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The DVD Dossier is the free newsletter published weekly by DVD Direct 4 Less.
This is the archived issue for October 16, 2005.
Click Here To Subscribe To The DVD Dossier Newsletter
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Published weekly by DVD Direct 4 Less, the online source for DVD Discounts & Deals
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In This Issue
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October 16, 2005
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Do you have your copy of "Cinderella" yet? The Disney favorite, released October 4th - and available for the first time on DVD - enjoyed first-week sales of more than 3.2 million, well on its way to becoming one of the best selling discs of all time.
"Cinderella" is available as a Platinum Series Special Edition and in a 2-Disc Collector's Gift Set.
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There's a whole bunch of "Batman" headed your way.
The movie many have been waiting for, of course, is "Batman Begins," which arrives in a 2-Disc Deluxe Edition DVD (widescreen only), as well as a Single Disc Edition in both widescreen and full screen formats.
The film, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale, tells the story of Bruce Wayne from childhood through his transformation to Batman and his emergence as a force for good.
Also arriving on Tuesday is "Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology," which includes new 2-Disc Special Editions of the first four Batman movies ("Batman Begins" is not included). All four titles - "Batman," "Batman Returns," "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin" have been digitally remastered and will be available individually, as well as in the "Anthology."
George A. Romero is back this week with the fourth film in his zombie cycle, "Land of the Dead," available in an R-Rated Edition and an Unrated Director's Cut.
And the hit documentary, "Mad Hot Ballroom" comes to DVD this week. It's the story of a group of eleven-year-old New York City public school kids who journey into the world of ballroom dancing by participating in an after-school program.
We can say without fear of contradiction that "Saving Face," a new film from writer/director Alice Lu, is the best Chinese-American-Lesbian romantic comedy of the year.
When 48-year-old widow Hwei-Lan Gao (Joan Chen) informs her less-than understanding father that she's pregnant, he banishes her from his home until she remarries.
With nowhere else to go, she moves in with her grown daughter, Wilhelmina (Michelle Krusiec), a Manhattan doctor who doesn't want a roommate, especially since she's recently fallen madly in like with Vivian (Lynn Chen), a ballet dancer.
So Wil does what any dutiful child with an expectant, unmarried mother on her hands would do: she proceeds to set her mother up with every eligible bachelor in town.
"Saving Face" could have been just dreadful if written or played too broadly, but Wu has fashioned a lovely, sensitive portrait of a conservative community forced to embrace nontraditional romances.
Nominated for three Academy Awards®, Alfred Hitchcock's "Lifeboat," is a World War II drama and a remarkable story of human survival. After their ship is sunk in the Atlantic by Germans, eight people are stranded in a lifeboat, among them a glamorous journalist (Tallulah Bankhead), a tough seaman (John Hodiak), a nurse (Mary Anderson) and an injured sailor (William Bendix).
Their problems are further compounded when they pick up a ninth passenger - the Nazi captain from the U-boat that torpedoed them. With its powerful interplay of suspense and emotion, this legendary classic is a microcosm of humanity, revealing the subtleties of man's strengths and frailties under extraordinary duress.
"The Big Lebowski," the zany existential comedy from Joel and Ethan Coen returns this week in a Collector’s Edition (in widescreen and full screen formats) and an “Achiever's Edition” Gift Set (widescreen only), which includes eight exclusive Jeff Bridges’ photographs taken on the set, a bowling towel and coasters.
"The Big Lebowski" is a whacked out film noir about life, death, bowling and slacking off. It stars Jeff Bridges in the title role, along with John Goodman, Julianne Moore, John Turturro, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tara Reid and Sam Elliot.
A 50th Anniversary Special Edition of "The Man With the Golden Arm" arrives this week. This is Otto Preminger's gripping 1955 screen adaptation of Nelson Algren's controversial 1949 novel. The film stars Frank Sinatra as a one-time heroin addict. who returns home from jail, while he struggles to find work and to avoid slipping back into addiction.
A sweeping tale of love and honor, tragedy and triumph set against the Spanish conquest of Mexico, "The Mask of Zorro" stars Anthony Hopkins and Antonio Banderas. After twenty years as the legendary Zorro, Don Diego (Hopkins) must transform a troubled drifter (Banderas) into the fearless hero he once was.
When Charlie Chaplin was forced to leave the USA in 1952, he found harbor in Switzerland and settled in a small village on Lake Geneva where he lived with his family until the end of his life in 1977. In his autobiography, written from his new home, he calls these his happiest years.
"Charlie Chaplin: The Forgotten Years," a new documentary covers those happy years and gives us rare insight into his family-life and his love for the circus. Chaplin's children Geraldine, Michael and Eugene talk about their father and many friends, colleagues and contemporaries share their memories and anecdotes.
"The Forgotten Years" focuses for the first time on Chaplin's later films and projects and offers evidence of Chaplin's prolific years as a musical composer of 500 pieces of music. This homage also contains newly found unreleased footage from private archives.
From TV this week, we have the First Seasons of "CSI: New York" and "The Adventures of Superman" (available separately) and "The Peter Jennings Collection," which compiles some of the late newsman's best work in one 2-Disc bixed set.
And that's all for this week.
Please join us next week when we'll do this all over again.
Regards,
DVD Direct 4 Less
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| This Week's New DVD Releases - Street Date: October 18, 2005 |
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Visit us online to see a comprehensive list of new DVD releases for the next six weeks.
Links above are for Region 1 (USA) Editions. Availability and release dates elsewhere may vary.
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| Vaughan and Wilson Say "I Do" to DVD |
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Hide your bridesmaids... "Wedding Crashers" comes to DVD on January 3rd. The movie will be available in a longer and wilder unrated “Uncorked” Edition (in both widescreen and full screen formats) and in an R-Rated Widescreen (Theatrical) Edition.
The $200 million box office hit stars Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn as Washington D.C.’s top divorce mediators and lifelong best friends. The two have also never met a wedding they couldn’t charm their way into.
Guided by a secret set of “wedding crashing rules,” the pair attends a different wedding – and romances different bridesmaids – every week.
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But, when they crash the social event of the season, one of them falls for the daughter (Rachel McAdams) of an influential and eccentric politician (Christopher Walken) and decides to break the “rules” in pursuit of her love.
What results is a wild weekend at her family’s palatial estate where they quickly find themselves in way over their heads.
Special features include commentary from Wilson, Vince Vaughn and director David Dobkin, nine minutes added to the film's running time“ (in the "Uncorked” Edition), deleted scenes, trailers, a “Wedding Crashing” game and the featurettes: “A Crash Course In Wedding Crashing” and “Event Planning.”
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| Pre-order "Wedding Crashers" now and save 45%. |
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The show about nothing that became a pop-culture phenomenon continues to be really something on DVD with the release of "Seinfeld: Season Five" and "Seinfeld: Season Six" on November 22nd.
Season 5 features all 22 episodes from the Fifth Season in a 4-Disc Collector’s Set and Season 6, also on four discs, features all 24 episodes from the Sixth Season, including the 100th Episode two-part special.
Both new Seinfeld DVD volumes also include hours of fresh bonus material, supervised personally by Jerry Seinfeld and the show’s creators.
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These include never-before-seen deleted scenes, bloopers, interviews with the cast and creators, exclusive stand-up comedy footage, behind-the-scenes scoops, commentaries and more.
All the episodes have been digitally remastered and newly enhanced in high-definition to provide the best picture and sound quality possible.
Plus, both "Seinfeld: Season Five" and "Seinfeld: Season Six" will include the original (one to two minutes longer than syndicated episodes) NBC network versions, not seen since their original broadcast runs.
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Still on a creative roll, "Seinfeld: Season Five" brought viewers some of the most memorable moments ever, including Jerry’s Today show appearance in the now infamous Puffy Shirt; George’s “shrinkage”; Jerry’s deaf date who could read lips; George’s new job with the Yankees’ George Steinbrenner and Elaine’s admission that she “faked ‘em all.”
Season Five was also highlighted by Michael Richard’s second Emmy® Award win for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
Season Six marked a major milestone for the series with its 100th episode.
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Seinfeld’s universe expanded in Season Six to include the pesky comic Bania, Elaine’s old bosses Mr. Pitt and Mr. Peterman, the face-painting mechanic Puddy, Kramer’s Fusilli Jerry and the revelation of Kramer’s first name: Cosmo.
Throughout Season Five and Six, Seinfeld featured a strong line-up of celebrity guest stars and cameo appearances on the show including Al Roker, Jon Favreau, Courtney Cox, Jennifer Coolidge, Marlee Matlin, Jon Voight, Bette Midler, Kathie Lee Gifford, Regis Philbin, Carol Kane, Jon Lovitz, and others.
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Also available on November 22nd - and perfectly timed for holiday gift-giving (or regifting) will be the special Seinfeld Gift Set featuring Seasons 5 and 6 together, packaged with an exclusive reproduction of Jerry Seinfeld’s hand-written script for an episode from Season 4 called “The Pilot."
Included will be a unique "Puffy Shirt" Collectible. (The actual Puffy Shirt was donated by Seinfeld in November, 2004 to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. )
Pre-order "Seinfeld" now and save 35%...
Season 5 l Season 6 l Season 5 & 6 Gift Set
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"Yes," a passionate and sensual love story starring Joan Allen and Sam Neill, arrives on DVD November 8th.
Written and directed by Sally Potter, the film was named an official selection for the 2005 Toronto Film Festival.
"Yes" is the story of a fiery love affair between an American woman (Allen) and a Middle-Eastern man (Simon Abkarian) in which they confront one of the greatest political conflicts in modern times as well as of some of the social struggles – emotional, religious and sexual – that have always been part of the human condition.
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Neill plays the betrayed and betraying politician husband and Shirley Henderson is a philosophical cleaner who witnesses the trail of dirt and heartbreak the lovers leave behind them, as they embark on a journey that takes them from London to Belfast, from Beirut to Havana – with all the characters speaking in a cadenced, slant-rhyming language specially created by Potter for the film.
Pre-order "Yes" now and save 30%.
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| Preview of Next Week's Releases - Street Date: October 25, 2005 |
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| Get an iPod or a $250 iTunes Gift Certificate... |
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The DVD Dossier is a free weekly newsletter that contains objective information about new DVD releases that has been researched and written by the editors at DVD Direct 4 Less, as well as advertisements and promotional information provided by movie studios.
We send this newsletter only to those who request it. Each newsletter we send directly to you includes an "unsubscribe" link. (This is an online archived issue of The DVD Dossier which does not contain that link.)
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Academy Award(s)® and Oscar(s)® are the registered service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Golden Globe(s)® is the registered service mark of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Emmy is the trademark property of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
SEINFELD: © 1993, 1994 Castle Rock Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. © 2005 Layout and Design Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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Savings percentages quoted apply to preorder purchases from amazon.com and were in effect at the time of publication; preorder savings may vary at other online merchants.
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Please note: all DVDs were available for sale as of the original publication date of this newsletter. Some may no longer be in inventory at the present time and preorder savings may not be in effect. If you're having difficulty finding a particular title, you can search current availability for any DVD here.
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