396 - Ace in the Hole

[criterionmaster]

One of the most scathing indictments of American culture ever produced by a Hollywood filmmaker, Academy Award–winner Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole is legendary for both its cutting social critique and its status as a hard-to-find cult classic. Kirk Douglas gives the fiercest performance of his career as Chuck Tatum, an amoral newspaper reporter caught in dead-end Albuquerque who happens upon the story of a lifetime—and will do anything to ensure he gets the scoop. Wilder’s follow-up to Sunset Boulevard is an even darker vision, a no-holds-barred exposé that anticipated the rise of the American media circus.

- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Audio commentary by film scholar Neil Sinyard
- Portrait of a "60% Perfect Man": Billy Wilder, a 1980 documentary featuring in-depth interviews with Wilder by film critic Michel Ciment
- Excerpts from a 1986 appearance by Wilder at the American Film Institute
- Excerpts from an audio interview with co-screenwriter Walter Newman
- Theatrical trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring new essays by film critic Molly Haskell and filmmaker Guy Maddin

[criterionmaster]

What the fuck is up with you retards ? Am I the only one so excited about this release? I mean, Billy Wilder (The Apartment), coming to Criterion! What is not to be happy about? Reading the plot I got even more excited about this film, it sounds awesome. I have always wanted to see more Wilder, as I have only seen two, Some Like It Hot and The Apartment, so this is my perfect chance. As the synopsis says it is super rare, which makes me even happier it is getting a proper release.

The features sound surprisingly really good, especially for a one-disc. So tell me, am I the only one who wants to see this or something?

I know my dad is happy about this as well, as one of his favorite directors is Wilder.

[criterionmaster]

i just read on the net that spike lee is on this commentary, i wonder why. i for one might just blind buy this, even though i have no money. it looks sooo good. anyone else going to check this out?

[eatawiiner]

Ima get it off Amazon since its only $25 there.

[criterionmaster]

i might have to talk my dad into buying it for me off there.

edit: www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews32/ace_in_the_hole.htm

[Clark Nova]

time for more of my ramblings:

police386 said:

Scathing indictment of media overhype and journalistic practice? Is the sky blue? All you need to do is look at how this likely no-story of guy-trapped-in-a-mine becomes a spectacle, with the carnival music and the 25 cent to $1 admission to the ferris wheel and merry-go-round to the concession stands, to see why media companies were none too pleased with Mr. Wilder when this was released. I'd like to use that ridiculous building up of the rescue and the circus it becomes as a criticism that the movie's over-the-top, but isn't this exact thing happening as we speak with those miners in Utah? Let's face it...we crave the bad news and the spectacle and the bizarre and the extraordinary, and Wilder hit it right on the head. All the ridiculousness going on outside is made even more scathing when compared to Minosa's slow deterioration inside the cave, which Wilder portrays with the utmost seriousness. It reminded me of the contrast between the dark humor and the bloody surgeries in MASH. It's movies like this and The Apartment where Wilder finds a balance between humor, bleak cynicism, and dead-serious indictment of the American way.

And Kirk doesn't chew the scenery in this movie. He bites off the scenery's head, shits it out, and has sex with the newly-formed orifice in the scenery's bloody torso. Sometimes it works perfectly with the just as over-the-top hype surrounding the cave "rescue", sometimes he overdoes it so much the movie loses that tiny ounce of realism it had in the first place, to the movie's detriment. What I really liked about his performance, though, was how he and Wilder never quite revealed whether his gradual urge to get Minosa out of there means he actually cares for the man, whether he just wants fame and his beloved New York job more and more, or a combination of the two. A lesser director and screenwriter would've gone the easy way and make Chuck learn the error of his ways and see the light, but ambiguity's the name of the game here, despite the more than obvious ridiculousness of what you see evolve in this sleepy little town. As typically over-the-top he is, Chuck Tatum has a surprising amount of depth as the story goes along, conniving, manipulation, beating Minosa's wife not withstanding.

9/10