The latest round of DVD picks is also the last before
Christmas. It also has one of the most predictable
picks of the week in the history of this column.
First, the genre releases:
- All
Purpose
Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku TV: The complete
collection of some
bizarrely named anime. - Battlestar
Galactica – Season 2.0: This was the first runner
up for the
position of “Pick of the Week.” Note that the
Canadian release of
this title has been delayed until after there’s a
Canadian broadcast. - Brothers
Grimm: This isn’t a classic, but it’s fun
enough. - The
Exorcism
of Emily Rose (Special Unrated Edition): This had
decent reviews. - Gatchaman,
Vol. 4: This is another collection with the
gorgeous Alex Ross
covers. - Santa’s
Slay: I haven’t heard of this, but it sounds like
an atypical take
on Santa, that might be up there with Plan 9 From
Outer Space
and Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. - Serenity:
Those who were wondering what could beat out
Battlestar Galactica for
the pick of the week need wonder no longer.
Now, the non-genre releases:
- The
Amazing
Race – The Seventh Season: For the reality TV
fans. - Chicago
– The
Razzle-Dazzle Edition: I saw the play and hated
it, so I’ve never
seen the movie. My father also hated the play, but
loved the movie,
so perhaps I should give it a chance. - Cry
Wolf
(Unrated Edition): This “unrated edition” is
marked as a PG-13
title by Amazon.com. - ER –
The
Complete Fourth Season: This was the top drama on
TV until
CSI came along. - Four
Brothers: Most reviews I read made a point of
saying that rappers
aren’t generally good actors. - The
Great
Raid: The recent war movie, just in time for
Christmas. - Miracle
on the
17th Green: This is a Robert Urich film from a few
years back. I
have no recollection of this, and wonder if it was
made for TV. - Must
Love
Dogs: This was the romance movie that tried to
compete with the
summer action blockbusters. That usually means it’s a
good romance
movie that’s clearly set in the summer, so it would
feel out of place
around Valentine’s day. - November:
This sounds like an interesting experimental film
starring Courtney
Cox. I haven’t heard of it, but it might be worth
checking out. - Once
Upon A
Mattress: This is a movie from last year that
updates “The
Princess and the Pea.” - Party
of Five
– The Complete Second Season: I never did watch
this series. Was
it any good?
Finally, the pick of the week. Serenity may
not have been
quite as good as the series, but that’s a high
standard to meet. A
sequel would be able to assume that the audience is
familiar with the
characters, and could dive right into the story, so I
strongly
recommend that we maintain the kind of DVD sales that
could make a
sequel happen. No, it didn’t make back it’s budget in
theaters, but I
don’t think Universal expected it to, since it’s
budget was about the
same as the record holder for a September theatrical
release.
budget for loss?
That’s an interresting take. I’m not hopefull for more though, Joss made a fatal mistake: He bummed out the fans.
Depressed fanboys don’t make good word-of-mouth advertising. Sure, story wise, it was a very powerfull moment, and there was no way we would believe they could come out of a Reaver fight unharmed, but as a marketing move, it was myopic.
Still, I’m putting that sucker on my gift list, and if Santa disapoints, I’ll take matters in my own hands before the year’s end :-)
Re: budget for loss?
Anyone bummed out by Serenity is only a lightweight Joss fanboy. If you know your Joss, you should have known what to expect from the film… ;)
Besides, I’d say it was only a small percentage of the fanbase that reacted negatively to the film.
Re: budget for loss?
The film was great, but I was bummed out by the leaf on the wind aftershocks, so whenever someone asked how the film was, I tod them in all honesty that i was a really fun watch, but I had a himt of sadness that made them doubt the veracity of the statement.
Re: budget for loss?
I was too caught up in the fan-boy rush to be bothered right away. It wasn’t until a few days later (after my next viewing ;) that I started to get “weepy”. Even then, I took it as part of the story, something that “happened”, without blaming the writer.
OTOH, some friends who really loved the TV show (after I introduced them to it) were really upset (this was their first Whedon franchise ;) They went out of their way to see it that first time, but now they don’t even want to watch it again, much less buy it…
Re: budget for loss?
My wife and I were like that. We never watched Buffy et al beyond the original movie but simply adored Firefly in its original run and were one of the first to order off Amazon. We were greatly anticipating the movie and up to the Leaf part were very pleased, but that part and the entire ending just gutted us – we both suffered from shock and loss, and decreed we never wanted to see it again, but after some contemplation (and reading others’ comments) we’ve adjusted to this Jossism and will be buying it.
Re: budget for loss?
Yeah, it is pretty well-documented that Joss is more than willing to off major characters (note that the movie’s been out for a few months, I don’t think we need to dodge the subject now).
Also, AERIS DIES LOL.
Serenity
Yeah, I’ll be making a trip to Target.
I did have it on pre-order from Amazon, but they said it wouldn’t have shipped till JANUARY 9th. Anyone else have that?
Re: Serenity
Mine is scheduled to ship the week of release. I’ve seen others like that though, which generally means that all the copies they ordered have been pre-sold, so new orders won’t be sent until they get the second batch of stock.
Re: Serenity
Amazon has actually been screwing up a lot on me lately. Over the past couple of years it’s been getting worse and worse and worse. I’ve ended up cancelling quote a few orders from them… it’s kinda scary.
Re: Serenity
Mine shipped yesterday *grin*. However, the “two-day” shipping is scheduled to take four days!? (Ok, three, since it was “shipped” on Sunday). Not to worry, I can swap it with one of the gift copies I’m buying at Target tomorrow :)
BTW, when did you pre-order? I ordered mine pretty late (12/7), but I’ve heard that Amazon allocates the stock randomly rather than 1st-come-1st-serve. Just curious (and sorry you got the shaft on this one).
Re: Serenity
I preordered it well over a month ago. But I ordered other things with it (all of which were NOT on backorder). I ended up whittling my order down to just TWO items that I couldn’t get at BB or Target…
I did get Serenity at Target yesterday so I’m not too upset about it (: