The Spectacular Spider-Man: Attack of the Lizard is coming to DVD Sept. 9. It’s been a tough week for Peter Parker.  His two best friends are mad at him, Aunt May is behind on the bills and Flash Thompson is still bullying him at school. It hasn’t been a cake walk for Spider-Man either.  The Enforcers are trying to destroy him, the Vulture is seeking revenge on Mr. Osborn, Electro is wreaking havoc on the city and his mentor, Dr. Connors, just transformed into The Lizard - a reptile on the rampage.  But with great power comes great responsibility and Peter Parker wouldn’t have it any other way! Here are some clips.

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Presented by David Fincher and Spike Jonze, and from acclaimed Director Tarsem comes THE FALL, starring Golden Globe® nominee Lee Pace.  On Blu-ray Disc™ and DVD September 9th! Filmed over a period of 4 years in 18 different countries, Tarsem’s The Fall is an unforgettable movie experience. In 1920s Los Angeles, Alexandria (Catinca Untaru), a 5-year-old girl hospitalized from a fall, strikes up an unlikely friendship with Roy (Lee Pace, TV’s “Pushing Daisies”), a Hollywood stuntman shattered by a near-fatal movie set accident and his lover’s betrayal.

To pass the time, he tells Alexandria the epic story of Governor Odious and the 5 remarkable heroes determined to defeat him – a dazzling world of magic and myth. Only when the line between reality and fantasy begins to dissolve does Alexandria realize how much is truly at stake. Presented by David Fincher (FIGHT CLUB) and Spike Jonze (ADAPTATION), THE FALL is an awe-inspiring, cinematic tour de force. Check out the clippage.

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April 6, 1968 – just over twenty-four hours after Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated, James Brown took the stage at the Boston Gardens for a concert that was televised live – and simulcast on radio – and what riots had been on the brink of turning the city into a conflagration, simply went away.

Shout Factory’s three DVD set I Got the Feelin’ – James Brown in the ‘60s features The Night James Brown Saved Boston, a look back at what might just be the single most important music concert in history. Combining documentary footage of the riots that followed King’s assassination with clips from news reports of his death and interviews with members of Brown’s band, his manager, the former Mayor of Boston [who almost cancelled the concert], the Reverend Al Sharpton and more, the documentary that takes up disc one, paints a picture of an extraordinary evening that left Boston relatively unscathed while every other major city in America burned.

The seventy-five minute documentary includes television footage from Brown’s concert and shows his mastery of his music and his uncanny ability to read an audience. In one sequence, fans climb up on stage after Brown has waved the police back. Instead of showing fear, Brown shames them into leaving the stage – and carries on. The set’s first DVD also includes well over an hour of extra interview footage that adds to our understanding of the magnitude of what Brown did that night.

James Brown Live at the Apollo ’68 features performances culled from Brown’s performances at the legendary Apollo Theater and his performance of Out of sight from the acclaimed concert film, The T.A.M.I. show. One again, we can see the power that Brown had to command an audience’s attention – and devotion.

The final disc of the set is James Brown Live at the Boston Garden – April 5, 1968. Yup, it’s the concert that Brown gave the night after the Martin Luther King assassination. The DVD is a combination of the televised show plus additional audio from the FM radio simulcast. Despite the fact that the public television station remote crew had never recorded anything like the Brown concert [they had been doing classical concerts, primarily], the WGBH crew manages to capture the raw energy and power of Brown’s performance.

Besides the monumental importance of the Boston concert in terms of helping keep the city’s black population from falling into rioting, this disc shows that – even with an inexperienced crew televising the event – Brown was a masterful entertainer. His band is as tight as a band can be and yet swings like mad. Brown’s vocals pivot from a hushed moan to a full on wail in the turn of a phrase. The music is all. Brown uses his music to project hope and life into an arena – and city – where it had been thought lost only the night before. It’s a masterful performance – perhaps the best single performance of Brown’s long and illustrious career.

The set also includes a twenty-four page booklet that details the life of James Brown.

Grade: I Got the Feelin’ – James Brown in the ‘60s – A+

Grade: Features: B+

Final Grade: A

One of the mixed blessings of the continuing advancement of CG effects is that they make it possible for movies that might not otherwise exist to reach the public – usually in the form of sequels and/or prequels to theatrical films that earned enough to warrant a sequel/prequel, but maybe not quite enough to warrant a blockbuster – like The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior.

The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior is, essentially, the story of how the young Mathayus [Michael Copon] became the warrior who would eventually become the Scorpion King. TSK2 is a jaunty little B-movie given more flare than it deserves by director Russell Mulcahy [Highlander], who almost made the resident Evil franchise interesting. Of course, in his RE movie, he didn’t have to contend with the stolid Randy Couture as Sargon, the brutish trainer of would-be Black Scorpion warriors and assassin of the king. Couture looks good in fight sequences, but has the acting chops of Howdy Doody.

Still, the adventures of Mathayus and his friends, Layla [Karen David] and the poet Aristophenes of Naxos – not Aristophenes of Corinth [that hack!] – [Simon Quarterman], are rousing fun in the tradition of spear & sandal/sword & sorcery epics of the sixties. You’ve got travel to exotic lands, messed up myths, and even an angry/jealous/lonely goddess [Astarte, played with cheerful malevolence by Natalie Becker].

Mulcahy keeps things moving at a quick enough pace that you might not even notice a scantily clad member of the group suddenly sprouting a couple of dangerous [and long] swords, and the effects are above average for a direct-to-DVD release. Plus, we get the usual gang of just-there-to-die-horribly characters to add the possibility of danger.

For a straight-to-DVD fantasy, TSK2 has a pretty decent assortment of bonus features: Deleted Scenes; Gag Reel; Fight Like an Akkadian: Black Scorpion Boot Camp [again, not quite the in-depth look at training it suggests, but still fun] Making of TSK2 [more a behind-the-scenes glimpse than an actual look at the making of the film]; Becoming Sargon: One on One Randy Couture [Couture discusses his time making the film]; On set With The Beautiful Leading Ladies [behind-the-scenes with Karen David and Natalie Becker]; Creating a Whole New World [Production design], and The Visual Effects of TSK2.

Grade: The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior – B-

Grade: Features: B+

Final Grade: B

The Anime powerhouse Viz Media sent over their latest release list of upcoming titles and as usual it includes Death Note and a boatload of new Naruto stuff. I don’t get the Naruto craze, but the game looks pretty kick ass. Check out their release list after the break.

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REDBELT is the story of Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a Jiu-Jitsu master who has avoided the prize fighting circuit, choosing instead to pursue an honorable life by operating a self-defense studio with a samurai’s code. An accident on a dark, rainy night at Terry’s studio between an off-duty officer and a distraught lawyer (Emily Mortimer) puts in motion a series of events that will change Terry’s life dramatically, introducing him to a world of promoters (Ricky Jay, Joe Montegna) and movie star Chet Frank (Tim Allen).  Faced with this, in order to pay off his debts and regain his honor, Terry must step into the ring for the first time in his life.  The DVD includes

Commentary with David Mamet and Randy Couture
Behind-the-Scenes of REDBELT
Inside Mixed Martial Arts
Q&A with David Mamet
An Interview with Dana White
Fighter Profiles
The Magic of Cyril Takayama

Check out these clips.

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I’ve never been able to get into the Shield. Maybe it’s because I find it intimidating trying to watch the show at this point because of all the history behind it. Or maybe it’s, I have this thing about watching a show that glorifies dirty cops. But that’s just me. I understand a lot of you like it. And Season Six is coming in the next few months. Continuing directly after season 5, Vic and the Strike Team are distraught over Lem’s death. Shane has been overcome by guilt and becomes reckless and suicidal. Kavanaugh refuses to let the case die and resorts to planting evidence and coercing witnesses to lie about the Strike Team. Dutch and Claudette begin to suspect his integrity. Vic learns from Claudette that the Chief plans to force him into early retirement — and vows to wreak bloody vengeance on Lem’s killer before losing his badge. Claudette learns that the Barn could be shut down if no improvements are made by the time quarterly crime statistics are released.  Check out a ton of clippage. 

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I love Joss Whedon and I loved the Serenity movie. But for some reason, I could never get into the Firefly TV Series. The pilot episode puts me to sleep every time I’ve tried to watch it. Maybe if I watch it Hi-Def, that’ll make the difference. Fox Home Video is bringing the complete series to Blu-ray this fall. Set 500 years into the future, in the wake of a universal civil war, “Firefly” centers on the crew of Serenity, a small transport spaceship that does not have a planet to call home.  Captain Malcom “Mal” Reynolds, a defeated soldier who opposed the unification of the planets by the totalitarian governed Alliance, will undertake any job – legal or not – to stay afloat and keep his crew fed. 

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All three Austin Powers films are coming to Blu-ray in a beautiful looking collector’s edition package.  Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery Name: Austin Danger Powers. Sex: Yes, please! Combine the swinging ’60s, spy movies, talented Mike Myers in dual roles and one hilariously well- placed champagne bottle and you get Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. Say “Yeah, baby!” for laughs as Flower Power-era superspy Austin (Myers) is thawed from a 30-year cryogenic freeze to stop the world-dominating scheme of bald baddie Dr. Evil (also Myers). Elizabeth Hurley, shagadelic style and Austin’s randy attempts to find ’60s-style free love in a very different, uptight time add to the groovy fun of this mad, mod, Myers world.  

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Stars of THE SCORPION KING 2: RISE OF A WARRIOR, Karen David and Michael Copon are true rising performers in the entertainment business, with lucrative careers in TV, film and music. Filmed entirely on location in South Africa, this made for DVD (which debuts August 19, 2008) sequel was directed by renowned film and music video director Russell Mulcahy.

The story concerns a young warrior named Mathayus (Copon) and his love interest Layla (David) as they try to reclaim their kingdom from the black magic warlord Sargon (Randy Couture). During their adventures, they encounter a menacing Minotaur – half-man half-bull, travel across many lands — including Egypt, and are trapped in a cryptic underworld, presided over by the sinister vixen Astarte (Natalie Becker).

Both set to emerge as major stars, David and Copon worked tirelessly through the short intense production schedule for THE SCORPION KING 2. Here they reflect on their roles, their careers, shooting and training on location, and working with acclaimed director Mulcahy.

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