DVD picks from a theater director

Although not my favorite Coen brothers’ film, Blood Simple is their directorial debut and shows what makes them the top filmmakers in America today.

Director’s cut DVD is a must. Three minutes shorter than the theatrical release, it includes an introduction by a fake film historian and a spoof commentary track that invents facts and slings falsehoods, basically satirizing this often annoying/self-indulgent component of the DVD special edition.

Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge is a guilty pleasure. It captures all the excess of a good Broadway musical with phenomenal mash-up music and Ewan McGregor singing.

The DVD allows the chance to replay the stunning green fairy sequence, taxing surround sound systems to their limit. The pause feature allows you to actually see what’s happening in the amphetamine fast cuts of the dance montages. Plus a second disc includes delicious abandoned edits and a great interview with wife/designer Catherine Martin.

— Michael Schwartz, Theater director