11/15/04
Weekly Release Roundup
Last week was a stupid slow DVD week. I didn't too get much, so
this should go by PDQ.
Before we get to the reviews, check out Sarah's latest featured
Artist
of the Month. Look! It's my wife, Erin! She makes these
badass purses out of board games, record albums and laserdiscs.
They're really cool. You should check 'em out.
Anyway...
  |
The
Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi/Sonatine
"Beat" Takeshi rules, and aside from the blonde hair
choice, he is virtually perfect in the role as the new Ichi. I'm
pretty excited that he's at work on a sequel. Here, Ichi
stumbles upon two "sisters" (you'll understand why
there are quotes around that as you watch the film) who work as
geishas but harbor a revenge scheme on the Ginzo gang - a band
of toughs who threaten and kill local merchants into doing what
they want, and who killed their parents. Ichi gets drawn in, as
he's prone to do, and much blood flies from the blade of his
razor sharp cane sword. Much like the films in the original
series, starring Katsu Shintaro, this film isn't specifically
about Ichi. It spends a lot of time with the girls and their
blooming friendship with Aunt O-ume, as well as the Ginzo gang
and their boss' attempt at hiring a bodyguard who appears in the
form of Hattori, a ronin samurai with a sick wife who just might
give Ichi the fight he's been looking for all these years. This
is definitely a Takeshi film. Its pace, its subtle humor and the
outsider take on violence are all his signature. But it's also
very much an Ichi film,
and you'd be hard pressed after watching four or five random
Ichi films (including this
one) to recall if it was Takeshi or Katsu in the role when
remembering certain scenes. In my book, that alone makes this a
success. |
This
new DVD features the film in beautiful anamorphic widescreen video,
with Dolby Digital 5.1 Japanese and English dubbed audio. Both sound
good, but I prefer the Japanese for obvious reasons. The extras are
pretty great if you think like I do. First, there's a very nice (and
long) making-of documentary that showcases the film's production
from beginning to end, highlighting the weeks of production. It's
very fun to watch. There's also a pile of interviews (translated
into spoken English on screen) with various cast and crew members.
The best extra is Takeshi's brilliant (and
sorely-missing-from-DVD-until-now) feature film, Sonatine.
It's isolated on its own disc and features the film in a really
wonderful anamorphic widescreen transfer and Dolby Digital 2.0
Japanese audio.
Sonatine is a great film. I
hope anyone who thinks they like the types of films I do will hunt
it down and enjoy it. Sonatine
absolutely stands by itself and defies explanation, outside of the
fact that it's a Yakuza film and Takeshi stamped it with his
indelible style. Extras for Sonatine
include a truly silly intro/outro featurette with Quentin Tarantino,
preserved from the original video and laserdisc release, and a new
Takeshi interview broken up by theme and translated into spoken
English on screen.
These two films, as weird as it is to have them on the same DVD
release, fit together in a nice way. If you like Beat Takeshi,
samurai, Yakuza or just great films, you need to get this set.
 |
Harvie
Krumpet
Winner of last year's Academy Award for Best Animated Short,
Harvie Krumpet is a cute
claymation film with plenty of heart and soul. Harvie is a
European immigrant living in Australia, who doesn't have it
easy. He's slightly retarded, can't spell, has a metal plate in
his head and only one testicle. But he seems to love living and
trusts the "fakts" he learns throughout his life. As
funny as it is sad, Krumpet
is a brilliantly animated film and a must own for animation fans
everywhere. This DVD presents the film in a good non-anamorphic
widescreen (letterboxed) transfer with Dolby Digital 2.0 sound.
The extras are also great. First, we get the Family
Trilogy from Krumpet
director Adam Elliot. These are just as much fun as Krumpet.
All three of these are also on the
Animation
Show DVD, but having them here on this collection is
great. There's also a fun, 1-minute short called Human
Behavioural Case Studies that Elliot did in school
(and shows exactly what direction he was headed as a
storyteller). Also on board are commentaries for each and every
one of these shorts. I almost missed the fact that all the
shorts have commentary, thinking that just the feature did.
Don't be fooled - every short on this disc has commentary. The
last bit of extra is a fun character model sheet section, where
you can look at the character model top to bottom, side to side.
All in all, Harvie Krumpet
is a great little film and a wonderful DVD. |
 |
The
Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection
Collecting the first five Marx Brothers films starring the
original Four Marx Brothers: Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Zeppo,
this is a set that (especially if you don't have the
hard-to-find Image releases) you need to own. Included here are
The Cocoanuts, Animal
Crackers, Monkey Business,
Horse Feathers and Duck
Soup. Or if you'd rather, the one in the hotel, the
one with Captain Spaulding, the one on the cruise ship, the one
at the college and the one to end all ones: the political one.
Sadly, all of these films have seen better days, so the print
quality is a bit lacking. Sound drops out here and there, and
there are a few bad cuts as well. None of this is a reflection
on Universal, but it still sucks for us as fans. Never fear
though, these films are as sharp comically as they've ever been.
Extras include trailers for each of the films, a lame booklet
with a short history and synopsis for each film and a trio of
Today Show interviews with
Groucho, Harpo and Harpo's son William. I guess now that
Universal and NBC are in bed, we can expect more extras like
this on future releases. Commentaries would have been nice, but
what are we going to do? Either way, Universal gives us these
five brilliant films, in a beautiful book-like case that screams
buy me... and I think you should. |
 |
W.C.
Fields: The Comedy Collection
Also from Universal this week is a collection of W.C. Fields
films. Included in this set are International
House, It's a Gift,
You Can't Cheat an Honest Man,
My Little Chickadee and
The Bank Dick (which was
previously release by Criterion as a stand-alone special
edition). International House
is less a Fields film and more an all-star extravaganza,
although Fields does shine (also appearing are Gracie Allen,
George Burns, Bela Lugosi and Cab Calloway). It's
a Gift is classic, signature Fields at his best.
Everything you think of when you think of Fields is in this
film, which isn't surprising since he wrote the film under an
alias and pulled it from his vaudeville act. You
Can't Cheat an Honest Man is a fun little film
starring Fields and ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy (as
well as ventriloquist Edgar Bergen). It's not the best film of
the set, but a good, fun classic film nonetheless. My
Little Chickadee is probably the most famous of the
films here. The film is merely an excuse to watch Fields trade
barbs with the delightful Mae West. Ask me again later what the
storyline is, 'cause I have no idea. But oh, how wonderful is it
to see these two on screen. Classic. Last, but not least, is
The Bank Dick. One of his
last films, it's regarded by many as his best. Fields plays a
drunk who accidentally stops a crime, becomes a bank guard and
then becomes a film director. Yes, W.C. Fields films are messy
story-wise and the sight gags boarder on cartoonish, but he was
a funny man and deserves his place in comedy history. |
All of these films are presented on their own discs in the original
full frame video with Dolby Digital 2.0 audio. Like the Marx
Brothers set, these films have seen better days, but just having
them on DVD is nice. Extras are light. There are trailers for International
House, You Can't Cheat
and Chickadee on their
respective discs, along with an A&E
Biography on the International
House disc. Nothing too thrilling. Commentaries would
have been nice, but these films are so much fun, I won't complain to
loudly.
New
TV on DVD from last week:
Friends:
The Complete Eighth Season,
The
L Word: The Complete First Season and
Star
Trek: Voyager - Season Five.
  
Also newly available:
Eli Wallach does the spaghetti western again in
Ace
High. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delphy reunite in Richard
Linklater's
Before
Sunset. In time for the theatrical sequel, it's a new
special edition:
Bridget
Jones's Diary: Collector's Edition. Robert Redford gets
kidnapped in
The
Clearing. Warner really needs your money to pay for The
Polar Express, so be sure to pick up the new
Gone
with the Wind: Collector's Edition. If you liked the
American remake, check out the Region 1 release of
Ju-On:
The Grudge. I guess Anchor Bay lost the license:
Martin
from Lion's Gate. Fritz Lang's
Spies
and
Woman
in the Moon come to DVD from Kino. And here's Frank Oz's
comic remake of
The
Stepford Wives. Who wouldn't want one of their own?
  
Until next time...
Todd Doogan
todddoogan@thedigitalbits.com |
