THE HAPPENING
Surprisingly for a single-disc DVD, The Happening has more than just a lame collection of trailers and a short featurette about the film. Instead, there are several looks at the behind-the-scenes aspects of filming, including a look at how the angles of a shot add to the overall ominous feeling of a scene. A walk-through of the film’s fairly gory porch sequence gives a glimpse into the world of splatter, though it’s not as in-depth as a zombie movie would be. The best featurette involves the stunt crew walking through the process of crashing a car, giving unique insight into stunt work.
THE ALICE FAYE COLLECTION, VOLUME 2
Musical fans, rejoice, The Alice Faye Collection, Volume 2 collects five films from the musical star of the 1930s and ’40s (Rose of Washington Square, Hollywood Cavalcade, The Great American Broadcast, Hello, Frisco, Hello and Four Jills in a Jeep) in one set. It’s remarkable to see how well these 60- to 70-year-old prints look thanks to modern technology (and you can learn how, thanks to one of the set’s bonus features). Hollywood Cavalcade includes a Fox Movietone newsreel covering the star-studded premier of the film, providing a glimpse into the world of old Hollywood and its epic glamour.
