The Manchurian Candidate is out on DVD today and it includes all kinds of interesting features, most of which are accompanied by Jonathan Demme commentary. Be careful to pick up the widescreen version, though, as the full screen version looks very similar.
Also out on DVD today is the ultra-bizarre surprise hit of 2004, Napoleon Dynamite. Jonathan Demme recently discussed this film for the news.telegraph column "Filmmakers on Film." You can read that article here. Thanks to Eric Slee for bringing this to my attention.
I've been meaning to post this next piece for a while. Journalist Keith Uhlich recently completed a lengthy and very impressive biography of Jonathan Demme for the "Great Directors" section of the Australian film journal Senses of Cinema. Be sure to check it out.
In other news, anyone looking for a last minute Christmas gift should consider Ron Nyswaner's recently published memoir, Blue Days, Black Nights. Nyswaner has worked as a screenwriter (with and without credit) on several Jonathan Demme films including Swing Shift and Philadelphia. Demme is quoted in the ads for Blue Days, Black Nights: "Ron Nyswaner's account of his struggle with real-life demons great and small is gripping, harrowing, and sometimes shockingly intimate. It is heartbreaking -- and yes, it is also very, very funny indeed. Blue Days, Black Nights is a courageously candid tale of love and addiction, disintegration and rebirth."
Lastly, Christmas carollers should click the image below for invaluable assistance in their festive pursuits.
Next update: an update to the Music section of the site.
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