The past couple weeks of Disc Roundup columns will be hitting throughout Monday, with Fantastic Fest reviews and other items interspersed.
New Release of the Week
Not Quite Hollywood (DVD only)
Feature Commentary with director Mark Hartley and various OZploitation Auteurs
17 Deleted and 4 Alternate Scenes
Interviews: Brian Trenchard-Smith (by Quentin Tarantino), Director Richard Franklin (Audio only)
Funding Pitches from Quentin Tarantino & John D. Lamond, Image Gallery, Original Theatrical Trailer
One of the reasons this documentary succeeds so well is that it tells the story of Aussie exploitation cinema as well as it evangelizes individual auteurs and films. This movie is the master class on Aussie exploitation cinema from the 70's and 80's that had never really existed outside conversations between cinephile friends. The doc traces these movies from their beginnings to their decline. This movie has contributed to more than one friend picking up an addiction to tracking down every film made by Brian Trenchard-Smith.
Barry Humphries, screenwriter, actor, and close associate of Dame Edna Everage
The extras are among the most comprehensive and worthwhile of any single new release this year. The Extended and Deleted Scenes are great whether you watch them right after the feature or pick up with them later on. The feature commentary, however, is great to watch immediately after the feature. The Tarantino/Trenchard-Smith interview is all right, but rambles off-topic (big surprise). Among my favorite extra is an easter egg anecdote of Bob Ellis, an Australian critic, slagging off Peter Weir. Just thinking about one of the things he said in particular makes me chuckle. The movie is great, and it's one of those "own, don't rent" titles. Amazon has it for $15.49.
Catalog Release of the Week
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Blu-ray only)
It's beautiful, and the extras are Pixar-quality when it comes to design and content. Reviewed here.
New Release
Mirageman (DVD only)
Behind the Scenes featurette
From my review:
"A young man named Maco (Marko Zaror) and his kid brother are orphaned after their parents are killed in a brutal attack. Maco is mistaken for a masked superhero by TV reporter he saves, and Maco's little brother becomes obsessed with this new vigilante.
"The team behind Kiltro got back together for another round of South American martial arts action in Mirageman. They also brought Mandrill, their newest film, to Fantastic Fest this year. Unfortunately, I couldn't get in to either show. They also apparently announced that this very movie was going to be remade in English and 3-D. The action in this original is taut and well-choreographed, but it never really rises above martial arts film tropes, so don't expect a revelation. On the other hand, it's nice to have a fight movie that has nothing to do with Thai boxing, ninja, or Chinese kung fu."
Trick R Treat (Blu-ray & DVD)
It's impossible to find this movie anywhere. I still haven't had a chance to get my hands on the thing. The movie is really well-made and the most fun I've had with a horror movie in a long time, but I don't want to unreasonably raise anyone's expectations as many already have.
This movie is not the second coming of horror. It's a breath of very fresh air, without a doubt. The Creepshow-style anthology structure works well. There's thankfully some gender role reversal in places, which is a rarity in the genre known for helpless, whorish women. The format of the film and the world writer/director Mike Dougherty has created lends itself nicely to sequelization that wouldn't get stale the way Saw has (like so many slasher series from the 80's).
Could it have taken the title of "the" Halloween movie series away from Saw? In 2007, yes it could have. Saw was at its weakest from franchise fatigue going into Saw 4, but taking risks has never been the modus operandi of the studio system. The same goes for 2008 in terms of opportunity. 2009 is turning into the Year of Paranormal Activity simply because no one has tried to take on Saw for years and Paramount strapped on their balls this time.
Unlike Saw or Paranormal Activity, Trick R Treat is something my wife can actually sit through and not be uneasy and uncomfortable afterward. TRT's got its squirm-inducing moments, but it earns them and doesn't make you wallow in misery. Suspense and mythology win out over vivisections and induced night terrors. It's worth a rental at the least and a purchase if you can find it. I'll review the Blu-ray when I can actually get my hands on it.
Year One (Blu-ray & DVD)
Theatrical and Unrated Cuts, Alternate Ending, Deleted Scenes, Extended/Alternate Scenes, Line-O-Rama, Gag Reel, Feature Commentary with director Harold Ramis, Jack Black, and Michael Cera
Featurettes: Year One: The Journey Begins, Making-of, Sodom's Got 'Em, Leeroy Jenkins: The Gates of Sodom
Blu-ray Exclusives: Year One Cutting Room, Real-time info track via BD-Live, In-Movie BD-Live messaging
I really, really was dumbfounded at how intellectually hilarious this movie was. By that, I mean that it wasn't conventionally funny, but academically comment-generating. "Ah yes, I see, here they are jousting at the ridiculous patrilneal, tribal society of the time and the unsustainable moral code of the era. How observant and witty." Notice there were no indications of actual entertainment in there.
I really enjoyed just about every moment of the film spent with Cain (David Cross), but that about covers it. I'll have something more substantive about the DVD/Blu-ray itself when I have a chance to dig into the extras. Did they cut a bad movie out of the makings of something decent?
Dark Country (DVD only)
Commentary by director Thomas Jane, screenwriter Tab Murphy, and producer Patrick Aiello
Featurette: Journey to Dark Country
Thomas Jane makes his feature directing debut and stars in Dark Country alongside Lauren German and Ron Perlman. Jane and German play a couple who find a car accident survivor whom they save and then subsequently flips on them. The trailer, DVD case, and anything you read about the movie make no bones about the fact the couple does the guy in and tries to cover it up so that they can't be held responsible for the murder, however in the right they may have been. The movie carries no critic quotes, which either means no one saw it or no one liked it.
Assassination of a High School President (DVD only)
I missed this one but have heard nothing but praise for it, mostly from people who act or seem to wish they were still in high school.
My Life in Ruins (Blu-ray & DVD)
I'll probably never see this movie in whole or part.
The Children (Blu-ray & DVD)
A very popular Fantastic Fest 2009 title that I'm hopefully catching up with soon.
It's Alive (2009) (DVD only)
I don't understand how anyone put effort or money into a remake of It's Alive (1974).
Seventh Moon (Blu-ray & DVD)
A Fantastic Fest 2008 movie I walked out of before it started when I saw there were only about 8 people in the audience for its second show.
Catalog New to Blu
Contact
Audition
A Charlie Brown Christmas
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Horton Hears a Who
Wolf
Out of this bunch, I'll probably pick up A Charlie Brown Christmas and Contact before long. It's nice the rest are on here, but none are absolute "gotta-haves".
Catalog
Esther Williams Volume 2 (DVD only)
Thrill of a Romance
Fiesta
This Time for Keeps
Pagan Love Song
Million Dollar Mermaid
Easy to Love
The first time any of these Technicolor films have been on DVD, this set is significant for a variety of reasons, not the least being that Fiesta gives us another title starring Ricardo Montalban that wasn't previously available. My writeup on the set is here.
Reissue
Chinatown: Centennial Collection (DVD only)
A cleaned up DVD transfer and new extras are on display here, but I'll wait for a Blu-ray (rumored to hit next year).
My Fair Lady (DVD only)
Feature Audio Commentary by Art Director Gene Allen, Marni Nixon, and Restorers Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz
Vintage Featurettes, Footage, and Audio, "Alternate" Audrey Hepburn Vocals, Poster and Lobby Card Galleries, Rex Harrison Radio Interview, "Comments on a Lady" Featurette, Trailers
CBS has re-taken ownership of this title on home video from Warner Bros., who released a lovely (not going to write "loverly" to be cute, sorry) Special Edition a few years ago. This disc does have some extras on it, but not everything that was on the WB SE two-disc set. Most notably missing from the previous edition is the More Loverly Than Ever: My Fair Lady Then and Now documentary. The transfer looks to be the same from a side-by-side comparison.
Disc Roundup (Movies) is posted each week at some point, depending on how many discs there are to get through. Unless otherwise noted, screener copies of titles reviewed were provided by the respective studio.
If you think I've missed something, feel free to send me an email.