DVD Report
New Releases | Tom Russo
'Mutiny' is the flagship of new Brando collection
Nothing like a few decades' distance to take a film that once brought down an entire studio and rehab it into anchor material for a DVD box set. Witness "The Marlon Brando Collection" (2006) and the spotlight it shines on Brando's sprawling 1962 version of "Mutiny on the Bounty."
Despite an Oscar nod for Best Picture, this costly remake of the classic Clark Gable-Charles Laughton version was a bust for MGM and is frequently blamed along with "Cleopatra" for the downfall of the old Hollywood star system. Still, we're not on board with the criticism that Brando was blatantly miscast as insubordinate Fletcher Christian opposite Trevor Howard 's sadistic Captain Bligh . Between playing the bad boy with a knowing smirk and seething with intensity, Brando lends Christian dimensions that largely fill the film's epic length.
The set also includes four DVD debuts: Brando's turn as Marc Antony in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's "Julius Caesar" (1953); his curious comic stretch as a Japanese interpreter in "The Teahouse of the August Moon" (1956); "Reflections in a Golden Eye" (1967); and the newly topical entry "The Formula" (1980), with investigator George C. Scott chasing a synthetic-fuel conspiracy that leads to oil magnate Brando.
Extras: "Mutiny" misses an opportunity to examine the project's personal significance for Brando, who developed his lifelong fascination with Tahiti while shooting on location. Instead, there's a featurette on the H.M.S. Bounty replica constructed for the film. A little-seen prologue and epilogue are also included -- material that was said to be of great interest to Brando for its downbeat look at the mutineers' paradise lost. (Warner, $59.98; "Mutiny" also available separately, $26.99)
"WORDPLAY" (2006)
It would have been easy for filmmaker Patrick Creadon to put together his portrait of New York Times crossword-puzzle culture as a documentary about nerds. (Please -- his interviewees call themselves that.) He also could have spun things toward snobbery and intellectual elitism. But what he delivers, ultimately, is a film with an infectious, whimsical curiosity about its subject. Profiles of crossword editor Will Shortz and friends are mixed, judiciously, with celebrity interviews with Bill Clinton, the Indigo Girls, and other puzzle addicts. And then there are all the little tidbits, such as one insider's studied observation that auditors and musicians tend to be the most adept at this sort of thing. Who knew?
Extras: Creadon, Shortz, and noted puzzle "constructor" Merl Reagle supply commentary; an "unforgettable puzzles" featurette and a look at the film's Sundance screening are superfluous. (Genius Products, $24.95)
"STALKER" (1979)
Late Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky ("Solaris ") plants his answer to the Bermuda Triangle square in the middle of the Russian wilderness, then sends an underground guide, a scientist, and a jaded writer questing across this landscape to unravel its cerebral mysteries. The intriguing narrative builds at roughly the same deliberate pace as a Siberian frost heave, with the film alternating between lyrical desolation and a bilge-pipe aesthetic that makes "Saw" look like old news. No wonder David Lynch is cited as a fan.
Extras: Crew interviews; and a look at a real rarity -- footage from a Tarkovsky film-school project. (Kino, $29.95)
"SHADOWBOXER" (2006)
Cuba Gooding Jr . and Helen Mirren are odd - couple assassins in a film that pulls in viewers with its casting but drives them away with a story line that's hopelessly disjointed. Turns out these are killers who don't really relish the job; terminally ill Mirren balks at offing a target who's pregnant, and Gooding's story is all wrapped up in childhood trauma that's made him an emotionally deadened adult. Which sort of explains their bizarre love/death scene, but not really . . .
Extras: Gooding and first-time director Lee Daniels supply commentary -- but when Daniels asks Gooding for his read on the aforementioned scene, you'll wonder whether the question isn't coming too late. (Code Black, $26.99)
Music DVD | Sarah Rodman
Energy and feeling drive 'Cars Unlocked'
"The Cars Unlocked" firmly establishes two things: Despite the foggy memories of those who were there, the beloved and highly successful Boston new wave quintet was not a terrible live band, and touring is a one-way ticket to tedium.Although lanky, laconic frontman Ric Ocasek passed on this summer's reunion, prompting guitarist Elliott Easton and keyboardist Greg Hawkes to tour with Todd Rundgren in the New Cars, Ocasek clearly hasn't lost interest in , or affection for , the old band. The creative driving force gets behind the wheel again to produce this DVD/CD combo set and the results are like a great Cars song, a brief, giddy, sugar rush of melody and mechanization leavened by dry, raised-eyebrow wit and aloofness.
Combining live footage shot between 1978 and 1987 and behind-the-scenes home video, Ocasek takes viewers back to the moment when synthesized drums were the jam and the more angular lines on your T-shirt the better. While the Cars weren't scintillating showmen, the 20 performances collected here bristle with the energy and momentum of the irresistible songs, including "My Best Friend's Girl" and "Good Times Roll." If they're not more than faithful reproductions, the guys do exhibit skill and even the occasional grin. In one of a few interview snippets, Ocasek sums up the band by saying, "If you can mix technology with feeling, you'll be fine."
The backstage footage is fairly mundane and doesn't do much in the way of unlocking the dynamics of the band. Easton whips the contents of a deli tray at a dressing-room wall; he and Hawkes mess with an interviewer; drummer David Robinson occasionally mugs for the camera, then such a novelty that Hawkes thinks it's interesting to read the instruction manual.
If nothing else, the disc is a loving tribute to Benjamin Orr , who died of pancreatic cancer in 2000. With his sly smile, trademark blond shag, and smooth croon, he was the warmer-blooded half of the Cars front line, and Ocasek knows it. When asked why Orr was given the lead vocal on certain songs, Ocasek replied , "When it needs a good vocal, Ben gets it." It's a sweet gesture that once again finds Ocasek deftly mixing technology with feeling. (New Video, $29.95; available now)
Television DVD | Tom Russo
A series' short life and sweet afterlife
Why didn't "Police Squad!" The Complete Series (1982) last longer than six measly episodes, anyway? The ABC comedy was created by spoofmeisters Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, and David Zucker, the same trio behind "Airplane!," which had filled theaters not quite two years prior. To capture the requisite '60s police procedural vibe, they tapped Leslie Nielsen, already a cult favorite from "Airplane" for his goofy gravitas. ("And don't call me Shirley!") Even now, a couple of decades later, the show's smartly stupid brand of humor is still hilarious. Most perplexing of all, Nielsen's misadventures as Lieutenant Frank Drebin somehow hit the mark as a movie franchise with "The Naked Gun." So what happened?
Fittingly, Nielsen himself supplies the double-talky answer. A network honcho said "the series didn't work because you had to watch it," Nielsen recalls in a bonus interview. "It sounds dumb, but it was true: You had to pay attention." Between the creators' insistence on not having a laugh track and the way subtle sight gags got lost on a small screen, "Police Squad!" never fully connected with its audience.
Those who did get the joke should be so pleased by the DVD's lineup of extras, they may well find themselves grinning like Nielsen does in those faux freeze frames at the end of each episode. Abrahams and the Zuckers supply amused (and amusing) commentary on a pair of episodes. For viewers who like to keep score, there's a checklist of celebrities who make cameos in the opening credits, only to be killed. And we can't think of another disc that's offered "production memo highlights" -- in this case, everything from the network's insistence that a hernia joke be reworded to, sadly, the official cancellation notice. (Paramount, $19.99)
ALSO THIS WEEK
"CARS" (2006)
"LITTLE MAN" (2006)
The Wayans Brothers dish up another anything-goes comedy about a very small jewel thief (Marlon Wayans) posing as a baby. As if the whole "Austin Powers" Mini-Me thing wasn't disturbing enough.
Extras: Commentary by the Wayanses; featurette on the movie's deliberately cheesy effects. (
REISSUES "CAROUSEL" (1956)
It's a 50th anniversary celebration for Rodgers and Hammerstein's underappreciated musical about Maine carny worker Gordon MacRae's return trip from the afterlife to make up for mistakes made in his short time with local gal Shirley Jones. The composing duo's "South Pacific" and "Flower Drum Song" also get deluxe re-releases.
Extras: On "Carousel," commentary by Jones; sing-along feature; vintage stage excerpt. ("Carousel" and "South Pacific," Fox, $26.98 each; "Flower," Universal, $26.98)
"GARY COOPER: THE SIGNATURE COLLECTION" (2006)
Cooper's Oscar-winning performance as a pacifist heartlander turned WWI hero in "Sergeant York" anchors a set of five DVD debuts. "The Fountainhead," "Dallas," "Springfield Rifle," and "The Wreck of the Mary Deare" are also included.
Extras: On "York," new production featurette; vintage profile; film historian commentary. (Warner, $49.92; "York" also available separately, $26.99)
FOREIGN
"CINEMA PARADISO" (1989)
There's ample opportunity to share director Giuseppe Tornatore's warm remembrance of the youthful experiences that set him on the road to filmmaking: This three-disc reissue includes both the domestic cut of "Paradiso" and the three-hour international version.
Extras: Filmmaker commentary; production documentary; soundtrack CD. (Genius Products, $39.99)
"ANNA KARENINA" (1967)
Russian director Aleksandr Zarkhi's adaptation of Tolstoy's tragic love story doesn't necessarily have the profile of the Garbo or Leigh versions, but has won praise for its faithfulness and wide-screen beauty.
Extras: Tolstoy biographical materials. (Kino, $29.95)
TELEVISION
"MELROSE PLACE": THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (1992-93)
Guilty pleasures abound in our pick as the standard setter for '90s trash TV. And that's despite season one's delayed, mid-year intro of Heather Locklear -- the most cattily involved "special guest star" ever. The debut season of "Beverly Hills 90210" also hits DVD.
Extras: Production featurettes; commentary on select "90210" episodes by creator Darren Star. (Paramount, $61.99 each)
"THE SOPRANOS": SEASON 6, PART I (2006)
Edie Falco's first-ever commentary is the spotlighted extra on this latest collection of 12 episodes. (And given Carmela's reunion with Tony, she's certainly got some explaining to do.) (HBO, $99.98)
Capsules are written by Globe correspondent Tom Russo and titles are in stores Tuesday unless otherwise specified. 
