Two New DVD Purchases: High Fidelity and the 1st Superman

Seeing as that I have recently been employed once again, I saw fit to head down to Amoeba and find two new additions suitable for inclusion in what is already the world's most impressive DVD collection. So here's what we got:

I've had High Fidelity on my "to buy" list for almost a year now, but two factors delayed its purchase. First of all, there are always about five used copies sitting there in Amoeba, so every time I was about to buy it I always figured, "Well, I'll just get it next time, " whereas I knew I might never see that mint-condition discount copy of Gandhi ever again. Another reason I wasn't in a big rush to buy it was that I actually watched it fairly recently, back at the old apartment. It was playing on the television during a rather disturbing evening, as those present might recall. Enough time has passed, however, for me not to care anymore. Now I can watch John Cusack complain about his endless parade of ridiculously attractive and intelligent girlfriends...any time I want! I did kind of feel like a bit of a weasel buying High Fidelity at a record store, but thankfully the clerk didn't say a word about it.

The second purchase was the real find, though: the new, four-disc edition of the original Superman (from 1978). That's right, that's FOUR DISCS of useless crap I don't even need, but I want it because...I can have it! Look at some of this shit:

• Original 1978 theatrical version with soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1
• Commentary by producer Pierre Spengler and executive producer Ilya Salkind
• Theatrical trailers and TV spot
• 2000 expanded edition movie with commentary by director Richard Donner and creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz
• Music-only audio track
• Three documentaries:
• -Taking Flight: The Development of Superman
• -Making Superman: Filming the Legend
• -The Magic Behind the Cape
• Restored scenes
• Screen tests
• Audio-only bonus: additional music cues
• Vintage TV special "The Making of Superman: The Movie"
• 1951 movie Superman and the Mole-Men, starring George Reeves
• Nine Fleischer Studios Superman cartoons mastered from superior vault elements: Superman, The Mechanical Monsters, Billion Dollar Limited, The Arctic Giant, The Bulleteers, The Magnetic Telescope, Electric Earthquake, Volcano, Terror on the Midway

Honestly, I only wanted about two of these discs, but at $25, who could pass it up?

Some might be surprised that I am a fan of Superman: The Movie (as its official title goes), but let me tell you something. Back in college my father asked me if I'd seen Superman as an adult, and I hadn't, so I went out and rented it. Well it kicked my ass five times into next Tuesday. This movie is freakin' heavy (it couldn't hurt that the screenplay was co-written by Mario Puzo). First of all, you've got some entertainingly bad acting from Marlon Brando (as only Brando can do) at the beginning, then you've got Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, who apparently just decided to have fun with it and go for broke. You've got the San Andreas Fault cracking open, the Golden Gate Bridge snapping, and the Hoover Dam exploding, all in about five minutes time. Finally, Superman is so disturbed that he couldn't save Lois in time, that he turns the rotation of the Earth backwards in order to save her. When was the last time somebody did that for you, eh? Yeah that's what I thought. All in all the movie could have really sucked but they kept a sense of humor about everything and the performances made you care. What's great about Superman is that he can do all this amazing stuff, but emotionally he's just a normal human. Well, if he were a cold heartless machine, I guess that wouldn't be much of a movie, now, would it?