DVDs released to Toronto audiences this week include the following:
Anonymous (Columbia Pictures) fuels the hypothesis that William Shakespeare was a fraud, that all of his writings were the work of someone else. Through the magic of movies we return to Elizabethan England to witness the political fighting, illicit romances of the Royal Court, and the ambitions of greedy nobles aspiring to gain power from the throne, all of which play out in the dramatic writings accredited to Shakespeare. Principal cast includes Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave and her daughter Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Xavier Samuel, Sebastian Armesto, Rafe Spall, Edward Hogg, Jamie Campbell Bower and Derek Jacobi. DVD special features include deleted scenes, audio commentary with director Roland Emmerich and writer John Orloff, and Who is the Real William Shakespeare? featurette.
Kevin Hart: Laugh at My Pain (AMC Theatres) documents comedic actor Kevin Hart’s record-breaking 2011 comedy tour Laugh at My Pain. DVD features Hart’s onstage performance, original backstage footage, and a tour of the streets of Philadelphia where he walks the block telling stories of his childhood.
Texas Killing Fields (Alliance Films) is a crime drama based on true events surrounding the abduction of over 30 young women along a desolate track of I-45 between Houston and Galveston. Sam Worthington and Jeffrey Dean Morgan star as Texas City homicide detectives at the heart of the murder investigations stemming from the disappearances. Jessica Chastain co-stars as a homicide detective from a neighbouring jurisdiction, equally burdened with solving the mysterious killings. DVD/Blu-ray combo includes audio commentary by director Ami Canaan Mann and screenwriter Donald F. Ferrarone.
The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall (Universal Pictures) is a recording of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s famous musical The Phantom of the Opera staged by Sir Cameron Mackintosh at London’s Royal Albert Hall. On October 2, 2011 this particular stage production was broadcast live via satellite to movie theatres around the world as celebration of its 25th anniversary. Now that same live performance is available for home viewing on DVD. Canadian-raised Ramin Karimloo stars as the Phantom. There are special guest appearances by Phantom originals Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman, as well as Colm Wilkinson who premiered the role in the Toronto production (which Karimloo saw at the tender age of 13). DVD includes two behind-the-scenes “Making-of” features – one of this production and one of Webber’s sequel Love Never Dies.
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