DVD Releases: August 8, 2005

Ghostbusters
Worldwide Gross - $292 million

The original Ghostbusters clearly was cut from the same loosey-goosey mold as various other Saturday Night Live and National Lampoon spin-offs, all of which took great pleasure in blowing marijuana smoke in the face of hoary show-business archetypes. Truth be told, though, Ivan Reitman's hilarious action-comedy probably was influenced as much by such easily dismissed novelties as Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, Bob Hope's The Ghost Breakers and the Three Stooges' Have Rocket, Will Travel. While the premise of these films was virtually identical -- a bunch of goofballs save humanity from spooks -- the differences in budgets, special-effects, marketing strategy and commercial expectations were enormous. The computer-generated banshees in the Ghostbusters duet were far more creepy than the bargain-basement creatures encountered by previous comedy teams. Then, too, no expenses were spared when it came to such ancillary by-products as soundtrack albums, videos, slime and action figures. The featurettes in Ghostbusters I & II: Double Feature Giftset include deleted scenes, episodes from the animated TV series, a making-of featurette, a scrapbook and commentary. This material isn't likely to impress owners of previous Ghostbusters DVD incarnations, but newcomers will welcome the re-packaging, price ($19.94) and quality of the DVDs. -- Gary Dretzka

Do you believe in UFOs, astral projections, mental telepathy, ESP, clairvoyance, spirit photography, telekinetic movement, full trance mediums, the Loch Ness monster and the theory of Atlantis?

The Complete Thin Man Collection

Fans of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's tepid comedy-thriller, Mr. & Mrs. Smith -- and the TV series, Moonlighting -- are encouraged to run out and find Warners' wonderfully nostalgic seven-disc The Complete Thin Man Collection. Six mostly delightful comic mysteries were wrung from Dashiell Hammett's 1934 novel, The Thin Man, which many critics consider to be his weakest book. Even so, there's no denying the appeal of the glib and urbane crime-fighting team of Nick & Nora Charles, who never were required to battle ninjas in a giant discount store, as were Brad and Angelina. Indeed, why soil one's white gloves with gunpowder residue, when clever repartee can be every bit as effective as a well-aimed bullet? The films included in the collection are, The Thin Man, After The Thin Man, Another Thin Man, Shadow of the Thin Man, Song of the Thin Man and The Thin Man Goes Home. There also is a treasure trove of bonus material, including featurettes on William Powell and Myrna Loy, Robert Benchley's How to Be a Detective, music shorts, classic cartoons, a radio show with Powell and Loy, and an episode of the TV adaptation, which starred Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk. -- Gary Dretzka

Kung Fu Hustle
Worldwide Gross - $94.7 million

Martial-arts thrillers from Hong Kong are rarely subtle in their staging of fights and depictions of revenge, romance and comedy. Even by Hong Kong standards, though, Kung Fu Hustle is a giant step beyond the routine. Written and directed by the Shanghai-born action star, Stephen Chow, King Fu Hustle adds a thick layer of Looney Tunes-style anarchy to fight scenes pushed way over the top by the sort of special-effects wizardry that made Shaolin Soccer such a delight. (The fight scenes were staged by Yuen Wo Ping, who also choreographed The Matrix and Kill Bill.) Not that it matters much, but the drama at the center of Kung Fu Hustle involves a gang of ax-wielding thugs who seek revenge on a bizarre collection of slum-dwellers, among whom reside a trio of kung fu masters. What follows is fast, furious and often hilarious. Among the extras are outtakes and bloopers; audio commentary; a making-of featurette; and an interview with Chow. -- Gary Dretzka

Alexander
Worldwide Gross - $292 million

A Few Minutes With The Cast Of Alexander
On working with Oliver Stone ...
"He's an incredible human being - and a royal pain in the ass at times. "
- Jared Leto

"For my money, he's one of the finest and most emotionally adept filmmmakers the world has seen."
- Colin Farrell

"It's brutal honesty he suffers from... .There's something they call an intervention ... that's what Oliver's done when it comes to america. He's done a cinematic intervention."
- Colin Farrell

News & Reviews

Saturday Morning With Sid & Marty Krofft

Sleestaks and Bugaloos and Witchiepoo, oh my!

Millions of Gen X'ers still know all the words the Pufnstuff song, and can explain exactly what a Sleestak is - even if they don't want to admit it. The only thing missing from this set of seven pilot episodes is Electra Woman and Dynagirl. You'll just have to settle for singing along with The Bugaloos.

Theme Song: Pufnstuf
Theme Song: Land of the Lost
Theme Song: Lidsville
Theme Song: The Bugaloos

Muppet Roundup
The Muppet Show: Season 1
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz

When Ed Sullivan died in 1974, it was only a matter of time before variety shows would disappear from the television landscape, altogether. The Muppet Show, which aired in syndication between 1976-81, was an unlikely candidate to carry the baton for such mainstream programming. Before Kermit the Frog became as powerful a sales tool as Snoopy, the primary appeal of Jim Henson's puppetry was to very young kids (Sesame Street) and potheads who dug the hipster humor (Saturday Night Live). The series always featured a prominent guest star (often British, as it was taped in London), a musical production number and variations of the backstage mayhem that attended each week's show. Prominent among the on-going gags was Miss Piggy's unrequited pursuit of Kermit's affections. The Muppet Show: Season One includes 24 episodes from the first season; two unseen episodes; the original pilot, Sex and Violence!; a pitch reel for the show, with songs and comic sketches; pop-up trivia on the Muppets; and a gag clips. Among the celebrity guests in the first season were Juliet Prowse, Connie Stevens, Joel Grey, Peter Ustinov, Charles Aznavour, Jim Nabors, Twiggy and Lena Horne. Bert and Ernie even pay a rare visit to the Muppet set.

Also available this week is an extended version of The Muppets' Wizard of Oz, a made-for-TV movie that starred Ashanti, Queen Latifah, Jeffrey Tambor, David Alan Grier and Quentin Tarantino (as himself), along with Kermit, Miss Piggy and other familiar characters. The project, which was conceived before Disney acquired the franchise, is a far cry from anything the original Muppeteers might have embraced. But, no doubt, it will satisfy the kids. -- Gary Dretzka

Memories of Murder

Thanks to Hollywood and CNN, America has become a nation obsessed with serial killers. Memories of Murder chronicles how, in 1986, South Korean police dealt with their first such fiend. As unaccustomed as they were to dealing with such tragedies, the investigation wasn't nearly as neat as anything on Law & Order or CSI. Instead, it turned into a pissing contest between unsophisticated rural cops and government hotshots. Director Joon-ho Bong's team nicely captured the colors and textures of the countryside, as well as the disconnect between police methodology. Unlike most other foreign exports, the DVD is dubbed into English, but in a way that makes the actors sound as if they American tourists, hired off the street and handed a script to read. -- Gary Dretzka

Gotham Fish Tales

Apart from some tortuously expensive seafood restaurants and the now-shuttered Fulton Fish Market, New York City has rarely been confused with any place bass masters Roland Martin or Babe Winkelman might feel comfortable. As Robert Maass' Gotham Fish Tales so delightfully demonstrates, however, the waterways surrounding the five boroughs have become an increasingly productive source of game fish for local anglers. And, a more colorful bunch of characters you'd be hard pressed to find, anywhere. The miracle, of course, is that there are any trophy fish to be found in what once was one of the country's most polluted aquatic habitats. Not that the occasional human body or whale carcass doesn't occasionally float by, as well. They do. But, they only add to the mystique. The easiest place to find this rather obscure DVD is on Netflix. Rent it with the similarly offbeat cable series, Fishing With John. -- Gary Dretzka

The High & The Mighty
Island in the Sky

As nice as it is to have restored and re-mastered versions of John Wayne's airborne dramas The High and the Mighty and Island In The Sky finally in the DVD marketplace, the story of how they got there may be more interesting than the films themselves. After Wayne died, in 1979, the titles released under his Batjac Productions banner became the property of his family, which has kept a tight hold on them ever since. Paramount ultimately won the right to distribute family-approved versions of nine of the Duke's mid-career titles, but not before the Waynes went to court to contest the public-domain status of McLintock! That Batjac comedy was sent out by GoodTimes with little regard to quality (it is undergoing restoration now, as well), and the viewing experience left fans with a sour taste. Directed by William Wellman, The High and the Mighty has been described as 'Grand Hotel' in the sky, because of its soap-opera dynamics and star-studded cast. Wayne also plays a pilot in the crash-survival drama, Island in the Sky, another Wellman project. Each of these packages includes a second disc, loaded with informative bonus material. -- Gary Dretzka

Lightning Bug

Buried deep within Robert Hall's hideously clichéd portrayal of rural Southern life in Lightning Bug, lies a decent little coming-of-age drama. The likeable Brett Harrison plays a genuinely nice teenager, with a talent for creating special-effects makeup for haunted houses and horror movies. Unfortunately, for him, his mom has decided to move the family from Detroit to her hometown of Crackerville U.S.A., and into the inevitable trailer home of his abusive step-dad. He finds consolation in the arms of one of the only other persons in town who isn't a total nitwit, a beguiling goth gal played by co-producer Laura Prepon (Donna, on That '70s Show). Considering the false sense of place and flat characterizations, it's hard to imagine that Hall -- a make-up artist, with a long list of credits -- has ever spent more than 10 minutes in the South, or with the kind of church-going folks he lampoons. As it is, Lightning Bug feels more like a personal attack on white-trash customs -- as filtered through the prism of Hollywood genre flicks -- than a celebration of one young man's ability to overcome societal dysfunction. -- Gary Dretzka

At Last the 1948 Show
Do Not Adjust Your Set

The vintage British sketch-comedy series At Last the 1948 Show and Do Not Adjust Your Set -- now available on DVD in separate two-disc packages -- are far more valuable as historical documents, than for any laughs they produce in audiences 37 years removed from their TV debuts. Together they provide the first real evidence of the co-mingling of ideas, personalities and comedic styles that would achieve full bloom as Monty Python's Traveling Circus. First broadcast in 1967, the very offbeat At Last the 1948 Show introduced John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Eric Idle to British audiences, alongside wall-eyed actor Marty Feldman and Tim Brooke-Taylor. Also newly available on DVD are rediscovered episodes of Do Not Adjust Your Set, another Python pre-cursor. That show starred Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam, and featured the wacky music of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. The comedy, while strikingly similar to the Monty Python we know and love, clearly was influenced by the work of Ernie Kovacs, Sid Caesar and possibly even Milton Berle, especially in the drag skits. It's interesting how much more prominent women (especially the nimble Denise Coffey) were in the sketches represented here, than, later, in Monty Python's Flying Circus … even if, most of the time, they were required to wear bikinis, a la Benny Hill. -- Gary Dretzka

The Television Roundup
John Cleese: Wine for the Confused
Dallas: Season 3
When Billie Beat Bobby, Holly Hunter
The Dukes of Hazzard
The Greatest American Hero: Season Three

John Cleese: Wine for the Confused would make a perfect gift for anyone who caught the wine bug after watching Sideways, yet remains as intimidated as ever by the complexity -- and pretension -- of the oenological art. Like dozens of other DVDs on the subject, and hundreds of books, David Kennard's documentary was intended to serve both as a teaching aid and an entertaining piece of original programming, specifically for Food Network viewers. Cleese, of course, is the perfect host for such demystification. His tweedy Brit persona adds an air of authority to Kennard's lessons in wine culture, even if it carries with it a needle poised to pop the balloons of pomposity.

The 25 episodes that comprise the five-disc DVD package, Dallas: The Complete Third Season, recall many of the long-running series' soapiest plotlines. Even the titles are lurid: Whatever Happened to Baby John?; The Silent Killer; The Kristin Affair; Mastectomy; Ellie Saves the Day; Paternity Suit; Sue Ellen's Choice; Power Play; Divorce: Ewing Style; Jock's Trial; and A House Divided. It was the season that began with a kidnapping and ended with the shot heard 'round the television world. The package includes commentary by Patrick Duffy and Linda Gray, on key episodes, and the documentary: Who Shot J.R.? The 'Dallas' Phenomenon.

In the 2001 made-for-TV movie When Billie Beat Bobby, Holly Hunter and Ron Silver re-enacted one of the all-time silliest skirmishes in the Battle of the Sexes. In 1973, aging tennis loudmouth (and spin specialist) Bobby Riggs made headlines by challenging women players to mano-a-womano contests. His taunting of the exceedingly formidable Wimbledon champion, Billie Jean King, led to a nationally televised match, which, depending on where one stood, would either signal the end or beginning of the feminist movement in professional sports. Less a bellwether than a media circus -- that term had only just entered the vernacular -- the match proved that women tennis stars could sell tickets, as well as the men, and deserved a bigger share of the event purses. It also left writer-director Jane Anderson with a rich vein of golden material to mine. Hunter had already shone in Anderson's The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom, and their rapport carried over to When Billie Beat Bobby.

Other new TV-to-DVD offerings are far more mundane. The DVD release of The Dukes of Hazzard: The Complete Fourth Season coincides with the new theatrical film, which was adapted from the series. It's best left for someone more attuned to the hillbilly rhythms of The Dukes to compare the two versions, and determine once and for all if Jessica Simpson looks better in her Daisy Dukes than Catherine Bach. I'll wait for that DVD, too. This package includes 27 episodes of the show, and minimal bonus material.

To me, the most surprising thing about The Greatest American Hero: Season Three was learning that the reluctant-superhero series actually lasted three seasons. Apparently, it did. William Katt, Connie Sellecca and Robert Culp starred in this likable action-comedy, which was created by the prolific producer-writer-novelist, Stephen J. Cannell. This package represents the final season of work. -- Gary Dretzka

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