Blu-ray Review: Billy Jack: The Complete Collection

Billy Jack: The Complete Collection is a four-disc set containing all four Billy Jack films, including The Born Losers, Billy Jack, The Trial Of Billy Jack and Billy Jack Goes To Washington, as well as bonus material on each disc.

Disc 1: The Born Losers

The Born Losers introduces the character of Billy Jack (played by Tom Laughlin, who also directs the series), the first shot showing him bathing, almost triumphantly, at the bottom of a waterfall. A bit of voice-over narration describes him as a trained killer who has Indian blood. And, as further introduction to his character, we see him among other animals of the natural terrain, giving us an idea of his preferred element. That then is in contrast to the shots in the city, where a guy gets into an altercation with a biker gang. No one will come to the guy’s aid. No one, that is, except Billy Jack, who is promptly arrested for his troubles. What I love about this is that it causes Billy Jack to be a reluctant hero. He’s not eager to get involved any further with this gang, but eventually feels he has no choice, after the gang takes an unwanted interest in Vicky Barrington (Elizabeth James), and it is left to Billy Jack to keep her safe until she can testify against the bikers.

The film contains some surprising shots, like Vicky coming across a dead seal on the beach, which helps keep this from being your typical biker movie. Another surprising shot is that of one biker asking for (and receiving) a kiss from another biker (remember, this movie came out in 1967). There is a fantastic shot of Vicky on her bike at a dead end street. The camera is behind her, and we see her left leg, clad in a white boot, in the foreground. And the entire biker gang suddenly appears riding toward her (and toward us). It’s such an interesting shot because it’s sexy, like she’s in control, but then as the bikers begin to fill the screen, even as she maintains the pose, we begin to feel that it is false bravado on her part.

This film has a much more serious tone than a lot of biker films have. The scene where Vicky is brought to the bikers’ pad and told about her initiation is intense. And the scene between Vicky and the nurse is excellent. What’s also surprising about this film is that most characters are complex. It is not simply a case of a hero and some villains. The film puts in the effort to show us another side of Danny (Jeremy Slate), the leader of the gang. Early on, we see him rescuing his little brother from their abusive father, and at other times in the movie we see his love for his brother. We also get a shot of him acting lovingly toward his young daughter. So he is put into a more normal, familiar context, which actually works to make his bad deeds all the more terrible.

Disc 1 Special Features

The first disc contains two commentary tracks. The first is with Tom Laughlin and executive producer Delores Taylor. Tom and Delores co-wrote the script, and Tom directed it under a fake name. On this commentary track, they talk about how they got the idea after seeing a news story about the Hell’s Angels raping a girl and then threatening her to keep her from testifying. Some of the bikers used in the film were actual members of a biker gang. They also talk about getting Jane Russell to do the film, and they tell a great anecdote about Haskell Wexler helping them get the shots in the airport. By the way, the seal was something they simply found on the beach. The second commentary track is with Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor and Frank Laughlin (Frank is the son of Tom and Delores, and also appears in the movie).

The first disc also has the film’s trailer, three radio spots, and a photo gallery that includes various film posters and lobby cards.

Disc 2: Billy Jack

I have a CD titled Protest Rock, which contains some great tunes from the 1960s and 1970s, including “One Tin Soldier (The Legend Of Billy Jack).” That song, which is by Coven, plays during the film’s opening credits, but – as is pointed out in one of the commentary tracks – was not written for this film. In fact, the song’s title is simply “One Tin Soldier,” and now I’m curious where the “(The Legend Of Billy Jack)” part of the title on that compilation came from. Anyway, this film tells quite a different story from the first one. At the beginning of the film, a deputy and some other scoundrels round up wild horses on Indian-held land, planning on slaughtering them for meat, until Billy Jack shows up to stop them. They tell him, “You’re making a mistake.” He replies, “I’ve made them before.” As with the first film, this one contains a bit of narration at the beginning, telling us that Billy Jack was a war hero who hated the war, and decided to turn his back on society and live on the reservation, protecting the Indians, the wild horses, and the kids at a school located on the land.

When the deputy beats his daughter (after she has revealed that she’s pregnant), Billy takes her to the hospital. Interestingly, the sheriff (played by Clark Howat) is sympathetic and doesn’t want to bring the girl home. Sheriff Cole is a great character, not the typical law enforcement character at all. He even has a good sense of humor. His line in the barbershop scene made me burst out laughing. Anyway, it is decided that the deputy’s daughter will stay at the school on the reservation, and we soon see that this is no typical school. At Freedom School, run by Jean  Roberts (Delores Taylor), the children are taught horseback riding, yoga, drama and so on. But the daughter’s presence draws unwanted attention to the school, especially after it is shown that many of the town’s people are bigots and are against anything done on the reservation anyway.

This film is quite different from the first film, but is just as powerful. That scene where the little girl sings a song about her brother is incredibly moving, as is the scene when the children are harassed by people in the town. Billy Jack says to one of the kids, “A lot of stupid people in this world, aren’t there?” Yes, and that hasn’t changed, sad to say. There is a good fight scene, and though violence is in the backdrop of this world, it’s not the heart of it, not the focus. Like the first film, this one does a decent job of creating complete characters rather than just heroes and villains. Bernard Posner, who proves to be something less than a good person, is first shown as a somewhat sympathetic character, not wanting to shoot the horses that his father has helped round up. It is interesting that the filmmakers have us side with him before showing us his bad qualities; after all, before Billy Jack shows up, Bernard seems to be the only sensible person there. Perhaps it’s to make us look inward at our own questionable and lesser attributes.

By the way, Howard Hesseman is in the film, though credited under the name Don Sturdy. He is excellent, as always. (Two cast members of WKRP In Cincinnati are in the Billy Jack series; Richard Sanders appears in Billy Jack Goes To Washington.)

Disc 2 Special Features

The second disc contains two commentary tracks. The first is by Tom Laughlin and Delores Taylor, who mention that the film was a work of love, a project they’d been trying to bring to the screen for years. And the girl who sings that song is their daughter. Wow, she actually wrote that song, as well as the other song she sings in the film. That’s incredible. And the song that Lynn Baker sings in the film is one that Lynn herself wrote. Also, the information on the snake scene given in the commentary is wild. The second commentary track is by Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor and Frank Laughlin.

This disc also contains the film’s trailer, as well as a photo gallery of publicity stills, poster art and lobby cards.

Disc 3: The Trial Of Billy Jack

At the beginning of The Trial Of Billy Jack, as we see a bird fly over a beautiful but desolate landscape, titles appear on screen, about various colleges where students were shot. For example: “Kent State, May 1970, 4 Dead, 9 Wounded.” After listing several schools, this title appears: “Freedom School, 3 Dead, 39 Wounded.” We then see Jean Roberts (Delores Taylor), the woman who runs Freedom School, in the hospital, giving a press conference, and we learn this is several years after Billy Jack’s trial. So essentially the film is Jean’s tale of what happened, as told to a reporter in her hospital room. So, yes, there is a lot more voice over in this film than in the previous two. And there are flashbacks within the flashback, as we see some of the events described by Billy Jack during his trial – stuff from his time in the military, with soldiers murdering civilians. But Billy Jack’s real trial isn’t the courtroom proceedings that take up only a small portion of screen time, but rather his more personal trial in a battle against himself, as shown by his vision during his inner quest.

Meanwhile, the children have become determined to expand the school, and get involved with journalism and exposing corruption. Jean tells us in voice over: “The fantastic reader response made the kids determined to bring these exposés to a wider public, so they decided to build their own TV station. They put on a fourth of July-type fundraising drive, which they called ‘1984 Is Closer Than You Think.’” While it might be a bit unbelievable that these kids could suddenly own and operate a television station, it certainly is interesting that they chose to refer to the George Orwell book, particularly for us today, when that novel seems more frighteningly relevant than perhaps ever before. When Billy gets out of prison, he sees there have been some changes to the school. The kids now learn martial arts, which surprises him. In that scene, there is what seems to be a flubbed line, flubbed and then corrected by the actor. I wonder why that was left in, why they didn’t do another take. The commentary tracks don’t address it.

This film isn’t as focused as the previous films. It seems to be tackling too many issues – child abuse, government violence against students, corruption, police brutality, the rights of Indians, poaching, racism. And there are lots of scenes of meetings of tribal councils to discuss some of these issues. And at one point suddenly the film is about rescuing some missing Indians from a mountain during a storm. There are some gorgeous shots in this sequence, but it all seems a bit off the track and unnecessary, and the missing Indians are found without much trouble. Also, the sequence doesn’t quite work because they keep mentioning how it’s a blizzard, yet in many of the shots it’s a clear day, and in none of the shots does there seem to be anything even remotely resembling a blizzard.

Yet there are some very touching moments, and you can’t help but become emotionally invested in the film by the end. And I appreciate the question about whether non-violence can ever be effective against dumb brutes. At the end, there is a title that reads, “All we are saying is give peace a chance.”

Disc 3 Special Features

The third disc, like the first two, contains two commentary tracks. The first is by Tom Laughlin and Delores Taylor. They talk about how this film was a labor of love, made after – and in response to – the shootings at different colleges. Tom talks about Rolling Thunder, who is in the film, and mentions briefly his relationship to the Grateful Dead. He tells a crazy anecdote about the mountain scene. Tom occasionally mentions running for President in 1992. He gets into the idea of a person’s shadow, of how the faults that upset you in others exist in you too, one of the strong messages of this film, and one I need to remind myself of daily as I get angry at Donald Trump and his supporters.

The second commentary track is done by Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor and Frank Laughlin. Tom talks about how they hadn’t considered sequels at first, and that originally he had intended to have Billy die at the end of Billy Jack, but Delores had argued against that. They talk about the policy in Vietnam, the U.S. government ordering the killing of civilians. In both commentary tracks, they talk about Delores’ hatred of exposition.

The special features also include a photo gallery and six radio spots.

Disc 4: Billy Jack Goes To Washington

The fourth, and final, Billy Jack film is actually a remake of Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, in which Billy Jack is chosen as a temporary replacement after a senator has a heart attack and dies. The governor believes he can use Billy’s image for his own gain. When the senator has his heart attack, his secret files on the nuclear contracts are taken by a man named Dan who thinks this theft will be his ticket to a better government job and higher salary. He is sorely mistaken, of course. The other senator of Billy Jack’s state, Senator Payne (in an excellent performance by E.G. Marshall), was once an ally of Billy’s uncle, but now seems to have lost his way. Learning that the two once fought for lost causes is great, because it gives us the sense of Payne’s better qualities, that perhaps he is a good man at heart. Before this, we’ve only seen his corrupt side. I like that these filmmakers continue to make well rounded characters in these films.

Billy Jack’s pet project is the creation of a national youth camp, and Payne urges him to occupy himself with that in order to keep him away from the politics and dealing. But when Billy Jack chooses as the site for his camp the exact spot that has been secretly chosen for a nuclear plant, he begins to gain some enemies. This film tells an intriguing and unsettling story, giving us a serious look at the way bills are passed, and the way politics are played in this country. There is some very natural and believable dialogue, delivered by a good cast. In addition to that fantastic performance by E.G. Marshall, this film features the talents of Sam Wanamaker, Pat O’Brien, Richard Sanders (in a role very different from the one he played on WKRP In Cincinnati) and Lucie Arnaz (Arnaz is particularly good in the scene where she clues Billy Jack in about the nuclear plant). And of course Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor and Teresa Laughlin turn in good performances. Billy Jack Goes To Washington was produced by Frank Capra, Jr., son of Frank Capra, who directed Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.

Disc 4 Special Features

The fourth disc contains two commentary tracks. The first is by Tom Laughlin and Delores Taylor, and they talk about the troubles of shooting in Washington, D.C., the harassment they received, even though they had permits. They tell some crazy anecdotes. They ended up shooting some scenes at their own home, including the tennis court scene. Interestingly, Joe Klein – the author of Primary Colors – appears in an early scene. Tom Laughlin mentions the then-current presidential race between George W. Bush and Al Gore, so this commentary track was recorded in 2000.

The second commentary track is by Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor and Frank Laughlin. They begin by talking about how this film was a departure from the earlier films, as they didn’t come up with the original story for this one. They talk about the Senate set that was built in Studio City, and about how Tom Laughlin was nervous about directing Pat O’Brien, unable to sleep the night before. In this commentary track, they talk again about some of the troubles they faced shooting in D.C. Crazily, at the Jefferson Memorial, they were told they could have actors or the camera there, but not both at the same time.

Billy Jack: The Complete Collection was released on Blu-ray and DVD on July 25, 2017 through Shout! Factory as part of the Shout Select series.

Blu-ray Review: The Moderns

Is it just me, or does the face on the far right of the Blu-ray case remind you of Alfred E. Neuman from MAD Magazine? I thought it was that character for a bit, and it took me a while to realize it’s Wallace Shawn in drag from the end of The Moderns.  Anyway, The Moderns has an excellent cast. In addition to Wallace Shawn, it stars Keith Carradine, Linda  Fiorentino, Genevieve Bujold, Geraldine Chaplin, Kevin J. O’Connor and John Lone. And it takes place in a time that has always interested me – 1926, in Paris. It is a wonderful, character-driven film with its own style, dealing with questions of art vs. commerce, how we assign value to the things in our life, and what exactly is art. It brings fictitious characters and historical people together, and also uses a bit of old stock footage to establish the time and place, further mixing reality and fiction.

It opens with black and white stock footage of Paris, and the first moments of the action are also in black in white, as the film eases us into the time period. And then, still during the opening credit sequence, it gently goes from black and white to color. The film does this several more times, slipping into black and white during scene transitions, and inserting exterior stock footage. Much of the action takes place at a café where ex-patriots – including a lot of artists – gather. In the first scene, Oiseau (Wallace Shawn) says to Nick Hart (Keith Carradine): “Who are all these people? Seems like a new boat load of ex-patriots gets dumped here every day.” Oiseau is a columnist who wants to transfer to Hollywood, and wants to take Hart – the cartoonist for his weekly column – with him. He tells Hart that Hart’s trouble is he doesn’t know what he wants. But Hart has spotted what he wants across the room – an alluring woman staring back at him. Rachel (Linda Fiorentino) is now married to Bertram Stone (John Lone), a man eager to buy his way into culture, but it turns out that she and Hart have a past (and, as they say in Magnolia, the past is not through with them).

Hart is an artist, but his work doesn’t sell. Libby (Genevieve Bujold), the woman who runs the gallery, gets him a job creating copies of three paintings so the paintings’ owner can take the originals without her faithless husband being any the wiser. Nathalie de Ville, the woman who hires Hart, is played by Geraldine Chaplin, who is wonderful, as always. She tells him, “I guess I’m in need of a little flattery these days,” and gives a slight pause before “these days.” And in that pause, she tells us so much. Geraldine Chaplin is able to convey a lot with just a breath, a look, a pause. She is fascinating to watch. But the entire cast is quite good in this film.

I love the look of this film, and its pace. Several scenes make use of mirrors and interesting perspectives. There were just two shots that momentarily pulled me out of the film. The first is an odd shot of a piano player, where the camera zooms in on him in a jolting way, for no apparent reason. That shot could easily be cut. The second is an odd pan over to a group of more modern people looking directly at the camera. I found myself wondering about that shot for several minutes, and missed whatever was said immediately after it. The film has some excellent dialogue. One of my favorite lines is from Libby, as she describes Bertram Stone. “He’s got lots of money, he’s just not worth a damn.” (What a great description of the current president of the United States.) But probably my absolute favorite line belongs to Oiseau. He is speaking of suicide and says: “I saw a man once who’d been hung. He looked a bit disappointed.”

Special Features

This Collector’s Edition Blu-ray contains a feature-length documentary about The Moderns, titled Art And Artifice In The Moderns. This documentary features interviews with director/co-writer Alan Rudolph, co-producer Carolyn Pfeiffer and actor Keith Carradine. Rudolph talks about the film’s time period and the lost generation, saying he picked the year 1926 because at that point, “The party was kind of over.” He talks a bit about his earlier work, and the long path to getting The Moderns made, mentioning that Robert Altman influenced everything he’s done. Those interviewed talk about shooting in Montreal, and how the set design helped create that sense of unreality. Rudolph says that he would often tell his director of photography, “We’re inside of a painting.” Carradine talks about doing some of the actual painting, including the painting that became the artwork for the film’s poster. I love Keith Carradine’s take on what acting is, and how you go about it. There is a lot of information on the casting, including that Mick Jagger was originally set to play Bertram Stone. This documentary is approximately ninety-six minutes.

The Blu-ray also contains the film’s trailer.

The Moderns was directed by Alan Rudolph, and was released on Blu-ray on September 19, 2017 through Shout! Factory, as part of the Shout Select series.

Blu-ray Review: Car Wash

Recently there was an insane story about Donald Trump trying to ban the Center For Disease Control from using seven words, and I thought, We desperately need George Carlin back. He could help us deal with the completely screwed up reality that has assaulted us all in the past year. What would he say about that mendacious prick Donald Trump and all the eager Nazis who support him? Well, while we no longer have George Carlin, we do have his albums and films, and earlier this year Shout! Factory released a special Blu-ray edition of Car Wash, an ensemble film with Carlin playing a cab driver. This film also features Richard Pryor, Professor Irwin Corey, Ivan Dixon, Lorraine Gary, Melanie Mayron, Bill Duke, Garrett Morris, Franklyn Ajaye and The Pointer Sisters, and a bloody great soundtrack. It was written by Joel Schumacher and directed by Michael Schultz.

The entire film takes place over the course of one day at a car wash (and the area immediately surrounding it) in Los Angeles. It takes us from the morning just before the car wash opens to the evening just after it closes. At the beginning, we are quickly introduced to several characters, one after another. George Carlin says to his passenger, “That’s what I think we need, is more love in the world.” But the woman – a prostitute – sneaks out of his car without paying when she realizes she doesn’t have the money. So he goes on a search for her. Richard Pryor is great as a rich religious huckster who travels in style with the Wilson Sisters (played by The Pointer Sisters). “And there’s a good place in this world for money,” he says. “Yessiree, and I know where it is. It’s right here in my pocket.” One of the few television shows I watched regularly during high school was Thirtysomething, a show which featured an impressive and talented cast, including Melanie Mayron. In Car Wash (which came out a decade earlier), she is adorable as Marsha, the receptionist and possible love interest of the owner. But perhaps the most meaningful performance is by Ivan Dixon as Lonnie, an ex-con who is trying to help Duane/Abdullah and keep him from possibly making similar mistakes.

In addition to the wonderful ensemble cast, there are radio DJs who play an important part, acting as constant companions to these characters and an integral part of the background. Those radio voices remind me of the announcements in the film M.A.S.H. And actually there are shots of the speakers, as in M.A.S.H. And like M.A.S.H., it’s the location that brings these characters together. There are some funny bits of set dressing, like the sign that reads, “We give the best hand job in town” (they wash the cars by hand).

The film has a light, loose, bouncy, bright, playful feel, yet also touches on some serious themes, such as the relationship between management and employees, and the thought that we’re all simply making the best of the situations we find ourselves stuck in. And this film contains the line, “Honey, I am more man than you’ll ever be, and more woman than you’ll ever get.” That line was later ripped off by that abysmal film Rent. By the way, at the end the cast is listed by a radio DJ, much like in M.A.S.H., where the cast is given by the camp’s announcer over the speaker.

Special Features

There are several special features, including an audio commentary by director Michael Schultz, in which he talks about the music, and how he wanted three songs written beforehand so that he could play them on set. He also mentions how there was a tremendous amount of noise on the set, making it necessary to record the dialogue later in the studio. Surprisingly, he says that the NAACP was offended by the film, considering the characters to be stereotypes.

Working At The Car Wash With Otis Day is an interview, in which Day talks about getting the role, and about the director and his style. He says he got sick of the “Car Wash” song. This interview is approximately twelve minutes. Car Wash From Star To Finish With Gary Stromberg is an interview with producer Gary Stromberg, in which he talks about getting his start in PR. Geez, his first three clients were Three Dog Night, Steppenwolf and The Doors. Crazy! He talks a bit about his history with drugs. But of course the bulk of the interview is about Car Wash, and he has plenty of interesting stories. He says the idea behind the film was that it would be driven by the music, and the idea was inspired in part by Robert Altman’s Nashville. (Clearly, Altman had a big influence on this movie.) Interestingly, the soundtrack was completed before they even started to shoot, so they could use the music as playback on the set. Stromberg also talks about the real person who was used as inspiration for Richard Pryor’s character, a person who was actually originally cast in the part as well. And I had no idea that Car Wash was the official US entry at Cannes. This interview is approximately thirty-four minutes.

The special features also include four radio spots and the film’s trailer.

Car Wash was released on June 20, 2017 by Shout! Factory, as part of its Shout Select series.

Blu-ray Review: South Park: The Complete Twentieth Season

Seriously, twenty years? It does not feel like it’s been twenty years since I first enjoyed South Park. The series has no real signs of wear and tear. It is as strong, as daring, as relevant as ever. The Complete Twentieth Season contains all ten episodes on two discs, plus plenty of bonus features. The country and our culture have gone to shit, and the folks behind South Park – Trey Parker and Matt Stone – are well aware of it. The episodes that make up the twentieth season tell one complete story (well, actually, several connected stories), involving our nation’s complacency, lowered expectations, nostalgia repackaged and sold back to us, and of course a man becoming president who has absolutely no qualifications or understanding of the job. Serious subjects, but of course handled with humor. And that’s what we need right now, as so many of us are still reeling after a year of disbelief, shock, anger and despair. It’s a damn good thing we can turn to South Park for a little perspective this holiday season.

As the twentieth season opens, the question on everyone’s mind is, Will a black fourth grader take a knee during the national anthem before a volleyball game? After the question is answered, the crowd disperses, leaving the children to play the game with no audience. The girls, however, are more concerned with the online bullying they’re receiving from someone calling himself “Skankhunt42.” Meanwhile J.J. Abrams is asked to “reboot the national anthem” in order to bring a divided country together again. “The new anthem is said to have everything the old one had, but some new surprises as well. You’d have to be an asshole not to stand and support it.” But the answer to all our problems might be found in member berries.

This series has a lot to say. I love that when a student quits Twitter, it’s treated like a suicide. And other students considering quitting social media are counseled: “You’ve got so much ahead of you, Scott. So many posts and tweets still ahead of you.” When Cartman is forced offline, he joins the lost souls who have abandoned social media, and he changes, actually becoming a better person, even getting a girlfriend. And the police investigate his disappearance. “Most people that quit Twitter leave at least three paragraphs stating that they’re quitting Twitter before they quit Twitter. This child just stopped using it.” Ah, was it a Twitter suicide or a Twitter homicide? And Heidi – Cartman’s girlfriend – says: “The hardest part is not having any followers. I used to go places just to show them where I was.” Oh, you know there are people who actually do that. Will they realize how ridiculous they are when they watch these episodes? Another thing I love about this season is how it plays with the new use of the word “troll” and the traditional use of the word, having two online trolls meeting under a bridge.

The war between the girls and boys escalates, and it looks like the next president is going to be someone who doesn’t even want the job. Mr. Garrison laments, “I told people I could make the country great again, but I didn’t have a plan.” I love that they relate the troubles to the fact that The Force Awakens wasn’t nearly as good as people thought it was. “It may seem fun to go back and recycle the past we love, but we end up with no sustenance.” And when the election is concluded, no one can believe the results. Mr. Garrison promises, “Just as J.J. Abrams did with Star Wars, I will make this country great again.” He transforms into Donald Trump in Darth Vader’s meditation chamber. Like many people after the election, Cartman and Heidi want to leave the planet. But for Cartman, it’s more a matter of him not wanting Heidi to see his internet history. War is imminent, because Denmark has a plan to release everyone’s internet history.

South Park is a series that is aware of itself. The season is partly about the role of a comedian who pushes people’s buttons in a nation that is now run by someone who loves pushing people’s buttons. And in the penultimate episode of the season, they even joke about how the entire season has dealt with a single subject, essentially poking fun at their own decision. The twentieth season is excellent, and is something you will likely want to watch all in one sitting.

Special Features

This two-disc set contains quite a bit of bonus material, most of it on the first disc. There are deleted scenes, including one with Cher eating the pizza pocket, as well as an air strike on Denmark. The deleted scenes are presented in the order of episodes. There are a couple of short promotional pieces – South Park By The Numbers and South Park: We’ve Been There. South Park: The Fractured But Whole E3 2016 Game Trailer makes fun of the whole superhero franchise idea, which is marketing and not storytelling.

There is a commentary track by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, which plays over segments from different episodes of the season, and is approximately twenty minutes. They begin by joking that it is the commentary for season twenty-one, then talk about the idea of doing a serialization, and how the troll idea was related to Donald Trump, and how America has lost its way. The story they’d mapped out had Hillary Clinton winning. So like everything else, Trump fucked up this plan too.

You can also watch each episode with occasional notes at the bottom of the screen, notes about characters and so on, delivered as if on social media.

The second disc includes the 2016 Comic Con panel with Matt Stone and Trey Parker. They start by talking about The Spirit Of Christmas, and how they chose the style of that short by their own artistic limitations, plus their love of Terry Gilliam’s animation in Monty Python’s Flying Circus. They also talk about how television has changed so much since they started, so that the early stuff seems so tame by today’s standards. They also talk about video games and role-playing games, with Trey saying how always being the Dungeon Master when he was a kid helped make him a good storyteller. (Trey also says he thinks the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons is “fucking awesome.” I do not entirely agree with that statement.) Toward the end, they take questions from the audience. What the fuck is up with that person in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt seated behind the first girl to ask a question? Anyway, this feature is approximately fifty-five minutes.

South Park: The Complete Twentieth Season was released on June 13, 2017 through Comedy Central.

Blu-ray Review: Cheech And Chong’s Next Movie

As we near the end of what seems like the fortieth year of Donald Trump’s presidency, a year when many of us have needed to rely on drugs and comedy to get us through, it seems fitting to turn to Cheech and Chong. As part of its Shout Select series, Shout! Factory has released a special Blu-ray edition of Cheech And Chong’s Next Movie. The film’s first line, spoken by Cheech Marin – “Hey, man, this is bullshit, man” – is a line many of us have found ourselves uttering all year, whenever Trump or any of his fellow assholes spoke on any subject. This movie, which was directed by Tommy Chong, features a fairly excellent cast, including Paul Reubens, Edie McClurg, Cassandra Peterson, Michael Winslow (doing a bit similar to what he would later do in Police Academy), Rita Wilson and Phil Hartman.

At the beginning of the film, Cheech is late for work for the fifth time that week (“It’s only Tuesday, man”), and Chong is his own best customer in his marijuana-selling business. Interestingly, Chong says: “Dope’s going to be legal in a few years. Then it will be a legitimate job.” Well, it took a bit longer than a few years, but he was certainly right. The movie doesn’t have anything resembling a strong plot. In addition to smoking pot, Cheech and Chong annoy their neighbor, get fired, have fun in a welfare office and play a funny song about Mexican Americans. And Chong and Red (Cheech’s cousin, also played by Cheech Marin) have something of an adventure. It’s more about these characters and the craziness surrounding them than it is about story.

There are plenty of funny lines. At one point, Chong carries a jar of urine, telling Cheech “It’s for my probation officer, man.” Cheech asks, “What, does he drink pee?” (And yeah, there is some pee-drinking in the film.) There is a great shot where Cheech backs the car out of frame in order to hit on some girl he’s spotted, and then pulls forward back into frame followed by a police car. And there are lots of fun bits of set dressing, like the “Waitress wanted” sign in the window of their house, and the “Dave’s not here” message scribbled on a wall near their phone (a nod to one of the duo’s most famous bits). And the movie has a weird-as-shit ending. The Blu-ray would certainly make a good Christmas gift for the right sort of person, you know? And it contains some special features.

Special Features

From Records To Movies: Making Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie is a new interview with Cheech Marin, in which he talks about the Cheech And Chong records, about improvisation, about the character Red, and about his influences (which include Ken Nordine). He also talks about how this movie was deliberately a day-in-the-life tale rather than something with a linear plot, that the film’s strength is that it does go all over the place. This feature is approximately nineteen and half minutes.

The Blu-ray disc also contains the film’s trailer, as well as seven radio spots.

Cheech And Chong’s Next Movie was released on Blu-ray on June 13, 2017 through Shout! Factory.