Well, here it is — the big one — the package we've been waiting for since the advent of DVD — and it's time to go to the mattresses and break out the cannoli for The Godfather Collection has arrived. Encased in a stark, black box as befitting its dense, dark subject, Francis Coppola's towering achievement is weighty as you hold it in your hand. The three films are spread across four discs, and a fifth disc contains the extra goodies. Coppola handles full-length commentary duty on all three movies — and that constitutes practically a nine and a half-hour lecture. As before with the DVD of The Conversation (1974), his commentaries are amazing for their depth of detail, resonance, whimsicality, candor and professorial insight. No matter how familiar much of the folklore surrounding these films is, Coppola makes it all as fresh as home-made spaghetti, and he lays the sauce on double-thick — just the way we like it. His remembrances bounce all over the map as we revel in the imagery again — a relative here, a recipe there, how so-and-so was cast, the problems here, the disaster there, the joys of triumph, the crushing lows of disappointment. It's all so stream-of-consciousness, but like the peculiar guile of these bewitching films, it's riveting, rational and eminently believable. For the generation grown to adulthood in the seventies, Francis Coppola is the Mount Rushmore, an edifice of such eminence that his follies are but failed experiments of a great inventor. At one point during the marathon of Part II, he reflects upon its completion and reception — apparently satisfied that it turned out quite well, he comments that then he turned to Apocalypse Now. After a pregnant pause, he simply says "Oh well, it's all an adventure." You feel for him throughout, and when Part III rolls around, he reveals that he still can't get over the hellish shellacking his daughter Sofia unreasonably suffered at the hands of a vitriolic press — his remark that there's no worse punishment than the sins of the father being visited on one's children — hangs in the air, chilling and sad. The bonus disc wends its way through many layers of history: A Godfather family tree, a decent documentary called A Look Inside, various vignettes on the production, storyboards and trailers, but in the end The Godfather movies are a family affair in more ways than one. At the center — dominant and larger-than-life — is the movies' father, the great Francis, who you want to somehow protect. If you've made The Godfathers and The Conversation and Apocalypse Now, it's surely enough to earn your permanent chair in the university of cinema legend.

Rebecca (1940)
Notorious (1946)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

The Criterion Collection continues its series of wonderfully restored Hitchcock films with the release of both Rebecca and Notorious. Defining Hitchcock's "Selznick period," these two romantic dramas, despite their contrasting styles and subjects, encapsulate the dreamy mesmeric hallucinatory magic that movies can sometimes genuinely attain. Rebecca, a two-disc package, is superb—the Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier vehicle has never looked better on video, and the wealth of extras is outstanding. It's always a rare treat to watch screen, hair, makeup and costume tests — and here we have a plethora with Vivien Leigh, Anne Baxter, Loretta Young, Margaret Sullivan and Joan Fontaine. A commentary by author Leonard J. Leff provides a convincing backdrop and Franz Waxman's glorious music is isolated along with a few effects. There are no fewer than three radio productions included: Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater (1938), Lux Radio Theater (1941) with Ronald Colman and Ida Lupino, and Lux Radio Theater (1950) with Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Notorious is only a single disc, but still a super value.

A lovely commentary by Rudy Behlmer, exuding enthusiasm for Hitchcock's work flows continuously, flooding the ear with detailed minutiae. Mr. Behlmer is one of the old guard; a fellow whose knowledge and passion for the Golden Age is sublime and more necessary now than ever. Marian Keane adds some feminist color with her own comments on an alternate track. Another Lux Radio Theater adaptation is rendered, this one with Joseph Cotten playing opposite Ingrid Bergman — these radio things are a joy, particularly for those of us who didn't grow up in America. Notorious is well, notorious, and that, with Miss Bergman's cool beauty, goes a very long way.

Twin Peaks: The First Season (1990)
Various directors

Director David Lynch's groundbreaking foray into television, Twin Peaks, makes its way onto DVD with this Artisan Entertainment release of the first seven episodes. What may be as interesting as the series' question "Who killed Laura Palmer?" is "Why isn't the series pilot included?" The four-disc set includes commentaries from directors Duwayne Dunham (episode 1), Tina Rathborne (episode 3), Tim Hunter (episode 4), Lesli Linka Glatter (episode 5) and Caleb Deschanel (episode 6) as well as director of photography Frank Byers, writers Robert Engels and Harley Peyton and production designer Richard Hoover. All their frequent references to the challenges they faced recreating the style, pacing and look Lynch had established in the pilot, makes the pilot's omission even more puzzling. However, even without the pilot or Lynch's presence on audio commentaries (he also directed episode 2 of the first season), there is much to appreciate in this release. The episodes are newly remastered and you'll find numerous insights into the shooting of the show. For instance Glatter revealed that she found shooting Twin Peaks unlike other TV shows in that, "all the directors were around, a lot. Instead of the normal week prep, we were around for a month, prepping it very much like a feature film. It was a great situation to be able to interface with other directors. I was around when Tim and Tina were shooting [their episodes]. We were all on each other's sets. It was a very unique situation." Deschanel goes into detail about the importance of subtext and that the camera, for the most part, remained static. He likened it to Kubrick's use of the camera during the job interview sequence of The Shining in that what Jack Nicholson said in response to very mundane questions was not nearly as interesting as the subtext. Deschanel also said that one of the fun things about doing the show was finding ways to make as many shots as possible a reveal in order to heighten the level of mystery for the entire show. Also included are on-camera interviews with members of the cast and series co-executive producer, writer and director Mark Frost.

On the Waterfront (1954)
Directed by Elia Kazan

Columbia Home Video has recently released a beautiful DVD edition of On the Waterfront, the classic Elia Kazan film that earned him numerous awards including the DGA Award for theatrical direction in 1954. One of the many high points in the bonus materials is an interview with Kazan about the film. He talks a great deal about the development and passion for the project. "I had worked with Arthur Miller on Red Hook, about the waterfront in Brooklyn, but through various pressures, political pressures and one thing or another, that [project] broke up," Kazan explains. "I still was determined to do it. I thought it was exciting. I thought about it all the time. I said to [screenwriter] Budd Schulberg, 'That thing I'd been working on just broke up.' He said, 'I've been working on a story about the waterfront for a long time,' and he had these articles that were written by [The New York Sun reporter Malcolm] Johnson [the 24 articles had won Johnson a Pulitzer Prize]. Budd Schulberg let me read his script. I thought the script could be helped and so we worked on the script together. We'd also met a fellow in Hoboken. His name was Tony Mike, and he went through the exact same experience, so I got to know him. He told me what he'd gone through and the scorn thrown at him. I'd had a good bit of scorn thrown at me during those years. He was tough and ready to fight. But that helped me a lot, seeing this man who went through the whole damn thing that On the Waterfront was about and he was still in a fury about it." Also included is an excellent, insightful scene specific audio commentary from director and Time magazine film critic Richard Schickel and Kazan biographer Jeff Young.

Almost Famous (2000)
Untitled: The Bootleg Cut
Directed by Cameron Crowe

You've got your choice of two versions of Cameron Crowe's fictionalization of his early "rock music journalism" career. Included on this DVD from DreamWorks is the original theatrical release and what the director calls his Untitled: The Bootleg Cut offering more than 35 minutes of additional footage. "In the spirit of bootlegs, if you liked the album, you're going to be interested in the alternate takes and the extended versions," Crowe says in a delightful audio commentary that he shares with, in what may be a DVD first, his mother. "My only apology is that you don't have to go to a swap meet and illegally purchase it. That adds to the whole clandestine idea of the bootleg. And this is the bootleg. The theatrical version is the version that is built for the world. This is the one where you can watch it at home, put it on pause, go get a beer, make some calls and come back, stay on the road with Stillwater, go to another city. This version that you're watching is pretty close to the original script." Crowe and his mother offer quite a bit of background about the film and his early career and it's wonderful to listen to. One can surely sympathize though when at one point she says to her son, "Imagine that what you're telling [your children now], if they become screenwriters, is going to show up on the screen in a big theater and you hear your words coming back at you. It's scary." Also included are a Stillwater CD, the screenplay, behind-the-scenes footage, original Rolling Stone articles by Crowe, and much more.

World Cinema Roundup

Tim Burton takes us to another cinema world with his new look at Pierre Boulle's classic creation, Planet of the Apes (2001) — and whilst it might have purists frothing at the mouth, Rick Baker's marvelous makeup effects and the dark production design lend a suitably sinister and unsettling mood to the proceedings. The two-disc DVD, released by Fox Home Entertainment, is a winner, both with its inexpensive list price, and its self-proclaimed possible record-setting 13 hours of supplementary materials. Included are several featurettes on the film's production, two audio commentaries, one from director Burton, noteworthy for his characteristically sleepy approach and his amused "explanation" of the film's confused ending. The other commentary, from composer Danny Elfman, is especially enjoyable, sandwiched as it is, between the isolated cues of his militaristic score. Perhaps a hardier soul than I will actually watch all of the extra features and add it up to really see if it does amount to 13 hours.

From Spain we have another pair of Luis Buñuel masterpieces — That Obscure Object of Desire (1977), which sadly was Buñuel's last, is a trademark erotic dazzler, peppered with unpredictable maneuvers and surrealist mo-ments that burn in the memory. His use of two actresses, Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina, in the lead role, is a subversive trick that wreaks havoc on one's sensibilities.

The other is Diary of a Chambermaid (1964), which features a luminous performance from Jeanne Moreau in the title role, who in shimmering scope black-and-white, prowls the sexual landscape like a jungle cat. These new discs from The Criterion Collection continue to demonstrate their commitment to the best of the world, and both films include video interviews with Buñuel collaborator, Jean-Claude Carriere.

The Ruling Class (1972), based on the notorious play by Peter Barnes, first produced in 1968, is still startling despite feeling a bit dated. Its glaring scorn for the landed gentry seems a little phobic and obvious, but it still kicks the Nobs in the yarbles along the way. Peter O'Toole is convincingly dotty, and his sudden eruptions into song-and-dance are touchingly baffling. Director Peter Medak is affable in his dissection of the movie's rights and wrongs, and it really is worth seeking out for those of you who have a taste for PBS' Masterpiece Theatre crossed with Monty Python.

The Lady Eve (1941) from Preston Sturges, is lovingly presented on disc, and Barbara Stanwyck has never dripped with more appeal. The disc features a commentary by historian Marian Keane and a video introduction by Peter Bogdanovich, as well as the Lux Radio Theater production with Miss Stanwyck and Ray Milland.

From Italy there's Big Deal on Madonna Street (1958), a goofy spoof of sophisticated caper movies that pits a delicious cast of Marcello Mastroianni, Claudia Cardinale, Vittorio Gassman and Toto against each other in a stew of pasta and jazz. Director Mario Monicelli's genre-busting confection was later echoed in such American fare as The Hot Rock (1972) and The Brinks Job (1978).

George Sluizer's The Vanishing (1988) finally arrives on DVD as part of The Criterion Collection, and the film's stark naturalism and everyday believability contrasts handily with the utter horror of the ending. A unique movie in many ways, The Vanishing represents a remarkable coalescence of a documentary form with a gripping fictional narrative. Avoid the ill-advised 1993 remake at all costs.

George Miller's Mad Max shows up on a DVD special edition as a beautiful transfer from MGM Home Entertainment that allows American audiences to finally hear the original Australian soundtrack. For some reason star Mel Gibson and the rest of the cast were dubbed in the original theatrical and subsequent home video releases of this groundbreaking action film from Australia. But now you can finally hear them as they should have been heard all along. Also included are two documentaries and a running commentary from the film's designer, Jon Dowding; cinematograper David Eggby; and special effect designers Chris Murray & Tim Ridge. Alas, Miller is missing from the commentary perhaps having chosen to let the film speak for itself.

Finally we're back in apeland again with Image Entertainment's two-disc set of Behind the Planet of the Apes (1998). A detailed documentary that aired on AMC, it contains everything that any self-respecting ape aficionado could want — this new DVD features a ton of extras that include the full-length make up tests of Edward G. Robinson, as well as a bunch of dailies and outtakes. The capper is an unedited video interview with Roddy McDowall that is almost as long as the movie itself.

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