THE SPECIAL EDITION: 04.14.09

• “Green World” featurette – a look at the technical wizardry behind the making of the film
• 
  “Miller on Miller” featurette – a look at the artistry of Frank Miller
• 
  Alternate storyboard ending with voiceovers by Samuel L. Jackson and Gabriel Macht
• 
  Audio commentary by Frank Miller and Deborah Del Prete
• Digital Copy
• 
  Theatrical trailer

The Spirit  proves that too much creative control can kill all idols. What should’ve been a slam-dunk pairing of talent and material has turned into a giant joke. Future viewers will turn the film into a camp classic, while long-time Eisner fans will bitch and moan until they’re nestled in their graves. The Blu-Ray has pretty amazing A/V Quality, while the DVD has forced trailers. Make your decision.

SLEEPWALKING THROUGH THE MEKONG

Special Features

• CD soundtrack

Sleepwalking through the Mekong isn’t a film that’s going to set the world on fire. It’s a tiny indie flick about Cambodian rock and its rise in America. The LA-based band Dengue Fever decides to go back to their homeland see where Cambodian rock was born. What follows it the most exciting look at the roots of Rock in recent memory. I highly recommend it and I suggest picking it up from your preferred e-tailer. The chances of finding this at a brick & mortar store are going to be slim to none.

THE PERSONAL CRITERION COLLECTION

I had an idea for a subset column for The Special Edition. Many people
want to have Criterions in their collection. Many people pretend to
like half of the films that Criterion releases. But, what about those
people that honestly can’t be bothered to be told what to like. What
about them?

That’s why I want to test the waters and see if
this floats. I want the readers of CHUD and this dear article to head
to the Boards and nominate their Personal Criterion Collection entry. I
want to see explanations and not just mindless listing of entries,
people.

All titles eligible are previously released DVD/BR media that you believe to be essential/necessary to the collection of the Home Entertainment enthusiast.

THE FIRST ENTRIES

1. The Fountain

2. Videodrome

3. Seven Men from Now

4. Stalker

5. The Last Days of Disco
6. Paris, Texas
7. Vanishing Point
8. The Stunt Man
9. The Deer Hunter
10. The Third Man
11. Southland Tales
12. Head
13. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
14. Sorcerer
15. Henry V (1989)
16. The Great White Hope
17. Fixed Bayonets
18. Dracula: Pages from a Virgin’s Diary
19. The Ballad of Cable Hogue
20. Gates of Heaven
21. The Dirty Dozen
22. Opening Night
23. Birdman of Alcatraz
24. Elmer Gantry
25. The Band Wagon
26. Five Guns West
27. Detour
28. Jubal
29. Affair in Trinidad

and today’s entry suggested by Anderson.

30) Experiment in Terror. (click on box art to try to buy the OOP disc at Amazon)

Blake Edwards is a rather versatile director. Well, he once was. Back before The Pink Panther launched Edwards into the slapstick, the man did some solid work. Experiment in Terror is a fast-paced film about a lowly bank worker (Lee Remick) who is targeted by an asthmatic caller. He tells her that he’ll kill her little sister, unless she steals $100,000 from her bank. Glenn Ford is the FBI agent who manages to get involved in the case.

The current DVD from Sony Pictures is Out of Print. It recently slipped into OOP territory, so I would imagine that a new release is in the works. Don’t expect a ton of supplementals, as there weren’t any on the last release. Hopefully, issues with the A/V Quality will get fixed. There was a lot of edge enhancement on the last disc.


HERE’S THE LINK TO NOMINATE MORE TITLES.

American Swing

Bled

Crude Impact

Decameron ’69

Hiding Out

House of Saddam

Irreconcilable Differences
The Lost Collection
Knots Landing – The Complete Second Season

Knots Landing: The Complete Seasons 1 & 2

The Reader

Skins – Vol. 2

The Spirit

Splinter
Lost in Austen

BLU-RAY: THE DISC THAT WALKS LIKE A MAN

The Spirit
Mean Girls
8 Mile
The Last Kiss
Strange Wilderness
Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth version)

Deep Sea
Cranford
Splinter
Thirteenth Floor
Universal Soldier: Return
The Story of India

New Releases

The Spirit  $19.99 (1 disc)
              
$22.99 (Two-disc + Digital Copy)
              
$26.99  (Blu-Ray)