Sorry for the delay, but we should be caught up by next week!
Like a well coiffed mullet. Business in the front, party in the back…
America: The Story of Us
A&E Home Video/Running Time 720 minutes
A collection of the History Channel’s 12 part mini-series that encapsulated 400 years of American history with reenactments, CGI sequences, interviews and celebrity talking heads. The series begins with an introduction by President Obama, and then segues into the origins of the country. While the series is tremendously entertaining and extremely fast paced, it seems as if it’s producers focused on attracting a younger viewer with the intent of presenting the material in a format that they might be engaged in. This series could have easily been two to three times as long and still couldn’t cover everything as well as it should. Narrator Liev Schreiber does an excellent job narrating the patriotic series and despite it’s limitations, it is definitely worth watching and really is a must have for families with school age children. Extras include several additional sequences. Recommended.
The Big Bang Theory: The Complete Third Season
Warner Home Video/Running Time 529 minutes
In it’s third season, The Big Bang Theory continues to feel as fresh as ever. Not only is it tremendously funny, but unlike most series that discuss various geek obsessions, all of their information is accurate! The season begins with a resolution from the previous year’s cliffhanger and Leonard and Penny’s relationship is often a focus, their break-up occurred so subtly, I had to go back and confirm that’s what actually had happened. The chemistry between the ensemble is phenomenal and the occasional guest appearance ( Wil Wheaton, in particular) actually enhance the episode rather than distract from it. The Big Bang Theory is smart, funny and real; what more do you need? Extras include a featurette, gag reel and a set tour. Highly recommended.
Fringe: The Complete Second Season
Warner Home Video/Running Time 1012 Minutes
This season spent the first half virtually ignoring the mythology established the prior year before kicking into high gear. In some respects, the pattern established closely follows The X-Files with both the plots rotating from series mythology to monster of the week and the increasing sexual dynamic between it’s leads. The main difference, however, is that Fringe appears to actually understand the mythology that it’s developing. John Noble shines as Walter Bishop, who as the season progresses, starts to crack as the secrets that he’s been keeping for over two decades begin to weigh him down. Fringe is uneven, going from atypical enterainment to intricate and challenging television. While the series isn’t an easy recommendation for a casual viewer, if you’re up for the commitment (you should watch the first season as well), it won’t be a disappointment. Extras include commentaries, featurettes, and a previously unreleased first season episode. Fringe is smart science fiction, dealing with both ideas and their ramifications and a must for any genre fan.
Glee: The Complete First Season
Fox/Running Time 1045 Minutes
I think I get it. It’s a universe where people not only break into song, but when they do, no once reacts to it as unusual.
I came in late to the Glee club and thought that while the first season is tremendously entertaining, it already suffers from the results of phenomena and is already starting to show it’s hairline cracks. Although I’m a huge fan of Jane Lynch, I find her Glee character, Sue Sylvester quickly becoming a parody of itself and it’s talented, diverse cast reminded me too much of the Burger King Kids Club. The series also stumbles a bit with it’s theme episodes, but at the same time, it is introducing it’s tween audience to classic rock and Broadway standards. It’s certainly not a series to attack in a few mini-marathon sittings, but it is extremely charming in episodic doses. The exhaustive extras include featurettes, casting tapes, karaoke, interviews, video diaries and more. Glee: The Complete First Season is light, fun and catchy, which is all it really needs to be.
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 5
Fox/Running Time 372 Minutes
The most politically incorrect and possibly funniest series on television continued with it’s trend of offensive hilarity using this season to tackle (attack) everything from the mortgage crisis to supporting our troops to the recession.
The characters are mean, vain, abusive, soulless, narcissistic, evil, violent, crude, angry, homophobic, racist, homoerotic, clever, stupid, sexist, scheming, emotionally crippled, loud, illiterate (just Charlie), delusional and disloyal. These are bad people doing really not nice things. All of the time. From Dennis’ D.E.N.N.I.S. system of treating women horribly so they’ll love him more to ruining the life of a fellow bar owner after being excluded from a flip cup competition, the gang couldn’t be more entertaining. If you don’t find this season funny, you might very well be a good person. Extras include commentaries, deleted/extended scenes, theme song remix video, Kitten Mittens Loop, The Gang’s Dating Profile and the pilot episode to the animated series, Archer. Highly recommended.
Janeane Garofalo: If You Will, Live in Seattle
Image/Running Time 65 Minutes
I used to love Janeane Garofalo.
Everything I used to find charming and smart and funny about her is pretty long gone based on her stand-up as presented in this performance. What was once a fresh and insightful voice, has become angry and self-important. Instead of smart, Garofalo has decided to litter her language with the most pretentious vocabulary this side of Dennis Miller, which only further widens the divide between her and the audience. Extras are two brief unfunny sketches.
Garofalo mentions at the beginning of the set an encounter with a Starbucks barista who said to her, “”No offense, but you look like Janeane Garofalo! What ever happened to her?”
I’m wondering the same thing.
The League: The Complete Season One
Fox/Running Time 209 Minutes
I’m not a sports fan, and in particular, I really don’t understand the appeal of football. Which proves you don’t need to be a fan to embrace the fantasy football league that’s the basis of The League. With a far too brief 6-episode first season, The League hits the ground running, introducing the characters who are in their fifth season playing fantasy football and letting this obsession dictate their lives; letting it affect relationships, family and work. One of the things that makes The League so relatable is that Fantasy Football could easily be substituted for another geek obsession that one share’s with a small group of friends. The chemistry of the cast comes across easily. You will believe that these people are friends and like it’s sister program on FX, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, it’s hard not to be charmed by fairly awful people doing some occasionally fairly awful things. Extras include both regular and extended versions of every episode, deleted scenes, featurettes, a blooper reel, the Archer pilot, as well as extended versions of all of Taco’s songs and a parody infomercial. Recommended!
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Walt Disney Home Video/Running Time 116 Minutes
It has become increasingly apparent with this release that my taste in big summer tentpole movies isn’t what it used to be. Based on the successful video game, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a Jerry Bruckheimer produced “event” that is one of the worst films I’ve seen in recent memory. The characters are unlikeable (and in some cases, racist. Always good for a popcorn pic); but even worse, the talented Mike Newell directs a dull and incredibly stupid film littered with abundant CGI and bad dialogue. What’s even more distressing is that the film is littered with a gifted cast including Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Gemma Arterton and Alfred Molina who are all wasted in a feeble attempt to recapture the success of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. This film is 116 minutes of your life that won’t ever get back. Extras are a behind the scenes featurette.
Sherlock Holmes: Faces Death / In Washington (Double Feature)
MPI Home Entertainment/Running Times 72 Minutes / 68 Minutes
Featuring a beautifully restored print, this double feature isn’t without it’s faults, but is a pretty fun viewing experience. Both films feature who many people consider the definitive Holmes and Watson, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, and for that reason alone it’s worth a viewing. Sherlock Holmes Faces Death is the more faithful and entertaining of the two pictures, putting the characters in a mystery set on a foggy night in an old English manor with a hidden treasure and a creepy butler. Sherlock Holmes is Washington, takes the detective out of his familiar time period and and has him fighting spies during World War II in a feature reminiscent of the cliffhanger serials of the period. With a renewed interest in the character (in no small part due to both the BBC series and the Robert Downey interpretation), it’s nice to see more classic interpretations available. Extras include a commentary track on each film by Holmes historian David Stuart Davies. If you’re a fan of classic cinema, this collection is a very entertaining way to spend an evening.
Starcrash
Shout! Factory/Running Time 92 Minutes
For a horrible movie, Starcrash might very well be one of the best viewing experiences of recent memory. As part of Shout! Factory’s Corman’s Cult Classics Collection, Starcrash is an Italian rip-off of Star Wars that will actually bring a smile to your cynical face. A grindhouse picture in the best possible sense, Starcrash features campy performances, a nonsensical plot and garish production design. But, it has heart. Seriously. At no point watching this film do you feel that you aren’t experiencing a labor of love. And it’s the acting debut of David Hasselhoff, who delivers the best performance in the movie. Starcrash is an experience not to be missed and an immediate must have for any cinegeek. Like previous Corman releases, Shout! Factory has packed this one to the gills. Extras include commentaries, trailers, TV and radio spots, interviews, featurettes, photo galleries, deleted/alternate/extended scenes, behind the scenes footage and a PDF of the screenplay!
