Standout specialty distributor Magnet (a subsidiary of Magnolia) has knocked out four strong home video releases in the last two weeks. Timecrimes (reviewed here), Special, and Donkey Punch are all part of their 6-Shooter Film Series, kicked off on home video by Let the Right One In, one of my favorites of last year.
Buy/Rent/Gives You Nightmares
Special is about more than a guy who wishes he were a superhero, it's focused on the social tragedy faced by many who eventually realize they aren't ever going to be significant to the world at large. Donkey Punch follows the over-privileged hipster characters you often get in slasher movies and makes them unsympathetic to the point you just want them all to die in a fire. Shuttle takes a thoroughly dislikable thriller premise and makes you wonder why it's so difficult to look away.
These are not your typical genre movies, nor would any one person necessarily like all of them. I personally wouldn't watch the Shuttle ever again, and I only watched Donkey Punch again for the purpose of the commentary.
Special
This is a better way to spend $20 on a movie this weekend than other options you have.
Michael Rappaport plays a shy, humble guy whose brain gets fried by experimental confidence-altering drugs. He's a transit cop who writes people tickets for a living but finds himself chickening out more often than he should out of sympathy. When he takes these pills, he believes he has superpowers.
Michael Rappaport as Les Franken
He's into comic books and superheroes and wishes he were one. The movie was completed in 2004, but is only now coming to home video after a rather nonexistent release otherwise. It's a shame, because it's a better film covering similar subject matter than Observe and Report.
O&R's Ronnie Barnhardt starts out nuts, thinks he already is a superhero and then stops taking his pills. Franken wishes he could help protect the public, takes some pills, starts hallucinating that he has superpowers, and goes nuts. Many have gone for O&R, but I feel that's mainly because they're amazed that a Warner Bros. wide release would be that unapologetically uncouth, not because they can really say they enjoy most of what happens on-screen.
This is the best acting work anyone has seen from Michael Rappaport. When you give someone with talent good material, it always works. The challenge is then getting it seen. Buy it, rent it, or borrow it. It's only 81 minutes long.
Gag Reel
Here you've got Rappaport and others screwing up takes and saying "fuck" a lot for a few minutes.
HDNET: a Look at Special
A bumper promo for HDNET's airing of Special. Shorter and less info than the HBO First Look featurettes.
Donkey Punch
Three girls from Leeds go on holiday in Mallorca (Spain, for Americans who don't have maps). They meet some sailor boys, go for a ride on the fancy yacht they crew on, take some drugs, and get into a lot of trouble.
The title refers to an urban legend sex act wherein a man taking a woman from behind punches her in the back of the neck on the verge of orgasm to cause an involuntary muscle flex. I reviewed the movie back at Fantastic Fest. It's well-acted, well-crafted survival horror on a boat where you hate all the characters onscreen. Not worth watching twice for me. I listened to the commentary while I cleaned my living room.
Deleted Scenes (12:42)
Prior to each bit, you get something not often seen in Deleted reels: a concise explanation of where the footage was cut from. DVD producers, this is a good idea.
Audio Commentary
Director Oliver Blackburn and producer Angus Lamont spend a lot of time talking about how female-empowering the script was (which I don't agree with) and how tight the shoot was thanks to setting it on a luxury yacht.
Cast Interviews (28:19)
The actors talking about how they got involved, got cast, and thought of the script (surprise, they all loved it). They spilt these into three groups: two sets of the guys and then all three girls at once. You can Play All or watch individually.
Interview with Olly Blackburn (13:56)
The director talks about casting, writing, and production.
The Making Of Donkey Punch (17:09)
Recycling a bit of what's said elsewhere, you see some behind the scenes stuff.
Shuttle
Two girls return from vacation in Mexico. They get on the absolutely worst shuttle they could have chosen. The guy driving the bus takes the girls and other passengers anywhere but where they expected. The premise sounds like Saw: Road Trip Edition, and it sort of is. This is the kind of movie I can't bring myself to say I enjoyed, but i must admit it's more intelligently plotted and shot than a lot of stuff I've seen lately. It makes you wonder who you should really trust, or rather, why you should trust anyone.
Behind the Scenes (5:00)
A few of the actors and production staff talk about the movie, intercut with behind the scenes footage.
Casting Sessions (24:00)
An audition tape is probably the last thing actors want to see on DVDs of movies they've done. Something aspiring actors may want to take a look at.
Deleted Scenes (4:00)
A short selection of extended bits of existing scenes. Not much here.
Last Thoughts
Video and audio on all three releases is par for the course when it comes to DVD. Would Blu-ray make any of them look phenomenally better? Probably not, but it'd be nice to see Blu upgrades for these title down the line.
If I'm left wanting, it's that there was so little attention to extras on Special. That's it? No commentary? No substantive making-of or behind the scenes? Of these three movies, this is the one that screams for some look at the story of bringing it to the screen.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad this movie is even on DVD, but we all know we are very unlikely to see a double dip on this release. If you watch the movie and feel the same, just repeat this mantra: "the movie is the special feature" (no pun was intended until I finished typing).
I don't believe it's possible to objectively review movies. It's like objectively reviewing food. "For those who like eggplant, it's a delight!" I've made it clear that based on my personal tastes, I'd buy Special and skip the other two; however, others may only watch Special once and love introducing friends to the perils of taking paid transportation in Shuttle. All three are well-made, but they are most palatable to very particular tastes.