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Michael Giltz
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Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyDVDs: "West Side Story" (Almost)
Perfect In New BluRay Set
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PHOTOS: Reunited And It Feels SoGood!
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Posted: 11/17/11 06:40 PM ET
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WEST SIDE STORY 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION BLURAY ($69.99 BuRay Deluxe or $29.99
BluRay; MGM) -- West Side Story buzzes with contradictions in this lavish 50th anniversary set. The film
makes brilliant use of real locations but also fully embraces a broad theatricality right down to stylized
sets in some scenes essential to its success. The lead actress Natalie Wood is a movie star who has to be
dubbed for her musical numbers and yet it preserves legendary stage performances by Rita Moreno and
others for all time. Screenwriter Ernest Lehman did all sorts of research until Jerome Robbins teased him
that they weren't making a documentary here. (By the way, the decent booklet contained in the deluxe setmentions almost every film Lehman worked on except The Sound Of Music oddly enough. And why did I
never realize Lehman's screenplays begin both movies in the same way: with quiet montages of the
city/the hills to create a very distinct mood?) If you have the 45th Anniversary set, you might not want to
give up the thick booklet that contained the entire screenplay, but this set has loads of nice stuff like ahardcover book with some good essays, postcard sized editions of movie posters from the film around theworld and a CD with eight covers of songs from the film. They messed up the legendary opening where
the credits designed by Saul Bass dissolves into the city skyline (instead, the screen fades to black, fades
in again on a title card of Bass's design and then dissolves into the city skyline) and others spot problems
with syncing I haven't spotted yet. Otherwise, on a first look the picture and sound look good and the
musical as fresh and fun as ever.
LARRY CROWNE ($34.98 BluRay or $29.98 DVD; Universal) -- Tom Hanks is gonna be fine. He has
several very promising films in the works. Plus he's done some strong work as a director, namely his
charming debut That Thing You Do and episodes of two great miniseries he made happen, Band Of
Brothers and From The Earth To The Moon. Still, it's a shame a person of his taste should let his second
feature film directorial effort be such an uninteresting romantic comedy with no fresh angle or dialogue
or insight or anything. It's easy to see what motivates him towards those other works (World War II,
space, a certain sweet era of pop music). But what was the attraction for this empty tale of a middle-aged
man who loses his job, goes back to college and falls in love with his super-hot teacher? Maybe it waslending a helping hand to screenwriter Nia Vardalos. And certainly he planned to make a good film. But
the road to bad cinema is paved with good intentions.
LOONEY TUNES PLATINUM COLLECTION VOLUME ONE LIMITED EDITION ($79.98
BluRay or $59.98 BluRay standard) -- We've seen smart, chronological, collector friendly editions ofMOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2
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Popeye and various Supermans and the Disney library. The WB catalog of Looney Tunes and Merrie
Melodies includes more than 1000 shorts, however so it's a massive project being told in fits and starts.WB has decided to tackle this time with a focus on characters and creators. This BluRay set contains
many of the best-known shorts (like 'What's Opera, Doc" and "One Froggy Evening") that appeared on
earlier DVD sets (like the six gold volumes) and you can see some visual improvement. Disc one is a
greatest hits of sorts, disc two has some one-shot hits plus the complete Marvin The Martian, complete
Witch Hazel and complete works of lesser known animation figures like Marc Anthony and Ralph
Phillips. Disc Three has reams of extras and documentaries about Chuck Jones. The DVD volume can be
taken out and put on your shelf alongside all the other DVDs or the set itself will fit on a shelf, albeit with
a fat profile. The box it comes in is very handsome graphically with great detail. It feels very well-made
and looks great. You also get a large fridge magnet and a litho cell. But the really odd touch is a BugsBunny collectible cup that looks like a shot glass to me. Maybe little Timmy can use it when downing hismilk? So you get 50 shorts and loads of extras and either set (the limited edition or the standard BluRay)
is a great buy for newcomers. Those who have already bought it and want to make the transfer to BluRay
will just have to hold onto their old sets since this doesn't duplicate any earlier version.
EVIL DEAD 2 25th ANNIVERSAR EDITION ($14.99 BluRay; Lionsgate) -- "What would it mean to
you if I said, 'I hadn't seen Evil Dead 2 ...yet?'" "It would mean you're an idiot." That give and take from
High Fidelity gives a hint of the passion that director Sam Raimi's fans have for his schlock B
masterpiece. This Bruce Campbell starrer has been properly remastered for this BluRay release and looksabout as good as a low budget horror film should look. Loads of extras. Why this wasn't released before
Halloween is a mystery but it'll make a good Christmas gift for the horror fan in your life.
THE HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER ($24.95; Film Movement ) -- The label Film Movement has
made a habit of plucking choice movies out of film festivals and bringing them to a wider audience whenthe movies might otherwise have disappeared. They've done it again with The Human Resources
Manager , a movie they released in theaters early this year for a few months where it quietly continued to
garner good reviews for this story of the human resources manager of a bakery in Jerusalem who musthead to Romania to pay his respects to the family of an employee killed in a suicide bombing. Acclaimed
in Israel, it's the sort of film serious buffs should not miss.TOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 9
MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1of 2
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FARSCAPE THE COMPLETE SERIES ON BLURAY ($199.95; A&E/New Video) -- If you're more
Doctor Who and Firefly than Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek , this oddball sci-fi series might be right
up your alley. An astronaut is sucked into a wormhole and ends up breaking out of prison and being
ensconced on a living spaceship called Moya with the usual ragtag group of compatriots, many of themcreated by Jim Henson's Creature Workshop. It's funny, silly and clever and not your neighbor's sci-fi
show, thanks to the likable Ben Browder and a game cast. This BluRay duplicates the DVD boxed set,
with the addition of one new documentary. For various technical reasons, the picture isn't a wowcompared to the DVD but the sound is pumped up. This does not contain the two-part miniseries from2004 that completed the storyline of the show after its four season run, so hold onto that or wait for the
day when the saga is truly complete in one boxed set, which could be many years from now. If you're
impatient and want a sci-fi jolt of goofiness, then dive in.
YOU GOT TO MOVE ($29.95; Milestone)
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THE TOPP TWINS: UNTOUCHABLE GIRLS ($19.98; Disinformation) -- The 1985 documentary
You Got To Move has been lovingly restored by Milestone. The narration is so-so and as a film it's a
straightforward mix of photos and talking heads. But this labor of love by director Lucy Massie Phenix
(who produced it and worked with co-editor and co-director Veronica Selver) shines a light on the pivotalwork of Highlander Research and Education Center, a petri dish for change throughout the South that
was harassed and accused of communism and taken to court for a square dance (it included blacks andwhites dancing together) and you name it, but persevered to create leaders in the struggle for basic civilrights. HIghlander is celebrating its 80th anniversary and what better way than bringing its story new
attention with the reissue of this heartfelt film that includes extras like an excerpt from a Bill Moyers
interview, clips from the group's 75th celebration, a look at the people in the film and where they are
today and so on.
One giggles to think of the Topp Twins popping into the Deep South in the 1950s, say. These lesbian twin
sisters have a yodeling, country and western act that has made them national treasures of a sort in their
home of New Zealand, though they weren't always so beloved when they first came out and sang like
Guthrie at just about any leftist political rally they could find. And if there wasn't a rally around, by God
they started one. This too is no great shakes as filmmaking but the gals make it memorable.
IT TAKES A THIEF: THE COMPLETE SERIES ($199.98; EOne/Universal) -- Some people don't
work on the big screen but have just the right sort of easy charm made for TV. That's Robert Wagner,who enjoyed his biggest success on Hart To Hart and It Takes A Thief, this larky series about an urbane
jewel thief recruited to steal for the government when they're not free to act. I enjoyed it as a kid, though
now of course I'm not so patient. Still, it's fun to see Fred Astaire as Wagner's con man dad and I'm sure
I had no idea who Joseph Cotten was when he guest-starred on a two-parter. What to say about the set
itself? It's the sort of series that's not iconic enough to get the full-blown treatment but the hardcore fanswho like it can only be disappointed by the decent but not great prints used, the failure to include the fulland appropriate theme songs for each season (the title sequence changed) and so on. Heck, the expanded
version of the pilot even includes a disclaimer warning us not to pirate said videocassette. (Happily, it
doesn't look VHS bad; the image quality is akin to the rest of the set.) All those faults could be taken witha grain of salt by fans happy to just have some sort of edition. But the pricing is premium and the
packaging is...bizarre, to say the least. It's a flimsy cardboard box, albeit of the right dimensions to fit on
a shelf alongside other DVD. Balanced on the top is what I thought to be a deck of cards but turns out tobe drink coasters. That's balanced on a flimsy cardboard stand of sorts that takes up most of the room ofthe box. At the bottom you find a loose booklet, a senitype made to imitate a frame of film featuring
Wagner and then the actual discs in three season fold-out wallets in the size of a CD. You can set aside
everything else but then those DVDs and the loose booklet look out of place next to regular DVDs. It'sawkward, cheap, wasteful and annoying since if you use the box getting out the DVDs is a project. So
you've been warned.
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY ($27.99; Strand) -- Has it really been nine years since director Catherine
Breillat delivered Fat Girl, her best movie by a mile and one that wasn't nearly so didactic or obvious as
her others? Apparently, but she's been replenished at the well of classic fairy tales. Last year's Bluebeard
earned raves from my friends who are not always keen on Breillat. Now here is The Sleeping Beauty,
which begins as a fairy tale, edges into eroticism and ends with a modest critique. A little girl is cursed by
a witch to die on her 6th birthday. But her fairy godparents deflect the curse into just causing her to sleep
for 100 years and wake up as a 16 year old. Then there's a twist. So she won't get bored, they promise lotsof adventures in her dreams, which mostly consist of a spin on The Snow Queen. It's all presented in arather faux, make-believe manner. Until the girl wakes up at 16 and deals with the modern world in theform of a strikingly handsome young man/suitor called Johann (David Chausse). It's not for everyone
and the changes in tone are jarring, but it's interesting and fun
MY FAIR LADY ($29.99 BluRay; Paramount) -- I've never been a big fan of the film version of My Fair
Lady; it's always felt like a museum piece to me. (The show itself, of course, is a classic.) So I'm of two
minds here. Sometimes lavish boxed sets feel like a chance to make you pay again for a movie you already
own. This no-nonsense package has the many excellent bonus features from an earlier DVD release, sowho needs some expensive booklet and packaging to spruce it up? Not me. On the other hand, the one
area they shouldn't skimp is the print and remastering. Surely a Best Picture winner like this deserves
better than the perfunctory job offered here, especially since the film has been recently restored soexcellent source material is available. It will do ok for newcomers but is not the big improvement overDVD that it should be.
CRIME STORY THE COMPLETE SERIES ($29.98; Image) -- This seems to be the week for
unsatisfying boxed sets. About the best that can be said for this Michael Mann TV show is that it's
available, so if you really want to see some version of this Dennis Farina cop show set in 1963, here it is.
The picture quality is poor (and this was a lavish, great-looking show) and the music is not always theoriginal source cues (and Mann had a great ear for music). But it's cheap and it's here so if you had to
choose between this and some poor import or bootleg, at least know you have the option. I was actually
looking forward to revisiting this show, which lasted for two seasons and had a great cast and guest starslike Bill Campbell, Stephen Lang, Anthony Denison and Farina, who had the role of his career here. Butthe quality on display makes it more likely this'll sit on my shelf unwatched. The money and demand just
wasn't there to do it right, unfortunately.
GIORGIO MORODER PRESENTS METROPOLIS ($29.95; Kino) -- I can't imagine anyone wanting
to see this movie except as an example of how wrong people can be about the best way to bring new fansto a classic film. I've seen the Fritz Lang classic numerous times with numerous new scores but this
horror with pop tunes by Pat Benatar, Freddie Mercury, Bonnie Tyler and other early Eighties stars is justdreadful, from his synth score right down to the final godawful tune. This isn't a newly remastered print
with the Moroder tinting and score, it's the version he restored at the time. Historically accurate (as far
as what Moroder did), well-meant, but not to be endured, I'm afraid unless you really really like AdamAnt.
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz was provided with free copies of the DVds and BluRays with the understanding
that he would be considering them for review. Generally, he does not guarantee to review and hereceives far more titles than he can cover.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
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JimNorton I'm only watching the parade because I heard there's a Natalie Wood
float. # JokesThatHaventBeenFunnySince1981
30 minutes ago from Echofon
BreakingNews Captain of boat from which actress Natalie Wood vanished in 1981
alleges actor Robert Wagner is responsible for her death - TODAY
6 days ago from breakingnews.com app
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT TECH MEDIA LIFE & STYLE CULTURE COMEDY HEALTHY LIVING WOMEN LOCAL MORE
Michael Giltz
Freelance writerGET UPDATES FROM MICHAEL GILTZ
Follow
Movies , West Side Story , Dvds , Musicals , Entertainment News
5 55 0 0React
Inspiring Funny Hot Scary Outrageous Amazing Weird CrazyDVDs: "West Side Story" (Almost)
Perfect In New BluRay Set
FOLLOW US
'Titanic' Trailer! Celebs On Parade
Jean Paul Gaultier:
From the Catwalk to
the...'DWTS' ReunionEDITION: U.S.
November 24, 2011
What Are They Eating For
Thanksgiving?
More In Entertainment: Angelina's New
Look... McCreery's Fail... Yoda's Bizarre
Commercial...
PHOTOS: Reunited And It Feels SoGood!
Like 63
Posted: 11/17/11 06:40 PM ET
SHARE THIS STORY
Submit this storyGet Entertainment Alerts
Sign UpPHOTO GALLERIESCONNECT
FRONT PAGE POLITICS BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT TECH MEDIA LIFE & STYLE CULTURE COMEDY HEALTHY LIVING WOMEN LOCAL MORELike 51KMusic Movies Rihanna Television Game Changers 2011 More Log in
WEST SIDE STORY 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION BLURAY ($69.99 BuRay Deluxe or $29.99
BluRay; MGM) -- West Side Story buzzes with contradictions in this lavish 50th anniversary set. The film
makes brilliant use of real locations but also fully embraces a broad theatricality right down to stylized
sets in some scenes essential to its success. The lead actress Natalie Wood is a movie star who has to be
dubbed for her musical numbers and yet it preserves legendary stage performances by Rita Moreno and
others for all time. Screenwriter Ernest Lehman did all sorts of research until Jerome Robbins teased him
that they weren't making a documentary here. (By the way, the decent booklet contained in the deluxe setmentions almost every film Lehman worked on except The Sound Of Music oddly enough. And why did I
never realize Lehman's screenplays begin both movies in the same way: with quiet montages of the
city/the hills to create a very distinct mood?) If you have the 45th Anniversary set, you might not want to
give up the thick booklet that contained the entire screenplay, but this set has loads of nice stuff like ahardcover book with some good essays, postcard sized editions of movie posters from the film around theworld and a CD with eight covers of songs from the film. They messed up the legendary opening where
the credits designed by Saul Bass dissolves into the city skyline (instead, the screen fades to black, fades
in again on a title card of Bass's design and then dissolves into the city skyline) and others spot problems
with syncing I haven't spotted yet. Otherwise, on a first look the picture and sound look good and the
musical as fresh and fun as ever.
LARRY CROWNE ($34.98 BluRay or $29.98 DVD; Universal) -- Tom Hanks is gonna be fine. He has
several very promising films in the works. Plus he's done some strong work as a director, namely his
charming debut That Thing You Do and episodes of two great miniseries he made happen, Band Of
Brothers and From The Earth To The Moon. Still, it's a shame a person of his taste should let his second
feature film directorial effort be such an uninteresting romantic comedy with no fresh angle or dialogue
or insight or anything. It's easy to see what motivates him towards those other works (World War II,
space, a certain sweet era of pop music). But what was the attraction for this empty tale of a middle-aged
man who loses his job, goes back to college and falls in love with his super-hot teacher? Maybe it waslending a helping hand to screenwriter Nia Vardalos. And certainly he planned to make a good film. But
the road to bad cinema is paved with good intentions.
LOONEY TUNES PLATINUM COLLECTION VOLUME ONE LIMITED EDITION ($79.98
BluRay or $59.98 BluRay standard) -- We've seen smart, chronological, collector friendly editions ofMOST POPULAR ON HUFFPOST 1 of 2
Fox News Viewers Know Less
Than People Who Watch No
News: Study
Loyal Dog Refuses To Leave
Owner's Grave, Goes Week
Without Food
Charlie Angus What if They
Declared an Emergency and
No One Came?
Kris Humphries: Husband
From Hell?
Kirstie Alley Looking Good
Jenny From The Block's Fiat
Commercial A Sham
Bourbon Distillery To Obama:
'Give Us The Bird'
PHOTOS: Pepper-Spraying
Cop Makes His Way
Throughout Art History
Jack Wagner Confronted By
Long Lost Daughter
DON'T MISS HUFFPOST BLOGGERS 1 of 5
Dr. Peggy Drexler
We Can Be Thankful for Each
Other
Dylan Ratigan
This Thanksgiving, Occupy
Yourself
Like 313K
Like 41K
Like 43K
Recommend 786
Like 216
Like 3K
Like 184
Like 5K
Like 227
'Twilight: Breaking
Dawn's' Taylor LautnerOn His MostChallenging Scene And
Jacob's Massive
Transformation (Video)
'G.I. Joe' Sequel Crew
Member Dies On Set
Jennifer Lopez's Love
Popeye and various Supermans and the Disney library. The WB catalog of Looney Tunes and Merrie
Melodies includes more than 1000 shorts, however so it's a massive project being told in fits and starts.WB has decided to tackle this time with a focus on characters and creators. This BluRay set contains
many of the best-known shorts (like 'What's Opera, Doc" and "One Froggy Evening") that appeared on
earlier DVD sets (like the six gold volumes) and you can see some visual improvement. Disc one is a
greatest hits of sorts, disc two has some one-shot hits plus the complete Marvin The Martian, complete
Witch Hazel and complete works of lesser known animation figures like Marc Anthony and Ralph
Phillips. Disc Three has reams of extras and documentaries about Chuck Jones. The DVD volume can be
taken out and put on your shelf alongside all the other DVDs or the set itself will fit on a shelf, albeit with
a fat profile. The box it comes in is very handsome graphically with great detail. It feels very well-made
and looks great. You also get a large fridge magnet and a litho cell. But the really odd touch is a BugsBunny collectible cup that looks like a shot glass to me. Maybe little Timmy can use it when downing hismilk? So you get 50 shorts and loads of extras and either set (the limited edition or the standard BluRay)
is a great buy for newcomers. Those who have already bought it and want to make the transfer to BluRay
will just have to hold onto their old sets since this doesn't duplicate any earlier version.
EVIL DEAD 2 25th ANNIVERSAR EDITION ($14.99 BluRay; Lionsgate) -- "What would it mean to
you if I said, 'I hadn't seen Evil Dead 2 ...yet?'" "It would mean you're an idiot." That give and take from
High Fidelity gives a hint of the passion that director Sam Raimi's fans have for his schlock B
masterpiece. This Bruce Campbell starrer has been properly remastered for this BluRay release and looksabout as good as a low budget horror film should look. Loads of extras. Why this wasn't released before
Halloween is a mystery but it'll make a good Christmas gift for the horror fan in your life.
THE HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER ($24.95; Film Movement ) -- The label Film Movement has
made a habit of plucking choice movies out of film festivals and bringing them to a wider audience whenthe movies might otherwise have disappeared. They've done it again with The Human Resources
Manager , a movie they released in theaters early this year for a few months where it quietly continued to
garner good reviews for this story of the human resources manager of a bakery in Jerusalem who musthead to Romania to pay his respects to the family of an employee killed in a suicide bombing. Acclaimed
in Israel, it's the sort of film serious buffs should not miss.TOP VIDEO PICKS 1 of 9
MOST DISCUSSED RIGHT NOW 1of 2
HOT ON FACEBOOK 1 of 3
More Entertainment News at THR.com
More Celebrity News at People.comFor Bodysuits (Photos)
Cynthia Nixon: Max Will Try
His First ThanksgivingStuffing
READ MORE
Heidi Klum Takes Her Kidsto Katy Perry's Concert
READ MORE
Miss Piggy KeepsPaparazzi at Bay byTossing Cupcakes
READ MORE
'TOWIE' Star Amy Childs Opens a
Salon
George Michael in Hospital
Asylum Snowtown Interview
The Greatest Guitar Player
Of All Time Revealed!
PHOTO: Bloody New Look
For Angelina Jolie
The Smartest Show On TV
Proves It With Secret
Scene
FARSCAPE THE COMPLETE SERIES ON BLURAY ($199.95; A&E/New Video) -- If you're more
Doctor Who and Firefly than Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek , this oddball sci-fi series might be right
up your alley. An astronaut is sucked into a wormhole and ends up breaking out of prison and being
ensconced on a living spaceship called Moya with the usual ragtag group of compatriots, many of themcreated by Jim Henson's Creature Workshop. It's funny, silly and clever and not your neighbor's sci-fi
show, thanks to the likable Ben Browder and a game cast. This BluRay duplicates the DVD boxed set,
with the addition of one new documentary. For various technical reasons, the picture isn't a wowcompared to the DVD but the sound is pumped up. This does not contain the two-part miniseries from2004 that completed the storyline of the show after its four season run, so hold onto that or wait for the
day when the saga is truly complete in one boxed set, which could be many years from now. If you're
impatient and want a sci-fi jolt of goofiness, then dive in.
YOU GOT TO MOVE ($29.95; Milestone)
HOT ON TWITTER 1of 2
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES
Angelina Jolie
Hockey
Fashion
Thanksgiving
The
Recessionary
Arts
Theresa May
Smarter Ideas
Music
TV Buy a link here Sponsored Links
57-Year Old Mom Looks 25
FALL SPECIAL: Mom Reveals $5 Wrinkle Trick That
Has Angered Doctors!
ConsumerLifestyleAlerts.org
We’ll Sing At Any Door!
Send Carolers To Your Friends With HomeGoods,
Marshalls & T.J.Maxx!
www.ShareACarol.com
New Trick in TENNESSEE
If you drive 25 mi/day or less you better read this...
Insurance.Comparisons.org
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THE TOPP TWINS: UNTOUCHABLE GIRLS ($19.98; Disinformation) -- The 1985 documentary
You Got To Move has been lovingly restored by Milestone. The narration is so-so and as a film it's a
straightforward mix of photos and talking heads. But this labor of love by director Lucy Massie Phenix
(who produced it and worked with co-editor and co-director Veronica Selver) shines a light on the pivotalwork of Highlander Research and Education Center, a petri dish for change throughout the South that
was harassed and accused of communism and taken to court for a square dance (it included blacks andwhites dancing together) and you name it, but persevered to create leaders in the struggle for basic civilrights. HIghlander is celebrating its 80th anniversary and what better way than bringing its story new
attention with the reissue of this heartfelt film that includes extras like an excerpt from a Bill Moyers
interview, clips from the group's 75th celebration, a look at the people in the film and where they are
today and so on.
One giggles to think of the Topp Twins popping into the Deep South in the 1950s, say. These lesbian twin
sisters have a yodeling, country and western act that has made them national treasures of a sort in their
home of New Zealand, though they weren't always so beloved when they first came out and sang like
Guthrie at just about any leftist political rally they could find. And if there wasn't a rally around, by God
they started one. This too is no great shakes as filmmaking but the gals make it memorable.
IT TAKES A THIEF: THE COMPLETE SERIES ($199.98; EOne/Universal) -- Some people don't
work on the big screen but have just the right sort of easy charm made for TV. That's Robert Wagner,who enjoyed his biggest success on Hart To Hart and It Takes A Thief, this larky series about an urbane
jewel thief recruited to steal for the government when they're not free to act. I enjoyed it as a kid, though
now of course I'm not so patient. Still, it's fun to see Fred Astaire as Wagner's con man dad and I'm sure
I had no idea who Joseph Cotten was when he guest-starred on a two-parter. What to say about the set
itself? It's the sort of series that's not iconic enough to get the full-blown treatment but the hardcore fanswho like it can only be disappointed by the decent but not great prints used, the failure to include the fulland appropriate theme songs for each season (the title sequence changed) and so on. Heck, the expanded
version of the pilot even includes a disclaimer warning us not to pirate said videocassette. (Happily, it
doesn't look VHS bad; the image quality is akin to the rest of the set.) All those faults could be taken witha grain of salt by fans happy to just have some sort of edition. But the pricing is premium and the
packaging is...bizarre, to say the least. It's a flimsy cardboard box, albeit of the right dimensions to fit on
a shelf alongside other DVD. Balanced on the top is what I thought to be a deck of cards but turns out tobe drink coasters. That's balanced on a flimsy cardboard stand of sorts that takes up most of the room ofthe box. At the bottom you find a loose booklet, a senitype made to imitate a frame of film featuring
Wagner and then the actual discs in three season fold-out wallets in the size of a CD. You can set aside
everything else but then those DVDs and the loose booklet look out of place next to regular DVDs. It'sawkward, cheap, wasteful and annoying since if you use the box getting out the DVDs is a project. So
you've been warned.
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY ($27.99; Strand) -- Has it really been nine years since director Catherine
Breillat delivered Fat Girl, her best movie by a mile and one that wasn't nearly so didactic or obvious as
her others? Apparently, but she's been replenished at the well of classic fairy tales. Last year's Bluebeard
earned raves from my friends who are not always keen on Breillat. Now here is The Sleeping Beauty,
which begins as a fairy tale, edges into eroticism and ends with a modest critique. A little girl is cursed by
a witch to die on her 6th birthday. But her fairy godparents deflect the curse into just causing her to sleep
for 100 years and wake up as a 16 year old. Then there's a twist. So she won't get bored, they promise lotsof adventures in her dreams, which mostly consist of a spin on The Snow Queen. It's all presented in arather faux, make-believe manner. Until the girl wakes up at 16 and deals with the modern world in theform of a strikingly handsome young man/suitor called Johann (David Chausse). It's not for everyone
and the changes in tone are jarring, but it's interesting and fun
MY FAIR LADY ($29.99 BluRay; Paramount) -- I've never been a big fan of the film version of My Fair
Lady; it's always felt like a museum piece to me. (The show itself, of course, is a classic.) So I'm of two
minds here. Sometimes lavish boxed sets feel like a chance to make you pay again for a movie you already
own. This no-nonsense package has the many excellent bonus features from an earlier DVD release, sowho needs some expensive booklet and packaging to spruce it up? Not me. On the other hand, the one
area they shouldn't skimp is the print and remastering. Surely a Best Picture winner like this deserves
better than the perfunctory job offered here, especially since the film has been recently restored soexcellent source material is available. It will do ok for newcomers but is not the big improvement overDVD that it should be.
CRIME STORY THE COMPLETE SERIES ($29.98; Image) -- This seems to be the week for
unsatisfying boxed sets. About the best that can be said for this Michael Mann TV show is that it's
available, so if you really want to see some version of this Dennis Farina cop show set in 1963, here it is.
The picture quality is poor (and this was a lavish, great-looking show) and the music is not always theoriginal source cues (and Mann had a great ear for music). But it's cheap and it's here so if you had to
choose between this and some poor import or bootleg, at least know you have the option. I was actually
looking forward to revisiting this show, which lasted for two seasons and had a great cast and guest starslike Bill Campbell, Stephen Lang, Anthony Denison and Farina, who had the role of his career here. Butthe quality on display makes it more likely this'll sit on my shelf unwatched. The money and demand just
wasn't there to do it right, unfortunately.
GIORGIO MORODER PRESENTS METROPOLIS ($29.95; Kino) -- I can't imagine anyone wanting
to see this movie except as an example of how wrong people can be about the best way to bring new fansto a classic film. I've seen the Fritz Lang classic numerous times with numerous new scores but this
horror with pop tunes by Pat Benatar, Freddie Mercury, Bonnie Tyler and other early Eighties stars is justdreadful, from his synth score right down to the final godawful tune. This isn't a newly remastered print
with the Moroder tinting and score, it's the version he restored at the time. Historically accurate (as far
as what Moroder did), well-meant, but not to be endured, I'm afraid unless you really really like AdamAnt.
Thanks for reading. Michael Giltz is the cohost of Showbiz Sandbox, a weekly pop culture podcast that
reveals the industry take on entertainment news of the day and features top journalists and opinion
makers as guests. It's available for free on iTunes. Visit Michael Giltz at his website and his daily blog.
Download his podcast of celebrity interviews and his radio show, also called Popsurfing and alsoavailable for free on iTunes. Link to him on Netflix and gain access to thousands of ratings and reviews.
Note : Michael Giltz was provided with free copies of the DVds and BluRays with the understanding
that he would be considering them for review. Generally, he does not guarantee to review and hereceives far more titles than he can cover.
Follow Michael Giltz on Twitter: www.twitter.com/michaelgiltz
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JimNorton I'm only watching the parade because I heard there's a Natalie Wood
float. # JokesThatHaventBeenFunnySince1981
30 minutes ago from Echofon
BreakingNews Captain of boat from which actress Natalie Wood vanished in 1981
alleges actor Robert Wagner is responsible for her death - TODAY
6 days ago from breakingnews.com app
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