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ONVIDEO E-MAIL NEWS
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1/16/07 V11.3
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ONVIDEO'S WEEKLY GUIDE TO HOME VIDEO RELEASES
FOR Tuesday, January 16 -- MONDAY, January 22
EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH
Dumb romantic comedy about two guys battling it out for the hand
of a woman, this time on the premises of the Super Club, the
largest high-volume, bulk-discount retailer in the country. Zack
Bradley (Dane Cook) and Vince Downey (Dax Shepard) are two ultra-
competitive Super Club workers whose 10 years of employment have
resulted in drastically different career paths. Vince has
advanced to become head cashier and has been winner of 17
consecutive "Employee of the Month" awards. Zack is the ultimate
slacker, whose scruffy appearance and laid back attitude has made
him popular with his colleagues, but kept him stuck in the lowly
ranks of the store's box boys. The duo's longtime rivalry comes
to a bitter head when Amy (Jessica Simpson) -- a beautiful new
cashier with a reputation of only dating "Employee of the Month"
winners -- transfers to the store, immediately becoming the
object of both Zack and Vince's affection and gamesmanship. While
Vince instantly impresses Amy with his crowd pleasing, flamboyant
style behind his check-stand register, Zack's feeble attempts to
charm his beautiful new co-worker quickly backfire against him.
With the race to win Amy's affections slipping away, Zack
determines his only chance rests in winning the store's next
"Employee of the Month" award. Vitals: Director: Greg Coolidge.
Stars: Dane Cook, Jessica Simpson, Dax Shepard, Efren Ramirez,
Andy Dick. 2006, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 103 min., Comedy, Box
office gross: $28.435 million, Lionsgate.
GRIDIRON GANG
True story of a juvenile detention camp probation officer, Sean
Porter (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), who along with another
officer, Malcolm Moore (Xzibit), turns a group of hard core
teenage delinquents into a high school football team in four
weeks. Confronted with gang rivalries and bitter hatred between
his teammates, Porter reaches some hard lessons (and learns a few
himself) as the kids gain a sense of self-respect and
responsibility. Vitals: Director: Phil Joanou. Stars: Dwayne 'The
Rock' Johnson, Xzibit, L. Scott Caldwell, Leon Rippy, Kevin Dunn,
Jade Yorker. 2006, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 125 min., Drama, Box
office gross: $38.432 million, Sony.
PROTECTOR, THE
A young fighter named Kham must go to Australia to retrieve his
stolen elephant. With the help of a Thai-born Australian
detective, Kham must take on all comers, including a gang led by
an evil woman and her two deadly bodyguards. Highly anticipated
full bodied action film starring international martial arts
superstar Tony Jaa ("Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior"). In Thai,
English, Mandarin and Vietnamese with English subtitles. Vitals:
Director: Prachya Pinkaew. Stars: Tony Jaa, Petchtai Wongkamlao,
Bongkoj Khongmalai, Xing Jing, Nathan Jones, Johnny Nguyen. 2006,
CC, MPAA rating: R, 83 min., Action, Box office gross: $11.905
million, The Weinstein Co./Genius Products.
TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, THE: THE BEGINNING
For more than three decades, the legend of The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre has remained one of the most terrifying and lingering
stories brought to the big screen. Ever since the original film
debuted in 1974, fans have debated the origins of the story. The
producers behind the successful 2003 remake of "The Texas
Chainsaw Massacre" return to deliver this startling prequel,
which details the beginnings of the Hewitt clan and exposes their
psychotic idea of family fun. For the first time, audiences will
learn what led to the origin of Leatherface, up there with Freddy
Kruger, Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees as one of the most
iconic horror characters of the modern era. Vitals: Director:
Jonathan Liebesman. Stars: Jordana Brewster, Taylor Handley,
Diora Baird, Matthew Bomer, Lee Tergesen, R. Lee Ermey, Andrew
Bryniarski. 2006, CC, MPAA rating: R, 91 min., Horror, Box office
gross: $38.998 million, New Line.
For more release info, check out our calendar pages at
<http://www.onvideo.org/calendar.htm>
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NEWS
COMING SOON:
Due February 20 is Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's "Babel," a
suspense-filled drama that explores with shattering realism the
nature of the barriers that seem to separate humankind; the film
evokes the ancient concept of Babel and questions its modern day
implications: the mistaken identities, misunderstandings and
missed chances for communication that drive our contemporary
lives. Stars Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Gael Garcia Bernal, Koji
Yakusho and Elle Fanning, from Paramount.
DVD COLLECTIBLES:
Two interesting releases this week from The Criterion Collection:
Allison Anders' 1987 "Border Radio," starring Chris D., Luanna
Anders, John Doe, Chris Shearer and Dave Alvin. Before carving
out a niche as one the most distinct voices in nineties American
cinema, Allison Anders made her debut, alongside co-directors and
fellow UCLA film-school students Kurt Voss and Dean Lent, with
this low-key, semi-improvised post-punk diary that took four
years to complete. The film features legendary rocker Chris D.,
of the Flesh Eaters, as a singer/songwriter who has stolen loot
from a club and gone missing, leaving his wife (Luanna Anders), a
no-nonsense rock journalist, to track him down with the help of
his friends (John Doe of the band X; Chris Shearer). With its
sprawling Southern Californian and Mexican landscape, captured in
evocative 16mm black-and-white, Border Radio is a singular, DIY
memento of the indie film explosion in America. In a new,
restored high-definition digital transfer supervised and approved
by Lent and Voss and a new essay by music journalist and critic
Chris Morris ... Robert Bresson plumbs great reservoirs of
feeling with "Mouchette" (1967), one of the most searing
portraits of human desperation ever put on film. Faced with a
dying mother, an absent, alcoholic father, and a baby brother in
need of care, the teenaged Mouchette seeks solace in nature and
daily routine, a respite from her tormented home life. An
essential work of French filmmaking, Bresson's hugely empathetic
drama elevates its trapped protagonist into one of the cinema's
great tragic figures. Stars Nadine Nortier, Jean-Claude Guilbert,
Maria Cardinal and Paul Hebert; in a new, restored high-
definition digital transfer.
FROM TV TO VIDEO:
Due this week: "Father Brown, Set 1 (1982), a two-disc set with
seven episodes of the PBS Mystery! series based on the G.K.
Chesterton clergyman-detective; $39.99 from Acorn Media ... "The
King of Queens: The Complete Seventh Season" (2004-05), a three-
disc set with 22 episodes, $39.95 from Sony ... "Read It and
Weep" (2006), a Disney Channel Original Movie about a teenager's
private journal that is accidentally turned into a best-selling
book, turning the author from regular girl to media darling;
$19.99 from Disney ... "Rising Damp: Series 3," with seven
episodes from the 1974-78 British comedy series about a miserly,
mean-spirited landlord of a run-down boarding house, starring
Leonard Rossiter; $24.99 from Acorn Media ... "The Street: The
Complete First Season." a two-disc set with six episodes, $29.98
from Koch Vision ... "That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana"
(2006) in which stars from Disney Channel series "That's So
Raven," "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" and "Hannah Montana" get
together and guest star in each other's shows; $19.99 from
Disney.
BUZZIN' THE 'B's:
In "Her Minor Thing" (2005), the life of a 25-year-old
professional woman turns chaotic when her boyfriend accidentally
reveals on TV that she's a virgin; directed by Charles Matthau
and starring Estella Warren, Christian Kane, Michael Weatherly,
Rachel Dratch, Flex Alexander, Kathy Griffin and Ivana Milicevic,
from First Look Home Entertainment ... "Shadow of the Sword"
(2005) is an actioner that takes place at the end of the Middle
Ages, on the threshold of the inquisition, when two friends find
themselves at the mercy of the powerful church and at each
other's throats; stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter McDonald,
Eddie Marsan, Julie Cox and Steven Berkoff, from MTI Home Video
... "In Her Line of Fire" (2006) stars Mariel Hemingway, David
Keith, David Millbern and Jill Bennett in an actioner about a
tough but beautiful Secret Service agent (Hemingway) protecting a
U.S. vice president who has her hands full when their plane goes
down in a storm near a remote island used for training local
rebels; she must fight hard to save the lives of the vp as well
as her love interest, rookie reporter Sharon Serrano (Bennett);
originally aired on here! in April 2006; from Genius Products ...
"Seven Swords" (2005) is famed director Hark Tsui's martial arts
epic, starring Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, Charlie Yeung, Liwu Dai and
Chia-Liang Liu in a fantasy epic about seven master swordsmen who
denounce the brutality of the newly formed government and band
together to prevent the slaughter of innocent villages by an evil
warlord; in a two-disc set from The Weinstein Co./Genius Products
... In "Undisputed II: Last Man Standing" (2006), a martial arts
expert must fight to save himself in a Russian prison; stars
Michael Jai White, Scott Adkins, Eli Danker and Ben Cross; from
New Line.
ON THE INDIE FRONT:
"Hard Scrambled" (2006) is an indie outing about cutthroat
players who dream and scheme for control of a diner after the
owner has an "accident"; stars Kurtwood Smith, Richard Edson,
Beth Grant, Alanna Ubach and Eyal Podell; from New Visions
Fellowship; go to www.hardscrambled.com for more info ... "The
Couple (The Aryan Couple)" (2004) is based on the true story of a
Jewish Hungarian's desperate attempts to save his family from the
Nazi death camps; directed by John Daly and starring Martin
Landau, Judy Parfitt and Kenny Doughty; from First Look Home
Entertainment ... "Purgatory House" (2004) was written by and
starred then 14-year old Celeste Davis; in the story, a lonely
teen abandons her life of turmoil and drug addiction, only to
find herself caught somewhere between heaven and hell; co-stars
Jim Hanks, Devin Witt, Johnny Pacar and Rhiannon Main; from Image
Entertainment.
FOREIGN:
"May 6th" (2004) is the final film from acclaimed Dutch director
Theo Van Gogh before his 2004 murder by a radical Islamist. The
movie is a fictional version of the events that led to the
assassination of the Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn on May 6, 2002;
based on the book "The Sixth of May" by Tomas Ross; from Koch
Lorber Films.
SPECIAL INTEREST:
"The Animation Show Box Set" (2007) features 32 of the world's
best animated short films selected by renowned creator and
animator Mike Judge ("Beavis and Butt-Head," "King of the Hill")
and Academy Award nominated animator Don Hertzfeldt; in a two-
disc set, $26.99 from MTV/Paramount ... In "Here! Comedy Presents
Kate Clinton" (2005) the lesbian comedienne performs stand-up
from her one-woman show "Talking A Blue Streak"; from Genius
Products ... For Manga fans there's "Noein Volume 2," which
continues the adventures from the No. 1-rated anime series on
Japan's Bandai TV Channel; the disc contains five episodes
featuring Haruka and her friends in an inter-dimensional quest to
save the world; $19.99 from Manga Entertainment ... "Puzzling
Mind" is a boxed set of three NOVA documentaries: "Mind of a
Serial Killer," "Secret of the Wild Child" and "Secrets of the
Mind," $39.95 from WGBH Boston Video.
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THIS WEEK'S DVD RELEASES:
Weekly listings of DVD releases can now be viewed on mobile
devices at www.tagtag.com/onvideo
** The Animation Show Box Set (2007) 32 of the world's best
animated short films selected by renowned creator and animator
Mike Judge ("Beavis and Butt-Head," "King of the Hill") and
Academy Award nominated animator Don Hertzfeldt. Two-disc set,
$26.99. Extras: A deleted pencil test by Mike Judge; commentaries
by animators Bill Plympton and Corky Quakenbush; special effects
commentary and production art galleries by Don Hertzfeldt; "Mt.
Head" galleries of concept art and character design; "The
Cathedral" motion tests, animatics and production art; "The
Rocks" production photo album; "La Course a L'Abime" storyboard
to scene comparison; Animation Show featurette: "100 Years of
Animated Short Films"; trailer for Don Hertzfeldt's new short
film "Everything Will Be OK"; "The F.E.D.S. Recipe for Animating";
"World of Chel White" short film and production gallery;
"Fallen Art" motion tests, animatics and production art; new film
by Pes, "Kaboom!" and "The Making of Kaboom!". (MTV/Paramount).
** Border Radio (1987) Dir.: Allison Anders, Kurt Voss and Dean
Lent; Chris D., Luanna Anders, John Doe, Chris Shearer, Dave
Alvin. New, restored high-definition digital transfer supervised
and approved by Lent and Voss. Extras: Commentary by Anders and
Voss; commentary by Luanna Anders, Dave Alvin, Chris D., John
Doe, and Chris Shearer; "The Making of Border Radio," a 2002
documentary featuring interviews with Anders, Lent, Voss, Doe,
and Chris D.; nine deleted scenes; music video of the Flesh
Eaters' "The Wedding Dice"; stills gallery featuring rare behind-
the-scenes photos; new essay by music journalist and critic Chris
Morris. (The Criterion Collection).
** The Couple (The Aryan Couple) (2004) Dir.: John Daly; Martin
Landau, Judy Parfitt, Kenny Doughty. Based on the true story of a
Jewish Hungarian's desperate attempts to save his family from the
Nazi death camps. Extras: "Making of The Couple." (First Look
Home Entertainment).
** Employee of the Month (2006) Dane Cook, Jessica Simpson, Dax
Shepard, Efren Ramirez, Andy Dick. (Lionsgate).
** Father Brown, Set 1 (1982) Two-disc set with seven episodes of
the PBS Mystery! series based on the G.K. Chesterton clergyman-
detective; $39.99. (Acorn Media).
** Gridiron Gang (2006) Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Xzibit, L.
Scott Caldwell, Leon Rippy, Kevin Dunn, Jade Yorker. Extras:
"Profile on Director Phil Joanou: From Real Life to Big Screen,"
"The Rock Takes the Field" featurette, deleted scenes, multi-
angle football scene, "Gridiron Gang: Football Training." (Sony).
** Hard Scrambled (2006) Kurtwood Smith, Richard Edson, Beth
Grant, Alanna Ubach, Eyal Podell. Indie film about cutthroat
players who dream and scheme for control of a diner after the
owner has an "accident." Extras: Interviews with filmmakers and
actors; cast and crew bios; first and last draft of the script;
"Anatomy of a Failed Scene"; dozen modules on the essential
topics of producing and directing, from financing to screenplay
structure to continuity to working with actors to editing to
publicity and distribution. (New Visions Fellowship).
** Her Minor Thing (2005) Dir.: Charles Matthau; Estella Warren,
Christian Kane, Michael Weatherly, Rachel Dratch, Flex Alexander,
Kathy Griffin, Ivana Milicevic. The life of a 25-year-old
professional woman turns chaotic when her boyfriend accidentally
reveals on TV that she's a virgin. Extras: Behind-the-scenes
featurette. (First Look Home Entertainment).
** Here! Comedy Presents Kate Clinton (2005 -- TV) Lesbian
comedienne performs stand-up from her one-woman show "Talking A
Blue Streak"; originally aired on here! (Genius Products).
** In Her Line of Fire (2006) Mariel Hemingway, David Keith,
David Millbern, Jill Bennett. A tough but beautiful Secret
Service agent (Mariel Hemingway) protecting a U.S. vice president
has her hands full when their plane goes down in a storm near a
remote island used for training local rebels; she must fight hard
to save the lives of the vp as well as her love interest, rookie
reporter Sharon Serrano (Jill Bennett). Originally aired on here!
in April of 2006. (Genius Products).
** The King of Queens: The Complete Seventh Season (2004-05)
Three-disc set with 22 episodes, $39.95. (Sony).
** May 6th (2004 -- Netherlands) Thijs Romer, Tara Elders, Cahit
Olmez, Jack Wouterse. The final film from acclaimed Director Theo
Van Gogh before his 2004 murder by a radical Islamist. A
fictional version of the events that led to the assassination of
the Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn on May 6, 2002; based on the
book "The Sixth of May" by Tomas Ross. (Koch Lorber Films).
** Mouchette (1967) Dir.: Robert Bresson; Nadine Nortier, Jean-
Claude Guilbert, Maria Cardinal, Paul Hebert. New, restored high-
definition digital transfer. Extras: Commentary by film scholar,
critic, and festival programmer Tony Rayns; "Au hasard Bresson,"
a half-hour documentary about the director, including behind-the-
scenes footage of Bresson directing "Mouchette"; "Travelling," a
segment from the cine-magazine TV series Cinema, featuring on-set
interviews with Bresson and actors Nortier and Guilbert; original
theatrical trailer, cut by Jean-Luc Godard; new essay by essayist
Robert Polito. (The Criterion Collection).
** Proof (2005) Crime drama miniseries that offers a glimpse into
a shady relationship between European high finance, human
trafficking and Irish politics, $29.98. (Koch Vision).
** The Protector (2006 -- Thailand) Tony Jaa, Petchtai
Wongkamlao, Bongkoj Khongmalai, Xing Jing, Nathan Jones, Johnny
Nguyen. Two-disc set. Extras: Commentary by Asian film expert Bey
Logan, "No Wires Attached: Making The Protector" featurette,
"Making Tony Jaa" featurette, "The Director's Guided Tour," Tony
Jaa martial arts demonstration, "Making Tom Yum Goong"
featurette. (The Weinstein Co./Genius Products).
** Purgatory House (2004) Written by and starring then 14-year
old Celeste Davis; co-stars Jim Hanks, Devin Witt, Johnny Pacar,
Rhiannon Main. A lonely teen abandons her life of turmoil and
drug addiction, only to find herself caught somewhere between
heaven and hell. Extras: "The Making of Purgatory House" and
"Putting It all Together" featurettes; "Claire's Prayer" music
video by Larisa Stow; Los Angeles premiere footage and cast and
crew Q&A; two deleted scenes; teen crisis help information.
(Image Entertainment).
** Puzzling Mind (2005) Boxed set of three NOVA documentaries:
"Mind of a Serial Killer," "Secret of the Wild Child" and
"Secrets of the Mind," $39.95. (WGBH Boston Video).
** Read It and Weep (2006 -- TV) Kay and Danielle Panabaker.
Disney Channel Original Movie about a teenager's private journal
that is accidentally turned into a best-selling book, turning the
author from regular girl to media darling; $19.99. Extras:
Interview with the Panabaker sisters, "making-of" featurette,
Jordan Pruitt "Outside Looking In" music video. (Disney).
** Rising Damp: Series 3. Seven episodes from the 1974-78 British
comedy series about a miserly, mean-spirited landlord of a run-
down boarding house, starring Leonard Rossiter; $24.99. (Acorn
Media).
** Seven Swords (2005 -- Chinese) Dir.: Hark Tsui; Donnie Yen,
Leon Lai, Charlie Yeung, Liwu Dai, Chia-Liang Liu. Fantasy epic
about seven master swordsmen who denounce the brutality of the
newly formed government and band together to prevent the
slaughter of innocent villages by an evil warlord. Two-disc set.
Extras: Commentary by director Tsui Hark and Hong Kong cinema
expert Bey Logan, deleted/extended scenes, making-of featurette,
four behind-the-scene featurettes, storyboard gallery,
interviews. (The Weinstein Co./Genius Products).
** Shadow of the Sword (2005) Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter
McDonald, Eddie Marsan, Julie Cox, Steven Berkoff. Actioner that
takes place at the end of the Middle Ages, on the threshold of
the inquisition, when two friends find themselves at the mercy of
the powerful church and at each other's throats. (MTI Home
Video).
** The Street: The Complete First Season. Two-disc set with six
episodes, $29.98. (Koch Vision).
** The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) Jordana
Brewster, Taylor Handley, Diora Baird, Matthew Bomer, Lee
Tergesen, R. Lee Ermey, Andrew Bryniarski. Rated and unrated
versions. Extras: Commentary by director Jonathan Liebesman and
producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, deleted/extended scenes,
"Down to the Bone" behind-the-scenes featurette. (New Line).
** That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana (2006 -- TV) Stars from
Disney Channel series "That's So Raven," "The Suite Life of Zack
& Cody" and "Hannah Montana" get together and guest star in each
other's shows; $19.99. Extras: "So You Think You Know Raven"
game, "Hannah Montana" music video, never-before-seen episode of
"The Suite Life of Zack & Cody." (Disney).
** Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006) Michael Jai White,
Scott Adkins, Eli Danker, Ben Cross. Martial arts expert must
fight to save himself in a Russian prison. Extras: Commentary by
director Isaac Florentine and actors Michael Jai White and Scott
Adkins, behind-the-scenes featurette, storyboard comparisons.
(New Line).
For more DVD info, check out our DVD calendar pages at
<http://www.onvideo.org/calendar/cal_dvd.htm>
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Copyright 2007 CyberPod. All rights reserved.
ISSN 1094-3676
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