Fans of Downton Abbey may be pleased to know that you can also catch Hugh Bonneville in another show — Twenty Twelve — on DVD starting this week. Bonneville stars alongside Spaced’s Jessica Hynes in the British mockumentary series which follows the committee responsible for planning last year's Summer Olympics in London. The DVD set contains both seasons of the satire for your satire-enjoying enjoyment.
Amazon is selling The Mel Brooks Collection, a nine-disc set consisting of most of the director's movies, for the low price of $25.99, which is way way lower than the list price of $80. The set includes Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs, Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, History of the Wold Part 1, Robin Hood Men In Tights, Silent Movie, To Be or Not to Be, and Twelve Chairs, and for that price, you'd be some kind of nut to pass this up.
The Onion has a new book coming out a week from today, and it looks pretty amazing. The Onion Book of Known Knowledge: A Definitive Encyclopaedia Of Existing Information is their take on an encyclopedia, containing entries on, well, everything, I guess. It's a similar tack that John Hodgman took with his Complete World Knowledge books, but with The Onion's dry and cutting voice. If you're not convinced, just check out the entry on Joe Biden, which is pretty much perfect.
The eighth season of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia premieres tonight at 10pm on FX, which is very exciting! But this week also marks the release of the seventh season of that same show on DVD. Why networks insist on releasing full seasons of TV to DVD only two days before the new season premieres is beyond me. Don't they want to give folks a chance to catch up? No? Well, whatever. Always Sunny is not Breaking Bad, so you'll probably be just fine if you watch tonight and then catch up on last season next week. It'll still all be funny and fucked up, I promise.
Before They Live, there was another campy, eccentric John Carpenter sci-fi/comedy cult classic — Dark Star — a film about an isolated crew of a space ship tasked with a decades-long mission to blow up unstable planets in the middle of nowhere. This was Carpenter's first major film in 1974. Put together on a tiny budget, with a small cast, and with Carpenter partner Dan O'Bannon (who later used parts of Dark Star as a basis for Alien) doing nearly all of the production work themselves, Dark Star kind of bombed at the box office. This was because it was marketed as a serious science fiction movie (see [...]
FX's fantastic animated spy series Archer comes back for a much deserved fourth season this week, which means that the third season is finally out on DVD (and Blu-Ray, too)! Make sure you grab a copy so you don't have to miss any of the goings-on at ISIS headquarters, whether it's Archer doing spy stuff or just Pam being gross. Burt Reynolds makes a special guest appearance and really where else on TV do you expect to see an ocelot?
Yesterday, a new Patrice O'Neal EP was released. Entitled Better Than You, it consists of material that was recorded at the same time as, but cut from, his last full-length standup album, Mr. P. The 20-minute recording may be the last new release we ever get from the late O'Neal (although you never know — obviously Tupac has been putting new albums out pretty consistently over the 20 years since he died), so you should probably jump on this ASAP.
Wes Anderson's latest piece of hand-stitched cinema, Moonrise Kingdom, comes out on DVD and Blu-ray tomorrow. Not only is it one of Andersons best films ever, but these releases come with all sorts of bonus goodies that'll let you spend even more time on that invented New England island: three featurettes (including a set tour with cast member Bill Murray), a pseudo documentary about the island filmed with narrator Bob Balaban, and a “Making of” segment. Of course, it'll almost definitely get the Criterion treatment at some point down the line, but who has that kind of patience?
The fourth season of FX's super fun fantasy football comedy The League kicks off tomorrow night at 10pm, but it's not too late to get all caught up on the excellent third season. Well, it's a little late, but you know, just DVR the first couple episodes of the new season while you watch last season. You're an adult, you can figure out the logistics yourself. In any case, The League season three just came out on DVD and Blu-ray yesterday, so hop on that while the hopping's good and then get ready for the new battle for the Shiva.
Mr. Show, one of the greatest sketch shows of all time, is basically required viewing for anyone who considers themselves a comedy fan. The entire series is basically a master class in the form, including both classic stand-alone sketches as well as thematic jokes that run throughout and tie together entire episodes. It's a show that really rewards repeat viewing, which is why there's basically no reason in the world for you not to own the entire Mr. Show collection on DVD. If you've seen it before, you know you want to see it again. And if you haven't seen it? Well, I'm jealous. You get to experience [...]
Yes, Tenacious D's first foray into jazz music is now available for your listening pleasure. Jack Black and Kyle Gass's first jazz album, entitled Jazz, only features one track, an 11-minute long snippet of free-form jazz exploration, but a video on the making of the album is also included, all for the low low price of $2.99. It's a steal for fans of comedy bands exploring different musical genres.
We all love John C. Reilly in something, be it his Academy Award-nominated role in Chicago, his corrupt cop in Scorsese's Gangs of New York, or perhaps his live Tony-award nominated Broadway performances with Philip Seymour Hoffman. Or maybe you like him in Check It Out! With Dr. Steve Brule, his collaboration with the taste-makers Tim and Eric, where Reilly plays "Dr. Steve Brule," a host of a low-fi interview show who is so inept, ignorant, and incredibly naive as to likely register in the spectrum of several mental disorders. Both seasons are out as of yesterday, so Check it Out! — for your health.
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Did you know that thirty seven years ago last night, October 11th 1975, would have been on a Saturday? Did you also know that premiering that particular Saturday night was a Live show on NBC? From the obvious hints (and the accompanying picture)… you guessed it. Today is SNL's 37th Anniversary! Celebrate Lorne Michaels's immortal, unstoppable comedic leviathan with The Complete First Season, or the 25th Anniversary Special, if a self-tribute show feels more appropriate to the occasion. Both are hilarious. Either will distract you from getting anything important done this weekend, so go for it!
Today marks the release of The Princess Bride: 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray, the latest and greatest version of one of the best movies ever. And yes, it's been 25 whole years since it was released, which should make you feel downright ancient if you're of a certain age. But no matter how old it makes you feel, this definitive version of the film should make Blu-ray player owners very happy. It's got the requisite slew of special features, including audio commentary by both Rob Reiner and William Goldman as well as a slew of featurettes and documentaries, but the real gem is a beautiful HD transfer of the [...]
