Uli Edel: The Hollywood Interview

Filmmaker Uli Edel.


Talkin’ Terrorism with Uli Edel
by Jon Zelazny

Director Uli Edel and writer-producer Bernd Eichinger met at the Munich Film School in the late sixties, and went on to collaborate on two gritty cult classics, the German Christiane F. (1981) and Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989).

In 2008, they reunited for The Baader Meinhof Complex, a chronicle of the domestic terrorism that plagued West Germany in the 1970’s. It was nominated for a Golden Globe, a BAFTA Award, and the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The Constantin/Vitagraph Films release opens this Friday, August 21st, in New York and on August 28th in Los Angeles.

Uli Edel and I met at his home in West Los Angeles.




The terrorist movement in Western Europe essentially began in 1968. What was that year like for you?

ULI EDEL: I was just starting my studies in Munich. And when I came there, that whole sixties uproar was already in its bloom. It was very exciting; every day was some teach-ins, or sit-ins, or some happening, and all the students—not only the left-wing minded—they just wanted to rebel against this authority. The structure of the university was still 19th century. And for me, coming from a Jesuit boarding school—also very 19th century, maybe even Middle Ages—for seven years, locked in that monastery, and then coming to Munich… you can just imagine.

You must understand, just to hear people say “Everything that is made by man can be changed by man” was a huge thing. Everything is changeable, and change was necessary. You heard that a lot now with Obama, but in those days… you know, we were the first generation after the Hitler generation; the generation of our parents, who were responsible for what had happened. Maybe not my father per se, but basically we saw them as… we knew we will do much better. That’s why it’s so important for me what Gudrun Ensslin says at the beginning of the movie: “We will not allow what our parents allowed. There will be resistance to the next wave of fascism.”

And there were a lot of reasons to think of fascism. Franco was still there in Spain. South America was basically dictatorships. Greece would become a dictatorship. Mexico was a dictatorship; the military there was shooting into a crowd of five hundred people before the Olympics. In Germany, a neo-Nazi kid shot the student leader Rudi Dutschke… the Berlin police went nuts and attacked a crowd… even our Chancellor in ’68 was a former Nazi. We saw fascist tendencies in American politics. We thought, what are they doing in Vietnam? It’s genocide.

And your generation resented all the American troops in Germany?

No, no; we accepted that. We were all born in a Germany that was like that; we never knew any other way. And what we loved about the American soldiers was that wherever they were… you know, there were cool clubs we were allowed to go in; there the music was better, the girls were better, there were cool radio stations—everybody listened to the American stations. There were a lot of stores where you could buy cool stuff. You always wanted to be where those soldiers were. You wanted to talk English with them.

But the German terrorists started targeting those bases.

That was ’72; that’s all later. And whatever we felt against America, it was just against the Vietnam war; it had nothing to do with American culture. We still watched only American movies, we read a lot of American writers, and listened just to American music. But the whole sixties movement—like what you had in the States, thousands of people in the streets protesting—in Germany, that all ended when Willy Brandt and the Social Democrats took power in 1970. So the whole country got quiet again... and then the Baader-Meinhof group started. You understand? They said, “No. It cannot be over.”

Ulrike Meinhof.

The film opens with left-wing journalist Ulrike Meinhof, her publisher husband, and their two young daughters relaxing at a nude beach in 1967. As a typically provincial American, I was shocked to see this family naked in front of each other…

(laughs) Yeah, that beach… it was on the island Sylt. You know, the whole nudity culture is very much a German thing. We have a great tradition in it; since the 1920’s, we have a lot of nude colonies. People start in it with their parents, and they stay with it until they are very old. And every summer they go whenever they can to these nudist beaches.

Anybody could go there. I went several times with my girlfriend. Everybody there acts very casual, but you are affected by it! They’d do all this volleyball, the naked girls’ boobs were going up and down, and I’m sitting there, twenty years old, the testosterone raging… and we all felt free!

(more laughter)

This was hippie times. But in Germany, it was not really connected to hippies, because we had it before. And we still have it.

So Ulrike and her husband are nudists. This is not mainstream German society.

It was the elite. The so-called intellectual elite in Germany. I mean, at that beach, there were the publishers of the right wing papers and the publishers of the left wing papers! Hanging out in the evening in the bar together, and fucking each other’s wives! Ulrike and her husband went every year. They had a house there.

I wanted to start with something surprising. You don’t expect that a terrorist movie opens at a nude beach. And it’s a good way to introduce this family: this is not a normal family.

That was our first day of shooting. And we needed all these extras. That was no problem; I think we had about sixty or seventy people; older, younger, kids; everybody naked... and when I saw them, I realized I am a dinosaur! (laughs) Because in ’67, everybody had bushes—hair under their arms, and down here—and today they are all shaved! I thought, “This is not authentic! Our first day, and already we have a catastrophe!”

(laughter)

Even the men—young, old—all shaved! I was completely confused; I never saw a shaved man. How do you even do that in the first place without cutting yourself? But we had to shoot. We had one day. So what did we do? The make-up department went crazy: they had all these wigs, but they didn’t have pubic hair. So they cut those wigs up, they started to put it on all of them—it was nightmare!

(much laughter)

When we first see Andreas Baader, he walks into an apartment where his two friends are building bombs. Now you gave Ulrike those scenes to show where she came from, and that scene of Gudrun Ensslin with her parents explains something about her, but we don’t know what context this guy came from. How does he get to the point where he’s building bombs?

We talked about that a lot. At one time, there were some scenes in, explaining that he got arrested once because he stole a motorcycle, that he was never really a student… but when you know the German language, you can tell by the way he talks: this is street talk. He’s not educated. Ulrike and Gudrun talk this very intellectual—almost arrogant kind of elite, sophisticated language. While he is the complete contrary. He behaves almost like a pimp.

So why does a pimp want to throw bombs? What does he care?

He saw already in the student movement that they throw Molotov cocktails, and he always thought this was ridiculous; that they should do a bigger thing. Why should you burn just a car? Let’s burn down a whole department store!

But what was he after? What did he want out of it?

Be rebellious! In these days… you know, what did these people do on a Saturday night? Went to a disco, had a couple joints. Go out after, fill a bottle with some gasoline, put a handkerchief in it, light it, and throw it at the front wall of the America House! “In protest,” ha-ha-ha. It was just being… obnoxious.

Okay, he’s a goon, but it’s still hard to understand how a guy like that hooks up with these intellectual, left-wing political activists and starts planning hard-core terrorist operations. They want to change society; what does he want?

He’s with Gudrun. She says to Ulrike, “Your writing is just intellectual masturbation; you will never get anywhere. What we need is action. We have to do things. Stop discussing it, and do it!”

And Baader is a doer.

He’s a doer. She needs a guy like him. He knows how to build a bomb. And he always does a little bit more than everyone else. He dares to go farther.

Baader and Ensslin.

It’s fascinating how Baader carries himself. Like a rock star.

He looked like Marlon Brando. He’d already had his picture in the papers, with his shirt off; the girls were crazy about him. There was already a movie made about him and Gudrun in ’69—it played on TV. And Gudrun was in a student movie, completely naked; like this naked goddess.

I knew a little about the Baader-Meinhof group, but I didn’t know Gudrun Ensslin. She’s really their leader… so how did Ulrike’s name become the group’s name?

Gudrun was always furious about that. It was her group; Baader was more or less just a soldier. And Gudrun only brought Ulrike in so she could write those articles—that she could articulate for them. It was the press that started calling them “The Baader-Meinhof Group” because Ulrike was a well-known journalist when she helped them break Baader out of custody. From then on, it was Ulrike Meinhof who was on every poster, not Gudrun Ensslin.

The actress playing Gudrun—Johanna Wokalek—is amazing. I thought she looked too good, but then I saw pictures of the real Gudrun. She was very striking.

A real tough bitch.

She reminded me of Anita Pallenberg. Especially when you do that scene with her in the bathtub; she’s like Pallenberg in Performance (1970).

Exactly.

It’s a great scene. The way she treats that boy, Peter-Jurgen Boock, who’s been beaten, victimized; he’s a piece of trash. She treats him… like a friend, a lover, a mother?

You know why he would do anything later for them. They’re like his parents.

I also like that the story takes place in the 1960’s and 70’s, but you don’t go out of your way to call attention to it. The look is very understated, which allows us to focus more on all the characters.

I thought if I start to get nostalgic about the hippie era, people might say, “Well, that was all a long time ago.” I wanted to bring that time as close as possible, so when you look at it, you almost think it was yesterday. Or today.

I had two movies I used as examples for the crew: The Doors (1991), by Oliver Stone, and Spielberg’s Munich (2005). When you look at Munich… there is nothing special at all about it being the seventies. And The Doors is the other extreme—

Right. He’s bending over backwards to get in every little detail.

It becomes almost like a fantasy. What I said I wanted to avoid.

Another early scene depicts that 1968 police riot in Berlin, where a public protest against the visiting Shah of Iran was brutally suppressed. You show the protesters as essentially peaceful. Why did the police attack them?

It’s hard to understand. Nobody who was protesting that day did anything that would legitimize what the police did. That scene… everybody knows it, because that documentary material was shown in Germany again and again and again. So I knew I had to stage it absolutely truthful; that people feel they are almost watching a documentary.

How did the authorities justify that attack?

Somebody told the Chief of the Berlin Police, “When the Shah comes out of the opera, this street must be clean.” So a hundred police charged out there, started beating everyone, and a panic started.

There’s one cop in the movie—an older guy with a beard in the front line—he had been a young cop there the day it happened. He said their orders were very simple: go out there, push the crowd to the left and to the right, and whoever is resisting, just force them. They called it The Leberwurst Strategy: hit it in the middle and it explodes at either end.

He also said there was a rumor going around that some students had stabbed a cop to death. Which was not true. But all the cops in Berlin had heard that, and that made them… you know.

I’m surprised you didn’t put that in.

That rumor only started after the first beatings… when they were chasing people all over the city. What we compress into ten minutes actually went all day and night.

The scene is a real gut punch. There’s a nice nude beach, a nice cocktail party, and suddenly we’re in the midst of this chaos. And like all the action scenes in this movie, the editing is just phenomenal.

We had so much to tell, I said we’re gonna do the fastest German movie ever shot. As fast as possible. Because my kids will say—

Your movies are too slow?

Yeah! (laughing) They say, “Why do we know sometimes in the middle of your scenes how they will end?”

But action cutting in Hollywood has come to mean you put it together so fast people can’t even tell what’s going on.

Yeah, that’s what I hated in the new Bond movie. How could they say that was a good movie? I could hardly see a thing in those action scenes!

That’s how I felt about The Dark Knight. But this movie isn’t like that. As fast as it goes, you can always follow every little beat.Andreas Baader and Gudrun Ensslin began their terror campaign by destroying an upscale Frankfurt department store with an after-hours firebomb. You cut from the store burning to the cops busting in and arresting them… like maybe it’s even the next morning. How did the police figure out who was responsible?

After the bomb went off, they went that night to The Cabaret Voltaire, this sort of intellectual hangout, and Baader was already bragging. Saying he and Gudren were getting engaged that night, “an engagement forged by fire” or something. So some people knew it already… and then somebody called the police.

I had that club scene in once; then I thought, who cares? They get them. And they wanted to be caught; they wanted to be the big stars. You see how they carry themselves in the trial: “We did it… to protest against the Vietnam war… dadda dadda da…”

Ulrike Meinhof met Baader and Ensslin while covering their trial. The fledgling terrorists were already calling themselves The Red Army Faction, or RAF.

It’s interesting when Ulrike overhears Gudrun’s parents talking to the media, and they’re kind of defending her actions. Her mother says something like, “She’s really finding herself in this experience.”

Everything the parents say there is exactly what they said. We changed nothing. What happened was… at first they were very concerned, when they heard their daughter planted a bomb. But then they saw how the press—the left-wing press, the liberal press—treated it: “Well, it’s interesting what our young people have to say… let’s not be so quick to pass a verdict on them,” they realized the public had some sympathy to these young rebels. “Nobody got hurt… it was just part of that store… they were insured… the Capitalists got what they deserved.” So the parents, who were very conservative, they changed very suddenly.

As things got steadily worse, did they come to regret those statements?

Still today—still today—they are saying the government killed their daughter. Can you believe that? Her sister wrote a book, what Margarethe von Trotta made into a movie, Die Blierne Zeit (1981).

So her parents were always in denial.

Yeah.

That’s sad. When Gudrun asks to see a priest later, I thought it would lead to something with her father. Was he— ?

No, at that point she did not talk to him. I would have liked to bring him back, but we tried very hard not to put characters together in scenes that didn’t happen.

Edel & Eichinger’s "Christiane F." was based on the true stories of the teenage heroin addicts who congregated around Berlin’s central train station in the early seventies.

You met the real Peter-Jurgen Boock, a member of the RAF’s third generation. I read he was also a teenage drug addict in Berlin. Did he know Christiane?

He did not know her personally, but he was very much around that whole scene. He started out as a drug dealer, then became an addict.

Did he like your movie of Christiane F.?

I never asked him. We are… not speaking now.

I was curious if there were any links between the two movies.

There are some. Christiane’s roommate Stella went to prison and became a close friend of Brigitte Mohnhaupt, who Gudrun trained to be the leader of the third generation.


Brigitte Mohnhaupt.

And Christiane’s boyfriend has a photo of Ulrike on his wall. So Baader, Gudrun, and Ulrike became icons—like Che Guevara—to the disaffected youth of Germany?
Yeah. I put Ulrike’s picture in because Christiane always talked a lot about her. The terrorism had only ended about four years before we did that movie.

What happened between you and Boock?

He got upset about the riot scene in the orphanage, that I show him starting that fire. First he tried to tell me the police did it. I said, “The police started a fire? Give me a break!” Then he said, “Well, I didn’t do it—my friend did!” And all this shit. I said, “What does it matter if you do it or someone else? It was one of you guys!” He didn’t protest at all that I later show him shooting all those innocent people… when they kidnapped Schleyer, he shot those guys twenty-five times! No, he just complains, “I never lit that match!”

Selective morality… It’s amazing so many of these people are not in jail anymore.

They are all free.

I mean, the only thing we had in the U.S. that was even close to this was Manson. Those people are all still in jail, and they’ll probably die in jail. How many years did these terrorists get? The most was 25 years, right?

You must understand one thing: why they are all free—why some have been free fifteen years, even having killed eight people or so—is because in Germany, a life sentence does not exist. If you get lifetime, it means maximum 25 years. And if you behave well, it’s only 15. In Germany, Charlie Manson would most likely be out now.

Christian Klar got several life sentences, and he did 25 years. Brigitte Mohnhaupt did 25 years; she just got out two years ago. They did the most time; the others did 12-15 years.

I know a lot of Nazis convicted after the war didn’t serve a lot of time, either.

All the Nazis we convicted, under German law—even guys who had gassed hundreds of thousands of people—none of them served more than twelve years… and some of them got out after only five! That was an argument the RAF’s lawyers brought up: “How can we treat these poor misguided kids worse than the most brutal killers under Hitler?”

The word “Nazi” is never mentioned in the movie, but wasn’t that a big part of the RAF’s motivation? That ex-Nazis were still in positions of power? The guy they kidnap, Schleyer, had not only been a Nazi, he was SS.

If you do a whole movie on Schleyer, you would mention that. But when he is in for just short moments…

The real Schleyer in his ransom photo.

But why don’t the RAF members talk about it? “These Nazis in our society…”

It was a motivation… but you have to differentiate: after 1970, when Brandt came to power, you could not say anymore there were so many Nazis in charge. It was still in the sixties so—a lot of judges, for instance; sure, they worked under Hitler. But there were no others there; we needed people in those positions. So they had to swear something, take some oath, and they were reestablished. A lot of things were… just put away. Teachers. There were no new teachers, so all those old teachers—even if they were members of the Party—they went back to work. A lot of ministers. Our Chancellor, Kiesinger; come to find he was a Nazi. Then our President, Heinrich Luebke—a man we respected as a figure of great integrity—it turned out the motherfucker built concentration camps! He was the architect; he signed the construction plans. A lot of people made the Third Reich happen; it was not Hitler alone... so our generation didn’t trust anybody. Once Ulrike joined the RAF, a contingent traveled to Jordan to train with the PLO.

I was curious about the man who was Ulrike’s lover. He seemed too sensitive, too reasonable to be going along with all this crazy stuff. Was that because of the actor playing the part, or was the actual person like that?

I know the real guy. Peter Homann. I interviewed him. He was a friend of Stefan Aust, who wrote the book. He was a journalist, but also kind of a pothead. I also spoke to Ulrike’s former husband, who didn’t really like Homann, but had to admit he was a good father to those kids. He was never really a terrorist. For a long time people thought he was, because he was in those camps with them. Why he went there… it’s hard to understand. He wanted to be with Ulrike, and he knew Baader for quite awhile. All what happened at that camp, he told me in great detail. And it was confirmed by two other people I talked to.

What it was… you didn’t go to those camps to become “a revolutionary.” The RAF had this invitation, because another group had gone the year before. It was arranged through East Germany; Ulrike had connections over there… but I didn’t want to go into the whole East-West thing… I think a young audience would never understand how that all worked.

It didn’t really occur to me there might be larger forces operating behind the scenes until that moment when you show the third generation meeting, and they’ve got all this military weaponry. I thought, how could these young kids have all this stuff?

They robbed banks.

But they look like seasoned urban guerrillas, not a heist crew. That’s when I knew somebody had trained them, and somebody was supplying them. I researched it after the movie, and found out all this stuff about East Germany and the Stasi.

That started later. It was four years later when the third generation started. The second generation had almost no support from East Germany.

You just said Ulrike had connections there. Wasn’t she even on their payroll?

It’s true. For years, that paper she wrote for was secretly financed by the Communists. But that was mostly until ‘66. When our story starts, the paper was already successful. I just didn’t want to go into all that… the story’s getting too complicated.

And most of the RAF income was indeed from robbing banks. They cost the German government fifteen to twenty million Deutschmarks. Each member needed about 10,000 DM a month to survive, so where do you get it? From banks. Then they went into Switzerland and bought the weapons. Almost like they do here; the Mexican gangsters cross the border and buy their guns here.

Switzerland sold military hardware to teenagers?

No, there was that lawyer. He bought the weapons. And you see it was becoming this international thing; they’re going to Baghdad, they’re meeting with the PLO.

I love those scenes at the training camp; the difference between the German and the Arab terrorists. Baader is just hilarious.

For the RAF, it was like Club Med. Or an adventure camp: “We can go to Jordan? Okay, let’s go! Maybe we get a tan. We can work on weapons, we can shoot, we can hang out… and we will have time to talk what we gonna do with all this.” They had no fucking idea! So when Baader arrived, and the PLO guy says do this, do that—you know, they were at war with Israel then—and Baader just wants to shoot their guns. They said, “You’re wasting our fucking bullets! From now on, you’re only getting ten per day.” So Baader said, “Let’s go on strike. We’ll take a few days off.” And all the girls ended up naked, and all the guys too, up on that roof. They just didn’t give a shit.

It takes a lot to make you feel sorry for the PLO. But it’s really funny... I love that one shot of the two Arab kids with the binoculars, checking out the naked girls.

Yeah.

There are so many great little human moments like that in this movie. It’s these kinds of things you didn’t have that much of in your sword movies. You seem much more comfortable with people and things in the recent past.

Yeah, I felt much closer to these people. Because I feel that I know them. They’re all my age, more or less; we were in the same schools, listening to the same seminars… Brigitte Mohnhaupt was living around the corner from me in Munich!

Did you meet with her?

No, she was still in prison. Now she is out. And she’s still a hardliner.

Holger Meins was a film student. Did you know anyone in common?

He was in Berlin. And he was older than me. But Wolfgang Petersen knew him; worked with him. Michael Ballhaus knew him. Meins made a student film called How to Build a Molotov Cocktail. He showed you how to do it.

What did Wolfgang think of the movie?

I think he was very impressed. He said, “You could not do it any better.”

Another great little moment is during Baader’s capture. You cut to that little girl in the next building, who starts taking pictures. I’m guessing that really happened?

Yeah. That girl was ten years old. They start shooting down there, and she goes and gets a camera! One picture she took of Baader was bought for 1,000 DM by the famous artist Gerhard Richter. He used it as basis for a painting, which is now hanging in New York, at MOMA I think. It’s worth now $600,000.

When we get to the prison, I was struck right away by those huge cells. They’ve got books. They’ve got tables. They look like offices.

Because their lawyers always told the press they get isolated, they get tortured, all this stuff. Which was not all a lie in the beginning. Ulrike was in isolation five months; what I show. But even in isolation, they were allowed to have TV, they were allowed to write, she had twice visiting her daughters—I wanted to have that in, but we had big trouble with the daughters.

They didn’t like that nude beach scene, huh?

No! In Germany, that’s nothing. Not one person referred to that. The first word I got about it was from an American guy who saw it in London: “Uh… those two naked girls… don’t you think you’ll have problems with that?”

You said, “Only in America!”

No, I thought, “Why didn’t I just film them from the back?”

But those cells… I was in those cells. Today, those rooms hold four prisoners each. Baader had one all to himself. Gudrun had one all to herself. These cells with two windows; it was like a fucking penthouse at this prison! Men and women together on the same floor; only prison in the world where that’s happened. And still, for years, they said they were tortured, isolated, dadda da… and everybody believed them! That the government was fascistic.

So the government was doing everything to prove they were not?

Exactly. They were so afraid of them, they gave them everything. “Look! We’re not fascists anymore! Please believe us!” All over Germany, a prisoner is only allowed to have ten books. By 1977, Baader had 950 books in his cell. That’s when he got his political education; he never knew too much before he had time to read in prison.

Altogether, they had 2,400 books… a whole library, what they got for free, because their sympathizers sent them everything in. Every day, they got sixteen newspapers! Jan-Carl Raspe was in charge of the scrapbook. He went through them all, collecting every article about them. So they knew exactly what status they had with the public. They had a fitness cell, with all gym equipment. They had a cell just filled with food… whatever they wanted. They had everyday a shower; what no other prisoner is ever allowed. And they were alone up there on that seventh floor; no other prisoners. They had sex. Not officially, but they had it. People told me.

So the government made a lot of mistakes. They even finally allowed Brigitte Mohnhaupt to join them there. She was originally in a different prison. And Gudrun and Baader trained her, that when she got out, she would start the bloodiest terror wave ever. What she did.

So why were they all put together? Just because of the trial?

They were put together after Holger Meins died. The government did not want the public suspicion that came with suicides, so they put them all together. That’s also why Mohnhaupt was brought in. The authorities whole idea was, “Let’s just get through this trial.” That trial was going on for 192 days, just going on forever. It cost the government millions. They built that whole courtroom for them right at the prison, for 22 million DM, so they would not have to drive them anywhere.

You didn’t ask me why they read Moby Dick in there.

Okay. Why do they read Moby Dick in there?

It was a very important work to Gudrun. For her, Melville’s novel was the metaphor for what they were all doing. She’d told them all very early on that they were like Captain Ahab and his crew… who are obsessed with killing the white whale.



Who was the whale?

The German government. That’s what they wanted to kill. And she talked of the others as if they represented characters in the book. She called Jan-Carl Raspe “The Carpenter,” the man who is clever with his hands; who can design and build anything they need. Raspe was the one who designed their communications system in prison. Holger Meins was Starbuck, and Gudrun’s code name was Smutje, the ship’s cook.

And what happens at the end of Moby Dick? The whale—the leviathan—it completely crushes them. Everybody dies. So Gudrun saw very clearly how it was all going to end for them.

So the whole thing was a death trip.

What’s the first line in Moby Dick? “Call me Ishmael.” Who is Ishmael? A minor character, but he’s the only one who survives. Why? So he can tell the story. And Gudrun had her Ishmael: Irmgard Moller. They find Moller with four stab wounds in her chest, but she survives. She was meant to survive! Why? Because now for thirty years, she continues to say it was the authorities that came in and killed them.

That was the myth Gudrun wanted to leave behind: the authorities are fascist murderers, so we were right to do what we did… and that new fighters must continue the struggle.

(This article originally appeared at EightMillionStories.com on March 27, 2009)

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Laurent Cantet: The Hollywood Interview

(Director Laurent Cantet, above)

by Terry Keefe

Director Laurent Cantet's The Class is no Dead Poet's Society/Mr. Holland's Opus/Stand and Deliver, and that's a good thing. Francois, the youngish teacher in the French junior high school depicted in the film, has an often unruly classroom of adolescents to manage, but he certainly doesn't have all of life's answers for them, or even for himself. Shot in a quasi-documentary fashion, loose and handheld, the truths of The Class come from its determination to avoid any sentiment or artifice, and to show life in the classroom as realistically as possible. The cast features real junior high school students and it's an immediate reminder that real 13-year olds don't look like the model types seen in Hollywood high school films. These kids are also socially awkward, and often irritating, and teaching them requires the patience of Job. Francois is played by co-screenwriter Francois Begaudeau, who was himself a teacher and wrote a best-selling autobiography entitled Entre les Murs (Between the Walls) about his experiences. Cantet worked with Begaudeau on the script for The Class, using the material from the book as a jumping-off point for the development of the eventual storyline.

The Class has arrived on DVD and Blu-ray this week (Buy it here at Amazon) with special features which include a Making of Featurette and commentaries on select scenes. We sat down with Laurent Cantet for our interview several months ago, in February, when he was visiting for the Oscars, and for which The Class was nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

Terry Keefe: Was your reading of the book Entre les Murs the initial inspiration for making The Class, or were you seeking out a school-based story to adapt regardless and reading lots of potential material?

Laurent Cantet: In fact, I started to write a script, when I was not sure that I would be able to make my previous film [Heading South], and the story I wrote was – is still in the film, in fact, in the plotline of the film, which is the story of (the student character of) Souleymane. And it was like the book, just set between the walls of a sort of junior high school. But I stopped writing, because I finally managed to make my previous film, and the day of the release, I was invited to a talk show, in a radio talk show, and Francois, the writer of the book Entre les Murs, was here too, and he was here to speak of his book, and he read some excerpts of the book. He has been a teacher for ten years, and I realized that could bring me all this documentary material I really needed to make the film. And he also – it was obvious when you read the pages of his book – it was obvious that the dialogues and all that was happening in the book, had this energy I was trying to find for the film. So I proposed to him that we work together, not to make a real adaptation of the book, but just a sort of extension of it. To just take the different scenes that interested me in the book, and make them be a sort of departure point for the scenes of the film. Propose a scene to the class that we would form, and then see the way the children could react from that. And he was really interested in that. I don’t think he would have been interested in just another classical adaptation of his book. He would have had the feeling to do the same thing again, but here it was not doing the same thing. We were going to see the way these scenes…could resonate for other children. And so we worked together for quite a long time before shooting. We made a sort of workshop in the school, and Francois was here every Wednesday afternoon with me, and with the children. And he was just acting in front of them, and working with them. And we could write the film from three different things: From my first idea of the Souleymane story; from the book and the scene he proposed me; and from the way the children react to these scenes. And we put all that together – I don’t know exactly, even today I don’t remember what comes from the book, what comes from my previous idea, what comes from the children. Everything is mixed….

(Star and co-writer Francois Begaudeau, above)

Did you tape the rehearsals in the workshop as you were going along, so you could look at the material that you had?

Yes. We had a camera during all of the workshop – and in the French DVD, we have a sort of making-of which shows big parts of this workshop, and it’s quite interesting to see what they brought to the film, as in moments that they proposed in the improvisation that are in the film now.

Let’s talk about the editing process, which must have been daunting. You shot quite a bit of material that had to be pared down to feature length.

At the end, we had one hundred and fifty hours, and it was quite, how do you say, you could get lost in it [laughs] ?

How many editors did you have?

One.

One!

Yeah [laughs], and he (Robin Campillo) is also the co-writer of the film, so maybe he had a good idea what we were doing, you know.

Did you devise any type of charting system to keep track of all this diverse footage?

No, in fact we edited the film scene by scene. And we tried to get, to see everything before starting to edit each of the scenes, and we had in mind all the possibilities before editing. I’m sure that if we would have watched the rushes after editing, we would have changed a lot of things again. But, you know, at one moment, we said, “So, okay, it works this way,” but I think we could have made another editing which would have been very different.

You shot on HD. I assume you had a few cameras going at once?

Three cameras.

And did you have certain things planned out that each camera would cover, or did they just sort of float around?

One of them was always on the teacher. Because, you know, he’s the one who sort of organizes the scene and says to each student, “It’s up to you.” And the second camera was on the student who was speaking to the teacher. And the third one was preparing itself for the next one to speak, or trying to catch these little moments of the class life, you know? And all that makes, I think, the class feel real.

Production-wise, was there a challenge in making sure the multiple roaming cameras were never in the frame together?

No, in fact, that part was quite easy, because the room was square. And we changed it into a rectangle, and we kept two meters (free) for the cameras and for the technical stuff. And the three cameras are in the same side of the class, just like when you film a match, and you have always the teacher on the left, and the children on the right. It’s quite easy to understand who is watching whom.

How long was the casting process in terms of deciding which kids you were going to focus on?

Well, it was not real casting. In fact, we made this workshop in the school, it was open to all the volunteers of the school, who were aged between thirteen to fifteen. And, at the beginning, I think there were fifty of them who came, just to see what was happening in that workshop. And after a few weeks, twenty-five stayed, and they are the twenty-five who are in the film. I didn’t choose them – they decided to be part of the story, that’s all.

You’ve stayed in touch with the kids. Do you feel responsible for them to some degree now?

Yeah, but I’m very happy, because I was a little bit afraid of what would happen after Cannes, you know.

It’s potentially such an overwhelming new experience for them.

And also because the journalists tried to get them, tried to go with them on holiday, see them going back to their country, and we tried to protect them. But in fact, they stayed very calm about all that. None of them lost their mind. And what’s important for me was they always felt that the group was more important than themselves. And none of them tried to come to the front, you know, and I think it’s – the film has been done in a very democratic way, and I think they understood that very well, and went on in that way of behaving afterwards.

Do any of them plan to pursue acting further?

Some of them would like to play again, to act again. One of them already made another film last summer, but they are still in school, and they still study, and, you know, they don’t lose their mind at all.

In the United States, the story of a teacher and his students is almost a genre in itself. There have been a lot of films based around this dynamic, and they’re often very sentimental. Did you make a conscious decision to veer away from sentiment?

That was one point. The other point was that I didn’t want to create this “perfect teacher,” that would take the children from a very bad position, to – how do you say it - inspirational? I tried to show a teacher that just tries to do his best, and sometimes makes mistakes, sometimes misses his purpose, you know? And I think it’s much closer to the school reality than an inspirational teacher that would be sort, of a maitre a penser, a thinking master, or something like that. And I think that’s the main difference between American school/class films and all that, and this one. I think this film is asking a lot of questions about school, about what it means to learn something, what it means to teach something. But it doesn’t give a lot of answers, because I think that the situation is too complex to have any specific answers – especially in two hours, when you’re making a film, you don’t have time to analyze everything, so you just – I just try to show the complexity of the system.

How influenced have you been by the neorealists?

Well, I think my favorite director would be Roberto Rossellini. I like the way he looks at the reality without being afraid of emotions in the same time. He’s even sometimes melodramatic. And I think that’s what I always try to make in my films: show the reality through the experience of people, and if you really look at people living the situation, you often go to the emotion that they feel about the reality.

The film has a strong fly-on-the wall feel, much like a real slice-of-life documentary, but there is a subtle guiding hand of narrative underneath. It's a tough balance to pull off, I imagine.

I, in fact, have a fictional line, and I like to develop it in a context that really looks like reality. And even if this reality is always rebuilt, it’s not a documentary in the sense that you just put your camera and wait until the things happen in front of the camera. Here, especially for this film, we created the class by putting together children who are in the same school but didn’t know each other very well, and we created characters with each of them. They were allowed to improvise on the scene, but also I gave them very precise lines that I really needed to hear in the film, and that they were able to introduce in the improvisation, just like it was coming from them. And most of them are very different in the film than what they are in real life. The main character, Souleymane, was a tough guy, you know, who has problem with the system, but he’s one of the most quiet boys I ever met, and he’s very discreet, and he’s even a little bit shy. But he likes acting, and I saw that on the first day we met, and I was so happy to try to find a character to try to act a different way he would act, he would be himself. It was very interesting for me to work with him.

Were you shooting hand-held most of the time?

It was all on the shoulder – and, you know, the first shot of each scene was very long, it was twenty-five minutes long. And then, after the first take, I would speak with each of the children, telling them, “That was interesting, you will keep that, you can avoid that, you can forget that, you could say that later – when you will say that…” and we were rebuilding the scene through what they proposed, but quite close to what I was expecting, in fact.

How long did it take for the kids to stop noticing the camera?

That was not a problem at any moment. Maybe because they are part of the generation that is very used to this, or just because, you know, after a while, when you let them think about what they are doing, they forgot they are not in a real lesson, and they are just acting, without thinking. And the other thing is, with three cameras, they never know when they are filmed, but they can be filmed at any moment – so they are acting from the action to the cut.

Did you learn anything about being a kid that’s different now, from when you were one?

What I learned is that, you know, we have a very bad image of kids now – they are supposed to be idiots, just able to play video games, and what they proved to me is if you give a certain meaning to what they are doing, a sense, I don’t know how you say that, they can give you much more than what you can expect at the beginning. And they were able to stay concentrated on the work, for a six-hour day. And the teachers who are in the film are also the real teachers of these kids in the same school, and they were so jealous to see that we were able to keep them like that – in a room and just working for six hours!

Do you know what you’re working on next?

No. For the moment I am just traveling with this film, which will soon finish, so I will have to think to the next film. And I need to go back to work now, but it’s too early, and I really need to finish this story before starting another one. The only think I’m sure of is that the working method I found for this film will be the one I will use again on my next one.

It’s hard to imagine the production process of this pre-digital. I’m envisioning several Moviola editing decks covered with hundreds of trims.

Yeah, and HD really…it gives the film freedom that I never had before, and I think you can see it when you watch the film. And, you know, since we had three cameras, we didn’t have to cut and make the reverse shot, and so it respects all the energy of the scene, and I think it’s the only way now for me to work. I think the freedom I’ve found with this film is what I will want on the next one. Because it allows you to really listen to what people have to say, and just let the camera roll, and then see sometimes you have ten minutes where nothing is happening – and then after ten minutes you have one scene that is so perfect.

FIN.

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DVD Playhouse--August 2009

DVD Playhouse—August 2009
By
Allen Gardner

WATCHMEN—DIRECTOR’S CUT (Warner Bros.) Director Zack Snyder’s film of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ landmark graphic novel is as worthy an adaptation of a great book that has ever been filmed. In an alternative version of the year 1985, Richard Nixon is serving his third term as President and super heroes have been outlawed by a congressional act, in spite of the fact that two of the most high-profile “masks,” Dr. Manhattan (Billy Cruddup) and The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) helped the U.S. win the Vietnam War. When The Comedian is found murdered, many former heroes become concerned that a conspiracy is afoot to assassinate retired costumed crime fighters. Former masks Nite Owl (Patrick Wilson), Silk Spectre (Malin Akerman) and still-operating Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley, in an Oscar-worthy turn) launch an investigation of their own, all while the Pentagon’s “Doomsday Clock” slowly moves toward the time of Armageddon between the U.S. and Russia. All of the novel’s brilliant re-thinking of super hero mythos is intact in this dynamite film. Although it wasn’t the runaway hit many were expecting at the box office, it will undoubtedly become a classic in retrospect, just as films like 2001 and Blade Runner were. Director’s Cut features approximately 25 minutes of footage not seen in theaters. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Documentaries and featurettes; 11 video journals; Music video. On Blu-ray: watch the film with Zack Snyder as he takes you behind the scenes, a terrific bonus feature. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround.
HUSBANDS (Sony) John Cassavetes’ seminal study of male bonding, camaraderie and loss has only gotten better since its release in 1971. Three lifelong pals (Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk), mourning the sudden death of the fourth member of their group, decide to take a spontaneous trip to London, where they contemplate their lives in middle age, where they’ve been and where they’re heading. Near-seamless blend of comedy, heartbreaking drama and pathos. Falk’s scene with an overbearing woman in a London casino has to be seen to be believed. Bonuses: Commentary by author Marshall Fine; Cassavetes documentary. Widescreen. Dolby 2.0 mono.
RICHARD PRYOR: LIVE AND SMOKIN’ (Weinstein Co.) This first video recording of Richard Pryor’s legendary standup career was done in 1971 at the New York City Improv, showcasing Pryor at his youthful, furious, edgy best. Although it creaks technically, all of Pryor’s boldness, originality and heart shine through, qualities sadly lacking in most of today’s young comics, who seem to put vulgarity in the foreground of their material unlike Pryor, who very wisely used it as background. Fascinating and highly entertaining. Bonuses: extra scene. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo.
THE GREAT BUCK HOWARD (Magnolia) Charming comic fable about Buck Howard, a famed mentalist (John Malkovich) who has gone to seed, and his act along with it. When Howard encounters a directionless law school dropout (Colin Hanks, very good), he discovers not only a new comrade in arms, but a breath of fresh air to help bring him, and his act, back to life again. Terrific supporting cast (including Tom Hanks, Emily Blunt, Ricky Jay, Steve Zahn, and Griffin Dunne). Bonuses: Commentary by writer/director Sean McGinly, Colin Hanks; Deleted and extended scenes; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
IP5 (Cinema Libre Studio) Two Parisian street kids (Olivier Martinez, Sekkou Sall) steal a car to go on a joyride, fleeing troubles in the big city, only to find an old man (Yves Montand, wonderful in his final performance) asleep in the back seat. Soon the two lads suspect that he is not an old man at all, but a spirit from the forest, who shares his sage advice and lessons during their Candide-like odyssey across France. Fine blend of fantasy and drama from filmmaker Jean-Jacques Beineix, available for the first time in the U.S. Bonuses: Interview with Beineix; Photo gallery. Widescreen. Dolby 2.0 mono.
RUDO Y CURSI (Sony Classics) Two brothers (Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal) with a talent for soccer are pulled out of the sticks and taken to Mexico City to play in the pros, quickly climbing the ladder of fame and success, and succumbing to all its trappings (drugs, alcohol, women of questionable moral character). Old-fashioned morality tale is beautifully-made by writer/director Carlos Cuaron, and bolstered by the charm of its two leads. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by Cuaron, Bernal and Luna; Deleted scenes; Featurette; Music videos. On Blu-ray: Q & A with Cuaron, Bernal and Luna. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
JEANNE DIELMAN 23, QUAI DU COMMERCE 1080 BRUXELLES (Criterion) Chantal Akerman’s 1975 film is a stunning piece of neo-realism that gets all the small details right. In what feels like real time (201 minutes), the life of a lonely, middle-aged widow (Delphine Seyrig) is observed by us, the audience, and deconstructed by Akerman, the filmmaker. Tough going at times, to be sure, but if ride this wave instead of fighting it, the result is hypnotic, quite beautiful and at times, revelatory. An early feminist masterpiece, made by an all-female crew. 2 disc set bonuses include: Documentary on the film’s production; Interviews with Akerman and cinematographer Babette Mangolte; Episode of Cinema de notre Temps on Akerman; Archival interview with Akerman and Seyrig; Akerman’s first short film, Saute ma Ville (1968). Widescreen. Dolby 1.0 mono.
THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO (Criterion) Whit Stillman’s examination of the disco era’s waning days and the party girls (Kate Beckinsale, Chloe Sevigny) whose fast-lane nightlives are 180 degrees from their mundane daytime routines. Fine, nuanced performances by a fine cast and Stillman’s trademark dry brand of social commentary bring this low-key satire to life. Bonuses: Commentary by Stillman, Sevigny and Chris Eigeman; Deleted scenes; Audio of Stillman reading a chapter from his book; Featurette; Photo gallery; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
BAD LIEUTENANT: SPECIAL EDITION (Lions Gate) Director/co-writer Abel Ferrara’s no-holds-barred study of a loathsome cop (Harvey Keitel, in his finest, most unhinged performance that was ignored by Oscar) whose physical, mental and spiritual deterioration is sparked by his investigation into the brutal rape of a young nun. There are no apologies in sight in this masterpiece, just behavior, some aberrant, some noble, all put in focus for the audience to draw their own conclusions. Earns its NC-17 rating in spades, but hey, that’s why it was created in the first place! Bonuses: Commentary by Ferrara, cinematographer Ken Kelsch; Retrospective documentary. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
THE SOLOIST (Paramount) Robert Downey, Jr. stars in this true story about LA Times columnist Steve Lopez who befriends a homeless street musician (Jamie Foxx) who was once one of Julliard’s most promising students, before mental illness destroyed his mind. Fine turns from an excellent cast, featuring Catherine Keener among others, still can’t raise this drama above movie-of-the-week level schmaltziness. Too bad, because there was a great, edgy story in here, full of moral ambiguity, like Lopez’s book, on which it was based. Query for the studio brass: why buy the book to begin with if your intention was to remove all the elements that made it great? Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Featurette; Deleted scenes; Commentary by director Joe Wright. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT—UNRATED (Universal) Remake of director Wes Craven’s 1972 slasher classic brings Craven and Sean Cunningham back as producers, and replaces Craven with Dennis Iliadis in the director’s chair. Exploitation version of Bergman’s The Virgin Spring, about a gang of psycho creeps who kidnap and torture two girls, then receive their just desserts from one of the girl’s parents, is more polished and less-disturbing than Craven’s original, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but isn’t a recommendation, either. Craven’s original was sick and unsettling, to be sure, but ultimately pointless. Its low budget and technical primitiveness did help make it seem real, however, whereas the remake is far too slick and over-the-top to ever seem plausible. If you’re looking for state-of-the-art splatter, look no further. Others, give this baby a wide berth! Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Theatrical and unrated versions; Deleted scenes; Featurette. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround.
17 AGAIN (New Line/Warner Bros.) 30-ish Mike (Matthew Perry) wishes he could do high school over again and suddenly finds himself back at his old school, and a big man on campus to boot. Amiable vehicle for teen heartthrob Zac Efron (as young Mike) is sure to please the tweens in your family, but older folks might find it a tired rehash of time travel comedies that peaked with the Back to the Future series, over 20 years ago (kind of makes you want to go back again, doesn’t it?). Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Featurettes; Trivia track; BD-Live features. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
I LOVE YOU, MAN (Paramount) Paul Rudd plays a recently-engaged guy who realizes that he has no “best bud” to be the best man in his wedding. Encouraged by his fiancée (Rashida Jones) to seek out a male pal, he finds an unlikely candidate in slacker Jason Segel, setting off an awkward “bromance.” A few chuckles can’t compensate for a forced feeling that permeates the entire movie. And a note to the writers: you can be sophomoric (see the films of Mel Brooks, Caddyshack, Animal House) and still be smart and funny! This stinker is neither. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Deleted and extended scenes; Gag reel; Featurette; Commentary by director John Hamburg, Rudd and Segel. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
PARIS 36 (Sony Classics) Charming, old-fashioned story set in pre-war Paris about a theater impresario who hits bottom personally and financially, then finds redemption in the form of a beautiful young singer who breathes life back into his troupe of performers. Nice blend of musical, period drama and romance, with terrific production design that beautifully captures the time and place. Bonuses: Deleted scenes; Commentary by director Christophe Barratier and actress Nora Arenezeder; Featurettes; Interviews with cast. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
THE NEW WORLD (Casque D’Or Films) Winning French comedy/drama about a lesbian couple who have been happy for years, until one of them feels her biological clock beginning to tick. Deft blend of social commentary, satire and romantic comedy, as only the French can do. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono.
THE CLASS (Sony Classics) Terrific film based on Francois Begaudeau’s autobiographical novel captured the Palme d’Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Film follows a year in the life of a teacher (played by Begaudeau) at a tough, inner city Paris school and the dynamic between him and his students as they each struggle to relate, cope and respect one another. Shades of gray abound in this cinema veritie-style film, with Begaudeau portraying a fictionalized version of himself in an often less-than-flattering light. Fine work all around—a real winner. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Featurette; Commentary on select scenes. On Blu-ray: Actors’ workshop; Actors’ self-portraits. Widescreen. Dolby 3.0 surround.
GREY GARDENS (HBO Films) Fluid, sobering drama tells the story of former New York socialites “Big Edie” (Jessica Lange) and “Little Edie” (Drew Barrymore) Bouvier Beale, cousins to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis whose fall from grace was famously (some would say infamously) documented by the Maysles brothers in their 1975 documentary, showing mother and daughter, both obviously delusional, living in squalid conditions in their crumbling, once-grand estate in the Hamptons. Film wisely answers many of the questions that the Maysles’ documentary raised, but left ambiguous, and never veers into stereotypes or melodrama, though it easily could have. Lange and Barrymore (in her best turn to date) make a believable mother and daughter. Jeanne Tripplehorn is excellent in her brief turn as Jackie O., as is the formidable Ken Howard as the Edies long-suffering husband and father. Bonuses: Commentary by exec producers; Documentary comparing the Maysles’ brothers film to the feature version. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
LONDON TO BRIGHTON (E1 Entertainment) Gritty drama about a desperate prostitute (Lorraine Stanley) on the run with an 11 year-old girl (Georgia Groome) whom she procured for a pedophile mobster. Tough to watch at times, but utterly honest and realistic, recalling the films of Mike Leigh and Ken Loach. The two girls give knockout performances. Bonuses: Deleted scenes; Alternate ending; Featurette; Commentary by director Paul Andrew Williams. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
DEMON WARRIORS (Magnet/Magnolia) Twisted thriller from Thailand about a detective who commits suicide in order to enter the spiritual realm between life and death so he can battle demons controlled by an evil overlord. Yes, it’s every bit as crazy as it sounds, but is also as entertaining as it is preposterous! Slam-bang bloody action and some truly dazzling filmmaking combine to make this a unique hybrid of the horror and action genres. Bonuses: Featurette. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
BIG MAN JAPAN (Magnet/Magnolia) Bizarre, very funny take on the super hero genre, telling the story of Daisato, who is transformed through electroshock into a stick-wielding giant that must do battle against a group of twisted monsters who have descended upon Japan, wreaking havoc. The twist is, where his predecessors were revered by their countrymen, Daisato finds himself an outcast. Some truly odd and startling images punctuate this unique import. Bonuses: Featurette with commentary; Deleted scenes. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
SEVERED WAYS (Magnet/Magnolia) Stark, brutal epic set in the 11th century telling the tale of Vikings, Native Americans and Irish monks colliding on the shores of North America. Reminiscent of Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Quest for Fire, the film features an incongruous, but terrific, heavy metal soundtrack by the likes of Burzum, Morbid Angel, Judas Priest and Dimmu Borgir. Bonuses: Deleted scenes; Featurettes; Trailers. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
AN EMPRESS AND THE WARROIRS (Genius Products/Weinstein Co.) Eye-popping period epic starring Hong Kong martial arts sensation Donnie Yen who, along with HK stars Kelly Chen and Leon Lai, team up as deadly mercenaries on a quest to unite a divided China so they can defend their homeland against an invading horde. Directed by Tony Ching Siu-Tung, the legendary action choreographer and cinematographer who helped make a star of Jet Li. Bonuses: Featurette; Commentary by HK film expert Bey Logan. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
DISNEY CLASSICS Disney Home Video releases PETE’S DRAGON: HIGH-FLYING EDITION, a classic blend of animation and live action about a boy and his beloved pet: an invisible dragon, who wander into the seaside village of Passamaquoddy, leaving a series of unintended “accidents” in their wake. Featuring Helen Reddy, Red Buttons, Shelley Winters, and Jim Backus in support, this 1977 favorite is sure to please kid of all ages. Bonuses: Featurettes; Original demo recordings; Promotional record of four songs in the film, including Oscar-nominated “Candle on the Water.” Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. THE TIGGER MOVIE: 10th ANNIVERSARY EDITION, finds Tigger, beloved pal of Winnie the Pooh, setting off on an adventure of his own, in search of new friends, new sights, and the meaning of family. Delightful animated film keeps the spirit of A.A. Milne’s characters alive, while adding healthy doses of contemporary sensibilities, as well. 2 disc set bonuses include: “New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” episodes; Interactive games; Music video; Sing-along songs; DVD storybook; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN is a high-octane remake of the 1975 Escape to Witch Mountain, reimagined for the 21st century. Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson stars as a Vegas cab driver who gets more than he bargained for when he picks up two aliens, disguised as teenagers, who are on the run from government agents, an alien hunter, and time itself. Quite fun, even for us jaded adults who fondly remember the original. Also available on Blu-ray disc. 3 disc set features Blu-ray, DVD and digital copies of the film. Bonuses on Blu-ray: Discover hidden references to the original film. Also, deleted scenes; Bloopers; Trailers. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
DELGO (20th Century Fox) Imaginative animated adventure story in the Lord of the Rings vein, about a spirited princess and unlikely hero who must join forces to battle an enemy long-forgotten by most. Dazzling CG animation and an incredible voice cast (Freddie Prinze, Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Chris Kattan, Val Kilmer, Anne Bancroft, Lou Gossett, Jr., Malcolm McDowell, Michael Clarke Duncan, Eric Idle, Burt Reynolds, and Sally Kellerman) bring this all-ages-friendly tale to life. Bonuses: Commentary by the directors; Featurettes; Animated short; Deleted scenes. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
DAKOTA SKYE (E1 Entertainment) Dakota Skye is a young woman with a problem: she can see the truth in any lie she hears. Now approaching adulthood, Dakota has lost all faith in the human race and life in general, until she meets Jonah, a breath of honest fresh air. He’d be the perfect guy, if only he weren’t her boyfriend’s best friend. Charming, mature teen comedy is an offbeat winner, and was understandably a film festival favorite. Bonuses: Commentary by director John Humber, writer Chad J. Shonk; Interviews with cast; Outtakes and bloopers; Featurette. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
KATYN (Koch-Lorber) Legendary Polish director Andrzej Wajda’s WW II epic was nominated for Best Foreign Film of 2008, telling the gripping true story of Stalin’s liquidation of the Polish officer corps in the Katyn Forest after Germany’s invasion of Poland. Stunning historical fiction at its finest, in the hands of a true master. Bonuses: Interview with Wajda; Featurette. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
JULIA (Magnolia) Tilda Swinton stars as an unapologetic drunk who finds herself over her head when she gets involved in a criminal scheme that goes horribly awry. Swinton, in a career marked by great performances, has never been better than she is in this gripping thriller, which also benefits from liberal doses of character study. Fine support from vet actor Saul Rubinek. Bonuses: Deleted scenes. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.
SURVEILLANCE (Magnolia/Magnet) Writer/director Jennifer Lynch’s macabre thriller about two FBI agents (Bill Pullman, Julia Ormand) investigating a series of brutal slayings plaguing a rural town. With only three witnesses (Pell James, Ryan Simpkins, French Stewart) left alive, the agents interrogate and observe them closely in an out-of-the-way police station, hoping one of them will crack, and the guilty culprit will reveal him or herself. One of the most unsettling, and ruthlessly clever films in recent memory, Lynch has inherited her father, David Lynch’s dark sensibilities, with a perverse sense of wickedness (and humor) all her own. This film will get under your skin like a bad rash—but it’s worth the itch! Bonuses: Featurettes; Deleted scenes; Alternate ending; Commentary by Lynch, Mac Miller, and Charlie Newmark. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround.



BLU-RAY TITLES Universal releases Terry Gilliam’s TWELVE MONKEYS, starring Bruce Willis as a scientist who must travel back in time to prevent a deadly virus from spreading, and wiping out all life on Earth above-ground. Some impressive visuals and a knockout (Oscar-nominated) turn from Brad Pitt are the film’s highlights. Bonuses: Commentary by Gilliam and producer Charles Roven; Featurettes. Widescreen. DTS 5.1 surround. THE LAST STARFIGHTER: 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION, is a fun sci-fi tale about a teen video game wiz (Lance Guest) who finds himself recruited by an alien race to defend them in an intergalactic war—based on his gaming skills. Catherine Mary Stuart and the late, great Robert Preston offer nice support. Bonuses: Featurettes; Photo gallery; Commentary by director Nick Castle and production designer Ron Cobb. Widescreen. DTS 5.1 surround. Severin Films releases the 1978 exploitation classic THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS, a B-version of The Dirty Dozen, starring Bo Svenson and Fred Williamson as condemned criminals who are forced to undertake a suicide mission behind enemy lines in WW II. Quentin Tarantino’s remake hits theaters later this month. He has nowhere to go but up! Bonuses: Conversation with Tarantino and director Enzo Castellari; Documentary on film’s production; Featurettes; Commentary by Castellari; Trailer. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. Touchstone releases the Adam Sandler hit THE WATERBOY, about a simple-minded Louisiana boy (Sandler) from the backwoods whose gentle demeanor masks a killer instinct on the gridiron. Nice support from Kathy Bates, Jerry Reed and Fairuza Balk in this broad comedy, sure to appeal to teens, although more discriminating audiences may find it a bit “big” for their tastes. Widescreen. DTS 5.1 surround. Miramax releases Billy Bob Thornton’s Oscar-winning SLING BLADE, written, directed by and starring Thornton as Carl Childers, a recently-released mental patient who tries his best to adjust to life in a small Arkansas town, befriending a troubled teenage boy (Lucas Black) and his family in the process. Understated film packs a punch, particularly in the finale. Unforgettable work by Thornton, whose star status was cemented with this remarkable work. Bonuses: Featurettes; Interviews with cast and crew; Commentary by Thornton. Widescreen. DTS 5.1 surround. Magnolia/Magnet releases THE MUTANT CHRONICLES, starring Thomas Jane in a futuristic tale of world war between Earth’s four biggest corporations, duking it out over the planet’s remaining natural resources. When the heavy combat releases the seal keeping a hoard of mutant warriors sealed beneath the ground, a single squad of soldiers must make the descent to save mankind. Terrific cast also includes Ron Perlman and John Malkovich all of whom help make what could have been another B programmer a very entertaining ride. Bonuses: Director’s cut of the film; Commentary by director Simon Hunter and Perlman; Featurettes; Short film; Teaser and trailers; Storyboard gallery; Q & A with cast and crew; Webisodes. Widescreen. DTS 5.1 surround. Image releases ALIEN TRESPASS, a fun, retro sci-fi satire set in 1957 about a spaceship that lands in small town, USA and threatens mankind’s existence. Eric McCormack stars as an astronomer possessed by an alien who is bent on saving Earth. Clever film also stars Dan Lauria and Jenni Baird. Bonuses: Featurettes; Interviews with director R. W. Goodwin and McCormack; Trailers. Widescreen. DTS 5.1 surround. Paramount releases HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS, a slight, but pleasing comedy starring Kate Hudson as an advice columnist who agrees to pen a column about how a woman can rid herself of an unwanted male in exactly 10 days. Unbeknownst to her, hotshot ad exec Matthew McConaughey makes a bet with his pals that he can make any woman fall for him in 10 days. Get the picture? We got it in the first couple minutes…Robert Evans was one of the producers on this film, and boy, must he miss the ‘70s! Bonuses: Commentary by director Donald Petrie; Featurettes; Music video; Deleted scenes. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. 20th Century Fox/MGM release THE TOWERING INFERNO, Irwin Allen’s blockbuster about half an all-star cast (William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Susan Blakely, Robert Wagner) trapped in a burning luxury highrise, while the other half (Paul Newman, Steve McQueen) try to put the fire out and rescue the beautiful people inside. Pyrotechnic effects are still impressive, even if the soapy story isn’t, but how can you hate a film that has Fred Astaire AND O.J. Simpson in the cast? Bonuses: Commentary by film historian F.X. Feeney; Scene specific commentary by special effects and stunt experts; Over 30 extended/deleted scenes; 9 featurettes; Storyboard-to-film comparisons; 1977 interview with Allen; Teasers and trailers; Photo galleries; 3 interactive articles from American Cinematographer. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround. THIS IS SPINAL TAP was the first of co-writer/star Christopher Guest’s “mockumentaries” (this time directed by and co-starring Rob Reiner), about an English heavy metal band in its waning days. It remains one of the 1980s’ seminal comedies and seems to get funnier with repeated viewings. Smart, inventive and achingly honest with terrific turns from Guest regulars Michael McKean and Harry Shearer. Bonuses: Over an hour of deleted scenes and outtakes; Commentary by Spinal Tap; Featurettes; Music videos. Bonus DVD features concert footage and interview with Nigel Tufnel on Stonehenge. Widescreen. DTS 5.1 surround. DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION: Z EDTION is based on one of the most popular Japanese Magna series of all time, following a young warrior’s epic journey of self-discovery. Packed with high-flying action and special effects, ideal for kids. Bonuses: Featurettes; Games; Deleted scenes; Music video; Gag reel; Digital copy of film. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround. MY COUSIN VINNY stars Joe Pesci as a fish-out-of-water (almost) attorney from Brooklyn who must travel to the Deep South with his big-haired girlfriend (Oscar-winner Marisa Tomei) to defend his cousin and the cousin’s friend (Ralph Macchio and Mitchell Whittfield) on murder charges. Fred Gwynne is a hoot as a southern-fried judge. Bonuses: Commentary by director Jonathan Lynn; Trailers and TV spots. Widescreen. DTS 5.1 surround. Kurt Russell stars in John Carpenter’s action/fantasy epic BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, a hoot of a pastiche about macho truck driver Jack Burton (Russell) who must do battle with supernatural forces when his best friend’s fiancée is kidnapped by gangsters in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Non-stop thrills from start to finish, a real sleeper. Bonuses: Commentary by Carpenter and Russell; Deleted scenes; Extended ending; Featurettes; Music video; Trailers and TV spots; Photo gallery. Widescreen. DTS 5.1 surround. Sony releases THE INFORMERS, based on Bret Easton Ellis’ novel about intersecting lives in 1980s LA. Starring Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, Winona Ryder and Mickey Rourke, film has style to spare and, if you’re willing to go on the ride it offers, more than a few rewards at the end of the trip. Bonuses: Commentary by cast and crew; Featurette. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. Lions Gate releases Roman Polanski’s THE NINTH GATE, starring Johnny Depp as a nefarious rare books dealer who is hired to locate the last copy of a demonic manuscript that can supposedly summon the Devil Himself. Intrigue, murder and Polanski’s signature macabre humor permeate these proceedings which, while half-baked, are better than most in the hands of a master filmmaker and star. Bonuses: Commentary by Polanski; Featurette; Storyboard selections; Satanic drawings gallery; Trailers. Widescreen. DTS 7.1 surround. CUTTHROAT ISLAND is director Renny Harlin’s glorious mess of a swashbuckler starring his then-wife Geena Davis and Matthew Modine. Frank Langella is fun as a dastardly pirate. Bonuses: Commentary by Harlin; Featurette; Trailers. Widescreen. DTS 7.1 surround. REPLICANT stars Jean-Claude Van Damme as a heinous serial killer and his replicated clone that is determined to bring him down. Hong Kong action maestro Ringo Lam raises the bar on this actioner with his mastery of the genre. Bonuses: Commentary by Van Damme and Michael Rooker; Deleted scenes; Storyboards. Widescreen. DTS 5.1 surround. SEE NO EVIL stars wrestling superstar Kane as a reclusive psychopath holed up in an abandoned hotel who gets to exercise his DNA when eight petty criminals arrive to perform community service—along with the cop that put a bullet in Kane’s head four years earlier. Not bad of its kind, skillfully made, with some truly suspenseful and horrific scenes. NOT for the faint-of-heart! Bonuses: Commentary by director Gregory Dark and writer Dan Madigan, Kane and co-exec producer Jed Blaugrund; Featurettes; Storyboard-to-film comparison; WWE promotional spots; Trailers. Widescreen. DTS 7.1 surround.



DOCUMENTARY TITLES Sony releases James Toback’s powerful TYSON, an unapologetic look at boxer Mike Tyson’s life, career and troubled history. Terrific blend of present-day interviews with Tyson and archival footage, Toback very wisely never passes judgment on his subject (although Tyson often does so on himself) and keeps his distance from the film itself, allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions. Fine work all around. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by Toback; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. A&E releases MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: ALL-CENTURY TEAM, a look at a so-called “fantasy team” selected from over 15,000 men who played pro baseball during the 20th century. Fascinating trip through time, and to see how the selection process whittles down a huge list of legendary names to just 30 of the greatest players. Narrated by Bob Costas. Bonuses: Featurettes; Bonus footage. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. BATTLES B.C.: THE COMPLETE SEASON ONE takes a look at some of the most decisive military battles that took place in the ancient world, using computer graphics and live action stunts to re-enact the melee. Just a few of the legendary bouts examined include studies of Hannibal, David, Joshua, Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, and Ramses. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. GANGLAND: THE COMPLETE SEASON FOUR, is a three disc set that takes a hard look at some of America’s hardest gangs in urban centers such as Dallas, Memphis, St. Louis, Charlotte and Detroit, examining 12 of the country’s most dangerous groups. Filmmakers take an unsentimental, matter-of-fact look at the sociology of the gangs, the psychology of their operations, and the collateral damage their activities cause in their communities. Bonuses: Additional footage. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. YANKEEOGRAPHY: THE CAPTAINS COLLECTION, salutes seven of the New York Yankees’ greatest team captains: Lou Gehrig, Thurman Munson, Graig Nettles, Ron Guidry, Willie Randolph, Don Mattingly and Derek Jeter. Bonuses: Featurette, Moments & Mystique. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. HOW THE EARTH WAS MADE uses state-of-the-art special effects and footage from the planet’s most remote locations to document how, through a series of natural occurrences (and disasters) the Earth as we know it today was formed. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Documentary, Inside the Volcano; Additional scenes. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. ART OF WAR takes a look at Sun-Tzu’s legendary manual of combat and philosophy that weaves together the epic story of Sun-Tzu himself and recreates a war in which his tactics saved a city that was under siege. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. HOW BRUCE LEE CHANGED THE WORLD takes an intimate look at the life and career of the martial arts legend, from his humble beginnings in the streets of Hong Kong, to international stardom after his untimely death at the age of 32. Interviews with Lee’s close friends, colleagues and those he influenced are interspersed with home movies and archival footage, much of it never before seen. Bonuses: Featurette; Lee filmography. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. WORLD WAR II ULTIMATE COLLECTIONS: THE WAR IN EUROPE AND THE PACIFIC is a 4-disc set that features eight documentaries on the European theater and seven on the Pacific, all beautifully produced with stunning archival footage punctuating the stories of the battles that shaped the war, and the men who fought them. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. MADOFF AND THE SCAMMING OF AMERICA takes a comprehensive look at Ponzi-schemer Bernard Madoff and the biggest case of financial fraud in U.S. history. Excellent documentary uses the Madoff story not just as a factual, straightforward documentary, but digs deeper into the sociological implications of how the United States has fed on its own greed for the past several decades, and now the chickens are coming home to roost. Bonuses: Documentary, Crash: The Next Great Depression? Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. Warner Bros. releases GOLDEN METAL, with cultural anthropologist Sam Dunn examining the influence of heavy metal music on disparate cultures around the world: Asia, South America, the Middle East, as well as its home in Europe and North America. Fascinating sociological study of youth culture and the universal appeal of music. 2 disc set bonuses include: Commentary by Dunn and Scot McFayden; Featurettes; Outtakes; Extended interviews. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. 5 GREATEST GAMES: 49ERS, takes an in-depth look at the San Francisco 49ers and their greatest moments on the gridiron, from the January, 1982 game vs. the Cincinnati Bengals, to their unforgettable match against the San Diego Chargers in January, 1995. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. 10 GREATEST GAMES: NY GIANTS, takes a look at the Giants’ greatest moments on the gridiron during the past 20 years, beginning with their heart-stopping victory against the 49ers in January, 1987, and concluding with their Super Bowl victory over the Patriots in January, 2008. Both sets are any NFL fan’s dream. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. Liberation Entertainment releases SECOND SKIN, an intimate, fascinating look at the world of computer gamers whose lives are literally devoted to hours in front of their monitors, playing interactive games such as “World of Warcraft,” “Second Life,” and “Everquest,” all of which are played online and allow players all over the world to connect and interact. Compelling look at a subculture that is growing by the day. Bonuses: Commentary by filmmakers; Featurettes. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. MVD releases THE BEATLES: RARE AND UNSEEN, featuring footage of the Fab Four that’s been under wraps for the most part since being shot in the ‘60s. See the boys from Liverpool in their earliest filmed performance at the legendary Cavern Club in 1962, behind-the-scenes on the classic film Help!, and highlights of an interview with John Lennon for French television, to name but a few on this must-have for Beatlemaniacs everywhere. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. Acorn Media releases VISIONS OF BRITAIN & IRELAND, a breathtaking travelogue on two discs that examines some of the UK’s greatest feats of architecture as well as its natural wonders. Beautifully shot and produced. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: An hour of bonus footage. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. Indiepix releases AUDIENCE OF ONE, a funny, sad, and engaging look at Richard Gazowsky, a Pentecostal preacher who receives of vision from God, instructing him to shoot a multi-million dollar sci-fi/religious epic, taking the audience on a remarkable journey of obsession, faith, and delusion. Bonuses: Trailer; Deleted scenes; Commentary by director Michael Jacobs; Featurettes. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. Rock City releases MICHAEL JACKSON: THE TRIAL AND TRIUMPH OF THE KING OF POP, follows Jackson during his infamous child molestation trial and his preparations for the 02 Arena, London This is It mega concert that put him back on top again. Loaded with appearances from celebrities in the worlds of music and film, this documentary provides a sad coda to a life that was snuffed out far too soon. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. HBO Films releases THE ALZHEIMER’S PROJECT, a 4-part documentary that examines the effects that Alzheimer’s disease has on its victims, their families and on the medical and political communities, as well. Fascinating study of progress, hope, and frustration. Bonuses: Four hours of additional material, including twelve comprehensive segments on the disease and its variables. Widescreen. Dolby 2.0 mono. Inakustik releases five new titles on Blu-ray, all gorgeously shot in Hi-Def at the New Morning in Paris: MIKE STERN BAND, a recording of “one of the best electric guitarists of his generation,” featuring eight of their most famous tracks. JOSE FELICIANO BAND features the six-time Grammy-winner performing with his 5 piece band, also in 2008, dazzling with 20 of their greatest hits. STANLEY JORDAN TRIO, features the guitar impresario and his band performing 12 tracks—classical, jazz, and rock, in July, 2007, dazzling the audience with the multi-faceted talents. AUTOUR DU BLUES/CARLTON/FORD features a line-up of legendary blues players from Nashville, performing live in Paris with the members of Autour du Blues, the cream of France’s top studio musicians, joined by American guitar heroes Larry Carlton and Robert Ford. 13 tracks and two bonus numbers highlight this amazing performance. Finally, the YELLOWJACKETS grace the New Morning stage, sharing their unique fusion of jazz, bebop, R&B and rock. 12 tracks from this legendary band. All discs are widescreen, and feature DTS 5.1 Master Audio, as well as 5.1 linear PCM, and Dolby 2.0.



DON’T TOUCH THAT DIAL! Lions Gate releases MAD MEN: SEASON TWO, a 3-disc set of all 13 episodes of the award-winning second season, following the trials and tribulations of ad exec Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and the denizens of Sterling-Cooper, one of Madison Avenue’s hottest agencies. Quite simply the best show on television: smart, literate writing; powerful, nuanced performances from an expert cast; and beautiful production design that perfectly captures the early 1960s. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary from cast and crew; Music sampler; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. Warner Bros. releases SUPER FRIENDS: THE LOST EPISODES, a two-disc set of 24 episodes produced after the 1970s Saturday morning favorite was cancelled, and were thought to be lost for over a decade. Great fun for super-hero fans, young and old alike. Bonuses: Two downloadable comic books. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. HBO releases FLIGHT OF THE CONCORDS: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON, the further adventures of everyone’s favorite duo of Kiwi slacker musicians, and their misadventures in the Big Apple. Unique blend of bone dry humor and full-blown surrealism makes this one of TV’s best bets for smart, discriminating viewers. Bonuses: Documentary; Featurettes; Deleted scenes and outtakes. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. VSC releases THE LOLA FALANA SHOW, is a compilation of four network specials first aired in 1976, starring the multi-talented performer and some of the biggest names of the era: Bill Cosby, Muhammad Ali, Sonny and Cher, Billy Dee Williams, Redd Foxx and Dick Van Dyke. Available for the first time on any video format, these shows are a fun time capsule to an entertainment format (the variety show) that we’re unlikely to see again. Bonuses: Commentary by author Nelson George; Photo gallery; Biography. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. Virgil Films releases THE DONNA REED SHOW: SEASON TWO, 38 episodes of one of the most beloved sitcoms of the ‘50s and ‘60s, following the adventures of Donna and her husband Alex (Carl Betz) and their children (Paul Petersen and Shelley Fabares). Cameos from Golden Age Hollywood stars like Esther Williams make this time capsule all the more fun. Bonuses: Photo galleries; Downloadable episode scripts; Cast bios. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. Anchor Bay/Starz releases MARTIN LAWRENCE PRESENTS 1st AMENDMENT STAND-UP: SEASON 3, a compilation of ten comedy shows featuring some of the most promising up-and-comers in the business. Raunchy, raw, uncensored fun abounds in this two-disc set that contains over five hours of material. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. Universal releases HOUSE: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON, featuring more of Hugh Laurie’s cantankerous curmudgeon of a doctor whose abrasive personality is matched by his brilliance in his field. 24 episodes, featuring guest turns from a diverse slate of actors such as Mos Def, Carl Reiner, and Zeljko Ivanek. Bonuses: Featurettes; Commentary by the show’s creators. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. LIFE: SEASON TWO, stars Damian Lewis as a police detective reinstated to the force after being wrongly imprisoned. Using his Zen-like take on his second chance at life to solve cases unconventionally, Lewis keeps the bad guys of LA at bay. Bonuses: Deleted scenes; Gag reel; Commentary by cast and crew. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: SEASON 4.5, features the thrilling final episodes of TV’s smartest, most subversive sci-fi masterpiece, as the human vs. Cylon conflict comes to a head and the search for the fabled 13th colony called Earth reaches its climax. Great stuff, and a landmark series that will be greatly missed. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Featurettes and documentaries; Deleted scenes; Unaired extended episodes; Podcast commentaries; Video blogs. On Blu-ray: BD-Live features; Interactive guide; Glossary of BG terms. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround. 20th Century Fox/MGM releases PRISON BREAK: THE FINAL BREAK, the final chapter in the saga of wrongly-imprisoned Michael Scofield, who must do battle against corrupt government officials who go after the woman he loves in order to get to him. Terrific, exciting coda to the series. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Deleted scenes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround. DOLLHOUSE: SEASON TWO, Joss Whedon’s sexy, suspenseful series starring Eliza Dushku as an agent for the mysterious Dollhouse Organization, which provides its clients with programmable human beings to be used as they see fit: thief, lover, spy, assassin. Lots of fun, with Whedon’s signature black humor abounding. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Original unaired pilot episode; Commentary by cast and crew; Deleted scenes; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround. STARGATE ATLANTIS: FANS’ CHOICE, offers a feature-length version of the series pilot “Rising,” and an extended version of “Enemy at the Gate,” the two most popular episodes of the series. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround. Paramount releases DEXTER: THE THIRD SEASON, continuing the twisted adventures of Miami’s greatest forensic analyst/serial killer, who only preys on those evildoers who slip through the cracks of the system. One of television’s smartest, and most unsettling, programs. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Interviews with cast and crew; Featurettes; Episodes of United States of Tara and The Tudors. On Blu-ray: BD-Live features. Widescreen. Dolby 5.1 surround. EARLY EDITION: THE SECOND SEASON, starring Kyle Chandler as a man who mysteriously receives the following day’s edition of the morning paper, then risks life and limb to try and stop disasters from happening. 22 episodes on 5 discs. Bonuses: Episodic promos. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. JIM BREUER: LET’S CLEAR THE AIR, features the SNL alumnus’ outrageous stand-up act in which he covers his transition from childhood to family man. Funny and smart stuff. Bonuses: Photo shoot; Featurette. Full screen. Dolby 5.1 surround. Acorn Media releases a 20th anniversary edition of the classic miniseries TRAFFIK, on which Steven Soderbergh’s Oscar-winning Traffic was based. This six episode drama examines how the drug trade infects every avenue of society around the world: the growers, the dealers, the users, and the politicians who try and combat it all, and sometimes unwittingly help keep it going. Julia Ormand makes a stunning debut as the drug-addicted daughter of a member of Parliament. Bonuses: Interview with writer Simon Moore and producer Brian Eastman; Extended UK broadcast version of episode 6; Photo gallery; Production notes; Filmographies. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. MIDSOMER MURDERS: SET 13 is a sort of rural, British version of Law & Order, following two detectives (John Nettles and Jason Hughes) and their dogged pursuit of criminals in England’s countryside. Four episodes on four discs. Bonuses: Biographies and filmographies. Widescreen. Dolby 2.0 stereo. THE RIVALS OF SHERLOCK HOLMES: SET 1, is a classic from 1971 about other gifted detectives in Victorian England who helped solve the most dastardly of crimes. Fun early turns from stars such as Donald Pleasence, Jeremy Irons (in his screen debut), Peter Vaughn, and John Neville. Bonuses: Profiles of the rival detectives and their creators. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. THE BEIDERBECKE TAPES is a throwback to the zany whodunits of the ‘30s and ‘40s, about two Yorkshire schoolteachers who have a knack for amateur sleuthing and can’t keep their otherwise calm, predictable lives calm and predicable! James Bolam and Barbara Flynn star. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono. AFFAIRS OF THE HEART: SERIES TWO, offers six scintillating tales based on the writings of Henry James and the romantic adventures of young people in late 19th century England. Classic from 1974 features early turns from notable actors like Derek Jacobi, Eileen Atkins, Edward Hardwicke, Sinead Cusack, Cheryl Campbell, Daniel Massey, and Christopher Cazenove. Bonuses: Henry James bio and cast filmographies. Full screen. Dolby 2.0 mono.

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