Here’s yer DVD goodness…
TV DVD of the Week: Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman: The Complete Season Six. Well, for anybody who’s a fan of the show or been racking up these massive A&E Home Video boxed sets (oh, to have had slimlines), here’s the final season. All twenty-two episodes are here across six discs. There’s one audio commentary that comes on the “Point Blank” episode with star Jane Seymour and director James Keach. You’ve also got cast bios. Beyond that, there’s guest stars to look for, such as Richard Roundtree, Willie Nelson, and Zach Galligan. (Buy it)
DVD of the Week: The Blues Brothers. This 25th anniversary DVD from Universal is a nice one. You can never have too much of this film. You get a slew of interviews and behind the scenes stuff along with some new footage, a memorial piece for John Belushi, and a whole bunch of stuff that covers the sequels and other spinoffs, like the Blues Brothers live show. But beyond House of Blues, you probably don’t give a damn. Still, no commentary, but we’ll take whatever we can get. Maybe in five years. (Buy it)
Docu DVD of the Week: Victory in the Pacific. This PBS release focuses on the final year of combat in the Pacific during World War II. It’s a two-hour overview of everything from the determination of the Japanese to die for their cause (including a talk with a kamikaze pilot who–obviously–didn’t succeed in his mission), to the dropping of the atomic bombs that ended the conflict at last. Bonus bits include a discussion on the aforementioned cataclysmic end of the war and a 1945 film on the B-29 narrated by Ronald Reagan. (Buy it)
Anime DVD of the Week: My Neighbors the Yamadas. This film, based on a Japanese comic strip about a typical Japanese family, is an endearing comedy about just that…family. Rather than have an overarching story, it’s a bunch of mini-stories about the whackiness that can ensue from everyday life. The new English dub features Jim Belushi, Molly Shannon and David Ogden Stiers. The Disney release single disc comes with a featurette on the English voice talent, and storyboards. (Buy it)
Adverse Video of the Week: Sahara. Take a Clive Cussler novel, throw in some attractive folks, some testosterone, some classic rock and puree. And you get…dribble, really. Fans of brainless action will probably find a couple of things to make it worth their while, but fans of Dirk Pitt (the real version) are probably going to get a migraine. Comes with an audio commentary, deleted scenes with optional commentary, and three featurettes. (Buy it)
Animation DVD of the Week: Fire and Ice. Blue Underground does it again: they’re taking a genre film and releasing a badass edition of it and thus making a lot of folks happy. This collaboration between Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta hits with a two-disc limited edition. In it, you get an audio commentary with Bakshi, a making-of featurette, still gallery, trailer, a featurette with Bakshi talking about working with Frazetta, and a feature-length docu on Frazetta that comes with its own commentary. Huge, people. (Buy it)
Boxed Set of the Week: The Shirley Temple Collection, Vol. 1. Fox releases three Shirley Temple flicks to DVD for those of you who like cuteness and pink. Lots of pink. You’ve got Curly Top, Heidi, and Little Miss Broadway. All three films come in both their original black and white and also colorized versions. And this is the new colorization process, so if you really really just can’t watch stuff in black and white…well, you’re whacked anyway. But so be it. (Buy it)
Brit DVD of the Week: Butterflies: Series 1. All six episodes from the first series of this British series hit DVD thanks to Acorn Media. It’s the pretty damn funny story of a bored housewife who would really like to get more out of her life, and then conveniently runs across a new man who just might help her with that. This has an interview with writer/creator Carla Lane, production notes and cast filmographies. (Buy it)
