DVD Pick of the Week: The Fall

Welcome back! Well, to some of you, anyway. To the rest of you, glad you decided to stop by and I hope that this humble column helps you navigate the stacks of new releases each week. My goal is to point you toward titles of interest and warn you away from those films that seek to do nothing but leech away your time and give you nothing in return.

This week brings a load of new releases, including a bunch of new television titles, just in time for the dawn of the 2008 fall season. Time to catch up on what you missed last season!In addition to the television titles and movies listed below, there is a whole mess of titles coming out with new cover art, as well as a whole series of themed triple features. I am sure you will likely want to add a number of these to your personal collections, just like me.

The Fall. This week's top pick is a film that I have not yet seen. I have seen a trailer for it, but I have not had the pleasure of seeing the movie. This film has been championed by David Fincher and Spike Jonze, so that says something for it, doesn't it? It tells the story of an injured stuntman (Lee Pace of Pushing Daisies) in the 1920's telling a story of 5 mythical heroes to a young girl at the same hospital. The combination of his tale and her imagination, reality and make believe begin to converge. The movie was directed by Tarsem and is his follow up to the visually fascinating The Cell. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Smallville: The Complete Seventh Season. Can you believe this series is still on? It has gotten pretty bad over the past couple of seasons. The best thing this season has going for it is the addition of Supergirl, plus any episode featuring Green Arrow. Hopefully, they will get some good screen time in the coming eighth season, which will hopefully be its last. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 3. As if the above series wasn't bad enough, the third season of Sunny is easily the least of its run. It seems that the addition of Danny DeVito helped hasten its fall from grace. When it started it was funny, offensive and just whacky, since then it has just gotten dumb and annoying. Will the fourth season be better? One can only hope. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

The Big Lebowski: 10th Anniversary Edition. Has it been ten years already? This Coen Brothers film is an absolute gem that only gets better with age. I remember the first time I saw it, I liked it, but it was rather weird. That hasn't changed much over the years, it is still weird, but it is also wonderful. I am not sure how improved this is over the prior release, but there is a special edition of the anniversary edition that comes in a case that looks like a bowling ball. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Baby Mama. This is a solidly mediocre film. It is far from being terrible, yet does not raise its aspirations high enough to have any sort of long lasting impact. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler do their best to inject life into the script and come out unscathed. Definitely worth a future rental for the overall goofiness. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

The Forbidden Kingdom. I did not like this nearly as much as I had hoped. It may not be the hard-hitting, all-out fight fest that many of us had hoped for, but it is still quite enjoyable and fills a good role. This is the perfect place to start for those interested in martial arts cinema. There is a lot to be gleaned from its content, giving you plenty of things to look up in other films. Go, watch, enjoy, and then go discover more! (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Rodan/War of the Gargantuas. Classic Media continues their releases of classic Toho monster flicks with this pair of old-schoolers. I am not sure I have seen either one, but I know I will be adding them to the collection! (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Fox Horror Classics Vol. 2: Dragonwyck, Chandu the Magician, Dr. Renault's Secret. I am not sure what was in volume 1, and I have never seen any of these, much less heard of them, but I am glad to see Fox releasing some older, little known films from their catalog to be discovered by a new audience. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

WWE: The Life and Times of Mr. Perfect. Yes, it is true, I do not watch much wrestling anymore, but this could be a nice one to check out. Mr. Perfect, aka Curt Hennig, was a very talented performer, and this set could include a veritable wrestling clinic. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Child's Play: Chucky's 20th Birthday Edition. Finally! A widescreen release of this classic slasher film. All prior releases have been in fullscreen only, and no one who respects movies wants that to happen. It is interesting how close this comes to the announcement of the remake. Interesting. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Cool Hand Luke: Deluxe Edition. The classic Paul Newman film is getting the remaster treatment for this new release, along with a host of new extras. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Pumpkinhead: Collector's Edition. Lance Henriksen stars in this old school horror film that centers on revenge and the evil method by which one can attain their vengeful goals. The sequels are pretty bad, well, so is this, but it is definitely one to check out. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Seed. Just when you thought you'd seen all of Uwe Boll's masterpieces, another one rears its ugly head. (BUY, RENT, SKIP)

Zombies Zombies Zombies - Strippers vs. Zombies. What else do you need to know? (BUY, RENT, SKIP)