This week we cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war with a battle of the box sets, Oliver Stone vs. The Coen Brothers vs. Terry Gilliam vs. er… Buddy the Elf. Christmas season brings all kinds of treats to entice the compulsive collector – and we’ve got 2 more of our cents to offer about four of them. All this, plus The Fisher King and The Devil & Daniel Johnston from the Vault, and the trailers for Hall Pass and Sucker Punch too. Dig in!
- First up is the Oliver Stone collection on Blu-ray. There’s only 3 flicks in this set, but they’re all director’s cuts. Does it have the chops to take on the competition?
- The Coen Brothers collection’s got 6 editions from their repertoire, but they’re not all exactly what we would deem classics. Can the one-two punch of Joel and Ethan win the top spot?
- 6 of Terry Gilliam’s films have been collected to form his set, but there are a couple glaring omissions as far as Steve’s concerned. Is this fractured set still worthy of winning this battle?
- For a special Christmas treat Jon Favreau’s Elf has been released in a special tin case with all kinds of festive accouterments. Can a solo film rise above the other sets?
- Finally Brian offers up The Devil & Daniel Johnston and Steve moons over The Fisher King for their Vault picks, and we discuss the trailers for Hall Pass & Sucker Punch.
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Can’t wait to listen gents – a week without The Cynics was like a week without sunshine. Oh, and as a follow-up to my recommending APOCALYPSE NOW as my vault pick during the last episode, you might wanna check out the latest Matineecast.
PS – How’s Mad Men via Netflix treating you/Brian?
Never you mind how our Netflix experience is going! We’ll get to Mad Men when we’re good and ready… likely after I’ve made my way through the entire series of “classic” Battlestar Galactica. Ugh!
It’s awesome to be back! Although we just got slammed with the news that we’re likely being pre-empted again next weekendby the freakin’ Lions. How dare they make the playoffs?! Consider the Mateineecast listened to, Hatter! Thanks for stopping by!
(So now that I’ve finished listening…)
Y’know, I think the problem with some of these box sets comes down to getting the rights to films that come from different studios. Since so few directors are in bed with one exclusive studio, compiling these sets has to be a headache. How else can you explain the way that Coens set excludes O BROTHER and FARGO.
For what it’s worth though, that Gilliam set sounds money. Good on Brian for getting his mitts on it.
Great show gents, lookin’ forward to hearing from ya when The Lions allow it!
Alas, while we are a vital part of the Sunday afternoon shut-in demographic, we are no match for the crowd gathering power of the BC Lions. How I hate them!
Yeah, I think there was far more studio loyalty back in the day… or maybe it just seems that way with certain box sets. Stanley Kubrick’s is to die for… worth looking into seeing whether they really were all made with the same studio – Warner Bros., I believe. What would be a real shame is a box set that would seem to represent a director’s mediocre, forgettable work would be the films he did with one particular studio. Would tell me that studio could use some new management.