It must be spring fever at the DVD stores as animation fans are treated to even more titles than they’ll have time to watch in real time. Out today are FUNimation’s Dragon Ball Z Vol. 51: Cell Games-Games Begin (Yes, we’re not kidding, that’s Volume 51–available for $24.95), Hello Kitty and Friends: Vol. 1: Fairy Tale Fantasy from ADV Films ($14.98), and Urban Entertainment’s Undercover Brother: The Animated Series ($14.99). Big Idea Productions also offers four new installments in its evergreen series, VeggieTales Classics, for $14.98 each.
Meanwhile, over at the live-action superhero/fantasy section of the store, you’ll be able to find the spanking-new second season of the hit WB series, Smallville, which chronicles the teenage-angst years of Clark Kent. Philip K. Dick fans may also want to check out Paycheck, the poorly reviewed adaptation of his futuristic tale which stars Uma Thurman and Ben Affleck and played for something like two weeks in theaters last December. Directed by John Woo, the film was universally panned by critics and general moviegoers alike, but it might be a good rental for a night when there are nothing but reruns and reality shows on TV.
In case the movie Troy whetted your appetite for the real story behind the pouty faces and killer digital visual effects, a 1985 BBC documentary series titled In Search of the Trojan War, with historian Michael Wood, may prove to be illuminating. Now that’s something for everyone, isn’t it?
