We’re here to keep you informed on hot choices for renting or buying new DVD releases. Released this week: Scary Movie 4, RV, Hoot, Apocalypse Now (2 Disc Special Collector’s Edition) and Rome: The Complete First Season.
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Here’s what is getting released today on DVD:
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Film:
Scary Movie 4 – This year’s edition plays on the same Airplane style type of comedy (enhanced with the addition of Leslie Neilsen in a supporting role) with the body fluid and homosexuality jokes scaled back though we do get the obligatory Brokeback Mountain parody. The star of this series remains the set designer for the level of detail recaptured in the different spoofs; I just wish the acting and writing was as consistent. Get the rest of Alan’s opinion on Scary Movie 4. Don’t miss out on extras like Commentary by the filmmakers, 15 deleted and extended scenes, bloopers and many featurette.
RV – Disconnected from his family and in trouble at work Bob Munro (Robin Williams) decides to gather his family, his teenage daughter Cassie (JoJo) and son Carl (Josh Hutcherson) and wife Jamie (Cheryl Hines), together and take an family vacation to Colorado (while secretly working on his proposal). Since his family was set on a trip to Hawaii they aren’t too happy with the change in plans.
Of course in this kind of trip all kinds of bad luck befalls Bob including being stuck on the front of the RV as it tumbles out of control, the explosion of the waste management system, attack of a pack of rabid raccoons, and a extra-cheery RV family (Jeff Daniels, Kristin Chenoweth, Hunter Parrish, Alex Ferris, and Chloe Sonnenfeld) who even sing and yodel and I’m pretty sure you have to shoot and bury in the desert in unmarked graves to get rid of. Get the rest of Alan’s opinion on RV.
Be sure to enjoy the director’s commentary, gag reel, alternate scenes and a few featurette on this DVD.
Hoot – Carl Hiaasen’s award winning young adult novel is adapted for the big screen, and now your TV. Director Wil Shriner does his best, but doesn’t pull off much from his adult actors, luckily his young talents pulls out all the stops. Hoot has a few funny moments and some save the animals, owls specifically, moral notes. Kids will love it, but adults will be quite bored.
Special Edition:
Apocalypse Now (2 Disc Special Collector’s Edition) – Seriously, you’re not going to make me explain Apocalypse Now to you? If you don’t know what this film it about, then you are not alive. However, I will let you know what the 2 Disc Collector’s Edition includes. Just in case 2 1/2 hours wasn’t enough for you, now they have added a whole extra 50 minutes. They didn’t just add scenes, but expanded and re-edited scenes that charged the atmosphere of this gloomy time in history. “What else?”, you ask. Not only do you get the extended longer version, but both the 1979 and 2001 versions, never before seen segments, Marlon Brando’s, in full, reading of T.S. Elliot’s poem “The Hollow Men” and so much more. If your a fan, then this collector’s edition is certainly for you and if you only appreciate the film then get it for the man in your life, or woman, who loves it.
Rome: The Complete First Season – HBO ventures out to epic proportions; Rome starts with a bang, slows a bit in the center and ends with an explosion. Shot on location in Rome and on one of the most genuine replicated sets and costumes made with nothing but the real articles found in those days, Rome is one of the most expensive productions in HBO history. The story of Julius Caesar unravels with intriguing characters and great talent from Ciaran Hinds, Kevin McKIdd, Ray Stevenson, James Purefoy and many others. HBO hit another one out of the park, let’s see if they hold onto to it. If a complaint would be made about this series it would be not enough battle, a war would start and end within a 5 minute period leaving the audience wanting to see more. The disc includes 12 episodes on 6 discs; commentary on multiple episodes with different actors and director, a closer look at “The Rise of Rome” fight scene and an extravagant behind the scenes look at set design and costuming. Wait for it, there is more; actor’s boot camp, a featurette on the culture of ancient Rome, photo gallery and an eight-page character guide. Here’s a DVD set with a party included in it.