Weekly DVD Picks – November 22, 2005

As Christmas approaches, these lists get longer. Wait
until the December 6 list, which is probably the most
prolific DVD release date of the year.

First, the genre releases:

  • Aeon
    Flux –
    The Complete Animated Collection
    : The full serial
    that inspired
    the Charlize Theron movie due out early next
    month.
  • Astro
    Boy
    Collection Box Set (1980)
    : This is the series I
    grew up with. I
    can still quote Geronimo as he asks for Astro’s report
    at the end of
    the episode.
  • Dark
    Shadows
    Collection 21
    : The vampire soap opera is still
    coming out on DVD.
    It may be the only soap opera planning to release
    every episode on
    DVD, because it had a relatively short run, yet
    they’re still
    up to volume 21 and aren’t finished yet.
  • Evil
    Dead 1 &
    2 Limited Edition
    : This includes the Book of the
    Necronomicon
    editions of the first two films in the series.
  • Ghost
    In The
    Shell: Stand Alone Complex – 2nd Gig, Vol. 2
    : The
    series marches
    on. Also available in a special
    edition
    .
  • Invader
    Zim 3
    Pack
    : No details on contents are available.
  • King
    Kong
    (1978)
    : I wasn’t thrilled with this remake.
  • King
    Kong
    (1933) – 2 Disc Special Edition
    : This, on the
    other hand, is a
    great film. There are several other editions
    available, listed
    below.
  • King
    Kong
    (1933) – Collector’s Edition
    : This includes a 20
    page souvenier
    booklet, movie poster offer, and more. Definitely the
    pick of the
    week.
  • King
    Kong
    Collection
    : This has the 2 DVD edition of the 1933
    film, as well
    as Son of Kong and Mighty Joe Young.
  • Mighty
    Joe
    Young
    : Also available outside the box set.
  • Neon
    Genesis
    Evangelion Platinum Collection
    : For the anime
    fans.
  • The
    Polar
    Express (Two-Disc Widescreen Edition)
    : This is not
    a bad movie.
    The CGI humans are less convincing than those in
    Final Fantasy:
    The Spirits Within
    , but it’s a fun family holiday
    flick. Also
    available in a gift
    set

    including a snow globe and toy train.
  • Son
    of
    Kong
    : This was released in 1933, making it one of
    the first
    big-budget fast-track sequels. I’ve never seen it, so
    I don’t know
    how it compares to the original.
  • Spike
    and
    Mike’s Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation –
    Contagious
    : I’ve
    never been in a position to attend a Spike and Mike
    festival, but I’d
    love to go.
  • Trigun

    Limited Collector’s Edition I
    : For the anime
    fans.
  • War
    of the
    Worlds (2-Disc Limited Edition)
    : An extremely well
    made film that
    was a huge hit at the box office this summer. It felt
    a bit like
    Jurassic Park to me, with some incredible
    visuals and genuine
    tension that may not hold up when viewed repeatedly on
    a small
    screen.
  • Warner
    Classic
    Mega Collection
    : This is the other way to get
    King Kong,
    with the lowest per-movie cost of anything here. It
    works out to less
    than $7.50 per title, but the total cost is still
    $1499.98. This
    includes:

    1. 42nd Street
    2. The Adventures of Robin Hood: Special Edition
    3. Advise and Consent
    4. Alice Adams
    5. An American In Paris
    6. The Americanization of Emily
    7. Anchors Aweigh
    8. Angels With Dirty Faces
    9. Anna Christie
    10. Anna Karenina
    11. Annie Get Your Gun
    12. The Asphalt Jungle
    13. The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer
    14. Bad Day at Black Rock
    15. The Band Wagon (Two Disc SE)
    16. The Barkleys of Broadway
    17. Bells are Ringing
    18. Ben Hur 4-Disc Edition
    19. The Big Sleep
    20. Billy Rose’s Jumbo
    21. Blackboard Jungle
    22. Blood Alley
    23. Born To Kill
    24. Boys Town
    25. Brigadoon
    26. Bringing Up Baby
    27. Butterfield 8
    28. Camille
    29. Captain Blood
    30. Casablanca (2 Disc SE)
    31. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
    32. Chaplin Revue
    33. Christmas Carol (1938)
    34. Christmas In Connecticut (1945)
    35. The Cincinnati Kid
    36. The Circus
    37. Citizen Kane (2 Disc SE)
    38. City Lights
    39. Clash By Night
    40. Courage of Lassie
    41. Cowboys
    42. Crossfire
    43. The Curse of Frankenstein
    44. The Damned Don’t Cry
    45. Dark Passage
    46. Dark Victory
    47. A Day At The Races
    48. Days of Wine and Roses
    49. Designing Woman
    50. Destination Tokyo
    51. Dial M For Murder
    52. Dillinger
    53. Dinner at Eight
    54. Doctor Zhivago
    55. Dodge City
    56. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
    57. Dracula Has Risen From The Grave
    58. East of Eden (2 Disc SE)
    59. Easter Parade (2 Disc SE)
    60. Face In The Crowd
    61. Father of the Bride
    62. Finian’s Rainbow
    63. Follow the Fleet
    64. For Me and My Gal
    65. Foreign Correspondant
    66. Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed
    67. Freaks
    68. Friendly Persuasion
    69. Fury
    70. Gaslight
    71. Giant (2 Disc SE)
    72. Gigi
    73. Glass Bottom Boat
    74. The Gold Rush
    75. Gone With The Wind (4 Disc SE)
    76. Goodbye Mr. Chips
    77. Grand Hotel
    78. The Great Dictator
    79. Great Ziegfeld
    80. Gun Crazy
    81. Gunga Din
    82. The Harvey Girls
    83. High Sierra
    84. Horror of Dracula
    85. House of Wax (1953)
    86. Humoresque
    87. Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
    88. I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang
    89. I Confess
    90. I Remember Mama
    91. In The Good Old Summertime
    92. Jezebel
    93. Key Largo
    94. The Kid
    95. Kim
    96. King In New York / A Woman In Paris
    97. King Kong (2 Disc SE)
    98. King of Kings
    99. Lassie Come Home
    100. Libeled Lady
    101. Limelight
    102. Little Ceasar
    103. Love Finds Andy Hardy
    104. Love in the Afternoon
    105. Love Me or Leave Me
    106. Lullaby of Broadway
    107. The Maltese Falcon
    108. The Master of Ballantrae
    109. Mata Hari
    110. McQ
    111. Mildred Pierce
    112. Mister Roberts
    113. Modern Times
    114. Monsieur Verdoux
    115. Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941)
    116. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
    117. Mr. Skeffington
    118. Mrs. Miniver
    119. The Mummy (1959)
    120. Murder, My Sweet
    121. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)
    122. My Fair Lady (2 Disc SE)
    123. My Favorite Wife
    124. Narrow Margin
    125. National Velvet
    126. Never So Few
    127. Night and Day
    128. A Night at the Opera
    129. A Night in Casablanca
    130. Ninotchka
    131. North By Northwest
    132. Now Voyager
    133. Objective Burma
    134. Ocean’s Eleven (1960)
    135. On The Town
    136. Operation Pacific
    137. Out of the Past
    138. Petrified Forest
    139. Philadelphia Story (2 Disc SE)
    140. Please Don’t Eat The Daisies
    141. Posessed ’47
    142. The Prince and the Pauper
    143. The Prince and the Showgirl
    144. Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
    145. Public Enemy
    146. Queen Christina
    147. Random Harvest
    148. Rebel Without a Cause (2 Disc SE)
    149. Rio Bravo
    150. The Roaring ’20s
    151. Robin and the Seven Hoods
    152. Scaramouche
    153. The Sea Chase
    154. The Sea Hawk
    155. The Searchers
    156. The Set-Up (1949)
    157. Shall We Dance (1937)
    158. Shop Around the Corner
    159. Show Boat
    160. Singing In The Rain (2 Disc SE)
    161. Son of Lassie
    162. Stage Door
    163. Stage Fright
    164. Stagecoach
    165. The Star (1953)
    166. A Star Is Born (1954)
    167. Story of Sea Biscuit
    168. Strangers On A Train: Special Edition
    169. Suspicion
    170. Swing Time
    171. Take Me Out To The Ballgame
    172. Tall In The Saddle
    173. Tarzan Collection
    174. Taste the Blood of Dracula
    175. TCM Archives: Buster Keaton
    176. TCM Archives: Long Chaney
    177. That’s Entertainment I
    178. That’s Entertainment II
    179. That’s Entertainment III
    180. Them!
    181. They Died With Their Boots On
    182. They Drive By Night
    183. The Thin Man Collection
    184. To Be or Not To Be
    185. To Have and Have Not
    186. Top Hat
    187. The Train Robbers
    188. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre: Special
      Edition
    189. The Unsinkable Molly Brown
    190. Where The Boys Are
    191. White Heat
    192. The Wizard of Oz (2 Disc SE)
    193. The Women
    194. The Wrong Man
    195. Yankee Doodle Dandy: Special Edition
    196. The Yearling
    197. Young Man With A Horn
    198. Ziefeld Girl

    That’s one whole heck of a lot of movies. (Note that
    some of those
    entries are box sets.) Consider what I did: find
    people to split the
    cost with and divvy them up later. There’s some great
    stuff here at
    very low per-item prices.

  • The
    X-Files
    Mythology, Vol. 4
    : This gets into the
    supersoldiers from season
    8. If memory serves, there will be five of these sets
    when the
    collection is complete.

Now, the non-genre releases:

Finally, the pick of the week. As mentioned above,
the original
King Kong is the choice. The effects don’t
always hold up,
but that fact that even some of them do is incredible.
This was the
first big-budget genre blockbuster that made its money
on special
effects. It’s highly recommended to anyone with a
passing interest in
the evolution of film.

5 replies on “Weekly DVD Picks – November 22, 2005”

  1. Correction – X-Files Mythology
    The set above is the fourth and final mythology collection.
    I was wrong when I thought there would be five of them.

    • Re: Correction – X-Files Mythology
      thanks for doing these dvd picks. even though lots of folks don’t necessarily comment on them i do enjoy going through them.

      • Ditto

        thanks for doing these dvd picks. even though lots of folks don’t necessarily comment on them i do enjoy going through them.

        I use this list every week to reserve DVDs at the library—a very useful tool. Thanks for the hard work!

        Check out Chad’s News

    • Re: Correction – X-Files Mythology
      I use the list quite a bit as well though I may not comment. Thank you for the hard work.

  2. Thanks
    Thanks for the words of encouragement. It’s nice to know
    these columns are appreciated, especially since they take
    an hour to put together at this time of year.

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