Year: 1994
Running Time: 102 Minutes
Rated: R
SRP: $39.99
Studio(s): Dimension
Release Date: September 2009

Film/Feature: A
The importance of the Legend of Drunken Master is that it was the film that launched Jackie Chan in to world-wide stardom. Yes Chan was in other films before this 1994 blockbuster semi-sequel to Yuen Woo-Ping’s Drunken Master (1978), but it established his stamp on the martial arts genre: a mixture of acrobatic street brawling kung fu, inventive uses of everyday objects as weapons, and a Charlie Chaplin-esque humor.

Chan portrays Chinese folk hero, Wong Fei Hung who finds himself in the middle of the British consul smuggling the ancient artifacts of his fellow Chinese. He stands up to the thieves and shows of his style of kung fu–inspired by whatever tasty beverage is at arm’s length–called Drunken Boxing. It’s a stock story that follows the recipe for martial arts films at the time, but the last half hour of the film defined Chan’s contribution to the genre. It’s full of creative Yuen Woo-Ping fight choreography, over-the-top stunts that you’re certain Jackie had spent days in the hospital recovering from, and had that “top this” attitude attached to it.

Year: 2002
Running Time: 99 minutes
Rated: PG-13
SRP: $39.99
Studio(s): Miramax
Release Date: September 2009

Film/Feature: A

For the first time on blu-ray comes Zhang Yimou’s first foray into the martial arts genre, having made a name for himself with beautiful and tragic dramas starring Gong Li (Red Sorghum, Raise the Red Lantern, Ju Dou). Hero is about a Nameless warrior (Jet Li) who plots with two other warriors, Broken Sword (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) and Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung) to dethrone the King of Qin (Chen Daoming) who desires to be the first emperor of China. Two other characters help move the story along, Sky (Donnie Yen) an outlaw and first casualty of Namless, and Moon (Zhang Ziyi) who serves as Broken Sword’s apprentice. The story is told through flashbacks placed in the middle of a conversation between Nameless and the King. The assassins want China to remain separate entities, the King hopes to connect the divisions under one nation. The debate over whether or not the film supports the autocracy of China’s first emperor still rages on, and the film will split viewers one way or the other. I’m aware of that but to me this was a story more driven by love, hope and sacrifice through martial arts than it is to depict a documentarian look at history.

Hero is not the straight-forward chop-saki flick that many are accustomed to, and that too is why I like it. It a story of perspective and perception based on which character is telling the story. Yimou’s use of color is unparalleled and creates fantastical atmosphere never attached to the genre, and in Hero he gives some of the most memorable scenes ever to grace a martial arts film.

Year: 2003
Running Time: 116 minutes
Rated: R
SRP:$ 39.99
Studio(s): Miramax
Release Date: September 2009

Film/Feature: B+
This 2003 film is fine modernization of the cult-favorite television show, Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman. Directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano (AKA Beat Takeshi), this sword-slashing tale brings up to speed the adventures of a blind masseur who nomadically travels through the small towns of Japan, gambles, and when provoked is the baddest ass samurai warrior. As a turf war breaks out in the country towns gangs rob the towns people of their money offering “protection,” Zatoichi slices through in glorious form.

Out in stores tomorrow and this week, is The Beasts of Burden, a four-issue mini-series published by Dark Horse, written by Evan Dorkin (Milk and Cheese) and with painted art by Jill Thompson (Scary Godmother) featuring a band of neighborhood pets who get in supernatural adventures. Beasts of Burden was introduced in four Dark Horse Book of anthologies (Hauntings, Witchcraft, the Dead, and Monsters).

Pop Culture Shock tracked Thompson down at Comic-Con International, on the day before she would win another Eisner Award, this year for Best Painter/Multimedia Artist on Magic Trixie, Magic Trixie Sleeps Over. She first caught the attention of the masses with her work in the early 90’s on Sandman, Swamp Thing, Invisibles, and Wonder Woman, then began paving the way for her own creation, Scary Godmother (1997-2000), a series of children’s books and her love of Halloween. Other highlights include Finals (1999), The Little Endless Storybook (2001), Death: At Death’s Door (2003), The Dead Boy Detectives (2005) amongst countless other works. She has branded a whimsical, cartoony art style that’s filled with emotion, drama, and most of all, fun. Ernie Estrella caught up with Jill to discuss the truth about cats and dogs, reading oversized comics, and of course, painting The Beasts of Burden.

Feature: B-
I am not a Browncoat or a Whedonite, but I’ve enjoyed nearly every television show put out by Joss Whedon. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, and Dr. Horrible, all deserve their own respect. Dollhouse, though was a struggle. I honestly gave up on the show midway when it originally aired, bored by it, and said, “Eliza Dushku wearing next to nothing is just not enough to keep me watching this show.” Believe me, that’s saying something. This is how my Friday nights went this past spring. Paired with Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on Friday nights, from which I would be jumping on my couch cushions afterwards, buzzing, and then I felt like I was swimming in a lap pool of thick pudding, twenty minutes into Dollhouse and seemingly going nowhere. So, imagine how I felt when T:TSCC was cancelled and Dollhouse was renewed for a second season? I was furious, but recently I finished the entire season on blu-ray and have come to the conclusion, I acted prematurely.

Dushku reunites with Whedon to star as Caroline, a woman who needs to burn her past and is willing to sign over five years of her life away and be part of the Dollhouse. Now dead, Caroline is given the codename: Echo. Her brain is stripped down to its essentials and its simplest of functions. She is for all intents and purposes, a blank slate, lacking any personality or emotion. The spa-like Dollhouse is disguised as an underground fantasy-escort prostitution ring, male and female “dolls” would be made to order by a willing client, who would specify certain traits or scenarios to play out. Oh, but the “dolls” are more capable of that. They can be ordered to do undercover jobs, infiltrate, spy, and anything else that can be programmed into their mind.

It’s a crazy amalgam of Frankenstein, the Matrix and Dushku’s previous television show, Tru Calling as the sultry brunette gets to play out a barrage of personalities and kick ass in prime-time television. The formula was very clear at the start and we are introduced to all of the other principle dolls: Sierra (Dichen Lachman), Victor (Enver Gjokaj), and Mellie (Miracle Laurie). Each “Active” doll has a handler who sees each doll through their mission. Echo’s is Boyd Langton (Harry Lennix). The scientist who administers the downloads is Topher Brink (Frank Kranz). Dr. Saunders is the resident on staff (Amy Acker) who was attacked by Alpha, a rogue doll and left her permanently scarred. Overseeing the operation is Adelle DeWitt (Olivia Williams) and her chief of security, Laurence Dominic (Reed Diamond). The Dollhouse is known only by its rich clients and the final component of the show is an FBI Agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) who is insistent to prove to his superiors of the Dollhouse existence.

The problem that I had with the early part of the season is that when the dolls don’t have a persona downloaded into them, the show is pretty vapid as the actors just walk around like zombies in a spa. I understand that’s how they’re supposed to be, but to watch half a show of that made for a laboring experience. It was as if there was a bit of arrogance by Whedon and crew thinking that their loyal following and Dushku fanboys could carry the show long enough for a payoff long down the road. The buzz was just about dead by the first month of the show and then… well, the show made a dramatic turn at the halfway point.

After all of the dolls are introduced and laid out, Echo begins to act up and remembers things. She evolves as a doll and leads a breakout. While the jail break wasn’t successful, that episode was a turning point for the season. The peripheral characters emerged and Echo became a secondary role. Dr. Saunders is revealed to be a former doll named Whiskey, Topher is an entertaining yet creepy character, DeWitt faces moral dilemmas, and a spy infiltrates the Dollhouse. Suddenly the show was going somewhere. It was coherent, the writing got better and the cast really buckled down and made for compelling science fiction. Each episode upped the ante laid down by the prior, reaching a climax when Alpha makes his return.

But wait, there’s more! Whedon shot another episode titled, “Epitaph” show on digital for half the costs and set in the post apocalyptic future 10 years later. Viewers get a glimpse of how the technology has evolved and peer into civilization’s doom and no one is left from the show, or are they? Felicia Day (The Guild, Dr. Horrible) guest stars as Mag, and leader of a band of “actuals” who are humans who have kept their bodies free of technology. This episode was made for DVD/Blu-ray because international contracts call for 13 episodes and the first season ended with only 12. So, Whedon pitched the idea to Fox to make this final episode at half the costs and in turn gave them the strongest episode of the entire season. It’s so worth the wait to see after completing the original twelve episodes that even though I wanted to forget this series when I first saw it, I am now craving the second season and hoping that the show will evolve into what’s peeked at in Epitaph sooner rather than later. So while it’s an extra, I have to say that this episode really saved this show for me because it shows where they want to ultimately go and trust me, when I say it’s a good place.

Video: B+
Dollhouse on blu-ray brings home a 1080p AVC-encoded MPEG-4 transfer framed in 1.78:1. Primary colors are clean and burst on the screen. Textures and skintones reproduce accurately especially that great cherry wood tone that’s present throughout the Dollhouse. Overall it’s pretty good but once in a while details get a big muddy, which may be due in part to the varying camera setups and stage design. Blacks, shadows and contrast ratio are all consistently solid throughout season one, and the only stray cat is “Epitaph” because it was shot on digital. You can see the graininess and dip in picture quality but that actually adds to the ambiance of the post-apocalyptic era they were trying to create.

Audio: B
There is only one audio option and that’s English 5.1 DTS-HD. It’s a fine track that has the goods on panning effects and motion sound. I felt I had to turn up the volume though to get the dialogue at a resounding level, about ten clicks higher than what I normally listen at. Bass is real punchy during explosions and high action sequences. The balance overall could have been tweaked better, but it’s a satisfying audio experience in general. Subtitles are available in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Extras: B-
Audio Commentaries – There are three total and each one is different to the next. They scored big though by putting subtitles specifically for the commentaries which I think is a long overdue. Seriously, how are deaf people supposed to understand audio commentaries? Anyway it’s was a great touch.

Joss Whedon and Eliza Dushku on Episode 1, “Ghost” make it very clear they’re not focused to do an in-depth commentary noting that it’s early in the morning and they’re hungry. Whedon is very comfortable with his fan base so once in awhile it’s okay to break away from the norm, but this isn’t a track you’ll likely revisit.

Whedon on Episode 6, “Man on the Street” buckles down on this track and talks about what part of the show is about, this difference of opinion, and “What to believe, how we’ve come to believe and how we’re forced to believe and how everyone’s perspective is valid. There’s a fantasy of control or of perception. When we have a fantasy, we don’t think about the little things that somebody else is going through that make them not jive with our fantasy, we just have the fantasy.”

Jed Whedon and Maurissa Tancharoen on Episode 13 “Epitaph” are the main writers of the show and have been with Joss for some time. They start off the commentary announcing that their recent marriage nuptials and sets the tone for a very care free and fun track. They offer some insight into writing this important episode and then get a bit personal on the track. It’s funny folks, but be forewarned of some gushy and intimate details. Ultimately, the crew needed to make a cheap cool finale that would “Blow people’s minds.” Goal accomplished. I was turned off though at the censoring that was done in this commentary. There’s just no need for that.

The rest of extras are in Dolby Digital Stereo and are shown in HD, AVC-encoded and are found on disc three.

Making Dollhouse HD (20:48) Whedon guides you through the assembly of the cast, writers room, and growth of the mythology in the series. Whedon’s a bit of droll in the featurettes, as if again, he had just woken up but this is a comprehensive overview. It feels a little EPK-like, but worth seeing.

Coming Home HD (7:11) is one of those lovey-dovey featurettes that briefly scans Whedon’s co-workers who have worked with him on all of his prior television shows. They hug, they trust, and drink and kiss each other’s butts so you know just how bad your job sucks and their family environment rocks.

Finding Echo HD (5:07) interviews Dushku about how she wanted to be a bigger part of a show than just being the star, and how a small investment of buying lunch got her a TV show and some production experience. Whedon in return got her the variety of work she wanted as displayed by the dozen or so plus characters she gets to play and found a collaborator within her.

Designing the Perfect Dollhouse HD (6:00) More animated, Whedon moves around the set touring viewers on his Eastern Spa influenced set and that the massage area was an excuse to have naked people running around the set.

In Private Engagement HD (5:47) Everyone on the set is asked if they would like the Dollhouse world to be real.

Un-aired Pilot “Echo” HD (45:47) this is the original and technical “13th episode” that was shot but it eventually was chopped up and used throughout the season, leaving them with no 13th episode and thus the reason for “Epitaph.”

Deleted Scenes HD (29:46) there’s a barrage of scenes left on the cutting floor.

I am doll eyes, doll face… doll skin… Overall Shock Value: B-
Joss Whedon’s latest show takes its grand old time to find its solid ground to stand on. The first half of the show is really dreadful, to be honest, and even seeing Eliza Dushku shake her thang isn’t enough to keep me yawning though the early episodes. BUT, as the story settles in–and perhaps facing cancellation–the show got a jolt of new life at the halfway point and ended on a respectable plateau. But if there’s a reason to bring this blu-ray box set home it’s the un-aired episode, “Epitaph” which saves the show so much that I’m very hopeful of the second season. Technically, it’s a solid win for Fox, although not perfect, but a definite upgrade over the DVD, so if you’re going to bring home a Dollhouse, make it’s the blu-ray and give the show a fair and thorough shot before you judge it, unlike me.

Film: B
One minute everything can go right in life, and the next could be the beginning of nothing but pain and sorrow. Life is fragile. Nearly 80,000 homeless roam Los Angeles like nomads, the most of any American city, and much less separates them from us than you think. Plenty of them came from good foundations, and stable lives, but suddenly life came crashing down on them hard. They are ignored by their families and ignored by society itself. After LA Times journalist, Steve Lopez crashed on his bicycle, he paid attention to one homeless man who played the sad strings of society.

The Soloist is a serious drama based on a true story of Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) discovering a musical prodigy laying next to waste on the streets of Los Angeles. After some fact checking, the famed New York City art school, Juilliard accepted one Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx) in the 1970s as a promising cello player with a fervor for Beethoven. Ayers never finished his schooling, however, because he was tormented by voices in his head. Decades later, a broken and disheveled man, Ayers wanders the streets of Los Angeles with his life collected in a shopping cart uttering madness to himself all day and sprawling out on the cement jungle each night.

Lopez uses Ayers at first, to keep his job alive during the crumbling newspaper industry. In his column, he writes about Ayers wondering how someone of his talent could find himself struggling to stay alive on the streets. Without any kind of education or training, Lopez befriends Ayers and tries to bring him back to society by making Ayers passion for music more accessible to him. But Ayers is filled with demons that won’t allow for an easy transition. Tested to uncomfortable limits, Lopez remains persistent in getting Ayers to a better place, and in return Lopez sees what he’s been missing in his life. Changes occur in the self-absorbed writer, who at the beginning of the movie was concerned with one person.

The painful reality of the landscape of The Soloist is that there are not enough people like Steve Lopez to care about any of the thousands that wander from overpass to street grate. Most people would rather avoid Skid Row (the streets of downtown LA where the homeless reside) like the plague and understandably so. It’s the humanity of two men that will humble those who watch the Soloist. Two men who find a friendship together, and test it to great measures because each thinks that being alone will make them happier. It’s easier. It’s simpler. Maybe, but the consequences of being a true “soloist” can take its toll to where there’s not much that separates a homeless man and a well-to-do writer.

Apparently, many people avoided this film as well at the box office back in April when most movie goers were ramping up for the summer blockbuster. After seeing the film I can see why it wasn’t a bigger hit. It’s not because of the acting (god no) or the script, or even anything the crew could have done. Okay, it is an achingly slow film, but the general public doesn’t want anything to do with the hardships of others, especially when so many are experiencing tough times of their own. And if escaping from that reality is what movies are all about, then The Soloist is not for you. But for those who want to see two fine performances and more importantly, get exposed to real life, do so, you owe it to your fellow man.

Video: A
The Soloist is fitted with a splendid 1080p AVC-encoded transfer framed in 2.39:1. Detail is not a problem as seen in the scenes inside the LA Times offices. Stacks of paper and mayhem are ubiquitous at every turn. The scenes of Skid Row are filled with orchestrated motion and depth and as complex as those scenes are, there is not a loss of detail whatsoever. The scene where Nathaniel sees the LA Philharmonic rehearsal with Steve at Disney Hall he closes his eyes and a firework display of color goes off that’s just the tip of the iceberg of how well colors are reproduced. Fleshtones, equally striking and accurate revealing every wrinkle, stress line, and blemish of the homeless unapologetically.

Audio: A-
A dialogue-driven 5.1 Dolby True-HD audio track steers the Soloist to place where all of the details stand out. There are panning effects and directional noise that accurately places you in the center of the more active scenes but the ones that stand out are when conversation is going on in the foreground and in the background. Skid Row is particularly filled with life during the day or night. And when the music plays, that’s when you sit back and enjoy it how Nathaniel would and let it take over your mind. The room fills with warmth, perfectly pitched and balanced. Bigger bass is reserved for some of the few action sequences we are privy to, but isn’t overpowering. Also available on the disc are French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks, and subtitles in English, English SDH, French and Spanish.

Extras: B+
Anytime you watch a film about real people, you want to see and get to know the actual people who the film portrays. The extras provided satisfy that curiosity as the real Steve Lopez, Nathaniel Ayers and his sister, Jennifer talk (and perform) in front of the camera and are gracious enough to share their story first hand. I only wished there was a full performance by Ayers instead of the minute or two we do get but here’s what is included. All of the featurettes are in HD with the exception of the deleted scenes.

Audio Commentary with Director Joe Wright picks his spots to interject technical aspects of scenes, information about schizophrenics, themes and particular moments that he felt he could have done better, like downplaying the cello as a character. It a bit of dry track, not talkative enough, but that’s better than being overly annoying.

An Unlikely Friendship: Making the Soloist HD (19:37) shows behind-the-scenes footage of the integral parts of the film such as courting Lopez to adapt his story and articles to film, Jamie Foxx learning how to play the cello and violin, and getting the people on skid row to be extras in the film and add authenticity to the Soloist.

Kindness, Courtesy and Respect: Mr. Ayers + Mr. Lopez HD (4:48) shows the real Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Ayers (and his sister) talking about their friendship as well as Ayers playing the cello. This is the most we get to see of Ayers and despite the new found fame, he is still living in the LAMP apartment and walks the streets of Los Angeles.

One Size Does Not Fit All: Addressing the Homelessness in Los Angeles HD (9:45) speaks of the rapidly growing homeless rate in Los Angeles in skid row. There are more homeless in Los Angeles than San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Portand, and Houston combined. Social services like Midnight Mission and LAMP talk about their programs and their causes in hopes of publicizing the problem and ask for whatever help can be donated.

There were five Deleted Scenes SD (9:49) that show Lopez with the flirty lab technician (Jena Malone), Lopez and Nathaniel listening to Beethoven in the car, Nathaniel’s childhood antagonists, playing the cello for his sister at LAMP, and an extensive scene where the voices in his head are “dealt” with.

Juilliard: The Education of Nathaniel Ayers HD (4:08) Producer Gary Foster discusses Ayers acceptance into Juilliard and what a prestige achievement it was for him to play there. Foster also has a story to tell about Ayers and fellow classmate, Yo-Yo Ma.

Beth’s Story HD (2:02) – an animated short or public service announcement about how easy it can be to be homeless.

The Theatrical Trailer HD (2:33) makes the film seem like a more powerful and magical movie.

An Orchestrated Drag – Overall Shock Value: B+
There’s nothing inherently wrong with The Soloist, as it retells the very real and surprising bond between two men who would probably have never met, set against the landscape of the troublesome homeless problem in Los Angeles. The acting of Downey Jr. and Foxx is exceptional and the story has the right amount of depth and weight to it. I found the story overall depressing and dragged down by the reality of the LA homelessness–which is the point–but it’s not the type of film I could bring myself to enjoy again and again; not because of the social issue at hand, but because the pacing just drags to a snail’s pace at times. I still admire the work behind The Soloist and do think it’s worthy of a strong and confident rental. With the fine extras that should be explored and a solid technical treatment, The Soloist blu-ray preserves the story of Nathaniel Ayers and Steve Lopez in highest of regards.

Film: A
It was a declaration of awareness, the lyrics from Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” that blared out the speakers in 1989 while the then-unknown sultry Rosie Perez snapped her hips angrily on widescreen. The broken landscape of the Bedford-Stuyvesant sector of Brooklyn, New York was sprawled behind her.

“As the rhythm designed to bounce
What counts is that the rhymes
Designed to fill your mind
Now that you’ve realized the prides arrived
We got to pump the stuff to make us tough
from the heart
It’s a start, a work of art
To revolutionize make a change nothin’s strange
People, people we are the same
No we’re not the same
Cause we don’t know the game
What we need is awareness, we can’t get careless
You say what is this?
My beloved lets get down to business
Mental self defensive fitness
(Yo) bum rush the show
You gotta go for what you know
Make everybody see, in order to fight the powers that be
Lemme hear you say…Fight the Power”
-Excerpt from “Fight the Power” Chuck D, Public Enemy-

Spike Lee had officially arrived on the scene as a filmmaker, encapsulating the climate within black communities at a most troubling time when police excessive violence and brutality had reached critical mass. Do the Right Thing was an alarm and people woke up. It created a media wildfire to those who feared riots would break out; insinuating that people would riot, not intelligent enough to understand that the film was not a blueprint but rather a fire starter for generating discussion within the black community, to stop waiting to be saved and start taking care of their own. People spoke with their vote and above all of that, Lee directed his first truly great film, one that is now 20 years old.

Depth, in Do the Right Thing was felt in every scene. Scenes didn’t start and stop with who was talking on camera, but continued on in conversations off-camera, who was seen in the background, and what was going on all around. Lee captured a living and breathing community, and did so in spades. The tapestry of conversations had to have made Robert Altman proud. There was the signature Spike Lee montage, which was especially memorable with harsh racial epitaphs and stinging slurs that cut so deep, it reached our funny bones. Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, John Turturro, Robin Harris, Danny Aielo, and yes, by even Spike himself reached deep for such vivid characters. Careers were just starting to bud in Samuel Jackson, Martin Lawrence, Richard Edson but the deepest soul, the most piercing sound, and the most truthful was Perez who grew up in Bed-Stuy, untainted by the actor’s creed or methods, simply spoken, (ear-achingly) from the heart.

Lee wanted to convey the theme of heat. The hottest days of the summer are supposed to bring out the worst in people. Murders go up, crime goes up, and on this particular day, in the fragile community of one street block all hell broke loose. He made the center of the wheel Sal’s Famous Pizzeria, which has fed the neighborhood for generations. The spokes that defined the wheel’s size were Sal (Aielo) and his two sons, Pino (Turturro) and Vito (Edson). Their delivery guy, Mookie (Lee) who was focused on getting paid, his hot-blooded Puerto Rican woman (Perez) and kid, and his sister Jade (Joie Lee). Across from Sal’s stood the Korean Fruit and Vegetable Delight (Steve Park and Ginny Yang); a local drunk by the name of Da Mayor (Davis) paced back and forth, trying to catch the eye of Mother-Sister (Dee), an elder slumlord who hung out her sill; three male yentas gossiped all day (Paul Benjamin, Frankie Faison, Harris) and radio dee jay Mister Señor Love Daddy (Jackson) who oversaw everything through a glass window.

For an entire day, Lee kept the wheel spinning with one of Mookie’s friends, Buggin Out (Giancarlo Esposito) who asks Sal the pivotal question, why are there only pictures of white, Italian celebrities on Sal’s Wall of Fame. To which Sal answers, it’s his store, he can put up what he wants and he only wants Italian-Americans on the wall. Buggin Out then states in all of the years Sal has been there there are no whites that give him any business. After being ushered out by Mookie, Buggin Out spends the rest of the day trying to get the community to support a boycott of Sal’s Pizzeria, and is turned down by everyone except for two others who were wronged that day, Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) and Smiley (Roger Guenveur Smith). As the day came to a close, a poignant moment. Sal expressed his pleasure in a day’s work to his infantry of workers, clueless of Pino’s hate, Mookie’s bottom line, and Vito’s wish to keep the peace. Then the wheel stopped spinning and broke off its axle and the heat finally got to all of them as the boycotters stormed in.

The heat was not an excuse but rather the catalyst to surface the feelings, of love and hate, that laid dormant. Fireworks can’t go off without lighting the fuse and on any other day, what happened probably would have never occurred. There were no guns or drugs that incited the riot (which was important), just the rage and anger stemming from Mayor Edward Koch, who was up for re-election in 1989. From disappointment in the laziness and finger-pointing of black communities, the assertion of other immigrants who are trying to survive as hard as the next person, gentrification, and the realization that selective racism is still racism. It wasn’t until after the cops choked Radio Raheem to death that Mookie boils over from the insanity of it, and lashes out on the symbolic place of hate: Sal’s Famous Pizzeria. What’s soon left is one sad but beautiful mess. Away from the burning rubble, it’s back to the ubiquitous stoops and streets everyone goes only to wonder if any of it had made a bit of difference.

VIDEO: A-
This is so close to a perfect transfer but just falls shy. One couldn’t tell the film was 20 years old, the 1080p high definition transfer is AVC-encoded and at 1.85:1 aspect ratio is a big reason. Details like when the cops drive by the three “wisemen” there’s a little lens flare between the officers’ faces I never noticed before. The red wall behind them looks like it was colored with a Crayola crayon. The different degree of perspiration on each actor’s necks and faces are easy to see. Beard stubble, reflections in windows, and the years of filled up potholes can all be pointed out. In the critical scene with Pino and Sal, you can see the scratches and dirt on the window. Again in the opening credits, the bright primary hues bolt off the screen and exemplify how good Do the Right Thing looks in high definition. Skin tones are full of warmth and life, shadows and contrast are exceptional and all without any artificial edge enhancement. There’s still that acceptable level of grain but as a longtime fan of the film, it’s a joy to see what cinematographer, Ernest Dickerson captured preserved so well.

Still, this is not the cleanest transfer. Specks and the occasional bit of dirt that can be seen, when hunting for them. The opening title sequence especially has lots of dirt which has a bit of an urban grit appeal to it perhaps very few clean negatives exist, but unfortunately that’s not the last time the debris flashes on the screen as it can be seen throughout the rest of the film. It’s more noticeable when the camera is stationary, not panning or in extreme close-ups. The debris isn’t distracting by any means but I have to call it when I see it. So now that I’ve got that out of the way, I can STILL say that this is the best I’ve ever seen this film. And I’ve seen it a lot.

AUDIO: A-
I hate to use the opening credits as an example again but that is the liveliest Do the Right Thing will get in its English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. With a helicopter chugging around the room and planes flying, your head will be spinning to follow the sound. The bass gets a boost full of Public Enemy as the film’s anthem is an undercurrent to the emotions that boil over and the fifteen or so scenes in the film where its played get the same audio treatment. It’s easy to overlook the sweet and soft jazzy score composed by Spike’s father, Bill Lee. It’s in there and even at low volumes is as important as Fight the Power. The surround channels get music, street chatter, and various noise but the strength is in the center channel reproduction of the dialogue. Also available are Spanish and French 5.1 DTS audio tracks and subtitles are available in English SDH, Spanish and French.

EXTRAS: A-
The last time Do the Right Thing was released it was on a superb Criterion Collection DVD from which all of those extras have been exported over. Exclusive to the blu-ray disc are two extras including a new commentary by Spike Lee and a retrospective look back. The rest of the extras are in standard definition, MPEG-2 encoded and in Dolby Digital 2.0.

Audio Commentary by Spike Lee looks back at his breakthrough film as he works through trying to remember stories and reflections on his third film. This is not a rehashing of the same stories on the previous commentary, they are some new thoughts and reflections especially for the 20th anniversary. Some anecdotes (for example his dealing with the Sinatras) are more entertaining to hear this time around because Spike’s describes them in much more detail and without the seriousness he held in the first one.

The second Audio Commentary is with Lee, Director of Photography Ernest Dickerson, Production Designer Wynn Thomas and Actor Joie Lee is ported over from the Criterion Collection release, a fine gathering of many of important players in DTRT. Dickerson in particular shares his technical knowledge, Spike recalls troubles and stories that developed in making the film, and Joie addresses some of the outsiders’ concerns with the film.

Do the Right Thing: 20 Years Later HD (35:47) – A trip back memory lane includes the use of color to convey heat, a where are they now segment, stories about stretching props, the Larry Bird jersey and how Fight the Power came to be. This is the only featurette in high def.

Deleted and Extended Scenes SD (14:14) – Eleven scenes were cut including another pizza delivery for Mookie, Sal’s Cadillac being used as a frying pan, lots more Jade, and more Martin Lawrence silliness. Many of these could have easily been put back in with no problem.

Behind the Scenes SD (57:59) – A bunch of handheld videos of Spike leading early script readings with the cast, interviews with Rosie Perez and her observations as a first time actress having lived in Bed-Stuy, wrap-up parties, and a clip of Sal’s Famous Pizzeria being constructed. Caution to those who get queasy with hand-held camera work.

Making Do the Right Thing SD with Spike Lee Intro (1:01:49) opens up this deeper look into the Bed-Stuy neighborhood, how shooting the film affected their daily lives, how the locals got involved with the film, and what the locals tried to do to keep the drugs away from the shoot. This was a smart extra to include as you get to hear from people in Bed-Stuy speaking the reality of life there. And as an epilogue, Back to Bed-Stuy SD (4:49) A trip back to the street block where DTRT was shot to see the faded murals and what else has changed since 1989.

Editor Barry Brown SD (9:38) – talks about meeting Spike, composing the film, finding relevant artists for Senor Love’s roll call, and making one scene look more genuine.

The Riot Sequence SD (1:30) – Lee normally does not storyboard but this is one of the few instances where a scene was planned and drawn out in full detail prior to shooting. After an intro, one can peruse through each page of that storyboard.

Cannes, 1989 SD (42:22) – an exceptional Q&A press conference after the screening at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival that included the typical misconceptions for those who didn’t understand Mookie’s actions, the neighborhood of Bed-Stuy, race relations, life vs. art, the debate over the two quotes at the end of the film, and why there was no mention of drugs. Also much of the foreign press wanted to make it seem like such racial problems were only an American problem.

Trailers SD there is one Theatrical Trailer (2:12) and two TV Spots (0:31 and 0:31) sadly all in standard definition.

The Fight is Not Over. Overall Shock Value: A-
Do the Right Thing turns 20. It’s a shocker that one of my touchstone films has reached that age. Universal did it proper by preserving and in fact, enhancing it on blu-ray because I don’t recall seeing it this good. Spike Lee’s breakout film still holds up with race relations still a struggle, no matter how big the band-aid. In America, President Obama is proof of some progress, but as long as we continue to dwell on our differences, instead of embracing our similarities, we will always be marching uphill. Prejudice is still holding us back whether it’s race, religion, sexual orientation or two tribes in Rwanda. It’s not local to America, the inner cities or the suburbs, but continues to strap us down from healing, changing and evolving, So when the temperature gets hot, literally and figuratively, it’s Highly Recommended that YOU do the right thing.

FILM: D
Since the modern horror flick is so formulaic at this point, I avoided The Unborn at the theaters but hoped I’d be in for a surprise when it hits blu-ray. Hope left early into screening The Unborn, along with his friend, Thrills, Chills, and Originality. This time there’s no charge of a poor American remake, or a sequel that waters down the enjoyment of earlier installments. No, The Unborn did it all to itself, summoning a tired tale of family curses and hauntings in Casey Beldon (Odette Yustman), causing me to search under the couch pillows for holy water to wing at the screen. “Save my soul! Save my soul!” I screamed. Yeah. Didn’t work.

So this Beldon gal is a college co-ed in Chicago. She babysits to earn some cash, and keeps her body tight by working out regularly. Lately she’s been daydreaming and things begin to startle her. Cue in those cleverly-timed shriek noises and shrills designed to make you jump out of your seat. Casey shares her troubling mind with her superstitious friend Romy (Meagan Good) and boyfriend Mark (Cam Gigandet) but is mocked and ignored until one too many freak outs in public restrooms and lecture halls. At least one thing remains constant in horror flicks…. white folk are craaaazeeeeee!

When an eye doctor suspects she may have been a twin on the improbable chance she experienced Genetic Mosaicism, where placentas of two embryos can be fused and blood is transferred between fetuses. According to her father (James Remar), Casey had a twin brother who died when her umbilical cord wrapped around his throat. Nicknamed “Jumby” the unborn twin sent Casey’s mother (Carla Gugino) to a psych ward where she was diagnosed with depression and committed suicide. Yeah. That’s a bit of a skeleton I’d say, but nothing compared to what else she finds out.

Still haunted in her dreams, Casey seeks the help of Sofi (Jane Alexander) an elderly woman who knew her mother while at the looney bin, Arthur Wyndam (Idris Elba) Rabbi Sendak (Gary Oldman) two men of the cloth versed in the Jewish Kabbalah –stay with me– only to discover her family’s been long-cursed by the Nazi regime. There’s only one way to rid the family of this curse; a proper exorcism that’s destined to destroy the set of the film and take everyone in proximity with it.

Yustman really tries in the film, a poor woman’s Megan Fox (minus the clubbed thumbs and bad tattoos) and even greases up her body so that she can fit into tight, white tanks and undies to parade in. Her green performance is just one of the many turned in by the younger cast members. Jane Alexander is the most convincing of cast members as Sofi, Oldman and Elba appear… out of place. But this film struggled from the beginning with David S. Goyer’s script. More widely known for his part in writing Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, it was Goyer’s name that originally piqued my interest in The Unborn. Sadly, Goyer left his imagination in the bat cave playing chess with Alfred. There just wasn’t anything new, scary, or exciting about The Unborn. The deceased twin manifests itself into a demonic child whispering “Jumby wants to be be born now.” A premonition of things to come, but maybe it should have said, “Jumby wants a refund.”

VIDEO: B+
Despite all of the filmmakers’ travails, The Unborn is seen with a nice 1080p VC-1 encoded transfer in 2.40:1 aspect ratio. The picture has a bit of a fog about it, stylized and intentional, where objects that scream for emphasis get that spotlight while everything else drops back. There’s still plenty of accurate detail like pores on the skin, textures of various substrates that come across as authentic and the colors are so lush and rich at times it’s a shame that such a good looking film didn’t have much else going for it except…

AUDIO: B
All of the audio comes via a more than serviceable English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio mix. Universal loves the DTS-HD format and it does provide that screech and startle effect. Subwoofers will arise from the dead every now and then when they are called on and do an admirable job. There are some sweet spots in the film like the exorcism climax that utilizes the surround channels to a nice degree with eerie atmospheric effects, but too much of the audio in this film stays up front and center disconnecting the viewer from a complete experience through much of the film. There’s also an English 2.0 Dolby Digital mix, and 5.1 DTS tracks in Spanish, French, Dutch, and French Canadian. Subtitles are available in English SDH, Dutch, French, and French Canadaian.

EXTRAS: D-
Sometimes bad films have great extras but I guess Universal decided to cut its loss at the box office and spared no extra cents and dollars on a good supplemental package. Perhaps it was best to end the suffereing.

My Scenes – Universal’s standard bookmarking option allows you to place a mark at any moment of the film that puts you to sleep.

Deleted Scenes HD (6:37) – Six scenes that didn’t matter much but at least they’re in high def.

Not a shock here, Overall Shock Value: D+
I can’t say I was disappointed in the film because my expectations were not set that high. In fact it was spot on what was expected, which was another lazy, plain potato chip filled with trite scare tactics that’s as tasteless as the rest of the bag. Hollywood has once again relied on the usual gimmicks and gags to try and incite horror instead of really putting together a story that really drives The Unborn forward. If Hollywood cannot write but one good scary flick a year, then don’t bother pushing one out the door seemingly every month. The only thing horrific was the effort behind creating this film. There have been worse films, no doubt, but The Unborn’s only redeeming quality was that it scored high marks in the PCS AV department. And there’s one minute difference between the unrated cut and the theatrical cut. I don’t think there’s much difference. I’d pass on both but if you must see The Unborn for yourself, rent it first.

Season Two: A
For those who haven’t checked out season one or any other Lost seasons may want to read my review of season one first as the rest of this write-up may be full of spoilers.

The second season of Lost takes it up another notch as it begins with Locke and Jack sitting atop the hatch door having blown it wide open. What awaits for them is the key to the entire season and escalates the level of danger on the island, but it’s nothing compared to what the rest of the season has in store. Michael, Sawyer, and Jinn make it back to the island after being ambushed by the Others out at sea, but land on the other side and are captured by another group of people who appear have been on the island for a long time. Have the Lost version of the three stooges been captured by the Others or some other tribe? Michael has lost Walt again, and becomes an unstable force this season.

The hatch is actually some type of underground scientific bunker equipped with modern amenities such as a bathroom, kitchen, an armory of weapons, and a computer room where every 108 minutes a numeric sequence must be typed into a computer as follows, “4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42” and a clock resets once that code is executed. These numbers have been coming up in conversations and flashbacks from season one and has once again appeared in a maddening task that may or may not ensure the safety of those on the island.

Aside from what information could be gathered from the orientation videos, the function of the button is unknown. But what happens if the number sequence is not entered? Is it just a test to see if people would perform a task on the mere suggestion of its importance? The hatch also serves as a test to those who spend time in it. The worst comes out of those who spend any duration in the hatch, physical or mental. And the hatch becomes the most important character in the second season. It’s purpose and possible link to flight 815.

The raft captors turn out to be the few survivors of the tail of the Oceanic Air 815, Michelle Rodriguez plays Ana Lucia, a hot-headed former cop, and Adewale Akinnoye-Agbaje plays Mr. Eko a former drug lord turned priest who is connected to one of the major finds in season one. The “Tailies” have been thinned out by the Others and have led a much different month and a half compared to the survivors we’ve been following. Trust, and a lack of it is a big theme in this season and a reason why the Tailies act the way they do, practically enslaving Michael, Jinn, and Sawyer. Kate’s sketchy past is in full bloom as we discover what got the authorities hot on her trail, and tensions build between Kate, Sawyer, Jack, and Locke. Faith is another theme that weighs heavily on the Lost cast which goes hand-in-hand with trust. Locke has faith that he’s meant to push those numbers but when he is tested, how strong is his faith? Jack, who is a man of science has no faith in what Locke believes, only what he sees and knows what is right. Mr. Eko plays a priest whose faith in continually tested. Locke’s ability to walk isn’t the only miracle on the island. And the reunion between spouses may bring a tear to the kind-hearted.

Connections between survivors are slowly revealed, unbeknownst to the characters and this adds more levels of questions to the show. Many of them have met prior to the crash or have come into contact with a common acquaintance. How many more are there? If that wasn’t enough, a powerful body blow was delivered in Henry Gale (Michael Emerson) who is captured and suspected as being one of the Others. He claims to be another survivor from a hot air balloon crash but Sayid thinks otherwise.

The performances of season two was another fearless signature. Rodriguez, and Akinnoye-Agbaje were exciting additions and stole every scene that they were in but Emerson’s turn will stiffen your spine. Evangeline Lilly, Matthew Fox and Jorge Garcia also made good on opportunities to shine. Guest starring roles by Julie Bowen as Jack’s ex-wife, Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond, the hatch station agent in waiting were good too. By season’s end, a majority of the questions going into this season have been answered but the higher stakes gave way to a whole new set of questions that rope you into season three. Lost surrendered the information you wanted, but they dictated pace and then took that satisfaction away from you by leaving you at the altar crying. But there’s no reason to be sad, because you can watch it over and over and over.

Video: A+
The wrinkles in season one have been ironed out in this 1080p AVC-encoded transfer in 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Having been to Hawaii I can attest to the stunning signs of the different terrains and landscapes. Seeing all of it in high def was almost as good as being there. I found no poor contrast ratio or grainy night scenes in this box set. The colors were just full of intricate range, skin colors warm, pores present, stubble-VERY present. This is what I expected out of the first season but there’s nothing to groan about this transfer. No muddy scenes, no edge enhancement or the fading Textures reproduced very well, shadow delineation was good as were the contrast and details. It’s a sparkling gemstone of a transfer and is enough reason to upgrade to blu-ray because it’s certainly better than what’s seen on digital downloads and previous DVD transfers.

Audio: A+
The English 5.1 Uncompressed DTS-HD master audio track is again, another spectacular audio mix. The same great jungle and atmospheric noises from season one are present in this track as well, but there’s a lot more gunfire being shot and some blaring sound effects like the alarm in the hatch to enter the numbers can get on your nerves. One particular episode that shows Claire remembering her abduction from the first season has noises that quickly flash and is grating after awhile inducing a migraine so believe me when I say that this thing is mixed darn well because the effect worked. Much like the video, the audio mix is notched up a bit and you almost don’t notice it as much because you’re sucked into the show so intensely but there’s so much attentive detail to the surrounding channels. It’s just a perfect mix on all fronts (and backs). Also included are English and French 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks, a Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital track, and subtitles for practically every major language.

Extras: A
Season Play is a blu-ray exclusive where multiple users can view the season and follow the show at their own pace and pick up wherever they leave off. I don’t see why this is such a big deal, as it’s a feature that should be on all blu-rays (the resume function anyway) but I do like the idea of having different profiles because it’s easy in a family to get ahead of someone or fall behind but it will always remember where each person off. It unfortunately does not carry into subsequent seasons.

For owners of the DVD box set, there’s a coupon inserted which is a Mail-In certificate that will rebate you $20 for upgrading to blu-ray. A small incentive for stepping up and double dipping. Of course the likelihood of anyone who still has the original receipt I’m betting is slim. Still, it’s a nice offer. And to those who do have the DVDs will see most of these extras are the same ones ported over and unfortunately are still in 480i standard definition.

There are five Audio Commentaries spread throughout the first six discs on episodes “Man of Science, Man of Faith” with Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, Bryan Burk and Jack Bender; “23rd Psalm,” with Lindelof, Cuse, and Burk, “Dave” with Bender, Jorge Garcia and Cynthia Watros; “What Kate Did” with director Paul Edwards, cinematographer Michael Bonvillain, and Evangeline Lilly; and “The Whole Truth,” with staff writers Elizabeth Sarnoff, Christina Kim and actors Daniel Dae Kim and Yunjin Kim. These range from an hour full of chatting in the “Man of Science, Man of Faith” ep full of observations and what the producers and writers wanted to establish in the second season to absolute torture in “Dave” where it Bender was pulling teeth to get Garcia and Watros to fill the dead air with real conversation.

Disc Seven holds the remaining extras which are split into three sections once again, carrying the theme of the Dharma Initiative videos into the menu and selection options. Disappointingly, most of the extras are in standard 480i definition and stereo 2.0 but subtitles are available for all the extras in several languages.

Phase 1: Observation

Fire + Water: Anatomy of an Episode (31:46) – The episode that rocks the relationship of Claire and Charlie gets broken apart piece by piece from the on-location pre-production, to shooting, color correction, and adding in post-production dialogue.

Lost: On Location (1:02:00) – is another excellent extra broken up into 13 parts and like in other seasons reveals behind the scenes challenges, themes and important moments episode by episode. Actors, producers, digital effects crew, and many others contribute entertaining interviews and personal experiences that pertain to that episode although Michelle Rodriguez seems to say the same thing over and over.

The World According to Sawyer (4:31) – Sawyer’s awesome catch phrases are highlighted here.

Phase 2: Conditioning

The Lost Flashbacks SD : The Wake, The New Au Pair and Locke’s Father are three character flashbacks that were kept out of the final cut for episodes: Abandoned and Lockdown.

19 Deleted Scenes SD (22:55) – show what was left on the curring room floor which is mostly side conversations or some other story telling devices.

Lost Bloopers SD (4:05) – I normally hate bloopers because they’re worth viewing again but this I found myself laughing pretty hard and would consider revisiting at a later date.

Channel 4 UK Promo Directed by David LaChapelle (1:06) – Another sexy and slick short commercial by music video extraordinaire, LaChapelle. It shows you the voice and style you can have as a director when you take the same characters and settings and give a completely different vibe.

Phase 3: Conclusion

Lost Connections HD – is a useful organizational chart of who is connected to who and how. The six degrees of Jack is amplified in this follow-up season and this chart is based on the theory of centrality in that strangers cross paths multiple times in their life.

Mysteries, Theories and Conspiracies SD (10:17) – Show producers and writers and yes, even fan groups form their theories and cases of mythology that surrounds the show.

Secrets from the Hatch SD (15:47) – Take a deeper look into the big arcs in season two. Not only is what happened inside the hatch set talked about here, but also the designing and creating it, and what manifested out of the main characters as a result from this major plot element.

Easter Eggs
There are as many as ten easter eggs that I found by navigating around in the menu. It’s hard to pick up from all of the artificial “distressed film” but the cursor dot jumps around when you push up/down/ or diagonal from the Phase 1, 2, or 3 position. Of the ones I found are Bernard up in the air (1:11) Kraft services dishing Dharma cookies on the set (1:16) and very brief diagram of island sweat (0:36). On the Beach with Evi (4:28) is an interview with Evangeline Lilly who is asked about the second season preparation and her character. Dominic Monaghan with a joke (0:26) Walt getting wet (1:12) a deleted scene of Hurley and Rose (0:29) Jack with a bleep-worthy outtake (0:50) Lilly with the baby who plays Aaron (0:31) and season 2 rain delays (1:12).

Overall Shock Value: A+
This season of Lost started by going against the grain of what made the show so good, but that proved that the Damon Lindelof and the rest of the writers/producers were not afraid to shake it up. By the end this season was even better than the first revealing even more about each castaway, sometimes giving more doubt about certain characters who many so blindly rooted for in the first season. The connections between passengers/survivors create even more intrigue and mystery than before and despite all of the guess work that’s involved, Lost is headed towards somewhere and not just spinning its wheels. There was lots of new energy brought forth with new cast members and the dynamics that came from the hatch. With a truck load of extras, high definition video and audio, Lost: The Complete Second Season is another must-buy package. Namaste!