Edward Copeland's Tangents

Home, the writing-directing debut of Matt Zoller Seitz, proprietor of The House Next Door, finally is available for rental or purchase on DVD. Here are some exercepts from Matt's letter announcing the release and details of the DVD:

"I wanted to let you all know that four years after production began, Home is now commercially available on DVD. The releasing company is Vanguard Cinema, a small Los Angeles-based distributor that specializes in foreign films (mostly Spanish language imports) and American underground movies.

The professional DVD version of Home was overseen by me and my brother and co-producer, Jeremy Seitz. It is basically the movie you saw at film festivals or via press screener — including the supplemental stills gallery and the original trailer.

But there are a few differences. The image is less squarish and more rectangular, the result of reformatting the movie fit the preferred dimensions of home video, 16x9. There are also two new audio commentary tracks, recorded within the last couple of months. The first commentary track is fairly straightforward: anecdotes about casting, production, sound design, editing and so forth. The second is more personal and intended mainly for family and friends: a reminiscence of life in the house with my wife and co-producer, Jennifer Dawson, who died April 27 of this year. The latter track explains how certain scenes or subplots were inspired by moments in our relationship; along the way, I also point out family photographs, clothes, posters, personal mementoes and items of furniture that meant something to us.

Vanguard has informed me that Home will be available for sale through Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com and for rental via Blockbuster and Netflix; it will also be available through regional and mom-and-pop stores, so you can try your luck and see if they have it. (If not, please do request it.) (UPDATE: It now is available for purchase and rental at Green Cine as well)
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The best way to get some momentum going for Home is to forward this email to anyone you know who might be interested in renting or purchasing the movie, and suggest that they do so. Amazon, in particular, orders new inventory based on the intensity of interest in a particular title, so if there's a flurry of activity there, they'll pay attention. I also encourage viewers to make comments on the Netflix page, and to visit the Internet Movie Database entry and add comments there, too. (Be honest — no logrolling necessary.)
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Thanks again for your enthusiasm and patience.

Truly yours,
Matt Zoller Seitz"