Release of the Week (tied)
When it came down to it, I really couldn't choose between two releases that seem to have flown under the radar of many this past week. Repulsion is a big deal, yes, but both Sita Sings the Blues and Big Man Japan are just as deserving of praise and one's viewing time.
Sita Sings the Blues (DVD & Free Download)
Sita Sings the Blues is one of the best movies of 2009 that few have seen outside festivals. It stands little to no chance of being nominated for a Best Animated Feature Oscar for reasons completely divorced from the film's quality. Divorce itself is at the heart of the movie.
Nina Paley's husband went to India for work and broke up with her in an email. The resulting animated musical movie juxtaposes the Indian epic of Ramayana and Nina's marriage. The visuals are gorgeous, the story heart-rending, and the creator truly worthy of admiration and support. It's a work of genius in every sense one can exaggerate that word. Even with all its intriguing beauty, the movie itself is only half the story.
Music clearance issues that Nina's website does a better job of explaining than I could are the culprit behind the movie's very "non-traditional" distribution model. Long story short, she reluctantly went into massive debt to clear the music rights and decided to give the movie away for free. Her website actively points viewers to various completely cost-free ways to watch it. It is still possible to financially support the film by buying shirts, pins, and now DVDs. The key is that no one's making you or threatening to sue you for hundreds of thousands of dollars if you don't. How novel. Nina's own thoughts about and active hatred for copyright (a concept invented by the English I might remind) are intriguing to say the least.
I would encourage anyone who utilizes any of the free viewing methods to buy something and help pass the movie on. This week was the official release of the Amazon-buyable or Netflix-queueable DVD.
Big Man Japan (DVD only)
I loved Hitosi Matumoto's brilliant take on not only superhero movies but also Japan's "giant monster battle" movies. The "final shot" in Magnet's Six Shooter Film Series, it also stands as one of the best disc releases among its peers. Shot in faux-documentary style, the movie follows the sixth in a family of supermen who grow to enormous size when shocked with electricity and defend Japan against giant monsters that appear out of nowhere.
"Big Man" himself has always been a government-backed agent of their Ministry of Defense, but he isn't terribly popular with the general populace. They post signs and spray graffiti defaming him, and he keeps trudging on with the job he was born into with no alternative, past or present. He has an estranged wife and daughter, and a part of me really hopes there's a Big Girl Japan at some point. The movie's nature doesn't lend itself to endless sequels, but a single followup could be really done well.
The transfer is about as good as one can get with DVD resolution, and for the time being I'm unaware of any Blu-ray plans. The extras are more extensive than one would expect of an east Asian import. The Making of Big Man Japan [1:08:08] picks up six years ago in 2003, during the initial story meetings for the movie. Allow me to repeat: Big Man Japan has an hour-plus Making-of doc. The Making-of is subtitled the whole way through, as is the alternate version that includes Commentary and its own custom subtitle track. Also included are some Deleted Scenes.
New Releases (Blu-ray & DVD)
Green Lantern: First Flight (Direct to Blu-ray & DVD)
The best comic book movies that WB/DC Comics have been making that don't involve Batman are all animated. I'll be taking a more in-depth look at this one in the coming days, but rest assured that the voice cast is solid (with Law & Order: SVU's Christopher Meloni as the Green Lantern). The story is very true to the comics for those who care, and the reasons it was rated PG-13 don't make it unfriendly territory for kids under 13. There are single disc DVD and deluxe 2-disc DVD & Blu-ray editions to choose from. The 2-disc packages include Digital Copy via an insert.
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 (DVD & Blu-ray)
Harvard Beats Yale is one of the best-reviewed and most under-viewed documentaries of last year. Kino released it this week and many missed it. Fire up your Netflix queues, folks.
An American Affair (Direct to DVD)
Gretchen Mol plays the ex-wife of a CIA spook who's been in an ongoing affair with President JFK. Cameron Bright, now a teenager, plays her peeping tom neighbor. Noah Wyle plays Bright's dad, a writer. The movie starts in early 1963. You get where this is going. I didn't care too much for the early-on tack they take in implicating the Cubans as integral to the Kennedy assassination, but the movie is about more than just that. It's something of a meditation on adolescence, innocence, and corruption. I'm recommending friends pop it into their Netflix queues because I think they'll be surprised.
Severed Ways: The Norse Discovery of North America (DVD only)
I haven't had a chance to touch this one, a Viking movie set to black metal music, but will be giving it a spin soon. I'd never heard of it until the press release arrived.
Fast & Furious (Blu-ray & DVD)
I'm not a gearhead in any respect, but I enjoyed this flick well enough. The chemistry between Vin Diesel and Paul Walker is great, but Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster don't actually have much to do. At the end of the day, they set things up for at least one more sequel.
The most significant extra on the two-disc DVD and the Blu-ray is Los Bandoleros [20:23], a short that sets up the movie. Written and directed by Vin Diesel and shot on location in the Dominican Republic, it's really quite enjoyable. I liked it much more than the feature itself. There's a five-minute Gag Reel that's kinda so-so. Also included are a Feature Commentary with the director and a few featurettes, mostly about stunt sequences and driving. There's a Digital Copy on both the DVD and Blu-ray 2-disc editions. The single-disc has only the Commentary and a couple featurettes.
Dragonball: Evolution (Blu-ray & DVD)
Filed under "so bad it's not so-bad-it's good" by everyone I knew who had seen it, this one really crashed and burned. Devoted fans of the anime Dragonball Z (like my wife) thought a live-action adaptation was a doomed idea conceptually. Personally, I get a great deal of enjoyment out of adaptations that are so laughably bad as this one, but this one isn't even at the level of Street Fighter. I should also spoil for everyone that the word "Evolution" in the title does not have anything to do with the movie. They could have just called it Dragonball.
Ashley and I suffered through this so that those reading could know that there are much better ways to spend 85 minutes this week, like sleeping. It grossed under $10 million domestically, and made its budget back (just barely) overseas; however, I hear there is talk of a sequel. Yes, I'm serious.
The Blu-ray transfer looks great and shows off the goofy-looking makeup and effects at their best. Extras on the Blu-ray and DVD include 8 Deleted Scenes, a Gag Reel, a Stunt Work featurette, and two Fox Movie Channel presents pieces, one on star Justin Chatwin and the other focusing on crafting a scene in the movie. There's also a music video, almost missed that. The Blu-ray exclusively features a Digital Copy and a BD-Java Scavenger Hunt game called Goku's Quest, which is really just a click game that runs concurrent to the movie.
Bart Got a Room (DVD only)
I think I missed this one at the Austin Film Festival last year. Whether it was then or not, I missed it all the same. I intend to rectify this as soon as I can get my hands on a copy.
Miss March (DVD & Blu-ray)
I haven't seen this one and don't expect I ever will. I'm told fans of sketch group The Whitest Kids U Know were very disappointed.
New to Blu
This is Spinal Tap
The only time I've seen Spinal Tap look nearly this good was a beat-up print when I programmed it as part of a Midnight series in college. All the extras from MGM's previous DVD edition are carried over.
New extras on This is Spinal Tap (on a separate DVD) include The Tap performing "Stonehenge" at Live Aid in 2007 and some promos for Stonehenge Decoded done as a faux interview with Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest).
12 Monkeys
All of the extras on 12 Monkeys carry over from the most recent DVD edition. The transfer is splendid and it sounds clearer than ever.
A River Runs Through It
I haven't had a chance to glance at this one, but all reports are good.
Inglorious Bastards
The original inspiration for Tarantino's Basterds previously hit DVD. Here we get the same features plus a better transfer.
New to Region 1
Repulsion (Blu-ray & DVD)
One of Polanski's long-requested titles absent on DVD, Repulsion gets the royal treatment from Criterion. Reviews all around the web have praised this as yet another solid entry in the Collection. As always, I recommend this Criterion as a blind or long-awaited buy for collectors and cineastes alike. Amazon currently has the Blu-ray for $19.99.
Imported TV
Torchwood: Children of Earth
I never watched this show regularly, so sue me, but I'm making my way through this miniseries and am enjoying it a lot. More on this one in the coming days.
Torchwood Season 2
Life on Mars (UK) Season 1 (DVD only)
The better-than-the-US-one UK original is on DVD. Worth a look.
TV New Releases
Dollhouse Season 1 (Blu-ray & DVD)
Another one I'm catching up on, Dollhouse gets better as the first season goes on, but that's not to say it isn't quite excellent from the beginning. Why on earth Fox has this in a death slot is beyond me. Joss Whedon masterminds and Eliza Dushku stars in something of a mystery thriller about an underground organization that provides its clients with programmable humans whose memories are erased after each "encounter." It's thought-provoking, dark, and very unique among network TV shows.
The set includes two unaired episodes: original Pilot "Echo" and "Epitaph One." Audio commentary is included on select episodes, some Deleted Scenes are thrown in, and five featurettes round things out.
Battlestar Galactica Season 4.5 (Blu-ray & DVD)
Battlestar Galactica Complete Series Set (Blu-ray & DVD)
This set is sure to be one of the major-selling behemoths of the year. Once I got behind on this show, I gave up and decided I'd wait for the complete series set. Little did I consider such an endeavor would involve weeks of my time.
Jim Breuer: Let's Clear the Air
Jim is known to many as goat boy or "that stoned-lookin dude from Half Baked," but he's a lot more than just that. He's a family man first, and not a stoner at all. He just has legendary circles under his eyes that make him look baked all the time. This is his most recent standup special, where he opens up a bit about who he really is and reflects on virtually his entire career. There's a Photo Shoot featurette and a Fireside Chat with Jim's dad included.
Is it me, or does anyone else think it's weird this is the only standup special released during Funny People's opening week?
Catalog TV
Early Edition Season 2
This is often said about TV series, but I can assert with some authority that there's no way in hell a network would greenlight a show about the morning paper telling the next day's news anymore. Give us 20 years for newsprint to be good and "retro," then knock yourselves out, writers. I never watched this show when it was on, but my wife said she did and loved it. The thing I like most about Early Edition is that the show works based on one gimmick and it doesn't get stale, like Quantum Leap years before.
The Green Hornet
VCI Entertainment released a pile of Green Hornet serials I haven't had a chance to look at yet. They're the only outfit even doing shows like this.
The Donna Reed Show Season 2
Ah, 1950's female steroetypes are alive and well on DVD. The first season is now on Hulu as well.
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Well, this week's installment came together a good deal later than I had hoped, but this coming week's Disc Roundup is already well on its way to completion. I've been light on free streaming and VOD titles, so I'm playing a bit of catchup there. I'm also splitting that content out into its own weekly column (The VOD Report) due to volume in both the physical and streaming worlds. The Disc Roundup will still hit later in the week, with VOD coming earlier.