Monday, November 25, 2019

Hot This Week: November 25

We head into the holiday week with something for everyone on our weekly list. In movies there are four new additions, headed by the comedy Good Boys at the top. Country music star Luke Combs lands a new album at #1 in music, and brings a past album back onto the list as well. Janet Evanovich's latest Stephanie Plum novel tops the fiction list, and a new book from former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley debuts in nonfiction.

Movies
  1. Good Boys (Blu-ray)
  2. Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (Blu-ray | 4K)
  3. The Angry Birds Movie 2 (Blu-ray | 4K)
  4. 47 Meters Down: Uncaged (Blu-ray)
  5. The Lion King (Blu-ray | 4K)
  6. The Kitchen (Blu-ray)
  7. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (Blu-ray | 4K)
  8. The Peanut Butter Falcon (Blu-ray)
  9. Toy Story 4 (Blu-ray | 4K)
  10. The Art of Racing in the Rain (Blu-ray)
Music
  1. Luke Combs, What You See Is What You Get
  2. Post Malone, Hollywood's Bleeding
  3. Summer Walker, Over It
  4. Taylor Swift, Lover
  5. Billie Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
  6. Chris Brown, Indigo
  7. Luke Combs, This One's for You
  8. Ed Sheeran, No. 6 Collaborations Project
  9. Post Malone, Beerbongs & Bentleys
  10. Travis Scott, Astroworld
Fiction
  1. Twisted Twenty-Six, Janet Evanovich
  2. The Guardians, John Grisham
  3. Blue Moon, Lee Child
  4. Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
  5. The Night Fire, Michael Connelly
  6. The Dutch House, Ann Patchett
  7. Olive, Again, Elizabeth Strout
  8. The Institute, Stephen King
  9. The Starless Sea, Erin Morgenstern
  10. The Giver of Stars, Jojo Moyes
Nonfiction 
  1. Triggered, Donald Trump Jr.
  2. Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers, Brian Kilmeade
  3. With All Due Respect, Nikki Haley
  4. Finding Chika, Mitch Albom
  5. Me, Elton John
  6. Talking to Strangers, Malcolm Gladwell
  7. Educated, Tara Westover
  8. Blowout, Rachel Maddow
  9. The Body, Bill Bryson
  10. Catch and Kill, Ronan Farrow

Monday, November 18, 2019

Hot This Week: November 18

The new installment in the Fast & Furious franchise wins the week in movies, with three others making their debuts as well. Miranda Lambert and Summer Walker join the music chart, just behind Post Malone, who holds strong at #1 (and #8). Erin Morgenstern and Lisa Jewell bring new novels onto the fiction list, while nonfiction sees an unusually busy week with four new titles at the top.

Movies
  1. Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (Blu-ray | 4K)
  2. The Lion King (Blu-ray | 4K)
  3. Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (Blu-ray | 4K)
  4. The Kitchen (Blu-ray)
  5. Toy Story 4 (Blu-ray | 4K)
  6. The Art of Racing in the Rain (Blu-ray)
  7. Aladdin (Blu-ray | 4K)
  8. Stuber (Blu-ray | 4K)
  9. Spider-Man: Far from Home (Blu-ray | 4K)
  10. Crawl (Blu-ray)
Music
  1. Post Malone, Hollywood's Bleeding
  2. Miranda Lambert, Wildcard
  3. Summer Walker, Over It
  4. Taylor Swift, Lover
  5. Billie Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
  6. Chris Brown, Indigo
  7. Ed Sheeran, No. 6 Collaborations Project
  8. Post Malone, Beerbongs & Bentleys
  9. Lizzo, Cuz I Love You
  10. Travis Scott, Astroworld
Fiction
  1. Blue Moon, Lee Child
  2. The Guardians, John Grisham
  3. The Starless Sea, Erin Morgenstern
  4. Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
  5. The Night Fire, Michael Connelly
  6. The Giver of Stars, Jojo Moyes
  7. The Family Upstairs, Lisa Jewell
  8. The Institute, Stephen King
  9. The Dutch House, Ann Patchett
  10. Olive, Again, Elizabeth Strout
Nonfiction 
  1. Triggered, Donald Trump Jr.
  2. Finding Chika, Mitch Albom
  3. Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers, Brian Kilmeade
  4. Acid for the Children, Flea
  5. Me, Elton John
  6. Talking to Strangers, Malcolm Gladwell
  7. The Book of Gutsy Women, Hillary Rodham and Chelsea Clinton
  8. Blowout, Rachel Maddow
  9. Educated, Tara Westover
  10. Catch and Kill, Ronan Farrow

Friday, November 15, 2019

Cameron Back for More Terminator

Written by Jon Williams

Terminator: Dark Fate is in theaters now, and is available for pre-order on DVD and Blu-ray. This big-budget blockbuster is a blast from the past, a unique entry in a franchise that has been entertaining audiences for 35 years.

The Terminator, the first film in the series, was a sensation from the moment in hit theaters in 1984. It starred Arnold Schwarzenegger in the titular role of an emotionless cyborg mercenary sent from the future to assassinate Sarah Connor before she can have a son who will grow up to lead the human resistance against their machine overlords. Hailed by fans and critics alike, it spawned a 1991 sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, in which Schwarzenegger’s cyborg is once again sent back in time, this time reprogrammed to protect Sarah and her young son against a more advanced Terminator model capable of shifting its shape. Another smashing success, this is the highest-grossing movie of Schwarzenegger’s career to date.

These first two Terminator films were written and directed by James Cameron, who has had quite a career in the film industry, to say the least. After the success of The Terminator, he helped Sylvester Stallone write the screenplay for Rambo: First Blood Part II, then went on to write and direct the sci-fi hits Aliens and The Abyss. He followed up T2 with True Lies, an action thriller starring Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis. Then in 1997 came Titanic, the tale of doomed romance aboard the doomed ship starring Leonard DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. That film won 14 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and it held the record for highest-grossing film of all time until 2010, when it was overtaken by Avatar—another Cameron film.

While Cameron may have turned his attention to these other acclaimed projects after T2, the franchise did not wither in his absence. In 2003, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines showed how Skynet, the artificial intelligence ruling the machines, managed to rise to power despite the events of the first two movies. Then the series came to the small screen with The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a show that ran for two seasons with Lena Headey starring as Sarah Connor as she protects and trains her son John for his role in the future. Terminator Salvation brought the franchise back into theaters, showing the struggles of John Connor (Christian Bale) as the leader of the human resistance. Then in 2015, Terminator Genisys brought Emilia Clarke into the series as Sarah Connor in a past that has been fractured by time travel.

Genisys was planned to be the new direction for the franchise until James Cameron returned to the fold. He provided the story for Dark Fate, which reunites Schwarzenegger’s Terminator and Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor in a movie that serves as a direct sequel to T2. The films and TV show produced in the interim are now considered to be part of an alternate timeline. At present, future films are planned to follow on from Dark Fate.

James Cameron has made some of the most groundbreaking and popular cinema of all time. Keep his movies on your shelves using the links above, or SmartBrowse on our website for more. Also, make sure your comics-loving patrons know there is plenty of Terminator content for them to enjoy on hoopla digital as well!

Monday, November 11, 2019

Hot This Week: November 11

The hot Disney movies atop last week's list hold strong at their positions, while one new entry, the Bruce Willis heist flick 10 Minutes Gone, makes the list. In music, new albums from Rex Orange County and Old Dominion take their places on the chart. Lee Child's new Reacher novel debuts at the #1 spot in fiction, while a new political examination by Lee Smith is the only newcomer in nonfiction.

Movies
  1. The Lion King (Blu-ray | 4K)
  2. Toy Story 4 (Blu-ray | 4K)
  3. Stuber (Blu-ray | 4K)
  4. Aladdin (Blu-ray | 4K)
  5. Crawl (Blu-ray)
  6. Spider-Man: Far from Home (Blu-ray | 4K)
  7. 10 Minutes Gone (Blu-ray)
  8. Annabelle Comes Home (Blu-ray)
  9. John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum (Blu-ray | 4K)
  10. Men in Black: International (Blu-ray | 4K)
Music
  1. Post Malone, Hollywood's Bleeding
  2. Rex Orange County, Pony
  3. Taylor Swift, Lover
  4. Billie Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
  5. Old Dominion, Old Dominion
  6. Chris Brown, Indigo
  7. Lizzo, Cuz I Love You
  8. Ed Sheeran, No. 6 Collaborations Project
  9. Post Malone, Beerbongs & Bentleys
  10. Travis Scott, Astroworld
Fiction
  1. Blue Moon, Lee Child
  2. The Guardians, John Grisham
  3. The Night Fire, Michael Connelly
  4. Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
  5. Find Me, Andre Aciman
  6. The Dutch House, Ann Patchett
  7. The Giver of Stars, Jojo Moyes
  8. The Institute, Stephen King
  9. The 19th Christmas, James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
  10. The Water Dancer, Ta-Nehisi Coates
Nonfiction 
  1. Me, Elton John
  2. Blowout, Rachel Maddow
  3. Catch and Kill, Ronan Farrow
  4. Talking to Strangers, Malcolm Gladwell
  5. The Plot Against the President, Lee Smith
  6. Three Days at the Brink, Bret Baier and Catherine Whitney
  7. Educated, Tara Westover
  8. Permanent Record, Edward Snowden
  9. The Book of Gutsy Women, Hillary Rodham and Chelsea Clinton
  10. The Body, Bill Bryson

Monday, November 4, 2019

Hot This Week: November 4

We kick off November with just one new movie, but it's a big one: the blockbuster live-action adaption of Disney's The Lion King. The albums on the music chart are largely holding strong, with the only new addition being the new disc from rockers Alter Bridge. The most movement occurred on the fiction list, which sees new novels from Michael Connelly, Nelson and Alex DeMille, and John le Carre. In nonfiction, an examination of a historic meeting of world leaders during World War II is the week's only addition.

Movies
  1. The Lion King (Blu-ray | 4K)
  2. Toy Story 4 (Blu-ray | 4K)
  3. Stuber (Blu-ray | 4K)
  4. Crawl (Blu-ray)
  5. Spider-Man: Far from Home (Blu-ray | 4K)
  6. Aladdin (Blu-ray | 4K)
  7. Annabelle Comes Home (Blu-ray)
  8. John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum (Blu-ray | 4K)
  9. Men in Black: International (Blu-ray | 4K)
  10. 3 from Hell (Blu-ray | 4K)
Music
  1. Post Malone, Hollywood's Bleeding
  2. Taylor Swift, Lover
  3. Billie Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
  4. Chris Brown, Indigo
  5. Lizzo, Cuz I Love You
  6. Ed Sheeran, No. 6 Collaborations Project
  7. Post Malone, Beerbongs & Bentleys
  8. Alter Bridge, Walk the Sky
  9. Travis Scott, Astroworld
  10. Luke Combs, This One's for You
Fiction
  1. The Night Fire, Michael Connelly
  2. The Guardians, John Grisham
  3. Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens
  4. The Deserter, Nelson and Alex DeMille
  5. Agent Running in the Field, John le Carre
  6. The 19th Christmas, James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
  7. The Dutch House, Ann Patchett
  8. The Water Dancer, Ta-Nehisi Coates
  9. The Institute, Stephen King
  10. The Testaments, Margaret Atwood
Nonfiction 
  1. Me, Elton John
  2. Catch and Kill, Ronan Farrow
  3. Blowout, Rachel Maddow
  4. Three Days at the Brink, Bret Baier and Catherine Whitney
  5. Talking to Strangers, Malcolm Gladwell
  6. Permanent Record, Edward Snowden
  7. Educated, Tara Westover
  8. The Way I Heard It, Mike Rowe
  9. The Body, Bill Bryson
  10. The United States of Trump, Bill O'Reilly