commentary Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I'll confess to being in the dark as to why certain DVDs don't boast an audio commentary by the filmmakers when they actually want to do one, so while I won't strike out blindly against The Studios for getting in the way, I instead admire those who see fit to give their fans what they want.

Case in point: Following in the footsteps of Darren Aronofsky and The Fountain, director Ben Rock and some of his cast and crew members have come together for a full commentary track, now posted over on Dread Central to accompany this week's release of Alien Raiders. The film -- which, and I think Ben will agree with me, is nothing like The Fountain -- concerns a team of specialists (led by none other than 24's Tony Almeida) who lock down a small-town supermarket for reasons that you may be able to deduce from that title (a title that's frankly more campy than the flick is).

Scott and I both saw this at Fantastic Fest last year, and I don't think it's any great stretch to say that it's probably the best thing put out under the Raw Feed label to date, and given the film's exceedingly tight production schedule, I'm willing to bet that this might make for a pretty informative listen.

I can't imagine who'd actually want to listen to it -- but I could go down to the Best Buy, hold my head up high, and say in a loud, steady voice: "Harry, I want you to sell me a Dark Knight. In fact, today I think I'll have a Blu-Ray, for I am a commentator, and I plan to record my own voice for 140 minutes -- over the soundtrack to one of the best superhero movies ever made."

Yes, geeks, it's true. Thanks to the magic of Rays colored Blu, you can now record your very own audio / video commentary for The Dark Knight. My insane friend Joe Lynch gives us a brief demonstration over at G4:




Hats off to the first person who can do a full-length "comedy commentary."

[Thanks to Engadget]

If you're trapped in a boring office, in some long forgotten sector of a cubicle farm, chances are you're often looking for ways to help while away the hours as you burrow through massive stacks of paperwork. Sure, you could always throw some tunes on the old computer, but after awhile even the dulcet tones of Josh Groban will make you go insane.

That's where the internet steps in and, once again, saves your life. Listen to a Movie, which just recently launched a new beta site, has been one of my favorite sites for a few years now, helping me get through the monotony of office living, and the sometimes-worse-than-nails-on-a-chalkboard-sound of something we've all encountered -- the annoying officemate. Listen to a Movie literally lets you listen to the the entire soundtrack to a movie, played through any web browser. You're there along for the ride. Right now, as I'm writing this, I'm listening to Adaptation. Which is helping somewhat, because I get bouts of writer's block, just like Charlie Kaufman does. Except when he finally works his out, he gets paid a bit more than me. But I digress.

Listen to a Movie has tons of films uploaded that you can listen to (TV shows, too) and some of the films even include the director's commentary tracks. They even have a cool "stealth" mode that turns the audio player window into a fake spreadsheet, to fool your boss. There's never been a more movie-related way to pass the time, without actually watching the film.

I don't know how many DVD discs I own whose extra features I haven't fully explored yet, but suffice it to say that there are hours and hours worth of deleted scenes, storyboards and interviews that I'll never get a chance to watch. The Lord of the Rings trilogy alone holds about 1,945 hours worth of extras that I will never have the time to check out. If I was a Ringer, I would have already delved deep into them, but the truth is that there just aren't enough hours in the day.

On top of all this we're getting director's commentary on sketchbooks ... sketchbooks! Now, it would be a lot harder to find this absurd if it wasn't completely amazing. Guillermo del Toro offered Cinematical a sneak peek into his notebooks for Pan's Labyrinth, but the website goes even more in-depth. It offers up 12 pages from del Toro's personal sketchbook, including commentaries, page views and a dose of creativity that will have you heading to the art supply store to purchase your own notebook. I'm serious about that because I just ran out and bought a new moleskin notebook in the hopes that it will ignite some of the smoldering remnants of my creative impulse here at year's end. His commentary on the sketchbook pages is extremely insightful and personal, and has me even more excited for this film.

There is even a Sketchbook Contest that allows users to upload their own creations which will be judged by del Toro. The winning entries will receive a signed Pan's Labyrinth poster and be featured on the DVD. The film opens on December 29, and looks to be something like Amelie crossed with Jim Henson's Labyrinth. I can't wait for it -- what about you?

When Steven Soderbergh released Bubble simultaneously (more or less) in theaters, on TV, and on DVD, I opted to rent the DVD. This was due more to laziness than anything, but it did give me a chance to listen to the audio commentary where Soderbergh and fellow director Mark Romanek discuss the philosphy behind the movie, which was shot using non-professional actors who ad-libbed much of their dialogue. Soderbergh also used only available light for scenes and worked without monitors. I immediately grew affectionate toward the movie itself, the concept behind it, and the way it was released. I would go on, but Karina pretty much echoed my sentiments with her review.

Josh Oakhurst has transcribed much of the commentary on his blog, and you can read it here. It's not as funny as Soderbergh's commentary for Schizopolis where he interviews himself and insists the last half of the movie is an homage to the inside of his mouth, but for a movie as unique as Bubble it's nice to get some real insight into the mind behind it all.

[via HD for Indies]

Though the feature list is not yet complete, the early world on the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire DVD is likely to have Potter fans pretty excited. The two disc set, which comes out March 7, will include deleted scenes (which have become a staple of the Potter discs), behind the scenes footage, and a variety of games, including "the Triwizard Tournament Challenge." The most notable feature, however, is a commentary track with director Mike Newell: this marks the first time such a track has been recorded for a film in the series.

In addition, it's rumored that at some point in the future (probably when they really, really need a cash infusion), Warner Brothers plans to go back and rerelease the DVDs of the first three films in the series, with new commentary tracks added.