This Week on DVD and Blu-ray - March 3, 2009

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I promise in the coming weeks we have bigger and better releases than we´ve been getting. (Yeah, I mentioned the same thing last week). Next week we have "Pinocchio" while the week after is "Twilight" and "Punisher: WarZone." More James Bond goodness follows, not to mention "South Pacific" and "Seven Pounds" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (2008) and "Yes Man." Just hang on for one more week.

In preparation for the upcoming "Watchmen" movie, Warner bows "Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic" across both formats. DVD is a double disc affair; high def contains Digital Copy. To hear John tell it, Warner simply took panels from the graphic novel and moved a camera over them. There´s already a gaggle of merchandise related to the film; the most over-the-top product I´ve seen have been blue condoms. In the words of someone I used to know…yeah…

Warner Premiere streets the next in their DC Comics direct-to-DVD movies simply titled "Wonder Woman" (2-Disc DVD review). Regardless of the relative quality of the other flicks, Warner is always able to put together solid voice talent. Here, Keri Russell plays the titular Amazon, while Nathan Fillion is her love interest, Colonel Steve Trevor. "Spider-Man 2" villain Alfred Molina voices Ares. Rosario Dawson, Virginia Madsen, Marg Helgenberger and Oliver Platt also star. Three versions of the movie are available. The single disc DVD is for the mildly interested; a 2-Disc Special Edition contains Digital Copy, episodes from the "Justice League" series, commentary and documentaries. The same configuration is kept for the Blu-ray. Next up for the franchise: "Green Lantern."

Box office bomb "Australia" is given the proverbial shaft from Fox; a single disc DVD holds the movie and two deleted scenes. The BD is a bit better with featurettes, behind the scenes material and those deleted scenes. Box office champ "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" (DVD and Blu-ray) streets across both formats. Inexplicably, Disney got a smorgasbord of talent on board for this disaster, including Drew Barrymore, Andy Garcia, George Lopez, Cheech Marin, Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama from "Battlestar Galactica"), Lorette Devine and Jamie Lee Curtis. I shudder at the thought. Then there´s the Kristin Scott Thomas starrer "I´ve Loved You So Long" (BD review) followed by Tommy Less Jones, John Goodman, Peter Sarsgaard, Mary Steenburgen and Ned Beatty in "In the Electric Mist."

The only Blu-ray exclusive release worth mentioning this week is "The Silence of the Lambs." Extras include documentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, trailers, TV spots and outtakes. (Note the BD release of "Brokeback Mountain" was pushed to next week to coincide with the debut of "Milk" according to the Universal press site.)

On the DVD side, a couple family friendly titles hit the shelf. "Ace Ventura Jr: Pet Detective" and a Special Edition of "Air Bud" are new; the latter includes dog tags inside the package. "The Haunting of Molly Hartley" isn´t family friendly. Anthony Hopkins in "Hunchback of Notre Dame" is simply designed to tie in with "Lambs." Tom Berenger, William Forsythe and Michae Biehn find themselves in "Stiletto."

Now then…we have a lot of television product. Starting with classic "Doctor Who," Warner and BBC put out six new stories and a collection of those discs. "The Ribos Operation" (Story 98), "The Pirate Planet" (Story 99), "The Stones of Blood" (Story 100), "The Androids of Tara" (Story 101), "The Power of Kroll" (Story 102) and "The Armageddon Factor" (Story 103) are brand new to disc, as is "The Key of Time" collection. Each Special Edition disc comes with commentary, docs, featurettes, trailers, interviews and more TARDIS-related awesomeness.

While we´re on the subject of Warner TV, they celebrate the upcoming demise of "ER" with the tenth season of the show on disc. I remember watching some of these episodes when they originally aired (especially the heartbreaking "NICU") but, ultimately, I ditched the show thanks to a constantly revolving door of characters I didn´t care about. The series is slated to end on April 2. "Hotel Babylon: Season Three" (from the BBC) and "New York Islanders 10 Greatest Games" also streets from Warner.

Paramount brings the eighth season of "7th Heaven" on five discs along with the second season of "Nash Bridges," television movie "The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E." and "Rick and Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World" (S2). "The Hills: The Complete Fourth Season" is this week´s lone reality release.

Last up is the first season of "My Two Dads" and the third year of ABC Family series "Wildfire." There is one more year of the latter series to be released on DVD; it was canceled after season four ended in May, 2008.

FEATURED NEWS STORIES
For Titles Released March 3:
DVD/Blu-ray
• AUSTRALIA » "A spectacular saga with romance, drama, beauty, prejudice and danger set against historical fiction, AUSTRALIA "is the rare film that in visual and emotional scope lives up to the word EPIC". (Time) (20th Century Fox)

DVD/Blu-ray
• I'VE LOVED YOU SO LONG » "Kristin Scott Thomas is absolutely astounding! She gives one of the best performances of this or any year. A Stunning Film!" (Rolling Stone) (Sony Pictures)

DVD
• Jane Seymour in EAST OF EDEN » Considered the most faithful adaption of John Steinbeck's novel, the actress claims the six-hour miniseries was "the best role of my career" - now finally available on DVD! (Acorn Media)

Blu-ray
• THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS » Jonathan Demme's terrifying "Best Picture" Oscar winner remains one of the greatest horror-thrillers. (MGM)

DVD/Blu-ray
• WATCHMEN: The Complete Motion Comic » Contains all twelve, 30-minute chapters of "Watchmen," the most celebrated graphic novel of all time, adding motion, voice and sound to the book's strikingly drawn panels. (Warner Bros.)

DVD/Blu-ray
• WONDER WOMAN » Embark on a journey of untold beauty, grace and strength as Princess Diana uses her remarkable gifts and evolves into "Wonder Woman", the world's most renowned female super hero. DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation release the all-new animated original movie Wonder Woman. (Warner Bros.)

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Please Note - More details:
Be sure to check out the full details under related releases.

For other releases:
DVD & Blu-ray release calendar »

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