What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:30:32 -0700

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to my selections below you can also bring home John Cusack's War Inc.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Yesterday I was curious how folks were feeling about the fourth Indiana Jones now that there's been some time since its theatrical release. For those of you who said you still loved it (and for those of you who never got around to seeing it), good news! The DVD is out today.

There are, as you might expect, a ton of extras on the DVD, including: "The Return of a Legend: A tribute to Indy, his creators and the evolution of The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," a 12-part in-depth look at the creation of the movie, and a featurette on the work that goes into preparing three pivotal action sequences.

Two more well-regarded movies up next, so read more.

Mongol
This foreign-language film out of Kazakhstan (yes, Borat's Kazakhstan) is the country's first movie ever to be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

The film dramatically portrays the life of Temudgin, the boy who grows up to be the warrior Genghis Khan. Epic in scale (shot mostly in Mongolia), the film won great reviews for its outstanding battle scenes and riveting performances. I am dying to see this, especially since it is likely the first of three movies documenting the life and times of this warrior. Special features include trailers and a featurette about the making of the movie.

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
This movie is supposed to be amazing in terms of how real it feels, but also incredibly uncomfortable as it depicts two friends who enter the world of illegal abortions in the last days of communism in Romania. It's supposed to be extremely intense and difficult to watch at times, though apparently that's what makes it so great. I've been fascinated by this movie ever since it won the big award at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, and I think that sitting on my own couch with some happy DVDs on deck (like the latest season of 30 Rock) may be the only way I can deal with watching it.

Special features include an interview with writer/director/producer Cristian Mungiu.

Oscar Movie Preview: Mongol for Best Foreign Film

BuzzSugar — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 10:39:20 -0800

As part of my coverage of this year's Oscars, I'll be posting the trailers for as many of the Best Documentary and Best Foreign Language Film nominees as I can find. Since it's often harder to see these films in theaters, it's nice to get a taste of them before Oscar night - not to mention that it might help you when you fill out your Oscar ballot.

Kazakhstan may be well known for being the butt of most of Borat's jokes, but this year it's making its mark on the film world in a different way. Mongol marks the first time one of the country's films has been nominated for an Oscar in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

The film focuses on the life of Temudgin, the boy who grows up to be the warrior Genghis Khan. Enslaved as a boy, he eventually escaped captivity and went on to conquer much of the world. The movie has been a controversial project in Mongolia itself, but ultimately the filmmakers were able to shoot much of the film in the region. It's envisioned as the first of three movies tracing the life of Genghis Khan.

The movie will be released in the US in June, and you can watch an English-language trailer at this site. Or, to watch a subtitled version of a fight scene from the movie as well as the Russian trailer, just read more.

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