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Michael Giltz: DVDs: The Rest Of The Year
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Michael Giltz
Posted December 24, 2008 | 06:28 PM (EST)
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DVDs: The Rest Of The Year
Read More: Animation , Dvds, Hbo , Holiday Season
Commentary , Movies, Murnau , The Wire , TV Shows , Entertainment News
I'm cleaning out my DVD pile as we approach the
end of the year. Here are the top releases fromDecember. Most of them are in the stores nowbut a few hit shelves in the next week. They savedsome great stuff for the end of the year, so bearwith me if I throw out one too many superlatives.
THE BEST TV SHOW OF ALL TIME? -- I
put a question mark there because I hate to throw
out definitive statements like that. Butunquestionably The Wire: The Complete Series
($249.99; HBO) is ONE of the best shows of all
time. Obviously Generation Kill ($59.99; HBO) pales in comparison. But anything following The
Wire would have paled in comparison and this Iraqi war drama plays better seen over a few days
rather than over a few months.
THE BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME? -- That slot goes to Citizen Kane the way "best album"
always goes to Sgt. Pepper. No one else can do what they did because of their massive influence.
But any short list of the greatest movies of all time invariably includes Murnau's gorgeous silent
film Sunrise , which is available in a wonderful new print in the massive, bulky, awkward (you'll
have to buy a coffee table to display it on) boxed set Murnau, Borzage and Fox ($239.98; Fox). But
what a collection. You get 12 films, ranging from pretty good to great, a top-notch doucmentaryand a book devoted to a lost Murnau classic as well as ANOTHER book that's lavishly illustrated. I
hope they have the decency to release this restored version of Sunrise on its own right awaybecause it should be readily available to anyone and everyone for renting and buying. But I've spentmonths talking about boxed set packaging and this is a wonderful example of an expensive butterrible job. It LOOKS impressive and weighs a ton but the DVDs are awkwardly stored, hard to getat and the boxed set itself is almost impossible to story. Great movies and great care was takenwith the films. But bigger and bulkier does NOT mean better.
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Michael Giltz: DVDs: The Rest Of The Year
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/dvds-the-rest-of-the-year_b_152588.html[4/5/2009 12:48:44 PM]
THE BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR? -- It's definitely the best live action movie based on the
comic strip Batman , but while I STILL don't find it wholly satisfying, it's on so many other best of
the year lists that The Dark Knight ($34.98 or $35.98 on BluRay; Warner Bros.) probably is the de
facto best movie of the year. It looks just stunning on BluRay, by the way and Heath Ledger seems
certain to win the Oscar. Deservedly so; he's the best special effect in the movie -- great acting.
THE BEST WILL SMITH MOVIE SET IN AN APOCALYPTIC FUTURE? -- Yes, I Am
Legend is certainly that. And if you're looking for a lavish version of this movie on DVD because 7
Pounds made you cry and now you want to watch Will Smith save the world (again), then this
Ultimate Collector's Edition ($49.98; Warner Bros.) is the way to go. It has animated comics, a
sketch book, a commemorative geegaw, and loads of featurettes including an alternate ending.
THE BEST SHAKESPEARE SEQUEL EVER? -- Actually, that would be the Tom Stoppard
play Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. Or the movie Shakespeare In Love which he
coauthored. But Hamlet 2 ($29.98; Universal) is a fitifully amusing premise (high school teacher
writes musical take on Hamlet ) and it's always fun to see Steve Coogan. Too bad this wasn't his US
breakthrough.BEST REMAKE? -- The cooler than cool Jason Statham gets the top award for Death Race
($29.98; Universal). Personally, I still have fond memories of the now chronologically challenged
Death Race 2000, but this is one of Stephen King's faves of the year and I'm too scared of him toquestion it.
THE BEST REASON TO CHECK OUT THE ORIGINAL FILM? That would be The Women
($28.98; New Line), a seemingly foolproof idea -- remake the scathing, hilariously acerbic classic
comedy about backbiting gals -- that took years to get going and then was somehow thoroughlybotched.
THE BEST REASON TO TURN THE SOUND OFF? Rowan Atkinson takes a lot of care with
the sound mix, I'm sure but Mr. Bean: The Ultimate Collection ($69.95; A&E) gathers together all
of the mostly silent comic's appearances, from the classic original TV series (the only thing casual
fans really need) to the movies and even the animated spin-off.
THE BEST BEGINNING TO A CAREER THAT BEGAN IN 1996? Criterion offers it up in
Bottle Rocket ($39.95; Criterion) , the charming little movie that set Wes Anderson on the road to
the classic Rushmore and fine followups like The Royal Tenenbaums and The Darjeeling Limited .
Their usual top-notch extras include the original short. James L. Brooks and Polly Platt have
individually and collectively mentored lots of great talents. Anderson is one of the best. Also just
out is the impenetrable but confident Lars Von Trier film Europa ($39.95; Criterion), which
contains audio commentary, a making-of documentary, interviews with Trier and others and more,
as one expects from Criterion.
THE BEST REASON TO CHECK OUT EXTRAS? I'm actually not a big fan of extras, but
Deadwood: The Complete Series ($179.97; HBO) has a couple of doozies, from creator David
Milch's lacerating stroll through the empty set of the show he killed off too soon to Titus Welliver's
hilarious imiations of Milch, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and others. Gosh, I miss this show.
THE BEST REASONS TO GET OVER YOUR FEAR OF DOCUMENTARIES? -- Sure,
documentaries are wildly popular compared to 30 or 40 years ago. But since a giant hit in the docu
world is a movie that grosses $10 million, obviously a lot of you still avoid them. That meansyou're missing out on the high school dissection American Teen ($29.99; Paramount) , the classic
Cold War look The Atomic Cafe Collector's Edition ($39.95; Docurama), the marvelous political x-
ray Frost/Nixon: The Original Watergate Interviews ($24.95; Liberation), the acclaimed World
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Michael Giltz: DVDs: The Rest Of The Year
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/dvds-the-rest-of-the-year_b_152588.html[4/5/2009 12:48:44 PM]Trade Center tight rope adventure Man On Wire ($26.98; Magnolia), the miscarriage miscarriage
of justice Pregnant In America ($24.95; Intention), the war buff treasure trove The Royal Air
Force At War ($34.98; Koch), the Richard Sandler close-ups of the only city that matters in Brave
New York/Sway ($19.95; Brink), and the water expose Flow ($29.95; Oscilloscope).
THE BEST MOVIES TO MAKE UP A SILLY BOXED SET? -- I have absolutely no
complaints about the individual movies included in Great Directors Volume 1 ($79.95; Kino). Five
genuinely great directors -- Kurosawa, Tarkovsky, Chabrol, Antonioni, and Schlondorff. Five
interesting films. But why does this boxed set exist? If the titles are available individually, surelyfans already own some of them. And who is going to say they need these five particular films bythese five directors. You might like Scorsese and Spielberg and John Huston -- but do you reallyneed a boxed set of Mean Streets, ET and Under The Volcano? It's just hard to imagine anysituation where any film buff would actually want to buy these five films at once and it seems theony reason it exists is because they owned all five and wanted an excuse to package them together.Five films by one director, sure. Five musicals or five gangster flicks, okay. But five random albeitgood movies by five different directors? It's too easy to say they're good guys. This boxed set justmakes no sense.
THE BEST TITLES TO CONFUSE? I can't seem to keep Towelhead ($27.98; Warner Bros.),
the indie film where Aaron Eckhart plays another patented creep and Baghead ($28.96; Sony), the
bare bones horror spoof straight in my head. Maybe if they were better.
THE BEST REASON TO IGNORE PETA? - Anyone seeing Maggie Cheung in leather in the
Olivier Assayas witty film satire Irma Vep ($29.99; Zeitgeist)...well, animal cruelty would be the
last thing on any person's mind.THE BEST REASON TO REWATCH THE BRITISH VERSION OF 'THE OFFICE?' -- It's
true that the American version has proven to be far, far better than I expected. But very few
comedies can equal the UK show's originality. And seeing RIcky Gervais try to shoehorn himselfinto Hollywood flicks like Ghosttown ($29.98; Dreamworks) -- the harmless story of a guy who
dies briefly and is haunted by Greg Kinnear simply makes you want to remind yourself thegreatness he is capable of when given free rein.
THE BEST REASON TO SING "TAKE A CHANCE, TAKE A CHANCE, TAKE A
CHANCE?" -- Obviously, that would be the shaky, silly wildly successful ABBA movie Mamma
Mia ($34.98; Universal), which continues to be an inexplicable but hard to get angry about success
of the equally paper-thin stage musical. But hey, if this is what it takes to get the great MerylStreep a payday, I'm all for it. And seeing James Bond (ie. Pierce Brosnan) sing and dance is hardto beat.
THE BEST AND WORST REASONS TO GO OFF THE GRID? -- The best reason is the
paranoid techno-thriller Eagle Eye ($34.98; Dreamworks), which can't offer up anything scarier
than a computer that thinks it's human. But it was a hit and Shia LaBeouf is the luckiest actor
around. The worst reason is Lost: Season Four ($59.99; Disney) because if you go off the grid
that's where you could end up. Some say the show regained its footing last year; I stll find it hard
to dive back in.
THE BEST REASON TO TAKE A SECOND LOOK? The slow-burning comedies of the Coen
Brothers always improve with time and repeated viewings and Burn After Reading ($29.98;
Universal) (with Brad Pitt -- who is having a stellar year -- and George Clooney) is sure to be noexception. In a year or two they'll call it a cult comedy and soon after that it'll get upgraded againand join the ranks of The Big Lebowski and Raising Arizona.
THE BEST REASON TO GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING? -- The pioneering shorts of a
groundbreaker care collected in The Early Works Of Cheryl Dunye ($24.95; First Run). You get six
provocative, funny shorts -- or "Dunyementaries" -- that led to her breakout film The WatermelonWoman. Here's hoping this means she can get her next project made.
THE BEST REASON TO WORK OUT? -- The scarily over-the-top surgeons of Nip/Tuck
Season Five Part One ($59.98; Warner Bros.). I do NOT want to go in for surgery with these guys
working on me. They must to be awfully distracted with the madness that circles around them.
THE BEST REASON TO PUT ON YOUR SPURS? -- Westerns like the classic TV shows
Women's
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Michelle
Obama
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War Wire
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Financial
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Books by this author
A cabin of one's own: New
England's MacDowellColony celebrates 100years of artistic utopia.And the gay and lesbianartists who prosperedthere celebrate ... (Thenational gay & lesbiannewsmagazine)
by Michael Giltz
Affairs to remember:Farley Granger beddedAva Gardner, ShelleyWinters, and LeonardBernstein. In hisautobiography, IncludeMe Out, Hitchcock's muse... (The national gay &lesbian newsmagazine)
by Michael Giltzlove it for a reason like
being green!
FastCompany...
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES
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Michael Giltz: DVDs: The Rest Of The Year
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Michelle Obama's Clothing
Has Sean Hannity All Out OfSorts
Richard Poplawski, Gunman'Lying In Wait,' Kills 3Pittsburgh Police Officers
Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld: DoesIran Harbor Osama binLaden?
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Lavish...
Robert De Niro
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"HGTV's $250,000
Challenge": Families
Vie For Mortgage...Gunsmoke Season Three Volume 1 ($37.99; Paraount), Clint Eastwood's Rawhide Third Season
Volume 2 ($40.99; Paramount), the modest flick The Man Who Came Back ($26.98; Lionsgate)
and keep an eye out for Ed Harris's Appaloosa ($28.98; New Line -- due out January 13), which is
the best of the bunch and a lot of fun.
THE BEST REASON TO GIVE COSTUME DRAMAS ANOTHER CHANCE? -- The costume
epic The Duchess ($29.98; Paramont) didn't get the attention it deserved. Keira Knightley, Ralph
Fiennes and Charlotte Rampling head your usual cream of the crop UK cast.
THE BEST REASON TO CANCEL CABLE? -- Who needs it when so many shows are available
on DVD? You can check out everything from 70s drama Swingtown First Season (optimistic title,
that) ($40.99; Paramount) to the 70s comedy Happy Days: The Fourth Season (which looked
back to the 50s, of course) ($40.99; Paramount), multiple episodes of the public access cult classic
Glenn O'Brien's TV Party ($19.95 each; Brink), the smash-em-up cartoon Transformers Energon:
The Ultimate Collection ($59.98; Hasbro), the goofily absurd Aqua Teen Hunger Force 6 ($29.98;
Turner), and the mellow country comedy of Petticoat Junction First Season ($40.99; Paramount).
THE BEST REASON TO INVEST IN BRENDAN FRASER STOCK? He's made three movies
in his mummy franchise, including The Mummy, The Mummy Returns and The Mummy: Tomb Of
The Dragon Emperor ($29.98; Universal). And they've all made about $400 million worldwide.
Whatever they're paying our square-jawed hero, he's worth it. No wonder he's the lead in the new
G.I. Joe movie.
THE BEST REASON TO BUY WALL-E? -- I've always disliked Disney's straight-to-DVD
moneymakers like The Little Mermaid 2: Return To The Sea ($29.99; Disney). They're so cynical
and half-baked, it dims the pleasure of the original for me. And how Jim Henson's name got on thecheapo Goldilocks and the 3 Bears ($18.99; Weinstein) is beyond me. He'll be rolling over in his
grave as soon as he stops throwing up. (Ouch! But it really is way beneath Henson's legacy.) Theyboth make the merely competent Jim Carrey flick Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who ($29.98; Fox),
but as someone said, Horton is one of the more dignified storybook characters so a manic JimCarrey is not smart casting, however entertaining he might be.
Happy holidays!
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Michael Giltz: DVDs: The Rest Of The Year
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JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin See Profile I'm a Fan of JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin permalink
You forgot Criterion's superb DVD of Pier Paolo Pasolini's brilliant, extremely controversial (even today)
film Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom.
Michael Giltz See Profile I'm a Fan of Michael Giltz permalink
thx for reading. My best of the year DVD column will come in January. This was just a
cleaning out the closet column covering the final releases of the year. And when it comes tocriterion, I could list most of their titles and have a great best-of column right there. I usuallypick just one or two of theirs. But I have to admit - I'm not terribly squeamish but I've neverbeen able to get through it :)
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Flag as abusive Posted 12:18 PM on 12/28/2008
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/dvds-the-rest-of-the-year_b_152588.html[4/5/2009 12:48:44 PM]
APRIL 5, 2009
HOME POLITICS MEDIA BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT LIVING STYLE GREEN WORLD CHICAGO
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Michael Giltz
Posted December 24, 2008 | 06:28 PM (EST)
BIO
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DVDs: The Rest Of The Year
Read More: Animation , Dvds, Hbo , Holiday Season
Commentary , Movies, Murnau , The Wire , TV Shows , Entertainment News
I'm cleaning out my DVD pile as we approach the
end of the year. Here are the top releases fromDecember. Most of them are in the stores nowbut a few hit shelves in the next week. They savedsome great stuff for the end of the year, so bearwith me if I throw out one too many superlatives.
THE BEST TV SHOW OF ALL TIME? -- I
put a question mark there because I hate to throw
out definitive statements like that. Butunquestionably The Wire: The Complete Series
($249.99; HBO) is ONE of the best shows of all
time. Obviously Generation Kill ($59.99; HBO) pales in comparison. But anything following The
Wire would have paled in comparison and this Iraqi war drama plays better seen over a few days
rather than over a few months.
THE BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME? -- That slot goes to Citizen Kane the way "best album"
always goes to Sgt. Pepper. No one else can do what they did because of their massive influence.
But any short list of the greatest movies of all time invariably includes Murnau's gorgeous silent
film Sunrise , which is available in a wonderful new print in the massive, bulky, awkward (you'll
have to buy a coffee table to display it on) boxed set Murnau, Borzage and Fox ($239.98; Fox). But
what a collection. You get 12 films, ranging from pretty good to great, a top-notch doucmentaryand a book devoted to a lost Murnau classic as well as ANOTHER book that's lavishly illustrated. I
hope they have the decency to release this restored version of Sunrise on its own right awaybecause it should be readily available to anyone and everyone for renting and buying. But I've spentmonths talking about boxed set packaging and this is a wonderful example of an expensive butterrible job. It LOOKS impressive and weighs a ton but the DVDs are awkwardly stored, hard to getat and the boxed set itself is almost impossible to story. Great movies and great care was takenwith the films. But bigger and bulkier does NOT mean better.
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Fashion Face-Off!
Michelle Obama And
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy
Finally Meet In
France (VIDEO,
PHOTOS, POLL)
*Video, poll and slideshow
Levi Johnston TalksSafe Sex With Tyra
Banks (VIDEO)
***UPDATE*** 8:30pm:
People.com is reporting
that Sarah Palin has
issued...
Oscar de la Renta
Slams Michelle
Obama's Buckingham
Outfit As Major
Designers FeelIgnored
While Michelle Obamahas made lesser...
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So here's the thing.There's no shortage of
articles dedicated to thatcertain je ne...
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Discusses MichelleObama's "Fantastic"
Style On CBS'
Farrah Fawcett Is Hospitalized
Madonna Tot's Dad Found: 'At Last I
Can Be Part Of Mercy's Life'
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Of Raping 4
Michael Giltz: DVDs: The Rest Of The Year
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/dvds-the-rest-of-the-year_b_152588.html[4/5/2009 12:48:44 PM]
THE BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR? -- It's definitely the best live action movie based on the
comic strip Batman , but while I STILL don't find it wholly satisfying, it's on so many other best of
the year lists that The Dark Knight ($34.98 or $35.98 on BluRay; Warner Bros.) probably is the de
facto best movie of the year. It looks just stunning on BluRay, by the way and Heath Ledger seems
certain to win the Oscar. Deservedly so; he's the best special effect in the movie -- great acting.
THE BEST WILL SMITH MOVIE SET IN AN APOCALYPTIC FUTURE? -- Yes, I Am
Legend is certainly that. And if you're looking for a lavish version of this movie on DVD because 7
Pounds made you cry and now you want to watch Will Smith save the world (again), then this
Ultimate Collector's Edition ($49.98; Warner Bros.) is the way to go. It has animated comics, a
sketch book, a commemorative geegaw, and loads of featurettes including an alternate ending.
THE BEST SHAKESPEARE SEQUEL EVER? -- Actually, that would be the Tom Stoppard
play Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. Or the movie Shakespeare In Love which he
coauthored. But Hamlet 2 ($29.98; Universal) is a fitifully amusing premise (high school teacher
writes musical take on Hamlet ) and it's always fun to see Steve Coogan. Too bad this wasn't his US
breakthrough.BEST REMAKE? -- The cooler than cool Jason Statham gets the top award for Death Race
($29.98; Universal). Personally, I still have fond memories of the now chronologically challenged
Death Race 2000, but this is one of Stephen King's faves of the year and I'm too scared of him toquestion it.
THE BEST REASON TO CHECK OUT THE ORIGINAL FILM? That would be The Women
($28.98; New Line), a seemingly foolproof idea -- remake the scathing, hilariously acerbic classic
comedy about backbiting gals -- that took years to get going and then was somehow thoroughlybotched.
THE BEST REASON TO TURN THE SOUND OFF? Rowan Atkinson takes a lot of care with
the sound mix, I'm sure but Mr. Bean: The Ultimate Collection ($69.95; A&E) gathers together all
of the mostly silent comic's appearances, from the classic original TV series (the only thing casual
fans really need) to the movies and even the animated spin-off.
THE BEST BEGINNING TO A CAREER THAT BEGAN IN 1996? Criterion offers it up in
Bottle Rocket ($39.95; Criterion) , the charming little movie that set Wes Anderson on the road to
the classic Rushmore and fine followups like The Royal Tenenbaums and The Darjeeling Limited .
Their usual top-notch extras include the original short. James L. Brooks and Polly Platt have
individually and collectively mentored lots of great talents. Anderson is one of the best. Also just
out is the impenetrable but confident Lars Von Trier film Europa ($39.95; Criterion), which
contains audio commentary, a making-of documentary, interviews with Trier and others and more,
as one expects from Criterion.
THE BEST REASON TO CHECK OUT EXTRAS? I'm actually not a big fan of extras, but
Deadwood: The Complete Series ($179.97; HBO) has a couple of doozies, from creator David
Milch's lacerating stroll through the empty set of the show he killed off too soon to Titus Welliver's
hilarious imiations of Milch, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and others. Gosh, I miss this show.
THE BEST REASONS TO GET OVER YOUR FEAR OF DOCUMENTARIES? -- Sure,
documentaries are wildly popular compared to 30 or 40 years ago. But since a giant hit in the docu
world is a movie that grosses $10 million, obviously a lot of you still avoid them. That meansyou're missing out on the high school dissection American Teen ($29.99; Paramount) , the classic
Cold War look The Atomic Cafe Collector's Edition ($39.95; Docurama), the marvelous political x-
ray Frost/Nixon: The Original Watergate Interviews ($24.95; Liberation), the acclaimed World
"Washington
Unplugged"
Arianna was on CBS'
"Washington...
Alex Leo The "Real
Housewives Of New
York City" Flowchart
Of Hate
I'm a little embarrassed tolove this show as much
as...
"BRUNO" TRAILER!
Calamity, African
Babies, ChaseScenes And More
(NSFW VIDEO)
IT'S HERE! The trailer for
this July's Sacha BaronCohen...
NATO Leaders Focus
On Afghanistan, But
Most Reject Obama's
Plea For Troops
(SLIDESHOW)
STRASBOURG, France
— On the eve of the
NATO...
First Lady Fashion At
Friday's NATO
Concert (PHOTOS)
Another night, anotherfashion opportunity forNATO leaders and their
spouses! See...
Diana Palin, SarahPalin's Sister-In-Law,
Arrested ForBreaking Into Home
ANCHORAGE, Alaska —Police say Alaska Gov....
John Oliver Explains
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John Oliver was upset
enough to drop his
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During Press
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Michael Giltz: DVDs: The Rest Of The Year
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/dvds-the-rest-of-the-year_b_152588.html[4/5/2009 12:48:44 PM]Trade Center tight rope adventure Man On Wire ($26.98; Magnolia), the miscarriage miscarriage
of justice Pregnant In America ($24.95; Intention), the war buff treasure trove The Royal Air
Force At War ($34.98; Koch), the Richard Sandler close-ups of the only city that matters in Brave
New York/Sway ($19.95; Brink), and the water expose Flow ($29.95; Oscilloscope).
THE BEST MOVIES TO MAKE UP A SILLY BOXED SET? -- I have absolutely no
complaints about the individual movies included in Great Directors Volume 1 ($79.95; Kino). Five
genuinely great directors -- Kurosawa, Tarkovsky, Chabrol, Antonioni, and Schlondorff. Five
interesting films. But why does this boxed set exist? If the titles are available individually, surelyfans already own some of them. And who is going to say they need these five particular films bythese five directors. You might like Scorsese and Spielberg and John Huston -- but do you reallyneed a boxed set of Mean Streets, ET and Under The Volcano? It's just hard to imagine anysituation where any film buff would actually want to buy these five films at once and it seems theony reason it exists is because they owned all five and wanted an excuse to package them together.Five films by one director, sure. Five musicals or five gangster flicks, okay. But five random albeitgood movies by five different directors? It's too easy to say they're good guys. This boxed set justmakes no sense.
THE BEST TITLES TO CONFUSE? I can't seem to keep Towelhead ($27.98; Warner Bros.),
the indie film where Aaron Eckhart plays another patented creep and Baghead ($28.96; Sony), the
bare bones horror spoof straight in my head. Maybe if they were better.
THE BEST REASON TO IGNORE PETA? - Anyone seeing Maggie Cheung in leather in the
Olivier Assayas witty film satire Irma Vep ($29.99; Zeitgeist)...well, animal cruelty would be the
last thing on any person's mind.THE BEST REASON TO REWATCH THE BRITISH VERSION OF 'THE OFFICE?' -- It's
true that the American version has proven to be far, far better than I expected. But very few
comedies can equal the UK show's originality. And seeing RIcky Gervais try to shoehorn himselfinto Hollywood flicks like Ghosttown ($29.98; Dreamworks) -- the harmless story of a guy who
dies briefly and is haunted by Greg Kinnear simply makes you want to remind yourself thegreatness he is capable of when given free rein.
THE BEST REASON TO SING "TAKE A CHANCE, TAKE A CHANCE, TAKE A
CHANCE?" -- Obviously, that would be the shaky, silly wildly successful ABBA movie Mamma
Mia ($34.98; Universal), which continues to be an inexplicable but hard to get angry about success
of the equally paper-thin stage musical. But hey, if this is what it takes to get the great MerylStreep a payday, I'm all for it. And seeing James Bond (ie. Pierce Brosnan) sing and dance is hardto beat.
THE BEST AND WORST REASONS TO GO OFF THE GRID? -- The best reason is the
paranoid techno-thriller Eagle Eye ($34.98; Dreamworks), which can't offer up anything scarier
than a computer that thinks it's human. But it was a hit and Shia LaBeouf is the luckiest actor
around. The worst reason is Lost: Season Four ($59.99; Disney) because if you go off the grid
that's where you could end up. Some say the show regained its footing last year; I stll find it hard
to dive back in.
THE BEST REASON TO TAKE A SECOND LOOK? The slow-burning comedies of the Coen
Brothers always improve with time and repeated viewings and Burn After Reading ($29.98;
Universal) (with Brad Pitt -- who is having a stellar year -- and George Clooney) is sure to be noexception. In a year or two they'll call it a cult comedy and soon after that it'll get upgraded againand join the ranks of The Big Lebowski and Raising Arizona.
THE BEST REASON TO GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING? -- The pioneering shorts of a
groundbreaker care collected in The Early Works Of Cheryl Dunye ($24.95; First Run). You get six
provocative, funny shorts -- or "Dunyementaries" -- that led to her breakout film The WatermelonWoman. Here's hoping this means she can get her next project made.
THE BEST REASON TO WORK OUT? -- The scarily over-the-top surgeons of Nip/Tuck
Season Five Part One ($59.98; Warner Bros.). I do NOT want to go in for surgery with these guys
working on me. They must to be awfully distracted with the madness that circles around them.
THE BEST REASON TO PUT ON YOUR SPURS? -- Westerns like the classic TV shows
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Michael Giltz: DVDs: The Rest Of The Year
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Vie For Mortgage...Gunsmoke Season Three Volume 1 ($37.99; Paraount), Clint Eastwood's Rawhide Third Season
Volume 2 ($40.99; Paramount), the modest flick The Man Who Came Back ($26.98; Lionsgate)
and keep an eye out for Ed Harris's Appaloosa ($28.98; New Line -- due out January 13), which is
the best of the bunch and a lot of fun.
THE BEST REASON TO GIVE COSTUME DRAMAS ANOTHER CHANCE? -- The costume
epic The Duchess ($29.98; Paramont) didn't get the attention it deserved. Keira Knightley, Ralph
Fiennes and Charlotte Rampling head your usual cream of the crop UK cast.
THE BEST REASON TO CANCEL CABLE? -- Who needs it when so many shows are available
on DVD? You can check out everything from 70s drama Swingtown First Season (optimistic title,
that) ($40.99; Paramount) to the 70s comedy Happy Days: The Fourth Season (which looked
back to the 50s, of course) ($40.99; Paramount), multiple episodes of the public access cult classic
Glenn O'Brien's TV Party ($19.95 each; Brink), the smash-em-up cartoon Transformers Energon:
The Ultimate Collection ($59.98; Hasbro), the goofily absurd Aqua Teen Hunger Force 6 ($29.98;
Turner), and the mellow country comedy of Petticoat Junction First Season ($40.99; Paramount).
THE BEST REASON TO INVEST IN BRENDAN FRASER STOCK? He's made three movies
in his mummy franchise, including The Mummy, The Mummy Returns and The Mummy: Tomb Of
The Dragon Emperor ($29.98; Universal). And they've all made about $400 million worldwide.
Whatever they're paying our square-jawed hero, he's worth it. No wonder he's the lead in the new
G.I. Joe movie.
THE BEST REASON TO BUY WALL-E? -- I've always disliked Disney's straight-to-DVD
moneymakers like The Little Mermaid 2: Return To The Sea ($29.99; Disney). They're so cynical
and half-baked, it dims the pleasure of the original for me. And how Jim Henson's name got on thecheapo Goldilocks and the 3 Bears ($18.99; Weinstein) is beyond me. He'll be rolling over in his
grave as soon as he stops throwing up. (Ouch! But it really is way beneath Henson's legacy.) Theyboth make the merely competent Jim Carrey flick Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who ($29.98; Fox),
but as someone said, Horton is one of the more dignified storybook characters so a manic JimCarrey is not smart casting, however entertaining he might be.
Happy holidays!
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JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin See Profile I'm a Fan of JaneaneTheAcerbicGoblin permalink
You forgot Criterion's superb DVD of Pier Paolo Pasolini's brilliant, extremely controversial (even today)
film Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom.
Michael Giltz See Profile I'm a Fan of Michael Giltz permalink
thx for reading. My best of the year DVD column will come in January. This was just a
cleaning out the closet column covering the final releases of the year. And when it comes tocriterion, I could list most of their titles and have a great best-of column right there. I usuallypick just one or two of theirs. But I have to admit - I'm not terribly squeamish but I've neverbeen able to get through it :)
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