Home Theater: The Brak Show: Volume 1 and The Warner Gangsters Collection

The gang's all here

By Bob Grimm

The Warner Gangsters Collection

Movies:

Angels with Dirty Faces:

The Public Enemy:

White Heat:

The Petrified Forest:

The Roaring Twenties:

Little Caesar:

Special features:

I used to watch the great James Cagney gangster films on Sunday mornings when my parents didn't drag me to church. One of my all-time favorites was Angels with Dirty Faces, which had Cagney as a bad-ass gangster with a bunch of juvenile delinquents (The Dead End Kids) looking up to him. It also boasted the presence of Humphrey Bogart, and seeing those two together is as big as any casting in movie history. Some see it as corny in retrospect, but I think its aged well. The scene where Cagney's Rocky Sullivan turns yellow is one of Cagney's most memorable.

This fine boxed set features five other classics, including the amazing White Heat. This is where Cagney returned to Warner Brothers and made what is perhaps the quintessential gangster film playing Cody Jarrett, the psychotic thief with a major mother fixation ("Top of the world, Ma!"). The package also features Cagney shining in The Public Enemy (featuring that infamous grapefruit scene), The Roaring Twenties, and discs dedicated to The Petrified Forest (starring Bette Davis and Leslie Howard) and Little Caesar (starring Edward G. Robinson). All of the films can be purchased individually, but do yourself a favor and lay out the dough for the set. It's not expensive, and it's well worth your while.

Special features: The scary Leonard Maltin shows up for "Warner Night at the Movies," introducing news reels and movie trailers. I have to downgrade the special features a bit due to the presence of Maltin who gives me the creeps despite his admirable intentions to provide innocuous entertainment. (There's something behind his eyes...it's evil!) Film historians offer commentaries, and there are some really swell documentaries looking back at the movies. The vintage presentation is a lot of fun, and it's great to see these classics getting good treatment.

The villain next door

The Brak Show: Volume 1

Show:

Special features:

If you are a fan of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," "Sealab 2021," and especially "Space Ghost: Coast to Coast," alien avenger Brak's foray into cartoon sitcom land should appeal to you. Many of you might know the fa-headed Brak from his contribution to Space Ghost's "The Twelve Days of Christmas" (his part of the song was simply repeating "My name is Brak!" many, many times). He's a dim bulb with a heart of gold, and Cartoon Network put him into a show that positioned him as a sort of Beaver Cleaver with an alien mom, Latin lover dad and younger brother whose sole purpose is to walk through the occasional scene and fart.

Zorak the mantis, Space Ghost's band leader, shows up as an Eddie Haskell type who enjoys wrecking the neighbor's lawn and getting Brak in trouble with his parents. This one is for people whose sense of humor can best be described as bizarre or deranged. (I consider myself among this faction of the human population.) Brak often breaks into song, including a very moving ode to the potato and his favorite seafood restaurant.

Special features: On select episodes, Brak does commentary that cannot exactly be described as intellectual. The two-disc set also boasts Cartoon Planet segments featuring Space Ghost and Zorak, and "The Brak Show Starring Brak." One of the highlights of these segments would have to be Brak's moving ballad about his magic toenail, which is beyond description and just a little disturbing. Another would be a guest spot by Freddie Prinze Jr. who is picked up hitchhiking by Brak and then joins in a rousing rendition of "Driving Down Highway 40 in My Big Old Pick-Up Truck." This video segment comprises what will likely be the entertainment high point of Prinze's career.