RA: Renters Anonymous - January 6th, 2009
New Releases
Pineapple Express - 6.8/10 - Trailer
Starring Seth Rogen, James Franco, Gary Cole, Rosie Perez, Danny R. McBride, Amber Heard, Craig Robinson, Kevin Corrigan, Ed Begley Jr, Nora Dunn
Lazy court-process clerk and stoner Dale Denton has only one reason to visit his equally lazy dealer Saul Silver: to purchase weed, specifically, a rare new strain called Pineapple Express. But when Dale becomes the only witness to a murder by a crooked cop and the city’s most dangerous drug lord, he panics and dumps his roach of Pineapple Express at the scene. Dale now has another reason to visit Saul: to find out if the weed is so rare that it can be traced back to him–and it is. As Dale and Saul run for their lives, they quickly discover that they’re not suffering from weed-fueled paranoia: incredibly, the bad guys really are hot on their trail and trying to figure out the fastest way to kill them both. All aboard the Pineapple Express.
Single-Disc Special Features:
- 2.40:1 Widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1
- Both Theatrical and Extended Versions of the film
- Filmmaker and cast commentary
Extended and Alternate Scenes- Gag Reel
- The Making of “Pineapple Express”
2-Disc Special Features:
- All of the features of the Single Disc DVD plus:
- Deleted Scenes
- More Extended and Alternate Scenes
- Phone Booth
- Line-O-Rama
- Direct-O-Rama
- Item 9
- Saul’s Apartment
- Raw Footage
- Rehearsal Footage
First Table Read- Comic-Con Panel
- 5 Behind-The-Scenes Featurettes: “The Action of Pineapple Express”, “Begley’s Best”, “Red and Jessica’s Guide to Marriage”, “Injury Report”, “Stuntmaster Ken”
- Digital Copy of the Film
Blu-ray Features:
- 2.40:1 Widescreen 1080p Transfer with Dolby TrueHD 5.1
- All of the features of the 2-Disc DVD, plus:
- Jonah Hill on Set
- BD-Live Enabled
- Digital Copy of the Film
Recommendation: Buy
Righteous Kill -6.9 /10 - Trailer
Starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Curtis Jackson, Carla Gugino, Donnie Wahlberg, Brian Dennehy, John Leguizamo
Two veteran New York City detectives work to identify the possible connection between a recent murder and a case they believe they solved years ago; is there a serial killer on the loose, and did they perhaps put the wrong person behind bars?
Special Features:
- 2.35:1 Widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1
- Commentary with Jon Avnet
- “The Investigation: An In-Depth Look at Righteous Kill”
“The Thin Blue Line: An Exploration of Cops & Criminals”- Theatrical Trailer
Blu-ray Features:
- 2.35:1 Widescreen 1080p Transfer with Dolby TrueHD 5.1
- All of the features of the DVD release, plus:
- A Digital Copy of the Film
- BD-Live Enabled
Recommendation: Pass
Babylon A.D. - 3.9/10 - Trailer
Starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Melanie Thierry
Veteran-turned-mercenary Thoorop takes the high-risk job of escorting a woman from Russia to America. Little does he know that she is host to an organism that a cult wants to harvest in order to produce a genetically modified Messiah.
Rated/Unrated DVD Special Features:
- 1.85:1 Widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1
- Both Theatrical (90mins) and Uncut (101mins) Versions
- Trailers
Unrated Special Edition Special Features:
- 1.85:1 Widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1
- Unrated Version (101mins)
- Deleted Scene
- Babylon Babies
- Arctic Escape
- Fit for the Screen
- Flight of the Hummers
- Genesis of Aurora
- Still Gallery
Digital Copy of the Film
Blu-ray Features:
- 1.85:1 Widescreen 1080p Transfer with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- All of the features of the Unrated Special Edition DVD, plus:
- BD Exclusive: Interactive “Scene Evolution” in BonusView Mode
Recommendation: Pass
Bangkok Dangerous - 4/10 - Trailer
Starring Nicolas Cage, Charlie Yeung, Chakrit Yamnam
A professional hit man, who picks someone of the street to do his errands, and after he is finished kills that person. His next assignment takes him to Bangkok, and as usual, he finds a street kid named Kong to help him. After Kong has a close call and learns who he is, asks him to train him and he does. He also meets a local girl who is deaf and spends time with her. However, has a hard keeping his other life from her, and it also appears, the person who hired him, breaks his rule of complete anonymity and tries to find him.
Special Features:
1.85:1 Widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1- Alternate Ending
- Theatrical Trailer
- Featurettes: “From Hong Kong to Bangkok - A Cinematic Movement”, “Bangkok Dangerous: The Execution of the Film”
- Digital Copy of the Film
Blu-ray Features:
- 1.78:1 Widescreen 1080p Transfer with DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
- All of the features of the DVD release
Recommendation: Pass
The Wackness - 7/10 - Trailer
Starring Ben Kingsley, Josh Peck, Famike Janssen, Olivia Thirlby
It’s the summer of 1994, and the streets of New York are pulsing with hip-hop. Set against this backdrop, a lonely teenager named Luke Shapiro spends his last summer before university selling marijuana throughout New York City, trading it with his unorthodox psychotherapist for treatment, while having a crush on his stepdaughter.
Special Features:
- 2.35:1 Widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1
- Commentary with Jonathan Levine and Josh Peck
- “Keeping it Real: A Day in the Life of Jonathan Levine”
“Time in a Bottle: Behind the Scenes of The Wackness”- “The Luke Shapiro Show”
- Trailers
Blu-ray Features:
- 2.35:1 Widescreen 1080p Transfer with Dolby TrueHD 5.1
- All of the features of the DVD release, plus:
- Deleted Scenes
Recommendation: Rent
Disaster Movie - 1.3/10
Starring Matt Lanter, Vanessa Minnillo, Nicole Parker, Crista Flanagan
The worst movie ever made.
Over the course of one evening, an unsuspecting group of twenty-somethings find themselves bombarded by a series of natural disasters and catastrophic events.
Full-Screen Special Features:
- 1.33:1 Fullscreen with Dolby Digital 5.1
- Theatrical Version of the film
- Cast and Crew Commentary
Featurettes: “Girl Fight”, “G-Thang’s Tour”, “Straight From the Ladies”, “This is How We Do It”, “Who’s Spoofing Who”, “High School Musical Sing-a-long”, “I’m Fucking Matt Damon Sing-a-long”
Unrated Cataclysmic Edition Special Features:
- 1.78:1 Widescreen with Dolby Digital EX 5.1
- Unrated Version of the Film
- All of the features of the Fullscreen version
Blu-ray Features:
- 1.78:1 Widescreen with DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1
- All of the features of the Unrated DVD, plus:
- Sitting Down With a Stand-Up
- MoLog
Recommendation: Pass (If you even look at the cover of the DVD you will go blind)
Re-Releases
IMAX: Ultimate Collection
A 20-Disc DVD collection of IMAX documentaries
- Hail Columbia! (1982)
- The Dream is Alive (1985)
- Blue Planet (1990)
- Mountain Gorilla (1992)
- Fires of Kuwait (1992)
- Secret of Life on Earth (1993)
- Destiny in Space (1994)
- Into the Deep (1994)
- Cosmic Voyage (1996)
- L5: First City in Space (1996)
- Survival Island (1996)
- Hidden Dimension (1997)
- Mission to Mir (1997)
- Mark Twain’s America (1998)
- T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous (1998)
- Galapagos (1999)
- China: The Panda Adventure (2001)
- Space Station (2002)
- NASCAR: The IMAX Experience (2004)
- Deep Sea (2006)
Recommendation: Buy (For documentary/IMAX buffs)
The Last Emperor: Criterion Collection (Blu-ray) - 8.1/10
Starring John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O’Toole, Ruocheng Ying, Victor Wong
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People’s Republic.
Blu-ray Features:
- 2.00:1 Widescreen 1080p Transfer with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Commentary with Bernardo Bertolucci, Jeremy Thomas, Mark Peploe and Ryuichi Sakamoto
- The Italian Traveler
- Video Images by Bertolucci in China
- The Chinese Adventure of Bernardo Bertolucci
- A 47-minute documentary featuring Storaro, editor Gabriella Cristiana, costume designer James Acheson, and art director Gianni Silvestri
- A 66min documentary exploring Bertolucci’s creative process
- A 30min interview with Bertolucci from 1989
- A new interview with David Byrne
- A new interview with Ian Buruma
- Theatrical Trailer
- Booklet featuring an essay by critic David Thomson
Recommendation: Buy
The Unrated Blogger’s Cut
I really enjoyed Pineapple Express and since Apatow film’s are always packed with special features I will be picking up the 2-Disc DVD of this one. Other than that I’ll be picking up The Wackness as a rental after hearing some good reviews about it. And I’ll say it again, if anyone sees Disaster Movie than you are dead to me.
Coming Soon:
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