DVD Releases: June 1, 2005


	The Essential Steve McQueen Collection Like Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Keith Richards, John-Paul Belmondo, Joe Namath, Pablo Picasso and virtually none of today's young male actors, Steve McQueen personified that most intangible of attributes: cool. On screen, at play and in love, the onetime Marine was a man's man, a woman's man and an action-star who shared most of the death-defying passions of his characters. In The Essential Steve McQueen Collection, Warners has collected a half-dozen of McQueen's most popular titles -- Bullitt, The Getaway, The Cincinnati Kid, Papillon, Tom Horn, Never So Few -- in a six-disc package, ostensibly to celebrate what would have been his 75th birthday. These DVD incarnations shouldn't require any introduction, as they are all highly entertaining and worth revisiting. But, first-timers Tom Horn, Never So Few and The Cincinnati Kid -- especially, in light of the current poker craze -- deserve a wider audience. The boxed set includes more than five hours of special features, including two new documentaries. In 1958, the same year he would take his first starring role, in The Blob, the 28-year-old Indianan began a three-year tenure as bounty hunter Josh Randall in the CBS western, Wanted Dead or Alive. Both parts would establish him as an actor to be watched and courted by Hollywood studio executives. Next week, New Line will release the first season of the rarely seen hit series, in which the always courteous protagonist carried a sawed-off Winchester in his holster and always donated a portion of his fee to charity. Very cool, indeed. -- Gary Dretzka

	The Complete James Dean Collection Comprised of re-mastered versions of East of Eden (new to DVD), Giant and a special edition of Rebel Without a Cause -- along with a bushel basket full of extras, in a six-disc package -- The Complete James Dean Collection is the collection that, for years, Dean fans have waited patiently to add to their DVD libraries. And, yes, it's worth the wait. What's remarkable about the Indiana farm boy's estimable legacy is that it has been sustained primarily on the evidence of three films, a bunch of evocative black-and-white photographs, the memories of friends and a rather spectacular car crash. I wonder, though, how many of the people who profess to be devoted fans -- and his immense popularity has spanned every conceivable demographic group and crossed all national boundaries -- have actually even bothered to see all three pictures? Now, they're left with no excuse. Among the oddities included in the bonus material is the sadly ironic Drive Safely PSA, filmed shortly before his untimely death.

	Moonlighting: Seasons 1 & 2 Launched as a mid-season replacement on ABC, Moonlighting embodied a lot that was considered to be cool and urbane in the Me Decade. By blending comedy, action and romance in unexpected combinations, the show challenged the conventions of television's evergreen P.I. genre, and, given its immediate success, would have a significant impact on how male and female characters interacted in other genres. Cybill Shepherd, whose big-screen profile had faded by 1985, was enlisted to play a former supermodel swindled out of most of her investments by her accountant. Maddie Hayes forms an uneasy alliance with wise-cracking David Addison (newcomer Bruce Willis), who runs the detective agency Maddy didn't know she owned. Although they sparred and sparked throughout the entire run of the series (the first two seasons of which have been collected in a six-disc DVD package, from Lions Gate), Maddy and David managed to stay out of the poorhouse, by solving crimes on a weekly basis. Look for such guest stars as Tim Robbins, Dana Delany, Richard Belzer, Whoopi Goldberg and Orson Welles. The package also includes a generous menu of extras. -- Gary Dretzka Security Officer: I'm sorry, but you're not on the guest list. David Addison: That's because we're not guests. We're looking for a man with a mole on his nose. Security Officer: A mole on his nose? Maddie Hayes: A mole on his nose. Security Officer: [to Maddie] What kind of clothes? Maddie Hayes: [to David] What kind of clothes? David Addison: What kind of clothes do you suppose? Security Officer: What kind of clothes do I suppose would be worn by a man with a mole on his nose? Who knows? David Addison: Did I happen to mention, did I disclose, that this man that we're seeking with the mole on his nose? I'm not sure of his clothes or anything else, except he's Chinese, a big clue by itself. Maddie Hayes: How do you do that? David Addison: Gotta read a lot of Dr. Seuss. Security Officer: I'm sorry to say, I'm sad to report, I haven't seen anyone at all of that sort. Not a man who's Chinese with a mole on his nose with some kind of clothes that you can't suppose. So get away from this door and get out of this place, or I'll have to hurt you - put my foot in your face.

The TV Releases This is Your Life: The Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1 Samurai Jack Long a staple of prime-time television, Ralph Edwards' This Is Your Life was famous for confronting unsuspecting celebrities (and many civilian heroes) in public places, and dragging them back to a studio, where they would be reunited with friends and acquaintances. The honorees and guests would then share memories of their time together, for the amusement of a live studio audience and loyal fans of the show. This simple, yet highly durable pioneer in reality-based programming enchanted NBC viewers for nearly all of the '50s, and, later, in a syndicated version hosted by actor Joseph Campanella. Among the ambushed notables on view in This is Your Life: The Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1 are Roy Rogers, Milton Berle, Lou Costello, Boris Karloff, Jesse Owens, Johnny Cash, Jayne Mansfield, Bette Davis, Bobby Darin, Lou Costello, Duke Kahanamoku, Richard and Karen Carpenter, and Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. It's square as can be, but, still, great fun to watch. -- Gary Dretzka Also new in the world of TV-to-DVD are compilations of the second seasons of the Cartoon Network's Home Movies and Samurai Jack, both of which have been mainstays of its Adult Swim bloc. Admirers of new-age animation and off-beat story-telling probably already are aware of the wonderfully innovative shows in the Adult Swim rotation, but those unfortunates who can't afford cable won't have any trouble getting up to speed. The second season of Home Movies brought the welcome news that Squigglevision was being replaced by beautiful, eye-pleasing, regular animation. Genndy Tartakovsky's brilliantly drawn time-travel adventure, Samurai Jack, has won three Emmys in the last two years. They're a hoot. -- Gary Dretzka

Kinsey: The Documentary Fans of Bill Condon's much admired, but under-seen portrait of sex researcher Alfred C. Kinsey will want to check out the PBS documentary, Kinsey, first seen as part of the network's The American Experience. Unlike many documentaries that follow in the wake of Hollywood versions of the truth, PBS' Kinsey demonstrates just how faithful Condon was to the scientist and his work. Usually, the documentaries show how far off base were the theatrical features. The most shocking thing revealed in both films was the depth of the ignorance of human sexuality that existed in mid-'50s America, and, conversely, how willing our parents and grandparents were to learn the truth (and be interviewed by Kinsey). Considering that sex has become an all-consuming passion for people of all walks of life -- and a sure-fire commercial tool -- it's amazing how ignorant Americans allowed themselves to be. Kinsey and his wife both went into their wedding night ignorant of most of the nuances of sexual intercourse. This humiliating experience lit the fuse on a revolution that, 50-plus years later, is still being fought. Apparently, the makers of TV's Kinsey were the first Americans to be granted full access to the collection of research materials at the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University. Preceding their film is a content warning that seems more a sop to the neo-Puritans in the Bush administration than an accurate description of the material that follows. -- Gary Dretzka

The Phantom of Liberty Released two years after Luis Bunuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie opened to great critical and commercial acclaim, the similarly enigmatic The Phantom of Liberty often feels like an extension of that masterpiece of cinematic surrealism. According to co-screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere, in an introductory video, Bunuel wanted to create a film that would test the elasticity of the classical rules of dramatization … to see how far we could go, with his new-found clout. Carriere uses as a prime example of Bunuel's strategy a vignette in which a young girl has gone missing from school, but, in fact, not only is she there for every viewer to see, but she's also able to communicate directly with the adult characters around her. The inertia of the search is such that no one wants to acknowledge the frivolity behind their continued pursuit. There are a dozen or more similarly bizarre and interrelated segments. They're funny, challenging and extremely zany, even if none lasts long enough to provide viewers with a meaningful resolution. As in previous Bunuel films, the bourgeoisie, ruling bureaucrats and clergy take most of the abuse in The Phantom of Liberty, if only because it's their security, wealth and bizarre idiosyncrasies that would be threatened the most by true liberty. No Bunuel movie would be complete without a scene that comments on the eating habits of its characters. For The Phantom of Liberty, he crafted a dinner scene in which several well dressed men and women blissfully pulled down their britches and sit around a large glass table -- on toilet bowls -- while discussing the effects of human waste on the environment. Besides Carriere's introduction, the Criterion Collection package includes the original theatrical trailer, an essay by critic Gary Indiana and interview with the maestro. -- Gary Dretzka

A Different Loyalty A Different Loyalty, a straight-to-video Cold War drama starring Sharon Stone and Rupert Everett, tells the story of a woman who inadvertently falls in love with one of the most notorious spies in 20th Century history. Stone plays Sally Cauffield, a character representing the real-life wife of Kim Philby, a.k.a. The Third Man. After her husband, Leo, suddenly disappears from their Beirut flat, and turns up in Moscow, Sally spends the rest of her time in the movie trying to figure out what happened, and why. That's not the most enthralling of storylines, but Stone and Everett make the most of it. The highlight comes, in Moscow, when Sally rips open her blouse and demands of Leo, "You have to choose. What's more important to you, me or the Communist Party?" After a suitable period of telling silence on her husband's part, she heads back to London without him. Unbelievable, perhaps, but apparently Mrs. Philby asked the same thing of Mr. Philby. -- Gary Dretzka

Journeys Below the Line: The Editing Process of '24 Presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation, Journeys Below the Line: The Editing Process of '24' is an educational tool designed to shed light on the various craft and technical jobs essential to the television industry. As such, the interview and classroom Q&A format won't be of much service to casual fans of 24 or other prime examples of episodic television, for that matter. Aspiring editors, as well as students still in search of a career path, are the ones who will benefit greatly from this first installment in a planned series of discs on various production disciplines. This first chapter incorporates on-set footage, interviews with cast and crew, and discussions with students. In addition to the input of the show's Emmy-winning editors, script supervisor Anne Melville and director Jon Cassar are on hand to explain how the pieces of the puzzle are supposed to fit. There is a CD-ROM included in the $79 package -- no Amazon discount! -- with script note pages, post-production schedules, editor logs, a glossary, weblinks and instructor aids. For more information, check out http://www.firstlightvideo.com/, a site that's full of educational material for filmmakers. -- Gary Dretzka

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