Film  

As The Double begins, FBI agents are on a stakeout.  The target of their surveillance is quickly killed, his throat slit from behind before the agents have a chance to move.  This is the signature of the Soviet operative Cassius, who was thought to have been killed by retired agent Paul Shepherdson (Richard Gere).  Rookie agent Ben Geary (Topher Grace) wrote his thesis on Cassius and is the current F.B.I. expert, but the CIA Director Highland (Martin Sheen) wants Shepherdson and his twenty years of hands on experience in hunting Cassius and his  seven trained killers to run the show.  Shepherdson believes that he’s already eliminated all seven of the trained killers but Director Highland informs them that one of the killers survived his injuries and is currently in Federal custody.

Shepherdson and Geary go to visit the last survivor of the Cassius seven named Brutus (Stephen Moyer) who is willing to exchange information for a radio. Once he gets his radio, he swallows the batteries to earn a trip to the hospital where he plans to make an easy escape.  What he doesn’t count on is Shepherdson who reveals that he is in fact Cassius (and this is not a spoiler if you’ve watched the trailer) and the prisoner takes his last breaths.  The world post 9/11 has changed and with Homeland Security forcing the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. to work together, which takes Shepherdson by surprise since he was used to the internecine fighting between them during his time.  Shepherdson and Geary start off badly with each other and it gets only worse since Shepherdson begins looking for scapegoats as Geary becomes increasingly suspicious of him.  It’s a tricky dance between them since Geary wants nothing more than to catch Cassius while Shepherdson has to protect himself while going through the motions of assisting Geary.

Shepherdson gets to know Geary’s family and spends time with Geary while searching for Cassius.  He tries to explain Cassius’ motives and warns Geary’s wife Natalie (Odette Yustman) that he needs to drop the case.  As we learn why Shepherdson became Cassius we learn that he is a killer with a heart.  For all of his talk about Cassius being a remorseless killer, it’s obvious that that really isn’t the case since he keeps trying to convince Geary and his wife to step away from the case.  After some misdirection a few easy targets present themself  but Geary doesn’t fall for it.  It finally takes the arrival of a known Russian terrorist known as Bozlovski (Tamer Hassan) to provide Geary a truly believable suspect for Cassius.  A trip to Mexico where they meet Russian prostitute Amber (Stana Katic) sets Geary and Shepherdson on the path to Bozlovski just as Geary learns the truth about Cassius.  Geary confronts Shepherdson and Shepherdson reveals he’s learned some of Geary’s secrets as well and they come to an understanding that allows them to work together to go after Bozlovski and the rest of the answers that remain.

I must have completely missed The Double’s run in the theaters since I didn’t know anything about it until it came to my door, which is really surprising since it has some pretty big stars in it.  I’m a fan of both Richard Gere and Topher Grace so this was a nice surprise for me.  The Double is a fairly generic thriller that owes a lot to previous movies like No Way Out and Three Days of the Condor, a fact that the filmmakers acknowledge in the special features.  The problem with that is the fact that when compared to those earlier films, The Double pales in comparison.  Since the viewer (and anyone that has seen the trailer knows) that Shepherdson is Cassius, it takes a lot of the drama out that could have been built up over the course of the movie.  What made No Way Out so brilliant was the ratcheting up of the suspense on whether or not Kevin Costner’s character was actually a spy or not.   The Double could have been better but I still enjoyed it enough that I would watch it again thanks to the many stars that I like that appeared in this.

Video  

The Double is presented in 1080p High Definition wide-screen 2.35:1 ratio.  The commentary talks a lot about the dark and even unfocused feel of the film being intentional but even so this looks pretty good thanks to cinematographer Jeffrey Kimball.  Even despite the creative decision that would normally hinder the picture quality, this transfer still has a nice palette of colors that shift along with the environments.  Skin tones are natural and consistent and black levels are suitably dark with deep solid blacks.  I didn’t noticed any print damage or digital tampering with the transfer which looks really good.

Audio  

The Double is presented in DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 Sound.  The most notable aspect was the off camera ambient effects like traffic and water that added significant depth to the lossless mix.  The rear channels are active and the directionality of the ambient noises was impressive and adds quite a bit of immersiveness to the movie.  The dialogue was clear and consistent throughout as well.  Composer John Debney’s score for the movie also was well balanced and utilized with the rest of the movie.

Extras  

The special features were sufficient in number and content.  I enjoyed listening to the commentary which I often find boring on other movies.

• Commentary with Director/Writer Michael Brandt and Writer Derek Haas – Although they claim that no one but family would listen to it, both men offer interesting insight and witty banter.  There’s a wealth of information in this commentary where the two men talk about shooting the film with a limited budget and not enough time and how they made the movie look like a bigger budgeted movie than it was.
• Producer Interviews – Interviews with Richard Gere, Topher Grace, Stephen Moyer and the filmmakers.  This is a short featurette but it has a lot of good info but be warned that there’s a ton of spoilers within it.
• Trailer – The trailer that spoils the movie deliberately for some reason.

Summary  

The Double was a decently entertaining movie.  It wasn’t the type of thriller that had me on the edge of my seat at any point in time but I do really like most of the actors in it.  At every turn, it was very predictable and I saw all the twists and turns coming, but despite that, it didn’t really decrease my enjoyment of the movie since it was well acted and it was better than I thought it would be.  It may not be the most original movie out there, but a great cast makes it a lot better than it should have been.

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Film   

Series 1 

Series 2 

I’m a big fan of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot character and I’ve enjoyed the books, the movies, and especially the television show starring David Suchet as the imcomparable Poirot.  No other actor has played Poirot more than Suchet, and it’s been recently announced that he will finally be able to achieve his dream of filming every story written for Poirot when the series finishes filming in 2013.  While Albert Finney was good in Murder on the Orient Express as was Peter Ustinov in the the further theatrical movies, but Suchet has captured the character like no other.  Before taking on the role, Suchet read all of the stories and took notes about every description and characteristic of the character.  As he described his process later, “What I did was, I had my file on one side of me and a pile of stories on the other side and day after day, week after week, I ploughed through most of Agatha Christie’s novels about Hercule Poirot and wrote down characteristics until I had a file full of documentation of the character. And then it was my business not only to know what he was like, but to gradually become him. I had to become him before we started shooting.”

That attention to detail paid off as he has now become the de facto Poirot for the public and has achieved the rare feat of playing a single character over a span of twenty-three years.  Over that period of time, the cast has changed over the years, with some characters coming and going depending on the the novels the show was based on.  Popular characters like Captain Hastings, Chief Inspector Japp, and Miss Lemon all disappeared when the series returned for the 2003 season, which was consistent with the plotlines the shows were based on but it was unpopular with viewers.  It’s been difficult for fans of the show to watch it in any kind of semblance of order since it’s been released by a variety of studios but in a confusing hodgepodge of editions.  For the U.S. market, both Acorn Media and A&E Home Video have split the rights to the show with Acorn Media owning the rights for the 36 standard-length episodes, including the first nine double-length episodes, and the episodes broadcast since 2008.  The other movie-length episodes are distributed by A&E, who co-produced several of them.  (You can read my review of the Agatha Christie Poirot – Movie Collection Set 6 here).  In a much appreciated move, Acorn Media is now releasing the series in it’s original UK broadcast order starting with these two editions with more to follow.

Here is the list of episodes to be found on the Series 1 and Series 2 sets:

Series 1:

Disc 1

1. The Adventure of the Clapham Cook – Finding a missing cook proves a challenge for Poirot.
2. Murder in the Mews – Poirot investigates a suspicious death on Guy Fawkes Day.
3. The Adventure of Johnnie Waverley – Poirot probes kidnapping threats against a rich man’s son.
4. Four and Twenty Blackbirds – The detective uses his culinary knowledge to solve a case.
5. The Third Floor Flat – Poirot looks into a murder that occurred close to home.

 Disc 2

1. Triangle at Rhodes – A new case interrupts the sleuth’s Greek holiday.
2. Problem at Sea – Poirot unravels the mystery of a woman killed aboard a cruise ship.
3. The Incredible Theft – Poirot is called in when top-secret government documents get stolen.
4. The King of Clubs – A playing card is the only clue in a complicated case.
5. The Dream – A wealthy man asks Poirot to investigate his recurring nightmare.

Series 2:

Disc 1

1. Peril at End House – Poirot fears for the safety of a young female friend.
2. The Veiled Lady – The detective takes a risk by helping a mysterious woman.
3. The Lost Mine – Poirot looks into the disappearance of a valuable map.
4. The Cornish Mystery – An apprehensive wife asks Poirot to investigate her husband.

 Disc 2

1. The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim – A wealthy banker suddenly goes missing.
2. Double Sin – Poirot makes a shocking announcement about his career.
3. The Adventure of the Cheap Flat – Poirot harbors suspicions about a bargain piece of real estate.
4. The Kidnapped Prime Minister – Poirot is charged with solving a high-profile case.
5. The Adventure of the Western Star – A jewel thief is no match for Poirot’s sleight of hand.

I hadn’t seen these early seasons before so this was a double treat to not only get new episodes to watch and to be able to see them on Blu-ray too.  These earlier seasons differ quite a bit from the later ones since there’s more of an emphasis on humor and an entirely different look as well.  The series started off with a fantastic Art Deco look that must have been phased out over time.  From the show’s opening title sequence throughout the show, fans of Art Deco will enjoy seeing these episodes.  Of course all of the mysteries are interesting (these are Agatha Christie stories after all), but I really enjoyed the comedic interplay between Poirot, Hastings (Hugh Fraser), and Inspector Japp (Philip Jackson).  The humor is all character based which makes it even funnier since it could be Poirot getting frustrated by his friends’ lack of culture or their amusement at his finicky and pompous nature.  As I’ve observed before, Poirot is a fantastic character who just as brilliant and eccentric as his literary counterpart Sherlock Holmes.  His formidable intellect is nicely counter-balanced with human flaws such as his ego which humanizes that character.  In one of the best episodes of the series (and can be found on the Series 2 set), is “The Veiled Lady,” where Poirot’s belief that he could have been a master criminal is put to the test to hilarious results when he resorts to breaking into a residence to recover some letters and discovers that he is a much better detective than a thief.  This is a great show and now that you can watch it in the original broadcast order just makes it even more enjoyable to see. 

Video 

Series 1 

Series 2   

These episodes have retained their broadcast 1.33:1 aspect ratio for this 1080p transfer and they look quite a bit better than the previous DVD releases.  For both series, the colors are a lot brighter, there’s a greater degree of clarity and sharpness, and by the second series, the flesh tones are a lot more natural and consistent.  Both series look very good but I would have to say that Series 2 is the better of the two.  While some minor DNR appears to have been used for Series 1, Series 2 appears to have not needed it.  Black levels on both sets could have been better but other than that, both of them look much better than the previous home video releases. 

Audio 

Series 1    

Series 2    

The Dolby Digital 2.0 mono mix for both sets is adequate but could  have been improved with a lossless mix.  This is a front channel focused release which is fine since it’s basically an all dialogue driven show.  The dialogue is clear and clean, and the sound effects (which aren’t that involved) also sound fine.  Christopher Gunning’s main theme and score for the show also sounds pretty good but could have benefited from a better mix.

Extras   

Series 1    

Series 2    

There are no special features for either series set which is a shame for the fans and it will unfortunately bring down the final score.

Summary   

This is a fantastic show and now there’s even more of a reason for you to start watching it now that it’s in the original broadcast order and in high definition.  These sets offer much better picture and audio quality than the earlier releases and even without  extras, they are worth the extra cost to upgrade to.  David Suchet is wonderful as the one and only Poirot and any fan of mysteries will love this show. 

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Film:

As opposed to the last film, which took place mere minutes after the first film, ‘Christmas’ picks up with our heroes several years later.  Harold and Kumar (John Cho and Kal Penn) have gone their separate ways after college.  Harold now has a nice job and lives in his nice house, with his nice wife, Maria (Paula Garces).  Kumar lives in the same old apartment, still getting the same old kind of high, and lost his old girlfriend (Danneel Harris).  On the day of Christmas Eve, Kumar heads over to his estranged pal Harold’s house to deliver a package that was mistakenly brought to Kumar’s apartment.  Things quickly take a bad spin, as Kumar accidently burns down Harold’s father-in-law’s (Danny Trejo) Christmas tree, which he had been growing for eight years prior.  Hoping to fix the problem before Maria, her father, and the rest of her family come back home from Midnight Mass in the city, Harold and Kumar set out on a journey to find another perfect Christmas tree.  Plenty of raunchy, yuletide shenanigans ensue, including encounters with mob bosses, interactions with the perfect Christmas gift, and another visit from one St. NPH.

I went into this film fairly optimistic.  I did enjoy the first film in this series.  Not as much as some, but I did find it quite funny and appreciated the surprising amount of layers it had with regards to race relations of all things and the intelligence of the characters, while still serving as a stoner comedy about getting hamburgers.  The second film, while I found some moments pretty amusing, was pretty terrible in a way that kind of ruined the goodwill set up by the first.  Hearing the announcement of a third film did not really excite me, but the initial trailer managed to get me back into the fun spirit of watching these characters, along with simply providing a pretty solid two minutes of laughter.  Once again, critiquing a comedy like this will come down to what I thought made me laugh versus how well I thought it managed to sell us on the adventures and growth these characters have.  I certainly did laugh at a good number of scenes, but the problems with this film stem less from anything it is trying to say or be “cutely” offensive towards and more with the fact that a good amount of the humor falls pretty flat.

To say more about the positive.  I did laugh quite a bit during many scenes.  The film takes a while to really get going, but once it does (basically once Harold and Kumar are back together) I appreciated the duo’s chemistry, a lot of their interactions with others, and some of the ways they address having gotten older.  The film has a lot of obvious callbacks to the previous films, but some of those moments stick pretty well.  It also takes some time to point out how self aware it is of being a 3D film (during its theatrical run), being another sequel, and referencing the actors real life personas (White House, Sulu), which is sometimes humorous.  Putting the plot aside and observing a lot of the comedic set piece moments as separate entities, I did appreciate some moments a great deal.  The two most notable of these moments involve a claymation sequence and, of course, Neil Patrick Harris.

With the claymation scene, despite having seen sharper and more hilarious takes on this format in other recent Christmas-themed comedic media (Community and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), it still gave me a chuckle to see the stars imagine themselves as claymated  and be chased by a monstrous snowman.  Regarding Neil Patrick Harris, it is basically the expected, obligatory showcase moment for him to return to the story that serves no real purpose besides being funny, but I did find it funny.  Harris has come out about being gay in the time past, since the last film, and now we have him here (after surviving two shotgun blasts to the back in the previous film) playing himself as a person pretending to be gay.  Regardless of his relevance to the film, his filthy take on his own persona continues to make me laugh.

Where Harold & Kumar stumble is in its various attempts to keep other less important plots moving.  During the early part of their journey, Harold and Kumar are joined by two of their new friends, Todd and Adrian (Tom Lennon and Amir Blumenfeld).  Todd also has his young daughter on hand and a running joke involves her using various types of drugs.  There is just something that never seems funny, every time the film cuts back to this joke.  There are also plenty of race jokes that, for me, still range from mild chuckle to groan inducing.  The lack of any commentary in regards to this humor just makes it stand out as jokes done in poor taste in an attempt to be offensive, but since it attacks many different targets, it’s ok.

Another issue is in regards to making this film matter.  It is nice that these guys are back and having fun, but the film has nothing to say about anything.  Even the second film haphazardly addressed George W Bush’s terms in office.  With this film being set during Christmas, something could have been brought up regarding…well anything really; consumerism, other holidays, more about family.  There are some light dramatic stakes involving the duo’s friendship and the ol’ approval of your father-in-law story, but nothing really registers that significantly.

I would not go as far to say that I don’t care for this series enough to see another one of these films, but there is very little here to make another one feel necessary.  With that said I had a good enough time with a lot of the moments and did continue to enjoy Kal Penn and John Cho’s chemistry together.  Cho is a fun straight man to Penn’s vulgar, stoner comic persona.  I guess I just wish this film did more in the way of having meaning.  Given that these films continue to have a lot of success in home media format, I can’t fault its popularity too much, but I don’t think this installment will be becoming a Christmas classic for that many people.  One final note:  I love WaffleBot.

Video: 

Interesting thing about the transfer of A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas onto Blu-ray.  It is a pretty fantastic 1080p AVC-encoded transfer, which is fittingly bright, colorful, and festive throughout.  However, with that said, the fact that this is the 2D version of the film essentially highlights how throwaway this film seems to be.  Taking the glossiness of the 3D away, the film looks a lot like a made for TV raunch-fest, given some of the production values.  To me, this seemed highlighted by the clarity of the Blu-ray, so it is a compliment to the quality of the picture seen on this disc, just unfortunately a clue into what is kind of lacking in the film itself.  With that said, were I able to review the 3D Blu-ray, I would imagine it is quite stunning in video quality as well.

Audio: 

Strangeness persists in the audio department as well.  While the theatrical cut is presented in full lossless DTS-HD, the extended cut is fitted with a Dolby Digital Mix.  Jumping back and forth between the cuts of the film for the sake of listening to some of the key ‘extreme’ moments of the film, it seems pretty apparent that those looking to hear the glorious sounds of comedic madness in the extended cut will not be getting a full experience compared to the theatrical.  The lossless track comes out well balanced, with dialogue, music, and various ‘holiday explosions’ sounding as good as they need to.  It is unfortunate that the best possible audio track for this Blu-ray is not available for both cuts of the film

Extras: 

As I mentioned, there is an extended cut of the film available, which runs 96 minutes, as opposed to the theatrical’s 90.  Not much is added, but a few extra gags don’t do much to change up the film.  Getting into the actual supplements, this is a disappointingly slim set.  Considering that it’s always fun to see outtakes, extended gags, or even a commentary with the fun cast, it really sucks that none of this was made available for the Blu-ray release.  At least the few extras that are presented are done so in HD.

Features Include:

Through the Haze with Tom Lennon: Colorful vignettes & muses from this comedic genius – Basically a series of clips with Tom Lennon ad-libbing some funny stuff for 10 minutes.

Bringing Harold & Kumar Claymation To Life: Director Todd Strauss-Schulson shares his passion and inspiration to bring this memorable scene to life – The concept is briefly talked about, then we see the story boards for the entire sequence.

Deleted Scenes: About 4 minutes of stuff that was not funny enough, although a Santa gag was amusing.

UltraViolet Digital Copy

DVD Copy – I should mention that this is a flipper disc, as opposed to a separate Blu and DVD.

Summary: 

You generally see movies with a Christmas theme debuting around the time of the holidays, even when the home media version of the film is released, but Christmas has come early for those who missed A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas in theaters, as well as those who did in fact enjoy it.  I just wish that the film was funnier and felt less lazy.  With the 3D element removed from this version of the Blu-ray, some of the novelty has worn off for sure and the weird exclusion of a lossless audio track on the extended cut is also quite a mystery.  The scant amount of special features does not help either.  Again, I did get some laughs out of this film and have unabashed love for WaffleBot (why couldn’t this be the Super WaffleBot Extra Syrup Edition?), but maybe others will be able to get more out of this third outing of the stoner duo than I did.  At least they have a visually good looking Blu-ray to dig into.  And who knows, maybe for next Christmas I can get my own WaffleBot.

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Film  

The Apartment is considered one of Billy Wilder’s finest movies and it’s been on my list to see for a long time.  I’m glad I waited because this Blu-ray is first rate.  The idea of the movie was based on several real life stories from which I.A.L. Diamond wove together different aspects to create the movie.  After the great success of his previous collaboration with Jack Lemmon in Some Like it Hot, Billy Wilder wanted to work with the actor again.  He then enlisted Shirley MacLaine, but he had to replace Paul Douglas with Fred MacMurray when Douglas died days before filming.

The Apartment tells the tale of a low level accountant named C.C. Baxter (Jack Lemmon) who is so desperate to be promoted within his insurance company, he allows his superiors use his apartment for their extramarital liaisons. What started off as a kind gesture for one boss to use his apartment to change his clothes in, has turned into a daily routine with reservations on his place every day of the week.  Baxter hates the situation as none of his superiors mind in the least that they are impacting his life, but he is scared to stop it in fear that he won’t get his promotion.

Since Baxter now has so much free time on his hands, he spends a lot of it watching and talking to one of the elevator operators in his office building called Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine) who he’s been attracted to for a long time.  Fran seems completely out of his league since most of his bosses have already tried to woo her and failed. Baxter has issues at home too since his neighbor’s are tired of hearing what’s going on in his apartment and they assume he is the sole cause of it all, a criticism that he accepts rather than tell them the truth.  In fact, one of the running gags of the movie is his neighbor Dr. Dreyfuss (Jack Kruschen) seeing the countless women go in and out of the apartment in constant bewilderment.

All of his long hours at work and sitting outside in the freezing cold while waiting to be allowed back into his apartment finally pay off for Baxter when four of his mid-management “clients” write a glowing recommendation about Baxter that’s so positive that it catches the eye of Mr. Sheldrake (Fred MacMurray) who is the Director of Personnel.  He calls Baxter into his office and let’s him know that he’s aware that something’s going on and turns the screws on Baxter until Baxter  agrees to give him a key to the apartment in exchange for the promotion.  To sweeten the deal, Sheldrake gives Baxter two tickets to see “The Music Man” in exchange for the use of the apartment that night.  An astonished and happy Baxter agrees, and he invites Fran to join him that night to see the play which she agrees to but after she meets with her former paramour for a drink.

What Baxter doesn’t realize is that the man Fran is meeting is Sheldrake himself who convinces Fran that he’s going to leave his wife and children and marry her.  Despite knowing better, Fran believes him and they go to Baxter’s apartment even though Fran isn’t aware that it’s Baxter’s whom she just stood up.  Baxter is disappointed by her not showing up but the promotion he has long dreamed about cheers him up a lot and he forgives her.  Later, when Baxter discovers a broken mirror  left in his apartment, he returns it to Sheldrake who says that the owner of it had thrown it at him.  It’s not until the office Christmas party where Baxter thinks he might be winning Fran over that he discovers that she is the woman Sheldrake is seeing when she offers him her broken mirror to see how his new hat looks.  Crushed at the discovery, his promotion doesn’t seem as important as it once did compared to his feelings for Fran.

Things take a darker turn when Sheldrake’s secretary (Edie Adams) tells Fran that she is the latest in a long line of women to be Sheldrake’s mistress and that he’s told each one of them that he would divorce his wife for them too. After hearing what she had long suspected, Fran angrily questions Sheldrake while they are at Baxter’s apartment, but he tries to placate her until it’s time for him to go home to his family.  Fran is so distraught at the realization that she will never be loved by Sheldrake like she loves him, that she takes an overdoes of sleeping pills and goes to sleep in Baxter’s bed.  For poor Baxter, who was also depressed at the apparent loss of Fran to Sheldrake has spent hours in a bar getting drunk waiting for Sheldrake’s time to be up before returning home.  He comes home with a drunk woman he picked up at the bar only to discover Fran on the brink of death.  That brush with death clarifies every-one’s situation and feelings as Baxter must decide what’s most important to him – Fran or his promotion, while Fran must choose between men and restore her self-esteem.

I have to say, that The Apartment is not the movie that I thought it would be.  I was expecting an out and out comedy film, but this was more of a dramedy especially with the darker elements in the last act of the movie.  To everyone in the film’s credit, both the comedy and the dramatic elements are excellent.  Jack Lemmon was perfect for this movie as he’s such a great actor that he makes it all believable.  His nervous energy and ticks make the character a lot of fun to watch and his ease balancing both drama and comedy shows why he was one of our best actors.  Shirley MacLaine is also good as Fran who knows what the reality of her situation is but refuses to believe it until it’s almost too late.  It’s not a big role but she does a lot with it and she makes us sympathize with the downtrodden young woman.

It was something of a shock to me to see Fred MacMurray in this kind of a role, since I grew up watching him in Disney movies like The Absent Minded Professor, in which he always played kind and paternal roles.  Seeing him as the amoral Sheldrake who bullied anyone that got in his way was a far cry from the roles I was used to seeing him in. MacMurray was brilliant as Sheldrake, especially the scene where he blackmails Baxter.  While he may not have been the first choice for the role, I think he was perfect for it with his natural presence and demeanor being used to play a selfish man.  The movie sports a great script from Diamond and once again Wilder proves that his reputation as a director was well-deserved.  While I think the movie could have been trimmed more (it runs a little over two hours), there’s no denying the talent involved in this movie and it’s place in movie history.

Video  

This 1080p (2.35:1) transfer is very impressive for a movie this old.  The black and white cinematography looks stunning and could almost be called noirish with all of it’s shadowy scenes.  Detail and textures look great and have a clarity that will allow you to see the designs in the suits.  The black levels are gloriously dark and the contrast is spot on.  For a movie this old, you’d expect to see a lot of defects and blemishes, but only other that a few specks here and there, this transfer looks fantastic.  This is a very clean presentation that looks cinematic and without heavy scrubbing from DNR.  Fans of the film will be very happy!

Audio  

The Apartment’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is also impressive despite it’s age with a clean sounding sound mix that clearly delivers the film’s many witty one-liners.  Most of the dialogue is primarily delivered by the front channels, with only minor instances of the rear speakers offering some directional effects.  Adolph Deutsch’s score for the movie also sounds good and balanced in well with the rest of the movie.  To make it even better, there’s no age related defects on the sound mix like hissing or scratches either.

Extras  

There’s not a lot of extras on the disc, but the ones that are here are good ones.  The bad news is that they are in standard definition with the exception of the trailer.

• Commentary with Film Historian Bruce Block – This is an informative commentary that’s filled with some good information about the movie and Block also offers some great stories as well.  He does occasionally drop into just watching the movie and describing the action onscreen. but it’s hard not to on a movie this good.
• Inside The Apartment – My favorite extra on this disc is this thirty minute look at the making of the movie and it’s director.   We hear from a bunch of critics and historians including: Molly Haskell, Robert Osborne, Ed Shov, and Drew Casper  and even better, with cast members Shirley MacLaine, Edie Adams, Johnny Seven, Hope Holiday.  In a nice touch, we also hear from Jack Lemmon’s son Chris Lemmon and I.A.L. Diamond’s son Paul as well.  Combined, they all take us behind the scenes of the movie and why it’s so respected.
• Magic Time – The Art of Jack Lemmon – Jack’s son Chris (among others) talks about the life and career of his inimitable father.
• Theatrical Trailer

Summary  

There’s a reason this dramedy won five Oscars including Best Picture and it’s a refreshingly mature film filled with adult content that surprisingly escaped the censors of the time.  While there’s nothing overt, there’s plenty that’s hinted at and sometimes directly shown.  The cast is fabulous and this is one of Wilder’s best movies.  This Blu-ray is easy to recommend since both the audio and the picture quality are excellent and the extras are nice too.  You should have this movie in your collection!

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Film

The Rum Diary is based on a novel by Hunter S. Thompson written when he was in his twenties. Friend/Actor/Producer Johnny Depp plays Paul Kemp a journalist from New York who moves to the beautiful island of Puerto Rico in 1960. Kemp who has a few unsuccessful novels wants to try his hand as a reporter for The San Juan Star, a struggling newspaper. Edward J Lotterman (Richard Jenkins) the editor in chief is at the end of his rope trying to keep the newspaper afloat. The paper is ailing from lack of commitment and too much indulgences. Armed with sunglasses and a hangover Kemp lands a job writing horoscopes for the newspaper.

Kemp befriends Bob Sala (Michael Rispoli) the newspapers staff photographer and soon to be running mate, offers to rent Kemp a room. Moburg (Giovanni Ribisi) who is a drunken, scary looking crime and religious reporter that works at the paper and who mostly comes out at night, also shares the flat, but he is rarely there.

Hal Sanderson (Aaron Eckhart) is an American business man who immediately tries to bring Kemp into a business deal. He wants Kemp to use his words to help promote his business ventures. To destroy the beautiful beaches of Puerto Rico and build money making resorts for Americans. This would leave the poor locals out of their homes and land. Kemp not wanting to, but is in need of the money decides to help Sanderson.

Kemp instantly becomes obsessed with Sanderson’s beautiful, sexy, playful, carefree fiancée, Chenault (Amber Heard).  “Why did she have to happen? I was doing so good without her.” Kemp, said after seeing Chenault the first time.

We not only see the beauty of Puerto Rico, but we get a glimpse of the how the poverty stricken natives lived in the 60’s. “More money is given to parking meters than to feed our children.”  But no one wants to hear about the truth, no one wants to think about children without food or a place to live.

This is a journey filled with rum, some use of drugs, cock fights, cops, romance, human flame throwers, and corruption. And how Paul Kemp finds his words “How to find out how to write like me”.

Video

The Rum Diary Blu-ray is released in AVC MPEG-4  video codec, 1080p and 1.85:-1 framed aspect ratio presentation. It was shot in Super 16 which is used as a cinematic tongue for the 50’s and 60’s. The clothes are authentic for the period and are well presented. Flesh tones balanced. The landscape shots show detailed beauty of the island. The sky and ocean are shot with the brighter colors. Interior shots are darker but the images still pop, and you can see textures with accurate detail. The film was shot well and captured the time period beautifully.

Audio

The sound quality was very precise DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The sound quality was great throughout the whole film. The music level was never higher than the dialogue. The dialogue is very clear and strong. The ocean sound is very natural and gives you the pleasure of listening to the ocean without over taking over the scene. The film pulls you into the moment and keeps you there.

Special Features

A Voice Made of Ink and Rage: Inside The Rum Diary:

Johnny Depp talks about the making of the film and also his friendship with Hunter S. Thompson. He speaks about finding the book in Hunters basement and about getting it published. The cast talks about how special the making of this movie was to them and about Depp’s love for Thompson. They talk about Depp’s passion for the project. And the special place on set and ritual that was done for Thompson.  Also mentioned is the challenges that are faced shooting on location and costuming the period.

The Rum Diary Back-Story:

The feature begins with Hunter reading from the book. This is the 1998 film by Wayne Ewing. I actually watched this feature twice, I found it so interesting. Johnny Depp read excerpts from the book as well as Hunter himself. We also got to see Johnny and Hunter’s friendship first hand. If you are a fan of Hunter you will enjoy this feature very much.

Final Thoughts

I saw The Rum Diary in the theater and I forgot how much I enjoyed it. Depp’s performance was great, his facial expressions, little sounds he makes just makes it a entertaining and fun for the audience. There are some really strong performances by the supporting cast. Aaron Eckhart plays a great underhanded, despicable creep. He was amazing and showed his acting abilities. Giovanni Ribisi also a great performance and is just fun to watch, as well as Michael Rispoli and Richard Jenkins. The Rum Diary takes you on an adventure to Puerto Rico and gives you a glimpse into life there in 1960.

It’s not a secret that I am a fan of Johnny Depp but the passion that he showed for this project and all that he did to make this a reality make it that much better. Hunter S. Thompson saw something in Depp, he let him into his crazy world, and Johnny brought that world to life, and you can truly see his love for this man. May we all be blessed with that kind of friendship, that even death does not come between them.

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Film  

Rebecca became Alfred Hitchcock’s first American produced movie when he teamed up with David O. Selznick to make five movies together over a period of seven years.  Hitchcock had wanted access to more money and bigger stars and all that came together for him starting with Rebecca.  Based on the novel by Daphne Du Maurier, this Gothic tale of obsession and secrets was a perfect vehicle for Alfred Hitchcock’s talents.  His movie is full of dark and oppressive atmosphere that steadily builds suspense over the course of the movie.

When the movie opens, we see a man named Maximilian (Maxim) de Winter (Laurence Olivier) who may or may not be contemplating a suicidal jump from a cliff.  To a young woman (Joan Fontaine) who see him at the edge of the cliff, he looks like he’s ready to jump and she tries to intervene, much to his annoyance.  He runs her off only to later see  the young woman (who is never named) again in the lobby of the hotel.  He learns that she is the paid companion to the haughty Mrs. Van Hopper (Florence Bates) who forces him to drink coffee with them.

It doesn’t take long before Maxim and the young woman start to see each other once Mrs. Van Hopper develops a cold and is bedridden.  For the young woman, Maxim is a handsome and dashing figure who belongs to a world that she can only dream of.  For Maxim, the young woman’s innocence and modesty is a welcome relief from his own personal demons that have haunted him since the death of his wife Rebecca de Winter.  By the time Mrs. Van Hopper is ready to return to New York with her companion, Maxim intervenes with a marriage proposal for the young woman which she readily accepts.

Now married, the couple returns to Maxim’s huge family mansion that’s known as Manderley.  Just seeing the house overwhelms the young woman and from that point forward she will continually feel out of place.  Upon entering the mansion she is met by an army of staff that are there to cater to her every whim.  On the surface, all of the staff are kind to the young woman, but they constantly make cutting remarks comparing her to the previous Mrs. de Winter. None of the servants are more bitter about Maxim’s new wife than the head housekeeper the creepy Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson).  Mrs. Danvers has an extremely unhealthy obsession about Rebecca, the first Mrs. de Winter and she barely is able to mask her disdain and fury from the young woman whom she considers to be common and unworthy.  Rebecca’s room is now kept as a shrine to her memory and maintained jealously by Mrs. Danvers .

Since all she has heard and seen since she arrived at Manderley is either Rebecca’s name or her possessions, the young woman becomes determined to discover the truth about Maxim’s late wife and to learn the details of her death.  That task isn’t easy since no one wants to talk about her other than Mrs. Danvers and Rebecca’s “cousin” Jack (George Sanders) who doesn’t seem all that trustworthy.  In fact, the obsequious Jack may now a lot more than he is letting on but she avoids him because Maxim has warned him to stay away.  Try as she might, the young woman is continually set up to fail by Mrs. Danvers whose acts of sabotage  keep getting her in trouble with Maxim.  At one point, Mrs. Danvers tries to convince the young woman to commit suicide and does everything she can to make it happen.  As you’d expect, eventually all of the secrets are made known, with every player trying to achieve their goals one last time.

Rebecca is a moody atmospheric mystery movie that many feel should be a thriller.  It has all of the makings of a thriller but that’s not the direction Hitchcock took it.  Instead, he focused on developing a forbidding, oppressive atmosphere once the couple arrives at Manderley.  This is a strange hybrid of a movie however, with the first part of the movie being presented as something of a romantic comedy (minus the whole possible suicide jump) but shifts gears once they reach Manderley.  Hitchcock slowly builds the suspense (a little too slowly for some) and the final reveal is effective but not as much as it should have been considering the talent behind and in front of the camera.

The cast is good in their roles but I wasn’t that crazy about Olivier’s portrayal of Maxim which I found to be uneven and overwrought.  His Maxim seemed to have two modes – imperious or bitchy and they could swing wildly back and forth in a moment’s notice.  On the other hand, the beautiful Joan Fontaine was excellent in her role as the young woman who is treated carelessly by her husband and has to endure the many comments that compare her to Rebecca.  I wasn’t too aware of Ms. Fontaine’s work, but I shouldn’t be surprised at her talent and beauty since she is Olivia de Havilland’s sister.  The real menace to the film belongs to Judith Anderson’s evil Mrs. Danvers who is a perfect Victorian era villain.  Determined to destroy the young woman any way possible, she resorts to insults, intimidation, threats, and subtle manipulation to do it.  By the end of the movie, you know the young woman is in danger just being near Mrs. Danvers which adds a lot of momentum towards the end.  While this may not be one of Hitchcock’s finest movies, it does have a great atmosphere and some excellent performances and I recommend it.

Video  

This 1080p (1.37:1) transfer looks pretty good, especially when compared to Spellbound which is another one of Hitchcock’s movies that has just come out on Blu-ray.  The film has impressive sharpness and clarity but still suffers from scratches and other age related issues.  I think they put more effort into restoring this film over the others, or perhaps this film just had a better source element, but in either case it looks pretty good notwithstanding.  Black levels are solid and the contrast is excellent.  The black and white cinematography looks great and this is an improvement over previous home releases.

Audio  

I’m happy to report that Rebecca’s DTS-HD Master 2.0 mix doesn’t suffer from the same hissing that plagued Spellbound.  This track is quite an improvement in fact, with crisp clear dialogue and sound effects.  The score by Franz Waxman is also well balanced with the rest of the movie.  Unlike Spellbound, Rebecca doesn’t really suffer from the defects that occur on older movies.  The range may not be as impressive as today’s movies but it works pretty well for this movie.

Special Features  

Once again, another good collection of extras for a Hitchcock movie but this time there’s three radio plays and screen tests of other famous actresses who vied for the part made famous by Joan Fontaine.

• Commentary by Richard Schickel – Time Magazine’s film critic Richard Schickel offers a knowledgeable and sometimes critical commentary of the movie.  He isn’t afraid to voice what he doesn’t like which is a refreshing change of pace from the usual practice.  He also tells some great stories and delivers a great commentary.
• Isolated Music and Effects Track
• The Making of Rebecca – A look at the making of the film and the struggles between Hitchcock and Selznick, the process of adapting Daphne DuMaurier’s novel, and more.  Fans of the movie will find this very interesting.
• The Gothic World of Daphne DuMaurier- This is an almost twenty minute profile of Rebecca‘s author.
• Screen Tests- A peek at what could have been since we see the screen tests of  Margaret Sullavan and Vivien Leigh (with her then boyfriend Laurence Olivier) if the part didn’t go to Joan Fontaine.
• Radio Plays – In the other Hitchcock release, they’ve included a radio play for each movie, but this time they generously give you three choices:  the original 1938 version starring Orson Welles ; a 1941 Cecil B. DeMille production starring Ronald Colman, Ida Lupino and Judith Anderson; and finally a 1950 version with Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh finally getting to perform it together.  Each of them last about an hour!
• Hitchcock Audio Interviews – Another one of my favorite Hitchcock extras continues with another conversation between him and Peter Bogdanovich and François Truffaut.
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Thoughts  

The film was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, including Olivier, Fontaine and Anderson for their performances.  It ended up winning Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Cinematography and remains the only film to win Best Picture without being awarded anything for the acting, writing, or directing of the movie.  I can understand about the cinematography since it’s lush, moody, and captures the dark atmosphere of Manderley.  I also loved any scene that took place within Manderley as it was gorgeous to see.  If you are looking for a good movie to watch on a rainy day, then I recommend you give this one a chance.

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Film  

Every Hitchcock film has a focus, whether or not it’s greed, fear, anger, or in this case psychoanalysis.  The movie’s produced David O. Selznick wanted to make a film that showcased the positive aspects of psychoanalysis because it had helped him.  There’s even a message at the start of the film advocating psychoanalysis and its benefits and Selznick even hired his own therapist to serve as the film’s technical adviser.

Ingrid Bergman stars as Dr. Constance Petersen, a psychoanalyst at the Green Manors mental hospital whose icy demeanor is a subject of humor for the rest of the staff there.  Constance is perceived to be passionless which her co-workers believe hinders her work as a psychoanalyst since she doesn’t understand love or how strong emotions can affect people.  Constance disagrees and thinks the whole concept of love is silly.  Her boss, the director of the hospital Dr. Murchison (Leo G. Carroll) is about to be forcibly retired due to a past mistakes that occurred because of nervous exhaustion.  Once he returns from his vacation, he is to train his replacement, a younger doctor by the name of Anthony Edwardes.

When Dr. Edwardes (Gregory Peck) shows up he seems more interested in the lovely Dr. Petersen than his job and he convinces her to to go on a long walk with him where they get to know each other, much to the amusement of the rest of the staff.  When they all join together to eat dinner and when Constance tries to explain how she thought the shape of a future pool should look like by drawing outlines on the tablecloth, she notices Edwardes react strongly to the lines on the linen.  He even smooths them out with his knife which only Constance notices.  Her observations of him make her more worried and suspicious when she learns that the Edwardes that showed up is an impostor because his handwriting doesn’t match an inscription left in one of the original’s books.  When she confronts him he quickly acknowledges that he killed the real Edwardes, but Constance doesn’t believe him because she believes he is suffering from amnesia and a  guilt complex and that he isn’t capable of murder.

When Edwardes sneaks out in the middle of the night, he leaves a note for Constance telling her that he’s traveling to the Empire State Hotel in New York City.  Once it becomes public knowledge that Edwardes is a fake, Murchison calls in the police to investigate.  Constance follows Edwardes to New York where she convinces him that she can help cure him with her training.  Now on the run from the police, the two journey to to Rochester to meet Constance’s former mentor, Dr. Brulov (Michael Checkhov) to see if he can help them cure the amnesia.

From there on, the movie delves into Edwardes surreal dreams (designed by Salvador Dali) where he sees images that he can’t connect to real life including eyes on curtains, blank playing cards, a man with no face, a man falling off a building, a man hiding behind a chimney who drops a wheel, and a pair of wings chasing after him.  When Constance sees Edwardes react to sled tracks in the snow, she deduces that it is actually a pair of ski tracks that’s triggering his reactions.  By putting all of the pieces together from Edwardes dream, they figure out that that he was at a ski lodge with the real Dr. Edwardes and they travel there to to finish unraveling the mystery by re-enacting what happened.  The danger of that is if the fake Edwardes is the real killer, it would mean that Constance might be killed.

For me, this film has good and bad elements.  First off the positive aspects would include the cast and some very nice shots (including one with an open razor) that remind you that Hitchcock is the film’s director.  The negatives for me include some laughably bad shots including one with Constance and Edwardes kissing with a series of superimposed doors opening to symbolize her guard finally dropping, and a bunch of rear projection shots that look terrible.  The worst offender is the scene of Constance and Edwardes skiing in front of a rear projection screen that had to look bad even back in 1945.  You can’t fake skiing like that with only a fan to move your hair about and expect audiences to buy it.  What makes the sequence even worse, is that it occurs during the film’s climax since we know he will either kill Constance or remember what really happened.

My other issue is with the film’s psychoanalysis plot device which not only seems dated (it may have been fresh to 1945 audiences) but it’s so literal that anyone without the proper training could probably figure it out.  In fact, every part of Edwardes dream is a separate clue which when added up together, tell the story of what happened which really wouldn’t have happened.  Putting those complaints aside, the movie will be remembered for the surreal dream sequence which was really odd and for the wonderful cast.  Ingrid Bergman does a nice job with a somewhat silly role.  As a woman who doesn’t believe in love who falls in love on sight, it’s a tough role to bring off.  The film’s sexist script also has one of her colleagues kiss her to see if it gets a reaction with no repercussions from her or his boss.  Try that today and you will discover a different experience.  The fact that she just brushes it off as proof that she is immune to passion and therefore superior, just makes it worse.  I’m a big fan of Gregory Peck and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look so young, as this is one of his earliest movies.  He has a difficult role too as the amnesiac man who may or may not be a killer.  Leo G. Carroll is also good as Dr. Murchison while Michael Checkov brings a lot of humor to the movie as the feisty Dr. Brulov.  Spellbound is a decent movie but it’s dated approach and attitudes towards women will limit its appeal to a wide a modern audience.

Video  

Spellbound’s 1080p (1.37:1) transfer isn’t one of the better ones as it struggles against looking overly soft and diffused.  I think Hitchcock deliberately made it look this way to make the movie appear more dream-like, but whatever the reason, the film’s transfer doesn’t fare too well compared to the other recent Hitchcock Blu-ray releases.  There’s some sharpness to be found intermittently, but overall this transfer looks soft.  The black levels aren’t that strong and the contrast could have been better.  Overuse of DNR isn’t an issue here, as there is quite a bit of grain present throughout the movie.  There aren’t too many scratches or evidence of print damage visible, so it looks like it was cleaned up but not to the level that fans of the film desire, but it is better than the previous DVD release.

Audio  

So far, out of the three recent Hitchcock movies that I’ve watched to review (Notorious, Rebecca, and this one), this movie has the worst sound mix.  Like the others, this Blu-ray comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix, but where the others didn’t have the hiss that older films tend to have, this one does and it’s very noticeable.  Musical cues sound slightly distorted (especially during the opening Overture) which is a shame since this score won Miklos Rozsa an Academy Award for Best Score.  The film’s dialogue isn’t crisp but it is easy to hear and understand.  Overall, this is an okay mix but I think it could have been a lot better, especially after seeing the other Hitchcock movies from that era on Blu-ray.

Special Features  

There’s some pretty good extras on here but they are in standard definition.

• Commentary with Film Historians Thomas Schatz and Charles Ramirez Berg – This is a uncoordinated but informative discussion about the movie.  The two seem to be trying to top each other so be prepared for them talking over one another but they do have some interesting info about the making of the film.
• Running With Scissors: Hitchcock, Surrealism and Salvador Dali- A look at how Salvador Dali came to be a part of the film.  With both Selznick and Hitchcock looking to bring in a marquee name to help sell the movie, Dali added the surreal dream sequence that was eventually deemed too long and poorly shot by Selznick who cut twenty minutes from it and hired someone else to re-shoot it.  The original footage that was cut is now lost but there are still pictures still available to see what was done.
• Guilt By Association: Psychoanalyzing Spellbound – A look at how the film was the first movie to really address psychoanalysis and how World War II affected its returning soldiers who suffered from post traumatic stress.
• A Cinderella Story: Rhonda Fleming – Ms. Fleming talks about getting discovered and shooting her first movie and how nice Ingrid Bergman was to her and her husband as well as her charitable causes she supports.
• 1948 Radio Version of Spellbound Directed by Alfred Hitchcock – An hour long radio program of the movie starring Joseph Cotten and Valli.
• Peter Bogdanovich Interviews Alfred Hitchcock – I always love this part of the extras because you get to hear from the master himself.
• Original Theatrical Trailer

Final Thoughts  

This isn’t Hitchcock’s finest work, but it does have some great sequences including the razor scene I mentioned earlier and the final shot of a closeup of a gun following a target that ends with something I’ve never seen on film before.  It’s shots like that that make Hitchcock still relevant today it provides enough of a reason that I  recommend it.

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Film 

The Woman is the story of the last member of an extinct tribe that lived in the Northeast coast for years. The real world and the savage world clash when mild mannered Chris Cleek (Sean Bridgers) is on a hunting trip and unexpectedly runs into this woman and he ends up, for all intents and purposes, capturing her. He loads her up and takes her to his home where  he shows her off to the family. You’ve never seen a show and tell like this.

The interesting spin on The Woman is that she really isn’t the bad guy you are led believe. Yeah, she’s a feral woman who is caught in a time warp from the hunter-gatherer days. The Woman is more of a two-part component that revolves around the feral female while focusing on the lives of the Cleek family. Chris is a successful country lawyer, he has a wife, a son, and two daughters – the perfect nuclear family.

That’s actually where the real horror begins – at the house. Behind the facade of a mild mannered “average” American family Chris rules his family with an iron fist. He mentally and physically abuses the women of the family, while his son has developed some of his characteristics. Like Father, like Son.

It’s in this complete shift of focus that The Woman truly excels in its horror. Yes, there’s a feral woman who has been tied down, but the Cleek family is also “tied” down – the metaphors are pretty striking. Besides it being extremely violent, another thing that The Woman has been criticized for, is its misogynistic views toward women. I don’t really think it’s fair to say that the film is misogynistic – that just happens to be how one or two of the characters are written. Not only that, but have those critics even seen or know who Lucky McKee is? Other than Quentin Tarantino, he may be one of the most consistent feminist filmmakers out there. All of his films have strong female characters – The Woman is no different. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that the misogynistic tone carried throughout the film is a necessary one, because it makes you root for the feral woman. She’s just waiting to be unleashed – and it will be a bloodbath of epic proportions.

On a technical level, The Woman looks great and I’m glad they went old school with the special effects make-up design – it’s been a while since I’ve seen actual blood and guts be spilled. One thing that I did not care for was the use of music. During certain scenes and edits some lame indy rock tunes would start playing, and I just felt that it wasn’t necessary. I do understand what the director was doing with the music, but I just didn’t care about the selections used.

Pollyanna McIntosh is awesome as the woman, and Sean Bridgers as the piece of dog crap husband and father nail their parts down hard. I haven’t hated a villain like I hated Chris in a really long time. Pollyanna is pretty damn scary, too – she is not one to be messed with.

Video 

The Woman is presented in 1080p 1.78:1 ratio. The Woman was also shot with RED Camera system and sit shows. Color detail is amazing, sharpness levels never overpower, and edge enhancement is kept in check. Blacks are deep and inky and don’t crush. The woman is the star of the show and the detail captured on her character is quite amazing. She lives in the wilderness therefore you will be able to spot every instance of dirt, blood, grit and other little things like that caked on her face and body. The transfer captures it all. Flesh tones on the non-feral characters is also capture naturally. Tones look spot on and do not look flushed. The subject matter depicted in The Woman may be ugly, but this video transfer is pretty.

Audio

The Woman is presented in DTS-HD MA 5.1. The Woman may be a low budget flick, but you wouldn’t know that with all the TLC it’s received on audio front. The Woman is a ferocious beast when it comes to the very scary and aggressive soundtrack. Dialogue is clean and clear and you will have no problem in keeping track with what’s going on. Ambient sounds do fill up the channels nicely in when on location in the woods or in the middle of the countryside. The Woman sounds great.

Special Features

The Woman is packed with a few special features like a making-of featurette which sheds some light on the production and is bookended by that famous outburst at Sundance last year where that guy got ejected from the screening due ti him disrupting the showing and calling the film without merit. Deleted scenes are explored as is a strange little short animated film called Mi Burro along with a music track by composer Sean Spillane.

• The Making of The Woman

• Deleted Scenes
• Short Film – Mi Burro

• Music Track Distracted by Sean Spillane

Final Thoughts

By now most of our readers should know how I roll when it comes to my horror film entertainment. I enjoyed The Woman very much and recommend it to the curios bunch out there. I will say that the film is very graphic, but if you dig blood and guts then you will probably dig the film even more on top of the message it conveys. The Woman is not for everyone, so be aware that if you’re not into horror in general, you will not like the film. If you’re a horror junkie like me then you will dig it.

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Film  

Alfred Hitchcock is known as “the master of suspense,” which is a title he rightly deserves, but not a lot of people realize that his work was just as good in other genres too.  Notorious doesn’t really fall into his usual comfort zone since it’s more of a love story than anything else.  Sure, there’s a off-screen death and an attempted poisoning, but the core of this movie is a love story between two people that are ill-equipped to deal with it.

The movie opens with a scene in a courtroom where we witness a verdict and the defendant’s daughter leaving the courtroom before we learn that the woman’s father was just convicted of being a Nazi spy and sentenced for treason.  The young woman named Alicia (Ingred Bergman) promptly goes to a gathering and gets drunk, all the while being watched by a tall man who has his back to the camera.  When the camera finally reveals the man named Devlin to be Cary Grant, the movie kicks into gear since he is obviously looking after Alicia for some reason.  When she decides to take a drive, he accompanies her which is fairly risky since she is drunk and determined to make him nervous with her driving.  When her speeding catches the eye of a police officer and they are pulled over, Alicia isn’t hauled to jail or even given a ticket once the officer sees Devlin’s badge.

Finally understanding that her passenger is in some kind of law enforcement, Alicia freaks out and Devlin is forced to subdue her and drive her back home.  When she recovers the next morning he explains that he is with the F.B.I. and that they want Alicia to perform a job for her country.  When Alicia scoffs at the idea of doing something out of patriotism, Devlin plays a secret recording of a conversation she had with her traitorous father once she discovered what he was up to and told him how disgusted she was for what he was doing against their country.  Chastened by hearing her own words about how much she loves America, Alicia tells Devlin she will help him.

They travel to Rio de Janeiro and Devlin is updated by his superiors on exactly what the job will be which infuriates him once he learns that the F.B.I. wants to pimp out Alicia to one of her father’s Nazi cronies named Alex Sebastian (Claude Rains).  Devlin learns that Alex fell in love with Alicia long ago but that love was never reciprocated back by Alicia and his boss wants her to make it happen now.  They are hoping that by baiting Alex with Alicia, that she might worm her way into his life and possibly learn what Alex and his German friends are doing in South America.

Devlin is conflicted since he wants to do his duty, but he’s also started to fall in love with Alicia which makes it difficult for him to finally tell her the plan.  Strangely enough, Alicia is less concerned about prostituting herself with a Nazi than the fact that Devlin doesn’t try to stop her from doing it.  When she doesn’t get the response she wants from Devlin, she tells him she will do it which only makes Devlin even more bitter and caustic to her.  In trying to provoke each other, both start down a path neither wants to walk, but there’s no turning back especially once she has to marry Alex.

The rest of the movie ratchets up the tension between the three of them as Alex is aware that Devlin frequently contacts Alicia which only makes him more and more jealous.  There’s a great sequence where Alicia must steal a key, smuggle it to Devlin, and then both of them have to discover what Alex and his compatriots are hiding down in a wine cellar during a party.  Not only do they have to avoid detection, but they are also in a race against time as the champagne is going quickly and sooner or later someone will come down the cellar for more.  Of course, things go wrong and in a bravura scene that shows of the talents of Rains and Hitchcock, we see Alex work out exactly what happened and put it all together without a single line of dialogue.

While many of the movie’s plot points pop up just to keep the movie moving (including a uranium plot-line that’s never resolved), the cast is so good that it really doesn’t matter.  Cary Grant was able to break free of his usual glib and smooth kind of characters with Devlin and his performance is excellent.  Devlin spends the movie conflicted about his feelings and his duty and it’s only at the end that he makes his choice which comes off beautifully.  Ingrid Bergman is also very good in her difficult role.  Alicia is portrayed to be very unlikable at the start of the movie but Bergman is talented enough to generate sympathy for her character even if we don’t really understand her motivations other than to make up for her father’s treason and possibly to provoke Devlin to declare his feelings for her.

And last but not least, is the wonderful Claude Rains who is good in every movie he’s in.  For awhile, despite being a Nazi, Alex engenders some sympathy from the audience because he truly does love Alicia and even treats her better than Devlin does.  Of course by the end, he shows his true colors (poisoning people kind of does that), but he’s great in the role and adds a lot to the movie.  While this isn’t the genre he is the most famous for perfecting, Notorious bears the unmistakable fingerprints of Alfred Hitchcock.  His use of tension and some incredible camera shots guarantee that the master was fully engaged on this movie.  This is one of my favorite Hitchcock movies just because it is so different and because of this incredible cast.

Video  

The film’s 1080p (1.37:1) transfer is the best I’ve seen released so far but it’s not perfect.  The black and white footage has some nice detail which in some scenes is excellent, but in others it can look soft.  There’s also a lot of rear projection footage in the movie which stands out even more in high definition.  As for print damage, there’s still some specks and some minor scratches along with some flicker issues but none of them are obtrusive enough to really complain about. Film grain is present but it’s not too heavy and it simply gives it a film-like look that hasn’t been scrubbed away by DNR. We all have to keep in mind that this is an old film after all and for it’s age, it looks pretty good in high definition.

Audio  

Notorious‘ lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix is appropriate for a film it’s age but it’s a shame that it couldn’t be more improved.  Dialogue is the most important focus for this film and I’m happy to report that it’s clear and easily understood.  There’s no hiss or other sound defects which frequently plague older films.  Roy Webb’s score isn’t overshadowed by the rest of the movie but it is fairly subdued.  For a film this old, just like with the video quality, I can overlook a lot since this is probably as good as it’s ever going to get and I’m just glad to get it in high definition.

Special Features  

There’s a nice mix of extras on here that are balanced well and I especially liked hearing from Hitchcock directly.  The bad part is that they are all in standard definition.

• Commentary with Film Professor Rick Jewell - This is a pretty comprehensive commentary but Jewell seems more interested in talking about the history of RKO and Selznick than the movie.  When  he finally does start talking about the movie, he does have a lot of good info but fans of the movie may not like the film history detours.  Of course, if you are into film history, then you will really like this one.
• Commentary with Film Professor Drew Casper – Another commentary that’s more on point but it isn’t as effective as Jewell’s since it seems that Casper is reminiscing more than commentating.
• Isolated Music and Effects Track - The score for Notorious‘ may not be up to the usual Bernard Herrmann standards, but it is effective and this isolated track shows just how well it supported the film.
• The Ultimate Romance: The Making of Notorious - They either could have focuses on the thriller aspect of the film or the romantic side and they went with romance which makes sense since it’s the core of the movie.  With that as it’s focus, this featurette covers how the romance played into the film.
• Alfred Hitchcock: The Ultimate Spymaster – A short but nice look at how Hitchcock contributed and influenced the spy genre through his films.
• The American Film Institute Award: The Key to Hitchcock – A very short but touching look at clips of Hitchcock receiving an AFI award that’s hosted by his granddaughter.  We also see Ingrid Bergman present the infamous key to the wine cellar from Notorious to him as well which is pretty cool.
• 1948 Radio Play starring Joseph Cotton and Ingrid Bergman
• Hitchcock Audio Interviews – I’ve listened to hours of Bogdanovich talking to Orson Welles and was always fascinated by the conversation so I was happy to see a collection of chats on here with Hitchcock.  The bad news is that the one with Bogdanovich is only a little over two minutes long but the good news is that Truffaut one is a lot longer.  I really liked this extra!
• Restoration Comparison – A before and after look at the restoration efforts for this release.
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Thoughts  

This is a very mature film that is still surprising to audiences today with its unusual storyline that was really ahead of it’s time.  The cast is wonderful in this and Hitchcock’s many touches including that incredible shot with the key, keep audiences and film students happy.  This Blu-ray looks great and sounds pretty good but combined with a bunch of fantastic extras, makes this one easy to recommend as a blind buy purchase.

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Film  

After the huge success of Annie Hall (read my review here), Woody Allen went a new dramatic direction with Interiors which wasn’t received as well but it’s pretty hard to top Annie Hall.  Allen’s next movie would bridge both movies as it would have the comedic one-lines like Annie Hall but it would be grounded as well much like Interiors.  Manhattan is another one of Allen’s relationship movies, a concept that seems to have fascinated him throughout his long prolific career.  Instead of focusing on just one relationship like in Annie Hall, Allen and co-writer Marshall Brickman expanded it to two couples, each with their own issues.

The movie opens sans titles to black and white images of New York City accompanied by “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin.  By the time the song is over, Allen has already set the mood for the movie and did it without a single bit of dialogue.  Even the title of the movie is only given to us through a neon sign outside a building that flashes “Manhattan.”  In this movie, Allen is still playing the same character he usually plays but this time he’s called Isaac Davis and he’s an unhappy writer for television.  Isaac is currently dating a seventeen year old girl named Tracy (Mariel Hemingway) which is somewhat unsettling to see for many reasons but the two seem happy.  Isaac’s best friend Yale (Michael Murphy) is happily married to a woman named Emily (Anne Byrne) but later confides to Isaac that he’s not only a serial cheater, but that he’s currently cheating on her with a journalist named Mary (Diane Keaton).

Ironically, while Isaac has no problem having sex with seventeen year old girls at his age, he does draw the line on cheating on your wife and he tells Yale he should break it off.  Yale doesn’t listen and even introduces Mary to Isaac and Tracy at an art exhibition.  Right away the opinionated Mary drives Isaac crazy as she insults the art he likes, but when she badmouths Ingmar Bergman, it’s the last straw for Isaac who wants nothing to do with her.  After his divorce from Jill (Meryl Streep), Isaac unconsciously avoids strong experienced women (which is partly why he’s comfortable with Tracy) because Jill crushed him when she decided she was a lesbian and got involved with another woman named Connie (Karen Ludwig).  It doesn’t help that Jill is writing a tell-all book about her relationship with Isaac which he knows will reveal every personal thing that happened between him which makes him angry and anxious.

Issac accidentally runs back into Mary at a fund-raising event and this time they hit it off better.  He accompanies her back to her place and goes on a walk with her that culminates in a sublime shot of the two of them on a bench near the Queensboro Bridge as night shifts to early morning.  Despite his growing attraction and interest in Mary, he doesn’t act on it because he want to be a loyal friend to Yale.  So he continues to see Tracy but keeps telling her not to get too serious about him since she is too young to worry about that at this point in her life.  He advises her to go to London to study acting.  When Yale finally decides the risk isn’t worth his marriage, he breaks up with Mary and then later tells Isaac to ask her out.  Now that he can see Mary without feeling like he was betraying Yale, Isaac breaks up with a heartbroken Tracy and starts up a relationship with Mary.

Time passes and Yale tries to get Mary back even though she’s dating Isaac and Mary confesses to Isaac that she still loves Yale.  When Yale separates with Emily to be free for Mary, Mary decides to join him which leaves Isaac feeling betrayed by both of them.  At this point, the film abandons any effort at comedy and becomes a pure drama as Isaac confronts Yale for his treachery and later realizes that he misses Tracy who is about to take his advice and fly to London to study acting.  I won’t go into any further details about the ending other than to say that it’s a lot more ambiguous than Annie Halls and leaves many plot threads dangling with no resolution at all.

I have mixed feelings about the film as I love the comedic moments but I’m not so thrilled with the melodrama that takes over the last half of the film.  I think it’s fairly sad that the most stable and grounded character in this movie is the seventeen year old Tracy.  She knows exactly what she wants, who she loves, and is completely unselfish and more giving than any other character in the movie.  It’s a quiet and understated role and Mariel Hemingway was so good in it that she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.  Diane Keaton as Mary is a polar opposite of Annie Hall.  Mary is focused, opinionated, pushy, and thinks she’s smarter than she really is.

I didn’t care much for the character of Yale as played by Michael Murphy since he seemed like a scumbag due to how he treated his wife but at least he seemed like a good friend to Isaac until the end revealed the sum total of all of his douchebaggery.  Allen is always good playing Allen and he seems even more assured as an actor and as a director for this movie.   It’s interesting to note that Allen was initially unhappy with it and asked United Artists not to release it.  He even offered to make another movie for free in exchange since as he said later, “I just thought to myself, ‘At this point in my life, if this is the best I can do, they shouldn’t give me money to make movies.”  Fortunately for movie audiences everywhere, United Artists declined his offer and Allen’s tale of troubled love in New York City was shared with the world to much acclaim.

Video  

This 1080p (2.35:1) transfer is beautiful to watch as you can see Allen’s love for New York captured in every frame. This transfer is a lot better than the previous home video releases and it’s even better than the recent Blu-ray release of Annie Hall.  The black and white cinematography shot by cinematographer Gordon Willis is gorgeous to look at and Allen really let him do his thing since a good portion of the movie takes place in shadows.  Thankfully, the black levels are suitably inky which is a good thing since several scenes are pitch black in this new transfer.  It’s hard to say if MGM went overboard or if this is how the film was supposed to look but it is a big difference over past releases.

Audio  

Manhattan’s DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono mix isn’t as good as the high definition transfer but it is faithful to the original intentions of Woody Allen.  At this point, most fans should be aware that Allen isn’t that worried about adding a powerful 7.1 mix to his movies which to be honest isn’t as bad as it sounds.  All of his movies are notoriously dialogue driven and this 2.0 mix does a nice job delivering it clearly and without any hissing or other defects.  Even with this being a 2.0 mono mix, the multiple George Gershwin songs sound very good and it’s rare to hear this much music in a Woody Allen movie and it adds a lot to the experience.

Special Features  

While I can live with the 2.0 mono mix, I am not happy at this trend of Woody Allen movies not having any special features other than the trailer for the movie.  There’s been a ton of interviews with the man so how hard would it be to add a couple of those?  It’s also unfortunate because it keeps lowering my final score too.

Final Thoughts  

While I don’t have the same love for Manhattan that I do for Annie Hall and the ”earlier, funnier movies” that he referenced later in a line in Stardust Memories.  People seem to be split on Allen’s catalog of films with half usually preferring his early ones, while others like his more somber darker later films.  Yes I am one of those early film supporters but that’s not to say that I haven’t enjoyed his later films too.  Woody Allen has such a unique comic voice that I love his early work the most because his sole goal at that point was to make you laugh as much as possible. Manhattan represents the point where he still had one foot in the comedy world as he moved towards more dramatic work.  Fans of all phases of Woody’s career should find something to enjoy in this dramedy!

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Alvy Singer: Don’t you see the rest of the country looks upon New York like we’re left-wing, communist, Jewish, homosexual pornographers? I think of us that way sometimes and I live here.

Film  

Annie Hall is just about every-one’s favorite Woody Allen movie and there’s a good reason for it.  It’s hilarious, deep, ground-breaking, and has enough unrequited angst to balance out the non-stop witty one-liners.  There’s also a ring of truth to the movie which may not be as far-fetched as it sounds since Allen and Keaton were in a relationship and Keaton’s real last name is Hall and her nickname was “Annie.”  And of course, Allen is basically playing Allen no matter what role it is, since he’s always the same funny, neurotic, kvetching character who has a constant running commentary on his own life.  In Allen’s earlier films, they were light and focused on the comedy, but with Annie Hall Woody Allen decided to go a new direction and take some more chances.  As he said, “…’I think I will try and make some deeper film and not be as funny in the same way.  And maybe there will be other values that will emerge, that will be interesting or nourishing for the audience.  And it worked out very, very well.”

In Annie Hall, Woody Allen plays Alvy Singer who happens to be a gag writer and occasional stand up comedian. The movie starts with Alvy talking to the audience and relating to us the story of his doomed relationship with a woman named Annie Hall (Diane Keaton).  Through flashbacks and return visits we not only see his relationship with Annie, but also scenes from his childhood as well.  Allen’s use of flashbacks and jumping around in his own timeline which includes imaginary group trips into each of their history’s makes Annie Hall much more unpredictable and fun than the usual romantic comedy.  It struck while watching it again that Annie Hall is almost a comedic precursor to Pulp Fiction in a lot of ways because of the somewhat similar approaches.

We witness Alvy and Annie’s relationship from start to finish inter-cut with scenes of them with other people as well. For Alvy, it’s easy to see his consistent pattern with women where he wins them over and then drives them away with his constant questioning of them or in the case of Allison (Carol Kane), because she didn’t believe in his theory about the Kennedy assassination.  Alvy’s friend Rob (Tony Roberts) tries to keep things simple and inadvertently introduces Alvy to Annie during a tennis match where the two hit it off quickly.  Annie is from a well to do family and seems kind of scatterbrained and uninhibited while Alvy over-analyzes everything and disapproves of flighty ways especially when he later complains about her needing to smoke marijuana every time before they have sex.

Despite the constant fluctuations in their relationship, Alvy supports Annie’s desire to sing which backfires when a laid back record producer named Tony Lacey (Paul Simon) hears her sing and wants to get to know her better.  Alvy does his best to keep her away from Tony by feigning that they had a previous “thing” to do, but when he is supposed to give out an award in California later on, they see Tony again at a party.  By now, Annie has fallen in love with California and its atmosphere and she decides she would rather live there.  Alvy will never leave New York and hates California with a passion (“I don’t want to move to a city where the only cultural advantage is being able to make a right turn on a red light.”) and between that and their other issues, they break up and Annie moves into Tony’s mansion.  It doesn’t take long before Alvy realizes how much he wants Annie in his life and he even returns to California to try to bring her back to New York, but discovers that sometimes things don’t always work out the way we hope.

This is probably my favorite Woody Allen movie because it all came together so beautifully.  The comedy is first rate with an extremely funny script by Allen and Marshall Brickman, it has a great cast, the cinematography from Gordon Willis is amazing, and all of the stylistic choices Allen made as a director make this a classic.  I loved seeing Woody “break the fourth wall” to address the audience after having to listen to a pompous know-it-all in line behind him expound incorrectly about Marshall McLuhan’s work.  We’ve seen that device done before, but Allen raises it to a new level when the man Woody is complaining about also addresses the audience to defend himself.  Allen then takes the gag to an even higher level when he brings out Marshall McLuhan himself to tell the pompous man that he doesn’t understand his work at all.  Then there’s other creative touches like using humorous subtitles that convey not what the characters are actually saying, but rather what they are really thinking which makes it even funnier.  Allen even includes an animated segment with Annie as the evil Queen from Snow White.  Combine all that with the flashbacks and the imaginary visits back into the past and you have a very unique romantic comedy that was way ahead of its time.

Alvy Singer: They did not take me in the Army. I was, um, interestingly enough, I was, I was 4-P. Yes. In the, in the event of war, I’m a hostage.

Video  

This 1080p (1.85:1) transfer looks a lot better than I expected it would although that’s not to say that it’s perfect.  This is a soft looking movie and it’s filled with grain but it doesn’t bother me for this release since that’s how I imagine it should look.  The grain hasn’t been scrubbed away with DNR so it still retains the cinematic feel of the movie which I believe reflects that aesthetic of Woody Allen.  I believe this is how he would want the film to look – it’s like looking at an original print but with the benefit of seeing it in high definition.  I think MGM could have done a better job but I would worry that to achieve that, it might change the look and feel of the movie.  Colors are decent but aren’t overly vivid since the movie has a mute palette, but the black levels are deep, dark, and very satisfying which is great since cinematographer Gordon Willis loves to shoot everything in darkness.  This is a pretty good transfer and one that fits in well with the movie.

Alvy Singer: I was thrown out of N.Y.U. my freshman year for cheating on my metaphysics final, you know. I looked within the soul of the boy sitting next to me.

Audio  

My reaction to Annie Hall’s DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix is exactly the same as my feelings about the high definition transfer.  It could have been better but what’s there is perfectly suitable for the film.  Since this film is filled with non-stop dialogue, it doesn’t really need a 7.1 mix.  As it is, the dialogue sounds crisp and clear with no distortions of any kind.  There’s also Dolby Digital mono mixes in Spanish, French, Italian, German, Catalan, and Portuguese as well since Woody Allen has a lot of international fans.  This is a simple mix but it works for the movie and I’m pretty happy with it.

Annie Hall: You never want to try anything new, Alvy.
Alvy Singer: How can you say that? Whose idea was it? I said that you, I, and that girl from your acting class should sleep together in a threesome.
Annie Hall: Well, that’s sick.
Alvy Singer: Yeah, I know it’s sick, but it’s new. You didn’t say it couldn’t be sick.

Special Features  

Sadly, there is only the theatrical trailer in high definition which is a travesty for fans of the film and it will bring down the final score too.

Alvy Singer: Don’t knock masturbation, it’s sex with someone I love.

Final Thoughts  

This is one of the best comedies ever made and it’s not afraid to end on a non-traditional note.  The movie cemented Allen’s reputation as an actor, writer, and director and also gave a bunch of unknown actors their first big break too.  Part of the fun watching the movie is spotting well known actors in the tiniest of roles.  You will see Jeff Goldblum, Christopher Walken, Sigourney Weaver, Colleen Dewhurst, Shelley Duvall, John Glover, Mark Lenard, Beverly D’Angelo, Tracey Walter, and more in roles that might not even have a line! Annie Hall ended up winning four Academy Awards including Best Picture (over Star Wars! grumble grumble) and its influence is still being felt today. This is without a doubt, Woody Allen’s masterpiece and I highly recommend it!

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Film  

In director Shawn Levy’s Real Steel, the year is 2020 and in this not so distant time the sport of boxing has been taken over by robots.  Humans were phased out since bloodthirsty audiences wanted more spectacle and more punishing fights that would have endangered humans so robots are now the big draw.  For a former boxer like Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman), that change brought nothing but trouble to him.  He’s in debt to loan sharks, he doesn’t have a viable robot boxer, his on again off again girlfriend Bailey (Evangeline Lilly) isn’t happy with him, and then he find out that the girlfriend he left long ago has died and that he has a son named Max (Dakota Goya) that wants to reconnect with him.

Charlie’s life is already spinning out of control before Max re-enters his life since he bet everything he had (and a lot more that he didn’t have) on his last robot named Ambush in the hopes that Ambush could defeat a bull.  The owner of the Bull is a ruthless promoter named Rickey (Kevin Durand) who warns Charlie that he better pay his debt if he loses or he will regret it.  Unfortunately for Charlie, he does lose because in the brief instant Charlie starts trying to impress some girls, the bull starts destroying Ambush.  Knowing that there’s no way that he can pay his $20,000 loss, Charlie hightails it out of the fair before Ricky and his men can catch him.

Now on the run from Ricky and others, it’s at that point Charlie learns about the death of his ex-girlfriend and the fact that he is required to attend a court hearing to determine the fate of his son Max.  When he arrives at the hearing he meets his ex-girlfriend’s sister Debra and her wealthy husband Marvin.  Debra wants custody of Max since she doesn’t think very highly of Charlie and Marvin is intent on making his wife happy but at the same time doesn’t want Max to accompany them on their second honeymoon.  When he tries to talk to Charlie about making a deal, Charlie tells him that he will waive his parental rights for $100,000 and offers to take Max off their hands so Marvin can get his second honeymoon kid free.  Marvin agrees and pays Charlie half up front which Max witnesses and grows angry about.

Charlie never really had any intention on taking care of Max for the duration as he was counting on his ex Bailey (who inherited the gym that Charlie grew up in) to watch Max for him.  All Charlie wants to do is buy a new robot so he can try to win some money quickly to pay off the loan sharks before it gets even more serious than it already is.   Bailey is just as disappointed as every one else is of Charlie but she becomes friends with Max.  With his new-found money, Charlie is able to buy a once famous robot named Noisy Boy that he takes to an illegal robot fight club to fight the current champ known as Midas.  Thanks to Charlie’s inexperience with the robot’s control scheme and his overconfidence, Noisy Boy loses and is completely destroyed by Midas along with Charlie’s dreams of paying off his debts.

Left with little choice but to break into a junkyard to salvage parts to build a new robot, Charlie and Max surreptitiously steal parts until Max accidentally falls down a slippery slope only to be caught from going over a chasm by a half buried robot’s arm.  Max demands that they take the robot with them but Charlie makes him do all of the work.  After returning to the gym, they discover that the robot, named Adam, is an obsolete Generation-2 sparring bot that was designed to take a lot of punishment.  Atom also has another feature that sets him apart from other robots – he can shadow movements and remember the sequences and use them in fights later.  Max convinces Charlie to let Atom fight in an underground fight and amazingly enough, Atom wins the fight and Charlie recoups some of his money.

Mazx turns out to be a little mechanical genius and he upgrades Atom to accept vocal commands, the two start to train Atom in their respective ways.  Charlie drills in some boxing routines while Max teaches the robot how to dance with him which raises their popularity with audiences.  Before long, they are offered the chance to an official sanctioned fight with the WRB against a robot named Twin Cities.  Atom wins again thanks to Charlie’s boxing advice and Max takes the opportunity to challenge the world champion Zeus which is owned by Farra Lemkova who had tried to buy Atom before the match before being rebuffed by Max.  The Kentons’ good fortune is short-lived since Ricky and his men ambush them and beat Charlie up and steal their winnings.  Finally realizing how much danger he’s putting Max in, Charlie takes Max back to Debra and Marvin and leaves him behind along with the other half of the money that he no longer wants.

The rest of the movie is completely formulaic but at the same time it still works thanks in large part to Hugh Jackman’s performance.  Not many actors could still engender goodwill after selling their son for $100,000, enlists a child to steal parts, and takes him to underground fights, but somehow Jackman pulls it off effortlessly.  Charlie Kenton may be a scumbag overall, but underneath all of his selfish actions there is still a good man within.  The appearance of Max is the catalyst that saves Charlie’s soul and he starts to realize how low he’s allowed himself to sink and his mistreatment of those that cared about him.  Of course, he’s going to go back for his son and obviously he’s going to try to redeem himself, but despite being able to recognize every emotional signpost along this well-traveled road, it still worked for me.

Seeing Charlie reconnect with Bailey and even more importantly Max and then witnessing their mistrust and antagonism give way to love for each other was touching.  Especially when the unlikely duo take on the massive Zeus at the end of the movie in a fight that for all intents and purposes, should be a suicide mission.   The robot fights are all impressive (Sugar Ray Leonard was an adviser) but it’s the final fight that is the most emotionally involving, especially when for the final round, Charlie employs the shadow-boxing mode and essentially fights the last round himself.  Being able to see his father boxing in all his glory the way he used to, makes Max incredibly proud and we see the full redemption of Charlie as he we see him at his best once again.

Video  

Disney triumphs again with an impeccable 1080p (2.35:1) transfer that is simply amazing to see.  The clarity and detail on display is very impressive and I especially liked seeing all of the many details on each robot along with the realistic sheen on their frames.  This transfer is beautiful to see as it shows off every strand of hair, every spot of rust, and every piece of textured clothing in a pristine fashion.  Colors are vibrant and plentiful and black levels are suitably inky and dark.  Flesh tones are natural and realistic and the robots’ metallic gleam shimmers in fine detail.

Audio  

Real Steel‘s DTS-HD MA 7.1 lossless mix is just as impressive as the high definition transfer!  I really liked how the film felt real no matter what scene was on the screen.  Whether it was at a local rodeo or in a gym, an underground robot fight club with raucous beats, or an over-sized arena filled with thousands of fans, this mix captured the atmosphere and replicated it so well that you might as well have been there.  Directionality is also handled extremely well with all of the channels joining in on the action and following the action accurately.  Hearing the metal grinding punishment of robot on robot fighting was awesome to listen to and my inner child rejoiced at the robotic destruction.  Dialogue is crystal clear and understandable throughout the movie even during fight scenes or when there’s music playing.  Fans of the movie will be very happy with this 7.1 mix!

Special Features  

These are pretty good special features but I don’t understand why the audio commentary with Director Shawn Levy isn’t included on the Blu-ray but shows up on the DVD instead.  If you ask me that’s crazy.

• Real Steel Second Screen: Ringside with Director Shawn Levy - This features is supposed to help you “interact with the movie on your iPad or computer while you watch the movie on your Blu-ray player,” but I didn’t get a chance to try it as it wasn’t ready for me to check out.
• Countdown to the Fight: The Charlie Kenton Story – Some footage filmed in a mockumentary style with footage from the movie’s cast talking in character about themselves and the upcoming fight between Atom and Zeus.
• Making of Metal Valley – This is an almost fifteen minute look behind the scenes of the filming of the scrapyard scene where Charlie and Max eventually find Atom.  I wish more of the movie was covered like this and filmed.
• Building the Bots – A look at the building of the robots both practically and through CGI.  This was really interesting and I wish it had been longer because fighting robots are cool.
• Sugar Ray Leonard: Cornerman’s Champ - Boxing Hall of Fame star Sugar Ray Leonard served as the film’s adviser in both the fight sequences and he also helped train Hugh Jackman so he would look like a real fighter.
• Deleted & Extended Scenes – A look at some footage that was cut including: “Extended Meet Ambush” and “Deleted Butterfly Storyline”.
• Bloopers
• DVD Copy (includes the commentary track that should be on the Blu-ray).
• Digital Copy

Final Thoughts  

Maybe I’m a sucker for these kind of movies because of my own wonderful son and because I love comeback movies, but I really enjoyed Real Steel even if it was predictable.  The animatronics by Legacy Effects are amazing, the special effects from ILM are up to their usual impeccable standard, and the cast is also excellent especially the multi-talented Hugh Jackman who makes every movie he’s in better than it should be.

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Film 

In the mid-to-late 70′s, the punk rock scenes had begun to spread out through the UK music scene and many disillusioned youth took to the streets in revolt. Anarchy reigned and so did the drug abuse. A little band known as the Sex Pistols gained some prominence in that specific scene, but it was the junkie bass player and his junkie girlfriend who would be the most talked about item during their short lives and long after both of their deaths. Their names were Sid and Nancy.

First off, Gary Oldman looks like a baby. Literally. Sid & Nancy was released in 1986, so he wasn’t even thirty years old yet. It blows my mind. Oldman is a dead ringer for the Sid, and Chloe Webb plays his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. These two would be joined at the hip until the very end. What I enjoyed most about the film is that it told Sid’s story, and whether most of it or all of it was a fabrication by the writers or whatever, it works in that it’s extremely linear, but told from just Sid and Nancy’s perspective.

One thing that needs to be mentioned before I go on is that the cinematography is amazing. Shot by the legendary Roger Deakins (just about every Coen Brothers’ film);  you’re transported to the time period and you feel like a fly on  the wall. The film is mostly shot over-the-shoulder style and with a steadicam. It’s so fluid and precise that you really feel like you’re next to these people as they go about their twisted ways. It’s a technically competent film.

Now here’s where I may contradict myself. I like punk music, but don’t really care for the lifestyle. I understand the concept of what the punk scene was trying to prove in terms of rebellion and standing up to authority, etc. In Sid & Nancy, there really is no message behind the movement or the lifestyle. The film focuses purely on Sid and Nancy, their co-dependency and hardcore drug habits. They were very much in love and they were very much screwed up. Sid was a bit of a moron and couldn’t play bass to save his life. He was all image, but to this day is still being written about in music magazines. Nancy Spungen came from a well-to-do family, but decided to jump ship and huff it over to the UK to live the adventure. What that particular adventure was is never clearly focused on. I think the drugs got in the way.

I noticed Johnny Rotten in there as well, but the way the film is written, it’s not about Johnny or the rest of the boys in the band. It’s clearly a Sid only film. Even Johnny Rotten couldn’t stand Sid’s drug habit which is touched upon early on in the picture.  What is emphasized is that Sid and Nancy were made for each other. Junkie love. It’s sad, but that’s how it is. Sid & Nancy has very cool, and sometimes surreal imagery, including one scene where the couple share an embrace in an alley and it starts to rain garbage on them. It’s a jarring little scene, but makes a brilliant romantic point.

Sid & Nancy can be considered one of the most unconventional love stories of all time, but be warned, it is not for the faint of heart. The drugs.

Video 

Sid & Nancy is presented in 1080p – 1.85:1 widescreen. As soon as the opening frames of the film were projected I was blown away on how clean the print looked. Shot on a low budget and being more than twenty five years old, this new high definition print is certainly nothing to scoff at. Grain levels are remarkable, as are sharpness levels, contrast, and colors. Where it does stray a bit in consistency is with the softness levels – those to do fluctuate a bit, but it isn’t bothersome. The punk scene was an ugly one, but this Blu-ray is far from it.

Audio 

Sid & Nancy is presented in DTS-HD MA 5.1. The film’s soundtrack is one of the main stars since it’s composed by the late great Joe Strummer of The Clash along with Pray For Rain, and The Pogues. When the music starts rocking it really rocks! It rocks the front sound stage as opposed to engulfing the rest of the listening area. It’s a nice touch, because the Sex Pistols played crappy clubs for the most part, and you feel like you’re really in the pit. Once outside walking the gloomy streets of the UK, the ambient sounds come at you in a very realistic fashion. You can hear police sirens in the distance, etc. Dialogue is crystal clear, so the cockney accents shouldn’t be hard to understand. Sid & Nancy is a sonic winner.  

Special Features

The bad news is that all of the special features that were on the Criterion Collection laserdisc and long out of print DVD are not included on this Blu-ray. What is included, and I will gladly trade it for the previous mentioned material, are two featurettes with people and journalists who were/are semi-familiar with the punk scene and the Sex Pistols in general. It’s fluff disguised as adulation. Both featurettes run fifteen minutes each and there’s a theatrical trailer, too.

• For The Love of Punk
  
• Junk Love
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Thoughts 

Sid & Nancy would have gotten a higher rating if the special features had been the old Criterion Collection ports. What is included is not satisfying enough, so it drops down a notch. The video and audio specs make up for the supplemental failure, though. Whether you like punk rock or not, if you’re in the mood for a shockingly real junkie love story then I highly recommend Sid & Nancy. They’re a bit of alright.

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Film  

The Ides of March is a movie about the modern day political age where the candidates may not live up to the packaged image they present to the public and their morals may not be as untainted as they would like us to believe. With the title of the movie referring to the March Presidential Primary that’s held in Ohio and of course referencing the elimination of Julius Ceasar by his underling, co-writer, actor, and director George Clooney sets the tone of the movie right away.  Watching the movie, it struck me that the movie seemed like an update to Michael Ritchie’s The Candidate that starred Robert Redford as the well-intentioned candidate who sacrificed his ideals to win.  For The Ides of March, it’s focused more on an adviser than the candidate, but both movies cover similar thematic territory.

George Clooney plays Pennsylvania Governor Mike Morris, a Democrat who’s trying to become the President of the United States.  Morris is ably supported by a crack political team that includes the veteran Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his razor sharp protege Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling).  With Paul supplying the tactical strategies and Stephen maintaining image control, they are a tough team to beat.  That’s not to say that the other side is lacking since Morris’ Democratic opponent in the primary, Arkansas Governor Ted Pullman (Michael Mantell) has the equally good Tom Duffy (Paul Giamatti) as his Campaign Manager.

Both campaign managers are wooing North Carolina Democratic Senator Franklin Thompson (Jeffrey Wright) since he alone can sway his 356 pledged Democratic convention delegates to either side, which depending on which way it went, would either guarantee a complete win for Morris or a much needed boost for Pullman.  While Pullman’s campaign is willing to bribe Thompson by offering him the position of Secretary of State for his delegates, Morris refuses to do that since it would compromise his beliefs too much since he knows that Thompson hates the United Nations and wouldn’t be a good fit there.

Stephen truly believes in what Morris stands for and he’s mocked by New York Times reporter Ida Horowicz (Marisa Tomei) who warns him “He’s a nice guy.  He will let you down sooner or later.”  Stephen soon finds himself being propositioned by a young campaign intern named Molly Stearns (Evan Rachel Wood) and he willingly allows himself to be seduced.  Molly isn’t the only one to try to seduce Stephen, since Duffy calls him directly to meet and once they do, he offers Stephen a job working for the Pullman campaign.  Stephen rejects the offer but doesn’t realize that he’s already walked into Duffy’s Machiavellian trap which will ensnare him later.  It won’t be too long before the Morris camp’s collective bad decisions and indiscretions not only threaten to derail the campaign but each of their jobs. Backed against the wall, every person will shed their public persona and reveal their true character which will end in a loss of idealism for some and compromised ideals for others.

After watching The Ides of March, you get the sense of George Clooney’s disappointment with politics as they are being practiced today.  He deftly gives us the surface level look at politics we are accustomed to seeing on our TV and then takes us behind the scenes of the process where we see the anything goes dirty war that we’ve always suspected but only occasionally seen.  These political operatives will do just about anything to win and he shows that even candidates with principles will throw them away if that’s what it takes to win.  It’s a cynical but sadly accurate look at our modern day politics, which continues with every election by both political parties.  Clooney does an excellent job as a director and especially as an actor whose role requires many different layers to be revealed.  He makes his character entirely believable as a candidate who in private may or may not be all that he seems, while maintaining a public profile of a charismatic politician that the media and audiences can’t resist.

The rest of the cast is also very good with Ryan Gosling showing a great deal of charm during his scenes with the equally talented Evan Rachel Wood as they flirt with each other.  Over the course of the movie, we watch Stephen’s beliefs and values slowly disappear and Gosling makes that descent apparent as Stephen retreats into himself and becomes little more than a political machine.  Both Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamatti are fantastic as they cynical political warriors who harbor no illusions on what it takes to win nor any hesitation cross any line to do so.  While this basic movie has been seen many different times in various ways, Clooney and his incredible cast make this better than it should be.  Clooney also wisely uses real talking heads from a variety of political shows that add another layer of authenticity to the movie.  The Ides of March is a slow burn movie that will depress you on the state of politics if you aren’t already.  This movie offers a clear eyed view of the entire political process and the people and candidates that wade through it and how each sells their soul in different ways in the end to achieve their goals.

Video  

The Ides of March’s 1080p (2.40:1) transfer is stunning with a cinematic and moody look that offers some impressive clarity and colors.  Fine detail is present in every shot and textures also look realistic and natural.  The film’s colors are also varied and the hues are vivid and pop off the screen.  There’s many low light scenes and Clooney uses light and darkness to emphasize the drama and it’s fortunate that the black levels are deep and solid which makes those scenes look fantastic.  Flesh tones are natural looking and consistent throughout the movie and I didn’t notice any kind of print damage or defects on this transfer at all.  Sony has delivered a superlative transfer for this movie!

Audio  

The Ides of March’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is also very good but being a dialogue driven movie, it doesn’t get the chance to really call attention to itself.  Dialogue is clear and razor sharp from the front channels while the rear channels offer atmosphere and ambiance.  This mix’s strength is achieved with it’s subtle effects that add a lot of immersion for the viewer.  Whether it’s doing a sound-check in an empty auditorium or a public debate with a crowd, it all sounds dead on accurate and makes it seem as if you are there.  This is an excellent mix that transcends the usual effort that’s done for this kind of a movie.

Special Features  

This Blu-ray offers a decent amount of extras the cover the basics of the making of the movie.  I would have liked to have had more in depth extras but I’ll take what I can get especially when they are in high definition.

• Audio Commentary - A talk with co-writer/actor/director/producer George Clooney and co-writer/producer Grant Heslov where they talk about making the film, the locations they shot in, the casting of the actors, how they converted the play “Farragut North” into the movie, and more.  The track never gets too deep or serious, but it’s a fun listen since the two men are good friends and have a good time making fun of each other and themselves.  If you are a fan of Clooney or the movie, you will most likely enjoy listening to this track.
• Developing the Campaign: The Origin of The Ides of March – A seven minute look at how the play inspired the movie and the background genesis of the movie.
• Believe: George Clooney – A short look at how the cast viewed Clooney as an actor and as a director.  Of course they praised him but it seems genuine and it’s easy to believe after seeing the movie.  We also hear from Clooney himself talk about the challenges of working on both sides of the camera and why he chose to do it anyway.
• On the Campaign: The Cast of The Ides of March – Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ryan Gosling, Max Minghella, George Clooney, Paul Giamatti, and Evan Rachel Wood discuss why they wanted to be in the movie and talk about their characters that they play.
• What Does a Political Consultant Do? – We hear from Political Consultant Stuart Stevens (who used be a consultant on Clooney’s K Street show) who talks about being a political junkie and how he can’t get enough of elections.
• Ultraviolet Copy – For the record, I hate ultraviolet copies and wish that the studios would go back to just offering an iTunes or Windows Media Player copy which are a lot easier to obtain and you don’t have to use an additional App to view them.  It’s better than nothing but I really wish every studio would stop trying to do their own thing and just use iTunes.
• BD-Live

Final Thoughts  

This movie was marketed as being a taut thriller which it really isn’t since this kind of narrative has been done many times before, but it is a smart look at politics – both in front of the camera and behind it.  The movie’s cynical and fairly bleak ending may turn off some viewers but it’s true to this day and age’s political world where ideals, people, and morals are tossed aside for any chance of victory.  The movie is well directed by Clooney and the superb cast offers some very strong performances and this Blu-ray continues that excellence with its stunning audio and video quality.

Order your copy today!

Film  

The Josephine Baker Story originated as a 1991 television broadcast that was shown on the HBO network.  The movie covers Josephine Baker’s life as a young girl until her death and the ups and downs she encountered throughout her life and career.  Born Freda Josephine McDonald, we learn of Baker’s impoverished youth and her humble beginnings growing up in St. Louis, Missouri.  Her mother worked a washerwoman and her father was a drummer who would abandon them not long after her birth.  As a young girl, Baker was full of life and loved to dance and make silly faces which later helped her find her destined career path.

Josephine Baker (Lynn Whitfield) got her start performing comical skits with troupes and later went on to become a chorus girl after learning their routines in the hopes of taking over in the event of one of the girls getting sick.  Her preparations paid off and the audience loved her comic mugging and pretend clumsiness and she became a popular draw.  Her moderate success in New York was dwarfed however when she traveled to Paris for a new show called “La Revue Nègre.”  After posing nude for a Parisian artist, Baker discovers the power of sensuality and incorporates it into a new routine in her show called the “Danse Sauvage” by appearing topless wearing only a skirt of bananas or feathers.

Her new-found blockbuster success in Paris allowed her to finally have a lot of money and we witness her many purchases that include a leopard, a mansion, nice clothes, jewelry, and more.  She meets a self styled “count” named Giuseppe Pepito Abatino (Ruben Blades) who eventually becomes her lover and manager.  While their personal relationship will sour over time due to Baker’s moodiness, paranoia, and infidelity, her professional life continues to improve as she opens a new show called “La Folie du Jour” at the Follies-Bergère Theater which is a massive hit.  Thinking that she was now ready to win over audiences in New York, Abatino convinces Baker to star in ”Ziegfeld Follies” which doesn’t bring her the success she desired.  Angry that she wasn’t received by American audiences the way she expected, she fires Abatino and cheats on him just to spite him and then returns to Paris.

When World War II breaks out, Baker volunteers to spy on the Nazis and the Italian Fascists for the French Resistance. She reports on overheard conversations and smuggles secret documents in her underwear and more.  When the Nazis invade France, Baker journeys to Morocco where she suffers from another miscarriage and ends up getting an emergency hysterectomy.  While recovering in the hospital, she meets Sidney Williams (Louis Gossett Jr.), a military man who convinces her to entertain Allied troops which she does after imploring the segregated soldiers to sit together as one group.

After facing her fears about her reception in America, we see Baker go to the famous Stork Club where the club refused to serve her, she notices that the well known columnist Walter Winchell (Craig T. Nelson) does nothing to intervene with her treatment and she begins a media war of words with Winchell.  That war is fairly one-sided since Winchell has built up a media empire that drowns her out and she decides to leave America for Paris again.  One party that appreciated her fight against the Stork Club and Winchell was The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which later named May 20 Josephine Baker Day in honor of her efforts.

Back in Paris, Baker starts adopting children left and right, irregardless of their race and calls them her “Rainbow Tribe.”  She marries her French conductor Jo Bullion (David Dukes) and eventually pushes him away too when she ignores his pleas to stop adopting children since he knows they can’t afford it.  Once again, Baker has to do everything her way and lets him leave and divorce her instead of bowing to his wishes and reality.  It’s not long before she does run out of money and we watch her send her children away to family in the country before she is forcibly thrown out of her chateau and all of her possessions are taken away to clear her debts.  Time moves forward and thanks to friends like Princess Grace (who provided Baker and her children a place to live in Monaco), Baker slowly recovers and we witness her big comeback show in Paris, the place that always supported her and she enjoys one last moment in the sun before dying days later.

This movie does a good job covering both Baker’s professional and personal life and balancing the two.  As portrayed by this movie, Baker doesn’t come off too sympathetic since she continually sabotages both her career and personal life due to her inability to listen to others or to care what their opinion is.  Even her noble fight against the racism she encountered in the Stork Club and her fight with Winchell carries with it a tinge of self-destruction. Lynn Whitfied (who won an Emmy for this role) does an excellent job portraying the mercurial Baker, especially during the later stages of her life.  She is surrounded by a group of superb character actors including Craig T. Nelson and Louis Gossett Jr. in small roles.  Director Brian Gibson (who later married Whitfield) offers a complex look at Baker that’s not afraid to show her flaws as well as her strengths.

Video  

This 1080p (1.78:1) transfer looks surprisingly good for an older television movie.  The many colors of Baker’s dresses pop off the screen and there’s a decent amount of detail present.  That’s not to say that this is a perfect transfer, since there are many soft looking shots throughout the movie.  There’s also a light layer of grain present which gives the film a more cinematic look to it but the transfer is free from major blemishes.

Audio  

The Josephine Baker Story’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is serviceable but nothing special.  This is almost an entirely front channel affair with hardly any attention paid to the rear channels.  That works fine for the dialogue which is clear and understandable, but it doesn’t do the musical numbers any justice.  There’s no major audio defects like hissing or the audio dropping out, but this could have been a lot better.

Special Features  

There’s only one extra on the disc so fans of Baker are sure to be disappointed.

• Audio Commentary – Lynn Whitfield, writer Ron Hutchinson, and associate producer Alisa Taylor share this commentary track with the bulk of the talking done by Whitfield who is very proud of the movie.  She also talks about making the movie and how the movie brought so much into her life since she won an Emmy, married the director, and had a child with him.  This is a pretty good and informative commentary and it’s too bad that the director died before adding his thoughts to this too.

Final Thoughts  

As a biopic movie, The Josephine Baker Story works very well as it covers the bulk of the star’s life and many of her travails and successes.  Lynn Whitfield throws herself into the role and convincingly lip-syncs the songs and pulls off the many dance routines.  While the Blu-ray itself could have been better, fans of the late singer/dancer will still most likely enjoy this high definition disc.

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Film  

Paul McCartney was sitting in a plane as it sat on a tarmac awaiting approval to take off when he witnessed firsthand the attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.  From his vantage point he could see one of the twin towers on fire and then was shocked along with the rest of the nation when he heard of the other crashes.  McCartney had been headed back to England to be present for his daughter’s birthday party, but once the attacks happened, he remained in the United States because he wanted to help in some way.  Remembering stories that his parents and grandparents told him of how music and entertainment had helped with morale in bombed out London during WWII, he thought what had worked before could work again.  As he later said, ”There was a feeling of shock and fear in the air that I thought we could help alleviate with music and the fact that so many people stepped up to join us made for a very uplifting evening for us all.”

Thus, The Concert for New York City came to life.  Fortunately, others felt as McCartney did and they were eager to join him on stage to raise funds for the families of the lost firefighters and policemen who died trying to save the victims of the burning towers.  Just to give you an idea of just a sample of who was involved in the concert, it starred McCartney, The Who, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, Billy Joel, Elton John, James Taylor, Janet Jackson, Bon Jovi, John Mellencamp, and Kid Rock among others.  The show also had plenty of stars and comedians too including Harrison Ford, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael J. Fox, Robert DeNiro, Jim Carrey, Jerry Seinfeld, Jimmy Fallon, Billy Crystal and more.

Much like he did in 1964 when he and his brother David filmed the clamor of The Beatles first visit to America, Albert Maysles along with co-director Bradley Kaplan filmed the background of the concert in a cinéma vérité style of the concert coming together.  What makes The Love We Make so interesting is watching the genesis of the concert and how McCartney deals with the tragedy and how others react to seeing him walk the streets of New York without an entourage of bodyguards.  I can honestly say that watching him do that after what happened to John Lennon (in New York) and George (in his own home), made me nervous for him, especially when a apparently crazy homeless person wouldn’t let go of him.  How he is able to keep his cool is beyond me since the loss of his partner John Lennon can’t be too far from his mind.

Maysles does a great job showing us a day in the life of Paul McCartney as he follows the star from gig to gig which ranges from appearing on the Howard Stern show, interviewing with Dan Rather, and then rehearsing for the concert with his band.  We also witness the great respect the other celebrities and musicians have for McCartney as they constantly make their way to him to pay their respects as the show goes on.  It’s still impressive that even after all of these years of success and coming from the greatest and most successful band the world has ever seen, McCartney still seems grounded and genuinely friendly to the people he meets.  It’s apparent that he isn’t untouched by his fishbowl life since a couple of times during the movie, we see him instruct his driver to try to lose the paparazzi that follows him constantly, with him even jumping out of the car to escape through the park so he can have some alone time.

McCartney’s efforts weren’t in vain as the concert was a financial and emotional success.  It was touching to see the grieving families holding up pictures of their family that was lost due to their attacks during the show.  We also witness emotional firefighters and policemen thank McCartney and the others for their efforts and join in for the final song.  The concert lasted 5 1/2 hours and it not only improved morale for New York but also much of the world and raised over $35 million for the charities.  It was a blockbuster success and as McCartney said later, “It was an honor to be able to help New York and America at that time in its history.”  Not only does this documentary capture the massive humanitarian efforts made by McCartney and the others, but it also gives the viewers a better understanding of McCartney himself who as famous as he is, has somehow remained somewhat elusive through the years.  Thanks to Maysles film, we’ve gained a little more understanding of McCartney the man but also a reminder that this is the Beatle who once sang “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”  It’s nice to see that he still believes that.

Video  

This 1080p (1.34:1) transfer is pretty impressive considering how many different sources the footage was assembled from.  The bulk of the documentary that was shot on black and white film by Albert Maysles looks sharp but it has a film-like grain that old school documentary fans will love.  There’s also some color film included during the Howard Stern segment and also during the concert itself that also looks pretty good.  The black and white film offers some very nice contrast and the detail of the picture is evident during close-ups.  The aged appearance of the black and white film may turn off some viewers, but I’m sure a lot of cinephiles will love it.

Audio  

Three audio tracks have been recorded for this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English LPCM 2.0 and English Dolby Digital 5.1 and they all sound pretty good.  This is primarily a dialogue driven documentary (until the end concert) and appropriately enough, this is a front channel heavy mix.  There isn’t much difference between the tracks but I think they could have done a better job with this mix.  It’s fine for the talking scenes as the dialogue is delivered clearly and with no distortion, but the concert with the amount of talent assembled should be presented with a better mix than this one which doesn’t deliver the goods per se.  That’s fine for the documentary part but most people are going to expect the concert part of the mix to take it up a notch  which it does not.

Special Features  

There are no special features on this disc which is too bad since that will drag down the final score.

Final Thoughts  

The Beatles are my favorite band and Paul McCartney has always been my favorite Beatle, so my liking this was never really a concern.  However, The Love We Make isn’t just about Paul McCartney and his efforts to raise money for charity, but it’s also about New York City itself and it’s resilient residents.  This is a great documentary and I highly recommend it!

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Film 

Queen: Days of Our Lives is the latest and can possibly be called the definitive Queen story told from the remaining members of the band. The documentary features brand new and never-before-seen footage of the legendary band from their humble beginnings in the UK, in other bands, to the juggernaut that Queen became.

Queen is: Freddie Mercury (vocals), Brian May (Guitar), Roger Taylor (drums), and John Deacon (bass). Days of Our Lives traces the legendary band to the university where the lads were undergrad students, but all had a love of music. This love would bring them together, and the rest, as they say, is history. Days of Our Lives chronicles their journey starting around 1970. There would be trial and tribulations, and some would make it and some would not.

Queen happens to be one of my favorite bands of all time. The audio cassette of their Magic Live tour was technically my first Queen album purchase and I would not stop in collecting their entire catalog. What I really enjoyed about the Days of Our Lives Blu-ray is that it seems to be an honest retrospect by the people being interviewed. Brian May and Roger Taylor speak their minds and reminisce about the good times and bad times. Former producers, roadies, managers, journalists, etc., all tell their tales of being in the Queen machine.

It does get a bit on the extremely sad side towards the end when the documentary focuses on Freddie’s fight with AIDS, but it’s done with class and tactfulness. Queen: Days of Our Lives runs about 2 hours and the documentary is split into two parts, but you have the option of viewing it all the way through. The special features themselves run an extra two hours.

I do wish that the documentary ran a bit longer than two hours, because there’s so much more to tell, but the way it it’s presented seals the deal for me as a fan. I’m sure it will seal the deal for even the most devoted of fans.

Video 

Queen: Days of Our Lives is presented in 1080i – 16X9. This one is a curious presentation, because it is presented in HD (AVC), but I would say that 80% of the material is sourced from archived material. The other 20% of the material is newer and contemporary and it looks great. Flesh tones look nice and natural, but do blush on occasion in the cold London air.  I would say that the archived material has never looked better in high definition, though. It’s legit.

Audio 

Queen: Days of Our Lives is presented in LPCM 2.0 at 1.5 mbps. This is where it the sound drops the ball slightly. I would have preferred a full lossless 5.1 soundtrack, but then I have to remember that this isn’t a concert presentation, it’s still a documentary, so I understand. As a documentary, the 2.0 track is more than adequate. I’m sure all future Queen concert releases will be released in full lossless.  *crosses fingers*

Special Features 

Yes, your eyes do not deceive you – it’s a perfect five star for the special features. The gist of the special features contents are as follows: 7 brand new videos, 12 additional sequences, and 10 unseen interviews. Sure, on the surface they might seem superficial, but this is all quality stuff.

Additional Videos

Seven Seas of Rhye

Killer Queen

Somebody To Love

We Are The Champions

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Under Pressure

Radio Ga Ga

Additional Sequences

Queen: The Beginning

Queen On Tour 1974-5

Bohemian Rhapsody

Working Together

Leaving John Reid 1978

Don’t Stop Me Now

Flash Gordon

Making Video

Scrabble Wars

From Magic To The Miracle 1986-89

Going Slightly Mad: Making Innuendo 1990-91

Made In Heaven – 1995

Bonus Interviews

Return To Imperial College

Brian’s Health Scare 1974

Manager Jim Beach Meets The Band 1975

B-Sides

Freddies’s Outfits

Another One Bites The Dust

Song Writing Balance Changes 1980′s

Freddie Legless!

Highlander

The Show Must Go On

Final Thoughts 

Queen: Days of Our Lives is a great documentary that sheds light on one of the most legendary and popular bands of all time.The Blu-ray has adequate specs, but the special features make it a force to be reckoned with. Content and special features combined, Days of Our Lives clocks in at a whopping 221 minutes, so that unto itself is a major feat. I hope that Eagle Rock Entertainment, or whoever, releases more of their concerts and their videos on the Blu-ray format sooner than later.

Order Queen: Days of Our Lives on Blu-ray!

Film  

Boardwalk Empire is an HBO drama that takes place in Atlantic City, New Jersey during the prohibition period.  The show centers around Enoch “Nucky” Thompson (Steve Buscemi).  Nucky is described as being as corrupt as the day is long.  Nucky crosses paths with real life mobsters from New York City and Chicago including Lucky Luciano (Vincent Piazza) and Al Capone (Stephen Graham).  Nucky is a public servant on the surface but is involved in bootlegging and other illegal activities that keep him living a luxurious lifestyle.  Nucky’s brother Eli (Shea Wigham) wears a uniform, but also serves Nucky’s interests.  Jimmy Darmody (Michael Pitt) is a veteran who returns to work for Nucky but quickly gets in trouble.

Boardwalk Empire Season One contains the following episodes:

1.  Boardwalk Empire – Prohibition begins and Nucky immediately aligns himself to profit, and strikes deals with Arnold Rothstein and Lucky Luciano.  Nucky is approached by Margaret Schroeder seeking a job for her abusive husband.  Jimmy Darmody returns from the War with big ambitions.

2.  The Ivory Tower – Jimmy’s crime has been pinned on Margaret Schroeder’s now deceased husband, but agent Van Alden continues to investigate.  Jimmy uses the money from his botched robbery to buy gifts for his mother and fiancée and Margaret is questioned by agent Van Alden after being coached by Nucky’s brother, Elias.

3.  Broadway Limited – Nucky makes a bootlegging deal with Chalky White.  Nucky arranges for a boutique job for Margaret after she returns the envelope of cash he gave her, rejecting charity.  Agent Van Alden learns that Jimmy was involved in the murders he’s been investigating and as a result Nucky orders Jimmy out of town.

4.  Anastasia – Nucky prepares for his “surprise” birthday party but is pleasantly surprised to see Margaret Schroeder, who is there to deliver a dress to Nucky’s girlfriend, Lucy.  As always, Nucky uses every opportunity to advance his political goals.  Jimmy and Capone start taking over territories and there is collateral damage.

5.  Nights in Ballygran – Eli is getting increasingly argumentative with Nucky.  Gillian suggests that she should take over caring for Jimmy’s son. Margaret returns to the Women’s Temperance League meetings and naively seeks Nucky’s help to stop a bootlegging operation near her home.  When Nucky doesn’t help, Margaret turns to Agent Van Alden who in turn disrupts the Celtic St. Patrick’s Day dinner with Nucky’s family in attendance.

6.  Family Limitation – One of Nucky’s men is robbed on the boardwalk and Nucky confronts Lucky.  Meanwhile, Margaret’s new relationship with Nucky allows her the freedom to quit her job and move to a nicer home.

7.  Home – Nucky and Eli’s father falls and they decide it’s time to sell his home.  Jimmy meets a fellow wounded soldier who helps him get revenge for what was done to Pearl.  Luciano and Rothstein’s protégé cut a deal with the D’Alessio Brothers.  Both Lucy and the Commodore want attention from Nucky.

8.  Hold Me in Paradise – Nucky visits Chicago for the Republican National Convention and the D’Alessio Brothers move in on Nucky’s territory back in Atlantic City.

9.  Belle Femme – Jimmy returns to deal with the D’Alessio brothers and is arrested by Agent Van Alden.  Margaret helps Madame Jeunet and Nucky prepares for war.

10. The Emerald City – Nucky asks for Margaret’s support of a candidate.  Doyle re-aligns himself with Nucky.  Angela’s photographer friend brings out Jimmy’s violent side.  Van Alden’s emotions are a continuous problem.

11.  Paris Green – Nucky sees dramatic shake ups in his political and personal lives.  Jimmy meets with his dying father for the first time in years.  Agents Van Alden and Sebo have confrontations.

12. A Return to Normalcy – As Election Day approaches, Nucky hopes to keep the Republicans in power.  Torrio brokers a deal between Rothstein and Nucky that will affect everyone.  The future is uncertain for many.

My good friend Jamie not only shares my name, but also my opinion on almost every television show that I love.  When Jamie says watch this show, you’re going to love it, I listen.  Jamie religiously watches Boardwalk Empire and predicted that I would love it too.  Happily, her track record is still solid since I loved the show as she thought I would.  I was a little worried that it would be awkward if I didn’t like it after hearing all of her rave reviews about it, but fortunately we are on the same page on this show.

HBO sure knows how to put together a season set, and for that matter a TV show.  Boardwalk Empire looks amazing, and sounds just as good.  They did a spectacular job  recreating the period the show is set in which has to be a major effort to pull off.  Steve Buscemi leads the cast with his masterful performance but the rest of the cast are uniformly excellent in their roles, with one exception.  My one and only complaint is the actress, Paz de la Huerta that played Nucky’s girlfriend Lucy Danzinger.  She bothered me every moment she was on screen.  I realize that the viewer isn’t supposed to fall in love with Lucy but I don’t think that she was supposed to make your skin crawl either. However, that’s just a tiny little quibble in an otherwise excellent show.  This show is so good, that if I had the time, I would watch all twelve episodes back to back all over again.  It’s a very addictive show.

Video  

From the second the opening credits begin, I find myself thinking this show looks good.  I don’t have HBO, so I can’t compare it to what it would look like if I watched it on cable.  The 1080p High Definition 16:9 (1.78:1) presentation is impressive in many ways.  The set designers obviously put a lot of effort into creating immense detail, and the color tones make it easy for the viewer to imagine they are right in the middle of 1920s Atlantic City.  I noticed more detail like specs of dirt on foreheads and wrinkles on faces than I can remember in any other Blu-ray.  Although it’s in color, it almost feels like it’s a sepia tone, and you could pause many scenes and have yourself a painting from the 20s.

Audio  

The visual appeal of Boardwalk Empire is matched by the period soundtrack.  The DTS-HD Master Audio mix is a compliment to the stunning visual and helps create an amazing atmosphere.  The dialogue is clear and at a consistent level throughout.  Whether it’s Margaret’s breathy Irish voice or a gang of screaming mobsters there was never an issue.  Gunfire and simple phone’s ringing had me looking over my shoulder as to the direction it came from.  This is a reference quality mix!

Special Features  

HBO has put as much time and effort into the special features as the show itself.  The features are excellent in quantity and quality and I’m not even going to complain, as I usually do, about the lack of a gag reel.  I thoroughly enjoyed each feature.

• Enhanced Viewing Mode – Each episode features a Picture-in-Picture Enhanced Viewing Experience with cast and crew interviews, commentary, production details and more.  The Enhanced viewing mode offers a lot of significant and interesting information. I suggest watching, as I did once in normal viewing mode and then a second time with Enhanced Viewing Mode turned on.  I wouldn’t recommend Enhanced Viewing Mode for your first viewing of the episode as it would be too distracting from the episode.
• Character Dossier – Character Dossier for a significant number of characters includes a biography, photo gallery and relationships.  It takes a while to go through it all, but it’s a very helpful tool if you forget who someone is or where they fit in the grand scheme of Nucky’s world.
• Audio Commentaries - Six audio commentaries with principal actors and filmmakers.  Surprisingly, Scorsese was not on the commentary for the first episode, which he directed.
• Making Boardwalk Empire – A behind the scenes making of featurette.  Features interviews with the cast and crew. Even with twelve PiP tracks in tow, the series’ first-season release still boasts a twenty-minute behind-the-scenes documentary. It may not be nearly as extensive, but it will make for a terrific bite-sized overview for those of you who don’t have the time to tackle the Enhanced Viewing Mode content and audio commentaries.
• Creating the Boardwalk – The shortest of the features, a five minute look at the process behind creating the boardwalk of the 20s.
• Atlantic City: The Original Sin City – A 30 minute documentary about the culture of Atlantic City in the 1920′s.
• Speakeasy Tour – An insider’s look at famed prohibition speakeasies in New York and Chicago.

Final Thoughts  

As usual, HBO has outdone themselves not only on the show itself, but also this Blu-ray season set.  Between the great performances, the sets and costumes, the scripts, and this Blu-ray itself, it’s easy to recommend this with no reservations!  If you’ve been thinking about checking out this show then let me assure you that this is a worthy investment for your time and money!  I’m ready for season two!

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Film  

Thurgood originally started out as a play starring James Earl Jones at the Westport Country Playhouse and then later on Broadway in April 2008, with Laurence Fishburne performing the lead role at the Booth Theater.  Fishburne’s stellar performance earned him a Tony nomination for the role.  The play was written by Peabody and Emmy award winner George Stevens, Jr., who made his playwriting debut with Thurgood.  The play was directed and produced by Emmy winner Michael Stevens.  When the play was performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, it was filmed by HBO to be shown on their network and resulted in this Blu-ray.

Video  

This 1080p (1.78:1) transfer is the best looking play captured for film that I’ve seen.  It was recorded in high definition and combined with the excellent lighting and razor sharp images, this is a very impressive transfer.  Colors are well defined as are textures.  Detail is also excellent and you can see each individual hair in Fishburne’s mustache.  Black levels are also deep and there’s really no blemishes to report.  The picture quality is extremely impressive considering that it was captured live and in a theater.

Audio  

Another tricky prospect of recording a live play is capturing and balancing the sound.  The actor’s voice must be clear and understandable while the crowd needs to have a presence but not overwhelm the action on the stage.  I’m happy to report that Thurgood’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix performs those tasks admirably.  It’s no surprise that this is a mostly front channel affair since it’s dialogue driven, but the rear channels provide a sense of the audience and atmosphere that makes it feel like you are there.  The sound effects that are used to transition the scenes and stories also sound good and occasionally offer some directionality as well.  Rob Mathes intro and exit music also sounds good and is well balanced with the rest of the show.

Special Features  

Sadly, there are no extras on this disc which seems like a lost opportunity since the play does such a good job in building interest in Thurgood Marshall’s life that you’d think they would offer some extra historical information at least.  I’ve read that this disc was intended to be sent out to schools which makes the lack of extras even more unfortunate.  Extras  could have provided some additional looks into Thurgood’s struggles with racism and segregation and would have provided more learning opportunities.  It’s a real shame.

Final Thoughts  

I requested this movie based on the positive reports that I had heard about the play and I’m glad I did.  This one man show with it’s first person story-telling technique works perfectly for this man and his history.  Fishburne well deserved those Emmy and Tony nominations and he is ably supported by a wonderful script by Stevens.  The icing on the cake is this fantastic presentation on Blu-ray that makes you feel as if you are in the audience.  It’s a shame that the lack of special features brought down my final score.  Despite that, I highly recommend this film!

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Film  

The film opens in 1965 with Airman Adrian Cranauer (Robin Williams) arrives in Saigon to work as a DJ for the Armed Forces Radio.  He’s met by his new assistant Private Edward Garlick (Forest Whitaker) to meet his new superiors including Lt. Steven Hauk (Bruno Kirby) and Sergeant Major Dickerson (J.T. Walsh).  It isn’t long before they let Adrian know how unhappy they are with his behavior on the air.  They resent his irreverent comedy and his choice of rock and roll music for the troops which goes against their wishes.  The only thing that keeps Adrian on the air is the fact that his show is enjoyed by Brigadier General Taylor (Noble Willingham) who has final say.

Adrian quickly notices the pretty Vietnamese girls around and follows one of them to an English class where she along with some others are learning English from one of the American officer.  After bribing the teacher to allow him to take over the class, Adrian puts his plan into action to learn as much as he can about the girl.  He learns that her name is Trinh (Chintara Sukapatana) and that she has a brother named Tuan (Tung Thanh Tran).  Instead of teaching them the normal English curriculum, Adrian starts to teach the class American slang to much humorous effect.  After being warned by Tuan to stay away from his sister, Adrian tries to befriend Tuan by taking him to Jimmy Wah’s, a local bar that’s frequented by the American soldiers.  When two soldiers try to kick Tuan out of the bar, a bar-fight starts which gets Adrian in even more hot water with Dickerson.

Adrian’s show continues as does his teaching and things are going well overall and even Tuan finally agrees to set up a date for Adrian with his sister that includes the whole family.  The friendship between Tuan and Adrian has grown over time and Adrian finally starts to get to know Trinh who remains somewhat remote.  Between his unrequited attraction to Trinh and the stress of dealing with his superiors, Adrian goes for a drink in Jimmy Wah’s but is urgently enticed outside by Tuan who tells him that his sister wants to see him.  Moments later, the bar explodes from what is later determined to be from a bomb that was planted within it.

Shaken and shocked at the devastation the bomb caused, Adrian runs back to the radio station to report on it, only to be told that he can’t report it since the whole incident has been censored.  Infuriated, Adrian locks himself in the studio and reports the bombing until Dickerson cuts off the broadcast and suspends him.  Hauk, who always thought himself to be funnier than everyone else around him (including Adrian), takes over the show but his lame attempts at comedy and his choice of polka music drive the listening soldiers crazy.  Soon, a ton of letters from servicemen arrive demanding that Hauk be removed from the air and for Adrian to be re-instated.  General Taylor (who always liked the show) orders that Adrian be put back on the air much to Dickerson and Hauk’s anger.

When Garlick finds a despondent Adrian in a bar drinking, he tells him the good news only to find that Adrian doesn’t want to return to do the show.  He’s had enough of being censored and always having to worry about Dickerson and Hauk.  Garlick reminds him how much the servicement fought for him to return to his job, but it’s only during a traffic jam that Adrian starts to understand how much he means to the GIs once they discover who he is.  Adrian does an impromptu live show for the men before they are sent off to fight and is touched by how much laughter seems to help them on their way.  Knowing that many of those men won’t return, Adrian is re-energized and returns to the air to do what he does best – making people laugh and forget their troubles for awhile.

Soon, Adrian will learn that in wartime, everyone has their own agenda and that danger lurks around every corner, even in forms that one may not expect.  Friends may not be all they seem and enemies may be more ruthless than anticipated.  We see just how far Dickerson is willing to go to remove Adrian from the air and also learn the truth about others as well.  By the end of the movie, Adrian is more than happy to leave Saigon and its surreal and frightening atmosphere.  The war continues along without Adrian, but he knows he did his best to make things better for the men while he was there.

Good Morning Vietnam is a perfect showcase for Robin Williams’ talents.  As a world famous comedian, it allowed him to do the improvisations that he’s famous for, but it also gave him a chance to show his dramatic range as well. Unlike a completely dramatic movie like Good Will Hunting, (that he won an Oscar for) this movie was a perfect blend of comedy and drama.  Williams is surrounded by some of the best character actors in this which only makes the movie even better.  When you’ve got Forest Whitaker, J.T. Walsh, and Bruno Kirby in supporting roles, that’s a powerhouse group that raises the quality to a new level.  I especially like Walsh’s vindictive Dickerson and Kirby’s clueless Hauk who were on a completely different but entirely realistic wavelength than Adrian.  The last half of the movie comes as something of a shock where the tone of the movie shifts into a darker place when we learn how far some people will go to achieve their goals.  This is one of Robin Williams best roles (if not the best) and his best collaboration with director Barry Levinson.

Video  

This 1080p (1.85:1) transfer isn’t perfect but it’s a lot better than the previous DVD release.  DNR has obviously been used but not entirely abused with closeups looking pretty good and not overly waxy.  Colors fare better and the lush green jungle looks especially good when Adrian is sent outside of the studio.  Black levels are decent but not as deeply solid as I would have preferred.  I think most people will be happy with this picture quality as it is an improvement over the earlier releases but it could have been better.

Audio  

Good Morning Vietnam’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is also decent but nothing special.  This is a front heavy mix that almost entirely uses the front channels with only a token effort to use the rear channels.  During scenes in the bustling city of Saigon, there’s some atmosphere captured along with some directionality, but not as good as it could have been.  The only aspect of this mix that comes off well is the fantastic songs from artists like The Beach Boys and James Brown that are peppered throughout the movie.  When the songs are on the mix comes to life and they sound great and I wish the rest of the mix matched that presentation.  The mix is acceptable but should have been a lot better especially since Disney usually provides incredible sound on their discs.

Special Features   

There’s not a lot here but what is here is pretty good.  The production diary is the highlight of the extras with a comprehensive look at the production of the movie and it’s path to the big screen.

• Production Diary - This is a fairly extensive look behind the scenes of the movie, with a running time of 35 minutes that covers just about every aspect of the making of the movie.  We primarily hear from director Barry Levinson, producer Larry Brezner, the real Adrian Cronauer), and a lot from screenwriter Mitch Markowitz. There’s also some interviews with some of the cast and crew who talk about making the movie.  This diary is broken into the following segments including: “How the Movie Came to Be,” “Actor Improv,” “Music of the Movie,” “Origin of the Good Morning Vietnam Sign-On,” “Shooting in Thailand” and “Overview of the Film a Year Later.”  This is a great behind the scenes look at the movie and it was interesting to learn how the movie and what really happened were different.
• Raw Monologue – A thirteen minute look at one of Robin Williams uncut monologues where he improvised his radio address and tried different approaches.  As a fan of Williams, I liked this look at his process where we see him trying out jokes and impressions and seeing what worked and what didn’t and refining it.
• Teaser  Trailer
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Thoughts  

This is a fun movie and it’s one that Robin Williams fans will enjoy but I wish Disney had put out a better Blu-ray and had spent time restoring the video and remastering the audio.  The extras are pretty good but it would have been nice to have a commentary with the cast and director and it seems like a no-brainer to offer a Williams commentary which would have been hilarious.  Despite its limitations, I still recommend this disc since this is still the best way to see and hear the movie at this time, at least until the next big anniversary edition is released.

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Film: 

Margin Call follows the actions taken by a group of employees at a large investment bank during the financial collapse.  It focuses on a 36-hour period, which follows what happens after risk analysts Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) and Seth Bregman (Penn Badgely) discover something very important.  Their boss, Eric Dale (Stanely Tucci), is fired by an HR team conducting mass layoffs, which leads Eric to give Peter a USB drive.  This drive actual contains a project, which leads to the discovery that their firm will soon suffer great losses.  Peter and Seth soon bring this to the attention of the trading desk head, Will Emerson (Paul Bettany), and floor head, Sam Rogers (Kevin Spacey), who must then bring this information up to all of the senior executives and CEO John Tuld (Jeremy Irons).  The rest of the film revolves around a long night, where everyone gathers to take all considerations and make all plans possibly to limit the amount of losses and the firm’s own exposure in all of this.

The film does come off as pretty technically focused, when it comes to dealing with the financial issues of an investment firm, let alone a bit bland for those those who don’t find much cinematic appeal in the subject matter.  For some, however, Margin Call may stand as one of the best Wall Street films of all time.  I personally don’t really stand in that category, but I do appreciate what this film has to offer.

From a filmmaking standpoint, I can say that it remained a pretty engaging watch throughout.  There is a notable drop in energy during the second act, compared to how involved I felt with what was going on during the film’s opening and setup, but as the drama wore down on the various parties involved, the film picked up the pace and managed deliver in its closing.  Writer/director J.C. Chandor, making his feature-length film debut, does enough to make subject matter, which is pretty give-or-take when it comes to watching it in the form of a filmed narrative, watchable.  Its staging feels very akin to something like Glengarry Glenn Ross, but with less of that film’s impact, despite having a bigger cast, more at stake, and a more topical story.

What really makes Margin Call watchable is its fantastic ensemble cast.  Given that the film is very much about people having arguments about the various troubles of their situation, seeing how various reactions play out, how people position themselves, etc., really clues one into how the subtleties play into a film of this type, which is not about showiness.  Particular standouts are Spacey, Tucci, Bettany, Quinto, and of course Jeremy Irons.  Even if I could not connect on a more emotional level with the film, it still managed to provide a great look at the exercise of a lot of actors really putting in their all.

Hopefully I have provided enough to give a good idea of what to expect from this film, despite the obvious lack of depth I have regarding my knowledge and connection to the facts involving the recent financial crisis.  Assessing Margin Call as a film, I can say that it was satisfying, especially in the early and later segments.  The first rate cast definitely held their own, with much of the atmosphere being effectively created based on their interactions with each other.  Not the kind of film that I generally seek out, but well enough made to satisfy.

Video: 

The Blu-ray disc for Margin Call is fitted with a 1080p AVC encoded transfer.  Filmed digitally, on the Red Camera, this is not a film that is overly showy with visuals, but the transfer onto Blu is solid.  The majority of the film takes place indoors and focuses on basically men in suits and lots of close-ups.  Because of this, the color palette for the film comes off well enough and the amount of contrast between various visual elements does not call attention to itself.  For a fairly independent film that does not do a lot in regards to visual splendor, this is a pretty good looking video transfer.

Audio: 

The audio presentation for Margin Call is about equal to its video presentation.  The disc features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, which is provides plenty for this film, which is so heavy with dialogue and shot mostly indoors.  Given the investment firm setting, background noises during work hours manage to feel nicely balanced, as do the more secluded scenes where ambient noises are quietly registering as well.  It is an effective audio track, which does well for the film.

Special Features: 

While not bursting with extra features, Margin Call does include a few extras, all presented in HD, which is good enough to supplement the feature.

Features Include:

Director and Producer Feature Commentary

“Revolving Door”:  Making Margin Call – A very brief making-of featurette.

“Missed Calls”:  Moments with Cast and Crew – A gag reel.

“From the Deck”:  Photo Gallery

Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary

Final Thoughts: 

Margin Call is a fine film and a neat look at the high-stakes world of the financial industry.  Those with much more of an interest in the subject matter should certainly check this film out and others should at least be able to admire a great ensemble cast working together in a pretty well made film.  The Blu-ray does great service to the feature, providing quality audio and video presentations, even if the extras are a bit on the scant side, especially if one was seeking more insight into the subject matter presented in the film.  Great cast in a pretty good film nonetheless.

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Film  

Mathayus’ queen Cassandra has died and his kingdom has fallen.  Mathayus, now played by Victor Webster, is again a hired assassin.  The tyrant King Talus (Billy Zane) has used the book of the dead to reanimate the ghost warriors to defeat his brother Horus (Ron Perlman).  Mathayus is joined by a large, sloppy, and smelly companion Olaf (Bostin Christopher) who amazingly stands by his side to save the beautiful Silda (Krystal Vee) and countless others.  The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption also stars Temuera Morrison, 6-Time WWE Champion Dave Bautista and UFC Star Kimbo Slice to add even more testosterone to the movie.

The plot of the Scorpion King 3 is actually rather complicated, for a Scorpion King movie.  Mathayus is hired by multiple bad guys to complete the same job. The guy he is searching for turns out to be a beautiful girl.  The book of the dead (which previously appeared in The Mummy), now has the ability to summon a team of ghost warriors ready to serve.  The film was supposed to be an epic battle for redemption but they lost me on the epic part.  The film’s low budget was obvious and the plot just wasn’t compelling enough.  The film was also a bit choppy and a lot of elements seemed added in as an afterthought.  Some of the ninja fighting scenes were cool, but I often wondered what the point of it all was.

The Mummy is on my top 20 list of favorite films.  I’m not arguing that it’s one of the top 20 films in existence…it’s just on MY top 20 list.  Many better films have been left off that list because I choose to ignore them, and I don’t want to argue the top 20 best films.  My point is that I really love original Mummy movie.  That said, I have been increasingly, and exponentially disappointed with the other related sequels to it - The Mummy Returns, The Scorpion King, The Scorpion King 2 and now The Scorpion King 3.  And once again my love for The Mummy has made me willing to give it another one of its sequels a try.

Unfortunately, The Scorpion King 3 did let me down but not for the reason I expected.  Having a new Scorpion King was what I thought would spell immediate disaster, but Victor Webster did a pretty good job in the role.  He’s got the same physique of The Rock and his acting was just as good although I realize that The Rock didn’t set the bar all that high.  Webster is very believable as the tough guy assassin with a good heart that could rule a nation.  With all that said, I wonder why they keep making these low budget sequels to unpopular sequels?

Video  

The Scorpion King 3 has the overall look of a direct to video (or DVD/Blu ray) release that never saw the big screen.  The colors are very muted and the film has a dingy, faded feel that I assume is not a result of the transfer, but was the actual intent of the director.  Black levels lack a solid darkness and overall this looks like a direct to video movie.

Audio 

The Scorpion King 3′s DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 track is not as consistent and intelligible as I would have liked.   The dialogue falls at random times and I found myself adjusting the volume often in between dialogue and battle sequences.  I didn’t feel as though enough thought went into the epic intent of the film to create an epic soundtrack.

Special Features  

I actually enjoyed the featurettes more than the film, and I think that a lot more could have been done with the actors they had.

• Deleted/Extended Scenes – Six deleted or extended scenes can be played individually or at once with the play all feature.  Most of the scenes wouldn’t add much to the film had they been left in, but Mathayus’ kiss with the Cobra is awkward and rightfully cut.
• Deleted Shots Montage – Clips from the deleted scenes set to music.
• Gag Reel – A short gag reel, not extremely funny.
• Swords and Scorpions: A Making Of – A featurette with interviews with cast and crew on location in Thailand.  Victor Weber shows off real life battle wounds and the Director talks about his vision and additions he made to the script.
• Preparing for Battle – A featurette about the intensive fight training all the actors received.
• Commentary – Director Roel Rene explains that this is officially a sequel to the first Scorpion King, and that he was given the job because Universal was happy with his work on Death Race 2.

Final Thoughts   

Overall, Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption was disappointing.  A decent replacement for The Rock was found to play Mathayus, and there was a good supporting cast but it’s not enough to save the film.  Maybe the film needed a bigger budget; it definitely needed more script development.  Billy Zane clearly hopes that his character will come back in his own movie and at this point, I hope they just let this franchise die.  People can go make Mummy movies without having them be sequels or prequels or in any way related to The Mummy or The Scorpion King.  Too much damage has been done by mediocre movies and I caution future filmmakers to just make an original film.  For the guys, it may be worth watching simply because Krystal Vee is randomly dressed in skimpy clothing most of the time.  Even if the plot and the battles let you down, there’s always a half naked girl to make it worth your time.

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Film 

Drive came out theatrically in September last year, but it began its festival debut at Cannes many months before.  It was directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and stars Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Christina Hendricks, Oscar Isaac and Ron Perlman.  Hossein Amini adapted the screenplay from the 2005 James Sallis novel of the same name.

The movie may not have cost a lot to make (a small 10 million dollar budget), but it certainly got everyone’s attention rather quickly.  Initial reviews of Drive were very kind.  And so they should be.  LOL.  You already noticed my 5-point film score above, didn’t you?  Much praise has been given to Gosling’s and Brooks’ performances, and again…rightfully so.  Refn has even gone on record saying that said influences have came from 1968′s Bullitt.  You’re kidding me!?  That’s sarcasm folks.  Let’s just say that I think the Mustang chase scene in Drive leaves Bullitt in the rear view mirror any day, but that’s just me trash talking and not because I own that same car.  Not sarcasm!

Drive is a hard one to talk about, at least for me it is.  What’s it all about?  What’s so special about it?  That’s really the million dollar question isn’t it?  At its core I guess you can say that Drive is the story of a Hollywood stuntman (Gosling) who moonlights as a “transporter” for criminals and quickly discovers that a contract has been put on his head after a heist gone seriously wrong in which he was partaking in to prevent harm from coming to the ones he loves.  But come on.  Drive is so much more than that.  I think Pete Hammond of BoxOffice Magazine said it best when he exclaimed that Drive is “One of the most unexpected and exciting film experiences of this or any other year.”

And that’s really what it is folks.   Drive is simple and elegant, but it’s also raw, real and in-your-face.  And I think that’s why I like it so much because of that fine line it walks between a beautiful art house film (I still get goosebumps watching that hit man elevator scene) and a thrilling heist/caper.  It’s like nothing else that came out last year.   It was truly unique and best of all…there are no clean getaways in Drive.  It’s rated R for a reason.  It contains strong bloody violence (wow!…nice!), language (albeit very minimal dialogue is actually needed here to make a point) and some nudity (every good movie needs this anyway).

I mentioned minimal dialogue in the paragraph above for a reason.  LOL.  I always have a reason.  In addition to the mesmerizing score, the subtle and infrequent use of dialogue by Gosling’s character is truly, in my opinion, what makes this movie shine.  It creates an atmosphere of tension like none other.  You know how Tarantino can masterfully craft heart-pounding tension through his exuberant, but effective use of dialogue like he did in flicks such as Pulp Fiction or Inglourious Basterds?  Well, imagine the opposite here.  Gosling’s character doesn’t need to say anything.  The non-verbal cues, the musical undertones and the cinematic direction say it all.  This movie is bada$$.  It may not be everyone’s cup of proverbial tea, but it certainly got my attention last year and millions of other moviegoers.  It’s a unique experience and I truly hope every one of you gives it a fair chance to win you over.  If you are a movie fan like all of us here, I really can’t see you walking away from this car ride disgruntled.  Allow Gosling and the other superb cast members’ performances to “drive” you around in this beautiful vehicle.  It’s a ride you’ll never forget.  I promise.

How about instead of me ruining everything good about the film and spoiling any key moments of the plot and noteworthy performances, we take a closer look under the hood of Drive and see how the Blu-ray presentation measures up?  You ready?  Ladies and gentlemen…start your engines!  Hold on!  Here we go!

Video 

Honest to God, I was surprised as anyone to see how incredible Drive‘s 1080p AVC MPEG-4 encode looked on my 55″ viewing screen.  I kept constant watch throughout to find any meticulous flaw I could possibly find, but low and behold I couldn’t find a damn thing wrong with this 2.40:1 aspect ratio presentation.  The attention to detail was always crisp, clean and rich.  Black levels were always deep, inky and accurate.  Skin tones were never blown out or exaggerated.  I did not find a single artifact of noise, dirt or even a blemish at all.  You sure this movie only cost 10 million to make?  Wow!  Every once in a while a disc hits your player and reminds you that this ladies and gentlemen is what the magic and appeal of Blu-ray is all about.  Let’s drive on!

Audio 

Machine Head said it best with their lyrics “Let freedom ring with a shotgun blast.”  That’s exactly the case here.  It may not be Avatar or King Kong, but still the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio surround track is both bombastic and overall delicious.  From the car chases to the chopper tracking from above, this is what Blu-ray dreams are made of.  Everything nuance and sound is faithfully reproduced in this sole HD track.  You want to hear bullets spray?  No problem.  Got that covered.  You want to hear tires peel out on gravel?  No problemo.  You want to hear a near reference quality track?  Now you’re talking!  I really think Blu-ray peeps are going to be impressed with this aggressive and engaging track.  It puts you right in the middle and in the forefront of the action.  Always.  And don’t forget…theres always that irresistible synthesized sound track everyone is head over heels for.  Those synthesized tones wont let you down here.  I promise.  When that 5.0 black Mustang peels out…turn this one up extra loud for the thrill ride of a lifetime.

Special Features 

Although the film, the Blu-ray audio and its accompanying video presentation may be spectacular, sadly to say, the Special Features department is not.  For me, I’m a fan of the movie, so I could really care less about the below bonus features, but I fear many Blu-ray enthusiasts are going to be pissed off at the lack of items on the menu to choose from here.  There’s not even a commentary.  Oh well.  You can’t have everything folks.  So without further ado, here’s what we have to work with:

• I Drive: The Driver (HD, 5:26) – Cast and crew talk about their respective roles in the film.
• Under the Hood: Story (HD, 11:50) – This one pretty much gives you a history lesson of how Drive came to be.
• Driver and Irene: The Relationship (HD, 6:14) – This one takes a look at the romantic relationship between Gosling and Mulligan in the film and how it’s not exactly your everyday Hollywood fluff.
• Cut to the Chase: Stunts (HD, 4:35) – Here we have none other than the stunts and car chases of Drive and how they were done on a whole new level compared to many films before.
• Drive Without A Driver: Interview with Nicolas Winding Refn Documentary (25:41)
• UltraViolet Digital Copy (SD) – This is about as worthless as pocket lint is to me.  Give me back my “true” Digital Copy that I can truly take anywhere.  I can’t wait to these UV copies fall the way of VHS and Beta because they are truly worthless, in my humble opinion.  If you can take these UV copies anywhere, then why can’t I watch them on this iPad I am typing this review on while flying from Chicago to Tampa?  Riddle me that!  Ugh.  Here’s hoping that Sony and Warner bring the “real” Digital Copy back.  A boy can dream, right?
• BD-Live

Final Thoughts 

Really, the only thing holding this Blu-ray gem back is a lackluster and forgettable collection of Special Features.  Other than that, I would have no problem recommending this one as a near reference disc from the few memorable movies of 2011.  I’ll be honest.  I had to massage the bell curve here a little and give the overall score a slightly competitive edge because of the sheer brilliance of the film and audio/video presentations.  Who cares about the Special Features when you’re talking about Drive?  Sure, they would be great to have, but let’s let the film speak for itself and be happy for what we have now on the Blu-ray format.  Never look a gift horse in the mouth.  That”s the saying I’m looking for, right?  You know they’re going to double dip anyways.  They always do.  Why not enjoy Drive now?  I know I will.  Get in the driver’s seat on January 31st by ordering Drive today.

Order Drive on Blu-ray!

Film: 

The Art of Getting By stars Freddie Highmore as a high school teen, George, in New York, who seems to have taken the principles of nihilism to heart.  He is fatalistic and despite being able to achieve good grades based on his intellect, he sees no real point in doing the work required of him.  He goes to class sometimes and does not do any of his homework.  One day, George forms a friendship with Sally (Emma Roberts), after saving her some trouble by taking the blame for smoking on the roof of their school.  It is due to this friendship (and Sally can be seen as a kindred spirit of sorts) that George starts to actively participate in school again.

As George is an aspiring artist, things take a step forward yet again when meets Dustin (Michael Angarano), an alumnus of his school and now a successful artist himself.  Dustin does what he can to help guide George a bit, but George eventually gets too hung up on not confronting his feelings about Sally.  This only leads George back down the path of not caring about his progress in school, but these distractions are only going to make matters worse if he doesn’t figure out what he needs to do to get by.

Aside from being incredibly predictable from the get-go, the most irritating thing about this movie (and there are a few things I could explore), is the fact our lead character, George, is incredibly grating.  The drama involving his character revolves around the fact that he just doesn’t try.  He is supposedly “fatalistic”, but c’mon, this kid is in high school and has the whole world in front of him, let alone all of the intellect to know exactly how to exceed in his studies, let alone life.  All of this is to say that me not getting behind the intentions of the lead character in the film and instead finding him to be fairly deplorable because of what I would rather label as “laziness” is a pretty assured way of not having me appreciate the film as a whole.  Yet there are more elements for me to dislike, which involve the efforts to make these characters seem likably quirky, when it really just sticks out as marks on the indie romance checklist.

This could turn into a list of complaints real quick, if I continued to lay out the various other problems I had with the film, but the ending result essentially boils down to the fact that I do not really enjoy how this film came together.  I understand that this film contains autobiographic elements from writer/director’s Gavin Wiesen’s life, but while other, similar films (let alone the book Catcher in the Rye) manage to offer a unique take on this sort of story, The Art of Getting By feels like it wants to just get by through its poorly achieved attempts at seeming sincere.

Video:

The video presentation on this disc is fairly average.  The 1080p AVC Encoded transfer delivers a fairly crisp-looking picture.  Given that the film is set in an urban environment and during mostly cold weather periods, it has a sort of muted color palette, which seems to be well enough represented on the disc.  The film has been notably not filmed on digital (a rarity these days for low budget indie fare), but on 35 mm, which means there is an earthy quality to the picture.  Colors and textures come through clear enough, but this isn’t a film that is all about visual spectacle, so it is about as good as it can be in its video quality overall.

Audio: 

Similar to the video presentation, the audio is also fitting of an average score.  The disc features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, which is fitting enough to hear all of the dialogue in this very dialogue-focused film, along with all the soundtrack choices used to accompany the film.  Nothing really sounds amiss, things seem to balance out well enough, but this is not really a film to show off the quality of Blu-ray with.  It is mixed well enough, without calling attention to the more mixed areas in audio presentation.

Special Features: 

The disc also manages to supply a small set of extras, most of which are presented in HD.  Given that I disliked this film, not a whole lot of this really caught my eye, but the features are here nonetheless.

Features Include:

Fox Movie Channel Presents In Character with Freddie Highmore

HBO First Look:  The Making of The Art of Getting By

Audio Commentary with Director Gavin Wiesen

Theatrical Trailer

New York Slice of Life

On Young Love

Final Thoughts: 

I was not too keen on The Art of Getting By.  I can appreciate a filmmaker wanting to tell his story and the actors do what they can with what they have to work with, but I just could not get into this film.  The Blu-ray presentation is decent enough.  It allows the film to be represented as well as it can and has a few extras to provide a little bit of insight into its production.  Hopefully others who decide to take the plunge and watch this film anyway can find more out of this film than I did, but I don’t expect a high percentage to factor into that.

The Tuskegee Airmen

Film  

This story of the challenges and racism faced by the men who made up the Tuskegee Airmen is an early effort to tell their story.  The newest effort coming soon, will be Red Tails which is being produced by George Lucas and will have the effects done by ILM.  I was already excited about seeing Red Tails, but after watching The Tuskegee Airmen, my excitement has grown since I’ve learned more about their history.  The one thing that this movie is missing is unified aerial combat which isn’t dependent on stock footage, which I know Red Tails won’t suffer from.

The movie introduces us to a core group of men who have enlisted in the hopes that they will be allowed to fly.  The new recruits include Hannibal Lee (Laurence Fishburne), Walter Peoples III (Allen Payne), Billy “A-Train” Roberts (Cuba Gooding Jr.), and Leroy Cappy (Malcolm-Jamal Warner).  When they arrive for their training, they are met with a variety of superiors who each have different beliefs.  The commanding officer Colonel Rogers (David Hugh Kelly) wants to give the recruits a fair chance while his subordinate Major Joy (Christopher McDonald) is determined to make sure each of them fail since he believes they are wasting his time and the taxpayers’ money.  However, the air combat instructors Lt. Glenn (Courtney B. Vance) who is also black, tries to help the men the best he can without appearing to make excuses for them.

The normally rigorous training to become a pilot is even harder for the men who also have to suffer from Major Joy’s repeated attempts to set up situations where they could fail.  When Walter decides to showboat while flying, during which he knowingly breaks several rules, Joy is happy to have another reason to try to convince Col. Rogers that the Tuskegee experiment should be ended.  Rogers disagrees, but is forced to kick Walter out of the program because of the violations.  For Walter, who was already a licensed pilot before arriving, that decision is basically a death sentence which he carries out himself when he steals a plane and commits suicide by crashing it.  His death isn’t the only one to occur during training since we see another cadet accidentally kill himself and his instructor when he lost control of his plane.

The pressure for the men is enormous since they are trying to succeed for themselves, their families, and even their race since the nation is watching to see how this “experiment” will turn out.  Their fortunes are lifted when the First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt arrives for an inspection and requests to be taken for an airplane ride.  Rogers orders Joy to take her but she forces them to allow a black pilot to fly her instead.  With the publicity of the First Lady’s trust and the successful flight, it gives the men and the program a much needed boost.  The fight behind the scenes continues as opponents of the Tuskegee program including Senator Conyers (John Lithgow) do their best to end it.

Eventually, the remaining cadets graduate the program and are deployed to North Africa to join the 99th Pursuit Squadron.  Even out in the field, they discover the same racism and mistrust they faced in Tuskegee.  They are still segregated and there’s still attempts to make them look bad and they are relegated to ground attack missions.  During one of their missions, Cappy notices a group of German Messerschmitt Bf 109a and ignores orders not to attack them.  He manages to shoot one of the Germans down but is shot down himself which only gives Senator Conyers more ammunition that black aviators are too impulsive and shouldn’t be allowed to fly.

A congressional hearing is called and a questionable medical study is used to claim that “Negroes are incapable of handling complex machinery.”  The hearing is decided in the Tuskegee airmen’s favor thanks mostly to a speech given by their superior officer Lt. Colonel Benjamin Davis (Andre Braugher) and the end result is that the 99th Pursuit Squadron is merged with two new squadrons out of Tuskegee to create the all black 332nd Fighter Group.  The 332nd is assigned bomber escort duty which they initially complain about until their track record in successfully protecting the bombers is noticed and their reputation improves.  Soon they aren’t being ordered to escort bombers but instead they are specifically being requested to do so by the bomber crews themselves.  During this time, they even manage to sink a German Destroyers solely with gunfire from their planes which hadn’t been done before.  More and more losses happen before they join the big bombing run against Berlin, but we see that they’re finally appreciated and honored for their record and service even if it’s not universal.

The film does a pretty good job in showing the good and bad aspects of both races in the movie.  While many of the white characters are racist and ignorant, they are balanced out with characters like Colonel Rogers who believes that the men deserve a fair shot.  Not all of the black characters are without flaws either since Walter’s arrogance ends up costing him his dream and his life, as does Cappy’s decision to ignore orders.  The aerial footage filmed for this is excellent but the constraints of being a low budget film pop up every time there’s any combat since any combat footage is obviously taken from real footage which never meshes well with the rest of the movie.  That reliance on stock footage really distracts the viewer every time it switches back and forth since the quality veers drastically.  I’m not sure if the Red Tails cast will be as good as this one, but one thing I know for sure is that the aerial combat will be much better integrated and done a lot better than this movie’s.  It’s too bad since Fishburne and Braugher especially do a great job in this and it’s too bad that the rest of the film doesn’t come off as strongly as they do.

Video  

This 1080p (1.78:1) transfer looks far better than it should considering its age and the budget the film had to work with at the time.  Colors are striking and there’s some very nice detail present that’s good enough to allow you to read the cadet’s names off their uniforms.  Black levels are decent but not completely solid but textures are pretty good.  There’s some light grain present but it doesn’t detract from the picture quality as it just gives it a film-like look.

Audio  

The Tuskegee Airmen’s DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is decent but nothing spectacular.  This revamped mix does offer some clear and concise dialogue but lacks the punch that modern audience crave.  I was hoping that this would be an immersive mix especially when it came to the aerial combat, but unfortunately that’s not the case.  There’s some minor rear channel use for planes but it was pretty disappointing.  This is primarily a front channel affair for better or worse and a new remastered mix would have added a lot to this Blu-ray.

Special Features  

The only extra found on this release is the digibook commemorative booklet that is part of the Blu-ray case.  It offers some photographs of the actual aviators and even has a picture of the First Lady at Tuskegee.  Unfortunately, there’s no trailers, no commentaries, or even any behind the scenes EPK fluff on this disc which is fairly surprising.

Final Thoughts

The Tuskegee Airmen is a well made film with a lot of good intentions and a good cast.  The film’s reliance on stock footage hurts it as does the overall low budget feel of the movie.  This Blu-ray offers a surprisingly good video quality but it could have benefited from a remastered audio mix and some special features.  Other than that, this is a movie that I would recommend due to the performances.  HBO was smart to release this movie days before Red Tails to drum up some publicity for themselves.  Check this out and then go see Red Tails!

Order your copy today!

The Film 

The Rolling Stones: Some Girls – Live in Texas ’78 was their stop in Texas to celebrate and perform tunes from the their newest album Some Girls. It was smack in the middle of a hot Texas summer, so what a way to cool down (or heat up, depending on who you ask) from the weather. The Some Girls show is a pretty stripped down show in terms of grand special effects and what not. It was the end of the 70′s and the musical climate was about the change all over again, but The Stones weren’t gonna go without a fight.

The Some Girls Blu-ray is a 17 song set that features 7 songs from the Some Girls album which was sort of unprecedented at the time. Most bands toured and still tour to this day playing 2-3 new songs from their latest albums. The Stones played 7 songs from Some Girls album. The songs that rounded out the set weren’t even some of their most popular hits; only a few were.

Taking those factors in consideration how would The Stones go about not losing the crowd? Adapt or die. That’s what they did and it’s all in the stage presence. When Mick Jagger hits the stage in his mash up outfit that consists of a white sports jacket, shredded t-shirt, leather pants, and canvas shoes, you can totally tell he’s prepared for the future. He took all of these influences that were popular at the time and used it to amplify the power of rock ‘n roll. The Some Girls show doesn’t have any punk rock songs, but does have  plenty of attitude.

Mick Jagger has the swagger and bravado to lead the band all while never missing a beat or lick. He’s like a possessed preacher laying down all the tunes with tons of energy and attitude. The rest of the band is right there with him to rock out. Eagle Rock has done a great service to the fans of rock by remastering this now legendary, but obscure show. I’m glad I was able to discover it for myself on the Blu-ray format.

Set List

Let It Rock

All Down The Line

Honky Tonk Woman

Star Star

When The Whip Comes Down

Beast of Burden

Miss You

Imagination

Shattared

Respectable

Far Away Eyes

Love In Vain

Tumbling Dice

Happy

Sweet Little 16

Brown Sugar

Jumpin’ Jack Flash

Video 

The Rolling Stones: Some Girls – Live in Texas ’78 is presented in 1080i, 16×9, and in what appears to be an actual 1.66:1 widescreen format. Shot almost 34 years ago in 16mm, I will go on record and say that Some Girls ’78 looks as good as it has ever looked. Colors are bold and appear vibrant. Black levels look deep and inky, but contrast suffers just a bit. Softness also creeps in here and there, but it’s mostly due to the foggyness and hazyness of the show itself. Fog machines, smoke machines, props, etc… Close ups of the members do reveal detail and you can tell that they haven’t been DNR scrubbed to hell. That’s much appreciated. I’m happy to see concerts on Blu-ray that were originally shot on film. It gives the show a certain sense of gravitas, if you will.

Audio 

The Rolling Stones: Some Girls – Live in Texas ’78 is presented in DTS-HD MA 5.1 and LPCM 2.0. For this review we went ahead and tested out the full lossless DTS track. One word: Holy crap! I can safely say that Some Girls ’78 is one of the best sounding Eagle Rock releases I have ever heard! Give the sound mixers a raise, because they went all out. Vocals are center channel driven, and guitars stay focused on the left and right channels, but the bass levels are what take the cake. Why have I not paid more attention to Bill Wyman? Dude is freakin’ amazing! Rear channels capture ambient noise in addition to some of the music that naturally travel from the front to the back. This is a great audio track.

Special Features 

The Rolling Stone: Some Girls – Live in Texas ’78 has a few extras that will delight more of the hardcore fan base. There’s a recent interview with Mick Jagger where he candidly talks about the Some Girls album and subsequent tour. It’s a very cool and honest interview. There’s an old Saturday Night Live clip where Mick is interviewed by Dan Aykroyd on his “Tomorrow” show – that clip also features the band playing a few tunes. The special features wrap up with Geraldo Rivera doing a piece on the band for ABC’s 20/20.

• Mick Jagger Interview 2011 (HD)
• Saturday Night Live: “Tomorrow” with Dan Aykroyd and Mick Jagger (SD)
• Beast of Burden / Respectable / Shattered (SD)
• ABC News 20/20 Interviews With The Stones (SD)

Final Thoughts 

The Rolling Stones: Some Girls – Live in Texas ’78 is a pretty cool concert and considering that up until the Blu-ray release there really wasn’t a decent way to experience the concert film properly. The boys had already been rocking audiences for about 16 years up until that point, so seeing this show on high definition before the turn of the decade was neat as hell. There was that transitional period in rock in the late 70′s, but as well all know, The Rolling Stones made it unscathed…for the most part. The Blu-ray of Some Girls is a winner.

Order The Rolling Stones: Some Girls – Live in Texas ’78 on Blu-ray!

Film 

Since you already knew it was coming, the third film in the extremely successful Paranormal Activity franchise, you really didn’t need much warning. It was going to happen and its half a billion dollar box office take would assure more films were made. Paranormal Activity 3 is a departure of sorts, because its actually a prequel to the first films. Paranormal Activity 3 takes place in 1988 and focuses on sisters Katie and Kristie. Katie and Kristie live with their mother Julie, and her boyfriend Dennis.

Dennis spends his days and nights editing wedding video footage in Julie’s garage. Julie spends her days and nights doing I don’t know what. Its never clear what she does for a living. Either that or I really didn’t care, because it was probably something boring. The girls are girls, so we spend time following them around as they play in the backyard, their rooms, etc.

Evil forces start up when Julie and Dennis are about to make a sex tape. A violent earthquake shakes them and the house about while the camera is left running. It’s in reviewing the tape that Dennis notices paint dust fall and land on what appears to be an invisible figure. The figure shakes off the dust and leaves the room. Dennis’ friend Randy tells him that he should set up more cameras around the house to capture these strange occurrences. Dennis obliges. On a separate note, Randy is one of these guys who sees the evidence for himself, but refuses to believe in it.

Days go by and the cameras capture lots of creepy stuff like the youngest girl, Kristi, running back and forth as if playing cat and mouse with an invisible entity of some kind. She seems to have a new imaginary friend named Toby. She and Toby spend a lot of time together. Julie, Deenis, and Katie tell Kristi that she needs to act like a big girl and stop playing with invisible friends. Hijinx ensue.

Next come the various reasons why the films aren’t really that great to begin with. Well, first let me say that I admired the original Paranormal Activity film due to it costing only $15,000 and making $200,000,000 at the box office. That’s a dream come true for any aspiring filmmaker and we need more of these films (various genres) to be released. I love that. Of course, with the massive success of the first film comes the eventual creation of a new horror franchise where the mythology has to made up as it goes along. The budgets get bigger even though the latter films don’t necessarily look any different than the first film. Yes, they made tons more money, but the acting or what’s supposedly faux acting is horrible. Part one used The Blair Witch Project blue print and exploited the “found footage” scenario which made it popular again as you can see by the crop of found footage films hitting cinemas in record numbers. Part 2 and 3 seemed to have ditched that concept altogether. They don’t feel as real as the first film did and the first film tried really hard to be authentic and got away with some of it.

I watched the theatrical cut and unrated cut of Paranormal Activity 3 and really couldn’t tell them apart. The theatrical cut runs 83 minutes long and the Unrated cut runs 93 minutes. I’m usually a fan of unrated films, but I couldn’t really tell you what the difference were, and that’s a whopping ten minutes of extra footage in the unrated cut. There are quite a bit of jump scares in the film, but I will let you in on how to spot them. If you have a powered subwoofer it will turn on at just the right moments before a scare. The bass will begin to rumble, and you know it will be on.

They also need to stop making supposed real life films where the evidence is clearly stated and presented and the adults storm off not wanting to see the evidence before them. If it were real life and I had something to show you that could probably save your life and you walked away from me while I tried to save you then I would probably have to drag you back and make you see the monsters for yourself. It’s lazy writing, so enough of the whole, “I don’t want to see what you have to show me even though it may probably save my life!” *DOOR SLAM* This is why people yell at the screen at the movie theater.

I know there’s a fourth film due out by the end of this year, so here’s hoping that this sequel fares better than these three films in terms of storytelling. Fourth time is the charm right? Right?

Video  

Paranormal Activity 3 is presented in 108op, and let me tell ya, VHS quality has never looked so good! Seriously, for a format whose maximum resolution reached up to 24o lines, the Blu-ray makes the supposed shot on a huge shoulder mounted camcorder look like 3-D. Okay, I jest, but will say that even though Paranormal Activity 3 was not shot on actual VHS camcorders, but the way the filmmakers shot it gives it a bit of room to breathe. It doesn’t look life shattering, but does look somewhat genuine for the time. Blu-ray brings out what the VHS quality looked like in the late 80′s. Blacks generally crush, contrast is boosted, color bands somewhat and is also washed out a bit. Softness is ever present and detail is anything but sharp. Yes, normally these things would bury a Blu-ray’s video rating, but since that’s the aesthetic the filmmakers were going for it gets a neutral rating, or as neutral of a rating as it can get.

Audio 

Paranormal Activity 3 is presented in DTS-HD MA 5.1. Again, lossless sound in the late 80′s? Well, yeah! It’s gotta match the video presentation a little, right? In that, it succeeds. Paranormal Activity 3 is primarily dialogue driven, but when instances of demonic mischief present themselves, the you know what, hits the fan. Surround channels get a massive workout as the does the LFE subwoofer channel. You can even feel the LFE power up when something with some low level bass is about to shake the house. I will say that in the case of the Paranormal Activity films, the sound is the best thing about the films. Depending on how YOU feel about the films

Special Features 

Since the film franchise still tries to play the angle of “found footage,” the special features included really can’t be called special features at all. It’s “evidence.” At least that’s how it seemed to me.

• Theatrical Cut
• Unrated Director’s Cut
• Scare Montage
• Dennis’ Commercial

Final Thoughts 

Yes, Paranormal Activity 3 does have some very effective scares and a few scenes are creepy to the extreme, but that doesn’t save the film from having boring adult characters. Why should I have been made to care about these grown ups? The kids were more interesting, and so was the demonic force torturing them. Those were the films biggest strengths. There will be a fourth film in the series which will probably take place after the events in part 2, so here’s hoping that there are  more monsters than people in that one.

Order Paranormal Activity 3 on Blu-ray!

Film 

Steven Soderbergh directs an excellent ensemble cast in Contagion.  Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns home from a trip to Hong Kong feeling ill. Her son Clark is showing symptoms of what appears to be a cold, and he is picked up from school by his step father Mitch (Matt Damon).  Soon after, Beth has a seizure and is rushed to the hospital, and her son also gets sick while in the care of the babysitter before Mitch returns home.  Mitch is immediately placed into isolation, but he does not develop the mystery disease.  Others all over the world are not so lucky.  The outbreak is spreading and Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) from the CDC sends Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet) into the field to investigate and contain the sickness.

Blogger Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) is all over the story from the beginning, even when no one believes that there is a story.  He watches his readers grow as panic sets in and he claims to have found a cure for an illness it’s later determined he never had.  Posters with his picture around the city have both the title prophet and profit.  He definitely thinks he is a prophet but feels there is no harm in a little financial gain at the same time.  When a vaccine is finally created, Krumwiede threatens to tell people not to take it and his actions during the course of the outbreak land him in federal custody.  Dr. Lenora Orantes (Marion Cotillard) is an epidemiologist with the World Health Organization, who travels to Hong Kong to determine the identity of patient zero and how the outbreak spread.

In my opinion the most interesting parts of Contagion are the scary details about how often a person touches their face.  Kate Winslet explains virus transmissions and it’s amazing we’re not all sick all the time.  There was obviously a great deal of research done for this film, with great technical advisers and attention to detail.   As seen in the special features, the actors learned how to work in labs, wear their equipment properly, and asked a lot of questions.  Contagion feels very authentic.  It makes you wonder how people who work in the field of disease control and containment ever sleep at night.

The film was well written and brought up very real issues like the difficulty in getting coordinated information from 50 different state agencies.  Someone with Dr. Cheever’s job, trying to release useful information but control panic, has got to be a very difficult task.  That amount of detail while informative, also works against the film since it slows it down.  The beginning of the film starts off with a much quicker pace than the remainder of the film.  Up until the first death, it seemed like it might be an action packed kind of film.  After that, there is still a lot going on, but the film slows down and you feel every minute of the 106 minute run time.

Video  

Contagion is presented on Blu-ray in 1080p high definition, 16×9 1.85:1 ratio.  I was admittedly distracted by Jude Law’s teeth and couldn’t figure out if they always look like that or if he had a big fake front tooth for this movie.  Colors were mostly drab by design but on the few occasions color appeared, it looked vibrant.  Flesh tones were not only accurate but there were varying levels of icky looking pasty sick tones.  I really believed the sick people were sick and they didn’t all look the same.

Audio  

Contagion is a dialogue driven drama and the clear and intelligible dialogue is what is most important to this reviewer and this mix does that well.  Contagion is presented with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that doesn’t have a lot of chances to shine, but is more than adequate for this type of film.  The dialogue is clear and Cliff Martinez’s score is balanced well with the rest of the mix.

Special Features  

The special features that are here are well done and worth watching, but I am very surprised there aren’t more of them.  I expected a lengthy and detailed featurette, as well as deleted scenes.  With all the effort they clearly put into the details of the movie, I’m surprised they don’t want to talk about them more in the features.  Maybe they spent on their money on the cast salaries!

• The Reality of Contagion (11:29) – A featurette with interviews with cast, crew, and subject matters experts discussing the likelihood that events depicted in the movie will take place, and what really happens when it does.
• The Contagion Detectives (4:57) – The professionals in the field prepare the film’s stars for their roles.
• Contagion: How a Virus Changes the World (2:01) -  A brief and informative look at how a virus becomes a pandemic and what simple things people can do to stay healthy.
• BD Live

Final Thoughts  

Contagion is a good film, but I thought it was going to be a great film.  Hypochondriacs beware, it will probably give you enough detail to make you seal your doors with plastic and contemplate living inside a plastic bubble.  Everyone else with certainly be reminded that the random people and surfaces you come in contact with are potential disease carriers and you might wash your hands a little more.  I think the Blu-ray should have come with a little container of hand sanitizer! I was very disappointed in the lack of special features.  I expected to spend days watching the cast prepare themselves, and learn the correct medical terminology needed for their roles.  The only explanation I could come up with was that Steven Soderbergh spent the entire filmmaking budget on the stars salaries because the cast list is quite impressive.   With the exception of an autopsy (not actually that gross as autopsy’s go) the money wasn’t spent on special effects – it’s not a horror type sick people movie, which most people will consider a plus.

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Film  

Zach (Freddie Prinze Jr.) is the stereotypical “big man on campus” – the popular, Class President, with the beautiful girlfriend.  At the start of the film, Zach’s world is shaken when his girlfriend Taylor dumps him without warning after falling for a reject from MTV’s Real World named Brock (Matthew Lillard).  Zach claims that Taylor could be easily replaced and he and his friend Dean (Paul Walker) strike a bet. The terms of the bet are that Zach must turn anyone into Prom Queen in six weeks.  Dean chooses Laney Boggs (Rachel Leigh Cook), a plain, hard working student with a passion for the arts.

Zach assumes Laney is going to jump at the chance to date him and he is immediately and publicly dismissed.  Zach learns that he has an ally in Laney’s little brother Simon (Kieran Culkin).  After Zach follows Laney to her after school job to ask her out again she reluctantly agrees that he can meet her at an artist’s performance. Trying to put him on the spot, Zach is brought on stage and he delivers and impromptu hackey-sack performance that detail the expectations weighing on his shoulders.  Zach leaves the theater exhilarated and Laney rejects him yet again.

When Laney says she cannot go out with Zach because she has to clean her house, Zach sends the JV soccer team to clean for her.  He also enlists the help of his younger sister Mackenzie (Anna Paquin) to give her a makeover.  Laney’s transformation is amazing but a new dress and some makeup doesn’t make Taylor play nice and she ends up dumping a drink on Laney at the party. Zach begins to get to know Laney, have genuine feelings for her and at the same time Dean begins pursuing her.  This causes quite a rift between the two friends and Laney learns of the bet, from Dean.  Dean takes Laney to the prom, acting as though he truly likes her when he is trying to get someone to bet him that he can score with her.  In the end, Zach must convince Laney that his feelings are true and earn a second chance.

I’m not sure when it was I actually saw She’s All That.  I thought I remembered it to be a charming, sweet romantic comedy.  Now I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this movie before this.  It turned out to be more of a teenage drama than I expected and I’m honestly not sure what I was thinking.  I also thought I remembered Freddie Prinze Jr. to be a lot more handsome than he appears to be in the movie.

So I did not fall in love with Freddie Prinze Jr.  I’m also amazed at how annoying Paul Walker is in this movie, because he doesn’t annoy me in the Fast and the Furious movies.  I can’t actually place Rachel Leigh Cook, but she did a good job playing the nerdy girl that cleans up well and turns out to be quite the hottie.  Anna Paquin is also more annoying than usual, but where they really lost me on this one was at the Prom.  What was with the choreographed dances?  This is not a musical but suddenly at prom the entire class starts dancing these really odd choreographed numbers that are meant to look completely natural – and don’t.  She’s All That was released in 1999 and back then my 22 year old self thought it was pretty cute and kind of sweet.  Fast forward a lot of years later and the 34 year old me thinks it’s kind of dumb.

Video  

She’s All That is presented in 1080p with an 1.85:1 aspect  ratio.  Rachel Leigh Cook’s skin tone was off, specifically at the start of the film and I don’t think it was intentional.  The picture quality veers from sharp to soft throughout the movie and some of the night scenes could have looked a lot better.  Overall, the transfer was decent and without major issues, but it should have made a better Blu-ray debut than this.

Audio 

While She’s All That could have had better video quality, this lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix turned out a lot better as it made good use of its soundtrack.  The 90′s music and theme song add a lot to the overall feel of the picture.  The music sounds great and it really adds a lot to what would otherwise be another romantic comedy.  There’s some nice directionality in certain scenes such as the prom dance which are handled well.  Dialogue is clear and consistent throughout without needing to adjust volume for raised voices.

Special Features  

There’s not very many special features here and the only one worth checking out is the commentary.

• Commentary by Director Robert Iscove – The commentary was actually more interesting than I expected with all the people in this movie that went on to do bigger things.  The dance sequence was touched on briefly, but still not adequately explained to my satisfaction.
• Music Video – Sixpence None The Richer “Kiss Me”
• Video for the theme song to She’s All That
• Theatrical Trailer

Final Thoughts  

With very few special features and nothing to wow me in the video department, I’m afraid that She’s All That isn’t really all that.  It’s the kind of movie I would stop to watch if it were on television and there was nothing else on, but I doubt I’d watch again on Blu-ray given all the other choices I have in my collection.

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Film

I remember watching the trailer for Shark Night about six months back; at first, you thought it was a terrible teen-party flick, but then you realize that it is an average shark flick, in 3D. It was obvious the whole film was made to further invest in the everlasting 3D gimmick (when will it end?), which may seem like a reasonable idea for investors, but I thought that movies were about magic and excitement. Shark Night has neither of those things, but does succeed at being one of the most average films in recent history.

Sara Paxton stars as Sara (brilliant writing, guys), who brings a group of friends (Dustin Milligan, Chris Carmack, Katharine McPhee, Joel David Moore, Johsua Leonard, Sinqua Walls, Alyssa Diaz, and Chris Zylka) on a vacation to her lake house in the Louisiana Gulf. All of these friends are having the time of their lives; kicking back, drinking some beer, getting some action. Everything goes haywire once giant sharks begin attacking the lake. Without any help, and no way out, this group of misfits needs to find a way to survive.

Despite my fairly high rating, Shark Night is average at best. Once the film gets going, boy, does it get going. The shark-sequences were well crafted, and were surprisingly entertaining for a PG-13 shark film. It does repeat itself by using the point of view of the shark (like in Jaws, Piranha, etc), which does become a bit of a drag from time to time, but once we are able to see the entire layout of the sequence, it was well worth the worthless drag.

The designs of the sharks themselves were quite impressive. They did not look realistic by any means. In fact, they looked very cartoonish. Like Piranha 3D, these sea-creatures were not designed to look realistic, they were designed to look creepy as heck, which is where it succeeds. There are 15 different species of sharks shown throughout the film. The sharks have huge, bulging, cartoonish eyes. Even though the film itself was not too good, the sharks were.

The film was written by Will Hayes and Jesse Studenberg, and let me tell you, it is A-W-F-U-L. Do not believe me? Check out this quote from the film: Gordon: “So you’re probably gonna have to get her drunk. You gonna make her one of your awesome mixed tapes? Those are amazing.” Blake: “Don’t disrespect the mixed tape, okay? First of all, your mom loves them…” I think that pretty much speaks for itself. The script is so unscrupulous; it becomes uneventful after a while. The title is pretty darn dreadful too.

Shark Night isn’t horrible, but it doesn’t warrant any type of recognition either.

Video 

Next to Apollo 18, this was the first official Blu-ray I watched on my brand new TV. Let me say that the viewing experience that I had with Shark Night was nothing less than extraordinary. Colors are bright, blistering, and miraculous. The look of the sharks are as clear as the lake house and even that looks impressive for the short time it was on screen. Contrast levels are perfect. I cannot not recommend this enough; a fantastic video presentation.

Audio 

This is sort of an average audio track that does not pop-out or inject anything particularly amazing into the film, but is acceptable nevertheless. Shark Night features a fine 5.1 DTS-HD MA track that does what it needs to so it can get the job done, but isn’t perfect. There are some audio mixing issues here and there involving some syncing problems, but this is an overall fine audio presentation.

Special Features 

These are pretty lackluster, nothing out of the ordinary. These are your typical fluff epk’s, but at least they’re all presented in HD.

• Shark Attack! Kill Machine!

• Shark Night’s Survival Guide

• Fake Sharks, Real Scares