DVD Digest for May 27, 2008

Paul Clark — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:30:00 GMT

This week, Criterion continues its ongoing commitment to the films of Michael Powell, and an aging icon shoots his way onto DVD and Blu-Ray.

DVD of the Week: What else could it be but Criterion’s The Thief of Bagdad? This is probably the closest thing to a must-buy that’s coming along in months, and for so many reasons. As one of the great examples of forties-era Technicolor, Thief is a natural for DVD, especially once the wizards at Criterion are done sprucing it up for this release. But there’s a raft full of special features to enjoy as well- two commentaries (including one from a couple of obscure movie nerds named Scorsese and Coppola), a documentary about the film’s award-winning effects, a propaganda film commissioned by producer Alexander Korda on behalf of the British War effort, and much more besides. In other words, I know exactly what I’ll be spending my money on come Tuesday

Also of note is the crush of Rambo DVDs hitting shelves this week. Not only will there be two different standard-DVD versions of Stallone’s latest Rambo adventure (Lionsgate), but also a Blu-Ray edition, along with box-sets of the previous Rambo films in both standard and Blu-Ray. So if you like Rambo, there will be plenty of goodies for you to enjoy.

Pretty slow week for DVD releases otherwise, with new titles including Woody Allen’s Cassandra’s Dream (Genius Productions), Renny Harlin’s barely-released Cleaner (Sony), Nina Hartley’s Guide to Great Sex During Pregnancy (Pacific Media), and a DVD edition of Marguerite Duras’ 1972 film Nathalie Granger (Facets- ugh). And that’s about it, sadly.

Finally, look who’s back! That’s right, it’s your old pal David Huddleston, ready to bemoan the release of two new HD-DVDs from Warner Home Video. What are they, you ask? Why, they’re P.S.: I Love You (Warner) and Twister (Warner). Are you as excited as I am? Because if you are then it must be you I hear snoring. Seriously, could you knock that off? I'm trying to sleep here.

DVD Digest for April 22, 2008

Paul Clark — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:00:00 GMT

This week, a cinematic master gets the Eclipse treatment, and a viral-marketing-phenom makes its DVD debut.

DVD of the Week: In the past few years, a number of Yasujiro Ozu films have made their way to DVD, but he was so prolific that there are still many films missing, especially from his earlier work. For this reason alone, the arrival Eclipse Series 10: Silent Ozu- Three Family Comedies is cause for celebration. Comprised of three films made between 1931 and 1933, the Silent Ozu box has no extras to speak of (Eclipse doesn't really do extras), but each film features a brand-new score by silent-film composer Donald Sosin, as well as the high-quality transfers we've come to expect from the Criterion family. To date, I've only seen the box's centerpiece film, I Was Born, But..., but that film and the other Ozus I've seen have been so delightful that I have no reservations about recommending the other films- 1933's Passing Fancy and 1931's Tokyo Chorus- as well. Here's hoping that Eclipse continues to do right by Ozu in the years to come. He's certainly worth it.

Releasing today from Criterion itself is Spanish filmmaker Juan Antonio Bardem's seminal, long-overlooked melodrama Death of a Cyclist. The class-oriented of a respected professor whose life goes into freefall when after a hit-and-run accident, the film is at times heavyhanded but always striking and beautifully shot. In addition, the film should provide a fitting introduction for many moviegoers to the charms of leading lady Lucia Bosé. An Italian stunner with screen presence to burn, Bosé was a mainstay of the early films of Michelangelo Antonioni, as well as appearing in work by Buñuel, Fellini, and Marguerite Duras. The DVD also includes a featurette on the life and work of Bardem, but the real story is the film which, like its female lead, is ripe for rediscovery.

Also of note on the classics front is the release of four comedies from Universal's Cinema Classics series. The four films are: the Mae West/Cary Grant vehicle She Done Him Wrong; Billy Wilder's early film The Major and the Minor starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland; and two films from director Mitchell Leisen, 1939's Midnight starring Claudette Colbert, and 1937's Easy Living with Jean Arthur. Each film is a gem, but of particular note is Easy Living, perhaps the greatest film written by Preston Sturges before he reigned over Hollywood comedy in the 1940s. And if it's sexy action you want, check out Image's new DVD of the Shaw Brothers cult classic Intimate Confessions of a chinese Courtesan, a movie I'm pretty sure I dreamed one night.

Compared to this week's selection of classics, the new titles can't help but look a little paltry. The big-ticket DVD this week is of course Cloverfield (Paramount), the Matthew Reeves/JJ Abrams rampaging-monster movie. For me, the film was never so much fun as when I first saw the trailer before Transformers, but the DVD should give people a chance to approach the film separated from all the hype. This week also brings a Philip Seymour Hoffman double feature, with Hoffman hitting DVD shelves with Tamara Jenkins' The Savages (Fox)- in which he appears opposite Laura Linney- and his caustic, Oscar-nominated performance in Mike Nichols' Charlie Wilson's War (Universal), which also features mediocre turns by Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, and a pretty hot scene in which Emily Blunt slinks down the stairs wearing only a man's dress shirt.

In addition, there's a trifecta of indie releases hitting the market today: Andrew Wagner's Starting Out in the Evening (Lionsgate), which garnered awards buzz for the ever-dependable Frank Langella; Paul Schrader's The Walker (ThinkFilm), featuring Woody Harrelson as a too-helpful escort for society women; and Joe Swanberg's Hannah Takes the Stairs (Genius Productions), starring "mumblecore" darling Greta Gerwig. Also worth mentioning are the second season of Friday Night Lights (Universal), J.A. Bayona's supernatural chiller The Orphanage (New Line, also Blu-Ray), and the mostly-ignored Hollywood remake of One Missed Call (Warner, also Blu-Ray). Mind you, the latter is only worth mentioning for the sake of completism, but there you go.

Finally, David Huddleston would like the announce that there are no HD-DVDs hitting the market today. Frankly, he couldn't be happier.

The Screengrab : marguerite duras

DVD Digest for May 27, 2008

DVD Digest for April 22, 2008