DVD Headsup!

Every Tuesday, a vertiable slew of DVDs hit the streets. They all want your coin. Where in the hell can you go to find out what's what amongst the teeming masses? Look no further. Here's a brief rundown of some featured titles that will be hitting. We provide the information...what you do with it afterwards is entirely up to you.

Titles Streeting February 22, 2005 - Part 3

. Based on an epic poem, this Facets Video release is a film dealing with Poland and the country's desire to achieve freedom. This takes place before Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812 and the Poles looked to France to pull their fat out of the fire, so to speak. Two families are the focus here, one siding with the separatists and one on the side of the Russians--so the sparks, backstabbing and blood flies, of course. For anyone interested in European history, it's a definite. Directed by Polish director Andrzej Wajda. (UK) (CAN)

. David Suchet owns the role of Poirot. Face it. So fans especially will be pleased to see these four new made-for-TV adaptations of Agatha Christie's works, some of it actually shot on location. Important when you're doing Death on the Nile, you know. A&E Home Video's four disc set also contains three other mysteries: Sad Cypress, The Hollow and Five Little Pigs. As a bonus, there's bios of both Christie and Suchet, along with an index of all the Christie Poirot stories. (UK) (CAN)

. We're going to admit this up front: we're not sure what the hell is going on in this Geneon release. It has something to do with a house that keeps jumping forward, taking three young girls with it on a wacky quest that they don't entirely know what the story is about. Oh, and they talk to dandelions. See? Anyway, this disc comes with four episodes, along with an art gallery and clean ending animation. (CAN)

. Welcome back to the great aunt of today's soaps. Carol Lynley's character has written a book that only thinly disguises all of her neighbors and their problems as characters...and it's been published. So that's fun. And it's only the beginning of the angst and melodrama in store...of course. This is one of Fox's Studio Classics line and as a result it gets better treatment than it otherwise would: commentary by historian Sylvia Stoddard, Movietone news footage, a restoration comparison and the theatrical trailer. (UK) (CAN)

. It's 1978 and a group of free spirits take a month out and travel the Grand Canyon, basically just having a blast (and mostly going butt naked) the whole time. Now it's today--and welcome to the clothed future. The dichotomy between youth and adulthood and the changes that afflict us all is the focus in Robb Moss' film on this Docurama release. Comes with a commentary with Moss, along with an interview, a Q&A, trailer and bios. (CAN)

. When he's not playing a walking canker sore in the Fantastic Four movie, Michael Chiklis is rocking ass on this show, and all fifteen third season episodes are here on this four-disc set thanks to Fox. In addition to a plethora of audio commentaries (eight in all, featuring a slew of folks from both cast and crew), a crapload of deleted scenes, and an almost feature length docu regarding the making of the season finale on this set. Tis choice. (UK) (CAN)

. Our favorite kids hit their fifth season and Paramount throws all fourteen episodes across three discs here. You get the word "shit" used more times than should be possible in a cartoon, Kenny finally bites the big one (though like Jean Grey, he does eventually come back), and the ultimate skewering of Osama Bin Laden, among other classic bits. Trey Parker and Matt Stone provide a mini-commentary for every episode. (UK) (CAN)

. This Columbia-Tristar release features Kirk Douglas, Kim Novak, Barbara Bush, Walter Matthau and Ernie Kovacs. Douglas is an architect who gets a chance to build Kovacs' character's new home, and wants to do so while throwing standard design out the window. Speaking of throwing things out the window, his marriage isn't doing so well, and he ends up spending time with the neighbor's wife (Novak). Things just sort of go from there. No features. (UK) (CAN)

. Stan Lee goes from creating the greatest characters in the Marvel Universe to an animated super hero show starring Pamela Anderson and another one now in development featuring the Playboy Bunnies. We don't know whether to be completely and utterly appalled or to praise him for knowing where his priorities are. Anderson gives voice to a--wait for it--stripper who's also a superhero. Thirteen episodes are here, and that's probably all you're gonna get because the show got canned. No bonus bits. (UK) (CAN)

. The final four episodes of the series hit DVD thanks to the folks at Geneon. Based on a game, it involves a young boy who's possessed of a terrible power which he gained as a result of surviving an accident. Let's just call it the ability to see cosmic graffiti, shall we? Oh, and he exists in a world where vampires are running about in the present day. Here, the mysteries are finally unveiled as our protagonist finally figures out what the hell is going on and the final conflicts emerge. No features. (UK) (CAN)

. If you like farce and like it in heroic doses, then this Howard Hawks comedy from 1934 might be just up your alley. This Columbia-Tristar release features John Barrymore as a Broadway producer who creates a new star of the stage, played by Carole Lombard, out of an ordinary shopgirl. This is the granddaddy of screwball comedies, for when Lombard's character decides to part ways with Barrymore's, Barrymore wants to get her back and badly. No features, but the film's worth it on its own. (UK) (CAN)

. Those seeking the movie version of the well-known erotic book will need to look elsewhere. Our protagonist is a musician who sees a woman killed. Well, not really. Maybe. Regardless, she's back and she's pissed off, and the three people responsible for her sorta-death are going to pay. This Blue Underground release comes with an interview with director Jess Franco, as well as his bio, an interview with Maria Rohm, a trailer, and a poster/still gallery. (UK) (CAN)

. I've marvelled on this page before about how The History Channel can just smack together a bunch of content and--bang--instant DVD release. I mean, they are The History Channel, for crying out loud. This two-disc set is no exception, as it gives you five programs to check out. "First Invasion" deals with the war itself and how we managed to find our asses at war with Britain again just shortly after finishing up the Revolutionary War. There's also programs covering the flag, Andrew Jackson, and the ironclads. (UK) (CAN)

. Jennifer Jones plays China Valdez, whose brother is killed for being a leftist in 1933 Havana. Vowing revenge, she falls in with a group of revolutionaries led by John Garfield, who gets an idea: China's house is next to the cemetery. If they can kill a particular government official, his compatriots will show up for the funeral--where the anti-government types will have tunneled, leaving them a nasty bomb. That's right--it's Dig Dug infused with politics. Anyway, this Columbia-Tristar release has this John Huston-helmed film and nothing else. (UK) (CAN)