DVD Day: July 22nd, 2008
It’s a small week, but not a slow one, as there are at least two big releases for nerds.
? Robot Chicken: Star Wars
There have been many, many (many, many many many) Star Wars parodies on TV over the years, but Robot Chicken‘s is likely the best of the bunch (and I’m not just saying that because I know those guys, because frankly, they don’t talk to me any more. Dickweeds). It’s probably because it can just do short skits like the above video, as opposed to shoehorning in its characters into one or more of the movies. The actual episode is 23 minutes long, but the DVD has two hours of extras, and it’s only $10 anyways.
? Spaced: The Complete Series
The series that launched the careers of Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright of Shaun of the Dead fame. Apparently, this show is hilarious enough that Quentin Tarantino, Diablo Cody, Patton Oswalt, Kevin Smith and more were all willing to do commentaries just about how funny it is.
? Bleach Vol. 11
If you liked the first 10 volumes, chances are you’ll also like the 11th. (For you anime fans, it’s the episodes where Uryu fights the mad scientist Kurotsuchi.)
? Transformers Cybertron: The Ultimate Collection
I think this is the series after Transformers Armada, but I can’t be bothered to look it up. It does contain seven DVDs and 1144 minutes of cartoons, which I believe is 52 episodes.
? Case Closed: Season One
This anime is a kids’ show in Japan, where a young kid detective basically solves one gruesome murder per episode. It’s like Encyclopedia Brown, but with more beheadings. Quite entertaining, really.
? Heathcliff: The Best of Heathcliff
I had to go to the 12th page of “New DVD Releases” for the week to find this little treasure, which doesn’t even have cover art. Suffice it to say, if you’ve been waiting to own the Heathcliff cartoon on DVD, this is likely as good as it’s going to get.
About The Author
Robert Bricken is one of the original co-founders of the site formerly known as Topless Robot, and its first editor-in-chief, serving from 2008-12. He brought the site to prominence with “nerd news, humor and self-loathing” as its motto, raising it from total internet obscurity to a readership in the millions, with help from his savage “FAQ” movie reviews and Fan Fiction Fridays. Under his tenure Topless Robot was covered by Gawker, Wired, Defamer, New York magazine, ABC News, and others, and his articles have been praised by Roger Ebert, Avengers actor Clark Gregg, comedian and The Daily Show correspondent John Hodgman, the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax, and others. He is currently the managing editor of io9.com. Despite decades as both an amateur and professional nerd, he continues to be completely unprepared for either the zombie apocalypse or the robot uprising.