Anime Boxed Set of the Week: Gun Sword, Vol. 1: Endless Illusion. Endless Illusion is the name of the planet, not a pop album from the 80s. It’s about a guy looking for revenge for the bride that was murdered, pretty standard fare except for the sword he has that can change shape, and he’s doing all this running around in a tux. The first four episodes are here on this first disc and it also comes with a box to hold the rest of the series as those titles hit. Bonus bit is also a diecast metal key chain. This arrives from Geneon. (Buy it)
Theatre Set of the Week: The George Bernard Shaw Collection. We’ll admit it: we couldn’t find a huge Shaw fan around the office. But when it comes to this BBC set, which gives you ten plays in total across six discs (four are considered “bonus”), all you have to do is look at the actors involved: John Gielgud, Patrick Stewart, Tom Baker, Lynn Redgrave, and Helena Bonham Carter to name a few. Then we get excited. Comes with two bonus programs regarding shaw, and more. (Buy it)
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Boxed Set of the Week: The Lucy & Desi Collection. This set from Warner Brothers is an absolute gold mine of goodness. Check this out: not only do you get the three films the box sports, all with Lucy and Desi bringing the funny–Too Many Girls, The Long, Long Trailer and Forever, Darling–but there’s also great bonus bits. There’s two classic cartoons, one each by Tex Avery and Friz Freleng, plus two bonus shorts and a vintage making-of featurette for Darling. Excellent. (Buy it)
Comedy DVD of the Week: Wings: Seasons 1 & 2. Two brothers try to keep a small airline afloat, surrounded by the typical array of quirky characters necessary for the sitcom setup. This series should be appreciated, if for no other reason, because it introduced us to Tim Daly, Steven Weber, Tony Shaloub and Thomas Haden Church, all of whom have gone on to impress us in other areas. And then there’s Crystal Bernard. “Mmmmm. Crystal Bernard.” All the episodes from the short first season and normal-sized second season are here, thanks to Paramount. No bonus bits, unfortunately, but fans will want this just for the show itself. (Buy it)
Romantic Comedy DVD of the Week: Rumor Has It. We love The Graduate. So the idea that somebody built a film around the idea that it might have been based on a real family…and what it would be like to be in that family? Nice. Jennifer Aniston plays someone who might or might not be the fruit of the union that occurs at the end of the classic film. What to do? Go look for the real Benjamin Braddock. No features, but Gradute fans will want to snag this Warner Brothers release. (Buy it)
Sci-Fi DVD of the Week: The Riddick Trilogy. If you dig the Vin Diesel franchise and you don’t already have the three titles, then Universal is providing a really inexpensive ($20!) way to pick up the whole shmeal. It’s basically the three titles with the features they’ve already gotten, but they’ve been shrunk down to two discs, so one of the soundtrack tracks is among the missing along with, as I understand it, some features. Of course, I’ve been through the original discs and looking at this, nothing leaps out at me as being AWOL, so if something else is missing, it’s probably not that memorable. The original’s worth $20 on its own, so take that as you will. (Buy it)
Brit DVD of the Week: Flickers. Any Bob Hoskins fan (and who isn’t?) is going to want to grab this Acorn Media release. It’s a six-part Masterpiece Theatre miniseries starring Mr. Hoskins and Frances de la Tour. Hoskins wants to get into the silent film business but has no money, de la Tour has money, but she’s about to have a child where the sperm donor has fled the scene a while before. They decide to help each other out and “stage” a relationship along with working in film production and, as you can imagine, hijinks ensue. Comes on three discs. (Buy it)
Classic DVD of the Week: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Man, what can I say about this movie? Epitome of the word “classic”. You know it’s one of those you can just pull off the shelf and pop in whenever you just want some pure entertainment. Just as Redford and Newman were perfect in it, this “Ultimate Collector’s Edition” is damn near perfect, though I’m still waiting on the two stars to do a commentary. Ah well. Instead, there’s two tracks here, with director George Roy Hill, lyricist Hal David, the associate producer and cinematographer god Conrad Hall, plus a separate track with scribe William Goldman. This Fox release also comes with multiple docus, interviews, a featurette, deleted scenes and more. This is flat necessary. (Buy it)
