New Releases

Monsters vs Aliens – 6.1/10 – Trailer
Starring Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Rainn Wilson, Kiefer Sutherland, Stephen Colbert
When a meteorite from outer space hits a young California woman named Susan Murphy and turns her into a giant monster, she is taken to a secret government compound where she meets a ragtag group of monsters also rounded up over the years. As a last resort, under the guidance of General W.R. Monger, on a desperate order from The President, the motley crew of Monsters is called into action to combat the aliens and save the world from imminent destruction!

Special Features:

• 2.35:1 Widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0
• Modern Monster Movie Making
• Deleted Scenes
• DWA Music Video Juke Box
• Commentary with the filmmaker
• The Tech of Monsters vs Aliens
• Top Secret Sneak Peek Files
• Monsters vs Aliens Activision Game Trailer

Double DVD Pack Special Features:

• All of the features of the DVD release, plus:
• B.O.B.’s Big Break (3D & 2D)
• Paddle Ball Game (3D)
• Karaoke Music Party
• 4 Pairs of 3D glasses (for the extra features, the film is still in 2D)

Blu-ray Features:

• 2.35:1 Widescreen 1080p with Dolby TrueHD 5.1
• All of the features of the Double DVD Pack release, plus:
• Animators’ Corner PiP
• Trivia Track
• 4 Pairs of 3D glasses (for the extra features, the film is still in 2D)

Recommendation: Rent

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
Starring Tim Daly, Kevin Conroy, Clancy Brown
A desperate solution for a troubled country: Lex Luthor for President with the Justice League in the service of the government. Only Batman and Superman stand against the new regime – and their disloyalty proves to be exactly what Luthor intended. Using their outcast status to instigate a scandal against Superman, Luthor finally tastes a victory in his vendetta against The Man of Steel.

Special Features:

• 1.78:1 Widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1
• “Behind the Scenes of “Blackest Night”"

2-Disc Special Features:

• 1.78:1 Widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1
• “Behind the Scenes of “Blackest Night”"
• “A Test of Minds: Superman and Batman”
• “Dinner with DC: with Special Guest Kevin Conroy”
• Extended sneak peek at the next DCU Film
• Two Episodes of “Justice League Unlimited”
• Digital Copy of the Film

Blu-ray Features:

• 1.78:1 Widescreen 1080p with Dolby Digital 5.1
• All of the features of the 2-Disc DVD release, plus:
• Two additional episodes of “Justice League Unlimited”
• Digital Copy of the Film

Recommendation: Rent (for animation or DC fans)

The Girlfriend Experience
Starring Sasha Grey, Chris Santos, Glenn Kenny, Peter Zizzo
A drama set in the days leading up to the 2008 Presidential election, and centered on a high-end Manhattan call girl meeting the challenges of her boyfriend, her clients, and her work.

Special Features:

• 2.35:1 Widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1
• Includes both the R Rated and Unrated cuts
• Commentary with Steven Soderbergh and Sasha Grey
• HDNet Doc: “A Look at the Girlfriend Experience”

Blu-ray Features:

• 2.35:1 Widescreen 1080p with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• All of the features of the DVD release

Recommendation: Rent

Away We Go – 7.1/10
Starring John Krasinski, Maya Rudolph, Jeff Daniels, Carmen Ejogo, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Allison Janney, Jim Gaffigarn, Chris Messina, Catherine O’Hara, Paul Schneider, Melanie Lynskey
Mid-thirtysomethings Burt Farlander and Verona De Tessant are a loving couple. Burt has always wanted to marry Verona, but Verona resists, not seeing the point of the institution. Regardless, they are having a baby together, despite questioning their potential parenting abilities. They are happy that they made the decision to move close to Burt’s parents, Jerry and Gloria Farlander, as they want to share the experience with the baby’s grandparents. Verona’s own parents died over ten years earlier, a situation about which she doesn’t like to discuss. In Verona’s sixth month, she and Burt learn that Jerry and Gloria are moving to Antwerpen, Belgium the month before the baby is due, just because it’s something they’ve always wanted to do. Burt and Verona don’t understand what they see as Jerry and Gloria’s selfishness in putting this move above spending time with their impending granddaughter. Being mobile people, Burt and Verona decide to move. As they want to share their new family experience with people that they love, they decide to take a trans-continental trip to meet with old friends and relatives. Most of them are married with children of their own, and Burt and Verona want to see where they would like to live and with whom they want to share the experience.

Special Features:

• 2.35:1 Widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1
• The Making of
• Green Filmmaking
• Commentary with Sam Mendes, Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida

Blu-ray Features:

• 2.35:1 Widescreen 1080p with DTS ES 5.1
• All of the features of the DVD release, plus:
• BD Live

Recommendation: Rent

Management – 7/10
Starring Jennifer Aniston, Steve Zahn, Woody Harrelson
A traveling art saleswoman tries to shake off a flaky motel manager who falls for her and won’t leave her alone.

Special Features:

• 1.85:1 Widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1
• Commentary with Stephen Belber and Steve Zahn
• Deleted Scenes
• Gag Reel
• Trailers

Blu-ray Features:

• 1.85:1 Widescreen 1080p with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• All of the features of the DVD release

Recommendation: Pass

Re-Releases

Wizard of Oz (70th Anniversary) – 7.8/10
Starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Charley Grapewin
Desc

2-Disc 70th Anniversary Special Edition (DVD)

• 1.33:1 Fullscreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 1.0
• Disc One
  • Remastered Film with New Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Sing-Along Track
  • Commentary with John Fricke, Barbara Freed-Saltzman, Margaret Hamilton, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, John Lahr, Jane Lahr, Hamilton Meserve, Dona Massin, William Tuttle, Buddy Ebsen, Mervyn LeRoy and Jerry Maren
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Storybook
  • Prettier Than Ever: The Restoration of Oz
  • We Haven’t Really Met Properly
• Disc Two
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic (1990 TV Special)
  • Memories of Oz (2001 TCM Documentary)
  • The Art of Imagination: A Tribute to Oz
  • Because of the Wonderful Things It Does: The Legacy of Oz
  • Harold Arlen’s Home Movies
  • Outtakes and Deleted Scenes
  • It’s a Twister! It’s a Twister! The Tornado Tests
  • Off to See the Wizard
  • 3 Vault Shorts
  • Audio Jukebox Selection
  • Leo Is on the Air Radio Promo
  • Good News of 1939 Radio Show
  • 12/25/1950 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast
  • Still Galleries
  • Six Theatrical Trailers

4-Disc 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition (DVD)

• The 2-Disc 70th Anniversary DVD
• Disc Three
  • Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman
  • L. Frank Baum: The Man Behind the Curtain
  • Celebrating Hollywood’s Biggest Little Stars
  • The Dreamer of Oz (1990 TV Special)
  • The Wizard of Oz (1910)
  • The Wizard of Oz (1933)
• Disc Four
  • His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz
  • The Magic Cloak of Oz (1914)
  • The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914)
  • The Wizard of Oz (1925 feature)
• Collectibles
  • Collectible and Numbered 70th Anniversary Wizard of Oz Watch with Genuine Crystals
  • Replica of the original film budget
  • “Behind the Curtain” (52 pg book)
  • Reproduction of the original 1939 campaign book
• Bonus Digital Copy of the Film

Blu-ray 70th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)

• 1.33:1 Fullscreen 1080p with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Dolby TrueHD 1.0
• Remastered Film in 1080p with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio
• Music and Effects Track
• Original Mono Track in Dolby TrueHD 1.0
• All of the features of the 2-Disc 70th Anniversary DVD

2-Disc 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray)

• Blu-ray 70th Anniversary Special Edition
• All of the features of the 4-Disc 70th Anniversary DVD
• All of the Collectibles of the 4-Disc 70th Annivesary DVD, which are:
  • Collectible and Numbered 70th Anniversary Wizard of Oz Watch with Genuine Crystals
  • Replica of the original film budget

  

  • “Behind the Curtain” (52 pg book)
  • Reproduction of the original 1939 campaign book
• Bonus Digital Copy of the Film
• BD Collector’s Exclusive: MGM: When the Lion Roars Documentary
• Original extended version of “If I Only Had a Brain” performed by Ray Bolger (remastered in HD)

Recommendation: BUY (do I even have to tell you?)

The Dark Crystal (Blu-ray) – 7.7/10
Starring Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Barry Dennen, Michael Kilgarriff, Louise Gold
Another planet, another time. 1000 years ago the mysterious Dark Crystal was damaged by one of the Urskeks and an age of chaos has began! The evil race of grotesque birdlike lizards the Skeksis, gnomish dragons who rule their fantastic planet with an iron claw. Meanwhile the orphan Jen, raised in solitude by a race of the peace-loving wizards called the Mystics, embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of the Dark Crystal which gives the Skesis their power and restore the balance of the universe.

Blu-ray Features:

• 2.35:1 Widescreen 1080p with Dolby Digital 5.1
• Commentary with Brian Froud
• Storyboard Track
• The Book of Thra: Dark Crystal Collector
• SkekTek’s Crystal Challenge Trivia Game
• Original Skeksis Language
• Deleted Scenes
• The World of The Dark Crystal
• Reflections of the Dark Crystal: “Light on the Path of Creation”, “Shard of Illusion”

Recommendation: Rent

Labyrinth (Blu-ray) – 7.1/10
Starring Jennifer Connelly, David Bowie, Toby Froud
Young Sarah is left home alone by her parents and she has to babysit her little brother Toby. But the baby keeps crying and Sarah, while telling him a story to make him sleep, inadvertently conjures from a fantasy world the Goblin King who steals the child and brings him to his castle in the middle of a labyrinth. Sarah has to rescue him before midnight, or the baby will became a goblin.

Blu-ray Features:

• 2.35:1 Widescreen 1080p with Dolby TrueHD 5.1
• Making of
• Commentary with Brian Froud
• Journey through the Labyrinth: “Kingdom of Characters”, “The Quest for Golbin City”
• Storytellers PiP
• BD-Live Enabled

Recommendation: Rent

The Unrated Blogger’s Cut

I’m not a super huge Wizard of Oz fan, so I won’t be picking that up, but my sister is so I’ll get to check out all the cool stuff. I saw Monsters vs Aliens in the theater and I remember laughing a lot, mostly at/with Seth Rogen (his laugh is contagious). I probably won’t be renting/buying it, but I recommend that you rent it for a laugh. I’m interested in seeing The Girlfriend Experience, mostly to see Sasha Grey in an acting role. So I have that on my list of rentals. And finally I will also be renting Superman/Batman: Public Enemies because DC is doing really well with it’s animated features and I’ve liked all of the previous releases.

Coming Soon:

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