Monday, January 08, 2007

DVD Tuesday: Crank, Illusionist, Peepers! - Xoanon @ 10:15 PST
Alfred Hitchcock: The Ultimate Collection: No description available


Crank (Widescreen Edition): Chev Chelios is a professional assassin working for the West Coast crime syndicate. Chev's girlfriend Eve doesn't know what Chev does and Chev is planning to quit the crime syndicate so he can spend more time with her. But for Chev, things about to get very bad, when he learns he has been injected with a poison called "The Beijing Cocktail" by his rival Verona, which will kill him if his heart rate drops. Trying to stay alive and seeking help from friend, Kaylo and Doc Miles, to keep his heart pumping. Chev sets out to find answers as well as protecting Eve, and get his revenge on those who have betrayed him before the poison kills him.


Crank (Full Screen Edition): Chev Chelios is a professional assassin working for the West Coast crime syndicate. Chev's girlfriend Eve doesn't know what Chev does and Chev is planning to quit the crime syndicate so he can spend more time with her. But for Chev, things about to get very bad, when he learns he has been injected with a poison called "The Beijing Cocktail" by his rival Verona, which will kill him if his heart rate drops. Trying to stay alive and seeking help from friend, Kaylo and Doc Miles, to keep his heart pumping. Chev sets out to find answers as well as protecting Eve, and get his revenge on those who have betrayed him before the poison kills him.


Desgaea, Vol. 1: The Netherworld Prince: Angel-in-training Flonne is on a mission when Disgaea (2006) opens: she's charged with assassinating Krichevskoy, the King of the Netherworld--who died two years earlier. Flonne inadvertently awakens Krichevskoy's son, demon-prince Laharl, who sets out to claim the throne. When Flonne lectures him about love and kindness, Laharl replies with crushing honesty, "You're pretty dense, huh?" As the conflict escalates, Laharl's old vassal Etna arrives with her sub-vassals, the Prinny squad, who look like robotic penguins. Flonne gets help from higher-ranking angels. The Buck Rogers-eque Captain Gordon arrives from Earth in his space ship, complicating matters still further. Based on a video game by Nippon Ichi, Disgaea plays like a reworking of Chrono Crusade, enacted by the cast of A Little Snow Fairy Sugar: The main characters are all small and skinny, with kawaii (ultra-cute) bulbous heads and enormous eyes. Disgaea will appeal primarily to fans of the game.(Rated 13 and older: violence, risqué humor)


Dr. Mabuse Collection: Includes: The Return of Dr. Mabuse, The Invisible Dr. Mabuse, The Secret of Dr. Mabuse.


Extras: Complete First Season: Meet Andy Millman, Actor. Never forgets his lines because he never gets any. Andy (Ricky Gervais) is a desperate man. He?s been an actor for five years but thanks to his useless agent (Stephen Merchant), he?s never done any real acting. Instead, he?s a lowly film extra, making his mark in the background while the stars do their work. His partner in arms is the pitiable Maggie, a fellow extra and a hopeless romantic. Andy may be an extra, but he?s a star in his own right. Too bad nobody else agrees.


A Gun, a Car, a Blonde: A wheelchair bound (Jim Metzler) paraplegic fantasizes about the new blonde (Andrea Thompson), who moves into the house across from him. His fantasy (which move into black and white film noir) involves his being a private detective out to help the poor blonde damsel in distress. In real life, he refuses to leave his home and is being taken for a ride by his over-sexed sister (Kay Lenz).


Hopalong Cassidy TV Collection 2: No description available


I Trust You to Kill Me: Kiefer Sutherland, star of the hit TV show "24" takes his indie record label act, Rocco DeLuca & the Burden on the road for their first international tour. From Los Angeles to Europe, this highly personal journey chronicles a rock band & their less than qualified road manager, Kiefer Sutherland, and the hopes, successes and disappointments of a band trying to get their music to their audience.


Idiocracy: From Mike Judge, one of the creative minds behind Beavis and Butt-Head, King of the Hill and Office Space, comes an outrageous sci-fi comedy that'll make you think twice about the future of mankind. Meet Joe Bowers (Luke Wilson). He's not the sharpest tool in the shed. But when a government hibernation experiment goes awry, Bowers awakens in the year 2505 to find a society so dumbed-down by mass commercialism and mindless TV programming that he's become the smartest guy on the planet. Now it's up to an average Joe to get human evolution back on track. Filled with razor-sharp sarcasm and outrageous sight gags, Idiocracy will make you laugh out loud whether you're an absolute genius or a complete idiot.


Illusionist: Unlock the mysteries of the year's most spellbinding film from the producers of Crash and Sideways! Oscar(r) nominees Paul Giamatti and Edward Norton lead an all-star cast in this "stunning" film (USA Today) that conjures an exhilarating blend of suspense, romance and mind-bending twists. The acclaimed illusionist Eisenheim (Norton) has not only captured the imaginations of all of Vienna, but also the interest of the ambitious Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell). But when Leopold's new fiancée (Jessica Biel) rekindles a childhood fascination with Eisenheim, the Prince's interest evolves into obsession...and suddenly the city's Chief Inspector (Giamatti) finds himself investigating a shocking crime. But even as the Inspector engages him in a dramatic challenge of wills, Eisenheim prepares for his most impressive illusion yet in this "mesmerizing" (Entertainment Weekly) and "beautifully acted" (Good Morning America) film that "teases you until the very end!" (The New York Times).


MI-5, Volume 4: As the fourth season of MI-5 begins the stories are more relevant than ever before. The series has always been fast-paced and hard-hitting but now the battleground of national security provides an even more dramatic backdrop to the challenges facing the team from MI-5. The group were left reeling after the shocking death of Danny at the hands of hostage-takers as the last season concluded. Now Adam, Harry, Ruth, Fiona and rising star Zafar set out to become even stronger in their battle to safeguard the nation.


Mister Peepers: Mr. Peepers (Wally Cox) is a shy science teacher at Jefferson Junior High... but what makes Mr. Peepers so unique is that, although he seems to be mild mannered, easily bullied, baffled and befuddled by every day life, he has the strength of his convictions to ensure his life is fulfilled and that no matter what, he prevails. Because of that, he becomes an "every man," a man we can identify with and aspire to be like.


The Night Listener: In the midst of his crumbling relationship, a radio show host begins speaking to his biggest fan, a young boy, via the telephone. But when questions about the boy's identity come up, the host's life is thrown into chaos.


Nude on the Moon & Blaze Starr Goes Nudist: It's a bare-as-you-dare double feature from the Grand Dame of sexploitation, Doris Wishman! Needing an escape from nightclub engagements and her sleazy agent-fiance, legendary red-headed stripper Blaze Starr ducks into a movie theater and sees a film on nudism. Intrigued, Blaze Starr Goes Nudist and checks into Florida's Sunny Palms, where she finds true happiness by strutting around in her birthday suit and discovering the wonders of nude volleyball, nude archery, and, of course, nude checkers. Then a young rocket scientist and his professor friend build a spaceship and blast off in idiotic pajama-like space suits, only to land on the lunar surface and discover a private camp populated by shapely telepathic gals who live Nude on the Moon with antennae on their heads! After first being rendered helpless by a moon doll's magic wand, the men are eventually allowed to wander about and witness the naked marvels of life in outer space, which looks an awful lot like Florida.


Psychopathia Sexualis: Psychopathia Sexualis, Bret Wood's visual adaptation of Richard von Krafft-Ebing's eponymous book, investigates sexual perversity in an attempt to better render Krafft-Ebbing's medical definitions for conditions like necrophilia, vampirism, masochism, and homosexuality. Fictional vignettes enliven chapters in the book, and an omniscient narrator commands attention between live-action scenes. One would expect the explicit nature of this material to be sexy or campy, but it's really not. The scene of a man cowering under his dominatrix's heeled boot is dulled by slow pace. A man getting hypnotized with metronome by Sigmund Freud's teacher (Ebbing) practically hypnotizes the viewer with its severe mood. To its benefit, Psychopathia Sexualis looks like a Goth Guy Maddin film, with its colorful Victorian sets. A couple quick scenes, like a woman's corset being laced up, or the nurse who gets off on her patient's blood-sucking, are inviting in a sensationalistic way. But in general, the film's sections such as "Manifestations," "Methods of Treatment," and "Melancholia" are too belabored to intriguingly reflect the text's case studies. "Methods of Treatment" portrays the dire Victorian asylum, but not in any new light. Psychopathia Sexualis is an anticlimactic take on infinitely fascinating fetishes and obsessions. Though the film is tedious, it still reveals insights about sexuality and its narrow definitions a century ago.


Siberiade: The story about a very small god-forgotten village in Siberia reflects the history of Russia from the beginning of the century till early 80s. Three generations try to find the land of happiness and to give it to the people. One builds the road through taiga to the star over horizon, the second 'build communism' and the third searches for oil. The oil is found but the destruction of the old cemetry and everything the people of the village cared for followed to get the 'black treasure' of Siberia.


The Snow Queen: Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairy tale comes to life in an enchanting mix of music and song, live drama and stunning animation. When Gerda and her mother take in the penniless beggar boy, Kay, powerful forces come into play that will take both children on a magical journey and test their friendship to the extreme. One cold winter night a splinter of ice pierces Kay's eye, turning his heart cold and making him angry and unhappy. He is enchanted by the Snow Queen and taken to her palace in the frozen North. Gerda decides that she must do whatever she can to find her friend. Faith, love and courage lead Gerda on a perilous quest through many strange lands. Will the little girl in the red velvet cloak be able to match the power of the Snow Queen?


SpongeBob SquarePants - Season 4, Vol. 2: Your favorite sea sponge and his pals are back to provide you with more laughs in the release of SpongeBob SquarePants Season 4 volume 2 Box Set featuring 10 new to DVD episodes! Get ready to laugh out loud with 20 episodes loaded with hours of quirky, outrageous fun.


Van Gogh: A critically acclaimed biography of the artist Vincent Van Gogh, played by Jacques Dutronc, focusing mainly on the final months of his life when he painted some of his most beautiful and famous paintings while navigating the complex relationships with his brother and his patron's daughter.


Crank (BLU-RAY): Chev Chelios is a professional assassin working for the West Coast crime syndicate. Chev's girlfriend Eve doesn't know what Chev does and Chev is planning to quit the crime syndicate so he can spend more time with her. But for Chev, things about to get very bad, when he learns he has been injected with a poison called "The Beijing Cocktail" by his rival Verona, which will kill him if his heart rate drops. Trying to stay alive and seeking help from friend, Kaylo and Doc Miles, to keep his heart pumping. Chev sets out to find answers as well as protecting Eve, and get his revenge on those who have betrayed him before the poison kills him.