Entertainment Weekly's Best and Worst DVDs of 2003 (1 Viewer)

[Michael Allred]

Apologies if this has been mentioned elsewhere already...

The new issue of "Entertainment Weekly" (Best of 2003) lists their picks for the best and worst DVDs of the year.

The best:
1- The Looney Tunes Collection
2- The Adventures of Antoine Doinel
3- The Adventures of Indiana Jones
4- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - Special Extended Edition
5- Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colors: Blue, White, Red – The Exclusive Collection
6- The Singing Detective (BBC)
7- West Side Story
8- Warner Legends Collection
9- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
10- Alien Quadrilogy

The worst:
1- Alien Quadrilogy

To explain why it's on the best AND worst, here's what they said:

2- TV on DVD

They're happy that shows like "Freaks and Geeks" is getting released but wonder why crap like "My Big Fat Greek Life" gets DVD treatment too.

3- The Scheme
4- Dirty Dancing – Ultimate Edition
5- Grease 2

 

[Marty M]

Thanks for the list. I have let my subscription lapse and hadn't seen this.

I must be slipping in my DVD purchases. I only own one in the best -- West Side Story and it is a repurchase.

 

[Seymour Uranowitz]

Eight out of ten for me!

 

[Steve Schaffer]

There's TV on dvd as in Band of Brothers, OZ, Buffy, and The Sopranos, and then there's TV on dvd as in Gilligan's Island or (insert name of crappy sitcom from the 70s that's fallen out of syndication even on TVLand here).

 

[Bob McElfresh]

That's a great issue. I strongly recommend people go out and buy it. It also includes the Best/Worst of books, music, movies. There are several movies I have not seen on their 'best' list which I will now make a point of seeing/renting.

Perhaps this has been covered, but I have to say that the extra scenes in Aliens 3 really gives it a different feel.

 

[Robert Anthony]

okay, so EW admits they know that Fincher has disowned the movie--and then grades AGAINST the box set because they couldn't FORCE him to participate? And then holds up the THEATRICAL cut of Alien 3 as another reason? Completely ignoring the work that went into the SE and the documentaries and supplements on that disc?

EW is often just too glib for it's own good.

 

[Vincent Matis]

I agree it's very sad Fincher didn't participate on the 2 DVD (movie+bonus) of Alien³.
But I don't think that Fox could have done more to ensure his involvement (except maybe give him $70M to reshoot the entire movie or "make him an offer he couldn't refuse"...), so I think giving the AQ the n°1 spot in the worst DVD section to be very harsh.

Vincent

 

[David Lambert]

First off, how can F&G be caught up in a best-and-worst list for 2003 when F&G on DVD won't be out until 2004?

Second, one man's trash is another man's treasure. I cannot believe that a mag like EW employs editors who allow the writers to basically insult the taste of their readers. Although I myself am not a fan of MBFGL, they could just have easily named something like "Battlestar Galactica" as an example of crap...others have. But BG happens to be an obsessive-level favorite of mine, and of millions of others. We'd be upset if it was insulted that way, right? MBFGL, as hard as it is for some of us to believe this, has similar fans. I would never dream of alienating the fans of that show by telling them they stuff they like really stinks...that's just an opinion after all, and not a fact. EW should know better.

Finally, we all know WHY something like MBFGL gets released on DVD when it does. Just like BG, just like Hulk or Baretta or Charlie's Angels or SWAT, and even just like The Homecoming (pilot for The Waltons). It's all about releasing it with the timing to maximize profits. In the case of BG, Hulk, CA, and SWAT it was about the timing to tie in the marketing of the DVD to coincide with promoting a remake of the property. For Baretta it had to do with publicity surrounding the star's legal problems (implicated in his wife's murder). For The Homecoming it was simply targeting it to sell during Christmas (since it is, after all, subtitled "A Christmas Story").

And for MBFGL, it's all about getting it on shelves during a time when folks still have it fresh on their mind as a series, but it's been off long enough that maybe they forgot that it wasn't as good as it was hoped to be, or are willing to give it a second chance. With the November release, it makes a good Christmas gift for guys to give to their gals who enjoyed the movie and never saw the TV show. And by Valentines Day it will have been released long enough to make a good markdown item to sell through for THAT holiday (and though it can't be shrinkwrapped together with the film, since the film is HBO/Warner and the show is Columbia, stores can still choose to merchandise them together in ads or on endcaps).

So the answer is still "Timing". Even if the factors are quite a bit more complicated for MBFGL than they are for other shows, it still amounts to "Timing". Riddle me this, Batman: is there ANY other time - in the past or in the forseeable future - that a DVD of this show could possibly be marketed to better financial advantage? The alternate choice is that it should never ever come out on DVD. I guess that's what the writer of the EW article hopes. For my part, I never hope that...I believe that all fans of a show should have a chance to buy it on DVD. Without that philosophy, I could never hope to get discs for Otherworld! :wink:

For the studio's part, they obviously thought they could make a profit off of the release, or it never would have happened...right? So "why does crap (like that) get DVD treatment"? Because studios can make a profit in it, ya big dummy!!!


A final comment: TV-on-DVD has been THE phenomenon of 2003, no doubt. Everyone's talking about it. Gord & I are astounded by the success of the category, and are humbled by the idea that some have put forth that we have helped it along with our site (debatable, but it still gives us warm fuzzies to think about it). I'm appalled that EW lists "TV on DVD" as the #2 "WORST" thing about DVD this past year, no matter what their justification is for that ranking. Fans are getting what they want, studios are making money, and reporters at magazines like EW have something to write about. What's the complaint, exactly? :rolleyes

 

[David Lambert]

P.S. - I also enjoy my DVD for Grease 2. Thanks, Martin and the rest of the staff at Paramount Home Entertainment for putting it out. It's a fine disc at a good price that I have enjoyed.

Not every night has to be about watching The Godfather, after all.

 

[Michael_EC]

Entertainment Weekly devotes a third of their magazine every week to reviews of Books, Movies, TV, DVD, etc. There is always a risk of insulting a reader's tastes. The reviews and the best/worst of lists would be pretty boring if the writers were afraid of giving negative (or, in some cases, harshly negative) reviews.

Also, since they are talking about the trend of DVD releases of TV (and, more accurately, the trend of releasing shows like My Big Fat Greek Life and The Anna Nicole Show) I think it's perfectly fine that they mentioned Freaks and Geeks as a counterpoint pointing towards the positive side of the trend of TV on DVD, as most of the effort to get it released happened in 2003, and it has been announced in 2003 for release (in 2004). Who knows, maybe the actual box set will be on their Bst of 2004 list

 

[David Lambert]

The writer possibly is a fan of F&G and so decided to rationalize the choice in the manner you describe. I can think of countless TV on DVD product that actually streeted in 2003 to use to make the same point.

 

[Chris_Morris]

And that is why my subscription lapsed. Some great information surrounded by too much "we are so great".

Chris

 

[Anthony Clifton]

Guys, it's a bathroom magazine, not Film Comment. Let it go.

 

[Chris_Morris]

Chris

 

[Colin Jacobson]

The negative list isn't as bad as Rolling Stone's "Worst DVDs Ever" - which made me wonder if they'd seen more than 10 DVDs - but the choices still seem stupid. What's wrong with the Dirty Dancing Ultimate Edition? Perhaps that's their comment against multiple releases of the same film, or maybe they just hate the movie. However, it's a top-notch little disc and shouldn't be on any "worst of" lists. And putting the Quadrilogy on a worst of ANYTHING list is insane.

Sometimes these lists become so political they're worthless. A very popular website that'll go unnamed does that - their "worst of" lists always include good titles that they choose to make some dopey point...

 

[Gord Lacey]

Those bastards!

How can you put an entire genre into the "worst" list. Would they put "Action movies on DVD" as a best or worse? Of course not, because that emcompasses too many DVDs. Nice to see that they put hundreds of DVDs on their "Worst" list with one line.

Bastards.

Gord

 

[David Lambert]

Don't beat around the bush, Gord. Say exactly what you mean!


Amen. It did get my dander up, but I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it. Yeah, my subscription lapsed a while back, too. Oh, well.

 

[R. Kay]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but ...\Wasnt t

Wasnt there a poll stating that 'MBF Greek Life' was voted by ALL respondents as crap?

 

[David Lambert]

Was there? Point me to it.

If there was, and it's possible...even probable, then A) that's just the opinion of poll participants, and B) is that a reason to condemn an entire genre?

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I'll vote for Grease 2 as one of the BEST!