Reviews: New on DVD and Blu-ray Disc

Movie, DVD, Blu-ray reviews:

“ER: Complete Tenth Season”
The melodrama escalates to a fever pitch, but then it had to, didn’t it? This is the 10th season of "ER," and the producers aren't willing to allow fans to move away from the water cooler quietly. As such, we get 22 episodes of chaos and disorder, with romance and broken hearts hurtling through the doors of Chicago's County General Hospital almost as frequently as the injured and the dying. As in the last season, which had to succeed with Anthony Edwards’ Dr. Greene fully out of the picture, the show continues to rest on Noah Wyle’s Dr. Carter. It’s a struggle--you can’t help but miss Greene--but Wyle does his best in spite of plot points that pull hard at the show’s seams. Grade: B-



"The Fast and the Furious Trilogy" Blu-ray
The first “Furious” runs hard on Vin Diesel. It’s just what you expect--big, amusing, fast, a cartoonish thrill ride that’s enjoyably over-the-top. The second movie, “2 Fast, 2 Furious,” runs on Paul Walker, which has all the punch of a hybrid. The problem with the latter film is that it wants to be about something, which is sweet, but a shame. The first film never wanted to be anything more than just a throwback to the hot rod films of the 1950s; its kitschy embrace of a forgotten subculture was part of its charm. Worse for “2 Furious,” there’s nothing about it that sets it apart from the pack. It’s just sort of there, revving its engines and racing around street corners with no place to go. Finaly, "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" mirrors the original in that it essentially is an homage to the hot rod films of the 1950s. It has no pretensions, which is a relief, and it courts plenty of cheap melodrama, which is a release. As such, the movie delivers precisely what its target audience wants--great-looking cars and car races first, great-looking, one-dimensional characters second--and it does it well. On those terms alone, the movie succeeds. Each rated PG-13. Grades: “The Fast the Furious”--B; “2 Fast, 2 Furious” C-; "Tokyo Drift" B


“Hotel Babylon: Season Three”
Those who recall with fondness the 1980s American nighttime soap opera “Hotel” should definitely check out the BBC’s “Hotel Babylon: Season Three,” which is glamorous, but in a different way. In this robust series, these Brits are hardcore harlots, slinking through the swank hotel in question to generate all sorts of sex, strife, bitterness and melodrama, all while dealing with the high-strung and usually over-sexed guests. Tamzin Oathwraite, Dexter Fletcher and Max Beesley star, the latter often without his shirt, flat on his back and not exactly on it alone. Grade: B+




“The Nanny: Complete Third Season”
Fran Drescher back in the cackle as Fran Fine, the meddling nanny from Flushing, NY, with the big hair, the quirky relatives, the outrageous “low-couture” ensembles, and a nasally voice that, if properly amplified overseas, would likely put an end to any and all wars. She's an emotional whirligig. By the third season of this popular series, her pursuit of her employer, the dull Broadway producer Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy), was on full burn--not that he recognized it, clueless as he was. Butler Niles (Daniel Davis) is key to the show’s success; he matches Drescher's energy. The children, however, do not. Grade: B



“South Park: Complete Twelfth Season” DVD, Blu-ray
For those wondering what really can come out of the mouths of babes, look no further. Twelve seasons out, “South Park” hasn’t lost its subversive brilliance, with creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone happily pressing against the boundaries of what’s “appropriate” with such episodes as “Major Boobage,” “Tonsil Trouble” and the very funny “Elementary School Musical,” which skewers the “High School Musical” franchise. Throughout, it’s the smart writing and the insight into childhood, whether parents want to face it or not, that saves this series from being just the crude venture some perceive it to be. Grade: B+


Also on Blu-ray disc

In addition to “Quantum of Solace,” joining it on Blu-ray disc are four additional Bond throwbacks, each of which looks terrific in the high-def format, particularly Guy Hamilton’s 1965 film "Goldfinger," from which "Solace" borrows a key scene not to be revealed here. Sean Connery stars as Bond in that film, as he does in 1983’s “Never Say Never Again,” with its Tomahawk missiles, nuclear warheads, and that other bombshell--Barbara Carrera as Fatima Bush. The movie was Connery’s last performance as Bond. Four years earlier in 1979’s “Moonraker,” Roger Moore already was deep into the role, having made three films prior to this one. In the film, the Space Shuttle is in danger, but Bond, along with Lois Chile’s Dr. Holly Goodhead, must bring down Hugo Drax (Michael Lonsdale) to save it. The movie is a jolt of camp, with the towering Richard Kiel, sporting an enormous mouth of metal, easily stealing the show.

Also on Blu-ray is 1999’s “The World is Not Enough,” the 19th movie in the franchise and Pierce Brosnan’s best outing as Bond. The ersatz actor strikes just the right balance of emotion, wit, style and substance in a story that’s filled with all the ingenious action fans of the series expect. In the movie, Electra (Sophie Marceau), the daughter of a recently assassinated tycoon, is building a pipeline across Central Asia to Turkey, something her deranged former kidnapper, Renard (Robert Carlyle), will stop at any cost. When M (Judi Dench) sends Bond to the Caspian oil town of Baku to protect Electra, the film--literally and figuratively--finds its legs. As Bond girls go, Marceau’s Electra won’t disappoint, but Denise Richards’ Dr. Christmas Jones, a nuclear scientist (ha ha ha!), is one of the worst. Unlike Ursula Andress’ Honey Ryder and Honor Blackman’s Pussy Galore, Richards doesn’t have the shrewd intelligence the role demands. Still, that’s a quibble. Brosnan and Dench were more than enough to rocket this series straight into the present.