DVD Panache

This just in

On Thursdays I'm going to try and cover all the DVD news that was, well, news to me.

RAN GOES CRITERION
Big, big Criterion news, as Kurosawa's Ran will finally get due treatment. I've never gotten to see Ran in its entirety, but from what I remember, this will look stunning on DVD. Kurosawa spares no expense in his lavish big battle set pieces in this retelling of King Lear.

IT WILL REALLY TIE YOUR DVD SHELF TOGETHER

In case you haven't heard, a Collector's Edition of The Big Lebowski will be coming out on Oct. 18. Now call me crazy but I really like the new cover work. They could have easily gone with one of the alternate posters (namely the one with Jeff showing Maud the proper bowling technique), but this is entirely new and will rightly confuse the uninitiated. It will also be available as a giftset, complete with an official bowling shammy, coasters, photos and cards. Not sure if the latter is worth a $20 premium.


MEXICO COMES CHEAP

In November, Robert Rodriguez' Mexico Trilogy will be released at the hey-why-not price of $29.99. Included will be El Mariachi, Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Rodriguez is clearly a guy who understands what his fans want from DVDs (much like Sam Raimi and Wes Anderson) and is doing everything he can to feed our never-ending geeky appetite.

A DVD, WHAT IS IT? WELL IT'S A LITTLE DISC YOU PUT IN YOUR DVD PLAYER

My favorite news of the week, maybe the month, is that Airplane! will finally get the digital treatment it has long deserved. To be titled Airplane!: Don't Call Me Shirley Edition, DVD Journal reports that it will have 5.1 and what promises to be a riotous Zucker Bros. commentary.

OVERKILL?

Finally, this is old news but I finally got to see a picture of the new Sex and the City: The Complete Series boxed set. I wasn't a big fan of the series, but this is certainly a ground-breaking release for television DVDs. I don't know of any other instance where a series this big (what was it, five seasons?) was released in its entirety. It certainly looks nice, but with an MSRP of $300 ($299 at Amazon) would anyone be willing to double dip?