When DON JUAN came out in 1926, it lasted 110 minutes. If you drank too many beverages from the concession stand, you probably had to miss 20 minutes in the middle of it standing in line for the Powder Room (especially if you arrived early to get a good seat and watch the shorts). DON JUAN was before my time (though I recently saw DON JON with Joseph Gordon-Levitt at the multiplex), but I still remember suffering through a similar ordeal during my maiden voyage on TITANIC (and it literally felt like I could have floated that sinking vessel all by myself by the end of the movie!). I'm sure I would have enjoyed a 12-minute version of TITANIC more, and I would have been a heck of a lot more comfortable. (Who can remember MORE than 10 minutes worth of TITANIC scenes, anyway?) This version of DON JUAN lasts 11 minutes, which, if my math is right, means you save 90% of the viewing time! What's not to like about saving time? Plus this DON JUAN variation probably has a lot more snappier commentary than it did when it first came out. Instead of the studios making us pay an exorbitant sum for nine or ten sets of tickets, drinks, and popcorn buckets in order to be prepped for Oscar night, WHY NOT have the top studios collaborate to do a 10-minute version of each best picture nominee similar to SOME OF THE GREATEST to play in one reasonable length stretch at all the multiplexes a week before Awards Night? If SOG narrator Don Wiest is retired or passed on, let someone who sounds like Jean Shepherd, the voice of grown Ralphie from A CHRI$TMAS STORY, do it. Include intermission, of course!
Review of Some of the Greatest
