The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Quick Stop Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…
It’s a shame that Gordon Ramsay is mostly known for the over-produced Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares when his UK output is so wonderfully engaging. Case in point – and well worth checking out – is his celebration of food, The F Word (BFS, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), which finds Ramsay tackling a different menu item each week in his F Word restaurant, which also includes a celebrity component and trips into the field. Also, as a way of showing the viewers and his kids where the food on the dinner table comes from and give them more of an appreciation, a different animal each season is raised by the Gordon clan, and then served at the end of the season. This season found them raising six turkeys. The 3-disc set features all 7 episodes, but sadly no bonus features.
I should have spotlighted this last week with the re-released Back To The Future DVDs, but as there’s no time machine currently available, I’ll just have to let you know now about the pretty darn nifty Back To The Future license plate replica ($29.99 SRP). You probably don’t own a Delorean, but I’m sure it’ll look just fine on your beat up Toyota Camry. Just be sure you remember that it’s not legal to use it in place of your real plates.
One of the few shows I actively miss is Showtime’s late, lamented piece of macabre humor, Dead Like Me, about a group of “Reapers” tasked with delivering the souls of the just-about-to-be-deceased to the afterlife right before their often grisly deaths. If you’re unfamiliar with the show, the best way to go is the brand new Dead Like Me: Complete Collection (MGM, Not Rated, DVD-$69.98 SRP), which features not only the two seasons of the original run, but also the brand-new direct-to-video movie that picks up with the characters a few years down the line, and is good enough to leave me wanting more.
Some have attacked it as “snarky” or “one-sided”, but I’m not entirely sure what film they were seeing, as I found Bill Maher’s Religulous (Lionsgate, Rated R, DVD-$29.95 SRP) to be a pretty even-handed attempt to try and figure out what makes those of a religious bent believe the things they believe. All I can say is to give it a spin and come to your own conclusion. Bonus features include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a reel of Maher’s monologues from around the world.
Sleuthing angel of death Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) returns to her suspicious ways in the complete ninth season of Murder She Wrote (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP). The 5-disc set features all 22 episodes. Be sure to see if you can figure out all the ways she committed the crimes.
Another week, another high definition catalogue upgrade – this time it’s the still great Boondock Saints (Fox, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP). The special edition features a air of audio commentaries (the Billy Connolly one alone is worth the price of admission), deleted scenes, and outtakes.
The fifth season of Sabrina The Teenage Witch (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) finds our rapidly aging lead entering college and rooming with Punky Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye). Oh, Punky. The 3-disc set features all 22 episodes.
I know it’s been praised and it has quite a pedigree, but I found Changeling (Universal, Rated R, DVD-$29.98 SRP) – the true story of a mother (Angelina Jolie) whom police reunite with her kidnapped son, against her protestations that the boy is not her real child – to be a turgid, airless affair for so interesting a conceit. Maybe director Clint Eastwood’s minimalism found a flick that was calling out for a little more oomph. Bonus materials include an in-depth featurette on Eastwood and Jolie, and a look at the real Christine Collins.
It’s not one of his better films, but there’s enough Friday-night popcorn thriller energy to Ridley Scott’s Body Of Lies (Warner Bros., Rated R, DVD-$34.99 SRP) to make it worth a look-see. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a CIA agent on the hunt for a terrorist, whose search is orchestrated by an agent back at the home office (Russell Crowe). What unfolds is your basic “Who do you trust?” thriller. Bonus features include an audio commentary, additional scenes, and featurettes. A Blu-Ray edition ($35.99 SRP) is also available with identical bonus features, plus BD Live capabilities.
Barbra Streisand’s directorial opus Yentl (MGM, Rated PG, DVD-$29.99 SRP) arrived back on DVD in a new 2-disc edition, featuring a brand new extended director’s cut, an introduction from Barbra, audio commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, Streisand’s 8mm concept film, galleries, and more.
Equal parts Losin’ It and American Pie, Extreme Movie (Genius, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP) is an attempt by a crapload of writers to make an over-the-top flick about a group of teenagers making that oh-so-important transition into manhood – mostly involving awkwardness and midgets. Bonus features include an audio commentary and a making-of featurette.
They’re certainly not his finest or most memorable films, but Warners has decided to dip into the vaults for what its branding as the “Paul Newman Film Series”. The five films being released are The Helen Morgan Story, The Silver Chalice, When Time Ran Out, Rachel, Rachel, and The Outrage (Warner Bros., Not Rated/Rated PG/Rated R, DVD-$19.98 SRP each). Don’t expect gems, but they’re good to have out, nonetheless.
The High School Musical hubbub leaves me cold, but I know there are easily dozens of teens that will eagerly snap up the big screen iteration of the quickly aging teens’ tuneful adventures, High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Walt Disney, Rated G, DVD-$34.99 SRP). The 3-disc set features an extended cut of the movie, deleted scenes, cast goodbyes, a sing along, bloopers, and more. A Blu-Ray edition ($39.99 SRP) is also available, which adds exclusive senior awards and cast profiles. If that weren’t enough, fans can also pick up the Blu-Ray edition of the original High School Musical: Remix Edition (Walt Disney, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP).
I really wanted to like the adaptation of Toby Young’s How To Lose Friends & Alienate People (MGM, Rated R, DVD-$27.98 SRP) – about a British journalist eager to rub elbows with celebrities yet loves to expose them – if only because the book was a good read and the film stars Simon Pegg and Jeff Bridges. But what I found was viewing experience best summed up by the word “flat”. Sad, really. Bonus features include audio commentaries and a making-of featurette.
The Clampett’s adventures in the land cement ponds continues in the full, official, and sparkling release of the complete third season of The Beverly Hillbillies (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP). Ignore all of those awful collections of public domain episodes and support the continued release of these official versions. The 5-disc set features all 34 episodes, plus a featurette, original episode sponsor openings and closings, and a photo gallery.
We’ve finally caught up with the current season with the release of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 8 (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP). The 5-disc set contains all 22 episodes, but there’s not a single bonus feature in sight.
So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…
-Ken Plume
##
While it’s not the Blu-Ray editions that everyone (me included) was hoping for, the new special editions of the Back To The Future trilogy are worth a look see. The original 
I’ve got hundreds and hundreds of slides and negatives from years of pre-digital photo archives. That being the case, I’m always keen on new and easier ways to try and digitize this wealth of images – including a nifty slide/negative scanner that Thinkgeek offered, and I featured a few months back. Well, now they’ve gone and begun offering a newer, spiffier 
Another catalogue classic making its way to high definition is the director’s cut of 
Also hitting Blu-Ray is David Cronenberg’s surprisingly accessible 
Uber-curmudgeon Victor Meldrew returns in the 
It’s not quite as incisive as it could be, but Oliver Stone’s 
When all hell breaks loose in a small town, are you going to call the police? No. The FBI? No. The military? Of course not! Ninjas? THEY DON’T HAVE PHONES!! No, the person you’re going to call to sort it all out is B-movie legend Bruce Campbell – and that’s just what the small town of Gold Lick does in the fun little goof 
It’s certainly not their finest hour, but I sort of kind of dig the better aspects of 
It’s by no means a disaster, but it certainly would have been nice if Bernie Mac’s final film were better. 
The Blu-Ray catalogue express pulls up to the station with another carload full of titles, this time straight from Fox. Getting the high definition treatment are the much-requested 
It’s no Pixar, but there’s a simple pleasure to 
There’s nothing especially upsetting or horrific or even interesting about 
It’s not the best looking CGI animated flick, but my nephew certainly likes the off-kilter tale of 
Long before the lackluster Masters Of Horror, another anthology series sought out horror masters for a slightly better clutch of stories – 
It’s a saccharine, fluffy mess, but I’m sure there will be plenty of sales for the newly-arrived-in-high-definition 
It can be plodding, but Spike Lee’s 
No longer a full season set, fans will have to make do with only the first 19 episodes in 
If you want a crash course in pretentious cinema, look no further than the world-struck-blind-by-a-plague-and-devolves-into-chaos-but-Julianne-Moore-isn’t-blind 
They may be on the simple side, but that’s exactly what you’d hope when putting on one of the 4 DVDs (comprising 32 episodes) in the 
Shout Factory picks up the ball after Universal walked away following the release of the first season with 
We still don’t have the original 60’s series (I want it more than a hula hoop), but we get another Alvin & The Chipmunks themed episode collection, 
Yeah, I tried. Still don’t like 
There have been rather frothy retrospective celebrations of Sesame Street and Jim Henson in book form in the past, which were all well and good – as a child of the 70’s and a fan, I’m all for celebrating both. But it wasn’t until Michael Davis’s heavily-researched and completely candid 
If you’re like me (and you know, in your heart, you dearly want to be), then you have literally tons of old cassettes and records you’d like to import into your computer for use on various portable mixing devices. It’s often been a chore to hook up your cassette deck or turntable, particularly with the need for a pre-amp. Well, with the 
If there was any doubt that Shout! Factory would stick to an aggressive release campaign for new MST collections, let it be erased by 
It’s been years since the release of the first season, but the patient are finally rewarded with 
A landmark role for Peter Sellers and his last great film (sorry, Fu Manchu), 
Overlooked in the theater during its unfortunately timed (and marketed) Halloween release, hopefully 
Also getting a high definition release is Kevin Smith’s 
Long under the thumb of various occupying forces, Estonia spent much of the 20th century controlled by the Soviet Union. Despite all of these various oppressive occupiers, the Estonians were able to maintain their national identity through song – a story that’s told quite well in the documentary 
I’m still not entirely sure what the Martini Movies imprint is all about (though I know it has something to do with a game), but any excuse for a cable staple/guilty pleasure like 
It’s a little creaky here and there, but it was certainly a treat to watch the remastered edition of Douglas Trumball’s virtual reality flick 
Paramount has re-branded another clutch of titles under the “I Love The 80’s” banner – 
Harry Anderson continued to slum it in safe sitcom hell with the second season of 
Through Warners’ TCM imprint, those wanting an easy to pick up primer on some legendary flicks in their Greatest Classic Films Collection releases (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$27.98 SRP each). The 2-disc sets feature 4 films apiece, packed with bonus features including audio commentaries, featurettes, trailers, and more. The 
I’m not a fan of slasher flicks, but I’m sure fans will be delighted that the by-all-appearances naff remake has at least spurred Paramount to release new special editions of the first three – 
Explore the cinematic history of that awful day on the calendar and the hockey mask-wearing killer behind all the mayhem in the documentary 
Outside of House, you’d be hard pressed to find a more bad-tempered doctor than Ted Danson’s 
Things were stretching a bit thin by the time you get to the seventh season of 
Things had begun to get nice and developmentally awkward by the time the fourth and final season came along, so it was probably best that 
Talking dogs. In space. That is 
There are many films from my childhood that I place upon a pedestal merely for sentimental reasons, despite glaring deficiencies in quality. You know exactly the type I mean. But then there’s 
There are a lot of low-cost portable video options out there, but there aren’t very many credit card-sized video players that will give you 2 GB of storage, a MiniSD slot, hours of playing time, AVI/MPEG ability, a built in external speaker, and included earphones for under $100. Well, ThinkGeek has got just such a 
Long a legendary cult tape often whispered about but rarely seen, 
In 1976, a group of British comedy and music luminaries got together for a benefit show to raise money for Amnesty International. In 1979, this charity gathering was rechristened The Secret Policeman’s Ball, and over the years would feature members of Monty Python, Peter Cook, Fry & Laurie, Rowan Atkinson, Pete Townshend, Neil Innes, Sting, Jackson Browne, French & Saunders, and many more. Long available in the UK, all of the classic Balls are now available in the US in the form of 
It seems like it’s taken years – because it has – but the we can now lay our mitts upon the eleventh and final season of 
Make the waiting for the next full season set a little easier with one of Nick’s holdover single-disc editions – 
He could be like battery acid in your ears, but the diamonds in the rough more than made it worth experiencing the comedy of Sam Kinison. He’s specials are finally getting the treatment they deserve with the special edition release 
All I could think while watching 
Warners has looked into the vaults and dug up four new-to-DVD flicks for their 
Okay, for the sole reason that it stars John Denver and John Rhys Davies, 
It did nothing at the box office, but 
Love is in the air – and Valentine’s Day is fast approaching – so it should be little surprise that Warners is releasing a 
Take Old School and make it about rock & roll dreams, and you’ve pretty much got 
Yes, I recall many a Saturday morning watching 
Paramount isn’t the only studio catching up on catalogue releases – Fox also brings their own basket of back titles to high definition with 
I admit it – with all due shame – I did watch at least the first season Blossom when it originally aired. In retrospect, I’m not sure why. It’s certainly your standard sitcom fare – except with a dancing Mayim Bialik. Am I being too hard on it? Well, you can judge for yourself with 
Another admission – there was a period when I read John Grisham novels. I’m not going to apologize – it’s a phase many go through, and then we move on. That means, however, that I’ve seen the quartet of films contained in the 
The second and final season of 
It’s not as good as he’s managed be lately, but 
Like Cops with even more junkies and dealers, Spike’s reality series 
Now that the classic specials have all gotten their due, the remastered edition treatment is turning towards the lesser of the Peanuts specials with 
One must marvel at the ability of 
Oh, Disney. What am I to do with 
Comedian Russell Peters delivers a one-two punch with a combo set of his stand up DVD and CD, 
Try as I might, I couldn’t get into Steve Coogan’s latest sitcom foray, 
All good things must end, even if that ending came over 30 years ago. Such is the case with the release of the sixth and final season of 
Alan Davies is back as sleuthing magician 
Simon Schama turns his historical eye towards examining American History and explaining how the past informs the nation’s present in his excellent documentary 
Paramount rolls out another pair of much0requested catalogue titles onto Blu-Ray with Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon in Alexander Payne’s 
The latest star to get the Warners box set spotlight treatment arrives in the form of the 
I’m sorry, but I can’t watch Mark Wahlberg without two things coming to mind now – his abysmal performance in The Happening and Andy Samberg’s scathing impersonation on SNL. With those both in mind, watching Wahlberg in 
The Douglas family are back with the second volume of their first season, and I challenge you to get the theme song to 
Though I still think of him as the 5th Doctor, Peter Davison also starred as Detective Constable “Dangerous” Davies in 
It’s not nearly as groundbreaking or funny as his previous landmark specials, but Chris Rock’s 
John Frankenheimer’s still compelling portrait of 
Anyone interested in cinema history would do well to pick up a copy of the mega documentary 
Crytozoology nuts probably eat up the sensationalist style of 
The spooks of 
The film is still an overwrought tearjearker, but 
Sound the alarms and rouse the kids, as the 5th season of 
The Cold Case Unit is back on the case (yes, I wrote that) in the 3rd season of the UK’s excellent answer to CSI, 
Another blink and you missed it series comes to DVD with 
It holds no sway for me, but I have known my nephew’s eyes to be glued to Nick’s Back To The Barnyard, so I’m sure he’ll delight in the 5-episode collection 
It’s time for this week’s classics corner, as the BBC release another of their literary adaptations sets – 
Oh, National Lampoon. Your brand means absolutely nothing now. Nothing at all. My proof? 
Many have wondered why some of the flicks being tackled by the folks at Cinematic Titanic weren’t addressed during their Mystery Science Theater run. Personally, I’m glad they weren’t – because it would deprive us of the top notch, stellar writing that a fully engaged and broken in Cinematic Titanic is now giving viewers, which comes from years of additional experience. It’s as if movie riffing has gone Bionic, and they’ve got full kung-fu grip, to boot. If you don’t believe me, check out their latest offering – a wretched waste of celluloid called 
Kick off the new year in a classy way with a pair of new special editions featuring Audrey Hepburn’s legendary star turns in 
With all of the stuff that comes in for feature in the shopping guide, being able to take good photos of said collectibles is definitely a plus. The best way to get a good photo is to construct a light box… But who has the time for that? That’s right – none of us. So your best bet is to pick up the handy 
The UK Channel 4 series 
As with most of these documentaries, there’s much to find fault with in so sweeping a project as 
Never ones to let a re-release go un-re-released, The Weinstein Company dusts off Jackie Chan’s 
Relive all of the absurdity found in each in every episode of 
You know that Blu-Ray has finally arrived as a format when you can purchase a snazzy, high definition copy of a cinema classic like 
I had high hopes for 
There’s a turgidness to director (and co-writer) Ed Harris’s western 
The residents of the Springfield Retirement Castle will be delighted with the arrival of the complete second season of Andy Griffith’s top flight southern lawyer, 
Mysterious abound as we plow through the quartet of episodes features in the second volume of 
The third installment is on the way, which means you can now partake of both of the previous installments of Kate Beckisndale doing something or another in both 
The classic tale of love & power gets a pretty decent update in 
Brad Garrett’s middling sitcom ‘
In the era of elevated morons like Joe the Plumber, a film like 
They still insist on releasing the 80’s Alvin & The Chipmunks series in unsatisfying single-disc collections, the latest of which focuses on the boys female counterparts, 
There’s nothing more depressing than finishing a good novel. Perhaps the absolute was a bit much, I admit, but it is with a sense of disappointment that one finishes a good novel and must leave its world. I felt that sense of loss upon completing Neil Gaiman’s 
He’s avoided taking the plunge into many a feature film (besides small roles in Stardust, For Your Consideration, & A Night At The Museum), so there must have been something special that Ricky Gervais saw in 
While it’s not exactly the continuing adventures that some fans have been clamoring for, JK Rowling dipped back into the Harry Potter universe to bring to life the magical book of fairy tales that played a role in the 7th and final Potter installment. The only catch was that she originally crafted those books as a clutch of handmade tomes distributed to those who had helped make the Potter series a reality, plus one edition that was sold at auction for charity. That edition sold to Amazon.com, and through many a winding path and all for charity, the general public can now get their own copy of 
It was dismissed by many, but I got a kick out of Joel & Ethan Coen’s spy comedy 
I wasn’t sure, going in, whether or not I’d enjoy 
It didn’t make much of a blip at the box office despite a strong showing on the festival circuit, but here’s hoping home video will give a second life to the made-for-cult status comedy 
John Hodgman has been hounding me to give it a second chance, and now that I have the penultimate 
It’s light, it’s frothy, but the real reason to watch 
Strip away some of the self-aware smarm of Juno and throw it on TV with Molly Ringwald playing the mother to the pregnant teen and you’ve essentially got the ABC family series 
Everybody’s favorite sociopath makes his Blu-Ray debut with 
Less meets the eye in the second visually off-putting season of 
From Doctor Who companion to woman for hire, Billie Piper stars in 
The students of Cyprus-Rhodes University are back in class for the second season of ABC Family’s 
Known for his work on Battlestar Galactica, composer Bear McCreary has also been tackling the score for 
Soft-spoken Monika Hertwig has a horrible family legacy that she has spent her whole life trying to reconcile – that her father was the monstrous Nazi Officer Amon Goeth, commandant of the Plaszow concentration camp that was portrayed on screen in Schindler’s List. In attempting to come to terms with that legacy, she meets up with Helen Jonas, who lived as an enslaved servant under Goeth’s roof. This struggle – and the meeting of these two women – is chronicled in the fascinating documentary 
Will the secret past of bellybutton-less Kyle finally be revealed in the second season of 
Obnoxious sarcasm has a name – and a species – and it is 
From the Pang Brothers, 
No matter how much my Irish friend Brian sings its praises, I just don’t enjoy 
So you’ve got state of CGI and a bunch of theories about the hunting techniques of the dinosaurs. What do you do with all of this and get today’s audience to watch? Why, 
Showtime’s sudsy pseudo-historical drama 
In many ways the Seventh Heaven of its day, the eighth season of 
Seeking to recapture his Riddick heyday, Vin Diesel stars as the unfortunately named Toorop in the turgid sci-fi actioner 
Considering they cost next to nothing, I suppose the recent spate of parody movies really don’t need to make much at the theater and home video to be considered a massive success. It’s good that the threshold is so easily attainable, considering just how awful the latest, 
I remember getting a screener for the Elton John documentary 
I think we’re just now starting to get the distance necessary to effectively dramatize the ground events of the Iraq War, and the first project that feels like it’s accomplished the task is HBO’s 
There’s nothing I can say about 
Paramount has unplugged the taps and released a flood of new-to-Blu-Ray titles this week. Special features-wise, they’re direct ports from the standard DVD versions, but you know you just want them for that high-definition fix you so desperately crave. Those titles making their debut are 
There’ve been releases cobbled together from the episodes in the public domain, but you can now get the “official” first season of 
If you think The Hills should be sent into the wilderness and Gossip Girl‘s twenty-something teens don’t represent the reality you faced in high school, you’ll probably find more familiar territory in the documentary American Teen (Paramount, Rated PG-13, DVD-$29.99 SRP), which follows a group of Indiana teenagers as they try and navigate the pitfalls of senior year. Bonus materials include cast interviews, blogs, deleted scenes, and trailers. The DVD is currently a Target exclusive.
Years in the making and hours in the watching, the remake of 
For all of the on screen sturm and drang of 
It may not be the smartest show, but there is a goofy energy and fun to be found in the first 2 seasons of 
When holiday season is over, if you’re lucky, you’ve got a few extra bucks filling up your pocket. With that in mind, Paramount has unveiled another clutch of new-to-Blu-Ray catalogue releases in order to get you to impulse buy some favorites. The 5 titles they’re tossing into the fray are 
If you want to spend the holiday season with a costume drama that brings a little spice, then you’ll probably be happy with 
One of the more disturbing things I’ve seen in a long time would have to be the 
There’s no doubt that 
Mindless popcorn films are all well and good, but it’s nice to pop in a flick like writer/director Alan Ball’s 
Long since jumped the shark, 
Over the past few years, beginning with their landmark Complete Peanuts, Fantagraphics has set the standard for how collections of classic comic strips should be done. In addition to Peanuts and Dennis The Menace, they’ve been giving the A-level treatment to E.C. Segar’s sailor man supreme, Popeye. The third collection of Segar’s Thimble Theater has just hit – 
After the pain of the live action Grinch and Cat In The Hat, it’s with so, so much delight that the CG 
What kind of world do we live in when the new installment in the Mummy franchise is a better flick that the new Indiana Jones. It’s sad, but true that 
Like an ersatz Brady Bunch, two forty-something layabouts are forced to live together after their parents get married, leading to the kind of immature territorial tit-for-tats one would expect from ten-year-old 
After watching the disappointing first theatrical adaptation from The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, I wasn’t exactly eager for 
It may be singing its swan song this year, but go back to the good ol’ days of 
Many saw the fourth season of 
I know there are some diehards out there, but I never enjoyed Joss Whedon’s ill-fated (and short-lived) TV space opera Firefly. It attempted to present an anachronistic future that relied heavily on the often awkward imitations of the camera techniques of the old spaghetti westerns, with characters that were difficult to like and a mission that was nebulous at best. Sadly, the show was neither fish nor fowl, and suffered from the creative burnout that eventually led the final season of Buffy to a disappointing end. Still, I know there are fans out there, and you’ll be happy with the entire 14 episode run, uncut and presented in anamorphic widescreen, is now available on Blu-Ray with the 3-disc 
Sgt. Carter’s frustration with a certain Marine comes to an end with the release of the fifth and final season of 
It’s largely a mindless actioner adapted from a videogame, but there’s a shameless exuberance to 
Brenda is long gone and Val is firmly entrenched in the 6th season of 
It’s a button pusher, but watching 
The fourth season of 
I’m not entirely sure who was clamoring for a new X-Files film outside of the die-hards and creator Chris Carter. It’s a shame that 
Oh, and X-Files fans will probably also want to pick up a copy of 
Wrap up the second season of 
The pop songs are lamentable, but John Powell’s wonderful score is more than enough reason to pick up the soundtrack to Disney’s new in-house, non-Pixar CG film 
Like some kind of weird time travel experiment, you can watch two different ages of William Conrad in the second volumes of both 
I’m almost happy that Louis C.K.’s HBO comedy Lucky Louie got cancelled, if only because he’s since rededicated himself to his caustically brilliant stand-up. He’s in fine form on his new album, 
The 5th season of 
If you’re looking for some last minute gifts for the comic fan in your life (or, you know, just yourself), an easy recommendation is the fine books put out by those preeminent comics fans/scholars at Twomorrows. First up is the latest volume in their artist profile series, 
Fast-forward Mad Men ahead a decade and move it out of the office and into the suburbs, and you’d probably get 
The lion of the law returns in the 2nd volume of the third season (whew!) of 
James Arness is back in the saddle as Marshal Matt Dillon in 
Ride ’em in, count ’em out – it’s 
Reformed juvies Pete, Julie, and Linc are back on the undercover beat in 
I’ve banged on about for years, and I’m going to keep going virtual door to virtual door until the word gets out about QI. If you’ve never heard of the UK quiz program QI, you’re missing out on one of the funniest “educational” shows ever devised (the devisee being creator/producer John Lloyd, formerly of Blackadder, Not The Nine O’Clock News, and Spitting Image). The key to QI (which stands for “Quite Interesting”) is the central tenet of its philosophy – it’s not always being correct that counts, but being interesting (and funny). The interesting nature of a given piece of information spurs conversation and debate, eventually leading round to the learning of said informational nugget. Did you know that the Earth has more than one moon, for example? Or that otters kill crocodiles? Soon to make its debut on BBC1 (with its 5th season), it’s hosted by Stephen Fry and features a rotating panel of four comedians (one of which is mainstay Alan Davies) – and it’s one of the most hilarious shows I’ve ever seen… Honestly, you’ll laugh as much as you learn, and I still hold out hope a network in the US is smart enough to pick the show up uncut, as BBC America have been nothing but boobs about it (Hello, Comedy Central! Hello, Discovery Channel! Hello, PBS! Somebody!). Until then, you can grab a copy of both the first (
And while we’re on the subject of Stephen Fry, let me take a moment to heartily recommend the DVD collection of his recent documentary series, 
Few could have predicted that over 25 years later, Ralphie Parker and his Christmas quest for a Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action BB Gun would be a must-see holiday tradition. Based on the childhood stories of humorist Jean Shepherd, its impact continues to grow – the sales of Leg Lamps have skyrocketed, people are more conscious of eye safety, and no one will ever pronounce “Fragile” the right way again. Now, the 2-disc special edition has been repackaged as 
My good friend Glen Oliver and I waited years – YEARS! – for a company to treat 
Although the story is rather flat and doesn’t hold up to much scrutiny, 
I admit – I tried to avoid the pressure to fall in lock step with the “It’s the second coming” crowd who banged the drum loudly for 
There were plenty of worrisome moments over the past few years, where it seemed like the wonderful Walt Disney Treasures line of collector-friendly vault releases were doomed. This uncertain fate was particularly heartbreaking as it would have put the release of the complete run of Donald Duck cartoons in jeopardy. Thankfully, though, we’ve made it to the end of the Duck’s theatrical run with 
The second of this year’s Walt Disney Treasures sets focuses on the most beloved of all the Mouseketeers – Annette Funicello. This 2-disc set contains the complete run of 
Finally, the third and final release from this year’s Walt Disney Treasures wave contains the complete adventures of 
In a perfect world, shows like Freaks & Geeks never would have been prematurely cancelled, but in a near-perfect world, at least creator Paul Feig has carved out a niche for himself as an author who successfully mines all of the social and physical awkwardness of adolescence and turns tragedy into comedy – first in his non-fiction essays on his own childhood, and now in the laugh-out-loud functional adventure 
It was only a matter of time before the classic James Bond flicks made their high definition debut, and we’ve got a clutch of 6 to ring in the holiday season. You can whet your Blu-Ray Bond appetite with the fully restored 
Now that you’ve got the adults squared away, how are you going to keep the kids occupied? How about with the newly-revamped with sound FX silly skill game, 
This holiday season, I feel compelled to guide you towards a handful of UK (that’s Region 2, so be sure you have the capability to play them) DVDs from some stand-ups you should be following. First up is the latest offering from comedian Jimmy Carr, who supplements his too-numerous-to-mention hosting gigs to periodically return to the stage for some pocket money. This year, it’s 
If Jimmy’s humor isn’t pitch black and acerbic enough for you, then the first live DVD from Mock The Week regular Frankie Boyle might be what you’re looking for during the bleak midwinter festivities. Titled, wouldya believe it, 
Another Mock The Week regular getting his very first live DVD is Russell Howard. Imagine taking the Ritalin away from a hyperactive child, then sitting him down with a bowl full sugar. That, in a nutshell, is the comedic energy you’re dealing with here – and even better, it’s intelligent comedy that belies Howard’s age (he’s younger than me, the bastard). Bottom line – pick up a copy of 
To further reinforce Mock The Week as a veritable breeding ground for launching inaugural stand-up DVDs, another regular gets his first with 
We haven’t run out of Mock The Weekers yet, as the host of the show has also got his second stand-up DVD dropping this holiday season. 
Surely that’s all of the UK panel show regulars, right? Well, no, because 8 Out Of 10 Cats team captain and QI regular Sean Lock has got his very own debut DVD, 
Oi! I almost forgot that Bill Bailey has a new DVD out, from his last stand-up tour, in the form of 
And while you’re at it, pick up the 
Prior to laying eyes on the 
However, if you can’t afford the big fig, a very nice alternative is Sideshow’s 
If you’ve yet to spend some time with the addictive fun of Nerf Darts and their accompanying launchers, rectify that particular black hole in your life with the ultimate Nerf Dart launcher – the 
Well, Nerf even has an answer for that, too, as they’ve produced an adult version of their blasters in game form, perfect for office conflicts of domestic disputes – the 
While I still wait (it seems) in vain for the DVD release of Car 54, Where Are You? and Sgt. Bilko, I can at least console myself by watching the complete 4-season run of 
For criminy’s sake – it’s taken forever, but we in the US have FINALLY gotten a box set containing all of the various travel documentaries hosted by Python Michael Palin in the uber-wonderful 
Even though they’ve done just about everything possible (including throwing the kitchen sink at it) to tear down the beloved characters and stories of their relaunch, time and unfortunate editorial machinations have only made the Keith Giffen/J.M. DeMatteis/Kevin Maguire run of Justice League International look all the more enjoyable by comparison. Ignore all of that Uber Final Infinite Crisis of Something Or Another business and pick up the collected 
Speaking of the League, Roger Stern and John Byrne re-teamed last year for a JLA story arc that’s now been collected in 
Try as we might, there’s not doubt that this holiday season will cause at least some small amount of aggression. How to deal with it, then? Why, your very own 
The first major HBO miniseries to make the transition to high definition is the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg produced 
I admit – I was wary of Wall-E. Cars had left me a little cold (and the creepy, post-apocalyptic, human-less but made by humans world it was set in was just disturbing), but Ratatouille was more enjoyable than I thought it was going to be, and my faith in Pixar was ready to be fully restored. And it was. It helps that I experienced the film sitting beside my 4-year-old nephew, who was in the process of taking in his very first movie on a movie theater’s BIG SCREEN. It was a magical time from start to finish, and the DVD brings it on home. If standard definition is still your cup of tea, then I recommend the 
Kudos to Stephen Colbert for reviving the tradition of a pundit holiday special – just like the George Plimpton celebrations of yore – with 
The fourth season of 
The Brits have a knack for taking the tired old sitcom format, blowing it up, and creating some absolutely brilliant television. Those bastards. Most definitely to be included in their long line of triumphs is Spaced, a show about a pair of twenty-something slackers – Tim & Daisy (Simon Pegg & Jessica Stevenson) – who pose as a professional couple in order to get a North London apartment. Sure, Tim could be a comic book artist if he tried, and Daisy’s quite a good writer, but being successful in either of those careers would mean applying themselves… By, of all things, *working*. Gah! With a gaggle of off-the-wall friends and acquaintances, if you think of it as a twenty-something Seinfeld with a postmodern pop culture twist (there are frequent surreal diversions) you wouldn’t be far off the mark. After much legal wrangling, fans and soon-to-be fans in the US can now pick up 
Just when the summer doldrums were beginning to set in, I found out just why everyone has been fawning over 
They took a little while to wade in, but the wait was definitely worth it when one of the first two high definition releases from the cinema mavens at Criterion is their already-stunning special edition of 
The other Criterion release to go Blu-Ray is 
When I was but a wee lad still fresh in this phenom called Star Wars and eagerly awaiting the release of Return of the Jedi (we knew there was a third one coming, because they went off to save Han), one of my favorite Christmas gifts of all was the Millennium Falcon. I still remember tearing open the box and then spending what seemed like hours putting all of the decals on before finally sliding the lock-legged Han & Chewbacca into the cockpit and navigating the starship around the room courtesy of the center handle (later that morning, all of my figures took turns playing holo-chess in the cabin area while Luke whacked the training ball around). I can only imagine the jaw-dropping joy that me from then would greet the new 
If you still haven’t treated yourself to the complete run of Monty Python, now’s the time to pull the trigger and pick up 
It’s not Wall-E, but there’s plenty of wonderful production artwork to be found in the pages of Chronicle Books’ latest Disney “Art Of” book, 
Also from Chronicle, you can explore the fascinating history and groundbreaking output of a true videogame pioneer in 
As a good friend of mine says often – and practically lives his life by – a robot makes everything better. Make your holidays better with the 
I’ve made no secret in the past of my love for the various vinyl Disney figures that Medicom has been releasing in Japan and that are, thankfully, now distributed in the US by Sideshow. The Medicom sculpts are always spot-on and put any of the domestic licensees to shame. For the holidays, I wanted to spotlight a trio of Vinyl figures based on the original comic book versions of 
Ask people what their favorite classic film is, and most often it’s a toss-up between Citizen Kane and Casablanca. Personally, I’ve always been a Kane-ite, but Casablanca is high up on the list. Even though the film has been on DVD for quite awhile, Warner Home Video worked their digital mojo, crafting a deluxe, fully-restored special edition. The film never looked better… in fact, it almost looked *too* good. The frame is so clean, I’d almost expected to see someone wearing a digital watch. Some purists don’t like this level of restoration, but I’m all for any process that makes a film look as good as it possibly can. That restoration is now beautifully packaged in the 
If Casablanca has left you wanting a little more classic cinema to explore, then you might want to pick up (be careful, though – it’s heavy) the 
If you’re holiday isn’t nearly bizarre enough, achieve the proper level of bizarreitude with 
Yeah, I’m a sucker for the Guinness Book of World Records. There’s just something so compellingly exciting yet sad about the various and sundry attempts at dubious immortality “achieved” by the people, events, and tragedies included in the 
Trekkies wanting to wipe the pain of JJ Abrams Trek High can take some solace playing with their very own 
Nothing says “perfect gift” like something with no practical purpose except to entertain, and that’s certainly the case with the 
Home Movies is one of those shows that – despite making it 5 seasons – was cancelled before its time. Victim of apathy at Cartoon Network (a few influential individuals though it didn’t fit into their vision for the Adult Swim line-up), the animated adventures of budding filmmaker Brendon (Brendon Small) who, along with his friends Melissa (Melissa Galasky) and Jason (H. Jon Benjamin), crafted some truly Ed Wood-ian movies, was one of the most well-written character pieces ever to grace the small screen (be it live action or animation). The most vibrant character, though, would definitely have to be the kid’s gym teacher and emotional man-child, Coach John McGuirk (Benjamin, again), who had designs on Brendon’s single mother. Discover the series via the now comprehensive 
For the little kiddies on your list, the Beeb have released the complete first and second seasons of their Disney Channel hit 
I caught an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba! the other day, and if any show can rightfully claim the mantle of “Kiddie Show Beloved By Stoners”, it’s this intriguingly bizarre combination of music and costumed characters, If you doubt me, check out 
After her turn in the Christmas special “The Runaway Bride”, some were worried about Catherine Tate reprising her role of Donna Noble as the 10th Doctor’s new companion in the fourth series of 
I’m going to give you one reason – and one reason only – to pick up Cartoon Network’s 
If your idea of chestnuts roasting by the open fire is spending time with a vengeful Vietnam vet, then you’ll probably want a copy of 
I’ll be honest with you – Freaks and Geeks was a painful show to watch when it originally premiered (for far too brief a life) on NBC in the Fall of 1999. It was painful because I could relate to every bit of the awkward adolescence that the characters on screen were going through – my high school years were reflected in the tribulations of Sam and Lindsay Weir, and their assorted friends and enemies. Freaks and Geeks was the first (and so far only) show that presented the teenagers as they really are, and what high school is really like. And it was painful to see that on screen, because it dredged up my bitter memories of gym class, of disastrous social situations, and just the perpetual teenage ennui. But the beautiful part is that once you get past the pain it dredges up, Freaks and Geeks became a catharsis. It became a way of measuring your growth as a person against the mirror being presented on screen. And it was a damn good show, to boot. Well-written, funny, and emotional, it was… Well, it was life. Not a comedy, not a drama, and nothing as hackneyed as a “dramedy,” it merely existed as one of the most well-crafted shows ever to get slaughtered upon the network altar of quick returns and poor judgement. Credit goes to creator Paul Feig and producer Judd Apatow for giving us a glimpse of greatness, however briefly it shone. Of course, the coda on all of this is that we eventually got the long-awaited DVD set, collecting all 17 episodes (with their original period song-packed soundtracks intact) alongside a ton of bonus features. Originally a limited edition, now the general public can purchase the 8-disc special 
For the headbanging Adult Swim fan on your shopping list, there’s the uncensored complete second season of 
Make the season shagadelic (yes, I just used that old chestnut) with the high definition release of 
It’s a Yabba Dabba good time for Hanna-Barbera fans with 
Comprehensive box set fever has also hit 
While kudos must go to Rhino for keeping the Mystery Science Theater 3000 DVD releases coming over these long years since the show’s cancellation, the show’s new DVD home – Shout Factory – has really elevated the game with their 
Glad tidings from the folks at Cinematic Titanic (MST3K creator Joel Hodgson and alums Trace Beaulieu, Josh Weinstein, Frank Conniff, and Mary Jo Pehl) comes in the form of a fresh take on that horrid holiday perennial, 
When HBO’s brilliantly dark western Deadwood began its first season, the time was only a few weeks following the massacre of Custer’s troops in 1876. Into the lawless South Dakotan town rode two men – one a bitter ex-lawman, and the other a man looking to start a new life – and both ran afoul of the local heavy who owns half the town. What followed was an epic drama of operatic heights, and one you can watch in its entirety with 
Ah, but that isn’t the only HBO series you should be picking up. Empty out your wallet at the same time by snagging 
If you’ve been patiently avoiding the single-disc releases for the next seasonal batch of that happy chap that lives in a pineapple under the sea, then you’ll rejoice in your purchase of 
If you want your holiday gift-giving to be full of blood, battle, and none-too-thinly veiled homoeroticism, then you’re probably going to want to pick up the 
Every comic book series seems to be getting the snazzy deluxe treatment nowadays – with some bewildering choices – but certainly deserving of the honor is Mike Mignola’s Hellboy. The clothbound, hardcover 
I’ve spoken in the past of just how much I love the mental acrobatics of magician Derren Brown, but one of the sore points is that his specials have been absent from DVD even as his series have gotten released. Well, all of that is rectified with 
As a child of the 80’s, I was absolutely taken with Ghostbusters when it came out. I had the toys, I used to pretend I was a Ghostbuster, and before everything turned sour with Ghostbusters 2, I delighted in the Saturday morning adventures of the guys on The Real Ghostbusters. After a few disappointing single-disc collections from Sony, Time Life has hit the ball out of the park with the wonderfully packaged 
I’d say that watching George Carlin’s 14th and final HBO special was a bittersweet affair, but it seems like such an inappropriate word considering just how funny 
A long time ago, not too terribly far away, there was a company that produced some of the most wonderful and faithful Star Wars prop replicas to be had. Sadly, due to corporate issues both various and sundry, the timeliness of the releases began to wane, and then the company decided to drop the license entirely. What became of it? Well, the core group who handled the license at that other company decided to strike out on their own, and they formed 
I remember always looking forward to watching Mr. Bean whenever it would air on HBO (remember that?). Rowan Atkinson’s devilish character never failed to entertain. Like an ersatz Harold Lloyd, Bean is an almost silent physical comedy, and I’m delighted that all 14 episodes are on DVD in 
For all of the dramatics found in the stage and screen versions of Frost/Nixon, the kinetics found in the actual interviews – collected for the first time on 
There’s nothing quite like seeing the stop motion magic of Ray Harryhausen in high definition, which is exactly what fun you can have with the Blu-Ray 
Rights issues prevent regular Rifftrax commentaries from being released as physical DVDs with the movies they’ve riffed, but no such issues exist with the public domain short subjects Mike, Kevin, and Bill have been doing over the past year. What does that mean, exactly? That means we get almost 90 minutes of goofy fun with 
Transformers fans both young and old will have something to snag this year, with the younger crowd enamored of the current Transformers Animated series able to get their very own talking, and incredibly large 
For old-timers with too much nostalgia and cash on hand, there’s the 
You may not think “horror” when you think “holidays”, but John Carpenter’s 
The “Judd Apatow” brand of comedy has always been hit or miss with me, but when it does hit a sweet spot – as it does with 
If you’re not all politicked out this holiday season, then you might want to pick up the 
Fans of Jack Sparrow can now get the entire swashbuckling trilogy – The Curse Of The Black Pearl, Dead Man’s Chest, & At World’s End – in high definition courtesy of the Blu-Ray 
Eager to suck every last nostalgic dollar out of my long-suffering wallet, the re-launched classic GI Joe line that hooked so many kids in the 80’s is still going strong, with their lovingly updated versions of old school favorites. This year has brought – alongside the regular figures ($5.99 SRP each) – the addition of vehicles, including the 
There are some flaws here and there, but I was incredibly impressed with 
It’s certainly a case of diminishing returns, but the Brendan Fraser-led Mummy films are a far sight better than the cursed Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, and there’s no better way to watch the technical hoo-ha at hand than via the Blu-Ray editions of 
Previously only available as a Time Life exclusive, now one and all can pick up the complete 
Every once in a while, a truly spectacular, must-have catalogue release makes its way to DVD. Add to that exclusive list the Blu-Ray edition of the Cinerama epic 
Just when you think that there can’t possibly be another collectible line that will hook you, along comes 
And just as subversively cute and irresistible are the various tiny, cartoony “Heroes” lines by Hasbro, featuring well-known characters in kiddie-friendly tooned-up forms and sold in ready-for-fun two-packs ($5.99 SRP each). Marvel Comics characters are featured in the “Super Hero Squad” line, Indiana Jones has “Adventure Heroes”, The Transformers are featured in “Robot Heroes”, and GI Joe has now got 
You know, Will Smith’s I Am Legend is actually a decent adaptation of the Richard Matheson novel – up to a point. That point is when we leave behind Smith’s Dr. Robert Neville – who has stayed behind in a decimated New York City to try and find the cure for a virus that has wiped out mankind, leaving a small survivor base of violent humanity, the immune Neville, his dog, and the hope of more people out there somewhere. The film begins to flail about in the cesspool of Hollywood mediocrity when the crappy CG infected monstro-humans show up, with their implausible anaconda mouths and plastic skin. It’s a shame it all falls apart, because they had something there. See for yourself with the new 
And now, because I have to shop for little nephews, how about a digression into some toys geared towards the little ones on your list? In fact, the first pair of items comes from that somewhat disconcerting yet oddly ingratiating Nick Jr. show The Wonder Pets. First off is the titular rescuers in their 
For the slightly older kids, there’s the 
He has yet to make the transition to the US, but Alan Carr – currently riding high in the UK – is a comedian worth keeping an eye on, should he make his way across the pond. Until then, I’d certainly recommend you pick up a copy of his first stand-up DVD, 
Let pure evil keep your tootsies warm with the big and fluffy 
It’s goofy, but darned if my nephews don’t have a ball (no pun intended) with 
I admit – I was wary of Wall-E. Cars had left me a little cold (and the creepy, post-apocalyptic, human-less but made by humans world it was set in was just disturbing), but Ratatouille was more enjoyable than I thought it was going to be, and my faith in Pixar was ready to be fully restored. And it was. It helps that I experienced the film sitting beside my 4-year-old nephew, who was in the process of taking in his very first movie on a movie theater’s BIG SCREEN. It was a magical time from start to finish, and the DVD brings it on home. If standard definition is still your cup of tea, then I recommend the 
Kudos to Stephen Colbert for reviving the tradition of a pundit holiday special – just like the George Plimpton celebrations of yore – with 
While I don’t think it’s quite the revelatory masterpiece that the hype made it out to be, I did enjoy 
After a pair of unsatisfying “best-of” compilations spanning the show’s entire run, we finally go back to the beginning for a proper complete first season set of 
After her turn in the Christmas special “The Runaway Bride”, some were worried about Catherine Tate reprising her role of Donna Noble as the 10th Doctor’s new companion in the fourth series of 
There’ve been a boxful of previous soundtrack releases for the Indiana Jones films, but now we’ve got 
If you’ve been patiently avoiding the single-disc releases for the next seasonal batch of that happy chap that lives in a pineapple under the sea, then you’ll rejoice in your purchase of 
Criterion sprinkles their cinematic fairy dust and delivers to film geeks another stellar special edition, this time for the acclaimed 1965 adaptation of John le Carre’s 
I view the remastered editions of the original Star Trek to be a unique aberration that sometimes succeeds in providing a richer experience than the original effects work, but often just plays as just an awkward exercise. Still, you can now wrap things up with the release of the final season, 
It’s been edited to remove Kermit, but Jim Henson’s 
By now, when one goes into a Werner Herzog film, one expects an experience wholly unique. That’s certainly what you get with 
Fans of The Who have been waiting years for a pristine release of the band’s 1977 concert in Kilburn, North London, and 
You know, I didn’t think I’d get anything out of 
When it first premiered, I had Bones pegged as one of those quirky shows that couldn’t possibly survive the network ignoramusi for long. But here we are with 
The idea of Will Smith playing an antisocial ex-superhero who gets hooked up with an image consultant played by Jason Bateman seems like it should delight me to no end, but 
The third season of 
A&E Home Video has leapt into the world of high definition with a pair of pre-existing catalogue releases that certainly set the stage for some nice drops in the future. First up is the inaugural season of their interstellar documentary series 
Full disclosure time. I consider my very first crush to be on Punky Brewster. Just to show how aware I was at the time, as a wee lad, I even knew that the precocious Punky was played by a girl named Soleil Moon Frye – who I vowed I would one day marry. At least that’s what I told my friends while we played in our junk wood playhouse at the top of the hill behind Quantico base housing all those years ago. I never did marry Soleil (her loss, really), but I did watch her show. Now, thanks to those pop culture machiavellis at Shout! Factory, I can relive that long-ago crush with all four seasons of 
It’s hard for them to dig themselves out of the hole the show has been going deeper and deeper into the past few years after its stellar first few seasons, but they at least attempted some course correction during the 7th season of 
It’s a legendary concert and now it’s gotten a suitably reverent release with 
Minoru Kawasaki is a bizarre filmmaker whose bizareness is matched only by that of his films themselves. Don’t believe me? Check out the psychological thriller starring a 6-foot office-working 
Tick another one off the list, as the fifth and final season of 
One of my nephew’s favorite Nick shows is The Fairly Oddparents, so I’m sure he’ll eagerly devour 
I am not the target audience. At all. But I know the target audience is probably screaming in giddy anticipation for the release of 
A staple of my 80’s Nick At Nite viewing returns with its sophomore outing in the form of 
There were times during the 3rd season of 
The pants-loving foursome is back in 
With 
Rejoice, animation and comedy nerds! A new Futurama direct-to-DVD movie has arrived in the form of 
Though there’s quite a few clunkers in there, I still enjoy watching the films of Abbott & Costello. The first comedy routine I ever recognized as such – and love to this day – is “Who’s On First?”. Universal has brought together the entirety of the duo’s film output in 
Dreamworks has always had a hard time making an animated film that actually looks visually pleasing. The Shrek movies are a mess, Madagascar was slightly better, and Over The Hedge was a step in the right direction. The first film to actually look wonderful and provide a story to match has got to be 
Although I’m still a bit disappointed that they leapfrogged over the release of just the fourth and final season, at least we can have the complete run of Jim Henson’s classic series in 
I don’t necessarily want to live in the future presented in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, but I have to admit that they did have some pretty nifty gear to shelter themselves with on those endlessly rainy nights. Surely you remember the glowing umbrellas that everyone had, clutched in their downtrodden fists as they made their way through the grubby streets. Well, now you can own your very own 
The first film was lackluster, but things are definitely improved – if not great – in 
Paramount has dipped into their pool of classic films and pulled out a trio for remastered special editions they’re terming their “Centennial Collection”. Getting the blue ribbon treatment are 
I’m not entirely happy that studios continue to shaft fans who support their season-by-season releases of TV shows only to be confronted at the end with a comprehensive set that includes exclusive bonus material. The latest is the classic 
One of the things I love about just how much catalogue digging the studios have been doing for DVD is that they’re able and willing to put out niche releases that spotlight the work of directors who are not exactly household names, but whose work deserves a spotlight. Such is the case with the late 50’s Columbia westerns of director Budd Boetticher collected in the appropriately titled 
Get all three Jason Bourne films in one easy-to-grab package with the new 
It was slow going at first, but I stuck with 
The first volume was a nice little slice of catalogue holiday cheer, and Warners opens the vaults again for their 
For anyone that’s been holding off on snagging the classic UK sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo! – the follow-up from the creators of Are You Being Served set in occupied France during WWII and playing like a Franco version of Hogan’s Heroes – then now’s the time to get the whole lot in ‘
There are a ton of them in the various studios’ vaults, but Warners dips into theirs for a trio of World War II rah-rah flicks with their new 
One of the mainstays of my many sleepless nights glued to Nick At Nite in the late 80’s and early 90’s was I Dream Of Jeannie. It remains one of the great escapist sitcoms of the late 60’s, with humor that was timeless and certainly not terribly thought-provoking. It’s marshmallow fluff. If you’ve been passing up the season-by-season sets that have been released the past few years, now is the time to take the plunge and pick up 
I’m going to give you one reason – and one reason only – to pick up Cartoon Network’s 
I went into it expecting a complete and utter disaster. Imagine my surprise when I found the big screen 
Oh, George. You truly have gone insane. You should talk to someone about your pathological need to tear down what you’ve built – it’s really quite sad. Case in point – the CG animated feature pilot for 
It’s been 30 years since 
Another in the long (and appreciated) line of box sets collecting a selection of an actor’s filmography in one handy package, 
It may be low-grade genre fare, but there’s a certain exuberance about the Brit series 
Since MTV abandoned Unplugged and VH1 walked away from Storytellers, there’s a gap in the world for a show featuring great live performances from diverse and interesting artists. In the UK, that show is Live From Abbey Road. Want proof? Pick up a copy of 
The 
Though I think it’s been overly-maligned (and no, I am in no way saying it’s a good film), I can’t imagine anyone who would want a 2-disc extended edition of Kevin Costner’s bloated aquatic epic 
Though most of the episodes pale in comparison to the original run, who’d have thought that we’d cross the 100 episode mark of the continuing misadventures of the family Griffin? That landmark episode is contained in 
Big Green makes his holiday DVD debut with the release of last year’s network special 
It’s murder on the Transsiberian express as a group of passengers get swept up drug trafficking and deception on a train making the journey from Beijing to Moscow in 
The sophomore outing of Rod Serling’s post-Twilight Zone journey into the bizarre and unexpected arrives with Night Gallery: Season Two (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP). The 5-disc set features 61 stories, plus audio commentaries (some featuring director Guillermo Del Toro), promos, a gallery, and a retrospective featurette.
When I wasn’t watching Three Stooges shorts during the pre-dawn Saturday and Sunday mornings of my childhood, I’d watch the adventures of Spanky, Alfalfa, Buckwheat, Darla, and all the rest of The Little Rascals. Kids today don’t have the joy of seeing those classic Hal Roach shorts in their heavily edited forms in syndication packets farmed out to networks near and far, but I’m positively giddy that the DVD genie has granted us 
A long time ago, not too terribly far away, there was a company that produced some of the most wonderful and faithful Star Wars prop replicas to be had. Sadly, due to corporate issues both various and sundry, the timeliness of the releases began to wane, and then the company decided to drop the license entirely. What became of it? Well, the core group who handled the license at that other company decided to strike out on their own, and they formed 
If I were pressed to choose my favorite sitcom of all time, the answer I’d have to give is 
It doesn’t interest me much – or at all, really – but my father got a big kick (as a fan) out of 
It’s goofy, it’s dopey, and the effects are ropy, but there’s something simpleton charming about the glorified IMAX 3-D excuse feature 
There’s nothing that points out the deficits in today’s lackluster TV fare than viewing some of the groundbreaking (and *still* pretty damn funny) sitcoms from the 70’s. One of those that still holds up is 
With 
Instead of pumping their minds full of Hanna Montana and princess pap, why not sit your daughters down with 
Yet another series has made the transition from individual season sets to one uber-mega-all-inclusive set with the release of 
One of those wonderful holiday classics of yore gets its special edition due in the form of the 3-disc 
I must say kudos to Sony for their move to consolidate their classic TV series – formerly released as single season sets – into one comprehensive set. 
The title is mostly apropos, as the 
Her work has become iconic – and some of it has become controversial – but there’s no denying that photographer Annie Leibovitz is an interesting character. Judge for yourself with the documentary 
I’m not a fan of torture horror, no matter how stylish it tries to make itself. That lack of interest certainly applies to 
Eager to expand the lucrative stranglehold on preteen girls they have with their omnipresent “Princess” franchise, Disney has decided Fairies are the next big thing, which means we get a feature-length straight-to-DVD abomination spotlighting the friends and family of Peter Pan’s formerly feisty paramour 
As dense as a diamond and just as exquisite, the second volume of world knowledge written by the world’s FOREMOST EXPERT on ALL THAT IS KNOWABLE (if not factual) and the possessor of soft hands and a baby’s face (the former per our handshake, the latter per Ricky Gervais), John Hodgman, is now available for purchase from your favorite book emporium. 
It may have an unfortunate name, but I can’t stop playing around with my 
How time flies. It was announced that the 6th volume of the 
There are some flaws here and there, but I was incredibly impressed with 
As of fan of Kevin Smith’s live performances (captured in the two previous Evening With… sets), I find it quite a feat that his latest – 
It was only a matter of time before the classic James Bond flicks made their high definition debut, and we’ve got a clutch of 6 to ring in the holiday season. You can whet your Blu-Ray Bond appetite with the fully restored 
As the classic films are hitting Blu-Ray and Quantum Of Solace is about to hit theaters, Daniel Craig’s first turn as James Bond gets a radically updated spin with a 3-disc Collector’s Edition of 
Ah, but that’s not the only version of Casino Royale in existence – the swinging 60’s version of 
Round out your big Bond weekend with the musical journey 
Following up their circumnavigatory trip in Long Way Round, Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman take to their bikes again for a more vertical trip in 
Tim Burton’s 
It’s time to mark another TV show off the list, as the fifth and final season of 
It’s low budget and quirky, and that’s probably why I enjoyed 
I have a good friend who has been eagerly anticipating the release of U2’s legendary live performance at the famous Red Rocks amphitheater… And he’s been waiting for years, and years, and years, as the release was bogged down in a seemingly unfixable legal kerfuffle. Well, something must have happened, because 
Though you would expect Neil Young’s film about the Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young “Freedom Of Speech Tour”, 
The Disney Channel can keep their creepy Jonas troika, as Nickelodeon sports the much wilder, crazier, and younger 
New faces! More cat fights! More greed! The 80’s are still alive in the second volume of 
If Two And A Half Men is TV comfort food, then 
Well, when you’ve got a title like 
I could say that the latest Cinematic Titanic offering, 
When I travel, I always have far too many electronics, far too many cords, and not nearly enough USB ports on my laptop to charge things. It’s always nice to have a backup plan, and the 
I’d say that reaching the 10th volume of the still-must-have collection of Charles Schulz’s groundbreaking strip is certainly worth celebrating – particularly when 
It seems that Criterion is systematically going back and revisiting some of their more popular catalogue titles and giving them rather stunning new high-definition transfers and some new bonus features, and the latest title to get the A+ treatment is Robert Altman’s 
Some may be watching slasher flicks this Halloween, but I will be celebrating All Hallow’s Eve by taking in the new Blu-Ray edition of Mel Brooks’s 
George Lucas managed to extend his death grip into another beloved franchise, clutching Steven Spielberg in one claw and Indiana Jones in the other, and managing yet again to produce a lame monstrosity instead of what should have been a triumphant return of a cinema hero. Such was the travesty of 
All of the focus is on his stellar performance in Iron Man, but another of Robert Downey, Jr.’s great turns is getting a new special edition DVD – his starring role in the life of The Little Tramp, 
I don’t think it was as strong as the first season, but I still enjoyed the second season of 
In the wake of the Star Wars, Marvel, and Disney Vault titles – those wonderful collections of text and reproductions of rare ephemera – we now get 
I’ll be perfectly honest with you – I was not a huge fan of The Matrix. I enjoyed the flick for what it was – a minor mind-f*** whose special effects and energy thankfully cancelled out most of its banal, overcooked pseudo-philosophizing and messianic overtones. But then came the sequels, which both – in quick succession – managed to top each other on the “Someone actually wrote this crap?” scale. Declining box office was proof enough – a fair number of fans who though The Matrix was the second coming (make your own jokes) left the theater feeling betrayed by creators who obviously had their grip locked firmly on something besides the story. Originally released in on standard DVD – and then the now-defunct HD-DVD – the 6-disc 
Packaged in a handsome lucite slipcase, the 
I caught an episode of Yo Gabba Gabba! the other day, and if any show can rightfully claim the mantle of “Kiddie Show Beloved By Stoners”, it’s this intriguingly bizarre combination of music and costumed characters, If you doubt me, check out 
While you’re pining for the next Spongebob season set, get a quick fix of recent episodes with 
In the VH1 series 
In these troubled, troubling times, I recommend anyone with an open mind should check out the wonderful documentaries of Richard Dawkins, conveniently collected in 
Easily the film that cemented William Hurt as an actor to be reckoned with – and a bizarre one, at that – was his turn in 
Sweeping and epic in the most glorious, classic sense of the word, the foreign language 
If you’re the head of NASA’s multi-million dollar manned mission to Mars and you find out that to send the astronauts would result in disaster, what would you do? Well, if you were the head of the mission in the cult classic 
It was truncated due to the writer’s strike, but the eighth season of 
It may not be brilliant, but there’s certainly something loveable about any show that casts both Patrick Warburton and David Spade. 
I’ll be honest with you – the only real reason that I ever watched an episode of 
Indulge your schlock horror bone with the brand new Ghost House Underground imprint, formed by Ghost House Pictures founders Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, which debuts with 8 titles full of terror and gore aplenty (Lionsgate, Rated R, DVD-$19.98 SRP each). The launch titles include 
It could have been a hokey mess – and there is still some hokinees about – but 
His time in office may be fast coming to an end, but you can still watch the second season of 
Science nerds (like me) can geek out to the complete second season of 
It has been a long, long time since the release of the second season, but fans and interested parties can now partake of 
Terence Malick’s epic tale of Captain John Smith and the Jamestown settlement’s relations with the Native American populace, 
As much as I loved the first season of 
I’ve described in the past my utter delight in gadgets that magnify things – going all the way back to childhood – and the ultimate high-end version of that is the 
For criminy’s sake – it’s taken forever, but we in the US have FINALLY gotten a box set containing all of the various travel documentaries hosted by Python Michael Palin in the uber-wonderful 
I can’t even begin to express just how delighted I am with the 50th anniversary edition of Orson Welles’ classic venture into film noir, 
It’s hard to believe that we’re already up to the fourth volume of 
This makes the thirteenth or fourteenth time they’ve been released on DVD, but a trio of Alfred Hitchcock’s certifiable classics have been given remastered 2-disc special editions – 
Get all of your festive holiday specials with the 
Another of the classic – well, mostly classic – stop motion Rankin/Bass holiday specials makes its way to DVD with 
I can’t even begin to tell you how disappointed I am that – despite brilliant, newly remastered sound and picture – the new edition of Tim Burton’s 
Although the story is rather flat and doesn’t hold up to much scrutiny, 
It seems like there’s no end to the classic Doctor Who adventures still in the vaults, as we get not only a Tom Baker adventure with 
Of a more recent vintage, there’s the animated 
Although launched as a Doctor Who spin-off aimed at the teen market, I find 
As beautiful and memorable as it is, do not show 
Well, we’ve finally hit the wall. The eleventh season of 
Though I’m getting a bit tired of all of the South Park best-ofs that are coming down the pike, at least the 2-disc 
From years of watching it during my frequent Nick at Nite binges when the block first began all those years ago, I have the theme tune to 
There’s nothing like sparkling fresh Ray Harryhausen, and that’s exactly what you’ll see with the new 50th anniversary edition of 
Fill up your pre-Halloween viewing with the new Blu-Ray edition of 
Peyo’s little blue mushroom-dwelling creations are back in 
Not only does 
There have been dozens of releases featuring the numerous episodes that have moved into the public domain, but Paramount has finally put out the official second season set of 
Certainly on the “to give to my nephews” list this holiday season is 
Even over 20 years later, there’s no denying that Kathleen Turner’s performance in 
Most don’t think of the man in black when they think of the holiday season, but the 
Set in 1945 on a navy cargo ship far from battles in the Pacific theater, 
You know when a band puts out a lackluster EP of material that’s been sitting around, as a stop-gap instead of releasing a new album? That’s exactly what Michael Moore’s 
Has it really been that long since the last 
The ragtag band of global crimefighters led by Jim Phelps returns in the complete fifth season of 
A must-have from the vaults, be sure to pick up and give a spin to the 1945 adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s 
Even the kiddies with their eyes normally glued to Nickelodeon can begin celebrating the holidays with 
I must admit, I was surprised that 
The only reaction that I got from M. Night Shyamalan’s 
In a world with mediocre X-Men, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, and Spider-Man movies, I’ve come to have little expectation for enjoyment when it comes to flicks based on beloved Marvel Comics superheroes. When I heard 
When I was but a wee lad, one of my favorite things to muck around with was a handheld microscope that my parents had bought me at one of the many Smithsonian museums that line the National Mall (probably the Air & Space). I got all kinds of kicks looking coins, leaves, bugs, my own finger – anything you can think of. Unfortunately, it long ago succumbed to battery corrosion. Thinkgeek, though, has a newer version of that 
The “Judd Apatow” brand of comedy has always been hit or miss with me, but when it does hit a sweet spot – as it does with 
The third season of 
I didn’t know if it would hold up after all these years, but I’m happy that 
The fine folks at 
Back in the early, dark ages of DVD, Aaron Sorkin’s 
Alan Moore is a brilliant writer. He’s also an endearingly bizarre man who has hair like Cousin It and a demeanor like a British Rasputin. The man and his work are explored in the documentary 
It’s four seasons in and I still haven’t really given the mathematics meets crime-solving 
It got off to a shaky, overly-prepared start that has begun hitting its groove in its current, second season, but there’s still much to enjoy in the first season of 
Attempting another skewed genre take, Buck Henry followed up the hit Get Smart with an attempt to take on science fiction – and the result was the lackluster but interesting in its failure series 
Lou Reed’s always run hot and cold for me – for every “Satellite Of Love”, “New York Conversation”, or “Walk On The Wild Side”, there’s… well… the rest of his catalogue. Still, I found myself enjoying 
While it has no real contributions from the Beatles themselves, 
I have no clue whether Guy Ritchie’s new flick is worth a damn or not, but the soundtrack to 
I’m not exactly sure what the criteria to be featured is anymore – probably just having appeared on a screen somewhere in something – but occasionally a fascinating conversation slips through on Inside The Actors Studio, and such is the case with their latest DVD release, 
Brothers Click & Clack of the long-running NPR automotive show Car Talk (actually brothers Tom & Ray Magliozzi) get an animated spin-off comedy made for PBS called 
Officers Malloy and Reed are back patrolling the streets of LA in the complete second season of 
Where the hell is the time going? Has it really been 10 years since the teen comedy 
When you’ve got something called 
Jared Leto packs on the pounds to play Mark David Chapman – the nutjob who murdered John Lennon in early December 1980 – in 
If you thought that he was just “Great Balls Of Fire”, you’ve got a lot to learn about Jerry Lee Lewis- and you can learn more with 
Spend the holidays with America’s first family of the 50’s with 
I guess Dora has decided to quit exploring – you know – REAL places and has instead decided to try and snag a piece of Disney’s largesse with the DVD premiere movie 
While you can most certainly partake of the new, definitive collection majestically titled 
If donning a helmet and having your voice changed into that of oh, say, Darth Vader or Optimus Prime is not your cup of tea – or if you just like tea and have a penchant for wearing long scarves – than you’re probably keen on picking up your very own 
Getting a long-overdue top-to-bottom overhaul of it sound and picture, 
It’s no Smile – really, what could be? – but Brian Wilson’s new California-centric concept album, 
After waking up from a coma, Samantha must try to figure out just who she is in the comedy series 
Just for providing an in-depth interview with the gentleman who built a LEGO version of 2010‘s Odyssey and Leonov, I can heartily recommend picking up a copy of the first 
It’s election time, and if the whole process – and our government – is still a bit boggling, refresh and relearn how it all works with the 
It took me a bit to get into it, but it was when I realized that I’ve encountered everyday schlubs like Tae Kwon Do instructor Fred Simmons (Danny McBride) – a man whose life is falling apart, but is infused with a skewed, small-minded sense of honor and ego – that 
David E. Kelley had always been hit or miss for me, but what I loved about him was that he always maintained a sense of humor in the shows he produced which made other shows seem blasé by comparison. I’m disappointed that the 4th season of 
I generally loathe sports movies, but 
As a child growing up in Northern Virginia, the go-to place for school field trips were the various Smithsonian museums in Washington, DC. I must have gone a few dozen times. That’s probably why I got a kick out of a pair of releases from the new “Smithsonian Networks” imprint – 
Programmed right next to my nephew’s favorite show – Spongebob Squarepants – and the inheritor of Drake & Josh‘s torch, I’ve seen plenty of the Miranda Cosgrove vehicle 
The seventeenth volume of Twomorrows’ stellar artist spotlight series Modern Masters turns its eye towards 
I love a documentary that takes me someplace and manages to show a silver lining to even the darkest cloud, and such is the case of 
They’re not terribly good animated films, but they are available in high definition now – both 
You know the various holidays are fast approaching when holiday-themed box sets start appearing on the scene, and one of the first down the pike is a 3-disc set from that high-pitched trio, Alvin & The Chipmunks. The 
Maybe this is the point where it all went wrong. Nerd hero Simon Pegg – who we became fiercely loyal to in Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, and Hot Fuzz – seems to have begun making movies just for the money lately. Before even his awkward decision to back hack JJ Abrams’ new Star Trek flick as a young Scotty, Pegg starred in the lackluster Brit-Comedy 
Detective Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise) and the crack Big Apple forensics team of 
The new 
I still don’t entirely understand the appeal of 
It’s a Hallooweenie adventure for the Scooby Gang in the new direct-to-DVD movie 
The second season of 
There’s ice truckers and deep sea fisherman, so of course we’d eventually get a series focusing on loggers, cleverly titled 
There was a period when it seemed that every horror big screen horror “franchise” was getting its own TV anthology series – from Freddy’s Nightmares to, yes, 
The cult of High School Musical will be lining up, vacant-gazed, to snag the 2-disc “Dance Edition” of 
I just spent this evening (as I type this, naturally) doing something that I haven’t done in years – lose track of a few hours of my life while immersed in a Star Wars game. With my limited amount of free time and the nagging desire to get some kind of sleep each night, it’s a rare occurrence when I actually get to do any sort of gaming. As far as Star Wars games go, I haven’t really played one since Battlefront II (and that one because it promised – and delivered – some Ewok shooting). Well, the drought is over, because I just spent the evening immersed in 
I’ve got a cold this week, and when I wasn’t immersing myself in Jedis and Sith Lords, I was pitting a pirate against a ninja. That’s right – all that fancy radio-control technology has been integrated into 
In their infinite wisdom, the BBC of the late 60’s and early 70’s would regularly wipe the videotapes of older shows in order to reuse the tapes. What that means is that scores of shows have been lost to the whims of a frugal network – many of them landmark programs. Much of the 60’s TV work of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore – and their show Not Only But Also – suffered that fate. Some of the material survived, however, and that’s what’s collected in 
It’s become even rarer in this day and age, but it’s always a real treat when a show with a unique, quirky sensibility manages to break out of the network blanding factory and gain a foothold amongst viewers. The latest in that select pantheon is 
Mere months before the release of what would prove to be their swansong album, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel toured in the fall of 1969 – playing some old favorites and a few tunes from their as-yet-unreleased album, Bridge Over Troubled Water. Those concerts were recorded for a live album follow-up to Bridge that never came to be… until now. 
The thinking behind the release of 
Fans of Space Ghost Coast To Coast have been left in the lurch for years now as the DVD releases stopped abruptly, leaving many episodes in the lurch. Well, those fans can rejoice in and quickly snap up 
Some of it may be music written for the HBO series Big Love, but David Byrne’s 
If you can manage to put the Tom Cruise Crazy out of your head, you can see the charm in the young actor fronting the now 25 year-old(!) 
Spend those darkening, blustery days leading up to All Hallow’s curled up with the new commemorative edition of 
The second 
So, you cross Office Space with James Bond, with a touch of Alias? Sure, I’ll give it a shot. The show in question is 
Being a fan of the Disney theme parks and the design ingenuity and creativity that forged them, a book like 
Yes, you’re seeing spots. Lots of them. Not only is Disney re-releasing the live action, Glenn Close-starring 
Halloween is fast approaching us, so Fox has dropped another of their catalogue unearthing 
It’s easily one of the more depressing romantic flicks in cinematic history, but it is a classic of the genre and still holds up as a solid piece of filmmaking. It’s welcome, then, that 
Bitter, angry, and still funny, the complete first and second seasons of that angry mallard 
Some of the best Star Trek stories have been the numerous tales of alternate realities, so it makes sense that the latest Star Trek Fan Collective is – you guessed it – 
For some reason, they aren’t releasing full box sets of the 80’s Alvin & The Chipmunks, but we’ve got a 2-disc 
If you still have find memories of the John Hughes troika The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, and Sixteen Candles, then you’ll probably want to pick up the new 
I never thought the mostly enjoyable run of classic Charlie Chan flicks would ever move past the first volume, but here we are with the 5th 
As in the past, the singular releases of the final Avatar: The Last Airbender arc have been compiled into 
Still stylish after all these years, the 50th anniversary edition of 
And if that’s not enough French fare for you, then how about a new special edition of Gene Kelly in 
Did anybody watch the Grey’s Anatomy spin-off 
You can now snag the 2-disc special edition of Michael Bay’s 
It seems like it’s taken almost 8 years just to get all 8 seasons of 
The second season of the Doctor Who spin-off 
And, while it’s not the Doctor Who release I was hoping for, the complete first season of 
Garishly colorful, borderline seizure-inducing, and practically incomprehensible, the Wachowski Brothers’ take on 
It’s mostly a soapy mess, but the real reason to at least check out the first season of 
Oh, Mike Myers… I truly believe that you honestly thought that 
Sporting a brand new digital transfer with a full restoration, Paul Newman’s legendary performance as 
I admit – when I first saw 
Every once in a while, a truly spectacular, must-have catalogue release makes its way to DVD. Add to that exclusive list the Ultimate Collector’s edition of the Cinerama epic 
It may not have much of an edge, but I couldn’t help but enjoy 
Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles return Audrey fforbes-Hamilton and Richard Devere in 
The penultimate 7th season of 
I had complete forgotten that 
The new animated series The Spectacular Spider-Man gets a direct-to-DVD feature of it’s own, 
Not only is Horatio Caine (David Caruso) dealing with more mysteries on the job in season six of 
In the 4th season of 
If you’ve got kids, you’ve probably seen too much of Dora the Explorer. With the newly released 
What could have been a cringe-worthy disaster was actually a fun, funny little show that I was more than happy to show my nephew. I speak of the first season of 
The sophomore outing of 
Here we are at the fourth season of 
If you attended the quiz show that we did at DragonCon, you saw the raucous fun our contestants – including Doc Hammer, Dana Snyder, Paul & Storm, and Robert Llewellyn – had while racing the 
It seems like it’s taken forever to bring it to a close – and we’re not quite there yet – but at least we now have the penultimate 10th season of 
Fully remastered and ready to be viewed numerous times in the next month, the new edition of 
Although a comprehensive box set has long been available, the new 
Regardless of the fact that we’ve featured their production blog, I’d still recommend Brian LaBelle and Tom Whelan’s stunningly beautiful tale of a young man’s journey through South America’s deadly Darien Gap (and his romantic hook-up), 
It truly is a golden age for Doctor Who on home video, as the classic releases are coming fast and furious – now with the Tom Baker adventures 
Elvis fans – and music fans, for that matter – will want to snap out the comprehensive 
It took a little while (while that whole high-def war was sorted out), but fans can now snag the 2-disc Blu-Ray edition of Michael Bay’s 
Recorded live at the KCET Studios in Los Angeles in 1971, 
Harry Potter‘s own Hermione Granger, Emma Watson, makes her first major post-Potter movie with the adaptation of Noel Streatfield’s 
I’d like to dedicate the release of 
Just when I was ready to count it out, 
It still plays like a poor man’s Whedon, but who’da thunk that 
Speaking of box sets from classic Nickelodeon shows, how about the complete first season of 
My mother adores 
At the very least, 
Fast-forward four years as the students from Tree Hill High return to their North Carolina hometown in the fifth season of 
Getting a long-overdue top-to-bottom overhaul of it sound and picture, 
In our fast-paced, on-the-go, insert clich̩ world, making our entertainment mobile is a must. With iPhones, iPods, laptops, and other portable media devices Рplus scores of DVDs and TV shows to get through in a day Рfinding a way to automate the process of making those videos easily uploadable to your devices is a must. Enter the 
With the third 
It’s been almost a decade since Randy Newman put out a new album of original tunes – not since Bad Love for the doomed Dreamworks Records, in fact – and it was with some trepidation that I spun up 
Three years in and Everybody Hates Chris (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) has managed the rare feat of still being a quality, funny show. Unlike Malcolm In The Middle, which squandered its brilliant start by becoming a cartoon, Chris is still grounded in the reality it set up right from the beginning. The 4-disc set features all 22 episodes, plus audio commentaries, webisodes, interviews, featurettes, deleted scenes, a gag reel, and more.
Very rarely does a film manage to capture the of-times bizarre flights of fantasy that envelop the average childhood, so when a flick does manage to capture lightning in a bottle, it’s worth noting. Such is the case with Son Of Rambow (Paramount, Rated PG-13, DVD-$19.99), which finds a young boy discovering common ground with a bully by taking a video camera and a worn copy of Rambo: First Blood, and making a little cinematic magic of their own. To say anymore would ruin the fun, but suffice to say – see it. Bonus features include an audio commentary, the short film that inspired the movie, a making-of, and more. This title is currently a Best Buy exclusive.
Seven years after it came out with an underground, viral splash, Brotherhood Of The Wolf (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP) gets a new director’s cut and a 2-disc special edition, featuring a making-of documentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, storyboards, and more.
If you were in any sort of doubt that we were, in fact, in a presidential election year here in the US, let the immense American Experience: The Presidents Collection (PBS, Not Rated, DVD-$129.98 SRP) remind you. The 10-disc set features profiles on Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Harry Truman, The Kennedys, LBJ, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George HW Bush.
For all of the brilliance of Heroes‘ first season, its second season (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) fell into that awful, stereotypical sophomore season confusion that has derailed many a promising series before it. In fact, the best thing that happened to the season was probably the writer’s strike, which truncated the wrongheaded direction and allowed a rethink breather. We can only hope season 3 is a course correction. The 4-disc second season set features all 11 episodes, plus audio commentaries, an alternate ending and behind-the-scenes look at the episode “Generations”, featurettes, interviews, and a sneak peek at season 3.
By now, you pretty much now to expect quite a nice dramatic ride from Detective Vic Mackey, and the 6th season of The Shield (Sony, Not Rated, DVD-$59.95 SRP) doesn’t disappoint., as Internal Affairs is breathing down his neck and forced retirement is looming. The 4-disc set features all 10 episodes, plus audio commentaries, featurettes, and deleted scenes.
Mark Harmon and his team of crackerjack Naval Investigators are up against murderers, kidnappers, spies, terrorists, and tigers (maybe not tigers) in the 5th season of NCIS (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP). The 5-disc set features all 18 episodes, plus audio commentaries, featurettes, and more.
See, I thought the arrival of Pixar’s John Lasseter and Ed Catmull at the head of Disney animation was going to put a stop to the roll-out of mediocre direct-to-video sequels. I guess there’s no stopping the Disney marketing machine, because here we are with The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning (Walt Disney, Rated G, DVD-$29.99 SRP), a prequel to the 1989 classic. Bonus features include deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes featurette, and more.
I gotta admit – even though I was never a big fan, I at least found some enjoyment from Entourage. With the fourth season (HBO, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), I must say – I’m off it. The charm is gone, and the characters have devolved into soapy clichés. It’s a shame, because it at least had its charm. The 3-disc set features all 12 episodes, plus a trio of audio commentaries, featurettes, and a US Comedy Arts Festival panel with the cast.
Hunker down this weekend with the complete first seasons of a pair of new History Channel shows – UFO Hunters and Battle 360 (History Channel, Not Rated, DVD-$39.95 SRP each). The 4-disc set UFO Hunters features all 13 of the investigative (if misguided) episodes plus additional scenes, while the 4-disc Battle 360 sports all 10 episodes chronicling and recreating the USS Enterprise’s dramatic WWII battles, in addition to a clutch of bonus scenes.
The second volume of The Untouchables‘ second season (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) finds Elliot Ness and his G-Men shifting their focus away from alcohol and onto narcotics, and also expanding further afield than just the mean streets of Chicago. The 4-disc set contains 16-episodes.
Even though it’s more hit than miss, there’s a certain joy in discovering that there was once a sketch show that starred Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson, Ben Elton, and Robbie Coltrane. That series – Alfresco (Acorn, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP) – is now available in its entirety on DVD, and is worth checking out for the talent alone.
See, I remember watching Daily Show correspondent John Oliver on UK shows like Mock The Week long before he crossed the pond to take up residence on US TV. With that in mind, I was delighted when Comedy Central decided to give him a stand up spotlight with 
I love a good gadget. We all do. What better gadget is there for the average geek than one that potentially makes you look absurd when its in use? Such is the case with the 
If you thought that Mr. Show was an endearingly bizarre collection of surreality in sketch form, then – like me – you will revel in (and laugh at) Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher’s 
My only real disappointment with the Blu-Ray arrival of the uneven-but-still better-than The Batman first season of the animated 
After far too long an absence – and numerous health problems – Dana Carvey has returned with a brand new stand-up special – his first in almost 12 years – 
Showtime’s loveable sociopath returns for a second season, and I have to agree with most of the fans – there was something off about season 2 of 
Get a healthy reminder of what to avoid this election season by picking up the extended “Election Year Edition” of Oliver Stone’s flawed-but-riveting 
Why is it that we get bucketfuls of tripe on TV here in the US, but the UK gets a wonderfully quirky rom-sit-com like 
If only more lawyers were like Perry Mason and less like they actually are, the world would probably be a better place. Judge for yourself with the first volume of 
It’s 8 years later, and time and perspective make 
A new Fletch film seems permanently grounded, but both of the original Chevy Chase-starring vehicles starring Gregory McDonald’s investigative reporter – Fletch and Fletch Lives – are now available in 
Tweenie heads will combust with excitement as a pair of Disney flicks hit DVD – the big screen 
The doctor is back with a bunch of bizarre, incredibly rare maladies and the increasingly tedious grumpy manner in the fourth season of 
I’m all well and good with the Terminator franchise – I consider the first two films classics – but I found 3 to be a mediocre money grab and I simply can’t get into 
Yeah, that whole 
Like a delightful throwback to smallish, enjoyable flicks of the 40’s and 50’s, 
What started out as a promising show has become largely forgettable with the third season of 
You know, it’s the ninth season of 
Not since the feature film itself have I seen something so horribly, awkwardly designed as the new 
Raise your hands, anyone who voiced – or even felt – a desire for a sequel to The Scorpion King. You will now be shot. Yes, there is now 
Time is flying by – I can not believe we’re already to the penultimate volume of the full-color Bone volumes from Scholastic, 
Have you ever been on an airplane, or a trip, or just simply not near a power outlet or batteries when your cell phone goes dead? Or a camera? Or any other important portable device in your life? Well, you need a monkey. Nor a real monkey, silly – a 
While it’s by no means their weakest season, the eleventh season of 
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – When it comes to chronicling comic book history – and the men and women that made it – Twomorrows has mastered the fine art of mixing equal parts scholarship, objectivism, and a palpable love of the medium. They’ve also now become the go-to source for tomes detailing the published exploits of a given character or superhero title with their “Companion” series, the latest of which is 
Far too soon, 
The BBC is dipping it’s toes ever-so-gingerly into the Blu-Ray waters with the release of 
Combine the space age with the rise of the hippie movement, and you’ve got the design and living spaces lovingly collected in the immense 
Often abbreviated to JRJR, John Romita, Jr. gets the 
For anyone who thought that a move to the big American network would ruin the low-rent, brutal one-upsmanship of 
First printed in 1926, 
Climb aboard the second volume of 
The animation is borderline unwatchable and the writing is subpar, but there’s quite the crappy charm remaining in the cartoons featured in the 
After the delightfully bizarre Night Court, Harry Anderson starred as the fictionalized version of columnist Dave Berry in the tepid but amiable family sitcom 
Another month, and another batch of classic Doctor Who adventures come to disc, starting with a 2-disc 25th Anniversary Edition of 
The title pretty much explains it all – 
It’s kind of sad when composer Kevin Kiner’s score for 
If you’ve ever had the desire to see mouse & cat duo Tom and Jerry engage in a slew of x-treme sports, you’ll find plenty of cartoons with the theme in the 5th volume of 
Kiddie fare (sure to entertain my nephews) this week include a pair of new Nickelodeon titles – 
Honestly, the only reason I gave 
Last year, Paramount released the first season of the remastered original Star Trek series as hybrid standard DVD/HD-DVD discs. As we all know, HD-DVD was roundly defeated in the high definition format wars by Blu-Ray, which left the future of the remastered releases a bit muddled. Well, 
Why does it always seem that when my car’s battery decides it’s time to die, it’s always when it’s pouring down rain. It never fails. Also, after a childhood arcing incident, I’ve always been paranoid about opening up the hood and attaching the leads to the battery. Well, those days are done and gone with the 
Although his smarmy, opportunistic, and ultimately destructive behavior became cartoonish in his last years as prime minister, it’s a film like writer Peter Morgan and director Stephen Frears’ 
As we approach the Beijing Olympics, why not take an unprecedented look across the cultural and geographical breadth of that nation with the documentary 
It’s not the first time its been released on DVD, but I’m safe in saying that the new 2-disc special edition of 
After over 20 years, watching the fourth season of 
It was only a matter of time before somebody did a comedy with 64-bit videogame animation, and G4’s 
In the category of “there had to be a documentary on him eventually, and here it is” comes 
The second season of the BBC’s 
How much do you love the 80’s? A lot? Well, Paramount has taken a batch of their 80’s classics and rebranded them with “I Love The 80’s”, and included a bonus CD collecting a clutch of 80’s hits (A-Ha, anyone?). The flicks included in the rebranding are 
In my fondest dreams, I’d hope that the release of soundtracks from the animated direct-to-DVD 
Get up to snuff on this year’s presidential nominees with the A&E Biography of both 
Joanna Lumley stars as woman whose retirement dreams with her husband are thrown into turmoil after tragedy strikes in the series 
Robson Green and Simone Lahbib return as Dr. Tony Hill and Detective Inspector Alex Fielding in the fifth season of 
Soapier than a bar of Irish Spring, the Brits manage to bring an air of trashy class to their own little spin on Las Vegas, 
The animated adventures of come to a close in 
Flash back to 2004 with Sheryl Crow’s episode of the live performance show 
Sir David Attenborough turns his cameras toward the slithery, slimy, and pebbled with 
