How to Spend $20 This Week
By Les Winan
April 7, 2004
Taking a look ahead at the week's DVD releases is always dicey for your wallet. Nearly every week, there's a disc that would fit nicely into any size collection. When it comes time to decide what to buy, there are really two determining factors: how much you love the content and the quality of the extra features on the disc.
As a result, decisions will be totally subjective (I bought the full run of the unjustly canceled ABC dramedy Sports Night, no matter that the discs are featureless, The Criterion Collection edition of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a disc I had been dreaming of for years). The massive unreleased studio (film and television) back-catalogue means that every week there's likely something for every film fan. So before you think to yourself, "I don’t adore Janet Jones’ movie career, but I’ll watch Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach more than once!" stop; ask yourself, "Why!?" and then check to see if Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (or your disc of choice) is one of the weekly BOP DVD recommendations.
For people pissed at me for dropping the ball last week: Panic Room (3-Disc Special Edition) (2002)
My apologies for not getting a column up last week, as my boss was intent on working me into the ground, leaving little time for writing. Luckily for you, I’ll take just a moment to talk about what would have been my DVD Pick of the Week last week…Panic Room.
While not David Fincher’s best film (Se7en), Panic Room is still a Fincher film, which makes it worthwhile no matter the DVD package. But when you stop and take a look at this special edition release, you remember what “special edition” really means. Certain filmmakers (Steven Soderbergh, Kevin Smith) really “get” DVD, and Fincher is no exception. Two of his films (Se7en, Fight Club) have been released on DVD with marvelously involved packages. Count Panic Room on that list (now, if only that special edition of The Game will hit shelves soon). Fincher is particularly adept at providing significant commentary and background on his films, with insightful commentary tracks illuminating the proceedings. Fight Club’s DVD features Fincher and stars Edward Norton and Brad Pitt talking about the film and the reasons it didn’t connect with mainstream audiences. It’s an outstanding addition to the film.
Panic Room is no different. Staring Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart as a mother and daughter essentially taken hostage in their house’s “panic room” (a safe room in a house for people concerned about people breaking in) by thieves played by Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam and Jared Leto, Panic Room is an extremely good thriller. The DVD features, among other things, a commentary track with Foster, Whitaker, and Yoakam; a commentary track with writer David Koepp and special guest William Goldman; and another with Fincher solo. In addition, there are huge number of documentaries and featurettes on the film. There are also a huge variety of additional extras, including a multi-angle look at a scoring session. A terrific package, particularly for Fincher fans.
For insatiable Sports Night fans: Father Hood (1993)
Okay, not even the most insatiable Sports Night fan needs to own a Patrick Swayze movie. Unless you count Point Break. Everybody loves Point Break.
For people wondering what you call a marriage between Nathan Lane and Angelina Jolie: Charade (Criterion Edition) (1963)
This classic Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn film about a woman on the run was recently remade with Mark Wahlberg and Thandie Newton. A funky bunch, indeed. Okay, that doesn’t necessarily make sense, I just wanted to work that in there. In any case, if you’d like to check out the Criterion Collection release of the original, this is your week. Included on the disc are an audio commentary with director Stanley Donen and writer Peter Stone, and a filmography of Donen. Nothing spectacular, extras-wise, particularly for a Criterion disc, but if you’re a fan of the film, don’t miss out.
For people who’ve wanted to watch something worse than Gigli: The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Not since the Star Wars prequels have two films with such promise been so disappointing. So much so that I never even bothered to see The Matrix: Revolutions. Now, you might be thinking “if you never even saw it, how do you know it sucked?” Fair question, to which I reply “I saw the first half of the film (The Matrix: Reloaded) and it sucked, which leads me to the assumption.” So there you go. I’ll just assume it was terrible and move on. Or forget that it exists. If you just have to complete your Matrix DVD collection, you’ll find a photo gallery; timeline; featurettes and preview of the Matrix online multiplayer game. Looks like the DVD is just another disappointing chapter in the Matrix franchise.
For people who want more evidence in their “justified in wanting to beat the crap out of Steve Martin” file: Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)
I love everything Steve Martin does…most of the time. The times I don’t like him much are when he needs a new beach house and stars in Bringing Down the House, Looney Tunes: Back in Action and Cheaper by the Dozen in the same year. Let me just say that I’m happy he wrote another terrific book and am heartened by the idea that he’s starring in the film adaptation of his book Shopgirl, but that it better be good. Really good. Or he’s going to have an angry Internet movie columnist to deal with. Maybe even several of us. If, held at gunpoint, you are forced to purchase Cheaper by the Dozen, you’ll find an audio commentary with director Shawn Levy and a separate one with specific (non-Martin) members of the cast (all children); deleted scenes with optional commentary; and a featurette. By the way, is it a sign of just how overexposed Ashton Kutcher is that he’s not even featured on the DVD cover? I think so.
For Sex in the City fans who just must have more Kim Catrall: Police Academy (Anniversary Edition) (1984)
Mostly, the Police Academy franchise lives on for me because of Homer Simpson’s impression of Michael Winslow, aka “the guy who makes noises with his mouth." Aside from that, it’s a good day that I can flip past a Police Academy movie on cable. Good because I don’t have to stop and watch one of them. If you must, the “Anniversary Edition” features an audio commentary with “stars” Steve “Three Men and a Twenty-something anyone? Anyone? Danson? Selleck?” Guttenberg, Michael Winslow, Leslie Easterbrook, G.W. Bailey, director Hugh Wilson and producer Paul Maslansky; and another feature nobody ever asked for: an all-new reunion documentary.
For people wondering when Undeclared is hitting DVD: Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series (6-DVD Set) (1999)
Yet another in the pantheon of terrific television shows killed far too early by moronic television network executives (Sports Night, Action!, Undeclared, Futurama, and…coming soon to cancellation…Arrested Development), Freaks and Geeks was Judd Apatow’s NBC comedy about a bunch of, well, freaks and geeks in a 1980s high school spawned a, wait for it, “cult following and critical acclaim” before being cancelled after only 18 episodes. That having been said, it’s the DVD Pick of the Week.
For fans of the show (or the curious), the six disc Freaks and Geeks DVD set features a total of 29 commentary tracks on the 18 episodes with various cast and crew members, writers, and directors; deleted scenes; outtakes; a booklet with an essay by Freaks and Geeks creator Paul Feig; a Q&A with producer/writer Judd Apatow; and a large variety of other extra features. For really big fans of the show, there is also a “Yearbook Edition” available only on the Freaks and Geeks Web site that includes two more discs of extra features. Either set is a must-have for fans of the show and the DVD Pick of the Week.
Now, when is that Undeclared DVD set coming out?
April 6, 2004
30 Years to Life (2001)
Angels in the Endzone (1998)
Angels in the Infield (2000)
Before and After (1996)
Blaze (1989)
Charade (Criterion Edition) (1963)
Charlie's Angels: The Complete Second Season (6-DVD Set) (1976)
Cheaper by the Dozen (2003)
City of Joy (1992)
Deceived (1991)
The Doctor (1991)
The Dresser (1983)
F.E.D.S. (2004)
Father Hood (1993)
Feast of July (1995)
For Me and My Gal (1942)
Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series (6-DVD Set) (1999)
Friends: The Complete Seventh Season (4-DVD Set) (2001)
Galerians: Rion (2004)
Greatest Show on Earth (1952)
Half a Sixpence (1967)
Hello Again (1987)
I Downloaded a Ghost (2002)
In the Good Old Summertime (1949)
Lorenzo's Oil (1992)
Love Finds Andy Hardy (1938)
The Maldonado Miracle (2003)
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Me and the Kid (1993)
Passionada (2003)
Police Academy (Anniversary Edition) (1984)
Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985)
Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986)
Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987)
Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988)
Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989)
Police Academy 7: Mission to Moscow (1994)
Vengeance (2004)
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