Forrest Gump: 15th Anniversary Edition

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Cast: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright Penn, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, Sally Field

(Paramount; US DVD: 3 Nov 2009)

 Amazon

Forrest Gump is perhaps the most maligned Best Picture Oscar winner of all time. Not even a new 15th Anniversary Box Set, fashioned like a collection of yummy confections (just like ‘Momma’ spoke about) will ease the controversy. Indeed, since it became a monster hit both in theaters and in the minds of award season voters, Forrest Gump fails about every test of cinematic classicism. It feels dated and of its era, the optimism of a pre-Dot.Com bubble burst awash in every eager, overly earnest narrative beat. It has the feel and focus of a determined epic, something that everyone involved believes is important without any of the onscreen scope or power to prove otherwise. Even worse, it’s become part of the standard bearers of satire, lampoons and spoofs of Tom Hanks’ take on the title character driving any available artistic measure deep into the ground. Oh, and did we mention it beat Pulp Fiction for the 1995 Academy Award?

Perhaps time will never be completely kind to this film, but the overall outrage over its existence is way overblown. In truth, Forrest Gump is a fine motion picture - nay, even at times, a great one. Sure, the whole feather motif is heavy handed and syrupy and the title moron as innocent everyman can get so saccharine and cloying as to almost cause diabetes. But Zemeckis is not some hack, manipulating his audience with false sentiment and unearned emotions. Everything about Forrest Gump feels natural and organic to the story being told. Indeed, it’s the tall tale itself, and not the way that Zemeckis presents it, that should cause the most consternation. Over the course of five seminal decades in the post-war “adulthood” of the United States, this movie takes the side of the jingoists and the patriots - and never once parts company.

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—Bill Gibron

Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection Remastered

(BBC; US DVD: 20 Oct 2009; UK DVD: 19 Oct 2009)

 Amazon

After re-watching the entirety of the ‘70s BBC comedy Fawlty Towers on the new Fawlty Towers: The Complete Collection Remastered DVD box set, it becomes clear that iconic characters like George Castanza, Leslie Knope and David Brent (or Michael Scott) would never have existed if it were not for another abrasive, hopelessly un-self-aware oddball: Basil Fawlty. Basil, as played by Monty Python’s Flying Circus alumni John Cleese, is one of the most awkward characters in the history of television. And one of the funniest.

Having all the episodes collected together may remind the buyer that it was probably a good idea to end the show when it did, (a marathon-viewing-session pretty quickly reveals that the show’s formula only allows it to go in so many directions before it starts repeating itself) but the ability to watch classic episodes like “The Germans” or “Basil the Rat” whenever one feels like it is a prize well-worth the cost of purchase. The DVD collection also comes with a long list of bonus features, ranging from interviews with the surviving cast and crew to a documentary about the Gleneagles Hotel and it’s manager, Donald Sinclair, who inspired the character of Basil. Even better, every single episode comes with newly recorded commentary tracks from both the directors and Cleese himself.

Cleese’s narration is especially interesting, as he is not afraid to point out the aspects he is particularly proud of, while relentlessly nit-picking the parts he wishes he could change. He also waxes rhapsodic about the cast and crew, praising Booth for what he feels are her unrecognized contributions to the show as a writer and vocally admiring the physical attributes of the many female guest stars. Overall, he’s pretty pleased with what he and Fawlty Towers accomplished, as well he should be.

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—Alistair Dickinson

Fight Club: 10th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)

Cast: Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf

(Fox; US DVD: 17 Nov 2009 (General release))

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Fight Club is still today a definitive film, a statement as strong as any rock anthem and twice as packed with power chords. It reels from flights of vivid imagination and keens with art so impressive that few can fathom its brilliance at one sitting. To hear Fincher tell it (his commentary is one of several spellbinding additions to the Blu-ray release, along with a fabulous 1080p transfer and audio update), the movie was a compact experience—scripted, storyboarded, cast, and presented without any major studio input or interference. Even when they balked at some of Palahnuik’s more maverick ideas, Fincher fought for the essence, if not the actual scene or line of dialogue. Sometimes, the reinvention made things much, much darker (Marla’s classic “grade school/abortion” lines). At other instances, the film version of Fight Club fleshed out the author’s ideas, giving realism and authenticity to what could be viewed as the fictional version of The Anarchist’s Cookbook.

But as the wealth of bonus features argue, Fight Club endures because its about the shared experience—between cast and crew, characters and audience, philosophy and individual ethos. It’s about emasculation and the inability to overcome same. Fincher surprises us when he explains how uncomfortable the MPAA got with any questions of sex (especially Tyler’s “rubber glove” bit with Marla) but then passed on most of the violence. Instead, Britain made him trim material from the infamous Angel Face (Jared Leto) beat down, arguing it was too horrific (we see both versions, and other deleted scenes here as well). As the actors share anecdotes and discuss motivation, we begin to understand how forward-thinking this movie really was. While Fight Club argued for a dethroned patriarchy to rise up and reestablish their place on the social food chain, it also illustrated the indirect rise in geek empowerment. Of course, the men in the movie pounded each other into submission using physical force and stamina. The nerds beat them to prominence with a motherboard and a highway full of information.

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—Bill Gibron

White Christmas: Anniversary Edition

Director: Michael Curtiz

Cast: Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, Dean Jagger, Mary Wickes

(Paramount; US DVD: 3 Nov 2009; UK DVD: 3 Nov 2009)

 Amazon

It's A Wonderful Life: 2 Disc Collector's Set

Director: Frank Capra

Cast: Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Henry Travers

(Liberty Films; US DVD: 3 Nov 2009; UK DVD: 3 Nov 2009)

 Amazon

Holiday films earn their place as categorical ‘classics’ in a couple of significant ways. The first is in the standard language of film itself. They’re funny or sweet, dramatic or creatively compelling, outside of the need to express a certain seasonal sentiment. Naturally, the next element in play is the found festive value. Either a movie encompasses what you feel about Easter, or Halloween, or Christmas, or it misses the emotional benchmark by miles.

And then there are those titles that transcend both, to combine solid (if now sketchy) cinematic value with precise focused celebratory fellowship to make all other offerings pale in comparison. Just in time for Noel 2009, Paramount is putting out a pair of these timeless attempts: White Christmas and It’s a Wonderful Life.

While they’ve been released and re-released any number of times, Paramount’s attention to added content details and final visual polish makes either title a must-own. It’s a Wonderful Life comes in a dimensional box featuring a commemorative tree ornament, as well as a chance at eight free holiday MP3 downloads.

Inside, you will get both the bold monochrome and the unnecessary colorized version of the film, as well as a documentary on its making and a tribute to Capra by his son. White Christmas, on the other hand, is overloaded with bonus features. There is a commentary from the late great Ms. Clooney, a collection of backstage recollections, an overview on each of the main actors involved, and a chance to see the new theatrical version of the film come to life onstage (the live version is currently in previews around the country). As a means of remembering that special someone this gift giving season, either digital package is just perfect.

AMAZON: It’s a Wonderful Life
AMAZON: White Christmas (Anniversary Edition)

—Bill Gibron

This is my pick for the finest DVD collection of the year. American Experience’s biographies of U.S. presidents are engrossing, definitive, illuminating and often surprising. You’ll learn more history in the shortest period of time by watching these shows than virtually anything else you can do. It’s the perfect gift for both the history buff and the political junkie, as well as for those who want to better understand the American present and how it has developed. That didn’t mean to sound stuffy either. These documentaries are seriously addicting, filled with stories that grab you more than the latest prime time soap, while being healthy brain food at the same time.

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—Sarah Zupko

“How do you like your murder? Well done, served with proper silverware and linen? Or rather on the rare side, and you’ll use the tail of your shirt to wipe your mouth? Depends upon your mood, does it?  Well then, for the evening you’re inclined toward a sip of the sherry, partake of any of the 19 discs of polite, proper mysteries adapted from the novels of Caroline Graham, enjoy sips of “evil lurking beyond the well-trimmed hedges of Midsomer”, but be careful, lest you get rattled and spill. We’re not that polite, here.  Rather perverse at times, in fact.

Fans of Law & Order will sink their teeth into the equally gritty Trial & Retribution: Set 1 (perhaps best washed down with a throat-searing scotch). They’ll already know Prime Suspect (same creator, similar gritty approach), and crave the depravity, moral ambiguity, and simply very bad, anti-social behavior on display from crime to conviction, here. It’s all rather lip-smacking, delicious stuff.”

Trial and Retribution Set 1

Midsomer Murders - The Early Cases Collection

—Karen Zarker