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The DVD Special Feature I Love: Felicity's "Docuventary"
by Armchair Commentary at 12:07 PM PDT, July 9, 2008
Best of the Month: Editors' Picks for July
by Armchair Commentary at 1:50 PM PDT, July 7, 2008
Below are our Significant Seven selections for the Best of the Month. For more about the DVDs on this list, plus our picks for Seven on the Side, visit our Best of the Month store. -- Ellen
I'm Enchanted by "The D-Files"
by Armchair Commentary at 5:40 PM PDT, March 29, 2008
 I really enjoyed Enchanted's parody/homage approach to classic Disney movies, so I was eager to try "The D-Files," a special feature on the Blu-ray disc. It's a game that gives you pop-up questions about which movie is being referred in a certain scene. For example, when Giselle and Robert are out for pizza: which Disney classic also has an Italian-restaurant scene? Or which song is "Happy Working Song" based most closely on? If you pick the correct multiple-choice answer, you jump to an interview with director Kevin Lima or with songwriters Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, or to a side-by-side comparison with the classic scene. It can be a little frustrating if time expires or if you pick the wrong answer (you can chapter-skip back for another try, but then you don't get to watch the video), and a normal commentary or pop-up-trivia track probably would have been more informative (for example, they point out the cameo by Paige O'Hara, who sang the part of Belle, but not the one by Judy Kuhn, who sang in Pocahontas, and Giselle running through the grass field with her arms outstretched doesn't merit a question--presumably because that's not from a Disney film). But it's a fun feature that kids can participate in, and the classic clips appear to be remastered for high definition. If that's what a Beauty and the Beast Blu-ray is going to look like... well, I can't wait to see it! --David
View "Cafe Triste," an exclusive deleted scene from "Juno"
by Armchair Commentary at 1:44 PM PDT, March 28, 2008
Watch an exclusive deleted scene from Juno below, or visit our Juno store. --Libby
Amazon Wire #54
by Amazon Wire at 10:01 AM PST, December 19, 2007
This week on Amazon Wire we're talking to Ridley Scott about the new Blade Runner: Ultimate Collector's Edition.
Thanks for listening! *Stream above with Flash player * Download the podcast * Explore more podcasts A Bevy of "Blade Runner" on DVD, Blu-ray, and HD DVD (plus an interview with Ridley Scott)
by Armchair Commentary at 2:04 AM PST, December 13, 2007
 Old-timers (relatively speaking) might remember that Blade Runner was released very early in the DVD era, but only in a director's cut--if you wanted to see the version you saw in theaters you were out of luck. Now here comes Blade Runner: The Final Cut in one of the most ambitious--and confusing--DVD releases yet. First of all, the Final Cut is what director Ridley Scott says is his definitive version of the movie. But you have many choices in how much Blade Runner you want. You can find complete details in our guide, but here's a quick run-down:
How to Watch "Pride & Prejudice" and Still Be Happily Married
by Armchair Commentary at 11:43 AM PST, December 4, 2007
 It's a truth universally acknowledged that thoughts of Mr. Darcy can put a temporary strain on even the happiest marriages. New editions of Pride & Prejudice (starring Keira Knightley) have just been released, and while we hope Austen fans will continue to enjoy the film, we'd like to offer these reality checks should viewers find themselves on Matthew Macfadyen-overload. (Hint: If you watch the film once through, then the highlights, then again with commentary all in a 24-hour period you should put down the remote and begin treatment immediately.)
If all else fails, encourage your mate to brood every once and while. The secret to romance is mystery, so whether it's the office or the playoffs, keeping all that pain inside--now and then--can go a long way. 
--Leah "Floating Head" Crimes, Part II
by Armchair Commentary at 12:10 PM PDT, September 26, 2007
In a previous post we looked at cool theatrical posters that disappeared when the DVD needed to be marketed, where conceptual art gets replaced by the dreaded "floating heads."
Here's another example. Does this movie not seem more intriguing when it looks like this:  instead of this?  But there's a silver lining: Thankfully, they at least kept it for the blu-ray version...  Guess that's what you spend the extra $10 on... -- Ellen Comic-Con Wrapup: Blade Runner, 300, Heroes and the TV Takeover
by Armchair Commentary at 12:11 AM PDT, July 30, 2007
Comic-Con's over, but the discussions have just begun: Has it gotten too big/too commercial/too (insert complaint here)? Is the TV show/movie created by/starring (insert talented and/or gorgeous person here) really a must-see? I'll dive right in with some highlights:  Hollywood Reporter declared it the year of TV, and I can't disagree. The Lost session was huge (spoiler post coming next -- consider yourself warned) and the Heroes session huger, with thousands of people inside and hundreds outside, dying to hear tidbits like the fact that Kevin Smith will write and direct the first episode of the spinoff Heroes: Origins. Expect new episodes of the main show starting Sept. 24.  At the Warner Brothers session, comics legend Frank Miller addressed the notion that 300 (which will be released on DVD and video download Tuesday) is somehow about George Bush and the Middle East: "It's a wonderful story and you can politicize it, but why make it boring?" Director Zack Snyder (who also directed Dawn of the Dead) lightened the mood by describing a possible sequel to 300: "They come back as zombie Spartans!" A little later, famed director Ridley Scott promised that he hasn't "pulled a George Lucas" with Blade Runner: The Final Cut. However, he admitted to reshooting the scene where Zora (Joanna Cassidy) smashes through panes of glass, replacing a stunt double with an apparently ageless Cassidy herself, who told fans: "What an opportunity it was to come back 25 years later and put on the costume -- and have it fit!" The newest (and ostensibly, last) version of the 1982 sci-fi classic will come out as part of a five-disc "ultimate" set Dec. 18, featuring nearly an hour of deleted scenes, the "workprint" version, a new documentary about the making of the film ("It was a bitch," Harrison Ford said in a clip shared with eager Comic-Conners). Oh, and -- spoiler alert -- Scott re-confirmed what most hardcore fans already seem to agree upon: He thinks Deckard (Ford's character) is a replicant. And if he had an idea for a sequel, he'd already have made it. Hmmmm .... zombie replicants? -- Stephanie Reid-Simons, TV Freak Directions in DVD: Repackaging the classics
by Armchair Commentary at 5:19 PM PDT, May 1, 2007
 We all know that the goal of movie studios is to make us buy as many DVDs as possible, and it's even better if we buy the same movies multiple times. Warner Home Video just came out with something they call Essential Classics, and at first I dismissed it as just another series of repackagings (all the movies have been on DVD before), but it's a little more interesting upon a closer look. First, these really are some classic movies because Warner's huge catalog allows them to include films from RKO (Citizen Kane), MGM (The Wizard of Oz), and Warner Bros. (Casablanca), among others. Second, Warner really cares about their classics, putting out some of the best DVDs when it comes to picture quality and bonus features. These "Essential Classics" consist of three movies per set, without the bonus discs from previous releases. So, for example, the Dramas set has The Maltese Falcon, Citizen Kane, and Ben-Hur on a total of four discs (Ben-Hur needs two just for the movie); if you want all the features, you'd have to get the three-disc Falcon, the two-disc Kane, and the four-disc Ben-Hur. Thus the Dramas set is missing the extra discs with documentaries, bonus movies, etc., though features that are on the movie discs themselves such as commentaries are still here. And you still get the movies in first-rate picture and sound (a number of them use Warner's Ultra Resolution technology).  Third, these are a very reasonable price. You can get each three-movie set for under $30; again using Dramas as an example, those three movies in the biggest editions would cost over $70 separately. Here's the set-by-set breakdown:
Yeah, The Goonies seemed like One of These Things Is Not Like the Others to me too, but ya gotta admit there's some great stuff in there. Personally speaking, I'm not going to jump on these because I'd rather have the editions with all the bonus features, but at that price, they might make good gifts. Any classic-film fans have any opinions on these sets? --David, Amazon Screening Room
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