Pick of the Week: 7/13/04

This week's pick is Farscape Season 4 Volume 5. The entire four season run is now available on DVD. Now all we have to wait for is the 4 hour mini series airing on the Sci-Fi Channel in October. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, this is not the best place to start. You should go back to the beginning and start with season 1. The is quite possibly my favorite science fiction show ever. It successfully combined action, adventure, romance, comedy, suspense, and science fiction into one entertaining show. Not too mention excellent special effects, some of the best use of animatronic puppetry, makeup, and set design. Top it all off with top notch writing, acting with great chemistry between the lead actors, and an interesting universe populated by strange creatures.

OK, maybe I jumped ahead a bit. The show is sort of like an updated Buck Rogers. An astronaut gets shot through a wormhole to another galaxy where he joins forces with a group of escaped criminals. While there he is searching for a way home while being pursued by various bad guys. It is a wonderful show cancelled before it's time. Stay tuned for a column dedicated to this great show.

It really is a slow week for new releases. Here are a few others of note:
Never Die Alone. DMX and David Arquette star in this gritty look at crime and redemption. Features an excellent performance from Arquette.
The Bourne Identity: Explosive Extended Edition. More of a marketing ploy than anything else, they drop the commentary and DTS track of the first release in exchange for some fluffy featurettes. The extended tag does not refer to another cut of the film, but an extended deleted opening/closing.
The Manchurian Candidate: Special Edition. Just in time for the remake comes this new edition of the Frank Sinatra classic.
Dream Theater: Images and Words Live in Tokyo/Five Years in a Live Time. One of my favorite bands, releasing a lot of old material on this set. I cannot wait to get my hands on it.
The Dreamers. Bernardo Bertolucci's controversial film is being released in both it's original NC-17 version and an edited R version.
Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hel. The sixth and final film in this series arrives today. I have the first two, boy do I need to catch up! For fans of bloody samurai films, check this series out.
Trigun: Volume 6 - Project Seeds. The next volume of this fun anime series arrives, only two more to go!

On the music front, there is only one disk I am interested in:
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster. Doubles as an extended single for the title track, and an EP soundtrack for the documentary film, also of the same name. It contains that track, plus some live recordings from Paris in 2003.

Until next week, this has been pick of the week!