‘Aeon Flux’ out just as movie to hit theaters
“Aeon Flux”
Another TV package is arriving thanks to its big-screen tie-in, and if you didn’t know there was a movie version of “Aeon Flux,” you sure will after plowing through the introductory pieces on “Aeon Flux: The Complete Animated Collection” (10 episodes, three discs, $38.99).
The MTV fantasy series about a beautiful, often-underdressed secret agent is not to my taste. The art is good, the animation so-so. The storytelling never engaged me.
But the making of a movie (starring Charlize Theron) testifies to the appeal of “Aeon” among young men and more than a few nerds. Notes with the DVD explain the restoration of the show in such tedious detail, I wish it had just said, “It looks a lot better.”
“American Idol”
“American Idol” goes for Christmas shoppers with three DVD issues: single discs of “The Best of Seasons 1-4” (Capital Entertainment, $19.98) and “The Worst of Seasons 1-4” ($19.98) and a three-disc “The Best & Worst of American Idol: Seasons 1-4” ($34.98), which includes the other discs and bonuses.
I looked at the three-disc collection, especially a 50-minute bonus interview with judge Paula Abdul (who hosts segments throughout the DVDs) since the box promised she “discusses … her relationship with the contestants.”
Unfortunately, she does not directly address the recent scandal in the interview, recorded in September. And there are times she is just full of herself. But Abdul is disarmingly frank about some things, from her dealings with Simon Cowell to the way the contestants’ on-TV charms often get lost in the recording studio.
Too much of the DVD set feels lazily assembled, a lot of it cobbled together from pieces made for telecast or recycling old interviews.
“Seinfeld”
One reason that something like “American Idol” seems so poorly packaged is that you can find sets like those of Seinfeld, which takes its DVD responsibilities very seriously, presenting the episodes in their original network form and loading up with extras.
Two new sets arrive this week: “Seinfeld: Volume 4: Season 5” (Sony, 22 episodes, four discs, $49.95) and “Volume 5: Season 6” (24 episodes, four discs, $49.95).
“Leave It to Beaver”
“Leave It to Beaver: The Complete First Season” (Universal, 39 episodes plus bonus show, three discs, $49.98) presents the family comedy about Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver, his brother, family and friends.
It’s one of TV’s classics – and a much smarter show than it is sometimes given credit for. Unlike more saccharine, later comedies, “Leave It to Beaver” allowed the kids to be average and far from perfect. The Cleaver parents, Ward and June, may have dressed extremely well, but they were textured characters. And the casting was very good.