Pocket Universe

It’s time again for this week’s DVD Tuesday, where I cover the latest DVD releases that I will be buying this week, and, by extension, that you also need to buy. This week’s theme: animation!

Forget about The Last Samurai…Samurai Jack is the only samurai you need! This television show is brilliant, with lots of Japanese influences on the pacing and storylines. It is unlike any cartoon you have ever seen: There are long periods with no dialog that serve to set the mood, and there are other lightning-quick action sequences with a very cinematic feel. And it is all wrapped up in some of the most beautiful artwork ever to grace the small screen. Visually, it is like a storybook come to life. For around $20 at Amazon, this set is definitely worth getting.

At long last, season 4 of ReBoot arrives on DVD! The structure of Season 4 was a little different than previous seasons; basically, the season was comprised of two movies, Daemon Rising and My Two Bobs. The format works well, and allows the writers to come up with more-epic plotlines. While nothing could match the glorious wonder that is ReBoot Season 3 (which you should pick up on DVD if you haven’t already), Season 4 is a welcome addition to the ReBoot pantheon. Check out Season 3, then settle in and enjoy an evening of Season 4. You’ll thank me.

And because I’m so excited about it, here is the one major release for next week:

I never thought that Invader Zim would be available on DVD. Honestly, I’m amazed that it even aired on television in the first place, much less on Nickelodeon. I have to say that this is the finest animated series ever to air on television, period. Of course, Nickelodeon did their best to kill the show by moving it around a lot, preempting episodes, showing reruns instead of new episodes, and never giving it a chance to gain a mainstream audience. They eventually cancelled it, even though the rabid fan base cried out in anger.

Let me give you a taste of the genius of Invader Zim by providing a plot summary of one of the episodes, Dark Harvest. The main character, Zim, is an alien who is sent to Earth in disguise to infiltrate and eventually subjugate the planet. Posing as an ordinary grade-school student, he is under suspicion by his classmate, Dib. In Dark Harvest, Zim is sent to the school nurse, and realizes that if he is x-rayed, he will be discovered, since his species does not have any internal organs. So he starts stealing organs from other people in the school. He steals one boy’s heart, and replaces it with a little noisemaker that goes “moo.” He steals another person’s brain, and replaces it with a can of soda. And so it goes, with Dib growing more and more suspicious, while Zim grows larger and larger, brimming with organs….

This show may be the most important purchase you make this year. Go out and buy ten copies (Deep Discount DVD has the best price), then send them to all of your friends. Experience the joy of Dark Harvest. Bask in the beauty and elegance of Rise of the Zitboy. Enjoy the hilarity of Bad Bad Rubber Piggy. Gasp at the profundity of A Room with a Moose. Then come back here and thank me profusely. I’ll be waiting.

For those of you who are unacquainted with the videogame industry, the Electronics Entertainment Expo, or E3, is the annual event where the videogame companies demonstrate their new software and hardware for the coming year. It is the largest videogame show of the year by a long shot.

And this year, I am going again. This weeks marks my second annual excursion to E3, a tradition which I hope to continue for years to come. Honestly, I don’t know why I haven’t gone before this. I had a blast last year, and this year looks to be even better, what with the PSP, Nintendo DS, Halo 2, and lots more which I will tell you about when I get back.

Before I leave, I will try to post about what games I am most looking forward to seeing at this year’s show. Hopefully I can get to it somewhere in my frantic schedule of packing and charging. But in any case, I will provide a full report when I return on Thursday night. So if you are already on the edge of your seat, you may want to get comfortable.

First Angel is cancelled, and now this. Pretty soon, I will no longer have any reason to own a TV. From Leo Laporte’s site, The Laporte Report: Comcast Fires TechTV Staff. They are merging TechTV with G4, which does little good for those people who don‘t have G4 (which, at last count, is everyone I know), firing most of the staff, and keeping about 100 people, as long as they are willing to relocate to Los Angeles. I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do without my daily fix of X-Play. Now I’m really depressed.

I mentioned this last week, but I thought it was worth reiterating: Invader Zim is available on DVD this week. You need to pick it up. If you want the absolute lowest price available, Deep Discount DVD has it for $14.99, or you could pay the extra buck and pick it up at Best Buy, where it is on sale for $15.99. Personally, it just might be worth the extra buck to get my grubby little hands on it a few days earlier. Either way, take my word for it that you need to own this DVD. This is the Citizen Kane of cartoons. Pick it up and cherish it until the day you die.

Before heading down to E3, I have compiled a list of games that I am looking forward to seeing at the show, just to make sure that I don�t miss anything in all the activity on the show floor. I compiled my list somewhat haphazardly, so it is not complete. For your own edification, here is a partial list of what I am hoping to see, somewhat in order of priority:

Before I get to my full E3 report, I wanted to share some news which will be a comfort to those of you who, like me, were worried about the future of TechTV (cf. TechTV Is Dead), and specifically, X-Play.

While at E3, I ran into Adam and Morgan who were in between filming segments for their show. After Morgan blew me off when I tried to talk to her (�We�re doing appearances later today. Hey, can you give this guy an appearance card?�), I did get a chance to chat with Adam. When I asked him about the future of TechTV in general, and X-Play specifically, he said, �I don�t know how much I can say, but I wouldn�t worry about it.� A little mysterious, but somewhat hopeful.

So now, the new network (creatively dubbed �G4TechTV,� which just rolls off the tongue) has a FAQ, appropriately called the G4TechTV FAQ. Said FAQ allays many of my fears. The salient points are:

1. Contrary to speculation, the new network will be available on DirecTV, among other providers, as opposed to only being available on Comcast cable providers.

2. Many of the best G4 shows will be retained by G4TechTV, including Fresh Gear, The Screen Savers, Unscrewed, and (yay!) X-Play.

…uh, and I guess that�s about it for new information. Still in question: Will any of the talent from G4 make the big move down to L.A. to work on the same shows? Will G4TechTV retain some studios in San Francisco so that the current shows can continue with the current hosts? Hopefully more information will be available soon. I�ll be checking G4TechTV for more news, and I suggest you do the same. And if you�re concerned, call the 800 number they have listed. Hopefully it will provide some comfort.

Today�s update is a little late, partially because there are no great deals at Best Buy this week. To pick up this week�s must-buy releases, you�ll have to break out the credit card and go online to get the best price. Amazon looks pretty good, and has the best balance between price and reputability. The other cheaper sites are Canadian sites of somewhat questionable repute, so caveat emptor. Check out DVD Price Search to get the full story.

This week�s picks are the latest releases from the Walt Disney Treasures collection, limited-edition DVDs of rare and archival material from the Disney vaults. This set was supposed to be released around Christmas last year, but high demand for Finding Nemo and Pirates of the Caribbean kept the DVD presses occupied through the holiday season (which means that the next round will be rolling out in about six months). Let me emphasize that if you have any interest at all in owning these, better pick them up now, because they typically sell out pretty fast.

The companion volume to the 2003 release, Mickey Mouse in Living Color Volume 2 covers the next set of Mickey Mouse color cartoon shorts, and presumably completes the collection of Mickey color shorts. The selections start as early as 1939, and proceed all the way through 1953. And in an unexpected and welcome twist, more-recent shorts are included, such as The Sorceror�s Apprentice from Fantasia, The Prince and the Pauper, and Runaway Brain. The latter two were shorts created within the last ten years or so, and I did not expect them to be included in this set. Rumor has it that Mickey Mouse in Black and White Volume 2 will be out this holiday season to complete that series.

At long last, The Chronological Donald Volume 1 completes the triptych of Mickey, Goofy, and Donald, with shorts from 1934 to 1941. This collection contains all of his solos cartoons from that period. Hopefully this one will be as entertaining as The Complete Goofy from 2003.

Tomorrowland: Disney in Space and Beyond follows in the footsteps of earlier Disneyland collections of documentary footage. This set collects Disney specials highlighting space travel, science, and the future. Much of the entertainment value from this set is derived from seeing what predictions are close to the mark, and what predictions ended up being completely wrong.

Finally, in what may be the most interesting of this round, Walt Disney On The Front Lines contains 32 shorts created for the war effort in World War II. These shorts are interesting because the wartime cartoons have typically been avoided in collections, because of the potentially racist attitudes that might be displayed. (See any of the Warner Bros. wartime cartoons for good examples of this.) Hopefully the shorts included here are in their original format, and not edited for general release. These sets are a great archive for future generations, and it would be a shame if the historical accuracy was tarnished because of political correctness.

Don�t forget to check back next week for a slew of high-profile releases, including the return of the King!

Watch this movie, but be prepared…your brain will not believe what your eyes are seeing. I‘ve watched it about ten times, and I am only now starting to grasp what is happening. You really have to try it yourself to understand.

First we get a new Palpatine to replace the old one, which I guess isn�t too bad:

But now this? When does it all end?

I�ve had some time to gather my thoughts on the games I saw at E3. As with my coveted ratings system, I have divided my evaluations into five main categories: Excellent, Good, Promising, Indifferent, and Terrible. Note that not all games will end up being evaluated at all; if a game was under my radar before the show, and didn�t do anything to stand out on the show floor, then I generally ignored it.

So let�s start at the top and work our way down…

Well here I was thinking I was all cutting-edge, and I suddenly find out that my friend Mike has a journal of his own! Of course, his observations aren�t going to be as indispensable as mine (honestly, why would you want to read about Mike�s trip to the movies, when you could be reading about my trip to the movies?), but it�s a good way to pass the time if you want to read about conservative thought and changing flat tires.

One of my coworkers has these really amazing drawings on his wall, so I asked where they came from. It turns out that his 21-year-old brother does them, and he has a website called MonkeySpin where he shows examples of his work.

Now, if youll excuse me, Im off to shoot myself in the head.

Today is a very special DVD Tuesday, where we celebrate the DVD release of a modern epic, a movie that your children, and your children�s children, will be telling their children about. It is a movie that chronicles the return of the King. Of course, I am talking about…

Bubba Ho-Tep. In case you�ve been living under a rock for the last ten years, here is the premise: Elvis Presley (played by Bruce Campbell) is alive and in a retirement home, along with John F. Kennedy. He is now a black man, which he can�t explain, although he is sure that it is part of a CIA conspiracy. The two find out that an ancient mummy called Bubba Ho-Tep is killing other people in the retirement home, and they have to stop him. Obviously, saying �genius” would be the understatement of the year. The DVD includes a commentary by Bruce Campbell, which alone makes any DVD worth the purchase.

So if you aren�t a fan of Bruce Campbell, maybe The Return of the King is a better choice. Really, what can I say about it that hasn�t already been said? I suppose I have to make the obligatory comment that the deluxe 4-disc DVD set will be out in December, but who wants to wait until then? And for $14.99 at Circuit City (with a free bag of popcorn!), there is really no reason to wait.

Rounding out this week�s must-buy releases is Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Sixth Season. Buffy is back from the dead, but the repercussions of her death affect everyone. Again, not the best season of Buffy, but it does contain the musical episode, �Once More, With Feeling,” which may be the single finest episode of Buffy ever to air. Watch it once, then again with the Joss Whedon commentary, then once more for good measure. Then buy the soundtrack.

Next week: How many movies about giant bugs can come out in the same week? Apparently quite a few!