The Colbert Report - The Best Of - Buy from Amazon
Attention pundits, politicians, and beltway media literati, Stephen Colbert is not one of you, he is making fun of you. I say this because a truly believe the object of Stephen Colbert witty barbs are not in on the joke, and least most of them. Why else would they invite him to speak at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner?

The DVD presents three hours of material from the The Colbert Report, including some of the most famous recurring bits and one time events. For me the highlights were the regular bits like The Word, all three of them, (truthiness, wikiality, sigh); Better Know A District, especially with Robert Wexler), Sport Report, The Treat Down, etc. On the other hand, many of the one-off events were not as strong. For instance, Guitarmageddon was too much hype and not enough pay-off. The same can be said of Bill O'Reilly's appearance on the show. Other one shot bits, like Cooking With Feminists were highlights of the DVD and I laughed the first time I saw it. And the second time I saw it. And the third. And the fourth. And that was all the same day. They re-run the show a lot on TV.

As for extras, there are no real extras. There's one bit described as a deleted scene from the Eleanor Norton interview, but I can't remember if I saw that one joke on TV or not.

As I mentioned last week, I dislike TV on DVD releases that are not full season sets. The reason for this is simple, what I consider the Best Of is not the same as whoever put together the DVD release. This is true here. That is not to say it is a bad DVD and the hit to miss ratio is high, but I wish there were more interviews and less of the hyped bits. Maybe for the next volume, and I have no doubt there will be more Colbert Report DVDs released as this one is clearly worth picking up.

Ducktales - Volume 3 - Buy from Amazon
One of several Disney after-school cartoons made during the mi-80s, which was arguably the golden age for such TV shows. But has the show aged well? Or is it a relic of another time?

First of all, wow, I don't remember the animation looking so cheap. I guess when you are making 100 episodes over two years, you can't have feature quality animation, but still, it was a bit of a shock. Years do cloud your memories. That said, at least the writing was as strong as I remembered. The characters are well done and the stories including a lot of references to literary and historical figures giving the show a semi-educational quality without interfering with the story.

As for extras, there are none, but this is a common problem for collection of cartoons. The 3-disc set does hit the big three, (play all, proper chapter placement, and subtitles), so at least it gets points there.

I'm still a bigger fan of the spin-off, Darkwing Duck, but the series has held up well and while I would rather pay more and get some extras, the featureless 3-disc set is still worth checking out.

It's a Wonderful Life - Two-Disc Collector's Set - Buy from Amazon
One of the most beloved films of all time. This movie has been released on the home market more than a few times and this isn't even the first special edition DVD. So the real question is whether this DVD is worth upgrading from the previous releases.

When It's a Wonderful Life was first released, it was a critical and box office disappointment. Critics thought the movie was too sentimental and while audiences were not overly impressed. However, it's copyright lapsed in 1974 and the film became public domain. But because it was public domain, it began being aired on TV, a lot. And this exposure brought it a whole new audience who appreciated its old-fashion charm and the film is now considered a holiday classic.

Extras on the DVD are sadly on the light side. Disc 1 starts off with The Making of It's A Wonderful Life, which runs 22 minutes. This is part making of movie, part retrospective and is hosted by Tom Bosley. A Personal Remembrance is hosted by Frank Capra Jr. and features interviews with both the director and the James Stewart. This featurette runs 14 minutes and does have some overlap with the first featurette, but not so much that it isn't worth watching. However, both featurettes were on the previous release. And the release before that.

As for the second disc, it contains the bastardized version, I mean colorized version. ... Nope, I meant bastardized version. I refuse to acknowledge the existence of this version of the movie, so I've already said too much. Moving on.

This DVD release is identical to the 60th Anniversary Edition, right down to the trailer for Last Holiday. The only additional feature is the version that is not to be named. I don't consider that a bonus, so I can't recommend upgrading. I can't even recommend buying it even if you don't have a previous version on the movie on DVD, because you will be paying more and not really getting anything in return. Grab the 60th Anniversary Edition instead.

One final note, I think 28 years is a good length for the copyright of a film and not the 95 years that is currently law. If we went back to that, it would be harder for certain studios to rely so much on re-releasing the same products over and over again.

Melrose Place - The Third Season - Buy from Amazon
Melrose Place is a nighttime soap about sex, murder, love triangles, incest, doctors in love, spousal abuse, false accusations, amnesia, sibling rivalry... and that just in the season opener.

Like most nighttime soaps, Melrose Place has a massive cast with too many storylines going at any one time that it is nearly impossible to keep track of them unless you've been watching from the beginning. This is probably one of the big draws for fans of these shows, but for me it became tedious. I don't mind complicated plots on a show, but when the plots all seem to revolved around who is sleeping with whom, I lose interest. I need humor to break up the drama or it becomes monotonous.

As for the extras, they are a step down from first two seasons with only three featurettes, only one of which has any real weight. That's the first featurette, Melrose Place: According to Jake, which is an interview with Grant Show, a.k.a. Jake Hanson, (and a couple others), speaking about various aspects of the show, mostly other characters. It runs just over 19 minutes and is worth checking out for fans of the show. On the other hand, Melrose Place: Seven Minutes in Hell, which is just seven minutes of clips from the season three. The clips are too short to give any context, and I assume if you have the DVD, you've watched season three, so I'm not sure what purpose this servers. Everything You Need to Know about Melrose Place: Season Three runs 15 minutes and it a recap of the show told by two people who seem to have as low of an opinion of the show as I do. It doesn't have the replay value that it should.

Melrose Place was a big hit for fans of salacious nighttime soaps. However, while fans of this show will love the over-the-top stories that fill season 3, the extras have taken a turn for the worse and I can't recommend anything more than a rental.

Perry Mason - Season Two - Volume Two - Buy from Amazon
Raymond Burr returns as the defense attorney, Perry Mason, who, along with Della Street and Paul Drake, help defend the innocent against the police, Lt. Arthur Tragg, and the D.A., Hamilton Burger.

Currently, there is a huge crop of police procedural shows on television, and they owe at least a little to this show, even though it is more of a courtroom drama. It is nice to see a show that is really boiled down to the elements that are needed to make the movie work without the extraneous bits of flash that some series have. (Although it is important to note that for its day, Perry Mason was one of the more expensive shows to make, but this was because of the location shoots.) Because the show can be stripped down to a rather simple formula, it might seem predictable to some; however, it is the variations on the same theme that allows for remarkable creativity on the part of the writers. Also, there was enough humor to help accentuate the drama, which is an aspect of writing that some shows forget.

(I would like to point out, Perry Mason doesn't win every case. At least once he was tricked into defending a guilty party, but I won't say if that's on this release or not.)

(Another side note, I was shocked with some of the police work shown in the series. Lt. Tragg marked a gun as evidence, with a pocket knife. No tag and bag here. Just shows how much the procedure for the police has changed over the years.)

This 4-disc set has the last half of the second season and the 15 episodes are among the strongest in the show's 9-year run. However, there are no extras and I'm not entirely happy with splitting the season into two volumes. I will admit that the running time of the full season would be a little much; after all, it would be equivalent to 35 hour-long episodes today. (There were fewer commercials back then.)

Moving onto the Big Three, the show has the play all button, proper chapter placements, but no subtitles. It was made before the Americans With Disabilities Act, so this is understandable, but disappointing.

Despite the lack of extras and the season splitting, the price still very good for the running time and it is worth picking up. On the other hand, with just a bit of extras, it could have a contender for DVD Pick of the Week. There has to be archival interviews, promotional material, or something out there to put onto the DVDs.

Ratatouille - Buy from Amazon: Blu-Ray
Last week we had a spotlight review on the DVD, this week the Blu-Ray disc is examined in more detail.

I won't be discussion the quality of the movie, but the improvements from DVD to Blu-Ray. First all of, we must talk about the video quality, which is amazing. I truly believe that it will be digital animation that makes a lot of people switch to high definition. The format isn't tested by most films, but the detail of digital animation, at least the detail of the top of the line digital animation that Pixar creates really pushes the format. The scenes with the wet rat, the hairs on the wet rat were just amazing. I know, it's a little animation geeky of me, but it's true. I was blown away with how well they were able to render those scenes.

Fortunately, they are not just using the improved video to sell the Blu-Ray release, as the disc is loaded. There are all of the original DVD features on the disc, as well as a game, Gusteau's Gourmet Game, which may or may not entertain the young ones. However, the heart of the disc can be found under Total Menus. Here you can watch the film with the Cine-Explore. Like on the Cars Blu-Ray, Cine-Explore is part audio commentary track, part image gallery, part behind-the-scenes featurette. You can also watch these bonus features by category, (Animation Briefing, Deleted Shots R.I.P., etc.), or individual clips. In total they add more than an hour to the running time, but it's worth it. I would like to point out that watching the Deleted Shots R.I.P. as a 3 minute featurette is better than watching them spread throughout the movie.

Like I said last week, Ratatouille is arguable the best movie I've watched this year, and the Blu-Ray release is the best Blu-Ray release I've ever seen. Easily the DVD Pick of the Week.

South Park - Christmas in South Park - Buy from Amazon
Seven episodes from the long running animated series that have two things in common. They are all about Christmas, and they have all been released on DVD already.

The DVD has the seven Christmas episodes from the first eight seasons The seven episodes are...

1. Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo - The introduction of Mr. Hankey, who is a piece of poo... at least you what kind of entertainment to expect right away. It would be cruel to start out normal and spring something like this on the viewer partway through. There are some funny bits in this episode, including the fake commercial, but I never really liked the character of Mr. Hankey so this episode is not a highlight for me.
2. Merry Christmas, Charles Manson - The boys go to Cartman's family's home in Nebraska. Uncle Howard escapes... with Charles Manson. The crazy killer is cured by It's a Wonderful Life, which actually makes more sense that the first episode. It is also much more entertaining than the first episode. Much better than the first episode and holds up well compared to the average episode from the series.
3. Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classic - A spoof on the old claymation Christmas specials featuring a number of songs. Some of songs, like Mr. Mackey's rendition of Carol of the Bells, are actually quite good, but most overstay their welcome very quickly.
4. A Very Crappy Christmas - South Park doesn't have the Christmas spirit and Kyle thinks it's because Mr. Hankey hasn't shown up, so they head down the sewers to find out why. (Apparently his family life isn't so full of cheer.) There's practically nothing I find funny or entertaining about Mr. Hankey, so having another episode revolve around him it not a selling point.
5. Red Sleigh Down - A spoof Black Hawk Down with Santa Claus shot down over Iraq. These people need someone to smack them and tell them the joke has run its course. We didn't need to keep cutting back to The 12 Days of Christmas over and over again. It wasn't that funny the first time and it quickly became tedious. That said, it was one of the better episodes.
6. It's Christmas in Canada - Hey, an episode without Mr. Hankey. Yeah! This time we get a spoof of The Wizard of Oz set in Canada. It's one of the better episodes on this disc, but only average for the show's run.
7. Woodland Critter Christmas - The best episode on the disc, it follows the story of Kyle being tormented by the narrator and forced into a delightful adventure with the happy animals. This is the first episode on the DVD where I never wanted to shout, "We get the joke. Move on."

South Park - Christmas in South Park is a double-dip with absolutely no value for anyone who owns the full-season sets. Additionally, if you don't own the full season sets, odds are you are not interested in a mediocre theme release like this one, as I would only rate half of the episodes as worth watching. Stick with the full season sets.

TaleSpin - Volume 2 - Buy from Amazon
A spin-off of The Juggle Book with the animal characters in that book set in a story than has almost nothing to do with Mowgli, the man-cub.

Instead, Baloo is an pilot of a cargo plane for his company, called Higher For Hire, which operates out of the small tropical port, Cape Suzette. Other character are here as well King Louie, who runs a bar named Louie's, and Shere Khan, who is a powerful business man. There are also new characters like Kit Cloudkicker, the young sidekick, and Becky Cunningham, Baloo's boss. They have to battle air pirates, the Thembrains, and others in many adventures.

Speaking of adventures, the show is filled with them, many of which are very similar to major movies. This is a highlight of the show's writing as kids can watch the show on one level while parents can have fun catching the inside jokes.

Like the other Disney releases, there are no extras on this 3-disc set. But at least it hits the big three.

Fans of the show, especially those with kids in the right age group, will be happy to check out this 3-disc set. I'd rate it as either a solid rental, or a soft purchase.