Milk That Cash Cow Lucas!!
Lucasfilm has just made the official announcement - all three existing Indiana Jones titles are due on DVD once again on 5/13.
This is the first time these three films have been made available on DVD individually (SRP $26.98 each), and they will have new bonus content.
You'll also be able to buy an Indiana Jones: The Adventure Collection box set of all three (SRP $59.98). No word yet on a Blu-ray Disc release (we suspect only the new film will arrive on Blu-ray this year, but you never know - we'll try to confirm).
Here are the details...
Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark: Special Edition will feature anamorphic widescreen video, Dolby Digital 5.1 (English) and 2.0 (French, Spanish) audio, An Introduction by Steven Spielberg & George Lucas, 2 featurettes (Indiana Jones: An Appreciation and The Melting Face), a storyboard sequence for The Well of Souls scene, 4 image galleries (Illustrations & Props, Production Photographs & Portraits, Effects/ILM and Marketing) and the game trailer and demo for LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: Special Edition will also feature anamorphic widescreen video, along with Dolby Digital 5.1 (English) and 2.0 (French, Spanish) audio, An Introduction by Steven Spielberg & George Lucas, 2 featurettes (Creepy Crawlies and Locations), a storyboard sequence for The Mine Cart Chase, 4 image galleries (Illustrations & Props, Production Photographs & Portraits, Effects/ILM and Marketing) and the game trailer and demo for LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures.
Finally, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: Special Edition will also feature anamorphic widescreen video, as well as Dolby Digital 5.1 (English) and 2.0 (French, Spanish) audio, An Introduction by Steven Spielberg & George Lucas, 2 featurettes (The Women: The American Film Institute Tribute and Friends and Enemies), a storyboard sequence for The Opening Sequence, 4 image galleries (Illustrations & Props, Production Photographs & Portraits, Effects/ILM and Marketing) and the game trailer and demo for LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures.
That AFI thing was pretty cool. It featured a reunion and discussion with Karen Allen, Kate Capshaw and Alison Doody, and Harrison Ford himself showed up at the end IN COSTUME as Indy. This was done to promote the original box set DVD release of the films. It should be very cool to see again on disc.
Oscar winner: U.S. faked 9/11
Oscar-winning French actress Marion Cotillard has sparked outrage in the U.S. after she hinted that the country intentionally plotted the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The 32-year-old has questioned the government's role in the attacks during a interview on a website.
She indicated that people had been led to believe lies and suggested the World Trade Centre was in desperate need of an upgrade, which would cost more than demolishing the towers.
"It was a money-sucker. To re-cable all that, to bring it up-to-date with all the technology and everything, it was a lot more expensive than destroying them," she said.
The accusations come just one week after Cotillard won the Best Actress Oscar for her role as Edith Piaf in "La Vie En Rose."
She also reheated an old conspiracy theory about the 1969 moon landing never having happened.
New CD Releases, March 4: Alan Jackson, Black Crowes, Bauhaus
Alan Jackson "Good Time"
The cowboy crooner is back to offer fans a "Good Time." This new disc, Jackson's 17th album, already has delivered one big single, the Top 40 country hit "Small Town Southern Man."
The set was penned entirely by Jackson, marking the first such occasion in the star's lengthy career, and it follows a pair of 2006 albums: the award-winning inspirational collection "Precious Memories" and the Grammy-nominated "Like Red on a Rose."
Jackson will tour in support of "Good Time." His itinerary includes a run of April concerts in Canada with country duo Brooks & Dunn.
* * *
The Black Crowes "Warpaint"
The veteran rockers are ready to battle for chart supremacy with "Warpaint," the band's first new album in seven years.
Although they've had their share of success with past studio efforts, The Black Crowes have become known mostly for their blistering live shows in recent years. The group will tour in support of "Warpaint," performing the album in its entirety during a series of "One Night Only" shows in the US this month, and are also scheduled to play March 15 at Stubb's BBQ in Austin, TX, during the South by Southwest music festival.
* * *
Bauhaus "Go Away White"
Dust off those vampire capes and break out the mascara, dear goth fiends, because the legendary Bauhaus has finally returned with a new album. "Go Away White" is Bauhaus' first new studio offering since 1983's "Burning From the Inside."
The group, which features Peter Murphy, Daniel Ash, David J and Kevin Haskins, is arguably the most influential goth-rock band in history. Although they've been M.I.A. from the studio for 25 years, Bauhaus remains one of the subgenre's true listening staples. Fans will be delighted--in a decidedly goth way--to finally get the chance to hear some new tunes. Selections on the album include such appropriately dreary titles as "Endless Summer of the Damned."
* * *
The Doors "Live in Pittsburgh"
Fans will want to check out this live set, which was recorded in Steel City back on May 2, 1970. The concert featured the legendary classic rock band performing such fan favorites as "Back Door Man," "When the Music's Over" and "Light My Fire."
* * *
Jackson Browne "Solo Acoustic, Vol. 2"
The singer-/songwriter returns with a follow-up to his 2005 Grammy-nominated "Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1." This sequel, "Solo Acoustic, Vol. 2," was recorded during Browne's live shows over the past few years and features such songs as "Somebody's Baby" and "In the Shape of a Heart."
* * *
More new releases:
Autechre, "Quaristice" (Warp)
BoDeans, "Still" (He and He)
Kathleen Edwards, "Asking for Flowers" (Zoe)
Flogging Molly, "Float" (Side One Dummy)
Judy Garland, "Garland at the Grove" (DRG)
The Gutter Twins, "Saturnalia" (Sub Pop)
Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, "Real Emotional Trash" (Matador)
Michael McDonald, "Soul Speak" (Motown)
Sesame Street, "Platinum All Time Favorites" (Koch)
Ashton Shepherd, "Sounds So Good" (MCA Nashville)
The Waifs, "Sundirtwater" (Compass)
Whiskeytown, "Strangers Almanac" (Geffen)
Johnny Winter, "Live Bootleg Series, Volume Two" (Friday Night)
Soundtracks and scores:
"Annie Get Your Gun--Studio Cast album" (DRG)
"Say, Darling (1958 Original Broadway Cast)" (DRG)
Turning to fans to finance CD
NEW YORK - In making six CDs, singer Jill Sobule has worked for two major record companies that dumped her and two indie labels that went bankrupt beneath her.
Now she's turning to people she can really trust — her fans.
Sobule, whose witty and poignant writing first attracted attention with the song "I Kissed a Girl," has set up a Web site asking fans to donate money so she can make a new CD. She set a goal of $75,000 and, in a month, she's made about $54,000.
She's another example of a musician taking control of her career as the business crumbles around her, and doing it with a unique sense of humor.
Contributors can choose a level of pledges ranging from the $10 "unpolished rock," which earns them a free digital download of her disc when it's made, to the $10,000 "weapons-grade plutonium level," where she promises "you get to come and sing on my CD. Don't worry if you can't sing — we can fix that on our end."
For the $500 "gold level," Sobule will mention your name in a song, maybe even rhyme with it. The $750 "gold doubloons level" is "exactly like the gold level, but you give me more money."
Sobule is surprised at how empowering the whole experience has been.
"The old kind of paradigm, where you've always waited for other people to do things, you'd have your manager and your agent," she said. "You'd wait for the big record company to give you money to do things and they tell you what to do. This is so great. I want to do everything like this."
She set the $75,000 goal because she wanted to do things right. Well-known producer Don Was has agreed to work with her, and she expects friends like Cyndi Lauper and John Doe to sing with her. She also needs to pay for making and distributing the CDs, and promotion to publicize it.
Sobule even wrote to explain all this to some snarky Web sites that pointed out that someone can easily record music for $500 in their basement these days.
"I wrote, `Don't you understand, it's not just the recording budget, it's also my gambling debts,'" she joked, "and they became my best friends."
For a $5,000 contribution, Sobule said she'll perform a concert in the donor's house. The lower levels are more popular, where donors can earn things like an advanced copy of the CD, a mention in the liner notes and a T-shirt identifying them as a "junior executive producer" of the CD.
Besides the studio album (recording starts next month), Sobule also wants to record a live CD and a collection of new tracks with just her voice and guitar, asking amateurs to take a stab at making their own arrangements around her.
One positive, unexpected result from her campaign is getting to know her fans a little, beyond just the faces that stare at her onstage. Many have written messages that are posted on Sobule's Web site and offer suggestions.
Sobule always let the business people do their thing while she concentrated on being the artist.
"I lived like that forever and this time, this is fun," she said. "This is creative."
Van Halen tour scrapped: report
The remaining dates of Van Halen's North American concert tour have been cancelled, TMZ.com reports.
The tour began in September with popular singer David Lee Roth performing with the band for the first time in 22 years, and Eddie Van Halen's son, Wolfgang, playing bass.
Although performances were lined up through April 19, TMZ.com cited unnamed sources as saying the band's hotel reservations are being canceled now that the rest of the tour has been scrapped.
The band's last three shows were cancelled as Eddie Van Halen is said to be having "issues," the report said.
The rock icon, who spent time in rehab last year, has been in media headlines the last few weeks because his ex-wife, actress Valerie Bertinelli, is making the rounds to promote her new tell-all memoir.
The book discusses her and Van Halen's mutual infidelity and drug use during their more than 20 years of marriage.
Representatives for the band could not be reached for comment, TMZ.com said.