Sales Rank:1224 List Price: $199.95 Lowest New Price: $109.99 Lowest Used Price: $101.84 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Don Adams
Barbara Feldon
Edward Platt
Robert Karvelas
Maxwell Smart is back... And loving it! And so is Agent 99, The Chief, Fang and the rest of the fearless Get Smart gang. Here is the legendary, Emmy Award-winning spy-spoof series inspired by the comic genius of Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, digitally resored, remastered and brought to you for the first time on DVD. Now it's easier than ever to out-smart the world's least secret...secret agent, in this cunningly funny 25-DVD collection, featuring all 138 original episodes of Get Smart! This Get Smart Giftset is a must-have collector's item!
Sales Rank:960 List Price: $39.98 Lowest New Price: $19.79 Lowest Used Price: $14.48 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Director(s):
Bob Anderson
Dominic Polcino
Jim Reardon
Klay Hall
Mark Ervin
Actor(s):
Dan Castellaneta
Nancy Cartwright
Doris Grau
Julie Kavner
Yeardley Smith
Season 9 is an important one in The Simpsons' run because, to many fans, it represents the top of the rainbow. At this point, the show is still at the top of its game, flinging clever jokes and social satire with such ease, especially compared to later seasons, that it's hard not to see this as the peak of its run, leaving open the question of whether or not subsequent seasons measure up. Be that as it may, there's hardly any question that the writing this season is among the series' best. This is the season that brought us "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson," where Homer illegally parks his car in front of the World Trade Center, and heralds the introduction of Duff Man ("Oh Yeah!), "The Treehouse of Horror VIII," where Bart's body gets switched with that of a fly and Marge turns into a witch, and "The Trouble with Trillions," which finds Mr. Burns hiding a trillion dollar bill from the federal government. Apu gets plenty of face time in an excellent episode where he meets his bride ("The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons"), and the town's kids get their chance at some screen time when they all get stranded on an island together a la Lord of the Flies in "Das Bus" ("We'll be like Swiss Family Robinson, only with more cursing," proclaims Bart). Definitely the show is still going strong by this point, and the 25 episodes of this season should still delight fans who've stayed with it through the years, in addition to the hours of commentaries and special features that come standard with every season of The Simpsons. --Daniel Vancini
Sales Rank: List Price: $39.98 Lowest New Price: $15.50 Lowest Used Price: $8.73 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Director(s):
Craig Zisk
Daniel Attias
David Nutter
Julian Farino
Ken Whittingham
Actor(s):
Kevin Connolly
Adrian Grenier
Kevin Dillon
Jerry Ferrara
Jeremy Piven
The third season of HBO's inside-showbiz comedy kicks off with a familiar anxiety for Tinseltown's best: your film's opening-weekend box office. In the case of Vince (Adrian Grenier) and company, it's Aquaman, Vince's big break that took up most of last season and elevated the group to even bigger perks and tchotchkes. Luckily, the numbers are good (creator Doug Ellin reveals in the commentary that the episode was inspired by his friend who was with Tobey Maguire when he first heard Spider-Man's opening numbers) and Vince uses the leverage to chase his dream project, a biopic of Pablo Escobar called Medellin. But first he has to schmooze the film's eccentric producer who's strangely attached to his Shrek doll (Bruno Kirby, in his last role before his death in 2006) and juggle scheduling conflicts with the Aquaman sequel, which leads to an ego war with Warner studio chief Allen Grey (Paul Ben-Victor). Meanwhile, Turtle's (Jerry Ferrara) management of upstart rapper Saigon takes some sharp turns; Eric (Kevin Connolly) finds his relationship with Sloan (Emmanuelle Chiriqui) on shaky ground; and Johnny "Drama" Chase (Kevin Dillon) gets to audition for a television pilot directed by Ed Burns (playing himself). But the overarching storyline for season 3 involves Vince's agent Ari Gold (Emmy winner Jeremy Piven), who was canned last season by his agency. Taking his flamboyant, hilarious assistant Lloyd (Rex Lee) with him, Ari goes about setting up his own firm, but not before drawing fire from the mafia of other agents and threatening his relationship with star client Vince. The only weak storyline involves an old childhood pal (Domenick Lombardozzi), fresh out of prison, trying to nudge his way into Vince's gang. But otherwise the show's inside look at the baptism of the newly famous continues to tickle the funny bone.
As usual, Entourage sprinkles in cameos, including Crash director Paul Haggis hilariously playing himself as a wound-up neurotic ("If I let contracts run my life, I'd still be doing The Facts of Life rather than hanging with my boys," he says as he points to his Oscars). James Woods filches Aquaman premiere tickets for his friends, and Seth Green gets in a rumble with Eric in the episode "Vegas Baby Vegas." Extras are still scant: just three commentaries and a featurette on their Vegas-location episode. --Ellen A. Kim
Sales Rank:914 List Price: $44.98 Lowest New Price: $23.93 Lowest Used Price: $21.00 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Charlie Sheen
Jon Cryer
In the third season of Two and a Half Men, the usually sensible Alan (Jon Cryer) ends up dating someone young enough to be his daughter, as well as a senior citizen old enough to be his mother. His playboy brother Charlie (Charlie Sheen) dates a woman who worships Satan, and also strikes up a relationship with a proper ballet dancer who refuses to sleep with him (but does ask him to donate some sperm). And Alan's 11-year-old son Jake (Angus T. Jones), who has just started dating, proves to be the most mature member of the oddball household. All 24 episodes of the series, which originally aired during the 1995-1996 television season, are included in this concise four-disc set. There are some surprises this season, including a death and a wedding (not on the same day). There are also plenty of vulgar moments; for instance, Jake not only learns about booty calls, but he also finds out the about why some men use Viagra. With guest stars ranging from Jon Lovitz, Sheen's real-life dad Martin Sheen, and Cloris Leachman (as Alan's older woman), Two and a Half Men delivers the laughs. Always hilarious, Leachman is priceless in her role as Norma. Contemplating Charlie's "relationship" with a beautiful young sex kitten, Alan scoffs, "It must be fun dating a woman whose IQ is the same as her age." Charlie shoots back, "I could say the same about you." Touche. --Jae-Ha Kim
Sales Rank:1054 List Price: $44.98 Lowest New Price: $23.82 Lowest Used Price: $22.30 MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
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Charlie Sheen
Jon Cryer
Angus T. Jones
Two & a Half Men
Take a pair of bickering brothers, a precocious child, an ex-wife, and a meddling mother and you've got Two and a Half Men. In the sitcom's sophomore year, which aired during the 2004-2005 television season, siblings Charlie (Charlie Sheen) and Alan (Jon Cryer) have their living situation somewhat under control. Alan is still as fussy as ever and Charlie is a overgrown child who views women as his preferred playthings. But they somehow manage to provide a surprisingly stable home for Alan's 11-year-old son Jake (Angus T. Jones), who in many ways is more mature than either his father or uncle. Living together in sunny southern California, the two and a half men in this 21st-century version of The Odd Couple create a lifestyle that works for their oddball family, whether it's sparring with family members, dealing with intrusive friends, or juggling the various women who traipse in and out of their lives. If you think too much about it, it's unsettling that a child is thrown into some of the sexcapades. Though played for laughs, it's a tad creepy watching Jake walk into some PG-13 situations--some of them including his dad. When he learns his ex-wife is dating, Alan tries to give Charlie a run for the money in the bachelor department. Cryer has always been a natural when it comes to comedy, but Sheen's best work always has been in drama. This season, he comes into his own in an easygoing role that suits him. The storylines offered aren't unique, but Cryer and Sheen exhibit warm chemistry that elevates this so-so series. This year's guest stars include Sean Penn and Elvis Costello, who appear as heightened versions of themselves. Denise Richards--who was married to Sheen at the time--also guest stars as one of Charlie's babes. (The couple's real-life daughter, Sam, also makes her acting debut here.) The four-disc box set includes all 24 episodes from the second season, as well as a gag reel (that's pretty funny) and a behind-the-scenes look at a day in the life of the sitcom's stars. --Jae-Ha Kim
Sales Rank:902 List Price: $24.98 Lowest New Price: $18.56 Lowest Used Price: $14.99 MPAA Rating: Unrated
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Filmed over two performances in Rotterdam, Holland in October of 2007, Rush's new DVD Snakes & Arrows Live captures the legendary band in peak form, performing classic Rush material and nine new songs from their critically acclaimed 2007 CD Snakes & Arrows. The 2-disc concert DVD is presented in both 5.1 audio and stereo, and also included is a bonus disc of four songs added for their 2008 American tour, including "Ghost of a Chance," filmed here for the first time.
Since the release of their eponymous first LP in 1974, Rush has continually expanded the definition of "progressive power trio." Guitarist Alex Lifeson, bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Geddy Lee and drummer/lyricist Neil Peart combine dazzling virtuosity, laser-beam intensity and unbridled creativity to create a cohesive whole that's infinitely greater than its parts. The Toronto-based group has become one of Canada's leading exports, with a catalog of genre-defining releases including 2112, Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, Vapour Trails and Snakes & Arrows and a live show which combines musicianship, showmanship and multi-media effects that engage all the senses. Following their previous best-selling DVDs Rush in Rio and R30, Snakes & Arrows Live presents a band not resting on its considerable laurels but still earning its reputation as one of the world's best live bands - one night at a time.
TRACK LISTING:
Disc 1 1. Limelight 2. Digital Man 3. Entre Nous 4. Mission 5. Freewill 6. The Main Monkey Business 7. The Larger Bowl 8. Secret Touch 9. Circumstances 10. Between the Wheels 11. Dreamline
Extras: 1. What's That Smell (DVD Content) 2. 2007 Tour Outtakes 3. What's That Smell Outtakes 4. Far Cry (Alternate cut featuring rear screen footage) 5. The Way the Wind Blows (Alternate cut featuring rear screen footage) 6. Red Sector A from the R30 Tour
Disc 2 1. Far Cry 2. Workin' Them Angels 3. Armor and Sword 4. Spindrift 5. The Way the Wind Blows 6. Subdivisions 7. Natural Science 8. Witch Hunt 9. Malignant Narcissism - De Slagwerker 10. Hope 11. Distant Early Warning 12. The Spirit of Radio 13. Tom Sawyer
Encore: 14. One Little Victory 15. A Passage to Bangkok 16. YYZ
Disc 3 Oh, Atlanta - The Authorized Bootlegs 1. Ghost of a Chance 2. Red Barchetta 3. The Trees 4. 2112/The Temples of Syrinx
Sales Rank:700 List Price: $64.98 Lowest New Price: $24.19 Lowest Used Price: $25.60 MPAA Rating: Unrated
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Director(s):
Arthur Davis
Ben Hardaway
Cal Dalton
Carl H. Lindahl
Chuck Jones
Actor(s):
Mel Blanc
Arthur Q. Bryan
Jack Benny
Joe Dougherty
Stan Freberg
Like the previous entries in the Looney Tunes Golden Collection series, volume 3 confirms how brilliant the Warner Bros. artists were and how durable their creations have proven. The set includes classics that every cartoon buff will recognize: "Duck! Rabbit! Duck!," "Robin Hood Daffy," "Birds Anonymous." Other selections are less familiar but significant in the development of the studio: "Sinkin' in the Bathtub," the first Looney Tune; "I Haven't Got a Hat," the earliest Warners cartoon viewers can watch for fun, rather than as an historic curiosity; "Porky's Romance," in which director Frank Tashlin introduced rapid cutting to cartoons. Some of the caricature films have aged less gracefully. Younger audiences will recognize the drawn versions of W.C. Fields, the Marx Brothers, Katharine Hepburn, and Charlie Chaplin. But will anyone under the age of 60 remember Edna Mae Oliver, George Arliss, or Ned Sparks?
The producers have once again loaded the discs with supplemental material, including "Point Food Rationing," a unseen short explaining wartime ration books; a BBC documentary on Chuck Jones; and interstitial animated sequences for The Bugs Bunny Show. "Philbert" ranks as the oddest of the extras: an unsold (and leaden) pilot from 1963, featuring live actors and an animated title character. Whoopi Goldberg introduces the set, explaining that some of the ethnic gags would no longer be considered appropriate. But she correctly adds that to remove them would falsify both the history of animation and American popular culture. It all adds up to a set every cartoon fan will want. (Unrated, suitable for all ages: cartoon violence) --Charles Solomon