Batman Begins (2005)
dir. Christopher Nolan
Hmm, I wonder why this is coming out now? Same transfer as the HD-DVD edition, a.k.a. amazing. This is also coming out in a limited-edition gift set this week. ONLY A WEEK AND A HALF LEFT
Product Decsription:
Batman Begins discards the previous four films in the series and recasts the Caped Crusader as a fearsome avenging angel. That's good news, because the series, which had gotten off to a rousing start under Tim Burton, had gradually dissolved into self-parody by 1997's Batman & Robin. As the title implies, Batman Begins tells the story anew, when Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) flees Western civilization following the murder of his parents. He is taken in by a mysterious instructor named Ducard (Liam Neeson in another mentor role) and urged to become a ninja in the League of Shadows, but he instead returns to his native Gotham City resolved to end the mob rule that is strangling it. But are there forces even more sinister at hand?
Co-written by the team of David S. Goyer (a veteran comic book writer) and director Christopher Nolan (Memento), Batman Begins is a welcome return to the grim and gritty version of the Dark Knight, owing a great debt to the graphic novels that preceded it. It doesn't have the razzle dazzle, or the mass appeal, of Spider-Man 2 (though the Batmobile is cool), and retelling the origin means it starts slowly, like most "first" superhero movies. But it's certainly the best Bat-film since Burton's original, and one of the best superhero movies of its time. Bale cuts a good figure as Batman, intense and dangerous but with some of the lightheartedness Michael Keaton brought to the character. Michael Caine provides much of the film's humor as the family butler, Alfred, and as the love interest, Katie Holmes (Dawson's Creek) is surprisingly believable in her first adult role. Also featuring Gary Oldman as the young police officer Jim Gordon, Morgan Freeman as a Q-like gadgets expert, and Cillian Murphy as the vile Jonathan Crane.
DVD Features:
The Dark Knight IMAX Prologue
In-Movie Experience. An in-depth and in-context look at Batman Begins with comics, commentary and more
Tankman Begins. A parody done for the MTV Movie Awards starring Jimmy Fallon
Batman: The Journey Begins. How the movie was developed, written, and cast
Shaping Mind and Body. The training and rehearsing Christian Bale required for the role
Gotham City Rises. The production design of Gotham City, the Batcave, and Wayne Manor
Cape and Cowl. The costume design of the new batsuit
Batman: The Tumbler. The creation of the new Batmobile
Path to Discovery. Filming in Iceland, origins of Batman's fighting skills
Saving Gotham City. How action sequences were filmed using as little CGI as possible
Genesis of the Bat. The story goes from comics to the screen
Stills Gallery. Designs and concepts that were developed for the theatrical marketing of the film
Confidential Files. Viewers can discover facts, trivia and story points that were not fully revealed in the film
Reflections on Writing
Digital Batman
Batman Begins Stunts
Trailer
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Batman - Gotham Knight (2008)
dir. Yasuhiro Aoki, Shojiro Nishimi
Looks a bit too "anime-y" for Batman, but still looks like it could be pretty decent regardless. I mean, I haven't heard good things, but still.
Product Decsription:
Acclaimed screenwriters including David Goyer (Batman Begins) Josh Olson (A History of Violence) and Alan Burnett (Batman The Animated Series) join forces with revered animation filmmakers on six spellbinding chapters chronicling Batman?s transition from novice crimefighter to Dark Knight. These globe-spanning adventures pit Batman against the fearsome Scarecrow the freakish Killer Croc and the unerring marksman Deadshot. Using an arsenal of high-tech gadgetry from Wayne Industries Batman?s ethical boundaries exist only where he chooses to place them leaving some fearful of his power. The sharp storytelling complemented by stylish art from some of the world?s most visionary animators masterfully depicts the blurred lines of Batman as man myth and legend.
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The Ruins (Unrated Edition) (2008)
dir. Carter Smith
The trailer kinda creeped me out, stuff crawling under the skin and things of that nature make me squint a bit. Ultimately, I don't have too much faith in this, but will probably watch it on HBO or something.
Product Decsription:
Whether you consider plants a source of terror or not will ultimately determine how you feel about the grisly horror movie The Ruins, but director Carter Smith and his cast and crew certainly give their all in bringing the chills of Scott Smith's novel to the big screen. Jena Malone (Saved) and Shawn Ashmore (the X-Men franchise) are the name actors in a pair of American couples down Mexico way who are ambushed by hostile Mayans and forced to the top of an ancient temple, where a monstrous and diabolically clever entity awaits them. Director Smith and his talented crew (which includes cinematographer Darius Khondji of Se7en fame and composer Graeme Revell) create a visually impressive spookshow but can't quite deliver genuine suspense (gore, however, is handled capably), and Scott Smith's script boils away much of the character development and mounting terror in his book, which also strands the likeable cast. The movie's monster, so alarming and imaginative in the original novel, is likely to provoke as many laughs as screams from filmgoers, especially when it reveals its unique talent.
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Stop-Loss (2008)
dir. Kimberly Peirce
Topical. Yeah, I got nothin.
Product Decsription:
Kimberly Peirce's long-hatching follow-up to Boys Don't Cry is another issue-driven look at its era: Stop-Loss hinges on U.S. military policy allowing Iraq War soldiers to be returned to combat even after their official hitches are up. In this case, a band of brothers return to home turf in Brazos, Texas, only to discover that team leader Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe) has gotten a Stop-Loss order to head back to the Middle East. After some flavorful sketches of small-town Texas life and the awkwardness of re-adjustment, the movie somewhat clumsily hits the road, where there's more wheel-spinning than deep insight. Peirce and co. seem to want to hit all the Iraq War bases, which may be one reason the film lacks a strong focus. Supporting soldiers Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are rather more interesting than Phillippe's brooding hero, and Abbie Cornish is stuck in a thankless town-between-two-lovers storyline. It's sincere as all get-out, but Stop-Loss feels like a project that began with an issue and a cause, rather than compelling characters.
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Mon Oncle Antoine - Criterion Collection (1971)
dir. Claude Jutra
I'm in the dark on this one. The Criterion Seal of Approval is all I need.
Product Decsription:
Claude Jutra's evocative portrait of a boy's coming of age in wintry 1940s rural Quebec has been consistently cited by critics and scholars as the greatest Canadian film of all time. Delicate naturalistic and tinged with a striking mix of nostalgia and menace Mon oncle Antoine follows the everyday lives of both young Benoit as he first encounters the twin terrors of sex and death and his fellow villagers living under the thumb of the local asbestos-mine owner. Set during one ominous Christmas Mon oncle Antoine is a holiday film unlike any other and an authentically detailed illustration of childhood's twilight.
DVD Features:
SPECIAL EDITION DOUBLE-DISC SET FEATURES:
New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director of photography Michel Brault
On-Screen: "Mon oncle Antoine," a 2007 documentary tracing the making and history of the film
Claude Jutra: An Unfinished Story, a 2002 documentary by Paule Baillargeon, featuring interviews with Brault, director Bernardo Bertolucci, and actors Geneviève Bujold and Saul Rubinek
A Chairy Tale, a 1957 experimental short codirected by Jutra and Norman McLaren
Theatrical trailer
Optional English-dubbed soundtrack
New and improved English subtitle translation
PLUS: A new essay by film scholar André Loiselle
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The Mummy (Universal Legacy Series) (1932)
dir. Karl W. Freund
An absolute classic monster movie. Not much else to say. Can't fuck with Boris Karloff.
Product Decsription:
In 1921 a field expedition in Egypt discovers the mummy of ancient Egyptian prince Im-Ho-Tep, who was condemned and buried alive for sacrilege. Also found in the tomb is the Scroll of Thoth, which can bring the dead back to life. One night a young member of the expedition reads the Scroll out loud, and then goes insane, realizing that he has brought Im-Ho-Tep back to life. Ten years later, disguised as a modern Egyptian, the mummy attempts to reunite with his lost love, an ancient princess who has been reincarnated into a beautiful young woman.
DVD Features:
DISC 1:
Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed
Feature Commentary by Film Historian Paul M. Jenson
Feature Commentary by Rick Baker, Scott Essman, Steve Haberman, Bob Burns, and Brent Armstrong**
Posters & Stills**
Trailer Gallery
DISC 2
He Who Made Monsters: Life and Legacy of Jack Pierce**
Unraveling the Legacy of The Mummy**
Universal Horror Documentary**
**New Bonus Features not on previous releases.
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Chop Shop (2007)
dir. Ramin Bahrani
Ramin Bahrani is really making an impression in the film world, and especially with Roger Ebert apparently. Man Push Cart was excellent, and I have no doubt this will be excellent as well. Can't wait to watch this.
Product Decsription:
Set in Willet's Point an industrial sprawl of auto repair shops and junkyards in outer New York City CHOP SHOP tells the story of 12-year-old Alejandro (Alejandro Polanco) an orphan living a hardscrabble existence in the "Iron Triangle." The boy earns a meager living hustling customers into body shops hawking candy on the subway and helping to chop up the parts of stolen cars. But he dreams of a better life. When his older sister Isamar (Isamar Gonzales) comes to live with him Alejandro devises a plan to escape their desperate situation: they'll buy a lunch truck that they can run together. Alejandro begins stashing money and even indulges in criminal activity to achieve his goal. When he learns a devastating secret about his sister it makes him more determined than ever to change things. But reality proves a difficult opponent in his struggle for the American dream. Full of naturalistic performances and exquisite handheld photography CHOP SHOP shows a side of New York that is rarely seen in films about the Big Apple. Its characters mostly immigrants inhabit a landscape of rubbish-strewn alleys deafening expressways and rusted steel. Manhattan's skyscrapers and the stands of Shea Stadium loom forever on the horizon. Though some may find the film's unsparing depiction of poverty difficult to watch the film is never hopeless and the humanity of its characters always shines through. Altogether it achieves an air of documentary-like authenticity that convinces the viewer that long after the screen goes black the lives of its characters will continue.
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Hard Times at Douglass High: A No Child Left Behind Report Card (2007)
dir. Alan and Susan Raymond
If you are angered by the sight of kids reveling in stupidity, just so proud to be dumb, don't watch. You'll want to reach through the TV and choke kids to death. Great documentary, though.
Product Decsription:
The No Child Left Behind Act was created to boost academic levels of American students by setting standardized goals across the nation - and holding states, districts and schools accountable for performance. For urban schools in high-poverty areas, reaching these goals is a daunting task, and many now face the possibility of being taken over by the state - even being shut down. At Frederick Douglass High School in Baltimore, MD, the expectations raised by NCLB have reached a critical point. Academy Award winning filmmakers Alan and Susan Raymond (I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School) offer a yearlong look inside a storied institution at a time when its very existence is in doubt. From cautionary profiles to triumphant tales, Hard Times at Douglass High serves as a reminder that education is inevitably an achievement of people, not policy.
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Jet Li's Fearless (Unrated Director´s Cut) (2006)
dir. Ronny Yu
This version is listed at 141 minutes, as opposed to the previous release's 104. That's a pretty big chunk of movie added in. The more Jet Li, the better...I hope, anyway.
Product Decsription:
A moving and inspiring story of redemption and personal triumph in the face of great odds, Jet Li's Fearless is the based-on-facts story of Chinese folk hero Huo Yuanjia (Jet Li). The son of a martial-arts master whose greatest strength was his restraint, Huo grows into an unbeatable fighter whose pride and thoughtlessness lead to a chain of tragic losses. After a classic wanderer-in-the-wilderness penance, Huo reinvents himself as a mature instructor of Wushu, a martial arts system that embraces all forms of fighting without preference or pre-judgement. He also becomes a populist symbol, at the dawn of the 20th century, of China's refusal to entirely capitulate to the boot of Western colonialists. Taking on whatever European, American, or Japanese fighter the outsiders bring in to demoralize the natives, Huo becomes a legend that, in real life, is still revered. Thrillingly directed by Ronny Yu (Warriors of Virtue), Jet Li’s Fearless is a dazzling action movie that transcends its breathless fight sequences with Huo's sportsmanship virtues, i.e., knowing when you've won by example, rather than by the fist. Jet Li is superb in the role.
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Blood Brothers (2007)
dir. Wong Jing Po, Ching-Po Wong
Product Decsription:
BLOOD BROTHERS is produced by John Woo and Terence Chang and directed by first time director Alexi Tan.Blood Brothers is set in 1930s Shanghai a flourishing modern-day Babylon replete with warlords politicians wealthy industrialists courtesans and gangsters. Three innocent young brothers Kang (Liu Ye Curse of the Golden Flower ) Fung (Daniel Wu Around the World in 80 Days ) and Xiao Hu (Tony Yang) arrive in this seeming paradise in search of a better life. Enticed by the rich and powerful world of organized crime the three brothers start down a path of no return: they are hired to do the bidding for one of the city s largest mob syndicate. When Fung begins an affair with the mob boss girlfriend beauty Lulu (Shu Qi Transporter) and life takes a difficult turn for all three brothers when the forbidden love affair is exposed. Friends turn against friends brother against brother. The days of innocence have passed; the three brothers must stand up as men and make their choices.
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Flakes (2007)
dir. Michael Lehmann
Product Decsription:
Miss Katz (Zooey Deschanel) desperately wants her boyfriend to ditch his dead-end job at Flakes--a bohemian cereal shop. So when an eager young businessman opens a rip-off version of this beloved neighborhood hang Miss Katz joins the competition to bury Flakes. Stand offs sit ins pranks and clever revenge will result in victory for one half of the feisty couple but it may just leave their relationship all soggy!
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Superhero Movie (2008)
dir. Craig Mazin
Keyyyy-rist. At least it's not from those two fucking braindead morons who made Meet The Spartans and all those other dumb shitty movies that they get to keep inexplicably making.
Product Decsription:
Adolescent fantasy meets sophomoric humor in the latest cuisinart comedy, Superhero Movie. The story of how frustrated loser Rick Riker (Drake Bell of Drake & Josh) becomes the superpowered Dragonfly is largely poking fun at Spider-Man, but there are a handful of digs at X-Men, Fantastic Four, and other Marvel Comics superhuman flicks. What's disappointing is how few of the jokes are specific to the genre--the abundance of gags about urine, feces, horniness, and especially flatulence (long, drawn-out gags about flatulence) could have been shoehorned into a parody of pretty much anything. The strong point of Superhero Movie is the above-average cast; while there are the obligatory cameos by the likes of Pamela Anderson, the cast is mostly filled out with actual actors like Marion Ross (Happy Days), Christopher McDonald (Thelma & Louise), Brent Spiner (Star Trek: The Next Generation), Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development), and Leslie Nielsen, who trots out his trademark deadpan one more time. As Dragonfly's love interest, Sara Paxton (Aquamarine) does a flawless and subtle imitation of Kirsten Dunst's sultry vocal mannerisms. And for fans of Airplane! (the movie that started the whole everything-but-the-kitchen-sink genre of comedy), there's an appropriate cameo by Robert Hays as Rick Riker's father. Superhero is a step above such recent tripe as Date Movie and Meet the Spartans... but sadly, that's not saying much.
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Little Chenier: A Cajun Story (2008)
dir. Bethany Ashton Wolf
Product Decsription:
The story is quite simple yet manages to convey a sense of importance for the players involved. A tale of love, betrayal, tragic death and intertwined stories while the simple life passes by in the Cajun country. Two brothers ebb their existence by selling fish bait from their small dock, whilst being watched by the local sheriff for crimes they may or may not have committed. Their best friend, played by Clifton Collins (who is awesome in Dirty - a must see for fans of his) adds the slightly comedic element and semi-protector of the group. Lines are crossed, beautiful topography imagery is interlaced, and locals get their 15 minutes. Performances are forced and the accents slip quite often, but the background is what holds it together.
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Little Girls (1966)
dir. Gilbert Wolmark
No idea what to make of this, and the cover really isn't doing it any favors. According to IMDB, this movie was lost for 40+ years. There might be a good reason for that. I'm not sayin, but I'm just sayin.
Product Decsription:
Blackmail Extortion Prostitution Drugs and Rape are all part of the mix in this classic French sexploitation film.A young hipster has befriended a bevy of beautiful rich socialite girls that love to party. He and his partner set up a scheme to use the girls for their own needs photographing them in compromising situations and then blackmailing them and their parents with the evidence of their scandalous lifestyles. They may have bitten off more than they can chew though as the girls and their parents react with a passion that has to be seen to be believed. They were made of sugar and spice and everything nice... Except for what they did!
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The Man with X-Ray Eyes (1963)
dir. Roger Corman
Fire the graphic designer, quick.
Product Decsription:
Dr. James Xavier (Ray Milland 1945 Best Actor Oscar© - Winner For The Lost Weekend) is a world renowned scientist experimenting with human eyesight. He devises a drug that when applied to the eyes enables the user to see beyond the normal realm of our sight. It also gives the user the power to see through objects. Xavier tests this drug on himself when his funding is cut off he takes refuge in a small carnival run by Crane (Don Rickles). As he continues to test the drug on himself Xavier begins to see not only through walls and clothes but through the very fabric of reality!
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Toxic (2007)
dir. Alan Pao
Charge it 2 da game
Product Decsription:
Sex insanity and bullets combine for one hi-octane action-thriller about a beautiful escaped mental patient who goes on a murderous rampage after her own father puts a bounty on her head. No one is safe as she unleashes her wrath on a number of unsuspecting victims including a nightclub owner a bartender a prostitute a psychic and a stripper. Starring a huge ensemble cast including Dominique Swain Master P. Tom Sizemore Danny Trejo Bai Ling Ron Jeremy and more Toxic is an edgy action-packed thrill ride that is guaranteed to both shock and awe.
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305 (2007)
dir. David M. Holechek, Daniel Holechek
I guess since their youtube video got 4 million hits, they get to make a full-length movie. Fuckin assholes.
Product Decsription:
After 300 There Were 5This is the not so legendary tale of the five somewhat brave Spartans who didn't go to Thermopylae but instead were assigned to guard the secret goat path and ran away at the first sign of trouble. They were the laughing stock of the entire Spartan army. All they had to do was guard a lousy goat path. And they failed.Claudius Darryl Demetrius the Blind Shazaam and Testicleese must embark on a hero/s journey to redeem themselves and become true warriors armed with only a sharpened carrot a rolling pin and an incredible sense of guilt. Smartly funny and based entirely on historical fact (allegedly) 305 proves that even the biggest losers get lucky sometimes.
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