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The DVD Dossier is the free newsletter published weekly by DVD Direct 4 Less.
This is the archived issue for October 10, 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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October 10, 2004
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A Special Offer from the Quality Paperback Book Club...
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The Quality Paperback Book Club picks today’s best books in hardcover, then prints them in softcover to save you money. Every QPB Early Softcover is 33% to 50% off the publisher’s price. You can save even more with their frequent special offers, in some cases, as much as 90%.
Join today and get 5 books for $1, plus take a 6th book at no charge!
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The spectacular disaster epic, "The Day After Tomorrow" comes to DVD this week in both widescreen and full screen editions, each complete with astonishing special effects. Director Roland Emmerich spared no expense while filming his vision of global warming gone amuck. Alas, what he spared was a sensible screenplay and any semblance of a plausible plot.
"Raising Helen," while not exactly a disaster, also suffers from an uneven screenplay. Kate Hudson stars as a free spirit who is called upon to raise three children after the untimely death of one of her sisters.
Directed by Garry Marshall and greatly enhanced by the talents of John Corbett, Helen Mirren and the always reliable Joan Cusack, "Raising Helen" is a pleasant diversion. No surprises and no great rewards... it's a perfectly agreeable little rental.
Jamie Foxx shows he has what it takes to be a romantic leading man in a new comedy of mistaken identities, "Breakin' All the Rules." When Foxx gets dumped by his fiancée, he writes a best-selling "How To" guide to breaking up and then starts giving his friends advice on affairs of the heart. Great chemistry between Foxx and costar Gabrielle Union and some genuinely funny plot twists make "Breakin' All the Rules" another good rental choice.
While we're on a comedy roll here, we should mention that a new value-priced collection brings three popular films together for the first time. "The Farrelly Brothers Collection," out on Tuesday, includes "There's Something About Mary," "Shallow Hal" and "Me, Myself & Irene."
And Warner Home Video releases three new Signature Collections this week.
Following on the heels of their successful tributes to Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant and Judy Garland, Warner debuts new boxed set "Signature Collections" saluting John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor.
Also coming to DVD is the "That's Entertainment Trilogy Gift Set," a collection of the three compilation films that pay tribute to the legendary MGM movie musicals.
The 4-Disc set includes "That's Entertainment," "That's Entertainment Part 2," "That's Entertainment III" and a bonus disc called "Treasures from the Vault," featuring more than five hours of extras. These include three documentaries, premiere night coverage, TV specials, making-of featurettes, plus an extensive video jukebox of rare, star-packed musical outtakes from classic films.
Stephen King fans will enjoy "Kingdom Hospital," about a hospital with a bizarre population that includes a nearly blind security guard, a nurse who regularly faints at the sight of blood and a paraplegic artist whose recovery is a step beyond miraculous. The miniseries stars Andrew McCarthy, Bruce Davison, Diane Ladd and Ed Begley, Jr.
Rolling Stones fans will be glad to hear that "Rock and Roll Circus," finally comes to DVD this week, flaws and all. The Stones are not at their best in this 1968 concert, previously released only on VHS. Also appearing are Jethro Tull, Taj Mahal, John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Mitch Mitchell, Yoko Ono, Marianne Faithfull, The Who and a bunch of actual circus acts.
Moms and Dads will welcome the new "Winnie the Pooh Gift Set" from Disney. This one makes learning fun for 2 - 5 year olds and includes lessons on ABC's (discovering letters and words) and 123's (discovering numbers and counting) . Both volumes are available separately.
"Harold and the Purple Crayon" will appeal to the same age group and is loosely based on the concepts and drawings found in Crockett Johnson's book. The award-winning children's series is narrated by Sharon Stone and focuses on the adventures of a curious four-year-old boy and the challenges faced by all preschoolers. The DVD comes with a 16-page activity book.
"The Wire" is the critically acclaimed - but little watched - crime series from HBO; it comes to DVD this week in a 5-Disc set that includes all 13 episodes from the First Season.
Created by David Simon, this unvarnished, highly realistic series follows a single sprawling drug and murder investigation in Baltimore. Told from the point of view of both the police and their targets, the series captures a universe of subterfuge and surveillance, where easy distinctions between good and evil, and crime and punishment, are challenged at every turn.
An HBO show from an earlier era (1990) is also out this week.
"Dream On" stars Brian Benben as Martin Tupper, a hapless book editor and divorced dad with a penchant for sexy shenanigans and daydreaming. His "Walter Mitty" meandering moments not only provide comic relief, but constitute the very gimmick upon which the show was created.
It seems that executive producer John Landis and Universal were sitting on a treasure trove of old black and white films and TV shows and couldn't decide what to do with them. Landis and his co-creators came up with the novel concept (at the time) to use clips from the films to illustrate Martin's innermost thoughts and fears.
"Dream On" is a good sitcom and far and away better than most on TV at the time.
But the show didn't really hit its stride until the later seasons, when it relied less on the clips and gratuitous sex and more on character development and writing that tackled the important social issues of the day. This new DVD release is a 5-Disc set that contains the entire First and Second Seasons.
The show, which won HBO its first Emmy, featured an excellent ensemble cast including Chris Demetral, Wendie Malick, Denny Dillon, Dorien Wilson and Michael McKean supported by top guest stars and notable directors, including Landis himself. It was produced by the team of Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane, who later created "Friends."
And rounding out this week's new TV shows on DVD is "Cedric the Entertainer Presents: The Complete Series," all 22 episodes of the comedy/variety show as seen on Fox.
And that wraps up another week of new DVD releases here at The DVD Dossier.
We'll be back again next Sunday. See you then!
Regards,
DVD Direct 4 Less
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| This Week's New DVD Releases - Street Date: October 12, 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 Lord of the Rings Trilogy reaches its conclusion with the December 14th release of the Platinum Series Special Extended DVD Edition of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."
This 4-Disc set features 50 minutes of never-before-seen footage woven into the original, theatrically released version of the film, which won 11 Academy Awards® including Best Picture.
In addition to the over four-hour-long film – presented on two discs with enhanced picture and sound – the Special Extended DVD Edition includes four separate audio commentary tracks.
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These feature director Peter Jackson and the writers, the design team, the production and post-production team and the cast: Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Liv Tyler (Arwen), Sean Astin (Sam), John Rhys-Davies (Gimli), Christopher Lee (Saruman), Orlando Bloom (Legolas), Andy Serkis (Gollum/Smeagol) and others.
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Two supplemental discs offer hours of all-new bonus content, including multiple documentaries, galleries and interactive maps.
Documentaries that were started with the Special Extended DVD Editions of the first two films in the trilogy are continued here, bringing the full The Lord of the Rings experience to completion.
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The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
4-Disc Special Extended Edition
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Also available: the "Return of the King" Limited Edition Collector’s Gift Set, the ultimate gift for the LOTR fan. This Collector’s DVD Gift Set features the entire 4-Disc Special Extended Edition contained in an elaborate box with art conceived and designed specifically for this edition by famed J.R.R. Tolkien illustrator Alan Lee.
The box features an exclusive painting reprint of Frodo, Sam, and Gollum making their approach to Mount Doom as well as wraparound artwork of Gandalf the White atop Shadowfax, charging toward the Witch-king of Angmar.
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Included is an intricately detailed sculpture of Minas Tirith, the seven-tiered City of Kings and capital of Gondor, beneath whose ramparts the Battle of Pelennor Fields (the largest skirmish in The Lord of the Rings) is fought.
Made to complement the Argonath bookends and Gollum figurine available in the Collector’s DVD Gift Sets of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, the sculpture was made under the supervision of writer/director/producer Peter Jackson.
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Limited Edition Collector’s Gift Set
with Minas Tirith Sculpture
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The five-inch sculpture has Jackson’s signature silkscreen-branded onto the bottom. The base of the sculpture is positioned atop a keepsake box containing a fabric-lined tray inside of which is an embossed White Tree of Gondor, symbol of Gondor’s rule and the emblem on its flag.
But wait, there's more!
The Limited Edition Collector’s DVD Gift Set will also contain a fifth DVD, "Howard Shore: Creating The Lord of The Rings Symphony – A Composers Journey Through Middle-earth." This 52-minute bonus DVD includes excerpts of live concert footage of The Lord of the Rings Symphony recorded with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.
You can now preorder both the Platinum Series Special Extended DVD Edition and the Limited Edition Collector’s DVD Gift Set of "Return of the King" and save 40%.
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Once a year, we ask a favor of all readers of The DVD Dossier. Yes, folks, it's time to interrupt your regularly scheduled DVD news with a plaintive plea from the management.
Don't be concerned... this is not public TV. This isn't a fund drive. We don't want your money.
We just want your friends.
(Of course, if you don't have any friends, we'd be delighted to take your money.)
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We're pleased to say that The DVD Dossier subscriber base has grown tremendously in the past two years. When we first started, we used to joke that our circulation was in "the high dozens." Now, thousands of readers in seventeen countries enjoy the Dossier each week. But we're insatiable... we want more, more, more!
And that's where we need your help, ${token1}.
If you enjoy reading the Dossier, chances are someone you know may also enjoy reading about the latest DVD releases.
So please tell your friends, your loved ones and your coworkers about our free weekly DVD newsletter.
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At the bottom of this (and every) newsletter, you'll find a link that makes it easy for you to forward the Dossier to your friends. It takes you to a web page on which you can enter up to 8 e-mail addresses... there's even a space for you to write your own message, so you can tell them why you think they might enjoy the DVD Dossier.
But please don't forward this e-mail by hitting the forward button supplied by your own e-mail client.
Most e-mail programs are not able to handle the special formatting required and your friend probably won't be able to read what's sent. Use the forward link we've provided and we'll take care of everything.
The e-mail they'll receive will contain a "subscribe" link, so that they can sign-up to get their own weekly copy of The DVD Dossier.
If you like, you can also send a personal note from your e-mail program, pointing them to our online sign-up form.
Hey, we were never very good at math, but the way we figure it, if every subscriber referred just one person... why, we'd pretty much double our subscriber base!
So do us a favor and "Refer-A-Friend" now, before you forget. Thanks very much for your support.
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"The L Word," the groundbreaking Showtime series that delves into issues specific to the lesbian community, arrives on DVD November 9th. This new boxed set includes all 13 episodes from Season One.
The frank and provocative television drama details the personal and professional exploits of a group of lesbian and bisexual women in the hip West Hollywood section of Los Angeles. The ensemble cast features Jennifer Beals, Erin Daniels, Leisha Hailey, Laurel Holloman, Mia Kirshner, Karina Lombard and Pam Grier.
Preorder "The L Word" now and save 30%.
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| Preview of Next Week's Releases - Street Date: October 19, 2004 |
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An all-new extended 3-Disc Director's Cut of "Hellboy" is out next week in yet another one of those Collector's Gift Sets that comes in elaborate special packaging and with an exclusive collectible sculpture.
Also streeting next week, Hugh Jackman as "Van Helsing," Thora Birch, Desmond Harrington and Keira Knightley in the psychological thriller, "The Hole," "The Ultimate Oliver Stone Collection," which features the director's best work on 14 discs, Season One of this year's Best Comedy Emmy winner, "Arrested Development" and the Special Edition of "Ed Wood" postponed from earlier this year.
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