Weekly Digital Disk Picks for April 26th, 2011

Our Weekly Digital Disk Picks are better late than never in a week with a lot of re-releases.

Title DVD Release(s) Blu-Ray Release(s)
Action
Kill Bill, Vol. 1 Amazon.com
Kill Bill, Vol. 2 Amazon.com
Legend of the Drunken Master Amazon.com
Blaine: If memory serves, this is actually a sequel, but the original has not been released to English audiences through this company.
Anime
5 Centimeters Per Second Amazon.com Amazon.com
Alex: This is the latest film from Makoto Shinkai, the director of Voices of a Distant Star (one of my first reviews on the site), and is also the first DVD release by Crunchyroll. The DVD has been available through their web page for a while, but to my knowledge this is the first time it’s been available elsewhere. This is also his first film that isn’t Sci-Fi, so it probably won’t get reviewed here.
Dragon Ball Z: Dragon Box Five Amazon.com, rightstuf.com
Alex: This is a collection of 40 episodes remastered. They’re further along in the series than Dragonball Z Kai, but all the pacing problems are still going to be there.
Eden of the East: The King of Eden (Blu-Ray/DVD Combo) Amazon.com, rightstuf.com
Alex: This film picks up about 6 months from the end of the Eden of the East TV series.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Space Vol. 1 Amazon.com, rightstuf.com
Alex: No relation to The Girl Who Leapt Through Time see below.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Amazon.com, rightstuf.com
Alex: I’ve previously reviewed this film.
Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl Vocal Collection Amazon.com, rightstuf.com
Alex: Romantic comedy anime about two girls who fall in love with a boy who is brought back to life as a girl when a spaceship crashes on him. Contains the complete series.
K-On Vol. 1 Amazon.com, rightstuf.com Amazon.com, rightstuf.com
Alex: Anime series about a group of girls forming a rock band. This is one of those shows that we probably would have never seen officially licensed in the US had it not been fansubbed (sort of like Azumanga Daioh). However, this is also not genre so we won’t be revewing it here.
Loveless Vocal Collection Amazon.com, rightstuf.com
Alex: Yaoi TV series.
Naruto Shippuden Box Set 6 Amazon.com, rightstuf.com
Sgt. Frog Season 2 Amazon.com, rightstuf.com
Art House
Betty Blue: Original Theatrical Release Amazon.com
Blow Out (Criterion Collection) Amazon.com Amazon.com
Cinema Paradiso Amazon.com
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Criterion Collection) Amazon.com
Classics (Cult)
Dementia 13 Amazon.com
The Dorm That Dripped Blood Amazon.com
The Terror Amazon.com
Classics (Traditional)
Comedy
Doc Martin Collection: Series 1-4 Amazon.com
Blaine: Based on the descriptions I’ve read, this sounds a lot like a British version of House. It premiered about two months before House premiered here.
Growing Pains: Season Two Amazon.com
Larry Sanders Show: Season 3 Amazon.com
The Lucy Show: Official Fourth Season Amazon.com
South Park: The Complete Fourteenth Season Amazon.com Amazon.com
Testees: Complete Series Amazon.com
Documentary
Human Planet Amazon.com Amazon.com
Alex: This is the BBC’s latest documentary in the vein of Planet Earth.
Moguls and Movie Stars: History of Hollywood Amazon.com
The Universe: The Complete Series Megaset Amazon.com Amazon.com
Alex: This is the History Channel’s space science documentary series, and probably one of their better TV series.
Drama
Daylight Amazon.com
Blaine: This is what happens when action stars get too old to be action stars but are still popular enough to sell movie tickets.
Family
A Wrinkle In Time Amazon.com
Fantasy
The Secret of Dorian Gray Amazon.com
Horror
Dinoshark Amazon.com Amazon.com
Music / Musical
Contra Band Amazon.com
Alex: Interesting little concept concert. The band Bit Brigade plays the music for Contra while a player does a speed-run through the game.
Invitation To The Dance Amazon.com
Mystery
Reality
Stan Lee’s Superhumans: Season One Amazon.com
Romance
Science Fiction
Sports
Superhero
Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes Volume One, Volume Two
Blaine: I keep hearing great things about this show, including comparisons to Justice League for quality, but I hate these small individual releases enough to pass on it.
The Crow Amazon.com
Suspense
War
Upstairs Downstairs Amazon.com
This is the remade version, not the original.
Western
El Topo Amazon.com
Alex: Alejandro Jodorowsky’s surrealist western.

Finally, the picks of the week. Blaine says, “after quickly previewing the listings, I don’t see another `must own’ title until the fifth season of Psych hits on May 31. Until then, it’s a flood of mediocrity and outright crap.” Alex says, “Well, if you have Blu-Ray, get the Criterion Collection edition of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, or get The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. Otherwise there is very little of interest here.”

2 replies on “Weekly Digital Disk Picks for April 26th, 2011”

  1. Doc Martin is a hilarious series. I first ran into it on PBS, I think. I quickly went to torrent for the various series. It originated out of a movie called ‘Saving Grace’ in which the Doc Martin character was heavy pot smoker who helped this aging widow save her ancestral home by setting up a grow house. In the subsequent series the character was drastically changed.
    The comparison to ‘House’ is understandable, but while both main characters are somewhat gruff, diagnostic geniuses, ‘Doc Martin’ is not simply the British version of ‘House’. ‘Doc Martin’ is all about a guy who gets shafted by his girlfriend, leaves a high-paying surgical job in London and returns to his childhood home in a rural Cornwall fishing village, replete with a cast of characters with their own antics. Check it out!

    • Agreed. It’s a very fun show.

      Nitpick: he’s not returning to his childhood home. He was occasionally sent up there to visit his aunt.

Comments are closed.