Any serious fan of Walt Disney and his films who owns a DVD player should be aware of the Walt Disney Treasures series by now.  If not, you are truly missing out.  The Walt Disney Treasures DVD sets are 2-disc Limited Editions presenting rare Disney shows along with bonus features that go into the making and history behind each program.  The two new Zorro Treasures releases break the 2-disc rule and include 6 discs in each set, containing the entire series-run, along with plenty of fun extras.  I am very glad that the entire seasons are included.  It could have been easy for these sets to be released with just a small sampling of each season, staying with the 2-disc formula.  Thank you Walt Disney Home Video for not taking the easy way out and giving us the entire run of Walt Disney’s Zorro! More after the jump:

Zorro was filmed in glorious black and white, and is presented on this set looking fantastic, crisp and clear.  The series was colorized, very well by the way, for airing on the Disney Channel in the 1980’s, so it was possible that it could have been included that way here, but the original black and white is presented.  The total running time is over 18 hours on each set, or 39 half-hour segments on each.  Season 1 features the bonus two-part one-hour specials called Zorro: El Bandito and Zorro: Adios El Cuchillo as was shown on Walt Disney’s anthology series Walt Disney Presents.  And season 2 contains the other two the one-hour specials, entitled Zorro: The Postponed Wedding and Zorro: Auld Acquaintance.

All the Treasures sets are packaged in a double-disc clamshell housed in a silver tin case and individually numbered.  Does this add intrinsic value?  I guess so.   Most importantly these tins fit into your DVD shelf and are not useless, made with over sized packaging like many other sets have been.  When the over sizing happens, these cases go straight into the dumpster.  In any case, the Treasures metal case does make the series feel unique and perhaps even special, and the Zorro set has a new unique look: instead of a silver case, it is encased in a shiny black tin case…cool.

These packaging details I could possibly do without, but the content contained on each of sets I could not. On each Treasures set, film historian Leonard Maltin introduces the shows and explains, in-depth, the history of the production.  Happily, Zorro once again features Mr. Maltin.  In the season 2 features, A Trip to the Archives is illuminating.  Leonard and Guy Williams Jr. (yes, Guy Williams son) examine some of the impressive original Zorro costumes saved by the Disney Archivists.  Next, Leonard and Guy explore one of the best Zorro gatherings of products in the world, also a part of the Walt Disney Archives Collection.  It is a visual explosion of color to see this rare 50’s era collection of Zorro merchandise that was assembled in the early 70’s by Disney’s Chief Archivist and Disney Legend Dave Smith.  Two documentaries about Zorro were produced for these sets.  Set 1 features a look at making the Zorro series while set 2 contains a fantastic tribute to Guy Williams.  Guy Williams is just magical as Zorro, and it has been said this was the role he was born to play.  His charm is infectious, and you can see why he is considered my many to be simply the best Zorro in entertainment history.

The Treasures Series are pressed in low print runs, and many past Walt Disney Treasures titles are now very hard to come by.  These sets command an impressive price tag on the secondary market, so it’s best to get them ASAP.  If you have any interest in a seeing Walt Disney’s Zorro, get them at retail price before this set is big bucks.  Oh yeah, and if nothing else these sets just may be sought after for the collectible pin alone that each set includes.  If you are not familiar with Disney pin collectors, they mean business and are serious about collecting Disney pins.  So don’t get “stuck” with out these excellent Disney television classics.

I am an anglophile.  I will own up to that straight out of the gate.  I grew up watching every BBC program offered by my local PBS station.  That’s how I came to start my lifelong relationship with Monty Python.  That’s where my fascination with Red Dwarf began.  That’s how I came across Rowan Atkinson’s gem of a series Black Adder.  Brit humor fans click to find more after the jump.

I was shocked, utterly dismayed actually, by the number of my friends who consider themselves pop culture princes and princesses and yet weren’t familiar with the masterpiece that is Black Adder.  For those similarly uninitiated, Black Adder encompasses four series, each series containing six episodes a piece.  Each series is set in a specific time period and follows the Blackadder that lives during that age.  While the exact characters differ between series the actor and name stays consistent.  With me so far?

The Black Adder finds Edmund Blackadder, in the time of the War of the Roses, beheading King Richard the Third and setting into events that lead his father, the lesser known, Richard IV to the throne.   This season was written by Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson.

Blackadder II finds us following Edmund, Lord Blackadder, a nobleman in Queen Elizabeth I’s court.  Competition comes in the form of Lord Melchett, but mostly, Blackadder tries to keep his head by keeping Elizabeth pleased.  This season and those that follow are written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton.

Blackadder the Third finds Blackadder as a servant to a pompous, ineffectual Prince Regent George.  Blackadder tries to keep his pockets full and that entails keeping his boss in power.

Blackadder Goes Forth finds Captain Edmund Blackadder in World War I in a trench as he works to spoil any plans for going over the top and leading his men to the inevitable slaughter that would be.

The cast is ridiculously talented and headed by the constant performances of Black Adder Rowan Atkinson and his dim sidekick, Tony Robinson’s Baldrick.  Rowan Atkinson is commonly known to American audiences as Bean and to a lesser degree the best part of the film Rat Race and the titular Johnny English.  Foils to the duo are Stephen Fry’s (V for Vendetta) Melchett, Hugh Laurie’s (House) George, and Tim McInnerny’s Darling. Miranda Richardson (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Sleepy Hollow) leant the female touch to the series in the form of recurring Elizabeths.  Brian Blessed (Flash Gordon) gives boisterous life to Richard IV in The Black Adder.  Rik Mayall (Drop Dead Fred, The Young Ones) literally steals the show in the first episode of Blackadder II as Flashpants.

AUDIO/VIDEO/EXTRAS

The entire series comes packaged on six DVDs.  Discs One through Four contain the four seasons of Black Adder.  Each disc has episode and scene selection, Play All functionality, optional subtitles and “Footnotes to History” (also on Disc Five).  The “Footnotes to History” help place each incarnation of Blackadder into a historical context.  This is especially helpful as an ignorant American viewer.

Disc One

Commercial for the collected Black Adder, Are You Being Served?, Fawlty Towers and Keeping Up Appearances

Commercial for BBC America

Disc Two

Commercial for “Little Britain” on DVD

Commentary on “Bells” by Ben Elton, Richard Curtis and John Lloyd

Commentary on “Money” by Tony Robinson and Tim McInnerny

Commentary on “Chains” by Stephen Fry

Disc Three

Commercial for “Clatterford” on DVD

Commentary on “Ink and Incapability” by Rowan Atkinson and John Lloyd

Commentary on “Amy and Amiability” by Ben Elton, Richard Curtis and John Lloyd

Commentary on “Duel and Duality” by Stephen Fry

Disc Four

Commercial for “Father Ted” on DVD

Commentary on “Major Star” by Tony Robinson and Tim McInnerny

Commentary on “Goodbyeee” by Rowan Atkinson and John Lloyd

Disc Five

Commercial for “The League of Gentlemen” on DVD

“Blackadder’s Christmas Carol” — the forty-five minute special follows the kindhearted Ebenezer Blackadder as well as Christmas with the Blackadders through the years out into the far future. The moral from the original is twisted to indicate that being bad will ultimately benefit the Blackadder line.  Jim Broadbent and Robbie Coltrane join the regular recurring cast.

“Back and Forth” — Widescreen — thirty-three minutes — the Blackadder of 1999 shows his friends a time machine and gets them to wager against its authenticity.  It is a scam, but Baldrick had built it precisely off of Da Vinci’s specifications and it proves to be a working example.  Colin Firth as William Shakespeare, Rik Mayall as Robin Hood, Kate Moss as Maid Marian make guest appearances.

“The Cavalier Years” — fifteen minutes of Blackadder set in 1648 with Blackadder and Baldrick in doomed support of King Charles.

“Baldrick’s Video Diary” –  Widescreen — Thirty minutes — documentary shot about the making of “Back and Forth”.  Scenes from “Back and Forth” are interspliced with production footage and interviews.
Disc Six

Commercial for “Men Behaving Badly”

Blackadder Rides Again — a reflective documentary that touches base with the cast and creative’s.  Includes a short clip from the previously never before seen Pilot.  They address everything dealing with the series including how they might have been a bit off-base with the lead character of Blackadder for series one quickly recovering for series two.

Interviews with: Rowan Atkinson, Stephen Fry, Richard Curtis & Ben Elton, Tony Robinson, Miranda Richardson, Hilary Bevan Jones, Hugh Laurie and Rik Mayall.

“Costumes Revisited” — featurette with Miranda Richardson, Tony Robinson, Tim McInnerny and Patsy Byrne (Nursie) go back to the BBC and examine both the costumes and the stage on which “Black Adder” was shot.

FINAL WORDS:

Having this, Black Adder Remastered: The Ultimate Edition, in my hands brings a smile to my face and heart.  It will do the same to yours, newcomer or Adder fan alike.  The series gets better as it goes on and leaves with Black Adder Goes Forth on a high note.  Ample extras make the use of “Ultimate” in the title an apt description.  Now, if only I could get my hands on an Ultimate Red Dwarf…

FINAL GRADE: A

The writing team of John Cleese and his then-wife Connie Booth probably put more sweat and brain power into constructing each sublime, chaotic, farcical half hour of Fawlty Towers than many writers expend on a full-length feature film.  The manic design of the now-legendary 12 episode British series remains awe-inspiring, and is still one of a handful of gold standards against which to measure other television comedy.  Read the full review after the jump.

A newly-remastered 3 disc boxed set of Fawlty from BBC Video is happily more than just another excuse to coax die-hard fans into shelling out for a glorified reissue.  The new transfers of the programs look and sound great, and the set is jam-packed with extras and commentary which, at their best, really do enhance the experience of revisiting this classic post-Python solo offering.  Of the individual shows, very little can be said, other than that they are models of comedic construction, timing and character development.  It is safe to assume that most everybody who would want to own this collection has already seen each episode a dozen times and has signature moments engraved onto their brain stems.  However, perhaps a momentary word is in order for those who may be new to the series or will be getting the chance to experience it for the first time-most likely through a Fawlty Towers geek friend or relative who will not let you leave the room until you grok the show’s utter genius.

John Cleese, he of the Monty Python troupe, plays Basil Fawlty, the high-strung, vindictive and emotionally repressed owner of a small hotel in the British seaside town of Torquay.  Henpecked to within an inch of his life by his passive-aggressive wife Sybil (Prunella Scales), Basil takes most of his frustrations out on either the guests or his hapless Spanish bellboy Manuel (Andrew Sachs).  Meanwhile, a few long-term eccentric guests putter about while the hotel maid Polly (Booth) attempts to be a calming force amidst a variety of ingenious comedic premises-often involving mistaken identity and miscommunication–that keep threatening to upend everything.  Devotees of the show– which slowly built a huge following in reruns after its 1975 premiere and waited four more years to deliver a second six-episode season–will no doubt point to any number of favorite programs.  Each one depicts Fawlty being pushed toward ever more embarrassing actions or revelations, most of which involve a build in his frustration that often culminates in half-mad tirades and Cleese’s signature physicality, his gangly body twisting and stiffening with rage.  Two tried and true fan favorites happen to be the season-enders of both runs of the show.  “The Germans,” which closes season one, involves Basil getting a bump on the head and making horrifyingly inappropriate remarks about World War II to some visiting Germans, complete with Nazi goose stepping.  “Basil The Rat,” which concluded the series, finds Manuel’s pet rat (which he insists is a hamster) getting loose in the hotel during a health inspection.  This episode was Cleese’s favorite because, as he puts it in the commentary track, the confusion and frenzy was at an all-time high.

This brings us to the extras in this boxed set.  The first and most significant is the John Cleese commentary on every one of the episodes.  His narration is delightful for many reasons, not the least of which is his analytical mind dissecting nearly every comedic beat and performance choice (a real education for the aspiring comedians among you), and his willingness to say how many times he would have done things differently.  Notable, too, is a tone of real reverence and respect for all the comedic actors who shared the stage with him-not only his co-stars, but nearly every single one of the guest actors, too.  Even those with no lines are singled out by Cleese for their acting prowess.  He addresses the political incorrectness of the show (aside from the Germans, Sachs’ Manuel character is a bumbling foreigner who is repeatedly belted by a pent-up Basil) by saying, “I don’t think that you can edit humor because it may be misunderstood by idiots.”  Finally, Cleese is prone to busting out into one of his wheezy guffaws at any given time, in remembrance of what made him laugh thirty years ago.  His commentary tracks are a tonic.  Less inspiring but certainly informative are the commentaries on all twelve episodes by their directors, the early Python director John Howard-Davies (season one) and Bob Spiers (season two).  From them we learn such tidbits as the fact that the shows averaged four hundred shots per episode, and that a pre-adolescent boy who has a walk-on role in the pilot delivering a newspaper was the never-seen prankster who rearranges the letters on the Fawlty Towers sign outside the hotel.  (The letters are rearranged into increasingly obscene anagrams over the course of the series.)

A bonus disc includes three good-sized interviews with Cleese, Sachs and Scales (who spends several engaging minutes musing on the background and interior life of the fictional character she created), some smaller interviews with some of the show’s many guest stars (who will be familiar to Anglophiles) and a rare conversation with Connie Booth herself.  Each of these interviews is done green screen with an artist’s rendering of an area of the Fawlty hotel put in as a backdrop.  It’s a small touch, but one that reveals the care that was put into this new presentation.  There is also a very entertaining mini-documentary about the Gleneagles, the actual Torquay hotel that inspired Cleese and Booth to create Fawlty Towers.  It seems the Pythons were staying there while filming back in the early 1970’s and experienced first hand the surliness of its owner, one Donald Sinclair.  Here, several current Gleneagles staff and former guests recall Sinclair’s irritable behavior in an unexpectedly hilarious little film.  A few forgettable outtakes and a thin and superfluous booklet round out the bonus materials.

All in all, though, this terrific boxed set provides ample reason to revisit Fawlty Towers, a hotel made so memorable by this meticulously crafted comedy series that one almost wishes one could go there-if only to have the pleasure of seeing what it might be like to endure a signature verbal assault by Basil himself.

James Napoli is an author, filmmaker and teacher whose third book Violation! The Ultimate Ticket Book is now available.

This Tuesday, Warner Bros. is releasing the “ultimate cut” of “Watchmen,” a 5-disc box set intended to do the graphic novel justice–something that writer Alan Moore would be (but still isn’t) proud of.  The feature included is an hour longer than the theatrical release, and there are plenty of bonuses to be seen.  Go through it all with me, one disc at a time, after the jump.

Disc One: The “Ultimate” Cut

I’m among the select group of people who loved both the graphic novel and Zack Snyder’s film “Watchmen” when it released in March.  And though I agree the book trumps the film, I am a tremendous fan of both for different reasons.

Thus as expected, this “ultimate cut” of the film is pretty special for a fanboy like myself. It’s the director’s cut of the film with all the side stories thrown back in and the animated complementary piece, “Tales of the Black Freighter” voiced by Gerard Butler, interwoven into the story quite smoothly. In terms of being the cinematic equivalent of the comic, it’s as close as anyone will ever get.  I really recommend a viewing for die-hard fans of the graphic novel.

Unfortunately, it’s 3-hour-and-35-minute runtime prevents me from really recommending it to anyone else.  This film is long.  Moreover, its pacing suffers from its unwieldiness (though not as much as one might expect), and, to be frank, I didn’t like the “Tales of the Black Freighter” sequences–the animation seemed stiff and needlessly grotesque.  Then again, I didn’t like the “Black Freighter” sequences in the graphic novel either, so maybe that lends to its authenticity.

Suffice it to say, if you love the comic and the film, this is the definitive cut. And if you’re not a die-hard fan of both, steer clear.

Disc Two: Bonus Featurettes

I’m not a big fan of featurettes to begin with–I find that they don’t contribute to my appreciation of a film whatsoever–but I really didn’t like the inclusion of these featurettes specifically.  Each one is over 30 minutes, detailing some aspect of the production or another.  One goes on about the legacy of the novel, which is silly since any fan big enough to buy the ultimate cut would already be more than familiar with the novel.  Another talks about the books within the book, namely “Tales of the Black Freighter” and “Under the Hood”–once again, we’re already familiar.

The only bonus I was really looking forward to was the “Under the Hood” feature, a pseudo-documentary about Hollis Mason’s autobiography made as a companion piece to “Black Freighter” when it released on DVD.  I was sadly disappointed.  The feature, as one might expect, is mostly back story about the Minuteman, and is only useful if you’re not already familiar with who they are.  It also interacts with the film by introducing characters, Big Figure and Rorschach’s psychoanalyst among them, in a cheesy, wink-wink-nudge-nudge fashion.  Plus, it’s really just boring.

For my money, this disc could’ve been left off altogether.

Disc Three: Digital Copy of Theatrical Version

I’m glad they included this, because it’s nice to have to original release to compare the ultimate cut to.  Besides that, though I enjoyed the full 3 1/2 hour feature, I know most of my friends won’t, so if I’m entertaining, I’d rather throw this on.  Unfortunately, it’s a digital copy, not a DVD, which means if anyone wants to watch it, they’re checking it out on my iTunes. Unless you have an Apple TV, this limitation kinda sucks. I personally would’ve preferred a DVD copy of the theatrical version, but I guess that wasn’t not tech savvy enough for Warner.

Discs Four & Five: The Motion Comic

This was the part I was looking forward to the least. I’d seen previews of the “motion comic” Warner Bros. produced online, and it looked plainly bad: like some pathetic TV-MA flash video iteration of the story.  But I’m pleased to say, I think I judged it kind of prematurely.

Having watched a couple episodes now, I must say, the animation’s pretty cool. It does look like a flash video to an extent, but it lifts images straight out of the graphic novel, and given the stills they had to work with, it’s an impressive product. I just wish Warner had sprung for a second voice actor–Silk Spectre’s voice was certainly less…husky…when I heard her in my mind. No offense to narrator Tom Stechschulte, that is.

In Conclusion…

It’s a cool box set.  I’m very glad I own it, and I think fellow “Watchmen” fanatics will be too.  But this is not for the general public. I just ends up being too much, well, content.

2009 has been a tough year for standard-issue romantic comedies.  “The Proposal,” which in any other year would have been a decent entry in a tired genre, really looked simple next to genre-benders “500 Days of Summer” and “Paper Heart.”  The film is decent, for what it is.  People who like the “Sweet Home Alabama”s and “Maid in Manhattan”s of the world will feel right at home with this one.  But those select few should’ve caught the film in theaters; there’s no real reason to buy the DVD.  More after the jump.

“The Proposal” tells the story of Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock), a hotshot New York book editor who’s facing deportation and needs to marry her hated assistant, Andrew (Ryan Reynolds), to remain in the country.  Unfortunately, she hatches this scheme right on the heels of Andrew’s grandmother’s (Betty White) birthday, forcing him to go up north to Sitka, Alaska; and, of course, her to go up with him, to announce the proposal to the rest of the family. As anticipated, antics ensue.

If you couldn’t tell from my synopsis, the story’s quite contrived.  Without spoiling any plot details, I will say whatever you think the ending will be is the ending.  “The Proposal” doesn’t exactly reinvent the rom-com wheel.

As for bonus features, they’re about as standard-issue as the comedy itself.  The edition is two discs, but the second is simply a digital copy of the film–useful, as I imagine the person who actually goes out to buy the DVD is also the kind of person to want it with them at all times on their laptop or iPhone.  On the first, you get the bare minimum we’ve come to expect: commentary tracks, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and a blooper reel.

The commentary tracks are interesting insofar as they help sort of defend a film I didn’t like very much.  When a poor decision, in my opinion, is made, it certainly adds dimension to hear director Anne Fletcher defend her aesthetic choices.  I still disagree with the choices, but it’s fascinating to hear her justification all the same.  The deleted scenes and alternate ending are a waste–it’s very easy to see why they were cut, and they’re not fun to watch to begin with. I’d have to say, among the features, the blooper reel is the most interesting.  It is legitimately funny (actually funnier than the film itself!) and sufficiently short and cute. It’s the standout among some pretty unremarkable features.

Other than these, the disc has the feature film, scene selection, languages, and trailers.  A lot of trailers. So much so, in fact, it makes one wonder how much of their $20 DVD purchase went to procuring advertising…

So, in conclusion it’s like I said.  If you really like romantic comedies, I mean really like ‘em, Netflix it. It’s a decent feature given its genre, it’s just not worth purchasing even for the greatest of rom-com aficionados.

Finally, here’s Matt’s review of the film.

Costa-Gavras’s Z is the ultimate political thriller. Much like the earlier Battle of Algiers (1968)  it takes a real event, and uses it as fodder for cinema. And as a paranoia piece, 1969’s Z is a masterpiece.  It’s an angry film, spurned by the events of 1963, where a Greek politician was assassinated, and was murdered partly by the police, and the regime at the time. It’s a film that can make you angry about events of nearly a half century ago, and yet the echoes of the actions are still resonant. My review after the jump.

The leftist politician at the center of the film is called The Doctor (Yves Montand), and he’s brought in to have a political rally, but the organizers are denied their first location, and locals in with a half gang/half political organization - that hates the leftists and typifies them as commies - breaks up organizers when they hand out pamphlets. The gang is brutal in their attacks on the street people. When The Doctor comes in everyone’s nerves are on edge, and Gravas makes you feel how panicky everything is. It’s a masterpiece of tension. Then the night of the speech, violence breaks out with one of the organizers, who’s mistakenly grabbed by those thinking he is the Doctor. But even with the police barricading the area, a truck gets through and someone is able to club The Doctor, who goes into a coma.

Essentially brain dead, a reporter tries to help put the pieces together, but the government is working against him, as witnesses are assaulted, and everything that can get in the way does. Only one bureaucrat (Jean-Louis Trintignant) offers to help prosecute those responsible. Z likely works as well today as it did then, and plays both to the times and the assassinations that changed the landscape in Greece, as the ones that were felt stateside. Of course, what makes the film work is that there was a conspiracy that had higher ramifications (even if the men who perpetrated it were thugs), but Gavras has the power of the facts of the case on his side, and films like this are invariably better when they are presenting what the filmmakers see as the truth of the situation. In that way it’s a more concrete film than Oliver Stone’s equally fascinating JFK, which owes a debt to this. But Stone did not have the through-line that Gavras got with his film.

The director talks on the supplements about how he always thinks about how the film should be entertainment first, and that shows too. He’s a filmmaker, and he uses the techniques of cinema to deliver his message. It’s a good lesson for anyone with a political bent interested in cinema to take. If you want these films to work, you have to conceive of them in genre terms. There is some level a film like this is dangerous, and it’s meant to be. On that level there is something about it that makes me a bit uncomfortable. But I will settle for such a pure and gripping piece of filmmaking.

The Criterion collection presents the film on Standard Def in anamorphic widescreen (1.66:1) and in 2.0 French Mono. For a single disc, there’s a lot of extra material here, and it’s all rather great. First up is a commentary with Peter Cowie. The man knows his stuff, and this film, and he offers great analysis of the film, and its place in history, and the characters created and their real life counterparts. There’s a new interview with the director Costa-Garvas (20 min.), and a new interview with cinematographer Raoul Coutard (11 min.). Coutard was one of the key players in the French new wave, and his approach to the making of the film showcases a master. Then there’s period interviews with the author of the book Z, Vassilis Vassilikos (10 min.), with Costa Gavras, Yves Montand, actors Irene Papas, Jacques Perrin, and Jena-Louis Trintignant (5 min.) and then another interview with Costa-Gavras, Perrin, and actor Pierre Dux (4 min.) Also included is the film’s theatrical trailer, and a booklet with an essay by Armond White.

I long ago realized that my loving a series usually means that it’s doomed. The magic worked again with last season’s Life on Mars. It was, to my way of thinking, one of the best and most intelligent shows on TV at that time. Of course, it didn’t hurt that the series was set — sort of — in 1973. An American version of a BBC hit, the series chronicled the adventures of New York police detective Sam Tyler (Jason O’Mara), who having survived a car accident in 2008, somehow woke up over thirty years before. Each week, Tyler’s “enlightened” views on police and societal affairs were pitted against the “archaic” mores of his fellow cops, especially Lt. Gene Hunt (Harvey Keitel). Sam’s only ally is Policewoman Annie Norris (Gretchen Mol).

But that was only one motif. In with and under his struggles with the past, and attempts to solve crimes without the technology he was used to in the present, Tyler also was forced to try to figure out how he had arrived in the past, and whether he was really there at all. Each episode veered in the direction of one or another explanation: that he really was back in time; that he was actually in a coma; that he had died in the accident, and was in some sort of strange Purgatory; and on and on. Moreover, 2008 had an odd way of bleeding back to him, via radio broadcasts, newspapers, and the occasional odd character. More after the jump:

All 17 episodes are featured in this DVD set, and they lead up to an ending which was quite bizarre — even in the context of this delightfully bizarre series. Although it was a disappointment that the show was canceled, the makers of the series were given sufficient warning to make the series finale. Of course, it is VERY different from the ending of its BBC forebear; moreover, although a single season is short by American standards, the British version, in keeping with UK practice, had only 16 episodes.

In any case, it is immensely entertaining, even if you don’t remember the 70s. The acting is quite good, and the makers of the show resisted the temptation to make the characters — most whose attitudes and views, though common at the time, would be forbidden today — into cardboard cutouts. Instead, even the most annoying of them become progressively more sympathetic, doubtless reflecting Sam’s changing views as he gets to know his colleagues and the urban jungle in which they must operate. The actors take their roles — and improbable plots — seriously. I’ll miss new episodes, but at least the series has found, in this set, a kind of immortality.

Video/Audio/Extras

“To Mars and Back:” a behind the scenes look at where the concept of the show originated, what it was like trying to keep the period tone, and clues as to where the series might have gone had it lived.

“Sunrise to Sunset with Jason O’Mara:” a documentary trailing the lead actor through a day of production.

“Flashback: Lee Majors Goes to Mars:” wherein the star of the 70s hit. The Six Million Dollar Man, tours the set with Jason O’Mara.

Subtitles: Spanish and French.

FINAL WORDS

A show that should have lasted longer. Really fun romp through the surreal.

“Orphan,” Warner Brothers’ deliciously demented recent updating of the vile-child genre, slashes its way onto Blu-ray and DVD this Halloween. Although horror fans familiar with its long list of movie predecessors will likely anticipate some of its initial storytelling tricks, “Orphan” features a truly twisted third act twist that should make it a surprise treat for even the most wintered horror fan.  My full review after the jump:

Speaking of winter, the first thing “Orphan” gets right is its snowy Connecticut setting. Now, I don’t know what it is about snow and horror, but the mix is the cinematic equivalent of a tasty blood red cherry snow cone (see vile-child classics “The Shining” and “Let the Right One In” for further proof). Suffering beautifully in this winter wonderland is the icy eyed Vera Farmiga, who plays a young mother haunted by the stillborn birth of her daughter. In an effort to heal, she and her husband, played by Peter Sarsgaard, decide to adopt a child. They end up choosing a preternaturally mature Russian girl named Esther (Isabelle Fuhrman), despite warnings that her last adoptive family died in a horrible fire (and ignoring the fact that Russian’s are the go-to villains of recent cinema). Soon after bringing Esther home, accidents start happening. Natch.

Of course, the secret bad behavior of the vile-child is never a match for a mother’s intuition - even an adoptive mother’s - and Kate is the first to suspect there might be something wrong with Esther (besides her Victorian-era clothing). Kate’s suspicions are met with resistance from her husband, who fears she’s relapsed into alcoholism, and her other two moppets, who have been bullied into submission by their charmingly black eyed new sister. The dramatic strength of all this interfamilial conflict is largely due to Vera Farmiga’s naturalistically intense performance, which finds a perfect foil in Isabelle Furman’s theatrically sinister one.

Turns out little Esther’s got a demented plan to integrate into the Coleman family that transcends the usual adopted child scenario. I don’t want to reveal much more for fear of giving away the movie’s shocking third act twist, but let’s just say once Kate discovers lil’ Esther’s big secret, it’s womano-a-womano in a throw down that builds to the now classic camp line “I’m not your fucking mother!”

Someone ruined “Orphans”’s big secret for me months ago (okay, okay, I ruined it for myself by looking at themoviespoiler.com, but that’s only because those “There’s Something Wrong With Esther” billboards were such an infuriating cock tease!), so it’s a testament to the movie’s strength that it still had me on the edge of my seat, jaw firmly planted in lap. I guess that’s what a snowy setting, strong acting and ridiculously bold storytelling will do.

EXTRAS

Bonus material includes a few brief additional scenes and a so-called “Chilling Alternate Ending,” in which little Esther descends the grand staircase of the Coleman house in full Norma Desmond mode. It’s a more unintentionally hilarious than “chilling” ending.

FINAL THOUGHTS

“Orphan” is a deliciously twisted updating of the vile child genre that should prove a viewing treat for horror fans this Halloween season.

“Orphan” is rated R for disturbing violent content, some sexuality and language. It has a run time of 123 minutes.

Gary Shandling: 2 for 2. Two TV shows, two masterpieces. But where more people are familiar with his later Larry Sanders Show, It’s Gary Shandling’s Show has not received the same posthumous praise or attention, partly because it was a Showtime show in the mid to late 80’s, and then began playing on the just-starting Fox network. The show aired for four seasons, and then was out. And to be fair, it ran out of steam, but when it was on, it was one of the most dazzling formalist TV shows to ever air. My review after the jump.

The premise is that Gary Shandling plays himself, and has a platonic female best friend in Nancy (Molly Cheek) and a married best friend in Pete Schumacher (Michael Tucci). Pete’s wife Jackie (Bernadette Birket) eventually gives birth to a second child, who gets named by the audience, and they have a tweener son in Grant (Scott Nemes). Gary’s mom Ruth (Barbara Cason) stops by regularly, as does his Condo association manager Leonard Smith (Paul Wilson), who loves interrupting the show and offering advice on how it should go about.

From the get-go, Shandling breaks the fourth wall, mostly to tell stand-up jokes, but also to comment on the episodes as they unfold. This self-awareness becomes the show’s greatest invention as Gary drives a golf cart (as does everyone else), and he can walk into the set for the next scene before everyone else. In one episode, he even plays with the “There’s a Monster at the End of this Book” convention by having a horrible act foretold, but as a slightly omniscient presence Gary tries to prevent it. One of the best episodes that folds in on itself has Grant and Pete going to Hollywood where they get tickets to see It’s Gary Shandling’s Show, and watch Gary as he investigates in Grant’s bedroom. Another has Gary taking a neighbor he doesn’t like to Shandlingland, the theme park made after the show. There’s so much invention in the first two seasons, and some of that carries over to the third season, where obvious fatigue sets in after a rousing first half. In it there’s the ping-pong The Natural parody, and the Live Election show, where Gary predicts that Michael Dukakis will win the 1988 election. It’s still pretty strong, but in Season four Jessica Harper is brought in as Gary’s live-in love interest, and finding the mundane acts mixed with flights of fancy starts feeling that less organic. Ironically, around this time Seinfeld was getting off to a terrible start with a vaguely similar set up. The series ends strongly with a Driving Miss Daisy parody.

The show was chocked full of great writers, and was produced by Alan Zwiebel, one of the original Saturday Night Live writers, and everyone here understands the conventions they’re tweaking. While waiting for Jackie to give birth, Gary hosts a talk show in his living room, with that being the first episode to introduce Tom Petty as one of Gary’s neighbors, and Petty has a great reoccurring role, often working against Leonard Smith. Al Jean and Michael Weiss, best known for their later work on the Simpsons, really broke out here, and you can see how the structure of starting with one concern and having it turn into something else entire is very much of the Simpsons style.

The show did great film parodies, as mentioned, but also got a lot of mileage out of its guest stars. Perhaps the best is Gilda Radner, who makes her final onscreen appearance in an episode devoted to her. If you love Gilda Radner, it’s a great show, but then also people like Dabney Coleman, Red Buttons, Martin Mull and Dan Aykroyd get good one off’s

In It’s Gary Shandling’s Show’s structure, the team managed create one of the best commentaries on the sitcom structure, while also being a fairly successful sitcom in and of itself. And, of course, Gary Shandling is a very funny guy. Highlyrecommended.

Shout Factory is - bar none- one of the best companies producing DVD and Blu-rays these days, and here they’ve collected every single episode from the four seasons, and spread them out over sixteen discs. All come in full frame and 2.0 stereo. Extras with season one include:

Disc One: deleted scenes from the pilot (1 min.) and a commentary by creators Shandling and Alan Zweibel.

Disc Two: deleted scenes for “Gary Met a Girl Named Maria” (8 min.), commentary on “The Graduate” by Shandling and Zweibel, and on “Grant’s Date” with Shandling and writer Ed Solomon

Disc Three: commentary by Solomon on “Fate.”

Disc Four: Commentary on “Dial L for Laundry” with writers Tom Gammill, Max Pross, and Shandling and Zweibel, Featurette “Getting There” (19 min.) on how the show came to pass and dry run sketches for a Mike Nesmith show “Television Parts,” and runs two sketches “Gary Meets Miss Maryland” (4 min.) and “Gary Shandling’s Car” (5 min.)

Extras with Season Two:

Disc One: Outtakes for “Who’s Poppa?” and “Nancy Gets Amnesia” (12 min.), and commentaries on “No Baby, No Show” with Shandling and Zweibel and “The Schumachers go to Hollywood”  with Gammill, Pross and Solomon.

Disc Two: Deleted scenes for “It’s Gary Shandling’s Christmas Show and “Killer Routine” (7 min.)

Disc Three: Deleted scenes from “Save the Planet” (7 min.)  and commentary on “Mr. Sparks by Gammill and Pross.

Disc for offers deleted scenes from “Mr. Smith Goes to Nam” (3 min.) and commentary with Alan Zweibel, and the featurette “Being There” (26 min.) which talks to the cast about making it. Also included are the ten promos done for the show when it began airing on Fox (6 min.).

Extras with Season Three:

Disc One: Offers deleted scenes from “What’s Happening to Me?” (4 min.) , and commentary by Gammill, Pross, Shandling and Zweibel, commentary on “Goin’ Places” with Gammill Pross, Shandling and Solomon, and on “The Natural” with Shandling, and writers Al Jean and Michael Weiss.

Disc Two: Offers Deleted scenes from parts one and two of “Vegas” (9 min.)

Disc Three: Offers deletes scenes from “Ruth’s Place” (5 min.) and commentary on “Gary Acts like a Moron” with Jean and Weiss.

Disc Four: Offers Deleted scenes from “Gary Goes Golfing” (2 min.) and commentary by Jean, Weiss and Shandling, and Deleted scenes from “Worry Wart” (3 min.) along with commentary by Gammill, Pross, Shandling and Zweibel.  Also included is featurete “Still There” (26 min.) which focuses on the writers and behind the scenes staff, while “Show and Tell with Tom and Max” (8 min.) goes through Gammill and Pross’s memorabilia. “Shandlines” offers the official newsletter from the show

Extras with Season Three:

Disc One: No extras. ZING!

Disc Two: Offers deleted scenes for “the Honeymoon Show” (5 min.) and “Firehose” (3 min.), with the latter featuring a commentary by Jean and Weiss

Disc Three: Offers Deleted scenes from “Shandling Vs. Mull” (5 min.)  and commentary on Family Man by Zweibel

Disc Four: Offers commentary on “Driving Miss Gary” with Jena and Weiss, “Try to Remember”  (20 min.) a conversation between Shandling and Zweibel about their partnership, and finally “Bruce Grayson: The Man Behind the Brush” (3 min.) which gives Gary’s makeup artist his own chance to talk.

The set also comes with a booklet to walk you through each episode and with comments from Larry Gelbart and Judd Apatow. The commentaries are loving, and people are very happy with the work, while Shandling is very positive, and this set stand in contrast to the weird depressing angles of the Larry Sanders set. Everyone is proud of their work here, though everyone also admits that the final season showed fatigue, even though there’s a great episode where Gary had a part in a pornographic movie called Firehose.

Miramax Film’s “Chéri” marks the reunion of director Stephen Frears, screenwriter Christopher Hampton, and actress Michelle Pfeiffer, who previously worked together on 1988’s deliciously evil costume drama “Dangerous Liaisons.” Here, Pfeiffer trades in the virginal innocence of her “Liaisons” character for the hardened beauty and shrewd business acumen of the less than virginal Lea de Lonvsal. Set during the prosperous Belle Époque era in pre World War I France, “Chéri” tells the charming and ultimately heartbreaking story of how Lea, an aging courtesan, finds herself falling unexpectedly in love with a man young enough to be her…well, son. That synopsis might make it tempting to label “Chéri” “cougar” cinema, but let’s allow that somewhat degrading term to rest on billboards advertising the latest pedestrian sitcom, rather than a film this pedigreed. More after the jump:

Based on two novels by bad girl French writer Colette, “Chéri” opens with Lea (Pfeiffer) contemplating retirement from the world’s oldest living profession. Her life dramatically changes, however, when she’s recruited by Madame Peloux, played with usual hambone relish by Oscar winner Kathy Bates, to teach her spoiled son Chéri, played by the Orlando Bloom-ish Rupert Friend, the ways of women. Lea accepts the assignment and soon finds herself falling for her young charge. A threat to the union is made, however, when Madame Peloux arranges for Chéri to marry a more age appropriate woman. Having built a career on her ability to remain emotionally detached from clients, Lea easily lets Chéri go. This decision later tortures her when she realizes Chéri may have been her one last chance at real love.

The stifling of Lea’s feelings is something Pfeiffer renders powerfully on her still hauntingly beautiful face. The actress is also equally adept at finding the wit and humor in Hampton’s script. Overall, it’s a sparkling performance that’s likely to be Oscar nominated since it marks a perfect bookend to Pfeiffer’s nominated work twenty years ago in “Liaisons.” The supporting cast is also strong, notably Bates, who seems able to handle costume drama and axe wielding horror with equal aplomb.

Credit is due, of course, to director Stephen Frears for guiding the performances. His entertaining and sumptuous depiction of pre-World War I France is also aided by top notch costume and production design, along with richly textured cinematography by Darius Khondji (”Evita,” “Seven”).

If, in the end, “Chéri” is a slightly minor love story, due to the fact that it all takes place in a terribly well mannered setting amongst mostly amicable characters and lacks the dramatic backdrop of a war or sinking ship, its lesson not to let the one you love slip away is hardly minor.

EXTRAS

Bonus material includes a brief “Making of” featurette and two deleted scenes.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The creators of “Dangerous Liaisons” reteam to bring you a sumptuously filmed and well acted story about the love affair between an older woman and a much younger man. Just don’t call it “cougar” cinema.

“Chéri” is rated R for some sexual content and brief drug use. It has a run time of 93 minutes.

Despite an interesting cast and passionate pleas from more than one film critic, Brett Simon’s Assassination of a High School President is the latest project to be burped out of the gaping, bankrupt maw of the Yari Film Group and directly onto the DVD market. Yari’s failure has claimed some terrific films - most notably a pair of Rod Lurie movies - and although Assassination doesn’t quite deserve to be lumped in with the best of the studio’s aborted litter, it’s certainly better than most direct-to-video projects, and well worth a rental and 90 minutes of your time. My review after the jump:

Sort of a clownish, noir-scented blend of Rushmore and The Usual Suspects, Assassination stars the deliberately Jason Schwartzmann-like Reece Thompson as Bobby Funke (it’s pronounced “Funk,” but everyone says it “Funky”), a wannabe cub reporter for the paper at St. Donovan’s High, one of those magical Hollywood schools where every girl looks like she’s in her mid-20s, adults barely exist, and even the poor kids probably have more money than you. Funke doesn’t even have his driver’s license and he might be the least popular kid in school, but he speaks with the corny cadence of a hard-boiled gumshoe - which is appropriate, because at Assassination’s outset, he discovers that the puff-piece profile he’s writing about the school president is actually the tip of a conspiracy involving SAT theft, a drug ring, and Mischa Barton in a bathtub.

It’s all decidedly familiar stuff, but it’s also obvious that screenwriters Tim Calpin and Kevin Jakubowski are just having a goof - and their fun is infectious, thanks to a succession of witty lines and solid performances from a cast that manages to wring plenty of knowing laughs from its stock characters. (As befitting a film in which adults are relegated to the fringes, the older members of the cast are given the least to work with - Bruce Willis seems unsure of how to play the tough-as-nails school principal, and Michael Rapaport pops in for a scene in which he essentially plays himself, but that’s about it.)

Assassination is sort of a distant cousin to 1976’s Bugsy Malone - it’s a world of junior thugs and molls, one where every shot is an homage and every line is filtered through a dozen others. It’s entertaining, but often in spite of itself; every subtle touch is counterbalanced by something hokey and over the top, and the grand finale hinges on an explanation as stupidly contrived as anything from the final moments of your average episode of Scooby-Doo. Still, it all essentially fits; it’s supposed to be ridiculous, the kids are all supposed to look like fourth-year junior college students, and Barton is most definitely supposed to look like a panther among kittens. Does it add a thing to any of the movies it so self-consciously apes? Will you remember any of it long after it’s over? Absolutely not. But as far as noir comedy trifles go, you could do a lot worse.

Jeff Giles is the editor-in-chief of Popdose and dadnabbit, as well as a frequent contributor to Bullz-Eye and an editor at Rotten Tomatoes.

Assassination of a High School President (Yari, 2009)

Starring: Reece Thompson, Bruce Willis, Mischa Barton, Michael Rapaport

Director: Brett Simon

Rating: R

Category: Comedy

“A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa” is an hour long TV special, brought to you on DVD so you can strengthen the DVD market and bolster Halloween sales. And uh, celebrate Christmas. I mean, family. I mean, I respect all creeds and what is important is that family’s qxythdshg. I’m sorry, I just passed out and hit my head on the keyboard. LTS centers round the secular version of the Christmas holiday that seems to make the least people uncomfortable, and make the most money for retailers. The action features the Muppets mailing letters, singing and dancing, accidentally not mailing some letters, and hamming it up with celebrity guests. Spoiler Alert: They take the letters to North Pole, meet Santa, and sing some more. Hope I didn’t ruin the surprise. More after the jump:

To say an x-mas special lacks heart is almost redundant in this day and age. But this lacks heart. Not in an awful brutal kind of way. But it’s still sad. The Muppets themselves seem to realize how by the numbers their schtick has become, and as they make their way “merrily” through the fifty-four minute “special” it’s easy to imagine Kermit and Gonzo sitting in a bar somewhere knocking back whiskey and trying to figure out where the magic went.

All that being said, this thing is still better than at least eighty percent of the crap that will be showed in your face this holiday season. Even by the numbers and lacking heart, the Muppets still got it. The celebrity guests also all perform well.

The DVD features a “smorgasbord stocking stuffer” of features. Nine pathetic extras including out takes, and interview, which in total cannot possibly last longer than a half hour. Given the quality, it’s probably a blessing.

All in all, not horrible. I’ll show it to the kids I work with. But I can’t help wishing that this year Santa would bring me an alternate Universe where Jim Henson is still alive.

C+

Look out! Nerds are taking over movies and TV! Suddenly I’m the cool one because I know the alternate and conflicting origins of Wolverine and just how badly the new movie screwed them up.  All my friends that were the “cool” ones would be eaten alive at Comic-Con, which if you were lucky enough to bare witness to, you would know that Hollywood is really into “Geek Chic” right now.  When every comic book from “Thor” to “Green Lantern” to “Green Hornet” is being picked up to be another franchise opportunity, a show that centers around social outcasts with a plethora of nerd-knowledge is bound to be a hit in the current market trends.  I’m a self-proclaimed nerd and because of that and because “The Big Bang Theory” relishes in its nerd-dom it is easily one of the funniest shows on TV right now and definitely keeping the “traditional sitcom” alive.  More after the jump:

The show’s premise is simple, in the first season a beautiful blonde struggling actress named Penny (Kaley Cuoco) moved in across the hall from two uber-geek physicists, Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki), who know everything about the world through books, but have no idea how to relate to reality.  Of course both are smitten with her and hilarity and awkwardness ensue.  The second season picks up with a relationship potential for Leonard and Penny that is quickly dashed because let’s face it, nerds are funnier when they are pining for the pretty girl, not when they actually have her.  The show focuses on building the relationships and exploring new “fish-out-of-water” situations to put Leonard and Sheldon in, with their friends Rajesh and Howard joining the nerd train.  The comedy comes from what would be normal interactions, that these guys turn incredibly awkward with their immense lack of social skills.

Let’s get down to business, the real reason this show is a hit and my only real reason for repeat viewing of episodes is Sheldon, played to neurotic and sometimes robotic brilliance by Jim Parsons.  He is such a mess, whether it’s over-analyzing the accuracy of the local renaissance fair or judging Penny’s attention to safety because she’s ignoring her “Check Engine” light, he is always hilarious.  He spouts off what seems like pages of facts and statistics in a matter of seconds like a spastic super-computer and his comedic timing is dead-on.  Every scene he’s in is gold.  He puts all other nerds on TV and film, past and present to shame.

I really like the interactions between Penny and Sheldon, she plays the “straight woman” well and gives him a lot to feed off of.  Kaley Cuoco is a very charming and quick, an actress who has a good grasp on comedic timing and just the right balance of “sitcom acting.”  She’s attractive, but not in an off-putting phony way like any number of “CW actresses” that are pretty to look at, but completely vacuous and interchangeable.  I believe that she’s a Midwest girl trying to make it in LA.  I wish I could say the same for Leonard, Johnny Galecki’s character, who most the time just comes off as whiny and trying too hard.  I buy that Sheldon is a nerd, I sometimes buy Leonard, but most the time feel like he’s trying to tweak his voice and squint his eyes or posture himself into being a nerd, instead of just being himself and trusting he is nerdy enough without adding more.  Sheldon is so bizarre, all Leonard would have to do is stand there and play off of him, which he does most the time.  I really feel like the analogy “adding sugar to something sweet” is the perfect way to describe Johnny Galecki’s performance, it always feels a bit forced or too much.  I don’t think he does a bad job, but Jim Parsons is like the Daniel Day Lewis of nerds, so everyone pales in comparison when his character is written so well and given so much to work with.  I could sit back and just watch the Sheldon and Penny show and laugh my ass off.

Every episode has several laugh out loud moments and for the most part the cast works very well together.  I highly recommend this show if you’re a nerd or just feel like jumping on the nerd bandwagon.  There’s enough standard sitcom slapstick humor, mixed with some of the smartest writing and joke construction I’ve seen in a sitcom for a long time.  The writers and the cast really play to the height of their intelligence and assume, for once, that we as American TV audiences have a brain and will find “smart stuff” funny, so kudos to them for taking the risk and succeeding.  “The Big Bang Theory” is a smart, trendy, neurotic, fast-paced, and hilarious show.

Special Features:

Physicist to the Stars- Featurette on real-life physisist/UCLA professor David Saltzberg’s consultation with the show’s more “heady” dialogue

Testing the Infinite Hilarity Hypothesis- Featurette on the characters of the show and the endless comedy that can be pulled from them

Gag Reel

Grade:

Show- A

Features- B

Maybe I’m just a sucker for stuff that was around when I was a kid, but I still think that Disney’s old Mickey’s Christmas Carol stands the test of time and deserves it’s status as a “beloved children’s classic.” Whether or not the other three offerings on this disc are as classic… you know the drill: Hit the jump.

But first, a few more words on a Christmas Carol. It doesn’t hurt that this 22 minute masterpiece is based on one of the best Christmas tales of all time. Without once using the J word Scrooge and company show us a little something about the value of family, and the horrible effect that an excess of greed can have on the heart. Good, simple moral lessons that don’t change much with time, and don’t depend on a political point of view, or a specific religious stand point. It also doesn’t hurt that at a short and sweet 22 minutes, there’s no room for fat or filler. All the favorites from the Disney cast of icons show up, and they are used well. My favorite is Goofy, who plays against type as the corrupt (and dead) business partner come back to warn Scrooge about the price of being an ass-hat. Great Stuff.

The second offering is 78’s The Small One. It tells the tale of a young boy who is trying to sell his beloved Donkey. The price isn’t terribly important to him; he just wants to know that his donkey is going to a good home. It may just be my rampant Atheism, but I found this cartoon super creepy. I watched the young “Judean*” boy go from hope to sadness, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Oh, there it is. A kind faced (white) man with a light brown beard… he’ll give the donkey a good home. Oh wait, he’s Joseph, and the donkey is gonna carry preggo Mary to the manger. Cause that is so fulfilling for the Donkey. I bet that Donkey gets left behind when Herod starts slaughtering infants and The Holy Family flees to Egypt. Poor bastard.

On the plus side, it is directed by Don Bluth, who would later start his own animation company which was pretty influential in the 80’s. So that does make the short worth watching in the historical sense. Plus, it’s seems that a whole lot of people (from the on-line reviews I read) really love Small One, so maybe I’m letting my religious views get in the way.

Moving on.

To my great surprise, this disc also includes two of my all time favorite Christmas themed shorts, Pluto’s Christmas Tree, and the Silly Symphony Santa’s Workshop**. I had both these gems on a boot leg VHS tape as a child, and am happy to own them again. Pluto’s Christmas tree involves Mickey going out to get an X-mas tree the old fashioned way, by cutting in down. Little does he know that the tree is home to CHIP AND DALE! That’s right, before these two swinging bachelors settled down and started an interspecies detective agency they mostly spoke in chirps and caused mischief, this time at the expense of Goofy’s retarded and enslaved younger cousin Pluto. Fun ensues. Enjoy. Santa’s Workshop is most likely a plan by Aliens to brainwash the population of earth with earwig tunes that you will find yourself humming for YEARS. Then again it may just be a silly and entertaining musical look at the inner workings of Santa’s shop. You decide.

There are no extras to speak of, just trailers. But who cares. This disc is well worth the price.

A

*Cause we can’t admit as Christians that there were any JEWS around at the time of Christ.

** Say that three times fast.

The story behind Trick ‘r Treat is almost as interesting as the film itself. Finished in 2007, the film got caught up in some politicking and marketing concerns. Not a very expensive movie - after being sneaked in LA, and shown at Butt-Numb-a-Thon - it’s just now coming out on DVD and Blu-ray. Somewhat unfairly. My review after the jump.

The internet has done a good job of hyping the film if you’re in those circles, and the film is modest but entertaining. It intercuts a number of different Halloween tales, like if somehow Creepshow had interconnecting narratives. It starts with a family (headed by Leslie Bibb) taking down their Halloween decorations, only for it all to end in violence. There’s a group of girls (featuring Anna Paquin) making their way to a Halloween party in the woods, a group of young teens who go to where a school bus filled with troubled kids was dumped in a lake and pay their respects, a Principal (Dylan Baker) who decides Halloween is a perfect time for a little manslaughter, and a crazy next door neighbor (Brian Cox), who is haunted by the monster elf-child that adorns the DVD cover.

Tight, running at less than 90 minutes, Trick ‘r Treat is a nasty bit of fun, and there’s at least one great thing in that the structure is such that how it ties everything together is very inventive, with the film keeping you guessing where you are in the narrative of the evening, and that’s a fun in a way that even films like Go or others that have gone for that time-fuck thing where there are overlapping narratives transcends referencing simply Pulp Fiction or Memento (the two biggest structure fucks of the last twenty years). What it lacks is much character development, it’s done in the classic EC comics-style. Characters are written in sketches, and there’s no real development. So it’s about the fun of watching the not-so innocent or truly horrible suffer, painful somewhat ironic deaths. The film didn’t deserve this fate, it’s been punished for not being a remake, or a cookie cutter type of slasher film, which is unfortunate, but it’s a fun but modest genre entry in a genre that can elevate such things way above their station. Still, if you like horror movies, it’s definitely one of the most inventive and fun films of genre in a long time.

Warner Brothers has put the film out on Blu-ray and DVD. The Blu-ray has a number of additional features, while the Standard def presents the film in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and in pan and scan in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. The transfer is excellent though in either version. The only extra is the short film that inspired the movie “Season’s Greetings,”(4 min.) which comes with an optional commentary by Mike Dougherty. And Happy Halloween.

The one-hour cop/murder mystery drama. Has there been a genre that has been as used as this? How is a writer/producer supposed to create something in this genre that hasn’t been done to death? Well, the creator of Castle has done a pretty good job with creating a cop/murder mystery drama that has a great mix of story, strong characters, humor and heart. My review after the jump:

Castle gets it’s name from the main character Richard Castle played by Nathan Fillion. Richard Castle is a rich and famous murder/mystery novelist who at the opening of the series is on the verge of releasing his latest book in his “Derek Storm” series. Everyone is sure to love it. The only problem is that Castle has decided to kill off his golden goose in this book because he’s lost the spark in writing for the character. So even though Castle is in for a huge payday he knows that he has no safety net, he has to start a new book with a new main character. Ahh, just his luck, someone just murdered someone and posed the body as one of the kills from a Castle book and the detective in charge Kate Beckett, played by Stana Katic recognizes the scene and contacts Castle for information. This starts Castle and Beckett’s relationship. Castle soon discovers that he should design the main character for his next main book on Beckett.

Nathan Filllion is perfect for the role of Rick Castle. Castle is a guy you would love to hate (rich, good looking, smart a bit smug) but Fillion brings a playful humor to him that makes him very likeable. Must be because he’s Canadian. Something about the Great White North they just breed likeable actors. Fillion’s Castle is a wonderful match to Katic’s portrayal of detective Beckett. Beckett is structured, guarded and even though she’s a huge fan of Castle’s books (which she tries real hard to hide) she is annoyed by Castle’s bravado. Katic does a great job of showing us the facets of her character with seriousness of her back story and her ability to have fun dueling with Castle. What?!?! I just read that she’s Canadian also. I told you they just mass produce likeable actors up there. The playful sparring dusted with a light dose of sexual tension between the two of them is the heart of the series. Combine that with well-written crime mystery and you have a pretty entertaining show.

The episodes of Castle flow very well with suspense, witty humor. The supporting cast works well together. I especially like Castle’s family. His earnest teenage daughter Alexis played by Molly C. Quinn and his effervescent, over ripe, Broadway star mother played to the hilt by Susan Sullivan. The two of them allow us to see the softer side of Castle as a caring single father and harassed son.

The look of the show is top notch. The cinematography, art direction and lighting all are outstanding. This is a really well shot, crisp looking show.

Extras:

Whodunit: The Genesis of Castle (6:14) - Information on the creation of the show and the characters. Mildly interesting.

Castle’s Godfather (7:15) - This is a rambling conversation between Rob Bowman (Executive Producer and Director), Andrew Marlowe (Creator and Executive Producer), and Stephen J. Cannell (Emmy award-winning writer and producer of The Rockford Files, The A-Team and many others. The many other do not include Castle) about the show and their history. No, you read correctly, Cannell doesn’t write or produce Castle. Why, you may ask is this on the DVD? Well, both Bowman and Marlowe are big fans of Stephen J. Cannell and because Bowman is a family friend they put Cannell in the show when Castle has his poker games with other mystery writers. Mildly entertaining. If you like Cannell you’ll like it.

Write-Along With Nathan Fillion (9:07) - This is a goofy skit that they put together to parody a police ride-along. Get it, WRITE-along. Sort of funny but more silly as Cannell tries to show Fillion what it takes to be a writer. An odd addition but I give them points for trying and I’m glad they put it on the DVD. Steven has a one beautiful house. The A-Team was berry, berry good to Steven.

Misdemeanors: Bloopers & Outtakes (2:37) - Disappointing. It would seem from the commentary that the cast has a lot of fun together but you don’t really get to see much of it on this.

Commentaries: The 10 episodes are spread over three discs. Each disc has at least one commentary with Marlowe, Bowman, Fillion, Katic, and actor Jon Huertas. Disc 1 has the commentary on Episode 1 “Flowers for Your Grave”, Disc 2 has commentary for Episode 5 “A Chill Goes Through Her Veins” and the addition of Molly Quinn to the bunch. Disc 3 has two commentaries on the season finale “A Death in the Family”.  The first is with the previously listed bunch. The second commentary features just Huertas and fellow actor Seamus Dever. Huertas and Dever play fellow detectives Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan. The three group commentaries are a mildly interesting mix of information about the show and anecdotes. The first one is the strongest one of the three group commentaries just because they seem to be more on point with discussions about the characters, story and key acting points to notice. The second two have a lot of talking over each other and sort of just meander around with general conversations and such. The star commentary is the last one with Huertas and Dever. This one is pretty entertaining. It’s loose and funny, more of a joking around fun time. I would have liked to have heard them on more episodes.

Summary

I’m a fan of the show. Solid crime/mystery stories mixed with two strong main characters that work well together. Smart, provocative and fun. It’s worth watching even though the DVD package doesn’t really offer much punch in way of extras.

I love this show. I’ve loved it from the first episode. I’m not a scientist but I am a nerd and so every science fiction, comic book, nerd reference, in fact every piece of trivia tossed aside ’causes me to break out laughing and always has. But even as I type this I can’t help wonder if this show works for the non-nerds/scientists? I mean, does everything body get a thrill of excitement when the entire male cast of a series dresses up like The Flash? Do they even know who The Flash is? When a joke is dependent on an understanding of the DC multiverse is any but me and people like me, gonna be rolling in the aisle? More after the jump:

So I guess I’ll start there. If you’re a nerd and you haven’t been watching this show (and I can’t see how you’ve missed it ’cause the entire cast has spent the past couple seasons doing the comic convention circuit), then you should. You should start right now. You should buy the box sets and get caught up. Then you can watch them over and over again… I know I do.

And beyond that I, do I really need to say more. It’s a top rated show, they don’t need me hawking for it at all, but since I like the show so much I’m gonna spend the rest of the review talking to those of you who don’t watch the show and I’m gonna tell you why you should.

The basic premise of the series has two research scientists living in an apartment when a beautiful young girl/aspiring actress moves in next door. Obviously, one of the roommates falls in love with the girl and that’s the basic hook. Quiet guy, wild girl. And when you think about it, that is the basic premise of the classic screwball comedy. Everything from the 1930’s “Bringing Up Baby” to the 80’s “Something Wild” hell, even the “American Pie” films… There’s something inherently funny about a nervous guy going after a beautiful woman out of his league. When done correctly, it’s heart-warming and romantic, and when done badly it’s a preposterous train-wreck.

This series works and the key is the writing. Not only do they get the nerd down pat, but each of the supporting characters has his own distinct world and their interactions are wonderful to watch. It’s like watching the Three Stooges in reverse. Instead of idiots who can’t to anything right, instead you have a group of hyper-intelligent social misfits that can’t do anything right. Further, the love-interest, Penny, played by the lovely Kaley Cuoco has been written in such a way that she seamlessly became part of their group like an ersatz sister despite her lack of college degrees

That’s what make this second season my favorite. They took a premise that could have quickly become tired and repetitive and instead took the time to investigate each of the individual characters and allowed them to grow. I could go on and on about each of the individual actors and they’re portrayals, but I’ll cut to the chase and point out what you probably already know, that Jim Parsons, who plays the Spock-like super-genius, Sheldon is the break out star of the series. The interesting bit here is commentary on situation comedies in general. As a rule, in TV comedies there’s always an idiot, a character whose every comment marks him as non-sequitur spouting rube. What this series does is take that character and make him the smartest person in the room, Sheldon. To watch him fret about people sitting in his favorite seat or try to work out mathematically how friendships are formed, or twitch uncontrollably when he’s interrupted when trying to explain the origins of tapioca is joy to behold.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Excellent stuff. They’ve got a short titled “Physicist to the Stars” in which real live physicist, Professor David Saltzberg talks about his contributions to the show. Not only is it interesting but they explain what the equations in the background of the scenes are and what they really mean. Also included is a little bit titled “Testing the Infinite Hilarity Hypothesis in Relation to the Big Bang Theory”. This is the usual cast and crew interviews cut together with a bunch of clips from the show, but I found this compilation to be particularly amusing. Maybe it’s just me, but I thought it was great. Rounding out the special features is the ubiquitous Gag Reel which I enjoyed because it shows how much the cast seems to enjoy making the show…

FINAL WORDS

As I write this review, I’m watching the DVD’s for the third time. It’s one of those series that’s so well written and characters are so well cast that each viewing allows you pull out something new and interesting. This doesn’t happen often, so enjoy it while you can…

Oh My God! When I was a kid I loved this film. They used to show it every year in Los Angeles and every year I would make the time on my calendar and I watched it with joy that I can’t really explain. It’s probably the monsters. As a kid I loved the old Universal Studios monster films from the 30’s. Boris, Bela, Claude, Lon; I bought the model kits, drew pictures of them. So as you can see, any film about all the great monsters of film history getting together to have a party was a must see for me and I’m recommending to everybody within sight of the words I’m typing. Just buy this video…my full review after the jump:

And now I’ll go into the bona fides which I hope will sell the DVD’s to those who are on the fence. First off, the film is made my Rankin Bass. These are the guys who brought us “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and “Here Comes Peter Cottontail”. If you want to read the full list, Wikipedia is just a few types away so I won’t bore you, it’s just enough to say that anyone who grew up in the 60’s, 70’s or 80’s; these things were holiday musts. And they stand the test of time as well, they’re that good. I could go on, explain how like the Warner Brother’s cartoon of the 40’s or Jay Ward’s cartoon of the 60’s or the Pixar films, these Rankin/Bass films are projects made for children but are written so that adults can enjoy them. I also could go into the painstaking process that went into the making of the Rankin/Bass output; how each character was a handmade puppet; how they were filmed frame by frame with individual puppeteers moving the character incrementally for each shot, but you get the idea.

This next bit is pretty geek heavy and may not carry much weight for people beyond a certain age, but I’ll do my best to explain. The script was written by Harvey Kurtzman and the characters were designed by Jack Davis. Lost? Kurtzman was one of the genius writers behind EC comics from the 50’s and one of the founding creators behind Mad Magazine. His stuff was so good that when the Museum exhibit about the genius of comic creators toured the country a couple years ago, his work was prominently displayed. As for Davis, he too is a Mad Magazine alum. Again, for people of a certain age and mind-set, although they might not know the name, they definitely would know the drawing style of Davis as he was the artist responsible for innumerable movie parodies drawn for the aforementioned Mad Magazine.

As for the vocal artists involved in the project, first and foremost, Boris Karloff does the voice of Uncle Boris Frankenstein and how cool is that? And sure, there’s Phyllis Diller, but who under 40 even knows who she is? One-hit-wonder, Gale Garnett voices the female lead as well as sings a couple of songs, but the weight of the project is carried by Allen Swift. Swift was a former comic turned voice actor and what makes his involvement with this project so neat is that he fills the cast out with an incredible array of impersonations. Because of him, we get Jimmy Stewart playing the male lead, with Peter Lorre as the Zombie Waiter, Charles Laughton as the Freighter Captain, and Sidney Greenstreet as the Invisible Man.

In ending, I’d like to finish by talking about he music. You heard me. “Mad Monster Party” is a musical. Beyond the joy of hearing Boris Karloff warble through a tune, the project is filled with a series of catchy tunes that have haunted my whole life. Starting with the rousing “Mad Monster Party” theme sung by Jazz singer, Ethel Ennis and ending with Gale Garnett’s rendition of “Never Was A Love Like Mine”, which I consider to be one of the most romantic songs I’ve ever heard, this film has a pretty rousing score, that alone would make it worth the purchase.

In short, I’d recommend this feature to anyone.

SPECIAL FEATURES

This disk is loaded with extras and if you’re a fan of the movie as I am you’ll want to watch all of them. The best is “Mad Monster Party Making of a Cult Classic”. It gives you most of the background information that you would want. The only fault I could find is that the specialist on Rankin/Bass is really, kind of boring. He speaks a little slowly and doesn’t seem to notice, so while what he is saying is interesting, you really wish he could say it a little faster or that he might be able to express the excitement that he’s obviously feeling.

FINAL WORDS

I can’t review any kid-friendly DVD without putting it through the “Teresa Test”. Again, Teresa is my 5 year old daughter, who you might think would be a little gun shy about watching a film filled with Monsters, but you’d be wrong. She loved Mad Monster Party and I ended up replaying it a dozen times until she could memorize half the songs and what better recommendation is there than that?

A couple months ago I did a review of “Pete’s Dragon” which I rated on the “Mary Poppins” scale (”Mary Poppins” being the Disney musical that all others are judged by) and it was found lacking. I’m happy to say, that this film, judged on the same scale is infinitely better, and while not quite the classical that Poppins is, it is a great family film and I highly recommend it to anyone with children or for anyone who remembers the film from their childhood and wonders if it’s still interesting enough to watch now. It is, so buy…more after the jump:

I think the difference is that this film, although released after Walt Disney’s death, it was still developed under his auspices and still has the Disney feel. The backstory is that while they were developing Poppins, they ran into a snag in getting the rights to the character and so they looks around for something to take it’s place in development. “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” was chosen (based on the novel “The Magic Bedknob” by Mary Norton). The reasons are obvious. Both are English, both have the magical/surrogate mother figure, and both have cute little kids. The two films were developed simultaneously, but when Poppins rights question was resolved, Bedknobs was kicked to the curb. Almost a decade later the project was revived and pretty much the same crew as Poppins was brought on board to bring the project to the screen. I’ll take a beat to point out that both films are directed by journeyman director, Robert Stevenson (who also directed “Jane Eyre”, “Old Yeller”, and “The Love Bug”). This guy was a real talent and this film shows it. Further, the music was written by the Academy Award winning Sherman Brothers.

I’d also like to mention, as I did with “Pete’s Dragon”. I put the film to the “Teresa Test”. Teresa is my 5 year old daughter who has been raised on the complete Disney library and while she turned her nose up on “Pete’s Dragon”, she loved “Bedknobs and Broomsticks”.

As for the film itself, the premise is spectacular. A spinster, Eglantine Price (played by Angela Landsbury) living in the English Countryside, begins to quietly take a mail-order Witchcraft Course during the outbreak of World War II. Her studies are interrupted when three young orphans from London are placed in her care. The four of them quickly come to an understanding and together, they travel to London to hunt down the headmaster of the mail-order school, Professor Emelius Brown (played by David Tomlinson) who has suspended the courses before she can get the one spell that she has been waiting for. Hijinks ensue.

And I have yet to mention the best bit, the extended journey into the magical island of Naboombu. As in “Mary Poppins”, this is wonderful sequence in which the live action characters visit an animated world of talking animals. And that’s not even the climax of the movie!

I should also take a moment to say how much I enjoyed Angela Landsbury’s performance. Most people only think of Landsbury as the old lady on “Murder, She Wrote”, but that was only the end of life-long career that began with her playing hotties and distinguished Broadway career. To see her dancing and singing, is pretty nice and well worth the price of admission.

Well directed, great performances, and fun story; in short, this film works on every level and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun family film.

SPECIAL FEATURES

This disk is loaded with extras. My favorite bit was a thing called “Movie Magic” which is walk down memory lane with the surviving Sherman Brother. To hear him walk through the development of the film and discuss the writing of the music is incredible. There’s something about hearing someone talking about Walt Disney, someone that enjoyed the experience that I find particularly moving.

FINAL WORDS

I liked this movie as a kid and I like it now. The added bonus of having the infamous missing musical number slipped back into the film makes this a great little addition. My only disappointment is that they have yet to find an Angela Landsbury song and dance number. She had nice legs and I would have like to have seen that.

After having finished watching the entirety of season 3of 30 Rock, two things came to me. One is that 30 Rock - especially among its niche following - is the most quotable show around these days. From Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) doing her Muppet walk or saying “what the what?”to “I want to go there” to Baldwin paying homage to Malice, without having seen this season of 30 Rock at all, much of it was familiar by remembering tweets and things people said. My Review after the jump.

The second thing that sprang to mind was that the pilot of 30 Rock was obscenely terrible. Oh, there were moments, but I remember when the show debuted, and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip came out around the same time and seemed like it might be something awesome. Both shows were about taking SNL down a bit or at least tweaking it, with 30 Rock the home team, more likely to play it safe and not slaughter the sacred cow. Neither became that, and as both tried to find their voices, Fey and her writers realized that Liz Lemon could become Mary Tyler Moore by being down a watered or modernized version of that, but that they should embrace absurdity, and abandon most pretenses of adhering to morality or the standard sitcom structure of lesson-learning. There was a time when the show could have been called “That’s My Liz” but that has passed, and thank god for that. Lemon’s love problems are no longer just cute, they can be painful, and filled with a hubris that can lead to great punchlines.

If you haven’t seen the show, pick up this and Season 2 immediately, because these are keepers. Liz Lemon is a workaholic head writer looking for a child, but also a relationship that requires no work. She runs an SNL-like show that we see very, very little of, but which stars Jenna Maroney (Jane Krakowski) and Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan). Both are insane, but Tracy is the sort of nuts that is not just high maintenance. Their boss is Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin) who runs NBC, and is a master shit. And around the studio are the page Kenneth (Jack McBrayer) - a saintly fool - and the staff of the show (Scott Adsit, Judah Friedlander, Katrina Bowden, John Lutz, Keith Powell). Oh, and Tracy’s bodyguards, Dot Com (Kevin Brown) and Grizz (Grizz Chapman), who are the show’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

So far 30 Rock has done a great job of creating a Simpsons-like universe where the supporting cast will often show up and have a storyline for an episode or so: Friedlander’s Frank has an episode where he almost becomes a lawyer, etc. But often it focuses on Liz and her relationships, with this season offering both Peter Dinklage, Steve Martin and Jon Hamm as potential boyfriends. All end tragically of course, with Fey’s Lemon shattering the bubble super-handsome man Hamm lives in to great returns. Though most episodes float away quickly, the joke writing is sharp, sharp, sharp. 30 Rock is one of the best shows on TV today, and if you haven’t been paying attention, but have heard someone say “What the what?” hey, it’s good to catch up.

The 22 episode run is spread out over three discs, with eight and eight on the first two discs. All episodes come in anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) and in 2.0 stereo, looking and sounding as good as they must have on TV. Disc one offers a commentary on “Flu Shot” with Tina Fey and producer Jeff Richmond, while disc two offers commentary on “Goodbye, My Friend” with Judah Friedlander and John Lutz, “The Bubble” with Jon Hamm and Jack McBrayer, and “Apollo Apollo” with writer Jack Burditt and executive producer Robert Carlock. Disc three offers commentary on “The Ones” with Krakowski and McBrayer, “Mamma Mia” with Alan Alda, and “Kidney Now” with Fey and Richmond. Also included are 13 deleted scenes (6 min.), a “behind the Scenes with the Muppets” (3 min.), the “!-900-Okface” commercial (1 min.) the table read for “Kidney Now” (31 min.), and a making of “He Needs a Kidney” (12 min.). There’s a photo gallery, Alec Baldwin’s SNL monologue (5 min. with a cameo by Jack McBrayer), outtake “Tracy Jordan’s Rant” (2 min.), while there’s the acceptance speeches for two Emmy’s and one Golden Globe (4 min.). I want to go there.