With Springtime right around the corner and the hot weather
slowly pervading our senses, times can become quite busy
– busy enough that you may not find time to actually go to the
movies, so why not rent a DVD?
With Springtime right around the corner and the hot weather slowly pervading our senses, times can become quite busy – busy enough that you may not find time to actually go to the movies, so why not rent a DVD?
Watching a DVD in the comfort of your own home offers a lot of different features, if you will, than going to the movies. You can sit on the comfy couch, take off your shoes and relish in the food of your choice. Oh and did I mention the special features? The greatest thing about DVDs, undoubtedly are the special features that accompany the DVDs including deleted scenes, director’s commentary, outtakes and a whole slew of fun things to make your viewing an awesome experience. So sit back, relax and enjoy all of the special features.
“Schindler’s List”
While this may not be the most upbeat film to watch, it is undoubtedly a masterpiece. Steven Spielberg’s Holocaust picture focuses on the life of Oskar Schindler, a German entrepreneur who opened a factory during Nazi Germany in an effort to save thousands of Jewish lives. This Oscar-winning film is shot beautifully in grainy documentary style black and white, and it tells the stories of the lives of many who survived this terrible ordeal.
Last year, I had the opportunity to take the Steven Spielberg class, which is offered through the USC School of Cinema-Television and I had the opportunity to have classes taught by Spielberg himself where he shared his thoughts about making the film. He said that it was the best way that he, himself, could memorialize something such as the Holocaust, while also including important historical, emotional and experiential components that make movies interesting.
I have always admired Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” because I thought that it showed enough brutality but it also had a great story that offered hope and optimism to a subject that just seemed to be filled with evil.
Taking the Spielberg class, I learned that he made the story of Oskar Schindler a fairy tale. Some critics would argue that this is an awful way to memorialize the Holocaust; I will admit that there are some problems with it. One may not see life as it really was or people will have a twisted sense of the horrors of the Holocaust. However, what is truly wrong with making the Holocaust into somewhat of a fairy tale? Isn’t that better than tears and pain? The Holocaust could be described as the ultimate fairy tale. All fairy tales deal with combating evil. I consider the Nazis to be the most evil thing that the world has ever come to know. Therefore, presenting the Holocaust in this format is effective and Spielberg does his absolute best, as usual, to present his audience with a story both engaging and touching.
DVD Special Features:
Images of the Steven Spielberg film book, CD soundtrack, senitype, “Behind the Shoah Foundation With Steven Spielberg” feature and the widescreen version.
“Ed Wood” (Coming Soon)
One of my favorite films of all time, “Ed Wood,” another masterpiece by famed director Tim Burton, chronicles the brief but nonetheless important career of filmmaker Ed Wood. Known single-handedly as the “Worst Director of All Time,” Wood was known for making B-movies in 1950s Hollywood using any resources he could garner, including using washed-up star Bela Lugosi for his most famous work “Plan 9 from Outer Space.”
Shot entirely in black and white and utilizing a campy scheme, Burton recreates the B-movie industry/Hollywood scene of the 1950s with an all-star cast, including Johnny Depp as Wood, Sarah Jessica Parker as his longtime actress and girlfriend, Bill Murray and Martin Landau. The film also contains the BEST tagline ever: “Movies were his passion. Women were his inspiration. Angora sweaters were his weakness.”
DVD Special Features:
Director’s commentary, deleted scenes, behind the scenes footage with Johnny Depp, “When Carol Met Larry”: a cross-dressing introspective, production design feature and widescreen format.
Andrea Damkar, originally from Hollister, is a junior at the School of Cinema-Television at the University of Southern California.
