The Pink Panther

I remember seeing 1975's "Return Of The Pink Panther" when it was first released (not at the 101 Drive-In, but that's where I was living at the time). So it's about time I finally saw this, the debut of Inspector Clouseau.

I activated the "trivia track," which was more than just an occasional pop-up; closer to a visual running commentary/bio/"making of" storyline which nearly distracted from the action onscreen. But the DVD producers did their homework, and there's plenty of great background on Peter Sellers, David Niven, Blake Edwards, Henry Mancini, Claudia Cardinale, Robert Wagner, et al. to keep your attention focused.

Or distract you in the right way, such as pointing out that a line of dialogue from the followup film, "A Shot In The Dark," inspired the title of R.E.M.'s album "Life's Rich Pageant." They had me at R.E.M.

This is part of an MGM/UA four-disc box -- there are three of these boxes altogether -- and I found it at Safeway for eight freaking dollars. That's some movie bang for your buck right there. I had to go to half a dozen other Safeways around town to find the other two MGM/UA boxes, but I got 'em. Twelve great movies, 24 bucks. Life's rich pageant, indeed.