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07.03.06 by Widge @ 5:34 am   Kids DVD of the Week: Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?. Well, this Shout Factory release is a little confusing, because it's the complete first season even though the box itself doesn't state that. Still, from game to quiz show to animated series, now the dastardly Sandiego (voiced by Rita Moreno) is going up against a brother and sister team, who will chase her to the ends of the earth and whatnot. This three disc set comes with art galleries, a storyboard to screen comparison for one episode, plus the opening title sequence in eight languages. (Buy it) Animation DVD of the Week: Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist: Season One. The line between therapy and comedy has never been thinner than in this, the first six episodes of this classic series, brought to DVD by the fine folks at Paramount and Comedy Central. Among the patients whose minds are explored: Ray Romano, Dom Irrera and Dave Atell. There's a Katz bio, commentaries by some of the comedians involved, short films and another Squigglevision short, if you simply couldn't get enough. (Buy it) Space DVD of the Week: Exploring Space: The Quest for Life. What timing: just recently didn't we hear Stephen Hawking making the case--again--for us getting off this rock for the safety of all mankind? And isn't that just an echo of what Clarke has said: dinosaurs went extinct because they had no space program? This two-hour PBS special talks about looking for something else out there, and hopefully if nothing else one day it will be us. (Buy it)    Brit DVD of the Week: Monarch Of The Glen: Series 4. Archie returns home to become the lord of the estate and must then go from dealing with running a restaurant to suddenly dealing with gobs of acres of land (huge tracts, in fact), gobs of debt, and a potential love interest there when he's already got one back in London. Now, after the loss of his father, he's got this wild idea to turn the estate into a center for wolves. And of course, there's all the drama of who loves who and why going on. Comes with all ten episodes, plus a wildlife special. This hits from BBC Home Video. (Buy it) Romantic Comedy DVD of the Week: Imagine Me & You. There's nothing worse than finding somebody you're crazy about on your wedding day. I mean, you know, when it's not the person you're there to get hitched to. That's what happens in this romantic comedy from Fox, in which Piper Perabo's character meets Lena Headey's character on the Big Day and things just get more complicated from there. There's a decent amount of bonus bits as well, with a commentary by the director/writer, deleted and extended scenes also with commentary, a Q&A with the director and the cast, and more. (Buy it) Cop Show DVD of the Week: Hill Street Blues: The Complete Second Season. Believe it or not, there was a time in my life where I actually watched television. And this was one of the first dramas I remember watching on an ongoing basis, learning a lot about dealing with multiple characters in an intense setting. Pretty much every cop show that's come around since owes something to this. Here, the second season appears thanks to Fox, coming with a handful of featurettes and a couple of commentaries as well. (Buy it) Categorized as: DVD and Recommendations
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07.03.06 by Dindrane @ 1:35 am  Film: Written by Minjo Kim, Cheolwoo Ahn, Jeongun Choi, and Seokyong Lee, based upon the manwha by Youngman Hur Features:
Dindrane's Anime Warnings:
Released by: Central Park Media My Advice: Add it to your collection.  In Hammerboy, the world has suffered a terrible disaster, and the residents of Candlestick Island do the best they can to survive with limited technology and resources. Mangchi, the titular Hammerboy, is considered something of a troublemaker by the other villagers. We learn that Mangchi's grandfather possesses a kind of chi power called Great Echo, which Mangchi is trying to learn. Soon, a runaway princess arrives, bringing trouble and adventure with her, and it's up to Mangchi to save her (and himself) if he can. The weaknesses of the show are few, but may irritate some more particular viewers. The nature of the cataclysm that destroyed the world is never explained, nor is the source of the Great Echo. At this point, the plot also gets a bit confused, conflating issues of hidden gold on Candlestick Island with the villain Moonk's desire to steal a crystal from Mangchi's grandfather. We also get a rather odd training montage, a la Luke on Degobah, some awfully stilted language surrounding the Final Battle, and a rather clichéd chi battle as the Great Echoes of Mangchi and Moonk square off. Secondary characters are too numerous and too little-developed to care about, even during the inevitable death of a character, which is of course required from a Campbellian Hero's Journey standpoint, but should have been much more moving than it was. The secret of the mysterious crystal is a bit too hard to guess, especially when surrounded by so many unanswered questions, like why is there a sprout of hair coming out of the top of Mangchi's hat? and what did Moonk mean by "the crystal is rejecting me?" What is the crystal, anyway and where did Mangchi's grandfather get it? Also, the "flirting" at the end, and Angdu's response to it is more irritating than a cute, funny, fitting ending.  The audio is excellent. If you switch back and forth between the non-digital and digital soundtracks, you can hear a huge difference. The sound effects, voice acting, and music are all very well-balanced. The translations were blessedly only changed when cultural references, like Mangchi's song about ten-cent underwear, would mean nothing to Western audiences. A small quibble is that Poplar is not necessarily the "righteous" heir to the throne, but rather the "rightful" heir. The visuals are also quite well-done; check out the sheer look of the glass on the greenhouses during the opening sequence as Mangchi soars over the village announcing the arrival of a school of tuna. My DVD had a few glitches when the visuals jerked, as if they were proceeding screen-by-screen, but that may have simply been a fault with my disc. The special features are impressive: we get an art gallery; two trailers—the original Korean trailer, and the U.S. trailer; and a music video of the theme song in both Korean and English. Jana's voice on the song "You Are My Hero" is truly extraordinary, even if you are less enchanted with the show itself. The trailers are not terribly impressive, but the music videos are fun and an unusual addition. It's also nice to see what a Korean trailer looks like, instead of the usual Japanese. The show is really surprisingly good, though plot faults weaken the quality unnecessarily. The cover makes it look like a show for only the littlest of little kids, but it's actually a solid adventure bildungsroman. If you like coming-of-age tales in general, but are new to anime, this is not a bad place to start. At times things seem to occur only to advance the plot, but if the occasional unexplained motive, convenient coincidence, or deus ex machina doesn't bother you, then you should still enjoy the show. If you already have an impressive anime collection, then be sure to add this to it; you won't be sorry. It's different than just about anything you've seen before, but not weird for weirdness' sake, like other popular anime shows that may have lost you, like FLCL. Just please don't compare it to something like Miyazaki's work; that just isn't fair to Hammerboy, as no one could live up to that. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
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07.02.06 by Widge @ 1:00 am Sometimes you just want to sink your teeth into something that has some meat in it--a feature film just won't slake your need to plonk your ever-widening can in front of the tube and watch something on DVD. Therefore, we humbly suggest some sets to while away the hours...   The Bette Davis Collection, Vol. 2. This boxed set, hitting thanks to Warner Brothers, is pretty mack daddy as fans of the actress will be concerned. There's Jezebel, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Marked Woman, Old Acquaintance, and the new two-disc set of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?. There's also a bonus disc with a docu that's exclusive to the set. There's gobs of bonus bits spread out over the discs, but here's the high points: featurettes, classic cartoons, classic musical shorts, vintage short films, plus commentaries on three of the films. Lots and lots to watch during the weekend. (Buy it) Civilisation: The Complete Series. If you really want to eat up some time for a good cause, then this BBC release will do the trick for you. It clocks in at over eleven hours and features Lord Clark taking you through...well, exactly what the title implies. It first aired in 1969, but don't let that dissaude you--I'm fairly certain we haven't made that much progress since then. This comes with a thirty-six page illustrated booklet, a behind the scenes photo gallery, and Sir David Attenborough looking back at the series. (Buy it) Numb3rs: The Complete First Season. This Paramount set has all thirteen first season episodes, starring Rob Morrow as the FBI guy tracking the baddies, and David Krumholtz as his brother, who uses math to catch them. I know, it sounds like some bad attempt by PBS to get kids happy about math class, but that's not the case, since Ridley and Tony Scott are executive producing this thing. Five episodes come with commentary, with Morrow, Krumholtz, Judd Hirsch and even Lou Diamond Phillips taking part. You also get a making-of docu, a look at the original pilot, audition footage, a blooper reel, and more. FBI agent and a math whiz--they fight crime! (Buy it)    Hetty Weinthropp Investigates: The Complete Fourth Series. The final series hits DVD thanks to Acorn Media. Patricia Routledge stars with Dominic Monaghan (yes, of Rings and Lost fame) as they work their way through another six mysteries. Her fame as an investigator has spread so she can now take cases from outside just her immediate vicinity (which only makes sense...how many mysteries can one area handle?). Comes with production notes and cast filmos across three discs sporting almost five hours of content. (Buy it) The John Ford Film Collection. Fans of the classics and not just the director himself will want to grab this boxed set, as it comes with five flicks that are hitting DVD for the first time thanks to Warner Brothers. There's the World War I film Lost Patrol with Boris Karloff, the Academy Award winning Informer, Katharine Hepburn in Mary of Scotland, and Ford's last western, Cheyenne Autumn, with Richard Widmark and James Stewart. There's also a fifth disc that you can only get from snagging the entire set, and that's Sergeant Rutledge. Quick and dirty film festival waiting to happen, right here. (Buy it) The Six Wives of Henry VIII. Sadly, a lot of folks' knowledge of Henry VIII begins and ends with Herman's Hermits. And...even more sadly, most people don't even know that Herman Hermits recorded the most popular version of that song. So. For those that need to get up to speed, but prefer a little dramatics as opposed to just, for example, a quickie thing on Biography, BBC will hook you up. This four-disc set comes with the full six play cycle, one for each wife. If that wasn't enough, there's a bonus drama, "The Other Boleyn Girl." That's over ten hours of content and some historical knowledge to boot. What a deal. (Buy it) Categorized as: DVD and Headsup
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06.29.06 by Widge @ 9:31 pm  This amusing foursome's latest DVD is now available to win in the Contests Lab. Enter! Because we could all use some comedy these days. Categorized as: Contests and DVD
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06.28.06 by Dindrane @ 8:42 pm  Film: Based upon the novels by Hajime Kanzaka Features:
Dindrane's Anime Warnings:
Released by: ADV My Advice: Get it if you're a fan.  Slayers Premium is a new OAV that returns us to the madcap world of Slayers TV and Slayers Next as Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev fight to save a village from certain doom ™ at the hands of a watery monster. Lina and Gourry have fled to the seaside to enjoy a much-deserved vacation and a boat full of sushi. However, some demon folk have cursed anyone in the town who eats octopi: their human language is replaced with Octopese, which sounds suspiciously like human language, only shuffled in amusing ways. Somehow the resulting confusion and rampant misunderstandings will release their octopus lord-god and bring great power to them all. Some of the funniest moments revolve around Zelgadis and Amelia, who also arrive in town to find Xellos, and of course Gourry and Lina. Soon, of course, everyone but the innocent little cleric Ruuma is afflicted with the terrible random-language disease, including sorcerers who depend upon their words to wield their magic. The villains, cute little octopi in cloaks, will remind viewers a bit of the usual bad-guys from Sailor Moon with their impossibly complex plans for destroying humanity and fondness for absorbing and re-routing negative human emotional energies. The art is nice enough, if not incredibly artistic along the lines of Last Exile or anything by Yu Watase. The colors are bright and clear, nicely cheerful as befits the show. Faces are oddly square, with angled cheeks as if they all have the mumps. The sound is also good, and both voice casts do a good job, though of course character interpretation is as much a matter of personal taste as it is representing the characters. The dubbed lines are oddly quite different than the original Japanese for some reason in places where such translation issues were not necessary for cultural understanding. Some things just don't translate, but some things do just fine.  The extras include an interesting if fluffy commentary with the English voice actors Cynthia Martinez and Crispin Freeman (Lina and Zelgadis); it's always nice to let them have their say. It's interesting to hear them talking about "tentacle action," and while they pick on various aspects of the show, they still have an obvious affection for it, which is even better. Another extra is a really rather lengthy interview of Crispin Freeman by producer/director Sandra Krasa, where he talks about finding his voice, understanding a character, becoming attached to Zelgadis, when to use CGI and when not to, and so forth. Finally, we get the original trailer. Slayers Premium is more enjoyable than the hit-or-miss TV show, more on par with the generally amusing OAVs. It's nice to see most of our favorite characters back together again, so no matter who your favorite character is, you should get some goodness from them. If you're a fan of sword-and-sorcery comedy anime, then you should appreciate this. If you're new to the franchise, and it sounds like fun, then definitely give it a look-see; it's worth your time and money, if only to see Lina answer every problem with a fireball and Gourry go Spiral on some attacking octopi warriors. Fans of the franchise might be angered by the lack of absolute closure if this really is the final Slayers installment, ever. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
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06.24.06 by Widge @ 6:16 am That's right, Warner Brothers attacks! Here's a slew of recent TV releases and what you can expect from them. As always, for more info on WB DVD releases, you should check out their site here.   The Closer: The Complete First Season. Kyra Sedgwick has led this series to a lot of Best-of Lists. Maybe it's her ability to look stern while delivering verbal beatdowns. Or maybe she seems to make eating a brownie one of the most sensual experiences on television. I don't know. What I do know is that if you missed it when it originally aired, you might want to consider picking this up: thirteen episodes are here across four discs. Sadly, all you get bonus-wise are some deleted scenes. Maybe we can get a re-release with some commentaries and whatnot. But if you need to check it out before buying, check out a rerun or rent this thing. (Buy it) Cheyenne: The Complete First Season. Western fans are no doubt pleased that this has hit DVD, the classic series starring Clint Walker as the quintessential wandering Old West hero, drifting from job to job and righting wrongs as he goes. Because of course, he's a Good Guy and that's just what you do, especially in a western. You get fifteen episodes here across five discs, and there's actually bonus stuff as well, which is most welcome: you get a new interview with Walker and a retrospective featurette. (Buy it)    The Dukes of Hazzard: The Complete Sixth Season. Things are back to normal as Bo and Luke return for good following their contractual hijinks from the previous season. And fans should probably pick this up if they want to make themselves feel better after the announcement about the upcoming prequel feature. You get all twenty-two episodes, plus a featurette touring the real Hazzard County, Georgia with the actors behind Cooter and Enos and a featurette on the General Lee. (Buy it) F-Troop: The Complete First Season. Not to seem too terribly weird here, but check this out: guy shows a bit of stones by accident in the Civil War and winds up getting promoted because of it, finding himself posted out West. Okay...F-Troop or Dances With Wolves? Yeah, weird, huh? In this case, the Native Americans are played for laughs, as they're more interested in creating souvenirs than attacking anyone. Anyway, fans of the series will appreciate the first season hitting DVD here across six discs. You get thirty-four episodes, but sadly, no bonus bits. (Buy it) X-Men Evolution: The Complete Third Season. For those of you who enjoyed the movies and are looking for another X-fix (seeing as how it will take a while for Fox to get their act together on what they're doing next), you're actually probably safer checking this out than you would be going to the comics. That way lies madness. Magneto, Mesmero and Apocalypse all factor in to these thirteen episodes, where the X-folks find themselves exposed to the world at large, and humanity and mutantkind don't always mix well, you know. These two discs do come with bonus bits, such as Mutant Files on the characters, a trivia challenge, and a season summary featurette. (Buy it) Categorized as: DVD and Headsup
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06.21.06 by Dindrane @ 2:42 am  Film: Based upon the manga by Kazuma Kodaka Dindrane's Anime Warnings:
Released by: Central Park Media My Advice: Skip it.  Yaoi, or "shonen-ai" as it's more properly called, is not to the taste of everyone. However, if you've wondered why heterosexuals should have all the fun in the anime romance genre, then Kizuna might just be for you. Like most shonen-ai, it was written by a woman for a female audience. Why male homosexual love appeals to so many women inside and outside Japan is a question for the psychoanalysts among us. This release presents the first half of an OAV from 1994. The series is a serious look at the depths of love--what you will do for it and to preserve it, as well as the lengths you may have to go to get it. The story begins with a brief look at Ranmaru and Enjoji's past: we learn that they have been together for a few years, since Ranmaru, who was hoping for a pro kendo career, was injured in a vehicular assassination meant for Enjoji Kei, the son of a Yakuza boss. Enjoji is undergoing increasing pressure to follow in his father's footsteps. Enjoji does his best to make it up to Ranmaru, and they seem happy enough. Now everyone is in college, and a lecherous professor catches Ranmaru alone and hits on him. Ranmaru is "rescued" by Enjoji's hated younger half-brother, Sagano Kai, who is also the son of the Yakuza don. Sagano reveals that he has always admired Ranmaru and hopes to steal him away from the mysterious and possibly criminal Enjoji. For all that it would be considered an "adult" release here, that's solely because of the homosexual relationship and not because of the explicitness of the love scenes. There are many heterosexual shows that are far more "racy" than this one, as demonstrated by the mere 16+ rating on this release. There are some sexual situations, but any kid who can handle your average R-rated Hollywood release can probably handle this.  The audio is good enough for what it's asked to do. The Japanese cast knows what they're doing of course and almost make you care about the characters despite the poor plotting. A note on the audio: there is no dub available on the disc, so you're stuck with reading the movie instead of watching it. There are even a number of times when the subtitles are timed wrong, indicating the wrong speaker, confusing the love story and making viewing more annoying than pleasurable. The visuals are decent, but not particularly well-done. The transfer is faded in places and does not seem to have been cleaned up. For a non-budget release, this is quite disappointing. I guess they figured anime fans were so hard up for shonen-ai that we'd take what we could get. Not so, especially since so many anime fans could take yaoi or leave it. There are, not surprisingly given the overall quality here, no extras or features. Substandard, especially since the feature itself is so short, and to end the story requires the pointless purchase of a second disc. The real problem with this show is not the sexuality or gender-preference of the characters, but the fact that it's just not very well-plotted. If you're desperate for some shonen-ai, or just want to see what all the fuss is about in a relatively tame way, then this might be a decent bet (though Fake or even Legal Drug is a much better option), but if you're looking to be won over, then this won't be the disc to do it. The plotting is weak, overly-fragmented, and just plain mediocre. It's not offensively bad, but it's not particularly good either, especially given the rather annoying splitting of the short OAV into two pathetically short DVD releases. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews
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06.20.06 by HTQ4 @ 10:32 pm  Film: Series Created by Roger S. Baker Features:
Released by: A&E Home Entertainment My Advice: Rent it, if you're into that whole 70s machismo thing...  Lord Brett Sinclair (Moore) and Danny Wilde (Curtis) are still the playboys that they have always been. Together they jet-set around Europe getting into and out of trouble. Their adventures run the gamut from murder to the dangers of matrimony (at least for a self-confirmed bachelor). As I've said before, Moore and Curtis were absolutely perfect together and its easy to see (between this and The Saint) why Moore was chosen as one of the replacement Bonds. His character did for him what Remington Steele did for Brosnan (or should have). Curtis' performance feels like it was one of the last of his career, which is odd, because he performed in scads of other shows and movies afterwards--it feels a bit phoned in, perhaps--but even across a telephone line he has all of the charm that he was known for. His choice of style was a bit odd, however, but I guess that was to be expected for an American character in a British television program. For example, it seems that Curtis was almost always wearing leather gloves and his choice of eyewear was a bit odd even for the time period. I guess it was to be expected for the kinds of characters that were popular in Britain during the time. The DVD is, unfortunately, not worthy. There are only some small text-on-screen biographies available on the third disc. There is a small photo gallery available, but nothing else. I know the show wasn't that popular over here, but the show was enough fun to warrant a bit more in the way of special features on the DVD. So, if you've never seen the show, rent it at least once. You won't regret it. Categorized as: DVD and Reviews and TV
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06.05.06 by Widge @ 4:11 am    Classic DVD of the Week: John Wayne: An American Icon Collection. Another Universal boxed set that should be welcomed with open arms by fans, it brings five films of which, as far as I can tell, three have never seen DVD before, and the other two are out of print. So bonus. The films are The Conqueror, Jet Pilot, Pittsburgh, Seven Sinners, and The Shepherd of the Hills. All five are on two discs, and as you might imagine: no bonus bits. But again, for a little over five bucks a flick, it wouldn't pay to complain. (Buy it) Musical DVD of the Week: The Producers. The film that returns a story to its original medium brings over the show that gave Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick careers on stage from now until the end of time if they don't mind it. Sure, Will Ferrell and Uma Thurman are along for the ride instead of the actors from Broadway, but it's Mel Brooks back in the saddle, so we can't be too disappointed. Dead and Loving It--all is forgiven. This Universal release comes with a director's commentary, deleted scenes, outtakes and a scene analysis bit. (Buy it) Comedy DVD of the Week: Mystery Science Theater 3000, Vol. 9. Four more classics and a short film fill out this latest set from the folks at Rhino. You get The Sinister Urge (introduced by actor Conrad Brooks), Wild Rebels, Women of the Prehistoric Planet (introduced by actress Irene Tsu), and personal favorite movie title of all time: The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies. And of course, the useful short is "Keeping Clean and Neat." Must-own for our readers, because we know what sickos you all are. (Buy it)     Music DVD of the Week: Faith No More Double Feature. Ah, Mike Patton, vocal god. He and his crew put on a hell of a show at Brixton Academy that was captured in the film You Fat Bastards. Not only is Rhino giving you that here, but you also get Who Cares a Lot?, their music videos. Shows you just how bad my memory is getting--upon watching them, I realized I had seen them before, except for later on when I quit watching television. The shining moment is still their cover of Lionel Richie's "Easy." You haven't lived until you've seen guitarist Jim Martin lip sync to that. (Buy it) Family DVD of the Week: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. No secret that I wasn't a huge fan of the film, but as far as family fare goes, it's nice and safe. I think you're better off with the books, but if you want to use this to shoehorn some reading in with your kids, be my guest. This Disney release comes with a commentary from the kids and the director, a separate commentary with the crew, blooper reel, and multiple featurettes. The FX stuff is worth the price of admission. (Buy it) History DVD of the Week: Egypt: Rediscovering A Lost World. Not a straight up docu, this is actually a six-part miniseries from the BBC that dramatizes the efforts of Howard Carter, the guy who found King Tut's tomb, Giovanni Belzoni, who made multiple discoveries, and Jean Francois Champollion, who deciphered hieroglyphics. The story's there, warts and all, and both the story and production quality's there like only the BBC (when they have a decent budget) can provide. Comes with a featurette. (Buy it) Foreign DVD of the Week: The Warrior. A guy whose employed as the title suggests suddenly has an apostrophe while in the midst of battle and swears off violence. But as Al Pacino learned in the third Godfather movie, they just pull you back in. Renouncing his ways will cost him, and he will have to deal with his past before he can deal with his future...if he still has one. This Miramax comes with a director's commentary, deleted scenes with optional commentary, and a making-of featurette. (Buy it) Categorized as: DVD and Recommendations
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05.17.06 by Widge @ 11:32 pm  Okay, let's get one thing straight up front. Normally, the colorization of black and white films is considered profane and satanic in nature around here. It ranks up there with watching widescreen films in pan and scan. It's. Simply. Not. Done. Which is why we want to go in back and flagellate ourselves for being intrigued every time Legend Films releases a new edition of a classic film. You see, Legend colorizes films. But we can't go smite them because, well, if you look at the colorized film it just...looks...really good, damn them. I mean, seriously, go to their website and watch some trailers for their stuff. It's maddeningly...good looking. And they've done it again with the Roger Corman-helmed 1960 version of Little Shop of Horrors. Yes, the one with the murderous plant. No, not the version with singing. Just when we think we've mustered up enough bile to go to town on these folks, they have the original (and restored) black and white version on here as well, and it comes with commentary by MST3K lead human Michael J. Nelson--who's signed the version available from the Legend website. There's also a short gallery of "killer" plants and a short film about "Man Eating Plants," but basically you're snagging this if you're a fan of Nelson or the film itself. It's only available from the Legend Films website at present (the only way to get the autographed edition), so check that out here. You may have won this round, Legend, but we'll still be keeping an eye on you. So there. Categorized as: DVD and Headsup
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