Actors You Recognize, But Don’t Know Their Name: R.I.P. Philip Baker Hall

At some point during the early days of the pandemic, I started a series on Facebook entitled “Actors you recognize, but don’t know their names.” The series, which I moved to this space, paid tribute to such wonderful performers as Lynne Thigpen, Paul Dooley, Mary Kay Place, and Gary Cole (click on their names for their entries), highlighted their credits, and, obviously, aimed to help film fans put names to the familiar faces they’ve seen on screens many times.

 

One actor I had always meant to get to was somebody who could be considered the King of the actors you’ve seen, but can’t name: Philip Baker Hall, who passed away on June 12 at age 90.

 

Many obits called attention to what’s possibly Hall’s best known role: Lieutenant Bookman, on the wildly popular sitcom, Seinfeld (“The Library” S3E5 10/16/91). Watch a montage of Hall’s hilarious scenes from the episode here:

 

Hall really crushing it as the stern, Dragnet-style authority figure led to him being cast in a lot of movies and TV shows after its broadcast. But Hall hadn’t been doing too shabby in the years leading up to it as he had worked steadily since his first film part in COWARDS (alternate title: LOVE IN ’72) in 1970, and his first television role in the TV movie, THE LAST SURVIVORS in 1975.

 

Except for a part playing a doctor in Michael Crichton’s COMA (1978), on the big screen, Hall toiled in some pretty obscure stuff (THROW OUT THE ANCHOR, anyone?), but for his seventh feature, Hall scored a major role, President Richard M. Nixon, for Robert Altman’s SECRET HONOR (1984). A sweaty, obsessed, and beyond blustery Hall is the only actor in the one-man show that is Altman’s breakdown of the disgraced former Commander-in-Chief, and it’s a staggering piece of work.

From Roger Ebert’s review of SECRET HONOR: “Nixon is portrayed by Philip Baker Hall, an actor previously unknown to me, with such savage intensity, such passion, such venom, such scandal, that we cannot turn away. Hall looks a little like the real Nixon; he could be a cousin, and he sounds a little like him. That's close enough. This is not an impersonation, it’s a performance.”

 

Since that should’ve been a breakthrough part, Hall steadily worked in film, putting in a small roles in such notable fare as NOTHING IN COMMON, SAY ANYTHING, GHOSTBUSTERS 2, and AN INNOCENT MAN, while regularly popping up in programs such as Benson, Miami Vice, Family Ties, Falcon Crest, Matlock, Murder She Wrote, and L.A. Law.

 

But after booking Bookman on Seinfeld (he also reprised Lt. Bookman on the Seinfeld finale in 1998), his TV career exploded, and in the years that followed he appeared on everything from Cheers to 3rd Rock from the Sun to Millennium to Chicago Hope to Monk to The West Wing to Curb Your Enthusiasm to Big Love to Children’s Hospital to Psych to Modern Family to The Newsroom to Bojack Horseman to Boston Legal to Modern Family - to name over a dozen.

 

Hall’s film career was equally prolific post Seinfeld From the mid ‘90s on he was in a great many films including THE ROCK, AIR FORCE ONE, SOUR GRAPES, THE TRUMAN SHOW, RUSH HOUR (was also in the sequels), ENEMY OF THE STATE, THE INSIDER, CRADLE WILL ROCK, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY, BRUCE ALMIGHTY, ZODIAC (was also in THE ZODIAC), ARGO, and his last film, the Shirley MacLaine vehicle, THE LAST WORD (2017).

But the grand thespian’s finest work has to be in the three films that he did with filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson: HARD EIGHT (1996), BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997), and MAGNOLIA (1999). I just rewatched HARD EIGHT, which was Anderson’s directorial debut, as it had been a long time since I’d seen it. I’m glad I did, because I was reminded at what a confidently constructed, and stylishly gritty work it is, and how masterful Hall was as its protagonist, Sydney, who the premise posits as a gambling mentor to the film’s other lead, John C. Reilly as lovable schlub, John Finnegan.

It’s intoxicating, and well worth a streaming rental (I watched it on Amazon Prime) to see Hall suavely glide through the neon-lit casinos of Reno, Vegas, and Atlantic City with his cranky sexy cool swagger.

 

The film’s original title was SYDNEY, a name inspired by Hall’s character in MIDNIGHT RUN, but he’s not supposed to be the same character as it’s “Sidney” in the previous movie. Although the name isn't mentioned, the movie is an expansion of a short film by Anderson, that features Hall, CIGARETTES AND COFFEE (not to be confused with Jim Jarmusch's 2003 anthology film COFFEE AND CIGARETTES), which you can watch on YouTube.

 

I was also reminded that in one scene, in which Sydney is being hassled by Samuel L. Jackson as a scheming casino security guard. Jackson says, “I know all those guys you know – Floyd Gondoli, Jimmy Gator, Mumbles O’Malley.”

 

This foreshadows that Hall would play characters by those names in Anderson’s next two films:

Porn distributor mogul, Floyd Gondoli, in BOOGIE NIGHTS:

Game show host, Jimmy Gator, in MAGNOLIA:

Now sadly, a movie featuring Hall’s PTA trilogy completer, Mumbles O’Malley, will never materialize. 

 

R.I.P. Philip Michael Hall

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Film Babble Blog’s Top 10 Robin Williams Films

I was extremely saddened as well as shocked to hear yesterday evening that Robin Williams was found dead at age 63 of an apparent suicide.

Since I was a huge fan as a kid – it was the era of Mork and Mindy, POPEYE, and his first stand-up comedy album “Reality…What a Concept” (still have the original vinyl, pictured on the left) – and I’d seen nearly every movie the man made in the three decades since (as well as tons of TV appearances on just about every talk show there is), I've been finding it very difficult to process William’s passing.

However, one thing that helps is to look back at his rich career, particularly his legacy on film since this blog is all about babbling 'bout that. I compiled a list of my 10 favorite of Williams' many movies, which I am sharing below. I have to say with a “heavy sigh” (as Mork would say) that it wasn’t easy as he was in many lackluster or just plain sucky films (I’m looking at you PATCH ADAMS, JACK, MAN OF THE YEAR, RV, FATHER’S DAY, CLUB PARADISE, the list goes on and on), but I’m here to praise Williams not bury him.

So I’m going to forget the fluff, flops, and FLUBBER and remember the times he most made me laugh, as well as touch something deeper, on the big screen via these fine, unforgettable films (several of which are available for streaming on Netflix Instant):

1. THE FISHER KING
(Dir. Terry Gilliam, 1991)
  

Williams' performance as Parry, a homeless Holy Grail-seeking New Yorker, garnered him his second Oscar nomination (#4 on this list was his first). It was the perfect mix of his manic madman schtick and his somber sad sack personas, an alteration he could make simultaneously. For instance, an early scene in Parry's boiler room hideout when Jeff Bridges as a down and out former radio shock jock is exiting: “Now that you know where we are, don't be a stranger. Come back. We'll rummage.” Then less than a beat later in a softer tone, “Take care of yourself, Jack. Give my love to the wife.”

Williams also recites tender speeches to Amanda Plummer as a mousy accountant he loves, croons the standard “How About You?” backed by a band of bums, and strips naked in Central Park at night to lie in the grass, look at the sky and participate in what he calls “cloud busting.” Mercedes Ruehl, who won the Oscar (well deserved) for her role as Bridges' long suffering girlfriend, may have held the heart of the movie, but Williams was its bungled and botched soul.

2. POPEYE (Dir. Robert Altman, 1980)

Although its box office doubled its budget, and there were many critics that liked it (including Roger Ebert), Robert Altman's take on E.C. Segar's famous comic strip, and cartoon, character was largely considered a commercial and critical flop (see Mad Magazine's satire “Flopeye”). I had issues with it myself as a kid but it's really grown on me over the years. Williams is perfectly cast as the salty sailor with the comically large forearms (matched with the equally dead-on Shelly Duvall as Olive Oyl), although much of his mumbled dialogue is unintelligible. It really stands out as a film debut for the Julliard trained actor, who despite the rough reaction, proved there was a lot more to him than Mork.

Also check out my post about the film's strange soundtrack scored by Harry Nilsson.

3. THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP
(Dir. George Roy Hill, 1982)

Instead of retreating into the conventional comedy comfort zone that would plague much of his career, Williams followed up POPEYE with this lofty adaptation of John Irving's 1978 bestselling novel. The fan that I was at the time, I read the book (my parent's copy) in anticipation, which wasn't really appropriate material for a 12 year old.

Although I loved the ethos of Williams' everyman dealing with the sexual revolution, and John Lithgow's blustery Oscar-nominated portrayal of a former pro football player turned trans woman, I didn't really get the movie when I saw it at that age - but it my opened my eyes way wide for sure. Williams, no doubt, led many youngsters into edgy adult territory with this one.

4. GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM
(Dir. Barry Levinson, 1987)

Williams' first Oscar nomination was for his role as Armed Forces DJ Adrian Cronauer, a real life radio personality who ruled the airwaves in 1965 Vietnam. It's a definitive Williams performance, in a fine film that much like M*A*S*H successfully mixed humor with dark drama, but what's most memorable about is the in-your-face, over-the-top man's many hilarious broadcast booth scenes. The audio of these are well captured on the soundtrack, which you can read more about in my 2009 post 10 Movie Soundtracks That Think Outside The box Office.

5. WORLD’S GREATEST DAD
(Dir. Bobcat Goldthwait, 2009)

Williams' last great movie was also one of his gutsiest. He plays a high school poetry teacher and aspiring writer whose douchey son (Daryl Sabara) accidentally kills himself via autoerotic asphyxiation. Williams writes a suicide note to cover for him, and when that gets a lot of attention he fakes a journal of his son's writing which scores him a publishing deal. It's twisted stuff, right in line with the weird yet intriguing rest of writer/director Goldthwait's output (SHAKES THE CLOWN, SLEEPING DOGS LIE, GOD BLESS AMERICA), and Williams nakedly owns it.

6. THEADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN
(Dir. Terry Gilliam, 1988)

It could be seen as a glorified cameo, but as the floating, disembodied chatterbox head of the King of the Moon for his first feature with Gilliam, Williams stole the movie fair and square.

7. MOSCOW ON THE HUDSON (Dir. Paul Mazursky, 1984)

In another dramatic curve ball, Williams role as Vladmir Ivanov, a Russian circus musician who defects to America, is one of his most believable and grounded performances. It also is the basis of the theory that if Williams is bearded in a film, we're dealing with serious stuff. Soviet born Yakov Smirnov, a sensation in the '80s for his communism mocking comedy, had a small part in the movie. Of course he did.

8. AWAKENINGS (Dir. Penny Marshall, 1990)

Williams' role as a physician experimenting with a new drug on Parkinson's patients in this adaptation of Oliver Sack's 1973 memoir again backs up the beard theory, but more importantly its another dose of weighty yet warm work in which he keeps the wackiness under wraps. Aided by a sharp screenplay by Steven Zaillian (SCHINDLER'S LIST, GANGS OF NEW YORK, MONEYBALL), Williams' relationship with Robert De Niro, yet again Oscar nominated, as a patient who comes out of a long catatonic state, is a joyous collaboration that helps make it Penny Marshall's best film (yes, better than BIG and A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN imho).

9. GOOD WILL HUNTING
(Dir. Gus Van Sant, 1997)

The fourth time was the charm nomination-wise, as Williams won the Oscar for his part as Matt Damon's therapist (bearded) in this highly acclaimed, crowd pleasing drama scripted by Damon and Ben Affleck (who also won Oscars for Best Original Screenplay). Williams made quite a mark in his sensitive portrayal of a widowed psychologist, and was able to fit in some funniness as well.

10. THE FINAL CUT (Dir. Omar Naim, 2004)

Probably the least well known movie on this list, and possibly the worst reviewed, this is a personal favorite because it came during a period in which I had written off Williams. His sober nuanced performance as “a cutter,” somebody who edits the memories of the newly deceased into two hour movies to be viewed as their funeral (the sci-fi tinged film takes place in the near future) made more of an impression on me than his widely praised part in the way too creepy ONE HOUR PHOTO from two years earlier. 

Other notable Williams film work: 

INSOMNIA, DEAD POET'S SOCIETY (second Oscar nomination), THE BEST OF TIMES, ALADDIN, THE BIRDCAGE, DECONSTRUCTING HARRY, WHAT DREAMS MAY COME, and DEATH TO SMOOCHY (that's right).

R.I.P. Robin Williams (1951-2014)

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Trailer Spotlight: Robert Altman's NASHVILLE (1975)

Next Wednesday evening at 7:30 pm, the Colony Theater, where I work part-time, in Raleigh is showing one of my favorite films: Robert Altman's 1975 country music-driven comedy drama NASHVILLE as part of their Cool Classics series. I wrote it up for my Film Picks column in today's Raleigh News & Observer, but here I wanted to put a spotlight on the movie's terrific trailer.

It's only a little over two minutes long, but it crams a lot of information in trying to describe the individual members of its large cast. The two announcers (one male; one female), quickly skip through the basic plot-points of its “24 unforgettable people,” with lines like “Shelley Duvall is the wide-eyed groupie doing what all groupies do so well.” Check it out:

It's a hoot, huh? They sure don't make trailers, or movies, like that anymore. 

The Colony is running this trailer before its current features (GLORIA and HER) so I love that our patrons will be seeing it throughout the next 6 days. With hope it'll encourage more than just a few folks to come check out the entire excellent film.


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Film Babble Blog's Top 10 Films Of The '70s

Inspired by Sam Fragoso’s “History of Film: The Best Movies of the 1970s” at moviemezzanine.com, in which ballots from staff and friends of the site contribute their top ten films from the decade many consider to be the finest decade in American cinema, I decided to post my list here (also in their comments section).

So here goes:

1. HAROLD AND MAUDE (Dir. Hal Ashby, 1971)

2. THE GODFATHER: PART II (Dir. Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)

3. MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL (Dirs. Terry Gilliam & Terry Jones, 1975)

4. ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (Dir. Alan J. Pakula, 1976)

5. THE LONG GOODBYE (Dir. Robert Altman, 1973)

6. MANHATTAN (Dir. Woody Allen, 1979)

7. TAXI DRIVER (Dir. Martin Scorsese, 1976)

8. CHINATOWN (Dir. Roman Polanski, 1974)

9. BADLANDS (Dir. Terrence Malick, 1973)

10. CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND

(Dir. Steven Spielberg, 1978)

More later…

Adventures In Altman Appraisal: CALIFORNIA SPLIT (1974)

In many ways, Robert Altman’s 1974 rambling ramshackle of a comedy CALIFORNIA SPLIT is the ultimate gambling movie. It gives us a few days in the lives of George Segal and Elliott Gould as compulsive gambler buddies who live, breathe, then almost choke on gambling (well, not really - but they get mugged twice because of it).

We follow the duo as they go on a bender playing poker (the title is slag for high-low-split poker), betting on horses and boxing matches, even waging $20 on a bar bet if they could name the Seven Dwarves, only pausing to have some drunken downtime with Gould’s prostitute room-mates (Ann Prentiss and Gwen Welles).

There’s not much of a plot beyond that, but with the backdrop of the gambling scene in Los Angeles and Reno in the early ’70s, and Altman’s trademark overlapping dialogue technique in full bloom (aided by then new eight-track stereo sound), the film gets you caught up in its authentic-feeling flow. And you can almost smell the cigarette smoke, stale alcohol, and sweat in the dingy dives and seedy surroundings in every scene.

Altman pulls off this effect by populating the film with real professional gamblers such as former world champion Amarillo Slim, and extras from Synanon (an organization for ex-addicts), and having them all blab at once (you know, like in real life). Segal and Gould blather on themselves, sometimes scat singing on the side, through the nonstop chatter until they settle on the scenario of making one last score.

Odd characters the pair encounter in their journey through the counter-culture of gaming for high stakes include a young Jeff Goldblum, who would also show up in Altman's next film NASHVILLE; Altman regulars Vincent Palmieri and Jack Riley, and Bert Remsen as a transvestite in possible the movie's oddest scene.

At first I would think that this almost 40 year old film would only appeal students of ‘70s cinema or mostly American or Canadian gamblers, but the citizens from today’s world of online gambling would surely take to the motion picture’s celebration or sorts of being a player, no matter where they hail from.Segal, who blows off his job writing for a magazine, finds himself with a large debt to his bookie Sparkie, played by the film’s screenwriter Joseph Walsh, due to a losing streak he feels was caused by Gould being out of town.

However, in the movie’s Reno casino-set finale, Gould, with a bloody bandage on his nose from a bathroom brawl, comes on like a “cooler” to his friend. Segal, back on a major winning streak, keeps sending Gould away from his table, which gets funnier and funnier as Gould sulks about not having any money, and even tries to get into another game with only a candy bar to gamble with.

A movie as much about the intense highs that people playing these games for a living will experience as it is the crushing lows. Segal is drained empty at the end, and it’s obvious that the gig is up for him. Gould however doesn’t appear to have anything else to do, and his half joke of living at the races for the rest of his life is probably the route he’ll actually take.

In Mitchell Zuckoff’s “Robert Altman: The Oral Biography (2009), Walsh was quoted at length about being disappointed that the director altered the final scene. Walsh: “He didn’t film the ending I wrote…They’re talking to each other at the end and Elliot finally says, ‘You’re going home? Oh yeah, where the fuck do you live?’ I didn’t write that. I’m sitting there thinking, ‘What happened to this character?’”

Reportedly, Segal felt that the character was spent, having won but “there was no special feeling.” Altman agreed and went with that idea much to Walsh’s chagrin.

I can understand the frustration a writer has with having their work changed without their input, but Altman didn’t get where he was by following the letter. CALIFORNIA SPLIT was so loose that at times that it hardly felt like there was a script at all (a lot of it was indeed ad-libbed), so a crucial change that occurred to an actor and approved by the director seems naturally in the spirit of Altman’s entire canon.

Out of print on DVD, CALIFORNIA SPLIT is overdue for a new re-mastered release on home video. It would be a perfect title for the Criterion Collection, as they’ve put out deluxe editions of many choice Altman titles in the last decade. In the meantime, it is available for sale or rent on Amazon Instant Video, and I’ve seen it pop up on Netflix Instant every now and then.

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Ongoing Adventures In Altman Appraisal

Seeing all of the films that iconic director Robert Altman made in his half century career can be quite a task these days.

Several titles have never been released on DVD (including BREWSTER McCLOUD, HealH, and COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN) and one of his first features, COUNTDOWN, is only available as part of Warner Archives Collection’s “Burn On Demand” series so you can’t get it from Netflix.

Recently, inspired by reading the excellent “Robert Altman: The Oral Biography” by Mitchell Zuckoff, I’ve been catching up with the handful of movies of Altman’s movies that I haven’t yet seen. These 3 films are easily available but still fairly obscure - here are my thoughts:

THE JAMES DEAN STORY (1957)

The opening titles of this - one of the very first bio-docs ever - declare that this is “a different kind of motion picture.” They go on to explain: “The presence of the leading character in this film has been made possible by the use of existing motion picture material, tape recordings of his voice, and by means of a new technique – dynamic exploration of the still photograph.”

Soundtrack September Selection #5: POPEYE (1980)

This Soundtrack September selection comes from a movie that many would like to forget - even (or especially) Robin Williams for who this was his film debut: 

POPEYE (1980)



In the planning stages a conventional (and more importantly commercial) comic book movie was envisioned but a few factors rendered far different results. The first was the signing of maverick Robert Altman to direct, then there's that cantankerous cartoonist (and screenwriter of such incompatible works as LITTLE MURDERS and CARNAL KNOWLEDGE) Jules Feiffer was commissioned to write the screenplay, but the adding to the mix of Harry Nilsson to write the soundtrack has to be the oddest choice of them all. 

Hardly an obvious choice to write songs for a live action family comedy, Nilsson nevertheless handed in a collection of demos that, while weird, fit Altman's re-imagining of E.C. Segar's salty sailor seaworld. From the opening song sung by all the townsfolk: "Sweethaven" to the character defining "I Yam What I Yam" straight through to the gruff "Kids" spoke-sung by Ray Walston (a notable non-singer in a cast of non-singers), Nilsson matches Altman's overlapping dialogue and scewed sense of narrative with a just as scewed and overlapping soundtrack. 

In 2002 one of the songs was granted new life: "He Needs Me" sung by Olive Oil (Shelly Duvall) appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson's PUNCH DRUNK LOVE. As it stands it's the only song from the POPEYE soundtrack that is currently available on CD. Though long out of print, the original 1980 soundtrack can be found online as can Nilsson's deliciously demented demos. They are definitely worth hunting for, if only to hear one of the oddest collection of songs composed for a feature intended for kids. 

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Another Round Of Great DVD Commentaries

Several years back I posted about great DVD commentaries with a top ten list of my favorites ("Let Them All Talk" Sept. 29th, 2005). Since then I've been collecting notes every time a new (or new to me) commentary was particularly interesting. I'd thought I'd share them in yet another patented Film Babble Blog list.

Now, I know a lot of folks don't listen to commentaries but I thought talking about some really notable ones would encourage folks to give them a try and turn that track on - if only just to sample. So, here goes:

10 More Great DVD Commentaries 
                                                  

1. THE PASSENGER
(Dir. Michelangelo Antonioni, 1975) 

A rare feature-length solo commentary track by Jack Nicholson puts this at the top of the list especially as he declares: "This picture, 'The Passenger', was probably the biggest adventure in filming I ever had in my life."

Nicholson's involving comments are helpful because without them the film can be a long haul. Most compellingly is Nicholson's breakdown of how the final sequence was filmed (contains Spoilers!):

                                                 

Nicholson: "Now, that shot was the reason they built the hotel. The hotel, in order that the camera be able to dolly out through those bars and out the window...why I hope Michelangelo doesn't mind my revealing of the magic of his work...was that the entire hotel could be mounted on a crane and broken in half so that they could go out into the courtyard, shoot film back towards the hotel, after they exited, with the hotel having been pushed back together again and reconstructed for the remainder of the shot."

Whew! Hope Jack sees fit to do other commentaries 'cause that one's a keeper.

2. FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF
(Dir. John Hughes, 1986)



This customer review on Amazon says it best: "Film buffs, DVD collectors, and John Hughes fans beware! The "Bueller...Bueller..." edition DVD does not include the commentary track by writer/producer/director John Hughes which was included on the original 1999/2000 DVD release. It is a great commentary and is sorely missed from this edition."

That's right, even the new Blu ray of this '80s teen classic is sans Hughes commentary and the DVD I was recently sent from Netflix was the "Bueller...Bueller..." edition.

The Hughes track on the 1999 edition is well worth seeking out because it truly is one of the most insightful listens all the way through. Some sample quotes: 

Hughes: "After the film wrapped, Mr. and Mr. Bueller (Lyman Ward and Cindy Pickett), in real life, got married. At the time we were shooting this, Jennifer Grey and Matthew (Broderick) were dating. It was kind of a strange situation because everybody in this scene is in love." And my favorite bit is the art gallery scene:




                                                    

Hughes: "And then this picture, which I always thought this painting was sort of like making a movie. A pointillist style, which at very very close to it, you don't have any idea what you've made until you step back from it. I used it in this context to see that he's (Alan Ruck) looking at that little girl. Again, it's a mother and child.

The closer he looks at the child, the less he sees. Of course, with this style of painting. Or any style of painting really. But the more he looks at, there's nothing there. I think he fears that the more you look at him the less you see. There isn't anything there. That's him." Watch the scene sans commentary here.

Used copies can be found fairly easily of the 1999 version with the commentary as its only special feature (what more do you need?). 

3. TOUCH OF EVIL: THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
(Dir. Orson Welles, 1958)

The packaging is mistaken when it lists the “Preview Version feature commentary” to be Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh and Restoration Producer Rick Schmidlin.

It’s the 1998 “Restored Version” that contains their commentaries. The other versions – the theatrical and preview cuts have fine bonus audio tracks with writer/filmmaker F.X. Feenet and historians Jonathan Rosenbaum and James Naremore, but it’s the Heston/Leigh/Schmidlin track on the first disc of the wonderful 50th Anniversary Edition that I strongly recommend.

Wonderful moments abound: Schmidlin pointing out: “When you see Joseph Cotton - listen to the voice, but it’s not Cotton…”

Heston: “It’s not Cotton?” Schmidlin: “It’s, uh, Orson’s voice.”

Heston: “For Heaven’s sake.” Leigh: “Orson did Joe’s voice?”

Also its amusing to hear Schmidlin call out which shots are Welles’s from which are Harry Keller’s later inserts to the repeated rekindling of Heston’s and Leigh’s memories. “You’ve really done your homework” Heston remarks with a slight chuckle in this charming and essential commentary.

4. BLOOD SIMPLE (Dir. Joe Coen, 1984)

This beyond odd track features audio commentary by "Kenneth Loring", the "artistic director" of "Forever Young Films" (a fictional gig - but whatever). Maybe the most surreal listen on this list.

5. TROPIC THUNDER

(Dir. Ben Stiller, 2008)

As 5 time Oscar winner Kirk Lazarus in a tense moment making a Vietnam War movie, in black-face mind you, Robert Downey Jr. declares: "I don't drop character till I done the DVD commentary!" You know what? Like a real method actor, he keeps his word.

In this free form three way between Downey Jr., Stiller, and Jack Black, the snark level is high which is way apt considering the over the top tangents of said film. One such sample bit during the opening mock trailers - specifically "Satan's Alley" with Downey Jr. and Tobey Macquire as tortured homosexual monks:

Stiller: "Sort of an alternate universe for Spider Man and Iron Man."

Downey Jr.: "I was trying to ride Tobey when we was shooting this thing but he wouldn't have none of it. Talkin' 'bout happily married."

6. I’M NOT THERE

(Dir. Todd Haynes, 2007) 

Haynes’ odd yet transfixing meditation on “the many lives of Bob Dylan” (one of my top 5 films of 2007) confused a lot of people, particularly those unfamiliar with the troubled troubadour's background. Haynes delivers a commentary that should clear up that huge cloud of confusion as he sites references and breaks down various inspirations for every detail in every scene. Some sample quotage:

Haynes: "This is the entrance of Cate Blanchett in the film. The role of Jude was something that I'd always planned, from the very first concept of the film that I gave to Dylan in 2000, that it would be portrayed by an actress. And the reason for this was really for me to try to get to the core of what this next change really looked like and felt like to audiences at the time.

How he became this sort of feline character offstage and this sort of bouncing marionette onstage. Full of all these extravagant androgynous gestures that we'd never seen before and we'd never see again after." The commentary is filled with so many more elaborate descriptions, or justifications, for every aspect of Haynes' challenging anti-biopic.

7. SUPERBAD: UNRATED EXTENDED EDITION

(Dir. Greg Mottola, 2007)

                                                  

Every Judd Apatow production’s DVD commentary is entertaining, from Freaks ‘N Geeks to PINEAPPLE EXPRESS, but this group cast track with director Mottola, screenwriter Evan Goldberg, actors Seth Rogen, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jonah Hill, and producer Apatow is IMHO the best of the bunch.

Largely because Apatow brought along his nine-year-old daughter Maude. Apatow tries to get the guys to keep it clean but it doesn't last long. A sample exchange:

Hill: "This scene is fuckin' hilarious, man."

Apatow: "Jonah, Jonah..."

Hill: "Yeah?"

Apatow: "Maude's over there."

Rogen: "You keep swearing, stop swearing Jonah!"

Hill: "Dude, what is this, bring your daughter to work day? I mean..."

Apatow: "Just be cool man, be cool! This is the only way I could do it...I don't have a babysitter, I'm in New York City here to do Conan and Colbert by the way...I don't have a babysitter so what am I gonna do? Leave her like, uh, with the concierge?"

Hill: "I dunno, dude I'm not..."

Cera: "Like 'Home Alone 2!'"

Hill: "It's "Superbad"! I curse the whole movie...the commentary, I mean, it's like...whatever."

Apatow: "You know, I'm not trying to ruin it...I'm not trying to ruin it..."

Hill: "Let's just go back to the movie; let's just go back to talking about the movie..."

Rogen: "It's kinda ruining the commentary Judd, if Jonah can't say what the fuck he wants to say."

Hill: "Yeah! I can't curse, why don't you just..."

Apatow: "You know what? I'm not 15 years old and don't have a kid - I'm an adult like Greg, I have a child. This is my reality."

Hill: "If I had a kid I wouldn't bring it to work with me."

Whoa - some actual drama there mixed with the laughs. Let's minus the laughs for this next one:

8. TAXI DRIVER (Dir. Martin Scorsese, 1976)



Writer Paul Schrader sounds a bit hesitant upon first opening up ("whatever comments I have...are really not from inside the director's vision") about the film and his screenplay's seminal 70's statement about urban alienation but once he gets going it's quite a cutting companion piece. Sample quotage:

Schrader: "What happens at the end happens at the beginning."

"When Marty first told me that he cast Albert (Brooks) I was sort of surprised because, you know, it was a nothing character. Well, that's the secret: cast the comic in a nothing character and you get somebody interesting."

"I don't believe the script should have any references to camera angles whatsoever. There's only one camera angle in the script, and that's the tracking shot at the very end, and I put that one in there because I thought that it was important we see this crime scene from the eye of God. And the only way we could make that point is if we put the camera on the ceiling and track."

9. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THE FABULOUS STAINS

(Dir. Lou Adler, 1982)

In the interest of space I'll refer you back to this post ("Talking 'Bout A Generation Gap" Oct. 3rd, 2008) in which I first babbled 'bout Diane Lane and Laura Dern's very funny commentary.

10. NASHVILLE
(Dir. Robert Altman, 1975)



Luckily before beloved "New Hollywood" auteur Altman died he recorded a number of worthwhile commentaries but this one is absolutely essential for his magnum opus.

As rambunctious as Altman was infamous for being, his gruff ingratiating commentary makes you feel like you're sitting on the couch with him as he rambles.

Some random rambles:

"When this film first came out, they hated the music. They said this wasn't real country music. But I wasn't looking for good music, not that they make a lot of it there..."

"We cast these cars as carefully as we did the people who drove them."

"Since we knew that I had no way I could control the palette of this film, the color of this film, because I knew I was going to be dealing in real situation for we were just invading an event. Even though if we created it, we had to deal with...we weren't paying these people as extras we just had to go where they were."

Special TV Series DVD Set Honorable Mention: 

Spaced (Dir. Edgar Wright, 1999-2001) 

This short lived but brilliant BBC series is outfitted in a nice 3 DVD set with multiple commentary tracks featuring guests like Kevin Smith, Diablo Cody, Patton Oswalt, Bill Hader, Matt Stone, and Quentin Tarantino sparring with Wright and various cast members including, of course, Simon Pegg and Jessica Haynes. Great stuff.

Okay! I hope that'll point out some good commentaries out there. I'd love to hear your thoughts on essential bonus audio tracks so please send 'em on.

More later...