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JANUARY 9, 2011
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT COMEDY SPORTS STYLE WORLD GREEN FOOD TRAVEL TECH
LIVING HEALTH DIVORCE ARTS BOOKS RELIGION IMPACT EDUCATION COLLEGE NY LA CHICAGO DENVER BLOGS
Michael Giltz
Freelance writer and raconteur
Posted: October 8, 2010 02:07 AM
BIO
Become a Fan
Get Email Alerts
Bloggers' Index
0
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views
0
0Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyDVDs: "Twilight Zone," "Cuckoo's
Nest," "Withnail" And More
What's Your Reaction:
Read More: Beatles , Bob Hoskins , Boris Karloff , Criterion , Emil Jannings , Flight Of The Conchords Video ,
George Harrison , Jack Nicholson , Josef Von Sternberg , One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest , Rod Serling , Terry
Giliam , The Long Good Friday , The Twilight Zone , Thriller , Time Bandits , Withnail And I , Entertainment News
THE TWILIGHT ZONE SEASON 1 ($99.98 on BluRay; Image/CBS) -- You don't need me to tell you
MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOSTBIG NEWS: Gwyneth Paltrow | The Kardashians | Movies | Bristol Palin | Smarter Ideas | More...
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Identified: Disturbing
YouTube Videos, MySpace
Camille Grammer's Porn
Past Comes Back To Haunt
Her
Intestinal Parasites May Be
Causing Your Energy
Slump
Should The Leader Of The
Free World Dress Like
THIS?
What Not To Say When
Your Loved One Is Upset
GOP Congresswoman
Caught In Sexually
Suggestive Photos
Thousands Of Birds Found
Dead In Italy
Recommend 36K
Recommend 7K
Like 886
Like 899
Like 651
Like 658
Like 717
Recommend 36K
about this show, do you? It's landmark television, one of the rare dramas from before the 1980s that
actually holds up, thanks to great writing, cinematography, casting and a willingness to leave an audience
uneasy. Of course, like any anthology, it's uneven week to week, but Rod Serling's masterpiece has a goodbatting average, even though watching an entire season reminds you that not every episode was a gemabout a guy who wanted to live forever, aliens hiding out in a diner and so on. What gets me reallyexcited here is the BluRay. Image put out a great boxed set of regular DVDs which even included a
paperback book episode guide. It seemed like the pinnacle of compactness. This BluRay makes it look
like a regular customer at McDonald's. No, it doesn't contain that book as a bonus. But this very slimvolume contains a mountain of fresh extras (like 19 new commentaries, 18 radio dramas, interviews, anda rare unofficial pilot) and best of all 36 episodes that have never looked better. It all fits snugly on a
shelf, taking up no more space than any ole regular movie DVD. You owe it to your family to make
certain this is waiting quietly in the TV room when one of your 12 or 13 year old kids can casually pull it
down and unsuspectingly put in a disc and then flip out in the best way possible.
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST COLLECTOR'S EDITION ($49.99 BluRay and $39.99
regular; Warner Bros.) -- Okay, first thing's first. It's a great movie and a huge improvement on the ratherheavy-handed symbolism of the book. Jack Nicholson isn't going to be anyone's Christ-like figure, thank
you very much. He's too alive, too ornery, too rambunctious for that. If you love the movie or have neverseen it, these are great editions with loads of extras. And I sympathize with the studios: outlets like Wal-
Mart simply won't stock a library of DVDs; once a movie sells out, they often don't reorder it. So if WB
wants to see them sell Cuckoo's Nest, they have to put out a new edition every year or so. The problem
however is that every new edition seems to cost more than the one before. In 1997 it came out on DVDand cost $15. In 2002, a two-disc special edition cost about $27. In 2008, it came out on BluRay and cost
more. And now today, 35 years after it was released in theaters, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest lists
for $40 or $50. At this rate, in 20 years you'll have to take out a small loan to buy the movie. And this is
symbolic of the entire DVD industry, not a rare or strange occurrence. Plus, the box it comes in is abouttwo and a half times thicker than the Twilight Zone set. Half of that space is taken up with a cardboard
filler holding a deck of Cuckoo's Nest cards, which is cute but hardly worth all that. It also contains abooklet filled with glossy photos which is lovely and yes, the movie is worth the hoopla. But are peoplereally desperate for gimmicky little extras and ever increasing prices? This is not the answer to the
natural slowdown in DVD sales that occurred after people built up a library of DVDs and then settled into
a less hectic buying pattern. Again, if you love Cuckoo's Nest, it's never looked better and the edition is
smashing. But even on sale it costs five times as much as the version that came out 13 years ago.
Shouldn't these prices be going down?
1 of 5
Alan Grayson
Gabby Giffords: A Few Words
Dylan Ratigan
A Destructive CrossroadsDON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS
HOT TRENDS
camille grammer
helen mirren poses
nude miley cyrus lap dance
video natalie portman
natalie portman
pregnant
More Celebrity News at People.com
More Celebrity News at Popeater.com
PHOTOS: Raven-Symone's
Dramatic Weight Loss
Like 718
Congresswoman Gabrielle
Giffords In 'Very Critical
Condition' After Shooting
READ MORE
Kate Middleton Joins
Future In-Laws at Weekend
Wedding
READ MORE
BUZZ: Are Zac Efron &
Vanessa Hudgens Back
On?
READ MORE
Willliam and Kate's Love
Story
There's No Viral Video Like
'Home'
Michelle Williams on
Keeping Heath's Memory
Alive
3 SILENT CLASSICS BY JOSEF VON STERNBERG ($79.95; Criterion) -- And then there are the
boxed sets that are worth every penny. That's true of virtually everything Criterion puts out. But this
collection is exceptional even by their standards. Thanks to Roger Ebert's film festival, I had the chanceto see two of the movies contained here in a gorgeous cinema (the Virginia Theatre) with live musicalaccompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra. All three are gems. The Docks Of New York (1928) is a gorgeous
look at a working class romance filmed in stunning black and white with remarkable sets. (Is that enough
adjectives in one sentence for you?) Underworld (1927) is an entertaining tale that served as the model
for every gangster flick that came in its wake. But it's The Last Command (1928) that really blew me
away. Emil Jannings is a broken down man in Hollywood looking for work, any work and humiliates
himself by going on cattle calls for movies. Unexpectedly, this immigrant is cast to play a Russian general
and flashbacks soon prove he really WAS a Russian general once upon a time. Cutting back and forthbetween a Russian tale of spies, intrigue and romance with the current story of Hollywood, it moves to a
remarkable, stunning finale in which our hero loses his mind and truly believes he is back on the field of
battle, commanding troops. Wonderfully subtle and very moving, thanks to supporting actors like WilliamPowell and above all Jannings. A masterpiece. All three films boast two scores, as well as
interviews/essays. The set includes a thoughtful, well-written booklet with multiple essays, a piece by
Sternberg about Jannings and even the Ben Hecht short story that inspired Underworld .
THRILLER THE COMPLETE SERIES ($149.98; Image) -- Stephen King calls the anthology show
Thriller "the best horror series ever put on TV." But that's not saying much, since TV rarely tackled
straight-on horror and even less rarely did it well. It's main competition would be Night Gallery or Tales
From the Crypt, I suppose. But not at first. At the beginning, even Thriller wasn't certain about its role
and the first few episodes jump back and forth from crime sagas (or thrillers) to horror tales (thrillers
with chillers). That's where its sweet spot lay and the show soon shined there. A raft of guest stars like
Richard Chamberlain, Mary Tyler Moore, William Shatner et al filled the episodes, stories of down ontheir luck artists pawning their soul for success, a suit from a tailor with a twisted imagination and so on.Boris Karloff served as the host and pitched in once in a while. Image has restored the episodes with care,
though ironically one of the most famous episodes -- "Pigeons From Hell" -- has one of the weaker
transfers, presumably because no better source material was available. (It's still quite acceptable, just notup to the standards of the best-looking ones here.) The set contains all 67 episodes from the two season
run, as well as 27 new audio commentary tracks, stills and show promos. I'm not a huge horror buff and
the series wasn't well-served by being an hour long. (Even Rod Serling had trouble stretching out tales toTOP VIDEO PICKS
Queen's Royal Wedding
Rift
Kourtney K.'s StunningBikini Bod
Jane Krakowski RevealsBaby Bump
1 of 9
MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW
HOT ON FACEBOOK
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HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGESOne And Done: 'Sarah
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& Portia de Rossi's Exotic
Vacation
264 Comments
Camille Grammer's Porn
Past Comes Back To
Haunt Her
1,028 Comments
PHOTOS: Raven-
Symone's Dramatic
Weight Loss
531 Comments
Bill Murray Crashes
Stranger's Karaoke Party
65 Comments
PHOTO: Adam Levine
Goes Nude
242 Comments
an hour. The half hour episode is a short story. The hour-long episode is a novella and novellas are
tricky.) That said, it's a notable series presented with care that fans will appreciate, just not as thrilling
for the newcomer as you might hope.
GEORGE HARRISON'S HANDMADE FILMS -- As if being a Beatle and fine solo artist weren't
enough, George Harrison also "dabbled" in film. I put "dabbled" in quotes because his label -- HandmadeFilms -- was for a time a sure sign of quality and quirkiness. Four of his best are now out on BluRay and
look wonderful. The Long Good Friday was the breakthrough, a brutal British gangster film that turned
Bob Hoskins into a movie star in the UK. I first became aware of Handmade when I saw Time Bandits,
the delightful fantasy film that proved Terry Gilliam was more than just one of the Monty Python gang.
It's a playful, dizzy tale of a child careening through one fantasy world after another with pre-digitalspecial effects that are -- wait for it -- hand-made and all the more captivating because of it. I'm stillwaiting for the sequel. Mona Lisa was the drama that put Hoskins in the first rank of actors by letting his
mug of a guy fall for a beautiful call girl. But Withnail And I is the final masterpiece, a genuine cult
classic. When I worked at Premiere, one of the editors chided me mightily for not having seen it yet. Boywas she right. It's an odd, discursive sort of movie but you'll be quoting it -- "I mean to have you even if it
must be burglary!" -- for weeks and months and years to come. It's a career peak for all involved and a
bitterly funny shambling tale about two dissolute actors in 1960s London. It's a good thing the moviesonly list for $18 from Image, because they don't seem to be remastered. You get a decent quality printand minimal or no extras. That's fine by me; you can't ask for a huge outlay on remastering and then
moan about the increased cost. So no need to upgrade if you already have them, but if you don't own
these films you most certainly should.
Facebook
Gabrielle
Giffords
Video
NFL
Gun Control
iPad
Haiti
Earthquake
Atheism
Sarah Palin
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »
FOLLOW HUFFINGTON POST
Comments 0 Pending Comments 0View FAQ
Olivia Wilde Dons
See-Through Bikini
(PHOTOS)
Natalie Portman: I
Was 'Barely Eating'
During...
Natalie Portman
Reveals
Engagement Ring
(PHOTOS)
'Sarah Palin's
Alaska' NOT
Renewed For
Second...
THE FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS COMPLETE COLLECTION ($49.98; HBO) -- I'm sure some
of the fanatically devoted fans (call them "mels") of this sitcom one invariably calls "quirky" are sad to see
it over after just two seasons. They're wrong. This slight but charming tale of two New Zealand musicians
sort of making it in New York made the most of its 22 episodes and was very smart to call it a day. Now itcan settle into cult comedy classic, get name-checked by every rock star stuck on the road, and bewatched over and over until the funniest bits are sunk into your brain and refuse to leave. This setduplicates another "complete" collection but that one contained a CD of their delightfully daffy songs
while this one contains instead their US debut on HBO's One Night Stand.
*****
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinionmakers as guests. It's available free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
NOTE: Michael Giltz is provided with free copies of DVDs to consider for review. He typically does notguarantee coverage and invariably receives far more screeners and DVDs than he can cover eachweek. Also, Michael Giltz freelances as a writer of DVD copy (the text that appears on the back of
DVDs) for some titles released by IFC and other subsidiaries of MPI. It helps pay the rent, but does not
obligate him in any way to speak positively or negatively of their titles.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
More in Entertainment...
Recency | PopularityComments are closed for this entry
View All
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT COMEDY SPORTS STYLE WORLD GREEN FOOD TRAVEL TECH
LIVING HEALTH DIVORCE ARTS BOOKS RELIGION IMPACT EDUCATION COLLEGE NY LA CHICAGO DENVER BLOGS
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User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | Powered by Movable Type
Copyright © 2011 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT COMEDY SPORTS STYLE WORLD GREEN FOOD TRAVEL TECH
LIVING HEALTH DIVORCE ARTS BOOKS RELIGION IMPACT EDUCATION COLLEGE NY LA CHICAGO DENVER BLOGS
Michael Giltz
Freelance writer and raconteur
Posted: October 8, 2010 02:07 AM
BIO
Become a Fan
Get Email Alerts
Bloggers' Index
0
12
views
0
0Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyDVDs: "Twilight Zone," "Cuckoo's
Nest," "Withnail" And More
What's Your Reaction:
Read More: Beatles , Bob Hoskins , Boris Karloff , Criterion , Emil Jannings , Flight Of The Conchords Video ,
George Harrison , Jack Nicholson , Josef Von Sternberg , One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest , Rod Serling , Terry
Giliam , The Long Good Friday , The Twilight Zone , Thriller , Time Bandits , Withnail And I , Entertainment News
THE TWILIGHT ZONE SEASON 1 ($99.98 on BluRay; Image/CBS) -- You don't need me to tell you
MOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOSTBIG NEWS: Gwyneth Paltrow | The Kardashians | Movies | Bristol Palin | Smarter Ideas | More...
LOG IN | SIGN UP
LIVE UPDATES: Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords Shot, Federal Judge KilledGet Breaking News by Email
SHARE THIS STORY
Get Entertainment Alerts
Email Comments
Democratic Rep. Shot,
Federal Judge Killed At
Public Event
Suspected Arizona Shooter
Identified: Disturbing
YouTube Videos, MySpace
Camille Grammer's Porn
Past Comes Back To Haunt
Her
Intestinal Parasites May Be
Causing Your Energy
Slump
Should The Leader Of The
Free World Dress Like
THIS?
What Not To Say When
Your Loved One Is Upset
GOP Congresswoman
Caught In Sexually
Suggestive Photos
Thousands Of Birds Found
Dead In Italy
Recommend 36K
Recommend 7K
Like 886
Like 899
Like 651
Like 658
Like 717
Recommend 36K
about this show, do you? It's landmark television, one of the rare dramas from before the 1980s that
actually holds up, thanks to great writing, cinematography, casting and a willingness to leave an audience
uneasy. Of course, like any anthology, it's uneven week to week, but Rod Serling's masterpiece has a goodbatting average, even though watching an entire season reminds you that not every episode was a gemabout a guy who wanted to live forever, aliens hiding out in a diner and so on. What gets me reallyexcited here is the BluRay. Image put out a great boxed set of regular DVDs which even included a
paperback book episode guide. It seemed like the pinnacle of compactness. This BluRay makes it look
like a regular customer at McDonald's. No, it doesn't contain that book as a bonus. But this very slimvolume contains a mountain of fresh extras (like 19 new commentaries, 18 radio dramas, interviews, anda rare unofficial pilot) and best of all 36 episodes that have never looked better. It all fits snugly on a
shelf, taking up no more space than any ole regular movie DVD. You owe it to your family to make
certain this is waiting quietly in the TV room when one of your 12 or 13 year old kids can casually pull it
down and unsuspectingly put in a disc and then flip out in the best way possible.
ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST COLLECTOR'S EDITION ($49.99 BluRay and $39.99
regular; Warner Bros.) -- Okay, first thing's first. It's a great movie and a huge improvement on the ratherheavy-handed symbolism of the book. Jack Nicholson isn't going to be anyone's Christ-like figure, thank
you very much. He's too alive, too ornery, too rambunctious for that. If you love the movie or have neverseen it, these are great editions with loads of extras. And I sympathize with the studios: outlets like Wal-
Mart simply won't stock a library of DVDs; once a movie sells out, they often don't reorder it. So if WB
wants to see them sell Cuckoo's Nest, they have to put out a new edition every year or so. The problem
however is that every new edition seems to cost more than the one before. In 1997 it came out on DVDand cost $15. In 2002, a two-disc special edition cost about $27. In 2008, it came out on BluRay and cost
more. And now today, 35 years after it was released in theaters, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest lists
for $40 or $50. At this rate, in 20 years you'll have to take out a small loan to buy the movie. And this is
symbolic of the entire DVD industry, not a rare or strange occurrence. Plus, the box it comes in is abouttwo and a half times thicker than the Twilight Zone set. Half of that space is taken up with a cardboard
filler holding a deck of Cuckoo's Nest cards, which is cute but hardly worth all that. It also contains abooklet filled with glossy photos which is lovely and yes, the movie is worth the hoopla. But are peoplereally desperate for gimmicky little extras and ever increasing prices? This is not the answer to the
natural slowdown in DVD sales that occurred after people built up a library of DVDs and then settled into
a less hectic buying pattern. Again, if you love Cuckoo's Nest, it's never looked better and the edition is
smashing. But even on sale it costs five times as much as the version that came out 13 years ago.
Shouldn't these prices be going down?
1 of 5
Alan Grayson
Gabby Giffords: A Few Words
Dylan Ratigan
A Destructive CrossroadsDON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS
HOT TRENDS
camille grammer
helen mirren poses
nude miley cyrus lap dance
video natalie portman
natalie portman
pregnant
More Celebrity News at People.com
More Celebrity News at Popeater.com
PHOTOS: Raven-Symone's
Dramatic Weight Loss
Like 718
Congresswoman Gabrielle
Giffords In 'Very Critical
Condition' After Shooting
READ MORE
Kate Middleton Joins
Future In-Laws at Weekend
Wedding
READ MORE
BUZZ: Are Zac Efron &
Vanessa Hudgens Back
On?
READ MORE
Willliam and Kate's Love
Story
There's No Viral Video Like
'Home'
Michelle Williams on
Keeping Heath's Memory
Alive
3 SILENT CLASSICS BY JOSEF VON STERNBERG ($79.95; Criterion) -- And then there are the
boxed sets that are worth every penny. That's true of virtually everything Criterion puts out. But this
collection is exceptional even by their standards. Thanks to Roger Ebert's film festival, I had the chanceto see two of the movies contained here in a gorgeous cinema (the Virginia Theatre) with live musicalaccompaniment by the Alloy Orchestra. All three are gems. The Docks Of New York (1928) is a gorgeous
look at a working class romance filmed in stunning black and white with remarkable sets. (Is that enough
adjectives in one sentence for you?) Underworld (1927) is an entertaining tale that served as the model
for every gangster flick that came in its wake. But it's The Last Command (1928) that really blew me
away. Emil Jannings is a broken down man in Hollywood looking for work, any work and humiliates
himself by going on cattle calls for movies. Unexpectedly, this immigrant is cast to play a Russian general
and flashbacks soon prove he really WAS a Russian general once upon a time. Cutting back and forthbetween a Russian tale of spies, intrigue and romance with the current story of Hollywood, it moves to a
remarkable, stunning finale in which our hero loses his mind and truly believes he is back on the field of
battle, commanding troops. Wonderfully subtle and very moving, thanks to supporting actors like WilliamPowell and above all Jannings. A masterpiece. All three films boast two scores, as well as
interviews/essays. The set includes a thoughtful, well-written booklet with multiple essays, a piece by
Sternberg about Jannings and even the Ben Hecht short story that inspired Underworld .
THRILLER THE COMPLETE SERIES ($149.98; Image) -- Stephen King calls the anthology show
Thriller "the best horror series ever put on TV." But that's not saying much, since TV rarely tackled
straight-on horror and even less rarely did it well. It's main competition would be Night Gallery or Tales
From the Crypt, I suppose. But not at first. At the beginning, even Thriller wasn't certain about its role
and the first few episodes jump back and forth from crime sagas (or thrillers) to horror tales (thrillers
with chillers). That's where its sweet spot lay and the show soon shined there. A raft of guest stars like
Richard Chamberlain, Mary Tyler Moore, William Shatner et al filled the episodes, stories of down ontheir luck artists pawning their soul for success, a suit from a tailor with a twisted imagination and so on.Boris Karloff served as the host and pitched in once in a while. Image has restored the episodes with care,
though ironically one of the most famous episodes -- "Pigeons From Hell" -- has one of the weaker
transfers, presumably because no better source material was available. (It's still quite acceptable, just notup to the standards of the best-looking ones here.) The set contains all 67 episodes from the two season
run, as well as 27 new audio commentary tracks, stills and show promos. I'm not a huge horror buff and
the series wasn't well-served by being an hour long. (Even Rod Serling had trouble stretching out tales toTOP VIDEO PICKS
Queen's Royal Wedding
Rift
Kourtney K.'s StunningBikini Bod
Jane Krakowski RevealsBaby Bump
1 of 9
MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW
HOT ON FACEBOOK
HOT ON TWITTER
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGESOne And Done: 'Sarah
Palin's Alaska' NOT
Renewed: Report
1,212 Comments
PHOTOS: Ellen DeGeneres
& Portia de Rossi's Exotic
Vacation
264 Comments
Camille Grammer's Porn
Past Comes Back To
Haunt Her
1,028 Comments
PHOTOS: Raven-
Symone's Dramatic
Weight Loss
531 Comments
Bill Murray Crashes
Stranger's Karaoke Party
65 Comments
PHOTO: Adam Levine
Goes Nude
242 Comments
an hour. The half hour episode is a short story. The hour-long episode is a novella and novellas are
tricky.) That said, it's a notable series presented with care that fans will appreciate, just not as thrilling
for the newcomer as you might hope.
GEORGE HARRISON'S HANDMADE FILMS -- As if being a Beatle and fine solo artist weren't
enough, George Harrison also "dabbled" in film. I put "dabbled" in quotes because his label -- HandmadeFilms -- was for a time a sure sign of quality and quirkiness. Four of his best are now out on BluRay and
look wonderful. The Long Good Friday was the breakthrough, a brutal British gangster film that turned
Bob Hoskins into a movie star in the UK. I first became aware of Handmade when I saw Time Bandits,
the delightful fantasy film that proved Terry Gilliam was more than just one of the Monty Python gang.
It's a playful, dizzy tale of a child careening through one fantasy world after another with pre-digitalspecial effects that are -- wait for it -- hand-made and all the more captivating because of it. I'm stillwaiting for the sequel. Mona Lisa was the drama that put Hoskins in the first rank of actors by letting his
mug of a guy fall for a beautiful call girl. But Withnail And I is the final masterpiece, a genuine cult
classic. When I worked at Premiere, one of the editors chided me mightily for not having seen it yet. Boywas she right. It's an odd, discursive sort of movie but you'll be quoting it -- "I mean to have you even if it
must be burglary!" -- for weeks and months and years to come. It's a career peak for all involved and a
bitterly funny shambling tale about two dissolute actors in 1960s London. It's a good thing the moviesonly list for $18 from Image, because they don't seem to be remastered. You get a decent quality printand minimal or no extras. That's fine by me; you can't ask for a huge outlay on remastering and then
moan about the increased cost. So no need to upgrade if you already have them, but if you don't own
these films you most certainly should.
Gabrielle
Giffords
Video
NFL
Gun Control
iPad
Haiti
Earthquake
Atheism
Sarah Palin
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES »
FOLLOW HUFFINGTON POST
Comments 0 Pending Comments 0View FAQ
Olivia Wilde Dons
See-Through Bikini
(PHOTOS)
Natalie Portman: I
Was 'Barely Eating'
During...
Natalie Portman
Reveals
Engagement Ring
(PHOTOS)
'Sarah Palin's
Alaska' NOT
Renewed For
Second...
THE FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS COMPLETE COLLECTION ($49.98; HBO) -- I'm sure some
of the fanatically devoted fans (call them "mels") of this sitcom one invariably calls "quirky" are sad to see
it over after just two seasons. They're wrong. This slight but charming tale of two New Zealand musicians
sort of making it in New York made the most of its 22 episodes and was very smart to call it a day. Now itcan settle into cult comedy classic, get name-checked by every rock star stuck on the road, and bewatched over and over until the funniest bits are sunk into your brain and refuse to leave. This setduplicates another "complete" collection but that one contained a CD of their delightfully daffy songs
while this one contains instead their US debut on HBO's One Night Stand.
*****
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinionmakers as guests. It's available free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
NOTE: Michael Giltz is provided with free copies of DVDs to consider for review. He typically does notguarantee coverage and invariably receives far more screeners and DVDs than he can cover eachweek. Also, Michael Giltz freelances as a writer of DVD copy (the text that appears on the back of
DVDs) for some titles released by IFC and other subsidiaries of MPI. It helps pay the rent, but does not
obligate him in any way to speak positively or negatively of their titles.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
More in Entertainment...
Recency | PopularityComments are closed for this entry
View All
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT COMEDY SPORTS STYLE WORLD GREEN FOOD TRAVEL TECH
LIVING HEALTH DIVORCE ARTS BOOKS RELIGION IMPACT EDUCATION COLLEGE NY LA CHICAGO DENVER BLOGS
Advertise | Log In | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Careers | FAQ | Contact Us
User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | Powered by Movable Type
Copyright © 2011 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | "The Huffington Post" is a registered trademark of TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc. All rights reserved.