DVD Talk: January 2007 Archives

This week the DVD Savant has a number of new reviews including: Band of Angels - This overheated exercise in antebellum bad taste combines a realistic depiction of the slave trade with anachronistic attitudes from the 50s Civil Rights era when it was made; Hollywoodland - Sleazy private eye Adrien Brody digs into the mysterious death of Superman actor George Reeves, wondering how far he can go before Tinseltown retaliates; Robert Mitchum The Signature Collection - Warners gives us a fat box with six Mitchum vehicles: Angel Face, Macao, Home from the Hill, The Sundowners, The Good Guys and the Bad Guys and The Yakuza; Looker - Michael Crichton's murder thriller lumps plastic surgery, CGI moviemaking, hypnotic weaponry and a corporate conspiracy into an uneven thriller brimming with visionary ideas; Slaughter of the Vampires - Cheeky undead aristocrat Dieter Eppler really messes up Walter Brandi's household in this Italian-German monster mash, heavily 'patterened' after Horror of Dracula. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

A number of notable DVDs out this week including: Lucky Louie: S1 [Review] - one of the most brutally honest and hilarious shows about relationships broke new ground for HBO and reinvigorated the sitcom genre; Open Season [Review] - this lightweight adventure occasionally offers a few inspired moments, but those looking for interesting characters and great music will walk away disappointed; Unknown [Review] - part Reservoir Dogs and part Saw, Unknown is a film packed with notable actors that never really saw the inside of theaters, but can now be discovered on DVD; Looker [Review] - best selling author Michael Crichton takes a trip to the Director's chair in this guilty pleasure from the early eighties. Other notable DVDs out this week include: Catch a Fire [Review], Comedians of Comedy [Review], The Marine [Review], The Motel [Review], The Silence of the Lambs: SE and Viva Pedro - Pedro Almodovar Classics Collection. Be sure to check out our DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

When Jamaican musician Bob Marley died in 1981, the world mourned. In Jamaica reggae artists from around the world convened in a secret and off-the-beaten path wilderness area called Look Behind. The mourning and celebration of Bob Marley's life was captured in The Land of The Look Behind by director Alan Greenberg and cinematographer Jorg Schmidt-Reitwein, both longtime associates of legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog. Now for the first time ever on DVD The Land of The Look Behind features: music by Bob Marley and The Wailers, Gregory Isaacs and many other reggae greats, new HD 16x9 transfer from original camera negative, Commentary with Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man,) director Alan Greenberg, and Norman Hill. Check out these clips for The Land of The Look Behind: Another World, Dissenters, The Funeral of Bob Marley, Marley's Legacy and The Music. Get more info on The Land of The Look Behind here.

With over 18,300 DVD reviews in the DVD Talk Review Database, it's easy to overlook some of the great reviews. Recent DVD Reviews include: Hellboy: Sword of Storms - an entertaining extension of the Hellboy franchise; Half Nelson - With fully realized characters and the ability to surprise and challenge audience expectations, Half Nelson can be a devastating experience; The Grudge 2 - a horror franchise which trusts the viewers imagination; Saw III - stands not only as a fitting finale to the first phase of this series, but it is also a glorious gorefest destined to fill the splatter aficionado with untold moments of mindless mayhem merriment; Fiddler on the Roof: 2-Disc Collector's Edition - a fantastic film in every way possible with some truly beautiful musical numbers, gorgeous sets and cinematography; Jesus Camp - a wonderful look at how adults imprint their own values onto children, and, no matter how unbiased the film is, how disturbing that control can be when it's used to attempt revolution; Cocaine Cowboys - less documentary and more full-fledged gangster flick, it's a machine gun-paced exploration of South Florida's cocaine trade in the late Seventies and early Eighties; Red Doors - what looked like a chick flick at first has surprised by being a very solid story of love, loss and family, directed with style and a welcome lack of flash. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week including a new feature which lets you Browse reviews by studio.

Writer-Director Joe Carnahan follows up his 2002 hit, Narc, with the rough-and-tumble Smokin' Aces. Starring Jeremy Piven, Ray Liotta, and Ryan Reynolds, the film is an action-packed race to Lake Tahoe as a pair of FBI agents and seven assassins all look to claim the head of a sleazy magician. Smokin' Aces opens wide this weekend. Also in theaters this week is Catch and Release - Jennifer Garner stars in screenwriter Susannah Grant's directorial debut about a grieving fiancee putting her life back together; Epic Movie - this flick can't possibly be worse than Date Movie, right?; and Seraphim Falls - Pierce Brosnan, Liam Neeson, and Anjelica Huston star in this excellent little western. Be sure to catch reviews of other recent Theatrical Films: The Hitcher, Alpha Dog, Primeval, Arthur and the Invisibles, Stomp the Yard, Freedom Writers, Little Children, Pan's Labyrinth. As always, we invite you to share your thoughts on films in theaters in our Movie Talk Forum Area.

DVD Stalk is back at it and packed with tons of great reviews (including a very early look at Jess Franco's Count Dracula, the latest from The Criterion Collection, Monsters & Madmen, and Tempe's The Red Skulls), information on all of this week's horror releases, and previews of some upcoming scares. We also have our usual bag of evil goodies, including an introduction to the DVD Stalk Blog and an opportunity to load up on DVD Stalk apparel. We hope you'll check out DVD Stalk and drop us a line to let us know what you think. Check out our daily DVD Stalk Blog, join us in the DVD Stalk Forum to chat about all things horror, friend us on DVD Stalk's MySpace, drop by the DVD Stalk Apparel Store, and be sure to check out DVD Talk's reviews of over 1,700 Horror DVDs.

A number of notable TV on DVD releases reviewed this week including: 24 - Season 6 Premiere (First 4 Episodes) - if you missed the premiere of one of TVs hottest action shows you can catch up with the first four season episodes quickly released on DVD complete with a $10 coupon off of the full season when it's released; I Dream of Jeannie - The Complete Third Season - worth the purchase price just to watch Barbara Eden prance around in a harem costume for eleven hours; Deal - everything you've always wanted to know about the legendary game show Let's Make A Deal; The Librarian - Return to King Solomon's Mines - TNT produces a cheese-heavy action-adventure movie franchise that actually really works. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted TV on DVD.

This week the DVD Savant has an extensive look at Criterion Collection's Monsters and Madmen - Criterion bundles four horror and Sci-Fi pix from the Gordons, Alex and Richard: The Haunted Strangler, Corridors of Blood, First Man Into Space and The Atomic Submarine. That makes two memorable Boris Karloff vehicles -- very good work there, Boris. -- and a pair of rather campy monster epics. With great commentaries from Tom Weaver and a couple of censored stabbings and scalpel incisions deleted from Corridors of Blood. Also in case you missed them be sure to read Savant's reviews of Yojimbo and Sanjuro: Two Samurai Films by Akira Kurosawa, Forbidden Hollywood Collection and The Wicker Man. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

After a quiet few weeks of releases, this year finally picks up with a strong slate of notable DVDs including: Sherrybaby [Review] - Maggie Gyllenhaal gives the performance of her career in this Sundance darling about a woman trying to pick her life back up after being in prison; This Film Not Yet Rated - Kirby Dick goes undercover to reveal the secrets and lies surrounding the MPAA's draconian rating's system; Saw 3 - the third and final chapter of this wildly successful franchise is worth checking out; Brokeback Mountain: CE [Review] - an amazing portrait of an enduring love and the heartbreak that lies at the end of it, now on the packed DVD it truly deserves. Other notable DVDs out this week include: The Guardian [Review] Jesus Camp [Review], Monsters And Madmen [Review], The Puffy Chair [Review], Robert Mitchum Col, and Yojimbo & Sanjuro [Review]. Be sure to check out our DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

With over 18,200 DVD reviews in the DVD Talk Review Database, it's easy to overlook some of the great reviews. Recent DVD Reviews include: Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back - 65 Tour Deluxe Edition - arguably the most influential rock 'n' roll documentary of all time is now in an absolute must own DVD collection; The Protector - deliriously entertaining with Tony Jaa who is reason enough to watch this film; I Trust You to Kill Me - there's a reason why Kiefer Sutherland is crazy about Rocco DeLuca and his music, after you see this film, you will be too; The Motel - an interesting debut for director Michael Kang, this Asian-American story of one boy's rite of passage has a quirky setting, realistically flawed characters and is strong enough to pick up as a rental; Street Fight - one of the best political documentaries we've seen in a long time, worthy of its accolades and certainly worth hunting down. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week including a new feature which lets you Browse reviews by studio.

DVD Talk has an extensive team of reviewers covering all the HD DVD and Blu-Ray Disc Releases. We've got more HD DVD and Blu-Ray Disc Reviews than almost anywhere else and a commitment to cover 100% of the titles released in both formats. This week we have a number of new HD DVD and Blu-Ray Disc Reviews. For HD DVD we have reviews of: Jet Li's Fearless - featuring one of the best HD transfers we've seen yet, The Deer Hunter - with a less than stellar transfer, Casino - a stunning disc and The Sopranos - Season 6, Part 1. For Blu Ray we have reviews of: The Sopranos - Season 6, Part 1 - see how the Blu-Ray edition compares to the HD, Crank - a high octane action flick that is demo worthy for the platform, Alien vs Predator - signs of double dipping on the new platform with this disc and ATL - perhaps a title best rented. Read these and over 250 other HD and Blu-Ray Disc Reviews.

How do you reimagine the legendary performances of C. Thomas Howell and Rutger Hauer in the remake of The Hitcher? You cast Sean Bean, Zachary Knighton, and Sophia Bush and hope for the best. Don't pick up any strangers on your way to the theater as The Hitcher opens wide this weekend. Also in theaters this week is Alpha Dog - based on the true crimes of high-rolling pot dealer, Johnny Truelove, early buzz marks the film as a thrilling tale of a horrible crime; Primeval - Prison Break's Dominic Purcell stars in this Lake Placid-esque trek to South Africa in search of a legendary 25-foot crocodile; and Arthur and the Invisibles - Luc Besson's animated feature that's done so well in Europe that the director is already planning two sequels. Be sure to catch reviews of other recent Theatrical Films: Stomp the Yard, Freedom Writers, Little Children, Notes on a Scandal, Code Name: The Cleaner, Pan's Labyrinth, Miss Potter. As always, we invite you to share your thoughts on films in theaters in our Movie Talk Forum Area.

This week marks DVD Talk's 8th year on the web. Over the past eight years DVD Talk has grown to be the largest DVD site on the net with over 25,000 DVD reviews (from a large staff of 60 DVD Writers), 3.8 million posts in our forum and over 2.2 Million monthly unique readers. This past year we initiated our coverage of the two emerging (and battling) HD formats: HD DVD & Blu-Ray with a goal of 100% coverage of all new releases. We also started the new High-Def Revolution column to cover it all. This past year also saw the relaunch of Video Game Talk, the expansion of our Adult DVD Review section to include All Male Reviews and a huge increase in support for our Theatrical Reviews. Over the past year we've seen a huge increase in the number of people using our Feeds to get our headlines on their start pages as well as get our numerous newsletters via email. Over the next year we'll continue to bring you top quality DVD and HD info and help sort through the sea of movies and releases to help you find the ones worth your time.

TV on DVD releases continue to be the highlight of the month, and we've recently reviewed: Men Behaving Badly: The Complete Series - one of the funniest sitcoms of the 1990s is finally out on DVD, and it plays even better than it did 11 years ago; Martin - The Complete First Season - a blast from television's past that still mostly holds up; Space Academy: The Complete Series - an entertaining seventies sci-fi oddity that should amuse kids and nostalgia buffs alike; The Royle Family - The Complete First Season - mesmerizing, hysterical look at a TV-paralyzed modern family, and quite unlike any TV comedy you may have seen before; The Chatterley Affair - an interesting look not only at an important historical event, but also at a sensuous, complex affair between compelling, thoughtful characters; Walt Disney Treasures - Your Host, Walt Disney (TV Memories 1956-1965) - perhaps the least revelatory of the "Treasures" line is an enlightening look into Walt in the context of his television show that meant the world to a generation of viewers. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted TV on DVD

Anime Talk starts off 2007 with an early look at a Gunbuster, a classic OVA series that was one of the first 'modern' anime shows. Bandai does a great job presenting this six episode series in a three disc set, and reviewer Don Houston pegs it as an early contender for a slot on this year's top ten list. We also have capsule reviews of a few anime discs that our review staff was able to screen over the holiday including: Bleach: The Substitute and Trinity Blood 3. In addition we have the first installment of our new anime bargain section with Anime Bargain expert Wen-Tsai. In case you missed it, be sure to check out our last column where we took a look at the best anime of 2006.

We here at DVD Stalk are incredibly proud of all the great horror news, reviews, and commentary we've been able to bring you over the past year or so and we've grown by leaps and bounds, but we're not done quite yet. DVD Stalk Blog is the latest part of that equation, and an important one at that. Some of the things you're likely to see in the new DVD Stalk Blog include: Shorter, capsule reviews of films (and DVDs) that might not quite fit into the column. News and press releases from all across the world of horror. Interaction with you, the DVD Stalk readers, including giveaways, contests, polls, etc. And, most importantly, a forum for the people behind DVD Stalk to voice their thoughts on current horror films, books, comics, and pretty much anything horror related. We hope to make this blog a place that you'll not only check every single day (as we hope to have new content up daily - or at least nearly daily), but also pop into your favorite RSS reader, tell all your friends about, and link to like crazy little horror freaks. We hope you'll check out DVD Stalk and drop us a line to let us know what you think. Check out our daily DVD Stalk Blog, join us in the DVD Stalk Forum to chat about all things horror, friend us on DVD Stalk's MySpace, drop by the DVD Stalk Apparel Store, and be sure to check out DVD Talk's reviews of over 1,600 Horror DVDs.

This week the DVD Savant has a number of new reviews including: The Films of Kenneth Anger, Volume One - The arresting delights of Kenneth Anger's remarkable experimental films still seem fresh and original; The Illustrated Man - Rod Steiger acts up a storm but Jack Smight's adaptation of Ray Bradbury's book plays like a TV movie, and its individual stories seem trite; Operation Crossbow - Germany's V-weapons come in for a little revisionary hype in this 007-inflected wartime spy caper that has it all -- grim espionage equations, lush romance and outlandish derring-do; Up Periscope - James Garner proves his big-screen mettle in this conventional submarine story, with Edmond O'Brien. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

An interesting mix of notable DVDs this week including: Doctor Who: The Complete Second Series - Scifi fans of all ages will want to check out this exceptional season featuring David Tennant as the series 10th Doctor; Gridiron Gang [Review] - this story has been told before in many forms through out the years but it's still an enjoyable one worth checking out; Seven Swords - Tsui Hark's latest epic film is stuck half way between an action film and a romance, but with stunning visuals and top notch action it's a film worth seeing. Other notable DVDs out this week include: The Animation Show, La Moustache, May 6th, Mouchette [Review], Perth and Space Academy [Review]. Be sure to check out 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 special giveaway from Genius Products for the DVD release of The Puffy Chair. Another fantastic film you probably haven't seen - The Puffy Chair debuted at Sundance, won the audience award at SXSW and received two Independent Spirit Award nominations. The Puffy Chair DVD features: Outtakes, Deleted Scenes, Short Films, Interview with the Duplass Brothers and More. The Puffy Chair is a unique take on both the relationship film and road film, done so extremely inventively and honestly. The Puffy Chair is a shining example of what you can do with an extremely low budget and a ton of talent and creativity. Enter now for your chance to one of 5 copies of the The Puffy Chair DVD.

With over 18,200 DVD reviews in the DVD Talk Review Database, it's easy to overlook some of the great reviews. Recent DVD Reviews include: The Guardian - Kevin Costner is extremely likable in a great family-night flick with lots of action, adventure and drama; Sheitan - as much a black comedy as a horror movie, Sheitan is a whole lot of twisted fun; Yojimbo & Sanjuro - when viewed individually these film stand tall as entertaining and important samurai films; together, even more so; Joseph Campbell - The Hero's Journey - a great introduction to a brilliant man and some of his basic fundamental theories; Loving Annabelle - a real gem of a film that takes an honest look at the relationship between two women; The Night Listener - another interesting role for Robin Williams in a film that is unsettling, understated and, in the final analysis, underdone. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week including a new feature which lets you Browse reviews by studio.

DVD Stalk is back at it and packed with tons of great reviews (including an early look at the unrated edition of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, the latest Masters of Horror disc (Haeckel's Tale) and the Internet hype-machine Snakes on a Plane), information on all of this week's horror releases, previews of some upcoming scares, and a close look at a few overlooked horror films. We also have our usual bag of evil goodies, including a chance for readers to suggest some of their favorite overlooked fright flicks and an opportunity to load up on DVD Stalk apparel for the new year. We hope you'll check out DVD Stalk and drop us a line to let us know what you think. Join us in the DVD Stalk Forum to chat about all things horror, friend us on DVD Stalk's MySpace, drop by the DVD Stalk Apparel Store, and be sure to check out DVD Talk's reviews of over 1,700 Horror DVDs.

A number of notable TV on DVD releases reviewed this week including: Get Smart - The Complete Series - having this series on DVD is a dream come true, and Time Life has gone all out putting it together resulting in a set that solidly gets DVD Talk's Highest Rating; Dog the Bounty Hunter - The Wedding Special - a two episode collection featuring a few exciting cases for Dog and some emotional moments, might have been better as part of a season set but priced low enough to justify picking it up; Father Brown: Set 1 - fast-moving, well-written, professionally acted, and distinctly "British" in tone...the perfect accompaniment for an afternoon in your comfy chair, with tea, scones, and murder on the telly; The Impressionists - the three-part BBC miniseries is a surprisingly well-done project that manages to be both entertaining and serious at the same time; Walt Disney Treasures - The Mickey Mouse Club Featuring the Hardy Boys: 1956 - 1957 - classic '50's TV that is a nostalgic treat for anyone old enough to remember them. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted TV on DVD.

Last week the DVD Savant posted his 2007 DVD Wish List, response to it was so overwhelming that he's cried uncle and stopped soliciting additions. For a format that is now nine years old there are still way too many great titles which still haven't gotten released, hopefully the studios will scour Savant's wish list and get a number of these titles on their release schedules. In addition to fielding a mountain of reader response, The DVD Savant has a look at the Shaw Brother's The Cave of Silken Web - this Run Run Shaw classic is a Chinese fantasy about four travelers (including man-animals named Pigsy and The Monkey King) who tangle with the dreaded Seven Spider Sisters, a nest of seductive demons who love to devour tasty men. Funny, action-full and blessed with some really amusing musical numbers. Also this week guest contributor and Savant UK correspondent Lee Broughton reviews two spaghetti westerns from Wild East (NTSC) and Koch Media (PAL): Matalo & Blindman - starring Lou Castel, Tony Anthony and Ringo Starr. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

A number of notable DVDs out this week including: Idiocracy [Review] - Mike Judge's biting satire about the 'dumbing of America' was snuck in and out of theaters, but should absolutely get discovered on DVD; Illusionist [Review] - combination thriller and romantic drama deserves a lot of credit for its attention to period and place; Crank [Review] - Jason Statham returns in another high-octane unapologetic action flick that is perfectly suited for a weekend rental; Extras: S1 [Review] - Ricky Gervais' US follow up to The Office finds him as an out of work actor struggling to get noticed as an extra. Other notable DVDs out this week include: I Trust You to Kill Me, MI-5, V4, The Night Listener, Quinceanera [Review] and SpongeBob SquarePants: S4 V2 [Review]. Be sure to check out 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 several clips from two eagerly awaited Koch Lorber DVDs. First up - Vincent Lindon and Emmanuelle Devos star in La Moustache [view trailer], the spellbinding 2006 theatrical hit that the Chicago Sun-Times called "a paranoid thriller in the manner of Alfred Hitchcock." Enjoy these clips from La Moustache: A clean shave, Frantic search and Drugged escape. Also arriving on DVD is the final masterpiece from controversial director Theo van Gogh, May 6th [view trailer], a film based on the real life assassination of Dutch political leader Pim Fortuyn. Enjoy these clips from May 6th: Assassination coverage, Bathroom attack and Clue pulled from the water.

With over 18,100 DVD reviews in the DVD Talk Review Database, it's easy to overlook some of the great reviews. Recent DVD Reviews include: Factotum - Norwegian director Bent Hamer captures the common man wisdom and the existential defiance that has made Bukowski's work endure, and in so doing, has made an individual picture that sympathetically shows the audience a side of life rarely talked about; Wim Wenders Collection 2 - Anchor Bay's mammoth eight-film collection of Wim Wenders movies is on of the best box sets released in a while; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - The Beginning - even with the added gory bits provided by this un-rated edition's release this franchise prequel still isn't all that interesting; To the Left of the Father - perceived by many as the best Brazilian film from the last century this is indeed an impressive work; The Queen's Sister - one of the better British made-for-TV movies tells the mostly true and often sensational story of Princess Margaret. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week including a new feature which lets you Browse reviews by studio.

A number of notable TV on DVD releases reviewed this week including: SpongeBob SquarePants - Season 4, Vol. 2 - ten more classic episodes from a particularly strong season that is equally enjoyable by kids and adults alike; The Simpsons - The Complete Ninth Season - a fantastic collection of some of the best episodes that the series has had to offer so far in its long and lengthy run; Quantum Leap - The Complete Fifth Season - the final adventures for Sam and Al traveling in time and featuring some of the series biggest episodes; Rising Damp - Series 3 - well-established characters, inspired teleplays and confident performances, this latest set of seven shows is frequently laugh-out loud funny; Father Brown: Set 1 - a delightful, entertaining, and intelligent program. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted TV on DVD.

Hilary Swank takes a page out of Michelle Pfeiffer's book in Richard LaGravenese's Freedom Writers. By teaching her hardened students the craft of writing, Swank turns them into emotive, compassionate thinkers. Sound a little too much like Dangerous Minds? You decide as Freedom Writers opens this weekend. Also in theaters this week is Little Children - this excellent adaptation of Tom Perotta's best selling novel is Todd Field's long-awaited follow-up to his 2001 indie hit In the Bedroom; Notes on a Scandal - Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench star in this adaptation of Zoe Heller's hit novel What Was She Thinking?; and Code Name: The Cleaner - Cedric the Entertainer plays an amnesiac janitor tricked into thinking he's an undercover agent is this listless film. Be sure to catch reviews of other recent Theatrical Films: Pan's Labyrinth, Miss Potter, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Breaking and Entering, Inland Empire, Black Christmas, Rocky Balboa, Letters from Iwo Jima, The Good Shepherd, Night at the Museum, We Are Marshall, Children of Men, Venus, Curse of the Golden Flower. As always, we invite you to share your thoughts on films in theaters in our Movie Talk Forum Area.

In the latest installment of High-Def Revolution, Joshua Zyber takes a look back at the debut year for High Definition Video. Find out which titles made the cut and which received our top honors for the best HD DVD and Best Blu-Ray Disc releases of the year. Also find out which and format took our top prize. With two new dueling formats and no clear winner 2007 is set to be the defining year for the next generation of home entertainment and we hope you'll join us as we continue to cover it. Read High-Def Revolution: The Best in High Definition - 2006 and check out our over 200 HD DVD and Blu-Ray Disc Reviews.

DVD Savant starts the year off with Savant's DVD Wish List 2007 - For the New Year, Savant inaugurates a SuperList of desired feature films not yet released on DVD ... Collect 'em all; A tout de suite - Benoit Jacquot returns to the small B&W 60s idiom to tell the true tale of a Parisian teenager who runs away with a fugitive bank robber; Mouchette - Robert Bresson weighs in with another rumination on the human spirit lost in a pitiless existence; Devil Times Five - This bizarre and rather indigestible independent 70s horror film can boast some notable names in the cast -- Sorrell Booke, Gene Evans, Leif Garrett; The Last Days of Mussolini - Rod Steiger and Lisa Gastoni are excellent in this account of the final, messy finish to the reign of Italy's Il Duce; The Great Yokai War - Takashi Miike takes time out from crime and horror to put together a lavish family spectacle about Japan's fantasy monster-rama of Yokai -- spirit creatures that can take the shape of people, monsters or inanimate objects. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

Top 10 lists suck. No really, they suck. When you consider that in 2006 DVD Talk reviewed well over 3000 discs, and 96 of them received DVD Talk's highest rating of DVD Talk Collector Series, pulling ten titles from that huge pool and calling them 'the best' is an exercise in futility. Add to that the fact that DVD Talk has a review staff of over fifty writers, and I can promise you that even internally, there's no way we'd all agree on one single list. The truth is there are just so many amazing DVDs that were released last year that we could assemble and reassemble this list every week and it would change. So with all that, I bring you this year's DVD Talk Top 10 DVD list. It's arbitrary, non-inclusive, anglocentric and all wrong. It shuns indie films in favor of big studio ones, it's seriously lacking in TV on DVD, and is 'safe' on many levels. But warts and all, it's our list.

A shockingly thin week for DVD to start 2007. The only real notable DVD to hit the streets this week is Snakes on a Plane [Review]. Prior to its theatrical release the film was treated as 'the next best thing' with a 'surefire' strategy to use the Internet to ensure the film's success. When reality met expectations Snakes on a Plane proved that when it comes to making and marketing films 'nobody really knows anything'. Now, after the hype and hoopla have died down, Snakes on a Plane can be viewed for what it is - a hokey and cheesy film that is a lot of fun, worth checking out if for no other reason than to see Samuel L. Jackson chew up the scenery. Other DVDs out this week include: Artie lange's Beer League [Review], The Covenant [Review], Martin: S1 and Sparkle . Be sure to check out our DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

With over 18,000 DVD reviews in the DVD Talk Review Database, it's easy to overlook some of the great reviews. Recent DVD Reviews include: The Illusionist - combination thriller and romantic drama deserves a lot of credit for its attention to period and place; Invincible - a fairly predictable but otherwise enjoyable sports drama that is worth watching; The Emerald Diamond - a marvelous documentary that not only gets the joy of playing baseball, but makes room for the reverence that traditionally follows skill; Walt Disney Treasures - More Silly Symphonies - a hypnotic compilation of early Disney sound cartoons presented in a way worthy of its legacy; Walt Disney Treasures - The Complete Pluto, Volume Two - a collection that truly lives up to the 'treasure' name, a worthwhile addition to any DVD lover's library; New Adventures of He-Man, Vol. 1 - while this series may be considered by many to be the black sheep of the He-Family it's still worth checking out for the quality of the DVD and decent moments found in the show. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week including a new feature which lets you Browse reviews by studio.