DVD Diggers

Welcome to another edition of DVD Diggers, where we lika... do... da cha cha.

There’s nothing I hate more then to be corrected. That’s actually a horrible trait for a writer to have, because throughout the editing process you are continually corrected. Imagine my surprise this week when an e-mail showed up in my box asking me the proper word when talking about DVDs. This person had always known it as “disc”, and I’ve always written it as “disk”. I was ready to correct this person’s mistake and had already written an indignant response of sorts when suddenly I was struck by a moment of doubt. Consulting The Official DVD FAQ I was astonished to see I was wrong - the proper word is “disc”. It was hard to admit defeat, but better then sending the indignant e-mail and having to eat crow. So why am I telling you this? Well, one - as a cheap excuse to toss up a link to The Official DVD FAQ which is a great resource for fellow DVD Diggers like myself. Secondly so anyone who’s read this column before and seen me use the wrong word knows I have now realized what a big moron I am and will correct my ways immediately. Now, enough drivel. Let’s look at what disks are coming out this week! (D’oh!)

This week sees the last of Babylon 5 on DVD. I know what you’re saying: “But Rafe, the show was only on for five years and five season sets have already come out. Is this a double dip?” Well... yes, and no. This week the “Babylon 5 Movie Collection” comes out. It contains five movies created in the Babylon 5 Universe, two of which have previously been available (In the Beginning and The Gathering). The other three movies (Thirdspace, River of Souls, and A Call to Arms) weren’t widely accepted by fans, but I still love them and can’t wait to watch them in anamorphic widescreen! If you are a fan of B5, pick this up. If you aren’t - what are you waiting for? Go pick up the five seasons of the show and get with it!

Hey, did you know about a Lucille Ball series called “Here’s Lucy”? I didn’t. I asked around and couldn’t find many people who had heard of it. Never fear though! “Here’s Lucy - Best Loved Episodes from the Hit TV Series” comes out this week. That along with “Saved By the Bell: The College Years” (also out this week) proves that if there’s a television show around, it’ll be out on DVD eventually, regardless of whether people want it, or even remember it for that matter.

I’ve been giving Disney a bad rap lately, and that isn’t going to change this week. This week sees the return of Mickey, Donald, and Goofy as The Three Musketeers, an animated tale that was relegated to direct to video status. Early reports say the movie is a hit and should have been given a chance in theaters, but thanks to Disney’s new “only computer animation movies go to the theater” policy, the trio won’t see the big screen. That’s okay. I can live with that. What I think is unacceptable is the price point they’re trying to tack on to The Three Musketeers. Online prices with discounts are showing the movie between $20 - $30. Isn’t that a little high for a film that wasn’t good enough to show on the large screen - especially when you’re charging $10 - $15 for classics? Personally, I was really looking forward to this release, but I won’t be picking it up at that price. That money has to be saved for my annual vacation to Walt Disney World. Huh... I guess they get the money one way or the other.

Speaking of Direct to Video, this week seems to be the dumping ground for all the movies from 2004 that should never have been allowed on the big screen: March’s Taking Lives, April’s Godsend and Connie and Carla, and May’s New York Minute. None of these films recieved over two stars at Cinema Blend and if you missed them in theaters now’s your chance to avoid them on DVD. Seriously folks, there’s a reason for the quick turn around time to put them on DVD; these studios have to find some way to recap their losses for these films. Since they didn’t get your money in the theaters, now they’ll try and get your money in the DVD stores. Be strong! Hold your ground and don’t give into them. If these films were worth seeing, don’t you think they’d hold off for a better time of year to release them?

So it’s a bad week for movies of 2004, but a good week for “Special Editions” of films from the past. Goodfellas, Mean Streets, Candyman, and Stir of Echoes along with Steven Spielberg’s first films Duel and Sugarland Express all get the royal treatment this week. For some of these movies it’s their first time on DVD, for others it’s about time a decent version came out. These are all the films I recommend you spend your money on this week - show the studios we’d rather see good releases of classic films then bad movies or television shows we don’t care about!