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HALLOWEEN HORRORS: There’s a slew of just released horror flicks on DVD this Halloween season, from the sublime to the disgusting, from iconic classics with horror legends to new breed movies starring talented unknowns. MGM/Fox makes horror fans happy with the long awaited original British cut of WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968). Released in the U.S.A. as THE CONQUEROR WORM, with its evocative score completely replaced, this movie has developed a more-than-justified reputation over the years. Vincent Price stars in the title role as a 17th Century demagogue who travels the British countryside during the English Civil War torturing and executing innocents condemned by their neighbors as spawns of Satan. Produced on a low budget, WITCHFINDER is an exquisitely produced period picture highlighted by lush cinematography by John Coquillon; Sam Peckinpah was so impressed by his work that he hired him to shoot STRAW DOGS (1971), as well as PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID (1973), CROSS OF IRON (1977) and THE OSTERMAN WEEKEND (1983). Price is genuinely frightening, with the beautiful cinematography counterpointing the horrors of the Witchfinder General. Writer-director Michael Reeves was only 24 when he directed this genre gem, and had already directed two ultra-low horror flicks, THE SHE-BEAST (1966) and THE SORCERORS (1967); six months after WITCHFINDER’s New York premiere, he was dead of a drug overdose. The new DVD features audio commentary by co-producer Philip Waddilove and star (and childhood friend of Reeves) Ian Ogilvy, plus the excellent documentary WITCHFINDER GENERAL: MICHAEL REEVES’ HORROR CLASSIC.
MGM/Fox also has the VINCENT PRICE MGM SCREAM LEGENDS COLLECTION with seven horror titles. Roger Corman’s TALES OF TERROR (1962) is an anthology film with three Edgar Allen Poe classics adapted to the screen: “Morella” starring Price, “The Black Cat” teaming Price and the great Peter Lorre in the best episode (with an unforgettable wine-tasting scene between the two), and “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” pairing Price with the incomparable Basil Rathbone. The huge success of the film resulted in TWICE TOLD TALES (1963), directed by Sidney Salkow, with Price starring in adaptations of three Nathaniel Hawthorne stories – “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment,” “Rappacini’s Daughter,” and “House of the Seven Gables” (Price had starred in a 1940 Universal feature version). The supporting cast includes Sebastian Cabot and scream queens Beverly Garland and Mari Blanchard. Price had one of his juiciest mad doctor roles as THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971) and the sequel DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN! (1972), both directed by Robert Fuest; as Anton Phibes he wreaks revenge on the doctors who botched an operation on his vocal chords – in the sequel he attempts to bring his departed wife back from the dead. Douglas Hickox’ THEATER OF BLOOD (1973) is a total camp delight, with Price as a hammy Shakespearean actor who starts killing off his critics one by one. This is one of the very best Vincent Price vehicles, with a sensational supporting cast of some of Britain’s finest, including Diana Rigg, Jack Hawkins, Robert Morley, Milo O’Shea, Harry Andrews, Michael Hordern, Coral Browne, Ian Hendry and Robert Coote. WITCHFINDER GENERAL and its extras are included in this set as well, along with the weak MADHOUSE (1974) notable only for co-star Peter Cushing, and three very good featurettes about Price.
Fox keeps Vincent Price fans happy with THE FLY COLLECTION. Kurt Neuman’s THE FLY (1958) was a huge box-office hit, telling the now familiar story about a scientist (David Hedison) who unwittingly turns himself into an insect mutant. Price lends his inimitable flair to the proceedings, and Neuman maintains a suspenseful and surprisingly subtle tone. Price was back for RETURN OF THE FLY (1958), a decent sequel directed by low-budget maestro Edward Bernds (winner of a special 1997 NBR award for his technological contributions as sound engineer at Columbia in the Thirties). THE CURSE OF THE FLY (1965), directed by Don Sharp with Brian Donlevy in the starring role, is a better film, one of the best horror films of the Sixties, and a neglected one at that. The Fly Collection includes an interview with Vincent Price from Biography, a featurette, still galleries, pressbooks and posters. David Cronenberg did a terrific remake in 1986 starring Jeff Goldblum, and Fox has a new remake in development.
ht by horror buffs, and now beautifully restored and remastered – THE UNDYING MONSTER, THE LODGER and HANGOVER SQUARE. Brahm (1893-1982) fled Hitler’s Germany and made a couple of films in England (including a 1935 remake of Griffith’s BROKEN BLOSSOMS) before landing in Hollywood. He made a series of B movies and enjoyed a prolific television career – he directed for WAGON TRAIN, the Lee Marvin cop show M SQUAD, and John Cassavetes’ quirky JOHNNY STACCATO, and helmed 15 Alfred Hitchcock shows, 12 episodes of Boris Karloff’s THRILLER, a dozen TWILIGHT ZONEs and two OUTER LIMITS. His UNDYING MONSTER (1942) is a tight little B picture about a werewolf who only kills members of the Hammond family; like the best of Brahm, there’s loads of great noirish atmosphere. After the WWII picture TONIGHT WE RAID CALAIS (1943), he was rewarded with the reins of THE LODGER (1944), a remake of the 1926 Hitchcock silent about Jack the Ripper. He delivered a bona fide classic, the best movie about the Victorian serial killer, with a stellar cast headed by Laird Cregar, George Sanders, Merle Oberon and Cedric Hardwicke. Lucian Ballard provided dazzling black-and-white cinematography; Ballard is a fascinating character who learned his craft at Paramount on the camera crew for Lubitsch (THE LOVE PARADE, MONTE CARLO, ONE HOUR WITH YOU) and Sternberg (MOROCCO, BLONDE VENUS, THE DEVIL IS A WOMAN), and ended up at Columbia shooting Three Stooges shorts and B movies before becoming a favorite cinematographer of Henry Hathaway, Raoul Walsh and Sam Peckinpah (THE WILD BUNCH among others). Brahm’s follow-up to THE LODGER was another Victorian serial killer movie, HANGOVER SQUARE (1945) with Cregar cast again (in his last role before his untimely death at age 28 after a crash diet), along with Sanders and Linda Darnell. There’s equally brilliant cinematography by the great Joe LaShelle (LAURA , THE APARTMENT) and a strong score from Bernard Herrmann (CITIZEN KANE, NORTH BY NORTHWEST, PSYCHO, TAXI DRIVER). THE UNDYING MONSTER DVD includes a restoration comparison, advertising gallery, stills, and a very good documentary, CONCERTOS MACABRE: THE FILMS OF JOHN BRAHM. On THE LODGER, we get commentary from film noir experts Alain Silver and James Ursini, a making-of featurette, restoration comparison, trailer and still gallery; Richard Schickel provides commentary on HANGOVER SQUARE along with screenwriter/historian Steve Haberman and co-star Faye Marlowe, and there’s a restoration comparison, trailer, advertising gallery, still gallery, a documentary on Laird Cregar, and a vintage radio adaptation performed by Vincent Price.
Halloween is the appropriate time to revisit Rob Reiner’s hit horror flick MISERY (1990), adapted by William Goldman from the Stephen King story about best-selling author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) rescued from a car crash and nursed (and imprisoned) by psychotic fan Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates). MISERY is still quite effective, highlighted by delicious cat-and-mouse games between Caan and Bates (in an Oscar and Golden Globe winning performance). The MGM/Fox collector’s edition DVD includes audio commentary by Reiner and Goldman, and seven featurettes about making the film (and about stalkers).
Genius Products release Weinstein Company product: 1408 (2007), in a two-disc collector’s edition, is a genuinely scary adaptation of a Stephen King short story directed with Kubrickian precision by Mikael Hafstrom (the Clive Owen-Jennifer Aniston thriller DERAILED). John Cusack stars as a cynical writer of ghost books, touring the country to write about allegedly haunted hotels. He’s led to the (fictitious) Dolphin Hotel on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, presided over by manager Samuel L. Jackson, who implores him not to check into Room 1408, a closed suite with a history every bit as grisly as the Overlook in King’s THE SHINING, haunted by spirits but able to introduce the visitor’s own personal demons ... of which Cusack has quite a few. There are bone-chilling scares here (check out the Hammer Guy) alternating with Three Stooges-like effects (a window slamming on Cusack’s hand, cold water suddenly turning scalding hot). Cusack calls the movie “a metaphysical mindbender as much as a horror film,” and it’s an apt description. An extended director’s cut with an alternate ending is included, with commentary from Hafstrom and writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (ED WOOD, THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT); it includes some more backstory and a couple of horror effects that the director says carry on one beat too many. Several featurettes, deleted scenes, and an interview with Cusack are included as well.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment gives gore fans a special Halloween treat with HOSTEL: DIRECTOR’S CUT and HOSTEL PART II: UNRATED DIRECTOR’S CUT from writer-director Eli Roth and executive producer Quentin Tarantino. HOSTEL (2005) set the standard for what’s become known as “torture porn,” a distasteful trend in the genre; it’s a very well-directed (Roth’s 2002 debut CABIN FEVER is one of the best horror flicks of the decade), very well-made thriller that benefits from exquisite European locations and a looming sense of dread. Two Americans (Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson) and an Icelander (Eythor Gudjonsson) check into a Slovakian youth hostel for sex and drugs and find themselves the unwilling participants in torture-and-kill games. The torture is extremely gruesome and not for the faint of heart, and the movie is full of female nudity and lots of blood. This edition has four commentaries (including Roth and Tarantino) and eight featurettes thoroughly covering production, music, sound and effects, a radio interview with Roth and a new director’s cut ending … which is basically anti-climactic after the sequence where Hernandez rescues a female torture victim, probably the most nauseating scene I have ever seen on film. As disgusting as parts of the picture are, HOSTEL went on to an almost $50 million box office in the U.S. alone, on a $4.5 million budget, so a sequel is inevitable. In HOSTEL PART II (2007), the new victims at the Slovakian hostel are three college girls on a Euro tour (Lauren German, Bijou Phillips and Heather Matarazzo). DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES stars Roger Bart and Richard Burgi play rich Americans who pay for the sick thrill of dissecting and killing young lovelies. In the movie’s most disturbing scene, 70s giallo star Edwige Fenech (lured out of acting retirement by Roth), slices and dices a naked, hung-upside-down Heather Matarazzo and bathes in her blood. (The scene is doubly disturbing to me since I directed Heather in her teen years in three movies – THE DELI, PENANCE, BLUE MOON – and it’s hard to watch someone you know and love in such a situation; it’s a remarkably brave performance on her part. Extras include commentaries by Roth, Tarantino, associate producer Gabriel Roth, and actors German, Vera Jordanova and Burgi; deleted scenes, gag reel, three featurettes, and another radio interview with Roth. With a budget raise to $10 million, HOSTEL PART II had a disappointing box office compared to the original, with a $30 million international gross, a good indication that the torture porn cycle is mercifully coming to an end … until the next big gorefest hits big, anyway!
BROKEN (2006), from Genius and Dimension Extreme (a Weinstein genre division), is a very low-budget horror movie written and directed by Adam Mason and Simon Boyes, starring new actors, about a woodsman who abducts young women and makes them his slaves. It is a feast for gorehounds, brutal, horrific and disturbing, more so than even the SAW or HOSTEL movies, and as such, has been building a cult reputation among hardcore horror fanatics that can only multiply a thousand-fold with this DVD release. There’s feature commentary from the directors, an interview from a film festival with lead actress (and ex-wife of one of the directors) Nadja Brand, and a lengthy, fascinating, candid making-of featurette that should be required viewing for aspiring filmmakers, detailing the incredible hardships, trials and tribulations of making BROKEN. BLACK SHEEP (2006) is another Genius/Dimension Extreme release, a hilarious and bloody New Zealand horror comedy from writer-director Jonathan King about mutant flesh-eating sheep ravaging the countryside. Peter Jackson’s WETA Workshop provide the beautifully done special effects, and King exhibits a healthy regard for the films of Edgar Wright. If you can take the blood, this is a tremendously entertaining, expertly crafted gore comedy. The DVD has commentary by King and lead actor Nathan Meister, deleted scenes with optional commentary, a blooper reel and making-of featurette. HALLOWED GROUND (2007), also from Genius, is a decent horror flick starring REST STOP’s Jaimie Alexander as a young woman stranded in the small town of Hope; her coming was foretold in a prophecy 100 years ago, and now she’s in deep trouble from crazy villagers and a supernatural scarecrow. Writer-director David Benullo keeps the film moving and creates a good atmosphere with his knowing direction.
RISE: BLOOD HUNTER (2007), from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, is a major disappointment, with the always wonderful Lucy Liu cast as a vampire who roams the city looking to kill other blood-suckers. The otherwise right-on horror company Ghost House Pictures (THE GRUDGE, BOOGEYMAN, 30 DAYS OF NIGHT) gave RISE a handsome production, with a cast including Michael Chiklis, Carla Gugino, and (in largely distracting cameos), Robert Forster, Mako, Nick Lachey and Marilyn Manson, but writer-director Sebastian Gutierrez (best known as the writer of SNAKES ON A PLANE) just can’t keep the narrative comprehensible or avoid giving us the feeling that we’ve seen it all before, and much better (think BLADE or THE CROW). This movie had a lot of promise but misses the mark pretty wide for horror fans, and has the unfocused feel of a typical Hollywood committee movie. On the plus side, it is quite stylishly produced, and, incredibly, has the distinction of John Toll (BRAVEHEART, THE THIN RED LINE, ALMOST FAMOUS, THE LAST SAMURAI) as director of photography. There are behind-the-scenes and storyboard-to-screen featurettes, and, if you want it, over 25 minutes of “never before seen footage.” THE TRIPPER (2007) from Fox, directed by David Arquette, is another bad idea gone wrong, about a Ronald Reagan-obsessed serial killer stalking the California Redwoods in search of latter-day hippies. A good cast (Lukas Haas, Thomas Jane, Jaime King, Jason Mewes, Balthazar Getty), nice locations, and excellent cinematography by the always reliable Bobby Bukowski (HOUSEHOLD SAINTS, ARLINGTON ROAD, THE GOOD MOTHER) are sadly wasted. REEKER (2007), from Paramount and Showtime, is a slow moving, poorly written, weakly acted horror flick about a group of college kids on their way to a rave who get stuck at a desert motel where they’re assaulted by various supernatural terrors. Michael Ironside and some decent special effects are REEKER’s only redemptive features. The disc comes with a making-of featurette and photo gallery.
JINDABYNE (2007) is a compelling low-key thriller from Australia based on a Raymond Carver story (“So Much Water So Close to Home”), directed by Ray Lawrence (LANTANA), about a group of fishing buddies who discover a young woman’s corpse, victim of a serial killer. Much of the story deals with the consequences of their discovery on the small town of Jindabyne, and Lawrence provides slow, deliberate direction, creating an evocative atmosphere of dread, and contrasting it with the natural beauty of the New South Wales mountains, rivers and landscapes. Gabriel Byrne and Laura Linney deliver perfect performances under Lawrence’s sure hand; the film was nominated for nine Australian Film Institute Awards, including Best Film, Best Actor (Byrne), Best Actress (Linney), Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography. The DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment includes deleted scenes and making-of featurette. Highly recommended.
UNIVERSAL HORROR CLASSIC MOVIE ARCHIVE is only available at Best Buy stores, but at $19.95 it is definitely a best buy. Five Universal B’s from the Forties are included with prints that probably haven’t looked this good since they were first released. All five are fun, with actors every old school Monster Kid loves – THE BLACK CAT (1941), an old dark house comedy thriller starring Basil Rathbone, Bela Lugosi, Broderick Crawford and Gale Sondergaard; MAN MADE MONSTER (1941) with Lon Chaney Jr. and Lionel Atwill, HORROR ISLAND (1941) with Dick Foran, Leo Carrillo and the Carfax Abbey set from the original DRACULA (1931); NIGHT MONSTER (1942) with Lugosi and Atwill top-billed above the title but actually playing supporting roles to Don Porter, Leif Erikson and Ralph Morgan; and the camp classic CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN (1943) with John Carradine, Evelyn Ankers and the exotic Acquanetta, coined by Universal as “the Venezuelan Volcano” (in classic Hollywood fashion, she was born Mildred Davenport in Ozone, Iowa).
PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT: Ken Burns is a national treasure. Since 1981 his documentaries have chronicled the American experience with an eloquence and poetry that approaches the fiction films of John Ford. Look at the range of his subjects -- the Civil War, baseball, jazz, radio, the Congress, the first American road trip, the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Shakers, the Lewis and Clark expedition, Thomas Jefferson, Mark Twain, Frank Lloyd Wright, Jack Johnson, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. His latest work, co-directed by Lynn Novick, is nothing less than the best documentary ever made about World War Two. THE WAR (2007), a seven-part, 15-hour epic, tells this sprawling saga, both overseas and at home, with spectacular rare footage, incredible photos, letters and interviews with survivors. While the huge canvas of the cataclysmic event is here, Burns and Novick focus on the combatants and their loved ones on the homefront from four American towns – Waterbury, Connecticut; Sacramento, California; Luzerne, Minnesota; Mobile, Alabama – giving great intimacy and emotional depth to the big picture. The cast of voiceover actors includes Tom Hanks, Eli Wallach, Keith David, Samuel L. Jackson, Carolyn McCormick, Josh Lucas, Kevin Conway and Bobby Cannavale. The PBS Home Video program (released by PHE) includes a making-of featurette, commentary by Burns and Novick, deleted scenes, additional interviews, biographies, photo gallery and educational resources. Despite an over-reliance on some annoying theremin-like music during some of the segments, THE WAR is a staggering achievement and should be essential viewing. A four-disc soundtrack collection is available from Legacy/RCA Red Seal broken down into a soundtrack disc, classical score, hits from the Second World War, and dance hits. This is a fabulous collection, loaded with Forties artists like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Count Basie and Duke Ellington to name a few, classical cuts from William Walton, Aaron Copland, Dvorak, Elgar and Liszt, to name a few, lots of big band stuff from Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Gene Krupa and other, and wonderful jazz by Wynton Marsalis.
Angelina Jolie does an amazing job in A MIGHTY HEART (2007) – and will no doubt be remembered this next awards season -- playing Mariane Pearl, wife of kidnapped Wall Street Journal writer Daniel Pearl. Her desperate quest to find her husband forms the core of this film, a scathing indictment of terrorism and a moving tribute to one woman’s love for her husband. Indie director Michael Winterbottom (JUDE, WELCOME TO SARAJEVO, THE ROAD TO GUANTANAMO) really steps up here, while still staying true to his maverick roots. Jolie has always been an outstanding actress (GIA, GIRL INTERRUPTED) but it’s been some time since she’s tackled such an important role (last year’s THE GOOD SHEPHERD notwithstanding) and she rises to the occasion with great commitment and skill. We all know how this picture ends – the artistry of Jolie and Winterbottom is so great they still keep us hoping for a different outcome. A production featurette is included, along with a public service announcement and a promo for the Committee to Protect Journalists. Lee Tamahori’s NEXT (2007), based on Philip K. Dick’s short story “The Golden Man,” is a popcorn movie par excellence. Throw away all plausibility (especially in the landslide scene) and enjoy a “movie movie” rollercoaster ride. Nicolas Cage plays a two-bit Vegas magician who can see two minutes into his own future, enlisted by the FBI to stop terrorists from nuking Los Angeles. Cage is in his element as the hesitant hero, supported by Jessica Biel as the girl of his dreams, Julianne Moore as a no-nonsense FBI agent, Peter Falk as a cantankerous coot, and Thomas Kretschman as the main bad guy. Tamahori (ONCE WERE WARRIORS, MULHOLLAND FALLS, DIE ANOTHER DAY) is a terrific director, and he keeps the movie engaging and suspenseful; check out the great Cage-Biel “meet cute” in the diner, and also a cool little DR. STRANGELOVE in-joke. My only complaint: a seriously disappointing ending. There are four featurettes included as extras. Paramount also releases a two-disc special collector’s edition of FACE/OFF (1997), one of John Woo’s Hollywood action epics after directing such Hong Kong classics as THE KILLER (1989) and HARD-BOILED (1992). It stills holds up pretty well, with extravagant action sequences, a solid script by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary, and bravura performances by John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. Woo, Werb and Colleary do an audio commentary, there are seven deleted scenes and an alternate ending with optional commentary, a making-of featurette and a documentary on Woo.
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s BABEL (2006) is epic drama, an ambitious and impressive achievement that earned seven Oscar nominations, a place on the NBR’s Top Ten List last year, and an NBR Breakthrough Female Performer Award for Rinko Kikuchi. This gripping, sometimes unbearably tragic film weaves three unrelated stories set in Morocco, Mexico and Japan, seamlessly intertwined for an emotional finale, in the tradition of Inarritu and writer Guillermo Arriaga’s AMORES PERROS (2000) and 21 GRAMS (2003). The acting is uniformly excellent, especially Brad Pitt (in one of his best performances), Cate Blanchett, Rinko Kikuchi, Adriana Barraza and Gael Garcia Bernal. BABEL can be a difficult film to watch – the pain is palpable – but it is surely a masterpiece of contemporary filmmaking. Kudos go to Rodrigo Prieto (the Innaritu films BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, ALEXANDER, THE 25TH HOUR, 8 MILE) for his cinematography and Gustavo Santaolalla for his score (the Innaritu films, NORTH COUNTRY, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN). PHE’s two-disc set includes a fascinating feature-length video diary by the director.
SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER (1977) gets a 30th Anniversary Special Collectors Edition with commentary by director John Badham, who replaced John Avildsen (ROCKY) early in the shoot, and nine featurettes covering the production, John Travolta’s breakthrough, Oscar-nominated performance, the Bee Gees’ music, the Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, locations, the platform and polyester fashions, the dancing, and a 70s “discopedia.” Badham tells the story in broad strokes, unlike say, Scorsese’s box office bomb MEAN STREETS (1973), consequently appealing to a broad audience and box office gold. Travolta’s sheer star power and charisma carry the movie, a potent time capsule of the disco era.
Paramount Home Entertainment has a handsome 50th anniversary DVD of the delightful Stanley Donen musical FUNNY FACE (1957). In a dazzling Technicolor Paris, Fred Astaire plays a fashion photographer, Audrey Hepburn his model. With a screen team like this, songs by George and Ira Gershwin, and the Donen imprimatur, FUNNY FACE has to be a great musical, and it is. Songs include “How Long Has This been Going On?,” “Let’s Kiss and Make Up,” “I Love Your Funny Face,” and a delightful Astaire-Hepburn dance to “He Loves and She Loves.” Three featurettes are included.
THE UNTOUCHABLES SEASON 1 VOLUME 2 features the final 14 episodes of the ground-breaking crime series from 1960 starring Robert Stack as G-man Eliot Ness, fighting a gaggle of gangsters in Prohibition-era Chicago. Narrated by Walter Winchell, produced by Desi Arnaz and Quinn Martin for Desilu, these tough, tight, hard-hitting one-hour episodes were directed by such Golden Age greats as Tay Garnett (“The Star Witness”) and Robert Florey (“The Doreen Maney Story”), up-and-comer Stuart Rosenberg (“The Underworld Bank”), and future Paramount production chief Howard Koch (“The St. Louis Story,” the two-part “The Unhired Assassin,” “The Frank Nitti Story”). This collection includes guest stars Lee Van Cleef, Jim Backus, Marc Lawrence, Leslie Nielsen, Anne Francis, Charles McGraw, Thomas Mitchell, Peter Falk and Jack Warden, and the episode considered by many to be the finest of an extremely fine series, “The White Slavers,” guest starring Betty Field and Dick York, directed by Walter Grauman. The DVD includes a bonus episode from THE LUCY SHOW, “Lucy the Gun Moll.”
WARNER HOME VIDEO goes to town with one of their most elaborate box sets yet – THE MICKEY ROONEY AND JUDY GARLAND COLLECTION: ULTIMATE COLLECTOR’S EDITION. Ultimate is the word alright, with four bona fide MGM musical classics starring America’s Sweethearts – BABES IN ARMS (1939), BABES ON BROADWAY (1941), STRIKE UP THE BAND (1942) and GIRL CRAZY (1943), each introduced by Mickey Rooney. A fifth disc is loaded with nearly three hours of extras – TCM host Robert Osborne’s interview PRIVATE SCREENINGS WITH MICKEY ROONEY, and THE JUDY GARLAND SONGBOOK, a staggering collection of 21 Judy Garland numbers from her movies spanning nearly 20 years. There’s also a Mickey/Judy trailer gallery, 20 candid behind-the-scenes postcard photos of the pair, and production notes by historian John Fricke. BABES IN ARMS -- the producing debut of legendary MGM musical genius Arthur Freed-- is the original “Hey gang let’s put on a show!” movie, a backyard musical directed with customary flair by Busby Berkeley, based on the play by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. Rooney (for Best Actor) and the Roger Edens-George E. Stoll score earned Oscar nominations. WHV has restored a sequence in which Rooney and Garland impersonate Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, deleted from prints after the death of FDR. The DVD has John Fricke commentary, the Our Gang short DUEL PERSONALITIES with Spanky, Alfalfa, Darla, Buckwheat and Porky, the vintage cartoon THE MAD MAESTRO, a 1939 newsreel with Mickey and Judy, an MGM radio promo and three Rooney-Garland radio shows.
The massive success of BABES led MGM to reunite Mickey, Judy, Berkeley and Freed in STRIKE UP THE BAND, with Mickey as a high school bandleader, and Judy his girlfriend/vocalist, competing in a national radio contest. This is the one with the famous “Do the La Conga” number, and a showcase for Mickey playing drums in “The Drummer Boy” scene. Extras include a Pete Smith comedy short, the vintage cartoon ROMEO IN RHYTHM, a stereo remix of “Do the La Conga,” and more Mickey-Judy radio shows, including a Millions for Defense special. BABES ON BROADWAY takes Mickey and Judy to the Big Apple, again with Berkeley and Freed. “How About You” was the movie’s hit song, and Mickey’s campy impersonation of Carmen Miranda is another highlight. This disc features the Pete Smith short HOW TO HOLD YOUR HUSBAND BACK, the vintage cartoon DANCE OF THE WEED, two MGM radio promos, a radio adaptation of MERTON OF THE MOVIES with Mickey and Judy, and song demo of “Chin Up! Cheerio! Carry On!,” performed by composer Burton Lane.
My favorite of these films is Norman Taurog’s GIRL CRAZY, based on the George and Ira Gershwin Broadway hit, previously filmed by RKO in 1932 with the comedy team of Wheeler and Woolsey. Mickey is a spoiled playboy sent to an all-male college way out West; Judy, granddaughter of the dean, is the only girl on campus! The wonderful songs include “Embraceable You,” “Fascinating Rhythm,” “Bidin’ My Time,” “Treat Me Rough,” and “But Not for Me.” Busby Berkeley was brought back to direct the dude ranch finale set to “I Got Rhythm.” All the Rooney-Garland movies have charm, energy, wit and romance – GIRL CRAZY is their greatest triumph. John Fricke does the audio commentary, the vintage short is HOLLYWOOD DAREDEVILS, the classic cartoon THE EARLY BIRD DOOD IT, and there’s a stereo remix of “I Got Rhythm” and an audio-only outtake of “Bronco Busters.” THE MICKEY ROONEY AND JUDY GARLAND COLLECTION offers hours and hours of good old-fashioned entertainment, and is one of the best box sets of the year.
William Friedkin’s CRUISING (1980) was notorious upon its initial release for its dark and seamy expose of the underground gay S & M subculture in New York City. Al Pacino played a New York cop who goes undercover to find a serial killer; it’s a stunning performance as Pacino’s character is drawn deeper into depravity. Karen Allen and Paul Sorvino also do fine work, but this movie is all about Pacino and Friedkin, who achieve a perfect symbiosis between actor and director. Watching it 27 years later, it’s clear that Friedkin was years ahead of the times with his visceral filmmaking (the movie is invaluable for its look at a New York cityscape that has really changed since 1980). The CRUISING Deluxe Edition DVD includes commentary from Friedkin, new Dolby 5.1 audio, a trailer, and three new featurettes featuring reminiscences by cast and crew. The massive success of ROOTS in 1977 inspired an equally excellent continuation, ROOTS: THE NEXT GENERATIONS (1979), available now for the first time on DVD. Alex Haley’s sequel follows Tom (George Stanford Brown) and his family as they struggle through reconstruction, two World Wars and the civil rights movement of the ‘60s, with Haley himself a character in the show, beautifully enacted by James Earl Jones. This is epic storytelling, winner of the Emmy for Best Limited Series, with a cast of 53 stars and 235 speaking parts that includes Henry Fonda, Debbie Allen, Olivia de Havilland, Richard Thomas, James Broderick, Diahann Carroll, Bernie Casey, Robert Culp, Pam Grier, Andy Griffith, Harry Morgan, Greg Morris, Paul Winfield and, in a stunning Emmy-winning performance, Marlon Brando as American Nazi Party leader George Lincoln Rockwell. James Earl Jones’ interview scene with Brando is worth the price of this double-disc set, which includes a behind-the-scenes documentary. WHV has also made available ROOTS: THE COMPLETE COLLECTION, with the original mini-series, ROOTS: THE NEXT GENERATIONS, the Christmas movie ROOTS: THE GIFT, two new featurettes and a vintage interview with Alex Haley by David Frost.
SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT: Mike Binder’s REIGN OVER ME (2007) could have easily been sappy and sentimental; instead it’s genuinely emotional and moving, a story of friendship and family that deserved a better fate at the box office. Perhaps the presence of Adam Sandler in a hard-core dramatic role – much more so than his turn in PUNCH DRUNK LOVE – kept his fans away from the theater, but he is outstanding in the role of a widower who lost his wife and kids on 9/11 and has sunk into a mental dimension that goes beyond depression. When successful, married-with-family Manhattan dentist Don Cheadle runs into Sandler and recognizes him as his former college roommate, the fable begins. It’s an excellent film, with Jada Pinkett Smith and Liv Tyler in support, and a universal message of living every day to the fullest. The DVD includes a making-of piece, a photo montage, and an extended jam session with Sandler and Cheadle trading drums and guitars.
Paul Verhoeven gained international recognition in his native Netherlands with a trio of superior genre films – SOLDIER OF ORANGE (1977), SPETTERS (1980), THE 4TH MAN (1983). Hollywood beckoned and he struck gold with ROBOCOP 91987), TOTAL RECALL (1990) and BASIC INSTINCT (1992), followed by SHOWGIRLS (1995), STARSHIP TROOPERS (1997) and HOLLOW MEN (2000). He returns to his roots with BLACK BOOK (2007), the gripping story of Dutch resistance fighters in 1944 Nazi-occupied Holland as a Jewish singer (Carice Van Houten) infiltrates the Gestapo. Sebastian Koch (THE LIVES OF OTHERS) co-stars; Van Houten and Koch give two of the best performances of the year. Verhoeven delivers thrills and drama, and suspenseful twists and turns, with impeccable period detail, working from a script based in fact that he co-wrote with Gerard Soeteman. Verhoeven provides director’s commentary and a making-of featurette.
BUENA VISTA: The last animated feature supervised by Walt Disney (though he died before it was completed) was THE JUNGLE BOOK (1967), the enchanting adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s stories about the young boy Mowgli and his jungle friends. The movie has been restored and remastered with pristine color and sound, and is a treat for the eyes and ears. The 40th anniversary DVD is a typical Disney “limited time only” double-disc; the company puts these out and pulls them off the market with annoying regularity … but we’re talking Disney classic here, so get it while you can! Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman (ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIONS, THE SWORD IN THE STONE), with voices by his son Bruce as Mowgli, and Sebastian Cabot, George Sanders, Sterling Holloway, Phil Harris and Clint Howard – with Louis Prima and his band The Witnesses voicing a killer diller musical number “I Wanna Be Like You” -- this special edition includes some deleted songs, a making-of documentary, audio commentaries by many of the animators involved in the film, and a spate of new games and activities for the kids.
Roger Corman is deservedly celebrated as an indie auteur, creator (as producer, director, or writer) of literally hundreds of films from micro-budget Fifties schlock like TEENAGE CAVEMAN (1958) to micro-budget Sixties schlock like LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960) to his Poe features HOUSE OF USHER (1960), THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1961) and MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964) to counterculture classics THE WILD ANGELS (1966) and THE TRIP (1967). He distributed dozens more films (including Fellini’s AMARCORD and Bergman’s CRIES AND WHISPERS), and gave first breaks to Francis Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Jack Nicholson, Joe Dante and countless others. Corman’s financial record is in total black … except for one film which, of course, is his greatest achievement, and the film they’ll still be watching 100 years from now. THE INTRUDER (1961) is a daring picture about a handsome racist con man (played by William Shatner with convincing malice) who comes to a small Southern town to stir up race hatred. The movie has a reality and a rawness, a venom and a vitriol way ahead of its time, still disturbing in its frank portrait of racism. A featurette includes solo interviews with Corman and Shatner, though it would have been great to see them interviewed together. For years THE INTRUDER was famous as the only Corman movie to lose money, virtually impossible to see, so a big thanks to BVHE for making it accessible. It is Roger Corman’s finest hour (and twenty-three minutes).
Corman’s production of EAT MY DUST (1976) starred Ron Howard, who was making the transition from “Opie” in THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW to an adult career kicked off by the success of George Lucas’ AMERICAN GRAFFITI (1973). Howard originally turned down the starring role in EAT MY DUST, but with an eye to a directorial career, he agreed to do the picture if Corman would give him a directing job (he did – GRAND THEFT AUTO a year later). EAT MY DUST is typical 70s Corman – fast-paced, low-budget, a DUKES OF HAZZARD action comedy with fast cars, cute girls and country music (by legendary David Grisman). As such, it’s a harmless but entertaining 70s diversion. There’s a production featurette as well.
UNIVERSAL: The release of GEORGIA RULE (2007) was overshadowed by the personal problems of its star Lindsay Lohan; this is the movie that yielded the infamous chastising memo from producer James G. Robinson to Lohan. You’d never know it watching the final film -- under the capable hand of director Garry Marshall (PRETTY WOMAN, PRINCESS DIARIES), GEORGIA RULE emerges as a richly etched comedy-drama about a wild child (guess who?) sent by mother Felicity Huffman and step-dad Cary Elwes to stay in a small town with strict but wise grandma Jane Fonda. Lindsay promptly shakes things up with flirtations with hunk Garrett Hedlund and town veterinarian Dermot Mulroney, incurring the wrath of the local girls, led by Christine Lakin (the Lohan-Lakin confrontation scene is one of the movie’s highlights). There’s a deep dark subtext (and an important message) to the proceedings, with uniformly superior performances by all. The DVD includes deleted scenes, gag reel, and several featurettes.
Jennifer Lopez made her mark as an actress in Gregory Nava’s SELENA (1997), the true story of the beloved Grammy Award-winning singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez, murdered at the age of 23 by the president of her fan club. The queen of tejano music is beautifully portrayed by Lopez, excellently directed by Nava, with a supporting cast that includes Edward James Olmos, Jon Seda and Lupe Ontiveros. Lopez expertly captures Selena’s off-screen charm and on-screen charisma; watching this again it struck me that with the exception of Coppola’s JACK (1996), Stone’s U TURN (1997), Soderbergh’s OUT OF SIGHT (1998), and Shankman’s THE WEDDING PLANNER (2001) movies like ANGEL EYES (2001), ENOUGH (2002), MAID IN MANHATTAN (2002), GIGLI (2003), JERSEY GIRL (2004), and MONSTER-IN-LAW (2005) haven’t afforded J-Lo opportunity to show off the acting chops she demonstrates in SELENA – she is just so much better than most of the movies she makes. The 10th anniversary two-disc set includes the original theatrical version, an extended version, nine additional scenes, a production featurette, and a doc about the real Selena.
A follow-up to the Jim Carrey hit BRUCE ALMIGHTY (2003), EVAN ALMIGHTY (2007) casts Steve Carell as a guy who wishes he can change the world. Enter God (Morgan Freeman reprising his role from the original) and Carell finds himself building an ark a la Noah. It’s a cute movie, but fails to reach the comedic heights of the first film. There’s a terrific supporting cast, though, including John Goodman, Wanda Sykes, Lauren Graham, Jonah Hill and Molly Shannon. The DVD has 12 minutes of deleted scenes and outtakes, a bunch of production featurettes and standup comedy from Carell.
GENIUS PRODUCTS: Patrice Laconte has directed comedy gems like RIDICULE (1996) and INTIMATE STRANGERS (2004); in his newest film, MY BEST FRIEND (2006), he reunites with the wonderful Daniel Auteuil (CACHE, THE VALET). Auteuil is a successful Parisian businessman who realizes that despite outward appearances, all his friends and acquaintances really hate him, sending him on a quest to find someone who will pose as his best friend. This is Gallic comedy at its best, with intonations of Lubitsch, Sturges and Wilder at play. The DVD includes a production featurette.
John Dahl (THE LAST SEDUCTION, ROUNDERS) delivers one of his best films with the dark comedy YOU KILL ME (2007), starring Ben Kingsley as a hit man with a drinking problem. His Buffalo mob boss (Philip Baker Hall) dispatches him to San Francisco to get sober, where he encounters a colorful array of characters who help him find himself, just in time for another gangster’s revenge on the family. Dennis Farina, Bill Pullman, Luke Wilson and Tea Leoni round out the cast, all of whom perform with great aplomb. Dahl and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely provide commentary, and there are two making-of featurettes.
Mike White’s YEAR OF THE DOG (2007) is an odd but endearing comedy-drama that casts wonderful Molly Shannon in a rare dramatic role as a lonely corporate adminstrative assistant with no life other than her job and especially her dog. I won’t spoil the plot other than to say that with the help of animal advocate Peter Sarsgaard, Shannon becomes a radical activist. White’s previous screenplays include THE SCHOOL OF ROCK, NACHO LIBRE and CHUCK AND BUCK, and he handles his cast (including Laura Dern and John C. Reilly) admirably. I found this to be a touching film, but I love dogs … and I think that an affection for canines will definitely affect one’s appreciation of this movie. White and Shannon do the commentary, and there are the requisite featurettes, deleted scenes and a gag reel.
I was crazy about GRINDHOUSE (2007), the lovingly violent tribute to B-movies and the grindhouse movie-going experience from Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. Hard-core QT fans keep it close to their hearts, but unfortunately mainstream audiences, to quote Sam Goldwyn, stayed away in droves (botched marketing, in my opinion). While that three-hour opus (with their unforgettable faux trailers) has not yet been released, both the Tarantino DEATHPROOF (2007) and the Rodriguez PLANET TERROR (2007), extended to feature-length, are available in elaborate double-disc sets. In GRINDHOUSE, I much preferred DEATHPROOF, with Kurt Russell carving a genre Hall-of-Fame niche as ruthless killer-by-car Stuntman Mike, slaughtering Rose McGowan and an auto full of drunk Austin girls before getting a radical comeuppance from Zoe Bell (Uma Thurman’s stunt double in the KILL BILL movies and a Lucy Lawless double in XENA). The extended version is still top-heavy with endless yapping by Quentin’s girls – and I’m sorry, the dialogue just ain’t as good as his other movies – but the car action rocks the road like few movies ever made. PLANET TERROR, like DEATHPROOF extended and unrated, plays much better for me at its new length. It’s a new take on zombie movies and benefits from a killer cast that includes Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez, Michael Biehn, Jeff Fahey, Tarantino, and especially Josh Brolin and Marley Shelton (and an unbilled Bruce Willis). Both movies have commentaries and lots of production featurettes.
DREAMWORKS HOME ENTERTAINMENT: Even if you aren’t familiar with TRANSFORMERS on TV, sci-fi, fantasy and action fans will still definitely dig Michael Bay’s epic big screen version TRANSFORMERS (2007). Exec produced by some guy named Steven Spielberg, the movie features dazzling special effects and off-the-hook action as the Autobots battle the Decepticons for mastery of Earth. This is excessive kick-ass Bay at his best, perfectly directed and smartly cast, with Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Anthony Anderson, Megan Fox, John Turturro and Jon Voight. The two-disc special edition has commentary by Bay and three extensive featurettes.
WESTLAKE: I thought I knew most of what there is to know about Hollywood in the Thirties and Forties – it’s my favorite filmmaking era and my head has been full of its films and filmmakers since I was a little boy watching Million Dollar Movie on New York’s Channel Nine. Over the years I’ve interviewed hundreds of its actors, directors, writers, producers, editors – even David O. Selznick’s secretary. I have spent hours exploring its L.A. locations, and hours in the archives at USC, UCLA, and the Academy Library studying contracts, inter-office memos, and daily production reports. I have a tremendous respect for the film historians who delve into these primary resources, instead of writing books based on other books; we are blessed to have historians like Jeanine Basinger, Kevin Brownlow, Barry Paris, Richard Barrios and David Stenn. So imagine my surprise when I watched Stenn’s GIRL 27 (2006), a documentary about a completely forgotten young woman named Patricia Douglas. In the mid-Thirties – and for ten years prior and fifteen years after – MGM was the top studio in Hollywood, and Louis B. Mayer its eminence grise. While Metro production chief Irving Thalberg, producers David O. Selznick, Sidney Franklin, Louis Lighton, and Hunt Stromberg, and directors Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Clarence Brown, Woody Van Dyke, and Jack Conway had the talent and the taste, Mayer had the chutzpah and the showmanship, and the former Boston ragpicker-turned-nickelodeon operator became the most powerful man in Hollywood, screwing over business associates to make MGM the largest employer in Los Angeles county and the pre-eminent film factory. He also knew how to reward the employees that made him rich. In 1937, he hired a special train to transport several hundred national salesmen of MGM product to celebrate the company’s success in Hollywood. Mayer provided parades, pageantry, parties and photo ops with studio contractees like Gable, Garbo, Harlow, Tracy, Loy, Powell, Crawford, Beery et al. Mayer also arranged a party for his salesmen through one of his casting directors. One hundred twenty underage chorus girls were given call sheets and skimpy costumes and sent to what they thought was a movie shoot; it was really a stag party pimped by Mayer, with 300 cases of champagne and Scotch for 150 salesmen. The result was an unabashed orgy; one of the girls, dancer Patricia Douglas, was held down by some of these “gentlemen” while they forcibly poured booze into her. After becoming violently ill she staggered outside, where the virgin was raped by a popeyed Metro salesman from Chicago named David Ross. This wasn’t exactly a Hollywood phenomenon, but what makes this case special is Douglas. She actually filed rape charges against Ross, exposed herself to extreme journalistic degradation by Mayer and his thugs – L.A. district attorney Buron Fitts was on Mayer’s payroll for years, covering up rapes, abortions, and drug scandals – and stood strong enough to actually take the case to federal court, the first time in U.S. history that a rape suit went federal. Suffice to say, it was worse than fighting City Hall. Douglas was fighting Louis B. Mayer, and he effectively buried the case and ruined her life. The only witness to the crime, a parking lot attendant, recanted his story – Mayer had gotten to him and gave him a lifetime job as a Metro driver. Stenn uncovered this story while writing his definitive biography of MGM star Jean Harlow (Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow, 1993) and dug deeper … very deep. He actually found Patricia Douglas alive and not so well, approaching 90, living in squalor in a Las Vegas apartment. He befriended her and got her to tell her story on camera, and even located the grown children of the late parking lot guy. The result is the extraordinary documentary GIRL 27 (2007), an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival, a remarkable story that tells the truth after 70 years of complete obscurity. Louis B. Mayer was always the most disliked man in Hollywood; this documentary shows he was also the most evil, for all his fame and fortune. The hitherto unknown Patricia Douglas, on the other hand, emerges not only as an unsung heroine of “the little people” in Hollywood, but as a new feminist icon of the 20th Century who took on the system and stood up for women’s rights against unspeakable odds. Stenn provides an audio commentary, and there’s a 1935 short called HOLLYWOOD EXTRA GIRL that includes on-set footage from Cecil B. DeMille’s THE CRUSADES. GIRL 27 is a must-see film.
CITY LIGHTS HOME ENTERTAINMENT: Jack Fisher’s TORN APART (1990) is a beautiful Romeo-and-Juliet inspired love story between an Israeli soldier (Adrian Pasdar) and an Arab girl (Cecilia Peck, daughter of the great Gregory Peck). Set against the turmoil of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Fisher evokes deep emotion and classical romance in the lovers’ personal story, always keeping the political picture in the forefront; it’s a perfect blend of the personal and the political. Pasdar and Peck deliver really outstanding performances; Pasdar had done TOP GUN (1986), STREETS OF GOLD (1987) and NEAR DARK (1987); he would go on to star in four TV series (PROFIT, JUDGING AMY, MYSTERIOUS WAYS, HEROES) but TORN APART represents some of his finest work. Peck is equally brilliant, and has never been better. Based on the novel A Forbidden Love by Chayym Zeldis, TORN APART deserves to be better known and is highly recommended. There are director and actors’ commentary and interviews, and a photo gallery.
CLASSIC TV ANIMATION: Felix the Cat -- “the wonderful wonderful cat” – was introduced to the world in the 1920s by producer Pat Sullivan and animator Otto Messmer, earning instant popularity for the lovable feline in silent cartoons and newspaper comic strips, as well as all kinds of merchandising. Popular jazz bands even composed songs about Felix. Mickey Mouse and the Disney empire overthrew Felix’ popularity, and though there were a few cartoon shorts here and there in the early 30s, he was pretty much retired until director Joe Oriolo resurrected Felix for television in 1953. Genius Products has released a Golden Anniversary Edition of FELIX THE CAT, featuring 31 color episodes (totaling 232 minutes) from the 1959-59 season. This set is Baby Boomer Heaven, with bonus features includes 1920s FELINE FOLLIES, an interview about Felix with Oscar-winning animator/ultimate animation historian John Canemaker, and an archival promo reel.
Baby Boomers can rejoice again with THE BEST OF ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE VOLUME 2 (also from Genius). Jay Ward’s cartoon stars Rocky the Flying Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose bring their sublime comedy to three episodes full of entertainment for kids and adults alike – “Wossamotta U,” “Treasure of Monte Zoom,” and “Goof Gas Attack,” co-starring, of course, arch-enemies Boris Badanov and Natasha. Ward’s other comic creations are also available on DVD – THE BEST OF DUDLEY DO-RIGHT, THE BEST OF FRACTURED FAIRY TALES, THE BEST OF MR. PEABODY AND SHERMAN, and THE BEST OF BORIS & NATASHA. Check out www.bullwinklestudios.com for more info.
TREKKIE ALERT: Paramount Home Entertainment releases the 20th Anniversary definitive collection of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, featuring all seven seasons; here’s the PHE press release: The definitive DVD collection features all 176 classic episodes from the series’ 1987-1994 run along with all-new special features including “The Next Generation’s Impact: 20 Years Later,” “The Next Generation’s Legacy: 2007” and “Star Trek Visual Effects Magic: A Roundtable Discussion.” The collection is encased in an incredible collector’s packaging and includes an exclusive poster. Each season also includes additional bonus features exploring memorable missions, crew profiles, behind-the-scenes and much, much more. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION: COMPLETE SERIES will be available for the suggested retail price of $440.00.
BOOKS: In 1979, historian, educator and NBR Board member Jeanine Basinger published her seminal study of director Anthony Mann. Long out of print, the book has been updated by Jeanine in a new and expanded edition, Anthony Mann, available through Wesleyan University Press (http://www.wesleyan.edu/wespress/). The influential filmmaker gets a typically exhaustive and insightful treatment from the author. After a career overview, she covers his early low-budget programmers in a chapter entitled “Mann on the Mark,” writing about such forgotten films as DR. BROADWAY (1942), STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT (1944), THE BAMBOO BLONDE (1946) and STRANGE IMPERSONATION (1946), uncovering thematic and stylistic strains that he would return to time and again. In “Mann in the Dark,” she covers his enormous contribution to film noir in such works as DESPERATE (1947), RAILROADED (1947), T-MEN (1947, “Mann’s first fully mature film”), RAW DEAL (1948), HE WALKED BY NIGHT (1948, an uncredited job), BORDER INCIDENT (1950), SIDE STREET (1950) and two noir period pictures, REIGN OF TERROR (1949) and THE TALL TARGET (1951), placing them in the context of the genre with a special appreciation for his important collaboration with cinematographer John Alton. “Mann of the West” examines his milestone Westerns; Ms.Basinger writes, “Between 1950 and 1960, he would direct ten major western films, his most commercial and critically successful body of work. He had found the format that could give him the depth and complexity he had been searching for in his noir period. As Jean-Luc Godard wrote, Mann’s westerns presented ‘both beautiful landscapes and the explanation of this beauty, both mystery of firearms and the secret of this mystery, both art and the theory of art.’” This extraordinary series of movies include THE DEVIL’S DOORWAY (1950) with Robert Taylor, THE FURIES (1950) with Barbara Stanwyck, THE LAST FRONTIER (1955) with Victor Mature, THE TIN STAR (1957) with Henry Fonda, Mann’s penultimate MAN OF THE WEST (1958) with Gary Cooper, and five films starring James Stewart that represent one of the most meaningful actor-director collaborations in screen history – WINCHESTER ’73 (1950), BEND OF THE RIVER (1952), THE NAKED SPUR (1953), THE FAR COUNTRY (1955) and THE MAN FROM LARAMIE (1955). A new chapter, “Mann and Stewart: Out of the West,” deals with the duo’s often neglected but still essential non-westerns, THUNDER BAY (1953), THE GLENN MILLER STORY (1954) and STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND (1955). “The Epic Mann” explores EL CID (1961), THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE (1964) and THE HEROES OF TELEMARK (1966); like the rest of the book, it’s the best writing available on these films, and emphasizes the great need for their DVD releases. EL CID is for me the greatest of all epic movies; it was gorgeously restored a decade ago, presented by Martin Scorsese and the Weinstein Miramax in a theatrical re-release that left me (and the audience) with tears in our eyes. All three films are long overdue for rediscovery. Jeanine also studies two diverse but major Manns – MEN IN WAR (1957, “one of the greatest war films ever made”) and GOD’S LITTLE ACRE (1958), an atypical (for Mann) Southern melodrama based on the Erskine Caldwell novel. The author demonstrates how Mann’s visual style places the film squarely in his canon. Finally, she provides a career coda, notes and filmography. The 1979 Anthony Mann is one of the best director studies ever written; the 2007 Anthony Mann actually enhances and exceeds the original work, proving yet again that Jeanine Basinger is one of the cinema’s greatest historians and greatest authors, and, quite simply, a gift to cineastes and movie lovers the world over. If you haven’t read her The World War II Combat Film: Anatomy of a Genre, The IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE Book, A Woman’s View: How Hollywood Spoke to Women, 1930-1960, American Cinema: 100 Years of Filmmaking, Silent Stars (1999 NBR William K. Everson Film History Award), or The Star Machine, you owe it to yourself to do so. I for one have just one more thing to add – more books please, Jeanine!
TV: ENTOURAGE (HBO Video) has become one of the tube’s most beloved shows. The adventures of movie star Vince Chase (Adrian Grenier) , his brother Johnny Drama (Kevin Dillon), his best friend and manager “E” (Kevin Connolly), his minion Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), his nefarious agent Ari (Jeremy Piven) and his long-suffering publicist Shauna (Debi Mazar) continue in ENTOURAGE: SEASON THREE, PART TWO. Each season of this show, created by Doug Ellin, gets better and better, and these eight episodes bring the series up to date as our heroes navigate the ins and outs of Hollywood 2007. Guest stars include Brett Ratner, Joel Silver, Adam Goldberg, Nora Dunn, Pauly Shore and Ed Burns, and the two-disc set includes commentary by Ellin, Connolly, Dillon and Ferrara, behind-the-scenes footage and a terrific panel discussion at the Museum of Television & Radio.
More big Baby Boomer news – THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. is coming. Here’s the press release: Open Channel D…one of the greatest television shows of all time, and the first successful spy show on American television, will finally arrive on DVD, as Time Life and Warner Home Video debut The Man From U.N.C.L.E: The Complete Series this fall. The Golden Globe award-winning series, starring Robert Vaughn (“HU$TLE”, Superman III) as Napoleon Solo and David McCallum (“NCIS”, The Great Escape) as Illya Kuryakin, originally aired on NBC from 1964 to 1968 and earned an astounding 16 Emmy award nominations during its run. The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The Complete Series includes all four seasons of the series, the majority of which has never before been available on home video. All 105 episodes arrive November 27 featuring nearly 10 hours of stunning bonus material such as a new, in-depth interview with stars Vaughn and McCallum, original featurettes, home movies from the production set, the original, never-before-aired on network TV pilot episode, and much, much more. The Man From U.N.C.L.E: The Complete Series 41-disc DVD set will be available to ship on November 27 (pre-order begins September 28) exclusively from Time Life via the Time Life website (ManFromUncleDVD.com) priced at $249.99. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. super-sized collection, specially packaged in a silver “attaché case,” contains every original, unedited episode from all four seasons of the series – a total of 105 episodes packaged in a magnificent collector’s boxed set. Series co-stars Vaughn and McCallum sat down for the first time in over 20 years for the 90 minute interview included in the newly produced bonus features. An additional fifteen interviews with U.N.C.L.E. production crew members, fans and experts, including directors Richard Donner and Joseph Sargent and writers Dean Hargrove and Peter Allan Fields, are also featured in the generous amount of DVD extras. Nine original featurettes boast an amazing array of rare clips and memorabilia, including behind-the-scenes footage of guest star and Hollywood legend Joan Crawford, one of many notable guest stars to appear throughout the series, among them Vincent Price, Kurt Russell, and William Shatner with Leonard Nimoy two years prior to Star Trek. An “Art and Artifacts” featurette highlights set designs and blueprints, scripts, production memos and more. Several featurettes explain the history and divulge little known information about the series, others showcase the innovative gadgets, vehicles and wardrobe, and the unique music created specifically for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. James Bond creator Ian Fleming was involved in the early development of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and came up with the name "Napoleon Solo." Fleming's hand-written notes about U.N.C.L.E. lots and characters are included in the bonus features of the DVD set.
Video Streaming Clips:
http://mfile.akamai.com/11415/wmv/timelife.download.akamai.com/11415/UNCLEclips/CLIP1.wmv - In an iconic moment from the rarely seen color pilot SOLO, Napoleon Solo is introduced in a highly dramatic way, first appearing behind bulletproof glass, then emerging to kill a Thrush operative who has broken into U.N.C.L.E. headquarters.
http://mfile.akamai.com/11415/wmv/timelife.download.akamai.com/11415/UNCLEclips/CLIP2.wmv - “What a goodly outside falsehood hath!” Illya discovers a deadly insect in the boutonniere that has just been pinned on Solo’s lapel by a Thrush femme fatale in a scene from the first-season episode “The Deadly Games Affair.”
http://mfile.akamai.com/11415/wmv/timelife.download.akamai.com/11415/UNCLEclips/CLIP3.wmv - Solo, Illya and companion Tracey (Dorothy Provine) appear doomed in this scene – set in a lost Egyptian tomb – from Part II of the “Alexander the Greater Affair,” which opened the series’ second season.
ROCK ‘N ROLL: The Ramones were the greatest American punk band (Joey, Johnny, DeeDee and Tommy in its original incarnation), some guys from Forest Hills, Queens, New York, who made their mark on the Bowery at CBGBs in the late 70s along with Blondie and The Talking Heads. With THE RAMONES: IT’S ALIVE, Rhino Home Video has compiled two discs worth of live Ramones performances from 1974 to 1996 – out of a total 2,263 concerts in 22 years -- in New York venues like CBs, Max’s Kansas City and My Father’s Place (in Roslyn, Long Island), in Houston, San Francisco, Austin, Los Angeles and Cambridge, and concerts in London, Sweden, Argentina, Italy, Germany, and Finland. All the boys’ best tunes are represented, including “Blitzkrieg Bop,” “Teenage Lobotomy,” “Cretin Hop,” “I Don’t Wanna Group,” and “The KKK Took My Baby Away.” The Ramones’ music was simple and pure, hardcore rock ‘n roll songs with a sense of humor, each one only a couple of minutes long. Joey died of lymphoma, Johnny of prostate cancer, Dee of a drug overdose, but their music is more popular now than in their heyday. This set is a must for their fans old and new – for this Ramones fan, it brought lots of memories of CBGBs in the late 70s and early 80s; alas that venue closed its doors earlier this year, a victim of ever-increasing Manhattan rents. I saw The Ramones a dozen times between 1978 and 1981, and had the privilege of hanging out with Johnny Ramone at his East 10th Street apartment (the Ramones gave me “Cretin Hop” for my first feature); he was as knowledgeable about film as he was about music, and this collection is a lasting legacy to his talent.
In 1997, Irish rockers U2 (Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen) promoted their album Pop (not one of their best received efforts) with one of their typically extensive world tours. The Popmart shows were especially elaborate, and the Mexico City concert was offered on pay-per-view. Island has released the December 3, 1997 show on DVD; U2 POPMART: LIVE FROM MEXICO CITY is a fitting record of their tour, featuring that album’s songs like “Pop Muzik,” “Mofo,” “Gone,” “Lemon” and “Staring at the Sun,” along with favorites “I Will Follow,” “All I Want is You,” “Pride (In the Name of Love),” “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” “Where the Streets Have No Name,” “With or Without You,” “Mysterious Ways,” and “One.” U2 always puts on a great live show, and this is no exception.
SOUNDTRACK: The musical score for Ang Lee’s LUST, CAUTION is a musical masterpiece by composer Alexandre Desplat, available on Decca Records. It’s a sure-fire contender for an Oscar, a lyrical, haunting work that proves beyond doubt Desplat is one of the finest film artists working today. He is a shining example to aspiring composers, all of whom should accumulate as many credits as possible, write as many scores as possible. Desplat has written ONE HUNDRED scores since 1985, for 20 years without notoriety. It was only in 2005 that he started to attract international attention …and then it was a musical windfall, for him and for us. Since ’05 his scores include BIRTH (2004), GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING (2005), THE UPSIDE OF ANGER (2005), THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED (2005), CASANOVA (2005), SYRIANA (2005), THE VALET (2006), THE QUEEN (2006), THE PAINTED VEIL (2006), and this year, besides LUST, CAUTION, THEGOLDEN COMPASS (2007). Desplat is a major artist who has really paid his dues, and our payoff is an exquisite work like his LUST, CAUTION score.
INTERNET: The times they have-a changed. The quality of online entertainment programming takes leaps forward with the NBC.com series COASTAL DREAMS. Here’s a press release:
“Coastal Dreams" (www.nbc.com/coastaldreams) is a 24 episode series produced by NBC.com, which will feature interactive events (users will receive mobile text messages, phone calls and/or emails from characters) throughout the season. The show will also take advantage of NBC.com's social network, myNBC, which will tie into episodes with daily updates and in-depth back-stories on the characters. The show site will also include behind the scenes videos, a larger, more cinematic video player, an original soundtrack and a WAP site (m.nbc.com/coastaldreams), for users to enjoy on the go. iVillage, the leading community of women on the Web, will also be supporting the launch of "Coastal Dreams," offering a special sneak preview of the first two episodes to its passionate user base a week before the series October 2nd debut. Set in the idyllic town of Pacific Shores, "Coastal Dreams" (www.nbc.com/coastaldreams) follows two twenty-something friends who hoped to escape the doldrums of their everyday lives, but soon realize their lives are at stake. Zoe and Stacey have been friends since high school and travel to Pacific Shores for a relaxing summer of beach-going and boy-watching. Zoe soon discovers a dark family secret and receives a visit from someone in her past that may end the summer on a deadly note. The series stars Danica Stewart (NBC's "Passions"), Tanee McCall ("Hairspray," "Starsky & Hutch"), Elena Campbell-Martinez ("Passions"), Kam Heskin ("Passions," "Catch Me If You Can"), Charlie Koznick (NBC's "Las Vegas"), Ken Luckey ("Las Vegas", NBC's "E-Ring"), and Noah Schuffman.
JOHN GALLAGHER
jgmovie@gmail.com
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