The Killer Mutant Boar Continues the Hunt Next Month on Home Video
Author: Kim Song-ho
Source: OZ DVD, Madmad
Official Movie Site: CHAW

Cover art for the Korean Region 3 DVD of CHAW. © 2009
Polygon Entertainment LLC/Soo Jack Films

On November 4, the Korean killer wild boar movie CHAW will be released on DVD in its native country. Along with the movie itself, the 2-disc edition will feature a variety of added materials such as a director and cast audio commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, Korean theatrical premiere footage, poster gallery, and trailers.

The DVD will also include English subtitles.

Previously, the German company Ascot Elite Home Entertainment announced the Blu-ray release of of CHAW, due in that country on December 10. No news of a Korean Blu-ray (or an American) release has been announced.
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Source: VIZ Media, MediaLab press releases
Special Thanks to Evelyn Dubocq and Erik Jansen

Slipcase art for NAOKI URASAWA’S MONSTER Box Set 1.
Photo courtesy of VIZ Media. © 2004 Naoki Urasawa,
Studio Nuts/ Shogakukan, VAP, NTV

VIZ Media, LLC has announced their list of DVD titles scheduled for release in the final two months of 2009. This includes the first NARUTO SHIPPUDEN MOVIE, the first box set of NAOKI URASAWA’S MONSTER, the next box set installments of HUNTER X HUNTER, NANA, and HONEY AND CLOVER, as well as the latest volumes of the popular BLEACH, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN and POKÉMON series.

Also releasing is the live action feature film 20TH CENTURY BOYS: BEGINNING OF THE END from VIZ Pictures.

VIZ Media DVD titles are distributed (in English) in the U.S and Mexico by Warner Home Video and in Canada by Allegro.
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Madman Entertainment in Australia will release three Region 4/PAL DVD collections of Toho’s Godzilla movies on October 21.
Photos courtesy of Madman Entertainment. © 2009 Toho Co., Ltd.

Region 4 Collections Coming this Week
Source: Madman Entertainment

On October 21st, Eastern Eye— the Asian theatrical and home video division of Australian distributor Madman Entertainment— will release three DVD collections of classic Godzilla films.

The sets collect seventeen Godzilla movies that had been released individually on DVD by Madman from 2004-2007. With the exception of the new packaging, the new DVDs are identical in terms of content to the previous releases, including special features such as original Japanese theatrical trailers, photo galleries, trivia, concept art, and poster galleries.

Each box set will be Region 4 and PAL format, and retail for $49.95 AUD.
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Source: FUNimation Entertainment press release
Special Thanks to Jackie Smith

Cover art for BLASSREITER, THE COMPLETE SERIES:
PART 1. © 2008 Gonzo, Nitroplus/Blassreiter Project

During the last half of October, FUNimation Entertainment will release four Region 1 DVD collections of popular anime series for fans in North America. Read on for series descriptions, DVD specs, and a look at cover art for:

BLASSREITER, THE COMPLETE SERIES: PART 1 (12 episodes)
COMIC PARTY REVOLUTION: THE COMPLETE SERIES (13 episodes)
SHONEN ONMYOUJI: THE COMPLETE SERIES (26 episodes)
CLAYMORE: THE COMPLETE SERIES (26 episodes)
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Source: 4Digital Media, The Associates press releases
Official Movie Site: cyborg.gaga.ne.jp (Japan)
Special Thanks to Farhana Shaikh

UK DVD cover art for CYBORG SHE. Photo courtesy of
The Associates. © 2008 Cyborg She Film Partners.

Have you ever imagined what THE TERMINATOR would have been like had it been a romantic comedy in the vein of SERENDIPITY? Well, now you don’t have to because that’s pretty much what writer-director Kwak Jae-young (director of the smash hit Korean comedy, MY SASSY GIRL) delivers with CYBORG SHE (Boku no Kanojo wa Saibogu, 2008), a touching and lighthearted sci-fi love story about a lonely young man and his female cyborg from the future.

Jiro Kitamura (Keisuke Koide) is a teenage student living in Tokyo who each year celebrates his birthday alone, buying himself a gift and dining on the same meal at the same restaurant. Shopping in a department store on the evening of his 20th birthday, Jiro witnesses an attractive young girl (Haruka Ayase) trying on a new outfit and leaving the store without paying. Later, as he sits down for dinner, the mysterious girl shows up at the restaurant and announces that it’s her birthday too. They spend the rest of the evening together, but at the end of what proves to be Jiro’s best birthday ever the girl disappears.

Exactly one year later, the girl reappears and joins Jiro for his annual birthday meal. When a crazed customer unleashes a torrent of gunfire on the restaurant, it is only the actions of his pretty companion that save Jiro from the hail of bullets. His savior then reveals the shocking truth about her existence— she is, in fact, a cyborg built by Jiro’s elderly future self and sent back to the present to prevent him from being crippled by the gunman.
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Live Action Movie Based on Hit Anime Streets October 20
Source: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Official Movie Site: Blood The Last Vampire

DVD cover art for BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE.
Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Ent. © 2009
East Wing Holdings Corp. and SAJ.

From a producer of HERO and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON comes BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE, based on the cult hit anime. Demons have infested Earth, and only one warrior stands between the dark and the light: Saya, a half-human, half-vampire samurai who preys on those who feast on human blood. Joining forces with the shadowy society known as the Council, Saya is dispatched to an American military base, where an intense series of swordfights leads her to the deadliest vampire of all.

Now after 400 years, Saya’s greatest hunt is about to begin. She’s here… and there will be blood.

Following a US theatrical run this past summer from Samuel Goldwyn Films, director Chris Nahon’s (KISS OF THE DRAGON) martial arts horror thriller BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE will be released on DVD and Blu-ray this month by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
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The traveling salesman Tora-san (Kiyoshi Atsumi) back on the road and telling fortunes in TORA-SAN’S GRAND SCHEME, one of four early TORA-SAN
movies featured in AnimEigo’s new DVD box set. Photo courtesy of AnimEigo, Inc. © 1970 Shochiku Co., Ltd.

DVD Box Set of First Four Films Arrives November 10
Source: AnimEigo, Inc., Shochiku Co., Ltd.
Special Thanks to Stuart Galbraith IV, Aaron Cavazos, and Steve Ryfle

Cover art for AnimEigo’s new TORA-SAN COLLECTOR’S SET:
VOL. 1. Photo courtesy of AnimEigo, Inc. © 1969-1970
Shochiku Co., Ltd.

The hugely popular TORA-SAN (Otoko wa Tsuraiyo, lit. “It’s Tough Being a Man”) series is finally coming to North America in a special 4-film DVD box set from AnimEigo. Featuring Kiyoshi Atsumi as the beloved loser Torajiro Kuruma, the 48-movie TORA-SAN is Japan’s longest running motion picture series and holds the Guinness Book World Record as the longest film series starring the same actor.

Now AnimEigo is releasing the TORA-SAN COLLECTOR’S SET: VOL. 1, a Region 1 DVD collection of the first four TORA-SAN films: IT’S TOUGH BEING A MAN (Otoko wa Tsuraiyo), TORA-SAN’S CHERISHED MOTHER (Zoku Otoko wa Tsuraiyo), TORA-SAN, HIS TENDER LOVE (Otoko wa Tsuraiyo: Fuuten no Tora) and TORA-SAN’S GRAND SCHEME (Shin Otoko wa Tsuraiyo).

Exclusive extra features include an audio commentary by film historian and reviewer Stuart Galbraith IV (Monsters Are Attacking Tokyo, Taschen’s new Japanese Cinema) on IT’S TOUGH BEING A MAN; interactive maps, trailers, cast bios, and image galleries; a 28-page booklet with essays by Galbraith, acclaimed Japanese observer Donald Richie, film programmer and Japanese film distributor Michael Jeck, Los Angeles Times film critic Kevin Thomas, and Japanese cinema historian Alexander Jacoby. Also included are program notes and a remembrance by writer/director Yoji Yamada.
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Gene Roddenberry’s TV movies GENESIS II and PLANET EARTH have been released on DVD for the first time. Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.
GENESIS II © 1973/Renewed 2001. PLANET EARTH © 1974/Renewed © 2002. Package Designs © 2009 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Source: Warner Archive Collection
Special Thanks to Gabriel Vicuna

Two 1970’s TV pilots from STAR TREK creator Gene Roddenberry — GENESIS II and the follow-up PLANET EARTH— arrive on DVD for the first time ever on October 6, exclusively from the Warner Archive Collection.
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Cover art for DEATH NOTE 1 AND 2: COMPLETE 4 DISC SET and DEATH NOTE – THE COMPLETE SERIES. Photos courtesy of The Associates.
DEATH NOTE movies © 2006 [Death Note] Film Partners. DEATH NOTE anime © 2003 by Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata, Shueisha, DNP, VAP, Madhouse

Source: 4Digital Media, The Associates press releases
Special Thanks to Farhana Shaikh

DEATH NOTE fans in Britain having something new to live for as both the animated series and the live-action films have been packaged in two deluxe box sets. Manga Entertainment released the anime DEATH NOTE – THE COMPLETE SERIES on September 28, while this week sees the movie collection DEATH NOTE 1 AND 2: COMPLETE 4 DISC SET from 4Digital Asia.
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DVD Now Available; Debut Screening at Monster Fest on October 10
Source: Horse Archer Productions press release
Official Site: virginiacreepersmovie.com
Special Thanks to Sean Kotz

Poster art created by George Chastain will also grace the cover of the DVD. Photo
courtesy of Horse Archer Productions. © 2009 Horse Archer Productions, LLC.

After 18 months of production, Horse Archer Productions will release its much anticipated documentary, VIRGINIA CREEPERS: THE HORROR HOST TRADITION OF THE OLD DOMINION, with a debut at Monster Fest 6 in Chesapeake, VA on October 10.

The film, which looks at more than 50 years of hosting horror movies on the Virginia and DC airwaves features extensive interviews with all known living hosts, previously unheard audio and video footage from shows not seen by the public for nearly four decades.

“We have put a lot of research and leg work into this film,” said Sean Kotz, co-producer and co-director of the full length feature documentary, “but we have also been fortunate to find passionate people with photos, audio and video that would have otherwise been lost.”
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Theatrical Premiere at VIZ Cinema on October 6th
Source: VIZ Media, MediaLab press releases
Official Site: naruto.com
Special Thanks to Evelyn Dubocq and Erik Jansen

DVD cover art for NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE. Photo
courtesy of VIZ Media. © Masashi Kishimoto /2007
Shippuden, NMP

VIZ Media, LLC has announced the DVD release of NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE on November 10th. The new film is the fourth in the NARUTO movie series, is rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens, and will have an MSRP of $24.92 U.S. / $35.99 CAN.

San Francisco area residents can also attend a special screening of NARUTO SHIPPUDEN THE MOVIE at the New People/VIZ Cinema in Japantown for two nights only October 6th and 7th.

In the newest animated feature film adventure, a powerful spirit that once threatened to destroy the world is back! Naruto’s mission is to protect a priestess named Shion, who is the only one with the power to seal away the monster. She also has the uncanny ability to predict someone’s fate. Her latest prediction: Naruto will soon die. Naruto’s only hope is to abandon Shion, but that’s not Naruto’s style. He decides to face her fatal prediction head-on–and die!

“Naruto’s missions have become even more dangerous, and even fate will test Naruto’s skills and self confidence in this latest adventure as a mysterious princess foretells his death,” says Brian Ige, VIZ Media Director of Sales, Home Entertainment. “We invite fans to check out all the action in this new feature film this fall!”
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Source: FUNimation Entertainment press release
Special Thanks to Jackie Smith

© 2007 Asmik Ace Entertainment, Inc./ Marvelous Interactive,
Inc./ Majin Production Committee

FUNimation will be releasing several anime DVD collections over the next two weeks.

Read on for descriptions, DVD specs, and a look at cover art for FULL METAL PANIC! THE SECOND RAID: THE COMPLETE SERIES, ONE PIECE: SEASON TWO- THIRD VOYAGE, TOKYO MAJIN: THE COMPLETE SERIES, D.GRAY-MAN: SEASON TWO, PART ONE, and THE STORY OF SAIUNKOKU: THE COMPLETE SEASON ONE.
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Source: The Associates press release
Official Site: ghostintheshellredux.co.uk
Special Thanks to Farhana Shaikh

Cover art for Manga Entertainment’s UK DVD of GHOST IN
THE SHELL 2.0. Photo courtesy of The Associates. © 1995
/2008 Shirow Masamune/Kodansha · Bandai Visual · Manga
Entertainment

Manga Entertainment UK will release the 2008 anime film GHOST IN THE SHELL 2.0 (Kokaku Kidotai 2.0) to selected cinemas in England beginning October 2nd. The theatrical run will be followed by a 2 disc DVD set and Blu-ray release on October 26th.

In 1995, the animated cyberpunk action-thriller GHOST IN THE SHELL stunned moviegoers and anime fans alike by seamlessly merging traditional animation with the latest CG imagery to create an intelligent and artistic sci-fi spectacle unlike anything seen before. The film enjoyed both critical and popular acclaim at the international box office before going on to reach even greater success on DVD.

Now, director Mamoru Oshii (THE SKY CRAWLERS; AVALON) has revisited his classic masterpiece to create a newly enhanced “director’s cut” for cinemas in the form of GHOST IN THE SHELL 2.0. Containing over 90 altered and enhanced scenes and an all-new soundtrack that includes dialogue re-recorded by the original actors (with the exception of one new voice cast member who adds a unique spin to the plot), this new release represents the perfect opportunity for fans to see this mind-blowing film as originally intended.
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Korean Killer Wild Boar Movie Takes a Bite out of European and Asian Territories
Author: Kim Song-ho and Keith Aiken
Source: Finecut Co., Ltd., Ascot Elite Home Entertainment
Official Movie Site: CHAW
Special Thanks to Lim Ji-yoon

Cover art for the upcoming German Blu-ray disc of CHAW.
© 2009 Polygon Entertainment LLC/Soo Jack Films

On September 11, the South Korean international film sales company Finecut Co., Ltd. announced that their new monster movie CHAW had been picked up for release in the UK. Finecut had signed the agreement with British distributor Optimum Releasing during the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Finecut also held a private screening of CHAW at the event.

Released in Korea on July 15, CHAW is the tale of various oddball characters who have gathered to hunt down a giant, man-eating wild boar. The film mixes both horror and comedy, and was written and directed by Shin Jeong-won, a former music video producer and art director who had made a successful debut with his first feature TO CATCH A VIRGIN GHOST (Sisily 2km) in 2004. The movie recorded approximately 1.8 million admissions during its domestic theatrical run.

The UK deal marks the latest international sale for CHAW, which had already been picked up for release in Germany, Australia, India, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Brunei, Austria, Vietnam, Indonesia, Switzerland, and Thailand.
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Ed Godziszewski and Steve Ryfle have provided DVD audio commentaries and other supplemental features for several Toho science fiction films.
Top row: Credits for the 2006 DVDs of GODZILLA from the British Film Institute and MOTHRA VS GODZILLA from Classic Media.
Bottom row: BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE from Sony’s new DVD set ICONS OF SCI-FI: TOHO COLLECTION (2009), and the writing/producing
credit for Classic Media’s documentary BRINGING GODZILLA DOWN TO SIZE (2008). © 1954, 1959, 1964, 2008 Toho Co., Ltd.

Interview by: Richard Pusateri

Sharp-eyed fans of Japanese monster and science fiction films may have noticed the decidedly non-Japanese names Ed Godziszewski and Steve Ryfle repeatedly popping up in the credits of Toho DVDs, materials for theatrical screenings and releases, and various Godzilla-themed events over the past few years.

Following the release of Sony’s ICONS OF SCI-FI: TOHO COLLECTION, Steve and Ed spoke with their old friend Richard Pusateri about their work on the new DVD set and other Godzilla/Toho projects.
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