What to Watch: Feb. 18-24, 2014

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The Americans: The Complete First Season
Photo credit: Fox

“The Americans: The Complete First Season”

FX’s “The Americans” was a bit inconsistent over the first season but trust me when I tell you that season two of the show, premiering on 2/26, is almost perfect. The show is even more confident and engaging, and you need to watch season one to understand how these characters got there. I wish Fox’s TV season releases were a bit tighter - HBO-caliber transfers, more special features, etc. - but “The Americans” is a show that I really feel is on the verge of taking off. It’s going to be a program that people are talking about in 2014 and you’ll want to get in on the conversation.

From my theatrical review: “With incredible attention to period detail, strong performances, and a killer concept that has echoes of both “Breaking Bad” and “Homeland,” “The Americans” will almost surely be another hit for one of the most important networks on cable TV.”

Synopsis:
Secrets can be deadly in this suspenseful thriller about undercover Russian spies in 1980s Washington, D.C. Philip (Matthew Rhys) and Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell) seem to be a typical suburban couple, but they’re actually lethal KGB agents plotting to bring down America. As the Cold War escalates, Philip and Elizabeth must take extreme measures to continue their mission and keep their true identities hidden. But when an FBI agent moves in across the street, they become ensnared in a pulse-pounding game of cat and mouse.

Special Features:
o Deleted Scenes
o Commentary On The Colonel By Joseph Weisberg, Joel Fields and Noah Emmerich
o Gag Reel
o Executive Order 2579: Exposing The Americans
o Perfecting The Art Of Espionage
o Ingenuity Over Technology

Where to Watch: Blu-ray, DVD, Vudu, Amazon Instant Streaming, iTunes

Nurse Jackie: Season Five
Photo credit: Lionsgate

“Nurse Jackie: Season Five”

Showtime’s “Nurse Jackie” shouldn’t still be working. It’s a concept that should have lost steam a year or two ago (such as “Weeds” did around S4) and yet great performances and rich characterizations keep it alive. Any conversation on the best actresses in the history of television that doesn’t include Edie Falco is incomplete. And it’s nice that Lionsgate is still loading these up with commentaries and featurettes. There is a LOT of TV this week but don’t ignore “Nurse Jackie”.

Synopsis:
Nurse Jackie returns for a fifth season with Edie Falco as Jackie Peyton, a role that has earned Falco her third consecutive Primetime Emmy nomination. After leaving rehab early, Jackie finds sobriety and relative happiness - but that is the calm before the storm. With her marriage coming to an end, a careless accident sends Jackie to her own All Saints Hospital for emergency care. While recovering, she meets NYC policeman Frank Verelli (Adam Ferrera), whose flirtatious advances may lead Jackie into uncharted territory: dating. Stepping out of her usual comfort zone, challenged by new colleagues, Jackie faces the one-year anniversary of her sobriety.

Special Features:
o Sober Jackie Featurette
o Cast And Crew Commentaries
o New To The Floor Featurette
o Gag Reel
o Deleted Scenes

Where to Watch: Blu-ray, DVD, iTunes

Bad Dreams/Visiting Hours
Photo credit: Shout Factory

“Bad Dreams/Visiting Hours”

Having not seen the derivative “Bad Dreams” in years, I wondered how it held up. Not good. Not good at all. It’s a flat, boring mess. “Visiting Hours” is slightly better, largely thanks to a great, game cast that includes William Shatner and Michael Ironside. Neither is worth a look for people unfamiliar with them. This is a double feature release for hardcore Scream Factory fans only. If you’re a casual one, go buy “Darkman” instead. Or about three dozen other SF releases.

Synopsis:

Bad Dreams

In the mid-1970s the members of the love cult Unity Fields sought “the ultimate joining” by dousing themselves with gasoline and committing mass suicide. A young girl blown clear of the fiery explosion was the only survivor. Thirteen years later, Cynthia (Jennifer Rubin, Screamers) awakens from a coma inside a psychiatric hospital with only buried memories of that horrific day - but now her fellow patients are each being driven to their own violent suicides. Has the sect’s leader (Richard Lynch, Deathsport) returned to claim his final child? Bruce Abbott (Re-Animator) costars in the intense shocker Bad Dreams from director Andrew Fleming (The Craft) and producer Gale Anne Hurd (Punisher: War Zone, The Incredible Hulk).

Visiting Hours

Academy Award® winner Lee Grant (1975 Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actress, Shampoo) stars as outspoken TV journalist Deborah Ballin, whose crusade against domestic violence enrages a creepy loner (a truly disturbing performance by Michael Ironside of Starship Troopers and Top Gun). He brutally attacks the anchorwoman in her home, but Ballin survives and is hospitalized. Her assailant is enraged: He is haunted by a horrific childhood trauma. He enjoys inflicting torture and slow death. And now he has hidden inside the hospital to finish what he started. Can anybody - including her concerned boss (the one and only William Shatner), a frantic nurse (Linda Purl of Happy Days) or Deborah herself - stop the psycho’s killing spree before it reaches sick new extremes?

Special Features (all on Bad Dreams):
o Commentary With Writer/Director Andrew Fleming
o Interviews With Actors Jennifer Rubin, Bruce Abbott, Richard Lynch and Dean Cameron
o The Special Effects of Bad Dreams
o Behind The Scenes of Bad Dreams
o Theatrical Trailer

Where to Watch: Blu-ray, DVD, Amazon Instant Streaming, iTunes

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com [email protected]