Get the latest DVD release information (free) every Tuesday morning. Subscribe here.
April 6
Battlestar Galactica: Season 2
(2005-06) Five-disc set with 20 episodes, $89.98. Bonus features: "The Oracle," an interactive guide including ships and characters, "Battlestar Gallactica Trivia Quiz," "Battlestar Galactica Ulitmate Battle Card Game," "Battlestar Galactica Career Assignment Quiz," deleted scenes, more. (Universal).
The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy
Nine-disc set with all three "LOTR" films (theatrical version only, diehard fans will have to wait later for the extended versions) with seven hours of features, mostly those that were on the various DVD versions of the movies, including behind-the-scenes featurettes, interviews and trailers. $99.98. Read about "The Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy" special features. (Warner).
A Nightmare on Elm Street
(1984) John Saxon, Ronee Blakley, Heather Langenkamp, Amanda Wyss, Jsu Garcia, Johnny Depp, Charles Fleischer, Joseph Whipp, Robert Englund. Two commentary tracks with director Wes Craven, cast and crew, three featurettes, three alternate endings, more. (New Line).
More Titles
"Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans" (2009) (First Look), "Poseiden "(2006) (Warner), "The Lord of the Rings" (1978-Animated) (Warner), "Sharpe's Peril" (2010) (Warner), "Cocoon 25th Anniversary" (1985) (Fox), "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1999) (MGM), "The Collector" (2009) (Genius Products/Vivendi Entertainment), "Battlestar Galactica (2004): The Complete Series Box Set" (Twenty-disc set) (Universal), "Dolan's Cadillac" (2009) (National Entertainment Media), "The Natural" (1984) (Sony)
Advertisement
April 13
Apollo 13: 15th Anniversary Edition
(1995) Dir.: Ron Howard; Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris, Kathleen Quinlan. Commentary by Howard and Apollo 13 commander Jim Lovell and his wife Marilyn; "Lucky 13: The Astronaut's Story"; "Lost Moon: The Triumph of Apollo 13"; "Conquering Space: The Moon and Beyond"; BD-LIVE; U-Control: The Apollo Era and Tech-Splanations picture-in-picture pop-ups; pocketBLU app for iPhones and iTouch; socialBLU; D-Box Motion Control. (Universal).
More Titles
"The Slammin' Salmon" (2009) (Anchor Bay), "Pirate Radio" (2009) (Universal), "Crazy on the Outside" (2009) (Fox)
April 20
The Basketball Diaries
(1995) Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Lorraine Bracco, Michael Imperioli, Juliette Lewis, Bruno Kirby, Ernie Hudson. 15th anniversary edition of the bio-drama of poet-punk rocker Jim Carroll (played by DiCaprio). Before he became a cult author, poet and the punk rocker who sang "People Who Died," Carroll was a promising New York high school basketball player. The film, based on Carroll's autobiography, traces his path from rising athlete to homeless junkie. Bonus features: Rare Jim Carroll interview and poetry reading, interviews with the cast and director Scott Kalvert. (Palm Pictures).
Minority Report
(2002) Dir.: Steven Spielberg; Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Max Von Sydow. Bonus features: "The Future According to Steven Spielberg," "Inside the World of Precrime," "Philip K. Dick, Steven Spielberg and Minority Report," "Minority Report: Future Realized," "Minority Report: Props of the Future," "Highlights from Minority Report: From the Set," "The Hoverpack Sequence," "The Car Factory Sequence," "Minority Report: Commercials of the Future," "Previz Sequences," "The Hoverpack Sequence Previz," "Maglev Chase Previz." Previously released bonus material: "From Story to Screen," "Deconstructing Minority Report," "The Stunts of Minority Report," "ILM and Minority Report," "Final Report," production concepts, storyboard sequences. (Paramount)
Summer Hours
(2008) Dir.: Olivier Assayas; Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling. "Summer Hours" is the great contemporary French filmmaker Olivier Assayas's most personal film to date. Three siblings, played by Juliette Binoche, Charles Berling, and Jeremie Renier, must decide what to do with the country estate and objects they've inherited from their mother. From this simple story, Assayas creates a nuanced, exquisitely made drama about the material of globalized modern living. Naturalistic and unsentimental yet suffused with genuine warmth, this is that rare film that pays respect to family by treating it with honesty. Director approved special edition with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. Extras: New video interview with Assayas; short documentary featuring interviews with Assayas and actors Charles Berling and Juliette Binoche; "Inventory," an hour-long documentary by Olivier Gonard, shot partly in Paris's Musee d'Orsay, that examines the film's approach to art; booklet featuring an essay by critic Kent Jones. (The Criterion Collection).
Vivre sa vie
(1962) Dir.: Jean-Luc Godard; Anna Karina. "Vivre sa vie" was a turning point for Jean-Luc Godard and remains one of his most dynamic films, combining brilliant visual design with a tragic character study. The lovely Anna Karina, Godard's greatest muse, plays Nana, a young Parisian who aspires to be an actress but instead ends up a prostitute; her downward spiral is depicted in a series of discrete tableaux of daydreams and dances. Featuring some of Karina and Godard's most iconic moments -- from her movie theater vigil with "The Passion of Joan of Arc" to her seductive pool-hall strut -- "Vivre sa vie" is a landmark of the French New Wave that still surprises at every turn. New, restored high-definition digital transfer with uncompressed monaural soundtrack. Extras: Commentary featuring film scholar Adrian Martin; video interview with film scholar Jean Narboni, conducted by historian Noel Simsolo; television interview from 1962 with actress Anna Karina; excerpts from a 1961 French television expose on prostitution; illustrated essay on "La prostitution," the book that served as inspiration for the film; stills gallery; Godard's original theatrical trailer; booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Atkinson, interviews with Godard, a reprint by critic Jean Collet on the film's soundtrack, and Godard's original scenario. (The Criterion Collection).
More Titles
"The Lovely Bones" (2009) (Paramount), "Cheech & Chong's Hey Watch This" (2010) Vivendi Entertainment/The Weinstein Company), "The Young Victoria" (2009) (Sony), "Crazy Heart" (2009) (Fox), "44 Inch Chest" (2009) (Image Entertainment), "Earth Days" (2009) (PBS)
April 22
Avatar
(2009) Director: James Cameron. Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel Moore, CCH Pounder, Peter Mensah, Laz Alonso, Wes Studi, Stephen Lang, Matt Gerald. Read more about "Avatar" in the April Calendar.Extras: None. Both DVD and Blu-ray versions will not include any bonus features, previews or trailers so as to use every bit of disc space for optimum picture and audio quality. An "ultimate' edition -- perhaps with additional footage -- will be released in November. But, for the present, there will be no 3D versions on DVD. (Fox).
April 27
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
(2009) Dir.: Terry Gilliam; Stars: Heath Ledger, Christopher Plummer, Tom Waits, Lily Cole, Andrew Garfield, Verne Troyer, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, Jude Law.
Read more about "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" in the April Calendar.Extras: Deleted scene, Heath Ledger wardrobe test, introduction and commentary by director Terry Gilliam, interview with Heath Ledger, "Behind the Mirror," "Building the Monastery," "The Artwork of Doctor Parnassus," "Doctor Parnassus Around the World," "The Imaginarium of Terry Gilliam," "Heath Ledger and Friends" in which cast and crew remember their friend, "The Drunk" Multi-angle progression sequence, movieIQ+sync and BD-Live. (Sony).
Ride With the Devil
(1999) Dir.: Ang Lee; Tobey Maguire, Jeffrey Wright, Skeet Ulrich. With this new director's cut, Ang Lee reconstructs his original vision for his Civil War epic, "Ride With the Devil," an intimate, harrowing look at a country torn in half, told from a daringly unorthodox perspective. Set in 1862, during the Kansas-Missouri border war, the film stars Tobey Maguire as Jake and Skeet Ulrich as his friend Jack Bull; they join the Confederate-sympathizing Bushwhackers after Jack's father is killed by marauding members of the abolitionist Jayhawkers. But "Ride with the Devil" is also the story of their unusual ally Holt (an astonishing Jeffrey Wright), who's fighting for the South despite being a former slave. A rumination on identity and loyalty, both political and personal, the film is a provocative challenge to preconceptions about America's bloodiest conflict. New director's cut featuring 13 minutes of added footage; new, restored high-definition digital transfer with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, approved by director Ang Lee and director of photography Frederick Elmes. Extras: Two audio commentaries, one featuring Lee and producer-screenwriter James Schamus and one featuring Elmes, sound designer Drew Kunin, and production designer Mark Friedberg; new video interview with star Jeffrey Wright; booklet featuring an essay by critic Godfrey Cheshire. (The Criterion Collection).
More Titles
"It's Complicated" (2009) (Universal), "The Jackal" (1997) (Universal), "Out of Africa 25th Anniversary Edition" (1985) (Universal), "Traffic" (2000) (Universal), "Armageddon" (1998) (Touchstone), "Tombstone" (1993) (Touchstone), "Five Minutes of Heaven" (2009) (IFC Films), "District 13: Ultimatum" (2009) (Magnolia Home Entertainment), "Disgrace" (2008) (Image Entertainment), ""Elizabeth" (1998)(Universal), "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (2007) (Universal), Dune" (1984) (Universal)
DVD Dates
