I've been under the weather recently and haven't been able to update my blog. In order to catch up, I'll be featuring numerous DVDs, along with some books, in the next few weeks. While some of the reviews will be a little shorter than normal, you will get a good idea of many DVDs that have been released recently - or relatively recently. Winter is a good time to catch up on your reading and hibernate with some DVDs as well!
Life On Mars: Series 2 (Acorn Media, 4 discs)
A while back I reviewed Life On Mars: Series 1 (the first 8 episodes of this show) and gave it a very good review. Well, Series 2 was recently released and the second (and last) set of 8 episodes is even better!
Life On Mars is primarily a crime drama set in Manchester, England in 1973. DCI Sam Tyler (John Simm) is involved in an accident in 2006 and wakes up in 1973. What you have is two detectives, who are the same person, in the same place (Manchester) 33 years apart. The beginning of each episode has DCI Tyler saying,
"My name is Sam Tyler. I had an accident and I woke up in 1973. Am I mad, in a coma or back in time? Whatever's happened, it's like I've landed on a different planet. Now maybe if I can work out the reason, I can get home."
Detective work in the early seventies is much different than in 2006. They rely less on high-tech gadgets (which they don't have) and more on brute force (which they have plenty of). Joining Tyler in the department, which places more value on results than on how the results are obtained, are his boss, Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister), and colleagues Ray Carling (Dean Andrews), Annie Cartwright (Liz White) and Chris Skelton (Marshall Lancaster).
Series 2 features the final 8 episodes. As the department continues to fight crime, Tyler is also doing his best to get home. Life On Mars is an excellent crime drama with liberal doses of comedy (Philip Glenister delivers some hilarious lines) along with a hint of science-fiction as the idea of time travel is always present.
Life On Mars is one of the best television shows I've seen. Set in 1973, complete with bell bottom pants and groovy music, I enjoyed all 16 episodes and would have liked to see the show go another series or two. However, it does go out on a high note. Not only was the exceptional show getting better with each episode, but the final show is one of the most creative, interesting and satisfying for a television series.
Highly recommended!
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, rated G, 2 discs)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a fun, animated family movie that sees Flint, an inventor, make a machine that produces food from water that falls from the clouds. Spaghetti, cheeseburgers, ice cream and other food falls from the sky. Unfortunately, the town's mayor sees Flint's latest invention as a solution to the town's disappearing tourist attractions (the town's main claim to fame has been sardines) and with the added pressure put on the machine and Flint, bad things start to occur. In order to save the world, or at least their corner of it, Flint, weather girl Sam and Steve, Flint's monkey assistant, must find a way to stop the food producing machine.
The 2-disc set features both a full screen and theatrical widescreen versions along with lots of special features including "Flint's Food Fight Game", "'Raining Sunshine' Music Video by iCarly's Miranda Cosgrove", "Interactive 'Raining Sunshine' Sing-A-Long", "Extended Scenes", "A Recipe for Success: The Making of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" along with commentary and other bonus features.
Dark Country (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, rated 18A)
Dark Country is a bizarre suspense/psychological thriller. When a just wedded couple, Dick and Gina, head off on their honeymoon traveling across the desert at night, they hit a pedestrian. When the man gains consciousness in the back of their car he cries out in pain and threatens the couple. Dick kills the man and the newlyweds bury the body. While trying to cover up their actions, things begin to unravel for the couple who turn on one another. Interesting idea, but Dark Country won't be mistaken as one of the better suspense/horror films.
The Skeptic (E1 Entertainment, rated 14A)
Tim Daly is Bryan Becket, a lawyer moves into his late aunt's haunted Victorian mansion after her mysterious death. Becket doesn't believe in ghosts or the supernatural. Becket's friend and colleague, Sully (Tom Arnold) does believe in the supernatural and tries to warn Becket about the house which holds a mysterious secret. OK supernatural film, but nothing exceptional about it.
The Fox and the Child (E1 Entertainment, rated G)
The Fox and the Child is a family nature film that sees a young girl develop, over time, a friendship with a fox. By allowing the girl into her world, the fox introduces the child to the beauty and many wonders of nature. The scenery (the movie was filmed in France) is spectacular. I have mixed feelings about the movie. On the one hand it does show several positives pertaining to the wonder and beauty of nature - including threats from our species. Unfortunately, while the credits apparently indicate that no animals were harmed during the film, there are several instances where animals were seemingly put in situations where they would have been stressed to say the least. Several acts by the child to animals were also inappropriate. If this film is used by parents, teachers or other educators to inform children about nature, these negative acts should be pointed out and explained why they are wrong. The film does show foxes in a positive light, which is good and it does send the message at the end of the film that children and animals do live in separate worlds. Kate Winslet narrates the English version.
Get Smart: Season 5 (Warner Home Video, rated PG, 4 discs)
The final season of this spy-spoof television show is now on DVD. Created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, Get Smart was a good sitcom that ran from 1965 - 1970 (138 episodes). In the fifth and final season Maxwell Smart learns that Agent 99 is going to have their baby (which she does in episodes 7 and 8 - twins in fact!), Max is kidnapped, agents of CONTROL are aging quickly and in a different episode, they're suffering bad dreams. Episodes 15 and 16 see Max and 99 in London to investigate the reappearance of Jack the Ripper as a formula has been created to bring wax characters to life ("House of Max" 2-part episode.) The last episode of this fine show ("I Am Curiously Yellow") aired on May 15, 1970.
Some of the guest stars in season five included Billy Barty, Al Molinaro, Broderick Crawford, Vincent Price and Pat Paulsen.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show: The Complete Fifth Season (Fox Home Entertainment, 3 discs)
Another popular show that has recently released its fifth season is The Mary Tyler Moore Show. This show ran for seven seasons from 1970 - 1977 and featured Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards who is a producer of a television news show. Joining Mary Tyler Moore at WJM-TV are Ed Asner (Lou Grant), Ted Knight (Ted Baxter), Gavin MacLeod (Murray Slaughter) and Valerie Harper (Rhoda Morgenstern). Georgia Engel, Betty White and Cloris Leachman were also part of this impressive cast.
Season five has lots of fun and sees Mary going to jail, everyone gets trapped in the news room during a storm, Ted asks Georgette to marry him, Lou becomes Mary's neighbour and a consultant changes the newsroom.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show: The Complete Fifth Season offers more than 600 minutes of quality TV comedy during the mid seventies!
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