Men really are from Mars. How else to explain the alien invasion that was The 40-Year-Old Virgin?
Judd Apatow's goofy adult comedy, starring co-producer and co-writer Steve Carell, was a surprise breakout hit in 2005. Packed with profanity, juvenile sexcapades and enough politically incorrect jokes to land the cast & crew in jail, the movie scored long before Carell does. It is also funny, in that guilty-pleasure way that makes one blush.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin arrives on DVD today in several editions. There are full and widescreen options. You also have to decide between the R-Rated Edition, the theatrical cut, and the Unrated edition, with 17 minutes of extra naughty/nasty footage skilfully larded into the movie.
I'm reviewing the Widescreen Unrated version here and the DVD arrives with a strong lineup of extras, including scenes considered "too dirty" even for the extended cut. Also check out the Andy's Fantasies section, the uncut "I Know You're Gay" routine, the glimpse of Seth Rogen's bizzaro drinking session with Amazon porn star Stormy Daniels and an on-set look at Sasquatch Carell's botched chest waxing scene. And there is a group commentary led by Apatow and Carell.
Even the idly curious will love this disc.
MORE SIN-SATION: Hardcore fans of Sin City, the brilliant if controversially misogynistic film by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez, were disappointed with the stripped-down DVD earlier. Now Sin City, a graphic novel and film noir come to life in stylized fashion, is back today. This time it is a two-disc, widescreen box set loaded to the borders of Basin City with tons 'o sicko fun. There are two versions of the film: The theatrical cut plus a separate re-edited extended version with (they claim) an extra 23 minutes of footage (but my math says there are only 18).
The extended cut is as ground-breaking as the film proper. It is broken down into four separate, stand-alone chapters, one short and three long, like separate graphic novels. The rest of the extras -- some repeated from the original DVD -- are absolutely first rate.
Rodriguez also hosts a how-I-did-it film school seminar for viewers with ambitions, as well as a quickie cooking school showing us how to make his favourite dish, breakfast tacos at 3 a.m. Great stuff. Tasty, too.
MAGIC IN THE MUSIC: Out of the vaults comes Danny Kaye in the music biopic The Five Pennies (1959), loosely based on the life of cornet great Red Nichols, whose solos are layered into the soundtrack. This is a compelling, if cliche-ridden Hollywood version of a man's life in jazz. But Kaye is wonderfully entertaining and shares on-stage scenes with the genius of Louis Armstrong, a rare treat. The enhanced widescreen DVD is out today with no extras.
DISASTER AMUSES ME: The nutty satire Airplane! (1980) is back on DVD in what they're calling the "Don't Call Me Shirley!" Edition. Good extras, primarily a group commentary, then an optional Long Haul Version during which extras are activated during the movie, and finally a separate Trivia Track option. For that one, pop-up boxes appear on screen with funky info. Gotta love these guys and their filmmaking partner Jim Abrahams, all at the peak of their depravity.
FORGOTTEN CLASSIC: Australian Peter Weir's World War I drama Gallipoli (1981) is a buried treasure co-starring Mark Lee and baby-faced Mel Gibson as Aussie sprinters who run for their lives in a disastrous battle in Turkey. The new widescreen DVD, out today, backgrounds this intensely realistic film with great sensitivity, intelligence and generosity in six featurettes. This is a must-see.
