I maintain that Charlie Wilson’s War is the ’00s version of the 1985 comedy Volunteers. Think about it: Tom Hanks plays a tuxedoed ’80s playboy type with a rotund sidekick (John Candy in the “original,” Philip Seymour Hoffman in the newer film) who grows a conscience and heads to Asia to help out the locals, who are caught in a confluence of American and Communist interests.

Okay, in Volunteers they’re trying to build a bridge while in Charlie Wilson’s War they’re covertly helping the mujahideen fight back the Soviets. But the similarities are eerie! Right?

CWW is out on DVD this month and it’s surprisingly great. Directed by Mike Nichols and based on the real-life exploits of the Democratic Texas Congressman who, along with frustrated CIA agent Gust Avrakatos (Hoffman) arranged for hundreds of millions in weapons and aid, all secret, to the Afghan resistance, it’s fast-paced and frothy, despite the subject matter. Some of it even veers on screwball. The ever-loveable Amy Adams co-stars as Wilson’s aide, and she upstages Julia Roberts, who plays the wealthy Texan ideologue who convinces Wilson to join the fight. The long-term implications of this particular direction in foreign policy aren’t ignored, but Nichols isn’t too heavy-handed about that point either, which kind of speaks for itself.

The woefully, shamefully low-rated (as in nobody’s watching it) Friday Night Lights is still really worth watching if you haven’t gotten into the show already. It’s no dumb high school sports show; it’s as smart and sophisticated as anything you’ll find on HBO, more a portrait of a small Texas town than anything else. If you’re already following along, the second season of the show is out on DVD now. Though the producers, probably in an effort to attract more of a viewership, throw in some pretty silly plot twists, it’s still the same show that (hopefully) captured your hearts in the first season. And if you’re new to the show, what are you waiting for?