2008 Woodie Awards
Reviews of recent and upcoming DVD releases
Billy O'Keefe (KRT)
Issue date: 11/22/05 Section: Entertainment
`Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price' (NR, Disinformation Company/ Bravenewfilms.org)
According to Robert Greenwald's latest documentary, there exist, in the U.S. alone, nearly 27 million square feet of abandoned Wal-Mart stores that nobody knows how to fill. So how does a store that has everything and sells it cheaper than anyone else create so much dead weight in a country that loves shopping and saving? Let Greenwald count the ways.
"The High Cost of Low Price" combines the forces of neighbors, former employees and numbers to paint a darkly unflattering picture. Lest you think it's 97 minutes of "Wal-Mart squashed the mom and pop shops," think again: Everything from flimsy parking-lot safety to outsourcing to the corporation's use of your taxpayer dollars to fund its ventures comes under the microscope.
Extras: Greenwald commentary, condensed version, behind-the-scenes feature, parody commercials, spoofmakers feature, bonus segments.
`Home Movies: Season Three' (NR, Shout Factory, Nov. 22)
All hail "Home Movies." Not only is it one of the funniest and most inventive cartoons on TV, it manages to be so without trying too hard or drinking from the pop culture-slash-current events well so many other toons have slurped dry. In "Home Movies," the funny comes from within.
The art style will remind you of your 6-year-old nephew's drawings, but the characters and stories _ told in an improvisational style a la "Curb Your Enthusiasm" _ are completely unique. Season three highlights include the fat enabler episode, the rock band and the trip to prison. Includes 13 episodes (seven with commentary), plus one game, one music video, one behind-the-scenes feature, one radio interview and more than one animatic.
`Astro Boy: Deluxe DVD Collection' (NR, 1983, Manga Video/Anchor Bay, Nov. 22)
The ironic thing about "Astro Boy," the arguable godfather of popular Japanese anime, is that you can despise the genre it helped bring forth and still completely enjoy this set, which contains the complete color series that first aired in the early 1980s.
According to Robert Greenwald's latest documentary, there exist, in the U.S. alone, nearly 27 million square feet of abandoned Wal-Mart stores that nobody knows how to fill. So how does a store that has everything and sells it cheaper than anyone else create so much dead weight in a country that loves shopping and saving? Let Greenwald count the ways.
"The High Cost of Low Price" combines the forces of neighbors, former employees and numbers to paint a darkly unflattering picture. Lest you think it's 97 minutes of "Wal-Mart squashed the mom and pop shops," think again: Everything from flimsy parking-lot safety to outsourcing to the corporation's use of your taxpayer dollars to fund its ventures comes under the microscope.
Extras: Greenwald commentary, condensed version, behind-the-scenes feature, parody commercials, spoofmakers feature, bonus segments.
`Home Movies: Season Three' (NR, Shout Factory, Nov. 22)
All hail "Home Movies." Not only is it one of the funniest and most inventive cartoons on TV, it manages to be so without trying too hard or drinking from the pop culture-slash-current events well so many other toons have slurped dry. In "Home Movies," the funny comes from within.
The art style will remind you of your 6-year-old nephew's drawings, but the characters and stories _ told in an improvisational style a la "Curb Your Enthusiasm" _ are completely unique. Season three highlights include the fat enabler episode, the rock band and the trip to prison. Includes 13 episodes (seven with commentary), plus one game, one music video, one behind-the-scenes feature, one radio interview and more than one animatic.
`Astro Boy: Deluxe DVD Collection' (NR, 1983, Manga Video/Anchor Bay, Nov. 22)
The ironic thing about "Astro Boy," the arguable godfather of popular Japanese anime, is that you can despise the genre it helped bring forth and still completely enjoy this set, which contains the complete color series that first aired in the early 1980s.