-ray release of The Road, Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, the Criterion edition of Stagecoach, True Blood Season Two, Royal Pains Season One, the western Django and the 50th anniversary of Stanley Kubrick’s 1960 film Spartacus (pictured above with Woody Strode and Kick Douglas).

Movies

Babysitter Wanted ~ Bill Moseley, Matt Dallas, Bruce Thompson (Blu-ray and DVD)

City of the Living Dead ~ Christopher George, Giovanni Lombardo Radice (Blu-ray)

Clash of the Titans ~ Laurence Olivier, Burgess Meredith, Harry Hamlin (Blu-ray)

Dear John ~ Channing Tatum (Blu-ray and DVD)

Django ~ Franco Nero, Loredana Nusciak, Angel Alvarez (Blu-ray)

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog ~ Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day (Blu-ray and DVD)

Flashbacks Of A Fool ~ Daniel Craig, Olivia Williams, Claire Forlani (Blu-ray and DVD)

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Here’s a list of some of the new DVD and Blu-ray releases this week. Plus, some old favorites coming out this week on Blu-Ray.

New Movies:

• Knowing ~ Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne (DVD and Blu-ray)

• Push ~ Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning (DVD and Blu-ray)

• The Unborn ~ Odette Yustman (DVD and Blu-Ray)

• Night Train ~ Danny Glover, Leelee Sobieski, Steve Zahn (DVD and Blu-ray)

• Five Fingers ~ Laurence Fishburne, Colm Meaney, Antonie Kamerling, Saïd Taghmaoui (DVD and Blu-ray)

• A Day in the Life ~ Omar Epps, Faizon Love, Michael Rapaport, Tyrin Turner (DVD)

• Flying By ~ Billy Ray Cyrus, Heather Locklear, Olesya Rulin, Patricia Neal (DVD)

• Applause for Miss E ~ Vanessa Bell Calloway, Roger Guenveur Smith, Gina Torres (DVD)

• Power Rangers RPM, Vol. 1: Start Your Engines ~ Eka Darville, Ari Boyland, Rose McIver, Milo Cawthorne (DVD)

• Flight 666 ~ Iron Maiden (Blu-ray)

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