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Michael Giltz , Contributor BookFilter creator
DVDs: Zootopia Zings; Sinatra Sings; Damon Stings
06/17/2016 01:23 am ET | Updated Jun 17, 2017
ZOOTOPIA ($39.99 BluRay; Disney)
One of the best movies of the year. Zootopia plays like a long-lost follow-up to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a
noir-cartoon (without the combo of live-action and animation that made the original so distinctive.) A young
bunny rabbit longs to become a cop, even though a bunny rabbit (much less a female bunny rabbit) has everdone so before. But our heroine moves to the big city of Zootopia (where predators and prey live together inrelative harmony) and accomplishes her goal...where she is immediately assigned to writing parking tickets.Like women throughout history, she determines to be ten times as good at her job as any man so that maybeshe can get half the credit. But her policing instincts kick in and she is soon embroiled in a mysteriousinvestigation: predators are going rogue and actually attacking prey but the mayor seems to be keeping a lidon it to prevent mass hysteria. Before you know it, she's teamed up with a wily fox to work both sides of thelaw, solve the crime and keep Zootopia safe for all. This is a smartly animated film, a clever little mystery a laChinatown and a gentle spin on buddy cop movies where two mis-matched characters learn to work together.
The acting -- from Ginnifer Goodman to Jason Bateman to Idris Elba and on down the line -- is excellent. The
DVDs: Zootopia Zings; Sinatra Sings; Damon Stings
jokes -- spoofs of The Godfather and a thousand cop movie and TV show cliches -- are witty without yanking
us out of the story. And the sophisticated commentary on prejudice is spot-on. What a treat.
VINYL SEASON 1 ($45.99 BluRay; HBO)
GAME OF THRONES SEASONS 3 AND 4 STEELBOOK EDITIONS ($79.98 BluRay each; HBO)
THE X-FILES EVENT SERIES ($29.99 BluRay; Fox)
HBO's drama set in the cocaine-fueled world of 1970s rock and roll goes wrong in about 18 different ways.
But the essential problem with Vinyl is that they treat this world as a backdrop for all sorts of melodrama. They
didn't trust that working at a record label, trying to discover talent or deal with outrageous stars and so on wasinherently dramatic and fascinating. Who gives a damn about the private life of execs when you've got glamrock and stadium shows and new talent bursting out in a club down the street? Season One is only of interestfor those who want to see how far astray a TV show can go.
HBO has had trouble in its drama department so it's no surprise they keep repackaging their classics. Game
Of Thrones may be their biggest hit ever so fanatical fans can rebuy prior seasons in new steelbook limited
editions. The appeal is mostly new packaging and some modest new stuff. But really, it's about being able todive again into a show you love or keep some sealed copy on your shelf to proclaim your passionate support.Yes, it's a fine looking set, especially if you didn't buy it already. But no, buying it won't make George R.R.Martin write any faster.
I'm not sure what I expected from a new X-Files miniseries but it certainly wasn't this. The problem with the
very fun sci-fi drama back in the day was that later seasons and the movies become bogged down in its
elaborate conspiracy. Ardent fans knew the best episodes were the stand-alones and that elaborateconspiracy theories were mostly nonsense and best left vague and in the background as mere scenerydraping, not as the main plot engine. So here comes a fresh new miniseries with two excellent stars
presumably coming back for all the right reasons and plenty of time for Chris Carter to craft a six episode
wing-dinger with maybe a tiny over-all arc but (hopefully) six kick ass tales to entertain. No rush! Take your
time! Do it right! The result feels rushed and last minute in the most bizarre manner possible, with a weak startand a cliffhanger ending. Really? After waiting 14 years for a new TV launch? Oh well, at least it did wellenough worldwide to probably return again. Less arc, please.
HAIL, CAESAR! ($34.98 BluRay; Universal)
I watched Hail, Caesar! on Bluray and in some ways the home is the perfect place to experience this ode to
Hollywood. The diminished expectations of a TV screening (ironic, since TV kicks movie's ass these days), theminor key of the humor and my really not expecting much combined to make this better-than-average CoenBrothers. it's about a fixer in 1950s (sort of) Hollywood who must solve countless problems every day, fromunmarried female actresses getting pregnant to a big male star being kidnapped and (worse!) becomingenamored with communism. It is most assuredly not a spoof of the studio system, but more of a lovinghomage. Really, it probably has more in common with the religious themes of A Serious Man than comedies
like Raising Arizona , thanks to that fixer being a devout Catholic who is wrestling with a job offer. The cast is
very strong and the little bits of offbeat humor really landed with me. This might well grow and grow withrepetition, as smart comedy often does. I liked Channing Tatum's musical dance number, I really liked ScarlettJohansson's New Yawk take on an Esther Williams celebrity and I loved the scenes with Alden Ehrenreich asa western star plopped into a drawing room comedy where he's ruthlessly directed by Ralph Fiennes. ("Wouldthat it t'were so simple!") Amusing.
A MAN AND HIS MUSIC + ELLA + JOBIM ($9.98 DVD; Eagle)
Well, I'm a Frank Sinatra fanatic so when a bunch of his TV specials were released in a boxed set years ago, I
jumped. Now, years later, each DVD is finally being released in four individual sets. Fanatics already own thembut casual fans should leap in particular for the set The Man And His Music with Count Basie and especially
this release with two specials for one low price. One half is the swinging Sinatra with Diahann Carroll and the5th Dimension. But the gem here is Sinatra in two great pairings. He swings with Ella Fitzgerald and then doesa medley with Antonio Carlos Jobim. Fitzgerald is of course one of the greatest jazz singers of all time; lessappreciated perhaps is what a great duet partner she is with everyone from Louis Armstrong to Frank Sinatra.Fotzgerald brings out the best in literally everyone. And Sinatra's late career masterpieces are the two albumshe recorded of bossa nova music alongside Jobim. Indeed, 1967's Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio CarlosJobim may be his masterpiece, period . Watching him do a live medley with Jobim is spellbinding. This is for
music fans, not just Sinatra fans. It isn't cleaned up or remastered visually or aurally, so it's not as pristine andgood-sounding as we deserve. But it's acceptable and the best we've had on DVD; if you already own it,don't bother and if you don't and think you might like it, by god you will.
THE MARTIAN EXTENDED EDITION ($39.99 BluRay; Fox)
Actually, the extra ten minutes or so includes more time of Damon's astronaut stranded on Mars and that's all
for the good. I felt in the original film his time on Mars felt more like three weeks than the extended nightmarehe suffered. (Compare his isolation to Tom Hanks in Cast Away where the movie really created a sense of
loneliness and despair utterly lacking here.) The other little tidbits include some more scenes at NASA. Sincethose were by far the weakest aspect of the original film, more of them is decidedly a negative. In general, ifyou own it already you certainly shouldn't bother and overall you're better off with the original, which is alsoincluded, so let price be your guide. One does feel this should have simply been included in the originalBluRay release though they will surely argue they didn't have the time to do it right, etc.
ROOTS THE COMPLETE ORIGINAL MINISERIES ($42.99 BluRay; Warner Home Video)
THE LEAGUE COMPLETE SERIES ($99.99 DVD; Fox)
TARZAN, LORD OF THE JUNGLE SEASON 1 ($19.98 DVD; Warner Home Video)
STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION COMPLETE SERIES ($129.98 DVD; Paramount)
This is a new BluRay release of the 1977 Roots miniseries, the one that was a remarkably popular, landmark
work of television and pop culture. As a phenomenon and a prod to a national discussion on race, it remains
significant. As a work of art, it is sorely dated. The event's smartest stunt was casting lovable, well-known TVactors in varied roles, so that viewers somehow felt complicit in the inhumane practices they witnessed. Itwasn't some anonymous actor playing a slave owner or cruel overseer. It was a TV star they knew andidentified and admired, which somehow made the viewer feel they shared the blame for what they saw. Theirheart wanted to excuse and explain away the vicious world of slavery but their mind wouldn't let them. it wasa master stroke. But most everything else feels dated, from the acting to the costumes to the clearly fakedwhipping and other mistreatment. It's very much a relic, albeit a fascinating one given its impact at the time.
I'm not sure how the future will judge the trend of fantasy sports leagues or the TV show they inspired. But
The League is a purposefully oddball comedy by Jeff and Jackie Schaffer that captures the all-consuminglunacy of people who indulge in them. It could have been worse: fantasy football leagues aren't nearly astime-sucking monsters as fantasy baseball leagues. Like Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm (two other shows
Jeff Schaffer worked on), The League's best aspect is that it feels like it was made by people with no
expectations that anyone else would ever watch. It has a lengthy roster of impressive guest stars and a semi-improv vibe that few other shows ( Curb being one of them) can pull off. It ain't your average bear. I guess if I
was making up a comedy roster, I'd draft it in the third round, hoping no one else would pick it up earlier and Iwould assume it would prove more durable than other, flashier shows with higher profiles.
Filmation was a creator of (mostly) Saturday morning cartoons, sometimes aspiring to quality (its animated
Star Trek ) and more often cutting corners on the scripts and animation to churn it out. Tarzan, Lord Of The
Jungle from 1976 was definitely in the former quality, though like most Filmation shows they never splurged on
lots of detail work in the cartooning department. This series is easily the most faithful adaption of the actualEdgar Rice Burroughs novels, so that alone makes it noteworthy. It's of course a pity the (usually?) shorter 20episodes done sporadically in seasons 2-4 couldn't be found and included with the 16 longer episodes fromthe full first season for one complete set. It's even more of a shame that some sort of restoration couldn't bedone for the picture or sound. Filmation shows looked pretty junky even back when they first aired. Thiscollection on DVD is positively substandard and can only be recommended for Tarzan or cartoon completistswho want a sense of what the show is like. Rare for a Filmation effort, it deserves better.
Star Trek The Next Generation gets exactly that with this new inexpensive boxed set. You can keep your
elaborate packaging. I and I think most fans would much prefer long-running TV shows like ST: TNG to be
given a compact, low-cost presentation like this. What really matters is the image and sound and this remains
a very strong effort. Like Roots , this iteration of Star Trek now looks a little dated and awkward. It's actual
heyday of quality is much shorter than I remembered at the time. Essentially, the first two seasons spent a lotof time stumbling onto planets and plotlines from the original series. And after that, the Borg arrived, the showupended everything we thought we knew about the series...and then backed off that bold gambit and neverrecovered. The real star here is Data, as compelling a character as TV has, illuminating how well sci-fi can useoutlandish conceits to explore what it means to be human. A good show in a complete set with good pictureand sound at a reasonable price. If only all TV series enjoyed a similar fate.
BUSTER KEATON THE SHORTS COLLECTION 1917-1923 ($59.95 BluRay; Kino Lorber)
GOLD ($29.95 BluRay; Kino Lorber)
HERE COMES MR. JORDAN ($39.95 BluRay; Criterion)
Here's a very strong compilation of Buster Keaton shorts on BluRay, most notably ones done with Fatty
Arbuckle. I for one am not jaded by the relatively copious amounts of releases devoted to silent shorts byKeaton and Chaplin et al. I've checked out some of the shorts new to me and gone online to read somedetailed reviews by others who know much more about these classic shorts than I. Reading people arguingabout which newly commissioned score on which compilation is superior, debating as to whether this cleanedup print sacrifices deeper blacks while that less pristine print has more character and so on is astonishing tome. For most of film history, once shorts passed out of favor they were almost invisible except to a lucky fewin major cities. The fact that we can compare and contrast different re-masterings of classic Keaton ondifferent sets is cause for rejoicing. Best of all, Keaton himself is endlessly entertaining so almost anycollection of any shorts of his will be a revelation to newcomers. No exception here.
Gold is less of a revelation and more of a curiosity. It's a 1934 sci-fi German film that took more than a year to
film and stands in the shadow of Fritz Lang's cautionary masterpiece Metropolis . Rightly so, with here the
main baddie being British and American businessmen. The sets are stunning at times and were recycled in
some American sci-fi films. An alternate French language version shot at the same time is not includedunfortunately though since even this is of mostly academic interest, that's probably no great loss artistically.(Though tell that to the Spanish language version of Dracula !)
But there can be no debate about the lovely print of Here Comes Mr. Jordan , a charming Hollywood fantasy
about a boxer who is accidentally brought to heaven by a guardian angel before his time. Played by Robert
Montgomery in easily his best screen role, he's sent back down to earth to go into a new body and try again.
It began as a play and has been remade several times (most notably Warren Beatty's Heaven Can Wait and
Chris Rock's Down To Earth ) but this is the one to beat. If nothing else, you can't beat Claude Rains. Criterion
has a typically wonderful package here, with various extras capped by a radio version that included many ofthe actors but substituted Montgomery with Cary Grant, the first choice for the lead role. No need to wonderwhat-if when you can hear how Grant would have been. A delight from start to finish since they don't make'em like they used to...even when they try.
RICK AND MORTY SEASON 2 ($29.98 BluRay; Warner Home Video)
DETECTORISTS SERIES 2 ($39.99 DVD; Acorn Media)
GRANTCHESTER SEASON 2 ($49.99 BluRay; PBS)
RIZZOLI & ISLES SEASON 6 ($39.99 DVD; Warner Home Video)
My nephews were shocked! What? I don't watch Rick and Morty?? But it's the best show on TV. So I dove in
and immediately understood; it has the rat-a-tat appeal of the random jokes of Family Guy but with a lot moresmarts and intellectual playfulness underpinning it. Basically an alcoholic scientist moves in with hisdaughter's family. Intergalactic and inter-dimensional adventures involving Rick and his grandson Morty(usually of the disturbing, mind-altering kind and playing off some known scientific concept) take place amidstdull suburban family situations. It's anarchis, caustic, heathenish and generally amusing, though I think this isanother show where repetition is all. The jokes that are funny the first time might well become hilarious thefifth time I hear them. It's growing on me.
Perhaps a polar opposite to R&M is Detectorists , a low-key comedy that is entirely character based. Two pals
who specialize in their hobby/would-be careers of metal detection suffer travails and misfortunes both in their
private lives and at "work." Mackenzie Crook of the UK"s Office is the mastermind, writing and directing and
starring alongside Toby Jones. It's a pleasure. Two seasons, 13 episodes, and now I'm torn between wantingmore and preferring to let this little gem simply exist on its own oddball level and leaving it be. I do think it willreturn -- after all, it won the BAFTA for best scripted comedy last year and they even did a Christmas special(included here). Just take your time, Crook, and do it when you're ready.
On the other hand, I can take or leave the modest mystery series Grantchester . I'm Christian and I love a good
murder littered with clues. Toss in a British accent and I'm sold. So it's notable that this minor British show
featuring an Anglican priest stumbling onto various crimes barely holds my attention. Yes, James Norton issuitably comely as the man of the cloth who attracts eligible women almost as often as crimes to solve. But
the tales, based on the equally timid short stories of James Runcie, are most interesting when they deal the
least with actual crime and more with the workaday life of an Anglican priest. Maybe Runcie thought thatwasn't enough and jazzed it up with murder; he was wrong.
Not so with Rizzoli & Isles. This cop show features a detective and a medical examiner working in tandem to
solve crimes. Like Cagney & Lacey, its duo is notably a great team, with Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander
displaying terrific chemistry. Based on the novels by Tess Gerritsen, this is meat and potatoes TV crime stuff.
It's worked for years though, with the currently airing seventh season serving as the show's swan song. Sosoon enough you can expect all seven years together in one box, along with the beginning of fan hopes for areunion movie or two down the line.
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the founder of BookFilter, a book lover's best friend. Looking for the next great
book to read? Head to BookFilter! Need a smart and easy gift? Head to BookFilter! Wondering what new titles just
hit the store in your favorite categories, like cookbooks and mystery and more? Head to BookFilter! It's a website
that lets you browse for books online the way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new
releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of the way. It'slike a fall book preview or holiday gift guide -- but every week in every category. He's also the cohost of ShowbizSandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and
features top journalists and opinion makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his
website and his daily blog.
Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free copies of DVDs and Blu-rays with the understanding that he would be
considering them for review. Generally, he does not guarantee to review and he receives far more titles than hecan cover; the exception are elaborate boxed sets, which are usually sent with the understanding that they will bereviewed. All titles are available in various formats at varied price points. Typically, the price listed is merely thesuggested retail price and you'll find it discounted, not to mention available on demand, via streaming, physicalrentals and more.
US
Michael Giltz , Contributor BookFilter creator
DVDs: Zootopia Zings; Sinatra Sings; Damon Stings
06/17/2016 01:23 am ET | Updated Jun 17, 2017
ZOOTOPIA ($39.99 BluRay; Disney)
One of the best movies of the year. Zootopia plays like a long-lost follow-up to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a
noir-cartoon (without the combo of live-action and animation that made the original so distinctive.) A young
bunny rabbit longs to become a cop, even though a bunny rabbit (much less a female bunny rabbit) has everdone so before. But our heroine moves to the big city of Zootopia (where predators and prey live together inrelative harmony) and accomplishes her goal...where she is immediately assigned to writing parking tickets.Like women throughout history, she determines to be ten times as good at her job as any man so that maybeshe can get half the credit. But her policing instincts kick in and she is soon embroiled in a mysteriousinvestigation: predators are going rogue and actually attacking prey but the mayor seems to be keeping a lidon it to prevent mass hysteria. Before you know it, she's teamed up with a wily fox to work both sides of thelaw, solve the crime and keep Zootopia safe for all. This is a smartly animated film, a clever little mystery a laChinatown and a gentle spin on buddy cop movies where two mis-matched characters learn to work together.
The acting -- from Ginnifer Goodman to Jason Bateman to Idris Elba and on down the line -- is excellent. The
DVDs: Zootopia Zings; Sinatra Sings; Damon Stings
jokes -- spoofs of The Godfather and a thousand cop movie and TV show cliches -- are witty without yanking
us out of the story. And the sophisticated commentary on prejudice is spot-on. What a treat.
VINYL SEASON 1 ($45.99 BluRay; HBO)
GAME OF THRONES SEASONS 3 AND 4 STEELBOOK EDITIONS ($79.98 BluRay each; HBO)
THE X-FILES EVENT SERIES ($29.99 BluRay; Fox)
HBO's drama set in the cocaine-fueled world of 1970s rock and roll goes wrong in about 18 different ways.
But the essential problem with Vinyl is that they treat this world as a backdrop for all sorts of melodrama. They
didn't trust that working at a record label, trying to discover talent or deal with outrageous stars and so on wasinherently dramatic and fascinating. Who gives a damn about the private life of execs when you've got glamrock and stadium shows and new talent bursting out in a club down the street? Season One is only of interestfor those who want to see how far astray a TV show can go.
HBO has had trouble in its drama department so it's no surprise they keep repackaging their classics. Game
Of Thrones may be their biggest hit ever so fanatical fans can rebuy prior seasons in new steelbook limited
editions. The appeal is mostly new packaging and some modest new stuff. But really, it's about being able todive again into a show you love or keep some sealed copy on your shelf to proclaim your passionate support.Yes, it's a fine looking set, especially if you didn't buy it already. But no, buying it won't make George R.R.Martin write any faster.
I'm not sure what I expected from a new X-Files miniseries but it certainly wasn't this. The problem with the
very fun sci-fi drama back in the day was that later seasons and the movies become bogged down in its
elaborate conspiracy. Ardent fans knew the best episodes were the stand-alones and that elaborateconspiracy theories were mostly nonsense and best left vague and in the background as mere scenerydraping, not as the main plot engine. So here comes a fresh new miniseries with two excellent stars
presumably coming back for all the right reasons and plenty of time for Chris Carter to craft a six episode
wing-dinger with maybe a tiny over-all arc but (hopefully) six kick ass tales to entertain. No rush! Take your
time! Do it right! The result feels rushed and last minute in the most bizarre manner possible, with a weak startand a cliffhanger ending. Really? After waiting 14 years for a new TV launch? Oh well, at least it did wellenough worldwide to probably return again. Less arc, please.
HAIL, CAESAR! ($34.98 BluRay; Universal)
I watched Hail, Caesar! on Bluray and in some ways the home is the perfect place to experience this ode to
Hollywood. The diminished expectations of a TV screening (ironic, since TV kicks movie's ass these days), theminor key of the humor and my really not expecting much combined to make this better-than-average CoenBrothers. it's about a fixer in 1950s (sort of) Hollywood who must solve countless problems every day, fromunmarried female actresses getting pregnant to a big male star being kidnapped and (worse!) becomingenamored with communism. It is most assuredly not a spoof of the studio system, but more of a lovinghomage. Really, it probably has more in common with the religious themes of A Serious Man than comedies
like Raising Arizona , thanks to that fixer being a devout Catholic who is wrestling with a job offer. The cast is
very strong and the little bits of offbeat humor really landed with me. This might well grow and grow withrepetition, as smart comedy often does. I liked Channing Tatum's musical dance number, I really liked ScarlettJohansson's New Yawk take on an Esther Williams celebrity and I loved the scenes with Alden Ehrenreich asa western star plopped into a drawing room comedy where he's ruthlessly directed by Ralph Fiennes. ("Wouldthat it t'were so simple!") Amusing.
A MAN AND HIS MUSIC + ELLA + JOBIM ($9.98 DVD; Eagle)
Well, I'm a Frank Sinatra fanatic so when a bunch of his TV specials were released in a boxed set years ago, I
jumped. Now, years later, each DVD is finally being released in four individual sets. Fanatics already own thembut casual fans should leap in particular for the set The Man And His Music with Count Basie and especially
this release with two specials for one low price. One half is the swinging Sinatra with Diahann Carroll and the5th Dimension. But the gem here is Sinatra in two great pairings. He swings with Ella Fitzgerald and then doesa medley with Antonio Carlos Jobim. Fitzgerald is of course one of the greatest jazz singers of all time; lessappreciated perhaps is what a great duet partner she is with everyone from Louis Armstrong to Frank Sinatra.Fotzgerald brings out the best in literally everyone. And Sinatra's late career masterpieces are the two albumshe recorded of bossa nova music alongside Jobim. Indeed, 1967's Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio CarlosJobim may be his masterpiece, period . Watching him do a live medley with Jobim is spellbinding. This is for
music fans, not just Sinatra fans. It isn't cleaned up or remastered visually or aurally, so it's not as pristine andgood-sounding as we deserve. But it's acceptable and the best we've had on DVD; if you already own it,don't bother and if you don't and think you might like it, by god you will.
THE MARTIAN EXTENDED EDITION ($39.99 BluRay; Fox)
Actually, the extra ten minutes or so includes more time of Damon's astronaut stranded on Mars and that's all
for the good. I felt in the original film his time on Mars felt more like three weeks than the extended nightmarehe suffered. (Compare his isolation to Tom Hanks in Cast Away where the movie really created a sense of
loneliness and despair utterly lacking here.) The other little tidbits include some more scenes at NASA. Sincethose were by far the weakest aspect of the original film, more of them is decidedly a negative. In general, ifyou own it already you certainly shouldn't bother and overall you're better off with the original, which is alsoincluded, so let price be your guide. One does feel this should have simply been included in the originalBluRay release though they will surely argue they didn't have the time to do it right, etc.
ROOTS THE COMPLETE ORIGINAL MINISERIES ($42.99 BluRay; Warner Home Video)
THE LEAGUE COMPLETE SERIES ($99.99 DVD; Fox)
TARZAN, LORD OF THE JUNGLE SEASON 1 ($19.98 DVD; Warner Home Video)
STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION COMPLETE SERIES ($129.98 DVD; Paramount)
This is a new BluRay release of the 1977 Roots miniseries, the one that was a remarkably popular, landmark
work of television and pop culture. As a phenomenon and a prod to a national discussion on race, it remains
significant. As a work of art, it is sorely dated. The event's smartest stunt was casting lovable, well-known TVactors in varied roles, so that viewers somehow felt complicit in the inhumane practices they witnessed. Itwasn't some anonymous actor playing a slave owner or cruel overseer. It was a TV star they knew andidentified and admired, which somehow made the viewer feel they shared the blame for what they saw. Theirheart wanted to excuse and explain away the vicious world of slavery but their mind wouldn't let them. it wasa master stroke. But most everything else feels dated, from the acting to the costumes to the clearly fakedwhipping and other mistreatment. It's very much a relic, albeit a fascinating one given its impact at the time.
I'm not sure how the future will judge the trend of fantasy sports leagues or the TV show they inspired. But
The League is a purposefully oddball comedy by Jeff and Jackie Schaffer that captures the all-consuminglunacy of people who indulge in them. It could have been worse: fantasy football leagues aren't nearly astime-sucking monsters as fantasy baseball leagues. Like Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm (two other shows
Jeff Schaffer worked on), The League's best aspect is that it feels like it was made by people with no
expectations that anyone else would ever watch. It has a lengthy roster of impressive guest stars and a semi-improv vibe that few other shows ( Curb being one of them) can pull off. It ain't your average bear. I guess if I
was making up a comedy roster, I'd draft it in the third round, hoping no one else would pick it up earlier and Iwould assume it would prove more durable than other, flashier shows with higher profiles.
Filmation was a creator of (mostly) Saturday morning cartoons, sometimes aspiring to quality (its animated
Star Trek ) and more often cutting corners on the scripts and animation to churn it out. Tarzan, Lord Of The
Jungle from 1976 was definitely in the former quality, though like most Filmation shows they never splurged on
lots of detail work in the cartooning department. This series is easily the most faithful adaption of the actualEdgar Rice Burroughs novels, so that alone makes it noteworthy. It's of course a pity the (usually?) shorter 20episodes done sporadically in seasons 2-4 couldn't be found and included with the 16 longer episodes fromthe full first season for one complete set. It's even more of a shame that some sort of restoration couldn't bedone for the picture or sound. Filmation shows looked pretty junky even back when they first aired. Thiscollection on DVD is positively substandard and can only be recommended for Tarzan or cartoon completistswho want a sense of what the show is like. Rare for a Filmation effort, it deserves better.
Star Trek The Next Generation gets exactly that with this new inexpensive boxed set. You can keep your
elaborate packaging. I and I think most fans would much prefer long-running TV shows like ST: TNG to be
given a compact, low-cost presentation like this. What really matters is the image and sound and this remains
a very strong effort. Like Roots , this iteration of Star Trek now looks a little dated and awkward. It's actual
heyday of quality is much shorter than I remembered at the time. Essentially, the first two seasons spent a lotof time stumbling onto planets and plotlines from the original series. And after that, the Borg arrived, the showupended everything we thought we knew about the series...and then backed off that bold gambit and neverrecovered. The real star here is Data, as compelling a character as TV has, illuminating how well sci-fi can useoutlandish conceits to explore what it means to be human. A good show in a complete set with good pictureand sound at a reasonable price. If only all TV series enjoyed a similar fate.
BUSTER KEATON THE SHORTS COLLECTION 1917-1923 ($59.95 BluRay; Kino Lorber)
GOLD ($29.95 BluRay; Kino Lorber)
HERE COMES MR. JORDAN ($39.95 BluRay; Criterion)
Here's a very strong compilation of Buster Keaton shorts on BluRay, most notably ones done with Fatty
Arbuckle. I for one am not jaded by the relatively copious amounts of releases devoted to silent shorts byKeaton and Chaplin et al. I've checked out some of the shorts new to me and gone online to read somedetailed reviews by others who know much more about these classic shorts than I. Reading people arguingabout which newly commissioned score on which compilation is superior, debating as to whether this cleanedup print sacrifices deeper blacks while that less pristine print has more character and so on is astonishing tome. For most of film history, once shorts passed out of favor they were almost invisible except to a lucky fewin major cities. The fact that we can compare and contrast different re-masterings of classic Keaton ondifferent sets is cause for rejoicing. Best of all, Keaton himself is endlessly entertaining so almost anycollection of any shorts of his will be a revelation to newcomers. No exception here.
Gold is less of a revelation and more of a curiosity. It's a 1934 sci-fi German film that took more than a year to
film and stands in the shadow of Fritz Lang's cautionary masterpiece Metropolis . Rightly so, with here the
main baddie being British and American businessmen. The sets are stunning at times and were recycled in
some American sci-fi films. An alternate French language version shot at the same time is not includedunfortunately though since even this is of mostly academic interest, that's probably no great loss artistically.(Though tell that to the Spanish language version of Dracula !)
But there can be no debate about the lovely print of Here Comes Mr. Jordan , a charming Hollywood fantasy
about a boxer who is accidentally brought to heaven by a guardian angel before his time. Played by Robert
Montgomery in easily his best screen role, he's sent back down to earth to go into a new body and try again.
It began as a play and has been remade several times (most notably Warren Beatty's Heaven Can Wait and
Chris Rock's Down To Earth ) but this is the one to beat. If nothing else, you can't beat Claude Rains. Criterion
has a typically wonderful package here, with various extras capped by a radio version that included many ofthe actors but substituted Montgomery with Cary Grant, the first choice for the lead role. No need to wonderwhat-if when you can hear how Grant would have been. A delight from start to finish since they don't make'em like they used to...even when they try.
RICK AND MORTY SEASON 2 ($29.98 BluRay; Warner Home Video)
DETECTORISTS SERIES 2 ($39.99 DVD; Acorn Media)
GRANTCHESTER SEASON 2 ($49.99 BluRay; PBS)
RIZZOLI & ISLES SEASON 6 ($39.99 DVD; Warner Home Video)
My nephews were shocked! What? I don't watch Rick and Morty?? But it's the best show on TV. So I dove in
and immediately understood; it has the rat-a-tat appeal of the random jokes of Family Guy but with a lot moresmarts and intellectual playfulness underpinning it. Basically an alcoholic scientist moves in with hisdaughter's family. Intergalactic and inter-dimensional adventures involving Rick and his grandson Morty(usually of the disturbing, mind-altering kind and playing off some known scientific concept) take place amidstdull suburban family situations. It's anarchis, caustic, heathenish and generally amusing, though I think this isanother show where repetition is all. The jokes that are funny the first time might well become hilarious thefifth time I hear them. It's growing on me.
Perhaps a polar opposite to R&M is Detectorists , a low-key comedy that is entirely character based. Two pals
who specialize in their hobby/would-be careers of metal detection suffer travails and misfortunes both in their
private lives and at "work." Mackenzie Crook of the UK"s Office is the mastermind, writing and directing and
starring alongside Toby Jones. It's a pleasure. Two seasons, 13 episodes, and now I'm torn between wantingmore and preferring to let this little gem simply exist on its own oddball level and leaving it be. I do think it willreturn -- after all, it won the BAFTA for best scripted comedy last year and they even did a Christmas special(included here). Just take your time, Crook, and do it when you're ready.
On the other hand, I can take or leave the modest mystery series Grantchester . I'm Christian and I love a good
murder littered with clues. Toss in a British accent and I'm sold. So it's notable that this minor British show
featuring an Anglican priest stumbling onto various crimes barely holds my attention. Yes, James Norton issuitably comely as the man of the cloth who attracts eligible women almost as often as crimes to solve. But
the tales, based on the equally timid short stories of James Runcie, are most interesting when they deal the
least with actual crime and more with the workaday life of an Anglican priest. Maybe Runcie thought thatwasn't enough and jazzed it up with murder; he was wrong.
Not so with Rizzoli & Isles. This cop show features a detective and a medical examiner working in tandem to
solve crimes. Like Cagney & Lacey, its duo is notably a great team, with Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander
displaying terrific chemistry. Based on the novels by Tess Gerritsen, this is meat and potatoes TV crime stuff.
It's worked for years though, with the currently airing seventh season serving as the show's swan song. Sosoon enough you can expect all seven years together in one box, along with the beginning of fan hopes for areunion movie or two down the line.
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the founder of BookFilter, a book lover's best friend. Looking for the next great
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Note : Michael Giltz is provided with free copies of DVDs and Blu-rays with the understanding that he would be
considering them for review. Generally, he does not guarantee to review and he receives far more titles than hecan cover; the exception are elaborate boxed sets, which are usually sent with the understanding that they will bereviewed. All titles are available in various formats at varied price points. Typically, the price listed is merely thesuggested retail price and you'll find it discounted, not to mention available on demand, via streaming, physicalrentals and more.