The film begins with two different children being told a bed time story.  Young Jack (Michael Self) listens as his father tells of the legend of King Erik, who long ago defeated Giants.  Jack dreams of one day being an imperial guardian but is told that he must be born of noble blood.  On the other side of the kingdom, the queen is telling the same story to Princess Isabelle (Sydney Rawson), who too aspires to an adventurous life.  “Someday,” her mother tells her, “you will change the world.”

We jump ahead a decade to find Jack (Hoult) given the task of taking the family’s horse and cart into town to sell it.  He is sent by his uncle, who has been raising him since Jack’s father died.  While in town he is sidetracked by a marionette show also being attended by Princess Isabelle (Eleanor Tomlinson), who has snuck away from her protective guard.  When Isabelle is accosted by a group of drunken men Jack attempts to intercede.  He is puzzled by their reaction to him only to realize that Isabelle’s army of protectors, led by Elmont (McGregor) have arrived in the nick of time.  Isabelle is whisked back to the castle to the protective arms of her father, King Brahmwell (Ian McShane), whose wife has also passed away.  Concerned for his daughter’s future he is planning to marry her off to Count Roderick (Tucci), who is only concerned about his future status than the love of Isabelle.  Jack’s cart is stolen and he soon finds that he’s given his horse to a monk on the run, who gives him a bag of beans which he says have great power.  When Jack gets home his uncle is more than a little angry, throwing the beans to the ground.  But when one of them gets wet it sprouts a huge….well, I’m sure you know the story.

Stunningly rendered, JACK THE GIANT SLAYER is one of the best looking films merging live action and CGI characters that I have seen in some time.  The giants in question are an ugly bunch, with each one bearing a particular physical characteristic.  They are led by General Fallon (Bill Nighy), who has the distinction of having an extra head on his soldiers (voiced by John Kassir).  Though an occasional foil for comedy, Fallon is truly bad to the bone with hopes of one day being the giants’ king.  The cast does a convincing job of maintaining their characters, with Tucci stealing his scenes as a combination of Chris Sarandon’s Prince Humperdinck and Christopher Guest’s Count Rugen from THE PRINCESS BRIDE.

The computer-designed world found atop of the beanstalk is painstakingly rendered and a thing to behold.  My hats off to the production team that conceived it.  The production all around is well designed as the story unfolds with special mentions going to cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel and composer John Ottman, both long time associates of director Singer.

JACK THE GIANT SLAYER BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  The film is presented in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio with a picture that literally jumps off the television screen.  Depth of field is very sharp and the special effects seamless.

Audio:  Presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, there isn’t a sound to be missed in the mix.  Even during the busy battle scenes every giant grunt and clash of steel is heard cleanly.

Become a Giant Slayer:   A novel way to view the “making of” features on the disc require the viewer to climb a giant beanstalk to unlock the various segments.  A real pain in the rear for those (including myself) that don’t immediately get the hang of negotiating the beanstalk with the remote!  As you succeed you are eventually treated to the following segments:

Know Your Enemy, Suiting Up, Attack Tactics, The Magic of a Beanstak, How to Zip, Giant’s Kitchen, Saving the Princess and Defending Your Kingdom.

Deleted Scenes (8:27):  Five scenes that add nothing to the film

Gag Reel (3:09):  A brief feature on some of the mishaps that occurred during filming, including an uncooperative cat that won’t lick McGregor’s face on cue.

The post Jack the Giant Slayer Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Most film buffs and especially Redford fans are very familiar with 2001’s THE LAST CASTLE, where Redford as a court-martialed hero takes on a corrupt warden of a military prison.  But the familiarity with Redford’s inaugural and Oscar nominated prison film BRUBAKER (1980), is most likely far more diminutive.  Based on the true story of Thomas Murton, the character Henry Brubaker (Redford) is a warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas.  In an attempt to expose and eliminate the corruption of its inner workings, Brubaker poses as an inmate in his own prison.  Even though in reality Thomas Murton never actually posed as an inmate, much of what’s in the film is straight out of Murton’s book about his time spent as warden.

Due to the mostly unsung title and the seldom playback on cable TV, fans of Redford who were still in diapers when BRUBAKER hit theaters will cherish it as a long lost treasure.  It’s the “Sundance Kid” in his prime and at the top of his powers.  Perhaps more than any other part of the film, the beginning in which Brubaker has little to no dialogue and just observes the mistreatment of prisoners is a virtual sizzle reel for exactly why Redford is so revered amongst his peers.  With one of the most illustrative faces in the industry, he’s able to convey a gamut of thought provoking scenarios without giving away his true emotional status.

Among the supporting cast there are some very recognizable character actors that many viewers will reference from their internal Rolodex of “Isn’t that the guy from …,” however there is one that kind of stands out, not only for his equal status to Redford in the Hollywood hierarchy but for the other “prison” movie he would be involved with 14 years later.  A young Morgan Freeman plays Walter, an inmate in the prison whose persona might be paralleled to what “Red” might have been like in his early days at “Shawshank.”

When viewed, BRUBAKER should be allotted a certain amount of leeway coming fresh off the 1970’s style of movie making.  Some of the dialogue and character interaction will definitely inspire some flashbacks of cop TV dramas from the era, and even though the film is triumphed by Tom Murton’s own family, the fact that the real-life “Brubaker” never actually posed as a prisoner places the maximum stretch on the phrase “based on a true story.”  What should not be ignored though is the integral facet of this film’s secondary message.  Human rights is, has and always will be a fixture in both reality and storytelling, and it’s definitely the main focus of BRUBAKER’s plot, nevertheless the statement on the dangers of capitalistic ventures taking over the place of government was not only way ahead of its time, it’s something that has moved near the forefront of current-day politics.

BRUBAKER BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  1.85:1 Widescreen, 1080p/AVC MPEG-4: This film has been updated to HD quality in the exact way it should be.  The colors and black levels have been brought up to today’s standards, but they did not go too far to strip the film of all its grain, which would destroy the grittiness and overall tone of the film.

Audio:  English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1: Unlike video, audio can never be too clean.  The sound effects and dialogue are crisp and immersive and are an obvious upgrade from films of that era even if you’ve never heard the original mix.

The only reason this disc doesn’t get a higher rating is the complete lack of any commentary or featurettes.

The post Brubaker Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Starring Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye from THE AVENGERS) and Gemma Arterton (CASINO ROYALE and CLASH OF THE TITANS) as the dynamic duo, HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS is meant to be a fun new twist on the classic children’s fable. Sadly, it never lives up to the promise that made me crave getting this film on Blu-ray. All of the elements are there: a classic story; some great actors; a reasonably realistic fairy-tale world (thanks to the incredible work of the production team using real sets, prosthetics, and make-up whenever they could); some (though not all) great actors; and a compelling opening sequence.

I bring up the opening sequence of the film because HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS begins just as you would expect, with an interesting retelling of the classic Grimm tale. They establish a world that is ominous, fun, and very foreign in the first few minutes and through the opening credits and it is exciting, everything for which I was hoping. Then young Gretel goes for a cheap laugh with a lame punchline and we quickly realize what we’re going to experience for the rest of the film. This really is a shame, because I really want to see Jeremy Renner carry more films, especially action films, but this one may have ruined his credibility (through no fault of his own).

Gemma Arterton, however… I keep hoping she will emerge as more than just another pretty face. I keep hoping, and she keeps letting me down. Her best showing in a film so far (in my humble opinion) was her quick but flirtatious jaunt with Bond in CASINO ROYALE before almost immediately falling victim to the villain. Since then I don’t mind looking at her, but I could deal without her faux-american accent. The one area where she does succeed is in silence, casual looks and expressions that really sell the relationship. There are some wonderful sibling moments between Hansel and Gretel that wouldn’t have worked without that chemistry; I just wish it had carried over to her speaking role.

There isn’t much to talk about plot-wise, as the story is pretty much given in the title and there isn’t much more to it than that. There are hints of deeper meaning, a depth to the story that Renner, at the very least, could have helped to provide. But in the end the script just isn’t strong enough and instead we settle for lame one-liners that appear with increasing frequency as the movie progresses. This is true of the whole movie in general – where it starts with a nice premise and a universal story, the entire thing devolves into one long jumble of indecipherable action sequences followed by poorly developed story. In the end not even the great Peter Stormare (FARGO) can save the film, though as a Sheriff and righteous human being he is actually considerably scarier than the monsters we see in the film.

To top it off, HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS is full of profanity, which I usually actually like (when it adds something to the story, or makes me laugh), but the delivery is SO POOR it is painful and doesn’t feel right in this historic world. It’s as though they realized they could curse because of the gore, so they added it to everywhere they could. Speaking of the gore, one of the strongest suits of this picture is their use of actual, physical props and space… but where the film falls flat on its face is in the CGI department. I don’t know if it’s because it is on HD, but the CGI really pulls you out of the film. As it stands, there is obviously a market for a film like this and they will make more movies just like this one, but we deserve better than this.

HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS 3D BLU-RAY REVIEW

Sometimes a bad movie can be more fun with good 3D and that’s the case with HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS.  The 3D effects aren’t reference quality, but director Tommy Wirkola made use of the 3D with some blood spatter during the action scenes and a few bits of debris flying up here and there.  Otherwise, the 3D is adequate and definitely makes the film more entertaining.

HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: (1080p, 2.40:1 Widescreen) The video is very nicely done, though many of the CGI elements (especially the over-the-top gore) don’t play as well in high def as I thought they might, but the great work on costumes, make-up, and prosthetics looks really great.

Audio: (English 5.1 Dolby TrueHD) The sound on HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS is absolutely top notch. You will feel completely immersed in this world right along side our heroes.

Reinventing Hansel & Gretel (15:41) Director Wirkola, producers, and the cast of HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS discuss how the movie came together. Lots of footage from the film with some behind the scenes moments make this a lot of fun for any fan of the film. The focus is on Wirkola’s specific twist on the story and features a lot of spoilers – do not watch before you see the movie!

The Witching Hours (09:01) This feature contains a TON of spoilers as well, but adds some interesting thoughts and concepts to the design elements of HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS. The make-up/prosthetics in the final scenes are pretty incredible and this one is worth checking out.

Meet Edward the Troll (05:25) The troll who figures prominently into HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS is the central figure in this special feature. He was purposely crafted rather than using CGI and it pays off with realism that I miss in other recent features (yes George [Lucas], I’m talking about you).

The HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS 3D Blu-ray package comes with two Blu-ray discs (the standard HD and a 3D disc), a DVD, an iTunes (or other) compatible digital copy and an UltraViolet digital copy.

The post Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters 3D Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Still here?  Good.  HBO’s ‘The Newsroom’ is a fantastic show that showcases some of Aaron Sorkin’s best, most intelligent writing to date.  If you’ve ever longed for the days of Cronkite or Murrow, when the news was reported because it was important and not because advertisers liked it, then ‘The Newsroom’ is right up your alley.  As the show plays with the different themes, it also tries to stay party neutral, but it’s hard, especially in case of the Tea Party.  If you don’t know anything about the Tea Party or consider yourself a part of it, then the second half of the first season of ‘The Newsroom’ might anger you.  In fact, it should anger you, but not because the show sometimes feels like it’s attacking the party, but because of how the party has swindled America.  You shouldn’t get all your facts from a fictitious TV show, but if this glamorized HBO show inspires you to research particular topics on your own, then I’d say the show has done its job.

But if you wanted the news, you’d watch the news.  The most impressive aspect of ‘The Newsroom’ is its ability to make the news interesting.  The show really explores the behind the scenes maneuvering of a news program and the audience is captivated as the producers try to get guests to come on the show or to confirm sources for a controversial story.  The writing is so quick and witty that even mundane topics are fascinating and the speed of the dialogue is so fast that it forces you to pay attention or risk missing a key element of the plot.  When you couple that with one of the best lead characters on TV in Will McAvoy, you have yourself an intelligent and captivating show.

Of course, good writing can only get you so far and means nothing if you don’t have talented actors reciting those lines.  The show gets the absolute most from the underrated Jeff Daniels.  He embodies Will McAvoy to perfection and manages to be obnoxious and endearing at the same time.  After you finish the first season of ‘The Newsroom’, you’ll wish McAvoy was your nightly newscaster.  He’s not alone on the show; Emily Mortimer is perfect as his ex-girlfriend and current producer MacKenzie McHale and supporting actors like John Gallagher, Allison Pill and Thomas Sadoski provide enough talent to make their storylines almost as interesting as Will and MacKenzie’s.

I had heard the common complaint that ‘The Newsroom’ starts out great with the first episode and then teeters off as the season progresses, but I couldn’t disagree more.  Sure, the opening monologue was the extreme high point of the first season, but every episode is great.  If there is a downside to ‘The Newsroom’, it’s with the romantic subplots.  The Jim and Maggie relationship tries hard, but it’s difficult to root for any guy trying to date Maggie.  The underlying tension between Will and MacKenzie works at times, but I’m glad they didn’t push it too far.  Aaron Sorkin is great at politics and sports, but he still struggles when it comes to writing relationships.  His quick-witted, fast talking, snappy dialogue works extremely well in a professional environment, but not so much when two people are in an intimate setting.

Clearly, I’m a fan of ‘The Newsroom’, not only for how great and entertaining the show can be, but for the fantasy it creates of a news program doing real news.  That idea is a nice dream that I wish were a reality, but until it is, I’ll be more than happy watching Will McAvoy fight the good fight in ‘The Newsroom’.

THE NEWSROOM: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  ‘The Newsroom’ looks stunning on Blu-ray.  HBO continues to deliver perfect video on their Blu-rays.

Audio: The audio is equally impressive.

Commentary on Five Episodes: Aaron Sorkin, Jeff Daniels, Olivia Munn and others show up to talk about five various episodes.  I always find TV commentaries tiresome, but I liked the ones with Aaron Sorkin (especially on ‘We Just Decided To’).  The commentaries with just the actors dragged a little bit.

Inside the Episode:  This is a quick feature available on each episode that gives some more detail about the episode.

Deleted Scenes (5:52): I found five deleted scenes, none of which were very noteworthy.

Mission Control (4:56): This is a brief behind the scenes look at The Newsroom.

Roundtable (26:02): Aaron Sorkin, Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, Sam Waterson, Greg Mottola and Alan Poul sit at a table and discuss the first season.  Roundtable discussions with people that love their work are always great and this one might be the highlight of the special features.

The post The Newsroom: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

There are also, of course, totoros, troll-esque, rabbit-like creatures that can be flurry and stand several feet high or transparent and no taller than a child’s calf. They’re considered the “spirits of the forest,” a label that might, in American animated films, be attributed to something more ghostly or villainous.

But there is no evil in MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, only a world of astonishment. These creatures don’t exist to harm or as a means for the kids to cope with family misfortunes. (Satsuki and Mei have absolute faith that their mother will soon be home and so find rare reason for concern.) Instead, they are part of the adventure, one that the girls will tell all of their friends and family about. A pair of examples of the good intentions found in the film: a group of totoros incite a midnight dance to help the girls’ seeds sprout into majestic trees; Totoro himself calls upon the helpful Catbus, a multi-legged mode of transportation, to locate Mei when she briefly goes missing.

In 1988, Studio Ghibli released MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO as a double feature with Isao Takahata’s tremendously depressing post-WWII drama GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, in what can justifiably be described as one of the most emotionally imbalanced double bills ever. Still, it found its audience and made its mark, becoming a success and helping to usher in one of the finest animation studios in the world. The film is so representative of Studio Ghibli—and all of its fantastical, whimsical, imaginative efforts—that Totoro became its mascot, just as Mickey Mouse is Disney’s.

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO was Hayao Miyazaki’s fourth feature, after 1979’S THE CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO, 1984’S NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND and 1986’S CASTLE IN THE SKY. A quarter-century after its release, it stands as the Japanese master’s greatest achievement. Part of that has to do with the stellar animation and wondrous ideas. But most of it stems from Miyazaki’s intentions.

He would later have children characters square off against witches in films like SPIRITED AWAY (2001) and HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (2004). But MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO isn’t about conquering or slaying. It is about all of the magical things that children can discover if they aren’t afraid or forbidden to explore.

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 1.85:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. Without going overboard by making the film look like it came out this year, this high-definition transfer of MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO offers a wealth of life, with fine contrast and nice textures in the characters and backgrounds.

Audio: English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; French 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio; Japanese 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio. Subtitles in English and French. The audio transfer features crisp dialogue and a crystal clear soundtrack.

Creating MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (2:58): Hayao Miyazaki talks about the film came to be.

Creating the Characters (4:24): Miyazaki and producer Toshio Suzuki discuss the many memorable characters, including Totoro and the Catbus.

The TOTORO Experience (2:00): Suzuki touches on the film’s initial release and success.

Producer’s Perspective: Creating Ghibli (1:23) offers a too-brief look at the famed studio.

The Locations of TOTORO (28:38) takes viewers to some of the locations that inspired the look of MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO.

Scoring Miyazaki (7:18): Here, Suzuki and composer Joe Hisaishi talk about the latter’s work, which includes a number of Miyazaki films from NAUSICAA OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND to PONYO.

Behind the Microphone (5:39): This featurette shows the English dub cast at work in the studio.

Original Japanese Storyboards

Original Japanese Trailer

Also included is a DVD of MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO.

The post My Neighbor Totoro Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

It should be noted that there were 14 “Oz” books written by Frank L. Baum and neither this nor Wizard are based on any one specific book.  OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL is a prequel of sorts to THE WIZARD OF OZ and picks up with Oz (James Franco) in Kansas, working as a magician in a traveling circus.  While escaping an angry boyfriend of a girl he attempted to seduce, Oz flees the circus in a hot air balloon, only to get caught in a tornado that takes him to the Land of Oz.  Once there, he meets up with a beautiful witch named Theodora (Mila Kunis) who believes Oz is the “chosen one” that will rid the land of the evil witch, which we later learn is actually Evanora (Rachel Weisz).  Eventually, Oz meets up with the good white witch, Glinda (Michelle Williams) and together they challenge the rule of Evanora.

The story of OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL is fine in that it relates to Wizard to a degree, but not so much so it feels forced.  The theme of overcoming self-doubt and becoming a better person is a good one, but the problem is the film is also incredibly empty.  James Franco can sometimes be a talented actor, but he’s not a blockbuster-carrying type of talent.  The role was originally slated for Robert Downey Jr. and with an actor with his level of charm and charisma, Oz could have been a great movie.  Instead, the whole film lacked heart and so all we were left with were pretty colors and fun special effects, which we got in spades.  That can be enough to make an average movie, but it’s not enough to make a great movie.

If not for a few scenes of a scary witch transformation, OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL would be perfect for little kids.  The bright colors, safe dialogue and fast pace make this something that kids of all ages can appreciate.  That makes it more frustrating that Raimi added those images.  They served no purpose other than to scare little kids, which is a cheap shot from Raimi.  That aside, Oz is a safe film that the whole family can watch and enjoy, even if it fails to live up to its potential.

OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL 3D BLU-RAY REVIEW

If you buy 3D movies, then you know by now that Disney seems to be the king of 3D Blu-rays.  Add that to the fact that the film takes place in a magical, colorful world and that makes this a no brainer.  This is a fun movie to watch in 3D and you won’t be disappointed with the eye-popping effects.

A note about the 3D only version: I hate it.  I’m disappointed in Disney for not including this with the 2D Blu-ray set like they have all of their other releases.  They attempted a mea culpa by offering the 2D version for $5.95 if you buy the 3D version, but it was too little, too late.  So I was torn on how to review the 3D disc.  On one hand, I would give it a “1” because there are no special features and it’s a standalone disc.  On the other hand, if I only rate the 3D quality, I’d give it a “9” because the 3D is incredible.  In the end, I chose the easy way out and gave it a “5″, but just know the 3D is great, but the disc should have been included in a larger set.

The post Oz The Great and Powerful 3D Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

In A COMMON MAN, a common man plays terrorist by planting bombs all around the city of Colombo, Sri Lanka.  Unless the Deputy Inspector General (Ben Cross, CHARIOTS OF FIRE) agrees to release four specific prisoners by 6pm, “the man” will detonate the bombs in the very public places he has set them.

This film could have actually made its way into the “awesomely-bad” tier of personal DVD collections, but the presence and performance of Kingsley keeps it in a weird limbo that walks a line between “tongue and cheek” and taking itself too seriously.  As usual, Kingsley is just being Kingsley, taking any role he’s given and injecting his unique brand of stoic elegance into every line.  Unfortunately his character’s motives and ultimate goal have about the same depth and stability as a Slinky coffee mug.

The supposed “twist” the writers were going for and the direction by Chandran Rutnam is revved up like the eventual “reveal” is something that should give the audience a “Keyser Soze” type of moment.  Well maybe not that ambitious, but at least a more shocking outcome than what could be guessed by any high school student competent enough to get the free points on the SAT’s by filling in their name.

Also, the film is absolutely void of any sub plot or even vaguely interesting supporting characters.  The only other notable performance in A COMMON MAN is that of another Oscar winner, Ben Cross.  And the only reason it’s notable is because of how horrendous it is.  Cross is pretty much just a glorified “extra” in this film, serving as background noise and exerting the minimal effort needed to get through his scenes.

Even with the more-than-adequate amount of gaffs that make up this film, it manages to achieve one that ironically separates A COMMON MAN from being just another commonly bad film ― the voices are dubbed.  Yes you read that correctly, an all English film spoken in 100% English seems to be completely dubbed over.  Now of course Kingsley and Cross provide their own voice for the tracks, but as far as anyone else goes, who knows?  And obviously it’s bad dubbing or else it would have never been noticed in the first place.  It’s just the icing on the cheap discount store birthday cake that everyone takes one bite of and covertly spits it out in their napkin.

Ben Kingsley’s career will assuredly survive A COMMON MAN as he has some of the other odd role choices he’s made over the years.  But the main reason it will barely scuff the luster on his legacy is because hardly anyone will ever pay it any attention in the first place.  The only true inherent danger of the film being released is that the country of Japan will think we have devoted an entire movie to making fun of the old Godzilla films, and we didn’t even have the common decency to put in a proper monster.

A COMMON MAN BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  1.85:1 Widescreen, 1080p/AVC MPEG-4: The only thing this film couldn’t screw up was the clarity of the today’s digital equipment.  The film is very crisp with fine detail and the colors are quite vibrant with great black levels.

Audio:  English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1: Well, at least there was no one humming in the film so there was no chance for the music to be off sync.

There are no bonus features except any drinking games you can create with the horrendous dubbing.

The post A Common Man Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

To the filmmakers credit, MAN OF STEEL definitely takes a different route with the Superman character than before.  In fact, I believe he is only called that title once. Director Zach Snyder thankfully steers away from his usual slow motion technique seen in 300 and THE WATCHMEN, but unfortunately hangs on to the overproduction side of the action.  Opening up with the planet Krypton, nothing is left to the imagination as we are fed giant beasts and birds that may have come directly from the Phantom Menace side of Skywalker Ranch.  Jor-El is running through explosions and diving in pools in order to get his newborn son Kal-El sent to earth’s safety before either General Zod takes over or the planet Krypton destroys itself.  General Zod (played by the wickedly fun Michael Shannon) and his evil gang are captured, but rather than just being killed with the rest of the planet, the council inexplicably sends them away imprisoned in darkness to eventually escape and reign terror over earth in search of Kal-El.

When the story finally gets to earth, rather than see a slow progression of growth that hints to Kal-El’s powers, MAN OF STEEL jumps right into the character as a grown man saving workers from a burning oil rig stationed in the ocean.  Cutting quickly with rather poor transitions, the film is at its best when the action slows down and we are treated to flash backs during different stages of Kal-El’s (known as Clark Kent) life.  Everything from the cinematography to the acting becomes much more authentic visually and allows the characters to breathe.  Every scene that featured Kevin Costner as Clark’s father were particularly touching.  Mr. Kent’s love for his adopted son emotes a humbleness and wisdom that make every word of advice and unspoken look that much more impactful.  If only the film had focused more on these quieter moments with Clark’s parents (the wonderful Diane Lane as Martha Kent), rather than another, albeit visually impressive, special effects battle destroying a city like we’ve seen in THE AVENGERS, TRANSFORMERS, or any Jerry Bruckheimer produce film for that matter.

Without the great Christopher Reeve, Henry Cavill is the perfect man of steel to play Superman.  Providing the proper amount of courageous compassion and strength, Cavill easily fits the Christ-like role the film so eagerly attempts to embody as the saviour of humanity.  That internal struggle and eventual acceptance as Superman is another highlight of the film.  Cavill not only tackles that inner strength but he rocks a body that will have the women swooning, us men feeling morbidly obese, and the soldiers of 300 embarrassed of their painted on abs.

The score may not be as memorable as the original SUPERMAN, but Hanz Zimmer puts together a beautiful sound that flows with the film effortlessly, heightening the tension and the emotion.  While I appreciate the new approach, the end result ended up being the same as films we’ve seen before. I personally think a little re-editing could go a long way building anticipation and creating a more mystical hero, as it stands the subtlety is lost. MAN OF STEEL is still a high flying ride for a summer picture that moves faster than a speeding bullet for a 144 minute runtime.  Perhaps my expectations were set unfairly high, but I wish MAN OF STEEL could have lingered longer on some of the affective emotion, build stronger characters and leaped over the abundant typical action.

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Long remembered for a list of things not featured on screen, CLEOPATRA is now on Blu Ray in a special 50^th Anniversary Edition.  The story is quite simple; Julius Caesar (Harrison) journeys to Egypt where he meets the Pharaoh Ptolemy (Richard O’Sullivan).  The Pharaoh informs Caesar that, after she made several attempts to kill him, he had his sister, Cleopatra (Taylor) killed.  But Caesar knows she is not dead.  Soon she is spirited in to Caesar’s quarters where the great soldier is overwhelmed by her beauty.  One thing leads to another and soon they form a very close relationship, both personally and professionally.  Eventually Caesar returns to Rome, where neither the missus or the Senate approve his actions.  After Caesar is assassinated it is Antony who must travel to Egypt only to fall under the same spell as Caesar.

You would think that a film that suffered through three directors, at least nine writers and a revolving door cast would be unbearable to watch.  Not true here.  And that is thanks to the brilliant hand of Oscar winning director and co-writer Mankiewicz.  The original director and cast were never pleased with the script and, after $7 million dollars had been spent on the production the studio found itself with exactly 10 minutes of usable footage.  Unsure whether to pull the plug or plod on the studio convinced Mankiewicz to take over behind the camera.  With time off due to Taylor falling seriously ill, Mankiewicz completely re-wrote the film.  The production counted completely on Taylor, who with this film became the first actor to be paid $1 million dollars for a role.  Taylor does a credible job but the two reasons to see this film are Harrison (in an Academy Award nominated performance) and Burton, two of the greatest stage and film actors in history.  The supporting cast is full of some familiar names, including Martin Landau, Hume Cronyn, Roddy McDowall and Carrol O’ Connor.  Alex North’s Oscar nominated score is a perfect accompaniment and the disc contains both the Overture and Second Act musical introductions. I would suggest going to the rest room before sitting down to screen the film as the disc contains the complete opening week 4 hour and ll minute version.  The film was cut to just under 4 hours in 2^nd run cities.  By the time it played outlaying towns the running time was down to 3 hours and 6 minutes.  The production design, as befits a true epic, is outstanding, earning the Academy Award for Best Art Direction/Set Decoration – Color, Best Cinematography – Color and Best Costume Design – Color.  The film also won an Oscar for its Visual Effects.  All in all, the film received a total of 9 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture.

CLEOPATRA BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  The disc contains a beautiful transfer, with the bright colors of the foreign locales and those of the costumes jumping off the screen.  The film is presented in a 2.22:1 aspect ratio.

Audio:  Presented in both DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Dolby Digital 4.0.  The voices are strong and the musical soundtrack does not overlap the dialogue.

The extras featured here are exactly what DVDs are for.  They are so numerous that they span both discs, with the commentary track spanning both of them.  The majority of the extras seem to have been cribbed from previous DVD and Laser Disc releases.

DISC ONE

Commentary with Jack Brodsky, Martin Landau, Chris Mankiewicz and Tom Mankiewicz:  A brilliant commentary shared by former publicist Brodsky (who after the production co-wrote a book entitled “The Cleopatra Papers”), cast member Landau and Mankiewicz’ two sons.  Tom, who died a few years ago, was also a screenwriter, penning three James Bond films.  He also wrote and directed the Dan Aykroyd/Tom Hanks comedy “Dragnet.”

Cleopatra Through The Ages (7:51):  A look at the various incarnations of Cleopatra throughout history.

“Cleopatra’s” Missing Footage (8:12):  A short featurette on the search for director Mankiewicz’ alleged 8 hour and 15 minute first cut of the film.  Apparently, to save room in the vaults, Fox had all of its extra footage and negatives destroyed in 1978, which means the search was pretty futile.

“Fox Movie Channel Presents Fox Legacy” with Tom Rothman (29:29):  Possibly one of the highlights of having the Fox Movie Channel on your cable or dish system is this half hour show hosted by Fox executive Rothman, who gets extra points from me for being married to Jessica Harper.  Rothman documents how the film almost destroyed Fox and points out that other studios also had a similar fiasco in their past (Columbia – “Ishtar,” Universal – “Waterworld” and United Artists – “Heaven’s Gate.”

The Cleopatra Papers – an amazing collection of letters and telegrams sent back and forth between Jack Brodsky in New York and his counterpart in Rome, where the film was shot (they used to switch places occasionally).  Among the concerns noted:  Rex Harrison threatening to quit when his private trailer was taken away in a budget cutting act (he got it back) and the studio’s concerns when the Taylor/Burton romance was about to go public.  One missive states that the film would be doomed if the public thought Taylor, who had recently married her late husband’s best friend, Eddie Fisher,  had broken up another family.

DISC TWO

“Cleopatra:”  The Film That Changed Hollywood (1:59:07):  One of the best behind the scenes/making of films I have ever seen, which includes shots of Peter Finch as Caesar.

The Fourth Star of “Cleopatra:” (9:06):  a nice featurette which pays homage to the production design team.

Fox Movietone News (6:19):  Bits from several different “Movietone” bits.  Audio is a little rough, but this is due to source issatures.

Thratrical Trailers (10:03):  Three different trailers for the film.

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THE ABCS OF DEATH is comprised of 26 segments, all designated by the letters of the alphabet: “A is for Apocalypse,” “B is for Bigfoot,” “C is for Cycle,” “D is for Dogfight,” “E is for Exterminate,” “F is for Fart,” “G is for Gravity,” “H is for Hydro-Electric Diffusion,” “I is for Ingrown,” “J is for Jidai-geki,” “K is for Klutz,” “L is for Libido,” “M is for Miscarriage,” “N is for Nuptials,” “O is for Orgasm,” “P is for Pressure,” “Q is for Quack,” “R is for Removed,” “S is for Speed,” “T is for Toilet,” “U is for Unearthed,” “V is for Vagitus,” “W is for WTF!,” “X is for XXL,” “Y is for Youngbuck,” and “Z is for Zetsumetsu.”

The project came together when Drafthouse Films and producers Ant Timpson and Tim League  enlisted 26 international directors (hailing from America, Canada, China, England, France, Japan, Spain, and many more in between) and assigned them each a letter of the alphabet. (The sole exception was Lee Hardcastle, whose claymation “T” entry was a contest winner.) The filmmakers were given complete freedom in the subject matter and approach, which is one of the reasons some of the chapters are so over-the-top.

Another is that the majority of the directors, regardless of talent (some, like Angela Bettis—best known for her turn in 2003’s MAY—and the aforementioned Hardcastle, prove themselves; others, like Noboru Iguch—director of movies with titles like KARATE-ROBO ZABORGAR and HYPERTROPHY GENITALS GIRL—don’t), are less concerned about making truly effective horror shorts than they are one-upping their colleagues. As a result, this is a movie brimming with endless gore, vomit, penetration, masturbation, impalements, hackings, strangulations, maulings, electrocution, explosions, beheadings, infections, disfigured men, alternate selves, lesbians, spiders, talking birds, strap-ons, and—why not?—farts.

Like most anthology movies, THE ABCS OF DEATH is a lopsided effort. Very few, like those for “D” (by Marcel Sarmiento) and “Q” (a clever meta-entry by Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett), stand out, while too many, like those for “F,” “K,” “L,” “X,” and “Z,” are pathetic. Some of the shorts may have been more effective as standalone works instead of a part of package deal with lesser efforts. The whole project itself may have served well as a web series, with an episode revealed every week. As it stands, the A, B and C may as well stand for Awful, Brainless and Clumsy.

THE ABCs OF DEATH BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 1.78:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. As each of the directors has a different stylistic approach and so the overall look of this Blu-ray is hit-and-miss, with some shorts offering excellent detail and others coming off soft.

Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Subtitles in English and Spanish. The same goes for the audio, which does little to enhance the quality of many of the shorts.

Filmmaker Commentary: Each of the directors (as well as some various other crew members) sits down to discuss their respective contributions to THE ABCS OF DEATH.

There is also a large collection of featurettes devoted to more than half of the shorts. They are: “A is for Apocalypse”: Oil Burns Visual Effects (1:10), “B is for Bigfoot”: Making Of (2:56), “C is for Cycle”: Deleted Scenes (3:28), “D is for Dogfight”: Making Of (6:57), “F is for Fart”: Behind the Scenes (9:46), “H is for Hydro-Electric Diffusion”: Behind the Scenes (6:40), The Making of Bertie the Bulldog & Frau Scheese (4:47) and Finished Short vs. Behind the Scenes (6:44), “I is for Ingrown”: Making Of (6:43), “J is for Jidai-geki”: Behind the Scenes (6:30), “P is for Pressure”: Interviews (18:48), “R is for Removed”: Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery, “T is for Toilet”: Behind the Scenes (3:04), “V is for Vagitus”: Behind the Scenes (13:32) and Animatics (5:01), “W is for WTF”: Behind the Scenes (7:44), Bonus Flubs! (3:01) and Star-Beast Outtakes (2:19), and “Z is for Zetsumetsu”: Behind the Scenes (11:07).

AXS TV: A Look at THE ABCS OF DEATH (4:16) looks at how the anthology movie came about and how the various directors approached the idea.

Trailers

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We first learn in the beginning that there are numbers stations all around the world and many countries used them in the past and still use them. It works like this. A person sends out numbered codes to various agents around the world. They take this code and decipher it with their handy notebook that translates this jumbled mess into a coherent message. The agent then burns up the message, so it doesn’t get into enemy hands. An interesting premise, if not wholly original, could be gleamed from this. There is an inherent fascination with numbers that can explain the universe away in a tangible sense. That must be a reason why many alien movies use numbers as communication with the creatures from the distant regions of our universe.

Emerson Kent (a listless John Cusack) is one such agent that relies on numbers for his orders. On his latest mission, he must find and kill a man who left the clandestine agency for a better life. Apparently that is a bad career choice. He is working with his boss, Michael Grey (Liam Cunningham), on this case. Everything is supposed to go like clockwork. Timing must be precise or things go bad. Things do go bad here. Emerson lets one man escape, but he drops his wallet in the process. In this type of work tidy is the name of the game. There can’t be any loose ends. Emerson kills this loose end, but encounters the man’s daughter while doing it. She asks him simply why he was doing this. It was frankly a fair and reasonable question which he has no answers. Emerson lets her live, but Michael apparently did not agree with this move. She gets taken care of.

The botched mission leaves Emerson a broken man. He continually has nightmares about the final seconds of the girl’s life. He wonders what he is doing with his life. An assassin that suddenly has a conscience has been done a million times before. That doesn’t mean that it can’t still be done and be solid entertainment. Look at the recent In Bruges. Colin Farrell’s character is tackling a similar situation after he accidentally kills a young boy. His faith is shaken and his work gets shoddy. That movie went about it with dark humor mixed with some brutal violence to good effect. THE NUMBERS STATION tries to portray this in a more dramatic way with some action scenes thrown in. We see Emerson lying awake with visions of the dead girls dancing in his head. While in In Bruges we get to know Farrell’s character and can empathize in some ways with him. Here Emerson is not really relatable. There is no personality to be had. Director Kasper Barfoed and screenwriter F. Scott Frazier gives Cusack no favors at all in writing and portraying this character. Watching paint dry would be more interesting than this man. It’s a shame because Cusack when given good material can deliver fine performances. It just isn’t evident here.

As the story progresses, it is decided that Emerson should be taken out of the field and moved to a more tranquil location. He is transported to a numbers station in Suffolk, England where he is paired with a civilian broadcaster named Katherine (Malin Akerman). Katherine broadcasts the codes that go out to the agents. So Emerson is now on the other side of the operation and he has intimate knowledge of what goes on out there. This team trades shifts every three days with another male-female team.

Two months pass and not much goes on. Emerson is still having his nightmares and he keeps his conversations with Katherine to a minimum. Emerson tries to always be professional, while Katherine attempts new ways to loosen him up. Barfoed doesn’t really show these two bonding in any meaningful way. You just have to assume that they have some kind of respect for each other. This is truly one of the many fatal flaws on display. We simply don’t know anything about these characters. It is hard to care for them when there is nothing to care about.

Since this is a movie, something has to happen to our protagonists. Indeed it does. The bad guys infiltrate the facility and try to send out multiple messages that would cripple the organization. Once again there isn’t any flair or excitement. The action scenes are so humdrum and ordinary that you actually wish to see the nightmares about the dead girl so more. Cusack looks so uncomfortable pulling off these scenes. Akerman fares a bit better with her sense of bewilderment of what is happening and what needs to be done.

THE NUMBERS STATION fails in every sense of the word. It is not thrilling enough to work as an action film. It is not deep or interesting enough to work as a drama or character study. The move clocks in at less than an hour and a half. This is one of the few times where it has to be longer. The characters sorely needed to be fleshed out more. John Cusack is an actor I grew up watching and admiring. It pains me to say this, but stay far away from this turkey.

THE NUMBERS STATION BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: It is an okay transfer. It did seem to be darker than it needed to be at times.

Audio: Action aficionados will be sorely disappointed with the sound quality. It is does not have a robust sound that action films should have. The gun fire is strangely muted and distracting to say the least. This is disappointing in every way.

The Making of The Numbers Station (14:26): The two leads and the producer basically discuss the plot of the film. Nothing deep is discussed here.

Previews

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STAND UP GUYS is the story of Val (Al Pacino) and Doc (Christopher Walken). Val has just been released from a long stint in the federal penitentiary. Doc, his best and only friend, is there to pick him up and take him out for “his day.” Doc and Val obviously worked together in their past life, but Doc has slowed way down and seems a little put off by Val’s initial disgust at his home and his lifestyle. All Val wants to do is party and live the life he left when he went away. Of course there are some issues with that. Doc has apparently been tasked, he is supposed to kill Val as soon as he is released because Val apparently killed the only son of a major mob boss in the town.

Over the afternoon and evening, though, Doc seems less and less inclined to follow the order he has been given though Val eventually realizes what is happening. But instead of allowing it to damper their spirits, the guys spend the evening re-living the glory days. This includes a couple of stops at a brothel and a quick stop to pick up their wheelman, Hirsch (Alan Arkin) who has been languishing in an extended living facility. Hirsch’s health has been waning recently but he livens up considerably once he is reunited with his crew.

STAND UP GUYS is a rollicking good time but it’s certainly rougher around the edges than the other films of this particular genre. The jokes skew a bit bluer than is absolutely necessary but getting to watch Christopher Walken and Al Pacino on screen together (for the first time, by the way) is pure magic. The two seem to bond over their time together exactly as the characters would and it isn’t hard to imagine them as best friends from a long time. The addition of Hirsch early in the film’s second act is a catalyst that vastly improves the dynamic as well.

There’s a little bit for everyone in STAND UP GUYS, with some scenes really showing some impressive (and surprising) action chops, all the while building up a great character study about these friends finding their bond once again. I actually found myself near tears at a couple of scenes, not because I was laughing but because they did such a great job establishing the characters. STAND UP GUYS is far from “fine art” but it is a definitely worth checking out if you are a fan of the stars.

STAND UP GUYS BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: (1080p, 2.40:1 Widescreen) The video is crystal clear on STAND UP GUYS. The image transfer is beautiful and the color palette pulls you right into the film.

Audio: (English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) The scoring is simple but plays well, and the sound mixing and transfer on STAND UP GUYS really pull you into the action with the guys.

Audio Commentary with Director Fisher Stevens (01:34:58) Fisher Stevens talks constantly through the commentary on STAND UP GUYS. He gives some really interesting tips about his time working with the actors. Not an incredibly entertaining or funny commentary, it still has a lot of great qualities. If you enjoyed the film I think you’ll like it.

The Lowdown on Making STAND UP GUYS (11:54) A standard making of featurette for any Blu-ray, this one is nicely put together and has some neat looks into the way STAND UP GUYS was made.

The Stand Up Songs of Jon Bon Jovi (04:46) STAND UP GUYS features music from Jon Bon Jovi who talks about putting together the music and how much he enjoyed working on it. A lot of his lyrics are based on the dialogue and even though it feels a little jive, I enjoyed the music and this special feature.

American Muscle: The Stand Up Stunt Driving Scenes (05:03) Showing scenes from the movie along with storyboards and featuring interview portions from STAND UP GUYS, this is a neat if quick look at the chase scene.

Deleted Scenes (02:35) Two scenes are included on the Blu-ray of STAND UP GUYS, kind of toss-aways. The first is Al Pacino dancing quickly (called Fast Dance) and the second is Val and Doc on Rooftop, deciding what to do near the end of the film and sharing a last moment together. It’s a sweet moment.

This Blu-ray also comes with an UltraViolet digital copy of the film.

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John McClane gets news that his son (Jai Courtney) is being held prisoner in Russia, so he hops on the first plane to go…rescue him?  It’s not really clear what he’s there for, but when a bomb goes off near the courthouse, the McClanes and a Russian political prisoner meet up, where it’s discovered that his son is actually a CIA agent.  But the bad guys really want that Russian politician and somehow they find the safe house and pretty soon, it’s McClane and son versus a lot of Russian baddies.  Credit screenwriter Skip Woods for wrapping their adventure around a Russian political struggle, but it was never seriously developed and my guess is that the audience missed it as they were holding their heads in shame for what’s become of John McClane.

Let’s start with the Russian setting.  The former Soviet Republic is where Hollywood goes when they have a former star and no budget.  That’s why Cuba Gooding Jr., Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal and others basically live over there now; they get steady work with straight to video movies and they don’t have to show their face to any of their former friends in Hollywood.  It’s a fine setting for those films and I’m sure they have their audience, but why in the world would you put John McClane in Russia?  I know it was a money thing and I understand that, but John McClane is either a New York cop or a guy on a really bad vacation.  Sending him to Russia and having him complain about his vacation (which, by the way, was not a vacation since he was there for his son) doesn’t solve the problem.

Then there’s the action.  The first action sequence is a car chase through Russia which involves a lot of cars flipping over and getting rammed by the parties involved in the chase.  There’s no intensity and it all feels like a little kid playing with his Hotwheels since it has no rhyme or reason to the plot and does nothing but bore the audience.  We soon get to McClane and son shooting the bad guys and this is where director John Moore picks up where Len Wiseman left off with LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD and McClane basically becomes a superhero.  He leaps off buildings, flies through glass, suffers multiple car wrecks, dodges hundreds of bullets, jumps onto a helicopter and walks through radiation without ever missing a beat.  Remember when John McClane limped for half a movie when he stepped on glass in DIE HARD?  Yeah, that was a long time ago.

I’ve complained a lot about how this shouldn’t have been called a Die Hard film, but even if we rename it and change Bruce Willis’s name, this still isn’t a good movie.  The cheap settings, unbelievable (in a bad way) action and shoddy direction prevent A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD from even being a guilty pleasure.  If John McClane wasn’t already dead in your eyes, then go ahead and let the fifth outing be the final yippe-ki-yay.

A note about the Extended Cut: I noticed two main differences in the extended cut, which have me totally baffled.  They cut out Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s opening and closing scenes.  Remember that she was the one thing tying the movie to anything we’ve seen before, so I’m not sure why an “extended cut” would cut her out.

A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD BLU-RAY REVIEW

I just spent over 600 words trashing the movie, but let’s give Fox some credit with an excellent Blu-ray.  The video and audio are fantastic and there are plenty of special features.

Video: The video for A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD is beautiful.  The production may have been second rate, but the film quality was top notch.

Audio: Same goes for the audio; this is a loud movie and if nothing else, your speakers will get a workout.

Commentary with John Moore and Mark Cotone:  This commentary is only available on the “Extended Cut”, which is great because I was anxious to hear why Winstead was cut out of the film.  But no, they spent too much time laughing at each other to talk about the glaring omission.  That was pretty much the trend since they never really discussed anything important and just kind of joked with each other throughout the commentary.

Deleted scenes (14:27): There are seven scenes total and none of them fix any of the problems of the film.

Making it Hard To Die (1:00:24): This is a massive 15 part documentary that covers every excruciating detail about the making of A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD.  We get interviews from everyone that touched the film, right down to the caterers.  If you’re dying to know how they made this film, you’re in for a treat.

Anatomy of a car chase (26:11): The opening car chase that seemingly took forever gets its own featurette and explains why it took so long.  Hundreds of cars were involved and a lot of things had to happen to pull it off.

Two of a Kind (7:58:): A quick, fluff piece about the father and son dynamic.

Back in Action (7:04): What I really wanted here was for a Fox executive just to come right out and say “we needed a quick way to capitalize on a name and make a buck”, but they never showed up.  But they do talk lovingly about John McClane and how exciting it is to have him back in action.

The New Face of Evil (6:53): The villains from A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD talk about their characters.

VFX and Pre-vis sequences (17:11): Two separate features showing some computer animated stunts that were designed for the film.

Storyboards, Concept Art and Trailers

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A smile on my face may not be a ringing endorsement, but considering the lack of substance and the absence of any uproariously memorable laughs, I would say THE INTERNSHIP nearly maxes out its potential. The PG-13 comedy definitely has some hard edged jokes through language and sexual connotation but overall is rather light-hearted and uplifting. The film serves almost as an advertisement for Google who has been credited with being a good sport, but I believe was a genius for finding a clever way to promote their company.

The great comedic pairing of WEDDING CRASHERS duo Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn play Billy and Nick.  After losing their sales jobs for a watch company that is going out of business and realizing they don’t have the necessary skill set for today’s economy to find another job, the two try their hand at a summer Google internship.  Billy and Nick are nearly twice the age of their competition, but while they know very little about technology or the difference between being online and on the line, they make up for it in experience with the ability to communicate to and motivate people.  They join up with a few very intelligent but socially awkward outcast interns: Stuart (Dylan O’Brien) who masks his insecurities with mean spirited sarcasm and social media, Yo-Yo (Tobit Raphael) who clearly feels pressure from his mother and acts out his nervous energy by pulling out his eyebrows, Neha (Tiya Sircar) who as the female member is relegated to a sexual characteristic, and Lyle (Josh Brener) who scores some of the bigger laughs with his jive talking attempt to be cool.  In order to gain a job with Google, their team must beat out several other teams in a variety of challenging and absurd competitions.

Director Shawn Levy relies heavily on his two leads. By leaving the camera on Vaughn and Wilson, he allows them room to be funny but also delivers a rather flat vision that could have otherwise energized many scenes.  Supporting turns by names like Will Ferrell, Rob Riggle, Aasif Mandvi, John Goodman and Josh Gad all do a fine job but the two stars are clearly Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.  Vaughn penned the story that features many jokes that are stand alone scenes of him and Wilson humorously playing off one another in nonsensical dialogue.  These are definitely the films shining moments that will surely emit some genuine laughs but also spotlight the fact that the story appears to be written around these jokes as they don’t have a lot to do with one another.  In probably the most unnecessary subplot, Nick pursues a reluctant love interest played by Rose Byrne.  While their date has some funny moments, their story leading up to it is rather bland detracting from the comedy in an already thin plot.

What’s an 80′s movie without an evil villain to root against? Max Minghella plays the bullying competitive Graham with all the jerky narcissism you love to hate.  THE INTERNSHIP may lose some energy through poor pacing, but it capitalizes in a perfectly ridiculous cheesy 80′s formula ending.  Ironically, an intern probably too young to catch the FLASHDANCE reference mentioned before, is the one who actually calls Billy out on it.  No doubt this recognition is provided for most of the audience who are also unaware of the 80′s reference.  While the film may only reach that audience from my generation who has a foot in both the non technological and advanced technological world, Vaugh and Wilson are able to pull together some decent laughs that help THE INTERNSHIP capture a little of that elusive 80′s magic.

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Charlie Sheen is back, but he’s far from “winning” with this role, nor is his title character in the film.  Charles Swan is a graphic designer in the heyday of the 1970s.  Swan’s womanizing and sexual escapades have caused his life to fall into a tailspin and his creative slump has put his business in jeopardy.

There’s no other way to say it, or at least this film doesn’t deserve the thought process to put it another way, this is a very bad film.  The kind where if the opening and closing credits rolled back to back, you would still check your watch to see how much time is left.  There’s something much worse and intolerable about a bad studio film as opposed to a bad amateur one.  The amateur or indie-type film is supposed to have flaws, everything is against them.  If they even have one vaguely recognizable name in the cast and a coherent script, it’s a major victory.  But when you have the clout to get a legend like Bill Murray to step onto your set and recite your script, you better have some quality material ready.  Not to mention that your own name is pretty much Hollywood royalty and will all but guarantee any project you choose to get a green light from someone, somewhere.  Regretfully though, Coppola wastes his resources on an 87 minute bad impression of a Wes Anderson film with Monty Python type animation thrown in as a poor gimmick.

And if the film itself wasn’t bad enough, you also have to be reminded just how far the once great star of films like PLATOON, WALL STREET, MAJOR LEAGUE and HOT SHOTS has fallen.  Regulated now to what is the equivalent of a direct-to-video release, Charlie Sheen is far too much of a parody of himself to even begin to portray another human being.  Other Coppola “friendlies” include Jason Schartzman and Stephen Dorff appearing in roles that are either a pure favor to the director or the result of a lost bet.  And then there’s Bill Murray, showing up in scenes like he’s just strolling through the studio and decided to take part in the film out of boredom.

Even with this utter mess of a first attempt; Coppola should not hang up the clapboard.  The man does have talent. But perhaps for now his wheelhouse lies in the ability to collaborate with someone who knows how to organize his thoughts into an actual narrative.  Maybe after working with and studying master filmmakers like his pal Wes, he can come back with a more focused effort and make sure “a glimpse” is all well ever have to see of Charles Swan III.

A GLIMPSE INSIDE THE MIND OF CHARLES SWAN III BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  1.85:1 Widescreen, 1080p/AVC MPEG-4: Surprisingly there is a picture flaw that doesn’t show up very often among new films shot with high-end HD cameras.  There is actually banding in the opening sequence, but with this film who knows, it could have been done on purpose.  Not that it would make any sense, but that didn’t stop them from making the film in the first place.

Audio:  English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1: The sound feels like most of the film looks, amateurish.  The entire time it gives off a sense that some dorm room kids got their hands on some fancy equipment but don’t entirely know how to use it.  There are obvious acoustic problems in some scenes and the music plays with a very flat mix.

Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Roman Coppola:  This commentary is like when a coach give a press conference after a bad game and does nothing but blame the refs.  Coppola constantly reminds you that the production was low budget and how it affected the shoot.  Someone should gift wrap him some DVD’s like SLING BLADE, SNATCH and just about any Christopher Guest film to show him it ain’t all about the money.

“The Making of Charles Swan” Featurette (25 min):  This featurette gives a little background on some of the pop culture art that inspired the film and the standard interviews with cast and crew.

“A Glimpse Into the Mind of Charles White III” (12 min):  This is an interview with movie poster artist Charles White III, the man in which the title character of the film is loosely based.  Even though it has hardly anything to do with the film, White’s career is mildly interesting, which means it’s THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION compared to the actual film.

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ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH is the story of Gary Supernova (an unrecognizable Rob Corddry), the tiny big brother of the planet Baab’s biggest hero, Scorch Supernova (Brendan Fraser). Gary has always lived in Scorch’s shadow, but when Scorch ends up stranded on the dark planet (Earth) after responding to an SOS, Gary’s son decides to try to save him. In order to stop his son and save his brother, Gary is called into action. The only problem – he’s never had to be the hero before. He’s always been safe on planet Baab, in Mission Control.

When Gary arrives on Earth, he discovers the reason the planet has been blacklisted. Area 51, long thought to be the home to secret scientific research about aliens, is revealed to be a massive prison for aliens. Overseen by General Shanker (William Shatner), Area 51 has been the source of most of the worlds technology (hello MEN IN BLACK, you didn’t do this before us, did you?). The aliens have all been led to believe once they provide enough tech to General Shanker they will be rewarded with their freedom and a return to their planet. But Shanker has other plans, including colluding with Lena Thackleman (Jessica Alba), also from Planet Baab, to potentially rule the galaxy.

There is a decent amount of conflict in ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH, but where I tend to worry about films having too much violence for my 4 year old, I didn’t feel like anything shown in this one was presented in a way that glorified it. In fact, the main character is a genius/nerd, someone who would actually be a good role-model for children rather than the typical sports and action stars. ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH also features a strong slate of smaller characters who add to the film without detracting from the story. These other actors include Steve Zahn (THAT THING YOU DO!) and Chris Parnell (as two 7eleven employees who make first contact with the Baab’ians), Sofia Vergara (MODERN FAMILY), George Lopez (RIO), Jane Lynch (GLEE), Craig Robinson (Darryl from THE OFFICE), and many others.

As I wrote above, ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH could easily have been a forgettable entry in the animated movie lexicon. There are far too many names for the roles they have, but the flick doesn’t actually make use of them in a gratuitous way, thankfully. Instead ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH really relies on the strength of the story and acting. Pixar this movie is not, but it is a heck of a lot of fun. There are jokes for parents and children alike, including some nods to other film talents, but they aren’t overt and are as tongue-in-cheek as they should be. A good family movie, worth a rent if you missed it in the theater (I don’t remember it even going to the theaters!?!).

ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: (1080p, 2.39:1 Widescreen) The HD video is presented clearly and ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH is actually one of the visually interesting animated features I’ve seen recently. The Blu-ray transfer is clearly direct from the source, and looks great.

Audio: (English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) The sound is also presented very well on the ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH blu-ray. It’s immersive and well mixed featuring a strong score and decent dialogue, all clearly presented to bring you along with the characters.

Audio Commentary with Director Cal Brunker (01:29:09) An fairly interesting audio commentary, director Brunker discusses the ins and outs of putting together an animated film like ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH. Nothing really incredible, nothing really bad about this one. If you enjoy commentaries you’ll probably want to check it out.

The Making of ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH (21:15) A professional presentation that was probably released on television prior to the release of the film, this one has nice production value and is presented in full HD. It’s a fairly standard but welcome feature on ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH. Includes interviews and footage from the film. I was as tired as anyone of Brendan Fraser after his glut of films in the early 00’s, but I enjoy his enthusiasm and he did a nice job in this flick.

Alternate Takes and Deleted Scenes (03:53) Presented as quick intercuts in chronological order, these scenes are actually kind of difficult to track due to the length. However, I applaud ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH for putting them all in a single “play all” package. Nothing really funny or needed is shown here, though.

How to Make an Animated Feature with Director Cal Brunker (03:43) The director shows the various steps in a quick and interesting way, showing the opening scene of ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH from start to finish. Brunker explains everything in a simple way. Pretty neat.

Music Featurettes (11:03) These are more like music videos than featurettes. The songs from the film presented with scenes from ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH.

Includes “Shooting Star” Owl City Music Video, Delta Rae Performs “What Matters Most”, and Cody Simpson Performs “Shine Supernova”.

The ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH Blu-ray package includes a 3D version of ESCAPE FROM PLANET EARTH on Blu-ray, industry-standard digital copy through UltraViolet (lame), a digital copy file that will work with iTunes (or Android, whichever your preference), and finally a DVD copy of the film.

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The film begins with a group of Mexican villagers calling on their president (Fay Roope).  They inform him of a rancher that has stolen their land.  The president tells them they need to do a little fact checking before he can intervene.  Upon hearing this, one of the villagers speaks up loudly, demanding justice.  Asked his name, the man replies, “Emiliano Zapata.”  The president circles his name on his list of visitors.  Not a good sign.

An entertaining tale, with a screenplay by no less then John Steinbeck, VIVA ZAPATA is a good film from the team of Brando and Kazan.  Not a great one.  Among the problems:  with the exception of Anthony Quinn, who was Mexican, no one speaks with any kind of accent.  It’s really just Stanley Kowalski with a mustache.  I should also point out that, with his dark make up and mustache, Brando bears a striking resemblance to Burt Reynolds, circa 1973.  Zapata wishes to marry a local girl (Peters) but her father will not give his blessing, feeling he is not worth of his daughter.  Once he becomes a general in the movement to overthrow the president,  he can’t serve him ice cold lemonade fast enough.  It’s only after the wedding that we learn Zapata’s terrible secret.  He can’t read.  Luckily his new wife can and she consents to teach him.  The rest of the film deals with the various leaders that try to run the country and Zapata’s work either for or against them.

The film boasts a strong and interesting cast.  Quinn won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work here (the film received a total of five Academy Award nominations, including Brando for Best Actor and Steinbeck’s screenplay).  Joseph Wiseman, probably best known to film fans as the title character in DR. NO, plays a writer documenting the revolution while Alan Reed has a nice bit as Pancho Villa.  Reed went on to voice Fred Flintstone and I dare you to close your eyes while he’s talking…that voice will remind you of your childhood.  Kazan’s direction is smooth and the production values are strong.  I can’t even think what the budget was for the oversize sombreros worn in the film.  It must have been a fortune because Brando insists on wearing his indoors.

VIVA ZAPATA! BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  The film is presented in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio.   The film was shot in black and white and the transfer is clear but dark.  Some scenes are so dark that they mask the actor’s face.

Audio:  Presented in both DTS-HD Master Mono.  The dialogue is clear though Brando was still in his “mumbling” period so you have to really pay attention sometimes.

Theatrical Trailer – oddest part of the trailer is that when associating the production (from Darryl Zanuck, who brought you ALL ABOUT EVE and GENTLEMAN’S AGREEMENT) to Brando (ON THE WATERFRONT) they only credit Kazan with the film PINKY!

Spanish Theatrical Trailer – This trailer is narrated in Spanish with Spanish subtitles,

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DIRTY HARRY (7/10):  This is actually a really good film.  The sequels make Dirty Harry kind of a joke, but his first appearance on the big screen is surprisingly great.  Not only is Dirty Harry a great character, but there’s a really good film in here as well.

Every Which Way But Loose (4/10): Sometimes the true test of an actor’s ability is when he’s put in a movie that’s absolutely terrible and it still kind of works.  Such is the case with Clint Eastwood and EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE.  The most surprising thing about this is that it spawned a sequel.

Firefox (5/10): This film has its moments, but it’s severely dated, making it hard to get involved with if you’re watching it for the first time in 2013.  Clint Eastwood is great, but the complexity of his character seemed unnecessary and I couldn’t shake the feeling that he seemed out of place.

Heartbreak Ridge (6/10):  All drill sergeant movies have one thing in common; the scenes with the training are great and everything after disappoints.  Such is the case with HEARTBREAK RIDGE, which features Clint Eastwood at his toughest while spouting some great lines.

J. Edgar (6/10): If there’s a misstep from modern day Clint Eastwood, it probably comes in the form of J. EDGAR.  With Leonardo DiCaprio playing one of the most fascinating historical figures ever, the film should have been a rousing success.  But shoddy makeup and a lack of focus prevented this from ever reaching its potential.

Letters from Iwo Jima (5/10): Although LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA is beautifully and meticulously executed, it’s just not very entertaining.  I felt at times I was watching a documentary and not a movie since there were no characters to get behind or personal stories to wrap you in.

Magnum Force (4/10): After the success of DIRTY HARRY, came the first sequel, MAGNUM FORCE.  This is a giant letdown, especially when compared to the first.  They squandered an opportunity for a mystery by telling us who the killer was early on, making the whole thing feel like an 80’s cop TV show.

Million Dollar Baby (8/10): A fine film by any measure, MILLION DOLLAR BABY is one that will tug at the heartstrings, thanks to great performances from Clint Eastwood and star Hillary Swank.  The script is written with a little too much sap for my liking, but the performances make it worthwhile.

Mystic River (9/10): Although UNFORGIVEN is Clint Eastwood’s best overall film, MYSTIC RIVER might be his best job as a director.  The film has a slow, almost hypnotic beat to it, but the greatness of the film can be found in the performances, proving that Eastwood has a knack for getting the most out of talented actors.

Pale Rider (5/10): You can’t go wrong with Clint Eastwood in a Western, but I’ve always looked at PALE RIDER as his UNFORGIVEN warm-up.  He had to do this movie in order to gain the experience he’d need for UNFORGIVEN.  That said, if you’ve watched The Man With No Name trilogy and UNFORGIVEN and need more cowboy Eastwood, this is not a bad choice.

Space Cowboys (5/10): SPACE COWBOYS is like THE EXPENDABLES, but with talented actors.  The concept is fine and the scenes when Eastwood, Jones, Sutherland and Garner are bantering are highly enjoyable.  But once they get into space, I lose interest and never felt any intensity or emotional attachment to the characters.

Sudden Impact (5/10): This is the second best Dirty Harry film, but it’s more about the girl seeking revenge than it is Dirty Harry.  Clint Eastwood also directed this film, which might account for his absence on screen.  Still a decent film, but can’t live up to the first.

The Gauntlet (2/10): If there’s a movie I bet Clint Eastwood wishes Warner Bros. would’ve left out of this set, it’s THE GAUNTLET.  It’s an action movie that has no action and seems to go nowhere.

The Outlaw Josey Wales (7/10): I always forget that this film came out in 1976 and was also directed by Clint Eastwood.  It seems so polished for its time in his career, making it even more confusing why he had so many directorial efforts in the 80’s that were unpolished.  But THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES is a great Western from Eastwood and a must for any fan of the genre.

Unforgiven (10/10):  This is clearly Clint Eastwood’s masterpiece.  He took everything he had learned from his iconic Western roles and the talented directors he had worked with and made what might be the best Western of all time.  Any collection of Clint Eastwood films has to include UNFORGIVEN and thankfully, this one does.

The rest of the films included we’ve already reviewed individually, so you click these titles to see our review: A PERFECT WORLD, GRAN TORINO, HEREAFTER, INVICTUS, TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE

CLINT EASTWOOD: 20 FILM COLLECTION BLU-RAY REVIEW

All of these titles have previously been released on Blu-ray and the discs included are identical to the discs found in the original releases.

The set does include two documentaries: Eastwood Factor Documentary and Eastwood Directs: The Untold Story Documentary.  My guess is that if you bought this set or are considering this set, you’re a fan of Clint Eastwood.  Therefore, you’ll enjoy these two thorough and in-depth documentaries.

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As DARK SKIES opens, we meet the Barret family, a peaceful family of four living the suburban dream. But as early as the films opening moments we see there are strains on the perfection they have sought. Patriarch Daniel (Josh Hamilton) is a struggling architect or engineer who has not been able to find a job since being laid off. Lacy (Keri Russell from MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III and FELICITY) is a struggling real estate agent trying to keep things afloat for her family. Things really start falling apart when the family begins to be terrorized. It starts as acts that could possibly be pranks; someone stacking items in the kitchen, taking all of the family photos. The pranks quickly escalate, though, when their youngest, Sammy, mentions that The Sandman has been coming at night and he is the one who has been doing these things.

To determine what is happening to their family, the Barret’s reactivate their security system and eventually have cameras installed. All the while, though, the strange occurrences become even stranger. When all four members of the family start to black out, have seizures, or show signs of physical abuse, the drama really kicks into action. In addition to being involved in an unfathomable situation, the Barret’s are faced with the possibility of social workers finding them to be unfit parents. Finally realizing they may be facing something extra terrestrial in nature, they seek help and try to save their family.

DARK SKIES is a slow burn, long and steady, building to a tasty climax. It really presents itself as a family drama with a seemingly normal family who are dealing with the everyday travails of life. The filmmakers discuss that director Scott Stewart originally wanted this to be a ‘found-footage’ horror flick. I’m glad that they didn’t go that way, because as a traditional narrative film there are so many more looks, sights and sounds that add to the story. Additionally, the casting in this film was great. From Keri Russell to Josh Hamilton (who I really only remember as the jerky roommate in WITH HONORS), to the actors who play the kids (Dakota Goyo from REAL STEEL and Kadan Rockett), the entire cast is extremely authentic and they really FEEL like a family.

Top off the authenticity of the acting with some great science fiction elements, some great horror elements, and you’ve got a real winner in DARK SKIES. I’m a pretty big science fiction fan, and a decent horror fan, but this movie just completely shattered my expectations. And did I mention there is a great (though small) appearance by J.K. Simmons (from those Farmers Insurance commercials and Raimi’s SPIDER-MAN trilogy)? He’s great in his usual understated manner and compliments the rest of the film. DARK SKIES isn’t perfect, but in its genre’s (multiple) DARK SKIES is pretty stellar.

BLU-RAY REVIEW:

Video: (1080p, 2.40:1 Widescreen) The video presentation for DARK SKIES emphasizes the family’s struggles as they deal with what may be an extra-terrestrial encounter. You’ll feel right in the middle of the action as things start to go haywire (and you might, like me, have to keep the lights on the night you watch it).

Audio: (English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) The audio is similarly well done, giving DARK SKIES some ominous moments through both mixing and wonderful scoring.

Audio Commentary with Director Scott Stewart, Producer Jason Blum, Executive Producer Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, and Editor Peter Gvozdas (01:29:09) A great and informative commentary, while also providing some entertaining moments, this is one that you should definitely check out if you’re interested at all in the process. DARK SKIES presents a great package that almost makes up for the lack of additional content.

Alternate and Deleted Scenes (14:22) Presented with or without commentary by Scott Stewart and Peter Gvozdas, these are decent (but not great) scenes. I recommend watching with the commentary. 9 scenes are present on the Blu-ray, including First Tone; Second Tone; Sammy Outside with Neighbors; Alarm Tech No. 2; Daniel in Backyard with Neighbors; Daniel Takes a Walk; Lacy’s Brand; Daniel Yells at Neighbor; and Alternate Ending (that kind of isn’t).

DARK SKIES also comes with an UltraViolet digital copy, which you can redeem through one of any number of services.

The post Dark Skies Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

And the man on that train will be Ben Wade (Glenn Ford, who, it turns out, has a face ripe for a heel), a notorious outlaw who has just held up a stagecoach and is, as always, a wanted man. After the capture, the marshal (Ford Rainey, THE SAND PEBBLES) declares that Wade will be escorted to Contention City’s train station, where he’ll take the—you guessed it—3:10 to Yuma, where a jail cell awaits.

Aware the recent drought has posed a serious threat to his and his family’s livelihood, local rancher Dan Evans (Van Heflin, George Steven’s classic SHANE, 1946’s THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS) volunteers for the task and its $200 payoff. The only other willing citizen is the town drunk (Henry Jones, who played doomed janitor LeRoy in THE BAD SEED), which goes to show just how foolish one might be to spend so much time with Wade.

But 3:10 TO YUMA is not about the journey. In fact, after Evans takes Wade out of the bar he’s captured in, it’s only about 15 minutes before they’re in Contention. The film is more about these two men, their methods and their motivations.

While holed up in a bridal suite, one eye on the clock, the other on the man across the room, the characters reveal themselves to be more complex than the genre at the time would generally let on. The westerns of the time clearly defined who the hero was and who the villain was (many even stooped to show the sheriff in white and the outlaw in black). And while we know that Evans is good and Wade is bad, they both show traits of the other. Evans is a man tempted more by money than he is doing what’s right; Wade is instinctually an outlaw, but knows how to properly return a favor even to his captor. (Even Evans’ wife, played by Leora Dana, gets “giddy-eyed” over Wade during the perfectly structured dinner scene.) Van Heflin and Glenn Ford both give strong performances that play well against each other, but it’s the latter who proves he could be more than just a handsome movie star.

3:10 TO YUMA is based on an Elmore Leonard short story and directed by Delmer Daves, who helmed 1956’s JUBAL (also starring Ford) and the film noir essential DARK PASSAGE (with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall), to name just two. It was photographed by cinematographer Charles Lawton, Jr. (who also shot Orson Welles’ THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI), here establishing a level of entrapment in the last half of the film through shadows and camera placement.

But the key (and almost forgotten element) to the film is the words of singer Frankie Laine (who also sang the title song for GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL and, later, BLAZING SADDLES): When you take the 3:10 to Yuma, you can see the ghosts of outlaws go riding by in the sky…It’s also true they say, on the 3:10 to Yuma a man can meet his fate, for fate travels everywhere.

3:10 TO YUMA BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 1.85:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. This high-definition transfer, which “was produced from a restoration…for which a digital transfer was created in 4K resolution…” offers a stunning black and white presentation that does proper justice to Charles Lawton, Jr.’s cinematography. While the picture has been cleaned up to present incredible detail and contrast, it still maintains a level of grain that will please film purists.

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; English Mono. This Blu-ray also offers a crisp audio track, with clean dialogue and strong sound effects (from horse hooves to gunfire).

Elmore Leonard (13:01): The writer, now 87, sits down to discuss his work, as well as Delmer Daves’ adaptation of his 1953 short story, which was published in Dime Western Magazine.

Peter Ford (15:04): Glenn Ford’s son, Peter (author of Glenn Ford: A Life), discusses the style and persona of his late father.

Also included is a 16-page booklet featuring an essay by critic Kent Jones.

The post 3:10 to Yuma (1957) Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Frank Galvin is a lawyer down on his luck.  In layman’s jargon he’s pretty much nothing more but an ambulance chaser.  When his former assistant steers a wrongful death case to him he’s encouraged to take the hospitals generous out of court settlement.  In a rare case of sobriety (Frank has a penchant for hitting the bottle) he decides to take the case to trial, hoping to not only serve his client but to redeem himself.

Based on the novel by Barry Reed and adapted by the great playwright David Mamet (his 2^nd feature film screenplay), THE VERDICT can easily be placed on the list of the greatest courtroom dramas of all time.  Director Lumet (whose “12 ANGRY MEN would also be on that list) was a pro at getting the best performances out of his actors.  James Tolkan once told me that Lumet’s secret was having a full rehearsal period before the cameras rolled, allowing the actors to get into their characters.  This led to very few takes when filming began, getting the most honest and best performances out of his actors.  That truly is the case here.  Newman, in an Oscar nominated performance, hides his handsome, blue-eyed persona behind the haggard face of a man who looks 20 years older than he is, his once dancing eyes now bloodshot.  Yet Frank continues to fight the system, taking on a wily foe in the great James Mason, also an Oscar nominee.  This was one of Mason’s last roles and he matches Newman step for step in his performance.

A top notch supporting cast, including Milo O’Shea as the unsympathetic judge, Lindsay Crouse (who was Mrs. David Mamet at the time) and Charlotte Rampling as Franks on again/off again gal, make this film a must see for anyone who enjoys a great drama.  Director Lumet, also Oscar nominated here, shows why he was a true master of dramas (DOG DAY AFTERNOON, NETWORK).  THE VERDICT earned him his last of five Oscar nominations.  Criminally, he never won though he did receive an honorary award in 2005.  The film also received Oscar nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture (it would lose the top prize to GANDHI).  If you want to see two of films genuine legends (though Newman would go on to win the Oscar four years later for THE COLOR OF MONEY according to his biography he considered his role in THE VERDICT his favorite) this is definitely the film to see.  And keep your eyes peeled for Bruce Willis and Tobin Bell as observers in the court room.

THE VERDICT BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  The film is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio.   Though the majority of the film takes place inside (and when the setting is outside the weather always seems to be dreary) the image is sharp and the color does not have a washed out look.  And even when their bloodshot, Paul Newman’s eyes are still incredibly blue.

Audio:  Presented in both DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio Mono, the dialogue is clear throughout.

Commentary by Sidney Lumet and Paul Newman:  Though it’s obvious that the two commentaries were recorded separately (how cool would it have been to have Lumet and Newman in the same room sharing stories?) this is a must listen for anyone that loves Sidney Lumet.  Newman drops a few nuggets occasionally.

The Making of “The Verdict” (9:06):  I remember seeing this on cable in 1982.  A basic “making of” featurette with interviews and clips.

Paul Newman: The Craft of Acting (8:45):  Newman talks about the challenges of playing Frank Galvin.

Sidney Lumet: The Craft of Directing (10:47):  Same thing here with Lumet sharing some of his secrets.

Milestones in Cinema History:  “The Verdict” (23.14):  A document of the history of the film, pretty much from conception to opening.

Hollywood Backstories:  “The Verdict” (22:08):  More behind the scenes footage.

Theatrical trailer.

The post The Verdict Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Soon after release, Wong Yuen-yeung sets his sights on Zoe (Janic Man, 2011’s TURNING POINT 2), the daughter of a skilled and controlling pianist (Michael Wong, 1998’s BEAST COPS), based on her looking exactly like his previous victim. Shortly after that, the pianist is found dead. Lam is assigned to the case and quickly discovers there is more to it than meets the eye.

And there is more, involving deep family secrets, parental neglect, rape, attempted suicide, and all sorts of other things you might come across in a soap opera. NIGHTFALL isn’t difficult to follow (as the expository flashbacks and numerous exchanges between main characters—who feel the need to spell out every last detail—don’t allow it), but it ends up being too complicated for its own good. Here is a movie that promised action in its pre-credits sequence and ended up delivering a convoluted family drama disguised as a revenge thriller.

The script, by Christine To Chi Long (the 2006 Jet Li vehicle FEARLESS), also misleads the audience in that it seems to constantly be saying, “Everything that we told you was true about these characters wasn’t. Now, this is what actually happened and this is who they actually are.” All of the intentional duping ends up making it too hard to trust the movie and so the viewer is left frustrated.

NIGHTFALL is directed by Chow Hin Yeung, who was nominated for the Best New Director honor at the 2010 Hong Kong Film Awards for his debut, MURDERER. He has a good eye and NIGHTFALL is a visually stable work, but all of the actors (whether in conversation or exchanging chops) look so dead in the eyes, as if they don’t want to be there or that they’re bored. The stand-out example is the brief brawl in an aerial tramway—what should be an exhilarating moment is made stiff and lifeless due to the actors’ lack of enthusiasm.

The strongest element of NIGHTFALL is the editing (by Cheung Ka Fai, who also cut IP MAN and IP MAN 2: LEGEND OF THE GRANDMASTER), which keeps the movie going at a fine pace.

NIGHTFALL BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 2.35:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. NIGHTFALL has a slick look to it (courtesy of cinematographer Ardy Lam) and this high-definition transfer remains faithful to it, capturing it in accurate colors and tones, as well as occasional vibrancy.

Audio: Cantonese 5.1 HD Surround Sound. Subtitles in English. Well Go USA has also done justice do the audio, providing a strong and complete transfer.

Making Of (47:43): This extensive piece offers a detailed look at the making of NIGHTFALL, with interviews, training footage, on-set clips, and more.

Trailer

The post Nightfall Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

In what could have been a fully enjoyable and fun flick, the storyline turns into a highly predictable film, full of flaws and a flat finish.  The highlights of the film are the moments where the viewer meets the Four Horsemen: J. Daniel Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), Merritt McKinney (Woody Harrelson), Henley Reeves (Isla Fisher) and Jack Wilder (Dave Franco). No matter if the four are being questioned by the authorities or on stage performing, they confidently work the crowd and provide high energy entertainment.  Their witty banter is easy and they have great chemistry as frenemies working together to propel their status as magicians. I truly wished for them to be on screen more and particularly loved Harrelson and Eisenberg.

Mark Ruffalo as the constantly angry FBI agent was decent enough, fighting through embarrassing moments where the Four Horsemen manage to get the best of him. Leading the audience through a wild goose chase, the picture could have been great had the script avoided a forced, awkward romantic scenario with Mélanie Laurent’s Interpol agent.  It troubles me that films feel the need to force a love interest or love story as an attempt to complete or add filler to a film.  The ‘romantic’ scenes between Ruffalo and Laurent were painfully choreographed and did not add anything of value to the film. Those characters were more interesting and complex before any romantic moves were made. Plus, their chemistry never sparked to where this type of connection felt appropriate.  It made me happy to see more of Laurent as she was great in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS and has a unique screen presence.   Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman round out the supporting characters and turn in fitting performances, but nothing standout from the seasoned actors.

Despite the strong start, as the picture progressed I was left unfulfilled and felt cheated out of a proper ending. Things tied up in too neat of a package without any real explanation to what comes of our entertaining characters. If you want a heist movie, check out OCEAN’S ELEVEN. If you want a film about magicians, watch THE PRESTIGE. If you want a mediocre magic heist flick, NOW YOU SEE ME is the film for you.

The post Now You See Me Movie Review appeared first on Flix 66.

When SHANGHAI NOON was released in 2000 it was the mainstream sophomore outing of long-time Asian action/martial arts star Jackie Chan. He had only appeared in one other major American picture, RUSH HOUR (1998) and this was his second buddy-cop film with a twist. It’s funny to look back now on just how similar these first two films were – in both Chan plays a lawman of sorts from the east visiting a strikingly different culture. In both films he is paired up with a misfit with a heart of gold. And in both there are great action and great comedic scenes. I’m actually surprised both movies haven’t lived longer as SHANGHAI NOON, at the very least, has aged pretty well.

SHANGHAI NOON is the dual story of Chon Wang (pronounced John Wayne, played by Jackie Chan), an embarrassment of a royal guard who allows his Princess to leave the castle with a strange man in the middle of the night and Roy O’Bannon (Owen Wilson) a hapless outlaw who just wants to be wanted… literally. O’Bannon and Wang meet when O’Bannon’s crew robs the train carrying Wang and the royal guards to Carson City, where they are to ransom the princess. Wang’s uncle, the only man who believes in him, is killed when he walks into the wrong car at the wrong time and Wang is left alone, without anyone to help him rescue Princess Pei Pei (Lucy Liu). Eventually he is forced to team up with O’Bannon and the two become friends as they try to save the princess (and gain infamy in the wild west).

It’s crazy looking back just how similar SHANGHAI NOON is to RUSH HOUR, the other Chan vehicle which launched just two years earlier and spawned two sequels. SHANGHAI NOON is, in my humble opinion, a much better film for a number of reasons but the simplest is probably the best – the ol’ West. Chan is so out of place as Wang, and Wilson plays O’Bannon with such candor and nobility (even though he’s kind of a scum bag) the film is a joy to watch, even this many years later. The entire film is worth it if you make it to the scene with the two of them in a brothel, getting drunk in the bath, and playing a chinese drinking game – which essentially amounts to a song which they both sing poorly and then each take shots. I can’t fake the ear-to-ear grin just the thought of this film inspires. Well worth the effort to purchase it on Blu-ray and check it out for yourself in all it’s HD glory. Sadly, it’s paired with the second film in the series, SHANGHAI KNIGHTS.

SHANGHAI KNIGHTS 5/10

The sophomore effort between Wilson and Chan, this one just misses the mark despite trying to change the dynamic by taking the duo to Great Britain. In the sequel Chan is again dealing with the loss of a father figure, this time his actual biological father who is murdered in the opening of the film. To get justice for his father’s crime, Wang and O’Bannon head to the UK where this time the action and the jokes are rapid fire for most of the film. Unlike SHANGHAI NOON, though, things aren’t as refined and there are far more forgettable sequences.

In some ways I think SHANGHAI KNIGHTS was the film they really wanted SHANGHAI NOON to be. The characters are established, which means they don’t have to spend much time setting the stage before everyone can jump right in. Sadly that means the plot and the action sequences, in general, are much more frenetic and loose. The whole film doesn’t feel as tight, which could also be a comment on the changing state of cinema in the intervening years between SHANGHAI NOON and SHANGHAI KNIGHTS. There is a lot more random in this film (think ANCHORMAN) but it doesn’t fit the style established in the first film. A decent flick, and more fun than I remembered, but it still just doesn’t work as well.

SHANGHAI NOON / SHANGHAI KNIGHTS BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: (1080p, 2.35:1 Widescreen) The SHANGHAI NOON/SHANGHAI KNIGHTS 2 MOVIE COLLECTION features gorgeous visuals both in the forbidden city and later, in the scenes of the old west. You might notice on larger televisions a few issues where the HD translation didn’t work as well, even worse in the second film, but overall it looks great.

Audio: (English Dolby Digital 5.1) The audio doesn’t get any favors from being on a single disc with 2 movies and lots of audio tracks, but there aren’t any glaring errors or issues that would make you enjoy the films any less.

Audio Commentary with Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson, and director Tom Dey (01:50:17) SHANGHAI NOON features a decent audio commentary with Wilson and Dey also includes some weirdly interspersed comments from Chan (who was obviously recorded separately). Some interesting discussions here about East vs. West mentality and the decisions made while filming the feature.

Classic DVD Bonus Features: The SHANGHAI NOON/SHANGHAI KNIGHTS 2 MOVIE COLLECTION puts the DVD features (and little new) in a sub-category called “classic” features. The features for SHANGHAI NOON include the following:

Deleted Scenes: 8 scenes from the first movie, not given much care for the translation to HD, seem poorly ported here. They include Wang’s Wild Ride (01:58), Fong and Van Cleef Make Plans (02:05), Buried Alive (01:55), Bulldog Drummond (02:36), Three Little Queues (01:41), Falling Leaves Takes a Dip (00:54), It’s Only Money (01:58), Wang and Roy’s Sunset Ride (00:27). They are all a big bag of okay, and don’t really add anything to the film as is usually the case with scenes cut in editing.

Featurette: A 7 part featurette would have been a lot nicer with a play-all button. It would also have been nice if the studio had spent some money actually doing more than porting over the DVD special features. These look TERRIBLE, trying to fit onto an old non-Widescreen television everything is drawn strangely vertical. What makes it worse is that they are actually really GOOD featurettes, the kind you wish for on any solid Blu-ray package.

Making an Eastern Western (03:23), Partners (04:09), Jackie’s Comedy (03:48), Western Stunts, Eastern Style (03:39), Hanging with Roy and the Kid (02:16), Action Overload (02:41), Choo Choo Boogie (03:09).

SHANGHAI KNIGHTS Audio Commentary featuring director David Dobkin (01:54:21) This one is pretty disappointing. Dobkin doesn’t offer nearly as much content as in the other two commentaries on the SHANGHAI NOON/SHANGHAI KNIGHTS 2 MOVIE COLLECTION. His voice is also in the tone that makes me want to go to sleep.

SHANGHAI KNIGHTS Audio Commentary featuring screenwriters Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (01:54:21) This one offers quite a bit more for fans of SHANGHAI NOON/SHANGHAI KNIGHTS as the screenwriters discuss lots of interesting tidbits (they worked on both films).

Classic DVD Features – SHANGHAI KNIGHTS

Deleted Scenes: These were given even less love than the special features ported for SHANGHAI NOON, featuring time codes and poorly formatted for HD television. A few are enjoyable, but mostly hit and miss moments that would have hurt the already watered-down plot. The exceptions are the full fight sequences, which really showcase Chan’s incredible talent at being comedic while in the throes of martial arts. This includes Waiting in the Rain (01:24), The Headless Knight (01:19), Clay on Rathbone’s Shoes (01:41), Waldorf Hall Argument (01:22), Outside Rathbone’s Castle (02:15), Stonehenge (02:27), Jail Cell (00:53), Full Library Fight (02:37), Full Madame Tussaud’s Fight (04:03), Full Tent and Barge Fight (04:49), Full Interior Big Ben Fight (05:18)

Fight Manual (09:03) SHANGHAI KNIGHTS features this short discussion with Chan and Dobkin where they talk about comedy and action and how they figured into the films. Interspersed shots from the film play while they talk.

Action Overload (01:34) Shot silent film style, this quick feature shows a bunch of the more exciting sequences from the film, primarily featuring Chan.

The SHANGHAI NOON/SHANGHAI KNIGHTS 2 MOVIE COLLECTION also features the original Theatrical Trailer for SHANGHAI NOON (01:18).

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Other than starring one of summer’s biggest blockbuster champs in Will Smith, AFTER EARTH is also directed by Mr. nosedive M. Night Shyamalan who’s name has become synonymous with twist ending.  To right that ship, M. Night has left out the twist in exchange for such a direct narrative that the film flatlines.  In fact, there is nothing remotely exciting or interesting that happens and the climax is as predictable as it is bland.

A thousand years after terrible events caused the human race to leave earth, a crew crash lands on the planet.  The only survivors are a father and son (played by real life father and son team Will Smith and Jaden Smith).  However, Cypher Raige (Will) is badly injured and the distress beacon is damaged beyond repair.  The only solution is to send his inexperienced son Kitai (Jaden) on a three-day trek through the dangerous environments of earth to find the tail of their spacecraft where another beacon is located.  Of course, there is one major problem.  Among the cargo from the ship’s tail is a monster that hunts by literally smelling fear, hot on the trail of our young frightened hero.

Will Smith plays a high ranking officer who has the ability to “ghost,” which basically means he is so fearless that the large horrific alien monsters are unable to find him.  Walking directly up to them without being detected, he can kill them swiftly without harm.  This information is provided by a sleepy narration from Jaden Smith at the top of the film, which leads right into Kitai failing his training academy after the instructor informs him and the audience that he excels in nearly every aspect but is simply not ready.  Kitai mouths off to his instructor as he does when his father arrives home after a lengthy leave.  Clearly, Kitai seeks his father’s approval while simultaneously being an annoying bratty teenager.

It’s not hard to figure out what is going to happen in AFTER EARTH.  Preparing him with six breathing mechanisms (that are inhaled much like the drugs in MINORITY REPORT) that should be plenty for his journey across the wild earth, Kitai’s father explains that there will be creatures bred to oppose humans and the climate will change rapidly in the evening.  These clue the audience to expect the breathing mechanisms to deplenish, ferocious animals to chase him down, and his struggle to reach hot spots before freezing to death.  While the ideas have potential for excitement none of them are shot with any intensity.  He runs, he breaths, and he gets cold.  The danger is only seen by over-explanation, while never actually being felt by the audience.  I never worry about the character’s safety and even worse, I don’t particularly care.

All the details surrounding the film don’t help the situation.  AFTER EARTH attempts to be grand in beautiful scenery and colorful special effects.  Only nothing feels real or genuine, which is either the reason or cause for the lowered sense of danger.  Even within the spacecraft, everything from simple seat belts to flimsy tent-like doors come off as a high school film project.  Two things do work: the ever changing body suit and the larger more advanced swiss army-like weapon.  Both with abilities that are never fully explained, only shown.  Perhaps from the lack of anything original is the reason these two items stood out, but that should definitely be used as a note on how to let the action tell the story rather than the stiff dialogue.

Will Smith, who came up with the rather generic story, will bounce back and Jaden Smith will continue to get better because of opportunities provided by his father and mother.  M. Night Shyamalan however, I’m not so certain about.  I for one have been a long time supporter.  THE SIXTH SENSE, UNBREAKABLE and SIGNS provided plenty of compelling, nerve-racking and original ideas.  Then came THE VILLAGE, LADY IN THE WATER and even THE HAPPENING, which while very flawed still contained many exciting and unusual moments.  Most of his films are critically panned but I’ve usually found them inspiring as he sticks everyday characters in extraordinary situations.  I think science fiction fans would appreciate his films a lot more if they happened upon them without the hype and expectations brought on by the masterful THE SIXTH SENSE.  With all that said, I’m afraid I cannot defend Mr. Shyamalan’s most recent work.  AFTER EARTH is a science fiction film that offers nothing new or original created by poor dialogue, wooden performances, a bland story and forgettable characters.  It’s OK not to have a twist ending, knowing full well how a film is going to end, but at least make the journey enjoyable.

The post After Earth Movie Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Based on the novel “Remembering 1942” by Zhenyun Liu (who also did the screenplay), BACK TO 1942 is an epic telling of a story few people know. The story takes place in a local village, run by the wealthy Mr. Fan (Guoli).  As is an often occurrence the village is visited by a band of wandering “bandits.” But they’re not there to steal. They’re only looking for a meal. To keep things peaceful they are allowed inside the village  while Fan dispatches a messenger to bring back soldiers to arrest them. However his plan is discovered and a riot breaks out which transforms the village into a smoldering pile of rubble. The few villagers not  killed pack up their belongings and begin a trek to what they hope is salvation.  But along the way their will is challenged over and over again as they are slapped down repeatedly by everything from the weather to the Japanese Air Force.

Skillfully directed by Feng Xiaogang (AFTERSHOCK, IF YOU ARE THE ONE and its sequel), BACK TO 1942  is an unfiltered – and unflinching- look at the true perils of war. What’s astonishing to me is that, in the more than two hour running time, there isn’t one moment of lightness. No sudden comic moment to help ease the story along.  No romantic back story.   It’s often said that war is hell  and this film drives that message home.   As the nomadic survivors continue on their journey we are reminded via titles (“31 days, 76 miles”) how far they have traveled. By the end of the film you’re so emotionally drained that you feel as if you’ve walked every step as well.

The performances are strong all around, including those turned in by a couple of Oscar winners. Brody plays “Time” magazine writer Theodore White, who covered China for many years and went on to write several “Making of the President” books. White, who was a college classmate of Joe Kennedy, Jr. would also later write an essay for “Life” magazine in which John F. Kennedy would forever be linked to Camelot. Robins has a smaller but just as important role as Father Thomas Megan, the first Divine Word Prefect in China. Production values are strong with special mention going to the bleak yet sharp photography courtesy of cinematographer Yue Lu and the period look of the various costumes designed by Timmy Yip.  BACK TO 1942 is a compelling film and one that would make for half of a great double feature with the Oscar winning 1937 film THE GOOD EARTH.  Though the time period covered is different the story is just as resonate with the viewer.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  Presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio.   The picture is sharp though because of the bleakness of the period some of the scenes almost have a sepia tone.

Audio:  Presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, the soundtrack is finely mixed.  Be it a major battle scene or the quiet whisperings while on the road, every sound is sharp and clear.  BACK TO 1942  is presented in Mandarin with English subtitles, though the scenes that include Adrien Brody and Tim Robbins are in English.

Theatrical Trailer

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And since getting there is half the fun, patriarch Clark (Chevy Chase) decides to skip the airways and packs up the group—wife Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo), son Rusty (Anthony Michael Hall, later replaced by Jason Lively, Johnny Galecki and Ethan Embry) and daughter Audrey (Dana Baron, later replaced by Dana Hill, Juliette Lewis and Marisol Nichols)—and heads west from Chicago to California.

Stops along the way include St. Louis (no, they don’t go in the Arch), Dodge City (where Clark gets a shotgun pulled on him) and the Grand Canyon (where they discover beloved, mothball-smelling Aunt Edna has died). And then there is the detour in Coolidge, Kansas, where a third of the population is made up of absent-minded relatives: Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid), his wife Katherine (Miriam Flynn) and their two children (John P. Navin, Jr. and Jane Krakowski in her debut), who try to squeeze a few thousand dollars out of their visitors. About 2,500 miles later, they reach their destination, where they’re greeted by an empty parking lot, a pudgy security guard (John Candy) and a pre-recorded message: “Sorry, folks! We’re closed for two weeks to clean and repair America’s favorite family fun park.”

NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION was directed by Harold Ramis (whose debut was slobs vs. snobs classic CADDYSHACK three years earlier) and written by John Hughes (who would later pen 1985’s EUROPEAN VACATION and 1989’s CHRISTMAS VACATION). For the script, Hughes adapted a short story he wrote for National Lampoon, itself based on a family vacation he went on as a child. That could be why so much seems so genuine. Even if your old man never took you on a cross-country road trip and even if your old man never forgot to untie the dog from the bumper, the journey is molded from familiarity both good and bad.

Hughes’ script is one of his best and undoubtedly his sharpest, up there with FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF (1986) and PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES (1987). But VACATION wouldn’t be half as funny without its cast. Hall and Bannon bicker like they’ve been sharing a room for a dozen years; Quaid and Flynn play dense to perfection; Chase and D’Angelo have a great chemistry that lasted through even the weakest VACATION entries.

But it’s Chase behind the wheel, and this is a stellar display for the SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE alum, who has made a lifelong career out of playing lovable smartasses. Clark W. Griswold is the Chevy Chase character: eager to please, determined to seduce, intent on triumph, hell-bent on laughs, capable of pratfall at any second.

VACATION BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 1.85:1 in 1080p with VC-1 codec. For this 30^th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray, Warner Home Video has used the same transfer featured on the initial 2010 disc. While the transfer itself is fine for an ‘80s comedy (with accurate colors/tones and decent details in daytime sequences), it’s a bit disappointing that the studio opted not to clean up the video presentation further.

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0; Spanish Dolby Digital. Subtitles in English, French and Spanish. The audio transfer is also the same one found on the 2010 Blu-ray, with clean dialogue and a lively soundtrack (notably Lindsay Buckingham’s “Holiday Road”).

Commentary by Harold Ramis, Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron, and Matty Simmons: This track, which dates back to 2003, is dominated by Ramis (apparently recorded separately) and features a lot of information found in the below documentary, but is still worth skipping around to hear the rest of the participants reminisce about the production.

Inside Story: NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION (1:24:49): This feature-length special that aired on A&E in 2011 offers an entertaining and thorough look at the making and legacy of VACATION, touching on any aspect fans would want to know about, including the origins, shoot and release. Interviewees include cast/crew members both major (Ramis, Chase, D’Angelo) and minor (Eugene Levy, Jane Krakowski, stunt coordinator Richard Ziker).

Introduction by Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid and Matty Simmons (0:44): The trio introduce VACATION on the occasion of its 20^th anniversary.

Theatrical Trailer

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Meet the Wallings family.  David (Laurie) and Paige (Catherine Keener) are the proud parents of two children:  son Toby (Adam Brody) and daughter Vanessa (Alia Shawkat). David earns his living by creating advertising campaigns for liquor companies and is, what one might call, an enthusiastic jogger. Next door you’ll find the Ostroffs. Terry (Oliver Platt), Carol (Janney) and their 24 year old daughter Nina (Meester). Terry is big on owning the best so he spends a lot of his time perusing through and purchasing anything highly recommended by Consumer Reports magazine.   Though he jogs with David, Terry does it with a lot less enthusiasm.  That being said, this is the suburbs.  That strange place where things aren’t always what they seem, and ANYTHING, even the improbable, is possible.

Set in the suburban town of West Orange, New Jersey (hence the film’s title), THE ORANGES is a small film that benefits from a sharp, well written script and a strong cast. Though the major plot line is easy to see coming (Nina and David become a couple) the circumstances leading up to, and following, the revelation isn’t hammered over your head. Nor does the situation feel forced.  It isn’t served up so as to shock the viewer.  It’s presented more as a “things happen” situation, sometimes when you’re not expecting them to. Laurie, in his “House” delivery, makes David an extremely likable fellow.  In fact, you like him so much that you don’t really fault him for his decision. It helps that Keener leaves no stone unturned in portraying  Paige as very unsympathetic.  On the Ostroff’s family side, Janney is perfect as the doting, over protective mother hen who’d rather her daughter wait to find Mr. Right and not rush off with Mr. Right Next Door.  Meester, who appeared opposite Gwyneth Paltrow in  COUNTRY STRONG and was a co-star on television’s “Gossip Girls,” plays Nina as a free spirited woman who isn’t concerned by what others think.

The screenplay, by first-time feature writers Jay Reiss and Ian Helfer, has plenty of small moments that fit easily together to form a full story. With this his second  feature, director Farino brings along an eye for ensemble film making, surely honed from helming episodes of such shows as ENTOURAGE, SEX & THE CITY and THE OFFICE.   Everyone has something to say and is given the time to say it, a trick perfected years ago by the great Robert Altman.  Though the film was advertised more as a comedy -  and it does have some very funny moments-   like the Meryl Streep/Tommy Lee Jones film HOPE SPRINGS there is a lot going on beneath the laughter.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  The film is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio.   The colors are sharp yet subtle, be it the grays of winter or the sunshine of spring.

Audio:  Presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, the sound is quite clear.  This is a mostly dialogue driven film and you don’t miss a word.

Opening Doors (6:32):  A short featurette with the cast on-set talking about the film and its director.

Juicy Secrets (3:22):  An even shorter featurette with the cast in a more formal setting talking about the film and its director.

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Charlene Choi plays Zhu Yanzhi, an adventurous young woman who keeps having a dream about meeting her destined lover in a colorful garden. Early on Yanzhi is whisked off to a prestigious martial arts school. Reasons behind this move are made clearer later on. There is one slight problem. She has to pretend to be a boy to get in. The biggest complaint I have for this film is that you never believe she is a guy. Sure she wraps up her lady parts, but you can’t hide her face or her mannerisms. It takes a lot more to fool people than to put your hair up and tuck things in. It would be a dead giveaway of her gender spending one minute with her. Having said all of that, I still was able to suspend my disbelief to enjoy what was on display.

Yanzhi is tutored at the academy by Liang (Chun Wu). He is called Big Brother by the other students. At first the duo butt heads over her commitment and her general carefree attitude. But you know how these types of stories unfurl. The antagonists become smitten with each other. Liang knows in the back of his head that Yanzhi is a woman. He also has had the same dreams about the beautiful garden.

With many love stories, there has to be a third party involved. Here is no exception. Ma (Ge Hu), a family friend of Yanzhi, takes up that mantle. He is practically a brother to her. And she actually refers to him as Brother Ma. Brother Ma is making his way up in the world. It is never quite clear whether he is a member of a gang or a military unit. This really is irrelevant to the grand scheme. Every time they focus on the politics here, the film loses steam. He plants some kind of evidence against a rival and kills someone he knows personally in the process. He also helps Yanzhi’s parents out of a bad situation. Once again the screenplay gets murky explaining what is happening and who is behind certain things.

The love story is the main focus and it is nicely realized. Choi doesn’t play a convincing guy, but you are won over by her personality. There is a gleefulness that she exhibits that is contagious. The chemistry between her and Wu is easily seen and felt.

Director Jingle Ma has a visual flair that is appealing. Bright colors are used to great effect in the way of the garden, butterflies, costumes and landscape. I found the action scenes to be well staged. There was certain elegance and grace with the movements of the actors here. It was like a ballet with feet and fist flying. In the beginning these sequences had more of a comic feel to them. You will appreciate the humor amongst the mayhem. As the stages grow larger, it is more serious and subdued. The things people do for love knows no bounds.

THE ASSASSIN’S BLADE is a fun flick with a touching love story and exciting martial arts scenes. The screenplay could have been more concise and clear, but why quibble when you are having this much fun.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: The bright colors are on full display here and beautifully realized.

Audio: There are no complaints from me about the sound. You will hear clearly every clang of the swords and every kick to the face.

Trailer: It is disappointing that there are basically no special features other than the trailer and the previews. This is a wasted opportunity to discuss the fight scenes or the age old love story.

Previews

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As a general rule, you should never binge on a comedy.  I don’t care if you’re watching ‘Seinfeld’ or ‘The Simpsons’, watching 15+ episodes of any comedy in one day is tough.  Most comedies have their own niche brand of humor and Arrested Development took that niche comedy shtick to the extreme.  So this is where I would caution you not to watch every episode in one sitting.  However, the fourth season of Arrested Development is structured almost so you have to watch every episode in one sitting since each episode builds off the last and references earlier seasons.  Each episode in the season is told from a different character’s point of view (some more than once) so the same events are covered several times. As you start to get the full 360 degree view, you actually find yourself looking back on earlier episodes more fondly than you did when you first saw them.  Although I have yet to watch the fourth season a second time, I’m betting that I’ll get even more out of it when I know what to look for.

Truth be told, the first few episodes are slow.  Things pick up when Tobias gets his episode and hit their peak when George Michael gets his.  So you have to stick with it.  But if you do, the season will redeem itself and reveal it to be the brilliant Arrested Development of old.  Remember; creator Mitchell Hurwitz is trying to explain over five years’ worth of time off in 15 episodes and still develop the characters that we know and love.  The characters that we fell in love with so many years ago have changed.  Everyone is just a little more serious and a little more depressing, which changes the humor a little bit.  It’s also disappointing at times that we don’t get enough of our favorite characters.  We needed more Buster and George Michael and less George Sr., but when your favorite character gets their own episode, the payoff is worth it.  But I can’t help but think that Tobias, Buster and Lucille in small does is more efficient than focusing on them for a full thirty (or more) minutes. With all of that said, Gob does his Final Countdown routine, George Michael is still into Maebe, Buster is still too attached to Lucile and all of the inside jokes we liked before are referenced again in the fourth season.

Fans of Arrested Development will once again fall in love with the Bluth’s.  The season’s shortcomings will be forgiven and they’ll be thankful their beloved show beat the odds and managed to come back to life.  But I don’t think this season will bring in any new fans.  If the show was too sophisticated or offbeat for someone before, then a steroid induced season is only going to make it worse.  I’m not sure how Netflix is going to gauge the show’s success.  I’ve read they hold “binging” (watching the whole season in one sitting) in high regard, but that’s not realistic with this show.  They’re going to have to find another way to measure it and whatever they choose, I hope they’re able to prove it a success.  Now that season 4 is over, let’s start the petition to get a fifth season.  Because the fourth season of Arrested Development is still brilliant, even if it doesn’t quite live up to the insanely high standards of the first three seasons.

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EPIC is the story of MK (or Mary Katherine, played by Amanda Seyfried, to her father), a late-teen girl who has just come to stay with her Father, Professor Bomba (Jason Sudeikis) after the tragic passing of her mother. MK’s estranged father has lost almost everything he has loved in the world (including his family) due to his obsession with a theoretical, advanced civilization of tiny beings who live in the nearby forest. MK comes to stay with him hoping to fulfill her mother’s last wish, to reconcile their relationship. But Bomba is too far down the path of obsession and is unable to stop his hunt for these tiny beings. He believes proving himself is the only way to make up for everything he has sacrificed, his vindication.

MK gives up on their relationship but before she is able to leave she chases Bomba’s dog Ozzie into the forest where she finds Queen Tara (Beyonce Knowles) falling from the sky. The Queen had just selected a pod, a magical transference exercise where she chooses her heir to carry on and protect the life of the forest. But before she could finish the process they were attacked by Boggans, creatures who thrive on rotting the living and destroying nature. The Queen, teetering with death, uses her powers to shrink MK and tasks her with saving the pod, the only being who can continue the life of the forest. MK soon finds herself in the very heart of the civilization her father has obsessed over for so many years, that she, herself, did not believe in. So MK joins the Leafmen to try to save the forest, and possibly the world, from an overzealous destroyer named Mandrake (Christoph Waltz), out to rot the forest once and for all.

The story is fairly basic following many Hollywood tropes. There’s the dysfunctional father/daughter relationship, the hero/loner who is called into action after leaving behind his responsibilities, the general romantic comedy vibe that oversees most relationships in films like this, and finally stereotyped characters who are never flushed out beyond the basics. This isn’t to say that EPIC isn’t interesting filmmaking. In fact, if you go with children I think you’ll have a great time. The problem is the movie just isn’t quite as good as it could have been.

To start, shave 20 minutes. I don’t know any family film completely worthy of two seconds over 90 minutes. There are some great moments but there are also too many slow pans through the forest. There is some beautiful imagery to be sure, just not enough to keep <10 year olds interested. Second, Blue Sky Studios is infamous for overcasting (in my book). There are literally big names in almost every single speaking role, and it just isn’t necessary. It’s actually a bit distracting – instead of enjoying all of the characters and the story I found myself wondering “now who is that voice… wait, wait… I know it…” Even with these casual gripes, though, EPIC emerges with a whole lot more to like than not. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good, if simple, animated tale of good versus evil.

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FAST & FURIOUS 6 finds the gang spread out around the globe. Having walked away from their last job with plenty of money to retire, they are living the good life. But there is something missing. As international fugitives, they will never be able to return to the United States – their home. So, when agent Hobbs comes to Dominic with a proposition and an opportunity to find out if the love of Dom’s life, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is still alive, Dom (Diesel) and Brian (Walker) round up the crew to bring them back into action. All they have to do is stop one of the most deadly, ruthless, brilliant ex-military criminal minds in history. In return for their efforts, Hobbs will give them their pardons, and they can go home.

They take the job but quickly realize they may be outmatched. Not only is Letty alive, but she’s the second in command of the criminal operation. Their leader, Shaw (Luke Evans of IMMORTALS, 2011), carries out each robbery with a cunning mastery. To stop this crew Dom, Brian, and Hobbs not only have to work together, they are going to have to be on their best game – and this is one of the best parts of FAST & FURIOUS 6: Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) takes more of a central role in this film than in FAST FIVE. His relationship with Dom and Brian is one of the great parts of this action thriller. Hobbs is a lawman and he could never understand why Brian chose to leave law enforcement to work with criminals, but he slowly warms to this family. Additionally, Dom and Brian’s relationship, now cemented as brothers-in-arms, is another joy to watch. Walker and Diesel both clearly enjoy each working with each other and it translates well to the screen.

FAST & FURIOUS 6 delivers action from start to finish with only a few lulls in between. Sadly, these lulls are way too long and don’t feel in line with the tone of the film.  The first problem is how serious this film takes itself. The opening credits show scenes from each of the first five films as though to remind us that we are watching cinema history… but instead the montage served to remind me of all the pieces I didn’t like. Another problem can be found in Roman (Tyrese Gibson) who’s character is tired. I know he provides some of the comic relief for some audiences but there were few moments where I was happy he was on screen. Finally, filmmaker Justin Lin (who has helmed the franchise since THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT) uses several foot chases to expand the action and they are shot so poorly and shakily that they made me nauseous.

Ultimately though, even with some deficiencies, FAST & FURIOUS 6 is a great ride. Due to some poor choices (or perhaps poor studio efforts) Diesel never really became the action star he could have become. This movie is a reminder of his talent and charisma. But the real star of the film, besides the cars themselves, is The Rock. No, not Alcatraz, I’m talking about Dwayne Johnson, who has now formally dropped his pseudonym from his wrestling days. Johnson is ripped and terrifying but his delivery belies any who would call him a muscle-head. If you enjoyed the previous films in this series, this one should be a no-brainer. Likewise, if you’re a fan of great action flicks, this one may be the best of the series thus far.

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The film takes place in a tiny town in South Carolina, where we meet Ethan (Alden Ehrenreich), a teenage boy that dreams of leaving his small town and making something of himself some day.  But it’s clear from the beginning that something is off and the mystery of the town starts to open up when Lena (Alice Englert) shows up.  Lena is a mysterious teenager that we later learn is a caster (their fancy word for “witch”).  In this world, female casters are claimed by either the light or dark “side” on their 16th birthday, which is coming up for Lena.  Various forces try to push Lena to one side or the other, but it’s her eventual love for Ethan that ends up deciding her fate.

You can’t go into a film based on a young adult novel these days and not expect plenty of teenage angst.  BEAUTIFUL CREAURES is filled with it and at times, it proves to be the film’s undoing.  Everything is dramatic and over the top and if you don’t agree with the character’s feelings of the situation, you’re going to be groaning throughout the film.  The acting is another cause for concern as Alden Ehrenreich seems perfect to lead a teen CW drama, but feels a little out of place on the big screen.  His faux Southern accent grates on your nerves and it doesn’t help that he’s also the narrator.  Alice Englert is only slightly better, but in her case it’s more due to what she was saying and not how she was saying it.

But even if we had some rewrites and some recasting, we still wouldn’t be solving all of the problems.  The story is laser focused on the love story between Lena and Ethan, so other characters get swept under the rug.  Lena’s uncle Macon (Jeremy Irons) supposedly was dark, but turned light in order to help Lena.  That’s a pretty interesting note to a supporting character but it was barely mentioned in an afterthought.  Lena’s mother is the darkest caster out there, so evil that she doesn’t even have a permanent human body, but we never learn anything about her.  And finally, there’s Lena’s cousin Ridley, played by the extremely beautiful and talented Emmy Rossum.  She was an interesting character as well since she supposedly was a good girl and then was claimed by the dark and now she’s an outcast.  But again, we get to know next to nothing about her or any other character because we have to have more scenes of Lena and Ethan professing their love for each other.

The postmortem assessment of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES is pretty simple; it featured a familiar story with bland characters.  I’m sure WB wanted this to be the next Twilight phenomenon, but the story felt too much like a straight to video knockoff, even if the production quality was top notch.  I think we all know this isn’t the end of the young adult adaptations, but maybe studios will calm down on the teenage, angsty romance stories.

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  BEAUTIFUL CREATURES isn’t the most consistent Blu-ray from Warner, but it somewhat efficiently handles the varying dark colors.

Audio: The audio is also efficient, but it doesn’t have a whole lot of opportunity to shine.  Surprisingly, this is a dialogue heavy film.

Behind the scenes featurettes (24:03):  The back cover lists these six featurettes separately to make you think there’s more than there really is.  But basically these are just mini featurettes that cover the film at a very high level, but none of them are long enough to go very deep.

Deleted scenes (7:58):  Maybe if you’re a fan of the books, you’ll appreciate these extra scenes, but for me, it’s clear why these were left out.

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What ever happened to the bewildered guys who attempted to piece together their wildly drunken night while searching their missing friend in THE HANGOVER?  With all the outrageously zany turn of events these guys face, now they just spew out a few f-bombs and accept the task at hand. No phone calls to wives to let them know things have not gone as planned or that the trip will take longer than anticipated.

There are moments that are funny, but mostly the jokes feel forced and dated. It’s frustrating because the movie seems to have turned into the Alan and Chow Show preying on their antics to create laughs instead of going for organically funny reactions from those characters as seen in the first flick.  It felt like Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms phoned it in for this one, accepting the backseat position to Galifinakis and Jeong.

Pulling in characters from the original film like Black Doug (Mike Epps) and Jade (Heather Graham) did not seem necessary, except to conveniently tie pieces back in hopes of reminding audiences that there once was an innovative and funny film that took place in Vegas.

The saving grace to this film is the addition of Melissa McCarthy as Cassie, a Pawn Shop owner in Vegas. She reacts perfectly to Galifinakis’ character and the moments they share the screen together are golden.  Though her screen time is brief, it is memorable and the filmmakers should have taken note with other supporting characters like Chow that more is not always better, sometimes it is just more. Do we really need to hear Chow singing karaoke?

If you have seen any of the trailers for this picture, you’ve seen the bulk of the funny moments sprinkled thorughout this overly long movie. The pacing was painfully slow, perhaps it was edited that way so the audience would be desperate for a laugh by the time something funny would happen again. Overall, the story is lacking any real charisma or punch that it so desperately needs, the pacing is off, the laughs are canned and the acting is mediocre. Skip this one.

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And so it’s not long before one of the prisoners, Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett (Richard Attenborough) lays out his plan: do the menial tasks the Germans ask for while they’re watching and dig when they’re not, allowing 250 fellow POWs to flee. He assembles a team of likeminded men, each of whom is in charge of a certain aspect of the plot. The men include: Captain Virgil Hilt (Steve McQueen), Flight Lieutenant Bob Hendley (James Garner), Squadron Leader Roger Bartlett (Richard Attenborough), Flight Lieutenant Danny Velinski (Charles Bronson), Flight Lieutenant Colin Blythe (Donald Pleasence), Flying Officer Louis Sedgwick (James Coburn), and Group Captain Ramsey (James Donald).

At just shy of three hours, it’s easy for some to complain that the picture runs too long. But it really isn’t, just as the 14-month timeline of the real escape wasn’t too long. It panned out how it did, just as the film pans out how it should. (That THE GREAT ESCAPE’s sole Oscar nomination was for Ferris Webster’s editing lends to this.) Some may be tempted to jump ahead to the escape itself, which gets into gear with just under an hour left. But skipping past the planning would rob viewers of many of the film’s joys. It’s necessary to show (and see) how such an elaborate plot came together, how these men used only what they had in front of (and below) them to their benefit. We’re rooting for them all, hoping the choir sings loud enough to cover any work noise and that the guards don’t see the men dropping dug-up dirt out of their pant legs in the courtyard.

THE GREAT ESCAPE is based on Paul Brickhill’s 1950 book, itself based on the 1944 event. Under the clean direction of John Sturges (1957’s GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL; 1960’s THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN), THE GREAT ESCAPE remains, 50 years on, one of the finest adventure films ever and the single best prison escape film (besting Frank Darabont’s THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and Billy Wilder’s STALAG 17). This is a thrilling, must-see epic, guided by one of cinema’s most recognizable scores (by Elmer Bernstein) and some of the manliest star power ever assembled for one picture.

All movie fans have a certain image of Steve McQueen whenever they think of him. For some, it’s him in a ’68 Mustang maneuvering San Francisco streets. For others, it’s him on the set in cool shades with a cigarette dangling from his lips. For myself, it’s him on a motorcycle hopping barbed wire fences. To me, Richard Attenborough will always be John Hammond, just as Charles Bronson will always be Paul Kersey and Donald Pleasence will always be Sam Loomis. McQueen will always be best personified in THE GREAT ESCAPE as Hilt, a loner of sorts who gets by on his pure skill, sly humor and rebellious nature.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 2.35:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. While the video presentation of THE GREAT ESCAPE on this Blu-ray is certainly better than the initial DVD, it is still a tremendous disappointment, as the overall picture is soft and not as detailed as it should be. There has been some controversy surrounding this release, as there were initially claims to the video transfer being the result of a 4K scan—this, it turns out, is clearly not the case. Hopefully MGM gets around to giving this cinema classic the proper high-definition transfer it deserves sometime before the 60^th anniversary.

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; Spanish Dolby Digital 1.0; French DTS 5.1. Subtitles in English, Spanish and French. The audio is a bit better than the video, as Elmer Bernstein’s iconic score comes through very nicely. However, the transfer doesn’t offer the full-on detail and presence that it should.

Audio commentary by director John Sturges, Cast & Crew: Edited together from a wealth of archival interviews, this commentary features remarks from Sturges, James Coburn, Donald Pleasence, art director Fernando Carrere, stuntman Bud Ekins, and more.

Bringing Fact to Fiction (12:21): This featurette looks at how the true story was adapted for Hollywood.

Preparations for Freedom (19:50) further explores the escape, as well as nothing the filmmakers’ inclusion of more American POWs than were actually involved.

The Flight to Freedom (9:22): This piece compares the film’s dramatization of the escape itself to the actual events.

A Standing Ovation (5:58) touches on THE GREAT ESCAPE’s reception upon release.

The Untold Story (50:46): This longer documentary observes many elements left out of THE GREAT ESCAPE, including the prosecution of a number of Gestapo members. Additional Interviews (9:35) accompany.

The Real Virgil Hilts: A Man Called Jones (25:01): Here, the inspiration for Hilts (played by Steve McQueen), David Jones, is profiled

Return to THE GREAT ESCAPE (24:09): Produced in 1993 for Showtime, this documentary includes a handful of interviews to paint a portrait of the film’s production.

Original Theatrical Trailer

The post The Great Escape Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

SHADOW PEOPLE carries many of these same conceits forward while using the “found footage” format so popular recently in the horror/suspense genre. The film opens with the statement “The following motion picture is based on an actual case of mysterious deaths and the viral video known as “Sleep Study GR16 1971”.” The story is well presented to follow this premise, with footage of the ‘real’ people interspersed and sometimes side-by-side with the ‘fictional footage’ created for the story. SHADOW PEOPLE tells the story primarily through the eyes of radio host Charlie Crowe (Dallas Roberts, THE WALKING DEAD). Crowe’s career has been struggling as his show hasn’t been able to find an audience, but one night that all changes.

Crowe receives a call from a young man who claims to be unable to sleep because of the shadow people, who are coming for him. Crowe dismisses the call as just another crazy person calling, but then Jeff leaves a mysterious package on his doorstep. When Jeff dies shortly after, Crowe’s show gets a ratings boost but he also starts investigating these shadow people with disastrous consequences both for him and for the people listening to his show. When a few listeners die in similar fashion the CDC is dispatched to investigate the unexplained deaths. Crowe is caught between wanting to make a name for himself and trying to protect innocent people.

SHADOW PEOPLE takes a really interesting premise that could have been really scary and manages to completely kill it. The biggest problem is even though they tried to be original, SHADOW PEOPLE ends up utilizing almost every horror cliché you’ve ever heard of. This includes WAY too many jump moments, primarily driven by heavy orchestral tracks. If the plot was stronger it might have worked. Instead SHADOW PEOPLE tries to get everyone to jump without actually taking the time to make us care about what’s happening.

Another major issue is SHADOW PEOPLE claims to include real and archival footage as well as fictitious elements. It was more of a distraction than added-value because of the poor execution. There is one bright moment in star Dallas Roberts. His delivery and on-screen presence is leaps and bounds beyond the rest of the talent in the picture and I can’t wait to see him in something else. Regardless, this one isn’t worth your time unless you really enjoy low-budget, sloppy thrillers.

BLU-RAY REVIEW:

Video: (1080p, 2.40:1 Widescreen) SHADOW PEOPLE is presented clearly but some of the high definition quality is lost because of the choice to put up the ‘fictional’ footage next to the ‘real’ footage (with neither taking up their full real estate on the screen). This results in a smaller image on screen than I prefer. A good idea modestly executed.

Audio: (Dolby TrueHD 5.1) The audio quality on SHADOW PEOPLE is probably the film’s strongest feature, with sounds very nicely played for effect and an engrossing mix that would have worked with a stronger story.

SHADOW PEOPLE: More To The Story (12:34) Featuring some interviews with some actual “experts” on the phenomenon of sleep paralysis and the shadow people, this is the sole special feature on the SHADOW PEOPLE Blu-ray. This seems like a subject that could have resulted in a wealth of content more interesting than the actual film. This is a dud, though, and really isn’t very interesting.

The post Shadow People Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

After a successful steal, the priest (who, of course, isn’t really a priest), Parker, pulls off his clerical collar and steps into the getaway car. There, one of the clowns (who, of course, isn’t really a clown) reveals another plan to the vanload of thieves that could net them $2 million apiece. Parker isn’t game. A minute later, a shotgun is pulled and Parker is left for dead on the side of the road.

Seeing as Jason Statham plays Parker, it’s easy to figure out that the bald-headed badass won’t be spending the movie’s duration in a hospital bed hooked up to breathing tubes. So, taking his own “I don’t hurt anyone who doesn’t deserve it” mantra to heart, Parker heads to Palm Beach, Florida, where he’ll get his revenge.

It’s not long before he teams up with a down-on-her-luck real estate agent (Jennifer Lopez, GIGLI) and his mentor’s (Nick Nolte, with more of a gruff voice than ever) daughter Claire (Emma Booth, 2010’s PELICAN BLOOD) gets kidnapped. This allows for the appropriate amount of sex appeal and over-the-top action. (A good rule of thumb is that if Jason Statham is on the cover of the poster or home video art, there’s a 100% chance there will be some serious butt-kicking—here, barstools, flat screen TVs, toilets, and more all aid in the mayhem.)

Taylor Hackford, who won an Oscar in the late ‘70s for a short film and was nominated for Best Director for 2004’s RAY, doesn’t seem like the natural choice to direct a boom-boom-pow actioner like PARKER. But he proves to be a fine choice whose cast selection of familiar faces, including Michael Chiklis (FX’s THE SHIELD, PAWN), Wendell Pierce (better known as Bunk Moreland on HBO’s THE WIRE), Clifton Collins, Jr. (THE BOONDOCK SAINTS II: ALL SAINTS DAY), and Bobby Cannavale (Gyp Rosetti on HBO’s BOARDWALK EMPIRE), makes the ride much more enjoyable. And although his work here doesn’t really stand out from that of, say, Neveldine/Taylor or Roger Donaldson, he does provide the basic slick and clean look that such a movie needs.

PARKER isn’t for Taylor Hackford fans because it isn’t a Taylor Hackford movie in the same vein as AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN or THE DEVIL’S ADVOCATE. It’s meant for Jason Statham lovers because it’s clearly a Jason Statham movie, like CRANK and THE TRANSPORTER and THE BANK JOB and THE MECHANIC and whatever’s next. PARKER offers more of the same and that’s just what his fans want.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 2.40:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. PARKER is given a slick and sleek high-definition transfer, allowing for the action to flow, the colors (from the Ohio State Fair to the Palm Beach locales) to pop and Jason Statham’s sweat to glisten.

Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Subtitles in English and Spanish. The audio transfer is just what action fans would want, with rattling sound effects from guns, thumps and cars.

Commentary by director Taylor Hackford: Hackford goes solo to discuss how he came upon the project, the source novel (Donald Westlake’s novel Flashfire), shooting on location, the cast, and more.

Bringing the Hunter to Life: The Making of PARKER (7:28) offers an overview of the movie’s production, with bits on Westlake’s novel, the filming locations and the major characters.

The Origin of Parker (4:18) focuses on Flashfire and Jason Statham’s performance as Parker.

Broken Necks and Bloody Knuckles (3:37) looks at the action sequences of PARKER.

Who is Parker? (2:32): This featurette briefly looks at the character of Parker, who first appeared in the 1962 novel The Hunter and has starred in two dozen total.

Previews

Also included are a Digital Copy and UltraViolet.

The post Parker Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Outwardly, K-11 is the tale of Raymond Saxx (Goran Visnjic), a popular record producer who appears to be the prime suspect in a murder case. Coming down from heroin and cocaine, Saxx is despondent and nearly unresponsive as he is processed through the jail system awaiting his time in court. When he finally comes to, he is being taken down the hall to K-11, with no idea where he is or how he got there. Saxx finally becomes cognizant of the reality of his situation when the head guard, Johnson (played eerily by D.B. Sweeney), immediately starts to pick at and threaten him.

Johnson is a drug addict who has been taking advantage of his position by physically and mentally abusing the inmates. One in particular, Mousey (played with ferocity by Kate del Castillo), has a tender place in his heart, but she doesn’t return those feelings. Mousey is using him for the drugs he helps to smuggle into the ward, but eventually even Johnson realizes that she doesn’t care for anything that doesn’t increase her power and influence within K-11. Saxx’s arrival throws the balance throughout the ward into chaos; even though he tries to keep to himself he starts to care for his fellow inmates, at least as far as it may help him meet his own needs.

As I wrote above, K-11 is a confusing film. There are hints of deeper meaning – Saxx’s relationship with people with whom he would never have interacted before this situation, his friendship with a troubled young transgender named Butterfly (Portia Doubleday) and their troubling encounters with a child molester named Detroit. Detroit is awaiting sentencing and has nothing to lose, and is played with a reckless abandon by Tommy “Tiny” Lister. Lister actually gives the bravest performance in the film (words I never thought I would write).

Part of the confusion may be in how immersed the cast and crew became when they arrived on set. Several weeks spent in isolation in an old jail ward may have helped develop the milieu of the prison on screen, but it invariably muddied the storytelling. It appears everyone got too involved on giving an accurate portrayal of the ward and forgot about the deeper meaning… at least I hope there was a deeper meaning. I’m sorry to say, K-11 just isn’t worth the time.

BLU-RAY REVIEW:

Video: (1080p, 2.40:1 Widescreen) The HD on K-11 looks really good, green and slightly desaturated really fits the feeling. It’s not very stylized for most of the film though there are a few moments early that made me scratch my head with some strange flashbacks (described nicely in the commentary but disorienting during initial viewing).

Audio: (English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) The audio was brilliantly captured in the halls of this real jail they used to shoot K-11. You will feel like you are in the middle of prison.

Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Jules Stewart and Producer Tom Wright Jr. (01:28:21) Stewart provides some interesting tidbits throughout the commentary but there are a lot of long pauses while they watch K-11, which doesn’t play well when we’re listening for their input. A dead give-away for something that isn’t as interesting as you hope, leading in with “oh, this is interesting.” If the long silences don’t bother you at the beginning, this is a pretty in-depth commentary (though the extreme technical focus emphasizes K-11′s problems).

Behind The Scenes (01:56) A little video interspersed with two shots almost make this an actual ‘behind the scenes’ feature on the K-11 disc. It feels a little bit like cheating, though, to call it special.

Deleted Scenes Four scenes are included that didn’t make the final cut from K-11. The scenes all add a little bit to their characters, which wouldn’t have been a bad thing. Surprisingly, the opening of the movie provides a dimension to Saxx I’m glad they didn’t include. The scenes included are: Cold Opening (01:38), Mousey Gets Sexy (02:41), Butterfly on a Wall (01:49), Johnson Gets Angry (00:05).

Interviews:  Goran (05:27) Mr. Visnjic is exuberant about his work. An under-valued star who started on ER during its twilight, his joy working on this film and acting in general made the entire experience of K-11 MUCH better than it could have been. Kate (04:36) Kate del Castillo was surprised to be offered a male role, but she did a phenomenal job in this film. Her limited grasp of English is endearing after watching her in this incredibly heavy role. DB (02:29) Mr. Sweeney’s a bit less enthusiastic to be working on K-11. Others (06:24) Features a few different quick interviews with cast and crew talking about their passion for Jules Stewart and for the story in general.

Music Video My Liberty (03:24) Cast member and member of The Cult during their 2001 reunion, Billy Morrison played Hollywood in the film and wrote this song while on set. My Liberty is actually a pretty decent song.

Photo Gallery (01:30) A photo gallery of stills from the film, featuring the song My Liberty mentioned above.

The Blu-ray release of K-11 features the original Trailer (01:53) along with trailers for other Breaking Glass features.

The post K-11 Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Season five is about new characters and a new direction for the show.  Although it’s still set in Bon Temps, Louisiana, the scope has drastically expanded.  After Eric and Bill kill Nan Flannigan (which happened in the fourth season finale), the Authority capture them.  But when they get there, they quickly realize that things are not as expected at the Authority and so Bill and Eric reveal that Russell Edgington is still alive and has since escaped.  When they offer their services to track him down and kill him properly this time, the Authority agrees.  But the politics within the Authority take up a lot of season five as the mainstreaming movement clashes with the Lilith believers (the belief that humans are food).  Back in Bon Temps, Tara is turned into a vampire and a group of rednecks are running around killing all of the supernatural creatures they can find.

I don’t know how closely the show follows the novels from Charlaine Harris, but my understanding is that each season at least loosely follows a particular novel.  Supposedly, season five borrows heavily from future novels and so that might explain some of the problems with the story.  The fifth season feels like a hodgepodge of storylines and never flows smoothly.  As Bill and Eric are caught up in the politics of the vampire world, things start to happen around the world that impacts the vampire-human relationships.  But the show addresses these happenings by showing little news clips on the TV and never fully explores the entire impact of the Authority’s change in leadership.  Is there a war?  How is the American government reacting?  If vampire-on-human crime is rising so fast, how is the rest of the world handling it?  In other words, it felt cheap of the show to present such grand issues and not deal with them properly.

Alcide is criminally underused until the final episode, Bill is virtually unrecognizable for most of the season and although Eric is back to his normal self, his character had a tight leash on for most of the season.  Sam, Jason, Tara and Lafayette continue their supporting roles, but it was hard to get involved in any of their storylines.  The fifth season moved along at such a quick, sporadic pace that almost all of the characters felt like supporting players that never got developed.  Sadly, aside from Alcide, I can’t point to any other character that I would have liked to see more from.  I realized that I had just lost interest in their situations.

If you watched the first four seasons of ‘True Blood’, then there’s no reason to avoid the fifth season.  Maybe I’ve been too hard on it, but it’s only because of how great the first three seasons were.  I’m curious to see where things go from here, now that series creator Alan Ball has left and the sixth season is going to be trimmed down.  I fear the end is nigh for ‘True Blood’ and I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing.

TRUE BLOOD: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  ‘True Blood’ still looks amazing on Blu-ray, making it one of the best looking shows on HBO, which is saying quite a bit.

Audio: The audio is equally impressive.

Commentaries on five episodes: Stars Stephen Moyer, Anna Paquin and others show up and talk about individual episodes, as do various crew members.  Moyer also directed an episode, so I found his commentary on “Somebody That I Used To Know” to be the most informative.  The other commentaries get into superficial territory, with the possible exception of “Save Yourself” with Alan Ball.

Enhanced Viewing Mode: Each episode has the option of watching it in “enhanced” mode, where featurettes and tidbits pop up about the episode.  This is okay, but not as extensive as you might be expecting, especially when compared to other HBO shows.

Inside the Episodes: You can also watch a brief recap of every episode.  Obviously, don’t watch these first as they’re very spoiler-heavy.

Autopsy: True Blood Episode Six (1:04:02): This is the kind of feature a lot of people would like to see on every episode.  This is an extensive, Picture In Picture feature that gives you an exhaustive look at the making of this one episode.

Authority Confessionals (30:58): The members of the Authority discuss their characters in a very awkward, strange feature.  I was hoping this would be more insight into the history of the characters, but it was more fluff than I was betting on.

True Blood Lines interactive map.

The post True Blood: The Complete Fifth Season Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Cut to present day, where a twentysomething named Heather Miller (Alexandra Daddario, who was nominated for something called the Best Scared-as-S**t Performance at the MTV Movie Awards) gets word that her grandmother has left her estate solely to her and that her cousin is none other than Leatherface, which would have made for some horrifying Thanksgiving gatherings. And wouldn’t you know it, Heather, along with her boyfriend (R&B singer Tremaine Neverson) and best friends (Tania Raymonde, ABC’s LOST; Keram Malicki-Sánchez, IRVINE WELSH’S ECSTACY), hop in a van and head to Texas, where the inheritance—namely a mansion—awaits.

John Luessenhop’s (2010’s TAKERS) TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D may start where Tobe Hooper’s original left off, but it doesn’t even get close to the effectiveness of it. Leatherface (Dan Yeager, taking the skin mask from Gunnar Hansen, in addition to four other imitators), even in his 60s(?), is still up to his tricks, firing up the ol’ chainsaw and hanging intruders on meat hooks. This is old hat and so not scary to anyone who has seen him do it dozens of times before. That said, more loyal fans are rewarded with some nice nods to the original: Leatherface’s older brother, Drayon aka The Cook, is played by Bill Moseley (taking over for Jim Siedow, who played the role in the first two TCM movies but died in 2003), who portrayed Chop Top in TCM 2; final girl Marilyn Burns makes a cameo as Heather’s grandmother; the sheriff is named Hooper, after originator Tobe.

TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D is the first TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE entry released in 3D and the seventh overall. For those trying to figure out where TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D sits in the franchise’s timeline, it exists in an alternate universe than the Platinum Dunes reboots—something we can all envy. It also disregards TCM 2 (1986), TCM III (1990) and TCM: The Next Generation (1994). (The fact that TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D is set nearly 40 years after the events of the original and yet Heather is only in her 20s still doesn’t add up.)

TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D, even with the gimmick (admittedly more welcome than Smell-O-Vision, what with the rotting corpses and decades-old meat), does nothing to reignite interest in the series. In actuality, the only scares here come from the clips of the original that open this entry. Even the Atari 2600 game had more frights.

TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 2.40:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. This high-definition transfer of TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D boasts fine details throughout and a look that adds to the atmosphere. In addition, although much of the movie takes place at night, none of the characters or scenarios are muddled in such exteriors.

Audio: English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English 2.0 Dolby Digital; Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio. Subtitles in English and Spanish. This is a very effective audio soundtrack, with high-pitched screams, revving chainsaws and various ambient noises all coming through with commendable range.

Audio commentary with director John Luessenhop and actor Dan Yeager: Luessenhop and Yeager give a decent commentary, although they spend far too much time commenting on what’s onscreen.

Audio commentary with producer Carl Mazzocone and filmmaker Tobe Hooper: Mazzocone and Hooper, who come from different TCM generations, sit down to discuss both versions and elements of the genre.

Special “Chainsaw Alumni” audio commentary with stars Bill Moseley, Gunnar Hansen, Marilyn Burns, and John Dugan: This is a bit of a crowded track that may have worked better as a documentary, but the alumni have a fine chemistry that make the track a light-hearted listen.

TEXAS CHAINSAW Legacy (6:46): This featurette gathers a number of interviewees to discuss the significance and influence of the original TCM.

Resurrecting the Saw (9:13) jumps ahead nearly 40 years to focus on bringing TC 3D to the screen.

The Old Homestead (14:50) looks at how the Sawyer residence was recreated for TC 3D to match the one in the original movie.

Casting Terror (12:18): The primary cast (including Alexandra Daddario, Tremaine Neverson and more) share their thoughts on their characters and experiences working on the movie.

Leatherface 2013 (14:53) zeroes in on Dan Yeager, who portrays Leatherface, a character he says is “unique in the pantheon of horror icons.”

Lights, Camera, Massacre (11:31): Here, crew members discuss utilizing 3D, something that had never been used for a TCM movie.

It’s in the Meat (7:49) looks at other (gory) special effects used in the movie.

On Set Subjects: Five Minute Massacres: There are six behind-the-scenes featurettes compiled here, which can be viewed separately or as a whole: “Burning Down the House,” “Trapped in the Van,” “Factory Action,” “Leatherface in Action,” “Hot Times in Louisiana,” and “Bloody Good Times.”

An Alternate Opening (3:21) and the Theatrical Trailer round out the special features.

Also included is a Digital Copy and UltraViolet.

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Jumping right into the action, the film opens with an exciting chase on an indigenous alien planet as the crew is faced with life and death decisions while balancing moral and logical duties.  Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban) are being chased through a strangely colorful forest as Spock (Zachary Quinto) is trapped in an active volcano.  The situation is exhilarating and complex enough that it could be used for a final scene, but STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS doesn’t hold back and maintains the same level of intensity and non-stop action throughout the film.

As a testament to the marketing, most of the plot details have been relatively quiet, even the clips and images promoting the film show up mostly in the opening scene.  Out of respect, I will continue that trend with a brief spoiler-free summary.  After a terrifying inside attack on the Starfleet organization, the crew of the Enterprise set out on a manhunt to capture their greatest adversary in a force of unstoppable destruction.  As they piece the details and motivations of their mission together, The Enterprise discovers they are a pawn caught between two formidable enemies in a high stakes chess match.

Like the first film, STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS shines in its great characters, focusing more on their internal struggles.  Holding a more personal vendetta, Captain Kirk continues to defy orders allowing emotions to drive his actions. While Spock continues to be too logical, not allowing his emotions to show enough, hurting those who care about him most.  Kirk and Spock are one of cinemas great teams.  Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto are brilliant in their portrayals and propel the friendship between the Captain and First Officer to new heights.  Each provide the perfect amount of humor and sentimentality through an electric chemistry.  That goes for the rest of the cast as well including: Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Karl Urban as Bones, Simon Pegg as Scotty, John Cho as Sulu and Anton Yelchin as Chekov, who all take a bit more of a back seat to our two leads this time around but still have plenty to do.  The other major standout is Benedict Cumberbatch, who you may know as Sherlock Holmes on the acclaimed television series Sherlock.  Cumberbatch exudes a commanding charisma making him a villain of epic proportions.  Credit also belongs to the writing as the character is given depth and believability.

My one major gripe is in the final conclusion. I can’t go into much detail, but the film did such a nice job building the drama and unrelenting tension, only to quickly discard it all with an easy resolve.  Perhaps J.J. Abrams who will now be switching gears directing the new STAR WARS film, wanted to wrap everything up himself but I believe it ultimately hinders the film from reaching its full potetial.  On the upside, he throws everything in the book at this film making for one exciting, heart-pounding ride that in my opinion is the current summer champ.

For those who love the series, there are more than enough (perhaps one too many) references and parallels to past storylines, characters and dialogue that will tickle you endlessly and work so well within the context of this alternate universe of the Star Trek world.  I am by no means a purist or Trekkie if you will, but I have seen the original episodes and films and believe STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS will once again satisfy both fans and newcomers to the series.  Like the current Bond era, the new Star Treks may just be the best.

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Tobey Maguire is the lead in our tale. He plays Dr. Jeff Lang, a man who seemingly has it all. He has a beautiful wife in Nealy (Elizabath Banks), a cute kid and a secure job. But the narration in the beginning tells of possible trouble in the future.

Jeff’s life gets more complicated when he experiences a raccoon problem in his lawn. The raccoon rips up the lawn and always seems to avoid Jeff’s many traps and maneuvers. This part of the story amused me to no end. The raccoon has a personality of his own and tortures Jeff incessantly. Jeff starts imagining the raccoon in other parts of his life and it invades his dreams. This is totally relatable to anyone that has an issue, no matter what it is, that you can’t quite solve and it doesn’t seem to go away. It consumes you to do irrational things to get rid of the problem.

This is not the only thing that is bugging Jeff these days. His sex life with Nealy has been dormant for quite a while. When he tries to initiate it one night, Nealy gives the old ate too much excuse. That’s never a good sign. There’s a great scene where Jeff confides in his old friend Rebecca (Kerry Washington) about his marital difficulties. Director/Screenwriter Jacob Aaron Estes fast forwards a day which led to the last time Jeff and Nealy had sex. It’s interesting and zany at the same time. It actually felt similar in a way to a scene in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE where Kubrick sped up a sex scene to comical effect. Estes does this throughout THE DETAILS. There are visual flourishes here and there, but he doesn’t go overboard. The musical score is top notch and puts you in the right mindset.

Jeff also has to deal with a peculiar neighbor named Lila (a delightful and unhinged Laura Linney). She’s one of those neighbors who complain all the time about something. It could be that you are being noisy, violating some city code or some other trivial thing. Supporting characters played by Ray Liotta and Dennis Haysbert also make their mark. Liotta, who plays Rebecca’s husband Peter, delivers one of the better speeches I’ve seen in a film. It deals with being a good person. It actually makes you think about your own life and how you would confront certain situations. Haysbert tugs as the heart strings as Jeff’s basketball buddy who is battling kidney problems. His storyline doesn’t work as well as the other ones, but it does give the film some needed humanity. That comes by the way of what these two men do for each other.

Jeff’s life gets all out of whack because of the raccoon and romantic entanglements that come his way. Each character plays their part to the hilt. It’s great seeing Maguire show more emotion than we are accustomed. All of his past characters tended to be on the mild mannered side. Here he shows the full spectrum of emotions from rage to bewilderment. Banks gives another strong performance that can be added to her stellar resume. She really has a unique ability to go from a lighthearted scene to a more dramatic scene on the dime. It’s effortless.

I was thoroughly entertained by THE DETAILS. It does peter out some at the end. The loose ends are tied up a bit too neatly. It doesn’t negate what fun that you will experience as Jeff’s life unravels in every imaginable way.

Blu-ray Review

Video: The colors come alive in this transfer. I especially liked the rich colors of the flowers and plants on screen.

Sound: There’s a nice clarity and diction to the sound.

Alternate Beginning (2:06): More ominous than the theatrical choice. It explains a bit more which in this case is not a plus.

Alternate Ending (4:51): Different result for Jeff. Very silly. Estes made the right move.

Previews

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The brutish killers spare Signe, instead deciding to take her captive in a camp formed by their leader, a vicious woman named Dagmar (Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, CHERNOBYL DIARIES). There, it’s revealed that Signe will be volunteered as a surrogate so that the camp’s only other girl, a pre-teen named Frigg (Milla Olin, also in her debut) will have a sister. Frigg soon befriends Signe against Dagmar’s demands. But when she’s tasked to cut off one of Signe’s fingers as punishment, she uses the knife to cut her free, allowing her to…escape!

From there, ESCAPE (known as FLUKT in its native tongue) finds the pair on the run from Dagmar and company, trudging dirty and muddy fields, jagged and rocky mountains, wide open fields. These locations, all found in Norway and captured by cinematographer John Christian Rosenlund, offer a wealth of picturesque visuals.

The screenplay, written by Thomas Moldestead (COLD PREY, COLD PREY 2), tells us very little about the girls. At just 80 minutes, there is almost no time for much development—they need to be mistreated, abused, fleeing, struggling, and surviving. Really, such development is not as necessary as one might seem, because the movie isn’t about where the girls have been, but rather about where they’re going to end up. (Most of the backstory is actually about Dagmar, delivered by the man who offers shelter to Signe and Frigg.) With so few details (especially early on), so much depends on the abilities of the leads, and fortunately, both Isabel Christine Andreasen and Mila Olin have the presence to make us sympathize with and root for their characters. If any American directors get wind of this movie, they may find them to be worthy stars.

ESCAPE is directed by Roar Uthaug, the Norwegian filmmaker who helmed the effective 2006 slasher COLD PREY aka FRITT VILT. Uthaug keeps the story (however minimal it is) moving briskly, loading the movie with many sequences of chases and attacks. The downside there is that very little of the action offers anything fresh and is comprised mostly of bearded animals swinging weapons at whoever they come across.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 2.40:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. Entertainment One’s high-definition presentation of ESCAPE faithfully captures John Christian Rosenlund’s cinematography and the stunning Norwegian locales, bringing full life and color (from the muddy browns to the sky blues) to the picture.

Audio: Norwegian DTS-HD Master Audio; English 2.0 Dolby Digital. Subtitles in English. The dialogue is clean and clear, while Magnus Beite’s score and sound effects come through surround sound speakers with tremendous power.

The Visual Effects (2:40) offers a brief look at the amount of special effects in ESCAPE.

Deleted Scenes (5:41): There are five here, which can only be viewed as a whole.

Bloopers (1:51) collects a few flubs from the cast.

Trailer

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I normally try to give a rundown of the basic plot in my reviews, but that’s virtually impossible with CLOUD ATLAS, at least with a literal interpretation. The film revolves around two sets of connected “souls” throughout time. One set is represented by Tom Hanks and Halle Berry, who start out very far apart, but through the search for truth and learning how to be better people, their souls eventually find each other closer to the end of time. The other set of souls is represented by Jim Sturgess and Doona Bae, who have the opposite course as Hanks and Berry. They start out early on by being together, then their journeys to do the right thing lead them further and further apart throughout time, despite their best efforts to hold onto each other.

I use the term “souls” because that’s the best way to describe what we’re watching. We follow the various characters over several time periods, including the 1800’s, 1970’s, 2010’s, distant future and then after earth. All the while, we’re picking up bits and pieces about each of the characters and learning how they’re connected and what’s driving them closer together or further apart. The various timelines are told in a linear fashion within themselves, but they’re intertwined together to show how the characters grow in each time period. If you focus on the “action” in the storylines or get hung up on the actors and their makeup, then you’ll miss the point of each segment. Even with the brilliant narration at various points in the film, you still have to pay attention to what’s being said and the decisions the characters are making because as the tagline promises, everything is connected.

Everyone will have their favorite characters, of course, but all of the actors do well with what they have. Tom Hanks is his usual brilliant self, Berry is efficient as the strong, determined woman and Jim Sturgess is surprisingly good as the hopeless romantic trying to make things right. But the real highlight came from Hugh Grant, who represented controlling, evil power across the time periods. Even though he was unrecognizable at times, he added a lot to his characters and his performance heightened the intensity. I was less thrilled with Ben Whishaw and Jim Broadbent’s storylines and felt that their intertwining with the rest of the characters was lacking, at least when compared to the four main characters.

So why did so many people hate the film? For starters, you have to buy into the whole souls colliding aspect of the story. If you don’t pick up on that or don’t buy into it, then you’re left with a very superficial film. It’s also easy to get distracted by the intertwining of the stories. It was done to show the character growth and keep the pacing of the film somewhat even, but it can be distracting if you’re not looking deep enough. At times, The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer were maybe too subtle in their attempts to connect people and not everyone appreciates subtlety in film. And sometimes a film can be too existential (TREE OF LIFE) to the point of losing audiences that are more interested in seeing action than interpreting visuals.

The biggest compliment I hear given to CLOUD ATLAS is that it was ambitious. That’s true, but I think I give credit to ambition less than others. The very idea of translating David Mitchell’s novel into a movie is ambitious, but ambition means nothing if you don’t succeed. The Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer succeeded in what they set out to do, which is effectively tell a complicated, meaningful film and make the whole thing enjoyable at the same time.

CLOUD ATLAS was one of my favorite films of 2012, but when asked for a recommendation, I don’t think I would ever suggest CLOUD ATLAS. If you’re not prepared to concentrate on the film and read more into it than what is on the surface, I don’t think you’ll appreciate it. That said, if you want a movie that will impress you with its ambition and inspire you with its themes, then I highly recommend giving CLOUD ATLAS a chance.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: CLOUD ATLAS looks amazing on Blu-ray, with each setting coming through in beautiful detail. While most films stick to one color tone, CLOUD ATLAS has a wide range and they all look great on this transfer.

Audio: The great score in CLOUD ATLAS sounded immaculate and the surround sound came through perfectly.

Focus Points (54:46): This is comprised of seven featurettes, including A Film Like No Other, Everything Is Connected, The Impossible Adaptation, The Essence of Acting, Slaves & Sextets, The Bold Science Fiction of Cloud Atlas, Love Life and Longing in Cloud Atlas. Let’s be honest; if you’re a fan of the film, it just wouldn’t be possible to have an extensive enough documentary about the film. However, this is pretty decent. We get plenty of interviews and behind the scenes interviews, but I would have liked more explanation into the scenes and less recap of the film. We do get a brief clip of Tom Hanks talking about reading the script and not having any questions. Then the interviewer asked him if he understood it and he yelled “No!” That seems to be a general consensus amongst the cast.

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THALE follows Leo and Elvis, two young men who cleanup crime scenes. Leo is stoic and hardened from his work. Elvis is the sensitive newbie who can’t hold his lunch. When they are called to a remote estate where an old man had died several months prior, they discover much more than they could have imagined. Near the outhouse they discover a tunnel that leads down into the earth. Inside are several rooms filled with frightening paraphernalia, gas masks and tubes of what appear to be failed medical experiments.

In the backmost room, Elvis discovers an audiocassette player, next to a tape marked “THALE” and a date. There are several of these tapes with different years lying near the player. Most are filled with ambient noise, but after searching Elvis discovers something. There is an older man’s voice talking to someone, a woman who never responds. Gradually the tapes become more cryptic and tense; the man is obviously afraid of the woman and deeply disturbed by something that has happened. When a nude woman suddenly appears from a bathtub behind them, filled with a milky substance, Elvis and Leo realize they’ve uncovered something far more insidious than they could have believed.

I enjoy both indie and horror films in general – if they’ve made it big enough to have a blu-ray or solid theatrical/festival release, then I would generally consider myself a fan. THALE succeeds in a lot of ways Indie films tend to stumble, the foremost and most obvious example being the acting. The cast of THALE is small, but the film is extremely intimate so the limited cast feels completely appropriate. Elvis (Erlend Nervold) and Leo (Jon Sigve Skard) are both wonderfully cast and bring the gravity of their situation directly to the heart of the audience. Silje Reinåmo as title character Thale gives an intense and amazing performance, despite never speaking a word during the entire film.

The beauty of THALE is also its undoing. The story unfolds slowly but with tension that will keep you clutching your seat. I watched THALE in a dark room in the middle of the night, and I found myself getting up several times to check on noises that I heard because they so closely matched the sounds utilized so beautifully in THALE. My problem with THALE, though, is that there is never really any payoff for the suspense that builds. The pacing feels great until you hit about an hour in, when things feel like they should come off the rails.

Maybe it is a testament to foreign filmmakers that they don’t feel the need to go overboard but to me it just feels anti-climactic. My other issue must be taken up with their marketing department. THALE is a suspenseful thriller but it is NOT a horror film. To brand it as such implies some further weight the movie never quite achieves. Overall I would highly recommend THALE to anyone interested in the suspense genre, but I don’t think it is one for horror aficionados. Sadly, the Blu-ray lacks ANY special features, which makes this an even harder sell.

BLU-RAY REVIEW:

Video: (1080p, 1.78:1 Widescreen) The presentation of THALE is certainly adequate, though it does have some of the hallmarks of foreign low-budget films in the video feeling a little too PBS/old British presentation. The color schemes are very carefully presented and the unsaturated world in the hidden rooms greatly contrasts the natural beauty of the surrounding area.

Audio: (Norwegian DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Dolby Digital 2.0) The audio on THALE absolutely shines. There are some moments where you feel like you are truly in the room with these three folks and this owes much to the phenomenal use of sound mixing and scoring. I highly recommend utilizing the original Norwegian rather than listening to the English dubbing, which is just awful.

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On a rainy night in Boston a young woman (Hough) runs out of a house, her hands covered in blood.  She runs to a neighbor and begs for help.  Soon she is on a bus heading for Atlanta.  She decides to get off at a little town in North Carolina (the setting of many of Sparks’ stories) called Southport.  Calling herself “Katie” she soon has a job and, apparently, buys a house (which in this post 9/11 era seems pretty amazing without having to show ID) and settles into her new life.  She even gets friendly with the widowed owner of the local general store.  But she’s still on the run and the law is getting closer than she knows.

Stretching believability more than the slingshot that used to propel Wiley E. Coyote, SAFE HAVEN is a formulaic story that seems to come from a class of Romance 101.  The leads are attractive, the scenery beautiful (it only seems to rain when the leads are out in a canoe, making their day even more romantic) and the world a perfect place for love.  The saving grace of the film is that the leads are giving their all to rise above the treacle.  Dancer Hough has begun to carve a Hollywood career out of earnest performances in films like “Footloose” and “Rock of Ages” and doesn’t hurt herself here.  She has to do a little more acting here then in the other films and she does a good job dealing with her different emotions.  Duhamel is also well suited as Alex, “Katie’s” new love interest.  He is a father who lost his wife to cancer and must not only deal with his emotions but those of his children.  Duhamel has always been a likable performer and that works in his favor here.  Also strong is David Lyons who portrays the cop on “Katie’s” trail with a secret of his own.

It also helps that the producers, including Sparks, hired the gifted Hallstrom to helm the project.  A three-time Oscar nominee and director of such films as CHOCOLAT, WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE and a personal favorite of mine, ONCE AROUND, Hallstrom does his best to keep the story interesting even at its most predictable.  Hallstrom also directed the Sparks-inspired DEAR JOHN so his familiarity with the Nicholas Sparks formula is a plus here.  On the production side, the North Carolina scenery is rendered as beautiful as a post card and the musical score, by another DEAR JOHN alum, Deborah Lurie, also carries the tone of the film.  A twist at the end of the film gives it a little more weight than the usual Sparks story but unless you’re a fan of the author and his work this may not be your cup of tea.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  Presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio the 1080p resolution captures all of the beautiful colors in North Carolina

Audio:  Presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 the sound is clear and sharp.  Several scenes showing the cast out among nature are well mixed, with the chirps of birds and insects blending clearly with the dialogue.

Deleted and Extended Scenes (5:19):  Five very quick outtakes which really add nothing to the story.

Alternate Ending (3:37):  Not true.  This is exactly the same ending with a couple of editing cuts.

Igniting the Romance in “Safe Haven” (9:15):  Pretty much a standard “making of” featurette featuring the cast, director Hallstrom and producer/author Sparks.

Josh Duhamel’s Lesson in Crabbing (3:05):  A funny bit documenting Duhamel’s bad streak of luck trying to catch a crab.

Set Tour (2:18):  Who better than Sparks to lead a tour of the various locations used in the film.

Theatrical Trailer

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Some of the marketing for BROKEN CITY said words to the effect of When everyone has a motive, how do you know who to trust? The answer, apparently, is a convoluted script where nobody receives full attention and none of the characters ever really go anywhere. Mark Wahlberg (TED) stars as Billy Taggart, former NYPD-turned-private investigator. He was forced to leave the force when he was charged with murdering a young man in the line of duty. When the charges didn’t stick, apparently thanks to some evidence being hidden by the Mayor and Chief of Police, he was forced to retire.

BROKEN CITY picks up seven years later. Taggart has a business but he’s barely making ends meet, so he naturally takes a job from the Mayor (played by Russell Crowe) to find out if his wife is having an affair. The mayoral election is in full swing and with days remaining, Mayor Hostetler says he doesn’t want any surprises coming out and ruining his chance to keep the office. Of course, nothing is at it seems, and the further Taggart gets in the investigation, the worse things look for the Mayor.

This is one of those movies where everyone seems to have a motive for doing unseemly things. The key to a movie like this is to get the audience involved to the point where we figure things out WITH the protagonist. That means we have to care about what and why things are happening, and we have to have enough information about the characters and their motivations to understand (whether we accept them or not) the reasons behind their actions. BROKEN CITY never makes this connection. The only character with a reasonable arc is Billy Taggart (Wahlberg) but even his journey doesn’t have any real meat to it.

Like many “Hollywood” films, more time is spent on the action elements (which are too few and far between) and getting big names rather than procuring a great script and developing characters in a ‘real’ world. Taggart’s journey in the film feels very contrived, including his relationship with his girlfriend (tied to the incident from seven years ago). But the same can be said of all the relationships in BROKEN CITY. No one exists further than mere caricature, including Hostetler (Crowe) and his wife, played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. All in all, BROKEN CITY is just mediocre. The actors thankfully add some weight to their roles but in the end is isn’t nearly enough to atone for the pace and poor writing. A poor outing from actors and a director I usually enjoy.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: (1080p, 2.40:1 Widescreen) The visuals on BROKEN CITY are great and director Hughes definitely accomplished the ‘noir’ style he was attempting. The city is crisp and gritty, making me long to return to NYC.

Audio: (English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) BROKEN CITY features a phenomenal, gripping audio track that pulls you in (even after you’ve completely lost interest in the story).

Deleted Scenes (08:35) Eight scenes are presented here, including BROKEN CITY’s alternative ending. There is a little more character development here, adding to some of the conflict in Taggart’s relationship with his girlfriend. The scenes with the girlfriend add a great deal and really should have been included but they would have hurt the pace of the film (which is already abhorrent).

Putting It All Together (34:59) Director Allen Hughes provides input on his vision for BROKEN CITY, putting together a contemporary Noir film. This is an eight-part documentary feature with lots of interesting tidbits from cast and crew, though I’m not sure why anyone would want to check it out after watching BROKEN CITY. If you enjoy the film, you’ll probably enjoy this short documentary. Otherwise just avoid the entire thing.

The BROKEN CITY Blu-ray package also comes with the standard UltraViolet digital copy, an iTunes compatible digital copy (kudos to Fox for continuing to include these), the Theatrical Trailer (02:19), and a few sneak peeks at other upcoming titles.

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THAT THING YOU DO! is the story of The Wonders!, a four-piece boy band who hit it big when they have THE hit single, titled “That Thing You Do”. Our foursome suddenly sky-rocket, from practicing in their garage to signing with a small-time manager and getting a small regional showcase, to finally touring with national recording tour and having one of the top records in the country, all in the course of a few weeks.

During that time, we get to see the guys play fully through their stereotyped (but accurate) characterizations. Guy Patterson (Tom Everett Scott) is our hero, the beatnik drummer from whose eyes we get to see The Wonders! journey. Jimmy (Johnathon Schaech) is the talent, the lead singer and songwriter at the head of the group. Lenny (Steve Zahn) is the fool, and Zahn plays it with the type of zeal that made me excited whenever I saw his name attached to indie flicks during this era. Finishing the group we have T.B. Player (Ethan Embry) on the bass and unofficially Faye Dolan (Liv Tyler) as Jimmy’s girlfriend and the real heart of the group.

All of the cast are near-perfect in their roles. This is one of those films where the pieces all come together right in front of us, and suddenly we get to see the magic that plays out. Guy joins the band after they’ve already started playing together, because their original drummer, Chad (Giovanni Ribisi) breaks his arm. His arrival, while being the catalyst for the success The Wonders! experience, is also in many ways the beginning of the end of the band, and while we get to witness the signs throughout THAT THING YOU DO! it is still painful when it happens.

The title song is catchy, thankfully, because you’re going to hear parts of it at least 50 times during THAT THING YOU DO!. In fact, I believe the song charted during the mid-90’s, when the film was originally playing in theaters. All-in-all THAT THING YOU DO! is a lot of fun, though there isn’t a whole lot of substance. The plot, in fact, is pretty thin when you really get to think about it. But honestly, none of that matters when you’re having this much fun. If you enjoyed this era of music at all you’ll have a great time checking out THAT THING YOU DO! on Blu-ray.

BLU-RAY REVIEW:

Video: (1080p, 1.85:1 Widescreen) The video presentation is pretty nice for THAT THING YOU DO!. The colors pop off the screen and the visual presentation is a testament to not only Hanks but to the professionals with whom he worked on this picture.

Audio: (English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) The audio is equally nice, bringing THAT THING YOU DO! to the middle of your living room. (Important to note in music-heavy films, make sure to try out your sound mix on your surround sound system. Dialogue and music don’t play through all systems the same way.) If you love the music you’ll have your whole family dancing around the house by the end of this one.

Extended Version (02:27:33) Like most extended versions of films you’ve seen a few times, THAT THING YOU DO! tries to cram in a whole lot of character development and extra moments into this ‘extended’ version. Way too many scenes are added here. Another testament to the filmmaking – none of the scenes are really BAD… they just don’t move THAT THING YOU DO! forward and end up really slowing down the pace. Good job getting rid of these scenes. This is included for folks who REALLY LOVE the flick.

The Wonders! Big in Japan (07:01) The cast and crew did press tours in Europe and Japan to promote the movie. Lots of behind the scenes moments and some great footage. Sometimes it is just fun to watch folks having a good time, and these guys had a fantastic time promoting THAT THING YOU DO!.

The Story of the Wonders (30:53) An in-depth, great special feature that really adds to the package of THAT THING YOU DO!. Tom Hanks spends a lot of time discussing the process and the characters. This is the kind of special feature that makes you love the film more and more.

Feel Alright Video (02:35) Kind of a music video, but really a montage of scenes from THAT THING YOU DO!, this is another of The Wonders! hits from the movie.

Making THAT THING YOU DO! (13:48) A shorter making of featurette, this one is based around a discussion with Hanks. Featuring interviews with the actors and some great behind the scenes moments, this is another great addition to THAT THING YOU DO!. The cast spent a lot of time together working on getting the chemistry right, which paid great dividends.

THAT THING YOU DO! Reunion (10:19) Johnathon Schaech, Charlize Theron, Tom Everett Scott, and Ethan Embry got together to talk about making THAT THING YOU DO!. This is a pretty interesting feature and reveals a few insights not in the other features on this blu-ray.

HBO First Look – The Making of THAT THING YOU DO (13:03) A feature that debuted on HBO back when THAT THING YOU DO! was released, this one is put together differently than the others on the Blu-ray but it contains many of the same anecdotes and interview footage.

The THAT THING YOU DO! Blu-ray also includes the three Theatrical Trailers (01:39, 02:25, and 02:07 respectively) and the TV Spot (00:33) that aired to promote the feature.

The post That Thing You Do Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Based on the classic novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, THE GREAT GATSBY follows young writer Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) as he moves to New York City during the spring of 1922. Carraway finds himself living across the bay from his cousin, Daisy (Carey Mulligan) and her hard edged cheating husband Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton).  Nick’s neighbor is a rarely seen, mysterious millionaire by the name of Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) who throws extravagant parties and lives a lavish lifestyle.  Striking up an unlikely friendship, Nick begins to spend quite some time with Gatsby, still learning very little about the man.  But when Gatsby’s secret forbidden love for Daisy is revealed, the man behind the mystery begins to be exposed.

Perhaps I’m out of line, but the actual story of THE GREAT GATSBY, while still a relevant and quite heart-breaking literary masterpiece, is less appealing and secondary to just about every other aspect in the film.  The era of loose morals, bootlegging, lively jazz, fancy cars and extraordinary clothing takes precedent.  You put just about any story in that setting and you have yourself a pretty decent picture.  THE GREAT GATSBY is no exception, highlighted by the fantastic art direction and colorful costumes, both categories of which will surely be nominated come Oscar time.

Equally solid is the acting.  Once you get past an awkward narration from Tobey Maguire who at times sounds as if he is impersonating an old man, everyone plays into the grandiose style quite nicely for their respective roles, especially Joel Edgerton and Leonardo DiCaprio.  I have been following Edgerton’s career for a few years now and he is consistently a commanding presence on screen.  He is no different here, taking on a more villainous role than usual and easily holding his own against the powerhouse that is Leonardo DiCaprio.  When Gatsby is nervous for his first meeting with his long lost love, Leo is firing on all cylinders, showing sophistication, warmth, humor and controlled excitement all at once, proving again that he is one of our greatest living actors.  Gatsby’s introduction in particular, is one that will leave you forgetting all about that homely Robert Redford in the 1973 version.

Luhrmann delivers a fast-paced, energetic glitzy spin on a classic tale.  The 3D is unnecessary, even distracting at times, as the foreground is filled with unfocused objects.  Once the film breathes a little so does the 3D.  However, that’s also when the excitement starts to falter loosing some of the energetic steam the first two acts built up so well.  The whole look and sound of THE GREAT GATSBY helps get past the familiarity and emptiness of the story that touches on corruption, love and deceit, bringing the focus back on the extravagant lifestyles.  People really knew how to dress back then.  The women in their flapper dresses, head garments, and long pearls had it going on, while the men in their bow ties, vests and slicked back hair with fedora were strikingly sophisticated.  For these superficial reasons, THE GREAT GATSBY works quite well.

I think it is pertinent to say THE GREAT GATSBY soundtrack is among the best to which I have ever listened. Yes, that is a big statement.  Director Baz Luhrmann worked with Executive Producer Shawn ‘Jay Z’ Carter to produce a sound and score that alone is worth seeing the film.  Astonishingly good, the 1920′s era blends perfectly with a modern sound using artists like, Beyonce, Florence & The Machine, Emile Sande, Gotye and Jack White, who specifically is used brilliantly during a key emotional scene. The film comes alive with the music propelling the picture to a higher greatness than the material probably deserves.  In fact, I freely admit that I might be giving THE GREAT GATSBY too much credit due mostly to the music and costuming. Nevertheless, it swept me up and now I have a hankering to purchase myself a one-piece male swimsuit and can’t stop using the phrase “Old Sport.”

The post The Great Gatsby Movie Review appeared first on Flix 66.

FUNNY GIRL is loosely based on the life of Fanny Brice. Brice was a successful comedienne, singer and actress in the first half of the 20^th Century. I say loosely based because many of the facts and characteristics of the real life characters have been changed or altered. Producer Ray Stark was the son-in-law of Brice, so he naturally was looking out for her and his scoundrel father-in-law.

The film starts out as Fanny (Streisand) looks back at her career and how it all started. She wasn’t an overnight success. She struggled as a chorus line girl and dancing around on roller skates. Time and time again someone though saw a spark in her and put her in another role. After one adventurous routine, Fanny meets the dashing Nick Arnstein (Omar Sharif). Nick is best described as a card shark and an entrepreneur. He has a twinkle in his eyes and always quick with the word. In real life Nick was more of a scoundrel, thief and deadbeat. His character was the one who got the most scrubbing to have movie audiences at least sympathize and fall for him. Fanny took to Nick right away. She was blinded to his faults and her insatiable ambition. It would be a crucial mistake in many ways.

Eventually Fanny would join up with the Ziegfeld Follies and the immortal Florenz Ziegfeld (Walter Pidgeon). Their first meeting was one to remember. It showed the determination in Fanny and her willingness to take on anyone. She didn’t want to sing a song about being beautiful because she didn’t feel that way. This was a recurring theme throughout the film and everyone would reassure her that she was beautiful in her own way. Fanny put her own spin on the song without Mr. Ziegfeld’s knowledge. This delighted the crowd to no ends, but wasn’t looked on fondly by the boss. You could say that Fanny is a lot like Streisand. Streisand has made her mark by doing things her way and butting heads if necessary. This hasn’t endeared her to some people in the film business. Her feistiness works perfectly for this character and the travails that she went through to get to the top.

The core of FUNNY GIRL is the relationship between Fanny and Nick. The duo take turns pursuing each other. Much of it is standard movie romance with its ups and downs. I never found it all that compelling. Sharif is not given much to do. He’s basically there as window dressing. He looks good on the screen and spouts his lines with some flair. You just never really know though what drives Nick and that’s an issue. Another big problem is that the first half is much better and more fun than the second half. The first half showcases the blossoming romance between Nick and Fanny. There’s vitality to the story and the musical numbers which were directed by Herbert Ross. The second half just dragged and slogged along as Nick’s prospects get dimmer and dimmer. At that point you just want the movie to end, so you don’t have to experience this anymore.

Streisand is the front and center star of FUNNY GIRL. She dominates every scene she is in and other characters suffer somewhat because of this. Streisand played this part in Broadway beforehand. She is comfortable and free with the character. Her comic timing is impeccable. Her facial expressions say so much without her uttering a single word. And it goes without saying that her singing is top notch. The songs by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill range from great to forgettable. The two standout songs are “People” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade”. Streisand attacks those with such furor that it burst through the screen. The closing number, “My Man”, is tender and fierce at the same time. None of the other actors make much of a mark with their singing. Sharif does not fare well in this regard. Famed director William Wyler does his best in filming the dramatic scenes. Much of it feels like a play being filmed as a movie. The sets look like sets instead of having an authentic look.

FUNNY GIRL works mainly because of the talents of Barbra Streisand. If someone else would have starred in this film, it never would have worked. This is a case where a role is perfectly suited for an actress. I may not be a huge fan of this movie or of Barbra Streisand, but even I can see the talent on display here.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: The vibrant colors stand out in this lovely transfer. It doesn’t look like a movie that is over 40 years old.

Audio: Musicals depend on the sound being crystal clear. Barbra Streisand fans can rest easy that you can hear every syllable she sings with the utmost clarity.

Barbra in Movieland (10:09): This feature focuses on the filming of the song “Don’t Song on My Parade” and all that it entails. The caretaker of the closed rail station that they filmed at is given plenty of screen time.

This is Streisand (5:34): A short feature that glorifies Barbra Streisand. Fans will surely be let down by the utter lack of information provided here. This was one of the most useless features that I have come across.

Previews.

The post Funny Girl Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

When Barr (Joseph Sikora) is accused of murdering random strangers with a sniper rifle, Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) shows up to make things right.  It seems Reacher and Barr have a history dating back to their military days and Reacher is making good on a promise.  But the case is not as open and shut as initially thought and so Barr’s attorney, Helen (Rosamund Pike), asks Jack to look into it for her.  He starts to unravel a conspiracy mystery and as he does, the bad guys start trying to kill him, albeit unsuccessfully.

A lot of the appeal of the character of Jack Reacher is how he lives his life.  He’s a drifter, owns nothing, answers to no one and is as tough as they come.  Those basic qualities are enough to carry a character in a book because in a book you can take your time establishing characters and minor details can be revealed that help build those characters.  Movies don’t have that luxury.  So it was sometimes hard to get behind Jack Reacher as we followed him along during his investigation because we had zero personal connection to him.  It would have helped to have a better understanding of his situation and why he lives the way he does.  And I understand the mystery of Jack Reacher is part of the fun of the character, but for his first movie, we needed to know more about him.

With all that said, the movie works because of Tom Cruise.  Once you just accept that you’re not going to learn what makes Jack Reacher tick, you can sit back and enjoy him being a great tough guy.  I got a thrill out of watching him plow through bad guys with ease and if anything, I wanted to see more of him interacting with other characters.  I was less interested in the motivations and actions of the villains and more interested in seeing Jack Reacher be Jack Reacher.  I was less than impressed with Rosamund Pike, who overacted every scene she was in.  I’m not sure if she didn’t understand what she was saying or if she was getting bad direction from Christopher McQuarrie, but she was a distraction in an otherwise top notch cast.

The murder mystery and investigation is actually done very well.  I would hesitate to use the term “twist”, because I don’t think it was a surprise to anyone, but the mystery is revealed very well by McQuarrie and the story obviously had a lot of thought and time put into it.  The action scenes are also very well done, providing a realistic approach to the story rather than succumbing to the blockbuster tendency to go over the top.  I appreciated that they made Jack Reacher human in his reactions to getting hit; he’s not Superman and when someone hits him, he stumbles.  That’s refreshing in any movie that features a tough guy.

JACK REACHER does have its problems.  I’m not sure why Paramount decided to start with the eighth book in the series rather than maybe going with “The Enemy” (technically the ninth book in the series, but the first one if we’re going in chronological order).  “One Shot” was not the best way to introduce the character, but even with that glaring problem, the film is still enjoyable.  Tom Cruise fans will forgive the problems and enjoy watching him give another great performance while others might be disappointed with the lack of setup.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  JACK REACHER looks incredible on Blu-ray.  I was most impressed with the night scenes and specifically, the car chase.

Audio: As good as JACK REACHER looked, it sounded equally impressive.

Commentary with Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie:  McQuarrie and Cruise have been friends for a while and it shows in this commentary track how well they get along.  They offer a very engaging track and cover everything you’d want to know about the film while keeping the facts and tidbits coming consistently.

Commentary with Composer Joe Kramer:  This is really a score-only track, with Kramer occasionally jumping in and talking about his score and its impact on the film.  This really wasn’t my thing.

When the Man Comes Around (26:47): The cast and crew show up to talk about how great the source material is, along with the process of getting Lee Child’s blessing on Tom Cruise and the film itself.  Fans of the Jack Reacher novels should enjoy this.

You Do Not Mess with Jack Reacher: Combat & Weapons (10:28): I’m not sure what weapons they’re referring to, but this is a nice featurette on the fighting in the film and how they strived to make it as realistic as possible.

The Reacher Phenomenon (11:13): This featurette is all about Lee Child.  He shows up to talk about his books, the characters and why Jack Reacher is so popular around the world.

The post Jack Reacher Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Manit (Jon Foo, TEKKEN) witnessed his parents being murdered in front of him as a young boy.  And even though the assassins tried to finish the job with a bullet to Manit’s temple, he amazingly survived and was hidden by a kind nurse to be raised by a Thai fighting master.  As Manit matured, it was evident to his master that the attempt on his life left him severely emotionally handicapped, devoid of the ability to emit any human emotions.  With no other direction in his life, Manit submerged himself in the disciplines of the martial arts so he could one day take revenge on those who killed his parents.

There has never been a shortage of martial arts films to go around.  Great fight sequences are the most frugal way to make an action film on a tight budget.  Though it seems in the last few years, all of the original thought and focus that has lifted fight scenes to unprecedented heights has only been equaled by plots that have sunk to parallel new lows.

In BANGKOK REVENGE, the writers are not even making an attempt to have a coherent narrative, asking the audience to get behind a protagonist who has zero emotions due to being shot in the head as a child, while his parents were “Bruce Wayned” in front of him.  Now crossing Spock with Batman is not such a terrible idea for an action hero, but when the guy who supposedly has no emotions does nothing other than hunt down and kill anyone that had anything to do with his parents death for 82 minutes, well that seems to undermine the entire concept of the character.  The last time I watched any action film with a leg kick that crossed even Peter Dinklage’s summit point; revenge was probably a pretty big part of the story.  Not to mention that very emotion happens to be 50 percent of the big bold title printed on the box. Like I said, the writers were not even trying here.  Instead, this film is just a virtual porno of great fight scenes interlaced with “fluff” material that could be fast-forwarded through with the same confidence of not missing out on any intricate “story” elements.

Jon Foo actually exhibits a pretty decent display of a man with no emotions, even if he is beating everyone up, but the dialogue and the rest of the performances are so pathetic that there’s no way to differentiate between the character’s signature trait and just plain bad acting.

Unlike films such as THE RAID: REDEMPTION or NINJA ASSASSIN, BANGKOK REVENGE is not even worth owning just to throw on the screen in the background at a house party.  Sure there are some stand-out moments of unique fighting maneuvers, but they are far too seldom to warrant the attention needed to suffer through scenes that may end up leaving the audience just as emotionless as its main character.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  1.85:1 Widescreen, 1080p/AVC MPEG-4: Even with low-budget productions in the HD era, the cameras are so advanced that it’s hard to produce a bad image if modern day technology is in use.  This film is very sharp and the colors are nicely saturated.

Audio:  Thai: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1: Surprisingly the sound mix on this film was very good as well, special effects were nicely rendered and the punch/kick connections added greatly to the overall fight scenes.

Trailer (2 min):  The theatrical trailer is the only “bonus feature” on this disc, sparing you from keeping it in your player a minute more than it has to be.

The post Bangkok Revenge Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

It’s the turn of the 20^th Century in New York City.  If you need anything in NYC the person to see is Dolly Levi (Streisand).  Currently she is on her way to Yonkers to assist Mr. Horace  Vandergelder, a well known and unmarried “half-millionaire.”  Dolly’s official reason for her visit is to assist Horace in getting his niece out of town before she elopes.  Unofficially the widow Levi is looking for husband number two.  Learning that Horace is already preparing to propose to another woman, Irene Molloy (Marianne McAndrew), Dolly convinces Cornelius Hackl (Michael Crawford) and Barnaby Tucker (Danny Lockin), two young men that work for Horace, to journey to New York and have a night out on the town.  She can even give them the name of a woman to look up, one Irene Molloy.

Directed by the great Gene Kelly, HELLO, DOLLY! is very hit or miss as a film.  Though at one time the most popular show in Broadway history (it’s 10 Tony Awards was a record that stood for almost four decades until THE PRODUCERS won 12), HELLO, DOLLY! is not Herman’s best work.  Later shows, like “Mame” and “La Cage aux Folles” have much more memorable tunes.  I would venture that those of you reading this would be hard pressed to recall a song from the show other then the title tune (in my opinion the only other memorable tune is “Before the Parade Passes By”).   Where it hits is the way director Kelly has opened the show, taking a more personal bit of theatre and expanding it into a full-fledged production.  Kelly cast the show with a plethora of musical talent, both current and future, among them future Tony award winners Michael Crawford and Tommy Tune, as well as, if my eyes aren’t deceiving me, a lot of the supporting cast from THE MUSIC MAN.  I’ve had the pleasure of seeing both Crawford and Tune on stage so to see them so early in their career is a treat.  In what would be his last film, Lockin is quite endearing.  Sadly he was murdered after he moved to Hawaii to open a dance studio.  And of course, you can never go wrong when you have Barbra Streisand singing on screen.

Unfortunately Streisand is also part of the misses.  At age 26 she’s just too young to be playing Dolly, a part originated by Carol Channing, who was 41 at the time.  Other actresses who also played Dolly include Phyllis Diller, Mary Martin, Ethel Merman, Ginger Rogers and Pearl Bailey.  Also miscast is Matthau, who wears his hang-dog expression pretty much the entire film.  He’s also tone-deaf.  There are many well known stories of Streisand and Matthau fighting constantly on set, with one quarrel ending with Matthau telling Babs that she “had no more talent than a butterfly’s fart.”  And while I’m a huge fan of both Crawford (I saw him in “The Phantom of the Opera” three times) and Tune, they also seem out of place here.  Crawford’s English accent is almost out of place for the time and place as is Tune’s native Texas twang.  Also, Tommy Tune, who has won 9 Tony Awards during his career, is 6’ 7” tall.  He towers over the rest of the cast to the point of distraction, especially during the dance numbers.  The man is all legs!

That all being said, fans of the film WALL-E will remember that HELLO, DOLLY! was the little robots favorite movie.  And who can argue with that?

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  The film has been beautifully transferred and is presented in the original 2.20:1 aspect ratio.  The colors seemingly jump from the screen and the picture fills the screen from end to end.

Audio:  Presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and is very clear.  The musical numbers are well mixed.

Directing Dolly:  Gene Kelly Remembered (10:39):  A very informative interview with Patricia Ward Kelly, a film historian and Gene Kelly’s widow.  Among the revelations is that Streisand was always questioning Kelly as to what he was doing and why, apparently preparing for her directing debut with “Yentl” 15 years later.

1969 Featurette (6:53):  When I was a young boy in the 60s this was something that would play in theatres before a film or on television after the Sunday night movie.  The film gives a behind the scenes look at the filming of the “Before the Parade Passes By” number that closes the first act of the film.

Theatrical Trailer and Spanish Theatrical Trailer

The post Hello, Dolly! Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Tony Stark’s (Robert Downey Jr.) near death experience through the wormhole in THE AVENGERS has messed with his mind.  He no longer sleeps and has frequent panic attacks, which in turn has consumed his time with work and strained his relationship with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow).  Despite these personal problems, there is still evil in the world.  A ruthless terrorist called Mandarin (played by the always exquisite Ben Kingsley) is taking over the air waves and dishing out random acts of violence, usually in the form of public bombings.   He is backed by THE INCREDIBLES villain type Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who went from being a once nerdy fan of Stark to becoming a strapping evil genius.

Picking up the danger level considerably, IRON MAN 3 deals more with Tony Stark without the steel armor of Iron Man.  Here is where the film succeeds at its fullest.  A darker more tortured Tony Stark for a man that is usually cocksure and egotistical, makes for a refreshing and compelling change of pace.  After a thrilling near total destruction of Mr. Stark and his assets.  The man finds himself stranded miles away without the iron.  Films always work their best when the cool gadgets don’t work.  It brings an every man quality to our hero that gives a sense of reality in the film world.  Tony can’t catch a break as his suits keep getting destroyed and he has to do what he does best, think on his feet and build quick primitive (I’m using that word very loosely) devises to keep him going.

Highlighting Tony’s love for Pepper, his friendship with bodyguard / head of security Happy (Jon Favreau) and War Machine turned Iron Patriot Colonel Rhodes (Don Cheadle), and enlisting some help from a young boy, IRON MAN 3 shows sweeter moments in Stark without loosing his brash honesty and surely quips.  The films biggest weakness is when it comes to Iron Man’s enemies.  Killian has invented a way for amputees to grow their limbs back.  But by doing so they become some sort of acrobatic, eye glowing, fire breathing mutant.  They look normal at first but when ever they choose they can burn a hole through anything they touch. The way these evil characteristics are delivered stretch the boundaries into cartoony even for the Marvel superhero world, especially for the final battle, which counteracts the more realistic danger the film had previously established internally through Stark.

The 3D is nice but completely unnecessary.  Sometimes the action is a little over explosive and grand, losing a lot of the human element and instead becomes more like a Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich movie.  The abundance of plot holes and questionable choices only further that comparison. The film runs a little long with an odd Bond like situation where the villain divulges his plans in the second act.  But due to the high energy direction of Shane Black, IRON MAN 3 is still a solid barrel of fun.  Robert Downey Jr. keeps the film alive with his natural charisma and humor.  With perhaps one of the greatest action scenes to date, Iron Man finds himself needing to find a way to save several passengers falling out of a crashing plane, when he can only carry four.  The whole segment is ripe with tension and creativity that alone propels the film to better than it probably deserves.

The post Iron Man 3 Movie Review appeared first on Flix 66.

It doesn’t take much for the latter to be born in the 1960s New Jersey shown in NOT FADE AWAY. One night, suburban teen Douglas (John Magaro, Josh Radnor’s LIBERAL ARTS) hears The Beatles’ “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and wonders, in complete amazement, “What’s that?” A few weeks later, The Rolling Stones appear on television and that settles it. Douglas and his friends Gene (Jack Huston, THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE) and Wells (Will Brill, KING KELLY) will pick up some instruments and start a band.

Equipped with just the right hairstyles and clothes, they play a few gigs here and there. Using the line “time is on your side” as their mantra, the boys decide to put together a demo to take to record companies. You can imagine how Douglas’ old-school father, Pat (James Gandolfini, maintaining some of Tony Soprano’s tendencies—the part where he eats ice cream on his couch beckons the gangster’s many late-night snackings), feels about the whole thing.

NOT FADE AWAY is the feature debut of David Chase. Chase has been on something of a hiatus since 2007, after he chose Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” as the anthem for one of the defining television moments ever: the final scene of THE SOPRANOS. That show, too, frequently used classic rock on its soundtrack. Here, Chase (with the aid of Steven Van Zandt, who plays guitar for The E Street Band and portrayed Silvio on THE SOPRANOS) uses The Stones, The Beatles, The Rascals, and The Kinks as guiding points in the ups and downs of an aspiring rock band.

There is a lot of name-dropping and clip-showcasing, with countless bits about Vietnam and snippets of everything from THE HOLLYWOOD PALACE to THE TWILIGHT ZONE to BLOW-UP, to remind us time and time again that we’re watching a movie set in the ‘60s.

NOT FADE AWAY captures the teenage need to be something other than what your parents want you to be. But that also turns out to be one of its flaws. When Douglas spouts the line, “You wouldn’t understand being in a band—that’s my true family,” at the dinner table, we know that he believes it more than anything in the world. But it’s also the point (even before the band starts to carry on about magazine shoots and press conferences) that we start hoping for a record producer (here played by Brad Garrett, CBS’s EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND) to knock some proper sense into the boys.

We should be rooting for the band—whatever their name is—to succeed, maybe sell some t-shirts and bumper stickers. But instead, they do everything to prove to us that they were destined for obscurity.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 1.85:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. This high-definition transfer of NOT FADE AWAY has a tremendous level of clarity and definition to it, with wonderful details in the period settings and costumes.

Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; French 5.1 Dolby Digital; Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. Subtitles in English, French and Spanish. While the dialogue is clean and without any detectable disturbances, it’s the soundtrack—with tracks from The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Kinks, and more— that really makes this transfer worthwhile.

The Basement Tapes is divided into three sections: The Boys in the Band (13:32), which looks at the origins, the music and the cast; Living in the Sixties (12:26), which details the role the era had in the story; and Hard Art (10:04), which focuses more on the story.

Building the Band (3:06) expands on the casting of NOT FADE AWAY and turning actors into musicians with the help of Steven Van Zandt.

Deleted Scenes (5:33): There are four here, which can be viewed separately or as a whole. They are: “Naming the Band,” “Thanksgiving,” “Eviction,” and “You and Me Gonna Tangle.”

The post Not Fade Away Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

THE SWEENEY shoots out of the starting block with a bang. We see two groups of men, both of which appear to be discussing a heist. The ambiguity of the discussion leads us to wonder what is going to happen, but our questions are soon answered as The Sweeney descend on unprepared criminals with both semi-automatics and baseball bats. These aren’t your grandmother’s Bobbies. You get the feeling right from the start the Sweeney have probably crossed some lines, lines that change you into the very people you are pursuing…

This, in and of itself, is enough depth for the film. Sadly, we get a lot of ‘other’ background drama, simple types like adultery and family dynamics. These don’t play nearly as well as the action sequences, though they are written fairly well. Starring Ray Winstone (SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN, 2012) as Regan, the leader of the Sweeney and Ben Drew aka Plan B, a Brit-pop star, THE SWEENEY does well showing the tortured souls of those who, with regularity, fight the most violent of criminals. Winstone and Drew are cut from the same cloth though their characters are considerably different in motivation and purpose; their casting was inspired.

Joining them is Hayley Atwell, who you’ll most likely remember from her small role in 2011’s CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER. Atwell plays Nancy, a member of the Sweeney who has fallen for Regan even though she’s (unhappily) married to an internal affairs officer. Strangely, this particular internal affairs officer has been watching the Sweeney for some time and, during the course of THE SWEENEY, ups the stakes and begins a full formal investigation of Regan and Co.

This is the first of quite a few problems with THE SWEENEY. Too much time, especially in the second act, is spent on trite conflict intended to add depth to the story that falls short. The character development of Regan and Carter (Drew) is nice but neither story gets quite enough attention to really mean anything to us as viewers. In the end there are simply too many nods to the original show and too little real, meaningful conflict. If you are someone who watched and enjoyed the original you’ll probably enjoy this. If not, there are elements to enjoy but the movie as a whole is just subpar.

BLU-RAY REVIEW:

Video: (1080p, 2.40:1 Widescreen) The video is appropriately gritty but also has some very nice qualities. THE SWEENEY does a great job taking advantage of your HD television and really puts you in the middle of the action.

Audio: (English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) Audio for THE SWEENEY may not seem very important, but this is a dialogue heavy action flick and the audio is well suited to the task.

Audio Commentary with writer/director Nick Love and various producers never properly identified This is a very good audio commentary though I wish, due to the accents, they had included subtitles of the commentary. There are quite a few interesting tidbits here, but for those of us in the USA they are hard to make out. The participants talk over each other, and talk each other up quite a bit, but there are still some good moments here if you can stomach the rest. It would have been nice, though, if Mr. Love would stop talking about his limited budget and revised shooting schedule. Be proud of your work, you don’t have to make excuses over and over (and over, and over, and over…).

Behind the Scenes of THE SWEENEY (25:49) The cast and crew discuss working on the film. Nick Love talks about how long he’s been working to bring THE SWEENEY to the large screen (5 years) and the intense pressure to ensure the chemistry and action matched people’s expectations. This is an incredibly in-depth look at the film, highly recommended for anyone who enjoys THE SWEENEY.

Preparing THE SWEENEY (15:05) The featurette focuses on the development period, the writing and re-writing, the casting process, and putting all of the pieces together so THE SWEENEY would work for fans and for new generations. Part of the problem, featured here as the solution to the film.

Shooting in Trafalgar Square (15:18) THE SWEENEY features a phenomenal, long foot chase through one of the epic London locations. This reminded me a lot of HEAT and in a good way.

The New Regan and Carter (04:19) Winstone and Drew talk about their roles, with writer/director Nick Love providing some additional detail. They are easily the strongest moments of THE SWEENEY, if only they had done as nice a job on the rest of the flick.

On the Shooting Range (04:32) Cast and crew spent some time on the shooting range together to train and bond while putting together The Flying Squad for THE SWEENEY. Familiarity with weapons is important in any film featuring a lot of gunplay, and THE SWEENEY did a nice job with these actors.

Top Gear and the Caravan Park (08:34) The crew from Top Gear (a BBC television show) stopped by and helped THE SWEENEY film crew with the final chase sequence. Very cool for any fans of either show.

Animated Storyboard – Trafalgar Square (02:26) Featuring voiceover from Love, there are a few interesting tidbits featured here.

Animated Storyboard – The Caravan Park (01:57) Another feature that would have been boring if not for the little facts about filmmaking and the process from storyboard to final product.

The post The Sweeney Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Well acted, the film is a clever look at how the youth of today, despite having a slacker mentality, are still concerned with their future.  Jonah is a likable guy with a personality that draws people towards him.  When he is forced to contemplate his life without his own offspring it scares him.  Even his roommates/partners get involved in trying to find the right woman.  Eventually, when no one else will help out, Stevie herself offers.  After a comedy of errors in trying to mechanically inseminate her, the two decide to do the deed.  A lot.  But eventually it becomes obvious that both have hidden feelings for the other and, despite another 45 minutes of film left to follow, the ending has been telegraphed to you.

The young actors are all appealing.  Kwanten, best known in the States for his work as Jason Stackhouse in the popular HBO series “True Blood,” hits all the right emotional notes necessary to make you truly care about his character.  Yes, he’s a bit of an overgrown man-child but you can’t help but feel the fear he’s facing.  The same can be said for Snook.  She too must bare her emotions, and her body, in an attempt to help her friend.  She has her reservations but knows deep inside that she is doing the right thing.

Director Templeman, making his feature film debut, shows an eye for relationships and the various comedies that pour forth from them.  Writer Michael Lucas, who in real life went through a lot of what Jonah does in the film, has created three dimensional characters that the audience can easily support.  That being said, it is the weakness (if that’s even the right word…I hesitate to say laziness) of the second act that truly affects the entire film.  It’s not a fatal problem but it does take away from the story when you’ve already figured out the ending.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  The 1080p transfer is sharp and clear, helped by the fact the film was filmed digitally, and is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

Audio:  Available in both DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 or Dolby Digital 2.0, the sound transfer here is very well done, most notably the scenes that take place at the trio’s house parties.  The audio and dialogue are clear and strong over the various background music being featured.

Interviews with the Cast and Crew (58:11):  A series of four mini-featurettes featuring pretty informative talks with director Templeman and the films (3) leads: Kwanten, Corr and Snook.

Behind the Scenes (14:23):  a fairly standard featurette featuring interviews and a behind the scenes look at the making of the film.

Theatrical Trailer

Additional Previews

The post Not Suitable for Children Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

After walking in on his wife having an affair with a coworker, Pat (Bradley Cooper) suffers a mental breakdown and is institutionalized.  We pick up with Pat upon his release and in an effort to try and welcome him back, his friends set him up with Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence).  Tiffany has problems of her own and has recently been fired from her job for sleeping with all of her coworkers.  Pat is desperate to win his wife back and when he learns that Tiffany might be able to deliver a letter to his ex-wife for him, he agrees to help her win a dance competition in exchange for her help.

The beauty in the film lies in the performances from Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence with the former proving he’s more than just a pretty face or an action star.  If you weren’t sure about his abilities as an actor, then SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK should quiet any concerns you might have.  He’s a great actor and he proves it consistently here.  Jennifer Lawrence proved her acting ability in WINTERS BONE, but she picks it up as Tiffany, winning a much deserved Academy Award for her performance.  By the time you get to supporting players like Robert De Niro, Jackie Weaver and even Chris Tucker, they become the icing on the proverbial cake.  Together, the incredible cast more than makes up for all of the film’s shortcomings.

Admittedly, the dance competition was hard for me to get behind and maybe I’ve been jaded with pre-teen fare like ‘Glee’ and PITCH PERFECT, but I felt the whole idea was predictable and beneath the film.  All of the characters in SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK are so detailed and fascinating that having the film end with a big dance number just didn’t do the film justice.  For half a movie, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK is a smart, sophisticated romantic comedy with adult characters that have real problems.  But then they start dancing and I couldn’t shake the feeling that we had just regressed as a film.  Like everyone in the audience, I wanted the characters to get together at the end, I just wish they had done it without the Hollywood ending.

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK is an extremely efficient film, excelling in every category a movie can excel in.  The direction is great, the script is well written and the performances are all award worthy.  But it’s also a bit predictable and the film never fully explores the great characters it sets up.  Throw in a final act that would feel more in line with a Reese Witherspoon rom-com and SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK falls into the good-but-not-great category.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK looks gorgeous on Blu-ray.

Audio: The audio in SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK is equally impressive.

Deleted Scenes (26:14): Deleted scenes are one of my favorite special features, but very seldom do they ever do anything for me.  These would be the exception since they’re actually pretty decent and could have easily been inserted into the final film.

Silver Linings Playbook: The Film that Became a Movement (28:37): This is a grand title for a featurette that’s basically your typical making-of feature.

Q&A Highlights (26:58):  This is a hodgepodge of various Q&A sessions with the cast and crew.  I like the format, but there wasn’t a whole lot of new information here.

Dance Rehearsal (1:20):  Behind the scenes dance rehearsal footage with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.

Learn to Dance Like Pat and Tiffany (11:45):  ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ vet and the film’s choreographer Mandy Moore teaches you how to dance like Cooper and Lawrence.

Going Steadicam with Bradley Cooper (00:57): Bradley Cooper pretends he’s a cameraman.

The post Silver Linings Playbook Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Enter Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt), a slick, soft-voiced hitman with Johnny Cash on the radio. He knows that whether Trattman had a hand in the heist or not, he should be offed to avoid any other “kids” from taking any more games. Any instability makes the mob look bad and could lead to the games shutting down, which in turn means less revenue. And where does that leave them? As Cogan notes, “America is not a country, it’s a business.”

KILLING THEM SOFTLY is set in a rainy and dark New Orleans, where the roads all look like back alleys eager to collect corpses. Even the daytime scenes carry a certain level of dread. It is a visually impressive work, with one of the more memorable deaths of the decade, set to slow-motion and Ketty Lester’s “Love Letters.” The film doesn’t try to glamorize the seedy world, nor does it try to make a killer into a hero.

In an attempt to add a layer, director Andrew Dominik (2007’s THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD) forges a link between the crime world and the economic crisis, with words from various politicians (Obama and Bush II included) coming through in voiceover. This stretch only hurts and proves to be weak commentary.

Still, there are many great parts of the script, adapted by Dominik from George V. Higgins’ novel Cogan’s Trade (Higgins also penned The Friends of Eddie Coyle, which was adapted into a 1973 movie with Robert Mitchum): the hired hoods (Australian native Ben Mendelsohn and ARGO captive Scott McNairy) have some perfectly worded back-and-forths, while Pitt and James Gandolfini’s scenes have a well-executed sense of former camaraderie.

While KILLING THEM SOFTLY excels in its visuals and dialogue, its strongest point is the cast. Aside from Brad Pitt, who gives Jackie all of the personality and development he’s required, there is a gallery of other talented names who all add to the film: Richard Jenkins, as the Driver, is calm and shows his time spent through his spectacles; Gandolfini, as Mickey, a once-intimidating recruit who is now a hooker-loving drunk, plays the exact opposite of what you’d expect from Tony Soprano with complete confidence; and it’s nice to see Liotta taking a beating instead of spouting manic threats.

KILLING THEM SOFTLY played at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Palme d’Or.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 2.40:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. The colors, tones and details found in this high-definition transfer are incredible, bringing the production design and cinematography to the forefront. The nighttime exteriors are appropriately gloomy, the day sequences are bright and the clothing and skin tones are textured.

Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitles in English and Spanish. The audio transfer, too, is effective, with each gunshot and thud presented with power.

The Making of KILLING THEM SOFTLY (5:17): Writer/director Andrew Dominik, as well as some of the stars (including Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini and Ray Liotta), discuss the themes, the cast and approaching the subject material.

Deleted Scenes (9:51): There are four here, which can be viewed separately or as a whole. They are: “Janice,” “The Doctor,” “The Doctor, Part 2,” and “Not Working Tonight, Right?”

The post Killing Them Softly Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

That’s right folks. The Inuit spirits turned Kenai (Joaquin Phoenix) into a bear. Now in the form of his only living brother’s enemy, Kenai must hide from those he loves and figure out how to adapt at his new lifestyle. Thanks to the help of a young, motherless cub, Koda (Jeremy Suarez), Kenai slowly accepts being a bear during his pursuit to reach the peak of the mountain to ask the spirits to change him back to his human form.

As much as I enjoy animated flicks, there was something about this picture that did not sit well with me. Poor dialogue? Boring script? Generic animation? It blows my mind that a seasoned veteran like Joaquin Phoenix could stomach voicing this flat tale. Everything Kenai did was irritating and frustrating.  The extreme carelessness, selfishness and prideful nature were over the top and these unattractive characteristics did not result in large enough life lessons that we can learn from as we do in most Disney classics.  The only saving grace in this film was Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas recreating their STRANGE BREW characters, but this time as Canadian moose, Tuke and Rutt.  They added a bit of that silly humor that was sorely lacking in this picture.

For whatever reason, the decision makers at Disney craved more from Kenai and Koda so they threw together another mediocre animated picture and brought us BROTHER BEAR 2.  This time instead of loss, the story focuses on love. Nita (Mandy Moore) is preparing for her wedding day but is bound to another from her past. Who? You guessed it:  Kenai, the bear-boy!  Together, Kenai (Patrick Dempsey) and Nita must visit a sacred spot and burn the necklace that unites the duo.  And, the moose are back – also looking for love.

With even more voice talent in the sequel, I’m convinced that Disney gave the actors an offer they couldn’t refuse to participate in this predictable tale. Guessing who voiced the assorted characters might have been the most entertaining element to watching BROTHER BEAR 2, because without that distraction I would have been bored out of my moose-loving mind.  The complete lack of creativity in the storytelling was upsetting.  Pulling ideas from Disney’s hit film, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, seeing Nita’s betrothed chase down Kenai was very similar to Gaston challenging Beast. Even the final scene of BROTHER BEAR 2 was reminiscent of when Beast transforms as the last petal falls.

Disney proved people transforming into bears can work in film, just look at the recent Pixar picture, BRAVE. But, at least with BRAVE jokes were consistent, characters were easy to like and care for and the story was perfectly animated.  But, the creative team failed with both BROTHER BEAR and BROTHER BEAR 2. Perhaps I’m too picky and cynical for the target demographic.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Audio (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1): Even though the script was poor, the audio was crisp and clear.

Video (2.35:1, 1.66:1): Both BROTHER BEAR and BROTHER BEAR 2 had sharp pictures.

BROTHER BEAR Special Features:

Rutt and Tuke’s Commentary: The Canadian moose duo (Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas in character) provide some laughs as they comment throughout the film.

Paths of Discovery: The Making of Brother Bear(44:00): This is an intense feature. You can watch all four segments Beginnings, Mirror to the World, Welcome to the Family, and Music and Songs with the help of a play all button. These segments break down even more! Lots of cast and crew sharing typical “making of” information.

Deleted Scenes (11:00):  The three deleted scenes are introduced by directors Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker. Two of the three were rightfully cut. I laughed out loud  at the squirrel deleted scene. It would have been superfluous to the story but it was a bit of comic relief that might have added some punch to the story.

Koda’s Outtakes (3:00): This animated gag-reel was semi-funny, but I’ve seen better (See: MONSTER’S INC. closing credits).

“Fishing Song” Never-Before-Heard Song (4:00)

“Transformation” Song with Original Phil Collins Lyrics (2:00)

“On My Way” Sing-Along Song (4:00)

“Look Through My Eyes” Music Video (4:00)

Bear Legends: Native American Tales (3:00): This feature highlights Native American legends and tales.

Making Noise: The Art of Foley (3:00): A fun look at sound design.

Art Review (10:00): The creative crew walks viewers through the process of getting the animation from an idea to the big screen. Lots of details.

BROTHER BEAR 2 Special Features:

Behind the Music of Brother Bear 2 (8:00): Producers and other key players in the BROTHER BEAR 2 team discuss the music from the movie.

The post Brother Bear / Brother Bear 2 Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

When a detective comes to investigate the deaths of the two robbers, both of whom were killed during their fight with Jin-xi, we are suddenly presented with a very different version of events. Detective Xu Bai-Jiu (Takeshi Kaneshiro) has studied martial arts and knows his history and he quickly puts together a theory about our peaceful Jin-xi… could he be the missing son of the most powerful crime syndicate in the country, missing since orchestrating a terrible massacre and killing many, many innocent people? Is it possible this loving man from this tiny town could be an incredible and terrible warrior?

Acting in a subtitled film can be hard to gauge but I found myself often watching the actors and their emotive expressions sometimes instead of diligently reading the subtitles.  In preparing this review, I’ve actually re-viewed some moments of the film several times just because I thought they were so great. DRAGON (WU XIA) was expertly cast. Everyone from the central cast outward plays their part incredibly well. Yen and Kaneshiro are both strong in their roles and Yu Wang (who plays The Master) lends a gravity and terror to his scenes that is almost overwhelming.

Like many martial arts flicks, the real star of DRAGON (WU XIA) is the martial arts. Every single shot during the fight scenes is lovingly and beautifully crafted. You have to hand it to Peter Chan, the filmmaker who brought us THE WARLORDS (2007), as he has certainly stepped up his game. DRAGON (WU XIA) doesn’t spend too much time on the premise, but that’s a good thing considering the story is probably one you have seen a hundred times before. But the movie has some incredible moments, and DRAGON (WU XIA) is presented so beautifully and with such a kick to the pants attitude it really made its way into my heart.

The only problem with the film is with the non-action scenes, which are the majority of the film. DRAGON (WU XIA) spends a lot of time building backstory and character through exposition, a little too much time for my taste. Instead of showing us the progression of events that drove us to this point, there is a lot of talk about past actions… and the pace really suffers. The first act is a very nice balance of action and dialogue, and the final act is a nearly perfect demonstration of filmmaking in this genre, but it’s REALLY hard to get there. The second act is just too slow and offers so little gratification that DRAGON (WU XIA) almost misses the mark. If you can make it through, you are in for a treat. I highly recommend this film, though the Blu-ray misses some of the special features that might elevate it to “must have” status.

BLU-RAY REVIEW:

Video: (1080p, 2.4:1 Widescreen) The video presentation is beautiful and DRAGON (WU XIA) really shines in the slow motion martial arts sequences. They shot some of them at 500 frames per second, and the care with which many images were crafted is easily seen.

Audio: (English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1) The audio is equally impressive on the DRAGON (WU XIA) Blu-ray. Some sections are really quiet but it works. Overall a tremendous presentation.

The Making of DRAGON (22:27) The DRAGON (WU XIA) Blu-ray features eight quick “making of” snippets focusing on all kinds of aspects of the film. Yen, Chan, and the rest of the cast share their experience with enthusiasm that you might find disconcerting if they didn’t come across as so genuine. All-in-all, a nice feature.

Featurettes with Donnie Yen (05:40) Three featurettes chronicle additional aspects of the film. These are just deeper dives into the technical aspects of the film. Includes Staging the Action, Influences and Inspiration, and On Set, On Location. These are all in English with Donnie Yen talking about his experiences on DRAGON (WU XIA) while we see footage from the film.

“Lost In Jianghu” Music Video (05:14) The theme from DRAGON (WU XIA) is presented here in music video form. Somewhere between a trailer and a music video, the video quality is poor but it is kind of interesting to see this presentation.

The post Dragon (Wu Xia) Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

From there, the movie takes a fairly nonlinear approach, flashing backward and forward to bulk up the storyline and introduce the main characters who will unwittingly become entangled in the robbery. There’s police officer Will (Forest Whitaker, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND), who just stops in for a cup of coffee; recent parolee Nick (Sean Faris, NEVER BACK DOWN), with his pregnant girlfriend (Nikki Reed, THE TWILIGHT SAGA); Will’s partner Barnes (Marton Csokas, ROMULUS, MY FATHER); negotiator Jeff (rapper Common); owner Charlie (Stephen Lang, AVATAR); waitress Bonnie (Jessica Szohr, nominated for something called the Best Scared-as-Shit Performance at the 2011 MTV Movie Awards for her turn in PIRANHA) and Man in the Suit (Ray Liotta, GOODFELLAS).

Why a diner? Why not, say, a bank, which has more bills than ketchup bottles? Well, that’s all revealed as the movie quickly moves along its 88-minute runtime, as are the identities of the rats, moles and wrongly accused—all staples of robbery-in-progress movies. Along with the expected abundance of pointed guns, random “f-words” (to make the baddies sound extra tough) and one-dimensional character arcs, it’s clear that screenwriter Jay Anthony White (2006’s PROJECT 313) has little interest in avoiding genre clichés.

PAWN is the directorial debut of David A. Armstrong, who served as director of photographer on all but one SAW movie and won a Student Academy Award in 1999. His efforts won’t put him anywhere near the forefront of the action/thriller game, but he does show a certain amount of promise by keeping all of the storylines and characters—however stale they may be—in order.

The major draw of PAWN is the cast, with a series of names and faces that look good (or at least intimidating) on a poster. But their talents are wasted: Whitaker’s best line delivery centers on his ordering coffee; Liotta again phones it in as a routine tough guy, making him just a few more wrong turns from being on the level of Michael Madsen; Chiklis (who also serves as producer) dons an ill-advised British accent that is both distracting and confusing.

Those three men are likely how PAWN got financed. They may also be the reason it went direct to video.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 2.40:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. PAWN has an overall clean picture, although some of the nighttime exterior scenes look fairly mucky and lack strong detail.

Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1; Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitles in English and Spanish. The audio is quite good, with clear dialogue, strong sound effects and a bassy score.

PAWN: Behind the Scenes (23:09): This making-of featurette offers clips, on-set footage and interviews with much of the primary cast/crew to give an overview of the production of PAWN.

Also included is a DVD Copy of PAWN.

The post Pawn Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Let’s ignore the gimmicks for a second and look at the story.  In the 1940’s, a popular actor, Roger, is framed for murder and reaches out to a washed up, alcoholic private detective, Eddie, to help him solve the case.  But Eddie had a bad experience with actors a long time ago and is reluctant to help out.  Eventually, he decides to help Roger but things get dicey when Roger’s sensual wife, Jessica, is caught in a compromising position with the guy he’s accused of murdering.  All the while, Eddie and Roger have to avoid the menacing Judge Doom and his goons, who are determined to see Roger pay for his accused crime.

Basically, we have a classic noir story and one that you could easily picture Humphrey Bogart or James Cagney tackling and turning into a classic film.  It’s also one that you might hesitate to let your kids watch.  But I point all of that out, only to make the point that WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT is a great story that just happens to have a few gimmicks in it and not the other way around.  The story is why the film has stood the test of time and it’s just as much fun to watch 25 years later as it was in the theaters for the first time.

But technology changes rapidly and newcomers to the film might wonder what the fuss was about.  Well, at the time, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT was a breakthrough in its showcase of animation and live action.  It has been done since, but it still hasn’t been done with such a seamless integration to the story.  What’s more impressive is the combination of classic WB and Disney characters.  The dueling piano scene with Daffy and Donald Duck is priceless.  Imagine today combining Batman and Iron Man in the same movie, even for a few minutes.  It would be nearly impossible given the politics and lawyers involved, but Spielberg’s behind the scenes maneuvering made it possible.

WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT is and always will be one of my favorite films.  Maybe nostalgia plays into my love of the movie, but I still find myself impressed with how enjoyable of a film this is, due in large part to the story and the great performances from everyone involved.  I can’t imagine today’s generation will be impressed with it the way those of us alive in 1988 were, but the film has much more to offer than its special effects.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  Disney is the king of Blu-ray, but I think some people might be confused with the video quality of WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT.  Remember that the goal of home video (in my mind) is to be faithful to the source material and with that in mind, Disney did a great job with this transfer.  This is how it was meant to be seen and I’m thankful Disney didn’t digitally enhance anything to make it look smoother.

Audio: The audio for WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT was equally enjoyable.

Commentary with Robert Zemeckis, Frank Marshall, Steve Starkey, Ken Ralston, Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman: I couldn’t always tell who was talking, but I enjoyed this commentary for its thoroughness.  These guys really cover every aspect of the film from casting, story idea to the marketing.  Fans of WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT will enjoy this track.

Toontown Confidential: In the subtitles menu, you can select this and see fun text based facts pop up while you watch the film.

The Roger Rabbit Shorts (25:03): Kudos to Disney for restoring and including these three shorts on this Blu-ray set.  I remember seeing these at theaters, but haven’t seen them since.  Needless to say, I enjoyed seeing them again.

Who Made Roger Rabbit (10:58): Charles Fleischer (voice of Roger Rabbit) hosts this all too brief behind the scenes look at the film.

Behind the Ears (36:47): This is a nice behind the scenes featurette, but it’s in standard definition, so be warned.

Deleted Scene (6:01): The filmmakers introduce the Pig Head sequence.  Again, it would have been nice to convert this to HD.

Before and After (2:57): A comparison of live action to the final animated shots.

Toon Stand-Ins (2:59): Similar to the above featurette, but we see models and actors standing in for their eventual animated replacements.

On Set! (5:02): Bland behind the scenes footage of Robert Zemeckis on set.

The post Who Framed Roger Rabbit Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Set in post-WWII Los Angeles, we follow a tough-as-nails cop John O’Mara, (Josh Brolin) that happens to be one of the few honest, hard working guys on the force. He’s tasked with going after the famed criminal Micky Cohen (Sean Penn), but since Cohen has most of the city on his payroll, O’Mara will have to put down the badge and go after Cohen head on.  This sets off a Dirty Dozen type sequence where O’Mara recruits detectives to join his “gangster squad”.  Predictably, we get the full gauntlet of clichés, including the cocky ladies man, the old timer, the eager young guy, the knife thrower and the nerdy tech geek.  But the biggest cliché of the bunch is Sean Penn’s Micky Cohen, who was mimicking all of the old gangster films he probably watched as a kid.  It’s a surprising misstep for Penn, who along with Daniel Day-Lewis, is almost automatic with his Oscar nominated performances.  But his portrayal of Cohen is more of a Razzie-worthy performance than anything we’ve seen him in.

If Sean Penn’s performance was the worst, then Ryan Gosling’s portrayal of the alcoholic, smooth talking Jerry Wooters was the highlight of the film and gave a brief glimpse of what could have been.  But I’m not so sure that’s a credit to his acting or just his natural charm that shines through no matter what role he’s in.  I was excited to see Gosling and Emma Stone team up again, but they lacked the chemistry that was so evident in CRAZY STUPID LOVE.  That’s not meant to be an insult to them, it’s more a fault of the director, who just couldn’t get the most out his insanely talented cast.  Everyone was either underused or not used properly.  It’s tough to blame any of the actors since all of them have proven resumes that speak for themselves.

GANGSTER SQUAD feels like a comic book movie in that it relied heavily on established characters and the actors portraying them and tended to ignore story and character development.  It’s a very violent film, but violence in film should make an impact of some sort and even when the violence was trying to be edgy (like when Cohen burns some henchmen in an elevator shaft), it comes off superficial and numb.  GANGSTER SQUAD is based on a fascinating true story that’s gritty, shocking and interesting at the same time.  I’m not sure why screenwriter Will Beall chose to ignore all of the best parts of the true story in favor of tired movie clichés.

GANGSTER SQUAD is a cliché-ridden, unfocused, bubble-gum movie that thinks it’s a serious crime drama.  If you judge a movie by what it’s trying to be, then GANGSTER SQUAD is an epic failure.  But if you look at it as a comic book take on the L.A. crime scene in the 50’s, you might at least find it moderately enjoyable.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  GANGSTER SQUAD might not live up to expectations as a film, but as far as the Blu-ray quality, it’s impressive.

Audio: GANGSTER SQUAD sounds as good as it looks.

Commentary with Ruben Fleischer: Given the drama around the picture, I expected Fleischer to give a more passionate, interesting commentary.  But in truth, this was a complete bore.  He didn’t seem like he wanted to be there and the long gaps between comments was off-putting.

The Gangland Files: This is a Picture In Picture feature, which I always enjoy, but pulls from other features on the disc rather than offering anything new.  So if you like PiP features, then I would watch this and skip everything else.

Focus Points: The Set-Up (45:37): There are 15 mini-featurettes here that you can watch all at once or individually.  Most of them cover a specific actor’s character while others cover a specific aspect of the film.  I didn’t see anything in here that blew me away and I’m not usually a fan of a hodgepodge of mini-featurettes.

Deleted Scenes (11:52): We have seven deleted scenes here and no, the infamous theater shootout is not included.  There’s an extra scene with Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone if you were hoping for more of them together.

Rogues Gallery: Mickey Cohen (46:58): I wasn’t aware of a show called “Rogues Gallery”, but it exists and this episode focuses on the real life gangster Mickey Cohen. It’s narrated by William Devane and I found it to be pretty interesting.  This might be a case where real life is more fascinating than the movie.

Then and Now Locations (8:03): This is pretty much what it says; a look at Los Angeles now and from the 50’s.

Tough Guys with Style (5:12): I’m not sure why this is separated since it’s not long enough to amount to anything.  The cast members talk about the style in the film, but again, there’s not much here.

The post Gangster Squad Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

That task will come to a simple enough end and journey will eventually lead to Candyland, a Mississippi plantation where Django’s wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) is serving for the sadistic, goateed Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). Schultz and Django have to put on such an unstable charade, one that could crumble with one false move, that the viewer is on edge for the entire 70+-minute sequence.

DJANGO UNCHAINED is Quentin Tarantino’s latest epic, a tale of relentless revenge that holds no punches and offers no bandages—something that critics of course would pout about upon release. It’s the second of his alternate history films, following 2009’s INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, which offed Hitler in the third act. While QT doesn’t bother to lynch Robert E. Lee, he does give the slave the shot at vengeance he would have been strung up for even daydreaming about.

With DJANGO UNCHAINED, Tarantino won his second Best Original Screenplay Oscar. It lacks the pop culture know-how of his previous statue winner, PULP FICTION, but it has some of the sharpest and most clever scenes he’s penned to date. (The KKK scene is one of the funniest QT’s written; Candie’s mouthwatering over a “Mandingo fight” and his skull speech prove him one of the most frightening villains of the year.) The cast, too, does such a phenomenal job, both with the dialogue and their characters: Foxx shows he was the best man for the part, having taken the role after Will Smith (apparently fearing he’d never win a Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Award playing a vengeful slave) turned it down; DiCaprio illustrates he can play a heel just as well as anyone of his generation; Samuel L. Jackson, as Candie’s right-hand-slave Stephen, maintains his cool as a QT veteran; and it’s no wonder that Waltz, with his calm command, won his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar, despite playing a character relatively similar to Hans Landa.

Still, DJANGO UNCHAINED isn’t without its faults. It runs too long. The film runs 166 minutes only because Tarantino didn’t wrap up the story when he should have—a half hour earlier. The fat only adds more dynamite and a chance for Tarantino himself to prove he’s somehow gotten worse at acting since his role as Jimmy in PULP FICTION.

It’s stocked with other familiar faces, as well, with visits from Don Johnson, Franco Nero, Bruce Dern, Russ Tamblyn, Jonah Hill, Zoë Bell, Robert Carradine, Michael Parks, and Tom Savini. That’s genuine Tarantino. So, too, is Django’s name, lifted from Sergio Corbucci’s iconic spaghetti western, which starred Nero. So, too, is the soundtrack, with tracks from Jim Croce and Rick Ross. (If “Cat People” can play over 1940s Germany, then why not “I Got a Name” over the pre-Civil War South?).

DJANGO UNCHAINED does what a great film from a revolutionary director should: entertain us, make us think in a new way and get us ready for whatever’s next.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 2.40:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. This Starz/Anchor Bay Blu-ray offers a flawless high-definition presentation of DJANGO UNCHAINED. The greens, blues and browns of the exteriors and interiors are captured wonderfully, as are the costumes (notably Django’s bounty hunter uniforms and Calvin Candie’s suits) and production design (Candyland is thoroughly detailed).

Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1; French Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitles in English, Spanish and French. The audio transfer is also given complete attention, as every sound effect (from the gunshots to dynamite explosions) and soundtrack cue (from Jim Croce’s voice to Ennio Morricone’s scores) comes through speakers with tremendous power.

Remembering J. Michael Riva: The Production Design of DJANGO UNCHAINED (12:50) pays tribute to the work of Riva, who died of a stroke during production of DJANGO UNCHAINED. (Side gripe: Why is there no piece devoted to Sally Menke?)

Reimagining the Spaghetti Western: The Horses & Stunts of DJANGO UNCHAINED (13:46): In this featurette, Tarantino, stunt coordinator Jeff Dashnaw and more discuss the importance of the stunts and horses, with emphasis on the safety provided on the animals.

The Costume Designs of Sharen Davis (12:03) looks at the many outfits, including Django’s too-cool blue velvet suit.

Promos for the TARANTINO XX Blu-ray Collection and the DJANGO UNCHAINED soundtrack.

Also included are a DVD/Digital Copy and UltraViolet.

The post Django Unchained Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

I do love hummingbirds and the video of the hummingbirds was breathtaking.  I don’t study birds, but I never knew hummingbirds stayed perfectly still while their wings flapped.  We saw plenty of proof of this while Meryl Streep’s voice over explained how hummingbirds contribute to the pollination of various flowers.  The hummingbird parts were so interesting that I could have easily watched an entire feature on them alone.  But in this feature, they were really the only bird to be appear.

Unfortunately, the parts on bats, bees and the human element were less interesting.  Still beautiful, but just not what I want from a feature titled WINGS OF LIFE.  On the upside, we did get some interesting anecdotes about the involvement of bats and bees in the pollination process.  In the first ten minutes, we watched a flower trap a bee, attach some pollen to its back and then watch that same bee take that pollen to another flower.  We also saw a bat spread pollen in the desert, which was also interesting.  And I think that was the point of the feature; to show how flowers pollinate and how other creatures get involved in the process.  But if that was truly the goal, then why not call it Disneynature: Flowers?

So aside from reminding me to water my plants and fill up my hummingbird feeder, I struggled to get much out of DISNEYNATURE: WINGS OF LIFE.  I marveled at the video quality and appreciated some of the visuals, but I was disappointed at the narrow scope and the missed opportunities.  I also throw a caution to those that watch this with young children; at the end we get the standard, ominous warning of how the earth is suffering from pollution.  Although this is true, little kids could be caught in that trap between understanding the message and not understanding what they can do to help.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: By my count, this is the sixth Disneynature film and like its predecessors, the video quality is impeccable.  Even if it doesn’t give you what you hoped for, the visuals it does provide are stunning.

Audio: The sound is a constant mix of Meryl Streep’s voice over and background music, which is definitely nothing to brag about.  Some of the dialogue is tough to listen to and I would have rather heard the natural nature sounds as opposed to the background music.

The only special feature is a preview of DISNEYNATURE: BEARS

The post Disneynature: Wings of Life Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

I’m only scratching the surface with my description as OBLIVION has many twists and reveals.  I wouldn’t say many of those twists and reveals are all that surprising but I’ll refrain from the spoilers nonetheless.  While OBLIVION creates an interesting world with a story that could go a variety of ways, the choices made lack a certain originality nor do they contain a lasting punch.  The run time feels much longer than the actual two hour length as it spends far too long on the drama that quickly becomes redundant.

Director Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy) knows how to make a great looking picture.  The grand beauty of OBLIVION is clean, crisp and effortlessly striking.  However, the story unravels in a way that is a step behind the audience.  While we are waiting for the next moment, the camera is lingering on the previous one.  Rather than celebrate the thrilling action by quickening the film’s pace, Kosinski attempts to force an emotional connection simply by keeping the camera on scenes longer than he should.

With that said, Cruise is a great match as the curious hero, who wants to do right by finding the truth.  He’s got a natural believability as a relatable protagonist who doesn’t always listen to protocol.  Accompanied by at times a gripping but also intrusive musical score, the action scenes look magnificent and provide sufficient intensity, albeit one is very similar to the Rebel Alliance fighting off TIE fighters as they destroy the Death Star in STAR WARS.  While these items make an enjoyable picture, none of them bring it to the next level.

Like many films in the sci-fi genre, most of the setup in OBLIVION is told through Jack’s narration.  Always a key that the audience knows only what he knows, which in this case isn’t much of the truth.  As a science fiction fan, I admit that I allow a little more leeway into a film that creates a new world with unusual circumstances in an almost supernatural setting even if the presentation and choices are a bit sloppy.  OBLIVION tells a fairly interesting premise, but takes far too many elements from past films that have told them better. I’m all for borrowing from others but OBLIVION doesn’t incorporate enough original ideas to propel itself to a memorable stature.

I think ultimately audiences will enjoy the film, but only at surface level.  While the film is pretty to look at, OBLIVION can’t quite get past the ‘swimming in treaded waters’ aspect to go beyond average.

The post Oblivion Movie Review appeared first on Flix 66.

While not a true sequel, GHOSTS OF GEORGIA starts with similar feelings as the previous film in the franchise, THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT, in that this is also based on a “true story”. This film follows a young family who is moving into a decrepit and isolated Georgian home to try to escape the problems with which they’ve been dealing. We’re tipped off to the films off-kilter and lazy presentation from the opening credits… too much in the way of technical trickery, without much intriguing story, mars this film’s presentation.

A fairly simple story, THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2: GHOSTS OF GEORGIA brings us the Wyrick family (young, white, middle class) who are moving to a home in the country to try to mitigate some of mother and daughter’s mental health issues (are they seeing things or are they crazy??).  Lisa Wyrick is the mother, played fairly one-note by the beautiful Abigail Spencer (you might remember her from COWBOYS & ALIENS in 2011). She has apparently suffered from visions her entire life. Upon arriving at their new home, Lisa’s visions increase in frequency and intensity; the daughter, Heidi (played by Emily Alyn Lind), also begins to see things and talk to people who have apparently been dead for many years.

The whole movie is built on a slippery premise that the home was once a stop for the Underground Railroad, and something terrible happened that is now tormenting the family. Just because I love her, props to Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck from the recent BATTLESTAR GALACTICA reboot) for inhabiting the one character who’s fairly interesting – Lisa’s sister Joyce – who, unlike Lisa, has chosen to embrace her gift and acts as Heidi’s compass during the “scary” inanity that ensues. Joyce provides a few light moments in addition to the heavier (read: PLODDING) pace of the rest of the film.

Sadly, the interesting “based on a true story” premise of this film, like it’s predecessor, falls short. Eventually the pace of the film, like the tricks used to make us feel disoriented, starts to feel boring and lose their effectiveness. One thing I learned in film school, I think I’ve mentioned before, is that filmmakers should create a story that is compelling and, depending on the type of story, suspenseful, scary, funny, etc. Those feelings should be derivative of the story and identifying with the characters and the situation… that’s what the best movies do for us, isn’t it? Recently there have been a slew of lazy films, like THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2: GHOSTS OF GEORGIA, that use film tricks like quick cuts and color desaturation to make us feel disoriented rather than relying on the story and, in fact, taking away from it… Don’t get me wrong, technical savvy is a useful trick, and it works to limited effect. The problem is, at the end of the day, the suspense doesn’t mean anything so it doesn’t stay with you. And at the end of this day, neither will THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2: GHOSTS OF GEORGIA. The cover of the Blu-ray is far more interesting, and scary, than the movie. Look away and save the money.

BLU-RAY REVIEW:

Video: (1080p, 2.39:1 Widescreen) The video presentation for THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2: GHOSTS OF GEORGIA is generous, even with the limitations of what passed for the final cut of the film. A nice transfer brings all of the granularity and shifting colors to your HD-TV, should you care to see them.

Audio: (English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) The audio is slightly less well presented, but works well for THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2: GHOSTS OF GEORGIA. You’ll probably notice some of the sounds actually scare you more than the images on the screen – they’re presented well here on this lackluster film.

Audio Commentary featuring Tom Elkins (Director), David Coogeshall (writer), and Brad Kessell (Co-Producer) These guys seem very nice, and I’m sorry THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2: GHOSTS OF GEORGIA wasn’t better for them. It just doesn’t work anywhere as well as they seem to think. The commentary is considerably more interesting than the movie, but I’m not sure why anyone would watch it.

Seeing Ghosts: The True Story of the Wyricks (10:18) A very interesting little featurette, the actual family featured in THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2: GHOSTS OF GEORGIA discusses their actual experience. I’m sure not whether to believe them or not, but they’ve obviously gotten some mileage from their story.

Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Director Tom Elkins (17:47) 13 scenes are shown here that were deleted or “refashioned” from THE HAUNTING OF CONNECTICUT 2: GHOSTS OF GEORGIA. Director Elkins provides an optional commentary for them. Apparently the reactions to early screenings were even worse, if you’d believe his comments.

Outtakes (03:59) I don’t understand outtakes being included on a film like THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2: GHOSTS OF GEORGIA… I guess it works with the generally off-kilter presentation.

THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT 2: GHOSTS OF GEORGIA also comes packed with the new industry-standard UltraViolet digital copy (the bane of my movie-loving existence) and with a theatrical trailer both for this travesty (02:08) and the original theatrical trailer for THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT (02:27).

The post The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Enter Woochi (Kang Dong-won, of Jang Hoon’s SECRET REUNION), a Taoist wizard who, hundreds of years before, had been made the scapegoat of a murder and was imprisoned in the artwork of an ancient scroll with his shape-shifting buddy (Yoo Hae-jin, who won a Korean Film Award for MOSS). As the movie is titled WOOCHI: THE DEMON SLAYER and not WOOCHI: THE GUY WHO SITS ON THE COUCH AND LETS HIS NATIVE LAND BE OVERTAKEN BY GHOULS, we know that Woo-chi will be tasked to retrieve the flute and slay the demons.

This should all set the stage for a series of sequences with Woochi wiping out the race of demons. But instead, that is saved almost exclusively for the climax. One of the causes of this is that Woochi is too busy stirring up trouble, playing the womanizer and grooming his ego to seriously consider being a legend in his country. The other is that only a pair of monsters has been unleashed and so Woochi is limited in his foes.

The protagonist is a bit of a goofball and so WOOCHI: THE DEMON SLAYER comes off a bit silly. Some of the line deliveries (mainly in part to the awful dubbing, which sounds like voiceover work form B-level foreign cartoons) and special effects (which, at times, are reminiscent of dated video games) feel so awkward and lazy that it’s hard to tell if the audience is supposed to take the movie seriously. While a portion of the action scenes are intended to be on the outlandish side (the car chase topped off with a bow and arrow assault, for example), surely we aren’t meant to laugh at the production team’s hard work.

One of the key crew members is action director Doo-hong Jung (THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD, as well as this year’s G.I. JOE: RETALIATION) who, with aid from stunt coordinator David No (John Dahl’s THE GREAT RAID), provides terrific choreography for the fight sequences.  Another, of course, is director Choi Dong-Hoon (2006’s TAZZA: THE HIGH ROLLER, 2012’s THE THIEVES), who falters in his efforts by trying to expand the plot (worked from a Korean folktale) so much that he ends up nearly ignoring what the viewers want: action. (Somehow, the movie was one of the highest-grossing Korean films of its year.) Choi Dong-Hoon’s poor vision proves to be the biggest flaw of WOOCHI: THE DEMON SLAYER. What could have been a thrilling action-fantasy ends up being an absurd and overlong bore.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 1.85:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. WOOCHI: THE DEMON SLAYER looks very good in high-definition, with strong blacks and fine detail.

Audio: Korean DTS-HD 5.1; Korean Dolby Digital 5.1; English Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitles in English. The sound effects come through speakers with great presence, adding nicely to the fantasy elements of the movie.

The Newest Korean Style Hero Movie (5:51) is a brief promotional piece, with interviews and on-set footage.

Deleted Scenes (13:43) offers a selection of discarded scenes that add some more action and character development.

Making Of (25:09) showcases some great behind-the-scenes footage of stunts being tested and performed.

The Production Featurettes are divided into six sections: The Training Process (3:48), The World Outside the Frame (8:48), Production Design (14:34), Action and Special Effects (16:08), Shooting and Lighting (6:22), and Post-Production – Sound and Editing (6:00).

The Magic of Computer Graphics is divided into four parts: Visual Arts (15:17), CG Scenes in the Pre-Production Stage (26:04), CG Mixed in with the final stage (10:43), The CG Process – The Before & After (2:41).

The Interview Gallery serves up comments from the Director & Cast (5:18) and the Director, Key Staff & Cast on Pre-Production (10:55).

Original Trailer

The post Woochi: The Demon Slayer Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Alain (Schoenaerts) has decided to leave Belgium with his young son, Sam (Armand Verdure).  As they travel by train to the north of France, they exist on Alain’s wits.  When Sam is hungry he searches the train for food left by others and, when they need money, he’s not above stealing.  When they reach their destination, the home of Alain’s sister (Corinne Masiero), Alain finds work with a man who deals in security.  His first job is as a bouncer in a dance club.  One night a fight breaks out and Stephanie (Cotillard) is injured.  Alain drives her home and gives her his number, asking her to call if she needs anything.  When the call comes, it will turn out that they need each other.

A powerful drama featuring an Oscar-worthy performance by Cotillard, RUST AND BONE is best described as a buddy film-action-romance.  And then some.  As Alain’s boss begins to trust him he gives him better assignments.  From bouncer to night watchmen to helping install surveillance equipment in local food and department stores in order to catch the staff stealing.  Stephanie also has a job…she is a trainer at Marine World, dealing with the daily performances of the killer whales.  One day an accident causes the platform Stephanie is standing on to collapse and she is thrown into the water.  When she wakes up in the hospital she is missing her legs from the knees down.  We never really know what happens (in my opinion, judging on the imagery, I’m guessing they are bitten off – nothing else related to the accident seems to be the cause) but the scene where she first discovers what has happened is gut wrenching.  As I said above, an Oscar-worthy performance.  When she’s released from the hospital she calls Alain and they begin a relationship that appears to be in the “friends’ only” category.  Learning that Alain was once a skilled kick boxer his boss sets up local fights in the area.  Not in the ring but in parking lots.  Stephanie accompanies him to the fights and she seems to serve as an inspiration.  One night, while Alain is sharing his exploits of the night before with her, Stephanie remarks that she’s still not sure if “it still works” after her accident.  The two make love and have now entered into the “friends with benefits” category.  This is never more evident than when Alain, Stephanie and a group of friends go out to a club and Alain leaves with another woman.  But it will take an almost complete upheaval of both of their lives before their true feelings are revealed.

Directed by Jacques Audiard with a skilled hand, RUST AND BONE features two brilliant performances, with Schoenaerts matching Cotillard emotion for emotion.  He is a man who gets by on anger.  He scolds his son…he thrives on it in his fights.  He even makes love angrily.  Only Stephanie seems to have the cure to that anger and the scenes the two share together are the films’ best.  Production values are top notch and the story moves along seamlessly thanks to a brilliant score by Alexandre Desplat.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  The 1080p transfer is very impressive, particularly the various outdoor locales featured.  The film is presented in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio.

Audio:  Recorded in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1  It’s often hard to pay attention to the audio when you’re reading subtitles but the mix here was very well done, especially the scenes featuring the whales.

(Like the film, all of the extras are presented in French with English Subtitles)

Audio Commentary:  A very indepth and insightful commentary delivered by Director Jacques Audiard, his co-screenwriter Thomas Bidegain and Journalist Arnaud Calistri, who often contributes “making of” pieces to DVDs.

Making RUST AND BONE: A Film by Antonin Peretjatko (59:57):  An excellent “making of” featurette that details the shooting of the film including the special effects.  A “must see” if you’re a fan of the ins and outs of making a movie.

VFX Breakdown by Mikros (2:25):  A look at how various special effects shots progressed during the filming process.

On the Red Carpet: Toronto International Film Festival (2:53):  Brief interviews with the cast and crew relating their experiences making the film.

Deleted Scenes (6:45):  (6) excised scenes, none of which really add anything to the story.  If you wish there is a commentary about the scenes by Audiard and Bidegain.

Theatrical Trailer

The post Rust and Bone Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Years later, Jubeh (Tak Sakaguchi, Ryuhei Kitamura’s VERSUS) is found guilty of being responsible for 50 deaths in a mere seven days, and is locked away in a juvenile delinquent center called the Pterodactyl Juvenile Reformatory. It’s swarming with cockroaches and run by Ishihara (Miho Ninagawa, who appeared in two episodes of the anthology series MASTERS OF HORROR), the granddaughter of a Nazi freund. Her number two goes by Ilsa (Miho Harita), no doubt a nod to the Nazisploitation mascot portrayed by Dyanne Thorne.

This is the sort of prison where the staff positions its inmate on all fours and goes elbow-deep to inflict severe, nearly life-ending pain and pull out anything they can find (is that a child’s doll?). Any chance of freedom is a guaranteed visit to the psychiatrist. That’s a chance Jubeh is willing to take, and when he’s offered freedom in exchange for joining the reformatory’s baseball team, The Gauntlets, he takes it. Their opponents will be Saint Black Dahlia High School. Baseball? More like deadball!

DEADBALL is directed by Yudai Yamaguchi, who previously helmed YAKUZA WEAPON, MEATBALL MACHINE and BATTLEFIELD BASEBALL, and co-wrote the aforementioned VERSUS. More of a draw for Japanese cinema fans might be that it was produced by Sushi Typhoon, the studio responsible for ALIEN VS. NINJA, MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD, COLD FISH, HELLDRIVER, and KARATE-ROBO ZABORGAR.  Going on just that, we know that DEADBALL will be a relentless splatterfest. And to no surprise, it is, complete with impalings, scalpings, severed noses, exploding and squished bodies, and, of course, baseballs rigged to turn into garrotes. (There is much more, but spoiling any further would ruin half of the fun.)

And if you can handle the levels of bright red blood that come along with Japanese splatter flicks, then DEADBALL is highly enjoyable. The special effects mostly hit, but there are times when viewers may find themselves laughing at the production values and not the over-the-top violence. One scene that stands out is when Jebhu takes the mound and immediately causes blood to erupt from anyone in the field—a moment that looks like it was completed with Microsoft Paint. But parts like that are few and fans of the subgenere (the sub-subgenre might be “baseball death films”) won’t be disappointed.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 1.78:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. Well Go USA gives DEADBALL a nice, natural transfer, complete with faithful tones and colors.

Audio: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Subtitles in English. The audio track is a major draw for this disc, as it boasts effective SFX, particularly in the more violent moments.

Spinoff Short: FINAL DEADBALL (20:43): This short film loses a lot of the appeal of the original, going light on the blood and skipping baseball altogether.

Making of DEADBALL (12:18) gives fans a behind-the-scenes look at the movie’s production.

Cast Interviews (7:36): A number of cast members, including Tak Sakaguchi, Miho Ninagawa and Mickey Curtis sit down to discuss DEADBALL and their characters.

Sushi Typhoon Trailers

The post Deadball Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

An animated French film, A MONSTER IN PARIS takes you all through the City of Light from the Eiffle Tower to the River Seine with fun stylizing that borders on appearing like claymation. In fact, the monkey, Charles, very much reminded me of the PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS primate with the use of index cards as his form of communication.

It was very distracting to see two characters look almost identical, specifically when comparring Lucille and Maude. The simliarities between the females gave the impression that the animators just added glasses to distinguish between the two and did not spend time on creating another character.

Though the overall story was somewhat flat, the musical numbers were highly entertaining and fun. Even the sad sounding tune ‘A Monster in Paris’ was beautifully performed by Sean Lennon (son of John & Yoko).  All of the upbeat riffs from Lucille and Francoeur made you want to tap your toes and clap your hands. It was a bit of a stretch to me that Francoeur could not speak but could sing actual words… why wouldn’t he just sing all the time to communicate instead of making meek sounds and sad humming noises? This question, along with the issue listed above, pulled me out of the picture and I had to remember to focus on engaging and forget those small distracting details.

The voice talent used in the English version of A MONSTER IN PARIS was excellent; everyone was perfectly cast. Adam Goldberg, Jay Harrington, Bob Balaban, Danny Huston and Catherine O’Hara brought a lot of personality to their respective characters. Though the main human characters were likeable enough, Francoeur was central to the heart of this film. Even with his massive size, dapper disguise, and lack of vocabulary, it was easy for the audience to connect with the oversized flea. The emotions expressed with his eyes were powerful giving the viewer a glimpse into the fear and joy that Francoeur experienced.

Watching the action sequence with Prefet Maynott (Huston) chasing down Francoeur and friends, I felt a bit bored because it felt like it took too long while trying to squish in a love story between Emile and Maude.  Overall, this picture is short of being special or memorable. It entertains and is cute enough but the terrific musical moments can only carry a film so far.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Audio (DTS-HD 5.1):  A MONSTER IN PARIS has a nice blend of talking and singing characters and the audio was perfect in this picture.

Video (1080): The sharp bold colors were perfect for this drama.

This disc does not have the option to watch the movie in French, but does allow you to change your audio from 5.1 to 2.1Dolby Digital and you can have English subtitles on an English movie. I was very disappointed in the lack of special features as there were zero.

The post A Monster In Paris Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Mr. Hitchcock had just finished the very successful NORTH BY NORTHWEST in 1959 and wanted to try something a little different and fun.  After reading the book “Psycho” by Stephen Rebello, he immediately bought up every possible copy to insure his ending would be kept a secret.  At that time in Hollywood, the idea of such a prestigious director making a slasher film where the leading lady is murdered half way through the picture, was considered quite insane.  Between the studio hesitating to fund such a project and the MPAA ratings committee not allowing such minute details as a toilet being shown on screen, Alfred had his work cut out for him.

When it comes to casting and cutting the film, Hitchcock relied heavily on his spouse and partner Alma Reville, played by the oh so talented Helen Mirren.  Alma always supported her husband’s work not simply out of faithfulness but also because she believed in him; at times was even the inspiration or voice behind many of his good ideas.  HITCHCOCK  does a nice job shifting the focus more about these two individual characters and their relationship together.  I think the one thing most people will come away with is just how influential and impressive Alma Reville was to the overall success of Alfred Hitchcock.  Part of the fun is seeing some of the fantastic actors of the time performed by current day stars, like Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh, Jessica Biel as Vera Miles, James D’Arcy as Anthony Perkins and even THE KARATE KID’s Ralph Macchio as screenwriter Joseph Stefano.  They do a great job and are just a few people who are part of the overall inspired casting in HITCHCOCK.

If you haven’t seen PSYCHO, watch it now.  After familiarizing yourself with the director a little more, I think one will easily enjoy the self referential and tributes that HITCHCOCK refers to.  The not-so-subtle attempts at the director mimicking his films are funny and entertaining.  Anthony Hopkins gives the perfect blend of accuracy and parody.  He looks and plays the part with wry humor but with respectable believability to the overall tone of what the peculiar director may have been like.

HITCHCOCK is more of a speculation film rather than a historic accuracy.  The film goes for light-hearted laughs rather than hard truth.  It is a real shame the film came out in the height of all the Oscar films.  While the film was nominated for an Oscar in makeup, HITCHCOCK is by no means an award winning film.  But it does accomplish its goal  as a very well-executed, enjoyable little flick that I believe was marketed all wrong.  Light and fun are two key words that come to mind and for anyone who is a fan of PSYCHO and the director, HITCHCOCK is a must see.

The post Hitchcock Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Well acted but confusing as heck, THIS MUST BE THE PLACE is a film that has a message about love, fathers and sons, redemption and…I have no idea.  I told you it was confusing.  We learn a lot about Cheyenne from others.  He was big in the 80s.  Until (2) young fans killed themselves.  Now he seems to have separated himself from life, except for those moments home with Jane.  Still, he occasionally ponders a puzzler, such as “Why is Lady Gaga?”  When he learns his father is close to death he travels home to the states.  There he uncovers a mysterious project his father had been working on for years.  It seems Cheyenne’s pop was a Holocaust Survivor and had been tracking, for years, a guard from a concentration camp that at one time humiliated him.  Cheyenne is introduced to Mordecai Midler (Judd Hirsch), a preeminent Nazi hunter who had been in contact with Cheyenne’s father.  He’s not interested in helping Cheyenne so he heads out across the country to track down the man his father could never find.  Think of the movie as one of those cool mash-ups:  EDWARD SCISSORHANDS:  NAZI HUNTER.

Penn, with two Oscars at home, has nothing to prove acting wise.  I have no idea why he took this part.  He does have a couple of dramatic monologues interspliced within his mumbling, giving the film occasional life.  McDormand is equally good.  When the two are sharing the screen the film, in relation to Cheyenne and Jane, begins to make sense.  It’s when Cheyenne is setting up a fan with a beau or chatting up his randy, oversexed friend that the focus begins to fall.  Which is a shame because the actors seem to be really trying.  Besides Penn and McDormand you get very strong work from Stanton, Hirsch, Joyce Van Patten and musician David Byrne (Talking Heads) as himself.  The story, as it was, is layered in too much symbolism to care about any of the characters.  Also, the things Cheyenne encounters, most notably a wandering buffalo, who pays a visit to the back porch while Cheyenne is crossing America.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  The transfer is clear and bright, making great use of the various places Cheyenne inhabits (Ireland, the American heartland).  Presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio.

Audio:  Recorded in DTS Master Audio 5.1  The sound is well transferred and not overdone.  Even when Cheyenne is talking at his softest his words are clear.

Trailers for other Mirimax Films, including SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

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Soon after Daigo drops out of school, his half-sister Kiriko (Hikari Mitsushima, the DEATH NOTE movies and Sion Sono’s LOVE EXPOSURE), who lost her voice as a child and communicates only in hand-written notes, takes him to a 3D movie with deformed girls and a plush rabbit that leaps from the screen into Daigo’s arms. One night, Daigo is visited by a giant white bunny, who takes him to an amusement park. The next night, the creature pulls him through his mattress and into an insane asylum, where he’s held captive. It’s up to Kiriko to rescue her brother from the evil rabbit (who may or may not have a tie to the siblings’ past), as their illustrator father (Teruyuki Kagawa) is too busy working on a new rendition of THE LITTLE MERMAID to get concerned over his son’s nightmares.

Directed by Takashi Shimizu (JU-ON: THE GRUDGE, JU-ON: THE GRUDGE 2, as well as the American remakes), TORMENTED was released in its native Japan as RABBIT HORROR. Both suit the movie, but the latter works as both a descriptive title and a branch of the killer animal subgenre (NIGHT OF THE LEPUS, anyone?). The movie has faint nods to THE LITTLE MERMAID (Ariel, like Kiriko, was mute) and ALICE IN WONDERLAND (more American McGee than Lewis Carroll) that some will find serve the story, but it lacks much originality overall. Worse, there are almost no scares, as the antagonist is, after all, just some creep in an Easter Bunny costume.

TORMENTED may add a giant bunny and lose the jerks and jitters that made THE GRUDGE an annoyance, but it still resorts to the ghost and possession tales that Shimizu has made a steady career out of. Fans of the director, though, will find few flaws in this and continue to support the man at the box office.

TORMENTED premiered at the 2011 Venice International Film Festival and screened at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film, where it was acknowledged “for its originality and unique view of childhood through a child eyes,” an earned compliment on its impressive visuals.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 16:9 Widescreen in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. The high-definition transfer of TORMENTED is primarily weak, as there are few fine details (in skin textures, costumes or sets) and many of the nightmarish sequences are hazy, ugly and lifeless.

Audio: Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; Japanese Stereo. The audio, however, is quite effective, with a score and sound effects that enhance the atmosphere.

Trailer and Previews

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That’s Artie (Billy Crystal) and Diane (Bette Midler, who not only squeezes in a song but hops on a stripper pole in the first ten minutes) Decker. They’re not Alice (Marisa Tomei) and Phil’s (Tom Everett Scott) first choice to babysit their three children, but Phil’s parents are on a cruise and so the kids—Harper (Bailee Madison, JUST GO WITH IT), Turner (Joshua Rush, NBC’s HEROES) and Barker (Kyle Harrison Breitkopf, in his debut)—are put into the care of her father and mother, “a tornado with lipstick.”  To no one’s surprise, helicopter mom Alice decides to stick around the house while Phil goes on his business trip. From there, it’s a clash of parenting techniques, with Artie and Diane promoting a relaxed environment and Alice a taut, gluten-free childhood. You can see where this movie is going.

Directed by Andy Fickman (2010’s YOU AGAIN and 2007’s THE GAME PLAN), PARENTAL GUIDANCE has no interest in giving insight into parenting or parent/child relationships. It thinks it does (namely in the final act), but really it’s concerned with the predictable. You can bet that if cake is a no-no in the Decker household, it’ll be devoured by the kids and thrown in Alice’s face and around the kitchen.  From there, the youngest boy calls Artie “Farty” and uses a Super Soaker to make it look like he wet his pants, an image Fox felt the need to put on the back cover art of the DVD and Blu-ray. Later, Billy Crystal gets hit in the crotch with a baseball bat at a little league game, the gang disrupts a Tchaikovsky symphony and Barker urinates on a half-pipe, nearly causing Tony Hawk to break his neck.

PARENTAL GUIDANCE is brimming with this sort of humor. The script, written by Lisa Addario and Joe Syracuse (Sony Pictures Animation’s SURF’S UP), is at its worst not when the jokes and scenarios are expected, but when they don’t even make sense. Take, for example, the scene where Artie is fired for his lack of familiarity with social media (“Tweet? I’ll make any noise you want!”), even though he owns iProducts and so must have some idea what Twitter is. To think that Addario and Syracuse spent more than three seconds coming up with scenes like that and songs that start with, “Come out, come out, Mr. Doodie.”

It’s hard not to hate almost all of the characters. Alice is an uptight mom who’s breeding her kids to be whiny, obsessive-compulsive brats, and Artie and Diane are out of line in telling their daughter how to raise Harper, Turner and Barker. The exception is Phil, who should take his offspring to counseling and send his know-it-all parents-in-law on the next flight back to Fresno.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 1.85:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. This Fox Blu-ray offers a clear picture throughout.

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; English Descriptive Audio 5.1; Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1; French Dolby Digital 5.1. Subtitles in English and Spanish. The audio transfer is also fine, with audible dialogue and clean music for the duration. (The beloved classic “Come Out, Mr. Doodie” has never sounded so good.)

Audio commentary with director Andy Fickman and Billy Crystal: Fickman and Crystal give a lighthearted track that touches on various aspects of the production.

FXM Productions Presents: In Character with Billy Crystal, Bette Midler and Maris Tomei (4:56): The leads sit down to chat about their characters and the movie.

Deleted Scenes (13:00): There are 15 deleted/extended scenes, with optional commentary by Fickman.

The Gag Reel (12:48) offers a selection of flubs from the cast.

Theatrical Trailer

Also included is a DVD/Digital Copy.

The post Parental Guidance Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

As World War II accelerates we meet man’s man Ernest Hemingway (Owen) at his favorite hangout in Key West, a bar known as Sloppy Joes. Tonight he is entertaining the locals when he is taken aback by a beautiful woman looking for a drink. He does his best to impress but soon learns the woman is a fellow author, Margaret Gellhorn (Kidman). Papa (according to some, Hemingway did not like being addressed by his first name and preferred to be called “Papa”) brings the bar home, to the chagrin of his second wife, Pauline (Molly Parker). Of course the décor is all man – with the walls covered in the heads of animals Hemingway has killed. “Kill enough animals,” he tells his guests, “and you won’t kill yourself.” He has agreed to be part of a fundraiser, sponsored by fellow author John Dos Passos (David Strathairn). Dos Passos, best known for his three-volume set U.S.A., is helping to support a documentary to be filmed in Spain highlighting the rebel fighters challenging Dictator Francisco Franco. Hemingway accompanies the filmmakers to Spain and again runs into Gelhorn, who has come over as a “war correspondent.” Despite initial misgivings the two battle their obvious attraction for each other. But sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men (to steal from another classic author of the time) go awry.

Beautifully filmed and skillfully acted, HEMINGWAY & GELLHORN is a mini-history lesson, courtesy of HBO Films. As the film rolls on we are given an inside look into the life of one of this country’s most celebrated authors. Part gentleman, part scoundrel and all man – or at least the definition of a man in the mid 20th Century – Hemingway was someone that loved life to its fullest. Gellhorn, on the other hand, had to be coaxed into embracing Papa’s attitude. As the film is told in flashback, with Gellhorn narrating, we journey to some of history’s biggest moments. Using a technique that utilizes original archival footage, slowly melding into current day color, director Phillip Kaufman not only achieves a documentary look of some historical moments but manages to insert Hemingway and Gellorn into those moments, using a technique first popularized by FORREST GUMP (and Woody Allen’s hilarious ZELIG before that). Spain. Finland. China. You are there.

The cast is top notch, with Englishman Owen and Australian Kidman nailing their American accents. Though Owen wouldn’t have been my first choice (how great would it be to see James Gandolfini tackle Hemingway), he does a credible job, managing to walk the same fine line that Hemingway walked. Supporting work by Strathairn, Tony Shalhoub and an unbilled Robert Duvall, among others, is also first rate. Director Kaufman is at the top of his game here. Shockingly it’s only the third film he’s directed in 20 Years. The man made THE RIGHT STUFF, one of the best films of the 1980s. That Rob Zombie has directed twice as many films in half the time is a crime!

High marks also to everyone behind the camera, especially the art director and production designer who manage to turn the San Francisco location into virtually anywhere else in the world.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: Presented in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio, the film seamlessly blends historical footage with new. The colors are bright and the black and white footage sharp and clear.

Audio: Recorded in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 The sound is bright and clear, though you lose a little background banter during the more noisy battle scenes.

Commentary with Director Philip Kaufman and Film Editor Walter Murch: Both men share comments on the film, including pointing out the various San Francisco locations that they used. Especially interesting is the information on how Owen and Kidman were transported back to the 1940s and the decade’s pivotal moments in history.

Behind the Visual Effects (5:28): A step by step primer into how this made for HBO film was able to look like a $100 million blockbuster.

Making Hemingway and Gelhorn (6:27): Standard featurette describing the making of the film, including interviews with Owen, Kidman, Kaufman and Chris Morley, the film’s effects supervisor.

The post Hemingway & Gellhorn Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

The EVIL DEAD has a cult following, this much is known.  I didn’t see the first one until only a couple years ago, and like most oldies, this flick needed to be enjoyed in it’s time to be treasured now.  However, EVIL DEAD 2 is another story.  I did see that as a kid and to this day I have no love for cellars, or the stairs leading down to them.  ARMY OF DARKNESS is where Sam Raimi’s trilogy began to shine its brightest, but by then, you could hardly call it horror with a straight face.  Like so many horror classics, this didn’t need to be remade, but that’s Hollywood’s thing nowadays so rather than whine about it (like so many fans did), I simply didn’t care.  The hype leading up to this movie was huge, the posters hitting us with gems like “The most terrifying film you will ever experience.”  Change that to, “The most uninspiring ninety minutes you’ll ever sit through,” and I’d agree, but this is so terrifyingly bad, I can’t simply leave it at that.

I know this might sound like bullying, but this is 2013 people.  Campy old ghost stories could get away with the “creepy cabin in the woods” premise twenty years ago because nobody knew any better—the brilliant tale CABIN IN THE WOODS being exempt from this rule simply because it broke all the rules.  But these days nobody in their right mind would set foot in a place like that for any reason.  Okay, so we’re all feeling brave, let’s go in and check it out.  A blood soaked cellar door?  No worries, let’s head down there anyway.  What do you mean the cellar looks like Freddy, Jason, Pinhead, Michael Myers and the Blair Witch summoned about a hundred demons from hell and had an all-night orgy that ended with burning some chick alive?  I’m sure it’s fine.  Wait, what about the book made of human flesh, full of satanic rites, and wrapped in barbwire that says, “DO NOT READ FROM THIS BOOK”?  Oh, I’m sure it’s fine, let’s just read from it anyway and see what happens.

This movie will make you angry.  Clearly what I’ve illustrated above is frustrating, but combine nonsense like that with terrible dialogue (this wreaks of Diablo Cody.  I know she originally had something to do with this film, but I’m not sure how much of her draft carried over), useless acting and dull characters.  Seriously, why bother bringing your girlfriend at all, David?  She barely spoke.  Now besides the fact that it took these fools three quarters of the movie to understand something was wrong, John Lennon, the genius who read from the book in the first place, finally tells David there’s only three ways to kill these things; bury them alive, full body dismemberment and fire.  Got it.  So why did Olivia and Natalie die?  One was hit over the head and the other lost an arm (and a half), yet they were left for dead and forgotten about by the story.  Sigh.

EVIL DEAD is a cliché ridden, lazy, unintelligent series of events that defy not only common logic, but the rules and reality in which they’re based.  Pro tip:  A plastic canister of gasoline will not explode if shot, no more than a car’s gas tank would.  Furthermore, a person’s arm is not made of silly putty.  If you get your hand pinned under a car, pulling it will not cause it to stretch like toffee, break and then suddenly have no bones to show for it.  Hollywood needs to wake up and realize that rehashing old ideas is a worn out business that deprives movie goers of the fun loving movie experience they deserve.  Stop destroying horror.  If you can’t come up with an original idea (or take on an old premise like CABIN IN THE WOODS), stop, and wait until a better idea comes to mind.  Every now and again a remake is fun, but this doesn’t even begin to justify the eight or nine out of ten that aren’t.  Irony alert:  Shiloh Fernandez (David) is in a flick called DEADGIRL, which more than qualifies as being the most terrifying film you’ll watch this year.

The post Evil Dead (2013) Movie Review appeared first on Flix 66.

 Several years later, oil is discovered in the Yellow Belt by Texans.  The greedy conniving Emir sells the rights for them to drill without notifying Sultan.  This obviously causes problems and traditional religious Sultan wants nothing to do with the oil but is none too happy about Emir breaking the treaty.  War is once again on the horizon.  But with Emir’s new found riches, his army is far more armed using far superior weaponry compared to the simple traditional army of Sultan.  New and cunning tactics led by Sultan’s youngest son Prince Auda (Tahar Rahim) is their only chance at victory.  Throw in a love story subplot between Emir’s daughter Princess Leyla (Freida Pinto) and Sultan’s son Prince Auda and we got ourselves quite the little story.

The problem with DAY OF THE FALCON, other than the name (it was changed from the far more compelling and sensible “Black Gold”), is that it’s very black and white.  Banderas is a bad king and Strong is the good king.  I know there have been some pretty terrible people in history but it’s more interesting to find those grey areas.  Unfortunately, the somewhat complex situation is trivialized by a boring good vs. evil story.  To be fair, underneath that very basic concept, the film handles different levels within the idea of progress and morals far more delicately by comparison.

The performance are somewhat a mixed bag, much like the authenticity of the ethnicity these actors are playing.  Mark Strong (ZERO DARK THIRTY) is terribly underutilized giving off a quiet strength with merely his presence.  Antonio Banderas (DESPERADO) on the other hand delivers his character with an unfortunate sleaziness that is perhaps in part the fault of the writing.  Frieda Pinto (SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE) does fine looking gorgeously exotic, while newcomer Tahar Rahim is surprising strong showing a large growth in his character relatively easy.

DAY OF THE FALCON is a gorgeous looking film.  The sweeping desert and large scope has a remnants of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA.  But director Jean-Jacques Annaud has a record of knowing how to make a picture look great (see: SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET, ENEMY AT THE GATES). If only he could make his films not so forgettable (see: SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET, ENEMY AT THE GATES).  DAY OF THE FALCON has a strong and entertaining second half providing interesting battle situations under the dire desert elements definitely worth seeing.  But the reported excessively large budget doesn’t quite meet the worth of the picture.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: (MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p 2.34:1) A pristine looking picture of epic proportions.

Audio: (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) An excellent sound throughout the picture.

The Making of Day of the Falcon (42:01): An extensive look behind the scenes with multiple interviews from cast and crew as it covers the film production history, including casting, composing, cinematography and the difficulties through various locations.

Transforming the Desert: The Visual Effects of Day of the Falcon (3:13): A fascinating look at the different stages before and after special effects are put onto the screen.

From Storyboard to Screen (2:56): A side by side shot of the storyboard and the final product of the airplane scene.

Trailers

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TRANCE has a rock solid opening, ripe with potential.  The always amazing James McAvoy is Simon, narrating the details about what actions he must take as an art auctioneer when they are being robbed.  Stay calm and grab the most expensive piece of work.  Wrap the painting in a protective casing and send it down a security vault much like sliding an envelope in a mailbox.  Most importantly, don’t be a hero, a person’s life is far more valuable than any painting.

The stage is set efficiently and effectively due mostly to Danny Boyle’s top notch directing.  After a thrilling opening heist, which finds Francisco Goya’s 1798 masterpiece “Witches in the Air” as the targeted painting, things are immediately revealed that not all is as it seems.  Franck (Vincent Cassel) and his criminal gang pull off the robbery but not without giving Simon a blow to the head.  But after unwrapping their stolen prize only find an empty frame, they realize Simon had his own plans to steal the painting.  Unfortunately, the blow to Simon’s head has jostled his memory and he can’t recall what he did with it.  After some failed tortured attempts, Franck decides to take Simon to a hypnotherapist (Rosario Dawson).  From here, the story takes a surreal turn as it mixes reality with the subconscious.  Dawson’s Elizabeth is onto things extremely quickly, trying a variety of tactics to unlock Simon’s memory.

TRANCE moves at a rapid pace and is energized with stylized directions and pulpy bright colors.  The visuals dazzle and confuse emitting the appropriate ambiance for a hypnotic subject.  James McAvoy is once again brilliant as a jittery nervous wreck, trying to find his memory.  He brings life and humor to a picture that is rather dry with personality.  Here is one of the many problems with the script from Joe Ahearne and John Hodge.  With every minute that passes by, TRANCE loses credibility.  Jumping between Simon, Franck and Elizabeth as our lead characters doesn’t work at all when the audience only cares about Simon.  But even that fades away as the ending becomes a convoluted mess.  Boyle’s style now just becomes gimmicky as the story telling falls completely apart.  There are so many plot holes, questionable character decisions and obvious twists, that TRANCE quickly loses any of the fun that it had achieved at the beginning.

TRANCE is terribly frustrating with all the makings of a dynamic modern thriller but none of the follow through.  The twists are telegraphed a mile away making the intrigue completely void as the end result is a predictable bore.  In fact, the most surprising thing is how committed the film is to its bad choices. The conventional ending with car wrecks and explosions combined with the numerous plot points that don’t make a lick of sense are enough to drive one mad.

I really wanted to like this film as Boyle’s 28 DAYS LATER and SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE are among some of my favorites.  One might be fooled, or hypnotized if you will, into thinking they are seeing something better than it really is.  Without some interesting direction choices and a stellar performance by McAvoy, TRANCE has no redeeming quality.  Sadly, even these two highlights aren’t enough positives to surpass such a massive negative when it comes to the sloppy script.

The post Trance Movie Review appeared first on Flix 66.

It’s the summer of 1962 and Scotty Smalls (Tom Guiry in his debut; he next played in 1994’s LASSIE) is new in town and without friends. Worse, he has no clue how to play baseball and doesn’t even know who The Sultan of Swat is. When he misses a standard fly ball, the neighborhood kids laugh at him and label him a “weenie.” Still, the team’s best (and nicest) player, leader Benny (Mike Vitar, who later played Luis Mendoza in the MIGHTY DUCKS sequels), invites Smalls back, bringing the squad up to a full nine.

Rounding out the team: Ham (Patrick Renna, Disney’s soccer movie THE BIG GREEN), Squints (Chauncey Leopardi, also THE BIG GREEN; he reprised his role in 2007’s direct-to-video sequel, THE SANDLOT: HEADING HOME), Yeah-Yeah (Marty York, who took to television afterwards), Kenny (Brandon Quintin Adams, THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS), Bertram (Grant Gelt, also a television face), and twins Timmy and Tommy (Victor DiMattia and Shane Obedzinski). (The cast rightfully won the Young Artist Award for Outstanding Youth Ensemble.) The boys have a strong bond over the game and know the only real rule is to never hit the ball over the outfield fence, lest 300-lb. dog The Beast get ahold of it.

THE SANDLOT, despite the title and primary setting, is less about baseball than it is growing up at a certain time with certain people. Viewers—both boys and girls—knew or know these kids, or at least variations of. There’s the trash-talker, the pipsqueak who couldn’t hold his own, the undeniable captain, the cocky one who always had to “call his shot,” the constant repeater, the pal who would go to desperate measures to plant one on Wendy Peffercorn.

Co-written by David M. Evans and Robert Gunter and directed by the former, THE SANDLOT has almost no plot, unlike other summertime nostalgia movies, like Rob Reiner’s STAND BY ME (1986). Instead, the movie is made of a nicely tied together collection of moments. We watch the boys come head-to-head with the rival sandlot team (where Ham hurls the finest insult possible: “You play ball like a girl!”), taste-test (and spew) chew before going on an amusement park ride and finally encounter The Beast. With characters and moments like these, THE SANDLOT doesn’t need plot.

THE SANDLOT is a highly enjoyable movie, one that will have young and old alike longing for warm weather, July 4^th fireworks and, of course, Wendy Peffercorn.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 2.35:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. This 20^th Anniversary edition of THE SANDLOT comes with the same transfer found on the 2011 Blu-ray. While that would normally be cause for complaint, it’s a lively and colorful presentation that fully captures the spirit of the movie.

Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio; English Dolby Surround; Spanish Dolby Surround; French Dolby Surround. The audio transfer is also quite nice, catching every sandlot holler, crack of the bat and Beast snarl. The soundtrack (from “Tequila” to “This Magic Moment”) also comes through nicely.

Featurette (5:51): This brief piece uses on-set footage, clips and interviews to promote THE SANDLOT.

Theatrical Trailer

TV Spots

Also included is a DVD of THE SANDLOT.

(The sole addition to this 20^th Anniversary edition of THE SANDLOT is 10 Trading Cards featuring the boys and The Beast.)

The post The Sandlot (20th Anniversary Edition) Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Even the most casual of sci-fi movie consumer knows the ground-floor basics of the unstoppable robot sent back from an apocalyptic future to assassinate the leader of the resistance before he’s ever born.  And even if that synopsis makes their brains hurt, the names Sarah and John Conner definitely ring a bell somewhere in the recycle bin of their frontal lobes.  Shockingly, what has still not received a “jump the shark” caliber bronzing in the lexicon of pop culture is the single greatest plot hole to ever be so universally accepted.

For those who are somewhat foggy on the subject, the “predestination paradox” or “infinite time loop,” as called by some, refers to the problem of future soldier Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) transported back in time to protect Sarah Conner (Linda Hamilton) from The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) robot that was also sent back in time to kill her before she ever becomes pregnant with her son John, who grows up to become the machine’s biggest threat.  Where synapses start to overload is when Sarah and Kyle become intimate during their encounter and it’s revealed that Kyle is actually the one who fathers John.  Now of course the question mark with the weight of a million megaton bombs is how in the world could Kyle be the father of someone that already exists in the future where he’s from before he ever meets Sarah?  The missing piece is the story of the first loop.  Was John’s father originally someone else and Kyle forever altered the timeline by impregnating Sarah?  Who knows, it was never explained, not even in the four succeeding films in the series.

The real miracle is that fans became so infatuated with the canon of THE TERMINATOR, and of course “Ahhnuld” himself, that instead of harping on all of the defects in the time travel plot they endlessly argued about their own theories which they claim to logically explain it.  And to the film’s further credit, even though they do not hold up to today’s computer generated images, there were some mind-blowing stop-motion effects used which definitely upped the ante and paved the way for more classic “R-rated” entries in the genre like ALIENS and ROBOCOP.

THE TERMINATOR’s influence does not stop at its own extensive library of spinoffs or the preeminent future works of its writer/director.  The film set an extremely high bar for all scripts with a serious take on time travel, culminating in some with the same “predestination paradox” problems like 1995’s 12 MONKEYS.  But it also challenged writers to “solve” the dilemma, eliciting further explanation from their plots to explain why the loop begins in the first place, a la 2012’s LOOPER.

No matter the time period from which judgment is laid, THE TERMINATOR is a milestone of sci-fi that belongs on the Mount Rushmore of the genre alongside STAR WARS and two other films that fans would surely create their own “infinite time loops” arguing over.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  1.85:1 Widescreen, 1080p/AVC MPEG-4: After what seems like an “infinite time loop” of reissues of the film’s immediate sequel TERMINATOR 2:  JUDGEMENT DAY, the original finally received some 21^st Century technology to bring it back to life.  The film retains its natural grain, but all of the wear and tear from the original film reels is gone, leaving a crisp and clean image.  It actually has some similarities to the way BLADE RUNNER was remastered, taking on a color palette that runs slightly cool and adds to the overall dystopian nature of the film.

Audio:  English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1: There is not much difference in the audio mix from previous DVD versions.  Dialogue is clear in all registries and the sound effects are good, but many people still would like to hear the original mono mix of the film that has yet to be included in any release.

Creating The Terminator:  Visual Effects and Music (13 min):  A special effect, behind-the-scenes featurette.  Mostly focusing on the future time period and the climax of the film.  It’s very interesting to watch any VFX feature before the existence of CGI, especially for those who were born after THE MATRIX, when everything shifted away from models and miniatures.

Terminator:  A Retrospective (21 min):  The meat and potatoes of this is a conversation between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Director James Cameron discussing all aspects of the film’s production.  Definitely worth a watch for those that have not already seen it on previous DVD or Blu-rays, and even if you have it’s worth it for the reminiscing alone.

7 Deleted Scenes:  Seven deleted scenes, most of which are useless but there are some small references to devices that would be used later in the franchise.

The post The Terminator (Remastered) Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Much like LORD OF THE RINGS, WILLOW follows a hobbit-sized person named Willow (Warwick Davis) who has been chosen by the very thing he is meant to protect.  But instead of a deadly magical ring, the object is a cute cuddly baby with adorable expressions.  The evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh) is a wicked sorcerer who wants the child dead in fear of a prophecy that claims the child will be her demise.  Willow must find and rescue the cursed Fin Raziel who will help protect the baby and defeat the evil queen.  Willow finds some reluctant help on his journey from a rogue master swordsman named Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) and a couple of tiny 6-inch wacky woodsman called Brownies.

The picture looks great and in 1988 WILLOW was nominated for Academy Awards in Sound Editing and Visual Effects.  However, even director Ron Howard admits in the special features that the effects are obviously dated.  What may have been ground breaking at the time is almost comical to today’s hi-tech standard.  Nonetheless, WILLOW is an extremely fun ride with multiple characters full of rich personalities.  Val Kilmer (REAL GENIUS, TOP GUN, TOMBSTONE) is especially strong in a Han Solo esque role providing much of the films charisma and entertainment.  Warwick Davis (HARRY POTTER, LEPRECHAUN) does a fine job with one of the few leading roles for someone diagnosed with dwarfism.  The moments with his family are among some of the most emotional.

Clearly, I’m being influenced somewhat by nostalgia, but I think WILLOW holds up for young kids on the cusp of yearning for more adult-geared films with action, danger and death.  However, I was surprised by my deceivingly fond memories for the Brownies who I believed were the funniest characters in the film.  In retrospect, the Brownies are pointless Jar Jar Binks characters that only provide utter annoyance.  George Lucas helped create the story and produce the film and his meddling hand is shown throughout the process with wipe transitions and over explanatory dialogue.

As an adult, my critical eye has trouble looking past some of the flimsy character arcs, rushed story lines, and the forced love story between Madmartigan and the evil Queen’s commander and daughter Sorsha (Joanne Whalley).  But WILLOW has a surprising amount of charm and likability, easily overcoming these flaws with fun characters and grand story-telling. The score by James Horner energizes the already entertaining film.  Overall, WILLOW might be dated but still holds strong as an enjoyably fantasy adventure movie for all ages.  Although nostalgia may help it more than I realize.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: (MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p, 2.40:1) 20th Century Fox releases another excellent transfer from a 1980′s film, looking better than ever despite the dated special effects.

Audio: (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) An excellent sound capturing all the levels of elements backed by James Horner’s wonderful score.

Willow: Deleted Scenes with Ron Howard (12:32): This might be the best deleted scenes feature I’ve ever seen.  Ron Howard explains the reasons for cutting a whole subplot about Sorsha’s father due to length and an elaborate attacking fish boy scene rightfully cut due to the uncooperative and fake looking machine built.  The scenes are extremely fun to watch and explain some moments that only an observant audience member may have caught.

The Making of an Adventure with Ron Howard (23:39): An excellent making of feature that gives a lot of insightful details about the behind the scenes production across three continents.  It’s fun to see Val Kilmer, Ron Howard and George Lucas at a much younger age talking about the movie. Ron Howard gives a nice introduction about how the then advanced special effects have now become quite dated.

From Morf to Morphing with Dennis Muren (17:24): Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Muren looks back at the special effects metamorphosis scene of Raziel changing from animal to animal before turning back to her human self.  WILLOW is the first film to really create and implement the morphing software that so many film in the next few years perfected like THE ABYSS and TERMINATOR 2.

Willow: An Unlikely Hero – Personal Video Diary of Warwick Davis (10:53):  Warwick Davis today, explains his experience on WILLOW as scenes from his personal home video of the shoot is intercut.  Another very fascinating and interesting featurette.

Matte Paintings (1:09):  An impressive mix of matte paintings and live action to give many scenes an epic look.

The post Willow Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

G.I.Joe was my favorite cartoon as a kid, hell, I still watch the animated movie once a year and can recite every word.  For this reason I find the JOE movies a little harder to review.  I view the franchise in the same light I view the MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE script I read a couple years back—that got shelved.  There’s the way I want to see it hit the big screen, and then there’s the inevitable way it will hit the big screen.  I used to think getting something was better than nothing in this regard, but then BATMAN FOREVER came out and I quickly ate those words.  Now, I try to have fun and enjoy what I get (X-MEN ORIGINS WOLVERINE is a fine example of this).  G.I. JOE: RETALIATION has many issues, but as an action film based upon my favorite cartoon, I can’t really complain…much.

I found the story intriguing upon viewing the initial trailer—I mean, it’s awfully ballsy to kill off G.I. JOE down to a handful of soldiers.  This works and it doesn’t work.  The call itself makes sense as Zartan’s still rocking the President’s meat suit, but from it spawns a ton of questions that never get answered.  The initial strike force they dispatch is clad full of ‘henchmen type’ soldiers, rather than the named ones we meet in the first film, so where did they all go?  What happened to the JOE base in the desert?  They say Duke’s leading the Joes now, so what happened to General Hawk—and for that matter, I hated that they killed Duke off.  It’s the equivalent to making Jim turn on his team in MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.  These are two things that just wouldn’t ever happen in these universes.

Okay, so let’s get past all that for a second and move on to Cobra.  One of the best aspects of the film came from the always cool Walton Goggins as the smooth talking Warden of a secret prison facility (housing both Destro and Cobra Commander) that’s supposed to be impenetrable as well as inescapable…unless you’re Storm Shadow.  I like the whole cryosleep pod deal, but why didn’t the process work on Storm Shadow?  I get this jailbreak had to happen, but I wasn’t thrilled by their decision to just leave Destro behind—or for Cobra Commander to say, “Sorry Destro, you’re out of the band.”  Ouch, and sadly, the rest of Cobra Commander’s limited dialogue suffers from the same level of cheese.

What does work is the addition of The Rock.  The guy’s just awesome, pure and simple.  He reinvigorated the FAST & FURIOUS franchise first, and now he’s rocked the JOE universe as well.  I wish the same could be said about Bruce Willis, but it can’t.  What a waste.  D. J. Cotrona’s Flint was nothing like his cartoon counterpart, however his parkour tactics made the action sequences better so I can live with it.  Adrianne Palicki’s Lady Jaye was also a welcome addition to the team —two words: red dress.  Ray Park’s Snake Eyes felt terribly underused, which is a shame seeing as how he’s probably the second most popular JOE next to Duke and Sgt. Slaughter.  Why they even bothered to add Jinx to the mix is beyond me.  She said maybe two words the entire film.

G.I. JOE: RETALIATION is riddled with unexplained questions, catch 22′s and a myriad of ridiculousness under the skin, but on the surface it’s a heck of a fun time at the movies.  I know I seem like I’m coming down hard, but for anyone who isn’t a fan of the cartoon or bathed in nostalgia, these are issues that will clearly stand out.  Don’t get me wrong, visually this was a feast, from the vehicles down to the fine details like fixing Snake Eye’s mask and getting Cobra Commander’s right.  I loved seeing Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow team up—it would be like seeing Sub Zero team up with Scorpion—but the reasoning is unbelievably terrible.  I loved the ninja scenes in the mountains (aside from the atrocious RZA), but the whole Zartan/Storm Shadow backstory makes absolutely no sense…much like the idea of putting a red button on the control console for your end game weapon that self-destructs said weapon by simply pressing it.  No code entry sequence guys?  It’d be quite a shame to press that button by mistake.  At the end of the day I liked the movie, and I’d be interested in another.  I just hope they put some more thought into the next one rather than just slapping a bunch of random stuff together and winging it.

The post G.I. Joe: Retaliation Movie Review appeared first on Flix 66.

The bulk of ON THE ROAD involves Sal, Dean and Marylou (Kristen Stewart, TWILIGHT).  Marylou is Dean’s very young first wife who is just as promiscuous as Dean.  Allowing the camera to linger far longer than necessary on young people acting foolishly, director Walter Salles tries to create something interesting in what is a rather empty screenplay.  But by dwelling more of the sex, alcoholism and overall chaos, he actually heightens the lack of substance until it just feels dirty.  Unlike Salles’ far superior and moving road trip film MOTORCYCLE DIARIES, ON THE ROAD goes nowhere.

The film contains a large ensemble popping in as quirky side characters our leads meet along the way.  Kirsten Dunst, Amy Adams, Viggo Mortensen, Steve Buscemi and Terrence Howard are among some of the bigger names making an appearance.  But none of their characters are particularly impactful nor do they seem very real, coming off more cartoony without the humor.  The three leads do a fine job in their respective parts, particularly Sam Riley who I believe will soon become a more recognizable name for American audiences.  Kristen Stewart is adequate as the cute forbidden girl and Garrett Hedlund is properly cast as a charismatic, caution to the wind kind of guy.  The problem lies within the characters.  For a man who is so enticing that everyone wants to be around, I found Dean to be incessantly annoying and unlikable, while Sal’s continual philosophising narration quickly becomes grating.

On a positive note, ON THE ROAD contains some great cinematography through different landscapes and settings capturing complexity with simplicity.  The few quiet moments where Sal was alone on the road had more to offer than any of the dialogue or action that happened in the entire picture.  That along with the steady jazz play is hardly a reason to recommend a film.  But I am grateful for the fact that it triggered me to pull out some of my own jazz collection to listen to.

While the film isn’t a fully autobiographical account of Jack Kerouac, Sal represents the famous American novelist and poet.  ON THE ROAD is adapted from his book by the same name.  Perhaps if you’re a big fan of the writer, you will be able to follow along, enjoying the parallels.  Otherwise, it offers nothing new, entertaining or remotely interesting.  For a film about inspiration, ON THE ROAD lacks a surprising amount, only inspiring this writer to want a shower.

The post On The Road Movie Review appeared first on Flix 66.

The show revolves around the Vice President of the United States, Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and her team of publicists and managers that include Amy (Anna Chlumsky), Gary (Tony Hale), Dan (Reid Scott) and Mike (Matt Walsh).  At one time, Selina was on pace to actually be President, but a series of missteps harpooned her campaign and she had to settle for Vice President.  She’s a smart woman, but she always seems to find herself in awkward situations and her disappointment with being VP usually leads to humorous, if not unnecessary encounters.

Obviously, with a cast led by comedy veterans Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, Tony Hale and Matt Walsh, along with the very talented Anna Chlumsky (who you know as the little girl in MY GIRL), the cards are stacked for this show to be rolling on the floor funny.  But the writers don’t seem to know if they want the show to be a slapstick comedy full of physical humor, a quick-witted sitcom where everyone plays off the other or a light drama with moments of comedy.  So what we get is a mash-up of all of the above, which leads to some funny moments, but creates a very confusing tone for the audience.  There’s a great show somewhere in here, but I’m not sure anyone knows where it is.

One of the big problems is with Selina, who is sometimes written as dumb and oblivious and other times as snotty and elitist.  Her character needs consistency and personally, I thought she worked much better when she was playing obnoxious instead of dumb.  She’s the Vice President of the United States, so no matter how little you think of politicians, politicians are moderately intelligent and I sometimes had trouble accepting some of Selina’s decisions (the pregnancy storyline was ridiculous, for example).  But on the opposite end, her dinner party interactions when she goes to Ohio to endorse a candidate for governor were comedy gold.  The show does offer enough of these types of situations that we can forgive it for its lack of focus.

Like I said; ‘Veep’ is a mixed bag that hasn’t quite found its groove yet.  ‘Veep’ does have a bit of a ‘Parks and Recreation’ vibe to it, but while that show knows exactly what it is, ‘Veep’ is still figuring things out.  Thankfully, the stellar cast and mounds of potential the show has should keep you hooked.  But TV is very finicky, especially these days, and shows can’t go on for two or three seasons riding the wave of promise and potential.  ‘Veep’ doesn’t have long to figure out what it wants to be, but if it can land on a tone, I think the show could be great.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  ‘Veep’ looks amazing on Blu-ray, further cementing HBO’s perfection of the format.

Audio: The audio is equally impressive.

Twelve commentaries on eight episodes:  Yep, some episodes get more than one commentary, which is something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before (although I’m sure it has happened).  Almost all of the cast members show up for at least one of the commentaries, along with some of the creators and writers.  These are okay, but sometimes they turn into what feels like a giant inside joke between the stars.

Deleted Scenes (25:11): Over 60 deleted “scenes” are included.  I put scenes in parentheses because a lot of these are just quick alternate takes.  Overall, they’re pretty enjoyable and should be enough for anyone looking for more ‘Veep’.

The Making of Veep (12:58): This is like an advertisement for the show, more designed for people that are on the fence about whether or not to sit down with the first season.

Anti-Obesity PSA and Outtakes and Governor Chung Retraction and Outtakes (5:02): Two extended looks at Selina’s biggest goofs during the first season.

The post Veep Season 1 Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

GINGER & ROSA takes place in London during the 1960′s.  There is a great political and economical division among the people with the Cuban Missile Crisis as an emerging threat.  Ginger (Elle Fanning) and Rosa (Alice Englert) are young girls who are madly in love with being best friends.  But just as quickly as we see how deep their relationship is, we also see how truly different they both are.  Rosa yearns to be loved, seeking out sexual relationships to replace her absent father.  Ginger on the other hand, has deeper drives about the state of her land.  She is moved and frightened by the political affairs of her nation.

Both are masking their emotions from the fact that they come from poor dysfunctional families.  But Ginger is our heart and soul into the picture and the character the audience feels for the most.  Her parent’s marriage is anything but orthodox hanging on by a thread.  Ginger’s father who insists she call him Roland (Alessandro Nivola) is a writer and pacifist.  Roland is very forthcoming about his feelings no matter who they may hurt.  When Roland and Natalie (Ginger’s emotional mother played by Christina Hendricks) finally separate, Ginger wrongfully takes it out on her mother.  She eventually asks to stay with Roland, who reluctantly obliges to share his studio spaced quarters.  Unfortunately, with Rosa’s seductive advances and Roland’s wandering eye, Ginger’s worst nightmare between her father and her best friend is becoming dangerously real.

The story of GINGER & ROSA is one that isn’t necessarily groundbreaking.  I’m not saying Ginger’s situation isn’t extreme, but we’ve seen films before where kids have to grow up quicker than necessary through unthinkable circumstances.  Director Sally Potter does a terrific job presenting flat muted colors to bring the poverty and overall gloomy atmosphere to life.  But as I said before, GINGER & ROSA owes a lot of credit to the impressive performances.

Annette Bening (AMERICAN BEAUTY), Oliver Platt (SIMON BIRCH) and Timothy Spall (HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN) do a great job in small but pivotal roles as support for Ginger, providing guidance and rationality that the character needs among such inept adult role models.  Alessandro Nivola (JUNEBUG) and Christina Hendricks (TV’s ‘Mad Men’) also do a fantastic job, displaying a range of emotions.  Then there is Alice Englert (BEAUTIFUL CREATURES) who plays Rosa with subtle cruelty while still being sympathetic.  But the star here is Elle Fanning (SUPER 8 and younger sister to Dakota).  Fanning captures a confused and struggling soul through bottled emotional anguish with surprising ease.  She appears years beyond her age as she displays restrained maturity with a heart-breaking performance.

Due to the setting and era, GINGER & ROSA isn’t your typical coming of age film.  But the depressing picture about a young girls struggle through family, friends and her place in the world is quite compelling, specifically from a strong performance from Elle Fanning.

The post Ginger & Rosa Movie Review appeared first on Flix 66.

MULAN follows a young woman named Fa Mulan (voiced by Ming-Na Wen) who is a bit of a tomboy which threatens to bring dishonor to her family if she doesn’t find an appropriate husband. When the Huns are getting ready to invade China the Emperor gathers his armies and Mulan secretly takes the place of her father who cannot fight. Though Mulan must overcome the obstacles of training for war while disguising her identity as a woman, she manages to excel in the army and ends up saving China because of her determination and cleverness.

MULAN has a great message for young girls. You’ll notice in all the Disney marketing that Mulan is considered one of their “princesses”, but of all of those women that young girls look up to, Mulan is one of the few that doesn’t rely on her beauty or birthright to shine. Mulan is a character that I would want my daughter to emulate as she demonstrates compassion, determination and love of her family.

If I had to name one flaw in MULAN it would have to be the voicing of the character Mushu which was performed by Eddie Murphy. Mushu is Mulan’s guardian in the form of a small dragon, and although he is an important part of the story, his presence is a bit irritating at times and his voice just grates on my nerves. This is a minor complaint in the original MULAN, but Mushu’s level of annoyance increases dramatically in the second film but that’s just one of many problems.  It’s strange since Murphy did so well in the SHREK films.

If you missed MULAN or avoided it because it wasn’t one of the popular Disney films then I would encourage you pick it up or add it to your collection if you have a young daughter that is in that inevitable princess phase. The film is lovely with vibrant colors, has some great characters as well as a good message. And if you can just avoid that second film altogether because it is quite a bomb and will make you despise Disney if you aren’t disenchanted by them already.

Mulan II

MULAN II picks up one month after Mulan has been crowned the savior of China. Mulan and Shang (the commanding officer in the first film) are in love and get engaged but their wedding is put on hold for a mission for the Emperor. The two lovebirds must escort the Emperor’s three daughters to a neighboring kingdom for arranged marriages to avoid a war. This doesn’t sit well with Mulan who wants the girls to follow their hearts and wait for true love. In true Disney form there is a happy ending, but it is a very miserable journey.

Everything that was endearing about the characters in MULAN was annoying and disappointing in MULAN II. In the first film Shang was a strong leader that demanded respect from his troops and even the audience. In MULAN II they made Shang out to be this big goober who is constantly getting thwarted by the annoying Mushu. Oh, and speaking of Mushu, Eddie Murphy didn’t come back to voice the character so the audience is subjected to a Eddie Murphy copycat which is worse than the original. I didn’t know it could get worse but it did.

Add in the lackluster story, lame new characters and ridiculous songs and MULAN II was nothing more than a big mess. It’s really too bad Disney felt the need to even make it, but the scent of money is strong and for some reason kids are completely okay with these terrible sequels because they want to see their favorite characters again. I only hope I can resist the temptation to indulge in these straight-to-DVD films with my own kids so I don’t perpetuate this vicious cycle.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: As with all Disney films, these two movies are impeccable to watch.

Audio: Lovely sound on the audio front as well.

Mulan

Audio Commentary with producer Pam Coats and directors Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook: A decent commentary that spans the development of the film as well as the songs and characters.

Deleted Scenes (22:58): Seven deleted scenes in storyboard form that are interesting to watch but wouldn’t have added anything significant to the film.

Classic Backstage Disney (56:01): A compilation of behind-the-scenes features that were on the previously released DVD version of the film.

Classic Music & More (27:58): More featurettes that focus on the songs and score of Mulan including music videos.

Trailers and Sneak Peeks

Mulan II

Voices of Mulan (2:59): A short bit from director Lynne Southerland who talks about the returning cast of voices as well as the new additions.

Deleted Scenes (10:03): Three deleted scenes that were pretty dull.

Music Video: “I Wanna Be Like Other Girls” by Atomic Kitten

The post Mulan / Mulan II Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Beautifully photographed and strongly performed, THE GREAT MAGICIAN is a Mandarin film that would be well received in any language. As the new magician in town continues to mystify his audiences we learn that he is part of a rebel group hoping to overthrow the local warlord, Bully Lei (Wan Lau). It seems Bully Lei is smitten with a woman he has imprisoned (Zhou). He would like her to be wife number seven but is honorable enough to try to win her affections. Zhang also has another reason to participate in the plot. The girl was once his lover. As the story unfolds the magic tricks become more and more elaborate, all in the name of love and freedom.

Though I’m not an expert on Asian cinema, I have had the occasion to watch, and admire, several films featuring Tony Leung, among them HERO, IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE and INFERNAL AFFAIRS, the film that Martin Scorsese’s THE DEPARTED was based on. I have always found him to be a top notch actor and that opinion doesn’t change here. He has a commanding screen presence which is multiplied by an easy going nature that keeps you locked onto him when he’s on screen. Kudos also to Wan Lau, who could have so easily made Bully Lei a caricature of a bad guy. Yet, despite his evils, he is also a compassionate man…one who buys the local children candy and would rather win the heart of a woman then brutally take it.

Technically the film is equally well done. Cinematographer Nobuyasu Kita and production designer Chung Man Yee have teamed up to create a beautiful fantasy world inside Zhang’s theatre. And some of his tricks would make Steve Carell’s Bert Wonderstone envious. Even when the secret of some tricks are explained it still boggles the imagination to see them performed. And credit Tony Leung for his fine sleight of hand skills. Again, even though you know how he’s doing it it’s still incredible to see on screen, especially when you’re looking for the secrets of the trick. If he ever decides to give up acting he may have found a second career. The musical score, composed by Leon Ko, is a fine accompaniment for the action on-screen. In any language, THE GREAT MAGICIAN is a film I highly recommend.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: Presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio the film is bright and colorful. The special CGI and magical effects are presented seamlessly adding realism to the film.

Audio: You have the opportunity to listen to the film in the original Mandarin or in a dubbed English version. Both languages are available in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0 mixes. I preferred the Mandarin mix as in my opinion you lose some of the background noises when listening to the dubbed version.

Making the Magic (37:55): A series of intertwined featurettes that go behind the scenes and look at the various aspects of the film. Two things stand out: EVERYONE loves Tony Leung and cast and crew are very complimentary of each other.

The post The Great Magician Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Roughly 90% of the film is centered around Abraham Lincoln’s political maneuvering to get the 13^th Amendment passed through the House of Representatives.  I don’t want to give a history lesson, but for those that don’t know, the 13^th Amendment is the one that abolishes slavery.  Obviously, most of the Northern states are for it while most of the Southern states are against it.  That sets in motion a game of politics in which Lincoln makes promises and deals with various Representatives to get their support.  But most of the swindling is actually done by W.N. Bilbo (James Spader), Robert Latham (John Hawkes) and Richard Schell (Tim Blake Nelson), who go around to the Representatives voting against the amendment and try to convince/bargain with them to vote in favor of it.

There are some side stories in the film that achieve varying degrees of success.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robert Lincoln is criminally underused as the son that wants to go fight in the Civil War.  Sally Field gives a tremendous performance as Mary Todd Lincoln, but her contributions had little impact to the story, other than to give the audience sympathy for Lincoln for having such a crazy wife.  Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens was brilliant, but at the end of the day, Jones was playing what he always plays; a tough, grumpy old man that we’ve seen him play before.  As great as the performances were, none of the supporting characters had a well developed storyline that the audience could really get behind.  We got barely a glimpse into their life and then we went back to the political bickering.

Aside from the slow, monotonous, narrow scope of the film, there is one glaring problem with LINCOLN that I’ve struggled to get past; the ending.  I won’t declare a spoiler warning here because if you don’t know what happens to President Lincoln, then you should be reading a history book, not surfing the internet. At the end of the film, we have a perfect shot of Lincoln walking out of the White House while one of his African-American servants watches him leave.  It’s a nice, beautiful ending that fit the film perfectly.  But Spielberg couldn’t leave it alone and so he goes into a montage showing the aftermath of the President’s assassination and some of the reactions to it.  The problem with that is that the movie was so narrowly focused on the 13^th Amendment and not on Lincoln’s life that showing the assassination aftermath was a very amateur, Hollywood thing to do that tainted the entire film.  I can’t believe that Spielberg would have been that out of touch with his own movie 20 years ago, but alas, that’s the Spielberg we have today.

LINCOLN is a bit of a history lesson, but it’s a must-see movie for anyone that loves great acting and long monologues in movies.  Daniel Day-Lewis was magnificent as President Lincoln and watching him give long monologues in one long shot is a thing to marvel at.  But the film isn’t what I’d consider “enjoyable” in that I doubt I’ll be able to watch it again.  The pacing is slow and the subject matter is dry, making LINCOLN a respectable but ultimately forgettable film.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  I can’t imagine LINCOLN on any format but Blu-ray.  With the heavy use of shading and lack of lighting, only Blu-ray can make the black levels shine through appropriately.  LINCOLN looks fantastic.

Audio: LINCOLN’s audio is also impressive.

Steven Spielberg refuses to do commentaries, but he usually makes up for it by including some extensive making-of featurettes or even documentaries.  Unfortunately, LINCOLN gets the standard treatment and I was left wanting more out of this Blu-ray.

The Journey to Lincoln (9:02): Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy, Tony Kushner, Daniel Day-Lewis, Rick Carter and Doris Kearns Goodwin introduce the film and give a brief rundown of how the film finally came to be.

A Historic Tapestry: Richmond, Virginia (3:58): This is very similar to the above featurette, only this time they focus specifically on why the shot the film in Richmond, VA.

In the Company of Character (10:02): Several cast members show up to gush about the other actors.  Nearly a dozen actors are mentioned in this ten minute featurette, making it a little too short, which makes it a little disappointing.

Crafting the Past (10:57): The production and costume designers discuss their methods for creating the sets and costumes, which involved a lot of research and attention to detail.  Again, this is way too short.

Living with Lincoln (27:01): This is the only feature with some meat to it and it covers Spielberg and his crew working on LINCOLN and the extreme measures they took to make the film as accurate as possible.

In Lincoln’s Footsteps (16:59): This is kind of a hodgepodge featurette and covers some miscellaneous topics like the score and the challenges of making this type of movie.

The post Lincoln Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

When Quasimodo (Tom Hulce) was a just baby, his gypsy mother was killed by Minister of Justice Frollo (Tony Jay) on the steps of Notre Dame.  Pushing down deep feelings of guilt, Frollo commands that a priest take charge of the “half formed” baby.  Quasimodo is forced to live and work in the bell tower, never to show his face on the streets of Paris.  Encouraged by a trio of lovable gargoyles (Victor, Hugo and Laverne), Quasimodo defies his master and is wrapped up in the topsy turvy world down below during the Festival of Fools.  He meets gypsy Esmeralda (Demi Moore) and quickly falls in love with her spunky nature and willingness to see him not as a monster, but as an outcast like herself.  A desire to live among the people, not above them, obviously causes Quasimodo to question Frollo’s reasoning for keeping him locked away for so many years.

Quasimodo is a soft-spoken guy with a gentle spirit.  It’s sadly touching to see him encourage a young bird to take flight for the first time, encouraging it to soar and live a full life.  I understand that a very big life lesson – it’s not what’s on the outside, but what’s on the inside that counts – has come to life on the screen for young viewers.  And this is a good thing.  But even as an adult, with a keen understanding of underlying themes, I was extremely bored with the storyline.  I also thought that Frollo has to be one of the nastiest villains in Disney history.  I thought that war hero Phoebus (Kevin Kline) had some of the best lines in the entire show, but unfortunately, Esmeralda’s story took president for the majority of the film.

With that said, the animation had to be some of the best work that came out of the Studios in the 90s.  The cathedral was breathtaking and the color and energy of the Festival of Fools was infectious.  I also enjoyed the music which was created by the great Alan Menken.  “God Bless the Outcasts” needs to go down in Disney soundtrack history if you ask me.  Only Disney could transform Victor Hugo’s classic tale of warped physicality and evil brutality into a beautifully animated feature film.  Feel free to rent it if you’re ready to explain unnecessary house fires and random murders to the kiddos.

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME II

On the other hand, I would suggest you completely skip THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME II.  It was mediocre at best.  The general storyline is the exact same when it comes to teaching us that there’s more to Quasimodo than meets the eye.  But this time, instead of the love interest choosing the hunky military blond, the girl actually chooses our hunchback hero.

Madellaine (Jennifer Love Hewitt) works for a mean guy in a traveling circus.  She poses as a tight rope walker, but is actually a pick pocket.  Her boss encourages her to befriend the man in the tower so she can steal a very large, jewel encrusted bell and then skip town.  Naturally, that doesn’t happen.  Because how in the world is a woman supposed to carry a huge bell out of Notre Dame Cathedral without anyone (or gargoyle) noticing?  Quasimodo to the rescue!  He saves the day and gets the girl.  The end.

Not only was the animation sub-par, but you could tell the entire cast called this one in.  Jennifer Love Hewitt sounded bored, which didn’t help contribute to any feelings of excitement on my end.  My recommendation is to not waste your time watching even if this movie is ever on the Disney Channel.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  The animation is beautiful.  The attention to detail was phenomenal.

Audio:  I absolutely loved the music.

The Making of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (28:02): Jason Alexander hosts this bonus feature, which includes interviews with all the main voices.  Interesting facts: this feature film was the first entirely produced out of Disney’s animation studio in Burbank, Phoebus was the first Disney hero to have facial hair and 100 Parisian artists contributed to the authenticity of Notre Dame.

A Guy Like You — Multi-Language Clip Reel (3:23): This song featured the gargoyles singing in the following languages: French, Portuguese, Mandarin, Italian, Hebrew, Flemish, Castilian, German, Finnish, Swedish, Slovak, Norwegian, Spanish, Hungarian, Danish,

The post The Hunchback of Notre Dame / The Hunchback of Notre Dame II Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Due to world events and the way society reacts to them, we haven’t seen nearly as many terrorist movies as we used to.  To be perfectly honest, I was taken aback when I first saw this trailer, thinking “that’s gonna hit a nerve”.  I think the only time I’ve ever seen the White House structurally damaged (aside from the show 24) was in INDEPENDENCE DAY, so it’s a bit jarring to see half the building explode in the trailer.  Personally, I’m able to distinguish the line between fiction and reality quite well, so if you want to blow up the White House, Pentagon or half the world—in a movie—I’m cool with it as long as it’s for entertainment value and not shock value.  No worries on the latter here, this baby’s all about entertainment and it certainly doesn’t disappoint.

It’s only fair that I start by saying welcome the hell back Gerard Butler, it’s great to see him back in the action game.  I won’t bash romantic comedies or dramas (he was the bomb in CHASING MAVERICKS), but Butler became a household name after his awe-inspiring performance in 300 and as a fan of action flicks, I know an action star when I see one; Butler can pull it off.  It was frustrating seeing him go from 300 to P.S. I LOVE YOU, but I can’t complain too much because GAMER, LAW ABIDING CITIZEN and the UGLY TRUTH were all good times.  That said, Butler is right at home putting foot to villainous rear and I’m hoping he sticks around rather than go AWOL from the action game for another three or four years.

For a movie pushing the two hour point the pace was razor sharp.  I was also quite fond of the dialogue and characters throughout.  I felt the kid thing was a bit rushed and the wife angle unnecessary simply because it all felt a little “been there, done that”.  The story was average as far as bad guys and world domination goes, I have to say though, whether they succeeded in their mission or not, did they really think they could go into the White House bunker and actually come out unscathed?  Felt like a suicide mission to me.  I liked the Cerberus system, but let’s be real, there’s no way that would have went down the way it did—and hacking one of the codes?  Come on, that can’t seriously be possible.

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN is a powder keg of an action ride that will blow your eyebrows clean off your face.  There’s no debating the entertainment value here if movies like this (and shows like 24) are your thing (Antoine Fuqua knows his action).  I’m more than a little curious about two portions of this takeover however, one, being how in God’s name did a gunship of that caliber (it’s not exactly inconspicuous) avoid hitting a red flag on the radar until being about five minutes from the White House?  And I don’t know about you, but in my experience, crossing the American border is no fun these days so I’m perplexed at how they managed to get vehicles armed to the teeth with high powered weaponry and soldiers so easily onto American soil, let alone to the White House lawn.  Hollywood definitely isn’t without a sense of humor.

The post Olympus Has Fallen Movie Review appeared first on Flix 66.

This time around it’s the North Koreans, although still backed by the Russians, who have invaded the “land of the free,” by triggering some type of super secret EMP weapon that has knocked most of the US electrical grid and allowed foreign forces to invade from both coasts.  As the invasion begins, US Marine Jed Eckert (Chris Hemsworth, THOR) who is home on leave in Spokane, Washington, gathers his brother Matt (Josh Peck, THE WACKNESS) and a band of his friends in a retreat to their father’s cabin in the woods.  As the North Koreans further establish themselves in the town, the small band of refugees learn to become an insurgence with the guidance and training of Eckert, and take on nickname of their high school mascot, The Wolverines.

Even though casting for this film was not spectacular, it’s certainly not the cause of its epic disappointment.  Hemsworth is now a very well known asset from the Marvel films and he is probably the most believable character in the film, so even though there were probably better options to take on the now iconic role of Swayze’s Jed, Hemsworth is at a distinctly progressive point in his career than Swayze was in 1984.  The chief saboteur of RED DAWN’s second mission is shallow and callous treatment of any semblance of character development.  Probably the most enduring torment of the original film is way most of the character interaction felt monotonous and unedited, but at least it did allow for a sense of investment in their fate from the audience.  In the new film, as soon as “The Wolverines” are assembled, the narrative jumps into a montage mode that would make Rocky Balboa wince.  Not only does it miserably fail in selling the notion of a group of high school kids absorbing the physical and mental toughness needed to survive such a predicament, but it hardly allows for any recognition of the team’s individual members.

Another “ace in the hole” of this remake should’ve been the escalating probability of this once unfathomable scenario due to cyber terrorism.  The film begins on the right track with real-life clips from news shows demonstrating how the US has weakened itself by deploying too many troops across the globe and the impending threat of an attack on our computer systems.  The latter is completely ignored as the film progresses, even though a compromising of our computer servers would be a far more believable scenario than a super EMP that destroys all the power grids in the country.  There was also an opportunity wasted to address why in a country where guns outnumber people, why was it so incredibly easy for paratroopers to take over two-thirds of the country.

Emphatic detractors of “remakes” will have a new entry in their portfolios with 2012’s RED DAWN as an exemplification of incredulous exploitation of audiences’ nostalgia by way of big action sequences and gratuitous violence that secures no roots in the film’s characters outside of the main protagonist.  First-time director Dan Bradley had a valuable opportunity to greatly improve on well-loved title and indoctrinate a new band of “Wolverines” to the next generation, but instead the only battle cry they’ll be uttering is, “Where was Hugh Jackman?”

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  2.40:1 Widescreen, 1080p/AVC MPEG-4: The picture is near flawless on this disc, it has deep blacks, fantastic contrast and the unparalleled sharpness a Blu-ray is capable of.  But it’s all wrong for this film, and especially for a remake of a film where the grittiness of the production was such a strong element.  I’m not saying they should’ve started laying on the grain filters until it looked like the Zapruder tape, but a little would’ve gone a long way in helping the overall tone of the film not seem like an episode of NBC’s REVOLUTION.

Audio:  English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1: The audio in the film is very well done, the many explosions and waves of gunfire never interfere with the dialogue and in the few instances in the film where the audience will actually care about specific characters, the audio enhances the moment greatly.

There are zero bonus features included on this Blu-ray:  This is a very odd way to release a brand new film, usually the bonus features are shot in correlation with the film’s production.  As for a commentary, you can still hear one from the production studio simply by inference; there was no way they were sinking one more penny into this project.

The post Red Dawn Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Whether it be stepped on by large dinosaurs, eaten by unknown creatures or simply a common cold, nearly all the prehistoric neanderthal families have become extinct.  By teaching  his family to fear everything new and different, the Croods patriarch Grug (voiced by the infinitely better Nicolas Cage when we don’t have to endure another crazy hair piece) has kept his family alive longer than most.  Spending days at a time locked away in the safety of their cave, The Croods are literally sheltered from all the world has to offer.

However, when Grug’s curious daughter Eep (voiced by the always adorable Emma Stone) sneaks out one evening, she meets a guy named… Guy (voiced by Ryan Reynolds).  Guy explains to Eep that the world is going to end.  “Dun dun duuuuuun.”  After the Croods home is destroyed and the family nearly dies, Grug reluctantly agrees  that they should follow Guy in an adventurous prehistoric road trip to find a new home.

The key component to THE CROODS likability is the great cast of silly characters.  Joining Grug, Eep and Guy are Grug’s wife Ugga (voiced by Catherine Keener), their dimwitted son (even for cavemen) Thunk (voiced by Clark Duke from ‘The Office’), their growling animal like baby Sandy, and much to Grug’s dismay, his mother-in-law Gran (voiced by the more popular with age Cloris Leachman).  And I must not forget Guy’s furry little long-armed pet Belt, who adds the film’s beloved catch phrase for danger that kid’s will surely be repeating long after they see the film.

Leaving the dry, rocky, desolate home behind, The Croods encounter a beautiful new land.  The luscious rich environment is full of color and life replicating a world straight from Pandora.  Of course for the Croods, this means more fear and the misuse of brute force.  To be fair, from the shifting earth to flesh eating bugs, there is quite a bit of danger they encounter.  But with Guy’s brilliant ideas including shoes and small suns (also known as fire), the family can take on just about anything.  The real challenge is for Grug to realize that change can be good and that he needs to allow his daughter to grow up, find love and live her own life.

THE CROODS is fast paced and fun with a wide scope of creativity and color, which is enhanced further by some wonderful 3D work, not missing any detail.  Unfortunately, the film suffers from an easily avoidable misstep, dragging on about ten minutes too long. Other than that, THE CROODS is fully aware of the target audience.  While perhaps a little dark, the film is never too scary as the characters are as indestructible as Tom and Jerry.  No matter how big or small, even the perceived villainous creatures are cute and huggable.  The jokes will invite children to laugh out loud while still tickling the parents to no end. And that timeless ability is an impressive feat worth seeing.

The post The Croods Movie Review appeared first on Flix 66.

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY is full of surprises for all but the most hardcore of Tolkien fans. Jackson and Walsh cultivate material from numerous sources, including Tolkien’s notes, to add backstory that ties THE HOBBIT TRILOGY more deeply to THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY while also providing additional history to the world. Why, I have wondered along with many critics and fans, did they take a book shorter than any of the three the original books on which the LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY were based and created another trilogy? What in the world could they add to the story that would be worthy of that much screen time? Sadly, it’s a bit of a mixed bag, as many of the action scenes are expository and just don’t have the ‘balanced on the edge of a knife’ feel from THE LORD OF THE RINGS.

The story begins with some expository action, including a quick peak at the dragon Smaug, who has claimed the seat of the dwarves and plundered their treasures. Soon we are back in the Shire, though, with an ordinary hobbit, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman of the under-rated HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY film), as he is greeted by a seemingly kindly grey wizard. Yes, the return of Gandalf the Grey (Sir Ian McKellen, reprising his role seen too briefly in THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING before becoming Gandalf the White for the remainder of the trilogy). Bilbo is quite content in the Shire, quietly living out his days in peace. But when dwarves begin arriving at his door, and Gandalf returns, he learns he has been chosen for a greater purpose – to help them reclaim their home in Erebor.

Bilbo’s metamorphosis in the film, the beautiful world of Middle Earth, and the fantastic performances of the three leads (including the two previously mentioned and the sadly under-utilized-by-Hollywood Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield, the leader of our troop) and the supporting cast are the gems of THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY. The action, while sometimes slow and plodding, takes us across Middle Earth and sets the stage for the upcoming trilogy. Armitage carries the chip on Oakenshield’s shoulder with solemn pride, and delivers a performance that rivals those in the great dramas that usually reserve the majority of the Academy Awards. And don’t forget about Andy Serkis, once again as the creature Gollum, who provides some of the most emotional and incredible scenes in the film. I could write a thousand words about the incredible talent of that man… but I won’t. He’s amazing. That’s it.

So, is THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY a great film? No. But it is a very good film and would probably have faired better if it didn’t have to live up to the hype of THE LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY. The truth is The Hobbit was a children’s book, and I recall my father reading to my sister and I before bed when we were young. And while it is different in tone and story from The Lord of the Rings, it’s still a strong story on its own. I’m not a purist, and I hope the exposition of THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY pays dividends in the rest of the trilogy, but it simply wasn’t necessary. Enjoy the trip back to Middle Earth but don’t expect the same drama and high fantasy. As good as it is, it just doesn’t ever meet the standards set by the prior films.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: (1080p, 2.4:1 Widescreen) Some people complained about the frame-rate. Others about the 3D. I saw the 3D in theaters, regardless of your feelings for 3D this 2D blu-ray conversion is as beautiful and breathtaking as the source. I didn’t notice any issues with the frame rate – and honestly, who wants to think about that during a movie. Just sit back and enjoy.

Audio: (English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1) The sound is absolutely phenomenal, with ebbs and flows that will immerse you in the world of THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY.

New Zealand: Home of Middle Earth (06:35) Cast and crew describe the beauty of New Zealand and the beautiful locations featured in THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY. Rivaling the beauty of the LORD OF THE RINGS TRILOGY, the diverse natural features of New Zealand look amazing. This special feature contains standard interviews with cast and crew.

Video Blogs (02:07:07) Featuring a Play-All option (which I love), THE HOBBIT: THE UNEXPECTED JOURNEY Blu-ray features 10 video blogs previously available on the web, now for your collected viewing pleasure. This is the vast wealth of the ‘making-of’ features on the disc, and they are stunning. Both for the hardcore fan and anyone who wants to see how a movie of this scale is done. The Video Blogs start shortly before shooting and finish with the premiere, documenting the incredible production work done to bring Middle Earth to life. I can’t say enough about these blogs. Thank you Peter Jackson and your team, for this incredible treasure-trove of material.

The Blu-ray of THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY also features 6 variations on the Theatrical Trailers totaling (16:16), for your enjoyment; as well as trailers for three Middle Earth inspired video games totaling another (02:05). A little bit disappointing in terms of numbers, this Blu-ray still delivers on time and love for the source material.

The post The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

The story follows Pi, a boy traveling from India to Canada with his family on a Japanese freight ship across the Atlantic Ocean.  They’re also traveling with their zoo animals, hoping to sell them when they land to make enough money to start a new life.  But along the way, their freighter sinks, killing everyone on board except for Pi and four animals; a zebra with a broken leg, an orangutan, a hyena and a tiger.  Stranded on a small lifeboat, the four animals don’t play nice and eventually, only Pi and the tiger are left standing.  In order to survive, Pi has to find a way to live with the tiger and keep his sanity and hope at the same time.

You can take this film at face value as a fun, beautiful story about a shipwrecked boy and a feisty Bengal tiger.  If that’s all you choose to see in the movie, you still won’t be disappointed.  The tiger has a mind of its own and is actually the second biggest star in the movie, behind newcomer Suraj Sharma.  Even if you take it as a light-hearted adventure, LIFE OF PI works by keeping the audience on the edge of your seat, constantly amazed at each visually stunning sequence and genuinely interested in Pi’s fate as well as the tiger’s.  The greatness of the visual effects can’t be understated and given the simplicity of the story, seeing whales jump out of the ocean or the tiger jump at the screen is very satisfying.  LIFE OF PI is a beautiful film to look at and the effects are breathtaking.

But if you choose to look deeper into the film, that’s when it will really hit home with you.  LIFE OF PI has a message of positive thinking, faith in a higher power and spiritual discovery, but it’s so subtle that the message will only shine through if you let it.  Furthermore, the message is different for everyone.  Some may look at LIFE OF PI as an example of God’s will and the mysterious ways in which your faith works with you.  Others may look at this as an example of the lack of existence of God and that destiny is up to the individual.  Personally, I got less caught up in the religious parallels and instead looked at LIFE OF PI as one man’s fight with his inner-self and the struggle between the various influences your environment or situation can have on you.  But again, any interpretation of the film is correct and only you can decide what it meant.

The direction in LIFE OF PI is fantastic and Ang Lee deserved his Oscar for his work on this film.  Bringing this book to life on the big screen was fraught with potential pitfalls, but Lee avoided them all masterfully.  He somehow managed to make a film that pleases both adventure seekers and deep thinking movie goers.  The film is unbiased and left totally up to interpretation, making it one of the better thought-provoking films in years.

3D BLU-RAY REVIEW

LIFE OF PI impresses you right off the bat as far as 3D quality in the opening scenes of the zoo.  It features some of the best 3D animal scenes I’ve ever seen and the film didn’t let up.  From the sinking of the ship to the lush jungle landscapes, this is an incredible 3D experience.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  LIFE OF PI is something to behold on Blu-ray.  Whether you watch it in 3D or 2D, this is one of the most beautiful films to watch on the format.

Audio: The audio on LIFE OF PI is equally impressive, utilizing the 7.1 track perfectly.

A Filmmaker’s Epic Journey (1:03:20): If you were disappointed at the lack of commentary, then this should make you feel much better about the Blu-ray set.  This is an exhausting (in a good way) four-part documentary about the long process of making the film and the years that Ang Lee spent trying to get it to the big screen.

A Remarkable Vision (19:31): After the Oscar win, the special effects team of Rhythm and Hues got a lot of attention since they’re now defunct.  But they get a last chance to shine in this featurette and some of their team talk about the amazing effects including the photoluminescence scenes and the meerkat island.

Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright (8:36): The tiger is the true star of the film and this short featurette focuses on the real tigers and the CGI tigers used in the film.

Deleted Scenes (13:16): There are five scenes in all, all of which provide a little more detail about the specifics of living with a tiger on a boat.

VFX Progressions (14:51): These are two nice featurettes showing the progression of a special effects scene from crude outline all the way to the finished product.

Theatrical Trailer, Pre-production artwork Gallery and Storyboards

The post Life of Pi 3D Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Her parents dead, young Hadassah (later Esther) is taken in by her cousin Mordecai (John Rhyss-Davies).  She grows into a beautiful young woman (Dupont).  Over at the palace King Xerxes (Goss) is having a party and calls for his wife to join him.  When she refuses he has her “dispatched.”  Like all grieving husbands he decides to advertise for a new queen.  A “contest” is held, with all of the most beautiful virgins in the land gathered together to learn the ways of royalty.  After their training they will be allowed to spend one night with the King.  He then gets to choose his queen.  Think of it as THE BACHELOR:  OLD TESTAMENT STYLE!  When her turn comes, Esther is taken with the other women to the king’s treasury.  The women are told that they can take anything they want to wear in the presence of the king and if he is pleased with them they can keep it.  While most of the women grab gaudy necklaces and bracelets Esther chooses a simple chain.  Obviously, in the words of the Grail Knight in INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE, she “chose wisely.”  Now queen, Esther must begin to educate her husband, who has been convinced to authorize the extermination of all Jews after Mordecai refused to bow to an area prince.  Can Esther help her people?

Terribly written with a leading lady as wooden as my dining room table, ONE NIGHT WITH THE KING is a film that embellishes its story to the point of distraction.  I’m sure that the filmmakers felt they needed to spice up a familiar tale but it’s done so poorly that it’s almost laughable.  Scene after scene of great dinners, with glasses of wine held high, are inner spliced with quiet moments between Esther and Xerxes.  The dialogue is hysterically bad.  When Mordecai tells a woman that a brawl is no place for a woman she replies, “Then why’s a good Jew like you going?”  And speaking of embellishment, please don’t be fooled by the names splashed on the DVD cover.  Yes, first billed Peter O’Toole IS in the film.  For about 30 seconds.  And it’s only that long because he has a quick bit in slow motion.  Omar Sharif actually does have some screen time, though it’s a shame they couldn’t work him in to O’Toole’s half minute.  It would be nice to witness a little LAWRENCE OF ARABIA reunion.  Of the other “name” actors,  John Rhyss-Davies and Luke Goss give the best performances.  And a tip of the hat to Tommy “Tiny” Lister, who shows some dramatic chops he didn’t have to use in the FRIDAY films.  On the other side of the spectrum you have Tiffany Dupont.  She’s a cutie, to say the least.  But sadly she has no emotion.  The only way to tell if she’s happy or sad is to see how far her mouth is open.  Wide with teeth showing – happy.  Not as wide with not so many teeth – sad.  Her delivery is flat, even when she and Xerxes are expressing their love for each other.   Maybe she was just as bored with the film as I was.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  Presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio the film itself is well transferred.  Making use of the film’s presumed location and the colorful history of Persia the film is pretty to look at.

Audio:  Presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, the audio transfer is clean and clear.  Background noises do not bleed over into conversations, which is a plus because some of the characters, notably Lister, speak in low tones.

Audio Commentary:  A very by the book commentary is provided by co-producers Richard Cook, Matthew Crouch and Stephan Blinn, who also co-wrote the film.

The post One Night With The King Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

ATLAS SHRUGGED II: THE STRIKE picks up where we left off from Part One but with an entirely new cast and new group of filmmakers at the helm (except for the producing team).  Supposedly Rand’s estate was not happy with the direction in which the trilogy was headed and requested some major changes if they were going to move forward. This would have been a good decision if they had taken the time to ratchet up the screenwriting (in the filmmakers defense, they did hire a new screenwriter, but nothing really changed for the positive).

At the opening of ATLAS SHRUGGED II: THE STRIKE we’re reminded of what happened in the first film through a few cheesy faux-news reels. In ‘not-too-distant-future-USA’ the economy has almost entirely failed and the government’s attempts to socialize everything have expanded the chasm between the wealthy and the impoverished. Innovators and world-changers continue to disappear, leaving behind the cryptic message “Who is John Galt?” and one family, the Taggerts, continue to try to run the country’s last mode of transportation – a failing railroad.

The movie plays a bit like a “Who’s Who” of B-list movie and former A-list television talent. More like a made-for-TV mini-series, ATLAS SHRUGGED II: THE STRIKE constantly hints at greater issues that never emerge. The movie espouses Rand’s philosophy but does so in a way that may not make sense to those not familiar with her written works. Even the acting, retooled from the ground up, feels forced. There are, thankfully, a few nicely played roles (I’m looking at you, Richard T. Jones and Jason Beghe), but in general they fall flat. The recasting creates another issue for those who saw the first film – we are generally left to figure out who did what in the previous film without much else to connect us.

I know I didn’t say much about the plot… truth be told there just isn’t much of a plot here to talk about. ATLAS SHRUGGED II: THE STRIKE believes itself a daring and exciting thriller but fails on all accounts and instead is primarily a bore. Unless you have a deep love of Rand and the literature that sparked this franchise, this movie probably isn’t for you.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: (1080p, 2.35:1 Widescreen) ATLAS SHRUGGED II: THE STRIKE features video that is clear and sharp, though some of the effects are a little campy.

Audio: (English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) The sound is presented nicely, mixed well and the score is probably the strongest thing about ATLAS SHRUGGED II: THE STRIKE.

Behind the Scenes of ATLAS SHRUGGED II: THE STRIKE (08:48) A nearly nine minute in-depth look at the primary ‘action’ scene in ATLAS SHRUGGED II: THE STROKE, this feature covers all aspects of filming this short finished sequence.

Sean Hannity Extended Segment (03:13) This is the full version of the Hannity segment featured in the film. It was a good idea to try to connect to something the audience might know, but Hannity mixed with a bunch of obviously fake news segments did nothing for ATLAS SHRUGGED II: THE STRIKE.

Deleted Scenes (14:43) This track plays several scenes rightly cut from ATLAS SHRUGGED II: THE STRIKE. The only one of merit features the aforementioned Richard T. Jones, but even it is pretty slow.

ATLAS SHRUGGED II: THE STRIKE also features “Sneak Peaks” of coming attractions BROKEN CITY and HITCHCOCK.

The post Atlas Shrugged II: The Strike Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Bill Courtney has a wife, kids and a business that keeps him busy.  He’s also spent the past seven years as the volunteer head coach of the Manassas Tigers, a high school team in Memphis.  The team has never been very good…in fact they make most of their budget money by traveling to other schools and getting their butts kicked on the field.  As the film begins Coach lists all of the problems the team is facing this year.  He’s got two players that have been shot and are no longer in school.  Another has been arrested.  “For most coaches,” Coach Courtney tells his players, “that would be a career’s worth of crap to deal with.  I think that sums up the last two weeks for me.”  An understatement if there ever was one.  Not sure what he was hoping for but things look tough for Coach Courtney, the Tigers and the 2009 high school football season.

Gritty and in your face, UNDEFEATED is the story of how love and inspiration can help defeat the biggest demons you may face.  Front and center is a senior player named O.C.  O.C. has the tools to make it to Division I college football but not the grades.  One of the assistant coaches (again, like the entire staff, a volunteer) allows O.C. to live with him, thereby making sure that he receives the tutoring he needs to pass his SAT’s.  A young man just back from a juvenile detention facility feels he must reassert himself as the campus bad-ass, to the chagrin of his teammates.  Another player with talent seems doomed to spend his life wondering “what if” after an injury takes away any chance of him going to college on a football scholarship.  Again, love and inspiration take over.  In what is, to me, the most emotional scene in a film full of emotional scenes, the player drops to the ground weeping when he’s told by another coach that a friend of his has offered to pay the players tuition to any school he wants to attend.  As these stories unfold the team learns to be just that…a team!  “Football doesn’t build character,” Coach Courtney tells the camera.  “It reveals it.”  This is true not only with the players but with the coaches as well.

Winner of the 2011 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, UNDEFEATED is a film that will make you laugh.  Make you cry.  And, most of all make you cheer.  A true story that needs nothing added to make it entertaining, UNDEFEATED is not just “based on a true story”…it is one.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  Not a lot of money spent in the transfer.  The film itself was shot on hand held video cameras and the HD transfer, though sharp, is not always clean.  Not a shoddy job, just limited from the material provided.

Audio:  Though presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, the audio transfer is along the lines of the video.  The main attraction of this film is the story and the conversations and speeches are loud and clear.  Surrounding sounds, be it those associated with a football game or background classroom chatter are not as prominent.

Audio Commentary:  An outstanding commentary is provided by the film’s directors, Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin.  Everything you’d want to know about making a documentary feature is discussed and highlighted.

Deleted Scenes (13:47):  Six scenes not used in the film including those of a player named Joaquin who originally was part of the focus of the film.

Black and White Teaser Trailer (1:42)

Making Of (8:31):  A short featurette that follows the film from conception to Oscar night.

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I should start by saying how much respect I have for the men and women who work the 911 hotline/Hive as it looks like a foreboding job that could easily suck the life out of you.  To get into the mindset of her character, Halle Berry, actually sat in on some real 911 calls to see how it all goes down.  Berry, for me, has always felt like a supporting actress rather than a lead, that said, I loved GOTHICA as well as enjoyed many of her other films like SWORDFISH and X-MEN movies (although I wish she didn’t change Storm’s accent every movie).  Berry’s performance here was strong, and I’m glad considering her presence in the abysmal MOVIE 43 made me lose some respect for her.  She earned it back tenfold.

Where this film stands apart from other serial killer thrillers is how they navigated through the Hive with our kidnapped girl Casey (ZOMBIELAND’s Little Rock all grown up).  Casey (Abigail Breslin) pulls her weight and at the very least, doesn’t simply roll over and die like many a damsel in distress these days—I especially loved the paint angle, very smart.  The phone tag scenario felt a little less believable due to the fact that with technology being as advanced as it is, you’d think they’d have triangulated that phone in fifteen minutes flat.  Sure, it was a throwaway, but damn, if it was that easy to just disappear off the grid everyone (killers and regular people alike) would be using them.

I’m a big fan of our demented killer, Michael Eklund, who’s come a long way from guest appearances on SMALLVILLE and SUPERNATURAL.  One of Eklund’s most powerful/disturbing performances came from the post apocalyptic thriller THE DIVIDE—good flick, I definitely recommend it.  He plays a great psycho (loved the teeth chattering and the sister angle with the hair).  Getting the kidnapped Casey from A to B takes up a good hour of the film, which rocks and keeps you on the edge of your seat without a doubt, but a couple of the things that happen along the way bring me back to the idea of him getting pinpointed in  a much quicker fashion.  However, it is a movie after all, so I just rolled with it (and here’s a big HOLLA to Michael Imperioli–Chris from THE SOPRANOS).

THE CALL is a good thriller that’s slick, quick on its feet and smart.  The final act is a “take or leave it” dose of suspension of disbelief that I won’t ruin for you, but seeing as how the trailer shows you that (at some point) Berry and the killer end up at the same place, I can discuss it a little.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved the ending, I’d have made the same decisions leading up to it, but Berry’s character isn’t a detective, so how she ends up where she ends up is a bit of a stretch.  It’s a small complaint to be sure, but I was shaking my head despite my grin.  All in all, this is a well made, intricately angled thriller that hopefully marks a comeback for Halle Berry.

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This is the type of movie that is ‘safe’ to recommend to most anyone.  With the PG rating you have a simple underdog story of a boy and his quest to overcome his life obstacles diving deep into his passion for surfing. There are hints of dangerous elements occurring on dry land but you never really see any of it. Things like a single mother who needs her son to be responsible for her as she struggles putting her life together or misfit surfers who scowl and brood with subtle hints implying that they might partake in recreational drug use.  Those elements aside, the things that make this movie an easy recommendation to your kid brother or grandmother are the can-do attitude and uplifting spirit of our main character Jay, played with wide-eyed innocence by newcomer Jonny Weston.

No matter how well made a picture might be, films like CHASING MAVERICKS cannot help but inspire the viewer to go after outrageous goals, because they  feel the character growing and learning after enduring such a challenging process. Even though the training sequences between Jay and Frosty (Gerard Butler) have a bit of a ‘wax on, wax off’ vibe, it works.

What didn’t work for me were some of the casting choices. Leven Rambin as Jay’s love interest, Kim, looked well beyond the age of 17, whereas Abigail Spencer, who plays Frosty’s wife, Brenda, was younger looking than Rambin. In fact, I was taken out of the picture during a moment when the two women converse, because of the mismatched ages.   Gerard Bulter’s performance was what one would expect from him. The majority of the time it felt forced, like he was trying too hard, whereas other scenes felt natural. Those who are fans of Butler’s work in 300 will be happy to hear his signature growling yell as he tips his hat to Jay in the final scene of the film.  There was a definite contrast to Jonny Weston’s earnest performance as the optimal optimist, Moriarty. Weston was a great choice for portraying the positive surfer. He reminded me of the male equivalent of Mandy Moore in Nicolas Sparks’ A WALK TO REMEMBER.

The scenery and surfing footage was quite impressive. The filmmakers did an excellent job capturing all the details and elements surfers struggle with when riding the waves.  Having three world renowned professional surfers, Greg Long, Peter Mel and Zach Wormhoudt,  as Frosty’s surfing buddies helped validate this as a surf sports flick. And, as this film is based on the real life surfer, Jay Moriarty, it might be their way to pay homage to the talented athlete.

CHASING MAVERICKS is lighthearted fun and if you ever want to watch a film that encourages your spirit and makes you feel good, this is an easy recommendation.

 BLU-RAY REVIEW

Audio (DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1): CHASING MAVERICKS had some issues with the audio. The waves crashing sounded amazing, but some of the dialogue felt too quiet.

Video (1.85:1): The video perfectly captured the amazing contrast between sea and sky; pulling the viewer into the picture. Excellent video with a sharp picture.

Audio Commentary with Michael Apted, Brandon Hooper, and Jim Meenaghan: This is an interesting commentary, where  we learn that director Apted took over the film when Hanson fell ill. If you are interested in the sport of surfing or like commentaries, I would recommend this one.

Deleted Scenes (5:45): There are five deleted scenes total that come with a play all button. These scenes were rightly deleted as they didn’t  add too much to the overall story.

Surf City (10:30): This was a fun look at the surfing community of Santa Cruz, California. The filmmakers and cast review the importance of filming on location, the amazing vibe of the city and how the community loves surfing!

Shooting Waves (10:38): I found this feature to be fascinating. I did not fully appreciate the great lengths filmmakers took to capture all of the shots the audience enjoyed in this picture.

Live Like Jay (10:50): This is a look into the real Jay Moriarty and the legacy he left behind. Family, friends and the surfing community remember him.

Surfer Zen (10:09): If you want to hear what surfers get from being out in the open water and enjoying the waves, this is a good featurette for you. Plus, Gerard Butler shares his scary surfing experience from filming CHASING MAVERICKS.

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SMASHED may sound like the typical alcoholic story of things going from bad to worse to ending happily ever after.  However, SMASHED isn’t afraid to magnify all the problems that still arise when becoming sober.  A specific line in the film where Kate expresses her feelings during an AA meeting about the complete falsehood of the saying, “My worst day sober is better than my best day drunk” describes what the film is attempting to showcase perfectly.  Sure life is better from being sober because you are choosing to live but things still come with a price.  Kate’s job and marriage are still in jeopardy and the film does a nice job promoting sobriety but showing the difficulties.

Writer and Director James Ponsoldt should be commended for his small but poignant film.  He strikes a touching chord by creating believable and likable characters within an authentic environment.  One of his greatest strengths is in his casting.  Real life husband and wife duo Megan Mullally (Will and Grace) and Nick Offerman (the manly mustache wearing Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec) do a fantastic job in their respective roles.  Oscar winner Octavia Spencer alway manages to bring heart and gravity to any character she plays no matter how small the role.

But the film is really about the relationship between Kate and Charlie and how their bond is strained when one chooses to become sober. Whether it be bicycling together drunk or arguing about cake soberly, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Aaron Paul display amazing chemistry. Winstead is particularly good as she confronts an array of emotions and I suspect we will be seeing much more of her in the future.

Watching drunk people on screen continue to make stupid decisions is nearly as obnoxious as seeing it in person.  SMASHED walks a very thin line of becoming monotonous early on.  Sometimes the film stumbles through a few convenient plot devices and questionable character choices that lack reason just to create obstacles to drive the story, but these are minimal missteps. Overall, SMASHED is an affective look at the hardships to becoming sober.  Perhaps it could have delved a little deeper but I think it achieves an interesting and thought-provoking film with a lot of great elements.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: (MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p, 2.39:1) A great looking picture that utilizes hand held camera techniques and different times of day to achieve the intimacy, sadness and chaos that comes with being an alcoholic.

Audio: (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) The audio mixing is terrifically put together as everyone is heard clearly throughout with minimal outside sound.

Commentary with Director James Ponsoldt &  Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead: The two clearly enjoy working together and have a true passion about SMASHED.  They have a very chummy friendship as they talk light-heartedly about making the picture and give their thoughts about the fun and mishaps throughout.

Making Smashed (12:23): A fun little making of featurette with some behind the scenes shots of a few scenes not aired and many interviews from the entire cast and director.

Toronto Film Festival Red Carpet and Q&A (14:45): James Ponsoldt, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Octavia Spencer all answer a few questions from the audience after a screening.  Some of it’s kind of generic but still a bit insightful and fun to see the people involved talk about SMASHED.

Deleted Scenes (10:25):  Six scenes that were rightfully cut due to being either filler or repetitive within the confines of the story.

Theatrical Trailer

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Steve Carell (CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE) is the Incredible Burt Wonderstone, a magician who along with his best friend and partner Anton Marvelton (Boardwalk Empire’s Steve Bucemi), headline a show at a major casino hotel in Vegas for the last ten years.  Unfortunately their act is getting old and to make matters worse the passion is gone.  Wonderstone is pompous, stubborn and bored with his work and colleague, simply going through the motions on stage with the goal of bedding his numerous assistants or even a  pretty volunteer.  When a new kind of magic man appears in Steve Gray (Jim Carrey exaggerating street magicians like Criss Angel and David Blaine) with his extreme act called Brain Rape, Wonderstone is forced to change.  After losing everything, Burt must drop the attitude and learn a valuable lesson about the positives that got him into the business in the first place.

The beginning moments seem to be where most of the funny lands as we see the young boy version of our title character humorlessly be neglected by his parents, cleverly avoid bullies, receive his first magic kit and subsequently his first and presumably only friend in Anton.  Fast forward to an adult, we see Burt has become the very bully he avoided all those years.  While Burt’s jerkiness provides some very humorous moments, the schtick quickly grows old.  But the problem does not lie with Carell who manages to make his terrible character somewhat likable, but rather with the character itself as Burt seems to make an implausible turn from meanie to sweetie in less than a nanosecond.   Throw in some other poor plot details and wasted talent like Alan Arkin (ARGO) as an elderly pioneer of magic, James Gadolfini (Sopranos) as a rich casino owner, and rapidly rising star Olivia Wilde (THE WORDS) as a very forced and unlikely love interest / aspiring magician, and we have a perfect recipe for a very underwhelming comedy.

On the otherhand, Jim Carrey (ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND) is a breath of fresh air as he steals nearly every scene, providing most of the laugh out loud moments.  Unfortunately, Carrey isn’t on screen nearly enough.  Hopefully this performance along with his upcoming role in KICK-ASS 2 will remind audiences of his underutilized talent that this type of role is able to showcase.  Long time television director Don Scardino appeared to be a little out of his league directing his first feature film, unable to understand or balance the edgy humor with the sugary sweet conclusion.  However, the final credit scene provides one of the bigger laughs as it hilariously shows the behind the scene workings of one of the more ridiculous tricks.  I believe the film would have benefited if it had incorporated more of this angle throughout.

It’s a shame THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE couldn’t capitalize on the funny premise and the top notch cast.   The film lacks jokes and never comes close to the current comedy standard from the last decade such as 21 JUMP STREET, ANCHORMAN, 40-YEAR OLD VIRGIN or BRIDESMAIDS. THE INCREDIBLE BURT WONDERSTONE comes off pretty mediocre and being mediocre doesn’t cut it.  In fact, mediocre is insulting when it comes to known powerhouse comedians like Carell and Carrey who are unable to elevate this film to the comedic heights of their first collaboration in BRUCE ALMIGHTY.  Because the premise and talent level are ripe with comedic possibilities, the film is far more of a let down.  Perhaps it might find new life through repeat broadcasts on cable TV.  I think we all expect more from comedies now days and that’s a good thing.

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By 1984, the HALLOWEEN series was three titles deep and the FRIDAY THE 13^TH franchise had four entries to its name. It was time for something fresh.

Enter A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, written and directed by Wes Craven, who at the time was most famous for its exploitative shockers THE LAST HOSUE ON THE LEFT (1972) and THE HILLS HAVE EYES (1977). The New Line Cinema production proved effective while its competitors were already beginning to parody themselves.

While far from groundbreaking for the horror field (the villain—disfigured child murderer Freddy Krueger, portrayed by eventual genre go-to Robert Englund—is still an unstoppable maniac slicing and dicing American teens), it did balk at trying to scare the viewers with things they rarely (if ever) encountered, like babysitters or summer camp. Instead, it made them afraid to fall asleep, lest they be slashed to pieces and dragged across their bedroom walls and ceiling.

The first entry in the NIGHTMARE franchise is tremendously operative, full of bright blood, iconic scenes and legitimate fears.

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE (1985) – 5/10

A profit of $24 million was evidently enough to warrant a sequel. And so “the man of your dreams is back,” this time targeting the family who’s just moved into the old Thompson house. Having been “defeated” by Nancy Thompson years ago, Freddy puts his efforts into enticing Jesse (Mark Patton) into killing for him so he can return to the real world.

Directed by Jack Sholder (1982’s ALONE IN THE DARK), FREDDY’S REVENGE is a weak entry, in part because it lost Heather Langenkamp, who portrayed Nancy in the original (and again in the third and final entries). But there are also almost no scares (the parakeet attack is laughable) and the homosexual undertones (including a trip to an S&M, where the school gym teacher also frequents) are out of place and awkward.

Some of the better visuals include Freddy emerging from Jesse’s body to kill Ron (Robert Rusler) and his tongue replacing Jesse’s mid-foreplay.

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS (1987) – 8/10

DREAM WARRIORS finds Freddy preying on patients at Western Hills Psychiatric Hospital, where Nancy Thompson is interning. One of the teenage residents is Kristen (Patricia Arquette in her debut), admitted for attempting suicide. But we all know how those slashes on her wrists got there.

Directed by Chuck Russell (who, with DREAM WARRIORS on his resume, landed THE BLOB a year later), this third entry in the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series is one of the best of the sequels, as it captures the essence of the franchise and its villain better than any other post-1984.

DREAM WARRIORS offers a display of both the characteristic nightmare-esque gore (Freddy as a giant snake; a corpse as a marionette; tongues as restraining straps) and Freddy’s cheeky humor (attacking Zsa Zsa Gabor on a talk show; “Welcome to prime time, bitch!”), the latter of which would later become overkill.

In addition to bringing back Langenkamp, DREAM WARRIORS entry also marked the return of Wes Craven, who co-wrote the script with Russell, Frank Darabont and Bruce Wagner.

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 4: THE DREAM MASTER (1988) – 5/10

THE DREAM MASTER picks up with the three teens who survived the massacre at Western Hills. But don’t worry; few Elm Street residents survive Freddy twice. And so after Kincaid (Ken Sagoes), Joey (Rodney Eastman) and Kristen (Tuesday Knight, replacing Arquette) are killed off in the first act, the burden is put onto Alice (Lisa Wilcox), who thinks people are in control of their own dreams. She clearly hasn’t been to Springwood’s cemetery in the last few years.

This fourth installment is directed by Renny Harlin and co-written by, among others, Brian Helgeland (who would later win an Oscar for L.A. CONFIDENTIAL). Harlin weaves in a chunk of visually disturbing bits with the help of the VFX team (Freddy draining an asthmatic girl of all her oxygen; the roach hotel scene; the spirits escaping Freddy’s body), while Helgeland supplies a number of one-liners that had become as much a trait of Freddy as his glove (“How’s this for a wet dream?” precedes his drowning a victim in a waterbed; Freddy declares “I love soul food” before he dines on the miniaturized head of a victim).

The latter element is where the biggest issue with THE DREAM MASTER stems from. Between Freddy’s elementary punch lines (which DREAM WARRIORS only hinted at) and the silly kills (Rick’s battle with an invisible Freddy), it uses its runtime to turn the humor of the series into self-mockery. That explains the rap song, “Are You Ready for Freddy.”

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 5: THE DREAM CHILD (1989) – 4/10

THE DREAM MASTER survivor Alice (returning as protagonist) has just graduated from high school and—if you’re paying attention to the subtitle—is pregnant. Just wait ‘til Freddy gets wind of the news.

This twist in the storyline does little to turn around the quality of the series. With so many sequences devoted to the baby and Freddy’s own mother, Amanda, THE DREAM CHILD (directed by Stephen Hopkins, whose next feature would be PREDATOR 2) leaves little time for kills. This fifth installment ties FREDDY’S DEAD for the lowest body count of the series.

THE DREAM CHILD, as with any of the other lesser entries (FREDDY’S REVENGE; THE DREAM MASTER), should be praised if only for its strong special effects. Just look at the demonic baby (who scurries about like the long-lost double of the infant from IT’S ALIVE) or any of the offings (the comic book-inspired one, despite its complete absurdity, is incredibly well-executed).

FREDDY’S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE (1991) – 4/10

It’s 1999 and just about the entire teen population of Springwood has died off. But wait! There’s one left! After a nighttime run-in with Freddy, the boy, John (Shon Greenblat), is sent to a shelter the next town over, where he’s taken under the guidance of Maggie (Lisa Zane).  A lot of good that does.

FREDDY’S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE is intended, of course, to be the last entry in the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series. But it never feels like a grand finale.

Instead, it makes the same mistakes as THE DREAM CHILD: spending more time on Freddy’s backstory (and his family) than the kills. And the slayings that are here—an exploding head, Freddy using a videogame controller to throw Breckin Meyer down stairs, a cut parachute—just aren’t enough to please fans. (That the final kill comes with 30+ minutes left in the movie doesn’t help.)

Still, the scenes in decrepit Springwood do offer some haunting visuals, especially considering two of the residents are Roseanne and Tom Arnold. (Other familiar faces that pop up, whether in supporting roles or cameos: Yaphet Kotto, Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp, in an anti-drug PSA).

Directed by Rachel Talalay (later GHOST IN THE MACHINE), FREDDY’S DEAD is the only NIGHTMARE movie to use 3D (a full nine years after FRIDAY THE 13^TH utilized the gimmick). It’s also the only one to open with a Nietzsche quote.

WES CRAVEN’S NEW NIGHTMARE (1994) – 8/10

Freddy may have been offed in the aptly titled FREDDY’S DEAD, but that’s no reason to not make another NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. The meta NEW NIGHTMARE has Craven himself directing the latest sequel, which is rushed into production thanks to fan demand (sound familiar?). In the leads roles are, naturally, Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund.

It’s not long before Freddy makes his presence known and Heather’s son, Dylan (Miko Hughes), starts acting possessed and those close to the production (including Heather’s husband, played by David Newsom) meet their fates. This is all happening (again) because of Freddy’s need to live in the real world.

Craven is in on the joke of it all (from Freddy’s celebrity to the need to resurrect the villain) and is aware of the best and worst of his creation. He acknowledges things went a little wayward since 1984 and so, with a wink, goes back to the franchise’s roots. He knows just what the fans want and gives it to them, with fresh splatter and clever nods to the original (from John Saxon’s appearance to the last death, which mimes the first kill of the series)

NEW NIGHTMARE isn’t just a successful celebration of the 10^th anniversary of the original NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET; it’s one of the best of the series.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 1.85:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec on all seven films.

The original NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET looks the best of the bunch and clearly more work went into its transfer than any of the other films. It still maintains the ‘80s feel and much of the grain, but there are many strong details and deep blacks throughout. That’s not to say that the other six films look bad (NEW NIGHTMARE, being the newest entry, is a runner-up to the original in the video department). While they don’t completely live up to the original’s quality, the transfers do host a fine level of clarity and color balance, and also capture the special effects in a very faithful manner (although some do feel dated in 2013).

Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 on A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET; English 5.1 on the remaining six films; Dolby Digital 2.0 on THE DREAM MASTER, THE DREAM CHILD, FREDDY’S DEAD, and NEW NIGHTMARE; English 1.0 on the original, FREDDY’S REVENGE and DREAM WARRIORS.

All of the films sound just fine, with clean, audible dialogue and effective soundtracks (from the score to Dokken). The audio transfer is at its strongest during the kill scenes, when the sound effects get a tremendous workout through your speakers.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

Filmmakers’ Commentary: Wrtier/director Wes Craven, Heather Langenkamp (Nancy Thompson), John Saxon (Lt. Don Thompson), and cinematographer Jacques Haitkin sit down to discuss the production of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET.

Cast & Crew Commentary: This track compiles interviews with Craven, Langenkamp, Haitkin, producer Robert Shaye, Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger), Amanda Wyss (Tina Gray), Ronee Blakley (Marge Thompson), producer Sara Risher, associate producer John Burrows, composer Charles Bernstein, editing Rick Shaine, editor Patrick McMahon, special effects artist Jim Doyle, makeup artist David B. Miller, and film historian David Del Valle.

Never Sleep Again (49:54): This documentary, complete with interviews and clips, looks at various elements of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET to paint a detailed look at everything from the original concept to the film’s release.

The House That Freddy Built (22:47) pays tribute to New Line Cinema and its many horror releases, including the NIGHTMARE series, ALONE IN THE DARK and a pair of later FRIDAY THE 13^TH films.

Night Terrors (15:58) looks at dreams and their role.

Alternate Endings: There are three here: Scary Ending (1:39), Happy Ending (1:31) and Freddy Ending (1:46).

Also included are Focus Points and a Fact Track, both of which run along with the film.

FREDDY’S REVENGE

Heroes and Villains (6:22): New Line Cinema CEO Robert Shaye, director Jack Sholder and Wes Craven discuss FREDDY’S REVENGE and horror trends.

Psycho Sexual Circus (3:26): Production assistant Rachel Talalay, Sholder and actor Robert Englund touch on the film’s various mistakes and the lead character, played by Mark Patton.

The Male Witch (2:46): Sholder and special effects artist Kevin Yagher discuss Freddy’s grotesque look.

Freddy on 8^th Street (5:28): Sholder, publicist Jeffrey Wells and Englund chat about Freddy’s popularity.

Theatrical Trailer

DREAM WARRIORS

Behind the Story is divided into seven brief sections: Fan Mail (0:45) with Dick Cavett touching on his famous cameo; Onward Christian Soldiers (9:01), which looks at the film’s origins; Snakes and Ladders (6:04), a tribute to the special effects; Trading 8’s (4:09), a piece devoted to some of the more popular scenes and lines (“Welcome to prime time, bitch!”); That’s Show Biz (2:00), with Robert Englund reminiscing about the shoot; Burn Out (3:38), with the Heather Langenkamp and John Saxon discussing returning for another NIGHTMARE entry; and The House That Freddy Built (0:38), about New Line Cinema’s success.

Music Video for Dokken’s “Dream Warriors.”

Theatrical Trailer

THE DREAM MASTER

Krueger, Freddy Krueger (8:16): New Line Cinema bigwig Al Shapiro, director Renny Harlin and more discuss the latter’s hiring, approaching Freddy’s character and more.

Hopeless Chest (3:45): Special effects artists John Carl Buechler and Steve Johnson chat about their work on THE DREAM MASTER.

Let’s Makeup (2:20) focuses on Freddy’s popularity and the makeup.

The Finnish Line (2:27): Harlin reminisces about THE DREAM MASTER’s screening and reception.

Theatrical Trailer

THE DREAM CHILD

Behind the Story is divided into five sections: Womb Raiders (6:23), an overall look at the production; The Sticky Floor (5:45), a piece on special effects at the time; Take the Stairs (0:56), about the M.C. Escher-inspired sequence; Hopkins Directs (0:35), with on-set footage of Stephen Hopkins and Robert Englund; and A Slight Miscalculation (1:26), about to the lack of scares in THE DREAM CHILD.

Music Videos for Fat Boys’ “Are You Ready for Freddy?” and Whodini’s “Anyway I Gotta Swing It.”

Theatrical Trailer

FREDDY’S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE

Rachel’s Dream (2:48) looks at director Rachel Talalay and her work on FREDDY’S DEAD.

3D Demise (2:18): This featurette covers how utilizing 3D “limited” the finale.

86’d (1:40): New Line Cinema CEO Robert Shaye shares his thoughts on FREDDY’S DEAD.

Hellraiser (0:39): Director Clive Baker (HELLRAISER) discusses working on sequels.

Theatrical Trailer

NEW NIGHTMARE

Commentary by Wes Craven: Craven covers every topic fans of NEW NIGHTMARE would want to learn about, from the story’s origins and the cast to the themes and, of course, Freddy Krueger.

Becoming a Filmmaker (7:53): Craven discusses his early years, working in New York and his eventual successes.

An Insane Troupe (0:51): Craven reminisces about seeing THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and learning to make the audience “frightened of the filmmaker.”

Two Worlds (2:04): Craven touches on the themes of NEW NIGHTMARE and how they fit with criticisms of the horror genre.

The Problem with Sequels (1:35): Craven discusses how he had to bring NEW NIGHTMARE to “another level.”

Filmmaker (4:37): Craven shares his views on his profession.

Theatrical Trailer

BONUS DISC

Fear Himself: The Life and Crimes of Freddy Krueger (31:01): This informative documentary covers a variety of subjects relating to the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET franchise, from Freddy/Robert Englund and the style to themes and the horror genre at the time.

Two episodes of the anthology series FREDDY’S NIGHTMARES, both from the first season: “It’s a Miserable Life” and “Killer Instinct.”

Welcome to Prime Time (49:26) is another comprehensive documentary, divided into 13 sections. They are: “It Really Happened,” “A Childhood Memory,” “Sometime in the Early 80’s,” “So It Began,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Making the Glove,” “Shapeshifter,” “The Shoot,” “The Revolving Room,” “All’s Well That Ends Well,” “Talalay’s Tally,” “It Couldn’t Have Happened,” and “Alternating Ending Version 1.”

Conclusions (17:09) wraps up with any topics not touched on in previous special features. The 10 sections are: “Where Gothic Plots Come From,” “Why We Like Gothic,” “Sadomasochism,” “Freddy vs. Pinhead,” “Freddy’s Manic Energy,” “Creating Lasting Characters in Horror,” “No More Magic Tricks,” “Monster with Personality,” “Freddy as Sex Machine,” and “Campfire Stories.”

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The best word to describe LAY THE FAVORITE is unnecessary. It’s very light and inoffensive but the entire premise is completely useless.  There is never any real danger and any little conflict that arises is immediately resolved. But it doesn’t really matter because even if the conflict was exciting, none of the characters had enough substance for us to care about. The whole film was without purpose.

LAY THE FAVORITE has an obscene amount of usually talented stars.  Bruce Willis and Catherine Zeta-Jones do their best to lower their performance level in order to match the insignificant film quality. Vince Vaughn (WEDDING CRASHERS), Joshua Jackson (Fringe), Laura Prepon (That 70′s Show), Corbin Bernsen (MAJOR LEAGUE) were all completely unnecessary adding more blandness to an already stale concoction.  One of the bigger disappointments is Rebecca Hall who has some success landing roles in THE PRESTIGE, THE TOWN and the upcoming IRON MAN 3.  Unfortunately, her performance was just as annoying as the character she played.

Perhaps the biggest shocker is that LAY THE FAVORITE is directed by Oscar nominated Stephen Frears (THE QUEEN, HIGH FIDELITY, DANGEROUS LIASONS, THE GRIFTERS).  Clearly, the man has talent in dramas and comedy and knows a little bit about the betting scene. So why is LAY THE FAVORITE so poorly executed with awkward edits and poor pacing landing smack dab in the middle of nothingness, oblivion? He and everyone involved should be held to higher standards.

It’s not even necessarily a train wreck because at least that is newsworthy garnering excitement and interest.  No, LAY THE FAVORITE’s biggest tragedy is its complete and utter forgettable boringness. I think it’s supposed to be a comedy but I never really laughed.  The brief inside look and tactics toward gambling were somewhat interesting but that’s not really what this film is about.  This unfortunate film is mostly about a lead character who is not worth rooting for.  Beth is actively trying to break up a marriage and is unbelievably googly eyed and ditzy as if she came straight from a stereotypical side character in Saved By The Bell.   One might find solace in seeing some of their favorite stars in sunny Las Vegas, but I wouldn’t bet on it.  There is absolutely no need to see this one.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: (1080p 1.85:1 MPEG-4 AVC) A good looking picture utilizing the bright colorful lights of Las Vegas.

Audio:  (DTS-HD MASTER AUDIO 5.1) A decent sound with all the dialogue coming through clearly.

Deleted Scenes (7:41): Eleven deleted scenes that are just as unnecessary as the scenes in the actual film.

Trailers

The post Lay The Favorite Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

The Leung family has employed Ah Tao (Deannie Yip) as their maid for over 60 years.  As the family gradually migrated over to the U.S., ultimately Roger (Andy Lau) became the last remaining member still living in Hong Kong and Ah Tao’s sole master.  Roger literally does not know a life without Ah Tao as she was his family’s servant before he was even born, which led him to a very natural state of complacency.  Ah Tao has always been there for him, cleaning his clothes, preparing his meals and even nursing him back to health after suffering a heart attack at a young age.  However, when it is Ah Tao who is struck with illness, the true depth of what she means to Roger and his family is finally revealed to even themselves as it is now their turn to take care of her.

Director Ann Hui was beyond successful in her attempt to deliver a gentle story about two people who greatly depend on each other at different stages of their lives.  Roger, who is a successful movie producer, has allowed Ah Tao’s omnipresence in his life to lull him into taking her for granted, but never to a place of disrespect.  Ah Tao’s service to Roger and his family is not just her life’s work, but also her source of fulfillment as a pseudo mother and family member, something she was robbed of as a young orphan.  At first glance, their relationship looks very much like it would to any outsider, that of a servant and a master.  But as Ann Hui surgically lets the viewer into their lives in small increments by way of a minimalist style and allowing scenes to develop at a real-world pace, it is revealed just how plentiful the well of admiration and even love that is contained on both sides.

The performances of Andy Lau and Deannie Yip are a perfect 1:1 match for the pace set by their director.  Lau and Yip keep a steady tone throughout the film, never getting too high or too low, even when the circumstances are bleak.  This is a more realistic approach as people who face impending hardships on a daily basis hardly tend to reach the dramatic heights of Hollywood produced expectations.  And in that same vein, the humor between the characters is equally superb due to clever writing that naturally crowbars in some smiles during unexpected moments.

A SIMPLE LIFE is genuinely a simple film, but not in the way of poor character development or shaky plot structure.  In fact, those two usual pillars of any script are not really of any consequence in this endeavor.  The true power this film wields is appropriately simplistic; no major revelations or epic plot twists are needed to convey how humans are not only capable of matching our destructive tendencies with compassion and generosity, but at our best even our darkest corners of the behavioral spectrum can be outweighed by the sheer magnitude of our altruistic humanity.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  1.85:1 Widescreen, 1080p/AVC MPEG-4: Video quality on this disc is inconspicuously good.  The sharpness is there, but the colors are purposefully muted, rendering the appropriate tone of life in a nursing home and dealing with the harshness of mortality.  However, the balancing of this technique is done quite well as the film never really lets the mood fall into a pit of depression.  Outdoor scenes are reminiscent of a Polaroid, or Instagram for the youngsters, feel and lean more to a state of reminiscing than melancholy.

Audio:  English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1: Dialogue is of the most importance in a low-key film like this, and if you’re only using the subtitles anyway it’s even less pertinent.  However the sound is very well rendered, keeping voices clear in low registers and filtering out just enough background noise to keep the simplistic nature of the film intact but keeping the “silence” loud enough to maintain the feel of a professional production.

There are no bonus features on the disc.

This is unfortunate because it would have been very interesting to hear how the lead characters formed their incredibly natural chemistry on set.

The post A Simple Life Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

In the world of RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, the mythical characters of North (Alec Baldwin), Tooth (Isla Fisher), Sandman (the one that brings you dreams, not the one that battles Spider-Man) and Bunny (Hugh Jackman) are all “heroes” that protect the world from mythical bad guys.  But in this world, there’s really only one “bad” guy and that’s Pitch as in, “pitch black” (Jude Law).  When Pitch’s evil plot to take over the world gets out of hand, the Guardians turn to Jack Frost (Chris Pine) to join the group and help them battle Pitch.

The Guardians are taken from familiar stories (Santa Clause, The Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny) and so they all play on the tired jokes you would expect them to use.  That creates one of the many problems in the film in that none of the characters are that interesting and none of them are that different from the stories we heard as a kid.  The difference, of course, is that they team up to fight evil, but even then, Pitch’s motivations are murky at best.  The chance for an interesting character came with Jack, but predictably, Jack is a cocky, young kid that just wants to have fun and throw ice at people.  He has to learn that his powers have a purpose and can be used to help people.  And yes, we’ve seen this type of storyline played out in virtually every superhero movie before.  I did like the reference to his life before he became Jack Frost as that little nugget helped his character development.  But it came pretty late in the film and by that time, the damage had been done as far as establishing Jack as a character.

The animation is another area of concern and in the age of brilliant animation from Pixar and even in fellow Dreamworks films like KUNG-FU PANDA, I don’t know if there’s a place for the videogame-like animation found in RISE OF THE GUARDIANS.  It reminds me of the straight to video Final Fantasy animated films, which is fine for a straight to video release, but not okay for a big-budget film like this.  The animation never felt as smooth or as polished as what we’re accustomed to in today’s animated films.

I’ve heard strong praise for RISE OF THE GUARDIANS, but I don’t see it.  The story was a rehash of a dozen or so superhero origin stories, the characters had little to no development and the animation was subpar compared to what we expect.  There were some dark moments to make it inappropriate for really young kids and I think older kids will get bored with RISE OF THE GUARDIANS.  Adults, of course, will feel like they’ve seen this before.

3D BLU-RAY REVIEW

Although I wasn’t a huge fan of the film, it did look great in 3D.  In fact, this gives the Pixar 3D Blu-rays a run for their money in terms of 3D quality.  The snowflakes that constantly fell down and the ice and fire that flew at the screen were all impressive and gave a depth to the film that was much appreciated.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  RISE OF THE GUARDIANS looks spectacular on Blu-ray and the film itself uses bright, bold colors that really pop in HD.

Audio: The audio is equally impressive.

Commentary with Peter Ramsey, Christina Steinberg and Nancy Bernstein:  This is a surprisingly informative track from the director and producers.  They cover just about everything in the film from the actors that did the voices to the decisions in the script.

Behind the Magic (27:42): This is a four part making-of documentary that looks at the character designs, the special effects and the score.  It’s informative, but at the same time, it sticks to the surface and doesn’t give the audience too much detail.  Only true fans of the film will get anything out of this.

The Man Behind the Guardians (6:23): William Joyce wrote “The Guardians of Childhood” that the film is loosely based on and he also served as an Executive Producer.  He sits down and talks about the film and what it meant to him.

Dreamers & Believers (HD, 10:47): Here we get 10 minutes dedicated to all the famous voices showcased in the film.

Jack Frost Snowball Showdown, Sandy’s Dream Guide and Rock, Paper, Scissors with Sandy: These are games and interactive guides, more designed for the youngsters that may be playing with the Blu-ray.

The post Rise of the Guardians 3D Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Gerard Butler plays George Dryer, a former soccer star that has hit a rough patch. George used to be loved by millions in his playing days. He played for his country in the World Cup. He played against David Beckham. The guy had it all until a devastating injury forced him to retire. Now he is down on his luck living in a guest house. He is behind on his rent and creditors are after him. This is shown by the ever ready answering machine where you can hear the messages. Who has these answering machines anymore? Don’t most people have voicemail? I am just thinking out loud. I realize it is more dramatic to have these answering machines, but it isn’t exactly practical in the sense of the real world.

George now lives in the same city as his ex-wife Stacie (Jessica Biel) and his nine-year-old son Lewis (newcomer Noah Lomax). He’s making the rounds at television stations trying to become a sportscaster. His son Lewis is following in his footsteps by playing soccer. Lewis’s current coach is nowhere near an expert in teaching the kids how to play the sport. He just basically spouts off things like kick the ball and nonsense like that. How in the world was this guy given this position? That is where George comes into play. He soon assumes control as head coach and teaches the kids the basic fundamentals. The dialogue from the kids when George takes over is laughable. It didn’t seem natural in any way and inserted just for laughs. But it’s not funny when you don’t believe what they say.

With this new position come the wacky parents that are involved. You first have Carl (Dennis Quaid), who likes to throw his money around. He gives George a large envelope filled with cash. I don’t know for what purpose exactly. He stated it was for the trophies at the end of year, but it was mainly to conveniently get George out of his financial jam. Carl is such a cartoon character in every way. He cheats on his wife Patti (Uma Thurman) with impunity, but doesn’t want her to step out on him. He also casually loans George an expensive car just for the heck of it. Carl pops up whenever the screenplay needs to throw a road block in George’s way. Carl gets thrown in jail, so George has to bail him out and makes his son miss his soccer game. Patti tries to seduce George and Carl is there with pictures to add resistance to George getting back together with Stacie.

Of course all the soccer moms want to bed George. I already mentioned Patti and her devious ways. We also have Barb (Judy Greer), who is constantly crying and wants George to ease her pain. Then you have Denise (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a former sportscaster who helps George in his job hunt. She naturally lusts after George as well. ESPN gets a nice plug thrown in with one of the easiest job interviews recorded on film. George essentially gets the job by going off script. I wish things was that easy as portrayed here. I was a bit uncomfortable on how the female characters are shown in this film. They are either oversexed moms after George or door mats like Stacie.

At first PLAYING FOR KEEPS is like a sitcom with the moms throwing themselves at George with regularity. I half expected Jack Tripper to stumble on to the screen. It tries to get serious with the situation involving George, Stacie and Lewis. Stacie has a finance in Matt (James Tupper), a nondescript guy who doesn’t have a chance here. Matt is merely window dressing to all the wackiness. He contributes nothing and is not really given any characteristics. Stacie has been dating him for three years, so she sees something in him. But everyone knows where this is going. There are no surprises here. We also have the dynamic between George and Lewis. It starts out rocky at first. I wonder how that will turn out. Will there be some setbacks in this relationship? We all know the answers to these questions.

The original title for PLAYING FOR KEEPS was PLAYING THE FIELD. That title actually makes more sense in what is shown. But the powers to be probably wanted a more family oriented title to appeal to the masses. This film frankly doesn’t appeal to anyone.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: The transfer is beautifully realized. All the bright colors stand out. That is one thing they did right here.

Audio: I had no problems with the sound. It is nice and crisp in the sports action scenes.

Deleted Scenes (10:17): Seven scenes in all. There are more interactions between George, Lewis and Stacie in some combination. It would have added more dialogue to the scenes already in the film. There are couple more scenes with George and Carl involving his car and his wife. There is a scene with George and Patti detailing her intentions.

The Playbook: Making Playing for Keeps (8:24): It talks about the genesis of the movie. There is a discussion on how important casting the right people for the key roles. The cast sings the praises of the director and goes over the language barriers that the director had. There is a nice sequence about how the soccer scenes were choreographed. This was a good feature.

Creating An All-Star Team: The Cast of Playing for Keeps (6:34): Many of the cast members talk about their roles and what drew them to the film. Jessica Biel wanted to work with the director and play a mother role. Catherine Zeta-Jones loves sports. Uma Thurman wanted to do something light. Judy Greer drew upon her friends going through the same situation as her character. Dennis Quaid wanted to have a good time with a good script. Gerard Butler liked all the many facets of the movie.

Previews

The post Playing For Keeps Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

One of the things I loved about director Niels Arden Oplev’s THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO was his artistic style and unforgiving visuals as his pictures tend to say a thousand words–a method more than a few directors seem to have forgotten of late.  DEAD MAN DOWN looks and feels the same, albeit with a bigger budget and thus a more glossy finish, but it encompasses Niels unique vision.  Add to that a slow burn tone–something that’s always a mixed bag with audiences and critics alike–and you pretty much had a an idea of what to expect here.  Though not perfect, it’s not just another revenge flick either.

No matter the ups and downs Colin Farrell faces in his illustrious career, I’ll always be in his corner.  His character, Victor–a man of few words whose soul has been whittled down to nothing–is the animal backed in a corner you just don’t want to mess with.  His humanity is still intact, something that becomes evident when we see him watching old movies and of course, by his willingness to help Beatrice (Noomi Rapace) rather than just kill her and be done with it.  That’s the one thing I don’t get about this flick.  Beatrice is also consumed with thoughts of revenge, but seriously, you watch a guy smoke another guy and then decide it’s a good idea to try and blackmail him into helping you?  It takes some brass cojones to do what she did, which I commend, but I can’t help but think if that happened in the real world she’d have ended up sleeping with the fish.

My other conundrum is with actress Noomi Rapace.  I’m still not sure if I like her or not.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved her vision of Lisbeth Salader much more than the newest one, but I didn’t care for her much in SHERLOCK HOLMES or PROMETHEUS.  She has her moments and obviously plays the broken character persona down to a “T”, but I’m just not sure that’s enough.  Terrence Howard, on the other hand, is the man and I was overjoyed to see him revert back to his villainous roots.  Howard is great no matter the role, or side he’s on, but something about him just “fits” when he’s playing the bad guy.  He’s funny, ruthless, paranoid and cunning all at the same time–I’ve said this before, but I still wish they’d kept him on as Rhodey in the IRON MAN films, the series would have been so much better for it.

DEAD MAN DOWN is a stylistic, dark action thriller that whispers revenge in your ear almost seductively as it glides along at a slow, creeping pace.  The dialogue is smart, the characters are emotionally broken, but not to the point where they lose their realism.  Revenge is sweet, but we don’t always think about the consequences.  This flick deals with both sides of the coin, and balances them well.  The action is also well done, from the sick looking flaming explosion to the rat interrogation (loved it).  There’s more meat to this film then you’d expect, something that surprised the hell out of me considering this is a WWE produced film (I know, right.  And yes, they did squeeze in a wrestler who shouldn’t be too hard for you to spot).  Like I said in the beginning, it’s far from perfect, but there’s something special here for fans of noir type action films that begs it not be missed.

The post Dead Man Down Movie Review appeared first on Flix 66.

We open on the black and white world of depression-era Kansas (didn’t you know the world was black and white back then?), joining a carnival. Enter Oscar Diggs (James Franco), known to all as Oz, the Great and Powerful, a magician who spends his time traveling with the circus, taking advantage of young women, and generally operating as a con man while espousing a dream of greater things. When he narrowly escapes an angry spouse via hot air balloon, Oz finds himself at the center of a tornado, screaming that he would be a better man if just given the chance. And of course, the wind clears and Oz finds himself suddenly in a foreign and beautiful land, Oz.

The first person he meets is a young woman named Theodora (Mila Kunis), a witch who relays to Oz of the prophecy of the great wizard who will come to their land and become king. Having learned nothing from his near-death experience, Oz takes advantage of the beautiful Theodora and enlists her help to dubiously claim the throne. On the way to the Emerald City to claim his fame and fortune, Oz helps save the life of little flying monkey named Finley (voiced by Zach Braff, who also plays Oz’s assistant in the real world) who becomes indebted to Oz and becomes our first companion (in a nod to the 1939 original). Oz also encounters two other witches, played by Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams, all of whom are central to his journey.

From beginning to end, OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL is a loud, raucous journey in filmmaking. The opening credits are easily one of the most interesting and beautiful sequences I’ve seen in any film to date, but they set the bar a little bit high on a film that never quite meets the hype. James Franco is decent but never really connects for me as Oz. His over-the-top delivery works well in the black and white opening but becomes tiresome as the movie continues. The three witches all give decent performances, though they are generally just stereotypes without any real range. This works ok but for Mila Kunis’s turn as Theodora it feels too one-note.

Additionally, OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL would have done well with a little more direction. I’m not saying I don’t respect Raimi, I love much of his work. But OZ needs a filter – like watching visual white noise there is often too much happening on screen for anything to look or feel genuine. This is another movie to suffer from the 3D revolution, and sadly uses the 3D to the worst affect. It’s all showy, jump moments, instead of taking the time to use the 3D to make you feel the world in a real, organic way. Top it off with some shoddy CGI that really pulls you out of the film, and the end result is a package that just misses the mark. An entertaining rental, perhaps, unless you’ve got a real love of Oz (or Franco) I wouldn’t suggest this one.

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A band of American soldiers during WWII get stuck behind enemy lines. When they find out Hitler is creating a super bomb, they set out to find and rescue the scientist who is being forced into developing the massive weapon. The team lose and gain unlikely members along the way.  Obviously, this is not quite SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, however it does star a familiar actor in Tom Sizemore.  Hopefully, the HEAT star has kicked that pesky drug habit as he along with Vinnie Jones (SNATCH), Dimitri Diatchenko (CHERNOBYL DIARIES) and Neal McDonogh (CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER) bring in fine performances. The team is led by young courageous Nate (Chad Michael Collins) as they try to avoid the villanous German officer played by Jürgen Prochnow (DAS BOOT) trying to hunt them down.

Firstly, I need to give credit to director Don Michael Paul who is not Michael Bay nor Jerry Bruckheimer for whom I alluded to having a part in the making of this straight to Blu-ray World War II film.  Don Michael Paul doesn’t have near the budget of a big wig studio film but his picture looks nearly as great.  He has a great eye for visuals changing the colors and tone through the snowy forrest and dark train carts creating an intense atmosphere.

Unfortunately, COMPANY OF HEROES doesn’t have much of a script and therefore lacks a much-needed substance to carry through the film.  On top of that, transitions are abrupt, soldiers infiltrate with ease, and the dramatic dialogue is forced, so the film clearly has problems.  While these flaws will be too much for many filmgoers, the target audience for COMPANY OF HEROES will embrace the bullets and blood with the bonus aspect of a great looking picture.

Don’t get me wrong it’s not quite the eye candy of say 2000‘s PEARL HARBOR, but COMPANY OF HEROES manages to maintain that same level of filmmaking, which lacks depth but is high on visual entertainment, with none of the star power and a penny of the budget. So where I may give a film like PEARL HARBOR grief for pretending and paying to be more than it really is, I can’t help but give props to a smaller film like COMPANY OF HEROES, which overcomes low expectations and knowing what it really is – a fun film for mindless action in a World War II setting.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: (1080p, 1.78:1) The picture quality is clear and sharp with a terrifically dynamic look through a variety of settings.

Audio: (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) A great sound throughout utilizing all the warfare elements.

Deleted Scene (2:57): “Kestrel and squad meet in safe house” 

In The Trenches: Filming Company of Heroes (10:28): Some of the cast and crew discuss working on the film and the difference between the movie and video game.  Director Don Michael Paul talks about creating his vision and the enjoyment and connection working on a war film.

Fabricating World War II (5:41): The filmmakers show how they created the authentic look of the costuming, vehicles and weapons.

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The idea for the film is that there’s a world inhabited by monsters and their city runs on the screams of young children.  And yes, that sounds exactly like the premise of a great horror movie, but Pixar takes the somewhat adult storyline and makes it kid-friendly by creating brightly colored, funny monsters that are actually scared of little kids.  This becomes the basis for the film when a little girl named Boo manages to escape into their world.  This sets off a panic of sorts for our heroes, Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sulley (John Goodman) who have to figure out how to get her back to her home all the while evading the devious Randall (Steve Buscemi).

Although Billy Crystal sometimes slips into a Woody Allen impersonation, he and John Goodman give Tom Hanks and Tim Allen a run for their money when it comes to great voice work duos.  Crystal’s Mike Wazowski is hilarious and Goodman gives a quiet charm and calm to Sulley that plays well with the eccentric Mike.  Add in an evil turn from Steve Buscemi and a great voice like James Coburn as Waternoose and you have an impressive voice cast that makes the film even more enjoyable.  If there’s a (small) problem with the film, I’d say it’s with the limited scope.  In a world full of crazy looking monsters and a city powered by screams, we don’t get to see a lot of it.  I assume that’s what they’ll fix with MONSTERS UNIVERSITY.  It’s a small complaint, but finding problems with Pixar’s early work is a challenge.

One thing that I missed when I saw this in theaters was the amount of heart in the film.  As Sulley bonds with little Boo, there’s a genuine fear for her safety when Randall kidnaps her.  And the scene when Sulley screams in the training room and Boo tears up is heartbreaking.  It’s tough for any movie to develop character arcs in a 90 minute film, but Pixar did it with several characters in MONSTERS, INC.  Even Mike Wazowski (it’s tough to say that in any voice but Boo’s) managed to grow and develop as the movie progressed.

MONSTERS, INC. is a worthy addition to any collection and the great voice work from Billy Crystal and John Goodman, along with the great writing, make it one of the best animated films of its generation.  It does have some intense scenes that may be too much for young children, but kids of all ages should fall in love with Mike and Sulley.  The story, characters and beautiful animation of MONSTERS, INC. is impressive and a reminder of how great Pixar can be.

3D BLU-RAY REVIEW

The TOY STORY trilogy, FINDING NEMO, UP, BRAVE and now MONSTERS, INC. have all been converted to 3D and all have been spectacular.  Although I consider AVATAR the reason to buy a 3D home theater, I would say the Pixar movies are the reason to keep it hooked up.  MONSTERS, INC. is another in the long line of great 3D conversions, providing great depth and a flawless presentation.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  MONSTERS, INC. looks pristine, even in regular 2D Blu-ray.

Audio: I have to give special thanks to Pixar for upgrading the audio to a 7.1 lossless track.  The original MONSTERS, INC. Blu-ray had a great 5.1 DTS HD track, but the 7.1 lossless is what audiophiles dream of.

 Outakes and Company Play (4:58):  These are the outtakes that appear during the credits of the feature film, presented in 3D.

Toy Story Toons: Partysaurus Rex (7:02):  Rex is a lot of people’s favorite Toy Story character and here, he gets his own short, letting loose and having a good time.  It’s cute and on par for other Toy Story shorts.

Monsters University Sneak Peak (3:04): Obviously, there’s going to be a plug for the MONSTERS, INC. prequel.  This is an extended trailer and should help tide you over until the film hits theaters.

Aside from the features listed above, all the other features are copied directly from the original MONSTERS INC. Blu-ray release.

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A man wakes up in bed and finds a secret door in his bedroom that is unlocked with a special key that is growing out of his middle finger.  The door opens up to a balcony overlooking a movie theater where the audience is frozen in a comatose-like state staring at the screen.  A child walks down the aisle followed by a large dog.

The rest of the film follows Oscar (Denis Levant), a man in a limo running several different appointments throughout the day.  Oh but these aren’t typical boring business appointments.  These are strange theatrical appointments that Oscar prepares for inside his limo/dressing room and are only halfway revealed to the audience as they unfold at each stop.  First, Oscar steps out as a hunchbacked decrepit old woman begging for money.  Second, a highly trained martial artist performing for computer graphics and green screen.  Third, an odd elvish troll-like character that eats plants and kidnaps a female model played by Eva Mendes.  From there he transforms into a variety of characters from stories involving murder, musicals, fatherly affection and many more zany genres.  Heck, we even get to see Oscar perform an energized instrumental intermission half way through the very film we are watching in which his character seems to be performing.

I would love to ask director Leos Carax his specific motives behind each scene to grasp a better understanding.  Do the characters know each other? Are they all performing or are any of the relationships real? Is he just messing with the audience?  It feels a bit too deliberate and passion fueled for that.  No, I perceive a commentary on society’s obsession to be entertained mixing reality television through a TRUMAN SHOW like quality with a film purist using acting, costume, makeup, special effects and whatever other technical qualities that brings movie magic alive. I find this to be a fascinating concept, however HOLY MOTORS presents the material in such an unnecessarily abstract and mysterious way, it’s almost offensive.

I appreciate when interpretation is left to the audience, which I thought my favorite film from 2011 in Terrence Malick’s THE TREE OF LIFE did beautifully, but HOLY MOTORS reflects meaningless substance.  The director has talent and passion behind his conceptual ideas but his personal achievement doesn’t quite converse to the audience as if we are sitting on the outside of an inside joke.

I would venture to say if you are a huge David Lynch fan then perhaps HOLY MOTORS will strike a bizarrely appreciative nerve for you.  I think film enthusiasts should definitely give it a shot because either way you will have a great time loving or hating what you see on screen. If nothing else, the lead performance from Denis Levant is worthy of the award that shares his character’s name.

HOLY MOTORS doesn’t have a direct narrative, the scenes are off-the wall bonkers and there is an extremely graphic image of the male anatomy.  So there really isn’t any reason why one should see this film or why I can’t in good conscience recommend it to the masses (you hear that mom?).  However, with that said, I strangely enjoyed watching the weirdness unfold and attempting to solve the murky poorly constructed puzzle setup from the opening scene.  Much like our dreams, the story is hard to follow but is still a thrilling ride.  Clearly, I’m struggling with my feelings toward this film.  I appreciate the ambitious originality, but a human/monkey family and talking cars are hardly a call to brilliance.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: (1080p 1.85:1) A great looking picture enlisting a variety of looks through different environments.

Audio: (French: Dolby Digital 5.1) The dialogue is clean and mixed well.

“Drive-In”: Making of Holy Motors (47:28):  If you were hoping this would shed some light on what was going on in the film, think again.  This is done as abstractly artful or absurd (depending on your viewpoint) as the film.  Several interviews that were somewhat interesting but the long takes of many of the scenes are terribly boring.

Kylie Minogue Interview (13:22): Minogue truthfully reveals that she wasn’t familiar with Carax or completely understood the film. However, she thought it was amazingly beautiful and was terribly excited about the work.

Domestic Trailer (2:32)

International Trailer (1:51)

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THE INSIDER is an uncomfortably disturbing tale of what happens to people when they mix moral judgment with their profession.  Anyone that has ever worked for a Fortune 500 company knows that there are things going on that push the boundaries of morality, but most of us never ascend to the level where our voice matters.  In Jeffrey Wigand’s case, he was a top engineer for a big tobacco company and when he realized the company was willingly and knowingly making a dangerous product (and lying about it to the public), he voiced his concerns to his superiors and got fired for it.  He was content taking the severance package and moving on, but when his company started threatening him and his family, he decided to tell his story to Lowell Bergman.  Bergman was a producer at 60 Minutes and coached Wigand through the process.  Of course, big tobacco was not pleased with Wigand’s decision and they did everything they could to stop the story from airing.

Maybe the greatest achievement on the part of Michael Mann was keeping this story as factual as possible.  Mann made a lot of decisions to tell this story realistically, even shooting certain scenes in the places they happened, such as the Mississippi court house and the house of Richard Scruggs (played by Colm Feore).  Those little details (and many others) gave a realism to the film that if you weren’t familiar with the story, you would swear was exaggerated for dramatic effect.

THE INSIDER also features a great turn from Al Pacino, who for a brief moment managed to forget to yell uncontrollably at the screen and actually went back to acting.  He’s one of the greatest actors to ever live and carries his part of the film effectively.  But the film belongs to Russell Crowe, who has the unenviable task of portraying a conflicted, angst-driven character without a whole lot of dialogue.  That makes everything he says much more important and Crowe delivers every line perfectly.  What’s more amazing is his ability to carry a scene with his mannerisms and facial expressions that remind the audience Wigand is a normal guy and not some heartless traitor or fearless martyr.  Wigand is everyone that has ever stood up for something they believe in and only an actor at the top of his game, like Russell Crowe in 1999, could pull it off.

THE INSIDER could have easily been a mundane, straightforward drama without much substance.  But Michael Mann’s stylish directing and Russell Crowe’s incredible performance catapulted this film into one of the best movies in 1999, even picking up an Oscar nomination for Best Picture (back when there were only five nominees).  It stands the test of time very well and is just as powerful today as it was when the events actually happened.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  Michael Mann makes traditionally dark films and they never really got their due on DVD, making some of them (COLLATERAL, for example) almost difficult to watch on the format.  Thankfully, Blu-ray makes that a moot point and Mann’s dark colors and lack of lighting are actually highlighted on Blu-ray and the film looks amazing.

Audio: The audio track for THE INSIDER is equally impressive, showcasing the dialogue by using a front-heavy mix.  Normally this would be a problem, but for THE INSIDER, it works well.

Making of The Insider (6:58):  This is too short to be of any notice and only makes me long for a more detailed commentary or featurtte.

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Director/Screenwriter Perry Bhandal has a nice feel for the medium in his debut. The opening ten minutes are practically Kubrickian. Bhandal uses no dialogue with pulsating music heightening the tension. He first shows a young boy holding a gun to a young girl. He looks at her with steely determination and cocks the trigger. The scene cuts away before we know the end result. Bhandal then takes us along to a journey of two men. One is an older man who drives out to the middle of nowhere and puts a bag over his head. It is all very clandestine. The other guy is younger and bald. He strides through the airport with a purpose. He then prepares a gun and his outfit with utter precision and control. The first words are uttered by a man just before the bald assassin kills him.

The bald man turns out to be Viktor (a well cast Luke Goss), the title character in these proceedings. He is being interviewed by the older guy, Xavier (Patrick Lyster). Hitmen can’t be too careful, so the bag was for precautionary reasons.

Viktor goes back to his childhood and tells us how it all began. It is true what they say. Violence begets violence. Viktor is a young lad in Bucharest trying to make his way. He has trouble with some bullies who he borrowed money from. His father is even more trouble for owing money to the wrong people. Viktor witnesses his father get beat around by Sergei (Danny Midwinter). Later on Viktor’s father puts a beating on his mother, while Viktor absorbs the screaming and hitting from his bedroom. It would be safe to assume this is a common occurrence in this household. An upbringing like this would make anyone susceptible to the wrong side of the tracks. It’s the circle of life. If your father lives a good life, you are more apt to follow in his footsteps. If he is a wicked man, then you are prone to those ways. This is human nature at its finest and worst.

Viktor eventually starts working for Sergei at a young age as an enforcer. We go back to the first scene in the film to see what happened to the young girl facing the barrel of a gun. Viktor had just confronted her father for not paying. This has to be one of the more intense scenes I’ve seen in a while. I won’t ruin what happens, but it does affect Viktor for the rest of his life. The knowing nod by one of the older local hoods is a chilling reminder that not all people are good. Sergei teaches him all the tricks of the trades. He shows him how to use surveillance to spy on people and how to approach a target without them knowing it. This is the school of hard knocks and Viktor becomes an ace student.

Bhandal shows a deft touch with the fight scenes. It is like ballet with fists. The choreography is well thought out. Bhandal also hit it out of the park with his casting of Luke Goss. Goss just has the look of a hitman. He’s got the piercing blue eyes, wiry body, hard glare and authoritative voice. It truly is what I would picture a hitman to look like. Make no mistake about it, but Goss carries the film when it gets a bit too confusing.

The action moves to England after a betrayal happens. Viktor starts working for another guy who has what you would call loose morals. It is here Viktor falls in love with the enchanting Bethesda (Caroline Tillette). She makes him more human and questions his line of work. The love story is a welcome diversion from the bullets and mayhem, but it never is fully developed. You are not committed to seeing Bethesda and Viktor live happily ever after.

The biggest problem I had with Interview with a Hitman is the amount of the characters. There’s too many. The film is only an hour and a half long, but it crams all these characters from different time periods and different locations. I had to rewind several times just to recall several of them that reappear on the screen. Is this guy from Viktor’s childhood? Was he a friend or foe? How did this person play a part in the past? Those are the many questions that would dance in my head until I got a headache trying to sort things out. Many people complain when a movie is too long, but this one was too short. We needed more time with these people so we could easily pick them out after proper development.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed Interview with a Hitman. The fight scenes are exciting. Luke Goss gives a standout performance. The visuals and music is top notch for a low budget product. I just wish I could have made more sense of it all. But nothing is perfect in this world and I can live with that in this case.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: Nice transfer for a low budget film. It nicely captures the brutal realism of this life.

Audio: I had lots of trouble hearing the dialogue throughout. Closed captioning is a must.

Making of Interview with a Hitman (14:43): Decent feature about the film. All the key players talk about the product and how it was made. There is an interesting take on one of best fight scenes.

Trailer

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That virgin is Beibei (Candy Wang, a name better suited for the adult film industry), the teenage fiancée of a millionaire who denied Mo Jieyu not long ago. But Xie Yifan’s eyes are on Du Fenyu (Ziyi Zhang, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA), a widow and the kind of woman Xie Yifan could easily fall for. Mo Jieyu, knowing Xie Yifan all too well, concocts a bet that he cannot bed Du Fenyu and then ditch her without falling madly in love. If Mo Jieyu wins, she gets a piece of Xie Yifan’s land to build a port. If Xie Yifan wins, Mo Jieyu must sleep with him.

So begins the latest take on DANGEROUS LIAISONS. The film is based on the 1782 novel Les liaisons dangereuses by French writer Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, which also inspired a mid-‘80s play. Western audiences will be more familiar with Stephen Frear’s 1988 adaptation, which starred Glenn Close, Michelle Pfeiffer and John Malkovich, or Milos Forman’s 1989 take, VALMONT, with Annette Bening, Meg Tilly and Colin Firth or 1999’s CRUEL INTENTIONS, with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe.

This version (which screened at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival as part of the Directors’ Fortnight), written by Yan Geling (who wrote the novel on which Zhang Yimou’s THE FLOWERS OF WAR is based) and directed by Hur Jinho (CHRISTMAS IN AUGUST), puts the story in 1930s Shanghai. The filmmakers don’t allow this time and setting to serve a major function to enhance the story, but they do allow for gorgeous production design and costumes. There is also stunning and stylish (sometimes overly so) cinematography by Kim Byung-seo.

But don’t let the beauty fool you. DANGEROUS LIAISONS, like the depictions before it, may look decadent and be sensual at times, but it is also incredibly sleazy. Partly because of that but mostly because it’s difficult to root for either of the leads (are we even supposed to?), the movie is tremendously hard to sit through. It is, when all is said and done, just a movie about despicable rich people acting jealous, seeking revenge, being greedy, and using others as human playthings.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 2.35:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. Shot by Kim Byung-seo and with stunning art direction and costumes, DANGEROUS LIAISONS looks absolutely incredible in high-definition. Every detail in the skin tones/textures, clothing and sets comes through without flaw, giving a pristine look to the production.

Audio: Mandarin 5.1 HD Surround Sound. The audio transfer is very strong, with clean Mandarin dialogue (aided by English subtitles) and atmospheric sound effects.

Making Of (16:22): This featurette offers interviews and a wealth of on-set footage to give a background on DANGEROUS LIAISONS.

Behind the Scenes (4:57) offers more of the same, with comments from the cast as well as production footage.

Trailers

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The message somewhere in WRECK-IT RALPH is that being a good person comes from inside and not through a shiny medal.  In order to achieve that, the filmmakers needed a catalyst for Ralph to realize what being a true hero really meant.  That’s where Venellope comes in.  I liked the idea of her being a computer glitch trying to become part of the game, but her storyline went on too long and she became the main character.  I kept wanting to get back to Ralph and see more of him struggling outside of his game.  His interactions with other video game characters were hilarious and ended up being the highlight of the film.  That leads us to the other issue, which is that we only get to see three game worlds; Fix-It Felix, Hero’s Duty and Sugar Rush.  In the world of video games, even the casual fan can imagine all the different possibilities.  We needed to spend more time with Ralph as he explored the different worlds and less time with him running through Sugar Rush.  I don’t want to rewrite the script for writers Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee, but putting Ralph in Sugar Rush was the downfall of the film.

There were positives for WRECK-IT RALPH.  The film was very cute and colorful, perfect for the youngsters in the audience.  And even if it didn’t come through in the most efficient manner, the overall message of the film is very positive, which is important in films catered to children.  John C. Reilly did great voice-work as Ralph, making me wonder why he hasn’t voiced a lead animated character before.  The animation was breathtaking, proving that Disney doesn’t always need Pixar to create beautiful films.

The filmmakers did the hard part of establishing a cool world with an interesting character, but if they had focused the story on something outside of a specific video game world and given him an excuse to run through the different games, it would have made WRECK-IT RALPH much more enjoyable.  As it is, WRECK-IT RALPH is a passable kid’s movie that neither impresses nor disappoints.  I liked picking out the various cameos from recognizable video game characters, but the nostalgia of the film couldn’t make up for the film’s shortcomings.

3D BLU-RAY REVIEW

I feel like I write the same thing every time I review a Disney 3D Blu-ray, but it bears repeating; Disney makes incredible 3D Blu-rays.  WRECK-IT RALPH is no exception and the argument could be made that this is their best 3D feature yet.  The depth is incredible and the 3D effects are eye-popping, but not in that gimmicky way.  Overall, this is a great 3D experience.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  WRECK-IT RALPH looks pristine, even in regular 2D Blu-ray.

Audio: The audio is equally impressive.

Paperman: Theatrical Short (7:01): If you missed this recent Oscar-winning short in theaters, now’s your chance to catch it in 3D or 2D.  It’s cute and sweet, like most Pixar shorts.

Bit by Bit: Creating the Worlds of Wreck-It Ralph (16:58): The filmmakers show up to talk about the design and creation of WRECK-IT RALPH in a very informative featurette that is moderately enjoyable, but stays on the superficial side of things.  This obviously isn’t meant for die-hard technical fans.

Alternate & Deleted Scenes (14:03 minutes): There are four deleted/alternate scenes total, all of which I think would fit seamlessly into the film.  You can watch them with an introduction from director Rich Moore, along with his commentary if you’d like.

Video Game Commercials (2:57): Four separate promos for games within WRECK-IT RALPH.  These are actually pretty cute.

Disney Intermission (10:01): When you pause WRECK-IT RALPH, you can watch Chris Hardwick talk about the jokes and references sprinkled throughout the film.

Sneak Peeks

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Tommy Wick (Austin) is a leg breaker/collector for a man known as Big Doug (Eric Keenleyside).  When people owe money Tommy and his partner pay a visit and, if they can’t collect, make them wish they had.  Tommy also likes to verify his work by taking photos of them after they’ve been “instructed to pay” in a more timely manner.  After using a debtor’s head as a ball stop at the local bowling alley Tommy is asked by Big Doug to do him a favor.  He needs to deliver a package to a man with an equally colorful nickname – the German (Lundgren).  The mission is so special to Big Doug that, if Tommy pulls it off, Big Doug will pull the necessary strings to get Tommy’s brother out of prison.  With this in mind Tommy sets off on what he assumes will be an easy task, unaware that there are people other than the German who would like to intercept the package no matter the cost!

Cleverly filmed and really LOUD, THE PACKAGE is a notch above the normal formula films (see above) that seem to be coming out almost weekly.  That notch comes from the natural performance of Austin and the darkly humorous one of Lundgren.  A former WWE champion, when he went by the nickname “Stone Cold,” Austin is easygoing on screen for the same reason that Roddy Piper, Hulk Hogan and Dwayne Johnson – ok, the Rock – are.  They’re performers.  I would think it’s easier to carry on a conversation or engage in a fake gun fight then to stand shirtless in front of 60,000 people and implore them to “give me a hell yeah!”  Here Austin has an easy way about him and, after having gotten several films under his belt (not the championship one) he is very relaxed and natural.  Lundgren, a chemical engineer and mathematical genius in his spare time, has really grown as an actor since the mono-syllabic days of Ivan Drago and ROCKY IV.  Here he comes off as a Swedish version of Christopher Walken in TRUE ROMANCE. In one scene he calmly describes all the various fruits and veggies he’s putting in his blender, as well as their health benefits, to a man he just recently gutted.  The matter-of-fact way he carries on the conversation leaves no doubt that this is one guy not to get on the wrong side of.

On the technical side, the film is a little over the top in both sound and bullets.  People are shot a minimum of twenty times each when the machine guns come out.  A little overkill but the slow motion shots of the empty shells filling the air are worth the carnage.  The stunts are above average as is a nice car crash that occurs after Tommy begins his trip.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  Presented in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio the HD stands out nicely.  An establishing shot of Seattle could be a postcard.

Audio:  The audio is presented in Dolby True HD 5.1.and you can hear every gun shoot, cleanly but loudly.

The only extras here are a couple of similar-themed trailers to films featuring Austin, Steven Segal and, sadly, Cuba Gooding, Jr

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I remember seeing the poster for 21 AND OVER about a month or two ago and thinking, “what the heck is that?”  Why?  Because this film got virtually no viral or commercial advertising up until about a month ago.  I mean I get it, this is another PROJECT X (which got even less advertising) looking comedy about guys getting hammered and pulling off over the top antics, but so was SUPERBAD and look at how much advertising that got.  And it’s not like this is coming from chumps in the writing department as it’s from the boys who brought us THE HANGOVER, THE HANGOVER 2, FOUR CHRISTMASES and THE CHANGE-UP.  Jon Lucas and Scott Moore know their comedy, so why no buzz?  I’m disappointed simply because this flick was actually pretty funny as far as this type of movie goes.

The key dynamic for these movies comes via the casting.  Were EUROTRIP or SEX DRIVE all that great?  Not really, but they were funny due to the camaraderie of the cast.  The exact same thing can be said of all the movies I’ve mentioned thus far, and the good news is these guys work well off one another and make for some truly funny moments.  Sure, the dialogue is raunchy, but it’s still witty and comes off as real as best friends can get.  I like the friend dynamic here, it’s nothing new, but as a guy who went through this, I know for a fact you don’t ever have friends in your life like you did when you were in High School and college.  Once the trials of life hit, it’s easy to see these bonds weaken.  They don’t ever go away, you might have that once a year or once every couple years venture, but it’s never the same and it’s a daunting feeling when it finally hits you.

Friendship is at the heart of this film, but wild partying and hilarious circumstances are what fuel the ride.  Jeff Chang is that adorable guy you can never get mad at or hate.  He’s pumped to be 21 and as such gets more and more aggressive as he approaches each bouncer guarding the doors of the next bar in their path.  His behavior inside is even better.  I loved the mechanical bull bit (I have to say though, who in their right mind tries to do that with a stomach full of booze) and though gross, the peeing part was absolutely priceless–somewhere R. Kelly is nodding his head in approval.  But the boys aren’t one song wonders here, all that happens in the first half hour.  The rest of the film features poor Jeff Chang passed out (of sorts) in a WEEKEND AT BERNIE’S style adventure with his two buds, Miller and Casey.  Trust me, those two are just as entertaining, if not more so.  Oh, and Jeff Chang’s dad = awesome.

21 AND OVER is another hit when it comes to raunchy, over-the-top laughs with friends, booze and ripping it up like it’s nineteen ninety-nine.  These films aren’t for everyone, but the people who love them (like me) will appreciate what this entry brings to the table.  I feel for the boys’ main plight–they came back to visit Jeff Chang at his dorm and since they’d never been there before, have no idea how to get him home once he passes out–because when me and my buddy Dave went to visit our friend Jenessa in Toronto (for the first time), we all got wasted and hit a rave bar, but when it was time to go home we thought we could walk back and find her place without her.  We got lost and walked for three hours.  We didn’t stir up any mascots, shoot guns or steal cars, but as farfetched as this movie’s premise may sound, it’s an easy mistake to make.  Crashing a female dorm or two along the way would’ve been a fun way to pass the time.

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Unfortunately it’s a film whose original title was VS.

Actor, writer and director Jason Trost (THE FP) is sort of a cult hero figure within a quirky segment of an already secluded genre.  In short, the guy makes indie films and one of them got some recognition back in 2011.  However, it seems that while Trost has been able to attract some recognizable talent, he has not been able to climb to the next rung in terms of storytelling.  The price of alluring a mass amount of eyeballs to your body of work is like a pro athlete signing a big time contract that not everybody truly believes is well deserved.  The proverbial “bar” is now in a constant state of accession, and only a CHASING AMY or a THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS will be enough to get you over it and allow for even the slightest tolerance of mediocrity.  With THE FP Trost created a parody of 8 MILE meets THE WARRIORS, utilizing a fatal form of “Dance, Dance Revolution” in place of rap battles and gang violence, and at its bare minimum the film was very amusing.  For his follow up feature, VS (later renamed ALL SUPERHEROES MUST DIE), Trost has wandered off the path that brought him acclaim.  The superheroes in this film are not the only ones with a split identity.  It’s never certain whether Trost was trying to continue his tongue-in-cheek style with ALL SUPERHEROES MUST DIE, or if he was actually attempting a serious dark narrative involving costumed vigilantes.  Regrettably, the film fails to achieve either status, ending up in a limbo where instead shrouding its flaws in layers of irony and eccentrics, it showcases them and brings to the forefront all shortcomings of a low-budget production.

The performances in ALL SUPERHEROES MUST DIE are at least an uptick from Trost’s previous work in THE FP.  Consummate character actor James Remar (DEXTER) is back for his second “Trost” film, but rather than a cameo off-screen narration in THE FP, he is now the main antagonist Rickshaw, who sets up a series of SAW-like challenges for the drugged and powerless heroes to complete or suffer the destruction of the entire town.  Another familiar face to the now all-powerful “geek” demographic is Lucas Till (X-MEN: FIRST CLASS) as Cutthroat, somewhat of a sidekick to Trost’s Charge, whose relationship has degraded throughout the years.  Till does what he can with the subpar dialogue and even Trost himself manages to squeeze the most out of his own crude writing.  However, no brush is thick enough to paint a silver lining capable of salvaging this script.  The shallowness of the characters is only equaled by the eternal depth of the plot holes, and the production as a whole comes off as a group of film students who got their hands on a “RED” camera for filming and knew someone who could get them a discount at The Sports Authority for wardrobe.

Whether Jason Trost had a serious message to convey in ALL SUPERHEROES MUST DIE or if he was simply attempting another caricature of a popular genre, is a conundrum only he can explain.  Sadly though, like the result of the film’s open-ended conclusion, it’s an answer few will care to learn.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  2.35:1 Widescreen, 1080p/AVC MPEG-4. The overall picture is clear and sharp, but there is zero depth.  Most of the film feels like you’re watching a bad reality show, even for reality show standards.  Obvious filters are slathered on in flashback scenes with little care for processing, and the film pretty much bounces around in contrast throughout the entire cut.

Audio:  English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. The sound is no savior to this disc either.  The lack of recording equipment is evident as the background decibel is null and void.  The characters feel like they are talking in a vacuum with the occasional sound effects that enters into the mix with the subtly of a high school play.  And not that it was worth hearing, but the dialogue was also muffled during low registers.

Bonus Features:  None : This is actually a “plus” for this disc, enabling you to hit the eject button on this film as soon as the closing credits begin.

The post All Superheroes Must Die Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Scott Voss (James) is a high school biology teacher on the way down.  A one-time “teacher of the year” he now has discovered that, in the current environment, he’s pretty much spinning his wheels in trying to reach the kids.  One day while wandering the halls he overhears a rehearsal by the school orchestra, led by Marty Streb (Winkler).  Scott finds the music soothing and the auditorium a place to go to appreciate the magic of music.  However, when it is announced that due to a budget crisis many programs in the curriculum will be cut, including music, Scott makes an impassioned speech to save the program, suggesting that the money needed ($48,000) to save the program could be raised.  But Scott soon learns that his paycheck from teaching citizenship classes won’t be enough to save the day.  Things look bleak until one of his citizenship students is revealed to be an MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) instructor.  Time to bring the BOOM!

A film that deserved a much better showing at the box office, HERE COMES THE BOOM is a sweetly conceived cross between ROCKY and MR. HOLLAND’S OPUS.  The script, which star James co-wrote with Allan Loeb, is neither unrealistic or sugarcoated in dealing with the problems at hand.  There really isn’t a false note in the story, or the performances, that takes the viewer out of the story.  James, who played college football, slimmed down some for the role but he still looks physically capable to enter the Octagon, even if it’s on the “broken fencing and mattresses on the ground” circuit that Scott must begin at.  James is quite believable as a big lug with a bigger heart.  And it’s always a joy to see Henry Winkler on screen.  He has gained a second career working in Adam Sandler-produced films (THE WATERBOY, CLICK) and never hits a false note.  As a fellow teacher that Scott is attracted to Hayek shows some seldom-seen comic timing.

Equally sharp is the inside look at the world of Mixed Martial Arts.  With appearances by such known UFC names as Joe Rogan and Mark DellaGrotte (who also appeared in 2011’s Tom Hardy film “Warrior”) as well as various UFC fighters, the film has a smart realism that brings you into the story.  The action on screen is intense at times and one can’t help but root for Scott, no matter the situation. The action is fast and the laughs are many.  And the punches are real!  If you haven’t seen HERE COMES THE BOOM I urge you to give it a chance.  You won’t be disappointed.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  Presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, the film transfer is clear and bright, especially when the finale shifts the scene to the bright lights of Las Vegas.

Audio:  The audio is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and is clear throughout.  The fight scenes, with crowd noises and body blows, are well mixed.

Deleted Scenes (16:18):  There are (18) deleted scenes, including one called “Original Ending” which has nothing to do with the end of the film.  None of the scenes are particularly missed in the film.

Gag Reel (2:26):  Basically a lot of shots of the cast mugging before the camera and blowing their lines.

Here Comes the Cast (6:24):  A short piece introducing the main players in the film.

Gino vs Ritchie (3:49):  When you have two guys on the set with the nickname “Sandwich” the way to settle things is to have them fight.  Here Associate Producer Gino “The Sandwich” Falsetto takes on Kevin James’ stand in Ritchie “The Bigger Sandwich” Minerviri in (2) 45 second rounds.

Back to School (4:27):  This short takes a look at the search for the perfect school to shoot the film in.

Learning How to Fight (8:49):  Both cast and crew discuss their admiration for MMA fighting and for the dedication Kevin James gave in preparing for the film.

Three Amigos (5:39):  A visit with a trio of actors that became best pals on the set:  Mark DellaGrotte, Bas Rutten and Henry Winkler.

The Pros (3:00):  Several of the MMA fighters that worked on the film talk about their backgrounds and their contributions to the film.

Disco Street Fighting (2:05):  Bas Rutten, who plays Scott’s MMA instructor in the film, gives a quick lesson in how to Disco Street Fight.

Also included are trailers for the following films:  PLAYING FOR KEEPS, HOTEL TRANSYVANIA, PREMIUM RUSH and ABEL’S FIELD.

The post Here Comes the Boom Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

The one being asked that question is Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix), a drifter who, having just been freed from WWII, has more holes than most of the fallen. His plans to make ends meet include making batches of moonshine and taking a position as a portrait photographer. Those prospects fail after he, respectively, poisons a fellow worker and gets into a physical altercation with a customer.  With nowhere to turn and a bellyful of liquor, he stows away on the ship of Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a wealthy writer, doctor, nuclear physicist, theoretical philosopher, and leader of The Cause, which sounds ominous for good reason.

Dodd, finding an immediate bond with Quell, invites him into his circle, the bulls-eye of which is The Cause. We find out soon that Dodd is a man obsessed. In a speech at his daughter’s wedding, he tells an anecdote about a dragon. He teaches it commands to sit, to stay. He wrestles it, puts it on a leash, takes it for walks. “Next, we’ll teach it to roll over and play dead.”  We wonder, Is Freddie willing to roll over? He has spent his life psychologically bruised, an orphan to the world, a sex-obsessed alcoholic. He is a time bomb constantly on the brink of detonation. He is not one to allow himself to be led by a leash, and yet there he is, on the Dodd’s porch and in his grip, where he can be controlled.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s THE MASTER is inspired (at least in part) by Scientology and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard. But that doesn’t mean it’s out to belittle Dianetics or Hubbard. (After a while, religions, however favorable in the public eye, end up embarrassing and exposing themselves for what they really are. For example, Dodd’s stance that “man is not an animal” outs him as a hypocrite, seeing as he leads his cult like sheep.) It’s unfortunate that some will only see the religious aspect of the film. But there is much more to take away. Would we be easily swept away by someone like Dodd? Would we notice if a leash was put on us?

Guided by a nerve-racking score by Jonny Greenwood (who also did THERE WILL BE BLOOD), THE MASTER is the latest masterpiece from Paul Thomas Anderson, who has made at least three before. THE MASTER isn’t his best, but it is his most challenging. It will test the patience of the audience, who will want answers and may be be too frightened of the characters and the story.

Much of it is unsettling. That is in due part to the performances. Philip Seymour Hoffman has never had a role like this, but he has the presence and believability to pull off Dodd and make him the fearful yet fearing man he is. Amy Adams, as his pregnant wife, gives a complex role to a character that could have easily been pushed to the wayside. And then there is Joaquin Phoenix, who, like the aforementioned costars, earned an Academy Award nomination for his turn. Phoenix gives, as far as this reviewer is concerned, one of the best leading male performances ever, ranking with the likes of Brando in ON THE WATERFRONT and De Niro in RAGING BULL. It is a raw performance, something maybe only Phoenix (on the rebound from his reclusive rapper shtick from a few years back) was capable of. Watch him during the Processing scene, where he proclaims his passion and need for a girl back home, or the cell block scene, where he smashes a toilet into pieces and nearly kills himself through self-bruising. In those two scenes alone, you can see why Phoenix is one of the best actors today.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 1.85:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. As THE MASTER was shot in 65 mm, anything short of a stunning video presentation would have been disastrous. While the Blu-ray format can’t fully realize the detail of 65 mm, this is still one spectacular-looking disc, with every frame showing up with perfect detail and clarity

Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. This Blu-ray also offers a very impressive audio transfer, with clean dialogue, a clear soundtrack (from “Get Thee Behind Me Satan” to “Slow Boat to China”) and a fully effective Jonny Greenwood score.

Back Beyond (19:59): In lieu of the traditional collection of separated outtakes and deleted scenes, the discarded footage has been edited together as something of an expansion of THE MASTER, with the aid of Jonny Greenwood’s score.

Unguided Message (7:59) is a behind-the-scenes look at THE MASTER, with on-set footage from various locations.

Let There Be Light (58:06): This is John Huston’s 1946 documentary, which looks at PTSD in WWII veterans, served as an inspiration for THE MASTER.

Teasers/Trailers

The post The Master Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Still, they spend all of their time together, foolishly convinced they can be with other people and still remain best friends. Yeah, good luck with that. The basic premise of CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER will right away have the audience thinking, Well, this has to end in disaster…What is wrong with these people? How could they think this would work?

Soon, Celeste and Jesse start seeing other people: Celeste a yoga lover named Paul (Chris Messina, RUBY SPARKS); Jesse a one-night stand named Veronica (Rebecca Dayan, CHARM), who is pregnant with his baby. But because you don’t move on that easily after being together that long, the two start to realize that they weren’t meant for each other. Or were they? Their relationship seems to be based solely on their collection of inside jokes, and so we find it hard to believe that they’re a match. How are we supposed to root for them? It says a lot about the quality of the movie that even Jones and Samberg, who are likeable and have great chemistry, can’t make us care what the outcome of their characters is.  The tipping point for me was the moment Celeste asked Jesse, who is doing his best (whatever that may be) to make his new life work, “Why didn’t you change for me?” She feels entitled and, perhaps because she has a better job and more money, superior. She thinks he should have to make her happy.

CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER is directed by Lee Toland Krieger (2009’s THE VICIOUS KIND) and co-written by Jones and Will McCormack, who earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Screenplay. Their script has some good ideas and sharp lines scattered throughout, but it frequently borders on the obvious and stale (how many movies and TV shows are going to use the frustration of building Ikea furniture as comedic fodder?), despite best efforts to stand out as the kind of anti-rom-com that’s popular on the indie circuit lately.

(Others that turn up in supporting roles: Elijah Wood as Celeste’s gay business partner, Emma Roberts as a pop star and NCIS: LOS ANGELES’ Eric Christian Olsen and THE SITTER’s Ari Graynor as mutual friends.)

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 2.40:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. This Sony Blu-ray has a clean picture throughout, with fine clarity in faces, clothing and scenery.

Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. All of the dialogue is clean and the music (from Lily Allen to Brenda Russell) comes through nicely.

Commentary with Rashida Jones & Andy Samberg: As seen in the movie itself, Jones and Samberg have a terrific chemistry together. This comes across in the commentary, too, which is a playful and fun listen.

Commentary with Rashida Jones, Will McCormack and Lee Toland Krieger: This track between the two writers and the director is the more standard of the two, with the trio focusing on various aspects of the production.

The Making of CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER (13:51) is a standard promotional featurette, with interviews (with Jones, Samberg and others) and clips to give an overview of the movie.

On the Red Carpet: Premiere and Q&A (14:08) offers footage from CELESTE AND JESSE FOREVER’s premiere at the LA Film Fest.

Chris Pine Outtakes (1:13) offers a snippet of Pine’s cameo.

Deleted Scenes (2:57): There are three here, which can be viewed separately or as a whole. They are: “I Guess I’m Getting It,” “Can I Show You Something?” and “Do Any of You Have Jobs?”

Also included are the Trailer and Previews.

The post Celeste and Jesse Forever Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Let it be known that 2013 is the year of “The Rock”.  From his reappearances in the WWE to a slew of films (SNITCH, GI: JOE RETALIATION, PAIN AND GAIN and FAST & FURIOUS 6), this guy is certainly on fire.  Personally I love Dwayne Johnson.  Sure, he fell off the beaten path there for a bit with garbage like TOOTH FAIRY and JOURNEY 2: THE MYSTYRIOUS ISLAND, but he bounced back quickly and is ripping up Hollywood “rock bottom” style.  SNITCH is based on true events, and Johnson is a big fan of real life stories as we’ve seen with WALKING TALL.  Like WT, this flick gives Johnson a means of developing his acting career and it worked like a charm.

It’s worth mentioning that this is not an action film, it’s more of a brooding cop drama in the vein of HBO’s critically acclaimed masterpiece, THE WIRE (but obviously not as good).  Stuntman turned writer/director, Ric Roman Waugh got my undivided attention with his powerful film, FELON, starring Val Kilmer and Stephen Dorff.  FELON may have been a direct to DVD flick, but it sure didn’t look or feel like it.  I’m happy to see Waugh expand his horizons here, and although he doesn’t delve as deeply into the prison system as he did in FELON, his signature is evident throughout SNITCH and he delivers yet another great bang for your buck.

The story does feel worn out and/or overplayed as far as Hollywood scenarios go, but the acting is top notch and that goes a long way.  Johnson blows this character out of the water by playing a father who’d do anything for his son.  I liked that.  The cops and district attorney use him to further their own means, which doesn’t surprise me, but I’m not a hundred percent sure I believe they’d send an average Joe up against the cartel like that, especially when it’s clear he has no idea what the hell he’s doing.  Waugh does his best to humanize “The Rock” by trying to hide his physique, but let’s be honest here, dude’s still monstrous and it’s hard to watch him get his butt kicked or act as though he’s not two moves ahead of everyone else in the room.

SNITCH is a great start to the end of the this year’s dump months and hopefully stands as an positive omen of things to come for my man Dwayne Johnson.  It’s also worth mentioning that THE WALKING DEAD’s Jon Bernthal is also making waves in the acting department with his secondary role here (also, a big shout-out to Barry Pepper–where the hell have you been bro?  Come back, we miss you).  Nothing makes me happier than seeing guys who do well on the small screen, get their chance to roll the dice on the big screen.  Jon Bernthal and Jai Courtney are two of many worthy actors who seem to be getting their shot.  It’s good to see considering TV used to be the place movie actors went to die.  This may not be the most original setup to ever grace the big screen, but it’s a worthwhile night at the movies if you’re into these actors or are a fan of Ric Roman’s work.  Even if you’re not, the father son dynamic is enough to move you and the trials they both face is more than enough to keep you entertained.

The post Snitch Movie Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Like George A. Romero’s zombie essential, MIMESIS: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD offers a horde of flesh-craving undeads and a group of confused civilians who must slay the prey to survive.  Most of the characters are all conscious of what is going on. As one bluntly points out, “This is NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.” If he’s so nuts about the movie (and he must be since he knows the pickup truck was red, when the movie itself was black and white), then he must be aware of how to defend the fort, right? Then why are they barricaded there all night?

The whole premise is supposed to be an intentional joke, the kind of self-aware wink that Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson employed in the SCREAM movies. But co-writer/director Douglas Schulze (2009’s DARK FIELDS) goes about it all with such a straight face that, in the end, we’re just watching another cliché-ridden genre flick with characters who, for the most part, must have had their brains devoured years ago and so, really, deserve their fates. (Sid Haig’s cameo helps, if only for its brief statement on the public’s perception of the genre.)

It’s a fun idea, though. It asks, How would a horror buff fare if faced with exact scenarios from one of their favorite movies? Could you outrun Leatherface? Can you accept that Jason Voorhees simply cannot be killed? The idea had promise, because it’s the fantasy of so many horror fanatics. (It’s why books like How to Survive a Horror Movie and The Zombie Survival Guide sell well.)  It could even spawn off a series, with each entry tackling another horror title in the public domain (NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, despite its iconic status, was clearly chosen because of this convenience). There’s Herk Harvey’s B-level CARNIVAL OF SOULS, the William Castle/Vincent Price pairing HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL or the Bela Lugosi headliner WHITE ZOMBIE, to name a few. (Schulze, it turns out, has already shot MIMESIS 2, which finds a different set of buffs living out another royalty-free classic: NOSFERATU).

Despite the inevitable twist, MIMESIS is not as inventive as its director wants it to be, and genre fans get their biggest thrill when they realize that all of the main characters take their names from actors in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (there’s Russell as in Russell Streiner; Duane as in Duane Jones; Judith as in Judith O’Dea). Overall, we get nothing out of the venture other than that Schulze and co-writer Joshua Wagner have seen NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD about three dozen times between them.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: 2.35:1 in 1080p with MPEG-4 AVC codec. The video transfer of MIMESIS: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD hosts a level of darkness that does less to enhance the atmosphere than it does to hide much of the scenery. The transfer is mostly clean (though not without flaws) during the first half of the movie, but as the rest takes place at night, the muddled look makes it hard to see a lot of the action.

Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1. In contrast, the audio transfer presents the score and SFX in a way that is effective and enhances the mood of MIMESIS.

Audio commentary with director/co-writer Douglas Schulze and co-writer Joshua Wagner: The duo offer up a fairly strong track, touching on the story, themes and production of MIMESIS: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.

The post Mimesis: Night of the Living Dead Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

THE SESSIONS is based on the article “On Seeing a Sex Surrogate” by the late poet Mark O’Brien. Mark (John Hawkes) was stricken at an early age by polio which left him paralyzed from the neck down and having to rely on an iron lung to survive. Mark could feel things below his neck, but his muscles did not work correctly. Even with these obstacles, Mark lived a remarkable and full life. Most of the action takes place in 1988 when Mark was 38-years-old. Up to that point Mark had achieved a lot as a poet and journalist. The one thing that he had not experienced was having sex. This was a hard proposition for him because his spine was extremely crooked.

It is quite obvious that director/screenwriter Ben Lewin had a lot of affection and admiration for Mark. Lewin himself contracted polio at a young age and still has to use crutches to this day. Lewin goes about this topic with warmth, affection and humor thrown in. Mark is a feisty guy and likes to spout off about his condition and life in general. He has some difficulties with the aides that he employs. He fires one of them because he thinks she is repulsed by his physical reactions to her touch. He develops feelings for the young female aide who replaced her. This is where human nature comes into play as she plays closer attention to his needs. She enjoys taking him outside to picnics and clothes shopping. The situation becomes untenable for her when he tells her that he loves her. It is not like she is disgusted by him, but more like that she doesn’t know how to handle this revelation. That drives the plot further and shows Mark what he needs to do.

Much of the humor of the screenplay is derived from the relationship Mark has with his priest Father Brendan (William H. Macy). Mark goes into much detail on what he is feeling with his urges. It is funny to see how at first the priest squirms with this knowledge. Father Brendan soon is comfortable with their talks and gives Mark advice that he seeks. I am not sure I completely bought this character and some of the simplistic advice he doles out. But I did look forward to these scenes with the much needed levity that it brought.

Mark soon hires Cheryl Cohen-Greene (Helen Hunt), a sexual surrogate to erase the virgin from his status. Hunt attacks this role with gusto. It must have given her pause to be so naked literally and figuratively on the screen. She needed to be both to make this true life character work. Cheryl is a no nonsense kind of gal. She says what’s on her mind and doesn’t mince words. It is fascinating to watch the transformation of the relationship between her and Mark. She states up front what is involved with this treatment so to speak. There is a good line about the difference between a prostitute and a sexual surrogate. A prostitute wants repeat business, while she caps her sessions at six. A prostitute also probably doesn’t care about breathing exercises and getting her clients open to the idea of intimacy and what it entails.

Mark and Cheryl don’t get off to a great start. He yells when she tries to remove his clothing. It is a learning process for both of them. As the sessions proceed, they actually grow fond of each other. He asks her out to coffee and writes her poetry. She doesn’t know how to handle her growing feelings. Her main focus has always been to help her client and be on her way. Mark makes her think about things in her life like her conversion to Judaism for her husband. There is a beautifully realized moment where Cheryl caresses Mark’s chest. It is fair to assume that Mark had not been touched much this way. You feel sadness that this has been deprived from his life, but then you are uplifted that he is experiencing it now.

Special notice has to be given to John Hawkes for his performance. I frankly don’t know how he was passed over for an Oscar. The only thing I can come up with is name recognition. Hawkes gave himself so completely to the role that he may have messed up his spine for life. He also had to change his speech pattern to adequately portray how the disability affected Mark. There are some great scenes how he used the phone and wrote his poetry. These are things that we take for granted and Mark had to struggle with the simplest of tasks. I never once felt sorry for Mark and his plight though. He persevered and thrived where others would have wilted. Hawkes was able to bring humanity to the character.

THE SESSIONS works on many levels about sexuality and the disabled. It also showed that you should live your life to the fullest no matter what obstacles stand in your way. That is the lesson I got from Mark O’Brien. The world was definitely a better place when he was in it.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: Robust use of both light and dark colors stands out here. This is especially true as lighter colors are used to possibly signal the sexual awakening of Mark. The format is put to good use.

Audio: I was astonished how crystal clear the dialogue was. This could easily have been a problem with the way Mark talks, but everything is audible.

Deleted Scenes (3:34): 2 scenes in all. One was a scene between Cheryl and her son. It dealt with her reaction to the poem Mark wrote her.  The other scene is a fantasy sequence by Mark about his upcoming involvement with a sex surrogate.

Writer/Director Ben Lewin Finds Inspiration for the Sessions (4:01): The director discusses his attachment to the material and Mark O’Brien. The movie was a family affair with other family members involved in the production. The actors talk about the director and his amazing energy.

John Hawkes Becomes Mark O’Brien (4:26): Great feature about Hawkes’s preparation for the role and what he went through. Some fascinating tidbits on what he used to get the curved spine and the revelation that there were no special effects used.

Helen Hunt as The Sex Surrogate (4:13): Hunt discusses her role and her feelings about it. The real Cheryl Cohen-Greene chimes in on what she does in her profession. The director and actors express their admiration for Cheryl.

A Session with The Cast (3:50): The actors talk about the story of Mark O’Brien. O’Brien’s sense of humor gets mentioned in several features by Hawkes and that he wanted that to come out.

The Women Who Loved Mark O’Brien (4:24): Various actresses expound on what their character meant to Mark.

The post The Sessions Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Since my dad was in the military in 1986, TOP GUN was a staple in my household.  Regardless of which branch of service they were in, everyone that was in the military when TOP GUN came out wished they were in the Navy.  The film made being in the military cool again and little kids everywhere were telling people they wanted to be a “Naval aviator” when they grew up.  But that was 25 years ago and now the cool factor in TOP GUN is minimized.  TOP GUN is now more of a punch line for pop culture jokes, made famous when Quentin Tarantino went on his spiel in the movie SLEEP WITH ME about TOP GUN being a metaphor for homosexuality.  Joke or not, I don’t care.  I still like TOP GUN for what it really is; a movie about cool guys with a cool job doing cool things.

I won’t try to convince you that TOP GUN is something it’s not.  It’s not an Oscar contender that will blow you away with a brilliant script or earth shattering performances.  But what it does, it does well, thanks in large part to a career making turn from Tom Cruise.  But really, the entire film is set up to make Maverick cool.  He’s a fighter pilot that constantly rebels against the establishment, he easily gets the incredibly beautiful Kelly McGillis, he stands up to the cocky Iceman and then overcomes the death of his best friend to save America.  Again, it’s sometimes hard to go back and watch 80’s movies because they’re referenced so much in today’s pop culture, but TOP GUN is a movie I find holds up very well over time.

Sure, the movie has problems.  Goose dies and then Maverick is immediately supposed to forget about it.  I’m still not sure how a pilot as reckless as Maverick makes his way to Top Gun and there were enough continuity problems with the aerial footage to make even a casual fan cringe.  But if you think about your favorite 80’s blockbuster, you can destroy it with little effort.  So I embrace TOP GUN for all of its faults and find that its strengths more than make up for the shortcomings.

Even though this may be the most overused statement when it comes to Blu-ray, I felt like I was watching TOP GUN again for the first time.  I laughed at the line “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you” even though I’ve heard it hundreds of times in all sorts of situations.  I got sad when Goose died, even though I knew it was going to happen and I got nervous for Maverick during the end battle, finding myself wondering if he was going to reengage, even though I obviously knew what was going to happen.  I got a sense of what it must have felt like to watch the film in 1986 and if that’s the power of 3D, then I guess we shouldn’t complain.

3D BLU-RAY REVIEW

Sometimes 3D is judged by how many eye-popping moments there are in a movie.  If that’s your gauge, then know that there are exactly zero eye-popping moments in TOP GUN.  However, there is an added depth to the film, which really brings the film to life.  I feel like a geeky fanboy for saying this, but I really liked the 3D and was impressed by how much it added to the movie watching experience.  If you are a fan of TOP GUN, then I can’t recommend this 3D version enough.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  Scenes at night tended to be less stellar than the daytime scenes, most notably on the aircraft carrier in the beginning or when Maverick was on the motorcycle towards the end.  But every other scene was incredible, making you forget that the film was made in the mid-80’s.

Audio: The audio is equally impressive, blasting at you in 6.1 surround.

The 3D Limited Edition of TOP GUN also includes the 2D disc that was released originally in 2008 and then repackaged in 2011.  It includes a commentary track with producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Director Tony Scott, Co-Screenwriter Jack Epps, Jr., Captain Mike Galpin, Technical Advisor Pete Pettigrew and Vice Admiral Mike McCabe, along with the fivefeaturettes.

The post Top Gun 3D Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

The final film in the great career of Spanish director Luis Bunuel, THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE is a story that illustrates how love, no matter how you look at it, can blind.  When Mathieu (Rey) comes home one day he casts his eyes on the new chambermaid, Conchita (Bouquet AND Molina) and is dumbstruck.  He has her bring his evening drink to his room and attempts to seduce her.  She refuses his advances and leaves the room.  The next day he learns she has quit.  Months later he encounters her in Switzerland, shortly after being robbed in a local park.  It seems it was a friend of hers that robbed Mathieu.  She tries to return the money but he tells her to keep it so that she can get back to Paris.  He looks her up there and meets her mother, a woman with no support.  He begins to buy gifts for the women, lending mother money and buying groceries, all the time becoming more and more enamored of Conchita.  However, the more he persists the more she refuses.  She informs Mathieu that she is “Mozito” – a virgin – which completes the fantasy in Mathieu’s mind.  As the months go by Mathieu’s pursuit grows more and more desperate each day.  Ah, the beauty of love.

Nominated for two Academy Awards (Best Foreign Language Film and Best Adapted Screenplay), THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE is a humorous look at how love sometimes blinds us.  If you noticed above, I credited TWO different actresses as Conchita.   Bouquet is more stern minded and straightlaced while Molina is more carefree.  If I had to analyze this I would say that Bunuel used two different actresses to portray the different way’s Mathieu sees Conchita….blinded by his love so much that he can’t see it’s really two different women.  As the relationship goes on, Conchita slowly relents, allowing Mathieu to see her nude but at the same time wearing a chastity belt.  Mathieu continues to play/pay along until finally he has purchased a house for Conchita!  The humor is low key but keeps the film moving along.  A subplot of continual terrorist attacks (car bombings, shootings in the street) really does no more than jar you out of the story.  At least they did for me.  Still, I recommend seeing it, even if it’s to just catch the swansong of a master filmmaker.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  The transfer is fine, based on the quality of the print they used.  The only flaw occurs at the occasional reel change, when the color fades at the splice.  The film is presented in a 1:67.1 aspect ratio.

Audio:  The audio is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio Mono.  The film is in French with English subtitles, which is the way I watched it.  You can watch it with an English over dub but I wouldn’t recommend it.  The dubbing sounds like it was done in a tunnel.  There is minimal music in the film to distract from the story.

Like the film itself, the extras are presented in Foreign Languages (French and Spanish) but are subtitled.

Interview with Carlos Saura (12:04):  Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura reminisces about first meeting Luis Bunuel at the Cannes Film Festival as well as Bunuel’s return to Spain and the regard he was held in by fellow Spanish directors.

The Arbitrariness of Desire (33:57):  Co-script writer Jean-Claude Carriere discusses collaborating with Bunuel on the screenplay, as well as their work together on other films like THE MILKY WAY, THE PHANTOM OF LIBERTY and BELLE de JOUR.

Lady Doubles (36:17):  A very nice piece featuring the two Conchitas, Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina.  The discuss their work on the film and how their careers were affected by the film.

Portrait of an Impatient Filmmaker (16:23):  Bunuel collaborators Edmond Richard (Cinematographer) and Pierre Lary (Assistant Director) reminisce on the reasons Bunuel decided to dismiss Maria Schneider and have Bouquet and Molina take over the role of Conchita after the film had begun shooting.

The post That Obscure Object of Desire Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

The idea for the show is decent enough; follow a young William Adama (played to perfection originally by Edward James Olmos) as he fights his way through the first Cylon war.  But this Adama (played by Luke Pasqualino) is much different from the Adama that we know.  He’s cocky, unaware and tends to make quick, sometimes dumb decisions.  These are traits common with youth, but they tend to further drive an already deep wedge between this and the series we loved.  In fact, aside from a few names and the excessive use of the word “frack”, there’s really not much to link us back to the series.

Some fans complained that ‘Battlestar Galactica’ focused too much on the drama between the characters and not enough on the action.  BLOOD AND CHROME seems to acknowledge this and features a lot of action and exciting aerial battles.  But it also tries to incorporate some drama to a much lesser success rate.  The dialogue is usually awkward or worse yet, filled with groan-worthy clichés.  We also have very bland co-stars, including Adama’s co-pilot Coker (Ben Cotton) and the mystery woman Becca (Lili Bordan).  They each have a purpose to the plot, but they feel more like a hodgepodge of throwaway characters from other shows.  The bad dialogue and uninteresting characters prevents any real drama or character development from ever getting going and so we’re left with a very empty shell of a movie.

There are several failures in BLOOD AND CHROME, but probably the biggest failure was starting with Adama too young and not including any other familiar names for fans of the show to get behind.  I felt that we could have picked up with Adama when Apollo was a baby or a young kid and that would have given us something more familiar.  Then add in additional familiar faces as we go along and at least we’d have something to relate to.

But a little perspective needs to be used when judging BATTLESTAR GALACTICA: BLOOD AND CHROME.  Let’s remember that this started out as a web series and then was being considered a regular series and then ended up being a movie.  So I’m not convinced that this final product was ever intended to be produced, probably leading to many of the movie’s problems.  As a web series (that I didn’t watch), I imagine it worked much better because it was broken up into small bits and didn’t fall under the weight of the pressure a full length movie brings.  This could be blamed on Syfy, who apparently never knew what to do with BLOOD AND CHROME.  Unfortunately, the end result is a disappointment to fans of the original show and one that should probably be forgotten when looking back at the series.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  You can’t turn a sunflower into a rose and likewise, you can’t take an originally average video and make it beautiful.  The video transfer was great, but the source video wasn’t, so they did the best with what they had.

Audio: The audio was fine.

Blood and Chrome: Visual Effects (22:54): This is an extensive look at some of the more elaborate visual effects in the movie.  To the film’s credit, it did have some decent visuals and this featurette gives you a closer look at how they were created.

Deleted scenes (29:03): We get 13 deleted scenes, most of which are unfinished, complete with a green screen and muffled audio.  I enjoyed these scenes, only because I like watching the movie making process and these gave us more insight into that.  As for their worth to the overall movie, I think they were wise to not finish them.

The post Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

Peter Mitchell (Christopher Walken, SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS) is the cellist and virtual “heart and soul” of a world-renowned string quartet that has been together for 25 years.  For their silver anniversary the group is giving a special performance to kick off the new season, however Peter’s health starts to deteriorate and the quartet must painstakingly deal with the realization of Peter’s eventual departure and replacement.  As this earth-shattering change looms over the musicians, they are forced to deal with deep-seeded emotions of love, jealously and resentment that have finally come to a crescendo.

A multitude of films have used the background of classical music to facilitate various messages of human relationships.  A LATE QUARTET is not so consumed with the safe and secure delivery of an uplifting response, instead it uses the character’s passion for their work as a figurative metronome that keeps the pace of the script as its literal counterpart would keep the timing in a piece of music.  The characters have real-world problems that can be easily translated to any industry in which people have maintained such close quarters with their co-workers for an extended period of time.  Although, the true strength of this script is its unapologetic and blatant disregard for the inclusion of movie “fluff.”  Much like real interactions, people don’t always have the right words and usually end up compounding their mistakes when emotions are running high.  There is seldom a clever quip or joke to lighten up the mood and no matter how high the precipice of one’s success in their path of life, self-validation seems to have a relentless appetite.

Parallel to a string quartet performing their magnum opus, the four co-stars of A LATE QUARTET use the talents of their true craft to convincingly mimic a level of musical art that takes most partakers decades to achieve.  Even though Christopher Walken (Peter), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Robert), Catherine Keener (Juliette) and Mark Ivanir (Daniel) were subject to rigorous training by masters of the character’s genre of music, undoubtedly holes and flaws in their handling of the instruments could be pointed out by true professionals.  But convincing life-long chamber music performers is not the endgame of this film, the actors just needed to deliver enough sophistication to overly convince the layman movie audience, and perhaps even impress some pros in the industry with their effort.

In addition to the impassioned complexities of displaying a convincing musical performance, an equivalent yet opposite feat is accomplished by the simple enactment of normal behavior.  Christopher Walken is easily one of the most popular and beloved actors in Hollywood for his rogues gallery of ornery characters.  However, in this film Walken gets the rare opportunity to play a level headed and highly respected member of society, reminding everyone that in real life he’s just an actor and not the fun-loving sociopath every amateur impressionist likes to quote after throwing back a few adult beverages.  Equally, this performance also valiantly displays Walken’s range as a pure actor as it takes very little time to adjust to his convincing embodiment of a stable and poised musician of the highest class.

The only bridge that is missing from A LATE QUARTET that keeps the tale of four master musicians from becoming a masterpiece of cinema is its very adequate script.  Even though the writing rings true to the circumstances and the personalities of the characters, at times the emotional fallout has a tendency to cross over into the realm of melodrama.  Thankfully though, the dialogue is able to retract before characters start speaking in monologues with their backs to the addressee, and the film ultimately culminates as a very entertaining and thought-invoking representation of how the structure of music is dictated by the human condition.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  1080p/AVC MPEG-4, 2.35:1 Widescreen (mistakenly labeled as 1:78:1 on the Blu-ray jacket) This film is extremely clear and sharp, with deep blacks and a warm hue.  The most impressive scenes are in the symphony halls where the rich colors exacerbate the feel and emotion of the music.

Audio:  DTS-HD MA 5.1: Audio is under special scrutiny any time the film’s subject matter has to do with music and in that respect, it’s fantastic.  Anytime an instrument is played, you feel like you can look to the other end of the couch and expect to see a maestro conducting.  However speech is a bit muted and on occasion some dialogue in the low registers can be a bit difficult to make out clearly.

Discord and Harmony: Creating a Late Quartet (8 min):  It’s the only special feature to be included on the disc and unfortunately it’s also very brief.  The featurette contains confessionals on how the actors had almost no idea of how to convey they were master musicians and tell about some of the grueling hours they had to put in just to get to the point where they could fake it.  This is definitely an aspect that should have warranted at least a 20 or 30 minute feature with interviews from the real quartet that is heard playing during the film.

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ARGO is based off the true story of how CIA operative Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) organized a rescue mission to extract six Americans that were being held captive in Iran in 1980. It’s a story that’s so crazy, it has to be true. To get out the hostages, Mendez devised a plan to go into Iran posing as a Hollywood crew, scoping out locations for a new science fiction movie, titled “Argo”; the idea being that each hostage member would be part of the film crew; writer, set designer, cameraman, etc. Obviously, Iran was not a great place for Americans back in the early 80’s and so the crew ran into several obstacles, which made the second half of the film one nail biting scene after another. I actually knew the story before I saw the movie and I still found myself nervous for everyone involved, which is a testament to how great of a director Ben Affleck has become over the years.

When I try to identify the star of the film, it’s Ben Affleck the director more so than Ben Affleck the actor. Although he was brilliant in his portrayal of Tony Mendez, his talented directing is what makes ARGO so great. Affleck did a masterful job balancing the seriousness of hostages trapped in Iran with the typical ridiculousness of Hollywood. He made it funny, but not so much it couldn’t be taken seriously and he made it intense, but not overbearing. It’s amazing how much he’s grown as a director and how he manages to improve upon every outing. GONE BABY GONE was also a great film, but ARGO is on another level.

One of the things that I feel gets lost in the praise of ARGO is the human element in the film. The six hostages collectively act as one character, but together, they grow throughout the film. They start out nervous and scared of their own shadow and then find the confidence within them to make their way through the Iranian airport. Once again, Affleck captures this beautifully, using a close-up shot of his own expression while Joe (Scoot McNairy) is convincing the guard that they’re really a film crew. In that scene, Mendez was completely helpless and for the first time, had to rely on someone else to save the day. It’s a great moment and a very powerful scene that had the perfect amount of subtlety to it; a sign of a director at the top of his game.

We’ve seen movies about the government enlisting the help of Hollywood to put on a fake movie in order to satisfy ulterior motives, such as WAG THE DOG and THE LAST SHOT, but none have taken on such serious subject matter and none have done it so well. Let’s face it; most movies about Hollywood are self-serving wastes of time, but ARGO is not so much about Hollywood or the filmmaking process (although there are plenty of jokes at Hollywood’s expense), but it’s more about average Americans putting their faith in one guy that his crazy idea will get them out of a dangerous situation unscathed. When broken down to the human level, ARGO is a powerful film and one that deserves the recognition its received.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video: Warner Bros. went all out on the film that will probably win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Found footage aside, the video looks beautiful and pristine.

Audio: The audio track is just as impressive as the video, bringing the film completely to life.

Picture in Picture: Eyewitness Account: I find that most films that are based on true events seem to include features that gloss over what really happened. So imagine my delight when I started watching this and it featured firsthand accounts from people that were actually there, including Tony Mendez himself. I don’t see how you could have any more questions about the events depicted in the film after watching this great picture in picture feature.

Commentary with Ben Affleck and Chris Terrio: This isn’t the most exciting commentary track to listen to, but it is a very informative look at the making of the film. Affleck and Terrio stick mainly to the basics of the movie making process.

Rescued from Tehran: We Were There (16:58): Mendez and some of the hostages, as well as President Carter show up and talk about what really happened. This is nice for anyone wanting an overview from the actual participants and don’t want to watch the whole PiP feature.

Absolute Authenticity (11:03): This feature dives into Affleck’s demands that the film be as realistic as possible and the research the crew had to do to get ready for filming.

Escape from Iran: The Hollywood Option (47:02): This is a documentary from 2005 that features more real footage from the event as well as firsthand accounts from those that were there. It’s an interesting documentary, but I felt it was a rehash of what we had just seen in the PiP feature.

The CIA and Hollywood Connection (5:57): This featurette doesn’t fit into the rest of them because it feels more like a fluff piece with too much movie footage cut in.

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Having been filmed twice previously, this version of A STAR IS BORN moves the setting from Hollywood to the world of music.  It tells the story of John Norman Howard (Kristofferson), an on his way down former rock star who one night catches Esther Hoffman (Streisand) singing in a small club.  John Norman knows talent when he hears it and he takes it upon himself to get Esther heard.  Eventually she finds herself climbing to the top while John Norman (as Esther calls him) continues to slip, dealing with alcohol, drugs and poor record sales.

The second highest grossing film of 1976 (though most of its money was made in 1977), behind ROCKY, A STAR IS BORN captures Streisand at the top of her popularity.  Clearly involved in every aspect of the film (she wears her own clothes in the film, which receives the credit “Ms. Streisand’s Clothes From…Her Closet!”)  Her performance is in and out, sometimes showing real emotion and sometimes apparently just reciting the lines from the script.  Kristofferson fares just as well.  Coming off mostly supporting film roles, most notably in Martin Scorsese’s ALICE DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE, Kristofferson is at his best when he truly has to emote.  The supporting cast includes early roles for future Oscar nominees Gary Busey and Sally Kirkland, as well as future directing Oscar nominee Paul Mazursky, who plays John Norman’s manager.

While the film struggles occasionally thematically, it’s the music that makes it still memorable almost forty years later.  Besides the Oscar winning “Evergreen,” which Streisand co-wrote with Paul Williams, the film includes songs written by a who’s who of great songwriters, including   Kenny Loggins, Leon Russell, Rupert Holmes and Alan and Marilyn Bergman, who would go on to write the songs for Streisand’s directorial debut, YENTL.

In addition to its Oscar for best song the film earned three additional nominations for cinematography, musical score and adaptation and sound, all three well deserved.  There are several shots of John Norman’s ranch and desert land which jump off the screen like postcards.  The concert scenes, as well as the rest of the singing in the film, were filmed live, the first time this had been attempted on such a large scale.  The film also swept the Musical/Comedy categories at the Golden Globes, with Streisand and Kristofferson taking home Best Actress and Actor, respectively, and the film being named Best Picture.

A true time capsule of the mid 1970s, A STAR IS BORN is a film you need to see at least once.  Come for the movie…stay for the music.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  The transfer here is outstanding, with all of the bright colors (costumes, the outdoor concert shots) standing out.  Kristofferson’s blue eyes practically leap off your screen.  Presented in a 1:78.1 aspect ratio.

Audio:  The audio is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio Mono 5.1.  The dialogue is clear and the musical sequences, especially when Streisand is belting, sound as if she’s in the same room.

Packed in a 40 page Digi-book, the extras are similar to those featured on the 30^th Anniversary DVD released in 1976.

Commentary by Barbra Streisand:  The entire time the film was being made rumors began coming out about how director Pierson (who sadly died last year) clashed constantly with Streisand and her then-boyfriend (and the film’s producer) Jon Peters.  So angry was Pierson that, shortly before the film opened, he wrote an essay for “New West” magazine entitled “My Battles with Barbra and Jon.”  What’s so amazing about the commentary is that Babs talks so much about her editing the film and telling the cameraman where to put the camera and how to shoot that, if you didn’t know better you might think THIS was Streisand’s first film and not YENTL.

Wardrobe Tests with Commentary by Barbra Streisand (3:12):  Since the clothes came from her closet who better to discuss them.  For a movie shot almost 40 years ago Streisand has a unique memory for what she was wearing in 1975 and where it came from.

Deleted Scenes and Alternate Takes with Optional Commentary by Streisand (16:44):  A compilation of twelve scenes, all of them bringing back memories for Streisand.  Eleven of them weren’t missed.  One I would have liked to have seen features Streisand telling Kristofferson about a tune she just wrote and then playing the chords for “Evergreen” for him on guitar while humming the tune in accompaniment.  Though I agree with Streisand that it does slow the film down some it would have ended then and there the rumor that Streisand just put her name on Paul Williams’ song.

THEATRICAL TRAILERS

Trailer for the 1937 film A STAR IS BORN starring Janet Gaynor and Frederick March

Trailer for the 1954 film A STAR IS BORN starring Judy Garland and James Mason

Trailer for the 1976 film A STAR IS BORN starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson

The post A Star is Born (1976) Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

When I originally heard they were filming a new DIE HARD I cringed.  Not because of Bruce Willis (admittedly he looks great for his age and can still bring it on screen), but because times have changed and trying to recapture the action dream of yesteryear is like trying to catch a unicorn.  This flick feels more like a buddy cop movie than a DIE HARD entry, and I truly feel that if it had been manufactured as such people would have loved it.  Sadly, this is not the case.  I’ve heard some people complain about the over-the-top story elements–like the added spy angle, weapon’s grade plutonium and nukes.  I don’t mind that so much, simply because you have to ask yourself, “where else could they go?”  You start off the series with a kidnapping and some guns, then we upgrade to Uzis and a plane, then bombing schools and so on, so again, where else could they go from there?  If only that were the end of the  complaints.  Unfortunately, it’s the beginning.

The biggest problem lies with Bruce Willis’ John McClane.  Where’s the hard edged cop from DIE HARD one and two?  He ain’t here that’s for sure.  McClane’s dialogue is forced and clunky, almost like Willis has forgotten how to emulate McClane in light of all the badass roles he’s played over the years.  So if Willis is confused about who McClane is, how are we, the audience, supposed to be anything but confused?  Jai Courtney is a fine addition to the show as McClane’s son and handles the action like a champ (not surprising coming from SPARTACUS: BLOOD AND SAND).  His breakout in this flick and JACK REACHER are awesome news and I hope he does well in the future.  It was rumored he’d be taking over this franchise, which would work for me, but who knows.

The villains are another low.  We get a dude actually do a jig in front of the boys in an attempt to strike fear into their hearts.  Sigh.  There’s a muscle bound (nameless) Russian thug who looks cool, but is terribly misused.  Now I don’t want to spoil anything, but I just don’t get the switchover that happens (you’ll know it), it begs a great many question to add to your confusion pile.  The action is fantastic though, I’ll say that at least.  They blow up and destroy nearly everything in every scene.  The opening car chase was pretty cool, as was the chopper blowing the hell out of the building, but I have to wonder what the bad guys were thinking while piloting the chopper at the end (and don’t get me started on Jack’s wound that should have taken him of the game completely but is shrugged off as a scratch).

A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD promised much, but delivered very little in the way of “DIE HARD” brand.  And I hate to sound petty, but what happened to all the scenes in the trailer?  The scene where the girl takes off the leather jumpsuit was cut way back, the opening scene with McClane in the taxi went NOTHING like it did in the movie, and there were a couple other mismatched scenes as well.  Why?  I just don’t get it.  The R rating also excited me in the beginning, but other than tossing in a couple F-bombs and his infamous catch phrase, I didn’t see an R rating, there wasn’t even red mist seen when shooting people.  I’m also no Chemistry major, but the two of these guys would be in for some serious repercussions if they swallowed any of that water.  Again, you’ll know.  In the end, this is watchable, but nowhere near memorable, which is disappointing.

The post A Good Day To Die Hard Movie Review appeared first on Flix 66.

You’ll need a recap of season 1 (click Game of Thrones season 1 to read the Blu-ray review) in order to pick up with season 2.  The second season basically picks up right where we left off with the first.  Joffrey Lannister is still king and Robb Stark’s army is still moving towards the castle in hopes of avenging his murdered father and putting a rightful heir on the throne.  Starks other sons, Jon and Bran, continue dealing with their plights while their half brother Alfie is torn between his actual lineage and his duty to the Starks.  Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons have hatched and continue to gain strength (their very existence gives me goose bumps when I think of what they can do with fully grown dragons) as she plots her return to the throne.

And I haven’t even gotten to Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), who steals every scene and is hands down the best character on television.  Tyrion is so great of a character that the audience finds themselves constantly wanting to go back and check on him.  There is one huge problem with ‘Game of Thrones’; one hour doesn’t do the show justice and so the audience has a constant, un-fulfill-able hunger for more Thrones that could never be satisfied.  Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) is one of my favorite characters, but she doesn’t get a lot of screen time.  But that argument could be made about all of the characters because there are so many of them and all of them have complex backgrounds and intricate, intertwining plots.  Nothing is simple in ‘Game of Thrones’ and perhaps that’s what makes the show so fascinating.

The second season of Thrones does have me concerned that HBO might be dragging it out a bit much.  Maybe I’ve been too jaded with Hollywood where bad guys get killed within 90 minutes and the hero lives a wonderful life.  In ‘Game of Thrones’, it’s sometimes hard to tell who’s the villain and who’s the hero (except for Joffrey, arguably the most hated villain on TV).  And as for a quick resolution, forget about it.  Writer and creator George R.R. Martin isn’t going to sell out and kill off Joffrey in a couple of episodes or crown Robb Stark right away (if ever, I don’t know because I haven’t read the books); there’s a whole story to tell and the journey is half the fun.

The fact that this show can intertwine a huge political fight for power with dragons, shapeshifters and magic is truly remarkable.  I’ve lost arguments where I’ve tried to convince non-fantasy fans to give the show a chance and that’s frustrating because it’s so great.  In fact, I wouldn’t even label it a fantasy.  Call it whatever genre you want (romance, action, mystery, political, etc.) because it fits virtually every category.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  Nobody does Blu-ray like HBO and ‘Game of Thrones’ season 2 is no exception.  The show really is breathtaking on Blu-ray.

Audio: The audio is equally impressive.

Commentary on twelve episodes:  The first season only offered 7 commentaries, so getting another 5 was quite a treat.  The commentaries are incredible, offering plenty of insight into the story and the filming of the episodes.  As you go through, you may find that certain episodes had more impact than others (episode 4, for example) and turning on the commentary on the second viewing will clear up things you may have missed and will help satisfy that hunger for more Thrones.

In-episode guide: Like the first season, each episode has an in-episode guide that gives more information on the locations and the characters.  But the treat here is the “history” selection, which plays out various stories in animated form, as told by certain characters.  Kudos has to be given to HBO for adding something so incredible to the special features and going that extra step for the fans.

Character Profiles (15:57): 7 different actors show up to profile their different characters.  It’s an interesting featurette, but like I said with the first season featurette, at just over 2 minutes a pop, might not be worth the effort.

War of the Five Kings Interactive Guide: There’s a whole other level of fantasy fandom and this featurette is for those of you that take it to that next level.  This is an interactive guide to the war and covers everything from military strategy to historical significance.

Creating the Battle of Blackwater Bay (30:57):  The battle in the ninth episode was one of the more climactic events in the second season and so it gets its own featurette.  I can’t always get into featurettes that focus on one specific scene, but this one does a fine job.

Game of Thrones Inner Circle (24:03): Five actors sit down with the executive producers to have a roundtable discussion about the second season.  Admittedly, I rolled my eyes when this started, but I quickly found myself engaged in the discussion.

The Religions of Westeros (7:47): George R.R. Martin and producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss sit down to talk about the different religions portrayed in the series and the role religion plays for all the characters.

There are also a number of Easter Eggs for those that like to search

The post Game Of Thrones Season 2 Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

In THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, we follow Charlie, an unsure, nervous teen starting his freshman year of high school as an outsider.  Befriending a misfit step-sibling duo, Sam (Emma Watson) and Patrick (Ezra Miller), Charlie (Logan Lerman) discovers a place where his shy nature is accepted and appreciated.  Throughout the school year we experience the high school angst Charlie and the rest of his new group of friends endure. From awkward (yet funny) dating moments and ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW reenactments to more serious issues, the year we spend with Charlie is poignant.  Set in the early 1990’s it was fun seeing the throwback fashion, and I loved the making of mixed tapes (while searching for a specific song without widespread use of the internet). In fact, the entire soundtrack in this film is quite fitting featuring David Bowie, The Smiths, The Samples, and Sonic Youth to name a few tunes.

Creating the thoughtful and introverted character, Logan Lerman’s take on Charlie was well done. This was my first impression of Lerman as I have not seen his other works.  I appreciated the subtleness used as his character sheds his nervous nature and becomes more comfortable with his new friends.  Ezra Miller’s Patrick was such a fantastic departure from the disturbed teen he played in WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN. I was wary of Miller being able to portray the right amount of charisma and sass that Patrick required. However, the minute we see Patrick mimicking the shop teacher, I am sold and want more.

Whenever I see Emma Watson’s name, immediately I think of Hermione Granger from the HARRY POTTER franchise. While this franchise will always be a big part of Miss Watson’s career, I guarantee she will have many more roles that will continue to separate her from her start in show business. Dropping the English accent, she embodies a completely different character than bookish Hermione in Sam.

The supporting cast is excellent, each lending performances that keep the story moving forward.  Having Paul Rudd cast as English teacher, Mr. Anderson, was a perfect choice. Though we do not see much of Rudd in this flick, the few moments he is on screen are great. Mae Whitman (from televisions Parenthood) is awesome as the bossy, opinionated Mary Elizabeth.

Despite all the accolades I have thrown at THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER, this film is not for everyone. With the darker subject lines following these high schoolers, I will be selective with who I recommend watch this picture.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Audio (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1): The audio is excellent for this dialogue driven flick.

Video (1.78:1): The subdued colors are perfect for this tale of high school struggles.

Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Stephen Chbosky: Chbosky uses this platform to share stories and highlight areas inspired directly from his life in Pittsburgh.

Audio Commentary with Stephen Chbosky, Logan Lerman, Ezra Miller, Emma Watson, Mae Whitman, Johnny Simmons, and Erin Wilhelm: You get a great feel for the friendships established between these actors as they share inside stories, laughs and poke fun at one another.

Best Summer Ever (5:00): Director Chbosky and the cast reflect on the summer they filmed this picture together.

Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Writer/Director Stephen Chbosky (23:11): 12 deleted or alternate scenes that could have added a bit to the film (giving viewers who are not familiar with the story/book a chance to learn more about the issues Charlie is facing).

Dailies with Optional Commentary by Writer/Director Stephen Chbosky (7:04): I found this featurette to be quite interesting. Three dailies, one without sound. The one without sound might be my most favorite; it was very poetic.

The post The Perks of Being a Wallflower Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.

The James Bond in SKYFALL is much different from the Bond we knew in Daniel Craig’s previous outings.  He’s older, slower and he’s not invincible.  Furthermore, he doesn’t always get his man and this is established in the brilliant opening sequence when he’s actually shot in the shoulder by a fellow agent.   That injury plagues Bond throughout the film as we see him struggle holding his gun straight and just barely holding on to a climbing elevator.  Mendes’ decision to recreate James Bond as a mortal man and not a superhero is perhaps his biggest achievement and the aspect of the film that sets it apart from many of the other James Bond movies we’ve seen over the years.

Once Bond returns from that shoulder injury, he immediately gets assigned to track down former 00 agent Silva (Javier Bardem), who everyone presumes is trying to kill M (Judi Dench).  We’ve seen Bond go up against former 00 agents before, but Silva is a different character.  He’s not out to destroy the world or hijack a nuclear missile, he wants revenge on M because he felt she betrayed him when he was an agent.  This adds a level of humanity to the villain that we don’t normally see in Bond movies.  His situation also parallels Bond’s, who is still struggling with the fact that M may or not have betrayed him earlier in the film.

Of course, the typical James Bond action sequences ensue around the globe, complete with plenty of shootouts, fist fights and even a hungry dragon.  Aside from the opening sequence, I didn’t find any of the action stunts to be anything earth shattering.  They were what I would expect from a James Bond film, adequately moving the story along while keeping the audience entertained.  I felt the same way about the Bond girls in SKYFALL, even though I did like what they did with Naomi Russell’s Eve later on in the film.

The biggest complaint I have about the 23^rd Bond movie, SKYFALL, is that it feels too much like a James Bond movie.  I know that seems like a silly thing to point out, but when I first learned that one of my favorite directors, Sam Mendes, was going to be directing Daniel Craig in a Bond movie, I was excited to see the world’s greatest super agent in an anti-Bond film.  We got that to some degree, but there was still a part of me that wanted more and less all at the same time.  Of course, my strange disappointment doesn’t take away from the fact that SKFYALL is one heck of a ride and it firmly establishes itself as one of the greats Bond films of all time.

BLU-RAY REVIEW

Video:  Breathtaking.  I’m always looking for non-animated, reference-quality Blu-rays to show off my system and SKYFALL is now at the top of the list.  The video quality is amazingly clear.

Audio: The audio matches the video on every level, making this one of the nicest Blu-ray releases we’ve seen in a while.

Commentary with Sam Mendes: Sam Mendes tends to give very technical, almost distant commentaries and this isn’t much different.  It’s great, don’t get me wrong, but if you’re looking for personal stories are some insight into hijinks on the set, you won’t find them here.  He does, however, explain almost every scene and give details behind certain dialogue and shots.

Commentary with Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson and Dennis Gassner: Broccoli and Wilson own and control the Bond franchise, but I get the feeling they don’t participate in anything, other than giving their stamp of approval and cashing the checks.  Therefore, this commentary is a little bland and features a lot of them talking about how great the movie is.  Gassner has some good notes here and there, but overall I prefer Mendes’ commentary over this one.

Shooting Bond (59:22): A documentary crew followed the entire process of making SKYFALL from start to finish and the result is a very detailed, fascinating documentary that can also be viewed as 14 separate featurettes.

SKYFALL Premiere (4:29): SKYFALL premiered at the Royal Albert Hall and this quick featurette focuses on the premiere, along with interviews from the cast and crew.

Theatrical Trailer, Previews and a Soundtrack Promo

The post Skyfall Blu-ray Review appeared first on Flix 66.