DVD Pick of the week: Trouble In Mind
(Shout! Factory)
One of writer/director Alan Rudolph’s most offbeat, and most satisfying, films comes to special-edition DVD ($19.97 retail), which includes a retrospective documentary featuring Rudolph and most of the film’s principals.
The setting is the aptly named Rain City, beautifully photographed by Toyomichi Kurita, a haven for lost souls who have wound up in this urban conglomeration — some to escape trouble, others to make trouble and those few unlucky enough to find trouble. Everyone’s got a past, but not everyone’s got a future.
As an embittered ex-cop and ex-con who can’t quite suppress his own decency, Kris Kristofferson heads a stellar ensemble including Genevieve Bujold, Lori Singer, Keith Carradine (sporting a memorable punk hairdo), Joe Morton and, in a slyly camp performance, the inimitable Divine (no drag this time) as the local godfather.
This moody, bluesy film noir, with its vaguely futuristic overtones, never found its audience when released 25 years ago yet earned a minor cult and critical following. It’s an oddly appealing, uniquely personal vision, loaded with style and not a little selfindulgence. Trouble in Mind is one of a kind. Rated R.
ALSO AvailableTHE BOB HOPE COLLECTION (Shout! Factory): A five-film collection ($29.98 retail) of screen comedies showcasing one of the world’s most popular entertainers, Bob Hope (1903- 2003): Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour join Bob in Road to Rio (1947), which earned an Oscar nomination for Best Musical Score; Lamour, Peter Lorre and Lon Chaney Jr. co-star in My Favorite Brunette (also ’47); The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) co-stars Lloyd Nolan, Marilyn Maxwell and Jane Darwell; Road to Bali (1952) reunites Hope with Crosby and Lamour; and 1955’s show-biz biography The Seven Little Foys stars Hope as the legendary vaudevillian Eddie Foy and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Story & Screenplay. Shout! Factory is also releasing The Lemon Drop Kid as a single DVD ($9.98 retail).
CHARLIE ST. CLOUD (Universal Studios Home Entertainment): Something was very lost in the translation in this adaptation of Ben Sherwood’s novel The Death of Life of Charlie St. Cloud, a weird and weak-kneed tearjerker starring Zac Efron in the title role, a young sailor still grieving the loss of his younger brother (newcomer Charlie Tahan), who nevertheless shows up periodically to play catch. Amanda Crew plays Charlie’s obligatory love interest, while Kim Basinger and Ray Liotta are wasted in superfluous roles. Efron tries hard and there are a few ethereal twists, but it doesn’t work. Sherwood was also an executive producer. Rated PG-13.
COOPERS’ CHRISTMAS (Anchor Bay Entertainment): “The Daily Show” veterans Jason Jones and Samantha Bee play Mom and Dad in this raunchy, sometimes uproarious holiday farce about a dysfunctional clan’s Christmas Day 1985 — as seen through the lens of the new camcorder. Jones and Mike Beaver (who plays Uncle Nick) also scripted.
“DRAGNET 1969”: SEASON THREE (Shout! Factory): Jack Webb is back as Joe Friday, enforcing law and order on the streets of LA in all 26 episodes from the 1968-’69 season of the prime-time NBC-TV police series, first created by Webb for radio and then adapted for TV in the 1950s. This was its third incarnation, and “Dragnet” remains one of the quintessential TV cop shows. This four-DVD boxed set retails for $34.93.
“ELLERY QUEEN MYSTERIES”: THE COMPLETE SERIES (E1 Entertainment): Jim Hutton stars as the brilliant mystery writer who assists his police-inspector father (David Wayne) solve the toughest crimes in 1930s New York, in all 22 episodes from the 1975-’76 (and only) season of the prime-time NBC-TV mystery series, based on the classic character created by Frederic Dannay and Manfred Lee, and adapted for television by the Richard Levinson/William Link duo. Series guest stars included Don Ameche, Vincent Price, Stuart Whitman, George Burns, Larry Hagman, Robert Loggia, Roddy McDowall, Cesar Romero, Guy Lombardo (as himself), and semi-regular John Hillerman. This six-DVD boxed set retails for $59.98.
“THE FACTS OF LIFE”: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON (Shout! Factory): All 24 episodes from the 1983-’84 season of the popular, award-winning prime-time NBC-TV situation comedy series that takes place at a tony boarding school for girls, where house mother Mrs. Garrett (Charlotte Rae) keeps an eye on four students (Lisa Whelchel, Kim Fields, Nancy McKeon and Mindy Cohn). For a time, this was the longest-running sitcom in the network’s history. The four-DVD boxed set retails for $39.97.
“GREAT DETECTIVES ANTHOLOGY” (A&E Home Entertainment): A 12-DVD boxed set ($149.99 retail) showcasing popular smallscreen sleuths in 18 classic mysteries, originally broadcast on the BBC: David Suchet as Agatha Christie’s “Hercule Poirot,” Joan Hickson as Christie’s “Miss Marple,” and Peter Cushing as Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Sherlock Holmes.”
“HOARDERS”: SEASON TWO, PART ONE (A&E Home Entertainment): The first seven episodes from 2009-‘10 season of the popular A&E reality series about people trying to overcome compulsive hoarding. This two-DVD special edition retails for $19.95.
“MAD ABOUT YOU”: SEASON FIVE (Shout! Factory): All 24 episodes from the 1996- ’97 of the award-winning, prime-time NBC-TV situation comedy starring Paul Reiser (also co-creator and executive producer) and Helen Hunt as a Manhattan couple. Six Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (Sid Caesar), with wins for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Hunt would win four in a row) and Outstanding Guest Actor and Actress in a Comedy Series (Mel Brooks and Carol Burnett). This boxed set retails for $29.93.
“MARCUS WELBY, MD”: SEASON TWO (Shout! Factory): The doctor is in, as Robert Young returns in the title role, in all 24 episodes from the 1970-’71 season of the popular prime-time ABCTV medical drama, co-starring James Brolin as his young assistant and Elena Verdugo as his faithful receptionist. Guest stars include Cloris Leachman, Ricardo Montalban, Suzanne Pleshette, Gary Merrill, William Schallert and Lee Purcell. Five Emmy nominations including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Young), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Brolin), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama (Verdugo) and Outstanding Drama Series. This six- DVD boxed set retails for $49.97.
A NANNY FOR CHRISTMAS (Anchor Bay Entertainment): That would be Emmanuelle Vaugier, as an unemployed advertising executive who winds up taking care of agency head Cynthia Gibb’s children… and romancing one of her executives (Richard Ruccolo). Corny yuletide romantic comedy is easy to take and far less precious than it could have been. Also on hand: Dean Cain, Marla Maples and Barry Barnholtz.
NANNY McPHEE RETURNS (Universal Studios Home Entertainment): Emma Thompson reprises her title role and again pens the script for this mild follow-up to the 2005 comedy based on Christianna Brand’s best-selling series of children’s books. Despite a supporting cast that includes Maggie Smith, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rhys Ifans, Ralph Fiennes and Ewan McGregor, once was enough. Rated PG.
“RUMPOLE OF THE BAILEY” (A&E Home Entertainment): A 14-DVD boxed set ($99.95 retail) featuring all 42 episodes from the long-running (1978-’92), much-beloved British courtroom drama, adapted by John Mortimer from his award-winning series of mystery novels, starring the unforgettable Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an eccentric London barrister who barrels and blusters his way through the loopholes of the law, achieving justice on his own terms. Emmy-nominated as Outstanding Limited Series in 1981 and Outstanding Miniseries in ’88.
“SURVIVING THE HOLIDAYS WITH LEWIS BLACK” (A&E Home Entertainment): The award-winning comedian takes aim at the holiday season in this special-edition DVD ($19.95 retail) featuring appearances by such fellow funny folk as Craig Ferguson, David Alan Grier, Bob Saget and Joy Behar.
“THE WORLD AT WAR” (A&E Home Entertainment): The Blu-ray debut ($149.95 retail) of all 26 episodes from the award-winning Thames Television documentary series, originally broadcast in 1973-’74, which offered a comprehensive history of World War II, narrated by no less than Laurence Olivier. Special features include retrospective documentaries and more
