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The DVD Dossier is the free newsletter published weekly by DVD Direct 4 Less.
This is the archived issue for June 5, 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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June 5, 2005
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Hi there, ${token1} -
There is no bigger DVD this week than the Fifth Season of "The Sopranos."
Expect a mob scene at your local video store because HBO hasn't aired new episodes of its big hit series since March, 2004 and fans of "The Sopranos" have made previous full season boxed sets among the best-selling DVDs of all time.
In Season Five, we learn that Tony's separation with his wife hasn't been working out, his nephew's fiancé has become a distraction, his paroled cousin is giving off bad vibes, his business rival is looking for payback and his therapist isn't buying into the "other Tony."
In addition to James Gandolfini as Tony and Edie Falco as Carmela, appearing in the 13 episodes of the Fifth Season are Drea De Matteo, Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, Steve Buscemi, Tony Sirico, Robert Iler, Jamie Lynn Discala and Steven Van Zandt.
De Matteo and Imperioli took home Emmy Awards for their supporting performances and this was also the season that "The Sopranos" finally dethroned "The West Wing" and won the award for "Outstanding Dramatic Series."
Special features on the Fifth Season include commentaries with directors Steve Buscemi, Peter Bogdanovich, Mike Figgis and Rodrigo Garcia on selected episodes.
You can buy the Fifth Season alone or in a special megapack, which features all five seasons of the show. Season Six of HBO's signature series is currently in production and is not scheduled to reappear until sometime next year.
Also out this week is "Beyond the Sea," the Bobby Darin biographical film that may just make you Sea sick. (We'd have liked a little less Kevin Spacey and a little more Bobby Darin.)
"Be Cool" comes to DVD this week in widescreen and full screen editions. The comedy is the slick sequel to the 1995 hit "Get Shorty" (based - like the first film - on an Elmore Leonard novel), John Travolta returns as a former loan shark eager to get out of the movie business.
"D.E.B.S." is a fairly forgettable film about an elite team of paramilitary college co-ed superspies. "D.E.B.S." is what you get when you mix a low budget "Charlie's Angels" with a silly (but chaste) girl-on-girl love story.
Chucky, every horror fan’s favorite notorious killer doll, gets his fifth outing this week in "Seed Of Chucky," directed by Don Mancini (creator of the Chucky series and screenwriter on all five movies).
The movie - available in widescreen and full screen versions, both of them "unrated and fully extended" - stars Jennifer Tilly, hip-hop sensation Redman, pop star Hannah Spearritt and cult director/actor John Waters (featured next week in his own new DVD collection), plus the voice talents of Billy Boyd and the original Chucky, Brad Dourif.
This time around, Chucky and his homicidal honey Tiffany are brought back to life by their orphan offspring, Glen. Then, the outrageous action goes Hollywood, as Chucky and his bride take Tinseltown by storm, unleashing a wild new rampage of murderous mayhem.
Also coming to DVD this Tuesday are a Special Edition of "Swimming With Sharks," the wickedly funny 1995 comedy with just the right amount of Kevin Spacey, an Extended Cut of "Stripes," Bill Murray's 1981 hit and "The Agronomist," Jonathan Demme's moving documentary about Haitian social activist Jean Dominique,
A couple of good films starring the late Peter Sellers are newly available on DVD this week - "What's New, Pussycat?" and "The Naked Truth" - along with a couple of lesser titles starring the British actor: "Never Let Go" and "The Block House."
And from TV this week, we get the First Season of "Lois & Clark - The New Adventures of Superman," the Second Season of "Home Improvement," the Third Season of "Wonder Woman" and the First Season of "Wanted: Dead or Alive," the 1958 series starring a very young Steve McQueen.
Also out this week is a 2-Disc Collector's Edition of "Davey and Goliath®," the beloved stop-motion animated television series about a little boy (Davey) and his talking dog (Goliath). This series, seen in the 1960's and 70's has had a profound impact on millions of people around the world for more than 40 years.
Produced by "Gumby" creators Art Clokey and Ruth Clokey Goodell, Davey and Goliath provides a welcome alternative to other children’s programming. The series, newly refurbished and digitally restored for DVD, features moral themes, which today can be seen as timeless.
Volume One features the all-time classic episodes, "The Kite," "Finders Keepers," "Blind Man’s Bluff," and "Stranded on an Island," plus the 30-minute special, "To The Rescue."
That's it for this week; we'll be back next Sunday with more new DVDs; please join us!
We'll see you back here next week with more!
Regards,
DVD Direct 4 Less
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| This Week's New DVD Releases - Street Date: June 7, 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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Robert Rodriguez and comics idol Frank Miller co-direct "Frank Miller's Sin City," based on a series of graphic novels created by Miller. (Quentin Tarantino is a special guest director.)
"Sin City" is infested with criminals, crooked cops and sexy dames, some searching for vengeance, some for redemption.
Visually stunning, the film has been translated from page to screen by remaining absolutely faithful to the look, feel and dialogue of the books. "Frank Miller's Sin City" will be available on DVD August 16th.
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"Frank Miller's Sin City" stars Bruce Willis as Hartigan, a cop with a bum ticker and a vow to protect stripper Nancy (Jessica Alba).
Mickey Rourke is Marv, the outcast misanthrope on a mission to avenge the death of his one true love, Goldie (Jaime King).
Clive Owen is Dwight, the clandestine love of Shelley (Brittany Murphy), who spends his night defending Gail (Rosario Dawson) and her Old Towne girls (Devon Aoki and Alexis Bledel) from Jackie (Benicio Del Toro), a tough guy with a penchant for violence.
Elijah Wood, Nick Stahl, Michael Madsen, Carla Gugino, Powers Boothe, Rutger Hauer, Josh Hartnett and Michael Clarke Duncan are also members of the ensemble cast.
Pre-order "Frank Miller's Sin City" now and save 35%. |
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Based on a true story, "Coach Carter" is the inspirational account of controversial basketball coach Ken Carter (Samuel L Jackson), who received both high praise and staunch criticism when he made national news for a gymnasium “lockout” of his entire undefeated team for poor academic performance.
With the players, the parents, and the community rallying to get the team back on the court, "Coach Carter" must overcome the obstacles of his environment and show the young men a future that stretches beyond gangs, drugs, prison and even basketball.
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"Coach Carter" arrives on DVD June 21st in both widescreen and full screen editions with extras including six deleted scenes and a "Man behind the Movie" featurette.
Pre-order "Coach Carter" now and save 30%. |
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In addition, the brand new bonus feature-length documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Kevin Brownlow and Turner Classic Movies, "Garbo," featuring interviews with Garbo’s friends and colleagues, will be available exclusively with the gift set. The new documentary premieres on Turner Classic Movies in September as part of a month-long tribute to Garbo.
One of the most glamorous actresses of the 1920s and 1930s, she first awed audiences with her enigmatic beauty in a series of MGM silent films that catapulted her to international movie stardom. Her evocative, melancholy voice would later add to her appeal as she made the successful transition to "Talkies."
Dubbed “the Sphinx of Hollywood,” Garbo was as famous for shunning publicity as she was for her film roles. Except at the beginning of her career, she granted no interviews, signed no autographs, attended no premieres and answered no fan mail.
Her famous line, “I want to be alone” (delivered in "Grand Hotel") only added to the notorious Garbo mystique. Throughout her twenty-year career, she made more than thirty films, all in black and white, enhancing the actresses’s air of mystery and allure.
At age 36, after her last film "Two-Faced Woman" failed, Garbo abandoned Hollywood forever and retired to New York City where she maintained a life of seclusion. In 1954, she was awarded a special Academy Award® for unforgettable performances (though she never appeared to accept it).
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Garbo made her landmark transition to “Talkies” with "Anna Christie" (1930) playing a former prostitute whose past threatens her chance for happiness. A different director and cast join Garbo in a German-language version (Side B, with English subtitles) filmed on the same sound stages immediately after the English version.
Later, Garbo called it the better film, and this new DVD release gives fans the rare opportunity to compare the two versions.
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Garbo is mesmerizing in "Mata Hari" (1931) as a dancer turned German secret agent in wartime Paris seething with secrets and betrayal.
The notable supporting cast includes Lionel Barrymore as a Russian general in love with her, Lewis Stone as an icy master spy and Ramon Novarro as a handsome aviator who wins the heart ""Mata Hari" did not know she possessed.
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"Grand Hotel" (1932) features ruined aristocrat John Barrymore, terminally ill clerk Lionel Barrymore, ruthless tycoon Wallace Beery, scheming stenographer Joan Crawford and Garbo as a disillusioned ballerina.
"Grand Hotel" captured the 1932 Best Picture Academy Award® and was later turned into a Broadway musical of the same name.
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To escape the burdens of the monarchy, Sweden’s "Queen Christina" (1933) rides into the countryside disguised as a boy. She meets and secretly falls for a dashing Spanish envoy on his way to the royal court.
When her lover’s true identity is revealed, Christina knows her people will not accept her marriage to a foreigner.
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Torn between her duty and her heart, she must make a fateful decision.
Garbo is luminous in this lavish costume drama, starring with her one-time off-screen fiancé John Gilbert under the direction of Rouben Mamoulian. |
Leo Tolstoy’s novel of a dutiful wife and doting mother who gives up her life of contentment to experience real passion, "Anna Karenina" (1935), receives sumptuous treatment in a David O. Selznick production.
Clarence Brown directs a stellar cast – including Fredric March, Basil Rathbone, Maureen O’Sullivan and Freddie Bartholomew.
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| Unforgettable as a woman helpless in love’s grasp and heartbroken at the loss of her son, Garbo is the soul of the film in a nuanced performance that won the New York Film Critics Best Actress Award. |
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Life in 1847 Paris is as spirited as champagne and as unforgiving as the gray morning after. In gambling dens and lavish soirees, men of means exert their wills and women turned courtesans exult in pleasure.
One such woman is Marguerite Gautier (Garbo), the "Camille" (1936) of this sumptuous romantic tale based on the enduring Alexandre Dumas story.
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Garbo earned an Academy Award nomination and the New York Film Critics Best Actress Award for her memorable work in this George Cukor-directed film.
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Garbo shines in her first comedy, "Ninotchka" (1939), a frothy tale of a dour Russian envoy sublimating her womanhood for Soviet brotherhood until she falls for a suave Parisian man-about-town (Melvyn Douglas).
Working from a clever script written in part by Billy Wilder, director Ernst Lubitsch knew better than anyone how to marry refinement with sublime wit.
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That’s how we see Garbo’s love struck "Ninotchka"... serenely dignified yet endearingly ridiculous.
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The Collection also includes the deluxe 2-Disc "TCM Archives: Garbo Silents" with three of the star’s greatest silent films – "Flesh and the Devil" (1927), "The Temptress" (1926) and "The Mysterious Lady" (1928).
All titles in Garbo: The Signature Collection will be available separately, but you can save a bundle by buying them together in the boxed set.
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| And you can even save 30% off the list price when you preorder! |
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| Preview of Next Week's Releases - Street Date: June 14, 2005 |
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Coming next week: "Hitch" with Will Smith, "Daddy Who?" with Gabrielle Anwar, Disney's "Tarzan II," a new Criterion Collection Edition of the original "Heaven Can Wait," the 30th Anniversary Edition of "Jaws" and new Joan Crawford and Bette Davis collections.
Another collection out next week salutes the work of John Waters. This new gift set features a collection of the unconventional director’s most popular films plus a bonus disc, "John Waters DVD Scrapbook."
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Included are "Hairspray," "Pecker," "Pink Flamingos," "Female Trouble," "Desperate Living," "Polyester," plus his newest release, "A Dirty Shame" (NC-17 version).
From television on June 14th comes new-to-DVD seasons of "Saved By The Bell," "Too Close For Comfort," "Northern Exposure," "Tilt" and "Reno 911." |
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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.
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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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