August 29, 2006

DVD Pick of the Week: Arrested Development - Season Three

There are a lot of releases to talk about this week, but, as usual, there is one that stands apart from the rest. This standout title is critical acclaimed and popularly ignored. Sadly, the lack of popular attention doomed it for the scrap heap, almost from the start. I guess I should be happy we got as much as we did, but I still wish there was more.

This week's pick is Arrested Development: Season Three. This show is fantastic, I would tune in every night of the week if it had the promise of new Arrested. This is its final, abbreviated, season. It ran 18 episodes of excellent entertainment. This season was nominated for four emmy's this year, including Best Comedy Series and Best Supporting Actor (Will Arnett).

The series chronicled the dysfunctional Bluth family ad eldest son, Michael (Jason Bateman), tried to keep the family together and their business afloat. This was a tougher task than anyone could imagine, considering just how messed up the family dynamic was. The season does bring everything full circle, while leaving room for more stories and fan conjecture.

I am so glad that this series has made it to DVD. It is definitely a show that would make a worthy addition to your shelf.

Also out this week:
  • Desperate Housewives: Season Two. It may have been shut out at the Emmy Awards, it will still be a hit on DVD. I gave up on the series about half way through, I just lost interest.
  • Nip/Tuck: The Complete Third Season. This is another show that I have not been able to get into. I have tried each of the first 3 go arounds, but no go.
  • South Park: The Complete Eigth Season. Who would have thought that this series would still be funny after the fad went away?
  • Sentinel. Mediocre thriller with Michael Douglas, Eva Longoria, and Kiefer Sutherland (playing a variation on Jack Bauer).
  • Take the Lead. It may be formulaic, it may be cliche, but I was still entertained by this dancing-centric Antonio Banderas film.
  • Dream Theater: Score. Anyone who likes these guys, or music in general, needs to own this. It is an incredible 2:40 of music, plus a second disk with a documentary on the entire career of the band.
  • Akeelah and the Bee. Didn't get to see this theatrically, but I have heard good things about this inspirational film.
  • The Tick vs Season One. It's been a long time coming. This series was hilarious, if short lived.
  • Friends with Money. Decent film about the relationship issues between friends at opposite ends of the income scale.
  • The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. Do we really need another edition of these films? The 2 disk sets have both theatrical and extended versions, plus new documentaries.
  • Darkwing Duck: Volume 1. Don't remember much of this, but it did come during the golden age of Disney afternoon cartoons.
  • Talespin: Volume 1. This one I have fond memories of, it also came from the aforementioned golden age.
  • Trilogy of Terror. Karen Black starred in this trio of Richard Matheson penned tales from late producer Dan Curtis.
  • Shock. An old film noir starring Vincent Price. Looks promising to me, I like Price, and I need to see more noir.
  • Stephen King's Desperation. TV movie with Ron Perlman, for a King based telefilm, this didn't turn out too bad.
  • Water. An Indian based tale which follows am 8 year old girl, a widow, who is shipped off to a village for woman of similar situation, away from the rest of the population.
  • Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. Albert Brooks is sent to the Middle East to find out what makes the people there laugh.
  • The Castle of Cagliostro. Hayao Miyazaki's first feature directorial effort is being re-released on DVD. Hopefully this will look better than than the last edition.
  • Mountain Patrol (Kekelixi). This looked interesting to me, it is about a patrol of people in Tibet who protect rare antelopes from poachers. There is more to it than that of course, but it seems terribly intriguing.
  • Bone Sickness. A supposedly gory film that looks like it could be good, and we all know how hard it is to find a good horror film.
  • Tokyo Rampage. An import from overseas, this features a psychopath who enjoys killing yakuza, and the low level thugs who think they can control him.
  • Tomie: Revenge. Another in the long running series of regenerating girl horror films.

What are you getting this week?

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