The 25th anniversary edition of Chinatown is being released on video and DVD later this month. Who wouldn't want this movie in their private collection? It is arguably the finest moment of the collective careers of Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, Roman Polanski and John Huston (as an actor). The film is preceded by 13 minutes of interviews with Polanski, producer Robert Evans and screenwriter Robert Towne. Though there are some interesting bits of trivia (many suggested Polanski cast Jane Fonda in Dunaway's role at the time), the interviews aren't as juicy as one hopes for. What about the notorious stories of Polanski and Nicholson's clashes with Dunaway? Polanski hints at it, saying Dunaway became obsessive about her makeup application--but the dirt stops there.
 There's more A&E Biography tripe out on video. Brian Wilson: A Beach Boy's Tale recounts the rather harrowing life of the rock icon, now widely proclaimed a musical genius. There have been numerous docs on Wilson, though most have attempted to gloss over his bad times. Though this doc feels somewhat more complete--including a fairly recent interview with Wilson in his current home, where he performs a couple of songs for the camera--Biography episodes are only an hour long, hardly enough time to map out this man's intensely complicated life story.

--Matthew Hays