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Cinema Pride Collection
R1 - America - MGM/Fox Review written by and copyright: Ethan Stevenson (16th October 2010). |
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The Film
 MGM and 20th Century Fox present the Cinema Pride Collection, a boxset of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender themed films from their catalog – a first of it’s kind – released in tandem with gay pride month (now long since past, back in June). Included in the release are a series of 10 films, all of varying quality. Most of them are comedies, but some are dramas or cult (even camp) classics, certifiable art house films or generally foreign cinema, and even what could be considered mainstream fare. Some of the pictures are well regarded and critically acclaimed productions – some even nominated for Academy Awards – while others are… let’s just say not. Many of the films are based on plays (and there’s a remake or two in the box), but some are wholly original concepts and, others, totally generic. In short, the 10 films run the gamut of LGBT cinema and while I won’t say that there’s a truly bad film in the bunch – nothing that is cinematically offensive or just plain rubbish filmmaking – there are most certainly a few mediocre, even borderline ridiculous and could-be-terrible films packed in. Included in chronological order of oldest produced to newest, which is exactly how the films are packaged in the box, are: William Wyler’s “The Children’s Hour” (1961), Édouard Molinaro’s “La Cage aux Folles” (1978), Stephen Frears’ “My Beautiful Launderette” (1985), Stephan Elliot’s “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” (1994), Mike Nichols’ (American remake of Molinaro’s “La Cage aux Folles”) “The Birdcage” (1996), “Bent” (1997) directed by Sean Mathias, an often ridiculous romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd titled “The Object of My Affection” (1998), the Academy Award winning “Boys Don’t Cry” (1999), the independently produced “Kissing Jessica Stein” (2001) and finally “Imagine Me & You” (2005). Veteran director William Wyler’s “The Children’s Hour”, based on the play of the same name by Lillian Hellman, is actually a remake of his earlier film also based on Hellman’s play called “These Three” (1936). “Hour” follows Martha Dobie (Shirley MacClaine) and Karen Wright (Audrey Hepburn), old college friends, who‘ve opened a private school for young girls in New England. One of their students, Mary (Karen Balkin) is a bully, liar, and generally mischievous brat, and one of the school’s most troubled attendees. After being caught in a lie Mary is punished by Ms. Wright, and in a fit of spiteful anger, the young girl begins to spread a vicious rumor around the school, saying that the two teachers are lesbians. Karen, of course, is not a lesbian and is in fact happily engaged to Joe (James Garner), a successful doctor, and they plan to marry soon. Nevertheless, students’ parents soon discover, with the help of Mary’s outspoken and extremely wealthy grandmother Amelia Tilford (Fay Bainter), the rumor and readily believe it. After all, the two women are not married to men, despite being of the expected age, they live together, are close friends, and it’s the 1960's so anyone not playing Susie Homemaker (or getting ready to take on that role) is suspect. Outraged by the “scandal” most of the parents remove their daughters from the institution, leaving Wright and Dobie dumbfounded, because at this point they are unaware of the rumor (the atypical parents never actually looked into, or even directly asked either of the teachers, if there were any truth to the murmurs and gossip). Out of desperation, not to mention confusion, Martha and Karen confront a parent as to why they are removing their child from the school, to which they learn of the stories being whispered behind their back (which they both instantly deny). The two women trace the origin of the lie back to Mrs. Tilford and her granddaughter, and eventually sue for libel and slander. Unfortunately they lose – horribly. (Remember, it’s the 60's – women, especially those thought to live “alternatively”, have few real rights). Their reputations ruined, and Karen’s relationship with Joe seriously shaken after he asks her flat out if the stories are true, the two friends consider starting their life over again somewhere else. But disaster strikes and the film ends on somber, depressing note, which I won’t spoil. At the time the original play was written – 1934 – it was illegal for homosexuality to even be referenced to on stage, and while the New York Police department overlooked the plays subject matter once it began receiving rave reviews, the same can’t be said for (as we see it now, usually liberal) Hollywood. In 1936, when Wyler adapted Hellman’s story to screen, the Hays Code prevented filmmakers from making a single reference to the topic of lesbianism found in the source material, and so the plot was subtly changed to a love affair between Martha and Karen’s fiancé and not Martha and Karen. By the time Wyler remade the picture in the 1960's obviously things had changed quite a bit, and, although it isn’t blatant, and mostly just implied, screenwriter John Michael Hayes and Wyler slipped the original story back into the film, no longer bothered by codes of conduct and silly studio politics. In many ways “The Children’s Hour” is an exceptional film. Wyler’s direction is that of a seasoned master, and cinematographer Franz Planer’s stately black and white photography is simply exquisite. Some of the performances – particularly Hepburn and most definitely Ms. MacClaine – are terrific (and admittedly, some of them are not; Garner is disappointingly flat). Unfortunately time has not been kind to “The Children’s Hour’s” most important aspect: it’s script. The film’s commentary on gossip and rumor is still strong, apt even, however the plot’s focus on Martha and Karen’s rumored lesbianism, and the fallout from said rumors, including an obviously biased court case, betray the film’s 1960's setting. Social norms – particularly thoughts on homosexuality – have changed significantly in the past 40 years. It’s true that the film can’t help that it was made in a simpler time, when women were basically required to get married, and it was odd, even socially unacceptable, for two female friends to live together at Martha and Karen’s age (“they just have to be lovers!”), but, I can’t deny that the film is totally stuck in the bygone era in which it was made, and that, at least somewhat, the production isn’t hurt by seeming somehow less relevant when seen through the eyes of today’s audiences. Next, the boxset includes two infinitely better-known (and reasonably well liked) films, both based on a 1973 play written by Jean Poiret. Both pictures are quite successful in their own terms – one has been the highest grossing foreign language film in the US for near three decades, the other the most financially successful LGBT-themed film of all time, taking in over $180,000,000 in box-office receipts. These two films would be, of course, “La Cage aux Folles” and “The Birdcage.” The French-language adaptation, “La Cage aux Folles”, directed by Édouard Molinaro, stars Ugo Tognazzi as Renato, the manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub, which specializes in drag-themed entertainment, and Michel Serrault as Albin, the star performer of Renato’s drag show. It is an exceptionally funny farce that’s also quite original and prophetic. The American remake, shot nearly 20 years later, and directed by Mike Nichols, titled “The Birdcage” is basically the same movie, with a little less class and some (expected) changes in casting that would be more palpable to American audiences. “The Birdcage” stars Robin Williams as Armand, the owner of a nightclub located in South Beach, and Nathan Lane, who plays Albert, Armand’s star performer in his drag show. It’s, as I said, a remake, so by default it is less original and less imaginative, but not altogether a bad movie at all. Both “La Cage aux Folles” and “The Birdcage” follow the same basic story: Renato/Armand’s son (played by Rémi Laurent in the original and Dan Futterman in the remake), born from a fling that the club runner had with a woman in his explorative youth, wants to get married, but his bride-to-be comes from a staunchly conservative family (Roman-Catholic in the original; far right-wing Republican’s in the American version) who will definitely not approve of their future son-in-laws controversial upbringing. For the sheer fact that it was first, and thus established many of the building blocks on which the remake expands, “La Cage aux Folles” is the stronger film, at least in my opinion (it’s a bit lighter too, and has an Ennio Morricone score). But, at the same time, to deny the remakes alluring rewatchability would be criminal, and I must confess that I do not think that one version is vastly better than the other. In fact, it’s always been quite a surprise to me just how well both stand up to scrutiny. Sure, the remake has big name stars – the aforementioned Williams and Lane, as well as Gene Hackman, Diane Wiest, Calista Flockheart and Hank Azaria – but none of them distract from the overall production, and all of them turn in great, great performances. Williams is especially good, if only for the fact that he isn’t his usual over-the-top self (he apparently requested the part of the more reserved Armand, even though Nichols originally wanted him in the flippantly flamboyant role of Albert, because he was tired of playing such exaggerated, cartoony characters), and believe it or not, gives a measured, truthful, but still funny performance. If we were to compare companions, Michel Serrault beats out Nathan Lane, but only just. Both of them have unique, almost equally great, takes on the Albin/Albert character. I can see why the complaints that “The Birdcage” is just carbon copy of “La Cage aux Folles” exist; the films are unquestionably very similar. I respect that opinion, but disagree with negative connotations that surround the term “carbon copy.” It’s true that the remake pretty much just translates the original story into English, but I’ll argue that not only adds a bit of it’s own flavor (Hackman’s conservative politician is uniquely of American stock; almost Newt Gingrich-ian), but that it does so without insulting the film from which it was born, and truly does it well. You won’t find “The Birdcage” on the large list of most remakes that ultimately fail and totally misread the original product on which they are based; at least not on any list written by me. “My Beautiful Launderette” tells the story of Omar Ali (Gordon Warnecke), the son of an alcoholic journalist who hates living in Thatcher-era England and longs to return home to Pakistan. Omar’s father tells him that he needs to get a job and that he should just ask his Uncle Nasser (Saeed Jaffrey), the far better off of the two elder Ali brothers (and who has basically assimilated into modern British life), for some work at one of Nasser’s many businesses – a carwash perhaps. Nasser eventually sets up his nephew in a rundown Laundromat (or launderette), and gives him the task of reinvigorating the dying business. As Omar reconnects with his Uncle, who’s far less traditional than his own father and even keeps a white mistress on the side, we are introduced to Nasser’s two children, Tania (Rita Wolf), whom Omar is supposed to marry according to custom, and Salim (Derrick Branche), Nasser’s drug dealing son. Omar also rediscovers an old friend named Johnny (Daniel Day-Lewis), his one-time lover when they were teens. In the time that they’ve been apart Johnny’s fallen in with a group of racist skinheads, but leaves them to help Omar with the launderette and they soon rekindle their relationship. Johnny and Omar take to task making the shop their own, but not without getting involved with a few questionable activities, namely involving the drug trade through Salim. You would expect the acting to be exceptional, especially with people like the unstoppable Day-Lewis in the cast, and it is. There really isn’t much left to say concerning the performances – well, excepting that they are almost universally good. “Launderette” was director Stephen Frears first international “success” (if not in box office terms, most definitely critically). Although he had already directed quite a few productions for British television (of which, a few also opened in theatres in the UK), Frears had yet to really hit one out of the park, until this film, and his work saw little exposure overseas. Channel 4 was so impressed with the results of “Laundrette” however, that they not only released it in wide-exhibition theatrically in Britain, but sought distribution on a comparably large scale overseas via MGM as well. I have no doubt that the numerous awards that this film won upon release was the catalyst for Frears’ further advances in film. I sincerely doubt that without this picture we would have “Dangerous Liaisons” (1987) or any number of his later works, including his exquisite “The Queen” (2006) and my personal favorite, “High Fidelity” (2000). And for that “Laundrette” is important. Stephan Elliot’s “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” can pretty much be summed up thusly: two drag queens, one transsexual, a giant pink bus named Priscilla, a dog named herpes, and a road trip across Australia. Well, maybe not exactly, but those are basically the salient points, if missing all of the subtext and most of the greater depth from the overall film. “Priscilla” will always be a favorite of mine, but perhaps not for the reasons that it probably should. I never say the film during its original run – I was too young – so it wasn’t until years and years later that I finally saw it on DVD. I will always love the film because, when I finally did watch, my frame of reference for its lead actors was entirely in a different quadrant, it showed me, through a bit of backwards reflection, what acting really was; none of the main cast are alike except for the fact that all of them are unlike anything I’ve ever seen them in since. Tick, a gay man who makes a living singing disco as a drag queen, is played by Hugo “Agent Smith” Weaving. Adam, the troupes loud, catty gossip – who has, I think, the most annoying laugh, I’ve ever heard – is played by none other than the straight-laced Lt. Exley of “L.A. Confidential” (1997)… or Guy Pearce for those who haven’t seen either film. And finally General Zod himself completes the cast, only as a 6-foot tall blonde transsexual named Bernadette (on that note, Terrence Stamp is simply amazing). When Tick’s (ex)wife calls in a favor – she works at a hotel and desperately needs entertainment for her guests after the previous act dropped out – he enlists the help of his two best friends and together they take their show on the road, right across the back of Australia. Adam convinces his wealthy parents to given them money so that they can buy an old diesel bus – which he quickly christens Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – to get there. Along the way the trio encounters hostility from backcountry homophobes, as well as kindness from an old mechanic named Bob (Bill Hunter), who quickly joins their little group and falls head-over-heels in love with Bernadette. “Priscilla” is the very definition of a cult classic. It’s a great, great, very funny, film that has a little bit more to as well. In particular, I’ve always have found Bernadette’s line, “I don't know if that ugly wall of suburbia's been put there to stop them getting in, or us getting out” particularly profound. Before he was traversing a childless dystopian wasteland formerly-known-as the United Kingdom (“Children of Men” (2006)), roaming the streets of Basin City (“Sin City” (2005)), involved in a plot to kill Matt Damon in the first Bourne film (“The Bourne Identity” (2002)), or selling the latest BMW’s in a series of high octane commercials masquerading as short films (“The Hire” (2001-2002), Clive Owen played Max, a gay man living in Nazi-era Berlin. Owen did so in “Bent”, a film directed by Sean Mathias and written by Martin Sherman based on his play of the same name. “Bent” tells the story of Max, a man at odds with his well-to-do family because of his homosexuality. Max and his boyfriend Rudy (Brian Webber) are promiscuous, spending their days in bed and nights in bars, bringing home many other men with them. All goes well until one night they bring home a German solider who is hunted down by the SS and Gestapo, and killed in their apartment the next morning; for you see, Hitler has implemented his final solution and all homosexuals, as well as Jews and invalids, are being shipped off to the death camps. Worried for their safety Max turns to his Uncle Freddie (Ian McKellen), who arranges papers that will allow Max and Rudy to flee the country. They get caught, of course, and sadly Rudy is killed in transit to Dachau. When he is processed by the camp officials, Max claims that he is Jewish (and not gay) under the absurd belief that he will be treated better by the Nazi soldiers. In the camp Max befriends Horst (Lothaire Bluteau) a gay man branded with the pink triangle on his sleeve, and the two begin a friendship which slowly turns into something more. “Bent” is rather explicit, both in it’s depiction of sex and violence, so the film is most certainly not for the faint of heart. It even earned the rarely used NC-17 rating in its US release. But it’s definitely worth seeing, if only for the exceptional acting and rather interesting scenes (it’s notorious no-sex sex scene is quite unique). “Bent” is without a doubt an admirable picture, tackling a difficult subject – homosexuality and the holocaust – but admittedly it’s a rather dry, tepid affair. The script and acting are perfectly fine, if not downright impressive in some cases, but the major faults with the film lie within Mathias’ direction. The production lacks the essence of a motion picture in his hands, and often feels like a filmed stage play (I like to call this the “Rob Marshall Effect”). The design is barren, texture is wanting, and the scope is limited. “The Object of My Affection” stars Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd. It’s a romantic comedy – sort of. On those grounds alone, even though I really do like Rudd, I should absolutely hate it. But I don’t. It’s one of the weaker films in this box, certainly, but its still a fairly unoffensive story and not altogether the sort of clichéd mess you’d expect it to be. Nina (Jennifer Aniston) is a bubbly social worker, living by herself in a roomy Brooklyn apartment, which just happens to have a spare bedroom. George (Paul Rudd) is a first grade teacher who just so happens to be looking for a place to live. Nina has a boyfriend, and he’s pretty over bearing. George has a boyfriend too, and he’s slipping away. They meet through a mutual acquaintance that suggests that they move in together, to which George and Nina agree for their own respective reasons. (The setup sort of sounds like a sitcom – actually it totally sounds like the setup for a sitcom and the show could have been called “George & Nina”, a sort “Will & Grace” (1998–2006) before there was such a thing, only with the roles reversed. Or, if not exactly grounds for a whole series, at least a new subplot for Aniston’s then popular “Friends” (1994–2004), which Rudd would, coincidentally, join as a supporting cast member in later years.) As they live together, Nina and George become best friends, growing closer and closer with each passing day. They spend their weeknights watching movies and weekends at dancing class, like a young couple fallen into routine. Unfortunately, things are so comfortable that Nina finds herself falling in love with George, even though she knows he’s gay. It certainly doesn’t help steep her confused state any that George seems perfectly content with their arrangement too – to the point that, when Nina announces that she is pregnant with her boyfriends child, he even agrees to help raise the baby with her. It would be easy for the film to let their romance actually grow into something beyond friendship, although that would make this a totally different type of movie, and certainly not something that’s palpable, in my opinion (had they done that, the assumption then would that George could become straight, and that alone would put this into a totally unacceptable category, and perhaps turn “The Object of My Affection” into one of the most offensive film’s I’ve ever seen – the inclination being, of course, that being gay is a choice. It’s not.) “The Object of My Affection” is by no means a terrific film. It’s not daring, or overtly original; it’s not even particularly well made (the acting and directing is competent to be sure, just not something to rave about). It’s even fairly predictable – if they don’t get together, then they will find someone else in the long run before the credits roll. But, it’s not a terrible film, and it asks the question, “what would you do for someone you loved, if not romantically, at least in a friendly sort of way?” and for that “The Object of My Affection” is a little better than most other films in the same genre. Kimberly Pierce’s “Boys Don’t Cry” is, as a film, excellent. But I don’t need to tell you that, the film’s recent enough for most to remember its several Academy Award nominations, and for Hilary Swank’s captivating portrayal of Brandon Teena, a transgender teen living in the Midwest who was brutally murdered, for which she was awarded Best Actress by the Academy. It’s also remembered as the film that told people Swank was more than an airhead (see her “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (1992) character), Lifetime Channel alum, or the worst thing to happen to the “Karate Kid” franchise since – well, no, “The Next Karate Kid” (1994) is still the worst around (yes, I think that the movie with Will Smith’s kid was better). A quick rundown of the plot for those who haven’t seen the film: Brandon Teena (Hilary Swank), a pre-op female-to-male transsexual, moves to Falls City, Nebraska after he was kicked out of his house, and meets a group of unsavory characters including two ex-cons, John Lotter (Peter Sarsgaard) and Tom Nissen (Brendan Sexton III), as well as Lana (Chloë Sevigny), who Brandon begins a relationship with. After Brandon is sent to a woman’s prison for charges filed against him before he moved to Falls City, John and Tom discover that he has female genitalia and brutally beat and then rape him, threatening death if he goes to the police. Lana and her friend Candice (Alicia Goranson) take the bruised and beaten Brandon in, and Lana, who knows of Brandon’s previous life as a female, suggests that he file a report of the rape in spite of the threats, and that they leave Nebraska forever, and start a new life somewhere else. Unfortunately, Nissen and Lotter hear of these plans, and one night, in a drunken rage horribly murder both Teena and Candice. Despite its terribly tragic, graphic and depressing story (which is almost too awful to believe actually happened, and isn’t the fictional work of some washed up Lifetime screenwriter), Pierce treats the subject with an unbridled realism, but also respect, and the film works because of this somber yet unhinged tone; not to mention, because director Pierce was able to coax a pair of exquisite performances from her two leads (and, to a lesser extent, the supporting cast), which again curves back to the gritty realism that just totally pulls you into the film. Also of note is Pierce’s visuals, which are no doubt as powerful as the words written on the page and repeated on screen. The director’s background in photography certainly played a part in creating the dreary, yet somehow cinematically stunning, look of the film. The atmosphere, just as much as the fine acting and well told story, creates a heavy potency to the subject at hand. To quote Roger Ebert from his review of the film, “[“Boys Don’t Cry”] could have been a clinical Movie of the Week, but instead it's a sad song about a free spirit who tried to fly a little too close to the flame.” The ultimately depressing truth of the film, and it’s conclusion, doesn’t distract from the fact that it is, truly, a great film that showcases both style and depth. Keeping check with the indie-roots lay down by “Boys Don’t Cry”, “Kissing Jessica Stein” was an equally independent, outsider picture, financed without studio money and only distributed by Fox Searchlight after the fact. But whereas “Boys” was a gritty, true-crime story of an ambitious nature, “Jessica” is simply a small, less purposeful story about two women’s love for each other. Both films are about self-discovery and being who you are, but “Stein” is first and foremost a comedy, and not at all as brutally graphic as Pierce’s dramatic retelling of truth. “Kissing Jessica Stein” was directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld and written by Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt, based on a series of skits that both women performed in an off-Broadway show. It tells the story of Jessica (Jennifer Westfeldt), who after a series of humorous, but utterly disastrous dates with men, answers a personal ad placed by Helen (Heather Juergensen), a bisexual looking for a stable lesbian relationship because she is tired of having meaningless relationships with men (who want to focus too much on the sex). Upon meeting Helen, Jessica is smitten, and finds that a relationship with a woman provides everything should would want in one with a man, plus more (mostly, the emotional connection that she had yet to find in a heterosexual partnering). The only problem is that Jessica is new to lesbian sex and is afraid to be intimately passionate with Helen, who lovingly coaches her along the way. Eventually the two find a sense of balance – harmony – in their relationship, but Jessica is still afraid to push their relationship into the open, mostly because she is worried about how her proper, Jewish mother will respond. This unwillingness to openly express love puts strain on their relationship, and eventually, causes them to split up, and only once they do, do both begin to realize that they love each other – if not romantically, most definitely as best friends. “Stein” is a charming little film. It has a sort of indie quality that you’d expect, from it’s quirky scripting right on down to the handheld camerawork by cinematographer Lawrence Sher, which can be somewhat off-putting at first, but it also has solid, well defined characters, a meaningful story about finding inner (as well as outer) stability in one’s life by accepting who you are, and an all-around likeable earnestness to the whole production that is refreshingly welcomed. “Kissing Jessica Stein” is an interesting picture for a whole mess of reasons, but I will leave you with this: mad man Jon Hamm has a small supporting role in this movie. He plays second (third… tenth?) fiddle to his long time girlfriend Jennifer Westfeldt. This was only his second feature, and third or fourth acting gig at all. Six years later he was starring on what might just be the greatest television series ever (“Mad Men” (2007-present)), and in a few weeks will be playing along side Ben Affleck in one of my most anticipated films of the (late) summer, “The Town” (2010). In eight years he’s gone from being a total nobody, to a definite somebody, and “Stein” is worth seeing for his almost-debut alone. All the other goodies are just unexpected, but gladly taken, extras. Imagine, for a second, this plot: R is set to marry H, but on their wedding day R meets L and there is an immediate attraction. R and H go through with the ceremony, and settle into their dull married life. H works long hours at a job that is unfulfilling, and suggests that, in his frequent absence, R spend time with L because they seem to have a good friendship – or the beginnings of one. H doesn’t worry because his friend, C, is romantically interested in L and it might be best if they could all be friends together. As R and H slowly drift apart due to H’s long hours spent at office (which means less and less time that they have together), R and L grow closer, until their friendship starts to become the beginnings of something more. R and L deny their love for each other out of loyalty to H – and to protect R’s marriage – but the secrecy and lies are too much for L, who then decides it would be best to leave the country in sadness if L cannot be with the one L loves. H realizes the damage that has occurred to H’s relationship with R, and realizing still that R actually loves L, believes that it would be best if they get a divorce. H leaves forever, but not before telling R to be happy with the one R truly loves. The finale culminates in a mad dash to the airport where R meets L before the latter can flee the country, and they kiss passionately on the streets while a crowd cheers them on. R and L live happily-ever-after. The End. That’s basically the plot for “Imagine Me & You”, a British romantic comedy from writer/director Ol Parker. It sounds pretty generic, right? You’ve seen it a hundred times before (and you’ll see it a hundred times again). Truthfully, it is a generic, cliché little film – save for one key difference, which basically matters none. “R” is actually called Rachel in the film, and is played by Piper Perabo. “H” is really Hector (or, annoyingly, Heck for short) and is played by Matthew Goode. “L”, or Luce, is played by Lena Headey of “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (2007-2009) fame. That’s right – the big twist here is that the two star-crossed lovers are women and that is the one thing that makes “Imagine Me & You” a little more unique than most films of the same genre. Now, that’s not to say that this is a groundbreaking film which transcends it’s clichés because of a smart twist – it not and it doesn’t. In fact there really isn’t anything on display here that made me cheer in support (accept maybe the appearance of Anthony Head, of “Buffy” (1997-2003) fame, who play’s Rachel’s delightfully dotting, dazed father). But, there are things to compliment; Perabo and Headey give strong performances, for one. Ol Parker’s direction, mated with the plush cinematography of one Ben Davis, is rather unexpectantly great – they use the mega-wide Panavision frame to great effect, which is not something you see a whole lot these days, especially in a romantic comedy. And Parker’s script is, if the completely by numbers predictable, at the very least, tight and well paced. In the end however, despite my tiny bit of praise, “Imagine Me & You” though is mostly a formulaic thing, and without its (barely) novel twist, (Rachel and Luce’s relationship), it wouldn’t even be worth talking about. It is, by far, the weakest of the films included in the box, if only because it’s the one that does the least with its premise that you don’t already expect. In all there’s approximately twenty hours of narrative content included in this boxset, but little else. Unfortunately many of the films that MGM and 20th Century Fox have included here have never had a proper DVD release, by which I mean, most are not loaded with bonus content and have mediocre audio and video, and this compilation doesn’t rectify that oversight. Instead, they’ve repackaged many of the barebones DVD's into an, admittedly affordable, attractively themed box. Unquestionably, most of the films included here are worth watching at least once (and, honestly, quite a few have immense rewatchability), but while I love the concept and idea behind this release, I can’t say that, having seen it in practice, I’m entirely sold on what they’ve provided. Read on to find out why. Below are the individual ratings for the films in this box set: "The Children’s Hour": B- "La Cage Aux Folles": A- "My Beautiful Laundrette": B+ "The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert": A "The Birdcage": B "Bent": B- "The Object of My Affection": C "Boys Don’t Cry": A "Kissing Jessica Stein": B "Imagine Me & You": C-
Video
“The Children’s Hour” features an ancient 1.66:1 non-anamorphic widescreen transfer, likely ported over from MGM’s Laserdisc release. It’s really a shame that the disc isn’t 16x9 enhanced, because the Black and White image is, all things considered, pretty nice. Contrast is spot on and the grayscale is excellent. A thin amount of film grain is present and there are very few instances of dirt, scratches or damage marks. Detail is halfway decent; early in the film there is a checkerboard tablecloth on the kitchen table, and Shirley MacClaine is wearing a matching skirt – I was surprised and just how well resolved the pattern was for a DVD. However, the disc is essentially awful because the non-anamorphic transfer reduces the image to a postage stamp on any (now prominently seen) widescreen TV with large pillarboxes on the sides of the frame as well as additional letterboxing on the top and the bottom, limiting the already limited resolution. “La Cage Aux Folles” doesn’t fair much better (in fact, it’s worse). It too is another 1.66:1 non-anamorphic widescreen transfer, and again looks like a postage stamp on a 16x9 TV with black space on all four sides. It’s actually far worse than “The Children’s Hour” if only because of the film's extremely soft, garishly colored 70's-era cinematography. This DVD, originally released in the early part of the millennium, is likely, at the very least, a Laserdisc port. The disc is also sourced from a very dirty master, with lots of print damage, white specks and scratches. Coincidently I recently watched “La Cage Aux Folles” on MGM HD a few months ago and, while the picture was still pretty filthy, it looked much better, and not simply because it was anamorphically enhanced (and thus presented the film in it’s proper screen-filling format) and was encoded at a higher resolution. The HD print airing on MGM’s premium cable channel was, obviously, newer, so perhaps I shouldn’t compare. But, really a ten-year-old DVD that wasn’t even that great in 2000 is especially unimpressive today. “My Beautiful Laundrette” is the first anamorphic disc of the box, with a 16x9 enhanced 1.66:1 widescreen transfer. The film was shot on 16mm film and is appropriately grainy and somewhat soft because of that. However, the master is in pretty solid shape for a film from 1985, with few examples of dirt or damage, and while colors are largely subdued, I would think that’s intentional (fitting for the overall film and the cloudy, conservative 80's era London in which it is set). Contrast is a bit flat, and detail is merely decent, but altogether this really isn’t a terrible looking disc. Not for standard definition anyway. “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” – probably my favorite film included here – is by far the most disappointing disc in the whole box if simply for the fact that MGM has decided to include the original substandard DVD from 2000, and not the deluxe re-issue dubbed the “Extra Frills” Special Edition from 2007. In a quick comparison of features, while the “Extra Frills” disc was sourced from an all-new high definition master supervised by director Stephan Elliot (which was a properly preserved 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer no less), the 2000 disc comes from an awful non-anamorphic 2.35:1 laserdisc transfer that was simply ported over to DVD without much care. It’s bad enough that the pillarboxed image also has massive letterboxing, and thus has loads-and-loads of empty space on all four sides of my 16x9 screen with a tiny rectangle of an image in the center, but the problems with the 2000 disc don’t stop there. Detail is mediocre at best, awful at worst; artifacts run rampant; there are instances of interlacing errors, aliasing and severe banding in the ever-expansive skies that frame the Outback. There’s even some mild print damage. This wasn’t even a good-looking DVD in turn-of-the-millennium terms, so it looks positively dreadful in 2010, even (or perhaps especially) when upconverted on a 1080p screen. Again I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the film in much better condition, this time not exclusively in high def either (although, yes, “Pricilla” did play on MGM HD recently (in March I believe), and it looked great). I also owned the “Extra Frills” SE before I sold off all but the bare essentials of my DVD collection a few years back and that disc was quite strong for the format and improved on this older disc in every way; it was cleaner, brighter, more filmic and, I can’t stress this enough, more impressive because of the proper widescreen effect. It’s such a shame that the older disc is what’s offered in this box set; the original DVD just doesn’t cut it and there’s really no excuse for its inclusion. The “Extra Frills” disc should have been included. “The Birdcage” includes both a 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen and an open matte 1.33:1 full frame transfer, each occupying an opposing side of the dual-sided DVD. Forget the 1.33:1 presentation; yes it has more information at the top and bottom of the frame, but at the expense of totally effing with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki’s carefully composed framing. The widescreen transfer isn’t terrible, but it definitely looks like an earlier DVD encode (which it is). I spotted evidence of mild to severe blocking, occasional banding and color fringing on the edges of faces in certain scenes. On the plus side contrast and colors are as bright as the South Beach daylight, and detail is solid for standard definition. Thankfully, the transfer isn’t the least bit overly sharpened. Overall, this is definitely a dated, problematic transfer, but it’s far from the worst looking disc in the box. “Bent” is presented in its original theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 widescreen and is anamorphically enhanced. Cold colors fit with the downtrodden theme, setting and time frame of the film (has a holocaust picture ever been brightly colored?), as does the grainy picture. The poorly compressed grain, limited detail and inconsistent encoding show the datedness of the transfer. Are there worse examples of early DVD's – yep, bet. Does that mean that “Bent” is anything all that good-looking – nope. “The Object of My Affection” includes a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. This disc offers a good comparison to the authoring and mastering techniques used by two studios during the infancy of the DVD format. Whereas MGM (who hold the rights to the first six films in the boxset) largely transferred their films – like “The Birdcage” – untouched by digital noise reduction and with only the faintest edge enhancement, at the expense of poorer compression, 20th Century Fox on the other hand was very interested in DNR and applied edge enhancement quite liberally. Being an early Fox disc, “The Object of my Affection” has that overly plasticy look, with smeary faces and sluggish detail. The image also suffers from spotty damage – mostly in the first 20 minutes – and a noticeable softness, which runs throughout. The disc isn’t completely awful though; “Affection” is bathed in bright colors and has good blacks and compression is superior. In the end, like most discs in this collection, this is obviously an older DVD, from the infancy of the format, which has its share of problems, but will likely appeal to those with less discerning eyes. “Boys Don’t Cry” is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio with a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. The low budget, gritty aesthetic of the film is preserved quite nicely with decently preserved grain and strong detail. That said the disc does suffer from the expected issues with compression artifacts, mild edge ringing and some aliasing. But natural colors and strong blacks, along with stronger detail make this a pretty solid DVD. “Kissing Jessica Stein” is the first disc in the set to break into the B tier on my scale, albeit with a minus. Its 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is filmic, surprisingly sharp, and altogether colorful (not to mention rather consistently clean). This is not the least bit surprising as Fox had gotten themselves together at this point of the DVD lifecycle – 2002 – and was producing some of the best standard def discs on the market at the time. “Stein’s” issues, whatever they may be (ie. occasional softness, flat contrast and the look of low-grade film stock), are no doubt a combination of directional choices and budgetary limitations, and not a poor encode or questionable authoring. Lastly, we come to “Imagine Me & You” which features a rather nice transfer – the nicest in the whole box by a wide margin I’d wager. The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation is bright, colorful, has surprisingly good levels of detail, few, if any, compression problems, no instances of unintentional DNR or edge enhancement, nor any aliasing issues. Of course, the film greatly benefits from being the newest film here – only five years old – and having been finished via a digital intermediate, in high definition. It certainly doesn’t hurt that this is a Fox disc from the distributors SD-DVD heyday either. The only area in which it’s truly lacking is resolution, but that’s merely a limitation of the DVD format, and not necessarily a fault of the disc (depending on how you look at it). A cropped 1.33:1 transfer exists on the other side of the disc but forget it – unlike “The Birdcage” the full frame presentation is a pan-and-scanned atrocity and has far less information on display compared to the ultra-wide image on the opposite side. Below are the individual video ratings for the films in this box set: "The Children’s Hour": D+ "La Cage Aux Folles": D "My Beautiful Laundrette": C "The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert": F "The Birdcage": C- "Bent": C "The Object of My Affection": C- "Boys Don’t Cry": C+ "Kissing Jessica Stein": B- "Imagine Me & You": B
Audio
“The Children’s Hour” includes an English Dolby Digital 2.0 dual mono mix and a French Dolby Digital 2.0 dual mono dub, plus English, French and Spanish subtitles. The original English mix is serviceable, with very little evidence of hiss, popping or crackle. “La Cage Aux Folles” offers both its original French Dolby Digital 2.0 dual mono, as well as a dubbed English Dolby Digital 2.0 dual mono mix. The disc includes default English subtitles, plus optional French and Spanish subtitles too. Both the French and English mixes are acceptable, with very little evidence of hiss, popping or crackle. The French-language track, as it’s the original theatrical audio, is preferable, but interestingly, most of the original actors also provide their own dubbing on other track, so the choice is yours. “My Beautiful Laundrette” includes an adequate English Dolby Digital 2.0 dual mono track. Again, it’s nothing exceptional, but there’s little wrong with it either and as it’s such a talky picture I doubt that it would have benefited much from a multi-channel remix. In terms of clarity the track is good and I noticed no major instances of pops, cracks or hiss. The disc also provides optional English, Spanish and French subtitles. “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” again gets shafted by being the earlier 2000 disc. Whereas the “Extra Frills” DVD included a “half-bit” 755 kbps DTS 5.1 track and a wealth of other subtitle and audio options, the first edition only includes a weak 192 kbps English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround track and English and French subtitles. On it’s own terms the disc doesn’t sound awful – but I know better, having heard it in full 6-channel format. This DVD simply does a the job, but only barely, and the lack of better compression and more channels is unfortunate for a film that has such a music centric soundtrack. “The Birdcage” includes an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track, as well as optional French and English subtitles. Surely the film benefits from the advent of modern 5.1 mixing, as does the DVD, which handles the Sondheim musical numbers and other bits of the drag show with ease. At the same time, the film is perhaps a little too gimmicky with its sound design. At the time of “The Birdcage’s” production, many mixers went a tad overboard in demonstrating the superiority of the then-new 6-channel format, exaggerating directionality and panning conversations a bit too drastically all over the room. “Bent” starts the second set of five discs. It offers an English Dolby Digital 2.0 surround track, plus English, French and Spanish subtitles. I’m surprised that a film from the late nineties doesn’t have a 5.1 mix on hand – especially when IMDB states that it was recorded in Dolby Digital which nearly necessitates that it have some form of multi-channel arrangement – but the film is so theatrical and stagey that the lack of surrounds hardly matters. On the other hand, the default volume is quite low, but once that error is corrected by a turn on the dial, the disc sounds fine, but remains a curiosity nonetheless. “The Object of My Affection” includes an English Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo downmix and a French Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo dub, as well as subtitles in English, French and Spanish. The film sounds like your typical romantic comedy – front heavy and a little understated – but it does have a fuller presence and benefits from modern recording and mixing with greater fidelity and more natural use of the soundtrack in the rears. “Boys Don’t Cry” includes dual English mixes – one in Dolby Digital 5.1 and another in Dolby Digital 2.0 surround. English and Spanish subtitles are optional. The default 5.1 mix is aggressive at times, and definitely the least restrained of the all the soundtracks in this set, which is good because it fits the film. Other pluses include solid dialogue and clear, impressive use of the various music tracks. A lot of the film is talky by nature and doesn’t pack the sort of wallop that we find in blockbusters, but no one really expected this drama to be able to go toe-to-toe with the latest mega-soundmix from a Bruckheimer production, did they? “Kissing Jessica Stein” includes an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track, plus subtitles in English, Spanish and French. Good sounding, but not great, this mix is held back by the films limited budget and even smaller scope. Again, this is a talky, front focused affair. “Imagine Me & You” includes an English Dolby Digital 5.1 track, a Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 surround dub, and subtitles in English, Spanish and French. This last mix is about on par with “The Object of My Affection”, meaning clarity and surround use is good, but not overly exceptional. Overall, the track is front-focused and hampered by its rom-com genre, which is, by now, known almost exclusively for mediocre sound design. Below are the individual audio ratings for the films in this box set: "The Children’s Hour": C "La Cage Aux Folles": C "My Beautiful Laundrette": C "The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert": C "The Birdcage": B- "Bent": C "The Object of My Affection": C+ "Boys Don’t Cry": B- "Kissing Jessica Stein": C "Imagine Me & You": C+
Extras
Despite the massive amount of disc space – ten discs – there’s barely more than eight hours of bonus material across the whole set and that estimate includes the four audio commentaries split across three films. The first six discs include nothing – absolutely no supplements – beyond their own theatrical trailers. The last four films contain fairly standard material including commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes and theatrical trailers, but only the last three films offer anything really worth looking at (or listening to) and none of them have any truly amazing content. A closer look at each disc is detail below: DISC ONE: “The Children’s Hour”: Although “The Children’s Hour” was released quite a few years after the launch of the DVD format – in 2002 – in many ways it feels like one of the earliest discs. The menu is completely static and doesn’t even have audio, the video transfer is non-anamorphic, and for all intents and purposes the disc is barebones. The only extra is a theatrical trailer, which runs 1 minute 49 seconds. DISC TWO: “La Cage Aux Folles”: Much like “The Children’s Hour” the only extra included with “La Cage Aux Folles” is a theatrical trailer, which runs 1 minute 14 seconds. DISC THREE: “My Beautiful Laundrette”: This is another stripped down DVD. The only extra included with “My Beautiful Laundrette” is a theatrical trailer, which runs 2 minutes 20 seconds. DISC FOUR: “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”: As I stated earlier, “Priscilla” has been released twice on DVD in the US. First as a near-barebones disc in 2000, then again in 2007 in a far more impressive Special Edition. Unfortunately, either by fault or design, the version included in this 10-film boxset is the older disc, which only includes a teaser trailer running 1 minute 13 seconds and the original theatrical trailer for the feature film running 2 minutes 43 seconds. It’s a shame that MGM has opted for the older, far inferior, but still-in-print 2000 disc for this box. Had they included the newer “Extra Frills” edition, fans would have not only gotten a much better widescreen transfer and DTS audio as I’ve outlined above, but also an audio commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, trailers and a photo gallery. It’s a huge disappointment that this boxset doesn’t offer the far more preferable SE DVD, especially because, if it had, “Priscilla” would have easily been the best disc in the box and added considerable value to the overall package. As it stands… well, dumping of a ten-year-old historical artifact on unsuspecting customers is pretty much unforgivable. DISC FIVE: “The Birdcage”: And yet another ancient DVD (I think I’m beginning to sense a trend with this compilation… hmmm); this one is from May of 1997. “The Birdcage” arrives on one of those dreadful dual-sided DVD's (remember those?). Side A includes the proper widescreen presentation, while side B offers a terrible full-frame arrangement that lifts the mattes, thus exposing the full image area, but destroying the cinematographers original composition. Both sides include identical extras – or should I say an identical extra – in the form of a theatrical trailer, which runs 2 minutes 24 seconds. Despite not loading to a menu, the disc does include one… you just have to use the “top menu” command on your remote to access it, and it’s there where you’ll find the trailer. DISC SIX: “Bent”: Nope, no special features here either; well, there is a theatrical trailer, which runs 2 minutes 31 seconds, but that hardly counts. I guess I could also mention that the DVD includes the original NC-17 cut version of the film, but then again that’s not really a special feature, and it’s the only version of the film to ever be released on home video in the US. DISC SEVEN: “The Object of My Affection”: What’s this… bonus features? I’d almost forgotten that DVDs included extra content. “The Object of My Affection” doesn’t offer much, but at least tries to go beyond the monotony of theatrical trailers that plague the other six discs I watched before this. “The Object of My Affection” includes a making-of featurette, a series of four TV Spots, the film's theatrical trailer (of course), and finally, additional bonus trailers. Unfortunately, the featurette is pretty brief, at 3 minutes 51 seconds, and way too promotional for it’s own good. It’s basically an extended trailer, which is weak because the disc already includes a couple of TV spots (2 minutes 4 seconds, combined runtime) and a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 10 seconds), all which do that job just fine. The disc wraps up with four extremely old “Fox Flix” bonus trailers and one promo spot, all of which are well past their sell-by-date, including: - “The Brothers McCullen.” 1 minute 57 seconds. - “Drive Me Crazy.” 2 minutes 23 seconds. - “Picture Perfect.” 2 minutes 25 seconds. - “”Simply Irresistible.” 2 minutes 20 seconds. - “FOX DVD Video” promo. Boy is this thing a blast from the past: the DVD-hyping trailer includes clips from “Fight Club”, “The Abyss”, “Titan A.E.”, “The X-Files” (woo-hoo) and “X-Files: Fight the Future” (slightly less enthused woo-hoo), “Speed”, “Die Hard”, “Entrapment”, “Independence Day”, the first “X-Men” movie and more. 2 minutes 13 seconds. DISC EIGHT: “Boys Don’t Cry”: It’s perhaps a bit light on supplements, but at least “Boy’s Don’t Cry” includes something beyond a trailer, which is more than you can say for most of the discs bundled together in the “Cinema Pride Collection.” First, director Kimberly Pierce offers up an admirable audio commentary, which is definitely worth a listen. She talks about the origins of the project, the real-life story, and balances technical information with serious discussion of the script and characters quite nicely. A fleeting EPK featurette (4 minutes 13 seconds) isn’t worth you time, so skip it. The disc also includes a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 19 seconds), a teaser trailer (1 minute 42 seconds), and three TV spots (1 minutes 34 seconds, combined). DISC NINE: “Kissing Jessica Stein”: Well, it’s one of the newest films in the box, so it figures that it has the best overall assortment of special features. “Kissing Jessica Stein” includes two full-length audio commentaries, a featurette, deleted scenes (with optional commentary) plus the original ending, outtakes (also with commentary), and the theatrical trailer. The first audio commentary features comments from director Charles Herman-Wurmfeld and cinematographer Lawrence Sher. Those wanting a technical track, full of shot breakdowns, discussion on cinematography and the overall logistics of shooting a movie should be at home. It’s overall a decent discussion, but not something that I think anyone whose not interesting in the actual filmmaking process would enjoy. A second audio commentary with Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt is also included and it’s far easier to listen to, being more insightful as to the characters and the actual production. This is a lighter, but more palatable discussion from the films stars, who also wrote the screenplay. They talk about the original stage skit from which the film grew, how the script was picked up but ultimately went unproduced until they bought the rights back and took it to a smaller team who independently financed the movie, and the unfortunate fact that their film – which features many shots of the World Trade Center – premiered at the Toronto Film Festival just a few days after 9/11 and how that necessitated a few deletions (available in the deleted scenes) from the film proper. A tab marked “Deleted Scenes” opens a new menu page that actually includes not just deletions but also scene extensions, an alternate ending and a few blooper reels. All of the content includes optional audio commentary by writers Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt, which is probably the preferred way to view the collection of material as they provide a bit of extra context. Scenes include: - "Bad Dates [Outtakes]." Each “bad date” is included in uncut form, as the actors totally adlib the entire scene. 6 minutes 2 seconds. - "Boat Scene." The culmination of Jessica’s bad-date montage, in which a man proposes to her after only two weeks of knowing each other, while on a boat in the middle of a lake in Central Park. 3 minutes 24 seconds. - "Junkyard [Original Ending]." Yes, it’s the original ending, but this is not an alternate ending. It hits the same notes, includes basically the same dialogue and scenes. This is just a little longer, and a little more “preachy.” 2 minutes 35 seconds. - "Helen + Martin." Basically, this is the “coming out” scene. Helen addresses her sexuality and speaks at length with Martin. It’s easy to see why it was cut as it includes much too much plot recap. 1 minute 36 seconds. - "The Wedding [Outtakes]." This is pretty self-explanatory; it includes raw ad-libs and outtakes from the Wedding party. 2 minutes 16 seconds. - "DP Does the Worm." 17 seconds. - "Balcony Banter." The audio is really bad on this scene (perhaps that why they cut it?) – not that it matters much; this is just a filler bit of dialogue. 1 minute 26 seconds. - "The Other Kiss." Joan (Jackie Hoffman) and Helen discuss sex and love. 2 minutes 13 seconds. - "Pre-Breakup [Extra Scenes]." This one’s pretty self-explanatory. 2 minutes 15 seconds. - "Grandma Esther [Outtakes]." Actress Esther Wumfeld proved to be funny enough on set – unintentionally it seems – to have her own outtakes montage. 1 minute 42 seconds. In the simply titled “Featurette” we find a brief making-of piece, running 8 minutes 48 seconds. Writers/actors Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt return to the Archlight Theater where their series of vignette’s – which later proved to be the basis for their script and feature film – premiered. They talk briefly about the origins of the project and reflect on its production. It may be short, but this is actually a pretty solid extra. Finally, the film’s original theatrical trailer (running 2 minutes 8 seconds) is also included. DISC TEN: “Imagine Me & You”: “Imagine Me & You” is another dual-sided disc. Side A – widescreen – includes an audio commentary by Ol Parker, a “director’s statement” featurette, as well as two similar batches of deleted and extended scenes. Side B – the full-frame transfer – includes the same audio commentary and adds a Q&A with the director and cast. All video based material is presented in anamorphic widescreen. The audio commentary with writer/director Ol Parker (available on both sides of the disc) is smooth, witty and well worth a listen. He talks about love, life, and his thoughts on fate, while also knocking off topics like casting, writing the screenplay, working on the set and whatever else he can think of – which occasionally means a discussion about something related to the film, the cinematography or the score, or something a little more random, like what he had for breakfast. The “Director’s Statement” is a peculiar featurette. Director Ol Parker talks about how he met his wife, what he thinks about love at first sight, how he came to write the film, his feelings on the subject matter, and whether or not the film’s premise is believable. His “commentary” is set against clips from the film. This featurette is odd though because he states that Fox made him record it. Runs 3 minutes 33 seconds. Instead of presenting the film's deleted and extended scenes in the standard format – as a list of selectable snippets or in a “play all” montage (usually with or without commentary; sometimes both) – “Imagine Me & You” instead gives viewers the option to see the deleted scenes in two ways. The first is as a featurette, with an introduction by writer/director Ol Parker (and an unnamed, unseen moderator). Parker offers intermittent commentary on the excised material, explaining why a scene was cut, or how it differs from what appears in the final cut, while the scenes play continuously. This runs 8 minutes 55 seconds. The second option is more straightforward; the scenes are available separately or as a “play all” montage, although this time no commentary is provided: - "Tessa Insults and Rachael and Heck Discuss Fear." 1 minute 16 seconds. - "Luce and Ella At the Fireworks." 44 seconds. - "Heck’s Night Out." 1 minute 29 seconds. - "Luce and Edie and Breakfast in Bed." 2 minutes 14 seconds. “Q&A with the Director and Cast” is a multi-part featurette, broken down into three parts: - "A conversation with director Ol Parker" runs 7 minutes 43 seconds, in which he talks about how he came to write his script, shares his thoughts on making the picture and what, ultimately, he wanted his film to say. - Actresses Lena Headey & Piper Perabo discuss their characters and what drew them to the project in their segment, which runs 4 minutes 18 seconds. - Finally, actor Matthew Goode speaks about his thoughts on the film, which takes 7 minutes 12 seconds. Below are the individual supplements ratings for the films in this box set: "The Children’s Hour: F "La Cage Aux Folles": F "My Beautiful Laundrette": F "The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert": F "The Birdcage": F "Bent": F "The Object of My Affection": D- "Boys Don’t Cry": C- "Kissing Jessica Stein": C+ "Imagine Me & You": C
Packaging
The 10-disc set comes packaged in two standard keep cases, each of which slide into a thick cardboard slip-box. Each case holds five discs, by production studio (one case holds MGM films, the other, pictures owned by 20th Century Fox). Currently the set is only available via Amazon.com as a timed exclusive release. Note that this is simply a repackaging of DVD's already available and that this set does not contain any new special features, remastered video transfers, better audio mixes, or gimmicky memorabilia that is not also on store shelves in each films standalone single disc DVD release. As I’ve stated above in detail, for whatever reason, the distributor has decided to include original pressing of “The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert” from 2000 and not the more elaborate re-issue.
Overall
I’ve debated my parting thoughts section of this review for quite a while and I still cannot come to a solid conclusion. If you look strictly at the scores – overall or individual, it doesn’t matter – the set comes out in a fairly positive, if not exactly glowing, light. That is simply because themed boxsets are usually a load of bunk; “The Cinema Pride Collection”, however, is not. Such collections hardly, if ever, actually give a good cross-section of the particular genre, sub-genre, director, studio or whatever other theme you can think of on which a box might be based. Most multi-film boxes usually focus too much on either financial, or critical, successes (sometimes both, although not always) or, conversely, the obscure and unwanted. Hardly ever do they meet somewhere in the middle, and that’s why I hate themed sets as a general rule. However, the MGM/Fox “Cinema Pride” box is a certifiably grand collection precisely because it balances forgotten old relics (“The Children’s Hour”) with well-to-do box office success stories (“The Birdcage”), cult classics (“The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert”), Academy Award winners (“Boys Don’t Cry”) and everything in-between even including a few of the genres more mediocre, mainstream films. Not only does this collaborative boxset provide a very decent cross-section, but it does so better than I could have hoped. On the content alone then this is probably pretty recommendable… that is, if you don’t already own the included films in any capacity, which is pretty unlikely if you’re at all interested in the sub-genre. And that brings me to the crux of my conundrum. Can a 10-film boxset like this be worth much if the discs that it contains are older than dirt? Sure, most of the films are great, but the actual DVD's themselves aren’t. Not really. Firstly, in this box there is a huge screw-up with the “Priscilla” disc – a fiasco that so litters my above writings. But even, when we forget that mistake, the other discs that I haven’t harped on about aren’t much better. More than half of the discs in this boxset are (or are sourced from masters that are) over a decade old, three of them are not even anamorphically enhanced, and most of discs don’t have any special features outside of a trailer. It’s not like most of these films have been replaced by better, never discs so that those who buy “The Cinema Pride Collection” are getting an inferior product (except in that one instance where that is true – see: “Priscilla”) but still, does anyone really want such old DVD's in their collection in this day and age? I don’t, no matter how much I like these films. Wouldn’t it have been better then to actually reauthor some of these films – namely the terribly irrelevant non-anamorphic ones – with more modern transfers, and with the featureless discs, some extras, as an incentive to those who want to buy this box? I think so. And it’s not like a few of these films don’t deserve Special Edition re-issues. It’s nearly a crime that “La Cage aux Folles”, “The Birdcage” and “Boys Don’t Cry” haven’t had revisits on DVD at some point, for various reasons. Perhaps one day, when each film makes it to Blu-ray (however long that will be), each of these films will get some much needed care and retooling. Then again, and this is probably more realistic, perhaps not.
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