Posts Tagged ‘DVD’

DVD Library Addition: Signed Fahrenheit 451

Monday, August 17th, 2026

Every now and then I come across something that’s not a book signed by an author I collect.

(Bradbury, Ray). Fahrenheit 451. Universal Studios, 2003. DVD of the 1966 Francois Truffaut film, let’s call it Fine, with only the seal at top slit, with sticker on front cover inscribed by Ray Bradbury: “Doug! 2006/Rosalie! XMAS Love! Ray B.” The auction listing said “Acquired at the estate sale of one of Bradbury’s best friends of 40 years.” Cursory investigation has not yielded who Doug and Rosalie might be, so further research is needed. Bought off eBay for $19.99.

I haven’t seen the movie yet, so it’s a dual-purpose purchase.

My signed(ish) hardback first of Fahrenheit 451 can be found here.

Two TV Artifacts From My Misspent Youth

Thursday, September 25th, 2014

There are two forthcoming TV show DVD sets that hearken back to the days of my youth:

Recommended without qualification is the complete WKRP in Cincinnati with the original music restored. If it wasn’t the greatest sitcom of the late 1970s/early 1980s, it was certainly in the top 5.

A bit more qualified recommendation for the complete 1960s Batman. Every significant dark, gritty Batman of the last 30 years (from Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight to the Christopher Nolan trilogy, and even the Tim Burton movie) has been largely in reaction to this show’s campy tone. The show is very much a product of its time, but retains a certain charm for just that reason. Plus the cast of villains (Burgess Meredith, Vincent Price, Julie Numar, Frank Gorshin, etc.) draws from some of the very best character actors of the time.

I’m sure either might make swell Christmas presents for someone you know…

MST3K Gamera Films Coming to DVD

Saturday, December 4th, 2010

According to this, a box set of all the MST3K Gamera films is in the works.

In celebration, here’s the Gamera Theme Song:

Dead Parrot Sketch Included

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

And now for another episode of whoring for dollars!

Actually, I seldom promote any products beyond book and DVD links on this blog, but The Complete Monty Python’s Flying Circus 16 Ton Megaset (which gets you all the TV episodes and two live shows) for $34.99 strikes me as a good enough deal that I’m going to order one for myself.

And now, the Dead Parrot Sketch.

Top Five Anime

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

SF Signal has a Mind Meld up asking people to name their top five choices for anime. I wasn’t asked to participate in this one, but if I had been, my list would probably look like this:

  1. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
  2. FLCL
  3. Princess Mononoke
  4. Spirited Away
  5. Voices of a Distant Star

My review of GitS:SAC can be found here. I also have a review of FLCL available, should I be able to find someone who’s willing to pay me for it…

DVD Review of Drunken Fist Boxing (Summary: AVOID)

Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

A couple of weeks ago, some friends got in a copy of Drunken Fist Boxing, the sequel to Jackie Chan’s breakthrough film Drunken Master. We thought: It’s a Jackie Chan film, how bad could it be?

The problem is, despite Jackie being featured prominently on the DVD cover, this is not a Jackie Chan film; the only footage of him in the film is flashbacks to Drunken Master, making it the cinematic equivalent of a clip-show. But that’s not the only thing that makes it a ripoff. I would say this is a crappy pan-and-scan video transfer, but there’s actually no scanning: they just chop off parts of the screen. There are times when there are obviously supposed to be two people talking to each other, but one of them is completely off the edge of the screen. Plus the dubbing is atrocious; sometimes you can’t even figure out what they’re trying to say.

See this?

See Jackie Chan’s face
on the cover?

It’s a dirty, rotten LIE!

Occasionally you get some decent kung fu (when you can see it), and a generic plot about the teacher from Drunken Master training two students, one of which is the very hot Pan Pan Yeung, when an old enemy of the master shows up in town and…look, it’s a sub-Shaw Brothers kung fu flick from 1979. The plot only exists to string together the fight scenes. And the fight scenes aren’t good enough to make up for the general suckitude.

The cheesy rip-off nature of the DVD makes this one impossible to recommend even to serious kung fu aficionados. Avoid.

Two Things Dwight Might Like

Sunday, December 13th, 2009

I mentioned one of these to Dwight at the Saturday Dining Conspiracy and chanced across the other.

Appetite City: A Culinary History of New York by William Grimes. This got a very favorable review in National Review (the print edition; alas, the review does not seem to be online).

Shackleton – The Greatest Survival Story of All Time (3-Disc Collector’s Edition). I actually chanced across this Kenneth Branagh DVD in my nearest Blockbuster’s going out of business sale, and was pretty much the only thing there that wasn’t crap, overpriced, or overpriced crap. Alas, the copy had too many scratches on it to take a chance on it even at $3.99, so I gave it a pass. Since Dwight is into Great Age of Exploring books, I thought I would mention it. And Branagh has been great in everything I’ve seen him in. (Then again, that may only be Henry V and Hamlet…)