Hey folks, Harry here... I have not forsaken you - I've only been doing my job in the DVD mines looking for the jewels amongst the debris that is shoveled weekly our way. This month is incredibly filled with treasure - thus I'm breaking it up. Now remember - the DVD boxes and titles link to Amazon's pages for these titles. However - if you chose to just use this list as a guide for your Netflicks account - or as a guide to then use to shop wisely... Whatever. However, I do appreciate those of you that support this column by using those links. Here you go...

Tuesday, February 13th, 2007

THE DEPARTED (2-Disc Special Edition)

The upcoming Best Picture, Director and Adapted Screenplay winner… THE DEPARTED. At least – if there’s a God – it will be so. Scorsese has been denied for far too long. This year, he will take home the evasive Oscar, just as we will take home this DVD and add it there beside his bests – and we will watch it when we want to wallow in the cinematic joy of that spills from the great Scorsese. On this two-disc set you’ll enjoy deleted scenes – introduced by Scorsese – a feature length documentary on Scorsese from TCM. Plus features on the Boston Mob and Criminal Cultures in general. And much more. Lacking a Commentary – which I can wait for… but I can’t wait to add this to my collection.

MARIE ANTOINETTE

Absolutely Exquisite. Sofia Coppola’s vision of a wild spirited teenage girl forced into a marriage and a world of excess – and the joy and despair that that world had is immaculate. I love love love this film. It is an intoxicating vision of impossible riches and ridiculous decadence. When you read about Marie Antoinette – you lose empathy for her on the page. It’s easy to forget that she was a teenage girl. Pressured into sex, children and into a relationship for the sake of all that she once knew and had to leave behind. In many ways it’s a metaphor for every teenager that has to leave the nest and find their way in the world. Only she had no escape in the palaces and parties… very little to call her own. She couldn’t even get dressed alone, for the Queen of France is pampered, powdered and presented at all times. The music – it underlines the metaphor… I only miss Cyndi Lauper’s GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN – cuz in many ways – that’s all she wanted. Sofia Coppola’s film should have been seen on big screens, but this will have to do for many of you. There’s a nice group of extras. This is a very solid DVD.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST – Season One

Before Guillermo Del Toro placed him in the rojo of HELLBOY. 3 years after THE TERMINATOR we fell in love again with Linda Hamilton. This series was a weekly fairy tale beneath our feet. It was gushing with love, angst, crime and longing. It was BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and there was no dancing candlesticks or flatware… No Murder She Wrote teapots. I loved this show and it has been forever since I saw an episode. This will be a joy. Here you will find the first complete season.

HALF NELSON

Here’s a film that went below radar for much of 2006 – and thanks to a wise Academy – Ryan Gosling’s nomination will ensure that a few will give this a shot. For me – the race this year is between Forrest Whittaker and Ryan Gosling. His performance is restrained and tormented. He exists in the mediocrity of his youthful dreams. A teacher, a thankless underpaid, secondary citizen in the inner city. Fighting with the school administration to teach a politicized curriculum, forced into being an intellectual eunich – he dares to challenge them – but is slapped down. He’s alone and he has his private sins and one student that he sees potential in. But make no mistake – this is no MR HOLLAND’S OPUS – with that great feeling of triumph. This is the story that goes untold, the story of functional addiction and how there is no innocence in the ghettos of the world. HALF NELSON is a brilliant quiet film. And for anyone that thought LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE should have been nominated, watch Shareeka Epps in this. FAR BETTER – robbed at nomination time. Seek this film out.

THE U.S. VS JOHN LENNON

One of my favorite documentaries in 2006. I love John Lennon. I love his music, his wit and his messages. He is just amazing – and the footage here, the stories and the music all just shine. Whether or not you see metaphors to the hear and now. Listen to the music and the man. We’ll never have another quite like John Lennon.

MR. MOTO COLLECTION Vol. 2 ( MR MOTO’S GAMBLE / MR MOTO IN DANGER ISLAND / MR MOTO TAKES A VACATION / MR MOTO’S LAST WARNING )

YES! More Mr Moto films! I love the Mystery series. The Sherlock Holmes films, the Thin Man series, The Charlie Chans and the Mr Motos. They’re little fast watches – and of them all… I have the most fond spot for.. the SHERLOCK HOLMES’. BUT – man – Peter Lorre has so much fun with this character. I love how half the mystery of these films is what the fuck Mr Moto is up to. Fox Home Video has done such a great job with this series!

PERFORMANCE

Wow. They’re putting PERFORMANCE out on DVD – what a wonderfully bizarre and powerful film. You think you know who Mick Jagger is? Until you’ve seen this – you’ve got a ton to learn. Mick is amazing here. And Nicolas Roeg and Donald Cammell do a phenomenal job with this utterly unique film. Absolutely brilliant. Experience the PERFORMANCE. You’ve seen nothing like it ever.

BICYCLE THIEVES – Criterion Collection

While taking a Film Appreciation class I had to suffer through BICYCLE THIEVES. I hated it. Despised it. I used to boldly proclaim my utter disdain for the Italian Neo-Realist movement – “A pretentious load of excrement,” I deemed it. Well – that was nearly 14 years ago now – and after much time on this earth… I now have a completely different take on the Vittorio De Sica and the entire Neo-Realist movement. True, it isn’t fun. True, it moves at a snail’s pace. But it is a movement of film to absorb over a lifetime. BICYCLE THIEVES is a masterpiece about what life does to a simple man. How one nudge in life can change everything. Not a large push, sometimes it’s a little thing, but each act has the potential of profound significance. It was harshly shot, very dramatic, but very real. Criterion has done a wonderful job here of not just presenting the film in the highest of quality, But providing a context for the proper appreciation of the material.

GREEN FOR DANGER – Criterion Collection

A great 1946 British Thriller from Sidney Gilliat – the screenwriter of one of Hitchcock’s great early films, THE LADY VANISHES. Here you have a film set during the Nazi Blitz upon England. A postman dies in a hospital, and an investigator from Scotland Yard, played by the wonderful Trevor Howard (one of them old fart Kryptonians that didn’t listen to the Albino Godfather.), suspects one of the hospital staff and the missing poison pills. Who did it at its best. This film will surprise you.

THE QUIET

Ok – admittedly – this is a terrible film. But Elisha Cuthbert has never been in sexier attire and sexual. I only mention it for you fellow deviants.

THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER

Ok – if you loved CHARIOTS OF FIRE… this may not be the movie for you. This isn’t a joyful tale, but a great great great film from director Tony Richardson. This a story of a juvenile delinquient with a terrible past and a hope for a better tomorrow. Richardson’s film is about as bleak as they come and a complete treat. Check this film out!

GINGER AND FRED

A wonderful late film from Federico Fellini. You ever wanted to see a brutal bitchslapping of television and that world? Nobody has done it better than Fellini with GINGER AND FRED. Give it a shot.

THE BUTCHER BOY

If you’ve never seen THE BUTCHER BOY – you’ve no idea of just how brilliant Neil Jordan is capable of being. THE BUTCHER BOY is my favorite of his films – and in the history of AICN – easily one of my favorites. It’s nearly impossible to describe it, because nothing really can be written to convey the experience the brilliance of the performance he got out this kid he found. Francie Brady, Bad Bastard – is one of the greatest kid characters in the entire history of cinema. Just awe-inspiring. This film is remarkable from start to finish. If you have ever discovered a film that blew your mind at my recommendation, listen to me about this film. GET THIS MOVIE – and infect everybody you know with it. Grow the legend of Francie Bradie, Bad Bastard.

THE INFERNAL AFFAIRS TRILOGY ( INFERNAL AFFAIRS 1, 2, 3)

Ok – you’ve seen Scorsese’s THE DEPARTED, but have you seen the original film upon which it was based? If not… Get ready for an absolutely satisfying experience. These films do not make THE DEPARTED look bad, in turn, THE DEPARTED doesn’t make INFERNAL AFFAIRS look bad. Instead – they co-exist brilliantly side by side. The first INFERNAL AFFAIRS is brilliant – the other two are solid films – and if Scorsese revisits these films for further inspiration – I have the utmost confidence that the films that will result will be brilliant. But know the source material – it is very rich indeed.

FUCK (F**K)

It’s a fun little documentary – with some genuinely funny stuff – but… ya know what, it runs long. They run out of interview subjects a little too early. And as a result at a certain point – it seems to run out of material. That said – it’s very fun to play for friends. And you might learn something about the work FUCK – and if for no other reason – you must see Pat Boone on the subject of FUCK. It’s brilliant.

PAUL ROBESON: Portraits of the Artist Criterion Box Set ( THE EMPEROR JONES / BODY AND SOUL / BORDERLINE / SANDERS OF THE RIVER / JERICHO / THE PROUD VALLEY / NATIVE LAND / PAUL ROBESON: TRIBUTE TO AN ARTIST )

Before Denzel and Morgan Freeman. Before Sidney Poitier and James Earl Jones. Before them all was Paul Robeson – a brilliant black actor long before that was an accepted part of American society. Not only that. He was a star. Not just a star, but a great actor. This is an amazing collection of his work – something that everyone should be familiar with. I’ve only ever seen THE EMPEROR JONES and JERICHO out of this group – and I’m very much looking forward to the rest. Again – Criterion gets it done right – this box set is flooded with riches of extras. Including a 1958 radio interview with him. Amazing.

13 TZAMETI

A long time ago – Moriarty wrote of this film. It is everything he stated and more. This is incredibly brutal. FIGHT CLUB is for PUSSIES, 13 is for the insane! In the realm of fucked up movies that kick ass – this one is one that deserves it’s place in the pantheon of places and times you never want to visit. This is frightening, suspenseful and terrifying. It is an unforgettable experience – and remember – when you get a key to a mysterious P.O. Box with a letter from a man that wants to die bad enough to attempt to take his own life… the mysterious letter with a mysterious bargain proposed at a mysterious location. Just fucking let it go man. It ain’t for you.

THE GLORIA SWANSON COLLECTION

You know her from SUNSET BLVD. But did you ever wonder about the former glory of that haunted mad frustrated woman? She was beyond beautiful once. A star that was stunning. A star during the time of the true immortals of film – the first stars of shadow and light. Well here you go – 5 discs – 675 minutes of Gloria Swanson. Silents and sounds. Here’s what you get:

Disc One

His New Job (1915) – This is actually a Charlie Chaplin short about life on a movie set, co-written by gossip queen Louella Parsons (!), costarring Chaplin’s rival Ben Turpin, and – as a stenographer – 18-year-old Gloria Swanson! A fascinating vintage curiosity. 32 mins.

The Danger Girl (1916) – Cross-dressing in 1916? You bet. Gloria stars as a lovesick girl who dresses up as a man in order to seduce a rival femme away from her beau (Bobby Vernon, her Mack Sennett costar). 20 mins.
Teddy at the Throttle (1917) – Classic comedy with Gloria as a naïve girl who winds up tied to the railroad tracks by the villainous Wallace Beery –her real-life husband at the time (and nearly as villainous). "Teddy" is Keystone Teddy, the Wonder Dog. 25 mins.

The Sultan’s Wife (1917) – Gloria and her boyfriend sail to India where an evil Rajah wants to make her part of his harem. Once again, Teddy the Wonder Dog saves the day! 20 mins.

Disc Two

Male and Female (1919) – Turning from comedy to a Cecil B. DeMille drama, Gloria is a spoiled rich girl who learns about the qualities that really matter when she’s shipwrecked with her resourceful butler (Thomas Meighan of The Miracle Man). 115 mins.

Hollywood Remembers Gloria Swanson – A fascinating look at the life and career of Gloria Swanson, from her early Mack Sennett days through Sunset Boulevard and beyond, featuring classic clips. 25 mins.

Disc Three

Don’t Change Your Husband (1919) – A DeMille comedy with Gloria as a frustrated housewife who divorces her slob of a husband (Elliott Dexter of Flaming Youth) and marries another (Lew Cody of Dishonored), only to find she’s gone from the frying pan into the fire. 60 mins.

Why Change Your Wife? (1920) – Another comedy from Cecil B. DeMille in which Gloria – in a variation of the previous film – is the wife who is divorced by her frustrated husband (Meighan again) after he meets the lovely Bebe Daniels (42nd Street). 91 mins.

Disc Four

The Affairs of Anatol (1921) – This time, both husband and wife are two-timing each other in this DeMille comedy that features the ill-fated Wallace Reid (who had little more than a year to live) and, once again, Bebe Daniels. 117 mins.

Disc Five

Sadie Thompson (incomplete) (1928) – Arguably Gloria’s finest performance of the silent era; Somerset Maugham’s classic tale of a loose woman (Swanson) who sails to Pago Pago to start a new life, only to fall under the influence of an unforgiving and overzealous preacher (Lionel Barrymore of It’s a Wonderful Life). Sadly, the final reel is currently lost to the ages. 82 mins.

Indiscreet (1931) – Leo McCarey (The Awful Truth, Going My Way) directed this witty romp, with Gloria as a young woman who is tempted to stray from the man she loves (Ben Lyon of Hell’s Angels)by an unsavory old flame. 81 mins.

Now that is a great box set. I’m especially excited about seeing SADIE THOMPSON. Can’t wait. I love Rita Hayworth’s version, but I’ve never seen this one… whatever there is of it.

DEADLY WEAPONS / DOUBLE AGENT 73

You must – in your life – experience the awe, wonder and horror of Chesty Morgan – the most astonishingly 3D star of the 2D screen. She makes Dolly Parton seem Pre-Pubescent. See tits wielded as deadly weapons. Behold the camera hidden in the folds of enormous tits (I can do that too) – Directed by Doris Wishman – one of the most amazing filmmakers that I have ever met… too racy for MST3K – but if you’ve ever wanted an utterly bizarre terribly unnerving light hearted pair of… parodies - or a movie that might turn you to dick… Watch this DVD – and experience Chesty Morgan, you’ll never forget it.

THE TRAIL OF BLOOD

The first of a great trilogy of Japanese films called the Mikogami Trilogy. The third installment comes out this year – but I wanted to be sure to put this amazing trilogy all together for you to discover. These three films will delight you to no end, if you love the Lone Wolf & Cub series. It’s different, but at the same quality.

THE FEARLESS AVENGER

The second part of the Mikogami Trilogy. Ignore the review you see on Amazon – apparently some idiot thought it was supposed to be ANIME. Well – it certainly isn’t that – but it’s a fantastic Japanese samurai series that is a newly discovered classic – at least as far as I’m concerned.

SLAUGHTER IN THE SNOW

This is the final installment of this wonderful trilogy. This time the story takes a very different turn for our… “hero” as he becomes hunted. This series never caught on the way LONE WOLF & CUB did. So think of this like STAR WARS – a trilogy due to circumstances. Heh. Then picked up by an alien with a different vision that some of us loved. Albeit – this series was never continued, though try not wanting to watch the further adventures after you see this “final chapter”. It’s awesome.

THE KOMMISSAR X COLLECTION

I have never seen these. I know nothing. BUT it’s a series that started in 1966. Sold as “A Swinging 1960’s SPY-O-RAMA” with serious hotness on the DVD box. Add to that – the titles are KISS KISS, KILL KILL followed by, SO DARLING, SO DEADLY and wrapped up in the amazing title, DEATH IS NIMBLE, DEATH IS QUICK! Holy Fuck! They’re apparently GERMAN made and have a Sci-Fi arc to them. Here’s how AMAZON describes them:

“A bountiful sci-fi triple feature of girls, goons and guns! Kiss Kiss Kill Kill: Based on a popular series of German adventure novels, the Kommissar X films sprang up in Germany as competition to the popular exploits of James Bond. Private eye Joe Walker (so cool and egotistical that he has his own personal theme song!) and police captain Tom Rowland must find out who's killing off a group of influential businessmen. The reason? A fortune in gold made radioactive so it couldn't be claimed for five years... but now someone can't wait! Death Is Nimble, Death Is Quick: The crime-fighting duo journey to Ceylon to tangle with murder, kidnaping, extortion and the threat to unleash a deadly bacteria. Soon they're tangling with a deadly group called "Three Yellow Cats" and their leader, King, in a karate fight to the death! So Darling, So Deadly: A scientist invents a filter that can increase the power of a laser beam, turning it into a death ray! A dangerous crime organization wants the device and will stop at nothing to get it, while murder and violence follow Joe and Tom to Singapore as they try to foil the evil plans.”

I am so there!

See you next week with the final two weeks of February - the first great month of releases this year. February is kicking January's anemic ass!