Private Century
Conceived and directed by Jan Sikl, this collection of eight hour-long films follows the major events of Czech history through the prism of everyday citizens. The short documentaries stitches together home movies, still photography and narration compiled from interviews with the surviving members of families featured in the films to create vivid portraits of everyday life in this embattled country from the 1920s to the 1960s.
The films have an auteur’s touch to them. It takes a couple of installments to get into the pace of the films and Sikl’s authorial voice. But once you’re hooked, you will come away enriched and moved by the joys and sorrows of the simple citizens. It’s reminiscent in that sense of Gore Vidal’s first person takes on the huge issues of the day. But capturing the sweep of history in this intimate fashion will leave you deeply impressed as it fleshes out the small details of these often huge sea changes.
(released by Facets)
Nick Swardson: Seriously, Who Farted?/Greg Giraldo: Midlife Vices
There are the superstar comics of the world – Dane Cook, Robin Williams, Jerry Seinfeld. Then there are the ones who have all the respect of the comedy nerds and critics – Patton Oswalt, Eugene Mirman, Aziz Ansari.
Then there are the gaggle in the middle who are able to carve out a decent living on the road and taking bit parts in movies and TV shows, but either don’t have the shtick or the smarts to make it into either of the above categories. Comics like Nick Swardson and Greg Giraldo.
They aren’t terrible comics by any means, particularly Giraldo who has some potent political material and a whole lot of bile, but they are missing some essential something that could really carry them over the top. Swardson especially falls prey to this ingratiating need to please his audience by going for the old college audience stand by material about drinking, drugs and making fun of the elderly.
Giraldo, on the 
other hand, does what most comics take as their fall back, standing superior over his audience and the rest of the world. And he tends to contradict himself as in with his material about racists which is quickly followed by commentary about the Iraqi who threw his shoe at former President Bush, referring to him in blatantly derogatory terms. It throws all the good stuff into stark relief.
(both discs released by Comedy Central)
Three Sheets: Season 4
Three Sheets follows in the footsteps of wide ranging travelogues like Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and puts a simple but surprisingly vibrant spin on it. Over the course of four seasons, it follows the charming, catty and amazingly tolerant host Zane Lamprey around the globe as he tries local spirits and beers and meets a bevy of drinking buddies along the way.
This four-disc set carries 18 episodes that sends Lamprey to such far-flung destinations as Namibia, Lithuania, and the island of Lesbos. And, yes, he drinks a lot, taking in all manner of fare including a liquor and ice cream concoction called Buffalo Milk and a green liqueur that takes its name from the African creature called a springbok.
It’s a cute, if overdone, program, that would be near to unwatchable if it wasn’t for the local color featured on it, as well as Lamprey’s surprisingly charm as host. Even as it veers into ludicrously created history lessons and fills every available minute with sound effects and music, it still maintains a keen sense of fun and adventure. At least the kind of adventure that can come after imbibing shot after painful shot of bitter-tasting booze.
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