DVD Release List – 2/17/09
Around The A.V. Club offices, we sometimes joke that we needn’t waste our time generating content; we should just post headlines like “The Simpsons” or “Chuck Klosterman” or “Michael Moore” and then sit back and let the hits and comments pile up. So let’s test that theory now. Out on DVD this week: the Bill Maher essay-doc Religulous. Out on Blu-ray: The Passion Of The Christ. Ladies and gentlemen, the floor is yours.
Meanwhile, for those of you who've clicked into this column in order to be alerted to DVDs you might otherwise have missed, may we direct you to the underrated Clint Eastwood-directed history play Changeling? Or the first season of Gordon Ramsay’s bizarre cooking-contest/talk-show/travel-show The F Word? Or Godfrey Cheshire’s acclaimed fate-of-the-old-south documentary Moving Midway? Or the not-bad Chuck Palahniuk adaptation Choke?
Lastly we have what might be this week’s most interesting set of DVDs: the marginal movies being released under the banner of the “Paul Newman Film Series.” Ever seen the American version of Rashomon, called The Outrage? Or the disastrous Irwin Allen disaster movie When Time Ran Out? Or the Biblical drama The Silver Chalice (Newman’s debut film, which he once referred to as “the worst film of the ‘50s”)? Or Newman’s well-regarded 1968 directorial debut Rachel, Rachel? If Newman marginalia captivates you, perhaps we can scrap the divisive, controversial stuff and have a more fun debate. “Paul Newman: Best movie star ever?” Go!
Alien Raiders
Warner, $24.98
Alice In Wondertown
First Run, $24.95
The Axe In The Attic
Indiepix, $24.95