Any serious fan of Walt Disney and his films who owns a DVD player should be aware of the Walt Disney Treasures series by now.  If not, you are truly missing out.  The Walt Disney Treasures DVD sets are 2-disc Limited Editions presenting rare Disney shows along with bonus features that go into the making and history behind each program.  The two new Zorro Treasures releases break the 2-disc rule and include 6 discs in each set, containing the entire series-run, along with plenty of fun extras.  I am very glad that the entire seasons are included.  It could have been easy for these sets to be released with just a small sampling of each season, staying with the 2-disc formula.  Thank you Walt Disney Home Video for not taking the easy way out and giving us the entire run of Walt Disney’s Zorro! More after the jump:

I am an anglophile.  I will own up to that straight out of the gate.  I grew up watching every BBC program offered by my local PBS station.  That’s how I came to start my lifelong relationship with Monty Python.  That’s where my fascination with Red Dwarf began.  That’s how I came across Rowan Atkinson’s gem of a series Black Adder.  Brit humor fans click to find more after the jump.

The writing team of John Cleese and his then-wife Connie Booth probably put more sweat and brain power into constructing each sublime, chaotic, farcical half hour of Fawlty Towers than many writers expend on a full-length feature film.  The manic design of the now-legendary 12 episode British series remains awe-inspiring, and is still one of a handful of gold standards against which to measure other television comedy.  Read the full review after the jump.

This Tuesday, Warner Bros. is releasing the “ultimate cut” of “Watchmen,” a 5-disc box set intended to do the graphic novel justice–something that writer Alan Moore would be (but still isn’t) proud of.  The feature included is an hour longer than the theatrical release, and there are plenty of bonuses to be seen.  Go through it all with me, one disc at a time, after the jump.

2009 has been a tough year for standard-issue romantic comedies.  “The Proposal,” which in any other year would have been a decent entry in a tired genre, really looked simple next to genre-benders “500 Days of Summer” and “Paper Heart.”  The film is decent, for what it is.  People who like the “Sweet Home Alabama”s and “Maid in Manhattan”s of the world will feel right at home with this one.  But those select few should’ve caught the film in theaters; there’s no real reason to buy the DVD.  More after the jump.

Costa-Gavras’s Z is the ultimate political thriller. Much like the earlier Battle of Algiers (1968)  it takes a real event, and uses it as fodder for cinema. And as a paranoia piece, 1969’s Z is a masterpiece.  It’s an angry film, spurned by the events of 1963, where a Greek politician was assassinated, and was murdered partly by the police, and the regime at the time. It’s a film that can make you angry about events of nearly a half century ago, and yet the echoes of the actions are still resonant. My review after the jump.

I long ago realized that my loving a series usually means that it’s doomed. The magic worked again with last season’s Life on Mars. It was, to my way of thinking, one of the best and most intelligent shows on TV at that time. Of course, it didn’t hurt that the series was set — sort of — in 1973. An American version of a BBC hit, the series chronicled the adventures of New York police detective Sam Tyler (Jason O’Mara), who having survived a car accident in 2008, somehow woke up over thirty years before. Each week, Tyler’s “enlightened” views on police and societal affairs were pitted against the “archaic” mores of his fellow cops, especially Lt. Gene Hunt (Harvey Keitel). Sam’s only ally is Policewoman Annie Norris (Gretchen Mol).

But that was only one motif. In with and under his struggles with the past, and attempts to solve crimes without the technology he was used to in the present, Tyler also was forced to try to figure out how he had arrived in the past, and whether he was really there at all. Each episode veered in the direction of one or another explanation: that he really was back in time; that he was actually in a coma; that he had died in the accident, and was in some sort of strange Purgatory; and on and on. Moreover, 2008 had an odd way of bleeding back to him, via radio broadcasts, newspapers, and the occasional odd character. More after the jump:

“Orphan,” Warner Brothers’ deliciously demented recent updating of the vile-child genre, slashes its way onto Blu-ray and DVD this Halloween. Although horror fans familiar with its long list of movie predecessors will likely anticipate some of its initial storytelling tricks, “Orphan” features a truly twisted third act twist that should make it a surprise treat for even the most wintered horror fan.  My full review after the jump:

Gary Shandling: 2 for 2. Two TV shows, two masterpieces. But where more people are familiar with his later Larry Sanders Show, It’s Gary Shandling’s Show has not received the same posthumous praise or attention, partly because it was a Showtime show in the mid to late 80’s, and then began playing on the just-starting Fox network. The show aired for four seasons, and then was out. And to be fair, it ran out of steam, but when it was on, it was one of the most dazzling formalist TV shows to ever air. My review after the jump.

Miramax Film’s “Chéri” marks the reunion of director Stephen Frears, screenwriter Christopher Hampton, and actress Michelle Pfeiffer, who previously worked together on 1988’s deliciously evil costume drama “Dangerous Liaisons.” Here, Pfeiffer trades in the virginal innocence of her “Liaisons” character for the hardened beauty and shrewd business acumen of the less than virginal Lea de Lonvsal. Set during the prosperous Belle Époque era in pre World War I France, “Chéri” tells the charming and ultimately heartbreaking story of how Lea, an aging courtesan, finds herself falling unexpectedly in love with a man young enough to be her…well, son. That synopsis might make it tempting to label “Chéri” “cougar” cinema, but let’s allow that somewhat degrading term to rest on billboards advertising the latest pedestrian sitcom, rather than a film this pedigreed. More after the jump:

Despite an interesting cast and passionate pleas from more than one film critic, Brett Simon’s Assassination of a High School President is the latest project to be burped out of the gaping, bankrupt maw of the Yari Film Group and directly onto the DVD market. Yari’s failure has claimed some terrific films - most notably a pair of Rod Lurie movies - and although Assassination doesn’t quite deserve to be lumped in with the best of the studio’s aborted litter, it’s certainly better than most direct-to-video projects, and well worth a rental and 90 minutes of your time. My review after the jump:

“A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa” is an hour long TV special, brought to you on DVD so you can strengthen the DVD market and bolster Halloween sales. And uh, celebrate Christmas. I mean, family. I mean, I respect all creeds and what is important is that family’s qxythdshg. I’m sorry, I just passed out and hit my head on the keyboard. LTS centers round the secular version of the Christmas holiday that seems to make the least people uncomfortable, and make the most money for retailers. The action features the Muppets mailing letters, singing and dancing, accidentally not mailing some letters, and hamming it up with celebrity guests. Spoiler Alert: They take the letters to North Pole, meet Santa, and sing some more. Hope I didn’t ruin the surprise. More after the jump:

Look out! Nerds are taking over movies and TV! Suddenly I’m the cool one because I know the alternate and conflicting origins of Wolverine and just how badly the new movie screwed them up.  All my friends that were the “cool” ones would be eaten alive at Comic-Con, which if you were lucky enough to bare witness to, you would know that Hollywood is really into “Geek Chic” right now.  When every comic book from “Thor” to “Green Lantern” to “Green Hornet” is being picked up to be another franchise opportunity, a show that centers around social outcasts with a plethora of nerd-knowledge is bound to be a hit in the current market trends.  I’m a self-proclaimed nerd and because of that and because “The Big Bang Theory” relishes in its nerd-dom it is easily one of the funniest shows on TV right now and definitely keeping the “traditional sitcom” alive.  More after the jump:

Maybe I’m just a sucker for stuff that was around when I was a kid, but I still think that Disney’s old Mickey’s Christmas Carol stands the test of time and deserves it’s status as a “beloved children’s classic.” Whether or not the other three offerings on this disc are as classic… you know the drill: Hit the jump.

The story behind Trick ‘r Treat is almost as interesting as the film itself. Finished in 2007, the film got caught up in some politicking and marketing concerns. Not a very expensive movie - after being sneaked in LA, and shown at Butt-Numb-a-Thon - it’s just now coming out on DVD and Blu-ray. Somewhat unfairly. My review after the jump.

The one-hour cop/murder mystery drama. Has there been a genre that has been as used as this? How is a writer/producer supposed to create something in this genre that hasn’t been done to death? Well, the creator of Castle has done a pretty good job with creating a cop/murder mystery drama that has a great mix of story, strong characters, humor and heart. My review after the jump: