Another week, another bank-breaker collection of new Blu-ray releases! Thankfully for my pocketbook, while there may be a lot of titles hitting the shops today, there isn’t a lot I feel the need to grab up. As always, we appreciate any Amazon purchase you make through our links. They help to keep this column and the site alive!

1. THE INFORMANT!

I’m not one of those crazy Steven Soderbergh fans. I’m not one of those art-jerks who’ll drool over everything the man touches (I thought Full Frontal was absolute garbage) but everything he’s touched lately seems to me to be quite brilliant. That goes for Che (which I reviewed a couple of weeks ago) and that certainly goes for his newest release, The Informant! (and yes, that exclamation mark is a part of the title.) I’ll publish a more thorough look at the disc later in the week but let me tell you right now, this is the best thing going today. It’s a cracking, fun little story, told with a ton of style, beautiful photography and the best Marvin Hamlisch score I’ve ever heard. And Matt Damon is not half bad in it either…

Amazon: $24.99

2. THE DAMNED UNITED

I can’t believe how much I really loved this movie. Like I said in my review, I loathe sports and I possess an even greater loathing for films about sports. The fact that I could enjoy it at all makesThe Damned United a pretty special movie, in my books. But ultimately, it’s less about the game than it is about the rise and fall of football club manager, Brian Clough, played brilliantly here by Michael Sheen. Watch the film for his performance, if nothing else.

Read my full review here: The Damned United Blu-ray Disc Review

Amazon: $24.99

3. JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths is receiving a critical drubbing! I think I’m the only reviewer out there who has responded positively to the film. I’m not sure what people were expecting from it but as far as I’m concerned, it’s one of the best direct-to-video animated fliks that DC and Warner have released thus far!

Read my full review here: Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Blu-ray Disc Review

Amazon: $19.99

4. ICHI THE KILLER

I have no idea what this film is going to look like on Blu, but Ichi the Killer is a bat-shit crazy good time and worth the risk. I’m going to place my Amazon order tonight, when I get home from the office. For $16.99 you can’t go wrong!

Amazon: $16.99

5. WARNER DOUBLE FEATURES

Well, the title kind of speaks for itself but let me explain. Warner Home Video has packaged up a bunch of films, some never before available on Blu-ray, into double feature sets – Blu-ray releases featuring two similarly themed or sequel films now available in one affordable case. I haven’t seen them all myself but out of the three sets I’ve watched only the Dirty Harry/Magnum Force featured each film on its own disc (both previously available elsewhere) with tons of extras. Both the Funny Farm/Spies Like Us (two Chevy Chase films!) and Presumed Innocent/Frantic (two Harrison Ford films!) sets are bare-bones, movie only releases, with one BD-50 disc containing both films. Pretty decent deal here for fairly quality editions of pretty great films!

Amazon:

Dirty Harry/Magnum Force – $17.99
Funny Farm/Spies Like Us – $29.99
Presumed Innocent/Frantic – $17.99
Analyze This/Analyze That – $17.99
Grumpy Old Men/Grumpier Old Men – $18.99
Miss Congeniality/Miss Congeniality 2 – $18.99

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:

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Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, an intelligent, well performed, well animated direct-to-video feature, is perhaps the crown jewel in the library of DC Comics‘ cartoon movies. It manages to tell a fun little superhero tale packed with action and character in an all-too-brief seventy-five minutes. Yet, as wonderful as it is, it’s almost overshadowed by the sheer bounty of compelling bonus features on the extra-packed Blu-ray disc!

Well, let’s start with a look at that feature film anyway, before jumping into all of those extras. Like I said, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths is really well done. Sure, it could have been afforded greater depth and have more, well drawn out character moments. But this is meant to be a fun superhero cartoon. And it carries out its task with great aplomb. It provides an alternate Earth filled with evil versions of all of our heroes, allowing for the ultimate showdown of might and minds. As strong as Superman is, Ultraman is just as powerful. And as brilliant a mind as Batman has, Owlman’s evil intellect is every bit its equal. The two teams face off, with our heroes desperately trying to foil a plan that will ultimately destroy all of reality if it succeeds. With killer vocal performances from James Woods, Gina Torres, William Baldwin, Chris Noth and Mark Harmon (whose voice manages to give Superman more of a home-grown farm-boy lilt than ever before!), it’s a super-tight, super-fun hour of superheroing and quite a bit of a good time. I really enjoyed it.

And I think a good portion of that enjoyment came from the look of Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. The designs look great here and are, for the most part, pretty well animated with characters staying on-model for the majority of the films run-time. I have to admit, there are a few extraordinary action sequences in this thing that knocked my socks off, not to mention one of the slickest, coolest opening credit designs I’ve seen in recent memory. Kudos to directors Sam Liu and Lauren Montgomery as well as Moi Animation Studio, who previously handled the animation duties for the Wonder Woman feature.

Helping the visuals along on the Blu-ray disc is the excellent transfer/encode from Warner. Wow! This disc looks awesome! Another stellar job from WHV. There’s a little bit of banding and aliasing (very similar to WHVs Halo Legends Blu-ray disc, released last week) but nothing that will distract from an otherwise beautiful visual presentation.

The audio, on the other hand, is the ugly stepchild of the Blu-ray disc. I mean, it’s not bad at all, really. It’s just another one of these compressed Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks that Warner seems to think will cut the mustard. It sucks that they believe this old-school DVD quality audio is sufficient when we Blu-ray fans have come to accept lossless tracks as standard. I can, however, see why they would forgo a TrueHD track in this case, when they’re attempting to cram more bonus features onto the disc!

So, let’s talk about those bonus features. First, my lone disappointment. Once again, we’re left without a commentary track. And in this case, there’s also no “making-of” featurette. I think it’s a shame that so many people pour their blood and sweat into these things and don’t get any recognition in the extras included on the disc. Would it kill them to offer up a 15-minute featurette? Instead, we get another lame, self-congratulatory DCU doc, singing the praises of their recent line of comics and trying desperately to convince us that they’re worth reading. Thanks but no thanks. I’ll stick to these fun, non-continuity bound animated adventures!

That being said, the Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Blu-ray disc offers up a crap load of special features in the awesome department. This release marks the premiere of a new series of DC Comics animated short films which will appear as backup features. And let me tell you, it’s worth purchasing the disc just to get a chance to check out The Spectre short film alone. Produced like a vintage 70′s film, with Lalo Schifrin-style score and yellowed film-stock that has suffered faux-damage, The Spectre sizzles with style and mood and just about manages to best the Justice League film on a lot of counts. The disc also features the live-action pilot episodes for the Aquaman and Wonder Woman TV series’, which manage to look surprisingly decent in their new VC-1 encodes (strange, though, that the WW pilot from the 70′s is 16:9 in favour of its native 4:3). Rounding out the disc are a handful of “First Look” featurettes (including one for the upcoming Batman: Under the Red Hood) and the requisite bonus Bruce Timm Justice League episode picks.

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The Spectre makes his animated debut as the title character in the inaugural entry within the DC Showcase series of animation shorts. Gary Cole (Entourage) provides the voice of The Spectre.

Hot damn! This is what I like to wake up to – the first official images from Warner and DC Comics‘ new animated short, The Spectre! While the pics and the accompanying info in the press release don’t contain much new information (outside of the fact that we’re eventually going to get a Jonah Hex cartoon written by Joe R. Lansdale!!!), it is nice to finally sneak a peak at the short. I’m really digging the character designs, from what little we can see here, in the three images provided and I have high hopes for the Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) script. The Spectre will be distributed February 23 by Warner Home Video as part of the Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Blu-ray/DVD (read details and watch the trailer here.) Here’s what Warner Home Video has to say about the short film:

A bit of romantic history flows between Detective Corrigan and Aimee Brenner in The Spectre, the inaugural entry within the DC Showcase series of animation shorts. Gary Cole (Entourage) and Alyssa Milano (Charmed) provide the voices of Detective Corrigan and Aimee Brenner, respectively.

From the creative forces behind the DC Universe animated original
PG-13 movies, DC Showcase puts the spotlight on favorite characters
from throughout the annals of DC Comics in fascinating, short-form
tales sure to entertain longtime and new fans alike.

The Spectre focuses on a detective story with an ethereal twist,
featuring the otherworldly character originally introduced by DC
Comics in 1940. The short is written by Steve Niles (30 Days of Night)
and directed by Joaquim Dos Santos (G.I Joe: Resolute). The voice cast
is led by Gary Cole (Entourage) as the title character and Alyssa
Milano (Charmed) as Aimee Brenner.

DC Showcase is a co-production from Warner Premiere, Warner Bros.
Animation, Warner Home Video and DC Comics. Bruce Timm is Executive
Producer. Future DC Showcase titles include Jonah Hex (written by Joe
Lansdale).

Special effects wizard Drew Flynn gets spooked inside his own personal house of horrors in The Spectre, the first entry within the DC Showcase series of animation shorts.

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Off the top, this is the first release to include DCs new series of animated shorts they call DC Showcase (named after the old comic book that introduced the world to heroes like the Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen!). In this case, the hero in the spotlight is The Spectre – the ghostly apparition from comics of the 40s, with a story written here by fan-fave Steve Niles (30 Days of Night).

Also of note on the disc is the first inclusion of episodes of the live-action adventures of some of DC Comics’ heroes. This Blu-ray disc will see the Wonder Woman pilot (let’s hope for the Linda Carter one and not the dreadful Cathy Lee Crosby, blonde-haired amazon incarnation) and the only existing episode of the ill-fated Aquaman series starring Justin Hartley (Green Arrow on the CW’s Smallville) as the Atlantean hero.

UPDATE – Blu-ray.com is reporting this list of special features for the disc. Note that they scooped the title of the next DC Animated film: Batman Under the Red Hood! Wonder what that one is going to be about?!

Special features include:
• DC Showcase: The Spectre
• A First Look at ‘Batman Under the Red Hood’
  Green Lantern First Look
• Superman/Batman Public Enemies First Look
• Wonder Woman: The Amazon Princess “
• The New World” – Extended Cut
• Bruce Timm’s Top Picks
• A Better World, Parts 1 and 2 (previously on Justice League Unlimited S2 DVD release)
• Twilight, Parts 1 and 2 (previously on Justice League Unlimited S2 DVD release)
• DC TV pilot episodes (live -action)
• Wonder Woman (previously on Wonder Woman S1 DVD release)
• Aquaman (never before released)
• Trailers
• Digital Copy Online (DCON) – no fee, no second disc required

Read all the details in the Press Release below:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WHEN JUSTICE MEETS ITS MATCH,
WORLDS COLLIDE

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS

Featuring Mark Harmon, James Woods, William Baldwin, Chris Noth & Gina Torres

2-Disc and BD releases include DC Showcase: The Spectre,
the first in a series of shorts to be included on select DC Universe releases

BURBANK, CA (November 23, 2009) – To save our world and all those like it, SUPERMAN, BATMAN and their caped colleagues must go toe-to-toe with their evil mirror images in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, the seventh entry in the successful ongoing series of DC UNIVERSE Animated Original PG-13 Movies coming February 23, 2010 from Warner Premiere, DC Comics and Warner Bros. Animation. The full-length animated film will be distributed by Warner Home Video as a Special Edition 2-disc version on DVD and Blu-Ray™ Hi-Def for $24.98 (SRP) and $29.99 (SRP), respectively, as well as single disc DVD for $19.98 (SRP). The film will also be available On Demand and Download.

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths is an original story from award-winning animation/comics writer Dwayne McDuffie (Justice League) rooted in DC Comics’ popular canon of “Crisis” stories depicting parallel worlds with uniquely similar heroes and villains. Bruce Timm (Superman Doomsday) is executive producer. Lauren Montgomery (Wonder Woman, Green Lantern: First Flight) and Sam Liu (Superman/Batman: Public Enemies) are co-directors.

In Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, a “good” LEX LUTHOR arrives from an alternate universe to recruit the JUSTICE LEAGUE to help save his Earth from the Crime Syndicate, a gang of villainous characters with virtually identical super powers to the JUSTICE LEAGUE. What ensues is the ultimate battle of good versus evil in a war that threatens both planets and, through a diabolical plan launched by OWLMAN, puts the balance of all existence in peril.

The movie features an all-star voice cast led by Mark Harmon (NCIS) as SUPERMAN, James Woods (Ghosts of Mississippi) as OWLMAN, Chris Noth (Sex and the City, Law & Order) as LEX LUTHOR, William Baldwin (Dirty Sexy Money) as BATMAN, Gina Torres (Serenity, Firefly) as SUPERWOMAN and Bruce Davison (X-Men) as the President.

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths – 2 Disc Special Edition version will have more than two hours of incredible bonus features, including:

• DC Showcase – The Spectre: The first animated short in the all-new DC Showcase series focuses on a detective story with an ethereal twist, featuring the otherworldly character originally introduced by DC Comics in 1940. The short is written by Steve Niles (30 Days of Night), and the voice cast includes Gary Cole (Entourage) and Alyssa Milano (Charmed).
• Featurette – “The New World”: From Identity Crisis forward, DC Comics raised the stakes with talent writers, editors and artists pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a modern day Super Hero. This documentary covers the riveting and often harrowing tale of New York Times bestselling author Brad Meltzer’s “Identity Crisis,” and why this story struck the right chord with the comic book audience.  The story is a personal one for the creator, as well as the DC Comics executives’ fortunate enough to have been a part of this mature comic book publication.  While revealing the strategy and sentiments behind this comic book, the documentary film goes a step further to explore the continuing and recent publications of “Infinite Crisis” and “Final Crisis,” while crafted with the narration of “The Dark Knight” Executive Producer Michael Uslan.  The tension is high, the story is personal, and the stakes have been raised!
• Extended Sneak Peek at the next DC UNIVERSE Animated Original PG-13 Movie.
• Digital Copy Download
• Widescreen (1.78:1)
• Two Episodes of Justice League Unlimited hand-picked by animation legend Bruce Timm

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths Blu-Ray versions will have more than three hours of bonus materials, including all the great extras from the 2-disc Special Edition and two additional episodes from Justice League Unlimited, both personally selected by fan-favorite Bruce Timm, plus television pilot episodes from the DC live-action shows: Wonder Woman, and Aquaman.
 
“Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths is an outstanding representation of the DC Universe series of groundbreaking animated films coming from creative forces within DC Comics, Warner Premiere, Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Home Video,” said Matt Bierman, Senior Vice President Production, Warner Premiere. “It is a testament to the team effort between those four divisions that brings forth a feature-length animated original PG-13 film bursting with great storytelling, memorable characters and impressive animation. This is truly a blockbuster animated film.”

“We’re very excited to present an original story from renowned writer Dwayne McDuffie that takes the JUSTICE LEAGUE mythology and spins it on its ear with parallel worlds echoed in so many classic DC ‘Crisis’ tales,” said Gregory Noveck, Senior VP Creative Affairs, DC Comics. “This is a thinking man’s hero movie with a set of villains determined to succeed and one focused on complete intergalactic annihilation – so just as the stakes are that much higher, so is the intensity of the action with these legendary characters.”

“DC UNIVERSE films continue to stretch the creative boundaries of comics-to-film presentations, and Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths offers fans another vision of these iconic characters brought forth by outstanding animation talent – led by executive producer Bruce Timm – and an inspired voice cast featuring the stellar talents of Mark Harmon, Chris Noth, William Baldwin, Gina Torres and James Woods,” said Amit Desai, WHV Vice President of Family, Animation & Partner Brand Marketing.

“The co-direction of Lauren Montgomery and Sam Liu merges the best of the last three DC UNIVERSE films with a fine balance of intelligence, emotion and more action than even two Earths can handle,” said Sam Register, Executive Vice President, Warner Bros. Animation.

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