First up, last week I announced that there would be three Criterions released on February 12. February 12 came and the Criterions were nowhere to be found. I checked Criterion.com, where I found the original news and they had changed the release dates to simply February. Thanks Criterion. However, because I am so damn dedicated, I have searched out the 411. Pierrot le fou and Walker will be released February 19 and The Last Emperor will be released February 26. Also, two weeks ago (see HERE) I talked about The Mist and its special features. This week, I have its cover art.
This week, I’m going to focus on Television DVDs coming your way over the next few months.
THE SMURFS, SEASON 1, VOLUME 1
Release Date: February 26, 2008
One of the cartoons I watched religiously as a kid is finally coming to DVD. For those of you that don’t know, The Smurfs are small creatures who live in the woods. Their arch enemy is an evil wizard named Gargamel, whose goal is to destroy the Smurfs. At one point, he even creates a rogue female Smurf named Smurfette to infiltrate the Smurf village and cause anarchy. It would have worked too if it wasn’t for the intervention of one Papa Smurf. See, he smurfed Smurfette and that helped stop all the smurfing that was going on due to Gargamel’s smurficious plan. Anyway, this DVD set will include 19 cartoons across 2 DVDs and will include a bonus episode (The Smurfs’ Springtime Special) and Smurfs: The Music Video as extra features. The DVD release will apparently include the original broadcast versions of the episodes rather the syndicated versions.
EXTRAS: THE EXTRA SPECIAL SEASON FINALE
Release Date: February 26, 2008
For all the bitching and worries that the recent release of the Extras box set would be the only chance to get the series finale, all you had to do was check for future releases. If you already bought the first two seasons, you can now buy the finale separately, saving you the shitty expectations of double dipping TV sets. See, not all studios are greedy and self serving. Yeah, right. The episode itself is the Christmas special that shows Andy Millman as a successful television star who does pretty much everything he can to ruin his new popularity. It ends with him appearing on a type of celebrity Big Brother show before finally ending almost perfectly. It’s a great episode, and if you already have the first two seasons, this is the best chance to own it.
DAY BREAK – THE COMPLETE SERIES
Release Date: March 25, 2008
Day Break was a pretty unique show in that after it was cancelled, the remaining episodes were all made available on ABC.com. The story focuses on Detective Brett Hopper (Taye Diggs) who was framed for the murder of the Assistant District Attorney. Taking the form of Groundhog Day, Hopper lives the same day over and over again, trying to discover who framed him. It also continues the problem that any television show featuring Adam Baldwin has remaining on the air (Day Break, The Insider and Firefly were all cancelled and he was also on the final season of Angel). We’ll see how Chuck fares with his presence. All 13 episodes will be presented and there will be commentary on every one of them. There will also be interviews with cast and crew and behind the scenes footage.
Hey Look! It’s Steven Seagal
March 04, 2008