If you like Harry Potter, classic films, or Criterion Collection directors, this is going to be a great week for you.
First, the DVD releases:
- Beverly Hills 90210 – The Third Season
- Big Love – The Complete Second Season
- The Bourne Ultimatum
- The Jason Bourne Collection
- Criterion Collection Director Series – Robert Altman: Includes “Secret Honor,” “Short Cuts,” “3 Women” and “Tanner 88.”
- Criterion Collection Director Series – Federico Fellini: Includes “8 1/2,” “La Strada,” “Nights of Cabiria,” and “Amarcord.”
- Criterion Collection Director Series – Jean-Luc Godard: Includes “Band of Outsiders,” “Contempt” and “Breathless.”
- Criterion Collection Director Series – Jim Jarmusch: Includes “Down By Law,” “Night On Earth,” and “Stranger Than Paradise.”
- Criterion Collection Director Series – Akira Kurosawa: Includes “Throne Of Blood,” “Yojimbo,” “Seven Samurai” and “Sanjuro.” If you don’t already have those titles, pick this up. Kurosawa was a master. “Throne of Blood” was a MacBeth remake, “Yojimbo” was remade as “A Fistful of Dollars,” and “Seven Samuarai” (which is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen) was remade as “The Magnificent Seven.”
- Dirt – The Complete First Season
- Frasier – The Tenth Season
- Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. – The Third Season
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Two Disc Special Edition)
- Harry Potter Years 1-5 Limited Edition Gift Set
- High School Musical 2 (Extended Edition)
- Interview
- Lost – The Complete Third Season
- Megazone 23 Complete Collection
- The Rocket: A biography of Maurice Richard
- Slayers Next – The Complete Second Season
- Undead Or Alive
- United Artists 30-Disc Deluxe Giftset: The list of included titles is massive, so rather than commenting, I’m just going to bold those I’ve seen and recommend, and italize those I’ve seen but don’t recommend: “Marty,” Twelve Angry Men, Some Like It Hot, “The Alamo,” The Apartment, “The Magnificent Seven,” “Judgment At Nuremberg,” Westside Story, “Birdman of Alcatraz,” Dr. No, Manchurian Candidate, The Great Escape, The Pink Panther, “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly,” Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, “Thomas Crown Affair (1968),” “The Battle of Britain,” “Midnight Cowboy,” Fiddler on the Roof,, Rocky, “Annie Hall,” “A Bridge Too Far,” The Spy Who Loved Me, “Raging Bull,” Goldeneye, The Birdcage, “Bowling for Columbine,” and “Hotel Rwanda.” 30 movies on 46 discs.
- United Artists 90th Anniversary Prestige Collection: The list of included titles is massive, so rather than commenting, I’m just going to bold those I’ve seen and recommend, and italize those I’ve seen but don’t recommend: “The Woman In The Window,” “Red River,” “The Barefoot Contessa,” “Marty,” “The Night Of The Hunter,” “Dance With Me Henry,” The Killing, “Moby Dick,” Twelve Angry Men, Paths of Glory, “Witness For The Prosecution,” “The Big Country,” “The Defiant Ones,” “I Want To Live!,” “A Hole In The Head,” “The Fugitive Kind,” Some Like It Hot, “The Alamo,” The Apartment, “Elmer Gantry,” “Inherit The Wind,” “The Magnificent Seven,” “Judgment At Nuremberg,” “The Misfits,” “One, Two, Three,” “Pocketful of Miracles,” Westside Story, “Birdman of Alcatraz,” Dr. No, Manchurian Candidate, “The Miracle Worker,” The Great Escape, “I Could Go On Singing,” “Irma La Douce,” “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World,” Fistful of Dollars, The Pink Panther, “Topkapi,” “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” “The Fortune Cookie,” “Persona,” “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly,” “In The Heat of the Night,” Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, “Hang ‘Em High,” “Thomas Crown Affair (1968),” “Yours, Mine and Ours, “Fellini Satyricon,” “The Battle of Britain,” “Midnight Cowboy,” On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Fiddler on the Roof,, “Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Sex,” “Last Tango In Paris,” “Lenny,” “The Wilby Conspiracy,” “Carrie,” “The Missouri Breaks,” “The Pink Panther Strikes Again,” Rocky, “Annie Hall,” “A Bridge Too Far,” “Equus,” “New York, New York,” The Spy Who Loved Me, “Coming Home,” “La Cage Aux Folles,” “The Last Waltz,” “Manhattan,” “Raging Bull,” “The French Lieutenant’s Woman,” “Heaven’s Gate,” “The Secret of the NIMH,” War games, “Red Dawn,” The Living Daylights, “Baby Boom,” “Child’s Play,” Rain Man, “Road House,” Goldeneye, “Leaving Las Vegas,” “Richard III,” The Birdcage, “The Man In The Iron Mask,” “No Man’s Land,” “Bowling for Columbine,” “Dark Blue,” “Pieces of April,” and “Hotel Rwanda.” That’s 90 movies on 110 discs, and the good easily outweight the bad.
- Voltron, Vol. 5: Defender of the Universe – Black Lion
- Walt Disney Treasures – The Adventures of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
- Walt Disney Treasures – The Chronological Donald, Volume Three (1947-1950)
- Walt Disney Treasures – Disneyland – Secrets, Stories and Magic
Now, the Blu-Ray releases:
- Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter Years 1-5 Limited Edition Gift Set
- High School Musical 2 (Extended Edition)
- Legend of Zorro
- Lost – The Complete Third Season
- Masters of Horror: Season 1, Volume 4
- Rent
The HD DVD releases are as follows:
- The Bourne Trilogy
- The Bourne Ultimatum
- Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter Years 1-5 Limited Edition Gift Set
Finally, the pick of the week. If you can afford the total cost, the United Artists 90th Anniversary collection is a great deal. (It’s just shy of $7 per title at the time of this writing.) Still, for guaranteed quality in every title, go with Criterion’s Kurosawa collection instead. It’s a higher per movie price, but the movies are sure to be worth it.