2002 DVDs of the Year
It's astonishing how deep the DVD catalog is
these days -- it seems as though there are more titles available five years into the DVD
era than there were a decade and a half into the VHS boom. I haven't actually Googled for
the answer to that one, but whether or not it's accurate, it feels correct. No
matter how specific or out-of-the-mainstream your interest, you can probably find
something about it on DVD.
And that's what I like best about the format: It celebrates
the individual, while VHS seemed captive to the tyranny of the majority. So it should come
as no surprise that my contenders for 2002 DVDs of the Year are both films that had
limited popularity during their theatrical release, but stood far out from the pack in
their DVD release.
Songcatcher
In this lively historical tale, musicologist Dr. Lily
Penleric (Janet McTeer) undertakes a trip into deepest Appalachia when she is denied
tenure at her stuffy university sometime in the early 1900s. There, she discovers music
she recognizes from her studies of Renaissance English ballads and learns that it's part
of a living culture set in a world that initially appears raw and primitive, but which, by
tiny steps, she begins to perceive as complex, rewarding, and beautiful. As Penleric
begins to feel rather than analyze, McTeer seems to open up to the camera --
simultaneously growing in stature and beauty. It's a corking performance; one matched by
her gifted co-stars Pat Carroll and Aidan Quinn.
The Cat's Meow
This brisk, intelligent film disappeared from theaters so
quickly last summer, you may not have even heard of it -- but you'd be missing an
extremely witty story filled with first-rate performances if you let it slip by.
It’s not perfect, but mostly because it attempted such
an ambitious undertaking that no one could have pulled it off. But Peter
Bogdanovich came awfully darn close. Kirsten Dunst and Eddie Izzard turn in the best pair
of performances moviegoers were treated to in 2002, while Edward Herrmann and Joanna
Lumley aren't far off that mark, either.
Start 2003 out right by seeing two of 2002's best --
offering films like this is what DVD is best at, after all.
...Wes Phillips
wes@onhometheater.com
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