How to Spend $20
By Les Winan
June 14, 2005
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. The massive unreleased studio (film and television) back-catalogue means that every week there's likely something for you.
For people looking for photographic evidence of Sharon Stone’s methodology for success in Hollywood: Casino (10th Anniversary Widescreen Edition) (1995)
Did we really need another Scorsese movie where Joe Pesci plays an unhinged lunatic? Do they just give him these roles so that he stays balanced in his normal daily life? Of course, watching Casino is a great opportunity for anyone who hates Pesci to see him beaten with baseball bats and buried alive. If you’re interested in more than just seeing Pesci get the crap kicked out of him, Casino is the story of Sam “Ace” Rothstein, who is mob-connected and running, wait for it, a casino in Las Vegas. The film has all the typical Scorcese/Robert De Niro hallmarks, including violence, drugs, and Sharon Stone blowing Joe Pesci.
If you’re interested solely in the extra features on the DVD, you’ll enjoy a variety of featurettes and interviews, deleted scenes and, oddly enough for a recent Scorcese-directed DVD release, no audio commentary.
For Tom Delay: Heaven Can Wait (Criterion Edition) (1943)
Directed by Ernst Lubitsche, Heaven Can Wait stars Don Ameche as a man who feels he should go straight to hell and, upon his death, attempts to convince Satan of that fact. During his recounting of his life, he focuses on his relationship with his wife, played by Gene Tierney. No, this is not a really progressive film from the '40s about gay marriage, the woman’s name really was Gene (and she was plenty good looking at the time). Generally considered a comedic masterpiece, Heaven Can Wait is receiving a nice DVD release from Criterion, particularly considering the fact that all involved have been dead for quite some time. Included on the disc is a new discussion of the film with film critics Molly Haskell and Andrew Sarris; a Bill Moyers special on the life of Samson Raphaelson, the screenwriter; an audio presentation recorded in 1977 with Raphaelson and film critic Richard Corliss; home piano recordings by Lubitsche (maybe the oddest extra I’ve ever seen); the original theatrical trailer; and an essay by film scholar William Paul.
For anyone trying to figure out how to make bland, inoffensive movies that all audiences can enj…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz: Hitch (Widescreen) (2005)
Will Smith’s career has become so boring he makes Ron Howard look edgy. I literally can’t even work up enough righteous indignation to discuss this movie about a date doctor who helps men look good to women. Maybe it’s the pathetic DVD extras: three deleted scenes; five featurettes and a gag reel. Will Smith should at least have to answer for his crime.
For everyone who can’t wait for the 35th Anniversary Edition: Jaws (Widescreen 30th Anniversary Edition) (1975)
Possibly the only thing more appalling than the notion that Steven Spielberg is too pretentious to record an audio commentary is the ongoing attempts by movie studios to dupe consumers into multiple purchases of the same product. While it’s exciting when studios genuinely add new material to films that were only available on extra-free DVDs, there’s really no excuse for the insane greed you see with releases like the Jaws “30th Anniversary Edition”. Coming a natural five years after the previous “anniversary” edition, this disc adds a two-hour documentary on the making of Jaws (cleverly titled “The Making of Jaws”) and a “never-before-available” interview with Spielberg, along with deleted scenes, outtakes and storyboards, production photos, marketing info and more. It’s actually a really nice set, which begs two obvious questions:
-Why wasn’t this available on the previous release?
-Where’s the audio commentary from Steven Spielberg?
It’s not like the movie is brand new and the material they’re putting together was never available before. Clearly, this is just another attempt to bilk willing fans (referred to in the studio parlance as “suckers”) out of more money for extremely similar product.
Obviously, Spielberg is waiting until the next “anniversary” edition of Jaws (and, I assume, all of his other films) to record an audio commentary, allowing fans of the director, his films, and high quality DVDs yet another “opportunity” to purchase his work. If this happens, I hope that, in the interest of full disclosure, he acknowledges in each commentary track exactly what his cut of every DVD sold is.
For being the DVD Pick of last week…and this week: The Karate Kid (Special Edition) (1984)
The DVD Pick of the Week is actually from last week. Does it get any better than this? Not only is it an '80s classic released on DVD, it includes an audio commentary with actors Ralph “It’s so fun to look back at when I was 25” Macchio and Pat Morita, director John G. Avildsen, and writer Robert Mark Kamen. This is what an audio commentary is all about, particularly with an '80s classic. Can you imagine Fast Times At Ridgemont High with a Phoebe Cates audio commentary? Or Ferris Bueller’s Day Off with a Matthew Broderick audio commentary? These things should be required by law. Just like how on the new Hoosiers DVD there should have been an audio commentary with Dennis Hopper in character as Shooter (he probably wouldn’t have even needed to drink to prepare).
The Karate Kid is an all-time classic (from my formative years anyway). Starring Macchio as the aforementioned Kid, the film is about a single mother and her son who move to Los Angeles, where they meet an old Japanese guy, the son gets bullied by some local ruffians who go to a karate school (hereafter a “dojo”) run by Hitler’s more sadistic son, meets a hot girl, learns to do chores around the Japanese guy’s property and, most importantly, learns that if the old Japanese guy rubs you just the right way, he can make pain go away. It really doesn’t get much better than that. The Karate Kid is a must-buy, and not just because of the audio commentary. Also included on this DVD Pick of the Week are several featurettes. You can’t go wrong!
June 7, 2005
20 Funerals (2004)
The Agronomist (2003)
Be Cool (Full Frame) (2005)
Be Cool (Widescreen) (2005)
Beyond the Sea (2004)
Black Cloud (2004)
Blood Relic (2005)
Branded (1951)
Chuka (1967)
Coyote Ugly (Unrated Special Edition) (2000)
D.E.B.S. (Special Edition) (2004)
Dark Town (2004)
Direct Action (2004)
The Driver (1978)
The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976)
Father of the Bride (15th Anniversary Edition) (1991)
Frasier: The Complete Fifth Season (4-DVD Set) (1998)
Fresh Bait (1994)
Gone in 60 Seconds (Director's Cut) (2000)
Heller in Pink Tights (1960)
Hellraiser: Deader (2005)
Home Improvement: The Complete Second Season (3-DVD Set) (1992)
Imaginary Heroes (2004)
The Karate Kid (Special Edition) (1984)
Kiss Me Goodbye (1982)
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - The Complete First Season (1993)
MacGyver: The Complete Second Season (6-DVD Set) (1986)
The Machinist (2004)
The Man Who Never Was (1955)
Matilda (Special Edition) (1996)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Naked Truth (1958)
Never Let Go (1960)
Nightmare Alley (1947)
Pit Fighter (2005)
Pitcher and the Pin-Up (2003)
The Prophecy: Uprising (2005)
Quigley (2003)
Rescue Me: The Complete First Season (3-DVD Set) (2004)
Rock & Rule (2-Disc Collector's Edition) (1983)
Rock & Rule (Special Edition) (1983)
Ronin Gai (1990)
Seed of Chucky (Full Frame) (2004)
Seed of Chucky (Widescreen) (2004)
Sling Blade (Collector's Edition) (1996)
The Sopranos: The Complete Fifth Season (4-DVD Set) (2004)
Star Trek: Insurrection (Special Collector's Edition) (1998)
Stargate Atlantis: Rising (Pilot Episode) (2004)
Swimming with Sharks (Special Edition) (1995)
Tears of the Sun (Director's Cut) (2003)
Untold Scandal (2003)
Wanted: Dead or Alive (4-DVD Set) (1958)
What's New Pussycat? (1965)
The Wickeds (2005)
The Women (1939)
Worth Winning (1989)
The X-Files Mythology: Abduction (4-DVD Set) (2005)
June 14, 2005
All Over Me (1997)
Au Hassard Balthazar (Criterion Edition) (1966)
Brother to Brother (2004)
Carried Away (1996)
Casino (10th Anniversary Full Frame Edition) (1995)
Casino (10th Anniversary Widescreen Edition) (1995)
Cold and Dark (2005)
Daddy Who? (1999)
The Damned Don't Cry (1950)
Danger: Diabolik (1968)
Dark Victory (1939)
Dead Meat (2004)
A Dirty Shame (Rated NC-17) (2004)
A Dirty Shame (Rated R) (2004)
Edward II (1991)
The First Amendment Project (2004)
For Roseanna (1997)
Heaven Can Wait (Criterion Edition) (1943)
Hitch (Full Frame) (2005)
Hitch (Widescreen) (2005)
Humoresque (1946)
Images in a Convent (1979)
Jaws (Full Frame 30th Anniversary Edition) (1975)
Jaws (Widescreen 30th Anniversary Edition) (1975)
Jolly Roger: Massacre at Cutter's Cove (2005)
Knots (2004)
The Lightship (1985)
Man-Thing (2004)
Mr. Skeffington (1944)
The Nomi Song (2005)
Northern Exposure: The Complete Third Season (3-DVD Set) (1991)
Only the Lonely (1991)
Possessed (1947)
Prime Cut (1972)
The Reivers (1969)
Rory O'Shea Was Here (2004)
The Star (1952)
Target (1985)
Tarzan II (2005)
Touch of Death (1988)
Trauma (2004)
What's New Scooby-Doo? Sports Spooktacular (2005)
The Wool Cap (2004)
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