This week both of the big new release movies are released without DVD features unless you get them on Blu-Ray. In related news I am in the denial phase of the death of the DVD format.
This Week’s Tastiest Morsel
30 Rock – Season Three
They have some nice unique features on the DVD set including their Emmy acceptance speeches (although Sunday’s win was of course too recent to include), Alec Baldwin’s SNL monologue, and they were able to get many of their guest stars to return for commentary tracks like Jon Hamm and Alan Alda. As if they show wasn’t worth purchasing on its own it is nice to see them burn some calories making a worthy DVD release. If you are a late-comer to the show, catch up with the Amazon Exclusive 3 pack of all the available seasons for 72.99.
Fresh Catches
Observe and Report
This movie suffered from Paul Blartitis and probably lost a lot of money due to their similar premises. It also suffers from no features unless you go Blu-ray.
Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
The tragedy of Matthew McConaughey is that he is actually a good actor who chooses to make terrible movies, but they are starting to lose money which may be a good thing. This DVD also has no features while the Blu-ray gets them all and a digital copy. Buy Frailty instead.
Battle for Terra
A stacked voice acting couldn’t save this film that looked so cheap and preachy from Box Office failure where it made almost nothing. If you want to see how humanity will ruin the universe after it ruins Earth and lights a baby on fire, this is your propaganda… I mean film.
Adam Resurrected
This is a drama starring Jeff Goldblum as a charismatic psyche patient in a hospital for Holocaust survivors in 1961. It co-stars Willem Dafoe and a largely German and Israeli cast.
Lymelife
Lymelife is an Indie drama that Alec Baldwin and Martin Scorcese fell in love with and produced all the way to the International Critics’ Choice award at the Toronto Film Festival. Alec Baldwin is supposed to be amazing in the movie, and I plan to rent it to find out for myself.
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto
From the twisted mind of Rob Zombie comes this strange animated movie about a Luchador who fights demonic forces. If you love dark cartoons or Rob Zombie’s original films like The Devil’s Rejects this might be a solid choice.
Scooby-Doo: The Mystery Begins
This is a new live-action feature length movie that has recast the roles with no-name actors and has given up on mass appeal and focused squarely on kids.
Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf or Death
Wallace and Gromit’s latest film can also be had in a cheap collection of four of their films including The Wrong Trousers, A Grand Day Out, and A Close Shave.
Castle: The Complete First Season
I have an established man-crush on Nathan Fillion from Firefly who returns as the star of Castle as a famous thriller novelist who has sweet talked the mayor into letting him shadow/assist a team of detectives on cases. The premise sounds like many of the other flimsy premises for procedural cop dramas but Fillion and lead detective Stana Katic keep things lively and compelling and have found their way into my DVR. The DVD comes with a few standard features with the standout being a feature on the creation of the character as an amalgam of other famous novelists.
Mitch Fatel: Mitch Fatel Is Magical
If you didn’t catch his special on Comedy Central last week, or if you did and loved it you can snag this DVD.
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – The Complete Second Season
I can’t believe they canceled this and not Dollhouse, although I can believe that Joss Whedon might have Fox executives killed if he had another show canceled early. The DVD set it full on features with more than eight featurettes so this will be worth the money if you are a fan.
The Ultimate Fighter Season 9
This season featured the legend Dan Henderson versus loudmouth Michael Bisping as the coaches in a US vs UK showdown. I don’t know if it includes the UFC 100 fight where Henderson hit Bisping so hard the Earth tilted on its axis.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The First 100 Episodes
If you have kids or a hangover you are sure to enjoy this massive fourteen disc collection of the best kids show on TV.
Ghost Whisperer: The Complete Fourth Season
This show has to be cheap to make. How else could it still be on the air? Jennifer Love Hewitt isn’t THAT hot to…alright my argument broke down. This year you get to see Patricia Arquette act in a fog on Medium before Ghost Whisperer on Friday nights for a supernatural twofer.
The Mentalist: The Complete First Season
I might have liked the show, but now I don’t know if I could shake the image of how terrible Simon Baker’s glasses were during the Emmy’s on Sunday night. Maybe everyone on the show is pompous as evidenced by the feature titled “Evidence of a Hit Series” after only one season.
Ugly Betty: Season 3
Are we done thinking this show is cute and fresh? This show was never for me so I should leave it alone, but I will mock it for being light on features.
Brotherhood: The Final Season
This looks like a good show that very few people watched, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it did well on DVD and Netflix.
Double Dip DVDs
Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection
This compiles all the movies and the features that were on the 2-disc “Director’s Edition” special editions that were pulled out of print a little while ago. It also replaces that stupid set that included Star Trek 1, 3, and 5 that was released a few weeks ago that made no sense whatsoever.
Star Trek: The Next Generation Motion Picture Collection
Unlike the Original Series collection this set has half the features that were previously available unless you buy them on Blu-Ray. I say we revolt…or wait until next years triple dip edition.