Quick! What’s half of 52? 26! Yes, that’s correct, Watson, the possibility of a year of writing exists! It’s a subtle new era! As to what, you might guess – crap? Well, uh, damn. You’re a step ahead of me. Instead, let’s just pick what’s behind door number DVD.
Riding The Short Bus
Vin Diesel can kill you in a thousands ways without batting a fleshy eyelid. His shiny hulking dome could refract light, creating a hyper solar death ray the likes of which no one has ever seen (although I’m sure S.P.E.C.T.R.E. has). He could be eating at L’Orangerie and accidentally drop his fork (which is a deadly slaughterous machine for his bad self), only to reach down and decimate half of the world’s populace, all in the name of poking for that extra green bean. He’s a ruthless killer, so it would only make sense that for a man being groomed as the next action hero of the new millennia work with a plethora of hip young plastic children and a Duck named Gary. The Pacifier (read C. Nathan’s DVD Review) has arrived and I’m sure 75% of you are going "- huh? what? seriously, dude, seriously." Diesel works his charms as Navy SEAL Shane Wolfe a man assigned to watch over the family of recently departed O.C. man Tate Donovan, (Donovan’s picking up his paycheck in the name of appearing smart). Momma Faith Ford has to leave her clan of beasts in the care of Wolfe, since she’s off to Switzerland to figure out the password to one super-secret strange ‘thing’ in a safe deposit box. The main mission along the line is that there’s a super top-secret US defense project hiding in the Plummer’s house, so it’s up to Diesel to figure it out. Of course, he gets more than he bargained for, so he has to battle mood swings, spewing babies (it would be funnier if he ate them!), veritable boatloads of Ninjas!, on top of musical theater aspirations to get it all done, on time and under budget. Personally, I think The Pacifier is just a greatly flawed kids movie with some action, some laughs, and over-the-top clichéd characters, even with its relative awfulness (and there is a lot to nitpick!). That by itself is scary and part of the reason why I find myself at a loss to understand why I really enjoyed this film more than I even remotely should have. It all probably leads back to the Ninjas! and a Duck named Gary, or maybe it’s because Mr. Diesel threatened to kick my quivering ass into oblivion.
Do the Peter Panda dance with: an audio commentary by writer/director Adam Shankman, some deleted scenes & bloopers, 2 featurettes (On Set With Brad Garrett: Unpacified and On Set With Mr. Diesel: Action Hero and Nice Guy), and Special Ops TV commercials.
Devin recently mentioned that if you’re a fan of Shaun of the Dead, or Spaced for that matter (count me behind the times for not having watched it …yet), then you’re probably going to dig Nick Frost’s exploits with Danger! 50,000 Volts! Additionally, Devin’s interview with Frost about the exact DVD I’m mentioning (irony!) you can even access right here, if you haven’t already. Frost, meanwhile, stars in the Channel Five series where he was forced into "compromising positions", including many dangerous life-threatening situations where the producers, uh, conveniently forgot that our main man was a stunt man (hmm, sounds a bit like Twilight Zone: The Movie but without rolling heads). As such, the press release contains quite a few exclamation points, a worthwhile expression of grammar I tend to use frequently. "Danger! 50,000 Volts! Is a British comedy television series where survival is not assured and Danger is always just around the next corner! Definitely not for the fainthearted! Nick Frost, star of Shaun of the Dead and the cult British comedy Spaced, fearlessly hosts this comedy survival series of seven thirty-minute episodes as he attempts to solve the following dangerous dilemmas: Alligator Attack!, Thugs With Baseball Bats!, High Speed Chases!, Minefields!, Fires!, Being Impaled!, Lightning Strikes!, Tidal Waves!, Hostage Situations! And MORE high-tension, high-risk situations that could strike out of nowhere!" Most noteworthy is the recent addition of the Danger! 50,000 Zombies! – a specially filmed insight, where Frost helps you out; should your town, love life, or basement bedroom be infected by those pesky flesh-rotting mounds of moaners. If you happen to live in Pittsburgh, this should be required viewing, especially those downtown on Wood.
Exclaim! Until! You! Can’t! Anymore! with: Commentary! by Nick Frost (and crew), Danger! 50,000 Zombies! – a newly filmed insight, and Dangerous Facts! which are snippets into the most dangerous of dangerous facts around, like those real ones in the South that they don’t want you to learn.
The Daily Show has been hitting its stride for quite some time now. It’s one of the best fake news shows on television (O’Reilly Factor being the other) but to put out a boxed set onto DVD is such a strange concept I can’t seem to wrap my head around. Granted, there was a lot to say around the 2004 Presidential Election, from all of the hoopla that surrounded every candidates move, gaffe, statement of "you want some wood?", and internets spewing insanity, but to put it all in a boxed set that only has three discs doesn’t seem quite relevant. This is old news people. We want new news, news of hope, of love, of Nick Frost battling various elements only to emerge victorious. The Daily Show: Indecision 2004 boxed set is predominantly about the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. I’m of sound mind that this show is just firing on all cylinders when going after politicians and the like. So, the set includes the great episodes gathered around the 4 days of both the Democratic and Republican National Conventions (8), the one following the first Bush-Kerry debate (1), and the hour-long election night episode called "Prelude to a Recount" (1). That adds up to 10 episodes to relive and be merry, especially when you realize that they’re all going to probably grow stale after the first watch. These things have a shelf life of little to nothing, but are good for the quips Stewart and his band of people (especially Colbert with his Democratic focus group and Corddry visiting his old home town of Boston … again) throw out there. The Zell Miller/Chris Matthews Duel insanity is also priceless, but there’s a limit to how many times I can watch these things before it all comes crashing down.
Just in case you’re wondering, the set is packed with a veritable boatload of Special Features. Look! – a DVD introduction by Jon Stewart, original segments featuring Jon Stewart and the correspondents, Stephen Colbert’s award-not-winning featurette: Requiem for a Show That Was Daily, voice-over commentary by Rob Corddry, Ed Helms, and Samantha Bee, our National Anthem sung in 4-correspondent harmony, The First Presidential Debate: The Squabble in Coral Gables, Election Night ’04: Prelude to a Recount, Daily Show Rock! Presents: Midterm Elections, John Edwards Campaign Announcement, Stephen Colbert’s "Interviews I Could Get", Rob Corddry: Democratic debates in NY and Detroit; The Secretaries’ Tour, Ed Helms: Original Introduction; Principle Spinner, Samantha Bee: Block the Vote; So You Want to Bee…A 527 Organization?, Continental Skiff Boat Oarsmen for Veracity, Steve Carell: Trail and Tribulations following the Howard Dean campaign, and Bob Wiltfong: Sticker Shock. Goddamn that’s a lot of stuff. Enjoy!
Releasing a season called Three and a Half-ish causes some much needed stress around these parts. Does it mean it contains the whole season and half (or so of season four)? Does it mean it only contains a smattering of episodes from season three? In Ren & Stimpy: Seasons Three and a Half-ish, those questions still remain. I scoured far and wide to discover the answer, and was met by a rather bearded looking man answering to the name of Moutard. Pierre, but only to his friends, was a rather sickly orange-yellow looking fellow, partly because of a gastrointestinal problem developed in the ancient Alps. He told me the secret, and it’s as easy as season three and a couple of selected episodes from season four. My life wasted two years to figure this out! Ren & Stimpy‘s further exploits in their Half-ish set include: Ren & Stimpy attempting to get food from a Baboon guarded house, the pair getting a ride from some deranged circus midgets out to kidnap anyone, Ren & Stimpy taking care of the Lincoln monument (and his curious head), meeting a guitar playing Jimmy Lemmox, who also happens to be Stimpy’s conscious, and of course, meeting with Wilbur Cobb and his craziness. There’s a whole hell of a lot more, but that’s just a taste of the zaniness to come while you wait for Jerry the Bellybutton Elf to touch you all over.
Yell "Powdered Toast Man!" with your buttocks! The set includes: audio commentaries on 11 cartoons with John K. and the original animation team, plus for the first time ever, hear Ren & Stimpy on Ren & Stimpy.
I’ve been dreading talking about Tyler Perry’s Diary Of A Mad Black Woman (read Eileen’s 2.2 DVD Rack Review right here) because I’m just really not its target audience. Not that I’ve got anything against the film, but rather because I thought that the film looked like a paint-by-numbers gigantic work of mediocrity. Devin even agreed (hell, he’s seen it!), calling the film "uniformly awful" right here. Even scarier, I suppose, is Tyler Perry as Medea, the cross-dressing Granny who is pointing at you courtesy of the cover. "Perry’s Medea makes Eddie Murphy’s work in [Nutty Professor] ("Hercules, Hercules, Hercules!") look like Olivier", Devin confidently states. Kimberly Elise plays Helen, who is thrown out on the street by her evil Lawyer husband. "Her sense of self unravels. She finds herself on the doorstep of her gun-toting grandmother Madea, who sets Helen on the road to dignity and forgiveness–with a few detours along the way. The plot of Diary of a Mad Black Woman unfolds in a dizzying mélange of styles, from soap opera to campy comedy to chick-flick romance to gothic revenge to inspirational tale of redemption." I wonder if the synopsis isn’t confusing the "dizzying mélange of styles" with something more along the lines of ‘doesn’t know which direction to take’. All of this said, though, I do really like the original poster. It’s a great collage of style and elegance that probably, like the film, describes 1/3 of what the film is most likely about.
Mamma said knock you out – with: audio commentary by Tyler Perry, some deleted scenes, outtakes, 03 featurettes (Making-of, Who is Tyler Perry? and reflections of Diary), bonus trailers for the Original Tyler Perry collection, and the original theatrical trailer.
Disney unleashes their teenybopping stars of the new millennia onto you, via Cadet Kelly (CHUD’s DVD Review – COMING SOON) and The Even Stevens Movie (CHUD’s DVD Review – COMING SOON). Household brand name Hillary Duff, who brought to you the surprisingly pleasant Lizzie McGuire Movie (spunky and fun) and the overly-wrought Cinderella Story (it just doesn’t gel together like it should at the end) is brought back from her Disney Channel roots to delve into the relatively high profile nature of the rigid world of what happens when your Momma marries an gruff, rough, and tough Army Captain. "Thrust into a rigid world of obedience that frowns upon creativity and individuality, Kelly manages to make one close friend, but clashes with Cadet Captain Stone and is eventually court-martialed. Sentenced to maintain the equipment for the drill team, Kelly’s disdain for the team suddenly evaporates when she glimpses the beauty and creativity involved in their precise maneuvers." I’m sure more than a few of yo
u know where this is going, and in typical Disney fashion, I bet there’s even a moral involving why order and a sense of pride works to uplift your sorry fragile little lives. All personal growth aside, I’m sure the soundtrack features some of today’s hottest bands! Yes!
Across the vast spectrum is ‘It’ dude Shia LeBeouf (who you might want to call The Beef from now on), who parlayed his good fortunes in The Even Stevens Movie into fighting the Devil and his hordes of evil recently with Keanu Reeves. This made for TV movie "follows the Stevens family in a rare moment of good fortune. Seems they’ve won a dream vacation to the tropics, but even a free vacation isn’t always a dream. There’s the usual bumbling by Louis (LeBeouf), but also the family seems to be getting split up and turned against each other. Sure enough, the Stevens family is actually the unsuspecting victim on a reality show called Family Fakeout, and everyone back home in Sacramento is watching every minute of their frustration and misery." The half-circle is now complete, so feel free to sacrifice all superficial virgins at your own leisure.
Cadet Kelly stands at ATTENTION! with: commentary by actors Christy Carlson Romano and Aimee Garcia on selected scenes, a behind the scenes featurette, a challenge game, and a DVD-ROM "Boot Camp" Party Planner (totally cool!). The Even Stevens Movie comes with: commentary by actors Christy Carlson Romano and Shia LeBeouf on selected scenes, a challenge game, and a DVD-ROM "Island Adventure" Party Planner, just in case you’re ever stuck without ideas and want to scare your metrosexual friends away.
Long considered to be one of the greatest car chase movies in the history of mankind (joining the ranks of Smoky and the Bandit, The French Connection, and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome), the ultimate B-movie Dirty Mary Crazy Larry: Supercharged Edition finally makes its much-needed bow onto the digital realm. Susan George (from Straw Dogs) is Dirty Mary, who probably needs a shower as much as the next Birkenstock wearing Vermontian. Crazy Larry is everyone’s favorite blue jean jacket wearing, mullet-rocking Uncle, Peter Fonda, complete with shades, motorcycle and all, minus the motorcycle. "The minimal plot concerns racing enthusiasts Larry Rayder (Fonda) and Deke Sommers (Adam Rourke), who steal $150,000 from a supermarket manager (an un-credited Roddy McDowall) in order to buy a fancy sports car. Sexy hitchhiker Mary Coombs (George) joins Rayder and Deke as they are pursued across the California countryside by a maniacal law-enforcement officer (Vic Morrow before he was unceremoniously taken from this Earth) — with more than one-third of the film consisting of hair-pin chases and comic smash-ups and crashes." If you’re a fan of smash-em-up car chases and thought that a recent Nicolas Cage movie wasn’t up to par, well, turn back to the past, where daddy showed ’em how to do it, and do it right.
Don’t be no slouch with: audio commentary by director John Hough, moderated by Perry Martin, an all-new documentary called Ride the Wild Side, featuring interviews with director John Hough and stars Peter Fonda & Susan George, a 1969 Dodge Charger commercial, some talent Bios, a poster and stills gallery, and some TV and Radio spots, on top of theatrical trailers to make you go zoom.
As our quest for Iraqi Freedom still rages on and the allure of the draft sparking its evil unnecessary head once again, along comes Gunner Palace, a place of refuge, solace, and partying down for the young soldiers assigned with the burden (or privilege, if you still believe what we’re doing is right) of fighting in Iraq. Devin reviewed the film a while back (click here) and he passionately states that he has: "to strongly encourage everyone to get out to see this movie. As the Iraq War and Occupation drags on and on, and as we stop finding out the names and stories of those killed, and as we stop counting the civilian casualties, it’s too easy for this war to fade away, to become the third news item every night." Director Michael Tucker provides a snapshot of the young men (and women) living in Uday Hussein’s former Palace, one that doesn’t take sides, presenting the information as is, for you to judge. "He lived with these soldiers, documented their daily lives in a bombed-out former pleasure palace, accompanied them on raids, and recorded their brutally honest observations on film." One of the hardest parts about watching these harrowing situations is just how much we seemingly take for granted in this amazing country of ours. Gunner Palace shows that no matter how you may feel on this particular hot-button subject, it will encourage you to re-think those feelings and learn what you’re not watching on the nightly news.
Gunner Palace comes with: some deleted scenes, Three "Gunner Freestyle" audio rap tracks, and some weblinks.
Criterion unleashes two older films today to much acclaim and crickets chirping for most of you who visit this column. First up is The Browning Version, which is centered around an old English play. Old, English and Play coupled so close together certainly spells eminent doom for the new crop of kids most interested in slam bang visuals and MTV style editing. Michael Redgrave is "Andrew Crocker-Harris, a cold-fish public school instructor who has long since outlived his early promise. That his classics students, his colleagues, and even his somewhat younger wife refer to him as "the Crock" is not a mark of affection. Wheezing pedantically, making arcane classical puns without hope of raising a laugh, he’s an anti-Mr. Chips to whom nearly everyone will be happy to say goodbye. Except that on this last day, with his health failing, his wife openly carrying on an affair, and his headmaster eager to whisk him off to retirement, Crocker-Harris achieves an order of triumph that the film marks without a whiff of senti
mentality." Then, there’s Crazed Fruit, which is the nickname absolutely no one calls me or anyone I know. Damn shame too, because there’s a really bad joke in there somewhere. Crazed Fruit, however is a watershed film for the Japanese. It "ushered in a new era for Japanese cinema. Shot in 17 days (extravagant by Nikkatsu Studio standards), the film’s strong language, intimations of casual sex, and complete disregard for authority, would unsettle an entire nation, while blazing a path for the likes of Seijun Suzuki and Nagisa Oshima. (Even François Truffaut was impressed.) It begins one leisurely summer as brothers Natsuhisa (Yujiro Ishihara) and Haruji (Oshima star Masahiko Tsugawa) sail, water-ski, and make "boredom their credo”–until both fall for the married Eri (Ishihara’s future wife, Mie Kitahara). In short order, boredom will be replaced by tragedy." This is an enraged outcry against the older generation, a rebellious guitar wafting across the aisle courtesy of Pete Townshend, and a red jacket, drag racing against those traditions in place in the Japanese filmmaking community.
The Browning Version is being rather stiff upper lipped about: an audio commentary by film historian Bruce Eder, a new video interview with Mike Figgis, director of the 1994 remake, an archival interview with Michael Redgrave from 1958, and a new essay by film critic Geoffrey Macnab. Crazed Fruit strips down to nothing, revealing: an audio commentary by renowned Japanese-film scholar Donald Richie and a new essay by film scholar Michael Raines.
The rest of the titles coming out today are worthwhile too! The Twilight Zone continues to receive proper justice with Definitive Edition: Numero Trois. Tom Selleck gets his adaptation of Robert B. Parker’s Stone Cold (My DVD Review – COMING SOON), and it’s not very good, or remotely worth your time. Everything else floats around, so grab at them!
Two Turn Tables And A DVD
There’s a destination a little down the road for your education of the titles you know. Where 1’s and 0’s get all fresh and flow. In my unnecessary scrambling to keep you involved with the select titles that are being thrown into the wild, we’ve got to take my Elephant Gun and bag a few of these tricky bastards. I’m aiming my sights and cocking the trigger, so let’s see how many we can catch before some sort of hippie animal loving organization gets in our way. Save this! (cue: sound of rather large and unnecessary explosion)
August is the wasteland for films being released in theaters, so Tartan is very smart to whip up a little Oldboy (read Devin’s "as seen on Rotten Tomatoes" review right here) on DVD and sneakily hammer out their spectacular achievement of a film on the 23rd to lure you away from the theatre. If you’ve been Region Free like the rest of us lucky (and fortunate) bastards of olden days yore, you’d have already purchased the ninety billion editions (one even includes a Harry Knowles commentary, so you can drink a beer and laugh at how much better you are, even though he’s actually doing something more high-profile and successful than you!). Now, for those living in the seediest quadrants of America (North Dakota, Ann Arbor, and Lowell) you can brave the gunfire, fatty foods, and Mumu-wearing neighbors to get thine ass to the home video store. In Oldboy, Oh Dae-su has gotten himself a little drunk, but that’s no excuse to lock the man up for 15 years without much human contact. When he’s finally let go, his fury knows no bounds – revenge is the best dish for the course here. Armed only with a new suit, a cell phone and 5 days to discover just whom imprisoned him and why, Oh Dae-su’s coming, and he’s bringing hell with him, provided that he can figure out what the hell is going on behind-the-scenes. What follows is a complete and utter explosion of a film, one that throws you across the room and never stops the thunder. This Hulkamania shirt rip of a film confronts you, challenges your thoughts, and then shatters all preconceived notions of what you can do within a story. Utterly absorbing, thoroughly sinister, but wonderfully masterful in every aspect, Oldboy was one of the best films of last year, so there’s no need to waft on your preconceived notions. Get out there!
Special Features come with a live Octopus, which you have to eat! There’s also: an audio commentary by the director and cinematographer, an interview with (director) Park, deleted scenes and a trailer created by Nikolas Pueringer, a University of Wisconsin-Madison student who beat 132 other entrants in a promotion on iFilm. Another interesting extra, that should make it more accessible to those who might not normally watch something like this is an original English language track. No word yet on whether or not it destroys the language eccentricities and subtleties associated with the original.
A minor disappointment. That’s how I ultimately felt about Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. It’s a good film, but somehow it just feels a little off the mark from my causal film fan tastes. The combination of several outside life factors (like Mickey Rourke at my screening being himself, and Carol Kane hogging the butter for my popcorn) lead to a terrible movie going experience the likes of which haven’t been rivaled since Ernest Borgnine decided to ruin my Happy Gilmore screening in the Commons. Back to the topic, Hitchhiker’s Guide (check out Devin’s mixed review is here too!) is just adequate. I was expecting a lot more the way the internets community chatted this thing up like it was Lucasfilm Ltd. inserting some CGI into their beloved movies, but as a whole, I just found the adventures of Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect to be mildly entertaining and a bit too meandering most of the time. This could be related to the British past time of queuing, a concept that I eagerly await to hone (one day, and overseas of course). In all seriousness, if I were much younger the film might have held a little more allure to my eyes, as the visuals brought to us by Garth Jennings and his team were inspiring and amazing, especially those once Dent and Prefect leave the planet and head out on their hitchhiking quest. Sam Rockwell’s steals the show for me, as his goateed wavy hair and partying attitude resonate across all corners of the narrative developments. What can I say, I just enjoyed his carelessness and chutzpah towards anything coming along against the main characters. While I haven’t explained why I didn’t enjoy this nearly enough, now’s your chance to check it out on 09.13.05 (the UK edition streets on 09.05.05).
Earth is coming to and end (if I continue with my comments) with: Special Features for the Region 1 (USA!) disc have yet to be finalized, but those fellows in the UK with their 2 disc edition should see: some audio commentaries, Don’t Crash: The Making Of Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy (UK exclusive featurette), Making of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – behind the scenes with interviews from cast and crew, Additional Guide Entry – "Babelfish Guide Entry", some deleted scenes, some really deleted scenes, a sing along for "So Long & Thanks For All The Fish", and Marvin’s Hangman – Set Top Game. I’d expect some of those to translate over to the US edition. Unless the Vogons have anything to do with it.
Since W. Mark Felt has been named as one of the most important contributors to justice, freedom and democracy as the shadowy figure Deep Throat, it appears to be great timing on multi-hyphenated spiky-haired producer Brian Grazner’s part to release Inside Deep Throat (read Devin’s ‘frighteningly relevant’ review here) on 09.20.05, and have the original NC-17 version (shown in theatres) and the R-Rated version (for those at Blockbuster and Wal*Mart). Deep Throat, as you may know, was the pornographic film that broke down all kinds of prudish barriers in the 1970’s, as it was the time to smash everything into little bits, including Presidents and social taboos. The ramifications of this are interestin
g enough, just look at present day where porn is now a culturally excepted item (Jenna Jameson has her own book! Your computer has pop ups that destroy lives! Missouri has billboards every three feet decrying it!) and while not a direct correlation can be attributed to Deep Throat, it does have some aspects that aided in our sexually enraged society and those out to oppress it. "It was banned in 23 states. The government didn’t want you to see it. Deep Throat was more than just a titillating curiosity, it was the sexually explicit film that ignited a social and political firestorm. Inside Deep Throat examines the politics and the payoffs, the porn stars and persecution of the cultural phenomenon that remains just as highly controversial today." For those of you too young to check this out, keep dreaming my friends, or drug one of your friends loose mothers and get her to rent it for you! Scheming is fun. Feel free to blame it on your old DVD friends at CHUD and don’t forget to understand which color-coded DVD box means which.
Love in an elevator, livin’ it up while I’m goin’ down – with: The Binghamton Trial: Cliterally Speaking, Beverly Hills: Holly Gets Wood, Quincy House: Poison Ivy League, Princeton: Throat Deep in the Suburbs, Cut Throat: Where in the World is Bobby De Salvo?, Harry Reems’ Athletic Club, Fire Dance With Me, Women Against Pornography, and Linda’s Exit: What’s the Big Deal?
Additionally, the NC-17 version will include: audio commentary with Directors Randy Barbato & Fenton Bailey, The Tucson Trial: When Gerry Met Annie, The Zen of Deep Throat, Linda Does Hollywood, The Legends of Erotica: Remembering Linda, The Last Word For Now, and the original theatrical trailer.
Axis and Allies Edition
You’d better be on the Allies side, my young corruptible friend, because when the time comes, and the inevitable end is near, the Allies are going to pile drive all of those without Region Free capabilities into a rather large stockade. I’ve got my baseball glove and a foolproof plan of escape, although I’m not quite sure about my motorcycle jump. While I figure this out, let’s check out what’s happening with Region Free titles this week. Also, should any of you find a title out there I haven’t mentioned, pipe up! E-mail me! Feedback and help is appreciated. I’ll quote you and then you can brag about it to your friends. My mom hates when I brag, though. I have to get new friends.
Altman and the eighties were an interesting time. One of his lesser-known films is O.C. & Stiggs, a raunchy teen comedy from a guy who really isn’t known for his raunchy sense of humor. I hear, however, that this is the Altman who is slumming it, asleep at the rather cumbersome and overbearing wheel. If you’re an Altman aficionado, it’s time to discover what most of America refers to as "no comment." "O.C. and Stiggs are two Arizona teenagers who are intent on making life miserable for their nerdy neighbors, the Schwabs – Randall, Elinore, Randall Jr, and Lenora. The pair idolize musician King Sunny Ade, and when they find out he’s playing a show in Mexico, they travel to see him with their dimwitted friend Barney. As the summer progresses, O.C. and Stiggs continue to torment the Schwabs – at Lenora’s wedding, and the opening night of the local theatre group’s play, to which they invite King Sunny Ade and his African Beats to perform." Altman’s circling the populist escape comedies that littered the 80’s teen genre like my dorm room with its mix of pizza boxes, obscure foreign films (snobbish elitism and I get along fine, thank you very much), and broken pens and pencils.
All my friends … drive a monster truck with: Optional Dutch, French, German for the hearing impaired, Italian & Spanish subtitles. This is a Region 02 PAL DVD.
While The Girl In The Café premieres on 06.25.05 on HBO, if you dug the film, it arrives a month later in merry old England courtesy of the BBC, who have been known for their lavish productions and opulence the world has never been able to achieve. This "follows the story of lonely civil servant Lawrence (Bill Nighy) and his life-changing relationship with Gina (Kelly Macdonald), the mysterious young woman he meets in a café near his office. As a member of the British delegation to the G8 Summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, Lawrence impetuously invites Gina to join him at the event, where their newfound attraction to each other is tested in an emotional conflict between personal conviction and professional obligation. While world leaders compete for media and political advantage, the crucial Millennium Development Goals – to halve extreme poverty – are sidelined. The film focuses on both the growing love story between two shy outsiders and the progress of the Summit, as the two become dramatically, comically and fatefully entwined." With the Live 8 concerts flaring up all over the world, and screenwriter Richard Curtis being a major part of the proceedings, perhaps we could all be the world and the children for something or other.
I couldn’t find any special features, so I suppose I’m doomed to wander the Earth in search of some enlightenment, like Caine.
Clint Howard. A mere mortal against the world. His performances have run the gamut, all the way from The Wraith (a seriously good Sheen film!) to brother Ron Howard’s films (mostly in supporting roles, although the day we get Clint Howard presents a film by Ron Howard would be something). In Evilspeak, Howard stars as Stanley Coopersmith, a "teenage outcast who’s bullied by everybody at the strict military academy he was sent to after his parents died. But when Stanley discovers the crypt of a 16th century Satanist beneath the school’s chapel, he creates a computerized Black Mass that unleashes unholy revenge upon his tormentors. Now, all Hell is breaking loose and Stanley’s flesh eating demon-pigs are only the beginning!" Anchor Bay UK finally goes about releasing the version you’ve wanted to see – complete with even more bloodied carnage, so have at it!
Shut your mouth evil! – with: an audio commentary with Writer, Producer, Director Eric Weston and Actor/Thespian/Lover/Freedom Fighter Clint Howard, Poster and Stills Gallery, Biographies of Clint Howard and R. G. Armstrong, and Theatrical Trailers. That’s just on Disc 1! Disc 2 includes: The Uncut Restored version (100 minutes approx), Widescreen Presentation (1.77:1) enhanced for widescreen TVs, and English 2.0 Audio. This is a Region 02 PAL release.
Stop The Presses!
Remember that old Prince song: Batdance? It dates the original film, but contains those smile-inducing elements of sampling lines from the movie mixed with Prince’s funky guitar riffs and synthesizing score. If you’ve missed anything from days past, here’s the place to be. Make sure to check out CHUD’s own patented DVD Reviews, which have been factory pumped out to you since the beginning of time, space and Tron. Even if you hate the title, read the review! Then, as requested, leave some feedback! These guys need to know what’s working and not working for them. Even if you love a screencap, let them know! Quietness breads complacency. Mix things up a little! Speak your mind. Slam Evil!
06/21: American Psycho: Uncut Killer Special Edition, The Jacket (CHUD’s DVD Review –
COMING SOON), Hostage, Cursed (Ian’s DVD Review), Coach Carter, Miss
Congeniality 02: Armed And Fabulous (C. Nathan’s DVD Review), Starchaser: Legend of Orin, Bewitched:
Season One, Oz: Complete Fifth Season, Yellow Asphalt, Loch Ness, Hustle,
Starting
Over, Shanghai Spell, Lifeguard, Showdown, Alien
Attack Collection, and the Monster Madness Collection. Access
last weeks’ Special Edition by wondering why this part is much shorter. Also,
click here.
06/14:
Casino: 10th Anniversary Edition (George’s DVD Review – COMING
SOON), Danger: Diabolik, Jaws: 30th Anniversary Edition,
A Dirty Shame (CHUD’s DVD Review – COMING SOON), Hitch, Rambo
Volume One: A World Of Trouble, Rambo Volume Two: Enter The
Dragon, Rory O’Shea Was Here, Tilt – The Complete
First Season (Adam’s DVD Review), Robert
Altman’s Gun, Man-Thing, Sasquatch Horror
Collection, The Bette Davis Collection (Eileen’s Boxed
Set Review), The Joan Crawford Collection
(My Boxed Set Review), Au Hasard Balthazar:
Criterion Collection, Heaven Can Wait: Criterion Collection,
Tarzan II, Cracker, Brother To Brother,
King Of Queens: Forth Season, Northern Exposure: Third
Season, Only The Lonely, Carried Away (C.
Nathan’s DVD Review). Check out the Special Edition
for 06.14.05 by bleeding from every box orifice right here!
All of CHUD’s DVD Reviews can be accessed right here and make sure to keep on top of everything that’s come out on these pages of information with CHUD’s own DVD Reviews and Discussion Forum. If you don’t, I’m sure the seeker is going to come to your house for a little one-on-one dunk contest.
The Bargain Bin!
We’re back! To fight the evil? Only if it deceives us. To win ourselves into the hearts and pants of every cheapskate out there? Correct! You’ll see some colors, and don’t worry, you’re not high (yet), but RED means that the DVD in question is the lowest price for all of the stores listed. YELLOW means that there are deals to be found, raped and pillaged like a Norse God leaving Valhalla.
deepdiscountdvd.com:
The Pacifier is $21.59
Daily Show’s Indecision 2004 is $28.80
Ren & Stimpy: Three and a Half-ish is $28.80
Diary of a Mad Black Woman is $17.96
The Even Stevens Movie is $14.10
Stone Cold is $19.50
Browning Version: Criterion is $21.56
Crazed Fruit: Criterion is $21.56
Twilight Zone: Definitive Edition Three is $73.14
Acacia is $14.98
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events is $13.56
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow is $13.56
Without a Paddle is $13.56
Browse the multi-region DVD retailers and their sales right here! (click on the store name to get whisked away!)
xploitedcinema.com, HkFlix.com, diabolikdvd.com and YesAsia.com
CompUSA.com:
The Pacifier is $14.99
Miss Congeniality 02 is $14.99
Big Fish is $9.99