FLICK PICKS: 'The March of Time'

September 3, 2010 5:29 PM

In our instantaneous age, it's hard to imagine people getting their latest look at world news in movie theaters many days or even weeks later. But that was the norm during Hollywood's studio heyday, from the 1920s into the '50s.

Turner Classic Movies offers a great taste of old-time newsreels this weekend, saluting The March of Time for four hours (Sunday 8 p.m.-midnight ET).

TCM unreels restored versions of 10 chapters that premiered on movie theater screens between 1937 and 1950.

This most famous series of news-documentary short subjects is actually more like a newsweekly than a newspaper -- less a what-happened digest than a broader-perspective examination of topical subjects, from the Dust Bowl to World War II to Jews resettling in Palestine, even cultural trends like alcohol use or restless youth.

"Inside Nazi Germany" (Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET on TCM) may be the series' most celebrated episode, filmed in 1937 with hidden cameras in Berlin. It gave many Americans their first close-up look at an Adolf Hitler little understood in those pre-war years.

The entire documentary series, which ran in theaters 1935-1951, has been restored by HBO Archives (a fellow Time Warner company to TCM) in partnership with The Museum of Modern Art to celebrate the series' 75th anniversary.

There's lots more about it, including dozens of cool video clips, at the March of Time Facebook page.

TCM's website hosts its own storehouse of info about The March of Time. And here's the on-air lineup this Sunday, Sept. 5:

8 p.m.- "Dogs for Sale" (1937), "Dust Bowl" (1937), "Poland and War" (1937)
8:30 p.m. - "Inside Nazi Germany" (1938)
9 p.m. - "Show Business at War" (1943)
9:30 p.m. - "Youth in Crisis" (1943)
10 p.m. - "Palestine Problem" (1945)
10:30 p.m. - "American Beauty" (1945)
11 p.m. - "Problem Drinkers" (1946)
11:30 p.m. - "Mid-Century: Halfway to Where?" (1950)

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BUY THIS: Roku price drop for watching Netflix, Amazon, more

September 1, 2010 1:15 PM

If you read my July review of the Roku streaming video box that delivers Netflix, Amazon Video on Demand and dozens of other viewing choices, you may want to jump on a new price cut for the amazingly handy little box.

The Amazon deal of the day price I was touting back then has just been made the regular price for Roku's top-of-the-line HD-XR model. At $100 now, that's a $30 savings.

Roku's other two models have dropped in price, too. The plain HD player, which streams at wireless-G speed rather than the speedier wireless-N dual band, goes for $70 (was $100). The SD box for standard-def hookups is now $60 (was $80).

Click here for info/purchase on all three Roku models.

This is an especially great solution for that bedroom, office or kitchen, where you can't use or don't want a big component box. (The Roku box is smaller than the wireless router you will need to use it.)

Be aware that the streaming features once dominated by Roku are now available in the latest HDTVs, Blu-ray players and gaming systems, too. So if you're in the market to update one of those in the near future, you might not need Roku.

But this device is one of the easiest to hook up and use, and Roku is rapidly adding program providers to broaden its video (and audio) streaming selections.

We mostly use ours for Netflix, though -- unlimited streaming for a minimum $9 monthly subscription -- and we suspect that's what others do, too.

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GET REAL: 'Survivor' cast contract

September 1, 2010 11:36 AM

Here's a fascinating peek inside the "reality" TV world -- the cast contract and "rule book" agreed to by contestants on CBS' competition-genre granddaddy Survivor.

Andy Dehnart at RealityBlurred.com also reports this week on a CBS challenge to his posting of this hush-hush material.

A few Survivor contract highlights:

Contestants can't have their own web presence during competition, and preexisting sites must go "under construction." The network can register a web domain in the contestant's name "in perpetuity." Players can never write a book about their experience. (Yes, "never.") All family members have to sign their own agreements.

And you'll be shocked! shocked! to learn Survivor contestants have to allow themselves to be portrayed "with such liberties and modifications as CBS determines necessary," including "fictionalization" and "dramatization" of themselves, perhaps to "humorous or satirical effect" or "an unfavorable light."

Take a look, and see why it's always "reality" TV to me.

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WEIRD & WILD: 'Weeds' provides an Emmy alternative

August 29, 2010 2:59 PM

Wanna watch Weeds, but don't have Showtime? Maybe you've got TV Guide Network.

They're running a 4-episode preview up against the Emmy Awards (Sunday 8-10 p.m. ET on TVGN), teasing their regular repeat run starting in September.

Meanwhile, Showtime continues its premieres of Weeds Season 6 episodes Mondays at 10 p.m. ET, featuring guest stars Linda Hamilton and Richard Dreyfuss.

And of course, the first 5 seasons of Weeds are out on DVD and Blu-ray.

(The high-def release is definitely worth it -- Weeds shooter Michael Trim just won the Emmy for half-hour series cinematography.)

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TVWW UPDATE: Cool new stuff!

August 26, 2010 3:26 PM

"Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"

We quote the inimitable Mae West to make a point about the new TVWW:

You never know what you'll find down below.

This is now a more dynamic web site, with elements all over the page changing on a regular basis.

Not just David's daily Best Bets and not just the blog columns, but lots more down the page, too:

VIDEO WORTH WATCHING - embedded clips from TV old and new

TV WORTH BUYING - pithy leads on cool DVD sets, TV books and other tube-related fun

NEW THIS WEEK - Tuesday DVD releases (hover your cursor over each photo for description)

LINKS - including the unending cavalcade of weird, wild and informative web pages rotating into that bottom surprise, RANDOM LINK AMAZEMENT!

Visit daily to discover what's new.

Even the ads will be changing up on a regular basis. Please check them out to support the site -- help us build it bigger, better, smarter, sillier, however you like your TV best.

As for us, we like it every which way.

We think Mae would approve.

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DVD UPDATE: Getting lost in the 'Lost' box

August 23, 2010 6:42 PM

Enough with the wacky packages! Building a TV DVD library is starting to require building special shelving to hold all the strangely shaped boxes, heavy Lucite containers, enormous hardcover "book" sleeves, and "collectible" packaging of jumbo 3D plastic Bender heads and Cylon helmets.

Latest in the good-luck-storing-this sweepstakes is this week's release of Lost: The Complete Collection. My Blu-ray set came inside an 11x13x4 trapezoidal pyramid box that weighs well more than my laptop. To get to the discs entails a dozen steps of stripping away outer boxing, paper promo wraps, stiff board tops and inserts, an episode guide booklet, and yet another sleeve that encases the actual season sets.

That cardboard sleeve is at least shelvable on its own -- though it's still non-standard at about 10 inches high (most DVD boxes are 7 inches high). And if those season sets seem awfully slim inside its sleeve's 2 1/2-inch width, it's because they're cardboard foldouts where the discs are slipped inside those hated slots that scrape against them as they're removed and reinserted.

So here's the ongoing argument -- cool packaging for collectors vs. practical, safe access for people who actually, call me crazy, want to watch the discs they just paid $200 for. And it's not like it's impossible to create a snazzy package while still protecting the program content inside and making it accessible. Homicide's original full-series file drawer with metal handle comes to mind, along with Get Smart's credits-echoing fold-out doors. Even Family Guy's toy-stuffed Freakin' Party Pack holds all its poker chips, cards, and ping pong gear in a plastic lunch-style box that still fits on a normal DVD shelf, and the discs themselves are compactly and safely enclosed in the kind of cloth zip-around case you buy to keep CDs in the car. Seinfeld's oversize full-series refrigerator, for that matter, opens to reveal two small square book-page packages you can easily stow on a DVD shelf while keeping the collectibles elsewhere.

At least my new Lost discs came easily out of their slots, unlike say, The Shield, where more than half of my full-series discs not only had to be pried out of the slots but also cleaned of glue globs from a package that seemed to start disintegrating the moment it left the factory.

You'd think pricy, splashy full-series sets would be the place where DVD and Blu-ray distributors would want to showcase their product. But more often than not now, they're flimsy packages that are unwieldy to actually use, at best, and downright damaging to their contents, at worst. The original Battlestar Galactica Blu-ray package remains the poster-boy nightmare here -- designed for a big wow factor at gift-giving time, without really any thought given to storing the enormous cubed box, being able to shelve the seasons separately or, heaven forbid, getting discs in and out of those moving box parts and cheap sleeves to watch them.

A cynical soul might say that's because the studios are "double dipping." They expect diehards will already own the season sets. They want us to buy the "collectible" package, too -- but not to actually use it, which might mean we'd sell our separate seasons on eBay or something, thereby cutting into sales. Better to craft something designed mainly to look swell on the shelf -- if you can find a shelf to fit it -- while encouraging fans to keep those previous sets for actual viewing.

Perhaps the wackiest thing about full-series Lost is that its sole new on-disc content is a bonus disc of truly fine documentaries: Cast and crew emotionally ponder their time together and in Hawaii shooting the show; the prop master walks us through story history by displaying episode elements like Faraday's journal or "the squirrel baby"; and fans around the world are shown embody the global phenomenon. But this bonus disc is nearly impossible to find. It's not in any of the season sets. Or the guide booklet. It's "hidden," and I had to brave "breaking" my package to find it. (Not telling you. Enjoy the cheap thrill.)

How many buyers of this package won't even know the disc is in there? So how crazy is that?

Don't get me started on other "innovative" package ideas -- discs in construction paper sleeves inside the plastic box (at least Wiseguy and other new Stephen J. Cannell releases from Mill Creek boast a wildly low price), or stacked naked on flimsy plastic spindles (Sony complete-series sets like NewsRadio and Soap). Overlapping discs -- like those on Adventures of Superman, Lois & Clark and Smallville (strangely enough) -- also drive me bonkers.

You've probably got your own tales to tell. But we shouldn't have to tell them when we've shelled out hundreds of dollars in tribute to our affection for shows as re-watchable as Lost, The Sopranos, The Shield, Battlestar Galactica or Futurama.

Click for info/purchase options for Lost: The Complete Collection.

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GOOD SPORTS: Little League World Series this weekend

August 19, 2010 6:59 PM

It's that most wonderful time of the year. Okay, maybe second most wonderful time, behind Christmas. (You know how I am about Christmas.)

It's time for the Little League World Series, which has become such a viewing favorite at our house that we forego weekend activities during the final two weeks of the annual youth baseball extravaganza from Williamsport, Pa.

You don't have to be sports fans like us to enjoy all the hoopla -- like the player introductions, where gaggles of 12-year-old boys wearing braces (and standing a foot taller or smaller than their teammates) shyly squeak or lisp their names and who their favorite players are. Or the on-screen graphics, listing each guy's favorite movie star, song, food or personal quirk. Or the cutaways to the stands, showing proud moms and dads, not to mention bare-chested tweens covered in body paint trying to prove they can be just as dumb-ass about sports as the grown-ups.

And let's not overlook the lineups' fun name game, counting duplicates to recall the trendy monikers of 1997. (Don't bother, I know from the prelims: Tyler, Jacob/Jake and Dylan/Dillon.)

Our fondness for the Little League World Series dates to the day we brought home our first big-screen high-def TV set five or six years ago, hooked it to the cable box (at a time there were only a handful of HD stations), and went channel-surfing for HD -- landing on ESPN/ABC's high-def LLWS coverage live from Williamsport.

We could see every green blade of grass! Every face in the stands! Every speck of dirt on the uniforms! Every pimple! Clearly! Wow!

So we have an emotional attachment to the Little League World Series in more ways than one. Forgive us. Join us. You won't be sorry.

Games for the final 8 American and 8 international teams start round-robin fashion in double-elimination preliminaries Friday afternoon (Aug. 20) on ESPN, and run all week, including some telecasts on ABC.

(Complete TV schedule here.)

The finals are next weekend -- U.S. and international championship games on ABC next Saturday (Aug. 28), with the third-place and world championship games on ABC next Sunday (Aug. 29).

ESPN3.com streams the games. And both stadiums in Williamsport have webcams.

Here are the event sites from ESPN and Little League.

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FUN FINDS: 'Hidden' shows

August 18, 2010 5:54 PM

Vintage (and not-so-vintage) shows are showing up in the strangest places. TV Guide Network, Reelz, Centric, Gospel Music Channel and other unlikely archives are airing encores of faves from the '80s to last year. Since there's nothing we love better than digging through the listings rubble, here's the result of our latest exercise in TV archaeology . . .

Curb Your Enthusiasm and Ugly Betty are the biggies at TV Guide Network, which knows its days of scrolling listings must end in favor of actual programming.Betty encores three times weekdays (noon, 5 and 6 p.m. ET), with weekend afternoon marathons. Curb is even cooler. Because the episodes run long for commercial TV -- HBO's original airings didn't have to leave room for ads -- TVGN has gone the extra mile to air each episode in an hour slot, Monday-Thursday at 10 p.m. ET. They've produced new interviews and cast conversation delving into Larry David's world of manic misanthropy.

Reelz is now supplementing its feature-film news/clips/commentary with two 2000s bellwethers -- NewsRadio (7 and 7:30 p.m. ET daily) and Ally McBeal (3 and 4 p.m. ET weekdays).

Centric rolls out the '80s with the fashion-forward cops of Miami Vice (most days at 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. ET) and the live-action cartoon The A Team (a crazy quilt of times, but check daily listings at 4 a.m., 7 a.m., 9 p.m. and midnight ET).

GMC is less gospel music these days than vintage family-friendly shows like Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman (weekdays at 4, 5, 6 and 7 p.m. ET), Highway to Heaven (weekdays at noon and 1 p.m. ET, changing the week of Aug. 30 to 9 and 10 a.m. ET and 1 and 2 p.m. ET), Sue Thomas, F.B.Eye (weekdays at 3 and 8 p.m. ET, changing Aug. 30 to 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET), and Early Edition (weekdays at 11 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET).

For that matter, did you know IFC is spotlighting Judd Apatow's 1999 fave Freaks and Geeks (Monday and Friday at 11 p.m. ET, Sunday 10 p.m. ET, with a Sunday marathon Aug. 22 noon-4:30 p.m. ET)? [Photo at top.]

In other words, check out those interactive listings from your cable/satellite/phone TV provider. You never know anymore where you'll find some TV worth watching.

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DVD DEAL: 'Dexter' catch-up

August 17, 2010 10:54 AM

Do more Dexter!

In conjunction with Tuesday's release of Season 4, there's a great deal on Seasons 1-3 at Amazon.com.

Their deal of the day for Aug. 17 brings you all three seasons on DVD for $50 (Amazon usual cost over $75) and on Blu-ray Disc for just $70 (usually over $110).

Dexter is a show that looks especially superb on high-def BD, with all those gorgeous Miami locations and stylized visuals.

Buy Tuesday for the deepest discount. Click here.

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DVD DEAL: Showtime's 'Brotherhood'

August 16, 2010 11:09 AM

If you missed Showtime's gritty politics/mob/family drama Brotherhood, Amazon.com is offering the entire three-season run as Monday's gold box deal of the day, for just $44.

Jason Clarke plays the northeast politico, with Jason Isaacs as his criminal brother, each of whom is working in his own way to build power in the Irish Catholic precincts of Providence, R.I.

Filmed evocatively on location, Brotherhood runs through drugs, affairs, crime capers, political corruption and, always, family relationships with unflinchingly adult honesty. (Sex and violence not for the squeamish.)

Grab Brotherhood here at Monday's super-discount.

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