Need something to throw in the DVD player while all that tryptophan takes effect? Don’t worry, Razorfine’s got you covered.
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Oh man, I love Thanksgiving. From the delicious sweet potatoes, the standard turkey and the under-rated stuffing, nothing makes me happier than stuffing a plates full of food into my face. Nothing, that is, except for writing about NEW DVDs!!!
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Film:
An Inconvenient Truth – As charming as Al Gore makes this documentary, I don’t know that it’s the kind of movie ripe for purchase – there’s not much replay value to a film that works like a well organized college lecture. But for those who have yet to see the film and don’t mind being educated about impending dilemma of Global Warming rather than being entertained, it’s worth a rental. Gore is just funny and likable enough to make you feel like a fun evening with that kooky guy Al, and justifies the price of rental. You can check out Alan’s review here.
Scoop – I’ll admit that I’m not a connoisseur of Woody Allen, I’ve only seen a select few from the long list of films he’s directed. Still, I can’t come close to understanding why so many critics lashed out at Allen’s latest, the supernatural comedy Scoop, just because it was one of the director’s weakest. But even after seeing what I’ve been led to believe is his best work, namely Bananas and Annie Hall, it alludes me as to how seeing those superior films makes this gut-buster any less worthy of viewing. No, it isn’t a brilliant character study like Annie Hall, but how many movies are? Scoop is a delightfully silly comedy that delivers laughs and is worth viewing, even if you’ve seen every other Allen flick around. Alan liked it too, you can read his review here.
Special Edition:
Home Alone: Family Fun Edition – Oh man, I enjoyed Home Alone to no end as a child whenever it was run on TNT and other basic cable networks. Hell, who am I kidding, I still check it out whenever I find it on the tube. But, well gee, I just wish there was a little something more to it. You know a little bit of extra umph. Wait, what’s that? You say that there’s a new edition of the film out on DVD today, a film with more family fun? Well, heck, that’s exactly what I was looking for, why didn’t you say so in the first place!? Although the single-disc edition of the film doesn’t merit a double dip for owners of previous releases of the film, I know for a fact that I would have killed for a special feature like “How to Burglar Proof Your Home: The Stunts of Home Alone” when I was five-years-old. And hey, they even have the feature “Mac Cam: Behind the Scenes with Macaulay Culkin!” Oh man, that Macaulay. What a cute kid.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Special Edition – Now available in a brand new, shiny special edition DVD is perhaps one of the best examples that not everything can be made into a decent movie. But the top grosser at the 2000 box office is, nevertheless, reacquainting itself with the new releases wall at Wal-Marts nationwide. Unless you’re a fan of blooper reels and Faith Hill music videos, there shouldn’t be any reason to pick up this wannabe Holiday Classic.
Television:
Alias: Season Five – I was a diehard J.J. Abrams’ Alias for a solid year and a half, until the show introduced a sort of family of super spies dynamic that felt more like a Saturday morning cartoon than a prime-time drama. Ever since then, I’ve felt alienated. Still, I watched the show every once and a while through its five year run, and I was sad to hear of the show’s cancellation earlier this year. This last season of Alias houses somewhat of a return to the original formula of the show: sexy spy (Jennifer Garner) gets into sticky situations on international missions and sometimes with a total cutie pie (Michael Vartan,) instead of complicating the show with extranious subplots that try to turn Garner’s character into someone that might have shown up on Felicity (another show created by Abrams.)
Also available today is the 29-disc box set of the entire series. The set includes everything from the previous five season releases over the past five years, along with an extra bonus disc. But what sets the set apart is its design, modeled after the highly sought Rembaldi Artifact – an item dating back five centuries whose mythology often drove the show when there wasn’t anything else interesting about it. The design is detailed and, sorry for the awful pun that is about to ensue, but utterly geekgasmic for the Alias fans out there.
Da Ali G Show: Da Compleet Seereez – Now available for all of you haters out there who didn’t buy these seasons individually comes the complete, two-season, four-disc set with all 12 episodes starring Sasha Baron Cohen. There’s nothing new in this set, so don’t get too excited for this obvious tie-in with the insane success of Cohen’s film recent film that you may have heard of, Borat.