DVD News, Reviews, Rumors, And Commentary

That Thing You Do! Tom Hanks' Extended Cut

The Third Man: The Criterion Collection

Tickle Me

TMNT

To Catch a Thief: Special Edition

Trading Places: The Looking Good, Feeling Good Edition

Trog

True Grit: Special Edition

Unaccompanied Minors

Undercurrent

Vengeance Is Mine: The Criterion Collection

The Verdict: Collector's Edition

Wild Hogs

Without Love

The Woman within the Window

Year of the Dog

Zodiac

Aug. 21 - DreamWorks Animation, Paramount select HD DVD [Reuters] Aug. 20 - Paramount to drop Blu-ray excessive-def DVDs [AP/Yahoo News] Aug. 17 - Compact Disc Celebrates 25th Anniversary [AP/Yahoo News] Aug. 16 - Sony Electronics starts $100m excessive-def advert push [Reuters/Yahoo News] Aug. 16 - '300' high DVD seller for second week [Reuters/Yahoo News] Aug. 15 - Blu-ray outpaces HD-DVD in U.S. [Reuters/Yahoo News] Aug. 14 - 'Porgy and Bess' will get uncommon theatrical screening[Reuters/Yahoo News] Aug. Eleven - Consumers urged to select new DVD format [AP/Yahoo News] Aug. 10 - More Similarities Than Differences in comparison of High-Def DVD Formats [AP/Yahoo News] Aug. 10 - A Comparison of High-Def DVD Formats [AP/Yahoo News] Aug. 8 - '300' racks up big numbers on DVD [Reuters/Yahoo News] Aug. 7 - Studios think inside the field as DVD sales slip [Reuters/Yahoo News] Aug. 1 - 'Zodiac' a sales star on DVD [Reuters] July 27 - Led Zeppelin lastly reissuing rock 'catastrophe' [Reuters/Yahoo News] July 26 - 'Futurama' has a direct-to-DVD mission [Reuters/Yahoo News] July 26 - Target to promote only Blu-ray DVD players [Reuters] July 26 - 'Blade Runner' returns, definitively[Reuters/Yahoo News] July 25 - 'Premonition' sees victory on DVD chart[REuters/Yahoo News] June 21 - 'Ghost Rider' burns rubber on video charts [Reuters] June 19 - Blockbuster favors Blu-ray DVDs to HD DVD [Reuters] June 18 - Death Knell Sounds for HD DVD Format [NewsFactor] June thirteen - Buyers hit pause on DVD gross sales [Reuters] June 13 - Big helpings of 'Norbit' in debut week on DVD [Reuters/Yahoo News] June 12 - Toshiba lowers sales target for HD DVD players [Reuters UK/Yahoo News] June 11 - Apple Said to Eye Online Video Rentals [AP/Yahoo News] June eight - Netflix May Have a brand new Direction [BusinessWeek/Yahoo News] June 5 - Toshiba to enlist laptops to push HD-DVD format [Reuters/Yahoo News] June four - Sony Drops Price Of Upcoming Blu-ray Player [TechWeb/Yahoo News] May 30 - 'Apocalypto' battles to high of DVD charts [Reuters/Yahoo News] May 23 - 'Labyrinth' finds a place atop charts [Reuters/Yahoo News] May 23 - Warner, Paramount mark Elvis anniversary with DVDs [Reuters/Yahoo News] May 23 - Warners singles out titles for restoration [Reuters/Yahoo News] May 23 - John Wayne celebrated on one centesimal birthday [AP/Yahoo News] May 22 - Scorsese Starts World-Cinema Project [AP/Yahoo News] May 17 - Panasonic's New Blu-ray Player Kicks Off Price Wars [NewsFactor/Yahoo News] May 16 - 'Museum' nonetheless on show atop DVD rental chart [Reuters] May 9 - 'Dreamgirls' dances to high of DVD sales charts[Reuters] May 9 - Chips on DVDs could forestall theft [AP/Yahoo News] May 7 - New HP Desktops Support Blu-ray and HD DVD [TechWeb/Yahoo News] May three - 'Museum' leads DVD charts in first week [Reuters/Yahoo News] May 1 - HD DVD/Blu-ray Decryption Key Widely Posted Online [TechWeb/Yahoo News] April 25 - 'Aces' high on DVD charts [Reuters/Yahoo News] April 23- Blu-ray burning its high-def DVD rival[Reuters] April 23- Blu-ray Edging Past HD, But Winner Still Unclear [NewsFactor] April 19 - 'Feet' stands in place as top DVD seller [Reuters/Yahoo News] Exclusive! 'Kiss of the Spider Woman' producer David Weisman talks about the upcoming DVD!

Internet Exclusive! "The DVD Journal" visits with 'Fight Club' author Chuck Palahniuk

Exclusive! Our own D.K. Holm thumbs by the large 'VideoHound's DVD Guide'!

CODE-FREE KILLER! New 'Region Code Enhancement' being placed on some DVDs!

Sept. Four - Georgia Rule - Up In Smoke Sept 11 - The Graduate: AE Sept 18 - Commando: Unrated - Cruising - Deliverance: AE - Death Proof - Delta Farce - Flashdance: SE - Lucky You - Night on Earth: Criterion - Saturday Night Fever: 30AE - Stranger Than Paradise: Criterion - Troy: DC - Wall Street: 20AE Sept 25 - Babel: SE - Bug - Cujo: 25AE - Full of It - Knocked Up - Next - Robinson Crusoe on Mars: Criterion - Rooney & Garland Coll. - Threepenny Opera: Criterion - Twisted Terror Collection Oct 2 - 1408 - Misery: CE - Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer - Funny Face: SE - Jungle Book: Platinum Oct 9 - 28 Weeks Later - Evan Almighty - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner: 40AE - Battleship Potemkin: SE - Mala Noche: Criterion - Hunchback of Notre Dame: UE - Surf's Up - Twilight Zone: The Movie Oct sixteen - The Hoax - Jazz Singer: 80AE - Planet Terror - The Reaping Oct 23 - Battleship Potemkin: SE - Breathless: Criterion - Burt Lancaster Signature Coll - Days of Heaven: Criterion - Hostel Part II - Meet the Robinsons - Mr. Brooks - O Lucky Man! - Saw III: DC - Under the Volcano: Criterion Oct 30 - Barbara Stanwyck Signature Coll - Day Watch - Spider-Man three - Twin Peaks: Gold Box Nov 6 - Chinatown: SE - Leading Ladies Coll. Vol. 2 - Two Jakes: SE Nov thirteen - Berlin Alexanderplatz: Criterion - Close Encounters: 30AE - Shrek the Third Nov 20 - Lady Vanishes: Criterion - Sawdust & Tinsel: Criterion Nov 27 - Drunken Angel: Criterion Dec 4 - Pirates: At World's End Dec 18 - Blade Runner: Final Cut

The Adventures of Robin Hood

The Band Wagon

Blowup

Bringing Up Baby: Special Edition

Le Cercle Rouge: The Criterion Collection

Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock n' Roll

The Day the Earth Stood Still: Fox Studio Classics

DiG!

La Dolce Vita: Collector's Edition

Double Indemnity: Legacy Series

Ed Wood

The Fly: Collector's Edition

The Girl Next Door

Jules and Jim: The Criterion Collection

Junebug

King Kong: Collector's Edition (1933)

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

The Leopard: The Criterion Collection

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: The Criterion Collection

M: The Criterion Collection

The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection

Modern Times: The Chaplin Collection

Once Upon a Time within the West

Open Range

Pandora's Box: The Criterion Collection

Quai des Orfèvres: The Criterion Collection

The principles of the sport : The Criterion Collection

Le Samouraï: The Criterion Collection

Seven Samurai: The Criterion Collection

The Spirit of the Beehive: The Criterion Collection

Stagecoach: Special Edition

Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party

Straw Dogs: The Criterion Collection

Sunrise: Fox Studio Classics

Talladega Nights

Team America: World Police

To Have and Have not

Touching the Void

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

The War of the Worlds: Special Edition (1953)

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Wednesday, 29 Aug. 2007

Dimming the lights: On August 26, 1997, Digital Video Disc made its unofficial debut, with Warner Home Video putting sixty one titles in nationwide release after a six-month trial period in take a look at markets. Sony's flagship DVD player on the time, the DVD-s7000, cost $1,000; entry-stage models reached the market a number of months later with worth-tags around half that, which nonetheless wasn't low cost. The nascent format confronted several challenges not all Hollywood studios were on board with the brand new digital media, while video-rental chains would not clear out a portion of their VHS shelf-space for the shiny new discs. However, thanks to a passionate group of early adopters, house-video divisions at Warner and Sony, the release of motion pictures on DVD without the traditional "rental window" applied to VHS, and retailers stocking discs at inexpensive costs, shoppers began crossing the digital divide. Since then, DVD has changed not simply the way we watch movies, however how we think about them.

It's laborious to understate the impact that DVD has had on our film-consuming culture. Just as a whole lot of us will sometime (even right this moment) explain to young people what the world was like before personal computers or the Internet, we have to make an effort to scan again to the mid-nineteen nineties, when the concept of feature-length films on CD-sized discs was a holy grail of movie collectors. Prior to 1997, the condition of function movies on dwelling video was sorry certainly. VHS tapes supplied poor transfers in comparison with as we speak's viewing standards, whereas film collectors hoarded laborious-to-find motion pictures captured from rare, late-night Tv screenings. At the time, Laserdisc was the cineaste's alternative, though the format was costly, unwieldy, and typically subject to degradation due to the infamous "laser rot" that plagued more than a couple of collections. Folks who did not have Laserdisc players and deep pockets might buy some movies on VHS with widescreen transfers, but they got here at a premium price. And then there was videotape itself bulky, non-listed, and liable to warp, break, and degrade, it simply was not durable sufficient to fulfill film collectors.

Looking back, we see there merely isn't any comparability between 1997 and 2007. Today, it's not only potential, however inexpensive for the average shopper to own a wonderful personal film collection and home-theater tools. It can even be done "on a funds," as it had been. In comparison with the pre-residence-video period (mainly, at any time before mass-market VCRs), the transformation is nothing less than astonishing, and it is value fascinated by. It was not that way back that solely the very wealthy might afford home theaters and actual prints of films for private screenings. It could require not only a big room, but a separate, muffled projection room as effectively, and someone to run the projector (recall that well-known scene in Sunset Boulevard, for example). You couldn't have a setup like that and, say, reside in an residence. DVD has made movies accessible to everybody, not just reclusive film stars. This is one time when the motion pictures may have gotten smaller, but additionally they obtained better.

The arrival of DVD was bolstered by the near-simultaneous arrival of the World Wide Web. Indeed, for a lot of oldsters, DVD and the Internet have been inseparable components of a single success story. The partial democratization of mass publishing which (earlier than blogs) was nearly restricted to tech-savvy webmaster-sorts who also would seemingly find the DVD format fascinating sparked several new web sites, together with early vanguards like the DVD Resource Page, The Digital Bits, and DVDFile.com. These websites, and the others who followed in their wake, did more than just offer the latest industry gossip and film critiques. They kept the DVD industry sincere by ensuring that the earliest of customers were radically informed about their purchases. The truth is, thanks to DVD web sites, the "blind" buy has by no means been needed. For customers keen to analysis via mouse-clicks, DVD websites have supplied a wealth of details about any given DVD's transfer quality and extras, usually earlier than new merchandise attain store shelves.

Combine that with the truth that web sites may very well be printed not just once a day, but up to date a number of occasions per day, by multiple writers. Without that, DVD might look very totally different in 2007. Because of the online, some titles that did not meet the high requirements that the format itself promised had been re-issued with improved transfers. Even more incessantly, long-requested titles remained (and nonetheless remain) off the market for years until studios could full a print restoration and compile sufficient further features to make even the most cynical of DVD consumers enthusiastic about an upcoming release (and sure, waiting for a landmark like King Kong was worth it). Internet reviewers and talkback citizens pored over each significant title, evaluating the standard of the picture and audio, evaluating the work to earlier Laserdisc releases, catching bad crops and missing components, and noticing small, essential particulars that nearly all of us would miss. The vanguard of DVD web sites that arrived between 1997 and 1999 made the distinction, buying and selling out time and effort for the sake of bettering the format, inspiring widespread consumer confidence, and waging an info conflict against the now-defunct pay-to-play DIVX format by Circuit City. Actually, in the event you remember the "Open DVD" marketing campaign, you've got been around for a while.

DVD gained the war. The truth is, it received a few wars against DIVX, in opposition to the VHS rental market, against mainstream consumer technophobia. And it occurred not just because of websites, but because every early DVD adopter turned an evangelist for the format, till, within just a few years, even probably the most casual dwelling-video viewers found a purpose to spend money on DVD, a minimum of alongside their trusty VCR. For movie fans, the format has meant quality transfers, widescreen shows (for a lot of, seeing full ratios on outdated favorites for the first time), and a purpose to buy good speakers and blackout curtains.

But the most important battle was gained within the mainstream, the place such mattered far lower than usability. And this has been DVD's true value-add. We'd all prefer to think that quality is what drove this format over the past decade, however that's not entirely true. The truth is, the thought's more than a bit deceptive. Quality has been an element, however, compared to videotape, the intuitive DVD interface and durable disc made it a logical purchase for just about everybody. Since 1997, there merely haven't been any causes not to invest in DVD, save for the fact that it doesn't report. And, in the long run, even that hasn't mattered a lot. MP3s do not "report" both, however it's the usability of downloadable, digitally compressed music that has brought on it to supplant a very good portion of CD gross sales, just as CDs changed vinyl and cassettes, simply as DVD has changed films on videotape, and just as broadband viewing choices are certain to chip away at DVD's market dominance within the foreseeable future. Usability, and clarity, wins the mainstream. Always.

For these of us who get pleasure from watching movies at home renters and collectors alike the marketplace's far horizon seems vastly completely different at the moment than it did ten years ago. We see an ongoing format-battle between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, with most studios taking sides within the matter. We additionally see Apple making forays into the digital dwelling room, hoping to crest the kind of technological watershed with iTV that they've already crossed with the iPod and iTunes, putting downloadable motion pictures on everybody's set-top box just as they've put music in everyone's pocket. For many shoppers, it's tempting to batten the hatches and wait out the storm, if solely to see the place the rising tide takes us. It's also tempting to simply hang on to outdated-college DVD, which is reasonably excessive-def (with anamorphic transfers on most discs), supported by all distributors, low-cost, and as comfortably dependable as an outdated pair of sneakers.

For the second, neither new possibility the competing HD formats, digital downloads has provided a compelling argument to customers. Downloads need to be easy, and whereas most people seem comfortable with placing a DVD in a tray, we all know that a significant portion of the patron public nonetheless will get a rash after they need to interact with a private pc any more than absolutely needed. Meanwhile, the format battle between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD has been a stark disappointment to many who eagerly purchased into DVD in the late-'90s. Both high-def formats reached consumers before any clear winner emerged, creating an inevitable "wait-and-see" perspective. Considering the fallout from the VHS-Beta conflict of the 1980s, it's stunning that the industry has chosen to steer us on this course, notably when there still are enough Beta supporters out there who remember all too nicely what occurred when their costly expertise misplaced all support within the broader market. The current resolution by Paramount and DreamWorks Animation to exclusively back HD-DVD (reported last week) alongside Universal, signifies that only Warner Home Video is ready to launch product on each platforms, with the remainder of dwelling-video distributors in the bigger Blu-Ray camp. The same situation in the 1990s would have doomed DVD to the fringes of the mainstream market, if not to an early demise. Instead, when Terminator 2 became the first feature film on DVD with a layer-switch (RSDL), permitting for uninterrupted viewing, nobody needed to cease and verify, "Hey, will my DVD player read that disc?" Yes, in 1997 it did. And it nonetheless does.

Waiting is straightforward. In actual fact, it has been made easy. High-def DVD might provide larger resolution and more interactive options, but it's no more easy to function than normal DVD. And everyone knows that usability, not high quality, wins the day. Jeffrey Katzenberg (the 'K' in DreamWorks SKG), as reported by Variety, said on a conference call to buyers earlier this year "Blu-Ray and HD DVD are a distinct segment business They don't seem to be going to grow to be the subsequent platform. I feel for the final shopper, there just isn't a giant sufficient delta between the standard DVD by way of where it's today and the next technology." We agree. DVD-Audio and its competitor, Super Audio CD (SACD), haven't supplanted Compact Disc gross sales, even as CD gross sales as almost good a mass-media product as has ever been invented discover MP3 downloads denting their margins. Last we checked, hi-decision audio was consigned to a small shelf within the back of our nearest huge-box electronics retailer, whereas each sort of sleeve for each size of iPod was stacked up on the nearest route to the money registers. Roy Scheider was right, gang. You're gonna want a much bigger boat.

Nonetheless, even when the next era of DVD Video has but to emerge, commonplace DVDs have now entered a gradual, graceful decline at the least by way of general market share. Figures differ from report back to report, but sales usually are not anyplace near the boom figures that marked the earliest years of this decade, and lots of observers insist it will never get there again. A lot of the format's mainstream hardware adoption a sure driver of DVD sales is full. The re-issue of a number of titles, as many as two or thrice (the dreaded "double-dip") have been welcome in some circumstances for improved transfers, reviled in others for slick re-packaging of an already existing product. And it hasn't been difficult for loads of DVD fans to grasp on to their present movies on DVD and acquire one thing fully new, reasonably than get caught up in a Sisyphean cycle of upgrades one thing hi-def DVD tempts on a a lot larger scale.

Our shiny little platter has reached its peak. Home video is on the cusp of unprecedented fragmentation, and it is easy to marvel if we'll ever see the likes of one easy, universal format ever again. In a few years, you may visit a pal's residence and watch a new film on customary DVD, a high-def variant, a download, or from a broadband service. You could should make inquiries of a technical nature before you carry along your individual viewing choices. And, quite possibly, you could debate if it's higher to see a movie in a theater or at residence, if the title has been launched to both venues on the same day.

By the midpoint of this century, none of this will exist at all, with each potential type of proprietary content material movie, television, journalism, books, radio packages, music, your morning site visitors report, even mud-covered scrolls lost in the basement-time of distant libraries sliced, analyzed, digitized, compressed, optimized, repackaged, marketed, and consumed by us in portions large and small by way of vaporous, intelligible technologies that at the moment are the stuff of plausible imagination.

This is the formidable, ongoing problem that faces those who are in the enterprise of producing and promoting packaged media: What is the value proposition of renting or owning a tangible product like a DVD? Partcularly when a great-high quality model of the movie could be ordered as video-on-demand, downloaded to a hard-drive, or seen in a theater? How is that proposition clarified when a couple of DVD format exists? Why rent? Why purchase? Will DVD websites and DVD consumers proselytize for these new codecs as they did ten years ago? Will they as soon as once more take up the battle and make it their very own?

Or is DVD, the truth is, bound to grow to be a distinct segment item? Instead of being the King Kong of dwelling-video rental/retail, swatting away all competitors like toy planes on strings, is it about to be consigned to something as inconsequential as a consumer desire?

Extras remain the format's true calling card in the meanwhile, downloads and on-demand can't compete with DVD's means to compile a wide variety of objects in a single package deal with that magic word: clarity. Buy one factor, get a number of commentaries, documentaries, deleted material. No need for additional downloads, additional purchases. And if this indeed turns into the hallmark of DVD, it will pressure producers to incorporate high quality extras on as many releases as possible, slightly than asking consumers to settle for a trailer and EPK featurette. Multiple variations of a single film also are sure to bolster DVD's ongoing success, collected within the one factor that only packaged media can supply a horny field or case with high "Wow!" issue on a retailer's shelf. In truth, Warner Home Video's upcoming DVD launch of Ridley Scott's 1982 Blade Runner seems to be a ultimate assertion on the movie itself, but in addition harbinger of DVD's future, where bottom lines might be supported by multi-disc units, be they cinematic masterpieces or hit Tv reveals.

But within that success might lie extra uncertainty, because a multi-disc launch of Blade Runner could be very a lot is for the True Fan and not for the informal viewer, who will fortunately flip to a competing supply methodology to see the movie (or a version of it) without the need to pore over each detail or see 5 variations of what they consider to be the same factor. Most DVD viewers don't hearken to commentaries (ask any person, anyone), while others solely watch extras once or twice at most. And if that's the case, the place does that depart DVD followers? The shoppers who don't need all the pieces easy, who love the bitter details of each studio squabble and scraps of slicing-room floors? If that is the end result, essentially the most worthwhile, heavily promoted DVDs finally will resemble the Laserdiscs of a earlier generation, in scope and bulk. That could be high quality. That also would be a distinct segment market.

Then once more, if DVD is not as cool because it was ten years ago and face it, it's not at the least is has the prospect to be fairly cool once more. As cool as it was when Fight Club arrived in its innovative fold-out digipak case that contained two discs, a darkish, thrilling movie of violence and male bonding (one that almost could have been designed for the DVD demographic itself), and shocking extras. For some, DVD began with Fight Club. For others, it never fairly surpassed it. And, possibly, it may get back there once more.

Give it time.

* * *

As of this morning, The DVD Journal is ceasing publication. DVD first reached store shelves ten years in the past this week, and this website went on-line with its very first DVD evaluations nearly a yr after that. Since then, we have posted virtually 4,000 DVD opinions, watched the retail sheets for the perfect upcoming DVDs, and hopefully steered a few of us into renting or buying films they otherwise might have overlooked.

In comparison with many websites, only a few writers have contributed to the Journal through the years, with a core group of around ten based mostly in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. The editor want to thank all of them it has been a privilege to be their first reader every week, and to be associated with a gifted group of film critics who also happen to be good friends. Our own world has modified up to now decade as nicely, with marriages, children, new houses, career adjustments, and varied other things that happen to sensible individuals when the delicate business of adulthood creeps up on them unawares.

The writers would like to extend due to everybody in the home-video business we've got had contact with over the past decade, from the hard-working publicists who do their greatest to get products out prematurely of street-dates, to the miracle-worker technicians who've carried out probably the most difficult, and most necessary, job of all restoring basic films to the perfect condition doable, allowing us to enjoy them at home, and endlessly. For many, this was the one true promise of DVD, and we not often have been disillusioned. We might also like to extend a particular due to the nice people at the Criterion Collection, who've all the time set the best bar for others within the business to look at, and who acquired into this business again when Laserdiscs have been a distinct segment, and thus made the transition to the mass market with the greatest care, and as little fuss as attainable.

For now, we'll depart this website online, and while we cannot be posting any common features, all are welcome to return and get a have a look at a decade's worth of DVD, in assessment.

Finally, we thank our readers, for we too have been a distinct segment of kinds, fortunately reviewing motion pictures and posting launch information without the need to fling round pop-up ads or hawk specific products to cowl our backside line, or worry about our own "development" for the sake of raw visitors numbers. We're glad you made the time to drop by. We had fun. We hope you did, too.

The Editor

Comments from the online DVD Savant Hollywood Elsewhere DVD Talk DVD Panache DVD Spin Doctor Cinematical Between Productions Reader Talkback

I simply learn your 'sayonara' posting. I'll be sad to see you go as I have been studying your postings almost every day for the past seven years. I hope that you may reconsider and start posting once more, but in both case I'll thank you for all the good opinions through the years.-Matt I've come to your site for the past 7 years, and have loved reading your reviews and updates. Good luck in your future endeavors... You'll be missed.-Grant Just wished to let you already know that I was extremely dissatisfied to search out out that your site was going darkish. I have been an everyday reader for about six or seven years. You guys have achieved a unbelievable job with the positioning. I own a small DVD rental chain and have always found your website to be a worthwhile resource for info and opinions. Thanks and better of luck sooner or later.-Paul Really loved the site, it was a every day resource for my hobby/addiction to DVDs. Best of luck to you as you progress ahead.-Marc This is a very unhappy day, the Journal was like a good friend that I may depend on and belief I do not what number of occasions the Journal made look like an business insider at dinner parties. I'll so miss you guys and hope that this might be momentary, the Journal has given me great joy and insight. Thank you.-Paul I'm saddened that you're shutting down DVD Journal... I've been with you since nearly the beginning. Good luck in your future endeavors.-Joe It is a uncommon thing for me to trouble jotting a be aware to a publication, particularly because I'm not really sure you'll ever see it. I just wanted to say that your DVD journal site has been an everyday stomping floor of mine and I'll miss it. Beyond the seeming simplicity and organization of the positioning was the usually humorous and sharp criticism. I guess I've clicked by a pair times every week for quite a while. Thanks for the nice reading material. I'm positive I'll continue to wander your archives...-Rich I'm very unhappy to see you go, but very thankful for the past ten years. This was one in every of my favourite web sites, one I recommeded to associates over and over, all the time my first (and often solely) cease for DVD data, and oftentimes my first stop on a Monday morning for the newest opinions. I'll miss you guys. So thanks once more for a beautiful website.-Blake RIP My favourite site! Thanks for a lot of hours of enjoyment!-Tim "As of this morning, The DVD Journal is ceasing publication." I may very simply have missed this at the bottom of right this moment's publish, and i very almost did. My jaw hit my desk with an audible (5.1 encompass) thud! I'm very sorry to see you pack up. DVD Journal is/was my no 1 source for good, complete and consolidated DVD happenings. If it's essential to shut, I'm very disappointed, nevertheless congratulations to you all for 10 years of effective work.-Ian Upon reading at this time's announcement that DVD Journal is shutting down, I skilled a most unwelcome deja vu flashback to when Cinefantastique terminated publication underneath its authentic editor - what a disgrace that a product of such substantial intellectual quality was not going to be accessible! Please rethink. Like Cinefantastique, the opposite publications in your style have but a fraction of the standard and utility of DVD Journal. But when you're useless set on this crazyness, then I'd like to express my sincere due to the employees for these many years of fantastic service to the DVD-watching film enthusiast group. Monday and Tuesday mornings, you had been always my first stop on the internet.-Don I used to be each joyful and unhappy this morning when i learn your very fine retrospective of all things DVD, solely to seek out out at the top that it was an eloquent and shifting "resignation" letter. Your site has supplied me with an incredible amount of nice information through the years on DVD, in addition to motivating me to buy every disc on the Editor's Top 25 (none has dissatisfied me!). Best needs in no matter you do, and hopefully one other site can fill the void you depart (however I'm not counting on it).-Paul Sad to see one of many few reliable DVD sites out there fold its tent. Outstanding evaluation as a farewell, nevertheless.-Chris I used to be sad to see that you are ceasing publication however needed to thank you for the entire exhausting work that you simply and your workforce have put into the positioning. I enjoyed checking the site each Monday and Tuesday (particularly Tuesday!) to get the newest information and future releases. Your Top 25 listing, year in overview lists, and MIA lists have been also particularly appreciated. Good luck along with your future endeavors!-Mike I feel I have been punched within the stomach. With great sadness I learn your goodbye right this moment. And i feel accountable. Though I supported your site via clicks, I never as soon as took the time to offer a easy thanks to your necessary piece of my movie schooling. Your dedication to the movie, somewhat than the indecipherable bit-ratio/mega-one thing/edge-enhancement/halo-speak that permeates most other dvd reviews, made your site a frequent destination.

So many times, when I really should have been doing one thing else, I might find myself picking random evaluations to learn. Or, even studying the identical evaluate a number of occasions. The mixture of dry humor, cinema knowledge, and pure enjoyment of film your reviewers crafted of their writings kept me entertained for hours. Please, please, please keep the website energetic. Or, even accumulate the reviews in a ebook so they are often saved perpetually. You and your crew deserve it. Good luck to everyone. I hope they discover different retailers and i hope I'm capable of finding them after they do. Thank you.-RJ Sorry to see that your site is shutting down -- through the years, it's been a compelling learn and a invaluable resource (your New Release Calendar was essentially the most immediate and comprehensive of any site I've seen). You guys have been terrific and your site will likely be missed -- thanks for all your work!-B. I used to be shocked that your website will not be updated. It was intelligently written and something I referenced every week. I've been in awe of the quality of the hassle, and really appreciate all of the years of considerate reviews and information. I'm tangentially involved within the enterprise, (next week I will be recording a commentary), but as a fan of films of all stripes and varieties I am sorry to see you go, however very a lot recognize the legacy and high quality of journalism you've got left behind.-Mel Stumbling upon your announcement at present was akin to hearing that a distant but beloved relative had passed away. Even I was shocked by the sinking feeling in my stomach as I learn the ultimate paragraph. As a fellow reviewer (at movieline on-line) and admirer of your workers's work, I'd respect it if you'd move alongside my compliments to them for producing arms-down the perfect DVD "film" evaluation on the web. Within the chatroom period the place each high-faculty punk with a half-baked opinion whines "just write about the extras" I've at all times been thankful that DVD Journal focused on the movies themselves. Your work might be missed.-Greg It's possible you'll or might not actually see this, but I'd like to join the various, many folks who're in all probability filling your e mail box with messages of thanks and please say it ain't so... You guys have been an important resource and I'm sorry to see you dangle up your whatever it's individuals dangle up these days after they quit doing one thing.-Jeremy I was shocked and dismayed to learn that you are shutting down your website -- it was certainly one of my regular duties to visit you every Monday and Tuesday religiously. Your site might be the most intelligent and dense-with-info on DVDs that exists. Sadly, it looks like I'll have to change that to the previous tense -- "existed." Thanks for giving us a lot, over so a few years. I'll miss you!-Rich I'm very sad to listen to you go. I first started studying The DVD Journal in 1999, shortly after the purchase of my first DVD participant (1999, has it really been that long?). At the same time I discovered your site, I discovered others; The Digital Bits, DVDFile.com, etc. And while I stopped checking in on these websites years ago, your insightful, well-written opinions have kept me coming back to The DVD Journal on a weekly basis. Indeed, DVDs have modified my life. After i purchased my first DVD player I was an govt in the transportation industry. But DVDs changed the way in which I looked at movies. Little-by-little I was studying concerning the filmmaking course of by itemizing to DVD commentary tracks, watching the "making of" extras, and so forth. I used to be hooked. A couple of years after the purchase of my DVD participant, impressed in no small half by what I had seen and heard on DVDs, I'd give up the transportation trade, and return to high school - to check film. I'm now a film editor at a publish-production home in Chicago. Thank you for a few years of enjoyable reading. You are among the most effective DVD websites on the web. You can be missed.-Jay Thanks for years of nice reading. Your dissertations on the dvd format and your effectively-spoken reviews have been a staple of my internet studying for lo these a few years, and I'm very reluctant to say goodbye. If there were only some manner to vary your thoughts... basket of cookies, bourbon, perhaps a helper monkey or three? I hope the dissolution of the location does not sign the top of your reviewers' output. Please tell us where we can learn extra evaluations from your crew, and best of every part to the lot of you. Entertaining reads are uncommon enough; constant quality even rarer. Your site delivered the goods, and i appreciate it.-Pat Please settle for my sincere thanks for the many hours of great studying you've provided me. Good luck in no matter you do subsequent.-John I was very unhappy to read that you are suspending the DVD Journal. I have depended upon this site, more than another site, for years, to notify me of upcoming releases, and to provide unbiased and informative opinions. I'm a collector and cinephile; I've a little over 4000 DVDs, together with an entire set of the Criterion Collection, and I discovered the DVD format from almost day 1 to be the reply that I used to be in search of so as to reinforce my movie-watching joy. I hated VHS, I hated rewinding tapes, I hated it all, and they were damned expensive. DVD was it for me. I hope that you just all have success in your future paths, and that you already know that I, as well as countless others, will miss your site. I hope that I can find another that's anyplace near what yours has been. Take care.-Kris Saw the news about your site. Congratulations on your lengthy run and best of luck with any future tasks you resolve to get in on.-Mark I just needed to personally drop you a line and to tell you ways sorry I'm that you will not be publishing your website. I've loved it for years and have at all times discovered it to be informative, nicely written and very insightful. There are quite a few sites that I visit on a regular basis, but I need you to know that yours definately stood out in a really crowded cyber world. Better of luck and thanks for all the nice critiques.-Francis I have not all the time agreed together with your insurance policies, publishing schedule or opinions however I've all the time enjoyed visiting your site. The content was thought frightening and well written and yes, your reviews prompted me on many occasions to purchase a DVD I may need in any other case overlooked. Thank you for that. You can be sorely missed on Monday and Tuesday and so long as your opinions are nonetheless out there, I will revisit infrequently. Again, thanks and good luck in whatever you determine to pursue!-Marshall I have enoyed your website for eight years now and was unhappy to see today that is was ceasing publication. When I used to be a Peace Corps Volunteer in Central America from 2000-2002, I regarded forward to the 2 and half hour bus ride to the Peace Corps Headquaters to verify my electronic mail and to see what was newly posted information and reviews awaited me at dvdjournal.com. The old school non-coloured Macs would seem to take an eternity to load the site, but it was always worth it. I might secretly print (paper was to be rationed for less than crucial of documents) evaluations to take again to my site and pour over literally ever word at any time when I had a free second from my work (which was often only over meals). These food-stained printed critiques and news adopted me the place work took me. Often I might turn into carsick trying to learn as I bounced down shoddy roads in thirty yr old skool buses with no shocks. Imagine my embarrassment when i had to inform my native girlfriend that I was not continuously reading emails from home however reviews of movies that came on shiny discs like cds. Trust me when i let you know these are fantastic recollections for me. The Godfather, Citizen Kane, Dr. Strangelove, The Phantom Menace (cant win them all), and so forth.. Reading about these gave me a bit slice of american life I never had entry to where I used to be at. As a techno geek dwelling in a third world country with no Tv and frequent power outages, it was like receiving cookies from mom in the middle of a struggle zone. For sure, the first thing I did when returning to the states was to show all these stained, worn evaluations into shiny new dvds I nonetheless watch and enjoy in the present day, all of which had been advisable by dvdjournal.com.-Benjamin I began studying DVDjournal kinda late in the game (about two years in the past) and I have been impressed with the writing and evaluation you've got provided. I've wasted many a evening selecting by means of your archives, although I assume I can hardly name it a waste. Your in depth opinions impressed me to begin putting out my own video evaluate blog just for enjoyable. Thank you for a decade of excellent writing. Please keep your archives up for awhile so I can reference them every now and then.-David Just need so as to add my because of all the others. Your web page was additionally for me the primary stop on a Monday morning. What you had that put it there was a easy structure. Too many websites dazzle the viewer with advertisements, selections, pictures and so forth in all colours. You provided the information I needed in a direct, straightforward-to-use manner. You may be sorely missed. Best wishes to all the crew for their future.-Jack (Switzerland) I finish my Labor Day weekend only to find DVDJournal, a site I've religiously bookmarked and visited for over 7 years, is going away. I want to thank you for therefore many properly-written movie critiques, even the ones I didn't agree with. Compared to most DVD overview web sites, your film reviews have been comparable to the professionals and typically extra effectively-written in their brevity and specificity. You additionally triumphed the smaller indie, foriegn, and classic movie releases that other DVD sites tended to miss or ignore. Thanks, thank you, thanks. One of my favorite aspects of the location was checking in each week to see which new launch would get the "star therapy" and which releases you would herald with a star for each new Tuesday. You additionally had the best New Release calendar of any site on-line and your evaluation database was nicely organized. I may even miss your year-finish round-up of the very best DVD releases, which was additionally an excellent list to work backwards from in updating and including to my film library. Thanks again. My DVD buying in the future will endure without DVDJournal but I hope the time away treats you all nicely.-Joel What! How dare you! What had been we paying you for? Seriously, very sorry to see you go and plenty of thanks for all the helpful data you supplied me over time to make my DVD buying choices.-D. I just checked in to your net site, as I've each Tuesday for years, to seek out that you will not be updating your site. I cannot specific what an important loss that is to DVD collectors all over the place. I've relied on your site for news on new releases, insight into films that I had never heard of, and data on films I had written-off that made me re-consider these movies, typically for the better. It is with great sorrow that I send this e mail to want you the best of no matter comes next for you. Thank you for being part of my life for therefore lengthy.-Paul I'm sorry to see that you're hanging up the guns. I've been checking in commonly for many, many years (I bought the Criterion Spinal Tap off the shelf on release date, dammit, after which performed it in my 20-pound Pioneer DVD/LD combi-participant). While any of a jillion cookie-cutter websites could inform you how many deleted scenes a disc had or what format the soundtrack was in, I might at all times count on your site for an insightful few paragraphs on the film itself from a reviewer I might not agree with however whose opinion I could belief was based on actual data of movie. Thanks for making the web a smarter place for the last ten years. You'll be missed.-Ryan After reading your complete and wonderful critique of the video trade I was certainly taken aback after i read that your site can be discontinued. Your site was among the best on the internet. I would like to offer kudos to everybody concerned in this glorious site. Their time and effort was very a lot appreciated. Your weekly site will be missed.-Greg I bought "Brazil" based in your overview and it is indisputably my all time favorite movie. I was solely eleven in 1985, and completely unaware of 'good motion pictures'. If not for dvdjournal.com. I never would have identified about this incredible film. (and a few others). Thanks so much. Best needs. (p.s. going to dvdjournal.com on mondays can be a tough habit to interrupt.)-James I'm sorry to hear that your site is ending. I have been reading your critiques for about five years. I discovered your commentary to be truthful, clever and personable. These are uncommon qualities, particularly when individuals are talking about films and particularly when these persons are on the web. I'll miss your site and perception. Good luck.-Michael Tuesday, 28 Aug. 2007

On the street: There's just some DVDs to select up this week as we head into the Labor Day weekend, together with Paramount/DreamWorks Blades of Glory and A Night On the Roxbury starring Will Ferrell, Year of the Dog with Molly Shannon, a re-challenge of Dr T & the Women, and the complete first season of Heroes. Here's this morning's notable avenue discs, out there at Amazon.com:

- 3:10 to Yuma (1957) - Air Guitar Nation - Antibodies - Blades of Glory (widescreen) - Blades of Glory (full-frame) - Blood & Tears - Bob Saget: That Ain't Right - Carlito's Way: Crime Saga Collection - The Crocodile Dundee Triple Feature (3-disc set) - Dane Cook: The Lost Pilots - Danger Mouse: The complete Series Megaset (4-disc set) - The Dog Problem - Dr T & the Women: Special Edition - East Side Story - Finney (3-disc set) - Friday Night Lights: Season One (5-disc set) - Heroes: Seasons One (7-disc set) - I Should not be Alive - Jesse James: American Outlaw - Justine de Sade - Kickin' It Old Skool - The Last Day of Summer - Legion of Super Heroes: Vol. 1 - Martin Lawrence's First Amendment - Masters of Horror: Season One Box Set - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Treat - A brand new Wave - A Night On the Roxbury: Special Edition - Nobody's Perfect - Notorious B.I.G.: Bigger Than Life - The Odd Couple: Season Two (4-disc set) - Offside - The Outer Limits: The unique Series, Vol. 2 - Paper Cut - Return to Halloweentown: Ultimate Secret Edition - Rowan Atkinson Live! - Satan, Prince of Darkness: A&E Biography - Samurai Jack: Season Four - Shredderman Rules! - Ski School - Teachers - True Heart Susie - Women Behind Bars - Year of the Dog

Monday, 27 Aug. 2007

Disc of the Week: When Joss Whedon's sci-fi western "Firefly" was canceled earlier than its 2002 season was accomplished, nobody might have predicted the passionate fanbase and lengthy life that will keep Whedon's rag-tag crew of area outlaws on the cultural radar for years to come. The love for this sadly misbegotten show has been intense, stoked by the release of the function movie Serenity (2005), and kept alive by a loyal network of followers who call themselves "Browncoats" after the duster worn by series star Nathan Fillion. Years after the present's cancellation and the movie's release, Serenity lovers flock to annual "Serenity Now" showings in 47 U.S. cities each June, celebrating Whedon's birthday with charity occasions benefiting the human-rights organization Equality Now. Recently, weekly "Firefly" episodes screening at a Portland, Ore. brewpub attracted around 250 individuals every week, regardless of showtimes that began at 10 p.m. in the course of the work week. Internet bulletin boards, mailing lists, and web sites like Serenity Tales provide "Firefly" lovers a chance to not only join with one another, but to create their own adventures in the Serenity 'verse fans even organized a "Browncoat Cruise" to Mexico slated for December 2007, a kind of sci-fi convention at sea. The tenacious, continued assist for the Tv show and movie even inspired a documentary on the topic, Done the Impossible, which debuted on the 2007 Comic-Con in San Diego. Game players will get to create their own characters in the "Firefly" universe starting sometime in 2008, when a MMOG (massively multiplayer online recreation) based mostly on the collection reportedly will be released by Multiverse Network, Inc. And in June, 2007, astronaut Steven Swanson introduced "Firefly" and Serenity DVDs along with him on the Space Shuttle Atlantis, donating the discs to the International Space Station's crew.

Whedon has remained characteristically modest about the love for Serenity, telling one interviewer, "I think it is lovely for people to say that Serenity is that this generation's Star Wars, however I do not think it is correct. Star Wars had a cultural affect that is unprecedented and nearly untraceably massive. Serenity shouldn't be that. It's like comparing apples to unbelievably large apples." But still, the executives at Universal Pictures know a moneymaker when they see one. "Firefly" fans, being sensible sufficient to know that nothing impresses a studio like cold, arduous cash, have continued to assist Whedon's brainchild by purchasing a number of copies of the Tv present field set and the first Serenity DVD launch (both shoot to the highest of Amazon's rankings in the course of the "Serenity Now" events each June), and that devotion has paid off with the creation of a "Collector's Edition" release of the film. Whedon has even allowed that there is the slim possibility of another film if this DVD sells properly, saying, "It's probably not being mentioned in board rooms proper now, however the very fact of the matter is, if it makes enough money, ultimately they are saying, 'Hey that is money!'" For these unfamiliar with the world of Serenity, Whedon's area opera still works beautifully as a stand-alone film, a wickedly wrought homage to traditional sci-fi, Indiana Jones-type serial adventures, and shoot-'em-up Western footage. It is a geeky thrill ride designed to appeal to hardcore film lovers (and, yes, to fans of the Tv present), however be warned when you see Serenity you may wish to run proper out and get the "Firefly" box set, and as soon as you are via with that, you may understand the Browncoats' frustration that there are not any extra adventures forthcoming from Serenity's crew. Chances are you'll even end up haunting Internet chat rooms and booking a cruise to Mexico to get your Whedon repair. Don't say we didn't warn you.

Universal Studios Home Entertainment's two-disc Serenity: Collector's Edition offers the entire bonus features from the earlier DVD release the original commentary track by Joss Whedon, an introduction filmed by Whedon to precede early screenings of the movie (four min.), a blooper reel (6 min.), 9 deleted scenes (14 min.), "We'll Have a Fruity Oaty Good Time," by which Whedon discusses the creation of the bizarre Japanese business (2 min.), and three behind-the-scenes featurettes plus one other 60 minutes of recent bonus features, including an extra, model-new commentary track with Whedon and stars Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau, and Ron Glass that is funny, foolish, informative, and a whole lot of fun. The brand new "making-of" featurette, "A Filmmaker's Journey," is an in depth, behind-the-scenes look on the making of the movie with reminisces by cast and crew (20 min.); "Sci Fi Inside: Serenity" is a pretty standard promotional piece hosted by Baldwin (4 min.); "Session 416" provides up 5 creepy Internet teasers that show River being interviewed by doctors again throughout her time at the Academy (8 min.); "Take a Walk on Serenity" is a hilarious tour of the ship with Whedon, Fillion, Baldwin, and Alan Tudyk according to Whedon, the ship's bridge "has a whole lot of blinking lights. And as everyone knows, blinking lights means science."(4 min.); "The Green Clan" seems on the contributions of DP Jack Green and his crew a number of of whom have been members of his family (three min.); and 4 prolonged scenes that do not add much, but are an pleasing addition for fans nonetheless. Serenity: Collector's Edition is on the road now.

Box Office: The traditional August field-workplace hunch when Hollywood studios dump less-promising titles in the marketplace throughout the back-to-school run-up kicked in over the weekend with four broad titles failing to open larger than fourth place, giving Sony's teen-raunch Superbad its second straight win and $68.5 million within the bank. Arriving in fourth was Universal's Mr. Bean's Holiday starring Rowan Atkinson, which garnered $10.1 million (for a film nearing $200 million in overseas launch), barely beating out Lionsgate's War starring Jet Li and Jason Statham, which marked a fair $10 million. MGM's The Nanny Diaries starring Scarlett Johansson and Laura Linney opened in sixth with $7.8 million, while Resurrecting the Champ with Sam Jackson and Josh Hartnett did not make the grade with a mere $1.8 million. Critics were blended on Champ and Bean, less type to War and Diaries.

In continuing release, Universal's The Bourne Ultimatum is on monitor to break $200 million, easily holding second place after one month in theaters, whereas New Line's Rush Hour three is over the century with $109 million after three sessions. Fox's The Simpsons Movie is one other substantial contributor to Hollywood's $four billion summer season, charting $173.Four million. Paramount's Stardust is caught on the midlist with simply $26.4 million, followed by New Line's in style Hairspray, which has drawn $107.Four million. Heading for a second life in smaller theaters earlier than much longer is Warner's The Invasion, which stumbles to tenth place in its second weekend with just $11.5 million. And off to DVD prep is Universal's I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, which will close above $one hundred ten million.

New films resulting from arrive over the Labor Day frame embrace Balls of Fury starring Christopher Walken on Wednesday, followed on Friday by Death Sentence starring Kevin Bacon, as well as Rob Zombie's Halloween. Here's the highest-grossing films at North American theaters from final weekend:

Superbad (Sony)$18,000,000 ($68,572,000 by means of 2 weeks) The Bourne Ultimatum (Universal)$12,361,000 ($185,143,000 by means of 4 weeks) Rush Hour three (New Line)$12,250,000 ($109,013,000 by three weeks) Mr. Bean's Holiday (Universal)$10,121,000 ($10,121,000 via 1 week) War (Lionsgate)$10,000,000 ($10,000,000 through 1 week) The Nanny Diaries (MGM)$7,811,000 ($7,811,000 via 1 week) The Simpsons Movie (Fox)$4,400,000 ($173,437,000 by way of 5 weeks) Stardust (Paramount)$3,954,000 ($26,455,000 by means of three weeks) Hairspray (New Line)$3,450,000 ($107,456,000 by means of 6 weeks) The Invasion (Warner Bros.)$3,140,000 ($11,515,000 by 2 weeks) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Warner Bros.)$2,480,000 ($283,309,000 by 7 weeks) Underdog (Buena Vista)$2,243,000 ($36,637,000 via 4 weeks)

On the Board: New reviews this week include Blades of Glory, Year of the Dog, Serenity: Collector's Edition, and The first Films of Samuel Fuller: Criterion Eclipse Series. It's all fresh beneath the brand new Reviews menu right here on the entrance page.

We'll be back tomorrow with the rundown on this week's road discs.

Tuesday, 21 Aug. 2007

Our friends on the Criterion Collection have simply revealed their November slate, which is able to include a two-disc re-issue of Alfred Hitchcock's 1938 classic The Lady Vanishes starring Michael Redgrave, Margaret Lockwood, and Dame May Whitty the new transfer will probably be accompanied by a commentary from movie historian Bruce Eder, whereas other extras will embody the 1941 follow-up Crook's Tour (making its dwelling-video debut), audio excerpts from Hitchcock's famous 1962 interviews with François Truffaut, a video essay by Leonard Leff, and stills (Nov. 20). Also in prep is a seven-disc edition of Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1980 Berlin Alexanderplatz, which will accumulate the director's 15-hour epic within the 2006 restoration and include three documentaries, a 1931 version of the story, interviews, and more (Nov. 13). Ingmar Bergman's 1953 Sawdust & Tinsel will embody a commentary by Bergman scholar Peter Cowie, a 2003 introduction by the director, and new subtitles (Nov. 20). And Akira Kurosawa's little-seen 1948 Drunken Angel will supply a new commentary from Japanese-movie scholar Donald Richie and two documentaries (Nov. 27). - Just some more objects to announce this time around: Warner Home Video has a new "Director's Series" version of Stanley Kubrick Collection listing at online retailers, together with two-disc editions of 2001: A space Odyssey and The Shining (Oct. 23), whereas a "twenty fifth Anniversary Edition" of Poltergeist can be due this fall (Oct. 9). Arriving from MGM on Oct. 23 is Mr. Brooks starring Kevin Costner. And fans of the silents can look ahead to a landmark duo with 1923's The Hunchback of Notre Dame starring Lon Chaney turning up on Oct. 9 in an "Ultimate Edition" from Image, adopted by Sergei Eisenstein's 1925 Battleship Potemkin from Kino on Oct. 23.

On the road: It's a short list this week, but there is no lack of spins to check out, together with The Criterion Collection's House of Games and The Milky Way, Sony's The Lives of Others, Perfect Stranger, and The Dark Backward, whereas Universal's Serenity is bound to please a small military of devoted "Firefly" followers. Here's this morning's notable street discs, out there at Amazon.com:

- The Berenstain Bears: Get Organized! - Blood in the Face - Dane Cook: The Lost Pilots - The Dark Backward: Special Edition - Dexter: Season One - The Ex - Handy Manny: Tooling Around - House: Season Three (5-disc set) - House of Games: The Criterion Collection - Life Begins (3-disc set) - The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen) - The Milky Way: The Criterion Collection - A brand new Wave - Perfect Stranger - Re-Animated: The Movie - Robocop: 20th Anniversary Collector's Edition Steelbook - A Season Inside Notre Dame Football - Serenity: Collector's Edition (2-disc set) - Surfer King - SWSX Live 2007 - 'Til Death: Season One (3-disc set) - Ugly Betty: Season One: The Bettyfriend Edition

Monday, 20 Aug. 2007

Disc of the Week: The first movie directed by acclaimed Chicago playwright David Mamet, House of Games (1987) was handed by the director as one thing of a gift to actor Joe Mantegna. Mamet's play Glengarry Glen Ross had seen phenomenal success on Broadway, and it earned Mantegna a Tony Award for his role as Richard Roma. As Mantegna tells the story, Mamet personally got here backstage to provide him the news that the play was going to be made into a feature film and that Al Pacino can be enjoying Roma. Mamet, who's recognized for his loyalty to his buddies, then handed Mantegna two screenplays and promised him that, it doesn't matter what, he had first crack at starring in them. The primary of those movies, House of Games (1988's Things Change was the second) is immersed in one of many idiosyncratic author's pet subjects the confidence sport. Co-written by Jonathan Katz sure, that Dr. Katz and with knowledgeable supervision by magician and card-sharp Ricky Jay (who also makes his film debut here), House of Games crackles with power as layer after layer of scam artistry is peeled away in a story full of double- and triple-twists. It's native territory for Mamet's trademark dialogue stilted and curt, each base and profound.

Dr. Margaret Ford (Lindsay Crouse) is an professional within the psychology of compulsive behavior. And though she approaches her patients and receives reward from readers of her book on the subject with cold reserve, she works non-stop, hardly ever withdrawing for private pleasure. To Margaret, the advanced troubles of her patients are nothing greater than perplexing puzzles to be solved, intricate thriller novels that can all fall into place if she will correctly dissect and interpret the symbolism. But nonetheless, Margaret is aware that her intelligent analysis, whereas intellectually satisfying, can never ease the ache felt by her topics. Intrigued by the "actual world" driving one consumer Billy, a gambler in heavy debt to contemplate suicide, Margaret makes a daring transfer and guarantees him she is going to help. And not with analysis, but with action. Naively assured, Margaret marches boldly into the seedy neighborhood haunted by bookie and con man Mike (Joe Mantegna) and demands that he forgive Billy's IOU. Incredibly, he agrees however on one condition. And so Margaret begins exploring a ruthless world of deceit that appeals to her personal latent obsessions and exposes a side of her persona she had previously suppressed.

As a first-time movie director on House of Games, Mamet's background in stage work hampers the film's early scenes set in Margaret's skilled world. It may be by design that the exchanges between the doctor and her patients and even her mentor feel artificial and are saddled with unspeakably purple dialogue. And it does not assist that Crouse (Mamet's spouse on the time), whereas suitably icy, never appears comfortable or pure with the writer's style the way in which Mantegna is. However, many of the movie is ideal Mamet arduous and blunt, but happening in a slightly surreal, cerebral world the place nothing is as it seems, however where essentially the most deceitful agent is the self. Those not acquainted with Mamet's style could also be delay by House of Games' stage-certain high quality, especially within the awkward opening scenes. But because the film eases into smoother territory, it supplies a hearty, engrossing, and satisfying transition for the artist into movie. Despite the fact that House of Games was an obscure launch by Hollywood standards, it signaled the rise of Mantegna a part of Mamet's favored stable of actors from ethnic supporting actor to leading man. Unfortunately, it didn't last lengthy, along with his best work coming in Mamet's Things Change and the good Homicide (1991). Also on display are early appearances by a number of different Mamet favorites, the late J.T. Walsh and a younger William H. Macy.

The Criterion Collection's DVD launch of House of Games is a huge improvement over MGM's previous disc, offering a beautifully clear, remastered anamorphic switch ( 1.78:1) with wonderful contrast and nice shade saturation. The Dolby Digital 1.0 audio is more than satisfactory, given the dialogue-heavy nature of the movie. The fascinating commentary track options Mamet and Ricky Jay, who talk about the nuts-and-bolts of constructing the film with so much of knowledge on the methods by which Jay helped Mamet to take care of authenticity as regards the world of confidence men. Fans of Mamet will appreciate his detailed digressions on his writing course of, and his candid