DVD Recent Picks
November 2006
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The DaVinci code.
"While lecturing in Paris, noted Harvard Professor of Symbology Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) is summoned to the Louvre by French police to help decipher a bizarre series of clues left at the scene of the murder of the chief curator. Enter Sophie Neveu (Audrey Tautou), gifted cryptologist. Neveu and Langdon team up to solve the mystery, and from there the story is propelled across Europe, ballooning into a modern-day mini-quest for the Holy Grail, where secret societies are discovered, codes are broken, and murderous albino monks are thwarted...oh, and alternative theories about the life of Christ and the beginnings of Christianity are presented too, of course. As a screen couple, Hanks and Tautou are just fine together but not exactly memorable; meanwhile Sir Ian McKellen's scenery-chewing as pivotal character Sir Leigh Teabing is just what the film needed to keep it from taking itself too seriously. The whole thing is like a good roller-coaster ride: try not to think too much about it--just sit back and enjoy the trip." (Amazon.com)
Six feet under. The complete fifth season.
"So much anticipation pools up around the concluding episode of this concluding season that you might be tempted to head straight for said finale, titled "Everyone's Waiting" (and it's so rich you'll find yourself drawn to repeated viewings). But if you can avoid that impulse, it's worth following the full build-up of one crisis after another to get the real payoff. On an episode-by-episode basis, Six Feet Under's fifth season has a decidedly uneven quality, shifting in tone far more drastically, say, than the intensely dark season 4. Character traits that have already been developed at length begin to seem annoyingly repetitious--Nate's (Peter Krause) self-centered frustration and furious lashings out, Billy's (Jeremy Sisto) resurgent psychosis--like leitmotifs run amuck. But this season also benefits from the knowledge we've developed, over the years, of the Fisher family and their loved ones, so that what they end up facing has a real emotional wallop, sometimes jump-starting the drama just where it seems to be in danger of churning itself into circles." (Amazon.com)
Entourage : The complete first season.
"Entourage is everything viewers have come to expect from an HBO series: smart, hilarious, and highly addictive, especially when taken in full-season, DVD form. As implied in the title, the show follows Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier), a rising Hollywood star with bedroom eyes and an over-active libido, along with his three childhood companions-turned-hangers-on. Kevin Dillon plays Johnny Drama, Vincent's less-attractive, B-list actor of a brother (he is Matt Dillon's less-attractive, B-list actor of a brother in real life). Jerry Ferrara plays Turtle, the weasel, and Kevin Connolly appears as Eric, the Everyman hero who hopes to parlay his friendship with Vincent (plus two years of community college) into a career in talent management. Along the way Eric contends with the predictable self-doubt, romantic indecision, etc. The cast is rounded out by Jeremy Piven as a foul-mouthed agent." (Amazon.com)
Lost : The complete second season.
"What was in the Hatch? The cliff-hanger from season one of Lost was answered in its opening sequences, only to launch into more questions as the season progressed. As the show digs into more revelations about its inhabitant's pasts, it also devotes a good chunk to new characters (Hey, it's an island; you never know who you're going to run into.) First, there are the "Tailies," passengers from the back end of the plane who crashed on the other side of the island. Then there are the Others, first introduced when they kidnapped Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) at the end of season one. Brutal and calculating, their agenda only became more complex when one of them (played creepily by Michael Emerson) was held hostage in the hatch and, quite handily, plays mind games on everyone's already frayed nerves. Despite the bloating cast size (knocked down by a few by season's end) Lost still does what it does best: explores the psyche of people, about whom "my life is an open book" never applies, and cracks into the social dynamics of strangers thrust into Lord of the Flies-esque situations." (Amazon.co.uk).
Battlestar Galactica : Season 2.0.
"The first half of Battlestar Galactica's second season left no doubts about the continuing excellence of the best science fiction TV series of 2005. Beginning with the Colonial Fleet separated, Col. Tigh (Michael Hogan) botching his temporary command, and Capt. Adama (Edward James Olmos) near death after a Cylon assassination attempt, series producer/developer Ronald D. Moore and his gifted writing staff packed more into these 10 episodes than most series manage in a full season. Maintaining its reputation as an adult drama, the series is compellingly anchored by the gravitas of Olmos and Mary McDonnell, whose role as Fleet President Laura Roslin grows more complex as she reveals her diagnosis of breast cancer and defies Adama, playing the "religious card" with her conviction that prophetic visions will lead the embattled fleet toward its legendary home planet Earth. As Adama's son Apollo (Jamie Bamber) wrestles with his role in Roslin's mutinous agenda, paranoia runs high as Cylon copies (or "avatars") of Boomer (Grace Park) complicate matters aboard Galactica and on Kobol, where a lost Raptor crew struggles to survive and Dr. Baltar (James Callis) endures the increasingly haunting and manipulative intrusions into his tormented psyche by Number Six (Tricia Helfer), the seductive Cylon who holds the secret to the Cylon master plan to destroy humankind." (Amazon.com)
Grizzly man."Grizzly Man could easily have been sensational and exploitative, but in the hands of Werner Herzog, it becomes something extraordinary. Herzog was granted exclusive access to over 100 hours of video shot by amateur naturalist, wildlife advocate and troubled loner Timothy Treadwell, who spent 13 summers in Alaska's Katmai National Park, where he grew to know and love the grizzly bears that lived there. He was also killed by one of them, in October 2003, along with his girlfriend Amie Huguenard, and that seemingly inevitable fate informs every minute of Herzog's riveting combination of Treadwell's video with his own expert filmmaking and unique vision of nature and man. Whereas Treadwell was a naïve nature-lover and social outcast whose sanity was slowly slipping away, Herzog is a pragmatic mythologist who views nature primarily in terms of "chaos, hostility, and murder," and the disparity of their vision results in a magnetic attraction that makes the sum of Grizzly Man greater than its parts." (Amazon.com)
The break-up.
"The combined star power of Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston makes The Break-Up a high-profile romantic comedy. Gary (Vaughn) and Brooke (Aniston) find that their brittle relationship may have reached the breaking point--but neither is willing to give up the condo they co-own. As their fighting grows increasingly bitter, neither is sure if they're fighting to get out of the relationship or to save it. The Break-Up is an odd combination of realistic scenes that capture the harsh yet human ways that lovers can hurt each other and broad comic scenes with a more farcical edge. Both types of scenes are entertaining on their own terms--the movie is never boring--but they don't fully mesh, and as a result it's hard to engage emotionally with either Gary or Brooke. But the sterling supporting cast give every scene they're in a boost of comic energy." (Amazon.com)
Firewall.
"Harrrison Ford brings his reliable brand of focused intensity to Firewall, a family-in-peril thriller that fits Ford like a comfortable old sweater. The venerable action star is visibly growing older now, but he's got a quiet, simmering quality here that perfectly suits his role as Jack Stanfield, Vice President of security at a large Seattle bank that's recently upgraded to a state-of-the-art computer security system (resulting in conspicuous Dell product placement throughout the film). Jack's the only one who can safely crack the system, so he's targeted by a would-be robber (Paul Bettany) whose jittery crew of thugs and hackers kidnaps Jack's wife (Sideways star Virginia Madsen), daughter, and young son, threatening to kill them if Jack doesn't transfer $100 million into the robber's secret offshore account." (Amazon.com)
Prehistoric park.
"Back in prehistory the world was populated by some of the most amazing creatures that have ever existed. Today, 99% of those animals are extinct. But what if we could bring back some of the animals we have lost? What if extinction didn't have to be forever? This is an epic journey, following wildlife adventurer Nigel Marven as he overcomes the perils of the past to rescue these lost creatures and bring them back to the sanctuary of the present so they can flourish again. Assisted by his crack team: Park vet Susanne and head keeper Bob, Nigel finds that rescuing and looking after prehistoric creatures isn't as easy as he first thought!" (Amazon.com)
The insiders guide to love.
"Is love all you need? Does Love Conquer all? In the style of the critically acclaimed and award winning THE INSIDERS GUIDE TO HAPPINESS, this series is not a cops or docs drama, its more character than plot-driven, and it embraces fresh TV ideas and storytelling techniques. In The INSIDERS GUIDE TO LOVE, a group of unconnected people are implicated in a bizarre incident, the outcome of which forces them to examine and explore the loves that are at the core of their own lives. And by love, we don't just mean romantic love - there's love of life, love of self, love for our children, love for our parents, love of dogs, love gone wrong and love of being in love." (Real Groovy)
Curb your enthusiasm. The complete fifth season.
"Life continues to befuddle hapless millionaire (and SEINFELD producer) Larry David in this fifth season of shows. As usual, Larry is joined by his faithful, beleaguered wife, Cheryl (Cheryl Hines), and his manager, Jeff (Jeff Garlin), while regular guests such as Ted Danson, Wanda Sykes, and Richard Lewis are on hand to add to the mayhem. The fun begins with Larry wondering whether he's adopted after his father seems to suggest that he might be, leading to a long-standing subplot that runs through the entire season. But as Larry tries to figure out his past, the present throws innumerable curveballs in his direction, with gay rights activists unhappy with him, a sandwich that bears his name not being quite to his taste, and a Seder set up by Cheryl ending in disaster. While season five will present comfortable and familiar viewing for those already familiar with Larry's antics, there are a few surprises in store, especially as the final episode careers towards an unexpected ending." (Amazon.co.uk)
Desperate housewives. The complete second season.
"The ladies of Wisteria Lane returned for a second season of high anxiety, testy relationships, and a new mystery. Susan's (Teri Hatcher) angsty on-again off-again with Mike the plumber (James Denton) took an odd twist when her ex-husband (Richard Burgi) moved in with neighborhood seductress Edie (Nicolette Sheridan), then took an even odder one. Bree (Marcia Cross) resumed her widow's relationship with George the pharmacist (Roger Bart), then descended into personal addiction. Annette's (Felicity Huffman) return to the working world turned bizarre when her husband, Tom (Doug Savant), got tired of being a house-husband and returned to the workforce⦠at Annette's own firm. And Gabrielle (Eva Longoria) had to cope in her own unique way with Carlos (Ricardo Chavira) in prison." (Amazon.com)
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