The 14th Annual From Slavery to Freedom Gala was held at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. The event was hosted by David Arquette, Congresswoman Karen Bass (CA-33), Congressman Howard Berman (CA-28), and others.

Languages/Subtitles:  English & Spanish, French

Sony Online Entertainment has revealed the voice cast behind the characters in DC Universe Online’s latest DLC pack — The Last Laugh. The DLC pack features returning voices of some of the biggest stars of DC Universe, including voiceover veterans Mark Hamill (The Joker), Adam Baldwin (Superman) and Arleen Sorkin (Harley Quinn).

The Last Laugh will include an all-new weapon, hours of multiplayer gameplay in the Safe Houses and Headquarters, and new Legends PvP characters:

• The Shield – Players can unleash this vicious new weapon to bash their opponents, or hurl it to take them down from a distance.
• Safe House Battles- No one is safe now that heroes and villains can invade each other’s Safe Houses in these four on four battles:
  • Graviton Technology Recovery – Players will be tasked with unscrambling teleporter codes that The Joker has mixed into fragments. Located at the Watchtower or Hall of Doom, players must retrieve eight code fragments to successfully rebuild useable teleporter codes.
  • The Rescue – Heroes must rescue hostages, while Villains will be freeing arrested criminals from opposing Safe Houses.
  • Bomb Disposal – Thanks to The Joker, the encryption on the email terminals have changed and can only be bypassed by the robot he provided. Players must gain control of the robot and either upload the data to their HQ or add new encryption to keep their enemies and The Joker away from it.
• Headquarter Battles – In this two-part crusade, 16 players — eight heroes and eight villains — will face off for the ultimate player reward. At the request of Superman, heroes must take over the Hall of Doom, while villains, egged on by The Joker, will breach the Watchtower in order to create chaos.
• Legends Characters - Combat illuminates with the introduction of the first light-powered Legends for multiplayer combat. Players will soon have access to Kilowog, a Green Lantern, and Amon Sur, a member of the Sinestro Corps.

DCUO’s The Last Laugh DLC pack will be accessible for free for the game’s Legendary members and available for purchase for Free and Premium players via the PlayStation®Network in-game Marketplace, and on the PC via the DCUniverseOnline.com website.

Shout! Factory, a leading multi-platform entertainment company, announced that it has acquired Eugene, Oregon-based home entertainment company Timeless Media Group, Inc. for undisclosed terms. This announcement was made by Shout! Factory’s founding partners Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos.

Independent home entertainment company Timeless Media Group produces and distributes a variety of video products, including Timeless Media’s award-winning military history documentaries, first-run movie titles, classic television programming, and special interest DVDs. Popular home entertainment product lines from Timeless Media Group include television and movie classics The Gene Autry Show, The Virginian, Wagon Train, Laramie, Roy Rogers: King of the Cowboys Western movies collection, Aspen: The Complete Miniseries, Once An Eagle Miniseries, Red Skelton, Snapped,  Peter Gunn, as well as over 50 best selling documentaries and other notables.

 “Timeless Media Group is a great company with a rich history and has tremendous growth potential. As we’re continuing to build on the success we’ve enjoyed with our distribution and retail partners, this acquisition is a terrific business opportunity and complements our current ventures,” stated Shout! Factory’s founding partners in a joint statement.

“Norman Andersen built a fantastic company for 36 years. We want to continue their strong tradition and gain from their expertise and experience. Combining both great catalogs and staff will make a bigger, better and more profitable Shout! Factory and Timeless Media Group,” added Shout! Factory’s founding partners.

Timeless Media Group President Norm Andersen reiterated Shout! Factory founders’ comments, “This is a great opportunity and works well for both companies. This acquisition puts Shout! Factory and Timeless Media Group in the position to pool valuable content catalogs and staff resources for greater competitiveness in the industry. This will further the strength of the Timeless Media Group brand.”

Shout! Factory will take over the distribution of more than 600 TMG titles. Timeless Media Group will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Shout! Factory and will continue to release titles on a monthly basis. Key executives from Timeless Media Group will be based in Oregon. The company will utilize Shout! Factory’s marketing and sales force to support upcoming home entertainment releases from TMG.

THE PLOT THUS FAR

Based on a true story, Girl Fight, starring Emmy-winning actress Anne Heche and James Tupper (Men In Trees), tells the harrowing tale of Haley, a studious and responsible young woman who desperately wanted to be part of her school’s ‘in’ crowd. After some of Haley’s new ‘friends’ discover negative remarks she made about them on social media sites, the girls take revenge by viciously beating Haley, then boasting about the event online. Instead of showing remorse, the girls post a shocking video of the beating on the Internet, sending Haley’s life into a downward spiral, with profound damage made to her self-esteem and social well-being.

WHAT WE THOUGHT

Poor Haley has just posted negative messages about her friends on social media. This film sports former lesbian Anne Heche as the mom in distress. Issues about the media and juvenile justice gets beefed up, but it doesn’t really matter. What we’re watching is a tv-movie designed to appeal to Midwestern housewives. Why are you expecting anything more?

The nastigrams lead to humiliation and physical trauma for Haley. But, Anne Heche is a woman on a mission. This is the kind of material that Lifetime has been digging through since your mom learned about the Facebook. It’s scare cinema for a new age, but it’s not as funny as Reefer Madness. The film exists in this void of paranoia and utter tepid response.

The DVD comes with no special features.. The A/V Quality is standard for Lifetime TV movies on DVD. The transfer is rather decent, but the Dolby track does the best it can. There’s no solid punch-up across the board, but it works well for what it is. In the end, I’d recommend a rental.

RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!

THE PLOT THUS FAR

Inspired by a true story, The Bling Ring centers around Zack, a shy, awkward middle-class boy searching to be accepted by his high school classmates. When he meets Natalie, a seemingly nice girl but in actuality a bit more nefarious than one would think, the promise of popularity and friendship soon becomes a reality when they begin `shopping’ in the closets of the rich and famous. Empowered by the thrill of not getting caught and under the impression the stolen goods will make them popular, Zack, Natalie and a few other friends begin breaking into the homes of a number of major celebrities, robbing them of millions of dollars in clothes, shoes and jewelry. As their crimes begin to attract the attention of the media, the group succeeds in becoming the envy of their peers. Meanwhile, Zack’s mother, Iris (Jennifer Grey, Dirty Dancing), happy to see that her son has finally made friends, is blissfully unaware of his crime spree – until it begins to attract the wrong kind of attention.

WHAT WE THOUGHT

A bunch of kids team up to rob celebs. It’s not that amazing, but Hollywood has seemed to have fallen in love with the story. A big-budget version is being helmed by Sofia Coppola for next year. But, Lifetime beat them to the punch with this weepy mom drama about kids out of control. This film sports former Wolverine Jennifer Grey as the mom in distress.

The real story behind the case isn’t that amazing. It’s just that the celeb whoring went full critical because one of the involved had ties to a show that E! was launching around the time they got busted. It’s like Domino, but with less Tony Scott bullshit. I know that won’t make a difference to the Lifetime crowd, but it’s the only way I can convince our readers to check it out.

The DVD comes with no special features.. The A/V Quality is standard for Lifetime TV movies on DVD. The transfer is rather decent, but the Dolby track does the best it can. There’s no solid punch-up across the board, but it works well for what it is. In the end, I’d recommend a rental.

RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!

THE PLOT THUS FAR

In Santa Cruz for the summer, a young woman discovers the sport of surfing — and a family secret as well.

WHAT WE THOUGHT

A young girl Nikki who never leaves her room, constantly reading books and shutting herself off from the outside world, is sent to her Grandmother for the summer, who owns a surf shop in California. As she discovers more about the families past, and embarks on a road trip to Mexico, things start to change. In that sense, it’s every movie about a teenager girl ever. Well, there’s no shades of “Welcome to the Dollhouse” here. But, I guess that’s just too realistic.

“Beautiful Wave” moves around a predictable story with light emotion. But, Teagarden and Richardson make the most of the material. The characters evolve gradually and by the end of the movie we are left feeling just a little bit more positive about human nature and wishing that we could embark on a trip in a beaten up camper ourselves. You know what, let’s just skip that part.

The DVD comes with no special features. The A/V Quality is pretty sharp for standard definition. However, I found the Dolby 5.1 track to have no background support. Still, it works for what it is. In the end, I’d recommend a rental.

RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!