A delightfully mixed bag awaits us this week at the video store — a little
superhero hype (Fantastic
Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer), some Stephen King suspense (1408),
plenty of TV on DVD (I
Love New York Season One,
Metalocalpyse), and an Enterprise-sized treat for
Star Trek fans!
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Tomatometer: 36%
Unless you were living under a rock over the summer, you’ve probably heard of
a little film called
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. It’s a sequel. About a
quartet of superheroes. No? Well, the majority of critics passed on it
(although the film’s user Tomatometer is at a considerably higher 58 percent)
but if you care little about such things, you’re in luck: it hits DVD shelves
today! The two-disc release is Marvel-ously packed with commentary tracks by
filmmakers, including director
Tim Story and
producer Avi Arad,
deleted scenes, five behind-the-scenes featurettes, and an interactive look at
the Fantasticar. A documentary entitled "Sentinel of the Spaceways: Comic Book
Origins of the Silver Surfer" explores the history of the character in
interviews with originator
Stan Lee and
other comic book notables and is the icing on the special features cake.
Tomatometer: 77%
Modern horror films are rarely critic-approved these days, so take it as a
good sign that this adaptation of the
Stephen King
short story not only was critically praised, but is Certified Fresh to boot.
The tale of a writer (John
Cusack) who checks into a haunted hotel room is light on gore, relying on
good, old-fashioned suspense to scare viewers; check out the bonus disc for
Mikael
Hafstrom‘s original director’s cut (with an ending that was deemed too
depressing by test audiences). A handful of featurettes, deleted scenes, and
commentaries round out the release.
Tomatometer: 65%
In this moral drama from Aussie director
Ray Lawrence,
four buddies discover a dead girl’s body floating in a river but spend a whole
day fishing before reporting the discovery. When they return home, their
misdeed rips a divide in their community and in their personal relationships,
particularly that between Stewart (Gabriel
Byrne) and his wife Claire (Laura
Linney). Check out this intriguing Australian film, now out on DVD.
Tomatometer: N/A
Ken Burns
turns his scrupulous eye towards World War II in this 14-hour PBS documentary,
which aired in September. In addition to the seven-part film by Burns and
co-director Lynn Novick, this DVD release includes deleted scenes,
commentaries, and a companion book. Look for cameo voice appearances by actors
including Adam
Arkin,
Sam Jackson,
Tom Hanks, and narrator
Keith David.
The Jungle Book Two-Disc 40th Anniversary Edition
Tomatometer: 89%
Feral children raised by wolves never had a better champion than in the 1967
animated classic — until now! Mowgli and Co. have been given a shiny new
restoration job, four decades after kids first learned about jungle slacker
life in "The Bare Necessities." Accordingly, Disney has pulled out all the
stops to bring you two discs loaded with fascinating extras: A commentary
track by songwriter Richard Sherman, animator Andreas Deja, and grown-up
Mowgli voice actor Bruce Reitherman; Jungle Book karaoke; a 46-minute
making-of documentary; and a comparison between the original
Rudyard
Kipling story and the Disney adaptation. Even cooler are the seven deleted
songs by original composer Terry Gilkyson (whose score was replaced with the
Sherman Brothers’ more upbeat final songs) and a look at Rocky the Rhino, an
original character excised from the film by
Walt Disney
himself.
More New Offerings
Day
Night Day Night
Tomatometer: 70%
Newcomer
Julia
Loktev‘s austere thriller about a young suicide bomber’s final hours in
New York City earned the director lots of notice on the festival circuit. If
that doesn’t pique your interest, consider the cinephile cred of Loktev
drawing comparisons to
Robert
Bresson and
Carl
Th. Dreyer in her second directorial effort, ever.
I
Love New York: The Complete First Season
Tomatometer: N/A
Everyone here at RT was hoping that
Flavor of Love‘s resident H.B.I.C. (Google that if you don’t know what
it means) New York (real, less glamorous name: Tiffany Pollard) would finally
find happiness after bitterly losing the heart of reality TV hunk
Flavor Flav
in
two
straight seasons of VH1’s Flavor of Love. Did she find her dream
man? Do you need to (re-)watch a house full of arguably desirable men with
names like Tango, Real, and Whiteboy vie for her heart all over again? Is
Sister Patterson as crazy as New York’s make-up is overdone? The answer to all
of those questions, of course, is yes. After all, you’ll need a primer for
this month’s premiere of
I Love New
York: Season Two!
Metalocalypse: Season One
Tomatometer: N/A
Adult Swim’s most popular American-Scandinavian death metal band hits home
theaters this week! The frequently drunk, probably sociopathic metal
superstars of the band Dethlok star in the first season’s 20 11-minute
episodes, with guest appearances by members of bands like Metallica,
Nevermore, and other scary offshoots of the metal genre.
Sarah Silverman Program: Season One
Tomatometer: N/A
Shocking or hilarious?
The Sarah Silverman Program is sometimes one, sometimes the other, and
frequently both. Written as intentionally offensive fictionalized versions of
Silverman‘s
life, the six episode collection includes bonus materials like a karaoke
sing-along and additional musical numbers.
Where My Nerds At?
Star Trek: The Next Generation — Complete Series
Tomatometer: N/A
According to Ferengi lore, the five Stages of Acquisition are infatuation,
justification, appropriation, obsession, and resale. Think on that as you part
with $400 (that’s like 40 slips of Latinum) to own the 49-disc set of the
entire
TNG series, which includes an entire disc of all-new featurettes and
an exclusive poster. (Although
DS9 was way better. We’re just saying.)
Bram
Stoker’s Dracula
Tomatometer: 84%
Francis Ford Coppola‘s Certified Fresh take on the classic bloodsucker
tale is given a respectable DVD treatment here, 15 years after its theatrical
debut. In addition to a newly-recorded commentary track by Coppola, you’ll get
a second disc with extras like deleted scenes and an extended ending,
trailers, and four separate behind-the-scenes documentaries; look in
particular for the
Roman Coppola-hosted
"In Camera" featurette highlighting the lo-fi special effects used throughout
the film.
Until next week, happy renting!
