Although I’ve a native to Arizona for the last 17 years, I still consider the Golden State of California my home. There’s a lot of interesting events, and people both known and unknown. I will feature some of them in this new mini segment called “My Favorite Things Cali.”
This first article is a feature on Darren “DJ Zulu” Battle, a promoter and DJ in northern California who throws parties catered to the “plus size crowd.” Why is he my first feature for this series, you ask? With no shame in my game I must admit I am a chubby chaser and admirer of the full figured women out there. There’s nothing wrong with being on the larger side. Hey, I am totally heterosexual and even think View Askew’s own Kevin Smith and Malcolm Ingram are handsome dudes. There is so much stereotype in the entertainment industry on how a woman should look, and I commend DJ Zulu for breaking such boundaries. Plus he throw’s some pretty great parties, with the best mix of DJs. Last year I had the pleasure of attending and performing at a party he threw in Vegas, and had a blast!
So without further Adieu, check out the interview I did on DJ Zulu.
THAAHUM: How did you get your start DJ-ing?
DJ ZULU: I started at age 14 at Kadena US Air Force Base, Okinawa, Japan. I was naturally into music, and when I started seeing mobile DJs around the island, I wanted to be down. I got my first break at my end of (Jr. High/Middle) school dance. By High School we had relocated to a US Air Force Base in the Tokyo area, and 27 years later, here I am.
THAAHUM: How did “Darrenteed Productions” come about?
DJ ZULU: I was hyping up a Youth Center event that I was promoting and DJing (promoting came naturally about 2 years after I was in this) and I was digging on this girl and trying to get her to come through. I told her that I’d personally guarantee that she’d have a good time. With me trying to get at her and my government name being Darren, I flipped it on her and I said “No, I DARRENTEE you’ll have a good time” I got her number and the name just stuck.
THAAHUM: What made you want to start promoting plus size events? At what point did you realize that there needed to be more events that supported “fat acceptance” and the plus size community?
DJ ZULU: I’m fat girl lover. I’ve always been into chubby girls since high school. When I discovered that there was a plus size community through a friend around 1991, 1992, I started getting actively involved in it. I had stopped DJing for a period of time due to life – being married at the time and not feeling music during that time as much. So I would attend these social events, and they were cool – especially for us FAs (who happened to also be fat), but there weren’t many nightclub promotions at that time except for New York City. By the time I moved to the Bay Area in 1999, I had started DJing again, and it became a main goal of mine to do one here. There had been many social events in the Bay Area, which really was a pacesetter in the size acceptance community that never got its due. Even NAAFA started in this area. There wasn’t any nightclub promotions out west and I aimed to be the first. Many fat people wanted club style settings, and with my background I felt I could provide that for them. All I needed to do was give them the energy that the mainstream nightclubs provided and leave the rest of it up to them.
THAAHUM: What is your goal as a DJ and promoter?
DJ ZULU: As a DJ, I don’t have many goals left. I’m a slam DJ – I’m not the nicest on the mix, though I hold my own. I am a record breaker, though – as the industry knows, by sending me music fresh out the box. I still love to rock crowds, but I feel things differently than others. I’m not a big fan of a lot of the newer stuff out there and I tend to want to rock more house when I am mixing, or old school. As a promoter, I want to continue to introduce up and coming DJs and help get them where they want to go through my promotions and beyond. There are some great DJs within the plus size community right now, but they don’t’ step outside of it and my goals are to help them see the big picture, the long term effects. DJs come and go, same with promoters, but I am an example of longevity in the game – especially in the here today, gone tomorrow plus size community.
THAAHUM: What current projects/parties do you have planned?
DJ ZULU: I still do mainstream joints and look for New York Garage and Chicago House promotions to rock at. As far as plus size parties, we still have the Bay Area on lock and we keep trying to touch the sky and get better at it with our themes and fun. We want to get a piece of the pie in New York City with the help of my good friend Lynx, and I have a huge goal of getting Atlanta on and poppin again since I claim it as my city even though I no longer live there. We are also in the beginning stages of a Big Boogie Nights Kansas City with my girl Deb and, of course, there’s the Late Night Pajama Jammie Jam and Fetish Ball taking place on the strip in Vegas on August 10th.
THAAHUM: What has been the general response since you started “Darrenteed Productions?”
DJ ZULU: Darrenteed Productions has been a blessing for me. The promotions have been great since I started and I’ve met some great people during my career. Some started as just a hobby – like DJ Alvin D and DJ Roonie G, who are now icons in the industry. We were just b-boys in Tokyo trying to do our thing… Look at us now – I’ve got gray hair now and, even though those two would deny it, they do too. But we still do our thing and it’s like a family tree now.
THAAHUM: What do you like best about being in the entertainment business?
DJ ZULU: The travel, the perks of being one of the test audience for record companies, meeting people from various cultures and backgrounds, and it’s a good career if you handle it right.
THAAHUM: What is the most frustrating thing about being in the entertainment business?
DJ ZULU: The drama, haters, those who don’t pay their dues and just starting up thinking it’s easy, the backstabbing… oh, and did I say the haters?
THAAHUM: I notice there seems to be different factions and promoters that have “beef” with each other even in the plus size community. What do you think it would take to have more people unite, since everyone has the same goal of plus size acceptance?
DJ ZULU: Wow, I wish I could answer that question, but I’m not really sure what people could do to unite. You’ve got people from different backgrounds, regions and races – what brings us all together is that we are either fat, fat lovers or both fat and a fat lover like myself. Many egos get inflated – mine included – and sometimes we forgot what we are here for. Many bullshit and some even want to make people who make this a business seem less sincere – which is ridiculous, because 90 percent of those who say that are new to the community. There is nothing wrong at all with being a successful business person through the plus size community. There are people of certain ethnicity’s that do business that caters to them, and there are people of different sexual orientations that have business that caters to them, and do people hate on e-harmony or large connections or what ever for being a dating service? They are a business first, and my promotions are a business first, too. Many who are promoting plus size events don’t even know who paved the way or about the plus size organizations out there – they see someone doing a party, they say “hey, so and so can do it, then so can I” and they try to beat down so and so in the process. They draw lines much like gangs or political affiliations and they speak through second and third parties so they don’t look bad. They never attempt to squash drama – yet they try to portray the image they are never involved. They change their position on things only to draw a crowd. I have the same image and outlook as I have since I started, and that won’t change – my personality is a either you love me or loathe style. I understand that about me, but I don’t take away from my event. My promotions aren’t about me, they are about the patrons! Some want to be treated like icons – some really believe that they are saints by doing fat promotions. We are just like everyone else who got lucky and believed in what we are doing. Some promoters seem to have problems with a man promoting these events because most focus on the plus size woman instead of the plus size person. Being fat isn’t gender specific, so I don’t just focus on women. Lastly, people take it too seriously – the results you put into your vision are the results that come out. Many are snowed for years but it always comes out in the end, I have faith in that.
THAAHUM: Where can people find more information on you and your events?
DJ ZULU: The best way to find out what’s up with me is by hitting my links at www.bigboogienights.com, www.darrenteed.com and www.myspace.com/djzulu.
–Copyright 2007 Keneteph Entertainment
Director Tim Burton is 
The complementary “Art Of” volumes that have gone hand-in-hand with the release of every Pixar film since Monsters, Inc. are as beautiful and fascinating as the fully realized films whose visual development process they chronicle. Maintaining that high standard is the companion to director Brad Bird’s latest, The Art of Ratatouille (Chronicle Books, $40.00 SRP). Packed with sketches, design progressions, storyboards, character models, and more, it’s another top-notch volume to add to the shelf.
It’s bittersweet that just a few weeks after the untimely death of writer/director Bob Clark (killed, along with his son, by a drunk driver), Fox has released Porky’s : The Ultimate Collection (Fox, Rated R, DVD-$29.98 SRP), containing all 3 Porky’s films. The 2nd and 3rd installments are largely forgettable, but the first film is still a modern coming-of-age classic that has been continuously “homaged” by films ever since. The original Porky’s contains a commentary with Clark, and retrospective featurettes (the less said about the video game pitch, the better). Give Porky’s and Bob Clark’s other classic, A Christmas Story, a spin.
It got a bare-bones release last year, but Clint Eastwood’s first Iwo Jima film, Flags Of Our Fathers (Paramount, Rated R, DVD-$34.99 SRP), is being re-released as a feature-laden 2-disc affair. Those bonus materials include an introduction from Clint, featurettes (on casting, visual effects, the history, and the script) and the original theatrical trailer.
Let that be a prelude, however, to Eastwood’s far superior Letters From Iwo Jima (Warner Bros., Rated R, DVD-$34.99 SRP), which tells the exact same story as Flags, but from the Japanese perspective. Where Flags is very much a by-the-numbers, at times staid and tedious film, Letters is nuanced, powerful, and elegant – Eastwood just seems to be more energized by the material and the characters themselves. There are no caricatures to be found in the Japanese servicemen left on a suicide mission to defend the tiny island of Iwo Jima from the Allied troops, and that is the film’s greatest strength. The 2-disc special edition sports a behind-the-scenes documentary, a featurette of the cast discussing the real soldiers, premiere & press conference footage, and an image gallery.
The Good German (Warner Bros., Rated R, DVD-$27.98 SRP) is a noble cinematic experiment, of the kind that producer/star George Clooney and director Steven Soderbergh seem to like to engage in periodically. Essentially a throwback to the Warner era of Casablanca, it’s a black & white nouveau-classic about an American journalist (Clooney) in postwar Berlin who encounters a former lover (Cate Blanchett) and her new military beau (Tobey Maguire), and a mysterious murder that only he seems interested in solving. It’s a largely successful throwback to Hollywood’s golden age.
Nostalgia is often a double-edged sword – equal parts joyful and depressing. Such I the case of my reaction to reading a pair of fine trade paperback releases from Marvel – Alpha Flight Classic: Volume 1 (Marvel, $24.99 SRP) and Fantastic Four Visionaries – Walt Simonson: Volume 1 ($19.99 SRP). Both collect the first batch of issues that launch memorably enjoyable runs on both titles… That’s the good part. The bad part is that both books remind me just how cruddy comics – and the characters I used to love – have become in the years since their original publication, corrupted by poor writing, wrongheaded editors, and visionless companies. It’s a damn shame.
John Wayne would have been 100-years-old this year, and to celebrate, film fans are getting some very nice special editions of his classic flicks. That includes a brand new fully remastered special edition of True Grit (Paramount, Rated G, DVD-$19.99 SRP), with an audio commentary, a quartet of retrospective featurettes, and the original theatrical trailer. Not to be outdone, Warner has pulled out a pair of big guns with special editions of Rio Bravo (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$20.98 SRP) and The Cowboys (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP). The 2-disc edition of Bravo features an audio commentary (with John Carpenter & Richard Schickel), 2 brand-new featurettes, a spotlight on director Howard Hawks, and a trailer gallery. Cowboys features a commentary from director Mark Rydell, a reunion featurette, a vintage behind-the-scenes featurette, and the theatrical trailer.
The occasion of the Duke’s 100th birthday has given studios the excuse to cull some new-to-DVD flicks from the vaults, and Warner has done that with the 6-disc John Wayne Film Collection (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP). The films in question are Allegheny Uprising, Reunion In France, Without Reservations, Tycoon, Big Jim McLain, and Trouble Along The Way. Each disc features a classic contemporary short subject and cartoon.
When titans stumble. Up until the fifth season of Scrubs (Buena Vista, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP), I thought the show to be one of those rare comedies that could balance both humor and poignancy, never betraying the reality of its characters and situation for the sake of a cheap gag. Then came the 5th season, when reality was shoved aside, the characters became caricatures, and the humor played like a second rate live action interpretation of Family Guy. It’s not that the humor became sophomoric – Scrubs always had a touch of that, because its main character was a geeky 20-something intern/doctor – it’s that I just lost any and all respect for the characters that had been so nicely fleshed out over the preceding 4 seasons, often betraying every bit of nuance and verisimilitude that made the comedy that much sweeter. It’s a shame when titans stumble – but worse was to come, if you’ve been watching season 6. This 3-disc set features all 24 mixed bag episodes, plus deleted scenes, featurettes, and audio commentaries (but not a single bit of the blog material the producers put together last year).
As sequels go, Fay Grim (Magnolia, Rated R, DVD-$29.98 SRP) is exactly the uniquely odd follow-up you’d expect from filmmaker Hal Hartley. Continuing the lives of the characters from Henry Fool, the focus this time is on Parker Posey’s Fay Grim, who is asked by a CIA agent (Jeff Goldblum) to aid in locating Henry’s notebooks and turn them over in exchange for her brother Simon’s freedom (he was jailed after helping the escaped Henry – who broke out of prison – flee the country). Bonus features include a making-of featurette, a Fay Grim episode, deleted scenes, and Hartley’s trailer for the film.
I enjoyed his stand-up DVD from a few years back, and I enjoyed Joe Rogan’s new comedy CD, Shiny Happy Jihad (Comedy Central Records, $12.98 SRP). He’s just as outspoken and no-holds-barred as he’s always been, but here’s hoping this more widely distributed release gets him more fans than that untalented hack Dane Cook.
There’s over three decades worth of shakin’ going on in Jerry Lee Lewis: Greatest Live Performances of the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s (Time Life, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP), a DVD that more than lives up to its title with some choice vintage footage full of piano playin’ fire and brimstone.
It was inevitable that there would be yet another dip into Virgin territory with the new 2-disc unrated edition of The 40-Year-Old Virgin (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP). In addition to the unrated cut, the set features cast auditions, 17 minutes of deleted scenes, a cast roundtable discussion, unedited Steve Carell takes, rehearsal footage, plus a sneak peek at producer/director Judd Apatow’s upcoming Knocked Up (a free ticket for which is included in the set).
I never knew that HBO aired the full Broadway revival of Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Leowe’s Camelot (Acorn, Not Rated, DVD-$29.99 SRP) in 1982, which starred a vibrant Richard Harris in the lead. Well, 25 years later, you can now get that special on DVD.
Based on the New York City police corruption investigations of the early 70’s, Sidney Lumet’s gritty Prince of the City (Warner Bros., Rated R, DVD-$19.98 SRP) is a grim, dirty look at dirty cops and the dirty city they inhabited during the Big Apple’s darkest days. A sprawling epic, it could easily have been a miniseries – with 130 locations and 126 speaking parts – but deserves its big screen canvass. The 2-disc special edition features a newly-produced retrospective featurette, and the original theatrical trailer.
It’s nice to see blue-eyed Peter O’Toole aging into the loveable geriatric leach of the silver screen in Venus (Miramax, Rated R, DVD-$29.99 SRP), but I can see why this otherwise slight role garnered him only an Academy Award nomination, but no win. As an aging actor smitten with the grandniece of his closest friend, the material is not really strong enough to support the performance, which is a true shame. Still, I’m sure there are more parts to come. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a behind-the-scenes featurette.
If there’s one thing that Epic Movie (Fox, Not Rated DVD-$29.99 SRP) proves – beyond a doubt – it’s that films should not be made that are essentially an extended MadTV sketch. Skewering Hollywood blockbusters like Scary Movie took on the horror franchises of the 90’s, the jokes are one-note, and based largely on visual approximations of the parody targets. It’s hard to make fun of already-ludicrous popcorn flicks… And this attempt falls flat. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes, outtakes, and more.
The 6-disc Highlander: The Ultimate Collection set (Starz Home Entertainment, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP) features 15 of what it terms the “Best of the Best” episodes from the surprisingly long-running TV adventures of the immortal Duncan MacLeod. In addition to those episodes – spanning all 6 seasons – the set also contains a featurette on the Parisian locations of “The City of Lights,” a spotlight on the show’s swordfights, a celebration of the show’s fans, a preview of the upcoming videogame, and a trip to the Spanish facility that makes the show’s weapons.
The OC proved to be one of those radiant zeitgeist shows that burned incredibly hot for its first two seasons, then plunged to Earth, eventually limping along to a bitter finale. There was an element of course correction during what turned out to be its final season, but you can see for yourself that the show’s fourth season (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP) had a lot of ground to make up to get things back on track, and they ultimately were not given the chance to see if it all worked. The 5-disc set features all 16 episodes, plus an audio commentary on the finale, unaried scenes, a Chrismukkah featurette, and a Summer Roberts featurette.
For over 50 years, the CIA has attempted to eliminate Cuban dictator Fidel Castro – who, as you may know, is very much alive and still with us. If you’d like to view an excellent documentary detailing all of the near-misses, ludicrous plots, bad luck, and failure after failure, check out 638 Ways To Kill Castro (Starz Home Entertainment, Not Rated, DVD-$19.98 SRP). Bonus features include additional interviews.
Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto (Touchstone, Rated R, DVD-$29.99 SRP) is just as powerful, bombastic, and overblown as its troubled auteur, and becomes largely exhausting on the small screen. It doesn’t help that the entire affair is overshadowed by the feeling that Gibson – high on horse – is just trying too hard. If Braveheart was a pretentious statement, then this is full blown egomaniacal filmmaking at both its best and worst – it’s sometimes beautiful to behold, and there’s some admirable cinema, but it’s all just too overwhelming. Bonus features include audio commentary, a deleted scene (with optional commentary), and a behind-the-scenes featurette.
It’s amazing – and somewhat disturbing – that BCI’s releases from the Filmation library has now gotten to the point where it seems everything one of Hollywood’s most mediocre animation studios ever produced. The two latest blasts from the past is the complete series of Hero High (BCI, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP), about a high school for superheroes, and an animated Rick Springfield in the complete series of Mission: Magic! (BCI, Not Rated, DVD-$ SRP), which is some kind of weird mash-up of Harry Potter and School of Rock. Both sets feature copious amounts of bonus materials, including commentaries, featurettes, interviews, galleries, and more.
Even if I were just judging it on its appealing design sensibility, and not its equally fun storytelling, Nickelodeon’s Avatar: The Last Airbender would be worth checking out. Give it a spin and see if you agree, with the third volume of the show’s second season, Book 2: Earth (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$16.99 SRP). Bonus materials include audio commentary from the creators and cast on the 5 episodes featured in this volume.
Learn the awesome power of duct tape via Canada’s biggest advocate for this modern marvel, Red Green. The 3-disc Red Green Show: 1998 Season set (Acorn, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP) features all 14 episodes of the canuck comedy, but we get short shrift on extras.
The 80’s really were a glorious era of bombastic TV. I mean, a series focusing on an attack helicopter and its renegade pilot righting wrongs and saving the day? Priceless. Airwolf: Season Three (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) features an additional 22 episodes of rotored brilliance.
If you were to make a list of the most influential – and popular – comic strip cartoonists of the last 50 years, Berkeley Breathed would surely hold a place on that list alongside names like Schulz, Kelly, Ketchum, Watterson, Walker, and Larson, just to name a very small number also gracing that particular scroll.
BREATHED: Deferring self-interest. And hearing the word “poop” more than before.
BREATHED: In Goodnight Opus, our heroes sail over the China Sea in the moonlight, the boats lifting into the air below them to try fishing for the moon. A rare time that the art turned out how it originally appeared in my head when I thought of it.
KP: How does the ubiquitous nature of that attitude affect how you approach Opus?
KP: What was the development process for A Wish for Wings That Work as an animated special? I remember it airing one year, then disappearing quickly. Even the VHS of Wings is out of print. I’m actually quite a fan of the special, but I know you weren’t terribly happy with the outcome. What happened, exactly?
KP: You did an animated version of Edwurd Fudwupper Fibbed Big for Nickelodeon – what is the current status of that? I noticed you got quite a stellar cast…
KP: Are you looking at Moms and Flawed Dogs as traditionally animated, or as Zemeckian CG motion-capture pieces?
BREATHED: I’m not setting Opus up again. Nobody will give me the control needed to protect him. Miramax wanted to redesign him, if you can believe that. I knew at that point that it was fine that the project was doomed.
BREATHED: Emotion. Drama. Tears. Good storytelling. I love this far more than evoking a laugh, to tell you the truth.
It’s been a long time coming, but animation fans can rejoice in the unexpurgated Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$26.98 SRP). The 2-disc set features all 24 manic adventures of Tex Avery’s low-key delight (including anamorphic transfers of the 7 Cinemascope shorts). Bonus materials include a retrospective featurette on Avery and the character of Droopy, and a gag compilation.
Don Rosa’s undersea mini-epic, “Treasure Under Glass,” is the spotlight story of this month’s issue of Uncle Scrooge (Gemstone, $7.50) – that’s issue #365, to be exact – and it shows to what lengths… or depths… McDuck will go to secure the treasure contained in a sunken ship.
Even the most well-written, well-acted show runs the risk of becoming creatively worn out if it goes on long enough, and by the ninth season of Frasier (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$38.99 SRP), the cracks were beginning to show. Thankfully, by the next season (and the final 11th season), things improved, and the series was able to go out on a high note, even if it still felt like they were pushing it. Despite its overall blasé feel, this season did manage to include a pair of keeper episodes – specifically Frasier’s subconscious confrontation with his past loves (“Don Juan From Hell”) and a reunion of 3/4 of the cast of Cheers, assembled for the occasion of Cliff’s retirement party in Boston (“Cheerful Goodbyes”). Unfortunately, they still insist on delivering zero bonus features, and have also neglected to give us our complementary fix of another season of Cheers, as they had in the past with concurrent releases. What’s up with that?
For those of us foolish to pick up the massive Martinis & Medicine collection last year just for the exclusive bonus materials, Fox slaps us across the face by releasing those selfsame bonus features in a separate 3-disc set. M*A*S*H: Goodbye, Farewell and Amen (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP) contains the legendary series finale, as well as those aforementioned bonus materials. Damn you, Fox.
Never as clever as the show its creators hailed from (Cheers), Wings was always just a fun, funny, traditional workhorse of a sitcom – providing plenty of character-based laughs, without being too intellectually stimulating. By the fourth season (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$38.99 SRP), the formula was firmly in place, you had decided which of the two brother/proprietors of tiny Sandpiper Air, Joe & Brian (Tim Daly & Steven Weber), you were rooting for, you had already fallen in love with quirky bumblings of cabbie Antonio (Tony Shalhoub) and dim mechanic Lowell (Thomas Haden Church), and all was right with the world. The 4-disc set features all 22 episodes, but not a single bonus feature. Is it that hard to book Daly & Weber?
In 1981, Tucson journalist Ellen Adelstein journeyed to Beverly Hills to do an in-depth, one-on-one interview with Gene Roddenberry. For almost 90 minutes, Adelstein and Roddenberry talked of Roddenberry’s past, the creation of Star Trek, and much more. That interview is now available on DVD as Gene Roddenberry: Up Close and Personal (Bashert Productions, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95) and can be purchased at 
Now relegated to cable or pay-per-view, did you know there was a time when you could actually find Hugh Hefner and the original hip Playboy aesthetic on regular TV? That’s exactly what you had with the late 60’s “lounge”-fest Playboy After Dark (Morada Vision, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP each). The show was essentially a mellow, free-wheeling “night at Hef’s,” where the guests would mingle with the audience in a party atmosphere that mixed the martini and smoking jacket ethos of the 50’s with the swinging 60’s. Two collections of the show are currently available, with each 3-disc set featuring guests such as Sammy Davis, Jr., Ike & Tina Turner, Lenny Bruce, Sid Caesar, Linda Ronstadt, Jerry Lewis, Count Basie, George Carlin, Tommy Smothers, and many more. Definitely give it a spin. I do have a request for volume 3, though – can you please release the complete appearance of Harry Nilsson, who was on with Otto Preminger to promote Skidoo?
Sporting an incredible Machine Man cover, the 48th oversize issue of The Jack Kirby Collector (Twomorrows, $9.95 SRP) packs the usual complement of stunning art and insightful articles we’ve come to expect from this must-have “King” chronicle.
They might otherwise slip through the cracks, but thankfully Digital Classics has been rescuing a clutch of obscure comedy films from the very back of the vault, dusting them off, and allowing audiences to rediscover them. These include films like San Ferry Ann and a pair of Ronnie Barker pictures – Futtock’s End & A Home Of Your Own – plus a cameo filled flick called Simon Simon, in which you see everyone from Peter Sellers and Michael Caine to Eric Morecombe and Ernie Wise (Digital Classics DVD, Not Rated, DVD-£6.99 SRP each). By all means, snap these up and pop some corn.
I find it hard to believe that we already to Memorial Day (where has this year gone??), but Sony has completely remastered and special edition-ized a pair of military classics worth picking up for the holiday weekend. First up is the 2-disc special edition of The Guns of Navarone (Columbia Pictures, Not Rated, DVD-$24.96 SRP), starring Gregory Peck, David Niven, and Anthony Quinn as a trio of Allied soldiers tasked with a spectacularly dangerous (yes, impossible!) mission to infiltrate a Nazi fortress and take out a pair of massive artillery pieces. Bonus features include audio commentaries, behind-the-scenes featurettes, a featurette on the restoration process, a quartet of vintage featurettes, and more. The other flick that should be on your shopping list is Humphrey Bogart’s maniacal, ball-bearing loving turn as the monstrous Captain Queeg in The Caine Mutiny (Columbia Pictures, Not Rated, DVD-$24.96 SRP). In addition to a newly remastered print, bonus features include an audio commentary and a brand new retrospective documentary.
There are plenty of new faces and challenges during the complete seventh season of ER (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP). While the staff cope with everything from a busload of poisoned kids to man in opossum costume who bites a man in a kangaroo costume, the personal drama of the medics themselves increases, particularly in the case of the arrival of Abby’s mother. The 6-disc set features all 22 episodes, plus aired scenes and the now customary gag reel.
In this age of cheap camcorders, it should be no surprise that today’s soldier has replaced the instamatics of days past with palm-sized camcorders that they’ve trekked to Iraq with. Some of those candid, often disturbing videos – and the stories of the soldiers behind them – have been culled to produce The War Tapes (Docurama, Not Rated, DVD-$26.95 SRP), a powerful documentary that should be required viewing no matter what side of the political fence you fall on. Bonus materials include additional footage, outtakes & extended scenes, follow-up interviews with the soldiers, and the theatrical trailer.
In some ways, I’m sure Darren Aranofsky’s stripped down version of his millennia-spanning The Fountain (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, DVD-$27.95 SRP) is better served by the reduced budget brought on by the departure of star Brad Pitt, who was replaced by Hugh Jackman as the man whose love for a single woman (played by Aranofsky’s own wife, Rachel Weisz) leads him on the ultimate quest to protect her. Still, I’m curious to see what that major blockbuster version would have been like. The final version, though, is an interesting – if dense – artistic vision that’s much more palatable on the small screen, with time for reflective pausing. Bonus features include 6 behind-the-scenes featurettes and the theatrical trailer.
It’s not nearly as lavish as the average Pixar “Art Of” book, but there’s still plenty of wonderful conceptual designs to be found in The Art Of Meet The Robinsons (Disney Editions, $17.99 SRP). It’s just a shame that the film came and went from theaters with nary a blip, as it’s a much better flick than the dreadful Chicken Little, and has a nice, inventive charm befitting the tale.
Never a classic, I always got a nice chuckle out of Craig T. Nelson and Coach, the complete second season of which is out now (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$26.98 SRP). Who could possibly look into the face of Jerry Van Dyke and not crack a smile?
James Garner is back is Jim Rockford in the fourth season of The Rockford Files (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), featuring 21 episodes of the mobile-home based ex-con sleuth with the memorable car and theme song. In addition, the set features a bonus episode from the fifth season – “White on White and Nearly Perfect” – guest-starring Tom Selleck in a role that eventually led to Magnum.
The adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow are coming to a close (unless Disney decides the cow has more milk to give), so that means the final score from Hans Zimmer, this time for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (Walt Disney Records, $18.98 SRP).
It’s harmless, innocuous, channel-surfing comedy, and once you’ve seen one episode of the show, you really and truly have seen them all. Home Improvement: The Complete Sixth Season (Buena Vista, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP) features all 25 episodes, plus the season 6 blooper reel.
Try as I might, I’ve never been able to wring a laugh for Seth MacFarlane’s attempt at a Family Guy follow-up, American Dad. For those of you who can stomach the show, the 3-disc Volume Two (Fox, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) features another 19 episodes, plus audio commentaries, featurettes, and multi-angle scene studies.
While watching The War At Home (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), I couldn’t shake the feeling that what I was viewing was just the warmed over bastard child of Married With Children and Roseanne. It’s a shame, because Michael Rappaport – here the beleaguered father of 3 kids with a soul-sucking insurance job -deserves a much better showcase. The 3-disc set features all 22 first season episodes, plus cast & crew interviews, unaired scenes, and a gag reel.