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.  

• Behind the Story o Commentary with star/writer Mike Myers and director Jay Roach • Additional Footage Five deleted scenes and two alternate endings o Original ending #1 o Original ending #2 o The Henchman’s Wife o The Bachelor Party o We’re Called Flight Attendants o Cheeses of the World Series o Fendi Briefcase • Music o “Music to Shag To” - Animated sequence with a retro 60s background that has spliced together stills of Austin Powers and Vanessa “dancing” to a piece of the musical score • Trailers o Theatrical trailer

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me He’s back – back in the 1960s. Secret agent Austin Powers (Mike Myers) hops in a top-secret time machine and zips 30 years back to 1969 to confront Dr. Evil (Myers) and his latest, vilest scheme. Evil is eviler – he has a diminutive clone Mini-Me (Verne J. Troyer) and massive Fat Bastard (Myers) as a henchmen. Austin, who “put the grrr in swinger, baby,” is swingier…if he and fab spy chick Felicity Shagwell (Heather Graham) can recover the mojo Evil stole from Austin.

• Behind the Story o Commentary with star/writer Mike Myers, director Jay Roach and co-writer Michael McCullers o Comedy Central’s “The Dr. Evil Story” - Faux biography-like documentary detailing the history of Dr. Evil o Behind the Scenes of Austin Powers The Spy Who Shagged Me - Featurette detailing various aspects of the film’s characters, costumes and plot • Additional Footage Deleted Scenes o Secrets o Trading Compliment o Extra Foam o Nanook o Who Wants to Eat Him o Be Strong o Mini-Me and Number 2 o How do you do? o A Chair Problem o Ambush o A Table Problem o Drink? o Number 2 and Fat Bastard o Being Cautious o Mini-Me Bites o Odor Problem o You Are So Beautiful o Sexy Detector o Arbitrary Orders o 2 Plus 2 o Montage • Music o Music Videos • Madonna - “Beautiful Stranger” • Lenny Kravitz - “American Woman” • Melanie B (aka Scary Spice) - “Word Up” • Dr. Evil and Mini-Me - “Just the Two of Us” • Trailers o Teaser A o Teaser B o Theatrical trailer

Austin Powers in Goldmember The mission for Austin (Mike Myers): Shake booty into the glittery roller-disco days of 1975 and rescue his suave spy dad (Michael Caine) from the scheme of – Shh! – Dr. Evil (Myers). The minions: freaky-flakey Goldmember, Fat Bastard (both played by Myers) and Mini Me (Verne Troyer). The minx: Austin’s sassy ex-squeeze Foxxy Cleopatra (Beyoncé Knowles). The result: a three-for-all of grooviness that whisks from the 2000s to the 1970s and back to the 2000s – the screamingly funny third Austin Powers!

• Behind the Story o Commentary with star/writer Mike Myers and director Jay Roach o Fact Track - Subtitle track with trivia and fun facts o MI-6: International Men of Mystery - Featurette on the real British MI-6 o English, English – Origins of the “English English” slang used between Austin Powers and his dad o Disco Fever – Featurette on revisiting 70s culture and music in Goldmember o Fashion vs. Fiction – Featurette on creating elaborate retro costumes in Goldmember o Jay Roach & Mike Myers: Creative Convergence - Process of Mike Myers immersing himself in multiple film characters o Confluence of Characters - Behind the scenes with the actors and their interpretations of their respective character.

Back and to the left. Back and to the left. Back….and to the left. Remember when Kevin Costner was awesome? When he was doing one amazing movie after another?  JKF is one of my favorite movies and damn WB for the double and triple dipping of this set. I already own the other two DVD releases, that I paid for out of my own pocket. But this fall, ever the opportunist, WHV is coming out with JFK: The Ultimate Collection on Blu-ray and DVD. Of course I want the Blu-ray version of the movie. Every time I watch this movie, it gives me nightmares. This set looks like it’s going to be sweet. Check out the official press release after the break.

Burbank, Calif.- July 21, 2008 – The controversial highly-charged story surrounding John F. Kennedy’s assassination is revisited with the November 11 release of Oliver Stone’s JFK as a Three-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition from Warner Home Video. The UCE will feature The Kennedys: America’s Emerald Kings, an extraordinary new documentary from filmmaker Robert Kline based on Thomas Maier’s acclaimed book about five generations of the renowned political family. Unique to the documentary is political and private footage of the Kennedys not widely available to the general public. The Kennedys: America’s Emerald Kings documentary will be premiered on November 10^th at Boston College and also screened on November 12^th at Fordham University/Lincoln Center. Both universities have the largest Irish studies programs in the country.

The JFK Three-Disc UCE includes the Two-Disc Special Edition Director’s Cut with 17 additional minutes not seen in theaters and the documentary Beyond JFK: A Question of Conspiracy. It also contains memorabilia from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Kennedy Foundation, including reproductions of Kennedy family and presidential photos, letters written by or to John F. Kennedy from J. Edgar Hoover, Lyndon. B. Johnson and more. The UCE also will include a Kennedy campaign button from the National Archives and Records Administration. Of particular distinction is the inclusion of John F. Kennedy’s historic inaugural address and a handwritten letter to his father, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.

In addition, the set features a collectible booklet containing production photos and photo cards showcasing the actors in character with a mini bio of their character. Additionally, the film will be making its Blu-ray™ Hi-Def debut as the JFK Blu-ray™ Hi-Def, featuring premium hardcover book packaging with press material and photographs from the film.

Oliver Stone’s powerful film about the mystery surrounding the Kennedy assassination is one of the most provocative movies of our time. Aside from its box-office success and critical acclaim, it was nominated for eight Academy Awards^® (including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor), winning two (Best Cinematography and Film Editing). The film also won a Best Director (Motion Picture) Golden Globe® for Stone. Finally, JFK played a major role in the national debate leading to passage of the 1992 Assassination Materials Disclosure Act.

Stone directed from a screenplay that he wrote with Zachary Sklar. The all-star cast includes Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Bacon, Gary Oldman, Jack Lemmon, Laurie Metcalf, Sissy Spacek, Joe Pesci, John Candy, Walter Matthau, Sally Kirkland, Donald Sutherland and Edward Asner.

About the Kennedy documentary, Jeff Baker, WHV’s Executive VP and General Manager, Theatrical Catalog, noted, “This November, as the nation reflects and remembers the 45^th anniversary of JFK’s assassination, Warner Home Video is proud to release this landmark film which embodies the most complete work on the Kennedys and their unique place in American history and culture. The archival letters contained in the UCE (never before distributed to the public) make this package totally unique and collectible.”

“For more than 50 years, it is obvious to me that the Kennedys were and remain the most prominent family in American political and cultural life. This film only reconfirms that perception,” remarked Robert Kline, the Kennedy documentary filmmaker.

The JFK Ultimate Collector’s Edition will sell for $39.98 SRP; the JFK Blu-ray™ Hi-Def for $34.99 SRP and The Kennedys: America’s Emerald Kings, available separately, for $19.97 SRP. Order due date for all is October 7.

Blu-ray™ Hi-Def Enhanced Content (in standard definition)

• Behind the Story

• Commentary by Director Oliver Stone
• Beyond JFK: The Question of Conspiracy
• Multimedia Essays
  • Assassination Update – The New Documents
  • Meet Mr. X: The Personality and Thoughts of Fletcher Prouty
• Deleted/extended scenes with commentary by director Oliver Stone (production audio only)
  • Jack Ruby Injected with Cancer
  • Jim Garrison and Dean Andrews – Extended
  • Jim Garrison and Liz Garrison at Home
  • Jim Garrison and Colorado Businessman
  • Beverly Oliver Interview – Extended
  • Jean Hill Interview – Extended
  • Jim Garrison in the Book Depository
  • Antoine’s Restaurant – Oswald Information – Extended
  • Clay Shaw Trial 1 – Oswald Information – Extended
  • Clay Shaw Trial 2 – Oswald Information – Extended
  • Fantasy Sequence – Oswald from the Grave
  • Alternate Ending
• Theatrical trailer

About The Documentary

The Kennedys: America’s Emerald Kings is an American saga about the Irish Catholic experience. It encompasses five generations of the Kennedys’ and Fitzgeralds’ lives — starting from 1848 in Wexford, Ireland and ending in 21st-century America. The film was adapted from Thomas Maier’s highly acclaimed book The Kennedys: America’s Emerald Kings[1] from Basic Books, re-released in July 2008. The documentary provides a look at both the family’s tragedies of poverty and political oppression and their successes and the triumphs of the White House years. It embodies the most complete work on this Irish American family and their unique place in American history and culture.

JFK ULTIMATE COLLECTOR’S EDITION

DVD Catalog #: 1000040110

$39.98 SRP

JFK BLU-RAY™ HI-DEF

DVD Catalog #: 1000036001

$34.99 SRP

Feature Run Time: 155 minutes — Rated: R

16×9 Letter Box

THE KENNEDYS: AMERICA’S EMERALD KINGS

Catalog #: 1000036003

$19.97 SRP

Run Time: 128 minutes

Also available

JFK: Special Edition Director’s Cut

DVD Catalog #: 1000041643

$26.99 SRP

Oh for HD-DVD… We hardly knew ya.  The Ultimate Matrix Collection was one of the signature collections on HD-DVD. Now that collection comes to the Blu-ray machine at a retail price of $130 clammies.  The definitive ten-disc DVD set, The Ultimate Matrix Collection features all three films in the trilogy together for the first time ever with a newly remastered picture and sound for The Matrix. Also included is the companion piece The Matrix Revisited and the best-selling The Animatrix, plus five entirely new DVDs packed solid with brand-new supplemental materials that encompass every aspect of the Matrix universe, including two new audio commentaries on each film, Enter the Matrix video game footage, 106 deep-delving featurettes/ documentaries and much more!
Director:  Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski, Actors:  Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving

One of my favorite movies of the year, the much and unfairly maligned Speed Racer is coming to Blu-ray September 19. Start your engines and fasten your seatbelts for the high-octane adventure Speed Racer, combining heartfelt family humor and groundbreaking visual effects. Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is a natural behind the wheel of his thunderous Mach 5. With support from Pops and Mom Racer (John Goodman and Susan Sarandon), girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci), younger brother Spritle (Paulie Litt) and the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox), Speed takes on fierce competitors to save his family’s business and protect the sport he loves. When Speed steps onto the track, it’s not just a race. It’s an adrenaline-fueled, high-speed charge to the finish. Go, Speed Racer, go!!  The press release doesn’t tell you anything about special features but the MSRP will be about $29. I was one of the few critics who loved this movie. The reason it failed was a horrible marketing campaign and hope audiences discover it on the Blu machine.

One of my favorite Johnny Depp movies, the little seen Blow is coming to Blu-ray. There’s no money in a “real job.” So George Jung deals pot. Lots of it. The blue-collar kid dubbed Boston George spirals up from there, into the riches and excesses of the huge cocaine cartels. And crashes hard. Johnny Depp portrays George, the ambitious outlaw who, perhaps more than any American, transformed powder cocaine from relative obscurity in the U.S. into a 1970s/80s feeding frenzy. Penelope Cruz costars in this riveting, fact-inspired tale of glitz and glamour, fast times and hard time, betrayal and Blow. Director: Ted Demme Actors: Penelope Cruz, Ray Liotta, Bobcat Goldthwait, Cliff Curtis, Emma Roberts, Ethan Suplee, Franka Potente, James King, Jennifer Gimenez, Jesse James, Johnny Depp, Jordi Molla, Lola Glaudini, Max Perlich, Miguel Sandoval, Monet Mazur, Noah Emmerich, Paul Reubens, Rachel Griffiths, Kevin Gage

One of my favorite films of all time the Errol Flynn Robin Hood gets the Blu-ray treatment on August 26, 2008.  A classic tale of Sherwood Forest. Robin Hood robs the rich to aid the poor, tries to rid England of Prince John’s tyranny and gain the hand of the lovely Maid Marian. Errol Flynn is eternally charming as Robin in this rousing family adventure that co-stars Olivia de Havilland and Claude Rains. Starring Errol Flynn, the premiere swashbuckler of the sound era. Includes ALL special features of previous release! Winner of 3 Academy Awards® and nominated for Best Picture.  Has resonated over the decades. Selected in 1995 for preservation in United States Film Registry.  One of the few major 1930’s motion pictures filmed in color.

John Woo’s (Mission: Impossible II, Face/Off) first Anime production, Appleseed: Ex Machina, directed by Shinji Aramaki (Appleseed, Bubblegum Crisis) on DVD and Blu-Ray Disc. Based on the popular science fiction manga from renowned creator Shirow Masamune (Ghost in the Shell), Appleseed: Ex Machina follows partners and lovers, Deunan and Briareos.

As members of ESWAT, the elite forces serving Olympus, they are deployed wherever trouble strikes. The two fighters find their partnership tested in a new way by the arrival of Tereus who uncannily resembles Briareos before the wartime injuries that led to his becoming a cyborg. At the same time, Olympus finds itself under a stealth attack. Cyborg terrorism, deadly nanotech zealots, and rioting citizens are just some of the threats that Deunan must contend with as she fights to save Olympus and her relationship.

Appleseed: Ex Machina will be available on DVD for $24.98 SRP. There will also be a 2-disc Limited Edition DVD Collector Set containing extra bonus materials and packaged in a steel book case available for $34.98 SRP. All of the content from the 2-disc Limited Edition DVD Collector Set will be available on HD DVD and Blu-Ray Disc for $34.99 SRP.

Appleseed: Ex Machina DVD will feature incredible special features including:

· “Team-Up: John Woo and Shinji Aramaki” (Documentary featurette) – The story of two top talents, John Woo, lauded live-action filmmaker, and Shinji Aramaki, acclaimed animation director, working in tandem to launch a shared vision for Appleseed:Ex Machina.

· “Revolution: Animating Ex Machina” (Documentary featurette) – A team of revolutionary animators introduce a new technology to the trade, while facing the challenge to balance frenetic action and slick, sci-fi visuals with real emotion and humanity.

· “Audio Commentary” – An audio-only commentary featuring producer Joe Chou and renowned anime expert Jerry Beck (Behind the Tunes).

The 2 disc Limited Edition DVD Collector Set will feature even more incredible extras include:

· “Shirow’s Journey: The Appleseed Chronicles” - (Documentary featurette) –. From manga to anime, this is the definitive Appleseed history that doubles as a testament to the legendary writer/artist Shirow Masamune and the complex world he created in this vision of the future.

· “Appleseed Ex Machina: East Meets West” (Documentary featurette) - Examining the anime phenomenon from the perspectives of both the Eastern and Western cultures, while exploring the similarities and differences in the ways that fans enjoy the art form.

Basics:

After spending this weekend fighting with my new Macbook (contrary to what the commercials say, it doesn’t “just work.” But I’ll save my tales of Apple woe until later in the week. I decided to download and watch Warner Home Video’s latest direct to video animated fair Justice League: New Frontier. I downloaded it on my X-Box 360. The download took less than an 1/2 hour so I had instant gratification. When the movie first started, it was weird. The animation was literally just some weird drawings, then the camera pulls back and you see it’s an children’s book author telling a story about the end of the world. But what’s more shocking is, the guy puts a gun in his mouth and blows his brains out. So three minutes into this you know this film isn’t for kids.

But in case you missed the point, a few minutes later Air Force pilot Hal Jordan (voiced by David Boreanaz) is shot down over Russia at the end of the war. He puts a gun to some kid’s face and pulls the trigger. We get to see it in it’s gory detail. I would say this definitely isn’t your father’s Superhero film, but it actually is. The conceit of this piece is that everything takes place in the fifties. At the height of the cold war, McCarthyism, the red scare and more. And our Superheroes are stuck in the middle trying to stick to their convictions when the world around them has turned to chaos and against them. Watching all of this as an outsider, trying to do good in his small way is a Martian - J’onn J’onzz / Martian Manhunter (voiced by Miguel Ferrer).The movie packs a lot of oomph into it’s short 77 minute running time. We really get a sense of the time period and all of it’s turmoil.

Director Dave Bullock and the writers Stan Berkowitz and Darwyn Cooke don’t shy away from talking about some of the racial and political problems of the time period. Mentioning the KKK lynching a black hero, or Superman (Kyle MacLachlan) trying to lecture Diana (Lucy Lawless) about letting enslaved Chinese women murder their former captures after she freed them. The movie pretty relentlessly dark, but there was a great line from Batman (Jeremy Sisto) to the Manhunter “I have a $70,000 sliver of rock that will take care of the one in Metropolis, all I need for you is a Penny and a book of matches.”

The film falls apart at the end when the Heroes finally come together to stop the big bad. It’s some lame living Island thing. It felt a little anti-climatic. But this movie isn’t about big Super Hero battles, it truly is a character piece and manages to juggle it’s large cast really well.

I haven’t watched the DVD, but it looks like a packed affair. The animated adventure is presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen format. The picture quality is excellent. Its 5.1 Dolby Digital sound is clear with good surround effects. The DVD includes the revealing “Super Heroes United”, “The Legion of Doom” and “Comic Book Commentary” documentaries, two in-depth audio commentaries with filmmakers and comic book writer Darwyn Cooke, three bonus “Justice League Unlimited” episodes (The Dark Heart, Task Force X & To Another Shore), trailers and an exclusive sneak peek of the upcoming “Batman - Gotham Knight”.

Final Grade A

EM Review by
Michelle Alexandria

Warner Home Video (WHV) announced today that the provocative, black-comedy OTIS, the fourth feature under the Raw Feed production banner, will have its world premiere on opening day of the 15^th edition of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference & Festival in Austin, Texas.  The film, along with Columbia Pictures’ 21 (starring Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth), was selected from a record number of entries to kick off the prestigious nine day festival March 7 with a special midnight showing.  The release plan for OTIS, the fourth feature under the Raw Feed production banner, may include a limited theatrical or midnight show run prior to being released in an uncut version on Blu-ray Hi-Def and DVD this summer. The first three Raw Feed films have sold more than one million DVD units to date.

“We are thrilled that OTIS will be premiering at SXSW,” said Jeff Baker, WHV’s Senior VP and General Manager for Theatrical Catalog. “The festival has a long history of making bold choices in their selection process and it’s an honor to be included in that mix.” 

“Otis is a satire of a ‘Leave it to Beaver’ world colliding with the gore-porn world of a modern-day serial killer. Revenge and justice are sought — and found — in a blackly comedic way. Otis quietly talks about the politics and morality of this American moment,” said director/producer Tony Krantz. “I am delighted that SXSW has chosen us for the midnight show on opening night, signaling the festival’s sense of fun, satirical humor and an embrace of a new film out of the ordinary.” 

Produced and directed by Krantz (Mulholland Drive, Sublime, “24”) and written by Thomas Schnauz (“Reaper” “X-Files”) and Erik Jendresen (Sublime, “Band of Brothers”), the film stars Daniel Stern (Home Alone, City Slickers), Illeana Douglas (Ghost World, Factory Girl), Kevin Pollak (A Few Good Men, The Usual Suspects), Jere Burns (Beverly Hills Cop II, “Dear John”), Ashley Johnson (Fast Food Nation, What Women Want) and Bostin Christopher (Unbreakable) as “Otis.”  John Shiban (Rest Stop, “Supernatural”) and Daniel Myrick (Believers, The Blair Witch Project) are also producers.

OTIS is a story of suburban America gone haywire. In the midst of a serial abductor/killer’s rampage, a beautiful young teen, Riley Lawson (Ashley Johnson), goes missing. When her desperate parents, Will and Kate (Daniel Stern and Illeana Douglas), are contacted by her kidnapper, an insufferable FBI Special Agent (Jere Burns) takes charge of the case.

But, from deep within the psychopathic subterranean world created by Otis (Bostin Christopher), Riley turns the tables on her tormentor, manages to escape and to contact her parents. Fed up with the tragi-comic inability of the FBI to find their girl, Will, Kate, and Riley’s brother, Reed (Jared Kusnitz) decide to take matters - and justice - into their own hands. But when Otis’s brother, Elmo (Kevin Pollak), shows up unexpectedly, the Lawsons find themselves mired in one of the more unusual and macabre consequences of vigilantism.

Far from proclaiming ‘Mission Accomplished,’ the backed-in-a-corner Lawsons will further complicate their already deadly predicament with a surprising, unfortunate and frankly hilarious final choice.

Films under the “Raw Feed” banner are a mix of thriller, horror, and sci-fi with a strong psychological and dramatic edge, and are as much psychological as they are thriller or horror genre.  The films have been released on DVD in rated and unrated versions, featuring innovative extra features and bonus content.  The “Raw Feed” label originated from the creative minds of Tony Krantz, Daniel Myrick and John Shiban.  The first film in the series, Rest Stop (written and directed by Shiban), debuted on DVD in October 2006, followed by Sublime (directed by Krantz) in March 2007 and Believers (directed by Myrick) in October 2007.