THE OFFICE: SEASON 3

Universal Studios -- $49.98

Boss, I want you to know that Michael Scott, the well-meaning but surpassingly insensitive regional manager featured in the NBC workplace comedy, The Office, is nothing whatsoever like any real-life supervisor for whom I have worked. And the fictitious Dunder Mifflin Paper Co. has nothing in common with The Sun.

STRANGER THAN PARADISE

Criterion Collection -- $39.95

Filmmaker Jim Jarmusch's 1984 minimalist gem was hailed by many critics as a watershed movie that demonstrated that independent films could be commercially viable.

Stranger than Paradise follows three drifters - a rootless Hungarian immigrant, his teenage cousin, Eva, and their friend, Willie - as they aimlessly wander from New York to Cleveland to Florida.

The black-and-white film contains many of Jarmusch's trademarks: stark sets and long, uninterrupted shots with a nearly motionless camera.

The box set should delight film buffs; the extras include Permanent Vacation, Jarmusch's 1980 debut full-length feature film.

mary.mccauley@baltsun.com