A solitary voice woke me up the other night. Its beckoning unmistakable. Once I looked down under my bed, I had my answer – Maurice was back. It had been some time, but we were both ready to accept life’s challenges. And there were many after scaring the crap out of everyone years prior. If only I could tell my parents about our forbidden desires.
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
Bennett Miller’s quietly confident Capote (read Devin’s positive review) is bolstered by one powerhouse performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman. His Truman is a wholly rounded character of epic proportions; he disappears inside of him. Focusing in on the era in which Capote left for Halcomb, Kansas to research In Cold Blood – a grisly family murder for the anus-less writers at the New Yorker, the script from Dan Futterman is most notable for its confident touch in presenting all sides of the story. Hoffman’s Capote is a stranger in an even strange land, the type of intellectual spouting effeminate phrases with gusto and high-pitched unease against the relative slowness of down home Americana. But he’s also driven at all costs to get to the scratched bottom of the two young killers stories, even if it means lying, cajoling, and stealing it out from under them – all items he does in order to satisfy his own skewed curiosities. Miller’s film is a laborious event and it takes its time unraveling the secrets of two lives about to smash into one another, that of Capote and Perry Smith (played by Clifton Collins Jr.). Stick around and you will be rewarded with not only the assured second feature from a man who brought Speed Levitch into our boring, trite lives, but also of the fascination with Hoffman’s quickening into being Capote. Sadly, you’ll have to provide your own lightning bolts and screaming.
Know what ‘exacerbate’ means – with:
– Audio commentary with Bennett Miller and Philip Seymour Hoffman
– Audio commentary with Bennett Miller and Cinematographer Adam Kimmel
– Unanswered Prayers – a documentary on Truman Capote
– 2 behind the scenes documentaries
– Theatrical trailer.
Liev Schreiber, the bane of Devin’s spell check, busts out of his actorly mold with his own adaptation and directorial prowess bringing Jonathan Safran Foer’s Everything is Illuminated to the screen (read Devin’s review). Now if you can put aside your lusting of the man who is dating Naomi Watts, you’ll quickly realize that Schreiber’s simplicity in presenting Elijah Wood’s search to understand how his own Grandfather escaped the Nazi’s is what makes Everything is Illuminated into much more than your weekly foray into pornographic animated violence. Traveling to the Ukraine with his three companions – Alex (the great Gogol Bordello front man Eugene Hutz), Grandfather (Boris Leskin – my former Directing the Actor teacher in college) whom is naturally the driver since he is blind, and Grandfather’s unhinged “seeing eye bitch” – Jonathan seeks to discover the woman who may have saved his Grandfather’s life. What makes the story more immediate for myself is the inclusion of Leskin, which undoubtedly has absolutely nothing to do with the narrative. While I thought his teaching methods were a bit off-kilter, watching the trailers has led me to believe he’s managed to find a good balance between the discoveries so prevalent in Schreiber’s directorial debut. This just means I’m stoked to see it, you short arses.
Be a premium dancer – with:
– Additional scenes
– Film’s theatrical trailer
You might not be familiar with Noah Baumbach, unless you’ve seen his previous film Kicking & Screaming (the one without Will Ferrell) or heard his witty repartee with friend, co-writer, and internet sex pot Wes Anderson on the commentary track for Criterion’s Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. He made a splash with his second film, The Squid and the Whale, which made a tremendous impact on Devin, who named it his favorite film of 2005 right here. In return, the story of a divorce reeking Hathaway nudity-free Havoc on two fledgling Brooklynites in the error-free 80’s might have an indelible impression on your own. It’s certainly no Siggy Freud, but Baumbach’s story is steeped in as real-life as you’re going to get without shaking the night vision camera and answering your cellphone in the middle of some mediumcore intimacy. I mean, how could you not identify with your Mom dating tennis coach William Baldwin? Oddly enough, he taught my Mother a thing or two about life as well – in Fair Game, that is. Baumbach’s deft touch is present throughout everything from singing Pink Floyd to Jeff Daniel’s over-the-top antics that rival your daily dose of immaturity.
Suck my dick, ass man – with:
– Audio commentary with Noah Baumbach
– A behind-the-scenes featurette
– A conversation with Baumbach and film critic Philip Lopate
– Collectible insert
Mikael Håfström’s Derailed spoils so much within its first two minutes that it correctly ruins the rest of the atmospheric film. You’ll have to be smart. You’ll have to be nimble, and you’ll even have to listen with Spock ears unless you don’t care about it. You’ll need to, as events have Clive Owen’s married Charles seeking out a little romantic indiscretion with Jennifer Aniston’s Lucinda and her indisputable high-paid salary. She’s not a terrific actor, per say, so it’s adequate to say she’s passable in the twisting, turning story, ratcheted up to 6 once the slimy Monica Bellucci-lancer Vincent Cassel comes into the picture. Instantly blackmailing Charles and Lucinda by proxy, Cassel threatens to blow their own worlds sky high unless they turn their money over to another raptor attempting his hand at selling something besides deodorant – Xzibit, coincidentally working in tandem with Cassel’s Gallic greed. While steeped in a very convincing tone (Håfström made the fairly good Evil), Derailed makes good on its name once the ‘twist’ is revealed and Owen’s fists, hands, and trigger pulling shenanigans get the best of him. One could argue that screenwriter Stuart Beattie was much more adroit in Collateral, but in Derailed it just fizzles out faster than you reading down to the bottom of this column.
December! – with:
– 5 minutes of additional footage not seen in theatres (Unrated Version ONLY)
– A featurette – The making-of Derailed
– Some deleted scenes
– Fullscreen, if purchasing the Theatrical DVD
Disney, before the purchased Pixar for all the donuts in the greater Boston area, attempted their hand at CGI Animation with some fairly ho-hum results. Independent darling Zach Braff is the titular Chicken Little, whose story we all know considering we all run around with our heads cut off when the second X-Files movie keeps getting pushed back. As it just so happens, the sky is indeed falling. Thanks to the leaps and bounds in CGI technology, it’s raining not only the lusting of the Weather Girls, but also large hexagonal chunks of cloudy masses. How will Chicken Little explain this ancient phenomenon to the skeptical masses? I don’t know about you, but informing a chicken, an Ugly Duckling, a Runt of the Litter, and the impossibility of science named Fish out of Water, is quite hard without the language barrier. Still, if you enjoyed the Emperor’s New Groove, you’ll be happy to know that the film’s director also took on this epically bent tale of Disney whose end credits are actually sung by Patrick Stewart and Don Knotts. Surely the world is coming to an end, or a fantasy is coming true in Minnesota.
Hey, leave Barbra out of this! – with:
– Deleted scenes with 3 Alternate Openings (seriously?)
– A making-of featurette – Hatching Chicken Little
– Where’s Fish – trivia game
– A Karaoke sing-along
– 2 music videos (from The Barenaked Ladies and The Cheetah Girls)
Lodge Kerrigan explores more of human nature in Keane (read Devin’s review), and like his previous masterpiece Clean, Shaven (buy that from CHUD here) the complications behind schizophrenia play a tremendous role. Damian Lewis, who you’ll remember from the magnificent Band of Brothers, plays Keane with all manner of emotional distress – acting out in defiance and showing the world, as Devin so states: that he’s a “young Pacino.” Seeking, seeking throughout the Port Authority Bus Terminal for his alleged lost daughter only brings up larger questions. Is his daughter real? Wait, who was screwing transients inside the bathroom? Was it your drunken SVA friend? What exactly is going on? If you’re like Devin, not much, but Keane is almost the stylistic explanation of what these sort of thought provoking films strive to unravel.
My Name is William Keane – with:
– An alternate cut by Executive Producer Steven Soderberg. As an aside, I wonder how Kerrigan feels about another cutting his own material?
You might recall a little film called Paradise Now caused a lot of trouble amongst lots of people (including Devin, who pined for its win at the Oscars here and whose thoughts I respectfully disagree at times). Thankfully, the better Tsotsi won (go Gavin Hood!), but now is yet another ground around for political maneuverings and forceful discussions around your boring dinner tables. Director Hany Abu-Assad tells the story of two best friends, called upon by the Palestinians to take up their cause and suicide bomb their way into obscurity. It’s then where doubts arise – each man taking to his own deep thoughts against the fresh backdrop of the never-ending Middle East conflict. Everyone and their family (except those in the middle parts of America) seem to have an opinion, and Paradise Now will only re-enforce that inherent belief system. Arguably you’ll either be intrigued or repulsed with the charged filmmaking on display – and the best dénouement is that, hopefully, it’ll get you talking and taking the right side, naturally.
Extras include:
– The theatrical trailer
Busby Berkeley was one of those infamous pioneering filmmakers who somehow managed to insert himself into other director’s films. He not only manhandled his way into that, but along with the great Fred Astaire, the two worked separately to transform musicals into those all-singing all-dancing extravaganzas that defined the early sound movie musical. Berkeley’s flamboyant style transcended normal narratives and touched the realms of the unreal. His surrealist fantasies were visual feats upon the eyes, as evidenced throughout Warner’s Bubsy Berkeley Collection – featuring the films of 42nd Street, Gold Diggers of 1933, Footlight Parade, Dames, Gold Diggers of 1935, and the Busby Berkeley Bonus Disc. The films themselves are worthwhile if only for Berkeley’s confidently expressive movements, production numbers and experimental tendencies beyond any normal filmmaking working then (or quite possibly today – although Baz Luhrmann was close). Check them out if you ever have the nerve to eschew a more traditional style and of course, the use of naturalistic color. That was code word for black & white!
Be free, white, and 21 – with all this heavy baggage!:
– 3 vintage featurettes Harry Warren: America’s Foremost Composer, Hollywood Newsreel, and A Trip Through a Hollywood Studio) (on 42nd Street)
– Notes on Busby Berkeley (on 42nd Street)
– A new featurette – Good Diggers: FDR’s New Deal…Broadway Bound (on Gold Diggers 1933)
– 2 vintage featurettes (Rambling ‘Round Radio Show #2 and Seasoned Greatings) (on Gold Diggers 1933)
– 3 vintage Cartoons (I’ve Got to Sing a Torch Song, Pettin’ in the Park and We’re in the Money) (on Gold Diggers 1933)
– A new featurette – 42nd Street: From Book to Stage to Screen (on Gold Diggers 1933)
– A vintage featurette – The 42nd Street Special (on Gold Diggers 1933)
– A Busby Berkeley Musicals Trailer Gallery (on Gold Diggers 1933)
– A new featurette – Footlight Parade: Music for the Decades (on Footlight Parade)
– 2 vintage featurettes (Rambling ’Round Radio Row #8 and Vaudeville Reel #1) (on Footlight Parade)
– 2 vintage Cartoons (Honeymoon Hotel and Young and Healthy) (on Footlight Parade)
– A theatrical trailer (on Footlight Parade)
– A new featurette – Busby Berkeley’s Kaleidoscopic Eyes (on Dames)
– 3 vintage featurettes (And She Learned About Dames, Good Morning, Eve, and Melody Master: Don Redman and His Orchestra) (on Dames)
– 2 vintage Cartoons (I Only Have Eyes for You and Those Beautiful Dames) (on Dames)
– Audio-Only Bonus: Direct from Hollywood Radio Promo (on Dames)
– Theatrical trailer (on Dames)
– A new featurette – (buz’be bur’kle) n. A Study in Style (on Gold Diggers 1935)
– A vintage featurette – Double Exposure (on Gold Diggers 1935)
– 2 vintage Cartoons (Gold Diggers of ’49 and Shuffle Off to Buffalo) (on Gold Diggers 1935)
– Direct from Hollywood Radio promo (on Gold Diggers 1935)
– Gold Diggers Trailer Gallery (on Gold Diggers 1935)
– And all 20 completed musical numbers on the Bonus DVD.
Cecil B. DeMille was never really an Actor’s director, although he coaxed some very good portrayals of historical figures out of cinema’s finest (from Colbert as Cleopatra to Wilcoxon battling Crusades). His natural hallmarks of infusing an pre-code sense of sexuality into religion (and history) set him apart from the day-to-day workmen in Hollywood’s upheavals during the early sound period, and his upcoming boxed set (buy it through CHUD here!) should be required viewing for anyone interested – and you should be. The later years of his life were dominated by the epically-infused stories he was well-known to foist upon the moviegoing public and now Paramount is smart enough to release The Ten Commandments: 50th Anniversary Edition, complete with DeMille’s original silent 1923 version. DeMille’s massive undertaking is most notable for its special effects and Russ Fischer’s dislike of Charlton Heston (if I recall correctly), but as a whole I consider its cohesive parts to be the stuff that dreams are made of. The filmmaking on display, while somewhat stilted today, is wondrous to behold, even if it is on your small screen. This was a movie not really meant for your living room. It’s a tried and true masterpiece of a very charged time in our history, when Vista Vision was pioneering paths and DeMille was transforming epics for decades to come with his signature high-class style. Highly recommended and a worthy purchase for all, heathen.
So let it be written, so let it be done – with:
– Audio commentary with Katherine Orrison, author of Written in Stone: making Cecil B. DeMille’s epic, The Ten Commandments (1956 Version)
– A 6-part documentary (with the sub-features: Moses/The Chosen People/Land of the Pharaohs/The Paramount Lot/The Score/Mr. Demille) (1956 Version)
– A Newsreel for The Ten Commandments Premiere in NYC (1956 Version)
– Trailers for the 1956 original release, the 1966 trailer, and the 1989 re-release
– Audio commentary with Katherine Orrison, author of Written in Stone: making Cecil B. DeMille’s epic, The Ten Commandments (1923 verison)
– Hand tinted footage of the Exdous and parting of the Red Sea sequence (1923 Version)
Tuesday will also have another better edition of Billy Wilder’s acidic Stalag 17, the much anticipated and little seen Batman Beyond: The Complete First Season, the thrilling conclusion of 21 Jump Street, your Johnny Depp fetish, and the completely unnecessary House of the Dead II. Seriously.
Criterion Oster-monath
April sees many of us celebrating the Pagan Gods in whatever bloodletting ceremonies we can muster. Criterion, meanwhile, is continuing to go full on with their beloved series of films that cause tingling sensations all over. The BIG ONE is Orson Welles’ Complete Mr. Arkadin, a film that has no shortage of controversy on-and-off screen. Mr. Arkadin is one of Welles’ most intriguing films. Criterion gives it proper treatment with several versions, including the European Confidential Report Cut, three half-hour radio episodes, and one Complete Cut, assembled by the most notorious of Criterion scholars. You’ll find that on 4.18.06. Additionally, April sees Fists in the Pocket (out on 4.25.06), and the continuation of their March Malle theme with the stunning Elevator to the Gallows – out on 4.25.06 as well.
In May, get ready for Ozu’s Late Spring, Barbara Kopple’s Harlan County, U.S.A, and Luis Buñuel’s surrealist firestorm of Viridiana. Plus, looking father afield, expect Dazed and Confused: The Criterion Collection in June. Rejoice!
One Big-Ass List
Weeks seemingly fly by, and as it is my want, every third week of the month comes the upcoming list of titles surely to titillate your titillator. Think of it as a sub-par DVD Prognosticator without the commentary but with a tinge of future impulsive spending.
4.04.06:
Ambulance Girl
Anniversary
A-Team: Season Four
Bailey’s Billion$
Bee Season
Be Still
Blue Thunder: Special Edition
Brokeback Mountain
Carole Lombard: The Glamour Collection
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
Crash: 2-Disc Special Edition
Dandelion
The David Spade Collection
Dawson’s Creek: The Complete Sixth Season 
Dirty
Far Side of the Moon
Films of Faith Collection
Full House: The Complete Third Season
Knight Rider: Season Four
Little Manhattan
The Long Good Friday
Mae West: The Glamour Collection
Magnum, P.I.: Season Four
Marlene Dietrich: The Glamour Collection
Mel Brooks Boxset Collection
The Miracle of Our Lady Fatima
New York Doll
Nine to Five: Sexist, Egotistical, Lying, Hypocritical Bigot Edition
The Nun’s Story
Patton Oswalt: No Reason to Complain
Pedro Almodovar Classics Collection
The President’s Last Bang
The Shoes of the Fisherman
Star Trek: Fan Collective – Time Travel
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Season 4
Thank God It’s Friday
Tripping the Rift: Season 2
Ushpizin
4.11.06:
18 Fingers of Death
The Bob Newhart Show: Season Three
Bugsy Malone
Cirque du Soleil: Corteo
Cyber Wars
The Dark
Deep Blue
Fun with Dick and Jane
Greatest Game Ever Played
In Living Color: Season 5
Laugh or I’ll Shoot Collection
Laurel and Hardy Giftset
Little Fish
Mission: Impossible: Special Edition 
Mission: Impossible II: Special Edition
The Newsroom: The Complete Third Season
Pray
Puerto Vallarta Squeeze
Shaquille O’Neal: Like No Other
Spymate
States Of Control: Special Edition
Thundercats: Season Two, Vol. One
An Unfinished Life
Walt Disney Classic Cartoon Favorites – Vol. 10: Best Pals Mickey and Minnie
Walt Disney Classic Cartoon Favorites – Vol. 11: Best Pals Donald and Daisy
Walt Disney Classic Cartoon Favorites – Vol. 12: Best Pals Mickey and Pluto
Wolf Creek
Woman Thou Art Loosed: Special Edition
4.18.06:
American President
Breakfast on Pluto
Doogie Howser, M.D.: Season Four
Event Horizon: Special Collector’s Edition
Hostel
Meeting Daddy
Mercenary for Justice
Michael Palin: Sahara
Moonstruck: Deluxe Edition
Mr. Arkadin: Criterion Collection
Mrs. Henderson Presents 
One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern
Remington Steele: Season 3
Return of the Living Dead 4: Necropolis
Syriana (RUMORED!)
The Sentinel: The Complete First Season
TCM Archives: The Laurel and Hardy Collection
Unveiled
4.25.06:
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1997)
Aeon Flux: Special Collector’s Edition
American Dad! Volume One
Bachelor Party Vegas
The Betsy
Casanova
Casualties of War – Extended Cut
Classic Musicals from the Dream Factory
Crumb: Special Edition
The Detonator
Dr. Dolittle 3
Duane Hopwood
Everything You Want
Every Time We Say Goodbye
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Guys and Dolls: Deluxe Edition
The Heirloom
Inspector Gadget: The Original Series
It’s Always Fair Weather
Jacques Cousteau: River Explorations
Law & Order: Trial by Jury – The Complete Series
Little Einsteins: Team Up for Adventure
Match Point
Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer
Odyssey 5: The Complete Series
The Passenger
The Patriot – Extended Cut 
Reba: Season 3
The Replacement Killers – Extended Cut
Robert Altman Collection
The Sea Wolves
Shadows in the Sun
Shopgirl
Summer Stock
Three Little Words
Till the Clouds Roll By
Tristan & Isolde
A Wak