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FILM ONLINE: There was a time when movie lovers and cineastes were blessed with a dozen wonderful film journals and magazines. Those days are gone, but with the advent of the internet, there’s no lack of worthwhile sites, with something for everyone:
Personal Plug Department: My interviews with such filmmakers as Lee Marvin, Dennis Hopper, Sir Richard Attenborough, Sydney Pollack, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Anne Francis, James Toback, Robert Downey Sr., Wolfgang Petersen (in his first American interview upon the release of DAS BOOT), and Sam Raimi (in his very first video interview, promoting THE EVIL DEAD) and more are posted at http://youtube.com/user/directorsSeries.
I’m sure everyone who reads this column refers frequently to www.imdb.com and www.imdbpro.com, but do you know about http://www.ibdb.com/, the Internet Broadway Data Base? Spend hours checking out shows and stars of the past.
I go to http://www.moviecitynews.com/ everyday, a compilation of worthy articles about movies past and present culled from around the world (lots here from the New York Times and UK’s The Guardian). Another essential site features Martin Grove’s column:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/features/columns/martin_grove/index.jsp. Trailers for upcoming films are posted at http://www.comingsoon.net/. Two popular fan sites have become industry arbiters: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/ and Harry Knowles’ http://www.aintitcool.com/. The number one site for independent film continues to be http://www.indiewire.com/. New York City film news is the subject at
http://www.thereeler.com/.
My favorite vintage site is John McElwee’s http://greenbriarpictureshows.blogspot.com/, covering a wide selection of classic subjects with lengthy, insightful articles loaded with exhaustively researched info. Recent posts covered early talkies, the Marx Brothers, Leo McCarey’s MY SON JOHN, Billy Wilder’s SUNSET BOULEVARD and ACE IN THE HOLE, WITCHFINDER GENERAL, John Wayne’s THE WAR WAGON and the career of Val Lewton, all lavishly illustrated with trade ads and rare stills. “Precoded Messages” (http://precode.blogspot.com/) and “The Crowd Roars” focus on pre-Code movies -- though CR did a recent outstanding piece on Vincent Price – such as Michael Curtiz’ 1932 THE STRANGE LOVE OF MOLLY LOUVAIN (with clips), at http://silentfilmlegend.blogspot.com/. “Vitaphone Varieties: Observations on Film, Music and Imagery of the Past” offers wonderful time travel back to the all-talking-all singing-all dancing days of the early talkies at http://vitaphone.blogspot.com/. The best vintage film forum I’ve found is at http://silverscreenoasis.com/oasis/.
Horror is rampant online. The Classic Horror Forum is the best informed about vintage as well as modern terror, with sections covering Universal Horrors and Golden Age of Horror as well as the new stuff and everything in between. It’s especially useful to learn about upcoming DVD releases and even Tivo alerts for TV programming. Log on at
http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/bmonsterkidclassichorrorforum. Scarlet Street’s website, also focusing on vintage horror, is at www.scarletstreet.com/. For the latest in contemporary horror, go to www.bloodydisgusting.com, www.dreadcentral.com, and the granddaddy of ‘em all, www.fangoria.com.
Tim Lucas edits the award-winning monthly periodical Video Watchdog, The Perfectionist's Guide to Fantastic Video. He’s well known to genre lovers through his brilliant writing for Sight and Sound, Film Comment, Cahiers du Cinema, American Cinematographer, Fangoria and Cinefex. A novelist (Throat Sprockets, The Book of Renfield) and comics writer (Taboo), he’s also one of the best DVD audio commentators, and the author of a massive recent bio of influential Italian genre maestro Mario Bava, All the Colors of the Night. Lucas’ award-winning blog is a must-visit at http://www.videowatchdog.blogspot.com/.
Among the film journals – some still in print, others only on the web – available are:
http://filmsinreview.com/, http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/, http://brightlightsfilm.blogspot.com/, http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/,
http://www.cahiersducinema.com/ and http://www.filmthreat.com/.
DVD Talk is in my opinion, the best DVD review site on the net, and within that site, the premiere critic is Glenn Ericksen, “The DVD Savant.” He posts on Tuesdays and Saturdays at www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant. I also love New York Times columnist Dave Kehr’s informative blog www.davekehr.com/. Criterion’s releases are blogged about at http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/.
Two especially excellent, intelligent blogs are “Light Sleeper: Late Night Writings on Cinema” (http://www.lightsleepercinemag.com/) and “The Ongoing Cinematic Education of Steven Carlson” (http://moviesteve.blogspot.com/). “If Charlie Parker Was a Gunslinger, There'd be a Whole Lot of Dead Copycats” is devoted to film, music, art, politics and pop culture, and is packed with amazing, rare production stills from Griffith to Scorsese and everything in between. Visit this “ongoing series of cultural and personal observations” at http://tsutpen.blogspot.com/.
There are specialty sites galore for all interests. Widescreen processes like Cinerama, VistaVision and CinemaScope are commemorated at www.widescreenmuseum.com/. Silent film fans should head to http://silent-movies.org/ for writings on William Taylor Desmond, Fatty Arbuckle, Mabel Normand, Harry Langdon, DW Griffith and others. Fans of composer Ennio Morricone will find bliss at “Morricone Lover” (http://my.opera.com/Morricone%20lover/blog/). Main title sequences set the mood and tone for a movie – as in the Leone/Morricone THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY – and now there’s a site devoted to memorable main titles, including the 1966 Clint Eastwood-Eli Wallach-Lee Van Cleef spaghetti classic: http://www.submarinechannel.com/titlesequences/index.jsp. The great character actors are celebrated at http://www.dougmacaulay.com/kingspud/ks_index_gca.html; grindhouse trailers at http://www.trailersfromhell.com/; memorable dialogue at http://www.moviequotes.com/; while one of my favorites, http://www.notstarring.com/, lists casts-that-never-were, like Tony Danza in THE WARRIORS and Groucho Marx in FELLINI SATYRICON.
Boston University professor Ray Carney is acknowledged as the world’s authority on John Cassavetes, and his site (http://people.bu.edu/rcarney/) is a treasure trove of info, including his side of his debate with Gena Rowlands over the first cut of Cassavetes’ SHADOWS (1959) that he discovered and she has suppressed.
Some of our finest film authorities have their own sites: www.rogerebert.com and www.leonardmaltin.com. Martin Scorsese selects a dozen films per month airing on Direct TV and writes about his picks on “The Scorsese Collection” at http://directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPage.jsp?assetId=2960016.
Alex Cox, the iconoclastic director of SID AND NANCY and REPO MAN, sounds off at http://alexcox.com/index.htm. I’ve written in these pages before about the late William K. Everson’s program notes for hundreds of films from the ‘20s through the ‘40s posted at http://www.nyu.edu/projects/wke/indices/bydirector/bydirector.htm.
And of course, to keep up to date about all things Turner Classic Movies, click on http://www.tcm.com/index.jsp. The site features schedules, message boards, articles, games, book and DVD discounts, trailers, screensavers and much more. December will be an especially eye-straining month, with tributes to William Wellman, John Ford and Irene Dunne. Virtually every genre, star actor and director have dedicated sites – but I’ll close with two unique pop culture sites: “Pimpadelic Wonderland” (http://www.pimpadelicwonderland.com/home.html) specializes in ‘70s pop culture, including that decade’s unique film scene, and Ira Gallen’s “TV Days” (http://tvdays.com/) is simply heaven for Baby Boomers.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, and new sites pop up every day. Most of the sites I’ve cited (sorry, couldn’t resist) have links to dozens more specialized places … so happy surfing!
WARNER HOME VIDEO: The long awaited DIRECTORS SERIES: STANLEY KUBRICK COLLECTION is a sumptuous celebration of the great man’s prodigious talents, five new digitally remastered editions of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968), A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971), THE SHINING (1980), FULL METAL JACKET (1987) and EYES WIDE SHUT (1999), along with the bonus disc feature documentary STANLEY KUBRICK: A LIFE IN PICTURES. Now, all of these have been previously issued in Kubrick collections, so the very reasonable question becomes, “Should I buy this set?” The answer is a resounding “YES!” Working closely with longtime Kubrick colleague (and brother-in-law) Jan Harlan, WHV has upgraded each title substantially; the movies have never looked or sounded better, and each film in this set is a two-disc special edition. Of special note are the commentaries by actors Malcolm McDowell, Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood, and Garrett Brown, which give us a greater understanding of the man and the artist from their personal points-of-view.
2001 revolutionized and re-invented the sci-fi genre; there had simply never been a theatre-going experience quite like it. A year later, men walked on the moon and suddenly science fiction became science fact. Kubrick, of course, was there first, and his cinematic (and highly spiritual) jaunt through outer space was a revelation to audiences and filmmakers. It is all the more spectacular to realize that all of the film’s effects (designed by Kubrick himself) were photo-mechanical. That means no computer; Kubrick made the unreal real. When Kubrick died in 1999, Positif magazine asked 50 international directors to name their favorite Kubricks. Filmmakers as disparate as Atom Egoyan, Irvin Kershner, Emir Kusturica, Mike Leigh, Richard Lester, Sidney Lumet, Mario Martone, Gaspar Noe, Roman Polanski, and Claude Sautet chose 2001 (for Woody Allen and Clint Eastwood it was PATHS OF GLORY, for Francis Coppola and Oliver Stone, DR. STRANGELOVE, for Martin Scorsese and Sydney Pollack, BARRY LYNDON). This new transfer includes fascinating commentary by the film’s stars, Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood, with lots of terrific observations, anecdotes and insights; the theatrical trailer; the British Channel Four documentary 2001:THE MAKING OF A MYTH, hosted by James Cameron; four new featurettes – STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF KUBRICK: THE LEGACY OF 2001, with Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Sydney Pollack, William Friedkin, Caleb Deschanel, Ernest Dickerson, Jay Cocks, Peter Hyams, Jan Harlan, Roger Ebert and pantheon special effects artists like John Dykstra, Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett; VISION OF A FUTURE PASSED: THE PROPHECY OF 2001; 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY: A LOOK BEHIND THE FUTURE; and WHAT IS OUT THERE? Christiane Kubrick (Stanley’s artist wife) presents her original beautiful renderings juxtaposed with the finished shots from the film in 2001: FX AND EARLY CONCEPTUAL ARTWORK. LOOK: STANLEY KUBRICK! is a montage of Kubrick’s late ‘40s photos for Look magazine, including shots of Frank Sinatra, Montgomery Clift, Rocky Marciano, John L. Lewis, Arthur Godfrey, Joe Di Maggio, crowd scenes, boxing shots, subway scenes, dance contests, military personnel, a maternity ward, a swim meet, a college cafeteria, and other perfectly composed illustrations of daily life. All of these documentary extras are of an exceptionally high quality, worthy of the great man himself. Finally, we get an audio-only bonus, a 1966 Kubrick interview by Jeremy Bernstein, conducted at the dawn of shooting 2001. In a word, this presentation of 2001 is dazzling. But wait, it gets better. As incredible as 2001 was, Kubrick topped himself with another one of the most influential and important movies ever made, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, a pop art masterpiece … topping the extreme mayhem of such contemporary milestones as Arthur Penn’s BONNIE AND CLYDE (1967) and Sam Peckinpah’s THE WILD BUNCH (1969) and the just-released STRAW DOGS (1971), and indeed coining a new term, “ultra-violence.” An adaptation of Anthony Burgess’ novel of future shock, it is still an intensely disturbing film, so powerful in its day that Kubrick received death threats and had the film withdrawn from circulation in England (where he lived from 1961 until his death, in a combination family estate, think tank and post-production facility). This movie represents a number of personal firsts for me – first time I ever waited in line to see a film, first time I used a fake I.D. to get into the theatre (it was rated “X” upon initial release), first time I ever saw people walk out of a cinema in abject revulsion (within the first half hour no less). Again, the documentaries here are outstanding – Channel Four’s STILL TICKIN’: THE RETURN OF CLOCKWORK ORANGE, about the 2000 UK re-release, a year after Kubrick’s death; GREAT BOLSHY YARBLOCKOS! MAKING A CLOCKWORK ORANGE; and Jan Harlan’s brilliant profile of Malcolm McDowell, O LUCKY MALCOLM! But the real treat is the audio commentary by McDowell and author Nick Redman; McDowell is in practically every scene of CLOCKWORK, and he offers an incredible amount of inside info about making the movie, and about Kubrick.
Newsweek’s Jack Kroll called THE SHINING “the first epic horror film,” and he was right. Even though author Stephen King disowned the movie, it is still much beloved among horror fans, and yet another example of Kubrick’s technical virtuosity. As good as the film looked in its previous DVD releases, the new disc is even more lush; in some scenes it’s as if you can step into the screen and join Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, and the spirits of the dead at the Overlook Hotel. THE SHINING is renowned for its early use of Steadicam, and inventor/operator Garrett Brown does another outstanding audio commentary with the brilliant historian and Kubrick biographer John Baxter. There are three new featurettes – VIEW FROM THE OVERLOOK: CRAFTING THE SHINING; THE VISIONS OF STANLEY KUBRICK; and WEBDY CARLOS, COMPOSER – and MAKING THE SHINING by Kubrick’s daughter Vivian, along with her ingratiating optional commentary. The documentarian had unprecedented access, and includes candid visits with Nicholson in his dressing room, wonderful sequences of Kubrick setting up shots and directing on the immense Pinewood Studios hotel set, a visit by James Mason (star of Kubrick’s LOLITA), an extraordinary confrontation between Kubrick and Duvall, and formal interviews with Nicholson, Duvall, Lloyd and Scatman Crothers.
FULL METAL JACKET came late in the Vietnam War cycle of films (a full decade after APOCALYPSE NOW, for example), and is undeniably one of the best war movies ever made. The film is divided into two distinct parts – boot camp with Drill Instructor Hartman (the indefatigable R. Lee Ermey), and a tour of duty in Vietnam; Matthew Modine’s stellar performance (one of the best in a long line of great Kubrick performances) cements the two sections of the picture. There’s commentary from actors Adam Baldwin, Vincent D’Onofrio, Ermey, and critic/screenwriter Jay Cocks (GANGS OF NEW YORK, AGE OF INNOCENCE), and another exemplary documentary, FULL METAL JACKET: BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL. Kubrick’s final film, EYES WIDE SHUT, was widely denigrated upon its initial release in 1999, shortly after the director’s death. The hype on the movie had been staggering – a year of juicy production stories from the set, Harvey Keitel’s exit from the project, a media buildup touting it as the next LAST TANGO IN PARIS. In reality, Kubrick’s loose adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s 1920s Traumnovelle (Dream Novel), reset in New York City, starring Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Sydney Pollack, was extravagant black comedy about jealousy and sexual obsession; I felt then that like BARRY LYNDON, EYES was a film that would eventually reveal itself, a film ahead of its time, and, like all Kubricks, rewarding the viewer with multiple screenings, no matter how many times you’ve seen them. Cruise and Kidman do some of the best work of their careers (Cruise was particularly underrated), and the direction, cinematography, sets, and editing are exquisite. Eight years removed from the hype, EYES WIDE SHUT validates its creator’s vision. Extras include the Channel Four documentary THE LAST MOVIE: STANLEY KUBRICK AND EYES WIDE SHUT; a new featurette, LOST KUBRICK: THE UNFINISHED FILMS OF STANLEY KUBRICK, focusing on the unmade projects NAPOLEON (planned after CLOCKWORK ORANGE) and an adaptation of Louis Begley’s Holocaust novel WARTIME LIES. There’s also an interview gallery with Cruise, Kidman and Steven Spielberg, and Kubrick’s video speech accepting his 1998 Directors Guild of America D.W. Griffith Award. Initially, WHV planned to include the US release version and international release version (with more explicit orgy sex); only the latter is included. The 142-minute STANLEY KUBRICK: A LIFE IN PICTURES, produced and directed by Jan Harlan, narrated by Tom Cruise, is one of the finest filmmaker documentaries ever made. Harlan thoroughly covers Kubrick’s career and personal life, with plenty of rare material from the Kubrick archives and interviews with a host of collaborators, admirers and family, including Jack Nicholson, Matthew Modine, Nicole Kidman, Shelley Duvall, Keir Dullea, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Sydney Pollack, Paul Mazursky, Arthur C. Clarke, John Calley, James B. Harris, Richard Schickel, and Christiane Kubrick and daughters Vivian, Anya and Katharina.
WHV hits another grand slam with the three-disc 80th Anniversary Commemorative Edition of THE JAZZ SINGER (1927), the Warner Brothers musical drama that ushered in the sound era. Warners’ Vitaphone process had been employed with great success for music score and sound effects on DON JUAN (1926), THE BETTER ‘OLE (1926), and WHEN A MAN LOVES (1927), but THE JAZZ SINGER was the first to feature dialogue scenes integrated with the silent sequences. Al Jolson became the biggest star on the planet in the title role, singing songs like “Toot-Toot Tootsie,” “Blue Skies” and “My Mammy.” Based on a play by Samson Raphaelson (later the writer of some of Lubitsch’s best --THE SMILING LIEUTENANT, BROKEN LULLABY, ONE HOUR WITH YOU, TROUBLE IN PARADISE, THE MERRY WIDOW, ANGEL, THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER, HEAVEN CAN WAIT), the Alan Crosland-directed movie is pure hokum, with Jolson as the jazz-singing son of a cantor (Warner Oland in his pre-Chan days), who leaves his Lower East Side home t o make it big on Broadway. Of course it’s dated, but it’s an historical moment par excellence, and the restoration makes it look as though it was shot yesterday (the Vitaphone tracks have undergone a makeover as well). Its significance wasn’t lost on Martin Scorsese when he used the Jolson’s “Toot Toot Tootsie” whistling in GOODFELLAS (1990) as Lorraine Bracco watches THE JAZZ SINGER on TV while the FBI searches the house. Look for Myrna Loy and William Demarest in bit parts, and take note of Hal Mohr’s cinematography, seen to its best advantage in decades. Vitaphone Project founder Ron Hutchison and Nighthawks’ bandleader Vince Giordano provide knowledgeable commentary.
Disc One also includes four vintage Jolson shorts – Vitaphone’s A PLANTATION ACT (1926), in which he sings “When the Red Red Robin Comes Bob-Bob-Bobbin’ Along,” “April Showers,” and “Rock-a-Bye Your Baby With a Dixie Lullaby;” AN INTIMATE CELEBRATION OF WARNER BROS.’ SILVER JUBILEE (1932) with a galaxy of Warners stars; HOLLYWOOD HANDICAP (1938), directed by Buster Keaton, with Santa Anita Racetrack cameos by Jolson and wife Ruby Keeler, Oliver Hardy, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Mickey Rooney, Robert Montgomery, Warner Baxter, Gregory Ratoff, Edmund Lowe and Charles Ruggles; and A DAY AT SANTA ANITA (1937), with cameos from Jolson, Keeler, Bette Davis, Olivia DeHavilland, Edward G. Robinson, Allen Jenkins, Frank McHugh and Hugh Herbert. The 1936 Tex Avery cartoon treat I LOVE TO SINGA spoofs THE JAZZ SINGER and is also on the disc, along with a radio adaptation starring Jolson, and a Jolson trailer gallery for THE JAZZ SINGER, its follow-up THE SINGING FOOL (1928) – the highest grossing movie until 1939’s GONE WITH THE WIND, MAMMY (1930), WONDER BAR (1934), GO INTO YOUR DANCE (1935) and THE SINGING KID (1936).
Disc Two holds a new feature-length documentary, THE DAWN OF SOUND: HOW MOVIES LEARNED TO TALK, comprehensively charting the early efforts of Thomas Edison and D.W. Griffith, the creation of the Vitaphone system, THE JAZZ SINGER, the first all-talking picture (Warners’ 1928 THE LIGHTS OF NEW YORK), the musical cycle of 1929-30 (including rare footage of MGM’s uncompleted MARCH OF TIME), the early days of talkies, and the transitions of stars from silents to sound (John Gilbert, Vilma Banky, Greta Garbo, Charlie Chaplin). The surviving sound excerpts from Warners’ smash hit GOLD DIGGERS OF BROADWAY are also included, making one yearn for a DVD set of such seminal musical revues as THE SHOW OF SHOWS (1929), ON WITH THE SHOW (1929) and PARAMOUNT ON PARADE (1930). Finally, Disc Two assembles five later short subjects paying tribute to the early days of sound, all with desirable clips – THE VOICE FROM THE SCREEN, FINDING HIS VOICE, THE VOICE THAT THRILLED THE WORLD, OKAY FOR SOUND and WHEN THE TALKIES WERE YOUNG. Disc Three contains over four hours of rare Vitaphone shorts, spanning from 1926 to 1936, featuring a plethora of performers from vaudeville, Broadway, and jazz; for many of these prolific artists, these primitive shorts represent the only availability of their work left to us. Most of these historic shorts have only been rediscovered and restored in recent years, many through the tireless efforts of The Vitaphone Project. Among the artists presented here are vaudeville legends Elsie Janis, Van and Schenck, Blossom Seeley and Baby Rose Marie (yes, “Sally” from THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW); jazz greats Gus Arnheim, Dick Rich, and the all-female jazz orchestra The Ingenues; and short films starring The Foy Family (“Chips Off the Old Block”), Trixie Friganza (“My Bag O’Tricks”), and George Burns and Gracie Allen (“Lambchops”).
The packaging for THE JAZZ SINGER is even more elaborate than WHV’s KING KONG, THE SEARCHERS and RIO BRAVO sets, with an informational booklet, and reproductions of the movie’s program book, a Vitaphone promotional manual, a herald, a Western Union telegram from Jolson to Jack Warner, and ten behind-the-scenes postcard stills of Jolson, Warner, production supervisor Darryl Zanuck, and Warners canine star Rin-Tin-Tin. As my late grandfather, John Aloysius Gallagher (1896-1980), a big Jolson fan who spoke often about seeing his electric performances on New York stages, would say, this JAZZ SINGER set is “swell …and pret’near perfect.”
TALES FROM THE CRYPT: THE COMPLETE SEVENTH SEASON contains all 13 episodes from the hit HBO horror series’ final season (including a wonderful animated re-telling of the Three Little Pigs, “The Third Pig,” voiced by Brad Garrett and Bobcat Goldthwait. This season was filmed in England, and producers Gilbert Adler, Richard Donner, David Giler, Walter Hill, Joel Silver and Robert Zemeckis availed themselves of some of the UK’s best talent. Bob Hoskins directs himself and Natasha Richardson in “Fatal Caper,” Russell Mulcahy directs Elizabeth McGovern in “Horror in the Night,” Ewan McGregor stars in “Cold War,” Daniel Craig in “Smoke Wrings,” “Imelda Staunton and Anna Friel in “About Face,” and Eddie Izzard in “Confession”; “Last Respects” is helmed by Freddie Francis, who helmed the 1972 feature version of TALES, and photographed THE ELEPHANT MAN, DUNE, GLORY, SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING and the Scorsese CAPE FEAR, among many others. The two-disc set includes a virtual comic book of “Fatal Caper.”
The BARBARA STANWYCK SIGNATURE COLLECTION ranges across her career, starting with ANNIE OAKLEY (1935), an early George Stevens picture with Stanwyck in the title role as the sharp-shooter in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. The disc includes the vintage short MAIN STREET FOLLIES and the classic cartoon INTO YOUR DANCE. Curtis Bernhardt’s MY REPUTATION (1946) is primo Stanwyck melodrama, with all the flair of mid-40s Warners output (including a grand Max Steiner score). The movie, with the star as the victim of gossip in suburban Lake Forest, Illinois, contains one of Stanwyck’s favorite performances. Extras include the musical short JAN SAVITT AND HIS BAND, the classic cartoon DAFF DOODLES, and two radio adaptations, one with Stanwyck and co-star George Brent, the other with Alexis Smith and Wayne Morris. Mervyn LeRoy’s EAST SIDE, WEST SIDE (1949) is a Manhattan murder mystery co-starring James Mason, Van Heflin, Ava Gardner, Cyd Charisse and Nancy Davis (before she became Mrs. Reagan); extras include the Passing Parade short STUFF FOR STUFF and a terrific Tex Avery cartoon, COUNTERFEIT CAT. Robert Wise’s gripping corporate drama EXECUTIVE SUITE (1954), with an all-star cast – William Holden, Fredric March, June Allyson, Walter Pidgeon, Shelley Winters, Paul Douglas and Louis Calhern features audio commentary by Oliver Stone, who cites Wise as a major influence on his own work. Extras include Tex Avery’s hilarious cartoon BILLY BOY, and the Pete Smith short OUT FOR FUN. Clarence Brown’s TO PLEASE A LADY (1950) is a racing drama with eminently watchable Clark Gable and lots of daredevil racing scenes, while John Sturges’ JEOPARDY (1953) is a taut thriller with Stanwyck, husband Barry Sullivan and young son terrorized in the Mexican desert by Ralph Meeker; the three stars are featured in a bonus radio adaptation.
More than most vintage movies, the ‘40s and ‘50s films here are especially striking in their time capsule quality, with everything from cars to clothes to attitudes a perfect reflection of the era. More Stanwyck is on the way on March 4, 2008 with WHV’s Pre-Code FORBIDDEN HOLLYWOOD: VOLUME 2, an eagerly awaited three-DVD set of restored and remastered gems. Disc One features Norma Shearer in her Best Actress Oscar-winning role as THE DIVORCEE (1930) and again in A FREE SOUL (1931) with Lionel Barrymore and Clark Gable. Disc Two features Bette Davis, Joan Blondell and Ann Dvorak in THREE ON A MATCH (1932) paired with FEMALE (1933) starring Ruth Chatterton as a no-nonsense CEO. While Michael Curtiz receives sole screen credit on FEMALE, I’ve been through the daily production reports at USCs’ Special Collections, and William Wellman directed nearly 50% of the picture. Disc Three features Wellman’s powerful drama NIGHT NURSE (1931), with Barbara Stanwyck with a very young Clark Gable, along with the new documentary feature THOU SHALT NOT: SEX, SIN AND CENSORSHIP IN PRE-CODE HOLLYWOOD. I’ll cover these titles thoroughly in my March column.
SONY: Steven Spielberg’s CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977) comes to DVD in a three-disc Ultimate Edition containing the original version, the Special Edition, and the Director’s Cut. Spielberg could have made anything he wanted after the success of JAWS (1975); he chose a pet project, his story “Watch the Skies.” After Paul Schrader did uncredited work, Spielberg wrote his own script, an intelligent, adult, suspenseful tale about a group of people led to a top secret location at Devil’s Mountain in Wyoming to meet an alien Mothership from outer space. This is one of the greatest science-fiction stories ever told, and Spielberg is in control of every frame. The cast is perfection --Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, Bob Balaban, and especially French auteur Francois Truffaut – and the pre-digital era special effects are still impressive. There are two new documentaries, a 1977 featurette, and a CE3K farmable poster with the original art on one side and a film-by-film comparison on the other. I much prefer the original release version; the Special Edition trimmed some scenes, re-sequenced Dreyfuss getting fired and the India sequence, extends Truffaut’s lecture, uses different takes and new dialogue for the intro to Dreyfuss’ family, and most significantly, adds new footage to the finale, showing the interior of the Mothership. The Director’s Cut basically restores most of the movie to its original state. A handsome commemorative book is also included, with many hitherto unseen production stills.
Great news for vintage comedy fans: Sony is releasing pristine sets of all the Columbia Three Stooges shorts in chronological order; the first edition is THE THREE STOOGES COLLECTION VOLUME ONE 1934-1936, with a total running time of 345 minutes. These are the films that established the Stooges formula of violent knockabout comedy and verbal pyrotechnics, perfectly executed by brothers Moe Howard and Jerry “Curly” Howard with Larry Fine. This volume presents 19 digitally remastered shorts in their original release order, starting with the team’s atypical first for Columbia, the musical-with-rhyming-dialogue WOMAN HATERS (1934). Their other three 1934 releases are among their best – PUNCH DRUNKS (Curly becomes a champion fighter whenever he hears “Pop Goes the Weasel”; the only short written by the Stooges themselves), the Oscar-nominated MEN IN BLACK (“calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard!”), and the football farce THREE LITTLE PIGSKINS, co-starring 23-year-old Lucille Ball. There are loads of laughs in all the films collected here – HORSES’ COLLARS (the first of many Western spoofs), RESTLESS KNIGHTS (their first period piece), POP GOES THE EASEL, UNCIVIL WARRIORS (Curly’s first appearance in drag), PARDON MY SCOTCH (the short that introduced their theme song “Listen to the Mockingbird”), HOI POLLOI, THREE LITTLE BEERS, ANTS IN THE PANTRY, MOVIE MANIACS (featuring fascinating views of the Columbia lot at Sunset and Gower circa 1936), HALF-SHOT SHOOTERS, DISORDER IN THE COURT, A PAIN IN THE PULLMAN, FALSE ALARMS, WHOOPS, I’M AN INDIAN! and SLIPPERY SILKS (their first cream dessert fight). More Stooges please!
THE COMPANY (2007) is a superior three-part mini-series covering the history of the CIA from the beginning of the Cold War through the collapse of the Soviet Union; exec produced by Ridley Scott and Tony Scott, it originally aired on TNT. Intelligently scripted by Ken Nolan (BLACK HAWK DOWN), based on the novel by Robert Littell, compellingly directed by Mikael Solomon (cinematographer of BACKDRAFT and THE ABYSS, now one of the best directors working in TV), beautifully acted by Chris O’Donnell, Alfred Molina, Michael Keaton, Alessandro Nivola and Rory Cochrane, THE COMPANY is fascinating history couched within the thriller genre. It actually makes an interesting companion piece to Robert DeNiro’s THE GOOD SHEPHERD (2006), which was more a character study, and is highly recommended. Special features include two featurettes about the production and a DVD-Rom game.
KINO: Donald Krim (winner of the 2006 NBR William K. Everson Film History Award) and Kino Video have done it again with a stunning two-disc boxed set of one of the most important films in the history of cinema, Sergei Eisenstein’s BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (1925). In 1905 Czarist Odessa, Russia, the crew of the armored cruiser Potemkin mutinies against horrific conditions, only to be attacked by the Czar’s Cossacks; Eisenstein’s direction and montage (particularly in the famous Odessa Steps sequence, liberally quoted by Brian DePalma in the finale of his 1987 THE UNTOUCHABLES) retains its power after eight decades. Every self-respecting cineaste has seen POTEMKIN, but usually in bowdlerized form, since the film endured countless edits (often due to censorship) on its way to becoming a public domain title. Kino, the Deutsche Kinematek, Russia’s Goskinofilm, the British Film Institute, Bundesfilm Archive Berlin, the Munich Film Museum and Transit Film joined forces for this magnificent restoration. Dozens of missing shots and all 146 title cards have been restored according to Eisenstein’s specifications, and Edward Meisel’s original score has been newly recorded by the 55-piece Deutsches Filmorchestra in 5.1 Stereo Surround. The DVD includes TRACING BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN, a 42-minute documentary on the making and restoration of the picture; the restored film with newly-translated English title cards; the restored film with original Russian titles (and optional English subtitles), and a photo gallery. Suffice to say that BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN has not had such a lavish presentation since its 1925 Moscow premiere; once again, Kino makes a major contribution to film history. Next up – F.W. Murnau’s NOSFERATU gets the Kino treatment. Check back next month for details.
The AMERICAN SILENT HORROR COLLECTION collects four classic silent films and the Bret Wood documentary KINGDOM OF SHADOWS: THE RISE OF THE HORROR FILM, narrated by Rod Steiger, with scenes from 50 horror movies, including THE GOLEM (1920), NOSFERATU (1922), and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925). John Barrymore (grandfather of Drew) hams it up beautifully in DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1920), directed by John Robertson (the subject of the 1967 Byrds song “Old John Robertson”). The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra provide the score, the 1925 Stan Laurel one-reel spoof DR. PYCKLE AND MR. PRIDE is included, along with an excerpt from the rival 1920 version starring Sheldon Lewis, and an illustrated essay on the origins of Robert Louis Stevenson’s story. There are many poor quality prints on the Barrymore film, but the Kino version was mastered from a 35mm negative and is by far the best copy available. THE PENALTY (1920) was one of the films that made Lon Chaney a star, a melodrama in which the Man of 1,000 Faces plays the legless criminal Blizzard (Chaney harnessed his legs with a pair of leather straps to create the astonishing illusion). Lots of cool extras here: a video tour of Chaney’s actual makeup case and the “Double Amputee” costume he wore in THE PENALTY, an essay by Chaney biographer Michael F. Blake, original trailers from Chaney’s THE BIG CITY (1928), directed by Tod Browning, and Jack Conway’s WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS (1928), surviving footage of Chaney’s breakthrough role in THE MIRACLE MAN (1919), Chaney’s one-reel Western -- and the earliest surviving Browning-Chaney --BY THE SUN’S RAYS (1914), the essay “THE PENALTY: Novel, Script to Screen,” a scene comparison of novel, screenplay and film; a production budget sheet from THE PENALTY, and a gallery of photos and art. Paul Leni’s THE CAT AND THE CANARY (1927) is the prototypical Old Dark House thriller, reflecting German Expressionist influences, and inspiring many later filmmakers, especially James Whale with THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932), also available from Kino. This version of CAT --still great fun -- was restored from the original nitrate prints by Patrick Stanbury and Kevin Brownlow, and it shimmers.
The centerpiece of this collection is Leni’s THE MAN WHO LAUGHS (1928), the great missing link of Universal horror classics, a key movie in the development of the horror genre. Carl Laemmle’s studio had made a tremendous hit with THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1923), based on the Victor Hugo novel, and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925), both starring Lon Chaney before he left Universal and moved to MGM. German émigré director Paul Leni had made his mark in Deutschland with WAXWORKS (1924, also available from Kino) and Laemmle imported him to Universal City to do THE CAT AND THE CANARY. As a follow up to these successes, Universal assigned Leni to direct the lavish production of THE MAN WHO LAUGHS, also based on a Victor Hugo novel. Hugo’s story follows the life of Gwynplaine, mutilated as a boy by gypsy surgeons who transformed his mouth into an eternal smile. In a raging snowstorm, the boy rescues an infant girl who turns out to be blind. Both outcasts are taken in by a traveling circus showman, who raises them as his own. Gwynplaine becames a sideshow sensation as “The Man Who Laughs,” and the girl grows into a beautiful young woman whose own affliction prevents her from seeing Gwynplaine’s disfigurement. When it’s revealed that The Laughing Man is descended from nobility, an evil duchess conspires against him in the royal court.
Like Hugo’s Quasimodo, Gwynplaine is a tragic outcast, beautifully played by Conrad Veidt, his greatest performance in a career that ranged from THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI to CASABLANCA. Mary Philbin, star of Chaney’s PHANTOM, portrayed the blind girl, while Olga Baclanova presages her similar role in FREAKS as the conniving beauty scheming to grab our hero’s fortune. Released as one of the last silent films (albeit with synchronized score and selected sound effects), THE MAN WHO LAUGHS proves how far silent cinema had come – it’s emotionally moving, the story brilliantly told by Leni, with romance and action in equal parts. While it’s a great film on its own merits, THE MAN WHO LAUGHS is especially fascinating for its influence on the Universal horror cycle of the early ‘30s. Makeup maestro Jack Pierce (FRANKENSTEIN, THE MUMMY, etc.) first worked his magic on the character of Gwynplaine, while art director Charles Hall was responsible for these sets three years before DRACULA. The snowscapes influenced the opening of Whale’s THE INVISIBLE MAN, the hanging corpses passed by the young Gwynplaine remind one of FRANKENSTEIN. Indeed, the entire German expressionistic style of the great early ‘30s Universals can be found first in Leni’s THE CAT AND THE CANARY and THE MAN WHO LAUGHS. Kino once again gives vintage film fans a treat with their presentation. Both the picture and the Movietone soundtrack are fully restored, there’s a 20-minute making-of documentary, loads of rare stills and art, excerpts from the Italian release version with its florid title cards, pages from the Hugo novel, and home movies of Veidt and fellow émigrés like Emil Jannings and Greta Garbo.
MONSIEUR HIRE (1989) is an elegant, sensitive, sensual thriller from Patrice Leconte (MY BEST FRIEND, INTIMATE STRANGERS, RIDICULE), about a loner (Michel Blanc) obsessed with the sexual behavior of his sexy neighbor across the way (Sandrine Bonnaire). Based on the novel by Georges Simenon, the French film earned a place on the NBR’s Top Ten Foreign Films list for 1990. Kino’s perfect transfer highlights the muted cinematography of Dennis Lenoir (presently shooting the DeNiro-Pacino starrer RIGHTEOUS KILL), and the disc includes a stills gallery, original theatrical trailer and an interview with Leconte.
UNIVERSAL: Adam Sandler and Kevin James make a strong screen team in I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY (2007), a cute -- if one-note – comedy about two firefighter pals in Brooklyn. Sandler is the ultimate ladies man, James a widower with two kids who has saved his buddy’s life in a fire. When he discovers a legal loophole that will enable him to better provide for his kids if he’s married and something happens to him, James proposes he and Sandler pose as a happily married gay couple. Virtually every joke hinges on the premise, but these comedy pros pull it off, with the help of Jessica Biel, Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames, Nicholas Turturro and Dan Aykroyd, and cameos by Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Dratch, Dave Matthews, Lance Bass, Rob Corddry, Robert Smigel, Tila Tequila and Rob Schneider as an Asian minister. It’s entirely predictable, but entertaining nonetheless. Extras include outtakes, and production featurettes.
AMAZING JOURNEY: THE STORY OF THE WHO (2007) is one of the best rock documentaries ever, about one of the best rock bands ever – Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon. It’s hard for me to be impartial – growing up in the post-Woodstock era, The Who were always among my top two or three favorite groups. This two-disc set presents the rock doc on one disc, and six complementary featurettes on the other. The entire history of The Who is here, from club gigs in the early 60s as The High Numbers, to their first pop hits like “I Can See For Miles” and “Generation,” to the massive international success of “Tommy,” to their days as premiere stadium band, through the tragedies of Moon’s death at 32 from gargantuan booze and drug consumption, and Entwistle’s demise at 57 after a night of cocaine and sex. To the film’s credit, no subject is taboo, including the charges of child pornography possession leveled at Townsend just a few years ago; he was cleared completely and is totally candid about the experience. There’s performance footage from SHINDIG, THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR, MONTEREY POP, WOODSTOCK, and Isle of Wight concert, and incredible footage of Moon passing out at a QUADROPHENIA gig. Townsend and Daltrey do comprehensive interviews (and Entwistle and Moon are represented in archival footage), and there are tributes from Sting, The Edge, Oasis’ Noel Gallagher, The Sex Pistols’ Steve Jones, Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, and assorted producers, managers and engineers.
All the Alfred Hitchcock TV shows are worth picking up; ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS: SEASON THREE really delivers the Hitchcockian goods. All 39 half-hour episodes from the 1957-58 season are included on five discs, with Hitch’s sardonic prologues and epilogues providing endless delight. Guest stars this season include William Shatner, Jack Klugman, E.G. Marshall, Jo Van Fleet, Darryl Hickman, Michael Rennie, Hazel Court, and many actors from Hitchcock features – Peter Lorre (the original THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, SECRET AGENT), Oscar Homolka (SABOTAGE), Herbert Marshall (MURDER!, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT), Joseph Cotton (SHADOW OF A DOUBT, UNDER CAPRICORN), Hume Cronyn (SHADOW OF A DOUBT, LIFEBOAT), Ann Todd (THE PARADINE CASE), Mildred Natwick (THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY), Barbara Bel Geddes (VERTIGO), Martin Balsam (two years before PSYCHO), Jessica Tandy (five years before THE BIRDS) and daughter Patricia Hitchcock (STAGE FRIGHT, STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, PSYCHO). Directors include Robert Stevens, James Nielson, Don Taylor, Paul Henreid, Arthur Hiller, Robert Altman (“The Young One” with Carol Lynley, “Together” with Joseph Cotten), and Hitchcock himself, with three perfect little films – “The Perfect Crime” starring Vincent Price, “Dip in the Pool” starring Keenan Wynn and Fay Wray, and one of his best works ever, “Lamb to the Slaughter,” adapted by Roald Dahl from his short story, starring Barbara Bel Geddes as a woman who disposes of her husband’s corpse in a most ingenious manner.
DREAMWORKS: The Japanese CASSHERN (2004) is a mix of live action and anime, a futuristic sci-fi Iraq allegory that paints a futre of war, terror, sickness and suffering. The animation is spectacular, the live action rendered a la SIN CITY and 300, the influence of the RINGS trilogy strong indeed. This is a stunning film that deserves to be better known.
GENIUS: Shane Meadows moves to the forefront of British directors with his sixth feature, THIS IS ENGLAND, a riveting drama set during the UK’s Skinhead ‘80s. Reminiscent of – and in my opinion superior to -- ROMPER STOMPER (1992), it follows the exploits of a young boy whose father has been killed in the Falklands War, and is socially adopted by a divisive group of Skinheads. The period detail, use of music, performances, and editing all announce Meadows as a major talent. Check out his previous features – SMALL TIME (1996), 24:7 (1997) with Bob Hoskins, A ROOM FOR ROMEO BRASS (1998) ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE MIDLANDS (2002), and DEAD MAN’S SHOES (2004), co-written and starring the underrated Paddy Considine (IN AMERICA, HOT FUZZ). Deleted scenes, a making-of featurette, a video interview with Meadows, audio commentary by Meadows, producer Mark Herbert and lead actor Thomas Turgoose, and essays on the Skinhead culture and the Falklands conflict are included. Regardless of your political persuasion, Michael Moore’s SICKO (2007) deals with a subject that affects every single person in this country – the deplorable state of the American health care system. Using his superlative filmmaking skills, Moore has created an exceedingly important documentary that crosses party lines, as he travels to Canada, England, France, Cuba and the detainee camp at Guantanamo to make his undeniable point – the system isn’t working here. The Special Edition includes a series of featurettes that includes his assault on Washington pharmaceutical lobbyists, a further exploration of France’s free health care system, and much more. Written and directed by Ham Tran, JOURNEY FROM THE FALL (2006) is a powerful, award-winning drama about a family who stays in Vietnam after the fall of Saigon in 1975, and struggles to make it to the United States. The double-disc special edition features a making-of featurette, a 135-minute roundtable discussion with cast and crew, deleted scenes and an alternate ending.
DIMENSION EXTREME: Rob Kurtzman’s BURIED ALIVE (2007) fills the bill for horror fans with supernatural terror, plenty of naked pulchritude, and some chilling effects. Kurtzman is a special effects makeup genius (EVIL DEAD II, ARMY OF DARKNESS, FROM DUSK TO DAWN – which he also wrote and co-produced, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER, to name just a few), knows his way around the genre, and knows how to deliver the chills. On BURIED ALIVE he’s handicapped by a weak script, but manages to pull it together with his direction. Surprisingly for a Dimension Extreme title, there are no bonus features.
BUENA VISTA: David Goyer is one of our top genre writers, with credits like BATMAN BEGINS (2006) and the upcoming sequel THE DARK KNIGHT (2008), BLADE (1998), BLADE II (2002) and BLADE: TRINITY (2004, which he also directed), DARK CITY (1998) and THE CROW: CITY OF ANGELS (1996); he also was an executive producer on GHOST RIDER (2007) and co-authors the Justice Society of America comics. With THE INVISIBLE (2007), he directs a remake of a 2002 Swedish thriller about a murdered teen rendered invisible, except for a girl who herself is figuratively invisible; they team to find the killer. THE INVISIBLE is more of a mood piece than a murder mystery, however, and while it suffers from uneven performances by the two teens (Justin Chatwin, Margarita Levieva), it’s worth a rental. Bonus features include 13 minutes of deleted scenes, two music videos, audio commentary by Goyer and screenwriter Christine Roum, and another commentary by screenwriter Mick Davis, who also adapted the original film from a novel by Mats Wahl.
John Dorian (Zach Braff), Elliot (Sarah Chalke), Kim (Elizabeth Banks), Turk (Donald Faison), Carla (Judy Reyes), Dr. Cox (John McGinley) and Jordan (Christa Miller) are back in SCRUBS: THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON. The Emmy-winning comedy-drama has maintained a high standard of excellence and innovation in writing, directing and acting since its inception, enabling its series regulars to grow each season; in Season Six J.D. finds out he is going to be a father. Guest stars include MAD TV’s Nicole Sullivan, Victoria Tennant, Blue Man Group, and in one of the show’s periodic, delightful musical episodes, “My Musical,” Tony nominee Stephanie Abruzzo (AVENUE Q). Zach also directs the entry “My No Good Reason,” and there’s an episode (“My Night to Remember”) consisting of clips from previous seasons. The SCRUBS DVD sets are always engaging and filled with entertaining extras. This one includes all 22 episodes, deleted scenes, alternate lines, outtakes, audio commentaries, and a rehearsal-to-filming featurette on the making of “My Musical.”
OCTOBER ROAD: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON brings one of the year’s breakout series to DVD. The ABC program concerns a successful young writer (Bryan Greenberg) who returns to his hometown and finds his old friends less than welcoming, except for his high school girlfriend, played by THAT 70s SHOW’s Laura Prepon. Tom Berenger, Jonathan Murphy, Rebecca Field, Warren Christie, Brian William Hanke and Jay Paulson provide able support. The collection includes all six one-hour episodes (including the pilot, co-starring Bill Nunn), making-of featurette, deleted scenes, bloopers, and a season two preview. The new season premieres on ABC on Monday, November 26 at 10 pm EST.
MIRAMAX: Look at this filmography: MY LIFE AS A DOG (1985), ONCE AROUND (1991), WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE? (1993), SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT (1995), THE CIDER HOUSE RULES (1999), THE SHIPPING NEWS, CASANOVA (2005) – for over a quarter century Swedish-born Lasse Hallstrom has quietly, consistently, made one film of distinction after another. His newest movie, THE HOAX (2007), is one of the year’s most accomplished films. It tells the true story of Clifford Irving, who, during the early 70s, conned the media and the public with a fake autobiography that he claimed he co-wrote with reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. Richard Gere gives one of the year’s best performances as Irving; Hope Davis as his editor, Alfred Molina as his researcher, Marcia Gay Harden as his wife, Julie Delpy as his mistress, Stanley Tucci as his publisher, Eli Wallach as Noah Dietrich, Hughes’ right hand man – all do beautiful work. At the peak of his filmmaking powers, Hallstrom turns THE HOAX into a thriller; this is a great companion piece to Billy Ray’s SHATTERED GLASS (2005). He also makes great use of music to delineate the period, populating the soundtrack with Richie Havens, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dave Mason, and the Rolling Stones. Extras include audio commentary with hallstrom and writer William Wheeler, a second track with producers Leslie Holleran and Joshua D. Maurer, deleted scenes with optional commentary by Hallstrom and Wheeler, an extended scene, a making-of featurette, and a featurette reminiscing with Mike Wallace, who interviewed Irving in the early 70s.
FOX/MGM has prepared a terrific retrospective set celebrating the original vision of Joel and Ethan Coen. THE COEN BROTHERS MOVIE COLLECTION packages five previously released titles: their auspicious low-budget debut film BLOOD SIMPLE (1984), an homage to James Cain- Raymond Chandler film noir starring Frances McDormand (the future Mrs. Joel Coen), Dan Hedaya, John Getz and M. Emmett Walsh; their sophomore effort, the hilarious screwball comedy-with-a-heart RAISING ARIZONA (1987), the film that first evoked the spirit of Preston Sturges in the Brothers’ work, starring Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, and John Goodman; the brilliant gangster drama MILLER’S CROSSING (1990), an NBR Top Ten pick, with Albert Finney, Gabriel Byrne, John Turturro and Marcia Gay Harden (the disc includes interviews with Byrne, Harden and Turturro, and a featurette on cinematographer (soon to be a director) Barry Sonnenfeld; the uniquely Coenesque Hollywood satire BARTON FINK (1991), with Turturro and Goodman, winner of the Cannes Palm D’Or for Best Actor and Best Direction; and my favorite Coen picture, FARGO (1996), a wickedly delicious crime thriller with an Oscar-winning and NBR-winning performance from McDormand (the Coens won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay), and William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare and Harve Presnell doing some of their finest work. The FARGO disc includes a featurette, an interview with the Coens and McDormand, behind-the-scenes photo gallery and an audio commentary by cinematographer Roger Deakins, director of photography on the Coens’ BARTON FINK, THE HUDSUCKER PROXY (1994) , THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998), O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? (2000), THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE (2001), INTOLERABLE CRUELTY (2003), THE LADYKILLERS (2004) and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007) (it’s been quite a year for Deakins, who also shot IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH and THE ASSASSINATION OF HESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD BOB FORD.
PARAMOUNT: “Harry,” says Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle Mclachlan) to Sheriff Harry S. Truman (Michael Ontkean), “I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange.” That place, of course, is the little hamlet of Twin Peaks, nested somewhere in the Great Northwest (the show was filmed in Snoqualmie and North Bend, Washington). From 1990-91, the landmark series, created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, enthralled critics and audiences alike with Cooper’s investigation of the murder of Laura Palmer, and the peregrinations of the, shall we say, “quirky” inhabitants of Twin Peaks. Paramount has released the mammoth ten-disc collection TWIN PEAKS: DEFINITIVE GOLD BOX EDITION, featuring the pilot (in both original and international versions) and all 29 episodes. The watershed show holds up beautifully with its sinuous storytelling and mesmerizing tone (enhanced by the evocative Angelo Badalamenti score), giving full vent to a Lynchian world most famously essayed by the filmmaker in his 1986 BLUE VELVET. The cast is especially impressive – McLachlan, Ontkean, Richard Beymer, Dana Ashbrook, Everett McGill, James Marshall, Joan Chen, Lawrence Jacoby, Chris Mulkey, Grace Zabriskie, Kenneth Welsh, David Patrick Kelly, Miguel Ferrer, with Lara Flynn Boyle in her breakthrough role, and early opportunities for Sherilyn Fenn, Madchen Amick, Heather Graham, Ted Raimi, Billy Zane, and David Duchovny, as well as veteran favorites Piper Laurie. Ray Wise, Russ Tamblyn, Dan O’Herlihy, Michael Parks, Peggy Lipton, Clarence Williams III, David Warner, Royal Dano, Jane Greer, Lynch regular Jack Nance, and Hank Worden (Lynch himself appeared as FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole). This is one of the most spectacular sets of the year, and includes 12 handsome Twin Peaks postcards, a feature-length documentary, deleted scenes, production documents, several featurettes, a documentary about the annual Twin Peaks festival, commercials, promos and all the ephemera a fan could ask for. The best bonus, however, is a scathingly funny SNL spoof from 1990 with McLachlan reprising his role, and a hurt-yourself-laughing impression of the gibberish-speaking dancing dwarf from the series, interpreted by Mike Myers. TWIN PEAKS set a new standard for offbeat network programming; the GOLD BOX EDITION does the same for DVD presentation of a series (www.greetingsfromtwinpeaks.com). THE ADVENTURES OF YOUNG INDIANA JONES: VOLUME ONE is an elaborate 12-disc set that includes eight 90 minutes episodes from the show’s three seasons (1992-94), along with highly detailed extras exploring the historical realities behind the stories (e.g. WWI, the Easter Rising in 1916 Dublin, General Pershing’s pursuit of Pancho Villa, women’s suffrage). Sean Patrick Flanery played the young Indy, traveling the world during the troubled 1910’s, meeting plenty of famous folks. These George Lucas-produced films are lavishly appointed in every department, intelligent and witty, and remain true to the spirit and tone of the Steven Spielberg-Harrison Ford adventures. A highlight of this set is “Travels with Father” (co-written by Frank Darabont, directed by Michael Schultz and 2006 NBR Freedom of Expression winner – for WATER – Deepa Mehta) from 1996, one of four Young Indy movies that aired on The Family Channel. This time the lad hangs out with Leo Tolstoy and Nikos Kazantzakis; the show won an Emmy for the score by Laurence Rosenthal. All the programs included here offer a multitude of rewards, and the supplemental materials are worthy of a History Channel special. THE ADVENTURES OF YOUNG INDIANA JONES is a rarity, a show that can entertain and enlighten adventurers of all ages.
CHINATOWN (1974) is a Roman Polanski masterwork. Working from a complex script by Robert Towne that would be touted in film schools for years as the perfect screenplay, with an exceptional cast (Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston, John Hillerman, Burt Young, and Polanski himself in a notably bloody and shocking cameo), the director created cinematic nirvana. The lustrous John Alonzo cinematography, the impeccable 1930s production design by Richard Sylbert, the sinuous musical score by Jerry Goldsmith – CHINATOWN is an incredibly special movie. The Special Collectors Edition features four informative featurettes. The sequel, THE TWO JAKES (1990), was directed by the film’s star, and while Jack is a good director (DRIVE, HE SAID,GOIN’ SOUTH), and filled the cast with talents like Harvey Keitel, Meg Tilly, Madeleine Stowe, Eli Wallach, Ruben Blades, Frederic Forrest, Richard Farnsworth and David Keith, this time Towne’s script is practically incomprehensible, especially at 137 minutes. Kudos to the actors, the Vilmos Zsigmond photography, and the Van Dyke Parks score. The Special Collectors Edition includes an interview with Nicholson.
HBO: The Hollywood adventures of Vinny Chase (Adrian Grenier), Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon), Eric (Kevin Connolly), Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), and Shauna (Debi Mazar) continue in ENTOURAGE: SEASON THREE, PART TWO. These are the episodes with the gang working on getting their druggie dream project MEDELLIN off the ground. Lovable characters, despicable characters, the vagaries of show biz, all-around exceptional writing, acting and filmmaking make this series an instant classic. The set has a very good production featurette, audio commentaries from creator/executive producer Doug Ellin, Connolly, Dillon and Ferrara on three of the eight episodes, and an in-depth panel at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York with Ellin, Grenier, Connelly, Dillon, Ferrara, Piven and Mazar.
The Emmy-winning misadventures of cable TV’s favorite crime family end in THE SOPRANOS: SEASON SIX, PART II, containing the final nine episodes, including the controversial finale, “Made in America,” written and directed by the show’s creator David Chase. There are cast commentaries on “Soprano Home Movies,” “Remember When,” “The Second Coming,” and “The Blue Comet.” Extras include MAKING “CLEAVER,” an hilarious faux documentary about the production of Christopher’s (Michael Imperioli) horror flick, and a featurette with Chase discussing the eclectic choices of songs from the show. Vanity Fair called THE SOPRANOS “the greatest show in TV history,” and while that’s probably an overstatement, it’s not far from the truth.
MILESTONE: KILLER OF SHEEP (1977) has built up a strange reputation over the years; universally acclaimed by critics, chosen for the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, named one of the 100 Essential Films by the National Society of Film Critics … yet for all its accolades a very difficult film to access over the last 30 years. Milestone releases a long awaited DVD with a new high definition transfer from the UCLA Film Archive, and Charles Burnett’s neo-realistic slice-of-slice in the African-American community of Watts in Los Angeles lives up to its exalted reputation. The film is an incredibly mature work – Burnett was only 19 when he made it as an undergrad at UCLA – with hauntingly poetic images and characters that make us feel as voyeuristic as Cassavetes’ A WOMAN UNDERTHE INFLUENCE (1975), with a low-key clearly influenced by Terence Malick’s BADLANDS (1973). Milestone makes this DVD release a real event with three acclaimed Burnett shorts -- SEVERAL FRIENDS (1970), THE HORSE (1973), WHEN IT RAINS (1995) -- the original 1983 version and the 2007 director’s cut of MY BROTHER’S WEDDING, audio commentary on KILLER OF SHEEP with Burnett and Film Society of Lincoln Center Program Director Richard Pena, a KILLER cast reunion video, liner notes by Armond White, and Burnett’s newest short, QUIET AS KEPT (2007).
SHOUT FACTORY: James Lipton’s INSIDE THE ACTOR’S STUDIO interviews on Bravo cable TV have brought a wide range of artists to us over the years; at its best it offers invaluable insights into great actors’ craft and technique; at its worst, the subject is not worthy of the Actors Studio treatment (no names, you know who they are). INSIDE THE ACTORS STUDIO: LEADING MEN brings us the best of the program, with comprehensive one-on-one interviews with Robert DeNiro (1999), Al Pacino (2000), Russell Crowe (2004), and Sean Penn (1999), along with footage that never made it on the air. This collection is an essential for aspiring actors and should be mandatory viewing in film schools and acting conservatories. It’s that good. It’s that important.
THINKFILM/LIONSGATE presents THE WENDELL BAKER STORY (2007), directed by Andrew Wilson and brother Luke (who also scripted), starring Luke and sibling Owen and a fine cast including Seymour Cassel, Eddie Griffin, Kris Kristofferson, Eva Mendes and Harry Dean Stanton. It’s an ultra-lite comedy that sometimes tries to hard to be quirky and cool, and, at 100 minutes, about ten minutes too long. Cassel and Stanton make it worthwhile however, and there’s entertaining commentary from Luke and Andrew, bonus scenes, a Wendell Baker photo album, a musical performance by Billy Joe Shaver, and best of all, an afternoon at Luke’s with Stanton and Cassell.
IMAGE: HBO’s ROME owes a debt to Tinto Brass’ notorious CALIGULA (1979), produced by Bob Guccione for his Penthouse Films. Image has released CALIGULA: IMPERIAL EDITION, an extravagant three-disc set that restores the original unrated, uncensored Triple-X version with a high-definition transfer. Guccione assembled an awesome cast – Malcolm McDowell as the decadent Roman emperor, Helen Mirren, Peter O’Toole, John Gielgud – and spared no expense with sets (by the great Danilo Donati). Malcolm MacDowell is undergoing a renaissance from the recent WHV release of the restored CLOCKWORK ORANGE, Criterion’s typically stunning DVD of his debut film, IF … (1968), directed by Lindsay Anderson, and Warner’s two-disc special edition of Anderson’s pseudo-sequel O LUCKY MAN! (1972), and CALIGULA shows an actor completely committed to the role with a highly intense performance. Director Brass was known for his softcore Italian erotic dramas; after the name actors wrapped, Guccione co-directed some hardcore porno scenes, inserting them into the movie (particularly during the orgy sequence), and these are included here. The set includes an alternate pre-release version, new audio commentaries by McDowell and Mirren, new interviews with Brass and actors John Steiner and Lori Wagner, audio commentary by on-set writer Ernest Volkman (Gore Vidal wrote the original screenplay), two versions of a MAKING OF CALIGULA documentary, hours of deleted and alternate scenes, behind-the-scenes footage, hundreds of photographs and a DVD-ROM with Vidal’s script, three Penthouse magazines features and an interview with Guccione. TIME-LIFE releases the 41-disc THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.: THE COMPLETE SERIES on November 28 (www.manfromUncleDVD.com). The massive set includes all four seasons (1964-1968), 105 episodes of the essential ‘60s spy show, nominated for 16 Emmys, starring Robert Vaughn as Napoleon Solo and David McCallum as Illya Kuryakin … plus TEN HOURS of extras. The collection retails for $249.99. Here are some streaming clips from the show:
http://mfile.akamai.com/11415/wmv/timelife.download.akamai.com/11415/UNCLEclips/CLIP4.wmv - A Thrush executive (Vincent Price) lends his handkerchief to a competitor with explosive results near the conclusion of “The Foxes and Hounds Affair.”
http://mfile.akamai.com/11415/wmv/timelife.download.akamai.com/11415/UNCLEclips/CLIP5.wmv - In this opening of the third-season two-parter, “The Five Daughters Affair,” Solo and Illya, driving along a mountain road in the U.N.C.L.E. Car, are attacked by a trio of one-man mini-helicopters.
http://mfile.akamai.com/11415/wmv/timelife.download.akamai.com/11415/UNCLEclips/CLIP6.wmv - The fourth-season two-parter “The Prince of Darkness Affair” opens with Solo and Illya in Africa, investigating a devastated installation and discovering that a powerful new incendiary weapon has been developed.
THEATRE: The New Group (artistic director, Scott Elliott) has been producing high quality theatre for a dozen years, new plays by Mike Leigh, Trevor Griffiths, Wallace Shawn and many others, a handful of shows per season (building to six in 2007, a record for the company), great actors via casting director Judy Henderson, establishing themselves as one of the top theatre companies in New York. THINGS WE WANT by Jonathan Marc Sherman, directed by Ethan Hawke, is the current production, worth a visit if you can get a ticket (they tend to sell out). Josh Hamilton (KICKING AND SCREAMING), Paul Dano (LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE) and Peter Dinklage (THE STATION AGENT) play brothers in this comedy-drama about family, fidelity, alcoholism, suicide, and products they don’t make any more. Zoe Kazan (IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH), granddaughter of Elia, is the outsider who triggers the second act drama. It’s special to see great film actors like Dano and Dinklage on an intimate stage, but Hamilton steals the show with his awards-worthy performance. The New Group’s next production, TWO THOUSAND YEARS, reunites Scott Elliott and Mike Leigh after their ABIGAIL’S PARTY success; for details consult www.thenewgroup.org.
MUSIC: With the release of MOTHERSHIP, the ultimate Led Zeppelin DVD collection, less than a month away, the band has announced several big updates regarding their music and fan interaction with the band. For the first time ever, Led Zeppelin fans can purchase their music digitally, as well as ringtones through Verizon. The Led Zeppelin Myspace page is now live at http://www.myspace.com/ledzeppelin. The band’s catalog is one of the most highly anticipated digital releases to date. Beginning November 13, the band's original albums will be available for full-album or a la carte download from all online music retailers. The albums being made available include Led Zeppelin (1969), Led Zeppelin II (1969), Led Zeppelin III (1970), Untitled fourth album (1971), Houses Of The Holy (1973), Physical Graffiti (1975), Presence (1976), The Song Remains The Same (1976; recently remixed and remastered for reissue on November 20), In Through The Out Door (1979), Coda (1982), How The West Was Won (2003), and Mothership (available November 13). Featuring such indelible anthems as "Communication Breakdown," "Whole Lotta Love," "Immigrant Song," "Stairway To Heaven," "D'Yer Mak'er," and "Kashmir," these releases, together with various retrospective collections, have sold more than 300 million albums worldwide.
Emmy Rossum was the 2004 NBR Breakthrough Female Performer for THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA; since then she’s balanced a career as actor and singer. Her new album Inside Out is in stores now.
Shout! Factory is releasing two special DVDs for the holiday season. The Johnny Cash Christmas Special 1976 and The Johnny Cash Christmas Special 1977 are the first releases to come out of the exclusive agreement between Shout! Factory and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, which allows Shout! Factory to release DVDs taken from television shows archived in the Museum, representing many of country music’s all-time top artists. These DVDs will mark the first time in 30 years that these Christmas specials have been seen. Here’s a preview:
“In The Pines” by The Carter Family (from ’76) video streams:
http://www.shoutfactory.com/av/cash/1976/In_The_Pines384K.wmv (Windows Media)
http://www.shoutfactory.com/av/cash/1976/In_The_Pines384K.mov (QuickTime)
“Christmas Time’s A Comin’” by Johnny Cash (from ’77) video streams:
http://www.shoutfactory.com/av/cash/1977/Christmas_Times_A_Comin384K.wmv (Windows Media)
http://www.shoutfactory.com/av/cash/1977/Christmas_Times_A_Comin384K.mov (QuickTime)
JOHN GALLAGHER
jgmovie@gmail.com
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