This begins our third year providing a weekly listing of EVERY new DVD (available according to Amazon.com) on Tuesday, or the week beginning Tuesday. I can't believe some newspaper syndicate hasn't picked this up and offered me money to continue doing it yet. My agent needs to start hustling!
This week, there are 17 Blu-Ray, 6 UMD, and 287 DVDs. Although we SAY it's 310, really it's closer to 195 after you take out the "Thomas the Tank Engine" ouvre. More on that below.
We're back into the swing of it after a few weeks of dead time thanks to the holidays - some pretty large movies see release on DVD, along with some movies that are being steathily released because they weren't in theatres, or have been set up to bomb spectacularly. Watch for those, because it's always nice to see who's getting work that nobody will ever know about if not for obscure DVD releases.
ALSO, practically everything IS out on Tuesday this week! Exceptions are annotated accordingly as usual.
We provide movie websites, IMDb and/or tv.com links where appropriate if you'd like to learn more.
Hover over links for Amazon's preorder price - which is usually the cheapest a new copy of release will ever be - and of course you can click to get to Amazon and place your order. We get, like, something like fifteen cents if you do that.
I can be reached at CRZ.DVD@gmail.com if your newspaper syndicate is interested. (They're NOT? No *wonder* newspapers are dying!)
One sign that WE ARE BACK is I'm actually able to make not one but one AND a runner up to the
PICK OF THE WEEK Duckman: Seasons Three and Four (The W at Amazon) (USA, 1996, 1997) SEVEN discs and the final 48 episodes - the whole series is now available on DVD. Really quite unbelievable to me...although it shouldn't be, I suppose. Duckman: Four Season Pack Speaking of the entire series...ten discs - at $54.99 I am definitely tempted. I may wait for a cheap "used" copy in a few months, though. I have enough stuff I haven't watched yet!
RUNNER-UP TO THE PICK OF THE WEEK Frisky Dingo - Season 2 (Adult Swim, 2007-8) Knocked season 1 on its ass...although you still need a scorecard to keep track of just what's going on
Babylon A.D. (USA/France, 2008) Vin Diesel, Grard Depardieu, Michelle Yeoh, Charlotte Rampling - I hear this is one awful film, so take two versions - disc 1 is the "theatrical" version whilst disc 2 is "raw and uncut" - ohhhh yeah. www.babylonadmovie.com Babylon A.D. (Two-Disc Special Edition) Hmm, but the OTHER one is ALSO two discs - on this one, the second disc is a "digital copy" - don't know if the theatrical cut is included (which would be weird)? Babylon A.D. [Blu-ray]
Behind Enemy Lines: Colombia (direct to DVD, 2009) A buncha people you never heard of, including Joe Manganiello and Mr. Kennedy Ken Anderson Behind Enemy Lines Freedom 2 Pack Also includes "Behind Enemy Lines" (2001) - so if you were hoping for "Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil" - and I KNOW you were - you have to go find that separately...sorry
Cyrano de Bergerac (PBS, 2009) Based on the Broadway play - Kevin Kline, Jennifer Garner, Daniel Sunjata - more info and trailer at Image (image-entertainment.com)
The Alphabet Killer (2008) Eliza Dushku, Cary Elwes, Tom Malloy, Michael Ironside, Bill Moseley, Timothy Hutton - out in 1 or 2 theatres for November and December, which means YOU probably make more money (boxofficemojo.com) than this film did - www.alphabetkiller.com
Eden Lake (UK, 2008) Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender
The Pack (2008) Lucie Arnaz, Elisabeth Moss, Ryan Homchick, Carlos Leon - apparently, smoking is addictive! - www.thepack.info
Ghost Writer (Suffering Man's Charity, 2007) Alan Cumming (also directed), David Boreanaz, Anne Heche, Henry Thomas, Jane Lynch, Karen Black, Carrie Fisher - now THAT'S a cast list - www.sufferingmanscharity.com
RUNNER-UP MOVIE FOR KIM OF THE WEEK Netherbeast Incorporated (2007) Darrell Hammond, Jason Mewes, Dave Foley, Judd Nelson, Robert Wagner - wow. That is a CAST LIST. More info at Well Go USA (wellgousa.com)
DOCUMENTARIES - OOPS, DOCUMENTARY OF THE WEEK Inheritance (2006) It's a bummer to find out you're the daughter of a Nazi commandant - Docurama (docurama.com)
COLLECTIONS ARE TOTALLY GAY FirstOUT 3 Collection of four gay short films - more info and Electronic Press Kit at Alluivial Filmworks (villagelighthouse.com) (PDF) He Likes Guys In case you couldn't figure it out, cover helpfully offers "Eight Great Gay Short Films" - more info and list at Wolfe (wolfevideo.com)
LESS GAY COLLECTIONS Drive in Cult Classics 4 Wild Riders, The Young Graduates, The Van, Don't Answer the Phone!, Chain Gang Women, The Specialist, Brain Twisters and Death Machines - on the box, they put "FEATURING: Danny DeVito, Bruno Kirby and Adam West" but I bet they move more copies with the photo of Ahna Capri from "The Specialist" on the box - more info at BCI/Eclipse (navarre.com) Advantage: Flicks With Kicks 2 Says 10 movies but Amazon description only has eight (Navarre has ZERO - thanks) Love and Sword, Choi Lee Fut Kung Fu, Elimination Pursuit, Duel at Supreme Gate, Drunken Dragon, Cub Tiger of Kwang Gung, Along Comes the Tiger, Kings of Fists and Dollars Advantage: Blood Chills We DO get all 10 at the Amazon listing here: Jack the Ripper Goes West, Click: The Calendar Girl Murders, Birds of Prey (aka Beaks: The Movie), Don't Panic, Stigma, Double Exposure, Black Candles (Los Ritos Sexuales del Diablo), Evil Eye (Il Malocchio), To Kill a Stranger, Playback
SPRING BREAK SHARK ATTACK OF THE WEEK Shark Zone (direct to video, USA/Bulgaria, 2003)
AND THE REST OF THE MOVIES The Sea Lion (1921) Killing Down (2006) Sheree J. Wilson, Natalie Raitano, Burton Gilliam, Matthew Tompkins - trailer at Maverick (maverickentertainment.cc)
BRITISH TV OF THE WEEK Doctor Who: War Machines (Episode 27) (BBC, 1966) William Hartnell - The Doctor and Dodo hit swingin' London, meet Ben and Polly...and WOTAN (think SkyNet, only several decades early) Doctor Who: Four to Doomsday (Episode 118) (BBC, 1982) Peter Davison - The Doctor, Adric, Tegan and Nyssa materialise on yet another spaceship - four days from Earth Secret Diary of a Callgirl (ITV, 2007) Billie Piper IS - Also aired on Showtime
TV MOVIE OF THE WEEK The Plot to Kill Hitler (CBS, Yugoslavia/USA, 1990) Shockingly similar to that Tom Cruise flick in theatres now - I'm sure it's release THIS week is mere coincidence!
KOREAN TV OF THE WEEK The King and I Vol. 3 (왕과 나 (王和我) - SBS, 2007) Probably episodes 43-63, and that'll wrap up this series - more info (in Korean) at SBS (tv.sbs.co.kr)
And here we have 115 (count 'em) "Thomas & Friends" releases. NONE of them have any useful information, like a cover, or a description, or ANYTHING beyond a title (often confusing) and a price. It looks like some of these may be duplicates, but it's probably more like some are just the discs themselves, some are 2-in-1s, some are discs AND train toy pieces (which may or may not contain lead), and so on. You get the picture. You can KINDA work out by price what is what or you can just skip Amazon and go directly to the Thomas & Friends shop site (thomasandfriends.hitshopusa.com) and find what you want there. I only include this because I have a special form of OCD that demands it...but that doesn't mean I'm not above shrinking them with a SMALL tag...
We're done here, but we're just getting 2009 started. Please feel free to react appropriately - or perhaps inappropriately, even - to anything you see here, let us know if anything looks to be worth buying, or what have ya. We'll return Monday with any late breaks and the top sellers.
Season 4 of BSG comes with another copy of Razor, in case you already have one.
Like me.
It's the same thing they did when I unknowingly bought Season 1 and the original miniseries.
Jerks.
Anyone want a copy of Razor?
And Duckman? Seriously?
And boy howdy, you're right about needing the scorecard for Frisky Dingo. I missed 4 or 5 episodes from the first season and when I came back, nothing made any sense.
True enough. When I bought it I thought that they wouldn't include it with another DVD set since it was it's own standalone story. I finally bite the bullet and get it, and two months later they announce Season 4 with Razor included.