Theatrical Films

 

It’s a battle of the blockbusters this week as Warner’s action-packed Terminator: Salvation dukes it out with Fox’s comedy sensation Night at the Museum 2: Battle at the Smithsonian.  Terminator Salvation (DVD $28.98, BD $35.99) got lost in the shuffle of major releases in May in what turned out to be a very front-loaded summer.  The fourth Terminator movie, which cost over $200 million to produce and promote, made just $125.3 million domestically.  While director McG is clearly no James Cameron, Terminator: Salvation was obviously superior to T3 and probably deserved a better box office fate.  Note that there is no 2-Disc standard DVD version of the film.  The Blu-ray is titled the “Director’s Cut,” but it is only 3 minutes longer than the theatrical version.  The film’s choppy editing indicates that there was more missing from McG’s vision than just 3 minutes.  The director indicated in interviews that 30-40 minutes were chopped out of the film by the studio, so real Terminator fans might want to hold their fire until a Terminator: Salvation Ultimate Version appears on Blu-ray sometime in the future.

 

Night at the Museum 2: Battle at the Smithsonian (Fox $29.98, BD$39.99) is that relativley rare comedy sequel that managed to please fans of the original.  Battle is one of the few modern movie comedies not specifically aimed at kids that is actually suitable for young viewers.  Yes its slapstick humor is very broad, but the movie contains several excellent performances including Hank Azaria channeling Boris Karloff as the Egyptian Pharaoh Kahmunrah and Amy Adams as aviatrix Amelia Earhart.  Battle at the Smithsonian earned nearly $180 million at the box office, so don’t be surprised if it outpaces Terminator: Salvation in DVD sales as well.  The Blu-ray release includes a regular DVD as well as the by now obligatory (and much less useful) digital copy.  The extras aren’t great with the exception of the deleted scenes, which are just as funny as those that made it into the film.

 

The faux documentary Paper Heart (Anchor Bay $29.98, BD $39.98), which is also due out this week, earned only $1.2 million in its theatrical release, but this quirky movie, which mixes the documentary and romantic comic genres, manages at times to be both a witty and entertaining saga of geeks in love.  Comedian Charlyne Yi is the self-consciously awkward focal point of the movie as she sets off on a cross-country quest to make a documentary film about the possibility of “true” love.  Along the way she meets Michael Cera (her real life boyfriend?) and different levels of storytelling kick in to give this ambitious little movie its chance at “cult” film status.

 

Foreign Films

 

Arnaud Desplechin’s A Christmas Tale (Criterion $39.98 for both DVD and BD) is one of those messy “everyone-comes-home-for-the-holidays” dramas that the French do better than anyone (or maybe they just sound better in French).  Not for every taste, but those who enjoy multi-layered family dramas will marvel Desplechin’s film, which made many “10 Best” lists in 2008 and somehow manages to avoid the clichés inherent in the genre.

 

TV on DVD

 

It’s not exactly a banner week for TV-based DVDs, but there are some exciting new releases including Mystery Science Fiction Theater 3000: XVI (Shout Factory $64.99).  This 4-disc MSFT collection features the usual caustic commentaries on a group of lame movies that includes The Corpse Vanishes, Warrior of the Lost World, Santa Clause and Night of the Blood Beast.  Equally interesting and even funnier is Saturday Night Live: The Fifth Season (Universal, $69.98).  The 5th Season (1979-1980) of the venerable TV satire series was the final one for most of the original cast and writers.  It features an all-star line-up of hosts and musical performances by the likes of Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, The B-52s, Randy Newman, Tom Petty, The Grateful Dead, The J. Geils Band, Blondie, Paul Simon and James Taylor.

 

Also out this week is Mental Season One (Fox $49.98), the13-episode series produced by Fox in Columbia about a very unconventional psychiatrist played by Chris Vance of Prison Break. Mental’s executive producer Deborah Joy Levine has had her hand in lots of interesting TV including Lois & Clark, Dawson’s Creek, and Early Edition. 

 

Just a week before the premiere of the second season of the ABC single-camera situation comedy, Better Off Ted, Season 1 (Fox $29.98) is due out on DVD. Also debuting this week is the 13-episode first season National Geographic docudrama series, Interpol Investigates (Timeless Media, $29.98).  For fans of squeaky clean 1950s sitcoms there’s also The Donna Reed Show: The Complete 3rd Season (Virgil Films, $39.98), which contains all 38 episodes that aired during the 1960-1961 season.  Like white bread and marzipan, The Donna Reed Show is bland, but not without its charms.

 

From the world of “made for TV movies” comes Ben 10: Alien Swarm (Warner Home Video, $19.97, BD $29.99), the second live action feature based on the Cartoon Network’s Ben 10: Alien Force animated series, which was created by the “Man of Action” studio (Joe Casey, Duncan Rouleau, Joe Kelly, and Steven T. Seagle). Ben 10: Alien Swarm aired on the Cartoon Network on November 25th, 2009 just six days before it was released on DVD and Blu-ray.  The first Ben 10 live action movie, Race Against Time, was broadcast in 2007.  The success of live action series on the Disney cable channels has inspired the Cartoon Network, which is going after the same kid/tween demographic, to create and air more live action programming such as these spin-offs of the Ben 10 cartoon series.

 

Blu-ray Re-Releases

 

Opinions differ about the Maysles Brothers’ Gimme Shelter (Criterion, $39.95).  Many think it is the greatest rock documentary film ever, while others feel it is overrated.  Certainly it presents a superb inside look at The Rolling Stones at the height of their creative powers during their 1969 U.S tour that ended with the ill-fated free concert at the Altamont Speedway at which a concertgoer was killed by the Hell’s Angels who were providing “security” at the show.  Altamont was the “anti-Woodstock” and has been glibly designated as the end of the 1960s era of “peace and love.”  While its historical importance may have been overstated, Altamont certainly provides the focal point as Gimme Shelter builds towards its grim climax. The concert tragedy also gives the Maysles (and collaborator Charlotte Zwerin) a chance to show a shaken Mick Jagger, who, in the aftermath of the real life violence at Altamont, is closer in behavior to the stunned pot growers in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels than to his typical swaggering rock star persona.  While the hi-def Blu-ray format won’t be able to do much (nor would it be desirable) to improve the grainy 16mm Maysles footage, the new Dolby sound mixes and the increased audio capability provided by Blu-ray represent a considerable improvement.

 

Anime

 

After a bumper crop of new releases last week, the pace of new anime DVDs slowed a bit, but there is still a handful of first-time titles including Viz Media’s final Hunter x Hunter set, Hunter x Hunter Box Set 4 (350 min, $49.95), which includes the final 16 episodes of the 62-episode series that aired in Japan from 1999-2001 and was based on the manga by Yoshihiro Togashi (Yu Yu Hakusho).  Meanwhile Funimation is releasing the 50-minute Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino OVA ($14.98), the final Gunslinger Girl anime to be released here in the U.S.

 

Bandai Entertainment is releasing new installments of three series including Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2 Part 2 (150 min. ,$39.98), Hayate the Combat Butler Part 3 (175 min, $39.98), and Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Season 1 Part 3 (200 min, $39.98).