The Joy of Sets: Fastlane, Birds of Prey and Other Piles of Awesome!
Birds of Prey, Fastlane and Tiny Toons courtesy Warner Home Video
While June may be my birthday month - thereby the best month ever - July brought with it some of the greatest DVD gifts a TV addict could ask for. Including some long-awaited arrivals, as well as two takes on L.A.'s prettiest people. So if you missed any of them, get with the program. Just don't ask to borrow mine. 'Cause I'm not sharing these goodies!
- Damian Holbrook
Fastlane - Finally! Fox's uber-fab cars-and-cops series parks itself on shelves, complete with Peter Facinelli in low-rider leather pants, Bill Bellamy doing drama almost better than he does comedy, and a scorchin' attitude. In fact, the only thing missing is the "Amber" from Tiffani Thiessen, who is still pretty hot as the ex-junkie in charge of the Candy Shop, a sort of sexed-up Batcave for her bad-boy employees. And yes, Pervy McPervesters... the Thiessen-Jaime Pressly hot-tub smooch is intact.
Buy Fastlane on Amazon.com
Tiny Toon Adventures - They're tiny, they're tooney, they're all a little looney... and I will always lovingly remember this Spielberg-Warner Brothers creation as the show I used to watch with my little brother when he was, like, 4-years-old. I was about 22, but age doesn't matter when you're chillin' with Babs and Buster Bunny, Plucky Duck (who had rage issues) and Furball, the kitten version of Sylvester. Needless to say, the old gang of youngin's will always be welcome in my DVD player.
Buy Tiny Toon Adventures on Amazon.com
Birds of Prey: The Complete Series - Another overdue (and underrated) treat, this short-lived WB series about the crime-fighting daughter of Batman and Catwoman is actually cooler now than when nobody watched it back in 2002. As opposed to the awesome
Dark Knight, this one feels like the comic book it's based on, down to the campy dialogue and color-saturated sets. And Dina Meyer as the wheelchair-bound ex-Batgirl Barbara Gordon is just damn fine, you know?
Buy Birds of Prey on Amazon.com
Beverly Hills, 90210, Season Five - Two Tiffani Thiessen mentions in one column? Has to happen, folks, because this is the year Brenda bolted and pothead Steve-tease Valerie Malone moved into Casa Walsh. Kelly Kapowski no more, Tiff's skanky newcomer gave the show the shot it needed. And left some of the guys probably needing shots of a different kind. And that's why we love her.
Buy Beverly Hills 90210 on Amazon.com
The Hills, Season Three - Lauren and Whitney go to Paris, Speidi suck hard and Audrina starts to resent new roomie Lo. Ooooooh, stop rolling your eyes. You know you watch, you know you love it and you know you want more. And in a couple of weeks, Season 4 kicks off and all will be joyful in the land of Les Deux and lying Pratt siblings.
Buy The Hills on Amazon.com
L.A. Ink - As someone who now has more tattoos than fingers, I loves me some Kat Von D. Sure, she may charge a bazillion for her permanent markings, but she's hot, hilarious and totally handy with a needle. She's also willing to share the spotlight in her first season away from the Miami Ink crew, as her tat-parlor peeps Corey, Hannah and Pixie all get significant screen time. That alone is worth a return visit to the High Voltage hangout... which, fingers crossed, will someday join the list of shops that have left a mark on me, hint, hint, Kat!
Buy L.A. Ink on Amazon.com
So what are your favorite releases of the past few weeks? And which titles are you still waiting to see?
