How to Spend $20
...the last two weeks
By Les Winan
October 15, 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.
Since I missed out on last week and there’s nothing this week that even remotely interests me, this will be a combination edition of How to Spend $20…this week’s list of DVDs with featured discs from last week (with a couple of this week’s thrown in).
For people interested in nice-looking TV-movies: The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
As I said in my Big Board entry about this film, it is “a movie so intensely ridiculous, so relentlessly atrocious that it could only have come from the mind of Roland Emmerich. Terrible, terrible filmmaking.” I stand by that quote. The Day After Tomorrow is a terrible television movie with a decent cast and outstanding special effects. For the most part, you could put the film on mute and fast forward to the special effects scenes. Luckily for suckers who buy the film, they’ll be treated to an audio commentary with director Emmerich, producer Mark Gordon, writer Jeffrey Nachmanoff, cinematographer Ueli Steiger, editor David Brenner, and production Designer Barry Chusid; deleted scenes and other features. I wouldn’t bother watching them even if a giant wave was coming and this was the last DVD you could watch before you die.
For people wanting to see desperate cries for attention: The Jamie Kennedy Experiment: The Complete Second Season (4-DVD Set) (2003), Punk'd: The Complete Second Season (2-DVD Set) (2004)
Really, does anybody care? If nothing else, Jamie Kennedy and Ashton Kutcher should be pummeled for the new Monday Night Football takeoff on their crappy shows. I keep waiting for Demi Moore to tell Ashton he’s been punk’d, that would be awesome. Personally, I find it amusing that Kutcher’s career has, despite his higher profile in the media, been in a relative free fall.
For people interested in a naughty Mandy Moore: Saved! (2004)
Religious comedies, particularly smart ones willing to mock the hypocrisies and oddities of major religions, can never go wrong (at least with me). All the more promising is the smart, young cast, headed by Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, Jena Malone and Patrick Fugit. The film revolves around “degayification” and teen pregnancy at a Baptist high school, which is pretty much all I needed to know to go out and rent the movie. Added bonuses include a commentary with director - co-writer Brian Dannelly, producer Sandy Stern, and co-writer Michael Urban; an additional commentary with Moore and Malone; deleted scenes; outtakes; bloopers; featurettes and easter eggs. It’s a terrific package for a well-reviewed, largely unseen film.
For everyone who has ever rolled a baby carriage down a flight of steps: The Untouchables (Collector's Edition) (1987)
The Untouchables, already released on DVD, gets a “Collector’s Edition”, which only, and I mean only, includes featurettes. Not only is this a shameful grasp for more money, it smells to me like there may be an “Ultimate” edition coming soon. Probably one with commentary tracks, deleted scenes, interviews and more. Just another opportunity for the studio to rook as many fans as possible into paying for the same DVD material for a third time. This practice, as shameful as they come, is akin to a band getting fans to pay admission to a concert and then, roughly every half hour throughout the set, demanding an additional entrance fee to hear more songs. Certainly every corporation is in the interest of making money, but at what point is enough enough? Shouldn’t they at least offer a rebate to people who send in their original Untouchables DVD with a proof of purchase of the new “Collector’s Edition”?
For people who can actually spell Zihuatanejo: The Shawshank Redemption (Deluxe Edition) (1994)
If ever there was a film that was a “video hit”, this is the one. For a film that made just over $28 million at the box office to become, I think it’s safe to say, one of the most beloved films of the 1990s is nothing short of miraculous. Men in particular (myself included) tend to be riveted to this film, no matter where they come across it, be it cable, DVD or grainy old video tape. Sure, it was nominated for seven Oscars and was highly acclaimed on release, but it’s no stretch to say that Shawshank was not a hit. But it is now. I have a college roommate who, after a number of drinks, could be heard whispering “Zihuatanejo” across a room. I stop on the film in most of its cable incarnations and tend to watch large chunks, if not the rest of the movie. Sports columnists devote large portions of their lives to watching and quoting the film.
Adapted from a novella by Stephen King, The Shawshank Redemption is a modern classic and the DVD Pick of the Week. If you’re smart enough to go and pick up the disc, you’ll get an audio commentary with writer/director Frank Darabont; two documentaries; The Charlie Rose Show; comic spoof "The Sharktank Redemption” Darabont’s stills gallery; storyboards and other various features. It’s a terrific package for a film that has long begged for a satisfactory DVD release.
For remembering when Robin Williams made good movies: Aladdin (Special Edition) (1992)
Aladdin, one of the last of the successful Disney non-computer animated films, was a massive hit in theaters, with Robin Williams’ fast-talking, quippy genie the main attraction. Having two significantly younger siblings at the time the film was originally released on VHS, to this day I can recite, verbatim, many of the lines in the film and entire sections of dialogue. Those kids loved this movie that much. Impressively, so did everyone else. Just the other day, my stepmother was hugged by two family members and the same time and said “Ooh, group hug. Mind if I kiss the monkey?” Aladdin is a terrific movie, representing one of the few good artistic choices Robin Williams has made in the last 20 years and the DVD Pick of the Week.
When the millions of you out there run out and snatch this DVD off of shelves, you’ll be in for a significant amount of extra features. Included on the DVD is a commentary track with the filmmakers; another commentary track with the animators; a new documentary; a deleted song with an all-new recording by Clay “Buy This DVD Despite My Involvement” Aiken (accompanied by the original storyboards and an all-new music video); Jessica “Unfortunately, my shirt is on” Simpson and Nick Lachey performing a version of"A Whole New World”; featurettes; deleted scenes; games; art features and a variety of other features. It’s an outstanding package.
For Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
Politics aside, Michael Moore is an outstanding and entertaining documentarian. Moore’s indictment of President Bush and cronies is a compelling, well-made, tragic, sad, funny look at the current administration, the war in Iraq, and the tragedy of September 11th. Moore makes his case for the electoral ouster of President Bush and does so in entertaining fashion. In the interest of not stirring a political pot already boiling less than three weeks before the most important election of our lifetime, I won’t editorialize on the release other than to say that I enjoyed the film immensely and highly recommend it. Clearly, many others feel the same, as Fahrenheit 9/11 was an enormous hit and became the first documentary ever to gross more than $100 million at the box office.
As the DVD Pick of the Week, Fahrenheit 9/11 is loaded with extra. The film was released on DVD to coincide with the election and as you scan the list of extras, you’ll see that the filmmaker continued to make the case against President Bush with the DVD. Normally, I don’t bother to list the names of the featurettes on a given DVD release, but as the featurettes are the only features on this disc, I’ll make an exception (also because they illustrate my point about the intent of the DVD):
-"The Release of Fahrenheit 9/11"
-"Iraq, Pre-War": The people of Iraq of the eve of invasion
-"Homeland security, Miami style": Footage of the old men who patrol the Florida coast lookng for terrorists as part of the homeland security plan
-"Outside Abu Ghraib Prison": Eyewitness account from Samara, Iraq
-"Lila, D.C.": Lila Lipscomb at the Washington, D.C. premiere
-Arab-American comedians: Their acts and experiences after 9/11
-Extended interview: More with Abdul Henderson
-"Condi 9/11": Condoleezza Rice's 9/11 Commission testimony
-"Bush Rose Garden": George W. Bush's full press briefing after 9/11 Commission appearance
Clearly it’s a partisan package, but that doesn’t make it less compelling. Perhaps with the rose colored glow of history, Fahrenheit 9/11, the DVD Pick of the Week, will be able to be judged outside of politics and through the true lens of documentary filmmaking. But probably not.
October 12, 2004
The Bellboy (1960)
Betty Blue (Uncut Director's Cut) (1986)
Bite Me! (2004)
Brave New Girl (2004)
Breakin' All the Rules (2004)
Bush's Brain (2004)
Cinderfella (1960)
Coast to Coast (2004)
Crime of Passion (2003)
C.S.I.: The Complete Fourth Season (6-DVD Set) (2004)
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
The Delicate Delinquent (1956)
Disorderly Orderly (1964)
The Errand Boy (1961)
The Family Jewels (1965) 5ive Days to Midnight (2004)
The Gatekeeper (2002)
Gothika (2-Disc Special Edition) (2003)
Hooked: The Legend of Demetrius "Hook" Mitchell (2003)
I'm Not Scared (2003)
The Jamie Kennedy Experiment: The Complete Second Season (4-DVD Set) (2003)
Japón (2002)
Kamikaze Taxi (1995)
Kingdom Hospital: The Entire Series (4-DVD Set) (2004)
The Ladies Man (1961)
Method (2004)
Monster Man (2003)
The Mother (2004)
Noi (2003)
The Patsy (1964)
Punk'd: The Complete Second Season (2-DVD Set) (2004)
Radio Flyer (1992)
Raising Helen (2004)
Reversible Errors (2004)
Salem's Lot (2004)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Special Edition) (1954)
Stateside (2004)
The Stooge (1951)
Sub Terra (2003)
Valentin (2004)
The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1961)
The Wire: The Complete First Season (5-DVD Set) (2002)
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