December 2008

Home Theater & Sound’s Gift Guide 2008

As we write this in November, it looks as if this will be a lean holiday season for many folks. It’s best to spend those dollars carefully. Video sets are gifts that can keep on giving through the whole winter; the MGM musicals and Monty Python sets should last well into March. That’s good value.

For Grimm Lovers (Koch Vision, DVD)

From 1982 to 1987, actress Shelley Duvall produced for Showtime a popular TV series called Faerie Tale Theatre. These hour-long adaptations of well-known fairytales featured big-name stars and added ingenious twists to the familiar stories. Some of the big names: Little Red Riding Hood with Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen (guess who plays the wolf); The Nightingale with Mick Jagger (no, he doesn’t sing); The Snow Queen with Lee Remick and Lance Kerwin; The Tale of the Frog Prince with Robin Williams and Teri Garr; The Three Little Pigs with Billy Crystal, Valerie Perrine, Fred Willard, Stephen Furst, and Jeff Goldblum (another guess at another wolf). The directors, too, were famous, among them Peter Medak, Francis Ford Coppola, Tony Bill, and Nicholas Meyer. There were 26 tales in all, and this holiday season Koch Vision presents all of them in a special gift box that also includes a collector’s booklet and a deck of cards for a special game devised by Duvall. The seven-disc set has been digitally remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and includes a lost episode. . . . Rad Bennett

You Gotta Get Smart (HBO, DVD)

. . . Get Smart: The Complete Series, that is. Before the recent feature film, which has played to critical disdain, there was a very successful TV show of the same name starring the late Don Adams, with Barbara Feldon and Edward Platt. Get Smart ran from 1965 to 1970 and focused on the misadventures of bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart, aka Agent 86. HBO’s gift set includes all 138 episodes on 25 discs, as well as loads of nifty extras: interviews with Buck Henry and Barbara Feldon, commentaries by Mel Brooks and others, bloopers, and rare TV footage. And -- would you believe? -- the entire project has been digitally remastered. Now, that’s smart. Get it! . . . Rad Bennett

They Literally Don't Make Television Like This Anymore (Koch Vision, DVD)

Running from 1948 to 1958 and a total of 466 episodes, Studio One presented on-air dramas ranging from adaptations of Shakespeare to new works written specifically for broadcast by some of early television's pioneering writers, including Gore Vidal and Rod Serling. The acting talent was even more distinguished, with Charlton Heston, Elizabeth Montgomery, Art Carney, Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Sal Mineo, Leslie Nielsen and Robert Cummings playing roles. Studio One Anthology, a six-DVD set, collects 17 significant episodes along with extra materials that explain the history and importance of the series. The Emmy-winning Twelve Angry Men is here, along with two original teleplays each by Serling and Vidal. There is an earnestness to the staging and acting, and the sort of deliberate pacing that allows scenes to unfold with maximum dramatic effect. Studio One was sponsored by Westinghouse, and the original commercial breaks are included, adding to the nostalgia. . . . Marc Mickelson

Think Pink (MGM Home Entertainment, DVD)

If you or a friend has an insatiable hunger for Pink Panther movies but has somehow not gotten around to buying any of them on DVD, you’ll welcome MGM’s new Ultimate Collection. Spread over 18 DVDs, it includes all seven of the live-action films directed by Blake Edwards, as well as the complete animated cartoon series. The first five films star Peter Sellers as Inspector Jacques Clouseau, but MGM couldn’t resist watering down the set by including an eighth Panther film, the inferior 2006 installment with Steve Martin (who will reprise the role in 2009). The first movie, The Pink Panther (1963), is presented in a special edition that MGM says is not available elsewhere, and includes 60 minutes of previously unseen footage. This footage is of the same quality as the finished film, and a lot of laughs. Now, if we could only get them to release what the video world really needs: Blu-ray editions of at least the first two movies. . . . Rad Bennett

Got Musicals? (MGM Home Entertainment, DVD)

Yes, answers MGM, and to prove it has issued the Hollywood Musicals Collection, a $500 set of 61 discs in a collectible marquee box. MGM’s new liaison with 20th Century Fox has made it possible for them to include such Fox titles as Oklahoma!, The King and I, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show alongside such MGM-UA favorites as How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, West Side Story, and Goldwyn Follies. The last title is new to DVD, as are Kid Millions and Whoopie! The set includes 50 exclusive postcard reproductions of the original one-sheets. This holiday gift could well last the entire winter. . . . Rad Bennett

Python-arama (New Video, DVD)

I was standing in a hallway talking with a few people when a fellow who was forced to walk between us all uttered "ministry of silly walks" as he skittered by. We all knew what he was referring to -- the classic skit from Monty Python's Flying Circus. John Cleese's leggy gymnastics are in silhouette on the box for The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus Collector's Edition. This exhaustive 21-DVD set will fill your brain to bursting with everything and anything you would want to know about the groundbreaking British comedy series, its very talented cast, and the show's rich legacy. Of course, all 45 episodes are here, along with seven DVDs of extra materials, including documentaries, live performances, and rare footage that was never broadcast. Even 30 years on, the edgy absurdity and flaming creativity on display are without peer, and they have their intended effect, causing laughter even if you've seen every episode multiple times. It is impossible for there to be a better Christmas gift for a Python fanatic than this set. . . . Marc Mickelson

Go Ape on Blu-ray (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Blu-ray)

20th Century Fox has just released Planet of the Apes: 40 Year Evolution, a special boxed set containing all five Planet of the Apes films on Blu-ray. There’s the original, followed by Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, and Battle for the Planet of the Apes. Each title is on a double-layer disc, using a Java platform and transferred at the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, with a new DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. All are contained in an impressive foldout volume that includes a special collector’s book. It’s in this studio’s tradition to be elaborate; those MGM chimps always were classy simians. . . . Rad Bennett

Only in America (and Canada) (History Channel, DVD)

Ax Men, Tougher in Alaska and Ice Road Truckers are three of History Channel's most popular series, and the first season of each is collected in the American Originals Megaset. Following the exploits of people who live and work in some of the toughest climates on earth, each episode shows that these people are as tough as forged steel -- until they have on-the-job mishaps or family responsibilities call and their humanity shows itself. Ice Road Truckers, which documents the men who work on a transient road made of solid ice, is actually set in Canada, so the name of this set is misleading, but you'll come to see how these men are connected because of the difficult work they've chosen to do. This set is sold exclusively through Costco, so you can pick it up along with a grocery-bag-sized sack of chips and a case of your favorite beer for a Christmas week of bleary-eyed watching. . . . Marc Mickelson

A Turbulent Decade (History Channel, DVD)

Another Costco exclusive is The '60s Megaset, a 14-DVD set that collects a number of interrelated History Channel programs covering the decade that remains a touchstone for people who lived through it and a point of fascination for those who didn't. John F. Kennedy's life and presidency, both central to the '60s, are covered in separate exhaustive documentaries, as are the Vietnam War, Martin Luther King's life and influence, the Moon Landing, and the importance of the hippie movement. No scrap of '60s life and culture is ignored, each documentary painting a sprawling yet detailed portrait of a time when America's future seemed in doubt but the strength of its democracy helped pull it through. . . . Marc Mickelson

Who You Gonna Call? (Time Life Home Entertainment, DVD)

If the Ghost of Christmas Past is bothering you, or you just want some good animated entertainment, call the Real Ghost Busters -- but you have to call them online! Time Life has released The Real Ghostbusters: The Complete Series in a 25-DVD set: all 147 episodes of the seven-season animated hit series. They’ve been remastered to video and audio perfection and contain a wealth of extras, including 21 on-camera commentary tracks. Everything comes in a specially designed box and can be yours for the ordering, but only online at www.realghostbustersdvd.com. . . . Rad Bennett

Play It Again (Warner Home Video, Blu-ray or DVD)

It’s one of the most famous utterances in film from one of the best-loved movies of all time: Casablanca. Warner Home Video has released an Ultimate Collector’s Edition of the movie that will let you enjoy it anytime you want, and they’ve included enough supplemental material to constitute the syllabus for Casablanca 101. The set, in an elegant box with an intricate laser-cut Moroccan design, contains two DVDs as well as reproductions of props and production letters (Victor Laszlo’s "Letter of Transit," a note from producer Hal Wallis changing the film’s title to Casablanca, and more). You also get a mail-in coupon for a movie poster, and more than seven hours of bonus features on disc 2. Disc 1 contains a state-of-the-art digital remastering of the film itself. The most important news to many will be that this set is also available on Blu-ray. Give it to someone special; it could be the start of a wonderful friendship. . . . Rad Bennett

When Things Go Horribly Wrong (History Channel, DVD)

Modern Marvels has become the History Channel's premiere series during its 15-year, 300-episode run. It reveals the background and technological fine points of engineering triumphs that are important and often ubiquitous to modern life, discussing them in depth and detail. But what happens when a bridge or building collapses, or a chemical plant explodes and triumph turns to tragedy? Modern Marvels: Engineering Disasters covers these with the same seriousness -- everything from the Exxon Valdez oil spill to the Love Canal to the abundance of failures surrounding Hurricane Katrina. Each hour-long episode discusses a few mishaps, sometimes with the people who were responsible for them or figured out what went wrong. The tragedy often led to good works. Government agencies were created, safety standards were improved, and building codes were re-examined and toughened. . . . Marc Mickelson

Get Wired (HBO, DVD)

The Wire, one of HBO’s best shows, is a concentrated look at drug dealing, policing, politics, smuggling, and the media in West Baltimore, and how each affected everything else. If you’re wondering how you can get through the winter, this award-winning series can take care of 60 hours of it. That’s how long the complete set is: all five seasons, plus all the original bonuses included with each season’s individual release on DVD, plus two new features -- three prequels exploring life before The Wire, and a never-before-seen gag reel. . . . Rad Bennett

Driving on Thick Ice (History Channel, DVD)

An unexpected smash hit for the History Channel in 2007, Ice Road Truckers documented the work of a handful of brash, industrious and sometimes foolhardy truckers who hauled heavy loads over frozen lakes and rivers in order to service diamond mines in Canada's frigid Northwest Territories. The Complete Season Two followed some of the same truckers, but this time they were hauling on roads ploughed out on the frozen Arctic Ocean. Hugh Rowland, who's a skilled driver if not a particularly pleasant person, and his friend Rick Yemm, whose protestations were many, provide some needed tension, but season two lacks the drama and novelty of the series' first season. There's only so much that can be made of Rick's many mechanical breakdowns and steady complaining. Still, the tense move of a massive drilling rig will make you ask yourself the obvious question: Could I do that job? At that point, you'll be hooked. . . . Marc Mickelson

Plug In Your Leg Lamps (Warner Home Video, Blu-ray or DVD)

. . . but don’t get your tongue stuck on the cold metal of the presentation case. Warner Home Video has released, on the film’s 25th anniversary, A Christmas Story: Ultimate Collector’s Edition. The DVD and Blu-ray editions come in different collectible tins and contain some appealing extras: a 48-page cookbook with recipes inspired by the movie; quotes from the script and still photos; a red chef’s apron with the A Christmas Story logo on it; and five collectible cookie cutters "in iconic Christmas Story shapes." The Blu-ray also boasts a string of leg-lamp lights that you can put in your front window -- or on a tree, a mantle, or any other place where they can be displayed with misplaced pride.

Oh, yes, each tin also contains the movie itself, based on the writings of memoirist and monologist Jean Shepherd. It has become the American classic for the holiday season. It hasn’t been remastered, but looks good enough to pass muster. Watch it, then go and hang that string of lamps or bake those leg-lamp cookies. I double-dog dare ya! . . . Rad Bennett

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