Entertainment

10:40 AM CST on Friday, December 23, 2005

By CHRIS VOGNAR / The Dallas Morning News

New releases, TV series, catalog classics, straight-to-video, sports history, health and fitness, toddler distractions, music videos, concerts, fill in the blank: You got a niche, DVD is ready to fill it.

Ask 10 people to name their 10 best of 2005 and you're likely to get 100 different titles. So here's what you should know about this list.

It's slanted toward movies, particularly those that were previously unavailable. It places a higher premium on historical significance than on week-to-week sizzle. Depth and breadth of special features are crucial. So is technical quality.

But what we're really looking for here are DVDs produced with care, taste and personality. As the DVD market expands, many companies are content to recycle old product without adding any new wrinkles. (Two words to make you wary: "special edition.") But the leaders in the field, Warner and Criterion, have mastered the art of combining the right film with the right timing and the little packaging and curating details that show someone smart is in charge.

This is one critic's list. And it doesn't begin to scratch the surface of what's out there.

Collections of movie oldies make for golden viewing unless they're only old hat

Everything old is new again in the world of DVD.

That's good. And it's bad.

It's good because Warner Home Video and the Criterion Collection continued to make vital film history more accessible than ever.

Warner, with its vast library of classic Warner Bros., RKO and MGM titles, had a banner year of catalog releases, including such previously unavailable jewels as the original King Kong, Bringing Up Baby , The Bandwagon and East of Eden. Warner also released sterling box sets devoted to gangster movies, social issue movies, classic comedies, the Thin Man films, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, Val Lewton, Greta Garbo and others.

Meanwhile, Criterion applied its sky-high production and packaging standards to Jules and Jim, Ran, Hoop Dreams and plenty of more obscure but worthy endeavors. Criterion is still the only company whose name alone on a DVD means it's probably worth buying.

Then there's the bad.

The market is now glutted with unnecessary reissues of movies that have already been released umpteen times. For instance, in 2002, MGM released a "special edition" of the original The Producers. This month came the "deluxe edition," which has an extra disc and one new feature: a trailer for the new Producers musical remake. Yeah, those are hard to see. Then again, it beats the 15th anniversary edition of The Five Heartbeats.

"A lot of the home video companies are not familiar with the classics," says George Feltenstein, the senior vice president for catalog marketing and the resident classics expert at Warner Home Video. "They're not aggressive with marketing them, and trying to figure out which ones they should put out. They don't necessarily have the background. I don't want to see the fourth or fifth reissue of an '80s comedy in a new box."

In other words, not all oldies are golden. Sometimes, they're not even very old.

E-mail cvognar@dallasnews.com

King Kong
(Warner, $26.98)

AP

King Kong atop the Empire State Building in the 1933 film

The 800-pound gorilla of DVDs: A classic film of historical importance, previously unavailable. And it's loaded with extras, including a seven-part documentary of the 1933 film made with the cooperation of Peter Jackson. Get it in the collector's tin edition (even more bells and whistles), or the basic two-disc edition. Just get it.

Edison – The Invention of the Movies
(Kino, $99.95)

A four-disc journey to the dawn of American film. Lovingly assembled and curated by Kino, the Museum of Modern Art and the Library of Congress, this landmark set includes 140 Edison shorts made between 1891 and 1918. It's a vital slice of history, laced with elucidating interviews and comments from silent film experts.

Controversial Classics
(Warner, $79.98)

Ignore the sensationalist title and check out what's inside: Seven socially conscious Hollywood movies, some of them outstanding, all of them with big things on their minds. The biggest splash comes from the DVD debuts of The Americanization of Emily, I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang and the remarkable A Face in the Crowd, featuring Andy Griffith as a hayseed who rides the power of television into political demagoguery.

The Work of Director Jonathan Glazer
(Palm, $24.98)

Palm continues its revelatory Directors Label series with this eclectic collection of music videos, commercials and shorts from the Brit behind Sexy Beast. Videos from Radiohead, Massive Attack and Blur are included, but the fiendishly clever commercials for Guinness and Stella Artois are the real highlights. Unlike American beer ads, they aren't incredibly stupid. Other recent additions to the series include Mark Romanek, Anton Corbijn and Stéphane Sednaoui.

Rebel Samurai – Sixties Swordplay Classics
(Criterion, $99.95)

The Criterion Collection, which could justifiably claim every spot on this list, comes through with a quartet of samurai films that speak to the societal tensions of the '60s. The extras are minimal, especially by Criterion standards, but the movies – Samurai Rebellion, Sword of the Beast, Kill! and Samurai Spy – perfectly encapsulate the set's theme. And they're just obscure enough to spike your curiosity.

Classic Comedies Collection
(Warner, $68.98)

Another catalog bonanza from Warner, featuring the DVD debuts of five rapid-patter romantic comedies: the solid Dinner at Eight, Libeled Lady and Stage Door; and the sublime Bringing Up Baby and To Be or Not to Be. Throw in a two-disc edition of The Philadelphia Story and you've got a veritable laugh riot on your hands. Commentaries and extras abound.

Hoop Dreams
(Criterion, $29.95)

Criterion isn't just about subtitled art films. This edition of the epic 1994 doc features a frank commentary track with William Gates and Arthur Agee, the two Chicago high school hoops prodigies at the center of the film. It's still a one-of-a-kind look at the intersection of the inner city and the prep sports meat grinder.

The Harold Lloyd Comedy Collection, Vols. 1-3
(New Line, $89.98)

More silent magic, this time from the bookish daredevil who couldn't escape the shadows of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Start with Safety Last!, famous for its clock dangling sequence, and move on through the rest.

New York Knicks – The Complete History
(Warner, $49.98)

The NBA Dynasty Series is a time capsule slam dunk because it showcases entire games, including all the pre-game fanfare. Bernard King lives again. So when do the Mavs get their set?

Knowing Me, Knowing You With Alan Partridge: The Complete Series
(BBC Warner, $29.98)

The year 2005 saw much-higher-profile TV on DVD, but this wicked British sendup of fatuous talk shows flew under the radar and directly into the funny bone. Steve Coogan plays the host from hell, a self-absorbed cad who can barely contain his boredom. The Christmas special is a masterpiece of discomfort.

A year ago, 2005 looked like a slam-dunk for the video game industry.

Sony's hand-held PSP was on the way, and everyone expected Microsoft to launch its new console before the year was out.

But while both systems arrived as expected – and Nintendo's hand-held DS came into its own – no games were able to match the bumper crop of hits in 2004: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Halo 2, Half-Life 2, World of Warcraft and so forth.

And while the Xbox 360 did launch on time, many anticipated games for the system did not: Dead or Alive 4, the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and Gears of War, among others.

Now all eyes are turning to 2006, when Sony and Nintendo are expected to release new consoles of their own, and the Xbox 360 will shrug off its growing pains.

But before we finish throwing dirt on the grave of 2005, there were plenty of good games released this year:

Resident Evil 4
(GameCube and PlayStation 2)

The venerable zombie franchise wasn't afraid to shake things up, opting for a fully three-dimensional landscape, better story, and a perfect mix of creepy tension and chainsaw splatter.

Advance Wars: Dual Strike
(Nintendo DS)

A hand-held system seemed like an odd platform for a sprawling real-time strategy game, but this Risk-like title made brilliant use of the two screens.

Kirby: Canvas Curse
(Nintendo DS)

Fun, colorful and whimsical, Kirby rolled onto the DS with a superb look-Ma-no-buttons interface and proved that a great game can be controlled with just a stylus.

Mario Kart DS
(Nintendo DS)

Yes, Nintendo cleaned up this year. This portable racing game would have made a great title even if it had only included a single-player mode. But the free multiplayer mode via Wi-Fi was the cherry on top of the whipped cream on top of the sundae.

Call of Duty 2
(Xbox 360)

It's getting hard to differentiate between all the WWII games, but CoD2 improved on its already superb predecessor. No other single-player shooting game is able to re-create such massive battles while making you the center of the action.

Mercenaries
(Xbox and PlayStation 2)

Crime may not pay, but war does, as this game proved. Mercenaries lets you play as a hired gun in a chaotic war in North Korea. Call in air strikes, commandeer helicopters, blow up everything that gets in your way (and maybe stuff that wasn't in your way, but, hey, what's one more smoking crater?).

F.E.A.R.
(PC)

If you like scaring yourself silly (or just like shooting stuff and watching the pretty flames and explosions), then F.E.A.R. should be on your list for Santa.

Sony PSP

OK, it's not a game. And, to be honest, other than the shooting title SOCOM and the racing game Burnout Legends, there are few must-own games for the PSP. But the hardware is exquisite and has proved a versatile Web device and portable movie and music player.

Geometry Wars
(Xbox 360)

Xbox Live Arcade for the Xbox 360 has been heralded as the potential savior of the indie games industry, and it's easy to see why with games such as Geometry Wars. This hyperactive action title is available for a mere $5 when downloaded via Xbox Live. Hopefully this delivery method (and price) will catch on.

Xbox 360 console

This one's a tough call. This is by far the most powerful, well-designed console on the market, and the initial batch of games is excellent compared with the meager offerings at other hardware launches (here's looking at you, PS2). But the severe shortage of systems has turned eager anticipation into seething anger on the part of many frustrated gamers and – especially – desperate parents.

E-mail vgodinez@dallasnews.com

1. The Incredibles $280 mil
2. Shark Tale $152 mil
3. National Treasure $140 mil
4. Meet the Fockers $128 mil
5. Revenge of the Sith $121 mil
6. Ray $119 mil
7. Batman Begins $114 mil
8. The Notebook $105 mil
9. Troy $101 mil
10. Hitch $100 mil

SOURCE: DVD Exclusive; sales figures are through Nov. 5

1. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas 4.2 mil
2. Halo 2 3.8 mil
3. Madden NFL 2005 2.3 mil
4. Madden NFL 06 2.2 mil
5. Pokemon Emerald 1.6 mil
6. Gran Turismo 4 1.4 mil
7. ESPN NFL 2K5 1.4 mil
8. Pokemon Fire Red 1.3 mil
9. Halo 1.2 mil
10. Pokemon Leaf Green 1.1 mil

SOURCE: The NPD Group; figures through November