Sorry girls and ghouls, this Tuesday’s release of new DVDs is a week one, but if you were thinking “Gee, I could sure go for more of that Tom Cruise fella,” then you are in luck.
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I guess Halloween must not be an enticing day to release new discs. All we’ve got is slim pickings this week.
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Film:
Mission: Impossible III – At last, it’s Tom Cruise the Movie! After jumping on sofas and glibbing Matt Lauer, Tom Cruise has become too big for his own good. This writer has no problem with him as an actor, what he does have a problem with is that he couldn’t watch M:i:III without being reminded of Katie Holmes or Scientology every few minutes. Thanks to all the attention the press has paid him, it’s too difficult to forget about the man our media loves to hate so much and believe that he’s a secret agent for a couple of hours. Having said that, J.J. Abrams does a successful job of making this one exciting and escaping the doldrums of a dull action movie, and how could any movie where Philip Seymour Hoffman is the nemesis be bad? Let’s just hope that if there’s ever an M:i:IV, it doesn’t come around until Cruise’s tidal wave of poor popularity washes over.
Those who are planning to make the buy should know that there are two editions of the DVD – coming in single and double-disc packages. You can hear Abrams and Cruise himself as they discuss the film in their commentary on both editions, other than that none of the special features on either of the discs sound all that enticing. The one possible exception is a feature called “Tribute Montage: Generation: Cruise” on the two disc set. I have no idea what that vignette contains, but a montage including Tom Cruise must be worth a couple of laughs.
Special Edition:
It’s a Wonderful Life (60th Anniversary Edition) – Frank Capra. Jimmy Stewart. It doesn’t take too much to convince anyone that It’s a Wonderful Life is a wonderful movie, but do you really need to own it? It’s aired every year on NBC, and with the only special features being a making-of feature, a trailer and a short on Capra, it hardly seems worth spending money on. You’d be better off putting it in the bank – just don’t let Mr. Potter take it. What an asshole.
Television:
Party at the Palms –Okay, there is not much to say for the first season of this show, a late night E! network series, hosted by Jenny McCarthy, that showcases crazy parties and the even crazier girls that occupy them. Yawn. But something worth mentioning is that at the Amazon page for Party at the Palms, there’s an incredibly odd bundle offer of this two disc set alongside the seventh season of The West Wing together for $61.48. Okay, that’s not much to talk about; but come on guys, it really is a slow day.