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Takashi Miike Box Set!

The publication of my book VideoHound's DRAGON: ASIAN ACTION & CULT FLICKS (Plug that book enough, Brian?)(Are there any left in the warehouse?) has led to one of my favorite DVD labels asking me to contribute some audio commentary tracks to upcoming releases. More details later, but in the meantime it got me thinking about commentraks in general, good and bad. There are two basic types of commentraks. There's Filmmaker's Commentraks in which people involved in making the movie record their thoughts while watching it with you. And then there's the Critics' Commentraks in which a film critic, scholar, or historian gives an informed (hopefully) accompaniment to the feature. I have my own ideas about what makes these valuable recordings, but I'd like to open this up to You the Reader. What are the best and worst DVD commentraks you've ever heard, and why? Write to DVDShoppingList@cinescape.com.

SPOTLIGHT OF THE WEEK

Sure, this is a boxed re-release set, but if you haven't checked in on the Wild World of Miike, here's a great chance:

(O)     TAKASHI MIIKE COLLECTION (American Cinemateque) Three amazing features by Miike, currently one of the world's most exciting film directors, including the yakuza action romance CITY OF LOST SOULS, the uplifting horror musical comedy HAPPINESS OF THE KATAKURIS, and the soul-chilling AUDITION.

NEW RELEASES

(O)     ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES (Rhino) [IMG2R]Nothing in this low budget 1978 horror spoof is any funnier than its title, yet it spawned several sequels, a cartoon series and toys. Go figure. Available in a standard edition, plus a 2-disc special edition with commentrak, deleted scenes, featurettes, shorts, trailers and more.
(O)     BLACK SCORPION: The TV Series (New Concorde) 22 episodes on a 6-disc set, includes commentraks, interviews, gallery, etc.
(O)     CARLITO'S ANGELS (E.I. Independent) An urban action spoof, with making-of, gallery and trailer.
(O)     CASPER (Universal) A surprisingly effective live-action/CGI adaptation of the Harvey Comics character with Bill Pullman and Christina Ricci in support. Includes director's commentrak, games, interviews, deleted scenes, episodes of the animated series, and more. In widescreen and fullscreen editions.
(O)     CHRISTOPHER GUEST COLLECTION (Warner Bros.) The King of the Mockumentary in his latest A MIGHTY WIND (15 additional scenes, special TV promotional appearances and performances, commentrak by Guest and Eugene Levy, and more), WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, and BEST IN SHOW, each loaded with extras. Also available separately.
(O)     EL CHUPACABRA (York) The legendary beast goes on a rampage in the city.
(O)     DARKEST KNIGHT 2 (MTI) D&D-style Sword & Sorcery sequel.
(O)     DARKWALKER (Koch) Teens are stalked by a monster at a haunted amusement park. Zoinks! Includes commentrak, deleted scenes, bloopers, and more.
(O)     DELTA DELTA DIE! (Shadow) Killer sorority girls! Includes commentrak, deleted scenes, bloopers, etc. Delayed from earlier this month.
(O)     DUEL OF THE 7 TIGERS / INVINCIBLE FROM HELL (Video Asia) A pretty intense 1979 kung fu flick (aka SHADOW OF THE TIGER) with 6 defeated masters training Cliff Lok in all their specialties to challenge the evil Phillip Ko. The second feature is apparently a Korean martial [IMG3R]arts flick.
(O)     EERIE MIDNIGHT HORROR SHOW (MVD) Sleazy '70s grindhouse exorcism horror, aka THE SEXORCIST.
(O)     EVIL CULT (IndieDVD) Low budget bloody movie mayhem inspired by Sam Raimi, in which a young man finds the mental hospital he's checked in to is run by a cult of loonies, and is determined to break out! Includes commentrak, "party" track, "lost" scenes, behind-the-scenes.
(O)     HIGH VOLTAGE / CIRCUS KIDS (Video Asia) A 1995 police action flick starring Donnie Yen. Then Yen and Yuen Biao join Wu Ma's Shanghai circus to fight Japanese invaders.
(O)     THE HILLS HAVE EYES (Anchor Bay) 2-disc set presents the influential 1977 cannibal hillbilly favorite, along with commentrak by director Wes Craven, featurettes, documentary, Craven career retrospective, storyboards, galleries, screenplay, screen savers, etc.
(O)     HOLES (Buena Vista) [IMG4R]Based on the hit juvenile novel, this story of a kid sent to a prison work farm where warden Sigourney Weaver has a secret reason for making the boys dig endless holes makes kind of a scattered, uneven movie, but is nevertheless highly entertaining. Fullscreen and widescreen editions both come with cast and filmmakers' commentraks, music video, deleted scenes, gag reel, and more.
(O)     HONEY GLAZE / BRAINDRAINER (Sub Rosa) An action comedy about a 30-year old woman with a little girl's mind that gets mixed up with spies. / A meteor makes people idiots if they touch it. Includes directors' commentraks, trailers and behind-the-scenes.
(O)     HOWLING 5: THE REBIRTH / HOWLING 6: THE FREAKS (Artisan) More werewolf nonsense. When you stop watchin' 'em, they'll stop makin' 'em.
(O)     IN COLD BLOOD (Columbia TriStar) 1967 Truman Capote/Richard Brooks classic stars Robert Blake as a killer on a rampage.
(O)     KICKBOXER 3: THE ART OF WAR / KICKBOXER 4: THE AGGRESSOR (Artisan) More fightin'. Seriously, who watches this crap? I mean besides me.
(O)     LAUGH WITH MAX LINDER (Image) The feature SEVEN YEARS BAD LUCK, along with four hilarious shorts by the great but little known actor/director that inspired Chaplin and Keaton. Plus behind-the-scenes footage and more.
(O)     LEXX: Season 4 - Volume 4 (Acorn Media) 4 episodes of the screwy sci-fi series, including footage cut for TV broadcast, plus storyboards, galleries, trivia, etc.
(O)     MAGNIFICENT KICK / BUTCHER WING (Video Asia) The legendary Kwan Tak-hing stars in his signature role of Wong Fei-hung in the tale of his trademark No-Shadow Kick. Then see the story of Wing, one of Wong's greatest students.
(O)     MRS. SANTA CLAUS (Artisan) Angela Lansbury TV holiday movie thing. With making-of.
(O)     MOBY PRESENTS: ALIEN SEX PARTY (Music Video Distributors) Weirdness set in a porno video store on [IMG5R]XXX-mas Eve.
(O)     MURDEROUS MAIDS (Home Vision) French True Crime thriller tells the story of the killer Papin sisters. With interviews, trailers and background articles.
(O)     THE NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE (MVD) A new digital uncut transfer of this Eurohorror classic.
(O)     OZARK SAVAGE (Lincoln Media) Independent horror comedy.
(O)     PROM NIGHT 3: THE LAST KISS / PROM NIGHT 4: DELIVER US FROM EVIL (Artisan) The second episode in this slasher series introduced the semi-popular killer ghost Mary Lou, prompting her return in part 3 but then they abandoned the whole idea for the unrelated 4^th picture!
(O)     RAGDOLL (Koch) Voodoo magic brings an old rag doll to murderous life.
(O)     SERPENT & THE RAINBOW (Universal) Anthropologist Bill Pullman gets into political and supernatural trouble when he explores Haiti in this 1988 Wes Craven [IMG6R]thriller.
(O)     SHAOLIN POSSE / RICKSHAW MAN (Video Asia) Don't know about that first feature, but the second is Mainland kung fu action with Zhang Fengyi.
(O)     SHOGUN (Paramount) The epic hit 1980 miniseries, in which Richard Chamberlain stars as an Englishman who becomes assimilated into feudal Japanese society, comes to DVD in a 5-disc set that includes a 79-minute making-of documentary, partial director's commentrak, and several featurettes.
(O)     SHRIEKER (Koch) Crazy little morphing monster.
(O)     SICK (Lions Gate) Repellent and touching documentary on the late Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist. Includes commentrak, extensive deleted scenes, interviews, documentary featurettes and a DVD-ROM game (!?).
(O)     SMALLVILLE: Season 1 (Warner Bros.) 6-disc set with commentraks, deleted scenes, and other bonus material.
(O)     THEY LIVE (Universal) John Carpenter's anarchic 1988 ode to paranoia.
(O)     37 PLOTS OF KUNG FU / REVENGE OF FURY [IMG7R](Video Asia) Not exactly sure what these two kung fu features really are.
(O)     TOPO GIGIO AND FRIENDS (GoodTimes) This strange Italian puppet mouse became a big favorite due to appearances on the ED SULLIVAN SHOW, and went on to star in a feature film, two TV series, and work for the United Nations! This program compiles the best of Topo's TV appearances.
(O)     TO SAVE THE CHILDREN (Artisan) Richard "John Boy" Thomas stars as a David Koresh type in this lightly-disguised Waco TV docudrama.
(O)     24: Season 2 (Fox) 7-disc set includes commentrak on 6 episodes, branched deleted scenes, making-of, etc. Betcha can't watch the whole thing in 24 hours.
(O)     SNAKE PEOPLE (MVD) Boris Karloff makes LSD zombies.
(O)     THE VAMPIRES NIGHT ORGY (MVD) 1972 Eurohorror about a vampire countess.
(O)     VAMPIRE RESURRECTION (Shadow) Standard vampire romance stuff. Includes director commentrak, making-of, alternate ending and deleted scenes. Delayed from earlier this month.
(O)     WATCHERS / WATCHERS 2 (Artisan) Based on the Dean Koontz story of a boy, a super-intelligent dog, and a hideous mutant monster.
(O)     WAXWORK / WAXWORK 2: LOST IN TIME (Artisan) These two Anthony Hickox horror features have a bit of a following due to their humorous atmosphere.
(O)     WITCHCRAFT 7 (Troma)

ANIME ADDITIONS

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

(O)     BATTLE OF THE PLANETS ULTIMATE DVD BOX SET (Rhino) Superheroes vs. invading aliens in this favorite. Includes dub actor interviews, commentraks, 12 original GATCHAMAN episodes, and more. Also available in a limited edition with an action figure.
(O)     BATTLE ROYALE HIGH SCHOOL (AnimEigo) Fight back to school!
(O)     BLUE SEED: Volume 5 - BEYOND (ADV Films)
(O)     CERES: CELESTIAL LEGEND Collector's Edition #1 - Reincarnation (Viz) 2-disc set of the first 12 episodes. Includes interview with series creator Yu Watase, art gallery and trailers. Delayed from [IMG8R]last week.
(O)     CORRECTOR YUI: Volume 2 - Web of Confusion (Viz)
(O)     CRUSHER JOE (AnimEigo) A 1983 anime classic complete on this bilingual 2-disc set. Joe, the best troubleshooter in space, faces a trilogy of peril.
(O)     DRAGON BALL: General Blue Saga (Goldhil) Box set.
(O)     OH MY GODDESS!: Volume 2 (AnimEigo) Includes commentrak by the U.S. dubbing crew, gallery, and more.
(O)     OMISHI MAGICAL THEATER: Risky Safety - Volume 2 (ADV Films)
(O)     POKEMON: Adventures on the Orange Islands #2 (Viz) 12 episodes of Ash and friends.
(O)     RUNE SOLDIER #4: Monsters and Mayhem (ADV Films)
(O)     SAILOR MOON: Season 2 (ADV Films) Episodes 47-89 uncut, subtitled version.
(O)     X Volume 7: Seven (Pioneer) Episodes 19-21.
(O)     X-MEN: EVOLUTION COLLECTION (Warner Bros.) Bundles "UnXpected Changes," "X Marks the Spot," "Xposing the Truth" and "Xplosive Days".

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

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