Region 1 DVD Releases For 26th and 27th December 2005

Depending upon which website you trust, these all came out Monday, Tuesday, or both. Either way, our first selection probably should have stayed unreleased.

American Pie Presents Band Camp: Unrated Widescreen

To truly appreciate how sad this straight-to-DVD event is, consider the following:

1. The American Pie series, already hemorrhaging cast in the last installment, retains only Eugene "Hey, can I be in your movie?" Levy for this outing.
2. This is what became of the director of The Buddy Holly Story (and Under the Rainbow, Can't Buy Me Love, Eddie, and the upcoming straight-to-video release, Bring It On 3 - see if you notice a progression).
3. This is the "unrated" version. As if there was some sort of softened theatrical release to react against. The "R" version is also straight-to-DVD.
4. This will probably do well enough to generate another straight-to-DVD sequel.

Dark Water: Unrated Widescreen Edition

I'm telling you, those unrated widescreen editions are all the rage these days. Too bad this movie wasn't. Falls into the Skeleton Key just-because-you-throw-in-a-big-star-with-kick-ass-supporting-actors (in this case Pete Postlethwaite and John C. Reilly) doesn't-mean-the-stars-will-align-critically-or-commercially category. It's a small, but important, category. Just as small and important as the American-adaptation-of-Japanese-horror-flicks category, which usually works out better (The Ring, The Grudge). Maybe they should have called it The Water. Also, it would have been nice to see a better American debut for Brazillian director Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries, Central Station).

Apparently I'm not the only one who noticed how strong the cast is. One of the featurettes is called "An Extraordinary Ensemble."

Grizzly Man

There are two docs coming out this week which are inexplicably not eligible for the Best Documentary Feature category at the Oscars this year. They're also two of the best-reviewed docs of the year. The first is a tale from venerated helmer Werner Herzog about a man who loved and defended grizzlies to a fault, the fault being that one eventually killed him and his girlfriend. This doc includes a doc about the making of the music for the film amongst its special features.

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

Here's the other. This one follows a homeless musician in San Fransisco and his urban avian companions. Extras include updates on the man and the birds and a short on the California Quail. In case you were wondering, The Aristocrats didn't make it, either.

2046

Speaking of critically acclaimed films which won't see the light of Oscar, this one is ineligible for the Best Foreign Film category because Hong Kong submitted something else instead. Wong Kar Wai's lauded sci-fi follow up to In the Mood for Love finally drops on DVD today. Extras include deleted scenes, an alternate ending, a behind-the-scenes doc, interviews with Wong Kar Wai, Ziyi Zhang, and Tony Leung, and the intriguingly titled "Numerology of 2046."

Article Author: David Dylan Thomas

David Dylan Thomas is a Philly-based writer/filmmaker who opines voraciously about dem pictures what move on the screen at DavidDylanThomas.com.

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