It took Jim Van Bebber over 15 years to get his movie The Manson Family made. The result is one of the most intense and telling versions of the Tate-LaBianca crimes ever created, a film that focuses on both the killers and the victims with the same, unsentimental eye. Many have dismissed The Manson Family as the most gratuitous of exploitation extremes. Others have argued that it is a misunderstood masterwork, years ahead of its time in both style and substance. DVD Talk interviewer Bill Gibron had a chance to speak with Jim Van Bebber and got his insight into the ongoing debate, and got a peek into the creation of this incendiary epic. Read the complete interview with Director Jim Van Bebber and Read our review for The Manson Family DVD.

Last week DVD Savant got a huge response for his review of The Mysterians. This week, he's back with a look at Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People - a creepy and unsettling film from director Ishiro Honda: a handful of high-toned Tokyo castaways are tempted by hunger to taste the forbidden fruit of a mysterious island: colorful, tasty mushrooms with unexpected side effects. DVD Savant also has reviews up for: Li'l Abner - a funny musical with a great non-P.C. storyline coupled with witty songs and sexy hillbillies, Panic in Year Zero! / The Last Man on Earth - MGM gives you the choice which way the world ends - atomic obliteration or a plague-driven zombie holocaust, The Flower of My Secret - Pedro Almodovar's least-bombastic drama features Marisa Paredes as a writer going through a nervous breakdown, Laura Fox's first entry in its new film noir line is as finely appointed as one of their studio classics discs and The Four Feathers - The Korda brother's big 1939 hit is the perfect English colonial epic, full of derring-do, oaths given and honor upheld. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

After weeks of dabbling, the utter blogification of CineSchlock-O-Rama has manifest. Join DVD Talk columnist G. Noel Gross for a giddy, 4-star ode to The Lone Gunmen. Find out what Double-D Avenger auteur William Winckler is ogling now. Mourn the loss of a Koala-loving comic. Salivate over the new Devil's Rejects trailer (and Jessica Alba in Sin City.) Plus, a reader counters Noel's chilly reception of The Ice Pirates and, as always, the ever-vigilant CineSchlock-O-Rama's Most Wanted.

Although Graham Chapman (one of the founding members of Monty Python) is no longer with us, his whit and humor have been captured on the upcoming Ryko DVD release Graham Chapman - Looks Like Another Brown Trouser Job. This week we have an exclusive clip from the Looks Like Another Brown Trouser Job DVD: a Solaglas commercial featuring Graham Chapman. Also this week we have clips for Scrubs: Season 1, Meet The Fockers, Dig, Reconstruction and The Lone Gunmen.

When you think of the term "radicals" the last image that will probably pop into your head is of two eight and ninety-something women living in a rest home. Sunset Story is the kind of movie that will change the way you think about radicals and the elderly. Irja and Lucille aren't your average 'rest home' residents - in between dealing with the issues surrounding ageing they work on voter registration, march in demonstrations and debate the issues of the day with the same passion as two college kids. Sunset Story is a very real, touching and entertaining film on an absolutely packed DVD. This week we have a special Sunset Story Giveaway courtesy of Capital Entertainment. Enter Now for your chance to win one of 5 copies of the Sunset Story DVD we're giving away this week.

An interesting mix of notable DVDs out this week including: Dig [Review] - a poignant portrait of two bands going opposite directions on the same road, one of the best music documentaries you'll see this year, Hotel Rwanda [Review] - Don Cheadle is great as always in a film portraying hope and strength in the face of unspeakable horror, Bad Education [Review] - Pedro Almodovar's biting semi-autobiographical satire is not to be missed especially for a memorable performance by Gail Garcia Bernal, Ocean's Twelve [Review] - while it doesn't reach the level of Ocean's 11 it's a perfect candidate for a weekend rental, Bob Newhart: S1 [Review] - Bob finally makes his way onto DVD, the show has aged very well, and each episodes contains a lot of laughter and The Woodsman - Kevin Bacon is fantastic in a film that only just seems to miss its mark. Read our List of Top Upcoming DVDs for more great DVDs out this week, visit our DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

With literally thousands of DVD Reviews (over 11,400 reviews!) in the DVD Talk Review Database it's easy to miss some of the notable reviews written by our staff. Recent DVD Reviews include: Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Vol. 1 - Hanna-Barbera's action and comedy cartoons find themselves in a law-based animated sitcom with some seriously twisted results, British War Collection - five war related films worthy of adding to your collection, Dig! - madness or genius? A look at the parallel success of The Dandy Warhols and failure of The Brian Jonestown Massacre , Union Square - an unflinchingly real look at drugs and the people who are bound to them, Miracles: Complete Series - a wonderful series that proved too much for Network TV but is now thankfully out on DVD, and Birth - a very deliberate challenging and often creepy film. Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

Once again AnimeTalk is filled with the latest reviews, bargains, and news concerning anime releases in Region 1. We start off this time with one of the few anime DVDs that have earned the coveted DVD Talk Collector Series rating: Paranoia Agent Volume 3. One of the best volumes in the series so far, this set of shows confirms that Paranoia Agent is one of the most creative, bizarre and best show, to make onto DVD, anime or otherwise. Also this week, more than 40 years after Osamu Tezuka's original black and white series Astro Boy is back in a new updated series. The new boxed set contains all 50 episodes of the series, many of which were never seen on American TV. But that’s not all. We also have a great deal on the Real Bout High School boxed set, a look at an exciting new series, Girl Gunslinger, a list of upcoming releases, and for those Ghost in the Shell fans who just can’t get enough, word on the Ghost in The Shell 2 Video Music Anthology. Be sure to check out our earlier installments of AnimeTalk too for a look at Anime Overdose 2005, and more reviews than you can shake a Gundam at.

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