This week’s “Pick of the Week” is presented in the
main lists as well as the bottom, as requested.
First, the genre releases:
- The
Adventures
of Shark Boy and Lava Girl in 3-D: Might be
worthwhile if you have
kids in the house. - Andromeda
Season 5 Collection 1: Kevin Sorbo’s series
marches on. - The
Batman –
Season 1, Volume 2: A few more episodes in the new
Batman
cartoon. I may never collect this one, though I’m
excited about the
promise of eventual season sets for Batman
Beyond and
Justice League. - Battlestar
Galactica: Season One: Very well received series.
It’s probably
one I’ll follow in the DVD collections. - Blood
for
Dracula: An Image Entertainment release of a
member of the
Criterion Collection. - Flesh
For
Frankenstein: Much like Blood for
Dracula, in DVD release
history and director credits as well as content. - JLU:
Joining
Forces: contains “For The Man Who Has Everything,”
“The Return,”
and “The Greatest Story Never Told,” all of which were
very good.
Man, do I want to see season sets of this series. - The
Pretender
– Season Two: A well respected series that I never
had a chance to
watch. - Species
Collection: All three movies collected in a single
boxed set.
Having now seen and reviewed them all, I’d say that
you’re better off
with either the first or none of them, depending on
tastes. If you
can get through number two, you might as well watch
the third, as they
do get better. - Teen
Titans –
Season Two, Volume One: I haven’t gotten around to
watching this
series. If it’s anywhere near as good as the other
Dini/Timm
collaborations, I’m sure it would be worth it. - Wallace
and
Gromit in Three Amazing Adventures: These are
being rereleased to
ensure shelf presence before Curse of the
Were-Rabbit hits
theaters, I’m sure. Very worthwhile.
Now, the non-genre releases:
- An
Angel At My
Table: I haven’t seen it, but based on its premise
and its
inclusion in the Criterion Collection, I’d say it’s
worth checking
out. - There are releases of seasons one
and two
of the old
Crime Story series. - Desperate
Housewives: Season One: I’ve heard very good
things about this,
and enjoyed the pilot episode. I’m tempted to pick
this up. - From
the Earth
to the Moon: A new, fancier release of the
miniseries. - The
General: Another release of the Buster Keaton
classic. I haven’t
seen any releases by Aae films, so I don’t know what
the quality of
the transfer will be like, but the Kino
release
looks great. A close second for “Pick of the Week,”
which lost out
simply because I don’t know what the video quality
will be like. A
rerelease of the Kino edition would have been the
pick. - Mallrats
–
10th Anniversary Edition: In an homage to the 80s
college
comedies, Kevin Smith turned out his second Jay and
Silent Bob movie.
It’s amusing, but it’s probably the weakest of the
five. - Penn
and
Teller’s Magic and Mystery Tour: Those two are
great.
Finally, the pick of the week. Wallace and
Gromit are highly
amusing, and well animated in the claymation style. I
strongly
recommend picking them up.
On Desperation of Housewives
Go ahead. Give in to temptation. Sure, Desperate Housewives is a soap opera, but it’s got the potential for being the best American (qualified since soap operas are everywhere and I’ve only watched “local” ones) soap opera of all time. If you read synopses of the basic plotlines the show seems just like any other soap but the execution puts it on another level. We’ll see if they can continue the excellent writing and acting this year, but season one stands as being a hell of a lot of fun.
Teen Titans
Surprisingly good. They even manage to make Robin seem cool! Quite a feat : )
Wallace & Gromit for US$5.50
I picked up a version of the Wallace & Gromit collection for US$5.50 at Walmart last year, was surprised to find it in their bargain bin. Well worth the money at three times the price.
That’s Season One + Miniseries
Apparently we lucky ones in Region 1 are getting a five disc set that has the miniseries as well as season one for Battlestar Galactica. Suddenly ‘kind of expensive’ went to ‘money well spent’ in my camp – hopefully my supplier isn’t out of stock and I can get it in at work…