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Can you sense that Oscar is just around the corner. Last week, The Departed made its bow on home video. This week, another Academy effort and a far better film that should be up for Best Picture consideration, make their way onto the digital domain as well. But there is even more cinematic specialness to be had, including another amazing Criterion release, a wonderful anti-censorship documentary, and a substantial sampling of Christopher Guest’s own unique approach to wit. Add in a decent animated film and a strange bit of fear funny business and you have just a small example of the excellent fare waiting at your local B&M. But by far one singular selection for 20 February marks SE&L’s choice for movie of the year:
The Prestige
The undeniably best film of 2006 arrives on DVD with scarcely enough bonus features to make the shift to the digital medium worth the effort. Everyone knows by now that Christopher Nolan’s amazing motion picture puzzle box was beaten by The Illusionist in the public popularity sweepstakes (romance always seems to trump intelligence), but for sheer cinematic artistry, for the ability to take a complicated multi-layered narrative and make it sing with emotional and aesthetic resonance, this film is flawless. The movie may suffer from lofty ambitions, and more than one unexpected plot twist, but the truth is, no other motion picture in this otherwise interesting year found the proper balance of character and circumstance. With amazing performances and sheer directorial skill, Nolan has delivered a timeless masterpiece, destined to live far beyond this brief, befuddling moment in mainstream moviemaking.Other Titles of Interest
49th Parallel: Criterion Collection
The brilliant British filmmaking team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger were pressured into service for their homeland once the UK fell into World War II. With this film about a Nazi U2 Boat, made in Canada, the duo introduced characters who argued for the United State’s involvement in the still mostly European conflict. Criterion now gives it the necessary preservationist’s polish. Babel
What is it with the year’s cinematic best arriving on the digital format with nary a contextual feature to be found? Paramount is probably gambling on a Crash like win come Oscar time before fleshing out this feature (in either case, one should except a double dip sometime this summer). This incredibly dense effort definitely deserves better.
Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing
The amazing story of how one of country’s commercial darlings became political pariahs forms the center of Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck’s brave backstage documentary. The “Red State” reaction to singer Natalie Maines’ anti-Bush remarks seems ridiculous, especially in today’s President bashing atmosphere. But we soon learn that censorship and sexism played a bigger role in the controversy than an off the cuff remark. Flushed Away
It was the great CGI experiment that ended up voiding an entire creative contract. Aardman Animation, famous for their work on Wallace and Gromit, teamed up with Dreamworks (Shrek) to bring their idiosyncratic style to the realm of 3D cartooning. The result was this uneven effort, a film that flopped so badly that the Americans showed the Brits the door only three films into their five picture deal.For Your Consideration
Christopher Guest pushes the mock documentary comedy style aside for the time being to focus on a fictional look at awards season, and how small independent efforts can get caught up inside the massive media hype. In this case, a tiny production entitled Home for Purim generates a lot of year end buzz, bringing its journeyman cast face to face with celebrity for perhaps the first time. Naturally, unheard of hijinx ensue.
And Now for Something Completely Different
Night of the Living Dorks
Leave it to the Germans to combine the cornball ‘80s sex comedy with the benchmarks of your basic zombie horror film to create a clever, if occasionally uneven, terror treat. The story is your standard nerds vs. jocks smackdown, with the added element of some goofy Goth kids experimenting with voodoo on the side. A ritual goes wrong, and suddenly, the geeks are getting even with the bullies who made their life a living - make that now an ‘undead’ – Hell. With lots of silly CGI slapstick and some incredibly underdone sequences (a huge beer bash goes…nowhere), the movie does tend to lose its approach two thirds of the way through. Indeed, the DVD contains an alternate ending that’s just as ineffective as the actual one offered. If you don’t mind your macabre mixed with a little middling mirth, you’ll really dig this scary satire.
