The DVD releases are starting to get quite good,
again. The next few weeks will be very nice.

First, the genre releases:

• Alien
  Autopsy: The Fox special (which was later included
  in the “World’s
  Greatest Hoaxes” special on Fox) that was hosted by
  Jonathan
  Frakes.
• Brigadoon:
  A new transfer, which is good. The transfer of the
  version I reviewed
  before makes it look like the DVD authoring crew was
  as sleep deprived
  as I was when I wrote the review. Also available in a
  Classic
  Musicals
  box set.
• Farscape
  –
  Season 1, Starburst Edition 3: These collections
  are repackagings
  at a lower price point than the original
  releases.
• The
  Incredibles: I don’t like to make the pick of the
  week an item I
  haven’t seen yet, which is why this title is still in
  the general
  list.
• Red
  Dwarf –
  Series 5 and 6: This was a great show. Expect the
  last two
  collections around this time next year.
• Star
  Trek –
  First Contact (Special Collector’s Edition): The
  NextGen crew
  continues to get the fancy treatment.
• Sword
  of
  Doom: Criterion Collection samurai action.

Now, the non-genre releases:

• Hogan’s
  Heroes
  – The Complete First Season: This was an amusing
  series.
• L’Eclisse:
  It’s Criterion Collection. ‘Nuff said.
• La
  Femme
  Nikita – The Complete Second Season: The first
  season has been
  available for quite a while.
• Laura:
  You
  can’t say no to good film noir.
• Miss
  Congeniality: A special edition for a mildly
  amusing film, just in
  time for the sequel.
• What
  the Bleep
  Do We Know!?: This one looks fairly
  interesting.

Finally, the pick of the week. Waydowntown
is a
highly unusual Canadian comedy. This story, set and
filmed in
downtown Calgary, is about four office workers who
have a bizarre bet
going. The cast includes Fab Fillippo, whom you might
recognize as
Scott Hope from the third season of Buffy the
Vampire Slayer,
as well as Canadian comedic film mainstay Don
McKellar. I don’t want
to give away too much of the plot, but I will say that
the characters
here make the characters in Office Space look
normal. This
is actually the second DVD release of this title. The
first release
may only have been available in Canada. It was also a
pan and scan
edition, which makes this a welcome upgrade for those
of us who own
the previous edition.