| Video Roundup December 2007
Gifts for the Home-Video Fan
 It’s that time of the year
when we list projects that might make particularly good gifts for you or someone you know.
The list is extremely diverse (some might say perverse), and runs the gamut from cheap to
expensive.
It’s to laugh
If you or a friend do not dispute Benny Hill’s title
as "the funniest man on television," A&E Home Video has a holiday treat for
you to give or receive. It’s Benny Hill: The Complete Megaset, and according
to A&E, it includes 58 uncut and digitally remastered episodes of the popular The
Benny Hill Show -- 585 sketches and 48 hours of comedy! Also included are three rare
black-and-white episodes, and the rare, once-lost silent film Eddie in August. There
are also selections from A&E’s Biography, interviews, six Benny
Hill’s Cheeky Challenge trivia quizzes, companion booklets, and more. The huge
set lists for $149.95, though online houses are sure to discount that. But even if you
have to pay list, that’s only 25¢ per sketch. . . . Rad Bennett
Chills in the night
The horror-show lover on your list might appreciate Starz
Anchor Bay’s megabox of Season One of Masters of Horror ($79.98), an hour-long
show that ran on the Showtime network. Each week there’d be a new drama directed
and/or written by some icon of the genre, including directors John Carpenter, Joe Dante,
Tobe Hooper, John Landis, Dario Argento, Stuart Gordon, and Mick Garris. The 14 DVDs are
housed in individual cardboard sleeves in a cardboard case meant to resemble a mausoleum.
The many bonus features include featurettes, interviews, trailers, still galleries,
director bios, and storyboard galleries. Some fans have complained about the cardboard
packaging, but it’s kept the price down. You can find the set at big discounts that
make it only $3 to $4 per disc. The first season is also available on four individual
Blu-ray discs. . . . Rad Bennett
Chronicling a classic conflict
The seven episodes and 15+ hours of The War, from
PBS Home Video, comprise the documentary event of 2007. Filmmaker Ken Burns reprises some
of the homespun sentimentality that made The Civil War an affecting classic,
choosing to personalize World War II by showing its effect on individual people who lived
in towns and cities in the east, west, north, and south of the US. But The War goes
much further than following the conflict at home, in Europe, and the Pacific. It also
depicts the complex forces that were changing world history in the mid-1940s, and the
evolution of American life. Those who saw The War and those who didn’t will
both be happy about unwrapping this DVD set ($129.99) on Christmas Day. . . . Marc
Mickelson
Skewering B classics
Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy, and Mike Nelson are the Film
Crew. This trio created Mystery Science Theater 3000, the cult fave that ran on
Comedy Central and the Sci-Fi Channel for more than a decade. Like the humans and robots
on MST 3K, the Film Crew adds wisecracks to very bad movies, highlighting their
intrinsic absurdity and humor. The series has grown to four DVDs that send up the B-movie
classics Hollywood After Dark, Killers from Space, Wild Women of Wongo,
and Giant of Marathon. All four would make an offbeat gift for the B-movie hound.
My wish for 2008 is that Shout! Factory will continue the series, adding a goofy surfer
movie and a Japanese monster flick along the way. . . . Marc Mickelson
Going where no reindeer has gone before
There are many combination packages for the Star Trek
franchise, but a recent one caught my eye. It’s the complete Star Trek: The Next
Generation: all seven seasons on 51 discs, housed in a nifty standup box. Included is
a disc with all-new special features that include "The Next Generation’s Impact
20 Years Later" and "The Next Generation’s Legacy 2007," as well as
"Star Trek Visual Effects Magic: A Roundtable Discussion." Each season includes
its own extras, too, among them crew profiles and behind-the-scenes footage. All episodes
are fullscreen and in English Dolby Digital stereo. This 20th-anniversary set commands a
hefty price of $455.95, but such things have never scared off the true Trekker. . . . Rad
Bennett
Genesis collected
If you’re a Genesis fan, or know one, Rhino Records
has a great gift for you to receive or give: Genesis: 1976-1982 ($129.98). In a
handsome and durable box are six sets, each containing two discs: a remastered CD and a
multichannel DVD. The original albums are A Trick of the Tail, Wind and Wuthering,
And Then There Were Three, Duke, and Abacab. The sixth set is
reserved for extra tracks and clips. The DVDs are not DVD-Audio, as you might expect, but
do have DTS 96/24 tracks that are exceptionally good, and include some of the band’s
video performances. The surround mixes are imaginative and mostly right on the mark, with
vocals largely isolated in the center channel, principal instruments up front, and
instrumental backing and effects in the rear channels. . . . Rad Bennett
More Michael
Michael
Moore's movies are always provocative. His TV work has sprinkled in some entertaining
outrageousness. The Awful Truth was Moore's venue for taking off the gloves with
people and institutions who deserved a little roughing up. The show ran for two seasons --
1999 and 2000 -- on the Bravo Network, and all 24 hour-long episodes are collected in this
four-DVD set ($69.95). Highlights are numerous -- from the "Voice Box Choir"
that performs Christmas carols in a tobacco-company's lobby to the "Sodom
Mobile" that tweaks gay-haters across America. Moore confronts through exaggerated
action, pointing out the hypocrisy that lies just below the surface of people's deeply
held prejudices, and he is always very funny. He is as polarizing a figure as there is in
America today, and while The Awful Truth won't convert those who dislike Michael
Moore's work (and Moore himself), it will make those with an open mind laugh long and hard
on Christmas Day. . . . Marc Mickelson
The return of Napoleon and Illya
One of the most popular TV spy shows of all time was The
Man from U.N.C.L.E., starring Robert Vaughn as Napoleon Solo and David McCallum as
Illya Kuryakin. Just in time for this holiday season, Warner has brought back the whole
series in a silver attaché case that includes all 105 episodes. In addition, there’s
a pilot film in color that has never before been released, and One Spy Too Many, a
theatrical film not seen since its limited release in 1966. In addition you’ll find
many featurettes, and even a Tom and Jerry cartoon, The Mouse from H.U.N.G.E.R.
There are also plentiful interviews with Vaughn and McCallum, as well as vintage network
promotional spots, trailers, commercials, and TV appearances by the two stars. McCallum
also contributes his own home movies, filmed on the U.N.C.L.E. set. . . . Rad
Bennett
Off the beaten track
Mojo is a cutting-edge TV network all of whose programming
is in 1080i video and 5.1-channel surround sound, and one of its signature series, Dr.
Danger, is an unconventional travelogue whose first season has been released on a
two-DVD set by Infinity Entertainment Group ($29.99). It stars network-TV veteran Dr. Bob
Arnot, who visits remote and dangerous places in the world -- not the vacation
hotspots profiled on the Travel Channel. The series plays up the danger angle a little too
much -- in a few episodes, Dr. Danger is Dr. Tourist -- but no one will question the
show’s premise when Dr. Bob is touring Somalia or Darfur. The fullscreen video is
bright and clear, showing its HD origins. Wall Street Warriors, another Mojo series
that looks mah-velous, follows ten people who make their money making money. . . . Marc
Mickelson
Classifieds for the masses
Ever wonder where a used bicycle or TV you purchased came
from? 24 Hours on Craigslist ($29.95) gives a few answers and tells the story of
Craigslist, the wildly successful, mostly free Internet site that has become a worldwide
version of the classified ads. This whimsical film introduces you to some eccentric
people, some of whom ham it up for the camera a bit too much, and shows you what
they’ve bought and sold on Craigslist. Falling under the heading of "free to a
good home" are four hours of deleted scenes and bonus footage that are also part of
this two-DVD set released by Heretic Films. . . . Marc Mickelson
The house that Raymond built
You might have wondered how HBO was going to top their
boxed set of all five seasons of Six Feet Under, complete with tombstone, which was
released last holiday season. Well, here’s the news. The innovative cable company is
releasing the complete Everybody Loves Raymond: all nine seasons, 210 episodes, for
$279.98! The set comes packed in a sturdy miniature house; through the front door we can
see Raymond, and through the windows to either side of the door, the rest of the cast. It
weighs nearly five pounds. There are extras aplenty: Ray Romano’s appearance on The
Late Show with David Letterman that inspired the series; bloopers and deleted
scenes; a retrospective, "The First Six Years"; behind-the-scenes interviews;
two panel discussions; and 39 audio commentaries. There must be lots of closet space in
that house. The total running time of 103 hours should keep you out of trouble the rest of
the winter. Seasons 1-3 have a 1.33:1 aspect ratio, seasons 4-9 are 1.66:1, and all are
Dolby Digital 2.0. . . . Rad Bennett
A collected point of view
Since 1988 P.O.V. (a cinematic abbreviation for
"point of view") has been a preeminent show on PBS, debuting over 250
documentary films on TV, including early efforts from Errol Morris, Jonathan Demme and
Michael Moore as well as films of historical interest. This handsomely outfitted set
($249.95) collects 15 movies that were shown on P.O.V. from its earliest days to
the near present -- movies that you'll have a hard time finding for rent locally. High
points include Best Boy, shown in the series' first year, about the attempts of a
mentally handicapped man to forge a life of his own, Well-Founded Fear, which
explores the American political-asylum system, Dark Circle, an unflinching look at
the destructive potential of nuclear power, and Leona's Sister Gerri, which traces
a family's anguish after the publication of a shocking photograph of a botched abortion.
Award winners abound among these very personal films; each is about people, not
characters, who are truly memorable….Marc Mickelson
A gift package with bite
Angel was one of the most productive spin-off series
in the history of television. The vampire with a soul first appeared on Buffy the
Vampire Slayer, and thereafter reappeared frequently. From fans and ratings it
appeared that Angel needed his own show, and he got it. The series followed him as he
fought to keep from killing humans, and aided the police in solving vampire mysteries. All
five seasons (110 episodes) have now been released on 30 DVDs in a gift cube from 20th
Century Fox Home Entertainment ($139.98). All of the extras that appeared with the
separate DVD release of each season are included; the only new features are a companion
booklet and a letter from series creator Joss Whedon. If you’re really into vampires,
don’t overlook the three seasons of Forever Knight, available on separate Sony
Home Entertainment DVD sets. Filmed in Canada, the series, which ran from 1992 to 1996,
follows detective Nick Knight, an 800-year-old vampire who fights the urge to keep from
drinking people’s blood by keeping cow’s blood in his refrigerator. Without this
show, Angel might never have happened. . . . Rad Bennett |
