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 Oh well! Sep 17, 2009
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.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 The Anti-Tourist show Jul 30, 2009
The first time I sat and watched No Reservations with Tony Bourdain, it was because I'd stumbled upon the Paris episode while channel surfing one bored summer afternoon. Paris has long been a dream destination of mine, so I checked it out. From the get-go, my expectations were challenged and my interest piqued. The Eiffel Tower? Notre Dame? The Louvre? Not on this show. How about an absinthe bar followed by a hallucinogenic night back in the same hotel room where Oscar Wilde died instead? Or a visit to a wine cellar that leads to an eerie stumble through catacombs and sewers? Or the central market where we see a decapitated reindeer and hear our narrator apologize to children awaiting Christmas presents because "Santa cut Rudolph's f-ing head off?" I quickly realized that this wasn't some tired, formulaic, and superficial travelogue or some half-baked Fear Factor retread with the host trying to make the viewer squirm. This was intellectual and thoughtful, spiced with Bourdain's jaded attitude, searing sarcasm and caustic sense of humor. Furthermore, I liked that he sought out the understated, sublime, local favorites instead of the popular tourist stops and that he preferred the seedy and debauched over the posh and staid. This was a guy who was visiting Paris like I would like to do. This was an anti-tourist show hosted by an anti-hero. I was immediately a fan.
This dvd collection features eight episodes and, as many have already noted, it is an incomplete collection. According to Amazon's offerings, there are 13 episodes in the first season available for individual purchase, so why there are only eight here is hard to fathom. It seems likely that a more comprehensive and accurate compilation will eventually come around, so keep this in mind when contemplating purchasing this set. Also, these are edited with profanities (and there are many) bleeped out and there are no frills at all. It is episodes only, no commentary, behind the scenes, interviews, or anything. Again this leads me to think that a better release might be in order with Bourdain's predictably derisive commentary, the missing scenes available on the channel's website, and perhaps some other goodies. He has already amended his books, so it seems possible that the dvds will get a new look as well. The show and the fans deserve it. My four star rating is based on the content, however, and not the problems outside of the material contained herein. Whether you wish to spend twenty bucks on an incomplete collection that is badly in need of an upgrade is up to you. It is the nature of entertainment corporations to re-release popular items to force serious fans to re-purchase something that should have been done right the first time. Greed...don't ya love it?
The best episodes? A visit to his roots in New Jersey that demonstrates things aren't nearly so bad here in the states if you apply the same open-mind and tolerance to your countrymen that you do to your foreign country hosts, the aforementioned "French Don't Suck" visit to Paris, the humbling and life-threatening journey to New Zealand, his James Bond inspired trip to North Vietnam, and the harrowing yet introspective excursion to Malaysia.
The lesser ones are the Sicily, Iceland, and Las Vegas installments. Sicily was hokey and out of character. It felt forced, insincere, and uninspired. Iceland is like the Sweden episode from a future season; there is little of interest outside of Viking references, cold temperatures, and questionable food. He doesn't carry himself with passion in these spots as he does in those locales where his soul seems enriched by the experience. For Las Vegas, he tries hard to bring in a Fear and Loathing vibe, but let's face it; every other show on The Travel Network or The Food Channel seems to take place in that city and I'm just sick of Las Vegas already. Las Vegas is nothing if not THE most overrated city in the country, if not the world, and one more person's take on Adult Disneyland is one less I need to see. If only what happened in Vegas truly stayed there, I wouldn't be subjected to it every time I turned on the boob tube. That personal gripe aside, even the three sub-par ones are still worth viewing just to see these places and watch Bourdain struggle at times to find humor in the occasional ridiculousness of travel television.
Season one is a good beginning to what has become regular tv viewing for me. This is smart, engrossing, and fun television. Now if they can just get the true and complete collection together...
A Cook's Tour with less strings attached... Jul 06, 2009
I've been a pretty big fan of Bourdain's food-centric travelogues since Food Network debuted the A Cook's Tour show and the accompanying book (A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines). From his auto-bio/expose on the restaurant business Kitchen Confidential Updated Ed: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (P.S.), to his unrestricted palette of taste, through to his no nonsense style of writing food inspired crime fiction, Bourdain has cut an interesting niche in the foodie world. With No Reservations, he's left behind the insanity of the Food Network and taken his travels in search of good food and culture to the Travel Channel.
What I find interesting about this new show is the balance he's seemingly struck between his own tendencies and the requirements of filming a network driven travel show. On A Cook's tour it came across as butting heads with the network and producers resulting in a lackluster second season filled with excursions to ridiculous destinations like the Mall of America, content that felt forced and sad. No Reservations, though occasionally still succumbing to these depths (Iceland anyone?), frees Bourdain up to getting to the heart of the matter which is examining true local culture and the food that sustains and elevates it. It combines the point of view of a 70s punk rebel with a soul searching existentialist, while also ditching most of the pretension and being generally entertaining TV which is pretty darn rare.
If you're looking for the insanity of A Cook's Tour (the swallowing of still beating cobra hearts, etc.) than you might be a bit disappointed, but if the first thought when entering a new city or country is locating a good genuine meal that speaks to the local culture than this is the show for you. It's not a how-to for finding the tourist traps of the world, but a how to avoid these and eat like a local. This is probably the weakest collection, though there are some gems like Anthony's trips to Vietnam, New Jersey and Malaysia.
There are currently 3 other seasons available: Anthony Bourdain - No Reservations Collection 2, Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - Collection 3, and Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - Collection Four.
0 of 12 found the following review helpful:
 Horrible I didn't learn any inside tips on dining in Paris Apr 30, 2009
My husband and I were truly disappointed. We fast forwarded certain sections.
If you must watch Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, please borrow it at the library. We only watched DVD 1 on Paris and it was boring. We waited for him to give us some inside scoop on good authentic places to eat but only saw one bistro. He spent like 15 minutes talking and reexplaining a drink called Absente that can turn your stomach all green. He meets this American in a bar who explains the drink in detail to him, and then takes him to this personal bar where he has more Absente. I was bored to death!
Anthony did a big promo of his Hotel called Hotel in St-Germain des pres (we saw the big fancy room and the pool). No mention on other good hotels to stay and which neighborhoods we should visit.
We saw a big meat market where the butchers all meet very early in the morning. His jokes were not funny at all, we would see Anthony walking down the street lighting up a cigarette. The only good part was towards the end where he took us to a bakery (boulangerie) and you see the chef making baguette and croissants very early in the morning.
What I wanted to know is: how do I choose a good bistro, what is must to eat in Paris (besides the boudin).
Again, please do not waste your money to purchase this DVD. Borrow it from the library. A real disappointment.
I loved his bio though.
Entertaining, (sometimes) educational series on the quest for a perfect bite Mar 26, 2009
Anthony Bourdain is an entertaining writer and personality. I like his TV shows for his candor and ascerbic wit. His show is purely about his adventures and travels in search of good food and meeting some pretty cool people along the way. Overall, I like this collection even though it isn't the complete first season. Sometimes his whining about what a miserable job he has gets my nerves (Seriously! This guy gets paid to travel, eat and enjoy life! How can he complain???), but the overall entertainment value outweighs the irritation factor, so I still watch it. I took away one star from the rating just because he gets annoying at times and also due to the fact that this collection doesn't include the whole season.
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