The original 'Outer Limits' is coming to Blu-ray

(Reviving an old blog of mine.)

The first season of the original "The Outer Limits" from 1964 is coming to Blu-ray (and back on DVD) on March 27 from Kino Lorber Home Video. The new seven-disc set release includes a 40 page booklet essay by David J. Schow and audio commentaries from film and TV historians.

Guest stars include Ed Asner, Macdonald Carey, Dabney Coleman, Robert Culp, Bruce Dern, Robert Duvall, Mimsy Farmer, Don Gordon, Harry Guardino, Gloria Grahame, Signe Hasso, Miriam Hopkins, Richard Jaeckel, Sally Kellerman, Shirley Knight, Martin Landau, George Macready, John Marley, David McCallum, Ralph Meeker, Gary Merrill, Vera Miles, Leonard Nimoy, Simon Oakland, Warren Oates, Carroll O'Connor, Donald Pleasence, Cliff Robertson, Ruth Roman, Barbara Rush, Martin Sheen, Henry Silva and more.

Special features include "There is Nothing Wrong With Your Television Set", a 40 page essay by David J. Schow, and audio commentaries by David J. Schow (The Outer Limits Companion), Tim Lucas (Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark; Video Watchblog), Craig Beam (My Life in the Glow of the Outer Limits), Dr. Reba Wissner (We Will Control All That You Hear: The Outer Limits & The Aural Imagination), Gary Gerani (Fantastic Television), Michael Hyatt (film historian), and Steve Mitchell (King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen).

This series was spooky. Maybe more so than "The Twilight Zone."  Starting with the opening. 

Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" announced for DVD, Blu-ray

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment announced the new, expanded DVD and first-time Blu-ray release of its classic animated film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" on Wednesday.

The new version, to be released Oct. 6, available on both DVD and Blu-ray, will launch Disney's Diamond Collection series.

The release, comprised of two discs, will include several bonus features:

* Hyperion Studios – Audiences are digitally transported to 1937 and see how Hyperion Studios, the original studio Walt Disney himself built and where "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was conceived and developed. Will include archival photos, never- before- heard animator recordings, archival transcripts and rare footage of Walt Disney himself.

* Magic Mirror (Blu-ray release only) – Using the latest in Blu-ray technology, the iconic Magic Mirror guides the audience through the "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" Diamond Edition serving as the “host,” recognizing viewing patterns, knowing where the audience has left off and even suggesting where to navigate next. This marks the first use of this type of technology in a Disney Blu-ray release.

* DisneyView (Blu-ray only) – Viewers can expand their viewing experience beyond the original aspect ratio of the film. Utilizing Disney Blu-ray™ technology, acclaimed Disney artist Toby Bluth ‘draws’ beyond the borders of classic full frame cinema and fill the otherwise dark edges of the screen with beautiful custom imagery, giving audiences an expanded view of the animated classic.

* About Toby Bluth – Disney artist Toby Bluth tells how the movie inspired him to create the superb DisneyView art.

* Mirror, Mirror On The Wall – Through BD-Live, this mirror can find the secret princess inside each viewer with a series of questions, then create for them a personal message from their favorite princess who will call them on the telephone.

* What Do You See? – Players must untangle scrambled images.

* Jewel Jumble – To win the game, players must put jewels from the Dwarfs’ mine in the proper order.

* Scene Stealer – Allows viewers to upload a personal photo and become one of the Seven Dwarfs—on-screen in the actual film.

"The Beatles: Rare and Unseen"

If a product breathlessly hyping itself makes you wary, be prepared. You'll hear that a lot throughout "The Beatles: Rare and Unseen."

The single disc DVD starts out with promoting its exclusive unseen footage through "rare and previously unseen home movies, personal photographs, recently discovered film and true stories told first hand by the people who were really there." And on that score, it lives up to the hype.

Well, sort of.

The rare footage includes the earliest known footage of the Beatles onstage in Liverpool in 1962, a rare film of the Caird Hall, Dundee, Scotland show in October, 1964, footage taking during the making of "Help!," home movie footage from the 1964 Paris Olympia show and a rarely seen French TV interview with John Lennon.

And it's all there -- if you don't mind the fact that the interviewees are superimposed over the rare footage more often than not. Sadly, none of the rare film is seen unedited. What is there, though, is tantalizing, like dangling a carrot in front of a horse. It sure makes you wish for more of it without the unnecessary obstructions.

Some of the interviews, on the other hand, are quite good. The best are Abbey Road recording engineer Norman "Hurricane" Smith, Gerry Marsden of Gerry and the Pacemakers and former Beatles press officer Tony Barrow. Others offering comments include Ken Dodd, Sylvie Vartan, Sam Leach, Quarrymen member Colin Hanton, Phil Collins and Steve Harley of Cockney Rebel. But even the interviews have a few snags. In near succession, different interviewees recall "the original Beatles" as having different lineups. An eight-page booklet features text by Barrow and more rare photos.

Even more frustrating is the fact that the disc's special features are extended interviews with everyone on the disc -- but not the raw unedited rare footage.

Sigh.

Still, just seeing this stuff is great. And at least some of the interviews aren't the deadweight talking head interviews usually found on many of the endless line of DVDs that tell the Beatles story.

If only, though, someone had figured out that the rare footage would have been better appreciated if left the producers had left it the hell alone.

Blu-ray sharks eat HD for dinner

It didn't take long, did it? Once Warner Bros. said they weren't going to support HD any longer, the blocks fell quickly. Amazon.com, Best Buy and, finally, Wal-mart, came tumbling down like the walls of Jericho.
Toshiba saw the handwriting on the wall and gave up the ghost. But what's scary here is how quickly and with the savageness the end came.
One radio interviewer we heard wondered aloud if there was a little back-room politics that played into the decision. It wouldn't be surprising. A lot of money was at stake here.
Still, Toshiba says they'll still continue to support the format.
Here's the full press release:

Toshiba Announces Discontinuation of HD DVD Businesses

19 February, 2008

Company Remains Focused on Championing Consumer Access to High Definition Content

TOKYO--Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. This decision has been made following recent major changes in the market. Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.

HD DVD was developed to offer consumers access at an affordable price to high-quality, high definition content and prepare them for the digital convergence of tomorrow where the fusion of consumer electronics and IT will continue to progress.

"We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop," said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality."

Toshiba will continue to lead innovation, in a wide range of technologies that will drive mass market access to high definition content. These include high capacity NAND flash memory, small form factor hard disk drives, next generation CPUs, visual processing, and wireless and encryption technologies. The company expects to make forthcoming announcements around strategic progress in these convergence technologies.

Toshiba will begin to reduce shipments of HD DVD players and recorders to retail channels, aiming for cessation of these businesses by the end of March 2008. Toshiba also plans to end volume production of HD DVD disk drives for such applications as PCs and games in the same timeframe, yet will continue to make efforts to meet customer requirements. The company will continue to assess the position of notebook PCs with integrated HD DVD drives within the overall PC business relative to future market demand.

This decision will not impact on Toshiba's commitment to standard DVD, and the company will continue to market conventional DVD players and recorders. Toshiba intends to continue to contribute to the development of the DVD industry, as a member of the DVD Forum, an international organization with some 200 member companies, committed to the discussion and defining of optimum optical disc formats for the consumer and the related industries.

Toshiba also intends to maintain collaborative relations with the companies who joined with Toshiba in working to build up the HD DVD market, including Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, and DreamWorks Animation and major Japanese and European content providers on the entertainment side, as well as leaders in the IT industry, including Microsoft, Intel, and HP. Toshiba will study possible collaboration with these companies for future business opportunities, utilizing the many assets generated through the development of HD DVD.
Information in the press releases, including product prices and specifications, content of services and contact information, is current on the date of the press announcement,but is subject to change without prior notice.

PC World suggests some of the technology could still be useful to Toshiba.
Still, it's an empty promise, at best. It's over.

Do you believe in magic?

CRISS ANGEL MINDFREAK - THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON : Like most boys, I used to love magicians. I remember watching magician
Mark Wilson and "The Magic Land of Allakazam" on Saturday mornings and being fascinated.
Magic came into play on TV on a more serious note in "The Magician" with Bill Bixby in the '70s.
And in recent years, celebrity magicians such as David Copperfield, Penn and Teller, Siegfried and Roy, David Blaine and Lance Burton have astounded audiences on TV.
In 2005, A&E quietly premiered "Criss Angel - Mindfreak," a weekly show spotlighting Angel's illusions and shock magic. The show slowly built up an audience and is a huge success on the network these days.
"Criss Angel Mindfreak - The Complete Season Three" will be released Jan. 15. Where seasons one and two seemed to go for more traditional magic, Angel gets into some really scary stuff here.
One illusion requires him to escape from a truck full of dynamite as it's heading over a cliff. Another has a steamroller pin him on a concrete slab. (Don't try this at home, kids.) It's not for the faint-hearted. There's also more traditional magic, too.
Even with his tendency toward the weird, we enjoy Angel's work. He also published a book recently called, not surprisingly, "Mindfreak," that includes a few of his secrets.
But the fun of watching Angel and others like him is watching the illusion of the illusions.
Do you still believe in magic? You will after seeing this DVD.

Just announced -- new "Bonnie and Clyde" upgrade

Warner Home Video has just sent notice that a new two-disc upgrade of "Bonnie and Clyde" is coming Feb. 19. There will be two versions: a Special Edition, retailed for $20.97 list price, with over two hours of extras, including "The Making of Bonnie and Clyde" documentary and Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway wardrobe tests.
An Ultimate Collector's Edition, for $39.92 list, will feature the Special Edition set above, plus a hardcover book with rare photos, a reproduction of the 1967 press kit plus a mail-in offer for a free poster.
Just as an aside, we have to wonder how soon someone will make the lower-priced version include things the higher priced one doesn't.

Here's what's coming up ...

11/27/06 - Waitress
11/27/07 - Futurama the Movie: Bender's Big Score
11/30/07 - Heroes of War Collection - Frontline Combat
12/4/08 - Saturday Night Live - The Complete Second Season
12/4/07 - 24 - Season 6
12/4/07 - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
12/4/07 Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis Collection 3 - Still Laughing
12/4/07 - Battlestar Galactica: Razor
12/11/07 - Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald Volume 3
12/11/07 - Walt Disney Treasures: The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit -
12/11/07 - Walt Disney Treasures: Disneyland: Secrets, Stories and Magic
12/11/07 - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
12/11/07 - Frasier - The Complete Tenth Season
12/11/07 - Lost - The Complete Third Season
12/11/07 - Bourne Ultimatum
12/18/07 - Blade Runner - Ultimate Collector's Edition
12/18/07 - Blade Runner - Complete Collector's Edition
12/18/07 - Blade Runner - The Final Cut
12/18/07 - Halloween
12/31/07 - Two-Lane Blacktop
1/1/08 - Naked Prey
1/1/08 - This Sporting Life
1/1/08 - Miss Julie

Wanted on DVD!

The list of most wanted on DVD gets smaller and smaller all the time. Still, there's a few things we'd love to see out on DVD. Here they are in no particular order:

1) "American Hot Wax" -- Great 1978 rock film starring Tim McIntyre as legendary disc jockey Allen Freed and co-starring Jay Leno, Fran Dreschler, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry. Why this one isn't on DVD is anyone's guess, but we suspect it has to do with music rights.

2) "The Devil and Miss Jones" -- No, this isn't the porn film, but the 1941 comedy starring Charles Coburn, Jean Arthur, Spring Byington and Bob Cummings. It was originally released on VHS, but has yet to appear on DVD. Why? (It happens to be one of our favorite old films, too.) (Note: "The More the Merrier," which re-teamed Arthur and Coburn two years later, is on DVD and available through Amazon.com.)

3) "Let It Be" -- This 1970 Beatles film may never show up on DVD if the rumors we've heard are correct. This was not a favorite film of the four Beatles. And even though two of them aren't around to prevent it, their widows want to respect their wishes. Still, we've heard that the film has been restored and maybe, just maybe it'll get released. But for now, don't hold your breath.

4) "Batman" -- That's the Adam West-Burt Ward TV series we're referring to. It has yet to show up, though the 1966 feature film, which isn't as good as the series, has been on DVD for several years and priced very inexpensively. West was asked about this possibility a few years ago and said he knew nothing about it happening. A shame.

5) "The Green Hornet" -- The companion TV series is also not on DVD. A great show. Why isn't it there?

6) "Quick Draw McGraw" -- Hanna Barbera has released many of its core cartoon characters on DVD, but not Quick Draw and Baba Louie (or our fave, El Kabong).

7) "Dr. Syn Alias the Scarecrow" -- Patrick McGoohan starred as Dr. Syn in this 1964 Disney adaptation, shown on "Wonderful World of Color" and separately. McGoohan's character gave us nightmares as a young boy. We'd love to see this one released.

8) "The Monkey's Uncle" -- Released on VHS, the 1965 film starred Annette Funicello and Tommy Kirk and featured a great theme song featuring Walt Disney's teen star Annette and the Beach Boys. We'll guess again it's music rights, but this one needs to be out. Walt would have wanted it.

Know of any DVDs you'd like released? Let us know and we'll feature them in an upcoming column.

And if you're interested in discussing this or other DVD issues, join our Yahoo DVD Watch discussion group.

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Public domain treasures, part 3

We've done three roundups of Mill Creek Entertainment's great public domain collections. They here, here and here. And as we continue to watch them, we find more interesting (and sometimes forgotten) films in them. Here's a run through of a few more:
Western Classics 50 Movie Pack Collection and Gunslingers 50 Movie Pack Collection: Yup, it's Westerns featured in these two sets, pardner. All Westerns and nothing but. Between the two of them, films by John Wayne are plentiful, and so are several by singing cowboys Roy Rogers, Tex Ritter and Gene Autry. But that's not all. "Western Classics" features additional films starring Jane Russell, Chill Wills, Buster Crabbe, Burt Lancaster, William Boyd, Will Rogers and Randolph Scott, while "Gunslinger Classics" features Joel McCrea, Leslie Nielsen, Fred Williamson, Dennis Hopper, Dale Robertson, Raymond Burr and Clint Walker. If you have to choose, I guess it would be "Western Classics," which includes Howard Hughes' steamy "The Outlaw," John Wayne's delightful "McLintock" co-starring Maureen O'Hara and the aforementioned "Santa Fe Trail." If you're going to buy them both, get Western Classics 100 Movie Pack, which combines the two sets into one big 100 movie set and saves you a little money in the process.
Tales of Terror 50 Movie Pack Collection: More scary films featuring Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr. Vincent Price, Lyle Talbot, James Dunn, Dean Stockwell and Jack Pickford. Some of these are more funny than scary, as in Ken Utusi's "Evil Brain From Outer Space."
Dark Crimes Collection: 50 Movie Pack: The title of this one has a double meaning. Not only these all crime-related dramas, but they're all in black-and-white, with the latest one being from 1964 (the only one from that decade), the rest from the '30s to the '50s. It includes Edmund O'Brien's classic "D.O.A." (with more plot twists than a bag of pretzels), "The Last Mile," a downcast drama set on Death Row and the Oscar nominated "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers," starring Barbara Stanwyck, Kirk Douglas, Van Heflin and Judith Anderson about the mystery behind the death of a rich woman. Those starring in films here include DeForrest Kelley, Lee J. Cobb, Edward G. Robinson, Yul Brynner, Angela Lansbury, Hedy Lamarr, George Raft, Lloyd Bridges, Basil Rathbone, Erich Von Stroheim, Boris Karloff and Loretta Young. Outstanding. This box's a must.
Suspense Classics 50 Movie Pack Collection: An armload of nailbiters with stars such as Robert Vaughn, Cliff Robertson, Johnny Cash ("Five Minutes to Live," in which Cash plays a real cad), John Forsythe, Sondra Locke, Joe Don Baker, Robert DeNiro, Anthony Quinn, Kirk Douglas, Karl Malden, Telly Savalas and Rod Taylor.

Here's Johnny -- a long time ago

The Johnny Carson Show (Shout Factory): When it comes to talk show hosts, there can be no doubt that Johnny Carson was the king. Even in his later years when he could have walked through his show each night, he knew how to push the buttons to make his audience laugh.
He wasn't always so smooth, though. The Carson on view in Shout Factory's "The Johnny Carson Show" is young and a bit nervous, maybe even a little self-conscious. But the qualities that made him such a favorite with audiences years later were there, even if they were still developing.
There was the boyish charm, the down-home, relaxed attitude and the genial humor, even if he was still a bit unsure of himself.
And there's a lot more of his stand-up humor in the 10 episodes of this early Carson work than "Tonight Show" viewers would see in his later years. That's because Carson's humor was a lot more of the show. He had guests, but not the parade of celebrities that begged to come on "The Tonight Show" in his later years. He did TV parodies of then-current shows such as Edward R. Murrow's "Person to Person" and "Dragnet."
Shout Factory's two-disc set includes some extras: an episode of his later ABC show "Who Do You Trust?" co-hosted by Ed McMahon, a rare episode of a 1956 CBS daytime show he hosted and a clip from a 1958 stint as substitute host of "The Jack Paar Show" -- in a role he'd replace Paar in in 1961.
Given the age of these films, the quality is rough. Compared to his later work, "The Johnny Carson Show" definitely shows Carson had some development as a comedian to do. But they're also fun to watch.
Carson fans will also want to hunt down a budget two-disc release by Timeless Media Group also called Here Is...The Johnny Carson Show. The set has four episodes from "The Johnny Carson Show," an episode of "Who Do You Trust?", an episode of "The Jack Benny Program" with Carson as guest, commercial bloopers and a rare 1972 color promo film done on the set of "The Tonight Show." "The Tonight Show" promo film alone makes this one worth it. Since this is a budget release, it's very easy on the wallet. Note: If you do hunt for this, make sure you get this two-disc set (the link will get it). There are several single-disc releases by various budget disc companies. This is the one you want.
While on the subject of vintage talk shows, let's mention a couple of others. When Johnny Carson burst on the TV scene, the king of late night at that time was Jack Paar. Shout Factory has a three-disc set called The Jack Paar Collection that includes celebrity interviews, monologues and full episodes from "The Jack Paar Show," which was the precursor to Carson's "The Tonight Show." One disc includes the PBS documentary "Smart Television: The Best of Jack Paar," disc two has interviews with Bobby Kennedy (done shortly after the assassination of JFK), Richard Nixon (including the famous incident when Nixon played the piano) and Muhammed Ali, while the final disc has interviews and rare footage of Bette Davis, Judy Garland, Richard Burton, Bill Cosby and others. Paar's delivery wasn't as relaxed as Carson's would be later, but he was great in getting his guests to open up about themselves. Paar's often pointed questions would probably be nixed by p.r. reps from celebrities nowadays, who like to super-manage their appearances nowadays. Here's a look at a time when that wasn't the case.
And there's Edward R. Murrow - The Best of Person to Person, a dazzling three-disc collection of superb interviews from the '50s and '60s by outstanding journalist Murrow. Unlike talk show interviews today that are done under bright lights and with a studio audience, these were transmitted generally from the homes of those interviewed with Murrow asking questions from the studio. The relaxed atmosphere brings revealing comments from the subjects as they relax their celebrity persona. Those interviewed here include John F. Kennedy, Sammy Davis Jr., Humphrey Bogart, Billy Graham, Liberace, Eleanor Roosevelt, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Dean Martin and Bette Davis. Highly recommended.

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Here's a memory piece we wrote and that was published shortly after Carson died about the three times we saw Carson in person, once on "Who Do You Trust," the other two on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson."

Viewing Carson was best from seat in studio audience (Originally published Jan. 26, 2005)

Watching Johnny Carson host ''The Tonight Show'' was seeing a master comic at work.
Over the years, I saw Carson do his magic in person three times -- twice on ''The Tonight Show'' and once on ''Who Do You Trust?,'' the game show he emceed (with perennial sidekick Ed McMahon as announcer) before he took over the NBC late-night show.
Watching Carson at home was, of course, like seeing an old friend. But seeing the show live was a different experience. When you were an audience member, the larger-than-life Carson heard you laugh at the jokes that were funny, as most of them were -- and your groans at the jokes that didn't quite go over. You -- we -- were the target of his witty retorts.
''Who Do You Trust?,'' which Carson -- who died Sunday of emphysema -- hosted from September 1957 to December 1963, was taped in New York. On a trip to visit an aunt in Jersey City, my dad took my sister and me -- we were in grade school -- to see several TV shows.
The ''Who Do You Trust?'' taping was filled with a lot of joking between Carson and McMahon, including a noisy mishap involving a washing machine being used in a commercial.
After the show, with no connections to anyone with pull, my dad somehow got us backstage to meet the very tall McMahon. We didn't get to meet Carson, though I recall seeing him stand a short distance from us. Little did I realize he would become the king of late-night television.
More than 15 years later, in 1977, as part of a honeymoon trip to Southern California, my wife and I managed to snag tickets to ''The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.'' After waiting a couple hours in front of the NBC Burbank studios, we were allowed in and discovered, to our surprise, how small ''The Tonight Show'' studio was in comparison to how it looked on TV. We were warned by the ushers not to yell anything out during the show, but that didn't stop the familiar sounds of ''hi-yo'' resonating when Carson walked out on the stage.
About six months later, we decided to go back to Southern California again, and because we enjoyed it so much, we figured we'd pay a return visit to ''The Tonight Show.'' We scored tickets to two shows, one on Monday, Carson's usual night off (with guest host George Carlin, a favorite of ours), and one the next night.
In the pre-show warm-up for the second show, producer Fred De Cordova announced proudly that Carson was in the building and would be hosting the show, which brought a big round of applause from the audience.
The audience got a few extras the home viewers didn't see.
The warm-up featured some extended music and jokes (often of a more risque variety than on the show) from De Cordova, McMahon, Doc Severinsen and members of the Tonight Show band. (Carson didn't appear until you heard the familiar ''He-e-e-e-e-e-re's Johnny.'')
During commercials, the lights on stage were turned off, leaving Carson and the guests in the dark.
One of the guests on that show was film star Ann-Margret. She and Carson chatted in the dark during the commercial break. With other guests, Carson might throw out the occasional ''How is everyone?'' to the audience.
But most memorable was something he apparently did at all tapings. Remember the famous golf swing he would enact after his monologue as the show faded to a commercial? Well, Carson would hold the pose, and after the camera light clicked off -- assuring he was not on the air -- he would say, ''Oh, shit.'' Of course, the audience, not expecting anything like that from the normally genteel Carson, burst out laughing.
That was the final time we saw ''The Tonight Show'' in person. Unfortunately, neither of the shows we saw had any moments that would have made ''best of'' compilations.
In 2001, I wrote a review about the newly released DVD collection of highlights from ''The Tonight Show,'' called ''The Ultimate Carson Collection Vols. 1-3.''
Though Carson himself wasn't available for interviews, his nephew, Jeff Sotzing, told me the words no Carson fan wanted to hear. ''He's retired; he's thoroughly enjoying his retirement. I don't expect him to do any new production whatsoever.''

More public domain treasures

In late February, we examined several box sets in Mill Creek Entertainment's 50 Movie Pack series, a great budget-priced series of collections of public domain films that contain a surprising number of gems. Here's a look at a few more:
Drive-In Movie Classics 50 Movie Pack: Of all the boxes in the series, this one ranks as one of our top 3 favorites. The majority of the films are mainly from the '70s and '80s, meaning nearly all of them are in color. These are pretty much schlocky classics, mixing in horror, blacksplotation, with a little touch of blood or nudity as befits films from those years. A few of the titles: "Vengeance of the Zombies," "Voodoo Black Exorcist," "Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride," "Snowbeast," "The Werewolf Vs. Vampire Women" and "Beast From Haunted Cave." Our favorite, though, is "Invasion of the Bee Girls," in which government researchers discover a female insect expert is using a process to give women bee-like qualities and then the women are killing men with sex. No, we're not making that up. Actors include Richard Burton, Carroll Baker, Christopher Lee, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Ursula Andress, and Mickey Rooney. Fun stuff. (12 discs.)
Comedy Classics 50 Movie Pack Collection: A nice sampling of comedy stretching from the days of silent films through recent times is collected here, including work by Fatty Arbuckle, solo Stan Laurel, Laurel and Hardy, the Keystone Cops, Harold Lloyd, Our Gang, Buster Keaton, the East Side Kids, James Cagney, Jimmy Durante, Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan, Pat O'Brien, Mickey Rooney, Carole Lombard, Laurence Olivier (in "As You Like It") and Peter Sellers. The real vintage stuff makes this one worth it.
Hollywood Legends 50 Movie Pack Collection: Star power drives this solid collection of films of varying quality that movie fans can enjoy just for the casting, if not for the film itself. Stars include Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby and Bob Hope (in "Road to Bali," not one of the standouts from the "Road" series but not bad, either), Greta Garbot, Fred MacMurray, Susan Hayward, Barbara Stanwyck, Frank Sinatra ("The Man With the Golden Arm"), Claudette Colbert (the charming "I Cover the Waterfront"), Jane Mansfield, Cary Grant, John Wayne, Merle Oberon, Gregory Peck, Gloria Swanson and Bette Davis.
All Stars 50 Movie Pack Collection: A collection of TV movies with some good, but most just OK. Still, a distingused list of actors is featured here in starring roles: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Martin Sheen, Lynn Redgrave, Anthony Perkins, Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, Michael Landon, Glenn Ford, Lee Remick, Sissy Spacek, Sally Field, David Janssen, John Forsythe, Andy Griffith, Susan Sarandon and John Houseman. For the price, not a bad pickup if you are fans of some of these actors.
Nightmare Worlds 50 Movie Pack Collection: This one is one of our favorites because it's a time trip back to the old Saturday matinee days and has some of the best examples of the campiest sci-fi films ever. The three Ken Utsui films in the set ("Evil Brain From Outer Space," "Attack From Space" and "Atomic Rulers of the World") are the highlights. All feature a costumed hero named Starman and have some of the worst dialogue and special effects you'll ever see. Also included is a Flash Gordon film with Buster Crabbe ("Purple Death From Outer Space"), plus Grant Williams of "The Incredible Shrinking Man" in "The Doomsday Machine," Wallace Beery in the silent film "The Lost World", plus films with Bela Lugosi ("The Phantom Creeps," "Shadow of Chinatown"), Gene Autry (in "Radio Ranch"), Rock Hudson, William Boyd, Fred Williamson, Cameron Mitchell, Anthony Perkins and Stacy Keach. Break out the popcorn. This one's a big winner.
Chilling Classics 50 Movie Pack Collection: This collection of "Creature Features" campy sci-films includes such lovely titles as "Drive-In Massascre," "I Bury the Living," "Oasis of the Zombies," "The Milpitas Monster," "Lady Frankenstein," "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter," "Dr. Tarr's Torture Jungle," "Silent Night, Bloody Night" and "War of the Robots." Mystery Science Theater films without the added narration. They don't make them like this anymore. Thank goodness.
Horror Classics 50 Movie Pack Collection: The traditional sci-fi fan will find a lot to like in this collection. Included are Lon Chaney Sr. in "The Phantom of the Opera" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," Max Schreck's "Nosferatu," George Romero's "Night of the Living Dead," John Barrymore in "Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde," Gustav Frohlich's landmark "Metropolis" plus films with Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Fay Wray and J. Carroll Naish. A great way to get a bunch of film classics in one collection.

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There are still more of these Mill Creek sets we haven't covered and we'll catch up with more in a future column. For the most part, though, we recommend these. They're inexpensive and the films, which range from classics to camp, for the most part look fairly good, despite their age and the fact they're not studio-quality remasters. The fact is, though, some of these films have been unseen for years (some would say for a good reason, but that's another story). Outside of the fact that the films may include a brief logo, we think the sets are a great pickup and very entertaining. And as we said before, if you're not a big fan of modern-day films, these boxes herald back to perhaps a better time. For the money, you can't beat that.
Short takes: Among a slate of new releases in April, Mill Creek Entertainment will offer Crime Classics 50 Movie Pack (12pc), featuring films starring Edward G. Robinson, Frank Sinatra, Ralph Byrd, George Raft and others.
Short takes: Miami Vice - Season Three and Miami Vice - Season Four: Two more seasons of the show with the sharp-dressed cops. It's more of the same from the first two seasons. Interesting note for John Lennon fans: The song "Imagine" opens the third season premiere.

Looking back at Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan - Don't Look Back (1965 Tour Deluxe Edition): Viewing Bob Dylan's "Don't Look Back" now one has to wonder how it ever got made? Dylan lived in a world of his own. So how filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker managed to get full access is a miracle.
The real miracle, however, is viewing "Don't Look Back," a vivid chronicle of the singer's 1965 British tour and one of the most stunning rock documentaries ever and now available in a deluxe expanded two-disc set.
Dylan's music is, of course, the focus, but the camera's eye also focuses in on Dylan's world. Especially riveting are his encounters with the media and the Establishment. Both are clearly nervous about approaching Dylan, clearly not knowing what to expect and the singer plays on their apprehension.
In one memorable scene, Dylan takes a Time magazine interviewer named Horace Judson (and the media as a whole) to task.

"'Cause you know I've never been in Time magazine and yet this hall's filled twice, you know, and I've never been in Time Magazine. I don't need Time Magazine ... and I don't think I'm a folk singer. You'll probably call me a folk singer, but, you know, the other people know better 'cause the people, you know, that buy my records, listen to me, don't necessarily buy Time Magazine. You know the audience that subscribe to Time Magazine? The people that work during the day and read it small, right? And it's concise and there's pictures in it."

Interestingly enough, Pennebacker, in an interview with Time this year, says Dylan isn't being as mean-spirited with Judson as it appeared.
In the interview, Pennebacker says,

"I have the story [Judson] wrote. He wrote a very good piece on Dylan. I thought Dylan was kind of nice in the end. He made jokes out of it. When I show the film, especially to kids, they want to see that as someone thrashing TIME. But it isn't that. He's thrashing a whole system of media that people had been thrashing for a long time. I never thought of it as mean-spirited.

This new release includes a newly remastered version of the original DVD from the original single-disc release that contains the film, commentary by Pennebacker and Dylan tour manager Bob Neuwirth, additional audio tracks, an alternate version of the "Subterranean Homesick Blues" video and the theatrical trailer and adds a second disc called "Bob Dylan '65 Revisited," that features roughly an hour of outtakes (mostly music) from the original film with commentary from Pennebacker and Neuwirth. In addition, the set includes a 168 page companion book, that was originally released in the late '60s, of pictures and dialogue from the film , plus a engaging flip book of the "Subterranean Homesick Blues" video sequence.
It's a trip back in time worth taking.
Short takes: While we're on the subject of reissued rock films, we'll mention Don't Knock the Rock / Rock Around the Clock and Don't Knock the Twist / Twist Around the Clock, two two-fer film reissues of four vintage rock films that Sony has just released. The films are the standard rock films of the era with the usual plots about the music being persecuted and the usual remedy of "Let's put on a show!" They're basically just excuses for the music they contain, as good as some of that music is.
But Sony gets major demerits for their sloppy treatment of the DVDs. Neither set contains chapter links from the main menu and the chapter links contained in the films don't link up with all the music performances. To find Little Richard's performances in "Don't Knock the Rock," for example, you'll have to manually scan through the film.
As much as we're glad to have these again and give them our recommendation, we have to say they deserved a lot better treatment in putting them to disc than what they received.
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Boldly going for laughs where few have gone before

Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner (Uncensored) (Comedy Central): How many celebrities would have flown halfway across the galaxy to have the chance to roast the man best known for Capt. James Tiberius Kirk, priceline.com and the worst cover of "Mr. Tambourine Man" ever?
The group assembled for "Comedy Central Roast of William Shatner (Uncensored)," released on DVD March 20, includes host Jason Alexander, Shatner's "Star Trek" compatriots George Takei and Nichelle Nichols, Kevin Pollak, Jessi Klein, Fred Williard, Farrah Fawcett, Betty White, Andy Dick, Patton Oswalt, Lisa Lampanelli, Greg Giraldo and Jeff Ross.
Shatner enters the roast in grand style -- on a horse, to the tune of "Ride, Captain, Ride."
The insults fly fast, hard and furious. Shatner takes it pretty well -- and dishes a few well-placed insults at the end, some of the best heard on the show.
Not all the participants are at their best form, though. Betty White tries her best, but looks uncomfortable, Farrah Fawcett is this roast's Courtney Love -- she looks and acts as drunk as a skunk -- and Andy Dick lives up to his name. And you'd think that there would be other things at a William Shatner roast to joke about than George Takei's gayness, but for a few people, there isn't.
But if there's one guy who deserves this "honor," though, it's Shatner. It's fun to see him finally get at least a little of what's coming to him.
Too bad some of these people didn't listen to his "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" before they worked on their monologues. The show might have been that much better.

Featured DVD: "The U.S. Vs. John Lennon"

The trailer for "The U.S. Vs. John Lennon"


"The U.S. Vs. John Lennon" (Lionsgate): Everyone knows the story of John Lennon and the Beatles. But it's less known, especially to younger audiences, how Lennon was the focus of FBI investigations during the Vietnam War Era because of the Nixon Administration's paranoia against protesters.
"The U.S. Vs. John Lennon" , which goes on sale Feb. 13, is a frightening reminder of that. The 96 minute documentary looks at how John Lennon changed from a cuddly Beatle to an outspoken protester of the Vietnam War and the Nixon Administration policies. It also recounts how the government used the controversy to hold the U.S. citizenship Lennon hoped for in hostage.
It was indeed a scary time. As Yoko recounts early in the film, while the Lennons were on a Michigan stage playing a benefit concert to help free John Sinclair, who was busted for possession of a small amount of marijuana, the FBI was in the audience taking down the lyrics to his songs. The film recounts how the government spied on him through wiretaps.
The hatred and pervasity of the Nixon Administration was chilling. In one of the bonus features, Nixon Administration member G. Gordon Liddy recalls how he ordered his children planning to attend a public event not to sing Lennon's song "Imagine" when it was played there.
The DVD includes interviews with his widow, Yoko Ono Lennon, George McGovern, Bobby Seale, Gore Vidal, John Dean, author Ron Kovic, John Sinclair, Geraldo Rivera, Walter Cronkite and Mario Cuomo.
It includes 10 clips of additional footage left out of the film. The most touching is a reading of the letter Yoko wrote to the New York State parole board requesting her husband's killer remain in jail. It's an emotional moment for Yoko, who manages to read the letter, but not without her voice quivering to the point of almost breaking.
For anyone who lived through the '60s turmoil, the documentary brings back frightening reminders of the paranoia that swept the country.
It also sends a message that the nation should have learned from its mistakes. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case thanks to the Bush Administration.

Featured DVD: "Elvis: The Ed Sullivan Shows" (Image)

Elvis: The Ed Sullivan Shows (Image): When SOFA Entertainment released "The Four Historic Ed Sullivan Shows Featuring the Beatles" in 2003, not only was it a surprise, but it was almost unthinkable that a release of shows this historic and significant would be given the go ahead for the marketplace. That release was nothing short of amazing -- the four shows were released in complete form including commercials. It wouldn't be likely to happen again -- or would it?
Comes now "Elvis: The Ed Sullivan Shows," perhaps a more historic three disc set from Image Entertainment that features two complete shows from 1956 and another from 1957 -- again with commercials -- featuring the landmark performances from Elvis Presley on those shows.
What's more exciting about this release is that these shows occurred almost 8 years earlier than the Beatles' shows -- making their release even more unlikely.
The Elvis shows may be even more interesting historically than the Beatles' shows. Why? Anyone tuning in "The Ed Sullivan Show" each week knew they were in for a crap shoot. Variety was the key word and "variety" didn't always mean it would be worth wading through.
So in the Sept. 9, 1956, show, we see Charles Laughton, filling in for Sullivan, who was recovering from an auto accident, take charge of hosting the show and introducing Presley to the Sullivan audience. As rock critic Greil Marcus, who wrote the eight-page booklet that comes with the set describes it, it was basically a vaudeville show with something for everyone. Laughton starts with a fairly inane poetry bit, something we suspect he would have done on the show if Sullivan had hosted it. But such was the "variety" viewers saw every week -- nothing offensive, but generally entertaining.
Also on the show: the Vagabonds, trying to sing a hip version of "Up a Lazy River" that looks insipid when you know what's coming later in the show; comic magician Carl Ballentine, later of the "McHale's Navy" sitcom, acrobats the Brothers Amin and Toby the Dog.
But Elvis is far and away the star of the show and he knows it.
"Thank you, friends. Thank you, Mr. Laughton," he says somewhat shyly. But he hears the screaming girls in the audience loud and clear. Introducing "Love Me Tender," he jokes about it being "our new RCA Victor escape ... release," which, of course, sends the young audience into a frenzy.
The other two shows include other historic performances besides Presley. The Oct. 28, 1956, show features Senor Wences (s'awright ... s'awright), while the Jan. 6, 1957, show features a young Carol Burnett and boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.
Musically, Presley repeats three songs from the first show -- "Don't Be Cruel," "Love Me Tender" and "Hound Dog" -- on the second, with only "Ready Teddy" the first week changed to "Love Me" the the second.
His performances the third show in January of 1957, however, are nothing short of spectacular. He opens with a medley of "Hound Dog, "Love Me Tender" and "Heartbreak Hotel," then comes back with "Don't Be Cruel." His second spot finds him burning hot with "Too Much" and "When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again." He closes the show features a spectacular version of "Peace in the Valley," backed by "the wonderful Jordinaires."
All-in-all, this one's a must have, if for no other reason than it shows the clips unadulterated by titles that all the previous Sullivan releases have included. But it also, like the Beatles release, returns the shows to their historical context. For TV history buffs, it doesn't get much better than this. (Rating on scale of 1-5: Five DVDs)

Bonus features: These include a rare color 8mm home movie shot in 1955 which is the first-ever recorded footage of a very young Elvis (age 20) who was not yet managed by Col. Tom Parker; special Elvis moments including an appearance by comedian John Byner; and home movies of Elvis and Priscilla with some of the earliest shots of their daughter Lisa Marie; interviews with producer Sam Phillips of Sun Records, Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires, Marlo Lewis, producer of the three Sullivan shows, television host Wink Martindale, who was a Memphis DJ when Elvis lived there; Elvis friend George Klein and Memphis Mafia member Jerry Schilling.

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