An older, wiser and even more diabolical Tom Ripley returns in director Liliana Cavani’s deft adaptation of crime novelist Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley’s Game, new from New Line Home Entertainment ($26.98). It’s our…
DVD pick of the week
John Malkovich ideally embodies the calmly manipulative master deceiver, who herein comes to the aid of frequent criminal crony Reeves (Ray Winstone, late of “Sexy Beast”), looking to eliminate a particularly nasty Russian mob rival in Berlin.
The rich, cultured Ripley suggests dispatching an untraceable “innocent” to do the job, and he has just the man in mind: low-key local frame-maker Jonathan (Dougray Scott), who happens to be dying of leukemia and in desperate need of dough. Events inexorably escalate once Jonathan reluctantly agrees to the assignment and he and Ripley form an unexpectedly complex bond.
While it enhances the viewing experience to have some familiarity with Miss Highsmith’s earlier novel, “The Talented Mr. Ripley,” or its film versions (lensed under its original title in 1999, with Matt Damon in the title role, and in 1960 as “Purple Noon,” with Alain Delon), “Ripley’s Game” stands as a complete, satisfying entity unto itself. Following nearly nonexistent stateside theatrical exposure, “Ripley’s Game” should be snapped up by fans of both Highsmith and quality thrillers.
Bergmania
Ingmar Bergman buffs have reason to rejoice (in their own solemn way) with MGM Home Entertainment’s new six-disc The Ingmar Bergman Collection ($24.98 each, $112.96 total).
The set assembles remastered editions of five Bergman classics, leading with our personal fave, the brilliantly horrific mental meltdown psychodrama Hour of the Wolf, with Max von Sydow as an artist suffering from severe schizophrenia.
The Passion of Anna, Persona, The Serpent’s Egg and the devastating Shame complete the roster. All five films come equipped with extras, ranging from audio commentaries to interviews to featurettes, while the sixth disc fairly bursts with Bergman bonuses, including a 2002 interview with the auteur himself.
Collectors’ corner
Warner Home Video debuts the 1973 Hollywood whodunit The Last of Sheila ($19.97), an ingenious murder mystery co-written by Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins, in a disc that includes an audio commentary by co-stars Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon and Raquel Welch.
Murder likewise ranks high on the menu in the same label’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street ($24.98), a 1982 televised performance of Mr. Sondheim’s cheerfully macabre Broadway musical featuring Angela Lansbury and George Hearn.
For even darker delights, check out Columbia/TriStar Home Entertainment’s Eating Raoul ($19.95). The 1982 cult cannibal comedy stars Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov and Robert Beltran as the eponymous entree.
Tele-video
In fresh TV-to-DVD developments, Paramount Home Entertainment presents CSI: Crime Scene Investigation: The Complete Third Season ($89.99), a five-DVD digital dossier containing all 23 season-three episodes, along with five hours of bonus material ranging from audio commentaries to featurettes.
Warner Home Video counter-programs with Friends: The Complete Seventh Season ($44.98), a four-disc affair packed with audio commentaries, featurettes, a gag reel, previously unseen scenes and more.
Two British series make their DVD debut in double-disc sets: the spy spoof The Piglet Files: Case File No. 2 (BFS Entertainment) and the more sober-minded police series A Touch of Frost: Season 1 (MPI Home Video, $39.98 each).
The ’A’ list
Recent theatrical releases include the Eddie Murphy showcase The Haunted Mansion (Walt Disney Home Entertainment, $29.99); the all-star English romantic comedy Love Actually (Universal, $26.98), in an extras-enriched edition with audio commentary and deleted scenes; and Timeline (Paramount Home Entertainment, $29.99), Richard Donner’s adaptation of Michael Crichton’s time-traveling novel, starring Paul Walker.
Game dames
With the baseball season in full swing, Columbia/TriStar pitches a double-disc special edition of Penny Marshall’s 1992 A League of Their Own ($24.96), a loosely fact-based diamond drama set during World War II and showcasing Geena Davis, Madonna and Rosie O’Donnell as femme players and Tom Hanks as their manager. Extras include director and cast commentary, 15 deleted scenes, new cast and crew interviews and more.
Reel rarities
Two oft-requested film titles make their overdue DVD debuts this month when Facets Video unleashes the 1973 comedy The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob ($29.95, facets.org) and Koch Lorber Films bows Jacques Demy’s offbeat 1964 musical romance The Umbrellas of Cherbourg ($24.98).
Phan mail
Dear Phantom: I saw that Winds of War will be out the last week of May. I don’t remember the company.
— Robert Glaub, via e-mail
Paramount Home Entertainment will be doing the honors on May 25 with a six-disc edition ($79.99) of that popular martial miniseries.
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