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ThursDVDay (!!!) News Update

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Guest TSMAdmin

On the box: Police Academy

In the player: Father Ted Series 2, Part 2

Heavy rotation: 69 Eyes

Sore thumbs: F-Zero





I know I haven’t been around for a while, and I’m sorry about that.



Going waaaaay back now, the first week I was off I had a trip down to a games company to chat to the head honchos about a couple of things. Going back and forth on the train, a couple of cab rides with REALLY far out dudes (including a stoner who drove at 60mph down little side streets with his seat reclined halfway and his eyes WAAAAAY glazed) and getting lost in Stafford were enough to convince meto take a week off the TSM duties.



Next was when the power went nuts and everything went crazy, and I just felt it would probably be easier not to post and keep the main page free for everyone (since, in the grand scheme of things, no-one’s really going to miss a DVD update). Then a couple days later, my laptop just decided to stop working. Now, this is an enormous shitter, because my laptop has got EVERYTHING I’ve ever done on it, from all my articles, my degree work, artwork, programmes, scriptnotes, cookies, everything hell, I’m not even sure I could log in here without it, since all my passwords are stored. So suffice it to say, that was a huge pain in the ass. A couple of evenings soldering dry joints seemed to do the trick, although bouts of temperamentality made it impossible to get online long enough to do anything useful.



And what’s my excuse for this week’s tardiness? Work, sadly. I’ve had a shitload of articles to pump out for various people, and that’s been taking up most of my time. I’m going on a short vacation in a couple weeks, so I’ve got a backlog of stuff to get done if I want to actually enjoy myself instead of staying up after the missus has gone to sleep so I can catch up.



To be honest, shag all has been happening in DVD world anyway. In fact, the only interesting thing from my abbreviated news notes from two weeks ago is this: “And here’s a fun fact: on the release list for the week, listed right under 'WWE Insurexxtion 2003' is 'X312 Flight to Hell', bringing up fond memories of Brock and Perfect wrestling near the emergency exit and X-Pac cutting off Michael Hayes’ mullet. Ah, good times…”



I want to give a HUUUUUUGE shout out to Lil Naitch of the TSM forums. I’ve been looking for a copy of the WrestleCrap CD-ROM for months, to no avail (and as I’m sure some of you know, RD won’t sell one to you unless he’s selling an old wrestling tape with it). So anyway, I posted a message on the boards, and Naitch came to the rescue. For $10, you get the entire WrestleCrap website on a CD complete with all the clips, sound files etc. as well as a shitload of bonus matches that Naitch threw on there:




Wrestle:





  • Flair vs Funk (Bash ‘89)


  • Raven vs Benoit (Raven’s Rules)

  • Flair vs Steamboat

  • Angle vs Benoit (Rumble ‘03)

  • WarGames ’87

  • Flair vs Vader (‘93)

  • Flair vs Sting (Clash I)

  • Austin/Michaels vs Owen/Bulldog (RAW)

Crap:




  • HGH/X-Pac vs Kane/Shane

  • Austin vs Bischoff (NWO ’03)

  • HGH vs Steiner (NWO ‘03)

  • HGH vs Steiner (Rumble ‘03)

  • The debut of the SHOCKMASTER~!

I just love the CD so damn much. As much fun as I’ve had cruising around some of wrestling’s greatest atrocities, I’ve got a bunch of killer Flair matches, an awesome classic RAW tag match, and Scott Steiner pissing all over his legacy. Come on it’s only $10, and the matches themselves are worth that, but you also get the entire WrestleCrap site (which is obviously no longer online). If you’re interested, drop Drew an email at [email protected].



Well, arse-all interesting has happened to me in the last three weeks, so let’s HIT THE CONTENT~!








WHAT’S HOT THIS WEEK




I know it’s a little late, but there are a couple of gems that are buried in this week’s releases and some of you might miss if you’re not careful.



The Shitty Edition of LOTR: Two Towers is out to buy, and with the four-disc edition on the way in November I don’t really get why anyone would want to buy this version. Well, since I hate hobbits and orcs and things in general, maybe I’m just biased. There are Special Editions of Robert Rodriguez’s Desperado and El Mariachi, and while both are totally awesome flicks on great DVDs loaded with extras, they’ve been available as a budget set in the UK for less than a tenner for a good year or so now, so if you’re Region 2-enabled save yourself some cash.



On the subject of low-budget but awesome cult classics (El Mariachi), Six-String Samurai is re-released this week and is a thoroughly cool little movie that should be in everyone’s collection. In fact, Kevin Archibald even namedrops the Rodriguez flick in his description of the movie: “If you combined a Mad Max movie, a Kirosawa Samurai flick, an Elvis movie, any Spaghetti Western, and perhaps El Mariachi you are starting to get closer to a definition of Six String Samurai. Add the punchiest Ennio Morricone-style soundtrack played by a surf band with a penchant for Russian folk tunes ("The Red Elvises"), and we are getting closer still to the mad entertainment SSS is. You see, in the 50s there was a nuclear holocaust. USA was melted away, with only a few pockets remaining. Russia took over. Lost Vegas remained a small bastion of freedom, ruled by The King himself, Elvis Presley. Fast forward to 40 years later (today): the King dies, and now every guitar-playing, sword-swinging yahoo makes the journey to Vegas to become the new King, including Death himself.” Tell me you aren’t interested…



Good week of TV product, as both ER The Complete First Series and The Simpsons The Complete Third Season hit stores in sets packed with extras. That said, there was a thread on the forums a while back stating that some pretty important stuff (I think it might be the Halloween episode or something like that) has been omitted from the set, and will be released as a separate disc, which pissed off a lot of folks. Still, The Simpsons was thoroughly awesome by the time the third series rolled around, so I can’t see a lot of reasons not to pick this up.



China Strike Force is a flick I want to check out based on the cast alone Aaron Kwok (Storm Riders, 2000 AD), Marc Dacascos (The Crow: Stairway, Drive, Crying Freeman), and Coolio. I can’t say that I recommend it having not seen it, but based on the Chinese actors alone, it should be slicker than your average. The dubiously un-The Complete Season, Michael J. Fox-selected Spin City sets hit stores, as does the awesome BritCom Yes, Prime Minister, which features some of the sharpest, driest political satire ever committed to film.



I know that Animal House along with Ferris Bueller (sp?) and that damn Griswald flick are staples of American film fans, but here in the UK we really just look at them and go “Huh?” Nonetheless, there’s a re-release of the Animal House Collector’s Edition out this week with a couple of extra features and a new 5.1 track, which I’m sure is good news to lots of you. And for more Belushi action, the Special Edition of The Blues Brothers is re-released this week, which I can more heartily recommend picking up.







15! 15! 15! 15! 15! 15! 15! 15! 15! 15! 15! 15! 15! 15! 15 TIME CHAMP!



This has probably already done the rounds by now, but it’s cool news anyway so I may as well cover it.



A couple weeks ago in 1Wrestling.com, it was reported and verified that the next WWF From The Vault DVD will be none other than the Nature Boy, Ric Flair.











[Gives everyone a couple of minutes to pick themselves up off the floor after marking out.]











Still, this is a very, very mixed blessing. We can but hope they don’t fuck this up the way they have the nWo, Rey Rey, HBK and Brock DVDs, and make this a three-disc set at least. I mean, three broadways will pack a single disc, and Flair’s had enough of those in his career. You could fill a whole DVD with promos too. And I just prey that Vince has the balls to include Flair’s NWA and WCW matches as well, not just WWF Flair. This DVD deserves AT LEAST the same treatment that the Hogan DVD received, although in fairness that was pretty underwhelming too considering what they could have done (click here to read Rob's review that explains why).




Still, I know we’re all going to go out and buy it no matter what it’s like… but then again, so does the WWF, which might make them less inclined to go the extra mile. Oh well. The disc is due to street January 27ish. More as it comes in.








BACK WHEN HE DIDN’T SUCK




Conspiracy theorists and overlong-movie lovers alike can jump for joy as more of Kevin Costner’s glory days get DVD’d, this time with a Special Editon of JFK. In fact, since it’s being released on November 11th two week’s before the date Kennedy bit the bullet it could really be billed as a 40th Anniversary Edition, but I’m not holding my breath.



Unfortunately, this is almost a re-release of an earlier DVD.



The film is the 205 minute Director’s Cut in anamorphic with 5.1 audio. The Oliver Stone commentary and 12 deleted/extended scenes have been leeched directly from the original release. While we get an all-new, feature-length documentary called 'Beyond JFK' which contains newsreel, eyewitness and interview footage with various real-life personalities seen in the film exploring the many conspiracy theories. However, the two documentaries from the original release are not mentioned, leading fans to question whether they have been dropped entirely, or whether they have been integrated into the new documentary in some way.



I’d suggest some sort of conspiracy between the major studios to needlessly double-dip consumers in order to extort more money.



Props to The Digital Bits, DVD Times and IGN.







OF SENATORS AND STEROIDS



FINALLY! The moviementary that made Arnold Schwarzenegger a star and household name is finally getting the DVD treatment. No, not Hercules In New York (that’s already on DVD and has been treated in the manner befitting its quality), the film in question is Pumping Iron. Starring Arnie and Lou Ferrigno (he of The Hulk TV series fame), the disc will be released on November 11th to capitalise on the DVD release of T3.



6thday.jpg






The flick will be fullscreen as originally filmed, but will be digitally remastered with 5.1 sound. It will feature a making-of featurette of some description, as well as a number of interviews (I’m not sure whether or not they are recent interviews with the big man or older ones). There will also be outtakes, biographies, and a photo gallery.



I’m a huge Arnie mark so I’ve been waiting for a DVD of Pumping Iron for years, and this will be in my shopping cart before I even take a second look at T3. But I’ll be buying that as well.



Props to the DVD Times.







And that concludes this weeks adventures in Jay’s DVD world. I hope you had a good time.



Everything should be back to relative normality update-wise, so I’ll see you all on Tuesday with more news, and possibly a review of something in the next week or so but no promises.



Take care, and remember:




THAT WOULD BE AN ECUMENICAL MATTER~!




Peace.

Jay



Read my archives, biatch.

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