Welcome to the latest edition of The Special Edition. I’m back.
This week’s biggest release is the biggest comedy hit of the summer, Knocked Up. The Seth Rogan/Judd Apatow film stars Rogan as a “normal” guy who just happens to knock up the very hot Katherine Heigl. A movie that hits so many good points for both the male and female audience might have been a surprise for mainstream movie audiences, but for those who have followed the career of the very talented Judd Apatow, it was just business as usual. While I feel there was some flab that could have been cut out to make a slimmer, tighter film, it would have lost some of the humor of the film if they had done so. A great movie that is just as much a date movie as it is a movie for the guy’s. The movie comes out in six different editions. There is the basic widescreen and full screen editions, Unrated editions in both widescreen and full screen versions, and finally a 2-Disc Unrated Special Edition. It also will be released in HD DVD. It is reported that the high def disc will be a combo disc with the unrated version on one side and the theatrical version on the other, but will include none of the special features from the 2-Disc Special Edition.
The basic rated edition comes with
- Deleted Scenes
- Extended/Alternate Scenes
- Line-O-Rama
- Roller Coaster Doc
- Directing the Director
- Loudon Wainwright III – Live at McCabe’s
- Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Judd Apatow, Executive Producer/Star Seth Rogen and Actor Bill Hader
The unrated edition comes with everything that the rated edition comes with plus an unrated “Topless Scene – Web Design Company” featurette.
The 2-Disc Special Edition comes with these special features on the second disc
- More Extended/Alternate Scenes
- Video Diaries
- Kids on the Loose
- Beard-O-Rama
- Kuni Files
- Gummy: The 6th Roommate
- Stripper Confidential
- Finding Ben Stone
- Kuni Gone Wild
- Loudon Wainwright III Scoring Session
- Line-O-Rama Version 2
- Gag Reels
- Loudon Wainwright III – Live at McCabe’s
- First Sex on Camera
- Topless Scene – Restaurant
- Raw Footage
- Katherine Heigl Audition
Other big releases this week includes the latest Nic Cage big budget flick Next, the newest Paul Verhoeven movie Black Book, and William Friedkin’s return with Bug. Next features a nice cast with Cage, Julienne Moore and Jessica Biel in the latest adaptation of a Philip K. Dick story. Nic Cage stars as a man who can see 2-minutes into the future who is called in to help stop a terrorist group who threatens a nuclear attack on Los Angeles. The DVD will feature three short featurettes and a making-of documentary. It will also be released on HD DVD with the same extras, all in HD.
His first Dutch film since the 1980’s, Paul Verhoeven’s Black Book will be released on DVD this week. The movie tells the story of a young 
Jewish woman who joins the resistance and goes undercover at Gestapo headquarters during World War II. The movie will include audio commentary by Verhoeven and a making-of documentary. The movie will also receive a Blu-Ray release with the making-of in high def as well.
Bug marks the return of William Friedkin in a movie about a woman (Ashley Judd) who meets the man of her dreams and together they fall into an unnerving spiral of madness. You can read Troy’s review HERE. The movie comes out in what it calls a Special Edition but only really offers a featurette, a discussion with Frienkin and an audio commentary with the director. It looks like a regular DVD to me, but 
Troy was pretty enthusiastic in his review, so give it a try.
In this week’s older releases, we get some pretty cool editions to set your sights on. First up is the 25th Anniversary Edition of Cujo. The Stephen King story about a rabid dog who traps and then stalks a woman and her son is a lesser King adaptation, more along the lines of Maximum Overdrive than Misery. The movie has not aged all that well, although a story of a parent who must protect her child from a very real threat can relate to almost anyone. The movie alienated King fans when it was first releases due to the “happier” ending that the movie tacked on. While the King stories of the time all seemed to drift towards the more realistic, dark endings, the film wanted to keep the more satisfying ending that movie audiences demand. The DVD will contain a 3-part making 
of documentary and a commentary with the director. That cover looks pretty sweet as well.
Babel was last years Crash, a movie that received critical acclaim but turned many people away on due to its knack of preaching its message instead of letting its story be told more organically. The reason Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu went from a critical darling with Amores Perros to a waste of talent with Babel may be due to his repeating style more than a lack of quality in the movie itself. Look for a review of this DVD from me in the next week. The only change between this “Collector’s Edition” and the original disc is a feature length making-of featurette on a second disc.
A few horror movies will be released this week as well, one great, a group of cult classics and one an Uwe Boll movie. First is the great release, the 2-Disc Collector’s Edition of horror icon Dario Argento’s Suspiria. There was a great 3-Disc Edition released in 2001, but since that is OOP, this is the best chance to get a good version to replace the single-disc version that you can get everywhere right now. You get the same features that are on the single-disc (a photo gallery, talent bios and a music video) plus a second disc with 25th Anniversary Interviews Co-Writer/Director Dario Argento, Co-Writer Daria Nicolodi, Cinematographer Luciano Tovoli, Composers Goblin (Claudio Simonetti, Massimo Morante, Fabio Pignatelli & Agostino Marangolo), and Stars Jessica Harper, Stefania Casini and Udo Kier. The transfer and sound should be the exact same as the release 
already available.
Cult classics that come out this week includes Dr. Giggles, Deadly Friend, Eyes of a Stranger, From Beyond the Grave, The Hand and Someone’s Watching Me. They are available together as a box set (Twisted Terror Collection) and also by themselves. Quickly, Someone’s Watching Me (1978) was a TV movie directed by John Carpenter, The Hand (1981) was a movie directed by Oliver Stone, Deadly Friend (1986) was directed by Wes Craven, From Beyond the Grave (1973) in an anthology film adapted from four short storues by R. Chetwynd-Hayes, Eyes of a Stranger (1981) is a horror movie starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Dr. Giggles (1992) really needs no introduction.
Alone in the Dark: Director’s Cut. Enough said.
TELEVISION ON DVD
The Unit – The Complete Second Season
King of Queens – The Complete Ninth Season
My Name is Earl – Season 2
Numb3rs – The Third Season
Drawn Together – Season 2
The Untouchables – Season 1, Vol. 2
Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Granada Television Series
The Streets of San Francisco, Season 1, Vol. 2
Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Vol. 4
What About Brian: The Complete Series
Grounded for Life: Season Five
Robert Klein: The HBO Specials 1975-2005
Inside the Actors Studio: Leading Men
Dog the Bounty Hunter: The Arrest
The Best of the Cosby Show
THE HIGH DEFINITION REVOLUTION
Underworld (unrated) [Blu-Ray]
Memoirs of a Geisha [Blu-Ray]
The Wild Bunch [HD DVD and Blu-Ray]
Wyatt Earp [HD DVD and Blu-Ray]
Gods and Generals [Blu-Ray and HD DVD]
The Getaway (Unrated) [HD-DVD]
Gothika [HD DVD and Blu-Ray]
Patch Adams [HD-DVD]
OTHER RELEASES
Midsomer Murders Set 9, Evening (also on HD DVD), The Mickey Rooney & Judy Garland Collection, As You Like It, Count Dracula (BBC Mini-Series), Night of the Demons 2, Broken (Unrated), Chalk, The TV Set, Spider Baby (Special Edition), The Stendhal Syndrome (2-Disc Special Edition), Sensual Bellydance, Walking Tall: Lone Justice, Bliss, Demons, Demons II, I Tried, The Cat O’Nine Tails, The Ferryman, Thursday the 12th, Reeker, Eyes of a Stranger, The Panama Deception, Macbeth, Opera, Satan’s Baby Doll, Spine, Splinter, Dead in the Water, The Intruder (Special Edition)
THE BARGAIN BIN
BEST BUY
Blades Of Glory – $15.99
Hot Fuzz – $15.99
NEXT – $19.99
NEXT HD-DVD – $29.99
BUG – $19.99
Evening – $19.99
Evening HD-DVD – $29.99
Babel: 2 DVD Collector’s Edition – $24.99
Black Book – $19.99
Pearl Jam: Imagine In Cornice – $11.99
Dora The Explorer: Save The Day! – $12.99
Knocked Up: Unrated – $15.99
Knocked Up: Unrated HD-DVD – $29.99
Knocked Up: Unrated / 2 DVD Collector’s Edition – $22.99 (Includes Best Buy Exclusive deck of cards)
$9.99 DVDs: There’s Something About Mary, A Walk In The Clouds, In Her Shoes, Moulin Rouge, Say Anything, An Affair To Remember
$4.99 DVDs: The Untouchables: Special Collector’s Edition, Catch Me If You Can, American Beauty: The Awards Edition, Alfie (Jude Law), Sky Captain & The World Of Tomorrow, The Hours, Breakdown, Juice, Chinatown, Mission: Impossible – Special Collector’s Edition, Vanilla Sky, Indecent Proposal, What Women Want, Days Of Thunder, The Manchurian Candidate (Denzel Washington), Along Came A Spider, The Italian Job (Caine / Wahlberg / Theron), Zoolander, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Varsity Blues, Minority Report, Pretty In Pink: Everything’s Duckie Edition
DVD Sets:
Drawn Together: Season #2 – $19.99
Voltron: Season #4 – $19.99
The King Of Queens: Season #9 – $22.99
The Unit: Season #2 – $36.99
What About Brian: Complete Series – $39.99
Smallville: Season #6 – $44.99
Smallville: Season #1 – #5 – $24.99
Smallville: Season #6 HD-DVD or Blu-Ray – $69.99
Will & Grace: Season #6 – $24.9
The Office: Season #2 – $24.99
Scrubs: Season #3 – $24.99
Monk: Season #1 – #4 – $24.99 each
Supernatural: Season #1 – $24.99
Kyle XY – Declassified: Season #1 – $24.99
Nip/Tuck: Season #1 – #3 – $24.99 each
Picket Fences: Season #1 – $24.99
Boston Legal: Season #1 – #2 – $24.99 each
Weeds: Season #2 – $24.99
The Dresden Files: Season #1 – $24.99
Stargate SG-1: Season #8 – $24.99
The Fall Guy: Season #1 – $24.99
Magnum P.I. : Season #4 – $24.99
Twisted Terror Collection – $34.99
My Name Is Earl: Season #2 – $32.99 (Best Buy Bonus Scratch & Sniff Card from the Get A Real Job episode)
My Name Is Earl: Season #1 – $19.99
TARGET
BUG: Special Edition – $16.99
NEXT – $19.99
Tony Bennett: The Music Never Ends – $12.99
Knocked Up – $16.99
Knocked Up: 2 Disc Extended & Unrated Edition – $22.99 (Exclusive Deluxe Edition includes 2 disc unrated version & behind the scenes booklet)
Knocked Up HD-DVD – $29.99
What About Brian: The Complete Series – $39.99
My Name Is Earl: Season #2 – Exclusive Limited Edition – $32.99