As the holidays approach, the number of seasonal releases increases and this week has more than its share of Christmas-themed sagas such as a motion-capture version of Dickens' A Christmas Carol as well as movies and TV series packaged specifically for gift giving.

 

Theatrical

 

There are seasonal entries in most categories this week led by Disney’s motion-capture version of Dickens' holiday chestnut A Christmas Carol (Disney, “PG,” $29.99, BD $49.99).  Though the expensive $200 million production earned only $137 million domestically, it will likely be very popular on DVD.  Director Robert Zemeckis (Beowulf) is the leading practitioner of motion-capture moviemaking, but the jury is still out on the strange, often distancing effect created by the bizarre verisimilitude of this video game-like technology.  The four-disc Blu-ray edition comes with both 2-D and 3-D versions of the film, though you need a 3-D TV to enjoy the extra dimension.

 

Fox and James Cameron are obviously intent on profiting from the holiday season with a second DVD edition of the megahit Avatar.  The Avatar: Three-Disc Extended Collector’s Edition (Fox, “PG-13,” $34.98, BD $54.99) includes both the “special edition re-release” with 8 minutes of additional footage as well as the “collector’s extended cut” that bloats the movie’s running time by 16 minutes.  But unlike A Christmas Carol, the new Blu-ray Avatar does not include the 3-D treatment that made Cameron’s eco-epic such a visual treat—Fox is undoubtedly waiting to triple-dip with a 3-D Avatar release, which might not be out until Christmas 2011 when presumably more folks will have 3-D capable TV sets.

 

Speaking of Avatar, the prominence of James Cameron’s film forced M. Night Shyamalan to lose the “Avatar” portion of the title of his live action film based on the hit Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender.  Paramount’s much maligned The Last Airbender (“PG,” $29.98, BD $39.98) managed to overcome lousy reviews and earn $318 million at the worldwide box office.  Critics didn’t get it, adults didn’t like it, but the kids who loved the animated series turned out in droves for the live action film, which will probably also do quite well on video.  The Last Airbender movie definitely drove sales of related books, toys, and comics, and these ancillary products should get some sort of a holiday boost from the DVD release as well.

 

There are a couple of very interesting indie releases this week including Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right (Focus, “R,” $29.98, BD $39.98), a nuanced and novelistic modern family saga about the two teenagers of a lesbian couple who decide to contact their biological father, an action that brings about some unexpected consequences.  Equally interesting and even more offbeat is The Extra Man (Magnolia, “R,” $26.98, BD $29.98), which features Kevin Kline, Paul Dano, and Katie Holmes in a quirky comedy of manners about a disgraced English teacher who moves to New York and reinvents himself as an escort for wealthy ladies from the Upper East Side.

 

TV on DVD

 

Just in time for the holidays comes Heroes: The Complete Series (Universal, “G.” standard DVD only $199.98), which includes all 77 episodes of the superhero serial drama that took TV by storm during its first season, but then foundered in the wake of the writer’s strike.  Bonus features include the never-aired series premiere, an alternate ending to the Season 2 finale, plus behind-the-scenes features with the creators, cast, and crew.

 

Another key release for fans of great genre TV is The Twilight Zone: Season 2 (Image Entertainment, 749 min., $99.98), which contains some of the groundbreaking series’ best episodes including “Nightmare at Ground Zero,” “The Invaders" (a brilliant one-woman show featuring Agnes Moorhead), “Long Distance Call” (Billy Mumy), “Eye of the Beholder,” “The Silence,” and “Night of the Meek” to name just a few.

 

The popular TV series Glee is now available in a special Glee: Season 1 Gift Set (Fox, 1073 min., $59.98), which includes an exclusive Glee journal as well as special Glee Karaoke and Glee Jukebox features. 

 

Continuing series out this week include the classic courtroom drama Perry Mason: The 5th Season, Vol.2 (Paramount, 773 min., $49.99) and Mr. Ed: The Complete 4th Season (Shout Factory, 500 min., $39.99) the vintage sitcom featuring everybody’s favorite garrulous equine.

 

Animated releases include the Peanuts Deluxe Holiday Collection (Warner Bros., 250 min., BD $69.98), which contains the three major Charlie Brown holiday specials in new re-mastered Blu-ray editions, the holiday-themed Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol (Classic Media, 52 min., $19.98), and the single-disc SpongeBob SquarePants: Legends of Bikini Bottom (Nickelodeon, 68 min., $19.98).

 

The best TV on DVD documentary of the week is the Blu-ray edition of the classic 1973 U.K. history of World War II, The World At War: The Complete Series (A&E, $149.98).

 

Anime

 

It’s another light week for anime releases, but there are some interesting DVDs coming out including Our Home’s Fox Deity Vol.1 Premium Edition (NIS, “13+,” 310 min., $59.99), which includes the first half of the 24-episode anime series from Zexcs that was based on a series of light novels by Jin Shibamura and aired in Japan in 2008.  This shonen comedy/fantasy centers on a mischievous fox deity who can appear as male or female at any time.

 

Also based on a series of light novels and even more interesting is Taisho Baseball Girls Complete Collection (Sentai Filmworks, “13+,” 300 min., $49.98).  Produced by J.C. Staff, Taisho Baseball Girls aired in Japan in 2009 and is one of the relatively rare anime series to tackle social issues—in the case of this historical drama set in 1925 it is a group of girls who decide to break gender stereotypes by playing baseball at a time when the game was synonymous with “what boys do” and even running was considered too vulgar for Japanese women.

 

The other new anime release of the week is Hayate: The Combat Butler Vol.7 (Bandai, “13+,” 150 min., $39.99), which includes 6 additional episodes from the 52-episode anime based on Kenjiro Hata’s manga series (published here by Viz Media).

 

This week’s only Blu-ray anime release is Voltron: Fleet of Doom (Media Blasters, “13+,” 45 min., $19.95), a TV special that was created to bridge the gap between Lion Force Voltron, which was based on the GoLion anime series, and Vehicle Force Voltron, which was based on the entirely separate (from GoLion) anime, Armored Fleet Dairugger XV.  Fleet of Doom was not included in any of the Voltron sets released by Media Blasters, but it was issued on regular DVD in 2009—needless to say, it should look a lot better on Blu-ray.

 

The lone re-priced, re-packaged bargain release of the week is Initial D Stage 1, Part 2 (Funimation, “13+,” 300 min., $29.98), a re-mastered edition of the street racing anime series initially released here in the U.S. by Tokyopop.