Updated 2/15/2007: Zoey 101 is a Nickelodeon production, not a Disney production.

In terms of raw numbers, this isn't as busy a week as last, but there are a lot more releases worthy of discussing, including several that I rate highly. The short-lived series Grosse Pointe - The Complete Series - Buy from Amazon gets its wide release after being an Amazon exclusive since November. Half Nelson - Buy from Amazon comes up just in time for Oscar buzz to reach its peak. Meanwhile, ... So Goes the Nation - Buy from Amazon should get the political junkies all worked up. However, the clear winner of the DVD Pick of the Week is The Departed - 2-Disc Special Edition. My only concern is the likelihood of a super special edition coming out after it wins several Oscars.

13 Tzameti - Buy from Amazon
An amazing film that is best seen with as little knowledge about the plot as possible. Because of this, I won't say anything more about the movie. As for the DVD, the extras are great for a limited release / import and include interviews, deleted scenes, a short film and more. If you were one of the few people who saw it in theaters, you will want to pick it up. If not, you will want to give it a rental for sure and odds are that many people who do give it a chance will end up buying it.

All in the Family - Buy from Amazon
Arguably the greatest TV sitcom of all time. Yet the DVD sets continue to have no special features. This is borderline treasonous... Even so, the 3-disc set is still worth picking up.

Ballykissangel - Complete Series Five - Buy from Amazon
The show had already jumped the shark at this point, although there's still something charming about it. However, the lack of extras further reduces the value of the DVD.

Beauty and the Beast - The Complete First Season - Buy from Amazon
One of those TV shows that a lot of people have probably forgotten; it was mainly a cult favorite and never drew huge ratings. However, fans of the show were known to be rabidly loyal and have waited a long time for this 6-disc set. While they will be disappointed with the total lack of extras, they will consider it still worth picking up.

Blu-Ray Releases - Buy from Amazon: Broken Arrow, Chain Reaction, Chronos, Entrapment, Ladder 49, The Marine, Phone Booth, Planet of the Apes, The Princess Bride, Reign of Fire, The Sentinel, and The Usual Suspects
It looks like Blu-Ray is starting to outdistance HD-DVD when it comes to releases. Of this week's list, however, only two are worth owning (The Princess Bride and The Usual Suspects), and none are worth upgrading for.

Cave of the Yellow Dog - Buy from Amazon
A Mongolian film about a little girl who finds a young dog and becomes friends with it. The movie earned unbelievable reviews, mostly for its splendid cinematography, but even fans will admit that the film is slow moving at times and the story is a little thin. Extras are also a little thin with just an interview, but fans of art house cinema will still want to check it out.

The Departed - Buy from Amazon: Single-Disc Edition or 2-Disc Special Edition or HD-DVD or Blu-Ray
Ah ha! The first must-have DVD release of the year. Took long enough. Arguably the best wide release of the year (although I would give Casino Royale the slight edge), it is also one of the year's big players this award season and should give Martin Scorsese his first Oscar. As for the two editions coming out tomorrow, there's no choice. The single-disc edition has no real special features (trailers don't count in my book except under very rare circumstances). 2-Disc Special Edition
has special features roughly the same length as the movie itself with deleted scenes, a featurettes on the real-life crime boss that inspired the character of Frank Costello, a featurette on Scorsese's various other mob movies and how their style compares to this movie. However, the big extra is the feature-length documentary on Martin Scorsese. This was actually made pre-The Departed so that movie isn't mentioned in this documentary, but practically every other movie of his is. There are some complaints, for example the lack of an audio commentary track and the lack of captioning is criminal. (And I'm not being overly dramatic here. It should be against the law to release a DVD without captioning, just like you can't have a TV show without captioning.) However, those complaints aside, this is still the best DVD coming out tomorrow and an obvious contender for DVD Pick of the Week.

Emergency - Season Three - Buy from Amazon
TV drama from the 70s about first responders. Those who remember the show will be glad its coming out on DVD, those who have never seen it won't be sold. While it is not as stuck in the 70s as some other shows of the same era, it's doesn't have the same style or edge as similar shows do today. Add in no special features and its overall value is limited.

F*CK - Buy from Amazon
A documentary about profanity, specifically the f-word, or the f-bomb as it is also known. Not the usual topic for a documentary and given the film's short theatrical run, it's easy to see why. It should have done better at the box office. Granted, it's reviews were not great, with many critics complaining that the film seemed more interested in shocking than educating, but there's still more than enough here to make for an interesting time. The DVD should perform better especially with audio commentary track and extended / deleted scenes. On a side note, I've been trying to come up with a list of words that have the same phonetic sound as the f-bomb in them, but are not derivatives. However, I'm drawing a blank. I can't think of one word. They can't be that rare, but the f-bomb is so powerful that it blocks all other words from being retrieved. (If anyone can come up with such a word, e-mail me.)

Ginger and Fred - Buy from Amazon
One of Federico Fellini's final films and while it is not one of his best, it is still quite good. It tells the story of an old music-hall act reuniting on Italian TV. While it works on a nostalgic level, it is really an attack on the TV industry and how it caters to and helps create morons. In that aspect, it is more relevant today than ever.

The Golden Girls - Buy from Amazon
One of several shows on this week's list where the extras don't live up to the show. This 3-disc set at least has a retrospective, which is better than the others, but that will still leave fans wanting more.

Grosse Pointe - The Complete Series - Buy from Amazon
The series has already been released and won the coveted DVD Pick of the Week back in November. However, that was an Amazon Exclusive. Tomorrow the DVD is being released in all stores and is certainly worth picking up. One of my favorite short-run shows.

Half Nelson - Buy from Amazon
One of the best-reviewed films on this week's list, it earned Ryan Gosling his first Oscar nomination. It also performed better than most limited releases, expanding into over 100 theaters and earning more than $2.5 million in the process. As for the DVD, I was half expecting it to be pushed back until after the Oscars, just in case it won, but Ryan Gosling is a serious underdog so that strategy would likely backfire. (Forrest Whitaker is the number one favorite and if he doesn't win Peter O'Toole is almost guaranteed to win his first Oscar.) As for the DVD, it is great for a limited release with an audio commentary track, deleted and extended scenes, outtakes and a music video. Easily worth picking up and a contender for DVD Pick of the Week.

The Hills - The Complete First Season - Buy from Amazon
Reality TV about self-absorbed rich people who simply are not interesting enough to be an extra on, let alone a star of a TV show.

Hustle - Complete Season Two - Buy from Amazon
A British series about a group of con-men who plan daring heists. I love con-men / heists shows, especially when the marks are obviously more crocked than the thieves. I am disappointed in the extras as there's only a single featurette (on the season finale), but it is still worth picking up.

Infamous - Buy from Amazon
I feel sorry for Toby Jones. Playing Truman Capote a year after Philip Seymour Hoffman won an Oscar for the same role. There's just no way he could follow up on that. And sure enough, while his performance and the movie were great it still crashed and burned at the box office. More people should give the movie a chance on the home market, but with just an audio commentary, the DVD rates just a rental.

The Infernal Affairs Trilogy - Special Collector's Edition Box Set - Buy from Amazon
As you may or may not know, The Departed was based on Infernal Affairs. And with that movie coming out tomorrow, there's no better time to release this original trilogy on DVD. The first film has already been released on DVD, so this box set is the premiere the other two movies, neither of which lived up to the high quality of the original. Since the last two movie are also available separately it might be wise for those who own the original on DVD just to pick up Infernal Affairs 2. It's the better movie and has better extras. On the other hand, the box set is the better deal if you are new to the series.

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner - Buy from Amazon
An excellent movie about a sport most people would assume would be too dull to make a movie about. Fans of the film will be very happy it is finally coming out on DVD, but the lack of extras are disappointing. Disappointing, but not surprising given the age of the movie and its lesser-known status.

Man About Town - Buy from Amazon
Ben Affleck needs a career boost, and fast. The man won an Oscar and now he's starring in a direct-to-DVD film?

Ben Affleck stars as super agent, Jack Giamoro, whose seemingly perfect life gets turned upside down after he takes a journal writing class. Simple mistake. Actually, the real horror doesn't begin until he finds out his wife is cheating on him with his biggest client and then a reporter steals the journal and uses it to destroy his life.

This is not even the worst movie he's made, but it's not one of his best. It's just so average it's hard to form a strong opinion about it one way or the other. There are some good aspects of the movie: Ben Affleck was strong, John Cleese is superb as the journal writing teacher, most of the supporting cast is strong (Gina Gershon doesn't get enough work and the same can be said of Howard Hesseman). On the other hand, the story was a little weak, and Bai Ling's character was poorly defined and unconvincing. I think part of the problem is her English skills; she lacks confidence and that affects her acting because she is very good in her native language.

As for the DVD, it could also best be described as average. There's no audio commentary track, but there are a few featurettes, deleted scenes and outtakes. The making-of featurette is not particularly in-depth at just over 11 minutes and is mostly just talking heads. There are more talking heads for, "Talk to My Agent" where the cast talk about dealing with their agents but at just 3 minutes, there's not much here. Next up are 9 deleted / extended / alternate scenes clocking in at a total of 12 minutes. Some scenes here could have been used in the movie, but most were good cuts. Finally there's the outtakes. It takes a lot for blooper reel to stand out, and this one doesn't. On an interesting note, there are more bloopers from the interviews than from the movie.

Overall I'd recommend this DVD for a rental, but not enthusiastically.

Marie Antoinette - Buy from Amazon
Sofia Coppola's follow-up to Lost in Translation, but there's really no comparison. Granted, the movie isn't the train wreck some were expecting given the film's initial reaction at Cannes (there was even some booing). The DVD will likely outperform the movie, but with light extras (making of featurette, deleted scenes, and a MTV Cribs look at the palace), it doesn't rate past a rental.

Masters of Horror: Season Two - Dario Argento's Pelts - Buy from Amazon
Masters of Horror returns for season two with a tale directed by Dario Argento. This was one of the better episodes during season 2, so it makes sense that it's the lead-off on the home market, but I don't consider it the best episode. (Personally I think it was Family, but I prefer my horror mixed with humor rather than the erotic. Also, George Wendt's great fun in almost everything I've seen him in.) Extras continue the high standard set in season one and the overall package is certainly worth picking up.

Men Behaving Badly - The Complete Series - Buy from Amazon
This is the American remake of the British series and while it is not as edgy or as funny, it is still better than its ratings would indicate. I think a lot of people were turned off by the extra-slobs as leading men. For instance, in the first episode, I think it may have even been the first scene, Rob Schneider tries to make coffee but because he can't find any filters, he uses a pair of underwear instead. If your reaction to this is, "How the hell does Rob Schneider find work? Who is he blackmailing?" then you should stay far away from this show. On the other hand, if this scene intrigues you, then you are in for a treat. Granted, the show wasn't able to maintain a high level of quality through-out its 35 episode run and even if the ratings were good through the first two seasons it would not have lasted much longer. At least fans and neophytes can experience the show on DVD. However, that's all they will experience because the 4-disc set has no special features.

Mr. Moto Collection - Volume 2 - Buy from Amazon
Peter Lorre is a great actor and these are very good movies (for the most part), but I have a hard time getting over the racist aspect. Peter Lorre was cast in the role because studios didn't think audiences would accept an actually Japanese person as a movie star.

Mutual Appreciation - Buy from Amazon
This movie earned amazing reviews, opened very well, and then disappeared the next weekend. Writer / director / actor Andrew Bujalski certainly has what it takes to make it in the business, he just needs more people to take notice of his work. The DVD should help, especially with the unique extra. It has an audio commentary track but it doesn't feature members of the cast and crew. Instead the commentary is provided by the parents of the members of the cast and crew. This isn't the indie film school type of audio commentary that is so common, but it certainly has a point of view most people don't get to explore.

Performance - Buy from Amazon
A movie from 1970 starring James Fox as Chas, a hitman who needs a place to stay low after completing a job, and Mick Jagger as an aging rock star who wants to reclaim past glory. Mick Jagger. 1970. Aging rock star. It's nearly 40 years later and he's still going strong. That man's just not human. He's some rock'n'roll cyborg from the future. It's the only logical answer... As for the movie, it's great and the DVD has better extras than expected given its age and the lesser known status. Fans of the cyborg will definitely want to check it out.

Police Story 2 - Special Collector's Edition - Buy from Amazon
Jackie Chan's follow-up to what many consider his best film. This film is not quite as good, but it is still a fun ride. Extras are also good with an audio commentary track, featurettes on the stunts, alternate scenes, and more. Easily worth picking up for fans of Jackie Chan.

The Quiet - Buy from Amazon
Starring and produced by Elisha Cuthbert, this film earned terrible reviews and never made an impact at the box office. However, the movie isn't as bad as that performance would indicate. There are some good thrills in the movie and for the most part the performances were strong. The extras are a little weak, with no audio commentary track and just 5 featurettes with a total running time of 35 minutes. Overall I would call the DVD a strong rental or a weak purchase, it depends on how much the subject matter bothers the viewer. It can either disgust them and they won't even finish the movie, or it will burrow under their skin and they will want to watch it again. The former is more likely, but latter is probable enough to warrant a rental.

School for Scoundrels - Buy from Amazon: Theatrical Versio or Unrated
John Heder plays Roger, a loser who is constantly being picked on so he attends Dr. P's assertiveness training class to become a, 'real man.'

The cover has a quote describing the movie as a cross between Napoleon Dynamite and Bad Santa. This is incredibly accurate. Unfortunately, it is not a compliment. It really feels like the movie was made by someone who had watched the career output from these two actors too much, figured they could distill what made these movies hits and come up with pure gold. However, there's a problem with this thinking; what made the other movies hits was their freshness and that's something no derivative will ever be able to capture.

Granted, the lack of freshness wouldn't necessarily result in a bad movie if the rest was still strong, but that is not the case here. Last week I talked about Coastlines, a movie that I felt was too predictable; you could tell how characters would act the moment you first saw them, sometimes earlier. But at least these actions had internal logic. This movie suffers from the same problem but without the logic. Characters act in a way to advance the plot regardless of logic. It's clear you've stepped out of reality and entered Stupid Person Movieland. For instance, if someone is pretending to be the police to make you look bad in front of someone, you call the real police. That will end the charade really quick. Anyone in real life would do that, but not in Stupid Person Movieland because it would end the movie really quick. Because you are dealing with Stupid Person Movieland, it is very hard to feel any empathy for the character, especially with how nasty they are. Without empathy you are never drawn into the movie and you truly don't care how it ends. Any one of these problems and you could still at least laugh at the movies, but all combined it kills the humor as well.

This is all the more disappointing given the number of talented people in the movie. Even those I consider very reliable like David Cross and Sarah Silverman seemed to be playing the same part they've played in other movies. It's like they didn't cast Sarah Silverman, they cast Patty Di Marco.

Extras are average in quantity with audio commentary track, making of featurette, alternate ending and outtakes. None of them really add much to the experience and overall I can't even recommend the movie for a rental. This is really disappointing because I was looking forward to this movie when I first heard about it.

Shock to the System - Buy from Amazon
This is the gay-themed thriller from 2006 and not the 1990 film of the same name starring Michael Caine. Not a lot of people know that. This is far from a bad movie, but it does little to set it apart from other thrillers and outside the gay angle there's not much here to make it noteworthy.

...So Goes the Nation - Buy from Amazon
A political documentary about the 2004 presidential election, specifically the battleground state of Ohio and how the two sides campaigned.

The filmmakers interviewed activists, political consultants, and voters on both sides of the divide and amassed a surprising amount of information. It truly showed the differences between the Democratic Party and the Republic Party when it comes to campaigning. The Democratic Party seemed far less organized, but more passionate. For the Democratic Party elections are a chance for political debate (in the movie they mention how the Democratic party made a conscious to not go negative and to not rely on simplistic catchphrases, but to engage the voters.) On the other hand, the Republic Party was hardcore and ruthless. They treat elections like they are at war and the goal is destroying the opposition. The filmmakers made it clear which side is better when it comes to campaigning. Although if you watch this movie and When the Levees Broke back-to-back, you get the impression that the Republic Party are far better at campaigning than they are at governing. It seems like winning the White House isn't their main objective and it is almost an annoyance that unfortunately goes with victory.

I did have some complaints with the movie. For instances, I don't think they spent enough time on issues outside campaigning that had an impact on the election. However, during the audio commentary they addressed these complaints. They wanted to focus on the campaigns because that was the story they wanted to tell. They were not addressing voter fraud, faulty voting machines, long lines, and other issues in any great depth because they felt those were for another documentary crew to tackle. (For instance, they tackled voter fraud only as it pertained to the Republic Party's ability to stay on message and didn't mention the accusations of voter fraud against the Republic Party.) This is a fair approach and is addressed in the audio commentary.

As for extras, the DVD is rather light with just the aforementioned audio commentary track. But, to be fair it is excellent and does enhance the viewing substantially. However, I really think the filmmakers could have added some extended interviews to the DVD.

Overall this is a great movie and even with light extras it is a must have for political junkies like myself.

The U.S. vs. John Lennon - Buy from Amazon
A documentary about John Lennon from the time the Beatles ended to his anti-war activism, which eventually put him on the FBI watch list. On the one hand, it's a great look back at the lives of John Lennon and those he influenced. On the other hand, fans of his won't learn much as the film mostly deals with well-worn territory. Extras are light with some additional interviews, but that still will be enough to pick it up for more hardcore John Lennon fans. For the rest of us, a rental will suffice.

Zoey 101 - The Complete First Season - Buy from Amazon
I'm a sick and tired of Disney putting out TV on DVD that's not full season sets. When will they learn that best of releases not only irritate fans but hurt sales for future full season sets if they eventually put them out. ... Wait. ... What? ... Oh, this is a full season set. [Ed: And it's from Nickelodeon, not Disney!] And a pretty good one at that. The series stars Jamie Lynn Spears, little sister of Britney Spears. But don't worry, she's a much better actor than her sister is. In fact, she's a better actor than Britney Spears is a singer. Jamie Lynn Spears stars as the titular Zoey, part of the first group of girls entering Pacific Coast Academy, which previously had been a boys only boarding school. Yes, it is a Disney channel Nickelodeon production, but keeping that and its target audience in mind it is a pretty good show, certainly better than most that they make. Extras are also better than the average release with audition tapes, outtakes and a bonus episode from season 3. It's worth picking up for fans. Heck, I'm tempted to pick it up just to encourage the studio to release full season sets for other shows (like Kim Possible).

Zoom - Buy from Amazon
Arguably the worst movie of 2006. Arguably one of the worst movies ever. It's so bad that no amount of extras would lift the DVD to even the rental level, and the studio barely even tries. There's a short, fluffy making-of featurette and a series of public service announcements for kids. Skip it.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Date posted: 2007-02-12