On Sale This Week (By Curmudgeon Man)
I'm sure that all of you will be running out this week to buy The Hulk DVD tomorrow, but for those of you who don't feel the need to pay too much for mediocrity ("Don't make me, Ang Lee. You wouldn't like me when I'm angsty!"), there are a few other options on sale tomorrow to help you remember how much better the world of entertainment used to be.

R.E.M. has a greatest hits album for the years 1988 to 2003 (Green makes the cut, Document does not). They've chosen not to put the tracks in chronological order, sparing it from documenting (Ha! Get it?) R.E.M.'s gradual decline into obscurity. Also, I find it hard to believe that "At My Most Beautiful," for example, was really a bigger hit than Shiny Happy People, for example. Spend a couple of extra bucks for the "Special Edition" and get Pop Song '89, The One I Love, and the greatest song in the history of the world, Star Me Kitten with William Burroughs. (It's probably not the greatest song in the world. That was just my little tribute.)

For history buffs, tomorrow's a big day. Remember how, in the days before TV, theaters you to show news reels before movies? Or how radio stations used to broadcast soap operas and other serials before they moved to television? Well, a set of DVD's tomorrow will be of interest to those interested in learning more about archaic forms of entertainment. You see, many years ago, in time out of mind, just like radio used to air serials that later became TV shows, TV channels used to broadcast--get this--songs. Just like on radio! But the kicker was, they had short little movies, or "videos" to go along with them. Isn't that wacky? Of course, later, crap youth programming killed the video star, but tomorrow, Being John Malkovich director and two other guys are releasing DVDs on which they've dug up some of their better efforts in the "music video" format. So now you can watch these forgotten treasures on DVD. Wouldn't it be cool if there were some place on TV that would show these? Some sort of "music television" or even a "video home" channel? Sorry--I'm probably being too far out there.

On a similar note, also being released tomorrow is a DVD music video collection from Guns 'N' Roses (I believe only one of those apostrophes is correct, but I forget which one, and am too lazy to look it up). GNR is one those groups that I had absolutely no interest in back when they were popular, but the more time that goes by, I have growing appreciation for. Too many years of Backstreet Boys and Christina Aguilara and Eminem and Beyonce and P. Diddy and R. Kelly and on and on ad nauseum makes me long for the days when musicians could rock in public without shame.

:: :: 08:40 :: David :: [permalink] ::