Home School: Commentary Master Class

If you're reading this blog, I feel safe assuming that at some point in your life you've listened to a DVD or Blu-ray audio commentary track. As such, you are well aware that these tracks can range from the incredibly insightful (any Guillermo Del Toro film), to the incredibly boring (any Tim Burton film), to the incredibly hilarious (any Kevin Smith film). But for my money, the best commentary tracks are the ones where a highly respected filmmaker gets to interview one of their filmmaking buddies/heroes. Think of these as the  Master Class seminars your film school could never afford.

Steven Soderbergh is arguably the king of this type of commentary. He and Mike Nichols have done tracks for Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf?, The Graduate and Catch-22. Steven has also interviewed John Boorman about Point Blank as well as his friend Gary Ross for Seabiscuit. In a slight switch on the formula, writer/director Neil LaBute can be found interviewing Soderbergh about Sex, Lies and Videotape. And for a completely meta experience, listen to Soderbergh interview Soderbergh on the Criterion edition of Schizopolis.

Next up is Quentin Tarantino who refuses to do commentary on his own directorial efforts, yet loves talking to other filmmakers about their films (most of which he had some sort of hand in). Check him out on the discs for From Dusk 'til Dawn and Sin City (Robert Rodriguez), Switchblade Sisters (Jack Hill), Hostel and  Hostel Part II (Eli Roth) and Hot Fuzz (Edgar Wright).

Lastly there's the latest edition of Chinatown. This film has been released so many times before, but this edition is absolutely worth a re-buy  simply for the commentary track of David Fincher discussing his love of the film with screenwriter Robert Towne. Fincher's solo tracks for his own films aren't too shabby either. The Panic Room set even includes a discussion between the film's writer David Koepp and screenwriting legend William Goldman!

HONORABLE MENTIONS: The new Criterion disc for Being John Malkovich inexplicably features commentary on select scenes by Michel Gondry. Part of the way through the film Gondry runs out of things to say and calls up the film's director Spike Jonze to help him make it to the finish line. Also check out Allison Anders chit-chatting with Monte Hellman on the Criterion disc for Two-Lane Blacktop!