DVD Discoveries

On the Marquee: Summer 2006

The curtain rises on an all-new film festival: Amazon.com's DVD Discoveries for Summer 2006. We want you to discover some excellent titles that are off the beaten path, including new movies, classics debuting on DVD, and art-house films that didn't play in a theater near you. We hope you have not heard of many (that's part of the fun) of these 20 DVD Discoveries that delighted, intrigued, and well, just darned entertained the editorial staff.

Post-Modern Thriller and Classic Noir: International Discoveries

With Cache (Hidden), writer and director Michael Haneke puts a modern, cerebral twist to the traditional Hitchcockian thriller creating a film that is both haunting and memorable. Louis Malle's groundbreaking debut Elevator to the Gallows is many things: a tight, delicious crime thriller, a movie with perhaps the greatest jazz soundtrack of all time, and the film that lifted Jeanne Moreau to the status of a true movie star. This French Noir classic is a pure cinematic pleasure, fusing visual beauty with taut, edge-of-your-seat storytelling.

Mixed Relations: Dramatic Discoveries

Some of our best discoveries this season are Dramas dealing with different types of relationships: a low-key buddy/ hit man comedy with an agreeably sinister twist; a heart warming tale of a child who is drawn into the mysteries and magic of an animal; the story of a couple whose relationship is marred when his estranged son makes a surprised visit; and the story of a mother and ex-heroin addict who is fighting to regain custody of her child.

• The Matador
• Duma
• Forty Shades of Blue
• Clean

Thrilling and Chilling Discoveries

Looking for an exciting murder mystery that flew under most moviegoer's radars? Perhaps you want to see an Italian TV crime thriller by an acclaimed horror director? Or maybe you are interested in seeing that Italian director's zombie cult classic? Looking for something a little more "normal?" How about the story of train-hopping hobos during the Great Depression? Check out some of our favorite thrilling discoveries:

• Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
• Una Bianca
• Cemetery Man
• Emperor of the North

Metal, The Minutemen and Morricone: Music Documentary Discoveries

Seems as though a ton of great music documentaries have been released recently. Here are three we just discovered and loved:

• Metal - A Headbanger's Journey, an anthropological study of Heavy Metal and it's fans
• We Jam Econo - The Story of the Minutemen, the story of the wildly eclectic, seminal indie punk band
• Morricone Conducts Morricone, a 100-minute no-frills concert performance honoring Morricone's film-music legacy

Finally Available on DVD

We are constantly on high alert for those eagerly anticipated, and relatively obscure titles to make their way to DVD. Here are the best of this season.

• Petulia, the fragmented, nonlinear 60s love story, starring Julie Christie
• Where the Green Ants Dream, Herzog's look at the gap between Western and aboriginal minds
• Hamsun, a film about the Nobel Prize-winning author and Norway's experiences with Hitler

Rollergirls, Covert Intelligence & Theatre Folk: Television Discoveries

With the amount of great TV shows from around the globe making their way to DVD these days, the possibilities of discoveries rare gems are endless. Here are some of our favorite television discoveries of the season:

• Rollergirls: Season One, the fascinating reality show about the real life dramas of the TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls
• The Omega Factor: Complete Series, the short-lived BBC cult series about a government bureau that investigates paranormal phenomena
• Slings & Arrows: Season One, the high caliber Sundance Channel show set in a fictional Canadian Provincial theatre