Film: DVD Reviews

Color yourself happy with 'Red vs. Blue'

'Red vs. Blue Season 2'
($20, available only at redvsblue.com)
(show)
(DVD features and extras)

A review of this length cannot completely explain "Red vs. Blue." Simply put, it's an episodic Internet show created entirely with voice-acting dubbed over scenes acted out in the Xbox video game "Halo." The short videos are posted online weekly to the delight of a devoted and growing group of fans.

But what sounds like a freaks 'n' geeks-only affair is funny and clever enough to warrant attention outside the world of video game players and Internet downloading enthusiasts. What the boys (and occasional girl) at Rooster Teeth Productions, an outfit based in Buda, have created is an ongoing military satire that is sharply written and more than just a novelty.

The DVD collects the second season's many episodes (most run about four or five minutes and were originally posted online) into one long film. While some of the bits work better in their original short form, the DVD more than makes up for that with loads of extras including a very entertaining commentary track, "Public Service Announcement" shorts, the funniest Audio/Video setup feature I've seen to date and lots of hidden Easter eggs.

If that isn't enough to make you drop $20 on this packed homemade DVD, consider this: You'll be helping some very talented guys continue their envelope-pushing "Clerks"-esque quest for the perfect marriage of crackling dialogue and fidgeting video game-character head bobbing.

It's a worthy cause and a worthy DVD.

'Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry -- Season 1'
(Warner Home Video, $19.98)
(show)
(DVD features and extras)

How many shows entertain and enlighten in the span of a half-hour?

Welcome to "Def Poetry."

Russell Simmons' Tony Award-winning brainchild premiered four seasons ago on HBO, spotlighting the poets who convey the personal yet universal.

From up-and-comers such as Black Ice to pioneers like Nikki Giovanni, performers push the limits of their art. Listen as Mayda Del Valle talks about growing up black and Latina in Chicago. Laugh as Beau Sia taunts Hollywood to cast him as any Asian stereotype so he can stop struggling and eating ramen noodles. Cheer as Taylor Mali goes medieval (verbally) on a lawyer who asks, "So how much does a teacher make?" And join the fight for tolerance as Suheir Hammad fears for her Arab brethren in the aftermath of 9/11.

Not every performer is TV-worthy, notably the celebrities. Because the DVD menu is not broken down by individuals, it's not as easy to skip over Jewel, who reads a love ditty from her book. But what a delight it is to hear comic Dave Chappelle deliver a hilarious twist on the racial dig, "You all look alike."

For the DVD to be so-so def, the "The Making of Def Poetry" is just so-so. Superficial interviews with Simmons, host/rapper Mos Def and five star poets do not add up to much "bonus" material. Actor/poet Mums takes up almost as much time reciting poems (his?) as talking to the performers. What's missing is the rush of adrenaline or the sense of anointment the poets must feel for possessing the power, the gift of spoken word.
-- A.M. Jamison

'Da Ali G Show -- The Complete First Season'
($29.95, HBO)
(show)
(DVD features and extras)

British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, better known as the hip-hop-speak doofus Ali G, has a disarmingly simple comedic goal -- to make pompous people look silly and to expose the prejudices of his unwitting subjects on camera.

In the lone commentary track for HBO's "Da Ali G Show -- The Complete First Season," Cohen and his executive producer Peter Fincham express constant amazement that people like Newt Gingrich and Boutros Boutros-Ghali (whom Ali G refers to as "Boutros Boutros Boutros-Ghali") allow Cohen, as bright-yellow-jumpsuit-wearing Ali G, to interview them.

Asking stupid questions of important people is nothing new -- Cohen isn't even unique in the age of deadpan interviewers on "The Daily Show" -- but Ali G's interviews often reveal more about the interview subjects' preconceived notions about young people than any session of "Crossfire" ever could.

Cohen's other characters, the stammering foreigner Borat and the Eurotrashy fashion reporter Bruno, are variations on the same theme; sending the flamboyantly gay Bruno to an Alabama college football game or the stunningly crude Borat to a speed dating service offers big laughs. (Another big commentary track revelation: the suit Borat wears, including underwear, has never been washed and Cohen must film his characters in months-long shifts; those moustaches and hairdos are all real.)

Unfortunately the two-disc DVD only contains six episodes, a few extra Borat segments and an intentionally awful short spy film starring Ali G.

On the premiere episode's commentary, Cohen and Fincham tease that they collected more than 300 hours of material for their first season on HBO. So where are the deleted interview outtakes? Surely there was footage in there worth including in this set.

The saving grace is that Ali G, Borat and Bruno continue on in a strong second season, currently airing on HBO. For delivering on the laughs, at least, "Ali G" earns "Respect."
-- Omar L. Gallaga