Another great batch of Notable DVDs this week including: Hero [Review] - it took several years for Zhang Yimou's magnificent film to hit the US, but now it has you simply can't miss it, Spider Man 2 - an extremely strong follow up to one of the better modern superhero franchises, Happy Gilmore\Billy Madison [Review] - two Adam Sandler favorites now together on DVD, Daredevil: SE [Review] - while the Director's cut doesn't 'save' this imperfect film, it does go a long way to making it suck less, My Flesh & Blood [Review] - one of the strongest documentaries we've seen in recent memory, Northern Exposure: S2 - this charming season is back on DVD for a second season, again wrapped in a parka-like slipcase and Tru Calling: S1 [Review] - an excellent example of a television series that can flourish if given time to grow. Read our List of Top Upcoming DVDs for more great DVDs out this week, and visit our DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

We've got a very special Holiday Giveaway from HTMarket.com who has provided some great prizes for us to give away. Enter for your chance to win your very own Personalized DVD Home Theater Intro customized for You and Your home theater, one of 2 Quick Snap Movie Poster Frame and or one of 2 DVD Storage Towers This is a great opportunity to pick up some fantastic Home Theater Accessories, so enter now for your chance to win now!  
 

This week's DVD Talk Clips of the Week features a ton of great peeks at upcoming DVD releases from Buena Vista Home Entertainment including: a look at Zhang Yimou's breathtaking Hero [Review], Mary Poppins 40th Anniversary Edition including clips of: Chim Chim-Cher-ee, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Spoonful of Sugar, Bert's Penguin Dance and Mary Poppins Arrives, a preview of another Disney classic outnext year on DVD Bambi: Special Edition, a sneak peek at the animated sequel Mulan II, and previews of King Arthur, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, Home Improvement: Season 1 and Where the Red Fern Grows

Sure, I scream! You scream! But CineSchlock-O-Rama's Most Wanted screamed for 176 WEEKS for the Ice Cream Man!!! DVD Talk columnist G. Noel Gross bows before B-royal Clint Howard and huzzahs the not-so-good humor man's most undersung gem with an exclusive interview and 5-star DVD review. Plus, strap in as Critical Mass ogles Girls on Bulls: Vol. 1. Also in case you missed them, be sure to check out CineSchlock's recent coverage for It's Alive: SE, Dawn of The Dead - 'Unrated' Director's Cut (2004), and The Day After Tomorrow: SE.  

This week The DVD Savant has reviews of: Woman in the Moon - Fritz Lang's last silent film is a draggy melodrama grafted onto the first technologically-oriented story of space travel, Explorers - River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke star in Joe Dante's wondrous tale of school kids who become bonafide spacemen by interpreting signals received in their dreams, The Official Story - the evil of political tyranny starts at the personal and family level in this chilling political film, The More the Merrier - one of the best of the wartime movies, Ragtime - Milos Forman brings E.L. Doctorow's epic novel to the screen with what they called 'mixed results', They Shoot Horses, Don't They? - Sydney Pollack's apocalyptic Depression saga is from a hardboiled novel by Horace McCoy and Made for Each Other - James Stewart and Carole Lombard go through the tribulations of early marriage, with baby, mother-in-law and bothersome boss problems. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

This week Silent DVD looks at a trio of silent films that Kino has released under the banner of "Gay-themed Films of the Silent Era": Different from the Others (1919) staring Conrad Veidt ("The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,") Michael (1924) directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, and Sex in Chains (1928) directed and staring William Dieterle ("Faust", "The Devil and Daniel Webster.") While none of these films can be considered masterpieces, all three present an interesting look at homosexuality in the early part of the last century. Also in case you missed them, be sure to read Silent DVD's coverage of The Fritz Lang Collection, The Parson's Widow, Fractured Flickers , The Girl with the Hatbox, More Treasures from American Film Archives and Arbuckle and Keaton - Volumes One and Two .

Another blockbuster week for notable DVDs including: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban -[Review] - Director Alfonso Cuaron does something wonderful and sublime in the third installment of the Harry Potter series, a much darker and intense film and it's one of our favorites this year, the first three seasons of Seinfeld arrive this week on DVD split up as Season 1 & 2 and Season 3 - it's one of TV's most successful series and it's one of the biggest TV on DVD releases this year, Golden Girls: S1 [Review] - the uncut versions of this popular finally come to DVD and the first season snags the coveted DVD Talk Collector Series Rating, Home Improvement: S1 [Review] - Tim Allen's classic sitcom is just as (if not more) entertaining as the first time it aired, The Terminal - it's puzzling why the pairing of box office heavyweights Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg wasn't a homerun, perhaps it'll find it's audience on DVD and The Rambo Trilogy - The Ultimate Collection with its 'secret suicide ending' . Finally this week 2 Asain films you should not miss: Springtime in a Small Town -Director Tian Zhuangzhuang's first film in ten years, and it's simply remarkable, and Zhou Tu's Train - Zhou Sun's beautifully poetic film is a visual treat. Read our List of Top Upcoming DVDs for more great DVDs out this week, and visit our DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

This week we have a very special giveaway from Warner Bros. for the uber DVD release of The Ultimate Matrix Collection. This 10 Disc DVD collection features: The Matrix (with a new digital transfer), The Matrix Revisited, The Matrix Reloaded (with a new digital transfer), The Matrix Reloaded Revisited, The Matrix Revolutions, The Matrix Revolutions Revisited, The Animatrix, The Roots of the Matrix, The Burly Man Chronicles and The Zion Archive and more. Enter now for your chance to win 1 of 3 copies of The Ultimate Matrix Collection we're giving away this week.
 

With literally thousands of DVD Reviews (over 10K reviews!) in the DVD Talk Review Database it's easy to miss some of the notable reviews written by our staff. Some notable reviews you may have missed: Peter Gabriel: Play - a superior collection of music videos from one of the form’s pioneers, Tru Calling - The Complete First Season - an excellent example of a television series that can flourish if given time to grow. Smallville - The Complete Third Season - entertaining, well-written, well-acted and featuring some impressive special effects, television programs don’t get much better than Smallville, The Mystery Science Theater 3K Vol 6 - another great MST3K set, the best four disc set so far, The Saddest Music in the World - an absolute hidden gem of a film and one of the year’s best films and The L Word - The First Complete Season - a wonderful show that casts its net over a significantly larger audience than just lesbians, bolstered by excellent writing and a strong cast. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

This week The DVD Savant has reviews of: Ragtime - Milos Forman brings E.L. Doctorow's epic novel to the screen with what they called 'mixed results', They Shoot Horses, Don't They? - Sydney Pollack's apocalyptic Depression saga is from a hardboiled novel by Horace McCoy, Made for Each Other - James Stewart and Carole Lombard go through the tribulations of early marriage, with baby, mother-in-law and bothersome boss problems, Broadway's Lost Treasures II - a second dip into the Tony Awards video vault comes up with another selection of stellar performances, including a rare Katherine Hepburn appearance in Coco, Creature from the Black Lagoon: The Legacy Collection - He big, he's green and has a froggy eye for bathing beauties, Arrowhead - Charlton Heston is the Indian-hating Army scout who scoffs at the pacifist cavalry's idea that Apache treaties will be upheld, and Secret Honor - Tricky Dick comes out at midnight to tape a drunken self-vindicating harangue into his tape recorder. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

This week Silent DVD looks at a quartet of films by the great German director Fritz Lang: His epic fantasy Die Nibelungen, Lang’s influential and stunning Metropolis, the cloak and dagger film Spies, and his last silent feature, the SF film Woman in the Moon. All four of these films have been lovingly restored and are available in a new boxed set from Kino. Also in case you missed them, be sure to read Silent DVD's coverage of The Parson's Widow, Fractured Flickers , The Girl with the Hatbox, More Treasures from American Film Archives, Arbuckle and Keaton - Volumes One and Two and his coverage of The San Francisco Silent Film Fest.

More great new clips this week including an exclusive clip from The Billy Madison/Happy Gilmore Collection - a deleted scene from Happy Gilmore, the trailer for The Rambo Trilogy - The Ultimate Collection, a sneak peek of the Director’s Label: Collectors Edition Box Set [Review] as well as another exclusive clip, also from Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Season 7 we have several clips: D.B. Woodside discusses his character Principal Wood and Joss Whedon discusses bringing Angel back to Buffy for the end of the show. Finally for Spider Man 2 we have a behind the scenes look at the stage design and the clip 'Lesson's Learned' which looks at the movie as a whole.  

This week we have a very special giveaway from Shout! Factory for the DVD release of Home Movies: Season 1. Home Movies is the animated adventure which follows pint-sized aspiring filmmaker Brendon Small as he uses his video camera to cope with the trials of his 8-year-old life. The Home Movies: Season 1 DVD features: Commentary by the cast and creators, Interviews with series creator Brendon Small, Jon Benjamin and Loren Bouchard, Real home-made short films by stars Brendon Small and Jon Benjamin, Animatics, Animation galleries and more. Enter now for your chance to win 1 of 5 copies of Home Movies: Season 1 we're giving away this week.

As we get closer and closer to the holidays we're seeing a dramatic increase in big notable DVD releases including the release this week of Elf: Infinifilm [Review] - Will Farrel gives a spot on performance in the film which has become a modern holiday 'classic', The Chronicles of Riddick [Review] - Vin Diesel IS the new Arnold and he carries this Dune like sci-fi sequel, Iron Giant: SE [Review] - it's the softer side of Vin in this long awaited SE of one of the most underrated animated films ever, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: Series - Universal continues rolling out great memorable TV onto DVD, Pee Wee's Playhouse 1 [Review] & 2 [Review] - Paul Reubins (aka Pee Wee) was the master of the subversive and satirical kids show, Tiger Woods Collection [Review] - everything you've ever wanted to know about Tiger Woods and more and Fanny & Alexander - Criterion continues to impress, this time with a 5 disc Bergman restoration. Other notable DVDs this week include: Buffy The Vampire Slayer 7, Commish: Season 1, Director's Label Series Box [Review], Home Movies: S1 [Review] , Kids in the Hall: S2 [Review] , Office Special [Review] and Space Ghost 2 Read our List of Top Upcoming DVDs for more great DVDs out this week, and visit our DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

If the importance of DVD was even in doubt, Vin Diesel helped put it to rest as he made the press event for the DVD release of The Chronicles of Riddick the only exception to his four week lock down in his apartment in preparation for Find Me Guilty, a film he's currently in production with Sydney Lumet. But for Vin, The Chronicles of Riddick was reason to make an exception. Vin's excitement and enthusiasm over the Chronicles of Riddick Series is evident. Vin spoke to a group of online journalists, who he affectionately called 'My Guys!'. Vin spoke passionately about The Chronicles of Riddick series, the possibilities with DVD and Video Games and the incredible turn his career has taken. Read the complete talk with Vin.

It's not often that someone is considered one of the greatest sportsmen of all time before age thirty, but there's never been anyone quite like Tiger Woods. The man who has wowed the world with his physics defying swing now has his eyes set at giving back to the game that has served him so well. DVD Talk editor Geoffrey Kleinman had the opportunity to catch up with Tiger Woods just prior to the release of his new 3 Disc Tiger - The Authorized DVD Collection [Review]. Find out what's in the cards for Tiger Woods, why he's not afraid of failure, and once and for all what is the absolute best golf DVD. Read our Talk with Tiger Woods and be sure to Read our complete review of the DVD Collection

A&E TV has another great exclusive offer for DVD Talk readers. When you order the Monty Python DVD Megaset (a 16 Volume Set with over 1750 minutes of Python including the complete collection of Monty Python's Flying Circus) you'll get the Monty Python Live! 2 Volume DVD Set Free plus free standard shipping, & a $35 Gift Certificate to be used on a future purchase or given as a gift. This is over a $60 value which you get for Free. Order now because this is a limited time offer, only good while supplies last.  
 

CineSchlock-O-Rama's Most Wanted huzzahs the capture of the killer kiddo classick It's Alive -- and its sequels!!! Better still, the incomparable Larry Cohen's commentaries for the trilogy amount to a master's course in exploitation filmmaking! Radio legend Rodney Bingenheimer is Mayor of the Sunset Strip and focus of the best (and weirdest) rock doc you've never seen. Plus, Critical Mass eyes "Cheaters" host Tommy Grand's return to shock TV.
 

This week The DVD Savant has reviews of: Looney Tunes Golden Collection - Volume 2 - Warner gives us another great big helping of looney cartoony fun, accompanied by some good extras, Ruby Gentry - King Vidor's Lust in the Swamp is as 'hot' as a maintstream Hollywood picture could get in 1952, September 11 - this grouping of artistic responses to the WTC attacks has several excellent episodes, Raising Helen - Kate Hudson shines but the movie's a dud ... and not even a very interesting one, That's Entertainment The Complete Collection - one fat boxed set now contains all three TE extravaganzas plus an extra disc of every conceivable extra plus a new documentary, The Three Faces of Eve - 1957's big acting winner, with Joanne Woodward wowing them with a performance of a woman with three separate personalities, and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers - one of the last of the MGM Golden Age musicals is one of the best, thanks to a witty score and script, and great choreography by Michael Kidd. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

This week, Silent DVD looks at The Parson's Widow, an early movie by cinematic master Carl Theodor Dreyer. Known for his powerful and emotional dramas, this feature is a departure from Dreyer's more well known work; it’s a comedy. A young man can only marry his fiance after he lands a job as a parson. He's happy when he gets a job offer, but only until he learns about the catch: if he wants the job he has to marry the previous parson's widow. This light movie may not sound like a typical Dreyer film, but it has a lot of the techniques and the narrative form that he would more fully explore in his later movies. Read Silent DVD now because 'not all great DVDs are in 5.1'.

A great mix of notable DVDs this week, including a dazzling restoration from Warner Bros. of Gone With the Wind: SE - it's packed with extras including a fantastic segment with Olivia de Havilland, Before Sunset [Review] - Richard Linklater revisits his characters from Before Sunrise ten years later in a well crafted romantic film, The Clearing [Review] - Robert Redford stars in a thriller that focuses more on the characters than anything else, Eddie Izzard: Definite Article, Glorious and Unrepeatable - three classic comedy concerts from one of the top comedians out there, Ju-on (The Grudge) [Review] - Takashi Shimizu's original Japanese version of the current US remake, The L Word - S1 - Showtime's notable series looks at the lives of several lesbian couples, Stepford Wives [Review] - a notable remake and update of the classic film, Zatoichi: Blind Swordsman - Sonatie - something old and something new from the ever enjoyable Takeshi Kitano. Read our List of Top Upcoming DVDs for more great DVDs out this week, and visit our DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

A number of great clips from upcoming DVDs this week including a peek at the DVD/CD combo Awake: The Best of Live, including the videos for Heaven and Lightening Crashes and an Interview with Lead Singer Ed Kowalczyk. We also have 2 exclusive clips from Chronicles of Riddick [Review]: the original version from the opening sequence and a deleted scene from the prison escape. Finally, we have clips from the Crossroads Guitar Festival including a performance by Eric Clapton and an extensive 12 minute look at the behind the scenes of the Crossroad Guitar Festival.
 

This week we have a very special giveaway from New Line Home Entertainment for the holiday hit Elf: Infinifilm DVD, directed by Jon Favreau and starring Will Ferrell, James Caan, Bob Newhart, Ed Asner, Mary Steenburgen and Zooey Deschanel. The Elf: Infinifilm DVD features: 4 Beyond the Movie featurettes, a Trivia Subtitle Track, Filmmaker commentary with Director Jon Favreau, Commentary with Will Ferrell, Deleted/Alternate Scenes, Music from Elf, 5 Behind-the-Scene Featurettes, Elf Karaoke and more. Enter Now for your chance to win one of 5 copies of the Elf: Infinifilm DVD.
 

DVD Talk is excited to announced that we've posted our 10,000 th mainstream DVD Review. This fantastic milestone comes out of the extremely hard work of team of reviews (40 in all) who spend countless hours watching every kind of DVD imaginable. For the record, the 10,000th DVD review is No Quarter - Jimmy Page & Robert Plant Unledded by Gil Jawetz. Of the 10K DVD Reviews on DVD Talk, the most read DVD review is The Star Wars Trilogy by Holly E. Ordway, the most reviews submitted by a review are 2,274 reviews by the amazingly prolific Aaron Beierle. The top review to get the most reads in a single day is Janet Jackson: Live in Hawaii (which happened the day of the Super Bowl slip). The DVD longest review comes from Jason Bovberg and his magnum opus for Alien Quadrilogy: Complete 9-Disc Set. This 10K milestone doesn't include our over 300 Theatrical Reviews, 100 Audio Reviews or 2400 Adult DVD Reviews. As we hit this prestegious landmark, we renew our commitment to bring you the widest range of DVD Reviews that you'll find anywhere, online or off.

This week AETV.com has an Exclusive Offer for DVD Talk readers for The Kids in The Hall Season 2 which features: 20 episodes on four discs, Commentary by the Kids, "An Oral History: Season 2", Two season 2 best-of compilations featuring fan-favorite sketches, 30 more minutes of never-before-seen-on-TV performances from the Rivoli Theater and more. When you order Kids in the Hall Season 2 DVD Set [Review] from A&E, you get a FREE collectible Kids in the Hall T-Shirt , FREE standard shipping, and a $20 Gift Certificate to be used on a future purchase or given as a gift. That's over a $45 value-FREE. This offer is good only while supplies last, so don't miss it.

Nothing draws attention like a plane crash. Nothing burns more than someone cutting in line at the bank. Nothing stirs more than Docurama's Wake Up And Smell The Coffee DVD. Eric Bogosian makes his solo career soar in his screen adaptation of a show that started as a rant, but ends in truth. From playing Satan as a salesman to a movie producer trying to make a quick buck off some vulnerable plane crash victim via a made-for-TV movie, Bogosian is sure to keep you in the hot seat. Targeting post 9/11 themes that oddly enough were written before 9/11, Bogosian stirs emotion through fast satiric dialogue and uneven character structure that’s all too familiar. DVD Talk writer Danielle Henbest had the opportunity to talk to Actor and Writer (and sometimes Monologist) Eric Bogosian about Wake Up And Smell The Coffee, Starbucks and the art of writing damn good prose without burning your tongue. Read our complete interview with Eric Bogosian

This week, The DVD Savant has reviews of Dr. Strangelove 40th Anniversary Special Edition - Kubrick's most audacious film is the perfect black comedy and a political work of art, Thriller - a cruel picture - the uncut Swedish version of this notorious revenge gore movie, Betty Blue (unrated Director's cut) -sex and romantic delirium from France, as a young writer falls for a critically unstable but irresistable young woman with a bad habit of slashing people with sharp objects when she's frustrated, Damn Yankees - Gwen Verdon, Ray Walston & Bob Fosse head up the talent roster in this Americana musical about the ultimate baseball fan, who sells his soul to the devil, Animal Farm - George Orwell's frightenings barnyard allegory is a primer on the misery of Communist revolution amd Dawn of the Dead The Ultimate Edition The King of the Zombie movies is indeed that. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

An interesting mix of DVDs announced this week, including one of our favorite new TV series Deadwood: The Complete First Season on 2/8 - we're hard pressed to find a better written TV series, Penn & Teller Season 2 Bullsh*T on 2/1 - the second season of Showtime's hilarious debunking series, Mulan II on 2/1 - one of Disney's better direct to DVD sequels that picks up right were the original left off, The Cookout on 1/18 - featuring the DVD cover chosen by DVD Talk readers and Vanity Fair on 2/1 with Reese Witherspoon and director Mira Nair. Also announced this week: Without A Paddle on 1/11, Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars on 1/18, One Tree Hill: Season 1 on 1/25, The Story Of The Weeping Camel on 1/25 and Ellen: Complete Season Two on 2/22. Read our list of the Most Notable Upcoming DVDs.

This week the key notable DVD spot goes to the 800 pound ogre - Shrek 2 [Review] (available on Friday) in what surely will be the biggest DVD release of the year...But you already knew that. With so much attention being paid to the big green guy it would be easy to overlook some other great DVDs out this week, including: Dr Strangelove: SE, [Review] - the 40th anniversary special edition for one of Kubricks classic films now with an impressive collection of supporting documentaries, The Fire Within [Review] - one of the best reality TV shows you haven't seen takes a look behind the scenes at Cirque Du Soleil, Animal Farm [Review] - and almost perfect rendering of George Orwell's creepy allegory about the Communist revolution, The West Wing: S3 [Review] - another stand out season from one of television's best dramas and Philadelphia: SE [Review] - Jonathan Demme's poignant look at the impact of AIDS. Other notable DVDs out this week include: Looney Tunes Golden Collection: V2, Simpsons Christmas 2 [Review] and Star Trek: S2 [Review]. Read our List of Top Upcoming DVDs for more great DVDs out this week, and visit our DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

Here at DVD Talk we're huge fans of Eddie Izzard. So this week we're extremely excited to be able to bring you a giveaway from Anti for three newly released and absolutely hilarious Eddie Izzard concert films on DVD: Glorious, Unrepeatable, and Definite Article. These 3 DVDs feature audio commentary from Eddie Izzard, Trivia Tracks. Additionally Glorious features the documentary 'Lust for Glorious' and Definite Article features the BBC documentary 'Je Suis A Stand-Up Documentary'. We're giving away five Eddie Izzard DVD sets including all 3 DVDs:Glorious, Unrepeatable, and Definite Article. Enter now for your chance to win.

A number of great clips from upcoming DVDs this week including an exclusive clip and DVD trailer from Ali G Indahouse [Review]. Several clips from The Clearing with Robert Redford, Willem Dafoe and Helen Mirren [Review] - Clip 1, 2, and 3. The trailer for Universal's Ultimate Party Collection (with Fast Times At Ridgemont High, and Dazed And Confused) [Review] . We also have several behind-the-scenes clips for Stargate SG-1 Season 7 [Review] - Clip 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Finally, we have a clip from Buena Vista's upcoming Tiger: The Authorized DVD Collection which looks at the life story of Tiger Woods

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