Home Theater Focus : DVD Review

Aeon Flux; The Complete Animated Collection

weightlosssandra — Wed, 23 Nov 2005 15:21:00 GMT

The complete Aeon Flux collection has finally arrived on DVD in all it’s restored, remastered 5.1 glory. All I can say is; it’s about bloody time! For years the only Aeon Flux we had on DVD were a few short episodes on an MTV compilation called Liquid Shorts. Liquid Shorts was a hand picked best-of collection of the animated features that appeared on Liquid Television. MTV broadcast Liquid Television way back in ’91 and easily its best feature was the anarcho-assassin named Aeon Flux. Liquid Television was a boon to comic and anime geeks of the era, it was creative, groundbreaking with an artistic integrity unseen on MTV and would certainly never be seen again. Every type of animation imaginable form claymation, paper cutout, drawn, black and white, pencil and paper, doll animation were all used to spliced together a collage of cultural references that probably appealed most to pot smoking young adults with short attention spans. Aeon Flux the best feature and the reason you tuned in. The early episodes were silent, fast paced adventures lasting no more than two minutes each. Aeon was a nimble female assassin, deadly and lethal but she met many an untimely demise in the Orwellian sci-fi nightmare world she occupied. Each episode challenged the viewer, the story was beyond unpredictable, it was often confusing but the viewer wasn’t always supposed to know exactly what was going on, this was the beauty of it. It took place in a future where technologies and natural phenomena are surreal, sometimes with unusual sexual overtones. You may simply decide this isn’t Earth at all but some realm inside the imagination of Peter Chung, and you’d probably be right.

What Peter Chung’s animation lacked in anatomy was more than compensated with his unique vision and cinematic direction. He was truly visionary railing against the animated status quo of the day using shots and perspectives not possible on film at the time, his camera floated with characters and even shifted from one character to another. Chung was breaking all the rules of animation that had come before. It’s easy to see how it must have left an impression on the Wachowski brothers. Similarities to the perspectives and esthetic used in the Matrix are apparent right down to the black leather clad femme fatale leaping from buildings and through windows rapid firing weapons. Aeon Flux was a predecessor to the bullet time perspective that would influence film and video games for years after the first Matrix. Chung’s animation dutifully played with perspectives showing us weapons fire from inside the barrel or hand to hand combat literally from under the chin or a fist eye view. It was the Wachowski brothers Matrix that marked the era in cinematography that had finally caught up to what had been possible in Chung’s anime. It’s fitting Chung would be asked to add his sinewy, despondent style to an episode of the Animatrix, a collection of animated shorts that take place in the nightmarish future world of the Matrix. Chung’s “Matriculated” is the final, most surreal, most loved and hated episode of the Animatrix.

Aeon Flux; The Complete Animated Collection is a three disc set. Disc one and two share all ten of the talkie episodes that appeared through the autumn of 1995. These later episodes finally gave a voice to Aeon making her more accessible and less mysterious, MTV’s attempt to open the stories to a wider audience. Fortunately even the talkies retained the provocative challenge that made intelligent viewing. Disc Three (which should have been disc one) consists of the original non-talking short episodes that appeared on Liquid Television in ’91. Special features on disc one include a few featurettes including the insightful “History of Aeon Flux”. In History-of, we get to see Peter Chung talk about developing the character and the world. We also see short dialogues with the writers and producers of the show. They even joke that they slipped a lot of questionable sexual innuendo and explicit situations, thinly disguised beneath dreamlike artistry, past the MTV execs who gave approval because they simply didn’t get it. Another key special feature is a collection of Liquid Television shorts. These give you that flavor of where the original episodes come from. There are also a bunch of trailers for other features by MTV that juxtapose the height MTV once reached for a short time producing Aeon Flux. The trailers are a barrage of ads for features of dumb people rolling in poop or making themselves puke.

The DVD feature arrives in time to whet your appetite for Charlize Theron in the Aeon Flux garb. The Aeon Flux movie is coming mid December and although I don’t expect much, it would be nice if they manage to aim a little higher than the straight up action flick, perhaps they could delve into some of the more bizarre elements of this futuristic world. The film is truly another case of borrowed media coming full circle. From Aeon Flux’s influential anime contributing to Wochowski brothers’ vision in film, now Aeon will have her own movie and of course an obligatory video game.

October; One Big Month for DVD

weightlosssandra — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 15:02:00 GMT

This is an expensive month for DVD purchases for a Sci-Fi comics movie geek and a month of heavy viewing in front of my HT system. I have given lengthy reviews to the AVforums on two films, an Australian spoof horror called Undead and The Interpreter staring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn. This is also the month that Electra’s director’s cut hit DVD (which I have yet to view but plan too soon) and a HUGE month for Batman releases to DVD. Batman Begins, what I consider at least one of the top movies of the year is finally out on a beautifully transferred DVD with tons of features in a two disc set. Unfortunately I haven’t had time to see it all. The Tim Burton Batman films have come out in their own long overdue gussied up treatment to DVD. I won’t even mention those Batman abominations that came after Burton’s two, also re-released but who cares. The one I took particular interest in was the Batman 1943 serial which I reviewed for AV forums as well but won’t be posted ‘til next week (don’t worry I’ll link you here).

I didn’t even mention that this month I finally got around to getting and viewing Punk: Attitude which I will also review for AVforums soon. P-A is a good documentary and has some of the best and most complete extras I’ve ever seen on any DVD ever, it’s a credit to the whole medium. It’s about the punk scene and goes into depth, not just the early scene from the late 70’s that we’ve seen explored in movies like Filth and Fury as well as Don Letts early feature Punk Rock Movie from 1978. I am frankly tired of hearing about the utopia that was the 100 club scene in London at that time, before the Clash had an album out, before McLaren started promoting the Sex Pistols. I was relieved to see Punk/Attitude continue beyond that period and go right through the 80s hardcore punk scene and interview guys like Keith Morris of the Circle Jerks, who you just don’t hear from anymore. Of course it was loaded up with interviews of Jello Biafra from the Dead Kennedy’s and the big man Henry Rollins from Black Flag fame layin’ it down like it was. Hank has become a real softie in old age, apologizing for near slights on Duke Ellington and Rod Stewart. Could Rollins be starting to sound more like the Family Man.

Batman ’43 is an interesting feature, very historic significance in the annals of cinema back when they weren’t concerned with things like political correctness. The serial was a one shot 15 episode story of a character that was a mystery to most in the early 40s, this was The Batman, an operative with the FBI fighting the war effort on the home front and dedicated to stopping the threat of the evil Daka, a Japanese villain who subverts good Americans into mindless zombies (I’ll avoid Bush jokes here). Highlights include the casual way the film mentions the unfortunate policy of Japanese-American internment camps and the repeated (what today would be) racial slurs of Japanese people. You have to take the historic context in stride to watch this one. Bruce Wayne himself is portrayed as a real thorny character, snapping at his ward Dick Grayson and giving Alfred a little what for when he steps out of line, I was surprised how harsh Bruce Wayne deals with his co-stars. Alfred is played as a meek and humble servant, not at all the developed character of later Batman fiction. The action scenes are great! In the vein of old westerns Batman isn’t concerned with this Far East martial arts stuff like he is now, fighting like some slick kung-fu master. Back then rowdy old brawling was the order of the day and Batman was a real brute, knocking foes across tables and dragging them through objects, slamming them against walls before feeding them multiple knuckle sandwiches. He really kicked arse the old fashioned way! The serial is punctuated with trademark cliffhanger endings complete with narrative recounting the dastardly situations our hero finds himself in (a la Batman ‘66 TV show) and urging us not to miss next week’s showing at this theater. Hair raising stunts are a great feature too, Batman jumps from moving cars, falls off walls, every episode has a premium stunt or two done without special effects or CGI, pure stuntman work.

And if that weren’t enough, next week will be the DVD release of Revenge of the Sith! Just when you thought it was safe to go outside and kick holes in the neighbor’s pumpkin.

Undead: Only for a specialized audience

weightlosssandra — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 13:26:00 GMT

It’s Halloween season again, the perfect time for some frightful horror movies.

I viewed and reviewed for another website the DVD release of Undead which came out last Tuesday and will be sitting on the shelves of the local video rental super-markets this weekend. It’s actually a bit funny to me because people are probably going to rent this film thinking it’s a straight zombie horror flic, perhaps images of the recent remake of Dawn of the Dead still fresh in their minds. This isn’t one of those Zombie films. I can’t repost the review I submitted but if they ever decide what to do with it I’ll link to it here, they run a tight operation over there and I should hear back in about two weeks. The funny thing about the Undead DVD rental by the unsuspecting renter will be that they’re not expecting anything like this. Undead is an Austraillian movie that brings absolutely nothing original in terms of plot and story to the old zombie genre, unless you count the sort of muddled extraterrestrial ending which was more confusing than anything. But the whole thing is played with a wink to the camera, there is a tongue in cheek humor element that is sometimes actually funny. I don’t know if I can recommend this movie, unless you’re the sort who can see humor in some of the gory but imaginative ways people err…zombies die … err re-die. Which, I do have that sort of sick sense of humor so there were a few chuckles in it for me personally, but not enough to really recommend the movie. However if you’re a fan of indie film and perhaps an aspiring film maker yourself you’ll find this DVD a boundless source of inspiration. The Spierig brothers are the directors, producers etc of this film and they did so with only a shoestring budget that was blown after the first few scenes. Yes, it looks like a campy B movie, but it’s not a blockbuster special effects movie anyway, it just looks good for the kind of budget they had. And you can certainly tell the making of this film was a labor of love from two young directors that are sure to be seen from again later.

Frank Miller's Sin City, finally on DVD!

weightlosssandra — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 14:11:00 GMT

Frank Miller’s Sin City DVD is finally here. I can’t say any more about the movie itself than I already have. It’s really three stories involving typical film noir subject matter including revenge and redemption. This is one of those special films that includes an all star cast of some well established Hollywood talent like Bruce Willis and Benicio Del Toro, Michel Clarke Duncan and Mickey Rourke. But it also some of the newest talent to come out Hollywood in Brittany Murphy, Clive Owen, Nick Stahl, Elija Wood, the list goes on. It’s one of those popular projects any actor wants to be part of because it’s something different, an interesting opportunity to stretch their own creativity as actors.

Those not familiar with the Frank Miller comics from which the film is named may find themselves lost in an unlikely world full of clichés. While not exactly a superhero film it’s one of those films where you have to suspend your belief in conventional reality. The greatest attribute of the movie is the looks; the visual style is as stunning as it is revolutionary. A close second goes to the dialogue of Frank Miller that issues from the actors mouths like a cold chill from the gallows. Those familiar with the comics by Frank Miller or any modern adult oriented graphic novel made in Miller’s style will literally find a comic come to life. The entire film is a groundbreaking double digital effort. The opening scene with Josh Hartnett was shot well before production of the film itself as a test screening intended to seduce Frank Miller himself to not only releasing the Sin City property, but to get him on board with Robert Rodriquez as co-director. The shooting was done with digital hi-definition cameras while this is nothing new to film, many independent movies are done this way including some mainstream movies. Add to this the dedicated use of CGI backgrounds, the entire movie was shot in front of “blue screen” (or green screen whichever the case may be) a technique whereby the director shoots the actors in front of a solid color only to allow animators to fill in the background later. Using both techniques in the same film is rare only a French film called Imortel and Sky Captain have ever done this before. This film is the perfect implementation of the 100% digital technique.

The DVD presentation rises to the occasion of this beautiful film. Animation as the DVD loads takes you into the pages of Frank Miller’s graphic novels. As you’re whisked through the black and white streets of Sin City, slick animations on the pages come alive with movement and sound. The effect is as stunning as the film itself and begs to be viewed again and again.

The video quality is excellent. I speculated as to whether or not the digital production would have any bearing on a hi-definition DVD releases of this film. We’ll have to wait awhile to find out. But the presentation of this on a conventional DVD player scanned to 480P is amazing. I noticed none of the compression artifacts common with video, none at all. The background images looked solid. This is usually where a DVD falls apart, the background details aren’t given the opportunity to stand out as they’re not in focus nor does the resolution allow for you to view it as it might be presented in a high quality HD presentation. But I didn’t notice any softness or edge enhancements in the background. Since the film is shot in black and white with emphasis on the shadowy blacks and grays, after all this is Sin City, the few color portions really jumped out. At the theater I hadn’t even noticed Marley Shelton’s eyes briefly change color when Hartnett spoke of her eyes in that scene. I can honestly say that if the theaters want my continued business they better start replacing the bulbs in their projector booths and balancing the sound better, because I get a better experience at home 99% of the time.

What about the audio. I was pleasantly surprised this release included a DTS audio track, but both Dolby Digital and DTS tracks were only in 5.1, which will be a disappointment to those with 7.1 systems. Perhaps this is planned for a future release of the DVD. The soundtrack was excellent; better than the theater! The balance between channels was stunning, alternating between passive and then aggressive use of surround channels was a great effect on the DTS track. Often I’d note to myself that I wasn’t noticing much action from the surrounds, just then something would happen that would blend rear and front channels perfectly to give me a diffused acoustic effect that put sounds randomly around the room. This is only accomplished when serious consideration is put into the soundtrack.

DVD Extras

The biggest disappointment of this DVD is an annoying practice that I’m afraid is here to stay with popular film DVD releases. They’ll release a plain Jane version of the DVD with very little, only to re-release (or double dip) a second time with a veritable cornucopia of extras. The casual fan of the film will probably buy the first release only, but they’re really suckering in the true fan of the film with the extra stuff. It’s annoying but what can you do, as long as the future release has some quality extras on board. All we get here besides a very good DTS 5.1 track (is that really an extra?) is one behind the scenes feature. It’s a good one nonetheless, even if there is a little too much of Quentin Tarantino’s smiling mug. He did a guest directorial appearance on the film and as a big name I guess he deserves kudos. However hearing Tarantino give us his opinion of Miller’s work is as irrelevant as hearing what John Madden thinks of the NHL playoffs. They did give Frank Miller lots with the floor on that feature, which is great considering he’s not known for his affection for the camera.

Let’s hope the future double dip effort has some good info on Miller, the graphic novels and Sin City itself. I’d like to see them get into Miller’s career, perhaps an entire documentary on Miller’s work and how important it is to the graphic arts in general. How influential comic art has been to graphic artists in many other aspects such as advertising. Yes, I’d like to see more about how they shot the movie too, but I’m not looking forward to seeing Quentin Tarantino talk about the movie, maybe a bit about his involvement in that one scene he did would be acceptable.

Run Time: 126
DVD Features:

Available subtitles: Spanish
Available Audio Tracks: English (DTS 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French
Behind-The-Scenes Featurette
One of four random slipsleeve covers

Alexander

weightlosssandra — Thu, 04 Aug 2005 14:12:00 GMT

Oliver Stone’s Alexander is a movie, like the man Oliver Stone himself, that polarizes opinions. It’s difficult to talk about Stone without politics being dragged into it. The story of Alexander has often been a forum for one’s ideology. Historian and writer John Keegan has this to say about the politicization of the “Alexander the Great” story:

“…sir William Tarn…ultimately conceived him to be a sort of pre-Christian saint; Ernst Badian…saw him as a sort of Hitler in prefiguration. … Pompey called himself a second Alexander, Caesar wept at not having accomplished by the same a fraction of his achievements, Augustus worshipped at his tomb… Napoleon thought the study of his life the supreme military education.”

Few legends in history have had as many interpretations as that of Alexander, but legend is all we have as so little is known about the man. Oliver Stone works his own vision of the legend through film. Perhaps not so surprisingly Stone doesn’t try to tell us a story that fits any political or ideological interpretation. I believe Stone attempts to draw a personal picture of the man and his motivations. The movie opens with Ptolemy (played by Anthony Hopkins) telling his memories of those days of Alexander the Great. We’re introduced to Alexander’s early childhood, his mother Olympias played Angelina Jolie. We’re introduced to Philip of Macedon, Alexander’s father the barbarian tribal leader who, by his own wit, united the northern tribes then conquered all of classical Greece uniting the city states into the Hellenic Union. Then we’re jarringly cut to the final battle for Persia where Alexander finally meets Darius in the battle of Gaugmela. Here Alexander had about 40,000 infantry and 7,000 cavalry while Darius had about 250,000 infantry and 40,000 cavalry. The battle is spectacular as it unfolds on film, the numbers of extras and low key CGI, the overhead views give you a sense of numbers and strategies. Effort is made to convey the tactics used by Alexander. The viewer really gets a sense that these battle scenes were thought out and not simply an excuse to throw some gory swordsmanship into the middle of all the speeches. The film progresses employing flashbacks to Alexander’s childhood. Later in the film we see the insecurity of Alexander and his officers, which leads first to glory then eventually a degeneration of their situation as they follow Alexander’s naked ambition and ego to the ends of the Earth.

In the end I believe the reason the movie failed to attract the attention of the mainstream is because it’s a heavy film, a lot of very heavy concepts, relationships, speeches and lessons are thrown at us from every angle. Oliver Stone’s interpretation of Alexander’s influences and life is brilliant and I loved watching it. But as a film to entertain the masses, it’s a movie that aspires to be so much more than mere entertainment perhaps this is self indulgence on the part of Oliver Stone, I believe it’s where Oliver Stone failed to produce a “good movie”, but it succeeds in being more than just a “good movie” all the elements of great film are here. There are spectacular sets, battles, costumes and an amazing musical score by Vangelis. Oliver Stone is a skilled filmmaker and this could be his best use of the medium yet, I can forgive him for leaving the masses of mainstream filmgoers behind.

The DVD

The film takes on a series of camera qualities; grainy dark scenes, filtered smooth scenes and dreamy sequences where colors are distorted. This is one that runs the gamut of visual representation. If, like me, you have several settings for your display device depending on the kind of movie you’re watching, this will pose a problem because from a display perspective, this movie is all kinds simultaneously. The most stunning scenes are the overhead views of battle and the vistas of ancient Babylon in all its glory. CGI is well used here, it’s muted with no oily textures that scream computer animation. The soundtrack is dazzling with aggressive surround effects and lots of sub, especially when they meet the Asian elephants, the walls shake. There are subtle parts to the soundtrack as well, moody scenes with a musical score to match are conveyed eloquently here.

Extra features on the 2 disc set

The only version I have seen of this movie is the director’s cut with 12 mintues removed from the film. If I have a choice I’ll always take the director’s cut, this prevents me from drawing a comparison. One thing I like about the extra features is the behind the scenes looks. These are rarely that good as DVD extras, but this one’s different from so many I’ve trudged through. Oliver Stone has a sort of ‘hidden’ camera (which really isn’t so) following him around on the set giving us a photojournalistic view of what it’s like shooting the film. I appreciated the originality of this angle to the usual making of documentary. But all together they’re quite long and have no real revelations about the filming. A few tidbits were interesting to note, Colin Farrel was injured in the last three days of shooting and had to be carried around. There are always the usual budgetary restrictions and of course the European crew and mostly American cast caused some language barriers that are no more than humorously remarked upon by some of the staring actors. They did shoot on location at several exotic parts of the world and this gives you some appreciation for the effort that went into this movie, love it or hate it.

Format: Color, Director's Cut, Widescreen
Rated: Unrated
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Release Date: August 2, 2005
Run Time: 167
DVD Features:

Available subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Commentary by director Oliver Stone
Resurrecting Alexander: explores the filming of Alexander
Perfect Is the Enemy of God: provides an in-depth look at the details that go into the filming of an epic
Interviews with the cast on how they prepared for their roles
"Vangelis Scores Alexander" featurette
Theatrical trailers
Number of discs: 2

Constantine on DVD

weightlosssandra — Thu, 21 Jul 2005 15:45:00 GMT

This week’s notable DVD release is Constantine staring Keanu Reeves. It’s difficult to describe exactly what Constantine is about and what the character John Constantine played by Keanu Reeves, really is. As a sort of occultist super-hero figure his strength does not lie in his physical body but in his gift/curse of being able to challenge beings of the nether realms of heaven and hell. John Constantine is an anti-hero suited for the 1990s when the comic book Hellblazer made its mark on DC’s Vertigo line. Vertigo are DC comics adult line of comics that tried to gain entry into the independent comics market in the 90’s when indies were killing the big two (DC and Marvel). Alan Moore was the creative genius behind the Hellblazer comics who made it one of Vertigo’s most successful titles.

Constantine the film is a sort of cross between Exorcist, James Bond, Prophecy (the film with Christopher Walken as the archangel Gabriel) and any superhero film released in the last five years. If this sounds like a confusing mix it’s because it is, as a result I can’t recommend it unless you’re a fan of any or all of the types of films I just compared it to. Being a fan of the comic will not be enough to make you want to even see this film, it might just be a bit offencive to the more sensitive comic book purists who will find that Constantine is no longer an Englishman and his hair color has changed. The story is loosely fitted around an incomprehensible plot involving servants of heaven and hell in a plot to bring the Earth into this struggle. Exactly what the master plan is why it is and what it’s all about eludes me. The special effects in this film are many involving CGI images of a post apocalyptic Earth that seems to have merged with hell. The CGI looks limited in effect and colors to a whole lot of glossy gold looking amputated monsters. I believe this is because producers attempt to capture the general look and feel of frames from the comics. The effect is a far cry from the graphical success of Sin City.

Keanu Reeves is suitable as the deadpan chain smoking hero of the prime material plane in a performance that echoes his Neo character from the Matrix series. Other quality performances include Tilda Swinton as an androgynous version of the archangel Gabriel and Rachel Weisz as agent Angela Dobson a cop who may have some buried connection to the netherworld (no spoilers here!). But the real star of the film are the visuals and bombastic window rattling subwoofer effects, it’s the kind of film you have to watch on a 5.1 system. John Constantine is introduced (as many of these kinds of films do) performing an exorcism with a cig dangling from his mouth he enters the bedroom of a possessed young girl like a rebel without a cross. In typical brooding anti-hero fashion he even punches the demon in face and calls him a** hole. I can’t decide if the scene worked for me, I didn’t laugh and I’m not sure if I was supposed to. One scene that did work for me are the meetings with his old ‘friend’ Pappa Midnite (played by Djimon Hounsou) a character fans of the comic will remember. Midnite is a voodoo occultist who runs a nightclub for the supernaturally endowed. Through their snappy dialogue Constantine and Midnite elude to their strained history having read many comics with the two characters I thought these scenes were some of the best character interactions in film next to any scene with Swinson.

The DVD

There are two opposing aspects to the DVD the audio and video. I found the video quality to be sub-par for the grade of video we expect on DVD transfers these days. Even the animated menu that comes up when you insert the disc shows visible compression artifacts. There is some minor background graininess throughout the film particularly when the background is dark. I convinced myself they were going for a sort of dark palette in this movie but I think it would have been better served with the bright crispness of the Spiderman films. By contrast the sound quality is awesome. There are ample opportunities for the realms of heaven and hell to present us with deep rich subwoofer rumble and John Constantine gets to handle some ear shaking metaphysical hardware in this film that has to be heard to be believed. The surround effects are suitably aggressive for this type of film. Everything from echoing voices in a dank corridor to the directional effects of shattered glass moving about the room are done with an acoustical panache.

Special Features

Having purchased the 2 disc deluxe DVD early the BEST special features are the ones I got with the DVD outside of the plastic discs. If you bought it while supplies last you got a t-shirt and a Hellblazer comic book inserted right into the packaging. Now this is the kind of special feature I can deal with, did I ever mention the t-shirt is my preferred garment? The t-shirt is plain black with only the word Constantine in red. Some might think it’s a bit too plain to be cool, but for me it serves a dual purpose. You can wear it as a Constantine ‘the movie’ and when that’s not cool anymore it instantly transforms into a t-shirt that shows your support for everybody’s favorite Roman Emperor who banned the persecution of Christianity.

Disc two’s features show much of the typical extras, promotional documentaries, deleted scenes and more documentaries that show talking heads with various titles talk about how tickled they are to be on board such a project. Surprisingly little is shown of the comics outside the feature Conjuring Constantine a rather short documentary that delves slightly into the character. Glaringly absent from any special feature is the man, the myth, the legend himself Alan Moore. I would go out and buy a DVD of just Alan Moore talking about whatever he wanted to talk about. But I find the special features sub par light weight stuff. If you’re not interested in the t-shirt and extra comic you might want to pass on the 2 disc set unless you really like that talking head stuff with brimming smiles.

DVD Features:
o Available subtitles: English, Spanish, French
o Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
o Disc One: The Movie
o Commentary by director Francis Lawrence, producer Akiva Goldsman, and sreenwriters Kevin Brodbin and Frank Cappello
o A Perfect Circle music video: "Passive"
o Theatrical trailers
o Disc Two: Special Features
o 18 Minutes of deleted scenes, including alternate ending
o Conjuring Constantine
o The Production from Hell documentary gallery: director's confessional, collision with evil, holy relices
o Imagining the Underworld documentary gallery: Hellscape, visualizing vermin, warrior wings, unholy abduction
o Constantine Cosmology
o Foresight: the Power of Previsualization
o Exclusive collectible Hellblazer comic book featuring a reprint of issue #41 Dangerous Habits and a Hellblazer short story
o Number of discs: 2

Million Dollar Baby on DVD. (No Spoilers)

weightlosssandra — Thu, 14 Jul 2005 17:17:00 GMT

The most important DVD to come out this week was Million Dollar Baby, the film that won the Oscars for 2004…all of them. I hadn’t seen the movie until the DVD this week but I didn’t have any critical plot points spoiled for me, although I thought I had. I heard that some religious and politically right leaning people had problems with the film on moral grounds. So, I found myself waiting for the part where Hillary Swank’s character (Maggie Fitzgerald) engages in a lesbian action and gets married in a liberal blue state. Unfortunately there was no such scene and I had no idea what was coming.

The film is narrated by the always likable voice of Morgan Freeman, there’s despondency to the pacing and Freeman’s voice which he does so well. It’s easy to imagine Morgan Freeman doing some gritty Blues. Clint Eastwood, like Sean Connery has that rare ability to carry a film single-handedly, it’s a pleasure to just watch him talk. Of course there is considerable talent here besides Eastwood, not the least of which is the staring actress Hillary Swank an academy award winner herself from 1999’s Boys Don’t Cry.

I won’t get into the meat of this movie because if you haven’t seen it, I won’t spoil anything here. Eastwood is a master director at human stories like Million Dollar Baby, he rarely misses the mark as a story teller and in no way can I bring any criticism to this film. It’s indeed a classic that deserves any kudos it’s received. Ostensibly the movie is about a boxer, but not about boxing per-se. At one point in the film Freeman makes the point that many people die before their time, they’re people who sacrificed their dreams to wash dishes or driving a cab because they never got that one big chance. The big “chance” here is the boxer (Swank) taking on the title. But this could be anything, the underlying story is universal. Since this one’s about boxing it’s filled with exciting boxing sequences and isn’t above Freeman’s commentary about the sport itself, love it or hate it.

DVD

There isn’t anything about the video quality that distracts from the story. The film is comprised of generally gritty scenes in the well worn gym which look rustic. The video quality is conveys this sufficiently without over saturating colors or presenting too much contrast. The soundtrack is laid back, no aggressive surround effects here. The only time I even thought about the soundtrack was during the few times we entered a large stadium experiencing the drum of the audience. The few scenes with accompanying musical scores were memorable but blended perfectly to the story. This isn’t the kind of DVD you’re going to pop into the player to demo your system unless, you have the time to demonstrate a systems transparency then this DVD is perfect.

Extras

I’m almost always disappointed by extras on DVDs because they almost always give you the same old production house masturbatory crap. Million Dollar Baby is no exception. There are two flavors to this release, the two disc or three disc. The three disc includes the soundtrack on CD which might be interesting, the second disc of extras has little offer. There are three documentaries on the extra DVD with one that has anything even remotely interesting. Born to Fight takes a closer look at Lucia Rijker, the woman who played Billie 'The Blue Bear', Maggie Fitzgerald’s opponent for the title of world champion. The documentary gives some interesting tidbits about Swank’s training and some insight into Rijker’s history and how some of her experiences parallel events in the movie. Generally stars like Hillary Swank talking about their film preparations and training is pretty boring stuff, it’s interesting that she worked out, we can see it in the movie she did an amazing job of sculpting her body for the part. It’s the general stroking the egos of everybody else involved I can do without. The others are “James Lipton Takes on Three” and “Producers Round Three”. These two are only remotely interesting if you like to see actors and producers singing the monotonous number: “happy, happy, joy, joy”.

What would have been really interesting? A documentary about Lucia Rijker! How about a piece about women’s boxing in general? These seem like no brainers to me on a so called “extras” DVD for this film. The film delves into the culture of women’s boxing; why not feed back to it by telling us more about it? Lucia Rijker has an interesting past as not only an actress but also a junior welterweight boxing champion of the Women’s International Boxing Federation (WIBF). She had a record of 15-0, 14 by knockout, she really is a bad assed chick! The documentary Born to Fight only alludes to what could have been an interesting story.

Sam Fuller's The Big Red One; The Reconstruction

weightlosssandra — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 14:14:00 GMT

When even a competent film director gets to make a movie based on personal experiences of historic events a great film is often the result. Oliver Stone made Platoon based on his own experience ‘coming of age’ in the hell of Vietnam where he served as a LRRP. Of all the Stone films, love ‘em or hate ‘em Platoon resonates across the board. The same can be said for Samuel Fuller a cigar chomping “tough guy” of a film director known for his hard boiled film noir and violent westerns. In the Big Red One, Sam Fuller got the chance to make the movie he always wanted about his personal experiences in the Second World War as an infantryman with the Big Red One, the nickname of the US Army’s first infantry division.

The original theatrical release of The Big Red One had been savagely trimmed by producers which broke Fuller’s heart when it was released to theaters in 1980. Despite cutting out many details in the movie it was still one of the classic films of World War II. Sam Fuller died in 1997 and always spoke of restoring his original film, unfortunately he never lived to see it. Last April (2005) we got to see this classic digitally restored on DVD with all the missing bits. Samuel Fuller’s Big Red One The Reconstruction makes this classic war film even better with over 40 minutes of extra scenes. Of course, the first time I saw the film at theaters I was too young to remember much of it, so picking up the Big Red One on DVD was a long awaited revisiting of a classic that would be much like seeing this film for the first time, all over again.

The Big Red One stars Lee Marvin as simply “The Sergeant”, and four young soldiers of a first infantry division rifle squad. Other young soldiers come and go throughout the various episodes of film, but they tend to die before the four get to know their names so by mid way through the film they stop trying. Two of the fours survivors are played by Mark Hamill (easily Hamill's best movie outside of Star Wars) as a sensitive soldier who doesn’t want to have to kill and Robert Carradine is a cigar chomping writer and an overt embodiment of Sam Fuller himself. The movie gives you a sense the wide scope of the war. The squad goes from North Africa, the island of Sicily, Normandy and the forests of Germany. At Normandy the restored footage shows us a D-Day invasion that comes close to portraying the stark terror of the same invasion depicted in Saving Private Ryan.

The other notable factor of this film is the style. This is above all a Sam Fuller movie, who is known for giving us the unexpected. The obvious undertones are that of an anti-war film, but this is no sympathy laden, politically correct picture. When Mark Hamill's character explains to the sergeant he can’t murder anyone for war, Marvin (The Sergeant) explains curtly that they don’t murder, they kill. There are no flowery speeches in this film and that’s one of the things I appreciate. Late in the film when Hamill’s character is overwhelmed by inhumanities he witnesses at the liberation of a concentration camp, he unloads an entire clip of ammo into a German soldier he finds hidden in one of the ovens ready to snipe whoever opens the door. The Sergeant finds Hamill continuing to fire into the already dead soldier even though he’s run out of ammo. In a lesser (perhaps modern) film the Sergeant might have tried to console Hamill, but here, Lee Marvin passes Hamill another clip.

The restoration process is well done, very little artifacts for a restoration of a 25 year old film. The soundtrack is simply amazing, the 5.1 effects are very well done and surprisingly aggressive, used in almost every battle scene to give a sense of chaos. The weapons fire seems very realistic, the crack of those M-1 Garrand rifles sounds like a heavy .30 caliber rifle should, each round eloquently grazes the subwoofer. The musical score was completely restored and much of it recreated from scratch, it sounds fresh and new without being too modern and out of place.

Special features

A secondary factor at best when deciding on a DVD purchase, but this one’s got some good ones. A list of alternate scenes plod through scenes that weren’t used in the reconstruction and they explain why, good insight if you’re interested. The real stand out is the ‘The Men Who Made the Movies” a close up of Sam Fuller’s career made in a true film student approach. This documentary goes through his career and really shows what Fuller made in his life and what he was thinking with many of the important scenes in his work. I haven’t seen a documentary on film this good since watching Martin Scorsese’s Il Mio viaggio in Italia.

Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)

Format: Dolby, Widescreen, Special Edition, Color

Rated: Unrated
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Release Date: May 3, 2005
Run Time: 163

DVD Features:

Available subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Commentary by reconstruction producer Richard Schickel

Over 40 minutes of added footage

Alternate scenes

Anatomy of a Scene: Watch the director at work and examine the before/after restoration comparisons

New documentary The Real Glory: Reconstructing The Big One

Profile: The Men Who Make the Movies: Samuel Fuller

War department film: The Fighting First

1980 promo reel, theatrical trailer, and TV and radio spots

2004 reconstruction trailer

Stills gallery

Number of discs: 2

Peter Green's Fleedwood Mac on DVD-Audio

weightlosssandra — Fri, 20 May 2005 02:19:00 GMT

The story behind Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac is almost as interesting as the music found on this new DVD-Audio release by Silverline Records. It’s a famous idiom that what Americans invent the British perfect. At least that’s what the Brits might say, Americans might use other terms. But when it comes to Blues it’s hard to deny that in the late 60s and early 70s the British school of Blues guitar had significant talent to offer. In fact I would go so far as to say that the likes of Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Willie Dixon might never have achieved the recognition they so deserved if it wasn’t for their followers from the UK that included such notables as Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. The bastard cousin to this group was the less known but I daresay equally talented Peter Green.

Peter Green was by all accounts one of the great blues guitarists of the first British Invasion. But his early career was spent in the shadows of Eric Clapton who, as most fans of his work would tell you is God, so he’s in good company. Eric was the lead guitarist for a band with a rotating roster called John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. It was in the Bluesbreakers that Peter Green made his name, unfortunately, like I said as a second fiddle to Clapton in popularity. Eventually Green had to leave the Bluesbreakers and he took fellow band members John McVie and Mick Fleetwood with him to form their own group “Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac”. Yes, this is the very same band that put out those hit albums in the late 70s that your parents have tucked away in their old record collection. Records are a black plastic (or vinyl) analogue storage media that was popular in decades prior to the 1980s for music playback. But Fleetwood Mac’s commercial success occurred when the Peter Green’s rendition of the band fused with a California based pop act called Buckingham Nicks, which us to the new DVD-Audio of Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac. This is a hard edge band with Peter Green as its lead guitar, a long way off from Lindsay Buckingham. Grittier and loosely arranged, the style is more closely aligned with early British house of Blues. If you’re interested in the work of any of the aforementioned guitarists you owe it to yourself to round out your musical experience with this rare recording. Silverline has done an amazing job with this compilation of live performances from 1967 to 1970. A great tribute to the already rare of work of this little known but fertile patch of Blues guitar history. Green shows his prowess in the instrumental “Albatross”. Steele guitar in “Preachin” is also a fine piece of work. The audio quality in high resolution 96kHz/24pbs is amazing for a recording that was mastered between ’67-’70. This disc is a time warp that will take you to those early recordings before the “Fleetwood Mac” we all know. If you don’t have a DVD player that is capable of DVD-Audio don’t despair, there is also a Dolby Digital track that will play in 5.1 on any DVD player. If you’re a fan of Blues or even just a casual fan of some of Eric Clapton’s grittier early work with Cream you owe it to yourself to hear the group that formed around the same time. Peter Green never received the recognition that perhaps his talent should have dictated. That’s because he was a poster child for how destructive drug abuse can be when it takes over your life. You’ll hear this DVD and wonder what happened to this guy.

Hotel Rwanda

weightlosssandra — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 00:28:00 GMT

DVDs this week include the academy award nominated Hotel Rwanda.

Hotel Rwanda is not a movie about the genocidal massacres in Rwanda in 1994, it's about the heroism of an ordinary man in a time of crisis. This is a film that reminds us that heroes are people who believe they're really just hotel managers, fathers or cooks and their heroism is only invented by necessity at the just the right moment. Hotel Rwanda is often compared to Schindler's List, but it's a very different film. Schindler's List took time to remind of some of the inhumanities through gross out scenes, Hotel Rwanda never indulges and instead the inhumanities serve as the backdrop as mood of the city deteriorates in the summer 1994. Don Cheatle is perhaps one of the finest working actors today, I believe he deserved Academy recognition for his performance in this movie. He plays Paul Rusesabagina, the assistant manager of the Mille Collines a four star Hotel in Kigali, Rwanda. Rusesabagina saved 1200 refugees in the hotel by keeping the employees working and retaining the illusion that the Hotel is an oasis of dignity even as the world around the Hotel descending into madness. Hotel Rwanda isn’t always an easy movie to watch but it’s a very important movie, one that should be given a chance especially if you’re leery of an overly violent and terribly depressing film. Director Terry George finds just the right tone to tell an heroic story in a violent and depressing time. Nick Nolte and Sophie Okonedo play dynamic supporting roles, especially Okonedo as Tatiana Rusesabina, wife of Paul. She brings the required drama to the role of a woman trying to protect her children but also a certain playfulness as the screenplay required. Nick Nolte plays a character based on the Canadian officer to the UN Lt. Gen. Roméo Dallaire. Dallaire himself is another heroic character who sadly can only do too little with too few resources. The film was released soon after his own book about his experiences in Shake hands with the Devil - The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda.

The DVD commits no great contribution to the art of video transfers but is no less than adequate for the task. From the opening credits there were visible compression artifacts. Fortunately the movie is so absorbing that I couldn’t even tell you if such imperfections existed through the rest of the film. The audio is rich and does a great job at making you feel part of the film. The distinctly African songs sung by a chorus of children seemed to make the 5.1 system come alive with a cultural texture. Cheatles haunting “breakdown” sequence where Paul Rusesabagina becomes overwhelmed in a room by himself but struggles to keep his composure before anyone sees was made truly eerie by the dreamy soundtrack that seemed to steal into the room with you from the surrounds. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of a clear and articulate center channel. Some secondary voices or dialogue that seems to fade into the background has some interesting while not critical messages about the state of things in Rwanda. You hear chatter at the bar, a radio in the background or a passing statement by minor character all serve to add seemingly realistic little details to the period and events.

Special features. There is plenty of footage of the real Paul Rusesabagina recounting events and revisiting the sites in Rwanda in the "A Message for Peace: Making Hotel Rwanda" documentary. His accent is a bit difficult to discern at times but it’s nice to see the real man placed up front and staring in his own feature. I also listened to some of the commentary and if you’re interested in current events, history or sociology it’s all intensely interesting.

Director: Terry George
Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)
Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen
Rated: Not for sale to persons under age 18.
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
DVD Release Date: April 12, 2005
Run Time: 122
DVD Features:

Available subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
"A Message for Peace: Making Hotel Rwanda" documentary
"Return to Rwanda" documentary
Commentary by director Terry George and the real-life subject of the film, Paul Rusesabagina
Selected scene commentary by actor Don Cheadle
Select commentary by musician Wyclef Jean

Elektra on DVD

weightlosssandra — Tue, 05 Apr 2005 02:07:00 GMT

This weeks notable DVD releases include Elektra.

Almost universally, and in my opinion unfairly panned by critics, Elektra makes for a quality Kung-Fu flick with great action sequences, special effects and entertaining story. Being a fan of the comics, and Elektra in particular (I even learned how to use the Sais after reading possibly too many comics staring the red clad assassin), I am familiar with the back-story, much of which is only touched upon inadequately in this film.

Jennifer Garner is terrific as Elektra, the assassin for hire with an obsessive compulsive problem and a tormented past. As a fan dating back to Frank Miller’s first Daredevil comics, I am very happy with Garner’s Elektra. She’s a proven acting talent with a distinct athletic presence that could have carried the film if she had to. The rest of the cast is first rate; Terrance Stamp is Stick, a general issue old Kung-Fu master with the power to bring Elektra back from near death. Goran Visnijic (a talented Croat actor seen in ER) and Kirsten Prout are a father and daughter who cause Elektra to rethink her career as an assassin. Will Yun Lee is a martial artist turned actor who can literally burst onto the screen flashing his dual samurai swords. The special effects in the movie are original while not subjecting us to the obligatory Matrix sequences that are now common in movies of this ilk. The “teleportation” effect is particularly stunning on a well tuned 5.1 system and I found it equally impressive in both DTS and Dolby Digital. The opening sequence where Elektra whispers into her victim’s ear hits the mark with a haunting tone leaving us wondering what this “assassin” is really capable of.

Like the comics, Elektra is a spin-off from the Daredevil movie. In this film it’s clear she’s evolved far beyond practicing martial arts with sandbags in her apartment (I’d like to see a rematch between her and Colin Farrell’s Bullseye). Therein lies what is probably the source of some of the criticisms. At worst, some of the unexplored ideas in the film may seem half baked. For instance; who are The Hand and what is their motivation besides making Elektra’s life miserable? The villains were colorful and interesting on screen and I was especially happy to see Typhoid Mary. But, I would have liked to see them explored a little more, perhaps we could trade more time exploring the villain’s motivations for a little less time establishing Elektra’s inner torment. I really liked the fight scene with the “flying sheets” although some might see it as a contrived device; I thought it added an artistic element. I would have liked the fight scenes to be a bit longer and show more of the hand-to-hand brutality Elektra demonstrated with a couple of memorable punches. I appreciate that it didn’t employ the gravity defying wire work that is popular in Eastern films of this sort. And of course I would have liked to see a bit more of Elektra in the classic red outfit.

If you appreciate a Kung-Fu action flick with top notch production values you can’t do much better than Elektra with only a few classic exceptions. If you’re a fan of the comic character this should be in your collection, only the most stuck in the mud comic snob could take exception to Jennifer Garner’s performance as Elektra. As for the DVD technology, the sound and video quality are excellent. Many of the best scenes take place in bright daylight featuring vistas of the American North West that balanced the few indoor and night time fight sequences. Elektra DVD is a well produced audio and visual feast.

Special Features (listed in full below)

Do you hear the crickets chirping? That's all you get when looking for extras on the Elektra DVD.

Jen Garner gives a taped presentation to a comic convention (she was filming at the time so I guess we forgive her for not actually showing up). I liked her enthusiasm for the character, it's brief but it whets the appetite for any Elektra fan to watch. The "making of" like the "first look" features serve as no more than extended adds while the cast and crew take turns stroking each other's ego. I'd love just once on one of these “Making Of“ features to see a director say something like: “We really wanted to get Jude Law but had to settle for Sean Penn.“

There are trailers for Elektra and for other movies that are included as special features. How adds for other films and DVDs become special features I don't fully understand and don't want to. It would have been nice to see some background info on the comics, the character, explain the Hand a bit better, show images of Frank Miller's series (they had to know Miller would be a popular name when the DVD came out).

Most other Marvel movies were set to DVD with exemplary features, Elektra is left wanting.

Director: Rob Bowman

Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)
Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby
Rated:
Studio: Fox Home Entertainme
DVD Release Date: April 5, 2005
Run Time: 104
DVD Features:
- Available subtitles: English, Spanish
- Available Audio Tracks: English (DTS 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
- 3 deleted scenes
- The Making of Elektra, including interviews with Rob Bowman and Jennifer Garner
- Jennifer Garner's Comic-Con Presentation
- Inside the Editing Room featurettes
- Trailer

Incredibles

weightlosssandra — Thu, 17 Mar 2005 18:18:00 GMT

This weeks' notable DVD release is the Incredibles. An entertaining superhero story with surprising depth if you read between the lines of the laugh a minute pace. It's the perfect film to watch with the young ones as Pixar animation has mastered the art of placing enough depth and "grown up" humor to entertain adults as well as kids. The Incredibles has the innate ability to charm even the most stodgy audience who would normally never submit to animation or superhero films, it draws you in with warm humor and then holds your attention with a quality story.

The Incredibles starts off with the adventures of Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), one of many superheroes fighting crime in an animated city colorfully styled after a 50's vision of futurist design. Superherodom is forced underground due to a legal precedent that opens the door to litigation of any super being and a turn in popular perception that the Superheroes do more harm than good. Mr Incredible permanently occupies his secret identity as Bob Parr, and marries super heroine Elasti-girl (Holly Hunter). Together they have two children with special gifts of their own and an apparently normal baby. Since the call to action is too much for super men to ignore, Bob and his buddy from the old days, Lucius Best aka Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) who has the ability to freeze water vapors right out of the air, go out at night and commit secretive acts of heroism.

"Saying that everyone is special is just another way of saying nobody is special."

This story is interesting and fresh to film but not necessarily unique to comic fans. The idea of society turning against heroism and greatness in all its varieties for a collective mediocrity is a potent message today when anyone can be "hero". The same ground was brilliantly covered in a comic series called "Watchmen" by legendary comic writer Allan Moore, the film will arrive in 2006. Watchmen (which can be found in graphic novel format at your local comic shop) takes a much darker look at an era that no longer needs heroes as super beings permanently adopt their secret identities to hide in mainstream society. The Incredibles takes subject matter several shades lighter but is not without its own distinct message of the value of the individual and the danger of conformity. After being told by mom (Elasti-girl) that he's not permitted to use his special gifts to "better" anyone in school athletics because everyone is special, "Dash" the super-speedy son of Mr Incredible laments: "Saying that everyone is special is just another way of saying nobody's special."

The sound and video quality for this DVD release it top notch as to be expected by Pixar films. Pixar's animation always seems at home on an HD monitor and will look brilliantly detailed on any ntsc display. The soundtrack is alive with directional use of surround speakers. Fantastic ambience is accomplished in certain scenes where the audio track moves consistently with the characters with acoustic indoor/outdoor effects. For examples, the cave sequence when Dash decides to explore deeper into the cavern and when Mr Incredible explores the many rooms and hallways of a sprawling island complex, lair to the main villain of the film Syndrome voiced by Jason Lee. The soundtrack produces subtle and strangely fitting sound effects for the force field bubble of the Incredible's daughter, Violet and makes quick transitions to awesome subwoofer rattling explosions in a jet sequence. The sound and video quality are truly top notch and makes a quality demo for your Home Theater system, the DVD is easily popped into the machine for guests of all ages. It earned a PG rating for its mild animated violence.

The two disc set is loaded with extra features which I have not reviewed. Here is a rundown of what to expect.

The Incredibles (Widescreen 2-Disc Collector's Edition) (2004)

Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, See more

Director: Brad Bird

Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)

Format: Animated, Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby

Rated:

Studio: Walt Disney Home Video

DVD Release Date: March 15, 2005

DVD Features:

Available subtitles: English
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1 EX), French (Dolby Digital 5.1 EX), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1 EX)
Commentary by writer/director Brad Bird and producer John Walker
Commentary by the animators
"Jack-Jack Attack" exclusive all new short film
"Incredi-Blunders" bloopers and outtakes
Deleted scenes, including alternate opening
Making of "The Incredibles" featurette
Seven additional behind-the-scenes featurettes
Pixar short film "Boundin'" with optional commentary by director Bud Luckey
"Who is Bud Luckey?" featurette
Top secret NSA files on all the Supers
"Mr. Incredible & Pals" cartoon with optional comtary by Frozone and Mr. Icrediblemen
"Vowellet" an essay by vocal talent Sarah Vowell (Violet)
Introductions with Brad Bird
Number of discs: 2