..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..R.J. Matson
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Michael Wilmington

Trying to winnow down the thousands of DVD releases in 2004 into a precious few is an exercise in futility … fun, yes, but exhausting, too. Knowing there will be exponentially more titles released in 2005 only makes the process more daunting.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, of course, continues to lump together comedies, musicals and dramas in all of the most important categories -- to the detriment of comedies, if not musicals -- while the Golden Globes level the playing fields for movies and television shows. If one were to create an awards ceremony to honor the best in DVD entertainment, it would have to further break down the categories to separate direct-to-DVD from theatrical release, TV-to-DVD, director’s cut version, bonus material, self-help, instructional, undistributed foreign, children’s and adult films.

Even then, one or more niches would be overshadowed at the expense of another. So, why bother?

Well, simply put, compiling Top 10 lists is what writers do each year at this time. They’re painless, and readers seem to enjoy debating the choices. If nothing else, the surveys provide an opportunity for critics to point out some deserving work that might have been ignored by audiences -- who vote at the box office, after all -- or were overwhelmed by more prestigious titles in the various surveys of critics, academies and guilds.

That said, what follows is a list of DVD releases that were deserving of praise for reasons other than that the films or TV shows represented were popular in their initial theatrical or broadcast release patterns. Moreover, they are noteworthy for adding something more than a commentary tracks or making-of featurette to the total package.

In no particular order, they are:

The Five Obstructions (Koch Lorber): While critics continued to debate the artistic merits (or lack thereof) of last year’s Dogville, Lars von Trier quietly re-introduced fellow Danish director Jørgen Leth to audiences in this delightful test of filmmaking chops. In The Five Obstructions, Von Trier challenged his hero to remake the 1967 short The Perfect Human five times, while also overcoming five different artistic roadblocks, or obstructions. For instance, Von Trier challenged Leth to re-shoot the short in the worst place on earth, Bombay's red-light district. The Five Obstructions is a must-see for any aspiring filmmaker.

M: Special Edition (Criterion Collection): Any year-end listing of top DVDs that didn’t include at least five titles from Criterion Collection would be one not worth taking seriously. The special edition of Fritz Lang’s M is accorded the primary position here because of its scholarship and re-mastering, but it’s nearly impossible to split M from the company’s similarly wonderful editions of Short Cuts, Slacker, The Leopard, The Battle of Algiers, 3 Women, The Rules of the Game and a half-dozen other films.

 

La Dolce Vita (Koch Lorber): At long last, Federico Fellini’s masterpiece makes it to DVD, via an exceptional two-disc set overflowing with worthwhile extras. Among the other classics that finally arrived in fine shape on DVD are Antonioni‘s Blow-Up (Warner), Altman‘s California Split (Columbia TriStar) and The Long Goodbye (MGM), THX 1138 (Warner), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (MGM), Strangers on a Train (Warner), Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (Warner) and The Great Escape (MGM).

The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection (Universal): This compilation of The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, Monkey Business, Horse Feathers and Duck Soup is a sure remedy for the blues, if there ever was one. Throw in the studio’s similarly delightful, W.C. Fields Comedy Collection (The Bank Dick, My Little Chickadee, You Can't Cheat an Honest Man, It's a Gift and International House), the second volume of Warners’ The Chaplin Collection (City Lights, The Circus, The Kid, A King in New York, A Woman of Paris and Monsieur Verdoux) and Warners’ Buster Keaton Collection (The Cameraman, Spite Marriage and Free and Easy), and you have a weekend’s worth of laughs.

Legong: Dance of the Virgins (Milestone): This is just one of several historic titles that prompted the National Society of Film Critics to bestow its Film Heritage Award to Milestone Film & Video. Legong takes the viewer back to the mid-’30s, when Hollywood actually seemed interested in what was going on in the rest of the world, and enterprising filmmakers would venture to the South Pacific or Newfoundland (White Thunder) to see what made the natives tick. The result combined elements of newsreels, documentaries and features in one intriguing package. Also noteworthy were Michael Powell’s The Edge of the World and Rupert Julian’s The Phantom of the Opera.

Capturing the Friedmans (HBO Video): Theatrically, Andrew Jarecki’s disturbing study of how one family’s dysfunction affected an entire Long Island community became one of the most compelling titles in this, the New Golden Age of Documentaries. On DVD, the mystery was re-explored and advance with even more evidence and debate. The package also included Just a Clown, the film Jarecki was making when he stumbled upon the Friedmans. Of course, any discussion of the 2004 crop of documentaries on DVD would have to include such news-making titles as Fahrenheit 9/11, The Fog of War, Outfoxed, Super Size Me and Control Room.

The Door in the Floor (Universal): This hugely under-distributed drama features two or three of the best acting performances of 2004, and almost no one saw them. Jeff Bridges, Kim Basinger, Jon Foster and Mimi Rogers all played key roles in Todd Williams’ sardonic adaptation of John Irving’s A Widow for One Year. Brian Dannelly’s off-beat teen comedy Saved! -- which was set in a Christian high school -- is another film I might have missed if it weren’t for a quick turn-around on DVD. With the DVD release of both installments of Kill Bill, audiences finally were permitted to see Quentin Tarantino’s chop-socky epic as he intended it to be seen.

SCTV Network/90: Volume 1 and SCTV: Volume 2 (Shout! Factory): For my money, Toronto’s Second City troupe -- a.k.a., SCTV, in its syndicated and network runs -- consistently out-funnied every Saturday Night Live cast since the original performers left for Hollywood glory, in 1979. The company, which included such enduring talents as John Candy, Joe Flahrety, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis, Catherine O'Hara, and Dave Thomas, accurately predicted and pre-parodied every hideous notion of broadcast television in the ensuing 20 years.

Seinfeld Limited Edition Gift Set (Columbia TriStar): OK, no one really needs the souvenir playing cards and salt and pepper shakers that are included in the gift set, but it does include DVDs of the first three seasons, as well as an annotated script, among the plethora of terrific extras and commentary.

Angels in America (Warner): Those of us with subscriptions to premium-cable and satellite networks often forget that not everyone has ready accessibility to such great shows as Angels in America, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, The L Word and Queer as Folk, Nip/Tuck and The Shield. These comprehensive DVD sets ensure that no one has to rely on repeats or syndication on commercial TV to appreciate the best television has to offer.

MCN's 2004 DVD Year In Review

Doug Pratt's Ten Best - Multiplatter And Single Platter
Digital Nation: Gary Dretzka's Best DVDs of the Year
Ray Pride's Five Best DVDs And Five Best Boxed Sets

- by Gary Dretzka

December 29, 2004