Home Media Magazine - February 23-March 1, 2009 - (Page 27) www.homemediamagazine.com NEWS Writer-director John Patrick Shanley with actress Meryl Streep on the set of Doubt. JUST ANNOUNCED A Weekly Product Update* Doubt STREET DATE Passengers BOX OFFICE (MILLIONS) Timecrimes TITLE PREBOOK GENRE PRICE Doubt 4/7 2/24 $30.3 Drama DVD $29.99, BD $34.99 Disney/Miramax. 2008. Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis. Set in 1964 in a Bronx Catholic parish, the old-fashioned school principal and the progressive new priest become embattled when she accuses him of inappropriate behavior with a student. Passengers 5/12 Now $0.29 Thriller DVD $24.96, BD $39.95 Disney’s ‘Doubt’ Coming April 7 Writer-director John Patrick Shanley discusses his Oscar-nominated movie, adapted from his play By Billy Gil hat black bonnet will haunt you. Anyone who’s seen Doubt, John Patrick Shanley’s acclaimed return to directing (his last directorial TALENT turn was 1990’s Joe Versus TALK the Volcano), is now familiar with Meryl Streep’s subzero gaze peering out from beneath her nun’s habit as she plays Sister Aloysius, the tough principal of a New York Catholic school who suspects her parish’s new, popular priest (Philip Seymour Hoffman) has molested one of the students. Just in time for the Academy Awards, for which Doubt secured five nominations, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has announced Doubt will release on DVD ($29.99) and Bluray Disc ($34.99) April 7 (prebook Feb. 24). The Doubt DVD and Blu-ray Disc both house the special features “From Stage to Screen,” in which Shanley discusses the history of Doubt, his inspirations for the story, and adapting his acclaimed play, with participation from Streep and Sister Margaret McEntee (Shanley’s former teacher, who served as a consultant on the film and who was formerly known as Sister James, the name of Amy Adams’ character in the film and play). The discs also include special features on composer Howard Shore’s musical score, interviews with Shanley and Streep on talking to real nuns in order to portray their lives accurately in the film, more cast interviews and a commentary with Shanley, for which he said they “put him in a booth and [he] just freely associated for the length of the film.” Bringing his Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-wining play to the DATE CHANGE. Sony Pictures. 2008. Anne Hathaway, Patrick Wilson, Andre Braugher, Clea DuVall, Dianne Wiest. A young therapist is determined to solve the mystery of a plane crash when the survivors she has been counseling begin to disappear. Timecrimes 3/31 3/3 $.04 Sci-Fi DVD $26.98 Magnolia. 2007. From Spanish writer-director Karra Elejalde and director Nacho Vigalondo comes the tale of an ordinary man who accidentally travels back through time. In Spanish with English subtitles. Special 3/31 3/3 $.007 Drama DVD $26.98 T Magnolia. 2008. Michael Rapaport. A soft-spoken comic book lover is accepted into an experimental drug study for an anti-depressant with a side effect that makes him think he is a superhero. Barbie Presents Thumbelina 3/17 Now DTV Animated DVD $19.98 Universal. 2008. This new twist on the magical tale of Thumbelina is environmentally themed, with bonus features such as the Flying Fairy Recycling Game and Thumbelina’s Green Thumb Challenge. Pokémon: Giratina and the Sky Warrior 3/31 Now DTV Animated DVD $19.98 Universal. 2008. A Pokémon named Shaymin witnesses a battle between two powerful Pokémon and is taken to an alternate universe that is related to the real world. No Country for Old Men: Collector’s Edition 4/7 2/24 Re-release Action DVD $32.99, BD $39.99 Disney/Miramax. 2008. Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem. A Vietnam vet keeps $2 million that he finds at the site of a drug deal gone wrong and ends up being chased by both law enforcement and the drug dealers’ hit man. Both the DVD and Blu-ray include digital copy. Nothing But the Truth 4/28 3/26 DTV Drama DVD $24.96 Sony Pictures. 2008. Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon, Alan Alda, Angela Bassett. A reporter writes a story exposing a government scandal and revealing the name of a covert CIA agent. When she refuses to identify her source she is sent to jail, and her case is appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Legally Blondes 4/28 4/1 DTV Comedy DVD $26.98 Fox/MGM. 2008. Becky and Milly Rosso. The third film in the franchise sees Elle Woods’ twin cousins moving from England to attend a prep school in California. The girls are instantly popular with everyone except a bitter rival who will stop at nothing to bring them down. Flirting With Forty 5/5 4/2 Cable Drama DVD $24.96 Sony Pictures. 2008. Heather Locklear, Robert Buckley, Vanessa A. Williams. The Lifetime Channel Original Movie based on Jane Porter’s novel tells the story of a divorced mother of two who learns her life begins at 40 years old. The Grudge 3 5/12 4/9 DTV Horror DVD $24.96 DATE CHANGE. Sony Pictures. 2009. Shawnee Smith, Marina Sirtis, Beau Mirchoff, Johanna E. Braddy, Aiko Horiuchi. Kayako and Toshio’s curse continues in this third installment of the franchise. Kayako’s sister, Naoko, may be the only hope of ending the family grudge for good. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season 7 5/12 4/15 TV Animated DVDs $14.98 each Lionsgate. To celebrate the Turtles’ 25th anniversary, season seven of the animated series featuring the heroes-in-a-half shell battling criminals and evil masterminds is available in four parts, sold separately on four DVDs. Each part includes an action figure. Terminator 2: Skynet Edition 5/12 4/22 Re-release Action BD $29.99, Set $174.99 Lionsgate. 1991. This special-edition Blu-ray has more than eight hours of interactive content, including quizzes, games, featurettes and more. The Limited Edition T2 Complete Collector’s Set has the Blu-ray, plus the Extreme Edition and Ultimate Edition DVDs as well as digital copy. Tom and Jerry’s Greatest Chases Vol. 2 6/16 5/12 Re-release Animated DVD $14.97 Warner. The DVD features 14 cartoon shorts of “Tom and Jerry” directed by Hanna-Barbera that were originally released between 1943 and 1951. Two of the shorts won Oscars for Best Short Subjects, Cartoons in 1945 and 1946: Mouse Trouble and Quiet Please!, respectively. * In order of box office, then prebook date screen was no easy feat for Shanley, who has said he wrote the play in part based on the experiences of someone he knew. While the play featured only four performers, the film brings the rest of the parish into the story and uses the school, church and Bronx neighborhood where Shanley grew up as the somber backdrop. “To take a story featuring only four characters and make it into a feature was a major challenge,” Shanley said. “Most modern plays do not succeed as films. “… The children the parishioners and the neighborhood they inhabit those were all natural things to show, and it was actually a bit unnatural, artificial in the way I did it as a [play].” By most accounts the choices Shanley made worked. The film was nominated for Academy Awards for best actress (Streep), actor (Hoffman), twice for supporting actress (Amy Adams as naïve Sister James and Viola Davis complexly delivering a brief role as the child in question’s mother), and best adapted screenplay for Shanley. A win would mean his second Oscar — his first was won for writing 1987’s Moonstruck, starring Cher. But Shanley isn’t sweating it too much; he is focused on writing another screenplay as well as going back to theater, in a more experimental direction, without press, he said. “I’ve been to a lot of awards ceremonies now, and there is something sadistic about opening an envelope so that four out of five [nominees] lose,” Shanley said, laughing. “It’s fun when you win, and it’s sort of relaxing when you don’t.” And besides, “I think it’s Slumdog’s year, let’s face it,” Shanley said. February 23–March 1, 2009 Home Media Magazine http://www.homemediamagazine.com
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