Thursday, September 3, 2009

HATE IT! New Last Days of Disco DVD Art


'Last Days of Disco' is one of my all-time FAVOURITE movies!! Yes, I love it that much! It's this brilliantly acted slice of Manhattan life in the late 70s/early 80s when disco was taking its last glittery gasp. 

It's never been officially confirmed but the movie hints that the 'Club' so rabidly attended in the story was a pseudo take on the famous Studio 54 in NYC - all decadent, hard-to-get-into velvet rope fun. Kate Beckinsale portrays an overtly snotty bitch of a girl. A passive aggressive bully to her supposed bestie played by Chloe Sevingy. The gals toil by day mired in their first proper post-college jobs in book publishing as lowly paid assistants, while by night they faithfully dance, drink & make the scene at the 'Club.' Who cares if you make next to nothing during office hours when you can feel important enough at night to skip the line up at the hottest nightclub in the city? It definitely helps when you know who runs the joint!

Anyone who loves a film with a wickedly brilliant script will adore this movie. It's clever, laugh out loud funny and features one of the best soundtracks of the era. An all around terrific movie -- one that I can watch (and do) over and over...and over again. You know you have it bad when you & your best friend can relay the dialogue back and worth with the greatest of ease.

So it was of great interest to me to see that Criterion, the movie distribution company with a rep for handling arty, critically acclaimed movies, was releasing an edition of 'Last Days of Disco'. The new issue includes the trailer, deleted scenes, a making of featurette and more! All good!! But...they kinda took a giant stumble with the cover art. It's HORRID!

Check it out. The original cover was graced by a colourful screenshot of Kate and Chloe in character doing the hustle or some other disco-centric strut. Makes sense, right? Well, the Criterion re-do (on the right) has this pale, craggy looking drawing. It's supposed to be Kate and Chloe taken from a scene in the club's ladies room. Its style is out of place. It looks like it's from the 1920s or something. It's dreadful! It sends the wrong impression about this lively, engaging movie. From this questionable 'art', this film could be about prohibition! No drugs or alcohol, or sex here! For a movie company that gets it right so many times, how on earth did they get this one so wrong?

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