DVD Releases March 24 2009

From New - Hottest DVD Releases & New DVD Movie March 24 2009

Quantum of Solace [Blu-ray]

Directed by Marc Forster
Average customer review:

Daniel Craig hasn't lost a step since Casino Royale--this James Bond remains dangerous, a man who could earn that license to kill in brutal hand-to-hand combat… but still look sharp in a tailored suit. And Quantum of Solance itself carries on from the previous film like no other 007 movie, with Bond nursing his anger from the Casino Royale storyline and vowing blood revenge on those responsible. For the new plot, we have villain Mathieu Amalric (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), intent on controlling the water rights in impoverished Third World nations and happy to overthrow a dictator or two to get his way. Olga Kurylenko is very much in the "Bond girl" tradition, but in the Ursula Andress way, not the Denise Richards way. And Judi Dench, Jeffrey Wright, and Giancarlo Giannini are welcome holdovers. If director Marc Forster and the longtime Bond production team seem a little too eager to embrace the continuity-shredding style of the Bourne pictures (especially in a nearly incomprehensible opening car chase), they nevertheless quiet down and get into a dark, concentrated groove soon enough. And the theme song, "Another Way to Die," penned by Jack White and performed by him and Alicia Keys, is actually good (at times Keys seems to be channeling Shirley Bassey--nice). Of course it all comes down to Craig. And he kills. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Like the new Batman films, Bond has continuity...legitimate continuity.
You'll find no plot synopsis here folks. Amazon has been goodly enough to handle that for us all.

Was this film as good or as great as Casino Royale? NOW WAY. Was it a good addition to the new Bond mythology? HELL YES! This is a direct sequel to Casino Royale...literally. It starts right after the end sequence of the previous film, bypassing the usual Bond firing at the screen(though, settle down fan boys, you get it at the end--I know, I know, change make you scared...). Basically, the opening helps establish the previous films plot, or the fact that there was an even larger plot at work, one involving new Bond evil organization called Quantum, of course. New Bond virgins, ones who skipped Casino Royale, will find it fairly hard to catch up to speed on this film. They also won't feel the impact of how much Vespa's death in the previous film really effects his current mission. It's not impossible to figure it out, but not as satisfying. So see Casion Royale, and consider the opening act of this film the final moments of the first.

When I said this film starts right after the last film ends, I really, REALY meant it. The opening logos fade and we're slammed right into the tail end of a car chase(apparently, Bond is being chased by some thugs working for the man he shot at the end of Royale). The opening chase is fast and brutal. You feel all the car hits and collisions. I'm really not a fan of this ultra-choppy editing style, similar to that seen in Michael Bay's atrocious Armageddon, but in this film it really works to solicit the right tone, feel, and impact that the action sequences strive for. On the action sequences, this one is loaded with them. There's an action sequence about every five to ten minutes, whether its a car chase, foot chase, fist fight, knife fight, or plane old-fashioned gun battles---oh and a boat chase to boot. I guess they forgot to include the ski chases from previous Bond adventures. What I will say about the action sequences is that they are short and sweet. This film doesn't make the mistake of so many recent action films of letting the action sequences run on too long. They show up and leave an impression before the audience has a chance to be bored, unlike the technically brilliant but totally dull freeway car chase from the bloated Matrix Reloaded. Action in modern films seem to spend waaaaay tooooo much time in the set pieces. They feel inconsequential to the actual plot or character. They are just there to show off effects and stunts and things blowed up real good. It gets really boring. This film, by its main character's nature, every violent act holds weight while also being exciting.

Of course, we have the new Bond, who is in my opinion the best Bond of all time. Of course, his films have better writing and no one will ever forget Connery's iconographic portrayal, but as far as a dramatically engaging Bond, Craig has got them all beat. His basic struggle in this film is the transition of a brutish, but charming thug who needs to put aside his personal feelings(revenge for the death of Vespa in Casino) and just get his job done effeiciently with less ending up dead. Bond goes back and forth. He seems indifferent, at first, to the deaths he performs, but you can see in Craig's eyes that it's taking a toll on his psyche. It's not in the dialogue, it's in his face and his movements. Whoa, an actual film that shows us things rather than having lengthy speeches and convoluted expositional dialogue about it. Now I know American audiences like to have everything spoon fed to them, especially when it comes to action spectacles like this, but if more movies would take this route films could become great again. The new Batmans and Watchmen are also helping in leading this charge.

Also, a great addition to the new Bond series, started in Casino Royale, is the relationship between Bond and M. Their relationship comes off on the surface as combative, but with actors like Dench and Craig in the roles, we get hints of a deeper respect. A hint of two professionals getting to know each other grooves, constantly testing each others' merits. Awesome stuff. M and Bond never electrified together in scenes in any of the previous Bond pictures. It's smart writing and even better acting.

The film does have some weak spots that keep it from a solid 5 stars. Firstly, the villain is more slimey than imposing, but the realistic world this Bond takes place in doesn't really have room for any Blofelds, at least not in the skin previous Bonds portrayed him in. The final action set piece is slightly lackluster. Emotionally it's a power house for our new Bond girl and for Bond himself but the pyrotechnics don't overshadow the ones seen in previous action scenes. The new Bond girl doesn't leave as much as an impression as the Eva Green in the first film. She's good but her story and relationship with Bond doesn't plunge the same depths. Though, the couple share an interesting exchange before they say goodbye. The editing style, like I mentioned, is choppy and fast,so some might find it disorientating. I find it works for once, but others might still be turned off by it. The film also doesn't breath as much as I felt it should. It jumps from one place and one action sequence in fast succession. I felt a couple more quiet moments would've been welcome. But that's about it.

This is Bond by way of Jason Bourne, but Bond is and always will be a more interesting character. I'm just talking about the Bourne films, not the novels. So settle down. Like the new Batmans this film goes for realism, while still being absolutely silly and unbelievable.

The villains main plot has to do with ecological terrorism, and GASPS, the enviroment. So, those who pull their political leanings into everything will hate the film and accuse it of the further brain-washing that Hollywood pushes on us common folk. Brain-washing, that apparently, have no effect on them, and only them. Ugh! Enviormental issues are topical now, just like they were way back in the early 90's. A film trying to plant itself in the modern times would be ignorant to not use it. There are gadgets in the film, despite what fan-boys say, but they are smaller and truncated to be more believable. They're not gloated on or masturbated to, and they rarely help Bond in ultra-convenient moments. Still no Q. Get over it. He may or may not show up in this new series of films. Besides the film's plot has no room for an action/plot stopping Q sequence. The humor is dry and dark. If you like it broader check out all of Roger Moore's cannon as well as the last two Brosnan Bond films, they're loaded with broad humor and puns. It must be comforting to know that if you hate the new Bond, you have 20 other old Bonds to satisfy you.

People who don't like the new Bond go on and on about how the filmmakers don't seem to know why people like or go to Bond films. Really? Bond like many other comic book-like characters go through changes. Bond books were much different than most of the films, maybe with small exceptions on the two Dalton films. These movies not only modernize and make Bond relevant again, they hue close to the Ian Flemming books. This is a good thing. Though, I warn readers of Flemming that this film has nothing to do with the actual short story Quantum of Solace. How could it? That was a very short story that consisted of a Bond inner monalogue while he was by himself. I guess they just thought the title sounded good, and the name of the villain organization would be nifty if they called it Quantum? Dunno, don't really care.

Finally, if you can't handle brutal violence taking the PG-13 rating to the edge, then skip this. There's many cartoons and other older Bond films with inconsequential violence and silly inventions. Take your pick. If gadgets, one-liners on the cheesy and sexually charged innuendo side, silly Bond girl names, Q comedy sequences, globe trotting for the sake of new foreign location to put the tired action, lack of danger, volcanic hide-outs, and a story that you can't really get dramatically involved in outside the action sequences are the only things that you judge a Bond film on, then please move on and let the rest of us enjoy the innovation, oh, and the scary changes.

PS: The new Bond theme song isn't as good as previous films. It's better then some, but not as good as Casion Royale, but on the whole it fits the tone of the new film. The first direct Bond sequel.

LATER

Quantum of Solace [Blu-ray]

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Bolt (Single-Disc Edition)

Directed by Chris Williams; Byron Howard
Average customer review:

Bolt is a funny animated film about a dog who thinks he has superpowers. It is also a movie about friendship, perseverance, and the power of believing in oneself. Everyone knows that superheroes on television are not real, but super-dog Bolt (John Travolta) is a canine star who has been carefully raised to believe that he really possesses superpowers. Bolt is completely devoted to his human co-star Penny (Miley Cyrus), so when Penny is captured by the evil Dr. Calico (Malcolm McDowell) in their latest television episode and then Bolt accidentally gets loose in the real world, Bolt sets off on a journey to save her. Bolt is confounded when his super powers are suddenly ineffective, but inspiration strikes and Bolt quickly discovers the mysterious, power-stealing effects of Styrofoam packing peanuts. An encounter with alley cat Mittens (Susie Essman) gives Bolt some eye-opening lessons about being a real dog in the real world, while star-struck, ball-enclosed hamster Rhino (Mark Walton) revels in the opportunity to serve as Bolt's sidekick in the quest to rescue Penny. The trio traverses the United States from waffle house to waffle house on a hysterical quest to find Penny and prove that the relationship between Penny and Bolt is real. In the end, Bolt, Mittens, and Rhino learn that everyone is special in their own way and they discover the true power of believing in oneself and one's friends. Select theaters showed Bolt in Real-D 3-D which features some nice effects, but the film is probably equally enjoyable in the traditional format. A fun film with a nice message and a huge dose of cute, Bolt is good entertainment for the entire family. --Tami Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

Doggonit, I Feel Like I've Seen This Hound Of A Flix Before...
From the "We're Disney, we don't need Pixar everytime we do animation!", comes a film that disproves that theory in the CGI filled 00's. Sure, at times it's looks like a Pixar film circa "A Bug Life", but that was over ten years ago. Sure, my 10 year old was entertained, but when a person that age isn't "blown away" with the first viewing you know you got a middle-of-the-road CGI flix. Bolt (an unrecognizable John Travolta) is a dog, similar to Lassie thru James Bond, that has his own TV show where he saves his young female owner (voiced by Miley Cyrus, who sounds like she needs to lay off the two-packs-a-day of Virginia Slims) from evil trying to destroy them. But Bolt doesn't know that he's just an actor and thru a typical plot point of getting sent hundreds of miles away from the one he loves to try to find a way back to her while learning the hard truths of who he really is along the way. Also lending a voice was surprisingly Susie Essman of Curb Your Enthusiasm who I kept expecting to say "What's the f&*%$*' a matter with you Dog?". Another thing I noticed is alot of gags seem to be borrowed from alot of other films and TV shows, most noticeably the New York pigeons that looked straight out of '90's Warner Bros Goodfeathers cartoon, which seemed more rip-off than homage. And of course you have the goof character Rhino The Hamster, rolling ball and all that helps with the lack of original lines & sight-gags along the way. Overall, this will pass the time with the younger generation but I doubt they'll be screaming for multiple viewings over WALL+E or even Kung Fu Panda. The one-disc version has the typical Disney "look, we still have other retread stuff" promos and a short film starring Rhino that you'll see coming a mile away, and way too short to boot (even for a short!). A decent rental, but like what the pigeons say, "I've seen this dog somewhere before, but where?" you'll be thinking the exact same thing.
(RedSabbath Rating:7.0/10)

Bolt (Single-Disc Edition)

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The Venture Bros.: Season Three

From Turner Home Ent
Average customer review:

"Dig deeper into the world of Venture with Season 3, a rich tapestry of past and present, cause and effect, unitards and bodystockings. Witness the genesis of villainous personae, the clash of sporadically opposing forces, and the birth of debilitating neuroses in this, the sturmiest, most drangful season yet. "

Customer Reviews

entertainment of the animateed sort at its finest
even if you aren't a fan, or you've never heard of the venture bros, you will love this season. some of the most hilarious crap i've ever seen occurs in season three. just buy it.

The Venture Bros.: Season Three

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James Bond Blu-ray Collection Three-Pack, Vol. 3 (Moonraker/ The World is Not Enough / Goldfinger) [Blu-ray]

From MGM (Video & DVD)
Average customer review:

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #68 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-03-24
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: AC-3, Box set, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: French
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 359 minutes

Customer Reviews

A Showcase Blu-ray Package (Vol. 3)
I hope that everyone who had problems playing the first 2 Bond collections had them addressed by now because Volume 3's layout and features is consistent with the previous two. All players that received firmware upgrades after October 2008 should be able to play this set.

Here is my evaluation of the current Bond Blu-ray collection (a work in progress as I'm not fully done with the viewing) - and it's not unlike my impression of the first 2.

_____________________________________________
THE GOOD:
- Incredible video quality, most likely better than what the audience saw on release date on some of the older movies.
- Lots of extras, most of them worth watching or listening to.
- Beautiful, innovative packaging.

THE NOT SO GOOD:
- The sound restoration not as good as the video on the early Bonds.
- Some of the 'extras' sections would benefit from a 'play all' option.
- The boxes could be a bit slimmer.
- May require upgrades on certain players if they haven't been upgraded since September-October 2008.
_____________________________________________

The overall impression is of quality, inside and out. The box could be a little smaller but the packaging is exquisite. There's a transparent plastic slide cover over a solid cardboard box holding a small binder on which the individual movie disks are attached to pages. Each movie comes on one disc holding the movie itself and in incredible amount of extras.

The menu interface is well organized and there's even some humor in labeling. For example, the option that plays the movie is labeled 'The Mission' while the historic promotional material is found under 'The Propaganda'. Depending on which section you may be, menu options branch into further sub-menus.

The extras are numerous and, for the most part interesting. There are features on the restoration process and we get to learn who did what, why and how. Then, we see contemporary documentaries on the making of the movie and so on. The Goldfinger disc, for example, includes actual radio interviews with Sean Connery, 2 major documentaries on 'the making of' and 'the world of' Goldfinger, about 30 minutes each, original trailers, screen tests, an interview with Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore), even a feature on Bond's Aston Martin. And, amazingly, it all fits on one disc.

The area where some of the older installments show their age is the sound. The audio options include the original sound track which, in the older releases is 'mono' but all movies come with DTS-HD Master Audio 24-bit 5.1 surround as the default. The sound wasn't upgraded and improved to the degree that the picture was but, it's understandable. Going from mono to 5.1 surround is the equivalent of upgrading from black and white to full-color 3-D in the world of images. Commentary sound tracks featuring the director and the cast and crew are also included.

When it comes to the video quality, the best that I can say is that you've got to see it to believe it. The restoration of the older movies started with the actual original negative, which is the one reference copy that's almost never touched. Once the copy was digitized as a 4000 lines resolution digital copy (Bluray is 1080) every frame was reprocessed to eliminate any possible defects from 'dirty optics', such as the proverbial hair that we sometimes see on the older movies to scratches, bad exposure, color brilliance. The restorers' goal for the end result, and this concerns the video only, not the sound quality, was to deliver what would appear to be a contemporary movie with a 60's or 70's theme rather than a 60's or 70's movies. In my view, they succeeded and, surprisingly, the 1964 Goldfinger looks as good as the 1979 Moonraker.

My overall rating is a solid five-stars. Just about everything in this release is superlative: the physical packaging, the interface design, the extras, the video quality. The sound is not so good on the older movies but, given the state of sound restoration technologies, I did not feel compelled to remove a star because the old movies sounded more or less like they did on release date or better.

James Bond Blu-ray Collection Three-Pack, Vol. 3 (Moonraker/ The World is Not Enough / Goldfinger) [Blu-ray]

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In Treatment

From HBO
Average customer review:

HBO premieres the first of 43 episodes of In Treatment, a new half-hour drama series starring Gabriel Byrne, and adapted from an enormously popular Israeli series created by Hagai Levi (one of HBOs executive producers, along with Rodrigo Garcia, Steve Levinson and Mark Wahlberg). Set within the intimate confines of individual psychotherapy sessions with five sets of patients, the series centers around Paul (Byrne), a therapist who exhibits an insightful, confident demeanor when treating his patients, but displays a crippling insecurity while counseled by his own therapist, Gina (Dianne Wiest). Patients undergoing treatment with Paul include a young doctor (Melissa George) who has fallen in love with Paul, a Navy pilot (Blair Underwood) reevaluating his life after a failed mission in Iraq, a teenage gymnast (Mia Wasikowska) with suicidal tendencies, and a sexually passionate couple (Josh Charles and Embeth Davidtz) who are troubled in all other areas of their lives. In addition, Pauls wife Kate (Michelle Forbes) will be featured prominently this season.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #50 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2009-03-24
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 9
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 1290 minutes

Customer Reviews

Mesmerizing
I sort of stumbled across this series quite recently when I got On Demand and HBO. This show is broad-ranged and entrancing. HBO was playing reruns, I think, of all the episodes in a row on one day. I would tape and then watch most of them in one evening.

All of the actors are superb. The writing is impeccable. The stories are captivating.

I can certainly see why this was a hit in Israel and why it continues to be one over here also.

In Treatment

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Motley Crue: Crue Fest 2008

From Eleven Seven Music
Average customer review:

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #170 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-03-24
• Formats: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 90 minutes

Customer Reviews

Content, Not Show, Review
Every "review" I've seen so far (3/24) has been from people who were at the show but nobody has said anything about the DVD, which is what you're buying right? Unless you're paying $20 to have the bands come and play at your house I guess. So I figured I'll tell you what you're thinking about buying since there's no real description yet from Amazon (although there probably will be by the time this posts... making me look like a bigger idiot).

It's a 2 disc set. On the first disc is Motley's entire 14 song set, from Kickstart My Heart until they close after Home Sweet Home. There's also Tommy T Cam in case you're wondering. On disc 2 you get 2 songs from Trapt (Contagious, Headstrong), 2 from Sixx A.M. (Pray for Me, Life is Beautiful), 3 from Papa Roach (Time Is Running Out, Forever, Last Resort) and 3 from Buckcherry (Lit Up, Sorry, Crazy Bitch). You also get a few bonus bits with a short documentary and 6 of Motley Crue's videos (White Trash Circus, Saints, Primal Scream, Looks That Kill, Live Wire, Kickstart).

So you know the bands, you know the songs, the sound quality is decent (5.1 and stereo) and the video footage was shot with 15 camera angles so you can see it all up close. Lots of value for the money.

Motley Crue: Crue Fest 2008

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Moonraker [Blu-ray]

From MGM (Video & DVD)
Average customer review:

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1859 in DVD
• Brand: Ultimate
• Released on: 2009-03-24
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French, Spanish
• Dubbed in: French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 121 minutes

Customer Reviews

Moonraker - Blu-ray Info
Version: U.S.A / MGM-FOX / Region A
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
MPEG-4 AVC BD-50 / BD+ / High Profile 4.1
Running time: 2:06:28
Movie size: 27,92 GB
Disc size: 44,62 GB
Total bit rate: 29.44 Mbps
Average video bit rate: 22.01 Mbps

DTS-HD Master Audio English 4143 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 4143 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio French 448 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 448 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 448 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps / Dolby Surround
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio English 224 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps

Subtitles: English SDH, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean, French, Spanish
Number of chapters: 32

#Audio Commentary Featuring Sir Roger Moore
#Audio Commentary Featuring Director Lewis Gilbert and Members of the Cast and Crew
#007 In Rio - Original 1979 Production Featurette
#Bond 79
#Ken Adam's Production Films
#Learning to Freefall - Sky Diving Test Footage
#Sky Diving Storyboards
#Circus Footage
#Cable Car Alternative Storyboard 1
#Cable Car Alternative Storyboard 2
#007 Mission Control - Interactive Guide Into the World of Moonraker
#Exotic Locations featurette
#Inside Moonraker - An Original Documentary
#The Men Behind the Mayhem - Special Effects

Moonraker [Blu-ray]

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Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Volume Three (Other Men's Women / The Purchase Price / Frisco Jenny / Midnight Mary / Heroes for Sale / Wild Boys of the Road)

Directed by William Wellman
Average customer review:

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #104 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-03-24
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, Color, DVD-Video, Original recording remastered, Restored, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Running time: 573 minutes

Customer Reviews

Midnight Mary - Loretta Young
I've seen Midnight Mary (1933) with Loretta Young at her best and absolutely "drop-dead" gorgeous. Very happy to know this film has finally been made available on DVD. She was quite the actress in pre-code films. Don't know what happened, but sometime from the late 1930s on, she became too holier than thou. With two or three exceptions, her later performances became less natural and more affected. I did, however, think she gave a touching performance in the 1986 made for TV movie Christmas Eve. I have never seen a more beautiful actress than she was in the EARLY 1930s. Thomas Kelly

Forbidden Hollywood Collection, Volume Three (Other Men's Women / The Purchase Price / Frisco Jenny / Midnight Mary / Heroes for Sale / Wild Boys of the Road)

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