I’m probably the only one excited about The Golden Compass dvd release from yesterday. I’m a sucker for fantasy movies, but seriously the fantastical world of the movie intrigued me.

Since the movie ends abruptly, it enticed me to read all three books. In my opinion, a movie that encourages book sales can’t be all bad, right? And it did after all win an Oscar for best special effects. The effects of the daemons were superb as was the rendering of the compass itself. Everything looked vibrant and pretty realistic.

Pajiba’s Phillip Stephens said it had all “the essentials: great, complex characters and a fully realized world are in fine form.” I completely agree and gonna hope against hope that they make the sequels, especially since The Subtle Knife has a much stronger story than The Golden Compass novel.

For some crazy reason (maybe not so crazy if you’ve read my Old School Friday posts), I am seriously pumped about AVP 2. None of my friends could find take a break from their new year stupor and watch with me in theaters this past January. So basically, I’ve been waiting for 4 months to finally see what this alien/predator hybrid looks like!

I had no idea that these AVP flicks are based on a Dark Horse comic series. I think I gotta check out the Terminator vs Alien vs Predator comic. Just that phrase alone simply blows my mind.

Buy Alien vs Predator: Requiem on dvd today.

My favorite film from 2007, There Will Be Blood, arrived on dvd this week. I chuckle to myself at the mere thought of milkshakes and immediately think of Daniel Day Lewis’ engaging performance from the end of the film.

Apparently, the dvd collector’s addition wasn’t up to scuff and Defamer had a few choice words for Mr. Anderson. It’s riddled with cries of disappointment, but I think what they had to say was out of love for PT’s work.

I’m glad I didn’t rush out and pre-order it now. The author of that rant makes it sound like Paramount tried to pawn off a bootleg copy of the movie (like the really bad ones made with a shaky compact camcorder and horrible sound) instead of the real collector’s edition.

Francis Lawrence did a decent job with his first movie Constantine. I actually happen to like that movie despite Keanu’s cheesy dialogue. Thus, I gave I Am Legend a chance to sway me regardless of the lukewarm reviews.

I knew the movie was going to be pretty bleak, but Will Smith talking to mannequins for comfort was really sad. He seriously loses everything and works alone to find a cure day in and day out. I think the ending was a bit heavy handed with the messiah metaphor though.

Nevertheless, it was beautifully shot. I really believed that Robert Neville was the last man on earth. The production design of the overgrown city was so detailed with lions and deer bounding through the frame. The dark seekers coulda looked more realistic with less cgi and more make up in my opinion. Instead they seemed to be completely computer generated. Still, they were scary enough. I’d give this version a grade B.

Bonus: Discussion on /Film about IAL alternate ending, which I haven’t seen yet. Sadly, the alt ending was pulled from YouTube, but is included on the two disc dvd.

Harvey and Bob Weinstein have decided to create a dvd label that will rival Criterion Collection releases.

See excerpt below from Yahoo news:
“the former Miramax Films chiefs are bent on leaving their imprint on the DVD business as well, with a premium label they hope will rival the prestigious Criterion Collection or Warner Home Video’s extravagant collector’s editions” (source)

It’s called the Miriam Collection, named for their mother. The first release was for El Cid back in January. I mean there’s no way it’s going to be as good as Criterion, but their efforts for film preservation can’t hurt. And it’s looks like the Weinstein’s will still release new films under their Genius Products domestic distribution label.

An upcoming notable release is the telepic “The Deal”, which focuses on the UK PM Tony Blair’s rise to power. Stephen Frear’s film interlaces eighties news footage with a compelling dramatization of events.

Maybe after awhile they’ll work up to releasing indie movies made with basic level hd camcorders like Panasonic’s ProLine camcorder. With all the latest innovations in hd, it will become more than profitable to distribute all kinds of indie films from studios such as The Weinstein Company.