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From Warner with love - 12:40pm Just in time for Valentine's Day, Warner is turning up the heat with four mushy romance dramas. Hitting DVD for the first time on 1/8 are the remake of Love Affair with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, Love In the Afternoon, Mrs. Soffel, and The Prince And The Showgirl. All are presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and English and French 2.0 stereo surround and include trailers, except Prince And The Showgirl, which is 1.33:1 and also includes a newsreel excerpt. Retail is $19.95 a pop.
New Fox 2001 announcements - 3:45pm Fox Home Video seems to be going pretty heavy with its January DVD slate. In addition to the already-announced MASH and Buffy releases, Fox has just announced a number of new titles and repromotions... First up on 1/22 is the Jet Li martial arts fiesta Kiss Of The Dragon. Presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, audio options include English 5.1 and English and Spanish 2.0 surround tracks, along with an audio commentary with director Chris Nahon and actors Jet Li and Bridget Fonda, 4 featurettes, 2 storyboard analyses, a still gallery, trailers and TV spots. Retail is $26.95. The Urban 2002 collection will repromote previous DVD releases Light It Up, Waiting To Exhale, Soul Food and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, along with two new releases, The Five Heartbeats and Carmen Jones. Both Heartbeats and Jones feature new anamorphic widescreen transfers and trailers. Retail is $19.95 for each title in the promotion, and street is 1/22. Arriving on 1/29 is Fox's Family Features collection, with five brand-new to DVD favorites, each with a retail price of $19.95. My Bodyguard, Breaking Away, The Sandlot, Rookie Of The Year, and Baby's Day Out all feature 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfers (The Sandlot is in 2.35.1), English 2.0 surround and English and French mono tracks, and Fox Flix trailers for all five films,. Baby's Day Out, Sandlot and Rookie all include featurettes, and My Bodyguard and Breaking Away additional TV spots. More classic kid fare is to come on 1/29, with Shirley Temple wave one, featuring Dimples, and Heidi and Bright Eyes (in color.) Each disc is presented in full frame with English and French mono tracks. No other specs are available, and retail is $19.95 each. Finally, on 11/6 Fox will reprice the recent megahit Cast Away, lowering the two-disc set to $24.95.
Where'd you get those peepers? - 12:16am A rather surprise sleeper when released last August, MGM's horrorfest Jeeper's Creepers will hit DVD on 1/8 as a fully-loaded special edition. Presented in both anamorphic widescreen and full screen formats with English Dolby Digital 5.1 and French and Spanish 2.0 surround tracks, and there's a wealth of extras including an audio commentary with director Victor Salva and actors Justin Long and Gina Philips, the "Behind the Scenes Look At Jeepers Creepers" and "Special Effects - The making Of 'The Creeper'" featurettes, deleted scenes and alternate ending with optional commentary and storyboard comparisons, a photo gallery, and the theatrical trailer. Also arriving on 1/8 is the recent Martin Lawrence and Danny DeVito comedy What's The Worst That Could Happen? The DVD also includes anamorphic widescreen and full screen transfers, English 5.1 and French and Spanish 2.0 surround tracks, two audio commentaries, "Scene Stealers" featurette, deleted scenes and alternate ending, outtakes, the "Music" music video by Erik Sermon and Marvin Gaye, and the theatrical trailer. Retail is $24.95 each. It's all about sticking together... - 12:15am This just in from Universal, the summer smash American Pie 2 will hit DVD on 1/15 in no less than four different editions. The R-rated theatrical cut will be released in separate widescreen and pan & scan versions, as will wide and full screen Unrated versions with footage too hot for the theaters. Each release will go for $26.95 a pop, and stay tuned for full specs. Universal will also release the adult drama Pavilion Of Women starring Willem Dafoe on 1/15. The disc includes an anamorphic widescreen transfer, English Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 tracks, production notes, filmographies and the trailer. Retail is $29.95. Joel & Jacko - 12:08am Just announced from Sony Music are three new compilations from two of pop music's biggest artists. Adding to the other Billy Joel DVDs on the market, on 11/20 Sony will issue Billy Joel: The Essential Video Collection, featuring no less than 24 music videos (Piano Man, All For Leyna, Tell her About It, Honesty, Sometimes A Fantasy, The Night Is Still Young, Pressure, My Life, Keeping The Faith, A Matter Of Trust, You're Only Human (Second Wind), Everybody Loves You Now, Uptown Girl, You May Be Right, Big Shot, The Longest Time, Allentown, Los Angelenos, It's Still Rock N' Roll To Me, Bay Grand, She's Right On Time, Goodnight Saigon (Live), Leave A Tender Moment Alone (Live) and James.) The videos are presented in full screen with Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM 2.0 stereo tracks, as well as a Joel discography. Arriving a week earlier, and just in time for Jacko's new CD "Invincible," are Michael Jackson: HIStory (featuring Brace Yourself, Billie Jean, The Way You Make Me Feel long version, Black Or White, Rock With You, Bad 18-minute version, Thriller, Beat It, Remember The Time, Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough and Heal The World) and Michael Jackson: Dangerous - The Short Films (featuring Black Or White, Heal The World Superbowl version, Remember The Time, Will You Be There, In The Closet, Gone Too Soon, Jam, Heal The World, Give In To Me, Who Is It, and Dangerous. ) Both discs are presented in full frame with Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM 2.0 stereo tracks, and a discography. Retail is $19.95 a pop for all three discs. 'Escape' Redux - 12:01am Yesterday, we reported on an alleged news item quickly spreading around the Internet regarding possible digital alterations to the upcoming DVD special edition of John Carpenter's Escape From New York, due sometime next year, MGM has responded to the story and stated that it is not true. Reportedly director John Carpenter was quoted as telling Fangoria magazine that the DVD would be reedited following last month's terrorist attacks on 9-11. But according to an MGM spokesperson, "We have no plans nor did we ever have any plans" to alter or change Escape From New York in any form. Neither John carpenter's office nor Fangoria magazine confirmed this alleged story, so we can chalk this one up to just another Internet rumor. Stay tuned for any further word. 'Pearl Harbor' delay - 12:01am This just in from the Buena Vista via their press website, the Pearl Harbor 3-disc Vista Series edition, originally due this January, has been postponed until 5/15. No reason for the delay was given, which does not affect the two-disc and commemorative editions, both due on 12/4. Features and pricing for all versions remain the same. Star Wars DVD goes live - 1:08pm Hey, all you young padawans out there, if you picked up your Phantom Menace DVDs today, make sure you throw them in your DVD-ROM drives and check out the just-launched Star Wars DVD website only accessible if you have the disc in your drive. I think you'll find some cool exclusive content there (Episode II, perhaps?) and watch for a full review of this new webstie later today...
New from Warner - 12:03am Just announced from Warner are a slew of street dates for various upcoming late 2001 and early 2002 releases. First up we have more from the terrifying world of Pokemon (isn't this fad over with yet?), Pokemon: Mewtwo Returns. Presented in full frame with English 5.1 and French and Spanish 2.0 dubs, extras including the "Uncut Story of Mewtwo' Origin" and character bios. Retail is $19.95. Arriving on 12/18 is the acclaimed telefilm Uprising, with Hank Azaria and (yes, her again) Leelee Sobieski. This special edition features an audio commentary with director Jon Avnet, a "Historical documentary" and additional behind-the-scenes featurette. Retail is $24.95. Up next on 1/8 are three HBO releases, Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned, Miss Evers Boys, and The American Experience presentation of Marcus Garvey: Look For Me In The Whirlwind. All are straightforward full frame and 2.0 surround releases, with a retail price of $19.95 each. Finally, on 1/29 comes the PBS miniseries Abraham And Mary Lincoln: A House Divided. Full specs are not available, but MAP is $59.95 for this multi-disc set. Status Report update - 12:03am After a much-prolonged delay, the Status Report has returned. Since the first question off of any new DVD owner's lips is always "When's so-and-so title gonna be released?" we set up the Status Report to keep track of the top ten current requested DVD titles. Since so many big announcements were coming in every week in time for the big holiday buying frenzy, we decided to hold off a bit and wait to update the Status Report until the massacre was over. Anyway, our latest Status Report update is for the oft-requested Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, which has been "coming soon' on New Line's DVD release schedule for ages, and remains held up in a legal quagmire over the planned inclusion of deleted scenes. There's also some information on other highly-requested Lynch titles, including Eraserhead and Wild At Heart. Watch for two new Status Report updates in the days ahead...
'House' of mirrors - 12:01am Those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones? Columbia has just announced the specs for the 1,238th movie this year to star Leelee Sobieski, The Glass House. Due on 1/2, the DVD includes anamorphic widescreen and full screen versions, an audio commentary with director Daniel Sackheim, deleted scenes, filmmaker interviews, and the trailer. Retail is $24.95. Dead and gone - 12:01am Attention Criterion Collection collector's, add another one to the "now discontinued" list. With home video rights now reverting to Warner, the Criterion Collection edition of David Cronenberg's Dead Ringers, complete with plenty of extras, as well as the movie-only Anchor Bay release, are now out of print for the foreseeable future. No word on if and when Warner will release their own version, but given the scarcity of Criterion supplements on non-Criterion DVD releases, don't expect it to include any of the same extras. Stay tuned. More 'Sense' - 12:01am Just a quick update on that Sixth Sense "Vista Series" edition due 1/8 from Buena Vista. This will only be a repackaging of the existing special edition DVD, with no new extras aside from altered packaging. Retail remains $29.95.
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