I never saw him in The Foot Fist Way and I wasn’t really crazy about him in Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder and I didn’t even remember him from his work in David Gordon Green’s films, so Danny McBride’s brilliance in Eastbound & Down took me by surprise. An HBO comedy series created by McBride, Foot Fist director Jody Hill (whose Observe and Report I also didn’t care for) and actor Ben Best is the strongest and funniest new show I’ve seen in years (okay, Party Down is close competition, but it’s not out on DVD yet).

McBride plays Kenny “Fuckin’” Powers, a former Major League baseball player, now on the skids, who returns to his hometown to take a job as a gym teacher. He’s a magnificent bastard, a foul-mouthed, rude, hedonistic mess of a man with very little discernible loveable core, and McBride plays him perfectly. There’s something in particular about the way he swears, the way he says lines like “You’re fuckin’ out and I’m fuckin’ in” that’s kind of genius. The story of Kenny Powers’ return and almost-redemption is perfectly told, U.K. TV-style, in six excellent episodes. Now out on DVD, I can’t recommend this show enough—another home run for HBO.

Mostly overlooked while it was in theatres, James Gray’s Two Lovers deserves a chance, and now that it’s out on DVD, you can check it out if you haven’t already. The story of a depressive Brooklyn guy living with his parents (Joaquin Phoenix, pre-rap career) who’s torn between a nice girl (Vinessa Shaw) and a crazy one (Gwyneth Paltrow), the film presents, as always with Gray, a textured portrayal of New York and the people who live in it. While it might not be a genre film like his other stuff (We Own the Night, The Yards), this is a very effective romantic drama, a smart and thoughtful film.