THE WEEK OF MAY 25th 2010

GROUP EDITED by: TROY ANDERSON

DVD/BR SECTION by: Troy Anderson

THE ROAD
Director: John Hillcoat
Weinstein Company / Sony

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Special Features

  • Director’s Commentary
  • Deleted and Extended Scenes
  • The Making of The Road
  • Theatrical Trailer #1
  • Theatrical Trailer #2


The Road was a great novel. Cormac McCarthy has written many great novels and a few people have tried to adapt them. John Hillcoat has been riding on the strength of The Proposition. They were two great flavors that were supposed to merge into something greater than themselves. What happened was a year’s worth of delays, bad word of mouth and a final edit that left out several key moments of the novel. Sure, Viggo Mortensen busted his ass to make the film hit those few key character points. It’s just that this film wasn’t the book that grabbed readers by the coccyx.

STAGECOACH
d. John Ford

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Special Features

  • New, restored high-definition digital transfer
  • uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • Audio commentary by noted western authority Jim Kitses
  • Bucking Broadway (1917), a fifty-four-minute silent western by John Ford
  • Extensive video interview with Ford from 1968
  • New video interview with Dan Ford
  • New video interview with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich
  • New video essay by writer Tag Gallagher
  • New video feature about Monument Valley
  • New video interview with stunt coordinator Vic Armstrong
  • Radio dramatization of Stagecoach from 1949
  • Theatrical trailer
  • A booklet featuring an essay by David Cairns

    • Stagecoach is one of the best road movies made for the silver screen. Sure, this was the first Ford/Wayne team-up, but the film is about more than that. The Ringo Kid was one of the lesser John Wayne roles, but you could see Wayne developing his onscreen persona. A lot of younger viewers will mistake that boldness for American jingoistic bullshit. What it did mark was the golden days of America’s greatest artform. It’s funny how a video game can make people revalue the Western. If you can walk away from the XBOX for more than three hours, I’d recommend picking this flick up.

    DEAR JOHN
    d. Lasse Hallstrom

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    • Deleted and Alternate Scenes
      Alternate Ending
      Outtakes
      A Conversation with Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried and Lasse Hallstrom
      Transforming Charleston
      Military in Movies: Dear John’s Military Advisors
      Mr. Tyree, The Mule, and Benny Dietz
      The Story of Braeden Reed



    Dear John     is a story about a soldier finding love. When 9/11 happens, he marches off to become a faceless human shield for corporate interest. It’s Nicholas Sparks, so you can follow the formula tree to figure out the complete story arc. The film is adequate, as Amanda Seyfried is becoming a reliable lead. What is more disheartening is director Lasse Hallstrom slumming it with this sort of material. I get the humor in trying to make a sweeping teen romance about 9/11, but Hallstrom should be above this kind of stuff. There’s a drinking game to be developed out of this bitch.

    TRUE BLOOD: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON
    c. Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer and Sam Trammell

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    Special Features

    • The Vampire Report (Special Edition): Check out the past year’s biggest
      stories in vampire news, politics, and popular culture in the special
      edition of The Perspective with Victoria Davis
      Fellowship of the Sun: Reflections of Light: Rules to live by with Fellowship of the Sun leaders Steve and Sarah Newlin
      Seven audio commentaries with the cast and crew, including Alan Ball,
      Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Michelle Forbes, Alexander Skarsgard,
      Rutina Wesley, Ryan Kwanten, Sam Trammell, and many more