"The September Issue"

I first saw "The September Issue" when it was released in theatres last year. It's a documentary about Anna Wintour and the making of the September issue of Vogue, which is the kick-off to the fashion year. Nearly everybody has an opinion about Anna. She's been called a "Snow Queen", "Dragon lady", "Sadist"... the list goes on. She was also the basis for the character of Miranda Priestly in "The Devil Wears Prada" which was written by one of Anna's former assistants. I found none of the stigmas attached to her to be true. Is she warm and friendly? No. However, she does her job, she does it better than anyone before or since and she does it while under constant scrutiny and ridicule from jealous people who have no idea what they're talking about. I have a tremendous amount of respect for this woman. She has what I consider to be probably the most difficult job in the world and she's arguably the most powerful woman in the world. To be a woman in that position opens you up to a lifetime of problems. The way she keeps going on and looking ahead is very inspirational and incredibly brave. You get a real sense of the hard work that goes into turning out a single issue and how many jobs and people are at steak during the process. It is a business not just a silly hobby to pass time. Fashion effects all of our lives weather we admit it or not and Anna calls all the shots.

While the documentary is supposed to focus more on Anna, it actually focuses just as much on Grace Coddington who's been there exactly as long as Anna has. Grace has a fascinating story to tell and she's also very strong and extremely creative. If you liked "The Devil Wears Prada", if you're interested in fashion, business, or honestly if you want to be entertained, you should check this out. I can't imagine anyone seeing this movie and not having a much deeper appreciation for the fashion industry and all the hard work that goes into it.

"The Wizard Of Oz" 70th Anniversary Hi-Def Edition

Every few years (and most certainly for every anniversary) there seems to be a new improved version of "The Wizard Of Oz" available. I, personally, own every release since the late 70's. However, I must say that this latest Blu-Ray/DVD release puts everything we've seen before it to shame. The detail you see in this version is incredible! They've scanned it in 8K resolution and I'm sure it looks even better than it did in 1939. The sound is superb and it really is like watching it for the first time.

The real treasure of this latest box set, of course are the extras (all of which I have listed below). It has all the extras on the previous 2005 release plus a lot more. The crown jewel for me, though in this whole thing, is the inclusion of the 1992 Television movie, "The Dreamer Of Oz" starring John Ritter as L. Frank Baum. When i was a kid, I used to watch it literally every day. I never found out what happened to my video tape of it and searched for it for years. It's a wonderful movie and a great look at the man who I consider to be the most important author of the 20th century. He single-handedly defined it. "The Wizard of Oz" is actually a part of our language. There's no minimizing it's impact on American culture. Even if you own an old copy, pick this one up on blu-ray or dvd. You won't be disappointed! It's available in several single and double disc packages, but for the die-hard Oz fan, this is the one you should take home!

Special Features:

Disc 1 includes:

• BD-Live is included on this release which requires the user to be on a “Profile 2.0” internet capable Blu-ray Disc Player. This allows you to access Warner‘s BD-Live portal where you can have community screenings with friends, create your own “My WB Commentary” track and even download content such as trailers for upcoming Warner films. Sadly at time of writing this, no title (movie) specific content was available.
• Audio Commentary by Historian John Fricke with Barbara Freed-Saltzman, Margaret Hamilton, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, John Lahr, Jane Lahr, Hamilton Meserve, Dona Massin, William Tuttle, Buddy Ebsen, Mervyn LeRoy and Jerry Maren
• Options Music and Effects Only Audio allows you to listen to just the music and sound effects section of the mix This just like the Mono mix is presented in Dolby Digital 1.0 @192kbps sound quality.
• “Jukebox” (70:04) features the audio to all of the songs from the film selectable from a menu with their titles and even some stuff is unreleased like voice tests, rehearsals and such. This is a very nice feature, especially for those who love the musical aspect of the film. These are presented in Dolby Digital 1.0 @96kbps audio quality.
• “Leo Is on the Air Radio Promo” (12:26) is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo @192kbps sound quality.
• “Good News of 1939 Radio Show” (71:02) is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo @192kbps sound quality.
• “12/25/1950 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast” (60:49) is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo @192kbps sound quality.
• “Dolby 5.1 Sing-Along Feature” allows you to sing along with all the songs from the film such as “Somewhere Over the Rainbow“.
• “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic” (50:49)
• “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Storybook: Read by Angela Lansbury” (10:27) This has Lansbury from “Murder She Wrote” fame reading which is definitely a cool feature to see included and that homage is paid to the original book itself which varies slightly from the motion picture.
• “Prettier Than Ever: The Restoration of Oz” (11:27) takes a look at mainly the video restoration done in 4K but it also takes a look at the new 5.1 Dolby TrueHD and Digital mixes made from the original mono source material, plus the original musical and sound effects tracks. This proves to be very informative and I’m glad to see this was included.
• “We Haven’t Really Met Properly… Supporting Cast Profile Gallery” (21:23) takes a look at the other folks in the film aside from the star Judy Garland.
• “Memories of Oz” (27:39) originally aired on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) channel.
• “The Art of Imagination: A Tribute to Oz” (29:45)
• “Because of the Wonder Thing It Does: The Legacy of Oz” (25:05)
• “Harold Arlen’s Home Movies” (4:40) come from the composer of the film’s music.
• “Outtakes and Deleted Scenes” include:
“If I Only Had a Brain” (4:37)
“If I Only Had a Heart” (1:36)
“Triumphal Return to Emerald City” (1:54)
“Over the Rainbow” (2:08)
“The Jitterbug” (4:05)
• “It’s a Twister! It’s a Twister! The Tornado Tests” (8:17)
• “Cavalcade of the Academy Awards Excerpt” (2:14)
• “Another Romance of Celluloid: Electrical Power” (10:31)
• “Stills Gallery” is very, very thorough and sure to leave fans pleased.
• “Theatrical Trailer Gallery” includes the following:
“1939 What Is Oz? Teaser” (0:32)
“1940 Loews Cairo Theater Trailer” (1:59)
“1949 Reissue Trailer” (2:50)
“1949 Grownup Reissue Trailer” (2:22)
“1970 Children’s Matinee Reissue Trailer” (1:35)
“1998 Warner Bros. Reissue Trailer” (2:05)
• “Off to See The Wizard Excerpts” (3:57)
• “Texas Contest Winners” (1:26) in autumn of 1938 they made this little short film about lucky contest winners.

Disc 2 (a BD-25) features:

• “Victor Fleming: Master Craftsman” (34:08) is very informative and definitely worth the watch if you enjoyedFleming‘s other 1939 classic “Gone With the Wind” and/or didn’t know much about his other works and career.
• “L. Frank Baum: The Man Behind the Curtain” (27:45) takes a look at the author of the original book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” from which the film is based on.
• “Hollywood Celebrates It’s Biggest Little Stars!” (10:23)
• “1990 The Dreamer of Oz” (92:48) is a documentary about L. Frank Baum. It’s not in very good video quality but if you’re interested in the man behind the story — it’s worth a watch. In fact, the late, great John Ritter plays him in the documentary.
• “1910 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” (13:18) is a silent film.
• “1933 The Wizard of Oz” (8:13) is a cartoon short in Technicolor done by animator Ted Eshbaugh based on the first ‘Oz‘ book.
• “1914 His Majesty, The Scarecrow of Oz” (59:07) is a silent film written and directed by the author L. Frank Baumhimself.
• “1914 The Magic Cloak of Oz” (43:15) is yet another silent film.
• “1914 The Patchwork Girl of Oz” (50:43) yet again, another silent film.
• “1925 The Wizard of Oz” (71:53) is yet another silent film.

Disc 3 (a DVD) contains:

• “MGM: When the Lion Roars” 6-hour documentary on a double-sided DVD in Standard Definition video.

Disc 4 (a DVD-ROM) contains:

• Digital Copy of the film is included which is compatible with both iTunes and Windows Media — Mac & PC as well as portable devices. As with all digital copies, this will only last 1 year after release date, meaning it will expire on September 29th, 2010.

"The Making Of The Wizard Of Oz" By: Aljean Harmetz

As most of you know, I'm a "Wizard Of Oz" fanatic! There's very little I don't know and I've been studying and collecting my entire life. I read this when I was about ten and recently re-read it around the time of the movie's 70th Anniversary. It's a really marvelous look not only at the movie itself and what went into making it, but the time period and the way the studio system worked in the late 30's. It's a great Hollywood history lesson!

The author covers every single aspect of film making. The initial script ideas are particularly interesting, for instance, early on in production, The Wicked Witch Of The West had a son who she wanted to place on the throne of Oz. The chapter on special effects is a great learning experience as well. It's amazing how much imagination it took to accomplish those things back when they didn't know they couldn't do it, so they did! Everything was manual. No computer generated special effects.

There are some priceless interviews with the cast members and crew who worked on the film and a Preface about the auctioning of the Ruby Slippers and other MGM artifacts as well as a brief biography of L. Frank Baum.

All in all, this is one of the most well-researched accounts of the making of a movie I've ever read and I'd strongly recommend giving it a gander!

Judy & Liza Live At The London Palladium

This concert as well as the recording has quite a history. It all started in 1964 when Judy finished a tour of Australia and nearly died in Hong Kong. She made her way to London with then husband, Mark Harron and planned a return engagement at the London Palladium. Judy loved London and the Palladium was a very special theatre. It was where, in 1951, after being fired from MGM, she made her comeback on the concert stage for the first time. This kick-started a whole new career and led her to the Palace Theatre in New York, where she made history.

Anyway, when she planned this particular concert, she asked Liza if she would share the bill with her. Liza (perhaps wisely) said no. But Judy was not one to take no for an answer, so she called the press and announced that Liza would be appearing with her. The concert was sold out within hours and another show was added. Liza was trapped. Capitol Records recorded the concert and released it on a VERY abridged 2 record set in 1964. It would be Judy's last professional live recording.

There are many opinions out there about this concert and many excuses as to why it's been cut down so many times. Some claim that Judy was not in her best form. This may be true to some extent, but she's far from her worst. She sings her heart out in every single number and being the terrific showman she was, never ceased to entertain and receive a roaring ovation from her devoted English fans. The most recent release was about two years in the making. A few years ago D&G records announced that they were releasing the entire concert uncut with some bonus rehearsal tracks! Naturally, all us fans were overjoyed. Unfortunately though, the release was cancelled. Luckily, D&G sent out some promotional copies of the album, so it can be heard if you can track down a copy. It was then picked up by another label and once again edited down to show Judy in the "best possible light". I, personally, think this entire concept is absolutely ridiculous. Judy was great that night for one thing, and for another, you need to take into consideration what she'd been through prior to this. She endured severe damage to her vocal cords while doctors in Hong Kong were doing everything they could to save her life and also, any Judy fan would want to hear the entire thing no matter what shape she was in. Judy could read the telephone book and have most of us in tears.

However, the quality of the latest release is unmatched by anything previously released. It's crystal clear and a joy to listen to! It's a real treat to hear Judy and Liza together before Liza was "Liza". You can see the beginnings of the legend that was to come and hear her voice starting to mature and develop. People today (and sadly the powers that be) seem to forget what a triumph this concert was! The audience loved it, it broke records, the record was a best seller, and over the years, it has endured. Luckily, we also have some video footage of the concert available on VHS & DVD that originally aired on British television back in '64. Hopefully one day, we'll have the complete concert publicly released, but in the meantime, this is absolutely worth getting! There's more material here than we've ever heard before and as I said, the quality is superb! I'm very glad to have this record of that wonderful night in such great shape.

"Tip It!" By Maggie Griffin

Who doesn't love Kathy Griffin's mother, Maggie Griffin? She's 90 years old and quite the pistol! Her new book, "Tip It" is an absolute joy to read! In it, she discusses all kinds of topics and shares her opinions on things like cursing, television, movies, technology, politics, and of course, how much she hates her daughter, Kathy's potty mouth. The book is filled with lots of fun family stories and the chapter about her late husband, Johnny is the sweetest thing I've ever read. Maggie grew up in the big band era and she talks about how music has changed (mostly for the worst) and she also tells a lot of interesting WWII stories and gives you a very clear picture of what life was like back then. She's had a pretty fascinating life. Being a huge movie fan, she often "stalked" celebrities and she writes about many of her adventures. My favorite moment was when in 1937 she managed to get on the MGM lot and saw Judy on her way to a set! What I would give to have been there! Throughout the book, Kathy gives a running commentary of wise cracks that are, as one would expect, hilarious! Especially when she gets on her mother for her love of Bill O'Reilly and the Kardashians! Another highlight of the book are her little How to guides. The one I identify the most with is of course, "I Can Live Out Of My Purse". I'm with you, Mag! She also has a chapter entitled "My Gays". Her views on homosexuality are both eye opening and hilarious!

It's a very quick read (I read it in two days) because you can't put it down! You get a real sense that Maggie is sitting in the room with you, Tippin' it and telling you a story. I especially enjoyed the final chapter "Life is a Box of Wine". Of course, Maggie is famous for her love of boxed wine (much like my best friend, Andrew, who, I regret to say, is not a 90 year old woman so he has no excuse). She explains why boxed wine is so practical and wonderful. "It has a spigot and won't spill!". So all in all, an absolutely fabulous, well-written, funny, heartfelt book that will have you double over with laughter and even thinking a little. So, curl up in your Maglet with a glass of Frenzia and Tip it with Maggie! :)

"Missing"

I’ve lost my sense of humor.
It fell into a well
That’s full of dark self-pity
as far as I can tell.

I’m glared at by the children,
I’m yelled at by the boss.
And every little word I say,
Makes everybody cross.

I’d run away and not come back
If it would do some good.
But nobody would notice,
So I don’t think I should.

I miss my sense of humor,
And if by chance you see
It peeking ’round the corner,
Please send it back to me.

(Julie Andrews)

"A Star Is Born" Blu-Ray Book

"A Star Is Born" is perhaps Judy Garland's most well-known movie next to "The Wizard Of Oz". It was her comeback to motion pictures after a four year absence. In the meantime, she had been touring Europe and the U.S. doing one-woman vaudeville shows and concerts. "A Star Is Born" had all the makings of a smash hit. Judy Garland & James Mason in the leads, George Cuckor directing, Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin writing the score, and an A-List crew. The film was the most expensive film to that date (1954) and opened to rave reviews. It's original running time was just over 3 hours. Theatre owners complained about the length because they wanted more showings per day, so Jack Warner, the head of Warner Bros. ordered the movie drastically shortened. Approximately 37 minutes were cut from the movie without the supervision of anyone involved in it, including Cuckor. The film was ruthlessly hacked into and as a result, though it was still a success, fell far short of expectations due to the fact that the public was aware of the cuts made. This, most people believe is the reason Judy (who was a shoe-in) lost the oscar that year to Grace Kelly for "The Country Girl".

In 1983, a search began to find the missing footage from "A Star Is Born" in order to reconstruct it to it's original length. The man mostly responsible for this was the late film historian, Ronald Haver. The complete soundtrack still existed in the warner vaults, but unfortunately not all of the lost footage survived. However, the film was reconstructed using various elements found all over the world along with a few stills to accompany those scenes that are no longer known to exist.

Judy is in top form in this film. In it, she sings one of her most iconic numbers, acknowledged to be one of the greatest ever filmed, "The Man That Got Away". It's also (not the first time) but the legend-defining time when she sang "Swanee" during the famous "Born In A Trunk" medley. It's quite simply a perfect movie with a stellar cast, wonderful songs, amazing cinematography, and a testament to the talent of the people who worked so hard on it and to the Hollywood of that era during the end of the big one-man studios and the star system. It also remains the quintessential Hollywood backstory. It was filmed previously in 1937 and again in 1976 with Barbra Streisand. There's some buzz going on now that they're planning to film it yet again, which should be interesting because each version, while they have the same concept, manage to keep the story fresh and interesting.

Now, the Blu-Ray. What's so great about it? Well, for starters it comes with a wonderful book of behind the scenes information along with some gorgeous pictures of Judy and promotional material of the time which is a good start if you're at all interested in the making of this film or old Hollywood in general. "A Star Is Born" was the first one strip technicolor picture to be made. Previously, Technicolor was a three strip process involving three strips of solid color film that were then run simultaneously through a projector. This being a new process, they had their share of problems restoring it to what it looked like (and in some cases even better than it looked in 1954). I believe it took two years to complete the 8k resolution restoration, which is the highest available resolution we have today. The detail is amazing! Especially when you consider the shape some of the source material was in. People just didn't take any steps to preserve these films back then.

The Extra features on the second disc are also little treasures. Recording sessions, Rehearsals, Alternate Takes, Tv Spots and specials, Premiere footage... I'll list them the end this entry. But o wrap up, if you love good movies, old movies, musicals, Judy Garland, or if you're just interested in a fascination piece of American film history, I would strongly recommend purchasing this blu-ray. It's worth every penny and was well worth the year and a half I waited for it to be released!

A Star is Born (1954) 2-Disc Deluxe Special Edition Blu-ray Book Enhanced Content:
Introduction: Run time 3:01
The Man That Got Away - Pink Dress: Run time 5:11 - Additional Take
The Man that Got Away - Brown Dress #1: Run time 4:49 - Additional Take
The Man that Got Away - Brown Dress #2: Run time 4:24 - Additional Take
The Man that Got Away - Brown Dress #3: Run time 4:00 - Additional Take
The Man That Got Away - Brown Dress #4: Run time 4:00 - Additional Take
Here's What I'm here For - Alternate Take: Run time 2:36 - Additional Take
Lose That Long Face - Alternate Take: Run time 4:55 - Additional Take
Trinidad Coconut Oil Shampoo - Alternate Take: Run time 1:24 - Additional Take
When My Sugar Walks Down the Street - Outtake: Run time 0:58 - Additional Take
Suicide Scene - Alternate Take: Run time 2:15 - Additional Take
Film Effects Reel: Run time 0:54
A Report by Jack L. Warner: Run time 6:24 - Vintage Featurette
Huge Premiere Hails 'A Star is Born' Newsreel Montage: Run time 7:49 - Vintage Featurette
'A Star is Born' Premiere in Cinemascope: Run time 2:05
Pantages Premiere TV Special: Run time 29:30 - Vintage Featurette
A Star is Bored (1956 WB Cartoon): Run time 7:00 - New Featurette
A Star is Born (1937): Run time 2:46 - Trailer
A Star is Born (1954): Run time 3:52 - Trailer
A Star is Born (1976): Run time 3:46 - Trailer
Audio Vault - Oliver on the Phone with the Director Discussing Norman - Outtakes: Run time 2:00 - Audio Only
Audio Vault - Norman and Esther on the Roof of the Hotel Lancaster - Outtakes: Run time 2:00 - Audio Only
Audio Vault - 12/28/1942 Lux Radio Theater Broadcast with Judy Garland and Walter Pidgeon) Run time 60:00 - Audio Only
Audio Vault - Judy Garland Radio Interview: Run time 4:00 - Audio Only
Audio Vault - Born in a Trunk: Run time 9:05 - Audio Only
Audio Vault - Someone At Last - Rehearsal: Run time 10:34 - Audio Only
Audio Vault - Someone At Last: Run time 7:16 - Audio Only
Audio Vault - My Melancholy Baby: Run time 7:06 - Audio Only
Audio Vault - Black Bottom: Run time 1:48 - Audio Only
Audio Vault - Swanee: Run time 4:57 - Audio Only