How to Spend $20
By Les Winan
November 11, 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.
For convenient re-releases: Bridget Jones's Diary (Collector's Edition) (2001)
No longer is it surprising when, on the eve of the release of a sequel to a hit film, the studio decides to release an "even specialer" DVD edition of a previously released film. However, what is surprising is when there are actually worthwhile new extra features on these re-releases. This is not one of those cases. Comparing this release with the previous Bridget Jones's Diary DVD isn't hard-deleted scenes? Yep! Audio commentary with director Sharon Maguire? On both! A behind-the-scenes documentary? Look! It's on both releases! All that said, if you are a huge fan of featurettes, this is the disc for you. From the look of things, the five featurettes were not on the previous release! What a happy day!
For imagining life with Martha Stewart: The Stepford Wives (2004)
The smartest person involved with The Stepford Wives is the man originally signed to star in the film: John Cusack. Now, you might notice the complete lack of Cusack in the finished film...that's because he looked around, saw what he was in for, and ran far, far, far away from the film. So far, in fact, that co-star Nicole Kidman did her best to go with him. Unfortunately for her, she was stuck. So Mr. Sarah Jessica Parker joined the cast and a vast, massive debacle ensued. The Stepford Wives, a colossal bomb of a film, is now getting a DVD release that inspires the question: if a crappy movie is released on DVD and doesn't make a sound, was it ever released? Okay, that makes less sense than the US electoral results. If, for some odd reason, you feel compelled to rent or buy this disc, you'll have the opportunity to enjoy (and I use that word loosely) a pretty decent variety of extra features. Along with five featurettes, there's an audio commentary with director Frank Oz; a gag reel and deleted scenes. It's probably a better package than the film deserves.
For talking. And talking. Aaaaand talking...: Before Sunset (2004)
Ah, November…the month where football season is half-over, college and pro hoops are just getting started, Thanksgiving comes along, and two Richard Linklater movies get crappy DVD releases. After last week's Dazed and Confused debacle, Linklater fans are treated to another kick in the collective testicles with the release of Before Sunset. I won't claim to have seen either Before Sunset or its predecessor Before Sunrise, but I trust in Richard Linklater (and the reviews and fan base of both films). Unfortunately, as with Dazed and Confused, fan loyalty does not, in the eyes of the studio, guarantee proper treatment on DVD. Assuming most fans won't be satisfied by a simple featurette, we'll have to hold out hope that there's an elaborate box set of both films with massive extra features on the way.
For not giving a damn: Gone With the Wind (4-Disc Collector's Edition) (1939)
Number two on my Top Five Classics I've Never Seen list; Gone With the Wind finally receives the massive, four-disc collector's edition fans have been clamoring for. Well, perhaps not clamoring, as most fans of this film are probably too old to get up enough speed to clamor anywhere, but you get the idea.
Considered one of the classics in movie history, the film has something to do with the Civil War and Clark Gable (like I said, I haven't seen it). My favorite discussion of the film comes from Roger Ebert's review: "Its original audiences (women, I suspect, even more than men) wanted to see her swatted down - even though, of course, tomorrow would be another day. Rhett Butler was just the man to do it. As he tells Scarlett in a key early scene, 'You need kissing badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed, and often, and by someone who knows how.' For 'kissed,' substitute the word you're thinking of." Got to love Ebert. In any case, Gone With the Wind is clearly a classic, and clearly the DVD Pick of the Week.
For film fans, 90-year-olds who want to see their favorite film on DVD, or anyone else who picks up the four-disc set of Gone With the Wind, there's a terrific amount of extra features. Included on the discs are an audio commentary with historian Rudy Behlemr; photo galleries; foreign language version sample scenes; the prologue from the international release version (the deleted scene of its time); Atlanta premiere newsreels; and a wide variety of documentaries and featurettes. It's a terrific set. Now, drop what you're doing and drive over to your favorite elderly person's house and show them how to use their DVD player.
November 9, 2004
Ace High (1969)
Arrowhead (1953)
Before Sunset (2004)
Bollywood Queen (2002)
Bridget Jones's Diary (Collector's Edition) (2001)
Christmas Child (2003)
The Clearing (2004)
A Day Without a Mexican (2004)
Dead End (2003)
Falling from Grace (1992)
Friends: The Complete Eighth Season (4-DVD Set) (2002)
Gone With the Wind (4-Disc Collector's Edition) (1939)
The Grateful Dead Movie (1976)
The Hillside Strangler (2004)
I Drink Your Blood (1970)
Jesus of Montreal (1989)
Ju-On (2003)
The L Word: Season One (5-DVD Set) (2004)
Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)
Legally Blonde (Platinum Collection) (2001)
Lost Junction (2003)
Martin (1977)
Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (2004)
The Naked Jungle (1954)
Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy (2004)
The Princess Blade (2003)
Rick (2003)
Spies (1928)
Star Trek Voyager: The Complete Fifth Season (7-DVD Set) (2000)
The Stepford Wives (2004)
Strike Force (2003)
Suspicious River (2000)
Witness to a Kill (2001)
Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman (2004)
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