How to Spend $20
By Les Winan
February 16, 2005
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.
For everyone who has ever awakened trapped by a crazy guy in a torturous situation: Saw (Widescreen) (2004)
Now, I never saw this movie, but of all the horror film trailers I saw this year, Saw’s premise seemed among the more interesting. I will forever be too busy to rent this, as I have no love for the horror genre, but it still sounds like an intriguing premise. If you loved the movie and are interested in the minds behind it, included on the disc is an audio commentary with director James Wan and writer/actor Leigh Whannell; a featurette; photo gallery; music videos and a documentary.
For people with significant brain injuries: Taxi (Widescreen) (2004)
Somewhere recently I noticed an advertisement for the Taxi DVD. It billed the disc as a special “Extended Edition”, which made me wonder…why? I don’t remember there being a great deal of demand for the original edition. Maybe there’s a huge crowd of people out there praying for more footage of Queen Latifah being sassy and Jimmy Fallon being one of the most annoying people on the entire planet, but that sub-group of semi-literate morons hasn’t publicly surfaced that I can remember. What’s most terrifying is that Tim Story, the director of this debacle, is also the director of the upcoming “blockbuster” Fantastic Four adaptation. One can only hope that the utter lack of Jimmy Fallon as the Human Torch and Queen Latifah as The Thing will save the film, but it’s hard not to be concerned. For the true masochists in the audience, Taxi’s DVD includes an audio commentary with Story; deleted scenes; featurettes; and Comedy Central's Reel Comedy (which I’m sure is a significantly shorter version than normal, given the utter lack of comedy to feature).
For Ewan McGregor and other people who enjoy taking bumpy motorcycle rides through third world countries: The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
Not quite the Oscar bait it was marketed as (only music and adapted screenplay), The Motorcycle Diaries does boast a star of great interest to overly earnest graduate students in political science or philosophy everywhere: main character Ernesto “Che” Guevara. Played by Gael Garcia Bernal, the film follows Guevara and a friend on a motorcycle trip through South America, a trip that helped inspire his later revolutionary work. Fans of the film (or la revolucion) will enjoy featurettes and deleted scenes on the disc.
For second chances: Donnie Darko (Director's Cut) (2004)
One of Jake Gyllenhaal’s patented odd yet good movies, Donnie Darko was, to put it mildly, not successful at the box office. Sure, it’s possible that a movie about a high school student who sees a giant evil rabbit named Frank wasn’t quite the stuff of box office glory, but judging from the huge audience the film built on video, there are people out there with a love for rabbit tales. People who love science fiction movies about giant evil rabbits named Frank. Enough of them to justify a director’s cut of a movie that many, many people didn’t see and is, as a result of the DVD release, getting a lot more attention now than it ever did before. The Donnie Darko Director’s Cut is the DVD Pick of the Week, one that I am almost tempted to go and purchase despite never having seen the film.
As with most “cult” films, the special features are extremely interesting. Including the reigning god of DVD audio commentary, Kevin Smith (a man who likely takes his orders from a giant evil rabbit named Frank that only he can see) on the discs commentary track with writer/director Richard Kelly is a smart choice. Smith is always a lively participant in audio commentaries and has proven himself an interested student of film as well. My assumption is that his involvement will bring out a great deal of personality and information from Kelly, who saw Darko, his first film, fail miserably and then rise from the ashes, phoenix-like, to restart his career. Audio commentaries are, in my opinion, one of the great contributions that DVD has made to the film industry. A smart, information-filled commentary track can be a fantastic thing. It’s a shame that Gyllenhaal isn’t also involved, but you will find an extensive production diary, featurettes and two documentaries.
February 15, 2005
All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)
Angel: Season Five (6-DVD Set) (2003)
Arthur 2: On the Rocks (1988)
Asfalto (2000)
Big Black Comedy Show Vol. 1 (2005)
Cake (2004)
Category 6: Day of Destruction (2004)
Chain of Fools (2002)
Control (2004)
Disorderlies (1987)
Donnie Darko (Director's Cut) (2004)
The Evil One (2004)
Fandango (1985)
Frostbite (2004)
Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003)
Gun-Shy (2003)
Into the Sun (2004)
Isola (2000)
Last Life in the Universe (2003)
La Virgen de la Lujuria (2002)
Manhood (2003)
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
My Architect (2003)
National Lampoon's Blackball (2003)
Nearest to Heaven (2002)
Pokemon: Destiny Deoxys (2004)
Purple Butterfly (2003)
Rachel's Attic (2002)
Raise Your Voice (2004)
Saw (Full Frame) (2004)
Saw (Widescreen) (2004)
Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004)
Taxi (Full Frame) (2004)
Taxi (Widescreen) (2004)
Vampires: Out for Blood (2004)
The Yes Men (2003)
Young Einstein (1989)
Print this column
