Filed under: New Releases, DVD Reviews, New on DVD, Home Entertainment

In the haze of a New Year and the Christmas rush a recent memory, you can’t expect many really great DVDs to hit the stands. So, I’m going to cheat a little and give you one great spoof, and the lesser of a few evils.

Family Guy — Blue Harvest Special Edition

One of the best spoofs of recent years came by way of television screens rather than movie screens. Last September, Family Guy started off their sixth season with Blue Harvest — a spoof of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, using the fake working title for Return of the Jedi. The power goes out at the Griffin’s home, so Peter begins to tell a story, which just so happens to be one uber-famous space flick. You really can’t ask for much more in spoof — Lois as Leia, Quagmire as C-3PO, and the best — Stewie as Darth Vader. It’s also got lots of pop culture references, as the show is apt to do, from the fourth Doctor Who, to a cameo by the famous Griswolds, played by Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo.

As far as DVD features go, you can get the wimpy, plain edition, or the super-jam-packed Special Edition. Believe it or not, this edition has features that include a commentary by Seth MacFarlane, a conversation with George Lucas, a “Making of” featurette, animatics, a Something, Something, Something Dark Side teaser, Star Wars clips, and Blue Harvest’s fight scene in 3D, PLUS — a t-shirt, 3D glasses, trading cards, and a booklet.

Buy the Special Edition DVD

Mr. Woodcock

On the plus side, this flick stars the likes of Billy Bob Thornton, Seann William Scott, and Susan Sarandon. On the negative side, the flick was ravaged by critics, getting a paltry 14% rating. (Which is still much better than another film out this week — Good Luck Chuck — which got an abysmal 3%.) As the story goes, John (Scott) was a chubby kid tormented by his junior high gym teacher, Mr. Woodcock (Thornton). Much to his horror, years later he discovers that his single mom is going to marry the ball-wielding bastard. The strangest thing about this comedy — it was directed by the same guy who helmed Lars and the Real Girl – Craig Gillespie. How he can have such polar opposite examples of success at the very same time is beyond me.

As for the DVD, it isn’t bare-bones. You’ve got a couple of specials to feast on — deleted scenes, a “Making of” featurette, and “P.E. Trauma Tales.”

Check out Scott Weinberg’s Review | Buy the DVD

Other New DVD Releases (January 15)

Persuasion
Good Luck Chuck
The Naked Prey — Criterion Collection
Saving Sarah Cain
An Affair to Remember (50th Anniversary Edition)
Alex Haley’s Queen
Post-War Kurosawa Box - Eclipse from Criterion
Suburban Girl

Check out Peter Martin’s Indies on DVD and for even more new releases.

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Filed under: Music & Musicals, Disney, Fandom, Family Films, Movie Marketing

Well, you can all breathe easy now. After all the hubbub over whether the entire cast of Disney’s remarkably successful High School Musical franchise would return for the third film in the series, all the main cast has finally signed on to come back one more time. Variety reports that all six leads — Zac Efron, Vanessa Anne Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman — have signed on to return for High School Musical 3, which will hit a theater near you on October 24.

There was concern over whether Vanessa Anne Hudgens, who plays female lead Gabriella, would be back for the third film after some nudie pics she sent to boyfriend (and High School Musical heartthrob) Zac Efron leaked out onto the internet. Then there was concern over whether Disney would fork over enough cash to entice Efron himself to return (and sorry, but you just cannot have High School Musical 3 without Efron asTroy — the tween girlies of America would unite against that in a hurry), given all the big screen success he’s enjoying as a result of his High School Musical fame. Efron had a decent turn as Link Larkin in Hairspray (where he finally got to sing all on his own) and has been in talks on several projects, including upcoming pic Seventeen, (kind of a reverse of Big, one of my favorite movies ever — remember how young and cute Tom Hanks was in that?) in which he will play a man who returns to being a high school student.

I don’t know about you, but I’ll sleep easier at night knowing the continuing adventures of the Wildcats gang are coming this fall. I can’t think of a better way to come down off the headiness of all those serious films at Telluride and Toronto than to hit a screening of High School Musical 3, and find out what happens when Troy and Gabriela head to different colleges. Oh, boy! The possibilities (and opportunities to randomly break out into song-and-dance numbers) are practically endless. If you’ve got a tween in your life, you’d better start practicing your cool dance moves, and get ready to have more annoyingly-perky-yet-catchy tunes stuck in your head.

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Filed under: Independent, Sundance, Columns, Film Clips

Well, the Golden Globes are over (boy, that was exciting), so now I’m going to turn my attention to something I really care about: Sundance, baby! In gearing up for 2008, I decided to take a glance back through our Sundance coverage from last year … a little walk through the past to remind myself of all the great films I saw last year, and to keep my current pre-Sundance stress level in perspective. In going back through our Sundance 2007 coverage, I came across this journal entry from former Cinematical editor Karina Longworth (now editor over at Spoutblog) written just before the fest started:

Reading Eugene Hernandez’ blog whilst waiting the for the cab to arrive to take me to La Guardia this morning, I learned that David Poland and Jeffrey Wells have declared that Sundance 2007, which officially begins tonight, is, in fact, already over. You see, they arrived in Park City a good 48 hours ahead of me, took turns inserting their thermometers in the rectum of the festival, and rushed to their computers to report the reading: cold. In fact, according to Wells, EVERYONE is saying that this year’s line-up looks “flat, so-so, nothing to write home about material…a couple of almost-but-not-quite- as-good-as-Half Nelson flicks, and apparently nothing even close to a Little Miss Sunshine-type breakout waiting to happen.”

And of course, rumors of the early death of last year’s Sundance proved to be false — more than a few Sundance flicks got bought last year (though we’re still not-so-patiently waiting for some of them to actually see light of day), and a decent number of Sundance flicks ended up being critical darlings and finding audiences outside the fest (Waitress, Once, The Savages, Away from Her, War/Dance, No End in Sight). Some of the films I enjoyed last year, including Son of Rambow and Teeth, are finally getting a release in 2008.

Continue reading Film Clips: Sundance Flashback — A Look Back at Sundance ‘07 as We Head to ‘08

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Filed under: Comedy, Foreign Language, Celebrities and Controversy

Til Schweiger has been the hottie of the German film scene for a while now, but along with heartthrob, he can add in the title of parent and media provoker. Variety reports that the actor, who recently wrote, produced, directed, and starred in Keinohrhasen has angered many in Germany for the sexual content contained in the comedy. The film is about a womanizer, played by Schweiger, who has to do community service at a kindergarten, and clashes with the teacher.

The flick got a general admissions rating, which allows children of 6 and older to see the film. Since little tykes can see it and it’s set in a kindergarten, many people have been taking their families to the pic and getting quite a surprise. Intermingled with the kids and community service is a lot of adult content which is making many German youths ask a lot of questions about sexual terms (like b-jobs). I guess Schweiger didn’t go to Grease to see how to thinly veil sex in a way that kids can enjoy without having any idea what the film is really about.

The ratings board is trying to defend their position, while Schweiger not only says that he thought it would get a 12 and up rating, but also dismisses the complaints: “I can understand that some parents might not want to watch this film with their younger children. But, on the other hand, a lot of children under 12 know a lot more about the facts of life than their parents would ever believe.” Now, I’m far from some stodgy anti-sex ranter, but I can see why parents wouldn’t want their 6-year-olds asking about sexual techniques. Have any of you seen the comedy? Thoughts?

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Filed under: Comedy, Romance, Casting

Back in August, Isla Fisher was tapped to head the big-screen adaptation of Sophie Kinsella’s bestselling novel Confessions of a Shopaholic, which was going to be filmed under the British title, The Secret Dream World of a Shopaholic. Now the film is back to its US title, has a new start date popping up next month, and more cast to revel in the world of shopping along with Fisher. The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Hugh Dancy and Krysten Ritter have signed on to co-star.

Shopaholic, which is being produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Muriel’s Wedding helmer PJ Hogan, is about a woman named Rebecca (Fisher), who works as a financial journalist in New York City — one who writes for “Successful Saving.” While most of her life is on the up and up, Rebecca has a serious shopping addiction that she can’t afford, so she has to find “creative solutions” to kill her debt. And, since this is a romcom, she also falls for a successful entrepreneur she’s covering for the magazine. One, perhaps, that can afford her over-the-top shopping ways?

The Jane Austen Book Club member Hugh Dancy won’t be the object of Isla’s affection, but rather the editor of her magazine. Ritter, meanwhile, will play her best friend, Suze. Ritter is also “Gina the Goth” in the upcoming romcom 27 Dresses, but is probably better known for her roles on Veronica Mars (the exuberant Gia Goodman) and Gilmore Girls (the also-exuberant Lucy). Now all we need is Rebecca’s romantic interest, and the film will be set to shoot next month in New York and Connecticut.

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Filed under: Obits, Cinematical Indie

• Edward Klosinski (1943-2008) - Cinematographer who shot Lars Von Trier’s Europa, Krzysztof Kieslowski’s series The Decalogue and his Three Colors trilogy (Red, White and Blue), many of Andrzej Wajda’s films, including Man of Iron and Man of Marble, and Rolf Schübel’s Gloomy Sunday. He is also credited as a co-writer on Kieslowski’s Three Colors: White and on Felkis Falk’s Szansa. He died of lung cancer January 5, in Milanówek, Poland. (NY Times)
• Christopher Bowman (1967-2008) - Champion ice skater who also worked as a stunt man on Lost Boys, License to Drive and Surf Nazis Must Die. He also plays an assistant football coach in Brian DePalma’s next film, Down and Disturbance, coming out this year. He died January 10 in Mission Hills, California. (LA Times)
• Grace Cianciotta (c.1964-2008) - Marketing expert who worked for Alliance Atlantis and Maximum Films. She died of breast cancer January 7, in Toronto. (Variety)
• Dusty Cohl (1929-2008) - Founder of the Toronto International Film Festival. Read Kim’s full obit post here.
• Alexandre de Paris (c.1922-2008) - French celebrity hairdresser who styled Elizabeth Taylor’s hair for Cleopatra. He also worked as a hair stylist on the 1980 Agatha Christie adaptation The Mirror Crack’d and on Claude Sautet’s César & Rosalie. His date and cause of death are unknown. (BBC)

Continue reading RIP: Reel Important People — January 14, 2008

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