This week in DVD news, Francis Ford Coppola brings you the Godfather trilogy (again), Quentin Tarantino is super excited about the original Inglorious Bastards, and Hancock may soon stream directly into your TV set. Plus, we’ve got Vantage Point, Drillbit Taylor, a new X-Files DVD and more new releases!
Leave the cannoli. Take the DVDs.
On September 23, Paramount Home Entertainment is making you an offer that you can’t refuse: The Godfather Collection: The Coppola Restoration, on both DVD and Blu-Ray. Francis Ford Coppola himself spent a year overseeing the frame-by-frame restoration, a painstaking process which is documented in one of four new featurettes; the complete set includes the entire Godfather trilogy (for those of you who count Godfather III), extras from the previous box set, and more new material. Shell out $72.99 for the DVD set, $119.99 for Blu-Ray.
Tarantino To Geek Out on O.G. Inglorious Bastards DVD
If you’re a Quentin Tarantino nut, then you know he recently completed his script for the long-gestating war movie, Inglorious Bastards. But have you seen the original The Inglorious Bastards upon which QT’s flick is rumored to be based? You’ll get your chance when Enzo G. Castellari‘s 1978 cult film hits; the WWII tale of a band of military criminals on a suicide mission in Nazi territory stars ’70s action icons Bo Svenson and Fred Williamson, and will be released in a 3-disc Special Edition on July 29. Best of all, Tarantino will appear in the DVD extras, hosting a night of Castellari’s films and talking all things Inglorious with the veteran filmmaker.
Watch Hancock At Home Before DVD Hits
Forget Netflix and iTunes; Sony’s jumping into the digital delivery game with the release of Will Smith‘s Hancock, which will be made available for web-equipped owners of Sony’s Bravia TV sets before the film hits DVD. However, it still comes with a hefty price: $300 for the Bravia Internet link and $7.50 — nearly the price of admission these days — to stream, but not download, the movie. Another thing: you can’t Bravia Hancock, out in theaters this week, until November.
Click for this week’s new releases!
Tomatometer: 36%
Patriot Games meets Rashomon in this trying thriller about an assassination attempt, as seen from more points of view than you can shake a stick at. Okay, so you can’t shake a stick at a point of view, but neither can you inundate critics with the same twenty minutes over and over again for two hours without being accused of silliness and incoherence. Go see Rashomon instead.
Bonus Features:
There are plenty of extras here to enjoy, assuming you want to relive the making of a story that you’ve just seen play out eight times over (director commentary, cast and crew interviews, featurettes, and outtakes).
Tomatometer: 27%
The Judd Apatow touch failed to boost Drillbit Taylor to the ranks of Superbad and Knocked Up (and in fact is the producer’s worst-reviewed film to date); even comic wunderkind Seth Rogen, who co-wrote the script, couldn’t keep it afloat. Even worse? The idea about a homeless scam artist (Owen Wilson) hired as bodyguard to a bunch of bullied kids came from none other than John Hughes.
Bonus Features:
If you must watch Drillbit Taylor, then pick up the unrated Extended Survival Edition — how else could an Apatow film be seen, but with more swear words and tomfoolery? Check out additional features about co-star Danny McBride (The Foot Fist Way) and the on-set rap battle to enrich your experience.
Tomatometer: 29%
Tyler Perry is back, which means that you already know if Meet the Browns is for you. (If you know who his Madea character is — and it doesn’t make you groan inwardly — then you’re in his demographic.) This time, Angela Bassett wades her way through soap opera-esque melodrama and borderline stereotypical jokes in a heartwarming tale about family.
Bonus Features:
A two-disc DVD gives you four featurettes and a digital copy; otherwise, check out the single disc release for the movie alone.
Tomatometer: 47%
Wong Kar-Wai (In the Mood for Love, 2046) makes his Hollywood debut in this tale of a woman (songstress Norah Jones) nursing heartbreak on a cross-country road trip, a vibrant ode to iconic modern Americana made with the reverent eye of an outsider. Laden with metaphors and partly shot in his gorgeous, Wong Kar-Wai style, My Blueberry Nights was nevertheless deemed a mixed bag of tricks.
Bonus Features:
If film-as-art and the creative process interest you, then check out the handful of extras here: a making-of featurette and lengthy Q&A with Wong Kar-Wai, plus on-set and scouting photo galleries.
Tomatometer: N/A
With the long-awaited (and highly secretive) sequel X-Files: I Want to Believe hitting theaters soon, you may need a refresher on the previous adventures of Mulder and Scully. Creators Frank Spotnitz and Chris Carter handpick and provide commentary for eight of their favorite series episodes, and throw in a few sequel-related extras just to tease you.
Bonus Features:
Brief introductions to each episode provide some insight into each selection, but much like the big DVD extra — the X-Files 2 panel at WonderCon — you won’t find any new info about the sequel here.
‘Til next week, happy viewing!
