No No Ninotchka

At About Last Night, Terry Teachout has some comments and a link to Masters of Cinema's rundown on great films not yet on DVD. And while I also regret that a DVD of Grapes of Wrath is not yet available, and fear that a box set of Police Academy DVDs will be a big seller, there are also a lot of oddities and pop-culture icons that are not yet available that I'd also love to have. Tim Burton's Ed Wood comes to mind as a film that is conspicuously missing from my collection (though Amazon seems to indicate that it will be available soon).

And while we are on the subject of John Ford's filming of the Steinbeck classic, I would like to advise any budding photographer, cinematographer, painter, or any other visual artist to watch this move (and any other John Ford classics you can get your hands on). Ford was a master of classic composition. Each shot is framed as a perfect tableau. It is a master class in composition.

Update: While it may seem that I disparaged a highbrow list in favor of middlebrow pleasures, let us not fool ourselves into thinking that I don't have a list of highbrow films of my own that are not available on DVD. Personally I would like to see the entire Bunuel ouevre on DVD. As far as I know, Criterion has issued a paltry few of his middle and later films. Diary of a Chambermaid, Belle de Jour, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, and That Obscure Object of Desire. But where oh where is Viridiana, The Exterminating Angel and Simon of the Desert. The problem with Luis Bunuel is perhaps that he was too prolific. I remember a drama professor at Berkeley in my day, Bill Oliver, saying, in reference to Don Luis' films, something to the effect of, "he just shits them out".