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"Save the cheerleader, save the world," was the rallying cry of
the first season of Tim Kring's superhero epic, the surprise breakout hit of the
2006-2007 season. The second season catchphrase ("Are you on the list?") wasn't
quite as catchy and neither was the show. The live action graphic novel of
ordinary humans with superhuman abilities gripped in a battle for the survival
of the human race got sidetracked with too many new characters and an extended
detour in ancient Japan for fan favorite Hiro (Masi Oka). Kring apologized to
fans for the sluggish storytelling of the season's slow start, and he picked
things up by the second half. But even if it never recaptured the zeitgeist of
that dynamic first season, Kring and his creators spin a dense web of superhero
conspiracy adventure and deliver the most visually exciting show on TV.
Like all the scripted shows in the 2007-2008 TV season, "Heroes" was
abbreviated. The four-disc digipak set features all 11 episodes, each
accompanied by a commentary track with various combinations of writers,
directors, producers and actors. The tracks vary according to the chemistry:
Kring's track with co-executive producer Jeph Loeb and actor Jack Coleman
doesn't really get anywhere, but executive producers Allan Arkush and Michael
Green and actor Greg Grunberg generate a lively discussion during the second
episode. The 23-minute "Genetics of a Scene," in which producers/directors
Arkush and Greg Beeman take the viewers behind key scenes from the second
season, is a terrific balance of detail and brevity. Die-hard fans will be most
excited by the alternate ending. The 18-minute sequence offers a dramatically
different take on the virus story line (accomplished in part with storyboards
standing in for unfilmed effects scenes), and an accompanying featurette with
Kring and two of his producers explains the plans for the original story line
and the reasons it was reconceived. Also available in Blu-ray format.
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| The Shield: Season 6 |
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Vic Mackey's strike force is still reeling from the murder of
Lem, and Mackey (Michael Chiklis) isn't letting anything stop his investigation:
not a frame-up by his old boss (Benito Martinez), not pressure from city to
retire, not even a straight-arrow cop groomed by the new precinct boss (CCH
Pounder) to take the reins of the strike force. But Mackey's not ready to
discover that the killer is one of his own. Franka Potente co-stars this season
as a player in the Armenian mob. The most unpredictable cop drama on TV hasn't
lost any of its volatility and it still makes terrific drama of the
contradictions and compromises of its characters. This set hits stores a week
before the seventh and final season begins on FX. Ten episodes on four discs in
a box set of two thinpak cases, with commentary on eight episodes, dozens of
deleted scenes, and three featurettes (I especially like "Two Directors," on
guest director Frank Darabont and returning vet Paris Barclay).
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| Entourage: The Complete Fourth Season |
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The fourth season of HBO's lively insider Hollywood comedy
follows the tumultuous journey of "Medellin," an ambitious, self-produced epic
about the rise and fall of an infamous Latin American drug lord. Leading man
Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) and manager/producer Eric (Kevin Connolly)
struggle just to keep the production going, what with an unstable madman of a
director (Rhys Coiro) rewriting on the fly, while power agent Ari Gold works
overtime to sell the film as they rush to complete for the Cannes premiere. The
show continues to entertain with its insider vibe and its sharp observations of
social politics in the Hollywood subculture of stars and their posses. Twelve
episodes on three discs in a fold-out digipak, with commentary on three episodes
(by creator Doug Ellin and the cast), the cast panel appearance at the US Comedy
Arts Festival, and "The Making of Medellin" featurette.
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| One Tree Hill: The Complete Fifth Season |
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After four tumultuous years of bad decisions, raging hormones,
pathological jealousy, and emotional aggression (not to mention some of the most
damaged adult role models around), the high school melodrama graduates to young
adulthood. In fact, the fifth season skips college altogether and jumps four
years into the future, where they all return to Tree Hill and the melodrama
begins all over again: Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) is a hot young author and the
high school basketball coach, Nathan (James Lafferty) struggles to recover from
a crippling accident, Peyton (Hilarie Burton) starts a record label, Haley
(Bethany Joy Lenz) teaches high school, and Brooke (Sophia Bush) runs her own
clothing line. The more things change (domineering mother, scheming nanny), the
more the melodramatic torment remains the same. Kevin Federline and Kate Voegele
guest star. Eighteen episodes on five discs, with commentary on two episodes and
a couple of featurettes.
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| The Duchess of Duke Street: The Complete Collection |
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Gemma Jones plays a fictionalized version of Rosa Lewis, the
real-life, working-class cook who became a celebrated chef and owner of the
popular Cavendish Hotel, in this rags-to-riches saga from "Upstairs, Downstairs"
producer John Hawkesworth. Jones is Louisa Trotter, a Cockney scullery maid who
rises through the ranks of society to become the finest chef in Edwardian
England and owner of a posh London hotel, thanks to a combination of talent,
hard work and discretion. Along the way her beauty and spirit attract the
admiration of powerful men, including the Prince of Wales and Charlie
(Christopher Cazenove). Thirty-one episodes on 10 discs in a digipak with
book-leaf trays.
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Sean Axmaker is a film critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and a
DVD columnist for MSN Entertainment, and a contributing writer to GreenCine.com,
Turner Classic Movies Online, Parallax View and Asian Cult Cinema, among other
publications. You can find links to all of this and more on his shamelessly self-promoting blog.
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Get Smart! Please!In honor of bumbling Maxwell
Smart, a brief history of our favorite clueless detectives On the RocksWith 'Iron Man' and 'Hancock' featuring
heavy-drinking protagonists, we reflect on the most memorable drunks in movie
history UnclassicsThough they may be listed among the
greatest films of all time, these 10 movies deserve to be
downgraded | |
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