Sure, the 3D conversion remains more of a gimmick than an artistic contribution to the film, but the effect works nicely in the high definition debut of The Little Mermaid (Walt Disney, Rated G, 3D Blu-Ray-$34.96 SRP) – but not nearly as nice as the restoration and high definition mastering, which makes the almost 25-year-old film look and sound sparkling and new. In addition to all of the bonus materials from the original Platinum DVD release, this release adds in a never-before-seen deleted sequence, a far-too-brief edit of a lecture that the late Howard Ashman delivered at the studio early in the film’s production process, a featurette on modern Disney animators, and more. Now bring on Aladdin! Quick!
Where most Star Wars material leaves me unfazed post-The Great Depression (The Prequels), I’ve looked forward to J.W. Rinzler’s exhaustive “Making Of” books for the depth of their information, but more so for their remarkable candor. And now the classic trilogy comes to an end with the entry that had perhaps the most fascinating development process, all of which is fully explored in The Making Of Return Of The Jedi (Del Rey, $85.00 SRP). Throughout this massive tome, you get a strong sense of Lucas being trapped by the overwhelming success of his creation and the expectations born of that success, and wanting nothing more to end it all and move on to something more personal.
Sometimes, it’s hard to believe that South Park (Comedy Central, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$59.99 SRP) has been going for sixteen seasons – and going quite strong for most of them. The early seasons are nothing like what the show has become, lacking in the satire that’s become such a hallmark of recent years, and is still just as fresh and piercing in this latest outing. Bonus materials in the 2-disc set contain Matt Stone & Trey Parker’s patented mini-commentaries, plus deleted scenes.
Awkwardly split in two and never really building a head of steam, the seventh season of Doctor Who (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$89.98 SRP) feels like a show in desperate need of a rethink and a shake-up – which is on the way courtesy of a new Doctor in the near future. Until then, there’s the departure of the Ponds, the arrival of Clara, and the cliffhanger revelation of a mysterious Doctor to contend with here. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, prequels, and specials.
As a longtime fan, I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Dave Foley had begun doing standup. I’m even happier that his first special, Dave Foley: Relatively Well (New Wave Dynamics, Not Rated, DVD-$9.47 SRP), is legitimately funny… Which, honestly, makes everything right with the world. And the Uma Thurman story alone is worth the price of admission. And for your mobile convenience, an audio CD version ($12.98 SRP) is also available.
After the overall “meh” of Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3 (Marvel, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$44.99 SRP) managed to restore the goodwill of the iron Avenger’s first big screen adventure with only the occasional stumble. It also featured more new toys than you can shake a marketing maven at, plus an aerial rescue sequence that’s just this side of exquisite in its execution. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, featurettes, deleted/extended scenes, a gag reel, and a brand new Marvel short film focusing on Agent Carter.
In years past, TV shows would rarely consider the afterlife of their run beyond a sale into syndication. The idea of a home video market for popular shows? Unheard of. With that in mind, music licensing deals were only ever made short term, which has left many a show in quite the deep financial pickle when the idea of bringing them to home video with their music intact. Years ago, the music was just changed to far cheaper tunes – leading to fan backlash. Eventually, though, companies decided to try and clear the hurdles – the first most famous example was Shout Factory’s Herculean handling of Freaks & Geeks. And now, the gents a Time Life have actually undertaken their own Herculean task and succeeded in clearing nearly all of the vintage songs (Dylan, Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, and more) contained in the beloved Vietnam War drama China Beach (Time Life, Not Rated, DVD-$22.95 SRP), whose first season is now available independently of the massive complete series collection released a few months back. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, interviews, and featurettes.
The heroes on the half shell return with a dozen new-to-DVD adventures in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Ultimate Showdown (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP), featuring baddies like Rat King and Baxter Stockman, plus bonus features including a quartet of shorts and animated comics.
Every time you turn around there seems to be another edition, but we may finally have arrived at a definitive version with the 35th anniversary high definition release of John Carpenter’s Halloween (Anchor Bay, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP), featuring a brand new audio commentary with Carpenter and star Jamie Lee Curtis, a new featurette, TV version footage, TV & radio spots, the trailer, and a 25th anniversary featurette on the film’s location.
Like most Dreamworks films save for How To Train Your Dragon, The Croods (Dreamworks, Rated PG, 3D Blu-Ray-$48.99 SRP) follows the typical formula of being much more of an enjoyable romp than a deeper character piece like we’ve generally gotten from their distinguished competition over at Pixar, and that’s fine – Who doesn’t want to set out into a weird and wild 3D landscape featuring plenty of gags and relatively sharp writing for 90 minutes? Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes.
There are those that rail on the ability to watch 3D right in our homes as some kind of gimmick, and they’re right – it is a gimmick. But you know what? It’s still a nifty gimmick, and its presence in the home allows studios like Warner Bros. to release true-3D versions of classic 50’s films like the Vincent Price horror flick House Of Wax (Warner Bros., Not Rated, 3D Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) as they were originally seen in theaters… And for a film fan like me, that makes the gimmick worth it. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a featurette, a vintage newsreel, the trailer, and the 1933 feature Mystery Of The Wax Museum.
And while we’re talking vintage catalogue releases from Warners now available in high definition, also making its debut is King Vidor’s incredibly moving silent war film The Big Parade (Warner Bros., Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$27.98 SRP). Featuring a 4k restoration from the recently found original negative, it’s a still-powerful view of the ordinary foot soldier during the First World War. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a vintage short, and the theatrical trailer.
You know the merger between Marvel and Disney has been fully cemented when you finally get a mighty meeting like Phineas & Ferb: Mission Marvel (Walt Disney, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP), which brings together superheroes like Spider-Man, Thor, Iron Man & The Hulk in an adventure with Phineas Ferb to take on the diabolical machinations of Dr. Doofenshmirtz and a cadre of supervillains.
I used to really like the show, but there’s something about the 4th season of Modern Family (Fox, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$59.99 SRP) that just feels strained. It’s almost as if the show has become a caricature of itself, slipping into the same goofy slapstick that undermined shows like Scrubs and The Office. A true shame. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.
Scholastic is back with a bit of a treat for kids with their latest Storybook Treasures collection – The Halloween Stories (Scholastic, Not Rated, DVD-$24.95 SRP), which contains 14 spooky tales, including The Day Of The Dead, Dem Bones, and Teeny-Tiny And The Witch-Woman.
The Second World War is over but the Cold War looms in Foyle’s War: Set 7 (Acorn, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP), in which DCS Christopher Foyle transitions from police work and into Britain’s secret intelligence service in a world now brimming with spies and deadly secrets. Bonus materials include introductions, featurettes, and a photo gallery.
Yes, Zooey Deschanel is still delightfully quirky in the second season of New Girl (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), and the show has finally caught up to her and gelled into a delightfully quirky sitcom worth checking out if the first season didn’t strike your fancy. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, an extended episode, deleted scenes, a featurette, and a gag reel.
Nothing quite makes me miss the sublime farce of 3rd Rock From The Sun than a pale imitator like The Neighbors (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$ SRP), a suburban comedy that places a city family in the burbs next to a decidedly odd family living in the house next door. Guess what? THEY’RE ALIENS. Comedy, right? Bonus materials include deleted scenes and a gag reel.
Nickelodeon makes holiday gift-giving even easier with their new “Holiday Gifts From Nickelodeon” sets – a trio of releases featuring DVDs of It’s A Spongebob Christmas, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rise Of The Turtles, and Dora’s Christmas Carol Adventure (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP each) plus coloring books, crayons, stickers, and a poster. In other words, the perfect stocking stuffer.
It’s never been much of a quality show, but it was always a consistent lowbrow laugher that had a shaky transitional year during its 9th season. But all is back on a somewhat even (for it) keel now that Ashton Kutcher cut his hair for the 10th season of Two And A Half Men (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$44.98 SRP), even as the titular half man, Angus T. Jones, had an off-air meltdown and was largely unseen on air. Still – we’ll always have Jon Cryer. Always. Bonus materials include a featurette and a gag reel.
If you ever wondered just what it would be like if a stoner got lost in a thought and decided to make a documentary about it, look no further than Room 237 (IFC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP), in which filmmaker Kevin McLeod assembles a group of “deep” nobodies with the intent on delving in and pontificating on the “deeper meaning” of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, because what’s more fun than listening to rambling nonsense for an eternity? Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, and trailers.
While the actual film was an unfortunate mess, one of the few highlights of DC’s latest direct-to-video animated feature was the score to Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (LaLaLand Records, $19.98 SRP), composed by Frederik Wiedman. So skip the film and just get this.
And hey, how about a soundtrack round-up? This week, we’ve got Greg Edmonson’s score for Bounty Killer (Lakeshore, $9.99 SRP), Icon’s Dawning Promises (Icon, $9.99), Marcelo Zarvos’ score to Enough Said (Fox Music, $9.99), Christopher Beck’s Runner Runner (Lakeshore Records, $17.77), Lorne Balfe’s score to Skylanders: Swap Force (Activision, $9.49), and Carter Burwell’s score to The Fifth Estate (Lakeshore Records, $16.91).
It’s somewhat hard to believe that it’s taken this long – 23 years after his untimely passing – that we’ve gotten a proper biography of Jim Henson. Well, not so odd when knows that an attempt was made in the 90s that was scuttled by the Henson family – but now, finally, author Brian Jay Jones has managed to pull together Jim Henson: The Biography (Ballantine Books, $35.00), which is as insightful, candid, and comprehensive an overview of both Jim’s personal life and career as we’re possibly going to get, warts and all. Highly recommended.
While I’ve become quite a fan of him during his tenure as a Daily Show correspondent over the past few years, it wasn’t until 
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