THE BOURNE IDENTITY
© 2003 Universal Home Video
DVD Shopping List: Disc Buyers Meet Sellers
By: BRIAN THOMASDate: Tuesday, January 21, 2003
Welcome to the premiere, platinum, gold seal, five star, classic, first edition of this column. Here we'll give you a handy checklist every week of new genre releases on DVD. Somewhere in your browser you'll find a cute icon that says "PRINT," which will give you a printer-friendly version of this page (suppress your pop-up defeating software). The idea is that you can now print out this handy shopping list to mark your purchase selections, take with you to the video store, attach to your refrigerator, keep with you while surfing the web-based DVD retailers (Cinescape's advertising department recommends Amazon.com, but of course you can choose your own path), fold into a funny party hat, and send to Santa Claus as a helpful "suggestion." Genius! When you're done shopping, you can bind them all in a notebook or paste them in an album to cherish the memory of our weekly get-togethers.
SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK
As it happens, THE BOURNE IDENTITY © 2003 Universal Home Video
[] HEAVENS ABOVE! (Anchor Bay) Rich satire in which Sellers is a parish priest who causes trouble by doing good.
[] HOFFMAN (Anchor Bay) Sellers is a lecherous executive who tries to blackmail his secretary into bed.
[] I'M ALL RIGHT JACK (Anchor Bay) Sharp management/labor farce, with Sellers as a Marxist shop steward.
[] CARLTON-BROWNE OF THE F.O. (Anchor Bay) Political comedy in the vein of THE MOUSE THAT ROARED, made the same year. Sellers is the prime minister of a tiny island nation.
[] THE SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH (Anchor Bay) Bill Travers stars as a Londoner who inherits a small town cinema, and the ancient staff that goes with it. Sellers is the projectionist.
[] TWO WAY STRETCH (Anchor Bay) Sellers leads a fine cast in this cracking good crime comedy.
NEW RELEASES
Other titles [IMG4R]debuting this week include:
[] Bloody Streetz (Artisan) Urban revenge thriller.
[] The Bourne Identity (2002) (Universal) Matt Damon can't remember who he is! Includes commentrak by Damon and director Doug Liman, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, making-of, Moby music video, and more.
[] COUPLING: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (BBC Video) A reminder that the Brits are good for more than just backing us Yanks in our war endeavors. The sex lives of a bunch of friends are the focus of this enjoyable series, and many traces of American TV can be found therein. Extras include behind the scenes interviews, cast bios and photos.
[] Critical Mass (Artisan) Action adventure flick directed by sideshow freakmaster Fred Olen Ray (Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers).
[] Disappearance (New Concorde) Former TV lawyers Harry Hamlin and Susan Dey are reunited in this spooky [IMG5R]TV movie.
[] THE EYE OF VICHY (First Run Features) Compilation of forgotten films and newsreels made by the Nazis and their French collaborators during World War II. Vichy was the town in France where the French puppet government oversaw the propaganda machine, a device by which the Nazis were able to create their own version of history. Excellent and eye-opening film from French New Wave director Claude Chabrol.
[] Little Otik (Zeitgeist) Czech animator Jan Svankmajer wrote and directed this 2000 feature that's like a fairy tale gone out of control. AKA Greedy Guts.
[] Murder By Decree (Anchor Bay) Fan favorite mystery in which Sherlock Holmes (Christopher Plummer) tries to track down Jack the Ripper. Influenced last year's From Hell. Commentrak by director Bob Clark, whose varied career includes Porky's, Baby Geniuses, and both Black Christmas and A Christmas Story.
[] Python II (Fox) This sequel, which premiered on the Sci-Fi Channel, will hopefully finish off the odd run of direct-to-video big snake movies that started last year.
[] Sim0ne (New Line) Al Pacino is a film director that falls in love with a computer (just like George Lucas!) when his leading lady is replaced by a digital actress. Includes deleted scenes and documentary.
[] Snow Queen (Artisan) Bridget Fonda stars in this H.C. Andersen fantasy.
[] The Stickup (Artisan) Crooked cops and James Spader are featured in this heist - aw, I lost you at Spader, right?
[] Superfire (Lions Gate) A disaster flick about a big forest fire.
[] Unsavory Characters (Ventura) An allegedly sexy mystery. What's next, a movie called Illogical Plot?
[] Wishcraft (HBO) Straightforward teen horror flick about a high school boy granted 3 wishes. His first wish is that you'll buy the DVD...
We finish off with two more entries in Sony's admirable effort to make their Humphrey Bogart library available on DVD:
[] The Harder They Fall (Columbia/Tri-Star) Ya, mon! Welcome to de islands. Don't Bogart dat Whoops! No, this is The Harder They Fall, Bogart's classic last film in which he plays a washed up sports writer that gets involved with crooked fight promoters, and has to dig deep for his soul. A great cast, directed by Mark Robson (The Seventh Victim).
[] Sirocco (Columbia/Tri-Star) If you squint, you might take this for a prequel to Casablanca (including the love triangle), as Bogey is an arms dealer aiding rebels in 1925 Damascus.
ANIME ADDITIONS
And finally, THE BOURNE IDENTITY © 2003 Universal Home Video
[] Banner of the Stars - No Turning Back #1 (Pioneer)
[] Burn Up Excess Vol. 4: The Case of the Black Diamonds (ADV)
[] Dangaizer 3 Vol. 2 (Right Stuf)
[] Dragonball Z - Garlic Jr. Box Set (FUNimation)
[] Fruits Basket - What Becomes of Snow? (FUNimation)
[] Hellsing - Eternal Damnation #4 (Pioneer)
[] Medabots Vol 7: Back in the Robbattle Again (ADV)
[] Megaman Vol 1C: A Hero is Born (ADV)
[] Ronin Warriors - The Fate of Evil #10 (Pioneer)
[] Vandread the Second Stage - Revelations #3 (Pioneer)
[] Yu Yu Hakusho: Dark Tournament (Deathmatch) (FUNimation)
[] Yu Yu Hakusho: Dark Tournament (The Evil Dr. Ichigaki) (FUNimation)
And be sure to check back next weekand every weekfor CINESCAPE's DVD Shopping List!
DVD Shopping List is our weekly DVD column.
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