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Black Friday Movie Deals: Target
Filed under: Home Entertainment
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Our good friend and EIC Erik Davis had a very thoughtful idea for the holiday season: Why not scan the early flyers for the Black Friday sales, and report back to you -- the ravenous movie junkie -- to let you know where to find the best treats on the day after Thanksgiving? To those who choose to brave the stores on 11/27/09, you have my best wishes. I'll be sleeping.We'll be bringing you deals for a variety of stores all week long. Here's what we've posted so far so you can keep track:
Black Friday Movie Deals: Best Buy
For Target, the 2-Day Sale starts Friday, November 27, at 5 a.m
- 2001: A Space Odyssey (blu-ray) -- $12.99
- Baby Mama (standard) -- $3.99
- Christmas Vacation (standard) -- $5.99
- The Dark Knight (blu-ray) -- $12.99 (standard: $3.99)
- Elf (standard) -- $3.99
- Forgetting Sarah Marshall (standard) -- $3.99
- Gone With the Wind (blu-ray) -- $12.99
- Goodfellas (blu-ray) -- $8.99
- Gremlins (blu-ray / Target exclusive) -- $12.99
- I Am Legend (blu-ray) -- $8.99
- Kung Fu Panda (standard) -- $5.99
- Monsters vs. Aliens (standard) -- $10.00
- Nights in Rodanthe (standard) -- $5.99
- P.S. I Love You (standard) -- $5.99
- The Polar Express (standard) -- $5.99
- The Proposal (standard) -- $8.99
- Paul Blart: Mall Cop (standard) -- $5.99
- Sex and the City (standard) -- $3.99
- Transformers (standard) -- $5.99
- Up (standard) -- $13.99
- V for Vendetta (blu-ray) -- $8.99
- The Wizard of Oz (blu-ray) -- $12.99
Exclusive: Title Track for 'The Road' Soundtrack
Filed under: Drama, Music & Musicals, New Releases, Fandom, Home Entertainment
Cinematical has just received the following title track for Nick Cave and Warren Ellis' original and haunting film score for The Road. It's simple and chilling -- just as any accompaniment to a post-apocalyptic world should be -- full of violin and piano tunes, some wind instruments and sound loops. The soundtrack is being released digitally today over at Amazon, with further digital retailers tomorrow and a CD release to follow on January 12, 2010.We first alerted you to the score back in March, and then to the duo's Soundtrack Collection in September. As you might have gathered, some of us are big Cave & Ellis fans. And rightly so. They provided an award-winning score for John Hillcoat's earlier feature The Proposition (which Cave also wrote), and also scored The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. And of course, that's besides their work in Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, which has memorable cinematic ties to Wings of Desire (before Ellis teamed up with Cave).
Too often these days it's easy to get pulled out of movies due to overly imposing and grandoise film scores desperately trying to yank at emotions, rather than just lightly coaxing the right feel for a particular scene, and Cave and Ellis definitely know how to let simplicity reign. Check out the clip and track list after the jump and grab it over here at Amazon.
Making The (Up) Grade: Rocky
Filed under: United Artists, Fandom, 20th Century Fox, Home Entertainment
While new Blu-rays of old movies are sometimes dubious replacements for prior editions (hence the need for this column), box sets released in the high-definition format have thus far been fairly helpful, at least in terms of shelf space: many or most of them forego a lot of the frills and flourishes of their standard-definition iterations in favor of more streamlined packaging. Unfortunately, that's also sometimes extended to their extras, thanks in no small part to the legal entanglements of transferring commentaries and bonus content from one format to another.
Both Warner Brothers and Fox have faced this challenge a couple of times thanks to their ownership/ adoption of the libraries of MGM and United Artists, which until a few years ago issued their own releases. Rocky, which is one of United Artists' premier franchises, was recently released on Blu-ray in The Undisputed Collection, a set that contains all six of the films in the series, but it remains to be seen whether complete also means comprehensive in this particular case.
What's Already Available:
Interview: Judd Apatow (Part One)
Filed under: Universal, Fandom, Home Entertainment, Interviews
Funny People was the latest in Judd Apatow's ongoing series of summer comedies, but it was anything but a typical summer comedy: following a successful comedian (played by Apatow's longtime friend Adam Sandler) who reflects on his life after discovering he's going to die, the film offered lots of humor but with decidedly heavier themes lurking beneath the yuks. The film debuts on Blu-ray in a 2-Disc Collector's Edition next week, and the contents are amazing, showing how Apatow combined lighthearted fare with more serious ideas in the service of exploring something substantive.
Cinematical was lucky enough to catch up with Apatow via telephone one recent morning to discuss the process of putting together the film's home video iteration. In addition to discussing the bonus materials, extras, featurettes, and a documentary that's the most thorough and thoughtful ever produced about a comedy production, Apatow talked about finding the right ending for his magnum opus, discovering and deconstructing the process of producing laughs, and front-loading the film's universe with outside content about the supporting characters.
Cinematical: One of the ideas highlighted in the Blu-ray bonus materials was the fact that you knew this was going in a different direction than your previous films. Even knowing that while you were making it, were you surprised by the reactions of audiences and critics when it was released? Or does it matter?
Free Flick of the Day: The Doom Generation
Filed under: Home Entertainment
The '90s were a good time to be a teen -- especially if you were itching for more than just the mainstream. Nestled between the John Hughes '80s and the bubbly Disney '00s, the '90s were a time when teen films thrived in tunes-led rebellion. It wasn't all about spunky mainstream music marketing and bubbly personalities. Scores and strangeness got to go a little wild, and Gregg Araki ran with that idea when he made The Doom Generation. Dubbed Araki's "heterosexual movie," the film starred then-newcomer Rose McGowan as Amy Blue, a tough-as-nails, filthy-mouthed, self-proclaimed virgin in love with one Jordan White (James Duval). Their rather mundane lives are thrown through the ringer when they help out a strange boy named Xavier (Johnathan Schaech), who leads them through an insane road trip of unintended violence. A trip, mind you, that showcases a slew of names from all walks of life -- Skinny Puppy (band), Margaret Cho, Dustin Nguyen (21 Jump Street), Heidi Fleiss (the Hollywood madam), Perry Farrell (Janes Addiction), Parker Posey, Nicky Katt (Dazed and Confused), Zak Spears and Rex Chandler (gay adult film stars), Christopher Knight (Brady Bunch), Lauren Tewes (The Love Boat)...
It is, however, a film spliced in tone. The first three quarters are violent, black comedy, while the last third makes the violence personal as the trio faces off against Neo-Nazis -- a rather apt juxtaposition between pulpy imaginary thrills and violence laced with a sense of reality.
Get dark with The Doom Generation now on SlashControl!
'Rin Tin Tin' Goes From Iconic WWI Dog to Lawsuit
Filed under: Family Films, Home Entertainment
I was unaware that one could trademark a dog, but apparently you can, though it may not hold up in court. Rin Tin Tin Inc., a German Shepherd breeding company named after the dog an American soldier during World War I in France, filed a lawsuit last year against Nu Image and First Look Studios alleging that the use of their breed's name in the kid film Finding Rin Tin Tin: the Adventure Continues was, well, a trademark infringement. Unfortunately for them, a judge has finally ruled on the matter, coming to the rather obvious conclusion that "This descriptive use of the name is fair because it tells the consumer what the film is about -- the story of the historical dog Rin Tin Tin -- and because it is actually about the historical dog Rin Tin Tin." What I find funny about all of this is not only the fact that an entity who takes their name from a widely-known, long-dead dog actor would sue a film for doing the exact same thing, but that their suit called for retainership of all profits from the film and complete destruction of every DVD of it in existence.
Really? It's not as though Rin Tin Tin Inc. invented German Shepherds or discovered the original dog that would go on to be a film, TV, and radio star (yes, a dog used to have several radio shows). All they thought to do was capitalize on its popularity by making a brand out of the dog's genealogy, which at this point must be severely diluted. I hate to see our legal system put to such frivolous use, but I'm glad to see a judge saw fit to dismiss the suit: I'd hate to live in a world without a single DVD of Finding Rin Tin Tin!
Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo Set for Another 'Vacation'
Filed under: Comedy, Fandom, Home Entertainment
While the wheels on the Wagon Queen Family Truckster are still in motion with regards to a brand new Vacation film as told through the eyes of Clark Griswold's son Rusty and his family (which New Line is currently working on alongside David Dobkin), the original Clark and Ellen Griswold (Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo, respectively) will be making a return appearance this February on the small screen as part of a Superbowl commercial for HomeAway vacation rentals.
Yup, Chase and D'Angelo will be reprising their characters for a commercial that US Weekly says will pay homage to the 1983 original film, National Lampoon's Vacation. Says Chase, "To this day, people ask me, 'When is the next Vacation movie?" So I'm sure everyone will get a kick out of seeing the Griswolds and their misadventures once again." D'Angelo adds, "Clark and Ellen have one of the most enduring marriages ever to come out of Hollywood. I am thrilled that HomeAway is reuniting Chevy and me." Aside from Chase and D'Angelo, the TV spot will also reportedly feature an exact replica of the iconic station wagon featured in first film.
Though it's not exactly a big-screen reunion for the original Griswold parents, it'll be fun to see them back together again for what I hope will be an entertaining Superbowl spot. And, hey, I guess after watching that we'll know whether or not we want them back for cameo appearances in the next Vacation movie, too.
Shelf Life: The Professional
Filed under: Fandom, Home Entertainment, Shelf Life
This week, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released Leon: The Professional on Blu-ray, and because I have the best job in the world, I got to watch it for this column. The truth is that this was a formative movie for me, not only augmenting my budding cinephilia in terms of attention to and interest in strongly visual filmmakers, but in understanding the technical and artistic value of widescreen cinema. Before the film was released on widescreen VHS and later, DVD, I watched the pan-and-scan version when it was first released on video and almost got sick from the cropping and scanning of director Luc Besson's balletic camerawork.
Thankfully, I never have to watch it via that sort of butchered presentation again, and even if you don't think the movie is a masterpiece, at the very least, SPHE's new Blu-ray offers a gorgeously rich transfer that fully celebrates Besson's cinematography. But even though this is a film I've revisited several times since its original release in 1994, I was curious to see how well The Professional would hold up some 15 years later – which brings us to this week's "Shelf Life."
Our First Look at 'Avatar: The Game'
Filed under: Fandom, Home Entertainment
One of the first big information breaks on the secrets of James Cameron's Avatar came back in June when the director himself took the stage at E3 during Ubisoft's press conference to talk about the upcoming video game based on the film. In his now notorious talk, Cameron drained the energy out of the room by going on and on about the plot of the game, which mirrors the movie's, revealing so much information that Joystiq remarked "we no longer feel obligated to see it when it hits theaters." What they were shown of the game, however, was stunning. Ubisoft had been plugging away at it for over two years and it showed in the lush, player-interactive world of Pandora.And now you too can get a first hand look at the Avatar game without having to hear Cameron spoil the movie. That is if you have a PC that meets the minimum system requirements which are, not unsurprisingly, quite beefy. ShackNews picked up on the PC demo for the game, which will be available in full for the 360, PS3 and Wii on December 1st, from the German Coca-Cola Zero site of all places, and now they're hosting it for nerds the world over to try out. Being a worldly nerd, I grabbed the 1.6gig demo and gave it a play through. It was fun, but more surprising was how much context it gave the images we've seen so far from the mega-budget production.
Read the rest of our preview over at SciFi Squad
'District 9' to Make History with Blu-ray Release
Filed under: Fandom, Home Entertainment
Those of you wondering whether you'll be able to toss a District 9 DVD or Blu-ray onto your Christmas Wish List are in luck, as the film is set to debut in stores on December 22 (up from the previous release date of December 29th). Makes sense to release it BEFORE Christmas rather than four days AFTER Christmas since it was one of the biggest movies of the summer. We're looking at a two-disc set that will feature 1.85:1 1080p AVC video accompanied by a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. As far as extra features go on the Blu-ray release, check it:-- movieIQ
-- cinechat
-- Joburg From Above: Satellite and Schematics of the World of District 9 - Interactive Map
-- Director's Commentary
-- Koobus Big Gun
-- The Alien Agenda: A Filmmaker's Log Three-Part Documentary
-- The Alien Agenda: A Filmmaker's Log - Chapter 3: Refining District 9
-- Metamorphosis: The Transformation of Wikus
-- Innovation: Acting and Improvisation
-- Conception and Design: Creating the World of District 9
-- Alien Generation: Visual Effects
Read the rest and find out why it's set to make Blu-ray history over at SciFi Squad
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Exclusive 'Nine' Poster Premiere!
Exclusive: Title Track for 'The Road' Soundtrack
Movie Popcorn is Bad for You? Who Knew?_thumbnail.jpg)
'New Moon' Smashes 'Dark Knight's' Opening Day Record!
Black Friday Movie Deals: Best Buy
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