No Reservations

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - Collection 3
$24.98
The third installment of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations dvd collection continues his travels around the world including a fair amount of U.S. destinations. I prefer the more philosophical adventures he has and the food-centric ones are understandable as it is his forte. The only episode issues I have are the trivial and generic ones, such as his visit to South Carolina. It is a tired exploration of the clich���d Southern hospitality, replete with a fox chase, garden party, Civil War re-enactment, and various other good-ole-Southern-charm fluff that is straight from Samantha Brown's itinerary. There are too many travel shows and food network garbage that specialize in this kind of shallow fare and it is a disappointment to see this from No Reservations. I understand the corporate push to broaden the market, but stuff like this never seems to be a good fit for Bourdain. Thankfully, the South Carolina show is the weakest of a strong bunch, thirteen in all.
The always fun Zamir adventure takes place in Russia and there are three trips to Southeast Asia including the frantic and food loving paradises of Singapore and Hong Kong. There is also an episode billed as Shanghai, but it is more an exploration of western China than the city per se and is one of the better inclusions on the collection. There is a funny trip back to a disappointingly clean and family-friendly New York then there is the piece de resistance of the collection; a brilliant graphic novel themed trip to Cleveland featuring American Splendor author Harvey Pekar and a cast of characters. Thankfully, Tony went there in the dead of winter and got the full-on Lake Erie wind chill joy that life in that city entails. Other episodes are Berlin, Tuscany, Brazil (Sao Paolo), and Argentina. Along with Cleveland and Shanghai, is one of my favorites. It targets French Polynesia and weaves a connective thread to Paul Gaugin, eschewing the tropical paradise predictability.
As with the previous collections in this series; these discs come without commentary, deleted scenes, or any other extras. Furthermore, the contents don't seem to jibe with what I've seen listed on other sites as being from season three per se. My guess is that the chopped up broadcasting schedule which airs a handful during one period than another group some months later creates confusion as to when one season ends and another begins. To be fair, the dvd box does say "collection" and not "season," so there seems to be a method to their compilation, although I don't know what that is.
When No Reservations truly excels, it goes beyond a travel show or a food show and become more of a sociological and anthropological exploration. Bourdain seeks to find out what makes a community tick, what keeps people staying in places that often seem bleak and hopeless to the typical over-indulged American viewer, and what unites humanity on a sociological and cultural level. He does his historical homework and sits down with the people he meets to get at the heart of who they are and how they define themselves. By avoiding the tourist frivolity and focusing instead on the anthropological development as seen from the very people who shaped or have been shaped by it, we are provided with more than pretty sites and mouthwatering food. We are given a small sampling of the kind of deeper exploration of new places and new people that is truly at the heart of why those of us who have the travel bug aren't likely to be found in the obvious places. It is through this lens of higher level thought-provocation and contextual examination that we are able to see not only what makes one place different from another, but moreover, what makes it all the same. I'm confident you'll enjoy the trip. Bon voyage.

No Reservations
$14.98
Such a fabulous movie that I needed to add to my collection. The delivery from the seller was quick as can be.

Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - Collection 1
$24.99
I had ordered Collection 1 (DVD) but received collection 4. It was new and arrived quickly. I didn't bother sending it back, because I would have ordered collection 4 sooner or later anyway, so I can't advise on the ease of exchanging the dvd.

No Reservations [Blu-ray]
$35.99
Such a fabulous movie that I needed to add to my collection. The delivery from the seller was quick as can be.