Blood! Sex! Vampires! Bullying cadets! Crooks and cons! And lots of Barrymore . . . new DVD daze

May 20, 11:46 AMPittsburgh Stage and Screen ExaminerAlan Petrucelli

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Blood, blood-suckers, Barrymore, more blood, more blood-suckers, more Barrymore. And let us not forget sex, more blood, more blood-suckers, sex, more blood. And more Barrymore.  And laughs. Lots of laughs. Really.

DVD fans will be having quite the blurry-eyed DVD daze ahead . . . and that’s a good thing, with the release of all these great new DVDs. (To play it honest and safe, we put the titles in alphabetical order; think of this as your favorite one-stop examiner.com shop.)

Do The Right Thing 20th Anniversary Edition (Universal Studios Home Entertainment)
Gee, are we that old? Could Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee’s groundbreaking cinematic achievement, really be celebrating its 20th anniversary?

Yes. And yes.

In 1989, two-time Academy Award nominee and visionary filmmaker Spike Lee mesmerized audiences with one of the most insightful and provocative films of its time: Do the Right Thing. Now, as the film’s 20th anniversary lurks in the horizon, a special  edition of the provocative drama is coming to Blu-ray and DVD.

Lee is at the top of his game in this film about a racially divided neighborhood facing a scorching summer heat wave. On the hottest day of the year, the Bedford-Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn becomes a crucible for the wide-ranging racial, social and economic beliefs of its residents. During a 24-hour period that changes lives forever, the neighborhood’s tenuous equilibrium boils over into a showdown between longtime business owner Sal (Danny Aiello) and the neighborhood’s African-American majority. In a slyly funny and riveting expose of racial tensions in the inner city, Lee unflinchingly confronts profoundly sensitive issues as violence threatens to explode against a throbbing musical backdrop.

The ensemble cast creates a gallery of unforgettable characters, with standout performances by  Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Rosie Perez, John Turturro and Samuel L. Jackson.

Do the Right Thing 20th Anniversary Edition is loaded with more than four hours of bonus material, including a never-before-seen retrospective documentary with cast and crew, a new feature commentary from Lee and newly discovered deleted and extended scenes.

El Dorado (Paramount Home Entertainment)
Legendary producer-director Howard Hawks teams with two equally legendary stars, John Wayne and Robert Mitchum, in this classic Western drama. Mitchum plays (to perfection) an alcoholic, but gutsy sheriff who relentlessly battles the dark side of the wild West, ruthless cattle barons and crooked "businessmen."
The Duke gives an equally adept performance as the sheriff's old friend who knows his way around a gunfight. Filled with brawling action and humor, El Dorado delivers the goods, as well as great support from co-stars James Caan and Ed Asner co-star. 

Entourage: The Complete Fifth Season (HBO Home Entertainment)
For Vince, Eric, Drama and Turtle, life in Hollywood’s fast lane has been an intoxicating ride, but the disastrous screening of Medellin in Cannes (at the end of season four) has put a damper on their lifestyle.

What to do?

This three-disc set finds Vince looking for ways to reclaim his celebrity status with the help of his best friends and agent Ari–all who are having troubles of their own.

Ah, the perils of being rich and (in)famous.

Winner of Emmy, Golden Globe and Peabody Awards, Entourage is a smart and sharp comedy that has captured the imagination of viewers, as well as A-list celebrities who have been eager to lend their presence to the show ever since it debuted. With its light-hearted take on showbiz, the series follows the rise of Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier), one of Hollywood’s hot young stars, and the three buddies he’s brought along from their hometown of Queens, New York to share the fun–manager Eric (Kevin Connolly), half-brother/actor Drama (Kevin Dillon) and party pal Turtle (Jerry Ferrara).

Let’s not forget a solid supporting cast: Jeremy Piven as Ari, Vince’s frenetic agent; Perrey Reeves as the long-suffering Mrs. Ari; Rex Lee as Ari’s harried assistant Lloyd; Debi Mazar as Vince’s publicist Shauna; Carla Gugino as Ari’s nemesis Amanda; Emmanuelle Chriqui as Eric’s girlfriend Sloan; and Beverly D’Angelo as Ari’s partner Babs.

Guest stars in season five include Bow Wow, Lukas Haas and Giovanni Ribisi as Eric’s clients; Leighton Meester as Vincent’s new love interest; Paul Ben-Victor as a studio head; Martin Landau as Bob Ryan; and Fran Drescher and Kevin Pollak as a pretentious Beverly Hills couple. Celebrities appearing as themselves in cameos include singer Tony Bennett, Phil Mickelson, Eric Roberts, Richard Roeper and Michael Phillips, Tom Rothman, Jeffrey Tambor, the cast of The View and actor Mark Wahlberg, who just happens to be an executive producer of Entourage.

Entourage: The Complete Fifth Season includes a sprinkling of bonus materials, including three hilarious commentaries by writer/producers Doug Ellin and Ally Musika, and actors Adrian Grenier, Kevin Connolly and Jerry Ferrara.

ER: The Complete Eleventh Season (Warner Home Video)
The prescription for what ails you? In its 11th season, the doctors of the ER continue to face the trials and tribulations of saving lives while protecting their own. This season’s gripping stories follow the daily lives of doctors old and new as they learn how to be better physicians while learning even more about themselves. After a decade of heart-pounding, heart-stopping, and heart-warming plot lines, this perennial favorite returns once again on a six-disc box set.

Created by best-selling author Michael Crichton, the eleventh season of ER drew more than 12 million household viewers each week. It’s no wonder viewership increased by several million during this season, as the inevitable challenges facing the doctors of County General only seemed to intensify. While continuing to explore the themes of work and family, love and loss, Season 11 delves headfirst into some intense and unusual cases, like the aquarium worker with a live shark latched on or the fraternity brother with an arrow in his stomach after a stunt gone wrong. The season culminates with the dramatic departure of Dr. Carter (Noah Wyle), which rocks County General and its employees to the core.

The only disappointment? The lack of special features and bonus tracks. The only things the doctors doles out are what Warner calls Outpatient Outtakes: Unaired Scenes.

The John Barrymore Collection (Kino International)
Silents is golden.

Grammatically incorrect pun intended.

This box set features four epic productions of the silent era starring John Barrymore, the actor frequently called the greatest of his generation. Barrymore first gained fame on the stage playing Shakespearian heroes such as Hamlet and Richard III. His success continued beyond the theater, and Barrymore went on to deliver some of his most acclaimed performances in both silent and sound-era motion pictures.

A member of a multi-generation theatrical dynasty, John Sidney Blyth Barrymore was the brother of Lionel Barrymore and Ethel Barrymore; he is also the paternal grandfather of Drew Barrymore.

Headlining The John Barrymore Collection is the release (for the first time on either VHS or DVD) of Sherlock Holmes (1922), a feature-length adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's famous adventures. Sherlock Holmes was believed to be lost, surviving only in the form of a few stills, until a battered and incomplete print surfaced in the mid 1970s. However, it wasn’t until recently that a viewable version was meticulously restored at the George Eastman House Motion Picture Department in Rochester, N.Y. This Kino DVD was mastered from the Eastman House restoration and arrives with a new score by silent-film composer Ben Model performed on the Miditzer Virtual Theatre Organ.

Directed by Albert Parker, Sherlock Holmes was set up as a deluxe Goldwyn Pictures Corporation production featuring striking sets and even, with a number of scenes filmed on location in London–an unusual practice at the time. Also of note is that John Barrymore, in the same year of his acclaimed stage production of Hamlet, was in his absolute prime. Moreover, the film brings the screen debut of two notable actors, William Powell and Roland Young.

Completing the Kino collection  are the new Kino releases of the United Artists productions The Beloved Rogue (1927), also starring German silent master Conrad Veidt, and Tempest (1928), a lavishly produced romance set in Russia during the final days of the Tsarist autocracy. The fourth silent production in this set is Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1920), considered by many to be the first great American horror film, with Barrymore delivering his first virtuoso performance on film.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Paramount Home Entertainment)
Ranking with Stagecoach as one of the greatest of its genre, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was directed by John Ford, whose very name is synonymous with "westerns." What a cast! Jimmy Stewart plays the bungling (but charming) big-city lawyer determined to rid the fair village of Shinbone of its number one nuisance and Bad Man: Liberty Valance, played by the sleazy Lee Marvin.

And as if all that weren't enough, the biggest star that ever aimed a six-shooter---John Wayne---takes on the title role. And let us not forget the love story: Stewart and Wayne share the same love interest (Vera Miles), but only one gets the gal. The other gets the gunman.

Midnight Express (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
The highly-charged 1978 thriller has been released on DVD before, but never like this, in a deluxe Blu-ray with a 32-page photo and essay booklet. Based on a true story and winner of two Oscars and six Golden Globes, this gritty film follows the unsure fate of Billy Hayes (played by Brad Davis), a young American caught at the Turkish border trying to smuggle hashish. At first sentenced to four years and two months for drug possession, his prison term grows to 30 years when the prosecution’s appeal finds him guilty of smuggling.

Pleas from his parents, litigation from his lawyer and actions from the U.S. Embassy amount to nothing. Things get worse when Hayes is sent to a detention center for the mentally unstable after he bites off a warden’s tongue to prevent him from divulging his escape plans. Forced to struggle with daily violence, despair and abuse, he finally reaches his breaking point and is willing to do anything to escape. With his options quickly dwindling, Hayes realizes the Midnight Express (inmate slang for “an escape” under cover of night) may be his last hope.

Special features include four behind-the-scenes featurettes exploring the road to production and the making of the film; commentary by director Alan Parker; Parker’s personal 32-page photographic journal and essay booklet from his on-set experiences.

The Shield: Season Seven (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
No cop out here: Los Angeles’ most controversial and corrupt cops are back one last time with the final season of The Shield: Season Seven (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) on DVD.

The Shield–a basic cable trailblazer and an all-time classic cop drama starring  Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Michael Chiklis–is centered around a tough crime-infested L.A. police precinct and its elite team of cops who are undeniably effective when it comes to cracking tough cases yet undeniably “dirty” too.

The four-disc box set is loaded with exclusive bonus features, including commentary on every episode, plus 51 deleted scenes with optional commentary by creator Shawn Ryan and two all-new featurettes: one, a look at shooting the final season; the other, at being on set for the last episode.

Never seen The Shield? Maybe a few of the arresting titles from the final season will hook you: “Coefficient of Drag,” “Animal Control” and “Bitches Brew.”

The Strange One (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
This is the one we’ve been waiting for . . . the controversial 1957 Sam Spiegel classic that’s coming to DVD for the first time.

And it’s about time.

Ben Gazzara made his feature film debut in The Strange One, recreating his Broadway role in Calder Willingham's gripping End as a Man. Gazzara stars as Cadet Sgt. Jocko DeParis (note name), a sadomasochistic bully in a Southern military academy who uses his magnetism and the school’s own military code to manipulate his fellow cadets and officers.

When he engineers the expulsion of a hated rival, his reign of terror begins to unravel. The film features a solid cast drawn from The Actor's Studio in New York, including Pat Hingle, Mark Richman, George Peppard (also in his film debut) and Larry Gates, and is directed by Jack Garfein and scripted by Willingham, based on his novel.

Censored in its original theatrical release for its homosexual undertones, The Strange One is presented restored and uncut for the first time on DVD. Trivia take: cabaret fans keep an eye out for singer Julie Wilson as Peonie.

We cannot wait!

Third Watch: The Complete Second Season (Warner Home Video)
The real heroes that keep New York City and its residents safe are back for their sophomore season. Working the 3 p.m.-11 p.m. shift (known as the “third watch”), these ordinary people perform extraordinary feats of bravery on a daily basis. Featuring an all-star cast including Bobby Cannavale, Eddie Cibrian, Michael Beach and Kim Raver, Third Watch portrays the best–and sometimes the worst–of “the city’s finest.” The six-disc set crams in all the episodes.

Created by John Wells (ER, The West Wing) and Edward Allen Bernero (Criminal Minds), Third Watch: The Complete Second Season is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning series that follows professional rescuers and first responders as they take on crime, medical emergencies, and blazing buildings in the largest city in America. Police, firefighters and paramedics all work together as the show explores the intricacies of their relationships on the streets, in the station, and back at home. Episodes include situations ranging from dangerous (tracking a sniper who targets cops) to playful (a football match between fire departments), to the mundane (a frequent 911 dialer). These heroes risk their lives every day so we can sleep soundly, knowing that we’re protected by the “third watch.”

Bet you watch it more than three times

True Blood (HBO Home Entertainment)
Sink your teeth into one of the better new TV shows . . . True Blood. For the first time ever, HBO Home Entertainment simultaneously released a DVD and Blu-ray version of an HBO original series; yes that’s how good it is (and that’s how smart they are).

True Blood: The Complete First Season was HBO’s highest-rated series of 2008, and with good reason: The meticulously-crafted and alluring world of vampires  is based on the popular Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris. Now, HBO Home Entertainment is giving audiences a chance to immerse themselves even deeper into Sookie’s world with original, in-story DVD and Blu-ray bonus materials.

Fans will hear what series creator Alan Ball says about the mysterious reason vampire Bill Compton is attracted to Sookie in one of six revealing audio commentaries with cast and crew. Anna Paquin (who won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Sookie) also discusses doing her own stunts, while Stephen Moyer (Bill Compton) gives insights into how V-juice (vampire blood) affects all humans differently.

Such fun!

True Blood bonus materials give viewers a chance to engage with the stories, characters and themes of the show with in-story features like: “In Focus: Vampires in America”, a documentary that chronicles the integration of vampires into the human world; “True Blood” beverage ads marketing the synthetic blood product to “out of the coffin” vampires; Public Service Announcements created by groups on opposite sides of the “Vampire Rights Amendment” debate; and vampire-targeted product ads for dating, motel and lawyer services.

The Blu-ray edition also offers True Blood Enhanced Viewing, an amplified experience with even more original, interactive content that unearths fascinating behind-the-scenes details about the series. True Blood’s flamboyant and outspoken Lafayette (played by Nelsan Ellie) gives audiences the scoop on everyone in Bon Temps with over 70 video clips dishing up everything from secrets about Tara’s crush on Jason to the history of the Stackhouse family in Bon Temps and much more.

Blu-ray bonus features also include helpful hints and FYI’s that pop up to unravel the mysteries surrounding the entire series, animated maps to help viewers explore colorful locations in Bon Temps and ways to learn more about how your favorite vampires were “made.”

True entertainment indeed!