This week on DVD and Blu-ray - July 1st 2008

This week on DVD and Blu-ray - July 1st 2008.

What's New
By Jason P. Vargo
FIRST ONLINE Jul 1, 2008

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Last summer, in between trying to catch up on "Smallville," two shows got me through three tedious months of reality garbage. One, "Damages," is already on DVD. The other, AMC's "Mad Men," hits disc this week. It's criminal-to me, anyway-the super duper special packaging in the form of a Zippo lighter only comes attached to the standard def version and not the Blu-Ray set. Seriously, why doesn't Lionsgate want to pimp both formats with a snazzy, eye-catching collectible metal case? I'll grant it is entirely possible the suits feel the show speaks for itself to the Blu-Ray fans...but still. I want superfluous material with the BEST SHOW OF LAST YEAR! Kudos, though, to Lionsgate for setting the MSRP for the BD set one penny more than its counterpart. (Oh yeah, new season starts at the end of July. I'll remind you, don't worry.)

Where else are we going today? How about into the groovy way back machine with the first of many tie-ins to the upcoming "The Dark Knight." In this case, we're talking 1966's "Batman: The Movie," the only Adam West adventure to be seen on legit DVD (or Blu-Ray, as is the case here). Do keep in mind Warner has some "Batman" related material coming next week.

Not content to only ride the coattails of another studio's big screen endeavor, Fox also brings yet another "X-Files" set to the shelf, this time collecting eight episodes onto a two disc set called "Revelations," in prep for their own July 25 debut of "The X-Files: I Have a Really Stupid Name"...er..."The X-Files: I Want to Believe."

Now, let me share just how disappointing "Vantage Point" was this spring. A stellar cast, fascinating premise...all thrown together in such a way the sixth season of "24" looks like Shakespeare. And we all know how badly that season sucked and blew at the same time. Apparently, it is possible. Sony throws three iterations of the Matthew Fox/Dennis Quaid thriller at us: a single disc widescreen edition; two disc Special Edition (with both widescreen and fullscreen versions, not to mention my favorite extra, BONUS DIGITAL COPY); and a Blu-Ray Disc edition. I haven't seen the disc yet, but the BD copy has a nifty-sounding feature allowing the viewer to track the location of every character.

One acclaimed and one not-so-acclaimed flicks , "My Blueberry Nights" and "City of Men," street today in standard, non-bonus digital copy editions. The first stars a bevy of talent including Jude Law, Natalie Portman, singer Norah Jones, Rachel Weisz and David Stratharin while the latter stars no recognizable names, yet manages to rate a positive mention on every movie-related podcast I get my hands on. Go figure.

There is a little movie called "Gangs of New York" being released on high def today, too. Considering the controversy about the transfer, I'll only mention it's available and then move on. Move on to what, you ask? A new edition of cult classic (in standard def) "Heathers," a high def Clint Eastwood finding himself "In the Line of Fire," Tyler Perry's latest "Meet the Browns" (single, double and Blu-Ray discs--the latter two include OMG! BONUS DIGITAL COPY!) and...um...that's it? Remember, we're entering the dog days of summer...at least in home entertainment land. Time to save some pennies for the inevitable onslaught starting in September.

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