DVDs, 7/3.

Don't usually separate DVD reviews from everything else, but there've been a few reviews and roundups worth noting lately, starting with J Hoberman: "Star Spangled to Death is a vast, ironic pageant of 20th-century American history and consciousness in which the artist broods on human programming, military triumphalism, and - most insistently - American racism." Also in the Voice, Joshua Land on Valley of the Dolls and Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

David Austin rounds up Cinema Strikes Back's "DVD Picks of the Week": Two by Sogo Ishii, Burst City and Electric Dragon 80,000 Volts; the "utterly bizarre" Gwendoline; The Devil's Sword, an Indonesian fantasy; two poliziotteschi from NoShame, Convoy Busters and Colt 38 Special Squad; two from Kinji Fukasaku, Cops vs Thugs and Yakuza Graveyard; and Art of the Devil 2. More on that one from Todd at Twitch.

Speaking of Todd: "Though the film features some truly remarkable stop motion and low budget effects work - [Dennis] Muren's talents are glaringly obvious even at this early stage - Equinox is far more interesting for what it represents than as an actual film, a fact that the film makers themselves implicitly acknowledge as they gleefully skewer their own work in the audio commentary." Also, Death Trance, with Tak Sakaguchi.

Scott Macaulay at Filmmaker, Caroline Bermudez's quick Pitchfork interview with Scott Crary about his Kill Your Idols, out on DVD in the fall. Ed Gonzalez at Slant: "The film's construction isn't groundbreaking but the shrill freakshow of talking heads is revealing, conveying how revolutionary spirits can spread their own form of oppressive bile."

As for new DVD reviews at Slant, you'll find Eric Henderson on Koko: A Talking Gorilla; Jeremiah Kipp on Béla Tarr's Almanac of Fall and Dead Man's Bluff; Ed Gonzalez on Basic Instinct 2, Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School and Beyond the Rocks.

In the New York Times, Dave Kehr succinctly assesses the career of Clark Gable; a footnote. Also, Frank DeCaro on the season of I Love Lucy that might not have been. Related: Greenbriar Picture Shows: "Some Good Gables On DVD" and "Lucy and Desi in the Movies," parts 1 and 2.

"This May Be the Best DVD Week Ever!" declares Peter Sobczynski at Hollywood Bitchslap.

At Quick Stop Entertainment, DK Holm tells the fun-to-read story behind the original Omen and reviews the unrated version of the new Hills Have Eyes.

The Stop Smiling DVD roundup: The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, The Red Queen Kills Seven Times, I Wake Up Screaming, Oh! Calcutta! and Compulsion. Also, Jared Rapfogel on Modern Romance, arguing that, along with Real Life and Lost in America, Albert Brooks's early works "are among the greatest American comedies of the last forty years, a trilogy of poker-faced, self-lacerating dissections of the upper-middle-class American male psyche."

At Reverse Shot: Nick Pinkerton on I Wake Up Screaming and Justin Stewart on The Complete Mr Arkadin.

Micah at Dumb Distraction: "So what's the message of Abar, the First Black Superman? Given the repeated use of MLK's speech (as that final scene plays they use the 'Little Black Girls Holding Hands With Little White Girls' bit) you'd think it'd be something about race equality. But... all the white people in the movie apparently died, and the one white person who potentially redeemed herself turned out to actually be black, so... Kill Whitey? I dunno, it's a bit of a mixed bag."

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Hart Sharp Video will be launching a line of docs called "Morgan Spurlock Presents...". Selections will be based on "distinct social relevance and importance to society and the world today."

Vince Keenan presents his list of "DVDemands."

Tim Lucas: "Since my earlier coverage of the Velvet Underground and Captain Beefheart releases in the series, I've been continuing to follow Sexy Intellectual's "Under Review" titles with keen interest. The latest two I've seen are devoted to the recording careers of Kate Bush and The Smiths."

"Most major filmmakers have made trilogies, but the greatest, perhaps, is [Satyajit] Ray's." Philip French in the Observer on the Apu Trilogy.

Posted by dwhudson at July 3, 2006 8:54 AM