Filmmaker Commentary Tracks and their Usefulness

They say listen to people who are doing what you want to do. So I’m surprised that it is in fashion to disrespect the opportunity provided by the better DVD commentaries. I don’t buy a DVD generally unless there is a commentary. They can be long, but at least like radio or a podcast you can listen while doing other things. Here are a few samples. Control – distinguishing between the actor’s “journey as a human being” as opposed to honoring the character and function of the story. David Fincher commentary on various films Ridley Scott – commentary from Thelma and Louise is very worth hearing Beyond these, I’d recommend Aranovski’s commentary for Requiem for a Dream which gets into the why of some shot choices. For example, it would not have occurred to me that in a restaurant dialogue scene the person with more depth and background behind him/her has the “authority” in the scene. Nicholas Meyer (Wrath of Khan) gives good commentary on his disks, Frank Darabont’s commentaries on Shawshank, Green Mile and The Mist are very informative, any movie on which Walter Murch was editor or sound he might have a separate commentary for his own discipline, The Conversation, for example, which breaks things down more than the director commentary. Writer/actor Emma Thompson has her own commentary on Sense and Sensibility which is more worthwhile than the director’s track for Sense and Sensibility. If you only have time to hear one commentary on Citizen Kane, choose the Roger Ebert version which is very informative and especially useful to film students. Roger Deacons the cinematographer from Fargo gets to provide its only commentary track, but he lets you know how the shots came about and his process with the meticulous Coen brothers as well as the truth about the “true story” card at the beginning. Some directors do embrace commentary tracks for the sake of posterity and use the time efficiently, while others admittedly seem to recline and wax nostalgic with actors and may not have screened the film in years or planned an approach to the track nor had anything to get off the chest. Haskell Wexler Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Audio Commentary is very detailed, best listened to if you are already familiar with Mike Nichols’ first feature but the descriptions by Wexler are detailed enough that you can imagine the set-ups and situations explained.

Jut say Nooooo! to Star Wars BluRays and 3D

Some replies to a recent blurb.

Re: George Lucas, the Star Wars Blu-ray edits, and the status quo
Posted By Jawsphobia 1 September 7, 2011 07:09:10 PM

Lucas does this and knows it will cause outrage. The customer may not always be right, but this is a case where the artist has too much time to overthink and to use his own property as a ginnea pig in research and development. Objectively, it's just jot good filmmaking. What's missing from this article is the fact that we DON'T HAVE TO rebuy these movies on BluRay. What am I doing with the Back to the Future Trilogy in two formats? The only new thing we might want from Lucasfilm here is the Bonus disc of missing scenes. Chances are we can find a bootleg rip of that and pick it up or download it with a clear conscience. It's not worth forking over the expense of three needlessly changed good movies we already have and three mediocre prequels. Then in February the next hype will be the theatrical 3D release of the movies Lucas has already sold you. Beginning with The Phantom Premise. I'm skipping this theatrical run, thanks, 3D or no 3D. I don't need to see Jar Jar again, much less hear Vader's "Nooooo!" in Sith let alone in Jedi. And by the way there's nothing wrong with fans being fed up. Let the BluRays collect dust on the store shelf. Let the theaters sit empty during the 3D money grab. That's the one right we do have.

Spielberg on E.T.
Posted By Jawsphobia 1 September 7, 2011 07:11:07 PM
Spielberg now recommends only the 1982 version of E.T. not the digitally changed 2002 version.

Just say noooooooooooo!
Posted By Jawsphobia 1 September 7, 2011 07:17:14 PM

I don't know about anyone here, but I've seen all the Star Wars flicks in a theater and I have them all on DVD, even the original cuts of the Original Trilogy from when they were sold with the second DVD release. We can do without the BluRay. We can do without the theatrical re-releases in 3D. We can spend money on something other than BluRay versions of movies we already have (and regular DVDs can be used on more players than BluRays). I don't have the influence to "boycott" anything, and I'm no Sparticus, but the BluRay coming out and the re-release of these special ed versions in 3D just aren't meant for me. Time to save money and enjoy what we already have. Just say no.