This week brings plenty of good news for both 007 fans and lovers of classic Hollywood, and plenty of other goodies besides.
This week’s
DVD of the Week is Criterion’s much-awaited release of Francois Truffaut’s
The Last Metro. In this 1980 film, Truffaut for the first time addressed explicitly the subject of the French Occupation during World War II, seen here through the prism of a struggling theatre whose Jewish owner is hiding in the basement, leaving his leading-lady wife (played by Catherine Deneuve) to run the day-to-day business. There’s a great deal of intrigue in the film, not only involving a cocky young actor played by Gerard Depardieu, but with any number of Nazi sympathizers, informers, double-crossers, and sneaky Occupation types. But what comes through most clearly on this DVD release (and even more so on the Blu-Ray version) is how gorgeous the film is- how handsomely Truffaut re-created the period without letting the aesthetic concerns overwhelm the narrative ones. Likewise, this may be the most gorgeous Catherine Deneuve was on film- no mean feat, that.
The week’s other major classics release is the third volume of Warner’s
Forbidden Hollywood Collection, this one featuring six films from director William Wellman-
Other Men’s Women, The Purchase Price, Frisco Jenny, Midnight Mary, Heroes for Sale, and
Wild Boys of the Road. Other classics releases this week include: Lemmon and Matthau (but not Randall and Klugman)
The Odd Couple Centennial Edition (Paramount); Alfred Hitchcock’s
To Catch a Thief Centennial Edition (Paramount);
Lilo & Stitch 2-Disc Big Wave Edition (Disney); the unofficial 007 adventure
Never Say Never Again Collector’s Edition (Fox/MGM); and the
Fast and the Furious trilogy (Universal, also Blu-Ray), with standard DVDs of the films available separately.
The recent releases for this week are highlighted by: Daniel Craig’s second James Bond opus,
Quantum of Solace (Fox/MGM, also Blu-Ray); the animated adjunct to the
Watchmen universe,
Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter (Warner, also Blu-Ray); John Travolta as a talking dog in
Bolt (Disney); and Anne Hathaway in
Passengers (Sony, also Blu-Ray).
In TV on DVD news, this week brings:
The Venture Bros. Season 3 (Warner, also Blu-Ray);
Star Wars: The Clone Wars- A Galaxy Divided (Warner);
The Riches Season 2 (Fox);
The Life and Times of Tim (Warner); and
Big Stan (HBO, also Blu-Ray).
This week’s biggest Blu-Ray only release is
James Bond Blu-Ray vol. 3 (Fox/MGM), which includes
Goldfinger,
Moonraker, and
The World Is Not Enough, also available separately. If you’re still looking for more action, you can always pick up
The Matrix (Warner). And on the more dramatic side of things, this week finds Paramount release three of its artier films of recent years,
A Mighty Heart,
The Kite Runner, and
Things We Lost in the Fire. I admit I would be more enthusiastic about these releases if they were films I actually liked, but I do like the idea that studios are actually attempting to spotlight more than just loud action movies on Blu-Ray. Hey, it’s a start.
Finally, I leave you with the Synopsis of the Week, this week courtesy of the FUNimation Entertainment release
Fruits Basket Box Set. Here it is:
“The Sohma family is cursed; however, this is no ordinary family curse. When a member of the family is embraced by a person of the opposite gender, they transform into an animal of the Chinese Zodiac! The Sohmas have managed to keep the curse private for generations, but when a young girl stumbles upon their secret, life in the Sohma household changes forever. Conflict erupts as zodiac rivals clash in this most unusual household. Young Tohru Honda must promise the secret will remain her own - or face the consequences!”