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created 12/15/97.
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created: 3/12/07
updated: 3/21/07
Outstanding
Achievements in DVD for 2006
continued
from last page
 BEST
DVD - STUDIO |
 
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MAJOR
- Warner Bros.
At this point, it would almost be nice for Warner to make a
huge mistake so that someone else could have a chance in this
category. They came close this year with the errors on the Superman:
Ultimate Collector's Edition set, but by flying into
action to correct the problems so quickly, they cinched the
award yet again. Coupled with their continuing commitment to
restoring their library of classics, and their high-quality new
release slate, Warner continues to show the other major studios
how the game should be played.
MINOR - BCI/Eclipse
This time last year, BCI was on nobody's radar. But with the
acquisition of the massive Filmmation library, the creation of
the Ink & Paint label and the hiring of DVD producer Andy
Mangels to create extras, things turned around big time in 2006.
BCI/Eclipse is now leading the pack with their top-notch
releases of nostalgic Saturday morning TV favorites from the 70s
and 80s, each one stuffed to the max with fantastic bonuses.
It's studios like this one, with their high-quality output and
totally awesome lineup, that make DVD so much fun. |
|
| BEST
DVD - MUSIC (NON-LIVE) |
Special
thanks to our friends at
 |
New
York Doll: The Movie
(First Independent Pictures)
This is a brilliant look at a man lost
and found. Having been in one of the most interesting and
short-lived bands of his day, Arthur "Killer" Kane had
much to lament... and much to be thankful for. New
York Doll is far more than your standard
rockumentary. It's a story of broken dreams, lost hope and
redemption. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
They don't make 'em like this anymore... Warner's
The
Busby Berkeley Collection serves up five
toe-tapping, old Hollywood musical spectaculars. And the Bitsy
team knows better than to argue with one hundred million
tweens... Disney's
High
School Musical rocks the hizzy, yo! (Just
checking to see if you guys were paying attention). |
|
| BEST
DVD - MUSIC (LIVE/CONCERT) |
Special
thanks to our friends at
 |
KISS:
KISSOLOGY - Volume 1
(VH1 Classic Records)
You wanted the best? You got the best! With its many looks at a
rising band that has done as much as any band could hope for,
this early collection is pure KISS Bliss. Stick it in, crank it
up and get ready to rock and roll all nite. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Pay homage to one of rock's pioneers with the overstuffed
four-disc
Chuck
Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll. We'll meet
you on the dark side of the moon with
Pink
Floyd: Pulse. And Jonathan Demme directs yet
another great concert film with
Neil
Young: Heart of Gold. |
|
| BEST
DVD - AUDIO COMMENTARY (TIE) |
 |
Richard
Donner & Tom Mankiewicz
Superman
II: The Richard Donner Cut
(Warner Bros.)
Shane Black, Val Kilmer & Robert
Downey Jr.
Kiss
Kiss Bang Bang
(Warner Bros.)
Looks like we've got ourselves a good old fashioned tie, boys.
Donner and Mankiewicz enthralled us with a historical look at
the hows and why of Superman II.
The two old friends get together just for our benefit and
discuss the problems with the producers, what they would have
done differently had they been allowed to finish the film, ideas
for different endings and what worked in the original. If you
love your commentaries "film school in a box" style,
then you can't go wrong here.
On the other hand, we fell in love with the commentary for Kiss
Kiss Bang Bang. It's not quite "film school in a
box", but it matches the fun and enthusiasm of the film it
supports. Black is honest and funny, Kilmer is quirky and smart,
and though Downey doesn't chime in as much as we'd like... when
he does, it's gold. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
There were a LOT of great commentaries this year. If you want
our advice, check out George Clooney
and Grant Heslov on
Good
Night, and Good Luck, David
Cronenberg on
A
History of Violence, Craig
Brewer on
Hustle
& Flow, Jonathan
Rosenbaum and James Naremore on
The
Complete Mr. Arkadin, Nick
Redman, Paul Seydor, Garner Simmons and David Weddle
on
Sam
Peckinpah's Legendary Westerns Collection
(there are four commentaries in the set, all of which are worth
your time) and of course, the film school in a box champion
himself: Francis Ford Coppola
on
Apocalypse
Now: The Complete Dossier. |
|
| BEST
DVD - DOCUMENTARY |
 |
Why
We Fight
(Sony)
Visit the documentary section of your local video store and you
can't spit without hitting quite a few politically oriented
films (depending on your personal politics, you probably won't
need much encouragement to spit at some of them). Why
We Fight is different. It's a complex and remarkably
even-handed look at the last several decades of the American war
machine. Director Eugene Jarecki takes a difficult subject and
explores it from all angles, crafting an argument that is both
compelling and chilling. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Michael Apted makes another seven-years-later return to the men
and women of
49
Up. One of the biggest corporate scandals of
all time is deftly explored in
Enron:
The Smartest Guys in the Room. Al Gore warns
about the looming threat of global warming in
An
Inconvenient Truth, while Spike Lee visits New
Orleans in the epic
When
the Levees Broke. And on the lighter side of
non-fiction DVD,
Wordplay
delves into the somewhat less controversial world of crossword
puzzles. |
|
| BEST
DVD - ANIMATED FILM |
 |
Howl's
Moving Castle
(Miramax)
Any time a Miyazaki film comes out on DVD here in the States,
it's time to rejoice. But now that Pixar is overseeing the
American releases of the Studio Ghibli films on disc, it's just
that much more of a big deal. For a traditionally-animated film,
Howl's Moving Castle looks
flawless on DVD. The picture and audio quality are superb and
the extras, though not vast, are as cool as the film. Disney's
Miyazaki releases are simply impressive. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
We're also quite impressed with the work that went into the
Journey
Back to Oz DVD from BCI. Also worth their
weight in gold:
Corpse
Bride,
The
Little Mermaid,
Monster
House,
Wallace
& Gromitt: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit,
Cars
and the platinum edition of
Lady
and the Tramp. |
|
| BEST
DVD - RETRO SATURDAY MORNING |
|
| BEST
DVD - TV SERIES PRESENTATION (TIE) |
 |
Saturday
Night Live: The Complete First Season
(Universal)
Get
Smart: The Complete Series
(Time Life/HBO)
For years, it seemed like clearance issues would mean that the
closest we'd ever come to getting SNL
on disc would be those lame "best of" compilations.
Thankfully, Universal finally stepped up and gave us the real
deal. Every sketch and musical performance from SNL's
classic first season is included here, and they're just as good
as you remember. Finally, it can be live from New York whenever
you want. That's a great thing indeed.
Get Smart: The Complete Series
was released in 2006, but only online from Time Life (it will be
in stores later in 2007). But not only does the box set include
all five seasons - all 138 original episodes in remastered
quality - you get just a huge amount of great extras, including
audio commentaries (by series creators Buck Henry and Mel
Brooks, actors Barbara Feldon, Bernie Kopell, Bill Dana, Don
Rickles, James Caan and many others), original blooper reels,
new interviews, scores of new featurettes, vintage promos and TV
appearances by Don Adams and other cast members, vintage
commercials, the Museum of Television and Radio's 2006 Get
Smart event featuring Adams and others, liner-note
booklets... and would you believe that's just scratching the
surface? Well, it is. Awesome. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
We know... it's not TV, it's HBO. Whatever you call it,
Deadwood:
The Complete Second Season and
Rome:
The Complete First Season are some of the
finest hours produced for the small screen. No need to wait to
complete your collection when you can pick up the amazing
Alias:
The Complete Collection or
Strangers
with Candy: The Complete Series. One of the
best new dramas on TV is well-represented on
Grey's
Anatomy: Season One and
Season
Two. And let's hear it for the continuing great
work of some returning champions:
Lost:
The Complete Second Season,
The
Office: Season Two and
24:
Season Five. |
|
| MOST
SURPRISING DVD (TIE) |
 |
Superman
II: The Richard Donner Cut
(Warner Bros.)
The
Complete Mr. Arkadin
(Criterion)
How do we define "most surprising DVD"? Well... how
about something that by rights, shouldn't exist at all? Fans
have long been aware of the controversy surrounding the
replacement of Richard Donner on Superman
II, and the rumors as to how his version would have
differed from Richard Lester's became legendary. In 2006, we
finally got a chance to see for ourselves.
As for The Complete Mr. Arkadin,
when this title was announced by Criterion, our first thought
was that it was impossible. Orson Welles' movie went through
countless edits (and multiple titles) since its release, none of
which were considered to be the real deal. Criterion did an
amazing job of putting all the pieces together, collecting more
Arkadin-related material than many of us thought existed. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
DVD is in a pretty good place when studios have to dig deep
into their vaults to keep things fresh. Witness Fox's
The
Will Rogers Collection: Volumes 1 &
2
and Tokyo Shock's
Zatoichi:
The Television Series, titles we never thought
would see the light of day. |
|
| BEST
USE OF DVD FEATURES |
 |
Virtual
Disneyland Ride
The
Little Mermaid: Platinum Edition
(Buena Vista/Disney)
Take a ride on a Disneyland attraction that never was. The
Little Mermaid explores the Under
the Sea ride that was developed by Disney's
Imagineers but never built, using DVD technology to recreate the
experience in anamorphic widescreen with full 5.1 surround
sound. Once you're done, ride it again with audio commentary by
the designers. In some ways, this is almost better than a real
ride. At least here you don't have to wait in line for an hour
with screaming kids. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Ten years into the DVD format, many of those once-innovative
special features have become pretty standard. But despite the
feeling of "been there, done that," there's still some
interesting work being done here and there. Thanks to seamless
branching and fantastic video compression, the new
Lord
of the Rings: Limited Edition discs offer both
the theatrical and extended versions of the films on a single
disc. And we're impressed by BCI/Eclipse's use of PDF files to
include entire scripts and show bibles on many of their releases
in a format that both Macs and PCs can access - simple, but
effective. |
|
| BEST
DVD EASTER EGG |
 |
Natalie
Portman's "A Day in the Life" SNL Digital Short
V
for Vendetta: Special Edition
(Warner Bros.)
You may have thought that V for
Vendetta took Natalie Portman to some awfully dark
places, but uncover this hidden feature and you'll discover that
it's pretty much business as usual for this hardcore gangsta
girl. "We love you, Natalie (I wanna
@#$& you too)!" |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Uh... none. Do people still look for these things? 'Cause we've
kinda stopped. Life's short, folks. If something's really worth
checking out, it's probably not hard too find. |
|
| BEST
BLU-RAY DISC |
|
| BEST
HD-DVD |
 |
Batman
Begins
(Warner Bros.)
Yes... the Caped Crusader swings into action in full 1080p
high-definition video, with Dolby TrueHD audio as well to make
sure you hear all the punches. Not only does Warner dazzle you
with reference A/V quality, they add virtually all of the
standard DVD edition's extras and a couple of new things just
for HD as well. If you're looking for the best HD-DVD release of
2006, here it is. |
THE RUNNERS-UP
Here's some more must-have discs for HD-DVD fans... Universal's
King
Kong, Paramount's
Mission:
Impossible - Ultimate Missions Collection, and
Warner's
The
Adventures of Robin Hood,
The
Searchers and
Casablanca. |
|
| BEST
HIGH RESOLUTION AUDIO (ANY FORMAT) |
Special
thanks to our friends at
 |
The
Moody Blues - Remastered Deluxe Editions (Hybrid SACDs)
(Universal Music)
Unfortunately, high-resolution audio
titles seem to have fallen by the wayside in 2006. Thankfully, a
few companies have kept the faith with audiophiles, mostly on
SACD format, by releasing hybrid CD/SACD catalog titles in fully
remastered deluxe editions. The best of these were easily
Universal Music's reissues of The
Moody Blues, which included
On
the Threshold of a Dream,
Question
of Balance,
To
Our Children's Children's Children,
Days
of Future Passed,
Every
Good Boy Deserves Favour and
In
Search of the Lost Chord. In a period of so
little, these hi-profile packages should restore a bit of faith
in the high-resolution market. |
|
on
to Other DVD Awards for 2006 |
|
