DVD Savant's "Best DVD's of 2008" list

DVD Savant is probably the most interesting reviewer of DVD's in the US. Here's his list of the best DVD's of 2008. Lots of westerns, and Criterion Collection's DVD of Dreyer's "Vampyr" at the top.

Carl Th. Dreyer is a favourite of mine - certainly the best Danish movie director of all time, and I should get round to buying that disc. His movies have never been properly released on DVD here in Denmark, and I'm greateful for the Criterion box-set I own that contains "Ordet", "Gertrud" and "Day of Wrath".

Edit: no wait, I did a little research - I'll buy the UK release of "Vampyr" instead, it's fairly similar to the US Criterion edition, but it also has a commentary track from Guillermo Del Toro.

DVD Savant, best DVD's of the year

picks The Most Impressive DVDs of 2007 As usual, an interesting end of the year list from DVD Savant. Guess I'll have to pick up that old movie version of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera at some not too distant point in the future. His review of the disc can be found here - based on the clips on youtube the staging of the songs DOES seem somewhat static and not particularly cinematic, but the songs are some of the best ever written, and these 1931 versions are most likely very, very close to the original 1928 stage production. And they DO sound great. The immortal Lotte Lenya singing the immortal Seeraüber Jenny/Pirate Jenny - this harrowing song inspired the plot for a recent movie set in the 1930s, Lars Von Trier's "Dogville", including the... ahem.. 'killer' ending. Too bad the youtube clips ends a bit early. that look in her eyes towards the end of the scene. Holy fuck! : Also, another Threepenny Opera classic : Mackie Messer, Mack the Knife: (well, thse clips dont look like they're from the restored Criterion disk, lots of scratches and stuff, but they're still some of the best songs of the 20th century no matter what. And a later absolutely sensational recording of Pirate Jenny... sung by Anne Kerry Ford: And the famous later version of Mack the Knife by Bobby Darin. It rocks!.. or swings!... or whatever: And a flawed and not particularly subtle version from Nick Cave: