How to Train Your Dragon photo Set in the mythical world of burly Vikings and wild dragons, and based on the book by Cressida Cowell, the animated action-comedy tells the story of Hiccup, a Viking teenager who doesn't exactly fit in with his tribe's longstanding tradition of heroic dragon slayers. Hiccup's world is turned upside down when he has to pass his Viking initiation by hunting down the fiercest dragon and bringing it into submission. Instead, he ends up with the smallest, most ornery dragon -- it's even toothless -- who challenges the Vikings to see the world from an entirely different point of view. Vitals: Director: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders. Stars: Voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kristen Wiig. 2010, CC, MPAA rating: PG, 98 min., Animated, Box office gross: $217.387 million, DreamWorks. | | |
THIS WEEK'S DVD RELEASES:
Arn: The Knight Templar (2007) Stellan Skarsgard, Simon Callow, Vincent Perez, Michael Nyqvist. Follows Arn's 12th century crusade as a Knight Templar from Sweden to the Holy Land, and away from his life's love, in pursuit of his mission to unite Sweden into one kingdom. Based on the best-selling novels featuring the Swedish crusader Arn Magnusson. Extras: Two behind-the-scenes featurettes. Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (Entertainment One).
As Good As Dead (2010) Cary Elwes, Andie MacDowell, Brian Cox, Frank Whaley, Matt Dallas, Jess Wexler, Laura Harring. Seeking revenge for the murder of their religious leader, fundamental loyalists kidnap and torture the man they believe responsible. (First Look Studios).
Astaire & Rogers Ultimate Collector's Edition Eleven-disc set with all 10 Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers movies restored and remastered: "Flying Down to Rio," "The Gay Divorcee," "Roberta," "Top Hat," "Follow the Fleet," "Swing Time," "Shall We Dance," "Carefree," "The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle" and "The Barkleys of Broadway"; plus a bonus disc documentary profile: "Astaire and Rogers Partners in Rhythm." $69.92. (Warner).
Bangkok Adrenaline (2009 -- Thailand) Raimund Huber, Daniel O'Neill, Gwion Jacob Miles, Conan Stevens. Kung-fu action thriller: In Bangkok for a good time, five friends end up kidnapping the daughter of a crime boss to pay off a debt to another crime boss. Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (Image Entertainment).
The Busby Berkeley Collection. Ten-disc set with nine magical musicals showcasing the Berkeley touch of all-singing, all-dancing amazements: "42nd Street," "Gold Diggers of 1933," "Footlight Parade," "Dames," "Gold Diggers of 1935," "Gold Diggers of 1937," "Varsity Show," "Hollywood Hotel," "Gold Diggers in Paris," plus a bonus Busby Berkeley compilation disc with 21 astonishing musical sequences. $69.92. (Warner).
CSI Miami Season 8 (2009-10) Seven-disc set with 24 episodes, $62.99. (CBS/Paramount).
Daniel and Ana (2009 -- Mexico) Dario Yazbek Bernal, Marimar Vega, Chema Torre. Brother and sister Daniel and Ana are best friends. Ana is about to be married and Daniel is a teenager discovering his personal and sexual identity, yet the harmony in their lives is instantly shattered when they are kidnapped and something happens that forces them to confront their desires and fears. (Strand Releasing).
The Darjeeling Limited (2007) Director Wes Anderson; stars Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody, Jason Schwartzman, Anjelica Huston. Three estranged American brothers reunite for a meticulously planned, soul-searching train voyage across India, one year after the death of their father. For reasons involving over-the-counter painkillers, Indian cough syrup, and pepper spray, the brothers eventually find themselves stranded alone in the middle of the desert -- where a new, unplanned chapter of their journey begins. New high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Wes Anderson. Extras:Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (The Criterion Collection). Anderson's short film "Hotel Chevalier" (part one of "The Darjeeling Limited"), starring Natalie Portman, with commentary by Anderson; commentary featuring Anderson and co-writers Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola; behind-the-scenes documentary by Barry Braverman; Anderson and filmmaker James Ivory discuss the film's music; Anderson's American Express commercial; on-set footage shot by Coppola and actor Waris Ahluwalia; audition footage, deleted and alternate scenes, and stills galleries; booklet featuring an essay by critic Richard Brody and original illustrations by Eric Anderson.
Dollhouse Season 2 (2009-10) Four-disc set with all 13 episodes, $49.98. Extras: Commentary by Joss Whedon and series writers Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen; 28-page exclusive limited edition comic book by Dark Horse Comics. Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (Fox).
Dynasty Collector's Edition (2009) Skiing and snowboarding documentary, featuring narration by Olympic Gold Medalist Jonny Moseley, mind-blowing cinematography and an explosive soundtrack with True HD Audio on Blu-ray and 5.1 Surround Sound on DVD. (Shout! Factory).
The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter (1984) Gordon Liu, Kara Hui, Alexander Fu Sheng. Shaw Brothers kung-fu classic. After his family is ambushed and slaughtered, one surviving brother escapes to a monastery, where he masters bone-crushing pole-fighting techniques and plots his revenge. (Vivendi Entertainment/The Weinstein Company).
Empires. Fourteen-disc set with episodes from the highly praised History series "Rome: Rise and Fall of an Empire," "Engineering an Empire," "Ancients Behaving Badly" and "Barbarians." $99.95. (A&E Home Entertainment).
The Essential Bugs Bunny. Two-disc set with 12 cartoons, TV specials, shorts, rare appearances, "Bugs Bunny: Ain't He a Stinker?" documentary. $26.99. (Warner).
The Extreme Hangover Edition (2009) Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Heather Graham, Sasha Barrese, Jeffrey Tambor, Ken Jeong, Rachael Harris, Mike Tyson, Mike Epps. Includes both the unrated and theatrical versions of the film. Extras: Contains an exclusive never before seen 28-page wedding album featuring missing photos from the ill-fated Vegas wedding and more incriminating photos from the lost camera that you couldn't see in theaters; commentary by Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms and Todd Phillips; "The Madness of Ken Jeong" non-stop improv; "The Dan Band!" performs "Fame"; gag reel; "Three Best Friends Song"; Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis "freestyle" their own song; "Map of Destruction"; "Action Mash-Up" compilation of all the physical comedy from the film. Also available on Blu-ray Disc, which adds picture-in-picture commentary and BD-LIVE content: "Iron Mike Online Teaser" and "Cursing Mash-Up." (Warner).
Four Boxes (2009) Justin Kirk, Terryn Westbrook, Sam Rosen. Nothing is what it seems when three friends stumble upon the bizarre surveillance-cam website fourboxes.tv, where a man named Havoc (who sleeps in a cage and builds bombs in the basement of a dead man's destroyed suburban house) is seemingly hatching a plot to wipe out America. (Entertainment One).
Ghost Whisperer Season 5 (2009-10) Six-disc set with 22 episodes, $62.99. (CBS/Paramount).
Great Detectives Anthology. There's a murderer on the moors. Terror on the train. Villains in the village! Only the world's greatest deductive minds can save the day. Fortunately, Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple are together, for the first time ever, to confront their most confounding cases. Peter Cushing's Sherlock Holmes exercises his legendary deductive skills in five classic BBC productions, including "The Hound of the Baskervilles," "A Study in Scarlet" and" The Sign of Four." Dame Agatha's diminutive detective, Hercule Poirot, portrayed by the inimitable David Suchet, applies his "little grey cells" to ferret out the cause of a "Death on the Nile" and solve the "Mystery of the Blue Train," among other Christie classics. Rounding out the trio, Joan Hickson plays spinster Miss Jane Marple, who untangles the riddles of the "Murder at the Vicarage," "The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side" and many more. Twelve-disc set, $149.99. (A&E Home Entertainment).
HIT Favorites: Jolly Holiday (2010) Five holiday themed episodes from Thomas & Friends, Bob the Builder, Fireman Sam, Barney and Angelina Ballerina, $14.98. (HIT Entertainment/Lionsgate).
How to Train Your Dragon (2010) Voices of Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kristen Wiig. Available as a single-disc DVD, a Dragon Double DVD Pack and two-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo. Extras: Behind-the-scenes featurette. The two-disc DVD and two-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo add the special feature "Legend of the BoneKnapper," deleted scenes, author Cressida Cowell featurette, "Learn to Draw Toothless," "Viking Personality Test," "Race for the Gold in the Viking Winter Games," "Build Your Own 3D Dragons." Blu-ray adds "The Animators' Corner," which enhances the movie-viewing experience through picture-in-picture storyboards, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews; pop-up trivia. (DreamWorks). Released Wed., Oct. 15.
I Am Love (2010) Tilda Swinton, Flavio Parenti, Edoardo Gabbriellini, Alba Rohrwacher, Pippo Delbono. (Magnolia Home Entertainment).
Inspector Lewis, Series 3 (2006) Three-disc set with five full-length mysteries, $39.99. (PBS).
In Treatment: The Complete Second Season (2009) Seven-disc set with 35 episodes, $59.99. (HBO).
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002) Tis the night before Christmas and the Muppet Theater is in danger of being torn down. When bad goes to worse, Kermit begins to believe that the world would be a better place if he had never been born. With heavenly help and hilarious send-ups of just about every holiday movie ever made, Kermit and the Muppets discover what matters most is their love for each other. Features guest appearances by David Arquette, Joan Cusack and Whoopi Goldberg. (Universal).
Jonah Hex (2010) Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, Megan Fox, Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett, Tom Wopat, Wes Bentley. Available as a single DVD and DVD/Blu-ray Disc Combo Pack. Blu-ray Disc extras: which adds "The Weird Western Tales of Jonah Hex," "The Inside Story of Jonah Hex," additional scenes. (Warner).
Kung-Fu Master (1984) Yuen Biao, Bryan Leung, Ji Chunhua, Yang Lu, Yuan Wu. (Lionsgate).
Language of the Enemy (aka A House Divided) (2008) Eion Bailey, F. Murray Abraham, Linda Hardy, Tovah Feldshuh. A Jewish American businessman attending his father's funeral in Israeil and a Palestinian woman find themselves trapped together behind enemy lines when he is persuaded to do a brief reconnaissance for the Israeli Secret Service inside the city of Ramallah. (MTI Home Video).
Leaves of Grass (2009) Dir.: Tim Blake Nelson; Edward Norton, Tim Blake Nelson, Melanie Lynskey, Susan Sarandon, Richard Dreyfuss, Keri Russell, Ty Burrell. An Ivy League professor is lured back to his Oklahoma hometown, where his twin brother, a small-time pot grower, has concocted a scheme to take down a local drug lord. Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (First Look Studios).
The Lost Boys: The Thirst (2010) Corey Feldman, Tanit Phoenix, Jamison Newlander. Direct-to-video sequel. Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (Warner).
The Magician (1958) Director Ingmar Bergman; stars Max von Sydow, Gunnar Bjornstrand. An engaging, brilliantly conceived tale of deceit from one of cinema's premier illusionists. Von Sydow stars as Dr. Vogler, a mid-19th-century traveling mesmerist and peddler of potions whose magic is put to the test by a small town's cruel, eminently rational minister of health, Dr. Vergerus. The result is a diabolically clever battle of wits that's both frightening and funny, shot in rich, gorgeously gothic black and white. New, restored high-definition digital transfer. Extras: New visual essay by Bergman scholar Peter Cowie; brief 1967 video interview with director Ingmar Bergman about the film; booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoff Andrew, a reprinted essay by Assayas, and an excerpt from Bergman's autobiography "Images: My Life in Film." Also available on Blu-ray Disc. (The Criterion Collection).
Marcus Welby, MD: Season Two (1970-71) Six-disc set with 24 episodes, $49.97. (Shout! Factory).
S&Man (Sandman) (2006) Documentary takes a look at the classic comparison between filmmaking and voyeurism, particularly within the horror genre. (Magnolia Home Entertainment).
Saturday Night Live: Presents A Very Gilly Christmas Mischievous Gilly Kristen Wiig takes a look back at some of SNL's most memorable holiday sketches. $19.98. (Universal).
Seven Deadly Sins (2010) Dreama Walker, Jared Keeso, Rachel Melvin, Reila Aphrodite. Eric Close. Short-lived TV series based on Robin Wasserman's seven novels that follow a group of teens living in the town of Grace, California. (Vivendi Entertainment/RHI Entertainment).
Sherman in the Winter (2010 -- Israel) Dark thriller about a detective investigating the disappearance of a town councilman's 12-year-old daughter, last seen with her teacher. Extras: Commentary. (SISU Home Entertainment).
Smokey and the Bandit: The 7-Movie Outlaw Collection. The three original movies that turned Burt Reynolds and CB radios into national obsessions and the four television movies, $26.98. (Universal).
Strikeforce MMA (2009) Two-disc set of mixed martial arts fights from Showtime. (Showtime/CBS/Paramount).
Thomas & Friends: Merry Winter Wish (2010) Thomas and his friends celebrate the holidays with four tales: "Thomas' Merry Winter Wish," "Thomas and the Snowman Party," "Merry Misty Island" and "Henry's Magic Box," $14.98. (Hit Entertainment/Lionsgate).
The Tudors: The Final Season (2010) Three-disc set with 10 episodes, $46.99. (Showtime/Paramount).
You Might as Well Live (2009) Josh Peace, Michael Madsen, Stephen McHattie, Kristen Hager. On the advice of his childhood hero, Robert R. Mutt embarks on a madcap adventure to attain the three keys to being a "somebody" -- a girl, some money and a championship ring. Extras: Commentary, deleted scenes. (Entertainment One).
White Night (2010 -- Israel) A white collar criminal befriends a drug dealer in prison with unintended consequences. (SISU Home Entertainment).
White on Rice (2009) Hiroshi Watanabe, Nae, Mio Takada, Lynn Chen. Comedic story of Jimmy, a misguided 40-year-old divorce trying to navigate his way through a new life in America and out of his sister Aiko's basement. Disgraced by his disgruntled brother-in-law Tak, the immature yet adorable Jimmy spends his nights searching for a new wife who shares his love of dinosaurs and geology. Things go horribly wrong when Jimmy falls desperately in love with Tak's niece. Extras: Documentary of the film's Japan premiere, director's commentary, behind-the-scenes montage featuring outtakes, deleted scenes. (eOne Entertainment/Indieblitz).
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