Welcome back to another installment of Anime Talk! It's time once again to mull over the pile of anime that has come our way and tell you what's worth while, and what's not. The past couple of months have been kind of quiet on the anime release front, but I'm sure that will all change once convention season starts rolling around again (You may spot us at Anime Boston this year!). As you're undoubtedly already aware that's when publishers come out to drop licensing bombs on the masses. I just hope the economic chill doesn't impact the industry too much this year with regards to its stability. In any case this month we have reviews of the latest Dragon Ball releases from FUNimation, the newest release the great harem comedy Love, Hina, and our featured review of Akira on Blu-ray. Find all this and a whole lot more in this month's Anime Talk!

The wait is over. The costumed crime fighters are here. Indeed, the graphic novel sensation finally hits the big screen in the explosive, polarizing big screen adaptation Watchmen. DVD Talk critics Brian Orndorf and David Walker offer their thoughts on the antihero extravaganza. And a German man finds his life turned upside down in Tokyo in the outstanding drama Cherry Blossoms. Be sure to catch reviews of other recent Theatrical Films: Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, The Echelon Conspiracy, Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience, Friday the 13th, Madea Goes to Jail, Not Quite Hollywood, Fanboys, Coraline, Taken, and The Velveteen Rabbit. As always, we invite you to share your thoughts on films In Theaters in our Movie Talk Forum.

TV on DVD remains very popular with more and more favorites being released. New TV reviews include:  Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares - Complete Series One - A brilliant, and entertaining, restructuring of the TV cooking show format; Classic Sci-Fi TV - 150 Episodes - The shows range from fun and innocent to quite good and while there are a few duds most of the programs are well worth watching; and Tales from the Darkside: The First Season - a fun trip back to the eighties, even if it isn't all that frightening. Other shows recently reviewed include:  Doctor Who: Four to Doomsday, The Starter Wife: Season 1, and Just Shoot Me: The Complete Third Season.  Want more?  Check out all of the TV on DVD reviews in the DVDTalk database.

There are some great titles that have just been announced, including: The Closer: The Complete Fourth Season - Kyra Sedgwick returns as the tough and very wiley detective Brenda Leigh Johnson in the fourth season of this excellent show. It arrives on DVD 5-26-09; the crew of the Enterprise boldly go where they've never gone before when Star Trek: Original Series - Season 1 arrives on Blu-ray on 4-28-09; and one of Pixar's best films comes to Blu-ray when Monsters, Inc. screams into stores on 5-19-09. Keep track of all the upcoming DVDs with the DVDTalk Release List.

This week the DVD Savant has a number of new reviews including: Being There (Blu-ray) - Peter Sellers' nearly last role is probably his best. Hal Ashby keeps this ultimate Shaggy Dog Story going far beyond reasonable expectations. It's a droll, odd comedy that gathers laughs like a snowball gathers snow; The Silver Chalice - Paul Newman made his film debut in this awkward Biblical epic starring Virginia Mayo, Pier Angeli and Jack Palance as a false Messiah who thinks he can fly. A bona fide camp classic with of the weirdest and funniest art direction in movie history; and Amadeus Director's Cut (Blu-ray) - F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce star in Milos Forman's film version of Peter Shaffer's play. A strikingly entertaining production that transcends issues of inappropriate accents and historical inaccuracies. Read all this and more in this week's DVD Savant.

Some solid releases are making their way to store shelves this week. The top titles include: Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic [review] - arguably the best comic story ever, this motion comics offer up a unique presentation of the material that is just about as faithful as anything short of a reprint could be; Australia [1st review, 2nd review]- an epic with true epic intentions and execution, reinvesting in patient storytelling and widescreen magnetism; and In the Electric Mist [review]- James Lee Burke's famous police detective Dave Robicheaux comes to the big screen once again in a film that has the feel of a classic detective movie. Other releases of note include:  Beverly Hills Chihuahua [Blu-ray review], From the Basement [review], and Wonder Woman [ Blu-ray review]. Be sure to check out our DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

This week the DVD Talk Review Database has some great new entries, including some discs you may have overlooked. Recent DVD Reviews include: Murnau - this set of six silent films from F.W. Murnau is an essential collection for cinema fans; Yentl [2nd review] - a love story, a philosophical discussion, and a tale of empowerment all rolled into one; and Primal Fear - a skillfully-made thriller, tightly constructed and marvelously performed by a top-notch cast. Other recent reviews include: Assault on Precinct 13, Faces - Criterion Collection, and Diary of a Tired Black Man.  Visit the DVD Talk Review Database for all the latest reviews including an entire section devoted to reviews of DVDs out this week.

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