The New DVD 2

Courtesy of Video ETA, as well as my personal tastes and professional curiosity, here are the DVD releases coming this Tuesday...

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou: This is probably the DVD I'm most likely to buy this week seeing as I'm a bit of a Wes Anderson fan. It's not the best film in Anderson's ouvre, and it lacks somewhat for the absence of Luke Wilson, but it still holds up compared to many of the films that hit theatres last year (anyone wanna talk Stepford Wives, meet me in back). The features look satisfactory with commentary and interviews with cast and crew, and I'm particularly looking forward to seeing the ten David Bowie songs performed by Brazilian recording artist Seu Jorge
and the interview with composer, and Devo member, Mark Mothersbaugh.

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers: I caught this made for cable movie when it originally came out on Movie Central (the Canadian equivalent to HBO) and while I found it somewhat unbalanced as a biopic, I found it to be an enjoyable and entertaining experience.

The film basically tells the story of Peter Sellers' life through the eyes of Peter Sellers as played by Geoffrey Rush, who does an admirable job in the role. I was really happy that they managed to convey how difficult a man Sellers was, but also made you sympathise with him as he encounteres various hurdles in his life and career. A portrait of Peter Sellers is not a pretty one, but it's damn interesting when you get into it.

Feature-wise, I don't believe this disc will have any making it one I likely won't purchase despite having really enjoyed it. No features, to my mind, is the kiss of death as far as I'm concerned, and I'm genuinely surprised whenever I encounter it (unless it's a budget priced disc - that's a whole different ball of wax).

Update: I checked this one out at the local Wal-Mart and it is not a featureless disc. There are several audio commentaries and, believe, a making of featurette. Just thought I should set the record straight since it is now a semi-desirable contender for ownership.

Assault on Precinct 13: This remake of the 1976 John Carpenter film of the same name was in and out of theatres so fast that it left heads spinning. From reviews I've read then and some I've seen recently, I can say that my expectations for this movie are beyond low. Like, less expectation to perform than House of Wax low.

I only mention it here because this might be a future guilty pleasure rental if I'm ever in the need for a shoot-em-up action flick. And really, it's got Ethan Hawke, Gabriel Byrne, Maria Bello...there's enough there to warrant a minimal investment of time and money.

Kim Possible the Movie - So the Drama: Kim Possible was one of the cartoons I turned to when I was having problems with the direction some of the DC/WB animated properties were going. It's a really well done 'toon with a great voice cast including Christy Romano (Cadet Kelly), Will Freidle (Batman Beyond), Nancy Cartwright (The Simpsons), Gary Cole (Office Space) and many others.

This particular release is an extended version of the movie that appeared on the Disney Channel (Family Channel above the 49th) last month which was supposed to serve as a series finale for the show and is a pretty satisfying little animated flick to boot. The story manages to tie up some loose ends, add some character growth, throw in a twist or two and just flat-out entertain which it succeeds in doing in all respects.

Having seen the broadcast version I'm kind of looking forward to seeing what else they've worked into the movie, and I'm also looking forward to getting into some of the bonus features on the disc (deleted scenes and an as yet unaired episode of the series).


A quick peek at the releases for next week look promising. My early picks would include Team America and Scrubs Season 1, so check back in 7 for some comments on those and more.

mike