Quick synopsis: When a young man’s blind ambition gets the best of him worlds collide as he turns his tiny conservative Catskills town into the stage for the Woodstock music festival. The protagonist Elliot (Demetri Martin) starts out with nothing but his optimism as he tries to save his parents’ motel and consequently becomes responsible for an event that defines his generation.

I never really know what to expect from Ang Lee, and I don’t mean whether or not I’ll enjoy the movie; I usually do, I mean his films run the gamut of movie genres. It’s hard to imagine the same person directing Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hulk and Brokeback Mountain. I can’t name anything they have in common besides Ang Lee. And I have to hand it to the guy, he definitely has a mastery of pacing, and Taking Woodstock is a perfect example. Even though it only ran two hours and one minute, it felt closer to two and a half hours.  Not because it was running slow at all, it actually has a very organic pacing to it. It’s that Lee manages to fit a great deal of events into the movie without it feeling rushed or forced into a standard movie length.

There were also some creatively used production elements that added greatly to creating the hectic and overwhelming energy of Woodstock. For instance the use of multi-channel video sprinkled into the movie letting you watch the actions of many people at once and giving you the sense that all of this movement and action surrounds you. Every now and again there were even some handheld shots enhancing the feelings of disorder happening behind the scenes of the legendary festival. The filmmakers did a hell of a job recreating Woodstock; since there were points where it switched to 8mm footage I was curious if they used any footage from the Woodstock documentary. Looking into it I found out that there wasn’t any use of actual Woodstock footage. They in fact created scenes with hundreds of cars going back for miles and fields of people; this movie has to break some kind of record for extras.

I think that some people who see the film might be upset that the musicians who played Woodstock are never actually shown and the music is only heard from a distance and never featured. I have to disagree with them. Lets be honest 95% of the people who went to Woodstock never got to actually see the bands. It’s about a shared experience of people who just wanted, even for 3 days, to be free. And without a doubt Taking Woodstock captures that search for freedom.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The problem lies in Smokehouse’s goals. The studio doesn’t plan on making Oscar-quality movies and not since Syriana has Clooney gotten the recognition that he’s received in the past. Granted, movies like Leatherheads and The Good German were decent, neither were considered for performance awards. The Good German got a Academy Award Nomination for Best Original Score, but lost to the contemporary Brokeback Mountain. Sony Co-Chairman Amy Pascal addressed this by saying, “We see real value in opening our doors to producers with their critical and commercial track record and their artistic point of view.”

In an interview with Nikki Finke, a Sony executive said, “You need to look no further than Sony’s track record with A-list talent like Adam Sandler and Will Smith to answer your question of why,” in regards to the why. Sony also plans on making available tools and executives “to develop the kind of material we all believe makes sense for Sony and its multilabel distribution strategy. Sony has Columbia, Screen Gems and Classics allowing for different kinds of films for different audiences.”

Hopefully, Clooney and Smokehouse prosper with under Sony’s helm. But, to be fair, Adam Sandler and Will Smith shouldn’t be anywhere near the same class as Clooney.

Source: FirstShowing.net

Now, the L.A Times have just reported that the Oscar will now be returned to Michelle Williams, Heath Ledger’s ex, to keep until his daughter Matilda is 18, to which it would then pass on to her. The Times stated: “We expect a representative of the Ledger estate to bring the statuette in tomorrow [or soon thereafter] so that the engraved plate can be affixed,” she said. “Soon after that, we expect the statuette [with engraved plate] to be delivered to Michelle Williams.”

Actor Heath Ledger was previously nominated for an Oscar for his role in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, for which he won Best Actor at the New York Film Critics Awards.

Source: Digital Spy

Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb will have a 45th anniversary Blu Ray release of the classic black comedy on June 16th.

This years Oscar nominated Rachel Getting Married will see it’s Blu Ray transfer hitting store shelves on March 10th.

Spike Lee’s divisive war epic Miracle At St. Anna comes to Blu Ray this February 10th.

Everyone’s ‘favorite’ Pretty Woman comes to your living room this February 10th.

Universal Studios will have The Fast and the Furious “trilogy” arriving on Blu Ray on March 24th.

Oscar nominee Bolt races to Blu Ray on March 22nd.

Following the HUGE Oscar snub, Brokeback Mountain will arrive at store in Blu Ray on March 3rd.

Still the only horror films to win Best Picture, Silence of the Lambs will storm out onto the Blu Ray format this March 3rd.

March 24th Criterion will release The 400 Blows and The Last Metro on to the Blu Ray format.

One of my personal favorite films Rounders will arrive on Blu ray this April 14th.

Everyone’s favorite spectral crime fighters will arrive on Blu Ray this June 1th when the Ghostbusters 25th anniversary occurs.

Clint Eastwoods Oscar nominated Changeling arrives on the Blu Ray format this February 17th.

The criminally underrated Role Models storms onto the Blu Ray front this March 10th.

The popular vampire film Let The Right One In arrives on Blu Ray this March 10th.

Ridley Scott’s Body Of Lies hits Blu ray shelves on February 17th.

Dustin Hoffman’s Oscar winning work in Kramer Vs. Kramer arrives on Blu Ray this February 17th.

Ichi The Killer comes in all it’s blood soaked glory on Blu ray on March 31st.

Richard Kelly’s fantastic Donnie Darko comes on Blu Ray this February 10th.

The Film:

The Dark Knight is the best modern film within this new century. I had to state that right off the bat, otherwise the rest of my review would’ve been read as a fan boy gush. It’s a rare film that defies categorization; it’s a big budgeted, studio tent pole film, but it isn’t. It’s an art film dressed up as pop culture. It’s a film that has been rarely seen in many years that excels on every front, it was the needle in a haystack. It shows that these big corporations are better off giving the money to artists who can orchestrate a virtuoso performance in the grandest of stages. Whatever preconceived feelings or expectations you have, it doesn’t matter to the Dark Knight; it’s a rousing, unpredictable experience from start to finish.

And then there’s Heath Ledger’s the Joker.

Quick assessment will be to have people concluding that he’s better than Jack Nicholson’s Joker from 1989′s Batman. It’s apparently true. His nervous ticks, his grand chaotic persona, will have people instantly in awe and in terror. Nicholson’s take was rooted in popular convention. It was one part the goofy, Andy Warhol-inspired clown played by Caesar Romero and the other part a noir influenced gangster. It was flashy and flamboyant; the perfect antithesis to bring in the 1990s. His Joker shot a dagger into the hearts of the materialistic, those practicing Reaganism, he eventually dispatched of. He attacked the rich in Batman (1989) by going after their greed. He was the 1990s before we had Nirvana and Gangsta Rap, before we saw the Rodney King beatings, all at a time before they existed. We just didn’t know it. It’s a good performance till this day, when viewed under its timeframe.

Ledger’s take is scary. If we use the model I presented Nicholson’s Joker in, then we really are in dark times. This new Joker can only exist in a post-9/11 America. Terrorism proves to be the catalyst that has opened up and ushered in a new world. ‘Welcome to a world without rules’ is the film’s marketing tagline. A statement so utterly true for the film and our current day and age, we are looking at ourselves in a mirror. They say the best art and artists show us what our lives are like. If that is the case, then the Joker has shown us what we and our world are becoming. He exists without origin, only here to create chaos, deform and possibly destroy society’s means and rules. He calls himself an agent of chaos and that is exactly what he brings. Nobody is left untouched by him; not Gordon, not Harvey Dent, not Batman, not the people of Gotham is spared his infliction. Ledger has left us untimely. He will not only be missed but will be never forgotten. His take on the Joker is so raw and unnerving, that once you get passed his odd speech pattern, his demented laugh, his reptilian ticks, you’ll realize that you haven’t been this terrified by a villain since Hannibal Lecter in 1992′s Silence of the Lambs. But you can’t look away. For it’s not the Knight’s Tale or the Oscar-nominated actor from Brokeback Mountain, it’s a man called the Joker, not Heath. Along with Hanz Zimmer’s unnerving theme for the Joker, he’s one villain that can firmly be placed with cinema’s best: Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter, and Norman Bates.

With such a soon-to-be iconic performance as a villain, the film’s other villain will be over-looked. It’s unfortunate because Aaron Eckhart portrays the doomed Harvey Dent with such gusto, his eventual turn is all that more heartbreaking. It’s no secret Dent’s fate; we all know it since the character has been around nearly 40 years, but the time and unpredictable direction Team Nolan takes with the character is near brilliant. Keeping the audience guessing when they already know the outcome is impossible, but the Nolan’s’ have executed that rare feat. Dent’s fall is so much more tragic than its climax. He stands as a mightier symbol of hope than Batman ever could. In Batman Begins, Bruce’s parents stood up against the cesspool and the criminals as ordinary people who wanted their actions to inspire other citizens. This is the seed that birthed Harvey Dent. He stands for morals and good, despite the times of increased dread and criminal activity. While Batman thought his appearance would do the same as it would eventually for Dent, it didn’t. What did the end of Batman Begins promise? Escalation. This is what Batman has brought to the table now.

Villains are more theatrical and are willing to step boundaries unbeknownst in a time before Batman. But in Dent’s Gotham, he is determined to halt these ideas. He can do what Batman cannot. Bruce understands this and is rewarded with an opportunity to see a Gotham unneeded of a Batman. Dent is a ray of hope. But remember when I said nobody goes unharmed by the Joker’s wrath of chaos? This is what brings the tragedy of Dent’s fall and new transformation. What a great character Eckhart’s Dent is.

It’s amazing that this film exists in the form it does. The Dark Knight is many things, but the one thing it is not is to be calling it a superhero film. I thought soon this genre would level off. I didn’t expect it to ascend to a higher plane not seen in a huge, big budgeted action film, made for marketing reasons and escapist entertainment. It is not a superhero film. It feels like an epic, Greek tragedy, with the trappings of a Martin Scorsese gangster film. In that sense, it’s the best crime drama since Casino. But it also evokes ideas and themes within its characters and running time that call to it that ever so cryptic word: art. Dressed up as a movie to help sell toys and t-shirts, it’s a film that has fully realized ideas, situations, and characters, worthy of classroom discussion. Its technique is exquisite. Its execution is flawless.

The Blu Ray:

Audio/Video: Do you think WB would mess this one up? Audio is fantastic. Loud, clear, aggressive use of the rear speakers, and quiet when it needs to be; the sound design was amazing in the film and it’s perfectly replicated here. A beautiful transfer; one that has incredible detail, richness, and clarity. Now the IMAX footage is represented so this means when the footage comes up your screen will be filled completely. But when the normal aspect ratio comes back you will get some black bars on top and on the bottom which preserves the correct IMAX presentation of The Dark Knight. It’s fantastic but I wanted to let you all know about that.

Disc 1:

Gotham Uncovered: Either viewed as one feature or broken up in a picture-in-picture pop up video form, we get a detailed look at the production of this large film. It isn’t as deep as one would hope, but it’s good enough…for right now.

Disc 2:

Batman Tech: Kind of an EPK, but its cool seeing all of the wonderful toys Bats gets to play with. In HD.

Batman Unmasked: I enjoyed this feature. Originally broadcasted on the History Channel, this uncovers using psychological jargon to get into the heads of Batman and his villains. Hardcore fans might know of this stuff already but it’s a good watch. In HD.

Gotham Tonight: A fake news program about Batman.

Galleries, Trailers, and BD-Live content round out the extras.

Disc 3:

Digital Copy

Conclusion: A superb film, a superb Blu Ray, and one easy recommendation to buy.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars