Home Media Magazine - October 28-November 3, 2007 - (Page 21)

www.homemediamagazine.com PIPELINE The ‘Spinal Tap’ OF HIP-HOP By Billy Gil MUSIC Hip-hop music — in which artists such as Kanye West and 50 Cent try to bolster record sales with feuds contrived from their Hollywood mansions — is ripe for a send-up. Enter writer-director Damon “Coke” Daniels, who previously wrote My Babby’s Daddy, starring Eddie Grifﬁn and Michael Imperioli. His breakthrough as both writer and director comes with Gangsta Rap: The Glockumentary, a comedy in the vein of Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries (writer-star of This Is Spinal Tap). ThinkFilm will release the comedy on DVD Feb. 5, 2008, at $27.98. Orders are due Jan. 10, 2008. “It’s about a group of overthe-hill gangsta rappers [ from the mid-1980s] that are trying to make a big comeback in today’s oversaturated rap market,” Daniels explained. “They felt like NWA and Run DMC took off, but that they got slighted. “It’s sort of lampooning the overtly hard image of today’s gangsta rappers of, ‘I’ve been to the penitentiary, and I sold a lot of dope.’ But these are guys that jump when the car backﬁres.” Daniels said he’s a big fan of mockumentary ﬁlmmaking and This Is Spinal Tap, the landmark 1984 ﬁlm that hilariously spoofed the heavy metal genre. Similar to that ﬁlm, Gangta Rap’s actors de- Zombie’s ‘Halloween’ Remake Arrives in Q4 By Thomas K. Arnold HORROR What do you do with the DVD of a horror ﬁlm when its theatrical run takes place in the weeks leading up to Halloween? Wait a year for the next scary season? Not if you’re Genius Products. The mini-major is rushing Rob Zombie’s remake of the classic Halloween, from The Weinstein Co., into the fourth quarter. It’s due Dec. 18, a week before Christmas — and just 109 days after its theatrical debut. Two versions are being prepared, both priced at $29.95: the original theatrical version and an unrated director’s cut with 11 additional minutes of gruesome footage. Each version comes with a second disc of extras, including 17 deleted scenes, an alternate ending, bloopers, casting sessions, an interview and audio commentary with Zombie, and more. The theatrical DVD comes with both liver their would-be classic songs, “Beat Yo Mamma With a Hammer” and “In My House Shoes,” earnestly. A video is being shot for “House Shoes” and the soundtrack, with songs written by rapper Che Lewis, will be available from Delicious Vinyl. “The songs are hilarious, but they’re also good songs,” Daniels said. “I think [Lewis] really captured with the songs how stupid some of the songs on the radio are, where you hear the hooks and say, ‘Are you serious?’” Daniels’ background in hip-hop, having been signed as a rapper to Loud Records in the early 1990s, helped him develop the story and cast the ﬁlm, which stars Slink Capone, Howie Bell and Schuylar Harvey as the rappers Murder Mike, Du-Rag and DJ Ballistics. The ﬁlm also features cameos from rapper Too Short (real name Todd Anthony Shaw) and character actor Clifton Powell (Ray). The DVD will include a commentary from Daniels, deleted scenes and an update of Murder Mike, Du-Rap and DJ Ballistics after their botched attempt at regaining popularity — “Where Is They At?” The featurette reveals one of the characters moves to Utah, converts to Mormonism and marries nine women, after being shot outside of a club in the rear end. full-screen and widescreen versions of the ﬁlm, while the unrated director’s cut is widescreen only. Halloween grossed $57.1 million at the box ofﬁce and is a retelling of the 1978 John Carpenter classic of the same name, which is credited, along with 1974’s Black Christmas, as one of the cornerstones of the slasher ﬁlm subgenre. Zombie’s Halloween stars former world champion wrestler Tyler Mane (X-Men, Troy, The Scorpion King) as Michael Myers, a psychotic but silent killer who escapes from a mental institution, dons a haunting disguise and slashes his way through his hometown. The cast also includes Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange, “Heroes”), William Forsythe (The Devil’s Rejects, Freedomland) and Danny Trejo (Grindhouse, Once Upon a Time in Mexico). BEFORE THE VAULT CLOSES … By Billy Gil The notorious Disney Vault is about to close on five of the studio’s titles for an unspecified amount of time. Starting Jan. 31, Cinderella: Platinum Edition, Cinderella II: Dreams Come True — Special Edition, Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, Aladdin: Platinum Edition and the Aladdin II and III two-pack won’t be available for purchase. Before that, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Dec. 18 will re-release Cinderella II: Dreams Come True in a special ANIMATED edition, at $29.99. The disc will include a new game not included in the original release, featuring the mouse characters Jaq and Gus. The direct-to-video sequel Cinderella II, which consists of three shorter films parsed together, was poorly received by critics upon its 2002 release. However, new interest in the series surfaced when Cinderella III was released in February, topping the DVD sales chart the week ended Feb. 11, according to Home Media Research. Visit moreDVDinfo.com, call R. Stadin at 212-879-04448. Distributors: Baker&Taylor, Ingram & VPD http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://moredvdinfo.com

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Home Media Magazine - October 28, 2007 Contents News TV DVD Reviews Pipeline Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - October 28-November 3, 2007

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