Semper Hi-Fi

Lee Marvin in 5.1 surround sound, and more media picks

May 22, 2006

DVD: There are two things no self-respecting modern gent should be without: a home theater equipped with surround sound, and The Dirty Dozen on DVD. A new special edition, out tomorrow, finally lets you put both to use at the same time. In addition to 5.1-channel sound, the two-disc package includes a laundry list of extras, including a making-of doc, an intro by Ernest Borgnine, and "Marine Corps Combat Leadership Skills," a vintage recruiting doc starring Lee Marvin. Also out today: season two of Deadwood, Saturday Night Live: The Best of Commercial Parodies, featuring classic faux ads like Belushi's "Little Chocolate Donuts" and Dan Akroyd's spot for the Bassomatic, and the second season of BAFTA-award-winning BBC comedy Little Britain.

MUSIC: It's a mixed week for the graybeard demo. Eighties art-punkers Mission of Burma continue to intrigue with their second reunion album, The Obliterati, while the blokes in Def Leppard try to latch onto the neo-glam bandwagon by covering T. Rex and Mott the Hoople. (The results aren't exactly glamorous.) For those who prefer their performers on the less arthritic side, the latest from NYC's Walkmen, A Hundred Miles Off, is worth a spin.

MOVIES: Can 21st-century renaissance man Brett Ratner emulate Bryan Singer's magic touch at the helm of the X-Men franchise? Your guess is as good as ours—Fox doesn't screen it till tomorrow. Coincidentally, there's a decent chance one of the precocious actor types in Alexandra Shiva's Stagedoor—a kooky doc about the theater camp that spawned Robert Downey, Jr., Zach Braff, and Mandy Moore—might just end up in Rush Hour 6. Also this week: Al Gore stars in the global-warming doc An Inconvenient Truth. Frankly, we found his performance a bit wooden.

TV: Wednesday night, it's all about reality versus unreality. On Fox, find out whether it's Taylor Hicks or Kathryn McPhee who gets to make Simon Cowell more money, then turn to Bravo as Tom Colicchio names his Top Chef. Over on ABC, meanwhile, the two-hour Lost sign-off answers that really important question: How come none of these guys have grown beards yet?

BOOKS: It's amazing Anderson Cooper finds time to write, between the TV hosting and Vanity Fair cover shoots. His new memoir, Dispatches from the Edge of the World, shows that's he's more than a pretty face.

WEB: Beats us how cult pop hero Willie Wisely convinced 2006 Playmate of the Year Kara Monaco to appear in the screwball video for his latest single, "Staying Home Again," but props to him. (Andy Dick also makes an appearance, but that's somehow less surprising.) Watch it here.