Matt and Trey and Joel and Ethan
Two new DVDs range from the sublime to the ridiculous
By Andy Klein
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut was one of the highlights of 1999, the best movie year in living memory. Since then, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have made only one more feature, the non-SP puppet extravaganza Team America: World Police (2004). Now they’ve released the DVD South Park: Imaginationland, which is a sort-of feature.
Imaginationland is essentially a compilation of the like-named three-episode story that ran as part of the TV series in October of last year. Like most of the shows, it intertwines two stories. In the “smaller” storyline, Cartman claims to have seen a leprechaun, and Kyle counterclaims that leprechauns aren’t real. They make a bet: If Cartman can’t deliver a leprechaun, he owes Kyle 10 dollars; but, if he can, Kyle has to suck Cartman’s balls.
Needless to say, the leprechaun shows up, which leads to the “bigger” storyline: Terrorists attack Imaginationland; not only do they slaughter many of the denizens, but they break down the wall that protects the sweetness-and-light good guys (like Popeye, Morpheus, Jesus, and Luke Skywalker) from the scary bad guys of our imaginations (Jason, Freddy Krueger, Frankenstein, and the adorable Satanic Woodland Critters from an earlier episode). When the U.S. government learns that our imaginations are running wild, they decide to send a nuke to Imaginationland through a Stargate-like portal, with the support of Al Gore, who – in a reference to yet another older episode – is obsessed with annihilating Manbearpig.
Parker and Stone have reedited the original shows, resurrecting some bits that didn’t get past Comedy Central’s Standards and Practices watchdogs. The result is a feature only in the broadest sense: The total running time is 65 minutes.
Still, it’s pretty funny shit and priced to move. The disc contains two brief storyboard sequences and, more importantly, the two referenced episodes: “Woodland Critter Christmas” from December 2004, and “Manbearpig” from April 2006. I’ve always considered the latter one of the lamest South Parks; I hope that my political sympathies aren’t interfering with my sense of humor, what with it being my Gore getting oxed (or something). However, the woodland critter show, which I had somehow missed until now, is really great.
Back when the first South Park DVDs were released in 1998, Parker and Stone did commentary tracks that were scuttled by the studio. Since then they’ve only done brief “mini-commentaries” on their DVDs. The promotional material for Imaginationland touts a “full uncensored commentary from Matt and Trey,” which is not entirely accurate. For one thing, they start out with full-length intentions but bail about two-thirds through, claiming to have run out of things to say. Secondly, they tell us that whenever their voices are suddenly replaced by the theme music, it means they’re being censored. The first excision is so amusingly set up that I suspect Parker and Stone “scripted” it; but in later cases I was less sure. This doesn’t come close to their work on the Cannibal: The Musical! DVD, which is still perhaps the greatest commentary track ever by anyone.
To go from the sublimely ridiculous to the ridiculously sublime, commentary tracks have also been sparse from another leading creative team, Joel and Ethan Coen. So it’s not surprising that their big Oscar winner, No Country for Old Men, comes to DVD and nyaah-nyaah-we-won-the-format-war-Blu-Ray-Disc sans commentary. I only had access to the DVD: the transfer is excellent, especially the sound mix, which is particularly crucial with this title.
The only extras are three short featurettes: The Making of “No Country for Old Men” is a little under a half hour. Of everyone included, it’s the Coens themselves who are clearly least comfortable, barely managing to make eye contact with the camera. Working with the Coens: Reflections of Cast and Crew is basically a string of statements from everyone else about how great it is to work with the brothers; the whole doesn’t seem insincere, but, even at eight minutes, the puffiness becomes a little cloying. The seven-minute Diary of a County Sheriff focuses on the film’s themes and the narrative voice of the Tommy Lee Jones character. Miramax/Disney will almost certainly put out a more “deluxe” release down the line, though a commentary still seems like a longshot.
South Park: Imaginationland. Written and directed by Trey Parker. With the voices of Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Adrien Beard, Katharine Howell, Juan Kimmelini, Mona Marshall, Kyle McCulloch, and April Stewart. Coming out on Tuesday, March 11, from Paramount Home Entertainment, $19.99.
No Country for Old Men. Directed by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen. Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen; based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. With Josh Brolin, Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Woody Harrelson, and Kelly Macdonald. Coming out on Tuesday, March 11, from Miramax Home Entertainment, DVD, $29.99; Blu-Ray Disc, $34.99.
Published: 03/05/2008
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