"Somebody... down there... likes me!"
Greetings from Arizona!
Yes, the blog is very late this week due to the fact that Shades and I have been on vacation. Now we're down in Phoenix and I have some extra time to get back online and do the DVD thing. Tuesday, while you were all wondering what new DVDs were coming out, I was here:
Yes, Monument Valley, where all those great (and not so great) movies were shot. An amazing place in a series of amazing places we've been this week. So, without further ado, let's see what stuff came out this week.
The Addams Family - Volume One The old 1960s sitcom arrives on DVD. Even though they're being released in volume sets, this is essentially the first half of season 1. DVD Savant has a good review of the set here (the choice quote from the review is, "When he smiles he looks like a zombie version of James Coburn," referring to the character Lurch).
Astaire & Rogers Collection, Vol. 2 Warners releases another box set of classic Astaire/Rogers films, which are available seperately: Flying Down to Rio (1933), The Gay Divorcee (1934), Roberta (1935), Carefree (1938), and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939).
Bewitched - The Complete Fourth Season
Body Heat - Deluxe Edition The 1980s film neo-noir gets the SE treatment.
Creature Comforts - The Complete Second Season
The Facts Of Life - The Complete Third Season I just know you were all waiting for this one...
The L Word - The Complete Third Season
Monster House I know at least one person who's been waiting for this one: my Mom!
Nacho Libre Most reviews were pretty bad for this one, but I've heard a few people that thought it was really funny.
The O.C. - The Complete Third Season We really got into the first two seasons of this show, but have heard that it went south in the 3rd year. Can it pull itself back up in season 4???
SCTV - Best of the Early Years A collection of episodes from the pre-NBC years of the show.
Slither (2005)
Sweetie (1989) Director Jane Campion's debut film gets the Criterion treatment.
That's My Bush! The Definitive Collection Parker and Stone's short-lived series (8 episodes) makes it to DVD just in time for the elections!
Why We Fight (1943-1945) Frank Capra's WWII propaganda series is apparently in the public domain so there are multiple DVD versions out there. I can't find any reliable reviews of the new version put out by "Alpha Video," but the version distributed by Goodtimes Video (an established public domain outfit) is supposedly okay, though like most public domain stuff, from dubious sources. I don't know who owns the original materials to this series, but it would be nice if they were preserved as historical documents. The Goodtimes version can be found via Amazon here.