Blatherin’ Blatherskite

Continuing the long standing tradition I started last week, here are my DVD do’s and dont’s for Nov. 18th.

What I Got:

Wall*E - I think it’s Pixar’s finest film in years, all of which I hold in high regard (minus maybe Cars and Ratatouille). Among my favorites are still The Incredibles and Toy Story but this one is an animal all its own and so beautifully handled that it deserves to be seen over and over again. A lot of people laughed when suggestions started coming out that this film should be nominated for an Oscar this year for Best Film; It deserves to be considered.

Tropic Thunder - Billed as the funniest film of 2008, this came off of the success of Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. vehicles Kung Fu Panda and Iron Man, which made for marketable success. Throw in Ben Stiller, Tom Cruise, Nick Nolte, and you’ve got a hilarious mixture of violence and comedy. My favorite. The director’s cut doesn’t seem to have anything more than an alternate ending and a couple deleted scene.

What I’ll Be Getting:

Gonzo - Life & Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson - The only reason I ever got into writing is due to Hunter and Irwin M. Fletcher. I haven’t gotten to see this yet and am only holding out in case there’s a BluRay release in the not to distant future (It’s on my Netflix queue for now). I’m really anxious to see how far this film delves into his profile; I know undoubtedly that even if they barely scratch the surface, I’ll love this.

Encounters At the End of the World - Been hearing a lot of buzz about this for the past few months but was never able to get my hands on a copy. I’m told if you don’t see it in BluRay you can’t fully experience it. Anyone seen it?

What Should Never Be:

Charmed: The Complete Series - Don’t even get me started. One of the worst shows I’ve ever seen. *sigh* Alyssa Milano, call me.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Who Gives A Damn? - Really? REALLY? I mean, I shouldn’t be biased as I never saw the first one or anything but…no, screw that I can be biased WTF is this stuff? Who buys into this angsty-dramatic BS? No thank you. Are the pants magical? Do they grant wishes? Do any of these girls look good in them? No. Why am I watching it? I’m not. You shouldn’t either. Tell ‘em Steve-Dave.

And as always, what did you get today!? Let me know!

I knew something big was planned for the next film in the new Bond franchise when I saw Quantum of Solace, but I had no idea what I was in store for. Quantum of Solace (which takes it’s title only from a 007 short story from the book “For Your Eyes Only”) has everything that you can expect from the second film in a franchise. This is the Empire Strikes Back of Bond films.

And you can relax, this advanced review of the film is spoiler-free.

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Each week I’ll fill you in on what I purchased on DVD. Not that you care but it kind of helps me keep up with what I bought on what day, and what I put off til a later date. Maybe it’ll inspire you to let me know what you picked up today in the comments?

What I Got:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars - The truth of the matter is they could make another film about Ewoks and I’d go see it, not matter how terrible. I’m a sucker for Star Wars and even picked up the Lightsaber Duels game for the Wii today. While the movie was hit or miss, I’m thoroughly enjoying the series on Cartoon Network right now and the film was a great pre-cursor to it. Picked up the BluRay version.

Chuck: Season One - In my opinion, the most well written show on television right now that has something for everyone. A really strong first season for a stellar show, amazing cast, and awesome stories. Chuck Bartowski is my hero and this is one show I will never, ever tire of watching over and over again for all the one-liners, double takes, and inside jokes.

What I’ll Be Getting:

Supernatural: Season Three - The most underrated show on television right now, Supernatural continues to astound me, keep me interested, and never bore me. The mix of humor and action is something that rarely comes across well on television, much less when throw horror into the mix. Definitely in my top 5 favorite series on air right now.

Firefly: The Complete Series - The reason I started liking Joss Whedon, I was a huge Firefly fan from the start and was deeply saddened by the premature cancellation. Even the feature film Serenity didn’t fill the void left by the series when it went off air, but it helped. Hopefully Serenity will make it to BluRay soon so I can have have the complete set, but no matter how many times I watch these episodes, it’ll always leave me wanting more.

What Should Never Be:

Little House On The Prairie: The Complete Series - This one I might take guff over from so-called “television-purists” but I always despised this series. Maybe it was the way I remember being forced to watch it with my sister as a kid, who loved the show. I can remember 2-3 hour blocks of episodes airing in a row, it seemed like. I always wanted to throw something at the TV. “Nothing’s happening!” I can remember screaming. Surely I knew there were reruns of Gilligan’s Island or Get Smart on elsewhere that would occupy my time. I’ll be steering clear of this set.

What did you get today?

In an effort to not raise the blood pressure of my dear friend, Brian Mosely, I’m going to make at least a daily update to DerekRussell.net in some form or another.

One thing that will be a frequent is some kind of daily feature. Tuesday’s are going to be ‘Tuesday Toy Commercial’, in which I’ll show you a commercial from your past you might remember, might have never seen, and will probably never want to see again. 

Beyond that I’ll be updating with my DVD shopping cart list on Tuesday’s as well as some BTS stuff on the podcasts as Steve and I do them from week to week. Nothing really to see here; move along, move along.