Home Media Magazine - March 16-22, 2009 - (Page 22) NEWS www.homemediamagazine.com Reliving ‘Woodstock’ By Thomas K. Arnold PRODUCT Warner Home Video will release a lavish Ultimate Collector’s Edition of seminal rock concert film Woodstock. The 1970 Oscar-winning documentary will be released on both DVD and Blu-ray Disc June 9 (prebook May 5), just two months shy of the 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. The event, held Aug. 15-18, 1969, saw a half-million people descend on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm in Bethel, N.Y., for three days of music from 32 performers, including Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, The Who, Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin and Santana. The concert’s cultural legacy — it is seen today as one of the defining moments of 1960s pop culture as well as a coda of sorts to the era’s idealism — was celebrated a year later in the film, directed by Michael Wadleigh and edited by Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker. It received an Academy Award for best documentary feature and has been deemed “culturally significant” by the Library of Congress. Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music features the 1994 director’s cut of the film, with a run time of more than four hours. In addition the Ultimate Collector’s Edition contains two extra hours of rare performance footage, much of it never before seen. “It’s an amazing package,” says Jeff Baker, the Warner EVP who is overseeing the film’s release. “To everyone who grew up in the 1960s, it’s a trip down memory lane. To everyone else, it’s a nostalgic time cap- ‘Valkyrie’ Lands on DVD and BD May 19 sule from an era that truly changed American society, American culture, American life.” The two extra hours of concert footage include 18 new performances from 13 artists, including Santana, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, Canned Heat and Joe Cocker. Five of them are from artists that played at Woodstock but never appeared in any film version. A third hour of bonus material includes a featurette gallery with interviews with Scorsese, producer Michael Lang, director Wadleigh and others who chronicle the making of the festival and the film. Exclusive to the $69.99 Blu-ray Disc: a “Customize Your Own Woodstock Playlist” functionality and other special features such as Media Center, My Commentary, and Live Community Screening. Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace & Music will be packaged in a gift box at $59.98, numbered as part of a limited run with such collectibles as a reprint of a Life magazine commemorative issue, a lucite lenticular display of festival photos, assorted memorabilia and an iron-on patch with the classic bird-and-guitar Woodstock emblem. A simpler two-DVD set will also be available at $24.98. By John Latchem PRODUCT Director Bryan Singer’s Valkyrie will debut on DVD and Bluray Disc May 19 (prebook April 22) from MGM and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The film, based on a true story, stars Tom Cruise as Nazi Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, who in the midst of World War II led a conspiracy to kill Adolf Hitler. Rounding out the cast are Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp, Bill Nighy and Eddie Izzard. Valkyrie will be available in three configurations: a bare-bones singleDVD edition at $29.98; a $34.98 twoDVD set with two commentaries, two featurettes and a digital copy; and a Blu-ray version with all the specialedition DVD material plus five more featurettes and a digital copy. The film grossed $82.9 million at the domestic box office last year. JUST ANNOUNCED A Weekly Product Update* Valkyrie STREET DATE Bride Wars BOX OFFICE (MILLIONS) Underworld: Rise of the Lycans TITLE PREBOOK GENRE PRICE Valkyrie 5/19 4/22 $82.9 Drama DVD $29.98, BD $39.99 Fox/MGM. 2009. Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp, Bill Nighy, Eddie Izzard. Based on a true story, it chronicles the German plot, led by Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Also available in a two-DVD special edition ($34.98). Bride Wars 4/28 4/1 $58 Comedy DVD $29.98, BD $39.99 E1 Nabs ‘Bang Bang Club’ By Billy Gil 1 Entertainment has announced it acquired worldwide distribution rights to The Bang Bang Club, a drama about photographers capturing the end of apartheid in South Africa. Directed by Steven Silver, the film will star Ryan Phillippe, Malin Akerman and Taylor Kitsch. “We are proud to be the worldwide distributor of this amazing story that shows the many complex facets of humanity, and to have such a talented cast portraying the lives Fox. 2009. Anne Hathaway, Kate Hudson, Candice Bergen, Kristen Johnson. When a clerical error puts the dream weddings of two best friends on the same day, they turn into Bridezillas intent on sabotaging each other’s wedding. Underworld: Rise of the Lycans 5/12 4/9 $45.8 Horror DVD $28.96, BD $39.95 E of these fearless individuals,” said Patrice Theroux, E1’s president of Filmed Entertainment. Akerman stars as Laurie Jupiter/ Silk Spectre II in Warner Bros.’ Watchmen, currently the No. 1 film at the U.S. box office, taking in $55.7 million its opening weekend. Silver is a documentarian of such films as The Last Just Man, Diameter of the Bomb and animated documentary TV series “The Dark Years” — The Bang Bang Club is Silver’s narrative feature film debut. Sony Pictures. 2009. Michael Sheen, Bill Nighy, Rhona Mitra. This prequel to the franchise is the origin story for the blood feud between the vampires and werewolves. Also available on UMD ($24.94) and as a complete trilogy with Underworld and Underworld: Evolution (DVD $47.95, BD $92.95). Splinter 4/14 3/17 $0.01 Horror DVD $26.98 Magnolia. 2008. Paul Costanzo, Jill Wagner, Rachel Kerbs, Shea Whigham. The romantic weekend plans of a couple are ruined when they are car-jacked by a convict and his parasite-infected girlfriend. Incendiary 5/5 4/7 DTV Thriller DVD $27.98, BD $35.98 Image. 2009. Michelle Williams, Ewan McGregor. Based on the novel by Chris Cleave, a young woman is devastated when her husband and infant are killed in a suicide bombing while she is meeting her secret lover. Reaper: Season Two 6/2 5/6 TV Fantasy DVD $39.98 Lionsgate. The four-DVD set includes all 13 episodes from the 2009 season of the show about a slacker whose parents sold his soul to the devil, forcing him to work as a bounty hunter for Satan. Includes deleted scenes, a gag reel and audio commentaries with the cast. * In order of box office, then prebook date 22 Home Media Magazine March 16–22, 2009 http://www.homemediamagazine.com
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