By Peter Covino
Lifestyles Editor

Count me officially in.

After giving Game of Thrones a cursory  look  when it premiered on HBO last year, I went on to other things.

Sure, it looked like it had some great production values, but I just wasn’t up to committing to yet another ongoing series.

I was wrong. After a marathon viewing of all ten episodes over the past week or so, I found I’ve already got my calendar circled for April 1, the start of season 2.

If you like medieval stories, with a bit of fantasy and the supernatural, Game of Thrones is must-see TV.

It’s biggest drawback, and only drawback, is this is one show that does require some commitment. You can’t give it a casual glance  one week, and then tune in three episodes later and expect to understand what is going on.  

And that makes the Game of Thrones: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray/DVD essential. The set came out this week from HBO Home Entertainment.

Set in the mythical land of Westeros, the storyline follows seven different kingdoms and their various families.  The storyline is so complicated  you will need a guide, and yes, one is available in the DVD/Blu-ray set. A large map lays out the land and the kingdoms of Westeros. Flip it over, and there is a family tree of all of the families, how they link to each other and more. It is kind of like The Sopranos, only with knights  and lords. Not surprisingly, there is more violence in an episode of Game of Thrones than in The Sopranos, and as much sex and nudity, maybe more so.

In addition to the map and family tree, while the episodes are running,  there is a complete guide to the series (this option can be turned off) on the right side border of the screen, with background information on characters, history, location and more. This is particularly useful, since there is  a lot of backstory to Game of Thrones, including all the history before those currently in power. The guide provides plenty of perspective.

If you think I am overstating the complexities of this series, here is the list of series regulars (this does not include the very large supporting cast) Mark Addy as King Robert Baratheon, Alfie Allen as Theon Greyjoy, Sean Bean as Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark, Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister, Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, Michelle Fairley as Lady Catelyn Stark, Aidan Gillen as Petyr Baelish ("Littlefinger"), Jack Gleeson as Prince Joffrey Baratheon, Iain Glen as Ser Jorah Mormont, Kit Harington as Jon Snow, Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister, Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Bran Stark, Harry Lloyd as Viserys Targaryen, Richard Madden as Robb Stark, Rory McCann as Sandor Clegane ("The Hound"), Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark and Maisie Williams as Arya Stark.

In addition to the series guide, the are many bonuses included in the Blu-ray/DVD (as usual there is more Blu-ray bonus content).

Complete Guide to Westeros - an interactive compendium of the noble houses and lands featured in season one.

Making Game of Thrones - an exclusive 30-minute feature including never-before-seen footage from the set and interviews from the cast and crew.

Character Profiles - profiles of 15 major characters as described by the actors portraying them.

Creating the Show Open - an inside look at the creation of the Emmy®-winning opening title sequence for Game of Thrones.

From the Book to the Screen - executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss along with author George R.R. Martin talk about the challenges of bringing Martin's epic fantasy novel to life on HBO.

The Night's Watch - an in-depth look at the unique order of men who patrol and protect the Wall, a 700 foot ice structure that separates the Seven Kingdoms from the darkness beyond.

Creating the Dothraki Language - an insightful glance into the comprehensive language created for the Dothraki people in Game of Thrones.

Audio Commentaries - Seven audio commentaries with cast and crew including David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, George R.R. Martin, Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Mark Addy, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Maisie Williams, Sophie Turner, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Bryan Cogman, Harry Lloyd, Daniel Minahan and Alan Taylor.

Blu-ray Complete Guide to Westeros - an interactive compendium of the noble houses and lands featured in season one, PLUS 24 exclusive histories of the Seven Kingdoms as told by the characters themselves done with animated illustrations that provide more information on the background of Game of Thrones.

In-Episode Guide - in-feature resource that provides background information about on-screen characters, locations, and relevant histories while each episode plays.

Anatomy of an Episode - an in-episode experience that explores the creative minds and colossal efforts behind episode six, "A Golden Crown."

Hidden Dragon Eggs - find the hidden dragon eggs to uncover even more never-before-seen content.

I have barely looked at much of the bonus content, but I am ready for season two to begin. War is on, winter is coming. And yes, there are dragons.

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You can let the kids back into the living room for Disney’s latest Blu-ray/DVD releases The Lion King 1 1/2 Special Edition and The Lion King 2 Simba’s Pride Special Edition. As a colleague friend said of the two DVDs (sold separately), her pre-schooler was glued to the TV while they were on.

These are not cheap knock-offs, but full-fledged Disney animation projects, that make the Lion King story a trilogy.

Lion King 1 1/2  goes back to before Simba’s tale  began with Timon and Pumbaa in a tale of their own in the Serengeti.

Voice talent includes Nathan Lane as Timon; Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa, plus Juile Kavner, Jerry Stiller, Matthew Broderick, Robert Guilluame, Whoopi Goldberg and Cheech Marin.

Bonus features include the animated bonus, Timon & Pumbaa’s Vacation Safari, featuring the duo watching home movies of their animal friends at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

Other bonuses include deleted scenes, the music video Grazing in the Grass, and Timon: Behind the Legend, a mock-umentary with Peter Graves tracing Timon’s childhood.

The special edition is a two-disc Blu-ray set.

The Lion King 2 Simba’s Pride Special Edition also is a two-disc Blu-ray combo pack featuring Kiara, Simba’s daughter, in an adventure away from her dad.

Timon and Pumbaa are here as well, on an adventure that includes Kovu, a cub who is being groomed to lead Scar’s pride.

Vocal talent includes Matthew Broderick (Simba); Nathan Lane (Timon); Ernie Sabella (Pumbaa), Neve Campbell (Kiara) plus Andy Dick, James Earl Jones and more.

There is an all-new animated feature in this set as well,  Timon & Pumbaa’s Insectapedia. The duo look a the night sky and admire how the star constellations resemble their favorite meal, insects.

Other bonuses include One by One, an animated short; Proud of Simba’s Pride, a featurette that looks at the making of the movie;  and Love will Find a Way, music video.

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If you liked the Ben Affleck movie The Town, you will love the just released The Town Ultimate Collector’s Edition (Warner Home Video).

This engrossing film about a Boston bank robbery (it is much more than that) has been expanded and includes a new never-before seen ending. The ending was revealed at a special one-time only screening held earlier this week in Boston.

The Blu-ray combo pack includes an UltraViolet digital copy. These are great. You can watch The Town on your smartphone, tablet, laptop, anywhere you have an internet connection.

The Ultimate Collection also includes a cool filmmaking journal with lots of photos and notes, a detailed map of Charlestown (where many of Boston’s armed robberies originated from. There are more than 300 bank robberies in Boston each year, and the one-square-mile area of Charlestown has produced more bank and armored car robbers than anywhere in the U.S.), film prop reproductions and more.

On the DVD side, there is an all-new 30 minute documentary featuring director/actor Affleck. Other special features include director commentaries; The Real People of the Town; Nuns with Guns: Filming in the North End and Ben Affleck: Actor and Director.

Oooo

It is really how amazing how much great stuff is coming out on Blu-ray/DVD lately. It is almost impossible to keep up.

A few weeks ago, Warner Home Video released Unforgiven in a 20th anniversary edition. This one includes a 54-page commemorative Blu-ray book with photos, production notes and more.

Unforgiven is an American Film Institute Top-100 selection and with good reason.  Directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, it is everything a modern western should be. Eastwood and Morgan Freeman play retired outlaws who pick up their guns one last time to collect a bounty offered by some abused prostitutes in the remote Wyoming town of Big Whiskey.

Gene  Hackman has a major role as well as the sadistical sheriff of the town and there is even Richard Harris.

The cinematography is great, you can almost smell the stench  of Big Whiskey and Unforgiven is just one of those films you need to have in Blu-ray.

Bonuses include commentary with Eastwood, interviews with Freeman; a making of featurette and restrospective on Eastwood’s career by Time magazine critic Richard Schickel.

There also is a bonus Maverick TV series episode with a Eastwood (1959) playing a much younger version of the same kind of guy he plays in Unforgiven.

Oooo

You can contrast the modern western with a classic great one from 1948 with Fort Apache, one of John Ford and John Wayne’s best in yet another Blu-ray debut from Warner Bros.

This one (this is part of what is considered Ford’s cavalry trilogy (She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Rio Grande) and also stars Henry Fonda, Ward Bond and even Shirley Temple, finally well past her “good ship lollipop” years.

Ford’s favorite filming locale Monument Valley looks crisp and sharp in Blu-ray in this wonderfully restored version. Wayne and Ford would be so amazed to see this if they were alive today.

Special features include a commentary and the vintage featurette Monument Valley: John Ford Country.

Oooo

Coming Tuesday on DVD and digital is the beautifully filmed and disturbing @SuicideRoom, by Polish writer/director Jan Komasa (Wolfe Video).

Dominik (Jakub Gierszal)  is a spoiled Warsaw teen, who is also gay. He has a secret love, which doesn’t remain a secret for long and soon his humiliation at school makes him retreat into a virtual world on his computer. Soon he is spending nearly every waking moment in the online “suicide room.”

@Suicideroom works as a psychological drama, but it is the animated visuals of that virtual world that make this film an unforgettable cinema journey.

The film is in Polish with English subtitles. If  you can’t find it at your local retailer, it can also be ordered by calling 800-Get-WOLFE or online at www.WolfeVideo.com.  Wolfe Video also is the largest exclusive distributor of gay and lesbian films.

Oooo

I definitely had a good time watching In Time, a not very plausible but still fun to watch sci-fi (20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) film starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried and Cillian Murphy.

Everyone wears time on their sleeve or arm, in a futuristic world where time literally is money. The clock is set on your arm after age 25 and if you are rich you can live forever.

But for guys like Will, living can be a minute-to-minute proposition. The rich live in other “Time Zones” away from the ghetto of the have-nots and don’t  get to see the daily struggles of the working guy just to live another day. And they don’t want to. They all have bodyguards.

I am not sure if Andrew Niccol (writer/director/producer) was trying to make a political statement about rich Republicans, but the comparison is inevitable.

Will and everyone else in the world apparently, will sell their blood, trade sex and anything else that has value to get just one more hour on their clock.

Meanwhile, the rich set the prices and even the price of cup of coffee keeps going up in the amount of minutes of your life it will cost you.

Will becomes a millionaire (in years) after he meets a rich guy who is tired of immortality and the way the world’s economy is run. But Will is accused of murder and is on a run for his life  which makes him more determined to bring down the entire economic system.

The plot has holes and can border on the ridiculous but that doesn’t stop it from being intriguing.

Blu-ray bonuses include The Minutes featurette; deleted/extended scenes and access to In Time The Game application.