DVD SCANS
Off-stage, the comedians will really crack you up
Posted on Fri, Jun. 06, 2008
BY RENE RODRIGUEZ
One of the funniest moments in Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show (New Line, $30), a documentary following four stand-up comics and some famous actors on a month-long bus tour across the American heartland, happens not onstage but inside the bus.
It's there that Peter Billingsley -- once the little boy from A Christmas Story, now all grown up and one of the film's producers -- is woken up from a deep sleep by a prank from busmate Justin (''I'm a Mac'') Long.
Billingsley's explosive reaction is so foul-mouthed and aggressive, even he cracks up at himself a few moments later (''It's all Chino up in here!'') Part of the entertainment value in this amiable, engaging documentary is the opportunity to watch actors be themselves in less-than-ideal situations, whether it's Vaughn's griping at having to wake up at 7 a.m. to do a radio interview to promote the show or the unknown comics -- John Caparulo, Ahmed Ahmed, Sebastian Maniscalco and Bret Enrst -- complaining about having to spend a day handing out free tickets to their show at a makeshift shelter for Hurricane Katrina victims.
On the ride back from the shelter, though, the comedians feel guilty about having whined for a cup of coffee. The DVD includes almost an hour of bonus footage, including more of the comics' stand-up routines, along with bits of tomfoolery involving Vaughn (Best extra: His duet with Long on a cover of Summer Nights from Grease). There are also 30 minutes of other behind-the-scenes videos spread across three featurettes, and it's a testament to the movie -- and the talents of the people featured in it -- that you'll be eager to watch it all.
`JUMPER'
I enjoyed the first 30 minutes of Doug Liman's Jumper, and then the movie went off the rails so decisively, it left me wondering if they had made up the rest of the script as they went along.
The Blu-ray disc of the film (Fox Home Entertainment, $40, in stores Tuesday; also on DVD, $30) reveals my hunch was not far off. The 35-minute featurette Doug Liman'sJumper: Uncensored included on the disc reveals the chaotic state of the set, Liman's tendency to write and rewrite scripts as his movies are being filmed, and how the director's creative chaos taxed the patience of his cost-conscious producer and his weary cast.
The featurette doesn't delve into Liman's decision to recast the film and scrap previously filmed footage, which added to the ballooning budget. It also doesn't explain why Jumper became a sleeper hit earlier this year, despite being close to nonsensical. At least the image and sound on the Blu-ray are good enough to qualify as demo material, which will please fans of the film. The disc also includes 11 minutes of deleted scenes and other featurettes on the movie's special effects, far-flung locations and the young adult novels that inspired it.
`MEET THE SPARTANS'
It is interesting to imagine what future societies would make of the 300 spoof Meet the Spartans 100 years from now: So many of its jokes are lame stabs at of-the-moment celebrities (from Britney Spears to Paris Hilton to Dr. Phil) that the movie will be practically incomprehensible a mere five years from now.
It certainly won't be any funnier -- which is not to imply that it's funny now. The latest (and worst) would-be shotgun comedy from the makers of Date Movie and Epic Movie is one of the most groan-inducing films ever, although its $84 million worldwide gross promises there will be more. People, you have to stop patronizing these things.
Meet the Spartans, which arrives to home video in an unrated ''Pit of Death'' edition, was popular enough to merit the Blu-ray treatment (Fox, $40; also on DVD, $30), but the superb transfer doesn't make the film any better: No amount of A/V polish can polish this you-know-what.
Extras include an audio commentary with the cast and crew that is more amusing than anything in the film, along with a pop-up trivia track that seems written at the level of 10-year-olds. It's a perfect match for the humor in the film.
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