Pixar's super-family

By: BRIAN THOMAS
Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2005

So what movies do you have lined up for St. Patrick's Day? While some may lift a glass to toast Francis Ford Coppola's FINIAN'S RAINBOW (below) or the charming THE QUIET MAN (drinking, brawling & beautiful scenery how much more Irish can you get?), or even DARBY O'GILL & THE LITTLE PEOPLE, personally I can't resist the opportunity to screen a marathon of those LEPRECHAUN movies. Sure, they're not very good, but there's only six of them, and you'll all be drunk before the first one is over.

SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK

This week, our spotlight falls like the foot of a giant scaly on the soundtrack due to legal restrictions.

(O) THE INCREDIBLES (Buena Vista) This Pixar CGanime comedy about a superhero couple that tries to retire and raise a family is one of the best superhero features ever. Widescreen and narrowscreen editions include commentraks, original cartoon shorts, bloopers, deleted scenes, Making-Of, etc.

NEW RELEASES

(O) ACTIONGIRLS.COM Volume 1 (Scotty JX) The popular cheesecake website spawns a DVD. After the apocalypse, roving bands of jerks attack, demanding lots of footage of bikini babes with machine guns.
(O) ALIEN AUTOPSY: FACT OR FICTION? (Lions Gate) I say Fact.

(O) BAD GIRLS FROM MARS (Lions Gate) A mad killer is knocking off the lead actresses hired for a space epic. Will willing Edy Williams be next?
(O) BIOHAZARD: THE ALIEN FORCE (Lions Gate) A mutant monster on a rampage vs. Chris Mitchum.
(O) BLACK SHAMPOO (VCI) Leave it to the blaxploitation version of SHAMPOO to have the Warren Beatty character go on a rampage against mobsters armed with a chainsaw! Delayed from February to procure an uncut print.
(O) BRIGADOON (Warner Bros.) Gene Kelly and Vincent Minelli team up for a musical visit to an Scottish Shangri-la that only appears for one day every 100 years. Includes 3 deleted musical numbers and more.
(O) BURGER COP (Fortune 5) 1995 Sammo Hung action comedy costarring Yuen Biao (aka DON'T GIVE A DAMN).
(O) DEAD BIRDS (Sony) AWOL Confederate soldiers rob a bank and hide out in a haunted farm. Includes commentrak, Making-Of and deleted scenes.
(O) DEEP CRIMSON (Home Vision) Award winning 1996 Mexican remake of HONEYMOON KILLERS.
(O) DIAL D FOR DEMONS (Tai Seng) Gory Hong Kong horror in which Terence Yin and Jordan Chan are trapped in a remote haunted villa.
(O) 800 BULLETS (TLA) Alex de la Iglesia's comic tribute to spaghetti westerns has a run down Wild West theme park defending itself from the attack of real estate developer mercenaries.
(O) END OF THE CENTURY: THE STORY OF THE RAMONES (Rhino) I think the title says it all for this feature documentary biography of this important band. With deleted scenes, interviews and more.
(O) ESCAPE FROM HONG KONG ISLAND (Tai Seng) Dark comedy in which Jordan Chan tries to get to his new job in time despite being mugged and running into lots of other difficulties. Can't wait for the Adam Sandler remake.
(O) FANTASY QUEST (Razor Digital) Heroic Ivanhoe finds himself caught in a fantasy game.
(O) FARSCAPE STARBURST EDITION Volume 3 (ADV) 8 episodes, plus commentraks, featurettes and more.
(O) FINIAN'S RAINBOW (Warner Bros.) 1968 musical fantasy with Fred Astaire as an Irishman who hides a pot of leprechaun gold near Fort Knox. Includes commentrak with director Coppola, featurette and more.
(O) HELLCAB (Lions Gate) Film version of the long running hit play covering the eventful overnight shift of a Chicago taxi driver.
(O) HOGAN'S HEROES Complete First Season (Paramount) Controversial but hilarious 1967 sitcom spoof of WWII POW movies.
(O) IMMORTAL ENEMY (Tai Seng) Thailand's number one horror film is this gothic tale about a man who finds his inherited castle invaded by an ancient vampire. Delayed from July.
(O) THE LAST SIGN (First Look) Widow Andie MacDowell is tormented by the ghost of her abusive husband.
(O) LAUREL & HARDY 2 (Lions Gate) Second collection includes "Way Out West", "Block-Heads" and "Chickens Come Home".
(O) MATANGO (ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE) (Media Blasters) Psychedelic 1963 Ishiro Honda horror classic based on an old William Hope Hodgson story about castaways forced to eat mutating mushrooms to survive. Now available widescreen in both English and Japanese for the first time.
(O) ORACLE (Media Blasters) A couple discover an instrument for communicating with the dead, but trying to help the ghosts gets them into deep trouble.
(O) THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT 2 (Lions Gate) Another time travel adventure.
(O) THE PRETENDER Season 1 (Fox) A main trained to use his talents as a human simulator escapes from the corporation holding him prisoner.
(O) RED DWARF Series 5 (BBC)
(O) RED DWARF Series 6 (BBC) More of the British sci-fi comedy series. Includes commentraks, featurettes, deleted scenes and more.
(O) RED TROUSERS (Tai Seng) Terrific documentary on Hong Kong movie stuntmen, directed by former stuntman/star Robin Shou (MORTAL KOMBAT), occasionally interrupted by scenes from an action featurette made by Shou just to demonstrate the stunt team's work. With commentrak, interviews, deleted scenes and more.
(O) ROJO SANGRE (Media Blasters) Paul Naschy stars as an aging horror star who cracks up under the pressure of his crumbling career and personal life and becomes a serial killer. Directed by Naschy's son Christian Molina.
(O) SHINOBI 3: HIDDEN TECHNIQUES (ADV) Hot ninja on ninja action.
(O) SIDE FX (Maverick) A "sex drug" from the 17th century causes vampiric side effects. With commentrak, behind-the-scenes and more.
(O) STARSKY & HUTCH Complete Third Season (Columbia TriStar) 23 more episodes.
(O) STAR TREK: FIRST CONTACT Special Collector's Edition (Paramount) The crew defends Earth from Borg invasion. 2-disc edition includes 2 commentraks, text commentrak, tons of Making-Of featurettes, storyboards and more.
(O) STRANGE FREQUENCY 2 (Paramount) New supernatural anthology.
(O) SWORD OF DOOM (Criterion) A ronin turns rogue in this 1966 samurai classic starring Toshiro Mifune.
(O) TOOLBOX MURDERS (Lions Gate) Tobe Hooper's best feature in years is more of a "Phantom of the Apartment Building" than a remake of the violent '70s horror film. Includes dual commentraks, deleted scenes and more.
(O) WAYDOWNTOWN (Home Vision) Award winning Canadian black comedy about urban office workers who wager a month's salary over who can go the longest without going outdoors. With behind-the-scenes footage and more.
(O) THE WOODEN CAMERA (TLA) Danger and adventure are encountered by two Capetown teens after they find a dead body in a suitcase.
(O) YESTERDAY ONCE MORE (Tai Seng) Hong Kong superstars Andy Lau and Sammi Cheng are reunited again for this romantic caper comedy.
(O) YOUNG AND DANGEROUS 3 (Tai Seng) Third in a series about young men entering the triad life in the '90s, starring Ekin Cheng, Jordan Chan and Karen Mok.

ANIME ADDITIONS

And finally, we close off each weekly list with a rundown of the constant stream of anime from around the world:

(O) AIRMASTER Volume 1 (Geneon)
(O) AIRMASTER Volume 2 (Geneon) Street fighting action!
(O) BUTTERFLY LOVERS (Tai Seng) Chinese feature similar to MULAN about a girl who dresses in drag in order to attend school in Old China, only to be faced with a dilemma when she falls for a classmate.

(O) CROMARTIE HIGH SCHOOL Volume 1: Cromartian Rhapsody (ADV) Nutty sitcom set in a weird school. The advance press disc was attached to a disguised old Cat Stevens LP, which may be an indication of how offbeat this series is. Also available in a collectors box with manga.
(O) CYBUSTER Volume 3: The Divine Crusade (Geneon) Mecha action!
(O) DRAGON BALL Z: Great Saiyaman/Opening Ceremony (Funimation)
(O) DRAGON DRIVE 5: Friends In Need (Bandai) Reiji and friends abandon the championship to help a friend in trouble. Includes lenticular penil board.
(O) FIVE STAR STORIES (ADV) The 1989 OAV based on the long running manga series finally comes to the USA.
(O) FUSHIGI YUGI: THE MYSTERIOUS PLAY Volume 5 (Geneon) Episodes 27-33. (O) GUNGRAVE Volume 5: The Protector (Geneon) Harry sends the Superiors to destroy Brandon.
(O) KAZE NO YOJIMBO Volume 6: Mystery Unveiled (Bandai) George's search for his brother nears its end.
(O) MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: SEED Volume 6: Momentary Silence (Bandai)
(O) MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: SEED Volume 7: Suspicious Motives (Bandai)
(O) NANA 7 OF 7 Volume 5: Eight Is Enough (Media Blasters) The powerful, dark Eighth NaNa arrives.
(O) NEON GENESIS EVANGELION Platinum Volume 6 (ADV) Action, intrigue and giant robots! With commentraks, animatics and more.
(O) PETITE PRINCESS YUCIE Volume 3: Love & Light (ADV) The girls are distracted from their challenges by dreamboat boys.
(O) PLEASE TWINS! Volume 2: Sibling Rivalry (Bandai) With Maiku resisting temptation to avoid possible incest, the girls try to test him to see if he's gay.
(O) SD GUNDAM FORCE: Last Hope For Victory (Bandai) Mecha-chans are go!
(O) SEVEN OF SEVEN Volume 5: Eight Is Enough (Media Blasters)
(O) SLAMDUNK Volume 1 (Geneon) A lovestruck high school student claims to be a big basketball fan to impress a girl, then has to live up to it.
(O) TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: Ways of the Warrior: Alien Invasion (Funimation)
(O) WANDABA STYLE Volume 2: Warp Speed (ADV) A salute to THUNDERBIRDS! Includes commentrak.

And be sure to check back next weekand every weekfor CINESCAPE's DVD Shopping List!

DVD Shopping List (© 2005 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.