Advertising

The Seattle Times Company

NWjobs | NWautos | NWhomes | NWsource | Free Classifieds | seattletimes.com

The Seattle Times

Entertainment


Our network sites seattletimes.com | Advanced

Originally published June 3, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified June 3, 2007 at 2:01 AM

E-mail article     Print view

Mark Rahner's DVD Picks

Nothin' says lovin' like a box of spaghetti

In the weeks before Father's Day, I start issuing denials and movie studios start issuing anything they think appeals to Dudes. Action, war, Westerns, pretty...

Seattle Times staff reporter

In the weeks before Father's Day, I start issuing denials and movie studios start issuing anything they think appeals to Dudes. Action, war, Westerns, pretty much anything with explosions. Here's the one that'll get you out of the doghouse for transgressions ranging from a ding on his car door to pregnancy: "The Sergio Leone Anthology" (Warner, $89.98, or $26.98 individually).

Two-disc, restored, loaded special editions of "A Fistful of Dollars" (1964), "For a Few Dollars More" (1965) and "Duck You Sucker" (1971), along with the double-disc extended edition of the epic "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" (1967). That's a lot of nice Father's Day killin'. I mean love.

Notable on "Fistful" is the lost prologue that director Monte Hellman shot for the 1977 TV showing (including an interview with the guy who had it on an old Betamax tape). Network ninnies wanted to morally justify anti-hero Clint Eastwood's violence, so they tacked on a scene with Harry Dean Stanton offering a faceless Eastwood double a prison pardon if he'd clean out a nasty little town for the government.

No need to spill more ink on such well-known spaghetti. Brand new to DVD, it's the first time "Duck You Sucker's" whopping 157-minute Italian cut has been released in English. Set amid the Mexican revolution, it stars James Coburn (who would emanate cool reading a "Cathy" comic strip) as a former Irish revolutionary with a thing for dynamite, and Rod Steiger as a Mexican bandit (earning a Pacino "Scarface" overacting award) who inadvertently becomes a hero.

The movie's slow, melancholy and not in the same class as Leone's others. But it's still got plenty for fans of Leone, says Seattle's Robert Cumbow, whose "Once Upon a Time: The Films of Sergio Leone" (Scarecrow Press) is due in a new paperback edition next year. "It's got beautiful compositions and some of his best and funniest and darkest cinematic jokes. But in general it doesn't have the wit and style and panache of the 'Dollars' films and 'Once Upon a Time in the West.' Also, it's got a couple of the most beautiful themes Ennio Morricone ever wrote."

It's also got a bad guy who literally sucks eggs, and some explosions that would make Jerry Bruckheimer feel impotent.

Also Tuesday: "CHiPS — The Complete First Season" (Turner, 1977, $39.98), "Ghosts of Abu Ghraib" (HBO, unrated, $24.98), "Norbit" (Paramount, PG-13, $29.99).

Copyright © 2007 The Seattle Times Company

More Entertainment headlines...

E-mail article Print view      Share:    Digg     Newsvine

advertising

Review: 'Modern Warfare 2' has combat, weak story

Local books: Illustrated Goethe, the Battle of Seattle and Wheedle on the Needle

New DVDs | 'Up,' 'The Ugly Truth,' 'Enlighten Up!'

UPDATE - 03:38 PM
'Twilight' among People's Choice Awards nominees

Arrest warrant dropped for Quaids in hotel case

Advertising

Video

Ken Auletta talks about "Googled"
Ken Auletta talks about Google with Brier Dudley at the Seattle Central Library.

Medal of Honor
Pelosi answers questions at Swedish Medical Center
Pelosi speaks at Swedish Medical Center
"Pistol" Pete Ryan
Mourners gather at KeyArena for slain officer's memorial
Procession for slain SPD officer
Election Night: Approve R-71
Election Night: Reject R-71
Election Night: Joe Mallahan

Marketplace

nwautos

2009's most fuel-efficient sedansnew
Choosing a new sedan? Weigh the impact of your choice on your wallet and on the planet.
Post a comment

Open Houses

Find this weekend's open house listings.
Or search by location:

 
Most read
Most commented
Most e-mailed
 
 
Advertising