The Day the Earth Stood Still Blu-Ray Review

 

The Film:

The Day the Earth Stood Still is as good as any sci-fi film should be. It has brains, cleverness, and is just a well-told story. Repeated viewings enhance some interesting subtext, like parallels to Christ and Klaatu. But really what it comes down to, and always will, in my opinion is the strength of its story and Day the Earth Stood Still has aged very well.

I imagine in the 1950s this film was absolutely scary. What’s amazing is the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan for the political and military reasons, but the fallout in cinema was one of constant fear. If more men had more bombs like we did during WWII, the inevitable discussion of the extinction of the human race due to nuclear holocaust is a subject a lot of sci-fi films discuss. It’s a fascinating hook for a film, and while some have used it for hokier reasons, the way Robert Wise handles the subject is very serious. Humans are so violent that aliens have taken a keen interest in our lives because of the Bomb. Klaatu gives us a warning and then the ultimatum, one of sci-fi’s best endings, Day the Earth Stood Still is classic in every sense of the word.

Of course, there’s a lot of fun to be had here. Seeing Gort do some damage early on is fun, seeing Klaatu interact with humans and grow fond of them is another highlight, and the awesome Bernard Herrmann Theremin score is a blast. The best part of the film is the absolute lack of action. While Gort does laser away some soldiers, the film is more of an idea film, then a sci-fi adventure one. If it’s been awhile or if you unfortunately haven’t seen Day the Earth Stood Still do yourself a favor and see it now.

 

The Blu Ray:

Audio/Video: Presented in its original mono track or a new DTS/DD 5.1 mix, both are good, but will not impress like a newer film. I would recommend either as they are both clear and clean, with no hiss or pops. Day is still a 1.33:1 film but the high def clean up and transfer is pretty good. Little to no damage and the contrast and clarity is high. 

Interactive Theremin: This is a Blu Ray exclusive and it’s kind of gimmicky but worth a glance. Basically you try to make your own score, using the Theremin.

Gort Command!: Another Blu Ray exclusive, here you play as Gort and the object is to kill soldiers or tanks using your remote. It plays like a flash game and is somewhat fun for a while and gets old.

Commentary: Nicholas Meyer (Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan) sits down and does a question-and-answer session with Robert Wise. It’s a great track. 

Commentary 2: Featuring some historians, this track focuses on the score and the history of the Theremin and how it’s been used in the film. It’s decent, a little dry but worth a listen to once.

Isolated Score: Purely focuses on Herrmann’s great score in mono.

The Mysterious, Melodious Theremin: Runs about 12 minutes, this neat piece is a history and visual presentation of the curious musical instrument.

Main Title Live: Here, Peter Pringle who hosted the above piece performs the main title theme live using the Theremin.

“Farewell to the Master”: This is really cool although devote some free time for it. We have an audio reading of the original short story that influenced Day the Earth Stood Still and goes in three sections and runs 97 minutes. Awesome.

Decoding Klaatu Barada Nikto: This piece puts historical context to the film and why it was relevant in the ‘50s. Neat feature.

Behind-the-Scenes: Unfortunately the older version on DVD had an awesome 90-minute making of and while that wasn’t ported over for this release, this feature is okay in its own right filled with interviews and while it’s light, it’s still worth watching.

Brief History of Flying Saucers: Authors, facts, photos, historians all line up to give us a look at UFOs. Fun.

The Astounding Harry Bates: Gives tribute to the author of the short story.

Edmund North: Man Who Made the Earth Stand Still: Pays tribute to the screenwriter.

Race to Oblivion: Here’s a cool extra. It’s a short by Edmund North, like a documentary, about disarming the nukes with interviews from a Hiroshima survivor. Cool and relevant to the film. I wish DVD producers would think about including cool things like this more often.

Press kit, Trailers, and a First Look at the remake round out the extras.

Conclusion: 

A masterpiece of sci-fi filmmaking and an absolute must-own Blu Ray. 

Rating:

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Blu-ray

The Flick

If you are buying a ticket to see Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and are expecting anything more than what the series has given us before, you will be really let down. On the other hand, if you can handle the over-blown action, inept logic, and silly exposition, then I think you’ll have a decent time. Back in 1999, The Mummy was unleashed and it is over-reliance on computer graphics, it was a fun summer flick, nothing more, nothing less. I’m sure Boris Karloff would’ve been rolling in his grave at the way they inserted action and fantasy over a creepy drama like his film was back in 1932, but subtleness was never Stephen Sommers. I enjoyed the first film but with TBS and TNT abusing the film every other weekend, I have grown tired of the movie and really haven’t watched it all the way through in many years.

So when Mummy Returns came out I was excited. At that time I was a fan of the Rock and having enjoyed the first film I was anticipating the sequel. ‘Returns’ had numerous problems. Basically, rehashing the formula, adding even more action set pieces and capping it off, was some of the worst computer graphics ILM has ever done. I mean it’s embarrassingly bad. I would’ve taken my name off of it if I was one of the technicians. Back then I disliked the Mummy Returns and that was when I didn’t know much about film, only that if it was fun, I liked it. I hate the film still. So after 8 long years, is it worth having a third ‘Mummy’ movie? No, but at least this film is better than ‘Mummy Returns’ for whatever that’s worth.

I think the switch from Egyptian mummies to Chinese mummies is a clever one. Jet Li being cast as the villain is highly inspired. Returning most of the key cast except Rachael Weisz (in is Maria Bello) and having better CGI has helped the matter that we have a third ‘Mummy’ film. I feel sorry for anyone who hasn’t seen the original 1932 classic; these films are so far removed a modern kid won’t appreciate that film. I hope this is the last of these Universal monster remakes, because we need these creatures to be scary again and steeped in atmosphere (hopefully, next year’s Wolfman will be).

Being a ‘Mummy’ film will get the corny exposition at the beginning on how this mummy became one and what ancient curse has set him in his grave. Cut scene to where we find him, traps go off, people die PG-13 style, and he’s awaken. Computer generated mayhem ensues, big CGI armies fight, Rick saves the day. Simple story and just follows the basic formula that this series is. There’s little to explain. Any fan of the series knows what they are getting into.

The film does have some inspired sequences, like the Yeti fight and some moments here and there, but it just feels tired. Given a location and culture, there could’ve been some more inspired scenes. Jet Li is really wasted; he’s no Im Ho Tep (Arnold V). He’s just a cardboard cutout villain, and sorry Li, anyone Chinese man could’ve played him. Tell the truth, everything is basically one-dimensional. There’s no development, only an interesting beginning in which Evey has written some books on the Mummies and Rick is bored, but that’s it. Their son from ‘Returns’ is grown up and they could’ve picked a better actor. He delivers lines with odd beats as if he is reading them off of cue cards.

Alex: ‘Follow my lead.’
Lin: ‘No. I have a dagger that must be put in his heart.’
Alex: ‘Okay. (pauses) Let’s do it your way.’

See? Just awkward and clunky. There’s a lot of dialogue like that in the film. Not saying the first had dialogue worthy of a thespian, but it’s really noticeable in this film.

One huge complaint is the jokes. I’m fine with Brendan Fraser yelling his one-liners around, but when a Yeti kicks a man in the butt and he sails over a post and another Yeti raises his hands like a football referee to signal ‘touchdown’, I have a problem with that. First of all, they’re Yeti. Second, it’s 1948ish. Thirdly, they’re Yeti! How do they know football? Fourthly, football was barely a third tier sport Americans liked back then. Fifthly, they are YETI!

Okay, so logic and good dialogue aren’t a ‘Mummy’ film’s strong point. Regardless, if you know what you are getting into, it’s a decent, semi-fun, time waster. Hopefully, it’s the last of this series (although they hint at Peru mummies) but Cohen did do a decent job directing. It’s the ‘kitchen sink’ approach; everything is thrown in. Put every bit of ideas the writers had, a balls-out approach and one can’t possibly not be mildly amused. Just realize that this is a third film in a ridiculous franchise and you might be sort of entertained. I know mainstream critics will tear this one down.

The Blu-Ray

Disc 1

Deleted Scenes:  This is one of the better deleted scenes sections I’ve seen in a while.  There are a handful of cool scenes that I think should have been left in the flick.  

The Making of:  This is a pretty comprehensive making of feature that includes lots of behind the scenes footage combined with interviews of the cast and crew to create a pretty detailed look at how the flick was put together.  

From City to Desert:  This short feature chronicles the movies locations, taking a look at how the filmmakers moved from Canada to China.  

Other features on the disc include The Legacy of the Terra Cotta,  a Commentary Track with director Rob Cohen, and a handful of U-Control games that I didn’t really delve into.  

Disc 2 

Call to Action:  Just a short feature that shows the characters in the film and some of the casting footage.  

Preparing for Battle:  This feature focuses on the stunts used in the film, and the fight choreography There’s also Jet Li: Crafting the Emperor that shows how the effects for the Emperor mummy were done, Creating New and Supernatural Worlds which focuses on the production design, and the now prerequisite digital copy of the film.  

 

This blu-ray looked great, the picture was beautiful, and the colors were vibrant.  If your a fan of this flick or just want a fun popcorn movie to throw in the player then this disc isn’t a bad choice, definitely worth a rental.

The Dark Knight blu ray review

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:

Day of the Dead (2008) Blu Ray review

 

The Film:

Am I a traditionalist? Or have this generation of zombie films forgot about a little thing called rigor mortis? Ever since 28 Days Later made their infected run, many other films about zombies have used this angle like it’s a reinvigorating idea to jump start the genre. Whatever, they say, but zombie movies have made such a huge impact in horror lately it’s hard to even think back when there was a year in horror without a zombie film. I’m all for it as the zombie subgenre is one of my favorites, but for every Shaun of the Dead or Fido we get a handful of crap. This brings me to Day of the Dead (2008), a loosely based remake of the controversial George A. Romero film from 1985. First of all, a special note to filmmakers who are remaking a Romero film: stop it, you just don’t understand Romero’s work.

While Romero’s Day of the Dead isn’t a classic, it’s still a fabulous apocalyptic tale of humanity at its worst. Romero explore ideas within the construct of a zombie film and that what makes his films worthwhile to watch and what has made them stand the test of time. Grabbing a few basic elements from the Romero film, this rancid remake in name only, fails at anything new or fresh and is ultimately, a slap in the face to Romero.

The film begins with some teenagers in a secluded area, getting ready to practice premarital sex, which plays out like a Friday the 13th scenario while an outbreak of a cold/flu spreads in this small Colorado town. The scene feels odd within the zombie film. It’s a Steve Miner specialty though, as he has directed the first two Friday the 13th sequels and Halloween: H2O. As they head home the military has already declared martial law within the town and soon the symptoms turn the sick into zombies.

The film has many flaws; some that are so glaring it’s funny to think this film was flirting with a theatrical release. The look of the film feels like an episode of 24, with its shaky camera technique and is edited like a Saw film, creating a cheap, gimmick-like approach to a film low on scares or suspense. But that’s the least of the film’s problems.

Blame Miner or the screenwriter, but the film has no direction. Does it want to be a siege film or an action horror film? Are they dead or infected? For the latter, there’s scene in which mimics Night of the Living Dead, in where a group of unrelated people take up shelter in a radio station, arguing about what to do, then it cuts back to the military blasting countless rounds into zombie with explosions plenty. As for the zombies, they flirt with them being the undead, and then there are scenes in which they are highly mobile like their maybe infected. I don’t know and neither does the filmmakers. It goes back to what I opened with, do filmmakers of zombie movies forget about rigor mortis because the zombies here leap and jump like Spider-Man to no rhyme or reason. On a side note, what’s with the DVD cover? A zombie puking? See? They have no clue to what type of zombie movie they are making.

The next big flaw is casting. Mena Suvari is cast as a tough-as-nails army officer, pushing believability to a near high (on par with casting Denise Richards as a nuclear scientist in World’s Not Enough). She’s game though and to be honest gives it her all, but this is no offense to her, she’s cast against type and it does not work. But, my friends, I will take her over Nick Cannon’s horrible acting. A common problem with casting rappers/singers as actors is that they play themselves, adding no depth to their character. While that would be hard since the film is written so shallow, but Cannon adds groan-inducing one-liners like ‘that was kinda gangsta’ and adds an unneeded racial tension that adds no subtext or value in doing so. He’s horrible. Noticed how I didn’t mention the always awesome Ving Rhames? Exactly.

I’m not down on direct-to-DVD zombie films, as I enjoyed the brainless Flight of the Living Dead a lot, but I am opposed to zombie films like Day of the Dead. It’s an amateurish, clichéd, unoriginal film, not to mention that is tarnishes Romero’s brand. It’s one to avoid and champion to show future filmmakers of Romero’s work that they just don’t get it.

 

The Blu Ray:

Audio/Video: The audio is pretty aggressive and has some solid bass. It’s more of an action picture than a horror film, so the audio is reflective of that. Good mix all around. Unfortunately, the picture isn’t up to stuff. Its okay, a smidge better than standard def, but it’s of low stock so it’s grainy in low light scenes. Don’t expect much, I’ve seen  enough Blu Ray to know if the production has a low budget the Blu Ray looks as average as you can in high def.

Photo Gallery: the only extra in HD.

Commentary: A gathering of the actors and director, while an average track, there is some boredom here. They laugh at all the dumb Nick Cannon jokes, which makes me vomit.

On the Set: This is better than the commentary as it’s more of a fly-on-the-wall look at the set pieces of Day of the Dead. About 14 minutes.

Conclusion: It’s a bad film and not the one to laugh and joke at either. First Look Pictures gives an okay high def presentation for those (Who?) interested.

Rating:

Narnia: Prince Caspian Blu Ray review

The Film:

Adapting a classic book to the film world will always generate conversation about the merits of the translation and how well the filmmakers did in doing so. What most fans of a book do not know or possibly think about is that they are two different mediums, each with its own rules to succeeding. Someone like C.S. Lewis, who writes in thick brush strokes, allows a film translation easily, I believe, for the filmmakers who can improvise certain elements Lewis just hints at. After reading the book, then seeing the movie, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was a really good adaptation and a fun fantasy movie. Prince Caspian as it is, is a bit of a bore, an average attempt at its translation.

For those who have not read the book but seen the first movie, this one begins with the four children, now a bit older, still struggling to adapt in the real life, after their glorious reign in Narnia. Suddenly, they’re whisked away to what appears to be Narnia, except something is different. As they go about they discover that this place is in fact Narnia, but centuries older, and unfortunately, the old Narnia is long gone. King Miraz now reigns and almost all of Narnia’s creatures are gone or in seclusion. The children learn that King Miraz has seized the throne and has planned an attack on Narnians and Narnia’s true king, Prince Caspian.

One of Prince Caspian’s flaws is the lack of character development on Prince Caspian. In the book, there was this chapter on him, his back story, and how he became a believer of Old Narnia and Aslan. Here, he’s whiney and unsure and you never get the feeling like he’ll become a good leader. He really has no arc; it’s Peter who makes him the rightful King, a gesture that further strengthens Peter’s character but undermines Caspian. In the book, Caspian is taught about old Narnia from his teacher, Doctor Cornelius. Here we get the sense of old Narnia’s last chance at a revival, the purpose of Caspian and his mission, but in the film this is completely wiped away, as Cornelius is barely in the film and no back story on Caspian like I’ve mentioned.

Ben Barnes does a good job with such a shallow character that’s poorly written. Some have said Prince Caspian is one of the weaker Narnia novels, but if it is or isn’t, this is no fault of Lewis that the film adaptation is. Where characterization should have been, added fights sequences come about. Now, this is visually spectacular with all sorts of beasties going at it. Adamson coming from the animation world delivers some thrilling fights, but the film’s added darkness and lack of characterization does a disservice to these sequences. Certainly the plight of the Narnians is somber and dark, but one of the reasons Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe worked was that it feels different than recent fantasy films. Here, I kept getting the sense that this was a mirror version of Two Towers from the Lord of the Rings.

Such a proclaim about Prince Caspian isn’t unwarranted, as Lewis and Tolkien were friends and often discussed literature with one another, but does the film have to be so closely resembling the Oscar-winning trilogy? The look of the film feels recycled and so does the basic premise of war. Adamson adds a level of violence that challenges the MPAA’s decision on its PG rating; so much so, I am puzzled by Disney’s feelings on this. They let it go, obviously. I feel here the darkness and senseless violence hinder this particular franchise. The first film had magic, great characters, and Lewis’ message was there to be had for those listening. In Prince Caspian is almost drowned out by the film’s uneven tone and balance. It’s a slow start that hurries to action, only to pause for an uninteresting romantic tangent.

Not all is lost though, as WETA and KNB Effects do a marvelous job on CG and creature make-up. One such example is the seduction of Caspian in order to have the White Witch set free. The creatures are menacing, the effects marvelous, and her brief appearance is a highlight, recreating that magic seemingly lost here in Prince Caspian. The score is also thunderous and eventful.

Despite my apparent disappointment with Prince Caspian, something tells me that this might be better with repeated viewings. There are elements at the end here that could lead to a more developed Prince Caspian, something I’m eager to see, considering he is so one-dimensional in this film. Prince Caspian didn’t sink the franchise’s ship-there are a lot of good moments-but it has set it in idle and now thanks to a less than stellar box office performance, we might not get further Narnia adventures. If we get Voyage of the Dawn Treader in a few years, I hope for a directorial change, if only to get fresh eyes to the subject matter. No offense to Adamson, he does direct the heck out of the picture, but I think a fresh approach would be welcomed.

 

The Blu Ray:

Audio/Video: The DTS HD 7.1 audio track is superb. There are absolutely no flaws in this track. The use of channels makes the sound come from all directions, fully immersing you in the action. The picture is equally as amazing. Disney is the best studio releasing Blu Rays and it’s no different here. It sounds like a broken record, but it’s all true. This is a beautiful disc.

Disc 1:

Commentary: Director Andrew Adamson sits with the five stars of the film for a decent chat about all facets of the film, from story to action. It’s lighthearted and informative, so if you into commentary tracks, I say it’s worth a listen.

Circle-Vision Interactive: This is one of those pop-up text tracks but with a lot of featurettes to go through. I guarantee you to see them all you’ll be spending hours upon hours, or visiting through it twice. Fun, interactive, but overwhelming.

Disc 2:

Inside Narnia: This is your making-of feature and it’s really good. Must watch.

Sets of Narnia: Runs 23 minutes and gives us a deeper look at the set building and CG sets.

Big Movie Comes to Small Town: Talks about working on location in Bovac. It’s a different feature, so check it out. We see so many typical extras so it’s nice to see something different.

Pre-Visualization Narnia: Details the CGI work of the film. Short and sweet.

Talking Animals and Walking Trees: A really short look at the CG animals and other Narnia critters.

Becoming Trumpkin: Make-up work on Warwick Davis on his character.

Bloopers: Some fun stuff to look at. Typical flubs and stuff.

Deleted Scenes: Nothing special was deleted for the film, sadly.

Disc 3:

Digital Copy

Conclusion: I’m a little disappointed with the film, but Disney’s Blu Ray is beyond stellar! Marvelous job and worth the purchase if you love Narnia no matter what I say or completists. All others should rent.

Rating:

Step Brothers Unrated Blu Ray

The Film:

I have been down on Will Ferrell as of late. While this might be blasphemy to many, I really haven’t enjoyed much of his theatrical work since he left SNL. I’m not counting bit parts either, but full leading man vehicles. I did enjoy Elf but that’s perhaps more the script and Favreau than Ferrell. But boy, do I love John C. Reilly. If you’ve been reading this site within the last two months, you should know that I loved a little dark comedy many critics dismissed, The Promotion. While that was a dark comedy, Reilly is no stranger to zany, goof fests like this. Essentially, that’s what ‘Step Brothers’ is.

At a board meeting, Robert (Richard Jenkins) eyes Nancy (Mary Steenburgen) and soon falls in love, have sex, and realizes they have more in common that lust: they both have 40 year old boys at home. Soon Brennan and Dale become step brothers and then the war is on. From here, we get plenty of gross out gags, hilarious one-liners (perhaps my favorite bits of comedy in this film are their wildly odd quips), and other typical Ferrell comedy elements. McKay has directed Farrell in two others, the over-rated Anchor Man and Talladega Nights so he’s familiar with Ferrell’s antics. For the most part, they highlight all of the things that made Ferrell work on ‘SNL’. He plays a boyish, vulnerable idiot; yes, it’s different than his cocky idiots he’s been playing for like five movies now, and it feels oddly refreshing to see him ‘back’.

To me, though, it’s Reilly’s show to steal. He’s a more cynical, meaner; version of Ferrell’s character, but completely lovable. He also has the funnier moments and quips, like when the two of them are called in to be interviewed for a job, he proudly proclaims ‘We’re here to f*ck shit up!’ as then, in slow motion, walk towards the office, knocking over papers and pushing the employees around.

The success of this film lives or dies by its comedy. If it’s funny, then it wins, if it isn’t then we lose. Fortunately, it’s hilarious, although, there are some ideas and jokes that don’t work. Both get love interests that seem to be pulled out of nowhere, although Dale’s is sort of funny that goes nowhere. Brennan’s brother and his family parts are uninspired as it the blind neighbor bit. When they do ‘grow’ up, it’s there to push the finale along. We don’t buy it and it seems forced. But who cares. Ferrell and Reilly are a great comedic team, they play off each other like they are best buds and we enjoy seeing them together. The film is wildly funny, but not with out some duds. Not one of the summer’s funniest, but one that is funny, and that’s enough for me.

 

The Blu Ray:

Audio/Video: Audio-wise there’s some nice surround ambience and everything is loud and crisp making this a decent track. Video-wise, we get a solid presentation but it’s soft in many regards. Nothing bad as that’s the way it’s shot, but making little use of the potential here in HD.

Disc 1

Commentary: Scored by Jon Brion, yes, a commentary track that has a score. It’s just one element of one really, really funny track. I won’t spoil all of the goodies, but Ferrell and Reilly tear it up. It might get tired towards the end, but hey, more fun tracks like this could be a nice new extra.

Deleted Scenes and Extended Scenes: As of late, I really haven’t been a fan of deleted scenes, mostly because they were cut for a reason. Here with Ferrell and Reilly improvising, there’s a lot of funny material to see. Defiantly worth seeing.

BD-Live: You basically remix that video they did for the film and can upload to the online community for all to see. Filler, but unique.

Trailers

Disc 2:

Gag Reel: Again with all the improvisation, we see like one scene redone a hundred times with new material. Pretty funny.

Job Interviews: Again more improvisation with different takes when they were going for jobs in the film.

Prestige Worldwide and Boats and Hoes: Full videos of these in their entirety.

Dale vs. Brennan: A montage of all the insults they hurl at each other before they fight. Just watch the film again.

Making of Step Brothers: The longest extra at 20 or so minutes, this is basically interviews with the cast and crew talking about the jokes and the easy-going attitude on the set.

L’Amour en Caravane: A gag feature of sorts with a romantic telling of Richard Jenkins and Mary Steenburgen’s affair. Watch for Ted Danson and Larry David!

Charlyne Moves In: Another gag feature that has Judd Apatow telling Charlyne Yi to live on set as they are filming Step Brothers. Odd, somewhat funny, but we’re just adding things to the disc now…

Music of Step Brothers: Too long for one, but here they inform us on the score, which I’m always glad to learn about the scoring process but this is for Step Brothers, so 18 minutes is too much.

Red Band Trailer

Conclusion: The movie is pretty funny; some jokes work, some don’t. But with the added extras, even though there’s a lot, it makes this Blu Ray a definite rental or for fans of these guys an easy purchase.

Rating:

Wanted DVD/BluRay review

 

The Film

Wanted is like an energy drink. You have a couple and then you’re wired, fidgeting, hyper, and when you come down, you’re sluggish enough to say “whatever”; you had your fun. Anyone expecting anything else from a summer film directed by Timur Bekmambetov, is gravely mistaken or stupid.

Bekmambetov has officially arrived in America, after directing some cool, albeit copycatting films from Russia. Night Watch and Day Watch are a lot of fun, creating some fun twists on vampires, but the films are visually compelling for their inventive subtitles and extremely hyper action set pieces. Although, he and the films wouldn’t have existed without The Matrix.

Wanted plays out like the fun 1980s action films we all love, but with incredible action set pieces, one topping the next, all ending in an orgy of bullets and mayhem. From the opening assassination, you’ll either be on board or not; the film just throws you into its world without warning or explanation. Visually, the film is the next possible step from Bekmambetov’s Russian films. Perhaps, he has evolved from the Matrix bullet-time effects to the next step too, something other copycats and even the Wachowskis couldn’t do.

While the nature of filmmaking is the suspension of disbelief, the story could’ve been more thought out as we are expected to handle its convoluted narrative. We can handle the far-out, gravity defying action, but when you tell us these secret assassins get the “To Kill” list from ancient weavers in a textile factory’eh, um, right. To be fair, Wanted is based on a comic/graphic novel, but from what I heard, the film is far removed from the comic. Despite the cornball plot, all of this is made easier to handle from a very game James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, and Angelina Jolie.

McAvoy handles this balance between an office wimp, who’s being cheated on by his girlfriend, being verbally abused by his boss, but is trapped, until he discovers the Fraternity. We’re with him as he transforms, and he does have some great lines of dialogue. Freeman plays his typical teacher role, but the script gives him some fun twists on that character. While Jolie isn’t anything special here, her presence carries the one note character as only she can.

But everything comes down to Timur’s outlandish action set pieces. He is only competing with himself, and if you’ve seen the trailer you kind of know what to expect, but he saves some incredible stuff for you as well. I think what he captures here is a better sense of a fun action film, without the wink, wink like Shoot Em Up had. Just don’t expect anything more than to see a raging, film version of our ID. Like I said it’s like an energy drink; hyper and fun when you’re on it, but after the come down, you’ll likely be worn out and nonchalant about the proceedings.

The Disc

Audio:  The audio sounds amazing. 

Video:  The video is extremely impressive. 

Special Features

Alternate Openning: This scene was pretty cool, but I like the opening from the theatrical cut better than this one.  

Cast of Characters: This is a pretty boring feature that shows the cast explaining the characters in the film.  Not that exciting.  

Extended Scenes:  There is really just one of McAvoy’s training scenes in the extended section, sorta weak.

The Art of the Impossible: A neat feature that illustrates how some of the special effects in the film were done.

Bringing the Graphic Novel to Life:  This feature shows how closely the filmmakers followed the graphic novel.  Not the best feature on here, but fun none the less.  

The Making of Wanted: The Game: In this feature developers talk about how they made the video game based on the movie, but that’s all they do, they don’t really show game footage.  Again, sorta weak.

There is also a U-Control feature, and a Motion Comics feature narrated by McAvoy and a few other BD features as well.  This is a fun movie, but the features were pretty weak overall.

Rating:

Southland Tales Blu Ray review

The Film:

Certain movies create situations in which everyone has an opinion of what the movie is about, is it good or bad, a vision or a mess. Sometimes, that’s a fine line to put an audience in. Reading reviews for Southland Tales is as good as seeing the movie. Nobody knows what the film is, much like the film, but each review is pretty entertaining like the film. Most people have considered it a complete disaster, a horrendous movie. Few have openly admitted to liking it. I wasn’t a fan like many were of Donnie Darko, it just didn’t grab me the way it did for those who champion it. For whatever reason, Southland Tales grabbed me and I enjoyed it for the most part, although it’s a wildly uneven film.

It took me awhile to finally see it, but now that I have, it’s funny to reread the Cannes Film Festival debacle, the negative reviews, the confusion, much of which I don’t blame them. Southland Tales isn’t a movie to go in, enjoy, walk out and move on with your daily duties. It demands paying attention and a chunk of your time. Running at 2 hours and 20 minutes, it isn’t easy to just pop in and watch. I think this is a strike many critics gave it. The casting is outlandish as any film, from The Rock, Mandy Moore, Kevin Smith, Saturday Night Live alumni, to Sarah Michelle Gellar and Seann William Scott. As wild as it seems for the most part it works. These actors are playing typecast against their own names and most of decent. I think the SNL people ham it up too much though.

The story is a weird long winding tale of damning conservative politics, to mirroring Revelations to a dystopian future all narrated by a solider (Justin Timberlake). I think there are just too many subplots to care about and it does hurt the film a bit. There’s one with a script that The Rock and Gellar writes, political maneuvering, a new drug, I mean there’s just a ton of subplots. Apparently, the film was longer, but director Richard Kelly had to trim it down due to the Cannes crowd ripping on it with boos.

If even you don’t understand a lick of what’s going on (I think it’s about the Second Coming in the End of Days) the film is marvelous to look at. Kelly has an eye for visuals and Southland Tales features some wild ideas splattered around. Graffiti, propaganda, news footage, it’s like Blade Runner in Bush administration. I think overall, whether you like or dislike the film, it’s so ambitious you got to appreciate it. I am not the one of many that hates the film, nor do I love it like a few, I think it never gels together and thus creating an interesting mess.

 

The Blu Ray:

Audio/ Video: The sound is pretty good although nothing that will kill your system. Sound, music, and bass all have a robust, warm presence. The image is pretty good too, with nice detail and colors.

Commentary: Exclusive to Blu Ray, Richard Kelly sits down to talk about the film. Don’t expect him to reveal the meaning of the film; he focuses on production notes and other information like that. Its okay, nothing to worry about if you miss it.

Prequel Saga: a graphic novel of sorts that has a ton of information about the characters prior to the film. Pretty cool.

USiDent TV: Surveilling the Southland: This is a decent making of feature. Nothing film school here, but good nonetheless.

Trailers and a 9 minute animate short round out the extras.

Conclusion: An interesting failure, that’s worth a look for the cast and the film’s ambition more than a successful story. The Blu Ray is decent at best. Worth a rent.

Rating:

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