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The DVD Dossier is the free newsletter published weekly by DVD Direct 4 Less.
This is the archived issue for April 17, 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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April 17, 2005
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| Get an iPod or a $250 iTunes Gift Certificate from freeiPods.com! |
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Hi there, my friend, and welcome to another edition of The DVD Dossier! Are you ready to "Meet the Fockers?"
The hit sequel to ""Meet the Parents" arrives on Tuesday in widescreen and full screen versions and with a bunch of extras including 85 bloopers and a new extended edition of the film.
The hit sequel to ""Meet the Parents" arrives on Tuesday in widescreen and full screen versions and with a bunch of extras including 85 bloopers and a new extended edition of the film.
"Meet the Fockers" reunites the original cast - Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Blythe Danner and Teri Polo - and adds Barbra Streisand and Dustin Hoffman (as Stiller's parents), who very nearly steal the show.
Also out this week, the haunting drama, "Birth," starring Nicole Kidman as a widow faced with an astounding dilemma. Ten years after the death of her husband, she is finally ready to remarry. But then she meets a ten year-old boy who claims to be her husband reincarnated.
Though his story is both unsettling and absurd, she can't get the boy out of her mind. And, much to the concern of her fiancée, her increased contact with the child leads her to question the choices she has made in her life.
"Birth" is an absolutely fascinating story that explores the space between what we know and what we feel. But, as directed by Jonathan Glazer, it's also extraordinarily subtle and filed with nuance, which - in this case - we're using as polite euphemisms for slow and sleep inducing.
We liked this movie, even though we nodded off here and there... but, after all, isn't that why they put the "rewind" button on your remote control? To go back and catch what you missed?
Plus, "Birth" has a superb supporting cast that includes Danny Huston, Anne Heche, film legend Lauren Bacall and Broadway legend Zoe Caldwell. Then again, we tend to go for arty introspective stuff like this. If you don't, it's unlikely that you'll enjoy "Birth."
Also fascinating is "Primer," a movie made for less than ten thousand dollars and edited on a home computer by its writer, director, composer and star, Shane Carruth.
This is a sci-fi time travel puzzler, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, and one of the year's best films. But I'll be damned if I understood more than half of it.
Intricately plotted and full of paradoxes, "Primer" demands repeated viewing.
"Julian Po," an offbeat 1997 black comedy starring Christian Slater as a suicidal stranger in a small town arrives on DVD this week, as does "An Awfully Big Adventure," a 1995 dramedy from Mike Newell (the director of "Four Weddings and a Funeral").
"Big Adventure" stars Alan Rickman and Hugh Grant and is an engaging comedy about a star-struck young girl lured into the grown-up world of the theatre when she takes a job with an unconventional stage troupe in post World War II Liverpool.
We hated "A Love Song for Bobby Long" and told you so - passionately - in our March 20th issue. Nevertheless, we're duty bound to report that the film completes its journey down the cliché highway to DVD this Tuesday.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings the critically acclaimed (but strangely silly and rather passionless) "House of Flying Daggers" to DVD this week. Directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Ziyi Zhang, it's a martial arts adventure... it's a love story... why, it's two movies in one!
Unfortunately, neither one is very interesting, even though we very much appreciate the eye candy.
"Daggers" is available all by itself and in a special 2-Pack along with the Academy Award® winning "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Curiously, it's also being made available as a UMD (Universal Mini Disc), playable only in the new Sony PlayStation Portable device (PSP).
When you have a movie as visually stunning as this, why on earth would you want to watch it on a small handheld screen? (Hey, we're just asking.)
From TV this week, we get the Second Season of that groovy Fox hit, "That 70's Show" (with Ashton Kutcher and Topher Grace) and "The Jacques Costeau Odyssey," which includes all 12 episodes of the underwater adventures filmed by the famous explorer.
And then there's the First Season of "Dynasty."
One of the first prime time soap operas, the show ran on ABC from 1981 to 1989 and featured some of the largest shoulder pads and biggest hair ever seen on television, plus a topnotch cast that included John Forsythe, Heather Locklear, Linda Evans, Al Corley, Pamela Sue Martin and (in later seasons) Joan Collins.
The show was about the Carringtons of Denver, a wealthy family whose fortunes are endangered when hostilities in the Middle East threaten Blake Carrington's oil empire. But let's be real, it was the illicit affairs, dirty business deals and hair-pulling catfights that brought in the viewers each week.
This new box set of "Dynasty" is presented in widescreen on 4 Discs that feature all 15 episodes from the First Season with English, Spanish and French audio and English and Spanish subtitles.
Before we leave you this week, just a reminder that you can always read The DVD Dossier online, should you ever miss an issue or two. All past issues are archived here.
We mention this because we've heard from more than a few subscribers that their Internet Service Provider sometimes designates this newsletter as "unsolicited commercial e-mail" or "SP*M."
The best way to ensure that you get every issue (and that e-mail you wish to receive is not routed to your junk mail folder) is to take a moment now to confirm your subscription.
Full details and instructions are in the "About This E-mail" section below and links to confirm or update your subscription preferences are at the very bottom of every issue.
As always, thanks for reading; we'll see you back here next week with more new DVDs.
Regards,
DVD Direct 4 Less
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| This Week's New DVD Releases - Street Date: April 19, 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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The right to enjoy life and end it with dignity is at the controversial core of Alejandro Amenábar’s Academy Award®-winning drama "The Sea Inside," available on May 17th.
Golden Globe® nominee Javier Bardem delivers one of last year's best performances as poet and quadriplegic Ramón Sampedro in a literal fight for his life. Based on a true story, Sampedro’s 30-year struggle with the Spanish government and the Catholic Church for the right to die inspired both an outpouring of support and criticism from his family, friends and strangers.
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"The Sea Inside" has been recognized by critical acclaim and nominations for awards the world over, including the Academy Award®, Independent Spirit Award, National Board of Review Award and Golden Globe® for Best Foreign Language Film; and the Jury Grand Prize and Best Actor Awards from the 2004 Venice Film Festival.
The DVD bonus features include deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes documentary and commentary from Amenábar, the film’s director, co-writer, editor, composer and co-producer. "The Sea Inside" is presented in widescreen in its original Spanish language audio track with the option of either English or Spanish subtitles.
Pre-order "The Sea Inside" now and save 30%. |
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| Something Rotten in Denmark |
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"The Green Butchers" is a decidedly offbeat comedy from Denmark about two socially dysfunctional friends (Bjarne and Svend) who open an organic butcher shop in their small town. Business couldn't be worse, until an electrician accidentally gets locked in the deep freezer.
Not wanting to waste inventory, the unlucky repairman is filleted and marinated into “chicky-wickies,” a party snack that the townsfolk just can't get enough of.
Think "Fargo" meets "Sweeney Todd "and throw in a bit of "Delicatessen" and you have a good idea of what this black comedy is like.
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"The Green Butchers" is presented in letterbox widescreen with the original Danish audio (with English subtitles) and will be available May 17th.
Pre-order "The Green Butchers" now and save 25%. |
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"The Essential Steve McQueen Collection" arrives on DVD May 31st, saluting the screen legend who defined cool like no other actor.
The collection features a newly remastered 2-Disc Special Edition of "Bullitt" with three related documentaries, two of them completely new.
Making their DVD debuts are "The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing" (with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino and Ridley Scott) and "Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool," a new documentary that will premiere June 1st on Turner Classic Movies.
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Included are interviews from Neile Adams (McQueen’s first wife), Sir Richard Attenborough, Norman Jewison, Chad McQueen (his son), Peter Yates, Barbara Minty (McQueen’s widow) and more.
The five other films included in "The Essential Steve McQueen Collection" are "The Getaway," "Papillon" and new-to-DVD titles "The Cincinnati Kid," "Never So Few," and "Tom Horn."
DVD special features include commentaries from directors Norman Jewison and Peter Yates, archival footage and new and vintage documentaries. All films will be available individually from Warner Home Video, as well as in the 7-Disc Gift Set.
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While Warner thinks their collection is "essential," the folks over at MGM may disagree. Two weeks earlier - on May 17th - they will release their own Steve McQueen Collection, one they're calling "definitive."
You see, each studio owns the distribution rights to different Steve McQueen films and that means you'll need both of these new boxed sets,
if you want to see all of the Hollywood rebel's best work.
The Steve McQueen Collection from MGM includes the iconic western, "The Magnificent Seven" and the ultimate wartime adventure, "The Great Escape," plus the sexy romantic thriller, "The Thomas Crown Affair" and the rugged rodeo tale, "Junior Bonner" (all of which have been previously released and all of which are currently available separately).
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On June 7th, New Line Home Entertainment joins in the fun with the release of "Wanted: Dead or Alive," the hit television series that launched Steve McQueen's career.
McQueen played gentleman bounty hunter Josh Randall in the 1958 series, a character first seen in an episode of the television western "Trackdown."
The character proved so popular that the production company created "Wanted: Dead or Alive" so that McQueen could reprise the role. The show ran for three seasons on CBS.
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This new 4-Disc set includes all 36 episodes from the First Season with extras including a six-part documentary about McQueen ("Life in the Fast Lane"), three colorized episodes, featurettes about the series, photo galleries, bios and more.
Preorder savings on these three Steve McQueen boxed sets range from 25 - 30%.
Click on the individual title links above for more information. |
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| Preview of Next Week's Releases - Street Date: April 26, 2005 |
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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.)
At DVD Direct 4 Less, your privacy is always guaranteed. We promise that we will never sell, rent or trade our subscriber lists. You can view our complete privacy policy here.
Republishing the content of this newsletter - online or off-line - or posting the content contained herein on other websites without written permission is expressly forbidden.
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.
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Please let us know.
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.
No DVDs were harmed in the making of this newsletter.
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