New Release of the Week
In a Dream (DVD only)
2 Deleted Scenes [2:49], Alternate Ending [3:47], Recommitment short documentary [4:51], Theatrical Trailer
Short Films: Cutting Ice to Snow video for Efterklang, Coney Island, 1945, Paints on Ceiling
I've been an enthusiastic supporter of Jeremiah Zagar's masterful work of mosaic documentary filmmaking since I saw it a year and a half ago at South by Southwest 2008, before it made the shortlist for Best Documentary feature at last year's Oscars. In a Dream delves into his family history, specifically focusing on his father Isaiah's battles with madness and genius and how those epic wars within himself affect those who love him. Jeremiah turns the camera on his mother and elder brother, but never on himself.
Some have inferred that his reluctance to do so is cowardly, or unbecoming of a documentarian. All those people are assholes, idiots, or likely both. The genius of Jeremiah's work is in the intimate distance he achieves and the mystery he inadvertently creates around himself unintentionally. With so much turbulence surrounding his family unit, how could Jeremiah do anything but be the observer in the shadows? Knowing little about him directly and a great deal more about those around him is what makes the movie and its twists all the more compelling and thought-provoking. Isaiah has created building facades and interiors full of mosaic art chronicling the family history, and to his own surprise, son Jeremiah has molded a towering achievement out of 4-5 years of fragments he didn't start out knowing what to do with.
Julia (l.) and Isaiah (r.) Zagar. Click the image to enlarge.
The supplemental materials are all easily re-watchable, including a short hidden one that I watched two and three times after finding it. This is one worth Netflixing if you haven't seen it yet, but be ready to pull out the credit card, because it's very much the kind of discovery you want to share with people.
In a Dream is $20 on Amazon, but there's also a very unique Limited Edition version being sold off their website for $60 that they're only doing 500 of total. The additional extras on this version include the following:
Deluxe Packaging (designed by Jonah Birns)
Autographed 13"x18" Movie Poster (signed by Isaiah, Julia, Zeke & Jeremiah Zagar)
Hand-Crafted Isaiah Zagar Figurine
Bonus Disc
-Even More Deleted Scenes
-Rare Jeremiah Zagar Short Films
-Short Works by Friends of In A Dream
-Original Fundraising Trailer
-Interviews, Slideshows and More!!
My assumption (as should be yours) is that a larger portion of these sales goes to the filmmakers on top of the fact that the additional extras listed are worth investigating.
New to Blu-ray Release of the Week
The Wizard of Oz: 70th Anniversary Edition (also on DVD)
The picture quality is better than I have ever seen it, and there are tiers of options depending on the amount of extras you care about. This will be, mark my words, one of the big software reasons people will go Blu-ray this year. My photo-inundated writeup of the set can be found here. I'm calling this as easily one of the top 5 disc releases of the year, and we still have two months to go.
New to Blu-ray Release of the Week (honorable mention in the face of Oz)
Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal
Labyrinth: The Storytellers Picture-in-Picture track (Blu-ray exclusive); Original DVD extras including Commentary and Making-Of Documentary
The Dark Crystal: Picture-in-Picture Storyboard Track; Introduction by screenwriter David Odell on Skeksis language; The Book of Thra and Crystal Challenge interactive features; Original DVD extras including Commentary, Documentary, Retrospectives, and Deleted Scenes
Sony has really outdone themselves with the transfers on these two Henson Company classics. I've never seen either one of these movies projected, just VHS copies and DVDs, and they both look jaw-droppingly good. Sony is handily maintaining its reputation as one of (if not the) best Blu-ray houses in town, as well they should, having invented Blu-ray in the first place.
The all-new Storytellers PiP track on Labyrinth is much more than just the least annoying PiP track I've been subjected to, it's actually quite good. It features interviews with Cheryl Henson, puppeteer Kevin Clash, puppet makers Rollin Krewson and Connir Peterson, actor Warwick Davis, and makeup artist Nick Dudman. Dark Crystal has some interesting new extras, but none quite approach The Storytellers. All the original supplemental material is on both of these.
New Release
The Girlfriend Experience (Blu-ray & DVD)
Feature Commentary by Steven Soderbergh and Sasha Grey
Blu-ray Exclusive: Unrated Alternate Cut
The allegory one could apply to this movie is actually pretty universal. Do you sell something? Do you obey a master, corporate or familial? Do you know you're being molded against your nature into someone else's ideal and let it happen due to having no other choice?
Sasha Grey, a porn star in real life, portrays Chelsea, a high-end call girl who seems happy with her job. She has a live-in boyfriend who's fully aware of what she does, and whether to cope with what his girlfriend does for a living or due to his own overcompensating personality, he reaches for stars that'll never be within his grasp. The shooting style and fractured chronology reminded me of the sadly forgotten HBO series K Street, which Soderbergh out together.
I watched this twice, first the Theatrical Cut and then the Alternate Cut. I didn't have the time to give it a third spin to listen to the Soderbergh/Grey commentary, but I'm trying to find the time this week. The Alternate version gives Glenn Kenny the push he needs over the top in this year's Sleazy Supporting Character Awards.
Away We Go (Blu-ray & DVD)
Feature Commentary with director Sam Mendes and writers Dave Eggers & Vendela Vida
Featurettes: The Making of Away We Go, Green Filmmaking
This is the movie I haven't seen that is most frequently-recommended by friends. It drives me nuts that I'm looking at an unopened copy of a new Sam Mendes movie that I don't have time to watch. Based on my tea leaf reading, I have a feeling this is going to do some significant business on video, as a huge potential audience (new parents) mostly stayed away from the theater because that just isn't how they'll see movies for a few years.
Monsters vs. Aliens (Blu-ray & DVD)
I skipped this in theaters and I'm skipping it on home video. The twenty minutes I saw at BNAT last year were painful.
Management (Blu-ray & DVD)
I forgot this movie existed.
Catalog New to Blu
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Snakes on a Plane
Billy Jack
Skipping the one in the middle, are Henry and Billy Jack not perfect examples of how Blu-ray has undeniably arrived as a format?
Pushed Back
42nd Street Forever Volume 5: Alamo Drafthouse
This one appears to have been pushed back into late October. I can't wait to get my hands on it personally, since I've seen most if not all of the trailers on it in person at the Drafthouse and love all of them, no matter how goofy or outright insane.
Disc Roundup (Movies) is posted each week at some point, depending on how many discs there are to get through. Screener copies of In a Dream, The Wizard of Oz, Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, The Girlfriend Experience, and Away We Go were provided by their respective studios.
If you think I've missed something, feel free to send me an email.