By Peter M. Bracke

JUNE 8 - 10

New from Anchor Bay

Just announced from Anchor Bay for 8/7 are five new horror titles. First up are three new Hammer Collection discs, and all are presented in anamorphic widescreen and English 1.0 mono. The Blood From The Mummy's Tomb features interviews with star Valerie Leon and writer Christopher Wicking, a still gallery, trailers and radio spots; Horror Of Frankenstein features an audio commentary with writer and director Jimmy Sangster and Hammer Films historian Marcus Hearnan, an interview with star Veronica Carlson, a Carlson photo album, a gallery of fine art by Carlson, a still gallery with poster art, talent bios and trailers; and Scars Of Dracula includes an audio commentary with star Christopher Lee and director Roy Ward Baker moderated by Hammer Films historian Marcus Hearn, a still gallery with poster art, talent bios and the trailers. The first 10,000 copies of The Blood From the Mummy's Tomb features The Hammer Trailer Collection bonus disc. Retail is $24.95 each.

Also on 8/7, Anchor Bay will release not one but two different versions of the Halloween: Extended Edition. Originally, this version, which includes 12 additional minutes of footage originally shot for the television broadcast of Halloween back in 1981, and was only available as a part of the Halloween: Limited Collector's Edition two-disc set released back in 1999. But now Anchor Bay is now releasing it separately, in not one but two versions. Both releases include a 2.35;1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and an English 1.0 mono track. The second version, however, is entitled Halloween Extended Version with Film Clips, but no differences are noted on the announcement between these two versions. I have no idea what exactly "Extended Version with Film Clips" means, but there are two separate SKU numbers, so we'll try to find out more from Anchor Bay. Retail is $24.95 for each release.

Dizzy doctors

Columbia has just announced a 8/21 street date for the latest antics from The Three Stooges, Dizzy Doctors. Includes are "Dizzy Doctors," "Goofs and Saddles" and "Three Little Sew and Sews." Like all the Three Stooges discs from Columbia, these episodes are presented in full frame with English 1.0 mono tracks and English, French and Spanish subtitles. Retail is $19.95.

Street Date Alert

Buena Vista has just announced a 9/19 arrival date for the spring mega-hit Spy Kids, as well as a 9/11 date for the hit French thriller With A Friend Like Harry. Stay tuned for further details...

An apple a day

Check out Disney's new Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs website, for the full specs on the upcoming two-disc mega-set. This looks pretty impressive, complete with new 5.1 surround track, tons of supplement material, new cover art, and more. The disc touches down on 10/9.

Bridesmaid revisited

Columbia has just announced a couple of new titles, including the failed 1986 update of The Bride Of Frankenstein, The Bride, starring Sting and Jennifer Beals. The disc features a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese 2.0 surround and subtitle tracks, an audio commentary with director Franc Roddam, filmographies and trailers. Street date is 9/11 and retail $24.95. Also coming from Columbia is the teen comedy Wish Upon A Star, starring my fave Danielle Harris, and featuring a full frame transfer, English 2.0 surround track, audio commentary with director Blair Treu and writer Jessica Barondes, filmographies and bonus trailers. Retail is $24.95 and street date 8/21.

Miscellaneous Teen Comedy No. 3,417

Buena Vista has just announced a 8/14 street date for the latest teen comedy to tank at the box office, Get Over It. Despite starring the appealing Kirsten Dunst and Sisqo, this failed to drum up much business, even with its target Total Request Live audience. Perhaps they should have got Carson Daly to do a cameo? Anyway, the disc comes feature-packed, with an anamorphic widescreen transfer, English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks, audio commentary with director Tommy O’Haver and screenwriter R. Lee Fleming Jr., making-of featurette, deleted and extended scenes with commentary, "Love Scud" and "The Itch" music videos, two original audio-only songs, Martin Short outtakes and make-up test, and the trailer.

Street Date Alert

More new announcements from Columbia: Reptilian hits on 8/21, Wicked on 8/28, and Me You Them and Shadow Magic on 9/11. Coming from Buena Vista is Blow Dry and Shake, Rattle And Roll on 8/7, Finally, Universal has bumped the teen comedy Head Over Heels to 7/30, and issued the full press release for the next wave of Classic Monster Collection titles, due on 8/28.

Paging Private Ryan

After a successful worldwide theatrical run this past spring, the WWII drama Enemy At The Gates hits DVD on 8/14 from Paramount. The disc includes a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English 5.1 and 2.0 surround tracks, cast and crew interviews, an additional making-of featurette, deleted scenes and the theatrical trailer. Retail is $29.95.

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Along with already-announced The Mexican, on 8/7 DreamWorks will bow the little-seen Barry Levinson drama An Everlasting Piece (I know the title is supposed to refer to hairpieces, but, well, nevermind.) Few saw the film theatrically, but it has since gained more notoriety due to the lawsuit pending from one of the producers, who accuses the soon-to-be-knighted Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks of intentionally dumping the picture due to a perceived unflattering portrayal of Britain. In any case, the DVD features a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 surround tracks, production notes, cast biographies and the trailer. Retail is $24.95.

*Batteries not included

Universal has released a pic of the box art for the upcoming How The Grinch Stole Christmas DVD release, due in November, and, well, it glows. Do batteries come with this thing? (The color kinda reminds me of that old goop-in-a-can I used to buy as a kid, Slime. Remember that?) Anyway, this disc should be a pretty huge seller, and you can check out the full press release for the specs. Pretty scary!

Where for art thou, Willow?

You know, when we first introduced the new Status Report feature here a couple of months back, I thought it was going to be real easy to keep track of and update. Because of course most of these titles weren't gonna be released anytime soon, right? Foolish me. With Forrest Gump just announced, and The Godfather and Phantom Menace on the way, looks like there's going to be quite a number of spots opening up on the list real soon. Today Forrest Gump has been removed, and the George Lucas and Ron Howard fantasy Willow put up in its place. Of course, wouldn't ya know, this title is another one already in production, so check out the update for what's up with this one...

JUNE 5

At the drive-in

Ventura Distribution has just announced a quartet of "Summer Drive-In Movie Monster Mania" titles to hit DVD on 8/21. All of the titles feature mono soundtracks, "Drive-In Antics" with your hosts Fred Olen Ray and Miss Kim, trailers and vintage drive-in movie spots. The titles include Beast of the Yellow Night in non-anamorphic widescreen, along with a new Video Tribute to John Ashley and a still gallery, and Fear Chamber, also in non-anamorphic widescreen and featuring the uncut version of the film. Retail for each is $19.95. Also coming is The Phantom From 10,000 Leagues in full frame, and Curse Of the Vampires in non-anamorphic widescreen. Retail is $14.95 a pop.

An offer you can't refuse?

Humming off of the Paramount newswire, we're told to expect a very B-I-G announcement, complete with press conference, this upcoming Monday. What could this goody bag include? Hmmmmm, how about The Godfather Trilogy? Being held in New York City, Director Francis Ford Coppola and Paramount will hold an informal "Italian Street Festival" on 8th Street in the Park Slope area, made famous in the first two installments of Coppola's saga. This will be quite a lavish affair with 1,000 invited guests on hand, along with Coppola and members of the Paramount and American Zoetrope teams. The street will be decorated to take on the look and feel of '50s New York. The Godfather films will be released in a box set with all three films, along with a fourth disc including documentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes and more. The set is expected to arrive on 10/9. Watch for the full details this Monday.

Now on to that mild-mannered Forrest Gump, closet hater of chapter stops? That's probably what some thought back in 1995 when the laserdisc was released, which was one of the few LDs at the time that didn't include any chapter stops. That's right, none. Nada. Zip. (Wanna jump to a particular scene real fast? Too bad.) Word had it at the time that director Robert Zemeckis wanted no direct scene access so viewers couldn't jump around and destroy the flow of the film (never mind all the side breaks, of course.) Needless to say, those who remember the laserdisc are undoubtedly wondering if the upcoming two-disc DVD set arriving on 8/28 will lack chapter stops, too. Thankfully, according to Paramount PR, the answer is "No." The DVD will indeed include direct scene access, so you fans of scene-hopping are in luck.

Germ warfare

Just announced from Columbia TriStar, arriving on 8/21 is Todd Haynes controversial drama Safe, starring Julianne Moore. The disc features a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English 2.0 surround mix with English, French and Spanish subtitles, an audio commentary with Haynes, producer Christine Vachon and Moore, liner notes from the director, filmographies and trailers. Retail is $29.95.

Exciter

A little late with this one, but streeting today from Excite-DVD is the infamous, finally-arriving-on-DVD documentary Exhausted, aka "The John Holmes Story." This must-see was the inspiration behind P.T. Anderson's Boogie Nights (some would say Anderson's "liberal" lifting from Exhausted borders on plagiarism) and this DVD features the uncut version of Julia St. Vincent's insightful ode to Holmes.

You Boogie Nights fans may recall that New Line was originally going to include a condensed half-hour version of Exhausted on the two-disc Boogie Nights reissue they released last August, and though some early review samples included the doc, it was dropped from the final product amid much talk of rights issues and other problems.

Check out the Excite-DVD website for more info on how to get it, and dig that great packaging!

Image August exclusives

Image Entertainment has just announced their August wave of exclusives, with highlights including such gems as Attack From Mars, Cat In The Brain, Amphibian Man, two more volumes of I Spy, the biography Arnold Schwarzenegger: Hollywood Hero and a double feature of Hot Blooded Woman and my vote for title of the month, Confessions Of A Psycho Cat. Check out the Image website for the full list of titles.

JUNE 4

Divorce Court

Columbia has just announced a number of new titles and street date changes for August. Leading the pack is Kramer Vs. Kramer, the 1979 Academy Award winner for Best Picture as well as Best Actor Dustin Hoffman and Best Supporting Actress Meryl Streep. The disc features a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation, English and French mono tracks, a new documentary "Finding The Truth: The Making Of Kramer Vs. Kramer," filmographies, production notes and trailers. Retail is $24.95 and street date 8/28.

Three recent Columbia titles have also now been bumped to new street dates. The Next Karate Kid, The Mask Of Zorro (see the original announcement and full specs here) as well as My Best Friend's Wedding will all now street on 8/28. My Best Friend's Wedding includes two making-of features "Unveiled: The Making Of My Best Friend's Wedding" and the HBO First Look "On The Set," a "Say A Little Prayer" sing-along, "Wedding Do's and Don'ts" guide, a "My Best Friend's Wedding Album" still gallery, theatrical trailers, and DVD-ROM supplements including a "Who's The One For Me?" quiz and wedding slide show. There will be no audio commentary on the disc as previously announced. Retail is $24.95.

Last but not least, our roving multimedia reporter Mike Cidoni ,recently interviewed director Ivan Reitman for the upcoming theatrical release of Evolution, and the director not only discussed that upcoming DVD - which will include such goodies as an alternate ending and more - but also a new special edition reissue of his hit comedy Stripes. Columbia is currently prepping the disc, which may be out by the end of the year. Stay tuned for more details...

I could've had a V8?

Indie distributor First Look has just announced a 8/21 street date for the latest in director Michael Apted's acclaimed documentary series, 42Up. If you've never seen any of the"Up" series, they are very fascinating and certainly not to be missed by documentary buffs. The disc will be presented in 1.37:1 and English 2.0 stereo, and include an introduction by director Apted, his director's notes, a biography and his newly-recorded audio commentary. Retail is $29.95.

Infinifilm sneak peek

Well, this may just be the mother of all "easter eggs." One of our faithful readers Joe sent us in this major extra on New Line's Little Nicky DVD. This disc is actually a fully-functioning Infinifilm title, but you have to unlock it first. According to Joe, just pop in the disc and follow these instructions:

"First you have to start out where the Lord of the Rings preview is hidden, in the Special Features submenu. Click over to Adam Sandler sitting on the bench and the hidden halo over his head. Once you have the halo and view the hidden Lord of the Rings trailer, use the arrows on your remote and highlight the halo again. Once there, go Left, Down, Right and immediately press play and that will take you to the starting of the movie, and if you press "Skip" the Infinifilm banner will be on the screen and at the rest of the chapter stops. "

We've tried this out, and it works! Pretty neat, and if you have Little Nicky, there's your preview of the first proper Infinifilm title, Thirteen Days, due out on 7/10.

Say it ain't so!

Fox has sent along a couple of screen shots from their upcoming Say It Ain't So special edition. Click on the menu screen for two blow-ups...you've been warned!

Street Date Alert

Rounding out today's news, Warner has pushed the DVD release of The NeverEnding Story and The NeverEnding Story II from 8/21 to 9/4. Price and features remain the same.

JUNE 1 - 3

It's a mad, mad, mad, mad DVD

MGM has just announced their September DVD catalog lineup, highlighted by a number of long-awaited titles. Perhaps most anticipated is The Princess Bride special edition. While MGM will be leaving the existing movie-only edition on the shelves for $19.95, this new $29.95 set vastly improves on that mediocre release. The disc features a new 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English 5.1 and Spanish mono tracks, French and Spanish subtitles and English Closed Captions, two new audio commentaries, the first with director Rob Reiner and the second with writer William Goldman (note both of these are brand-new tracks and not taken from the Criterion laserdisc), a new "As You Wish" documentary, personal footage shot by actor Cary Elwes onset, the original making-of featurette, a still gallery, a collectible booklet and trailers. Looks pretty nice, and street date is 9/4.

Next up for 9/4 is a spate of westerns. All feature theatrical trailers and mono mixes except where noted. Comes A Horseman, Lawman and Quigley Down Under (in 2.0 surround) are in anamorphic widescreen, while Chato's Land, The Return Of A Man Called Horse (in 2.0 stereo) and Valdez Is Coming are non-anamorphic widescreen, and Along Came Jones is in full frame. Retail is $14.95 each.

The rest of the 9/4 slate features a number of more recent favorites. Two Jodie Foster-directed dramas include Home For The Holidays and Little Man Tate, both presented in anamorphic widescreen, English 5.1 and French 2.0 surround, and include audio commentaries with Foster and the theatrical trailers. Also coming is (drum roll, please) Eddie And The Cruisers, Under Fire, The Woman In Red and The French Lieutenant's Woman, all in anamorphic widescreen and with trailers. Under Fire and Eddie are in 2.0 stereo, French Lieutenant's Woman in mono, and The Woman In Red is full 5.1. Retail is $19.95 a pop.

Finally, on 9/18 comes a number of classics.It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World features a 2.55:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, English and French 5.1 surround tracks, the "Something A Little Less Serious" documentary, outtakes, deleted scenes and the trailer. Retail is $19.95. Also coming is Irma La Douce in anamorphic widescreen and mono along with the trailer, as well as Pocketful of Miracles, Sayonara and A Hole In The Head, all in 2.35:1 non-anamorphic widescreen, mono and with trailers. Finally, The Little Foxes and the 1937 version of King Solomon's Mines are in 1.37:1 and mono, and also include trailers. Retail is $19.95 each.

And last but not least, we've posted the full press release for the upcoming two-disc set of Hannibal, which elaborates further on the extra features. Looks to be a pretty great disc!