By Peter Covino
Entertainmenet Editor

I am in Blu-ray heaven.
How else can you describe a DVD week that includes both the original Toy Story and Toy Story 2 plus the complete Lord of the Rings Trilogy making their Blu-ray debuts.

Both Toy Story films (Walt Disney Home Entertainment) are Blu-ray/DVD combo packs, so you can watch the movie on a standard player if you don’t have a Blu-ray.
I hadn’t watched either Toy Story film in a while and forgot just how good they are.

Both films are really special — adults can appreciate the nostalgic feel, while kids enjoy it as a great story for youngsters.

But there is no doubt, John Lasseter and his crew were also aiming these now classic films at an adult audience as well. There is no mistaking Bo Peeps (Woody’s girlfriend) intentions when she tells Woody “What would you say if I get someone else to watch the sheep for me tonight,” and then tells him he knows where to find her, “I’m only a few blocks away,” as she walks past some children’s lettered play blocks.

It is hard to believe that it has been ten years since Pixar released Toy Story, the first feature length computer animated film. And Toy Story, and the sequel look as good in Blu-ray as any other computer animated film out there.
Of course, everybody knows that is Tom Hanks and Tim Allen providing the voices of Woody and Buzz Lightyear, but don’t forget the talented cast also includes Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head, Annie Potts as Bo Peep and John Ratzenberger as Hamm. And that is Joan Cusack as Jessie on Toy Story 2.

Both DVDs also include a sneak peak of Toy Story 3, which comes to theaters June 18.
Both special editions are loaded with bonus features including:
Toy Story
Paths to Pixar — the artists, in a series of shorts, talk about their career path and give advice to aspiring filmmakers.
Studio Stories — anecdotes on life at Pixar.
John’s Car — Director Lasseter talks about driving his beat-up car even after the film’s success.
Scooter Races — A scooter race around the studio with Lasseter and other Pixar employees.
Buzz Takes Manhattan — Footage from Buzz Light-year’s premiere at the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade.

Toy Story 2
Paths to Pixar — the artists, in a series of shorts, talk about their career path and give advice to aspiring filmmakers.
Studio Stories — anecdotes on life at Pixar.
Sleep Deprivation Lab — An inside look at the intense time pressure Toy Story 2 editors had to deal with.
Studio Stories Pinocchio — The toy throwing competition between animators.
The Movie Vanishes — How a technical error almost erased all of Toy Story 2 from the computer system.

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You still have to wait about ten more days until the April 6 release date of Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy Blu-ray (Warner Bros. Home Video), but it will definitely be worth the wait.
The shire has never looked lovelier and Sauron and his multitude of armies have never been this menacing on the home screen. It is movies like Lord of the Rings that having HDTV and a Blu-ray player are all about.

The box set also includes digital copies of all three movies for easy portable viewing of the films.
This is the set to get, unless you have to have the extended versions of all three films. Yes, they are scheduled for a Blu-ray release as well, on a date yet to be announced. But only the fussiest of Hobbits will want to wait.

The trilogy box is a nine-disc set and includes seven hours of special features. Add to that the approximate nine hours of the Lord of the Rings movies, and you know how you are to going to spend that first Saturday after you make the purchase.

Chances are with three great movies (which one is best, really tough question, but I have to go with The Return of the King), you may never make it through all the bonus features for each film. Most of the bonus features have been included earlier with the standard DVD trilogy set or individual movie discs.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Bonuses for the first film, which won four Academy Awards, include:
The feature shorts Welcome to Middle-Earth; Quest for the Ring and A Passage to Middle-Earth.
The featurettes Finding Hobbiton, Languages of Middle-Earth, Music of Middle-Earth, Two Wizards and more.
Plus there are interviews with Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler and Ian McKellen.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Bonuses for the second film, which won two Oscars ,include:
On the Set “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”
The features Starz Encore Special: Return to Middle-earth and WB Special
”The Long and Short of It.”
The featurettes Forces of Darkness, Designing the Sounds of Middle-earth, Creatures of Middle-earth, The Battle of Helm’s Deep and Bringing Gollum to Life.

The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Bonuses for the film, which won 11 Academy Awards, include:
The features The Quest Fullfilled: A Director’s Vision, A Filmmaker’s Journey: Making “The Return of the King,” and the National Geographic Special - “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”
Featurettes include Ara-gorn’s Destiny, The Battle of Pelennor Fields and Samwise the Brave.
 For gaming enthusiasts, Interactive Entertainment’s The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest also will be released soon. The game will include a $10 coupon off the purchase of the Blu-ray trilogy. The trilogy will include a $5 coupon off the purchase of the game.
You also can save on the $99.98 list price of the trilogy by ordering on line at WBshop.com. The pre-order price is only $69.95 and shipping is free.

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Warner Bros. has several “new” classic films on DVD at the Warner Archive Collection, available online. There are currently more than 150 titles in the collection, drawn from both theatrical and TV releases, and that list will be expanding in the coming months. Titles also can be purchased as a digital download.

The list is way too long to mention them all, but I previewed three titles: The Deadly Tower, a made-for-TV movie starring a young Kurt Russell as University of Texas tower sniper Charles Whitman; The Crowded Sky, an early “Airport” movie, with Dana Andrews and a plane full of stars on a collision course with another plane (with Troy Donahue inside); and The Deliberate Stranger, a well-made two part made-for-TV movie about Ted Bundy, starring Mark Harmon.
These are no frills DVDs, with no bonus features and no elaborate packaging, but if you want an inexpensive way to add titles to your collection, the Warner site is a great place. They also have special discounts on titles as well.
 

Regular prices for titles are $19.95; digital downloads are $14.95.
To see the complete list of classic (and some not so classic films, but that is what makes it interesting) go to www.WarnerArchive.com.

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MVD Entertainment Group, a great source for music documentaries and movies, has released...well an interesting at least, movie from 1979, Blank Generation.
The acting is awful and the story isn’t much better, but if you like the punk era, Blank Generation is definitely one of a kind. Starring Richard Hell of the Voidoids, it’s the story of Billy (Hell) as an up and coming punk star, his struggles with the music business and his relationship with Nada (Carol Bouquet, who like Hell also cannot act). The weird back story involves an elusive interview with Andy Warhol who finally shows up and acts weird, even for Warhol.

There is a pretty straight-forward interview with Hell on the DVD and (he doesn’t look much like a punker these days) pretty much sums up the mess that Blank Generation is as a movie. But as a piece of punk music history, it is pretty good. There are musical performances by the Voidoids at the legendary punk mecca CBGB’s in New York City. And some great shots of the city itself, including a lingering shot of the World Trade Towers, shot from a ferry boat.
If you can’t find this at retailers, a very likely scenario, you also can buy it online at http://www.seeofsound.com/p.php?s=MVDV4823.