DVDs Coming Out This Tuesday - November 16th

**David Meek** · 09 November 2004, 14:50 Tuesday

For me, not a lot of interest this week except:

Chronicles Of Riddick
Foul Play

**TTA89** · 09 November 2004, 15:12 Tuesday

What a bunch of garbage... do they purposely create stuff for the $4.99 bin?

**Burke Strickland** · 09 November 2004, 16:35 Tuesday

Originally posted by TTA89

What a bunch of garbage...

That was my first impression doing a quick scan of the list. However, looking at it from a different angle, one man's "garbage" might be another's "treasure" -- someone must like that crap or they wouldn't publish it. :>)

It shows the "maturity" of the DVD medium when such a LONG list of questionable material can come out without inspiring a flood of comments such as "why bother to own a DVD player anyway -- there's nothing to watch". We already have thousands of titles in the catalog worth watching and perhaps hundreds already in our possession, so it is no disaster when a week comes along with nothing new of interest, and it is also no surprise that they might be scraping the bottom of the barrel for new releases once in a while, since so much has already been released over the past seven years and this year's big holiday push hasn't really started yet.

However, IMO, there are actually some real gems buried in that list. It just takes some sifting to find the wheat among the tons of chaff. Instead of a lot of great feature films, though, most of the good stuff seems to be music-related, (Handel: The Messiah (Naxos); Tchaiovsky: The Sleeping Beauty (Naxos); Vivaldi: The Four Seasons (Naxos); Von Weber: Der Freischutz (Naxos) as well as a bunch of jazz titles). However, there are a number of good ones among the feature films as well:

The aforementioned:

• Chronicles of Riddick -- launched Vin Diesel's career. If you couldn't get enough of "Pitch Black" you've gotta get this one.

• Foul Play -- Goldie Hawn is a screwball and Chevy Chase proves he can act -- what's not to like?

Also check out:

• Blade Runner: The Director's Cut / The Fugitive: Special Edition (2 pack) Of course if you already have both of these, (which I do), this isn't of interest as a purchase, but these two do NOT qualify as "a bunch of garbage"...

• Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice -- this classic comedy of manners has been on my "wish list" for a long time. I missed getting the LD; I'm glad it is finally becoming available on DVD.

• Elf -- OK, so it has Will Ferrell... he was bound to play at least ONE good role in all those tries and this is it. :>)

• Fanny and Alexander -- Ingmar Bergman's semi-autobiographical masterpiece now in a Criterion edition

• Howard Hughes - The Real Aviator -- This biographical documentary is better than average and the subject is fascinating -- a man who, in real life, was so "out there" that the story could just as well be fictional.

• Ragtime -- James Cagney -- 'nuf said? Well, not really. A lot more could be said about this Milos Foreman film. A couple of intertwining plots, partly based on historical fact, partly fiction, give a rich tapestry of Americana (NOT a "Norman Rockwell" view) and yields some dazzling performances.

• Repo Man (Uncensored) -- I wan't aware that the edition I bought earlier was censored. :>) In any case, this is an entertaining movie with some really bizarre twists that just add to the fun.

• Saddest Music In The World, The -- you probably missed this in the commercial theater, but this quirky, surreal movie has some compelling moments... worth checking out if you'd like to sample some off beat, but effective, movie making.

As for the many TV series offerings, f you've missed "The Office" (a witty, satirical British sit-com) here's your chance to catch up with it... Since I already have seasons one and two, I’ll just go for the closing Special.

Extra special mention for "Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen" – Opera fans have been asking for this for a long time – a complete recording of the Ring cycle on DVD – and New York's Metropolitan Opera under the baton of James Levine gives a stellar traditional performance of these master works, a series of operas with interconnected themes. This is a recording of a 1990 performance -- I've already heard some of this on CD. It should be interesting to actually "see the show" on DVD and there will be English subtitles for this German-language work, something they couldn't pull off on CD. :>) The DVD set is going to cost almost $100, but for fans of the operas and the music, it will be a worthwhile investment.

Maybe it's a GOOD thing only a small percentage of the week's releases are appealling. Most of us couldn't afford to buy the whole list, every week.

Burke

**David Meek** · 09 November 2004, 17:23 Tuesday

Oh phooey, I forgot to mention the Wagner. It's in German of course (w/English sub-titles, et al), but it offers:

DTS 5.1
DD 5.1
Anamorphic 1.85:1
156 chapters
900 minutes runtime

**Shane Martin** · 09 November 2004, 18:06 Tuesday

Chronicles of Riddick is a big iffy for me. Mediocre reviews from folks I trust make it a hard purchase.

ELF, OTOH, is a must buy. Everything I've heard says this was a riot.

**Foxman** · 10 November 2004, 15:26 Wednesday

My wife took the kids to see Elf at the theater and she said it was the funniest movie she ever saw.

That probably doesnt mean much to anyone reading this, but if you knew my wife that would cause you to run, drive or take a jet to BB on Tuesday to pruchase this because she doesnt laugh at much.

Well Larry the Cable guy made her laugh once.

DVDs Coming Out This Tuesday - November 16th

DVDs Coming Out This Tuesday - November 16th

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