TV Series on Steelbooks

I have been watching a lot of blu-ray/dvd unboxing videos on YouTube lately which is kinda fun especially some from those Black Friday buys and noticed a lot of gorgeous steelbooks being unwrapped/unboxed. I don't own any steelbooks since I have always felt that the extras/bonus features on the disc and the film itself were more important than the outer package. However, I must admit that I'm partial to slipcovers and digibooks since they provide additional information on the film. Most of the people who posted these videos are themselves collectors and the (mostly) blu-ray steelbooks mainly come from Zavvi. Steelbooks usually feature gorgeous artwork and are limited editions that quickly run out of stock and appreciate in value. Often, they come from UK/Europe, are region free and can be pretty expensive. While watching these videos, I noticed that all the steelbooks featured were movies and none were TV shows. Studios are usually reluctant to release TV shows on blu-ray unless there is a demand for them. Most older and lesser known TV shows are released on dvd only. So it might be understandable that TV shows on steelbooks are a rarity. Sometimes, the studios/retailers might release exclusive/limited editons of season boxsets of certain TV shows for fans/collectors. These editions usually come with digipaks/slipcovers featuring different artwork, trading cards or bonus discs (e.g Grimm, Sleepy Hollow, True Blood) but as I mentioned earlier, TV shows on steelbooks are almost non-existent. Since I consider myself more of a TV addict than a movie fan, I decided to check out forums of TV fans asking for steelbook releases of their favourite TV shows. Most of them wanted Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead to be released in steelbooks. Although I'm not a fan of these shows ( I have not seen Breaking Bad before (?)  and I got bored quickly after the first seasons of GOT & TWD), I must admit that any artwork on steelbooks for these shows would be awesome. However, upon checking further online, I discovered that there are indeed a few TV shows being released in limited edition steelbooks including Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead. In fact, the steelbooks for all 5 seasons of Breaking Bad are available for pre-order from Zavvi and features illustrations from renowned cartoonist Ralph Steadman. Individual seasons of The Walking Dead has also been released on limited edition steelbooks which features pretty much the same artwork found on the series standard blu-ray release. Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek TNG and Dr Who has also been released on limited edition steelbooks which are unfortunately either low in stock/out of stock. But the most surprising discovery is the limited edition steelbook release of the TV series 'Firefly' by Joss Whedon (which is amongst my all time favourite TV series). I never knew that the series was released on steelbook but I don't think that I will be double dipping unless the set comes with some extras on the disc that are not found on the standard blu-ray edition. As I said earlier, packaging is just not that important to me so the standard blu-ray edition of this series (which I bought at an unbeatable price) is just fine by me. So unless steelbooks comes with bonus content or extra discs, I'll stick to standard blu-ray editions of my favourite TV shows.

For steelbook enthusiasts, I have provided links below to Zavvi US and Zavvi UK (they have the greatest selection of steelbooks). Hope you find them helpful.

 

Zavvi US 

  

Zavvi UK

Tootsie (1982) Film

I'm not really a fan of art house/foreign/vintage films and because of this I have never owned a Criterion blu-ray before. However, I was surprised that Criterion had just released a more modern and commercial film 'Tootsie' on blu-ray which coincidentally was revisited by me recently. Sometimes, I like to revisit old films that I had watched in my youth during the 80s and 90s that I have forgotten or because I think that I might enjoy the film more as an adult rather than a kid/teen back then. I must admit that after watching 'Tootsie' again, I still found it to be entertaining, funny and relevant to modern times (the same cannot be said for Dorothy's hair, glasses or wardrobe). I'm not going to discuss the Criterion release here but for those interested in a review of Criterion's blu-ray release of this film, you can always check out the link below. The review is courtesy of DVD Talk. 

DVDTalk Review

What did I like most about the film, Dustin Hoffman of course. As you know, Dustin Hoffman is not the most attractive man but he is a very talented actor. While watching the film, I truly believed that it was the 'real' Mr Hoffman (as Michael Dorsey) who was coaching the novices in the actors studio. Which makes the role of  'Dorothy' a big risk for him (not unlike the risk Michael Dorsey took) since transforming him into a decent looking woman would be an insurmountable task. Besides, he had a reputation of being a 'serious' actor and this movie was part comedy. In 1982, we didn't yet have movies like Mrs Doubtfire or Priscilla Queen of the Desert so this movie was pretty much a leap into the unknown. But the role paid dividends because his portrayal of Dorothy is so spot-on that you can't imagine another actor playing her except Mr Hoffman. Dorothy's mannerism and speech (no false falsetto here) is all unique and yet natural to the character (imagine a rather spunky motherly figure). After watching the film, there was a short but illuminating interview with Dustin Hoffman which was included in the bonus features of  the dvd  (since I have not seen the Criterion edition  I can't say whether this particular interview is included in it). Here, he talks about the different ways men and women communicate. Apparently, women always ended their sentences with a question mark to appear less confrontational (hmm...). He also talks about improvising on some scenes in the movie (sometimes without director Sydney Pollack's knowledge). But the most touching part of the interview would be when he mentions how he would sometimes dress as Dorothy with the cast and crew when they were not filming scenes and (oblivious) people would sometimes ignore him in conversation due to the fact that he did not look 'attractive' as a woman. At this point, he almost breaks down crying and mentions his regret that as a 'bloke' he was also guilty of ignoring interesting women who were short on looks. In fact, he was so disturbed by this revelation that he ended up apologizing to his wife and having a heart felt conversation with her later. 

Other high points of the films is of course Bill Murray, as Michael Dorsey's laid back but hilarious room mate Jeff and Sydney Pollack, who directs and stars in the film. I truly believe that without Mr Pollack's unique vision (during an interview he mentions that he only makes serious films and never before comedy), this truly intelligent and sensitive film would not materialize. You have to admit that a comedy about a man who cross dresses could easily turn tacky if it was not handled by a talented director such as Mr Pollack. Lastly, those who loved the 80s would also immediately recognize Steven Bishop's iconic song at the end of the movie.

    

So anyone looking for some 80s nostalgia or an intelligent, funny and insightful film, why not give the Criterion release of this film a try. I'm sure Criterion's re-mastered version of the film and (usually) comprehensive release loaded with plenty of extras will certainly do justice to a film of this caliber.  

For those looking to add this great movie to their Criterion Collection, I have provided the link below to the blu-ray in Amazon (US),  

Tootsie Criterion Blu-Ray Amazon US (paid link)

The Bridge (FX TV Series)

Finished watching the first season of the FX TV series 'The Bridge' which is based on the Danish-Swedish TVseries 'Bron'. I'm not going to comment on the Danish-Swedish version since I haven't seen it before and neither do I plan to do so in the near future but I found the American version to be quite good. The series is about an American police detective, Sonya Cross, who is forced to collaborate with her Mexican counterpart, Marco Ruiz, to solve a homicide on a bridge that serves as a border between El-Paso Texas and Juarez Chihuahua. Their attempts to solve the case is complicated by the shady dealings that happen around the border which include corruption, drug cartels, illegal immigrants/ human trafficking etc.  What I find most interesting about the series is that along the way, the duo is introduced to many characters on both sides of the law that may at first seem stereotypical but later revealed to have hidden agendas/secrets and idiosyncrasies. The twist and turns in the plot are many but the second interesting thing that attracts me to the series is the relationship between the two detectives which are excellently played by German actress, Diane Kruger and Mexican actor, Demian Bichir. Unlike other detective series, where the main protagonists of different sexes get romantically involved, both detectives in this series seem to exemplify a real working relationship which, as the series progresses, grows into something akin to comradeship (anyone remember Cagney & Lacey/Starsky & Hutch?). Besides this, Detective Sonya Cross (Diane Kruger) suffers from Asperger (which is not mentioned but only hinted at in the series) and this makes the interactions and dynamics of the relationship between the two detectives an even more interesting watch. Last TV series that had a character (suspected) with Asperger was the BBC series Sherlock and even then it was never mentioned that the great detective himself (potrayed by the excellent Benedict Cumberbatch) suffers from it. In contrast to the the straight and narrow Detective Cross, we have Detective Marco Ruiz (Demian Bichir) on the other side of the border. He is a deeply flawed character but someone who is able to adapt and eventually work with her despite her lack of social skills. Recently, the series was canceled by FX after the second season, which is a shame but you can always catch up on this series on dvd/blu-ray. An interesting watch due to the high production quality, great writing and cast. Will wait for the second season to be released on dvd/blu-ray.

Available on DVD 6th Jan 2015

Addendum (30th April 2024) : If you are interested in viewing this series for the first time or wish to revisit it, both seasons of this series are now available on Amazon Prime. Unfortunately, the DVD for the second season (there was a Blu-Ray release only for the first season) are not widely available anymore. 

 FX The Bridge Amazon Prime (paid link)

        FX The Bridge Season 1 Blu-Ray Amazon US (paid link)    

   FX The Bridge Season 2 DVD Amazon US (paid link)