Home Theater: Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Third Season and Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut

By Bob Grimm

Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Third Season

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I'm convinced that this show's Larry David will commit mass murder during the course of the next season. David's creation, a strange free-form half-hour that basically provides actors with scenarios and has them go off, has gotten progressively nastier since its inception in 2000. The third season provided more substantial plotlines that ran through the episodes, including marital turmoil between David's character and his wife, played by Cheryl Hines. Hines deserves extra kudos for keeping a straight face during this stuff, a task that cannot be easy.

Season regulars included Ted Danson, who shares a cantankerous relationship with David as they embark upon a restaurant investment. Richard Lewis returns as his usual neurotic nut self, constantly requesting that people watch his HBO specials and whining about his girlfriend's appearance.

Highlight moments include Larry getting his teeth smashed out by a baseball bat at a kid's birthday party, winding up in the chair of a vengeful dentist. Another party mishap involves Larry taking special notice of a young partygoer's manhood, something more innocent than it appears on paper. Actually, it's not really that innocent after all. It's sort of perverted, as is the show.

By the time this third season hit the airwaves, the ensemble had gotten so astute at the art of improvisation that the proceedings seemed mostly scripted (a compliment). Mark my word: This show will feature much bloodshed in future years. Larry David will join his "Seinfeld" pals in jail on a manslaughter rap.

Special features: Relatively sparse. Just a sit-down with the cast at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, and not an incredibly engaging sit-down at that.

Join the Donnie Darko cult

Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut

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In the 10 years I've spent reviewing films professionally, this movie seems to have developed the largest cult following (second place would be the horrible Saw, which I just don't understand). It's a movie that is impressive upon first viewing, but doesn't achieve its full impact until it has been viewed multiple times.

Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Donnie Darko, psycho teen or world savior depending upon how you interpret the movie. Frequent visits from a demonic bunny rabbit reveal that the world will end, and he's the only one with the power to save it. What transpires is the sort of puzzle movie that would make David Lynch proud, one that I'm still not certain I've figured out. I know that the rabbit represents the future, or some dude in the future. Or is it the past? Aww, screw it.

Director Richard Kelly did a lot with a relatively small budget. This director's cut allows him to insert songs he originally intended to use but couldn't due to royalty costs. Some new signpost graphics attempt to assist the helplessly ignorant (like me) with figuring out all the time travel stuff and some special effects shots are added to make things snazzy. I can't say that the extended scenes and explanations help to make the thing make more sense, because they don't. No matter. I like it anyway.

Casting includes dirty dancer Patrick Swayze as a pedophile, Jake's incredibly hot sis Maggie as, oddly enough, Donnie's sister, and Drew Barrymore as a depressed high school teacher.

Special features: The first edition of Donnie Darko was a decent enough DVD, but this one kicks its ass. Disc one of this two-disc set includes the film accompanied by a commentary with Kelly and guest commentator Kevin Smith. Smith's main role during the exchange is to ask many questions and admit he really has no idea what the film is about in the end. A behind-the-scenes diary covers much of the shoot and should be of major interest to diehards, as is a documentary on the film's cult status.