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Here’s a look at the hottest new DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases for the week of October 13, 2009:
BLU-RAY MOVIES
Adoration (Sony)
American Violet (Image)
The Craft (Sony)
Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Universal)
Drag Me To Hell (Universal)
Eagles Over London (Severin)
Hardware (Severin)
Killer Movie (Phase 4)
Land of the Lost (2009) (Universal)
Midnight Movie (Phase 4)
Natural Born Killers: Director’s Cut (Warner)
The Proposal (Disney)
Screwballs (Severin)
South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut (Paramount)
Stop Making Sense (Palm)
DVD MOVIES
Adoration (Sony)
American Violet (Image)
Drag Me To Hell (Universal)
Happy Birthday to Me (Anchor Bay)
Hardware: Limited Edition (Severin)
The Haunted Airman (E1)
How to be a Serial Killer (Monterey)
Jack Brown Genius (Lionsgate)
Land of the Lost (2009) (Universal)
Natural Born Killers: Director’s Cut (Warner)
The Proposal (Disney)
The Stepfather (Shout!)
TV-on-DISC
Angels vs. Demons: Fact or Fiction (Image)
The Hunger: Season 2 (E1)
Legend of the Seeker: Season 1 (Disney)
Married… with Children: Season 11 (Sony)
The Mighty Boosh: Seasons 1-3 Box (BBC/Warner)
HIGHLIGHTS
Technical difficulties besieged my theater this past week and made it rather difficult for me to do much in the way of technical evaluations on this week’s releases. However, I didn’t want to let another day go by without at least acknowledging those titles you are (hopefully) most interested in. Here goes:
Adoration – I haven’t seen this new drama which flies under the Sony Pictures Classics banner, but I’ve heard good things. The film stars Scott Speedman (Underworld) and Noam Jenkins (Charlie Bartlett).
The Craft – What ever happened to Neve Campbell? I’d sure like to know. In the same year she made Scream (1996), she also made this teen-geared witch flick co-starring Fairuza Balk (American History X) and Robin Tunney (Phantom of the Opera). Sony’s Blu-ray has a few extras and is BD LIVE-enabled.
Eagles Over London – This better-than-you-might-expect Italian war film is from famed Director Enzo Castellari. Yes, that’s the man behind the original Inglorious Bastards and both of those films are now on Blu-ray thanks to the good folks at Severin.
Hardware - Funny story. I saw Hardware in the theater with my high school pal Matt. I remember the commercials made it look like The Terminator. Cool, right? We both left the theater declaring it to be worst film we’d ever seen. And that’s saying something. Many crappy movies simply get forgotten but Hardware has stuck with me. To this day, when people ask what’s the worst movie I’ve seen, this is my answer. I’m absolutely intrigued by the thought of watching it again on Blu-ray to see if I gave it a fair shake in 1990.
Land of the Lost – "Matt Lauer can suck it!" That line gets me every time. Speaking of fair shakes, this Will Ferrell blockbuster sort of fizzled at the box office this summer and I’m hard pressed to understand why. Between the antics of Ferrell and Danny McBride plus giant T-Rexes, I just don’t see how this isn’t an ideal movie for Guys Night. Here’s hoping Universal’s feature-packed Blu-ray finds the audience it deserves. And check out the latest clip reel if you missed my announcement last week.
Natural Born Killers – This Director’s Cut (only) release frustrates me to no end. Warner Bros. JUST released the theatrical cut (only) of Natural Born Killers on Blu-ray back in June. How hard would it have been to package the theatrical cut and Director’s Cut together in one Blu-ray release? Survey says… not very. Still, Oliver Stone’s polarizing film is definitely worth a look, whichever version you prefer.
The Proposal – Romantic comedies starring Sandra Bullock may as well have their own section at the video store; there certainly are enough of them. And that’s not a knock per se, because I like Sandra Bullock. Anyone who’s willing to make a fool of themselves is OK in my book. Unfortunately, The Proposal is not her best work. Her ice queen book editor is just too unlikeable for the film’s far-fetched premise to work, despite her and co-star Ryan Reynolds’ best efforts. Reynolds, as always, is extremely likeable here and continues to impress with his gift for comic timing and delivery. And one final side note: I had no idea Alaska looks so much like Cape Cod. I guess I can cancel that cruise!
Stop Making Sense – Break out the oversized suit! Jonathan Demme’s critically-acclaimed concert film about The Talking Heads has finally landed on Blu-ray thanks to the good folks at Palm Pictures. Check out my original announcement for more details.
GREG’S PICK OF THE WEEK
Drag Me to Hell (Blu-ray)
Universal Studios Home Entertainment | Unrated | 2009 | 99 mins | $39.98
Sam Raimi is back my friends! Hands down the slimiest movie I’ve ever seen, Drag Me to Hell is an absolute blast for fans of the genre and/or the famed director. The greatest compliment I can give the film? It made me forget all about Spiderman 3. Enough said.
Universal’s Blu-ray looks and sounds utterly fantastic. If the film didn’t scare the hell out of most folks, I would definitely be using this DTS-HD Master Audio mix as my new demo track for what’s possible with surround sound. This is killer stuff, really.
The extras are rather scant on this release and one can only assume that a super duper deluxe edition is waiting in the wings for next Halloween. Pick this one up today, you won’t be sorry.
EVALUATION SYSTEM
Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 1080 projector
Carada Masquerade screen system (92")
Panasonic DMP-BD35 Blu-ray Disc player
Oppo DV-983H DVD player
Onkyo TX-SR805 A/V receiver
Noble Fidelity L-55 LCRS speakers
Datacolor SpyderTV PRO 2007 video calibration
Monster Power HTS5100 power center
BetterCables HDMI interconnects
UltraLink speaker wire
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