Things are a bit slow out there in DVD Land this week in the run-up to Christmas, with no truly major releases scheduled, but quite a few also-rans and a couple of good titles worth taking about.

"Must Love Dogs," unfortunately, isn't one of them.

It's a rather lackluster romantic comedy about online dating starring Diane Lane and John Cusack. But they're not to blame... writer/director Gary David Goldberg is the chief culprit. The film is out this week in both full screen and widescreen versions.

Terry Gilliam's "The Brothers Grimm" is a rousing, special-effects filled story of the “real” legendary storytelling brothers. The film stars Matt Damon and Keith Ledger and the DVD includes feature audio commentary with Gilliam, deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes featurettes.

We were expecting the worst from "Rebound," which stars a kinder, gentler - and somewhat plumper - Martin Lawrence as a former college basketball coach whose outrageous antics on the court get him demoted to a position coaching junior high school.

With a predictable script and stock characters right out of central casting, this movie shouldn't be as watchable as it is. But there are more than a few funny and clever moments here... and a wonderful supporting cast including Megan Mullaly. You know, you could do a lot worse when searching for a family-friendly flick this week.

Hey, folks, "Chicago" is back this week in a new "Razzle Dazzle Edition" that promises to bring you all that jazz.

This new "definitive" version of the Academy Award^®-winning film - postponed from earlier this year - comes with hours of never-before-seen bonus materials (including several featurettes dealing with the original Broadway cast, the history of the show and the transition from stage to screen).

We like this movie a lot and we're sure glad it's out with all that extra stuff, but we're getting pretty tired of replacing movies we own and love with "Special Collector's Commemorative Limited Edition" DVD boxed sets of the very same films.

If the new and improved "Chicago" doesn't get you in a festive holiday spirit, then try "Santa's Slay," in which jolly old St. Nick goes on a killing rampage.

Might be time to switch to decaf, Mrs. Claus.
Eight high-school students spin a tale of murder and mayhem that comes back to haunt them in the cutting edge thriller, "Cry_Wolf." The mystery about an imaginary – or possibly very real – serial killer arrives in an Unrated version available in both widescreen and full screen (each with footage "too frightening for theaters") and also in a PG-13-Rated full screen edition.

Four adopted brothers come together to bury the woman who raised them in "Four Brothers." At the funeral, the brothers discover that their mother was murdered, and they look to seek revenge. The John Singleton film stars Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin and Garrett Hedlund and is available in widescreen and full screen versions.

"Ice Men" is a new dramatic thriller about a group of friends who test the limits of their friendship on a snowy hunting trip. The feature film debut of “Queer as Folk” director Thom Best, "Ice Men" stars David Hewlett and is filled with guns, booze and testosterone.

Courteney Cox-Arquette delivers a compelling performance as a photographer whose life goes out of focus in "November," an offbeat psychological mystery.

And "Martha's Baking Favorites," the newest title from Warner Home Video's Martha Stewart Home Entertainment Library, focuses on baking cakes, pies and cookies, while delivering tips and advice from Martha Stewart herself.

Segments featured on the DVD were taken from over 1,500 hours of television programming including 11 seasons of the Emmy^®-winning "Martha Stewart Living" television series.
Also from TV this week comes the Second Seasons of "Party of Five" and "Battlestar Galactica" (available separately), the Fourth Season of "ER," the recently aired production of "Once Upon a Mattress" and a series of six exercise routines adapted from the NBC show, "The Biggest Loser."

That's all for this week; please join us again next Sunday when we do this all over again.

Regards,



DVD Direct 4 Less

This Week's New DVD Releases - Street Date: December 20, 2005 Chicago: The Razzle-Dazzle Edition Frankie & Johnny Are Married Four Brothers: Widescreen Edition Four Brothers: Full Screen Edition The Brothers Grimm Ice Men November The Exorcism of Emily Rose: Unrated Widescreen Edition The Exorcism of Emily Rose: PG-13-Rated Widescreen Edition The Great Raid: Widescreen Director's Cut The Great Raid: Full Screen Edition Cry_Wolf: Unrated Widescreen Edition Cry_Wolf: Unrated Full Screen Edition Cry Wolf: PG-13-Rated Full Screen Edition Rebound Serenity: Widescreen Edition Serenity: Full Screen Edition Must Love Dogs: Widescreen Edition Must Love Dogs: Full Screen Edition Santa's Slay Vodka Lemon Fortunes The Biggest Loser: The Workout Once Upon a Mattress Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.0 Party of Five: The Complete Second Season ER: Complete Fourth Season ER: Complete First Four Seasons USS Poseidon: Phantom Below Bob the Butler Beeper Creep The Amazing Race: The Seventh Season Martha Stewart: Martha's Baking Favorites 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. Shipping is now FREE (with minimum purchase) at many of these online merchants: Amazon l Barnes & Noble l DVD Empire l DVDPlanet l ebay l Half.com l Target l Wal-Mart Preview of Next Week's Releases - Street Dates: December 26 & 27, 2005 Taking advantage of the post-Christmas shopping rush, many studios will release next week's new titles on Monday, December 26th, although some will also stick with the traditional Tuesday (27th) street date. Out next week is "Dark Water" starring Jennifer Connelly, "Into the Blue" with Jessica Alba, "Empire of the Wolves" with Jean Reno, Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man" and a 2-Disc Special Edition of "Toy Story 2." TV on DVD releases will include Season One of "SeaQuest DSV" and "Criss Angel - Mindfreak" (available separately) and the Fourth Season of "The Shield." Join the Columbia House DVD Club and Save... Choose from big hit films like "Lemony Snicket," "Hitch," "Million Dollar Baby," and more. For a limited time, get FREE SHIPPING when you sign-up here. Support The DVD Dossier by buying your DVDs online from these respected merchants... Amazon l Barnes & Noble l DVD Empire l DVDPlanet l ebay l Half.com l Target l Wal-Mart Buy DVDs in Canada Buy DVDs in Britain and throughout the UK About This E-mail

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