Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - (Page 20)

REVIEWS BLU-RAY SPOTLIGHT I ICARLY: SEASON 1 VOL. 1 Street 9/23 Paramount/Nickelodeon, Family, $26.98 two-DVD set, NR. Stars Miranda Cosgrove, Jennette McCurdy, Nathan Kress, Jerry Trainor. Edited by John Latchem www.homemediamagazine.com I TORCHWOOD: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON Street 9/16 BBC Video, Sci-Fi, $79.98 five-DVD set, NR. Stars John Barrowman, Eve Myles, Burn Gorman, Naoko Mori, Gareth David-Lloyd. W I n the set up episode of this popular Nick series, we meet Carly Shay (Cosgrove), a 13year-old who lives in Seattle with her 26-year-old brother. Through a series of machinations, Carly and her best friend, Sam (McCurdy), simultaneously alienate a witch-like teacher and launch their very own Web show, dedicated to showcasing goofy, silly and unusual acts. The show ends up being wildly popular, watched by thousands every week. From there, the show heads into meta concept territory. It’s a real television show about fictional kids who create a fictional webcast called iCarly.com. And if viewers go to iCarly.com, there is content that is not unlike the program content. I HEROES: SEASON 2 Universal, Fantasy, four-disc set — $69.98 Blu-ray, $39.98 DVD. Stars Milo Ventimiglia, Hayden Panettiere, Masi Oka, Adrian Pasdar, Greg Grunberg, Kristen Bell. Although the premise of iCarly is placed firmly in the here and now, many of its underlying premises are reminiscent of classic children’s programming and literature. Although they are not dead, Carly and Spencer’s parents are traveling and out of the picture indefinitely. Carly is cleverer and wittier and has a clearer view of the world than the adults around her. The program is populated by a small cast of appealing actors who gamely take on the typically harebrained plot contrivances of young adult TV with energy and enthusiasm. Cosgrove and McCurdy especially do a good job of taking on the teenage condition with conviction. Tweens and young teens will be drawn to this quirky and amusing series. – Anne Sherber fter a mesmerizing first season, “Heroes” hit a sophomore slump last year. Ultimately, the writers strike was probably a godsend, as the producers wrapped up the abbreviated season and had plenty of time to focus on the third season, which starts Sept. 22 on NBC. The good news is that the first two seasons are available on Blu-ray Disc, so fans can get the best of both worlds in high-definition. With regard to the first season, the Blu-ray version has all the extras — and there a lot — from last year’s HD DVD version, plus some exclusive new interactive goodies through BD Live. The second season similarly shines on Bluray in both picture (1080p at 1.78:1) and sound (English DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio 5.1). Even though these 11 episodes lack the intensity and cliffhanging thrills of season one, they A look and sound spectacular. All of the supplemental materials are in 1080p for season two. Universal once again offers video commentary, but this time it’s provided for all 11 episodes, which is refreshing, especially since many of these interviews are entertaining and engaging. Masi Oka and Kristen Bell especially shine in this department. Rounding out the exclusive content is an extension of the first season’s U-Control “Hero Connections” pop-up feature, which has been renamed but still delivers great snippets about the characters. This collection is also BD Live enabled. All of the extras from the DVD version of season two are packed into this fourdisc set, including several featurettes, plus a fictional documentary called “Takezo Kensei: Sword Saint,” and “Genetics of a Scene,” which takes four scenes from four different episodes and gives an inside look at how they were made. For fans eager to forget about season two, there’s an eight-minute sneak peek at the third season. – John Gaudiosi hen I reviewed the first season of “Torchwood,” I said its quirky examination of supernatural plots made it Britain’s answer to “The X-Files.” With one guest star, the show has taken on the aura of a different American cult hit. “Torchwood” is still about a secret team investigating bizarre incidents and collecting alien technology to protect Earth from a hostile universe. The leader is still Capt. Jack Harkness (Barrowman), the former “Doctor Who” companion rendered immortal as a side effect of his time travel adventures. But in the first episode of season two, Jack is locked in a struggle with a longtime partner/ nemesis played by James Marsters. The vibe is unmistakably “Angel,” in which Marsters played the rebel vampire Spike locking horns with the title character, who was similarly long-lived and in charge of a supernatural investigation agency. The comparison is fleeting, as “Torchwood” has no problem maintaining its identity. It’s much darker and adult-oriented than its predecessor series, the family friendly “Doctor Who” (another recent “Who” spinoff, “Sarah Jane Adventures,” is aimed at younger viewers). The trademark of the franchise is the strength of its characters, and the writing is always sharpest when focused on personalities and interactions. The emotions are real, even if the storylines and underlying sci-fi elements are absurd. Where American sci-fi would pay some lipservice to making techno-babble seem credible, “Torchwood” and its sister series see no point in trying. As a result, the better moments of season two tend to occur when the focus is on the core cast, especially in episodes that explore the unrevealed past of the characters. Marsters as Capt. John Hart helps round out Jack’s resumé, and another episode gives all the characters their flashback moments. The only real quibble with the DVD presentation is that all the behind-the-scenes featurettes are clustered on the final disc, rather than being dispersed throughout the set so each episode would be paired with its respective making-of special. While this essentially creates a making-of documentary for the entire season, at a total of more than two hours, watching all these featurettes back-to-back in one sitting is quite a chore. – John Latchem 20 Home Media Magazine September 14–20, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com http://www.iCarly.com http://www.iCarly.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008

Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 Contents News TV DVD Cine Mercado Reviews Research Top 20 DVD Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced

Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008

Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Contents (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - News (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - News (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - News (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - News (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - News (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - News (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - TV DVD (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Cine Mercado (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Reviews (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Reviews (Page 21) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Reviews (Page 22) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Reviews (Page 23) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Reviews (Page 24) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Reviews (Page 25) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 26) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Top 20 DVD Sellers (Page 27) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 28) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 29) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 30) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 31) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 32) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 33) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 34) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 35) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Just Announced (Page 36) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover3) Home Media Magazine - September 14-20, 2008 - Just Announced (Page Cover4) 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