Strong combinations of stories, supplements
Viewers benefit as technology enhances pop-up commentary
On one hand, 2010 was a great year for fans of DVD supplements, as Blu-ray helped pop-up AV commentary really come into its own. On the other hand, the new tech ended up being used a little too often as just a flashy way of presenting the same old rote featurettes. Here are the discs that had the most to offer, from main attractions that commanded attention to extras that did the same.
UP IN THE AIR
George Clooney’s nuanced showcase as a suavely detached employee-termination consultant is tricked out with the year’s most relevant commentary. Director Jason Reitman (“Juno,’’ “Thank You for Smoking’’) discusses how his adaptation of Walter Kirn’s novel was begun before the economy crashed, necessitating that lighthearted snippets with the recently fired get an empathy rewrite. Better still is a deleted-scenes collection featuring a surprisingly extensive surrealist sequence with a spacesuit-clad Clooney going about his disconnected routine.
THE RUNAWAYS
This depiction of Joan Jett’s early-career wild times sends you running to load “Cherry Bomb’’ onto your iPod. Then the disc lures you right back with commentary by Jett, screen counterpart Kristen Stewart, and Dakota Fanning, who plays Jett’s bandmate Cherie Currie. Jett has no problem getting on details that have been tweaked, such as those leather pants she never actually wore. “It’s about creating the [icon],’’ Stewart offers. “What does leather do that jeans wouldn’t?’’ Jett says. You tell her, sister.
boston for the rest
xoxo
Carrie
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