My TV pick for the week is the old George Peppard series Banacek, one of the “mystery wheel” shows that share a rotating ninety-minute timeslot with programs like Columbo and McMillan and Wife. Banacek was a suave, lady-killing independent insurance investigator who solved high-reward, ‘impossible crime’ sorts of thefts. This is the first show to be released under the TV Guide trademark, and you’d hope they were smart enough to do right by the show. However, apparently the pilot movie isn’t among the eight episodes included here, so maybe not. Still, a neato series.
Other notable shows this week include the fourth season of Rockford Files, because that show rocked; a set of 16 episodes of the old B&W Sheena Queen of the Jungle; and two sets featuring the first and second seasons of the ’50s Steve McQueen western series Wanted Dead or Alive, in which he played a bounty hunter who carried a saw-down rifle as his trademark weapon. Have Gun Will Travel was a better show, but this is good stuff, and I’m sure all sorts of familiar actors pop us as guest stars in these.
Also this week: Coach S2; Davey & Goliath: The Lost Episodes, ER S7; Frasier S9; Home Improvement S6; Red Green Show 1998 Season, The War at Home S1; Wings S4.
The film of the week is Army of Shadows, first because it’s from the fine folks at the Criterion company, and second because many people consider this tale of the French resistance during WWII to be Jean-Pierre Melville’s masterwork, and considering his extraordinary gangster films (and where’s Le Doulos, by the way?), that’s saying something.
Pan’s Labyrinth is out. ‘Nuff said. The special edition isn’t much more than the plainer one, so go for that.
The other release of the week is Omega Man, which has been scheduled numerous times over the last several years. Will it actually hit shelves today?! I’ll tell you, nobody could grit their teeth like Chuck Heston, and his romance with a ’70s Soul Sistah is a hoot!
Tex Avery’s Droopy: Complete Theatrical Collection A treat for animation buffs.
Meanwhile:
The cult classic Battle Royale is out this week, newly packaged with the follow-up Battle Royale II.
Beckett stars Peter O’Toole as King Henry V (a role he again assayed as an older man in the even better A Lion in Winter), and Richard Burton is Beckett. Good stuff.
Beetlejuice is back on the market after being out of print for a time. Great movie.
The direct to DVD Creepshow III has been getting simply horrible reviews from the horror fan sites. Avoid!!
Half Past Dead 2 appears to be a shot at franchising the awful Steven Seagal prison actioner, sans Mr. Seagal. What, they didn’t have the $200 required to bring him back? Instead, wrestler Bob Goldberg fills in for Our Steven, and a rapper fills in for the rapper that was in the first movie.
Raiders of the Damned Richard Grieco fights zombies in the post-apocalypse. Wow, that *has* to be great!
They’re Playing With Fire A sleazy erotic thriller by the maker of The Specialist and Dr. Minx (hence the presence of Alvy Moore aka Mr. Kimball from Green Acres), featuring Sybil Danning getting nude and simulating ‘hot sex’ a lot and a guy dressed like Santa Claus beating a chick to death with a baseball bat.
The Thirst Sort of vampire flick from 1979 about a cult. As a guy on the IMDB notes, “This secret cabal of wealthy individuals feed on peasants who live on a commune. It’s not hard to find the ripe political symbolism there.”
