McCallum: The Complete Series [Koch Vision - $59.98]
Stateside, wildly popular forensic dramas like CSI and the Law and Order franchise are fast-paced, glossy affairs even when dealing with the gravest of subjects. But McCallum, which ran in the UK from 1995-1998, is a grittier yet more thoughtful take on the forensic “whodunit” show; more dependent on building atmosphere and brooding suspense than continuous scenes of kicking down doors and chasing down suspects. The McCallum: The Complete Series is host to a gamut of bizarre if not unlikely plot twists similar to those found in the Law and Order series, where every murder is more complicated than it seems. But in each slow-burning episode of McCallum, there is as much existential contemplation as there is action surrounding the untraceable poisonings, murderous widows, and seamless frame-up jobs. [Amazon]
If you need a gift for your gamer that’s going to keep permanent butt-prints from forming in your favorite living room furniture, a portable gaming system is doubtless the way to go. It’s hard to deny the momentum that the Nintendo DS is carrying with it at this point, but there’s a good reason for that: Nintendo knows how to adapt. Nintendo has not tried to force their consumers to embrace new technologies (Come on, Sony, UMD? You can do better than that.) or pay out the ear for their portable gaming. Instead, they took the Game Boy Advance, added an extra screen, incorporated a stylus, and came up with the perfect little system for the Palm generation. Innovative game designers are just now starting to figure out how to take advantage of that second screen and the stylus, with inventive entries in the portable gaming canon like Elite Beat Agents, Gunpey, and the ever-entertaining Trauma Center giving the system a unique feel that’s utterly appealing. Plus, is there a better way to kill five minutes than WarioWare: Touched? [Amazon]
Look out, the Soup Nazi is in the building. Head’s up for the falling rye bread. God forbid you ever see a doll that looks like your mother. These life’s travails and more are the stuff of Seinfeld’s seventh season and this DVD is the latest edition on the money train that is one of prime time television’s funniest ever shows. This was the last great season of the long-running show, book-ended by the uproarious and unlikely engagement of George and Susan at the beginning and the tasteless treatment of Susan’s unlikely death at the tail end of the season by glue poisoning, brought on by licking bad envelopes for their wedding invitations. In between, Elaine searches for “sponges” and truly worthy men to use them with, Jerry buys his dad a Cadillac, and Jerry and Kramer discover the hazards of low water pressure. [Amazon]
LISTEN - Johnny Cash: At San Quentin (Legacy Edition)
Johnny Cash: At San Quentin (Legacy Edition) [Columbia/Legacy -$39.98]
In 1969, Johnny Cash made his career-defining album—who knew it would be a live recording from inside one of the toughest prisons in the country? At San Quentin (Legacy Edition) features the entire 31-song concert, including opening acts Carl Perkins, the Statler Brothers, and the Carter Family. Cash’s intensity can be heard in every song, and his between-song dialogue is both funny and startling. Standouts include “Folsom Prison Blues”, “I Walk the Line”, and the debut of Cash’s biggest pop-chart hit, “A Boy Named Sue”. The package of two CDs also features a DVD of the show (recorded by England’s Granada TV), and a beautiful 40-page booklet. Johnny Cash re-invented himself and his career late in life, but At San Quentin (Legacy Edition) is the best slice of the early Cash at his pinnacle. [Amazon]
Phil Gordon’s Poker Box Set: Phil Gordon’s Little Black Book, Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book, Phil Gordon’s Little Blue Book by Phil Gordon [Simon Spotlight Entertainment - $60.00]
As a player who has always believed in individual style and technique when it comes to success at the poker table, I was skeptical of Phil Gordon’s advice. It’s like spending the weekend with Norman Mailer and suddenly, you’re a literary genius. Could it really happen? Yes and no. Gordon’s books won’t make you rich, but they just might make you a better poker player. These books are worth wrapping up for the sheer joy they bring poker enthusiasts who can laugh along as Gordon points out over and over why he’s a jillionaire and we’re still using the play money option on Poker.com. Or that could just be me… [Amazon]
Oldboy (Three-Disc Ultimate Collector’s Edition) [Tartan Video - $39.95]
As complicated a game of cat and mouse as the cinema has ever seen, Chan-wook Park’s Oldboy stands as a testament to the Nu-Asia genre of film, and South Korea’s domination of same. As part of his brilliant Vengeance Trilogy (including Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Lady Vengeance) Park’s middle act marries Western ideas of violence as vindicator with Eastern elements of honor, status and cruelty. In a stunning new three-disc tin box collector’s set from Tartan Video, the process behind this provocative motion picture is laid bare, with the director divulging as many behind the scenes processes as possible to amplify the theme—the purposelessness of payback—of his movie. [Amazon]
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