How to Spend $20 This Week
By Les Winan
May 4, 2004
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.
As a result, decisions will be totally subjective (I bought the full run of the unjustly canceled ABC dramedy Sports Night, no matter that the discs are featureless, The Criterion Collection edition of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a disc I had been dreaming of for years). The massive unreleased studio (film and television) back-catalogue means that every week there's likely something for every film fan. So before you think to yourself, "I don’t drive a Volkswagen Beetle, but I’ll watch Herbie Goes Bananas more than once!" stop; ask yourself, "Why!?" and then check to see if Herbie Goes Bananas (or your disc of choice) is one of the weekly BOP DVD recommendations.
For Barry Manilow: Chasing Liberty (Widescreen) (2004)
Despite the fact that Mandy Moore is incredibly hot, I have little interest in ever seeing this movie. Boy, is Mandy Moore ever hot. This film has something to do with Moore’s character, the daughter of the President of the United States, escaping her Secret Service protection while in Europe and falling in love with a British guy. Sounds pretty formulaic to me. Though I bet the commentary track with Moore and Goode is interesting. Sample commentary:
Moore: Golly, Prague is beautiful.
Goode: Remember when we had that kissing scene?
Moore: Golly, I really liked being in this movie.
Goode: I really liked kissing you.
Moore: That’s so nice, but I really can’t wait for that dashing Les Winan to come along, beat the crap out of Andy Roddick, and sweep me off my feet.
And so on. I swear, that’s what she says. If you pick up Chasing Liberty on DVD, you’ll be treated to deleted scenes; a gag reel; a concert performance of "The Seed" by The Roots (who apparently had no idea what movie they were signing on to); and a featurette.
For an inaccurate ZZ Top: Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)
Scarlett Johansson is the Girl in this adaptation of the Tracy Chevalier novel. The Girl in question is a servant in the house of the painter Vermeer, who, among other things, ends up making her the subject of one of his most famous paintings. Oddly enough, for a movie that received Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations, Girl with a Pearl Earring is getting a pretty empty DVD release…really empty in fact, as there are no extras.
For taking an Oscar nomination and being unpredictable: Elephant (2003)
Gus Van Sant, Academy Award nominee for Good Will Hunting, took the juice from that and remade Psycho (disastrously) and then did Finding Forrester, a film mostly memorable for giving Sean Connery funny lines (like “How about five hundred wuds on why you’ll shtay the fuck out of my apahtment”). Well, memorable to me. Anyway, Van Sant made Finding Forrester and then went experimental, doing Gerry, a mostly improvised film with Casey Affleck and Matt Damon, followed by Elephant, a variation on the story of the Columbine massacre starring an unknown cast of high school students. Give credit to Van Sant for doing what he wants, but when the most mainstream thing he’s done in years is a cameo as himself in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, that’s not a good thing for audience awareness of his work. But that may be the point. With Elephant, Van Sant won best director at Cannes and the Palme D’or. The film never found mainstream audiences in the United States. For those looking to see what the fuss was all about (as it was), the DVD features only a featurette, but clearly the French would feel that the movie is all that the disc needs.
For things nobody asked for: Peter Pan (Widescreen) (2003)
Did we really need another remake of Peter Pan? Apparently audiences (and DVD producers) didn’t think so. In addition to being a box office disappointment, Peter Pan is a DVD disappointment, with only eleven featurettes.
For being “the other Academy Award nominated animated film that was actually good”: The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
Speaking of the French, The Triplets of Belleville is a French animated film about a woman teamed with three old-time vaudevillians to find her grandson, who is kidnapped during the Tour de France. You know, this column has a large number of mentions of France. Do you think it should be dubbed the How To Spend $20 on Freedom This Week? That might work. Anyway, the reviews for The Triplets of Belleville were pretty fantastic, as was the recognition with multiple Academy Award nominations. For fans of the film and the generally curious, this is a nice DVD package, with deleted scenes; featurettes with commentaries and a video of the Academy Award nominated "Belleville Rendez-vous" Song.
For casting to scale: The Last Samurai (2-DVD Widescreen) (2003)
Get it? Tom Cruise is short! Stereotypically, so are the Japanese! HAHAHAHA! Anyway. As expected, The Last Samurai garnered an Academy Award nomination for Ken Watanabe. Okay, that wasn’t what Tom Cruise expected, but it sure can’t be bad for Watanabe’s career. Cruise plays a Civil War veteran paid to travel to Japan and teach the military how to fight. Ultimately, Cruise’s character finds his sympathies lie with the dying breed of samurai and a battle commences, filled with metaphors and Oscar “moments." And hopefully, Cruise’s “movie star laugh," which might be the most fake, uncomfortable thing to witness in the history of Western Civilization. Watch him next time he’s on Leno or Letterman and laughs overly enthusiastically at a joke. After I finish shuddering and feeling creeped out by it, I generally think to myself “I wonder if he even understands the joke?” The Last Samurai DVD includes a commentary with director Edward Zwick; deleted scenes (with commentary); a documentary; video journal; featurettes; interviews and scenes from the Japanese premieres of the film.
For people who miss Aaron Sorkin’s witty, intelligent, fast-paced dialogue on the West Wing: Gilmore Girls: The Complete First Season (6-DVD Set) (2000)
It’s never a bad thing when a TV show is smart. Frustrated with the deluge of reality TV abounding, it’s a rare occurrence to find a truly smart television show. When it happens, interested viewers have to look past premises that might make them think that a show isn’t right for them and watch anyway. For a 21-35 year old male like me, Gilmore Girls is not a logical choice for an hour of my time, but given my interest in not being as dumb as the general American viewing public, the illogical choice is the right one. Gilmore Girls: The Complete First Season is the DVD Pick of the Week.
Starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel as single mother and daughter; Gilmore Girls is notable for lightning fast dialogue, pop-culture references, humor, and heart. Recent sample exchange:
Random woman: “Is it raining?”
Character running into a building soaking wet: “No, it’s National Baptism Day, get your tubes tied, idiot.”
And that was essentially a throwaway line. You can’t go wrong with that blend of cleverness and venom. Graham and Bledel, as Lorelai and daughter Lorelai (just watch, it’ll make more sense), are the fast-talking rocks the show is built on, playing off each other with genuine chemistry and affection, deftly and believably playing a mother-daughter relationship that includes a genuine friendship. They live in a fictional Connecticut town, surrounded by wacky townies and negotiating life together. While that sounds mildly derivative of several television shows, Gilmore Girls makes it a whole new formula.
Fans of the show will find the DVD set includes 21 episodes including the pilot; a making-of documentary; a Gilmore-isms – montage; Gilmore Goodies & Gossip; fan facts viewing mode on one episode; and additional scenes. While it’s disappointing there isn’t a commentary track with Graham and Bledel and, most importantly, the writers, it’s a great package for a terrific, well-made, somewhat unappreciated television show. Gilmore Girls: The Complete First Season is the fast-talking DVD Pick of the Week.
May 4, 2004
Back to Bataan (1945)
Battleground (1949)
The Big Green (1995)
Calendar Girls (2003)
Chasing Liberty (Full Frame) (2004)
Chasing Liberty (Widescreen) (2004)
A Day at the Races (1937)
Desk Set (1957)
Elephant (2003)
Evicted (2000)
Flying Leathernecks (1951)
Gilmore Girls: The Complete First Season (6-DVD Set) (2000)
Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)
Herbie Goes Bananas (1980)
Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977)
Herbie Rides Again (1974)
The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love (1995)
The Last Samurai (2-DVD Full Frame) (2003)
The Last Samurai (2-DVD Widescreen) (2003)
Law & Order: The Second Year (3-DVD Set) (1991)
Love! Valour! Compassion! (1997)
Loverboy (1989)
Miracle in Lane 2 (2000)
A Night at the Opera (1935)
A Night in Casablanca (1946)
Noises Off! (1992)
Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972)
Peter Pan (Full Frame) (2003)
Peter Pan (Widescreen) (2003)
Plain Dirty (2001)
Prisoner of Honor (1991)
The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
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