Pictured Johnny Depp (pictured in From Hell) does Ed Wood, and the DVD offers great extras. Glenn Close, Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler and Faith Hill in Stepford Wives.
Thousands of DVD titles are released every month, so how are you supposed to keep track of the highlights? Well, as Morticia Addams said to Gomez when he was beating up on himself, 'That's my job.' So I'll force myself to shovel through the endless commentary tracks, the inane featurettes and the best-left-on-the-cutting-room-floor deleted scenes to find not always the best, but certainly a few titles that I think are worth a closer look. Naturally, an emphasis on DVDs with a decided Bent will get extra consideration, but you already knew that I was a big 'ole cheerleader for Our People didn't you?
One last thing—with the holidays upon us, several titles that would normally get mentioned here will show up next week in my DVD gift recommendations—though, not surprising, all these titles would make splendid gifts as well.
A few October holdovers worth mentioning: the Aladdin Platinum Edition is the first time the 1992 mega Disney hit has been issued on DVD. Like others in this winning series from Disney, this two-disk set is a winner with everything from games for the kiddies to unearthed, early animated deleted songs and scenes. Depending on your taste ( and tolerance level ) , there's a new music video created for this edition by Clay Aiken and a pop duet of 'A Whole New World' with hottie airheads Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson. There are also two making-of-the-music-video features that are almost as long as the songs themselves. The greatest treasure is the film itself, which looks wonderful and is to my way of thinking the last great Disney musical.
Director Joe Dante's little seen Explorers from 1985 is another gem finally out on DVD, albeit in a bare bones edition that only features a couple of deleted scenes and no commentary from Dante. No matter. This story of three adolescent outsiders obsessed with building a space ship and meeting whatever's 'out there' is funny, touching and offbeat. It introduced Ethan Hawke to the screen; he co-stars along with River Phoenix and Jason Presson. It also has expert supporting performances from James Cromwell and Dana Ivey and a lovely Jerry Goldsmith score.
Ed Wood, Tim Burton's 1994 black-and-white, biazrro homage to the transvestite creator of the worst films of all time has finally made it to DVD after several attempts to bring it to the market. Johnny Depp, dressed in angora, scores as the hopeless optimist, and is ably supported by Martin Laundau in his Oscar-winning supporting performance, Sarah Jessica Parker, Bill Murray, Jeffrey Jones, and Patricia Arquette. The DVD has a cute menu format with a silhouetted audience throwing tomatoes at the simulated movie screen, a nice making-of featurette introduced by Depp in drag, an extended version of Bill Murray as the gay Bunny Breckinridge being serenaded by a mariachi band, among other features. A must for the kitsch at heart.
November saw the release of the movie-only Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, the 1993 comedic misfire from gay director Gus Van Sant. But with Uma Thurman heading a cast that includes Lorraine Bracco, Angie Dickinson, Sean Young, Rain Phoenix and songs by k.d. lang, what collection of lesbian cinema will be complete without it? From the same year comes the anniversary edition of Philadelphia, with Tom Hanks' Oscar-winning performance as the lawyer with AIDS suing his firm for wrongful termination. This new, 2-disk edition is packed with extras including an acclaimed making-of documentary, assorted featurettes, the video of Bruce Springsteen's 'Streets of Philadelphia,' and commentary by director Jonathan Demme and out screenwriter Ron Nyswaner.
I didn't have as much trouble with the comedy The Stepford Wives as a lot of other film reviewers did and the DVD is already one of my partner Jim's favorites. Expert performances by Roger Bart, Bette Midler and, surprisingly, Glenn Close elevate this sun-drenched Nicole Kidman comedy vehicle with out screenwriter Paul Rudnick offering a good ratio of zingers. Deleted and extended scenes give us a look at how much post-tinkering went on with the film ( and more would have been nice ) , as does a thorough commentary by director Frank Oz.
Guy Maddin, perhaps the oddest of the independent directors, had his biggest critical and financial hit with The Saddest Music In The World, in which Isabella Rossellini plays to the hilt a legless beer baroness in 1930s Winnipeg sponsoring a sad song contest. A fascinating making-of documentary shows the idiosyncratic Maddin putting his actors through their paces in a barely heated warehouse ( also in Winnipeg ) that would have been too cold even for Joan Crawford. Best feature on the DVD are three short films by Maddin including the hilarious 'Sissy Boy Slap Party.'
I'm as disappointed as gay men everywhere that the release of A Home At The End of the World doesn't include the extended ( and I do mean extended ) version of the full-frontal Colin Farrell nude scene ( or much else for that matter ) . But all objectification aside, this is one of the best relationship films of the year, though it failed at the box office. I'm still stunned as this is a movie that rewards with repeated viewings. While you're out picking up the DVD, help yourself to the beautiful soundtrack with those haunting Duncan Sheik songs on Milan Records. www.milanrecords.com .
Jean Arthur was one of the screen's funniest women and the expert George Stevens romantic comedy The More The Merrier has one of her greatest performances. This 1943 gem finds Arthur sharing an apartment with McCrea and the elderly, charming Charles Coburn ( who won a Supporting Oscar ) due to a wartime housing shortage. The DVD doesn't have any extras but it's bargain priced and is a genuine classic.
Also worth adding to your collection: the mega-gay, low-budget but funny 10 Attitudes ( Jason Stuart, Jim J. Bullock, Judy Tenuta ) , the lesbian romantic comedy Mango Kiss, Vin Diesel strapped down in the classic S&M pose in the sci-fi flop Chronicles of Riddick which has lots of extra stuff, and the other double-disk, big-budget releases Spider Man 2 and the third Harry Potter installment.
