Hey folks, Harry here with the third DVD Tuesday of this October and it’s a bit more chaste than last week… barely a tit in sight. So sad. Alas – you get some wonderful titles and some real vintage and historic treats. As always – this isn’t meant to be complete, but to be about my interest and recommendations for the week. I hope you enjoy. As always you can click on the boxes or titles and go to Amazon to read more on titles, buy the titles or feel free to use this list to help with your rental habits.
Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
TRANSFORMERS (2 Disc Special Edition) HD DVD
I have to say, I enjoyed TRANSFORMERS more on this disc than I did in the theater – mainly because I could bookmark the action scenes and then play them in order in slow motion and actually see what was going on in HD glory. That’s awesome. ILM did amazing work here, but I still feel that too much of the TRANSFORMER action is against backgrounds that are too busy to easily focus on the key action of the shot. It’s like a spastic Where’s Waldo. A problem that many had with Lucas’ STAR WARS prequels, but far far far more erratic. The film looks gorgeous on HD and the extras are more than I have gotten through, so far. Definitely the way to go on this title.
GRINDHOUSE PRESENTS: PLANET TERROR – Extended and Unrated (2-Disc Special Edition)
This isn’t extended nearly as much as DEATH PROOF – but ya know what – the little extras – the extra gore, the extra oomph – well they really give the film that extra bit of marinara it deserves. This is an absurdly spectacular crazy-ass bit of awesome insanity! By no means a “realistic” film, rather –it’s a drive-in fever-pitched geek ejaculation. And it feels real good. Starts off with the trailer for MACHETE – but curiously – the trailers by Eli Roth and Edgar Wright are missing from both this disc and the earlier released DEATH PROOF. I hypothesize that they’ll be on a later release of the “Theatrical Experience” – but we’ll see. Robert has another edition of his 10 Minute Film School which you’ll enjoy and plenty of behind the scenes. Good stuff! If you go to the HoboWithAShotgun.com they write that the trailer HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN, which was made for a SXSW GRINDHOUSE TRAILER competition, has been signed to be included on a future BOX SET to be released next year. Also - apparently the script for the feature of HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN has been completed. Woo hoo!!!
A MIGHTY HEART (HD DVD)
Don’t you just love Michael Winterbottom films? I do. My main love of HD comes in play on a movie like this. It isn’t a giant effects spectacular… in fact it isn’t really a sweeping example of epic cinematography. To a large degree it’s an intimate film. A film that stays focused on the actors – and in HD – you really get drawn into their performances. Especially when you’re seeing it 9ft by 12ft in perfect clarity. Honestly, I haven’t dug into any of the extras – I’m not sure I really want to. This is dark material and I don’t necessarily want to delve into it. That said – Angelina Jolie is fantastic in this role. Really one of her best performances to date.
THE JAZZ SINGER (3-Disc Deluxe Edition)
I’m a huge Al Jolson fan. He’s most infamous for his vaudeville Black Face numbers – but if you’ve actually watched his films – Jolson’s schtick is very much racy and in your face. He takes the steam out of every race, sex and lifestyle. That’s what his comedy was like. That said, JAZZ SINGER is by no means his best film, I claim it is WONDERBAR (still unreleased) – but it is incredibly historically significant. Now – the funny thing is, I don’t recommend this DVD to watch THE JAZZ SINGER. What I do recommend this DVD for is the extras. The documentary on the advent and development of sound on film is spectacular. And the 26 Vitaphone Vaudeville and music shorts from 1926 – 1930 are without a doubt worth every last penny spent on this set. Absolutely my fave release of the week.
ICONS OF HORROR COLLECTION – Sam Katzman – ( THE GIANT CLAW / CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN / ZOMBIES OF MORA TAU / THE WEREWOLF )
Ok – I know I declared THE JAZZ SINGER DVD set as my fave… but dammit, this is my second fave. THE GIANT CLAW is infamous for it’s hilariously wrong looking giant bird, but goddammit, I love that fucking flying turkey! And if you can look past the flying turkey effect and design… well – you’ll enjoy the hell out of the movie. That said, the other 3 movies here, I really really enjoy without reservation. Specifically – I am a big fan of ZOMBIES OF MORA TAU and THE WEREWOLF. I love clothes wearing werewolves – and the one you see on the cover here… I dig. I seriously like that design. ZOMBIES OF MORA TAU is not a George Romero influenced Zombie film… it predates that – and while it isn’t WHITE ZOMBIE quality – it has a nice atmospheric vibe going. This set of 4 films for $17.49 is totally worth the dip.
THE HOAX
I missed this film earlier this year, although I had intended to see it. I like Lasse Hallstrom’s work – and I don’t have a dislike for the Gere. That said, I love Howard Hughes stories – specially bugnuts crazy Hughes stories – and here… To watch Gere and Alfred Molina trying to pull off this scam – it’s really one of the better films I’ve seen this year. In some ways it reminds me of CATCH ME IF YOU CAN in it’s playful sense of whimsy. If you missed this in theaters – you should definitely give it a look on DVD – if you’re a fan of con-films – this is one to own.
THE INVISIBLE
You know for a majority of the film, I was really into this. But boy did it completely blew at the end… at least for me. This isn’t quite a “GHOST” film – mainly because apparently when you almost die and you’re unconscious – your consciousness can wander the earth observing what’s going on – but if your body dies – you disappear (to heaven, hell, whatever) – Generally – I like these sorts of movies. But ya know… you compare this story to say… THE LOVELY BONES… well, it just doesn’t compare. Tha said it is a nice juvenile play on this type of material with a soft ending. However, opinions on this film vary depending on your level of tolerance for velveeta.
TREASURES III: SOCIAL ISSUES IN AMERICAN FILM, 1900-1934
I have all three of these TREASURES sets and I’ll continue to pick them up, so long as they’re put out. This isn’t just about film – it’s about history. Sure there’s something like THE BLACK HAND – the very first gangster film around – only 11 minutes long, but very cool. But then there’s films about fighting TB in 1912, a traffic safety film for kids… from 1913. Think about that. Traffic safety in 1913 Brooklyn? What the hell did TRAFFIC look like then? It’s here. There’s early Suffragette movement stuff here. A 65 minute Anti Abortion film from 1916 starring Tyrone Power’s FATHER?!?!?! This stuff is amazing. I love the anti-union cartoon by Ford Motors from 1919 – sure it’s just 40 seconds, but it’s crazy. The discs are packed with this sort of thing. Prohibition shorts, disabled veterans from WWI documentary – Films by De Mille, D.W. Griffith and more. Plus you get a great companion book and more. This is over 12 hours of historic
RETURN TO HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (Unrated) HD DVD
This is one of the great curiosities of the week for me. I don’t have this yet, but apparently – exclusively to HD-DVD this film becomes a “Choose your own Horror film” where at several different points in the movie – the film will ask you to decide what a character should or should not do – and depending on your choice, the film heads in a different direction and deaths are different and the story changes. I love hokey shit like this. The gore effects will probably be pretty good – but it’s a DARK CASTLE film which is a reason to rent – but to fully explore your options here – it might be worth owning and having be a “party” flick that you don’t feel bad for bullshitting during.
THE OTHER CONQUEST
This is a truly fantastic film! LA OTRA CONQUISTA (in it’s original language) is very much a film that plays like it’s a sequel to APOCALYPTO – dealing with the horrors that Spain brought to the Maya. This is a really superior film. It had the tiniest of releases in the United States – but was the biggest film in the history of Mexico – and is a brilliant movie about the collision of cultures, faiths and beliefs – and how the conqueror is as changed as the conquered. Brilliant film, you owe yourself a look at this movie!
CRAZY LOVE
Possibly the most insane love story ever recorded. Burt Pugach and Linda Riss are mutually insane. Absolutely bat nuts insane in love. When Burt found out that Linda was engaged to another man, he hired thugs to throw LYE into her EYES – blinding her. He went to prison for 20 years and came out wooing her – and she took him back. This is a documentary folks of true love crazier than anything made up. Now I love my wife, and I’d like to think if she had someone throw Lye in my eyes, that I’d still love her… but ya know… dude – that’s LYE in your EYES and BLINDING YOU FOREVER. That’s fucked up shit to get over. When they sent me this DVD to review – they sent like 40 pages of Love Letters – that… I just can’t believe worked. This is a fantastic documentary and something to share with your loved one every anniversary or Valentine’s Day, because no matter your problems – if Burt and Linda could make it, you should be able to do just fine.
CASSHERN
I’ve had the Japanese DVD of CASSHERN for years now – and for all that time, I’ve been praying that DREAMWORKS’ GO FISH label would theatrically release this phantasmagorically stunning film. 1st time director, Kazuaki Kiriya delievers a visually jaw-dropping live-action anime that just stuns. Now this version of the film is Kazuaki’s director’s cut – which is actually shorter than it’s initial release, but in this case, that actually works. The original cut was a bit ponderous and long in the tooth. Here – the film is quite a bit more coherent – but still definitely odd. I will say this though – this film has some of the greatest live action superhero shit you’ll ever see. It is awesome. Plot isn’t that great, but ya know what – this is definitely a case of style over substance where the style is so audacious and beautiful that you’ll have a stream of cuss words spilling out of your mouth in reaction. Gorgeous work!
MACGYVER – THE COMPLETE SERIES
If you’ve been holding off buying MACGYVER till the whole series came out as a single set – here ya go. That said – it features no fucking extras. Personally – I want a DVD – that is just all of the amazing rustic innovations – proven or disproven by the MYTHBUSTERS. Because that’s what my MACGYVER fetish is about. I want to see how he’s going to have the exact right bullshit things in his pocket and laying around that’ll save his life and doom the bad guys…. And then I want to see if any of it would really work in reality proven by the gods of truth – the MYTHBUSTERS. Alas – tis a fantasy of mine. This is barebones.
HOLLOW MAN (DIRECTOR’S CUT)
I’m dying to see this DVD – also released as a Blu-Ray - Now I know that most of you probably hate HOLLOW MAN, but Verhoeven showed me his original cut of the film a few months before release – and that film was VASTLY SUPERIOR to the eventual SONY butchered release. One of the great differences was the infamous rape scene – Now it was never GRAPHIC – what was different was the way it ended and the shot that showed the aftermath of what Kevin’s character did – the victim’s aftermath – it is horrifying, not titillating. The ending was also different. Now I haven’t seen this DVD yet, but if it is that version of the film – you’re in for a treat.
MURDER PARTY
This film got incredible buzz out of SLAMDANCE this year – then again at SXSW – if memory serves. I haven’t had a chance to see it yet, but literally everyone that I know that has seen it – loved it and recommended it. That said, it’s definitely one of the films I’ll pick up this week.
GRINDHOUSE DOUBLE FEATURE ( DON’T OPEN THE DOOR / DON’T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT )
Folks, I got some sad news for you. You know how with the release of Tarantino and Rodriguez’s GRINDHOUSE double feature – you might have thought that this would raise the profile of the term GRINDHOUSE and we’d get a lot of DVDs that had double features of cool Grindhouse era films… right? And that’s been the case. It’s really been a new age for releasing these films – well after the last DVD column, where I recommended a WELCOME TO GRINDHOUSE double bill… I found out that apparently THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY has decided to go after all the DVD companies that are using the GRINDHOUSE phrase on their covers – because… apparently – THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY is deciding they own the phrase GRINDHOUSE. Which makes me fucking sick to my stomach. So instead of this being a word for a watershed of classic films – the Weinsteins are going to keep it from being used as it SHOULD BE USED – to help honest to goodness GRINDHOUSE films. This may be your last chance to pick up a GRINDHOUSE double bill. Fucking WEINSTEINS! Not only did they fuck up the marketing on GRINDHOUSE, but now their lawyers are going to kill everything that should have benefited from the awareness.
That said – this is a very fun horror double bill. Good buy for 11 bucks.
GIRL 27
Did you like Brian DePalma’s BLACK DAHLIA? Well GIRL 27 isn’t about the infamous BLACK DAHLIA, but another case of Hollywood’s degradation in the “Golden Era”. This is a film about MGM in 1937 tricking 120 underage beautiful chorus girls into attending a stag party and when one tried to flee – she was brutally raped. Then began a huge cover-up. This is a mystery that is solved and unveiled. It’s an astonishing true-life documentary revealing the scary side of classic Hollywood. Wonderful film.
That’s it for this week – see you next week where I’ll be talking about titles like MEET THE ROBINSONS, HOSTEL PART II, Kubrick in HD, THE ADVENTURES OF YOUNG INDIANA JONES, Criterion BREATHLESS & DAYS OF HEAVEN, O LUCKY MAN, FIDO, Jack Ryan on HD, POTEMKIN and much much more!!!
