DarkMode/LightMode
Light Mode

New on DVD, April 13: “Kill Bill Vol. 1” “Timeline” and More

New DVD’s This Week: April 13
 Kill Bill Vol. 1
An entire wedding party is slaughtered during a dress rehearsal in a rural Texas chapel: the pregnant woman in the blood-splattered wedding dress is Black Mamba, better known as The Bride (Uma Thurman). The assassin, Bill (David Carradine), and his circle of killers known as The Vipers (Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah and Lucy Liu) leave The Bride for dead. Unluckily for them, turns out she was only in a coma. Four years later, The Bride suddenly awakens and realizes what has been done to her–and who did it–so she sets off to seek revenge on her former master and his deadly squad of assassins. One by one, she kills the various members of the assassin group–but she’ll save Bill for last.
What’s Cool:
  • Five movie clips and special feature on the making of Kill Bill Vol. 1. Watch them here!
  • Musical performances by Japanese pop-punksters the 5,6,7,8’s
  • Tarantino trailers
  • Subtitles: Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean
From Our Review:
Vol. 1 doesn’t top Pulp Fiction as Quentin Tarantino’s crowning achievement, but it is definitely worth the long wait. Then again, even half of a Tarantino film is twice as good as any thriller we’ve seen all year. And it leaves you counting down the days until Tarantino unleashes Vol. 2.
More. . .
 Timeline
For a team of archaeology students, a new project uncovering the ruins of a 14th-century castle is the culmination of a lifelong dream. When the group opens a chamber that has been sealed for more than 600 years, they make two startling discoveries–a bifocal lens, which couldn’t have been invented before the chamber was sealed, and even more intriguing, a handwritten plea for help dated April 2, 1357–from their missing Professor Johnston (Billy Connolly). Determined to solve this time-warping mystery, the students learn that Johnston has been mysteriously trapped in the 14th century and its up to them to rescue him.
What’s Cool:
  • “Journey Through Timeline”–a three-part documentary
  • “The Textures of Timeline featurette
From Our Review:
Director Richard Donner’s Timeline never lives up to what it could have been. The story, acting and visual effects fail to effectively blend together into a coherent sci-fi adventure.
More. . .

`

Still Hot
 The Matrix Revolutions
In the third Matrix installment, the epic war between man and machine reaches a thundering crescendo. As Zion is being invaded by the Machine army, Neo (Keanu Reeves) and company try to stop them in the Matrix and eventually choose to travel farther than any human has ever dared to go–a treacherous journey above ground, across the scorched surface of the earth and into the heart of the menacing Machine City, with Neo’s destiny and the fate of two civilizations inexorably tied to the outcome of his cataclysmic confrontation with Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving).
What’s Cool:
  • Featurettes: “Before the Revolution: A 3-D Matrix Timeline”; “CG Revolution: The Incredible Special Effects Arsenal”–including the segment “Super Big Mini-Models”; “Super Burly Brawl: Behind the Final Neo/Smith Showdown”; “Double Agent Smith” and “Mind Over Matter: The Physicality of The Matrix”;
  • “Future Gamer: The Matrix Online”–an introduction to the massively multiplayer game; and “Revolutions Recalibrated: The Making of the Final Chapter of The Matrix Trilogy”–including a segment on “Neo Realism: The Evolution of Bullet Time”
  • Links to The Matrix Online promo site and the official Matrix website
  • Multi-dimensional stills gallery
From Our Review:
Revolutions is more action flick than either of its predecessors. While that may spell big box office, it doesn’t spell long-term staying power, and of the three films in The Matrix trilogy, the final installment may well go down as the biggest disappointment of them all.
More. . .
 Something’s Gotta Give
Harry Sanborn (Jack Nicholson) is a 60-something perennial bachelor who only dates women under the age of thirty. On a romantic weekend with his latest infatuation, Marin (Amanda Peete), at her mother’s Hamptons beach house, Harry develops chest pains. Marin’s mother, Erica Barry (Oscar-nominated Diane Keaton), a successful, divorced playwright, reluctantly agrees to help nurse him back to health. Once they are alone together, Harry is surprised to find himself drawn to Erica for all the right reasons–and despite her initial protestations about Harry, Erica finds herself attracted as well. Romantic complications arise, however, when Erica is also pursued by Harry’s charming, younger doctor, Julian Mercer (Keanu Reeves). Yet, Harry’s feelings for Erica prove to be life altering and he must undergo a true change of heart–if he is to win her back.
What’s Cool:
  • Commentary by writer/director Nancy Meyers and star Jack Nicholson
  • Commentary by writer/director Nancy Meyers, star Diane Keaton and producer Bruce A. Block
  • “Hamptons House Set Tour” with Amanda Peet
  • Deleted scene: Harry sings karaoke to Erica
From Our Review:
Something’s Gotta Give may not be as good as it gets, but it’s an intelligent, funny look at relationships with mostly sparkling dialogue and a great performance by Diane Keaton.
More. . .
 Cheaper by the Dozen
Tom Baker (Steve Martin), a local college football coach, and wife Kate (Bonnie Hunt) decide to uproot their large brood–12 kids in all–so Tom can take a dream job as a coach to a large university. At the same time, Kate learns that her memoirs are about to be published and has to promote the book in New York, leaving Tom home alone to handle the increasingly unhappy and hectic household as well as his demanding new job. With all hell breaking loose at home, Kate on the road, and Tom’s job on the line, the Baker family ultimately chooses not to have it all, but to love what they do have. Also stars Tom Welling, Hilary Duff and Ashton Kutcher.
What’s Cool:
  • Commentary by director Shawn Levy and “The Baker Kids”
  • Featurettes: “Director’s Viewfinder: Creating a Fictional Family” and “Inside Look”
  • Six deleted scenes, with director’s commentary
From Our Review:
With its clichéd jokes and hackneyed one-liners, Cheaper by the Dozen isn’t exactly knee-slapping comedy, and its outdated premise makes it hard to relate to. Let’s just pray that this comedy doesn’t spawn a sequel entitled The Baker’s Dozen.
More. . .

 

Compiled by Anne Reiman

- Advertisement -