“Shaun of the Dead”
Universal, $29.98
WHO’S IN IT: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield
RECAP: One of the best romantic zombie comedies–or “rom-zom-com” in the filmmakers’ parlance–ever made, full of just as much satire and clever goofiness as gore.
BEST EXTRA: The tongue-in-cheek “Plot Holes” feature is a funny comic book-styled “what happened next” bit revealing what happened to three characters when they weren’t onscreen.
SECRETS REVEALED: On their hilarious commentary track, star/co-writer Simon Pegg and writer/director Edgar Wright point out all the film’s inside jokes.
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FEATURE TO SKIP: The behind-the-scenes footage contains gratuitous scenes of co-star Nick Frost getting a painkiller shot in his butt.
TRIVIA: Frost and Pegg are real-life best friends, so a lot of their infantile banter was drawn from dozens of real nights out at the pub.
IF YOU LIKED THIS, TRY: “Spaced,” the UK sitcom starring Pegg and several others behind “Shaun.”
RATING: 4 REMOTES
“The Manchurian Candidate”
Paramount, $29.95
WHO’S IN IT: Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep
RECAP: A remake of the 1962 political thriller, director Jonathan Demme’s “Manchurian Candidate” is very much a product of the times, with a constant backdrop of war in Iraq.
BEST EXTRA: Demme and writer Daniel Pyne talk a lot about their film’s relationship to current events.
SECRETS REVEALED: Some of the scenes set in Kuwait were filmed in a gravel pit in New Jersey.
FEATURE TO SKIP: The extended and deleted scenes needed to be cut.
TRIVIA: That eerie British operative lurking throughout the film is none other than quirky rocker (and Demme pal) Robyn Hitchcock.
IF YOU LIKED THIS, TRY: The original “The Manchurian Candidate.” It’s certainly more in tune with the then-raging Cold War, but it’s still more novel and disturbing than this more conventional remake.
RATING: 3 REMOTES
COMING SOON
In stores next week:
– “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy”
– “Resident Evil: Apocalypse”
– “Garden State”
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale ([email protected]) and Drew Sottardi ([email protected])