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Saturday, 24 November 2012
"Ancient Aliens" More Fun Than Informative
People have always been fond of speculating on the unknown. From religion and the afterlife to extraterrestrial life, theories on the unknown abound; and the History Channel series Ancient Aliens explores these very theories. However, no matter how many “facts” are shown, it’s important to remember that these are only theories.
Season four starts off with possibly the most relevant topics: Mayan and the Doomsday prophecies. A look at the Mayan ruins reveals many depictions that could be alien life forms. One of the many dubious “authorities” on these alien matters believes that aliens visited the Mayans and ruled them as gods. Under such influence, could their 2012 calendar end date really be when the world ends? Or is it the date that the alien gods will return? (Or is it just when the calendar runs its course and must be reset back to day one?)
The season continues to explore other instances of aliens in our history. Are aliens responsible for tragic earthquakes and tsunamis? Are Da Vinci’s legendary sketches actually inspired by alien technology? Did aliens and dinosaurs coexist? And for fans of huge government conspiracies, the episode “The NASA Connection” purports that the government has had contact with aliens (but have obviously kept it hush-hush).
It can be fun to speculate on alien conspiracies, and the series does its best to make each theory sound legitimate. Despite this, most of the evidence and suggestions by those authorities that are interviewed feel like they are stretching, grasping at any straw that could potentially confirm their theory. It’s easy to sit back and enjoy these crazy episodes—just remember to take everything they say with a grain of salt.
SPECIAL FEATURES
There are no special features.
"Ancient Aliens: Season Four" is on sale November 20, 2012 and is not rated. Documentary. Written by Kody DeShaupe, Kaylan Eggert, Richard Monahan. Starring Robert Clotworthy.
"Les Visiteurs du Soir" Awaken from Nazi-Occupied France
In France, during the Nazi occupation of World War II, filmmakers faced the challenge of creating entertainment that might still carry with it the French perspective of the enemy occupation while still making it past Nazi censors who enforced considerably harsher penalties than the MPAA (like death, for example). This posed a challenge for filmmakers like Marcel Carné who desired to comment on the deplorable situation through his work without being penalized for political messaging. His solution: Les Visiteurs du Soir (or The Devil’s Envoys), a story set in the time of kings and traveling minstrels imbued with heavy themes of an evil working from within to destroy youth, love, and order. The classic film receives the Criterion Collection Blu-ray restoration treatment here, but it’s worth noting that the print from which it’s derived is not without its share of quality issues, but the bewitching beauty of Arletty, the innocence of Marie Dea, and the stoic face of Alain Cuny make that easy to ignore.
Two traveling minstrels happen upon a castle in the midst of a celebration over the impending nuptials of Anne (Dea) and her fiancé, the cold and distant baron Renaud (Marcel Herrand). To ingratiate themselves to their hosts, the minstrels introduce themselves as Dominique (Arletty) and Gilles (Cuny) and proceed to play a song that enchants the audience and generally wins over the court. With their new found popularity, Dominique and Gilles proceed to divide and conquer; the seduce the would-be married couple and through a great many seductive lines, convince both the baron and Anne that they’d be happier on the arm of Dominique and Gilles, respectively.
Just when the dastardly plan seems to be on the verge of completion with Dominique drawing Anne’s father and Renaud to blows over her affections, Gilles has a change of heart and genuinely falls in love with Anne instead of simply stringing her along. With that, the devil (Jules Berry) appears to course correct his devious plot, only to discover that Gilles and Anne have kindled something real in their short time together. They must defy the devil and risk his wrath if they’re to have any hope of coming out at the end with their love intact.
Exactly what comparisons you choose to draw between the film’s story and the circumstances of Nazi-occupied France in 1942 are up to you, but there are plenty of choices. Do the devil’s agents represent the splintering of France’s political front which allowed the German’s to find the necessary weaknesses to invade in the first place? Does the sadistic rule of the devil and his ultimate fate for the lovers represent an overarching and vague representation of the evil that was bearing down on France at the time? Or is it a combination of these and other elements simply hinting at the infiltration of evil in to a peaceful and happy place and its repulsion by the purity it encounters there? We have no definitive answers here, but the clever dialogue and the performances (especially by Arletty) make it an entertaining story through and through.
Perhaps the most pressing issues in this particular Criterion release is the print of the film which is far from perfect but still watchable. The quality does seem to improve in the second half, but up until then there are a few very noticeable distortions and artifacts that betray some poor keeping of the original prints. It’s more reflective of the idea that the film was created in an era of conflict and before the preservation of classic films was really a priority for most studios than it is of Criterion Collection’s general record for cleaning up films. It’s unfortunate that such a historically interesting film can’t be perfect in quality all the way through, but at least it’s still watchable in its entirety.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
Considering its age, it’s not hard to understand that this release only has a single digital extra on the disc: a documentary on the film’s creation. Beyond that, the only extra is the set’s booklet insert featuring an essay by film critic Michael Atkinson on the challenge and risks of creating a film during the Nazi occupation of France.
"Les Visiteurs du Soir (The Criterion Collection)" is on sale September 18, 2012 and is not rated. Drama, Fantasy, Romance. Directed by Marcel Carne. Written by Jacques Prévert, Pierre Laroche. Starring Arletty, Marcel Herrand, Marie Dea, Alain Cuny, Jules Berry.
"Entourage" Kept the Laughs Flowing as the Drama Stagnated
For most of us, what we glean of a celebrity’s lifestyle through People magazine or entertainment news is about as close as we get to following the life of a movie star. HBO’s Entourage offered up something a little more in-depth and entertaining however by taking the exploits of Mark Wahlberg and his friends and making them the source of a series that went for eight seasons and followed Vince (Adrian Grenier), Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), Eric (Kevin Connolly), Johnny ‘Drama’ (Kevin Dillon), and their agent Ari (Jeremy Piven) as they navigated the highs and lows of life in the movie biz. It was never a brilliantly written show, but Entourage kept things interesting for the first three or four seasons before eventually tail spinning into a directionless free fall that made it increasingly hard to care what happened to Vince while only making us care moderately more about his friends. Ultimately, although good for some laughs along the way, Entourage had no idea where it was going and it took its sweet time getting there.
What started as a childhood friendship between Queens kids Vince, Turtle, Eric, and Drama evolved into something much more when an independent film saw Vince skyrocket to fame. And, being the all-around good guy that he is, he took his friends along for the ride. It’s doubtful he ever figured he’d star as Aquaman in a feature film or work on a Martin Scorsese flick, but those were the career highlights awaiting him. Unfortunately, the crest of his career came all at once and some rough years followed as he fell into some of the more basic temptations fame offered him and he becomes increasingly reckless financially, romantically, and professionally.
Meanwhile, Turtle’s desire to become self-sufficient leads him to a number of business deals, Eric attempts to get his talent and management agency off the ground (by finding clients who aren’t Vince) while fighting for a rocky romance, and Drama struggles to put his acting career on track only to have one setback after another before landing a gig made just for him—only to have even that endangered by his would-be partner. Shepherding them all through these years is Vince’s fast-talking, sarcastic, temperamental agent Ari who does his best to keep Vince a star even as his agency undergoes a number of turbulent changes.
It’s the character interactions that kept Entourage afloat through many of its roughest patches in the later seasons, but even that couldn’t prevent the second half of the series from feeling a bit repetitive and drawn out. Maybe the writers felt it necessary for Vince to face a seemingly depressing descent in his career for four seasons so the final season, where all four friends finally get their big breaks, can offer the kind of resolution that would at least leave fans happy if not entirely satisfied. Truth be told, for eight seasons of television it’s surprising how little these characters seemed to evolve and grow, save for Eric and Turtle who both have to man up and take responsibility for certain decisions. Otherwise, Vince, Drama, and Ari just keep running around in circles and repeating themselves almost as if for no other reason than to make sure the seasons have enough going on and not because there’s a story worth telling. Their friendship makes for quite a few funny moments, but there aren’t nearly enough to let us forgive the series’ failures in telling a compelling story for as long as it took to tell the meager one it gave us.
DVD Bonus Features
As you’d rightfully expect for a complete series DVD or Blu-ray release of a modern show, the Entourage box set comes fairly packed with a healthy supply of extras ranging from some excellent featurettes to a few promo pieces that even the most diehard fans of Entourage won’t give a first, nevermind second, glance.
In order of greatest to worst extras:
The Behind-the-Scenes featurettes and interviews: These represent the bulk of the set’s extras and it’s not hard to understand why; lots of footage was taken on the set of Entourage, whether in LA or in Vegas, over the years thanks to it being a show which came of age in the YouTube era. Consequently lots of shenanigans, stunts, and interviews, conducted by Mark Wahlberg, are caught on film, and at some point it all becomes a bit surreal when you realize it’s not entirely clear when the four leads and Jeremy Piven are and are not in character. The interviews make that a bit clearer, but for the most part this is where the true entertainment factor in the extras section is found.Medellin trailer and “making of” documentary – Remember that film about cartel kingpin Medellin that was supposed to be Vince’s big award winner? Well funnily enough the cast and crew put together a little faux-documentary about the making of the in-show film. It’s no Hearts of Darkness, but it’s funny they made it at all. The film’s trailer is also included.Sasha Grey interview and featurette on the world of adult film: She might not have been in one of the show’s best seasons, but porn star held up her end in her destructive arc and so it seems appropriate that she gets a profile piece here.Roundtable Q&A’s: The cast sits down for roundtable interview sessions as well as panels for the US Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen and the Museum of Television and Radio.21 Audio Commentaries: For about 2-3 episodes of each season you get an audio commentary and they can either be hysterical or very straightforward depending on who happens to be on-hand for the commentary.Matt Damon’s “One X One PSA”: It’s a PSA and it’s 30-seconds long, how entertaining did you expect it to be? It’s for a good cause and that’s what counts."Entourage: The Complete Series" is on sale November 6, 2012 and is not rated. Comedy, Drama. Directed by Julian Farino, Mark Mylod. Written by Doug Ellin. Starring Adrian Grenier, Jeremy Piven, Jerry Ferrara, Kevin Connolly, Kevin Dillon.
"Blade Runner" Still Has Things You People Wouldn't Believe
It’s not an easy thing to meet your maker.
Blade Runner (1982) has undergone a ludicrous amount of substantial revisions. And yet, it is to sci-fi what Chinatown (1974) is to film noir in terms of history and critical prestige. This is true despite a tonal change in the end of film. That says something either about the standards of sci-fi fans or the quality of the film. The Blade Runner 30th Anniversary Collector’s Edition includes all of these revisions all on Blu-ray (and one also on DVD) along with more special features than a normal person could ever hope to enjoy.
In 2019, the Tyrell Corporation-built replicants have been outlawed on Earth after a bloody rebellion. Replicants are androids in the form of humans so well created that it is almost impossible to distinguish them. Six replicants have come to Earth and the officials need Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), a blade runner. Blade runners are special policeman who track down and kill replicants and Deckard is the best. The replicants are led by a Nexus-6, a military-grade replicant, named Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer).
From the very first moments of the film, it’s clear that this is something special. What science fiction can provide is a timeless story either by blatantly ripping off older tales or creating something new. Where they typically fall down is by going too far in creating their world. Too much jargon, technology that is outstripped by reality, and making stupid clothing choices are so easy to fall into. Blade Runner, however, keeps jargon very limited, though I still don’t know what blades are being run. It does drop into the other two pitfalls. The clothes became the style of the 80s and the computers are rather laughable.
The story, though, is timeless (from our time onward, at least). The question is “what is human?” Can it be artificially created and what duties do natural humans have to these beings? In Blade Runner, the premise is that they can be created but it’s dealings with duty are arms-length. Blade Runner is the primer. Watch the issue play out on screen, but do not expect anyone to give you an answer. Really, the only thing approaching an answer is to reaffirm the premise—these replicants are exactly like humans. The rest is up to post-film conversation.
Blade Runner is also part film noir – complete with saucy dames, trench coats, wha-wha music, and vague investigation, though not so much with the plot twists (but one), witty repartee, or understated violence. In the original theatrical release, there was even a monotonous narration which may have been the worst put to a serious film. The narration was abandoned for all other releases.
Performances are all above average, especially considering that it’s the 80’s. Rutger Hauer steals the show. Ford plays the part we know so well. All other are unobtrusively functional. This is an accomplishment considering how weird everything is. But this isn’t a character study. Ridley Scott rarely makes films that give the time and focus to such a quiet study. He tells stories.
The Vangelis soundtrack is great. Vangelis, as you may know, also composed the score of Chariots of Fire (1981). Like Chariots of Fire, the mature composition is undermined by the over-synthesized sound. But, unlike Chariots of Fire, this is set in the future and, therefore, the electronic noise is more appropriate. Using real instruments is always preferable to a synthesizer. These sounds are timeless because they can be recreated in any era. That said, there are two soundtracks that use the electronic sound without ruination, Drive (2011) and Hanna (2011), which show that it is possible.
This is very much a cult classic. While it has many unquestionably great points to it in the plot, it’s a very strange film and told strangely. Not unlike another Ridley Scott movie, Prometheus (2012), much is assumed and less is fully established. But for those who have watched the film a dozen times, everything is clear and fantastic. Prometheus will be seen in the same way, in time. But that’s what makes a cult classic—only the acolytes know all and it is theirs. But for the mainstream viewer, however, this must ultimately be considered a weakly told story. It is simply too interesting a premise which wastes its time on running through the rain rather than digging into life in that world. It’s all there, but in the background.
One thing that does stand out over earlier viewings is that the Blu-ray version of The Final Cut is gorgeous. With the Final Cut (2007), there have been a number of alterations. For one, when Deckard is working his magic on the photograph (you’ll understand when you see it), things are actually discernible. The cityscapes are dramatic and brilliant with the high definition. Very much worth it. The pack also includes a ludicrous amount of special features.
Bonus Features Includes five different versions of the film. Original theatrical (1982). International Theatrical (1982), and Director’s Cut (1991). All unenhanced with slightly bored introductions by Ridley Scott. In these, Scott says that the Director’s Cut was included for “completion’s sake.”
The Final Cut (2007) has the most related special features. Introduction by Ridley Scott, commentary by Scott, commentary by the producers and screenwriters, and commentary by designers. Along with the BluRay, there is a DVD copy and an UltraViolet digital version included in the set.
A Workprint Feature version, was used for test screenings with alternative narration and sound. It has been enhanced from its deteriorated state (for some reason) but it’s still rough.
Documentaries “Dangerous Days: Making Blade Runner”, “All our Variant Futures: From Workprint to Final Cut,” “Access” (about Philip K. Dick) and a lot of pictures finish up the special features. Along with the media comes a book of pictures on set and pre-production sketches, a holographic photo, and a model “spinner” (flying car).
If you love Blade Runner, then even you will be satiated with the amount of features in this set.
"Blade Runner 30th Anniversary Collector's Edition" is on sale November 13, 2012 and is rated R. Action, Sci-Fi. Directed by Ridley Scott. Written by Hampton Fancher, David Peoples. Starring Edward James Olmos, Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young.
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