There are a fairly large number of mediocre titles
coming out this week. Also, based on last week’s
response, I’m only going to mention HD-DVD and Blu-Ray
titles when they are releases of new movies, so the
two releases of older movies this week won’t get
mentioned.

First, the genre releases:

• 20,000
  Leagues
  Under The Sea: This 1997 adaptation stars Michael
  Caine, and was
  directed by Rod Hardy.
• Aeon
  Flux
  (Widescreen Special Collector’s Edition): Last
  fall’s adaptation
  of the MTV cartoon that I need to get around to
  reviewing.
• Angel
  Links –
  Anime Legends Complete Collection: This “Anime
  Legends Complete
  Collection” series is sure churning out the
  titles.
• Brain
  Powered:
  Anime Legends Complete Collection: Another in the
  series.
• Doctor
  Dolittle 3: The sequel they couldn’t get Eddie
  Murphy for. What
  does that tell you these days?
• Final
  Fantasy
  VII – Advent Children: This is a sequel to the
  video game. I
  ordered my copy through Diamond Comics Distributors,
  so we’ll see when
  it actually arrives.
• Gunparade
  March-TV Series Perfect Collection: More anime,
  this time an
  alternate history story.
• Inspector
  Gadget: The Original Series: Though you wouldn’t
  know from the
  title, this contains about a quarter of the series.
  (22 episodes).
  There are plans to release the entire thing over
  time.
• Odyssey
  5 –
  The Complete Series: I’ve heard good things about
  this short lived
  series.

Now, the non-genre releases:

• The
  Avengers
  ’62: Complete Set: Patrick Macnee and Honor
  Blackman.
• Casualties
  of
  War (Extended Cut): Brian De Palma directs Michael
  J. Fox and Sean
  Penn.
• Classic
  Musicals from the Dream Factor: Includes
  Ziegfeld
  Follies, Till the Clouds Roll By,
  Three Little
  Words, Summer Stock, and It’s Always
  Fair
  Weather.
• Crumb:
  A
  documentary on a messed up comic creator.
• Elevator
  to
  the Gallows – Criterion Collection: A Louis Malle
  film.
• Fists
  in the
  Pocket – Criterion Collection: When does Criterion
  go wrong?
• Forgotten
  Noir, Vol. 1 (Portland Expose / They Were So
  Young): I’m a sucker
  for all films noir.
• Guys
  and Dolls
  (Widescreen Deluxe Edition): This is one of the
  better musicals,
  written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and the source of a
  recent “Aunt May”
  quote in Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man
  about getting
  cider in one’s ear.
• Law
  and Order:
  Trial by Jury – The Complete Series: This one
  didn’t last as long
  as the series it spun off from.
• The
  Passenger: Michelangelo Antonioni directs Jack
  Nicholson.
• The
  Patriot
  (Extended Cut): This one is closer to three
  hours.
• Penn
  and
  Teller: Off the Deep End: These two crack me
  up.
• Reba
  – Season
  3: This looks OK. I’ve never actually tuned in to
  watch it,
  though.
• The
  Replacement Killers (Widescreen Extended Cut):
  Chow Yun-Fat and
  Mira Sorvino.
• The
  Robert
  Altman Collection: Includes M*A*S*H,
  A Perfect
  Couple, Quintet, and A
  Wedding.
• Shopgirl:
  Steve Martin and Claire Danes.
• Tristan
  and
  Isolde: Last year’s update of Romeo and
  Juliet.
• The
  Waltons –
  The Complete Third Season: I never have watched
  the show.
• The
  Wedding
  Singer – Totally Awesome Edition: One of the few
  Adam Sandler
  movies I enjoy.
• What
  80
  Million Women Want: A 1913 documentary on the
  suffrage movement.
• Windtalkers
  (Director’s Cut): The Nicholas Cage movie,
  directed by John Woo.

Finally, the pick of the week. While I’ve no doubt
the Criterion or
Altman releases are the best products hitting the
market, I haven’t
actually seen them, so I won’t recommend them right
now. I have seen
every episode of Inspector Gadget, often
repeatedly. That
was a great show to grow up with, and I’ve very
tempted to start
collecting it now.