How to Spend $20
By Joel Corcoran
September 13, 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. The massive unreleased studio (film and television) back-catalogue means that every week there's likely something for you.
For anyone who has seen the television series, heard the radio series, heard the other radio series, saw the stage plays, bought the computer game, read the books, and still lined up at the theater to see the movie on opening day: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (widescreen).
This movie has one of the most tortured development histories ever experienced. Douglas Adams wrote the original story as a radio series in the late 1970s and put it through several iterations before his death in May 2001. He actually never got to see production begin on the film. Not only was the movie in development for close to 20 years, Adams never wrote a definitive version of the basic story - he simply changed the details every time he put the story in a new form. Obviously, fanboys (like me) were a little concerned when the film was finally released, fearing that the movie would be almost - but not quite - entirely unlike the books/radio shows/TV series we'd grown to know and love. In a word, the movie is "delightful" for Hitchhiker's fans, yet still very accessible for everyone who knows nothing about the story ... as long as they like British comedy.
For people who want to experience seasonal affective disorder early this year: Nobody Knows (2005).
Ella Taylor, critic for the L.A. Weekly, said it best: "Nobody Knows is not a film 'about' abandonment so much as a poetic, intensely subjective and empathic portrait of what it feels like to be in this predicament." Based on a true story from 1988, the film follows the life of four Japanese children smuggled into an apartment by their mother and then left there. Alone. These children are not plucky youngsters left alone while the rest of the family vacations in Europe. They are not sent to live with some weird uncle in strange, old home. These kids have to deal with the power and water being shut off, an insistent landlady demanding rent, and just finding the basic necessities of daily survival. The beautiful direction and filmography simply make the experience of this film all that more intense, and if the Academy doesn't recognize Nobody Knows with at least one Oscar nomination, there simply is no justice in the world.
For every guy's favorite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox: Fever Pitch (widescreen).
When I first heard the words "the Farrelly brothers will direct a movie based on the Nick Hornby story, Fever Pitch ... " I fainted. Seriously. Okay, maybe I made a mistake by taking a ten-mile training run on a summer day in Washington, D.C., but dehydration and heat sickness weren't totally to blame for that fainting spell. The mere thought of the Dumb and Dumber creators corrupting the work of the blessed scribe of High Fidelity sent me right over the edge. But I have to admit I was very pleasantly surprised when I saw this movie in the theater (after losing a bet).
Fever Pitch is not a masterpiece or even a comedic gem, but it's a very good movie, a light-hearted romantic comedy, and one of the more realistic love stories I've seen portrayed in film. The story revolves around the question of whether a romance between Ben (Jimmy Fallon) and Lindsey (Drew Barrymore) can survive a Red Sox season. Ben is a Red Sox fan in the truest, root sense of the word - a fanatic. I know Star Trek and Lord of the Rings fans who aren't as obsessive. Ben and Lindsey's romance slowly unravels as the story unfolds, and in the end, they can be saved only if both of them learn the key to any good relationship: compromise.
For your friend who insists that Scarface is a better movie than The Godfather: Carlito's Way (Ultimate Edition).
Don't mistakenly think of this movie as "Scarface: Parte Deux." Yes, both movies were directed by Brian de Palma and starred Al Pacino as a Latino gangster/drug dealer (Cuban in Scarface, and Puerto Rican in Carlito's Way). Yes, both movies are set in New York in roughly the same time period. But two very important differences set Carlito's Way apart from Scarface, and - quite honestly - I think this one is the better of the two movies (you will find the official BOP feedback link at the bottom of this webpage).
One difference is Al Pacino's portrayal of Carlito Brigante as a man who may not be reformed by a five-year stint in prison, but he is at least trying to lead a better life on the path to reformation. Brigante is a more complicated character than Tony Montana in Scarface, and Pacino brings out Brigante's deeper, nuanced, and more subtle aspects. More importantly, Carlito's Way has Sean Penn giving a fantastic performance - arguably his best performance up to Mystic River.
For the fans of Rome (the HBO series) and Gladiator who need to know how a gladiator epic should be done ... or as the perfect gift for your gay uncle's retirement: Ben-Hur (Four-Disc Collector's Edition) (1959).
This film, directed by William Wyler, won 11 Academy Awards and deserved every damn one of them. That alone should induce you to check out this release, even though it's slightly more than 20 bucks. However, this version has two very interesting tidbits that make it all that much more attractive. Disc three of the set contains the entire 1925 silent movie production of Ben-Hur set to a full orchestral score in stereo. Among the features on disc four is an interesting little documentary with modern directors (Ridley Scott, George Lucas) commenting on how the movie changed cinema, and highlights from the 1960 Academy Awards ceremony.
Big budget spectacles have become the mainstay of Hollywood these days, but 45 years ago, Ben-Hur was a gigantic, epic event. Production involved over 100,000 costumes, 8,000 extras, and 300 sets. It stands as the best Biblical-story film ever made and, ironically, earned a special place in gay cinema due to on-screen interactions between Heston and Stephen Boyd, who plays Ben-Hur's friend from childhood, Messala. For an added bit of fun, watch this movie and then rent The Celluloid Closet (1995) for some interesting background on Gore Vidal's script for the movie and Wyler's direction of both Heston and Boyd.
Other titles of interest ...
Smallville - The Complete Fourth Season
Frasier - The Complete Sixth Season
One Tree Hill - The Complete Second Season
Everybody Loves Raymond - The Complete Fourth Season
Da Ali G Show - The Complete Second Season
Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie
Las Vegas - Season Two
Cheers - The Complete Sixth Season
The Brady Bunch - The Complete Third Season
Taxi - The Complete Third Season
Director's Label Series Boxed Set Vol. 2 (Mark Romanek, Jonathan Glazer, Anton Corbijn, Stephane Sednaoui)
Empire Falls
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