The most compelling new Blu-ray title released this week, at least in terms of curiosity, is:
- 1.) Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony, $34.95)
, because it features the final performance of the late Heath Ledger who died in the middle of the production and was replaced by three actors, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell.– Typical Gilliam fantastical and imaginative story, costumes, and visual images.
.
— Sad to hear Ledger say in 2007 radio interview extra that he only feels alive “between action and cut” and that everything else in life is irrevelant.
— Ledger wardrobe test shows him being amusingly playful.
— Gilliam provides nice but not maudlin intro to movie, and fun audio commentary pointing out changes that had to be made in movie to rationalize three actors filling in for Ledger.
2.) “Its Complicated” (Universal, $36.98) is a fun romantic comedy with several almost incongruously ultra-serious moments directly relating to the cause-and-effect of the comedically cavalier approach to relationships.
.
— Top -notch stars Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin (both in very good form) and a refeshingly understated performance by Steve Martin.– Audio commentary with several crew almost overly-dominated by very talkative director Nancy Meyers, who notes the Santa Barbara-based film was shot almost entirely in New York.
3.) “Out of Africa” 25th Anniversary Edition (Universal, $26.98):– A welcome revisiting of one of many successful collaborations between Robert Redford and director Sydney Pollack (“Three Days of the Condor,” “The Way We Were,” “The Electric Horseman,” etc.).
.
— Sweeping African vistas never looked better than here in HiDef.
— Terrific 1999 Charles Kiselyak feature-length making-of documentary.
— By Scott Hettrick