Ace
In The Hole
(Criterion)
Billy
Wilder's pitch-black 1951 comic noir is perhaps the least-seen of Wilder's
masterpieces, which makes Criterion's characteristically deluxe double-disc
release an invaluable public service to cinephiles everywhere. Today Wilder's
film about a shameless journalist (Kirk Douglas, in fine, fire-breathing form)
who milks the tragedy of an amiable dope trapped in a cave for big paydays and
national fame stands
as a trenchant, bone-deep evisceration not just of tabloid sensationalism but
also of greed, opportunism, free enterprise, and the soul-corrupting power of
the dollar. Hole is
perhaps the purest, darkest manifestation of what the legendary filmmaker's
friend and collaborator William Holden famously described as "a mind full of
razorblades."
The
Best Of The Johnny Cash TV Show 1969-1971 (Sony BMG Legacy)
Between 1969 and 1971,
Cash used his weekly variety show to showcase folk, country, and rock
legends—old and new—and to express his love for every aspect of
Americana, from fireside chats to steam-powered locomotives. This double-disc
set compiles 60-odd performances from the series, interspersed with new
interviews, and shows the full range of Cash and his program: the historical,
the intimate, the reverential, and the frank. Cash always made his moral
weaknesses part of his act, because he wanted to show that he was no better
than anyone else, and in a TV world where arrogance or faux-humility is the
norm, Cash's honest sentiment remains refreshing.
Close
Encounters Of The Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition (Sony)
The advent
of director's cuts, unrated cuts, and expensive special effect clean-up jobs
has made moviegoing pretty confusing, especially when there are significant
differences between each version. Many filmmakers make the mistake of releasing
their preferred cut and burying the original one, but on this excellent
three-disc box, Steven Spielberg has made all three versions—the
theatrical cut, the extended "Special Edition," and the director's cut—of
his "science speculation" classic available for viewers to decide for themselves
which is the best one. It even comes with a handy mini-poster-sized road map
detailing which scenes are on which version. Add to that an unusually strong
making-of documentary—parsed out annoyingly over all three
discs—and this is the definitive Close Encounters package.
The
Films Of Alejandro Jodorowsky (ABKCO/Anchor Bay)
The three
feature films (and one short) on this well-assembled box set represent
touchstones in underground cinema and psychedelia in general. The raw savagery
and therapeutic catharsis in La Cravate, Fando Y Lis, El Topo, and The Holy Mountain sometimes comes off as goofily allegorical and
sometimes transcendently shocking, but the films' significance to the
development of independent movies can't be overstated. This set adds a
feature-length documentary about Jodorowsky and scholarly commentary tracks,
though its real highlight is the entirety of Jodorowsky's big-budget 1973 folly The Holy Mountain,
a scabrous satire of organized religion that follows a Christ figure, his
disciples, and their bloody quest for the home of the gods, whom they plan to
depose. It's witty, disgusting, eye-popping, and gloriously incomprehensible.
Killer Of Sheep: The Charles Burnett
Collection (Milestone)
Long appreciated more in retrospect and rumor
than in fact, Charles Burnett's 1977 indie film classic Killer Of Sheep received its first
official theatrical release this year, allowing urban arthouse patrons the
chance to appreciate Burnett's flavorful dialogue and poetic depiction of
day-to-day living in the black neighborhoods of working-class Los Angeles. The
film's triumphant bow was capped off by Milestone's generous DVD set, which
adds a handful of stunning short films—the elliptical western The
Horse
being particularly beautiful—and Burnett's even-more-rarely seen second
feature My Brother's Wedding, which the filmmaker re-cut after its
disastrous festival debut in 1983. The whole package makes the case for Burnett
as one of the best American filmmakers to fall in the thin cracks between the
New Hollywood years and the Miramax era.
The
Sergio Leone Anthology (MGM)
Though fans
will still have to pick up Once Upon A Time In The West separately to get the full
experience, this four-film set compiles the bulk of Leone's spaghetti westerns,
filling them out nicely with appreciations from fans. Leone moves here from the
simple demythologizing of 1964's A Fistful Of Dollars, which made the American West a
place of dust and ugly people with uglier motives, to the fully restored
version of 1971's underappreciated Duck, You Sucker, which transported the bloody
revolutionary madness of the 1960s to the waning days of the frontier. Even
after decades of imitators and parodies, these movies confirm Leone as a
touchstone of modern filmmaking.
Tex Avery's
Droopy: The Complete Theatrical Collection (Warner Bros.)
Tex Avery's
cartoons in general—and in particular the Droopy series he helmed for
MGM—are rocket-paced and gleefully surreal, made for wisenheimers already
hip to animation's conventions. The 18 Tex Avery-directed Droopy
shorts—plus five by Michael Lah—on this two-disc DVD set follow a
rote Droopy-vs.-predator format, but with each cartoon, the diminutive,
saggy-voiced Droopy becomes more familiar, and his minimal movements and
unbelievable prowess increasingly hilarious. Droopy is an awesome force of
nature. Fear his wrath.
30
Rock: Season One (Universal)
Is there a
more perfect way to watch television than on DVD? That goes double for the
first season of 30 Rock, Tina
Fey's beyond-brilliant comedy about the zany goings-on behind the scenes at a
sketch comedy show. It's a smooth-running chuckle machine where constant fits
of explosive laughter are guaranteed to drown out plenty of hilarious lines,
many courtesy of SNL also-ran-turned-comic-supergenius Tracy Morgan, whose dialogue (like
his advice to "Live each week like it's shark week") should be collected out of
context and put in a coffee table book of cracked aphorisms. So repeat viewing
isn't just rewarded, it's pretty much mandatory. Best of all, the 30 Rock DVD won't break fans' hearts by
stopping production halfway into a season that's shaping up to be one of the
all-time greats.
The
36th Chamber Of Shaolin (Dragon Dynasty)
It was a
strong year for the Weinstein brothers' Asian-cult-cinema boutique DVD label,
and the imprint's high point came with the release of this legendary 1978 kung
fu epic, about a scholar who trains at the Shaolin temple to learn their sacred
martial-arts methods and exact revenge for the death of his family. Following
the hero's grueling series of tests is as fun and suspenseful now as it was 30
years ago, but the DVD's additional selling points are its crisp transfer and
copious bonus features, including a priceless commentary track by the Wu-Tang
Clan's The RZA, who enthusiastically explains the appeal of oriental exoticism
for urban latchkey kids.
Two-Lane
Blacktop (Criterion)
Monte
Hellman's existential 1971 road movie was rescued from obscurity by DVD in the
late-'90s, but this new set burnishes the legend. Supplements find Hellman
revisiting old locations and finding them much-changed and awkwardly reuniting
with Blacktop's
only surviving star,
James Taylor. Best of all: Rudy Wurlitzer's screenplay, reprinted here with
many deleted scenes intact. But even though it clarifies the moments that flesh
out some of the film's subtext, Blacktop's mysteries remain its own.