Video This Week: December 25th

By: John Thonen
Date: Tuesday, December 25, 2001

First of all, let us all here at the CINESCAPE video secton offer you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season. Do yourself a favor, and take a break from your busy schedule to sit down and watch one of your favorite holiday shows - IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, THE GRINCH, A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS... Just pick one and go with it. And now back to our regularly scheduled column.

VIDEO NEWS

While most

DVD news is overwhelmingly positive, the December 10^th issue of VIDEO BUSINESS magazine reported a scary new development. It seems that more and more actors, directors and other talent participants in films are demanding additional payment to contribute to "special features" on DVD releases. Arnold Schwarzenegger reportedly received $75,000 to do a commentary for TOTAL RECALL and other performers are asking fees as well. In addition, a new Writer's Guild agreement mandates an additional $5,000 be paid to writers when the film they helped create is released to DVD, and the Guild is asking that writers be included in special features if the director is involved, creating yet another boost to extra feature costs. Alternate audio tracks for a film's score are already being phased out due to new industry restrictions and, in order to keep from being labeled a "separate program," thus qualifying for additional payment, many "making-of" documentaries are being kept under 30 minutes so they can be labeled "promotional" only. Lastly, it seems likely that as the average member of the public embraces DVD, the need to drive sales with extras which only fans are likely to desire will dwindle rapidly. At this rate, the extra features that first attracted so many of us to DVD may soon be a thing of the past.

TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME will hit DVD in February according to a recent announcement from New Line Home Entertainment. Reports at this point indicate the disc will feature a documentary on the film's production, but no mention is made of the long rumored excised footage, which New Line had reportedly acquired. Following, as it does, fairly soon after the recent release of the first season of TWIN PEAKS on DVD, this release should thrill fans of the cult TV series.

NOTEWORTHY RELEASES FOR THE WEEK

BROTHERHOOD / BROTHERHOOD 2:

YOUNG WARLOCKS is a two-DVD Special Edition set of the first two entries in David DeCoteau's THE BROTHERHOOD series, and it's a good introduction to what the longtime schlock director is up to since suddenly becoming a filmmaker of some merit. While hardly genre classics, these are reasonably entertaining low budget films with solid production values, enjoyable even charismatic casts, interesting stories and an erotic undertone that breaks new ground in exploitation filmmaking. The results are clearly a far cry from the dreck DeCoteau had long manufactured for Charlie Band's Full Moon Video. The Special Edition contains commentaries and trailers and both films show the hand of a veteran director who has finally found his niche after 20 years in the business.

CARNIVORE is the end result of ten-plus years of effort on the part of two fans to create a feature film. Sporting a cover amazingly similar to the recently released SOULKEEPER, this film is a flashback to the kind of semi-pro, straight-from-poverty efforts that were a mainstay of drive-ins in the '60s, trash cinemas in the '70s and home video in the '80s. The acting is uneven, the production values barely acceptable, the lighting often questionable and the monster, generally cheezy. But hey, this story of a group of teens that encounter an escaped, biogenetic military experiment that's holed up in the local haunted house is pretty fun junk. A sequel is reportedly already in the works.

EVOLUTION is proof that money, talent and an admirable pedigree as a filmmaker are no guarantee of success. Director Ivan Reitman may have been the invisible fifth member of the GHOSTBUSTERS, but he's way down the list of who we're gonna' call after this misfire. David Duchovny toplines a fun and eclectic cast in this sci-fi tale of a couple of community college teachers who stumble on a rapidly evolving life form deposited by a meteor's crash in the desert. The effects are fine, the story (which was originally written as a horror film) intriguing and the cast is game, but there are so few laughs here that I thought I was watching a Rob Schneider film.

J.D.'s REVENGE is a largely forgotten tale from the heyday of blaxploitation - the 1970s. Toplined by Glynn Turman and Lou Gossett, this tale of a young man possessed by the spirit of a murdered, straight razor wielding thug is surprisingly effective. Set in New Orleans, Turman is the youthful tool for J.D. to carry out his vengeance through and Gossett is the preacher hoping to save his soul, and both are excellent in their roles. The production values are meager and the direction is decidedly minimal, but the cast and story make this worth a look.

MANNEQUIN is further proof that the '80s were the nadir of fashion, pop music hairstyles and comedic date movies. Once hot, but now forgot Andrew McCarthy stars with Kim Cattrall in this tale of a department store mannequin which is possessed and brought to life by the fun-loving spirit of an Egyptian princess while the Jefferson Starship warbles on the soundtrack. Once she meets McCarthy, viewers are treated to montages of giggling youths in dumb looking outfits and poofy hair, as they scamper through madcap moments of mirth and fall in love. This is a remnant of the era when a male mannequin like McCarthy could actually be a movie star. Most of the actual laughs come courtesy of Meshach Taylor as a mincing, gay fashion guru who befriends the bedazzled duo.

TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY is a ghost story with a difference. A variation on the idea behind films such as GHOST, this is the story of a woman mourning the death of her lover (Alan Rickman) who suddenly finds that his ghost has returned. This seemingly joyous bit of fantasy glimmers for her then begins to fade as the ghost's presence begins to remind her of her lover's many faults, not to mention the hassles of keeping him hidden from their friends and neighbors. Rickman in an uncharacteristically subdued role and Julie Stevenson in a role created for her by the director are superb and the film does a deft job of blending the fantasy of the situation and the encroaching reality as well. However, the pace is slow and it's neither comedy nor drama, so the film struggles to hold your interest at points, but for those who like an intellectual edge to their fantasies, this might be your cup of tea.

EASTER EGG HUNT

THE ANIMAL,

a movie of dubious merits at best, creeps up a notch with a hidden goodie recently revealed on DVDREVIEW.COM. From the main menu, select "Special Features: Animal Treats" to go to the second page of selections. Now, select the entry "What's In Marvin" and press "Enter," which will start that feature. At its end, the menu will reappear with a lion's head highlighted. If you now press "Up" twice, you'll highlight a red paw in the upper left. If you now press "Enter," you'll get a short clip of Marvin and Dr. Wilder, which has been cobbled together from some deleted footage. None of this makes the movie any better, but it's better than nothing.

HOME VIDEO 2001

The Vidiocy column has appeared, in various forms of print and pixels, for 10 years now. Each year, I've taken the opportunity to abuse my forum by listing my opinions on the best and worst direct-to-video releases of the year. Due to the huge changes in the video market over the past year, many of the categories I used to mention are now of little or no importance. I mean, I could probably cite some film as the "Best Charles Band/Roger Corman" film of the year, but with what these guys have been pumping out lately, "Best" would be a very relative term. So this year I'm going to play around with the concept a bit. Here goes.

BEST WEIRD, BUT FUN, RELEASE

MOTORAMA - a one of a kind, decidedly twisted fantasy road trip across the U.S. by a 10-year-old.

BEST SEQUEL

TREMORS 3:

BACK TO PERFECTION Not quite as good as its predecessors, this was still one of the best DTV titles of the year.

WORST SEQUEL

WISHMASTER 3: BEYOND THE GATES OF HELL - A bad franchise gets worse in this mindless, derivative, unimaginative and unscary waste of film.

BEST DVD COMMENTARY

RAPTOR Yeah, there're others that are more insightful, inspiring or educational, but none of them are as fun as this film's director and female lead getting drunk and laughing at the movie along with you.

BEST DTV THAT SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN THEATRICAL RELEASE

CHASING SLEEP A psychological thriller of uncommon depth and sophistication. This year's top sleeper.

BEST DTV HORROR FILM

GINGER SNAPS The best werewolf movie in years, the best teen horror movie in a couple decades and the outstanding horror release of the year, and it couldn't even get decent theatrical play. Check it out.

BEST THEATRICAL FLOP THAT WAS DISCOVERED ON VIDEO

THE GIFT

Sam Rami's low-key tale of psychic phenomena got mixed reviews and meager box office, but many have discovered its considerable merits through the miracle of home video. All this, and Katie Holmes' breasts.

BIGGEST DTV DISAPPOINTMENT

FAUST Director Brian Yuzna has never matched his sometime-partner Stuart Gordon, but he's usually interesting. This gory, foreign produced comic book adaptation seemed to hold promise under his hands, but it's just a mess.

BEST THEATRICAL SUCCESS THAT WAS EVEN BETTER ON DVD

MEMENTO It's probably the most significant U.S. theatrical release since PULP FICTION but, as enjoyable as it was in theaters, DVD gave one the ability to rewind and review the labyrinthine web of plot and images that make the film so much fun.

BEST RELEASE OF A GREAT, BUT LARGELY FORGOTTEN, FILM

THE STUNT MAN It's inarguably the best movie about moviemaking, but also one of the great American films of all time. A witty and wonderful examination of the worlds of the "real" and the "reel" that no film fan should miss.

BEST VIDEO RELEASE OF A GREAT TV SERIES

FARSCAPE The Sci-Fi Channel show takes the nod here in a tough category. FARSCAPE is simply the best sci-fi series ever to hit TV and its DVD releases are full of extras.

BEST THEATRICAL FLOP RELEASED TO VIDEO BUT STILL NOT DISCOVERED

THE FINAL PROGRAMME

It's an almost forgotten gem from the '60s, which remains timelessly entertaining even today. This is a crazy, anarchic movie, and not for all tastes, but if you can appreciate its pleasures, you won't soon forget it.

WORST MOVIE WITH A CURRENT OR FORMER TEEN STAR

TEQUILA BODY SHOTS This effort wins the title, though the competition was fierce. This disaster, starring Joey Lawrence, is just too dull and stupid for words.

Vidiocy is our weekly Video & DVD column.