Amazing Journey: The Story of the Who(Universal)
It's not The Kids Are Alright, for better or worse. For better, because director Paul Crowder's two-disc documentary—divided into a feature-length film and six "quick ones" serving as more intimate portraits—is more about context than mere concert footage; he focuses instead on the band's early '60s ascension as Mod heroes. Better, too, because of the estimable amount of rare footage from Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert's collection. If it's worse than Kids, it's only because Amazing Journeydoesn't quite have the raw power of Jeff Stein's 1979 collection of unedited concert footage and vintage interviews. And, sorry, but no Who fan needs Sting or Eddie Vedder or the Edge to validate the Who's greatness, not when Townshend's happy to do it all by his lonesome.
Chinatown: Special Collector's Edition (Paramount)
"Robert Evans was the head of production and the head of seduction," says Roman Polanski in the newly minted documentary Chinatown: The Beginning and the End, among the many terrific reasons to snatch up this collector's edition. Yes, the disc's missing a commentary track and outtakes, but the doc is a worthwhile addition, gathering Evans, Polanski, writer Robert Towne and a relatively talkative Jack Nicholson for a chat about the last great noir ever made. Polanski is most forthcoming—initially, "it was a job," he says, often adding that he was reluctant to return to LA following wife Sharon Tate's murder. As for the movie, 33 years later, it holds up better than ever, thanks in no small part to a stellar transfer that gives it a theatrical sheen after years of less-than-impressive DVD dupes. You don't own it? No excuses now.
Sesame Street: Old School Volume 2 (Genius)
On the heels of the Electric Companyboxed sets, which were both educational and groovy as all get-out, comes the latest in greatest hits from Sesame Streetbefore the neighborhood was gentrified for Elmo's protection. Chief among the copious highlights in this triple-disc acid trip down Amnesia Lane is the rarely screened pilot episode, which has the odd vibe of a video montage incorporating everything from sparsely staged musical numbers to cut-up Supermancartoons. Parents raised in the '70s will delight in watching with their young'uns vintage clips starring Ray Charles, Madeline Kahn and the Fonz. And, like, I totally forgot Richard Pryor taught me the lower-case alphabet and how to use the word "ain't" in a sentence. Educational? If you say so.
Sicko: Special Edition (Weinstein)
Michael Moore's latest (and, easily, greatest) documentary united red and blue who felt they'd been battered black and blue over the state of their insurance premiums and health-care coverage. Thisis the Moore movie likely to prompt a revolution—give it time. And the DVD keeps piling it on, with seven substantial pieces that add fuel to the fire—chief among them a short about the utopian state of health care in Norway. But Moore's most effective in the short about Cameron Park, Texas, where 58 percent of the town's 6,000 residents live in poverty and have resigned themselves to illness and suffering. Says the priest charged with tending to the broken, uninsured flock: "Somewhere along the line, we lost our sense and our feel of what it is to be one nation under God, indivisible." Amen.
Our top DVD picks scheduled for release this week:The Best of the Colbert Report(Paramount); Blame It on Fidel! (Koch Lorber); Blood Car (TLA); The Crown Prince (Koch); Deck the Halls (Fox); Election (Tartan); Flight of the Conchords: The Complete First Season (HBO); Help!: Deluxe Edition (Capitol); I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (Universal); James Bond Ultimate Collector's Set (MGM); The King of Queens: The Complete Series(Sony); Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon (HBO); Manufacturing Dissent (Starz); Opus n' Bill in A Wish for Wings That Work (Universal); Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 1 (Disney); Project Runway: The Complete Third Season (Weinstein); Ratatouille (Disney); Seinfeld: The Complete Series (Sony); Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble: Pride and Joy(Sony); The X-Files: The Ultimate Collection (Fox).
