Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - (Page 12) REVIEWS BLU-RAY SPOTLIGHT Edited by John Latchem www.homemediamagazine.com I BLOSSOM: SEASONS 1 & 2 Street 1/27 Shout! Factory, Comedy, $49.99 six-DVD set, NR. Stars Mayim Bialik, Jenna von Oÿ, Ted Wass, Michael Stoyanov, Barnard Hughes, Joey Lawrence. O I LOST: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON — THE EXPANDED EXPERIENCE Disney, Drama, $59.99 five-DVD set, $79.99 Blu-ray. Stars Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Josh Holloway, Terry O’Quinn, Michael Emerson, Jorge Garcia, Daniel Dae Kim, Henry Ian Cusick, Emile de Ravin, Elizabeth Mitchell, Naveen Andrews, Yunjin Kim, Harold Perrineau. ur long national nightmare is over. “Blossom” is finally on DVD. The sitcom that helped define a generation with its penchant for “very special episodes” could have been very different. According to creator Don Reo, the show was originally called “Ritchie,” and was about a teenage boy. Network executives wanted to focus the show on the script’s kid-sister character, named Blossom. ven when “Lost” veered off course in the third season, the show was the best way to show off the high-definition picture on my HDTV. Fortunately, the fourth season really turns things around, making for an even better Blu-ray experience. As crisp and clear as those blue skies are on ABC HD, this BD collection actually improves the picture quality with a 1080p view of the action presented in 1.79:1 widescreen. Watching those waves wash up on shore is like being on an Oahu beach. Even the menu screens are impressive. Unlike with traditional TV series, being able to make out details in the background is especially important to fans of this show, as the creators often hide things in the scenery. There are plenty of great extras packed into this collection, which loyal fans of the show will dive right into. Even the packaging offers an Oceanic Airlines “For Your Safety” foldout that includes “what to do in the unlikely event of an electromagnetic blast.” The back of this foldout lists the episodes and bonus features on the five discs. Extras exclusive to the BD include a “Course of the Future” interactive feature that unlocks an introduction by executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse that plays with the idea of flash forwards — the creators are sent to the future during the course of this humorous extra. All of the DVD extras have been upgraded to HD for this collection. Highlights include some humorous behind-the-scenes footage and a faux-documentary about the conspiracy surrounding “The Oceanic Six” that sheds some light on a key storyline. Rounding out the extras are four entertaining commentaries. Blu-ray really is the best way to experience a show such as “Lost.” But for those who can’t wait, – John Gaudiosi season five begins Jan. 21. E I REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA Street 1/20 Lionsgate, Musical, B.O. $0.15 million, $19.98 DVD, $29.98 Blu-ray, ‘R’ for strong bloody violence and gore, language, some drug and sexual content. Stars Alexa Vega, Anthony Stewart Head, Sarah Brightman, Paris Hilton, Paul Sorvino. R epo! The Genetic Opera is nothing less than a music phenomenon, an inventive blending of traditional opera and industrial rock, with all the camp of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and the intensity of Puccini’s Tosca. Viewers who loved Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, are likely to enjoy this. Set in the distant future when organ failure has become epidemic, the biotech company GeneCo sells organ transplants to those who can pay. But those who fail to make payments must face the Repo Man — a legal assassin who reclaims the organs and leaves the debtors for dead. It is such a wonderfully dark, disturbing idea and incredibly well executed, with impressive performances by all. Sarah Brightman (Broadway’s Phantom of the Opera) shines as Blind Mag, putting that three-octave range to bone-chilling use. Anthony Stewart Head (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) is perfect as the tortured lead, a gentle father by day and Repo Man by night, and young Alexa Vega is moving as Shilo, the Repo Man’s unknowing daughter. The villains are equally entertaining, with Paul Sorvino as Rotti, the patriarch to the GeneCo family. However, the most startling performance belongs to Paris Hilton, who plays Rotti’s daughter, Amber. She is actually good. I was so shocked by how much she didn’t suck; I momentarily forgot she is Paris Hilton and unabashedly enjoyed the scenes. The DVD bonus features are interesting, with featurettes exploring the adaptation of the original concept and the Repo Man character. Of the two audio commentaries, the one with director Darren Lynn Bousman, co-creators Darren Smith and Terrance Zdunich, and music producer Joseph Bishara is more insightful than the one featuring the director and cast. Bousman repeats himself, so listening to both becomes redundant. – Kyra Kudick Reo’s inspiration was to make a TV version of The Catcher in the Rye, filled with stories of teen angst. With the focus on Blossom (Mayim Bialik) and her friend Six (Jenna von Oÿ), it became something of a teenage version of “Laverne and Shirley,” with lots of “special episodes” about sex and dating. The six discs include the first two seasons, comprising 37 episodes (or 38, if you count the original pilot episode, which is included as an extra). By the time the show became a regular series in 1991, it had been retooled to be about a single father raising three children after his wife left him. Characters were renamed (Joey Lawrence’s Joey character was originally named Donnie), and the father was recast. Just to make this a “very special DVD,” the set includes three featurettes: “A Very Special Show,” a retrospective; “A Very Special Friendship,” recalling the relationship between stars Mayim Bialik and Jenna von Oÿ; and “A Very Special Style,” an exploration of the fashions behind the show’s costumes. The nostalgia trip alone is worth the price of admission, if only to look back at a bygone era to wonder what the hell we as a collective were thinking. Three episodes also include some fun commentaries in which Bialik, Lawrence, von Oÿ and Reo spend a good amount of time laughing at how young they were and wondering why the traditional sitcom is disappearing when “Two and a Half Men” is so popular. They’re practically giving the “Mystery Science Theater 3000” treatment to their own show — affectionately, of course. And it’s hilarious. – John Latchem 12 Home Media Magazine January 19–25, 2009 http://www.homemediamagazine.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 Contents News News News News Commentary Reviews Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Contents (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - News (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - News (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - News (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - News (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - News (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - News (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Commentary (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Commentary (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Reviews (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Reviews (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Reviews (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Reviews (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Just Announced (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Just Announced (Page 21) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Just Announced (Page 22) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Just Announced (Page 23) Home Media Magazine - January 19-25, 2009 - Just Announced (Page 24)
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.