The Closer – The Complete Fifth Season (DVD Set)
It may be time for network TV to finally give up on the traditional cop show (and with the recent cancellation of the long-running Law & Order series, it may actually be doing just that).
Author: John B. Moore
Dark Harbor: The War for the New York Waterfront by Nathan Ward (Book)
It may not have the mass appeal of modern day mafia stories like The Sopranos, but Nathan Ward’s Dark Harbor, his true crime expose on the gangs that ran the New York waterfront in the late 1940’s is every bit as exciting and has the benefit of being realistic.
American Pickers – The Complete Season 1 (DVD Set)
And you thought every possible vocation had been mined for realty TV. Well, now it may have.
Entourage – The Complete Sixth Season (DVD)
The long-running (by cable standards) buddy comedy Entourage caught some flak last year from Seth Rogan for… well, slamming Seth Rogan. Yes the Knocked Up joke was more than a bit stale by the time this season aired last year, but the occasional dated references aside (including one about Christian Bale’s rant), the series is still remarkably satisfying.
War by Sebastian Junger (Book)
With his latest book, Sebastian Junger has done the nearly impossible: written a truly compelling book about war without taking a strong side politically. The reason, according to Junger, is that most of the American soldiers on the front lines of the war in Afghanistan aren’t discussing the politics behind the decisions that led them out to the dessert, carrying around 60 pounds of armor and supplies, while dodging bullets.…
Life (DVD)
The BBC and the Discovery Channel have a solid track record so far having produced Planet Earth and The Blue Planet: Seas of Life, both surprisingly enthralling documentaries on topics that could easily come off as simply dull.
You Couldn’t Ignore Me If You Tried by Susannah Gora (Book)
John Hughes has been given God like status by hordes of Gen X 30-somethings like me. His movies spoke to teenagers, not at them, in a way that had never been done before or since. In her completely engrossing study of Hughes and the actors that surrounded him, Susannah Gora has managed to turn a researcher’s eye to a topic that few would have bothered to tackle. In doing so,…
Daria – The Complete Animated Series (DVD)
Eight years after the animated show Daria ended its five seasons run, the series – tailor-made for Generation X – is finally being released in its entirety. The collection includes the pilot, episodes from all five seasons and a slew of extras. They may have taken their time rolling this one out, but they did it right.
Dirt – Season Two (DVD)
Much like the tabloids it parodies, the Courtney Cox-starring cable show Dirt, is a guilty pleasure: Pure trash, little redeeming valuable, but extremely hard to turn away from. Cox does the nearly impossible playing cold-as-ice Lucy Spiller, editor-in-chief of the glossy celeb tabloid Dirt Now, and manages to actually come off as likeable. She might just be one of TV’s ultimate antiheroes.
The Weakerthans – Live at the Burton Cummings Theatre (CD)
More than a decade after they formed, it’s still amazing to think that John K. Samson, the voice behind Canada’s The Weakerthans, is the same punk rocker that used to play bass for the skate punks in Propaghandi. The sounds of both bands are so drastically different. While Propaghandi had the angst-ridden teen market in mind, The Weakerthans churn out beautifully-crafted, melody-soaked, deeply introspective indie rock. Recorded before a hometown…