An Attempt At Shilling DVDs And Blu-Rays (It's Been Awhile)

I haven't done a "weekly buy some DVDs or Blu-Rays through me" post in a long time. Since September if my memory serves me correctly. Still, this is a pretty big home video week, especially for Bond fans, so I figured I'd do one this week.

First up is the newest Bond movie, QUANTUM OF SOLACE, which is a sequel to CASINO ROYALE. Opinions were mixed on this one, but they were bound to be considering this movie had to follow a movie as strong as ROYALE.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE (Blu-Ray) - the version that I'll be getting

QUANTUM OF SOLACE (Two-Disc Special Edition DVD) - what I'd be getting if either it wasn't out on BD or if I didn't have a BD player.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE (DVD) - the single disc version. Best for people who just want to watch the movie and rarely watch extras.

Since the three older Bond movies coming out this week are new to Blu-Ray, but have been out on DVD for a long time, I'm just linking to the Blu-Ray releases.

Widely considered to be the best and most beloved of the Connery-era Bond movies, GOLDFINGER hits Blu-Ray this week. In my opinion, it's definitely among the three best Connery Bond movies, (along with FROM RUSSISA WITH LOVE and THUNDERBALL), and I've been waiting for it to hit Blu. Pick up GOLDFINGER [Blu-ray] or if you're into the steelbook collecting thing, get the GOLDFINGER (Amazon.com Exclusive Steelbook Edition) [Blu-ray].

Next is considered to be one of the worst, if not *the* very worst Bond movies of all time, MOONRAKER. I plan on picking it up because I want the entire series, but this one is definitely at the bottom of my "to buy" pile. Anyway, pick up MOONRAKER [Blu-ray] if you want a Bond that you can mercilessly make fun of while watching. Or if you want to waste about a buck more, pick up MOONRAKER (Amazon.com Exclusive Steelbook Edition) [Blu-ray]

Finally, the last "new to Blu" Bond release is my second favorite from the Brosnan era. THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH seems to take a bit of a beating from critics and fans, but along with GOLDENEYE, I think it's the best of the Bronan movies. Sure, Denise Richards can't act, but back in 1999 she was still nice enough to look at. If nothing else, this movie is far more worthy of being upgraded to Blu-Ray and purchased than MOONRAKER or DIE ANOTHER DAY (which I own). So grab yourself THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH (Blu-Ray), or if you've got champagne taste, splurge for THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH (Amazon.com Exclusive Steelbook Edition) [Blu-ray]

If you want all three older movies without their individual packaging then the James Bond Blu-ray Collection Three-Pack, Vol. 3 (MOONRAKER/ THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH / GOLDFINGEr) [Blu-ray] might be for you.

Also, not on Blu-Ray, ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE is finally getting an individual DVD release in it's remastered form. This one didn't get released individually the last time the movies were re-issued. (It was available remastered in the box sets.)

Finally, the non-canon "fake" Bond movie that Sean Connery did, NEVER SAY NEVER again is also coming out on Blu-Ray this week. Honestly, you'd be better off watching the original version of this story, THUNDERBALL, which had an in his prime Connery. I really think this is for completists only: NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN [Blu-ray] or the new version on DVD, NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN

WATCHMEN was a bit of a commercial flop theatrically. Still, I think it'll find its audience on DVD. Some of the material that had to be cut from the movie for time considerations is hitting home video before the actual movie. So if you can't wait for the super "everything including the kitchen sink" version of the movie to come out, you should pick up WATCHMEN: TALES OF THE BLACK FREIGHTER & UNDER THE HOOD (+ Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] or WATCHMEN: TALES OF THE BLACK FREIGHTER & UNDER THE HOOD.

My brother and I loved watching THE VENTURE BROS, and particularly enjoyed the third season. This time in addition to DVD, this season is coming out on Blu-Ray. Picking up THE VENTURE BROS.: Season Three (DVD) or THE VENTURE BROS.: Season Three [Blu-ray] would be a wise comedy investment.

Last, but not least... If you're like me, you really only liked the first MATRIX movie. The sequels were a big disappointment, and it sucks that if you wanted to buy the HD version of the first movie you also had to get the other two. Well now, the first movie is coming out by itself on Blu-Ray: THE MATRIX 10th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Book [Blu-ray]. So, if you've been waiting to grab this movie in HD, now's the time. Me? I'll stick with my HD-DVD set of all three for now.

Christmas Wrap-Up

Well, Christmas has come and gone.

On Christmas Eve, I got talked into going to an early evening mass. For those of you not in the know, I'm not a church-goer. The fact that I've gone twice this year, and one of them was a funeral, speaks volumes. I was completely lost on the whole stand up, sit down, Catholic workout thing. I'm just not religious and the whole church thing, for me, is boring and uncomfortable. But it seemed important to my mother that I go, and occasionally I'm a halfway good son.

Since it was Christmas, in the afternoon I went with my parents to the cemetery to see my brother. Maybe I'm a gigantic pussy or something, but I hate going there. (I'm not scared or anything dumb like that. I hate going because it depresses me. In fact, visiting the grave earlier was the only time I can recall crying since the day of the funeral.) I've only gone to the mausoleum a handful of times since he died. I prefer to just remember my brother the way he was, and I think he'd understand, and probably be the same way if our situations were reversed. I know that I couldn't handle going every day like my father does. Don't get me wrong, I don't think an hour that I'm awake goes by where I don't think about my brother in some way. (I often catch myself thinking that I need to ask or tell him about something I saw or read.) Anyway, the cemetery aside, Christmas wasn't as depressing as I anticipated. I braced myself for the worst, but I think for the most part everybody held up pretty well, all things considered. (It still would've been better if things hadn't gone the way they had in October though.)

Moving along to more cheery topics...

I'm happy with all of my gifts, except for one. (I got a defective copy of SAINTS ROW for the Xbox 360. There was a round bump on the part of the disc near the hole in the center, which apparently makes it impossible for the 360 to read it. So I have to go through the process of returning it to Amazon and waiting for them to get it back in stock. Luckily, they pay for the postage on the return, and hopefully it doesn't take long to get a replacement.)

GEARS OF WAR 2 is pretty good. I installed it to the 360's hard drive, and I've played quite a bit of it. (The other two games I got were the aforementioned SAINTS ROW and it's sequel. I did try SR2, and it's pretty much what I expected. A nice GTA substitute.)

The games, and a few other "practical and essential" gifts like a new electric razor* aside, the rest of my haul was Blu-Rays and DVDs. The one thing I hate about Blu-Rays (aside from them usually costing a bit more than regular DVDs) is that they make watching regular DVDs a bit painful. Switching from seeing how THE DARK KNIGHT looks on Blu-Ray to 30 ROCK on DVD is like throwing bleach in your eyes. Anyway, I got a lot of both, so I shouldn't be complaining about having nothing to watch for at least a week or two.

On a related note... Am I the only one who can never decide whether or not to throw away or keep that (useless) cardboard sleeve they seem to slip over nearly every DVD (and Blu-Ray) these days? Unlike box sets, they don't seem to serve any purpose. It's also annoying when you get a situation where you've got a series of movies (in my case, the James Bond Blu-Rays) and one or two don't come with the cardboard sleeve and the others do. You'd think environmental nuts would be flipping out over the wasted cardboard like they did with the long boxes that CDs used to come in back when they first game out.

* The electric razor kind of didn't make sense, since I rarely am clean shaven. I'm usually rockin' the stubble. To me, I look odd without some facial hair. It probably compensates for the lack of hair on the top of my head.

Well, that was pretty lengthy. I think it sort of makes up for my laziness throughout the week.

A Weekend Where I Snuck In Stuff Besides Movies And Games

Friday night I just hung out at home. I wound up popping in WRATH OF KHAN on DVD. A tiny bit of a mistake given how emotional I've been over the last month and half (for obvious reasons) and how I've always gotten choked up by the end of the movie ever since the first time I saw it in 1982. It's the only TREK movie I have on DVD (twice, both the theatrical version and the director's cut), and I felt like seeing the *real* Enterprise crew given all the hype the remake/prequel has been getting. Also, I watched it because there wasn't much else on.

After that I watched two episodes of NCIS on OnDemand. I've recently accidentally started watching reruns of that show on USA. I haven't bothered to learn the characters names. I just call them Mr Shoop and the others by whatever their defining characteristic is. (Ala "the smart ass", "the goofy goth chick", "the nerdy one" etc.)

Saturday, I spent my lunchtime re-watching more of CHUCK season one on Blu-Ray.

I spent the late afternoon until around 11 over at my friend Chris'. I got to (finally) see his new baby daughter. We just hung out shooting the breeze and playing Wii. (Up until Saturday I had never tried out the Wii.) Even though I've become a total hermit, it's still nice to hang with friends.

Once I got home I saw that my copy of LEFT 4 DEAD was waiting for me. So I installed that, which actually seemed to take a long time. While it installed, I watched a bit of THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY (2005) on Blu-Ray. It's a good looking DVD, but it looks even better in HD. I don't know anybody else who likes that movie, besides my brother (it was his Blu-Ray), but I like it. (I also like the old '80s BBC miniseries.)

Sunday I didn't do much. Obviously, I played LEFT 4 DEAD and watched 24: REDEMPTION. But you probably figured that out from my two previous posts, huh?

24: Redemption

Since there wasn't a new season of 24 in January of 2008 because of the writer's strike, Fox decided to crank out a prequel movie to the upcoming season. Unlike previous 24 season prequels, this wasn't a thinly-disguised ten minute car commercial. It was essentially two episodes of the show, right down to taking place in real time.

While most of the movie feels like somebody dropped Jack Bauer in the middle of the movie BLOOD DIAMOND, there were a few scenes set in Washington DC. Those scenes mostly seem to be to setup the new status quo, since that's where the majority of season seven will be taking place. I figured out the fate of the young guy at the finance company and that John Voight's character (who's supposed to be the bad guy this time out) was going to have people inside the secret service.

Honestly, while it was nice to get some new 24, the movie felt a bit like filler and I just found myself wishing the new season would start already. that having been said, I'll probably get the DVD since I've got the other six seasons of the show on DVD. I guess that's the completist in me.

Pick up 24 REDEMPTION on DVD from Amazon.

A Busy Thursday

Well, I went for my tests and I have some bad news for all of you...

...I'm completely healthy. Sure, I could stand to lose some weight and I should eat less fast food, but unless I get hit by a bus or something, I'm not going to be dying anytime soon. So the bad news is I'll still be writing useless things on here for a looooong time to come.

The worst part of the tests was when they took my blood and didn't get enough for an accurate read the first time, so they had to take more. That kinda sucked. Other than that, the whole thing was a breeze. My mom went along for moral support. Well, and to make sure that I actually went to the appointment, since she's the one who was so insistent that I get checked out.

So far, it's been a busy day.

I only slept about three, maybe close to four hours last night. Then I got up, got ready and then went for my appointment.

After that I called my dad to let him know how that went, then I went to the cemetery. Today's the day they were moving my brother from where his crypt is to the actual mausoleum in the other cemetery, so that's one less thing to worry about.

By then it was time for lunch so we grabbed a bite. (Tone: If you're reading this, we stopped by your place of business but I guess you weren't coming in until 2.)

Then my mom wanted to pick up the Thanksgiving turkey, so I went along for that. I also picked up a spindle of 100 DVD-Rs.

After that it was off to the second cemetery to see if my brother was in his new spot yet. He was, although we couldn't recall exactly which place was his, since the front hasn't been engraved with his name yet.

Came home to find my CHUCK season 1 Blu-Ray waiting for me. That was cool, since it's estimated arrival date was tomorrow. I also checked and Amazon UK shipped out my PEEP SHOW box set. So that should be here by the first of next month, possibly sooner.

Now I'm just planning on doing some net stuff for a bit and checking out the CHUCK BD. After that a nap until it's time to eat and then it's THE OFFICE, 30 ROCK, and IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY for TV viewing tonight.

Middle Of The Week And All Is (Mostly) Well

My birthday was, for the most part, thankfully uneventful. I've already burned through much of the birthday money that I've received. (I ordered the first season of CHUCK on Blu-Ray from Amazon, and the complete (so far) series 1-5 of PEEP SHOW on DVD from Amazon UK.)

One of my friends took me out to see QUANTUM OF SOLACE, so that was really cool. I was actually supposed to go with another friend on Saturday night, but I guess I called him back too late (I was out to dinner with my parents when I got his text) and that fell through. On top of that another friend had two free passes for the movie, and I had a free pass of my own that came with my FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE Blu-Ray. Those free passes weren't for either of the two theaters locally that I normally go to, but it'd be a bit of a shame for them to go to waste. So I might see the flick again. I'll probably write a little review of QoS later on.

Since I was out, I didn't see THE SHIELD yet. I PVRed it, and I downloaded it as well. I skimmed the download for highlights, and I have to say I did watch a large chunk of the last 10-15 minutes of the episode. It absolutely floored me. (If you saw the episode, you know what I'm talking about.) Next week's finale should be amazing. I know I say this frequently, but THE SHIELD is the one TV show that's run for multiple seasons (seven) and never took a dip in quality.

Wednesday is a dead TV night until January, so I'll probably watch this week's SHIELD and SOUTH PARK tonight.

Tomorrow I go for my medical tests. I'm still a little stressed about that, but it'll be good to just get that over with. Then I can move along to the stress of Thanksgiving, and after that shopping for Christmas.

A Reminder For My Fellow Nerds

The new series of THE IT CROWD starts on Friday. So make sure to watch (or "illegally" download) it this week.

If you're in the UK you might want to pick show's earlier series on DVD. If you're in the US you can import it, you'll just need an all-region player that can convert the PAL signal on the discs to NTSC. (Check your player over at VideoHelp to see if it can do those things.) Importing is probably the best bet because I've been waiting for a US release of this show for a few years now, and even though it was announced a few years back, it still hasn't come out.

THE IT CROWD series 1 on DVD
THE IT CROWD series 2 on DVD
THE IT CROWD series 1 and 2 box set on DVD

I've got the two separate series 1 and 2 discs, so I'm not sure if it's just the two separate discs in a box or if it's got different packaging.

The extras and even the menus really make these discs worth picking up.

If you're importing and not sure about the exchange rate between pounds and dollars (or other currency) check out XE exchange rate calculator, which is really handy.

From Russia With Love: A Brief Look At The Blu-ray

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE is tied with CASINO ROYALE as my favorite James Bond movie. Both lack the silliness and over the top gadgets that crept into the series as it wore on. (THUNDERBALL is where the gadget creep started, with the jet pack. Then YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE started down the improbability road with Bond posing as a Japanese ninja. C'mon, Sean Connery pretending to be Japanese is a stretch and a half. I still can't decide if it's ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE or DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER as the point when the campy elements that permeated the movies throughout most of Roger Moore's time in the role started.)

I'm not going to do a review of the movie itself, since one of these days I plan on doing a series of Bond reviews in chronological release order, re-watching each film as I do it. Again, the short review is that this is one of the best Bonds and it's got Connery in it. Definitely worth a buy.

I've got FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE on DVD, the nice remastered version from a few years back. Then I downloaded a ripped from cable 720p HD version of the movie because it wasn't commercially available in HD. Now, FRWL is the first Blu-Ray of my own that I've added to my collection. (The rest of the BDs and the Playstation 3 player for them that I have now are inherited.)

I can't believe how amazing this movie, which came out in 1963, looks in high def. The Blu-Ray smokes the HDTV rip in picture quality. The picture is loads sharper and the colors are far more vibrant. The digitally remastered DVDs are great looking DVDs. The BD of this movie makes the DVD's picture quality seem like something that was recorded underwater. I'm a bit surprised by this, but I should be. After all, I've seen older movies look great when transferred to Blu-Ray. For instance, the original '78 DAWN OF THE DEAD is another flick that looks shockingly great on BD. (It's also usually dirt cheap!)

I also like how, unlike some other titles, a lot of the special features on this disc are also in HD. They seem to be the same extras from the special box set DVD edition, but since I bought my copies of those movies individually, I didn't get the second disc. This means that the extras are new to me.

If you've made the jump to Blu, and dig the Bond flicks, definitely add FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE on Blu-Ray to your collection if you haven't already. You won't regret it.

More Daily Life Stuff Since I Can't Think Of Anything To Write About

I spent all day Wednesday hanging with my friend Tony (and his baby). I accompanied him on some errands, we grabbed a bite, and played video games on the Xbox 360 at his place for a bit. All in all, it was a nice day out.

Thursday was the first day since my brother went into the hospital that I didn't go anywhere and nobody called or came over. Not that I haven't been grateful for the support of friends and family, but it's been go go go for about two weeks now. So the quiet was a bit of a break.

I went through my Google Reader and dumped a bunch of RSS feeds. I've still got way more than I probably need, but the last two weeks made me realize how many I have that are either completely useless or running duplicate stories. When I first started checking the net again a few days ago I was hitting "mark all as read" instead of carefully combing through and finding interesting news.

I caught up on most of the shows that I didn't watch last week. I've still got a few to watch. Originally, I wasn't going to bother, but I figured it would be a nice distraction. Distractions are exactly what I need right now.

I was also somewhat psyched to see that all of the Bond movies are available in HD via OnDemand for the next month or so. Although only a handful of them are for free and the rest are pay per views. I don't know if they're the new and improved BluRay transfers, or the same HD transfer that have been shown on cable before. (The ones I already have downloaded on my computer.) If I can get them on the cheap, I'd definitely like to get the three Connery-era Bond flicks that are coming out on BluRay next week. The rest of the movies coming out in that format are ones that aren't high on my buy list. (Although eventually I want them all on Blu.) Seriously, they're putting out DIE ANOTHER DAY, one of the very worst Bond movies instead of something like GOLDENEYE or THE SPY WHO LOVED ME? Crazy.

Both this week's THE OFFICE and IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA didn't do much for me. I also tried out the first episode of TESTEES via OnDemand earlier in the day and decided I'm not going to bother with that show. (The commercials for it always cracked my brother up, so I wonder if he would've enjoyed that show more than I did.)

DVD Tuesday For 9-30-2008 - Ridiculous Sized Edition

It's that time of the week where I hijack my own website in the name of commercialism and link to a bunch of DVDs and Blu-Rays that I think are worth your time and money. It's probably one step away from internet panhandling, but hey, I don't have the government dropping billions of dollars in my lap to bail me out.

Shockingly, this week is all movies and no TV show box sets. If you break it down, there's only three DVDs I'm recommending this week, the rest is all things that are finally hitting Blu-Ray.

IRON MAN was a surprise hit at the box office this summer. I haven't seen it yet, but I plan on watching it soon. Supposedly this is a really good movie and adaptation, which is a rarity. I've never like IRON MAN as a character or really bought any of his own comics series. I'd be exposed to him through other titles and guest-appearances. That having been said, even *I* want to see this movie. IRON MAN comes in three flavors:

IRON MAN (Two-Disc Special Collectors' Edition) DVD for those of us who still haven't sunk the money into sweet hi-def disc goodness.

IRON MAN (Single-Disc Edition) DVD, for those of you like me, who know you'll only watch a few of the special features once and never watch them again or at all.

IRON MAN (Ultimate Two-Disc Edition) [Blu-ray] for those of you who splurged and have gone Blu.

If a well-adapted comic book movie isn't your cup of tea, maybe you'd prefer a bad adaption?

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL: This movie was a bit hard to watch because I cringed most of the time I spent watching it. That's not a comment on the quality of the movie. You see, having been through a horrible, at least it was horrible on my side, break up back at the end of 2000, I spent most of 2001 wallowing in utter despair and misery. Then I got over it. (Time + distance + perspective = shoulder shrug.) So years later watching a movie character behave that way for two hours is like having some sort of mirror strapped to a time machine for me. But hey, it has Kristen Bell and the guy who plays Marshall on HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER. So of course I had to watch it, and for the most part I enjoyed it. I figure it's one to pop in anytime I want to torture myself in an amusing way. Sort of like popping in a video of me playing in my band from when I was in high school and had gigantic heavy metal hair.

Like IRON MAN, there are three versions of this movie...

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL (Three-Disc Unrated Collector's Edition) DVD with all of the extras that you'll probably watch once and then find yourself asking why you didn't just get the single disc release?

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL (Widescreen) DVD is that single disc release for the cheapskate in all of us.

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL [Blu-ray] for you hi-def snobs. Oh, how I want to be one of you.

That's not all. Universal is using Judd Apatow producing this movie as an excuse to re-release two of his hits on Blu-Ray. I'm being just as clever (read: greedy) and plugging them here.

THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN [Blu-ray]: In my opinion, the best of the Judd Apatow movies finally hits Blu-Ray (after multiple DVD releases and an HD-DVD release). This movie was lightning in a bottle, and if you ask me, all the other movies with Apatow's name on it that have come out after VIRGIN have been coasting on how good this movie is. They're pretty good movies, but this is the peak.

KNOCKED UP [Blu-ray]: I like this movie. Just not as much as VIRGIN. It's a little more serious, and probably a bit too long, even more overly long in the extended edition. I have a hard time watching things with Katherine Heigl considering how often I read about how unpleasant she is off-screen, which shouldn't really matter but for some reason I can almost see her bitchiness on the screen.

OSS 117: CAIRO, NEST OF SPIES is a French movie that's a dead-on parody of the Connery-era Bond flicks. The lead actor's mannerisms, even the way he fights are perfectly aped from Connery in the first five Bond movies. The sets, the action sequences, everything looks like an early 60s Bond movie. Squint and you might think you're watching an unreleased movie from that era. Of course, then you'd have a really hard time reading the subtitles. I've been waiting for a good region 1 release of this for awhile now.

Now, since Halloween is coming, the studios are digging into their back-catalog and hitting the Blu-Ray market with some older titles.

THE THING [Blu-ray]: One of my favorite movies of all time. Isolation (especially in cold temperatures), freaky shape changing alien monster, Kurt Russell in a Carpenter flick, bleak ending. What more can you ask for?

THE SIXTH SENSE [Blu-ray]: I only enjoyed this movie the first time I saw it, upon subsequent viewings I've found it gloomy and boring. But my mom seems to love this movie, and so did a lot of people before we all got bored with M Night.

THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE [Blu-ray]: The original from 1973, not the big budget studio remake from a few years ago. I'm curious how this looks transferred to hi-def, since I'd imagine bad picture quality is one of this movie's selling points. A cleaned up TCSM just doesn't seem like it would look "right" to me. On the other hand I was shocked by how great the original DAWN OF THE DEAD looked on Blu-Ray when my brother showed it to me.

DAWN OF THE DEAD (Unrated Director's Cut) [Blu-ray]: I really liked this remake. I went into it watching to hate it, and was surprised that it was a good movie. Some people, like my brother, refuse to give this one a chance because of their love for the original. This is an entirely different movie and not a remake. Only the name, and idea of zombie surrounding the outside of a mall where survivors are holed up, are the the common factors between the two. Had the producers called it something else, people would've said they were ripping off the original DAWN. So it was a can't win situation. I've got this on DVD and it's a definite future upgrade for me.

LAND OF THE DEAD (Unrated Director's Cut) [Blu-ray]: For those of you who only want your zombies from Romero. I saw this back when it came out in theaters, and a few times since, and it's my least favorite of the Romero zombie movies. There's just some missing factor that I can't put my finger on. Still, given enough viewings it might wear me down. It took a long time for me to warm to DAY OF THE DEAD, which surprised me considering how much I enjoyed it's two predecessors.

One last DVD, one to avoid...

PULSE 2: AFTERLIFE (DVD). The first PULSE movie, the one with Kristen Bell, wasn't all that great. This direct to video sequel isn't worth the time unless you're some sort of completist. Not even the presence of Jamie Bamber (Apollo on BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) could get me to like this movie.

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DVD Tuesday For 9-23-2008: An Offer You Can't Refuse Edition

I know what you're thinking. "Aw crap! It's that time of the week where Mike shills DVDs and Blu-Rays." You would be correct for thinking that! See, if you buy stuff through my links I make money. I like making money. I also like spendning money, which is really hard to do when you don't make money. It's all simple science, really.

This week the only really worthy piece of entertainment hitting plastic is THE GODFATHER TRILOGY, which is finally coming out in HD. It's been remastered, so of course there's a standard def DVD version as well. I hope it looks better than the last DVD box set. The first version of these movies on DVD had really terrible video quality, which I used to think was either by choice or because the source films were so old. Anyway, THE GODFATHER and its first sequel are absolute classics and masterpieces of cinema. I think viewing them is one of the requirements for manhood. (Ladies should also watch them so they know what men are talking about.) The third one, well... not so much. You probably should watch it anyway, because you've invested so much time into the other movies. Plus it does have that one classic line, "Everytime I think I'm out... they pull me back in."

Pick up THE GODFATHER - The Coppola Restoration Giftset on Blu-Ray or THE GODFATHER - The Coppola Restoration Giftset on DVD. You can also buy the movies seperately. (If you do, it'd be awesome if you did it via the search boxes on the sidebar!) Really though, box sets are usually a better deal.

No TV shows on DVD this week. Well, one. Friday The 13th - The Series: The First Season, for those of you who miss mediocre syndicated horror from the late 1980s!

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DVD Tuesday For 9-9-2008

It's that time of the week where I look at what's coming out on DVD (and Blu-Ray) and talk about the ones that are of interest to me. It's also the part of the week where I shamelessly plug those same DVDs via my Amazon Associates links. After all, if you buy these things it'll go towards the cost of my purchasing a private island.

It's a tiny week.

IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA: Season 3 is pretty much the only DVD release this week that I'm interested in getting. It's one of the funniest shows on TV, and there were a few standout episodes in season 3. (The "Nightman/Dayman" one always makes me laugh when I think about it.)

There's also...

THE BIG LEBOWSKI - 10th Anniversary Limited Edition. How many times are they going to re-release this movie on DVD? I think I've got at least two versions of this on DVD.

I don't have a Blu-Ray player, but when I eventually get one I'll definitely pick up KILL BILL Volume One and KILL BILL Volume Two on Blu-Ray.

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DVD Tuesday For 9-2-2008

It's that time of the week where I look at what's coming out on DVD (and Blu-Ray) and talk about the ones that are of interest to me. It's also the part of the week where I shamelessly plug those same DVDs via my Amazon Associates links. After all, if you buy these things it'll help me fund the gigantic robot I want to build so that I can conquer the world.

Another soft week for movies, big for TV in terms of new releases.

I love THE OFFICE. I can't say that it's my absolute favorite show, or even pick and absolute favorite show. However, I got both my dad and my brother into THE OFFICE and both of them proclaim that it's their favorite show. That really surprised me, because unlike myself, neither of them has ever worked in an office, so I didn't think they'd like or relate to the show like I do. There really isn't a way to make a show about a bunch of people working at the office of a paper company sound interesting. You just have to simply make them watch a few episodes.

Grab THE OFFICE: Season Four on DVD, or there're now a box set of THE OFFICE: Seasons 1 - 4 Collection.

I was surprised last fall by how much I liked THE BIG BANG theory. Especially after having seen the leaked pilot last summer and thinking the show would be a flop. After a few episodes though, the show about a bunch of nerds and their pretty neighbor who inexplicably hangs out with them, won me over. It's a pretty funny show. THE BIG BANG THEORY - The Complete First Season is definitely on my "I'm buying that" list.

Other TV sets of interest...

I watched the first two seasons of SUPERNATURAL, and enjoyed it. I didn't watch season three, mostly because it airs on Thursday nights. Thursdays, along with Mondays, are the most densely programmed nights in television. Which, this past year, put it up against LOST, SCRUBS, and THE OFFICE. (I can only watch one thing live and PVR one other.) At some point I should pick up SUPERNATURAL - The Complete Third Season, so that I can catch up on what I missed.

One Thursday night show that I did watch last year was ELI STONE. It had a few things going for it, a good timeslot (right after LOST, no real 10pm competition), one of the cretors works in comics, two pretty female actresses, and an interesting concept. That concept being, due to a brain anyeurism a lawyer envisions or hallucinates things that make him help people. It's all fairly episodic, and while not "appointment TV", definitely a fairly enjoyable way to kill some time. So, if that sounds like your thing you might want to pick up ELI STONE: The Complete First Season on DVD.

The only real movie this week has already been released. It's TRANSFORMERS (Two-Disc Special Edition) on Blu-ray. To me, picking this one up would be more about having a nice hi-definition reference disc to show people exactly how nice HD can look. The movie itself is pretty mediocre, and as a TRANSFORMERS movie, it actually sucks since they're more like guest-stars in their own movie. So really, it's more about the visuals.

DVD Tuesday For 8-26-2008

It's that time of the week where I look at what's coming out on DVD (and Blu-Ray) and talk about the ones that are of interest to me. It's also the part of the week where I shamelessly plug those same DVDs via my Amazon Associates links. After all, if you buy these things it brings me one step closer to getting the money that I need to buy a monkey that I can train as a butler, tuxedo and all.

Another week with zero movies coming out on DVD that I'm interested in. This is a fairly big TV box set week though.

THE SHIELD: The Complete Sixth Season is out, after what seems like a lengthy delay. Most TV shows have a really good first season or two and then slide into mediocrity or, more often, just plain awfulness. THE SHIELD isn't one of those shows. It's maintained it's stellar quality for six seasons. Season six is the penultimate season, and the final season starts airing in a few weeks. The tension, which is usually already high, really ramps up in season six. Vic hunts for Lem's killer, without knowing that it's one of his own men. Once the truth comes out, it only gets more intense. If I had to pick one DVD set to get this week, I'd absolutely go with this one.

HEROES: Season 2 also comes out on DVD this week. Like pretty much every show from last season, this is a short season due to the writer's strike. It's a shame too, because after a lackluster start, season two started to pull things together a bit towards the end. I mean, you know a show has taken a dip in quality when the show runner was giving interviews apologizing for the show. The DVD set is supposed to include the bits that were filmed before production halted for the strike, so we get to find out what George Takei's power was, and where the show would've gone had season two gone on. (After changing the ending to season two, season three will be going in a different direction than originally planned.)

For those of you with a Blu-Ray player, not only is Heroes: Season 2 on Blu-Ray available, but Heroes: Season 1 is finallly out on Blu-Ray as well. (Previously it was only out on DVD and HD-DVD.)

ENTOURAGE: The Complete Fourth Season: Let's face it, ENTOURAGE is essentially male wish fulfillment on TV for a half hour a week. Being (mostly) idly rich, banging hot chicks, and shooting the shit with your buddies. No real over-reaching plot or anything like that. It's just light entertainment, where you can turn your brain off a bit. It's one of my "guilty pleasure" shows.

"What were they thinking?" Dept:Was there really anybody clamoring to get Dude Where's My Car on Blu-Ray? When I think of movies that need to make that leap over to HD, because of the stunning visuals or being important classics, this isn't anywhere near that list.

DVD Tuesday For 8-19-2008

It's that time of the week where I look at what's coming out on DVD (and Blu-Ray) and talk about the ones that are of interest to me. It's also the part of the week where I shamelessly plug those same DVDs via my Amazon Associates links. After all, if you buy these things it enables me to super-size my meals and, as a result, super-size my ass.

Another week that's pretty light on anything worth talking about or buying. Nothing of interest in movies. The only "big" release in that category is the lame remake of PROM NIGHT. I think I'd rather watch myself get run over by a lawnmower than watch that movie ever again.

So, it's down to TV seasons on DVD for new stuff this week.

Probably the best TV season box set of the week would be HOUSE, M.D. - Season Four. HOUSE is one of those shows that gets by more on the personality of the main character, and the skillful acting of the actor, than the plots. In fact, HOUSE is one of those shows, that if you fall asleep watching one episode on DVD and wake up in the middle of another, you can't always be sure that you're not watching the episode that you fell asleep during, it can be that formulaic. And I'm saying that as somebody who really likes the show. It's a really episodic show, so unlike LOST, for instance, you can miss an episode or two and not feel like you missed anything. Sure, you get more benefit out of watching all of the episodes and watching them in order, but it's not as serialized as most hour-long dramas these days.

Season four starts where season three left off, House has either fired or had each member of his team quit. At first he seems happy to work alone, but then he's forced to hire a new team. A good chunk of the season is spent weeding down the candidates of the new team until he narrows it down to three. (I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that two of the people that wind up on the new team are played by Kal Penn, who's Kumar in the HAROLD AND KUMAR movies, and Olivia Wilde, who's really hot. She's essentially Cameron 2.0. I go back and forth on whether or not I consider Wilde or Jennifer Morrison more attractive. Guess it depends when you ask me.) Oddly enough, the rest of the old team are still employed at the hospital, but two thirds of them take a drastically reduced role. That makes the fact that they're the ones in the box art instead of the new crew seem odd to me.

Oh, you can also pick up all four seasons of HOUSE in one collection. Unless they re-did them, unlike seasons two through four, the first season isn't widescreen.

The only other somewhat noteworthy release this week is TERMINATOR - THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES: The Complete First Season on DVD and Blu-Ray. I found myself watching this show season, and I'll probably watch it this year too. That having been said, for me, it was more like filler television. Just something to watch. On the other hand, the DVD seems on the inexpensive side. So if you dug the movies but didn't watch the show, it won't cost you much to check this out.

DVD Tuesday For 8-12-2008

It's that time of the week where I look at what's coming out on DVD (and Blu-Ray) and talk about the ones that are of interest to me. It's also the part of the week where I shamelessly plug those same DVDs via my Amazon Associates links. After all, if you buy these things it contributes to the cost of the fountain and bronze statue of myself that I want to put in my front yard.

This is a pretty crappy week for new DVD releases. There's no movies that I have any interest in. Just two TV shows. The only new thing that I'd consider buying is PRISON BREAK season 3. TV shows generally are more enjoyable on DVD than regular TV because there's no commercials. Plus, and this is just my opinion, they're a better bargain than movies because you get more for your money. Extras aside, you get way more hours of content from a TV series DVD set than a movie DVD, considering that most movies clock in anywhere from 90-140 minutes on average.


PRISON BREAK season three was a shortened season, consisting of thirteen episodes. This is because of the writer's strike. (I'm a lousy salesman for pointing this out, but they're charging nearly as much for this season as they would for a full 20+ episode season.) This is the season where they decided that for the show's name to make sense, they had to throw as many of the guys who escaped from prison in season one into another prison, this time in a foreign country. If this show is anything to go by, Panama prison is worse than American prison. In some ways, and you'll probably agree if you're a viewer of the show, this show is terrible. The plots and situations are ludicrous. Yet, despite that, whenever a new episode is on, I'm glued to my seat watching it. I think part of the appeal is that unlike most shows, which only have a really good cliffhanger at the end of each episode, this show manages to have an "episode ending worthy" cliffhanger at each commercial break. Anyway, I plan on picking this up at some point to join the previous two seasons in my collection.

Pick up: PRISON BREAK: Season 3 DVD or PRISON BREAK: Season 3 Blu-Ray.

The only other thing coming out this week that's any good is HUSTLE: Seasons 1-4 on DVD. I bought all of the seasons on DVD individually, so I won't be picking this one up. There would be no point to that aside from getting a nice box with all of the seasons. I can't see myself re-buying the show just to get a box, no matter how much I love it. However, if you're into the show and never got around to picking it up on DVD, this is probably the best way to get it.

New On DVD - 7-29-2008

In my quest to do something besides have nearly every post I make consist of a list of links and brief comments on them, I like to try and find other things to write about. Since I watch a lot of movies, I figured I'd write about some movies that I've seen that are new on DVD this week. (And while I'm at it, post links to where you can buy them and I get a cut of the profits if you do it through my link. I'm on a quest for a little money too.) I don't know if I'll do this sort of thing every week. Mostly because I'm lazy and I seem to enjoy watching movies a lot more than I do writing about them these days.

DOOMSDAY: Based on the trailer and other people's reviews I was ready to write this one off as a ripoff of a bunch of other movies that most of us have seen before. Movies like ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, the MAD MAX movies, and even 28 DAYS/WEEKS LATER. It's be an absolute lie to say that this flick doesn't borrow from those other movies. However, the commentary leads me to think that it's more of a form of homage rather than blatant lack of creativity. Plus, I'm willing to give writer/director, Neil Marshall some slack, because I dug his previous movie, DOG SOLDIERS.

The premise of DOOMSDAY is simple enough. There's a outbreak of a disease in Scotland, so the entire country is walled off and quarantined. Roughly twenty years pass, and one of the few people taken out of the country before it was cut off was a little girl who has grown up to become some sort of crazy SWAT cop. Her name is Eden Sinclair, played by Rhona Mitra. Eden is, essentially speaking, the Snake Plisskin of this story. Missing eye and everything. Anyway, Eden is recruited to take a team into Scotland to look for a scientist who was working on a cure for the disease before the walls went up. This is because the plague has started showing up in England. Naturally, things turn really bad once the team are behind the wall. Cannibal gangs and a crazed medieval society await to enact ridiculous violence on the team.

Personally, I enjoyed the movie more than I thought I would. I'd say at the very least, DOOMSDAY is worth watching once. Definitely a try before you buy. So check it out somehow and if you dig it you can pick it up on DVD or in HD on Blu-Ray at Amazon.

Moving from post-apocalyptic to modern stoner satire...

HAROLD & KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY: I was surprised by how much I liked the first movie in this series. I was expecting the sequel to suck, as sequels usually do. So I was nicely surprised by HAROLD AND KUMAR 2. I found it to be just as funny as the first, and maybe even funnier. Of course, that's only after having seen it one time. I don't know if it'll stand up for me in multiple re-watchings like the previous flick in the series did.

The plot of this one is that it takes place immediately after the first movie. The boys get on a plane and due to an "only in the movies" sort of misunderstanding, they're arrested as terrorists and shipped off to Guantanamo Bay. Now, in a time where people are sent there for real, this doesn't sound very comedic. Luckily, the duo don't spend much time there, and they escape. They spend the rest of the movie on the run, trying to clear their names while having misadventures. Neil Patrick Harris, who was amazing in the first flick, is back again and possibly even more demented than he was the last time out. There's also Rob Corddry, who's playing an inept homeland security agent, who's chasing the boys down. People without a sense of humor might want to avoid this one. Anybody who dug the first one should definitely pick this up.

So, grab it on DVD or in HD on Blu-Ray at Amazon.

Also the first movie in the series HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE just came out on Blu-Ray. It's at a fairly reasonable price for a new Blu-Ray. Pick it up on Blu-Ray at Amazon.

LOST BOYS: THE TRIBE: Even though it's only coming out today, I saw this last week. I'll be blunt, I didn't like it. Seeing as this is a direct-to-video sequel of a movie from twenty years ago, my expectations were low. Low expectations were met. In a lot of ways, this is pretty much a remake of the first movie. They even cast Keifer Sutherland's younger brother in the lead vampire role. (Too bad he doesn't have the acting chops of his older brother and dad.) Honestly, I pretty much only watched this movie to see how much of a train wreck Corey Haim's performance would be. He doesn't even turn up until the end credits in a very brief sequence, about a minute long. The other half of the Corey screen duo, Feldman, gets more screen time. In fact, he's the only character from the original to return in any signifigant way in the movie. For me, the only real reason to watch this movie is because Autumn Reeser is hot.

I can't recommend the movie, but if you want to blow your cash on it, I'd be happy to take a percentage of your DVD or Blu-Ray sale. Honestly, you'd be better off just buying the first movie, which just came out on Blu-Ray.

Finally, WARGAMES also got a 25th anniversary edition DVD that came out this week, but I didn't feel like writing a review of a movie I watched about three hundred times in the 80's. But it is a classic and worth picking up on DVD if you haven't already.

Spaced - My Shameless Plug For A Show I Love

After years upon years of waiting, SPACED is finally coming out on DVD in the US this week.

For those of you not in the know, SPACED is one of the best TV shows of all time. It's a British sitcom about two twenty-somethings who pretend to be a couple to rent a flat. They have a bunch of odd neighbors and friends, get up to all sorts of strange and hilarious things, and there's tons of pop culture references. It's all incredibly well done, and I'm still holding out hope for the unlikely event that there will be a third season. This is one of my all-time favorite TV shows ever. (If you liked SHAUN OF THE DEAD and HOT FUZZ and somehow don't know about SPACED, 2/3 of the creative team behind those movies made this show. It also features most of the people from those movies.)

I'm sure most of you have already seen the show and know exactly how awesome it is. Probably via download, which is how I discovered the series about six years ago. It made me import the region 2 DVDs. Some of might've even seen the show via imported (or region 0 bootlegged) DVD yourselves. Now it's finally out in region 1 DVD. Even if you do have it in some other format, legal or otherwise, this new box set has all of the extras from the old sets, as well as more extras and new commentaries. Including guest commentaries with Kevin Smith, Patton Oswalt, Quentin Taratinto, Matt Stone, Diablo Cody, and Bill Hader.

So if you don't already own the region 2 DVDs, do yourself a favor and buy it. Do me a favor and buy it through my Amazon link. Or you could just, y'know, suck. Seriously, you're doing yourself a disservice by not owning this show, even if you don't buy it through me.

Entertainment Stuff

Don't ask me why, but I watched the TMNT computer animated movie in HD via OnDemand earlier today. I saw it among the choices, and just wanted to see how the CGI looked. Surprisingly, I wound up watching the whole thing. That's something I didn't expect to do since I haven't had any real interest in the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES since I bought the four colorized trade paperbacks of their early indie comics back in the late 80's. It's a shame that the computer animation of today wasn't around back when that series was at the height of it's popularity in the 80's. A CGI flick like this probably would have aged better and been more fondly remembered than those live action disasters. This one was Pixar quality. Call me crazy, but I might even buy TMNT on DVD at some point. (Note: Shameless sales plug!) Seriously, I really liked the graphics. The last CG animated movie I liked this much was THE INCREDIBLES.

After that I dozed off re-watching HIGH TENSION. (Also on On-Demand HD.) Really good movie, I just needed a nap.

I heard that the DVD screener of the FRINGE pilot leaked online. I haven't personally checked it out though. It's one of the two new shows starting in the fall that I plan on giving a shot. The other is DOLLHOUSE. Both are on Fox though, so I'm not planning on getting too invested in either.

I've only got an episode and a half of the old 1981 TV version of HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY before I'm done with it. I'm not sure what'll become my "watch as I fall asleep" viewing choice after that. (Not that the TV version is bad, I just tend to only put it on in that last fifteen minutes before I fall asleep.)

I still haven't seen this week's DOCTOR WHO. I've heard it's a bit of a filler episode and it was written by RTD. Two things that equal up to my not being in any real rush to watch it.

The Summer Of Mike Continues

It finally cooled off enough outside for me to venture out for some supplies on Wednesday. (Diet Coke was running dangerously low in the fridge.) It's still too hot for me though. But still, temperatures in the mid-80s and 70s are better than the 90s. Hot weather makes me more sluggish than usual. Considering how incredibly sluggish I normally am, that's pretty impressive.

With nothing on TV, I've spent the last few evenings watching more COUPLING on DVD. I've finished off the first two series and am about half way through the third. (In case anybody's wondering I've got the region 2 UK DVD set because at the time it was cheaper to import than it was to buy the region 1 US set.)

The other night, while looking around the house for something else, I stumbled across a box of old HEAVY METAL magazines from 1996-97. I vaguely recall a phase where I was picking it up towards the end of my tenure working at the comics shop. Anyway, those will make nice bathroom reading.

My brother informed me that Amazon shipped his copy of METAL GEAR SOLID 4, and that it will be arriving today. Hopefully he'll let me have a go at it. I'm still annoyed at him for shaving off his beard the other day. Not that I care whether he has a beard or not. I just thought it would be funny if he left the moustache like "Old Snake" for the first day of playing the game.