From now on, this will just be my DVD blog. Not really.
Anyway, you'll all be sad to know that Wedding Crashers narrowly escaped the Robot Movies list. Apparently the auteurs found out about our list, and the movie's Robot scene ended up on the cutting room floor. It's the scene where Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson karaoke "99 Red Balloons." Yeah, that's right, karaoke is a verb now.
Come to think of it, that scene is one of the wisest cuts ever. Everything about it just screams comedy clich?. Throw Ben Stiller in there, and suddenly I can't distinguish this from any other Hollywood comedy.
Actually Wedding Crashers was a lot better than I expected. I usually hate Vince Vaughn, for example, but he spends a lot of time in this movie getting hit by things, so that worked out.
But what's even better than the movie, is the "Uncorked" DVD. Pretty much every recent comedy gets the same DVD treatment: a theatrical cut version totally free of special features, and a feature-packed "unrated" edition. "Unrated" is supposed to make you think "more titties," but it turns out all it means is "this cut was never up for review by the MPAA, because we edited out scenes that made the movie worse than it already is."
(DVDs that represent the film as it would have been if the artists involved didn't have to water down the sex and violence for a preferred MPAA rating -- like Robocop and Basic Instinct -- do exist, but they're few and far between.)
Nitpicky? Maybe. But I've been angry for years that I can only watch the "expanded", or "lame" version of Superman: The Movie.
So why is the Uncorked Edition of Wedding Crashers so great? Because it gives you the option! You can go either "uncorked" or "theatrical." Being a purist, and Wedding Crashers being as it is our generation's Touch of Evil*, I went "theatrical." I haven't yet personally come across any other DVD that gives this option.
*Citizen Kane was too obvious.
Disney has been doing that with the DVDs that have new scenes plugged in. I think Beauty and the Beast was the first one.
Why so much hate for Vaugn? He's a man. that's all he's aiming for. Ah, well. What does it matter what people say about a man?
Also, I thought the robot dance was in the credit roll, and I thought I emailed you about it.
The DVD for Ray had that option, but in a horribly awkward manner. If you choose the "uncorked" version (the "sighted" version? the "not-blind" version?), it plays the theatrical version, and whenever it gets to the point of a deleted scene, it jumps to that track... including a very awkward rough cut and few seconds of dropped sound. It's incredibly distracting, and some of the "cut scenes" are just a few seconds long. If it hadn't been banned, I would describe it in this manner: Worst. DVD option. Ever.
RM: I fast-forwarded through most of the credits just to make sure there weren't any outtakes or whatever. It was just plain ol' credits...