3 New Arrivals

Nighty Night S1 [R2]
Wallace & Gromit in Three Amazing Adventures [R1]
Mallrats 10th Anniversay Extended Edition [R1]

As some readers will know, I've been waiting for Nighty Night on DVD for months. This really is A1 comedy at its darkest, with none of the comfort or formula or sit-coms like The Brady Bunch. The programme is full of events and jokes which are in "bad taste", but really, the programme and especially the main character Jill (written and played by Julia Davis) are so over-the-top that I don't really see how anyone can take offense. And despite the petty complaints, the bulk of Britain obviously agrees - Nighty Night was voted 'Best New TV Comedy' at the British Comedy Awards.

Well, the new Dreamworks' Wallace and Gromit DVD is a disappointment. Still, what else would be expect from Dreamworks who seem to have a trend for making disappointing DVDs these days (and then have the audacity to blame Pirates when their single disc Shrek 2 didn't meet sales expectations, and likewise when their overpriced international "1 ½" disc Shrek 2's undersold). The inclusion of the Cracking Contraption shorts is nice (but I already have the Aardman released DVD of these), but none of the previous special features are ported across. No real effort by Dreamworks was made to make a definitive Wallace and Gromit DVD, it's nothing more than a promo for the movie. And - sadly - that just about sums up too many DVD releases these days.

Incidently, the BBC have a new Wallace and Gromit DVD, which ports over the commentaries from the Warner/BBC R1 release (I'm pleased I have the Warner/BBC disc, because it stands head and shoulders over the Dreamworks release).

Finally Mallrats X (as I prefer to call it). As with Clerks X this is an essential purcase for any Kevin Smith fan. There's not actually that much new on the disc compared to the old Universal disc, but we do get a whole new cut of the movie (Yay!), A Mallrats Reunion Q&A (50 mins which plays like another session from An Evening With Kevin Smith and is just as funny) and other smaller odds and sods thrown in (including a second 'Making Of' to go with the original disc's 'Making Of').

The only downside is it comes on a DVD-18, and there's no new commentary on the extended cut. Still, its a lot more than a cynical re-release and is better than 99% of DVD releases these days.