I want to tell you that after weeks of lackluster new releases, things are finally exciting again. I want to tell you that, but the truth is you have to sift through the categories to find anything worthwhile.
Oh, there are loads of “Complete Season” TV box sets out there, but that’s not really news, is it? I’m beginning to think that there are less than a dozen television series that don’t have a box set devoted to them. With McHale’s Navy: Season Two and I Dream of Jeannie: The Complete Fourth Season among this week’s offerings, you have to wonder if the catalogue has been picked through once too often.
Take heart, though. Dr. McDreamy and cohorts live on in Grey’s Anatomy: The Third Season. A bit less popular, but a guilty pleasure nonetheless, is one of my secret favorites, Las Vegas: Season Four. Both series owe their popularity more to eye candy than riveting plots, which says a lot about popular tastes.
For the more mystically inclined, Charmed: The Final Season (Season 8) is finally available as is Supernatural: Season 2. You say you want something even more vacuous? Not to worry — Bones: The Complete Second Season combines elements of Remington Steele and the CSI franchise in a rollicking cop show that’s never completely coherent. If that’s not numbing enough for you, give Two and a Half Men: The Complete First Season a shot. It’s guaranteed to recycle every swingin’ sitcom joke you hoped you’d never hear again.
On a serious note — a much more serious note — this week sees the DVD release of HBO’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. At just over two hours, it barely scrapes the surface of the 1970 book, but nonetheless evokes its spirit. Despite minor historical inaccuracies, it effectively recreates the events leading to the massacre of indigenous Americans at the hands of European Americans. It’s a story that still resonates in these times of “nation building.”
Theatrical DVDs are sparse this week, but it’s certainly worth noting that The Graduate (40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition) is at last available. Truly a landmark film, this brilliant social satire launched the career of Dustin Hoffman and cemented Mike Nichols’ reputation as a director. The soundtrack, featuring “Mrs. Robinson,” certainly didn’t hurt the fortunes of Simon and Garfunkel, either. This edition is loaded with extras befitting a film of this magnitude.
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