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Crazy In Alabama - Special Edition
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Film:
"Crazy In Alabama" is the directorial debut of Antonio Banderas, starring his wife, Melanie Griffith. It failed in theaters, due to a quick and quiet release without much in the way of marketing. It's an interesting film, although the majority of it seems like it's trying to run two different stories at once, in slow motion.
The film, which takes place in 1965, stars Melanie Griffth as Lucille, the aunt of Peejoe(Lucas Black), who plays a large role in his own section of the movie. The film starts with Lucille practically announcing that she's killed her cruel husband, and that she's going out to Hollywood to seek fame and fortune, in one of those roles where the character keeps saying, "You've only got one chance...and this is my chance". Still, she does bring a nice snap of energy to the role and it makes for an entertaining character.
The other half revolves around Peejoe, who fights against racism when he sees a local African American boy killed. This second half does provide some successful moments of drama, and the actors do a fine job with some awkward dialogue. The problem is that it skips back and forth between the other half, which is essentially dark comedy and this second story. It's a little too all-over-the-place.
Aside from the complaint of the stories not working quite right together, there is plenty to like about "Crazy In Alabama". It boasts beautiful cinematography, a great score and fine performances from the entire cast, especially Lucas Black as Peejoe. It's a film that, while it has some small flaws, it certainly didn't deserve to be overlooked the way it was during its theatrical release.
The DVD
VIDEO: I could almost skip this section for Tristar DVDs by now. "Crazy In Alabama" is just another in a long line of films that have been given exceptional quality from the studio on DVD. Aside from a few little bits of shimmering, the 2.35:1 image is marvelously sharp, with remarkable detail. It's also pleasingly consistent, either in day or night scenes. Speaking of scenery, there's some beautiful scenery throughout the movie that looks great on DVD, with natural colors that don't bleed.
Aside from a few tiny marks on the print used here and there and the previously mentioned shimmering, there's nothing to complain about with this effort from Columbia. The scenery looks gorgeous at many points, and it translates well to the DVD. A very nice job by Tristar.
SOUND: I was pleased with how enjoyable the audio quality was for "Crazy In Alabama". It's not an agressive film in terms of audio by any means, but it provides a lot of positives that come together to add to the experience. There are some effective, but not intense uses of the surrounds throughout, and a score that sounds rich and natural. There's even some interesting touches, such as the voice of Lucille's husband coming from all around the viewer as it haunts her early in the movie. Dialogue is clear and natural, with no problems
MENUS:: As with the rest of the Disney animated titles, there's little to the menus beyond basic shots from the cover art or the film.
EXTRAS: From any other studio, "Crazy In Alabama" would have simply recieved just a "movie-only" release. Tristar though, has packed this disc with a number of interesting special features.
Commentary One: This is a commentary from director Antonio Banderas along with the producer that is more of a "question and answer" session between the two than a specific commentary. The producer offers the questions, and Banderas offers remarks quite well, giving a detailed viewpoint for many areas of the production, including the problems and positives of the story structure.
Banderas is impressively strong at analyzing the layers that make up the movie, including the characters, story, the work of the various actors and the dialogue. The producer simply starts him off with a question, and he carries it, offering many interesting details about the characters and the production.
I actually really liked this format for a commentary - the question and answer format gives the discussion a fantastic structure. Rather than a rambling discussion, all of the sections are covered - from the technical details to the story and actor information. There are some small pauses here and there, but overall, I really liked this commentary a lot. Banderas is both funny and informative, and I think he gives an excellent talk for the movie.
Commentary Two: This is a commentary from actress Melanie Griffith, and although it's not a bad commentary, it doesn't succeed in giving as much information as the first discussion track did. Griffith spends much of her time talking about the work that Banderas has done "behind-the-scenes" with the movie, and how the role of director finally came into his hands.
She gives a relaxed discussion of the production details that I found enjoyable, talking about the short shooting schedule and the problems that went along with that. Like a lot of commentaries, everyone involved is "wonderful" - she praises just about everyone involved at some point in the picture, some twice. When she does get more specific about the locations and working with the actors, I found her discussion very informative.
There are times though when I wished that Griffith has been a part of the first commentary - there are some occasional pauses during this discussion when there isn't anything going on. Had the two had been paired together with the producer who joined Banderas on the first track, I think there could have been one great commentary instead of one strong one and one occasionally entertaining one.
Outtakes: A minute or two of some moderately funny outtakes.
Photo Montage: This is a montage of photos and clips a few minutes in length that's narrated by Banderas, who talks about telling a story from his own point of view as a first-time director, as well as the history of the story itself.
Also: Trailers for "Crazy In Alabama" and "Body Double"; 2 Deleted scenes with or without commentary, talent files,a short "making-of" featurette.
Final Thoughts: I'm going to give a moderate recommendation to "Crazy In Alabama" on DVD. The movie is fair, but does have some highlights and good performances. Tristar has packed the DVD edition though, and the commentaries are the highlight of some good extras.
"Crazy In Alabama" is the directorial debut of Antonio Banderas, starring his wife, Melanie Griffith. It failed in theaters, due to a quick and quiet release without much in the way of marketing. It's an interesting film, although the majority of it seems like it's trying to run two different stories at once, in slow motion.
The film, which takes place in 1965, stars Melanie Griffth as Lucille, the aunt of Peejoe(Lucas Black), who plays a large role in his own section of the movie. The film starts with Lucille practically announcing that she's killed her cruel husband, and that she's going out to Hollywood to seek fame and fortune, in one of those roles where the character keeps saying, "You've only got one chance...and this is my chance". Still, she does bring a nice snap of energy to the role and it makes for an entertaining character.
The other half revolves around Peejoe, who fights against racism when he sees a local African American boy killed. This second half does provide some successful moments of drama, and the actors do a fine job with some awkward dialogue. The problem is that it skips back and forth between the other half, which is essentially dark comedy and this second story. It's a little too all-over-the-place.
Aside from the complaint of the stories not working quite right together, there is plenty to like about "Crazy In Alabama". It boasts beautiful cinematography, a great score and fine performances from the entire cast, especially Lucas Black as Peejoe. It's a film that, while it has some small flaws, it certainly didn't deserve to be overlooked the way it was during its theatrical release.
The DVD
VIDEO: I could almost skip this section for Tristar DVDs by now. "Crazy In Alabama" is just another in a long line of films that have been given exceptional quality from the studio on DVD. Aside from a few little bits of shimmering, the 2.35:1 image is marvelously sharp, with remarkable detail. It's also pleasingly consistent, either in day or night scenes. Speaking of scenery, there's some beautiful scenery throughout the movie that looks great on DVD, with natural colors that don't bleed.
Aside from a few tiny marks on the print used here and there and the previously mentioned shimmering, there's nothing to complain about with this effort from Columbia. The scenery looks gorgeous at many points, and it translates well to the DVD. A very nice job by Tristar.
SOUND: I was pleased with how enjoyable the audio quality was for "Crazy In Alabama". It's not an agressive film in terms of audio by any means, but it provides a lot of positives that come together to add to the experience. There are some effective, but not intense uses of the surrounds throughout, and a score that sounds rich and natural. There's even some interesting touches, such as the voice of Lucille's husband coming from all around the viewer as it haunts her early in the movie. Dialogue is clear and natural, with no problems
MENUS:: As with the rest of the Disney animated titles, there's little to the menus beyond basic shots from the cover art or the film.
EXTRAS: From any other studio, "Crazy In Alabama" would have simply recieved just a "movie-only" release. Tristar though, has packed this disc with a number of interesting special features.
Commentary One: This is a commentary from director Antonio Banderas along with the producer that is more of a "question and answer" session between the two than a specific commentary. The producer offers the questions, and Banderas offers remarks quite well, giving a detailed viewpoint for many areas of the production, including the problems and positives of the story structure.
Banderas is impressively strong at analyzing the layers that make up the movie, including the characters, story, the work of the various actors and the dialogue. The producer simply starts him off with a question, and he carries it, offering many interesting details about the characters and the production.
I actually really liked this format for a commentary - the question and answer format gives the discussion a fantastic structure. Rather than a rambling discussion, all of the sections are covered - from the technical details to the story and actor information. There are some small pauses here and there, but overall, I really liked this commentary a lot. Banderas is both funny and informative, and I think he gives an excellent talk for the movie.
Commentary Two: This is a commentary from actress Melanie Griffith, and although it's not a bad commentary, it doesn't succeed in giving as much information as the first discussion track did. Griffith spends much of her time talking about the work that Banderas has done "behind-the-scenes" with the movie, and how the role of director finally came into his hands.
She gives a relaxed discussion of the production details that I found enjoyable, talking about the short shooting schedule and the problems that went along with that. Like a lot of commentaries, everyone involved is "wonderful" - she praises just about everyone involved at some point in the picture, some twice. When she does get more specific about the locations and working with the actors, I found her discussion very informative.
There are times though when I wished that Griffith has been a part of the first commentary - there are some occasional pauses during this discussion when there isn't anything going on. Had the two had been paired together with the producer who joined Banderas on the first track, I think there could have been one great commentary instead of one strong one and one occasionally entertaining one.
Outtakes: A minute or two of some moderately funny outtakes.
Photo Montage: This is a montage of photos and clips a few minutes in length that's narrated by Banderas, who talks about telling a story from his own point of view as a first-time director, as well as the history of the story itself.
Also: Trailers for "Crazy In Alabama" and "Body Double"; 2 Deleted scenes with or without commentary, talent files,a short "making-of" featurette.
Final Thoughts: I'm going to give a moderate recommendation to "Crazy In Alabama" on DVD. The movie is fair, but does have some highlights and good performances. Tristar has packed the DVD edition though, and the commentaries are the highlight of some good extras.
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