Supposedly a modern version from George A. Romero’s 4th movie (1974), The Crazies was released on February 26th 2010. Directed by Breck Eisner, this nth American remake reuses most of the original story plot (a virus threat on a little town) and uses it as a scenario background to criticize the American military forces and the methods they use… A theme that Romero also explores in his 3rd zombies’ episode: Day of the Dead. Despite horror fans’ first doubts, the feature turned out to be quite effective and gory. Far from the crap movie that many expected, only regret remains in regards to the slightly weaker impact of the approached theme compared to the original feature…
However, if infected movies are indeed your cup of tea, then a trip to this little middle-west town is definitely a must! Anchor Bay plans on releasing the video editions on June 29th with a few bonuses such as the director’s voice comment as well as five other extras focussing on various aspects of the feature (making of, documentary on Romero, make up explanations and another doc on cinema pandemics)… Well, as suggested on the posters, now is not a good time to trust your neighbours!
Breck Eisner’s remake of the George A. Romero classic (the legendary horror director’s personal favourite) finds the Iowan town of Odgen Marsh under siege from its denizens after its water supply is contaminated with a deadly toxin. As the townspeople murder, pillage and generally run amok, it’s up to a small band of uncontaminated folk (led by the sheriff - played by Timothy Olyphant) to fight for survival.
Directed by the Hughes brothers and released last January in the US, The Book of Eli turned out to be an excellent movie, despite its final twist that some might have found a little over the top. Nevertheless, this beautiful post-apocalyptic story and well-referenced feature cleverly combines thoughtful matters and great pictures! The hero, played by With Denzel Washington, is a lonely man living on a devastated earth, who has been protecting for more than 30 years some mysterious book supposed to hold the keys to the survival of mankind.
If you missed for any reason this geeks’ masterpiece while it was on screen, you now have the opportunity to catch up as the videowill be released on June 15th. Warner Home Video will present a DVD edition as well as a combined Blu-Ray/DVD one. As fare as extras are concerned, the DVD will only hold a few additional scenes and a documentary on Carnegie’s story (played by Gary Oldman), whereas the Blu-ray should give access to 40 minutes of Maximum Movie Mode (in which Denzel Washington and the Hughes brothers will handle more in detail specific parts of the feature), a few extras (Starting Over, Soundtrack Piece, Eli’s Journey) and a digital copy! Fans of genre cinema will definitely have to see this astonishing movie, which is about to become legendary!
Eli is a lone man journying on foot across a post-apocalyptic America. He’s guarding with his life what, for all he knows, could well be the last copy of the Bible in existence. He believes that on its sacred pages is written all the knowledge needed to redeem and rebuild society but a despotic lunatic seeks to take the book from Eli’s grasps and use it to gain power for himself.
After its wonderful journey in 3D that lasted some 11 weeks or so in movie theatres (bringing in up to one million dollars benefits), Alice is now about to step once more in her Wonderland, this time on video device. Directed by the great master Tim Burton, Alice in Wonderland claims to be a film rethinking from Lewis Carroll’s novels in which Alice meets again with Underland’s eccentric people 13 years after her first visit. As usual, the latest feature from Big Fish’s director, offers a 3 star cast with famous names of the cinema industry (Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway and Christopher Lee) together with great visuals that mix real shoots and animation.
Hardly 3 months after its first coming out (and despite the polemic caused by Disney concerning this short time lapse), the Mad Hatter, The White Rabbit and the Red Queen enter your own house on classic edition or Blu-Ray + DVD + Digital Copy version. The DVD only offers 3 bonuses: Finding Alice (a documentary focussing on Alice), The Mad Hatter (some little feature covering the characters conception from ideas to the actual results) and Effecting Wonderland (the most interesting bonus dealing with the visual conception of the movie). In addition to the digital copy, the BR/DVD edition offers some additional features (The Futterwacken Dance, The Red Queen, Time-Lapse: Sculpting the Red Queen, The White Queen, Scoring Wonderland, Effecting Wonderland, Stunts Of Wonderland, etc.) that cover more precisely some of the movie’s details (stunts, soundtrack, special effects…). Ideal family movie, the latest Burton should pretty soon feel invited into many households!
19-year-old Alice returns to the whimsical world she first encountered as a young girl, reuniting with her childhood friends: the White Rabbit, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Dormouse, the Caterpillar, the Cheshire Cat, and of course, the Mad Hatter. She joins forces with these friends and the unfairly dethroned White Queen to defeat the evil, big-headed Red Queen.
Based on Cormac Mc Carthy’s best seller book of the same name, you can now admire The Road’s dusty paths in your own home thanks to its recent video release. Directed by John Hillcoat, the post apocalyptic feature stars real talents like Viggo Mortensen and young Kodi Smit-McPhee. Presented as a metaphoric initiation journey, the movie especially strikes us with astonishing visuals and devastated lands settings seeming amazingly real… Though the DVD version struggles a little with image compression, the Blu-ray has a much more satisfying visual outcome which is worth of the movie’s initial picture quality. Nothing great as far as the bonuses are concerned, both editions contain typical voice comments, interviews (from Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee), some cut scenes (5 in total) as well as a short and rather boring making of… Such bonuses will probably attract few people except for real fans of the feature and those who were lucky to read the great novel originally used in this adaptation!
A father and his son walk alone through a post-apocalyptic America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape and it’s cold enough to crack stones. Hoping to escape the endless winter, they head south towards the coast, not knowing what awaits them there. Along the way they encounter refugees, organized militants, and must avoid gangs of lawless killers. With the exception of a pistol with 2 bullets, the clothes on their back and a cart of scavenged food, they have nothing. All alone, the boys must struggle to survive in a world no longer capable of sustaining life.
