Disc of the Week
Do The Right Thing
Anyone who owns the Criterion Collection DVD from a few years ago can go ahead and sell it. That is, unless they are conforted by the the spine number physically on their shelf. The most underreported thing since Universal released this Blu-ray (and DVD) last week is that it retains every last supplement from the Criterion disc with the exception of the "Fight the Power" music video. Not only are those hours of extras held over, but they've added a Spike Lee-directed 20 Years Later [HD 35:47] retrospective composed of interviews with cast and collaborators from the Lincoln Center 20th Anniversary event in February of this year. Also new are 11 Deleted and Extended Scenes [HD 14:14] that have not been cleaned up and restored, but are in full 1080p. Spike also contributed a recently-recorded Feature Commentary.
For the sake of saving readers a trip to Criterion's page, the carried-over extras include the following: Feature Commentary with Lee, cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, Production Designer Wynn Thomas, and actor Joie Lee; Behind the Scenes footage shot by director Lee [57:58]; St. Clair Bourne's The Making of Do the Right Thing [1:01:01] and companion featurette Back to Bed-Stuy [4:49], where Spike and Producer John Kilik revisit locations; the Cannes 1989 Press Conference [42:22] featuring Spike, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, and Joie Lee; a 2001 interview with Editor Barry Brown [9:38]; a Spike-introduced look at the storyboarding of the Riot Sequence; and finally, the Trailers and TV Spots round things out. Even the week after release, you can nab the Blu-ray on Amazon for $19.99. An in-depth review will follow soon.
Fresh from Theaters (DVD & Blu-ray)
Two Lovers
This movie is solid work from all concerned, though I'd stop short from the box quote claim that it was "the best American Drama of the year!" This is a more barebones release than I'd expect from Joaquin Phoenix's "final film." Picture and audio are great, as has been the case on previous Magnolia releases. A Behind-the-Scenes featurette [7:00] that includes the above and below images.
This featurette is as close as we get to a commentary in miniature bites. Also included are three Deleted Scenes [9:22] with contextual title cards and the Magnolia-standard HDNet promo HDNet: A Look at Two Lovers [4:32].
The Jonas Brothers: The Concert Experience
This movie so underperformed on 3D screens, the movie it replaced (Coraline) in turn replaced The Jonas Brothers a couple weeks into its run. I tried watching it, I did. I got a little ways into it and I actually fell asleep. When I woke up, my dog was sitting next to the Blu-ray player, staring at me. She begged me with her eyes to turn off the tween music noise. This "movie" is really nothing more than a tween-centric concert movie that really belonged on TV in the first place.
They're talented guys, but their music is decidedly not for me. The Blu-ray includes 2D and 3D versions of the movie, two pairs of 3D glasses, a Behind-the-Scenes [HD 15:00] narrated by the wunderkids, and a pile of trailers and sneak peeks. In addition to a Digital Copy, the Blu-ray edition also includes the DVD edition as well, so you can be obsessed with these guys no matter what kind of player you are in front of.
12 Rounds: Extreme Cut
My wish finally came true: template-based 80's and 90's action movies have returned thanks to Fox, WWE Entertainment, and wrestler-turned-actor John Cena. To top it all off, 12 Rounds is billed as "A Renny Harlin Film." This is no mere movie, it's a film, motherfuckers, and don't you forget it. The movie's plot in 140 characters: musclebound cop's girlfriend is kidnapped, kidnapper puts guy through 12 EXTREME puzzles (this is how they used to make videogames).
The Blu-ray has more special features than bona fide classics get or that this movie merits. The front of the box promises two Alternative Endings, whereas the back calls them Alternate Endings with Optional Commentaries. I couldn't tell you which it really is, because I was too distracted by all of the Extreme Pulse-Pounding Thrill-Riding. The Gag Reel is hilariously referred to as Never-Before Cena (get it? lolz!). There are a couple featurettes about Stunts and Action, one that is a Harlin and Cena lovefest, one about The Score of 12 Rounds (Jesus H everloving Christ, really?), and some Viral Videos (I never caught them). A Digital Copy resides on Disc 2.
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li
Didn't see it, but I don't know if I ever will.
Flawless (Blu-ray only, DVD released 6/3)
I never saw this Michael Caine/Demi Moore heist team-up, but will give it a shot sometime soon, if only to hear Moore's English accent.
New Releases Only on DVD
The Betrayed
This one is a thriller that takes pace largely on a single set starring Melissa George (Dark City, 30 Days of Night) as a mother/wife of a guy with a past she doesn't know about. She and her son are violently kidnapped and sequestered in a warehouse. Oded Fehr plays her usually-masked captor and Christian Campbell, who I loved in Reefer Madness, appears in flashbacks at first as her husband. The movie isn't great, but the actors have some decent character work to do and the whole thing reflects a fair amount of chops on the director's part. The presence of a female writer thankfully provides a perspective that doesn't bury this kidnapping movie in torture, exploitation, or gratuitous nudity. The characterization of Alice Krige's character and her henchboys is a little bizarre verging on cartoonish in places, but otherwise, the movie's not bad at all.
Writer/Director Amanda Gusack has done a couple other movies, and I can't find much biographical info on her. The DVD contains no extras. I wish there had been some sort of thing with Gusack talking about how it developed, how it was made, and so on.
Catalog New to DVD
Lookin' to Get Out
From my review posted earlier:
Jon Voight and Burt Young play a couple guys who get mixed up owing some tough guys money. They high-tail it from New York City to Las Vegas to try their hand at winning it at the card tables. Alex (Voight) runs into Patti (Ann-Margaret), an ex who just happens to be the kept woman of the guy who owns the MGM Grand. Though the movies are different in more ways than they're similar, I wonder if that bit inspired the Danny-Tess Ocean dynamic in Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven. Angelina Jolie (credited with Voight tagged at the end of her name) appears briefly as Alex & Patti's kid.
The original trailer, poster, and now the DVD cover make this look more like a zany, slapstick farce set in a casino than it turns out to be. If a viewer goes in thinking that's what they're gonna get, they'll be sorely disappointed. It makes more sense to go in expecting it's about two not-so smart guys who get into trouble and then get into more trouble by flying cross-country to enact some sort of scheme. It's a studio-funded Hal Ashby art movie set in Vegas. There's nothing wrong with that.
Included are the original trailer and Lookin' to Get Out: The Cast Looks Back [16:12], which includes new interviews with co-writer Al Schwartz, Voight & Ann-Margaret, with an archival interview with Burt Young. It's mostly about how the project came together, but it also touches on how this cut and the DVD happened in the first place.
TV Release of the Week
The IT Crowd Season 2 (also on Netflix Watch Instantly)
I love this show. It airs on the IFC cable channel here in the US (Channel 4 in the UK, where they just finished up airing Season 3). Season Two brought the best parody of the "when you pirate a movie, it is a CRIME" ad that even anti-piracy types openly ridicule.
The geektastic menus (depicted below) are, as on Season One before it, duplicated from the original UK release. Extras (also carried over) most prominently include Commentary on the entire season by Creator/Writer/Director Graham Linehan. Also in there are some great Outtakes [7:12] and a featurette that gives a look at how the show is made called Recording The IT Crowd [7:39].
New TV Releases
Eastbound and Down Season 1
Some absolutely perfect work from Danny McBride that I'm glad is getting a second season pickup.
Jockeys Season 1
One of the better reality series on Animal Planet, Jockeys gives people a look at all the stuff behind all those jockey movies they watch and races they see on TV. I didn't think I'd get into it, but I watched all of these as they aired.
The Queens of Country
I can't come up with words to describe how much I detest "modern" country music. MPI has put together a set dedicated to televised performances from Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, and Patsy Cline. Dolly's disc also features joint performances with Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Kenny Rogers, and poet Rod McKuen. The most noteworthy part of the set is that it includes Cline's last televised performance, done just a few days before she died. After starting to get sucked into the whole thing, I can say this is a must-own for fans of any of these three women.
The Lucille Ball Specials: Lucy Gets Lucky & 3 for 2
Another MPI release, this one features two Lucille Ball TV specials. The first, with Dean Martin, is all about Lucy trying to go see him in Vegas. The second co-stars Jackie Gleason and is split into three vignettes about marriage. Both are more fun to watch than the millionth I Love Lucy rerun on TV Land.
Muhammed Ali: In His Own Words
This 40ish-minute TV-special style documentary short collects a lot of footage of Ali talking to the press throughout his career. Video quality isn't remarkable or anything, but it's the most comprehensive, concentrated look at The Greatest talking about himself in front of the press.
Non-Cable VOD
Melvin Goes to Dinner
One of my favorites from SXSW 2003, Bob Odenkirk's directorial debut was an adaptation of a stage play written by star Michael Blieden. Blieden has gone on to direct docs The Comedians of Comedy and Super High Me. Melvin centers around four people of varying acquaintance who find themselves at dinner together, including Stephanie Courtney, who many now know as the brunette Progressive Insurance commercial girl. The movie is almost all talk, but it moves right along and keeps the pace up. There are appearances from folks like David Cross and Fred Armisen,who weren't quite as well-known when the movie was out on the festival circuit. There's a surprise cameo I won't spoil here. This is worth your few bucks to rent at the least, I promise.
Rent or buy it on iTunes here.
The Order of Myths
An Oscar-shortlisted doc about the continuing racial divide surrounding Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama. If you can find it anywhere, Bama Girl makes a perfect pairing.
Rent or buy it on iTunes here.
Streaming for Free
Jazz on a Summer's Day
A Jazz doc from 1960 that covers the Newport Jazz Festival of 1958. There's virtually no narration, and it's almost exclusively music.
Watch at SnagFilms.
We Are Wizards
A documentary about the Harry Potter-themed Wizard Rock bands popping up all over.
Watch on Hulu.
Run Granny Run
In another SXSW doc, a 90-year-old woman's husband dies and she takes up the cause of campaigning against all the money keeping regular people out of running a campaign for office. At the age of 94, she decides to run against Judd Gregg for Senator. It starts airing on HBO in October.
Watch on Hulu.