DVD Cool News #159

The Latest
Announcements

The Prestige – February 20

Somehow there were two magician flicks out at the same time (the other being THE ILLUSIONIST). But this one is about dueling magicians. Hot damn! How does one choose? If you’ve seen either, strike back below. Extras or artwork haven’t been made available so keep checking back.

“Well, my dear, I’m afraid the answer to that question lies in the removal of your top.”

The Guardian – January 23

So what’s this? Kevin Costner handing off the torch to Ashton Kutchner? And what would that torch be? The torch of obscurity? I hope so. You got punk’d, sucka!

Includes:

• Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
• English DD5.1 Surround
• French and Spanish audio tracks and subtitles
• Audio commentary with director Andrew Davis and writer Ron L. Brinkerhoff
• Alternate Ending
• “Making Waves” behind-the-scenes featurette
• “Unsung Heroes” a programme on the real-life Coast Guard heroes and their Hurricane Katrina rescues
• Deleted Scenes

Fast Food Nation – March 6

It’s hard to criticize Richard Linklater for minimal output, that’s for sure. The dude’s portfolio is eclectic to say the least. Let’s hope he keeps doing more interesting and diverse work in the future. Okay, I will stop swinging from his nutsack for the time being. FAST FOOD NATION, from the book of the same name, sheds some light on the practices of the fast food industry. Given that Linklater’s a vegan, I’m sure this was something he felt passionate about. JoBlo scoped out the flick in Cannes and felt passionate in his review of the film (which you can read HERE). It also stars my sister, Catalina Sandino Moreno.

Includes:

• Anamorphic Widescreen Presentation
• English DD5.1 Surround
• Spanish audio
• English, French and Spanish subtitles
• Commentary with Director Richard Linklater and Writer Eric Schlosser
• Manufacturing Fast Food Nation Featurette
• The Meatrix Flash Animation Short
• The Meatrix II Flash Animation Short
• The Meatrix II 1/2 Flash Animation Short
• The Backwards Hamburger Flash Animation Short
• Photo Gallery

Ghost (SE) – March 13

After ROAD HOUSE, I looked for big things from The Swayze. Then he followed that one up with the God-awful NEXT OF KIN. And then he really killed it with GHOST. But then redeemed himself with POINT BREAK. All is well again. Kind of.

Includes:

• Commentary track with director Jerry Zucker and screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin
• Featurettes:
  • “Inside the Paranormal”
  • “Ghost Stories”
  • “Alchemy of a Love Scene”
  • “Paramount’s Most Romantic Moments”
• Photo Gallery
• Original theatrical trailer

Miscellaneous Rundown

Harry Potter Moratorium – Taking a page out of Disney’s book, Warner Home Video plans to pull the current four “Harry Potter” DVD titles off store shelves in 2007. The first three films – HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE, HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS and HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN will be pull ed on January 5th (as in today) and HARRY POTTER ADN THE GOBLET OF FIRE will be pulled on January 22nd. All you Ebay’ers could probably make like forty bucks, so get ’em before they’re gone now!

Major League: Wild Thing Edition – Expect a special edition of this baseball classic on April 10th. Check back for extras and artwork.

Casino Royale – Blonde…James Blonde will rock the house on March 13th. Check back for extras and artwork.

Babel – Multiple Golden Globe nominations candidate, BABEL, will street on February 20th. In other news, how the hell do you name a heavily dramatic flick, BABEL?

Infernal Affairs Box Set – Look for a box set with all three flicks on February 13th, 2007. The Weinstein Company’s Dragon Dynasty sublabel plans to release this box set on the heels of Martin Scorsese’s hugely successful remake “The Departed,” The three films will have anamorphic widescreen transfers, Cantonese & English Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks and English subtitles. Extras include “The Making of Infernal Affairs” documentary, “Confidential File” behind-the-scenes look at Infernal Affairs, deleted scenes, an alternate ending and trailers.

Revenge of the Nerds (SE) – NERDS had led me astray back in the day. It’s because of that movie that I thought having too many Kings in poker was a bad thing. On March 13th, this special edition will drop with a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo tracks and a commentary track with director Jeff Kanew and actors Robert Caradine (Louis), Timothy Busfield (Poindexter) & Curtis Armstrong (Dudley Dawson aka Booger). Extras also include six deleted scenes, “I’m a Nerd and I’m Pretty Proud of It” featurette, the rarely-seen “Revenge of the Nerds” TV Pilot and the original theatrical trailer. You can also grab a Revenge of the Nerds 4-Pack Gift Set which has the new special edition along with its three other (inferior) sequels.

Big ass computers as musical instruments? I’m there!