Two shows I like hit DVD shelves this week, including the first season of the Discovery Channel’s fun show Mythbusters; and the fifth season of Scrubs, consistently a near-great sitcom.
Also new on the TV show front: Airwolf S3; Dragon Ball Z S2; Gilgamesh CS; Hero High CS; Kitchen Confidential: CS; Legend of the Dragon S1; Magnificent Seven S2; Martin S2; The O.C. S4; Real McCoys S1; Roots 30th Anniversary Set.
On to the movies…
First of all, this week marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of John Wayne, and marking this, today we see re-releases and new releases and special editions and at least half a dozen (!) box sets of pretty near everything the Duke ever made. It should be noted that Wayne doesn’t have the reputation as an actor he deserves. His was a narrow talent—he could only play a certain type of part—but what he did with the facets of that archetype was both varied and rich. If nothing else, it must be said that no one stars in as many truly great films as Wayne did unless he could act. That most definitely includes The Searchers, the only film that legitimately rivals Citizen Kane in be considered the greatest American film of all time.
For our purposes, though, this week finally sees the release of one of his handful of truly awful films. Hey, the guy starred in over 150 movies. I speak of the laughable—even to me—anti-commie screed Big Jim McLain. And this is coming from a guy who thinks Joe McCarthy’s worst long-term effect (don’t get me wrong , though; McCarthy was a bastard who richly deserved his quick political destruction) was to allow lefties to whitewash a period seeing a legitimate Communist threat as an era of ‘blind paranoia’. It ain’t a ‘witch hunt’ if they actually are witches, though.
Anyway, now that this is out on disc I expect we’ll see a review of it someday. If anyone really wants to speed that day up, though, they can go to my Amazon wish list and buy me the DVD.
Oh, and on the good side, check out Hatari! Sometimes you just love movies even if they aren’t Great Films, and this sprawling action comedy featuring Wayne as the leader of a group of folks who capture wild animals in Africa for zoos is one of my all-time favorites. Wayne obviously did some of his own stunts here, and it’s impossible to believe any insurance company would allow, say, Brad Pitt to actually get as close to a rhino as we see here. Also features a simply marvelous Henry Mancini score, which includes his classic Baby Elephant March. Great stuff. Donovan’s Reef isn’t in its class, but is still very fun stuff.
Another goodie this week is the oft-hilarious Return of Sabata, a Lee Van Cleef spaghetti Western with one of the greatest bad theme songs in movie history. There’s also a box set of the ‘three’ Sabata films, although actually one of them is non-aligned and stars Yul Brynner.
On the actually great movie front, there’s The Third Man. Criterion has released this before, but they are now offering a new, amped-up two disc set with new extras. If you haven’t bought it before (or even if you have), buy it now. This is easily one of the greatest hundred films ever made.
Also of note is the sadly Direct to Video release of the giant croc film Rogue, made by the Wolf Creek guy. This is probably the result of the poor performance of the similarly-themed but horribly reviewed Primeval earlier this year.
Also:
Apocalypto, Mel Gibson’s brutal but quite well reviewed historical action flick.
C.A.T. Squad: Stalking Danger Pilot for a short-lived ’80s TV action series, directed by William Friedkin.
Can-Can is a musical mostly remembered for a bit of trivia: Nikita Kruschev toured the soundstage where it was being made after Disneyland refused to allow him entrance. Kruschev expressed shock at the ‘pornographic’ movie being filmed before him, and used the event as a propaganda event. Ah, those were the days.
