# But I don't want to give up my VCR! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 21, 2002, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-i-dont-want-to-give-up-my-vcr/115291 "2002-06-21T16:35:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-i-dont-want-to-give-up-my-vcr/115291/61 "2002-06-25T18:04:03Z")
Ditto for the commentaries. At their best, commentaries illuminate the director’s intent, as in the John Borrman commentary on the **Zardoz** DVD. His comments helped me understand exactly what he was trying to say in the movie, which certainly cleared up a lot of questions I had. I also enjoy the scholarly commentaries, especially for foreign movies which contain cultural references that are alien to an American viewer. Michael Jeck’s commentary on **Seven Samurai** is outstanding. Ditto for the commentaries from film historians on the Universal monster films. I find film history and scholarship, not to mention good old Hollywood gossip, endlessly fascinating. I also enjoy documentaries. Sometime they’re just promotional fluff, as in the HBO: First Look puff pieces on **A Knight’s Tale** and **Independence Day** , but sometimes they are fascinating glimpses into the creative process, as in the **Full Tilt Boogie** documentary on the second disk of the 2-disc **From Dusk Til Dawn** DVD, or the documentary on the **Hedwig and the Angry Inch** DVD, **Whether You Like It or Not: The Story of Hedwig** , whcih covers the evolution of **Hedwig** from a solo performance piece performed at a drag club in Greenwich Village to an Off-Broadway musical to a motion picture. I am a full-on DVD addict! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/but-i-dont-want-to-give-up-my-vcr/115291.md?page=3)