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Sunday, 25 November 2012
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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.
"Bill & Ted" Still Make A Compelling Case For Being Excellent To Each Other
Despite how incredibly dated it is (as teen movies tend to be within six months of their release), despite how flippant it is with the rules of time travel, and despite how aggressively dumb (but not as dumb as it looks) it is, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is all but irresistible. An Alex Winter/Keanu Reeves comedy is a dicey proposition under the best of circumstances, and their characters don’t have more than a single joke to them, but where that dooms other comedies, it serves to make Bill and Ted charming, and frequently hilarious. Part of this might have to do with just how committed this movie is to its own eccentric concept, but it helps that for as silly as it always is, it’s still a movie that’s really jazzed about history and learning.
Bill (Winter) and Ted (Reeves) are live-action counterparts to Beavis and Butthead (or spiritual cousins to Wayne and Garth), living in San Dimas, California, in the years between Valley Girl and Clueless. Their band, Wild Stallyns, sucks pretty bad, but all they really want to do is make videos in their basement (while loudly announcing each other’s names), so that doesn’t faze them. Little do they know, it will eventually become the basis for all human society, so the fact that Ted will get sent to military school if they don’t pass their history assignment is actually a big deal. Luckily, Rufus (George Carlin) is here from the future to help, providing the boys with a time-traveling phone booth that allows them to visit a number of figures that they previously knew nothing about, including Napoleon (Terry Camilleri), Socrates (Tony Steedman), Abraham Lincoln (Robert V. Barron), Genghis Khan (Al Leong), Sigmund Freud (Rod Loomis), and Joan of Arc (Jane Weidlin of the Go-gos). It’s difficult to imagine a history course that incorporates all of these figures, but just go with it: that’s pretty much what every character in this film does, even as laws of time and space are being bent like a pretzel.
There’s little to no explanation as to why Bill and Ted aren’t extremely annoying; their range of character and intelligence really should put them in Ace Ventura territory. One guess is that they’re so good-natured that it’s impossible to actively dislike them, but another is that the movie is genuinely in on the joke in a way they don’t seem to be whenever Adam Sandler steps onto the screen. Everyone in the modern day recognizes what ignoramuses they are, but Rufus and everyone else from the future (including Clarence Clemons, Fee Waybill, and Martha Davis) and past regard them with such god-like reverence that it’s not hard to see the joke. Then again, maybe there’s something profound to the maxim, “be excellent to each other”. Lincoln certainly thinks there’s something to it.
The relationship that the two have with the various historical figures they meet, though, is what seals the deal. Not a single one of them ever appears discontented, or even inconvenienced, by being drawn out of their time periods and into their history report. In fact, they all seem downright enamored of the twentieth century (Beethoven, Clifford David, in particular, seems taken with casio keyboards). Perhaps the greatest triumph of Bill and Ted is that it makes this seem (in its own ridiculous way) anything but heretical; after all, if Billy the Kid (Dan Shor) is down for the party, why shouldn’t you be? Considering how many subtle in jokes for the wise there are (Freud enjoying a corn dog; Ted comparing Socrates to Ozzy Osborne for their ‘corruption of youth’), it’s a pretty guilt-free affair for anyone too concerned with their dignity.
SPECIAL FEATURES
The disc contains "The Original Bill & Ted: In Conversation with Chris & Ed", "Air Guitar Tutorial with Bjorn Turoque & The Rockness Monster", "One Sweet and Sour Chinese Adventure To Go", and radio spots, and the theatrical trailer.
"Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" is on sale November 13, 2012 and is rated PG. Comedy. Directed by Stephen Herek. Written by Chris Matheson, Ed Solomon. Starring George Carlin, Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, Jane Wiedlin, Terry Camilleri, Dan Shor, Tony Steedman, Rod Loomis, Al Leong, Robert V Barron, Clifford David.
"Love Comes Softly" Collection Isn't Afraid to Trumpet Its Romance and Christian Values
Anyone who longs for the days of The Little House on the Prairie and a recreation of the wholesome, family-friendly homesteading the TV series based on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books offered to audiences, will find some comfort in the Love Comes Softly made-for-TV movie series. The 10 movies frame simple stories of love and faith filled out by impressive casts (including a Katherine Heigl before Grey’s Anatomy, January Jones before Mad Men, Erin Cottrell ) and writing that manages to cater to the Lifetime audience while featuring writing easily heads and tails above the very low standards set by that network’s abysmal TV-movie collection. Compared to Lifetime, the Love Comes Softly films have genuine merit and just enough substance to keep interested viewers coming back for the tales of love unfolding across generations.
The story starts with the recently widowed Marty Claridge (Heigl) who must now make her way through a world that already poses a great number of challenges for survival, and which are then magnified by her status as a single woman in a man’s world. To circumvent some of the difficulties, Marty joines up with widower Clark Davis (Dale Midkiff) and his daughter Missie (Skye McCole Bartusiak), and together they make their own way place in the American West in a deal that will give Missie a proper maternal role model while providing Marty a way back home to the east when the winter ends.
The story of the bond started in Love Comes Softly continues in the story of Missie in the following films, as well as in the stories of other descendants and relatives. In fact, it goes on for seven films (Loves Enduring Promise, Love’s Long Journey, Love’s Abiding Joy, Love’s Unending Legacy, Love’s Unfolding Dream, Love Takes Wing, Love Finds A Home) before retracing back to the beginning with two prequels (Love Begins, Love’s Everlasting Courage). If you’re so taken with the story of love and faith in the American West and don’t mind a fair share of melodrama and hand-wringing, then the Love Comes Softly movie collection is for you. Otherwise you’re going to find the set to be absolute torture.
DVD Bonus Features
There are none.
"Love Comes Softly: 10th Anniversary Collection" is on sale October 30, 2012 and is not rated. christian, Drama, Romance. Directed by Michael Landon Jr. Written by Cindy Kelley. Starring January Jones, Katherine Heigl, Erin Cottrell.
"Sparkle" Never Dazzles and Rarely Ever Shines
"Honey, you sing."
Sparkle (Jordin Sparks) pushes her sister, aptly named Sister (Carmen Ejogo), into singing her songs in 1968. Emma (Whitney Houston) is her mother who had a rough time in the singing biz and doesn’t want her children following in her footsteps. But Sparkle meets and falls for Stix (Derek Luke) who wants to be a great manager. Levi (Omari Hardwick) is interested in sister Sister, but she goes for Satin (Mike Epps), a semi-famous comedian, instead. Sparkle, Sister, and a third sister, Dolores (Tika Sumpter) start a trio, but events conspire to push Sparkle into the limelight.
If these people are so good at singing, why can’t sing it live? This is just one problem of many with respect to the musical numbers in Sparkle (2012). One scene was just incredible. Sparks is “playing” the piano and then stands up to sing. But you can still hear the piano. I laughed out loud. A more consistent problem with the singing is that these ladies (and the songwriters)—clearly in the studio—didn’t do their homework. Singers today gild the lily with their excessive licks. It’s almost impossible to understand what it is their singing. They didn’t sing like that. As for the songs, they are mere echoes of the style of the time.
The team behind this made some serious mistakes. As for director Salim Akil, why talk about the riots? Show us. That would have instantly upgraded the quality of this movie with some context. There were moments that showed some ability to work with effects, but Akil was never consistent. As for editing, it’s a bit of a joke. The screenplay by Mara Brock Akil (story by Joel Schumacher and Howard Rosenman) is also loaded with pathetic dialogue. (P.S. This is a remake of Sparkle (1976).) And the story is so soapy. Much like a soap, the characters have incredibly short memories. One day, Sparkle only wants to be a backup, day two Sparkle’s upset that Stix tries to get Sister to be the lead singer.
These complaints are not going to get in the way of fans. These are talented singers singing catchy tunes. As a vehicle for that kind of performance, it has above average acting and story. In fact, there are moments where Mike Epps and Derek Luke were actually quite good.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
Commentary from Salim Akil, A Tribute to Whitney Houston, “A Dream Come True: Bringing the Story to the Big Screen” (a lengthy featurette with many interviews), “Sparkle & Shine—Meet the Cast” (featurette on the cast), “A Sparkling Performance – Music, Choreography and Costumes”, “Celebrate” Music Video, Extended performance on “Hooked on Your Love”, and previews (Men in Black 3, Searching for Sugar Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Words).
"Sparkle" is on sale November 27, 2012 and is rated PG13. Drama. Directed by Salim Akil. Written by Mara Brock Akil, Joel Schumacher, Howard Rosenman. Starring Carmen Ejogo, Derek Luke, Jordin Sparks, Mike Epps, Omari Hardwick, Tika Sumpter, Whitney Houston.
"Triad Wars" is a Horrible Excuse for a Martial Arts Bloodbath
Martial arts movies can go one of two ways. It can be an intelligent action/adventure with colorful characters and powerful themes of good versus evil or it can be a 2-hour bloodbath with hollow characters, terrible acting and zero plot. The Chinese actioner Triad Wars falls under the latter sad and pathetic category and the results are truly painful to watch. Now out on DVD, this terrible “film” is yours to own so you can relive the pain over and over.
Triad Wars is a ridiculously bad gore fest which follows a fearsome Chinese gang leader who is starting to lose power. He and his goons then engage in a series of graphic battles with a rival gang to regain power. In the movie’s 117 minutes, these gangsters fight to declare who is the most powerful gang in Hong Kong.
Movies like Triad Wars are a disgrace to international cinema. Blood, bad acting and a laughable script are what make this flick a pointless mess. The DVD cover makes a point to highlight that the film’s action choreographer is the same person who worked on far superior films Rush Hour, Shanghai Knights and The Day After Tomorrow. This fact does little to improve on the picture’s quality. It will only make you want to watch any of those movies over this. Triad Wars is a real stinker and watching it is just pure torture. Please just avoid it at all costs.
DVD Bonus Features
There is a making-of Triad Wars featurette, some deleted scenes and a trailer gallery.
"Triad Wars" is on sale October 9, 2012 and is rated R. Action, Crime, Drama. Directed by Dennis Sy Law. Written by Dennis S. Y. Law. Starring Sammo Hung.
"Your Sister's Sister" Has a Great Personality, No Really
Lynn Shelton’s intimate dramatic comedy Your Sister’s Sister takes a twisted path through the minefield of love as it surrenders any pretense of Hollywood cliché and traditional romance in favor of exploring how people negotiate repairing different bonds in the face of perceived betrayal. Walking us through it are Mark Duplass (a long-time proponent of naturally, spontaneously realized drama and comedy), Emily Blunt, and Rosemarie DeWitt as two sister’s and a best friend who tangle themselves up in a secluded cabin and do their best to straighten things out to everyone’s satisfaction. Of course, they each have a different definition of satisfactory and secrets they’re happier not telling. And while the ending is a bit too conveniently and quickly wrapped up to let the film’s dramatic and comedic beats fully land, it’s still full of lots of funny and tender moments.
Reeling from the death of his brother and soured by the seemingly rosy, idyllic view his brother’s friends held of him, Jack (Duplass) vents his drunken frustrations during a gathering and takes up Iris (Blunt) on her offer to spend a weekend by himself at her family’s cabin up in the woods. Jack arrives late at night only discover it’s already in use by Hannah (DeWitt), Iris’s older sister, and after an awkward encounter they drink away the night and end up in bed with one another. It’s a decision Jack comes to regret for a number of reasons, chief among them being his long-time attraction to Iris and her appearance the next day. The initial decision to hide their one-night stand quickly falls apart, and soon all three of them are forced to reevaluate how they see one another in the fallout.
The chemistry between Blunt, DeWitt, and Duplass allows the film to play out in a series of events whose every emotion hits home. The laughs, when they come, are solid and offer a brief respite before diving back into the emotional gut punch of coming to terms with a single drunken mistake with lasting consequences.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
A trailer and two audio commentaries round out the disc, and if you have to choose, I’d recommend the commentary with Lynn Shelton and Mark Duplass.
"Your Sister's Sister" is on sale November 6, 2012 and is rated R. Comedy, Drama. Written and directed by Lynn Shelton. Starring Emily Blunt, Mark Duplass, Rosemarie DeWitt .
3D "Rise of the Guardians" Has 2D Characters
Rise of the Guardians is like Avengers for five year olds only holiday mascots and creatures of folklore take the place of comic book superheroes. The end result is quite watchable, even for non-five year olds; Dreamworks’ unique take on seasonal familiars combined with some fantastic visuals will distract from the tired dialogue and flat characters.
The film’s protagonist is an apparently teenage boy, chosen by the Man in the Moon to be Jack Frost, an invisible sprite of winter. The reasons for his ascension from mere boy to elemental whim aren’t clear to Jack, who remembers nothing of his past. To distract himself, he plays with children, causing snow days and mayhem to amuse himself.
Jack soon finds himself summoned to the North Pole, however, where the rest of the Guardians have assembled to protect the world’s children from Pitch Black, the boogeyman himself. The others - Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, The Tooth Fairy, and The Sandman - welcome Jack to their ranks with varying degrees of reluctance, which is good because almost immediately afterward Pitch starts a bunch of shenanigans.
The visuals in Rise of the Guardians regularly impress. The 3D technology is used effectively and not too noticeable (i.e. they don’t overdose on “pop-out” moments). The decision to include The Sandman (who puts you to sleep at night) was fortuitous for the animators, because they create some really amazing looking effects with his sinuous, golden, sparkling veins of sand. Also trust me when I tell you that Pitch Black has some pretty sweet looking nightmares.
The world inhabited by these characters is well-thought out and interesting. An interesting backstory and ecology has been created for the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), who oversees a horde of smaller fairies that collect the teeth of the world’s children. These mini-fairies are adorable, just like the sidekicks for the other holiday heroes; Santa gets some adorable elves and yetis while the Easter Bunny has (surprise) some very cute egg underlings. The way the film displays the guardians is interesting, even if it stretches reality in some places; I have never once heard of someone staying up to try and see the Tooth Fairy, for instance.
It almost seems unfair to complain about things like dialogue and character development in a children’s movie, given that the target audience isn’t really prone to noticing such things, until you realize that Pixar regularly manages to create animated features with well-developed characters and clever dialogue. Unfortunately, they don’t appear to rent out their script writers to Dreamworks. Two examples of this are Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), whose characters rely far too much on their accents and ethnicities (Russian and Australian, respectively) to form an “identity.” The voice work is excellent, with Alec Baldwin (Santa Claus) and Jude Law (Pitch Black) turning in particularly emotive performances, and this covers up the trite dialogue to some degree, but it’s still noticeable.
Chris Pine is inoffensive as the voice of Jack Frost, but then again, Jack is not especially interesting so I suppose that’s a good job overall (the most intriguing character is the Sandman, who cannot speak, and I don’t think this is a coincidence).
Watching a world in which Santa Claus wields two cutlasses in battle (and battles, for that matter) and in which the silent, enigmatic Man in the Moon calls the shots is very entertaining, especially for young kids. Just try not to think about the words too much. Think more on the fact that this holiday season, children will likely open action figures of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny as Christmas presents.
"Rise of the Guardians" opens November 21, 2012 and is rated PG. Directed by Peter Ramsey. Written by David Lindsay-Abaire, William Joyce. Starring Alec Baldwin, Chris Pine, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher, Jude Law.
A Written Review Can't Do "Burning Man" Justice
"Grief is not something you can resist." - Jonathan Teplitzky's Burning Man
Tom (Matthew Goode) is a fine chef. He is stricken with grief for the passing of his wife Sarah (Bojana Novakovic) and he tends to put that energy into two things: women and cooking. Only the cooking seems to do him any good. His self-destruction has made it difficult in raising his son Oscar (Jack Heanly). When he gets in a car crash, he relives moments of great pain. The good times, the bad times, and the reckless abandon with which he expresses his grief.
Written and directed by Jonathan Teplitzky, the only writing drawback to this movie is the lateral storytelling. Also, if you have a problem with people walking into focus, then you’ll find the direction a bit annoying. Other than that, you’re looking at a slightly-poor man’s A Single Man (2009). It has that kind of depth of emotion and strength of performance. About half-way through the film, they let you know what’s going on. That sounds like an awfully long time to wait before you know what the movie’s about, but it is developed in such a way that you want to understand more and more.
Character studies are hard to describe. The plot is not particularly important and the direction is a vital form of expression rather than something you can take issue with. All one can really question is whether it is an effective evocation of emotion. And this film does that. The emotion is pure and relatively uncomplicated. The movie is about grief, so it plays in the areas of laughter and sadness. Those seem to be relatively easy issues to tackle in a film.
Where these films might fall down, Burning Man thrives. The dialogue is meaningful, but genuine without any contrivance. When so many films bring out motivations and inner feelings with disgusting clarity, Teplitzky never cheats in that way. He knows that he has material that is moving enough without ramming it down your throat. Everything stays understated. The cinematography doesn’t stay natural, that’s true. All the hoity energy stays there and it isn’t even that toity. Again, it’s only the non-linear storytelling that one might have an objection to, but even then if these beautiful people acting beautifully can’t hold your interest, then you may need medical attention.
Bottom line: it looks great, sounds better, and the acting is superb. I enjoyed it too much to do it justice.
It’s not rated, but it’s quite naughty. Watching it on a train is not recommended. Awkward.
DVD Bonus Features
Interviews with everyone on a number of topics, which are great to watch because everyone was glad to be there—Jack explaining what the director does is particularly funny to watch; A “behind the scenes” moment which shows the filming of various scenes which was fantastic if you want to get the feel of a film set; and a trailer.
"Burning Man" is on sale November 27, 2012 and is not rated. Drama. Directed by Jonathan Alwyn , Jonathan Teplitzky. Written by Jonathan Teplitzky. Starring Bojana Novakovic, Essie Davis, Jack Heanly, Matthew Goode, Rachel Griffiths.
Michelle Williams Choreographs a Disillusioning Dance in "Take This Waltz"
Fiction has long been a tool for humanity to create a preferred reality than the one they have, and in its evolution we created fairy tales where everyone lived happily ever after and romantic comedies where love and romance are always spontaneous and full of laughter. What they don’t show is that every relationship, no matter how initially passionate, eventually establishes a routine. Even that enduring passion can itself become the routine. Finding new joy within that routine becomes the challenge and the source of renewal, but unfortunately for many the routine feels dull and seems to offer nothing, making exploration in a new relationship deceptively enticing. Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz examines this phenomenon and does so through the incredibly talented Michelle Williams who plays a restless wife seeking an escape from routine, only to find it inescapable.
Margot’s (Williams) writing career takes her around the country and on a flight returning home she sits next to Daniel (Luke Kirby) whose flirtatious advances and genuine desire to explore Margot’s peculiar ways spark an intense attraction within her. As luck would have it, they happen to only live a few doors down from one another, forcing Margot to confront her feelings in the context of her marriage with Lou (Seth Rogen), a chef writing a cookbook on all the different ways to cook chicken. Since getting married, Margot and Lou have lost a lot of the passion in their marriage: the few nights they do go out, they have nothing to talk about, and when they stay in they rarely seem to be in the same mindset at the same time, causing a bit of sexual tension with little opportunity for relief. With Daniel there to tempt her with the promise of a new relationship brimming with lust and passion, Margot sacrifices her seemingly dull routine only to discover that she’s attempting to run from an inevitable aspect of every relationship.
Though not a particularly likable character due to her wild mood swings and generally unpredictable temperament, Margot takes a gamble that mirrors a fantasy every person in a relationship considers at some point: what if I was with someone else? Obviously, not everyone pursues that route and not everyone fantasizes about it for the same reason, but it’s the idea that somehow it would be different. Margot unfortunately hoped to escape an element of her relationship that wasn’t specific to her and Lou, and consequently she discovers too late the truth about routine.
Besides a few belly laughs by Seth Rogen two-thirds of the way through, the main (if not only) reason to see Take This Waltz is for Michelle Williams’s performance. She plays the part beautifully, communicating more in a tilt of the head or conflicted expression than many in her generation can. It’s another brilliant character-driven piece by her and she continues to impress year after year.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
A basic productions featurette and a promo spot are the only extras.
"Take This Waltz" is on sale October 23, 2012 and is rated R. Drama. Written and directed by Sarah Polley. Starring Luke Kirby, Michelle Williams, Sarah Silverman, Seth Rogen.
Tenth Season of "Red vs. Blue" Eschews Comedy for Drama
I met the dudes at Rooster Teeth once. They were all surprisingly down to Earth and very cool folks. This was in the beginning when Red VS. Blue was catching on and earning a fanbase. This was at a local convention a bunch of years ago, so hopefully the dudes behind the series have remained cool and down to Earth, I don’t know if any of that juicy Microsoft money has changed them.
While the animation has remained somewhat primitive, Rooster Teeth’s chops as filmmakers have gotten better. While the action is often intense, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before, with wire-fu antics placed onto already computer-generated characters sporting Spartan armor from the Halo series.
Halo, for those who don’t know, is a long-running franchise for Microsoft’s Xbox console. Starting with Halo: Combat Evolved and more recently, with the impossibly overrated Halo 4, Red VS. Blue began as a webseries about a group of soldiers on one of the levels (Blood Gulch) who questioned what they were doing with their lives of constant conflict with one-another. The plot was simple, funny and remains a great example of Machinima.
As the Red VS. Blue series progressed, the narrative took on a more serious and dense tone. Out were the funny antics of Caboose, Sarge and Grif. Instead, viewers followed the exploits of Texas, Carolina and the Dakota siblings (North being my favorite) against The Director, a mysterious and shady governmental figure acting within the UNSC’s Spartan program.
You have to understand, nothing that exists or happens in the Red VS. Blue series means a damn thing to the real Halo-verse. They exist as separate entities with common themes and concepts. Not a bad thing, but to assume the absurdity and somewhat misguided antics on display in Red VS. Blue could ever mean anything to the game’s universe is silly.
The series is good, overall, but as a diehard Halo fan, Season Ten just takes everything into dramatic territory that the series probably shouldn’t have ever ventured into. Rooster Teeth seems to need reminding that they exist to make folks laugh using video game tropes and Machinima. Not to plod into overwrought narratives starring characters with little to no bearing on the universe we, as fans, care about.
To enjoy Red VS. Blue as its own entity is perhaps the best way to enjoy it. While the series is highly stylized and makes use of that horrific brand of crash-cut editing that MTV seems to champion, overall, the series has genuine laughs, though a majority of the voice work could use some tweaking. Classic characters like Caboose, Sarge, Grif and Doc are pitch-perfect, but newer folks like Carolina and Texas are weak.
I always enjoy seeing levels from the other Halo games make it into the mix. Seeing Zanzibar, for example, used onscreen is nice, as its perhaps the most visually arresting map Halo fans have ever enjoyed. Sandy beaches, a sea wall and a wind power facility (complete with a wind turbine) are all places frantic firefights have erupted, but used here, are great digital sets.
Overall, though Season Ten of Red VS. Blue wraps up a lot of the “Freelancer Saga,” it doesn’t do a great job of catering to longtime Red VS. Blue fans. The direction and fight choreography is a tad on the boring side, the narrative is entirely too dramatic with no real payoff and the characters aren’t quite varied enough to keep straight. The original crew all have defined, comical personalities, but the new bunch of folks, the Freelancers themselves, are weak.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
Special videos, trailers, commentary and outtakes.
"Red Vs. Blue Season 10" is on sale November 6, 2012 and is not rated. Animation. Directed by Burnie Burns, Matt Hullum. Written by Burnie Burns, Miles Luna, Matt Hullum and Joel Heyman. Starring Burnie Burns, Elijah Wood, Jen Brown, Joel Heyman.
The "Storage Wars" Expand Into Texas
For some reason, shows which involve auctions and appraising seem to be very popular. Antiques Roadshow started things off in England in 1979 and since then, the United States has taken a hint and started a similar program: Storage Wars on A&E. A spin-off called Storage Wars: Texas premiered in 2011 and the show is highly entertaining because of its reality television nature. Audiences gobble this type of programming up and season one of Storage Wars: Texas is now out on DVD.
The show features a colorful cast of individuals who bid on abandoned storage units, hoping to make a profit from selling the units’ contents which sometimes include valuable antiques. Each vulture...err...buyer has the items in each unit inspected to see how much money they can get for said item. Set in Texas, this show shows just how much sweat the human body can generate. There is drama and humor, the staples of any fine reality show. The fun cast includes seasoned buyers “The Rangers” (Ricky & Bubba), “The Outsider” (Victor), “The Boss” (Lesa) “The Doc” (Moe) and auctioneer Walt.
Storage Wars: Texas is an interesting show for two reasons. The first reason is the knowledge bestowed by appraisers who educate the buyers and viewers about just what each item is and how much money they can squeeze out of each item. The second aspect of the show that provides for good television is the drama. These buyers are at times, blood thirsty, acting sneaky and downright rude. It’s called Storage WARS for a reason. The DVD contains 16 episodes spread out over 2 discs and the results are actually a lot of fun. Giddy up!
DVD Bonus Features
There is only one bonus feature for Storage Wars: Texas and it is some additional footage.
"Storage Wars Texas: Season One" is on sale November 13, 2012 and is not rated. Reality.
You'll Either Love or Hate the Latest Adaptation of Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina"
Taking on one of the grandest set pieces in all of Modern Literature is an outsized task for any director. The contours of the story are already well-known to audiences, change anything and there is a good chance that someone will balk, whether they be critics or the hoi polloi or both. In this light director Joe Wright deserves a great deal of credit for his daring new adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic novel, Anna Karenina. Wright and screenwriter Tom Stoppard have taken a timeless story of love and intrigue and fashioned it into a film that you will likely either love or hate.
It begins with Anna’s iconic train ride to Moscow where she has been called upon to sort out the sordid affair between her philandering brother, Stiva, and her sister-in-law, Dolly. Little does she know that the disquiet in the Oblonsky household will soon become the least of her concerns. Upon her arrival she meets Vronsky, a dashing young cavalry officer who has come to meet his mother. From their first meeting the infatuation begins; Vronsky pursuits the married Anna at the cost of his relationship with his current paramour, the princess Katerina Scherbatsky, or, as she is better known, Kitty. At the very same moment Vronsky’s rival in courtship, the shy, but still passionate, Konstantin Levin arrives with the intention of asking the princess for her hand in marriage. So it is that Tolstoy lays out the two counterposing romances that build the main thread of one of greatest novels of all-time. By now the story is familiar to us: one of the couples has a passionate, tempestuous, and, ultimately, disastrous affair, the other forges a restorative and peaceful life for themselves away from the corrupting temptations of the city.
At first glance Wright has produced a sumptuous film; the production is absolutely fantastic. We are immediately struck by the beauty of the oversaturated color palate, the magnificent moving camerawork (the ball scene is particularly stunning), and Jacqueline Durran’s gorgeous costumes. Regardless of whether or not critics like this movie, no one can deny that it is a very pretty movie. The actors, for their part, do well enough to let the production and direction of the film take center stage. Keira Knightley has her usual histrionics on display as Anna, though they suit this role better than others she has played in the past. Jude Law, who plays Karenin, Anna’s dutiful and long-suffering husband, easily rises above the rest of the cast with his sympathetic portrayal of a talented, but boring, career bureaucrat. Only Aaron Taylor-Johnson seems slightly miscast in the role of Vronsky. Vronsky, a tough cavalry officer in a Russian military that prided itself on manliness (as military men are wont to do) would have been better served with a little less pretty and little more mean. The rest of the cast knows that this not about them, and are content to let Wright take center stage as the real star of the production.
For Wright, the biggest challenge of adapting a dense tome of such magnitude, is communicating the novel’s many psychological penumbra and critiques of Russian high society. To do this he has chosen to eschew a conventional retelling of the story in favor of a theatrical “staging” of the novel. Whether the stage is allegorical or whether we are watching a movie about a play based on a novel is never definitively answered (I personally chose to see it as a the former). At times Wright directs his actors away from conventional modes of representation instead selecting the more esoteric technique of “distancing.” For those familiar with Brecht and Artaud it might be like seeing an old friend in an unfamiliar place, but, I suspect, that for the majority of viewers the weirdness of an avant-garde theater technique will detract from the enjoyment of the film.
Still, distancing is more than just a self-congratulatory exercise for people who studied theater in college. What Wright tries to do is to establish an allegorical connection between the artificiality of the theater (the audience is literally shown the machinations of the moving sets many times in the film) with the artificiality of the Russian noble classes. In doing so he manages to accurately capture the spirit (if not the tone) of Tolstoy’s critique. Tolstoy was intimately familiar with the comings and goings of the late 19th century Russian nobility (he was Count Tolstoy after all), and what he despised most about his fellow nobleman was their slavish devotion to an obscure set of codes, which he perceived as being imposed upon the Russians by the rest of Europe (especially France). In Anna Karenina the city comes to represent the corrupting influence of that code and of modernism in general. After all nobody in the novel (or film) is at fault per se, rather they are pushed along, some more willingly than others, a path that has already been determined by them by “the rules.” Anna’s sin was to stray from this path, and with that her ostracisation and ruin were mere byproducts of the society in which she lived. Wright’s clever observation is simply that Tolstoy’s characters resemble actors reading their parts.
Anna Karenina is doubtlessly one of the more difficult films to open this year. That it received major distribution and production deals is a minor miracle in itself (almost enough to make you want to come see it on that basis alone, just to encourage the decision-makers in Hollywood). Moreover, it is a beautiful film well worth the challenge for anyone interested in film and its possibilities as an artform.
"Anna Karenina" opens November 16, 2012 and is rated R. Drama. Directed by Joe Wright. Written by Tom Stoppard (screenplay), Leo Tolstoy (novel). Starring Jude Law, Keira Knightley, Kelly MacDonald, Matthew Macfadyen.
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