As we draw closer to Christmas and New Year's, social niceties like "release dates" and "available where DVDs are sold" begin to go out the window. Hence this week's DVD Release List, which covers two weeks' worth of product, some of which was actually released on Friday the 19th and Sunday the 21st instead of the usual Tuesday release day because… well, because Santa (or Amazon) demanded it.
And speaking of Amazon, that's the only place you're going to be able to find the DVD for the acclaimed (and quite wonderful) super-villain musical Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. For now, Dr. Horrible is an Amazon exclusive, so if you want to own this past summer's internet sensation–and its new content, including "Commentary! The Musical"–you'll have to order it on-line, at which point Amazon will burn you a DVD-R, as though this thriving corporate entity were some college buddy with a bunch of bootlegs and imports on his hard drive.
If you're rabidly pro-exclusive, you might also consider American Teen, the acclaimed documentary about high school life that's being released only to Target. (Though not Target on-line for some reason–more on this oddity in a blog post coming later today.) Or if you want to catch up with some of the other box-office disappointments that emerged from the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, both Hamlet 2 and Savage Grace are now for sale (and non-exclusive!). Then again, if failure's your thing, you can do a lot worse than a handful of underperforming indies. You could subject yourself to Mamma Mia!, or The Women, two surprise box office successes designed to crush souls as they empty wallets.
But why torture yourself when there's so much goodness out there right now? For example: HBO's seven-part, eight-hour miniseries Generation Kill, which may be the most detailed, ambitious war movie ever made. Or the Coen brothers' way-underrated Burn After Reading, a hilarious, brilliantly constructed look at how arrogance breeds idiocy. A lot of people missed the boat on Burn After Reading the first time around, but isn't Christmas a time for second chances?
American Teen (Paramount Vantage, $29.99)
Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Volume Six (Turner, $29.98)
Artists Under The Big Top: Perplexed (Facets, $29.95)
Beethoven's Big Break (Universal, $29.98)
Beserk: Complete Collection (Anime Works, $44.99)
The Biggest Loser: Boot Camp (Lionsgate, $14.98)
The Biggest Loser: Weight Loss Yoga (Lionsgate, $14.98)
Black Lagoon: Complete Series (Funimation, $49.98)
Burn After Reading (Universal, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.98)
Celine (Facets, $39.95)
The Cheetah Girls: One World (Walt Disney, $29.99; Blu-ray, $34.99)
Crashing (Velocity/ThinkFilm, $27.98)
Crime 360: The Complete Season One (A&E;, $29.95)
Darklight (Image, $14.98)
The Day The Earth Stopped (Asylum, $24.95)
Death Race (Universal, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.98)
Delbaran (Facets, $29.95)
Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog (Amazon Exclusive, $14.99) Facing The Giants (Thomas Nelson, $29.99)
Faith Of The Century: A History Of Communism (Facets, $59.95)
Gangland: The Complete Season Two (A&E;, $39.95)
Generation Kill (HBO, $59.99)
Hamlet 2 (Universal, $29.98)
The House Bunny (Sony, $29.96)
Ice Road Truckers: The Complete Season Two (A&E;, $39.95)
The Last of The Mohicans (1936) (Firecake, $19.99)
The Little Mermaid II: Return To The Sea (Walt Disney, $29.99)
Louis C.K.: Chewed Up (Image, $14.98)
Mamma Mia! The Movie (Universal, $29.98/$34.98; Blu-ray, $39.98)
Merry Christmas, Drake And Josh! (Nickelodeon, $16.99)
Mr. Bean: The Ultimate Collection (A&E;, $69.95)
The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor (Universal, $29.98/$34.98; Blu-ray, $39.98)
Mushi-shi: The Complete Series (Funimation, $69.98)
My Heart Is Mine Alone (Facets, $29.95)
Petticoat Junction: The Official First Season (Paramount, $40.99)
Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story (A&E;, $29.95)
Pulse 3 (Weinstein Company, $19.98)
Racing Daylight (Vanguard, $19.95)
Same Old Song (New Yorker, $29.95)
Sangre De Mi Sangre (IFC, $24.95)
Savage Grace (IFC, $24.95)
Siegfried & Roy: Masters Of The Impossible (NCircle, $6.99)
Stomp Live (Well Go USA, $19.98)
Traitor (Starz/Anchor Bay, $29.98; Blu-ray, $39.98)
Ushio & Tora: The Complete Collection (ADV, $29.98)
The Wedding Director (New Yorker, $29.95)
Will Eisner–Profession: Cartoonist (Image, $19.98)
The Women (New Line, $28.98)
WordWorld: The Race To Mystery Island (NCircle, $14.99)
Xenosaga: The Complete Collection (Funimation, $49.98)
Zatoichi The Blind Swordsman: Vol. 5-8 (Image, $39.98)