The Frame

DVD Pick of the Week – The Office Season 3

On September 4, 2007

Another week of TV-on-DVD to catch up before the new seasons starts the end of this month. And the standout this week has to be The Office Season 3. The Office has consistently been one of the best shows on television for at least the last two years, and it’s one of very, very few sitcoms I can even stand (possibly because, like Arrested Development, it has much more of a season/series arc than most comedies). And last year’s season finale won my award for best season finale of the year–and I watched, like, twenty shows last year. This year promises to be similarly excellent, so catch up now!

Other recommended TV releases:

30 Rock: Season One (one of the other very few sitcoms I really like; it ended up being one of my top two or three new shows last season)
Desperate Housewives: Season Three (guilty pleasure show remains guilty, but there are a lot of good moments in S3–probably more than there were in S2)
Prison Break: Season Two (I’m recommending this to myself, too–I stopped watching halfway through the season, but I’ve heard it got a lot more interesting after I stopped, so I’m contemplating Netflixing the second half)

Movie DVD of the Week…I haven’t seen any of the movies being released. The big mainstream releases are Jane Fonda’s Southern family drama Georgia Rule and Larry the Cable Guy’s Delta Farce (gag me now), and on the indie side, we have Stephanie Daley, which at the very least promises great performances from Tilda Swinton and Amber Tamblyn in a suspense/drama about a teenage girl who may or may not have killed her newborn child.

Other releases:

Stranger Than Paradise (Criterion release of Jim Jarmusch’s 1984 film)
The Black Donnellys: Complete Series
Nip/Tuck: Season Four
I Dream of Jeannie: Season Four

DVD of the Week – Heroes Season One

By Jandy

On August 27, 2007

In Film, Television

With less than a month before the fall TV season starts, most of the studios are releasing the DVD sets of last year’s seasons–just in time for people to catch up. Of all the releases this week, I’d recommend Heroes Season 1. It was one of the best new shows last year, following a disparate group of individuals who discover they have superhuman powers. Heroes may have had a plot hole or two, but it more than made up for it with its intricate storytelling and impressive ensemble cast.

This is the first week I’ve done a DVD Pick of the Week, so I’ll also point out that Ugly Betty Season 1 came out last week; Ugly Betty was my favorite new show last year, hands down. Heroes was a close second, but Ugly Betty is pure and delicious fun every second.

Other new releases this week, none of which I’ve seen, so I’m ordering them based on how much I’d like to see them:

Friday Night Lights Season One (people I respect keep saying how good this is, but I’ve never tried it)
Red Road
Year of the Dog
Blades of Glory
Offside
Kickin’ It Old Skool

So You Think You Can Dance Top 6 and Top 4

By Jandy

On August 24, 2007

In Television

Since these episodes aired last week and the week before, I’m going to run all the videos together and not do a lot of commentary. Just so the videos are up here in case anyone missed the show or something.

This means there are a TON of videos after the jump. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

June 2007 Reading/Watching Recap

By Jandy

On August 21, 2007

In Books and Reading, Film, Reviews

I did not watch or read a lot of great stuff in June. I think I gravitated toward somewhat mindless fare on the movie side due to the effort of reading (skimming?) two novels a week for class, and the reading was dictated completely by the class–which was on Joseph Conrad, D.H. Lawrence, and Virginia Woolf. I’m glad I read the Conrad and the Lawrence for the experience of it, but I didn’t really enjoy either of them. Woolf, of course, I’m in love with. Her writing. That is. After the jump, reactions to Babel, Pretty in Pink, Dogville, Anchorman, Zoolander, Ocean’s Thirteen, Borat, A Woman is a Woman, Paris, je t’aime, Ratatouille, Nostromo, Sons and Lovers, Women in Love, To the Lighthouse and others.

(There are a lot of links in the post…let me know if you try one and it’s broken, okay?)

So You Think You Can Dance Top 8

By Jandy

On August 2, 2007

In Television

I didn’t watch live last night because I was watching The Shining (for the first time!) with a friend. And I think I made the right decision. ;) Nice that Nigel at least offhandedly mentioned how important it is which choroegrapher each couple gets. I mean, we’re supposed to vote for our favorite dancer, but if everyone else is like me, then a lot of that comes down to what was my favorite routine. Which depends as much on the style and choreographer as on the dancers.

Video and commentary after the jump.