DVD Pick of the Week: The 4400: The Complete Third Season

Holy weak week, Batman! Once again we are faced with a slow week, everything seems to be building to a crescendo when the studios will rain down a veritable flood of films and television shows upon our hungry little heads. Until the flood gates open, we will have to contend with a few weeks where little is there to turn our heads. Fortunately, the store shelves while not be completely bare of something to watch.

This week's selection is The 4400: The Complete Third Season. How many of you watch this show? It feels as if it has been off the air forever. I know there will be a fourth season come this summer, but in the meantime, I feel like I have not seen it in such a long time. It is a series that runs on the USA network, usually paired with another USA series, The Dead Zone.

The show centers on 4400 people who were abducted by aliens over a span of something like 50 years. All of them were returned at the same time, only problem is that they were changed. None of them have aged a day, it was like they never left, except they began to exhibit superhuman abilities. The series chronicles how they try to reintegrate to society, the prejudices people have against them, and how some are unable to deal with their situation. There is the 4400 Group which seeks to support those returnees as well as develop whatever their abilities may be. Season 3 say the introduction of the Nova group, a terrorist splinter group that uses violence to meet their ends.

The show draws heavily from The X-Men, although much more grounded in reality, and much less like a superhero series. Actually, when I first saw Heroes, I couldn't help but make some parallels to this show, as there are some big similarities between the two, although their execution of the concept is vastly different.

This set includes all twelve episodes on four disks with featurettes, gag reels, and a number of commentary tracks. Its release reminds me I still need to get the first two seasons as well.

Also out this week:

• The Painted Veil. Edward Norton and Naomi Watts star in this romantic drama that was shot in China. It received mixed notice, from what I remember, but I look forward to giving it a watch.
• Catch & Release. As much as I like Jennifer Garner and Kevin Smith, this is a pretty poor romantic comedy.
• Music and Lyrics. Mediocre Drew Barrymore/Hugh Grant romantic comedy from earlier this year. It does have a few entertaining jabs at pop music.
• Because I Said So. Not reviewed terribly kindly, but I liked it very much, funny, touching, and not realistic in the least.
• Breaking & Entering. Jude Law stars in this drama that features a string of robberied that bring a pair into a dangerous affair that threatens all around them.
• Big: The Director's Cut. Another in a line of older titles being revisted and re-edited with more footage. Not sure what I think of this trend.
• Donnie Brasco: Extended Cut. See above.

Of course, there are many other releases this week, these are merely the ones I have chosen to spotlight. Will you be seeing any of them?