Here’s yer DVD goodness…and yes, it’s late, but hey, the site’s free, ain’t it?
DVD of the Week: King Kong. Well, it’s no secret that I wasn’t as blown away by the film as I wanted to be. Although now I can watch my favorite Skull Island sequences as often as I like–so that’s cool. And because it’s from Peter Jackson and WETA (by way of Universal, of course), it’s packed with special features, including Jackson‘s production diaries, and featurettes on the period look of New York and, of course, Skull Island. (Buy it)
TV DVD of the Week: 3rd Rock From the Sun: Season 3. Twenty-seven episodes featuring some of the funniest TV aliens in history are here across four discs from Anchor Bay, and fans will be pleased, we think. In addition to commentaries, there’s a number of cast interviews, TV spots, bloopers and more. (Buy it)
Animation DVD of the Week: Plymptoons: The Early Works Of Bill Plympton. New Video is bringing a host of Plympton’s work back to print on DVD, where it’s been seen multiple times before, but the problem is this edition is lacking features found on previous editions. If you haven’t seen or just need a copy of Plympton’s delightfully twisted work, be our guest. (Buy it)
Comedy DVD of the Week: Jeff Dunham: Arguing With Myself. When I talk about Dunham to people, the first reaction is “Who?” I always respond with “On a steek.” They always then respond with “Oh, that guy.” Dunham’s ability to carry on conversations–nay, arguments, the title doesn’t lie–between multiple characters on stage is impressive and must be seen to be believed. This Image release comes with a commentary track, bleeped or non-bleeped audio, outtakes and more. (Buy it)
Anime DVD of the Week: Munto 2: Beyond the Walls of Time. When your magical realm is in trouble, who do you call? Why, a schoolgirl with powers, of course! Only this time around she’s even more crucial than she was in the first round, since Munto’s kingdom might be all that stands between the bad guys and…the return of bellbottom pants (i.e. doom). This hits from Central Park Media and comes with art galleries, the original Japanese trailer and more. (Buy it)
Brit DVD of the Week: Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy. Nicol Williamson plays the titular character, who takes a position it seems nobody in their right mind would want: he gets to be in charge of cutting the ties with India so it can be an independent nation. This Masterpiece Theatre presentation also stars Ian Richardson and hits DVD thanks to Acorn Media. Spanning two discs, it also comes with a Mountbatten bio, filmographies and a photo gallery. (Buy it)
DVD Boxed Set of the Week: David Spade Collection. Again, this collection from Paramount serves a very specific purpose: getting you three Spade movies in a hurry: Tommy Boy, Black Sheep and Dickie Roberts, Former Child Star. You’re not saving any money by buying in bulk like this, nor are you getting anything new–they’re the same editions that have been released before. But if you need it and need it all now, why not. (Buy it)
Docu DVD of the Week: Michael Palin: Sahara. It’s fascinating to see what the Pythons are up to these days. Palin likes to globetrot, taking cameras with him and basically doing splendid travel docus of all sorts. BBC Home Video now releases this one, in which Palin does, over four episodes, exactly what the title suggests–and he does all of it. Comes with a Palin interview, behind-the-scenes footage and deleted footage. (Buy it)
Adverse Video of the Week: Spymate. Oh dear. From the people who brought you Air Bud 16 comes this heartwarming tale of…oh, forget it. It’s got a monkey in it, okay? And not just any monkey, a spy monkey. If anything, it’s sad that all you need to make a spy movie better than Bond is to not have the Broccoli family involved but whatever. Kids will like it because it’s got a monkey in it. It will depress you because you do not have a monkey. End of story. Comes with a behind-the-scenes featurette. (Buy it)
Horror DVD of the Week: Masters Of Horror: John Carpenter: Cigarette Burns. A story says that a long lost film existed at one point that’s supposed to drive anyone who views it completely and homicidally mad. It certainly worked on the first audience–maybe it was directed by Uwe Boll. Anyway, of course, somebody has to go looking for it and investigating it–and things get a little dicey from there. Kind of a cross between Demons and In the Mouth of Madness, sounds like to us. This Anchor Bay release is stacked with goodies: two commentaries, a Carpenter interview, a behind-the-scenes bit, and more. (Buy it)
Foreign DVD of the Week: Unveiled. Talk about having the deck stacked against you. Our protagonist was put through hell in Iran because she’s a lesbian. So she takes on a false identity in order to make it to safety in Germany. However, there she meets someone else and the someone else gets attracted and starts to suspect what’s up and…you know this is headed for problems, don’t you? Wolfe Video releases this to DVD with a bonus film, “Everyone, Everywhere,” narrated by Sir Ian McKellen. (Buy it)
Wrong DVD of the Week: Robot Chicken, Vol. 1. A show created for folks with ADD? Right here. Goes along well with the site, doesn’t it? Anyway, yes, Seth Green’s spawn is completely out of control and available on DVD thanks to the folks at Warner Brothers. I have to admit, as much as I enjoy the longer bits, the short inexplicable ones like the grandma in the tank rolling down the street shouting “Wahoo!”–those really knock me senseless. This comes with deleted scenes, deleted animatics, behind-the-scenes footage, the pilot episode, commentaries and more. (Buy it)
