It’s a fine week for cult TV at your local DVD shoppe (and no, we’re not talking about the short-lived Juliana Marguilies legal drama Canterbury’s Law). This week sees the release of the strike-abridged first season of Breaking Bad, AMC’s mordantly funny and frequently moving series about a cancer-ridden chemistry teacher’s adventures in meth-cooking in suburban New Mexico. The new season begins March 8th, but since the first season’s only seven-episodes long, it should be a snap to catch up. (That is, unless you get distracted by two other cult-y TV items arriving this week: the Australian mockumentary series Summer Heights High and the final installment of the first cycle of Futurama made-for-DVD movies.)
It’s not a bad week for cult movies, either. The seminal animated feature Akira makes its Blu-ray debut, as does the legendary car-chase movie Vanishing Point and Dario Argento’s classic giallo The Bird With The Crystal Plumage. (Argento’s lesser-known Four Flies On Grey Velvet arrives on plain ol’ DVD as well.) The original version of The Last House On The Left, Wes Craven’s sadistic re-imagining of Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring, gets a new special-edition DVD, and last year’s heavily ironic-ized sexploitation homage Viva makes its first appearance on home video (though it feels like something that should’ve been put out by Something Weird a few years ago).
So that’s plenty of quality entertainment right there, and we haven’t even mentioned the fine documentaries Chris & Don. A Love Story (about the long-lasting relationship between legendary gay author Christopher Isherwood and his California beach-rat lover, artist Don Bachardy) and Dear Zachary: A Letter To A Son About His Father (about a favor to an old friend that turns into a complicated family drama). Or the controversial Blu-ray edition of The French Connection, which director William Friedkin has reportedly scribbled all over, just because he can. Talk about breaking bad….
Akira
Honneamise Blu-ray, $49.98
The Bird With The Crystal Plumage
Blue Underground Blu-ray, $34.95
Breaking Bad: The Complete First Season
Sony, $39.95
Canterbury’s Law: The Complete Series
Sony, $29.95
Chris & Don. A Love Story
Zeitgeist, $29.99
Dear Zachary: A Letter To A Son About His Father
Oscilloscope, $29.99
Four Flies On Grey Velvet
Mya/Ryko, $29.95
The French Connection
20th Century Fox Blu-ray, $34.98
French Connection II
20th Century Fox Blu-ray, $34.98
FTA
Docurama, $26.95
Futurama: Into The Wild Green Yonder
20th Century Fox, $29.99; Blu-ray, $39.99
Girlfriends: The Sixth Season
Paramount, $36.98
The Haunting Of Molly Hartley
20th Century Fox, $29.99
Hell On Wheels
IndiePix, $24.95
Ironweed
Lionsgate, $14.98
Just Shoot Me: The Complete Third Season
Sony, $39.95
The Last House On The Left (1972)
MGM, $19.98
The Librarian: Curse Of The Judas Chalice
Sony, $24.96
The Matador (2008)
City Lights, $24.98; Blu-ray, $29.98
My Wife & Kids: Season One
Lionsgate, $29.98
Protégé
Dragon Dynasty, $19.98
Samurai 7: The Complete Series
Funimation Blu-ray, $99.98
Sex Drive
Summit, $26.99; Blu-ray, $34.99
Summer Heights High
HBO, $29.98
Super Speedway
Image Blu-ray, $24.98
Vanishing Point
20th Century Fox Blu-ray, $34.98
Viva
Cult Epics/Ryko, $29.95
What Just Happened?
Magnolia, $29.98; Blu-ray, $34.98
The Who: Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970
Eagle Rock Blu-ray, $24.98