The week’s DVD begin on TV:
DVDs and streaming for Feb. 3 by Boo Allen
This week, we start in front of the television:
Maison Close—season one
According to an accompanying 20 page English language booklet, on January 1, 1870, Paris had 3,656 “kept” women, with 1,066 of them situated in registered “houses.” And, naturally, found within every closed house, or, Maison Close (one usually restricted to aristocrats and rich bourgeois), were rampant intrigues, romances, various frauds and swindles, jealousies, and enough colorful characters to fill one of France’s most popular TV series. The eight episodes of the first season now arrive stateside on two Blu-ray and three DVD discs. Jacques Quaniche created and Mabrouk el Mechri directed this production looking at the lives inside a 19th century brothel. The series benefits from rich period costumes, evocative sets, and a uniformly fine cast. Most of the interior filming took place in an atmospheric palace in the middle of Lisbon. There, an intricate story unravels centering mostly around three women, all of whom have been manipulated into unfavorable situations by a man. Hortense (Valerie Karsenti) runs the Paradise house, with Vera (Anne Charrier) being her lover as well as one of her biggest money earners; that is, until her obligation is paid off by a rich baron. Young, virginal Rose (Jemima West) travels to Paris to track down her mother but instead finds herself tricked into “service” at the Paradise. But the season sees Rose turn the tables on those who put her there. Although the story mostly follows the machinations of these three women, it also examines some of the underhanded men who attempt to profit from their relationships with those at the Paradise, the Maison Close.
Not rated, 440 minutes.
Cracked—season one
B.B.C. Home Entertainment releases the first season on two discs of this Canadian production set in Toronto that features an unusual but entertaining buddy-team, cop-procedural. David Sutcliffe plays detective Aiden Black who has suffered a string of stressful encounters, leaving him questionable goods in the eyes of his superiors. They say he is not broken, but “cracked.” So, for their Psych Crimes and Crisis Unit, they team him with psychiatrist Daniella Ridley (Stephanie von Pfetten). Together, they answer police calls involving emotional disturbances of some sort. This specialization results in a series of compelling encounters, including with a violent schizophrenic, a dead college student possibly killed by her own therapist, a victim with “fatal attraction” tendencies, a delusional homeless man, an ex-rock musician off his medications and other adventures. As expected, Ridley and Black work together long enough to develop an escalating romantic and a building sexual tension.
Not rated, 293 minutes.
The Wonder Years—second season
The 17 episodes from the sophomore season of this once popular TV series arrive on four discs. In this season set in the late 1960s, Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) still attends junior high school with Paul (Josh Saviano) and Winnie (Danica McKellar). The season sees the trio protesting the Vietnam war, as well as scheming to stop builders from developing nearby Harper’s Woods. At home, Kevin still bickers with big brother Wayne (Jason Hervey), even when the family celebrates Christmas. To make Winnie jealous, Kevin asks Becky Slater to go steady. The series benefits from the constant use of era music, with contributions from a variety of sources, including Cream, Carole King, The Miracles, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Iron Butterfly, Aretha Franklin, Simon and Garfunkel, Traffic and many others.
Not rated, 520 minutes.
Extras: interviews with cast members Dan Lauria, Alley Mills and narrator Daniel Stern.
Mama’s Family—sixth season
In this final season’s 20 episodes, on three discs, Vicki Lawrence brings to a close the escapades of her infamous character “Mama” Harper. The season sees Mama trying to market her own magic tonic, encouraging Iola to date someone, hosting a radio talk show, taking the stage at a comedy “open mike” night, and having numerous other adventures, many involving Naomi (Dorothy Lyman) and Vinton (Ken Berry),
Not rated, 522 minutes.
Extras: separate interviews with Vicki Lawrence, with writers Jim Evering and Manny Basanese, with producer Rick Hawkins, and with costume designers Bob Mackie and Ret Turner.
Elsewhere, a few movies also arrive this week:
Starry Eyes (**1/2)
The writing-directing team of Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer show an admirable knowledge of the horror genre in this low budget fright-fest that seemingly “borrows” from, among others, such Polanski classics as Repulsion and Rosemarie’s Baby. Unfortunately, however, the lads also burden their mumblecore-shakeycam effort with retreads of too many other overly familiar horror film trickeries. An adequately expressive Alex Essoe heads an energetic young cast as Sarah, an aspiring actress in Los Angeles who must also suffer the indignity of surviving by working at a Hooters-type restaurant. She eagerly attends a casting call for a horror movie and even jumps at her call-backs. Eventually, the old-guy creep of a producer shows his predatory hand, leaving Sarah to escape. Meanwhile, her friends (Noah Segan, Pat Healy, Amanda Fuller) ridicule her, encourage her, and otherwise live in their own insulated Hollywood-world. Later, Sarah discovers herself falling apart, using trite horror-movie deterioration-tropes of gradually losing hair, finger-nails, and teeth. In addition, the film holds a surplus of horror sequences that turn out to be dreams, possibly the worst infractions of all. Still, Kolsch and Widmyer deliver a few creepy moments, and Jonathan Snipes provides a polished, professional music score.
Not rated, 98 minutes.
Extras: 12 minutes of deleted scenes, 14 minutes of Alex Essoe’s audition video, and a music video.
Hector and the Pursuit of Happiness (**1/2)
Simon Pegg stars as the title Hector, a good-natured London psychiatrist who feels he has hit a rut in his life. One day, he talks it over with his girlfriend, played by under-used Oscar nominee Rosamund Pike, and decides to take an around the world trip to discover the true meaning of happiness. His travels make up the film’s highlights, as Hector travels around the world to many picturesque locales. And he also meets many interesting people, but, unfortunately, writer-director Peter Chelsom’s script sags once on location as Hector does little but deliver inane platitudes. Hector touches down in Los Angeles long enough to visit a now happily married old girlfriend (Toni Collette). The succession of beautiful scenery helps gloss over the film’s slightness.
Rated R, 114 minutes
Also on DVD and streaming: Axe to Grind, Coffee Town, Dear White People, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, Starred Up.