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The playfully macabre humor of Tim Burton is deftly brought to
life through the old-school magic of stop-motion animation by director Henry
Selick. Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, is a childlike
ghoul who stumbles upon the joy of Christmas Town and decides to fill Santa's
shoes with his own twisted (but endearingly well-meaning) take on gift giving.
Selick turns Burton's original story and fanciful sketches into fully realized
characters and walks that fine line between comedy and horror while maintaining
the sense of wonder instilled by the pumpkin-headed Halloween king. The
mischievous little helpers of Santa Skellington aren't evil, they just have an
innocently devilish sense of fun. Danny Elfman pens the 10 original songs and
provides Jack's singing voice. The disc also features earlier Burton short
films: "Vincent," an imaginative black-and-white, stop-motion fantasy of a
Poe-obsessed child (narrated by Vincent Price); and the uncut version of
"Frankenweenie," Burton's affectionate tribute to the original monster movie
classic with a family dog resurrected from the dead (with bolts in his neck!)
and the suburban neighbors roused like angry horror movie peasants. In
addition to the previously available supplements (the featurettes "The Making of
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "The Worlds of Tim Burton's The
Nightmare Before Christmas," deleted scenes and storyboards) there are all new
supplements in this "Collector's Edition." Writer/producer Burton joins Selick
and Elfman for the commentary track and contributes an introduction to
"Frankenweenie," and Christopher Lee narrates Burton's original poem (set to
simple but effective storybook animation). Also new is the behind-the-scenes
Disneyland featurette "What's This? Jack's Haunted Mansion Holiday Tour." The
Blu-ray disc is stunning, but the movie introduction exclusive to the Blu-ray
edition runs a mere 18 seconds.
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| Western Classics Collection |
A pair of lean Western thrillers from John Sturges highlight
this box set. The 1953 Civil War Western " Escape From Fort Bravo" pits hardened Union officer William
Holden against the Confederate prisoners held in his desert camp, in particular
John Forsythe, who masterminds an escape with the help of lovely distraction
Eleanor Parker. Robert Taylor is both " The Law and Jake Wade" in the story of a former outlaw who has
left his old life behind to become a marshal, and Richard Widmark is the smiling
psychopath of a former partner who won't let the past lie. Sturges crafts
marvelous action scenes in both films -- the ghost town shootout in " Jake Wade" is especially startling -- and he brings a sharp
presence to the violence. Five of the six films in the Warner collection,
including " Many Rivers to Cross" (1955), " Saddle the Wind" (1958), and Anthony Mann's 1960 remake of " Cimarron," are actually MGM productions, a once rival studio
whose film catalogue is now owned by Warner.. The sole Warner film is the 1968
" The Stalking Moon," with Gregory Peck and Eva Marie Saint. No
supplements beyond the original trailer. Each disc is also available
separately. |
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| Delicatessen |
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"Amelie" director Jean-Pierre Jeunet made his feature debut
(with filmmaking partner Marc Caro) with this tasty black comedy about love and
cannibalism. Set in a vaguely postapocalyptic future, where meat has become a
precious commodity, it stars Jeunet favorite Dominique Pinon as an unemployed
clown hired as a handyman while the inhabitants of his rundown apartment
building plot to make him next week's special. The inventive humor and playful
gags create a surreal sense of humor and a buoyant sense of wonder. The new
"Special Edition" release features solo commentary by co-director Jeunet
(because Caro "doesn't like this sort of thing"), "The Archives of Jean-Pierre
Jeunet" (eight minutes of video rehearsal footage), and the impressionistic
13-minute featurette "Fine Cooked Meets," all in French with English
subtitles.
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| Brotherhood of the Wolf: Director's Cut |
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Part 18th century costume epic, part martial-arts action
thriller, part arcane conspiracy movie, Christophe Gans' colorful, kinetic genre
mash was a box office sensation in France. Samuel Le Bihan is the two-fisted
naturalist sent by Louis XV to southern France to stop 'The Beast of Gevaudan.'
Japanese-American Mark Dacascos co-stars as his butt-kicking Iroquois
blood-brother sidekick. What begins as an atmospheric thriller with an
undercurrent of political intrigue becomes a high-concept monster movie that
everyone involved seems to take way too seriously. In France it ran 151 minutes
but it was trimmed by 10 minutes for its stateside release -- and it still felt
too long. The footage is all put back in this new two-disc set, which also
features two feature-length documentaries on the making of the film and 40
minutes of deleted and extended scenes among its supplements, all in French with
English subtitles.
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| Errol Flynn Westerns |
The best Westerns from Warner Bros. action star Errol Flynn were
included in "The Errol Flynn Signature Collection." This four-disc box collects
the balance of his oaters, including the 1940 big-budget Civil War-era adventure
" Virginia City," made during his glory days as Warner Bros.'
most dashing screen hero. Union officer Flynn takes on Confederate agent
Randolph Scott, romances Miriam Hopkins, and scuffles with bandit Humphrey
Bogart (playing a Mexican with a gaucho mustache!) in the handsome production
from director Michael Curtiz. The disc features commentary by historian Frank
Thompson and a featurette. " San Antonio" (1945), " Montana" and " Rocky Mountain" (both 1950) fill out the set. Each disc
includes a "Warner Night at the Movies" collection of vintage shorts, cartoons,
newsreels and trailers. Each title also available separately. |
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In addition to his regular contributions to MSN Movies, Sean Axmaker is a
film critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and a DVD columnist for MSN
Entertainment. He is also a contributing writer for GreenCine.com, Turner
Classic Movies Online and Asian Cult Cinema, among other publications.
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Get Smart! Please!In honor of bumbling Maxwell
Smart, a brief history of our favorite clueless detectives On the RocksWith 'Iron Man' and 'Hancock' featuring
heavy-drinking protagonists, we reflect on the most memorable drunks in movie
history UnclassicsThough they may be listed among the
greatest films of all time, these 10 movies deserve to be
downgraded | |
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