ScreenScribe

Heading this week’s TV releases is Downton Abbey: Season 2, which only ended its SD run last night to high ratings on Prime. Universal Pictures is releasing it as a stand-alone set on Blu-ray and DVD and as a DVD-only box set with season one (the NZ season-one Blu-ray included an extra disc of extras not on [...]

SoHo Highlight: Grey Gardens (Sky 10, 8.30, 5.1) Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange star as ex-high society queens Big and Little Edie Beale. The aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis had it all — yet over 40 years their lives went from riches to rags. Then, in 1975, the Maysles brothers (Gimme Shelter, When We Were [...]

SoHo Highlight: Cinema Verite (Sky 10, 8.30, 5.1) Decades before housewives had screaming matches with each other on camera in public, the Loud family became a television sensation when they appeared on the groundbreaking 1973 PBS documentary series, An American Family. Most critics applauded this dramatisation: “Even without the original source material, Cinema Verite offers provocative insight into how far we’ve [...]

SoHo Highlight: You Don’t Know Jack (Sky 10, 8.30, 5.1) Al Pacino stars as Dr Jack Kevorkian in this biopic tracing the controversial career of the outspoken assisted suicide advocate and activist. Said the New York Times: “It is a credit to Mr Pacino that while he burrows deep into the role, he never lets Dr Kevorkian’s crackpot charm [...]

Bones at last gets Blu-ray exposure here with this week’s release of season six on the format. Seasons four and five are on Blu-ray in the US but only have DVD distribution in NZ. “If you watched these in HD on television, you can look forward a nice bump up over what already looked quite [...]

Friends (TV2, 6.30, R) Rachel is desperate to get back to work for fear they’ll dump her, and Phoebe gets a job as an extra on Joey’s soap opera. ✫✫✫ Shortland Street (TV2. 7.00, R) Callum is indebted to his enemy; Ula’s rival wraps her up; Maxwell is overcome by lust. ✫✫✫ The X Factor USA (TV3, [...]

Friends (TV2, 6.30, R) ✫✫✫ Ross and Rachel hire a caring and sensitive male nanny, who is brilliant at looking after Emma – until he starts to creep Ross out. Freddie Prinze Jr guest stars. Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five (TV2. 7.00, R) ✫✫✫ Our Dragon Warrior must now face Shifu’s biggest challenge with [...]

Friends (TV2, 6.30, R) ✫✫✫ Following Rachel’s acceptance of Joey’s accidental proposal, confusion reigns as Rachel wonders whether it was the right thing to do. Shortland Street (TV2. 7.00) ✫✫✫ Evan plays a dangerous game; Bella forges a new connection; Callum plays Mona and loses. Movie: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (TV2, 7.30) ✫✫✫✫ In his third [...]

Friends (TV2, 6.30, R) ✫✫✫ Rachel panics when she realises that she is not ready to take care of her baby; Joey has an audition to be the host of a quiz show that makes absolutely no sense. Shortland Street (TV2. 7.00) ✫✫✫ Mona stays ahead of the game; Gabrielle gets a helping hand; Bella is confronted [...]

Friends (TV2, 6.30, R) ✫✫✫ Phoebe tries to cheer up Joey by lending him the world’s happiest dog; Monica and Chandler’s romantic Valentine’s Day plans are derailed when they watch a tape of Phoebe’s friend giving birth. Shortland Street (TV2. 7.00) ✫✫✫ Phoenix and Jasmine fail to connect; Vasa is a strict mistress to Winston; Nicole thinks [...]