DVD Tome

tome n.
1. One of the books in a work of several volumes.
2. A book, especially a large or scholarly one.
[French, from Latin tomus, from Greek tomos, a cutting, section, from temnein, to cut. See tem- in Indo-European Roots.]

I'm starting a fairly large and unwieldy project that involves me catalouging all of my DVD purchases to date. I'm going to start listing them in alphabetical order (which is easy since I display them in that manner already), and then posting the results here, each day handling a different letter from the alphabet and it's corresponding movies. So, expect 26 days of this. Enjoy or snooze, it's your choice.

A.

About Schmidt - This Jack Nicholson movie has the strange distinction of being one of the only movies to feature a naked Kathy Bates. Take time to think about that. Naked. Kathy. Bates. Yeah, and why do I own it? I really dig the director's previous work (Election), which had that guy that played Ferris Bueller superimposing the head of Reese Whiterspoon onto his wife while he was doing her doggy-style. None of that happens here, thankfully, but this a good little movie. I recommend it.

Adaptation - Spike Jonze is one of my favorite directors, so naturally . . . I own this movie. The script is penned by Charlie Kaufman, who is responsible for some of the better movies of this young millenia. Despite the prescense of Meryl Streep . . . the rest of the cast does a damn great job in this movie about trying to adapt a book to a movie.

Alien Vs Predator - I didn't actually pay retail for this pirated . . . er . . I mean copied version of the movie. It's supposedly a director's cut . . . but whatever. I'm glad this only cost me 5 bucks since it's not the match-up we were promised Paul W.S. Anderson is just a terrible, but extremely commercial, director that just throws this on screen and hopes we like it. I don't, but the aliens and predators look ok . . . so I usually just turn my brain off while watching this.

Amazing Nurse Nanako (Vol 1-3) - I don't know why I got this. Must have been the humongous looking chest pillows that the titular character has. That, and it was on sale over at Buy.com when they were great about savings. This is anime, so naturally the wife hates it. I don't know what she's got against it. Oh well.

Amelie - This I bought for my wife, and then kinda started liking it. It's by french director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, who is a pretty great storyteller. You should check out on DVD "A Very Long Engagement" which is his follow up to this feature. I know he's done a couple of other things in between, but that movie is a true Juenet film. Good date movie, and that Aubrey Tatou is a bit on the cute side.

American Psycho - Christian Bale just did a great job in this movie. Really buy his crazy act. And don't you just love it when dudes drop chainsaws on fleeing hookers? Who else wants to split Jared Leto's brain with an ax?? Come on . . . I identify with the main character in this. Which means you should be scared.

Anchorman Unrated & Uncalled For - I think what's uncalled for is that little tag line they added to the title. Who are the marketing tools that came up with that. This movie made me laugh harder than any movie last year . . . in the theater. Upon repeat viewings, it looses a little bit of its bite . . . but it's Will Ferrel at his best. You know, pre-Bewitched.

Animatrix - I don't own any of the Matrix movies, except for this collection of animated shorts. I like them. They're way better than the two sequels the Matrix spawned.

Apocalypse Now Redux - Awesome Vietnam War movie. Martin Sheen when he looked like Charlie Sheen, Marlon Brando when he was just getting huge, a 16 year old Morpheus . . . this movie has a lot of things going for it. It took me about three days to watch this when I first got it. Not because I was bored and started doing other things. It's just an intense movie. Oh, and Dennis Hopper is in it . . . you really can't go wrong with Dennis Hopper.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Season 1 - 3) - What can one say about this Adult Swim series that hasn't been said yet. It fucking rules. I'm waiting for the fourth season which I will add to my collection. I have passing interest in all the other shows on Adult Swim, but this is the only "must-have" of the whole lot of them.

Arachnophobia - I usually have my wife kill spiders for me. She's not afraid of them. But this movie makes her antsy and anxious, which means it's doing it's job. She can feel spiders creeping up all over her. This is a horror classic. Not because it's particularly horrifying, just that spiders are so damn creepy and something like this is fairly plausible.

Armitage (1 & 2) - These were purchased during my heavy anime purchasing spree, which was coincidentally nullified by me getting married. Nothing of great importance other than Keifer Sutherland lending his voice talent in both of these movies. I think the chick from "Showgirls" does the voice of Armitage in the first one, and the retarded sister from "The Other Sister" does the voice in the second one. I wonder why Jesse from "Saved By The Bell" was too busy to reprise the role.

Army of Darkeness - Bruce Campbell is a man-god. His chin alone should get more work in Hollywood. This is an essential purchase if you're a fan of Sam Raimi's work. Get it.

Artificial Intelligence - I always knew Haley Joel Osment was a robot. Along with Dakota Fanning. This movie's a bit of a tear-jerker . . . if you're a pussy.

Austin Powers (all three of them) - I got this as a three pack, and it's an interesting study on how a good idea can be rapidly turned into crap on film. Buy these movies and compare the degradation in quality over the span of a couple of years. It's a bit sad actually. Mike Meyers is a funny guy, but it seems he got stuck in a sort of rutt. I hope he gets more work . . . that's not shagadelically-related.

That's the A's ladies and gentlemen. Now, I'm late for work. I hope you're happy, bitches.