Playing Shakespeare (DVD Review)
April 11th, 2011 by Sean Ferguson
How would you like some acting lessons from such dramatic heavyweights as Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, Ben Kingsley, and David Suchet? As impossible as that may seem, that’s exactly what you get when you watch Playing Shakespeare since each of these performers are on hand to assist Royal Shakespeare Company’s Associate Director John Barton in teaching the essentials to performing Shakespeare’s plays. Continue reading ‘Playing Shakespeare (DVD Review)’
For years, Don Bluth was one of Disney’s chief animators and worked on many of their classic movies before taking off on his own for a short period before returning to the studio for a couple of years before leaving again. With Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy, he founded Don Bluth Productions and released the cartoon short “Banjo the Woodpile Cat,” and then the animated segment for Xanadu. He also provided the animation for the “Dragon’s Lair” and “Space Ace” video-games. When a group of former Disney executives formed a production company called Aurora Productions, they funded what many people consider to be Bluth’s masterpiece – The Secret of Nimh. 
I’ve always loved the 80’s whether it’s the music or the movies, but I could do without a lot of the fashion. 1985 was a good year for movies when you consider that The Goonies, The Breakfast Club, Rocky IV, Witness, Fletch, A View to a Kill, Young Sherlock Holmes, and more came out that year. Teen Wolf was wisely released after Back to the Future, which turned out to be the biggest movie of the year. That strategy allowed it to capitalize on Michael J. Fox’s huge success and gave this small movie more box office receipts than expected. Teen Wolf is a light-hearted comedy that is powered solely through the superb star power and charisma of Michael J. Fox. 
There have been a lot of Broadway plays that have made the transition to the big screen, but none seem as unlikely as Fiddler on the Roof. The play itself was a risky endeavor since many felt that the story of a milkman and his family set in the 1900s in Russia wouldn’t have mainstream appeal. It ended up being the longest running play in history with a ten year run until it was beaten by Grease. 
Quite possibly my favorite Pixar movie to date, The Incredibles is finally on Blu-ray! After making The Iron Giant, which was a critical but not commercial success, Brad Bird joined Pixar to make their first movie with humans as the lead characters. Initially, Disney wanted to make it a live action movie but that idea was turned down by John Lasseter. As Bird said later, “Basically, I came into a wonderful studio, frightened a lot of people with how many presents I wanted for Christmas, and then got almost everything I asked for.” 
I haven’t heard of this movie but any movie directed by Peter Weir (Master and Commander) and stars Ed Harris (The Rock), and Colin Farrell (In Bruges) should be pretty good. This is a prison escape movie which I always enjoy so I’m looking forward to seeing this. The movie also has upcoming stars Saoirse Ronan (The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo) and Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe as well. 
Disney took a huge gamble in 1982 when they released TRON into the marketplace. It was so unlike anything else, that it never found an audience worthy of its ambition. For most movies, that would have been the end of it, with no chance of redemption or an ongoing franchise. Then a couple of things happened. The world changed and people as a whole became more technologically savvy and open to a film that is so focused on an electronic world.
Anyone that’s followed my reviews for awhile is aware of my interest and fascination with World War II. (In fact, I have another WWII film to review after this one)! Because of that, I’ve seen a lot of WWII footage from such masterpieces like The World at War (see my review 
It’s hard to believe that it will almost be a year when Why So Blu covered its first mixed martial arts event. In that time, we’ve seen fight card after fight card of determined athletes pitted against each other amidst a backdrop of live music and an engrossed fanbase. While the people behind Rocktagon make this look like an easily-assembled formula for entertainment, there’s actually a very determined work ethic taking place behind the scenes, which not only brings the ferocity and education of MMA to the public in an up close and personal style, but is a formula for success if nothing else.
For those of you that haven’t seen the show, Mad Men focuses on the lives of New York advertising men and women. Set in the turbulent 60s, these men and women navigate the burgeoning new world changing around them and everything that comes with it. The show has won multiple awards, including thirteen Emmys and four Golden Globes. In addition, it is the first basic cable series to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, winning it in 2008, 2009, and 2010. 
Closing out our Tron: Legacy coverage (at least until my Blu-ray review), I’m happy to include an interview with Academy Award winner Eric Barba who served as the Visual Effects Supervisor for all the 1,565 shots completed at Digital Domain and six other companies across two continents. 
I know a lot of people that are going to be excited to hear that Universal Pictures is releasing Scarface: Limited Edition onto Blu-ray at long last. The legendary movie that has only grown in stature since it’s release and it’s influenced other gangster movies, music videos, and more. It’s also one of the most quoted movies of all time. With a powerhouse combination of director Brian De Palma, screenwriter Oliver Stone, and actors Al Pacino and Michelle Pfieffer, this is a one of a kind movie. 
Why So Blu’s complete Tron: Legacy coverage continues with an interview with Steve Preeg who served as the Head of Animation for Tron: Legacy. You may not be familiar with his name, but you are familiar with his work, as he previously created digital characters for movies including “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” and “King Kong.” 
Today I had the chance to talk with the director of Tron: Legacy and was able to ask a bunch of questions that definitely fall into major spoiler territory. If you haven’t seen Tron: Legacy, you might want to watch it before reading this interview! Mr. Kosinski was kind enough to answer questions for three hours and his answers helped clear a lot of plot points that I wasn’t clear on. He also talks about what changes he made to the movie for its Blu-ray release! Read on Programs! 
I had the privilege of talking to Glen Keane when Beauty and the Beast was released on Blu-ray and last week I got another chance to talk to him about Tangled. Mr. Keane is not only a legendary Disney animator, but he was also the original director of Tangled before becoming the Executive Producer and Supervising Animator for the film. 
Fair Game is a film about how Valerie Plame Wilson’s secret role as a agent for the CIA was blown due for political reasons when her husband Joe Wilson wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times decrying the intelligence being used to justify a war in Iraq. Directed by Doug Liman who also directed The Bourne Identity, Fair Game is an interesting glimpse into some real life events that exposed some ugly truths about politics and international brinkmanship. 
