This Week in DVD and Instant Watching Part --yes, 3! Warner Instant

Hey, Warner Archive Instant, this is how you do it! Several weeks ago, they had a big movie update, featuring titles such as...uh, I didn't write them down, and it's hard to keep track because they disappear into the main catalog once they update again. The good news is, they updated again.

First, let's talk about the TV additions. Two weeks ago, we got the entire MGM Our Gang series, which is pretty darn cool. This week saw two sets of Fitzpatrick's Traveltalks. Are these titles stretching the definition of "television?" Yep. Do I care? Nope. Short subjects are always welcome on the service, and I look forward to seeing what else they throw up there.

Now back to the movies. One thing to note is that while WAI used to be consistent about updating each Friday, now new titles are liable to come during the week, so you have to keep an eye out. Two updates ago, we gained such movies as Background to Danger with Lorre, Greenstreet, and Raft. Virginia City (Bogart and Flynn), Stranger on the Third Floor (Lorre), John Ford's The Lost Patrol, John Wayne in The Wings of Eagles (also John Ford)...aw, I really should have paid closer attention.

THIS week, I can tell you we get Treasure Island with Wallace Beery, and shouldn't more Beery always be a priority for WAI?  Gangster fans get Kid Galahad (Robinson and Davis) and G-Men (Cagney). A few new Spencer Tracy titles including A Guy Named Joe and Cass Timberlane are up.

Speaking of Kid Galahad, it was reworked as The Wagons Roll at Night, which isn't Bogart's best film, but it's still Bogart. Bogart and carnies! Come on! Ronnie Reagan was always proud of Kings Row, but I've never seen it. Not because Reagan was proud of it, but just because--jeez, does everything have to be poilitical these days?

Film noir fans get Tension, mystery fans get a quartet of 1960s Miss Marple features. The slow trickle of Andy Hardy continues with Love Finds Andy Hardy. An all-star cast appears in 1936's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Harlow and Gable, two all-stars themselves, appear in Hold Your Man.

That's the good news. The bad news is I just noticed the watchlist only has allows up to 100 titles, which makes the concept a little useless if you go over 100 and titles you are trying to keep track of disappear from your list.  Worse yet, my watchlist still has several titles that are no longer available! Come to think of it, I can't dump anything from my watchlist. Uh, yeah, this thing is pretty screwed up. I guess I'm gonna have to send them an e-mail.

Speaking of disappearing, the other bad news is another purge took place. So long, Get Yourself a College Girl! Wish I could have seen you! Wish you weren't still tempting me by appearing in my watchlist!