The first season of HBO’s Rome was an enjoyable, big-budget saga set in the age of the Caesars. An American-British-Italian co-production, the show benefited from a large budget and shooting in Rome’s famed Cinecitta Studios. Wisely telling the story of Julius Caesar’s fall from the point of view of two everyman soldiers (Kevin McKidd and Ray Stevenson), it was a solid, often soapy treat for anyone who ever dug I, Claudius (or even Gladiator).

I was a little worried about the second season, with the excellent Ciaran Hinds (who played Julius Caesar) obviously departing, but the show’s creators, perhaps because they were aware that Rome was in its final run, really stepped up their game. The focus now is the power struggle between the young Octavian, aka Augustus (played at different ages by both Max Pirkis and Kerry Condon) and the increasingly dissolute Marc Anthony (in an amazing performance by James Purefoy), but there are plenty of juicy subplots with characters both new and carrying over from the first season. Rome—The Complete Second Season is out on DVD now, and is worth checking out.

I’ve said it in these pages before, but Jafar Panahi’s poignant, funny Offside, about women trying to watch a forbidden soccer match, is one of the better movies of the year and deserves to be seen. It’s now out on DVD.

by MARK SLUTSKY