Now THAT's cover art!

Why can't I stop looking at this DVD cover? Why did it take me this long to actually see this amazing illustration? Why don't one-sheets feature actual illustrations any more? Why are amazing one-sheets like this ever NOT used for the DVD cover, as opposed to some Photoshop hack job? Damn that looks good.

We built this city on stolen memories

Before its release last week, a director's cut DVD of Dark City had been rumored for years (including Roger Ebert's 2005 note that he recorded a new commentary for such a DVD). That a director's cut would result in a superior movie was almost certain, as the film begins with an infamous prologue that screams "studio interference." In 1998, audiences were introduced to Alex Proyas' landmark film with Kiefer Sutherland giving a breathy, spoilerific voice-over that ruins about half of the movie's surprises. By explicitly knowing up front that the Strangers are aliens, it erases any uncertainty about their origins which would otherwise be revealed about an hour into the story. So reviled was this introduction that it became popular for fans to tell the uninitiated to turn the sound off for the first minute. Removing this voice-over is an easy improvement, but Dark City: Director's Cut also adds about 10 more minutes of additional footage that make for a subtly (not spectacularly) better movie.

Annoying voice over aside, there is little else to complain about with Dark City. We are first introduced to a confused man awakening naked in a bathtub. He's in a hotel room, and there's a strange syringe near the bath, but his main problem is having no memory of who he is or why he's in the strange hotel room. One of those questions is answered as he walks by the front desk, the manager telling John Murdoch that his bill is overdue. More revelations will follow, with John finding out that he's an accused serial killer, he's estranged from his wife, and apparently has a history in this odd city -- which stops cold at midnight every night on the dot. But while the rest of the populace fall asleep at midnight, John is unaffected, and he is still trying to understand his "tuning" superpowers that alter physical reality through his will alone. John will find out that this city is one giant experiment conducted by the mysterious Strangers, and he is the only one who can put an end to their plan.

Dark City's memorable combination of stylish visuals, original sci-fi story and near-flawless resistance to the genre's usual cliches almost guaranteed it would be a commercial failure, then rediscovered on video. I first discovered it like many people, after Ebert surprisingly named it his favorite movie of the year and generally heaped tons of praise on it throughout the year. I've since tried to watch it every year, as Proyas' story and visuals encourage repeat viewings. What I appreciate more with each viewing are the central questions about memories, and the value we put on them. Other movies have touched on the issue of losing our memories, but what if you can't trust your memories, does that diminish their quality? The inhabitants of Dark City are ignorant of their captivity, but even with their memories being mixed and matched, they are still capable of displaying the unique human qualities that the Strangers so cherish. Do memories drive the human spirit no matter what they are, or is our vitality linked to something deeper? The Strangers, who have a communal consciousness, are obsessed with this question that has no answer.

In his director's cut, Proyas adds in small scenes that create a couple nice little subplots. Chief among these is John noticing his fingerprints, which resemble the vertigo symbols that permeate the movie. Inspector Bumstead and Mr. Book of the Strangers also pick up on this, leading both parties to suspect John has truly evolved. The problem with these scenes is that it's not readily apparent that his fingerprints are out of the ordinary; if there wasn't so much attention paid to them, I would have thought they were normal. My favorite new element is the revelation that the prostitute John meets at the automat has a daughter. At her apartment, John sees the girl peaking around a door, adding more reason for him to leave in haste. But her biggest role in the film comes later when Bumstead and Emma Murdoch find the prostitute's mutilated body, and discover the girl hiding in the house. As Emma comforts her, Bumstead finds a picture she had drawn of the Strangers. The eerie drawing becomes key to the story, as Emma and Bumstead until this point had not seen the Strangers, but will catch a glimpse of them only moments later.

Early announcements of this DVD promised new special effects, but the only enhancements I caught were some slight changes to the tuning effects, cleaning them up a little bit. There are also a few extended scenes that add more depth to Bumstead's character in particular. One little note about the packaging: the cover art is beautiful, and much more detailed than you see in this picture, but what's odd is the design on the reverse. The DVD comes in a slip package, which contains no information on the reverse, just another cool design. This has been done before, but in those cases there was at least a sticker or an insert beneath the plastic with a synopsis and list of extra features. There's nothing like that here, which is frustrating for anyone who is interested in what new extras are on the disc, or for that matter anyone unfamiliar with the movie.

Indeed there are new extras, all high quality. Ebert adds to his previous commentary, and Proyas has provided an all new track. There are also two documentaries, one focusing on the movie's production and another offering five perspectives on the movie from the likes of Proyas, the screenwriter and three critics. The documentary "Memories of Shell Beach," is excellent, with much of the cast and crew giving candid reflections on the movie from inception to its box office receipts. The common thread through all the interviews is everyone involved never cared about the movie's cold box office, because they knew from day one they were making a great movie.

DVD Notes 6/8

Before the news, allow me to tip my chair and brag about a recent find: anyone can find bargain basement HD-DVD prices these days (although even Amazon is reluctant to drop them too far), but today was a particularly shining example. Are you familiar with a store called Hastings? Medium-sized chain of big media stores that sell everything and also rent DVDs. I normally stay away because of their insanely high prices and the general feeling that you've just entered a flea market. But something drew me in today, and I was handsomely rewarded. Their modest remaining stock of HD-DVDs had been moved to a $9.99 clearance rack, along with a Buy 2, Get 1 for $0.01! sign. For a total of $21.19 I walked away with the following used HD-DVDs: Black Snake Moan (sticker: $19.99), King Kong (sticker: $13.99) and Part II of Sopranos season 6 (sticker: $74.99!!!). That's the kind of store Hastings is, at one point they were selling a used Sopranos set for $74.99. Keep in mind this set still goes for $84.99 on Amazon, with used copies starting at $40. Part of me wants to go back and buy their remaining two Sopranos HD sets just to sell, but the remnants of my moral compass is pleading against it. Thank you, now some news...

-- Deep Discount's big semi-annual 20% off sale is on till June 22. This is the biggest sale anywhere, and I've heard of people saving up to spend over $1,000 on the sale, as there is pretty much no limit on what you can save. The 20% off is significant because DeepDiscount's prices often rival Amazon. You'll never find Criterions at a lower price: Blast of Silence or The 400 Blows for $16, Ace in the Hole or Army of Shadows for $20, even the big Seven Samurai set for $22! The sale also applies to HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, meaning quite a few HD-DVDs for $9 or lower. You have to enter a code to get the discount, the one I use is DVDTALK. A tip on DeepDiscount: don't go for the free shipping, it takes ages and is often unreliable. Also, you might want to act fast on what you want because some titles go out of stock quickly during the sale -- I'm waiting for more funds to arrive from my Nigerian banker, but I've already seen more than a few titles I was eyeing go under.

-- Another fun sale is Barnes & Noble's annual Buy 2 Get 1 Free event. This is a tricky sale since B&E charges full price for all their DVDs, so it's up to you to find ways to actually save money, but it can be done. Since Barnes & Noble actually has a very good selection (with many titles yo won't find at BestBuy), I look for DVDs that rarely go on sale even at Amazon, like Criterions and television season sets. I'm thinking about picking up the Criterions of Two-Lane Blacktop, Playtime and Pierrot Le Fou, which will run me about $72 -- or slightly less than the DeepDiscount prices with shipping added on. Even though the savings aren't that dramatic compared to online retailers, I still get a nerdy thrill from seeing a "-$39.99" on my receipt.

-- Best news of the year: A two-disc collector's edition of The Night of the Hunter is coming in September! About freaking time, since the only available DVD of this classic is in full screen (1.66:1 is its original aspect ratio) and has zero extras. No word yet on what the extras will be, though DVD Savant has speculated in the past that behind-the-scenes footage exists, and I'm sure a critic or two would gladly lend a commentary track.

-- For anyone who grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons in the 80s, like me you probably have fond memories of The Real Ghostbusters. Fans of the show have been clamoring for years for an actual DVD release, not just a random handful of episodes. So in the tradition of asking for a bicycle for Christmas and instead receiving a spot in the Tour de France, the series will reportedly be released in its entirety in one big set later this year by Time-Life. We're talking over 100 episodes across 26 discs! I don't think I would pay over $100 for this cartoon, and I know I wouldn't want every single episode ... be careful what you wish for, I guess.

How I ended up owning an HD-DVD player

Right now I'm watching The Bourne Identity on my new HD-DVD player. There are two things wrong with the previous sentence: 1. I don't like The Bourne Identity, and 2. the HD-DVD format was killed earlier this year. Yes, but life is full of surprises -- like a house with two working DVD players four months ago suddenly having zero working DVD players. I found myself in this predicament today, after a Toshiba player purchased five years ago decided it was tired of the whole "eject" thing. This followed an 18-month-old Toshiba upconvert player in December going on strike against the "power" button.

So I'm at Costco looking for a new DVD player. On one shelf is a Sony model for $80, and below it is a Toshiba HD-DVD player for $80. Hmmmm. And the latter even comes with two HD-DVDs and an HDMI cable. Hmmmm. And almost all the HD-DVDs at Amazon are on sale for $13-$16. Hmmmm. And, well, I really didn't need any more convincing after seeing the price on the Toshiba, especially since it was the last one. How bad did my Costco want to sell their last HD-DVD player? Check the label in the picture, it's advertised first as an UPCONVERTING DVD PLAYER, they're basically saying "hey people, this is still a perfectly fine DVD player!"

I'm actually quite happy about bringing this obsolete technology into my home, since I've come to realize it's going to be a long time before I convert to Blu-Ray. In December I saw a Blu-Ray player at that same Costco for $280, now they're being sold for $390. Think the demise of HD-DVD had anything to do with that? Blu-Ray discs are also pretty set at $30 at least. Browsing through the available HD-DVD titles, I was excited to find discs such as Zodiac: Director's Cut, The Thing, The Road Warrior, Grand Prix and Galaxina (yes, someone decided Galaxina needed to be available in HD!). There's probably six or seven HD-DVDs I really need to own, and plenty more available to rent online (including Casablanca, which I'm very curious to see in high def). And yes, it also serves as a damn fine upconvert DVD player, looking better than my last model.

So for the price of a regular DVD player, I upgraded to HD and received two free DVDs and a $40 HDMI cable for my trouble. I'll also be able to see what many of my favorite movies look like in high def and will soon own the best version of The Road Warrior in the world (non-HD fools are still waiting for Warner Bros' long overdue special edition). As Max says, "I recon you got a bargain!"

DVD notes 3/12

If you've got a hankering for something new from the zombie genre -- like, say millions of zombies doing battle with cyborgs in a utopian society -- you should check out Appleseed Ex Machina, which came out yesterday. A feature-length anime, Ex Machina is animated in a way that previously only existed in Brad Bird's nightmares (can't imagine what it would look like in Blu-Ray). You really have to see it to get an idea of how amazing it is -- it seems to be the next evolution in what Richard Linklater did with A Scanner Darkly, only the characters are still "drawn," but still move like they were motion-captured. Still with me? Like I said, you have to see it. Visually amazing, Ex Machina is a bit of a letdown as a movie considering the potential of its story. Somewhere in the far, far future there's a utopia called Olympus protected by a cyborg police squad, but lately they've had a problem with the cyborg terrorists becoming increasingly badass. Who's supplying them? And what's with these new iPod-like thingies that people are wearing on their heads? Turns out the gotta-have-it gadgets of the future can take control of the user and turn them into zombies more mindless than they already were. It seemed the story had a chance to become something meaningful, but it's pushed to the side to make way for more scenes of airborn cyborg combat (never a bad thing, but it gets a little tiresome here). Ex Machina is a huge release in anime circles, but give it a look if you want to see some out of this world animation (and a few million zombies).

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COSTCO CRITERION MAGIC: Despite its limited selection, Costco has always been one of the best places to find great DVD deals on quality titles. Box sets like The Alien Quadrilogy and the new 007 sets are sometimes far below other stores' prices. So with this in mind, it was quite a sight this weekend to see a number of Criterion Collection titles on sale at Costco, all going for $24.95! The Criterions on sale were all good ones: Days of Heaven, The Third Man, Gimme Shelter, Night on Earth, Stranger Than Paradise, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Ace in the Hole and The Ice Storm .... which doesn't come out until March 18, but there it was on the shelf! The Third Man is probably the biggest steal of this lot, it's a blockbuster of a release that rarely dips below $35. Since Costco rotates its DVD stock pretty frequently, it will be interesting to see if they continue to sell Criterion and what titles will be available.

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SPEAKING OF MAGIC: When Xanadu makes its DVD debut on June 24, it will be a big day not only for roller skate groupies who want to see Gene Kelly on wheels, but also for those of us who wish for soundtracks to be included on DVD releases. Xanadu's rocking soundtrack featuring ELO and Olivia Newton John will be featured on a CD with this release -- and I think I'll pick it up for that reason alone. Outside of the opening and closing sequences, I can do without Xanadu (thought I would love to see it on Broadway), but it's a solid soundtrack and how often do you get a CD with your DVD, especially one with as many hits on it as this one? It's a great feature that I wish was more prevalent.

Lucasfilm doing it for the kids

"What's that?" "Kool-Aid. Delicious Berry Blue Kool-Aid."

Recently I touched on the issue of Lucasfilm releasing a new Indiana Jones box set to advertise the latest movie in the series, but now it's gotten even more ridiculous. While the new DVDs will have new extras (I'll get to those in a moment), the true star of this press release is Lucasfilm vice president Howard Roffman, who manages to give a pair of pop-your-eyes-out spins in his only quote:

An entire generation of movie lovers will get to see these classic films in a digital format that makes them even more amazing than when they were first in theaters [...] .

So...they're coming out on Blu-Ray? Is that what he means by this new-fangled "digital format"? Nope, just the same standard DVD that's been available to an entire generation of movie lovers for five years. Could he be talking about a new transfer? Actually, no -- since the press release explicity states the movies were remastered for their 2003 release. Maybe he's just hopeful that this generation of movie lovers never noticed that the Indiana Jones movies were available on DVD.

These new, individual DVDs are a fantastic way to introduce young audiences to the unforgettable, action-packed adventures of the most daring archaeologist in the world.

"Yeah, hey parents? Turns out those Indiana Jones box sets you bought five years ago are no good for today's kids, trust me ... and we'd really like to make some more money." Who would fall for this? A greater insult to consumers may be what Lucasfilm and Paramount are passing off as "exclusive extras." Outside of photo galleries, illustrations and storyboards, here is what you get:

--Introductions to all three movies by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas (possibly delivered without either man setting down their cup of coffee)
-- Indiana Jones: An Appreciation-The cast and crew of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" pay tribute to the original trilogy. (can't wait to hear Shia Lebouf's thoughts on Sallah)
-- The Melting Face-A recreation of the amazing physical effect of the villain's melting face in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," including Steven Spielberg and George Lucas commenting on the evolution of visual effects and CGI. (translation: Spielberg and Lucas joke about the Star Wars prequels)
--Creepy Crawlies-Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Frank Marshall reminisce about snakes, bugs and rats. (yes, this is the only real extra on Temple of Doom. Is Spielberg refusing to talk about this movie now, I mean outside of those icky snakes and rats that is. Are there any rats in Temple of Doom? So it's just a har-har convesation about all the yucky moments in the series? Fantastic.)
-- The Women: The American Film Institute Tribute--The three Indiana Jones women (Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw and Alison Doody) reunite for a discussion. (The AFI did a tribute to Alison Doody?)
-- Friends and Enemies--Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Indiana Jones writers discuss how they created the most iconic characters in film history, including a look at new faces in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." (Spielberg: "Tell me, are there any snakes, rats or bugs in the new movie?")

The DVDs also include a preview for the video game "LEGO Indiana Jones," which may be the best news of the new year. Have you played "LEGO Star Wars"? Only one of the most addictive games ever. And I mean, Short Round already looks like a LEGO character -- there's a lot of potential here. For the game, not the DVDs.

'Justice' prevails

With apologies to Lynda Carter, there's no human that can fill the bustier of Wonder Woman. When your superhero movie has an authentic Wonder Woman in it, special things happen: like the realization that she's taller than Superman, the fact that Amazon women from Paradise Island are inherently bad ass bitchy, or simply the visuals of her invisible jet crash landing. Justice League: The New Frontier is overflowing with moments like these, because it's made as a comic book, and not as a movie. A whole act devoted to our plucky character's origin story? Nope -- just a few details here and there about the heroes' backgrounds interspersed between the action. Forced jokes? No time -- we've got a world to save. Though it's a direct-to-DVD animated movie, Justice League: The New Frontier is everything I had hoped the last few blockbuster comic book adaptations would have been. And while much fat has been trimmed to fit into a 75-minute running time, no expenses have been spared in regard to action. This is PG-13 animation, and you're reminded of that in the first few scenes with a shocking violent moment that reminds you this is no after school cartoon.

Based on Darwyn Cooke's graphic novel of the same name, The New Frontier takes us back to the comic book Golden Age of the 1950s for a battle with evil that will require all of Earth's evils. The coming of The Centre, a Connecticut-sized terror that would spit on the Cloverfield monster, draws the world's attention with psychic ripples and a sense of impending doom. There's a genuine sense of urgency to the story, with every character knowing they will play a key role in mankind's future -- and because of this the movie has a roaring pace. Its nonlinear storyline is familiar for comic book epics, but is almost never seen on the screen since Hollywood usually focuses on single superheroes. With this method, introducing the many superheroes seems organic and not like a series of cameos.

And there are a lot of superheroes, from the expected and familiar (Superman, Batman, The Flash) to those that rarely or never leap from the pages (Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern, Aquaman). Each one has an exciting sequence to themselves to showcase their powers, highlighted by an early scene with The Flash where he blazes through Las Vegas collecting bombs before they explode. The animation in this scene is incredible for how it demonstrates Flash's speed, concluding with shots from his point of view. When together as a team, these are no Superfriends -- they're a mix of contrasting personalities who often don't get along, and certainly not when the fate of the world is at stake. Batman is the dark loner, Wonder Woman is the vocal hot head, Superman has an arrogant jinoistic quality to him and Martian Manhunter is the uncomfortable outsider. While all the characters play a hand in the story, the show mostly belongs to Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter -- with both essentially making their superhero debut during the story. Hal Jordan literally becomes Green Lantern in the middle of the movie, and his introduction to the power ring couldn't have been staged better.

The characters are supported by first-rate animation and voice acting. The animation is a blend of traditional and computer generated, a mostly seamless combination that adds a good punch to the big action scenes. A lot of familiar names lend their voices to The New Frontier, including Lucy Lawless (Wonder Woman), Neil Patrick Harris (The Flash), Miguel Ferrer (Martian Manhunter) and Kyle MacLachlan (Superman). The best of the bunch is easily Jeremy Sisto as Batman, with a Charles McGraw-type gritty delivery that works perfectly with the Dark Knight.
All these promising elements come together memorably in the final showdown with The Centre, a climax pulled straight from the graphic novel that does not let you down in any sense. It's an invigorating final sequence lead by Green Lantern and The Flash after a victory initially looks doomed. It's doubtful either of these characters will ever make it to the big screen, so it's rewarding to see them in a prominent role, in front of the heavyweights. Imaginative with a lean running time, The New Frontier is refreshing after the overweight Spiderman 3 and listless X-Men: The Last Stand.
THE DVD: Hopefully this DVD is a sign of things to come from DC/Warner Bros. Available as a single or two-disc special edition, The New Frontier has a surprisingly vivid transfer -- probably the best-looking non-CGI animated movie I've seen on DVD. The single disc is highlighted by an informative 45-minute documentary on the history of Justice League, with lots of comic heavyweights lending their talents (including Stan Lee). I really didn't know anything about Justice League prior to seeing this DVD, and the documentary is a great companion for fans and newcomers alike. The disc is equipped with two commentaries: an ensemble track from the filmmaking team, and a solo effort from Cooke. The latter is very strong, with the Justice League comic writer and artist adding his thoughts on his graphic novel's transition to an animated movie. Cooke seems largely impressed with how his work was ported, and also provides plenty of background on how the original story was conceived.

Your DVD rack may someday look like this...

That's because Paramount has made the predictable decision of releasing a 'special edition' of the Indiana Jones Trilogy DVD set on May 13 to help promote the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Even more predictable is that a third trilogy set will be released next year to include the latest Indy movie. Failing a Steven Spielberg commentary track (ha!), I can't imagine any reason why I would buy this new set -- and keep in mind that this latest announcement includes no mention of a Blu-Ray version. What might be smarter than releasing any all new set is making the movies available as single discs for the first time, maybe with some snazzy new packaging. If Paramount is actually interested in putting out a new set that would attract double-dippers, there appears to be a good amount of potential extras out there that didn't appear on the first set.

The biggest of these would be the famous fan movie Raiders: The Adaptation, which was pitched to be included in the original set to no avail. Alexandra DuPont maintained in her original review that there are some juicy Raiders and Temple of Doom storyboards and behind-the-scenes footage out there, showing a discarded Nazi character with a machine gun for an arm and a notorious visit to the set by Barbara Streisand. Of course, who really expects Paramount to have any notable upgrades to the new set, beyond a preview for the new movie and dumbed-up cover art?

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I've always thought that the best way to make a movie adaptation of the 'classic' super heroes was to set it in the time period when they were introduced (1940s-50s), to better capture the more innocent feel of the characters and their origins. Of course this would also substantially inflate any budget, but you can see the possibilities for characters such as Captain America, Green Lantern or Namor. A movie like this will probably never become reality, but as you can see above, something similar is coming to DVD. It looks like glorious animation, and Warner is doing it the right way by putting it on Blu-Ray and HD and even packing in a second disc of extras. Justice League: The New Frontier comes out next Tuesday, and it's got me very intrigued (just look at that cover art -- you even get Green Arrow and Martian Manhunter!). I'm going to have a full review up sometime next week.

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Speaking of doing it the right way, many of those grindhouse-ish collections that started popping up around the time Grindhouse was released are being repackaged to sell. The Drive-In Cult Classics set gives you 8 movies for $10, and it's an interesting lot: Malibu High has been recommended to me a couple times, and the other titles give you exactly what their names suggest (and then some, probably). But really, $10? I'm in. Even more attractive is The Starlight Drive-In Collection: A Dusk Til Dawn Marathon, with 8 mostly quality titles for $21. Titles like The Van, Van Nuys Blvd., The Pom Pom Girls and Hustler Squad are well-regarded in '70s exploitation circles and were previously released in $10 double features, so it's a damn good deal.

DVD notes 2/12

--If you're like me, anything having to do with Wallace & Gromit puts a blowtorch-proof smile on your face. DVD compilations of W&G shorts have been available before, but the latest one is the best -- and is only $10. The new Wallace & Gromit: Three Amazing Adventures came out around Christmas and contains A Close Shave, A Grand Day Out and The Wrong Trousers (all with commentary and behind the scenes), all 10 of the Cracking Contraptions shorts and two Shaun the Sheep episodes. I was not familiar with Shaun the Sheep, but it's a BBC spinoff with the wooly character from A Close Shave, and quite a bit of fun. Clocking in at only seven minutes each, Shaun the Sheep is done in the same fashion as W&G and is a nice addition to the DVD.

My love affair with Nick Park's stop-motion duo began in 1996 on an Aer Lingus flight to Dublin. I was lucky enough to be sitting in the middle aisle of a 747 with about 4 hours to go before touching down on the Emerald Isle, but for about 45 minutes my thumb twiddling was distracted by Wallace and his helpful dog. Park's animation, especially in the finale of The Wrong Trousers, was amazing -- and his comedic eye was even better. I enjoyed 2005's Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, but the concept seems to work best in the shorter run time, so it's a little ridiculous that I put off buying the short compilations until now.

--Swell news from Universal: both volumes of their Classic Sci-Fi Collection will be packaged together for the masses. The collections were BestBuy exclusives and nice buys at only $20, but now go for far more on eBay after going out of print. The Ultimate Collection will go for $44, with a 10 films across six discs. The highpoint of this collection is still The Incredible Shrinking Man, available in its proper widescreen presentation for the first time. It's simply a great movie, and one of the best classic science fiction films you'll ever see. Most of the other titles are obscure, but The Monolith Monsters has always intrigued me and Cult of the Cobra sounds fun enough. Forgotten sci-fi flicks rarely get treatment this good, as Universal has all the films in their appropriate aspect ratios with anamorphic transfes.

--Predictable, but still a little exciting: with the fate of HD-DVD apparently sealed, the price for a player is dropping like a rusty anchor. Most bix box stores are selling HD players for $150, and I'm sure they can be had for less elsewhere. Late adapters can still take advantage of Toshiba's mail-in offer for free HD-DVDs, which I believe lasts until March. What does all this mean if the format is going to die anyway? I think there's going to be a firesale on HD-DVD discs eventually, probably closer to summer when stores try to sell out their remaining inventory. Without HD-DVD's competition, the Blu-Ray discs will continue to retail for $30+ for the near future -- how nice would it be to pick up some HD-DVDs for $10 or less? Just pure speculation of course, but I can see it happening.

-- Finally, it's not as bad as the melting Bill Murray clone -- but are we sure this is Jodie Foster? It looks like something from a Resident Evil cutscene. Any guesses on this image's ratio of Foster:Photoshop? I think her nose might have made it through intact, but her hair seems to suggest an I-5 sized forehead and it's questionable if those are her eyes. Again: what's so wrong with Jodie Foster to merit this kind of treatment?

Has anyone seen Bill Murray?

He seems to have vanished from the cover of the new Groundhog Day DVD and replaced with an impersonator. Who is that guy?

DVD notes

--Uh, best cover art ... ever? Wow. Maybe with DVD sales leveling off, this is the industry's new marketing tactic: fiendishly original design that describes the entire movie for you. Let's see what we can deduce about Zapped! from this cover art: two high school boys (and possibly one from junior high?) discover a magic rock that gives them telekinetic powers and possibly enormous proportions, they somehow use this power to acquire money (does that tie in with the camera?) and they meet a dog who's into Star Trek. I think that's it. I'm just slightly blown away that such a throw-away catalog title, on DVD for the first time Feb. 12, would get a first-class cover art treatment when so many other titles give us PhotoShopped heads or random images plucked from rejected heavy metal album cover designs.

--An interesting release next week that's flown under the radar a bit is the collector's edition of El Cid, Samuel Bronston's collossal 1961 widescreen road show. Telling a grand tale of Spanish history, Bronston rounded up Charlton Heston, Sophia Loren, a handful of directors and a cast of thousands of extras to fill the 70mm lens. As usual, DVD Savant has the full scoop:

El Cid isn't as 'big' as the films that followed it, but the quality of its physical production far outdistances spectacles filmed in Culver City or North Hollywood. Even the costumes for the extras are authentic, and everything made of fine leather, carved wood or Toledo steel is the genuine article. In Europe Bronston found old world designers and craftspeople that made MGM's plaster and canvas approach look like the work of amateurs.

The 70mm production sounds perfect for DVD, and of course there's tons of extras on it. Interestingly, this Weinstein Brothers release is branded under "The Miriam Collection," named for their mother. I don't know if Ma Weinstein was a noted DVD producer, but it seems a little odd.

-- Fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie have long had to make do with either their VHS copy or simply watching This Island Earth and adding their own snarky comments. Released early in the DVD age, MST3K:TM has been out of print for nearly a decade, with copies regularly selling for upwards of $200 on eBay. Well, it's finally getting a re-release on May 8. You can argue that there are better episodes of MST3K, but it's an interesting watch because This Island Earth is a fairly prominent and respected scifi tale. Also, Shout! Factory is taking over the MST3K DVD business, meaning the show's upcoming releases should only be better. Shout! Factory is perhaps the best in the business at producing television DVDs, so it should be interesting to see what they do with the property.

--Filed under the "tax return temptation" category is the Twilight Zone: The Complete Series collection, whose price keeps diving. Compared to the individual season sets, for $169 this is a steal. You get all five seasons, with every episode remastered, and lots of extras. Unfortunately, the excellent Twilight Zone Companion book, which was packed in with the early runs of the season sets, is not included.

--Shaping up to be one of Criterion's best releases of the year is Feb. 26's The Last Emperor, which will arrive on four overflowing discs. You get two versions of Bernardo Bertolucci's classic (both remastered) and leagues of extras, including multiple documentaries and commentaries. This will be the first proper DVD presentation of the movie.

--Speaking of Criterion, check out this inside-look at the process of designig one of their high quality covers. It's a good look at all the pains Criterion takes to put out the best discs.

The Format 'War': Observations and Predictions

At Costco this week, I saw the high definition DVD Format War epitomized. A Blu-Ray kiosk with a monitor playing dazzling images from popular films, with a jaw-dropping price of $279. Beside it was some HD-DVD promotional materials, without a monitor or even an HD-DVD player in sight, instead relying on that tired phrase "up to six times the resolution!" and the low price of $200. Before this night I was a full HD-DVD believer, convinced by its low price and simplified disc design that would result in lower-priced movies eventually. But when Blu-Ray gets to $279, that means their next player model will probably be below $200 not too soon, and by then the price advantage of HD-DVD goes out the window. I had never really considered Blu-Ray before, since I would never pay $500 or $400 for one, but at an affordable price you have to look at both formats equally. And in this increasingly common environment, with a gaping contrast in marketing presented to the consumer, I can't imagine HD-DVD winning over too many customers.

It's become a common sight at most electronic stores. Target sells movies on both formats, but only offers Blu-Ray players -- complete with a snazzy kiosk displaying Blade Runner and other knockouts. BestBuy sometimes sets up an HD-DVD monitor, but it's nowhere near the showmanship of the Sony-sponsored Blu-Ray kiosk. Although HD-DVD reportedly wrote DreamWorks a nice check for their exclusive backing, it looks like Sony's capital will keep them from ever "losing" in this format war.

But is it really a format war? I don't see it as one, mostly because of the third adversary in the fight: standard definition DVDs. Despite over a year of high-definition offerings, production and sales of DVDs are as strong as ever, with no slowdown in sight. Since high def players are compatible with S-DVDs, it ensures the standard discs will continue to be produced indefinitely. And since S-DVDs are very cheap compared to their better-looking counterparts, and will always feature a much larger selection, consumers will continue to buy them. Not a war, it will be more like a prolonged conflict -- like we've seen between video game systems over the past two decades. And like video game consoles, each side will have a few hot exclusive titles and there will be plenty available for both formats. The real die hards will have both kinds of players, but most people will be happy with one or the other -- still continuing to buy standard discs.

All of this is very good news for consumers, as both formats continue to hack away at their prices and offer attractive free-movie packages with purchase. HD-DVD comes with 300 and The Bourne Identity in the box, with five more available free through mail. Blu-Ray offers five by mail, with slightly better offerings. Wal-Mart even had a doorbuster PS3 sale on Black Friday where you could get 15 total free Blu-Ray movies. But there's also a lot of consumer confusion: when I told my wife about the attractive high def prices her reaction was "then would you get rid of your old DVDs?" I think this is a common thought, because when people hear "format war" they imagine CDs vs. cassette or BetaMax vs. VHS. That's why the term "format war" doesn't really apply to this situation, since there's already a viable alternative that's not going away any time soon. Even when analog broadcast signals are turned off in 2009, millions will continue to have analog televisions because they will be supported by all cable and satellite services, as well as the converter boxes. And to answer my wife's question, yes I would be keeping my "old" DVDs and continue to buy them: will I ever need a high def version of The Third Man? The Simpsons? Will Danger: Diabolik ever be released in high def? Doubtful.

What 'Blade Runner' DVD is right for you?

2008 will mark (just about) the 10th anniversary of the first rumors of a Tyrell-Sized Blade Runner DVD Set, and to mark the occasion Warner Bros. will finally release this set -- along with many other Blade Runner DVDs. In fact, the Redundancy Department Administration has just released the following data: starting Tuesday you can theoretically go into BestBuy and pick out eight BR DVDs -- with all of them featuring a different bar code. With so many BR options to choose from, what's a Christmas shopper to do? Follow this handy guide to ensure you won't make the wrong choice:

Blade Runner: The Director's Cut
Low Price: $5 maybe
Target Demographic: Misanthropic Grinches
I'm pretty sure Wal-Mart has been selling this DVD in their bargain bin since 1995. Extras? Remastered picture and sound? Look elsewhere. The lasting value of this DVD is you can buy it for the BR fan who's at the top of your Naughty List. Wrap this up and hand it to them saying "Well I know you like Blade Runner..." and watch as their expectations of seeing the new 4-disc set drip away like warm egg nog.


Blade Runner: The Final Cut
Low Price: $14.49
Target Demographic: Blade Runner Virgins, Penny-Pinching Christmas Shoppers
There's nothing wrong with this DVD, in fact it's a great deal -- the target demographic has more to do with the other BR DVDs. On its own merits, The Final Cut has the titular new version of the film, three commentaries, a feature-length documentary, remastered transfer and the best cover art of the lot. If you've never seen BR before, start here. Everyone else should proceed to the next item.

Blade Runner (Four Disc Collector's Edition)
Low Price: $22
Target Demographic: Shrewd Consumers, Wide-Eyed Movie Bloggers
The price might as well read "a song." This is maybe the best DVD deal of the year. In addition to the specs of The Final Cut, you get THREE MORE versions of the film and a fourth disc full of deleted footage, featurettes and TV spots. This set contains just about everything a BR fan could have hoped for during the past decade of hoping, and its content alone would put it in the year's top 10 of best DVD releases, but then you get to the sticker shock of its low price! It may feel a little like stealing, but then you see that briefcase on the shelf and realize why the price is so low.

Blade Runner (Five Disc Ultimate Collector's Edition)
Low Price: $54.99
Target Demographic: Absolute Completists, Edward James Olmos Groupies
Warner's Ultimate Collector's Editions routinely offer little bang for the price, and while there's certainly no lack of interesting goodies here, the price is not justified. The best of this set is already included in the four-disc collection, plus another version of the film and a plastic briefcase full of trinkets. Inside the briefcase is a letter from Ridley Scott, a spinner car model, an origami unicorn figurine, photographs and a lenticular motion film clip. The extra disc, plus the items weigh in at $32. On that extra disc is the infamous "work print" of BR, which DVD Savant describes as "fairly ugly compared to the restored versions." The work print version apparently has the most differences among the five versions, but the price of that is a substantial downgrade in appearance. When these releases were originally announced, I instantly settled on this set before really weighing the other options. Now I can't really justify the price -- that is, outside of the thrill of placing the origami unicorn in my entryway and shouting "It's a shame she won't live, but then again who does?" to any visitor.

Blade Runner (Five Disc Complete Collector's Edition) HD/BluRay
Price: $27.95
Target Demographic: Smugly Amazed HD/BluRay Converts
The Moviezzz Blog originally brought this up, but it bears repeating: who are the ad wizards who thought this one up? So in addition to being able to watch BR in glorious high definition, HD/BluRay folks are also able to buy this five disc set without all the briefcase hoopla for $28?? Even more baffling, those same folks still have the option of paying $38 more for a plastic briefcase full of trinkets, since the big set is also available in HD/BluRay!?! By all accounts, Warner Bros. seems to be undercutting itself from multiple fronts with these BR releases.

Danny Roane: First Time Director

I'm usually not brave enough to watch the movies that premiere on Comedy Central, and until this week I didn't think I ever missed anything good. Andy Dick's Danny Roane: First Time Director premiered in August on the cable channel, came out last week on DVD, and is one of the funniest movies I've seen this year. It's 84 minutes of completely low-brow, low-budget, low-intelligence humor, and I was laughing the entire time.

Written and directed by Dick, it's a documentary about burnt out former sitcom star Danny Roane's attempts to make "Dead Dream," a semi-autobiographical look at the harrows of drug and alcohol addiction. After starring in the sitcom "Don't Quit Your Day Job," Roane hit rock bottom with his drinking problem, culminating in a disastrous drunken appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. He sees directing as the logical next step, and his surreal script is set to be produced by Quad Gold Pictures, where head man Pete Kesselman (Bob Odenkirk) boasts about their last hit, Vicious Cycle 3: Killer Load, a laundromat horror flick. The fact that Odenkirk is in Danny Roane told me the movie had a chance to be good, and there are plenty of other great cameos, including Ben Stiller, Danny Trejo and Jack Black.

Since it's a mockumentary, there's very little narrative structure, and Dick is able to keep the joke pace high. Most of the time it seems Dick is just doing improv, and it usually works. Dick's brand of vulgar slapstick is divisive, but if you like him then you'll love him in this, as I can't imagine a better vehicle for his comedy. But the biggest star of Danny Roane is the movie within the movie, "Dead Dream." Originally designed to be a stark look at addiction with James Van der Beek in the lead, the movie quickly devolves into a musical based on Jim Morrison-like flashbacks. Trejo plays the Indian chief who instructs the main character to go on a spiritual quest, but as Roane points out, Trejo the Indian chief has a huge tattoo on his chest of a Mexican woman praying.

Danny Roane is often sloppy, with some uneven moments, but the best is saved for last when we get to see the finished product of "Dead Dream." It contains my favorite line of the year, when a character tries to describe how his head is feeling on drugs: "It feels like my mind is made of Hitler." This line leads to a lengthy musical scene of a bad Hitler impersonator stalking a Jewish clown through city streets. Like I said, it's 100 percent dumb, low-brow comedy, but if that's what you go for try and find Danny Roane.

Criterion covers: 10 beauties, 5 duds

The never dull Chris Stangle recently pointed out the odd similarities on the cover designs of Criterion's new release of Two Lane Blacktop and a recent Bergman set. I'm always up for any discussion about Criterion's cover designs, because they're pretty much the best in the business (in addition to the actual DVDs they contain) and almost never ordinary. I'm a self confessed cover art snob, and I'm continually fascinated about this cult that I belong to. What is it about cover art that turns normal people into cover art snobs?

I read about DVD technology long before the first discs were released, and couldn't believe all the features they would bring home for cinephiles, but I don't think anyone predicted that DVDs would usher in a golden age for cover design. In the same way that album cover design fell by the wayside when vinyl gave way to cassettes and CDs (with their tiny canvases), the enormous value of DVDs as a product to be purchased (and not just rented) means consumers now value how their movies look from the outside. It wasn't always this way for DVDs, I remember the first cover design that really intrigued me was the Boogie Nights New Line Platinum edition. It had radically original cover art, on a slip cover that housed even more of the garish 70s design on the digipack inside. The simple jewel case long ago gave up the stranglehold on DVDs, and now we have designs on cardboard, plastic and even metal.

The Criterion Collection has always presented top quality DVDs, but it has also striven to have high class cover art -- and it hasn't always succeeded. The look of Criterion has evolved over the years, culminating this year with a homologous spine and logo treatment (the crescent "C"). Here's my list of Criterion's best covers, followed by five of their worst:

The Masterpieces

10. Days of Heaven (No. 409)

I just love this picture -- I would put it on my wall if I could. This is a great simple design, because it's an image that you would instantly recognize from Days of Heaven, even without the text. The size of the title is also perfect, avoiding being dominant over such a great image.

9. RoboCop (No. 23)

Effective understatement, for a movie that is always over the top. This cover really stands out, and the color choice is almost exactly what Verhoeven uses throughout his ugly future Detroit.

8. M (No. 30)

One of a handful of iconic shots from M, heightened further by an excellent design. Enhancing the "M" on Peter Lorre's shoulder is an easy choice, but the execution is flawless, as the effect doesn't look hokey.

7. Videodrome (No. 248)

While the cover is certainly good, it's the whole package that really grabs you: the discs are housed inside a BetaMax-like package that has "videodrome" written on the spine and "long live the new flesh" on the face. It's an awesome concept, and mine sits on the shelf sans the outer covering, as it really does look like one of Max Renn's videos.

6. The Man Who Fell to Earth

I don't care for the movie, but the cover is truly striking. It's also nicely packaged, with Walter Tevis' original novel reprinted specially for inclusion in the DVD.

5. The Naked City (No. 380)

In a perfect world that title font would really exist, and I would use it for every word I typed.

4. Robinson Crusoe on Mars (No. 404)

I know nothing about this movie, only that this cover truly rocks. If I could get this as a print (unspeakably large, of course), I would pay up to $100 for it. The colors are amazing, and the font is used perfectly.

3. Dazed and Confused (No. 336)

I originally wasn't a fan of this cover, but after holding it and exploring all the fun stuff it contained -- I was hooked. The cover is brash and makes no apologies, plus it works like the vinyl cover of Led Zeppelin III, with those holes on the front making it possible for multiple cover possibilities.

2. Play Time (No. 112)

No image (or words for that matter) can adequately represent Tati's masterpiece, but this comes pretty darn close. Like the movie, it's wild with many planes of existence, and presents itself with no explanation.

1. Notorious (No. 137)

It doesn't get any better than this for me. This is just everything you would want in a DVD cover: it's bold but also understated, and plays off one of the movie's key plot points without really giving it away. It would have been easy to put Carey Grant along with Ingrid here, but the black space is very effective.

The Misfires

5. Eyes Without a Face (No. 260)

This should be a great cover, but I just can't get past the awkward use of the title -- is it supposed to look like her mouth?

4. Rebecca (No. 135)

This design is a little too ambitious for its own good. There's about five different elements gasping for attention here, and why the "A David O. Selznick Presentation"? Criterion usually omits such text, for good reason.

3. Picnic at Hanging Rock (No. 29)

They picked a great image from the movie to use, but what's with the romance novel font and size of the title? This is one DVD that's begging for one of Criterion's recent re-releases, as this one is non-anamorphic and largely extra-free. I'm sure a re-release would have a much better cover.

2. The 39 Steps (No. 56)

Okay, the title looks cool, but why are we looking at the two main characters? It's a cop-out design, that has nothing to do with the movie. It also fails to convey any of the urgency and suspense that fills this classic. This was also put out during Criterion's habit of using small type on the spine, exacerbated this time by using a brown font against a black background, making it legible only from close range.

1. The Most Dangerous Game (No. 46)

This looks like something I would make on Photoshop, when I was still learning it in college -- complete with gimmicky typeface. Why are they green?

Initial thoughts on Kubrick box set

Well, Oct. 23 is finally here and as you can see from above -- I did not need reminding. Just a few early items about the Kubrick box set, I expect to have more comprehensive posts on the DVDs after checking out all the extras.

-- A nice surprise is the cover art, which is different (save for The Shining) from the new individual releases that also came out today (get a look at the normal art here). It's a cool extra, and I really like how the 2001 cover looks with the effect. The reverse sides are identical to the individual releases, which unlike the box set come with slip covers.

--Eyes Wide Shut is advertised on the back as "Selectable in both rated and -- for the first time in North America -- unrated versions," yet as far as I can tell the unrated version is the only one on the disc. In most DVDs with this option, you go to a menu after selecting "play" that allows you to toggle between rated or unrated, but there's nothing like that here. The second disc contains all extras. The rated version is definitely no real loss, since all you gain are those CGI censors, but it's a little curious that it's missing.

--About those CGI censors in the Eyes orgy scene: Their absence has a much more positive impact on that scene than I had anticipated. They were a distraction to begin with, but without them an already great scene is made even better. It just seems right to see all the debauchery that Bill is seeing, and the sex itself is presented with the artistry of the rest of the movie. A shot of two women having oral sex with their masks still on is an interesting choice that adds to the scene's mysterious atmosphere.

--A commentary track on Full Metal Jacket featuring Adam Baldwin, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey and critic/screenwriter Jay Cocks is highly entertaining and informative. There's no dead air, and everyone has something insightful to say.

--That said, Full Metal Jacket is the only release in this set unavailable individually on regular DVD. HD and BluRay get an individual release, though that may be due to the fact that the current release of the movie on next generation formats had mastering problems.

--I'm excited to watch Vivien Kubrick's documentary The Making of the Shining, that surprisingly contains a commentary track.

--2001 has a lot of good looking extras, including a 1966 audio-only interview with Kubrick.

For $55, this is a very attractive box set.

Where no season set has gone before

I knew I was forgetting something in my last post when I talked about how busy this Christmas season would be for big DVD releases, and here it is:


If you haven't heard, to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of Star Trek, all of the original episodes have been mastered in HD, gotten enhanced special effects and are now being syndicated across the country (here's a list of air dates on local affiliates). The results have been outstanding (see old vs. new) while only occasionally inching into George Lucas touch-up territory. While the episodes are available for broadcast in HD, most areas have them on analog stations (including mine). And unless you have an XBox 360, where they are available for download in HD, you'll never be able to see William Shatner's nipples through his enterprise uniform. Which brings us to the new DVD set.

The moment I heard about the new episode treatment, I couldn't help but feel sorry for all those Star Trek fans who had plunked down $90 for the three season sets released a couple of years ago. Knowing companies are still in the business of making money, they would eventually get around to releasing these hot-rodded seasons on DVD, at an even more astronomical price. But I would have never predicted that the new seasons would arrive in an HD-DVD/DVD combo format! This news is exciting and disappointing at the same time. Exciting because you'll have the episodes in HD even if you haven't decided to upgrade your hardware yet, and disappointing because this has increased the price even more ($200 MSRP).

Still, this is a big milestone for television on DVD and a huge piece of news for the HD-DVD fight. The Star Trek seasons will be the first showcase of what the next-gen formats can do for television, specifically older television. Like many series, Star Trek was filmed on 35mm, which means there is a ton of resolution built into the master prints of it -- a picture quality no television in the 1970s, much less an ordinary DVD can replicate. So this isn't just bumping up to 720p on your upconversion player, these sets will present the genuine article with radically improved picture quality. The DVDs will also have new special features that take advantage of the new format, including the ability to completely navigate through the enterprise with your remote (watch a handy video of the feature here).

In fact, one of the reasons new special effects had to be added was that they didn't hold up in HD. With amazing clarity, the decades-old effects wouldn't be able to blend in like they could on our old Zenith set. Still, there's the price -- and from reading the comments on the Amazon page it looks like that will be a huge stumbling block even for huge Trek fans. I see it as just another reason why the consumer is winning in a big way with the HD-DVD vs. BluRay battle.

Start saving up for Oct. 23!

October 23 is shaping up to be one of the deepest DVD release dates in some time. There's quite a few to cover, so let's start right at the top with the most anticipated release:

Warner Director's Series: Stanley Kubrick

A long time coming, Kubrick fans will finally get souped-up widescreen transfers of 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut. The set also includes a disc containing the documentary "Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures." This will be the third Kubrick box set from Warner Bros., but by far the best -- and coming in at only $55! As has been long discussed, Kubrick specified that his movies only be released in full screen and mono sound for home video, allegedly because he didn't like how letterbox effects looked. This was fairly easy to do, as almost all of his movies were shot in full frame and then cropped for theatrical distribution. Kubrick died before widescreen televisions became popular, and now we will finally have all of his movies available in their theatrical aspect ratio.

This will also be the first time American audiences will see the uncut version of Eyes Wide Shut, without the digitally-added shadowy figures in the orgy scene. All of the releases will have extra material (a first for each movie included), including commentary tracks. In addition to the box set, each included film will be available in new standalone two-disc editions, and new versions of Lolita and Barry Lyndon will go on sale that date as well (no information as of yet for those last two). Other Kubrick classics, such as Dr. Strangelove and Spartacus, are not available to Warner Bros., but have received quality DVD releases in the past. For a good explanation on Kubrick's full frame compositions and what to expect with the new widescreen cropping, check out this very informative DVD Talk thread.

The Mario Bava Collection, Volume 2

Now that Tim Lucas' long-awaited tome on the director has been released, Bava fans have more reason to celebrate with another affordable collection of his films. $35 gets you 8 Bava movies, including Bay of Blood, Lisa and the Devil and 5 Dolls for the August Moon. Volume 1 of the Bava collection contains six of the director's works, and was available on Amazon this summer for $20. My experience with Bava is admittedly meager, but I've been itching to put an end to that, and this new set may be just the cure.

The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, Volume 1

I don't remember this series as fondly as others, but fans have been clamoring for a DVD release of it for a long time. From my perspective, only the real hard core fans will pony up $90 for this, as it only contains seven episodes (plus 38 companion documentaries) across 12 discs. The second and third volumes are expected in December and Spring 2008. Paramount was smart to give this similar packaging to the Indiana Jones Trilogy box.

The Criterion Collection: Days of Heaven, Breathless and Under the Volcano

A very solid month's offerings from Criterion. For many, Days of Heaven is the highlight as Malick films typically have very poor representation on DVD (possibly due to the director). I'm looking forward to Under the Volcano, as I had never heard of it until Criterion's announcement, and it sounds very good.

Hellraiser: 20th Anniversary Edition

Hopefully Anchor Bay will give this the same first class treatment it gave Phantasm earlier this year. I believe this will be the first time Hellraiser will be available in anamorphic widescreen.

Cutting Class (Unrated Version)

Yes, that's right Moviezzz! For the first time on DVD comes the horror movie Brad Pitt would like us to forget -- and that's not going to happen with the young actor dominating the cover art. A strangely entertaining slasher flick that seemed to inspire the most infamous shot in Eli Roth's Thanksgiving (see Moviezzz link for more explanation), Cutting Class has been rarely seen, some say due to Pitt's efforts to keep it out of the public eye (I've only seen an edited version on late-night cable). No word on extras, or what the new cut is like.

Battleship Potemkin (The Ultimate Edition)

The historic treasure gets a serious upgrade, featuring newly-translated intertitles as well as the original Russian intertitles. The highlight of this two-disc set looks to be a newly-recorded score, care of the Deutsches Filmorchestra, presented in 5.1 sound.

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What a week! And just a week later, we'll have the Twin Peaks: Gold Box. It's also going to be quite a Christmas season, with the Blade Runner extravaganza coming out in December.