March 09, 2004Commentary CommentaryLeonard Maltin has a good little piece on his website about what makes a successful DVD commentary. I agree with him that the best ones involve filmmakers reflecting long after the original films came out, where the talker has more hindsight and perspective (he cites Stanley Donen and Peter Stone's talk on the Criterion Charade disc as a particularly great example - basically two old friends having a ball). Getting a good commentary must be a difficult game of hit and miss - try spending two hours talking about a single subject! The better ones I've heard tend to have two or more people riffing off each other for spontinaety and no boring dead spots. And, like I said, a relaxed hindsight. With more recent films, shameless self promotion and fake sincerity seems to be the biggest problem. You always get the feeling these people are being all nicey nicey to protect their reputations and not get blacklisted.When it comes down to it, I'd rather listen to an enthusiastic fan's commentary than anything else. Historian Bruce Eder's lively, trivia-filled discource on Criterion's The Devil and Daniel Webster disc is an excellent one. OK movie, fantastic commentary. He also did a great job on Brief Encounter. Despite my Criterion love, however, I've heard just as many dry, academic commentaries on that company's discs. A good commentary has the ability to surprise you in unexpected ways. I remember how the guy on Fox's The Ghost and Mrs. Muir DVD (forgot his name) opens by proclaiming this dodgy supernatural romance as his favorite film. Ninety minutes later, I was right there smiling and nodding with him as if sharing a phone call with a friend. Likewise, I didn't expect much from the producer and screenwriter from Kenneth Branagh's Dead Again - but they have an excellent comraderie and share a lot of fun anecdotes. One of my absolute favorites is the Safe commentary from Todd Haynes, Julianne Moore and the film's producer. Although Moore doesn't talk much, the other two seem like they're having a grand old time and can laugh about the strange things they did on this movie ten plus years ago. It's like overhearing someone else's lively dinner conversation. Anybody else have a personal fave to share?
Comments
The cast commentary on "The Goonies" cracks me up every time I watch it. I also enjoyed the commentary on the "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" DVD. (Poor Marilyn Burns!) Werner Herzog's commentaries are always fascinating. Martin Scorsese's commentary for "Gangs of New York" is really dull, which is a shame considering how passionate he is when discussing other people's films. Posted by: Megg at March 8, 2004 11:29 PMSteven Soderbergh and Scott Frank's commentary on "Out of Sight" has always been one of my favorites -- deadpan jokes, jabs at each other, lots of interesting factoids. Compare with "The Limey" where the writer starts complaining to Soderbergh about how his script was ruined by the direction. Also great is Steve Zahn's commentary for "Joy Ride" -- so funny it almost makes up for actually sitting through the movie itself. Posted by: josh at March 9, 2004 06:29 AMJohn Waters' commentary for his early movies is wonderful. He has **tons** of stories, is very funny, has a healthy perspective on the movies, and a lot of affection for his castmembers. Posted by: rachel at March 9, 2004 06:49 AMI was really impressed with the (voluminous) commentaries on the Lord of the Rings discs. The stories are great and insightful, but I love that they actually edited them. I hate the commentaries where it feels like they're stretching and reaching to find material to talk about. Posted by: Scott at March 9, 2004 07:13 AMA like and a dislike: I like commentaries that emphasize the movie-making process -- as opposed to just verbalizing what is being seen on the screen. A case in point is "Seabiscuit" which even went so far as to stop the film and show a mini-documentary on the specific technical aspect used in a scene. It was kind of annoying how they kept stopping (about five times total) but fascinating. I dislike commentaries made by "experts" on films that are too old to have any surviving cast or crew members. They pontificate and digress, and show off their "intimate knowledge" of film in ways that achieve virtually nothing except personal PR. The worst was whomever did the commentary on the Criterion "Rebecca." Blech! During the film, I heard everything about the stars' personal lives, careers, downfalls and deaths and very little about what was happening in the film. Posted by: Christopher at March 9, 2004 07:14 AMMy favorite commentary has always been Jodie Foster's commentary on Contact. Funny thing is, she doesn't talk much about the film per se - instead, the events onscreen inspire long, frighteningly eloquent and articulate musings on the various subjects. It's absolutely riveting and somewhat shocking at the same time - you have to stand back and realize that sometimes actors aren't just attractive packages filled with fluff. Posted by: Davy at March 9, 2004 09:53 AMMy wife -- a big fan of Rebecca -- hated the commentary on the disc, too. The only commentary I've ever really loved (I haven't listened to many) is the cast commentary on the first disc only of The Fellowship of the Ring. The other commentaries -- and the cast commentary on the second disc -- seemed pointless, but those ninety minutes with the hobbits on disc one are great fun. Tig Posted by: J.D. at March 9, 2004 02:28 PMin general, i'm not a big fan of commentaries, but i'd second that the john waters commentaries on his early films are excellent. a lot of times i don't want to sit through the film while they just jabber on with whatever comes into their heads. i think this is a problem with the simpsons commentaries. i guess i'd rather see a detailed interview about the film, than having someone talking over the film as it plays. Posted by: william at March 9, 2004 05:53 PM It's kind of ironic for Leonard Maltin to discuss what makes for good commentary, what with him having wrecked a considerable number of Disney and Warner Brothers docs with his lame "insights".Yes, he has done good works, especially in terms of rescue and restoration, but he insists on putting himself front and center in the "Disney Treasures" series, cutting up perfectly respectable and even inspiring existing Disney documentaries to add newer talking heads and footage. A real shame.
As for Maltin, he's always too chipper and perky without regard for whatever issue he is discussing. I mean, who can stay "up" that much without drugs? I have a great respect for him and his knowledge, but gee whiz! The best commentaries for The Simpsons are the first couple seasons when they talk much more about the process of making the episode. The later commentaries seem like so much filler. Posted by: Christopher at March 10, 2004 09:58 AMI have no objections to Maltin on those DVDs; it's how Disney and Warner utilize him that sucks. They're catering to ignorant people with dumb intros and such. On the Adventures of Robin Hood disc, he's basically there to say that 1930s movies were shown with shorts, previews and a newsreel. Duh. To be fair, I've read that the Disney Treasures series was entirely Maltin's idea and for that I have to give him props. Posted by: Matt at March 10, 2004 12:23 PMThe worst are those that go silent for long periods, or end long before the movie,e.g. Mister Roberts, Blazing Saddles. You're right, that Tokyo Olympiad commentary is excellent. The documentary is so abstract and visceral, while on the other hand the commentary is very specific and filled with neat details about the '64 Olympics. Posted by: Matt at March 13, 2004 02:49 PMA couple of my favorite director commentaries are John Frankenheimer's on The Manchurian Candidate and Francis Ford Coppola's on The Conversation. As a film geek I also love commentaries that are almost like a film school on a disc. Roger Ebert's on Citizen Kane is fantastic. As are the ones of Sunset Blvd. and Breathless, though I can't remember the people's name at the moment. Oh, and White Zombie. Without it, I would have never noticed the dead guy holding his nose as he's tossed into the river. Posted by: Donald Melanson at March 14, 2004 11:19 AMI'm digging the amateur commentaries on http://www.dvdtracks.com/ Posted by: Deric at June 13, 2004 01:45 PMI'm digging the amateur commentaries on http://www.dvdtracks.com/ Posted by: Deric at June 13, 2004 01:47 PMone of best commentaries i've heard is Post a comment
 
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