This week looks to have the poorest offerings between
now and Christmas. This week’s dilemma was choosing
something I’d call a pick of the week, as nothing
really stood out. Starting next week and running
until January, I’ll need to put serious thought into
which contenders will not be the final pick
of the week. Some highlights of the next few months
are listed below.
First, the genre releases:
- The
Lion, The
Witch and the Wardrobe: An animated version of the
C.S. Lewis
novel that is about to become a major live action
movie. - Mutant
X – The
Complete Third Season: The series that was so
close to the
X-Men, Fox tried to sue.
Now, the non-genre releases:
- Arrested
Development – Season Two: This is a deeply twisted
show. Perhaps
that’s why it’s so funny. - BB
King Blues
Session: How do you go wrong with BB King? - Cool
Hand
Luke: One of those classics that I have yet to
see. - Fresh
Prince
of Bel-Air – Season Two: This was good in its day.
Not great, but
good. - A
Love Song
for Bobby Long: I’ve been very impressed with
Scarlett Johansson
so far. Travolta’s resume shows a willingness to take
risks in order
to try something new, which has left him with some
great films and
some real stinkers. I haven’t seen this, but I’m
willing to give it a
shot. - McLintock:
A well respected Western. At the moment, I think the
western is the
only genre not represented in my DVD collection. I’ve
been tempted to
overcome my lack of interest for the sake of having a
more complete
library, so I’m willing to listen to suggestions
people have. - Sisterhood
of
the Travelling Pants: A teen girl movie that was
fairly well
reviewed. - Soap
– The
Complete Fourth Season: The final season of the
great comedy is
now available on DVD. - South
Park –
The Complete Sixth Season: I’ve tried to watch
this, but it just
doesn’t amuse me. If you like it, then there’s more
available to
enjoy. - Super
Size
Me: For the McDonald’s lovers on your Christmas
list. - Unleashed:
Many Jet Li fans enjoyed it. The trailers didn’t make
it appeal to me
at all. - Veronica
Mars
– The Complete First Season: This show from UPN
was very well
received by critics and by the few people who watched
it. I’d like to
give it a shot some time. It’s been described to me
as a show with
Smallville‘s Chloe Sullivan in a perfectly
normal urban
environment.
Finally, the pick of the week. If you must go
shopping this week, go with
Soap, the parody of soap operas in a sitcom
format. Feel
free to wait until next week, though, with Batman
Begins,
The Twilight Zone – Season Four,
Adventures of Superman –
Season One, or He-Man and the Masters of the
Universe –
Season One, Part One. In two weeks, there will
also be
American Gothic, Looney Tunes Golden
Collection
Vol. 3, a newer deluxe edition of The Wizard
of Oz, and
more to pick from. There’s something major coming
every week between
now and Christmas, right down to the second season of
the new Battlestar
Galactica on December 20.
Veronica Mars – Very Cool
The description you were given of the show is almost right. The only part that doesn’t quite make it is the phrase “perfectly normal urban environment.” The only way it could seem perfectly normal is to somebody who lives in Santa Barbara or a similar town where one would go to school with a lot of very rich kids (children of actors and moguls) and a lot of low- to middle-class kids (children of people working for actors and moguls).
In any case, I love the show. In fact, despite my natural leanings to genre content and my recently discovered love for Lost (watched the DVD set), I still can’t bring myself to switch from Veronica Mars. It’s partly because I really like the show, partly because if Tivo passes on my recording data I’d do more good for Veronica Mars, and partly because I know I can get Lost every Thursday from somewhat unsavory sources. :)
On westerns: My favorite two recent westerns are “Unforgiven” (Eastwood) and “Tombstone” (Russell and Kilmer). They’re both very good, though in different ways. Going back further, I liked “The Outlaw Josey Wales” (Eastwood) quite a lot. And in the heyday of the western, you can’t miss with such movies as “Shane,” “The Searchers” and “Fort Apache.” I could live on a diet of John Wayne (directed by John Ford, of course) and Clint Eastwood when it comes to that genre. Oh yeah, and I shouldn’t go without mentioning “The Wild Bunch.” I consider that one a must-see for film fans.
Re: Veronica Mars – Very Cool
Indeed. I got my entire family hooked on Veronica Mars, to the extent that when CTV started playing “guess when we’ll show this” by moving it around my 70 year old Grandmother asked me if I could download the episodes for her (her actual request was “Can you get the episode I missed on that computer of yours?”). I would probably describe her as Nancy Drew crossed with Chloe Sullivan, and that along with a very, very good supporting cast – Enrico Colantoni may be my favourite TV dad – makes for a hell of a show.
Re: Veronica Mars – Very Cool
CSI: 90210
Re: Veronica Mars – Very Cool
CSI: Dawson’s Creek would be more accurate as the creator Rob Thomas started out writing for that show (Dawson’s Creek, not CSI).
I’m sure there’s a Katie Holmes/Tom Cruise/Scientology joke in there somewhere, but I’m too tired to find it.
Battlestar Galactica
From what I’ve been able to Google, it’s only going to be the first half of season 2 (episodes 1-10) available in December. The second half of the season won’t get broadcast until January. Presumably they’ll also have a DVD set for the second half of the season, and I would guess another set for the whole season.
Re: Battlestar Galactica
wouldn’t the season starting in january technically be the third season of battlestar? we had the first season end with adama being shot, and the second season ending with the galactica sending vipers towards the pegasus. unless i was completely thrown off somewhere and that was just one season.
Re: Battlestar Galactica
I’ve looked into it, and it’s my understanding (as someone who doesn’t have a network which airs the show and who refuses to download stuff like that) that “Pegasus” was actually about half way through the second season, and the show is just in reruns until January, which is what most shows do starting in December. So, this release is actually just the first half of season two. Essentially, a mid-season episode had the sort of cliffhanger you expect with a season finale, so it was billed as such.