April DVD Quick Picks
La Haine
The Chocolate War: With great roles in Christine, Dressed to Kill and other films, Keith Gordon could have made a fine career simply as an actor. It’s as a director, however, where he’s really made a mark: only a handful of films, yet all of them outstanding, and The Chocolate War his excellent debut feature. Ilan Mitchell Smith – a loooong way from Weird Science – stars as a new student at a Catholic school who is pushed to the edge not only by the viciousness of his peers, but the rigid expectations of the administration. A slightly surreal, yet deeply heartfelt adaptation of Robert Cormier’s superb novel; the long-awaited disc features an interview and commentary track with Gordon.
The Last King of Scotland: It’s so nice when someone gets an Oscar for the right role, at the right time. This year, we had two of them: Helen Mirren for The Queen, and Forest Whitaker for his towering performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in this top-notch thriller. For years he’s turned in outstanding work, and Whitaker tops them all by embodying Amin as a terrifying man-child, eager to please on the world stage while at the same time exercising ruthless violence to maintain control. Meanwhile, the excellent James McAvoy shines as the young Scottish doctor who is welcomed into Amin’s inner circle, and through whom we see the nightmare unfold; the DVD features a commentary with director Kevin MacDonald and numerous featurettes.
Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, Volume 2: “Leeeet’s GIT IT AWN!” – after a hugely successful first volume, SpikeTV’s brilliant melding of Jackass and What’s Up Tiger Lily gets a second edition on disc, with even more English-dubbing hijinks layered over episodes of the wacko Japanese game show “Takeshi’s Castle.” Strap on that helmet and get ready for more gleeful pain in rounds of “Sinkers and Floaters” and “Brass Balls,” and an excellent array of extras featuring the supremely talented voice cast and behind the scenes mayhem. (I’ve been told, by the way, that yours truly will appear in the extras on the day of my visit to the MXC studio for a piece I wrote for the OC Weekly. Here’s hoping I don’t come off like a gibbering geek. Yeah, I know, unlikely…)
La Haine (Criterion): Another great acting director!: Matthieu Kassovitz has racked up an impressive CV on camera, with roles in films such as Amelie, Munich, even a hilarious cameo in The Fifth Element (“Gimme tha cashhh!!!” Heh.) He is equally adept, however, at his work as a director, and this week Criterion issues their package of his finest film, a thoughtful yet brutal study of three young men coming apart after their friend is nearly killed by police following a riot in a Paris ghetto. With a searing lead performance by the great Vincent Cassel, La Haine is a raw, stylish and superb look at race and culture clashes; the two disc set features a director’s commentary and loads of bonus features.
Other recommended titles for April 17th: Brute Force (Criterion); Happy Days: Season 2; The History Boys; Laverne & Shirley: Season 2; Not The Best of Larry Sanders; Notes on a Scandal; Overlord (Criterion); The Venture Bros: Season 2
—Nicole Campos
