Collection Is Set in Stone
Warner Home Video’s ambitious VHS and DVD “Oliver Stone Collection” was more than a year in the making. Not only do the 6- and 10-volume sets include films Stone made for Warner Bros., but also movies he made for Fox, Universal, Hollywood, Artisan and Columbia.
“This is the first time we have gotten this many studios together to work on a boxed set,” says Thomas F. Lesinski, executive vice president of worldwide marketing for Warner Home Video. Warner previously worked with MGM Home Video for the “Stanley Kubrick Collection.”
“To get this many studios to work together on anything is quite an achievement,” he adds. “In each case, each studio went back and redid the contents of the DVD and made it special.”
The six-volume set ($60 on VHS, $120 on DVD) includes “special edition director’s cuts” of “Any Given Sunday” and “JFK” plus “Born on the Fourth of July, “The Doors,” “Natural Born Killers,” “Wall Street” and the new documentary “Oliver Stone’s America,” which includes a lengthy interview with the controversial director. The 10-movie set ($100 on VHS, $200 on DVD) adds “Heaven and Earth,” “Nixon,” “Talk Radio” and “U-Turn.”
The DVDs offer extended scenes, documentaries, outtakes and terrific commentaries from Stone, who is an articulate, informative guide through his canon of work. He makes viewers feel as if they’re being taken into his confidence.
Lesinski says Warner Home Video initiated the Stone collection because the studio had built a great relationship with the two-time Oscar-winner. “He is a director who is a brand,” he explains. “People go to Oliver Stone movies. He is one of the premier directors. His movies always make a statement. There are a lot of fans out there.”
Stone was involved in every aspect of compiling the collection. “He put in a lot of time and effort in making it a special product,” says Lesinski. “He is a huge DVD fan and has been from the very beginning.”
Warner executives sat down with Stone on several occasions to brainstorm about what would be included on the DVD. Stone also met with the other studios about their titles. “He would say, ‘I have this extra footage, and there are some wonderful interviews we never used,’ ” Lesinski recalls.
“Oliver is renowned for shooting a lot of film. There was a lot of extra footage. He was really wonderful about sharing his time talking about the different scenes he took out.”
The collection features new digital transfers and remastered sound. “In the case of ‘Heaven and Earth,’ ” Lesinski says, “we remixed the Dolby 5.1 [soundtrack], which hasn’t been done before. Oliver wanted his movies to be shown in the best possible way.”
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The entertaining DVD of “The Kid” (Walt Disney, $30) may feature the first audio commentary with an 8-year-old boy. And Spencer Breslin, the pudgy, adorable young actor who plays the title role, seems to be having a great time talking about the film, in which he plays the schlubby 8-year-old version of a cynical 40-year-old L.A image consultant (Bruce Willis).
Breslin is joined in the commentary by director Jon Turteltaub, who clearly enjoys his young star’s company. Don’t expect any insights into the making of the film, but sit back and enjoy the fun.
Also included on the digital edition is a cute behind-the-scenes documentary, hosted by Breslin, in which he talks about how he got the role, what it was like working with Willis and what his life has been like since the film. There also are interviews with his mother, Turteltaub, Willis and various producers and casting people. Breslin, who lives in New York City, says his friends don’t treat him any differently because he is an actor. They are much more concerned with playing and having fun.
A conversation with Turteltaub, trailers and cast and crew bios round out the disc.
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Peter and Bobby Farrelly (“There’s Something About Mary”) hit new highs in lowbrow humor with their “Me, Myself & Irene” (Fox, $27). Jim Carrey, who starred in the duo’s “Dumb & Dumber,” plays a sweet Rhode Island cop with a dual personality. Unfortunately, his other self is crude and rude. Renee Zellweger plays the object of both of their affections.
The digital edition includes a wide-screen version of the film, trailers, cast and crew bios, a Foo Fighters music video and several behind-the-scenes featurettes that are pretty funny. In one mini-doc, Carrey, decked out in his cop outfit, is directing street traffic. In another, the cast and crew break into a festive dance with Zellweger.
There are also several deleted scenes with commentary from the Farrellys; they can be viewed separately or in the context of the entire film. Most of these scenes are fairly tasteless. There’s one extended version of the sequence in which Carrey uses his neighbor’s yard as a bathroom and another involving Carrey and a watermelon.
The Farrellys also provide the rather peppy audio commentary.
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John Waters enjoys shooting films in his hometown of Baltimore. And as he explains in the DVD of his latest comedy, “Cecil B. Demented” (Artisan, $25), he always holds his movie premieres at the venerable Senator Theater.
That vintage movie palace plays an important part in “Demented”: During the Senator premiere of a glossy Hollywood comedy starring the aging movie queen Honey Whitlock (Melanie Griffith), a guerrilla filmmaking collective kidnaps the actress as part of its war against Hollywood filmmaking.
Griffith, explains Waters, is not the difficult movie diva she portrays in the film. But, he adds, the actress loves to swear. So much so, the hotel she was staying in called Walters to complain about her use of foul language in front of the other guests.
The DVD also includes a behind-the-scenes documentary that originally aired on Comedy Central, cast and crew bios and production notes.
