GODZILLAAAAA!!

By: Brian Thomas
Date: Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Warner Home Video and Amazon.com have announced the wionners of their "DVD Decision" promotion for 2006. The 10 movies that received the most online votes will be released by Warner Home Video in two waves. THE ILLUSTRATED MAN, THERE WAS A CROOKED MAN, PRESENTING LILY MARS, UP PERISCOPE and OPERATION CROSSBOW will make their DVD debut December 19. The second wave of winners, THE ARRANGEMENT, BAND OF ANGELS, GYMKATA, LOOKER and MADAME CURIE will street January 30, 2007. Some of the DVDs already have extras planned, incuding vintage documentary featurettes and cartoons.

SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK

This week, our spotlight falls like the foot of a giant scaly lizard on the a genuine movie classic that just happens to be in the monster genre.

(O) GOJIRA: The Original Masterpiece (Classic Media) 2-disc set includes the original 1954 version of GODZILLS, the 1956 American version GODZILLA KING OF THE MONSTERS (both restored and remastered), commentraks, 16-page booklet and more.

NEW RELEASES


(O) THE ABBOTT & COSTELLO SHOW Season One (Passport) I know it's silly, but this show still makes me laugh really hard. 26 episodes on 5 discs
(O) ACE VENTURA Deluxe Double Feature (Warner Bros.) Includes PET DETECTIVE, WHEN NATURE CALLS and cartoons.
(O) ALF Season Four (Lionsgate)
(O) AMARCORD (Criterion) Federico Fellini's comic, nostalgic meditation on his small home town in the 1930s. 2-disc set includes commentrak, deleted scene, documentary, interviews and more.
(O) BELA LUGOSI BOX: 15 Frightful Films (Passport) 5-disc set includes GLEN OR GLENDA, BRIDE OF THE MONSTER, WHITE ZOMBIE, SCARED TO DEATH, THE DEVIL BAT, THE DEATH KISS, THE CORPSE VANISHES, THE APE MAN, THE HUMAN MONSTER, BOWERY AT MIDNIGHT, THE MYSTERIOUS MR. WONG, RETURN OF CHANDU, THE MIDNIGHT GIRL and CHANDU ON THE MAGIC ISLAND.

(O) BLADE OF THE VAMPIRE (Genius) A new vampire movie.
(O) BRAZIL (Criterion) Re-release of Criterion's landmark DVD of Terry Gilliam's dystopian fantasy in single disc edition and ultra-loaded 3-disc set.
(O) BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER: Curse of the Hellmouth (Fox) 2-disc set collects 8 episodes in which Buffy fights monsters from the Hellmouth, plus a featurette.
(O) CASPER MEETS WENDY (Fox) Casper the Friendly Ghost first encounters his BFF Wendy the Good Little Witch (Hilary Duff) in this 1998 DTV sequel.
(O) CODY BLACK (Koch) A thief finds it ironic when a gang invades his house to rob it.
(O) COMBAT: Best of the Color Episodes (Image)
(O) COMBAT: Best of Espionage (Image)
(O) DEAD MAN'S SHOES (Magnolia) A young man returns to his village after a hitch in the army and hunts down the gang that abused his brother.
(O) DISTRICT B13 (Magnolia) Terrific French action flick has an undercover kung fu cop teaming with an upstanding denizen of the title walled-off neighborhood to find a lost neutron bomb in this cross between vintage Jackie Chan and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK. Includes Making-Of, deleted footage and more.
(O) DOCTOR WHO: Inferno (BBC) 1970 Jon Pertwee series with commentrak, Making-Of, deleted scene and more.
(O) DOCTOR WHO: The Web Planet (BBC) William Hartnell is stranded in a war between insectoid aliens in this 1965 series. With commentrak, Making-Of, film strip, DOCTOR WHO ANNUAL and more.
(O) DREAMLAND (Image) A young couple driving through a radioactive area have a time travel adventure.
(O) ESCAPE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN: 2 Movie Collection (Buena Vista) 1975 Disney fantasy bundled with its sequel RETURN FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN.
(O) THE FEEDING (Lionsgate) A new werewolf movie.
(O) FRANKENSTEIN UNBOUND (Fox) Roger Corman's 1990 adaptation of a Brian Aldiss novel in which scientist John Hurt time travels to 1817 Switzerland, meeting both DR. Frankenstein and Mary Shelley.
(O) GOOSEBUMPS: My Best Friend is Invisible (Fox)
(O) GOOSEBUMPS: Perfect School (Fox)
(O) GOOSEBUMPS: Shocker on Shock Street (Fox)
(O) HOUSE OF THE DAMNED (Fox) 1963 horror in which a sinister circus threatens vacationers in a California castle.
(O) I, VAMPIRE: Trilogy of Blood (Koch)
JACKASS THE MOVIE (Paramount) The world was holding its breath waiting for the Unrated Special Collector's Edition.
(O) JAPAN'S LONGEST DAY (AnimEigo) 1967 epic recounts the end of World War II from the Japanese perspective.
(O) JIM HENSON'S FANTASY FILM COLLECTION Box Set (Sony) Includes LABRYNTH, THE DARK CRYSTAL and MIRRORMASK.
(O) KINKY KONG (POPcinema) In case you haven't heard EI Cinema (I could never figure out what that stood for) is now POPcinema, but they're presenting all the same kind of stuff and more, including this new sex spoof from John Bacchus (PLAYMATE OF THE APES). With commentrak, booklet, featurettes and mail-in offer for a bonus DVD.
(O) LOST Complete Second Season: The Extended Experience (Buena Vista) TV's most addictive series. Includes 8 hours of bonus footage, commentraks, bloopers, deleted scenes and UK promo.
(O) NATIONAL LAMPOON'S DORM DAYS (Lionsgate) Rated and unrated edition
(O) 100 YEARS OF HORROR (Passport) Complete collection of all 26 episodes of Ted Newsom's 1996 documentary series on 5 discs.
(O) THE OTHER (Fox) Creepy 1972 adaptation of the Thomas Tryon best seller about twin boys getting into mischief on a Connecticut farm and the tragedies that result from a family secret.
(O) THE PLAGUE (Sony) Children of the world fall into comas, waking ten years later to use their supernatural powers against adults. Produced by Clive Barker. Includes commentrak and deleted footage.
(O) PLAYTIME (Criterion) Jacques Tati's breathtaking and hilarious 1967 comedy has his befuddled everyman Hulot lost in a modern cityscape.
(O) POPULATION 436 (Sony) Census taker Jeremy Sisto becomes trapped in a remote mountain town. Includes alternate ending
(O) PRETTY POISON (Fox) 1968 black comedy in which arsonist Anthony Perkins tries to impress cheerleader Tuesday Weld by telling her he's a CIA agent, but things get way out of hand.
(O) RED DWARF Complete Collection (BBC)
(O) ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS (Fox) Mel Brooks' spoof came out a couple years after the 1991 overblown Kevin Costner version, taking some wind out of its tights.
(O) SEVEN SAMURAI (Criterion) 3-disc special edition of Akira Kurasawa's 1954 adventure epic.
(O) SEXY SOUTH BOX SET (Image) Southern drive-in sexploitation features from Something Weird Video: THE PIGKEEPER'S DAUGHTER, SASSY SUE, COUNTRY CUZZINS, MIDNIGHT PLOWBOY, SWEET GEORGIA and TOBACCO ROODY.
(O) SHOCK TREATMENT (Fox) 1981 sequel to ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW about a mad game show didn't generate the same buzz, but it has its fans. Includes commentrak, featurettes and more. Also available bundled with ROCKY HORROR.
(O) SHOCK-O-RAMA (EI Cinema) As studio execs watch movies about a giant junk monster fighting tiny aliens and a lascivious evil brain, their fired star Misty Mundae battles a cannibal zombie. Delayed from May.
(O) SISTER STREET FIGHTER COLLECTION (Brentwood/BCI Eclipse) Includes the commonly available sequel SISTER STREET FIGHTER starring Sue Shiomi with a trio of its much less well known sequels: RETURN OF SISTER STREET FIGHTER, HANGING BY A THREAD and FIFTH LEVEL FIST.
(O) 666: THE CHILD (Asylum) Unrated director's cut of The Asylum's OMEN knock-off. With featurettes.
(O) SOUL FLICKS COLLECTION (Visionary/Koch) BLACK GODFATHER and THE BLACK GESTAPO.
(O) STANLEY'S DRAGON (Genius) A kid hatches a dragon.
(O) SUPERNATURAL Complete First Season (Warner Bros.) Orphaned brothers take up their father's quest to hunt down their mother's supernatural killer in this WB series. All 22 episodes plus commentraks, featurettes, gag reel and more.
(O) TALES FROM THE GRAVE (Koch) Includes BEYOND DEATH, BRIDES OF THE DEAD and THE ROTTEN DEAD.
(O) TWITCHES: Bewitched Edition (Buena Vista) Disney Channel TV movie about teenage twin witches. With alternate ending and featurettes.
(O) UNITED 93 (Universal) One of at least three 2006 movies about the 9/11 tragedy. Widescreen & "fullscreen" editions include commentrak, interviews, featurettes and more. Also available in a 2-disc limited edition with two bonus documentaries.
(O) VICE ACADEMY COLLECTION Volume 1 (Brentwood) The first three.

BLU-RAY DISC CORNER

(O) BLAZING SADDLES (Warner Bros.) With commentrak, additional footage, featurettes, TV pilot and more.
(O) FIREWALL (Warner Bros.) With interviews, featurettes and more.
(O) FULL METAL JACKET (Warner Bros.)

(O) LETHAL WEAPON (Warner Bros.)


And be sure to check back next weekand every weekfor CINESCAPE's DVD Shopping List! And don't forget Anime Avalanche every Saturday!

DVD Shopping List (© 2006 Brian Thomas) is our weekly DVD column. Brian Thomas is the author of the massive book VideoHound's DRAGON: ASIAN ACTION & CULT FLICKS, available now!

Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at DVDShoppingList@cinescape.com.