If you’re a fan of horror, detectives, and combinations of the two, you’ll be very, very happy this week.
First, the DVD releases:
- The Batman – The Complete Fifth Season
- Batman Begins (Limited Edition Gift Set)
- Batman – Gotham Knight (Single-Disc Edition): An animated feature set between “Batman Begins” and “Dark Knight”
- Batman – Gotham Knight (Two-Disc Collector’s Edition): An animated feature set between “Batman Begins” and “Dark Knight”
- Cannon: Season One, Vol. 1
- Fastlane – The Complete Series
- I Dream Of Jeannie – The Complete Fifth Season: This was the final season
- Jake and the Fatman: Season One, Vol. 1
- Jekyll
- Jet Li’s Fearless (Unrated Director’s Cut)
- Journey To The Centre Of The Earth
- The Man With X-Ray Eyes
- Mon Oncle Antoine – Criterion Collection: This one is definitely a classic. I only know it by reputation so far, but I do plan to pick this up shortly.
- Monk – Season Six
- The Mummy (Universal Legacy Series): This is the Boris Karloff edition from 1932
- The Mummy (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition): This is the Brendan Fraser version.
- The Mummy Returns (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition)
- Psych – The Complete Second Season: The first season was great. I really wish I had the home network available up here, because this would be must-see.
- The Ruins
- The Ruins (Unrated Edition)
- Sleepwalking
- Soul Food: The Complete Series
- Stargate Atlantis – The Complete Fourth Season
- Superhero Movie
- Superhero Movie (Extended Edition)
- Teen Titans – The Complete Fifth Season
- TV Marathon Detective 2-Pack: Includes “Monk – Season Six” and “Psych – Season Two” for significantly less than buying them individually.
- Van Helsing (Two-Disc Collector’s Edition)
- Welcome to the NHK, Vol. 5: 5nd Conspiracy
- Wind At My Back: The Complete Third Season
- Wind At My Back: The Complete Fourth Season
- Wind At My Back: The Complete Fifth Season
- Wire In The Blood: The Complete Fifth Season
- X-Files: Revelations: Designed to prepare us for the next movie, this includes “Pilot,” “Beyond The Sea,” “The Host,” “Clude Bruckman’s Final Repose,” “Memento Mori,” “Post Modern Prometheus,” “Bad Blood,” and “Milagro.” I strongly suspect this has less to do with actually preparing for the movie, which is designed to be a stand-alone “monster of the week” style, and more to do with releasing the best episodes of the series not already released in one of the other collections, as well as “Milagro” for no apparant reason.
- Yu Yu Hakusho: Season One Box Set
Now, the Blu-Ray releases:
- Batman Begins
- Batman Begins (Limited Edition Gift Set)
- Batman – Gotham Knight: An animated feature set between “Batman Begins” and “Dark Knight”
- The Ruins (Unrated Edition)
- Sleepwalking
Finally, the pick of the week. I’ve got to go with the “X-Files” set. I’ve always been a fan of the show, as some readers may remember. (Heck, the first columns I wrote were X-Files reviews way back in the fall of 2000.) I wasn’t too thrilled with “Milagro,” but the rest of the episodes in this set are fantastic. For those who don’t recognize the episode titles, here’s a rundown:
- Pilot – The first episode, mostly useful for introducing the characters.
- Beyond The Sea – Don S. Davis, Scully’s father, passes away. Weird timing on that one, but still a great episode.
- The Host – The “Flukeman” episode, from the second season.
- Clude Bruckman’s Final Repose – Starring Peter Boyle as the psychic who could see how people were going to die. The second attempt at a comedic episode, and one of the most successful. Highly, highly entertaining, and emmy award winning.
- Memento Mori – The episode that reveals Scully’s cancer in detail, following “Leonard Betts.”
- Post Modern Prometheus – The black and white episode and the first broadcast in widescreen. Entertaining, beautifully filmed, and very funny. Excellent episode, and one of the best of the series.
- Bad Blood – The “Rashomon”-esque vampire episode, with one of the greatest teasers in the series, in which Mulder stakes a boy in the woods, convinced he’s a vampire, only to have Scully remove the plastic fangs from his corpse.
- Milagro – Mulder’s new neighbour writes crimes that keep happening.