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Toons,
terror, nostalgia all on menu for today's
DVDs releases
Toons
• "Shark Tale" featured
a variety of A-list Hollywood voice talent,
including Robert De Niro, Will Smith, Angelina
Jolie, and Jack Black, who leant his voice
to the character Lenny the shark. DreamWorks
Pictures
Tanners
• The cast of "Full House"
enjoyed success after the show ended in
several arenas: Bob Saget went on to become
a successful comic; John Stamos became a
musician; and the Olsen twins became the
fantasy for every pre-pubescent teenage
boy (not to mention some grown men). Warner
Home Video
By
Daniel Linck Savino
Online Forty-Niner
Assistant Opinion Editor
For
those who are fans of the video medium and
ditched the Betamax for a DVD player, today's
releases are definitely worth checking out.
The selection, both for television shows
and silver screen flicks, if nothing else,
is diverse.
Of
interest to film fans, young and old, is
the lightweight animated morality play "Shark
Tale." This computer-animated aquatic
story follows a fish that starts out by
telling a lie and ends up being hunted by
a variety of Mafioso sea life.
Short
story fans may be interested in "Robot
Tales." Running just under an hour
and a half, this film is a collection of
four vignettes that deal with the human
condition in confrontation with futuristic
technology. The smart money is calling this
a cult sleeper, the kind that, once seen,
earns a place in the movie collection even
though it never received pop accolades.
Speaking
of pop, "Man in the Mirror: The Michael
Jackson Story" is a release that should
go straight to daytime cable. Skip this
attempt to document the rise and fall of
Jackson and tune in to the live-action remake
that's airing every night on your favorite
local TV news station. No need to learn
about his old interest in a young boy when
you can watch the current trial.
Beyond
general film, there are several releases
of TV shows' first seasons to look for.
Fans
of the newsroom can relive the beginnings
of "Murphy Brown." The title character,
once decried by former Vice President Dan
Quayle as glamorizing out-of-wedlock children,
and coterie of supporting characters can
finally be seen without commercials in this
four-disc box set.
Those
more interested in the old-school should
look for a cab with a license plate that
says "FRESH" and has dice in the
mirror. The first season of "The Fresh
Prince of Bel Air" will be on shelves
and ready to provide background noise at
your next 80s-themed party. Will Smith,
known both for his serious acting and freedom
from a need to cuss in his raps, began his
on-screen career with "Fresh Prince."
The 25 episodes of the first season should
prove to be more than enough nostalgia to
tide you over until the next season is released.
HBO,
a fountainhead of extremely high-caliber
television shows, is bringing one of its
most recent creations out for public consumption.
"Deadwood," one of the more innovative
Western shows ever aired, is coming out
on a 6-disc set. The series, which received
brief public attention for its frequent
use of swearing, was intended to give a
slightly more realistic nature to its characters.
Set in a town located in sovereign Indian
land, the absence of official law enforcement
allows the aggressively extra-legal activities
of the town's denizens to form a particularly
entertaining focus for the show. No variations
on any of John Wayne's heroic characters
come riding out to steal the show or save
the day. Instead, the debatably more authentic
"Deadwood" stays in the darker,
grittier realms of saloons and mercenary
business dealings.
Long
before they became the subject of coke abuse
rumors and lesbian fantasies, the Olsen
twins played a supporting role on the tremendously
low-key sitcom "Full House." Bob
Saget, master of the humorless joke, led
this show's cast through nearly a decade
of weak comedy, general wholesomeness and
puberty. Sad to say, the puberty was probably
the biggest appeal.
If
none of these releases blow up your skirt,
there is still hope. Fans of tightly-wound
suspense films should hold their breaths
in anticipation of next week's release of
"Saw." Whether you are drawn to
the drama or have a tremendously warped
sense of humor, this disturbing movie from
late 2004 is coming out on DVD a week from
now. It's a little too late for Valentine's
Day, and while your lover may be disappointed,
at least you'll have it in time for Mother's
Day.
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