12/16/2015DVDs: The Wonder Years, Tom Cruise on Repeat and More | Evernote Web https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=6f013c41-2895-45cf-b834-6f568b677409&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&1/5DVDs: The Wonder Years, Tom Cruise on Repeatand MoreDVDs: The Wonder Years, Tom Cruise on Repeat and MoreStill catching up with tons of releases from the past few weeks, new movies, classic films and a TV show thathas been a long, long, long time coming.</p><p> Cue the music...THE WONDER YEARS -- COMPLETE SERIES ($249.99 DVD; StarVista/TimeLife) -- Okay, here's the deal.You can get the six-episode first season set most everywhere.</p><p> Costco apparently has a bundle of season oneand two.</p><p> And direct from TimeLife/StarVista, you can buy the entire series in collectable forms, all of them quiteelaborate that start in price at $250 set that comes in a school locker complete with binders and yearbook on up.That's about $2 an episode since they produced 115 in all.</p><p> What kept The Wonder Years out of sight for solong? Our old buddy music rights; various contracts and clauses make it prohibitively expensive to releaseshows that feature pop music.</p><p> Some shows ditch a bunch of cues (like Northern Exposure), others substitutebrand new songs in a similar vein (a trend pioneered by teen-friendly dramas on The CW and the like).</p><p> Andsome shows just languish until someone does the work and strong-arms people and makes deals until finallymost of the original songs can be included.</p><p> That's the case here with the people behind this set going so far tokeep the essential tunes (the pilot episode alone is crammed with classic rock) that when they couldn't use"Riders On The Storm" by The Doors without breaking the bank, they turned to a tribute album to The Doors fora track that included original members of the band playing with Perry Farrell just to maintain the right vibe.</p><p> That'sadmirable and apparently most of the original cues are present.I wish the same care and dedication had been spent on the remastering.</p><p> The episodes I've screened lookperfectly fine but they are nowhere near the level of quality one expects these days from remastered classic TV.Shows thirty years older than this look terrific whereas the visuals on this set are merely adequate.</p><p> Funnilyenough, since the credits include home movies and it's all a nostalgic look back, one can deal with it better than,say, one would on Twin Peaks. (Which I just reviewed last week and looks great.</p><p> And since they're reviving theseries, what better time to watch the original?)My strong preference is for boxed sets that are not bulky and awkwardly shaped, but that's me.</p><p> If you want akeepsake, a memento, I must admit the school locker (complete with magnets you can use to personalize it)made me smile.</p><p> Inside are binders with all the discs covering all six seasons along with copious extras,especially an extended sit-down with the actors from the family in a kitchen and the actors from school in ahallway setting (next to more lockers).</p><p> Their pride in the series is palpable as well it should be.</p><p> Quite a fewshows have won TV's top award in their first season.</p><p> But no show did it with fewer episodes before or since --The Wonder Years only had a six episode first season, but the pilot and third episode "My Father's Office" werestone cold classics.</p><p> On top of that, the show is the best series to ever launch after the Super Bowl (the onlyother serious contender is Homicide: Life On The Streets).</p><p> So no wonder those six episodes made such a bigimpression. (The runner-up, by the way is All In The Family, which won the Emmy for Best Comedy after just a13 episode first season.)One always thinks of this show as sentimental... and it is, in a good way.</p><p> But while the series looks back fondly,it doesn't look back with rose-colored glasses.</p><p> Time and again, the series reveals the pain and complications ofgrowing up in 1968 and beyond, rather than say the safety and security of pretending everything will be solved12/16/2015DVDs: The Wonder Years, Tom Cruise on Repeat and More | Evernote Web https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=6f013c41-2895-45cf-b834-6f568b677409&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&2/5by the end of each episode.</p><p> And it never mines the era for cheap laughs.</p><p> When Kevin decides he's going tochange his image by dressing up "cool," the laughs might have started and ended with silly costumes, the sort ofthing The Brady Bunch would do.</p><p> But Kevin's discomfort and the laughs of his obnoxious older brother arisefrom the fact that Kevin is trying to be someone he's not.</p><p> If you need any further proof of the show's seriousnessof intent, just fast-forward to the finale where the easy pretense that Kevin and Winnie were destined for eachother is set aside in favor of real life.I haven't had a chance to take in the entire series yet and see how it holds up.</p><p> But the early episodes remainexceptional.</p><p> The acting -- especially by Fred Savage -- is top notch, the dialogue funny and true (wheneverKevin sees Winnie he says "hi" and then she says "hi" and then he says "hi" again because he's always unsureof what to say), and the storylines both universal and specific enough to ring true.</p><p> They picked up where LeaveIt To Beaver left off in terms of how kids and their parents interacted. (Sometimes, neither side wanted to knowwhat the other side was truly thinking and doing, like the hilarious outcome of Kevin getting a copy of a book onsex.) It's a great companion piece to American Dreams and I'll Fly Away and Freaks & Geeks, all shows thatmined the past to tremendous effect.</p><p> It's not perfect, but it's great to finally have The Wonder Years on tapwhenever we need a blast of bittersweet memory.EDGE OF TOMORROW ($35.99 BluRay combo; Warner Bros.) THE ROVER ($24.99 BluRay; Lionsgate) -- Last summer has been widely painted as a disaster.</p><p> But in fact, ofthe 13 big budget movies Hollywood released, at least ten of them proved profitable.</p><p> You can't get a muchbetter track record than that when making movies.</p><p> Ironically, one of the films that was in the "loss" column (thatis, not a big hit) is actually one of the best.</p><p> Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt star in this sci-fi thriller, a war moviecrossed with Groundhog Day and video games, where a soldier keeps reliving the last day of his life until hegets it right.</p><p> It's the best reviewed movie of the summer, one of the best of the year according to most everyoneand deserves to be one of those films that is truly "discovered" and championed by fans who now have noexcuses.The Rover has a tougher row to how.</p><p> It's not pure adrenaline like Edge Of Tomorrow (or The Road Warrior).</p><p> It'sa more existential tale of a post-apocalyptic world with Guy Pearce wandering the outback, a hostage (RobertPattinson) in tow as he seeks...something.</p><p> Written and directed by David Michod (Animal Kingdom), it's brutaland quiet and distinctive.</p><p> And Pattinson may have actually turned a corner and put Twilight behind him once andfor all.SHERLOCK HOLMES -- THE COMPLETE GRANADA TELEVISION SERIES ($229.98 BluRay; MPI) --Sherlock Holmes in New York.</p><p> Sherlock Holmes as an action hero.</p><p> Sherlock Holmes in space. (Oh, it'll happen.)Heck, they've even rediscovered a silent film portrayal of Holmes thought lost forever.</p><p> With the immenselypopular spins on Holmes ranging from Benedict Cumberbatch to Robert Downey Jr. to Jonny Lee Miller (myfavorite of the new guys), with David Suchet winding up his portrayal of Poirot and on and on, it's great to revisitJeremy Brett.</p><p> The entire run of Brett as Holmes in a classic portrayal of the classic sleuth is available on thisBluRay set, which looks terrific.</p><p> You get two Watsons, an increasingly eccentric (and in real life, ailing) Brett,and top-notch production values.</p><p> No gimmicks.</p><p> No modernist spins.</p><p> Just the tales of Sir Arthur Conan Doylepresented faithfully with intelligence, a great deal of wit and verve.</p><p> The set includes the usual sort of extras(commentaries from director John Madden and screenwriter Jeremy Paul, a chat with actor Edward Hardwicke,vintage interviews and so on).</p><p> But what really matters are the shows themselves, a landmark work of televisionthat will endure long after the never-ending spins on the famous consulting detective have exhaustedthemselves out.WE ARE THE BEST! ($29.98 BluRay; Magnolia) THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL COLLECTORS EDITION ($99.99 DVD; StarVista/TimeLife) MOTOWN 25: YESTERDAY TODAY FOREVER ($39.99 DVD; StarVista/TimeLife) -- Director Lukas12/16/2015DVDs: The Wonder Years, Tom Cruise on Repeat and More | Evernote Web https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=6f013c41-2895-45cf-b834-6f568b677409&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&3/5Moodysson again proves himself one of the best directors working today with the unexpected treat We Are TheBest! It tells the charming story of three young girls growing up in Stockholm in the 1980s who decide to form apunk band.</p><p> Charm to spare, with Moodysson garnering wonderful performances from his three leads, misfits allwho find a place in music, sort of.Another blast from the past is this boxed set gathering some of the best performances from the vaults of the latenight concert series The Midnight Special.</p><p> An unexpected ratings hit, the show lasted many years.</p><p> Here on thiscollection of 16 hours of music on eleven DVDs available direct from StarVista/TimeLife, you can find liveperformances (never lip synced) of some of the biggest acts of the day, ranging from LaBelle in full space gearregalia to the winning simplicity of Jim Croce to Tom Petty and Marvin Gaye and seemingly everyone else youcan think of.</p><p> You also get a disc of stand-up acts like Steve Martin and George Carlin, another disc of behind thescenes and more.</p><p> Above all, it's the performances, presented with no fuss.</p><p> Performing on TV can be difficult,but here they designed studios to accommodate the acts with state of the art sound and that care shows uphere.</p><p> An even more deluxe set at $199.90 on 20 DVDs is bursting with Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame performancesover the years in addition to all the earlier sets.</p><p> It's both a time capsule and timeless, thanks to the great talenton display.Less impressive musically is Motown 25: Yesterday Today Forever.</p><p> This smash hit TV special also availabledirect from StarVista/TimeLife is now most interesting for capturing the era.</p><p> Musically, the house band is big andanonymous and numerous acts sound a little disjointed.</p><p> There are highlights to be sure, from Marvin Gaye'srambling, almost off the cuff discourse on musical history to the playful showdown between The Temptationsand the Four Tops.</p><p> Of course what everyone remembers is Michael Jackson, but today that's less impressivesince he's so clearly lip-syncing.</p><p> Nonetheless his dancing is spectacular.</p><p> The clips of the show (telling the storyof Motown and with it our country and especially race) are strong.</p><p> But you'll remember the telling details morethan the music: Diana Ross reuniting for all of ten seconds with the Supremes before immediately stepping infront of them yet again or the way simply hearing Michael Jackson speak a few lines sent the audience into afrenzy.</p><p> For fans, the set does contain performances that never aired and behind the scenes footage, most of itmodest but somewhat interesting.SLEEPING BEAUTY DIAMOND EDITION ($36.99 Bluray combo; Disney) BEDKNOBS & BROOMSTICKS SPECIAL EDITION ($29.99 BluRay combo; Disney) TARZAN SPECIAL EDITION ($29.99 BluRay combo; Disney) --Historically, Disney has always rotated their classic films.</p><p> Every seven years they used to theatrically releaseone of their gems, like Pinocchio and Dumbo.</p><p> They have done the same on DVD and BluRay, making a titleavailable for a limited time, then keeping it off the market for a while and then releasing it again in some slightlynew configuration.</p><p> This has led to a dizzying array of editions of the same movie.</p><p> It's not all their fault (the fewremaining stores that carry BluRays don't stock deep catalogs; you need to put out a "new" release to get themto stock it).</p><p> I'll tackle these three Disney movies as movies and then hint at where they fall in the spectrum of allthose varied releases.To me, 1959's Sleeping Beauty has always been lesser Disney, despite the presence of Maleficent as amemorable villain.</p><p> The stained glass beauty of the animation is obvious, but it still seems less vivid and alivethan Disney at its peak with Bambi and Pinnochio. (The backgrounds are essentially static; wisely, they turnedthis into an artistic choice rather than trying to paper over this economic necessity.) And of course it doesn't getmore passive than a dozing member of royalty.</p><p> But it has its modest charms.</p><p> This edition is identical to one froma number of years ago, but it looks positively smashing (that last edition was a full restoration).</p><p> If you don't ownit and want it, this is state of the art.</p><p> If you do own the most recent edition, you'll find no improvement in pictureand sound and fewer extras.Bedknobs & Broomsticks is a turgid, would-be followup to Mary Poppins that proves how miraculous that12/16/2015DVDs: The Wonder Years, Tom Cruise on Repeat and More | Evernote Web https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=6f013c41-2895-45cf-b834-6f568b677409&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&4/5accomplishment was.</p><p> It's everything Mary Travers probably feared would happen to her book and didn't.</p><p> But likeseemingly any film in the Disney canon, it has its ardent admirers.</p><p> And they're upset this edition reverts back tothe extended theatrical cut and relegates the scenes that were previously restored to the film just to bonusfeatures.</p><p> The story, such as it is, involves Angela Lansbury as an apprentice witch and three children whodiscover her secret just in time for them to band together and foil the plans of a Nazi invasion.</p><p> The set piece"Portobello Road" is seemingly endless so it's a little shocking to discover they actually cut a good six minutes orso out of it.</p><p> The mind boggles.</p><p> Mostly, it plays like an extended series of set pieces that have little to do with oneanother (like a tiresome bit of live action mildly crossed with animation involving a soccer match).</p><p> Wit and humorand interest are rare.</p><p> But it looks terrific.</p><p> If you're a fanatic, you'll want to hold on to the road show DVD thatshowed the movie in all its exhausting glory.</p><p> If you're a casual fan, this edition looks terrific.</p><p> If you've never seenit, don't bother.Tarzan is another story entirely.</p><p> It's one of Disney's best animated films, a rare foray into adventure and just outand out fun.</p><p> I'll remain forever puzzled that they didn't deliver a theatrical sequel to this hit -- if any Disney filmcould justify a sequel, surely it's Tarzan with his endless series of adventures! I actually can't suss out how thisedition compares to earlier editions.</p><p> I'm pretty sure it's not a dramatic upgrade.</p><p> If you own it, no need to jump.</p><p> Ifyou don't and aren't familiar with it, you're in for a treat.IN THE FLESH SEASON TWO ($29.98 DVD; BBC) REPUBLIC OF DOYLE SEASON TWO ($39.99 DVD; Acorn) GEORGE GENTLY COLLECTION SERIES 1-4 ($99.99 DVD; Acorn) -- Let's face it: one person can't watch allof these movies and tv shows.</p><p> There are more than 300 scripted series on TV and cable and online at themoment.</p><p> THREE HUNDRED! So sometimes in desperation I farm out this horror series to one friend for theirexpert opinion or that crime show to another who loves them a good murder.</p><p> It's the only way to give moreshows a shot and help you find out what's worth your time.</p><p> I kept In The Flesh for myself and Season Oneproved a keeper.</p><p> It's an odd duck: a zombie show that uses the idea of a zombie to tell a very intriguing story.What would it be like to be cured, to die and become a zombie and chow down on your friends and neighborsand then "come back" from that? If you could remember what you did, how would you feel? How would yourcommunity feel about welcoming you back? That's the story of In The Flesh, which centers on a young man whocommitted suicide, only to find out he's come back to life and more miserable than ever since you know, he wasa zombie.</p><p> It works on many levels.</p><p> The original brief miniseries wasn't particularly intended to become a long-running show.</p><p> But winning the BAFTA for Best Miniseries changed everyone's mind.</p><p> That's left season two wideopen in terms of where it goes in telling the story of these Partially Deceased Syndrome sufferers.</p><p> LukeNewberry is very memorable as Kieren and I'm intrigued to see what happens.In fear of missing out, I always keep an eye cocked for buzz words.</p><p> Describe a show as like The Rockford Filesand you've guaranteed I'll take the time to watch at least an episode or two.</p><p> That did the trick for Republic OfDoyle, a Canadian series about a private eye and his ex-cop dad who have opened their own detective agency.Shambling is definitely the order of the day, though they are going upscale by actually getting a proper office.I've got a lot of catching up to do: the show begins its sixth and final season in a few days.</p><p> It's been a triumph forthe star, creator, showrunner, producer and headwriter Allan Hawco who seems to be ending things on his ownterms.See, when you don't watch everything, you sometimes miss a real gem.</p><p> That's the case with Inspector GeorgeGently, the ongoing British drama that is my new favorite murder mystery.</p><p> Martin Shaw is the crusty Gently, a bythe books man of integrity in 1960s England where it sometimes seems half the cops are bent.</p><p> Lee Ingleby isthe sidekick, a young man eager for promotion who has a lot to learn but at least knows it.</p><p> They have awonderful, sparring relationship and the show gets better and better with every season.</p><p> I'm in the midst ofseason three and a seventh season will air in 2015. each TV movie length episode is based on one book in thelong-running series by Alan Hunter, so they've got about 30 books to go.</p><p> Shaw and Ingleby are terrific, the12/16/2015DVDs: The Wonder Years, Tom Cruise on Repeat and More | Evernote Web https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=6f013c41-2895-45cf-b834-6f568b677409&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&5/5production values and writing improve day by day and the casting (mostly by David Shaw and Toby Whale) istremendous.</p><p> Even the smallest parts are performed by terrific actors.</p><p> Dive in now on DVD or via Acorn TV.</p><p> Thisone's a keeper.Thanks for reading.</p><p> Michael Giltz is the founder and CEO of BookFilter, a book lover's best friend.</p><p> It's a websitethat lets you browse for books online the way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info onnew releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of theway.</p><p> It's like a fall book preview or holiday gift guide -- but every week in every category.</p><p> He's also the cohost ofShowbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the dayand features top journalists and opinion makers as guests.</p><p> It's available for free on iTunes.</p><p> Visit Michael Giltz athis website and his daily blog.Note: Michael Giltz is provided with free copies of DVDs and Blu-rays with the understanding that he would beconsidering them for review.</p><p> Generally, he does not guarantee to review and he receives far more titles than hecan cover.
