Andy
Welcomes New TRUMAN SHOW and WITNESS DVDs From Paramount Plus:
SIN CITY Hits DVD For The First (And Surely Not The Last!) Time
It’s
remarkable how prescient screenwriter Andrew Niccol was in
chronicling the breakout rise of “reality TV” with
his script for “The
Truman Show” nearly a decade ago.
Some
seven years after the release of Peter Weir’s superlative
film,
“reality TV” has very nearly turned into what
Niccol saw: an
all-knowing media, and specifically an entertainment industry, that
could possibly lower itself to the level of fabricating a
“life” for an
unknowing participant in its ruse...all for the sake of ratings.
Even
more timely now than it was when initially released, THE
TRUMAN SHOW (****, 102 mins., PG)
is being re-issued next week by Paramount in a superb Special Edition
with all-new extras.
Director
Weir's delicious fantasy is a constant visual treat, and Jim
Carrey's manic persona was modulated just enough to make him the
perfect embodiment of a naive, literally sheltered man whose entire
life has been fabricated for the purposes of producing a television
program.
Weir's
direction and Carrey's performance were justifiably praised (in
spite of the fact that some audiences thought the film, at least
initially, was just another Carrey comedy), but equally worth
mentioning are Niccol's screenplay and several strong supporting
performances.
Niccol
-- who wrote the terrific “Gattaca” around the same
time (a
fascinating companion piece to ”Truman” due to its
complimentary theme
of a technological governing body controlling society) -- penned a
witty, thought-provoking script that works best as a quirky fantasy
centering on a man escaping from what he perceives as his reality, with
satirical overtones touching upon the ever-growing media and its
involvement in our own lives. At what point does the medium become the
message, and where does the audience take into account the consequences
of their own voyeurism? Themes like these, touched upon in Niccol's
script, are what make “The Truman Show” such a
relevant and interesting
piece.
Yet,
even interpreted as a straightforward drama of a man escaping from
an unreal reality (he wants out right from the start of the movie, even
before he realizes that his surrounding world is fabricated), the movie
works equally well. In many ways, the film is a chronicle of overcoming
fears, making your own choices, and the perseverance of an individual
in an unrelenting world. In other words, it's a story that's not all
that different from what often happens in “the real
world.”
As
Truman's wife, Laura Linney gives a tremendous performance as an
actress who slowly, but surely, cracks under the pressure of Truman's
growing concern about the unreality of his world, while Ed Harris
strikes the perfect note between manipulative genius and insanity as
Christof, the omniscient overseer of the televised realm. Carrey is
wonderful in the lead, not straying quite so far as to completely
immerse himself in the normalcy of his character, but the final minutes
of the film remain his most effective as a dramatic actor.
As
with all of Peter Weir's films, there’s much on-hand visually
to
admire. Peter Biziou's cinematography captured the pseudo-'50s decor
and futuristic design of the bloated technological studio that Christof
uses to monitor Truman, and the use of music -- from classical pieces
to original works by Bulkhard Dallwitz and Philip Glass -- is
effectively handled, juggling between the familiar and unreal.
“The
Truman Show” remains a superb, inventive picture with more on
its
mind than virtually all of the films released in 2005 combined...a film
that will undoubtedly be viewed years from now as one of the best films
of the 1990s.
Paramount’s
new Special Edition DVD offers a rich documentary on the
production of the film. Featuring new interviews with Weir, producer
Edward S. Feldman, co-stars Laura Linney, Ed Harris and Noah Emmerich,
this is a candid and fascinating examination of how the film was
produced, as well as its growing legacy. Weir and Feldman even discuss
Dennis Hopper’s departure from the film (Hopper was the
original
Christof before being “fired”), though they
don’t reference Hopper by
name. Nearly 15 minutes of interesting deleted/extended sequences are
shown in workprint form, while there’s a look at the visual
FX in “Faux
Finishing.” A photo gallery and several trailers and TV spots
round out
the disc. The latter shows the curious hole the studio was in at the
time, trying to sell the film to Carrey’s young core audience
but
remain truthful about the story’s premise simultaneously. As
one can
see, only the later trailers give an accurate read as to what type of
film “The Truman Show” is, even though they also
reveal too much of the
film’s plot.
The
2.35 transfer and 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack are both superb, making
this an essential DVD purchase. Highly recommended!
Simultaneously
streeting next week is the long-awaited Special Edition of WITNESS
(****, 112 mins., 1985, R; Paramount),
arguably Weir’s finest picture and another movie that
deserves to be ranked among the greatest films of its respective decade.
Moving,
exciting, beautifully performed and written,
“Witness” needs
little introduction for most viewers. Its relatively simple tale of a
Philadelphia cop (Harrison Ford) who has to go undercover into Amish
country to protect a young boy (Lukas Haas) and his mother (Kelly
McGillis) who witnessed a brutal murder was a box-office hit and
multiple Oscar winner (earning nods for script and editing, plus
nominations for Best Picture and several other categories).
Like
all “classic” films, “Witness”
has a timeless quality about it: as
Weir points out in the new DVD’s documentary, he thought he
was making
a “light” film but, some 20 years later, the
picture holds up
remarkably well on every level. The romance between Ford and McGillis,
the relationship McGillis has with Amish suitor Alexander Godunov, the
superior performance by young Haas, and even the
“thriller” angle that
results in a well-executed though standard shoot-out finale makes for a
dynamic piece of entertainment -- one that’s elevated by the
cast,
Weir’s direction, John Seale’s cinematography, and
Maurice Jarre’s
music into a remarkable film that’s just as fresh as it was
two decades
ago. (Be on the lookout for Viggo Mortensen as one of the Amish).
Paramount’s
DVD includes “Between Two Worlds: The Making of
‘Witness,’”
another fresh, excellent retrospective on the creation of
Weir’s film.
Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Edward Feldman, Lukas Haas and others
join Weir to recall their fond memories of producing the picture. Chief
among the highlights is a teary-eyed McGillis, talking emotionally
about her attempts to recapture the success of her role (mostly to no
avail) in the years following the film’s release.
It’s
a wonderful piece, augmented on DVD by a rather lengthy deleted
scene (from the network TV broadcast , here presented in 16:9
widescreen) involving Haas, McGillis and co-star Patti LuPone, plus
trailers and TV spots. The 1.85 (16:9) transfer looks a bit fresher
than Paramount’s previous DVD (as memory serves), and the 5.1
and 2.0
Dolby Digital soundtracks are both satisfying.
With
so many disappointing films currently out there, now is the
perfect time to re-assess two of Peter Weir’s finest works,
back on DVD
in outstanding presentations courtesy of Paramount (and under $20 a
piece). Highly, highly recommended!
Also
among new offerings from Paramount is THE
RED TENT (***, 1971, 121 mins., PG),
which arrives on DVD next week for the first time.
This
disjointed but fascinating Italian-Russian co-production
hasn’t
been screened a whole lot over the years, despite the presence of stars
Sean Connery, Claudia Cardinale and Peter Finch.
Unlike
many big-budget, all-star international productions made during
the ‘60s and ‘70s, “The Red
Tent” holds up well, despite a somewhat
rocky opening. Director Mikheil Kalatozishvili fashioned a beautifully
photographed, occasionally haunting film, examining a tragic, failed
1928 Italian expedition to the Arctic, led by explorer Umberto Nobile
(Finch). International headlines, a rescue effort led by Norwegian
explorer Roald Amundsen (Connery), and Nobile’s questionable
actions
form the centerpiece of “The Red Tent,” scripted by
Ennio De Concini
and Richard Adams, beautifully photographed by Leonid Kalashnikov, and
memorably scored by Ennio Morricone.
The
movie’s framing device -- with Nobile looking back on his
actions,
confronted by the spirits of individuals who pass judgment on his
decisions -- makes for a stark contrast with the gritty drama of Nobile
and his men attempting to survive in the Arctic. While it
doesn’t
entirely work, it nevertheless gives this film a strange, almost
ethereal quality, while the central survival drama still packs a potent
punch.
Paramount’s
DVD offers a 1.85 (16:9) transfer that’s likely as strong
as the film will ever look on video. There’s grain here and
there
throughout the movie, but it’s almost certainly a result of
how the
movie was shot and handled over the years (no surprise given its
international origins). It’s still a satisfying transfer that
does
justice to Kalashnikov’s excellent cinematography, clearly
one of the
film’s strongest assets. The 5.1 and 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo
soundtracks, meanwhile, fare better: Morricone’s moving score
is
terrific, and the movie has well-balanced stereophonic sound in both
tracks.
“The
Red Tent” is a satisfying historical film with a superb cast,
stellar cinematography and a top-notch Morricone score. For those
reasons alone (and in spite of its occasionally clumsy script),
Paramount’s DVD comes as a welcome viewing experience.
Also
New This Week
Snazzy
visuals and a great cast almost make a trip to Frank Miller’s
SIN
CITY (**, 124 mins., R, 2005; Buena Vista)
worth the journey...until you realize the visuals are all that Robert
Rodriguez’s cinematic adaptation of Miller’s
graphic novels has going
for it.
In
this city of sin, Bruce Willis plays a hardened cop with a heart
condition out to stop a psycho from preying on young girls; Mickey
Rourke is a tough, Frankenstein-like monster of a man framed for a
hooker’s murder actually committed by Elijah Wood, a psycho
who
literally devours the souls of his victims; Brittany Murphy is a
waitress with a sicko ex-boyfriend (Benicio Del Toro) and a new love
(Clive Owen) who takes him down, only to find out he’s
actually a cop;
and Jessica Alba is the grown version of the girl Willis saves in the
opening...now a good-girl stripper who gets wrapped up with a bad guy
who’s a cross between a “Dick Tracy” thug
and something you’d
ordinarily see in one of David Lynch’s films.
This
repellent exercise in pulp “graphic novel noir”
nonsense is
apparently a faithful-to-an-extreme cinematic representation of
Miller’s graphic novels. Rodriguez, fresh off his
“Spy Kids” films,
recruited Miller to “co-direct” and give his
creative stamp to the
movie version, and, admittedly, there are times when “Sin
City” truly
feels as if you’re watching a veritable comic book. The
endlessly
pretentious narration and dialogue were ripped right out of
Miller’s
books, as were the highly-stylized camera angles and editing rhythms --
all coordinated by Rodriguez to accurately bring each frame of
“Sin
City” to the screen.
As
a consequence to its faithfulness, however, there’s no
dramatic
tension or anything to grasp onto in “Sin City” the
movie. Here’s a
film packed to the gills with outrageous violence and action (toned
down somewhat by having most of the blood colored white), but nothing
of interest from a character or dramatic angle. The movie is all
posturing -- a group of “cool” moments that will
get teenage boys
aroused with its explicit violence and brainless action -- but
there’s
no weight to the movie at all because Miller and Rodriguez
didn’t make
any dramatic adjustments to the material. “Sin
City” looks and feels
like a comic book come to life, alright, but what works dramatically on
the printed page doesn’t necessarily translate to the
cinematic realm,
as plainly demonstrated here.
More
over, there are a few goofy, unintentionally humorous moments
along the way, like the climax involving the “Yellow
Bastard,” or when
Del Toro shares a conversation in a moving car with Owen -- a sequence
that, no surprise here, was the work of “Special Guest
Director”
Quentin Tarantino (apparently he didn’t get enough mileage
last year
out of his cameos on “American Idol” or the
“Muppets Wizard of Oz”).
“Sin
City” is unquestionably fascinating as a visual exercise, but
like
so many of Rodriguez’s films, it’s empty beneath
the surface. There’s
no soul here, and the complete lack of identification viewers will have
with any of its thinly-drawn characters (more like generic stereotypes,
which I assume was Miller’s point to some degree), make it a
frenetic,
unsatisfying blend of razzle-dazzle filmmaking and non-existent
dramatic storytelling.
Fans
of the movie, though, will surely be delighted with Buena
Vista’s
DVD, which arrives this week in a superb 1.85 transfer with 5.1 DTS and
Dolby Digital sound. This is a stellar looking film, at least, and the
DVD presentation is sensational -- every bit as reference-quality as
one might have hoped. The soundtracks are layered with gun shots and
mostly thankless scores by Rodriguez, John Debney and Graeme Revell,
but the sound design is likewise impressive.
A
brief featurette is the disc’s only extra, which may
disappoint some
viewers, but keep in mind that this is only the “first
dip” on DVD for
“Sin City.” No question, we’ll be seeing
a more elaborate, 2-disc
Special Edition down the road...perhaps as early as next year, when the
inevitable sequel goes into production.
Other
New Buena Vista Releases
MY
NEIGHBORS THE YAMADAS (1999, 104 mins., PG; Buena Vista) POM
POKO (1994, 109 mins., PG; Buena Vista) Isao
Takahata’s enjoyable anime films are the newest additions to
Buena Vista’s Studio Ghibli line.
In
1994's smash Japanese hit “Pom Poko,” a group of
raccoons attempt to
stave off modern development by any means necessary: including turning
human! The episodic 1999 effort “My Neighbors The
Yamadas,” meanwhile,
is a gently comic look at a modern family, with newly re-voiced English
vocals by Jim Belushi and Molly Shannon. The latter benefits from an
intentionally “comic strip” design approach, as its
central story is
only somewhat compelling.
As
with Buena Vista’s prior Studio Ghibli films, the original
5.1
Japanese audio tracks are available with optional English subtitles, in
addition to the American re-dubbing, which -- like its predecessors --
aren’t half-bad. Trailers and TV spots are available on both
movies,
while the 16:9 transfers are both satisfying. “The
Yamadas” also boasts
a behind the scenes featurette, while storyboards are on-hand in
“Pom
Poko.”
MY
LEFT FOOT (***½, 103 mins., 1989, R; Miramax) THE
GLASS SHIELD (**½, 115 mins., 1995, R; Miramax) Remastered
transfers are the primary motivation to pick up the latest releases in
Miramax’s Collector’s Edition DVD packages.
Jim
Sheridan’s inspiring 1989 film “My Left
Foot” remains one of the
finest films of its era: Daniel Day-Lewis’ outstanding
performance as
Christy Brown copped the actor a well-deserved Oscar for Best Actor,
while his co-star, the superb Brenda Fricker, also earned an Academy
Award for Best Supporting Actress. The
remastered 1.85 transfer and 5.1 sound (ably benefitting Elmer
Bernstein’s excellent score) are a definite cut above the
original
DVD’s transfer. Extras, though, are on the meager side: just
a pair of
relatively short featurettes, “The Making of ‘My
Left Foot’” and a look
at “The Real Christy Brown.” One might have hoped
for more (Day-Lewis
and Sheridan commentary, perhaps?), but the solid transfer and low
price (under $15 in most locales) should still make this an appealing
pick-up for aficionados. Meanwhile,
Charles Burnett’s acclaimed indie thriller “The
Glass Shield” also gets another go-around on DVD this week. Burnett’s
tale of corruption, racism, and the inter-machinations of the
L.A.P.D. has an eclectic cast (Ice Cube, Richard Anderson, Bernie
Casey, Elliott Gould, Michael Ironside, Lori Petty) and an involving
mystery that has continued to entertain the film’s admirers
since its
1995 release. Miramax’s
new DVD offers a remastered transfer in 1.85 widescreen;
commentary with Burnett and composer Stephen James Taylor; a
nice
featurette with Taylor displaying his craft; the original trailer, and
an interview with the director.
DISNEY’S
TIMELESS TALES Volumes 1 and 2 (2005 compilations, 60 mins. each;
Disney): Solid,
hour-long new releases compile fairy-tale themed shorts from the annals
of Disney animation: Volume 1 offers vintage shorts including
“The
Three Little Pigs,” “Tortoise and the
Hare,” “Grasshopper and the
Ants,” “Pied Piper” and “The
Prince and the Pauper.” Volume 2 includes
“The Wind In The Willows” (excerpted from the
longer, classic Disney
feature “Ichabod and Mr.
Toad”),”Ferdinand The Bull,”
“The Country
Cousin” and “Ugly Duckling.” Colorfully
packaged and convenient for
parents looking to throw on a pleasant DVD suitable for kids of all
ages.
THAT’S
SO RAVEN: DISGUISE THE LIMIT (2005 compilation, 89 mins., G; Disney) PHIL
OF THE FUTURE: GADGETS & GIZMOS (2005 compilation, 89 mins., G;
Disney): A
pair of Disney Channel series receive new DVD releases this week.
“That’s So Raven” offers four episodes
from the ever-popular DC sitcom
while “Phil of the Future” sports an additional
four shows for the more
male-skewing, lightly sci-fi comic series (one of the episodes is an
unaired segment on each disc). Each DVD includes a few extras that kids
should enjoy, be it a behind-the-scenes featurette or commentary (of
the visual or audio variety), colorful full-screen transfers and 5.1
Dolby Digital audio. NEXT
TIME: More discs, reviews and news! Don't
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