This Week in DVD

Clash of the Titans: Is the Sam Worthington push over? The guy was in about 3 big movies in a brief span, and we were told he was gonna be huge, but he is not the thing anybody remembers about any of those movies.

What everyone remembers about THIS one is the ill-fated rush job of retrofitting the movie to 3-D. Hey, that reminds me, did you know this post is in 3-D? To get the full effect, just lean really, really close to your screen--no, closer, closer--yeah, that's right, until you bump into it and get blurred vision. Voila!

Repo Men: Jude Law and Forest Whitaker star in this disappointing movie about...You know what? I feel obligated to list this because it's one of the few high-profile recent theatricals out this week, but there is a lot of interesting retro stuff to get to, and I know virtually nothing about "Repo Men," so why try to bluff?

Batman: Under the Red Hood: I'm always game for these DC Animated movies, but the more I know about this project, the less interest I have in it.

Olive Films presents 4 movies licensed from Paramount: This outfit releases 4 new-to-DVD flicks this week: "Union Station" and "Dark City," which are really good, "Crack in the World," which sounds fun, and "Appointment with Danger," an noirish Alan Ladd picture effort I want to see. Hey, Netflix, let's carry all these, not just "Crack," OK? (Hey, wonder if Netflix will ever start carrying crack? Nah, my bet's on Amazon beating them to it. It sells everything else.)

Kansas City Royals: 1985 World Series Collectors Edition: Ah, through DVD releases like this, long-suffering fans can recall the days when their team actually had a snowball's chance. And lest you think I'm mocking you, K.C. fans, I root for the Pirates. Sigh. Time to dig up that '79 World Series set.

Sgt. Bilko Season One: OK, now is the time for all of us who bought, er, alternative sets to put our money where our mouths are and pony up for a legit set, right? Well, I'm a little short right now, but I do plan to get this eventually. I'm also waiting for a reputable source to assure me that this set is unedited, unadulterated, and otherwise unbotched. My alternative set has edited episodes, so I'd love to upgrade--er, that is, if I had an alternative set, I'd assume it would have edited episodes, of course.

The Sweeney Seasons 1 and 2: I have read great things about this U.K. cop show, and it's finally back in print in Region 1, but each set is 60 bucks at Amazon. Uh, no thanks. Netflix, forget that crack thing and stock this series, please.

Mothers-in-Law Complete Series: MPI put a lot of effort into this set, from what I gather, and I appreciate it when a short-lived oldie gets that kind of treatment. Only I'm not so sure I'll actually like "The Mothers-in-Law," despite the presence of the incomparable Eve Arden. That said, Amazon has this for 19 bucks! Even if I hated the show, I'd be tempted to get it at that price. Hey, you could raise the funds for 3 of these sets and still have to scrounge up change for one season of "The Sweeney."