Demko's DVD shelf

To start off with anything else today would just be a crime. After years of sitting on the vault doors to keep them firmly shut, Georgie Lucas has finally released the theatrical versions of "A New Hope," "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" on DVD.

These three movies have had more impact on some people than any movie ever should, but put in proper perspective they're still pretty damn good. "Empire" stands the tallest, with "A New Hope" a close second and "Jedi" beginning the slide to what would come later.

There's not much I can tell you about these you don't already know. The main thing I remember is that we were on vacation in California when "Empire" came out, and my parents gave up most of a day so my brother and I could stand in line for what seemed like forever to see it. How could you not be hooked on movies after that?

Along with the theatrical versions, of course, you'll get Lucas' bastardization of each flick, side-by-side in dual disc format. I don't think my feelings toward his reworking of these great flicks will grow any warmer, but it will be interesting to view them together (so you can, of course, see Han shoot first, then Greedo.)

The supplements for each flick include a commentary by George Lucas, Carrie Fisher and others, a XBox Playable Game Demo and Lego game trailer.

Sure, Mr. Lucas has built up some ill will by sitting on these gems for so long, but just admit it; you'll be there right beside me, gobbling these up.

"Goal!" "The Miracle Match"

"Goal! The Dream Begins" is a movie so cheesy it should never work, but somehow it does, very well. The first in a planned trilogy, it stars Kuno Becker as Santiago Munez, a soccer-mad Latino in L.A. who gets scouted to join Newcastle United in England and suddenly finds himself in a whole new world. You can feel the implausability of it all as you're watching, but if you just give in to its infectious spirit, I guarantee you'll enjoy a rousing sports flick. This would have easily been my pick of the week if not for that certain other trilogy of flicks.

Supplements include "The Beautiful Game," a featurette about world soccer; "Behind the Pitch," a making-of featurette; the Happy Mondays music video "Playground Superstar," and a "Golden Moments of the FIFA World Cup" featurette ( I can only assume this won't include Zisou's disgraceful headbutt in the 2006 final - I think we've all finally seen enough of that.)

Soccer cheese of a much more rank variety is offered up in the rather putrid "The Miracle Match," which was once titled "The Game of Their Lives." By any name, it's a lousy flick that belittles one of the greatest accomplishments in U.S. soccer history, its 1-0 victory over England in group play of the 1950 World Cup. This is indeed one of history's greatest upsets, but it's only cheapened here with horrid acting and even worse storytelling. Avoid at all costs.

Inspector Lewis

I'm a sucker for PBS' Mystery series, and Inspector Morse was always one of my favorite gumshoes. Now that he's dead, his old partner Inspector Robert Lewis (Robert Whatley) walks the beat with a new partner.

This time, he's on the case of a murder in Oxford that may have ties to an old Inspector Morse case. It's as good as almost anything in the Mystery canon, and well worth a rental.


The Office - Season Two

I can still remember watching the pilot for the American version of "The Office" and just scratching my head. For those who may have forgotten or missed it, it was pretty much a word-for-word re-creation of the British show's pilot, and was just creepy to watch. Since this misstep, the series has distinguished itself in its own right as the funniest thing on TV right now (after the death of "Arrested Development.) Steve Carell was just robbed on Emmy night for his work here.

The season two set includes 22 episodes on four discs; commentary on 10 episodes by the actors, writers, directors and producers; deleted scenes; the "Faces of Scranton" video (from the episode "Valentine's Day"); fake PSAs; Webisodes from nbc.com and a blooper reel.

"TAPS - 25th Anniversary Special Edition"

I'm sure this one doesn't live up terribly well over time, but i'm still looking forward to seeing if I like it as much as I did when I was 11 years old.

For anyone who's forgotten, this one stars Timothy Hutton, Sean Penn and Tom Cruise as military academy cadets who take control of their school after they learn it's about to be closed and sold to a real estate developer, and George C. Scott (naturally) as the academy commander. It's all pretty ridiculous, but Penn's performance definitely shows he was well on the way to becoming a one-of-a-kind screen presence.

Supplements for this special edition include a commentary by director Harold Becker; "Sounding the Call to Arms: Mobilizing the Taps Generation" featurette; "The Bugler's Cry: The Origins of Playing Taps" featurette and TV spots.

"Beavis and Butt-Head Do America- Special Collector's Edition"

I've been railing to anyone unfortunate enough to be within earshot about the shoddy treatment of Mike Judge's "Idiocracy," but that's a different subject for a different time. Today's it's all about this very funny animated adventure, in which our two philosopher kings hit the road to find their stolen TV set. It's all extremely crude, of course, but what can I say ... I liked it quite a bit.

Supplements for this new edition include a commentary by director/creator Judge and animation director Yvette Kaplan; "The Big Picture" retrospective making-of segment; "We're Gonna Score!" featurette with Judge and composer John Frizzell; "The Smackdown" montage; "Celebrity Shorts"; TV spots and teaser trailers.

But enough from me for a Tuesday morning. I hope you found something here worth watching. Peace out.