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The DVD Dossier is the free newsletter published weekly by DVD Direct 4 Less.
This is the archived issue for July 31, 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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July 31, 2005
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| Join the Columbia House DVD Club and Save... |
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Choose from big hit films like "Ray," "Shrek 2," "Anchorman," "Meet the Fockers" and more.
For a limited time, get FREE SHIPPING when you sign-up here.
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Thanks for taking the time to read this week's DVD Dossier. There's a lot happening this week - some great new releases and some hot announcements of upcoming DVDs - so let's get right to the good stuff!
The First Season of "The Cosby Show," TV's top-rated program throughout much of the 80's, finally comes to DVD this week. Coming on the scene at a time when few quality sitcoms were being broadcast, "The Cosby Show" single-handedly revived not only the format, but the NBC television network as well.
From the time it first debuted in 1984, it was an instant smash hit, holding TV's #1 slot for a record 5 consecutive years and staying in the Top 20 shows for all of the eight seasons it aired.
Modeled in large part on Cosby's own life, the show revolved around the day-to-day situations faced by Cliff (Bill Cosby) and Claire Huxtable (Phylicia Rashad) and their five children. The Huxtables, an upper-middle-class family, were unlike any other African-American family previously seen on TV.
Their everyday adventures centered around Sondra (Sabrina LeBeauf), their eldest daughter, Theo (Malcolm Jamal-Warner), their underachiever son, Denise (Lisa Bonet), their eccentric daughter, and the two younger siblings, Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe) and Ruby (Keisha Knight Pulliam).
Two more big 80's hits are out this week. A new "Ghostbusters Double Feature Gift Set" brings together the original 1984 hit and the 1989 sequel "Ghostbusters 2" in one 2-Disc DVD boxed set.
Each of the "Ghostbusters" films is presented in widescreen and extras include deleted scenes, director's commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes and a deluxe "Collector's Scrapbook" loaded with production notes, character sketches, insider info and more.
Straight from theatres comes "Cypher," starring Lucy Liu and Jeremy Northam in an exciting techno-thriller set in the dangerous, high-stakes world of corporate espionage.
From Academy Award® -winning director Oliver Stone, comes the Director's Cut of "Alexander," his most recent bloated epic. Colin Farrell plays Alexander the Great, although Angelina Jolie and Rosario Dawson are more interesting to watch as the women in his life.
Narration is supplied by Anthony Hopkins. And it's a good thing, too... you might not be able to figure out what's going on without it. Of course, you could just listen to Stone's audio commentary, which is included as a special feature, along with several making-of documentaries and a featurette on the film's score.
The Director's Cut is available in a 2-Disc widescreen version and also a Single Disc full screen version (with feature audio commentary only - no other extras). To thoroughly confuse everyone, the studio is also releasing a "regular" 2-Disc widescreen theatrical version of the film at the same price, with the same special features.
What's the difference?
Well, the Director's Cut is described as being "newly inspired, faster paced" and more "action packed!" (The exclamation point is theirs, not ours.)
Also new on DVD this week is "Guess Who," a comic reimagining of "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner," the landmark 1967 film about a liberal white couple (Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy) whose daughter becomes engaged to a black man (Sidney Poitier).
This time out, the prejudices are reversed and Ashton Kutcher is a white boy who is brought home by his fiancé (Zoë Saldaña) to meet her parents. Her father (Bernie Mac) does everything he can to break up the pending marriage.
Mac is quite funny and he and Kutcher make good comedic foils. But that's pretty much the only reason to watch this movie, as nearly everything else falls flat.
John Wayne, Robert Stack and Claire Trevor star in "The High and the Mighty," out this week in a new 2-Disc Special Collector's Edition. When a commercial airliner develops engine problems on a trans-Pacific flight and the pilot loses his nerve, it is up to the washed-up copilot (Wayne) to bring the plane in safely. The 1954 film won an Oscar® for Dimitri Tiomkin's score.
Also being released on DVD for the first time is a Special Collector's Edition of "Island in the Sky" (1953), with Wayne as a former army pilot stranded in uncharted sub-arctic terrain when he is forced to crash-land his plane.
Both John Wayne films have been completely restored and remastered; the first in widescreen, the second in full screen.
Kim Basinger, John Corbett, Sean Astin, Annie Potts and Denise Richards headline "Elvis Has Left the Building" a failed comedy about a woman who had a brief encounter with Mr. Presley as a young girl and who can't seem to shake his spirit later in life.
First seen on PBS, "Peace Kids: The China Trip," is described by the producers as "a moving, surprising, provocative look at a remarkable people-to-people effort at fostering global peace."
Written and directed by Jane Anderson, the guilty pleasure that is "When Billie Beat Bobby" features Holly Hunter as tennis legend Billie Jean King in a highly entertaining flashback to 1973's historic "Battle of the Sexes," considered by many to be an early victory for feminism.
When aging, chauvinistic tennis pro Bobby Riggs (Ron Silver) begins to challenge the world's top ladies players, King confidently rises to the test - not for herself, but to defend the honor of women everywhere.
Also of interest to tennis fans is "Wimbledon 2005: The Official Film," featuring television highlights of all the action on the court with Roger Federer, Venus Williams, Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, Stephen Huss and Wesley Moodie and Cara Black and Liezel Huber.
And from TV this week comes Season One of "Hearts Afire" starring John Ritter and Markie Post and a 4-Disc Gift set of "National Geographic's Really Wild Animals."
Each of the titles included in the set - "Deep Sea Dive," "Dinosaurs & Other Creatures," "Totally Tropical Rain Forest" and "Swinging Safari" - are also available separately.
Rounding out this week's crop of new and notable DVDs is one that's very new indeed: the pilot episode of "Over There," the Stephen Bochco series about a U.S. Army unit sent to Iraq on their first tour of duty, as well as the equally powerful effects felt at home by their families and loved ones.
The show premiered just last week and carries the distinction of being the first series to dramatize a U.S. war while it's still being fought.
That's all we have for you today, but we'll be back here next week to do it all again. Please join us.
Regards,
DVD Direct 4 Less
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| This Week's New DVD Releases - Street Date: August 2, 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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Jane Fonda returns to the movies alongside Jennifer Lopez in "Monster-in-Law," due on DVD as a 2-Disc Platinum Series release on August 30th from New Line Home Entertainment.
Fonda stars as Viola, an over-protective and possessive mother who is not eager to welcome her future daughter-in-law (Lopez) into the family. A recently fired national news personality who is afraid she will lose her son the way she has just lost her career, Viola determines to scare off her son’s new fiancé by becoming the world’s worst mother-in-law.
Directed by Robert Luketic, the hit comedy also features Michael Vartan and Wanda Sykes.
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"The extras on Monster-in-Law" will include deleted scenes, featurettes, a gag reel and director commentary.
Pre-order "Monster-in-Law" now and save 41%. |
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| Belushi and Aykroyd Sing the Blues |
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"The Blues Brothers," the beloved action comedy that spawned a pop culture phenomenon, is coming to DVD in a special 25th Anniversary Edition on August 30th.
"Saturday Night Live" comic legends Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi star in this high-octane slapstick comedy with musical performances by Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, James Brown and other R&B legends.
"The Blues Brothers" 25th Anniversary Edition will include the original theatrical version of the classic film - never before available on DVD - plus the extended Director's Cut version and many all-new bonus features.
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After musician Jake Blues (Belushi) is released from prison, he and his brother Elwood (Aykroyd) visit the Chicago orphanage where they were raised, only to learn it will be closed unless a $5,000 tax bill is paid in 11 days.
After getting the stuffing knocked out of him by a nun and being musically "preached" to by James Brown, Jake sees the light and the brothers set out on a "mission from God" to save the orphanage.
Their plan? Put their old blues band back together for a big benefit concert.
After driving around the state to round up the boys, things get off to a shaky start. Unfazed, the band works its way toward the big gig despite a daunting array of obstacles.
Along the way the brothers manage to face down a rowdy country music crowd, run afoul of Nazi marchers, demolish a shopping mall, and do their best to avoid getting sent back to jail - at least not until they give the concert of their lives.
"The Blues Brothers" was the first and one of the funniest movies to come out of NBC's legendary late-night comedy franchise "Saturday Night Live." After fans went crazy for the sunglass-wearing, soul singing alter-egos they created for an "SNL" sketch, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi played sold out concerts as Elwood and "Joliet" Jake Blues, before the Blues Brothers got their own feature-length movie.
Director John Landis perfectly captured the duo's frenzied physicality and good-natured mayhem, while matching beat-for-beat with explosive onscreen action. Most of the film's unforgettable action sequences - including one where the brothers' magical "Bluesmobile" demolishes an actual shopping mall and another where an entire fleet of police cars is destroyed - were shot on location in and around Chicago.
Adding to the magic of "The Blues Brothers" is the roster of world-class blues, rhythm & blues, rock and pop musicians who take part in the fun. In addition to the R&B holy trinity of Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and James Brown, the film features appearances by such diverse musical legends as Cab Calloway, Chaka Khan, John Lee Hooker, Steve Cropper, Donald Dunn, Joe Walsh, Pinetop Perkins, Stephen Bishop, Steve Lawrence, saxophonist Lou Marini and many more.
But it's not just musicians who show up in "The Blues Brothers" when you least expect them. You can test your Hollywood I.Q. by identifying the dozens of co-starring roles and cameos by big Hollywood stars, including John Candy, Steven Spielberg, Frank Oz, Paul Reubens, Twiggy, Henry Gibson, Carrie Fisher, Charles Napier and Kathleen Freeman.
Pre-order the "The Blues Brothers" 25th Anniversary Edition now and save 30%. |
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| Renovation Underway in Emerald City |
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Voted by the American Film Institute as the "Best Family Film" of all time, "The Wizard of Oz" has charmed audiences of every age for more than 60 years. On October 25th, the popular film comes once again to DVD in two new bonus-packed editions – a 2-Disc Special Edition and a 3-Disc Collector’s Edition.
For the very first time, these versions of "The Wizard of Oz" will boast a stunning new digital transfer of the original film, using Warner Home Video’s “Ultra-Resolution” technology, plus a newly remastered soundtrack. As a result you'll experience the movie’s Technicolor splendor and award-winning music and songs like never before.
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Adapted from L. Frank Baum’s timeless children’s tale about a Kansas girl’s journey over the rainbow, "The Wizard of Oz" debuted in theatres on August 17, 1939. The film was directed by Victor Fleming (who that same year directed "Gone With the Wind"), produced by Mervyn LeRoy, and scored by Herbert Stothart, with music and lyrics by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg.
Ray Bolger appeared as the Scarecrow; Bert Lahr as the Cowardly Lion, Jack Haley as the Tin Woodman, and Frank Morgan was seen in six different roles, including that of the "wonderful Wizard" himself.
Dorothy was portrayed by Judy Garland, a 4'11" sixteen year old girl who quickly earned her reputation as “the world’s greatest entertainer.”
"The Wizard of Oz" received five Academy Award® nominations, including Best Picture, and captured two Oscars® – Best Song (“Over the Rainbow”) and Best Original Score, plus a special award for Outstanding Juvenile Performance by Judy Garland.
"The Wizard of Oz" was an overwhelming popular and critical success upon its initial release and repeated its ability to captivate audiences when M-G-M reissued the film in 1949 and 1955.
The film made a new kind of history with its network television premiere in 1956 on CBS.
Nearly 45 million people tuned in for the initial telecast, marking the beginning of a tradition. Ever since, "The Wizard of Oz" has been shown virtually annually on network (and then cable) television; its magical story and heartfelt performances have enabled it to grow from a perennial classic to its current status as a treasured icon of popular culture.
Both DVD editions will offer extensive bonus content, including four revealing new documentaries; a new feature-length commentary by Emmy Award®-winning producer and Oz historian John Fricke; an Emmy®-nominated making-of documentary hosted by Angela Lansbury and a Lansbury-narrated onscreen storybook treatment of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" with its colorful original illustrations.
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Also included will be outtakes and deleted scenes; vintage vault featurettes; and more than six hours of audio-only special features, including original recording sessions for songs and underscoring and rare Oz radio programs.
"The Wizard of Oz" 3-Disc Collector’s Edition will include an additional DVD of special content, featuring a new documentary about Oz author L. Frank Baum and a newly restored transfer of the 1925 feature-length silent version of "The Wizard of Oz" starring Oliver Hardy and Larry Semon with a new score by Robert Israel.
Disc 3 also will include several additional rare Oz film features and shorts, originally produced between 1910 and 1933.
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In addition to the bonus disc, the Collector’s Edition DVD will include reproductions of the original eight-page Grauman's Chinese Theatre Oz souvenir program from August 15, 1939, the invitation to that premiere; the sixteen-page Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio News magazine from August 14, 1939, celebrating "The Wizard of Oz;" nine beautifully restored natural color Kodachrome portraits and publicity photos from the film.
Save 30% when you preorder "The Wizard of Oz" now: 2-Disc l 3-Disc
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| Preview of Next Week's Releases - Street Date: August 9, 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.)
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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.
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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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