(no subject)
every time i watch a dvd commentary i think, hmm, i really must post about dvd commentaries on my livejournal one day. then i wake up the next morning and i forget. TODAY, TODAY WILL BE DIFFERENT.
has anyone here ever seen/ listened to a dvd commentary that was any cop whatsoever? whilst watching the dvd commentary for 'pine barrens', the sopranos episode directed by steve buscemi (an episode i have previously heard described as the quintissential sopranos episode by someone who might have been very pretentious but might otherwise have been simon pegg: i cant quite remember) i was reminded that basically, all dvd commentaries are essentially the same; they are a person involved in the production at some level saying variations on the same basic theme:
1. it was really great to work with this cast and/ or crew; theyre all really extraordinarily talented and it was just a huge privilege to see them at their craft
2. that thing that the characters just did whilst i was talking? im just going to describe to you what that thing was that they did, even though you know, because im basically trying to think of something to say that isnt about how much i enjoyed working with them and watching them at their craft
last night i invented a new drinking game: drink a shot of sambucca every time steve buscemi says 'it was really great to see so- and- so; we worked together on trees lounge'. im not quite sure why they even bother to pay an actor or producer or director to come in and do these things because they could just as well ask the person who made the coleslaw on the catering van and their experience and insight would usually be pretty much the same. i think the only really interesting thing ive ever heard anyone say on a dvd commentary was when drew barrymore said about the marl hoodies everyone wears to the party scene in donnie darko and i was like, i was right! it was an ET reference! but that leads me to believe that the observation in question must have been hugely banal and unoriginal on my part, because basically noone ever says anything on a dvd commentary that isnt banal or unoriginal. paddy considine gets one point for singing 5, 6, 7, 8 by steps at the end of either a room for romeo brass or dead mans shoes, but if thats the most interesting thing anyones ever done on a dvd commentary ive ever heard you can see just how low the bar has been set.
how about you? do you have any experiences of the dvd commentary that would directly contradict my thesis here? my suspicion: you dont. its totally redundant as a form.
note to self: you have done very well not to mention the fabulous awfulness of joel schumacher's director's commentary on st elmos fire, which is similtaneously the absolute distillation of the problems you outline above and somehow manages to spectacularly transcend the limitations thereof; mainly because joel schumacher is transparently (and very entertainingly) convinced that st elmos fire is A Work Of Art, and not A Really Terrible Film Of Which Many People Are Nonetheless Unaccountably Fond Despite Themselves And Their Better Instincts.
has anyone here ever seen/ listened to a dvd commentary that was any cop whatsoever? whilst watching the dvd commentary for 'pine barrens', the sopranos episode directed by steve buscemi (an episode i have previously heard described as the quintissential sopranos episode by someone who might have been very pretentious but might otherwise have been simon pegg: i cant quite remember) i was reminded that basically, all dvd commentaries are essentially the same; they are a person involved in the production at some level saying variations on the same basic theme:
1. it was really great to work with this cast and/ or crew; theyre all really extraordinarily talented and it was just a huge privilege to see them at their craft
2. that thing that the characters just did whilst i was talking? im just going to describe to you what that thing was that they did, even though you know, because im basically trying to think of something to say that isnt about how much i enjoyed working with them and watching them at their craft
last night i invented a new drinking game: drink a shot of sambucca every time steve buscemi says 'it was really great to see so- and- so; we worked together on trees lounge'. im not quite sure why they even bother to pay an actor or producer or director to come in and do these things because they could just as well ask the person who made the coleslaw on the catering van and their experience and insight would usually be pretty much the same. i think the only really interesting thing ive ever heard anyone say on a dvd commentary was when drew barrymore said about the marl hoodies everyone wears to the party scene in donnie darko and i was like, i was right! it was an ET reference! but that leads me to believe that the observation in question must have been hugely banal and unoriginal on my part, because basically noone ever says anything on a dvd commentary that isnt banal or unoriginal. paddy considine gets one point for singing 5, 6, 7, 8 by steps at the end of either a room for romeo brass or dead mans shoes, but if thats the most interesting thing anyones ever done on a dvd commentary ive ever heard you can see just how low the bar has been set.
how about you? do you have any experiences of the dvd commentary that would directly contradict my thesis here? my suspicion: you dont. its totally redundant as a form.
note to self: you have done very well not to mention the fabulous awfulness of joel schumacher's director's commentary on st elmos fire, which is similtaneously the absolute distillation of the problems you outline above and somehow manages to spectacularly transcend the limitations thereof; mainly because joel schumacher is transparently (and very entertainingly) convinced that st elmos fire is A Work Of Art, and not A Really Terrible Film Of Which Many People Are Nonetheless Unaccountably Fond Despite Themselves And Their Better Instincts.