Commentary Tracks That You Want To Recommend
 

Which commentary tracks do you like a lot & want to share with other ledgies?

I recommend the following:

"Basic Instinct" special edition - Camille Paglia commentary

"The Harvey Girls" - George Sidney commentary

"Citizen Kane" - Roger Ebert commentary

Justin Sterling's commentary from Brianna Loves Jenna

I just recommended that one to you in another thread.

Some more:

"Short Cuts" laserdisc - Pauline Kael commentary

"3 Women" Criterion DVD - Robert Altman commentary

"Videodrome" Criterion DVD - David Cronenberg/James Woods & Deborah Harry commentary (all Cronenberg commentaries are worthwhile)

"Dark City" - Roger Ebert commentary

"Boogie Nights" - Paul Thomas Anderson commentary

John Waters' commentaries on Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble and Desperate Living are better than the movies themselves. And that is really saying something, lemme tell ya.

Liz Renay singlehandedly murders the Desperate Living commentary. If I want to be exposed to long passages from "My Face For the World To See," I'd just pick up the ****ty book myself.

Female Trouble, Polyester, and Cry-Baby are my favorite Waters commentary tracks. The commentary for Cecil B. Demented is quite good, too; funny stuff.

I know! That's why I recommended it on my list! You told me to check it out so now I'm telling other people to check it out!

George Sidney commentary is priceless, wherever it appears.

Some commentary is super super boring: like the commentary for The Lady Eve on Criterion. And some commentary is boring in a nonacademic way--just inane: like the commentary on the special edition of The Ten Commandments.

Captain James.A and wife Marilyn Lovell's commentary on Apollo 13.

Amazing to hear the commander of the stricken spacecraft relive the drama on the DVD, and with total control of his emotions (unlike his wife!).

I'm looking forward to Roger Moore's commentaries on the "Ultimate Edition"s of his James Bond movies which get released this summer.

Maybe its just me, but I find that generally anything this guy has to say is useless.

I thought so, too, until I heard his Kane commentary. Check it out!

It's like an entire Film 101 course!

Spinal Tap, duh.

Session 9 - Brad Anderson (Director)
Happy Accidents - Brad Anderson/Vincent D'Onofrio
The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen: William Friedkin

and lastly for sheer stupidity and unintentional amusement and laughter in a commentary:
The Allnighter - Susanna Hoffs/Tamar Simon Hoffs (her mother)

I thought for sure you'd recommend any of the outstanding David Lynch commentaries, which are also excellent nuts & bolts filmmaking primers.

John Waters scares the bejeezus out of me. I was traumatized enough seeing Female Trouble - I think I'll skip that audio commentary - although it could fascinating.


My personal favorite as of late:

The audio commentart on the Sexist EGotistical Lying Hypocritical Edition of 9 to 5. It's got Jane, Dolly and Lily...and it's quite entertaining.

Well, sure. But why do that, when you can listen to the Spinal Tap commentary and basically have an entire new, hilarious movie?

I don't know if I've ever bothered watching any commentary. :p