Directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller seamlessly blended live actors with completely digital backgrounds and effects to bring Miller’s trio of graphic novels to the screen in Sin City, a neo-noir thriller sure to make a killing on home video. Also new this week is the sixth season of The Simpsons and the animated feature My Neighbors the Yamadas from Studio Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata.
Sin City’s eye-catching CG imagry was created by TroubleMaker Studios, The Orphanage, Café FX and Hybride. Daniel LeDuc, who served as visual effects supervisor on Rodriguez’s Spy Kids movies and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, again took the vfx reins. Based on three of Miller’s graphic novels—Sin City, The Big Fat Kill and That Yellow Bastard, the film features an all-star cast in a series of interweaving stories that take place in the gritty world of Basin City. The all-star cast includes Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Clive Owen, Nick Stahl, Powers Boothe, Rutger Hauer, Elijah Wood, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Jaime King, Brittany Murphy, Michael Clarke Duncan and Carla Gugino.
If you’re looking for the extras-packed DVD release of Sin City, this isn’t it. What you get is a behind-the-scenes featurette with Rodriguez, Miller and guest director Quentin Tarantino, as well as stars Willis, Alba, del Toro, Murphy, Owen, Rourke and Dawson. The Dimension Home Video release comes with four different collectable covers and lists for $29.99.
One home video series that never disappoints in the area of bonus materials is FOX’s The Simpsons. In fact, Matt Groening and crew are slow in releasing volumes because they want to record commentary tracks for every episode. Such is the case with The Simpsons: The Complete Sixth Season, a four-disc set featuring all 25 episodes and an introduction by Groening. The show’s creator is joined on commentary tracks by producers David Mirkin and Mike Scully, as well as key cast members including Dan Castellaneta and Yeardley Smith. Also included is the television special Springfield’s Most Wanted, deleted scenes and an animation showcase featuring animatics with illustrated commentary and storyboards. The set from Fox Home Video carries a suggested retail price of $49.98.
Fans of Hayao Miyazaki’s animated features may want to pick up director Isao Takahata’s My Neighbors the Yamadas. The film celebrates the little victories in life as Takashi Yamada and his wacky wife, Matsuko, navigate their way through the ups and downs of work, marriage and family issues. They share their tumultuous household with a sharp-tongued grandmother, a teenage son who wishes he had cooler parents, and a pesky daughter whose voice is unusually loud for someone so small.
The DVD includes the original Japanese language track and an English track featuring the voices of Jim Belushi, Molly Shannon and David Ogden Stiers. There’s also a featurette that goes behind-the-microphone with voice talent from the film and complete storyboards. Released by Buena Vista Home Entertainment, the disc lists for $29.99.
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