Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather films hit Blu-ray today.  These films (at least the first two) are stunning visual spectacles wrapped up in some of the most imaginative and interesting storytelling ever to grace the silver screen.  With the beauty and care put into the original cinematography, it will be breathtaking to see these films in a newly remastered Blu-ray release.

Another classic crime drama, L.A. Confidential, comes out on Blu-ray today as well.  This film was robbed by Titanic for Best Picture in 1997 and it dissapoints pretty much everyone all the time these days.  I know I personally dwell on it constantly.

Another interesting release this week is This American Life Season 1.  Fans of the radio show will no doubt be highly entertained by the television version of this fascinating documentary series.

Two other releases worth mentioning: George Clooney’s Leatherheads and David Schwimmers Run, Fatboy, Run. Clooney’s Leatherheads is easily the better picture, mimicking with a wonderful level of care the screwball comedies of the thirties.  Schwimmers Run, Fatboy, Run is pretty funny, if only for the casting of Simon Pegg.  It’s oddly predictable and is quite flawed, but certainly worth at least a chuckle.  Hank Azaria was good in it, too.

Swank-mo-tron and Dr. Cyborg sat down to take a look at The Mindscape of Alan Moore (which we’re holding a contest to give away two copies of, details here). Here’s what they had to say:

Dr. Cyborg, Robot MD: I enjoyed watching this. I don’t think that you necessarily need to be an Alan Moore fan, or even a comic book fan to like this, but it would sure help. I don’t know if I would go as far as saying that I felt out his mindscape by watching it either, but he had some really interesting things to say.

The subjects I felt were the most interesting where when he was talking about space/time, and how apocalypse could be caused by a pulse of information. As far as comic books go there was a sort of reenactment of Watchmen, performed by Alan Moore, that was really cool.

It made me want to read Watchmen as soon as the film was over.

On a side note, it is annoying to me that Alan Moore can say something that sounds obscure at best, then explain it, and make more then what I consider perfect sense out of it. For example calling him self a magician, the first thing I do when someone says there a magician is call out “Bullshit!” but after he explained it, I can safely say, “That mother fucker be a master magician.”

If I had to summarize this documentary in one word it would be “Mindfuck!” –Slugtron

Swank-mo-tron: I, too, enjoyed this documentary despite a few of it’s weaknesses (which I can talk a little bit about in a minute) but this was an interesting window into the thought process of Alan Moore.  I expected him to be quite pretentious, but he’s not at all.  He’s just simply smarter than all of us.  It’s true.  And I hope he writes comics forever.

One of the great highlights is Moore himself doing readings from Rorschachs journal.

The film digs deeper into Alan Moore than I’ve ever seen, but that being said, it still felt as though we’ve only scratched the surface of Alan Moore.  I’d love to see someone like Errol Morris interview him…  I’d love to have seen him talk about his falling out with DC and more about his problems with movies made from his books.  (He did talk briefly about his conversation with Terry Gilliam about why Watchmen was unfilmable, though, which was good.)

And the only other big problem with the film, though, was the preposterous use of B-roll that didn’t match the context of what was being said.  It was so distracting sometimes that I had to look away in order to pay attention to what Moore was saying.  It was odd, to be sure.

Though, this is a great movie for anyone who’s as big a fan of Alan Moore’s as I am…

The Coen Brothers’ first film, Blood Simple has rated a Special Edition release today.  Which seems to have coincided with their latest theatrical effort, Burn After Reading, which hit theatres on Friday.  This is a tight noir film and has all the hallmarks of the Coen’s early work (though I think it’s probably the best of their 80s work.)

The next is one I’m pretty excited for: The Best of Rocko’s Modern Life Vol. 1 and 2.  I don’t know how many of you watched this show, but it was hilarious.  It was classic Nickelodeon right at the end of their greatness.  Each of these sets is 2 discs long, so that’s 4 (count ’em!) DVD’s of Rocko’s Modern Life.

The last DVD I’m going to tell you about today is Gene Kelly’s An American in Paris.  I added it to the list for 2 reasons.  1) It’s good.  2) You need your weekly dose of culture and film history.

There’s really not much else to talk about today.  They’re rereleasing Ang Lee’s Hulk.  Beetlejuice is getting a special edition release, too.  Also, The Mist is hitting Blu-ray, but I can’t determine if it comes with what is hailed as the superior cut in black and white.  Damn it, I just don’t know.

The Disinformation company (publisher of such fine documentaries as This Divided State and all of Robert Greenwalds documentaries) was kind enough to offer Big Shiny Robot! a few copies of the upcoming documentary film The Mindscape of Alan Moore. They offered us 5 to be exact. And these are very nice 2 disc sets and retail for $29.99.  There’s never been a better time to be a fan of the Big Shiny Robot!

We actually gave two away at a live broadcast of the Geekshow Podcast where they were gracious enough to have Swank-mo-tron on the air.  (The episode should go live on iTunes on Monday, I’m told, look for more information about that.)  And they’ll be giving a third copy away soon on their forum.  But that leaves Big Shiny Robot! two copies to give away to you, our faithful readers.

And in order to make this fair, we came up with a bit of a contest.

You’ve all read Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, right?

Well what we’d like to see are your ideas for what literary character you would want in a new League of Extraordinary Gentlemen book.

Mail your answer (and the reason for it as well as your name and mailing address) to our Big Shiny Email! (bigshinyrobot@gmail.com) and we’ll post the best answers, but the top two picks will have a copy of this documentary shipped to them.  The deadline is Friday, September 19.  That will give us until Monday to pick a winner and you’ll have your DVD before this film even hits shelves on September 30th.

So, put your thinking caps on and get writing.

Also, be sure to check back next week, when we’ll have a roundtable review of The Mindscape of Alan Moore up.  And soon after that, we’ll post our interview with the film’s director, Dez Vylenz.

The big news? The Big Lebowski is 10 years old this year and they are releasing a brand new 10th anniversary edition.  So, for those of you too stupid to already own a copy, or hip enough to want to buy another one, today is your day. Personally?  I might snag this one since the copy I have is pretty light on the special features and this one has a whole extra disc of them.

The next film on the list is another oldie but a goodie, and that’s Cool Hand Luke on Blu-Ray.  This movie is a classic and should be required viewing for anyone who wishes to continue breathing oxygen.  Paul Newman delivers a knockout performance as the titular character (I love that word) and the rest of the supporting cast (including George Kennedy) help knock the film the rest of the way out of the park.

Another Blu-ray release today is Kill Bill (Volume 1 & 2).  I don’t need to say much about it, but tell me you wouldn’t want to watch the Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves in a hi-def format.

Clint Eastwood makes the list this week with a re-release of The Outlaw Josey Wales.  This is a wonderfully violent Civil War era western that takes all of the conceits of a revenge picture and a western version of a Kurosawa picture and shoots you flat on your ass with it.  One of his best westerns, for sure.  (Not as good as his adventures with Sergio Leone, but great nonetheless.)

The last title on the list comes from the Criterion Collection.  Understanding that it’s hard to justify buying  old foreign films you’ve never seen at $40 a pop, they’ve created the “Essential Art House” collection and offer affordable versions of staples of foreign masterpieces.  First up for them is Renoir’s The Grand Illusion. I haven’t seen it, though I know I should have.  I picked up a collection of Renoir’s early work and have enjoyed it immensely, so I’m actually looking forward to this.

And I hope I don’t annoy everyone with my art house picks every week, it’s in my programming to try to add a little culture into our BSR! Master Control Unit…

SPECIAL NOTE!:  Be sure to check in tomorrow to learn how you can win a copy of the documentary The Mindscape of Alan Moore from your good pals at Big Shiny Robot!

A few big nerd releases on Blu-ray today and not much else.

My first pick is Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles.  I actually got to see this movie theatrically and I liked it quite a bit.  I am a big Robotech nerd and this film added quite a bit to the mythology that I wanted to see (though it did rewrite a bit of it.)  It’s good to see it coming out on Blu-ray…  I wonder if there’s anymore Robotech on Blu-ray, because if so, I’ve got some buying to do.  In the meantime, rumour has it that Lawrence Kasdan is writing the live-action movie, which is great news.  Maybe we can get him to write a pilot for a new cartoon series, too, that let’s us see the continued adventures of Rick Hunter.

The Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow is out on Blu-ray.  It’s obviously aimed squarely at kids, but reviews have been kind to it, even Harry Knowles called it the best of the animated Lions Gate marvel movies, which is saying something, since the Invincible Iron Man was pretty cool (which also hits Blu-ray shelves today.)

The other big nerd release is the special edition of Transformers, which comes out on Blu-ray.  I can’t imagine there’s much more to this release than what’s on the last one except for the exceptional leap in picture quality.  And unless you really loved this movie way more than you should have, I can’t imagine wanting to blow the extra scratch on a new version.  Or maybe I’m wrong.

Random film pick of the week?  Itty Bitty Titty Committee. This is a piece of lesbian cinema that looks like that might be it’s only redeeming quality.  It’s got a whopping 5.3 rating on IMDb though which leads me to think two things.  1) It’s a great film about lesbian issues that had a lot of guys watching it and didn’t see enough action or boobies and rated it low or 2) it sucks.  Either way, now you know about it and knowing is half the battle.

James Jean announced today on his official site that he’s leaving Fables. Stating that he wishes to focus more on his personal work and painting his final issue will be 81 completing the current story arc. This marks an end to Jean’s eight year tenure as cover artist for the series and it’s spin off Jack of Fables.

From his website:

Here’s a message I just sent off to the Fables team:

“This is a difficult email for me to write. Don’t worry . . . as far as I know, I don’t have any tumors or crippling neuroses, and my taxes are in order. But I feel like I’m breaking up with the prom queen on prom night, after having dated through grades 6 – 12. Feeble analogies aside, it has been an amazing opportunity to work on Fables these past 7 years (8 this October). But I feel that it’s time to devote myself full-time to painting and personal work. Shelly and I talked yesterday, and my last cover will be 81, at the end of the story arc. It has been a true privilege to work on a team that has produced such great chemistry on paper, and to have been a part of such an important book that has entertained and drawn together so many people.

I won’t be disappearing, though — I’ll still be here in my fortress of solitude painting away, my solace found in seeing a brand new issue of Fables arrive every month with the same story and interior art that has engaged so many readers. It’ll just come wrapped in a different (and hopefully more handsome) cover.”

It’s a bummer to see him go, but on the bright side best cover artist at the Eisners will now go to someone else finally.

The first movie I’m going to put on my list for the week is David Mamet’s Redbelt.  I’ve never seen it and Tim Allen is in it, but it looked really, really good.  And David Mamet deserves to have another movie as good as Glenngarry Glen Ross, so maybe this could be it.  Who knows.

Well.  Me, I’ll know after I watch it.

A Special Edition release with all kinds of fancy-ass packaging options of The Nightmare Before Christmas hits the shelves today.  There isn’t much to say about that movie.  We’ve all seen it, we all love it.  If you don’t have it yet, here’s your chance.

The Three Stooges Volume 3 (1940-1942) hits today as well.  I like the Stooges.  It makes me a little sad that you can’t find them on television at three in the afternoon on a lazy Saturday anymore like you could when I was a young, newly programmed Swank-bot.  So we’ll have to settle for DVD.  That way we can program a whole new generation of robots in the ways of the stooge.  (Like Ody Mandrell’s Pit Droid Team in Phantom Menace.  Those guys were funny.)

Errol Flynn’s classic, The Adventures of Robin Hood, hits a Blu-ray release today. These old movies are great and I can’t imagine Olivia de Havilland in her prime (1938) somehow looking less attractive in that kind of resolution.

In the world of documentary an interesting little gem that seems to have flown under my radar is The Rape of Europa.  It’s a documentary about the Nazi’s and their plundering of all the great masterpieces in Europe.  It’s a fascinating topic from my favorite period in history to learn about and it’s narrated by Joan Allen.  So, it looks good.

The Bad Ass Nerd Double Feature of the Week award goes to: Cloak and Dagger and The Wizard, together on one disc for the preposterously low price of $12.99 (at Amazon, anyway.)  As a kid, I used to eat these movie up with a spoon.  And yes, I was one of those kids who saw The Wizard opening weekend just for a fleeting glimpse of Super Mario Bros. 3.  And when he’s playing the game at the end of the movie and Mario gets that feather and flies, I about lost it.  And Cloak and Dagger was a great kids spy movie.  It’s got all the roleplaying, video games and intrigue to keep any 12 year old nerd at the edge of their seat, wishing they were the ones in the movie.

Movie to avoid at all costs this week?  Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? That movie was a flaming bag of turd left on your doorstep.

There are some really cool, interesting gems coming out today on DVD and more than a few titles I’m sure I’ll add to my collection as soon as is robotly possible.

First up this week?

Orson Welles’ Don Quixote.  Well, most of it anyway.  Welles spent almost 40 years piecing this film together here and there and everyone thought the project was nothing more than a dream until his assistant director shot a few more connecting pieces and threw the thing together.  I would doubt that this film represents Welles vision, but it certainly contains a lot of it, I’m sure.  This is one for the film history books.

Next today is a special edition release of Oliver Stone’s Nixon.  I’m sure they’re releasing it to feed off of the hype from “W”, which looks like it could be Stone’s first great film in years.  Anthony Hopkins got an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal, so for you dumb-asses not interesting the history of the leaders who’ve raped our country, at least there’s a good performance in there for you.

A made-for-tv movie, Recount, is actually making this list this week.  Directed by Jay Roach and boasting a cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Tom Wilkinson, Laura Dern, John Hurt and Ed Begley, Jr., this made-for-TV-movie got some really good reviews and covers a period of time that was pretty fucking painful for anybody who was paying attention.  So, since I don’t have HBO, I’ve had to wait for the DVD…  which is coming out today…  otherwise…

Moving on. Justice League Season One is hitting Blu-ray players.  It’s a great show.  ‘Nuff said.

Pixar is also releasing a super-duper 8 film box-set that has great versions of all of their movies from Toy Story to Ratatouille…  I imagine they’re getting this out there in advance of Wall-E’s DVD release, which is going to spike sales through the roof.  I mean seriously, he’s a shiny robot.  He’s our people and he kicks a lot of ass.

I think that should do us for this week.

Until next time, Kill All Humans.

Seriously.  The DC Comics Filmation Adventures is about it this week.  This is the single worst week since I’ve been writing this column.

There’s nothing else I saw being released today that would even come close to making this list except maybe the Blu-Ray release of The Ten Commandments.

And there’s really not much to say about that movie either.