Friday, April 21, 2006

GO BROKE WITH ME!!! When you're like me and have absolutely no life (and you obviously are or else you wouldn't be trolling around on blogs), there ain't much reason to get outta bed except to drop some cash on new DVD's. And then you've got a perfect excuse to stay in bed and watch 'em. Well, here are some recent DVDs I've been enjoying . . .as well as some upcoming releases that make my heart go pitter-patt! Of course, there's the ever classic "Die Mommie Die!" (Thanks, Ms. Hen!) which is the only DVD in here that DOESN'T make me puke! It's for me, for me FOR MEEEEEEEE!!!! Then there's the recent release of Liza Minnelli's 1972 Emmy-winning TV concert "Liza With A Z"; a fave LP from my childhood. All right, it's time to get more macho in here or people will talk. (Hi Pax!) Of course, nothing could be more macho that James Tiberius Kirk (Hi Shat!) and I've recently quite enjoyed the new Star Trek Time Travel Fan Collective box set which gathers together time travel episodes not only from the original Star Trek series but also The Next Generation, Deep Space 9 and Voyager. Now, I'm not a Trekkie (I'm a Trekker) but I thought they were generally pretty good. I had only seen 2 of the Next Generation episodes and none of the other series so it was a new experience for me; and an entertaining one. Speaking of science fiction, for those poor schmucks among you who didn't see the new 2005 Doctor Who series a year ago (Hi Little Brother Ern!), the complete season will be released on DVD in the States on July 4th. It's airing now on the Sci-Fi channel but (I hate to break it to you) it's been sliced and diced for commercial TV and I can't stand all those pauses for our sponsor. Thank God I've had the DVDs direct from Britain since last year. However, another Dr. Who release coming up on June 6 is the long-awaited release of Tom Baker's storyline "Genesis of the Daleks". More British science fiction from the 70's can be found on "The Omega Factor" box set (released May 2nd) which also features Louise (Dr. Who's Leela) Jameson in a series about a battle of psychic powers between good and evil. I remember this from way back when (PBS briefly aired it in the early 80's). There's not much in the way of cool horror releases these days but one of the best is the recent DVD release of Showtime's Masters of Horror episode "Dreams in the Witch House". Stuart Gordon splendidly adapts yet another H.P. Lovecraft tale and the result is fantastic. Sadly, John Carpenter's episode "Cigarette Burns", also released, is not quite up to this standard; let's call it an interesting failure, shall we? But a major DVD box set in the horror field is Full Moon Video's "Subspecies" box set featuring that vampire of vampires Radu in all 4 Subspecies movies (plus the Anne Rice "inspired" Vampire Journals flick). Radu and the Subspecies movies are the best things Full Moon ever put out (which admittedly ain't saying much but it's meant as a recommendation). Click here for the movie trailer. Anders Hove as Radu and Denise Duff as his vampirized apprentice kick arse! (Hi Ma!) Anyway, it's back to the 70's for one of the early TV mini-series I watched as a kid: "Backstairs at the White House" which chronicles the true (but Hollywoodized) story of a mother and daughter who served on the housekeeping staff of the White House starting with the Taft administration all the way thru the Eisenhower years. Great American history TV movie-style! Quite outta left field comes Julia Child (Hi Miss Jenny Penny. . .I STILL love that Julia Child story about the boiling water) and the second French Chef DVD with the recipes and the bloopers. The first DVD set was great and I'm looking forward to getting the second. So...until Alton Brown's DVD's get A LOT cheaper... And finally, last but not least, is the upcoming April 25th release of one of my favourite musicals of all-time: "Three Little Words" starring Fred Astaire and Red Skelton as real-life songwriters Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby (creators of such classic songs as "Who's Sorry Now", "Nevertheless", "Thinking of You", "I Wanna Be Loved By You" and. . .ahem. . ."Hooray for Captain Spaulding"). I've been waiting years for this to come out on DVD and I'm holding my breath till it's in my hot little hands. Click here to watch the movie trailer! So there you have it. You'll love yourself if you go get all these DVD's now. If not, at least you know what I already have when it's time to choose my birthday present. Thanks for suffering...er....I mean listening.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I foodie salute you! Alton Brown and the unflappable Julia Child in one posting! yay!

So, uh, could I borrow that Julia Child cd? Purdy please? OH! WAIT! It's the perfect Sunday night fare! Bring it!

Pax Romano said...

Die Mommie Die, Julia Child, Star Trek and Dr. Who all in the same posting!

You are so eclectic!

Cerpts said...

Miss Jenny Penny: Hail Hail Foodies Everywhere Unite! And stuff our faces!

Pax: Um. . .that means mentally ill, right???