Day: September 2, 2006

“Oz” — Complete Sixth Season

Jae-Ha Kim

The sixth and final season of HBO’s prison drama Oz–which aired in 2003–is brutal, passionate, and gritty. Compellingly addictive with taut storylines and superb acting, each of the eight episodes on this 3-disc set nicely paves the way for the series finale, which wraps the show up in a satisfying (and surprising) manner. Often told through the eyes (and voice) of deceased prisoner Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau, Lost), Oz isn’t an easy show to watch. Inmates are routinely raped, tortured, and killed–not out of need, but out of boredom and cruelty.

“Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”

Jae-Ha Kim

The fourth season of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” finds Will (Will Smith) and Carlton (Alfonso Ribeiro) as college freshmen trying to fit in on campus. Carlton’s mom, Vivian, who was played by Janet Hubert-Whitten, is now portrayed by the attractive but not-as-funny Daphne Maxwell Reid. And supermodel Tyra Banks shows up as Will’s latest girlfriend, Jackie.

“Broken Trail”

Jae-Ha Kim

The lives of two stoic cowboys and five abused Chinese women become intertwined in Walter Hill’s sprawling miniseries Broken Trail. Print Ritter (Academy Award winner Robert Duvall) and his nephew Tom Harte (Thomas Haden Church, Sideways) agree to deliver a herd of 500 horses from Oregon to Wyoming. Along the way, they rescue the young women–most of them still just girls–who’re being transported to a brothel to have their virginity auctioned off. When the madam sees she is about to lose the girls, she screams at Tom, “What about my property?” He shouts back, “That’s the price of being a capitalist, lady.”