We are introduced to Gilbert (Broadbent) angrily reading a review criticizing his and Sullivan’s latest work, Princess Ida. They have stopped working together because Sullivan (Corduner) feels that their collaboration has become routine. However, he is chronically sick, taking morphine injections every day in order to function. He heads off to Paris to indulge in their brothels while Gilbert pulls Ida and replaces it with a revival of The Sorcerer. Fortunately, his wife Lucy (Manville) takes him to the Japanese Exhibition in London and he becomes fascinated by Kabuki Theater. He experiences an epiphany and comes up with the genesis for The Mikado. He is soon reunited with Sullivan and the rest of the film plays out the backstage trials, tribulations and hijinxs that ensue.

Jim Broadbent and Allan Corduner do an excellent job of portraying one of the most famous artistic duos of all-time. The actors convey how these artists with very different approaches to theater brought out the best in each other when they collaborated together. They weren’t afraid to challenge each other and ended up complimenting their respective strengths and weaknesses. The attention to period detail, like the richness of Gilbert’s study, is quite impressive. Also of note are the period costumes, especially the vibrant Japanese attire for The Mikado.

Not surprisingly, one’s enjoyment for Topsy-Turvy hinges on your love for Gilbert and Sullivan musicals. Leigh’s film is well-written, brilliantly acted (Broadbent has never been better) and masterfully directed but personally the subject matter fails to engage me. I prefer his contemporary dramas but for those who like period musicals, this film is pure catnip. While Topsy-Turvy is a superb backstage drama and biopic, it certainly isn’t for everyone and this resulted in fairly dismal box office returns when it was first released. Kudos to the Criterion Collection for giving Mike Leigh’s film the deluxe treatment. This is the kind of niche film that they excel at championing.

Special Features:

The first disc features an audio commentary by writer/director Mike Leigh. The always engaging filmmaker speaks passionately about the subject matter. He also talks about the nuts and bolts of his filmmaking process – i.e. how he works with actors, how he establishes mood and atmosphere, and so on. Leigh also tells a few filming anecdotes on this solid track.

The second disc starts off with a conversation between Leigh and musical director Gary Yershon. They talk about the differences between Gilbert and Sullivan and how much they drew from historical source material in Topsy-Turvy. Leigh also talks about his intentions, like how he wanted to comment on the filmmaking process. This is a lively and memorable discussion.

Also included are four deleted scenes including a cut song. Leigh was contractual obligated to deliver a certain running time and even though he pushed it, footage was still cut.

“A Sense of History” is a 22-minute short film that Leigh made in 1992 starring and written by Jim Broadbent. In it, he plays the 23rd Earl of Leete, who takes a film crew on a tour of his estate. It was at the time of the making of this short film that Broadbent and Leigh began talking about Topsy-Turvy.

There is a featurette made at the time of the flim’s release that is a fairly standard mix of talking head soundbites and clips from the film. Leigh and some of the cast speak eloquently about the film and Gilbert and Sullivan.

Finally, there is a theatrical trailer and three T.V. spots.

The opening track, “Porpoise Song,” with its psychedelic imagery, anticipates the British acid house movement by many years and quickly establishes that this isn’t going to be a traditional film by any stretch of the imagination. Gone is the bubblegum pop and in is the Sgt. Pepper’s-esque experimentation. At one point, the band members appear as dandruff in Victor Mature’s hair only to be swept up by a giant vacuum cleaner. Hell, Frank Zappa even shows up with a talking cow to give some sage advice. The Monkees, with Rafelson’s help, gleefully bit the hand that fed them and proceeded to deconstruct their image in a way that no pop group at their level of success had done before or since. Imagine if Justin Bieber decided to star in a film directed Darren Aronofsky.

The critical and commercial success of Easy Rider (1969) scared the hell out of the Hollywood studios at the time of its release. Executives thought that they knew what the public wanted to see: safe comedies like Pillow Talk (1959) or the Frankie and Annette beach party movies. Along came this counter-culture film that featured contemporary rock ‘n’ roll music, two hippie protagonists and a nihilistic ending. And audiences loved it. Easy Rider ushered in the last great decade of American movies in the ‘70s.

After selling their stash of cocaine, Billy (Hopper) and Wyatt (Fonda) decide to ride their motorcycles from California to Florida (by way of the South) where they plan to live off the money. They travel the back roads of American and encounter all sorts of people: suspicious small-townsfolk, an oppressive sheriff and a rancher and his large family who invite them to a meal. The deeper they go into the South, the more resistance they meet because of how they look.

Easy Rider is a fantastic snapshot of the times. It signaled the end of the not-so idyllic ‘60s, where having long hair could deny you a room in a motel because the manager didn’t like the way you look. Time running out is a constant theme throughout Easy Rider. When Billy and Wyatt start their journey, Wyatt throws away his watch. Later on, he finds a discarded pocket watch just before they leave the commune. Also, as they are leaving, the hitchhiker they picked up warns Wyatt that time is running out. It eerily foreshadows the film’s disturbing finale and gives a feeling of impending doom that hangs over the entire film.

Five Easy Pieces (1970) is one of those complex character studies that typified some of the best American films from the 1970s. Bobby Dupea (Nicholson) is a former piano prodigy who spends his days working on an oilrig with his best friend Elton (Bush). As Bill Murray would later say in Stripes (1981), he’s “part of a lost and restless generation.” He’s someone who doesn’t suffer fools gladly which makes one wonder why he lives with Rayette (Black), a nice enough person but clearly not Bobby’s intellectual equal and he barely tolerates her needy behavior. One gets the feeling that Bobby is punishing himself.

He is a restless soul as evident in a fascinating scene where, frustrated at being stuck in a traffic jam on the interstate, he gets out of his car and starts playing the piano on a back of a nearby truck. Bobby wants to fit in – hence the blue-collar employment – but he keeps sabotaging his jobs and relationships with an acute self-awareness and his rejection of familial responsibilities. This is a slice of life film whose story doesn’t begin properly until 30 minutes in when Bobby finds out that his estranged father is ill and decides to take road trip to see him. Nicholson delivers a brilliant, gritty performance that would typify a lot of his work in the ‘70s. He’s not afraid to play an unlikable guy who treats those around him poorly. Bobby is full of anger – at the world, at others and at himself.

Drive, He Said (1970) marked the directorial debut of Jack Nicholson. By this point in his career, he had already tried his hand at screenwriting and, of course, acting, so directing seemed like the next logical step. The film concerns the relationship between Hector Bloom (Tepper), a talented college basketball player, and his increasingly radical roommate Gabriel (Margotta). The first thing that strikes one about this film is how topical it is as it deals frankly with sex and nudity (both male and female) – something that was being explored explicitly at the time and how politicized college campuses had become because of the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, and so on.

In A Safe Place (1971), Tuesday Weld plays a beautiful free spirit in this whimsical experimental film. Scenes often cut abruptly to others and the film lacks a concrete story but is anchored by a strong performance by Weld. Along for the ride is Orson Welles as a mysterious magician who performs several tricks. The lack of a linear narrative can make this a frustrating experiment for some. In some respects, it’s a snapshot of its time and could never be made now.

Made in the early ‘70s, The Last Picture Show (1971) firmly established director Peter Bogdanovich as one of the premiere American filmmakers of that decade. It is also his undisputed masterpiece in a wildly uneven career. Based on the novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry, the film is a lament for the absence of simpler times and a simpler way of life. It’s set in a dusty Texas town in the early 1950s with the focus on three aimless teenagers: Sonny (Bottoms), Duane (Bridges) and Jacy (Shepherd). Sonny and Duane play for the local high school football team and endure constant criticism from their elders for their poor play. Social life for the teens revolves around the small town’s lone movie theater. Our three teen protagonists are bored and can’t wait to get out of their town where nothing ever happens.

Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges and Cybill Shepherd were all young, up-and-coming actors at the time and are excellent in their respective roles. It is easy to see why an actor like Bridges went on to become such a versatile thespian. Even this early on in his career he displays an uncanny knack for embodying a character. Bogdanovich does a good job with this material and the rich, textured black and white cinematography, coupled with the run-down Texas town, feels like it could exist in the same world as the characters in Hud (1963), another film based on a McMurtry novel.

Bob Rafelson reunited with Jack Nicholson for another tale about disillusioned and disaffected Americans with The King of Marvin Gardens (1972). Like their best collaborations, it’s a character study, exploring the relationship between two estranged brothers. David (Nicholson) is a depressed radio show host in Philadelphia. One day, he receives a phone call from his scam artist brother Jason (Dern) who is stuck in a jail in Atlantic City. Once he gets out, Jason ropes David in on a real estate scam. The gregarious older sibling makes it out to be too good to be true and that’s because it is.

Jack Nicholson is fascinatingly cast against type as a reserved, button-downed intellectual. David is a quiet, responsible person, which is in sharp contrast to Bruce Dern’s motor-mouthed Jason, a guy always on the make. He’s a consummate bullshit artist and the cynical David sees right through his hustle. The King of Marvin Gardens is an intriguing snapshot of an Atlantic City that doesn’t exist anymore. At the time, it was in decline but all of the old architecture was still gloriously intact and Rafelson shows it off to the degree that it is almost another character in the film. It’s interesting to note that the film’s offbeat rhythm anticipates Vincent Gallo’s Buffalo ’66 (1998) complete with a woman dancing by herself in a spotlight. Dern and Nicholson play well off each other and are believable as brothers. They have a familiar short hand and get on each other’s nerves much like real siblings do.

Special Features:

On the Head DVD is an audio commentary by The Monkees – Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork. Rather appropriately, they talk about how they got their own television show and then the film. They are all pretty candid about how badly the film performed at the time and how it was their attempt to trash the image of the band from the show.

“From The Monkees to Head” is an interview with director Bob Rafelson. He talks about the genesis of the T.V. show and how The Beatles influenced it with A Hard Day’s Night (1964). He goes on to talk about how the show led to the film and how everyone around him told him not to make it.

“BBS: A Time for Change” is a 30-minute featurette on BBS, an independent production company that existed from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. This is an excellent look at the genesis of this company and its place in cinematic history.

There are screen tests for all four Monkees that were done before the T.V. show. They were integrated into the pilot episode and helped launch the show. Their personalities really come out in this footage. We also see two of The Monkees paired up with two other guys that never made the final cut.

“The Monkees on The Hy Lit Show, 1968” is a rare T.V. appearance by the band to promote Head. It takes place next to a boxing ring (?!) and it is interesting to see them try and explain their film.

“Promotion” includes several theatrical trailers, T.V spots and radio spots for the film. Also included is a collection of stills and behind-the-scenes photographs.

On the Easy Rider disc, there is an audio commentary by co-writer and director Dennis Hopper that was recorded in 2009. He kicks things off by talking about the genesis of the film. He also talks about his motivation for making the film and what he was trying to say with it. He points out bits of dialogue and visual inserts that were improvised. There are several lulls throughout as Hopper tends to get caught up in watching the film.

Also included is a 1995 commentary by Hopper, Peter Fonda and production manager Paul Lewis. This is a much livelier track as everyone shares filming anecdotes like Phil Spector lending his limousine and bodyguard to the film. They also point out where various scenes were shot and how also just how stoned Jack Nicholson was during the famous campfire sequence.

There are two trailers.

The second disc starts off with a 30-minute BBC2 documentary entitled, “Born to be Wild”. It features Hopper, Fonda, Karen Black and cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs. Hopper and Fonda talk briefly about how Roger Corman taught them to make a film fast and cheap. Of course, they address the casting of Nicholson and how Hopper didn’t see him in the role. Everyone tells some good filming anecdotes in this highly enjoyable extra.

Carried over from the 35th Anniversary Edition is “Easy Rider: Shaking the Cage,” an hour-long retrospective documentary featuring new interviews with Fonda, Hopper, Seymour Cassel (who worked on the crew) and Black. Hopper says that the film was an attempt to counter the mainstream fluff like the Frankie and Annette beach party movies that ignored sex, drugs and contemporary rock ‘n’ roll. This is a top-notch look at all the wild stories of filming Easy Rider, including the infamous Mardi Gras shoot.

“Hopper and Fonda at Cannes” features a segment from French T.V. of Fonda and Hopper at the 1969 Cannes Film Festival with their film and they briefly talk about it.

Finally, there is an interview with Steve Blauner, one of the founders of BBS. He talks about the genesis of the company and about their start in T.V., creating The Monkees. He points out that the money from the show paid for Easy Rider.

If you own the 35th Anniversary Edition of the film you might want to hold on to as the commentary that Hopper does on it is not included, nor is the excellent BFI Modern Classics book on Easy Rider by Lee Hill or the bonus CD with select songs from the film.

The Five Easy Pieces disc starts off with an audio commentary by director Bob Rafelson and interior designer Toby Rafelson. Toby points out that the entire film was shot on practical locations. Originally, she didn’t want to do the film but Bob convinced her when he told that he was going to use their own furniture (!). By keeping it under budget and on time, he had final cut and could also cast whomever he wanted. Naturally, Bob talks about working with Nicholson on this engaging track.

“Soul Searching in Five Easy Pieces” features an interview with Rafelson where he talks about the film’s development. He was nervous about doing Five Easy Pieces because it was the first time he worked with actual, serious actors. He had written two screenplays but didn’t like them. He showed them to screenwriter Carol Eastman and she threw them out and wrote her own.

“BBStory” is a 2009, 46-minute documentary about BBS Productions and features the likes of Rafelson, Peter Bogdanovich, Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, and several others. It starts off with the social and political conditions that gave birth to the company. The studio system was collapsing and BBS made films that reflected the times that people were living in.

“Bob Rafelson at AFI” features excerpts from an audio recording of Rafelson speaking at the American Film Institute. He talks about his career and the films he made for BBS.

Finally, there are two teaser trailers and one full-length trailer.

Drive, He Said starts off with “A Cautionary Tale of Campus Revolution and Sexual Freedom,” a featurette where Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern and co-producer Harry Gittes talk about making this film. It was about college campus revolution and at one point during filming a real riot broke out on the campus they were at. They went ahead and filmed it without permission. Nicholson talks about shooting the basketball sequences and how he cast actual players.

Also included is a trailer.

A Safe Place includes an audio commentary by director Henry Jaglom. He points out that the film was originally a play starring Karen Black. By adapting it into a film he wanted to make it more abstract, exploring the internal nature of Tuesday Weld’s character. Jaglom is quite eloquent and engaging on this track.

“Henry Jaglom Finds A Safe Place” sees the filmmaker talking about the influence of improvisational theater and the New Wave of European cinema. He was interested in creating stories about the inner lives of women.

“Notes on the New York Film Festival” sees Jaglom and Peter Bogdanovich talk with film critic Molly Haskell about The Last Picture Show and A Safe Place in 1971. It’s great to see them all in their prime talking so confidently about their work. The two directors banter playfully with each other in this enjoyable extra.

Also included are outtakes of Orson Welles blowing his lines and four screen tests.

There is a trailer as well.

The Last Picture Show includes an audio commentary by director Peter Bogdanovich and actors Cybill Shepherd, Randy Quaid, Cloris Leachman and Frank Marshall. The director explains why he shot the film in black and white and says that the town was divided about them filming there. He goes into the casting choices with some interesting stories. Shepherd says that she never acted before doing that film and gives her impressions of working on it as do the other participants.

Bogdanovich returns for another commentary, this time by himself. There is some overlap from the previous track making it kind of redundant. Not surprisingly, he dwells on the nuts and bolts of filmmaking and discusses its themes.

Also included are two trailers.

The second disc includes “The Last Picture Show: A Look Back,” an hour-long documentary made in 1999 with most of the key cast members and Bogdanovich and author Larry McMurtry recalling their experiences of making the film. It takes us through the genesis and filming to its reception. There is a fair amount of crossover of information from the commentaries but if you’re not into listening to commentaries then this is for you.

“A Discussion with Filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich” sees him talking about how he got into show business, what directors influenced him and, of course, The Last Picture Show.

“Picture This” is a documentary about Bogdanovich and key cast members reunited to make the sequel, Texasville (1990) while also talking about their experiences making the original film. It also paints a fascinating portrait of the people that lived in the town.

Also included are 16mm screen tests of several actors in the film.

There is location footage that Bogdanovich shot while scouting places to shoot for the film.

“Truffaut on the New Hollywood” features filmmaker Francois Truffaut talking briefly about the New Hollywood directors in 1972 on French T.V. He also offers high praise for The Last Picture Show.

For The King of Marvin Gardens, there is a selected-scene commentary by Bob Rafelson. He talks about some of the stylistic choices he made. After Five Easy Pieces, he wanted to make a more abstract film. He talks about the film’s style and comments on the characters.

“Reflections of a Philosopher King” sees Rafelson and actress Elle Burstyn talking about the characters in the film and how they came to be and evolved over the course of filming.

“Afterthoughts” features Rafelson, cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs and actor Bruce Dern talking about the style of the film and how it was achieved and why. There is some overlap from the previous extras but Dern and Kovacs’ comments are quite good and funny as hell.

“About Bob Rafelson” is brief text biography of the man’s career.

Finally, there is a trailer.

Much like Good Times, Chastity (1969) is clearly a product of the 1960s with trippy visuals and a we-can-change-the-world idealism. The film begins with Cher running desperately across a beach. Where is she going? Do we care? After the fluff of Good Times, Sonny Bono went behind the camera and wrote and produced Cher in this gritty tale of a rebellious free spirit. This is the first on-screen appearance of the tough-talking Cher that we all know and love. She rebuffs creepy guys hitting on her in trademark blunt fashion, rips off a gas station and smokes a joint. Chastity is your basic counterculture hero, living on the fringes of mainstream society and sticking it to The Man. The film and the accompanying soundtrack did so badly that Cher didn’t act again for over ten years.

Silkwood (1983) is among some of the best socially-conscious films to come out of Hollywood in the early to mid-1980s. The film is based on the real-life Karen Silkwood (played by Streep in the film) who worked at a nuclear power plant and when she found out about their shady dealings and unsafe working conditions tried to blow the whistle only to die in a mysterious car accident. Cher was in the big leagues with this film, acting opposite Meryl Streep and was directed by the legendary Mike Nichols. Cher drops her glamorpuss look and gets real, disappearing into her character. She more than holds her own with the likes of Streep, Kurt Russell, Craig T. Nelson, and Fred Ward. Silkwood was a hit with critics and nominated for five Academy Awards, including Cher for Best Supporting Actress.

Moonstruck (1987) was the My Big Fat Geek Wedding (2002) of its day only infinitely better and about an Italian family as opposed to a Greek one. Watching Norman Jewison’s film again, you realize just how much Nia Vardalos’ film is heavily indebted to it. If Moonstruck is La Boheme than Greek Wedding is Tony and Tina’s Wedding. Loretta (Cher) is engaged to Johnny (Aiello). They act like an old married couple and they haven’t even tied the knot yet! And therein lies the problem – their relationship lacks passion. He is called away suddenly to Italy to see his mother on her deathbed and asks Loretta to invite his estranged brother Ronny (Cage) to their wedding. Ronny works in a bakery and is bitter over having lost his hand in a freak accident, blaming Johnny for what happened. In a classic case of opposites attracting, Loretta and Ronny find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other. Like Greek Wedding, Moonstruck does heighten ethnic stereotypes for comedic effect but the latter film does so sincerely and with class. Moonstruck perpetuates a lot of Italian stereotypes but not in a grating way, rather with affection. The crucial difference between the two films is tone. Where Greek Wedding is all cuddly, feel good sitcom, Moonstruck has some bite to it, an edge as represented by Nicolas Cage’s passionate performance. Best of all it has a wonderful sense of romantic naiveté, a cinematic love letter to New York City.

Hot off her success with Moonstruck, Cher used her clout to have two directors and one actress replaced on her next film, Mermaids (1990). Regardless of the production problems, the end result is a sweet, funny and even poignant coming-of-age story. Set in the early 1960s, Mermaids is narrated by Charlotte (Ryder), a teenage girl who dreams of becoming a nun – quite possibly a reaction to her headstrong mother Mrs. Flax (Cher) who packs up and moves her two children every time a relationship with a man doesn’t work out … which is a lot. Mrs. Flax’s wandering ways are put to the test when she meets Lou (Hoskins) who runs the town shoe store and proceeds to charm the pants of the Flax women. The chemistry between Cher, Christina Ricci and, particularly, Winona Ryder, is excellent as she plays the conservative daughter rebelling against her free-spirited mother. The young Ricci is absolutely adorable as the energetic little sister Kate who is an avid swimmer.

Coming off the commercial flop that was Faithful (1996), Cher laid low for three years before bouncing back with Franco Zeffirelli’s semi-autobiographical film, Tea with Mussolini (1999), that saw her teamed up with an impressive group of veteran British actresses – Joan Plowright, Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. This film is a lavish period piece set before and during World War II and is a leisurely-paced character study set in Italy. Part of the joy in watching this film is seeing the cast breath life into these intriguing characters. The film focuses on three British women living abroad. Their daily routine changes when one of them (Plowright) takes a young boy in and raises him. Her two other friends (Dench and Smith) take turns babysitting the boy and imparting pearls of wisdom. This is something of an underrated film and it is rare that you get to see this many award-winning, critically-acclaimed actresses sharing the same space together.

Special Features:

Most of these films are accompanied by a trailer.

Born premature and blind, Wonder had an abusive father. After his mother fled with her children to Detroit, Wonder was signed to Motown records as a child by the legendary Berry Gordy. He had his first hit at age 13 and went on to have an incredible career, including five years during the early seventies – a creative period arguably only matched by The Beatles – which saw the albums Music of my Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness’ First Finale and Songs in the Key of Life. He’s been married twice, had a passel o’ kids and narrowly survived a serious car crash in 1973. Before you ask, he wasn’t driving.

Rich pickings for a biographical documentary, no? As it turns out, this effort by the History Channel is a bit of a missed opportunity. Clocking in at barely 45 minutes long, it’s obvious that the producers have not had much of a budget to work with. For a start, none of Wonder’s music features; in a game effort to avoid paying royalties, we get bland elevator bobbins that vaguely sounds like his music but at the same time is a million miles away. There’s only a handful of footage and still pictures used, and it’s not too long before you’re tired of seeing the same photograph over and over, no matter how many times they zoom into and pan across it in a vain effort to liven things up.

On the positive side, the talking heads wheeled in to regale us with anecdotes about Stevie’s life are engaging and well informed, and there’s the odd famous face including Smokey Robinson and Rev Al Sharpton.

All in all, you feel that an artist of Wonder’s calibre deserves something with better production values – even if he did throw his cred away with I Just Called To Say I Love You and Ebony and Ivory – but this scores a few extra points for making you want to find out some more about the guy and listen to his music.

The Red Shoes takes us backstage for a behind-the-scenes look at a ballet company. At a dinner party after a performance, Lady Neston approaches Boris Lermontov (Walbrook), the imperious owner of the ballet company, and asks him to see her niece, a young dancer named Victoria Page (Shearer). He’s also approached by Julian Craster (Goring), an aspiring composer. He plays him part of an opera he’s been working on and Lermontov hires him to coach the orchestra.

Powell and Pressburger do a masterful job of showing the hustle and bustle of a large ballet company getting ready for a performance on a daily basis. We see stagehands assembling sets, performers rehearsing and musicians practicing. We also see the clashing of personalities between egotistical dancers. Victoria and Julian are thrown into the mix as they try to impress the powers that be in the hopes of getting a shot at the big time. At first, no one gives them the time of day. Fortunately, they both make the cut and travel with the company to Paris. Lermontov decides to mount a production of The Red Shoes and enlists Julian to write the adaptation and Victoria as the principal dancer.

The dance sequences are masterfully staged as Powell and Pressburger utilize the vibrant Technicolor look to make the images leap off the screen thanks to Jack Cardiff’s stunning cinematography. Amidst all of the backstage drama, a love triangle develops and Powell and Pressburger do an excellent job weaving all of these storylines together seamlessly. The entire cast performs admirably with Moira Shearer as a particular stand-out playing a young, up-and-coming ballerina. The Red Shoes has been painstakingly restored over the course of two-and-a-half years where it was finally unveiled at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. It’s safe to say the film has never looked or sounded better. One of the true classics of cinema has been preserved for future generations to study and enjoy.

Special Features:

For a landmark film such as The Red Shoes, the Criterion Collection has gone that extra mile in the extras department.

The first disc features a “Restoration Demonstration” as Martin Scorsese takes us briefly through the process of restoring The Red Shoes and just how challenging it was to do. He shows a clip from the damaged original and how it was restored digitally. The restorers did an amazing job on this film and the proof is in the final results.

There is an audio commentary by film historian Ian Christie and interviews with stars Marius Goring and Moira Shearer, cinematographer Jack Cardiff, composer Brian Easdale, and Scorsese. The veteran director talks about the use of colour and how it drew him to the film. Cardiff talks about how he got involved. Initially, he hated the ballet but soon grew to love it. Goring talks about the blend of fairy tale and reality in the film. Unlike Cardiff, Easdale was a long-time fan of the ballet and speaks of the origins of the music. Shearer says that she took some convincing because she was enjoying a successful run as a dancer and found the film’s script dreadful. This is an excellent track that covers all aspects of The Red Shoes.

“The Red Shoes Novel” features actor Jeremy Irons reading excerpts from the 1978 novelization of the film as you’re watching it. He has a great voice which really enhances the prose.

Also included is a theatrical trailer.

The second disc starts off with “Profile of The Red Shoes,” a 25-minute retrospective documentary. It starts off giving some background to the genesis of the film and takes us through its production with surviving crew members sharing their memories and relatives of those who died recounting stories as well. This is an excellent look at how The Red Shoes was made.

Legendary film editor Thelma Schoonmaker is interviewed at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. She had been married to Michael Powell from 1984 until his death in 1990. She talks about the film’s restoration and also comments on what the film means to her. She speaks quite eloquently and very knowledgeably.

Also included are six stills galleries covering the cast and crew, behind-the-scenes in London, Paris and Monte Carlo, deleted scenes, and production and costume designs.

“Scorsese’s Memorabilia” is a gallery of items from the filmmaker’s personal collection. It’s quite impressive with things like the red ballet shoes worn by Shearer in the film, and posters and lobby cards from various countries.

Finally, there is “The Red Shoes Sketches,” a collection of production designer Hein Heckroth’s original colour storyboards animated and set to Brian Easdale’s score. You can view them on their own or as a side-by-side comparison to The Red Shoes ballet as seen in the film with an optional audio track of Jeremy Irons reading excerpts of the original Hans Christian Andersen story.

Can’t Stop The Music is an ersatz autobiography of the band, charting their formation in New York’s Greenwich Village to a final, climactically fruity concert at San Francisco. A fresh faced, snake-hipped Steve Guttenberg plays Jack Morell (a thinly disguised Morali) who, after quitting his day job working in a record shop, decides to become a composer. A ten minute roller skating jaunt through New York set to a sickeningly optimistic disco tune later, he meets his landlady (Valerie Perrine) who happens to be an ex-supermodel with lots of contacts in the record business. After recruiting the Native American village person (Felipe Rose), the other members of the band join one by one and their place in disco folklore is assured.

Before we lose ourselves in its sanguine four-on-the-floor beats and relentless Eighties-ness, let’s get one thing straight: in a lot of respects, this movie stinks. The dialogue is terrible, the acting shonky and you could drive a bus through the holes in the plot.

However, I’m prepared to give this film a pass. If you can put your brain in neutral and disengage your critical faculties, it’s actually quite fun. There are a lot of memorable things that stick in the mind long after the film is finished. In every scene where Guttenberg is composing or arranging the band, he puts you in mind of Steve Martin in The Jerk, who has a crippling inability to clap in time to a beat. Leatherman (Glenn Hughes), with a ‘tache that would put Merv the Swerve to shame, gives a memorable rendition of ‘Danny Boy’ atop a grand piano, and there is a mindbending milk commercial that has to be seen to be believed. The music throughout the film is quite catchy, even though the lyrics were seemingly written by someone without English as a first language.

Special mention must be made of the rendition of the band’s biggest hit, YMCA. Filmed in an actual hostel, there’s stylised boxing, diving, gymnastics and cheeky male shower scenes galore, and more naked male flesh on display than is healthy for one person. It’s the gayest thing since Carry On Fisting (a film Sid James refused to talk about until his dying day), and it’s enough to turn Burt Reynolds ginger beer.

All in all, it’s a so-bad-it’s-watchable film. Not Star Wars Holiday Special bad, but Mystery Science Theatre 3000 bad, which makes it okay in my book.

I saw him live in Cardiff on the Dangerous Tour in 1992. I saw the opening night of the History Tour in Prague in 1997, and two of the Wembley dates the following summer. I also had tickets for the opening night of the This Is It concert last year. Not just tickets either, Thriller VIP hospitality tickets – costing over a grand for the pair.

I opted for the printed holographic ticket instead of a refund, I have the Michael Jackson Opus book and yes, I used to subscribe to ‘King’ magazine.

It’s safe to say I’m something of a fan.

Therefore the chance to review Michael Jackson’s This Is It on DVD is something not to be missed.

When I heard the news last summer that Michael was rushed to hospital I sat, like many people across the world, transfixed by the news channels while checking websites for updates. Twitter fell down with the clamour for news and Facebook was alive with rumours and hearsay – sadly most of it turned out to be true. The tragedy every fan had feared had finally happened, at the worst time possible.

Many believed that Michael wasn’t in good physical or mental shape and that the concerts wouldn’t have gone ahead regardless. The video footage that was compiled to form last year’s theatrical release of This Is It proved otherwise.

Michael was in fine shape and the concerts were ready to go. This would have been the pinnacle of his career in terms of liver performances, and thankfully it was recorded so that we do get the chance to enjoy it in some form, even if it is incomplete.

This Is It has an eerie quality all of its own. The empty stadium, the casual nature of the presentation, the fact that the production was never performed; it all makes for awkward viewing. Putting that aside however and you have a truly spectacular concert showing that Michael was still at the top of his game, both vocally and artistically.

Highlights of the show include the specially shot video footage for the introduction of Thriller and the tear inducing final performance of Billie Jean, which earns Michael one last ovation from the watching dance troop, many of whom would have grown up watching him dance.

The film starts off in a tearful manner, but doesn’t dwell on what happened. The film is about Michael as a performer and about the concert that he worked so hard to put on. It’s a celebration of life and talent, rather than a lament at the loss of it.

Watching this in the cinema I was caught between two contrasting emotions. I was delighted that I got the chance to watch it, to enjoy it and was singing along at certain points as though I was at the concert in person. I was also devastated that the concert itself would never be seen live, as it was intended.

Special Features

In the weeks following Michael’s death I tried to avoid the television as much as possible as I knew every TV channel would try to capitalise on the event by hashing together old footage from various videos and putting out ‘tribute’ programmes. I’d seen all of this footage before and didn’t want to see the same sequences over and over, in what was basically just an attempt to gain ratings from fair-weather fans.

The special features on The Is It however contain more than 2 hours of unseen footage, and as someone who has edited together behind the scenes footage from Michael’s Stranger in Moscow video for a screening at the 40th Birthday Bash in London in 1998, I know my ‘unseen’ footage from my ‘often seen’ footage.

The highlight of the special features has to be the unfinished rehearsals, where you see footage from rehearsals that wasn’t included in the film. The stand-out section here is the rehearsal footage for Dirty Diana, where a huge bed had been created for Michael to perform on with a pole dancer. The bed included poles at each corner, and a roof structure, where we see the talented pole dancer swinging around and performing while the bed itself is encapsulated in fire.

This would have been one of Michael’s raunchiest stage routines.

Another interesting aspect of the special features concerns the search for his dancers, where a talent show similar to ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ is held, featuring dancers from all over the world flying in to win one of the 11 places on the crew. This would have made a great series in its own right, and features some very talented dancers.

There hasn’t been a DVD (or video) release of Michael’s that has given this much insight into his creative process as he was such a private man. This release gives you that tinge of sadness that the concerts never happened, but the feelings of joy experienced when watching it far outweigh any negatives.

This, as Michael said himself, is it.

With his death came the inevitable increase in sales for his music and DVDs as he topped the download charts with Man in the Mirror and his music videos were bought en masse once again, as though it were the mid eighties. The mid eighties was Michael’s peak, when the Bad album spawned five US number ones and the movie Moonwalker was released.

Moonwalker was a Michael Jackson extravaganza. A movie that featured documentary clips of Michael and the Jackson Five, some of Michael’s music videos and a short story about Michael saving the world from drug obsessed crime baron Mr Big (played by Joe Pesci).

Moonwalker starts with a live performance of the download number one single Man in the Mirror before going into the documentary montage that takes you through the early days of Michael’s career, from his debut, through his Grammys and through the many highs that he enjoyed.

The movie also features the music video for the bonus track featured on the Bad album CD version, Leave Me Alone, which perfectly sums up Michael’s career and his relationship with the media.

The actual plot of Moonwalker finally kicks in as Michael stumbles onto the evil plans of Mr Big, causing him to be a marked man. Michael is chased by Big’s troopers, only to transform into a high performance car (way before Michael Bay got his hands on Transformers) and speed off towards the 1930’s Chicago club for the famous Smooth Criminal music video. This is perhaps Michael’s greatest video and without doubt the highlight of the movie, as Michael makes his way through the club to the tunes of Smooth Criminal, dispatching bad guys as he goes.

The finale of the film sees Michael take on the whole of Big’s army, before Transforming again into a giant robot, and then a spaceship.

This movie comes from the genius mind of Michael Jackson. It may not flow as a normal, narrative driven, movie would, but this doesn’t disguise the brilliance of Moonwalker. It’s escapist, it’s imaginative, it’s pure Michael Jackson.

The only downside to this DVD release is that it doesn’t feature any special features, but Michael Jackson’s numerous other DVDs more than make up for that.

The film’s colourful opening credits sequence, with stylish photographs, was created by legendary fashion photographer Richard Avedon, the basis for the character of Dick Avery (Astaire). Maggie Prescott (Thompson) is the publisher and editor of Quality magazine. She is dissatisfied with its current look and is eager to create a new direction. At first, she decides that pink is it – cue a rousing musical number praising its virtues, complete with pink shampoo, toothpaste and so on.

Prescott enlists Avery’s help to find a model that will be the face of this new look. While setting up a photo shoot in a drab Greenwich Village bookstore, Avery and Prescott discover someone who will embody this new look: Jo Stockton (Hepburn), the mousy, plain Jane clerk of the store. She openly disdains the fashion world with its “silly dresses on silly women” and its “synthetic beauty.” Stockton dreams of going to Paris but doesn’t have the money so she decides to take the job. Avery mentors her and eventually transforms the young lady into a model, taking her to Paris.

Director Stanley Donen shows off Paris in Funny Face as Astaire and Hepburn sing and dance their way through famous historical landmarks like the Eiffel Tower. It is an engaging and deeply romantic view of the city filled with all kinds of energy as personified by Hepburn’s vibrant performance. No scene better captures her effortless vitality than the one where she “expresses” herself through an amusing avant garde dance routine at a hip, subterranean Parisian nightclub, clad in her iconic black outfit – a style that proved to be very influential among women for years afterward.

Hepburn originally studied to be a dancer and shows off some very impressive moves, easily holding her own with Astaire – no easy feat. With Funny Face, Donen celebrates and satirizes the fashion world. It’s a funny, entertaining film bursting with life as embodied by Hepburn’s vibrant performance.

Special Features:

“Kay Thompson: Think Pink!” is a profile of this larger-than-life person. She was a singer and author of the famous Eloise novels. The featurette traces the humble origins of this fascinating person and examines how she broke into show business. Thompson became a respected musical arranger and befriended Judy Garland. They developed a personal and professional relationship that lasted for years.

“This is Vistavision” takes a look at the emergence of widescreen cinema, which was a response to the popularity of television. Vistavision was Paramount’s version of widescreen cinema. This featurette explains how it works and its history with the studio.

“Fashion Photographers Exposed” examines the role of a fashion photographer and what makes a memorable shot. Several elements all contribute to the perfect photograph.

“The Fashion Designer and His Muse” examines the relationship between fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy and Hepburn which began with Sabrina (1954). She became his muse, felt “protected” and comfortable with his clothes.

“Parisian Dreams” takes a look at the role Paris as the setting for Funny Face. In many respects, the city is another character in the film that brings out the romanticism in others.

“Paramount in the ‘50s” features a look at some of the memorable films that the studio produced during this decade.

Also included is an original theatrical trailer.

Finally, there are “Galleries” for production photos, movie stills, and publicity shots.

Halloween Town is a magical place inhabited by vampires, witches, ghosts and skeletons hanging from talking trees where the Mayor (voiced by Shadix) gives the vampires an award for most blood drained in a single evening. Jack Skellington (voiced by Sarandon) is the Pumpkin King and is bored with the same old routine and “weary of the sound of screams.” Sally (voiced by O’Hara) is a Frankenstein-esque creation, a stitched together rag doll created by mad scientist Dr. Finkelstein (voiced by Hickey) who can scratch his own brain when he feels like it. She secretly pines for Jack.

Depressed and directionless, Jack wanders through the forest and finds a door leading to Christmas Town. He lands in a place covered in snow with Christmas lights hanging on every house. Jack is revitalized with this colourful new realm which is the complete opposite of the gloomy, dreary Halloween Town. Jack decides to introduce the spirit of Christmas to the denizens of Halloween Town. He also kidnaps Santa Claus and, with help from his friends, takes over his job on Christmas Eve. Sally believes that what Jack is doing is wrong and proceeds to restore order and rescue Santa from the evil ghost Oogie Boogie (voiced by Page).

All of these creatures are lovingly rendered with stop motion animation that evokes the old Rankin and Bass cartoons albeit with an Edward Gorey vibe. The animation in Nightmare Before Christmas is impressive with such care and attention to each and every character. They all have their own distinctive look and personality. There is a personal, handcrafted feel to everything that creates a tangible texture missing from completely computer animated films.

All of the songs in this musical are insanely catchy and part of the film’s enduring appeal. Danny Elfman is the mad genius behind the music which comes as no surprise being a veteran of numerous Tim Burton productions. Thanks to the film’s premise, Nightmare Before Christmas works for both Halloween or the Christmas season. It features a vibrant colour scheme and beautifully realized characters created by Burton, top notch direction by Henry Selick, and dialogue written by Caroline Thompson who wrote Edward Scissorhands (1990). This really deserves to be regarded as a modern classic and one of the best things to ever spring out of Burton’s brain.

Special Features:

So, if you already own the previous Special Edition is it worth double dipping for this new version and what is new? The good news is that with the exception of a DTS soundtrack and director Henry Selick’s solo commentary track, everything from the previous edition has been included in this one.

Disc one includes a new audio commentary by producer Tim Burton, director Henry Selick, and music designer Danny Elfman. They were recorded separately and then edited together. Burton talks about the classic animated holiday TV specials that made a huge impression on him. He was always intrigued by the visual combination of his two favourite holidays: Christmas and Halloween. Elfman claims that this is his favourite collaboration with Burton and talks about how he got involved. There is a significant amount of overlap from the numerous featurettes included on this set.

A new extra is “What’s This? Jack’s Haunted Mansion Holiday Tour,” which takes you through a haunted mansion ride based on the film. The attention to detail and decor is fantastic, done in Gothic fashion. You can also take the tour with a trivia subtitle track imparting all kinds of factoids. Also included is a featurette examining how they added the Nightmare Before Christmas style to the classic Haunted Mansion design.

Also new is “Tim Burton’s Original Poem,” narrated by none other than veteran genre actor Christopher Lee. This provided the original inspiration for the film. Lee’s great voice narrates over evocative concept art.

“The Making of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” takes us through various stages of the production, including the music, storyboards, art direction, and animation. It provides a detailed look at all of the work that went into creating the film and the challenges of stop motion animation.

The second disc starts off with “Frankenweenie,” a short film Burton directed in 1984. He offers a new introduction and mentions that work has begun on a feature-length stop motion animated film. Shot in gorgeous black and white, it’s about a young boy named Vincent (Barret Oliver) who decides to resurrect his dead dog Sparky a la Dr. Frankenstein. Shelley Duvall and Daniel Stern play his very Leave It To Beaver-esque parents. Also featured is the late-great Paul Bartel as Vincent’s science teacher.

“Vincent” is an animated short film that Burton made early in his career about a young boy who idolizes Vincent Price, who, incidentally, narrates the story. It has a wonderful, Expressionistic look reminiscent of early silent horror films.

Also included are three deleted storyboards and four animated sequences introduced by Selick. They feature sequences that didn’t make the final cut, some were never animated. Selick explains that they were cut for reasons of time and pacing.

“The World’s of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” explores the characters that inhabit Christmas Town, Halloween Town, and the Real World with all sorts of character designs, animation tests and concept art. It allows you to see the various incarnations of these beloved characters.

“Storyboards-to-Film Comparison” takes a look at a scene from the film and allows you to watch it simultaneously with the corresponding storyboards.

Finally, there are “Posters and Trailers,” a collection of poster art, a teaser trailer and a theatrical trailer.