Home Video News 

Another Tuesday, another batch of DVDs thrown at the consumer to purchase.  Ah, capitalism.

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Just in time for Halloween, it’s three scary movies!  There’s Monster House for the kids, Slither for the gut-busters out there and, scary enough to make anyone wet themselves, Nacho Libre! 

Film:

Monster House – You may have read last week’s column when I declared Over the Hedge to be the best animated film of the year.  This was a sloppy statement, because I had completely forgotten Monster House.  Erie, unnatural and with a bit of sophomoric humor (Mountain Dew bottles are used to store . . . similarly colord liquids,) it was a perfect realization of how a The Twilight Zone movie for the whole family would look like.  Another plus of the film is the look – instead of jumping on the bandwagon of making everything look more real in CG movies today, House went for style.  Instead of having every character’s hair blow gently in the breeze, this one just glues the hair down to the head, in a style not unlike claymation.  And best of all, it never ascends PG-rated frights, making House a great way to introduce your kids to scary movies.  Alan enjoyed the ride too, as you can read by kindly clicking here.

Nacho Libre – I love Jack Black.  I loved Napoleon Dynamite.  So, naturally, when I heard that Black and the director of Dynamite, Jared Hess were making a movie together called Nacho Libre, I was very content.  One year later, I was somewhat less content while in a theater watching Nacho.  Why?  Because I never perceived that a Jack Black vehicle could be so mind-shatteringly dull.  As hard as this film tries to be so obscure and silly that it gives the viewer a wave of giggles; Nacho only has one scene that inspires chuckles, every other shot is just of Black and friends being weird.  Aaron didn’t exactly disagree in his short review

Slither – 2006 has been a good year for comedy.  It’s given us Little Miss Sunshine Borat, Strangers With Candy and Little Miss Sunshine – all delivering laughs in high abundance.  But even in such a successful year for humor, Slither has a good shot of being the funniest movie of the bunch.  A send-up of horror a la Shaun of the Dead, Slither takes up the particularly simple (and easily achieved) task of pointing out everything mindless about a horror movie.  Shaun and Slither will find an identical audience, with the only differences between the movies being that the latter is less romance-oriented, and a lot scarier.  Scary enough, with its red and shriveled man-eating slugs, to be the creepiest movie put out in at least the last year.  If justice is alive, then Slither will find an audience on DVD.

Special Edition:

Reservoir Dogs: 15th Anniversary Edition – Hot off the heels of the 10th Anniversary edition comes this third edition of those ear-cutting Dogs to DVD.  Compared with the long line of Special Features from the last edition, 15 doesn’t have much to offer.  It scraps off just about everything from that edition except deleted scenes, while adding a couple of docs and . . . get excited . . . ENGLISH SUBTITLES!  A purchase for the die-hardiest of die-hard fans.

Television:

Batman Beyond: Season Two – Okay, nothing’s ever going to top the Bruce Timm-produced Batman from the 90s.  It’s just not going to happen.  Having said that, Batman Beyond is not a complete waste of time.  One of the first cartoons to embrace a jagged, straight line-oriented look that has come to dominate action cartoons today, Beyond was carefully designed and written to keep it from falling into just being a kids show, with solid plot lines that could appeal to any nine-year-old boy and his dad.

SNL: The Best of Saturday TV Funhouse – The Ambiguously Gay Duo?  Ex-Presidents?  As someone who watched and studied Will Ferrell era SNL throughout middle school in the hopes of becoming funnier, the Robert Smigel helmed short cartoons hit close to home.  The crude animation paired with obscurely silly humor worked better than many of the live-action skits on SNL, and with voice actors like Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert what reason don’t you have to check this out?

The Swan – You’re kidding me.  I mean really, you’re kidding me, right FOX?  I still have a hard enough time believing there was ever a show like The Swan, a reality show where they turn the less attractive members of our society into beauty queens, and torture the contestants by not letting them within sight of a mirror while they undergo plastic surgery liposuction and recovery from such procedures, but now you’re putting it on DVD so it can live on forever?  Really?

That’s My Bush! – Before I was allowed to watch South Park, my parents and I would make an occasion of every Wednesday night to watch That’s My Bush!, a live-action show about George W. that mocked the average American Sit-com just as much as the American President, created by the same guys that gave us South Park.  With the annoyingly perfect neighbor, a catch-phrase that ended every episode (“Oh Laura, one of these days, I’m gonna punch you in the face!”)  and even a traditional, couch dominated Sit-com living room set that occupied the White House, Bush somehow managed to be hilarious regardless of your feelings on the namesake of the show.  With only 13 episodes, it left office early but used its time wisely.

Oh, heck yes! It’s Tuesday, and that means that you, yes you, the happy reader of RazorFine Review, gets to read a brand new installment of New on DVD!  Is it even remotely possible to contain the excitement?  I think not.

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Welcome to a week of commercial hits.  With the excetption of American Dreamz, all of the titles in this week’s column either grossed over $50 million in theaters, or lasted on television for eight years.

Film:

The Break-Up – I don’t have many actors that I can’t stand.  When I announced my anticipation for Marie Antoinette to my friends, I was met by a barrage of hatred for Kirsten Dunst; when I see the covers of tabloids, I just can’t understand why everyone loves to hate Lindsay Lohan.  But there is one starlet of Hollywood who I can’t find any favor in – Jennifer Aniston.  She was great in The Good Girl, but in any other movie she fails to prove any ability to act.  All she seems to do in any movie (including The Break-Up,) is recite lines while looking perky and as adorable as ever.  I couldn’t sympathize with her at all throughout all of her trials through the movie because I never saw her character, all I saw was the super-star known for two things: Friends and Brad Pitt.  Having said that, Vince Vaughn is charmingly funny as usual in this film, and it never hurts in my book to feature an alum of Arrested Development (Jason Bateman,) but thanks to Aniston the movie just never works.  Alan wasn’t too fond of it either, as made evident in his review of the film.

Over the Hedge – I never thought I would say this, but the best computer animated film this year so far wasn’t from Pixar.  No, Cars was fun but flat, giving DreamWorks the opportunity to steal the show with its simple but delightful Over the Hedge.  It did everything right – it had an all-star cast (with names like Bruce Willis, Steve Carell and even Captain Kirk,) a family friendly script that anyone could enjoy and, most importantly, it was funny.  It was funny on multiple levels, from Carell’s sugar junkie squirrel Hammy to the over the top direction found in the third act, it’s impossible not to give off a loud laugh at least a dozen times during the movie.  The animation might have failed to bring anything new to the table, but other than that there are no complaints to be had in this movie.  Alan was a believer too, as his review demonstrates.

American Dreamz – Too be honest, I walked out of American Dreamz disappointed.  As a believer that About a Boy is easily one of the most over-looked classics of the past ten years, I was excited to see this promising next film for Paul Weitz.  It was the first to lampoon the easily lampoonable American Idol, and featured Dennis Quaid with a hilariously spot-on impersonation of an American President who might or might not be a reflection of George W. Bush, American Dreamz had the potential to be a great satire on today’s America.  But the final product isn’t what could have been – what we get instead is a jumbled effort that makes it seem as though Weitz couldn’t decide if he wanted to make a serious, political film or a solid knee-slapper.  Still, American Dreamz should be commended for trying something most comedies try to steer clear of: having an intelligent message.  Alan, on the other hand, found more appeal in the film as you can read in right here.

The Omen – You know, The Omen wasn’t that good, but at least it was exciting (which in itself makes it several thousands times more watchable than The Grudge 2)  Sure, it was made obvious from its theatrical campaign that the only reason it was greenlit was so that 20th Century Fox would have a scary movie to release on 6/6/06; but hey, it wasn’t too bad.  It was watchable and, though rarely scary, was often intense.  There are better horror films out there to rent this Halloween; but I’ll be honest, after seeing The Grudge 2 last week (you can read my review of that stinker here,) even White Noise sounds like a fun-filled fright-fest.  Although Alan didn’t exactly agree with me on the issue, obvious from his one-star review of the film.

Television:

That ‘70s Show: Season 5 – Who buys these DVDs?  Seriously, who cares enough to pay money for an okay show that is already run, rerun and overrun through syndication .  The show is a testament of how there’s always going to be an audience out there for crappy television.  Still, if you need a fix for your Fez infatuation, then by all means run out there and throw Fox some more money.

Charmed – The Complete Sixth Season – Rejoice Charmed fans, although the death of the WB may have destined the show for the same fate, you get the sixth of the show’s eight seasons today!  The show was by no means great, but still a fun enough way to pass an hour by.  Some even tried to claim that, in a post-Buffy world, it was a semi-worthy heir to the show.  Of course, no show of its kind has come even close to matching the genius Buffy the Vampire Slayer since it ended three years ago, but you get the idea.

We’re here to let you know what’s out there for your entertainment dollar.  Every week a new batch of DVD’s gets shipped out and thrown onto the shelves.  This week we’ve got the comedy that does for girls gymanstics what Bring It On did for cheerleading, an outlaw is given the choice to hang or kill his father, and a pedophile learns why he should never prey on young girls.  All that plus season sets of My Name Is Earl, Battlestar Gallactica, The Unit, and more.  Take a peek inside for the full list.

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Here’s what is getting released today on DVD:

Film:

Stick It – “Writer Jessica Bendinger’s latest (this time she directs as well) is a similar though less campy look at the world of female gymnastics.  The result is a pretty good film with a few jokes, some interesting camera work, good performances from a group of young actresses and a smart (if somewhat tongue-in-cheek) look at the warped world of gymnastics.” (click here for my full review).  The DVD contains outtakes, deleted scenes, music videoes, featurettes on the gymastics and stunt work done in the film, and multiple commentaries from the director, actors, and filmmakers.  Bring It On home!

Hard Candy – “A two actor performance piece about a a deranged and vindictive 14 year-old girl and a pedophile.  Yeah…you might say this isn’t exactly for everybody.  I saw the film in a mostly empty theater during a press screening and I’m pretty sure I would not want to view it in a crowded one.  It’s an intensely uncomfortable experience that never quite justifies what it puts the audience through, but there are points to, well not exactly enjoy, but at least appreciate.” (read my full review here).  The DVD contains commentaries from the director and stars, deleted and extended scenes, a featurette on the making of the film, and a DVD-ROM production notebook.

The Proposition – Guy Pearce stars as one member of a family of outlaws in 19th Century rural Australia.  After he and his younger brother are captured he is offered a pardon for finding and killing his older brother.  The DVD includes commentary from director John Hillcoat and screenwriter Nick Cave.

Stay Alive – Teen horror flick centering around an online video game based on a mysterious 17th centruy noblewoman called the Blood Countess.  Available in a standard full screen or an unrated widescreen edition with commentary.

Animated:

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe – Season 2, Vol. 2 – 32 adventures of the champion of Eternia taking on Skeletor and protecting Castle Greyskull.  Extras include two original featurettes, commentary for three episodes, character profiles, storyboards, trivia, and collectable cards.

Television:

Battlestar Galactica – Season 2.5 – Final 10 episodes of Season Two as humans struggle against the Cylons, search for Earth, and discover a new homeworld.

My Name Is Earl – The Complete First Season – Jason Lee won fans and rave reviews for his turn as a lifetime screw-up who begins to try and make amends after winning the lottery.  All 24 first season episodes are included with commentary from the stars and creator Greg Garcia on select episodes, a blooper reel, and a behind the scenes featurette.

The Unit – The Complete First Season – All 13 episodes of David Mamet’s hour drama about the lives of American super-secret operatives.

Today we get a Tarantino-inspired mystery, a Paris Hilton movie (insert sex tape joke here,) and last but not least, yet another opportunity for us to fatten George Lucas’ pocket book.

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What’s that?  There are DVDs available at my convinient Wal-Mart or even my nearest Wal-Mart Supercenter for the first time today?  Oh my!

Film:

Lucky Number Slevin – The only mystery more difficult to solve than the twist-a-minute plot of Slevin is the one of the film’s lack-luster popularity.  Given only a 50% approvel from the guys at Rotten Tomatoes, and making a paltry $22 million in theatres, the Tarantino-inspired hitman mystery never got the chance it deserves so very much.  Boasting a cast any summer tent-pole would kill for (with Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu, along with multiple other A-Listers,) Slevin weaves its way in and out of complicated but easily-enough understood story with commanding visuals and dialogue so deliciously wound in circles that almost sounds like Dr. Suess wrote it.  It already passed you by in theatres, so be sure to catch Slevin on DVD as soon as you can.  Of course, not all of us agreed on the film, which you can discover in Alan’s review of the film.

Bottom’s Up – As any pursuist of fine film could tell you, it has been far too long since Paris Hilton has graced a film with her presence.  Well, wait no longer!  This direct-to-video release stars Jason Mewes in what appears to be his most significant, non-Askewniverse role yet.  In the film Mewes, a good ol’ boy from the middle of the country, moves into Hollywood, somehow becomes a part of the system and of course, falls in love along the way.

Goal! – The first of a planned trilogy, it would be wrong to say that Goal!, another athelete-overcomes-the-odds soccer drama, is that great.  But at the same time, it’d be wrong to say that the feel-good won’t grab the sucker in all of us and captivate us for a couple of hours.  Goal! is about a Mexican-American who never quite got the chance to let his supreme soccer abilities shine in the spot-light, only to find a second chance after he moves to the U.K. chasing the dream he’s carried.  The plot, characters, conflicts can all be predicted within the first five minutes; but nevertheless, Goal! is a satisfying peice of film perfect for family viewing.

The Wild – Oh wait, I already own Madagascar.  Never mind.  But if you want to, you can read Alan’s review by kindly clicking on the link.

Special Edition:

The original editions of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi – Less than two years after George Lucas swore that the original cuts of his Star Wars films, the ones that showed up on screens in the 70s and 80s, would never make it to home video again, comes the original cuts of his Star Wars films.  Whether or not it’s just a ploy for the Beard to buy another home away from Skywalker Ranch, fans should have at least a little cause for celebration.  Although the audio and video quality of the film are rumored to be sub-par (read a review from our friends at DVD Active here,) the hoarde of bloggers who have been dying to see Greedo get his too-slow gun-drawing ass shot the way it was 29 years ago will get their due.  It may be worth mentioning that these discs are essentially individual releases of the films as they were seen in the 2004 release of the trilogy, with the original cuts relegated to a second disc under the title of “Supplimental Material,” but the die-hards out there won’t care as long as they get to see a sans-Hayden Christensen finish to the trilogy to rule them all.

Television:

Grey’s Anatomy: The Complete Second Season -Members of age bracket 18 – 34 rejoice!  After four long months without having anything to watch, you can finally own the second installment of ABC’s wildly popular Hospital-based soap, Grey’s Anatomy!  And on top of that, you get to see it all uncut!  That’s right, Hundreds upon Hundreds of seconds more of your favorite hotties as they operate on patients and work on their love-life!

The Office – Season Two – Who would have thought that an Americanized, dumbed down version of the brilliant BBC comedy The Office would have worked so well?  Steve Carell is no replacement for Ricky Gervais, but the U.S. version of The Office successfully sits on the edge between a traditional Sitcom and an innovative one, making it funnier than just about any other network television show, while keeping it universally appealing.

We’re here to let you know what’s out there for your entertainment dollar.  Every week a new batch of DVD’s gets shipped out and thrown onto the shelves.  This week we’ve got Denzel Washington and Clive Owen in Spike Lee’s heist flick, another film of cheerleaders “bringing it on,” Larry the Cable Guy as a health inspector, the Avengers assembling once more, and season sets of Sealab 2021, Prison Break,  Farscape, and more.  Take a peek inside for the full list.

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Here’s what is getting released today on DVD:

Film:

Inside Man – Spike Lee gives us a heist flick which pits Denzel Washington against Clive Owen.  The DVD includes commentary by Lee, an interview with Lee and Washington discussing their past collaborations, and deleted and extended scenes.  As I said in my original review “it’s a pretty good heist flick.  If you’re a fan of the genre or these actors I’d recommend the film to you.”  Read the full review here.

Brick – A loner (Joesph Gordon Levitt), who in searching for the truth about the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend, finds himself suddenly in the middle of a high school crime ring.  Included on the DVD are extended and deleted scenes, a casting of the film featurette, and commentary by cast and crew.

Bring It On: All or Nothing – Hey, I’ll admit I’m a fan of the first film, but do we really need a franchise of straight to DVD sequels?  The latest stars Hayden Panettiere as the school’s spunky cheerleading captain.  DVD extras include a gag reel, a behind the scenes featurette, a dance tutorial, and a cheer camp featurette.

The Lost City – A project Andy Garcia has been trying to get made since he hit Hollywood is a loving look at his native Cuba and his directorial debut.  The story involves a nightclub owner (Garcia) in 1958 Cuba caught between the transition from the oppressive Fulgencio Batista (Juan Fernandez) regime to Fidel Castro’s Marxist government.  The DVD extras include commentary by Garcia, Nestor Carbonell, and production designer Waldemar Kalinowski, a featurette on the making of the film, deleted scenes, a still gallery, and notes from cast and crew.

Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector – The one-joke redneck blue collar comedian gets his own film playing a health inspector(?), teamed up with a rookie partner (Iris Bahr), trying to uncover the cause of food poisoning at all the top restaraunts while wooing (can a cable guy woo?) a waitress (Megyn Price).  No DVD extras.

 

Special Edition:

Airplane (“Don’t Call Me Shirley!” Edition) – Do you like gladiator movies?  Jim Abrahams and David Zucker bring us their first, and best, crazy film that taught us not to call Leslie Neilsen “Shirley,” the troubles of a drinking problem, how to talk jive, and the lesson to never order the fish on a plane.  This new edition contains commentary by Abrahams, Jerry and David Zucker, and producer Jon Davison, deleted scenes, an extended edition of the film, interviews, a trivia track, and the theatrical trailer.

 

Animated/Family:

Ultimate Avengers 2: Rise of the Panther – For fans of the first animated film of the Ultimate line of the Marvel heroes, here’s a sequel.  The team reunites to help the Black Panther stop a new force of invading aliens.

Sealab 2021 – Season Four – More misadventures of the Adult Swim hit involving “scientists” in the research station at the bottom of the sea.  All 13 episodes are included with deleted scenes, alternate endings, and a best of Sealab featurette.

 

TV:

Prison Break – Season One – Last year’s unexpected hit about a wrongfully convicted man (Dominic Purcell) and his brother (Wentworth Miller) who decides to break him out of prison.  All 22 episodes are collected on six discs including commentary, alternate and deleted scenes, a featurette on the making of the show, TV spots and more.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – The Complete Fourth Season – All 26 fourth season episodes of Will Smith and the rest of the Banks family in their wacky adventures.

Farscape – Season 4, Collection 2 – More of the Sci-fi original.  This collection includes commentary for one episode by cast and crew, a “listening in” segment, select histories, a production design gallery, and deleted scenes.