The Aura (2005 — Argentina) Ricardo Darin, Dolores Fonzi, Pablo Cedron. Psychological journey into the head of an epileptic man who works out the perfect heist. (Genius Products).
Click here to order The Aura from Amazon.

Vince mentioned this one in the comments section. Thanks for giving us a heads up. Click here to read Vince’s thoughts on The Aura.

Payback Straight Up: The Director’s Cut (1999) Dir.: Brian Helgeland; Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, David Paymer, Lucy Liu, Kris Kristofferson. Never-before-seen footage. Extras: Commentary by writer-director Brian Helgeland, “Paybacks Are a Bitch: On Location In Chicago,” “Paybacks Are a Bitch: On the Set In Los Angeles,” “Same Story, Different Movie — Creating Payback: The Director’s Cut ,” “The Hunter: A Conversation With Author Donald E. Westlake.” (Paramount).
Click here to order Payback – The Director’s Cut (Special Collector’s Edition) from Amazon.

Based on a novel by Richard Stark (AKA Donald Westlake), Payback didn’t do very well in the theatres. And that is unfortunate because it has some fine performances (James Coburn is great in a very small role) and is better than many have made it out to be.

Having said that, director Brain Helgeland has gone back and recuthe film so it is more in line with what he wanted it to be.

Randy watched it and found it very different from the original version. He will be bringing us a comparison of the two next week.

Major League Wild Thing Edition (1989) Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, Rene Russo, Wesley Snipes, Dennis Haysbert, Bob Uecker. Extras: New interviews with Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Corbin Bernsen and Dennis Haysbert; commentary by writer-director David S. Ward and producer Chris Chesser; behind-the-scenes featurettes “My Kinda Team,” “A Major League Look at Major League” and “Bob Uecker: Just a Bit Outside”; alternate ending; tour of Cerrano’s locker; photo gallery. (Paramount).
Click here to order Major League (Wild Thing Edition) from Amazon.

In theory, this should have been just another wacky comedy, but the cast had real chemistry and Major League was not only a box office hit, but garnered critical praise.

We get relatively unknown Wesley Snipes and Dennis Haysbert (The Unit, 24) joining forces with Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen and Corbin Bernsen, none of whom were exactly at the prime of their career. But the aforementioned chemistry made Major League a real treat.

Murder in Suburbia Series 2 (2004) Two-disc set with six episodes of the complete second seasonof the BBC America mystery series about a pair of female detectives who solvecrimes in an upscale English suburb. (Acorn Media).
Click here to order Murder in Suburbia Series 2 from Amazon.

Naomi will be bringing a review of this later this week.

The Streets of San Francisco — Season One, Volume One(1972)Four-disc set with 14 episodes, Michael Douglas, Karl Malden $42.99. Extras: Army Archerd interview, pilot presentation. (Paramount).
Click here to order The Streets of San Francisco -Season 1, Vol. 1 from Amazon.

If you are like me, you mainly remember Karl for his American Express commercials. But once upon a time, he was a no-nonsense cop that worked hard protecting The Streets of San Francisco. Michael Douglas starred as his partner in the early days,but was replaced by Richard Hatch (Apollo from the original Battlestar Galactica) later on.

If all goes well (and our copy shows up), Mr. Jon will be giving us the lowdown on this in the near future.