DVDs: Part One
Gift Guide
Fri., Dec. 3, 2004
Arrested Development: Season One
Fox Home Entertainment, $39.99Banking on the power of the exploding DVD market and an unexpected Emmy win its first time out, the entire first season of this critically acclaimed comedy series appears on this three-disc DVD set, ready for uninterrupted viewing. Because the series was often pre-empted or moved around the Fox schedule, it's amazing the series gathered a fan base at all. Fortunately, the die-hards kept with the sublime series about a spoiled, affluent family in deep financial trouble. Compared to its contemporaries in network television's mediocre sitcom landscape, the writing is bright, refreshing, and edgy. The brilliant cast, led by Jason Bateman, captures each clueless, narcissistic member of the affluent Bluth clan with deadpan, sidesplitting seriousness. It's not a stretch to say Arrested Development is one of the finest ensemble casts in a network comedy since Seinfeld. Extras include an extended pilot, audio commentaries on three episodes, and executive producer (and show narrator) Ron Howard's insider view of the series. Snippets from a TV Land awards show (with series creator Mitchell Hurwitz humbly accepting the Future Classic Award) and a Museum of Television & Radio panel discussion about the series reveal how rare a treasure Arrested Development really is. – Belinda Acosta
Fanny & Alexander
Criterion, $59.95Fanny & Alexander is Ingmar Bergman's final big-screen work; it's also the director's most autobiographical, his most richly imagined, and, at times, his most uncharacteristically exuberant. An ensemble piece incorporating almost every actor Bergman had worked with over the course of his career, Fanny & Alexander leads the viewer slowly along through one single decisive year in the life of the fictional Ekdahl family. Bergman's theatrical cut of the film ran 188 minutes, but he preceded it by an even more sprawling 312-minute television version; the latter has never before been commercially available in America, and the Criterion Collection has just released both editions as part of a definitive five-disc DVD box set. This director-approved package also incorporates two documentaries, including one that Bergman created simultaneously with the film (offering a rare glimpse of a smiling, friendly director gently orchestrating some of its most graceful shots), along with hours of interview and commentary, costume sketches, theatrical trailers, and assorted vintage effluvia. The real treat here is that five-hour original version, though, which rewards those patient enough to spend time among its lavish interiors and lingering close-ups with even more fully realized characters, even more of Sven Nykvist's Academy Award-winning cinematography, even more time spent in the crimson-draped warmth of Christmas Eve at the Ekdahl household, and – left like little Christmas presents for devoted cinephiles – a small handful of some of the director's most surprisingly indelible scenes. – Will Robinson Sheff
Lord of the Wiens: A Dachumentary
Trubedour Entertainment, $14All puns aside, Austinite Elise Ballard's dachumentary showcases the Wiener Dog Races held annually in nearby Buda, Texas. The 25-minute DVD will be a hit with all dachshund lovers on your gift list or, really, any fan of uniquely fun and silly interactions between pet owners and their charges. Seven dachshunds at a time are let loose from the handmade starting gate and are urged by their coach/owners (who use toys, noisemakers, fried chicken, or whatever works) to run quickly in a straight line toward the finish. Many dogs just run in circles or toward the bystanders, but there is something distinctly entertaining about seeing these crop-legged runners all racing for the glory. The film interviews several of the participants: One woman hits it on the head when she describes dachshunds as the least Olympic-seeming of all dogs, an observation that goes a long way toward explaining the curious charm of these competitive runners. With music by Austin musician Danny Levin, the film also highlights the wiener dog costume contest and Buda residents recounting the history of the small-town event that now brings in contenders from around the country. The race is a fundraiser for the local Lions Club, and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the DVD will benefit the club's charity work. Copies of "Lord of the Wiens" – which screened at SXSW 04 – and the poster may be ordered online at www.lordofthewiens.com; T-shirts and other race paraphernalia may be purchased at www.budalionsclub.com. – Marjorie Baumgarten
The Golden Girls: The Complete First Season
Buena Vista Home Entertainment, $49.99It has become pop culture fact that The Golden Girls was the Sex and the City of the Eighties. But the comparison falters after viewing the first season of the Emmy Award-winning series, now available on a three-disc DVD set. The Golden Girls enjoyed a loyal audience when it began its seven-year run in 1985. Estelle Getty as Sophia, the disarmingly blunt grande dame of four retired women sharing a Miami house, is enormously amusing, as are Bea Arthur (Dorothy), Rue McClanahan (Blanche), and Betty White (Rose). Blanche's sex life, Rose's loopiness, and Dorothy's inability to find a man are the reliable subjects of the show's signature zingers. In retrospect, it's clear that were it not for series creator Susan Harris' (Soap, Empty Nest) Dorothy Parker-esque wit, the series would have died. It's the one-liners, retorts, and asides that survive. The episodes themselves are largely unmemorable. Speaking of unmemorable, a commentary by Joan and Melissa Rivers on the series' wardrobe is the only extra. Not hearing from the cast is unfortunate. What do they make of the Sex and the City comparison? And just what does Sophia carry in that giant purse of hers? Perhaps that's what's in store for the season two DVD. – Belinda Acosta
Elf: Infinifilm Edition
New Line Home Entertainment, $29.95Will Ferrell and his syrupy-sweet supporting cast deliver the holiday cheer on time (and beautifully packaged) for the gift-buying season. Following his career-defining turn in Old School, Ferrell and such classic comedic cohorts as Bob Newhart, Ed Asner, and James Caan fulfill their aspiration of supplying Christmas cheer for all the family to enjoy. Ferrell's deadpan delivery and doofus demeanor are at the forefront here, and you'll certainly be laughing aloud at/with his misplaced-elf hijinks and holiday humor when not fighting off the inevitable tears at the film's somewhat cheesy climax. Elf also brings the goods by way of bonus features, which will certainly add life to this two-disc stocking stuffer well past Christmas morn. Documentary-style extras like "Kids on Christmas" and "Deck the Halls" are as enjoyable and touching as the film itself, as the Christmas-obsessed get their time to shine. Elf also boasts new DVD feature Infinifilm, which allows the viewer to access bonus material relating to the scene currently playing. I'm not sure how much you need to know about the making of Elf, but all your curiosities will certainly be satisfied with this extras-packed family entertainment that'll keep all the clan out of one another's hair – for a couple of hours, at least. – Mark Fagan
The Fog of War
Columbia Tristar Home Video, $26.95"Rule number one: Empathize with your enemy." Thus begins Robert McNamara's first of 11 lessons in Errol Morris' extraordinary documentary about the former defense secretary's pivotal role in World War II, Vietnam, and the Cold War. Morris humanizes the Rumsfeld-esque McNamara, cutting between interviews with the rueful, liver-spotted 85-year-old of the film and archival footage of the slick, silver-tongued politico of the Cold War. The Fog of War loops around important historical moments – World War II, the Cuban missile crisis, the Kennedy assassination – but ultimately focuses on Vietnam, a war that Morris claims McNamara has been too harshly blamed for. This is Morris' major intervention: While the historical consensus has tended to portray LBJ as vacillating and McNamara as hawkish on Vietnam, Morris uncovers archival footage that clearly demonstrates the opposite was true. Still, Morris' film is never dissertationish; McNamara comes off like a typical Morris subject: bizarre, yet somehow redeemable. Occasionally, Morris interjects his comments on McNamara's "lessons" to interrogate the old man. Pressed to explain his government's support for an escalation in bombing while admitting that no one in the Johnson Administration truly understood the Vietnamese, McNamara says that in the fog of war, "we see what we want to believe." It's an apt lesson that McNamara could well impart to his political progeny. – Russell Cobb
That '70s Show: Season One
Fox Home Entertainment, $49.99While the current season of That '70s Show is laden with serious subjects like Kelso's (Ashton Kutcher) child born out of wedlock, Eric (Topher Grace) leaving Donna (Laura Prepon) at the altar, and Hyde (Danny Masterson) meeting his real father, the DVD of the first season reminds us of the show's simpler origins when all that was needed for a good time was a doobie, a reliable console TV, free beer, or sex – not necessarily in that order. Season one doesn't aim too high, it doesn't aim too low, and, like watching Julia Child while smoking the magic weed, it's reliably, even comfortingly funny. The four-disc DVD set includes a That '70s Show trivia game, as well as an extended version of the show's theme song, "That '70s Song." A featurette has the cast opining about how the show captures a kinder, gentler time – apparently oblivious to Happy Days, a sitcom about teenagers set in Milwaukee, capturing the kinder, gentler time of the 1950s. And what sitcom will capture the kinder, gentler days of the present? Until that show appears, That '70s Show offers an unchallenging, smoke-free amusement. Munchies are optional. – Belinda Acosta
