New On DVD – July 21, 2009

Coraline CityNews.ca Pick of the Week Coraline is one of the best animated films of the year (yes, even better than Up ) and is the greatest stop-motion film since The Nightmare Before Christmas (also directed by Henry Selick). The story is dark, the visuals are beautiful and the film can be enjoyed by both young kids and adults alike. The 2-Disc Collector’s Edition includes the 3-D version of the film (four pairs of 3-D glasses included) as well as the 2-D version (I recommend sticking with the 2-D version at home). Special features include The Making of Coraline, Voicing the Characters, deleted scenes, digital copy (which I found lacking in quality) and feature commentary with Henry Selick and Composer Bruno Coulais. Also available on Blu-ray. Film **** out of 5 stars. DVD **** out of 5 stars.

Watchmen: Director’s Cut (Blu-ray) – Maybe Watchmen should have been a direct-to-DVD title from the beginning because it was much more enjoyable on Blu-ray than it was in the theatre. When I saw it back in March I didn’t really care much for it (my original rating was two out of five stars) and I only recommended it to fans of the graphic novel. The Director’s Cut adds 25 minutes of footage (which I thought was overboard given the movie is already close to three hours long), but with scenes like the death of Hollis Mason (Stephen McHattie) the extra time really helps fill the story out and makes it more coherent to someone who hasn’t read the graphic novel. Needless to say the image and sound are amazing and any fan will want this title on Blu-ray. Special features on the Blu-ray disc include the Warner Bros. Maximum Movie Mode which has director Zack Snyder hosting and walking out on the screen to explain certain scenes (as well as picture-in-picture video with the cast and crew, side-by-side comparisons of the graphic novel and a ton of other cool things), the featurettes The Phenomenon: The Comic That Changed Comics, Real Superheroes, Real Vigilantes plus a digital copy of the film and more. Film *** out of 5 stars. Blu-ray **** out of 5 stars.

300: The Complete Experience (Blu-ray) – A much better graphic novel adaptation than Watchmen is Frank Miller’s 300 (also directed by Zack Snyder). Having seen this on HD-DVD many times I was curious if I would notice a difference on Blu-ray. Side-by-side it’s hard to say but I think the Blu-ray is a tad crisper and brighter. The packaging for it is what sold me though. Being The Complete Experience it’s more like a book than a DVD. It has a hardcover, 40 pages of information and images and just feels like something more than a movie when you hold it. Bottom-line is that it’s a near perfect title that should be added to any Blu-ray collection. The disc is also packed with special features as well as BD-Live capabilities. One of my favourites is My WB Commentary which lets you record and share your own picture-in-picture commentary using a webcam. You also now have the ability to use Facebook via BD-Live to invite friends to a Live Community Screening. Other special features include The Complete 300: A Comprehensive Immersion, Frank Miller Tapes, Webisodes, Making of 300, additional footage plus more than I can fit on this page. Film **** out of 5 stars. Blu-ray ***** out of 5 stars.

More New DVD releases: Pontypool, The Haunting in Connecticut, The Unborn, Push, Knowing, Two Lovers

brian.mckechnie@citynews.ca

Top image: Still from Coraline. Courtesy Alliance Films.

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