DVDs
Insane in the brain
by Chris Knox
MPD-PSYCHO (Siren) & DOCTOR WHO (BBC) both contain the first episodes of their respective TV series on two discs each.
MPD is a wildly imaginative Japanese thriller from the extraordinarily prolific Takashi Miike (Audition, the Dead or Alive series …) who brings his deliciously unhinged talents to a deeply weird story of people with barcodes in their eyes and flowers in their skulls. Taking the more surreal aspects of Twin Peaks as his launching pad and adding an animé-esque approach to plotting results in the wildest TV you’re ever likely to have seen. Only adding to the strangeness is the odd pixelisation of pubic areas and any obvious SFX gore and mayhem. Of which there is plenty. Beautiful, disturbing and highly recommended, despite a complete dearth of extras.
It all makes the new Doctor Who look charmingly old-school. Which is, of course, exactly as it should be. Christopher Eccleston’s great, the effects are just on the right side of cheesy, no one’s taking themselves too seriously and there are some genuinely scary moments. And, most important, the episodes are anamorphically enhanced widescreen and look way better than their broadcast equivalent. We’re up to ep six by the end of these two discs, with the rest to follow and – hopefully – to include the bonus fifth behind the scenes volume.
CINDERELLA (Disney) is one of the few classic Disney animated features that I’d never seen and I’m happy to report that the 1949 movie works brilliantly and looks fine in this two-disc special edition. All the human scenes – there is also an extensive cat v mice subplot – were shot in live-action as a guide for the animators and the result is probably the best ever depiction of real people in a Waltwork. Even Prince Charming is believable.
The Special Features disc has the usual games for kids, deleted scenes, etc, but scores bigtime by including a wonderful roundtable session with eight contemporary animators who share their memories of the pioneering “Nine Old Men” who changed the face of the art in the Magic Kingdom’s heyday. This discussion alone is worth the asking price.
