Of Bloodlust, Bender and Shameless Self Promotion

It’s been one of those weeks for sure. With stress coming at me from all angles, I’ve been in need of some DVD therapy. Sure, unwinding with some good ol’ fashioned Grand Theft Auto usually does the trick, but when you’re coming home from work after 9 p.m., I dare you to have the energy to enter the weapons cheat and commit copious amounts of digital crime before passing out controller-in-hand. No, I needed some scripted, passive mayhem. I needed Rambo.

I don’t know if any of you have seen the awkwardly titled Rambo (it’s actually the fourth in the series following Rambo III, so mull over that for a while) but it’s 91 minutes of pure HGH-infused gore-porn awesomeness. Sly kicks a whole lot of ass, straight and simple.

So yeah, I got it into my shiny noggin that Rambo would do me good this week. I ventured into Best Buy and was surprised to learn that, earlier this week, the latest Futurama straight-to-DVD feature, The Beast with a Billion Backs had hit shelves. Funny, I thought, I really enjoy Futurama when I catch it on Comedy Central (and formerly on Cartoon Network), but I’d never purchased any of the boxed sets. But there they were at the reasonable price of $20 a pop. Naturally, I put my vicarious bloodlust on hold in favor of marathon sessions of Fry, Leela, Bender and the gang. It was the best $80 (plus tax) I’ve spent in a long while. Laughter trumps violence. Who knew?

Like Arrested Development, I’ve always thought of Futurama as one of those really intelligent shows that Fox saw fit to can after just a few seasons for no good reason. Perhaps they’re allergic to brilliance, or perhaps they thought we’d be more into dog shit like So You Think You Can Dance? in lieu of good writing.

Speaking of good writing (shameless plug) be sure to check out my Broken Frontier preview of the upcoming Warner Bros. straight-to-DVD feature Batman: Gotham Knight, which hits shelves and On Demand digital cable on July 8.