New DVDs for 31 July 2007
Last week, I thought there’d be just one big release to talk about.
Then, you all corrected me in the comments section about a second one.
Then, I saw a third that trumps them both.
So we start with that original DVD, 300. It’s the whole Men In Loin Cloths With Swords and Shields thing. You know, the movie shot in front of a green screen with lots of screaming. Based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel, which I will reread before watching the movie. It’s a beautiful book, and I welcome the excuse to crack it open again. There’s an HD-DVD/DVD combo disc release, a Blu Ray release, a standard widescreen DVD release, a full frame release that no sane person would consider looking at, and a special two-disc release that includes (at Best Buy) a Spartan helmet and some trading cards. Crazy! That last option will run you $35, though. I think I’ll be ordering my copy through Amazon, where you can get the two disc edition without the bells and whistles glued to the box for just $22. (You can also download it through Amazon’s Unboxed for $15.)
Whew.
Secondly, you all recommended HOT FUZZ, the police comedy from the makers of SHAUN OF THE DEAD. Didn’t last long in the theaters, but it has its fans. I’ve heard other good things about it. I’ll never actually get around to watching it, but I accept your recommendation, and proudly place a link here for you to all click through and order it at Amazon so I can make a few dimes off your enthusiasm. ;-)
Finally, the most significant release of the week in many ways: BABYLON 5: THE LOST TALES, the new direct-to-DVD movie that is the first new Babylon 5 material in many many years. Has it really been nine years already? It’s still my favorite television show of all time, and miraculous in what it was able to accomplish at the time. No other TV show at the time had a preconceived story arc longer than a week or two in advance. (OK, maybe MURDER ONE, but that didn’t last.) After Babylon 5, you start to see shows that would plan out their whole season (24, LOST, etc.), or even groups of seasons (seriously, CSI: MIAMI has such a game plan). Nobody’s gone so far as to say they have a five year story to tell and then told it, though.
I’m trying not to buy too many DVDs anymore. Too many sit unwatched in boxes. But my loyalty to BABYLON 5 is such that I’ll be picking this one up. I have the entire series on DVD. I’m not going to leave a hole in that collection now. Besides, this is one disc I’m guaranteed to watch within a week of owning it, if not that same night.
That’s it for this week. Do check in again next week when I’ll be musing on such releases as THE MUPPET SHOW: Season Two, DARKWING DUCK: Season Two, and maybe something else with jump out at me.
31. July 2007 at 09:36
Augie, HOT FUZZ is GREAT. I actually just saw it last week when I was in England; it’s quite funny. There are some similarities with SHAUN OF THE DEAD in terms of humor mentality, but it is very much it’s own movie. I highly recommend it. :)
31. July 2007 at 09:40
I’ll agree that Babylon Five had an impressive story arc for its time. But if you’re looking for a show with a five year plan, HBO’s The Wire has exactly that. It’s currently filming it’s 5th and final season. They freely admit that they had a five year plan from the beginning. It’s honestly the best storytelling I’ve ever seen on television. -Jack
31. July 2007 at 14:57
I’d add on a couple of odd but interesting choices; Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater, a documentary by CC Goldwater about her late grandfather, Barry Goldwater, also known as the conservative that liberasls could respect, even if we didn’t always agree with him. Then there’s Encounter Point, another documentary, following families on both sides of the Israel-Palestine War who’ve been affected by the violence.
31. July 2007 at 15:12
STOP THE PRESSES!!!
RiffTrax has mp3 commentary for 300… talk about your MUST BUY for the week! =)
31. July 2007 at 19:20
I’ve been tempted to start watching Babylon 5 in the past. Is it worth the time committment at this point though (5 seasons plus however many stand alone movies)? Plus, I haven’t really investigated but don’t the movies have to be watched in a certain order between or alongside the seasons to truly make sense?
BTW, having read your CBR stuff and this blog for a while I’m curious to know how your planning to cut back on your DVD purchases. Have you gotten pretty much everything you wanted or being more selective about movies actually worth owning?
31. July 2007 at 23:16
Patricia — After I get around to watching SHAUN OF THE DEAD, I’ll get to HOT FUZZ. (Ironically, I still have SHAUN sitting in a box in its original packaging. Must Unwrap!
Jack – Good point. I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about THE WIRE. It’s the best show on HBO that nobody knows about. Someday, I want to get to that, too.
Matthew – That sounds like a winner. After I watch the DVD, I’m ordering that one up!
John – B5 is a little rough on DVD, just because they chose to go widescreen with it, even when the special effects weren’t done that way. I definitely think it’s worth it, though the first season starts the series off a little slow. Of course, by the time you get to the third season, you’ll realize why the pieces were being put into place in those “slow” first season episodes. That’s the thing — the show has a payoff. It’s not X-FILES.
I forget the order of the movies now. I think they can be watched after the series, though.
As for cutting back — it’s been relatively simple. I try to restrict myself only to things I’d know I’d make the time to watch in the first week I buy them. I try not to buy things for the sake of completing a collection, or because I might just want to watch something like that eventually down the line. Yeah, I’ve gotten a lot more selective.
They’re still easy things to put on wish lists for holidays and birthdays when people want to know what to buy me, but that covers most of it.
That, and I don’t fear Blockbuster anymore. I don’t use it that often, but every now and then it comes in handy.
And when I really think I should own something, I look at the list of the other 600 movies/tv shows I have piled up, feel guilty about not watching so many of those, and put the new releases back on the shelf. DVDs are a different world today than they were in ’98. We know the format is going to stick. Everyone supports it. All the major catalog titles are out. (No more waiting for 1,000,000 players to convince Paramount to release INDIANA JONES.) And they’re so dirt cheap that you won’t make your money back on eBay anymore. It’s all pennies on the dollar now. So they quickly become an accumulation rather than a collection.
4. August 2007 at 23:13
Augie,
Did you see b5? Really good stuff. A lot of fun and sets up some awesome new storylines. Trying to remember the events of “Sleeping In The Light” and figure out how it all lines up, but I loved it. Galen and Sheridan could have talked for the whole flick and it would have been awesome.
6. August 2007 at 19:39
Haven’t seen it yet, no . Have to get through Hell’s Kitchen (two hour, I think) finale tonight, and that should open up the 72 minutes later in the week sometime to watch B5. Wheee!
6. August 2007 at 20:15
Nevermind – the season finale is NEXT week. Only one hour of KITCHEN tonight