The Latest on DVD: Leather and Polyester Edition

Two throwbacks to times of more questionable fashion choices are amongst this week's latest DVD releases:

Featured Titles:

• Cruising- After all the talk and debate, it is finally here in a deluxe "Leather Daddy" edition. OK, not really.
• Brothers & Sisters: The Complete First Season- On the heels of Sally Field's deserved Emmy win, this set not only includes every episode you've seen, but even one you haven't.
• Grindhouse Presents: Death Proof- The Quentin Tarantino half, in a two-disc special edition.
• Saturday Night Fever: 30th Anniversary Special Collector's Edition- White polyester suit not included.

Classics Corner:

• Deliverance- A new Deluxe Edition. Also available in HD-DVD and Blu-ray, so you can now see every pore on Ned Beatty's body.
• Anne of the Thousand Days/Mary, Queen of Scots- A royal double feature, these costume epics star two Oscar-nominated actresses: Geneviève Bujold and Vanessa Redgrave, respectively.
• The Threepenny Opera- Beware Mack the Knife in this Criterion edition of G.W. Pabst's version of the Kurt Weill musical.
• Robinson Crusoe on Mars- Daniel Defoe's classic gets a sci fi twist in another Criterion release.
• Alligator- OK, this one is more camp then classic, but it does feature Robert Forster and a big rubber gator.

What Else is New:

• Pittsburgh- Jeff Goldblum stages The Music Man with Ed Begley Jr. and Illeana Douglas in this offbeat documentary.
• The Gymnast- Lesbians in the air ... and in love.
• Zoo- Uh ... I'm just going to quote Imbd's plot outline on this one: "A look at the life of a Seattle man who died as a result of an unusual encounter with a horse."

What's on TV:

• Smallville - The Complete Sixth Season- Last year, Superman-to-be Tom Welling was almost out-super hunk'd by Justin Hartley's Green Arrow.
• The Best of Rocky and Bullwinkle: Vol. 2- More wackiness with moose und squirrel.
• Josie and the Pussycats: The Complete Series- Yeah, I know, now I got the theme song stuck in my head too.

Special Editions and Box Sets:

• The Roger Corman Collection- Includes eight of the cult director's drive-in classics, including Bloody Mama, A Bucket of Blood and The Man With the X-Ray Eyes.
• Wall Street: 20th Anniversary Edition- Greed is good, even two decades after the fact.
• Flashdance: Special Collector's Edition- What a feeling. Take your passion, and make it happen.
• Troy - Director's Cut- Available in a two-disc edition or an "ultimate collector's edition", as well as on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, so you can now see every pore on Brad Pitt's body.

Click on the individual titles to purchase them from Amazon.com.

Link via AfterElton.com.

Challenge of the Super Friends

With the supposed end of X-Men, Watchmen well on its way to reality, and rumblings of an Avengers movie, what about the big screen adaptation of the big daddy of all super-groups, the Justice League of America?

Warner is rumored to be all hot over the script and wants to start filming as soon as January with Road Warrior's George Miller at the helm. The problem lies with the future solo projects of the two superstar heroes who lead the group. If the JLA film is fast-tracked, it could push back Bryan Singer's Superman: The Man of Steel and the third Christopher Nolan Batman movie.

Then there is the question of the involvement of Brandon Routh and Christian Bale. Both are contracted for three films total, one of which could be an ensemble picture. Routh should be no problem, but Bale has publicly nixed the whole idea. Could the Caped Crusader be recast?

On the other hand, Ryan Reynolds has come out and said that he would love to don the red tights and yellow boots of super-speedster The Flash. He certainly has the look and cocky attitude the role calls for (for further proof, see this video of the above linked interview).

As for other "Armchair Casting" ideas, I'm still all over the idea of Evangeline Lilly as Wonder Woman, and her Lost co-star Josh Holloway is perfect for Green Arrow. Supposedly, Green Lantern will be the John Stewart incarnation, and who better then Taye Diggs? Paul Walker would look good all wet as Aquaman. Not sure if Hawkman is in the mix, but how about Jason Statham, who (if they stick to the original costume) would be pretty much bare-chested for the entire movie. I could handle that.

Let's hope Warner is able to work out all the kinks of this deal so we can see what is sure to be the ultimate superhero flick.

Links via IESB.net, Imdb.com, ObsessedWithFilm.com, MoviesBlog.MTV.com and Wikipedia.org.

Holdin' Out for a Hero

Thanks to a certain web-slinger, superhero movies are now all the rage, as witnessed by the next batch of comic book-inspired flicks:

- If you like Hugh Jackman the way I like Hugh Jackman (sportin' claws and 'burns), then you'll be glad to hear the X-Men spin-off Wolverine just nabbed an Oscar-winning director.

- A big screen Green Hornet has been rumored for years, with everyone from George Clooney to the late Brandon Lee attached. So how did they end up with Seth Rogan?

- Kevin Spacey will return as Lex Luthor in Superman: Man of Steel, directed by Bryan Singer after he helms the long-delayed The Mayor of Castro Street.

- Stan Lee says Iron Man, starring Robert Downey Jr., will be "something totally different than anything we have seen before." Except that, like every other comic book-based film, it will have him in a silly cameo.

- Frank Miller's legendary Watchmen series inches closer to the silver screen, with the rumored casting of Billy Crudup as the Superman-like Dr. Manhattan. This is very good news for Crudup fans as the character does not wear a costume. Oh yeah, and he's blue.

- For the time being, it appears that all we'll get of Heath Ledger as the Joker in the next Batman film, The Dark Knight, is fuzzy pictures and even fuzzier plot information. Could a possible teaser trailer offer us any more?

Links via Cinematical.com, DarkHorizons.com, Variety.com, CinemaFusion.com, CHUD.com, Wikipedia.com, Batman-Dark-Knight.MovieChronicles.com and SuperHeroHype.com.

Awards Watch: Ugly Emmy

While I don't necessarily cover a lot of television here, I did want to give a shout out to some of my personal favorites that made the cut for this year's Emmy Awards, announced this morning. If anything, it gives you an idea of the TV shows I like. And the nominees are:

• Brothers & Sisters: The crappy Boston Legal was nominated instead of this? At least Sally Field and Rachel Griffiths were.
• Dancing With the Stars and Top Chef (come on, admit it, you watch them) are both up for the "reality competion" award.
• Desperate Housewives: Three of them made the grade - Felicity Huffman, Dixie Carter and Laurie Metcalf.
• Dirty Jobs: Mike Rowe is a stud. That's all I'm going to say.
• Grey's Anatomy: A Best Drama nominee even with their rough third year, and boy, they sure racked 'em up in the acting races: T.R. Knight, Katherine Heigl, Chandra Wilson, Sandra Oh, Kate Burton and Elizabeth Reaser.
• Heroes: A surprise nominee for Best Drama Series, Masi Oka was the sole hero singled out.
• Lost: Michael Emerson and Terry O'Quinn were mentioned ... but no Elizabeth Mitchell!
• Smallville: I love my Superman wherever I can get him.
• The Sopranos: The controversial final season netted 16 nods, more then any other series, including ones for Best Drama, James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli, Aida Turturro, Lorraine Bracco and Tim Daly.
• Ugly Betty: The most nominated comedy series with 11 nominations, including nods for Best Comedy and actors America Ferrera (yeah!), Vanessa Williams (woo-hoo!), Judith Light and Salma Hayek.

In addition to Knight, out-and-proud actors Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) and Ian McKellen (for his guest stint on Extras) were also nominated.

And there was some movie-related specials in the mix: AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Cheers: America's Most Inspiring Movies, Boffo! Tinseltown's Bombs and Blockbusters, Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed, TCM's Brando, and of course The 79th Annual Academy Awards, hosted by our gal Ellen DeGeneres, who received a nomination herself. The Golden Globes and Tony Awards were also singled out.

And by far the oddest nominee? How about Justin Timberlake and his five (!) co-composers for the song "Dick in a Box" from Saturday Night Live. Too bad they don't perform the nominated songs on the show like at the Oscars. (And no, the song title was not censored on the official nominees list, available here.)

Links via DSC.Discovery.com and Emmys.com.