22nd February 2005

Warner Home Video will release the fifth season of The West Wing on April the 25th. The six-disc set will feature all twenty-two episodes, including the series' hundredth episode (which finds the President dealing with the death of one of his predecessors), a Christmas episode (Abu el Banat), and an episode where staff members appear on Sesame Street (Eppur Si Muove). Guest cast for the season include John Goodman, Glenn Close, Gary Cole, Jay Mohr and Matthew Perry (who has just joined Bartlet's team, in the latest season four episodes, now airing on Channel 4).

The episodes will be presented in anamorphic 1.77:1 format, with 2.0 Dolby Digital audio. RRP for the set is £59.99.

Some bad news for Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis fans: contrary to information given to, and passed on by, MGM's PR company, there are no commentary tracks on the Stargate SG-1 season 8 discs, or on the Atlantis discs. I'm told that this is because the production team is now rather busy making two series in parallel. I'm also told that the commentaries may return mid-season.

I must say this is rather a disappointing development, partly because it significantly reduces each disc's value for money (unfortunately, MGM hasn't compensated with more or longer featurettes), and partly because, even as a casual fan of the series, I always found the commentaries interesting and often very entertaining. There also lurks the spectre of box sets further down the line, which could conceivably include commentary tracks that weren't featured on the individual discs, a move that would be guaranteed to annoy the series' loyal fans.

The second volume of Stargate Atlantis will be released on April the 11th. The disc will feature four episodes (Suspicion, Childhood's End, Poisoning The Well and Underground). Bonus features include a photo and production gallery, an Atlantis Mission Directive featurette on the two-part story The Storm / The Eye (episodes ten and eleven of the new series) (the same sort of thing as the SG1 Director's Series featurettes, 6m) and a video diary by star Rainbow Sun Francks (who plays Lt. Aiden Ford, 9m).

You can see example menu screens from the Stargate SG-1 season 8 and Stargate Atlantis discs here.

21st February 2005

Ceri has updated the Incoming page, which includes some information about forthcoming titles, including a release of two landmark Dennis Potter plays, Vote, Vote, Vote For Nigel Barton and Stand Up Nigel Barton. Nice to see the BBC continuing with the Potter releases. If only some enterprising company would look at releasing Potter's ITV material. There are also more than a few titles that have been re-scheduled, including the much-delayed Hazell - Series 2. I've also added Dom Joly - World Shut Your Mouth and Have I Got News For You - The Best of the Guests - Volume 2 to the Incoming page, and moved The Comic Strip Presents... back a week, to the 6th of June.

Warner Home Video has postponed the UK release of Wonder Woman - The Complete First Season and The Dukes of Hazzard - The Complete First Season. Both were originally scheduled for release on March the 28th, and have been postponed until "later in 2005".

A little more news about some of the Cinema Club titles mentioned last week: the Doug McClure Fantasy Adventure box set will come with a set of six postcards, which includes postcards of the original poster art. The Hell Is A City disc will include the film's alternate ending and a theatrical trailer, but not the commentary track, which is on Anchor Bay's US disc.

BFI Video has three new titles scheduled for release on March the 28th. These are two relatively minor Akira Kurosawa titles, I Live In Fear (Ikimono no Kiroku, 1955) and High and Low (Tengoku to Jigoku, 1963), and Waris Hussein's acclaimed 1997 biopic Sixth Happiness, about a young man coping with a brittle bone condition, and his sexual awakening (Play.com helpfully categorises it as a "Gay Interest" title).

I Live in Fear is presented in 1.66:1 ratio, in Japanese, with English subtitles. High and Low is offered in anamorphic 2.35:1 format, also in Japanese with English subtitles. Both Kurosawa titles will include sleeve notes by Philip Kemp.

Sixth Happiness will feature a 1.66:1 transfer, an interview with Firdaus Kanga (the subject of the film) and Hussein, and a commentary by Kanga. It will also feature English HoH subtitles.

Here's the sleeve art for these three releases, which have an RRP of £19.99 each.

The London IMAX Cinema has scheduled four all-night screenings of two popular movie trilogies in March. The Matrix Trilogy will be shown on Friday the 11th and Saturday the 12th of March, and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy will be shown on Friday the 18th and Saturday the 19th of March. Note, though, that only the two Matrix sequels are presented in large-format IMAX DMR; the other films will be screened using traditional 35mm prints. The Matrix screenings will start at 9.30pm, the Lord of the Rings screenings at 8.30pm. The schedule will include half-hour breaks between films, and free tea and coffee will be provided. Tickets are £10 for one film, £15 for two, and £25 for all three. Full details are here.