Watching "Pitch Black" for the first time was like trying a new ice cream flavor; you're not sure until the second or third bite what you really think. The original film got zero publicity and a limited release but served to introduce Vin Diesel to an audience in his first true starring role.

A passenger spacecraft ends up crashing on a desolate planet. The only survivor from the crew co-pilot Carylon Fry (Radha Mitchell) takes command and directs her surviving passengers (including Claudia Black from "Farscape") to find food and water. While there appears to be no indigeous life forms, a human survey team did briefly occupy the planet. Curiously, there's no indication as to where they went or why they left much of their material behind.

Also on the flight is a what appears to be an interstellar police officer (Cole Hauser) escorting a convicted criminal by the name of Riddick (Diesel). Riddick has the unique ability to see better in the dark than the light. While he's no hero, he does make suggestions to the survivors to help their chances for survival. Unfortunately, they're soon to discover that some life form forced the survey team to consider leaving once night arrives.

A suspenseful "B" movie premise that works primarily due to Twohy's sharp, taunt direction and crisp dialogue, "Pitch Black" immediately graps your attention with its inventive visuals and intense performances from the superb Mitchell, Deisel, Hauser and Black. Actally, the entire cast gives strong performances throughout the film and Twohy throws in plenty of unexpected twists and turns to keep the audience on the edge of its seat.

This "new" unrated director's edition was available previously on DVD a couple of years ago. It appears that the transfer here is the same one as before and all the extras are the same with the exception of those created for the sequel "The Chronicles of Riddick". We get a brief introduction by director/screenwriter Twohy that focuses on the sequel and a glimpse at the making of the video game. If you're fan of the original film, be aware that a couple of extra bells and whistles were added to this two disc edition to entice fans of the new Riddick movie and the original audience for "Pitch Black". Unless you want the meager extras about the sequel (some of which will probably be available when the sequel hits DVD anyway), I'd suggest holding on to your money.

The packaging has been revamped to capitalize on the sequel as well with an emphasis more on Riddick than before. "Pitch Black" is a terrific thriller (as is the unexpected minor classic "Below" and "The Arrival" also by Twohy). If you don't have this on DVD yet, by all means purchase it. If you have it already, don't feel the need to upgrade and become a victim of the LOTR double-dip (despite what one reviewer said, New Line has always released the expanded edition six months after the original LOTR films on DVD thus suckering fans into purchasing product twice).

"The Outlaw Josey Wales" remains one of Clint Eastwood's most underrated westerns. Behind "Unforgiven", it's it's his best, most emotionally complex western (although "High Plains Drifter" comes in as a close second). The transfer here is very good although I did notice a glitch that appears to be on the original film--a discoloration on the print at the very bottom about an hour in to the film. It's a minor flaw. There's also quite a bit of hair and dust during the montage of fighting between the Union and Confederates. The extras, while not as great as "Unforgiven", are pretty good as well. We get the theatrical trailers, a documentary on the making of the film as well as Eastwood's own introduction (although it doesn't replace the need for a commentary track).

"Pale Rider", Eastwood's return to the western genre after an absence of nearly a decade, isn't quite as original as "Wales". "Pale Rider" borrows from "Shane", "High Noon" and a couple of other classic westerns (including some of Leone's) creating a patchwork of various themes and scenes. The transfer looks very good although some scenes aren't as sharp as they should be. It's not a dual layer disc (we get both widescreen and full screen on each side of the disc). Theatrical trailers are included here but, again, it's sorely missing a commentary track from Eastwood. Four and 1/2 stars for "Wales", 3 for "Pale Rider".

By the end of the eight season it was clear that "The X-Files" had peaked by season six. That doesn't mean that there aren't pleasures to be found in the remaining 3 seasons. While Season Nine wasn't as consistent as the series at its peak (seasons 2-6), there were many interesting detours along the way. Robert Patrick and Annabelle Gish did a credible job as very different characters than those played by Duchovny and Anderson. Having Anderson on the sidelines as more of an observer was an interesting concept although, again, the series worked best when the trio worked together.

I personally felt that the mythology episodes were fascinating to watch but not always as strong as the shorter story arcs or the stand alone episodes. That's also the case here with the "super solider" story arc. It starts off promising enough but quickly degenerates into a mere shadow of the off shoot story arcs from previous seasons. Still, it offered an interesting diversion for season nine. Episodes such as "4-D" offered a lot of potential that was undermined by plot and holes in the logic.

Still, if the magic wasn't quite as slick as before, Carter still had some tricks up his sleeve. "Sunshine Days" had moments that matched the best the series had to offer likewise a number of other fine episodes. I was a bit disappointed in the conclusion for the series however as it seemed as if Carter elected to wrap up the outstanding story lines a bit too swiftly and a bit too neatly. Still, I have to give him credit for resolving the major story arc of the series.

The picture quality is terrific for the most part and the commentary tracks particularly for "Jumping the Shark" are quite good as well. Although Fox has always priced this series at a premium, the set is nicely packaged and has some terrific extras including a DVD-ROM game. I'd recommend starting from the beginning but you will want the end of the series as well. Some of the nasty comments on the last season are unfair as the exceptations were set so high for the series. Also, the reality is that seasons 8 and 9 were really a new beginning in the series cycle. "The X-Files" would probably have worked best with Patrick and Gish spun off into their own series.

Nothing wrong with John being political or topical (although the music doesn't always date well)the problem with "Sometime" is simple; the songs are some of his least inventive and Elephant's Memory plays the songs pretty badly. There are moments where the album rises from the ashes of burned draft cards to become something more than a political moment in time but those are few and far between. Lennon never went to this extreme ever again because he probably recognized that the songwriting became secondary to the political message.

Yoko's songs aren't quite up to the same quality as she would display on their later joint efforts (or her best solo albums) but the same thing is true here; we see them abandon songcraft in favor of political poses. As for the bonus disc, well, how often do you get to hear John Lennon jam with Frank Zappa? It's not the best album in the world but it shows that he could be a lot more inventive when it comes to jamming on stage than he's given credit for in Stones circles.

The brilliant cover art is another thing. It's subversie, powerful and nicely done. Printing the lyrics on the cover as if the songs represent "news" of the world was a brilliant concept far ahead of its time. Lennon, like McCartney, Harrison and Starr, had an uneven solo career. In The Beatles they had the checks and balances of each other to keep the excesses of the other in check. Here that's not the case. This is a great companion to one of McCartney's worst albums "Wings at the Speed of Sound").

Good intentions are one thing but, really, there's no excuse for sloppy songwriting or the sloppy musicianship that's plastered all over this album. I remember 1972 quite well and was embarrassed at the time at Lennon's load of hyperbole that came out in the form of "Sometime". Nothing wrong with making political statements but John did it so much better with "Give Peace a Chance", "I Don't Want to be a Solider" and "Gimme Some Truth".

A strong sixth season as "The X-Files" continued to stroll along in top form. Chris Carter, Frank Spotnitz, Vince Gilligan and the rest of the writing/directing/producing crew created a number of strong memorable episodes during season six. While the mythlogy episodes are pretty terrific, the ones that stand out in my mind are the individual stand alone episodes.

Among my favorites this season included "Bad Blood", "Christmas Carol", "Travelers" the marvelous and touching "Mind's Eye", "All Souls", "The Pine Bluff Variant" and the suspenseful "The End". The mythlogy episoes varied a bit in quality this season. Eschewing the detour into Indian mythology was a wise move after the disasterous two parter from the previous season. The mythlogy episodes here focused as much on character as plot which was to their advantage. "Patient X" featuring the wonderful Veronica Cartwright ("Alien", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers") gives a multi-layered, emotionally powerful performance. Carter's decision to shift Scully into the role of "believer" and Mulder into "doubter" brings added tension and an unpredictable element to this season that kept the characters fresh.

We get a number of extras although not quite as generous as other seasons. In addition to the 22 episodes we get 8 special effects sequences with commentary, commentary tracks on two episodes including "The Post-Modern Prometheus" and "The Pine Bluff Variant" by their writers (Carter and Shiban), 11 behind-the scenes spots, a DVD-ROM game "Earthbound" plus a documentary, 6 deleted scenes. Luckily for those of us who can't remember the titles of various episodes we also get a nice episode guide as well.

All in all, a great season that continued to keep audiences spellbound.

After his impressive solo debut, "Hai Hai" was a bit of a disappoinment. While the songcraft and solid melodies appeared on a handful of songs, the concession to the 80's sound in terms of the production undermined the album. The best song is, ironically, a remake of the Supertramp single "Land Ho" which appeared in 1974 prior to the release of "Crisis? What Crisis?". It receives some nice production touches and is a stand out song on the album. "Hai Hai" and a handful of other tracks are also notable. Surprisingly, the album's downfall (aside from some uninspired melodies)are Hodgson's lyrics. While it's better than the horrible effort that former partner Rick Davies put together for Supertramp ("Free As a Bird"), it doesn't come anywhere near the power or majesty of Hodgson's best solo effort ("Open the Door") and work with Supertramp (anything from "Crime of the Century" through to "Breakfast in America" where the band was in peak form).

There's no bonus tracks, no difference in the liner notes compared to the previous CD edition although the sound isn't as compressed sounding. Jack Joseph Puig's (an engineer on the terrific first Jellyfish album and co-producer of the band's second and final album)glossy, detailed production ranks as a highlight of the best songs and the remaster manages to do a good job of reproducing these elements. There's better depth, warmth and detail on this remaster. If you have the previous edition, I don't know that I would recommend the remaster though because, again, while the overall quality of the sound is superior, the content remains the same.

"Before and After Science" represented Eno in peak form. It's mixture of art-rock songs and ambient instrumental passages marked a turning point for him as well; this would be the last solo album where he would sing for more than a decade. "No One Receiving" with its funky, lumpy bass line and it's odd melody immediately captures your attention. "King's Lead Hat" (an anagram for Talking Heads) reflected Eno's hope that he would be selected (which he was) to produce the band's albums. In fact, you can hear echoes of Eno on the trio of Heads albums he produced. While there's no denying David Bryne and the band's genius, it's clear that Eno had a huge impact as a producer on helping the band expand on their original sound.

"Spider and I" closes the album with one of Eno's most gentle melodies. It sounds almost like a lullaby and the gentle music could easily lull you to sleep. It helped set the stage for Eno's next stage where he devoted himself full time to developing ambient projects.

The remastered sound using the DSD system comes through with the vibrance and warmth one would expect from the album. While the previous edition of the album sounded very good, there's better clarity and depth evident in the recording on this edition even when listened to on a cheap stereo system. My only disappointment is the lack of thought put into the packaging. There's no liner notes, no lyrics and while the cardboard digipak is housed in a nice plastic container, the presentation inside is bare bones. We get the album credits and no more. While that reflects the original issue of the album on vinyl, it wouldn't have hurt to expand the packaging (and include a bonus track or two).

"Here Comes the Warm Jets" announced Eno's intention from the first track; make groundbreaking, melodic music in the Roxy Music vein. The irony is that, for all intents and purposes, this was Eno's version of Roxy Music. If he were the lead vocalist, main songwriter in the band this is the material he'd be putting out there. It makes a great companion piece to Roxy's third album "Stranded". Ferry and Eno, in retrospect, compliment each other very, very well. As Ferry himself stated, he now wishes they had kept Eno and added Eddie Jobson. I couldn't agree more.

The improved sonics are the chief reason to pick this up. The detail is better, clarity is better (even on a cheap stereo) and the warmth and atmosphere of the original recording becomes evident from the first guitar chord. The packaging is another matter entirely. I like the digipak design but do wish that there were some comments from Eno and his band mates about the making of this classic album. The reproduction of the original artwork seems pretty darn close to the original vinyl version for the most part.

From the stuttering Robert Fripp guitar solo for "Baby's On Fire" to the odd chord progression of "Driving Me Backwards", every track manages to capture your attention. This is Eno's candy store and he's displaying all his sweet wares for the first time. Later albums would focus on other elements but here his talent burst forth in full flower.

Another minor complaint--where is "Seven Deadly Finns" and the material from Eno's only charting EP? It would have made a perfect addition to this album (even if it was released as a two disc set keeping the original albums intact and separate). It's a pity. Still, the DSD technique for transferring these priceless recordings captures the vibrant sound and impact of the original recordings without the sterile atmosphere of CD. Well worth picking up.

"Here Comes the Warm Jets" stands as one of Eno's best solo albums. Later he would venture into more ambient territory but here Eno rocks out with a vengence. "Baby's on Fire" with Fripp's stuttering guitar solo is one of the stand out breaks. While Eno never had a great voice, he does a pretty good job overall singing the material. His singing improved greatly with each successive album.

Although the remastered/reissued edition doesn't have any bonus tracks, I'd recommend it over this edition. The DSD remastered sound captures much more detail, depth and, well, ambience than the originally issued CD. This isn't a bad mastering job, it's just dated sounding compared to more recent reissues.

"Taking Tiger Mountain" has all the trappings of glam rock thrown into a blender full of prog rock. The results gets your attention with its glitter surface but stays with you long after the musical meal is finished. Although not Eno's best album, it's a strong follow up to "Here Come the Warm Jets". Eno works with the usual suspects here including his former Roxy Music cohorts Phil Manzanera (guitar)and Paul Thompson (drums) as well as Robert Fripp, Robert Wyatt and--gasp--Phil Collins (well, he was after all still in Genesis at this stage and it was before he found his second career as a radio staple). Imagine King Crimson crossed with Roxy Music with a hint of Zappa and Beefheart (and, yes, The Beatles) thrown in for good measure and you'll have an idea as to what this album sounds like.

The production by Rhett Davies (Roxy Music's "Avalon" among many others) and Eno combines the atmospheric texture and sound of his first great album with some really odd, angular melodies. This isn't as catchy nor but it is as funny as "Jets" with its odd, off beat lyrics (you'll discover if you don't already know that Eno uses lyrics for the sound they make together vs. any inherent meaning to them). Nonsense lullabies these aren't by any stretch of the imagination.

"Burning Airlines Give You so Much More" breaks the dam open with it's odd, Asian sounding guitar riff. It sets the pace for the rest of the album--strange strangled guitar riffs delievered like the best comedy bits--straight faced. No problems with the sound here and, unlike "Another Green World", none of the discs have missing words, music etc. that I can tell.