This Week in DVD

Disney's A Christmas Carol: This is what happens now when you extend the window between theatrical and home video: You totally forget the movie was even out. Of course, in this case, that might be a good thing. Instead of pushing this one out for Easter, Disney sits on it, and people forget the reviews and just think, "Hey, a new Christmas DVD to buy."

Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore: Of course, there are no such recognition issues with this one. We all remember how bad it looks.

The Last Airbender: I wish M. Night Shamalamadingdong's adaptation of the cult cartoon had been more successful--not because I liked the source material, but because I would have liked to have seen a "MAD Magazine" parody called "The Last Windbreaker."

The Kids Are All Right: Homosexuality--check. Paternity issues--check. Mark Ruffalo--check. Yep, it's an indie flick!

Modern Times: Psst. I'm not a huge Chaplin fan. I know, I know. But I think this is one of the best comedy films of all time, and it looks like Criterion is doing right by it.

Night of the Hunter: Criterion takes another of my favorites and gives it a snazzy video release. If you'll pardon me for making this post even more about myself (and, hey, this IS a blog, you know), allow me to lament the fact that I waited for a special edition of this movie for about 5 years, and now that it's out, I lament the fact that I had more money to blow on DVDs 5 years ago.

Perry Mason Season 5 Part 2: The wheels of justice may turn slowly, but they move a hell of a lot faster than CBS Home Video.

Mr. Ed Season 4: The good news is, Shout Factory continues the series. The bad news is, it'll cost ya! It's Shout Select, which is kind of like the Criterion of TV--only without the copious extras, the remastering, and the quality control. Hmm. Pretty much just the price, I guess.

Warner Brothers Christmas Shows: It's kind of cool that this sampler offers a few rarities, like an "Eight is Enough" episode, but it's a real party pooper to learn this is an Archives release. It's a sad day if we can't get the big studios and the big chain stores together to at least put a freaking Christmas DVD on shelves (Hey, there's an idea--"Warner Brothers Freaking Christmas DVD"). Oh, wait, Paramount did this two years in a row. What's your excuse, WB? Couldn't get your elves to put in enough hours to mass-produce this?