Let the Best of 2009 lists continue!  I hope you all enjoyed my list of the Top 10 TV Episodes of 2009.

Now let’s dive into my list of the Top 10 DVDs (or Blu-Rays) released in 2009!

First, I’d like to give Honorable Mentions to the complete series sets of three amazing TV shows that I had just about given up all hope of ever seeing on DVD: It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, and Andy Barker, P.I. So why aren’t these shows on my list?  Because I can’t put anything on this list that I haven’t actually watched, and I’ve been way, way too busy to get through any of these sets.  Of the three, the only one I own is Andy Richter Controls the Universe.  (That one came out first, and I’m not going to purchase the other two sets until I actually have time to watch them.)  But I take great delight in knowing that these three DVD sets exist here on planet Earth, and I know that I’ll get to them all in good time.

10. Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut (Blu-ray) — I’ve seen Watchmen quite a few times since it was released early in 2009, and while the film certainly has some weaknesses, I remain overwhelmed by the enormity of its successes.  It’s hard to believe that Zach Snyder brought this seminal graphic novel by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons, which long had been considered unadaptable, to life.  It thrills me to see such a faithful take on the material and that the filmmakers had the confidence to craft a super-hero film that was aimed squarely at adults.  The Ultimate Cut of the film is Zach Snyder’s longest version, stitching together his Director’s Cut with the animated Tales of the Black Freighter sequences.  It’s pretty astounding.  This Blu-Ray set would be much higher on this list were it not for the paltry special features.  Not only are the special features lame (this is a movie that cries out for a full-fledged making-of documentary), but this set just reproduces the special features that were already released on the Director’s Cut set.  (I guess I’ve been spoiled by the amazing extended editions of the Lord of the Rings films, which came not just with phenomenal extended versions of the films but with extraordinarily elaborate making-of documentaries that didn’t duplicate the special features on the theatrical version DVDs.)  (Read my review of the theatrical version of Watchmen here, and of the Director’s Cut here.)

9. Contact (Blu-Ray) — A beautiful film that manages to combine a serious, cerebral sci-fi tale with an effecting story of the personal journey of scientist Dr. Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster).  This is director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) working at the top of his game.  The special effects are elaborate but never come close to overwhelming the story.  It’s a terrific special edition, chock full of special features, and the film looks positively STUNNING on Blu-Ray.  (Read my full review here.)

8. Homicide: The Criterion Collection — Another film that I have been waiting a long, long time to be released on DVD.  David Mamet’s 1991 film follows detective Bobby Gold (Joe Mantegna) and his investigation of the murder of an elderly Jewish shop owner.  What follows is a great, twisty Mamet tale, filled with tough guys and double-crosses.  But what gives the film its weight is the way the investigation story-line is wrapped in a deeper story of Bobby’s struggles with his Jewish identity.  The fine folks at Criterion hit another one out of the park with this beautiful new edition.  (My full review of Homicide is coming soon, but click here for my thoughts on a variety of other films by David Mamet.)

7. Eddie Izzard: Live From Wembley — It’s been a long, long wait since Eddie Izzard’s last stand-up DVD.  (That would be Circle, released back in 2002).  Live From Wembley isn’t exactly the freshest material — the footage is from Eddie’s Sexie tour, from several years back.  And the camera-work is surprisingly amateurish in places (quite a few shots are rather blurry, and there are several instances where Eddie isn’t properly framed on-screen).  But forget all that — it’s new Eddie Izzard stand-up material, and the performance (while not reaching the heights of Dress to Kill), is superb and very, very funny.  There’s also a terrific special feature on the disc: 40 minutes of Eddie’s stand-up from long before Live From Wembley, in which we can see him beginning to work out some of the material that would eventually be included in his Sexie show.  It’s a funny performance, and a neat look into his process.

6. Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder – The fourth and final installment in the series of Futurama direct-to-DVD films.  In this one, Fry gets inducted into a secret organization of telepaths (that have been popping up in the background of the show since its very beginning).  The film’s wide-reaching story also deals with Leela’s involvement with a group of eco-terrorists, Bender’s affair with the wife of a robot mobster, and a lot of other zaniness.  At the time, it looked like this was the end of Futurama, and the film’s final scene provided a wonderful capstone to the series’ run.  Luckily, the show has once again risen from the grave, and new episodes are being produced to air on Cartoon Network.  Hooray!  (Read my full review here.)

5. Star Trek: The Motion Picture Collection (Blu-Ray) — Star Trek comes to Blu-Ray with this fabulous set containing nicely spruced-up editions of the first six Star Trek films.  The films themselves have never looked or sounded better, and there have been a number of new featurettes created for each film.  (The set also includes almost all of the special features from the previous DVD releases.)  I still wish that the featurettes had been edited together into a longer, more comprehensive documentary for each film, but I can live without that.  Extra props to the makers of this set for choosing to use the original theatrical versions of Star Trek II and Star Trek VI on these discs.  (The previous Special Edition DVDs of those two films used slightly re-edited versions, which I found to be rather inferior to the original versions.)  For a die-hard Trek fan like myself, this set is a treasure.  (Click here for my full review of the Blu-Ray release of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.)

4. Will Ferrell: You’re Welcome, America — A recording of Will Ferrell’s stage show featuring him as Geroge W. Bush, looking back on his eight years as President.  I was a bit dubious, at first, as to whether Ferrell’s Bush impersonation could really sustain my interest for 90 minutes, but it unquestionably did.  The show is well-crafted — while the focus is on Ferrell’s monologues on Bush, there is also good fun to be had with short appearances by other characters, which keeps things interesting.  But all that would be moot if Ferrell’s Bush wasn’t so relentlessly entertaining.  My favorite moments of the show are when he dives fully into total insanity, such as his elaborate and manic story about being trapped in a mine shaft with his father.  We’re lucky that this live show has been captured for us all to enjoy.

3. Battlestar Galactica: The Plan — Ron Moore’s reinvention of Battlestar Galactica takes its final bow in this tour-de-force direct-to-DVD film.  Diving deep into the show’s mythology, The Plan winds the clock back to just before the events of the original Battlestar Galactica mini-series, and then shows us the events of the show’s first two seasons from the point of view of the Cylons.  Cleverly weaving in-and-around the events that we saw, The Plan connects events and characters into a complex and fascinating tapestry, bringing a whole new light to the show’s beginnings.  A terrific lead performance by Dean Stockwell (Quantum Leap) and mind-blowing special effects combine to give the show a far superior farewell than the actual finale episode.  I wish there were more of these direct-to-DVD BSG films being made!!  (Read my full review here.)

2. Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer’s Cut) — This six-hour documentary traces the full history of Monty Python, from the group’s beginnings to their work on feature films The Holy Grail, The Life of Brian, and The Meaning of Life.  Told almost entirely through interviews with all five surviving Pythons as well as an enormous number of their key collaborators, this documentary is endlessly interesting and also quite a riot. It’s also filled with elaborate little touches that elevate it beyond the usual sort of behind-the-scenes documentaries, such as the creation of new songs introducing each of the six episodes, sung by the same woman who sung the classic Life of Brian introductory tune.  With a third disc containing clips from their best sketches, extended interviews, and lots of other fun stuff, this set is a winner through-and-through.

1. Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II — I loved the first Robot Chicken Star Wars Special, but things are taken to a whole new level in this second go-round.  Focusing on The Empire Strikes Back (with lots of screen time for Vader, The Emperor, Boba Fett, and the other bounty hunters), this special has more laughs-per-second than anything else I saw all year.  Hard-core Star Wars fans like myself will be bowled over by the attention to detail in the recreation of key scenes and the references to obscure characters and moments in the saga, while there is also plenty of silliness for a more casual fan to enjoy.  (Who wouldn’t laugh at the image of an Imperial officer putting a styrofoam cup over the little Vader hologram on his console?)  Just having the special on DVD would have been enough for me, but not only is this set absolutely overflowing with special features (commentary tracks, behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes, and so much more), but it also contains a newly extended (almost twice-as-long) version of the original special filled with a ton of new sketches.  Phenomenal.  I can’t wait for Episode III.  (Read my full review here.)

Coming on Monday:  My list of the 10 Best Movies of 2009!  See you there!

As I’ve mentioned once or twice in recent posts, over the past few weeks I’ve been making my way through a whole slew of films by one of the best writers working in the film industry today: David Mamet.  Mamet’s works are always known for their intricate plots — many of his films revolve around some sort of con.  He is also known for the distinct style of his dialogue — a fast-paced back-and-forth, rat-a-tat rhythm that, in the hands of a talented actor, is pure gold.

After purchasing Redbelt on DVD, I decided to go back and revisit several earlier Mamet works.  This is in no way a complete trip through Mamet’s work.  In fact, let me first start by telling you a bit about two films which I didn’t re-watch this past month.  Not because I didn’t care for them — quite the opposite.  These are two of my favorite films, and they’ve been in my DVD collection for years.

Glengarry Glenn Ross (1992) — Unlike all the other movies that I’m about to list, this film was written by Mamet but directed by someone else: James Foley.  But like all the Mamet-directed films, the appeal is not due to the directing.  Its the acting, and the beautiful, beautiful words.  (Can you believe I’ve just described as beautiful the incredibly curse-laden dialogue in this film??)  Take a gander at this cast:  Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, and let’s not forget Alec Baldwin.  Baldwin is in only one scene, but he gives possibly the greatest movie monologue of all time.  There are more memorable lines in his one scene than there are in most entire films.  (One of my favorites: “Only one thing counts in this world: get them to sign on the line that is dotted.”  And, of course, there’s the title of this piece.)  The film follows one night and one morning in the lives of a group of real-estate con men.  Many have described it as a modern Death of a Salesman, and I’m not one to disagree.  Jack Lemmon’s sad-sack Shelley “the machine” Levine is such an iconic character he’s even been written into The Simpsons (as the hapless loser Gil).  Al Pacino is the man that Shelley was twenty years ago — a young, slick salesman at the top of his game.  (”You ever take a dump made you feel like you’d just slept for twelve hours?”)  Ed Harris is the angry and profane Dave Moss.  (”What is this, courtesy class?”)  Alan Arkin is the quietly despairing George Aaronow.  (Are we just talking about this or are we talking about this?”)  And Kevin Spacey is the man in charge of the office.  (”Will you GO TO LUNCH?”)  Anyone who hasn’t seen this film is probably totally confused by the various quotations I’ve been inserting into my synopsis — while anyone who HAS seen the film is probably grinning at the amazing moments those quotes are from.  This film is a masterpiece, and anyone who calls themselves a fan of movies needs to have seen it.  One of the best.

House of Games (1987) — This is the first film Mamet directed, and its a doozy.  Psychologist Margaret Ford (Lindsay Crouse) tries to help a young patient get out of a gambling debt and winds up swept up in the world of petty con men by the charismatic and mysterious Mike (Joe Mantegna).  Like most Mamet films, this is a fairly small film.  Rather than large, explosive action scenes, Mamet is able to draw great tension and drama from just a few people in a small room, whether they’re sitting around a poker table or meeting in a hotel room.  There are some great scenes that demonstrate various “short” cons, such as the smooth way that Mike scams money out of a young military officer (William H. Macy).  (In the terrific Criterion Collection DVD, Mamet gives credit to Ricky Jay — who appears in this film and many others by Mamet — for helping him learn about these sorts of con games.)  And, of course, the entire film is an example of a “long” con.  Great stuff.

OK, so here now are the films that I did check out recently:

The Spanish Prisoner (1997) — Joe (Campbell Scott) has invented a “process” that he believes will make millions for his bosses, but he is beginning to feel like they’re going to cut him out of the financial windfalls that are around the corner.  He meets a wealthy stranger (Steve Martin), and though they come from very different worlds the two become friends.  Only this is a David Mamet film and so things are not quite what they seem, as all the characters in the film circle around Joe’s mysterious “process.”  Steve Martin is really terrific in this nefarious role, an unusual turn for him.  Rebecca Pidgeon plays a young secretary in Joe’s office who becomes smitten with him and quickly drawn into the situation.  Ricky Jay is Joe’s partner George Lang, and Felicity Huffman plays FBI agent Pat McCune.  Joe’s “process” is one of the most striking MacGuffins in all of Mamet’s films.  (A MacGuffin — a term either invented by or at least popularized by Alfred Hitchcock — is a plot device motivates the characters or advances the story, but about which the details are of little to no importance.)  We never learn anything about what the heck Joe’s “process” is, and it doesn’t matter one whit.  What matters is that everyone wants it, and our enjoyment of the various cons and mind-games the various characters around Joe employ in their attempts to get it.  Although I find the ending a bit abrupt, this is one of my favorite Mamet films, and it’ll keep you guessing right up until those closing moments.

State and Main (2000) — Hollywood invades a small town as the cast and crew of the movie-in-the-making “The Old Mill” come to a quaint little town in Vermont to shoot their big-budget movie.  A funny and biting story about a clash of cultures, this film thankfully doesn’t fall into the simplistic cliche of small-town USA good and Hollywood bad.  No, pretty much EVERYONE we meet is flawed in their own way!  William H. Macy is the director Walt Price, willing to do whatever it takes to get his movie made.  Alec Baldwin is his star, Bob Barrenger, a man with a taste for liquor and young girls.  David Paymer is producer Marty Rossen, brought in to knock heads when the ingenue Claire Wellesley, played by Sarah Jessica Parker, refuses to take her shirt off for a love scene.  Philip Seymour Hoffman is the idealistic writer watching his script get torn apart by the realities of movie-making.  (He is asked to find a way to make his movie, “The Old Mill,” work in a town without a mill of any kind, old or otherwise.)  On the part of the townspeople, there is Ann (Rebecca Pidgeon), who quickly falls for Philip Seymour’s Hoffman, and Doug Mackenzie (Clark Gregg), her former beau who sees these Hollywood interlopers as his ticket to a political career. State and Main is a very funny look at all the little sacrifices (moral and otherwise!) that go into making movies.  One of Mamet’s most comic films, its a real winner.

Heist (2001) — Joe Moore (Gene Hackman) has been working with Bobby (Delroy Lindo), “Pinky” (Ricky Jay) and his young wife Fran (Rebecca Pidgeon) pulling heists for years.  But when their fence Mickey (Danny DeVito) stiffs them on their latest job, they’re forced to take on the high-risk “Swiss Job” with Mickey’s nephew Jimmy Silk (the great Sam Rockwell, from Galaxy Quest and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind) along for the ride.  Needless to say, things don’t go smoothly, and a series of crosses and double-crosses quickly follow, as everyone scrambles to get away with the money.  There’s a lot of fun to be had here, and Gene Hackman is a terrific addition to Mamet’s regular ensemble.  But there are a few things in the story that don’t quite track.  (Such as what exactly is it that goes wrong that results in Pinky’s getting caught by Mickey’s men?  Why didn’t the otherwise brilliant Joe see that coming?)

Spartan (2004) — Val Kilmer plays Scott, a highly skilled and tough as nails black ops specialist who gets drawn into the shocking kidnapping of the daughter of a highly-ranked U.S. government official (possibly the President, although the movie never specifies exactly.)  Scott quickly discovers that there is a much larger, much uglier nasty story going on.  I sort of think of this movie as the dark-side companion piece to the kidnapping of the President’s daughter story that ended the fourth season of The West Wing!  Like Gene Hackman before him, this is Kilmer’s first and last foray into Mamet, but like Hackman he is terrific.  Kilmer is calm, cool, and incredibly dangerous.  Many familiar faces appear:  William H. Macy is the chief-of-staff to the non-named U.S. official; Clark Gregg is the agent heading the investigation when Scott is brought on board; and Ed O’Neill (Married… With Children, The Spanish Prisoner) makes a brief but important appearance as the head of the agency.  The film also stars Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher, Miracle at St. Anna) and Tia Texada as young, idealistic soldiers who get drawn into the mess along with Scott.  Like Heist, this is perhaps a “lesser” Mamet work, but its still rather terrific.  The twisty, turny tale really moves…and like most Mamet films, no punches are pulled.  This film also epitomizes the interesting way in which Mamet stages his action.  Or rather, in the way he DOESN’T stage it, as Mamet often cuts AROUND the action.  I took notice, on this re-watching, of an early scene in which Scott watches Derek Luke wrestle with another young soldier.  We see the two men lunge towards one another, but their bodies quickly carry them off-camera, and while we hear the sound effects of their struggle, the camera focuses on Scott and the other men watching.  Some might criticize Mamet from not actually showing us that action, but I found it to be almost Shakespearean the way much of the action takes place off-screen.  Mamet is more concerned with the AFTERMATH of action than with the action itself.

Redbelt (2008) — Mamet’s most recent film.  Chiwetel Ejiofor (Serenity, Inside Man, American Gangster) plays Mike Terry, a highly-skilled Martial Arts instructor who, because he refuses to fight in prize bouts, is having trouble finding the money to keep his instructional studio open.  When he comes to the aid of Hollywood star Chet Frank (Tim Allen) in a bar, things seem to start turning his way.  But not for long, of course!  Mamet regulars Joe Mantegna, Rebecca Pidgeon, David Paymer, and Ricky Jay are all on-hand, as are Emily Mortimer (fragile-boned Phoebe on 30 Rock) and Alice Braga (I Am Legend).  In contrast to his previous films, Mamet doesn’t shy away here from giving us, on-screen, some bone-crunching fights.  But, as always, it is the snappy dialogue and the intricate plot that are the real stars.  If the film has a flaw, its that the plot might be a bit TOO intricate.  I’ve seen the film twice now, and I am still mystified by some of the twists.  (Spoilers here… When exactly did Mike’s girlfriend (Alice Braga)  get in on the con?  Did Chet and his wife truly try to scam her out of her money, and that’s when she made the decision in order to try to get the money needed to pay off her debts?  OR were Chet and his wife not involved at all, and it was Joe Mantegna’s character who organized everything?  OR was everything she told Mike about Chet and his wife’s scam ITSELF a lie, a way to get Mike to agree to fight because he wouldn’t unless she was in jeopardy? I am confused.)

Whew!  That’s a lot of Mamet films!  But, as I wrote above, this is by no means a comprehensive coverage of all of his works.  I didn’t re-watch Homicide (one of Mamet’s greatest works, the story of Jewish cop Bobby Gold) because, believe it or not, it is NOT AVAILABLE on DVD.  What a crime.  I skipped a bunch of famous works that Mamet wrote but didn’t direct  such as The Untouchables, Wag the Dog, and The Edge.  (Although having just read What Just Happened?, which spends a lot of time dealing with the making of The Edge, I definitely want to go out and re-watch that one soon.)  There are also a bunch of Mamet movies that I don’t own and have never seen:  Things Change, Oleanna, and The Winslow Boy. Its not for lack of interest — I just haven’t gotten around to seeing those films yet.  But don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll get to them one of these days!  And I’ll tell you all about them when I do.

I love movies, and I love watching movies on DVD in the comfort of my own home.  Here are some of the great DVDs I’ve watched recently:

Heist and State and Main — I’m in the midst of a sort of David Mamet retrospective, tearing through a number of his earlier works, many of which I haven’t seen in years!  I’ll be writing a more detailed piece about my journey into Mamet-world in a few weeks, so keep your eyes open for that.  Next up, I’ll be watching Spartan (which I’ve only seen once and am eager to revisit) and The Spanish Prisoner (possibly my favorite Mamet film after the incomparable Glengarry Glenn Ross.  ”Will you go to lunch?!!”)

Wonder Boys — What a masterpiece.  Having just completed the summer of Robert Downey Jr. (in Iron Man and Tropic Thunder), it was a lot of fun to re-watch his magnificent turn in this film.  Tobey Maquire is also great, as a talented but rather messed-up youngster.  (Its sort of bizarre to watch Maguire and Downey Jr. in this film, having seen them together in one of the fake trailers that preceded Tropic Thunder.  If you’ve seen it, you know exactly which one I mean!)  The always terrific Frances McDormand is quietly touching as the university chancellor torn between two men.  But this film belongs to Michael Douglas.  He plays college professor Grady Tripp, a man who once wrote an extraordinarily successful first novel and has seen his life slowly crumble as he has struggled, over many many years, to write a follow-up.  Wonder Boys is a coming-of-age story — for Maguire’s character, and also for Douglas’ Grady.  Its a rare movie that can balance deep laughs and powerful poignancy, and Wonder Boys just nails it.  I give director Curtis Hanson a lot of credit for that, as well as Steve Kloves for the sharp screenplay.  This movie sits next to Igby Goes Down on my DVD shelf.  The two films have a lot of similarities, both in terms of tone as well as the themes explored.  If you’ve seen and enjoyed Wonder Boys but have never seen Igby, I encourage you to check it out.

City Slickers — Boy, I haven’t seen this movie in YEARS!  I remember going to see the sequel, The Legend of Curly’s Gold, in theatres when it came out and being so disappointed that I don’t think I ever watched the original again.  The film is a bit dated — its not quite as timeless as When Harry Met Sally — but it was a lot of fun to return to Billy Crystal’s little ode to suburban men looking to find themselves.  Some of the jokes are a bit groan-inducing, and some of the characters are a little flat (I think Helen Slater is adorable, but she really doesn’t have much to do here other than be cute).  But there are still some moments of great comedy, and also some moments of surprising sweetness (even though some scenes are a bit heavy with the schmaltz.)  The late great Bruno Kirby’s monologue about the best and worst day of his life is really powerful.  Just terrific.  And what can I say about Curly himself, played by Jack Palance?  Still gold.

Spaced — A twelve episode British TV series that launched the career of Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), its about two twenty-something friends (Tim, played by Pegg, and Daisy, played by Jessica Hynes nee Stevenson) who wind up sharing an apartment.  I’ve been reading about this show for positively YEARS, so when it finally was released on DVD in the states last month I snatched it up.  I’m only a few episodes in, but already I’m really enjoying the balance of silly comedy, obscure pop-culture references, and over-all bizarre goings-on. 

The X-Files: Season One — In between watching episodes of Spaced, as well as our regular dose of The Daily Show (which has been PHENOMENAL these past few weeks, covering the Democratic and Republican conventions and all of the fall-out that’s happened since then), my wife and I have been making our way through the first season of The X-Files.  (Very slowly, since we started LAST September!  But we’ve been picking up steam recently, watching much of the latter half of the season in the past 3 weeks.)  My father introduced me to the X-Files mid-way through the first season, and I quickly became a die-hard fan of the show, following it all the way through to the final episode.  During the peak seasons of the show, I watched and re-watched the re-runs endlessly, trying to sort out all the different storylines and hunt for hidden clues and meanings, and to enjoy each scary, creepy episode.  But by the end of the show’s run, I was pretty down on it.  Since then, with the exception of one or two viewings of the first X-Files movie, I don’t think I’ve watched a single episode.  So it is with great delight that I’ve been re-watching the first season.  There’s a lot of greatness to be found, starting right with the terrific pilot. There’s also the haunting episode “Beyond the Sea” about the death of Scully’s father… the creepy “Squeeze” and “Tooms” episodes about the liver-eating mutant… the intense “Ice,” in which Mulder and Scully are trapped in the arctic while the members of their team slowly are driven mad by parasitic worms… “E.B.E.” in which the show’s famous mythology about a conspiracy to conceal the existence of extra-terrestrials begins to take light… and of course the stunning season finale “The Erlenmeyer Flask,” in which a surprising number of important characters and concepts that the show would later explore in great depth are introduced, most notably the shape-shifting Bounty Hunter.  Interestingly enough, all of those above episodes were shows that I had on tape, and had seen tons of times.  It was great fun to see them again after a number of years away.  But there were also a LOT of stand-alone episodes throughout the season that I don’t think I’ve seen for well over ten years… and THOSE were a LOT of fun to watch as well.  The quality varied as the writers, directors, and actors all worked to figure out the style and tone of the show, and what sorts of stories they wanted to tell.  But getting to watch so many episodes that I really didn’t remember… it was the next best thing to actually having a brand new series of the show to enjoy!  Let me close by mentioning one final item that really pleased me.  For all of the (I think very valid) criticism that the writers never really had an over-arching plan for the show’s “mythology” — that they were making it up as they went along, leading to the show’s finally collapsing under the weight of all the stories and lose ends that ultimately went nowhere or were never explained — it was fun to see a lot of notions introduced very early in the first season that wouldn’t be fully explored until much later in the show.  I’ve already mentioned the appearance of the alien Bounty Hunter in the season finale.  But my favorite example is a scene at the end of the very second episode.  Mulder, desperate for some sort of validation of his work and his beliefs, asks his mysterious informant (nicknamed Deep Throat), “They’re here, aren’t they?”  To which Deep Throat replies “Mr. Mulder, they’ve been here for a long, long time.”  That statement wouldn’t make any sense until years later, when the first X-Files movie (released between the fifth and sixth seasons of the show) revealed that extra-terrestrials had first visited earth during pre-historic times, and much of the alien weirdness that Mulder and Scully had been chasing was related to that first contact, 10,000 years before they were born.  I was surprised and impressed to see those ideas layered into the show at such an early stage.  Now I’m excited to get to Season Two, which has always stood as my favorite season.

Here are five more DVDs (continuing my list from yesterday) that I loved loved loved this winter, when the pleasant caress of new TV shows had been denied me:

VI.   Eastern Promises — I have seen this movie 3 times now since it came out last year, and I enjoy it more every time.  (And I liked it quite a lot the FIRST time I saw it!)  Viggo Mortensen gives an amazing you-just-can’t-look-away performance as the deadly Russian Nikolai, whose path crosses with a midwife named Anna (Naomi Watts).  And let’s not forget the amazing Armin Mueller-Stahl, who is as amazing as he always is.  (I must admit, though, that I’m such a geek that whenever he’s on screen, in this or any other movie, I always hear him in the back of my head saying: “not even zey…can stop ze future.”  X-Philes know what I’m talking about…)

VII.  House of Games: The Criterion Collection – A terrific new DVD of the first film that David Mamet directed (from his own script).  I’m a big Mamet fan.  There are some flaws in the story, sure…and I’ve never been, as a viewer, quite fooled by the central con of this flick.  But the simple joys of watching the great performers (Joe Mantegna, Rickey Jay, the late great J.T. Walsh, among others) mouth Mamet’s rat-tat-tat tough-guy dialogue is more than enough for me.

VIII.  Volver – Pretty surprising for a sci-fi nut like myself, but I found myself completely swept up by Pedro Almodovar’s story about the intersecting lives of various women in Madrid.  Penelope Cruz is spectacular.

IX.  The Best of the Dick Cavett Show: Stand-Up Comedians – This DVD set contains several notable episodes from the great Dick Cavett’s 1970’s talk-show, in which he engages guests in fascinating hour or hour-and-a-half long (really!!) conversations about their lives and work.  This set focuses on his interviews with stand-up comedians such as Woody Allen, Groucho Marx, Bill Cosby, Bob Hope, Carol Burnett, and many others.  I love the Daily Show and all of today’s late-night talk shows, but after watching these incredibly in-depth interviews its hard to take any of today’s five-minutes-then-you’re out “interviews” seriously.  This is the way it should be done.  If you have any interest whatsoever in stand up comedy, you need to track down these DVDs.

X.  The Wire – My sister got me the 1st season set for my birthday earlier in the year – and my wife and I promptly devoured the entire 5 seasons of the show.  Truly one of the greatest TV shows ever made.  I’ll discuss this in greater depth at a later date, but for now, let me just say that I have never seen a more compelling examination of the state of the American city (in the show’s case, Baltimore).  The enormous ensemble of actors, slowly developed over the run of the show, will never be equaled.  For years I’d heard people sing the praises of the show.  Now count me in amongst the choir.  Genius.