By Peter M. Bracke

Wayne shoots 'em up, Clint sings!

Paramount has just announced another batch of John Wayne titles and some classic westerns for a 7/24 release. The Duke stars in The Shootist, featuring a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and English and French mono tracks, cast and crew interviews with actor Hugh O'Brian, writer Miles Swarthout and producer Bill Self, and the theatrical trailer. Wayne also stars in Hatari!, in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and English and French mono, and the theatrical trailer. Finally, we have Clint Eastwood singing(!) in the immortal camp classic Paint Your Wagon. The disc is sparse with only the theatrical trailer in terms of extras, but it does include a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, a new English 5.1 surround mix and English and French mono tracks. Retail is $29.95 each.

Silverman times two

Just announced to retail are three new Columbia title. First up are two recent theatrical disappointments, including not one but two releases of Saving Silverman due on 7/17. Both discs feature anamorphic widescreen and full frame transfers, English 5.1 surround and English and French 2.0 surround mixes, talent files and trailers, while one release is an R-rated version, while the other is the theatrical PG-13 cut. (Why two separate releases when we all know DVD is capable of seamless branching? Ask the Blockbusters of the world.) Then, arriving on 7/31 is The Brothers, featuring a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and full screen versions, English 5.1 and 2.0 surround tracks, production notes, talent bios and trailers. Retail is $24.95. Finally, also coming on 7/31 is the early Harrison "I am not Han Solo, dammit!" Ford wartime romance Hanover Street, presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and 4.0 surround, along with more production notes, talent files and trailers. Though a bare bones release, retail is only $19.95.

Ollie goes it alone

Warner has just announced a 8/7 release date for the Any Given Sunday special edition, which previously has only been available in the Oliver Stone Collection 6-pack and 10-pack box sets. This 2-disc set will include all the same extras as the previously released version, and retail is $24.95.

Klumps, Vampire get DTS

In more reissue news, we just received our review copies of two new Universal titles due out later this month - Shadow Of The Vampire and The Klumps Uncensored - and despite not being noted on the press releases (see the archive for the full announcements) both do indeed include DTS tracks. We've reviewed the new Klumps disc today, and watch for a review of Vampire soon (which is also, by the way, in 2.35:1, not the 1.85:1 on the press release.)

Four from Criterion

Just announced for a 7/10 arrival from Criterion are four more classics. First up is How To Get Ahead In Advertising, in 1.85:1 widescreen and English 2.0 stereo, and the trailer. Also coming is Withnail & I in its uncut version, with a new anamorphic widescreen transfer and English mono, and rare pre-production photos by Ralph Steadman, a limited-edition collectible poster of the original film art by Ralph Steadman, and the trailer. Retail is $29.95 each.

Also due 7/10 is The Lady Eve, in 1.33:1 full frame and English mono, with video introduction by writer-director Peter Bogdanovich, audio commentary by noted film scholar Marian Keane, costume designs by Edith Head, a scrapbook of original publicity materials and production stills, the Lux Radio Theater adaptation, and the trailer. Finally comes Sullivan's Travels, in 1.33:1 full frame and English mono, with an audio commentary by Noah Baumbach, Christopher Guest, and Michael McKean, "Preston Sturges: The Rise and Fall of an American Dreamer" 76-minute American Masters documentary by Kenneth Bowser, an interview with Preston Sturges' widow Sandy Sturges, a production stills archive, scrapbook of original publicity materials, rare audio recordings of Sturges, Hedda Hopper interviews Sturges, and the trailer.

This house ain't clean

Anchor Bay has just announced their late June DVD slate, including a title awaited by horror fans, House, as well as its sequel House II: The Second Story (har har...get it?) The House disc includes a new 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and English 5.1 surround mix, an audio commentary with Director Steve Miner, Producer Sean S. Cunningham, Writer Ethan Wiley and Star William Katt, "The Making Of House" featurette, a still gallery and two theatrical trailers, and lists for $24.95. There will also be a limited edition 2-pack of House and House II (which features an anamorphic widescreen transfer, 2.0 surround mix and trailers) for $39.95. Note that House II will not be made available separately at this time.

Also coming on 6/26 is Mephisto, in 1.77:1 anamorphic widescreen and German mono with English subtitles, and also includes interviews with director Istvan Szabo and actor Klaus Maria Brandauer and talent bios. Retail is $29.95. Last but not least is The 10th Victim, in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and Italian and English mono tracks, English subtitles, talent bios and the trailer. Retail is also $29.95;.

APRIL 26

2001...better than ever?

With the arrival of the newly-remastered Kubrick DVDs on the way soon, our own Jarod Musgrave had the opportunity to see the newly-remastered 2001: A Space Odyssey in the Chicago area, and with anticipation high for this new reissue, he checked in with these quick impressions. The DVD will be out on 6/12, and the film should be making the rounds nationwide in a year-long theatrical re-release...

"Last night I had the pleasure of watching a newly remastered 70mm print of 2001: A Space Odyssey in Champaign, Illinois as part of The Third Annual Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival. Presumably this is an early indicator of how good the upcoming DVD release will look and sound. Rest assured, the remastering has breathed new life into this classic film. Detail was exceptional, though I guess that is to be expected from a 70mm source. From the red and yellow sky at the beginning of the film to the kaleidoscope during the "light show" sequence, colors were magnificent. Except for some minor problems during the white room sequence near the end, this print of 2001 looked like it was transported in time from 1968. Keir Dullea, the star of the film who spoke after the showing, opined that the film looked every bit as good as when it opened 33 years ago. The soundtrack showed no signs of age at all. In fact, if it had been any better I would have suspected some Lucas-style tinkering. I think it is safe to say that the old DVD and laserdisc versions of 2001 will soon have very little value."

Sounds great, can't wait to see the DVDs, and watch the site next week for more on Kubrick!

More apes

Here's an interesting one. Image Entertainment has just announced a reissue of sorts of the documentary Behind The Planet Of The Apes. You may recall that this special, narrated by Roddy McDowall, was originally produced for television, then later appeared on DVD as part of the Planet of The Apes box set from Fox Home Video. That set has since been discontinued, and now here we have this new 2-disc set of the documentary with a host of additional extras. The documentary is presented in full frame and 2.0 stereo, and there is also the "Planet of the Apes" National Association of Theater Owners presentation from 1967, two featurettes "Apes" from 1968 and "A Look Behind..." from 1972, a 1998 "Behind the Planet of the Apes" promo spot, "Apes" makeup test with Edward G. Robinson, some rare dailies and outtakes, and an unedited Roddy McDowall interview. Street date is 7/17, and retail $24.95. Why Fox is not releasing this themselves remains a mystery...

The dead of night...

Hard to believe, but with summer almost here and DVD announcements for mid-to-late summer already starting to appear, it is almost time to start thinking about...Halloween. The studios start to release their scary stuff around August to gear up for Halloween (which according to some recent census surveys has become the most popular holiday among adults.) MGM will be announcing a whole slew of scary stuff soon, but in the meantime, Warner has just added another title to their 8/21, Clive Barker's Nightbreed. The disc will include a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English 5.1 surround mix, English, French and Spanish subtitles, cast and crew filmographies and the trailer. Retail is $19.95.

On 7/17, Paramount will be delivering a dark and scary present for DVD fans, the Sam Raimi backwoods thriller The Gift. Though it didn't make too much of an impression on moviegoers or critics, I thought it was an entertaining and fun little movie. Anyway, the disc features a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English 5.1 and English and French 2.0 surround mixes, English subtitles and Closed Captions, cast and crew interviews, the theatrical trailer and the "Furnace Room Lullaby" music video by Neko Case & Her Boyfriend. Retail is $29.95.

APRIL 25

How the Grinch stole DVD

One of the biggest hits of last year, Universal has issued quite an early announcement for the home video release of Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas. They are really pulling out all the stops for this one, both in terms of content and marketing! The set is due on 11/20, and in total, Universal will be releasing three editions...separate pan & scan and widescreen special editions ($26.95 each) and a limited Edition set which features the same disc with a "playset" and other goodies, for $39.95 (similar to their multiple Jurassic Park/Lost World configurations.) Check out all the details via the full press release.

Schwing!

After a long wait for Wayne and Garth fans, Paramount has finally announced a 7/10 release date for Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2. Both feature 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfers, English 5.1 and English and French 2.0 surround mixes, and trailers. The extras goodies also seem to be rather evenly distributed, with the first disc featuring an audio commentary with Director Penelope Spheeris, new cast and crew interviews including Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, while the second disc features a commentary by director Stephen Surjik and more cast and crew interviews (however, it is not clear whether the interviews are the same on both discs or different.) In a somewhat lower price for Paramount, each disc will retail for $24.95. There will also be a two-pack (same features, same discs) for $49.98.

On 7/10, Paramount will also release the recent Chris Rock comedy Down To Earth. The disc features a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfers, English 5.1 and English and French 2.0 surround mixes, as well as cast and crew interviews, deleted scenes and the trailer.

Roberts redux

Also, in a brief announcement, Columbia has issued a 7/3 retail date for the My Best Friend's Wedding special edition. The disc features 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen and full screen transfers, a new audio commentary with director PJ Hogan and writer Ronald Bass, deleted footage, a making-of, talent files, production notes and trailers. Retail is $27.95, and the full press release and final specs should be available soon.

APRIL 24

On the QT

Some final specs have come in for a few highly-anticipated new titles, starting with a couple of Columbia titles, both due on 7/3. The Wedding Planner will feature a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English 5.1 and 2.0 surround tracks, English, French and Spanish subtitles, an audio commentary with director Adam Shankman and writers Michael Ellis and Pamela Falk, a "Making-Of" and "The Dancer And The Cowboy" featurettes, deleted scenes with optional commentary, and production notes, talent files and the trailer. Retail is $27.95.

Columbia has also issued full specs for the 2-disc set of Snatch. Disc one features the "U.K. Version" in anamorphic widescreen and full screen version, English 5.1 surround and English and French 2.0 surround mixes, English, French and "Pikey" subtitles, an audio commentary with director Guy Ritchie and producer Matthew Vaughn, and two features simply called "Stealing Stones" and "Branching." Disc two features " Making Snatch" featurette, deleted scenes, video photo gallery, storyboard comparisons, talent files, production notes and trailers. Retail is $29.95.

Also, Fox has issued the press release for the upcoming Cast Away two-disc set, which looks pretty dang feature packed, and includes Dolby Digital Surround EX and DTS ES mixes. Check out the release for the full details.

Hungry hungry dino

On 7/3, Warner will be releasing on DVD one of the most financially successful IMAX films ever, T-Rex: Back To The Cretaceous. Though not in 3-D as it was shown theatrically, the disc is in 1.37:1 with English and French 5.1 surround tracks, dinosaur trivia and facts, and trailers. Retail is $19.95. Coming on 8/21 is the Mario Van Peebles thriller Full Eclipse. The disc is a straightforward release in full frame, with English and French 2.0 surround tracks and the trailer. Retail is $14.95.

Also, note that the upcoming reissue of Gremlins on 8/21 will not be a new special edition, nor will (Gremlins 2: The New Batch be released along with it.) Rather, this is a simple repackaging of the previous movie-only DVD, though special editions of both Gremlins films are still on the way (someday.) Not sure if I'm all that down with this new art, and what is with repeating the title twice on the cover!?

School's out for summer

Finally today, Buena Vista has announced a 8/7 arrival date for their recent kiddie comedy Recess: School's Out. The disc will be made available in widescreen and pan & scan, with an English 5.1 surround mix, a making-of, two trivia games and "more." Retail is $29.95.

APRIL 23

Stupid is as stupid does

Attention, Forrest Gump fans...looks like that long-awaited DVD is getting a little closer to fruition? Robert Zemeckis, who's fast becoming the pioneer of the "live commentary," recorded another one last week at the USC School Of Cinema-Television, participating in an onstage interview followed by a Q&A session with the audience. Recorded in audio form, this will then be somehow edited into an audio commentary for the upcoming Forrest Gump DVD. You may recall that Zemeckis recorded a similar"commentary" last month for the upcoming Cast Away DVD. (Why USC? It is Zemeckis's alma mater, and the filmmaker just donated millions for the University's new "Robert Zemeckis Digital Center.")

While I was able to attend the Cast Away session last month (stay tuned for a feature story on it soon,) I was unable to go to the Gump Q&A. But the Cast Away session was definitely interesting, and this certainly is a new way to do a commentary. Zemeckis talked a bit about why he chose this particular approach at the Cast Away session, so stay tuned for the article for more. In the meantime, at least we know the Gump DVD is production, and last word we received was to expect Gump to be one of Paramount's big catalog releases in the latter half of 2001...

Beauty School Dropout?

Alight, Goonies haters (and I'm one of them), with Warner's retail announcement last week of that long-awaited DVD, we can finally knock the film off our top ten most request Status Report list. And in it's place we have...Grease (it was a close one between that and Dr. Zhivago, so no hate mail!) So, what's up with this DVD? Well, Grease hasn't exactly been the word that you've heard on DVD, has it? When Paramount first announced DVD support way back in late 1998, it was expected that Grease would be one of their debut titles, but needless to say, it wasn't.

Since then, the title has remained MIA, even though at the time Grease had just come off of a successful theatrical reissue and Paramount released new remastered VHS and Laserdisc editions. So with no DVD in sight, talk of song clearances, lawsuits, etc., plaguing the DVD release have ensued, but not much in the way of any real solid news. For what it is worth, the only info we have on it can be found here in the Status Report. Let's hope Paramount gets this one movin', and quick...I'm getting impatient, aren't you?

TV classics from Madacy

Discount DVD supplier Madacy have announced their new TV Classics line of DVDs. Each set is a two-disc set, and the first four titles in the series arrive on 5/8, and include The Beverly Hillbillies (ten episodes), Bonanza (six episodes,) The Lone Ranger (ten episodes) and The Andy Griffith Show (ten episodes.) Each release is presented in 4:3 full screen and English mono, with cast and crew biographies and TV trivia. Retail is $14.95 for each 2-pack.