Some DVD Complaints and other things

Before we get to day's movie reviews, I'd like to lodge a couple of complaints.

First is about the concept of "Bonus DVDs" that are exclusive to various chain stores. Normally I don't have an issue with this (you buy Lost Season 1 at Best Buy and get a bonus disc that contains extras not found on the rest of the set), but it has now hit silly preoportions. Tomorrow Prison Break Season 1 arrives on DVD. If you purchase it at Best Buy, you get a disc that contains the "Behind The Walls" featurette which aired on FOX as a recap episode during the break in the season. If you purchase it at Target you get all 26 episodes of the mobile phone spin-off series (which didn't feature any of the main cast and followed Lincoln's son around I believe).

Now while neither of these is a big deal in the greater scheme of things, it is a bit of a pain in the ass for the completist (for the record I'm not getting either version having pre-ordered it for a better price elsewhere). Shame on the studios (Particularly FOX) for this...

And speaking of FOX and DVD complaints...so fans of a series dutifully buy every season as it comes out only to have the company release a complete series box set with even more extras?? That just sucks. They did it with Buffy and they're doing it with M*A*S*H. Following their example it has also happened with Sex and the City (although admittedly the extras are pretty blah) from HBO, and will happen with Alias and Homcicide: Life on the Street (which is also having the Law & Order crossover episodes added for the complete series set).

It's gotta stop folks.

The SciFi Channel will be airing the second season of Doctor Who starting on September 29 from 9 to 11 (They have a marathon that morning of the last 8 episodes of season 1). While it is great the show is airing this soon (hopefully fueling a DVD release sooner as well) and that it is being paired with Battlestar Galactica, It kicks off with "The Christmas Invasion" occupying the entire 2 hour slot (what else will help fill that slot besides more commercials you can shake a stick at is anyone's guess...at least the entire 59 minutes will be shown).

Oh well...lastly, I've got a few movie reviews.

She's The Man -- I have this affinity for Shakespear adaptations and I also like teen comedies (maybe because they remind me of my youth), so I had to check this out as it's Twelfth Night set in a high school. Being from some of the same people who made 10 Things I Hate About You (which was The Taming of the Shrew set in high school), I was expecting something a bit better. While it's not bad, it's more cute than anything else. 10 Things did the Shakespeare in High School bit better and Just One of the Guys did the whole girl trying to pass as a guy in high school bit better. In that film, Joyce Hyser actually looked like she could be a guy. Here, Amanda Bynes looks more like Urkel's white cousin. It's a bit creepy.

Walk The Line -- It took us forever to see this, but it was well worth the wait. Great film about the relationship between Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. Deserved all the accolades it got. Made me download a few Cash songs from iTunes that should be in everyone's collections (even found a great cover of "Heart of Gold" by him).

Bring It On: All Or Nothing -- Universal Home Video has been doing direct to video sequels of some of there lesser popular films for quite some time (Darkman, Tremors, American Pie) with some mixed results. This is the third installment in their cheerleader series Bring It On. The first film was a quirky novelty with a great cast (Kirsten Dunst, Eliza Dushku). The second installment was forgettable (I even had to look up the actual title...Bring It On Again) and one wonders why there is even a third one. Luckily, this time some of the charm is back (and the film doesn't try to take itself too seriously). It's cute if you like fun and mindless movies.

Ultimate Avengers 2 -- Marvel Comics Productions is in the process of bringing four direct to video movies out. We're now halfway through the announced titles and I'm a bit worried. The first film, Ultimate Avengers, was a decent, if toned down, version of their hit comic series, The Ultimates, about a team of super heroes that include reimagined (just slightly) versions of Thor, Iron Man, Captain America and a few others. The problem with the first story was the villains. We get a bunch of aliens with some Nazi connections. But the setup of how the team came together was great. Here we get the return of these aliens and the addition of Black Panther and the whole thing seems a bit warmed over and blah. Hopefully, the new two films will be a bit more exciting as we get single hero stories with Iron Man (coming October 2006) and Doctor Strange (coming February 2007).

That's all for today.

Be seeing you.