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 March 8, 2005
Widge's Personal Pick: PBS' Empires Series. PBS creates some good stuff. This is not news to any of you, I'm sure. But we're especially digging this series of theirs, where they spent two or three hours focusing on a particular massive ripples in history. That's why you can get everything from a spotlight on the Roman Empire to one on somebody like Martin Luther. These things were big. For example, our first title here, Islam: Empire of Faith takes you through the first millennium of the religion's history. Narrated by Ben Kingsley, it also comes with a making-of featurette with producer's commentary and a tour of Islamic architecture, also with producer's commentary. Next up, there's the aforementioned Martin Luther. This film gives you a look at the guy who, well, basically bitch slapped the Catholic Church. Narrated by Liam Neeson, it also comes with extra interviews and a behind the scenes look. Lastly this week, there's Peter & Paul and the Christian Revolution. Let's face it. If Jesus had been crucified and that had been the end of it, then there's no telling what other messiah would have risen to fill the void. But instead, these two guys spread this new "cult" far in wide until it became one of the "Big Three" we have today. Get educated, for God's sake. These will help. (Islam: CAN) (Luther: UK, CAN) (Peter & Paul: UK, CAN)
. How well does this Baby Einstein series work? Well, we always point to HTQ4...his kids eat this stuff up with a giant ladel.
With music by Vivaldi and artwork by Monet, your munchkins will get a primer on the seasons of the year. This comes from
the folks at Buena Vista, armed with Discovery Cards and hey, if visions of falling leaves and all doesn't turn your kids'
heads--puppets! Repeat play is an option too, so they don't have to bug you when they want to watch the dancing zebras again.
(UK)
(CAN)
. There's only so much you can say about a series revolving around a talking horse, even if it is the famous Mr.
Ed. You can say that this one of the few times in which it was a good idea to act opposite an animal. Not that we're
calling this Operation Dumbo Drop's paternal grandfather or anything, but I think you see our point. This MGM
release is not a season boxed set, mind you, but you do get twenty episodes over two discs. No bonus features.
(UK)
(CAN)
. Is there anyone who doesn't know the story of Flowers for Algernon? Cliff Robertson plays the title
character, afflicted with retardation, who gets a second chance thanks to surgeons--they've made him smart. Really smart.
Smart enough that he identifies the flaw within his own cure. Won Robertson the Oscar that year, so it's worth watching
for his performance alone. Sadly, no features on this MGM release, but it's worth watching at least once regardless.
(UK)
(CAN)
. Gotta love Peter Falk, who gave us one of the most recognizable TV sleuths with his odd mannerisms and
disheveled coat. This five-disc set from Universal will, despite its lack of features, please fans since it contains all
eight second season episodes. There's a ton of guest stars, everyone from John Cassavetes to Leonard Nimoy and from Martin
Landau to Robert Culp. And don't panic that there's only eight episodes: they each clock in at well over an hour. Watch
this along with Murder By Death for some real fun.
(UK)
(CAN)
. Well, that's all she wrote. With this, Felicity's senior year, the series came to a close. There was still
plenty of angst and hand-wringing to come in these final twenty-two episodes, though, hitting DVD here from Buena Vista.
There's cast and crew commentary on three episodes, never before seen footage, a behind the scenes featurette, a Q&A with
creator J.J. Abrams, star Keri Russell and more. Six discs in the set so it's hefty enough.
(CAN)
. After hearing about the premise of this ADV release--kids die and wind up inside a black ball that's some kind
of horrific game that they're then forced to play--our thought was...Phantasm meets The Matrix? Okay, sure.
This second volume finds the number of players still standing greatly reduced and thing sjust get more insane over the
course of the two episodes provided here. Bonus bits include clean opening and closing animation along with an interview
with Daisuke Namikawa, who plays Kei Kurono.
(CAN)
. Well, if there's anything you can respect about this ADV release, it's the fact that they're not playing any games
about the demographic they're aiming for. Nice cover. Anyway, yes, there's giant robot hijinks, but basically it and any
battles that take place are just to provide space between panty flashes and nipplage. However, if that's your thing, rock
on with your bad selves--and these features: character profiles, art galleries, Japanese commercials, and clean opening
and closing animation. Plus more.
(CAN)
. All thirty second season episodes of the show whose theme song makes for a great mash-up with "Purple Haze"
is here on two double-sided discs from MGM. Eddie Albert is, of course, the lawyer from New York who decides to chuck it
all and buy a farm out in Hooterville. His wife, played by Eva Gabor, wasn't too keen on the idea. Well, you know all this:
the theme song is ingrained in our cultural DNA for God's sake. There's no features to be had here, but you do get plenty
of Arnold the Piggy.
(UK)
(CAN)
. Ryan Phillipe stars as a guy who can't remember the last two years of his life in this low-rent version of
Memento. He wakes up in the hospital and proceeds to mix-up the present with his forgotten past as he tries to
figure out just what in the hell actually happened to him. Suffice to say, it's probably not going to be good news. This
Buena Vista release finally hit American shores via the boob tube, which is never a good sign.
(UK)
(CAN)
. Portrait of a bad day: you're a guy. No, shut up, there's more. Your girlfriend and you have recently
broken up, and you're not too terribly pleased about this. You have this run-in with a much younger girl and the two of you
share a Moment. So now you're a little hung up on her. And yeah, she's younger, but...okay, fine. Then you find out
the little sister you haven't seen in twelve years is coming to live with you. You can guess where this is going, can't
you? This release is from Geneon and is, for the record, not hentai.
(CAN)
. If you like firefighter movies (and dammit, I liked Backdraft, so bite me) and don't mind a bit of
schmaltz and cheese then you might enjoy this better than most critics. Joaquin Phoenix is a firefighter trapped in a burning
building while John Travolta is the fire chief trying to get him out. Cue flashbacks. This Buena Vista release comes with
deleted scenes, a making-of featurette, a separate featurette featuring stories from real firefighters, and an audio commentary.
(UK)
(CAN)
. The young man's name, or at least the one most know him by, is Li'l Slugger. Yeah, he's running around smacking
the shit out of folks with a baseball bat. And, oddly enough, he's become a bit of a cult hero in his own right. Diverging
from the main narrative to show just how much play this mysterious kid is getting, you get three more episodes of just flat
out weirdness. There's also an art gallery and the Japanese cover art to help out on this Geneon release.
(UK)
(CAN)
. Buena Vista presents all twenty-one episodes of the second and last season of this series on DVD, as a new
football player hits the high school and throws the hierarchy of who's cool and who's not completely out of whack. This
set comes with a lovely themed quiz, commentary on two episodes ("The Shocking Possession of Harrison John" and "The Brain Game") by
select members of the cast. So if you like heavy high school shows populated by actors who are mostly into their twenties,
we say go for it.
. Based on a course at Harvard and a book (both from Dr. Armond Nicholi), this PBS release takes two historical
figures--Freud, not the biggest fan of God, and C.S. Lewis, who was, you know, C.S. Lewis--and sets their viewpoints against
each other through both the use of dramatization and roundtable discussion led by Nicholi himself. Comes with a PDF discussion guide
for if you want to really get into it. Non-thinkers need not apply.
(UK)
(CAN)
. Come see how the beautiful people live! That's basically the gist, as twins (who are old enough so you can
think they're foxy without feeling totally filthy) get into all kinds of hijinks along with all their high school buddies. This series, here on DVD from Buena
Vista, is obviously based on the popular series of books by Francine Pascal. This has all twenty-two first season episodes
across three discs, but no bonus bits.
(UK)
(CAN)
. A robot boy has hung in a tree, dormant, ever since the death of the woman he was created to assist. However,
when another woman arrives and needs a mysterious Egg delivered, the boy, Palme, awakens and sets about his task. Shades
of Pinocchio? You bet. Design work kicks ass and almost makes up for what the film lacks in story and coherence. This
ADV release comes with a decent array of features, including a making-of featurette, along with a slew of sketch and
art galleries and animatics.
(CAN)
. Bishop T.D. Jakes tries to help abused women as part of his real-life ministry. Here, he's taken the experiences
of women he's tried to help and turned into a novel and play, which was in turn adapted into this film, now being released to DVD
by Fox. Kimberly Elise plays a woman who's gone down the wrong path thanks to, in part, being molested as a young girl.
Jakes is on hand to play himself as he tries to help her come to terms what she's done and been done to her and also to help her
find redemption.
(UK)
(CAN)
. If there's one thing Anchor Bay does not screw around about, it's the boxed sets for these shows. We have such
a place in our hearts for boxed sets that will stop high caliber bullets. This ginormous ten-disc set features all twenty-two
sixth season episodes, plus more interviews than you can shake a Chakram at, commentaries from Lucy Lawless, Renee O'Connor
and others, alternate director's cut and deleted scenes, featurettes, bloopers, footage taken from the set that's never
been seen before, a gallery of production art, a photo gallery and more. We told you it was huge, folks!
(CAN)