This Week in DVD and Instant Watching

Sorry the column is so late this week, but I had vital matters to attend to.

"Uh...we're, like, busy watching TV."
--Butt-head.

Stay out of this, guys. Let's get to it:

42: I'm especially sorry to post this so late when there is such an intriguing title to report. I'm glad this is out  already. Sweet! Whoo-hoo! Sorry for my enthusiasm, but it's just that there aren't a lot of movies I want to rush out and rent. I almost saw this Jackie Robinson biopic (the one with Harrison Ford in Cranky Mode as Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey) in its theatrical run, and I look forward to renting it from Redbox this weekend since I should have a little extra time. It's really nice to see a dramatization of Robinson's struggles and reflect on the fact that race relations are now perfect in this country and we really don't have any further to go in achieving harmony.

Evil Dead: No Bruce Campbell=No sale. Ah, who am I kidding? 1) For all I know, he IS in here in a cameo or something, and 2) I'm just not really interested, anyway.

Erased: Looks like a direct to vid--hey, wait. Redbox isn't carrying 42 this week after all. It's apparently one of those that will be delayed 30 days. Screw you, Warner Brothers! Talk about killing my buzz this weekend.

Solomon Kane: The Robert E. Howard character comes to--you know what, Warners? Do you think this is gonna make me buy the DVD? Uh-uh.

Damages: Final Season: This'll probably show up on Redbox.

When Things Were Rotten: It's cool that this short-lived Mel Brooks does Robin Hood series is on DVD, but I have a feeling this isn't gonna be as all funny as we want it to be. it likely stems from the fact that when I saw a few episodes 20 years or so ago, they weren't as funny as I wanted them to be.

Virginian Eighth and Final Season: For some reason it amuses me that while Damages just calls its new set the final season, "The Virginian" goes for extra emphasis. It's the eighth AND FINAL season, dadblast it!

In streaming...

It was a quiet week in streaming additions. I got an email from Roku telling me Hulu Plus had revamped itself to allow easier searching and navigation, then the next time I tried to watch it, it showed no apparent changes and crashed the box.

I suppose I could rent 42 from Amazon or another streaming video service for 4, 5, or 6 bucks, but I don't think so. I want to pay a buck and change to get it from Redbox!