Director Commentaries...

Director commentaries abound on DVD's nowadays and not just by directors anymore. It seems everyone from writers, producers, film critics and actors are getting in on the fun. Unfortunately most are forgettable filler only interesting to those involved with the production. But occasionally some prove to be informative as well as entertaining. Here's a quick list of some of my favorites.

The Thing

John Carpenter and Kurt Russell team up on this commentary to give you a unique insight into the down n' dirty way of making a big budget genre film. What is great about this commentary is the infectious fun they had making this film and you get caught up in it. From the personal to the profane they give you how it feel to be on the set and how a practical film maker works. Any Carpenter commentary is good so check them all out because he does one for almost every movie he does and I hope he continues to do so because I will keep listening.

The Usual Suspects

Bryan Singer and Christopher McQuarrie give you another tag team commentary. The unique angle on this one is this was there first successful film and the commentary was recorded at the time of the first Laser Disc home release so you get how jacked they were just to be making films and you get to see them fresh faced and enthusiastic about the future.

Dusk To Dawn

Robert Rodriguez is the king of "diy" movie commentaries. His "El Mariachi" is the standard for them. Quentin Tarantino is the king movie geek who won't shut up about movies. Put them together and talking about the movie they made together and you have one of the best commentaries out their.

Taxi Driver

This one may only be available on the Criterion Laser Disc release. But don't fret his Raging Bull and The Aviator are right up there too. Listening to a Martin Scorsese's commentary is like sitting at the feet of Aristotle while he lectured about his theories about drama in his Poetics. The man has forgotten more about film and film making then most of the directors in Hollywood ever knew. He's a class act and a scholar.

On Her majesty's Secret service.

All of the Bond disc's have decent commentaries. I picked this one because for me the highlight of those commentaries is when Peter Hunt talks about editing them. Since he also directed this film, I included it here. Peter hunt ushered in modern action film editing. You will be amazed at the tricks of the trade he reveals in these commentaries.

Of course this list is not exhaustive but it's a start. What are some of your favorite commentaries? Drop a comment and let us know...

Death Proof !!!

When I first heard about the Grindhouse concept I liked it a lot. So I couldn't wait to see it when it came out. You can make your own posters and trailers on the Grindhouse site at: http://www.grindhousemovie.net/ Here's mine.

Gone but not departed...

I re-watched the DVD yesterday and was remembering that when this movie came out a lot of people giving Jack Nicholson flack for his one-note performance as Frank Costello in Martin Scorsese's movie The Departed. But yet in the same movie Mark Wahlberg was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role. All of which overlooks what I think is the best supporting performance in the movie. And I think that comes from Alex Baldwin as head of the Special Crime unit.

An actor can only play what's written on the page. So it's the screen writers job to make sure that the actor has a fully rounded person to play. An actor's performance has to fit into the whole of the movie so he has to temper his performance under the guidance of the director for the good of the movie as whole. Then the film has to be edited together using the best parts of the actor's performance under the watchful eye of the editor and director as they re sculpt the writers story transforming it from the written to the visual.

OK, so what does this all mean? Well, The departed won the "Best Director, Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture at the 2007 Oscar awards. So we must assume that this means everyone was working at the top of their game. So is it Nicholson's fault alone? I think we should ask first what is it that makes a great performance. In my experience it is when an actor pulls out layers of emotion in their performance. When everything they do has two meanings. Especially when both meanings are the exact opposite of each other. Great acting is by nature dialectic. Which is more fascinating? A man holding a gun who looks at you and snarls "I'm gonna kill you" or the same man, holding the same gun who smiles and winks at you before telling you he's gonna kill you?

Baldwin gives a great seething performance as on the surface an the upwardly mobile, corporate manager with a shinny veneer. Perfect smile. Every hair in place. Hitting golf balls on the driving range, while giving Matt Damon advice on how to get a head in the bureau. Contrasted with the out of control maniac he turns into when the sting he's been planning goes arwy and he begins to choke his own man, who he blames for the fiasco.

This is great acting. Unfortunately Nicholson plays Costello more on the one-note "Hey I'm a crazy bad guy". It would have been interesting to have seen him help out DiCaprio. Take him under his wing a bit. Had he a bit of Martin Sheen's character and Sheen a bit of his I think this would have deepened both performances. I can see why Scorsese might have steered away from this having covered similar ground with Gangs of new York but I think it hurt the character development in the end.

Also I think Matt Damon gave a better performance than Leonardo DiCaprio. DiCaprio was always playing a guy under tremendous stress. Again one-note. What if they showed him actually getting used to the lifestyle a bit. Grow accustom to the violence and easy money. Mine some of the same territory as the movie Donnie Brasco did. You would have gotten a more complicated character. Damon to his credit did that. He played a lying, stealing, backstabbing cheat, but you could see how he longed to break free of Costello and rise a bove it. To really better himself but he could not overcome his tragic flaw and succumbed to his fate.

Now I hope all this doesn't give the impression I didn't like this movie because I really do. It's a fun, twisty-turny crime flick. I was just wondering with Scorsese's winning a long over do Oscar for The Departed was it his best movie. And I have to say no. It's not as good as Raging Bull, Taxi driver, Goodfellas or Casino. And I thought why? And it was the proliferation's of one-note character in it that I think makes it just miss it's mark. But It's great fun.

Please forgive our appearance while we switch the blog over and give it a make over. Thank you.

Mamoulian's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: A pre-code tour de force!

Once is a great while, you see an older film and ask yourself the question “why haven’t I watched this sooner?” Such is the case for me when it comes to the 1931 version of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”. Made the same year as James Whale’s “Frankenstein” and Tod Browning's “Dracula” to say that 1931 was a good year for horror movies is an understatement!
And this film puts the kibosh on the notion that movies “stopped moving” in the early thirties because of sound. In fact, this film starts off with a brilliant point of view tracking shot that puts us into Dr. Jekyll (pronounced Jeekyll in this version) shoes.
And the transformation scenes have to be seen to be believed! This film proves that CGI is not the end all to be all. Sometimes “in camera” effects can be just as effective! It really is very impressive, even by today’s standards.
Director Rouben Mamoulian along with cameraman Karl Struss create the perfect expressionistic mood the story calls for. From split screen wipes to subjective camera moves, the film is really a tour de force.



Also great are the performances by Fredric March and Miriam Hopkins. March won the 1931 academy award for his performance. But Hopkins is just as good. She moves effortlessly from sultry temptress to helpless victim. It’s truly an amazing performance that’s definitely on a par with March.
The DVD release contains 14 minutes of newly restored material. Original released pre-code and then chopped after various re-releases, this version comes as close as possible to the original vision. An informative commentary is provided by film historian Greg Mank.
Also included on the DVD is the 1941 version of the film starring Spencer Tracy. While the Tracy version has its moments and that MGM gloss, the 1931 version is the true classic.

Miriam Hopkins as Champagne Ivy