Home Media Magazine - September 16-22, 2007 - (Page 24)

REVIEWS HIGH-DEF SPOTLIGHT I 300 Warner, Action, B.O. $210.6 million, $34.99 Blu-ray, $39.99 HD DVD/DVD combo, ‘R’ for for graphic battle sequences throughout, some sexuality and nudity. Stars Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, David Wenham, Dominic West, Rodrigo Santoro, Vincent Regan, Michael Fassbender, Andrew Tiernan, Andrew Pleavin. www.homemediamagazine.com I SPIKE JONES: THE LEGEND Prebook 9/18; Street 10/30 Infinity, Comedy, $49.98 four-DVD set, NR. If You Had Only One Hour, What Would You Ask? “Fascinating.” “###" – The Daily Texan - Minneapolis StarTribune – St. Louis Post-Dispatch “Fantastic" “Enlightening “###" - The Austin Chronicle provocative highly engaging” – The Washington Post “electrifying.” – The Boston Herald Marketing Campaign A DIFFERENT READ ON LIFE Prebook date: 09/18/2007 Street date: 10/23/2007 10 QUESTIONS FOR THE DALAI LAMA / DVD 85 min./Color/Cat# 300012 UPC: 0 12233 00012 2 ISBN: 978-1-56994-399-1 $24.95/SRP pike Jones was a true entertainer — a musician, comedian and all-around talent who moved easily from zany to sometimes semi-serious. During his handful of stints hosting “The Colgate Comedy Hour” on NBC, Jones wowed early television audiences with his capacity for way-out comedy and bizarre musical stunts. This multidisc collection of episodes featuring Jones hosting the show is a real hoot. The first disc features his initial 1951 appearance on the show, including the usual array of physical comedy and standards. Old pals Doodles Weaver and Gale Robbins help Jones through a series of sight gags and acrobatics, along with songs such as “Laura,” “Glow Worm,” “Chloe,” “All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth” and “Cocktails for Two.” The first disc also has Weird Al Yankovic ruminating on what made Jones so entertaining, and how his own career was influenced by the musical madman. Joining Jones in episodes on the other discs in the collection are Jim Backus and Liberace, while an audio CD contains a presentation of two radio show pilots. Special features include interviews with Jones and footage from an appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” This is old-school comedy that entertains by letting loose, a nostalgic reminder of not only how TV did things way back when, but what an admirable talent Jones was in so many ways. S oth the HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc incarnations of the surprise blockbuster 300 feature breathtaking visuals in high-def, but there’s a huge gap in the all-important extras between the competing platforms. While most films that come out on both platforms are identical twins, the HD DVD version of 300 is the better buy, thanks to its robust offering of extras. Warner has given the HD DVD version the full next-gen treatment with a number of features that are sure to become standards as more studios embrace the options of high-definition. The picture-in-picture feature shows how director Zack Snyder turned the bluescreen action into cinematic glory. The commentary from Snyder keeps this option entertaining throughout, even after the actual before-and-after shots become stale. The ability to watch and learn about an entire movie is something that is sure to help film students learn about CGI. The HD DVD disc also has some innovative Web-enabled extras for gamers who watch the film on their Xbox 360s or cinephiles who connect their standalone HD DVD players to the Internet. One feature allows you to pick your favorite scenes, organize the clips and save them on your player’s hard drive or post them online. There’s also a rudimentary Vengeance and Valor video game, which marries film elements with board games like Risk and Checkers. Players can face off against other opponents online. As the marriage between games and Hollywood continues to grow, this type of test is likely the beginning of new and more complex interactive offerings on HD DVD. It’s great to see a studio take a new step in this convergence direction, especially since gamers only had a PSP 300 game for the film’s launch. The final element on the HD DVD is something most studios will likely embrace — online commerce. While movie fans have long been downloading ringtones and wallpapers via computers and cell phones, this disc has a “Take 300 Wherever You Go” link that allows these purchases to be made through the connected HD DVD player. The Blu-ray version features a brilliant 1080i high-def transfer, but only includes the extras from the standard DVD (the HD DVD has these same extras). Included on this disc are 1080i/MPEG 2 video elements: a behind-the-scenes documentary, the featurette “Preparing for Battle: The Test Footage,” and four minutes of deleted scenes with commentary by Snyder. There also are 12 webisodes on the making of the film, and audio commentary with Snyder, screenwriter Kurt Johnstad and cinematographer Larry Fong (which is different than the picture-in-picture HD DVD version). – John Gaudiosi B — Dan Bennett www.thedalailamamovie.com For Ordering Assistance Please Call 1 800 424 2593 24 Home Media Magazine September 16–22, 2007 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.montereymedia.com http://www.thedalailamamovie.com

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Contents News Commentary TV DVD Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Christian Entertainment Review

Home Media Magazine - September 16-22, 2007

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