You can call me old fashioned, but I am a huge Alfred Hitchcock fan. His movies pushed the envelope for film making and he managed to put the everyman in unusual and suspenseful situations. He once said that is far more frightening to let the audience know what was about to happen instead of giving them the cheap jump scare. A lot of Hitchcock’s conventions still remain true at the core of almost every suspense film created. And yet, many modern day thrillers fall flat, mainly due to lack of story and character development. Instead of leaving you guessing what might happen next, they try and wow you with ridiculous stunts or excessive CG. It’s been a while since I felt that familiar mood and tone so common in a Hitchcock film; that is, until I rented Buried. 

Buried is the story of Paul Conroy (Ryan Renolds),  an American truck driver in Iraq who wakes up bound, gagged, and buried alive. Armed with only a zippo, pocket knife, and a mysterious Blackberry, Paul must piece together how he got where he is and more importantly, how he might be able to escape his fate. After premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, Buried received a very limited release in October of last year. It was one of those films I was hoping to see, but sadly it never hit my market. I found this to be unfortunate, because there were plenty of trashy movies that I didn’t want to see that were everywhere in my market.  So I was excited to see it come to DVD this quickly. 
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For those unfamiliar with this groundbreaking film from 1927, it’s hard to appreciate how exciting it is to finally be able to see the entire film, uncut in this newly released edition on DVD and Blu-ray. Like many things that have been lost in history, I never imagined the footage would ever be found to re-assemble this film to the original cut. At about 2.5 hours, I’ll be the first to admit it’s too long and drags at points, but I’m also more forgiving of an 80 year-old film than I would be for something released today. I’m actually not going to be an apologist for the length or the hokey aspects of this film either. It’s got so much to offer, the negatives aspects are dwarfed by the positive ones.

You don’t have to worry about not noticing any of the newly discovered footage, as it will be readily obvious what is what when you are watching. The only known complete print, discovered in 2008 in Buenos Aries, is a ravaged 16mm negative which is in terrible shape. They have cleaned it up considerably for this release, but it still looks awful, and has a different crop than the rest of the film. It’s so bad, in fact, and the running time is so long, it’s easy to wonder why they bothered to include it. Especially compared to the rest of the film, which is taken from a 35mm camera negative, as sharp and HD as anything other than an IMAX movie.

Aside from trying to capture Fritz Lang’s original vision, there are two reasons to see this extended version. Number one is that the story makes much more sense with the new material. I haven’t watched Metropolis as often as other movies because the plot seemed kind of choppy before. The second is the music. Since this is a silent film, the music is more important than in most movies today. Having the original score and the complete film, allows us, for the first time, to really get immersed in the world of Metropolis. There is a quote I’ve heard attributed to Stanley Kubrick, that “film is 90% sound”. An amazing admission from a guy who got his start as a photographer and is known for the keen visual style of his movies. The point is you can’t play the complete score of Metropolis without the complete film, and the music needs to be heard in it’s entirety to really do its job right. This is something one can really only appreciate if you’ve seen the edited version and the complete version, because, just as the plot is choppy in the edit, the music is choppy too, and that really detracts from the experience.
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Parody done correctly can be an uplifting and artistic view of something that reminds us how great it was.  Parody done wrong, well I can’t think of anything more awful.  Luckily for us, Seth McFarlane not only knows how to do parody correctly, but he’s a huge Star Wars Fan.  And his latest DVD release Something, Something, Something, Dark Side, is a loving and hilarious tribute to arguably the best Star Wars film in the series, The Empire Strikes Back.  All the Family Guy characters reprise their roles from the Blue Harvest parody from a few years ago:  Peter as Han Solo, Lois as Princess Leia, Chris as Luke Skywalker, and Stewie as Darth Vader.  All play the role to a tee adding their own Family Guy twist to them.  And lucky for us, there are a few more surprises waiting inside the DVD.   

As you may have deduced, this film was and is two Family Guy episodes stitched together.  Originally these episodes were supposed to air as a finale to season 7, but got pushed back to season 8.  My guess is the folks at Fox wanted to make a few bucks before the Holidays and released a DVD version before airing it for the masses.  Knowing that you’ll eventually be able to watch this on TV, why would you want to spend $15 on a DVD?  Well there are a few reasons, actually. 

First, the DVD is uncut, and if you haven’t watched Family Guy in its uncensored form, you are missing out.  Listening to Stewie (as Darth Vader) drop the F bomb a few times or hearing Chris (as Luke Skywalker)  yell, “Shit!” before he crashes his X-Wing is priceless.  That and there are more than a few jokes and social references that I am sure will be edited out for TV. 

Second, this movie is funny as shit and perfect for getting together with your buds and laughing your ass off before the rest of the plebes get to.  Imagine you and your buds are over playing New Super Mario Brothers Wii and after an hour of those shenanigans, someone suggests watching a movie.  You could be the hero and watch this film, only take up an hour and be right back gaming.  It’s sweet! 

Finally, Seth McFarlane wonderfully recreates the greatness that is Empire Strikes Back.  Each background scene is almost a shot for shot copy of the original work.  There are even cut scenes that are so true to the original that you forget that you are watching Family Guy.  Watching this film makes you want to go back to your collection and drag out Empire Strikes Back.  It’s a double whammy of awesomeness!

So if you are looking for gift ideas for the nerd in your family, or you are a Star Wars or Family Guy fan yourself, go out and grab this fine DVD.  And may the force be with you!