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New DVD Releases: The Reader, The Spirit, and Wings Complete Series

Andrew Payne — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:00:27 +0000

Not a whole lot hitting the shelves this week, just the Best Picture nominee you didn’t see (The Reader) and the attempted blockbuster that absolutely nobody saw (The Spirit). Luckily, we have all 8 seasons of “Wings” to tide us over until next week!

Check out below to see what else is new on DVD this week…

FEATURE FILMS

The Reader

Starring: Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes

This was the most controversial Best Picture nominee perhaps of all time. Be it the 30 minutes of softcore porn to start the film, the movie’s supposed apology for the Holocaust or the fact that it kept mega-hit The Dark Knight from storming the Kodak Theater a lot of things found people resenting the film immediately after its name appeared onscreen at the nominations ceremony early one Tuesday morning.

But what about the film itself? Good? Bad? Mediocre? Nobody seems to know the answer to that question. The torrent of pre-judging found many people refusing to see the film. They said things like, “Why would I see that anti-Semitic picture” or “I’m not seeing anything that robbed The Dark Knight” or even “I’ve already seen Kate Winslet naked in fifteen other movies, what’s one more?”

Well, shame on you all! Enough prejudice, see all your 2008 Best Picture nominees and buy the DVD.

(*Note from the Editor: I saw this movie (read review) and was blown away by it. This or Milk was my pick of the year. It’s beautiful, poignant, and in no way anti-Semitic. People who “worked” for the Nazis were not evil, they were being told by their government that what they were doing was right. The point of the movie is to see why people do the things they do, so that we as a people can wake up and hopefully make better decisions in the future. Think big picture people!*)

The Spirit

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, and Eva Mendes

Speaking of films absolutely nobody saw, here’s The Spirit with it’s sub-$20 million domestic gross and likely $90 million advertising budget. It seemed like every commercial break from Thanksgiving to New Year’s featured The Spirit in some capacity, and yet the theaters remained empty.

This should be an embarrassing film on the level of Cutthroat Island or The Postman for the amount of ad bucks spent for very little return, but nobody seemed to notice. So instead of becoming the next Ishtar, The Spirit falls into that odd state of limbo occupied by films like Poseidon – a bomb that nobody remembers at all, not even in a bad way.

So rush out for the DVD before it disappears into a sea of indifference.

TV ON DVD

“Wings”: The Complete Series

Remember lazy weekdays in the summer during childhood when the only options on TV were soap operas and boring game shows? Then you turned up the dial a few notches to the USA Network and discovered Joe, Brian, Lowell, Helen and the rest of the crew at the Tom Nevers Airfield.

Remember when that seemed like the only thing that channel ran 24/7? Whether it was 10:00AM or 5:00PM you could always catch those wacky pilots on USA.

So start your own USA network nostalgia channel with this 27-disc set.

Also:

“House of Saddam” – Buy Now
“Knots Landing”: Season 2 – Buy Now
“Malcolm & Eddie”: Season 1 – Buy Now
“Skins”: Volume 2 – Buy Now
“Super Mario Bros. Super Show”: Best Of – Buy Now

SPECIAL EDITION OF THE WEEK

Pillow Talk – 50^th Anniversary Edition

You may not know it – but treacly little Pillow Talk was actually a bit of a groundbreaking film. This is due to director Michael Gordon’s revolutionary idea to have his leads Doris Day and Rock Hudson talk to each other in bed – but on a split screen via the telephone. This kept copacetic with the Production Code’s insistence on separate beds while achieving the intimacy required in the story.

This new edition includes Commentary by film historians and a couple of featurettes including one documenting the “chemistry” between the closeted Rock Hudson and his costar.

HORRIBLE STRAIGHT-TO-DVD RELEASE OF THE WEEK

Three terrible movies, three new DVDs. Which is the worst? Cast your vote and tell the world!

The nominees are:

Going Down Under

The Case to Vote for It: Here is the actual plot of this movie – A guy who likes to have sex with kitchen appliances accidentally has his penis amputated in one such act of love. He’ll never be able to make love again, until he learns of a porn star that just passed away – making a penis transplant possible. All that plus a horrible double entendre in the title!

Fatal Rescue

The Case to Vote for It: It stars Steve Guttenberg for one. There’s also the plot to consider. In the midst of a painful divorce a boy accidentally falls down a well. Hate it when that happens. Luckily, the Gutte, playing a fireman, is there to rescue him. There’s also supernatural elements – because that’s the only thing this story was missing!

Ready? OK!

The Case to Vote for It: This is a nice family tale about a young boy who doesn’t want to play sports and instead trains to be a male cheerleader, learning about himself and life in the process. Doesn’t sound too bad, so why is this on the ballot? Because LOST’s Benjamin Linus (Michael Emerson) plays the kindly neighbor who mentors this boy. What is he going to teach him? How to slowly break down and manipulate others with a Machiavellian gleam in his eye? This can’t end well.

Artwork From the Spirit

Mali Elfman — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:25:53 +0000

As some of you may already know Frank Miller, sketched and storyboarded the entire film The Spirit before he shot it. Many of his sketches will be released in his book “The Spirit: The Movie Visual Companion.” Below are two sneak peeks of what you’ll be seeing in his book and in his film.

The first picture shows the Spirit (Gabriel Macht) on a rooftop and the second shows him and the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) is what is most liklely about to be a kick ass action scene.

If you’re looking for crazy special effects, you’re not going to find them here, but if you’re interested in seeing where The Spirit came from these are pretty cool. Check out the artwork below…

The Spirit coming to theaters this Christmas

Source: Empire

TRAILER: A Third Freakin’ Spirit Trailer

Mali Elfman — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:56:13 +0000

OK… did we really need three? Two was plenty.

All trailers below and numbered…

Trailer #1: The Original Teaser

Trailer #2: The Full Length

Trailer #3: The Newbie

Thanks to TrailerAddict for the trailers!

POSTER: International Spirit Poster

Mali Elfman — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:06:42 +0000

I actually like it better than the first. Maybe I would like the entire film better if I couldn’t understand it. What do you think?

VIDEO: Meet The Women of The Spirit

Mali Elfman — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:56:10 +0000

The Spirit will be hitting theaters Christmas Day. The film has already been receiving a lot of slack for it’s cheese factor. Although one thing is for damn sure. Frank Miller wanted some damn fine ladies to play the roles in the film and he sure as hell got them.

Check out this little clip of all The Spirit‘s women…

Find more videos like this on The Spill.com Movie Community

So what do you think? This entice you to see the film?

TRAILER: The Spirit

Mali Elfman — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:31:46 +0000

After the first Spirit trailer came out (view here), I got a bit worried. It’s nice to mix action with cheesy, but there’s a fine line that not everyone can walk. The new trailer is more like a music video with action, than an action movie with music. It’s not often that the second trailer is shorter than the first, but hey! It’s better!

Check out the trailer for Frank Miller’s new film The Spirit starring Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, and Scarlett Johansson below and tell us what you think…

Director/Writer: Frank Miller
Cast: Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson
Release: December 25, 2008

The New Spirit Trailer

Mali Elfman — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:00:08 +0000

Well, with Frank Miller at the helm there is (was) hope for The Spirit. But this new trailer is just not cutting it for me. Miller walks the line between visionary and cheesy, which when done right adds a flare of humor to the dark and odd. But if not pulled off, it just comes off as pointless. Hopefully the movie will revive what this trailer has killed.

But don’t listen to me, watch for yourself and tell us what you think:

ScreenCrave.com » the spirit

New DVD Releases: The Reader, The Spirit, and Wings Complete Series

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