Brendan Fraser faces off against undead Jet Li in the mesmerizingly awful blockbuster sequel The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Panic finds a new residence in the terrifying Spanish horror film [Rec]. And Kevin Costner employs his boyish charm to sort out the election process in the political comedy Swing Vote. Also in theaters: The controversial love of Cabaret author Christopher Isherwood is explored in Chris & Don: A Love Story. And the long-delayed Clive Barker horror property Midnight Meat Train finally limps into theaters. Be sure to catch reviews of other recent Theatrical Films: The Dark Knight, The X-Files: I Want to Believe, Mamma Mia!, Hellboy II: the Golden Army, Lost Boys: The Tribe, Step Brothers, Wanted, Wall-E, Hancock, American Teen, Up the Yangtze, Baghead, Death Defying Acts, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Man on Wire, Brideshead Revisited, and The Wackness. As always, we invite you to share your thoughts on films In Theaters in our Movie Talk Forum.

What do the movies Seven Samurai, Godzilla vs. Mothra, Ringu, and Spirited Away have in common? They were all released by Toho Studios, Japan's most famous movie production company and distributor. DVDTalk reviewer and Japanese film scholar Stuart Galbraith IV examines the studio's output in his most recent book; The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. This meticulously researched book is amazing in its scope. Chronicling every film Toho released from its inception in 1933 through 2007 each entry includes not only the name and release date of the film, but also full production credits. Filled with information that isn't accessible on-line, this is a truly indispensable work for anyone interested in this important studio. Be sure to check out Stuart's previous books too, including Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo!, and his definitive biography of two of the giants in Japanese film: The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune.

Another great week for TV on DVD reviews with some wonderful shows, both new and old, arriving on DVD. Reviews you'll want to check out include: Robin of Sherwood: Complete Collection - a series that recreates a bygone era with panache, grace, and humor. Highly recommended; Robot Chicken: Star Wars - it skewers Star Wars films but does so with a very affectionate and playful sense of humor making this release a whole lot of fun; and Cannon: Season One, Volume One - Two tons of fun. Other shows recently reviewed include:  Gomer Pyle: The Fourth Season, Ruler of Your Own World, and Transformers Cybertron: The Ultimate Collection.  Want more?  Check out all of the TV on DVD reviews in the DVDTalk database.

This week the DVD Savant has a number of new reviews including: Inglorious Bastards - Enzo G. Castellari's big-scale Italian action epic is a rowdy, noisy exploitation hit; Privilege - Peter Watkins' challenging tale of a near future in which a pop singer becomes a tool for The Establishment. With Paul Jones (of Manfred Mann) and top model Jean Shrimpton, this one is packed with visionary political ideas; and Emile de Antonio: Films of a Radical Saint - The most challenging liberal documentary maker of the 1960s is represented by four complete films in beautiful transfers: Millhouse: A White Comedy, Underground, Mr. Hoover and I and In the Year of the Pig, a classic that's easily the best protest docu against the Vietnam war. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

The studios are doing their part to stimulate the economy by announcing some very cool titles that will be released over the coming months. Be sure to check out these coming discs: The Ultimate Matrix Collection [Blu-ray] - the Wachowski Brothers popular trilogy finally arrives on Blu-ray and is said to include a 1080p version of The Animatrix! 10-14-2008; The Simpsons - The Complete Eleventh Season - The 11th season of America's favorite animated family finally arrives on DVD on 10-7-08; and The Sarah Jane Adventures - The Complete First Season a spin off from Doctor Who, this series relates the Earth-bound adventures of one of the Doctor's favorite companions. 10-7-2008; Other newly announced titles include: Le Doulos: The Criterion Collection 10-7-2008, The Strangers 10-21-2008 and Knight Rider: Complete Series 10-21-08. 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.

Another interesting week for new releases with everything from direct-to-DVD sequels to canceled TV shows and classic Hollywood films coming out. A few of the more notable releases include: Witchblade - The Complete Series [review]- If you're looking for some good live action comic book fare then Warner's DVD release is worth the price of admission; Stargate - Continuum [review] - this direct-to-DVD continuation of the TV series finds the SG-1 team having to once again save the galaxy from oppressive domination; and Doomsday [Blu-ray review]- a blood-spattered love letter to that big stack of post-apocalyptic flicks from the early '80s. Other new releases include:  Tyrone Power Matinee Idol Collection [review], WarGames - 25th Anniversary Edition [review] and Centennial: The Complete Series. 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 the DVD Talk Review Database has been filled with a lot of reissues. Are they worth picking up? Our reviewers are here to set you straight. Check out our reviews of: The Mummy Returns - a film that's just as fun as the first; Hellboy Animated - enjoyable and exciting animated adventures of everyone's favorite demon that managed to reproduce the best aspects of the movies: an imaginative sense of fun; and 21 - fun entertainment with a little bit of brains to go with it. Other recent reviews include: Times and Winds, Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, and Ring of Honor: Best in the World.  Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week and the ability to browse reviews by studio.

Interested in the early days of film? Well Silent DVD has got that covered. This week reviewer John Sinnott has a look at the third wave of titles in Kino's Slapstick Symposium series. First off is a two-disc collection of early Stan Laurel films before he teamed up with Oliver Hardy: The Stan Laurel Collection Volume Two. Then John looks at Mabel Normand's final feature film, The Extra Girl. The last title in this round of releases is a Harry Langdon double feature including two of his final feature films: Three's a Crowd and The Chaser. Langdon's meteoric rise to fame came crashing down soon after these films were released, and watching these movies, it's not hard to understand why. All this and more in this week's Silent DVD.

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