Be Careful What You Wish For ...

One of the obsessions that qualified me for my job (currently as Comics Buyer's Guide Senior Editor) was BBC science fiction and fantasy. I created the magazine Fantasy Empire, which had a focus on Doctor Who -- in large part to help me explore further the realm of the series that was relatively inaccessible in America. In the course of my life, then, I've actually spent some time with Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, and Sylvester McCoy. (Not to jump that up to overstatement, "some time" was, at most, a dinner. But super-nice performers, each of whom did his best to provide a pleasant interlude for a goggling fan.)

Thanks to a tenuous connection to the world of comics (there have been Doctor Who comic-book adventures in England and America, after all), I can maintain a minor presence of DW material in CBG and at CBGXtra. I recently noticed that there'd been a bunch of BBC shows that I wanted to review here, there, and everywhere, so I asked for what was available. And wow.

I have a couple of months without plans to visit other states, so the project is doable, but the thing is that the BBC is among the best providers of DVD entertainment based on its shows. Not only does the customer get the show as aired, but the bonus material is incredible. Once you see the show itself, you can rewatch it with commentaries, featurettes, and similar bonuses. So a reviewer can begin by doubling the length of time to watch the feature itself and go from there. Here's what I get to explore:

Doctor Who #17: The Time Meddler 1965, 1:40 [total for the feature alone, then, is 3:20 -- and there's scads of bonuses, which I won't bother to note in the rest of this list, but includes here a look at The Doctor's appearance in comic strips]

Doctor Who #93: The Invisible Enemy 1977, 2:23 [4:46 -- and, since that introduced K-9, there's a bonus included in the time count of K-9 and Company, 1981]

Doctor Who #97: The Invasion of Time 1978, 2:30 [5:00 -- and one of my favorites]

Doctor Who #130: The Five Doctors 1983, 3:11 [6:22 -- but I'm not sure about this, because it says it's the 1983 and 1995 versions; we shall see]

Torchwood: The Complete Second Season 2008, 10:28 [20:56 -- and the packaging doesn't mention extras but]

Not to mention two other boxes:

Robin Hood Season Two 2008, 9:47 [I'm not sure whether this set has commentaries on every show, but there's at least one -- plus three featurettes]

And

Spaced: The Complete Series 1999, 5:50 [Man, I'm not sure, but there seem to be many bonuses, including some commentary work by such people as Matt Stone, Kevin Smith, and Quentin Tarantino. Comics connection? Yep: One of the two focal nerds is a wanna-be comic-book artist; he's played by Simon Pegg. I can hardly wait and I'm not being sarcastic!]

Time to quit blogging and turn on the TV!

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Unpacking from Convention Jaunts and Returning to Filing

I'm still coping with a travel cold. (I don't think I caught it from anyone at the convention, though a buddy pointed out that little sleep for a week just might have left me with my immune system slightly tweaked.)

But, even staggering around a bit, I'm able to do a few of the post-show chores that will make life better. Laundry, for example, is done (except for the partial box thereof that will arrive on the pallet with Convention Stuff before much longer). And I suddenly realized that I'd acquired a bunch of DVDs in a jaunt to Madison, Wis., the Friday before Con Week.

Madison, you see, is home to Four Star Video, a marvelous rental facility that prunes its stock and sells those cullings for $15 a DVD -- and, when you're a Gold Card member (as am I), you get them for roughly $10 a DVD. So I lolled about, pampering myself watching Season One of Eureka (recommended by my brother), yesterday and today, as I nursed my cold. And then it occurred to me that I might have other DVDs I hadn't checked out. What to my wondering eyes should appear but the following movies:

Charlie Wilson's War (2008, 1:42), The Corporation (2004, 2:25), Dan in Real Life (200X, 1:38), The Darjeeling Limited (2007, 1:31), The Golden Compass (2007, 1:53), The Jane Austen Book Club (2007, 1:46), Jumper (2008, 1:28), National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets (200X, 2:05), The Orphanage (2007, 1:45), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008, 1:55), Revolver (2005, 1:44), Sleuth (2007, 1:29), Sweeny Todd (2007, 1:56)

Then, there are the TV shows, each except Blue Murder at those $10 prices:

Blue Murder (1995, 3:17, $20), George Carlin: Doin' It Again (1990, 1:00), George Carlin: What Am I Doing in New Jersey? (1988, :58), Invisible Man Season One (1950s, 5:30), The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch (2002, :56)

And, at Half Price Books:

The Comeback (2006, 6:30, $15) and Unscripted (2005, 5:00, $10)

And, ordered from Amazon (so there were a variety of discounts but not used copies):

Daleks Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966, 1:24), Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965, 1:23), Burn Notice Season One (2007, 8:52), Eureka Season One (2007, 9:18), The Closer Season One (2005, 10:02)

Looks as if I'll have something more to watch while I get over this cold. (By the way, an ongoing annoying facet of prerecorded material from the Disney organization is its policy of avoiding identification of copyright date for its releases. Yes, I could check it on iMDB, but geez.)

How about yourself? What movies and shows would you buy for $10 each?

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