A Guy Walks into a Bar) on DVD

Short 2 Dreams
La Jetee / The Big Brass Ring / A Guy Walks into a Bar
Actors: Hélène Chatelain, Davos Hanich, Jacques Ledoux, Malcolm McDowell, Peter Heilrath
Directors: Chris Marker, George Hickenlooper, Carmen Elly
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Special Interests, Animation

NR 2000 2hr 0min

This reissue of the second release in a series of DVD anthologies of short films, like its fellow Short titles, is loosely organized around a common theme--in this case, the terrain of the subconscious. The big fish he... more »re is Chris Marker's 1962 classic, La Jetée, the forever- haunting, post-apocalyptic story of a man's descent into a time-tripping dream state, where his origins and destiny fold together in one fleeting moment at an airport. If that scenario sounds somewhat similar to a certain Terry Gilliam feature (oh, OK, it's 12 Monkeys), you're right, and Gilliam can be heard on an alternate soundtrack here talking about the challenge and fun of being "inspired by" Marker's film. (Yet another alternate soundtrack features commentary by 12 Monkeys screenwriters David and Janet Peoples.) Not surprisingly, La Jetée turns out to be a hard act to follow, and there's not much on Short 2 that even comes close to its league. Alison De Vere's 1974 animated piece, Café Bar, about a blind date at a coffee house, is more intriguing for its historical value as a "brushsticks style" of crafting images than as a work of art. Joachim Solum and Thomas Lien's watery Depth Solitude is an effectively blunt and bizarre--but ultimately obvious--fable about a pool cleaner who lives in his deep-sea-diving suit at the bottom of a public swimming facility. The best thing going for it is an English-language narration by Max Von Sydow, who unfortunately is not involved with Carmen Elly's A Guy Walks into a Bar. This competent but wearying film, about a college-bound young man (Fred Savage) who meets up with a sexy hitchhiker (Allison Moir) and finds his world changed, does not inspire thoughts of a second viewing. On the plus side, there's an interview with independent director George Hickenlooper and an accompanying, interesting bit showing us a pre-production prototype of select scenes from Hickenlooper's The Big Brass Ring. If you've seen the latter movie in its finished state (based on an original script by Orson Welles and Oja Kodar), it is startling to watch an entirely different roster of actors (including Malcolm McDowell) in roles that Hickenlooper ultimately recast with William Hurt, Nigel Hawthorne, Miranda Richardson, and Irène Jacob. --Tom Keogh

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Movie Details

Actors: Hélène Chatelain, Davos Hanich, Jacques Ledoux, Malcolm McDowell, Peter Heilrath
Directors: Chris Marker, George Hickenlooper, Carmen Elly
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Special Interests, Animation
Sub-Genres: Comedy, Love & Romance, Animation, Special Interests, Animation
Studio: Warner Home Video
Format: DVD - Black and White,Color,Full Screen,Widescreen,Letterboxed
DVD Release Date: 01/04/2000
Original Release Date: 01/01/1999
Theatrical Release Date: 00/00/1999
Release Year: 2000
Run Time: 2hr 0min
Screens: Black and White,Color,Full Screen,Widescreen,Letterboxed
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 3
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Languages: English

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Movie Reviews

Bijouflix-for French

Daniel | Cambridge, MA | 10/07/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"If you're looking for a dvd copy of la jetee in french (with english subtitles), check out bijouxflix. I just got mine in the mail, and the copy is grainy but otherwise intact."

Criterion release in June

Barry M. Smith | Las Vegas | 03/16/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Just to let everyone know who have been disappointed with the DVD versions, that Criterion are bringing out a hi-def version with new and improved English subtitle translations in June, 2007."