Best (and Worse) DVD Commentary Tracks of All Time

Recently, we had the extreme good fortune of having two of our favorite cinema writers do critical commentaries on 2 of our films that they had reviewed and championed. Jen Johans of FilmIntuition.com gave Brian Ackley's debut feature Uptown one of the most charming, insightful commentary tracks we had heard in a while (the fact that it was for our film may make us a little biased).

Likewise, our friend Michael Tully of HammertoNail.com happened to like Princeton Holt's debut feature Cookies & Cream and agreed to do a commentary for it. Unlike Jen, Michael was very self-conscious in his effort, even tweeting about his uncertainty a couple of times. Which then began to make us self-conscious. Granted, there are moments of silence or close to it in the track, and it took a couple of listens to grasp the approach and style. However, it became increasingly apparent that this was the very reason we liked it. It seemed as though any compliment on the film is well earned, as they come only when necessary. Tully watches the film as we are watching it, gets "sucked in" when most of us do, and it's sort of like sitting on the coach with the editor or HammertoNail as he watches the film. We happen love it.

Adding on to a discussion that took place at the Uptown fan page on Facebook, I decided to include a list of best and worse commentary tracks that was created over 5 years ago. What makes a good commentary track? What makes a bad one? Feel free to add to this list on your own in comments.

Best Commentary Tracks:

1) Ed Burns – Sidewalks of NY: Best commentary of all time. Includes a kick-ass, do-it yourself attitude, and phrases like “don’t let your DP tell you you need all these lights”, and "continuity is for pussies." Burns continues to discuss the film's stolen locations, it's unpaid actors, and lack of set design. Pretty impressive approach, especially for a one-million dollar budget.

2) PTA – Boogie Nights: as in all of his commentaries, Paul Thomas Anderson tells the damn truth. All of it.
- another notable is his first feature Sydney: as in BN, informative, helpful for both technical and thematic inspiration.

I can listen to Paul talk all damn day. And I have.

3) Roger Ebert: Citizen Kane: Could easily be tied with the top 2 tracks above for best commentary of all time. We learn more in this commentary than probably any commentary ever. And its all useful information for both fans and filmmakers alike. Every shot is analyzed and we learn something in every single frame of the film. Tidbits of the story of its making, the background of the events that its based on are all included. And we get insightful comments on every technique as it unfolds on the screen and gets attention called directly to it. This dispels the myth that a great commentary can only be delivered by the filmmaker themselves.

4) Terry Gilliam – 12 Monkeys: All in all a great commentary as TG tells us everything about what he went thru to make this film.

5) Oliver Stone – Natural Born Killers: A thoughtful commentary, complete with great technical info including every format of film used in the movie. Its also great for thematic knowledge and philosophy not only of the film but of life itself. Oliver Stone's best commentary.

6) All of Spike Lee’s: funniest of all time: we laugh in disbelief as we listen to the director make short, sometimes one word commentaries on his film, including laughter at a line or scene he did, or simply yelling out the name of the actor on the screen, and that’s it.

Notables:

– Bamboozled
– School Daze
– 25th Hour

7) QT and R. Rodriquez – From Dusk ‘Till Dawn: Hey, its QT. It’s filled back to back with words.

8) Robert Altman - Dr. T and the Women: It is in this commentary track that Altman reveals that his original title for the film was "Pussy." The maverick director tells the truth about what his films really are about. You wished more people did.

9) Robert Altman - 3 Women: It seems Bob had started to get the hang of what a director commentary can do, and here he really delivers. Probably his best commentary track. Its informative about everything – tidbits of the film itself, technical information, and even philosophical offerings about influences, and about the 70’s – the time of the filmmaker. He even reveals in a rare occasion his personal influences, including Fellini, and he even talks about PTA!

I can listen to Bob talk all damn day. And I have.

Bad director commentaries:

1) Gary Winick – Tadpole: You’re laughing and enjoying the film all the way through till the end. Then by the time you get to the commentary directly afterwards, you are convinced by the director that you have just seen the worst film of all time. He tortuously points out mistake after mistake in scene after scene, complete with the horror stories behind not only the scene itself, but everything that didn’t work while trying to get it made (which in addition is especially odd, as this is the commentary on a film that was made for a mere $150k and sold for $5 million). Afterwards, you are not only depressed, but you feel less enthusiastic about not only shooting a DV film, but about making a friggin film period.

2) All of Spike Lee’s – Bamboozled: You could probably count on 2 hands the amount of words Spike says on most of his commentaries.

Notables:
- School Daze
- 25th Hour

3) Robert Altman - Nashville: Yes, this proves that its possible for the same director to appear on both of these lists. You could probably count on 2 hands the amount of words Bob says on his seemingly earlier commentaries.

Worst Commentaries of All Time:

Brown Sugar: This commentary track was shared by the director and the editor of the film. These dudes laugh through every single scene and every comment, in probably the most annoying commentary in the history of commentaries.

Fellini’s Intervista: We watch and listen in shock as some scenes go as long as 10 minutes without any insightful comment. And when there is a comment in the film, its usually something we can clearly see. No insight whatsoever, no new learned information.

To add on to this discussion, join the Uptown Facebook page HERE.

Stay tuned for the DVD releases of Uptown and Cookies & Cream both in July!