DVD Cool News #155

The Latest
Announcements

Idiocracy – January 9

Mike Judge doesn’t seem to get as much respect in Hollywood as he deserves (I know, I’m sounding like a broken record….er…skipped CD as it were). After being stuck in studio hell for close to a year, Fox threw everyone who had been waiting for the flick a bone by releasing it in ONLY 130 theatres nationwide. Seeing how well OFFICE SPACE did on video/DVD, you’d think the studio would treat the fans to a DVD stocked with cool ass special features. Wrong again, shmanky. The only feature that’s being included are five deleted scenes. Awesome. I hope at some point we get a Director’s Cut, as apparently, Mike Judge wasn’t completely happy with the theatrical cut. I, in fact, enjoyed what I saw, but I won’t be holding my breath for a Director’s Cut. Or a special edition (at least for a few years). Read my review of the flick HERE.

Gandhi (SE) – February 13

GANDHI was nominated for a whopping 11 Academy Awards and managed to snag 8 of those bad boys including Best Picture and Best Actor (Ben Kingsley). Nice. I’d like to see Ben Kingsley reprise the role in a sequel directed by Weird Al Yankovic based on his fake trailer in UHF, where he beats down bad guys in between making love to beautiful women and ordering red meat: “Give me a steak, medium rare.” The anniversary edition includes over 90 minutes of extras which are detailed below. And if you haven’t seen Kingsley as a socio-pathic gangster in the English film, SEXY BEAST, I implore you do so this second. Or whenever you have time.

Includes:

• Digitally Remastered Audio and Video
• 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
• English DD5.1 Surround
• Portuguese Dolby Surround
• Spanish Mono
• English, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish subtitles
• In Search of Gandhi – Featurette
• Reflections on Ben – Featurette
• Madeleine Slade: An Englishwoman Abroad – Featurette
• The Funeral Featurette – Cast and crew discuss the recreation and filming of Gandhi’s Funeral. This scene holds the record for containing more extras than any other in film history (in excess of 250,000 people!)
• Shooting an Epic in India – Featurette
• Looking Back Featurette – Cast and crew look back at the film. This featurette includes material about the success of the film, the impact it had on release and the Academy Award ceremony
• Designing Gandhi – 3 mini featurettes – Stuart Craig talks about three different elements of Set & Design:
  • Building the Ashram
  • The Tent
  • Finding Trains
• From the Director’s Chair – 2 mini featurettes – Lord Attenborough shares his views on two areas of the production:
  • On Casting
  • On Music
• Ben Kingsley Talks About Gandhi – Featurette
• Four Vintage Newsreel Shorts
• The Making of Gandhi – A photo montage of behind-the-scenes stills
• Online Content Syndication

The Quiet – February 13

I know next to nothing about THE QUIET but that doesn’t matter considering the cover art below, and having JoBlo’s ex-girlfriend, Elisha Cuthbert, whispering suggestively in another woman’s ear. Damn, this over-active imagination of mine. Apparently, it’s about “the dangers of keeping secrets” and stuff. Nice. Carmella Soprano also co-stars. She makes a mean baked ziti.

Includes:

• 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
• English and Spanish DD5.1 Surround
• French Dolby Surround
• English, Chinese, French, Korean and Spanish subtitles
• “Fetal Pig, Fetal Pig, Let Me In” Featurette: An inside look at the Dissection Scene
• “On Location: Shooting in Austin”
• “Sans Celluloid: The Quiet and the Digital Camera
  Script Development Featurette

• Picking the Cast for The Quiet

Viva Pedro – January 30

Acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar has quite an awesome reputation. I remember reading a quote from Kirsten Dunst where her response for not doing nude scenes was, “The only way I would do a nude scene is if it’s a Pedro Almodovar film. Or an Omar Aviles film.” Crazy huh? What’s stopping Kirsten and Pedro from getting this done? If anything, the name of THAT movie should be “VIVA PEDRO”.

This 9-Disc set includes two titles never-before-released (and now remastered) – Matador and Law of Desire, and newly remastered prints of Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and All About My Mother. Also included are releases of Bad Education, Live Flesh, The Flower of My Secret and Talk to Her.

Caption the Pic Contest!!!

All right my little droogies and babushkas, it is now time for the Caption the Pic contest. Basically, caption the pic below from Mel Gibson’s new flick, APOCALYPTO, for your chance to win a free DVD at no extra charge to you. Just make us laugh!

This week, my panel of judges are the cast from the way off Broadway stage show, APOCALYPTO NOW. It’s a love story. Submit your caption by Striking Back below or if you want to keep it on the down low, shoot me an email. Now get crackin’!

“Caption me, Murtaugh!”

CLICK
HERE FOR OUR LIST OF UPCOMING DVD RELEASE DATES AND
COVERS