Happy
Thanksgiving y'all. Hope you're all gearing up for a good time with
the family and/or friends. I'll be heading over to the parentals
with my puppy girl, a stack of discs and well, . . . no PS3. I
wasn't one of the lucky 10 in my line. Sucks for me, but what are
you going to do? Now I have something to ask Santa for.
As Bill commented in his Two Cents
yesterday, I also saw the new Bond
over the weekend. I liked it. It's a really good reboot for the
franchise in the Batman Begins
sense. At this point, I'm actually more excited for the sequel now
that the set-up is out of the way. Craig is a good Bond and I hope
they keep on in the direction they set-up for him at the end. Bond's
not quite the quick-quiping cold blooded killer, but very willing to
get there soon enough.
In terms of DVD, it's generally a light week, and sadly, I didn't
get sh&t this week, so I know next to nothing about any of the
discs on this week's ship list. But here's the line-up for you to
use if you go shopping on Black Friday. Hopefully you'll find some
good deals.
New Releases
These are the discs making their premiere on DVD this week...
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Ice
Age: The Meltdown
The early mammals are back again, hunting for nuts and booty.
Queen Latifah joins the cast of regulars.
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An
Inconvenient Truth
Al Gore tells us about global warming. Bill says it's a
brilliant documentary and as scary as it is smart. Bill's also a
leftist commie.
[Editor's Note: Todd suspects that
Stanley Kubrick conspired with NASA to film the Moon landings in
a warehouse in Area 51, so... ahem... the defense rests.]
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Scoop
Woody Allen once again joins forces with Scarlett Johansson's
glorious cleavage. Hugh Jackman and Al Swearengen also star.
[Editor's Note: Swegen! C--ksucka!]
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You,
Me and Dupree
Matt Dillon is Me, Kate Hudson is You and The Butterscotch
Stallion is Dupree. Looks cute if you're an Owen Wilson fan.
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Cult
Releases
So, here's were we can talk about the really fun discs coming out
this week. You know you want 'em. Well, come and get them.
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Azumi
This is actually a really good ninja flick from the director of
Versus and Godzilla:
Final Wars. Based on the manga, Azumi
already has a sequel that I haven't seen, but hope to soon.
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H6:
Diary of a Serial Killer
Spanish painter turned director Martín Garrido Barón
brings us into the mind of a killer. A young man, freed from
prison after murdering his girlfriend, takes up in a dilapidated
hotel/brothel he inherited and starts killing the morally
unclean. This Spanish film is pretty no-holds barred - although
not quite as visceral as say, Hostel.
There's a bit more of a journey to be had here, and if you're a
fan of horror films, this one may be a rental for you.
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Grand
Theft Auto: Tricked-Out Edition
Ron Howard made his move to director here, under the guidance
of Roger Corman who in exchange for appearing in Eat
My Dust, gave the go ahead for Howard to co-write,
star and direct. A simple story with some really fun car action,
if you're looking for something better than DaVinci
Code, this might do the thing.
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The
Samurai Collection Featuring Sonny Chiba
I know very little about these DVDs, but I am a samurai flick
fan and a Chiba fan, so you just knew I was going to put these
on my list. The set includes G.I.
Samurai, Ninja Wars
and Legend of the Eight Samurai.
Looks good. If anyone out there picks this one up, please let me
know what you think.
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The
Ol' Double Dip
Here's some titles that have made more than one trip to the
woodshed on DVD so far...
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How
the Grinch Stole Christmas: 50th Birthday Deluxe Edition
I'm sure it's better both extras and video-wise, but this is
the fourth frickin' time this has come out.
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Miracle
on 34th Street
Second time's the charm for this one.
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A
Fish Called Wanda
This is a good film and worth picking up if you didn't do so
the first time it came out. This two-disc SE features a nice new
transfer, commentary with John Cleese and a new documentary.
Fans of Monty Python
should enjoy. That's pretty much everyone, right?
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The
Punisher: Extended Cut
Did we need this?
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TV
on DVD
Weird that two sets on our list are also big blog-news hits: Doogie
Howser is gay and Michael Richards has a temper and spouts
completely inappropriate racist comments to make a point most didn't
catch due to the shock.
Alias:
The Complete Fifth Season,
Alias:
The Complete Series,
Boston
Legal: Season Two,
Dr.
Katz, Professional Therapist: Season Two,
How
I Met Your Mother: Season One,
Perry
Mason: The Complete First Season,
Seinfeld:
Season 7,
So
Notorious: The Complete Series and
Star
Trek: The Animated Series
The Criterion Collection Corner
So, because I've supported Criterion even before they took a wait
and see approach to DVD, I've decided to pull them out and spotlight
them for you each week. You know you want these, because having a
gap in your collection sucks.
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The
Double Life of Veronique
Jahnke should be happy: Krzysztof Kieslowski's incredible film
staring Irene Jacob comes to Criterion DVD. Packed with extras
including commentary by film scholar Annette Insdorf, three
documentaries directed by Kieslowski: Factory,
Hospital and Railway
Station, a short film by Kazimierz Karabasz (mentor
to Kieslowski), the alternate U.S. ending, a documentary made
during production of Veronique:
a new documentary about the filmmaker entitled 1966
- 1988: Kieslowski, Polish Filmmaker, video
interviews with actress Irène Jacob, cinematographer
Slawomir Idziak, and composer Zbigniew Preisner and a booklet of
essays by Jonathan Romney, Slavoj Zizek, and Peter Cowie, with
an excerpt from the book "Kieslowski on Kieslowski."
Pretty much a no-brainer.
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Pandora's
Box
I will always think Louise Brooks is one of the most beautiful
women who ever walked the Earth. This G.W.Pabst silent is a
milestone film for the era and a must own for any
self-respecting film fan. Extras on this set include four
different interpretive musical scores, each offering its own
interpretation of the film, audio commentary by film scholars
Thomas Elsaesser and Mary Ann Doane, the documentary Louise
Brooks: Looking for Lulu from 1998 a rare, 48-minute
interview with Louise Brooks by documentarian Richard Leacock
and Susan Steinberg Woll, interviews with Richard Leacock, about
Brooks, and Michael Pabstm the director's son, a stills gallery
and the essay booklet with a Kenneth Tynan essay from 1979
essay, an article by Louise Brooks on her relationship with
Pabst, and a new essay by critic J. Hoberman. Frankly I don't
care about the extras. Just knowing Criterion preserved my
beloved LuLu in all her glory is enough for me to pick this one
up.
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Special
Mention Box Set
This is where we can showcase a super expensive but worthwhile
product. In this case, it's...
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Classic
Comedy Teams Collection
Really all you have to do is list the comedy teams and the
films in the set to sell it: Three Stooges: Meet
the Baron & The Gold
Raiders; Abbott and Costello: Lost
in Harlem & Abbott and
Costello in Hollywood and Laurel and Hardy: Air
Raid Wardens & Nothing
But Trouble. See 'nuff said.
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See
you next week. Pass the mashed potatoes!
Doogan
todddoogan@thedigitalbits.com
Atlanta, GA 11/21/06 |
