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Luther

  • Title: Luther – The Complete First Series
  • tv.com: link

DCI John Luther (Idris Elba) is a brilliant detective but a flawed man. As the series begins Luther allows a child killer (Anton Saunders) to fall to his death rather than save him. The killer survives in a coma, and after a lengthy suspension and investigation Luther is allowed back on the force.

While working a different case every week Luther must also deal with his estranged wife Zoe (Indira Varma) and her boyfriend (Paul McGann), and the attentions of psychopath Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson) who takes a shine to him after he is unable to prove she killed her parents.

Created by Neil Cross Luther is a character driven procedural drama that works because of the flaws of our main character. He’s intelligent, driven, but also moody, reckless, and far too likely to put himself in the line of fire by offering himself as a target (a decision which triggers his unusual relationship with Alice). The final two episodes take a dark turn involving his close friend (Steven Mackintosh) and the fallout over a robbery and kidnapping gone horribly wrong.

The two-disc set includes all six episodes of the first season but not much in the way of extras. Still, for those who like cop dramas with a twist, and a fair share of strong performances, Luther is worth a look.

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Doctor Who – The Complete Fifth Series

  • Title: Doctor Who – The Complete Fifth Series
  • tv.com: link

With the departure of David Tennant in “The End of Time Part 2” a new Doctor (Matt Smith) takes control of the series.

The season starts strong with “Eleventh Hour” which introduces us to the Doctor’s new companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), and ends with a great two-parter (“The Pandorica Opens” and “The Big Bang“) involving the end of the universe, but it does have some ups (“Amy’s Choice,” “Vincent and the Doctor“) and downs (“Victory of the Daleks“) over the course of the season. I also thought the other two-parters from this season (apart from the finale) with the Silurians and the return of the Weeping Angels weren’t as strong as the episodes which introduced the characters.

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Pirates, Vegans, and Lesbians. Oh, my!

  • Title: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
  • IMDb: link

Based on the comic series of the same name young Canadian slacker Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) meets the girl of his dreams (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) only to learn he must face-off against, and defeat, all seven of her evil ex’s (Jason SchwartzmanChris Evans, Brandon RouthSatya Bhabha, Mae Whitman, Keita Saitou, Shota Saito). Director Edgar Wright‘s take on the comic is an awful lot of fun and holds up well to multiple viewings. For more check out my original review of the film.

The Blu-ray version of the movie is loaded with extras including multiple audio commentary tracks, featurettes on the making of the film as well as its look and sound, alternative footage, deleted scenes (with director commentary), bloopers, along with standard BD Live extras, a copy of the film on DVD, and the ability to stream either Pitch Black or Tremors for free.

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Superman/Batman: Apocalypse

  • Title: Superman/Batman: Apocalypse
  • IMDB: link

DC Comics and Warner Premiere’s follow up to Superman/Batman: Public Enemies improves on some of the flaws of the earlier film but still struggles to turn a comic arc from the Superman/Batman comic into a animated film.

The story picks up weeks after the events of Public Enemies when a meteroite lands in Gotham Harbor containing a confused female Kryptonian who causes havoc throughout the city before Batman (Kevin Conroy) and Superman (Tim Daly) stop her and realize she’s Kara Zor-El (Summer Glau), Superman’s cousin.

The story gets a little fragmented here as Kara’s attempts to make a home for herself in the Fortress of Solitude, Metropolis, Themyscira, Apokolips, and Smallville all end in destruction. Things aren’t helped by Darkseid‘s (Andre Braugher) army of Doomsday clones (feel free to groan your way through this part of the story, I know I did), her kidnapping and brief stay on Apokolips, before returning to Earth and finally taking up the mantle of Supergirl.

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Sherlock

  • Title: Sherlock – The Complete First Season
  • tv.com: link

“Do people usually assume you’re the murderer?”
“Now and then, yes.”

Created by former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, Sherlock takes the famous detective out of Victorian London and into modern day. The first season is currently playing in America on PBS and is available on blu-ray and DVD.

The three episode first season begins with the meeting of Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Dr. Watson (Martin Freeman) in a loose adaptation of “A Study in Scarlet” titled “A Study in Pink.” Aside from introducing the characters to us, and each other, this first episode begins the Holmes and Watson partnership as the pair hunt down a killer on the streets of London.

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