Marvel

Disney is buying Marvel.

I'm not sure I will like Disney running Marvel.

Doctor Who

There are three new DVD releases of Doctor Who this week, and all of them are available to rent at Netflix:

Doctor Who: The Deadly Assassin

Doctor Who: Image of the Fendahl

Doctor Who: Delta and the Bannermen

I'm most interested in seeing "The Deadly Assassin" again.

Review of Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead

"Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead" is the first of the 2009 Doctor Who specials, and follows the Christmas 2008 special "The Next Doctor". It is the first Who story available in high definition. Aside from that, "Planet of the Dead" is good but not very special. Compared, for example, to the 2007 Christmas Special "Voyage of the Damned", "Planet of the Dead" has a simpler and less original story, less interesting characters, and less excitement. It's not bad, and I enjoyed watching it, but it's not among the best episodes with the tenth Doctor.

If this review is helpful, please mark it so at Neflix:
http://www.netflix.com/StrangerReviews?prid=120953079&lnkctr=fsb2srev

Upcoming Animation Releases

Some upcoming releases of interest are now listed on Netflix:

Iron Man: Armored Adventures: Vol. 1

X-Men: Vol. 3

X-Men: Vol. 4

Superman / Batman: Public Enemies

Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1960s: Vol. 2

Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1970s: Vol. 2

I'm probably most excited about the X-Men cartoons, because this show is the best adaptation of the X-Men comic books so far. I don't know much about the other releases, but I want to check them out.

Dog

Eek.

I don't know the story behind this image on the web.

Dollhouse

Summer Glau ("Firefly," "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles") reunites with Joss Whedon when the actress joins the cast of "Dollhouse" this fall in a recurring role as BENNETT, a Dollhouse employee who shares a past with ECHO (Eliza Dushku). The second season of "Dollhouse" premieres Friday, Sept. 25 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Additional guest stars appearing throughout the upcoming second season include Alexis Denisof ("Angel"), Jamie Bamber ("Battlestar Galactica"), Michael Hogan ("Battlestar Galactica") and Keith Carradine ("Dexter").

Yes, I was hoping Summer Glau would be on "Dollhouse". One month to go!

September 2009 Blu-ray Releases

I've added more to my Netflix list "September 2009 Blu-ray Releases":

http://www.netflix.com/StrangerLists?prid=120953079&showList=328057

"Gojira", the original Godzilla movie, is now on the list, as is "Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Collection" and "Star Trek: Season 2".

Review of Green Lantern: First Flight

"Green Lantern: First Flight" does not offer much more than a basic story and a lot of generic fights. The other DC PG-13 animated features, such as "Superman Doomsday" and "Justice League: The New Frontier" have either more exciting action or better stories. The rules about the Green Lantern's powers were also unclear in the movie. It was unclear why he would be in distress one moment and then winning the next. The animation is okay but not pretty or creative. This movie is mostly for fans of all the various DC TV cartoons, rather than a brooder audience.

If this review is helpful, please mark it so at Neflix:
http://www.netflix.com/StrangerReviews?prid=120953079&lnkctr=fsb2srev

The Friends of Eddie Coyle Review

"The Friends of Eddie Coyle" is a 1970's crime movie, with great dialogue, acting, and intrigue. The movie reminded me of "The Sopranos" more than classic film noir. "Eddie Coyle" is more realistic and subdued than a lot of noir. It also has a lot of criminals interacting: pulling capers, making deals, and distrusting each other, like some of the criminals in "The Sopranos". It's centered more on the interaction of the characters and the story than on action. There are several great scenes, where the dialogue and the acting are engaging, particularly when Robert Mitchum speaks. I've never been a fan of Robert Mitchum, but here he's excellent, bringing a lot of emotion and weariness to Eddie Coyle. The story is also very good, as we see Eddie struggle to stay out of jail. The DVD is from The Criterion Collection, and looks good. There is a new commentary track from director Peter Yates. I don't think this film will appeal to a wide audience, because it's completely a crime film and nothing else, but fans of crime films might thoroughly enjoy it.

If you found this review helpful and you're a Netflix member, please plus it on Netflix here:
http://www.netflix.com/StrangerReviews?prid=120953079&lnkctr=fsb2srev

August 2009 Blu-ray Releases

I've added a few more titles to my "August 2009 Blu-ray Releases" Netflix list:

http://www.netflix.com/StrangerLists?prid=120953079&showList=318231

September 2009 Blu-ray List

A lot of my "September 2009 Blu-ray Releases" Netflix list is done and posted:

http://www.netflix.com/StrangerLists?prid=120953079&showList=328057

These are Blu-ray titles that are available to rent at Netflix. I'll add more titles over the next few weeks.

I noticed that a few famous turkeys are on the list, like Stallone's "Over the Top", his infamous arm wrestling movie. I was in a theater when the trailer for this was shown, and the audience was groaning and laughing. I've never seen this movie, since the trailer looked so bad.

The very disappointing "Van Helsing" is also coming to Blu-ray. The effects were terrible, along with the story and the monster makeup.

Doctor Who

We're just a few weeks away from the U.S. DVD release of another Doctor Who special, 'Doctor Who: The Next Doctor'. This was the Christmas 2008 special, with David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor and written by Russell T Davies. The DVD arrives September 15, 2009. This is only being released on DVD, and not on Blu-ray.

See my Doctor Who lists on Netflix:

Doctor Who: All Available
http://www.netflix.com/StrangerLists?prid=120953079&showList=176672

Doctor Who: New Releases
http://www.netflix.com/StrangerLists?prid=120953079&showList=189396

Rocky

A set of all six Rocky movies is planned for Blu-ray on November 3, 2009.

August 2009 Blu-ray Releases

I've finished my list of "August 2009 Blu-ray Releases" on Netflix. Find it here:

http://www.netflix.com/StrangerLists?prid=120953079&showList=318231

I finished it later than normal because I was offline most of August.

Sherlock Holmes

The upcoming movie 'Sherlock Holmes' has started a viral campaign on the web. If you go here:

http://94.236.57.221/

and type in "IRENE" (for Rachel McAdams' character, Irene Adler), then you see a short video, and then you can give you're email address for updates.

September 2009 Blu-ray Highlights

Wow, looks like many classics are on schedule for release onto Blu-ray during September 2009, plus some new stuff that might be good. It'll be hard to keep up. I'm hoping to watch:

Gladiator
Fringe: The Complete First Season
An American Werewolf in London
Army of Darkness
Hero
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Godzilla, King of the Monsters
Wallace & Gromit
How I Met Your Mother: Season Four
Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
The Wizard of Oz

I think 'Gladiator' is one of the best movies ever made. I prefer the original theatrical cut to the extended cut, but the Blu-ray release will have both.

I have not watched 'Fringe' but one of my friends says it's like the good 'X-Files', so I'll give it a try.

I haven't heard much of anything about 'Superman/Batman: Public Enemies'. Looks like it's the latest PG-13 direct to disc animated movie from DC. I've enjoyed the others.


I love the humor in 'An American Werewolf in London'.

No one is better than Bruce Campbell, so I'm ready to watch 'Army of Darkness' again.

'Hero' is a bit overboard on style, but director Zhang Yimou makes such pretty movies that I'd like to see this on Blu-ray. But I prefer his 'House of Flying Daggers'.

No one seemed too excited about 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine' when it came out, but I'll rent it.

Now, this is what I've been waiting for: Godzilla on Blu-ray! The word is that the disc will have the original Japanese version of the original move, a.k.a. 'Gojira', but will not have the American version of the movie. I hope more Godzilla movies will make it onto Blu-ray. I'll have to save up and buy this one.

The 'Wallace & Gromit' Blu-ray will have the four shorts, including the new one, 'A Matter of Loaf and Death'. Everybody loves these shorts.

I've enjoyed watching 'How I Met Your Mother' because of the writing and the cast. It's a great show, and I hope this season holds up.

Ah, another reason to go Blu: 'The Wizard of Oz'. I hope it looks and sounds perfect.

There's also some stuff I'm going to avoid, like 'The Girl Next Door (Unrated Edition)'. Elisha Cuthbert is not nude in this movie, not even in the unrated version! It's full of tease. Watch 'Risky Business' instead.

Avatar teaser trailer

See the Avatar teaser trailer here:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/avatar/

Avatar is James Cameron's next movie.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen' comes to Blu-ray and DVD October 20, 2009. I decided not to see this in the theater, because the reviews were very negative, but I'll rent it from Netflix. The 'Transformers' Blu-ray is very nice.

Review of Battle in Outer Space

From the makers of Godzilla comes "Battle in Outer Space", where flying saucers try to conquer Earth! This Toho movie has the classic Godzilla director, composer, and special effects team. There are a lot of models and miniatures that look great. We get to see flying saucers, Earth space ships, the moon, and a lot of ray guns. As a 1950's alien invasion movie, "Battle in Outer Space" has a lot of cool special effects and action. It's not 80 minutes of military men and politicians talking in offices about what to do, like a number of low budget American science fiction movies at that time. The DVD is widescreen, color, and stereo, with both the original Japanese version and a dubbed English version. I watched the Japanese version, and the picture is very clean, clear, and sharp. It's all too easy to spot the wires on the models, but I tried not to look. The only special feature is commentary from a few historians, which sounded pretty good. I recommend this for fans of Godzilla or 1950's science fiction movies.

This review is also at Netflix. If this review is helpful and you're a member, please mark it helpful:

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Battle_in_Outer_Space/70120054?trkid=204759

For similar titles, see my Netflix list "From the Makers of Godzilla":

http://www.netflix.com/StrangerLists?prid=120953079&showList=294281&lnkce=mdp-stranger-list

Dumbo

Disney's 'Dumbo' is planned for Blu-ray in March 2010.

Drag Me to Hell

Sam Raimi's 'Drag Me to Hell' comes to Blu-ray and DVD on October 13, 2009. I saw this in the theater and had a great time being scared. I'm not much of a horror fan, but I really like Raimi's Evil Dead movies, and 'Drag Me to Hell' is fairly similar.

New Video from some of the Dr. Horrible Crowd

Jed Whedon and Felicia Day have an amusing video available on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urNyg1ftMIU

Free Avatar preview

Go here to sign up to see a free preview of James Cameron's Avatar:

http://www.avatarmovie.com/ticketing/

Keeping Up with the Kardashians

'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' Season 2 comes to DVD Nov. 10, 2009, with deleted scenes. This show is surprisingly well made. Each episode has the format of a classic "learning and hugging" family situation comedy. Each episode, some conflict in the family occurs, but by the end someone has learned an important lesson and gets a hug. Each episode also has some humorous secondary story. And Kim does look good, indeed.

Criterion, Harry Potter, and Ishiro Honda

The Criterion Collection will release 'Gomorrah' on Blu-ray and DVD on November 24, 2009. It won the Grand Prize at Cannes Film Festival. I've enjoyed many of the Criterion Blu-ray releases so far.

Warner says there are plans to release extended editions of the Harry Potter movies.

Three movies by the classic Godzilla director Ishiro Honda are coming out this week on DVD: Mothra (1961), Battle in Outer Space (1959), and The H-Man (1958). They will all be available to rent at Netflix. I have not seen any of these, but I have watched some of Ishiro Honda's non-Godzilla movies, and some I found to be very entertaining. I've got 'Battle in Outer Space' at the top of my queue.

Me at Netflix

I've been very active at Netflix: writing reviews, making lists, and sending notes to freinds. Find me here:



http://www.netflix.com/StrangerProfile?prid=120953079&lnkctr=MDP2RL&lnkce=mdp-profile

I plan to keep writing reviews and lists on Netflix, but I'll post notes here, rather than Netflix.

Hello

Greetings, I hope to start adding entertainment news shortly.