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The DVD Dossier is the free newsletter published weekly by DVD Direct 4 Less.
This is the archived issue for September 12, 2004.
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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September 12, 2004
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A Magical Movie For Muggles and Wizards Alike
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It's time for another issue of The DVD Dossier. The coming week brings you angels, cows, an inquisitive dog, a man on fire, a junkman and a guy everybody loves. Truly something for everyone... or as Gary Coleman might say: Diff'rent Strokes for diff'rent folks.
"Angels in America," out on Tuesday, is quite possibly the best movie ever made for television. Now, if you've been reading the Dossier regularly, you know we don't often lavish such praise on TV movies.
But "Angels" is a rare blend of brilliant writing, perfect casting and consummate direction that would have easily won a Best Picture Oscar, if only it had been eligible. The six hour miniseries has in fact already won a slew of awards and seems a safe bet to sweep the Emmys - TV's highest honor - next Sunday night (it led this year's nominations with 21).
Adapted from Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play and directed by Mike Nichols, this HBO film is set in Reagan-era America at the onset on the AIDS epidemic. "Angels in America" is a broad panorama of the political and social climate of its time and to its credit, it manages to be in equal measures angry, sad, heartwarming and outrageously funny.
The superb cast includes Justin Kirk and Ben Shenkman as a gay couple that drifts apart when one of them gets sick; Emma Thompson as a prophecy-spouting Angel with a penchant for crashing through ceilings; Al Pacino as foul-mouthed Roy Cohn, the real-life lawyer who wore his right-wing politics on his sleeve, even as he hid his homosexuality; Jeffrey Wright, repeating his Broadway roles, most notably a nurse named Belize; Patrick Wilson as a closeted Mormon; Mary Louise Parker as his pill-popping wife and Meryl Streep in multiple roles, including an old male rabbi and the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg.
"Angels in America," is a stunning cinematic achievement and one that grows richer with repeated viewings. Sadly, there are no DVD extras, even though behind-the-scenes featurettes appeared on HBO when the film was originally aired.
Also a top pick for this week is George Lucas' Director's Cut of "THX-1138." This visionary first film by the creator of the Star Wars Trilogy is a bleak view of a world in which technology rules. It's available in a 2-Disc Collector's Edition with many special features and also a standard Director's Cut Edition, with just the film itself.
Denzel Washington is the bodyguard for young Dakota Fanning in the paint-by-numbers remake "Man on Fire," three cows buy the farm in Disney's "Home on the Range," everyone's favorite cartoon canine detective returns in "Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" and Ewan McGregor and Tilda Swinton star in "Young Adam," a moody film with great acting that was released in theaters with an NC-17 rating, but for some strange reason is only being released on DVD in a trimmed-down R-rated version.
"Everybody Loves Raymond" comes to DVD this week for the first time in a 5-Disc boxed set with all the episodes from the hit series' First Season. And rounding out the TV releases are the First Seasons of both "Diff'rent Strokes" and the WB's highest rated series, the family favorite "7th Heaven" (available separately) and the Fifth Season of "Sanford and Son."
That's it for this week, we'll see you next Sunday with more new DVDs!
Regards,
DVD Direct 4 Less
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| This Week's New DVD Releases - Street Date: September 14, 2004 |
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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 first time out (back in 1975), "The Stepford Wives" was a faithful adaptation of Ira Levin's creepy socio-political novel about a town populated by happy, dutiful wives and menacing husbands.
But humor and biting satire are very much the order of the day in this year's less sinister remake of "The Stepford Wives," which stars Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Glenn Close, Bette Midler, Christopher Walken, Roger Bart and Jon Lovitz.
Director Frank Oz and screenwriter Paul Rudnick have updated the story of this sleepy Connecticut town quite nicely, but the latter part of the film falls flat, seems rushed and, frankly, doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
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"The Stepford Wives" will be released on November 9th. Save 30% by preordering now.
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| DeLightful! DeLovely! DeGeneres! |
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She's a stand-up comedian and the star of her own wildly successful daytime talk show. She was the voice of "Dory" in the Disney smash, "Finding Nemo." But Ellen DeGeneres first skyrocketed to fame as the star of her own groundbreaking primetime sitcom.
"Ellen," which fans may remember was originally called "These Friends of Mine," comes to DVD on September 28th with all 13 episodes from the debut season, including two "reclaimed" episodes.
But let's be honest here... the first season of this show is not its best.
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Like most new series, "Ellen" took a little time to find its voice and figure out what it was about. The show ran for more than 100 episodes and most of those are terrific and feature a fine ensemble cast in quirky offbeat stories.
Be forewarned, however: only a few of these first episodes are on a par with the high quality of the subsequent seasons.
Preorder The Complete First Season of "Ellen" and save 30%.
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Shawn and Marlon Wayans masquerade as a couple of white chicks in the appropriately named "White Chicks," due on DVD October 26th. The film is a real family affair, as it was directed by brother Keenan Ivory Wayans.
In "White Chicks," the Wayans are FBI agents who go undercover by impersonating over-privileged high-society heiresses in order to keep their jobs. This is yet another variation on the familiar comedic territory first mined by Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis in Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot," albeit with an unconventional twist.
These guys change their sex and their race.
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The critics panned it, but the movie did well in theatres despite charges of reverse racism and plain old-fashioned bad taste.
The "White Chicks" DVD will feature audio commentary by the Wayans Brothers, deleted scenes and two behind-the-scenes featurettes, including one that looks at the make-up and special effects used in the film.
As has become custom with movies that are the slightest bit racy, "White Chicks" will be released on DVD in a PG-13 version and also a steamier, more vulgar "unrated" version.
We're not sure why the studios continue to do this, since the unrated versions invariably outsell the "regular" versions by a ratio of 3 to 1. Why not just release one version?
Preorder "White Chicks" now (either version) and save 30%.
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| Preview of Next Week's Releases - Street Date: September 21, 2004 |
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Um, just in case you haven't heard, the cultural phenomenon known simply as The Star Wars Trilogy makes its way to DVD next week for the first time. It'll be available in deluxe widescreen and full screen editions and is already a bestseller anywhere preorders are being taken (40% off list price if ordered before the September 21st street date).
Also next week, "TwentyNine Palms," a story of love, sex and evil set deep in the Joshua Tree desert, "Mean Girls," the high school satire written by Saturday Night Live's Tina Fey and Season Three of the TV series "Felicity" starring Keri Russell.
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