Knight at HOME at the Movies
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Three Final Entries as our Month of Halloween Movie DVDs Creepy Crawls to an End!
Some kinder, gentler suggestions for the Season of the Witch -- and one not quite so!
Some kinder, gentler suggestions for the Season of the Witch -- and one not quite so!
Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Pugsley, Wednesday, Grandma-ma, Lurch, and
Cousin It also known as The Addams Family have finally found their way to DVD
courtesy of MGM’s new 3-disc set of the majority of Season One of the show. The
“mysterious and spooky” Addams’ have been members of the sitcom hall of fame
since the show’s original two season run ended in the mid-1960s. Who doesn’t know
the Vic Mizzy theme song and can perform it complete with finger snaps? This set
from MGM, released just in time for Halloween, is a welcome addition for the wee set
(the show is delightfully zany, strange and truly family friendly). It’s also great for
retro addicts like myself who grew up sticking light bulbs in my mouth like Fester and
trying to make them light, and growling “You rang?” in mock imitation of Lurch the
butler.
The set includes 22 episodes (they look remastered) of the 1964 first season (I
guess the remaining 12 will show up in a latter volume) and the first episode, in
which Wednesday and Pugsley are forced to attend public school and sit through
those vile Grimm’s Fairy Tales is priceless and sets the tone for the remaining
shows. The Addams’ turned around sensibility in which the offbeat and horrific is
embraced is actually a disguised liberalism (it makes perfect sense that gay writer
Paul Rudnick later wrote the movie adaptations). No one seems to understand the
strange Addams family members – though their huge fortune makes their
eccentricities easy to overlook. The show was perfectly cast with John Astin, Carolyn
Jones, and former child star Jackie Coogan as stand-outs.
The MGM set also includes a favorite episode -- the one that introduces Cousin It
(and the dwarf actor that played him offers commentary along with other cast
members and an Addams family historian). All also participate in some of the other
special features which include a quartet of ten minute featurettes that are lively and
entertaining (I especially loved the one on Charles Addams the illustrator whose
cartoons of the characters – who had no names until the series – were regular
features of the New Yorker). A charming set in glorious gothic black and white. No
colors for the Addams’ – thank God!
I’m the first to admit that I wasn’t crazy about the rather thin story framing Monster
House. But the look of the film – now that was something altogether different. I
think the CGI technology was a large advance over The Polar Express which utilized
the same process. And I also suspected that the weak script would have an easier
time on the little screen (it does). I’ve noted it again and again – what doesn’t work
on the big screen often works when the DVD arrives. The intimacy of home viewing,
I think, has something to do with that. At any rate, Monster House plays much
better with the lights off and the candy corn in close proximity. Though this still isn’t
a film for the tots, the older kids will like it (and will best appreciate the characters of
the horribly rude babysitter and her stoner boyfriend).
And again – that look – the film’s dark color palate is gorgeous and I was happy with
the seven featurettes on the Sony Pictures DVD release that offer plenty of
background on the making of the film. There’s also an extensive photo gallery,
filmmaker commentary and a few other special features. The movie’s retro
packaging – which allows you to spin the house and see it evolve into its monster
self ala an old Viewmaster slide – is very clever.
Speaking of the little screen, the eight episode TNT mini-series of last summer,
Stephen King’s Nightmares & Dreamscapes is here via a three-disc edition
from Warner Home Video. This anthology series was variable in quality but started
out with a killer entry. This was “Battleground,” a dialogue-less piece that was an
obvious homage to the classic 1961 “The Invaders” episode of The Twilight Zone
that starred Agnes Moorehead. Here, William Hurt plays a hit man who gets more
than he bargained for when he takes out a toymaker. Jeff Beal, who scored the
episode (and the entire series) gets kudos for his riveting music that has to take the
place of dialogue.
Beal also sets the tone for the noir-flavored episode “Umney’s Last Case” that stars
William H. Macy as a detective writer who finds himself transported into the world of
his star character. The other one hour shows, all headed by a name cast, are of
variable quality but all are enjoyable and each has one of those patented Stephen
King twists. No extras.
CHECK OUT THE ARCHIVES FOR A MONTH'S WORTH OF HALLOWEEN DVD PICKS!
Cousin It also known as The Addams Family have finally found their way to DVD
courtesy of MGM’s new 3-disc set of the majority of Season One of the show. The
“mysterious and spooky” Addams’ have been members of the sitcom hall of fame
since the show’s original two season run ended in the mid-1960s. Who doesn’t know
the Vic Mizzy theme song and can perform it complete with finger snaps? This set
from MGM, released just in time for Halloween, is a welcome addition for the wee set
(the show is delightfully zany, strange and truly family friendly). It’s also great for
retro addicts like myself who grew up sticking light bulbs in my mouth like Fester and
trying to make them light, and growling “You rang?” in mock imitation of Lurch the
butler.
The set includes 22 episodes (they look remastered) of the 1964 first season (I
guess the remaining 12 will show up in a latter volume) and the first episode, in
which Wednesday and Pugsley are forced to attend public school and sit through
those vile Grimm’s Fairy Tales is priceless and sets the tone for the remaining
shows. The Addams’ turned around sensibility in which the offbeat and horrific is
embraced is actually a disguised liberalism (it makes perfect sense that gay writer
Paul Rudnick later wrote the movie adaptations). No one seems to understand the
strange Addams family members – though their huge fortune makes their
eccentricities easy to overlook. The show was perfectly cast with John Astin, Carolyn
Jones, and former child star Jackie Coogan as stand-outs.
The MGM set also includes a favorite episode -- the one that introduces Cousin It
(and the dwarf actor that played him offers commentary along with other cast
members and an Addams family historian). All also participate in some of the other
special features which include a quartet of ten minute featurettes that are lively and
entertaining (I especially loved the one on Charles Addams the illustrator whose
cartoons of the characters – who had no names until the series – were regular
features of the New Yorker). A charming set in glorious gothic black and white. No
colors for the Addams’ – thank God!
I’m the first to admit that I wasn’t crazy about the rather thin story framing Monster
House. But the look of the film – now that was something altogether different. I
think the CGI technology was a large advance over The Polar Express which utilized
the same process. And I also suspected that the weak script would have an easier
time on the little screen (it does). I’ve noted it again and again – what doesn’t work
on the big screen often works when the DVD arrives. The intimacy of home viewing,
I think, has something to do with that. At any rate, Monster House plays much
better with the lights off and the candy corn in close proximity. Though this still isn’t
a film for the tots, the older kids will like it (and will best appreciate the characters of
the horribly rude babysitter and her stoner boyfriend).
And again – that look – the film’s dark color palate is gorgeous and I was happy with
the seven featurettes on the Sony Pictures DVD release that offer plenty of
background on the making of the film. There’s also an extensive photo gallery,
filmmaker commentary and a few other special features. The movie’s retro
packaging – which allows you to spin the house and see it evolve into its monster
self ala an old Viewmaster slide – is very clever.
Speaking of the little screen, the eight episode TNT mini-series of last summer,
Stephen King’s Nightmares & Dreamscapes is here via a three-disc edition
from Warner Home Video. This anthology series was variable in quality but started
out with a killer entry. This was “Battleground,” a dialogue-less piece that was an
obvious homage to the classic 1961 “The Invaders” episode of The Twilight Zone
that starred Agnes Moorehead. Here, William Hurt plays a hit man who gets more
than he bargained for when he takes out a toymaker. Jeff Beal, who scored the
episode (and the entire series) gets kudos for his riveting music that has to take the
place of dialogue.
Beal also sets the tone for the noir-flavored episode “Umney’s Last Case” that stars
William H. Macy as a detective writer who finds himself transported into the world of
his star character. The other one hour shows, all headed by a name cast, are of
variable quality but all are enjoyable and each has one of those patented Stephen
King twists. No extras.
CHECK OUT THE ARCHIVES FOR A MONTH'S WORTH OF HALLOWEEN DVD PICKS!
