Marquee Names
- "The Great Debaters" (PG-13) Post critic Stephen Hunter wrote that "Denzel Washington, who directed and stars in this film, turns the tale of how tiny black Wiley College, of Marshall, Texas, out-argued the white national debate champion in 1935 into a stunner. ... It's a David and Goliath tale played to the max, all stops removed. It's a great family movie, if not historically perfect, and something that a lot of people are going to like." Extras include commentary by Washington, deleted scenes, a documentary with the original debaters.
- "Youth Without Youth" (R) Francis Ford Coppola's pondering on death, time and space "is a magnificent experience for the eyes," wrote Post critic Desson Thomson, but "Coppola spirals too deeply into his own conceptual, convoluted vortex" for it to be entertaining. Extras include an informative commentary from a chatty Coppola and a few making-of featurettes.
Saluting Stars
- "The Big Trail: Two-Disc Special Edition" (Unrated) and "John Wayne: The Fox Westerns" (Unrated) "The Big Trail" gets the two-disc treatment, with both its original 70mm widescreen version and standard full-screen version plus commentary, documentaries and more. "John Wayne: The Fox Westerns" features "The Big Trail," "North to Alaska," "The Comancheros" and "The Undefeated."
- "Frank Sinatra: The Golden Years," "The Rat Pack Ultimate Collector's Edition," "Frank Sinatra: The Early Years," "The Frank Sinatra & Gene Kelly Collection" and "Sinatra" (All unrated)
"The Golden Years" set consists of "The Man With the Golden Arm"" (which nabbed an Oscar nomination for Sinatra), "None but the Brave," "Some Came Running," "The Tender Trap" and "Marriage on the Rocks." "The Rat Pack" set, which could also be called Fun With Numbers, has "Robin and the Seven Hoods," "Ocean's Eleven," "4 for Texas" and the home video debut of "Sergeants 3." It also includes behind-the-scenes photo cards, correspondence from the Warner Bros. archives, Rat Pack playing cards available only in the collection and a free movie poster offer for all four films. "The Early Years" spotlights "Double Dynamite," "Higher and Higher," "Step Lively," "It Happened in Brooklyn" and "The Kissing Bandit." The Sinatra and Kelly collection contains "On the Town," "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and "Anchors Aweigh." "Sinatra" is a two-disc release of the 1993 CBS TV miniseries.
Worth Noting
- "Aces 'N Eights" (Unrated) A Western with Bruce Boxleitner, Ernest Borgnine and Casper Van Dien.
- "The Adventures of Indiana Jones: The Complete DVD Movie Collection" (PG) The swashbuckling trilogy in one handy box. There aren't a ton of extras, so pass if you already have all the films.
- "The Cottage" (R) A comedy horror film with Andy Serkis" ("Lord of the Rings") and Reece Shearsmith" ("Shaun of the Dead").
- "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" (PG-13) A film version of the popular musical stage play.
For the kids
- "Bob the Builder: The Three Musketrucks"
- "The Care Bears: Ups and Downs" and "The Care Bears: Sharing in the Sunshine"
- "Garfield and Friends: A Cat and His Nerd"
- "Sesame Street: Dinosaurs" and "Sesame Street: Love the Earth"
- "Summertime Fun" This has episodes featuring Barney, Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine, Angelina Ballerina and Fireman Sam. The Barney and Thomas episodes are new to DVD, plus there's a bonus "Fifi & the Flowertots" episode.
TV on DVD
- "The Adams Chronicles" Not to be confused with the recent HBO take on Adams, this is the 1976 PBS series.
- "Ballroom Bootcamp"
- "Drawn Together: Season Three Uncensored"
- "The Magnificent Seven: The Complete Series"
- "A Raisin in the Sun" This is the version with Sean Combs and Phylicia Rashad that aired on ABC.
- "The Rat Patrol: The Complete Series"
- "Stargate Infinity: The Complete Series"
- "Two and a Half Men: The Complete Third Season"