‘Mystery Men’ Is Fun--for a While
“Mystery Men” (Universal, $25) has a lot going for it. The cast includes Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush, Oscar nominees Greg Kinnear and William H. Macy, and Ben Stiller and Hank Azaria. The production design of the action comedy, based on the popular comic books, is clever and colorful. And there are some fun set pieces.
But this spoof of superhero wannabes wears out its welcome after the first hour. What was fun and innovative in the first half becomes strained and tiresome in the second. No wonder it didn’t make much of a dent at the box office last summer.
Universal, though, has gone all out for the digital version of the movie. Presented in the wide-screen format, the disc features a 30-minute documentary that includes interviews with the stars, director Kinda Usher, production designer Kirk Petrocelli and costume designer Marilyn Vance.
There are also numerous outtakes, most of which were cut for good reason, though there is a funny bit in which Tom Waits, who plays a weird inventor, picks up an elderly women at a senior citizens’ dance. Also included are the standard production notes, cast and filmmakers bios, theatrical trailers, music highlights and a section on the origin of the “Mystery Men” comic-book characters.
There are some interesting tidbits in the production notes: Stiller was originally set to direct but opted out; Danny DeVito was also considered to direct, but the assignment eventually went to award-winning commercial director Usher. Usher also provides the so-so audio commentary.
“Mickey Blue Eyes” (Warner, $25) was another summer release that had great potential but never quite jelled. Hugh Grant, though, turns on his charm as a British auctioneer working in New York who discovers that his girlfriend (Jeanne Tripplehorn) is the daughter of a mobster (James Caan).
The DVD offers the film both in standard and wide-screen, a “making of” documentary, trailers, cast and filmmakers’ bios and audio commentary from director Kelly Makin, who previously directed the Kids in the Hall feature comedy, “Brain Candy.”
Makin talks about Grant and how the British heartthrob worked hard on his various reactions to the craziness surrounding him. Makin says Caan, who was playing his first goodfella part since “The Godfather,” is a deceptive actor. During the shooting of his scenes, the director reports, it seemed that Caan was having trouble with his lines. It wasn’t until Makin screened the dailies that he realized how much Caan was actually doing with his character.
Makin’s commentary is much better than the film itself.
The fast-paced German import “Run Lola Run” (Columbia TriStar, $28) was one of the big art-house films of the past summer. Directed at a breakneck pace by Tom Tykwer, “Run Lola Run” tells the tale of Lola (Franka Potente) and her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), who have just 20 minutes to come up with 100,000 marks to pay off a seedy gangster.
The digital edition includes both the full-screen and wide-screen versions of the film, the theatrical trailer, cast and filmmakers biographies, the music video “Believe” (performed by Potente) and a terrific audio commentary from Tykwer and Potente.
Tykwer talks about his decision to shoot flashbacks between Lola and Manni in black-and-white, scenes not involving them on video and scenes in the present in color. Potente talks about how difficult it was to do the running sequences and how she arrived at getting the perfect ear-piercing scream for her character. An interesting fact: Bleibtreu’s mother, who is also an actress, plays the blind woman who gives Manni her credit card so he can make a phone call.
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On the video front, Fox Video is offering collections of three popular TV series:
“The Simpsons Go Hollywood” ($10 for Vol. 1; $25 for three-tape set) features six Hollywood-themed episodes of Fox’s long-running animated series, including a never-before-seen montage of Bart’s crank calls to Moe’s Bar.
Fox is also introducing the network’s Emmy Award-winning comedy “Ally McBeal” ($15 each on video; $40 for the two-disc DVD). The six relationship-themed episodes include the series pilot and the classic “Dancing Baby” show. The DVD also features a music video by Vonda Shepard and excerpts from “Ally McBeal: The Official Guide.”
WB’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is adding three volumes to its popular Fox Video collection ($15 each). The new installments focus on the relationship between Buffy and Angel. Also included on the tapes is an interview with series creator Joss Whedon.
