DVDIALOG   

Sony’s just-released Film Noir Classics I collection compiles five prime examples of the oft-discussed post-war genre, including previous issued classic The Big Heat (1953) by Fritz Lang with Lee Marvin and Gloria Grahame, and the first-time-on-DVD films 5 Against the House (1955) by Phil Karlson and starring Kim Novak and Guy Madison, Edward Dmytryk’s The Sniper (1952) starring Adolphe Menjou and Marie Windsor, Murder by Contract (1958) directed by Irving Lerner and starring Vince Edwards, and Don Siegel’s The Lineup (1958) with Eli Wallace and Warner Anderson.

It’s a respectable boxed set that gets extra points for its impressive array ...Read More

A very likable and lively singer-songwriter, Vonda Shepard was first introduced to mainstream American audiences as a regular on the first five seasons of the hit TV show Ally McBeal, where she portrayed a (you guessed it!) performing singer/songwriter at the local bar where the show’s characters went to hang out after a hard day at the office.

The songs Vonda performed at the bar—all her own compositions—launched her musical career. And now those songs are seeing some notable action again with Fox’s recent release of Ally McBeal: The Complete Series and Ally McBeal: Season One on DVD (and Season One on VOD), along with Vonda’s latest record, ...Read More

I had an appointment to phone comic Jim Jefferies in an Indianapolis hotel at 6:00est to interview him in conjunction with his new DVD, the HBO comedy special I Swear to God (HBO/Warner), which was released last week. I dialed the number, asked for Geoffrey Nugent and was quickly connected to a room. Jim Jefferies answered with a relaxed “Hello?.”

Geoffrey Nugent? A pretty calm joke for the high-energy Australian comic who mostly known for his in-your-face, politically incorrect humor.

“Yeah, the names are fun,” Jeffe...Read More

Having given us “something completely different” in their 20s and 30s, the members of Monty Python’s Flying Circus have little left to prove. Thus, their latter-day reunions have come in the form of group interviews that are eagerly awaited by Python fans — the last one having occurred in 1998 at the Aspen Comedy Festival.

The five living members — plus the Pythons’ female foil Carol Cleveland and a cardboard cut-out of the late Graham Chapman — reunited for a very unrehearsed Q&A sessions after the debut American showing at the Ziegfeld theater in New York City of the Eagle Rock documentary Monty Python: Almost the Tr...Read More

“One million dollars, Mr. Bond. You were wondering what it cost,” Joseph Wiseman coolly announces as the price of his evil lair’s fish tank to Sean Connery’s visibly impressed Agent 007 in the very first big screen James Bond adventure, 1962’s Dr. No. Wiseman portrayed the not-so-good titular doctor, the very first in a lengthy series of super-villain—and still one of the best—to have his designs on world domination foiled by the world’s greatest secret agent. Wiseman died yesterday at his home in Manhattan at the age of 91.

...Read More

A few quick words on The Stepfather—no, not the new version starring Dylan Walsh that’s opening theatrically today, but rather the original 1987 thriller directed by Joseph Ruben and starring Terry O’Quinn. It was issued on DVD this past Tuesday by Shout! Factory and we reviewed it last week (http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6700383.html).

The DVD contains a commentary and retrospective featurette that includes contributions by writer Brian Garfield, producer Jay Benson and director Joseph Ruben. It’s all quite informative (Garfield interestingly...Read More

Recruited by filmmaker Tony Scott (Top Gun, Man on Fire, Crimson Tide) to star as one of subway hijacker John Travolta’s nasty partners in the thriller The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (available on DVD and Blu-ray from Sony on Nov. 3), Victor Gojcaj makes for an memorably imposing figure in his first-ever feature film. So much so, in fact, that the 6’4”, Detroit-born, Bronx-raised, Albanian descendant Gojcaj has already lined up his second project. And wouldn’t you know that it’s Tony Scott’s latest film, the action thriller Unstoppable!? It looks like the very successful, very prolific filmmaker has found something he likes in Gojcaj—just as the ...Read More

Filmmaker Nicholaus Goossen has two feature films to his credit: the spirited 2006 comedy Grandma’s Boy and The Shortcut, a just-released DVD Premiere horror flick about a pair of brothers (Drew Seeley and Nicholas Elia) who accept a dare to embark on a scary and potentially dangerous route home from school. As his brief filmography illustrates, Goossen like to hop around the genre playing field.

I'm not married to any genre, not at all,” Goossen told me in a recent interview. “My favorite filmmakers all do a little of everything—P.T. Anderson, David Fincher, Tarantino, Wes Anderson, Bryan Singer. These guys do it all.”

Though she’s probably best known for her all-too-brief appearances in a bunch of straight-to-DVD horror movies, including such marvelously-monikered flicks as Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep and The Drone Virus), sexy Christa Campbell has of late been making some waves in some decidedly higher profile projects. Last year, she popped up in a solid role in the thriller Hero Wanted (Sony), starring Ray Liotta and Cuba Gooding, Jr., and most recently, Christa lent substantial support in the DVD Premiere thriller Lies and Illusions (Starz/Anchor Bay), also starring Gooding, as well as Christian Slater.

Warner Home Video celebrated the 70^th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz, and the just-released DVD and Blu-ray “ultimate” versions of the film, last Thursday with colorful events held around New York City. The day began with a press event where relatives of the original participants were in attendance, as well as experts on the film and every Oz fan’s favorite, the Munchkins themselves.

Ned Price, Warner’s VP of Mastering, supplied in-depth information about the restoration and DVD release. Approximately 100 people worked for a year and a half on the film, said Price, with “most of that time being spent on the preparation work — removing dirt from every frame of...Read More

With a nearly 30-year history of head-banging touring and 13 studio albums to their credit, the Canadian heavy metal outfit Anvil has seen their greatest mainstream recognition come this year with the release of the documentary film Anvil!: The Story of Anvil, directed by screenwriter and former Anvil roadie Sacha Gervasi. The VH1 Films release details the band’s three decades of ups and down, with a focus on the relationship between its pair of still-rocking founders, guitarist/vocalist Steve “Lips” Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner. The film, which features earnest testimonials from such musicians as Slash from Guns N’ Roses, Lemmy from ...Read More

Writer-turned-filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer first met Valentino Garavani six or so years ago when he penned an article on the legendary fashion designer for Vanity Fair Magazine. This was long before Tyrnauer even had an inkling that the piece would be the basis for his motion picture, the feature-length documentary Valentino: The Last Emperor. But it wasn’t solely the designer’s duds and exorbitant lifestyle that intrigued Tyrnauer.

“I first met him when I was wrote the feature for Vanity Fair,” first-time filmmaker Tyrnauer told me in a recent interview. “I was surprised to discover how really interesting he was, and that his business partner and ...Read More