@Rupert Yeah, I think it’s not a bad DVD as well. It says it comes with storyboards on the disc. I don’t know it it’s LOADED with extras, but there’s a few. I believe I bought my copy around the time I first bought my first DVD player in 2002. I’d say one of the oldest DVDs I own. And then there’s the second disc with the documentary called The Battle Over Citizen Kane, detailing Welles’ and his adversary William Randolph Hearst. I believe the documentary doesn’t just give you information about Welles’s life but Hearst’s as well. Probably could get it off of Amazon.
Ridley Scott on “The Duellists”
also, Robert Rodriguez on “El Mariachi”
Steven Soderbergh and Tony Gilroy on The Third Man.
Scorsese and Schrader on Taxi Driver.
Yea I really loved that Third Man commentary do you know if that book Soderbergh kept referencing is available? SHADOWING THE THIRD MAN I think it was called.
Boogie Nights – Paul Thomas Anderson
Naked – Mike Leigh
Oldboy (Blu-Ray) – Chanwook Park does three different commentaries (one by himself, one with cast and the other with his DP)
All of Edgar Wright’s commentaries are better than his actual movies, in my opinion.
Yea just checked that was the name of a documentary apparently by the BBC on the film what is that book? I guess I’ll have a listen.
Vincent Gallo’s commentary on The Brown Bunny is entertaining, as is to be expected. :)
That’s funny cause I hate his films but heard him present a film and he was quite knowledgable he presented along side Peter Bogdonavich and they talked like old buddies..Telling stories.
Don’t know the book. I listened to the commentary a long time ago, I’ll have to revisit it.
Definitely seconding the Kurt Russell/John Carpenter commentaries on Escape from New York, The Thing and Big Trouble in Little China. They’re sort of beautiful.
Also, the Greg Mottola/Jesse Eisenberg commentary track on Adventureland is a jewel.
Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church on SIDEWAYS. Almost as hilarious as the movie.
The Criterion Collection audio commentaries for Silence of the Lambs and This is Spinal Tap are amazing.
I also really enjoy all of Edgar Wright’s audio commentaries.
Definitely seconding the Kurt Russell/John Carpenter commentaries on Escape from New York, The Thing and *Big Trouble in Little China. They’re sort of beautiful
^ yes
While I’m not a fan of commentary, as they have a tendency to detract from the value of the work for me, these are some that remain in my mind:
The Fincher commentary on the Criterion release of Se7en is quite illuminating, as it comes at a time when he was not quite recognized as the brilliance people see him as today, and he speaks with much more candor towards much of the technical brilliance that seems to disappear in his later commentaries.
The same goes for Scorese’s Criterion commentary for Taxi Driver, it’s quite insightful in terms of what it reveals about what’s important in his process. It’s also in such an early period of commentary, that you can even hear him turn pages of notes.
Schitzopolis has an interesting one in which Soderbergh interviews an exaggerated egoist Soderbergh, really entertaining and such an incredible approach in which the concept of a commentary track is itself in question.
The hilarious and rather sexist “Oldboy” commentary with the director and cast. The men get away with murder with the put-downs they unleash on the female lead.
All of Michael Mann’s audio commentaries.
yea the Collateral commentary is pretty informative.
Absolutely, it was very enlightening how deeply he delved into the psychology of the characters.
The “Boogie Nights” cast commentary has a running gag about Luis Guzman that is pretty hilarious.
The audio commentary on The Conversation by Murch is one of my favorites. Coppola’s on the same disc is great as well. And everyone is right to praise the Russell/Carpenter commentaries.
Will Ferrell & Adam McKay’s commentary on Anchorman has almost nothing to do film and special appearances with several people who weren’t even involved with the film such as jazz and blues man Lou Rawls who shows that he could still scat sing.
David Skal, who is an expert on horror-film history, delivers an amazing and hugely informative commentary on the DVD release of Tod Browning’s Freaks.
For sheer entertainment value, you can’t beat the amusing commentary between Paul Giamatti and Thomas Hayden Church on the Sideways disc.
Also, Kurt Rusell and John Carpenter, who often worked together, have themselves a big time dishing on the commentary track to The Thing.
And I’ll mention one standout commentary on a Criterion title:
If you wanna learn about German Expressionism (and why wouldn’t you?!), listen to the track on Pandora’s Box with film scholars Thomas Elsaesser and Mary Ann Doane. Erudite, is what it is.
There are a lot of great audio commentaries out there. I’m sorry to be negative here, but the first thing that came to my mind though was the worst commentary I ever heard. William Friedkin’s commentary on the DVD for the director’s cut of The Exorcist is the worst thing I’ve heard. He just narrates the action and doesn’t give any insight into anything. And he regularly states the most annoying and ignorant thing someone can say in an audio commentary which is a warning that you should not listen to the commentary if you haven’t already seen the film because he gives away spoilers. How can people be so dense about how people watch commentaries to think that anyone watches the film with commentary before they watch it without commentary!!?
@Christopher Yeah, I think Walter Murch is a pretty erudite guy. Listen to the commentary he did with George Lucas on Lucas’ first film THX-1138. The disc also features places you can go to during the movie where Walter Murch will discuss how he used sound in the picture. Pretty fascinating stuff. Haven’t seen it in a while though.
Frank Darabont’s commentary for Shawshank Redemption is useful and insightful for both people who want to know how the film was made, where, and also for the aspiring film student…as it contains the nuts and bolts of filmmaking, Darabont’s theory on film, it also has a nice inspirational message to people who want to make it.
David Fincher’s “Panic Room” is the most technical commentary yet. I don’t know what the user who mentioned Fincher seized to be ‘technical’ post Criterion’s Se7en, as clearly that’s not the case with Panic Room’s commentary. Another worthy commentary for students of film.
I keep a channel where I upload the best, most valuable bits from commentaries here: http://www.youtube.com/user/welaughatstupidshit/videos check it out . Though it is aimed mostly at peeps who are aspiring filmmakers
If you haven’t listened to a John Waters commentary- you are seriously missing out.
Also: Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Joe Dante is one of the greatest movie-buff directors of all-time. Though, just about any commentary with him is a quality listen. But I wouldn’t recommend the cast commentary for Gremlins, it’s a very big letdown for a real fan of the movie.
Another great commentary for a child of the late 80’s / early 90’s is UHF. The DVD is out of print now but this is an excellent listen since Weird Al talks a mile a minute and is literally stuffed with information about the making of the movie (including the exact geographical address for every single shooting location).
I love the academic audio commentary on the Criterion Collection edition of Hitchcock’s Notorious. Very helpful in deciphering all of the complex shots and symbolism that is found throughout the film.
My favorite silly commentary, believe it or not, is David Schmader’s audio commentary for Showgirls. Yes, that horrid, campy classic from 1995. Check it out, you won’t regret it!
Steven Sodenbergh and Lem Dobbs on The Limey. The tone of the commentary is really unique with the two mostly behaving like friends that suddenly get passive aggressive and even angry whenever Dobbs brings up his issues with the finished filmed. It’s a real gem.
1. Daniel Bird & Andrzej Zulawski, Possession (Anchor Bay disc, among others)
2. Alan Jones & Stephen Thrower, Fulci’s Zombie Flesh Eaters (Arrow)
3. Tony Rayns, Imamura’s Vengeance is Mine (MoC)
4. Thomas Rostock, Argento’s Tenebrae (Arrow)
5. Christian Kessler & Marcus Stiglegger, Argento’s Inferno (Koch Media)
Rupert Pupkin
@Hal Oh cool and thanks. I don’t have any edition yet and tend not to buy Blu-rays either so may have to purchase this!