Jessica Chastain has been making films almost non-stop for the past four years. It only seems like she came out of nowhere this year. A Julliard graduate with experience on stage and screen, her first TV role was in 2004, she appeared opposite Al Pacino in his 2006 stage production of "Salome" and shot her first feature, a film adaptation of Pacino's "Salome" production, a year later. She's been making movies ever since but, through a curious quirk of fate, these films (apart from a few small productions that flew under the radar of most people) didn't start hitting theaters until 2011. Suddenly, it seems she's everywhere: "The Tree of Life," "The Help," "The Debt," "Coriolanus," "Take Shelter" and "Texas Killing Fields."

 

"I went to every festival this year," she recalls. Well not every festival, just Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Deauville, Toronto and Venice. "I had no experience with press at all and this year it's been all at once. What a steep learning curve." While shooting a new film in Toronto, she spent a rare day off doing -- what else? -- phone interviews for her many previous films. With "The Tree of Life" arriving on DVD and Blu-ray this week, we discussed working Terrence Malick, preparing for a role and, as is Videodrone's practice, what she's been watching when she's not making movies.

 

MSN: What have you been watching?

 

Jessica Chastain: I'm doing a movie called "Mama," produced by Guillermo del Toro and directed by Andres Muschietti, who made some amazing shorts. It's really, really creepy, kind of like a mix between "The Ring" and "The Orphanage." So everything in between has been these kinds of genre movies because it's a really new experience for me. I got "Ju-on" -- I'd seen the remake "The Grudge" but I hadn't seen the original -- "[rec]," which was remade as "Quarantine" with Jennifer Carpenter, I got the original "The Thing," I got all of the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" films, of course I have "The Ring" and "The Orphanage." I got "Psycho," "The Exorcist"… I'm scaring myself. (laughs) I have something playing in my trailer whenever I come in just to give me what that energy is of those films. Because it is different and I work very closely with the energy of what that piece is.

 

That's dedication. You come off the set of a horror movie and watch a horror movie.

 

Yes! And I have it in my trailer in between takes. You have to live in it as an actor. For me, anyway. When I was doing "The Tree of Life" I was reading about cultivating grace and gratitude and meditating and all these things that put me in a space of grace. Whatever I'm working on, I try to feel the energy. For "The Help," I watched all of Marilyn Monroe's films because there was that kind of diving head-first, this lust of life that she had in her character.

 

"The Tree of Life" is as much a film of privileged moments as it is a story of growing up. What kind of direction did Terrence Malick give you to create this impressions?

 

What he helped me do was he guided me toward certain paintings. I looked at Raphael's Madonna. I spent many hours in the Metropolitan Museum of Art studying paintings of the Madonna and seeing how these women held themselves, how they held their heads, their eyes. There's never a direct gaze, you never feel this aggressiveness, it's always this very soft, sweet, loving grace that they all had. He also suggested  watching early movies of Lauren Bacall because even though it was a voice she had worked on with a voice teacher, there was something about her voice that was so slow and smooth. And he also gave me a piece written by Thomas à Kempis which is actually in the film, "The Difference Between Nature and Grace."

 

Marvel comics has proven remarkably successful in recent years in elevating characters beloved by comics fans but largely unknown to the public at large into big screen successes. DC Comics, which is not so coincidentally owned by the Warner Bros. parent company, isn't doing quite so well with its back catalogue of characters that aren't named "Batman."

See an exclusive clip from the Blu-ray release below

 

Case in point: "Green Lantern" (Warner), who has been around since the 1940s but never quite matched the zeitgeist of  Superman or Batman. It's kind of a kitschy premise -- an American test pilot is gifted with an alien ring that gives its bearer the power to shape a green ray into shapes limited only by his will and his imagination -- and the visually dazzling and narratively emaciated film does little to take the kitsch out of the spectacle.

 

In this version, Ryan Reynolds is the classic irresponsible daredevil who lives recklessly and punctuates every irresponsible action with a smart-ass quip. It's the classic American story: the man-boy is given great power (because with great power comes… oh wait, that's the other guy) and forced to man up and become responsible, which he does with childlike flair. Seriously, for a tool limited only by the imagination, this guy's inspirations are limited to toys and cartoons. Meanwhile the filmmakers -- director Martin Campbell and a small scroll of credited screenwriters -- give him a personal life with even less depth than his imagination. Or is it just the casting of Blake Lively as a hard-ass test pilot turned defense contractor CEO?

 

The script is all over the place, the special effects overloaded with dazzle at the expense of clarity and Reynolds, who can generally be counted upon to deliver to goods, is all hard-body flexing and glib delivery. Only Peter Sarsgaard, who plays a meek scientist with self-image issue who turns uber-villain when he's infected with the power of yellow (the dread enemy of green!), hints at something more interesting, or to be more accurate, more fun than the dreary hero's tale that plays out without surprises.

 

In the words of MSN film critic Glenn Kenny, "as many suggestions as are made over the course of the picture, they never add up to a picture that's willing to forsake its transparently insincere and unnecessary patina of earnestness in order to deliver a just plain good time."

 

The DVD features previews of the "Justice League #1" Digital Comic and "Green Lantern: The Animated Series," both essentially cross-promotions. The Blu-ray edition is where you can find the extras, beginning with an extended cut of the film that runs nine minutes longer. I really couldn't tell you what the difference is beyond the running time. Also features the interactive "Maximum Movie Mode" with picture-in-picture commentary and behind-the-scenes featurettes (also accessible separately), the longer featurettes "The Universe According to Green Lantern" and " Ryan Reynolds Becomes Green Lantern" and deleted scenes among the supplements, plus a bonus DVD and an "Ultraviolet" digital copy (which is stored online through a Flixster account -- that means you need a Flixster account access it -- and is then accessible via web-connected devices). All of these supplements are also available on the Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, which features both 3D and 2D version of the film (but the extended cut is only 2D).

 

All editions come out on Friday, October 14.

 

For more releases, see Hot Tips and Top Picks: DVDs for October 11

See an exclusive clip about the design and creation of the movie's villain after the jump
 

There is no denying the ambition of "The Tree of Life" (Fox), Terrence Malick's portrait of one boy's education growing up in Texas set against nothing less than the origins of life in the universe.

 

That's not an exaggeration. Ostensibly the story of one man recalling his childhood, growing up with two brothers, a mother (Jessica Chastain) with the maternal glow of the Madonna and a father (Brad Pitt) whose loving protectiveness is complicated by a bullying authoritarian streak that is unleashed by the coiled rage under his skin, the film is filled with privileged moments of magic and terror, of remembered shards of treasured memories turned idealized snapshot and moments that are more textured evocations of emotions and anxieties. And then Malick rewinds to the beginning, and I mean that in the cosmic sense: the big bang, the formation of suns and planets, the primordial states of the Earth, the rise of the dinosaurs and the predatory cycle of life that, Malick suggests, still grounds the DNA of the human animal.

 

That threw off some viewers who went to see the new the Brad Pitt film at the multiplex and ended up watching an impressionistic journey of cosmic dimensions and personal moments of grace, terror and the human condition. Some patrons demanded their money back, prompting one theater to post a disclaimer explaining that the film is "a uniquely visionary and deeply philosophical film" and "does not follow a traditional linear narrative approach of storytelling." Some critics dismissed the film as pretentious, "arty" or boring.

That's their right and I too have my issues with the way the Malick's impressionist portraits reduce the characters to collections of symbolic representations. Yet I am also moved by the impressions of maternal grace and paternal fear, the instinctive savagery of adolescence coming out in wilding play, the sheer wonder and scale of his primordial imagery, and the symphony he creates of his images and moments and movements. The experience of the film is like no other American film I've seen in recent history.  

 

MSN critic Glenn Kenny proclaims it "the most bold and unconventional and visionary picture made using the apparatus of big-studio pictures since ["2001: A Space Odyssey"]. That alone makes it kind of a mind-blower." He doesn't claim to "get it" all in his glowing five-star review but he appreciates that Malick offers "a complete and fulfilled and often amazing vision. It's also a film that can't fully be apprehended on the first viewing. Its title, "The Tree of Life," suggests a concept both huge and simple, and yes, it is that."

There are no supplements on the DVD. The Blu-ray features the appropriately impressionistic featurette "Exploring The Tree of Life," a half-hour production featuring interviews with the producers, actors and other collaborators discussing the way Malick works and their experiences on the set of the film. Not your traditional featurette and the notoriously press-shy Malick, of course, is nowhere to be seen (though fellow directors Christopher Nolan and David Fincher drop by to offer their praise to Malick's vision). It doesn't really tell you the how or whys of the film, but it does suggest the journey of this artist in finding his way through the material with the help of his collaborators. The Blu-ray also features a bonus DVD and digital copy.

Read the MSN exclusive interview with Jessica Chastain here.

For more releases, see Hot Tips and Top Picks: DVDs for October 11

 

New Releases:

There is no denying the ambition of "The Tree of Life" (Fox), Terrence Malick's portrait of one boy's education growing up in Texas set against nothing less than the origins of life in the universe. It has amazed, confounded and frustrated audiences, but the experience is like no other American film I've seen in recent history. Videodrone's review is here and interview with star Jessica Chastain here.

"Green Lantern" (Warner), the big screen debut of the DC Comics superhero starring Ryan Reynolds as the mere human given the power of an alien ring, underwhelmed its fan base. Warner, however, is pulling out all stops for the Blu-ray release, offering an extended cut of the film, an interactive viewing mode and, of course, all sorts of featurettes and supplements. And there is a Blu-ray 3D version as well. All editions come out on Friday, October 14. More from Videodrone here.

 

Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are traveling companions on "The Trip" (IFC) to the finest restaurants in Britain, where they spend time in comic one-upmanship (their dueling Michael Caine impressions is worth the price of a rental).

 

Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis plot revenge against their "Horrible Bosses" (Warner) Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell and Kevin Spacey in the black comedy. John C. Reilly is an eccentric high school vice-principal in "Terri" (Fox), an indie comedy with Sundance credentials, Rhys Ifans plays "Mr. Nice" (MPI), based on the crazed true story of a wildly successful British marijuana smuggler, and "Beautiful Boy" (Anchor Bay) stars Maria Bello and Michael Sheen as separated parents who turn to each other in shared grief.

 

And for the more juvenile crowd, there is "Zookeeper" (Sony) with Kevin James and talking animals, and "Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer" (Fox) from the children's book by Megan McDonald.

 

Browse the complete New Release Rack here

TV on DVD:

As the tongue-in-cheek spy show embarks on its fifth and final season, "Chuck: The Complete Fourth Season" (Warner) catches you up with the adventures of amiable nerd turned super-spy Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi), who spends the season looking for his mother (guest star Linda Hamilton), who also happens to be a spy and may be working for the other side. Oh, and there's a birth and a wedding. Mission debriefing from Videodrone here.

 

And while "Bones" has no end in sight, the upcoming season will be truncated due to pregnancy, so the full-sized "Bones: The Complete Sixth Season" (Fox) will have to fill the void for those of us who love the show, bones and all. Videodrone examines the remains here.

 

"Workaholics: Season One" (Paramount) arrives as the second season of the new Comedy Central sitcom is underway and "Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1: Season 1" (Warner) is the is actually the new incarnation of the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim hit "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," renamed but as weird as ever.

 

From Britain comes the dark comedy "Snuff Box" (Severin), part sitcom and part sketch comedy, and "Without Motive" (Acorn), the complete 12-episode series about the search for a serial killer in Bristol. "Casper The Friendly Ghost: The Complete Collection 1945-1963" (Shout! Factory) and "JEM and The Holograms: The Truly Outrageous Complete Series!" (Shout! Factory) are collections of animated programs of yesteryear.

 

Flip through the TV on DVD Channel Guide here

Cool, Classic and Cult:

"Great Italian Director's Collection" (Lorber Films) features Michelangelo Antonioni's debut feature "Story of a Love Affair" (1950), the anthology film "Boccaccio '70" (1962) with contributions by Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti, Vittoria De Sica and Mario Monicelli, and Monicelli's "Casanova '70" (1966). Not necessarily major films but certainly major directors and new editions of films either long out of print or never available on DVD in the U.S.. Videodrone's review of both DVD and Blu-ray editions here.

 

"The Four Feathers" (Criterion) gives the Criterion treatment to Zoltan Korda's 1939 Technicolor adventure of British imperial heroism and stiff-upper-lip loyalty. Quite the outdated Hail Britannia piece but a beautifully shot film with a rousing score. The 1966 remake of "Stagecoach" (Twilight Time) can't help but fall in the shadow of John Ford's original masterpiece, but it has a cast that keeps the wheels rolling (including Ann-Margaret, Red Buttons, Bing Crosby and Slim Pickens), while "South of Heaven" (Synapse) offer a more contemporary western by way of blood-soaked revenge thriller.

 

"I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK" (Pathfinder) is an offbeat character piece by South Korean auteur Pak Chan-wook (of "Oldboy" fame) and foreign terrors come from "The Child's Eye" (Lionsgate), a Hong Kong production from The Pang Brothers, and "The Sylvian Experiments" (Lionsgate) from Japanese screenwriter turned director Hiroshi Takahashi.

 

All of the Cool, Classic and Cult here

 

Blu-ray Debuts:

Criterion offers Blu-ray upgrades of two previous DVD releases: Masaki Kobayashi’s samurai drama "Harakiri" (Criterion), a classic tale of samurai ideals versus political hypocrisy, and Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom" (Criterion), his notorious adaptation of the Marquis de Sade's opus of torture and degradation relocated to 1944 Fascist Italy.

 

"Boccaccio '70" (Lorber Films) and "Casanova '70" (Lorber Films) arrive on Blu-ray in separate editions but, like the DVD box set above, with no supplements of any substance. "Scrooge" (Paramount) is the 1970 musical incarnation of "A Christmas Carol" with Albert Finney and "Last Exit to Brooklyn" (Summit) is Uli Edel's adaptation of Hubert Selby Jr.'s cult novel.

 

The countdown to Halloween brings Blu-ray debuts of "The Bad Seed" (Warner), the psycho-child classic starring Patty McCormack as a well-mannered little psychopath, plus minor cult items "Maniac Cop" (Synapse), with Bruce Campbell, and "Dark Night of the Scarecrow" (VCI).

 

Peruse all the new Blu-rays here

 

The complete calendar of releases this week is after the jump:

 

In the latest about face from Netflix in the wake of splitting its once-free streaming service from its rent-by-mail service and charging separately for each, CEO Reed Hastings proclaimed this morning that it will NOT spin off its DVD-by-mail serviceinto a new, separate website called "Qwikster," a name seemingly concocted by someone still high on the fumes of Napster.

Netflix subscribers, meanwhile, are giving Reed Hastings a failing grade for the way he's dragged out the worst public relations disaster in the company's history.

A couple of weeks ago, Hastings announced that they renamed the original DVD service Qwikster, ostensibly to make it easier to justify the separate charges, and promised to improve service in the future. The announcement, made before the new site was ready to launch, had the smell of desperation, a belated plea to staunch the bad press the company has earned since first announcing the separate charges for bundled services that proved to be so successful for the company. Since the announcement, many subscribers opted out of one or another of the services, and as many as a million are reported to have cancelled their subscription entirely.

The crisis appears more to be a matter of public relations than simply numbers. Netflix was built on renting DVD by mail and its success changed the home video rental business, putting a lot of neighborhood video stores out of business. Streaming video was added later, an added value bonus to subscribers which exploded in popularity with its customers, thanks to the growth in delivery devices (from laptops to smart phones to iPads) and the increasing ease of streaming to home theater systems. As streaming video grows and the catalogue increases, changes were inevitable, and in July they announced price changes and separate charges for the two services. In the midst of economic hard times, Netflix stumbled in the way it broached the subject, announcing price increasing without any change in service (beyond some vague "improvements" in the future) and the response from customers was swift and unequivocal (as the thousands of comments on the blog attest).

Reed Hastings then sent an "apology" to customers (on the Netflix blog here) announcing that they would split the two services into separate websites, which only made customers more frustrated (again, just browse a few of the 27,000 plus comments on the Netflix blog). So it's apology time again.

From the Netflix company blog: "It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs.

"This means no change: one website, one account, one password… in other words, no Qwikster."

Based on the comments so far, customers are not impressed.

 

Here's what's new on DVD and Blu-ray this week as featured on Videodrone

 

Hot Tips and Top Picks: DVDs for October 4

 

New Releases:

'Fast Five' – The Car Heist Franchise Goes South

The New Release Rack: 'Scream 4,' plus 'Submarine,' Disney's 'African Cats' and more

 

TV on DVD:

'Prohibition' – Ken Burns' latest slice of American history

'The Walking Dead' and 'Planet Earth' Deluxe

TV on DVD Channel Guide: William Hurt in 'Moby Dick,' the lost 'Honeymooners' episodes and more

 

The Cool and the Collectible:

Cult Watch: 'Amer' – A Horror Trip Like No Other

Hitchcock "Essentials" and Jason Unbound (with bonus hockey mask!)

 

Blu-ray Debuts:

'Pulp Fiction' and 'Jackie Brown' - Two by Tarantino

Blu-ray Round-up: 'The Lion King,' 'Pee-Wee's Big Adventure,' Peter Jackson's 'Dead Alive' and more

 

Interviews:

Watching with Ken Burns, director of 'Prohibition'

Watching with Pam Grier and Robert Forster, stars of 'Jackie Brown'

 

Coming up next week:

"Green Lantern" (Warner) (Friday, October 14)

"The Tree of Life" (Fox)

"Horrible Bosses" (Warner)

"Zookeeper" (Sony)

"Beautiful Boy" (Anchor Bay)

"Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer" (Fox)

"The Four Feathers" (Criterion)

"Chuck: The Complete Fourth Season" (Warner)

"Bones: The Complete Sixth Season" (Fox)

"Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1: Season 1" (Warner)

"JEM and The Holograms: The Truly Outrageous Complete Series!" (Shout! Factory)

"The Bad Seed" (Blu-ray) (Warner)

"Last Exit to Brooklyn" (Blu-ray) (Summit)

"Maniac Cop" (Blu-ray) (Synapse)

 

For calendar of upcoming releases, click here

 

Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" (Lionsgate) and "Jackie Brown" (Lionsgate) debut on Blu-ray. Videodrone reviews both here, and I speak with "Jackie Brown" stars Pam Grier and Robert Forster here.

 

"The Lion King / The Lion King 3D" (Disney) comes off a successful theatrical 3D revival and on to Blu-ray, in both the original theatrical version and the new 3D incarnation. The 1994 "Hamlet on the veldt" animated feature, about a cub born to be pack leader who returns from self-imposed exile to face the evil lion who killed his father and usurped his throne, was another jewel in Disney's animation crown, a huge hit that won two Oscars. The home video edition was expanded with the inclusion of an extra song, “Morning Report,” which written for the Broadway musical adaptation.

 

The Blu-ray "Diamond Edition" debut arrives in multiple versions. The Blu-ray+DVD Combo pack features all the supplements of the previous DVD release (featurettes, deleted scenes, interviews and art galleries) along with new supplements, notably the 40-minute retrospective featurette "Pride of the Lion King," "The Lion King: A Memoir" with producer Don Hahn, four never-before-seen deleted scenes and a blooper reel. There's also a Blu-ray 3D edition (four discs) and an eight-disc collection featuring the direct-to-home video sequels.

 

Win a copy of the new "The Lion King: Diamond Edition" DVD+Blu-ray release. To enter the giveaway, simply "Like" MSN Movies on Facebook.

 

A pair of Tim Burton storybook fantasies arrive on HD this week. "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" (Warner), Burton's 1985 feature debut is a comic adolescent fantasy with heart, imagination, and enough madness for adults and kids alike. Paul Reubens’ Pee Wee in an inspired creation – a spastic hero in a dreamworld funhouse – and director Tim Burton was the right man to meld his a gingerbread fairy tale into a comically distorted world. Features commentary by buddies Burton and Reubens, deleted scenes (love Pee Wee’s boomerang tie) and an isolated score with composer Danny Elfman filling the silences with commentary on his inspirations and experiences.

 

Tim Burton returned to Roald Dahl’s original novel (and Dahl’s original title) for his 2005 "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (Warner). Burton favorite Johnny Depp is downright odd (even for Depp) as the eccentric and reclusive chocolate mogul Willy Wonka, who has built his own private candy wonderland and shares it for one day with lucky kids who have found the golden tickets hidden in his Wonka Bars. Burton feeds his creative sweet tooth with delicious art direction and imaginative creations and composer Danny Elfman writes a goofy set of pop tunes to Dahl’s original lyrics. But for all of the flights of fantasy, Burton never quite finds the heartbeat that warmed the original classic with Gene Wilder. Features commentary by Tim Burton and a Blu-ray exclusive "In-Movie Experience" mode with picture-in-picture interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, plus the featurettes from the previous DVD special edition.

 

"Dead Alive" (Lionsgate), Peter Jackson’s sophomore feature, proves that if gory is funny, then excessively gory is downright hysterical. He builds slowly, from gross-out gags of oozing puss and rotting body parts at a formal dinner to an army of hungry zombies pureed by a lawnmower brandished like a sword to an outrageously Freudian confrontation between dominating monster-mother and newly liberated son. Make no mistake, this is not for the weak of stomach, but if you like your horror with a sense of humor, or comedy with a gristle, then wade through this bucket of blood (and bone and body parts…). No supplements.

 

From Italy comes a pair of Oscar winners. Giuseppe Tornatore's "Cinema Paradiso" (Lionsgate), a tribute to a lifetime of loving the movies, won the 1989 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. This edition features the American cut (edited down from the much longer Italian version) with no supplements. Robert Benigni's "Life Is Beautiful" (Lionsgate), a dark comedy of a Jewish father who tries to shield his son from the horrors of the Holocaust, is almost as famous for Benigni's crazy Oscar acceptance speech as for its controversial mix of horror and farce. Includes a featurette. Both in Italian with English subtitles.

 

"The Cider House Rules" (Lionsgate), an adaptation of the John Irving novel directed by Lasse Halstrom, earned Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor Michael Caine and Best Adapted Screenplay for John Irving. Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron, Delroy Lindo and Paul Rudd star, and the disc features commentary, a featurette and deleted scenes.

 

And the rest:

"Space Jam" (Warner) is the Bugs Bunny meets Michael Jordan comedy that mixes live action, animation and basketball.

 

I did not receive copies of "Salò, or 120 Days of Sodom" (Criterion) or "Harakiri" (Criterion) in time for review.

 

For more releases, see Hot Tips and Top Picks for October 4

 

"Amer" (Olive), a Belgian mindtrip from directors Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani,  pays tribute to the giallo, a deliriously stylish brand of Italian horror, with a subjective psychosexual trip that defies explanation but is a glorious experience nevertheless (or perhaps because of it). Videodrone's review is here.

"Alfred Hitchcock: The Essentials Collection" (Universal) collects five Hitchcock masterpieces of the fifties and sixties in a digipack packed with supplements (all previously available in earlier releases).

 

"Rear Window" (1954) is a brilliant film about voyeurism, shot in a beautifully designed courtyard set through a window the same shape as a movie screen, and a masterpiece of suspense experienced from the wheelchair of Hitch’s most physically helpless hero (played by James Stewart). "Vertigo" (1958) is, simply put, one of the greatest films ever made. James Stewart is helpless, hopeless, and guilty as sin as he tries to transform a shopgirl (Kim Novak) into his lost love and becomes lost in his own fantasy. The granddaddy of all slasher films, Hitchcock’s low budget shocker "Psycho" (1961) will never have the same impact as it did on first release, when it took American completely unawares and scared the bejesus out of them, but the gloriously seedy black and white thriller remains a masterpiece of mood and pacing, and Anthony Perkins’ disturbing performance became so identified with his image it practically destroyed his leading man image. "The Birds" (1963), Alfred Hitchcock’s tale of feathered friends turning on humanity, is all the more terrifying because he offers no explanation. It’s an unusual and unnerving film, purposely awkward, oddly alienating and genuinely disturbing. Though this is a Universal release, the studio reached out to Warner to include "North by Northwest" (1959), the smoothest of Hitch's romantic thrillers. Cary Grant, long past his days as a matinee idol, is effortlessly suave and charming and convincing as a leading man opposite Eva Marie Saint, in her first and only blonde sexpot role. Everything clicks and sly fox Hitch slides more sexual innuendo and erotic flirtation into the film than most R rated films accomplish, while the breezy smoothness hides an undercurrent of tension and a complete mistrust of authority.

 

All of these have been released before, both individually and in various collections, and the discs include the generous collection of supplements (commentary tracks, interviews, featurettes and other extras) from the previous special edition releases. You can argue among yourselves whether this five-disc set presents the definitive five Alfred Hitchcock "essentials," but even if you quibble ("Notorious"? "Strangers on a Train"? "Shadow of a Doubt"?), you have to admit this is pretty good start.

 

"Friday the 13th: The Ultimate Collection" (Paramount) boxes up the entire eight-film run of the trend-setting slasher movie franchise (minus the belated horror movie showdown "Freddie vs. Jason") in a Limited Edition box with a replica of Jason’s hockey mask. Sean Cunningham directs and produces the quintessential summer camp horror "Friday The 13th" (1980), a film that made its reputation with the creatively gory and brutal deaths of teenagers guilty of fornication, lies, petty crimes, and other death penalty offenses. (Pre-fame Kevin Bacon is one of the teenagers mutilated for your entertainment.) There is nothing subtle about this gory teenage holocaust, and its blunt style and bloody brutality has nothing on John Carpenter’s "Halloween," which launched the stalk-and-slash classic genre, but those very qualities may be what made it a smash hit and a successful franchise. And remember, the killer in the original film was actually the mother of Jason Vorhees, a madwoman taking her revenge on the counselors of Camp Crystal Lake for the drowning death of her son (as "Scream," the knowing mid-nineties tribute to the eighties phenomenon, reminds us in the opening scene).

Jason rises to become the unstoppable juggernaut in "Friday the 13th Part 2" (1981) and in "Friday the 13th Part 3" (1982), which was originally released in 3-D, he dons the hockey mask for the first time. The rampage continues in a the succession of sequels: "Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter" (1984, co-starring young Corey Feldman), "Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning" (1985), "Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives" (1986), "Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood" (1988), and "Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan" (1989), where Jason stows away on a cruise ship. There's commentary on most episodes, a 3D edition of "Part 3," and oodles of featurettes and interviews. The complete collection has been available on DVD before, but this presents each of the eight films on a separate disc with new supplements in a booklet case with each page a slipsleeve.

Live specials:

"The Pee-Wee Herman Show On Broadway" (Image) presents Paul Reubens' stage revival of his Pee-wee persona, which he originally created for a stage show in 1981. This production was shot in front of a live audience and originally presented on HBO. On DVD and Blu-ray, with commentary by Paul Reubens and the cast.

 

"Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On" (Image) records the Divine Miss M's return to Las Vegas with a splashy stage extravaganza of song, dance and crazy costumes. Also originally presented on HBO. On DVD and Blu-ray, no supplements.

 

And the rest:

"Legend of the Millennium Dragon" (Sony) is an animated adventure fantasy from Japan about a boy who travels back in time to become a hero in an epic war. Available on a Blu-ray+DVD Combo Pack, with original Japanese and English dub soundtracks and optional subtitles.

 

"Grandview U.S.A." (Paramount) is  a small-town romantic comedy with Jamie Lee Curtis and Patrick Swayze, set in the world of  demolition derby. Robert Downey Jr. was a rising young star when he made "Soap Dish" (Paramount), playing a scheming writer on soap opera starring Sally Field, Kevin Kline and Elisabeth Shue.

 

"Elvira's Haunted Hills" (eOne) is the 2001 horror spoof starring Cassandra Peterson in her campy horror host persona. "Dracula: The Vampire and the Voivode" (Virgil) is a documentary on Bram Stoker and the inspirations for his fictional character, produced in collaboration with the Transylvanian Society of Dracula.

 

For more releases, see Hot Tips and Top Picks for October 4