DVD Talk: June 28, 2009 - July 4, 2009 Archives

Magic the Gathering fanatics have put down their collectible card games this past week to play Magic The Gathering: Duels of the Planewalkers. Check out our review of the 360 version. We also posted a few PS3 reviews this week. Activision released Guitar Hero: Smash Hits recently for music fans. Check out the reviews for Cross Edge and Afro Samurai as well. On handhelds, take a look at the reviews of Midnight Club: Los Angeles on the PSP and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on the Nintendo DS. Finally, don't forget to see our review on the Wii's premiere cheerleading game: We Cheer. As always, our entire collection of video game reviews can be found here.

The Deep Discount Gift Certificate Contest

This week we have a special giveaway from DeepDiscount.com for $125 worth of gift certificates! Deep Discount has been a supporter of the DVDTalk community for years and to show their gratitude they are giving DVDTalk readers a chance to win one of two gift certificates. First Prize is a $100 Gift Certificate and the 2nd Place winner will receive a $25 Gift Certificate! More great news is on the way from DeepDiscount.com as they are ramping up for a summer of deals and discounts that can't be missed. Stay Tuned! And be sure to enter now for your chance to win a Gift Certificate to DeepDiscount.com!

DVDTalk writer Kurt Dahlke had a chance to talk with controversial director Uwe Boll about his latest movie Tunnel Rats. The lightning rod director, who once challenged any film critic who didn't like his movies to a boxing match, has made a career of turning video games into films that are critically panned. What does he have to say about his latest Viet Nam picture? Is he going for a film with a message, or was the setting just an excuse to blow things up? Find out all this and more in this week's interview.

Johnny Depp suits up as John Dillinger in the Michael Mann gangster saga Public Enemies. Animated shenanigans reach the lost world in the sequel Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 3-D. And Nia Vardalos directs her first feature film in the dismal romantic comedy I Hate Valentine's Day. Also in theaters: Woody Allen teams up with his fellow neurotic Larry David in the comedy Whatever Works. DVD Talk critics Jason Bailey, Jamie S. Rich, and Tyler Foster review the results. Be sure to catch reviews of other recent Theatrical Films: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Cheri, The Hurt Locker, The Proposal, Year One, The Stoning of Soraya M., My Sister's Keeper, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, The Hangover, Moon, Away We Go, Up, and Star Trek. As always, we invite you to share your thoughts on films In Theaters in our Movie Talk Forum.

DVDTalk writer Chris Neilson attended the 2009 Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival held on June 15-22 just outside of Washington DC. With over 120 films being screened over eight days, including 14 Academy Award nominated films, he had his work cut out. The festival screened such diverse films as AJ Schnack's Convention documenting the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver and the outrageously hilarious documentary about the cult phenomenon emerging around the Citizen Kane of bad movies Trolls 2, Best Worst Movie. In addition documentary pioneer Albert Maysles who was honored at the festival's Guggenheim Symposium, a not to be missed event. Read about all this and more in DVDTalk's coverage of this years Silverdocs Documentary Film Festival.

More and more TV on DVD is being released, and the DVDTalk review panel is committed to covering as many sets as they can. Check out these highly rated releases: Entourage: The Complete Fifth Season - Thoroughly invigorating, frequently hilarious, and always engrossing, season five continues to live up to the hype; Dynasty: Season Four, Vol. 1 - with this season the show starts hitting its stride, becoming more glamorous and scandalous than ever; and 24: Season Seven - this highly kinetic series will grab you at 8:00 am and not let you go until all 24 hours have passed. Other shows recently reviewed include: Apollo 11: A Night to Remember, The Terry Jones Collection and Doctor Who: The E-Space Trilogy. 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: The International - Clive Owen and Naomi Watts battle a nefarious bank from New York to Istanbul in this wordy but intense thriller. With a terrific shootout in, of all places, New York's Guggenheim Museum; Alain Resnais: a Decade in Film - Kino presents excellent renditions of four of Alain Resnais' 1980s films: Life is a Bed of Roses, Love Unto Death, MÃ©lo, I Want to Go Home. They're a strange bunch -- transcendental spiritualism, romantic morbidity, a filmic essay on the melodrama and a stab at a screwball comedy; and Diary of Anne Frank - George Stevens somber study of Anne Frank's period of hiding in an attic molds a tragedy into a story with positive uplift. With Millie Perkins, Shelley Winters, Diane Baker, Joseph Schildkraut. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

Some great discs have been announced recently including: Godzilla, King of the Monsters (Blu-ray) - our favorite six story tall radioactive reptile gets the high def treatment on September 22; a childhood favorite gets the deluxe treatment on September 29th when The Wizard of Oz (70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition) arrives in a 5 DVD set and 4 disc Blu-ray set both packed with features; and The Legend of Drunken Master (Blu-ray), one of Jackie Chan's best films, arrives on HD on September 15th. Keep track of all the upcoming releases with the DVDTalk Release List.

Eastbound & Down: The Complete First Season

Some great movies and DVD sets are making their way on to store shelves today. Check out these recent releases: Eastbound & Down: The Complete First Season [ DVD review]- a raunchy comedy that skewers fame, American entitlement, and everyday life with its vicious wit and take-no-prisoners attitude; Parker Lewis Can't Lose: The Complete First Season [ DVD review] - this 90's sitcom is still highly enjoyable, even if the fashions and hair styles are a little dated; and Tokyo! [DVD review, Blu-ray review] - a film packed with wonder and creativity from beginning to end. Other releases of note include: The IT Crowd: The Complete Second Season [DVD review], Number 10 [DVD review]; and Marco Polo [Blu-ray 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.

The DVD Talk Review Database continues to grow, even when the editor is on vacation and wishes it would stop. Check out these recent reviews: The Seventh Seal: 2-Disc Special Edition (Criterion) - Potent and thought-provoking, the film has held up well during the last 52 years, thanks to its universal premise and strong performances; Beau Geste - a great adventure wrapped around an intriguing mystery that might have come from the pen of Agatha Christie; and Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection - a set that includes all 34 theatrical shorts that legendary animation director Chuck Jones created for MGM. Other recent reviews include: Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Rip: A Remix Manifesto, and Luisa Fernanda (Blu-ray). Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.