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3/13/07 V11.11
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ONVIDEO'S WEEKLY GUIDE TO HOME VIDEO RELEASES
For Tuesday, March 13 -- Monday, March 19
CASINO ROYALE
The 21st James Bond adventure in the most successful franchise in film history stars Daniel Craig in his debut as 007; this outing is based on Ian Fleming's first novel to feature the ultimate secret agent, which was published in 1953. Bond's first 007 mission takes him to Madagascar, where he is to spy on a terrorist Mollaka. Not everything goes as planned and Bond decides to investigate, independently of the MI6 agency, in order to track down the rest of the terrorist cell. Following a lead to the Bahamas, he encounters Dimitrios and his girlfriend, Solange. He learns that Dimitrios is involved with Le Chiffre, banker to the world's terrorist organizations. Secret Service intelligence reveals that Le Chiffre is planning to raise money in a high-stakes poker game in Montenegro at Le Casino Royale. MI6 assigns 007 to play against him, knowing that if Le Chiffre loses, it will destroy his organization. 'M' places Bond under the watchful eye of the beguiling Vesper Lynd. At first skeptical of what value Vesper can provide, Bond's interest in her deepens as they brave danger together--and even torture at the hands of Le Chiffre. In Montenegro, Bond allies himself with Matthis, MI6's local field agent, and Felix Leiter, who is representing the interests of the CIA. The marathon game proceeds with dirty tricks and violence, raising the stakes beyond blood money and reaching a terrifying climax.The best Bond entry in many a year. Vitals: Director: Martin Campbell. Stars: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini. 2006, CC, MPAA rating: PG-13, 144 min., Bond Action, Box office gross: $158.837 million, MGM.
SHORTBUS
Explores the lives of several characters
living in present-day New York as they navigate the comic and tragic
intersections between love and sex. Male and female, straight and gay,
the characters find one another -- and eventually find
themselves -- when they all converge at a weekly underground salon
called "Shortbus," a mad world of art, music, politics, and polysexual
carnality. Director John Cameron Mitchell (2001's "Hedwig and the Angry
Inch") developed the film's story along with his
ensemble cast, all of whom made their feature film debuts, and who were
selected after submitting videotaped interviews/auditions in response
to a well-publicized open casting call posted on a Web site. More than
a half million people visited the site and nearly 500
people sent in tapes before the final seven leading
performers/characters were selected to workshop the storyline with
Mitchell. The resulting film, one of the true sensations at last year's
Festival de Cannes, presents sex and sexuality as never before seen in
mainstream
entertainment.
Vitals: Director: John Cameron Mitchell. Stars: Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish, PJ DeBoy, Raphael Barker, Peter Stickles. 2006, CC, MPAA rating: NR, 102 min., Erotic Drama, Box
office gross: $1.979 million, ThinkFilm.
<http://www.onvideo.org/calendar.htm>
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NEWS
JUST ANNOUNCED
Universal has set a March 27 (yes, in two weeks) release for Alfonso Cuaron's futuristic dystopian tale "Children of Men," starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam, Michael Caine and Clare-Hope Ashitey. The film envisages a world one generation from now that has fallen into anarchy on the heels of an infertility defect in the population. The world's youngest citizen has just died at 18, and humankind is facing the likelihood of its own extinction. Set against a backdrop of London torn apart by violence and warring nationalistic sects, "Children of Men" follows disillusioned bureaucrat Theo (Owen) as he becomes an unlikely champion of Earth's survival by attempting to smuggle out of England the world's only pregnant woman. Two more announcements from Universal: Set for a May 1 release are "Alpha Dog," directed by Nick Cassavetes and starring Ben Foster, Shawn Hatosy, Emile Hirsch, Christopher Marquette, Sharon Stone, Justin Timberlake, Anton Yelchin and Bruce Willis, is based on the infamous murderous exploits of Jesse James Hollywood and a group of L.A. slackers ... and chilling remake "The Hitcher," starring Sean Bean, Sophia Bush, Zachary Knighton, Kyle Davis and Neal McDonough.
DVD COLLECTIBLES:
Two outstanding features are due this week from The Criterion Collection: "The Burmese Harp" (1956 -- Japan), directed by Kon Ichikawa and starring Rentaro Mikuni, Shoji Yasui and Jun Hamamura, in which an Imperial Japanese Army regiment surrenders to British forces in Burma at the close of World War II and finds harmony through song. A corporal, thought to be dead, disguises himself as a Buddhist monk and stumbles upon spiritual enlightenment. Magnificently shot in hushed black and white, Ichikawa's film is an eloquent meditation on beauty coexisting with death and remains one of Japanese cinema's most overwhelming antiwar statements, both tender and brutal in its grappling with Japan's wartime legacy. In a new, restored high-definition digital transfer ... "Fires on the Plain"(1959 -- Japan) is an agonizing portrait of desperate Japanese soldiers stranded in a strange land during World War II and the lengths they go to survive. Kon Ichikawa's film is a compelling descent into psychological and physical oblivion. Denied hospital treatment for tuberculosis and cast off into the unknown, Private Tamura treks across an unfamiliar Filipino landscape, encountering an increasingly debased cross-section of Imperial Army soldiers. Grisly yet poetic, "Fires on the Plain" is one of the most powerful works from one of Japanese cinema's most versatile filmmakers. Stars Eiji Funakoshi, Osamu Takizawa and Mickey Curtis. In a new, restored high-definition digital transfer.
"Ghost: Special Collector's Edition" is basically a repackaging by Paramount of the 2001 DVD release, keeping the original's commentary by director Jerry Zucker and writer Bruce Joel Rubin, and adding several new featurettes, including "Ghost Stories," "Inside the Paranormal," "Alchemy of a Love Scene" and "Paramount's Most Romantic Moments." The film was the second highest-grosser of 1990, and stars Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg and Tony Goldwyn.
FROM TV TO VIDEO:
"Bosom Buddies: The Complete First Season" (1980-81) is a three-disc set with 19 episodes, $49.99 from Paramount ... "Hard Times" (1977) is a two-disc set of the PBS Great Performances miniseries adaptation of the Dickins novel; directed by John Irvin; $39.99 from Acorn Media ... "The I Love Lucy Hour Shows: The Final Seasons" (1957-60) is a four-disc set with 13 hour-long episodes from the seventh, eighth and ninth seasons; Originally titled "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour"; $42.99 from Paramount ... "The Pretender 2001/Pretender: Island of the Haunted" (2001) is a double-feature of made-for-TV telefilms picking up where the series left off, from Fox ... "Robin of Sherwood, Set 1" (1984-85 British TV) is a five-disc box set with all 13 episodes in Series 1 & 2; the fifth disc is devoted to more than eight hours of special features; the series is a retelling of the Robin Hood legend with gritty period realism and a mix of history and myth; from Acorn Media ... "Without a Trace: The Complete Second Season" is a six-disc set with 24 episodes, $59.98 from Warner.
BUZZIN' THE 'B's:
"UnCivil Liberties" is a 2006 thriller about the abuse of government surveillance of its own people and the extremists who take up arms in resistance, starring Tony Grocki and Yvonne Perry; from Ariztical Entertainment ... "The Sixth Sense" and "Blue Velvet" meet gay cinema in "A Siren in the Dark" (2006), a thriller about a psychic police officer who investigates a sordid case involving rape, drugs and sexual obsessions, starring Orion Cross, James Townsend and David Beutler; from Ariztical Entertainment ... "A Little Trip to Heaven" (2005) stars Forest Whitaker, Julia Stiles, Jeremy Renner and Peter Coyote in a mystery about an insurance investigator tangling up with a husband and wife over a million dollar insurance settlement; from First Look Home Entertainment ... "Sublime" (2007) is the second film in Warner Home Video's "Raw Feed" direct-to-DVD series: Admited to a hospital for a minimally invasive procedure, a man must uncover the truth behind the growing number of misdeeds happening within the institution's East Ward in order to survive his medical stay; stars Tom Cavanagh, Kathleen "Bird" York, Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs and Katherine Cunningham-Eves ... Ten legendary Western stars are reunited in this action-packed tale of brothers-at-odds -- one a decorated soldier and reluctant hero, the other a gambler -- who fall for the same woman, in Echo Bridge Home Entertainment's "Hell to Pay" (2005), starring Lee Majors, Peter Brown, James Drury, Denny Miller, Stella Stevens and Bo Svenson ... "Harsh Times" (2005) is a gritty drama about a soldier who returns to his South Central L.A. neighborhood and, unable to get a job with the LAPD, drifts into a life of crime; stars Christian Bale, Eva Longoria and Freddy Rodriguez; from The Weinstein Co./Genius Products ... A young woman is stranded on a romantic Caribbean beach with her pop star idol in "Love Wrecked" (2005), directed by Randal Kleiser and starring Amanda Bynes, Chris Carmack, Jonathan Bennett, Jamie-Lynn DiScala, Susan Duerden and Fred Willard; from The Weinstein Co./Genius Products.
FOREIGN:
in "Shogun Assassin 2: Lightning Swords of Death," a 1972 Japanese actioner, the notorious father and son team of assassins continue to walk towards the crossroads of hell with their weapon-packed baby-cart in tow; stars Go Kato, Yuko Hama and Tomisaburo Wakayama; this is the first official DVD release In the U.S., created by digitally reconstructing every frame of the original 1972 film; $19.98 from AnimEigo.
SPECIAL INTEREST:
The documentary "Hubert Selby Jr. -- It/ll Be Better Tomorrow" is a harrowing and engaging exploration into the life and art of the renowned beat author Hubert Selby Jr, who, against all odds, overcame tuberculosis, drug addiction and financial ruin to reach international acclaim with his controversial novels. Features Lou Reed, Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Darren Aronofsky, Uli Edel, Henry Rollins, Jerry Stahl, Richard Price, Nick Tosches, and narrated by Robert Downey Jr.; $19.95 from MVD Visual ... "Favela Rising" (2005) chronicles the rise of the nonviolent AfroReggae cultural movement and the man behind it, and showcases how music became a catalyst for grass-roots social change in Rio de Janeiro's most feared slum; $24.95 from Genius Products ... "Appetite for Deconstruction: A Punk Rockumentary" captures Europe's best and biggest independent Punkrock Festival-Tour; $14.95 from MVD Visual ... "Mary Wells: Greatest Hits" was secorded live at the Rock 'n Roll Palace in Orlando, Florida; $12.95 from MVD Visual ... " Oscar Peterson Trio -- Berlin Concert" (1989) features the master of the keyboard backed by the equally legendary bassist Niels-Henning Oersted Pedersen and drummer Martin Drew; $19.95 from MVD Visual.
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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
**American Cousins (2003) Gerald Lepkowski, Shirley Henderson, Danny Nucci, Vincent Pastore, Eva Coutts, Dan Hedaya. Quirky Mafia comedy about two wisecracking mobsters who take refuge in Scotland with their law-abiding cousin, who runs a fish & chip shop. Extras: Commentary, cast and crew profiles, production notes. (BFS Entertainment & Multimedia Limited).
**Appetite for Deconstruction: A Punk Rockumentary. Captures Europe's best and biggest independent Punkrock Festival-Tour; $14.95. (MVD Visual).
**Bosom Buddies: The Complete First Season (1980-81) Three-disc set with 19 episodes, $49.99. (Paramount).
**the Burmese Harp (1956 -- Japan) Dir.: Kon Ichikawa; Rentaro Mikuni, Shoji Yasui, Jun Hamamura. An Imperial Japanese Army regiment surrenders to British forces in Burma at the close of World War II and finds harmony through song. New, restored high-definition digital transfer. Extras: New video interviews with director Kon Ichikawa and actor Rentaro Mikuni, new essay by renowned critic and historian Tony Rayns. (The Criterion Collection).
**Casino Royale (2006) Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini. Two-disc set. Extras: "Becoming Bond," an intimate look at how Daniel Craig stepped into the role of the 6th James Bond; "James Bond: For Real," an inside look at action and stunts; "Bond Girls Are Forever," a closer look at Bond's leading ladies; Chris Cornell "You Know My Name" music video. (MGM).
**The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning (2007) Jonathan Bennett, Randy Wayne, April Scott, Joel David Moore, Harland Williams, Chris McDonald. Direct-to-video sequel. In R-rated and unrated versions. Extras: Featurettes: "The New Dukes," "Daisy's Dukes," "The Birth of the General Lee," "A Moment With Uncle Jesse," "Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane." Unrated edition adds "The Duke Boys in Drag" and "Meeting Dainty Hogg." (Warner).
**Favela Rising (2005) Chronicles the rise of the nonviolent AfroReggae cultural movement and the man behind it, and showcases how music became a catalyst for grass-roots social change in Rio de Janeiro's most feared slum; $24.95. (Genius Products).
**Fires on the Plain (1959 -- Japan) Dir.: Kon Ichikawa; Eiji Funakoshi, Osamu Takizawa, Mickey Curtis. Agonizing portrait of desperate Japanese soldiers stranded in a strange land during World War II. New, restored high-definition digital transfer Extras: New video introduction by Japanese film scholar Donald Richie, new video interviews with director Kon Ichikawa and actor Mickey Curtis, new essay by film critic Chuck Stephens. (The Criterion Collection).
**Ghost: Special Collector's Edition (1990) Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Goldwyn. Extras: Commentary by director Jerry Zucker and writer Bruce Joel Rubin, "Ghost Stories," "Inside the Paranormal," "Alchemy of a Love Scene," "Paramount's Most Romantic Moments." (Paramount).
**Hard Times(1977 -- TV ) Two-disc set of the PBS Great Performances miniseries adaptation of the Dickins novel; directed by John Irvin; $39.99. (Acorn Media).
**Harsh Times (2005) Christian Bale, Eva Longoria, Freddy Rodriguez. Extras: Commentary by writer-director-producer David Ayer, deleted scenes. Gritty drama about a soldier who returns to his South Central L.A. neighborhood and, unable to get a job with the LAPD, drifts into a life of crime. (The Weinstein Co./Genius Products).
**Hell to Pay (2005) Lee Majors, Peter Brown, James Drury, Denny Miller, Stella Stevens, Bo Svenson. Ten legendary Western stars are reunited in this action-packed tale of brothers-at-odds -- one a decorated soldier and reluctant hero, the other a gambler -- who fall for the same woman. Extras: Commentary, "Western Legends" cast interviews. (Echo Bridge Home Entertainment).
**Hubert Selby Jr. - It/ll Be Better Tomorrow. Documentary is a harrowing and engaging exploration into the life and art of the renowned beat author Hubert Selby Jr, who, against all odds, overcame tuberculosis, drug addiction and financial ruin to reach international acclaim with his controversial novels. Featuring Lou Reed, Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Darren Aronofsky, Uli Edel, Henry Rollins, Jerry Stahl, Richard Price, Nick Tosches, and narrated by Robert Downey Jr.; $19.95. (MVD Visual).
**The I Love Lucy Hour Shows: The Final Seasons (1957-60) Four-disc set with 13 hour-long episodes from the seventh, eighth and ninth seasons. Originally titled "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour"; $42.99. (Paramount).
**A Little Trip to Heaven (2005) Forest Whitaker, Julia Stiles, Jeremy Renner, Peter Coyote. Mystery about an insurance investigator tangling up with a husband and wife over a million dollar insurance settlement. (First Look Home Entertainment).
**Love Wrecked (2005) Dir.: Randal Kleiser; Amanda Bynes, Chris Carmack, Jonathan Bennett, Jamie-Lynn DiScala, Susan Duerden, Fred Willard. A young woman is stranded on a romantic Caribbean beach with her pop star idol. Extras: Deleted scenes. (The Weinstein Co./Genius Products).
**The Man Who Sued God (2005) Billy Connolly, Judy Davis, Colin Friels, Wendy Hughes. When a fisherman's boat is destroyed by lighting and his insurance company calls it an "act of God," the man prepares a case against God for damages and challenges the churches and the insurance companies. Extras: Cast profiles. (BFS Entertainment & Multimedia Limited).
**Mary Wells: Greatest Hits Recorded live at the Rock 'n Roll Palace in Orlando, Florida; $12.95. (MVD Visual).
**Oscar Peterson Trio - Berlin Concert. This performance from Berlin in 1989 features the master of the keyboard backed by the equally legendary bassist Niels-Henning Oersted Pedersen and drummer Martin Drew; $19.95. (MVD Visual).
**The Pretender 2001/Pretender: Island of the Haunted (2001 -- TV) Double-feature of made-for-TV telefilms picking up where the series left off. (Fox).
**Robin of Sherwood, Set 1 (1984-85 British TV) Five-disc box set with all 13 episodes in Series 1 & 2; fifth disc devoted to more than eight hours of special features. Retelling of the Robin Hood legend with gritty period realism and a mix of history and myth. Extras: Commentaries on selected episodes, two retrospective documentaries, outtakes, behind-the-scenes documentary "The Electric Theatre Show" with bonus footage. (Acorn Media).
**Shogun Assassin 2: Lightning Swords of Death (1972) Go Kato, Yuko Hama, Tomisaburo Wakayama. The notorious father and son team of assassins continue to walk towards the crossroads of hell with their weapon-packed baby-cart in tow. First official DVD release In the U.S. Created by digitally reconstructing every frame of the original 1972 film; $19.98. (AnimEigo).
**Shortbus (2006) Dir.: John Cameron Mitchell; Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish, PJ DeBoy, Raphael Barker, Peter Stickles. Extras: Commentary by the cast and filmmakers, bonus footage. (ThinkFilm).
**A Siren in the Dark (2006) Orion Cross, James Townsend, David Beutler. "The Sixth Sense" and "Blue Velvet" meets gay cinema in this thriller about a psychic police officer who investigates a sordid case involving rape, drugs, sexual obsessions. (Ariztical Entertainment).
**Sublime (2007) Tom Cavanagh, Kathleen "Bird" York, Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs, Katherine Cunningham-Eves. Second film in the "Raw Feed" direct-to-DVD series. Admited to a hospital for a minimally invasive procedure, a man must uncover the truth behind the growing number of misdeeds happening within the institution's East Ward in order to survive his medical stay. Extras: Commentary with director Tony Krantz and writer Erik Jendresen, interviews with Krantz and Jendresen, "Surgical Exorcism": Cultural anthropologist Dr. Falk's webcast of a live surgical exorcism in the mountains of Peru. (Warner).
**UnCivil Liberties (2006) Tony Grocki, Yvonne Perry. Thriller about the abuse of government surveillance of its own people and the extremists who take up arms in resistance. (Ariztical Entertainment).
**Without a Trace: The Complete Second Season. Six-disc set with 24 episodes, $59.98. Extras: Deleted scenes. (Warner).
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.
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