OK, now that we've got all of those pesky Top 10 movie lists out of the way, let's get down to what really matters: the best DVDs.A wise man once compared the urge to own a favorite movie on DVD to the reason a cannibal gobbles up a stranger — in order to absorb and possess the life essence. The comparison might seem a tad extreme, but only a tad; DVD is clearly our new national obsession. A movie's theatrical run is nowadays considered a mere warm-up to its appearance on DVD — which is where all films come to live, where their reputations are made and unmade, what we best remember them by.
Two-thousand-four was a good year for the movies, but it was a great one for DVDs. Boutique and specialty labels like Blue Underground, Kino, Mondo Macabro and Criterion churned out a steady stream of remarkable DVDs, while established studios like Disney and Twentieth Century Fox dug through their vaults and came up with spectacular editions of everything from Alice in Wonderland to The Grapes of Wrath. One studio that really hit its stride in 2004 was Warner Brothers, whose digital gems included scores of extras-laden editions of Hollywood classics like Gone with the Wind, as well as beautifully produced collections devoted to the works of Martin Scorsese and Alfred Hitchcock.
The 20 titles on this list are only the tip of the gleaming digital iceberg. There were far too many runners-up to mention them all, but we'd be remiss if we didn't at least tip a hat to Criterion's glorious releases of Fanny and Alexander and The Leopard, those very special Special Editions of Ed Wood and Shrek 2, the relatively barebones but still welcome discs of Triplets of Belleville and Kill Bill Volume 2. Films, like diamonds, are forever — especially now that we've got DVDs to remind us.
1. The Battle of Algiers. The Criterion Collection's magnificent edition of Gillo Pontecorvo's 1966 masterpiece about Muslim militants in 1950s Algeria is a disc to return to again and again. The film itself, presented here in a crisp transfer, still packs a wallop, succeeding as richly textured art and down-and-dirty thriller. Copious extras, including meticulously produced pieces on political and historical context (complete with input from U.S. government counterterrorism officials).
2. Lord of the Rings — The Return of the King: Extended Edition. New Line's four-disc Extended Edition of Peter Jackson's epic fantasy features an even longer (by 50 minutes!) and stronger cut than the one we saw in theaters or on the previously released two-disc set. The meticulously crafted 263-minute version presented here allows the film to breathe and soar in ways previously only hinted at.
3. More Treasures American Film Archives. Some 50 films dating from 1894 to 1931 (all largely unseen during the past century) are packed into this three-disc cinephile's dream set. The films, mostly shorts and fragments, burst with the energy of an art form just spreading its wings. You'll find early avant-garde experiments here, animation, comedy, propaganda and promotional films — over nine hours of choice material, all carefully restored by the world's leading film preservationists, and sprinkled with rare footage of the likes of Annie Oakley, Thomas Edison, Eddie Cantor, Calvin Coolidge and George Bernard Shaw. A lovely, 185-page program book is also included, with extras including commentary from 17 noted film critics and historians.
4. Cassavetes: Five Films. John Cassavetes was the prototypical independent filmmaker before Kevin Smith and Richard Linklater were born, and Criterion's amazing box set is a near-definitive tribute to this groundbreaking, visionary talent. The films collected here — Shadows, Faces, A Woman Under the Influence, Killing of a Chinese Bookie and Opening Night — are prime examples of the raw, seemingly improvised style Cassavetes used to expose the often painful inner lives of his characters. The box set includes sparkling transfers of all the films, as well as Charles Kiselyak's authoritative documentary A Constant Forge: The Life and Art of John Cassavetes, actors' workshops, alternate footage, a score of documentaries, commentary tracks, extensive interviews with Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, Ben Gazzara and other Cassavetes co-conspirators, and lots of up-close-and-personal time with Cassavetes himself.
5. Rules of the Game. An absolutely pristine transfer of Jean Renoir's sublimely wise and witty 1939 masterpiece (perennially awarded first place in critics' polls of the all-time greatest films). Renoir's grand comedy of manners and morals gets the deluxe Criterion treatment: incisive audio commentary, no less than eight substantial documentaries and featurettes, and a nice, fat booklet crammed with fascinating essays and illustrations.
6. Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. Bugs, Porky, Roadrunner, Tweety and Sylvester are in the house, and the world is a better place. Some of the greatest cartoons of all time are collected here — 60 of them, to be exact, clocking in at a whopping seven hours plus change — all uncut (take note, PC parents!) and digitally restored to their original, gleaming, Technicolor glory. Each of the four discs in this set is devoted to a specific character or theme, and the whole thing practically vibrates with anything-goes energy. Wonderful extras focus on animation superstars like Chuck Jones, Tex Avery and Mel Blanc.
7. Eyes Without a Face. A remarkable presentation of Georges Franju's singular take on the mad scientist/disfigured daughter scenario, a 1959 classic that's as deeply poetic as it is horrifying. A luminous transfer of Franju's haunting black-and-white imagery makes it easier than ever to sink into the film's sublimely creepy world, and bonus interviews with the ever-articulate director provide rare insights into the methods behind the madness. The best extra of all is Franju's devastating and thoroughly surreal 1949 documentary on Paris slaughterhouses, Blood of the Beasts, presented here in its entirety.
8. The Legacy Monster Collection. After exhausting the holy trinity of monsterdom in its first series of Legacy titles — Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman — Universal tackles its second tier of terror titans with three more lavish, multi-disc collections devoted to The Mummy, The Invisible Man and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Each of these two-disc sets contains the original film and all its sequels (three movies in total for Creature, four for Invisible Man, and five for the Mummy) in great-looking transfers that really show off the atmospheric cinematography that early Universal monster movies were famous for. A Halloween party just waiting to happen.
9. The Fanny Trilogy. Another of the cinema's holy grails finally brought into the light, Marcel Pagnol's monumental trilogy about the lives and loves of ordinary, working-class folks in the French port city of Marseilles is a sheer delight from beginning to end. The Kino set devotes a separate disc to each of these three previously impossible-to-see gems — Marius, Fanny and Cesar — and also includes a fourth disc with a feature-length documentary that provides a wealth of information on Pagnol's films and the world they so vividly detail, that of provincial Southern France in the early 1930s.
10. Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection. The extras are a bit sparse, but how can you not love a set that gathers together The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers and what is probably the Marx Brothers' masterpiece (and one of the funniest movies ever made), Duck Soup? A 40-page booklet comes folded into this elaborately designed box set, illustrated with tons of photos of Groucho and company in action, but the real reason to pounce on this is the chance to experience a hefty helping of prime Marx madness in one concentrated dose.
11. Star Wars Trilogy. Okay, you knew it had to wind up somewhere on this list, and you were right. George Lucas' much-loved trilogy finally arrives on DVD, served up in a big ol' shiny box (silver for widescreen, gold for full-frame), inevitably spectacular picture and sound, techno-babble-heavy commentaries, and an extra disc loaded with oodles of documentaries and other geek-friendly bonus materials. No real surprises here, but you're probably still going to have to buy it.
12. That's Entertainment: The Complete Collection. One of the grandest puff pieces of all time, the three That's Entertainment documentaries form an elaborate homage to MGM's glory days, and to a kindler, gentler cinema in general. The seductive, non-stop outpouring of iconic clips transcends simple nostalgia, from Cyd Charisse slinking her way through The Band Wagon to Gene Kelly's sublime puddle-splashing in Singin' in the Rain to Esther Williams' elaborate aqua-ballets. This might just be Hollywood's ultimate love letter to itself.
13. Film Noir Collection. The dark has never been so alluring as on this beautifully produced (and remarkably affordable) five-disc set that includes the hard-boiled '40s classics Out of the Past, The Asphalt Jungle, The Set-Up, Murder, My Sweet and the gleefully over-the-top and way ahead of its time Gun Crazy. The b&w chiaroscuro imagery of these rich, silvery transfers sends shivers straight up the spine, and various esteemed critics and film noir experts (including Martin Scorsese) provide commentary. Tough, sly, indispensable stuff.
14. La Dolce Vita. Federico Fellini's masterpiece arrived on DVD the same day that the Star Wars set did, and for many of us there was no question which arrival was more exciting (sorry, George). Fellini's ode to Euro-ennui has never looked as good as it does on Koch Entertainment's two-DVD set, which is crammed with rarities such as a series of unused commercials shot by Fellini and a reunion with Marcello Mastroianni and Anita Ekberg shot long after they ceased being the beautiful creatures we see in the film.
15. City of God. Director Fernando Meirelles' film bursts with life, entwining beauty and ugliness in stories that flip back and forth through several decades in the lives of assorted street thugs inhabiting a Brazilian shantytown. By turns visceral and dazzling, the film presents a compelling social history, both eccentric and epic, and while we've seen variations of this story before — the blood, the budding psychopaths, the all-too-young victims of urban decay — we've never seen it quite like this. Also included on the DVD is a fascinating, hour-long documentary about the real-life drug traffickers on which the film is based.
16. Videodrome. David Cronenberg's 1982 mind-bender still has the ability to shock and awe, and it finally gets the respect it deserves on Criterion's outstanding double-disc set. Cronenberg's first big studio release is still his definitive statement on favorite themes such as media saturation as virus, the body as a site of horror, and other delectable bits of ookiness. All of this is explored in almost exhaustive detail on two separate audio tracks, one from Cronenberg, and one from actors James Woods and Deborah Harry, on a disc loaded with extras. The highlight is a jaw-dropping roundtable conversation with directors Cronenberg, John Carpenter and John Landis.
17. The Up Series. Michael Apted began this series in 1964, conducting interviews with a small group of 7-year-old children in 7 Up. He has returned every seven years to chart the progression of their lives in 7 Plus Seven, 21 Up, 28 Up, 35 Up and 42 Up, all included in this monumental box set. This grand edition of The Up Series allows us to spend over nine and a half hours immersing ourselves in nothing less than the stuff of life itself.
18. Legong: Dance of the Virgins. One of the last films of the silent era, this fabulous blast of exotica from Bali circa 1933 is a Romeo and Juliet tale of star-crossed lovers, shot on location and making excellent use of its local cast and color. Although banned in its day for its footage of topless natives, the film feels remarkably elegant and authentic, with marvelously natural performances and extended scenes of daily life as it was lived in Bali some 70 years ago. The DVD includes a second feature by the same director, Kliou the Killer (shot a few years after Legong, in Vietnam), as well as a documentary on Bali that includes some intense footage of exorcisms and dancers biting the heads off chickens.
19. Mill of the Stone Women. Although it's as lurid as it is lyrical, this infrequently seen but shining example of early '60s Euro-horror is still one class act, and kudos to Mondo Macabro for unearthing it. There's even a choice of three audio tracks: the original French, a passable English alternative and an "American" dub that's pretty terrible, really, but serves as a nice blast of nostalgia for those of us reared on drive-in movies.
20. American Splendor. Taking us deep into the head and under the skin of its main character, Harvey Pekar — a rumpled, cranky, middle-aged file clerk who's barely the hero of his own life — the movie American Splendor is about real life in all its drab, dreary, petty glory. It's also about the ways that life sometimes transcends its own mundane details and becomes something sublime. A pretty marvelous little movie that looks great on DVD, bolstered by a spirited group commentary from the directors, cast and Pekar, with a 12-page comic book insert to boot.
lance.goldenberg@weeklyplanet.com or letters@weeklyplanet.com
This article appears in Jan 5-11, 2005.
