After a lackluster start to 2011, which has seen disc sales continue to decline, this week offers gems in every category including a surprisingly entertaining Stan Lee reality show, two of the very best contemporary TV series, plus a host of TV cult favorites, the second movie reworking the Evangelion mythos, a category-creating, genre-defining historical TV drama, and much more.

 

 

This is the best week of the year so far for TV releases with a great mixture of hot new shows like Mad Men, Stan Lee’s Superhumans, and Treme, plus cult TV series like The Bullwinkle Show, Dennis the Menace, Xena, Hercules, and Upstairs, Downstairs. But one of the most interesting releases of the week is a new Charlie Brown/Peanuts Special: Happiness Is A Warm Blanket Charlie Brown (Warner Bros., 46 min., $19.98, BD $24.98). The new Charlie Brown special is based on a Charles Schultz original story adapted by Charles’ son Craig and Stephan Pastis, the creator of Pearls Before Swine. Boom! Studios has a graphic novel adaptation of this special, which gives the property another retail dimension (see “Kaboom Touts First Peanuts Graphic Novel”).

 

Stan Lee’s Superhumans: Season 1 (A&E, 376 min., $24.95, BD $34.95) collects all eight episodes of this surprisingly entertaining series. While “The Human Calculator,” “The Man Who Feels No Pain,” “The Human Bee Hive,” “The Rubber Band Man,” and “The Human Orchestra” may not quite as powerful as The Incredible Hulk or the Amazing Spider-Man, but they have the advantage of being “real,” and this series explains their unique abilities in a way that is breezy and fun.

 

There is no better series on cable or regular American television than Matthew Weiner’s Mad Men. Mad Men: Season 4 (Lionsgate, $49.98, BD $49.98) exhibits no diminution in quality, and fans might want to watch it again on disc, since contract renegotiations will likely delay the start of Season 5.  In Don Draper Weiner has created one of the most iconic and marvelously complex characters in modern American popular culture, and set Draper’s contemporary Horatio Alger saga against a marvelously rendered recreation of the rise of the advertising agencies that drive contemporary consumer culture. Draper’s successful pursuit of the American Dream proves to be as hollow and potentially toxic as Dupont’s promise of “better living through chemistry,” but he is far from a “hollow man” caricature. As incredibly callous as he can be at times, especially in his dealings with women, Draper is still the “conscience” of series, and the only one of the show’s ruthless ad execs who appears to care about the feelings of his co-workers. In Season 4, the mood of the series turns darker as Draper’s divorce is finalized and the War in Vietnam begins its painful intrusion into 1960s America.

 

If there is a contemporary series that will eventually be the equal or perhaps even better than Mad Men, it is the HBO show Treme (pronounced “truh-MAY”). Treme: The Complete Season First Season (HBO, 500 min., $59.99, BD $79.98) includes all ten episodes of the first season of the series created by David Simon (The Wire) and Eric Overmyer. Set in the New Orleans neighborhood of Treme, this series depicts the city’s slow painful recovery from the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. Just as in The Wire, Simon makes great use of a bevy of fine local New Orleans actors who blend in perfectly with a cast that includes veteran performers like John Goodman and Melissa Leo. In contrast to The Wire, music plays a huge role in Treme, which utilizes the talents of lots of the Crescent City’s best players. The First Season set includes a trio of great documentary extras, and the Blu-ray also has an exclusive “Down in the Treme: A Look at the Music and Culture of New Orleans” that is not to be missed.

 

At least one of the classic series making its debut this week is of comparable quality. In its first standalone release, The Bullwinkle Show: The Complete Season 5 (Classic Media, 4 discs, $34.93) demonstrates how this series with its combination of zany humor that appeals to kids mixed with plenty of political and cultural references guaranteed to make adults chuckle set the template for so many contemporary cartoon features (see Shrek). Season 5 contains many of the most memorable Rocky and Bullwinkle sagas including “Bumbling Brothers Circus,” “Pottsylvania Creeper,” “The Ruby Yacht of Omar Khayyam,” and “Wossamotta U” to name just a few.

 

While The Bullwinkle Show inspired a comic book series from Gold Key, the Dennis the Menace series was based on Hank Ketcham’s classic newspaper comic strip that debuted in 1951 (and is being reprinted by Fantagraphics). Making its DVD debut this week is Dennis the Menace: Season 1 (Shout Factory, 820 min., $29.93), which contains all 32 episodes of the first season (1959-1960) of the series starring Jay North as the towheaded terror. Appearing as it did during the heyday of the family sitcom, Dennis the Menace was highly underrated, and the show only lasted four seasons because Jay North was 11 by the end of the fourth season, which was too old to wear his iconic coveralls and engage in the show’s patented “little kid” mischief. During the first season, CBS moved the show’s timeslot to Sunday nights after Lassie and demanded that Dennis’ antics be toned down. As a consequence it is  only during  a portion of the first season that the TV Dennis most closely resembles his newspaper counterpart and the show manages to tap into the anarchic humor of the oblivious child with great success.

 

Continuing series out this week include two syndicated cult favorites, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys: Season 2(Universal, $26.98) starring Kevin Sorbo, and Xena: Warrior Princess: Season 2 (Universal, $26.98) featuring Lucy Lawless. Mention should also be made of the release of the Colgate Comedy Hour: Anything Goes (E1 Entertainment, 60 min., $29.98), an abbreviated version of the delightful Cole Porter shipboard musical starring Frank Sinatra and Ethel Merman, Emergency! The Final Rescues (Universal, 250 min., $39.98), which includes the final episodes of the long-running series starring Julie London, Here’s Lucy: Season 4 (MPI, 720 min., $29.98) starring the incomparable Lucille Ball, In Plain Sight: Season 3 (Universal, $39.98), the USA series about the Witness Protection Program, and Vega$: The Second Season (Paramount, 591 min., $36.98), the vintage 1980 ABC detective series produced by Aaron Spelling.

 

There is only one U.K. series out this week, but it is as groundbreaking and important in its own way as any DVD release of 2011 so far. 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of the debut of Upstairs, Downstairs, which is being released in a magnificent Upstairs, Downstairs: The Complete Series—40th Anniversary Collection (Acorn Media, 3420 min., $199.99), which contains all 68 episodes of the series plus over 25 hours of highly enjoyable extras. Created by actresses Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins, Upstairs, Downstairs chronicles the lives of the wealthy Bellamy family and their servants who reside at 165 Eaton Place in London's fashionable Belgravia neighborhood. The first 68 episodes follow the fortunes of the Bellamys and their retainers from 1903 to 1930. Watching it again it is impossible not to note how the production values improved as the series gained in popularity. As the series unfolds it is like watching the entire genre of historical period dramas that take in the entire social spectrum, not just the swells, develop before your eyes.  While the first season of Upstairs, Downstairs dealt with issues like infidelity, abortion, homosexuality, and suicide that have become staples of soap opera drama, the show put everything in a historical context with events like World War I, the suffragist revolution, and the Wall Street Crash and worldwide economic depression lending gravity to the proceedings, while the subtle examination of the myriad possibilities of the master/servant relationship elevated the proceedings to a level rarely achieved since (the recent Downton Abbey series is one of the few efforts that even comes close). There’s a new Upstairs, Downstairs series that is set in 1936 and will debut on PBS in April, but it is merely an addendum—the real stuff is all included in the original 68 episodes. Also out this week is Upstairs, Downstairs: Series 1—40th Anniversary Collection (Acorn Media, 650 min., $49.99), which collects the first 13 episodes, and Upstairs, Downstairs: Series 2—40th Anniversary Collection (Acorn Media, 649 min., $49.99), which includes the next baker’s dozen.

 

 

It is unfortunate that Darren Aronofsky will not be helming the new Wolverine movie, because he certainly did an excellent job with the psychological thriller Black Swan (Fox, “R,” $29.98, BD $39.99). Natalie Portman deservedly won the Oscar for her performance as a buttoned-up ballet dancer driven by an overbearing mother, bedeviled by a fear of failure, and tormented by hallucinations. With its echoes of classics like All About Eve and The Red Shoes, Black Swan has been a huge hit with critics (86% positive on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences ($281 million worldwide so far) alike.

 

Although it might be the best film out this week, don’t expect Black Swan to top DVD sales. Disney’s Tangled (Disney, “PG,” $29.99, BD Combo $39.99) did even better with both critics (90% positive) and audiences ($568 million worldwide). This 3-D animated version of Rapunzel is the most expensive animated film ever made with a cost estimated at $260 million, and it marks a return to the “cartoon musical” territory that Disney successfully revived in the late 20th Century with films like The Little Mermaid and The Lion King. Taking its visual cues from the French rococo painter Jean-Honore Fragonard’s “The Swing,” Tangled veers perilously close to the kitschy elements that have always bedeviled Disney productions. Whether it swerves way too far in that direction or not, probably depends of the taste of the individual viewer.

 

Doug Liman’s Fair Game (Summit Entertainment, “PG-13,” $22.99, BD $30.49) is the ripped-from-the-headlines story of CIA agent Valerie Plame whose identity was leaked to the press after her husband wrote an editorial in The New York Times critical of Bush administration claims that Saddam Hussein had attempted to acquire uranium from Niger. Naomi Watts and Sean Penn give powerful performances in a film that is definitely not recommended for viewers of Fox News.

 

All Good Things (Magnolia, “R,” $26.98, BD $29.98) is also based on a true story. Likewise Andrew Jarecki’s film features strong performances from Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst in a murder mystery set among the elite echelons of New York City real estate moguls.  But All Good Things is not your typical fast-paced thriller. Jarecki’s roots in documentary filmmaking serve him well in some ways, but this is a film that may not keep everyone’s interest, especially in its second half when things really get weird.

 

Vincent Cassel, who plays the ballet director in Black Swan, takes center stage in Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 (Music Box Films, Unrated, $29.95, BD $34.95), a 2008 French film that is getting its U.S. DVD release this week. Mesrine was the French John Dillinger. He robbed lots of banks, escaped from prison numerous times, and was basically executed by the police. Like Dillinger, Mesrine found it convenient to put a political gloss on his thievery at times and became something of a folk hero as well as the perfect subject for a fast-paced, thoroughly entertaining movie that is actually the second half of a two movie biography (the first part of the saga, Mesrine: Killer Instinct was released earlier this year).

 

Another French film is definitely worth mentioning. Mia Hansen-Love’s The Father of My Children (IFC, Unrated, $24.98) is an example of family drama at its most realistic and very best. The eponymous character of the film is a French film producer who struggles mightily against long odds to get his sort of films made. The Father of My Children is never flashy and is not particularly fast-paced, but it does build with intensity and draws you in to the lives of its characters in numerous subtle and steady ways.

 

 

It’s another strong week for anime releases with four new Blu-ray entries including the disc debut of the second installment the Neon Genesis Evangelion rebuild. Neon Genesis Evangelion Movie 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance (Funimation, “14+,” 106 min., $29.98, BD $34.98) simply looks spectacular on Blu-ray. The Evangelion re-do begins to depart more and more from the original, with the introduction of a new pilot, and newly designed Units 05 and 06. Fans of NGE owe it to themselves to check out this imaginative recreation of the mecha masterpiece of the 1990s.

 

Another “re-do” that’s out on Blu-ray this week, Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood Part 4 (Funimation, “13+,” 300 min., $49.98, BD $54.98) will likely prove even more popular than the NGE movies. The new FMA Brotherhood series hews much closer to Hiromu Arakawa’s FMA manga and the result is a series that is superior in all regards to the original. Exposure on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim has definitely raised the profile of this version--and the Blu-ray simply looks and sound spectacular.

 

Also out on BD are the Guin Saga Collection 1 (Sentai Filmworks, “13+,” 325 min., $59.98, BD $69.98), which includes the first half of a 26-episode series produced by Satelight in 2009 and based on the heroic fantasy novels and manga written by Kaoru Kurimoto (published here by Vertical), and the classic Yu Yu Hakusho Season 1 (Funimation, “13+,” 620 min., BD $44.98), which includes the first season of the Studio Pierrot series from 1992.

 

There is also an excellent selection of re-priced releases this week including the Excel Saga Complete Collection (Funimation, “17+,” 650 min., $49.98), the Linebarrels of Iron Complete Series (Funimation, “13+,” 650 min., $59.98), and the Sgt. Frog Season 2 Collection (Funimation, “13+,” 625 min., $49.98).

 

 

The only problem with the Imax: Hubble (Imax, “G,” $27.98) movie is that it is, at 40 minutes, far too short, and spends a little too much time on the rescue mission to save the Earth-orbiting observatory and not enough on the spectacular vistas both of outer space and the Earth. This is an eye-opening, jaw-dropping film that kids and all adults with a sense of wonder will love. The only problem with this version is that it’s not on Blu-ray.

 

 

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce may not be the perfect Holmes and Watson for Holmes purists, but the Universal Sherlock Holmes movies defined the character for decades through reruns on American TV. In The Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection (MPI, Unrated, 16 hours, 14 min., BD $129.98), MPI has released the 14 Rathbone Holmes films on Blu-ray for the first time. Restored by the U.C.L.A. Film and Television Archive, the Holmes films do exhibit an occasional scratch and the black-and-white images do show their grain, but basically these films have never looked better (at least not since their original debuts in the late 1930s and 1940s). If you have already purchased the films on DVD, it might not be enough of an upgrade to warrant a new purchase, but if you haven’t, this is a marvelous set that will provide hours of great viewing.

 

Peter Tewksbury’s Sunday in New York (Warner Bros., $19.95) features a young Jane Fonda, Cliff Robertson, and Rod Taylor in a “battle of the sexes” saga based on Norman Krasna’s play. Sunday in New York seems dated today, but back in 1963 it dealt frankly with a subject (virginity) that hadn’t really been tackled in American films since Otto Preminger’s The Moon Is Blue nearly a decade before. The humor in the film largely comes from the hypocrisy of the Cliff Robertson character, a swinging airline pilot, who attempts to hide his amorous activities from his virginal sister (played by Fonda). Anachronistic as it may be in some ways, Sunday in New York is still quite a bit of fun thanks to the performances and Leo Tovers lavish color photography of a ravishing New York City.