DVD Talk: July 26, 2009 - August 1, 2009 Archives

After a long absence, Silent DVD is back! For much of the year the early cinema releases have been pretty slim, but this summer the flood gates have opened once again. This time we have coverage of the 2009 San Francisco Silent Film Festival, the recently released Charley Chase collection, a boxed set of John Barrymore films from Kino, and Flicker Alley's wonderful set of two long-thought-lost John Gilbert films, and more. Be sure to check out the latest installment of Silent DVD!

Stand-up comedy can kill you. Judd Apatow directs Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, and Leslie Mann in the dramedy Funny People. A jewel thief stumbles across a serial killer in the gruesome horror picture The Collector. And a bromance is taken to its natural conclusion in the sex comedy Humpday. Also in theaters: The dolphins of the world need saving, especially from The Cove. And Ashley Tisdale fights invaders from outer space in Aliens in the Attic. Be sure to catch reviews of other recent Theatrical Films: Orphan, The Ugly Truth, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Bruno, In the Loop, G-Force, (500) Days of Summer, Shrink, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 3D, The Hurt Locker, The Hangover, and Moon. As always, we invite you to share your thoughts on films In Theaters in our Movie Talk Forum.

OPTIMUS PRIME. MEGATRON. BUMBLEBEE. STARSCREAM. For 25 years an epic battle has raged between the heroic AUTOBOTS and the villainous DECEPTICONS. The ROBOTS IN DISGUISE have captivated children and adults alike, launching countless collectible toys, comic books, animated series and feature films beloved by legions of fans. Shout! Factory and Hasbro celebrate 25 years of "Robots In Disguise" with THE TRANSFORMERS: "MATRIX OF LEADERSHIP" EDITION COLLECTOR'S SET. This 16-disc set includes all 98 restored episodes in a deluxe collector's box. The set also contains a collectible 60-Page Book, Autobots and Decepticon magnets and loads of bonus DVD features! Available only on-line through this site, this set is a must-have for Transformer fans!

TV on DVD remains very popular with more and more favorites being released. New TV reviews include: Monk: Season Seven - If for no other reason than Tony Shalhoub's fantastically quirky and still very funny lead performance, Monk remains one of the most enjoyable shows on television; G.I. Joe The Complete Collection - the stories of this classic cartoon series still entertain and though the animation can be a touch simpler, the plots are far more complex than what kids are spoon-fed today; and Saving Grace: Season Two - Easily one of the most unique shows on TV, Saving Grace gets more addictive and amazing each episode. Other shows recently reviewed include: Armchair Thriller: Set 1, Route 66: Season Three, Volume One and Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre: Complete Season One. Want more? Check out all of the TV on DVD reviews in the DVDTalk database.

Film Movement DVD-of-the-Month Club Subscriptions

This week we have a special giveaway from Film Movement! Film Movement's DVD-of-the-month club allows you to see the best new award-winning independent and foreign film regardless of where you live. Many small but deserving films never make it to a theater near you. They get squeezed out of theaters by Hollywood blockbusters and face skyrocketing marketing costs that make it impossible to reach appreciative audiences. Film Movement created the club to specifically address this problem. Club members are shipped a new film months before we make it available to the general public. Enter now for a chance to win a 12 or 3-month subscription to the Film Movement DVD-of-the-Month Club.

This week the DVD Savant has a number of new reviews including: Last Year at Marienbad - The added resolution of Blu-ray brings out the full visual dimension of Alain Resnais intellectual art film puzzle. Delphine Seyrig can't distinguish the past from her desires, as she drifts around dreamlike villas. With great Criterion Collection extras, including two early Resnais short films; Repulsion [Blu-ray] - Roman Polanski leaps from film festival discovery to commerical viability with this beautifully crafted horror study of a young woman going irretrievably insane; and Try and Get Me! - Cy Endfield's disturbing noir masterpiece combines a scathing indictment of lynching with a bitter look at those left out of the American success story. Still the most accurate portrayal of mob psychology. Not on DVD. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

It's Garry Shandling's Show: The Complete Series

Some great TV shows and movies have recently been announced. Check out these upcoming titles: An unjustly ignored TV classic will be released on October 20th when It's Garry Shandling's Show: The Complete Series hits shelves. Now if only HBO would release the rest of The Larry Sanders Show; Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, a direct-to-DVD movie that retells the series from the Cylon's point of view, will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on October 27, before it airs on TV; and fans of Takashi Miike will have a reason to upgrade to Blu-ray when Audition: Collector's Edition gets released on that format on October 6. Keep track of all the upcoming releases with the DVDTalk Release List.

There's a few new releases this week that you won't want to miss. Check out these hot titles: Dollhouse: Season One [DVD review]- a quality series that starts slow, picks up nicely, and deserves a much larger audience; Life On Mars: Series 1 [DVD review] - This story of a modern day police officer who may be trapped in 1973, or might possibly just be mad, is a joy; and Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series (Blu-ray) [review] - an experience that is not to be missed by any fans of science fiction. Other releases of note include: Green Lantern: First Flight [DVD review, Blu-ray review] and Spectacular Spider-Man: Complete First Season [DVD 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.

Like award-winning Independent and Foreign films? Then check out Film Movement, the North American distributor of award-winning festival films! Visit our web site to learn more about our hottest new releases on DVD, such as our acclaimed Chinese film, In Love We Trust, Eldorado, a black-comedy from Belgium which was named Best European Film at Cannes Film Festival, and our up-coming release, The Window, a beautiful film from South America which was the official selection at the Toronto Film Festival, and many more. Go to Film Movement to learn more about these newly released DVDs, and to join Film Movement's innovative DVD-of-the-month club that delivers a brand new Independent or foreign film right to your home each month at the same time the film is opening in theaters. If you can't make it to Cannes, Sundance or Tribeca this season just sit back and let Film Movement bring the festival to you!

This week the DVD Talk Review Database has some great new entries, including some discs you may have overlooked. Recent DVD Reviews include: The Soloist - a masterful observation of genius trapped inside unimaginable distress; Coraline (Blu-ray) - definitely up there amongst some of the best 2009 has had to offer. It's enchanting, sad, funny, heartwarming, and hauntingly thrilling; and Combat Shock - filled to the brim with nerve-shredding nihilism, total despair, and a take no prisoners attitude Troma's latest release comes highly recommended. Other recent reviews include: Bad Lieutenant, The Great Buck Howard, and Grey Gardens (2009). Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews.