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4/21/09 V13.16
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ONVIDEO'S WEEKLY GUIDE TO HOME VIDEO RELEASES
For Tuesday, April 21 -- Monday, April 27
Frost/Nixon
Superb screen adaptation of Peter Morgan's play about the electrifying battle between Richard Nixon, the disgraced president with a legacy to save, and David Frost, a jet-setting television personality with a name to make, in the story of the historic encounter that changed both. Reprising their roles from Morgan's stageplay are Frank Langella, who won a Tony for his portrayal of Nixon, and Michael Sheen, who fully inhabited the part of Frost onstage in London and New York. For three years after being forced from office, Nixon remained silent. But in summer 1977, the steely, cunning former commander-in-chief agreed to sit for one all-inclusive interview to confront the questions of his time in office and the Watergate scandal that ended his presidency. Nixon surprised everyone in selecting Frost as his televised confessor, intending to easily outfox the breezy British showman and secure a place in the hearts and minds of Americans. Likewise, Frost's team harbored doubts about their boss' ability to hold his own. But as cameras rolled, a charged battle of wits resulted. Would Nixon evade questions of his role in one of the nation's greatest disgraces? Or would Frost confound critics and bravely demand accountability from the man who'd built a career out of stonewalling? Over the course of their encounter, each man would reveal his own insecurities, ego and reserves of dignity -- ultimately setting aside posturing in a stunning display of unvarnished truth. "Frost/Nixon" not only re-creates the on-air interview, but the weeks of around-the-world, behind-the-scenes maneuvering between the two men and their camps as negotiations were struck, deals were made and secrets revealed ... all leading to the moment when they would sit facing one another in the court of public opinion. Vitals: Director: Ron Howard. Stars: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt, Toby Jones, Matthew Macfadyen, Jim Meskimen, Patty McCormack. 2008, CC, MPAA rating: R, 122 min., Drama, Box office gross: $15.7 million, Universal.
Wrestler, The
Mickey Rourke gives the performance of a lifetime as pro wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a former superstar now paying the price for 20 years of grueling punishment in and out of the ring. Desperate to hold on to the fame and glory that once surrounded him, and despite himself and the odds stacked against him, "The Ram" begins to evaluate his state of life, attempting to reconnect with his estranged daughter and striking up a relationship with an exotic dancer with troubles of her own. Bruised and battered both inside and outside the ring, Randy slowly tries to piece together the life he still has; but the thrill of the show and the passion for his art threatens to take it all away from him once again. He decides to risk everything to prove he has one more match left in him: a re-staging of his famous Madison Square Garden bout against "The Ayatollah." Vitals: Director: Darren Aronofsky. Stars: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Mark Margolis, Todd Barry, Wass Stevens, Judah Friedlander, Ernest Miller. 2008, CC, MPAA rating: R, 109 min., Drama, Box office gross: $21.578 million, Fox.
Notorious
The life and death of one of hip-hop's most powerful and iconic MCs is captured in this biodrama. Chronicles the life of Christopher "The Notorious B.I.G." Wallace, following the young rapper from the tough streets of Brooklyn to the heights of superstardom as he juggles the increasing demands of fatherhood, marriage and a music career. Amid chaos and controversy, Biggie's remarkable talent and fierce determination help to solidify his legacy as one of hip-hop's greatest MCs. Wallace went from Brooklyn street hustler to one of the greatest rappers of all time, refusing to succumb to expectations and redefining the notion of "The American Dream." Twelve years since the rapper's unfortunate death, the film follows his meteoric rise to fame and provides a rare glimpse at a different side of the acclaimed artist -- from his surprising youth as a Catholic school honor student, to an imprisoned drug dealer, to hip-hop sensation. Also uncovers the complicated relationships in the rapper's life, including protege Kimberly "Lil' Kim" Jones, wife-and-R&B singer Faith Evans and long-time friend-turned-rival Tupac Shakur. Vitals: Director: George Tillman Jr.. Stars: Jamal Woolard, Angela Bassett, Derek Luke, Anthony Mackie, Antonique Smith, Naturi Naughton, Dennis White, Julia Pace Mitchell. 2008, CC, MPAA rating: R, 122 min., Biodrama, Box office gross: $36.827 million, Fox.
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NEWS
DVD Collectibles:
"Nickelodeon/The Last Picture Show" is a two-disc set
with "Nickelodeon" (1976), director Peter Bogdanovich's heartfelt
valentine to the early days of moviemaking, starring Burt Reynolds,
Ryan O'Neal, John Ritter and Tatum O'Neal; and "The Last Picture Show"
(1971), Bogdanovich's frank and bittersweet drama of social and sexual
mores in small-town Texas, starring Timothy Bottoms, Cybill Shepherd,
Jeff Bridges, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, Randy Quaid, Eileen
Brennan, Ellen Burstyn, Clu Gulager, Sam Bottoms. Extras include both
the color and B&W director's cut of "Nickelodeon," the director's
cut of "The Last Picture Show," new commentary by Bogdanovich on both
films, new interview with Bogdanovich for "The Last Picture Show," "The
Last Picture Show" theatrical re-release featurette, "The Last Picture
Show: A Look Back" documentary; $24.96 from Sony.
"Caprica" (2009), the highly anticipated prequel to "Battlestar Galactica," will enjoy its world premiere exclusively on DVD in a groundbreaking move sure to delight fans of the long-running television phenomenon. This feature-length prequel will be available on DVD as a limited-edition uncut and unrated version before the series' broadcast premiere on the Sci Fi Channel in 2010. Set 50 years before "Battlestar Galactica," "Caprica" follows two rival families and their patriarchs -- Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz) and Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) -- as they compete and thrive in the vibrant world of the 12 Colonies, a society recognizably close to our own. Enmeshed in the burgeoning technology of artificial intelligence and robotics that will eventually lead to the creation of the Cylons, the two houses go toe-to-toe blending action with corporate conspiracy and sexual politics; $26.98 from Universal ... "Dallas: The Complete Eleventh Season" (1987-88) is a three-disc set with 30 episodes, $39.98 from Warner ... "iCarly: Season 1 Vol. 2" (2007-08) is a two-disc set with 12 episodes, $26.98 fro, Nickelodeon/Paramount ... "Life of Riley: The Complete Series, Seasons 1-3" (2008) is a three-disc set with all 29 episodes of the MTV series that takes you inside the life of teen pro skateboarder Ryan Sheckler; $29.99 from MTV/Paramount ... "Rhoda: Season One" (1974-75) is a four-disc set with 25 episodes, $39.99 from Shout! Factory ... "Spin City: The Complete Second Season" (1997-98) is a four-disc set with 24 episodes, $39.99 from Shout! Factory ... "Top Gear 10" (2008) is the BBC America automotive realty show; $39.98 from Warner.
Buzzin' the 'B's:
In "Dante 01"
(2008 -- France), starring Lambert Wilson and Linh Dan Pham, the sole
survivor of an alien encounter is convicted of his crew's murder and
banished to Dante 01, an intergalactic facility for the criminally
insane, where he finds himself caught up in a violent rebellion that
could turn the terrifying, labyrinthine world upside down; directed by
Marc Caro, who co-directed "The City of Lost Children" and
"Delicatessen"; from Dimension Extreme/The Weinstein Co./Genius
Products ... "Into the Blue 2: The Reef" (2008) is a
direct-to-video sequel that has a pair of scuba divers entering
precarious waters when they are promised big money in exchange for
leading dives along a treacherous Hawaiian reef, starring Chris Carmack
and Laura Vandervoort; from MGM ... Four poker buddies kill an
intruder, hide his body, then discover that someone knows what they've
done and is playing a murderous game of revenge with them in "The Poker Club"
(2008), starring Johnathon Schaech, Johnny Messner, Judy Reyes, Lori
Heuring, Loren Dean and Jana Kramer; from Sony ... Twelve friends spend
one last summer together partying until they go their separate ways in "Kicking the Dog" (2009), starring Carl T. Evans, Elizabeth Schmidt, Vedette Lim, Laura Bach and Scott Laska; from MTI Home Video ... "The Line
(2007) is a gritty, edgy Australian thriller about two hard-yakka
(that's Aussie for hard-working) undercover cops and a rogue cop who
are assigned to solve the murder of an Asian crime lord, starring David
Barry, Andy McPhee and Mike Calis; from Cinevolve Studios ... In "Moscow Chill"
(2007), starring Norman Reedus, a loner American computer hacker is
brought to Russia to commit bank fraud, only to find a family and love
in the incomprehensible, violent, and chaotic Moscow underworld.; from
MTI Home Video ... "Sam's Lake" (2009) is a thriller
about a young woman and her hip urbanite friends who travel to the
country where they become entangled in the terrifying legend of Sam's
lake, where a deranged boy slaughtered his family 40 years earlier,
starring Fay Masterson, Sandrine Holt and Stephen Bishop; from
Lionsgate ... In "Street Warrior" (2008), starring
Max Martini and Nivk Chinlund, a war vet returns to his home town to
discover that an underground fight club has claimed his brother; he
joins the game to get bare-fisted revenge; from Genius Products.
On the Indie Front:
"The Last Word" (2008), starring Wes Bentley, Winona
Ryder and Ray Romano, is a dark comedy about a quirky young man who
writes suicide notes for other people and falls in love with the sister
of one of his "clients"; from Image Entertainment.
Foreign:
"House of the Sleeping Beauties" (2006 -- Germany) is
based on the beautifully strange novella by Yasunari Kawabata, a
macabre thriller about loneliness, sex, eroticism and mortality. Edmon,
a lonely widower in his late sixties living in Berlin, learns about a
secret establishment where one can pay to lie alongside beautiful,
sleeping young women. The girls move, stretch, roll over and dream but
never awaken. Seduced and enchanted by their peculiar, unconscious
tenderness, Edmond visits the sleeping beauties with greater and
greater frequency, prompting him to probe the boundaries of his own
morality and to re-visit long repressed memories. When he inadvertently
observes a corpse being smuggled out of the premises, a newly ignited
desire to unravel the bizarre activities conflicts with his addiction
to the juvenile innocence and tender embrace of those who inhabit it.
Stars Maximilian Schell, Angela Winkler and Glowna; from First Run
Features.
For the Family:
"Freakazoid Season 2" (1996-97) is a two-disc set with 11 animated episodes, $26.99 from Warner ... "Tiny Toon Adventures S1 V2" (1990) is a four-disc set with 30 animated episodes, $79.98 from Warner ... "Elmo and the Bookaneers: Pirates Who Love to Read"
(2009) includes three Sesame Street episodes, highlighted by "The
Bookaneers," who, led by special guest star Tina Fey, come ashore on
Sesame Street, map in hand in search of coveted "library" treasures;
$14.93 from Genius Products ... "Stuart Little: The Animated Series"
features two new volumes of the HBO Family series: "Going For the
Gold!" with four episodes and "A Little Family Fun!" with three
episodes, $12.99 each from Sony.
Special Interest:
"Forever" (2006) is a critically-acclaimed documentary
from award-winning filmmaker Heddy Honigmann on the world-famous
Pere-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, the final resting place for legendary
writers, composers, painters and other artists; $29.98 from Icarus
Films Home Video) ... "America Betrayed" (2008) is a documentary that
explores the deterioration of America's national infrastructure: Our
bridges, dams, levees and highways are crumbling, toppling, being
washed away, and putting American citizens and cities at risk; $24.95
from First Run Features ... "Sprawling From Grace: The Consequences of Suburbanization"
(2008) is an eye-opening documentary that explores the ravages of
American suburban sprawl, what America has lost as a result, and the
perils we face if we don't change the way in which we build our cities;
$19.99 from Cinema Libre Studio ... "A Galaxy Far, Far Away: 10 Anniversary Special Edition"
(2001) is a cult documentary that follows rabid "Star Wars" fans
eagerly awaiting the release of George Lucas' first "prequel" to the
original trilogy, "Episode I: The Phantom Menace"; from Cinevolve
Studio ... "Inside the Third Reich" is a set of four
provocative documentaries: Firestorm," "The Reich Underground,"
"Television Under the Swastika" and "The Goebbells Experiment"; $59.95
from First Run Features ... "Ron White: Behavioral Problems -- Live, Extended and Uncensored"
(2008) is a Comedy Central stand-up performance, with an additional 40
minutes of material; $16.99 from Comedy Central/Paramount ... ... "Tribute to Heath Ledger: The Unauthorized Story"
(2009) is a documentary on the actor who died at age 28; $14.98 from
Infinity Entertainment Group ... World Wrestling Entertainment fans
have a lot to be excited about this week, with five new releases from
WWE Home Video: "Royal Rumble 2009" with 30 stars from Raw, SmackDown and ECW fighting it out ($24.95); "WWE: Greatest Stars of the '90s" three-disc set highlighting 15 biggest stars of the decade ($34.95); 
"WWE: No Way Out 2009," the last pay-per-view event
before WrestleMania 25 -- a last chance for the superstars of Raw,
Smackdown, and ECW to showcase their skills and prove they belong on
the grandest stage of all ($24.95); and "WWE: Summerslam -- The Complete Anthology, Vol. 1 1988-1992,"
a five-disc set in which the superstars of WWE come together for the
biggest party of the summer at Summerslam, held at Madison Square
Garden and Wembley Stadium in London ($59.95), and "WWE: Summerslam - The Complete Anthology, Vol. 2 1993-1997" ($59.95).
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THIS WEEK'S DVD RELEASES:
Caprica (2009) The highly anticipated prequel to "Battlestar Galactica" will enjoy its world premiere exclusively on DVD in a groundbreaking move sure to delight fans of the long-running television phenomenon. This feature-length prequel will be available on DVD as a limited-edition uncut and unrated version before the series' broadcast premiere on the Sci Fi Channel in 2010. Set 50 years before "Battlestar Galactica," "Caprica" follows two rival families and their patriarchs -- Daniel Graystone (Eric Stoltz) and Joseph Adama (Esai Morales) -- as they compete and thrive in the vibrant world of the 12 Colonies, a society recognizably close to our own. Enmeshed in the burgeoning technology of artificial intelligence and robotics that will eventually lead to the creation of the Cylons, the two houses go toe-to-toe blending action with corporate conspiracy and sexual politics. $26.98. Extras: Commentary by director Jeffrey Reiner, executive producer/writer Ronald D. Moore and executive producer David Eick; deleted scenes; video blogs; "What the Frak is Caprica?" featurette; "The Director's Process" featurette; "The V Club" featurette; "The Birth of a Cylon" featurette. (Universal).
Dallas: The Complete Eleventh Season (1987-88) Three-disc set with 30 episodes, $39.98. (Warner).
Dante 01 (2008 -- France) Lambert Wilson, Linh Dan Pham. The sole survivor of an alien encounter and convicted of his crew's murder, Saint Georges is banished to Dante 01, an intergalactic facility for the criminally insane. Home to the Universe's most deranged criminals, the prison serves as a testing ground for a new protocol: humans as guinea pigs. Armed with mysterious powers from his alien encounter, Georges finds himself caught in a battle to suppress the monstrous power within him before it infects the other dangerous occupants of Dante 01, unleashing a violent rebellion that could turn the terrifying, labyrinthine world upside down. Directed by Marc Caro, who co-directed "The City of Lost Children" and "Delicatessen." Extras: Making-of featurette. (Dimension Extreme/The Weinstein Co./Genius Products).
Elmo and the Bookaneers: Pirates Who Love to Read (2009) Three Sesame Street episodes, highlighted by "The Bookaneers," who, led by special guest star Tina Fey, come ashore on Sesame Street, map in hand in search of coveted "library" treasures. $14.93. (Genius Products).
Forever (2006) Critically-acclaimed documentary from award-winning filmmaker Heddy Honigmann on the world-famous Pere-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, the final resting place for legendary writers, composers, painters and other artists. Poignant, emotionally powerful meditation on relations between the living and the dead, and the immortal power of art. During its visits to many famous graves -- including those of Frederic Chopin, Marcel Proust, Guillaume Apollinaire, Amadeo Modigliani, Oscar Wilde, Jean-Auguste Ingres, Maria Callas, Georges Melies, Jim Morrison, Yves Montand and Simone Signoret, "Forever" introduces us to both Parisians and tourists who make pilgrimages to these tombs, whether to pay their respects, leave flowers or personal messages, or even to tend to the upkeep of the tombstones. $29.98. (Icarus Films Home Video).
Freakazoid Season 2 (1996-97) Two-disc set with 11 animated episodes, $26.99. Extras: Commentaries, a look back at creating the final episode, "Richard Stone - Original Bonjour Lobey Demo Tape." (Warner).
Frost/Nixon (2008) Director: Ron Howard. Stars: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Sam Rockwell, Oliver Platt, Toby Jones, Matthew Macfadyen, Jim Meskimen, Patty McCormack. Extras: Deleted scenes, "The Making of Frost/Nixon," "The Real Interview," "The Nixon Library," commentary by Ron Howard. Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (Universal).
A Galaxy Far, Far Away: 10 Anniversary Special Edition (2001) Hilarious cult-classic documentary follows rabid "Star Wars" fans eagerly awaiting the release of George Lucas' first "prequel" to the original trilogy, "Episode I: The Phantom Menace." This updated version is loaded with out-of-this-world extras: from over-the-top fan conventions and nationwide premieres (where many waited in line for 40+ days), into the homes of devoted fans showing off their treasures, offering new insights into the powerful franchise that has captivated generations upon generations of moviegoers. (Cinevolve Studio).
House of the Sleeping Beauties (2006 -- Germany) Maximilian Schell, Angela Winkler, Glowna. Based on the beautifully strange novella by Yasunari Kawabata, writer-director-actor Vadim has crafted a beautiful, macabre thriller about loneliness, sex, eroticism and mortality. Edmon, a lonely widower in his late sixties living in Berlin, learns from old friend Kogi about a secret establishment where one can pay to lie alongside beautiful, sleeping young women. The girls -- who move, stretch, roll over and dream but never awaken -- are cared for by Madame, the enigmatic director of the house. Seduced and enchanted by their peculiar, unconscious tenderness, Edmond visits the sleeping beauties with greater and greater frequency, prompting him to probe the boundaries of his own morality and to re-visit long repressed memories, including the deaths of his wife and daughter. When Edmond inadvertently observes Madame and her cohorts smuggling a corpse from the premises, a newly ignited desire to unravel the bizarre activities conflicts with his addiction to the juvenile innocence and tender embrace of those who inhabit it. (First Run Features).
iCarly: Season 1 Vol. 2 (2007-08) Two-disc set with 12 episodes, $26.98. Extras: "Behind the Slime With the Cast of iCarly," behind-the-scenes extras. (Nickelodeon/Paramount).
Inside the Third Reich. Four provocative documentaries: Firestorm," "The Reich Underground," "Television Under the Swastika" and "The Goebbells Experiment," $59.95. (First Run Features).
Into the Blue 2: The Reef (2008) Chris Carmack, Laura Vandervoort. Direct-to-video sequel has a pair of scuba divers entering precarious waters when they are promised big money in exchange for leading dives along a treacherous Hawaiian reef. Extras: Two featurettes, music video. (MGM).
Kicking the Dog (2009) Carl T. Evans, Elizabeth Schmidt, Vedette Lim, Laura Bach, Scott Laska. Twelve friends spend one last summer together partying until they go their separate ways. (MTI Home Video).
King Lear (2008) PBS Great Performance version of Shakespeare play starring Ian McKellen; $24.99. (PBS Home Video).
Laid to Rest (2009) Bobbi Sue Luther, Lena Headey, Kevin Gage, Sean Whalen. Thriller about a young girl who wakes up in a casket in an isolated rural town with a traumatic head injury and no memory of her identity. She quickly realizes she was abducted by a metal-masked serial killer and she must survive the night and outsmart the technologically inclined killer who videos his vicious killings and is determined to finish his masterpiece tape featuring the girl. Extras: Commentary by writer-director Robert Hall and actor-producer Bobbi Sue Luther, "Postmortem: The Making of Laid to Rest," "The SFX of Laid to Rest," deleted scenes, bloopers. (Anchor Bay).
The Last Word (2008) Wes Bentley, Winona Ryder, Ray Romano. Dark comedy about a quirky young man who writes suicide notes for other people and falls in love with the sister of one of his "clients." Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (Image Entertainment).
Life of Riley: The Complete Series, Seasons 1-3 (2008) Three-disc set with all 29 episodes of the MTV series that takes you inside the life of teen pro skateboarder Ryan Sheckler; $29.99. (MTV/Paramount).
The Line (2007) David Barry, Andy McPhee, Mike Calis. Gritty, edgy Australian thriller. When a member of an Asian crime syndicate is brutally murdered, two hard-yakka (that's Aussie for hard-working) undercover cops (one a recently promoted detective, the other young, inexperienced and idealistic) and world-weary, rogue cop are assigned to solve the crime and prevent gang warfare. Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (Cinevolve Studios).
Marvel X-Men: Volume 1
(2008) Two-disc set with 16 episodes of the animated series, $23.99. (Disney).
Moscow Chill (2007) Norman Reedus, Slava Schoot, Konstantin Yushkevich, Xusha Buravsky. A loner American computer hacker is brought to Russia to commit bank fraud, only to find a family and love in the incomprehensible, violent, and chaotic Moscow underworld. (MTI Home Video).
Nickelodeon/The Last Picture Show. Two-disc set with "Nickelodeon" (1976), director Peter Bogdanovich's heartfelt valentine to the early days of moviemaking, starring Burt Reynolds, Ryan O'Neal, John Ritter and Tatum O'Neal; "The Last Picture Show" (1971) is Bogdanovich's frank and bittersweet drama of social and sexual mores in small-town Texas, starring Timothy Bottoms, Cybill Shepherd, Jeff Bridges, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, Randy Quaid, Eileen Brennan, Ellen Burstyn, Clu Gulager, Sam Bottoms. $24.96. Extras: Both the color and B&W director's cut of "Nickelodeon," director's cut of "The Last Picture Show," new commentary by Bogdanovich on both films, new interview with Bogdanovich for "The Last Picture Show," "The Last Picture Show" theatrical re-release featurette, "The Last Picture Show: A Look Back" documentary. (Sony).
Notorious (2009) Jamal Woolard, Angela Bassett, Derek Luke, Anthony Mackie, Antonique Smith, Naturi Naughton, Dennis White, Julia Pace Mitchell. Available as a single-disc theatrical edition, and two-disc Blu-ray and three-disc DVD collector's editions with both the rated and unrated versions. Extras: Commentary by director George Tillman Jr., co-screenwriter Reggie Rock Bythewood, co-screenwriter Cheo Hodari Coker and editor Dirk Westervelt; commentary by producer/Biggie's mom Voletta Wallace, producer/Biggie's co-manager Wayne Barrow and producer/Biggie's co-manager Mark Pitts: "Behind the Scenes: Making of Notorious" featurette; "I Got a Story to Tell: The Lyrics of Biggie Smalls" featurette; "Notorious Thugs: Casting the Film"; "Biggie Boot Camp"; "Anatomy of a B.I.G. Performance"; "Party & Bulls**t" (never-before-seen footage of the real B.I.G.); more. (Fox)
The Poker Club (2008) Johnathon Schaech, Johnny Messner, Judy Reyes, Lori Heuring, Loren Dean, Jana Kramer. Four poker buddies kill an intruder, hide his body, then discover that someone knows what they've done and is playing a murderous game of revenge with them. Extras: Commentary by director Tim McCann and Johnathon Schaech. (Sony)
Rhoda: Season One (1974-75) Four-disc set with 25 episodes. Extras: "Remembering Rhoda" featurette; $39.99, (Shout! Factory).
Ron White: Behavioral Problems -- Live, Extended and Uncensored (2008) Comedy Central stand-up performance, with an additional 40 minutes of material; $16.99. (Comedy Central/Paramount).
Sam's Lake (2009) Fay Masterson, Sandrine Holt, Stephen Bishop. Thriller about a young woman and her hip urbanite friends who travel to the country where they become entangled in the terrifying legend of Sam's lake, where a deranged boy slaughtered his family 40 years earlier. (Lionsgate).
Science Is Fiction: 23 Films by Jean Painleve. Jean Painleve was a film director, critic, theorist, and animator, yet his interests and studies also extended to mathematics, medicine, and zoology. Amazingly, all these disparate strands came together in a ground breaking, decades-spanning artistic career. Operating under the credo "Science is fiction," Painleve forged his own unique cinematic path, creating countless short films for both the viewing public and the scientific community. He was also one of the first filmmakers to take his camera underwater. Surreal, otherworldly documents of marine life, these films transformed sea horses, octopi and mollusks into delicate dancers in their own floating ballets. This anthology features 23 of Painleve's shorts in their original form, as well as Yo La Tengo's 90-minute original score "The Sounds of Science," written in 2001 to accompany eight of the director's films. A three-disc set. Extras: Interviews, booklet featuring a new essay by film scholar Scott MacDonald and notes on all the films by Painleve. (The Criterion Collection).
Spin City: The Complete Second Season (1997-98) Four-disc set with 24 episodes, $39.99. (Shout! Factory).
Sprawling From Grace: The Consequences of Suburbanization (2008) This eye-opening documentary explores the ravages of American suburban sprawl, what America has lost as a result, and the perils we face if we don't change the way in which we build our cities. Since 1950, America's city planning has been driven by our love affair with the car and the perpetuation of an idyllic suburban lifestyle. As we pursued the collective dream of a white picket fence, city planners and housing developers built new communities miles outside of the city center rather than investing in urban transit systems or redeveloping existing downtown centers. $19.99. (Cinema Libre Studio).
Street Warrior (2008) Max Martini, Nivk Chinlund. A war vet returns to his home town to discover that an underground fight club has claimed his brother; he joins the game to get bare-fisted revenge. (Genius Products).
Stuart Little: The Animated Series. Two new volumes of the HBO Family series: "Going For the Gold!" with four episodes and "A Little Family Fun!" with three episodes, $12.99 each. (Sony).
Tiny Toon Adventures S1 V2 (1990) Four-disc set with 30 animated episodes, $79.98. (Warner).
Top Gear 10 (2008) BBC America automotive realty show; $39.98. (Warner).
Tribute to Heath Ledger: The Unauthorized Story (2009) Documentary on the actor who died at age 28. $14.98. (Infinity Entertainment Group).
The Wrestler (2008) Dir.: Darren Aronofsky; Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Mark Margolis, Todd Barry, Wass Stevens, Judah Friedlander, Ernest Miller. Extras: "Within the Ring" featurette, "The Wrestler" music video written and performed by Bruce Springsteen. Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (Fox).
For more DVD info, check out our DVD calendar pages at
<http://www.onvideo.org/calendar/cal_dvd.htm>
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