This week on DVD - October 20, 2009

Kicking off the DVD releases for this week is Time Life's massive Rock and Roll Hall of Fame collection, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live. This 9 disc collection boasts over 24 hours of inductions and performances by some of the greatest legends of rock and roll. On top of that, there is also 9 hours of extended footage -including backstage footage and rehearsals- along with a disc dedicated to the Concert at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

I wrote a rather extensive review of this set yesterday, in which you can read about the good and the bad about this set, so I encourage you to check that out to get all the details.

Performances on this set include:

AC/DC, Aerosmith, The Allman Brothers, The Band, Jeff Beck, Bee Gees, Chuck Berry, Blondie, Bon Jovi, Ruth Brown, Jackson Browne, Lindsey Buckingham, Eric Burdon, Jerry Butler, Solomon Burke, The Byrds, Johnny Cash, Chubby Checker, Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello, Cream, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Sheryl Crow, Bo Diddley, The Doors, Melissa Etheridge, Flea, Fleetwood Mac, John Fogerty, The Four Tops, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Green Day, Dave Grohl, Buddy Guy, Emmylou Harris, Dhani Harrison, Taylor Hawkins, Isaac Hayes, Don Henley, John Lee Hooker, Bruce Hornsby, The Isley Brothers, Etta James, Mick Jagger, Jefferson Airplane, Billy Joel, Kid Rock, B.B. King, Ben E. King, The Kinks, Jonny Lang, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Jeff Lynne, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Mamas & The Papas, Martha & the Vandellas, Dave Mason, Paul McCartney, Metallica, Stevie Nicks, The O’Jays, Roy Orbison, Jimmy Page, Parliament-Funkadelic, Joe Perry, Tom Petty, Wilson Pickett, The Pretenders, Prince, Queen, Bonnie Raitt, The Rascals, R.E.M., Lou Reed, The Righteous Brothers, Robbie Robertson, The Ronettes, Axl Rose, Santana, Percy Sledge, Soul Asylum, Bruce Springsteen, The Staple Singers, Patti Smith, Booker T. & the MG’s, James Taylor, Traffic, Tina Turner, U2, The Who, Ann & Nancy Wilson, Steve Winwood, Ron Wood, ZZ Top.

Of course, the big blockbuster release today is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I rather enjoyed this second installment to the Transformers franchise, but then again, it seems I enjoyed the first one more than the average fan as well. This film is being released in several different forms. You have your single disc DVD and Blu-ray, your two-disc DVD and Blu-ray, and also your DVD and Blu-ray "Two Movie Mega Collection" versions. You decide which one is right for you.

I think too many people today forget how to just turn their brain off and enjoy a good popcorn movie with lots of action; not every movie needs to have some message, a deep plot, or a lot of emotion to be enjoyable. But I digress. In liking this movie, there is a lot to hate about it as well. The robots themselves look great, Shia is his same comical witty character, Megan Fox is... tolerable, and the action sequences were a lot easier to follow this time around. Where this movie went wrong for me though -and in a big way- was with all the robot-related bathroom humor. I actually groaned at a lot of this low-brow humor. Not because I don't appreciate low-brow humor, but just because this wasn't the movie for it and it just wasn't funny.

Regardless, if you enjoyed the first Transformers, chances are you'll enjoy this one just as much, if not more. If you didn't like the first one, then I suggest skipping this all together, as opposed to seeing it, and the complaining about how bad it is (you know who you are).

We also have a stand-up comedy release from Comedy Central coming to DVD today with Greg Giraldo: Midlife Vices.

From my previous review of this DVD:

Giraldo is best known for his appearances on I believe every Comedy Central Roast. He tends to push the boundaries of insults during these roasts and usually steals the spotlight during his bits on these specials. I have seen all of these roasts and on all of them I have looked forward to seeing Giraldo's piece; he's insulting, crude, and always funny in these venues. This said, it makes it harder to say that Giraldo's latest hour of comedy is sub-par.

I have quite enjoyed this comedian's brand of humor on the Comedy Central Roasts, as well as on "Lewis Black's Root of All Evil", but for some reason he seems to be a bit toned down on his latest outing, and it doesn't serve him well. Not to say the special isn't without laughs, there are a few instances when I, along with the audience he was performing in front of, laughed pretty hard. I have heard -but I'm not sure if it's true- that Comedy Central gives quite a few notes on the subject matter of comedians when performing on behalf of the network, so perhaps this neutered version of Giraldo we get in Midlife Vices is a result of network interference. In either case though, Giraldo has been in much better form in his past stand up specials and appearances.

In all fairness, Greg Giraldo is a great socially critical comedian. Part of what I like so much about him is his ability to provide critical, finger-pointing commentary on current events and rarely travel the much beaten comedy path of gender differences and airline food. He's not afraid to talk about any topic and speak his often-funny mind on what he thinks about it. While Greg Giraldo: Midlife Vices isn't the comedian's best stuff, it's still probably better and smarter than a good majority of the comics that are out there, so I give this DVD a mild recommendation. That said though, if you want to hear what I think it Giraldo in much better form, check out his special from 2006, A Good Day to Cross a River.

*Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Live is available exclusively through Time Life