Play All 3.25.08
by Brian Tallerico

Play All is all about diversity. We've had weeks that were heavy on classic TV or straight-to-video horror but we've never had a week quite as varied as this one. A five-movie set from a movie icon, an intensely dramatic feature-quality film from HBO, classic TV comedy, and one of the more unusual horror movies in recent years all found their way to the back shelf of the DVD store this week. While everyone else is glowing about the gorgeous new Bonnie and Clyde DVD, we're willing to dig a little deeper. You may not find a "masterpiece" in this week's Play All, but you don't always want a masterpiece. Sometimes just a different kind of "piece" will do.

Alain Delon: 5-Film Collection
Studio: Lionsgate
Starring: Alain Delon
Features: None

Alain Delon is an international cinema icon. He was called the French James Dean and even compared to a male Brigitte Bardot. He was a huge star in the '60s and, as a part of their growing catalog of classic movie sets that recently saw releases from Bardot, Hitchcock, and Godard, Alain Delon now gets a five-disc set at a very reasonable price. All five movies come from late in the career of Delon and they aren't necessarily the best of his work (check out Purple Noon for a true classic) but these are a great starter set for anyone unfamiliar with one of the Frenchmen most associated with the words "movie star." Three of Delon's lesser films - 1967's Diabolically Yours, 1971's The Widow Couderc, and 1975's The Gypsy - are book-ended by two excellent samples of Delon's style, the suave The Swimming Pool from 1969 and Notre Histoire from 1984, which won the star a Cesar Award, the equivalent of an Oscar. Sadly, there are no special features included but we're loving these "starter sets" for classic actors and directors. They may not be everything a complete fan is looking for but they could make a follower out of a newcomer to these great filmmakers.

Pu-239
Studio: HBO
Starring: Paddy Considine, Radha Mitchell, and Oscar Isaac
Features: Audio Commentary with writer/director Scott Burns and executive producer Peter Berg

Don't watch Pu-239 on a rainy day. There's nothing happy about this brutally depressing and dark true story that is likely to put your daily problems into serious perspective. As the back of the HBO Films DVD case says, "If there was an accident, and you only had days to live...how far would you go to ensure your family's future?" Damn. Play All is usually a little lighter than that but the fact is that Paddy Considine (In America) and Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill) are two fascinating actors and HBO Original Movies rarely disappoint, so we felt we needed to include this intense tearjerker. The thriller tells the story of Timofey (Considine), a nuclear-power plant worker in 1995 post-Soviet Russia. One day, Timofey is exposed to a deadly dose of radiation and he learns that the authorities lied to him about his exposure and that he only has days to live. He wants to provide security for his family, so he steals a small amount of Pu-239 - weapons-grade plutonium - and heads to Moscow to sell it. Yeah, it's not a good time, but it's a dramatic thriller that's worth checking out. Just make sure you have a comedy ready to chase the blues away when you're done.

Shrooms
Studio: Magnolia
Starring: Lindsey Haun, Jack Huston, Max Kaschi, Maya Hazen, Alice Greczyn, and Robert Hoffman
Features: Alternate Ending, Bloopers, Alternate Scenes, Deleted Scenes, and Commentary

This is one weird trip. A month doesn't go by without another independently produced horror movie that's trying to scare you just a little differently but Shrooms wins the prize for most original scary flick of 2008 to date. In the film by Paddy Breathnach, a group of Americans head to Ireland after being promised the trip of a lifetime and a "trip" is what they get. Their friend Jake is a mushroom expert and he's got the goods to get them where they want to be, mentally as much as physically. A journey to a "higher" level of consciousness takes a seriously wrong turn when the Americans go too far with the local shrooms and start having some seriously gory and gruesome hallucinations. Or are they? Magnolia treats independent horror films with more respect than a lot of studios, giving Shrooms a great DVD treatment with stellar video and audio and a very impressive collection of special features. It's not a great movie - the pacing's a bit off - but it certainly is original and a must-see for hardcore genre junkies.

Wings: Season Six
Studio: Paramount
Starring: Tim Daly, Steven Weber, Crystal Bernard, Amy Yasbeck, Tony Shalhoub, Rebecca Schull, David Schram, and Thomas Haden Church
Features: None

Remember Wings? Remember when Tim Daly and Steven Weber were bigger stars than Tony Shalhoub and Thomas Haden Church? The "co-stars" from Wings have gone on to win Emmy awards, Oscar nominations, and Spider-Man 3 and no one's quite sure where Crystal Bernard is today. Wings was basically just Taxi with planes instead of cabs but it filled a comfortable niche as comfort-food comedy television. It didn't tax your brain or particularly impress you with its comedic skills but it hit the funny bone more often than you might expect and fans of '90s TV will want to include at least one season of it in their collection for the next time they're in the mood for nostalgia on a rainy day. To be honest, one season of Wings isn't that much different from another, so why not season six? Here's where Amy Yasbeck joined the show and you still had scene-stealers Antonio (Shalhoub), who joined in season three, and Lowell (Church), who left after season six. So, once again, why not season six? Paramount has been pumping these out at a pretty steady clip - six seasons in under two years - so you could probably wait for season seven if you want to catch the next flight.

-- Brian Tallerico

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