First up: The Young Adventures of Indiana Jones, Volume 3. This series is bloody entertaining as hell. I’ve picked up the first two collections and I must say they’re worth their weight in gold. And I’m not saying this as a George Lucas nerd (of which I carry some type of membership for) but because it’s genuinely entertaining. The first box set takes care of his early years (when he’s 8 or so) all the way up until he joins the Belgian army to fight the Germans in the Great War. The second volume deals with Indy’s war years and his experience as a spy for the French and is great fun. (It also guest stars people like Daniel Craig, Catherine Zeta Jones, Elizabeth Hurley and others. This third box is about his post-war adventuring in the time between 1918 and Temple of Doom which, chronologically, is the first Indiana Jones movie.
Seriously, I’m in love with this series and it’s well worth the coin to own these sets.
“The Orphanage“, produced by king nerd-bot Guillermo Del Toro is the second on the list of DVD’s to pick up today. Here’s a review of the film that when out at its release and it sums up exactly how I feel today. Most horror films suck and this one didn’t, which makes it a cut above most of the drek we get in theatres.
Next on the list is Julian Schnabel’s “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly“. I haven’t seen it yet, but it comes highly recommended by robots I generally trust. And I like Schnabel. At a panel recently, he suggested that Americans banish the word “awesome” and replace it with “Schnabelicious.” That’s just bold. And fortune favors the bold.
The last item on the list seems like a bit of a rarity. Joseph Campbell was an expert on mythology and comparative theology and was probably one of the most brilliant scholars on the topic since the dawn of Roman philosophy and he did a number of TV specials. The one I’ve managed to get my hands on is called “The Power of Myth”. PBS put it on and Bill Moyers hosted and it was the single most inspiring tool for writing I’ve ever purchased. Tomorrow, “Mythos II” will be released. This was the filmed version of what was to be the final speaking tour of his life. Anything the man has to say is always relevant and interesting and well worth checking out.
UPDATE: There are some conflicting reports about when Indiana Jones comes in, either this week or next week. The simple fact of the matter is that it doesn’t matter. Just buy it. Also, I left a few films off the list because I wasn’t sure if any of you guys cared about old movies, but Billy Wilder’s first film “The Major and the Minor” came out, as well as a film he wrote called “Midnight” with Don Ameche and John Barrymore. Now, if you guys don’t know who Billy Wilder is, just go ahead and commit the robot version of sepukku right now.
Also, Kill-tacular-tron just reminded me that some movie called “Cloverfield” came out today.