| Dear Santa:
Well Christmas is just around the corner and there are a bunch of new DVDs I want. I know I’m asking for a lot of stuff I already have, but apparently ’tis the season for movie studios to repackage some of their product with new bonus features at a lower price. Don’t worry, I’m not bitter (much).
· Airplane "Don’t Call Me Shirley!" Edition (1980, dir. Jim Abrams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker, Paramount): You know how much I love this zany no-holds-barred comedy. It’s like Naked Gun meets Airport.
· Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Chosen Collection (1997-2003, 20th Century Fox): I know that I already religiously collected all seven seasons of Joss Whedon’s hyper-literate drama-horror-comedy zeitgeist TV show, but now you can get it all in one 40-disc package with a bonus disc. C’mon Santa, help me out.
· Cannibal Holocaust: Deluxe Edition (1980, dir. Ruggero Deodato, Grindhouse): I know that the 25th anniversary edition just came out in October, but this low-budget gore classic is getting a deluxe edition re-release. Wait a sec, it’s the exact same disc. Boo.
· Gallipoli (1981, dir. Peter Weir, Paramount): This is not only a great early performance by Mel Gibson, but a fantastic antiwar film. Good filmmaking always says Christmas to me.
· The Harryhausen Giftset (Sony): The perfect gift for the kid in everyone. This set features the stop-motion animation work of the legendary Ray Harryhausen in 20 Million Miles to Earth, Earth vs. The Flying Saucers and It Came From Beneath the Sea as well as trailers and making-of documentaries.
· King Kong: Peter Jackson Production Diaries (2005, Universal): Two discs (nearly three-and-a-half hours) of behind the scenes footage on what is destined to be 2005’s biggest movie. Sounds like the perfect way to kill time as I am trying to work off that post-holiday turkey coma. It comes with a 52-page book.
· Naughty Nudes of the 1960s (EI Studios): Actually, Santa, this collection of classic nudie loops is for the Video Vulture, but he’s been a very good boy this year. Hubba hubba.
· R Kelly Trapped in the Closet: Explicit Edition (2005, dir. R Kelly and Jim Swaffield, BMG): This one is for the person on your list who has been really naughty. The clean version of Kelly’s epic 12-part hip-hopera was bad enough. Who needs to see what happens when he feels uninhibited.
· Rock ’n’ Roll High School: Rock On Edition (1979, dir. Allan Arkush, Buena Vista): This camp classic, featuring a performance by The Ramones, is just one of many films by legendary low-budget producer Roger Corman that are getting the deluxe reissue treatment. Santa, if you don’t want me to rock out, how about Sylvester Stallone in Death Race 2000, William Shatner in Big Bad Mama or some lizardy adventure in Dinocroc?
· Short Cuts (1993, dir. Robert Altman, Criterion): Santa, you know that this sprawling adaptation of Raymond Carver’s short stories is my favourite film by Altman. Now, on this two-disc set, there are documentaries, interviews, essays, isolated music tracks and deleted scenes.
· Sin City: Recut and Expanded Edition (2005, dir. Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez, Buena Vista): I should have known when one of the best movies of the year came out on DVD with no features that there was something better on the way. Loaded with commentaries, documentaries and featurettes, this is the one Rodriguez fans have been waiting for.
· Star Wars Trilogy (1977-1983, 20th Century Fox): Hey Santa, the artwork for this box set is of the old-school variety. Does that mean that this is the original versions of the films on DVD? Nope. It’s the same special-edition versions complete with the crappy scene with Jabba in Star Wars, Greedo shooting first and the horrible musical number in Return of the Jedi. In fact, it’s the same box set that came out late last year only without the cool making-of documentaries. I changed my mind. I don’t want any of this stuff. Just give George Lucas a lump of coal. |
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