Thursday, February 2, 2006

Oscars Central: To rent or not (able) to rent?


So ... you've got your list of Oscar-nominated movies and your list of the films you haven't seen yet, and you know what? They're practically identical. Well, that's what happens when you stay holed up in your apartment during these long rainy months.

The good news: you can get a few of the nominated films on DVD, maybe even enough to convince yourself that you can make a prediction. At least in the Feature Animation and Documentary categories. The bad news: Most of the big films won't be out on DVD until after the awards ceremony, thus prolonging their hold on the box office. More bad news: one foreign film (Italy's Don't Tell) and two of the documentaries (Street Fight and Darwin's Nightmare) haven't been scheduled for DVD release. Street Fight and Don't Tell may not see the light of day in the US.

Sigh. Looks like you'll have to venture out of doors - however briefly - to see what you need to see by March 5th.

On DVD: Batman Begins, 1 nom; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 1 nom; Cinderella Man, 2 noms; The Constant Gardener, 4 noms; Crash, 6 noms; Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, 1 nom - documentary; Hustle & Flow, 2 noms; Junebug, 1 nom; March of the Penguins, 1 nom - documentary; Murderball, 1 nom - documentary; Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, 1 nom - animation; and War of the Worlds, 3 noms.

Coming to DVD before the Oscars: North Country, 2 noms, DVD 2/21; Pride and Prejudice, 4 noms, DVD 2/28; and Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, 1 nom - animation, DVD 2/7.

Opening in theaters before the Oscars are three of the feature foreign film nominees: Joyeux Noel, from France, opens 3/3; Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, from Germany, opens some time in February; and Tsotsi, from South Africa, opens on 2/24. It's not clear whether Seattle will get them immediately upon their theatrical release or if we'll have to wait. Guess it'll depend on which film wins.

Still in theaters: Brokeback Mountain, 8 noms, DVD in May; Capote, 5 noms, DVD 3/14; The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, 2 noms, DVD in April; Good Night, and Good Luck, 6 noms, DVD 3/14; King Kong, 4 noms, DVD in March; Match Point, 1 nom, DVD in May; Memoirs of a Geisha, 6 noms, DVD sometime in March; Mrs. Henderson Presents, 2 noms, DVD in April; Munich, 5 noms, DVD in May; The New World, 1 nom, no projected date for DVD; Pride and Prejudice, 4 noms, DVD 2/28; Syriana, 2 noms, DVD 4/11; Transamerica, 2 noms, DVD in May; and Walk the Line, 5 noms, DVD in June.

You can still catch it ... in Tacoma:
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 1 nom, DVD 3/7; and The Squid and the Whale, 1 nom, DVD 3/21. Actually, if you're quick you can catch TS&TW at Queen Anne's Uptown tonight, but it leaves on Friday.

Coming to DVD after the Oscars
: all of the films still playing in theaters except Pride and Prejudice; A History of Violence, 2 noms, DVD 3/14; Howl's Moving Castle, 1 nom - animation, DVD 3/7; and Paradise Now, 1 nom - foreign, DVD 3/21.

Note: all DVD release dates are for Region 1 Formats.

North Country photo courtesy Warner Brothers Studios.

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