Oh man, more DVDs? How does that industrial Hollywood keep doing it week after week?
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It has clearly been far too long since any new DVDs have been released, so let’s just get started right away.
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Film:
The Da Vinci Code: Special Edition – Sure, the idea of Forrest Gump, Amélie, Doctor Octopus and Richie Cunningham all making a movie together sounds great, but in reality it fell a little flat. The myth the film centers on– that descendants of Jesus are alive today – is a fun one to think about, as well as the secret society that protects such relatives; but the script is just dull, lucky we have Ian McKellan to save the film from complete boredom with his fresh and energetic acting. Da Vinci isn’t all that bad, but for a film that had promise and grossed $70 million on its opening weekend, we could hope for better. Alan wasn’t exactly jumping off the wall in his review of the film either
John Tucker Must Die – It’s sort of a puzzle to me how high school comedies keep getting made – more so than in other genres, the movies just keep repeating themselves; and with rare exceptions like American Pie and Mean Girls, they don’t usually make very much money. Still, 20th Century Fox decided to ignore the past of the genre and make John Tucker Must Die, and while you can’t exactly be happy that they took the risk in producing it, it’s not a deplorable film by any means. I think I put it best in my review a few months back when I deemed it a really mediocre movie.
Strangers With Candy – It’s not for everyone, but Strangers With Candy just might be the funniest film in a year with Talladega Nights, Little Miss Sunshine and Borat. Having never seen an episode of the television show on which the film is based, I walked into the movie clueless but walked out breathless. The humor is so chock-full of intentionally stupid humor over-used story elements that it probably shouldn’t work, but thanks to joyously over-the-top performances from the entire cast, it burn your cheeks as you smile for the solid 97 minute running time. Like the TV show, Strangers With Candy focuses on a middle-aged woman (Amy Sedaris) who re-enrolls in High School after she gets out of Rehab, only to rediscover the problems of popularity and the opposite sex. Along for the ride is series regular Stephen Colbert, with celebrites Matthew Broderick, Ian Holm and even Philip Seymour Hoffman all stopping by for at least a few scenes.
I really can’t say enough about this largely ignored film; it’s like the production was given a few million dollars to make an after school special, and decided to spend half of the budget on marijuana, and the result was Strangers With Candy. A true joy for anyone who takes pleasure in stupid movies.
Special Edition:
King Kong: Deluxe Extended Edition – Remember how every geek in the land of geekdom got excited when an extended edition of any The Lord of the Rings film was released? Flash forward a few years, and the noise being made in apprehension for Peter Jackson‘s latest, the second remake of King Kong is noticeably less. Maybe it’s because you’re only getting an extra 13 minutes this time around (as opposed to the 30+ minutes found in the extended Lord of the Rings installments,) or maybe it’s just because Jackson’s Kong was already an hour too long in theaters.
But fans of the film may find the purchase worth it – the three-disc set hosts a small army of special features, including eight part documentary of the film, design galleries which – if Weta is involved – is surely worth anyone’s time and, if for some reason you felt like it, you could watch an additional 38 minutes of deleted scenes on top of the already enlarged feature, totalling a 3 hour and 58 minute celebration of not knowing where to cut.
Oldboy: Ultimate Collector’s Set – I never quite understood the extreme adoration for Oldboy that is rampant on inter-net forums, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t still love it. Following up Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance as the second installment of Chan-wook Park‘s Vengeance Trilogy, Oldboy was faster, more involving and gave off a vibe of being damn furious. The now famous hallway scene where our main protagonist gets Hammer-crazy on dozens of henchmen is one of the most realistic and bad-ass fight scenes in recent cinema. The film is hard-broiled, angry and intense, if not a tad too long. Definitely worth a rental if you haven’t checked it out yet and are familiar with Asian cinema.
For being a three-disc set, however, this release of Oldboy could have done better. Although it includes a copy of the first Old Boy graphic novel, none of the features on the discs sound too enticing. Still, compared to the lacking first, single-disc release; this one makes for the better purchase.
Television:
Friends – The Complete Series Collection – I never, ever got Friends. Sure, it was funny; even funnier than most of its bland sit-com competition. But that didn’t make it that great of a show, it certainly doesn’t make it worthy of the heaps of admiration that’s been tossed onto its reputation by teenagers who were force-fed the countless Chandler one-liners that took about four seconds to conceive. But hey, if you really feel like buying this 40-disc set with hours of comedy that you could watch every day in syndication for free, then by all means feel free to fork over the hundreds of dollars. Could this set be any more pointless?