The 50th anniversary celebration of Doctor Who rolls on with another pair of brand-new-to-DVD releases that fans have been clamoring on about for ages. First up is a tale from the era of Patrick Troughton’s 2nd Doctor, The Ice Warriors (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP), which introduces the fearsome Martian warriors in frosty style. The other release is a bit of forgotten history, as Scream Of The Shalka (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP) was a series of animated shorts meant to introduce and feature the 9th incarnation of the Doctor – played by Richard E. Grant. Yes, that’s right. This project is largely forgotten because it canonically was overruled by the 2005 return of the show to live action, which established the 9th Doctor as Christopher Eccleston. As usual, bonus materials on both discs are copious and wonderful.
You know, it’s not just kids that need to be entertained on a rainy day, or during a long car trip. Thankfully, Brandon Bird has filled that gaping whole with an activity book geared towards adults – Brandon Bird’s Astonishing World Of Art (Chronicle Books, $14.95 SRP) – which includes activities like learning how to draw Tom Hanks, Law & Order coloring Valentine’s, make-your-own Gary Busey scarecrow, and Mr. T coloring pages. Oh, and much, much more.
Sam Mendes exec-producing lush adaptations of four of Shakespeare’s historical plays, packed with performances from Patrick Stewart, Jeremy Irons, Ben Whishaw, John Hurt, Tom Hiddleston, Julie Waters, Richard Griffiths, and more? What is this slice of yes, please? The Hollow Crown (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$44.98 SRP), which features Richard II, Henry IV: Part 1, Henry IV: Part 2, and Henry V. Bonus materials include making-of featurettes.
Who knew Steven Soderbergh would be able to make a biopic about Liberace’s companion in the garishly camp entertainer’s declining years into a compellingly cheesy flick, but that’s exactly what he did with Behind The Candelabra (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$24.99 SRP) – aided by entertaining performances from Michael Douglas and Matt Damon. Bonus materials include a making-of featurette.
It’s not another season set – which can’t come fast enough – but at least you’re able to get a quick fix of Finn & Jake with Adventure Time: Jake The Dad (Cartoon Network, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), which collects 16 stories including Jake & Lady Raincorn’s puppies. If that weren’t enough, the disc also comes packed with your very own Jake hat. Now THAT is math.
Having chatted with Dominic Monaghan years ago and found him to be quite a wonderful gent, I’m delighted that he seems to have found a genuine delight in hosting the BBC’s extreme animals show Wild Things, which sends him cavorting around the world like a latter-day Steve Irwin. You can watch him cavort in a pair of releases – Wild Things: Deadliest Critters & Wild Things: Creepy Crawlers (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP each).
In the age of the internet, you’d think a massive volume like Leonard Maltin’s 2014 Movie Guide (Plume, $25.00 SRP) would be a relic of a hard copy past, but there’s still something satisfying about flipping through its 16,000+ capsule film summaries and perhaps landing on a film you never knew existed, and it sparks an interest to see the film in question. So, for that, the continued existence of this guide is justified.
The first season was bonkers enough, but the second season of Grimm (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$69.98 SRP) manages to up the bonkers factor significantly as Portland detective Nick Burkhardt has fully embraced his legacy as a Grimm just as he must face an ancient evil bloodline linked to the mysterious Captain Renard. And it’s all delightfully bonkers. Bonus materials include an extended episode, featurettes, webisodes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.
Get the awful taste of the US Top Gear out of your mouth with another wonderful new special from the UK original – Top Gear: The Worst Car In The History Of The World (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$9.95 SRP) in which – you guessed it – Clarkson and May try and narrow down a foul field and crown an awful victor.
It’s not a classic, but with the final season of Leverage (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), I find I’ll miss this dependable workhorse of a show, starring Timothy Hutton as the head of a team intent on leveling the playing field for those whose lives are destroyed by the rich and powerful. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.
When so many of Warners’ attempts at bringing DC superheroes to TV and film in recent years have been such colossal embarrassments, it should come as little surprise that I had virtually no expectations for the small screen take on their emerald archer, The Green Arrow. And yet, somehow, after a shaky start, Arrow (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$69.97 SRP) has settled in as a mostly competent take on billionaire Oliver Queen, who in this telling comes home after being marooned on a remote island with a mysterious agenda that includes fighting crime in Starling City. With a bow and a whole lot of arrows. Bonus materials include featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.
A modern-day prequel to the Norman Bates character of Hitchcock’s classic Psycho? Surely, such madness can not possibly work… And yet, somehow, Bates Motel (Universal, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.98 SRP) works, largely on the strength of Freddie Highmore as young Norman and Vera Farmiga as his overbearing and very damaging mother Norma. Bonus materials include deleted scenes and a Paley Center panel discussion.
For this week’s BBC fix, how about the 8th season of those whoduniters Dalziel & Pascoe (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP)? Or if you want your crime drama even darker, perhaps the 8th season of Waking The Dead (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP)? Both are most definitely fix-worthy.
The History Channel has your Halloween viewing covered with a pair of spooky releases that, admittedly, are all complete BS, but then so much on the History Channel is nowadays that it makes sense for them to present fiction as fact. Fear Files (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$14.98 SRP) looks at hauntings, vampires, and the history of Halloween, while Haunted History (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) examines haunted locales around the US.
While last week I spotlighted the original U.S.S. Enterprise 1701, this week I wanted to share the refit version from the motion picture series – the U.S.S. Enterprise 1701-A (Diamond Select Toys, $60.00 SRP)… Specifically, the version from Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan. The fine folks at Diamond Select Toys have done a superb job of capturing the screen-accurate look of that original model in their electronic “Starship Legends” series, featuring accent and nacelle lighting, plus a selection of original sound and dialogue clips from the film. As with all of the other ships in this series, you have the option to either use the display base, which connects to a hole on the bottom of the ship, or swap out that hole-bottom plate for a hole-less version perfect for hanging up in aerial display.
