DVDs: "Logan Lucky," "Gilmore Girls," And Si, "One Day At A Time"

Here is my final batch of reviews before the holidays crash in on us. Next week, look for my best of the year/holiday gift guide where I champion some of my favorite releases from 2017 and highlight some of the best boxed sets and other elaborate titles that would look great under the tree/menorah/winter solstice sacrifice. But first, the final regular column of the year.

LOGAN LUCKY ($34.98 BluRay; Universal Studios Home Entertainment)

Retirement? What retirement? Ok, director Steven Soderbergh revised that to hiatus from feature films and happily even that didnt last long. One can imagine his frustration since studios are only interested in tentpole projects. Pivoting to TV and the fine series The Knick makes perfect sense. But heres Soderbergh back in the movies, shooting a film on an iPhone (due out in 2018) and making a very conventional heist pic via unconventional means. I just wish Logan Lucky felt like it was celebrating the NASCAR, blue collar world it is immersed in, rather than kind of mocking it. Still, the cast is game and there are amusing moments in this tale of dudes looking to rip-off the money that floods into the Coca-Cola 600. Its Oceans 11 but with rednecks! Ok, its not that reductive but I was hoping for as much cleverness in front of the camera as they exhibited in the financing and marketing deals.

ONE DAY AT A TIME: THE COMPLETE SERIES ($129.99 DVD; Shout! Factory)

THE SIMPSONS SEASON 18 ($49.98 DVD; 20th Century Fox)

FARGO SEASON THREE ($39.98 DVD; 20th Century Fox)

With the surprising critical acclaim for the Latinx update to One Day At A Time, its a perfect time to revisit the original. The Mary Tyler Moore Show was supposed to show a divorced gal making it on her own, but CBS was worried fans would think Mary had dumped Dick Van Dyke. (And besides, divorce was still scandalous by prime time standards.) So that ground-breaking depiction had to wait for Bonnie Franklin and One Day At A Time. Though it tackled all sorts of topical issues as creator Norman Lear was fond of doing, even my young self thought this sitcom was pretty tame, standard fare. Fun, but not button-pushing. All In The Family can take your breath away but watching One Day At A Time simply reminds you how the wacky neighbor/employee has been such a mainstay, from Schneider here to Kramer on Seinfeld. While the very conventionality of the shows presentation made the dicey issues (like a divorcees life) easy to swallow, it also means that One Day At A Time hasnt aged well. The jaw-dropping envelope-pushing of All In The Family and Maude means those shows feel a lot more alive compared to the canned antics of One Day At A Time and The Jeffersons. But like that other sitcoms affable leads, the three women at the heart of this show also provide pleasure, from Mackenzie Phillips live-wire nature to Valerie Bertinellis effortless appeal to Franklins grounded sensibility and refusal to be anything but true to herself.

The Simpsons keeps rolling along but seasons 18 and 19 have been missing for a while on DVD and BluRay, falling through the cracks as TV shows segued into placing a bigger emphasis on streaming. Ironically, while theyve been busy putting out the earliest seasons of the show on BluRay, that format has fallen out of favor for many TV packages and were just getting season 18 on DVD. That will surely frustrate some fans but at least its here! These episodes aired in 2016/2017, included the shows 400th episode and if sales prove sturdy theyll surely put out season 19 as well. Good god this was a decade ago and we were already bemoaning the decline in quality from great to merely good or even ok. Scan the episodes and youd be hard-pressed to single out any as all-time greats. Sitcoms at the most can stretch to seven seasons and maintain quality (The Mary Tyler Moore Show being the prime example) though animated shows like this and South Park can extend that truism another few years. But 18 seasons? Of course its shaggy but either you want this or you dont and nothing I can say will change your mind.

Maybe the rules are different for an anthology series. Now we have TV shows with self-contained seasons that completely reinvent themselves each time out, sometimes with a new cast, sometimes with an entirely new setting and always with a new storyline that can be enjoyed start to finish as a stand-alone experience. Charting the quality of most shows usually starts at a peak and includes a slow or quick decline. Charting the quality of anthology shows like Fargo and Black Mirror and American Horror Story and True Detective is more like a stock market ticker in a world full of booms and busts or maybe a mountain range peopled with endless peaks and valleys. You just never know what the hell youre gonna get. The general consensus on Fargo has been, Why the hell would you turn that odd duck of a movie by the Coen Brothers into a TV series? Followed by, Oh my gosh, season one was brilliant! Followed by, Well season two was a mess. Followed by, Season Three is great again but for entirely different reasons! Who knows what will happen next but rest assured Ewan McGregor is having a blast and fans of season one have reason to return.

DESPICABLE ME 3 ($34.98 BluRay; Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)

You have children. You want them to be entertained. You take them to Despicable Me or Minions or whatever and just thank your lucky stars it isnt My Little Pony. Who can blame you? Of course, the poor quality of this franchise dulls the senses and you find yourself saying things like Despicable Me 3 is the best yet. Low bar, but nonetheless true.

MIDSOMER MURDERS: JOHN BARNABYS FIRST CASES ($79.99 DVD; Acorn Media)

MAIGRET SETS A TRAP ($29.95 BluRay; Kino Lorber)

MAIGRET AND THE ST. FIACRE CASE ($29.95 BluRay; Kino Lorber)

A long-running series like Midsomer Murders is rightly taken for granted, not to mention the butt of jokes. Why would anyone live in Midsomer, which has a murder rate higher than the vacation spots of Jessica Fletcher? Like the long-running Law & Order, the show is shaken out of its complacency (or at least might be) when new leads appear. In these episodes from seasons 11-13, Neil Dudgeon becomes the new DCI, with Jason Hughes as his assistant, hanging around so longtime fans dont freak out too much over the changes. Its a repackaging of previous releases as ardent fans will know, containing 14 feature length mysteries on eight discs. Comfort food, though being British the guest star roles are peopled with exceptional talent from stage and screen.

Im not enough of an expert on the many lives of Inspector Maigret to weigh in on the definitive depiction of the crime fighter made famous by writer Georges Simenon. (Now Holmes I can offer an opinion on.) But these two French noirs from 1958 are quite satisfying. They star the great Jean Gabin and what a pity he only played the role three times (including Maigret Sees Red in 1963). In Sets A Trap, he must outwit a serial killer. In The St. Fiacre Case, the film actually climaxes at a dinner party where everyone is a suspect in the suspicious death of a countess. Gabin is coolly reserved, the films look great and anyone with a penchant for crime flicks will be satisfied.

LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN ($39.95 BluRay; Olive Films)

A NEW LEAF ($39.95 BluRay; Olive Films)

TIME TO DIE ($27.75 BluRay; Film Movement Classics)

Director Max Ophuls enjoyed one of his greatest triumphs with the tragic romance of Letter From An Unknown Woman, one of those confections that the studio system of 1948 excelled at. Starring Joan Fontaine and Louis Jordan in his greatest role, its a beguiling, near-perfect film. Though based on the novella by Stefan Zweig, it feels like one of those works of art that simply had to be a movie. Thats more a reflection of how Ophuls completely transformed the story into visual splendor than any lack in the writing of Zweig. This BluRay from Olive Films contains extras like audio commentary and interviews with scholars and cinematographers who discuss the films treatment of women and its terrific camerawork.

Many others consider Elaine Mays film A New Leaf a comic masterpiece but it has always left me a little cold. Still you have to tip your hat to anyone who can work in the studio system while writing, directing and starring in an original movie. May didnt get to see her reported three hour cut make the light of day, which is a pity. (Hasnt she held onto the original negatives?) If we can anticipate a new film from Orson Welles, I have to hold out hope for a re-cut Magnificent Ambersons or a directors cut of A New Leaf. But for the moment we have the 102 minute version in which Walter Matthau is a dissolute playboy who marries the wealthy but awkward botanist May and then falls in love with her before he can bring himself to knock her off. Its loopy, kooky, silly and presented nicely here. Just dont expect May to sign your copy.

Finally, theres the Mexican anti-Western Time To Die. Long before Clint Eastwood deconstructed oaters once and for all with Unforgiven, director Arturo Ripstein delivered this cult classic revived by Film Movement. Based on a screenplay by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Carlos Fuentes (!), it shows a man released from prison after 18 years. He killed another man in self-defense and now finally he can rest...until the dead mans sons start to hunt him down to restore their familys honor. Little known in the US since it came out in 1966, Time To Die finally enjoyed its first official theatrical release here in the fall in a newly restored print. Extras include an introduction by fan Alex Cox, commentary from the director and more.

GILMORE GIRLS: A YEAR IN THE LIFE ($24.98 DVD; WarnerBros.)

Ok, so youve watched all eight episodes of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and youre wondering what to do next. First, thank creator Amy Sherman-Palladino for following up one of the best series of the 2000s with a show that is a worthy successor. (Bunheads was fine but Maisel might be great.) Then revisit the series that made her name. How smart of Netflix to let Sherman-Palladino finally get to add a grace note of a finale to Gilmore Girls with the miniseries A Year In The Life last fall. We had no reason to expect a return to Stars Hollow would be anything but a bad idea. And yes, the four movies one per season were generally too long and there was a tendency to feel the need to give each minor character a moment in the spotlight. But it had a welcome seriousness of purpose and recaptured enough of the shows charm without just spinning its wheels to make us wish for more. Instead, Sherman-Palladino built on that quiet victory to venture out into new territory with the period setting and darker tone of Mrs. Maisel. This miniseries is the bridge between the two. It may be the end of Gilmore Girls but clearly it marked the beginning of a new chapter for Sherman-Palladino.

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Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the founder of BookFilter, a book lovers best friend. Looking for the next great book to read? Head to BookFilter! Need a smart and easy gift? Head to BookFilter! Wondering what new titles just hit the store in your favorite categories, like cookbooks and mystery and more? Head to BookFilter! Its a website that lets you browse for books online the way you do in a physical bookstore, provides comprehensive info on new releases every week in every category and offers passionate personal recommendations every step of the way. Its like a fall book preview or holiday gift guide but every week in every category. Hes also the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox , a weekly pop culture podcast that reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion makers as guests. Its available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.

Note: Michael Giltz is provided with free copies of DVDs and Blu-rays with the understanding that he would be considering them for review. Generally, he does not guarantee to review and he receives far more titles than he can cover; the exception are elaborate boxed sets, which are usually sent with the understanding that they will be reviewed. All titles are available in various formats at varied price points. Typically, the price listed is merely the suggested retail price of the format reviewed and youll find it discounted via retailers, not to mention available on demand, via streaming, physical rentals and more.