Here’s yer DVD goodness…
TV DVD of the Week: In Living Color: Season 3. Fox brings you the spawn of The Wayans Army in this three-disc set, containing all twenty-eight third season episodes. Here you get to see Jim Carrey, before he became a huge actor, doing Fire Marshall Bill. You also get to see Jamie Foxx join the cast, before he became a Serious Actor TM, in full glory as Ugly Wanda. Skits and performances have been cut, mostly to avoid paying royalties on the music involved, but there’s no real way around that…fans will be happy to grab what they can, and if enough people shell out for the sets, maybe Fox will come back later and fill in the gaps. Regardless, it brings the funny for your weekend viewing. (US)(UK)(CAN)
DVD of the Week: The Sea Inside. Even more relevant these days is this story of trying to win the right to die when and how you choose. In this film, which won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, Javier Bardem plays a Spanish poet who, because of severe paralysis, fights for three decades to be able to end his own life. This New Line Cinema release comes with deleted scenes, a docu, an audio commentary with director Alejandro Amenábar, storyboards, photo galleries, set design galleries, and the trailer. (US)(UK)(CAN)
Animation DVD of the Week: Classic Cartoon Favorites, Vol. 6: Extreme Music Fun. Eight classic shorts are what you get here, all dealing with music. Amazing, huh? You get some classics like the Goofy instructional “How to Dance” and “Donald’s Dilemma” which has everyone’s favorite incomprehensible duck getting smacked with a flower pot, which, since this is a cartoon, of course causes a personality change. Odd that “The Band Concert,” perhaps the most famous Disney music-related short, isn’t on here, but oh well. The kiddies will appreciate this if you haven’t already bought the Walt Disney Treasures titles that have these. (US)(UK)(CAN)
Adverse Video of the Week: The Suckling. Wow, this one’s a…wow. Okay, so there’s been a massacre at an illegal abortion clinic leaving only one survivor. The perpetrator of this vile deed is an aborted fetus that returns from the sewer after having run into some toxic waste and decides to exact revenge. Wow. It’s got all the tastelessness of a Troma film but without the funny ha-ha stuff to take the edge off. Filled with bad actors, bad dialogue and a crazy looking giant ex-fetus for an antagonist, you’ve got your work cut out for you if you venture down this path. So just be careful, okay? (US)(UK)(CAN)
Docu DVD of the Week: The Presidents. An excellent overview of all forty-three leaders we’ve had (so far) over here in the U.S. It would have to be an overview to cover only three discs, but it’s a good one nonetheless, chocked full of photos, footage, and high profile talking heads (like Bob Dole, Jimmy Carter, Walter Cronkite and David Brinkley). Narrated by Edward Herrmann, it also comes with a bonus program that covers the First Ladies and a timeline for the Presidents. This set hits from those knowledgeable folks over at the History Channel. (US)(UK)(CAN)
Anime DVD of the Week: Full Metal Panic FUMOFFU, Vol. 1: Full Metal Pandemonium. For the otaku among you this weekend (I said “otakus” earlier and I thought Dindrane was going to blow a gasket), we offer up this second series of the Full Metal Panic title from ADV. This way you can appreciate the hijinks that result from a soldier protecting a high school student from danger. This action comedy release comes with three episodes, a featurette, clean opening and closing animation, the original TV spots from Japan, a character artwork gallery and even a board game. Tasty. (US)(UK)(CAN)
Family DVD of the Week:The Adventures of Pete & Pete: Season 1. We didn’t watch this ourselves…somehow we missed the whole Nickelodeon thing. I hail from Alabama, where the arrival of Robotech was like a religious experience. So. But many people love this quirkfest and for those folks, we recommend this Paramount release. There’s the first eight episodes, four specials, and some of the shorts that spawned the eventual series. Two episodes and a special come with commentary, and there’s a “music station” where you can hear seven of the songs that appeared on the series. (US)(UK)(CAN)
DVD Boxed Set of the Week: Marlon Brando Collection. Again, we like the bargain DVD sets. We’re suckers for a bargain. Granted, three of the four films here–Ugly American, Countess in Hong Kong, and Night of the Following Day–are already out on their own DVD sets, but they didn’t have features either. The Appaloosa is the only one new to DVD (at least Region 1-wise), but hey, we’ll let you complain if you feel like it. We’re just going to point the people who want a multiple Brando fix in one shot to this Universal release and be done with it. (US)(UK)(CAN)
