DVD Talk: January 2005 Archives

DVD Talk Editor Geoffrey Kleinman is back from five very full days in Park City Utah at the Sundance and Slamdance film festivals. Geoff took the fest a break neck pace watching up to six films a day in order to bring you the most complete report of the films at the fests. Read the rundown of 23 films (ranked best to worse) including: 40 Shades of Blue - the Grand Jury Prize Winner, The Aristocrats - a documentary about the lewdest joke in the world, Brick - Phillip Marlowe goes to High School, The Squid and The Whale - a fantastic feature from the author of 'The Life Aquatic', Thumbsucker - a film worth seeking out, Kekexilli: Mountain Patrol - simply brilliant, and his pick for the best films of Sundance and Slamdance. Read the complete report and find out what films bound for theaters you shouldn't miss.

It's great to see the turn around on successful theatrical films get even faster. This week's most notable DVD Ray [Review] is a perfect example of a great film quickly released on DVD. Other notable DVDs this week include: Shall We Dance? [Review] - a light romantic film with Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez and Susan Saradon, Shall We Dance? - The Original Japanese Version - with less star power but a lot more charm than the remake, The Grudge [Review] - Sarah Michelle Gellar fans will be happy but fans of good horror might want watch Takashi Shimizu's Japanese version Ju-on - The Grudge [Review] instead and Mulan II [Review] - an enjoyable film for a younger audience, it captures a lot of the magic of the original and is worth checking out. Also out this week are a number of notable TV on DVD releases including: Wonderfalls: Complete Series [Review, Charmed: S1 [Review], Cheers: S4 [Review], Frasier: S4 [Review], I Love Lucy: S3 [Review], Oz: S4, Sealab 2021: Season 2 and Taxi - S2. 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.

DVD Talk columnist G. Noel Gross chats with Duane "Dog" Chapman about his hit reality series Dog the Bounty Hunter -- now available from A&E Home Video -- about the impact of Dog's faith on the show, the "reality" of shooting the series and even manages to get Dog to call him "Brah." Read the interview or listen to an audio version via DVD Talk Radio.

The DVD Savant has been hard at work with a ton of new reviews including: Ray Harryhausen: The Early Years Collection - The celebrated animator gathers together all of his pre-feature shorts, amateur work and visual experiments in a two disc set divided between his original work and modern tributes, Legong: Dance of the Virgins - Milestone surprises us again with a worthy rarity - a Two-Color Technicolor silent travelogue-documentary shot in Bali in 1934 with an all non-pro cast, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe - Merchant/Ivory never got weirder than this Southern-Gothic look at the bizarre characters that hover around Miss Amelia's, the only place in town, The Killer Must Kill Again - Italo latecomer Luigi Cozzi does fairly well with this violent giallo with a notable cast, including Antoine St. John, George Hilton, Cristina Galbo and Alessio Orano, and Carrie - William Wyler's harrowing story of obsessive love is a forgotten classic. Laurence Olivier and Jennifer Jones are a pair of unhappy lovers. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

The DVD Talk DVD Easter Egg Database continues to grow, greatly in part from the fantastic submissions from DVD Talk readers like you. Some of the latest Eggs to be uncovered include: a hidden behind the scenes on Collateral, Alfred Molina performs a musical number as Doctor Octopus on Spider-Man 2, a hidden audio commentary on The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season, a skit from the MTV Movie Awards on The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King: Extended Edition, a bonus deleted scene on Anchorman - The Legend Of Ron Burgundy, a hidden behind the scenes on The Ultimate Matrix Collection. Find out how to access all these great hidden features and more in the DVD Talk Easter Egg Database. Also be sure to help our DVD Easter Egg Database grow by submitting DVD Easter Eggs when you uncover them on your DVDs.

With literally thousands of DVD Reviews (over 10,700 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: Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 3 - satisfying effort with great replay value, Wonderfalls: Complete Series - uniquely witty and offbeat and at times very endearing and touching, Cellular - for 94 minutes, grabs a hold of the viewer and doesn't let go, Goldfish Memory - one of the better sex comedies out there, crossing all lines of sexuality to bring us a sexy little romp with a touch of Irish brogue, Phone - an entertaining entry from Korea to the ever increasing pile of Asian spooky horrors, Monster: SE - a double dip which isn't enough to buy it again but warrants a look if you've never seen the film, He Knew He Was Right - a highly entertaining and polished adaptation of Anthony Trollope's novel, with an engaging plot, excellent performances from the cast, and great production values. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

DVD Talk is excited to announce the launch of DVD Talk Radio. Our debut of DVD Talk Radio features a special report on the lead up to Sundance 2005, an audio version of our popular Bits and Extras From The Digital Front column, Notable DVD Report as well as the audio version of our recent Interview with Henry Rollins (which includes stuff not on the transcript). We also now feature Reel Reviews - "Films Worth Watching" with Michael Geoghegan (the most popular movie podcaster online), listen to his first broadcast with us for Riding Giants. This new section of DVD Talk supports Podcasting (listen to what is a podcast) which enables you to automatically get our audio when we post it. Finally, we've added a the DVD Talk Radio Listener line at 206.600.6383. The listener line is open around the clock so you can record your comments for our broadcasts. Check it out now.

An excellent mix of notable DVDs this week including: Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow [Review] - a ground breaking film on a truly exceptional DVD, Some Kind of Monster [Review] - it's a metal version of 'Let it Be', Wire: Season 2 [Review] - one of the best written series on television tries something a little different for its second season with great success, Macgyver: Season 1 [Review] - a favorite show from the '80s comes to DVD but it doesn't age as well as we'd hoped, Beastmaster - Divimax Edition [Review] - Anchor Bay throws caution to the wind and gives Beastmaster it's deluxe treatment, Mean Creek [Review] - a shining example of good indie cinema, and Alien vs. Predator [Review] - just say 'no' to this franchise killing mess. 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.

DVD Talk columnist G. Noel Gross risks his geek-in-good-standing status by daring to compare 1978's beloved Battlestar Galactica with the Sci Fi Channel's "reimagined" miniseries. Have they lost their fracking minds or can a Victoria's Secret model really annihilate the human race? Plus, responses to reader emails and the ever-vigilant CineSchlock-O-Rama's Most Wanted.

This week we have a very special giveaway to celebrate The Sundance Channel's new show Festival Dailies, hosted by Jay Morh with daily updates from the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. We've got a ton of great Sundance Channel Prizes we're giving away including: a 20 DVD Sundance Channel Box Set, A Kenneth Cole Ski Jacket, Sundance Channel Headphone Knit Ski Cap, Sundance Channel Messenger Bag and much more. Enter now for your chance to win these and other great prizes. Also be sure to watch Festival Dailies which airs Jan 24-Jan 29 at 9pm E/P only on Sundance Channel.

This week we have 2 DVD Talk TV segments for you to enjoy. The first is from The Screen Savers (G4/TechTV) DVD Talk reviewer Kim Morgan takes a look at several recent notable DVDs including: Napoleon Dynamite, Shaun of the Dead and Catwoman - Watch this show (which runs about 5 mins). Also this week, Editor Geoffrey Kleinman covers 4 notable January DVDs including: Troy, Friday Night Lights, The Village and Mean Creek - Watch this show (which runs about 6 mins). Be sure to check out these and past DVD Talk TV segments.

This week marks DVD Talk's 6th year on the web. In the past six years DVD Talk has grown to be the largest DVD site on the net with over 13,000 DVD reviews, 3 million posts in our forum, an ever growing DVD Easter Egg Database and one of the most comprehensive DVD Interview sections anywhere. DVD Talk also continues to run several DVD columns including: DVD Savant, CineSchlock-O-Rama, Silent DVD The Blue Room and our newest column Bits and Extras from The Digital Front. DVD Talk can be seen on TV nationally every week on The Screen Savers and in Portland every month on ABC TV. You can hear DVD Talk on the radio in Portland in the mornings on 1190 KEX-AM and we'll as the newly launched DVD Talk Radio on the web. It's been a blast bringing you DVD News, Reviews and Info over the past six years and we look forward to the next year as we continue to build and grow what we offer our readers.

DVD Talk's Bits and Extras is back with another installment. This week we were faced a difficult choice: watch The Forgotten in it's theatrical or extended edition - see what we chose and how we fared. We're not huge fans of the bonus music DVD often packaged with CD releases, but this week were wowed by the Nirvana - With The Lights Out DVD. When Wonderfalls got canceled after only 4 episodes we were up in arms, now that all 13 episodes are out on DVD we're starting to see why the network axed it. Finally it might be blasphemy but it turns out that the Culkin brothers really CAN act, and we've got proof. All this and more in the DVD Talk's Bits and Extras Column.

A number of great clips from DVDs this week including: The Forgotten with an interview with stars Julianne Moore and Dominic West and interview with director Joseph Ruben and writer Gerald Di Pego. Several clips from Alien vs. Predator [Review] including: a behind the scenes look at the Predator mask, Predator and Alien creature designs, the Origin of Alien vs. Predator the concept behind the film, behind the scenes look at the special effects and choosing the perfect cast. Also clips from: Friday Night Lights [Review], Monk: Season 2 [Review], Little Black Book [Review] and Dig.

With so many DVD release announcements each week it can often be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. We list most of the notable DVD releases on our Coming Soon List but we thought we'd poll our Review Staff for the ones which they are anticipating the most. Here's the list of announced DVD titles most wanted by the DVD Talk Review Team: Warner Gangsters Collection on 1/25, The Grudge on 2/1, Angel: Season 5 on 2/8, Miami Vice: Season 2 on 2/8, Greatest American Hero: Season 2 on 2/8, Deadwood: Season 1 on 2/8, Saw on 2/15, Half Baked: Fully Baked Edition on 2/15, Heat:SE on 2/22 Nausicca of the Valley of the Wind on 2/22, South Park: Season 5 on 3/1, My Own Private Idaho - Criterion 3/1, Bambi: SE on 3/1, Kagemusha - Special Criterion Edition on 3/29, Orgazmo: SE on 3/29, Seed of Chucky on 4/12 and Invader Zim Box Set on 4/14. For more upcoming DVDs see our Coming Soon List.

A good mix of notable DVDs this week including Friday Night Lights [Review] - Sports Illustrated named this one of the top sports stories of all time and it makes a pretty good movie on a strong supporting DVD, The Forgotten - Julianne Moore is reason enough to give this one a spin and her strong performance makes us forget some of the films many shortcomings, Curb Your Enthusiasm: S3 - a very funny season of one of TV's most sarcastic comedies, Catwoman [Review] - a scantly clad Halle Berry isn't enough to waste 90 mins of your life, Touchez Pas Au Grisbi [Review] - Criterion does a fantastic job on a film that's much more than just a crime thriller, it's also a cinematic classic, Casque D'Or [Review] - another fantastic disc from Criterion, Farscape: Peacekeeper Wars - the popular sci-fi series comes to a climatic end and Cellular [Review] - Kim Bassinger leads a captivating thriller that's absolutely worth a rental, and The Deceivers [Review] - Ismael Merchant minus James Ivory and this time around it's a good thing. 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.

The DVD Savant has been hard at work in this new year with a ton of new reviews including: The Deceivers - a this fascinating, historically accurate and narratively daring combination of adventure and horror, Random Harvest - the most engaging bizarre romance of all time, an excellent tear-jerking thriller about amnesia that holds us spellbound even when we should be laughing at the unlikely plotting, We Don't Live Here Anymore - a muted, sensitive short story version of adultery and marriage stress in northwestern academia, the movie is a downer, but a quality downer, Ice Station Zebra - Rock Hudson leads a merry spy chase in his nuclear sub, unfortunately the destination is a North Pole that looks like it came out of a cereal box, The Mummy The Legacy Collection - Imhotep, Ardath Bey and later Kharis shamble, hypnotize and strangle their way into our hearts, Hell's Angels - Howard Hughes' first and biggest film is an aerial epic of WW1, with terrific photography and the sexy presence of Jean Harlow, Master of the Flying Guillotine - a really fun chopsocky Kung Fu movie from 1976 with nicely-done characters and exciting choreography and Ivanhoe Dashing Robert Taylor wins back England for Richard the Lionhearted, while saving Elizabeth Taylor's Technicolored hide from a witch'es pyre.

With literally thousands of DVD Reviews (over 10,500 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: The Twilight Zone - Season 1 (The Definitive Edition) - submitted for your approval... one of the most extensive reviews of a TV Series on DVD you'll find anywhere, do yourself a favor and read this dazzling review for this dazzling box set, Riding Giants: Special Edition - a documentary so flat-out amazingly good that it draws you in and makes you fascinated by the subject, regardless of whether or not you had any knowledge or interest in the material beforehand, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle - Extreme Unrated - a well-packed DVD that hits more than it misses makes this a solid pick-up whether you enjoy buddy flicks, stoner comedies or just funny movies, Everyday People - aan excellent day-in-the-life film that deals with themes like race, family, religion, responsibility and tradition, CSI: Miami - Complete Second Season - a solid improvement over the first season with some good replay value, Las Vegas: Season One - very entertaining with an extremely likeable cast. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

On this week's The Screen Savers (G4/TechTV) DVD Talk reviewer Kim Morgan takes a look at several Notable DVDs including: The Village - M. Night Shyamalan might be in love with his deleted scenes, but they were cut for a very good reason, Leon - The Professional (Deluxe Edition) - a superb DVD for a fantastic film from Luc Besson and The Fifth Element - Ultimate Edition - Chris Tucker might be supremely annoying in this film, but it's an absolute visual trip, worth taking again. Watch this show (which runs about 5 mins) in Windows Media High Bandwidth. Also watch past DVD Talk TV segments.

This week we have a special giveaway for Wolfgang Petersen's epic film Troy starring Brad Pitt, Eric Bana, Brian Cox, Orlando Bloom and Diane Kruger. It was the most expensive movie ever made and we're giving it away. The Troy DVD features: the featurettes - In The Thick of the Battle, From Ruins to Reality, Troy: An Effects Odyssey and Gallery of the Gods (a 3-D tour of Mount Olympus and Gods of Ancient Greece) We're giving away 5 copies of the Troy DVD so enter now for your chance to win.

An interesting mix of notable DVDs this week including: The Village [Review] - M. Night Shyamalan's latest film should have been brilliant, it isn't, but it's still worth checking out for the stunning debut of Bryce Dallas Howard, The Fifth Element - Ultimate Edition and [Review] Leon - The Professional -Deluxe Edition [Review] - two of Luc Besson's best films get re-releases and both are fairly worthy of a 're-purchase'. Also notable, from Warner Bros comes the winners of their Fan Choice Poll, all of which are worth checking out: Random Harvest - [Review], The Letter [Review], Ice Station Zebra [Review], Ivanhoe [Review] and King Solomon's Mines (1950) - [Review]. Other notable DVDs this week include: 6ixtynin9 [Review], Hunter: Season 1, MI-5, Volume 2, Silver City and Willie Dynamite. 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.

There's nothing quite like Henry Rollins. On stage performing 'spoken word', Rollins is one of the most entertaining, energetic and captivating storytellers. Rollins' stories are like a roller coaster of words that wind, loop and somehow return to the start leaving you ready to ride them again. Now, Henry Rollins' latest piece Shock and Awe comes to DVD. We had an opportunity to sit down with Henry Rollins and talk about his new DVD, the tour and all the projects he's working on. We had no idea what we were in for when we brought up the subject of music, a topic Rollins is incredibly passionate and knowledgeable about. Read our interview with Henry Rollins.

"It's like ComiCON with Tits" - These are the words on fan uses to describe the 2005 Adult Entertainment Expo after his first day at the convention. The show, is total insanity. The quiet conversations of the early morning 'trade show only hours' are shattered by the roar of the crowds and the beeps of digital cameras as thousands descend on the single biggest adult convention ever. DVD Talk editor Geoffrey Kleinman returns from the show with his complete report: Tales from the 2005 Adult Entertainment Expo as well as photo coverage of some of the best of the show.

DVD Talk's Bits and Extras is back this week with another installment with a look at a DVD whose deleted scenes are actually worth watching, a Catwoman conundrum, a rant about The Village and how much a tragedy it is for a movie that should be great to be bad, some musings aboutBattlestar Galactica - The Mini Series and a confession about a newly acquired Gilmore Girls addiction.

You wouldn't expect a comedy about two stoners on a quest for hamburgers to be a landmark film, but somehow Harold and Kumar go to White Castle just might be. Rather than your standard 'Abacrombie and Fitch' decked out white guys getting stoned and looking for burgers, Harold and Kumar takes an much more unique path following the exploits of Harold an Asian American (played by John Cho) and Kumar an Indian American (played by Kal Penn). John Cho and Kal Penn may not be your typical leading men, but that's the point, they are leading men. Harkening back to the days of Cheech and Chong, Harold and Kuma again challenge Hollywood's casting perceptions and show that the cinematic world is much more than just black and white. DVD Talk editor Geoffrey Kleinman had the opportunity to talk to Kal and John just as the DVD for Harold and Kumar go to The White Castle was about to be released. Read our complete interview with Kal and John and our review of Harold and Kumar go to the White Castle- Extreme Unrated Edition DVD

At DVD Talk, we've become quite known for our Year End Top DVD Lists. In addition to our 'famous' Top DVDs of 2004 List we're happy to bring you a myriad of Top DVD lists with top DVDs in a wide variety of categories including: Top Ten TV DVDs, Top Ten Adult DVDs (plus Top Adult Asian DVDs), Top Ten DVD Documentaries of 2004, Top Ten Anime DVDs, Top Ten Packaging, Top Ten Overlooked DVDs , The Most Rewatchable DVDs, Top Ten Police Dramas on DVD, Top Ten Double-Dips, Ten DVDs that you (probably) missed, Something Weird Top 10, Top Ten DVDs You Won't Find On Any Other Top Ten List, DVD Savant's The Most Impressive DVDs and CineSchlock-O-Rama's The Best of Schlock. Find out which DVDs made the cut on our definitive DVD Talk Top Twenty DVDs of 2004 and which one was 'The King'. So be sure to read all of our Top DVD lists on almost every topic under the sun. We promise you'll discover some amazing DVDs you might never have found otherwise.

The new year starts off with a bang with a number of notable DVD releases including: Troy [Review] - an over the top epic that is actually kind of fun and definately worth checking out, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle [Review] - it's 'Dude Where's My Hamburger?' and that's a good thing, Las Vegas: S1 [Review] - guilty pleasure television, what more can you ask for? Riding Giants [Review] - another great documentary from Stacy Peralta (Director of Dogtown and Z-Boys), Millennium: S2 [Review] - the final fantastic moments of an enormous achievement in both intellectual and atmospheric storytelling and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: CE [Review] - a shameless 'double dip' for one of last years best movies. 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.

With all the DVDs out late in December, it would have been easy to miss the release for Battlestar Galactica - The Miniseries - a great updated to the legendary classic sci-fi series. This week we have a special giveaway for Battlestar Galactica - The Miniseries DVD which features: Audio Commentary with Director Michael Rymer and Executive Producers David Eick and Ron Moore, Deleted Scenes and the featurette 'Battlestar Galactica: The Lowdown'. We're giving away 3 copies of the Battlestar Galactica - The Miniseries so enter now for your chance to win.

With literally thousands of DVD Reviews (over 10,500 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: Stander - one of the best and most unfortunately overlooked films of 2004, Anchorman - Legend of Ron Burgundy - one of the year's funniest comedies with great performances and memorable dialogue, Ding-a-Ling-Less - a vulgar but also sweet, clever, highly original, and extremely funny movie, Neil Gaiman's A Short Film About John Bolton - a fun film on a lot of levels from one of the most creative and entertaining writers alive today, Infernal Affairs - a simply amazing film which more than lives up to the hype, Farscape: Season 1 Collection 1 - Starburst Edition - one of the most imaginative and lavishly produced science fiction television series ever. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.