Tag: Top 10

Top 10: Bonus Features Not to Skip

We’re proud of the variety and depth of the Media Services collection. In the interest of bringing you some highlights and deep cuts from our shelves, we’ll be posting unusual and interesting Top 10 lists of some of our favorite DVDs. When was the last time you watched a DVD bonus feature? At the risk … Continue reading “Top 10: Bonus Features Not to Skip”

We’re proud of the variety and depth of the Media Services collection. In the interest of bringing you some highlights and deep cuts from our shelves, we’ll be posting unusual and interesting Top 10 lists of some of our favorite DVDs.

When was the last time you watched a DVD bonus feature? At the risk of sounding hackneyed, special features aren’t so special anymore; so many films now receive limited editions with behind-the-scene footage and interviews. Even among the best movie releases (like anything put out by the Criterion Collection), it can be exhausting to go through every featurette, trailer, and commentary track.

But there are a few movies with particularly unusual or interesting special features that are worth the detour to the second disc. In some cases, they’re even better than the film themselves. With the help of the library’s Media and RTL staff, we present the top ten DVD bonus features that are worth tracking down.

Some serious historical research went into this Indiana Jones spinoff television show, and the producers clearly wanted to share their homework with us. This DVD set contains close to 100 mini-documentaries about the subjects of each episode, from ancient Egypt to the story of George S. Patton. (And they’re really great too!)

Many commentary tracks can feel dry, especially when they’re produced very shortly after the film’s release. This is not a problem for Big Trouble in Little China. John Carpenter and Kurt Russell have a wild time re-watching the cult classic together. It’s like sitting in the room with two old friends seeing each other for the first time in years.

Ridley Scott’s cyberpunk masterpiece has been issued and reissued repeatedly in the last 30 years, receiving significant alterations that completely change the film’s subtext and structure. The Final Cut edition contains all four revisions of the film, including a work-in-progress version that circulated among bootleggers as an unofficial “director’s cut.”

Never ones to indulge analysis of their own work, the Coen brothers included a mocking faux-critical commentary track for first major film. The commentator, supposedly from the Forever Young Films preservation group, explains in dead seriousness how every animal is animatronic and why the film had to be shot backwards. Hilariously, he intentionally ignores the most famous shot in the movie.

  • Chuck Jones: Extremes & In-Betweens – A Life in Animation (DVD 4176)

This documentary about the life of legendary Warner Bros. animator Chuck Jones is a worthwhile watch for fans or students of animation, but the 14-minute “Chuck Jones Tutorial” is the real gem. In this segment, the man behind Tom & Jerry explains, in his own words and with examples, how to animate with style and panache. It’s a brief master class from one of the legends of the medium.

In lieu of the original filmmakers, many releases of older movies include commentary tracks from film critics or academics. But only a film hailed as one of the greatest of all time lands commentary tracks from Peter Bogdanovich and Roger Ebert, two of the world’s most esteemed film critics.

David Lynch’s most recent movie, like most of his filmography, begs for in-depth discussion about its theme and tidbits from production. On the DVD, Lynch doesn’t offer commentary and instead includes a video of himself cooking quinoa. We’ll take it, I guess.

Memento may have the most confounding DVD menus of all time; the supplemental disc is structured as a psychological test that provides access to different content based on your answers. The most exciting of these is a re-edit of the film in chronological order, an editing experiment that everyone has probably wanted to try or to see at some point. To find it, click the clock on the first menu screen, then answer the question about a woman fixing a flat tire in reverse order.

Appropriate for a film that popularized the mockumentary genre, Spinal Tap‘s bonus features never drop character and treat the movie like the real thing. The main draw is a commentary track featuring the cast in-character at a twentieth anniversary reunion, but other odd “archival” footage is worth seeking out as well.

  • Treasures of the Twilight Zone (DVD 6478)

In 1959, Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes interviewed Rod Serling about the state of television, commercialization, and censorship. It’s a riveting half-hour that’s still relevant today, and this collection of Twilight Zone episodes included Serling’s interview as a special feature. (Since it was the 50s, both men smoke during the interview and fill the room with a tobacco haze. It’s funny but distracting.)

Top 10: Scotland, On Screen and Behind the Camera

We’re proud of the variety and depth of the Media Services collection. In the interest of bringing you some highlights and deep cuts from our shelves, we’ll be posting unusual and interesting Top 10 lists of some of our favorite DVDs. Today, Scotland heads to the polls to vote on whether to declare independence. Even … Continue reading “Top 10: Scotland, On Screen and Behind the Camera”

We’re proud of the variety and depth of the Media Services collection. In the interest of bringing you some highlights and deep cuts from our shelves, we’ll be posting unusual and interesting Top 10 lists of some of our favorite DVDs.

Today, Scotland heads to the polls to vote on whether to declare independence. Even if the vote fails, this election may be one of the most momentous in recent European history. In Media Services, we’ve been abuzz with one question: if Scotland declares independence, do we start looking at their national cinema separate from the United Kingdom too? This is an especially hard question to answer given the fluid national identity of the UK.

Regardless, Scotland has a quality film history, both in on-screen depictions and from their filmmakers. We’ve done a little perusing, and we’d like to share what we consider the top ten films in Scotland and from Scotland.

(And sorry, but we made the executive decision not to include Highlander on this list.)

This is Alfred Hitchcock’s only film set in Scotland, and it’s a doozy. Many consider it among Hitchcock’s best films shot in the United Kingdom, and its narrative elements – an innocent man on the run, unexpected character deaths, a MacGuffin – anticipate some of his later masterpieces like Psycho and North by Northwest.

Maybe it’s a little obvious, but this 1995 Best Picture winner remains the most iconic depictions of Scotland in the history of film. There is perhaps no more widely recognized symbol of of Scottish nationalism than William Wallace screaming “Freedom!” Expect many Braveheart references in tonight’s news coverage.

Outside of Brave, there are very few animated films set in Scotland. This one, based on an unproduced screenplay by French director Jacques Tati, follows a magician who sunsets his career in Scotland. Melancholy and wistful, The Illusionist is a gorgeous film that was rightly nominated for the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar.

Bill Forsyth is probably the first name you would put on a list of Scottish national cinema directors. His 1983 comedy about a Texan oil baron attempting to buy a coastal Scottish town is a tribute to everything beloved about his country. Critics swooned over it too: Local Hero is among the only films with a shocking 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Ratcatcher is a coming-of-age story, but it is perhaps most notable for setting that story against the background of the 1973 Glasgow garbage strikes. That event is an underdocumented, fairly ugly moment in Scottish history, and Ratcatcher engages with this past in rare form.

Yes, Rob Roy is the product of an American studio, and its lead actor is Irish. But this story of one of the great Scottish folk heroes is an indelibly Scottish experience. The entire film was (beautifully) shot in the Highlands and makes use of real castles, though this lead to all sorts of production-related weather and travel nightmares.

Starring a pre-Doctor Who Christopher Eccelston, this dark crime comedy was a sleeper success that found new life with a 2012 Criterion re-issue. The film is also notable as the first product of frequent collaborators Danny Boyle and John Hodge. This directing-writing duo would go on to produce one of the most famous of all Scottish films…

Danny Boyle’s gonzo take on heroin and economic depression in Edinburgh is remembered for its vibrant and manic performances, particularly from then-unknown Ewan McGregor. That one of the most famous Scottish films is about drugs and squalor isn’t necessarily a negative. Frank McAveety, a former Scottish tourism minister, called the attention “welcome.”

The original Wicker Man (not the regrettable Nicolas Cage remake) is a masterwork of horror that uses the Scottish isles to great effect. Christopher Lee gives one of the most powerful performances of his career as the leader of a pagan cult tied to a young girl’s disappearance.

Whisky Galore! is a love letter to an acquired taste in alcohol. When a ship carrying an astronomical amount of whiskey crashes in Scotland, the local village goes nuts defending and/or looting it. This is a certifiably silly movie that probably doesn’t help Scotland’s reputation, but it certainly doesn’t pretend to be anything but madcap.

Top 8: Documentary Sequels

We’re proud of the variety and depth of the Media Services collection. In the interest of bringing you some highlights and deep cuts from our shelves, we’ll be posting unusual and interesting Top 10 lists of some of our favorite DVDs. You may often hear self-identified film snobs talk about their love for documentaries as … Continue reading “Top 8: Documentary Sequels”

We’re proud of the variety and depth of the Media Services collection. In the interest of bringing you some highlights and deep cuts from our shelves, we’ll be posting unusual and interesting Top 10 lists of some of our favorite DVDs.

You may often hear self-identified film snobs talk about their love for documentaries as an antidote to Hollywood sequels. That’s a pretty silly idea, in part because documentaries have sequels too. While most documentary films are standalone affairs, sometimes their subjects change enough to warrant a follow-up.

This happens infrequently, so we weren’t able to round up a full list of ten documentary sequels. But the ones we found are quite good. We present the Top 8 Documentary Sequels.

  • Best Man (HU DVD 2772) – sequel to Best Boy (HU DVD 2772)

Best Boy follows a handicapped 52-year-old man, Philly Wohl, who prepares for independence as his elderly parental caretakers reach the end of their lives. The film ends before we see how Philly manages on his own; a sequel, Best Man, picks up Philly’s story twenty years later.

The Dole Food Company came under fire in Bananas!* for allegedly using pesticides that sterilized their workers. Dole considered this an act of defamation and retaliated by suing the filmmakers, distributors, and sponsors. Big Boys Gone Bananas!* follows this lawsuit and examines the legal consequences of free speech.

The filmmakers of King Corn put their venture into farming front-and-center while discussing the broader impact of commercialized agriculture. They bring their personal, gonzo touch to follow-up, Big River, which examines the ecological fallout from their farm experiment.

Gasland caused a huge stir with its infamous shot of a Colorado resident able to ignite their tap water as a result of natural gas fracking. The sequel broadens the scope of the original and takes aim at fracking practices around the globe.

  • Paradise Lost series (HU DVD 4771 – 4773)

In 1993, three teenagers in West Memphis, Arkansas were arrested for the murders of three children. Though all three were incarcerated, many independent parties asserted their innocence. The three Paradise Lost films follow the lives of the accused from their initial trial to their eventual release.

Cochlear implants still capture the public’s enthusiasm, if YouTube clips of people hearing for the first time are any indication. But the transition from deaf to hearing can be difficult and disrupt deaf communities. The Sound and Fury series looks at how cochlear implants changed their recipients lives in the short- and long-term.

  • Up Series (DVD 5271 – 5276, HU DVD 716)

By far the reigning champion of serialized documentary filmmaking, the Up series follows a group of children as the grow from 7 years old to, in the latest installment, 56. The intention of the series was to create a grand defining statement about destiny and growing up, but it works even better as a character study.

  • Return of the War Room (DVD 1013)  – sequel to The War Room (DVD 1013)

The War Room stands tall as one of the best political documentaries, with its ground-level view of a presidential campaign painting a vivid and realistic portrait of political work. In 2008, the directors filmed a follow-up reunion with key figures from the film to reflect on the campaign.

Top 10: Remakes That You Probably Never Knew Were Remakes

We’re proud of the variety and depth of the Media Services collection. In the interest of bringing you some highlights and deep cuts from our shelves, we’ll be posting unusual and interesting Top 10 lists of some of our favorite DVDs. Last July, pop culture website Den of Geek estimated that at time time, there … Continue reading “Top 10: Remakes That You Probably Never Knew Were Remakes”

We’re proud of the variety and depth of the Media Services collection. In the interest of bringing you some highlights and deep cuts from our shelves, we’ll be posting unusual and interesting Top 10 lists of some of our favorite DVDs.

Last July, pop culture website Den of Geek estimated that at time time, there were 57 movie remakes in production. That seems excessive. So many of these movies are simply attempting to cash in on name-brand familiarity. Even the best remakes seldom escape the shadows of the originals.

But every once in a while, we get a movie or television show so great or memorable that we completely forget where it came from. For your viewing pleasure, we offer Top 10 Remakes That You Probably Never Knew Were Remakes.

These two versions of 3:10 to Yuma, both moderately successful on their release, are based on a short story by the late writer Elmore Leonard. It’s one of the few pulp paperback stories to be adapted multiple times.

Without the jokes, Airplane! would still be a corny, ridiculous movie. It comes as little surprise that its script is taken almost directly from the 1957 disaster film Zero Hour! Almost every detail is identical, down to a cameo from a popular basketball player and the search for a pilot who didn’t each fish.

  • Ben-Hur (1959) (HU DVD 3857) – remake of Ben-Hur (1925) (HU DVD 3857)

Though many associate Ben-Hur most strongly with its chariot race scenes, the story more substantially is about a prince’s life intersecting with Jesus’s. The silent, black-and-white version from 1925 emphasizes this in its title, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ.

Yes, even the master Scorsese himself borrows from time to time. Infernal Affairs follows roughly the same story as The Departed, swapping Boston for Hong Kong and the mob for the triads. Fascinatingly, Infernal Affairs received two sequels, but we doubt Scorsese would come back for another round.

The connections between MP Francis Urquhart and Rep. Frank Underwood were more widely discussed before Kevin Spacey turned in his iconic performance as the ultimate barbecue-loving backstabber. Even with Underwood clearly in command, both versions offer a unique take on the corrupting power of politics.

The 1957 novel I Am Legend is one of the foundational texts of the post-apocalypse and zombie genres, so it makes sense that studios would periodically revisit it for inspiration. These two versions, one starring Will Smith and one starring Charlton Heston, wildly deviate from the book in different ways and have surprisingly little in common.

  • Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) (HU DVD 4911) – remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) (HU DVD 3120)

If it weren’t for Kevin McCarthy’s panicked, climactic screams at the end of the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, we would probably believe that the Donald Sutherland-starred film from 1978 was the original movie. In fact, many critics consider the update to be among the best film remakes ever produced.

In a battle of celebrity royalty, Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack are a close match with George Clooney’s band of handsome collaborators. But compared to Sinatra’s original heist story, Clooney’s suaveness and Steven Soderbergh’s dynamic directing put the Ocean’s remake in another class of filmmaking.

The original Scarface is one of the defining old-timey gangster films; the remake is one of the defining celebrations of 1980s excess. The rise-and-fall arc of the Scarface story was perfectly suited to transitioning from one decade to the other.

Critics wondered whether the Coen brothers’ story of Marshal Rooster Cogburn would be eclipsed by an earlier rendition featuring John Wayne in one of his last major roles. Based on the acclaim, we feel that Jeff Bridges’s version came away quite well.