MCN DVD Reviews: June 20 2006

The Hills Have Eyes

Meet Vinessa Shaw, Up Close & Uncut talking about her work on The Hills Have Eyes, working in the business, and trying to keep her sanity.

Part I
Part II
Part III

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

If there ever was a movie that was too hip for the room, it was Shane Black's California-noir comedy/thriller Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. At a time when megaplex audiences are far less interested in irony - Val Kilmer's gay P.I. is named Gay Perry - Black wrote against type by skewering the conventions of noir fiction in a movie that wouldn't make sense without a comprehensive awareness and palpable appreciation of each and every one of them. As such, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang favorably recalls Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye. Neither film did well in its initial theatrical release, but who cares? Their DVD incarnations will stand the test of time quite well, thank you. In Kiss Kiss, the ever-reliable Robert Downey Jr. plays a petty thief from New York, who is invited to Hollywood after finding refuge from police in a casting session for a heist movie. Gay Perry is hired to mentor Downey's Harry Lockhart in the ways of Hollywood, while the molls and damsels-in-distress all appear to be aspiring actors, waitresses, groupies and hookers (or any combination, thereof), just as in real life. They get caught up in a real-life murder mystery, which has them bouncing around L.A. like pinballs. A subplot involving a fictional P.I. - the protagonist in a series of pulpy novels - adds more mystery to the drama, but requires the viewer's strict attention. Ironically, Black helped create the current environment, in which pyrotechnics are valued over subtlety by studio executives - his screenplays for the Lethal Weapon series have served as a template for less-talented imitators - and Kiss Kiss definitely makes intellectual demands of its audience. So, in a way, he only had himself to blame for the box-office apathy that greeted the film's release. The critics loved it, though. -- Gary Dretzka

Mommie Dearest: Hollywood Royalty Edition
Valley of the Dolls: Special Edition
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

Run out of fresh ideas for a party theme? Create your own Midnight Movie Marathon, by picking up copies of these camp classics -- along with The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Pink Flamingos and Eraserhead - and inviting your friends to dress and accessorize accordingly.

Legend has it that diehard fans of Mommie Dearest would bring coat hangars (No wire hangers!) and Ajax containers to midnight showings of this way-over-the-top biopic. Joan Crawford was one of the cinema's greatest stars and a successful businesswoman, but mothering wasn't one of her strong points. She treated her adopted daughter, Christina, as if she was born to be an indentured servant. Faye Dunaway played Crawford the way Walt Disney's team of artists drew Cruella De Vil and the evil witch Maleficent. This set adds the featurettes, The Revival of Joan, Life with Joan and Joan Lives On, as well as interviews with producer-screenwriter Frank Yablans, Diana Scarwid, Rutanya Alda, John Waters and John Epperson.

Although Valley of the Dolls was hot stuff for its time, by today's standards it is best appreciated as a hysterically funny send-up of show-business ethics and the lengths to which a group of pill-popping ingénues would go to become stars. Based on Jacqueline Susann's scandalous best-seller, this wall-to-wall bitch-fest from 1967 featured such established actresses as Patty Duke, Susan Hayward, Sharon Tate, Lee Grant and Barbara Parkins, as well as some of the cheesiest dialogue in film history. Three years later, critic Roger Ebert and director Russ Meyer would collaborate on a soft-core parody of Mark Robson's big-budget sleazefest. Beyond the Valley of the Dolls borrowed all the decadence and back-stabbing of the original, but its female characters are aspiring rock musicians. Being a Meyer film, the gals also possessed enormous breasts and knew how to use them. After he won the Pulitzer Price for criticism, Ebert would re-team with Meyer on Up! and Beneath the Valley of the Super-Vixens using the pseudonyms R. Hyde and Reinhold Timme.

The boxed sets come with a virtual cornucopia full of appropriately humorous featurettes. Both Valley of the Dolls and Mommie Dearest retain their PG rating, but that's only because the distributors elected not to resubmit the films to the MPAA board. Beyond was rated X, before the MPAA instituted the NC-17, but, like Midnight Cowboy and A Clockwork Orange, can now be seen on cable TV. -- Gary Dretzka

The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada
The Missing: Extended Cut

When people complain about the state of movies, today, somewhere along the way they'll point out the well-known fact that Hollywood isn't making 'em the way it used to do. While more or less true, the complaint fails to mention one of the reasons it doesn't. More often than not, the films that do play homage to old-fashioned sensibilities -- without also pandering to popular taste -- often are ignored by the same people who complain the loudest. Such was the case of actor/director Tommy Lee Jones and writer Guillermo Arriga's splendid contemporary Western, The Three Burials of Melquiades. This beautifully photographed study of justice, friendship and alienation in the badlands along the U.S.-Mexica border was, at once, topical and timeless. On the surface, Three Burials describes the lengths to which one old-school cowboy would go to avenge the wrongful death of a friend who was shot and killed by a callous Border Patrol agent. That scenario, in and of itself, would make for a perfectly decent film. As Jones takes his characters deeper into the rugged mountains of northern Mexico, so, too, does he ratchet up the existential dilemma at the movie's very big heart. While Three Burials begged to be seen on the big screen, it also would look great on your new wide-screen HDTV. Barry Pepper, Dwight Yoakam, January Jones, Levon Helm and Melissa Leo also deliver memorable performances.

In The Missing, Jones played a character not unlike John Wayne's Ethan Edwards, The Searchers. Ron Howard's supernaturally tinged Western puts a cantankerous old coot, Samuel Jones (a.k.a Chaa-duu-ba-its-iidan), on the trail of the Apache shaman who kidnapped his grandchildren. Complicating matters is the palpable tension between Sam's physician daughter, Maggie (Cate Blanchett), who's never forgiven her eccentric father for abandoning her as a child. The new Extended Cut adds 17 minutes of footage, commentary by Howard and a batch of featurettes. -- Gary Dretzka

John Wayne-John Ford Film Collection
The John Ford Film Collection
John Wayne: An American Icon Collection
The Batjac Suspense Collection

Like diva, the word icon has been stretched and exaggerated to a point where it has practically lost all meaning or power to impress. Maria Callas was a diva, as is Barbra Streisand … Madonna wants us to treat her with the reverence reserved for these women, but she'll never be more than a self-absorbed pop star. A true icon, John Wayne was all that and a pouch of chewing tobacco. Whether he wore boots, a Stetson and a carried a Winchester, or was dressed in the uniform of one of this country's armed forces, Wayne stood for America. John Ford, this country's greatest film director, saw in Wayne what much of the world saw in the United States at mid-century, and their collaborations would account for many of the most memorable cinematic moments of all time. Their West became our West, their wars were our wars, and their characters' ambitions mirrored those of our own. Ultimately, though, Wayne also would embody our leaders' impatience with the rest of world's reluctance to go along with the program laid out for them in the '50s by Wall Street, the Pentagon and Walt Disney. His open hostility to those he - and Ford, as well, in the '60s -- would turn him into a caricature of himself (although he could take as well as he gave, as was evident when he appeared in a bunny suit on Laugh-In, accepted the Hasty Pudding Club's Brass Balls Award and went against convention in The Cowboys and True Grit).

Warners Bros.' John Wayne-John Ford Film Collection is comprised of such essential titles as The Searchers Ultimate Edition, Stagecoach: Two-Disc Special Edition, Fort Apache, The Long Voyage Home, The Wings of Eagles, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, They Were Expendable and 3 Godfathers. The studio's John Ford Film Collection extends Ford's vision beyond the Wayne iconography in Cheyenne Autumn, The Informer, Sergeant Rutledge, The Lost Patrol and Mary of Scotland. There's little to recommend Universal's John Wayne: An American Icon Collection, which includes Seven Sinners, The Shepherd of the Hills, Pittsburgh, Jet Pilot and The Conqueror, in which the Duke played Mongol warlord Genghis Khan. It's generally acknowledged to be Wayne's worst movie, and remarkable primarily because it was shot downwind of the Nevada nuclear testing grounds, causing a disproportionate number of its cast members to die of cancer.

In the '50s, Wayne and a partner created Batjac Productions, which allowed him - and, subsequently, his estate - to own the rights to its titles. Paramount has begun releasing some nourish non-Wayne films from that library, Ring of Fear, Track of the Cat, Plunder of the Sun and Man in the Vault. Among the stars and directors represented are Robert Mitchum, Glenn Ford, Pat O'Brien, Tab Hunter, Anita Ekberg, Andrew McLaglen, William Wellman, ringmaster Clyde Beatty and tough-guy novelist Mickey Spillane. -- Gary Dretzka

Syriana

With the price of gas hovering above $3 per gallon, and smart bombs taking out Al Qaeda leaders in Iraq, there could be no better time for Stephen Gaghan and George Clooney's political thriller to arrive in DVD. But, of course, the same could be said of the timing for the theatrical release of Syriana last November. The same likely will be true, as well, whenever the inevitable special collector's edition arrives. Although it was sometimes difficult to tell who was doing what to whom in Syriana, and which group was most closely affiliated with American interests, the filmmakers drew a picture of international spookdom that was at once fascinating and frightening. Clooney plays a paunchy CIA operative who becomes a liability after he sniffs a rat in the agency's interest in a merger between two of the world's largest oil companies. Much like in Traffic, several seemingly unrelated individual stories unwind alongside the primary thread, raising the ante to extremely high levels of suspense. Clooney gets terrific support, in the form of Jeffrey Wright, Matt Damon, Alexander Siddig, Christopher Plummer and Chris Cooper. Among the extras are the featurettes Make a Change, Make a Difference and A Conversation with George Clooney, and deleted scenes. -- Gary Dretzka

Neil Young: Heart of Gold
Monterey Pop: Criterion Collection
Jimi Plays Monterey/Shake! Otis at Monterey: Criterion Collection
The Montreux Dream - The Story of the Montreux Jazz Festival / B.B. King Montreux Workshop
Antone's Home of the Blues

In 1984, Jonathan Demme's Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense, effectively set the standard by which all future concert movies would be judged. Martin Scorsese had already raised the bar with The Last Waltz, but, unlike the Band, the Talking Heads hadn't announced their retirement and the group wouldn't be joined on stage by dozens of the biggest names in rock and blues. Neither had Neil Young, when, in 2005, Demme set about to document his two-night stand at Nashville's shrine to country music, the Ryman Auditorium. The concerts not only would kick off the campaign for Young's mellow and reflective Prairie Wind album, but they also represented his return from the brink of tragedy after surgery for a brain aneurysm. Just as Demme was able to infuse Stop Making Sense with a palpable surge of electricity, Heart of Gold radiates the kind of warmth and wisdom that comes from age and experience. It helps immensely that Young is surrounded by musicians and singers who've traveled the same roads and share the same sensibilities. Heart of Gold was recorded before a live audience, but it might as well have been staged on the back porch of one of his country homes. That's how intimate it feels. Besides the Prairie Wind material, Young also performs songs from his very large songbook. The bonus material includes the song, He Was the King; rehearsal diaries, narrated by Demme; a half-dozen featurettes; and clips from a 1971 performance on the Johnny Cash Show

Two years before Woodstock, several dozen giants of folk-rock, psychedelic-rock and R&B converged on California's Central Coast for the Monterey International Pop Festival. A few would perform, as well, at Woodstock, but this comparatively intimate gathering of the tribes came at a point in rock history when many of the emerging groups had yet to experience each other's work, and the scene was laid-back enough for the artists to hang out and do just that. Among the acts represented in D.A. Pennebaker's groundbreaking documentary, Monterey Pop, were Simon and Garfunkel, the Mamas and the Papas, the Who, Hugh Masekela, Ravi Shankar, Jimi Hendrix and Otis Redding. So revelatory were the performances of Hendrix and Redding that a separate record of their sets was made by Pennebaker. Both get the Criterion Collection treatment, which means lots of interviews with witnesses to the events, and commentary by critics and historians.

For 30 years, the Swiss Alps and Lake Geneva have provided a background for performances by an eclectic mix of American musicians participating in the annual Montreux Jazz Festival. Like the Playboy Jazz Festival, it demands a rather broad interpretation of what constitutes jazz, but no one in the audiences seemed to mind. The artists represented on this DVD include B.B. King (who also conducted a blues workshop at the 1999 fest), Beverley Knight, REM, Charles Lloyd, Bette Midler and founder Claude Nobs. Archival footage adds performances by Miles Davis, Aretha Frankin, the Dubliners and other popular attractions.

For 30 years, the Austin nightclub Antone's was a home away from home for traveling blues musicians and rockers who owe their very existence to such artists as Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters and B.B. King. King is represented in Antone's Home of the Blues in an interview and performance footage, as are Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Albert Collins, Pinetop Perkins and Hubert Sumlin. Also on view are Texas stalwarts Willie Nelson, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan, Kim Wilson, and Joe Ely. Sadly, Clifford Antone died in May, just weeks before this DVD's release. -- Gary Dretzka

The World's Fastest Indian

Here's another film that failed to find an audience among those who whine about the scarcity of inspirational, crowd-pleasing fare for adults and teens. It's their loss. Roger Donaldson and Anthony Hopkins collaborated on this story about one New Zealander's passion for motorcycles and lifelong obsession with setting a world speed record half a world away from home. Hopkins is excellent as Burt Munro, who never lets his advanced age and heart condition deter him from his quest. He never allows the twinkle in Munro's eye to be extinguished by the nay-sayers, bureaucrats and mechanical obstacles that stand between Munro and his shot at immortality at the Bonneville Salt Flats. Hopkins' presence alone should have prompted a rush to the box-office, but, since he wasn't playing a cannibal this time around, a story about an old codger on a motorcycle didn't provide enough incentive for hard-to-please consumers. The World's Fastest Indian was, however, greatly entertaining and spoke to America's positive international image, just before in the Vietnam War exploded in our face. The magnificently desolate Salt Flats and broad Kiwi beaches won't look nearly as amazing on the small screen, but what the DVD lacks in grandeur it makes up in heart. -- Gary Dretzka

Firewall
16 Blocks

In the half-baked computer-age thriller, Firewall, Harrrison Ford proved once again that he could phone in a performance as well as any actor in the 100-year history of the cinema. Bank security officer Jack Stanfield is reminiscent of a dozen other hard-ass characters Ford's played in his long career, and the extortion plot will be familiar to anyone who's ever read a mystery novel. British director Richard Loncraine doesn't waste much time setting up a scenario in which the new owner of a large Seattle bank is given reason to doubt the trustworthiness of the vice president of security he inherited from the previous owner. Already unsettled by the demands of his cocky new boss, Stanfield is unnerved by the appearance in his office of a debt collector, who falsely accuses him of running up huge gambling debts. Then, he learns that his family is kidnapped by an exceedingly determined gang of New Age bank robbers. To get to the bank's money, the kidnapers force Stanfield to circumnavigate his own security system, so that tens of millions of dollars can be re-routed to a numbered account somewhere in the ozone. Stanfield can't alert anyone to his plight, because he is hooked up to tracking devices that would make the CIA green with envy. There's no reason to reveal anymore than that, except to say that the outcome is never in doubt and the twist that seals the fate of the kidnappers should come as little surprise to those who've seen trailers for the movie.

Neither is Bruce Willis, the long-in-the-tooth cop in 16 Blocks, a novice when it comes to portraying loner heroes. Willis is never short of watchable, here and elsewhere, but he squanders the artistic currency he's earned in such indies as Pulp Fiction and Sin City by sleepwalking his way through performances in routine, big-budget action pictures, like this. In 16 Blocks, he plays an alcoholic police veteran who's ordered to escort a motor-mouth snitch to a grand-jury appearance, at which he's expected to blow the whistle on a squad of dirty cops. It turns out to be a suicide mission in that every cop within a 16-block radius of the courthouse is gunning for the prisoner, well played by rapper Mos Def. In this way, Richard Donner's film resembles 48 Hrs., Midnight Run, The Wanderers, The Defiant Ones and a half-dozen other inadvertent-buddy thrillers. The most interesting thing about the DVD package is the inclusion of deleted scenes and the alternate ending, with Donner and writer Richard Wenk discussing why the changes were made. -- Gary Dretzka

The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things

The easiest way to describe Asia Argento's horrifying adaptation of the J.T. Taylor's autobiography - a book that proved to be as fraudulent as James Frey's memoirs - is also the cruelest. Try to imagine The Courtney Love Story as directed by Vincent Gallo, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Admirers of the book - and you know who you are - already are aware of the tribulations visited upon the son of a piece of human garbage, Sarah. She is the daughter of a pair of hillbilly bible-bangers who turn their children out on street corners to proselytize for a Jesus Christ who wouldn't sanction the pain exacted in his name. Sarah rebels by selling her body for money, drugs and the promise of love, all of which she shares with her son, Jeremiah. The real crime comes when Sarah is allowed to retain custody of Jeremiah, wrenching the boy from the arms of compassionate foster parents. All the horror plays out in a loopy, elliptical style that could appeal only to the most patient and masochistic of arthouse enthusiasts. But, if that's your cup of tea … I've seen worse. -- Gary Dretzka

Underworld: Evolution

It's safe to say that this hyper-violent and noticeably sexier sequel to the surprise 2003 hit, Underworld, will appeal to the same folks who dug the first one (and Kate Beckinsale's other vampire actioner, Van Helsing). Edited at the speed of light, and as loud as a banshee in heat, Len Wiseman's style-conscious monster mash is an exercise in sensory overload … and that includes the sight of his wife, Beckinsale, in skin-tight black-leather battle garb. The usual array of making-of featurettes and interviews accompany the DVD. -- Gary Dretzka

Betty Grable Collection, Vol. 1
Clark Gable: The Signature Collection
Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 1

If anyone personified what Hollywood meant to the world in the mid-20th Century, it was Betty Grable. Like hundreds of other American girls, she was pushed, prodded and brought to California at a very young age by her mother for the sole purpose of becoming a star. Grable definitely had talent and caught some real breaks - she was one of the 20 original Goldwyn Girls,' along with Lucille Ball, Virginia Bruce, Ann Dvorak and Paulette Goddard - but it wasn't until she appeared in Down Argentine Way (1940) that she was able to grow from chorine to star status. That fondly remembered musical, in which Grable performed alongside Carmen Miranda and frequent dancing partner Dan Dailey, is part of this terrific boxed set, with My Blue Heaven, The Dolly Sisters and Moon Over Miami. Before she's become the most popular pin-up girls among American soldiers in World War II, the highest paid entertainer in the U.S. and Fox would insure her legs for $250,000. It was a great publicity stunt, but her movie proved the investment was worth it.

I'll bet you didn't know that Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster were such fans of Clark Gable that they borrowed half of his name for the Man of Steel's alter ego, name Clark Kent. (The other half came from B-movie actor, Kent Taylor, who was Siegel's wife's brother-in-law.) Neither did I. But, then, I didn't know that Gable was Hitler's favorite leading man, and the Fuhrer allegedly wanted the captain in the Army Air Corps captured alive and brought to his headquarters. This Warner Bros. set of vintage MGM releases includes Dancing Lady, China Seas, San Francisco, Wife vs. Secretary, Boom Town and Mogambo. They aren't the cream of the crop, but are lots of fun, nonetheless. Shot 20 years apart, the African adventure Mogambo was a re-make of Red Dust, in which Gable also played the lead character. This time around, however, Ava Gardner and Grace Kelly stood in for Jean Harlow and Jean Arthur.

The other big news in boxed sets comes in the form of a more controversial character, Charlie Chan. The films represented in this first offering from Fox include Charlie Chan in London, Charlie Chan in Paris, Charlie Chan in Egypt, Charlie Chan in Shanghai and the Spanish-language version of the lost Charlie Chan Carries On, Eran Trece. All except the latter title starred the Sweden-born Warner Oland in the title role (Manuel Arbo, played Chan in Eran Trece), and therein lies the rub. Although several Asia-American actors appeared in the series -- including Keye Luke, as No. 1 Son Lee Chan -- it was the casting of non-Chinese actors in the lead role that raised the ire of Asian-American groups … that, and the stereotypical portrayal of an elderly Chinese gentleman. Indeed, these same titles were upgraded for the purpose of showing them on cable television, but a rash of protests killed that idea. If one accepts as given that Hollywood treated most immigrant groups as if they were cartoon characters, it's easy to enjoy these films for their sheer entertainment value (the same would also hold true for the Amos & Andy sitcom). If not, well, that's OK, too. The featurettes include The Legacy of Charlie Chan, In Search of Charlie Chan and The Real Charlie Chan, as well as theatrical trailers. Look for Rita Hayworth, Stepin Fetchit, Jon Hall (Ramar of the Jungle), Ray Milland and other familiar faces in the supporting casts.

If that doesn't give the PC police enough to keep them agitated, Fox also will release a boxed set of Mr. Moto films in August. This time, the protagonist was played by a Hungarian, Peter Lorre. -- Gary Dretzka

End of the Spear
Mother Teresa

Wags in the mainstream press used End of the Spear as an example of the kind of inspiration film Hollywood will make in its pursuit of the underserved The Passion of the Christ demographic. The story begins in the mid-'50s, when Nate Saint and four other real-life Christian missionaries traveled to a remote section of the Ecuadorian rain forest to make contact with the Waodani, a notoriously murderous indigenous tribe. And, yes, for all their good intentions, the men were killed … or martyred, take your pick. Years later, Saint's son returned to the Amazon jungle to make sense of what happened there. He meets a Waodani warrior, Mincayani, who was among those who were so inhospitable to the missionaries. Will the son exact his own justice or return hostility with forgiveness and charity? It's the kind of question that gets asked all the time in the real world, and, once upon a time, in movies. This time, it comes garnished with a bit of new-fashioned proselytizing, along with decent storytelling and excellent visuals (Panama stood in for Ecuador). Despite some uncharitable reviews, End of the Spear did fairly well at the box office. It might have done even better if a group of bible-banging preachers hadn't staged another one of those headline-grabbing protests that put them in the same fanatical company as the Taliban. Led by the Rev. Jason Janz, these fire-breathers encouraged a boycott of the film for the sin of having cast a gay man in the role of a Christian missionary. Janz compared the casting of Chad Allen in the dual role of father and son to having Madonna playing the Virgin Mary. Even that were true, which it isn't, Janz needn't have given the Material Girl any more attention than what she's gotten for the nightly self-crucifixion she performs on her current tour.

The Catholic Church apparently had no such problem - not that its approval was sought - with the producers of Mother Teresa after they elected to cast Olivia Hussey in the title role of that inspirational biopic. Not only can photographic images of her breasts be found on the Mr. Skin website, but the photo on the cover of the newly released DVD also makes the nun, healer and future saint looks like a cover girl. Who knows, though, how they would have felt if Madonna had gotten the part. -- Gary Dretzka

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: 2-Disc Collector's Edition
Farewell to the King
Mr. & Mrs. Smith: Unrated
Dumbo: Big Top Edition
The Omen: 2-Disc Collector's Edition
The Fast and the Furious Franchise Collection

The Collector's Edition represents at least the third DVD incarnation of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Somehow, the folks at Fox keep finding new material to amplify the appeal of what many consider to the first and best buddy film. Paul Newman and Robert Redford played the real-life outlaws as charming rogues who also happened to commit serious crimes. It also forced all future directors of such genre-stretchers to insert catchy pop tunes into the mix -- in this case Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head - to appeal to women in the audience. Among the extras here are the 2005 documentary All Of What Follows is True: The Making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Wild Bunch: The True Tale of Butch & Sundance and History Through the Lens: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: Outlaws Out of Time, as well as previously seen interviews with Newman, Redford, Katherine Ross, writer William Goldman and composer Burt Bacharach.

If Hollywood were asked to contribute one of its own to the Joints Chiefs of Staff, John Milius would be the consensus choice. Not only is he living proof that not everyone in town is a bleeding-heart liberal, but he probably also knows as much about military history as anyone at the Pentagon. As a director, producer and writer, he's commanded casts and crews the size of many Third War armies, and with greater firepower. Farewell to the King is rarely mentioned in the same breath as Apocalypse Now, The Wind and the Lion, Conan the Barbarian or the riveting Indianapolis monologue in Jaws, but that's only because almost no one went to see it, upon its release in 1989. It remains, however, a terrific yarn. Nick Nolte plays an American soldier, who, in the early days of World War II, finds himself stranded in Borneo and beatified by members of an indigenous tribe, not unlike Colonel Walter E. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. Even though he narrowly avoided being executed by Japanese troops, as were his comrades, Learoyd has no stomach for returning to the war. Not much in the way of extras.

The release of the second DVD edition of Mr. & Mrs. Smith follows the arrival of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's baby, Shiloh (a.k.a., the Chosen One) and the opening of the new Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston (a.k.a., the Jilted One) hit, The Break-Up. Coincidence? We think not. Those who resisted the temptation to purchase the earlier version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith will find that their patience has been reward with a second disc, chock full of fresh bonus material. They include, an alternate ending, additional deleted scenes, an action sequence that didn't make the cut, a combat-training featurette and director Doug Liman's Film School. Why this version is unrated is anyone's guess. I imagine because any extended version of a previously rated movie is, by definition, un-rated, unless it is re-submitted to the MPAA ratings board. And, how would that profit anyone?

Dumbo is being re-released for the second time in six years, this time in a cleaned-up Big Top Edition. The timing here is less beneficial, as it comes on the heels of news reports of a suit by animal-rights groups to force Ringling Bros. to stop using elephants in the circus. No descendant of Dumbo in the circus? Unimaginable. What else could these magnificent beasts do for a living, except play pachyderm soccer in Thailand? In any case, the new edition also contains commentary by animation historian John Canemaker, DisneyPedia's My First Circus game, the DVD storybook, Dumbo's Big Discovery, bonus shorts, sing-along songs and Walt Disney's original introduction to its TV premiere.

Unlike Gus Van Zant's virtually frame-by-frame remake of Psycho, which was deemed superfluous by audiences and critics, alike, John Moore's similarly faithful remake of The Omen managed to post a boffo box-office debut. Unlike Richard Donner and David Seltzer's 30-year-old original, which had legs to die for (and only debuted on 515 screens), Moore's version probably will be out of the mega-plexes by next weekend. Nothing against Moore's competent, if unnecessary, remake, but clearly it's the original Omen that will be remembered as long as audiences will pay to be frightened out of their wits. The new two-disc collection come loaded with commentaries, introductions, appreciations (Wes Craven), making-of featurettes, deleted scenes and photo galleries, as well as 666: The Omen Revealed and The Omen Legacy.

The Fast and the Furious: Franchise Collection doesn't add much to previously issued DVDs of the original street-racing thriller and its less-scintillating sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious, beyond edited-out material from both movies and an extended preview of Tokyo Drift. For a price that ranges from $17 to $23, however, getting both movies in one set, plus the extras, is a real bargain. Throw in the free ticket to Tokyo Drift - worth up to $7.50 - and it's even better deal. If Universal had also included a breathalyzer and photos of innocent victims of street-racing accidents, the package would truly be something special. -- Gary Dretzka

The Imposter

The events in French auteur Claire Denis' The Imposter unfold like those in a dream: elliptically, mysteriously and in random order. Some clearly have a basis in reality, while others seemingly are pure fantasy. Craggy Michel Subor plays Louis Trebor, an enigmatic loner who made a fortune sometime, somehow, in his past, but now is content to live with his dogs in a wooded glen straddling the French-Swiss border. While swimming in a mountain lake, he suffers a heart attack and subsequently learns he needs a heart transplant. Trebor's search for a black-market organ takes him from Geneva, to Korea and Tahiti, where he once lived in an isolated shack and left behind a son. His desire to buy the son's forgiveness prompts an audition among the islanders to come up with a suitable candidate, since no one is quite sure which of the young men is his. None of this transpires in linear fashion, and much of it - gunshots in the wilderness, nighttime border crossings - may not have transpired at all, except in his imagination. Only filmgoers in pursuit of a challenge ought to tackle The Intruder, as it can be a tough slog, at times. Those willing to make the effort will be rewarded with some terrific cinematography and a brain-teaser of a story. -- Gary Dretzka

The Syrian Bride

On what ought to be one of the happiest days of her life, bride-to-be Mona (Clara Khoury) finds herself trapped between borders separating nations, armies, religions, politicians, fathers, sons, governments and their people, brides and grooms. Her predicament has all the elements of a Kafka invention, but only someone who doesn't read newspapers could consider it far-fetched. Mona is a pretty young woman living in Majdal Shams, a Druze village in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. It has been arranged that she will marry Tallel (Derar Sliman), a popular Syrian soap-opera star, who resides in Damascus. Because of the occupation, once Mona crosses the border to meet her husband, she won't be allowed to return to her home. Nor will her family be able to visit her. This is a sad fact of life in today's Middle East, and Mona accepts it as necessary trade-off for future happiness and security. Just as she's about to walk the hundred or so yards that separate Syria and the Israeli border guards, Mona and her family are alerted to a minor change in visa-authentication policy that will handcuff agents on both sides for hours. Because Syria doesn't recognize Israel as the state governing the Golan Heights, soldiers on that side of the border refuse to accept any visa bearing a newly commissioned stamp that would, in effect, acknowledge the Jewish state's sovereignty over the region. A United Nations worker tries several times to intercede, but the agents refuse to budge. The stalemate keeps Mona, Tallel and their families in limbo, and could kill any chance for the marriage to ever take place. The poignancy of Mona's predicament will resonate with anyone who's tried to apply logic and compassion in their dealings with the IRS, City Hall or any American embassy in an emergency. As such, The Syrian Bride is a parable for our times … at once, farcical and tragic. -- Gary Dretzka

The Wild Wild West: The Complete First Season
Cheyenne: The Complete First Season
F Troop: The Complete First Season
NCIS Naval Criminal Investigative Service: The Complete First Season
Medium: The Complete First Season
This Is America, Charlie Brown
Walker, Texas Ranger: The Complete First Season
Dharma and Greg: Season One
My Name Is Bill W

The best way to explain James West to anyone unfamiliar with the long-running CBS series, The Wild Wild West, would be to compare him to James Bond, if 007 had lived in the Old West and reported directly to President U.S. Grant. Otherwise, they're more or less the same guy. Accompanied by Ross Martin, as fellow agent, Artemus Gordon, Robert Conrad could be suave and charming one moment, and a warrior the next. West and Gordon were personally selected by the president to be his eyes, ears and fists on the rapidly expanding frontier, which, then, was teeming with foreign spies, clever conmen, evil geniuses, mad scientists and femme fatales. Instead of an Aston-Martin, the agents made their way around the West in a private train car tricked out with far-out weaponry, gadgets, laboratories and hidden compartments loaded with surprises. As such, on any given week, Wild Wild West could tilt in the direction of emphasizing sci-fi, thrills, Western adventure or period comedy. This splendid boxed set is comprised of 28 episodes on 7 discs, introductions by Conrad, the lost original opening, network promos, interviews, a pilot promo, bloopers and a vintage Eveready commercial.

Although one would have to be well over 50 to have any recollection of ABC's Cheyenne, the influence of the ground-breaking cowboy series on future Western dramas was immense. It was the first original series produced exclusively for television by a major Hollywood film studio, and it introduced the concept of wheeling series linked by characters or genre. Drifter and gun fighter Cheyenne Bodie was played by Clint Walker, who, like James Arness and Chuck Connors, were taller than John Wayne and probably could have moonlighted as a power forward on any NBA team of the time. The popularity of Cheyenne would inspire then-fledgling ABC to commit to a flock of hour-long action-hours, such as Sugarfoot, Maverick, Bronco, Lawman, Colt .45, 77 Sunset Strip and Hawaiian Eye. Their success solidified the company's position as America's third network. Can't wait the boxed set of 77 Sunset Strip episodes.

Like The Phil Silvers Show, McHale's Navy and Hogan's Heroes, the ABC sitcom F Troop found its humor in the ability of American soldiers to relieve the day-to-day grind of military life by playing tricks on the brass and discovering novel ways to make money. Here, the zaniness occurred on the fringes of America's genocidal war against its native population, which, like a Nazi prison-of-war camp, wouldn't be the first place most people turned to for amusement. Nonetheless, the cavalrymen often would team up with local Indians to develop a black-market economy. Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch and Ken Berry made the show worth watching.

A very different kind of military is depicted in NCIS, which, as its title suggests, is a CSI for swabbies and jarheads. Mark Harmon leads an investigative team that works outside the usual chain of command, and handles the toughest and most potentially controversial cases.

NBC's Monday-night hit, Medium, is one of those rare midseason replacement shows that almost immediately found a niche and continued to grow from there. Patricia Arquette plays Allison Dubois, a psychic who uses her paranormal skills in the service of the Phoenix District Attorney's Office. Based on a real-life psychic, Dubois hardly ever is allowed to enjoy a restful night's sleep, as most of her leads come to her in dreams.

In the CBS animated mini-series, This Is America, Charlie Brown, the Peanuts gang was enlisted in the struggle to get kids interested in something other than Nintendo and the mall-hopping. The characters provided the sugar to make the history lessons go down painlessly. The DVD includes eight episodes from the 1988 season: The Mayflower Voyagers, The Birth of the Constitution, The Building of the Transcontinental Railroad, The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, The NASA Space Station, The Great Inventors, The Smithsonian and the Presidency and The Music and Heroes of America.

Few brands have stood the test of time as well as the Texas Rangers, the most storied law-enforcement agency this country has produced (the FBI is a Boy Scout troop, by comparison). Representing the latest incarnation of the force are Chuck Norris' Cordell Walker, a martial artist, and his partner, former-Cowboy QB Jimmy Trivette (Clarence Gilyard). Veteran Dallas twinkie Sheree Wilson dilutes the testosterone in the role of an assistant district attorney. When they aren't fighting crime, everyone on the show gets jiggy with their trucks.

The gimmick in Dharma & Greg was a variation of the tried-and-true odd-couple format. Yoga instructor Dharma Finkelstein (a terminally over-amped Jenna Elfman) was the by-product of a Flower Power romance, while her attorney husband Greg Montgomery (Thomas Gibson) was the white-bread spawn of a WASPy Republican coupling. In lieu of kissing each other good night after their first date, the kids horrified their parents by getting married in a fever in Reno. Hilarity ensues … sort of. The sitcom was larded with dozens of unlikely stereotypes, none of whom would be recognizable in real life. Elfman's manic energy kept the show going for five seasons.

James Woods won an Emmy for his riveting portrayal of Bill Wilson (a.k.a., Bill W), who, along with Dr. Robert Holbrook Smith (a.k.a., Dr. Bob), formed a support group for fellow drunks that would become Alcoholics Anonymous. Produced by Hallmark Hall of Fame, My Name Is Bill W is the rare movie on the subject of addiction that doesn't rely on hyperactivity, hyperbole and over-emoting to drive home its point. The gravity of the subject matter was allowed to speak for itself, as was the personal struggles of the group's founders. James Garner, JoBeth Williams and Gary Sinise also shine in Daniel Petrie's excellent drama. - Gary Dretzka

Entourage: The Complete Second Season
Justice League: Season Two (DC Comics Classic Collection)
Superman: The Animated Series, Volume Three
(DC Comics Classic Collection)
Home Improvement: The Complete Fourth Season
The Mary Tyler Moore Show: The Complete Fourth Season
Charmed: The Complete Fifth Season
Time Tunnel: Season 1, Vol. 2
Frasier: The Complete Eighth Season
Cheers: The Complete Eighth Season
Beavis & Butt-head: The Mike Judge Collection, Vol. 2

From the bottom-less vaults of Koch's British DVD Collection come the BBC mini-series The Lost Boys, which, in 1978, told the same story as Finding Neverland; a BBC; an early Clive Owen police drama, The Magician; a multi-part biopic of World War II hero and trainer of the Israeli Defense Force, Owen Wingate; the BBC's supernatural series, The Omega Factor; Robson Green in the sexy BBC series, Take Me; and the epic mini-series chronicling the demise of European royalty, Fall of Eagles. - Gary Dretzka