I'm going to rent "The Taxi Driver," okay!

I've been sick the last few days so I haven't made it to any movies in the theater. So now's the perfect time for an update of what's available on DVD! First off, today saw the release of mega-hit and instant classic "Knocked Up." The other big release (at least for me) today was a barely released movie from last spring called "The TV Set." I wrote a

review

of it last April. It's a very good movie and one that you should definitely check out. Also, "Chalk" which is still playing at the Varsity Theater is out on DVD as well. And I would be remiss if I didn't plug "Snow Cake" once again. It just came out on DVD a couple of weeks ago. Now it will be very easy for all of you to see this wonderful and uplifting movie. Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver (also of "The TV Set), and Carrie-Anne Moss all give incredible performances in the film from writer Angela Pell and director Marc Evans. SEE. THIS. MOVIE.
And I recently caught up with Best Foreign Film winner "The Lives of Others" and Sarah Polley's "Away From Her." Both are excellent. "Lives" tells the story of an East German wiretapper slowly regaining his soul in the last days of the Berlin Wall. It's rare that the phrase "grabs hold of you and never lets go" actually turns out to be true. "The Lives of Others" is such a film. "Away From Her" is about a woman (Julie Christie) disappearing into the darkness of Alzheimer's and her husband's struggle to deal with it.
So there's plenty of great stuff to rent right now on DVD. You won't be stuck having to bring home the latest direct to disc "Steven Seagal had to pay his taxes" movie.

And now a look at the new fall TV season. I wasn't exactly bowled over by what I checked out last week (I'm not going to bother with "Back to You" again), but last night I checked out the new series "Chuck" and "Journeyman" along with the season premiere of "Heroes."
"Chuck" is a spy-fi comedy about an ordinary guy named Leonard (no, I'm kidding, his name is Chuck), who works in the Nerd Herd at appliance superstore Buy More. We first meet Chuck (Zachary Levi) trying to escape from his own birthday party because he doesn't actually know any of the guests his sister invited. Before heading to bed for the night Chuck opens up an e-mail from his old college roommate. Turns out it was the final act of a murdered secret agent. The e-mail contained all of the government's secrets. If I tried to explain any further it would just sound silly. The thing is though, "Chuck" really works. It's very very funny (co-created by Josh Schwartz of "The O.C.") and it has a great cast, including Adam Baldwin (the man they call Jayne) as an NSA agent. "Chuck" is a lot of fun and it has a lot of great potential. I hope this one sticks around. (Mondays at 8 on NBC.)
"Heroes" began what promises to be another year of wall to wall intensity very well. Mr. Bennett (Jack Coleman) is still the most interesting character on the show to me. It was fun to see him trying to fit in at the world's most boring workplace. Last night also introduced a character played by great character actor Stephen Tobolowsky ("Sneakers," "Memento").
"Journeyman" is the story of San Francisco news reporter Dan Vassar ("Trainspotting's" Kevin McKidd) and his sudden trips through time. The premise is a bit like that of "Quantum Leap" except that Dan is always Dan (at least in the pilot). Dan's a loving husband and father and of course everyone thinks he's crazy when he tries to explain what is happening to him. The premiere episode is terrific and if you missed it you can catch it Thursday night at 7 on the SCI-FI channel. It will be interesting to see the details of Dan's past unfold over the course of this series, and also finding out what the deal is with his supposedly dead ex-girlfriend Olivia. Great new show! (Mondays at 10 on NBC.)

So there you go. At least one night of your week has a solid block of great television. And now I leave you with the trailer for "King of California" which opens in Seattle this Friday at the Metro. I can't wait to see this one (I'm sure the actual movie will be without subtitles):