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By MATTHEW FORKE
DEC. 30, 2006
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Sparkle, Neely, sparkle!
The year’s best DVDs offer classics, cult and a dash of kitsch


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Missed out on the 10 best DVD releases of the year?  No worries, here’s a quick recap.  And who knows — after viewing one of these selections, you might share Little Edie Beale’s enthusiasm and remark, “I’m just pulverized by this latest thing!”

 

“Valley of the Dolls/Beyond the Valley of the Dolls:” Whether or not fans prefer the trashy 1967 adaptation of Jacqueline Susann’s bestseller over its bosomy non-sequel depends largely on one’s taste in camp: the unintentional variety (as in “Valley”) or the deliberate (Russ Meyer’s satirical “BVD”). In any case, each “Valley” is jam-packed with soap opera clichés galore (substance abuse, mental illness, abortion and terminal disease, to name a few) and quotably deranged dialogue (“I’m Neely O’Hara, pal, that’s ME singing on that jukebox!”), all performed with hysterical, unhinged abandon. Needless to say, both films were milestones of camp from the day they opened in theaters. And that’s putting it mildly.  (1967 and 1970 respectively, Fox Home Video, $26.98 each) 

 

“Grey Gardens/The Beales of Grey Gardens:” And you thought your relatives were strange. Documentary filmmakers David and Albert Maysles (“Gimmie Shelter”) explore the dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship between high-society dropouts Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter Little Edie, incidentally the aunt and first cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. A cult hit since 1975, “Grey Gardens” was followed by a 2006 sequel, “The Beales of Grey Gardens,” and is currently a Broadway musical sensation.  (1975 and 2006, The Criterion Collection, $49.95)

 

Bette Davis Collection Vol. 2: Not many stars can warrant a full collection devoted to their best work, and even fewer can eke out a second. But after THAT career — more than 100 pictures over six decades — Bette Davis films are guaranteed a long afterlife on DVD. This time, fans are treated to classics “Market Woman” (1937), “The Man Who Came to Dinner” (1942), “Old Acquaintance” (1943), “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane” (1962, two-disk special edition) and “Jezebel” (1938), for which Davis won her second Best Actress Oscar. Also included is the 2005 documentary, “Stardust: The Bette Davis Story.” With any luck, volumes three and four are not far off.  (Warner Home Video, $59.98)

 

“The Comeback:” Cancelled after only one season, “The Comeback” may have struck a sensitive nerve among certain Hollywood audience segments. “Friends” alumna Lisa Kudrow gleefully tackles her role as Valerie Cherish, a former sitcom star struggling desperately to (re)climb TV’s A-List. Kudrow’s well-deserved Emmy nomination was a small consolation for fans of a show too smart for its own good. (2005, HBO Video, $39.98)

 

The Ultimate Superman Collection: Kneel before Zod! With 14 disks devoted to the Man of Steel, Warner Home Video ensures that gay geeks won’t be emerging from their own Fortress of Solitude anytime soon. The set features all four Christopher Reeve films (1978–1987), along with director Richard Donner’s radically different — and arguably better — version of “Superman II.”  And with “Superman Returns” (2006, also included), openly gay director Bryan Singer (“X-Men”) successfully continues the franchise where “II” left off.  ($99.98)

 

Also recommended: Be sure to catch Felicity Huffman’s astonishing turn as a pre-op transsexual in “Transamerica” (2005, Genius Products, $19.95). And viewers who enjoyed the 1995 documentary “The Celluloid Closet” may want to check out “The Maltese Falcon” (1941, Warner Home Video, $29.98) featuring Peter Lorre as Gardenia-wearing homosexual Joel Cairo. A fan of New Hollywood? Don’t miss gay director John Schlesinger’s “Midnight Cowboy” (1969, MGM, $29.98) and Richard Lester’s enigmatic “Petulia” (1968, Warner Home Video, $19.98) starring the Julie Christie and openly gay actor Richard Chamberlain.

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