FEBRUARY MAINSTEAM DVD IN REVIEW

ALICE FAYE COLLECTION
20Th Century Fox Home Entertainment

This Golden Age beauty dominated the musicals of 20th Century Fox during the 30’s and especially the 40’s. And these represent the best of what she was known for. Lighter than air vocals, dead on comic timing, and fabulous chemistry with the biggest leading men of her day. Over the course of her career she enjoyed star turns with The Ritz Brothers, Cary Grant, Dick Powell and a six picture run with Don Ameche, singing the songs of Irving Berlin, working under the direction of Busby Berkely and Phil Harris- whom she married after retiring from show business. The Alice Faye Collection four disc set features four of her best known films; Lillian Russell, On The Avenue, That Night in Rio, and The Gang’s All Here and a number of featurettes and deleted scenes. For those looking for pristine transfers it would be best to look elsewhere. The colors here are nowhere near their original quality. But for those who simply want to revisit the career of one of the original Hollywood sweethearts you do get four of her best films.

RUNNING WITH SCISSORS
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

This was largely a bad movie but I suspect that is largely because it was based on a bad book. It’s become chic to gather large ensemble casts together and see what happens- in this case nothing much does and that’ RWS biggest problem. You keep waiting for the revelation that doesn’t come. Based on the decidedly odd and I suspect somewhat suspect memoirs of Augusten Burroughs the DVD comes to us with a minimum of Special Features which seems appropriate enough. Annette Bening, Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes, Evan Rachel Wood, Jill Clayburgh, Alec Baldwin and Gwyneth Paltrow all take turns trying to breathe coherent life into an essentially plotless story of coming of age. You also get Three behind-the-scenes featurettes:"A Personal Memoir by Augusten Burroughs" – The author relates to how he wrote the book, why he selected Ryan Murphy to adapt it, and how he worked with the cast to help them step into this very specific world. "Inside Outsiders" - The cast discusses how they created their extreme characters "Creating the Cuckoo’s Nest" - The Production designer and director Ryan Murphy discuss how they created the crazy Finch home. Take a guided tour of this domestic freak show.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST SEASON ONE
Paramount Home Entertainment

I never followed this series when I was younger but I’m so looking forward to checking it now. Linda Hamilton may be better known for her role as Sarah Connor in the Terminator films but she also starred in one of the most critically acclaimed fantasy TV series ever, a series that also marked a major career boost for her costar Ron Perlman. Beauty and The Beast Season One is presented on six discs offering all twenty two episodes. No extras are listed which is a shame given that the show still has a large fanbase. It's easy to forget that this show was a huge hit in a time that saw a severe paucity of quality fantasy and horror on TV. It's probably fair to saw that Beauty and The Beast kicked where Dark Shadows ended in many ways and stopped just in time for the boom.

THE QUIET
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

The Quiet suffers from its own ambitions but that weakness never touches the two female leads in the film who not only gain our sympathy but also call into question the way we assign that sympathy. Elisha Cuthbert plays a spoiled self absorbed teenager who finds herself having to share her family with Dot, another teenager, deaf and recently orphaned. Struggling to survive the intense dysfunction in both their family and their school the girls enter into a veiled truce based on the secrets they agree to keep hidden. When all hell does break loose, and the final secrets come roaring out, allegiances are challenged and a chilling truth asserts itself. You can learn a lot by listening, maybe more than you want to know. While any movie called The Quiet is likely to be about listening in the end this film emerges as a nice little thriller with great performances. No director commentary but the it does contain the following featurettes, Fetal Pig, Fetal Pig, Let Me In": Dissecting the Dissection Scene, "Locations: Shooting in Austin", "Sans Celluloid: The Quiet and Digital Cinema", "Script Development" and "Picking the Cast for The Quiet"

BABEL
Paramount Home Entertainment

Alejandro Inarritu and company have made a subtle declaration of independence for the human soul asking us to consider not only that we are alike and that our actions affect one another but that we matter to one another simply because we are human. He edges up to transcendence as surely as anyone can in this increasingly conflicted and incoherent age.

Inarritu manages a global view without the unlikely events offered up in Syriana. This bare bones edition DVD is a drag though. Commentary was a must here as well as a career retrospective of Inarritu. Yes I’ve read the online flap about the film’s authorship but it really misses the point. Whoever is ultimately responsible for Babel they finally got it right. Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia helped launch the trend towards movies containing seemingly unconnected story threads that connect by stories end. Noone has ever quite equaled Magnolia. Babel doesn’t aim quite that high but it does take a page from Anderson when it avoids the excesses of unlikely plotting that have haunted screenwriters ever since. Crash for instance, while still a marvelous film, is quite guilty in this respect. Babel- it floats along an unseen ether that we all sense is there threading tenuously, connecting each to each, asking us to find hope by finding each other and trusting that we can be found.

THE PRESTIGE
Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone

I loved this movie all the way up to its horrifying conclusion and would gladly set it on the shelf next to the other great films about magic. But unlike Houdini (1954), or The Great Escape, The Prestige really does play a grand trick on it’s audience and the deeper you look the more disturbing that trick is. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman play two up and coming magicians who, after an onstage tragedy, are pitted against one another in a progressive deadly battle to upstage and destroy one another. The film culminates in a state of the art magic trick called The Transformed Man, which also happens to be the films biggest symbol. A symbol of what you ask? The movie is about how choose who we become, how a man can be morally here one moment and lost the next. It’s about the magic that goes deeper than the trick, the power that men should not have. The scant extras present here are somewhat disheartening. All we get is a documentary and art gallery respectively titled The Director's Notebook: The Cinematic Sleight of Hand of Christopher Nolan and The Art of The Prestige Gallery. How about a doc on the history of magic in the movies or an extensive look at modern day magic and technology? How about a Commentary from Ricky Jay? Oh well. This is still great stuff.

VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA SEASON TWO VOLUME TWO
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Anybody get the idea I love Irwin Allen a little too much. I literally love everything of his I’ve ever seen. Time Tunnel, Lost In Space, The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, Land of the Giants. Heck I even love The Swarm. Now that’s devotion. Allen also wrote and directed the feature film that spawned this wonderfully adventurous show. Voyage, like many other shows of the period, (see Lost in Space or Wild Wild West), made the switch to color to accommodate the widespread availability of color TV and Allen knew just how to make his marvelous miniatures and monsters pop off the screen. This is dazzling nostalgic stuff. Included are interviews with series star David Hedison who fans will also remember from his title role in the 50’s classic horror science fiction film The Fly.

SECRET AGENT AKA DANGER MAN THE COMPLETE COLLECTION
A&E Home Video

All hail the slimline DVD case. It has reduced the price of owning complete runs of beloved television series, it has helped us manage shelf space more efficiently and I suspect it has encouraged studios to get with it when it comes to speeding up their release schedules. This is a prime example. As a huge fan of Patrick Mcgoohans, The Prisoner I relished the opportunity to get my hands on the show that most consider to be it’s forerunner. Secret Agent Man.
This is really a remarkable set offering all 86 episodes on 18 discs and including the two hour series finale which was shot in color. Besides a photo gallery there are no other extras but the transfer here is great. The fact that Secret Agent Man continues to inspire fans isn’t just proof of nostalgia. Secret Agent Man falls squarely in the “camp” of fare like Wild Wild West, The Avengers and even hints at Get Smart in the near fantasy world that it immerses viewers in. Unforgettable villains and the chance to play spy are all the excuse any geek needs to laugh at themselves and slink around the room dodging imaginary bullets and talking into their wristwatch. Knowing the irony is there doesn’t have to negate the wonder. This is a great set for the price.

STRANGER THAN FICTION
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Will Ferell isn’t without acting ability. His turn in the flawed but effective drama Winter Passing proved that. Though miscast he carried off the film’s powerhouse scene involving his character singing in an open mic night with a precise blend of comedy and vulnerability. In Stranger Than Fiction he’s perfectly cast and has many more such moments and luckily he’s in a smarter film that knows when to go for laughs and knows how to provide more than a good time. Ferrell plays a tax man who begins to realize his life is actually a work in progress by a well known writer. Aware that noone else can hear the narration in his head and scared to death he has no control over his destiny he seeks out a well known Professor of Literature to guide him through the process of discovering what sort of story he’s in.

The film really shines in the way it loves its characters by asking the most important question anyone can ask about their story- should I throw myself on the mercy of my creator? I loved the performances, the writing and the way this film was shot. It’s entertaining and freshly creative even if it is a bit disorganized. Ample featurettes include Actors In Search Of A Story: Marc Forster discusses why each cast member was such an integral part of the film, Building The Team: Director Marc Forster discusses the importance and contribution of each of his “team” members including Director of Photography, Production Design, Costume Designer, Writer, Producers, Editors, VFX team, etc.
On Location in Chicago: An in-depth look at why Chicago was chosen as the place to shoot the film, Words on a Page: An interview with Lindsay Doran (producer) and Zach Helm (writer, Picture a Number: A look at the Special Effects, On The Set: A montage of funny on the set moments and Deleted and Extended Scenes

FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
Paramount Home Entertainment
I confess I haven’t watched this yet although I am quite compelled. Letter From Iwa Jima was such a satisfying film and I love the basic idea of this one. But neither film raises the right concerns about war for me. A recent viewing of 300 called into mind the culture of The Spartans who were soldiers above all else. You either believe that is a good thing or you don’t. Eastwood fudges by presenting the sympathetic side of both stories instead of dealing with the complexities of these two nations. The US dropped atomic weapons on the Japanese and the Japanese orchestrated the horrifying rape of Nanking. But Eastwood offers us too many characters who are simply good or bad. The truly mystifying thing about warfare is what men, who are almost always a mix of the two, will do when put under life and death pressures. The lack of extras is completely mystifying here.

GRUDGE 2
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Fifth times a charm? What can Shimuzu be thinking? That said I actually liked this quite a bit for reasons that are difficult to disclose without providing spoilers. I, unlike many of my fellows, continue to find the Asian ghost figure frightening in a way I can’t ascribe to any other bogey. And like Ringu this franchise has also begun to explore the idea of how evil knows no borders. There are some good extras here but what would have been really nice is the simultaneous release in Region One of Shimizu’s original 2 ½ hour masterpiece. Four times later he still hasn’t topped that. But you do get the East Meets West Featurette, Grudge 2: Storyline Development Featurette, "Ready When You Are, Mr. Shimizu" Featurette, Deleted Scenes and Cast & Crew Reel Change Montage.

ROMEO AND JULIET THE MUSIC EDITION
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Baz Luhrmann has never really met the expectations he creates with his work. Great ideas have gelled into good, entertaining films but no real classics. Looking back on Moulin Rouge I think it’s safe to say that, minus one absolutely perfect set piece, it’s simply another experimental musical. Oddly Strictly Ballroom comes out the shiniest although even that seems pretty dated by this point. But for fans of Lurhmann there isn’t an option but to run out and pick up this very entertaining take on Shakespeare’s well worn tale. Besides the extras are dynamite. 3 separate commentaries from the director, and two co-composers, a 45 Minute documentary, and featurettes on the making of the music are offered as well as Music Machine feature which allows the viewer to watch only the songs from the film.

MR. MOTO VOL. 2
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Can one ever have enough of Peter Lorre? Nope. Not in my book. This grossly underused major talent of Hollywood’s golden period may have gotten stuck in more than his share of B level roles but he always made them his own, made them watchable and in many cases absolutely unforgettable. Mr. Moto is one of those roles. No second rate Charlie Chan franchise these movies were more fun offering thrills and chills. The Mr. Moto Collection Volume Two offers Mr. Moto in Danger Island, Mr. Moto’s Gamble, Mr. Moto’s Last Warning and Mr. Moto Takes A Vacation. A Bonus feature Film The Return of Mr. Moto offers commentary by well known actor Henry Silva. The box set also offers multiple featurettes, interviews and restoration comparisons.

LOST WORLDS
A&E Home Entertainment

It’s a great idea well realized. Take the great ruins of the world and using all available evidence recreate them visually for the television audience. Trust me this is far cry from the similar things you’ve seen done on PBS utilizing “historic reenactment.” Instead an award winning team of graphics artists painstakingly, detail by detail brings whole cities to life using every available piece of reliable information from across disciplinary boundaries of art and science. There aren’t any extras here except for the “Palenque” pilot but 9 hours and 24 minutes of programming on 4 discs offers enough food for though anyway.

DIGGING FOR TRUTH THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON
A&E Home Entertainment

Stonehenge, Roanoke, and the lost cities of the Amazon offer deep and abiding mysteries and inspiration to budding mystery solvers. Who hasn’t thought of donning a pith helmet and a pickaxe in search of the long lost answers to these and other geographic puzzles. Digging For Truth does just that. But think of host Josh Bernstein as a myth bender not a myth buster. He’s not out to destroy the magic these places inspire he just wants to make sure we’ve got the questions right. And he’s smart enough to know that every detail unearthed just raises more, and sometimes more interesting, questions anyway. Additional interviews with and biography of Josh Bernstein are the only special features.