With five nominations, it looks like Superbad will be the star of the 2008 MTV Movie Awards, and its three jubilant male leads -- Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse -- deserve the kudos. But one major talent behind the whole affair has stayed relatively anonymous while these young up-and-comers bathe in the spotlight: Director Greg Mottola. The erstwhile independent filmmaker, responsible for some of the best installments of Arrested Developed and Undeclared, launched his career a solid decade before the rise of Judd Apatow with a charming little low budget comedy called The Daytrippers. Starring Stanley Tucci, Hope Davis, Liev Schreiber, Parker Posey and a host of other fantastic character actors, the film follows a wildly dysfunctional family over the course of a single day, as Davis, playing a worrisome housewife, tries to track down her unfaithful husband (Tucci).

Mixing warm humanity with pitch-perfect screwball timing, Daytrippers marked the sort of debut that told you a filmmaker had a big career ahead of him. After a modest premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival, it landed at Cannes, barely got a theatrical release and promptly vanished thereafter. Mottola turned to TV work, and slipped out of the film scene for a good ten years. These days, it's no easy task to track down Daytrippers on DVD -- you can nab second-hand copies on Amazon for decent rates, but not a single retail outlet carries it. Aside from the occasionally airings on cable, the movie has vanished.

Like many passionate but busy fans of science fiction cinema, I "discovered" Dark City just a little too late -- but I've slowly become one of the flick's biggest fans. Aside from a few minor gripes (yes, the narration), I think it's an absolute masterpiece; a nifty mixture of lofty sci-fi, moody film noir, convoluted "whodunnit" and eye-popping spectacle. And I know I'm not alone in my appreciation of the Alex Proyas film.

So here's some good news for my friends: According to BD.com, Dark City co-screenwriter David S. Goyer just dropped a few juicy nuggets regarding a digital upgrade: "In addition to the special features, Goyer reveals that there's more to the re-release than just special FX upgrades. "[They re-did] the score and the cuts a little longer," he reveals, "all of the parties involved did fairly lenghtly interviews with us, they'll be incluced on there." New FX? Fresh featurettes? A possible theatrical re-release? Wowwy wow, that's awesome. But this new DVD better keep that Roger Ebert commentary track!

Check out Monika's earlier piece on the Dark City revisions right here. And I can't believe I made it all the way through this post without mentioning Jennifer Connelly...

Where exactly does Bonnie and Clyde rank in the American pantheon? It's a bona-fide classic, to be sure. It placed on the American Film Institute's Top 100 in 1998 and again in 2007. It's also on the IMDB's Top 250 list. Upon closer inspection, however, it's far more than a perfect, polished gemstone. Rather, it's a bundle of contradictions. Everyone knows that it was a groundbreaking film of its day, the first to incorporate a new kind of violence and moral complexity into the mainstream. But screenwriters Robert Benton and David Newman borrowed these elements directly from French New Wave films like Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless (1959) and Francois Truffaut's Shoot the Piano Player (1960). In fact, Truffaut was the first director approached for the project. Despite this, Bonnie and Clyde somehow transcends time. More than just a moldy relic of the 1960s, it has aged much better and is far more watchable today than, say, Easy Rider (1969) or even The Graduate (1967).

Estelle Parsons makes it abundantly clear that she's a theater person, and yet she holds a place of honor in the world of movies. Not only was she in an American classic, Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde (1967), but also the only member of its cast to win an Oscar (Best Supporting Actress), even though Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway, Gene Hackman and Michael J. Pollard also received nominations. (She was nominated again the following year for her role in Paul Newman's Rachel, Rachel.) This paradox isn't lost on Ms. Parsons, who spoke with Cinematical via phone recently, but she seems amused by it all. To her, it was fun, but it's just a footnote compared to her love of the stage. Today, at an imperturbable 80 years of age, she acts, directs plays, works often with Al Pacino and loves her long walks in the woods. Warner Home Video releases the new, remastered Bonnie and Clyde DVD on March 25.

Cinematical: Have you seen Bonnie and Clyde recently?

Estelle Parsons: Yes. Gee, I just loved it. I think I saw it on the 30th anniversary. And I saw it again now. It's just so intense. It was wonderful. It was like looking at something I wasn't in.

Cinematical: How did your role in the movie come about? Did Warren Beatty cast you?

EP: No! I was working for Arthur Penn at the Berkshire Drama Festival and I did "Skin of Our Teeth," which Penn had directed in an experimental way. It meant so much. I discovered a great gift with him, which I didn't even know I had. So I was high as a kite on all this good work I had been doing. I was so excited! I was riding high! I was learning all kinds of things about myself. I was going to join a repertory company in San Francisco, and then it fell through, and Arthur said: "You have to read this script." I thought, "This is one of those secondary roles." And I kept reading and it kept getting better and better. Plus I had worked with Gene Hackman before and loved him.

Sweeney Todd deserved a better fate. Sure, sure, it's a very fine film -- and that's really all that matters when all is said and done, but I can't help but think its domestic box office tally (just over $50 million) and its Oscar nomination haul (lead actor, art direction and costume design) should have been a little ... well, bigger. But I suppose it's tough to sell a big-budget horror musical, even if it is based on a very popular stage play AND showcases movie star Johnny Depp in a really (ahem) unique light.

Fans of the flick will be pleased to learn that Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street will be available to own (via shiny disc) on the first of April. Choose between a single-disc release (which includes one "making-of" documentary) or a extras-laden double-disc edition that comes with a BUNCH of featurettes, photo galleries, trailers and a Moviefone Unscripted piece, which is cool because we love Moviefone! Neither DVD package will include an audio commentary, unfortunately for those who love audio commentaries. Like me. Oh, but the 2-discer will be making an appearance in my collection. Book that.

[ Thanks to DVDActive.com. Check out the cover art! ]

Since we forgot to add Blonde and Blonder to our DVD post earlier today, I'm giving the film its own little slot of love. Yes, in case you did not know, Blonde and Blonder hits DVD shelves today. As in, you can go rent or buy it right now. Like, this minute. Like, what are you still doing in front of your computer? Oh, you're renting Blonde and Blonder from Netflix? Nevermind then. Anyway, the film stars Pamela Anderson and Denise Richards as two women who used to be really hot find themselves in the wrong place at the right time. (And no, they don't wind up at Detective John McClane's house after a night of wild binge drinking.)

In reality, the two girls accidentally witness a mob hit and are mistaken for assassins by two Mafia men working for "The Godfather." Stripper assassins? Wild Things? I miss Denise Richards -- remember when she was, like, the hottest thing on the planet? Or was that only true in my house? Anyway, the girls soon find themselves embarking on a wild adventure that takes them from Niagara Falls to Las Vegas - all while trying to dodge assorted federal agents, mafia and killers. I've heard it's a "guilty pleasure" type of movie; one that will most likely find its own little cult audience. So if you're looking for something to rent this weekend, why not give the girls a little love. Check out our gallery of Blonde and Blonder movie photos below.

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The critics have spoken and the massive, $300 box set Ford at Fox was named the best DVD of 2007 by the contributors at DVDBeaver.com. For the fourth annual poll, Thirty-six DVD critics from all over the world submitted their individual top ten lists -- each of which is featured -- and then editor Gary Tooze tallied up points for the final results. The coveted John Ford box contains 24 John Ford films on 21 discs; kudos to any critic who had time to watch it all.

In second and third place are The Films of Kenneth Anger Vol. 2 and Vol. 1, both distributed by Fantoma Films. Volume 2 earned a few more points, probably due to the inclusion of Anger's most famous work, Scorpio Rising. In fourth place is another huge box set, the Criterion Collection's Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980), assembling Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 15-hour film on 7 discs. Showing off DVDBeaver's dedication to international DVDs, fifth place went to the BFI's second Region 2 box set of films by Mikio Naruse, containing When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960), Floating Clouds (1955) and Late Chrysanthemums (1954). The US release of When a Woman Ascends the Stairs from the Criterion Collection was counted as a tie.

Sixth place went to my personal favorite of the year, Criterion Eclipse's five-disc box set Late Ozu, featuring five great films from the 1950s and 1960s by the Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu. In seventh place was Warner Home Video's Film Noir Classics Collection, Vol. 4, with ten films on five discs, including Nicholas Ray's debut They Live by Night (1949) and Andre de Toth's essential Crime Wave (1954). Milestone's amazing 2-disc Killer of Sheep DVD, featuring several more features and short films by Charles Burnett, ranked eighth. Paramount's Twin Peaks: The Definitive Gold Box Edition took ninth place, sneaking out a few months after people spent their hard-earned cash on the Season Two box. Criterion sealed up the list at tenth place with their two-disc Sansho the Bailiff (1954), directed by Kenji Mizoguchi.

Tooze also included the first 40 runners up. Top vote-getters include Blade Runner: The Final Cut, Inland Empire and Ace in the Hole. Other categories are "best commentary track," "best extras" and "best transfer." Voters included Jonathan Rosenbaum, Theo Panayides, Tom Charity and the staff of Slant Magazine.

'Tis the season to get away from your family, bundle up with a gallon of moonshine (preferably one with "XXX" written on the label), and watch endless hours of movies! What follows is not a comprehensive or "Best Of" list. These are simply seven DVD box sets that any film buff would be thrilled to find in his or her stocking this Christmas. Most of them were released in the past few months, and a couple have been out a while but just got amazingly cheap. Have a few gifts left to buy? Consider picking one of these up. You don't even have to get off your fat ass, if you click on the titles you'll be taken to the links on Amazon. I've included items to suit every budget, and they've been arranged in order of price. Naturally, the more expensive the set you purchase, the more you love the person you're buying it for. That's just the way it works.

The Alien Quadrilogy ($33.99)

Pretty much the gold standard for DVD box sets. This collection's price recently took an incredible drop. It was worth every penny of the $80 bucks I paid for mine years ago, so you can better believe it's worth $34. The set gives you several versions of each film in the beloved Alien series -- Alien (one of the best suspense movies ever made), Aliens (one of the best action movies ever made), Alien 3 (David Fincher's misunderstood take is a stronger movie with each viewing), and Alien: Resurrection (Nobody's perfect). An unprecedented amount of extra goodies that includes the amazing Director's Cut of Aliens, extremely cool fold-out packaging, and the absence of Alien Vs. Predator make this set a must-own. I've owned it for four years, and still haven't seen everything in there. Plus, don't you just love the word "Quadrilogy?"

It's Insert Caption craziness this week on Cinematical. On Monday, we posted not one but two photos, doubling your pleasure with hotties Halle Berry and Frances McDormand (yeah I said it) modeling MGM's summer and winter lines. At stake: Four boxed sets for four lucky winners. Congrats to our victors below, and special shout out to William G. for entering a single caption that applied to both photos, you're our Mickey Rourke Rebel of the Week.

1. "No I can't stir them; I can only shake them." -- Kurt M.

See full images and all captions

1. "I got his keys! His wife and kids are about to get Punk'd!" -- Max R.

2. "Duck...Duck....Duck...GOOSE!
-- Adi B.

3. "Hurry up with that coffee. And bring some of those donuts! I think somebody slipped Ed here some decaf, but yah, we're not too late he's still breathin." -- Chaz K.

This week we're giving away more lavish prizes, with a photo from the indie sleeper Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, starring Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and an incredibly cute monkey. Our grand prize winner will take home the DVD (available on Dec. 4), plus all sorts of amazing Pirates goodies (a Gentle Giant Jack Sparrow Animated Maquette, Gentle Giant Elizabeth Swann Animated Maquette, Flying Dutchman Dual Deck playset and more) that totals up to almost $600. Our first runner up gets a DVD, a Barbossa porcelain structure and Pirates action figures, while our third-place winner gets the DVD. Got that? Good.

On a personal note -- this will be my last week posting Insert Caption contests as increasing responsibilities on the Moviefone side will limit my blogging action, so I'll be passing the caption-master torch to Erik Davis. But thanks for playing along with me! We'll always have India. And Finland. And Mr. Woodcock hats.

Read the official rules for this contest

The good news: We are still in fact giving away a trip for two to India to the winner of last week's Darjeeling Limited contest. The bad news: Contrary to what some ill-informed stooge (me) stated in last week's post ("Winner will be announced Friday, October 11 12 @ 4:00 PM EST), we are still in the process of confirming our winner and will most likely not announce his or her name (and caption) until next Friday. As the expression goes, with free trips to India for photo caption contests comes all sorts of legal technicalities the average stooge doesn't take into account. But thanks to the thousand-plus of you who entered, we were rooting for you.

So onward with more prizes... But following up a free trip to India is hard. So below please find a photo of "two hot chicks on a motorcycle." You may also know them as Rose McGowan (soon to be Mrs. Robert Rodriguez) and Marley Shelton, stars of Rodriguez's 1973 2007 zombie movie Planet Terror, released in theaters as one-half of Grindhouse. Writers of our favorite caption will win a framed poster signed by Rodriguez, as well as the DVD and an action figure (of McGowan, not Rodriguez). Two runners up will win the DVD and action figure.
Good luck!

UPDATE: WINNERS ANNOUNCED! Click Here

Sony Pictures has just launched Stage 6 Films, "a label that will acquire and produce films for theatrical and straight-to-DVD release." The Variety announcement reports that Stage 6 will focus mostly on the DVD market, and on films budgeted at $1 to $10 million dollars. They've got a lot of movies on the horizon, with some pretty big stars involved. Conspiracy is an action flick starring Val "Iceman" Kilmer, Gary "Lumbergh" Cole, and Jennifer "Hot" Esposito. Thomas Jane is acting in and directing Dark Country (hope it's not a punisher!). The Stone House is a horror film starring Shane West and JK "Schillinger" Simmons. The Lodger stars Alfred Molina, whom I always picture in his underwear singing "Sister Christian." And Felon brings us even more Kilmer thrills, with Stephen Dorff and Harold Perrineau in tow.

And you know when you're talking direct-to-DVD, you're talking about some really random sequels. Stage 6 has announced a prequel (a prequel?) to this year's pretty cool horror flick Vacancy. There will also be a second Starship Troopers sequel -- Starship Troopers: Marauder, with Casper "Van Dien" Van Dien, Boris Kodjoe, and Jolene Blalock. Wesley Snipes will star in a sequel to the absolutely terrible action movie The Art of War, which I will refer to as The Art of War 2: Seriously? And Center Stage 2 will capitalize on the public's love of melodramatic teen dance dramas. I must confess a special place in my heart for the original Stage, because it led to a memorable high school back seat rendezvous. Put that quote on your poster, Sony! "Stage 6 will also continue to leverage our vast library of studio films, as we have done with Daddy Day Camp and the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise," threatens a Stage 6 executive.

Pretty much everyone I've talked to felt exactly the same way after seeing The Simpsons Movie -- relieved that they didn't blow it, a lot of laughs, but it wasn't quite the earth-shattering event we'd been dreaming of since we were kids. The film was measurably better than the current episodes, but not up to the show's heyday of seasons 1 - 10. Still, I don't think anyone could argue that the film is a rock solid comedy, and that was more than enough to make it stand out in the dreary summer season we just sludged through. But do I really need to revisit the movie? After reading the details on the DVD, that answer might be "yes." Releasing here on December 18th, The Simpsons Movie DVD looks to be quite d'oh-lightful.

Most intriguing are the two commentary tracks. One track will feature James L. Brooks (a hero of mine), Matt Groening, Al Jean, Mike Scully, David Silverman, Dan Castellaneta (voice of Homer and many other characters), and Yeardley Smith (voice of Lisa). The other will be a directors' commentary by Silverman, Mike B. Anderson, Steven Dean Moore and Rich Moore. There will also be deleted scenes, though not as many as I was expecting considering all the versions the movie went through on its way to release. These include: an alternate ending, something called "Sausage Truck," and additional work from Albert Brooks as Russ Cargill - whom I would argue stole the film. He certainly delivered its funniest line: "Rats can't be trapped this easily. You're trapped like...carrots." You also get Homer's amusing Tonight Show monologue, the Simpsons judging American Idol, and alternate character designs by the directors and Groening. Oh, and on DVD you can pause all the hardcore full-frontal Bart action!

Pictured above: Storyboard concepts for The Jungle Book's lost character, Rocky the Rhino. Developed by Walt Disney himself, and considered a key character in The Jungle Book, Rocky never made it to the silver screen.

Cinematical was lucky enough to get a hold of these exclusive, unreleased images (with regards to Rocky the Rhino) from the classic Disney animated film, all of which will be featured on The Jungle Book: Platinum Edition DVD, due out in stores on October 2. For a limited time only, fans will be able to help celebrate The Jungle Book's 40th anniversary by picking up the two-disc Platinum Edition DVD of the last animated film to be personally touched by Walt Disney himself.

Apart from these images of the lost Jungle Book character, there's a ton of special features as well, including: "The Bare Necessities: The Making of The Jungle Book" featurette (which includes Walt's contributions to the film), "Disney's Kipling," which examines Walt's interpretation of Rudyard Kipling's "Mowgli Stories," and commentary from the original animators Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston and director Woolie Reitherman -- alongside additional commentary from folks like Brad Bird (The Incredibles), Glen Keane (The Little Mermaid) and Andreas Deja (The Lion King).

Personally, The Jungle Book was always one of my favorite animated films growing up (I watched it so much at one point that my mother took it away, saying the tape broke, only to find it magically reappear once she was no longer sick of hearing the thing play in the background all day long). We've included a full list of special features (along with their descriptions) after the jump, as well as an exclusive image gallery to check out below. The Jungle Book: Platinum Edition DVD arrives on shelves this October 2.

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The 2007 Oscars were held on Feb. 25, which means the studios started thinking about the 2008 Oscars right around Feb. 26. But all that thinking -- the strategizing, the planning, the conniving -- didn't go public until this week. Now the Los Angeles Times reports that Fox Searchlight has fired the first shot in the upcoming Academy Awards battle by sending screeners of three of its biggest contenders to the people who vote for the Oscars and Golden Globes.

Once, Waitress, and The Namesake are the titles, and DVD copies of them arrived today on the desks of everyone in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (that's the Oscars) and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (that's the Golden Globes).

In case you didn't notice, it's barely September. Studios usually don't start sending screeners out until November. So why the hurry? Well, Fox Searchlight struck gold last year with Little Miss Sunshine, which opened in July (not typically an Oscar-friendly month) and went on to earn four Academy Award nominations and one Golden Globe nod. The studio credits that at least partially to its early screeners -- the film went out to voters in early October -- and figured what they heck, let's try it again.

It might work, too. Once and Waitress both had their U.S. premieres at Sundance in January, earning ecstatic reviews from critics and festival-goers alike. More acclaim followed when they were released theatrically in May. I haven't talked to anyone who's seen either film who didn't at least like them, if not love them. Personally, I adore Waitress more than anything I've seen all year, and I liked Once quite a bit.

The Namesake, on the other hand, hasn't exactly been setting the world on fire since its bow at Telluride a year ago. You don't hear people talking about it nearly as much as they do the other two. Yet it's quietly built up credibility, currently scoring an impressive 85 percent at Rotten Tomatoes. (Waitress is at 88 and Once has a whopping 97!)

But that raises a question: If the movies are so good, does Fox Searchlight really need to send out screeners this early? The answer is probably yes. Releasing Oscar-friendly movies in November and December, when voters are more likely to remember them, is commonly understood as being a wise, even necessary strategy. These three films all came out in the first half of the year, and none of them were financial blockbusters. There's a good chance that voters haven't seen them. So it makes sense to give them the opportunity now, before they get inundated with dozens of other contenders. In Hollywood, the cream doesn't necessarily rise to the top. Sometimes it needs a little push.

It's been almost an hour since I received it, and I'm still not finished reading this monstrous Transformers DVD announcement. Damn. This sucker is going to be packed with stuff to watch -- robot porn, anyone? Anyone? Yes, I'm speaking about Michael Bay's live-action extravaganza -- and the multiple DVDs will arrive on shelves this October 16. I'm going to copy and paste the full specs for you after the jump, but I'll get the ball rolling by saying there's a lot more here than meets the eye. So here's what you're looking at: 1) A single disc featuring (I assume) the theatrical version of the film 2) A Special Edition two-disc set featuring stuff I'll get to in a minute, and 3) a Special Edition HD-DVD two-disc set featuring most of the stuff found in the other two-disc set, except with some added HD-DVD goodies.

Essentially, the two-disc sets will include tons of must-hear commentary from Michael Bay -- in which the director will most likely talk about how hot he is, how hot the movie is and how hot you are for watching his hot movie. Apart from that, viewers will also be able to check out a bunch of special features, including a chat with Steven Spielberg, lots of early concept art, the casting process, military training, and a piece on "the senior officials from the Department of Defense and Air Force who consulted on the film ..." Ya know, it's probably best to find out what our government would do in the event giant f**king robots actually did invade our planet. But that's just the tip of the iceberg -- we're looking at tons more special features, as well as (on the HD-DVD) pretty cool text-based behind-the-scenes background information that you can watch during the feature. Basically, if you're looking for something to do for three days, the Transformers DVD has got you covered. Check out the complete specs for all DVDs after the jump, and mark October 16 down on your calendar ... if you want to live. Oh wait, wrong robot movie. Carry on ...