Well, after a few weeks of total crap for releases, we are coming to the end of July and this week we are getting hit hard with quality releases. Hope you saved all that DVD money, because your gonna need it this week with Zodiac, The Host and Perfume – The Story of a Murderer on the new release schedule and a TON of great older movies, including two Criterions, one of the greatest action movies ever and a spaghetti western that was a remake but still influenced a generation of young filmmakers. It’s a long column, but you deserve it after a few weeks of mediocrity.
NEW RELEASES
Zodiac
d. David Fincher
c. Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr.
Looks like I was right. When I announced in Coming Soon that Zodiac was being released in a bare bones edition, I predicted it would just be a matter of time before it was re-released in a special edition rivaling Fight Club, Seven and Panic Room. Well, this week, when the DVD for Zodiac hits the shelves, it has been announced that it will in fact be getting an incredible special edition in 2008. This disc includes nothing really, but will sport a 30 second promo for the special edition. The edition released next year will include an audio commentary by David Fincher, actors Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey, Jr., screenwriter James Vanderbilt, producer Brad Fischer and crime novelist James Ellroy, extensive behind-the-scenes featurettes detailing the production from start to finish, and an in-depth look at the actual Zodiac crimes, including all-new interviews with the original investigators and survivors. None of that will be found on this one. This one only includes the movie, which is an adaptation of the novel by Robert Graysmith, the reporter that is portrayed in the movie by Jake Gyllenhaal who tried to crack the code that the Zodiac killer left behind. As I am a HUGE David Fincher fan, I will buy this one and then just trade up to the newer version when it comes out next year (and I just refuse to rent movies). I did the same thing when they released The Game. Oh, wait …
The Number 23
d. Joel Schumacher
c. Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen
Joel Schumacher has directed some truly great movies like St. Elmo’s Fire and The Lost Boys. He has put out some pretty solid flicks as well, such as Flatliners, Falling Down and A Time to Kill. However, he will always be known as the man who killed Batman. And despite the highly original Phone Booth, his production since the Batman movies has been a little less than classic. The Number 23 had a trailer that interested me, as I was hoping to see the Jim Carrey that I enjoyed so much in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Well, that did not happen. The Number 23 will remain known as the movie that caused Jim Carrey to fire his agent. It tells the story of a man who discovers a book, and realizes that it pretty much tells the story of his life (in a very broad sense of the term). It went from being a movie that held my interest to a movie that I did not care anything about, thanks to Devin spoiling the rather stupid ending (thanks for that). Well, it comes to DVD in both a rated and an unrated special edition with the same special features on both versions.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Feature commentary with director Joel Schumacher
- Deleted scenes (Optional Commentary)
- “Making of The Number 23” documentary
- “Creating the World of Fingerling” featurette
- “The Number 23 Enigma” – the legacy behind the obsession of the number 23
- “How to Do Your Numbers” – the history of numerology
- infinifilm links – behind-the-scenes branching featurettes
Perfume – The Story of a Murderer
d. Tom Tykwer
c. Ben Whishaw, Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman
I viewed Run Lola Run and knew it was made by a man with amazing visual flair. I was very interested in seeing his next movie, but have not really followed his career as much as I hoped since that 1998 masterpiece. Well, finally Tom Tykwer has released a movie that has received as much critical acclaim as his breakthrough film. Perfume – The Story of a Murderer tells the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, a man who was left to die at birth in a meat market where he develops an amazing scent of smell. He grows into a man obsessed with preserving the perfect smell of woman into a perfume. He kills women in his attempts to preserve the scent in his mad quest for this perfect perfume. The movie includes a great supporting cast and is said to be highly original in Tykwer’s attempts to visualize the sense of smell. The DVD does not have much in the way of extras, but remains one of the week’s more original releases.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- “The Story of Perfume” featurette
The Host (2-Disc Collector’s Edition)
d. Joon-ho Bong
Want to see a great monster movie? Here is one that you probably have not had a chance to see, thanks to the VERY limited American release. The Host is a South Korean film which was in part inspired by an incident in 2000 in which a mortician working for the US military in Seoul dumped a large amount of formaldehyde down the drain. The movie takes this simple premise, and the attitude that the American military situated in South Korea cares little about the effects of its actions, and makes a great monster movie out of it. The story remains based around an unremarkable family thrown into the middle of extraordinary events as the monster, created by carelessness, attacks. The movie went on the shatter all box-office records in its home country, being seen over 13 million times. Now is the chance for all us to see it as well. Devin mentioned that it is a movie that needs to be seen in a dark theater with like minded monster movie fans. Well, grab this DVD anyway. I don’t think you will be disappointed. Especially when you look at the extras. (There is a single disc edition with a commentary track and deleted scenes, as well, but why would you want that?)
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Director audio commentary
- Deleted scenes
- Making of The Host featurette
- Designing the Creature featurette
- Storyboards
- A Puppet Animatronix featurette
- A Memories of the Sewer featurette
- Gag reel
- Film Departments featurette
- Casting tapes
- Featurette on training the actors
Cashback
d. Sean Ellis
Wow. This is really a note of encouragement for independent filmmakers. In the 2006 Oscars, Sean Ellis’ short film Cashback earned him an Oscar nomination. It had already won awards at Tribeca and the Chicago International Short Film Festival. I-Tunes offered a chance to download all the Oscar Nominated shorts from 2006, so I bought all of them and what I remember most about Cashback was the gratuitous nudity of the short. Then I moved on to the more interesting shorts Six Shooter and The Last Farm and the highly entertaining Our Time is Up. Well, Cashback held a special place in the heart of someone, because it was picked up to be turned into a feature length movie. The feature length movie picked up awards at a couple of other festivals after debuting at Cannes. Not too bad for a short that cost about $61,000 (!!!) to make. The movie tells the story of Ben, an aspiring artist who develops insomnia. To take his mind off his problem he spends his nights working at a local supermarket, where he lets his imagination run wild and imagines that he can stop time for others, so that he can walk around in a world that is "frozen" and imagines females standing naked in the supermarket, so that he can watch and draw them. The DVD includes the short film and a filmmaker commentary track.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Academy Award Nominated short film – Cashback
- Commentary
- Deleted Scenes
OLDER MOVIES AND RE-RELEASES
THE CRITERION COLLECTION
Ivan’s Childhood
d. Andrei Tarkovsky
c. Nikolai Burlyayev
Andrei Tarkovsky was a renowned Soviet filmmaker who is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of the post-war Soviet era in Russia. Many of his films emphasize dreams and memories of childhood experienced in long takes, using few cuts to give the viewer a sense of time passing and time lost in a theory he referred to as “sculpting in time.” His feature debut – Ivan’s Childhood, also known as My Name is Ivan, fits into this mould as it shows the journey through life of a boy as the film moves back and forth between the traumatic realities of World War II and the serene moments of family life before the conflict began. Criterion calls the movie “one of the most jarring and unforgettable depictions of the impact of violence on children in wartime.”
SPECIAL FEATURES
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Video appreciation of filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky and Ivan’s Childhood, featuring Vida T. Johnson, coauthor of The Films of Andrei Tarkovsky: A Visual Fugue New video interviews with cinematographer Vadim Yusov and actor Nikolai Burlyaev
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Dina Iordanova and new translations, by Robert Bird, of "Between Two Films," Andrei Tarkovsky’s essay about Ivan’s Childhood, and "Ivan’s Willow," a poem by the director’s father, Arseny Tarkovsky
Les Enfants Terribles
d. Jean-Pierre Melville
c. Nicole Stephane, Edouard Dermithe
The first thing I think of when I think about Jean-Pierre Melville is what director John Woo said about him in the essays that accompany Le Samourai. “Melville is God to me.” When Woo was publicizing his 1989 movie The Killer, he said he was shocked that no one in the press really knew who Melville was, nor had they seen Le Samourai, the film that The Killer was a tribute to. That is a sad thing, as Le Samourai is a slick, stylish and very cool movie that helped Melville become an influence to such filmmakers as John Woo, Quentin Tarantino and Jim Jarmusch, and deserves to be seen by everyone. This week sees the release of his 1950 feature Les Enfants Terribles. Joining with famed writer Jean Cocteau, he created the adaptation of Cocteau’s novel about a very strong relationship between a brother and sister who play mind games with anyone who crosses their paths. Criterion calls it “one of French cinema’s greatest, and most surprising, meetings of the minds.”
SPECIAL FEATURES
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Audio commentary by writer, film critic, and journalist Gilbert Adair
- Interviews with producer Carole Weisweiller, actors Nicole Stephane and Jacques Bernard, and assistant director Claude Pinoteau
- Around Jean Cocteau (2003), a short video by filmmaker Noel Simsolo discussing Cocteau and Melville’s creative relationship
- Theatrical trailer
- Gallery of behind-the-scenes stills
- PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Gary Indiana, a tribute by Stephane, an excerpt from Rui Nogueira’s Melville on Melville, and drawings by Cocteau
Hard Boiled (2-Disc Ultimate Edition)
d. John Woo
c. Chow Yun Fat, Tony Leung
Speaking of John Woo, this week marks the re-release of his hit movie Hard Boiled. While Woo has been a little less than inspiring with his recent output, this movie was the one that put him on the map as a master action director. The movie is basically a story of a cop and an undercover agent who team up to being down a triad gang. However, with it’s body count of 307 deaths, it is a master class of over-the-top action movies. Chow Yun Fat and Tony Leung pair up to perform fight and action scenes that rival anything done before or since. You have not been able to buy a great version of this movie, as the Criterion DVD went out of print years ago, but now we get a new version with quite a bit of extras on it. I really wish the Criterion edition would be re-released, but this one will substitute for it just fine.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Feature Length Audio Commentary By Hong Kong Cinema Expert Bey Logan
- A Baptism Of Fire: A Featurette With Iconic Director, John Woo
- Partner In Crime: An Interview With Producer, Terence Chang
- Art Imitates Life: An Interview With Co-Star, Philip Chan
- Hard Boiled Location Guide
- Mad Dog Bites Again: An Interview With Leading Villain, Kwok Choi
- Hong Kong Theatrical Trailer & US Promotional Trailer
The Rainmaker (Special Collector’s Edition)
d. Francis Ford Coppola
c. Matt Damon, Danny Devito
Francis Ford Coppola has been out of action for about ten years now. I would assume that film lovers would be salivating for anything from the man who brought us The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. Well, this week we get something – the re-release of The Rainmaker in a Special Collector’s Edition. If that ain’t enough, you get a commentary track with Coppola and Danny DeVito. Well, how excited are people to see this? It ranks 69th on the Amazon best seller list for new releases for this week. It is less sought after than such luminaries as Tony Todd’s Shadow Puppets, Sinbad: Son of a Preacher Man and Baby Einstein – Discovering Shapes. Sure, it ain’t his best movie, but it is Coppola and it does include some nice special features. What the hell is wrong with everyone?
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Commentary by director Francis Ford Coppola and actor Danny DeVito
- Watch The Rainmaker with Francis Ford Coppola
- Francis Ford Coppola directs John Grisham’s The Rainmaker
- Deleted Scenes – includes extended beginning and alternate ending
- Screen Tests
The Monster Squad (Two-Disc 20th Anniversary Edition)
d. Fred Dekker
c. Andre Gower, Tom Noonan
In the same year that he made a name for himself with the excellent Lethal Weapon, another Shane Black authored movie was released. This movie was about as different from Lethal Weapon as you could get. The Monster Squad featured a reunion of a number of classic monsters, led by Dracula and including Frankenstein’s Monster, The Wolf Man, The Mummy and The Gill Man. The monsters are trying to get an amulet, where one day every century, when the forces of good and evil are aligned, it can be destroyed. If the monsters get to it and destroy it, then the world will be ruled by the forces of evil. It is up to a group of kids to get to the amulet first and cast an incantation in conjunction with it, they can cast the monsters into Limbo. This DVD, released for the first time in the US, was announced at a 20th Anniversary Reunion that was held with cast members and the director in attendance, and will contain a number great extras.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Monster Squad Forever! – A five-part retrospective featuring new interviews with writer/director Fred Dekker, actors André Gower, Ryan Lambert, Ashley Bank, Duncan Regehr, Tom Noonan and more!
- A Conversation with Frankenstein – A never-before-seen classic interview with the Monster himself!
- Deleted Scenes
- Audio commentary with Writer/Director Fred Dekker and “Squad Members” André Gower, Ryan Lambert and Ashley Bank
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Fred Dekker and Director of Photography Bradford May
- Original Theatrical Trailer and TV Spot
- Stills Gallery
Django
d. Sergio Corbucci
c. Franco Nero
Most people know that Fistful of Dollars (as well as Last Man Standing) are remakes of Akira Kurusawa’s Yojimbo. Well, this is another remake of Yojimbo, and might actually hold a higher standing (cult-wise) than the other two combined. Django is considered to be one of the best examples of the spaghetti western as it tell the story of a man who first appears in the movie dragging a coffin. The movie is full of iconic images that have been borrowed by a number of movies since including Reservoir Dogs (the ear cutting scene) and El Mariachi (the case full of weapons), as well as being referenced in the Rob Zombie song Feel So Numb. It also holds a reference to me of an old Chud poster who always seemed to be getting into trouble on the boards. It was a sensation the moment it appeared as Corbucci “forgot” to cut out the ear severing scene after censors requested it to be removed, and was banned by the BBFC, never getting a widespread showing in the UK until the 1990s. If you missed out on the 2-Disc Limited Edition released in 2004, here is another chance to get the movie with significantly less special features.
SPECIAL FEATURES
- "Django: The One and Only" – Interviews with Star Franco Nero and Assistant Director Ruggero Deodato
- Theatrical Trailer
- Poster & Still Gallery
- Talent Bios
THIS WEEK IN TELEVISION
Stargate SG-1: Season 10
Weeds – Season Two
The Secret of Isis: The Complete Series
The Woody Woodpecker and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection
Tales from the Crypt: The Complete Sixth Season
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law: Volume Three
The Ultimate Underdog Collection, Volume 1
The Ultimate Underdog Collection, Volume 2
The Ultimate Underdog Collection, Volume 3
Benson, The Complete First Season
Star Trek Fan Collective: Captain’s Log
The Real McCoys: Complete Season 1
Land of the Giants – The Full Series (The Giant Collection)
A Bit of Fry and Laurie – Season 3
A Bit of Fry and Laurie – Season 4
A Bit of Fry and Laurie – The Complete Collection … Every Bit!
Sinbad: Son of a Preacher Man
The Crow: Stairway to Heaven: The Complete Series
Todd McFarlane’s Spawn: Animated Collection
THE HIGH DEFINITION REVOLUTION
Streets of Fire (HD DVD)
Purple Rain (BLU-RAY and HD DVD)
Yes: Live at Montreux 2003 (HD DVD)
Deep Purple: Live at Montreux 2006 (HD DVD)
Scent of a Woman (HD DVD)
In Good Company (HD DVD)
Out for Justice (HD DVD and BLU-RAY)
Nutty Professor 2: The Klumps (HD DVD)
OTHER DVDs TO DROP YOUR CASH ON
Baby Einstein: Discovering Shapes
Garbage: Absolute Garbage
Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory, Vol. 2 (The Pirate / Words and Music / That’s Dancing / The Belle of New York & Royal Wedding / That Midnight Kiss & The Toast of New Orleans)
The Jesse Stone Film Collection (Stone Cold / Death in Paradise / Night Passage)
Pet Shop Boys: Cubism in Concert
Never Say Die: The Complete Final Concert
Ergo Proxy 5: Terra Incognita
Tan Lines
Santana: Hymns for Peace – Live at Montreux 2004
Shakespeare Retold
The Doris Day and Rock Hudson Comedy Collection (Pillow Talk / Lover Come Back / Send Me No Flowers)
Renaissance
The Grindhouse Experience 20 Film Set
Shadow Puppets
Elvis Presley MGM Movie Legends Collection (Clambake / Frankie and Johnny / Follow That Dream / Kid Galahad)
The Exterminating Angels
Nomad: The Warrior
Avant-Garde 2: Experimental Cinema 1928-1954
Frank Sinatra MGM Movie Legends Collection (The Manchurian Candidate / Guys and Dolls / The Pride and the Passion / A Hole in the Head / Kings Go Forth)
Slow Burn
The Big Bad Swim
The Chambermaid
The Decoy
Eloise Goes to School
Live Free or Die
The Long Weekend
Sugar Creek
Wages of Sin
The Contract
Jean De Florette / Manon of the Spring (MGM World Films)
Raise the Red Lantern (MGM World Films)
To Live (MGM World Films)
Iphigenia (MGM World Films)
The Bourne Files 3 Disc Collection
THE BARGAIN BIN
BEST BUY
The Host: 2 DVD Collector’s Edition – $19.99
Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer – $19.99
Slow Burn – $19.99
The Number 23: Infinifilm – $16.99
Hard Boiled – $19.99
Renaissance – $19.99
Nomad The Warrior – $14.99
The Contract – $14.99
Zodiac – $16.99
* Purchase Zodiac on DVD and Save $10 Instantly on the purchase of any season of CSI
$5.99 DVDs:
Caddyshack: 20th Anniversary Edition, Batman Begins, The Corpse Bride, Equilibrium, Rounders: Playing Card Edition, The Waterboy, Open Range, Iron Will, Rocketman, Miracle, Mighty Joe Young, Under The Tuscan Sun, The Journey Of Natty Gann, Shakespeare In Love: Miramax Collector’s Series, King Arthur, Sling Blade: Director’s Cut (Miramax Collector’s Series), Reign Of Fire, Finding Neverland, Good Will Hunting: Miramax Collector’s Series, Flight Of The Navigator, Gangs Of New York, Swingers: Miramax Collector’s Series
$8.99 DVDs:
Wedding Crashers: Uncorked Edition, Beerfest: Unrated, Tenacious D In The Pick Of Destiny, Fletch: Jane Doe Edition, Inside Man, Idlewild, Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels: Locked & Loaded Director’s Cut, The 40 Year Old Virgin: Unrated, Schindler’s List, Orgazmo: Special Edition, Parenthood: Special Edition, Spartacus, American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile, You, Me & Dupree, A Clint Eastwood Western (No title visible on Spine), Waist Deep, The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift, The Riddick Trilogy, JAWS: Collector’s Edition, The Blues Brothers: Collector’s Edition, Steve Martin: The Wild & Crazy Comedy Collection (Picture shows 1 volume), Tom Hanks: Comedy Favorites Collection (Picture shows 1 volume), The Riddick Trilogy, The Break-Up, The Mummy Collector’s Set, Jet Li’s Fearless, Serenity, Scarface (Looks Like non-anniversary edition), Miami Vice: Unrated, King Kong (Peter Jackson)
Blu-Ray DVDs:
* Save $10 Instantly when you buy 2 of the 3 listed Blu-Ray Discs below:
Apocalypto – $29.99
Déjà Vu – $29.99
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl
DVD Sets:
Weeds: Season 2 – $29.99
Weeds: Season 2 Blu-Ray – $29.99
Woody Woodpecker & Friends (75 Episodes) – $29.99
Tales From The Crypt: Season 6 – $27.99
Tales From The Crypt: Season 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 – $17.99 each
Benson: Season 1 – $22.99
Elvis Presley MGM Legends Collection – $29.99
The Ultimate Underdog Collection: Volume I – $9.99
The Ultimate Underdog Collection: Volume I – III – $20.00 (All on same receipt)
The Rolling Stones: The Biggest Bang – $29.99
Batman Beyond: Season 3 – $14.99
Batman: The Animated Series – Volume IV – $19.99
Justice League Unlimited: Season 1 – $19.99
Justice League: Season 1 / 2 – $19.99 each
Land Of The Giants: The Giant Collection Limited Edition – $169.99
Stargate SG-1: Season 10 – $29.99
Stargate SG-1: Season 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 – $19.99 each
* Get Stargate SG-1 Seasons #1 – #9 for $19.99 each with purchase of Season 10 // Must be purchased on the same receipt
Spawn: The Animated Collection – 10th Anniversary Signature Edition – $27.99
* Best Buy Exclusive: 10th Anniversary Signature Edition comes with a reprint of 1st Edition Spawn comic book
The Bourne Files 3 DVD Set – $14.99
* Get this set for only $9.99 when you purchase with your Mastercard
** Best Buy Exclusive: Free Movie Cash to see the Bourne Ultimatum instantly with purchase of The Bourne Files DVD Set
CIRCUIT CITY
The Number 23: Unrated – $16.99
The Contract – $16.99
Renaissance – $19.99
Dead Silence – $19.99
Premonition – $19.99
The Hills Have Eyes 2: Unrated – $19.99
Shooter – $19.99
Baby Einstein: Discovering Shapes – $14.99
Zodiac – $16.99
Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer – $19.99
* Save $5 when you purchase both Zodiac and Perfume together on the same receipt
Hard Boiled: 2 DVD Ultimate Edition – $17.99
* Circuit City Exclusive: Receive a Free Strategy guide for the “Stranglehold” video game PLUS a $10 bounce back coupon good towards the purchase of the XBOX 360 dame version
HD-DVDs:
Sky Captain & The World Of Tomorrow – $24.99
We Were Soldiers – $24.99
Lara Croft, Tomb Raider – $24.99
U-571 – $24.99
Constantine – $24.99
2 DVDs for $15:
Under Siege, 2 Fast 2 Furious, A History Of Violence, Jurassic Park: Collector’s Edition, The Hulk: 2 DVD Special Edition, Jurassic Park: The Lost World – Collector’s Edition, The Great Escape, Desperado: Special Edition, Biker Boyz, Empire Of The Sun, Firewall, Equilibrium, American Beauty, Running Scared, Contact, GoodFellas (1st Pressing Shown), Carlito’s Way: Ultimate Edition, Behind Enemy Lines, Armageddon (non-Criterion), The Beach, The Mack, Man On Fire, All About The Benjamins, Van Helsing, Love & Basketball, Skinwalker, Full Metal Jacket, The Last Of The Mohicans: Director’s Extended Edition, Masters Of Horror: Fair Haired Child, Masters Of Horror: The Black Cat
DVD Sets
Weeds: Season 2 – $27.99
Spawn: The Animated Collection – $29.99
Stargate SG-1: Season 10 – $34.99
Stargate SG-1: Season 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 – $27.99 each
Tales From The Crypt: Season 6 – $29.99
Tales From The Crypt: Season 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 – $19.99 each
Deadwood: Season 3 – $49.99
Ren & Stimpy: The Lost Episodes – $12.99
Beavis & Butt-head: The Mike Judge Collection – Volume I – $12.99
Batman Beyond: Season 3 – $12.99
South Park: Season 4 – $19.99
Futurama: Season 4 – $19.99
King Of The Hill: Season 6 – $19.99
The Simpsons: Seasons 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 – $29.99 each
* Buy 2 Seasons and save $10 // Sets contain Free movie cash to see the Simpsons movie in theaters starting 7/27/07
ONLINE DEALS
DVD Empire
Enter the code 1353492 at checkout to save $13 on your next purchase of $100 or more (Not valid on used, VOD or with any other offers, expires 07/31)
DeepDiscount.com
Buy 2 MGM DVDs from a select list and get 1 FREE (expires 07/30)
Select Universal DVDs are now just $7.95 (expires 07/30)
Use the coupon code 5FD11 to get $5 off the regular price of ‘The Last Mimzy’ – just $13.38 after coupon (expires 07/26)
Overstock.com
Get 7% off any order (discount does not apply to media items, expires 07/31)
Buy.com
Blu-ray Blow-out! As low as $15.25! (expires 09/01)