Happy Holidays, everyone!

There are some good DVD choices out there this week, as you head to the stores to return gifts and search for bargains.

Please note, though, that some studios are releasing their new titles on Monday to take advantage of all the retail traffic, while others are sticking with the traditional Tuesday street date. A few others are releasing select titles next Saturday, New Year's Eve Day.

Perhaps the biggest holiday title this week is the re-release of "Toy Story 2," winner of the 2000 Golden Globe^® for Best Motion Picture. The smash sequel to "Toy Story" is back in an all-new Special Edition with newly remastered Dolby^® 5.1 Surround Sound EX and DTS^® 5.1 Surround Sound, and enhanced picture.

New bonus features include deleted scenes and animated "outtakes," a personality game that helps you find out “Which Toy Are You?” and a sneak peek at the upcoming, highly anticipated Pixar film, "Cars."

Other bonus features on this 2-Disc DVD include behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of the film, how the characters were designed and created, production tours, animation tests, and music and sound featurettes, The film itself is presented in widescreen (1:77:1 aspect ratio).

New from the "American Pie" franchise is "Band Camp."

In this direct-to-DVD sequel (never shown in theatres), Eugene Levy reprises his role as “Jim’s Dad,” Mr. Levenstein, and the plot - such as it is - centers on Matt Stifler, Steve’s troublemaking younger brother, who must atone for his shenanigans by spending the summer at the infamous Tall Oaks Band Camp.

The film is available three ways: in an R-Rated Full Screen Edition, an Unrated Full Screen Edition and an Unrated Widescreen Edition. Extras on all versions include deleted scenes, outtakes, a music video and several-behind-the-scenes featurettes. (The Unrated Edition features an extended film, plus more bonus materials.)

"Dark Water," a suspense thriller starring Jennifer Connelly also arrives this week. The film is about a devoted mother (Connelly) and her daughter who are terrorized by the mysteries of the deserted apartment above them. The film is available in two versions: the original, theatrical “PG-13” Full Screen version and an Unrated Widescreen version with footage not seen in theatres.

A carefree treasure hunt becomes an action-packed battle for survival in "Into the Blue," the underwater adventure starring Paul Walker and Jessica Alba. The film comes in both widescreen and full screen versions.

Jean Reno stars in "Empire of the Wolves," a suspense thriller set in a mysterious Turkish neighborhood buried deep in the city of Paris.
In his new film "Grizzly Man," acclaimed director Werner Herzog explores the life and death of amateur grizzly bear expert and wildlife preservationist Timothy Treadwell..

Treadwell lived unarmed among the bears for thirteen summers, and filmed his adventures in the wild during his final five seasons. In October 2003, Treadwell's remains, along with those of his girlfriend, were discovered near their campsite in Alaska's Katmai National Park and Reserve.

They had been mauled and devoured by a grizzly, the first known victims of a bear attack in the park. (The bear suspected of the killings was later shot by park officials.)

In "Grizzly Man," Herzog plumbs not only the mystery of wild nature, but also the mystery of human nature as he chronicles Treadwell's final years in the wilderness. Herzog uses Treadwell's own documentary footage to paint a nuanced portrait of a complex and compelling figure while exploring larger questions about the uneasy relationship between man and nature.

Another documentary - "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill" - is filled with romance, comedy and a surprise ending. The film features a rambunctious flock of urban parrots with surprisingly humanlike behavior.

And still another documentary this week - "Sex - Life in L.A. Part 2: Cycles of Porn" - is a revealing and insightful study of the gay adult film industry, focusing on several subjects chronicled in the filmmaker Jochen Hick's previous documentary on the same subject.

In "Black Dawn," CIA Agent Jonathan Cold (Steven Seagal) is working as an undercover agent to undermine arms dealers, who want to sell a nuclear bomb to an eastern European terrorist group. His cover gets detected when the weapons dealers’ catch his former student.

Set in the world of up-and-coming artists, "Undiscovered" tells the story of an aspiring model who falls in love with a struggling musician when they suddenly cross paths on a NY subway train. There's more to the story than that, but that's about the only thing that makes sense... this is strictly for fans of Ashlee Simpson.
From TV this week, we get "Sunday Morning Shootout" (The Best of Season One), the First Season of "Criss Angel - Mindfreak," a compilation DVD of "America's Funniest Home Videos" (The Best of Kids and Animals) and Season Four of "The Shield."

The Fourth Season was the highest rated yet for the FX cop drama starring Michael Chiklis. Glenn Close joined the cast for the season and the new 4-Disc boxed set includes all 13 episodes with bonus features including episode commentaries and deleted scenes.

That's all we have for you this week, my friend.

But we'd like to wish you (and Bill O'Reilly) a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Chanukah, a Blessed Kwanzaa, a Joyous Festivus and a Wonderful Winter Solstice.

If we didn't cover your particular religious or secular celebration - and you're horribly offended - please let us know. (You usually do.)

We'll see you back here next week.

Regards,



DVD Direct 4 Less

This Week's New DVD Releases: Available December 26, 27 & 31, 2005 Dark Water: Full Screen Theatrical Edition Dark Water: Unrated Widescreen Edition Into the Blue: Widescreen Edition Into the Blue: Full Screen Edition The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill American Pie: Band Camp Unrated Widescreen Edition American Pie: Band Camp Unrated Full Screen Edition American Pie: Band Camp R-Rated Full Screen Edition Bram Stoker's Dracula and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein Empire of the Wolves Happy Here and Now Undiscovered Black Dawn Chicago Boricua Spine 2046 SeaQuest DSV: Season One Duke Ellington: Tivoli 1969 Hole in One Oliver Twist (1933) Grizzly Man Toy Story 2: 2-Disc Special Edition Pterodactyl Her Name Is Carla The Shooting Gallery AB Normal Beauty When the Last Sword Is Drawn Cafe Lumiere Sex - Life in L.A. Part 2: Cycles of Porn The Shield: The Complete Fourth Season Criss Angel - Mindfreak: The Complete First Season America's Funniest Home Videos: Best of Kids & Animals Sunday Morning Shootout: The Best of Season 1 Fraggle Rock: Live by the Rule of the Rock Dance Your Cares Away Fraggle Rock: Where It All Began Be My Valentine Love, Barney My Big Fat Greek Wedding: Special Edition The Football Factory Superfight: Marciano vs. Ali 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 Date: January 3, 2006 Yes, yes... we know the BIG title next week is "Wedding Crashers." But you don't need us to tell you that! No, one of the reasons you're a DVD Dossier subscriber, my friend, is because we'll tell you about a much smaller film starring Bill Murray. "Broken Flowers," which won the Grand Prix at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, is a finely observed story of a man forced to confront a mystery surrounding his past. Highly recommended. (We'll tell you more next week.) Also coming to DVD on January 3rd are "My Date with Drew," "Secuestro Express," the Fifth Season of "All in the Family," the Third Season of "Have Gun Will Travel" and "Cartoon Adventures Starring Gerald McBoing Boing." Join the Columbia House DVD Club and Save... Choose from big hit films like "Monster-in-Law," "Crash," "Phantom of the Opera," 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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