4/27/04
Weekly Release Roundup
Greetings all. It's a mighty fine week for DVD fans. Lots of stuff
in stores for you big Hollywood film fans, scary monster movie fans
and foreign movie fans too. That pretty much covers the lot of you.
Check it out...
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Ghosts
of the Abyss
My pick of the week is James Cameron's Ghosts
of the Abyss. This documentary wasn't one I was
particularly looking forward to seeing, but now that I have, I
regret not checking it out in the theater as a full-blown IMAX
experience. Ghosts follows
Cameron and Bill Paxton as they go down to the site of the wreck
of the Titanic and make repeated dives to explore the remains
with robotic cameras designed by Cameron's brother. It's sort of
an extension of the opening moments of Titanic,
before the love story crept in. At times funny, at time
thrilling, Ghosts does
everything right - including recreations of events on the ship
using both footage of the wreck and state of the art special
effects. This DVD presents the film in a home video format
lessening the impact of the original 3-D IMAX format. Still it
looks good in this anamorphic presentation. Sound is also nice
in Dolby Digital 5.1. This two-disc set gives both the original
60-minute version as well as a 90-minute version, a documentary
about the exhibition and an edit-yourself sequence where you can
watch all the footage from one of the dives with all of the
different cameras used for the shoot. All it all, this is a very
cool DVD and one that's worth picking up. |
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Big
Fish
Next up is the Tim Burton film Big
Fish, which is a beautiful and touching film about
parental bonding and loss. Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney star
as Edward Bloom, a dying man who lived a big life (or did he?)
with plenty of stories to tell (or are they lies?). Billy Crudup
also stars as the son who's had to endure these stories all his
life and has tried to get away from them, but needs to connect
with his father before he's gone. Big man or not, you will cry
when this film's final seconds unspool. Columbia TriStar's DVD
provides the film in fine form. Presented in anamorphic
widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1, it serves the film nicely.
Extras include a distanced commentary track from Burton, and a
stack of featurettes that look into the production of the film
(which are accessible through the special features menu and a
white rabbit feature while watching the film). A very good film
from a very good director. |
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The
Cooler
You wanna see a great f*#@in' flick? Check out Lion Gate's The
Cooler. This one is cool, funny and thrilling all at
the same time. William H. Macy hasn't been better as Bernie
Lootz, a casino cooler (or a guy with bad luck that rubs off on
others). His boss is Alec Baldwin, who rocks. And I don't think
Maria Bello has been hotter in any film. See this one for the
performances. The DVD presents the film in nice anamorphic
widescreen, a powerful DD 5.1 soundtrack (with a nice isolated
score extra featuring Mark Isham's jazzy score). Speaking of
extras, there're also two commentaries (one is the production
track with writer/director Wayne Kramer, co-writer Frank Hannah
and director of photography James Whitaker, the other is Kramer
and Isham riffing on the score). There's also a Sundance Channel
Anatomy of a Scene
featurette and storyboard-to-film comparison. If you love film,
do yourself a favor and pick this one up. |
Oooh,
scary! It's Monster Week on DVD thanks to that wacky Van
Helsing due in theaters next week. Van
Helsing may suck (and it does), but the films that
inspired it sure don't. Check 'em out on DVD...
The Universal Monsters
Legacy Collection
  
For those of you not willing to upgrade your previous editions of
the recently retired Universal Classic Monster DVDs (reviewed here -
Dracula,
Dracula's
Daughter/Son of Dracula,
Frankenstein,
Frankenstein
Meets the Wolf Man/House of Frankenstein,
Bride
of Frankenstein,
The
Ghost of Frankenstein/Son of Frankenstein,
The
Wolf Man and Werewolf
of London/She-Wolf of London), let me tell you to
reconsider that decision. There's big news on two of these sets. The
big news for the new Frankenstein
set, making it a must-buy, is that it re-transfers the previous
Bride of Frankenstein disc
which had some major framing issues. That and the transfer looks a
lot better now. The Franky set
collects the entire run of Franky
films from the previous collection including the original film,
Bride, Son,
Ghost and House.
The big news for the Dracula
set is that along with the English version, the Spanish version,
Dracula's Daughter and Son,
Universal decided to throw in the classic monster mash flick House
of Dracula starring John Carradine. That's a pretty cool
addition. The Wolf Man set
remains largely a port over, with the original Wolf
Man, Werewolf of London,
She-Wolf of London and Frankenstein
Meets the Wolf Man. The transfer on everything other than
Bride looks the same as the
original discs. Significantly, ALL of the extras from the previous
sets are on board, with the addition of Stephen Sommers introducing
his new film, Van Helsing, in
a six-minute promo piece. You can click the above links to see what
we thought about the discs and the extras. These new sets are
available individually or together in
a
sweet collector's edition box housing three character
mini-busts. Go for the busts version. It's way cool.
Also coming this week, a collection of equally neat Hammer Horror
films.
Hammer Horror Films
  
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave,
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed!
and Taste the Blood of Dracula
are available separately or as part of the Hammer
Horror Collection which also includes the previously
released titles Curse of Frankenstein,
Horror of Dracula and The
Mummy)
All look and sound good on DVD. Nitpickers may find that source
issues pop up here and there, and the sound has always had a few
problems even on laserdisc and video, but all in all these are good
DVDs. There are no extras to mention aside from trailers, but Taste
the Blood and Frankenstein
Must Be Destroyed does restore footage that has been
missing from previous U.S. releases. If you're a Hammer fan, you'll
want to pick these films up.
 |
Fast
Company: 2-disc Limited Edition
From Blue Underground comes David Cronenberg's drag race epic
Fast Company. Available in
two versions, the one to get is the two-disc set as it's the
same with a supplemental disc. Even though Fast
Company is one of Cronenberg's only non-horror based
films, the second disc contains two of Cronenberg's most
important works - the short films Stereo
and Crimes of the Future.
These films give a beautiful insight to the mind who would go
one and give us Scanners,
The Fly and Naked
Lunch, and these films show that his creative mind
hasn't changed much from the first days of his career. This set
also contains a commentary with Cronenberg, an interview with
his cinematographer, interviews with the stars, trailers and
still galleries. This DVD was a long time coming, and as a
Cronenberg fan I'm glad to see it on shelves today. |
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Love,
Actually
Oh, how the people love this film. Well good news folks - you
can pick her up on DVD today. The disc is a bit lacking sadly.
As much as it was loved in theaters, it's just a bit ho-hum in
the home. That's mainly because of the video and audio are only
up to the serviceable level, not gorgeous, which they should
have been. Extras knock it up a bit by giving us a nice
commentary with director/writer Richard Curtis and actors Bill
Nighly, Hugh Grant and Thomas Sangster. This is a funny track
full of life, humor and plenty of making-of information. There
are also a wide selection of deleted scenes, all introduced by
Curtis, who offers up that the original cut of the film clocked
in at 3 and a half hours. Yikes. You'll also find a music video,
trailers and Curtis chatting about the music of the film. It's a
cute film, and it's an okay DVD. Nothing to really write home
about, but nothing to prevent you from buying it either. |
 |
All
Things Fair
From Home Vision comes Bo Widerberg's Academy Award nominated
film about a student who falls for his teacher (who reciprocates
the affection). Never would this film be made in America, but
it's really good and a boon for film fans that love foreign
films. Although not a packed edition, the anamorphic transfer
and DD 2.0 sound on this DVD are both top notch. |
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Twist
+ Shout/Zappa
This is a two-disc set from Home Vision featuring two films
directed by Billie August focusing on Bjorn and Kirsten, a
couple of kids growing up in the heartland... of Denmark. Zappa
comes first, but is the lesser film. It focuses on Bjorn and his
relationship with his two friends, up until he falls for a girl
(Kirsten). It's coming of age, sure, but with some literal
punches that will throw you for a loop - a good one. Twist
+ Shout takes place a few years later at the height
of worldwide Beatlemania. Bjorn and Kirsten are still together,
but a new girl enters the picture and Kirsten shows her true
side. But again, August sucker punches us by taking us into an
end of high school romp and makes us witness a life drama. Both
are great films to add to our libraries. Both feature anamorphic
widescreen video and DD mono tracks that serve the films well.
There are no extras to speak of on the DVD, aside from liner
notes, trailers and an August filmography. But a two-disc set of
these films is big enough for me. |
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Osama
Don't worry; this one isn't the life story of everyone's least
favorite terrorist leader. In Osama,
Siddiq Barmak takes us inside Afganistan and shows us the way
things are under Taliban rule both for young girls and young
boys. After her father is killed, a 12-year old girl is made to
look like a boy so she can work and provide for her family. She
is eventually sent to military training camp where every day her
secret is close to being revealed, and she must find allies in
order to protect her secret and her life. MGM's DVD looks and
sounds fine. Trailers and a very nice interview with Barmak
round out the extras for the disc. |
The Householder
and Shakespeare Wallah
 
Home Vision and Criterion have been in cahoots to deliver us the
works of Merchant Ivory, and today the first two feature films they
worked together on come to DVD. The
Householder deals with a young schoolteacher who gets
hitched in an arranged marriage, who learns to love his wife. It's
also about the wacky people in his world at the time. Shakespeare
Wallah follows the adventures of a traveling troupe of
actors who are coming to grips with the end of British rule and the
emerging Bollywood film industry. Both films are quite good and
contrast with the later "stuffier" Merchant Ivory films.
These DVD are presented with new transfers - Householder
is full frame and Wallah is
anamorphic - and both have mono sound that serves the film fine.
They also come with shorts films from both Merchant and Ivory, as
well as continued interview sessions from the Merchant Ivory
Productions DVD series. Both films are worth checking out if you're
looking for something different and good.
 |
Stuck
on You
The Farrelly Brothers deliver another tasteless but hilarious
film. This time it's all about conjoined twins; one is out-going
and the other is a bit of a loner. How they deal with each other
is what makes the film funny as hell. It didn't do big business,
but don't let that fool you - this is a funny movie. Fox's DVD
presents the film well, looking good in anamorphic widescreen
and sounding good too in Dolby Digital 5.1. The extras help
knock this one out of the park, with a funny commentary with the
Farrelly's, a handful of making-of featurettes, deleted scenes
with optional commentary and a blooper reel (which is as funny
as the film). You should give this film another chance, you
might be surprised. |
Also
available this week:
Also coming to stores this week, a new batch of TV of DVD including:
ER:
The Complete Second Season,
Kids
in the Hall: Season 1 (1989-1990),
Profiler:
Season Three and
Saved
by the Bell: Seasons 3 & 4. You'll also find Paul
Newman starring in the literal bomb movie
Fat
Man and Little Boy. In the 80's it was white kids who
Can't
Buy Me Love, today though,
Love
Don't Cost a Thing for Nick Cannon and Christina Milan. If
you're gearing up for Troy
this summer check out Robert Wise's 1956 version
Helen
of Troy. Sean Penn guesses the
The
Weight of Water. And if Jennifer Garner has your heart all
a flutter in 13 Going on 30,
check out these other body switching epics
Vice
Versa and
Like
Father, Like Son.
It's amazing, after doing this column for two months I'm beginning
to see the pattern in the releases. It's weird, wacky and wonderful.
God bless this industry.
And God bless you...
Todd Doogan
todddoogan@thedigitalbits.com |
