DVD release dates and extras
February 28, 2010
NEW THIS WEEK
New On DVD: '2012'; 'Where The Wild Things Are'; 'Ponyo'; 'Elvis'; 'The Beaches Of Agnès'
2012
It takes too long for director Roland Emmerich's disaster epic "2012" to get out of first gear, but once the Earth begins to crumble, the destruction comes fast and furious. John Cusack stars as a science fiction writer racing to get his family to safety, but the plot of "2012" matters less than the relentless scenes of characters running, driving, flying and boating just ahead of explosions and tsunamis. Even those who pick up "2012" looking to see world-ending mayhem may get bored with all the rubble. If so, they can always switch over to the DVD bonus features, which include an Emmerich commentary track, deleted scenes and a featurette. The Blu-ray adds more featurettes, many about the Mayan prophecies illustrated in the film.
February 21, 2010
NEW THIS WEEK
New On DVD: 'The Informant!,' 'The Box,' 'Nurse Jackie: Season One'
The Informant!
Boundary-pushing director Steven Soderbergh temporarily abandons his cinematic experiments (sort of) for the rollicking corporate intrigue comedy "The Informant!," which stars Matt Damon as real-life whistle-blower Mark Whitacre. Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns use a funny Damon voice-over to help explain the ins and outs of price fixing and FBI stings, while also exploiting the viewer's natural sympathy with Damon to do a clever bit of sleight-of-hand with the plot. Rarely has it been so fun to be fooled. Soderbergh and Burns go into how they did it on the DVD and Blu-ray, which also contains deleted scenes.
February 9, 2010
New On DVD: 'A Serious Man,' 'Couples Retreat,' 'Time Traveler's Wife,' 'The Stepfather'
A Serious Man
Typically strange and unusually sweet, "A Serious Man" finds Joel and Ethan Coen contemplating the mysteries of the universe and the meaning of good and evil before deciding that spiritual inquiry is a stupid waste of time. Michael Stuhlbarg gives an engaging performance as a Jewish physics professor wandering through the increasingly vague moral landscape of late-'60s suburban Minnesota, looking for answers from a God who responds with easily misinterpreted signs. The Coens batter their poor protagonist with career humiliations, financial woes and marital strife, yet the brothers seem to sympathize with their hero, and their affection is infectious. The film arrives on DVD and Blu-ray with a trio of featurettes that help explain the autobiographical roots.
February 2, 2010
NEW THIS WEEK
New On DVD: 'Zombieland,' 'Adam,' 'Amelia,' 'The House of the Devil'
Zombieland
The raucous horror- comedy "Zombieland" sports enough action and black humor to win over those with walking-dead fatigue. Director Ruben Fleischer and screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick send up post-apocalyptic movie clichés while also crafting an effective people-need-people plot, casting Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin as a circle of survivors traveling cross-country to an amusement park. (The movie also features one of the most enjoyable surprise cameos in recent movie memory.) The DVD contains deleted scenes, a Fleischer-Harrelson-Eisenberg-Wernick-Reese commentary and some unexceptional featurettes; the Blu-ray adds a picture-in-picture commentary.
January 26, 2010
New on DVD: 'This Is It,' 'Bright Star,' 'Surrogates,' 'Whip It'
Michael Jackson's This Is It
January 19, 2010
New on DVD: 'Che,' 'Gamer,' 'The Invention of Lying,' No Impact Man
Che
Steven Soderbergh's four-hour, two-part Che Guevara biopic lingers in the mind like a stimulating conversation, but the movie is ultimately a noble failure, more interesting for its ambitious structure and charismatic Benicio Del Toro performance than for its rote history lessons and dull wilderness shootouts. That said, Criterion's double-disc DVD and Blu-ray "Che" package is a stunner, in part because it features interviews with Soderbergh and his collaborators in which they cop to some of the movie's problems. Between the behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes and fiery commentary track by historian Jon Lee Anderson, this set accomplishes what "Che" was meant to do, reveal the grinding work of winning hearts and minds.
January 5, 2010
New on DVD: 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,' 'Lorna's Silence,' 'Trucker'
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Judi and Ron Barrett's 1978 picture book imagines a town where food rains from the sky and what happens to its residents when a meal-storm forces an evacuation. The feature-length computer-animated adaptation expands on the Barretts' concept, adding a hapless scientist and a succession of disaster-movie-style action sequences. Writer-directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have a fine sense of whimsy, but even at under 90 minutes, the movie is overstuffed. Kids will enjoy it, but don't be surprised if they don't make it to the closing credits. The DVD doesn't add much of note, beyond a chummy Lord-Miller-Hader commentary; the Blu-ray throws in a few bland featurettes and an option to pitch virtual food at the screen during the movie.
December 29, 2009
New on DVD: 'Jennifer's Body'; 'Glee'; '9'; 'A Perfect Getaway'; 'United States of Tara'
Jennifer's Body
December 22, 2009
New on DVD: 'District 9,' 'All About Steve,' 'Extract,' '(500) Days of Summer,' 'It Might Get Loud'
"District 9"
December 15, 2009
New on DVD: 'Inglourious Basterds,' 'G-Force,' 'The Hangover,' 'Taking Woodstock'
Inglourious Basterds
December 8, 2009
New on DVD: 'Julie & Julia,' 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,' The Cove,' 'World's Greatest Dad'
Julie & Julia
December 1, 2009
New on DVD: 'Terminator Salvation,' 'Night at The Museum: Battle of The Smithsonian'
'Terminator Salvation'
The fourth film in the "Terminator" series is the most ambitious and least successful. Christian Bale plays the 2018 version of John Connor, leading the human resistance against Skynet's robot army. Sam Worthington plays a human who's been converted into a man-machine hybrid. "Terminator Salvation" raises questions about the foundations of humanity — questions that were handled far more intelligently on the TV series " Battlestar Galactica."
November 24, 2009
New on DVD: 'Funny People,' 'Angels & Demons,' 'Four Christmases'
'Funny People'
Writer-director Judd Apatow might have tested his core audience a little too much with his story of a self-hating comedian (played by Adam Sandler) who is diagnosed with cancer and asks for help from a fawning young stand-up (played by Seth Rogen). But Apatow and company don't spare the dirty jokes either, and there's something admirably uncompromising about their willingness to push for truth over likability.
November 3, 2009
New on DVD: 'G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,' 'Aliens in the Attic,' 'Food, Inc.,' 'I Love You, Beth Cooper,' 'The Taking of Pelham 123'
" G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra"
October 27, 2009
New on DVD: 'Ice Age: Dawn of The Dinosaurs,' 'Battlestar Galactica: The Plan,' 'Orphan,' 'The Prisoner,' 'Whatever Works'
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
October 18, 2009
New on DVD: 'Transformers,' 'Cheri,' 'Fawlty Towers,' 'Homicide: Life on the Street'
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
October 13, 2009
New on DVD: 'The Proposal,' 'Adoration,' 'Drag Me to Hell,' 'Land of the Lost'
The Proposal
October 6, 2009
NEW THIS WEEK
New on DVD: 'Year One,' 'Anvil: The Story of Anvil,' 'My Life in Ruins,' 'Not Quite Hollywood,' 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'
Year One Sony, $28.96; Blu-ray, $39.95
September 29, 2009
New on DVD: 'Monsters Vs. Aliens,' 'Away We Go,' 'Filth and Wisdom,' 'The Girlfriend Experience,' 'Life on Mars'
Monsters vs. Aliens
September 20, 2009
New on DVD: 'Observe and Report,' 'Battle for Terra,' 'Ghosts of Girlfriends Past,' 'The Mentalist,' 'Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death'
Observe and Report
September 15, 2009
NEW ON DVD: 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine,' 'Easy Virtue,' 'Full Battle Rattle,' 'Grace' and 'Trumbo'
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
August 5, 2008
Take a Break On DVD today
Action is on 'Nim's Island'
*Nim's Island: Jodie Foster and Abigail Breslin team up for this sturdy family adventure adapted from Wendy Orr's novel. Breslin stars as the title character, a fearless young girl left alone on an island after her scientist dad (Gerard Butler) vanishes.
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