DVD PICK OF THE WEEK
GIVE ‘EM HELL MALONE (National Entertainment Media): There’s plenty of action and attitude in this hip, flip, modern-day film noir that pays homage to the genre even while sending it up. With his ever-present fedora and five o’clock shadow, Thomas Jane is ideally cast as hard-boiled ex-private eye Malone, who finds himself up to his neck in trouble when he comes into possession of a metal suitcase that contains “the meaning of love.” Everybody wants to get their mitts on it, including a sultry femme fatale (Elsa Pataky), a burly enforcer appropriately named Boulder (Ving Rhames), a psychotic pyromaniac known as “Matchstick” (Doug Hutchinson), a sleazy club crooner (French Stewart), and an urbane crime boss (Gregory Harrison) who basically calls the shots — and who’s being shot. Eileen Ryan, Sean Penn’s real-life mother, has a high old time playing Malone’s mom (even she calls him Malone), to whom he turns whenever he’s beaten up or shot, which is fairly often, while Leland Orser plays an informant who comes to a particularly bad end. Directed with relish by Russell Mulcahy and beautifully shot by Jonathan Hall, this is one of those little gems that somehow bypassed theatrical release. Home video is all about second chances, and Give ‘Em Hell Malone deserves to find favor. ***
ALSO ON DVD
“THE BARBARA STANWYCK SHOW”: VOLUME 1 (E1 Entertainment): Barbara Stanwyck hosted and starred in this half-hour, prime-time anthology series broadcast on NBC-TV from 1960-’61, the first 15 episodes of which are included in this three-DVD boxed set ($39.98 retail). Many have never been seen since the original broadcast. Although the series only lasted a single season, Stanwyck won the Emmy as Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Series (Lead). Guest stars include Lee Marvin, Milton Berle, Ralph Bellamy and Vic Morrow.
“BIG LOVE”: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON (HBO Home Entertainment): Life and love go on for modern-day polygamist Bill Paxton and his three brides (Chloe Sevigny, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Ginnifer Goodwin) in all 10 episodes from the 2009 season of the critically-acclaimed, award-winning HBO series, which earned an Emmy nomination as Outstanding Drama Series. This boxed set retails for $59.99.
DEEP SEA BLUES (Infinity Entertainment Group): This concert documentary ($19.98 retail) chronicles Roger Naber’s Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise — known to aficionados as “Woodstock of the Waves” — as it sets sail from the United States to the Caribbean, Mexico and elsewhere in January 2007. Among the many notables who perform during the voyage are the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Taj Mahal, Buckwheat Zydeco, Joey Gilmore and many others.
“GET SMART”: SEASON 5 (HBO Home Entertainment): The end of the line for secret agents Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) and 99 (Barbara Feldon), as they traipse into TV history in the final 26 episodes from the 1969-’70 season of the classic TV sitcom created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, which made the jump from NBC to CBS its last year but found sustained success in syndication. This boxed set retails for $24.98. HBO Home Entertainment has also released the selfexplanatory “Get Smart: The Complete Series Gift Set” ($199.95 retail).
GHOST CAT (North American Motion Pictures): A pre-Juno Ellen Page, in an award-winning performance, plays a teenager who, following the death of her mother, moves to a new town with her father (Michael Ontkean) and encounters supernatural goings-on. Originally released in 2003 as Mrs. Ashboro’s Cat, this reasonably pleasant family film avoids overdoing the sentiment and also features Lori Hallier and Shirley Knight (as Mrs. Ashboro). Rated PG. **˝
INALIENABLE (Anchor Bay Entertainment): Executive producer Walter Koenig wrote and co-stars in this allegorical sci-fi soap opera starring Richard Hatch as a scientist who is infected with an alien virus and gives birth(!) to a hybrid creature that he nevertheless bonds with… leading to a court case to determine the fate of the child. Uneven in tone, with some incongruous detours into satire, but it has points of interest and a sci-fi-friendly cast that includes Marina Sirtis, Courtney Peldon, Erick Avari, Richard Herd, Gary Graham, Alan Ruck and Jeff Rector. For an exclusive interview with Walter Koenig, see Page 48. **˝ “
JIM JEFFERIES: I SWEAR TO GOD” (HBO Home Entertainment): The Australianborn comedian weighs in on religion, sex, death and other topics as he performs before a live audience at NYU’s Skirball Center. This DVD retails for $19.97. MAIL ORDER BRIDE (E1 Entertainment): Daphne Zuniga plays the title role (sort of), in this Western romance, playing a disenchanted con artist who takes the place of a dying friend as mail-order bride to a Wyoming rancher (Cameron Bancroft) in the late 1880s. Trouble ensues when her former partner-in-crime (Greg Evigan, having fun as the heavy) shows up and threatens to blow her cover. This wellpaced, if predictable, melodrama scored high ratings when originally broadcast on the Hallmark Channel. **˝
MARCH ON! THE DAY MY BROTHER MARTIN CHANGED THE WORLD … AND MORE STORIES ABOUT AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY (Scholastic Storybook Treasures): The title tells all in this DVD compilation ($14.95 retail) of stories inspired by the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., including “March On!” written by his sister, Christine King Ferris, and narrated by Lynn Whitfield.
NOT FORGOTTEN (Anchor Bay Entertainment): Nobody is what they initially seem in this convoluted thriller starring Simon Baker and Paz Vega as a border-town couple whose lives are turned upside-down and inside-out when his young daughter (Chloe Moretz) mysteriously vanishes. A few spooky bits and twists, but best suited to the small screen. Rated R. **
PRESENTING ROGER CORMAN’S… BEST OF THE B*S COLLECTION 1: HOT BIKES, COOL CARS & BAD BABES (Infinity Entertainment Group): The (lengthy) title tells all, more of less, about this four-DVD boxed set ($29.98 retail) boasting a selection of seven drive-in favorites produced by the legendary (and prolific) filmmaker Roger Corman, who last year received an honorary Oscar. The collection includes the DVD debuts of 1969’s Naked Angels and 1972’s Bury Me an Angel (both rated R); John Ireland directs and stars in The Fast and the Furious (1955), which co-stars Dorothy Malone and inspired (in name only) the recent big-screen franchise; T-Bird Gang (1959) stars Ed (then Edwin) Nelson and Vic Tayback; Jack Nicholson scored an early lead role in The Wild Ride (1960); writer/director Jack Hill’s 1969 racing opus The Winner (AKA Pit Stop) marked Brian Donlevy’s last film and the first for Ellen Burstyn (then Ellen McRae); and 1971’s Angels Hard as They Come (rated R) stars Scott Glenn and Gary Busey (in his screen debut) and was co-written and produced by Jonathan Demme.
RIDE AROUND THE WORLD (Image Entertainment): Writer/producer/ director Harry Lynch’s award-winning documentary, originally shown in IMAX theaters, showcases modern-day cowboys (and the cowgirls) as they ride high in such exotic locations as Morocco, Spain, Chile, Mexico, Canada and the US. The specialedition DVD retails for $19.98, the Blu-ray for $24.98.
“ROUTE 66”: SEASON THREE, VOLUME TWO (Infinity Entertainment Group): On the road again with Martin Milner and first George Maharis (who departed mid-season), then Glenn Corbett, in the final 15 episodes from the 1962-’63 season of the award-winning, prime-time CBS-TV anthology series. A star-studded lineup of guest stars includes Robert Duvall, Rip Torn, James Whitmore, Alan Alda, Harvey Korman, Ralph Meeker, Miriam Hopkins, Albert Salmi, Tom Bosley, Joseph Campanella, Janice Rule, Guy Lombardo (as himself), James Olson, Diane Baker and the Man himself, Gene Hackman. This boxed set retails for $29.98.
SEX AND DEATH 101 (Anchor Bay Entertainment): Writer/director Daniel Waters’ smug, self-satisfied black comedy stars Simon Baker as a ladies’ man who, by a cosmic slip-up, is sent an e-mail listing all the people he ever has — or ever will — sleep with. Winona Ryder shows up from time to time as a black-clad femme fatale who calls herself “Death Nell,” and the cast also includes Patton Oswalt, Leslie Bibb, Julie Bowen, Mindy Cohn, Sophie Monk, Frances Fisher, Cindy Pickett, Marshall Bell, Dash Mihok and Robert Wisdom -- but it goes on forever and the laughs just drain away. Rated R. *˝
TREASURY OF 50 STORYBOOK CLASSICS: ANIMAL ANTIC … AND MORE! (Scholastic Storybook Treasures): A collection of award-winning, critically acclaimed animated shorts based on a variety of popular children’s stories, including “Harry the Dirty Dog,” “Make Way for Ducklings,” “Angus and the Ducks,” and many more. Among the celebrity storytellers are Meryl Streep, John Lithgow and Sarah Jessica Parker. This boxed set retails for $49.95.
WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHERS (SKD USA/Entertainment One): Worldrenowned, award-winning wildlife photographers Christine and Michel Denis-Huot embark on a journey into the wilds of Kenya in this self-explanatory documentary that retails for $14.98.
WOULD BE KINGS (E1 Entertainment): Currie Graham and Ben Bass portray cousins and police officers whose loyalties are torn by mistrust and corruption in this engrossing melodrama that appears to have been edited from an award-winning, Canadian-made mini-series, which may explain some incongruous story lapses. Also on hand: Natasha Henstridge, Stephen McHattie, Maxim Roy and reliable Robert Forster, very good as the local auto dealer/ crime czar. This marked the final credit of executive producer Peter R. Simpson, who died in 2007. Rated R. **˝ Mark Burger can be heard Friday mornings on the “Two Guys Named Chris” radio show on Rock-92.
Copyright 2010, Mark Burger !
