DVD Releases and News

Fresh Fodder: New DVD Releases - 07/24/07

All we can say is - it's about time! The summer sure has given us a drought, and we're not talking about rain shortages, our friends! Hollywood has sent us the deluge this week (even in the 'Best of the Rest' section), so much so that we're gonna get right down to it! Scroll away!

As always, leave us your mini-reviews in the comments!

The Stuff We Care About

Renaissance

We've been looking forward to this release for some time now, ever since Ain't It Cool dropped the link to the trailer. Its blend of scifi, computer animation, and stylistic art direction had our geeky pants soiled from get-go.

You see, "Renaissance" takes place in Paris - in the year 2054. Ilona Tasuiev, a scientist for Avalon (who conducts genetic research on eternal youth), is kidnapped by an unknown figure at the start of the film. Avalon employs Inspector Barthelemy Karas (voiced by Daniel Craig), hard-boiled leader of the Section K police task force, to find Ilona. So the mystery begins, playing out like film-noir scifi movies of the past, but like nothing you've ever seen before.

It is unfortunate that at an initial glance, "Renaissance" will draw comparisons to "Sin City." Although the two films share a similar CG style, "Renaissance" is entirely motion-captured animation with a pure black-and-white filter thrown over the top - and to stunning effect. Like "Sin City," this lends to the film noir aspects of the plot, but the CG allows for a much wider directorial range than Robert Rodriguez had in "Sin City" with his real actors on a green-screen set. While this makes for some mind-blowing scenes, the movie does suffer from that videogame cut-scene feel, where the emotional impact of the characters is robbed by our inability to perfectly mimic the human face in CG. It's close - damned close - but sometimes the characters feel like cardboard cut-outs.

In the end, the story suffers from a script that seems to ache to be an excellent old-fashioned detective yarn set in the future, but can't overcome its convoluted nature to deliver an engaging plot. Is the movie worth watching? Absolutely! "Renaissance" is a landmark in artistic story-telling, and you can't help but pull for it. Is it going to blow you out of the water, like the first "Matrix" did? Parts of it will, which in the end helps you overlook a story muddied with flaws.

Features

Rating: Rated R for some violent images, sexuality, nudity and language.
Studio: Miramax
DVD Format: Widescreen Anamorphic, 2.35:1, Closed Captioned, Color
DVD Features: Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Audio Track 1: English, Dolby Digital 5.1, Audio Track 2: French, Dolby Digital 5.1

Special Features

"The Making of Renaissance" featurette

Preview:

Zodiac

Synopsis: Based on the Robert Graysmith books about the real life notorious Zodiac, a serial killer who terrorized San Francisco with a string of seemingly random murders during the 1960s and 1970s.

Features

Rating: Rated R for some strong killings, language, drug material and brief sexual images.
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Region: Region 1
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Paramount Home Video
Run Time: 157 minutes

Special Features

None listed

Preview:

The Number 23
(Unrated Infinifilm Edition)

Synopsis: "Carrey becomes obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him. As his obsession increases, more and more similarities seem to arise."

Features

Rating: Rated R for violence, disturbing images, sexuality and language
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English
Region: 1
Number of discs: 1
Studio: New Line Home Video
Run Time: 101 minutes

Special Features

Commentary Track with Joel Schumacher
15 minutes of deleted scenes with optional commentary
"The Making of The Number 23" Featurette
"The Number 23 Enigma" Featurette
"How To Do Your Numbers" Featurette
"Beyond the Movie" Branching Featurette

Preview:

The Host
(2-disc Collector's Edition)

Synopsis: "A mutant emerges from Seoul's Han River and focuses its attention on attacking people."

Features

Rating: Rated R for creature violence and language.
Format: Anamorphic, Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Language: Korean, English, Spanish
Region: Region 1
Number of discs: 2
Studio: Magnolia Pictures
Run Time: 120 minutes

Special Features

Making-Of Documentary
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes

Preview:

Perfume -
The Story of a Murderer

Synopsis: "Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with a superior olfactory sense, creates the world's finest perfume. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for the ultimate scent."

Features

Rating: Rated R for aberrant behavior involving nudity, violence, sexuality, and disturbing images.
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English
Region: Region 1
Number of discs: 1
Studio: Paramount Home Video
Run Time: 147 minutes

Special Features

"The Story of Perfume" Featurette

Preview:

The Monster Squad
(2-Disc 20th Anniversary Edition)

Synopsis: "Dracula is alive. In fact, he plans to rule the world and that is why he seeks the help of other legendary monsters. However, a bunch of kids regarded by their peers as losers uncover the devious plan and prepare for a counter strike."

Features

Rating: PG-13
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English
Region: Region 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number of discs: 2
Studio: Lionsgate
Run Time: 92 minutes

Special Features

Audio commentary by Fred Dekker and actors Andre Gower, Ryan Lambert and Ashley Bank
Audio commentary by Fred Dekker and director of photography Bradford May
Monster Squad Forever!-a five-part retrospective featuring new interviews with Dekker, actors Gower, Lambert, Bank, Duncan Regehr, Tom Noonan and more!
A Conversation with Frankenstein-a never-before-seen classic interview with the Monster himself (Tom Noonan in makeup)
Deleted scenes
Original theatrical trailer
TV spot
Still gallery