Saturday, June 21, 2008
Mini-DVD Review: Futurama - Beast With a Billon Backs (June 24)
Futurama - Beast With a Billion Backs (20th Century Fox, $29.98) is the second installment in Fox's series of movies based upon the Sunday night animated sitcom from the past. The feature film picks up where the previous feature, Bender's Big Score, leaves off, when they try to find a way to keep peace and joy in the galaxy. But all doesn't go so well when a beast... a beast with a billion backs... takes over the society and makes Fry the Pope! How will they get out of this mess? Or will we have to wait until one of the next two installments to find out?
The movie looks and sounds great on DVD, with Dolby Digital Surround Sound audio. Of course, you can't compare this to how it looks on TV, as this has yet to be shown on TV, but to put it simply, it looks great.
Of course, the DVD also contains a plethora of special features, which honestly are much better than the movie itself. For starters, there is a commentary track that includes commentary from all of the important people involved with the movie. The "Futurama: The Lost Adventure" featurette is actually a lost full-length episode of the original series—kind of. This was produced for a Futurama video game that never quite made it, but now we get that "episode" on this DVD... with commentary, of course! "Meet Yiyo!" gives you a look at Yiyo, the title character of the movie. "Blooperama: The Futurama Cast at Work" lets you get a behind the scenes look at the screw ups made along the way in the production of this movie. And of course, there are animatics and deleted scenes--what would a Fox animated series be without those on DVD? Finally, there is a short preview of the next movie in the Futurama movie series, Bender's Game.
Any true fan of Futurama is going to want to see this simply because it is another chapter in a series that they are a fan of, but even these true fans should prepare themselves to be disappointed. It seems that the idea of the series has changed quite a bit with these movies, and it has become less of a good animated sitcom and has gotten more into the realm of science fiction, which would be fine except it is still being written by comedy writers. I can't really think of any time where my real disappointment with a DVD has been about the content of what is on it as opposed to a bad DVD compilation. The compilation in this case is excellent, and fans will certainly appreciate that, and it is worth watching the movie anyway if you are a fan.
-- Reviewed by skees53
(4/5 stars)
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Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Friday, April 19
none scheduled
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 15)
Friday, April 19
- Joey King (Bent) - Watch Joey on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
- Esther Povitsky (Dollface/Alone Together) and Haley Joel Osment (Future Man/Alpha House/The Jeff Foxworthy Show/Thunder Alley) - Esther and Haley Joel are guests on a repeat of After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Christine Taylor (Search Party/Arrested Development/Hey Dude and David Lascher (Sabrina the Teenage Witch/Blossom/Hey Dude) - Drew is handing the show over to Hey Dude…The 90s Called! Podcast Hosts Christine Taylor and David Lascher to interview her show for a special Drew's Download edition of the show. Christine and Drew reminisce on filming The Wedding Singer together and reveals which role she auditioned for but Drew got instead. Plus, they have a big surprise in store when they reunite Drew with a former castmate on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Michaela Watkins (Dinner with the Parents/Search Party/The Unicorn/Casual/Trophy Wife) and Daniel Thrasher (Dinner with the Parents) - Michaela and Daniel talk about Amazon Freevee's Dinner with the Parents on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- Lauren Ash (Not Dead Yet/Superstore/Super Fun Night) - Lauren talks about ABC's Not Dead Yet on Access Daily with Mario & Kit, so check your local listings.
- DulcĂ© Sloan (The Great North) - DulcĂ© shares easy Mother’s Day craft gift ideas on ABC's GMA 3: What You Need to Know at 1pm.
- Alison Brie (Community/GLOW) - Alison is a guest on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
New on DVD/Blu-ray
12/05 - Father Knows Best - The Complete Series
12/05 - The Odd Couple - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
12/12 - The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series
12/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 2 (Blu-ray)
12/12 - That Girl - The Complete Series
12/15 - Letterkenny - Season 11
12/19 - The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - The Official Restored Complete Series
12/22 - Three's Company - The Official 40th Anniversary Collection (includes The Ropers and Three's a Crowd)
01/09 - South Park - Seasons 11-15 (Blu-ray)
01/16 - Ghosts (UK) - Season Five
02/13 - Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/27 - The Really Loud House - Season One
03/12 - Ghosts (UK) - The Complete Series
03/12 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 3 (Blu-ray)
03/12 - Rick and Morty - Season 7 (Blu-ray Steelbook) (Blu-ray) (DVD)
04/03 - Too Close for Comfort - The Complete Series (VEI)
04/08 - Check It Out! - The Complete Series (VEI)
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