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Films and stars shine in DVD Christmas Gifts

By Luis Reyes

There are a number of DVDS, Blu-Ray and Digital Releases of Feature films that are sure to please Movie fans as stocking stuffers for Christmas Gifts and the New Year.


Universal Home Entertainments Lowriders starring Demian Bichir, Eva Longoria, Gabriel Chavarria, Pepe Serna and Theo Rossi in this story of a young artist who is torn between his father’s obsession with car culture and his recently released felon brother.   Lowriders was a modest hit at the box- office this past summer with a first weekend gross of 2.5 million in only 295 theaters and went on to a total gross of just over 6 million.   


Dead Again in Tombstone stars character actor turned superstar Danny Trejo in a return to his starring role as Guerrero, the gunfighter who comes back from the dead to protect a stolen relic and settle a score in the sequel to the hit film Dead in Tombstone. Also from Universal Home entertainment is Oscar winning Jonas Charon’s Desierto, little seen but thrill packed story of a Mexican immigrant during a desert border crossing stalked by a lone vigilante starring Gael Garcia Bernal Entertainment.  Another hit film


How to Be a Latin Lover, a comedy satire starring popular Mexican comedian Eugenio Derbez also made a splash at the box-office with its all-star cast including Salma Hayek, Raquel Welch and Rob Lowe.  It is available from Lionsgate Home Video.  

The real Guy Gabaldon (center)



Hell to Eternity (1960) available on Made on Demand from Warner Archive Collection (WWW.WBshop /Warner Archive) Home Video ) is the first movie to feature a true life story of a Mexican-American from East LA, World War II hero Guy Gabaldon. An orphaned Chicano from East LA who was raised by a Japanese-American family just prior to the second World War and the conflicts that arose between his loyalty to his family and the injustice inflicted upon his family by the racism after the attack on Pearl Harbor his service to America. Young tall blue eyed actor Jeffrey Hunter (The Searchers) plays Gabaldon who in real life was dark and short of stature and at first rejected by the armed services when he went to enlist until finally accepted by the Marines. Because of his bravery and his Japanese language ability Gabaldon’s valiant efforts saved thousands of American and Japanese soldiers and civilians during the bloody battle of Saipan.  Hell to Eternity is also the first Hollywood film to prominently feature the Japanese-American internment. It is one of the first roles for young actor George Takei (Star Trek’s Mr. Sulu) and features a mature Sessue Hayakawa as a Japanese general, who was the first Asian Hollywood silent screen star.


Three Godfathers (1948) also on Warner Archive Collection on Demand and DVD is a beautiful Technicolor Christmas themed Western starring John Wayne and Mexican film’s crossover leading star Pedro Armendariz, in a redemptive tale of three fleeing outlaws who come upon a dying woman and her newborn baby in the desert after an Indian attack  They reluctantly must take care of the baby and risk capture until they can reach a town where the baby can be cared for.

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