This weeks DVD releases:4/29/08

"27 Dresses" movie poster

Theatrical releases:

• "27 Dresses"-Classic "always the bridesmaid,never the bride" chick flick romantic comedy stars Katherine Heigl-Widescreen
• "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"-cinematic French film-Widescreen
• "The Golden Compass"-dark fantasy stars Nicole Kidman & Daniel Craig,who also worked and appeared together in last years "Invasion". (trivia tidbit!)-Widescreen

Other movies released this week on DVD:

• "First Knight"(1995)-Blu ray disc also available
• "A Generation Apart"(1984)-Widescreen
• "How She Move"-With featurette
• "Oceans Eleven"(2001)-Blu ray disc also available
• "Oceans Twelve"-Blu ray and DVD

TV on DVD this week:

• "The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones"-DVD set
• "Beverly Hills 90210-The 4th Season"-8 disc set
• "Paranormal State - Season 1"-3 disc set
• "The Waltons-The Complete 7th Season"-5 disc set

Thats all for this week!

This weeks new DVD releases 4-22-2008

I am totally late with this, thanks to technical problems, but just in time for considering what to check out this weekend on DVD.Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman has the rare luck to be billed in two of this week's theatrical releases!Read on...

Theatrical Releases:

• "Cloverfield"-The shaky"home movie" type filming of this actually made people dizzy in theaters!It's still a decent horror flick!-Widescreen
• "The Savages"-A deep family drama starring Philip Seymour Hoffman & Laura Linney -Widescreen
• "Charlie Wilson's War"-Cold War era political comedy starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and....Philip Seymour Hoffman!-Widescreen

Other DVD releases this week:

• "The Orphanage"-Widescreen
• "One Missed Call"-Fullscreen

TV this week on DVD:

• "Laverne & Shirley-The 4th Season"-Break out the milk and Pepsi!-4 disc set
• "Friday Night Lights-The 2nd Season"-NBC teen drama-4 disc set

Thats it for this week!

"Juno" (2007)

One of the best movies coming out on DVD this week will be Jason Reitmans "Juno", and the title character is a sarcastic and independent-minded 16 year old girl who gets pregnant by her best guy-friend and decides ultimately to give her baby up for adoption. She selects an uber-yuppie couple played by Jason Bateman & Jenifer Garner to adopt her child and develops a deep bond with them over the course of her pregnancy.

Juno, played by Ellen Page, is already ostracized at her high school because she is a noncomformist and she encounters alot of judgemental people in school and out as she gets bigger. In one outstanding scene, she is the target of an ultrasound techinicians' scorn for being a teen mother and her stepmother tells the tech off.Juno also experiences ups and downs in her relationship with Bleeker,the father of her child.Their platonic friendship gets strained, naturally and eventually she discovers she loved him along.

This movie impressed me because it portrayed a very positive and responsible solution to a common social problem.Movies like last years "Knocked Up" make for a hilarious comedy, but how many yuppie fast track women are going to raise a baby with a drunken out-of-work slacker who impregnated them during a boozy encounter? On the other end of the spectrum, characters on TV and movies getting abortions have become the norm in liberal with-it Hollywood. It's just nice to see a story about someone faced with the same problem who takes the high road.

It also has an offbeat soundtrack with tunes by Lou Reed and The Kinks, just to name a couple. "Juno" will be released in two days on DVD and I totally recommend it!

This weeks DVD releases:4/8/2008

"Walk Hard:The Dewey Cox Story"(starring John C.Reilly) is among this weeks DVD releases and having seen it,I have to say it was as bad as I expected but in a good way-it spoofs practically ever "Behind the Music"-style movie about the rise and fall of a famed musician that has ever been made.It borrows heavily from "Walk the Line" and also incorporates scenes from others like "The Doors".

Any "rock star-movie" cliche you can think of is satired here.Look for cameos from very famous faces,including a hilarious turn as a young Elvis by musician Jack White and Jack Black as Paul McCartney.I loved this movie but sadly admit some people will not find it funny.BTW,the unrated DVD version has a gratuitous male full-frontal nudity shot in deference to "Boogie Nights" (John C.Reilly also starred in this!)but this guy is not as developed as Dirk Diggler.

As each decade brings a different music style,Dewey adapts and does a "crossover" between stints in rehab.Hysterically funny movie!

Available in widescreen.

Other Theatrical Releases this week:

• "There will be blood"-deleted scenes on DVD
• "The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep"- widescreen DVD
• "Lions for Lambs"-widescreen DVD

Classic re-releases

• "The 6th Day"-Bluray release
• "All about Eve"(1950)-2 disc DVD set

Tv on DVD

• "Matlock-The 1st Season"-7 disc DVD set
• "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-Season Six" Animated TV series on DVD

Also,George Romeros' "Day of the Dead" remake (2007) will be released this week on DVD,it stars Ving Rhames,Nick Cannon,and Mena Suvari(American Beauty).A must-see for true horror-philes.

"Hey you GUYS!!!!!!"- The Electric Company Comeback

According to PBS, Sesame Workshop has an updated version of the old-school PBS kids show "The Electric Company"(aired 1971-1977) in the works and it is expected to start airing on PBS affiliates in the fall of 2008.I am not only not surprised,I also think it is a great idea and a novel way to introduce a whole new generation to the shows us 30-somethings grew up watching as kids!

I recently borrowed one of the DVD Volumes that were released in 2006 for my daughter and she LOVED it,so much that she knows the theme song now LOL.In my day it was what you graduated to when you grew out of Sesame Street and there were alot of stars like Morgan Freeman, Rita Moreno,and Bill Cosby.They had original recurring characters like "Easy Reader" ,comic shorts of "Spiderman" and a neat part of the show called "Short Circus",a group of singing and dancing kids,including a very young Irene Cara(Fame).In addition to the DVD Volumes,Apple offers classic original episodes of "The Electric Company" through I-Tunes.I can hardly wait to see the remade 2008 premiere!

Flashback Movies:"Who framed Roger Rabbit?"(1988)

Eddie & Roger

DVD cover

Last week the 1988 animated and live action movie "Who framed Roger Rabbit?" came on one of the cable channels and my little girl goes"Mama,theres real people in a cartoon!!!!"That is part of what propelled this movie to the number 2 spot on the top movies of 1988,just below "Rain Man".It combined animation and live action in a whodunit style plot that featured "cameos" from dozens of current and past characters from Disney,MGM,Warner Brothers and Paramount.

In the film,which takes place in "Toon Town",Marvin Acme,the owner of Acme Company(where Wile Coyote gets all his rockets!)and owner of Toon Town,is murdered and Roger Rabbit,a character for "Maroon Studios" is framed for the crime.His wife is the sexy Jessica Rabbit.He,along with washed up human detective Eddie Valiant(Bob Hoskins) ,must find a way to clear his name and stop Toon Town from being taken over and torn down.

Numerous injoke references to other cartoons appear in this movie and there are alot of rumors swirling around supposed"hidden messages" in this movie,as well as a crotch-shot by Jessica Rabbit.Allegedly if viewing on laser disc or DVD,you can see the phone number of Disneys Michael Eisner onscreen.The alleged crotch-shot is semi-truth.In an earlier edition of the laser disc and VHS,when Jessica tumbles out of the wrecked cab,she appears to have no undies on and Disney attributed this to a "badly painted animation cel",Subsequent editions are altered,with the 1999 release cels showing her wearing white panties and the 2002 DVD releases edited to keep her skirt discreetly covering her undies.Try it out and see for yourself-the Tv version always has the undies!

Also,Just before Eddie falls off the building, the words "For Good Times, call Allyson 'Wonderland'" can be seen on the wall behind him.
A brief scene consisting of the toon Baby Herman passing by a female (human) extra on the set of the opening cartoon and sticking his middle finger up her dress, and then coming back from under the dress with a drool of spit on his lip. This was edited out of the first DVD edition of the movie, though it can be found on editions of the VHS and laserdisc.Pretty funny,eh?

Some even swear that Daffy Duck utters the "N" word in this movie but he does not-with closed captioning you can clearly see what he is saying and it is NOT "N".

However if you look close during a scene where Eddie is falling from the sky with Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny,you can clearly see Bugs flipping off Mickey with a one-finger salute!I am not lying,its there if you look!

While there were plans to do a second film,which would be a prequel set in 1940 and with a Nazi plot,as of 2007 it is not in development,mostly due to high production costs but Frank Marshall has expressed interest on producing it.

The movie also spawned toys,comic books and other collectibles-McDonalds partnered with Disney to distribute dolls from the movie-which have become bona fide Disney Collectibles.

All in all,it is a one of a kind movie and it was quite different from what we were used to in 1988.Disney gambled with it,and it was a success.If you have never seen it,I recommend it-its appropriate for kids as well as adults.

This weeks new DVD releases 2/19/2008

This weeks theatrical releases

• "American Gangster"-extended unrated film also on DVD,stars Denzel Washington,Russell Crowe and Josh Brolin
• "Michael Clayton"-George Clooney in legal drama,widescreen
• "Rendition" War epic stars Reese Witherspoon & Jake Gyllenhal

Other DVDs released this week

• "Chaos"-widescreen
• "Catacombs"-widescreen
• "George W. Bush: Fighting to the Finish"
• "Kurt Cobain - About a Son"-widescreen
• "In the Valley of Elah"-widescreen and HD DVD

Also an exciting gangster movie collection is being released this week

Gangsters - The Ultimate Film Collection DVD

Nine-Disc DVD Set - Includes the Movies
Scarface (1983)
Carlito's Way (1993)
Casino (1995)
American Gangster (2007)

Rent some movies this weekend!!!!

Flashback TV:"The A-Team"(1983)

In January of 1983,"The A-Team" premiered on NBC and it ran for five seasons.Col. John "Hannibal" Smith ,Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck ,Capt. H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock & Bosco B.A.(Bad Attitude) Baracus were part of an elite Army unit that were on the run after being accused of a crime they did not commit and they were now "for hire" more or less as rogue mercenaries-if you had a problem and if you could find them,you could hire the A Team.LOL.The show had many noteable guest stars over its 4 year run and it has been lampooned many times on various TV shows like "South Park" & "Family Guy".Just hearing the shows theme makes me feel like I am 13 years old again!All 5 seasons are available on DVD for home collections!

This weekends DVD viewing

I try to rent at least one new release every weekend and this week it was "Invasion".It is a new,more advanced take on the classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" that is actually a quite decent remake.The transformations are reversible in this movie,unlike the previous versions but they still managed to retain some classic scene re-enactments from the original version in the 50's starring Kevin McCarthy."Invasion" takes place in Washington DC and there are also some nice outdoor scenes in the lovely Georgetown neighborhood.I do not want to blab any more and spoil the movie for those who have not seen it yet!

80's Flashback TV

One of my favorite shows to come from the 80's was "Unsolved Mysteries" which premiered 20 years ago on NBC,and went to the CBS network in 1997,where actress Virginia Madsen cohosted.It was cancelled in 1999 and resurrected again by Lifetime in 2001 for one more year.It featured re-enactments of mysteries ranging from ghost stories to reunited family members to crimes and appealed to the public for any tips on the cases.Quite a few old cases were solved after being rerun many years later on Lifetime and when that happened,Lifetime would add an update to the end credits.The spooky theme music and Stacks voice was enough to give you the willies before you even watched the show.They did alot of UFO related stories if I recall.

If you were home alone,the scary re-enactments were just too much to take lol but you still watched anyway.I really miss this show,so I was psyched to learn that both HBO and Spike TV have expressed interest in a revamped version of "Unsolved Mysteries" and rumors are flying that James Earl Jones will lend his talents to the HBO show.Great choice,but he is no Robert Stack!

I remember they had one mystery on the show that was local-a man in Sussex County came home to find his mother dead late one night at the hands of a hitchhiker he left on the road earlier after a scuffle.He had picked the guy up at an Arbys in Harrington and if I am not mistaken,there was new info in that case not too long ago.It was a great show and I would love to see it brought back-it has value,just like "Americas Most Wanted" does.Most of the episodes are available on DVD in volumes 1 thru 6,each volume with approximately 30 episodes each and organized by genre-UFO's,ghosts,miracles,etc.

"Happy Days" Retro Tv Birthday

"Happy Days" premiered 34 years ago this week and brought the Cunninghams and the rest of the gang from Milwaukee into our living rooms."The Fonz" and his catchphrases caught on like a wildfire and millions of T-shirts and lunchboxes were sold!It has also become a pop culture phenom!When the show was in its waning years,The Fonz "jumped the shark" on waterskis and to this day saying a TV series has "jumped the shark" means they are running out of story ideas and on their way off the air!Happy Days also introduced us to Laverne & Shirley,who later got a show of their own,and the loveable "Mork",who also got a show.And the Cunninghams had another kid besides Ritchie and Joanie,"Chuck",but he only appeared a handful of times during the entire series run!Joanie later had a spinoff with Scott Baio,"Joanie loves Chachi" but it flopped!
When the show first aired,the theme song was Bill Haley and the Haleys Comets"Rock around the clock",later it was changed to the popular familiar "Happy Days" theme."Mrs. C",Marion Ross,later appeared on The Drew Carey show and That 70's show-which is funny because "That 70's show" was like the "Happy Days" of the late 90's LOL.Most of the series run is available on DVD now-hard to believe its been that long!It also still airs occasionally on Tv Land or Nick at Night.

This weeks new DVD releases

I already saw "Mr.Woodcock" and if you like Billy Bob Thornton its decent but not as good as the trailer made it look.Here are this weeks new DVD releases

Theatrical

• "Mr.Woodcock"
• "Good Luck Chuck"

Other releases

• "The Ten"-Controversial comedy sketches revolved around the Commandments acted out by comedy actors
• "Shes gotta have it"(1982)
• "When Harry met Sally"(1989)Collector Edition-widescreen 2 disc set

Tv on DVD....

• 'Dora The Explorer' - Undercover Dora DVD
• 'The New Adventures of Old Christine '- The Complete First Season DVD-2 disc
• 'Animated Family Guy '- Blue Harvest DVD
• 'The Rockford Files '- Season Five DVD
• 'Alex Haley's Queen '(1992) DVD-2 disc

and some classics too...

Postwar Kurosawa - Criterion Collection DVD
Five-Disc DVD Set - Includes the Movies:
No Regrets for Our Youth (1946)
One Wonderful Sunday (1947)
Scandal (1950)
The Idiot (1951)
I Live in Fear (1955)

"It Came From Beneath the Sea" (1955) DVD
Two-Disc DVD Set

Rent a movie!!!!I would love to add "Queen" to my collection!

"Night of the Living Dead" 40 years later

Very early Monday morning I was surfing channels and came across the original black & white 1968 film"Night of the Living Dead" on Turner Classic Movies.Not only do I have a copy of it on DVD,it is one of my favorite horror films and it is a cult classic that transformed George Romero from an unknown Philadelphia area producer into the "Godfather" of zombie flicks who has inspired copycat horror and satirical films.Ironically,he was inspired to write the "NOTLD" screenplay by Richard Mathesons 1954 science fiction novel "I am Legend",which,as we all know,was adapted into a current feature film starring Will Smith.Romero and co-writer John Russo literally threw the just-finished film into the trunk of a car and drove to New York to see if anyone would play their movie,learning of MLK's assassination on the radio during their drive.Despite their efforts,the film did not debut until October of 1968,in Pittsburgh,PA and it shocked moviegoers with its explicit gore.Nowadays it would pale in comparison to modern horror gore like "Hostel" & "SAW" but forty years ago it was pretty mind blowing stuff.The crazy thing is that the movie was made on a ridiculously low budget yet it took the country by storm."Body parts" seen being consumed by the "undead" were actually meat scraps that the producers begged off of a buddy who worked in a butcher shop.The large hordes of "living dead" were comprised mostly of friends and acquaintances of Russo and Romeros-the professional actors in the film were practically unknown.Most of the footage was shot in Evans City,a small town outside of Pittsburgh PA and the home used for upstairs shots is still standing today!

"NOTLD' was also groundbreaking in that with a predominantly white cast in a 60's movie,a black man (played by stage actor Duane Jones)was the lead character.Romero insists he was not trying to make a political statement,simply that Jones "gave the best audition".There IS alot of unspoken racial tension in the movie,and when you consider the fact that VERY few feature films of that era had strong black lead characters,Romero was a pioneer of sorts.The plot also touched on the whole "cold war" hysteria,where unknown radiological contamination transforms ordinary people into monsters.Rather than aliens invaders,werewolves,vampires or ghosts,the monster was US-humans.

Over the past 40 years,Romero inspired many other filmmakers and without his classic low budget zombie flick,we would not have the endless zombie movies like "28 Days later" ,or the satirical zombie spoofs like "Shaun of the Dead".Although Romero went on to make many other great horror films,like "Creepshow" and "Land of the Dead" his first feature film remains unmatched in its simplicity.In 1986 and again in 2004,the original was colorized but it just wasnt the same to me.There was also remakes and reworkings of it,namely the 1990 Tom Savini-produced version in which Tony Todd(Candyman) was cast in the male lead and the female lead,Barbara,who was a basket case in the 1968 version,became a tough gun-toting heroine.While the black lead character Ben was mistaken for a zombie and killed in the original,Todd's Ben in 1990 actually was bitten and transformed into one of the living dead himself.Another remake,"Night of the Living Dead 3-D" was released in 2006 but garnered little attention.Despite modern special effects and computer graphics,1968's "Night of the Living Dead" remains as THE original flesh eating zombie horror film and is a cult classic.

This weeks DVD releases 1/8/2008

This week there are alot of TV releases on DVD-the ones that interest me are the Waltons and The Riches.......Here are this weeks releases!

Theatrical releases

• "3:10 to Yuma"-Remake of the 1957 film of same name,stars Russell Crowe & Christian Bale,Bale is transporting an outlaw (Crowe) across Apache territory via train.Widescreen

• "Dragon Wars"-Action packed fantasy movie produced in South Korea,us versus dragons.Widescreen

• "Sunshine"-Scifi film from the makers of "28 Days Later",the sun starts faltering,the earth goes cold and a team of scientists onboard a spacecraft which must detonate a bomb to correct the problem

Other noteable releases this week include

• "Zodiac-2 Disc Directors cut"-Starring Jake Gyllenhall,special directors cut release


• "Death Sentence"-unrated

TV on DVD this week....

• "Gunsmoke-2nd Season-Volume 1"-3 disc dvd set"


• "Lovejoy-The Complete Season 2"-3 disc set


• "MI-5 Volume 5"-5 disc set


• "The Naked Brothers Band Season One"-2 disc set of Nickelodeon "tween" hit show


• "The Riches-Season One-4 disc set of FX original series


• "Rob & Big-The Complete Seasons One & Two Uncensored"-Uncut MTV hit show


• "Two and a half men-The Complete Second Season"-4 disc set of CBS show


• "The Waltons-The Complete Sixth Season"-5 disc set of classic family drama

Rent or buy a movie today!Also,pre-owned movies can be found at dirt cheap prices at Amazon.com

This weeks new DVD releases (12/18)

Finally!!!Rob Zombie's "Halloween" will hit the shelves tomorrow!While not for everyone,Zombies remake of the John Carpenter classic promises a look back,a prequel if you will,showing the horror viewer the beginning of the Michael Myers story.Cant wait to get a copy!!!

Also available this week.....

"Balls of Fury"-A wacky sendup of martial arts movies but about pingpong starring Christopher Walken and alot of other familiar faces-has been compared to "Dodgeball"

"Stardust"-An allstar cast in a fantasy based on the Neil Gaiman novel,with Robert DeNiro,Peter O'Toole & Michelle Pfeiffer

"The Simpsons Movie"-Its about time that primetime TV's longest running animated show got the big screen treatment!Another must-see on my list,it contains an amazing skateboarding scene.D'oh!!!

"Underdog"-Live action film based on the classic Underdog cartoons,starring the voices of Jason Lee(My name is Earl) & Brad Garrett('til Death)Looks silly but could be fun if you liked the cartoon series back in the day!

Other noteable releases....

"Blade Runner-The Final Cut"(1982)

2 Disc set of classic futuristic scifi film starring Rutger Hauer,Darryl Hannah & a much younger Harrison Ford.

"Blade Runner-Ultimate Collectors Edition"(1982)

Another option for Blade Runner fans,5 disc set with many extras,also available in blu-ray & HD DVD

"Braveheart"(1995)

Re-release of the story of Scots fight for freedom starring Mel Gibson,in widescreen DVD

"National Treasure-Collectors Edition"

2 disc set w/extras

For the kids...

"Cinderella II-Dreams Come True-Special Edition DVD"

Widescreen DVD

TV on DVD....

"The Mod Squad-Season 1-Volume 1 DVD"

4 disc set

"One Tree Hill-The Complete 4th Season"

6 disc set of WB drama

"Rawhide-2nd Season"

4 disc set

And for the music lovers.....

"KISS-KISSology-Volume 3 DVD"

5 disc set

"Roy Orbison-Black & White Night-DVD"

On HD-DVD

Enjoy!!!Rent a movie today!