CITY OF EMBER On DVD
To save the human race, an underground city was built to last 200 years... now time is up and they must unlock the secret for their survival. Step into the light when the action-packed family adventure CITY OF EMBER, shines onto DVD January 20 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Ent. For generations, the people of the City of Ember have thrived in an amazing underground world of flickering lights. Built as a refuge for humanity and powered by a massive generator, the city's time is almost up and now Ember is falling into darkness as the generator fails. In a race against time, it's up to two brave teenagers to unravel the mystery behind the city's existence, maneuver around corrupt politicians and save the City of Ember. CITY OF EMBER is based on the 2003 best-selling novel by Jeanne Duprau.
CITY OF EMBER was produced by Gary Goetzman and Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks and stars Oscar-winner Tim Robbins (Best Supporting Actor, MYSTIC RIVER), Golden Globe-winner Bill Murray (Best Actor, LOST IN TRANSLATION) and Academy Award-nominee Saoirse Ronan (Best Supporting Actress, ATONEMENT).
To bring this tale to the screen, Kenan collaborated with scriptwriter Caroline Thompson, Production Designer Martin Laing, Special Effects Supervisor Kit West, Visual Effects Supervisor Eric Durst and a raft of visual effects companies that included BUF Compagnie, Luma Pictures, Amalgamated Pixels and Below the Radar. The visual effects work complemented the live action that DP Xavier Perez Grobet filmed on a huge city set that was built within the world's largest ship hangar in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Kenan explains, "The way that the aesthetic for this film was achieved was that I sat down with my art department and we started by designing a perfect utopia: a totally clean, modern master-designed city that was built for functionality and for flow -- all the things you would do if you set out to design a city from the ground up. Then we let time ravage it. We referenced lots of cities that have gone to pot all over the world for various reasons. We were able to see how time and atmosphere -- or a lack thereof -- have affected them. It was a fascinating experience."
The CITY OF EMBER DVD will be presented on a flipper disc in both full screen (1.33:1) and wide screen features (2.35:1 ratio) with English 5.1 Dolby Digital and Spanish and French Dolby Surround with English, French and Spanish subtitles.
IGOR On DVD And Blu-ray
In a land of mad scientists and diabolical inventions, one lowly lab assistant has a chance to achieve his dreams in IGOR, debuting on DVD and Blu-ray Disc January 20 from MGM Home Ent.
Determined to prove he can create his own diabolical invention, a mad scientist's (John Cleese) nice-guy assistant, Igor (John Cusack), creates a female Franken-monster. But his creation, Eva (Molly Shannon), is sweet and sings show tunes! That is, until she falls into the clutches of Dr. Schadenfreude (Eddie Izzard) and his shape-shifting girlfriend (Jennifer Coolidge). Now it's up to Igor and his sidekicks (Steve Buscemi and Sean Hayes) to save Eva -- and their country -- from real evildoers, including sneaky Prince Malpert (Jay Leno).
"IGOR is really an homage to the classic monster movies," Producer Max Howard says. "It was inspired by FRANKENSTEIN, but it's not a scary movie. Igor builds a monster, but she's really a lovely monster."
The 86-minute, PG-rated film was directed by award-winning animation veteran Tony Leondis (LILO & STITCH 2: STITCH HAS A GLITCH). Exodus Film Group CEO John D. Eraklis produced along with Howard, who has collaborated on such animated blockbusters as Disney's THE LION KING and ALADDIN, and Warner Bros.' SPACE JAM and THE IRON GIANT.
The IGOR DVD is presented in widescreen and full screen with English Dolby Surround 5.1 sound and includes bonus features such as deleted scenes, bloopers and "Be An Igor" featurette. The IGOR Blu-ray is presented in widescreen and features an alternate opening scene and commentary by director Tony Leondis, writer Chris McKenna and producer Max Howard.
MAX PAYNE On DVD And Blu-ray
A maverick cop with little regard for the rules -- and nothing to lose -- investigates a series of mysterious murders that could be tied to the death of his wife and child when MAX PAYNE retaliates to DVD and Blu-ray January 20th from Twentieth Century Fox Home Ent.
A stylized adaptation of the hugely popular fan-favorite video game, Academy Award nominee Mark Wahlberg stars as the title character Max Payne, an obsessive DEA agent who descends into the gritty New York City crime world to avenge the gruesome murders of his family and partner. As the mystery begins to slowly unravel, Max is forced to battle enemies beyond the natural world and face the demons inside himself in order to ensure that justice is served. Featuring dark, edgy scenes with the action played out like a graphic novel with neo-noir references reminiscent of SIN CITY, MAX PAYNE was transformed to the screen with stylized visuals by director John Moore and features gripping supporting performances from Mila Kunis, Beau Bridges, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Chris O'Donnell, Amaury Nolasco and the new "Bond babe" Olga Kurylenko.
In the videogame format, MAX PAYNE is a straightforward cop vs. mob shooter, but in the film adaptation, the hero confronts supernatural elements, as a key part of the plot involves a hallucination-inducing drug called V. To visualize this, director John Moore turned to Visual Effects Supervisor Everett Burrell (THE MIST, SIN CITY, HELLBOY) who, with VFX Producer Ken Wallace, oversaw the creation of 264 shots throughout an intense 15-week post-production schedule. "The shot count surprisingly stayed very close to the initial pre-production estimates," Burrell says. "We had originally planned for 170 CG shots, plus approximately 100 rig and wire removals."
VFX vendors include Mr. X and SPIN VFX.
The MAX PAYNE Special Edition DVD and Blu-ray Disc, both featuring Digital Copy, are highlighted by the Unrated Extended Cut of the film plus the never-before-seen animated graphic novel that delves deeper into Max Payne's endless vengeance, along with an in-depth production documentary on the making of the film (Part 1 is featured on the Special Edition DVD; Part 2 is only available exclusively on the Blu-ray edition).
Single-Disc DVD Special Features Include:
-- Both the Theatrical Version and Unrated Extended Cut of the film-- Commentary with Director John Moore, Production Designer Daniel Dorrance and Visual Effects Supervisor Everett Burrell
Special Edition DVD Special Features Include:-- Both the Theatrical Version and Unrated Extended Cut of the film-- Commentary with Director John Moore, Production Designer Daniel Dorrance and Visual Effects Supervisor Everett Burrell-- Picture production featurette -- Part 1-- "Michelle Payne" animated graphic novel-- MAX PAYNE Unrated Digital Copy for portable media players
Blu-ray Special Features Include:The Blu-ray includes all of the above standard-def Special Edition DVD bonus features, plus the following:
-- Picture production featurette -- Part 2-- BonusVIEW mode:* "Walkthroughs & Cheats -- Making MAX PAYNE" behind-the-scenes picture-in-picture production featurette (available on the Theatrical version only)* Picture-in-picture interviews with director John Moore-- MAX PAYNE Unrated Digital Copy for portable media players
THE POWERPUFF GIRLS: The Complete Series -- 10th Anniversary Collection on DVD
In the city of Townsville, the frustrated Professor Utonium is gathering all the ingredients to make a perfect little girl (sugar, spice, and everything nice). But when his lab assistant, a monkey named Jojo, causes the accidental addition of Chemical X to the mix, the Professor ends up with not one but 3 perfect, powerful little girls. It soon becomes obvious that Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup are not normal girls, they have superpowers and have not yet learned to control.
The girls are treated like outcasts because they have inadvertently wrecked Townsville in a superpowered game of tag. To win the hearts of the people of Townsville, the girls are tricked into making a deal with Jojo who plans to take over Townsville. As the girls foil this threat and defeat an army of superpowered monkeys, the Powerpuff Girls learn that with great power comes great responsibility.
Set includes all 78 episodes plus the holiday special and fans' favorite extras on six discs, plus a custom panoramic poster designed by series creator Craig McCracken.
SAW V On DVD And Blu-ray
The most popular horror film franchise in history returns to DVD and Blu-ray January 20 from Lionsgate Home Ent. (vfx by Switch VFX) with the release of SAW V in four different versions. The SAW film series has managed to ratchet up tension and invention with each successive film, while jangling millions of nerves worldwide. Surpassing Freddie and Jason, the SAW series is now the most profitable horror franchise, both theatrically and on DVD in movie history, taking in over $500 million in worldwide box office and sales exceeding 23 million units on DVD. In the fifth installment, Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor, SAW IV) is seemingly the last person alive to carry on the Jigsaw legacy. However, when his secret is threatened, Hoffman must go on the hunt to eliminate all loose ends.
Unrated DVD and Blu-ray Special Features Include:
-- Audio Commentary with Director David Hackl and First Assistant Director Steve Webb-- Audio Commentary with Producers Mark Burg and Oren Koules and Executive Producers Peter Block and Jason Constantine-- "The Pendulum Trap" featurette-- "The Cube Trap" featurette-- "The Coffin Trap" featurette-- "The Fatal Five" featurette-- "Slicing the Cube: Editing the Cube Trap" featurette-- Theatrical Trailer
Blu-ray release includes both a standard-definition Digital Copy of the feature film and features MoLog, the first BD live application that allows users to insert and animate shapes, text, audio, and other graphics right into the film to create "blogs" to share with other MoLog users.
The unrated widescreen version is also available in the Limited Edition Collector's Box. This box features a spinning saw blade as part of the packaging along with a voice chip that creates "Jigsaw" voice and saw sound effects when activated. The Collector's Box also includes a picture booklet with a letter from director David Hackl. A rated full screen version of the film on DVD is also available.
KING KONG on Blu-ray
In the KING KONG Blu-ray, out January 20 from Universal Studios Home Ent., it is 1933, and vaudeville actress Ann Darrow (Oscar nominee Naomi Watts) has found herself-like so many other New Yorkers during the Great Depression-without the means to earn a living. Unwilling to compromise and allow herself to sink into a career in burlesque, she considers her limited options while aimlessly wandering the streets of Manhattan.
When her hunger drives her to unsuccessfully try to steal an apple from a fruit vendor's stall, she is rescued -- literally -- by filmmaker and multiple hyphenate Carl Denham (Jack Black). It seems that the entrepreneur-raconteur-adventurer is no stranger to theft, having that day lifted the only existing print of his most recent and unfinished film from under his studio executives' noses when they threatened to pull his completion funds. Carl has until the end of the day to get his crew onboard the Singapore-bound tramp steamer, the S.S. Venture, in hopes of completing his travelogue/action film. With that, the showman is certain he will finally achieve the personal greatness he knows awaits him around the corner and although the crew believe that corner to be Singapore, Denham actually hopes to find and capture on film the mysterious place of legend: Skull Island.
Unfortunately for Carl, his headlining actress has pulled out of his project, but his search for a size-four leading lady (the costumes have all been made) has, fatefully, led him to Ann. The struggling actress is reluctant to sign on with Denham, until she learns that the up-and-coming, socially relevant playwright Jack Driscoll (Oscar winner Adrien Brody) is penning the screenplay-the fees his friend Carl pays for potboiling adventure are a welcome supplement to Driscoll's nominal income from his stage plays. With his newly discovered star and coerced screenwriter reluctantly onboard, Denham's "moving picture ship" heads out of New York Harbor and toward a destiny that none aboard could possibly foresee.
The 2005 theatrical release includes vfx by Weta Workshop, Weta Digital, CafeFX, Asylum VFX, Gentle Giant Studios and Motion Analysis Studios. Weta Digital won the VFX Oscar for its innovative character animation and virtual environments under the overall supervision of Joe Letteri.
Special Features Include:
-- U Control: The Art Galleries-- My Scenes-- BD Live Features: My Scenes Sharing-- U Control: Picture in Picture-- Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Peter Jackson and with Co-Writer/Producer Philipa Boyen
