Slight format change this week.
First, AceCaseOR’s (primarily anime) picks and comments:
- Ah My Buddha: Vol. 1 – The Aroused One: It’s not porn. I checked. It’s fanservice harem-romantic-comedy (ala Tenchi Muyo and Ranma 1/2) series about a trainee at a buddhist temple who gets mystical powers whenever he sees a naked woman. I’d put the link to the TVTropes.org entry for I’m Not Making This Up again, but I did that last time and I don’t want to overdo the joke.
- Aria the Natural Season 2 Pt. 1: I’m going to take a moment now to complain about how Amazon organizes their new-releases by genre, because this was *not* listed under Anime. I can’t point people towards it if I can’t find it. Fiziko’s addendum: I also hate that we no longer have alphabetical listings. It made creating these columns without missing titles SO much easier.
- Baccano! Starter Set: Pulp Series set in 1920s America.
- Blood+: Volume 4: Volume 4 of the spinoff series to Blood: The Last Vampire. I haven’t seen the series up to this point, but I have seen some of the series before this (prior to licensing), and liked what I saw.
- Doktor Faust
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Season 1 Box Set: Re-release of season 1 of the show.
- Doujin Work: Vol. 1 – Pencil & Paper: Similar to Comic Party (but not based on a H-Game) the series is about a girl who is trying to become a Doujin (fan-manga/independant-manga) artist. This is also AceCaseOR’s pick of the week.
- Life Gamble: Released on Blu-Ray and Standard Def, Wuxia film from Shaw Brothers about a Kung Fu blacksmith going up against a local crime boss.
- Megaman: A Hero is Born: This is not a standard anime – while the animation was made in Japan and using Japanese character designs, it was produced for US TV back in the ’90s, based on the original Mega Man games (with Dr. Wily), not the Battle Network series or the Mega Man X series of games. Mega Man’s English VA may sound familiar – he was the voice of Goku for the English dub of DBZ. Fiziko’s addendum: It’s also a rerelease. The entire series was first released in two volumes in 2003 (Jan. 21, 2003 for Vol. 1, March 18, 2003 for Vol. 2) and there’s another Mega Man DVD release scheduled for March 10 of this year on Amazon.com, so it looks like the same two volumes on comparable schedules six years later.
- Mozart’s Don Giovanni: I’ve seen another version of this as well, definitely a different staging (this one was definitely made for video/DVD and included shooting on location, and kept the setting of the original, instead of moving it to the present day).
- Naruto Vol. 32: This looks like it’s an uncut version (a Japanese audio track is listed in Amazon). From the episode description this is the last to next-to-last DVD before the Shippuden time skip.
- One Piece: The Princess & The Pirates (Movie 8): This is available in standard def and Blu-Ray. I don’t believe the uncut DVD releases from Funimation have caught up with this movie yet, so watch at your own risk. Thar be spoilarrrrrrrrs in these waters!
- Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat: Complete Collection : Prequel to Di Gi Charat, the episodes here are about 5 minutes long each.
- S.T.R.A.I.N.: Strategic Armored Infantry: Giant Robot / Space Opera Series
- The Story of Saiunkoku: Season One, Part Three: It looks like a wuxia reverse-harem (a bunch of guys fighting over 1 woman) anime.
- Utawarerumono – Complete Boxed Set
- Verdi’s Macbeth: I’ve seen a performance of this I liked – I don’t know if it’s the same performance, or in the same style (the version I saw updated the costumes to the 1920s-40s, with the final duel between Macbeth and MacDuff being with knives instead of swords)
Now, Fiziko’s DVD picks:
- All New Super-Friends Hour, Season One, Volume 2: Yes, this season has the Wonder Twins.
- America’s Dumbest Criminals: This ran one year, and I vividly remember some of these episodes. Who really was the dumbest? Was it the bank robber who i) stood under the ATM cameras while putting his “mask” on, ii) made his “mask” out of aerosol whipping cream, and iii) stood in line for his turn at the teller, while his “mask” melted off his face? Was is the guy who fit the description of a purse snatcher and was taken back to the scene of the crime (where the victim still waited) for “identification,” only to step out of the car and say “yeah, that’s the woman I robbed” before anyone else said anything? Was it the night security guard who thought to bring a mask, but who forgot to take off his logo-embroidered uniform? Oh, it’s so hard to choose, and there were so many more…
- The Art of Soccer by John Cleese: There are very few names that can complete the title “The Art of Soccer by _____” and actually get listed here. John Cleese, David Beckham, Tim Conway, and… that’s about it.
- Blossom: Seasons 1 and 2: It’s incredible how many worldwide, significant, large scale issues have solutions that are obvious to a couple of left wing high school girls. (Don’t get me wrong; I lean to the left wing myself, but I’ve got to admit this frequently oversimplified things.)
- Cheers – The Final Season: This is one of the few shows that went out on a high note. If I ever start collecting the show, I’ll start with this season and work backwards. (Frankly, I don’t think I’d rewatch many episodes of the series, with the exceptions being the first four of the final five, the Harry the Hat episodes, and Woody’s wedding, which I believe was the season finale of the year before this.)
- Come Dream With Me: The Complete Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin: The Canadian release is due February 10.
- Evil Under The Sun
- Fireproof
- Hulk vs. (Single Disk Edition): This is actually two short subjects, one with Hulk vs. Thor, and the other with Hulk vs. Wolverine. Written by Craig Kyle (several comics and “The Spectacular Spider-Man” TV series) and Chris Yost (also several comics).
- Hulk vs. (Two Disk Edition)
- The Invaders, Season Two
- Lakeview Terrace
- Landmarks of CGI Animation: I’m definitely interested in watching this, but not interested enough to drop $26.99 on it. This is the kind of thing I’d PVR and catch when I have the time.
- The Love Boat, Season Two, Volume 1
- The Lucky Ones
- M.A.N.T.I.S.: Complete Series
- Mary Poppins (45th Anniversary Edition)
- Open Season 2
- Pink Panther and Friends Classic Cartoon Collection
- The Pink Panther Film Collection: New packaging of old product to coincide with the new movie. Yes, the Steve Martin version made enough money to justify a sequel.
- Pride and Glory: Single disc edition
- Pride and Glory (Two Disc Edition)
- Redneck Zombies: 20th Anniversary Edition: I wonder how many people who saw this 20 years ago have been actively trying to forget about it.
- Revenge of the Pink Panther
- The Rocker: Born To Rock Edition
- Scooby Doo, Where Are You? Vol. 1
- The Secret Policeman’s Ball: Starring many Monty Python alumni along with Rowan Atkinson
- A Shot In The Dark: The first “Pink Panther” movie produced, but the second released. Had this come out first, I’m not convinced that the whole “Pink Panther” name would have carried through as it did.
- The Sidney Poitier Collection: Poitier just oozes class and screen presence. Includes “Edge of the City,” “Something of Value,” “A Patch of Blue” and “A Warm December.”
- Son of the Pink Panther
- Trail of the Pink Panther
- Warner Bros. Romance Classics Collection: Includes “Palm Springs Weekend,” “Parrish,” “Rome Adventure” and “Susan Slade.” I’ve heard of none of these, but Warner Bros. generaly does a good job authoring these sets.
- You’re a Good Sport, Charlie Brown
Now, the Blu-Ray releases:
- Any Given Sunday
- The Bourne Trilogy
- Groundhog Day
- Hannibal
- Hulk vs.
- In Bruges
- Lakeview Terrace
- Open Season 2
- The Rocker
- Stomp Live: This was also on AceCaseOR’s list.
- Zodiac
Finally, Fiziko’s pick of the week. If you’ve got Blu-Ray capacity, go with Groundhog Day. If not, there are numerous “guilty pleasures” hitting shelves this week. Take your pick of America’s Dumbest Criminals, Super-Friends, or even Teddy Ruxpin.