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The best extra to this biopic of the '70s girl band would have been a mini-doc on the real story of the Runaways with some nice footage of the actual group.
We don't get that. Rather, it's the usual behind-the-scenes feature where the actors and director talk about how great everyone was and how they really lived their parts, like Kristen Stewart learning to play Joan Jett's guitar chords. Cherie "Cherry Bomb" Currie even turns up to say that Dakota Fanning, who plays her in the film, is her favorite actress (she's only 16!).
There is one other laugh-out-loud line, from music supervisor George Drakoulias, explaining why female director Floria Sigismondi was best to helm this story of teen lust and debauchery.
"If you and I tried to do this," he says, "we'd be perverts."
Ms. Jett, with her nicotine-coated voice, sits in on in the commentary with the young actresses offering insight on scenes like the one where the square guitar teacher tries to get her to play "On Top of Old Smoky" and she starts wailing on an electric guitar.
"I love this scene because it really did happen," she says, before adding, "At the time I didn't freak out and plug in. I just nodded my head and I humored him and listened to him for an hour."
Of the sex scene between her and Ms. Currie, she notes, "How can you comment on that? It speaks for itself."
The film itself, a somewhat dreary rise and fall of the one-hit wonders, is driven by great music throughout and standout performances, including Michael Shannon as sleazy svengali Kim Fowley. Fans of the Runaways will feel cheated that the band's real history is given short shrift.
-- Scott Mervis
Utilizing everything short of hydraulic fracturing to extract every final cent from pop culture trends with notoriously short shelf lives, MTV does it again with the release of Jersey Shore: Season One Uncensored ($19.99, Paramount Home Entertainment).
Uncensored Jersey Shore! I can only imagine: The beach closes after an uncontained leak of Pauly D's hair gel! The Situation is not rejected by a homely, Newport-smoking girl! Snookie discusses Keynesian theory on the duck phone! Ronnie beats a guy to death for thinking about creeping on Sammie Sweetheart! JWOWW wears a frumpy turtleneck and ankle-length dress!
No dice. Sadly, all MTV has done is repackage the same DVD it released a few months ago, but didn't bleep out the profanity this time. The DVD extras -- billed as "never-before-seen," which is only true if you lack Internet access, because they've been out there for months -- are only mildly amusing.
To wit: the Sitch and Snookie offer dating tips (hint: do the absolute opposite of whatever they say); Pauly D gives Michael Cera a Guido makeover; the 'Before the Shore' feature shows the cast in their natural habitats; the reunion special and some deleted scenes are included, as is the infamous footage of the jerk who punches Snookie.
This isn't a critique of the show, which is eleventy-jillion fist pumps' worth of everything-that's-wrong-with-America-today-GTL-greatness. But for a show that inspired more ink and attention than any other since "Lost," or its fictional forbearer, "The Sopranos," this DVD set is, as the Situation would say: "a grenade, bro."
-- Dan Gigler
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