Year: 1999
Running Time: 139 Minutes
Rated: R
SRP: $34.99
Studio(s): 20th Century Fox
Release Date: November 17, 2009

Film/Feature: A+
Fight Club was heralded by modern and contemporary critics and masculine film buffs alike, as a modern American classic, ten years ago for its relevance and its harsh comment on this country’s way of life. With the 10th Anniversary blu-ray release, it was a proper time to revisit Fight Club to see whether or not that kind of immediate reaction aged well over time.

Chuck Palahniuk’s novel, Fight Club looked at how susceptible ordinary people can be while working in soul-sucking careers. Though it’s not the career paths, but rather our dependency on the consumer cycle of the world that sucked the most of us. Slaves to insurmountable debt, slaves to the things we feel the need to buy, eventually makes us slaves to our jobs; Fight Club is as timely now more than ever. As a nation, we’re worse off than in 1999: iPhones, Blackberries, hybrid cars, XBOXs or PS3s, Costco memberships, Widescreen LCD TV’s, casual Fridays, country club lifestyles and the retro fashion revival of the 80’s. Yeah, it’s that last one that puts us over the edge. Two market crashes and a shortage of jobs, those things that consumed our free time, also consumed what was left in our bank accounts. Our belongings would eventually own us, and whether you agree with that philosophy or not, there’s nothing stopping the one-direction moving walkway.

David Fincher faithfully adapted Palahniuk’s fiction novel in a way that plucked a universal chord among many film buffs widespread across the country. Though supported by the studio, Fight Club took a life of its own, mostly on DVD. Its cynical and prophetic ways were razzed nationally by critics who felt it was the shining example of the downfall of cinema. Quite the contrary, it endured and the fascination spread like a resilient epidemic popping up in art houses on an annual basis. People liked what the film said, where it went, and who drove behind the wheel. Fight Club attacked the culture that generations built their worlds around, it targeted corporate brands and put a cynical choke hold on liberal media after they tried to strike it down with conservative criticism, and therefore in some insane ironic imitation of art, gave legitimacy to Tyler Durdenisms. It’s a story of men getting back to the basics and tearing down the system, piece-by-piece, sticking it to the man, but who also lost sight of what was right in front of them.

Ten years ago we were introduced to Edward Norton’s nameless schlub, a young professional with no emotional connections. Be becoming a support group voyeur, he lived through other people’s sorrow. He was an addict and needed saving and found it in his antithesis, a part-time soap salesman/part-time anarchist, Tyler Durden. Played by Brad Pitt, Durden becomes the good Shepard, the Yoda for frat boys with too much testosterone. With his newfound friend, Norton and Pitt’s alter egos massage their masculinity by pummeling the flesh of each other and similar lost men, looking to feel something–anything. Durden dominates Norton’s character, like a boy who masters the controls of a remote controlled plane, performing stunts, assigning homework for an anarchist’s way of life, full of simple mantras and maxims. Armed with a legion of dolts, that could only be derailed by a woman.

Helena Bonham Carter played an arousing adversary named Marla, whose odd behavior and blithe disregard for others is initially met with a bad taste of cigarette butts and typhoid fever. You wanted to damn her feminine ways; rid yourself of her compassionate heart and silence her incessant moans of delight. But as Norton’s character spirals into his own darkness, the resistance towards Marla turns into sympathy; especially after a dramatic U-turn.

Fight Club is its own support group, for those who bought into its cinematic brilliance from our couches. It’s never as good as the first time you went to Fight Club–well, you know why–you had to fight. While none of us could ever truly wrap our heads around Norton’s nameless character, nor his sickness, we continue to come to the Fight Club to watch him fulfill his destiny. The Fight Club support group may have an improved new look and a brand new sound in blu-ray, but it will still surround you with its big manly bitch tits for you to cry in and give you an outlet to destroy something that’s beautiful. Besides, 10 years later, it’s still cheaper than going to a movie, and there’s still the free coffee.

Video: A
For the first time Fight Club is seen in high definition on a 1080p AVC-encoded transfer in the original 2.40:1 aspect ratio, and I do declare that this is a transfer that would make Jack proud. Fight Club has always had this designed look of a gritty, messy and imperfect look. And all of that is maintained, but detail has taken a step upward. The texture of skin and the pores are clearly visible. From well-aged leather and wool to a flannel shirt bought at the thrift store, the texture of clothes are easily distinguishable, despite all of the tunnel dark sequences. In one scene, I noticed the color of Edward Norton’s eyes have this blue-ish green color that I had never previously never saw before. Some of the other visual notes I rave about are the shine on liquid, sweat, and blood; the reflections in see-thru glass, even being able to see through Brad Pitt’s amber shades. The dark locations cast dozens of shadows on people’s skin and the delineation, and overlapping of those shadows are clearly reproduced. Blacks are intensely deep, and some look more vibrant, more colorful than when I first remembered seeing it on DVD. For example when Tyler picks up Marla from her apartment. The green glow from the hallway lights bouncing of the sickly green walls really shines. There are no obnoxious post-enhancement effects, artifacts or haloing. Grain is present but is purposely placed so to give a manly, weathered look and this transfer preserves Fincher’s vision.

Audio: A+
Okay now we’re getting to my favorite part of this release. Fight Club on blu-ray sports a 5.1 English DTS-HD Dolby TrueHD audio track; I believe I’ve died and gone to Durden Heaven. To say this audio track is explosive would be understating it. It gets in your grill, it rattled your ear drums, and it triggers your other senses. Your nose will flare, your mouth will drool, and the hair on your neck will have a collective hard-on. It’s incredibly immersive, full of subtle sounds that recreate each location on screen, inside your viewing room. From the opening title sequence to the Dust Brothers score, to the closing scene with the Pixies, your head will morph into a rattle as the music swirls around your head.

There are three scenes I want to point out. The first is the transition from Chapter 8 into 9, where Jack character is talking about his “Single Serving Life” when his plane rips in half. The winds come tearing through and roar past your head, your subwoofer sounds as if it rips a hole in your floor. Mind-blowing, I tell you. In Chapter 27, Tyler drives the stretch car into a parked car and launches off the edge of the road. You can feel the weight of both cars on the impact, all of the glass breaking and flying in every direction, a large tree scraping by and the rain dropping into puddles after the car comes to a complete stop. Finally, all of the scenes in the actual Fight Club itself, create this Colosseum environment, where the crowd noise such as the spitting, the buzz of the lights, the echo of Tyler’s voice, the sound levels distortion; all of it, add more expression to these scenes. You’ll be able to explore these scenes more in-depth in the extras. But it’s not all about the crazy sound effects. A lot of it is atmosphere. There’s a ramping up of the music in dream sequences, or internal thoughts, the sleep-inducing quiet of a desk job. Ren Klyce was nominated for an Oscar in Sound Effects Editing and it’s well-deserved. This is one of the most exciting soundtracks I’ve heard this year. Folks, this is the reason you get a blu-ray player.

Other audio selections include: 2.0 English, 5.1 DTS French, 5.1 Dolby Digital Spanish and Portuguese tracks; subtitles are available in English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Cantonese, and Mandarin.

Extras: A+
Exclusive to Blu-Ray
Since this is an anniversary disc and you’ll be trying to determine if you want this or not, I’m pushing the Blu-Ray exclusives up before the DVD extras, which have been ported over from the fine 2-disc collection. Also note that all of the extras and film fit on one disc, so when I commonly gripe about packing more on less, this is what I’m talking about folks. Also there is a big of a gag that Fincher put in that is best experienced by just loading the disc up. I’m sure by the time you read this, it will have been spoiled on the internet, but just remember back when Fight Club was first released how poorly it did and the bad reception it got from critics, as well as what was playing at that time.

A Hit in the Ear: Ren Klyce and the Sound Design of Fight Club HD is a cool interactive feature where after hearing one of Fincher’s right hand men, sound designer Ren Klyce talk about trying to find and create those perfects sounds. Klyce recalls how they created the perfect sound for that thrusting punch to match the ghastly images on the screen. In the interactive experience, you get to hear the difference in tweaking the audio in two different environments as well as being able to tinker with each channel in your home theater setup, with four scenes: Welcome to Fight Club, Angel Faces Beating, The Crash, and Tyler’s Goodbye.

Flogging Fight Club HD (9:58) is brief look at Spike TV’s honoring of Fight Club’s 10th Anniversary by its acceptance into the “Guy Movie Hall of Fame.” Half of it is a five-minute clip montage of the film, but the rest of it is Fincher, Pitt and Norton writing their acceptance speech, performing their speech which included laughing at the least-flattering taglines by critics, highlighted by Pitt reading a quote from Kenneth Turan of the LA Times and saying, “He is a cock.”

Insomniac Mode: I am Jack’s Search Index is another user-friendly feature that allows a user to sift through all of the topics and then where ever these topics are discussed, you get a listing of all of them, and you can skip directly to that reference. Fox also categorized each commentary track so you can peruse and cherry pick what you want to hear in each commentary. For example if you want to jump to a story involving IKEA and the Soundtrack liner notes, you can go right to that point of the Fincher commentary instead of trying to remember what chapter that may be in.

Old Extras

There’s a ton of features I forgot about by looking through this collection of great DVD extras. After being accustomed to seeing everything in high definition though, its too bad we could get to see this stuff remastered as well. Another user detail I found sorely missing out of the DVD extras is a “Play All” feature. First, there are FOUR audio commentaries in all and all of them are well done.

Audio Commentary by:
#1 David Fincher speaks about dealing with studios, how he stumbled on the book and how Fox came into purchasing the rights to the movie, advertising, his favorite parts, and the destruction of buildings at the end was actually the first thing that was done. There are only English and French, Dannish, Finnish, Dutch, Norwegian, and Swedish subtitles for this commentary.

#2 David Fincher, Brad Pitt, Edward Norton are in the same room talking about bonding, putting Edward through the wringer, the controversy over Fight Club being labeled a violent film, the dispelling of pro-fascism, their reactions to how slow it took with the public amongst dozens of other things. They yuck it up and is one of my favorite commentaries because I think we get a true sense of working relationship but their friendship. You walk away thinking, “I want to hang out with these guys!” Helena Bonham Carter’s comments, which were recorded separately are added on scenes with Marla or anything else she wanted to chime in on like how Fight Club is as much a generational representation of women today as it is men. There are only English and French, Dannish, Finnish, Dutch, Norwegian, and Swedish subtitles for this commentary.

#3 Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club) and Jim Uls (screenplay) discuss adapting the novel to film, how Meatloaf’s fat suit violates health codes for Planet Hollywood, benefits of sitting in cancer support groups, the real people the characters are based on, research for the book, the speed at which cancer kills, and other little known facts about the film. There are a lot more moments of silence in this commentary but it’s no less interesting than the other tracks. There are only English and French subtitles for this commentary.

#4 Alex McDowel (Production Designer), Jeff Cronenweth (Director of Photography), Michael Kaplan (Costume Designer) and Kevin Haug (VisualFX Supervisor) cover everything else including five “subliminal Brads”, the look and tone, creating real support groups, Lighting, Costuming, working with Fincher, prank cigarette burns, whether or not the Paper Street house was real or fiction, and the rest of the nooks and crannies not covered in the other three tracks. There are only English and French subtitles for this commentary.

Behind-the-Scenes Vignettes with Multiple Angles and Commentary SD by Kevin Haug (VisualFX Supervisor) Cliff Wnger (Special FX Coordinator) Kevin Mack (Visual FX for Digital Domain), and Richard “Doc” Bailey (Digital Animation Supervisor/Producer). You can choose a segment (Production, Visual Effects, On Location) and then within one of these processes, you can choose various angles and commentary tracks. It’s just another example of the all-access openness that Fincher has on his films.

Seven Deleted and Alternate Scenes SD Chloe and Rupert (00:53), Marla’s Pillow Talk (00:35), Copier Abuse (3:15) Tyler Quits Smoking–with two angles (1:28) Angel face’s beating–with two angles (3:14) Walter (1:39) Tyler’s Goodbye (1:55)

Promotional Gallery
Lobby Cards/Advertising – 21 Stills (1:40) Press Kit – 35 stills (2:50) Stills – 157 Stills (13:05)

Art Galleries
Storyboards for the entire film– 267 stills (22:16), Visual Effects–18 stills (1:25), Paper Street House –37 stills (3:05), Costumes and Makeup –22 stills (1:50), Pre-Production Paintings –50 stills (4:10), Brain Ride-Map –34 stills (2:50),

Transcript of Edward Norton Interview at Yale University October 3, 1999is fine read about his character at 13 screen shots long.

Rounding out the extras are Three Trailers, Two movie theater PSAs, 12 TV Spots SD, Five Internet Spots SD, Dust Brothers Music Video SD (3:32)

Overall Shock Value: A+
After 10 years since the first punch was thrown, I’m still spitting up blood. With big corporate buyouts, massive debt across the country, and the desire to buy-buy-buy, we move closer to a homogenized and mass consumer-centric generation. And of course, buying this blu-ray plays right into that ploy of consumerism. Don’t cha just love irony? This continues to be an American classic, of a cynical breed of filmmaking that speaks to many generations, man and woman, young and old. The blu-ray interactive extras are fun little adventures, but I am always going to lean towards superior sound and picture as the biggest reason to upgrade when it’s deserving. The new DTS-HD soundtrack is as perfect as it gets, and the transfer projects Fight Club as we’ve never seen before. So for that alone, I highly recommend upgrading to blu-ray.

Year: 2009
Running Time: 82 minutes
Rated: R
SRP:$ 39.95
Studio(s): Universal Studios
Release Date: November 17, 2009

Film/Feature: B
(In Borat’s voice) Larry Charles and Sacha Baron Cohen’s extremely pop-u-lar 2006 film, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, put people on alert. Beware of an Anti-Semetic man with a camera behind him. This man, he have great powers, to show… people’s prejudice. I like him very-much!

Cohen’s latest film, Brüno does much of the same, this time, in a different costume, in the character of Brüno, a flamboyant Austrian TV host as the fish out of water, and plops him in Hollywood to seek out fame. He hires an agent (Lloyd Robinson as himself) to create the Brüno brand in the City of Angels. Brüno (Cohen) observes the star map of fame and like an instruction manual, follows in their footsteps: he tries to get his own talk show, start a charity, adopt an African-born child (Chibundu Orukwowu), and even, act straight. Surely, if successful, one of these will give him the reward of fame.

This time around Cohen never breaks character to hijack fashion shows, boot camps, sex parties, the Hollywood scene, blue-collar folk, and again, that bottomless pool of material, the Bible Belt of the USA. Brüno flaunts his over-aggressive sexuality onto men–unsuspecting or otherwise–who wouldn’t know a joke if it slapped them in the face with a 13-inch sex toy. Paula Abdul, Pete Rose, Latoya Jackson, Ron Paul; they all couldn’t escape him.

The degree of good taste or sensitivity is worth a debate, but Cohen and Charles are trying to get answers to the following questions: How far will people go to become famous? Would parents compromise their children to be famous? Is prejudice against race any different when it’s about sexual orientation? How vapid and removed are celebrities from their own common sense and independent thought? Can someone rid themselves of their “gayness” as easy as following a four-step plan? All of those sound like ludicrous questions but Charles and Cohen discover in some parts of America, it is quite the contrary. As Cohen found out with Borat, being openly prejudice put people at ease with their own prejudice. Here by being not just gay, but outwardly gay, prompts some of the strongest reactions out of people.

Only when Brüno is alone with his ex-lover, Diesel (Clifford Bañagale) or his personal assistant Lutz (Gustaf Hammarsten), does Brüno sing out scripted. Some parts are staged with a little bit of coercion, but nowhere near as much as one would hope so to think better of humanity. I’d say over 80% of this insanity is real, improvised on the fly. If the film is even 50% genuine, it succeeds on that level of guilty shock cinema. For example, in an attempt to get famous by bringing world peace, Cohen and Charles go as far to go into parts of the Middle East and mix it up with terrorists, Hasidic Jews, and representatives from countries at war with each other. He spends another night camping with four, very homophobic hunters who are armed. The film builds towards the end when Brüno risks his life just to show just how much hatred can be inspired with the public affection between two men. Cohen’s life insurance policy must be unimaginable! At the end, Brüno does get the fame he’s looking for in a more classic method, by getting some of the biggest music stars to perform on the song, Dove of Peace. It’s a perfect denouement, to an insanely bizarre amusement ride.

Borat and Brüno were both brands from Cohen’s HBO show, Da Ali G Show, where he created a pool of eccentric and extreme characters, when set to interact with real people, unrehearsed and filmed guerilla-style, reveal a canon of unbelievable genuine reactions. The unfiltered, unedited gullibility, sheltered-views, prejudice, phoniness, and brainwashing of people can serve as a scathing satire of the world we live in; realities so scary it’s funny and so funny it’s scary.

Mockumentaries have been around since Woody Allen’s Take the Money and Run in 1969, and was popularized by Rob Reiner’s This is Spinal Tap. Christopher Guest later built a career around them. Now mockumentaries are a dime a dozen and some have evolved into something new, where there is a question of what’s real and what’s not. A wild step-brother of mockumentaries are real documentaries that appear so off-the-wall, or so incredible, that there’s no way of them being real; but they are. Take for example some of the work of Michael Moore and Morgan Spurlock. Through the comedy of real life, comes the horror of the real world. The work of director Larry Charles and comedy sketch genius Sacha Baron Cohen, though, is a twisted hybrid of all of these, mixed with the high risk stunts of MTV’s Jackass. It’s the uncertainty of not knowing what will happen and the shock of what actually occurs that puts these types of mockumentaries on a different level.

The outright stupidity of Borat and his maxims may seem more universal to audiences than Brüno’s plight to compromise himself to be famous. Some people may avoid this film because it features a gay character or that it has male nudity in it. (As if the images of male nudity are so powerful, they can change one’s sexuality.) I am being a bit sarcastic, but know that type of fear and apprehension is the stuff that Brüno taps into. It’s not everyone’s cup of Glühwein, and I can respect that, but there’s no doubt here that Brüno is a brilliant piece of comedic work.

Video: B+
Brüno’s picture is brought to you on blu-ray through a 1080p encoded , high definition transfer in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. There’s a variety of cameras that were used to film this movie. From its rather elaborate high definition set up in Milan Fashion Week where the video looks awesome to the various handheld cameras used to shoot Brüno’s run-in with the God Hates Fags organization, where there’s lots of grain. The range of picture quality runs the gamut, but that variation doesn’t take away from the overall experience.

Audio: B+
The audio scales all the levels of quality, but in this mockumentary style film, the 5.1 English DTS-HD audio track is going to be a lot more than what’s really needed, but it’s much appreciated. The most important thing here is how well the dialogue sounds out of the center channel, and it’s near flawless in that respect. The settings, whether it be outside, in an enclosed room, or a voice over affect the quality of those particular scenes; so consistency in the audio is not a high point, but no one is going to notice that to the point where it’s noticeable. Other audio selections include: 5.1 DTS French and Spanish DTS tracks and subtitles are available in English SDH, French, and Spanish. I happened to use the subtitles a lot just to see how some of the clever made-up Austrian/German words that Brüno says are spelled. Wünderbar!

Extras: A-
All of the menus are in German (with english translations) in what’s a cleverly designed menu.

The Audio Commentary by Sasha Baron Cohen and Larry Charles is one of the best commentaries you’ll ever listen to because you FINALLY get the real stories behind nearly every scene of the movie. This is an enhanced commentary so sometimes Cohen and Charles will pop up in a picture-in-picture box and stop the video to explain what was real (most of it, believe it or not), and what was staged. They discuss early on in the track that they built the film around the Milgram Experiment, the infamous science test that sought the limits of obedience, devised to work out how the Nazis got people to do things without much fight. They wanted to see how much people will tolerate? Another interesting scene they had a good story on was their struggle with the MPAA and the mime scene, to which they said, “If you know what’s going on, you’ve already been compromised.” The only moment in the commentary where it gets weird is during the scene with the terrorist, Charles and Cohen drop their conversation to add in their special thanks. There was obviously some clearance issues with that scene. Charles and Cohen share some of their guerilla filmmaking techniques and methods to avoid Cohen from being arrested, and jeopardizing his foreign visa. Having been someone who has always wondered about the stories involved with Cohen’s films, because he rarely does interviews out of character, this was one of the most satisfying second viewings I’ve experienced.

An Interview with Lloyd Robinson HD (5:32) is a straight interview who thought through the entire shoot that Brüno was a real person.

Alternate Scenes HD (5:42) shows the much rumored Pete Rose scene where he sat on the people furniture, and other hotel interviews with former UN Ambassador, John Bolton; President of American Values, Gary Bauer; and former Secretary of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge.

Deleted Scenes HD (40:45) Lots more stuff that was cut out including the LaToya Jackson scene (which was taken out of respect to Michael Jackson), Fashionveld Montage, Partymeister, Hollywood Hausvendors, Haus Designenfraulicke, Texasche, Sczientischtenmann, Feuerwaffe Gun-Party, Fessel-Center, Anti-Schniedelmesiter Festival, and a Blu-Ray Exclusive scene, The Middle East.

Extended Scenes HD (22:39) is more of the same stuff that was in the film but with much less editing: Baby Casting, Wedding, Second gay Converter, Swingers, Agent Meeting, Focus Group, Dove of Peace, and the Blu-Ray Exclusive scene, National Guard.

BD Live is enable for My Scenes

Universal Ticker shows what’s coming up for Universal Studios.

HD Trailers for Public Enemies and Inglorious Basterds show up

A second disc is included as a Digital Copy Disc for portable digital transfer to other computers and handheld devices.

Overall Shock Value: A-
After seeing Brüno a second and third time on blu-ray, I’m still shocked at what people will do to be famous, appalled at how people act when they are at their most comfortable, and I find all of it arrestingly funny. Everyone won’t agree with me, but that’s to each viewers’ level of comfort with this type of satire and humor. Technically, the film is what it is, and the commentary and extra footage on the blu-ray takes the home experience of Brüno to another level. If you’re uneasy about alternative lifestyles then I say, give it a rental, you never know, you might be enlightened by the overall message. If you’re completely sheltered and you’ve made it this far in this review, then go at your own risk, but know you’ve been warned; but if you found Borat to your liking and are open-minded to seeing a similar film with a fierce twist, then I highly recommend Brüno.

Year: 2009
Running Time:
Rated: PG-13
SRP: DVD:$34.95 Blu-Ray: $39.99
Studio(s): Paramount Studios
Release Date: November 17, 2009

Pop Culture Shock usually gets the blu-ray of such big studio releases but due to limited material PCS was given the DVD to screen. I will try to list the differences where possible.

Film/Feature: B-
In an attempt to recharge the Star Trek franchise, Paramount handed the bridge of the USS Enterprise over to director/producer J.J. Abrams (Fringe, Cloverfield). His goal was to do what devoted Trekkers and Trekkies didn’t want to hear. “Let’s make a movie that EVERYONE will like.” He not only recharged it, he hit reboot and started over. Rather than dance in between what’s been already done, Abrams and crew created a film that tells the story of what happened before. No this is not Enterprise and Scott Bakula is nowhere to be seen. We get something completely different, and a little familiar…

In the start of Star Trek, we are witnesses to a young James T. Kirk being born after a tragic Starfleet battle with Romulan renegades leave his mother a widow. Now a young man (Chris Pine) Kirk is a reckless young man who is as much a ladies man, as he is an unpredictable force who lives hanging by a thread. Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) rescues Kirk from himself and tells him to enlist into Starfleet and do his father proud. He indulges Pike and meets Bones (Karl Urban), Uhura (Zoë Saldana), Chekov (Anton Yelchin), Sulu (John Cho) and a young first commander, Spock (Zachary Quinto). Later Kirk meets up rather conveniently with Scotty (Simon Pegg).

This cast does rekindle the original cast members. The spirit of each character is retained, instead of being made into caricatures or impressions. Clever homages are made to the original series, dozens of easter eggs for the most faithful of fans and there’s even a special moment for those who hold Fred Steiner’s original score close to their heart for the patient. As far as the look, the set design, and the acting, I cannot complain one bit. Seriously, a big time score for that! Goal #1: Satisfy old Trekkers. Check. For now.

Now in a year one-type story, we know how everything plays out. We know what will eventually happen. So it’s set up that we get to see what is unknown that will lead up to the 1960’s television show timeline. Kirk, before he becomes captain; Pike, when he was bad ass; Good-looking versions of the cast; Uhura and Spock together? Wait, WHAT? Goal #2: Satisfy Non-Trekkers lured in. Check.

Star Trek’s antagonist is Captain Nero (a well-cloaked Eric Bana), the leader of this band of Romulan extremists. They’ve got some major bone to pick with the Vulcans and connect a digging tool the length of the entire atmosphere, from their ship to planet Vulcan. After digging into the core, they plan to set off a black hole bomb if you will, within the excavated land. The hole grows, Vulcan implodes. Spock attempts to save his parents, Sarek (Ben Cross) and Amanda Grayson (Winona Ryder) before the bomb detonates, but he fails and Spock is met with a great loss. This Spock is still green, and still bears the few ounces of the emotions from his human mother, while fighting logically-rooted genes of his Vulcan father. Tempers flare and it’s anyone’s guess how these two will become great friends. As they argue about, Pike has been captured and Earth is Nero’s next target.

Kirk is kicked off the Enterprise and banished to a polar planet where he discovers the chain reaction of events that have lead us to this point. Which brings us to the pivotal point in the film, where the main character comes in. No, I’m not talking about Leonard Nimoy (which surely sent Goal #1 through the roof), I’m talking about the science. Nimoy does in fact reprise his role as the iconic Vulcan from the future; as we know him. He reveals his own recent failure, and sums up in two minutes the entire crux of the story and why Nero is out to make him suffer. Reminds you of another time-traveling sci-fi franchise film, no? (cough) Terminator Salvation (cough). The film was winning me me over until then.

Here is where Star Trek falls short for me. Good sci-fi films don’t tiptoe around the science, they fold it into their mortar and slap it in between the bricks. Good science fiction makes you think about the film long after seeing it, opening discussion points that weren’t there on the surface. Whether it’s about humanity, diplomacy, history; Star Trek is usually about much more than Vulcans, Klingons, and Romulans. Bad sci-fi fails at becoming anything other than what we see on the surface. Star Trek is on the surface is bad guy vs. good guy; cue in lots of action with redemption and destiny; everyone goes home rich type of film. It’s fun, it was enjoyable, but it certainly was not a Star Trek film.

I give credit on casting and upping the pace of the film to the campy speed of the original Star Wars films because now both sets of fans can enjoy this film together. Abrams turned Star Trek into A New Hope. It’s not a traditional Star Trek story or even a classic. It’s a sparkling, lens flare-filled, year one-conduit to whatever Trek will become from here on out. Abrams admits he’s not a Star Trek fan, (it shows) and tells a story that takes convenient measures to separate from the original series. Being called Pre-Trek might have been more accurate.

Now, does that make this less of an enjoyable film? To average movie-goer, probably not. But certainly, if you were expecting anything more than an action film. The science is an integral part to Star Trek, and the science here is weak. Everything in the film is held together by the weak use of time travel. This story negates the history of Star Trek as we know it, and stuffs it into some alternative time or universe. For what reason? To get a new audience. And no one can deny its accomplishment in that, so to millions, the lack of science fiction made it more inviting. I get that, I recognize that, and that’s acceptable, in anything outside a film called Star Trek.

Video/Audio: B+/B+
J.J. Abram’s Star Trek comes by way of a 480p encoded transfer in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. For a DVD, this looks great, as the colors and details of fabric, to skin are all very clear. It’s not crystal clear like on blu-ray, but for those with high definition televisions but no blu-ray should still be able to take advantage of the nice picture quality here. The blacks of space are like an endless abyss and the contrast and shadows are powerfully reproduced. The soundtrack for Star Trek on DVD is a 5.1 English Dolby Digital track that is sure to get some great play in a home theater. Lots of activity moves all around all five channels whether it’s music or sound effects. Pop in chapter 12 when Kirk and Spock are beamed onto the Romulan Ship. The gun battle that ensues is awesome. Laser beams from every direction whiz by, stuff explodes behind your head and even though it’s with less dynamic range, the DVD pumps out a respectable audio experience. Other audio selections include: French and Spanish tracks and yellow subtitles are available in English, French, Spanish

Given everything said here, the blu-ray promises to be even better. At 1080p, the HD transfer is sure to be sparkling and awesome. As should be the 5.1 English Dolby TrueHD soundtrack found on the blu-ray. Audio-wise, Star Trek should perform at a maximum level, with a large dynamic range that will generate excitement in home theaters for years. In addition to the above setups, Portuguese subtitles are available on blu-ray.

Extras: B-
This batch of extras is not bad when you consider what’s on here, but if you take a look at the blu-ray exclusives, the DVD pales in comparison.

Disc One:
Audio Commentary by director J.J. Abrams, writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, and Producers Bryan Burk and Damon Lindelof is of a casual nature. They reveal their approach at modernizing Star Trek, and gloss on their efforts as they watch the film. Bringing on Nimoy was a big topic of disussion as well as lots of classic Star Wars references into the plot, and amongst other things, bringing in the charming sensibilities of Star Wars into Star Trek.

New Vision SD (19:38) Abrams took what he liked about the Star Wars franchise (as sacrilegious as that statement is) and put that into Star Trek, to reinvent it to appeal a modern audience. He wanted to make it look as real by doing as much practical shooting as possible instead of being on a green screen. Abrams gives his reasons for shooting anamorphically instead of digitally, as well as, some of his camera tricks.

Gag Reel SD (6:28) is some mildly amusing usual outtakes and on-set silliness.

Previews for Transformers 2, GI Joe, Fringe, Star Trek D-A-C.

Disc Two
Deleted Scenes SD (13:38) Nine scenes that were taken out of the final cut have an optional commentary by Abrams, Bryan Burk, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof. They can be viewed separately or all together. They include: Spock Birth (1:58); Klingons Take Over Narada (0:46); Young Kirk, Johnny and Uncle Frank (1:35); Amanda and Sarek Argue After Spock Fights (0:38), Prison Interrogation and Breakout (3:08); Sarek Gets Amanda (0:22); Dorm Room and Kobayashi Maru (Original Version) (3:59), Kirk Apologizes to the Green Girl (0:54); Sarek Sees Spock (0:15).

To Boldly Go SD (16:45) is a featurette about the production crew and the influence of (or lack thereof) original series in their modernization of Star Trek, as they as a team tried to answer all the questions that were sure to come in revamping the series like creating a Spock and Kirk story, the classic prequel pitfalls. Changing the timeline. Perhaps the most crucial in this team, and as seen by the finished product is, “How do we make a film for everyone?” and somehow missed the major part of “What Makes a Good Trek Film?” by taking out the sci-fi element of the film.

Casting SD (28:58) Asks how do you get new characters and create something new while appreciating the original cast. Quinto and Nimoy explore the psychology of the Spock, and every other cast member is put under the magnifying glass.

Aliens SD (16:34) is a short feature on the costumes, prosthetic head forms, digital creatures and recreating the Vulcans and Romulans for Star Trek.

Score SD (6:34) is a look at the score composed by Michael Giacchino retaining the original melody by

A Digital Copy of the film is included in the extras disc.

Star Trek: D-A-C Game Trial for XBOX 360 users. To play the trial, you insert the extras disc into your XBOX 360 and follow the onscreen instructions.

Blu-Ray Exclusives
Where do I begin? I don’t have the blu-ray available to rate how good or bad these extras are, but I will list them for you to make the decision whether or not they add more value to your purchase. Personally, with this much added material, you’d be dumb not to save the pennies for the blu-ray.

Disc One
NASA News is a BD-Live feature to access the latest NASA news about real space exploration.

Disc Two
The same featurettes in the DVD are here too, but have additional “branching pods” that I suspect are added material.

To Boldly Go
-The Shatner Conundrum
-Red Shirt Guy
-The Green Girl
-Trekker Alert

A New Vision
-Savage Pressure

Aliens
-The Alien Paradox
-Big Eyed Girl
-Big Bro Quinto
-Klingons
-Drakoulias Anatomy 101

Planets is a featurette on the art department’s frozen landscape of Delta Vega to the desert plains of Vulcan.
-Extra Businesses
-Confidentiality

Ben Burtt and the Sounds of Star Trek brings legendary Hollywood sound designer Ben Burtt on to talk about creating sounds for the original Star Wars film by being inspired by the Star Trek series, and got to use all of that on this new film.

Props and Costumes shows Russell Bobbitt, Star Trek’s prop master and the challenge to design props true to the original series as well as today’s tech. Michael Kaplan then reveals the design of his costumes in making timeless and practical Starfleet uniforms.

Gene Roddenberry’s Vision interviews cast and crew and previous Star Trek writers and producers and even scientific consultant Carolyn Porco speaking well of Gene’s vision for this future world.

Starfleet Vessel Simulator gives users 360-degree views and close-ups of tech illustrations of the USS Enterprise, and the Romulan ship, the Narada.

Disc Three
In addition to the Digital Copy and XBOX 360 Free Trial, there are Weblinks to the Star Trek D-A-C Free Trial Game for PC and Playstation Network.

Overall Shock Value: B-
Damon Lindelof says in the extras, “This series lasted only three seasons, so it’s not a matter of how did Star Trek succeed all these years but instead, how did it survive?” It’s simple, Damon. I believe it survived like any good science fiction story. Because they were good science fiction stories that were much more than what was on the surface of what our eyes can see on the big screen. The shows continued to open all of these great lessons of humanity, allegories, and wisdoms but did so in the sci-fi vehicle. Abrams’ Star Trek does none of that. I agree that these stories were executed through these great characters, so in rebooting Star Trek, Abrams and crew achieved that perfectly. But the weakness of the science makes this a good film, not a great film. It’s a fine action film, but it’s definitely not a science fiction film. So it’s not really a Star Trek film, to me. Hopefully, for the sequel with all of the characters re-established, we’ll get to see a real Star Trek film that has to rely on the science instead of the action; or maybe we’ll just see another attempt to water down something that was uncool for the cool. As for the DVD, I would try to push anyone who’s thinking of buying this to upgrade to the blu-ray. The extras included, as well as the perfectly rich audio and video experience is well worth the extra dollars, almost pushing it into an overall B+ or A- grade. But if you’re stuck with the DVD, it’s not a bad consolation.

Year: 2008
Running Time: 91 minutes
Rated: PG
SRP: $34.98
Studio(s): Magnolia Home Entertainment
Release Date: November 3, 2008

Film/Feature: A+
The arrival of the golden arches signaled a change that farmers had to produce food fast and cheap. Once the demand was in place, so too did the system arrive that would supply it. With the help of government subsidization, unhealthy food is now more affordable than a pound of fresh produce. When you’re counting pennies, ingredients that would be used for a homemade meal isn’t as convenient as fast food. What’s the cost of that convenience? Your health? Your career? Your life?

Food Inc. takes a look at farming conditions, the companies who control the farmers, the dependency of corn and its contribution to E. Coli pandemics, the struggle to get said companies to label their food, mistreatment of laborers who work at the slaughterhouses, and the controlling of the seeds which basically puts the farmer under a dictatorship. That’s a lot, but Food Inc. is clear in presenting informative facts and testimonials that should provoke the viewer to consider what it is they’re putting on their plates and take the time to be a better informed consumer.

Robert Kenner begins his documentary by bringing his cameras where he’s allowed–and some places he’s not–to show where the food you put in your mouth begins–and it’s not pretty. Food Inc. is narrated by Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food, and Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, who intelligibly explain that the American farmer is all but dead, slaves to large corporations who want to propagate some myth that the food you get in your local grocery comes from the local farm.

Farmers sign contracts with the big companies, like Tyson and Smithfield Foods to raise chickens under gross conditions, forcing them to incur large amounts of debt and periodic expensive manufacture upgrades to keep them forever in large debt and reward them with much less for their troubles. Farmers are prisoners to these companies, silenced to speak or show what goes on inside their coops. Kenner visits one Perdue grower, who risks her livelihood to show what her working conditions are. She trudges through the waste and smell, scooping up dead carcasses; running what appears to be a death camp. Tyson trucks filled with illegal workers, who come in at night and take the ripe ones away. The issue of labor is later discussed from the small chicken farm to Smithfield Foods– the largest slaughterhouse in the country– that brings in workers from a 100 mile radius, many of them illegally from Mexico and are deported when it becomes a hot topic. Guess who takes the fall? Not the companies who hires and trucks them over.

An interesting thread in the film is the mass dependency of corn and the creative manipulation of it in nearly every kind of processed food, and how it allows for the cheaper production of livestock-related foods. In theory, not a bad thing, but when you consider one of the uses of stocked corn is to feed livestock to fatten them in these large factories, one has to consider what are the long term effects? It will eventually open the door for E.Coli and a few casualties are not nearly enough for companies to ensure future outbreaks never happen, or feel its necessary to inform the consumers of what they do because they think it will confuse the consumer.

It’s plenty of doom and gloom until Joel Salatin, a Polyface Farms Owner who carries on the old-fashioned open-range methods. They are not kept in cages or stables that pack animals like sardines, nor force the animals to eat what’s not natural. It’s not as profitable as the large operations, but there’s integrity and the quality of that food is greater. In conjuncture with the growth of organic food companies (another topic discussed), it’s a small glimmer of hope.

The last act of Food Inc. scrutinizes the seed monopoly, Monsanto, originally a chemical company responsible for making Agent Orange and other pesticides like,“Round Up.” Monsanto began creating genetically engineered seeds that can resist pesticide which allowed food to be grown year-round. But a basic fundamental skill of farming is being able to keep your best seeds for future crops, but not today. Monsanto has infiltrated the farm communities with their seeds making them so cheap and finds a way to ruin those who don’t use their seed. Saving seeds will get you investigated by regulators, and even if a farmer chooses not to use their seed, or their crops are contaminated by seeds that have been carried in the wind, that farmer is blacklisted and begins the long road of legal battles that most farmers simply can’t afford.

How effective the film in changing people’s practices depends on the individual viewer/consumer. One can look at the effect of people demanding that their milk not have rBGH/BST (Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone-another Monsanto product) in it. Milk racks are now dominated by those without the growth hormone which has been linked to health problems. And at least now people can make their own decisions because they can at least read the labels so you can make an informed decision. The effect of Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me began a chain of events at McDonald’s (even though they wouldn’t admit to it) and steered me clear of 75% of McDonald’s food–especially they’re fries–so these films can have a profound effect on people. It should come to no surprise that Tyson, Perdue, Monsanto, Smithfield and all of the other companies declined to take part in the film. Food Inc. belongs in those films that everyone should see because it could change the way you live your life; that is, if you value it.

I watched another documentary called, The Future of Food directed by Deborah Koons Garcia at the great Ann Arbor Film Festival a few years back. The film discussed a handful of subjects, including the the Monsanto seed controversy and the complex line of traps that have been put in place to steer the American consumer into a food system that benefits large corporations. I thought that this was a wonderful film but was also worried at its limited exposure to those who might stumble on it. Food Inc. serves as that larger vessel. It isn’t some propaganda film to brainwash us into thinking something that’s not there, rather it takes a wrecking ball to the walls concealing information large corporations don’t want you to know. They’re banking on you not caring enough about your own body. After seeing Food Inc., believe me, it’s time you start asking.

http://www.foodincmovie.com/

Video: B
For a documentary, this 1080p VC-1 encoded transfer in 1.78:1 aspect ratio is more than I could ask for. Often times docs are shot on tight budgets with a variety of cameras which can give a varied look. Colors (and details for that matter) look their best in the supermarket are bright, bold but when the camera goes out into the world of grays and browns on the farm, the accuracy does remain, but that pop factor of high definition is lessened. The skin on animals and feathers, and seeds, all look as if you were standing next to the camera in many instances, while other times there’s less sharpness. Thank goodness though there’s no such thing as smell-o-vision, though. All of the set interview pieces with Pollan and Schlosser tend to look the best, whereas some of the others can be a bit grainy. If you’re used to seeing documentaries, it’s very forgivable.

Audio: B
There is a 5.1 English DTS-HD audio track but honestly it’s a bit much for what is amounts to mostly spoken dialogue out of the center channel. Some of the front left and right channels are used for music, but remember that this is a film that’s supposed to provoke thought and discussion, not blast your eardrums. Subtitles are available in English SDH and Spanish.

Extras: B
While abundant extras are important for your average film, in documentaries, one is usually inclined to learn more about the subject discusses. The following extras do that by providing additional information and resources for viewers/consumers to seek out on their own and at their leisure whether it’s from bonus footage, or a simple public service announcement. All of the extras are in standard definition and 2.0 Stereo.

Deleted Scenes SD (37:44) Eight scenes include unionizing the Smithfield plants in Cheapness Comes at a Price; the dumping of business waste in fresh rivers in There’s No Place Called Away; allowing animals to be in their natural environment in Honoring the Pigness of the Pig; more on the spinach outbreak of E.Coli in, It Could Happen Again; Tyson poultry growers in Smells Like Money; more of Joel Salatin and a cow’s salad bar in It’s in the Grass; Iowa State justifies poor conditions because they are “growing food” in Designing the Perfect Pork Chop; and Rosa Soto speaks about diabetes in her family and trying to educate youths in We’re in an Epidemic Now.

ABC News “You Are What You Eat”: Food With Integrity SD (7:21) A Nightline segment that originally ran on June 16, 2009 that shows how the founder of Chipotle restaurants buys his food from places that grow pigs in a full-range environment rather than being cooped up in some factory or farm. The chickens are vegetarian fed, and the beef cattle they use live on a natural environment, and are not fed any growth hormones.

“The Amazing Food Detective” and “Snacktown Smackdown”: Stay Active and Eat Healthy SD (3:05) Kaiser Permanente PSRs that directs kids to a website where they can play games that teach them about saying no to junk food, vending machines in schools, and living a healthier lifestyle.

Celebrity Public Service Announcements SD (7:14) PSRs about the Child Nutrition Act, Ingredients, and others done by Alyssa Milano, John Salley, Anthony LaPaglia and Gia Carides, Martin Sheen and Kelly Preston.

Food Inc.:The Book is a blurb on the companion book that can be purchased in book stores.

Resources are a listing of websites for organizations for the further education of what we put into our body, food borne illness research and prevention, food safety, public health advocacies, and much more.

Theatrical Trailer HD (2:12)

Magnolia Home Entertainment Trailers HD (8:00) for Answer Man, Is Anybody There?, The Great Buck Howard, and HD Net.

Overall Shock Value: A
It would only take 90 minutes to get a sample of what big business has done to the food industry and see how powerful they’ve become. The shock value of Food Inc. can be off the charts, whether you see it on blu-ray or DVD. There is no made-up drama here. Just a real snapshot of what’s going on and how each of us are affected by what these companies have gotten away with for the sake of profits. It can ruin any meal. I will champion any film that’s as well-organized and well-thought out as Food Inc. (and Future of Food) and applaud the filmmakers who continue to put these films like this out, because there is a risk in telling real stories that I want to know. What’s even more important, though, is that we watch them.

Year: 2009
Running Time: 106 Minutes
Rated: R
SRP: $39.95
Studio(s): Sony Pictures
Release Date: November 3, 2009

Film/Feature: B
Taking of Pelham 123 is a remake of the 1974 film, Taking of Pelham One Two Three. In the original film, Walter Matthau plays a New York City Transit cop who tries to stop four men from hijacking a subway train. The leader of the hijackers is played by Robert Shaw, and the film was a damn good one. I’d be the first one to criticize Hollywood in rehashing a perfectly good film–if it was bad.

Tony Scott directed this new version of Pelham, and changed Matthau’s cop to a railway operator named Walter Garber played by Denzel Washington. The main hijacker, Ryder, is played by John Travolta who has a list of demands that include $10,000,000 in cash within an hour, delivered by the mayor of New York (James Gandolfini). It’s a classic, bad-day-gone-wrong story where it doesn’t take long for Washington to hook us in playing a sensible and straight-laced railway operator who was lucky to be working his station that day. He doesn’t appear to have all the answers, but he uses his wits, and appears to be under duress at all angles.

When the communication link between Ryder and Garber goes down, the authorities are buzzing around Garber. NYC negotiator, Camonetti (John Turturro) coaches him through the ordeal. Then they begin to ask, why Garber? Why does Ryder trusts him so much? The more that’s revealed about Garber, we discover he may have been wronged by the city. Garber’s golden reputation is clouded. We don’t get too comfortable as the clock is ticking down, almost in real time, a la 24, keeping the pace fast with a psycho watching the time very closely.

Travolta’s recent track record has not been the stuff to write home about, but he drives Pelham 123 all the way to its somewhat predictable end and Washington continues to play a variety of roles we care about. Believe it or not, Travolta can play the lovable bad guy. Before-too-long you may find yourself wanting Travolta to have more screen time. Ryder is a tad over-the-top, but he’s no-nonsense, he’s serious and he’s nasty. Travolta is the aggressive ying, to Washington’s charismatic yang. It’s an easy assumption that this is film is passable at a quick glance, but Scott takes the post-9/11 New York, along with our technological crutches with two great generational actors and makes an amusement ride that’s worth the wait in line.

Video: A
Pelham 123 is a rip-rockingly glorious looking film in its 1080p, AVC-encoded transfer and original 2.40:1 aspect ratio. Colors leap out with good saturation, the levels of black darkness in the subway is accurately reproduced and contrast levels are right where they need to be. Skintones are warm but not overly red, and the textures and details are seen right to the last bit of beard stubble on Travolta face. At any one time you can almost take a pair of tweezers to your screen to pick out the random white whiskers Washington has on his face. Minor details like shadow delineation and reflections look remakable. I haven’t screened too many Sony blu-rays thus far but I expect a lot out of them given that blu-ray is their product, and boy does everything look like where it needs to be. Pelham was a real joy to watch.

Audio: A
Taking of Pelham 123 sounds excellent in its 5.1 English DTS-HD lossless audio track. The chest rumbling and clicking sounds of the subway are completely recreated in your home theater. As trains whoosh by the subwoofer kicks in to add the size and weight of each train. It’s not too heavy-handed or over-the-top, but it gives you enough to place you on the traintracks and subway platforms accurately. Noise travels left-to-right, and front-to-back precisely and similarly in reverse. There is plenty of dialogue spoken throughout the film and all of that comes from front and center. It’s spoken clear and distinct, and is able to be understood at lower levels. Dynamic range is generous sporadic and abrupt bursts of gunfire can be a bit startling when you don’t expect it. Other audio selections include: 5.1 Dolby Digital English Descriptive Track, French and Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD tracks, and a 5.1 Dolby Digital Catalan track and subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French, Spanish (Castilian), and Portuguese (Classic).

Extras: B+
There are plenty of extras to sift through and a handful of blu-ray exclusives. All of the supplements except one, are in high definition and in 5.1 Dolby Digital

Audio Commentary by director Tony Scott is up first and is an okay track but Scott picks his spots to drop his gravelly voice to tell a production anecdote and then leaves for moments of dead space. When he does come back on the mic, he has lots of stories of the research done on real life people who they based the film characters on.

I preferred to listen to the Audio Commentary by writer Brian Helgeland and producer Todd Black who fill the time with lots of information about how the story came together, and the choices made to create a remake. At times both men talk a little too lovingly about Phelam 123, but overall it’s a good track.

No Time to Lose: The Making of Phelam 123 HD (30:25) is a solid all-around making of feature that talks about courting Denzel Washington, putting together a modernization and “retelling,” working with the MTA, and around the schedule of the New York City subway schedule.

The Third Rail: New York Underground HD (16:15) is a logistical look into trying to film a movie in the New York City subway system. The director of film and special events MTA NYC Transit, Alberteen Anderson amongst other city workers balance real facts about the Third Rail Power and the challenges of trying to shut down basically a main vein to the city for six weeks to shoot a film.

From the Top Down: Stylizing Character SD (5:17) Danny Moumdjian, of the Lab Salon talks about working with Tony Scott and designing the hairstyles and look of the main players of Phelam 123.

Marketing Phelam HD (7:04) is three trailers in HD.

Previews HD shows teasers for Angels & Demons (1:11), District 9 (1:42), Moon, Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day (2:01), Blood: The Last Vampire (1:44), the superfly and righteous modern blaxsploitation Black Dynamite (2:19), The Da Vinci Code (2:21), Casino Royale (2:34), Year One (2:16), and the new and wonderful sci-fi classic, Moon (2:08).

Blu-Ray Exclusives

Cinechat is Sony’s version of being able to chat to friends who are watching the blu-ray at the same time.

MovieIQ is a pull-down screen while you watch the film that’s like a virtual IMDB (Internet Movie Data Base) where you can view cast and crew info, trivia and production notes, music and soundtrack notes and other things to help you grow your info whenever you play Scene It or any other movie trivia game. I actually liked this option because I enjoy anything to vary the experience of repeat viewings that adds more knowledge about the film much like commentaries.

The second disc that’s included is a Digital Copy Disc for download for those with a PSP, PC, Mac or iPod.

Overall Shock Value: B+
This modern take shows how remakes can be done right and not tarnish the original, while being able to stand on its own. Washington and Travolta rope you in from the beginning in this taut, fast-paced, and simple action thriller, but if you’re looking for something much deeper, then look elsewhere. This is just a get-in and get-out kind of film that has you stuck in a tug-of-war of who you want to root for. The Taking of Pelham 123 gets a sterling technical treatment with plenty of extras should keep everyone busy and pleased with the blu-ray package.

Year: 2009
Running Time: 77 minutes
Rated: R
SRP: $34.99
Studio(s): Magnolia Home Entertainment
Release Date: September 29, 2009

Film/Feature: A+

“If they wanted to be yourself, they wouldn’t be paying you.”

Adult film actress, Sasha Grey makes her debut in a straight film in The Girlfriend Experience, directed by Steven Soderbergh who has gone back to his independent roots, makes a film that puts the magnifying glass on his star, reminiscent of Sex, Lies, and Videotape. Soderbergh shot it chronologically and then went to the editing room to put his nonlinear spin on it. The result is an immersive little triumph, that’s both haunting and enchanting.

Grey plays an ultra-high priced Manhattan call girl named Chelsea, who charges $2,000 an hour, not just for sex, but for the complete “girlfriend experience”. She’ll go out on the town with you, run her fingers through your hair, listen to your problems; she’ll even discuss economic bailouts or the presidential election. She’s everything a man would want out of a girlfriend, and she won’t call you the next day. Chelsea’s so good, you’ll be convinced that you made a connection with her. But this isn’t about the sex, some young woman’s damaged past or the pursuit of money. No, this story delves into the psyche of a young woman playing high stakes with her life, who goes all in emotionally, following her heart. It’s a character study of who Chelsea really is, amongst all of the masks she wears.

Chelsea keeps a detailed diary of her clients, to takes notes on them to sell the drama that she knows them, understands them. Her heart and mind is guided with personology, a way to analyze and predict character traits and behavior based on physiognomy and facial features. She also takes into account horoscope, and birth dates. She makes the final decision on whether to accept a new client or let him pass and is in total control of her life.

Chris (Chris Santos) is Chelsea’s boyfriend, an athletic trainer, who puts on a facade with his clients to earn their trust, so that he can physically shape them into whatever they want. He accepts Chelsea’s line of work, is supportive and is confident enough to not let her job interfere with their relationship. The final story thread is a journalist who is writing a story or book about call girls, and interviews Chelsea to get to the bottom of who she is. He attempts to break down those walls she puts up, and ultimately from an outsider’s point of view, understand what is real and what’s fake in the girlfriend experience.

Everything begins to unravel or, in another sense, sets the critical events in motion when a seedy online escort critic asks for a freebie so that he can give her a positive review to drum up more business for her. He is vile, and makes no real effort to let the situation graduate, like every other man in her life. He wants to treat her like a street prostitute. For the sake of her business, she goes to work; but her act is met with a less than favorable review.

She breaks one of her personal rules to see a client who aligns with her personology charts and upon meeting him, she acts completely different. There is a noticeable change in Chelsea’s mannerisms and her body language. For the first time in the film, she’s smiling, and is asked if she would like to spend the weekend with him. If she agrees to this, this will be the second cardinal rule of hers she would break in the film, and would probably mean the end of her relationship with Chris, who despite all of her vices and maxims, is not supportive of her devotion to personology.

This becomes the critical point of the film. Does she break things off with Chris to pursue this other man? Through all of her ability to sell people on an ideal situation, is she unable to tell whether or not she is being sold a line of goods? How much trust does she put into personology? Clients, a journalist, a call girl critic, and Chris are all vying to get that girlfriend experience, ironically, none of them get it from her. What is the real girlfriend experience with Chelsea like?

Grey puts on a fine performance that’s convincing but also shows how much thought she put into Chelsea’s character. Methodically and gracefully, she shows us who she puts on the act for and who she really opens up to. It’s just a very vulnerable and awesome performance.

I loved this film and its puzzle format, which viewers do have to pay attention and “solve” as it goes along. If you don’t like having to be that invested into the viewing experience, or are normally unimpressed by small art films, then I recommend you move on. But if this does fall in your scope, then you’ll like GFE. There’s a soft, seductive quality to it, just dripping with the sweetness of candy and temptation, but leaves enough to the imagination. The world is glamourous, but not pretty. You want just a taste on your lips, but not enough to want to live it. The Girlfriend Experience is voyeurism at its finest; a slice-of-life film that’s the perfect portion size, with an extraordinary finish.

Sasha Grey as high priced call girl in The Girlfriend Experience

Video: A
All of Soderbergh’s shots look damn good in this high definition, 1080p VC-1 encoded transfer in its original 2.40:1 aspect ratio. The carefully arranged shots of naturally lit, on-location sets reproduce in luscious fashion. There a soft, diffused glow to some scenes, intentionally captured in high definition by Soderbergh. He toggles between two styles comparing the worlds of Chelsea to Chris’ world. Chelsea’s is warm, fuzzy, colorful and lit in a way that’s found only being in high class chill out lounges and bars. Chris’ scenes all appear to be under florescent lights giving a pale, almost sickly appearance like a typical hospital vibe to them. There’s some black crush but again when it’s there, it’s intended to be. Colors are all reproduced, again impressively given the way the shots were lit and filmed. This is, an art film.

Chelsea and a Journalist talk shop

Audio: B+
The GFE has a 5.1 English DTS-HD audio track in what is essentially a dialogue-driven film. Atmospheric sounds like restaurant chatter and food being served can be picked out, but it’s not a film designed to give the viewer the ultimate audio experience. The few bright audio spots are mostly when there is a scene featuring live musicians whether it’s a street drummer or a pair of folk singers. Overall the audio does what it’s supposed to do, with no signs of weakness or notes of deficiency. There are no other audio selections and subtitles are available in English SDH and Spanish.

Extras: B-
The Audio Commentary by Steven Soderbergh and Sasha Grey is by far one of the best ones I’ve listened to all year. Soderbergh interviews Grey about her experience throughout the film, while occasionally dropping details about artistic choices made by him and Grey who brought her improvisations. Then he brings discussion points to compare Grey’s experience with the adult film industry and his film. Sasha’s time in high school theater and improve work is discussed as well as her time spent interviewing two escorts who shared their experiences, which would be the foundation of the film. Soderbergh’s talks about his approach at improvising, Greys’ reaction of the footage she wasn’t in and shooting in chronological order but how choices in editing created a completely different film.

Alternative Cut (76:33) – There’s not much here even though Soderbergh alludes to a completely different film created by editing in the commentary. There was some added footage here and there, but I was hoping for more varying angles based on what the commentary mentioned but sadly did not see a dramatic difference outside of a handful of scenes. I first saw this film on the HD Net channel when it premiered before hitting theaters and I do recall some different shots, including some other shots with Grey and her Johns, and perhaps that was what he was referring to, sadly though I don’t see any of those shots that I remember in either of the cuts on this blu-ray.

HDNet: A look at the Girlfriend Experience HD (4:37) is a brief EPK interview with Grey and Soderbergh about making this film. It’s almost nonessential if there was anything else to chew on the disc.

Trailers HD (7:03) shows previews for Magnolia Pictures films, Two Lovers, What Just Happened, and The Life Before Her Eyes.

Sasha working on The Girlfriend Experience.

Overall Shock Value: A
One can almost forget just how good Steven Soderbergh is at doing a slice-of-life story, because of the commercial appeal of the Ocean’s trilogy. It’s a bit unfair that people will rush out to see the Ocean films, which are enjoyable, but then not pay much mind to Bubble or this film. In the Girlfriend Experience, he just did the essentials in making an intimate, deliciously voyeuristic glance into a hidden, slightly scary world unbeknownst to our own. This film is just dripping with naturally lit and composed angles that create everlasting, supple shots that will be etched in my mind. For fans of Grey’s adult films looking for some high budgeted encore will likely be disappointed, unless they’re looking for an subtle and straight performance, or want to see her other tempting talents than those that have made her famous.

From Sony’s Playstation blog:

We’re excited to announce today that Netflix and Sony have partnered to bring you thousands of movies and TV episodes streamed instantly from Netflix to your TV via your PS3 system at no extra charge. When the application launches next month, you’ll be able to access and watch thousands of Netflix choices directly through the XMB. We think that the nearly nine million PS3 enthusiasts and 11.1 million Netflix members in the U.S. will make quite a match.

If you want to get a head start on your PS3 Netflix experience, you can sign up today at http://www.netflix.com/ps3.

Also, further in the post, more details are outlined:

Initially, watching movies instantly streamed from Netflix via the PS3 system will be enabled by a free, instant streaming Blu-ray disc that is being made available to all Netflix members. The free instant streaming disc leverages Blu-ray’s BD-Live™ technology to access the Internet and activate the Netflix user interface on the PS3 system, which must be online via Wi-Fi or Ethernet.

Netflix members simply slide the disc into their PS3 systems to reveal movies and TV episodes that can be watched instantly. These titles are conveniently organized into a variety of categories based on members’ personal preferences, popular genres, new arrivals and members’ individual instant Queues. Members can use the Netflix Web site or navigate directly on their PS3 systems to add movies and TV shows to their Queues. With the PS3 system’s Wireless Controller, members can choose a movie to watch from their instant Queues or just play directly from any of the lists. They also have the ability to read synopses and rate movies. In addition, they have the option of fast-forwarding and rewinding the video stream via the Wireless Controller.

Netflix members and PS3 system owners can now reserve a free instant streaming disc for PS3 systems by going to www.netflix.com/ps3. Upon availability, the instant streaming disc will be delivered for free by first-class mail, generally one business day after members request it.

Year: 2009
Running Time: 98 minutes
Rated: R
SRP: $39.99
Studio(s): Universal Studios and Focus Features
Release Date: September 29, 2009

Film/Feature: C
Comedy is a subjective thing and no matter how funny someone tells me a film is, I have to take to see it for myself and see if I find it either as funny, or funnier than advertised. In many instances though the film falls short of expectations. So based on my sensibilities and broad appreciation of all levels of humor, I would caution to label Away We Go a pure comedy.

Longtime couple Burt (John Krasinski) and girlfriend Verona (Maya Rudolph) are expecting their first child. They live in Denver near Burt’s parents (Jeff Daniels and Catherine O’Hara) but find out they are moving away one month before the baby is due. They are the only family close by. So they begin an ambitious road trip to visit as many friends and family as possible all around North America trying to find a place they can call home and raise their unborn child.

Their friends include an assortment of eccentrics and oddballs including Verona’s tactless former boss Lilly (Allison Janney) and her depressing husband Lowell (Jim Gaffigan) in Phoenix, her sister Grace (Carmen Ejogo) in Tuscon, Burt’s wacko bohemian friends LN (Maggie Gylenhaal) and Roderick (Josh Hamilton), seemingly on-the-surface stable friends Montreal (Melanie Lynskey and Chris Messina) and Burt’s brother Courtney (Paul Schneider) in Miami.

Their friends and family all seem to be more comfortable with themselves and happy with the unhappiness in their lives than Burt and Verona who fail to clarify what’s so unhappy in their lives to prompt such a drastic move. Verona does not believe in marriage, or at least marriage being some defining moment. Burt is unhappy with that, but is still supportive in her decision. They are searching for their direction in life as their next big decision in life before settling down with a child, they have some grand design of raising the child in a way that makes up for all of their shortcomings. Who doesn’t do that?

Away We Go is a sweet, contemplative, little film that I believe, is targeted to 30-somethings who are starting their families and steering though life trying to find their way and settle down. It’s not type of comedy where you’ll laugh-out loud and then think about later how spot on it is. I’m really not sure what it is. I’d be as bold to question if it’s a comedy at all. It’s not particularly witty, it’s just sort of… there. All of the nuanced comedy that was claiming to be there was sort of lost on me. It was neither their friends or family who could help determine what was best for them. It was just something they had to find on their own. They come to this conclusion with such irony and such a lack of eventfulness that you’re just left saying, “So, is that it?” Even your average hipster might be scratching his/her head afterwards.

There is a specific audience it’s speaking to and there are legitimate questions and issues that young families deal with, that Away We Go brings up which the viewers can then self-reflect and ponder what they’d do, but it tries to hard to be such an unconventional film that it paints itself into corners and nothing is really gained or learned in Burt and Verona’s road trip except that friends and family are best admired from afar. Hell, I could have told them that.

Video: B+
This little venture was sealed into blu-ray with a 1080p VC-1 encoded transfer in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The film is a road comedy and they transported viewers to Miami, Arizona, Montreal, and other places. Rudolph’s warm glowing skin has lots of subtlety to it, all of which is clearly visible. The picture has an overall soft aesthetic to it. Details like textures and nature scenes appear to be cozy and comfortable. Contrast levels and shadows are both set at adequate levels to give proper depth perception.

Audio: B+
The 5.1 English DTS-HD audio track that’s honestly overkill for what amounts to a chatty independent film. Outside of some hum-strummy acoustic music of Alexi Murdoch that goes to the left and right front channels, the film is focused through the center channel. Whether through whispers or abrupt shouting, all of the dialogue in Away We Go is clear and pitch perfect, but there’s not much here to measure in terms of robust sound or surrounding effects. Other audio selections include: French and Spanish tracks in 5.1 DTS audio and subtitles are available in English SDH, French, and Spanish.

Extras: C
Audio Commentary by Director Sam Mendes and Writers Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida is like re-watching the movie with three friends, chatting and laughing the day away. They reveal a little more of the subtext that’s in the screenplay and note the subtlety of the acting and the themes of what Burt and Verona are going through and coming away with these visits to their friends across the country. It’s not a technical track by any means but if your curiosity is still brimming after seeing the film then you may want to go back and see it with their comments.

Making of Away We Go HD (16:13) Director Sam Mendes and his cast talk about the personal touch that was put and felt by the film, how the story was very real and very poignant at this time in their lives.

Green Filmmaking HD (6:38) is a brief look into the current wave of conscious green filmmaking to minimize waste and maximize used materials. It’s not relevant to the film, but is nice to see environmentally aware filmmakers doing what they can to minimize waste.

Overall Shock Value: C
Going through this actual period in my life, I was hoping for a surprising film that I would treasure, but the main characters meander to their eventual conclusion unceremoniously, and their journey nor their concerns are just not as nearly as interesting as they make it out to be. But there are going to be folks out there who dig the folky music, the non-nonchalant wandering and the subtle surmise to the revelation of an ironic placement in life is where you need to be. I’d rent Away We Go though before coming to that conclusion and see for yourself if it was worth the journey or if something revealed itself to you.

On September 15, 2009 Miramax and Dimension released four classic martial arts films on blu-ray for the first time. They can be purchased together as one four-pack of blu-rays or separately. All of them got brand new 1080p transfers, which in general an upgrades over previous standard DVD releases, but there are no new extras, But perhaps the biggest crime of this release is that they give us brand new lossless DTS-HD master audio tracks ON THE ENGLISH DUB of ALL FOUR FILMS!. So when you hear the much improved fight scenes, sound effects, and music, all of that high definition bliss is interrupted with some half-baked, poorly translated mockery of the film.

Most of the blu-rays do have thankfully, a 5.1 Dolby Digital track to fall back on in the original language, EXCEPT Legend of Drunken Master. Ernie Estrella has written full reviews of all four blu-rays accessed below. Each would be recommended as rentals unless you’ve never see any of them. Not because they’re not good enough movies to own outright, but they are not definitive editions by any means, and their leap to high definition should be taken with a grain of salt, or is that a grain of rice. Anywho, on to the reviews.

Full Legend of Drunken Master Blu-Ray Review (1994)

Full Hero Blu-Ray Review (2002)

Full Iron Monkey Blu-Ray Review (1993)

Full Zatoichi Blu-Ray Review (2003)

Year: 1993
Running Time: 86 minutes
Rated: PG-13
SRP:$ 39.99
Studio(s): Miramax
Release Date: September 2009

Film/Feature: B+

Iron Monkey is a twist on the Robin Hood/Zorro story where they were able to cram a younger version of Chinese folk hero, Wong Fei Hung into this relative cookie cutter martial arts film that does have some significance for HK Cinema and Martial Arts fans. First it’s directed by legendary fight choreographer, Yuen Woo-Ping. Next it’s produced by Tsui Hark who has gone on to direct his own brand of HK action films. And most of all it stars a young Donnie Yen who carved out his own slice of the Martial Arts genre and took the mantle after Jet Li began to age. It’s a fun film that’s welcoming to MA novices and the story is a simple one where the government is trying to take advantage of the poor people. The Iron Monkey (Yu Rong-Guang) robs from the government and spreads the wealth to the needy and the poor.

The government force Wong Kei-Ying (Donnie Yen) to track down the Iron Monkey or else they will hold his son, Wong Fei-Hong (Sze-Man Tsang) as ransom in exchange of bringing their elusive adversary to justice. The rest of the townspeople will not do it because they’re obviously benefitting from Iron Monkey’s efforts. Kei-Ying plays detective and discovers what the Iron Monkey is doing and enlists his aid to help free his son. What the government doesn’t know though is the fighting skill of the pint-sized Wong Fei-Hong.

Iron Monkey and films that feature Yen, tend to toe the line of the Jackie Chan and Jet Li films had in that the action is top notch, obviously with Woo-Ping at control, but they’re also not so epic that you nod off waiting for the fights. It could be argued that this did not elevate MA films to another level, but they simply don’t make films this fun, and this enjoyable very often anymore.

Video: B+

Iron Monkey gets a new 1080p encoded transfer in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Out of the four blu-rays released in Miamax’s Ultimate Force of Four series, this is one of the better video transfers. Color, detail, and blacks are all improved over the previous DVD transfer. There is still the random fleck of noise and dirt that’s still seen when looked at closely. It doesn’t take away from the overall experience, and this is by far a step up from what current DVD owners are used to but I say all this to temper the HD critical eyes out there who compare this with the average modern blu-ray.

Audio: C

If you’ve read any of my other reviews from Miramax’s Ultimate Force of Four pack, then you know where this is section is headed. If not, then Iron Monkey boasts the same boisterous upgrade of a 5.1 DTS-HD audio track as the other three in the Force of Four Pack, sadly for only the ENGLISH DUB!? I’m not going to beat a point in the ground, well, anymore than I did in my Hero blu-ray review but there is a 5.1 Dolby Digital Chinese soundtrack. It’s not nearly as spectacular as the English dub, but that insult of a dub track is just terrible and I dare you to watch Iron Monkey straight-faced when the actors are speaking. Talk about ruining the moment. The other option is a 2.0 Dolby Digital Spanish track and subtitles are available English SDH and Spanish.

Extras: D+

We get two scintillating interviews. Well no, not really, but there are two stock interviews carried over from the previous DVD release. Neither of them are memorable enough to speak well enough about them to help give the blu-ray some other attraction than the high definition transfer.

Quentin Tarantino Interview SD (9:00) gives the famous filmmaker/film geek an opportunity to share his knowledge of the genre and speak about where Iron Monkey fits into the big picture. I have to admit that I would have never discovered this film originally on VHS if it wasn’t for Tarantino’s pull to get this to the American market, I just wish it was handled with more care.

Donnie Yen Interview SD (6:00) talks about where Iron Monkey fit into his life at the time and how much martial arts were a part of his life at an early age.

Overall Shock Value: C+

For martial arts novices, Iron Monkey is a great introduction to a younger Donnie Yen who really went upward and onward from here. The story is light enough and crazy enough to grow its fan base larger than what it already is today and you could find much worse than this blu-ray release. Is it the definitive version? No. But it will do for now.

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.

This is one export that I wished Quentin Tarantino and more specifically, Miramax had left alone, mostly because I think the film was good enough that it didn’t need to be brought over by the US studios. My hostility towards this film is from enjoying an imported DVD. After years of watching a more pure version of the film, the Miramax translation and poorly dubbed audio track irritate me to no end.

But back to what I love about this film. Martial arts aficionados love the re-match of Jet Li and Donnie Yen, filmed ten years after their first on-screen battle in Once Upon a Time in China 2. Romance fans love seeing Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung on screen again who have such great on-screen chemistry stemming from Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood For Love and revisited in 2046. And Zhang Ziyi fans will love to see her Moon character’s ass get schooled by Cheung, Leung, and Li’s characters.

I hate to use the word epic, but it’s a fitting description here. There’s tragedy, bravery, and selflessness that does battle with the emotional fire within us all when we believe in something strongly enough. That struggle is what interests me more than what historical reference Hero places the start of China as one nation in the minds of the current population. Yimou’s hope was that people would long remember specific scenes from Hero even after people forget the story. He accomplished all of that and more.

Video: A-
Hero has been brought over to high definition in a 1080p AVC-encoded transfer in 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Anyone familiar with Hero knows how beautiful this film is, and how color is a big part of the storytelling, and wow does it look great. There are not enough words to describe just how the color pops on high def. It’s important that the colors are so pronounced because they convey emotions and help tell the story in an artful, majestic way that is commonplace if you have seen the work of Zhang Yimou and cinematographer Christopher Doyle. Skip to chapter five “Jealous Fools” and you’ll see what I mean. That red is lipstick red instead of the red-orange we’re used to on the DVD. The detail is greatly improved on blu-ray. Hair, pores, the fibers in the silk or linen can all be picked out. On DVD skin tones lean towards being too yellow, and slightly dull, but boy do the colors sing here. Shadows in the drapery and clothing is all clear, and blacks are deep. This isn’t the cleanest transfer because there are still bits of dirt, artifacts, and moments of unacceptable grain that can be seen by your average videophile, but is it enough to distract you from the visual experience of Hero? No. What’s distracting is what comes next…

Audio: C
Again, Miramax took the time to give us a new 5.1 DTS-HD audio track BUT ONLY FOR ENGLISH! As an audio experience you have to love what was done with the sound. In chapter Two, the fight between Sky and Nameless shows everything the HD track can do. The spacial and atmospheric effects are really amped up. The sword fights is more resounding, you can feel the difference in weight of the weapons when they move. The “tinging” of weapons making contact ricochet around. Try chapter Three “Caligraphy” were Nameless and Flying Snow ward off thousands of arrows. This is a very active track where you can hear arrows whiz by. But then in the epic match between Flying Snow and Moon in the yellow forest, well, it’s sensory overload. You don’t miss one leaf that passes by your head… AND THEN you hear the bad dubbing whenever someone talks and it’s just so deflating.

There’s also a crazy and insultingly bad “Descriptive Audio” track too which has a Cate Blanchett-like voice who describes what is going on in between the audio, including character’s movements as if you were hearing an audio book. Then there’s a male Ralph Fiennes-like voice who reads all of the dialogue, no matter who is speaking, never changing the inflection or tone of his voice to differentiate between characters. But then even more puzzling when the actors talk, it’s the Chinese audio coming out of the actors’ mouths. Eventually the female voice does come in and recites the dialogue for female characters. It’s an aggravating track. The levels of sound effects and music cut in and out. I just can’t believe that Miramax spent money on this, but they couldn’t bother with a HD Chinese track or just couldn’t give us the Chinese cut of the film. Hero is not that difficult of a film to follow, and this Descriptive Audio track was as worthless as it gets.

Has there ever been so many options to bury the original 5.1 Dolby Digital Mandarin track in a Chinese film? It’s on there, and to have a seamless movie experience, then just listen to this track, but it’s tempting to switch back and forth with the new DTS-HD track for the fight scenes and then quickly toggle back to the Mandarin track for the dialogue. Other audio selections include are 5.1 Dolby Digital French and Spanish tracks, and subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French SDH, and Spanish SDH.

Extras: C
All of the extras are in standard definition and are what was on the original Miramax DVD. There’s no commentary and enough repetition in the main three supplements that they become exhaustive even though combined they’re under an hour. I wish there was an effort to produce something new, but I get the feeling that this Force of Four collection was all about getting it in HD, slapping a HD audio dub track and call it a day.

Hero Defined SD (24:00) Finally, I get to watch this and understand it (my import did not have English subtitles on the extras) and it is a good look behind-the-curtain on the challenges, the achievement and aim of Zhang Yimou and interviews the cast of their thoughts on making Hero.

Inside the Action SD (14:00) is a one-on-one conversation between Quentin Tarantino and Jet Li going over the progression of Li’s career in Hong Kong cinema. It’s actually a nice conversation, especially for newcomers to the genre, although it is disorganized. Someone must explain the final minutes to me, where they preview parts of the Hero Defined extra (above). Just more waste that could have been corrected.

Close-Up of a Fight Scene SD (9:00) Some notes and thoughts by the actors about the key fight scenes in the film.

Storyboards SD (5:00) A side-by-side comparison of storyboards and four fight scenes.

Soundtrack Spot SD (1:00) A commercial for the Tan Dun score.

Digital Copy Disc is a copy of the film for your laptop or portable media device. Why they just don’t give you a bonus DVD of the film I’ll never know. Oh and this digital download is only available up until 3/15/2011, so you have a wasted disc after then.

Overall Shock Value: C+
Well what’s most shocking to me is that in this day and age, and how cultured America wants to claim it is, when there’s an opportunity to do something right the first time, Disney/Miramax creates this blu-ray for the least cultured consumer. Who else is going to spend top dollar on a blu-ray but the films’ most diehard fans? This was a missed opportunity to do Hero right and get a proper HD transfer with HD soundtrack of the original film. They get it half-right here, and this is the best I’ve ever seen the film, but the other 50% of why I would want to upgrade to blu-ray is for the improved HD audio. Sorry, but that English track is an insult. I love Hero, and I love the way it looks, but Disney/Miramax, if you’re going to handle these foreign films, handle them like you handle your animated properties, otherwise hand them off to someone who does care.

Screen captures were taken from www.DVDBeaver.com

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.

The film balances laughs with the mesmerizing and poetic violence, building to a confrontation between Zatoichi and a ronin bodyguard, Hattori played wonderfully by Tadanobu Asano who never fails to impress me. Time has been taken to show the complexities of many characters, not just Zatoichi, and like real people, no one is a clear cut good or bad person, well except for the gang bosses. The ancillary characters of Aunt Oume (Michiyo Ookusu), Shinkichi (Gadarukanaru Taka), the geishas, (Daigoro Tachibana and Yuko Daike) and the gang bosses (Ittoku Kishibe, Saburo Ishikura, and Akira Emoto) add their own bit of flavor and spice to the broth that makes Zatoichi an overall savory experience.

There’s a speed and style of Japanese samurai films that is respected here, the action scenes are fast and deliberately patterned after the art of Bushido, but because of the new century, it’s nice to see Kitano trying unconventional processes. The most striking difference here is the silver retention method (see extras) and the CGI blood that’s used to exaggerate the splattering of blood. Something that Kitano understands about filmmaking is the grandness of it, the ability to do something that’s artistic and entertaining and there are quirky inclusions of a large musical tap dance number (a la STOMP) that’s so very odd, and yet so exhilarating and a palette cleanser at the same time.

I believe those who hold the television series to a high standard, and rightfully so, would enjoy this take on the classic Zatoichi character. It’s a clever little tale and a bookend companion if you have the original 26-part TV series on hand. Kitano earned the Golden Lion award in Venice (Best Director) and it was one of the most successful films of 2003 in Japan. Still, a mixture of modernization and traditional can meet with mixed reaction, but I make no apologies for enjoying Zatoichi again and again.

The Region 2 Blu-Ray, the colors subdued.

The Miramax color flood departure from Kitano's original vision.

Video: C+
The main reason we’re looking at this blu-ray is to see it in its new 1080p AVC-encoded transfer in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. On the surface everything looks great, colors are richer, deeper, and more saturated and that’s all fine and well, except that’s one thing that the filmmakers wanted to tone down. If you watch the extras, their intent is to soften the color palette, soften the blood color, and that’s just not seen here. It’s the exact opposite in fact, which is fine if you don’t know any better. There’s also a lot of edge enhancement work being done here, adjustment of brightness, halos, and the contrast is especially all over the board which makes the perception of depth less pronounced. It seems more like an effort supervised by Miramax than it is a version that would be approved by Kitano. I’m going to downgrade video every time when the film’s director wouldn’t approve of it.

For more in-depth explanation, visit this review on DVD Beaver with screen comparisons of the difference in transfers out there for Zatoichi.

Audio: B-
There’s a 5.1 English DTS-HD audio track but at first I refused to listen to it because it’s unbearable to hear a Japanese film spoken in English. But I did listen to the action scenes and the musical number at the end in the DTS-HD track and it is a much louder and in-your-face upgrade. There is the original Japanese 5.1 Dolby Digital track and it’s fine in and of itself, just not as exciting as the HD track, but I used that track to hear the dialogue. Why Disney/Miramax was a Japanese DTS-HD track not created? There’s a Spanish 2.0 Dolby Digital too and subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French, Spanish and what I think is Farsi.

Extras: C
These are the same extras that were on the previous DVD release, in standard definition. There are no blu-ray exclusives.

Behind the Scenes SD (39:55) is a meaty look into the weekly stages of principal shooting and how Takeshi Kitano makes a film. Kitano’s attention to detail and every aspect is admirable and his understanding of all of the other contributing forces shows what a great filmmaker he really is. As this behind-the-scenes drags on though it does waiver on the edge of brown-nosing Kitano, but all-in-all, worth your time.

Video Interviews SD (21:29) is four separate interviews with crew members who all had their own experience of sharing duties with Kitano. Katsumi Yanagishima (Cinematographer) speaks of perfect camera angles and trying to convince Kitano to use a silver retention method, ENR film processing, to soften the colors of the final appearance. This is important to watch to see where the video mark is supposed to be. Norihiro Isoda (production Designer who built all the set pieces like Oume’s house, Kazuko Kurosawa (Costume Supervisor) discusses her choice of material and how she distinguished different groups with specific colors, as well as the meaning behind those choices. Tatsumi Nikamoto (Master Swordsman) recalls working with Asano, and all the great ideas Kitano came up with when they coordinated the sword fights.

Overall Shock Value: C
It’s a good thing Zatoichi was blind, too bad he wasn’t deaf too. For fans of this film like me, it’s easy to see the poor decisions made by Miramax. The extreme effort to put the film to current “high def” standards in comparison to Region 2 blu-rays, really strays away from the original design of the film. I’m all for highly detailed, crystal clear films, but not at the expense of the filmmaker’s original vision. The upgrade to the DTS-HD track is great for a more resonance and louder effects, and if you like stupid dubbed tracks. I do like this film very much so if you’re getting it with the Miramax Ultimate Force of Four Collection, it’s worth the watch but I’m not getting rid of my DVD anytime soon.

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.

Season One: A-
For the longest time I came up with every excuse not to watch Lost. I simply couldn’t keep up with it week to week and knew that it was the type of show that you could miss an occasional episode, and sure I could watched it online but I hate watching anything outside of my home theater. And after the DVDs started coming out, I knew a high definition version would soon come. That time has finally arrived.

For the few that haven’t seen Lost, the show is about the survivors of flight Oceanic Air 815 and the mystery that surrounds the island they now call home. En route from Sydney, Australia to Los Angeles, the flight steered far off course and split into three parts. The fuselage landed in the jungle, the main cabin landed on the beach and the tail and the passengers in it ripped away in mid-air. It was concluded that the rescue search is probably looking in the wrong place and a rescue would be unlikely arriving. The survivors realize that they must work together to survive the dangers on the island, which include a monster, a mysterious tribe and even themselves. Each survivor carried baggage on board, and I’m not talking about luggage. They are all “lost” in their own life, many of them flawed with troubled paths that brought to Australia and ultimately flight 815.

Jack (Matthew Fox) is a doctor who never reconciled with his father before his death was bringing his body home for the funeral; Jin (Daniel Dae Kim) and Sun (Yunjin Kim) are a Korean couple with secrets; Kate (Evangeline Lilly) is a deadly fugitive on the run; Sawyer (Josh Holloway) is a conman looking to settle a score; Hurley (Jorge Garcia) won the lottery on cursed numbers; Charlie (Dominic Monaghan) is a heroin addict and one half of a British pop band “Drive Shaft”; Michael (Harrold Perrineau) is forced to be with his son Walt (Malcolm David Kelley) for the first time since he was a baby; Claire (Emile de Ravin) is pregnant with an unwanted child but is told by a psychic to keep it; Sayid (Naveen Andrews) is a former soldier for the Iraqi Republican Guard Army looking for his lost love; Shannon (Maggie Grace) and Boone (Ian Somerhalder) are emotionally damaged step-siblings; Rose (L. Scott Caldwell) was separated from her husband who was in the back of the plane but is adamant he is still alive; And John Locke (Terry O’Quinn), a tormented man, who up until the plane crash was paralyzed from the waist down.

While flashbacks are often a weak story device, Lost relies on them to reveal details about each survivor in clever ways. Because we know so little about these people the flashbacks are crucial and dispel preconceived notions that develop out of the willingness to succumb to stereotypes and tried and true archetypes for example: There’s no way a fat man can be rich. There’s no way a woman can be so deadly. Surely the redneck is stupid and killing things come easy for him. An Iraqi soldier is not to be trusted. There’s no emotional love in an Asian couple. And that’s when the writers of Lost get you with the element of surprise. Eventually, answers come but not before more questions present themselves. These characters have an opportunity to reshape their path in life in front a strangers who don’t know their past. Tthe audience often has more knowledge than what the characters know.

Eventually people split off into their role on the island, some set up camp on the beach, others at inland caves. Some build a raft to get off the island and get help prompted by Claire being abducted during by one of the Others, (a group of people who were previously living on the island) infiltrated the survivors. Locke and Boone meanwhile find a hatch to some type of underground bunker to which Locke feels he was meant to find since he has already been gifted with the ability to walk again. I’m leaving out dozens more storylines but mostly the show is best experienced with fresh eyes.

There is more than island action and science fiction though. The flashbacks open human stories that people can relate to. But it’s how these flashbacks carry you through the higher concept is the fun. There is such a large ensemble in Lost and yet not a single one gets grates on the nerves. The performances from Fox, O’Quinn, Andrews, in particular are the best of their careers and that’s not a slight to Monaghan, Perrineau and the rest of the cast because there’s not a weak link here, but it’s been some time since I’ve been this impressed with network television. While JJ Abrams, gave Lost a much needed midas touch, the credit should be given to Damon Lindelof who is the lead writer and continues to be an ever-present guiding force behind the show. Lost is show about redemption and reinvention and whether it’s the exploration of these themes, or you just want to come up with your own mythological theory of a bigger picture as to why all of these people survived, you can do it now endlessly in high definition.

Video: B+
Of all of the Lost box sets, Season One has to be the weakest of the bunch, but not by much. Lost was still trying to find its way including the pilot which was produced at a different time than the rest of the show. The presence of grain is more prominent in this first season compared to its subsequent siblings. Still the blacks are rich and dark but contrast is not as fine tuned as one would like as one can see during some of the night scenes when the details just get lost. Considering the rest of the beautiful bold green foliage and serene postcard views of Hawaii are clear to see, I think this lack of stability in the darker scenes just may be due to the way it was originally shot. Neither that or any noticeable presence of artificial enhancement should detract you away from this release though. It’s got the goods where it counts thanks to a fine 1080p AVC-encoded transfer in 1.78:1 aspect ratio.

Audio: A
For a television show, Lost is the type of show that is enhanced by having surround sound. The audio, in high definition as well, comes by way of a English 5.1 Uncompressed DTS-HD master audio track and it sounds spectacular. It has both power and grace. The opening scene of the pilot has it all, a pure reference scene to be played in home theaters for sure. The high pitch ween of the engine turbine spinning with made chaos surrounding Jack will put you right in the middle of the sand. I haven’t made much mention of the monster on the island which is obscured on purpose but you can’t avoid the sound of it. Upon its arrival, your subwoofer will punch holes through your room as trees are ripped out of the ground and tossed into the air with a loud roar; it’s a magnificent spectacle that puts you in that fearful moment. Island noises like the constant surf, jungle noises, and the constant rain are pretty accurate even though much of the audio is put in afterwards since filming on an island can often be difficult. When things rustle at night you’ll find yourself looking in the direction that they’re coming in as the spatial sound has been mixed very well. Dialogue is set at a comfortable level no matter if it’s whispered or someone is screaming. I can’t imagine watching the show on a laptop after seeing it like this. 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-I’m not kidding.

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.

There are five Audio Commentaries spread throughout the 7 disc set for episodes: “Pilot I & II,” with JJ Abrams, Lindelof, and Bryan Burk; “Walkabout,” with Jack Bender, Terry O’Quinn, and David Fury; “The Moth,” with Lindelof, Burk, and Dominic Monghan; “Hearts and Minds,” with Carlton Cuse, Javier Grill Marxuach, Maggie Grace, and Ian Sommerhalder. I love commentaries and all of these with the exception of the “Hearts and Minds” commentary are full of great depth of the each episodes characters, storylines, themes and how each show took shape.

The rest of the extras are presented in three groups (Departure, Tales From the Island, and Lost Revealed) which have a play all option or can be taken in small bites. 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. There’s also very little that’s new for those who already own the DVD but, there is a Mail-In certificate that will refund 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.

Departure

The Genesis of Lost SD (8:40) speaks of the early inception and concepts of what would become Lost, as well as the early syncopation and bromance between JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof.

Designing a Disaster SD (7:59) shows how producers and set designers found a plane for the pilot episode and how they constructed the opening minutes of that initial scene.

Before They Were Lost SD (23:01) is your typical “assembling the cast” extra.

Audition Tapes (24:39) – 14 total audition tapes of the principal cast members.

Welcome to Oahu: The Making of the Pilot (33:22) – Shooting on location and the pilot and plane scenes

The Art of Matthew Fox (6:07) – Fox narrating a nice montage of black and white photos he took while on the set of principal shooting and later gave as gifts to the cast and crew.

Lost at San Diego Comic-Con (1:50) – is a brief reaction to the fan fare of Comic-Con where Lost premiered to an audience and instantly got great feedback.

Tales From the Island

Lost: On Location SD – is my favorite featurette on the disc where themes of the episodes are discussed, actors who are featured get to speak about their character’s arc, and any special effect unique to that episode is explored. I suggest seeing it in one bundle but I’ve marked out the time for each segment should you want to view them separately. (5:20) The Trouble with boars, (3:20) White Rabbit (7:19) House of the Rising Sun (1:48) The Moth (4:24) The Confidence Man (4:55) All the Cowboys Have Daddy Issues (2:57) Whatever the Case May Be (6:21) Hearts and Minds (3:05) Special (9:21) Exodus

On Set with Jimmy Kimmel SD (7:15) – is a funny bit from Kimmel’s television show and his shtick when he was on location and just being Jimmy.

Backstage with Drive Shaft SD (6:40) – A short featurette about where the song sung by the “legendary” pop band came from which isn’t as interesting as the strange lyrics or the bad sound of it all.

Lost Revealed

The Lost Flashbacks SD are exactly what it says, character flashbacks that weren’t used. At the Airport Claire (3:07) At the Airport Sayid (1:28)

Deleted Scenes SD are a mixture of extended scenes and ones that didn’t make the cut. Most of them not particularly missed but are worth a one-time viewing. Smoking (1:10) Chicken or Lasagna (0:42) Kate and Sayid (1:09) The Climb (2:02) Finding the Tell (1:03) For Vincent (0:54) Partners (0:55) Where did You Go? (0:55) The Huddle (0:53) Claire’s Doctor Visit (1:55) A Deal’s A Deal (0:47) Captive (0:28) Secrets (1:49) The Jack Situation (0:42) Whispers (1:00).

Bloopers From the Set SD (4:17) – A substandard collection of bloopers

Live from the Museum of Television and Radio SD (10:56) – a Q&A with cast and crew in front of a live audience that shows what funny guys Garcia and Holloway are in real life hosted by Hollywood Reporter’s Robert Dowling.

Flashbacks & Mythologies SD (7:28) – an extra about how the flashbacks were so important to the success of the show and specifically how much more is learned than the characters themselves. Also laying down the gridwork of the connections and questions without revealing too many of the answers too early.

While I haven’t found any Easter Eggs yet, I’m sure there are some because almost every other season has them. Feel free to share them here. Lost: The Complete First season is also tricked out with D-Box technology for those tycoons who have it.

Overall Shock Value: A
Lost is a beautiful, beefy, sexy beast on blu-ray that secures its hold as one of the best shows on television, now enhanced with a stunning HD transfer and immersive sound that lurks all around you. I’m not going to apologize for experiencing it for the first time this way because this is the way to watch it. But even if you have seen it all before, Lost is the type of show that you get something new with each viewing. There are details and hints dropped about the bigger story, and being obsessed enough to go back to hunt for these clues are not above the casual fan. It’s just a rites of passage. Offered at an affordable price with internet deals to be in abundance, Lost: The Complete First Season on blu-ray is one of the best bundles of high def enjoyment money can buy.

Film: B+
The vigilante film had become a lost art for a while there. So prevalent in the 70’s through the early 90’s they’ve died down a bit when Arnie and Sly began to show their age and action films tried too hard or just not enough. There was something satisfying in Commando or Rambo, that’s rarely been revisited since. The Jason Bourne films steered Hollywood into a new direction, as the thrill of pursuit with high speed action found its place once again, reawakening the James Bond franchise. In comes the movie Taken, a film produced and co-written by fan favorite, Luc Besson, (Le Femme Nikita, The Professional) a guy who knows a thing or two about making films with intrigue, suspense, and action. Together with director, Pierre Morel, and fellow writer Robert Mark Kamen, they craft one of the tightest thrillers in a long time. It’s perfect in its pacing, its situation, and execution. There’s absolutely no fat in Taken, just a simple guy with the means to back up his words.

Retired government operative Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) just wants some normalcy in his life but no one listens. His 17-year old daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace) and friend Amanda deceive him by telling him that they are spending the summer with Amanda’s family. In actuality they are following U2 all around Europe free of any family or supervision. This comes at a time when Mills moved to LA, living in modest conditions to be closer to his daughter to try and repair the relationship he sacrificed while working for the government. Bryan’s ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) has since moved on and is begrudgingly allowing him to see Kim on a limited basis, while rubbing in her new husband’s luxuries.

Kim agrees to check in with her father when she gets to Paris, and when she does, Bryan gets the call no parent ever wants to get. Witnessing Amanda being kidnapped, Kim frantically has some last words with her father knowing that she’ll be next. Instructing her to give him any clues she can, Bryan goes into survival mode and is forced to race the clock: get to Paris, and save his daughter from being a victim of human trafficking. It’s so simple and yet brilliant because it delivers on every note of what a film like this should be.

In a flash, Neeson goes from a can’t win daddy to an ass-kicking vigilante that would make Jack Bauer proud. He’s quite believable while doing it too. With an imposing stature combined with the fast-cutting style of French action cinematography you never get the sense that this guy is retired, as if he was a sharpened tool just waiting to be used. He’s resourceful and is constantly using the skills learned as an operative. Remember when Steven Segal broke onto the scene and in his early films you believed this guy could be a one-man wrecking crew. The problem was, he believed it too, a little too much. But Neeson plays the part to a tee, and we get lost in what he does on screen. We only wish we possessed not only the size, and skill but have the necessary connections to be able to wipe it clean from our record. In the end, it’s the ultimate wish fulfillment film, and the biggest ?I told you so.?

The Director’s Cut places four minutes of violence back in, and the box office success shows why the choices were made but as far as the story goes, those added minutes are important details that bring the desperation and urgency of a one-mission man. Unable to slow the film down to show emotion, Neeson is able to show that in subtle details in how violently he goes for these guys for example shooting for the head and multiple rounds unloaded. It’s enough to get a complete picture of what’s going through Mills’ mind. It’s not essential for the story because it played well enough in the theaters, but it does add another dimension to the main character, and hell, who doesn’t like seeing Qui-Gon Jin fuck people up?

Video: A-
Taken plays in high definition with a 1080p, AVC-encoded transfer in a nice wide 2.40:1 ratio. I absolutely loved how this film looked on blu-ray. In the daytime scenes you felt like you were there, but this film really thrived at night. The hues were lush, glowing in night scenes but never to the point of over-saturation. Skintones had warm amber quality to them, even Paris’ ugly corners looked lovely. Moments like the auction scene were as black as a coal mine, and really added to the seediness of it. Fox put out a very strong high definition transfer that has just enough grain to make you know you’re watching a film, but an abundant amount of detail and color show that Taken on blu-ray is anything but standard.

Audio: A
Taken has a great 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio audio track that has broad dynamic range and plenty of action for all channels of your home theater. Crowd noise like cameras flashing and idol chatter move behind you in the early concert scene when we get a taste of Bryan’s skills. Gunshots ping and patter all around as well. The car chase sequence in the construction site is a great chapter to replay and there’s lots of subwoofer activity. Nothing was mixed too strong or harsh, or too low. All of the different dialects are clear and distinctive blu-ray and is possibly one of my favorites this year as far as sound goes. Also available are a 5.1 Dolby Digital Spanish Track, a 5.1 Dolby Surround French track and subtitles in English Hard of Hearing and Spanish.

Extras: B-
Disc One
Toggling between unrated and theatrical versions can be done from the initial disc load or at anytime during the playback of the season.

Audio Commentary by Director Pierre Morel, Cinematographers Michel Abramowicz, and Michel Julienne this commentary is conducted entirely in French, with subtitles. It’s an entertaining track although it’s a little difficult to pick up who specifically is talking at the time since the voice pitch is so similar amongst the three of them. They crack jokes and talk a lot of the production and the artistic direction, and the shooting style at different points of the film. I just wish they could change the colors of those subtitles to yellow.

Audio Commentary by Writer Robert Mark Kamen talks about working with Morel and Besson, gives some French action film history, and the danger of losing sympathy for the main character, gets you in the mind of Bryan which I really enjoyed almost giving a reading of the novel version of Taken if there was one.

Black Ops Field Manual – is a picture-in-picture is a fun way to watch the film. Black boxes come up in the bottom left with real facts about black operative agents, their training, and some pretty scary statistics of human trafficking. There are just some astonishing facts putting Albania on the frontline of human trafficking offenders. At the top of the screen is a running tab of the distance Bryan travels, the Time Remaining in the story’s timeline that begins when Kim is taken, and a body count of how many people are injured and killed. I happen to watch this while listening to the Kamen commentary, which worked out pretty well.

Le Making Of HD (18:24) – is standard making of affair. Nothing out of the ordinary or particularly special just a bunch of fluff interviews with cast and crew.

Avant Premiere HD (4:48) – a neat split screen interview with Besson, Neeson, and Morel at the premiere of the film in France. As exciting as this event was for the crew who attended, it’s hard not to feel sad though when you see the late Natasha Richardson at Liam’s side.

Inside Action Side-by-Side Comparisons HD (11:05) – Six scenes (Peter Dies, Bryan Escapes Construction Site, Good Luck, The Interrogation, Bryan at Saint Clair’s, and Boat Fight) show how much changes from the on-location shoot to the final result after post production.

Trailers for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Street Fighter Legend of Chun Li, and 12 Rounds appear when you load the blu-ray and there’s one for Notorious in the special features.

Disc Two:
Digital Copy Disc for laptops, computers and other portable digital media players. It should be noted that it plays the extended cut only.

I’m Quite Taken – Overall Shock Value: B+
Taken is an action-packed 90 minutes that’s been trimmed of all the fat so it should be good for anyone’s diet of films along with those looking for some serious wish fulfillment. The extras don’t push this up another level but it’s a technically sound blu-ray with the trimmings and has multiple ways of viewing it. It’s a great little film that’s easy to get in and then get out, the true mark of a vigilante classic.

Ernie Estrella

The German Resistance includes Major General Henning von Tresckow (Kenneth Branagh) Friedrich Olbricht (Bill Nighy), General Ludwig Beck (Terrence Stamp), Dr. Carl Goerdeler (McNally), and Erwin von Witzleben (David Schofield). Tom Cruise plays a badly disfigured Colonel Claus von Stauffenburg, chosen to lead the conspirators in a fake attempt of a coup d’etat luring General Friedrich Fromm (Tom Wilkinson) as their bait. Fromm is the only person who can initiate Operation Valkyrie, an deployment of the Reserve Army in time of emergency. The Resistance hopes through this they can purge Hitler’s main men and restore order from the Nazi regime and end the mass slaughtering. All that needs left to happen is the assassination of Hitler.

We all know that they failed, taking any possibility of a warm ending, or even a surprise ending out of the mix but these were the only men memorialized in Berlin of World War II. Their story needed to be told, but probably not as a thriller. The action did not compel me and there wasn’t enough meat on the bone to be a drama. There wasn’t enough to really distinguish the individuals of the resistance. Who really were these men? Their motivations, their cause and the make-up of their characters are unfortunately nowhere to be found. Yes, this is an American film, but it could have done its best to strive to be better than the average Hollywood attempt which is what this is.

Cruise is fine but not special. He looks the part, certainly but truth be told, he’s a bit robotic in playing someone who’s supposed to be revered a German hero. The supporting cast is full of distinguished actors who deliver exactly what you expect of them. Wilkinson, Branagh, and Stamp seem to never do wrong, and there’s no changing that after Valkyrie, but none of them have the throttle in their performances or their stories, to make this a memorable film. And I’m sorry but as a regular viewer of foreign films, this film would have benefitted greatly with being in German or at least with German accents. A more epic telling of the Resistance would have helped too.

VIDEO: B-
Valkyrie is graced with a 1080p, AVC-encoded transfer in 1.85: ratio. Director Bryan Singer and director of photography Newton Thomas Siegel went for a specific look that was carried throughout the film. Colors are desaturated a bit except for the color of red which gets bumped out in every scene it appears (which thanks to the Nazi flag is a lot). There’s also a yellow push or filtered look that really accentuates yellow and gold but as far as typical high-definition, this isn’t it. It’s not grainy, and things are visually clean but not HD clear which leads me to believe it was way Singer meant for it to be seen.

AUDIO: A-
Valkyrie’s main audio is an English 5.1 DTS-HD MA track that’s got it all. The opening sequence in Tunisia is sure to be demo material as the surround movement is really nice. War planes zipping by back-to-front, front-to-back, left-to-right and as planes drop bombs and shoot guns each one of your speakers will make you aware of their presence in the room. Unfortunately the audio isn’t as impressive in scenes where dialogue is spoken in quieter scenes. Frustrating would be an overstatement for having to tinker with the volume but it’s not a desired quality either. Had they balanced this better, Valkyrie would be at the least, reference audio material, but overall it’s much better than average, and just short of being memorable. Also on the disc are French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks. Subtitles can be seen in Mandarin, Portuguese, Korean, Cantonese, Spanish, French and English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.

EXTRAS: A-

If Valkyrie and the story of Hitler’s assassination attempts piques one’s interest, the supplements are sure to satisfy the plenty of questions that arise after the first viewing.

Audio Commentary by actor Tom Cruise, director Bryan Singer and screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie- This group makes it clear that this is not a history lesson per se but rather a film about an ?assassination attempt at Hitler.? Cruise is surprisingly engaging with his contributions to the commentary, for example he describes the challenge of acting with a patch over the eye, being able to use three fingers on one hand and speaks to Singer like a fan. There’s a good rapport between the three about the conspiracies, and the proper context surrounding each scene.

Audio Commentary by Christopher McQuarrie and Nathan Alexander – the writing team who wrote The Usual Suspects teamed up again for Valkyrie. Here they talk about some filmmaker and production notes, the writing process of adapting a historic moment and the facts appropriately into something that would be a two-hour film.

The Journey to Valkyrie Featurette (15:56) – is typical EPK affair expanding on the World War II films Singer made with McQuarrie as teenagers, casting, costume, historic and emotional relevance of making this film for those Germans who were against the Nazis.

The Road to Resistance Featurette: A Visual Guide (9:08) – The grandson of Col. Stauffenberg, Phillip Von Schulthess tours Berlin, Germany revisiting the places that were important in his grandfather’s life, and explaining the resistance of Hitler’s dictatorship and some of the harrowing details of the aftermath of the failed Valkyrie attempt. Stauffenberg’s surviving daughter is also interviewed for what she experienced of the conspiracy as a child.

The African Front Sequence Featurette (7:01) – is a behind-the-scenes look into Valkyrie’s opening scene in Tunisia and creating a realistic battle scenario.

Talking to the Air Featurette (7:32) – shares the experience of shooting the airplanes, working with pilots and taking historic planes out for a ride.

Recreating Berlin Featurette (6:51) – is a short piece of taking Berlin back to 1944 was a task in trying to be faithful to that era and revisiting that dark period for Germany. It was Singer’s first historic piece and several locations were the actual places still intact. Clothes and artifacts had to be tracked down from collectors and museums when possible to give the sense of reality.

Reel Pieces with Tom Cruise and Bryan Singer Recorded Live at New York’s 92nd Street Y SD (38:57) – is an opportunity for a NY audience to see Cruise and Singer interviewed about Valkyrie after a private screening. It moves along early on but begins to drag, at the 25 minute mark. Repeat viewings are unlikely though.

The Valkyrie Legacy Documentary HD (1:54:14) – Saving the best for last is an extremely good full-length film directed by Kevin Burns that explains how Hitler came into power, the rise of the Nazi regime, and dives into the real plots to stop Hitler within the German ranks. Interviews with descendants of those who conspired against Hitler, historians, and professors are spliced with reels of Nazi propaganda, Hitler audio clips and war footage and is a perfect companion piece after seeing the film.

Disc 2 is a Digital Copy for Portable Media Players.

OVERALL SHOCK VALUE: B-

Can one reserve their opinion of Tom Cruise to see Valkyrie to give it a fair shot? Perhaps even more important, is it good enough to watch in the first place? It’s not bad, but it really could have been much better. It’s comforting to understand that there was humanity that existed in Germany at this time; that not everyone supported the horror of genocide and destruction done by the Nazis. The Memorial Day timing and development of the film is interesting, given that it took American filmmakers to seek redemption for Germans who were wrongly associated with Hitler. It’s quite relevant to how all Muslims are constantly lumped in with extremists and terrorists. However, there’s enough story that’s missing from the background of these conspirators that leave a desire for a longer, and more complete telling of the conspiracy. In the end, Valkyrie by itself doesn’t carry the burden of a heavy-weight epic that it feels like it tries to be. Kevin Burns’ The Valkyrie Legacy and the commentaries provide that though. So as a complete package, the extras on the Valkyrie blu-ray makes it a worthy an investment of your time especially if you’re a World War II buff.

Ernie Estrella

The Diamond Collection debut of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will keep audiences spellbound for hours with exciting content exclusive to this historic release, presented with spectacular newly restored picture and 7.1 Digital Theater System Hi-Def Surround Sound. Utilizing the latest in technology, possible only by the power of Blu-ray, the release includes Disney Smart Navigation, allowing the magic and personality of Disney Characters to come to life as never before. Disney Family Play, the ultimate interactive Hi-Def experience, offers a variety of immersive games, activities and unprecedented levels of personalization and customization features, to transform how families experience home entertainment together. The Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition is a Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack (2 Blu-ray discs + DVD).

Exclusive Snow White Diamond Edition Bonus Features

-Hyperion Studios Audiences are digitally transported to 1937 to discover first-hand the Hyperion Studios, the original studio Walt Disney himself built and where Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was conceived and developed. Viewers will virtually walk the halls of this historic landmark experiencing life at Hyperion Studios back in the 1930’s. This amazing Backstage Disney feature contains newly dimensionalized archival photos, animator recordings, archival transcripts and rare footage of Walt himself revealing how Disney’s gifted filmmakers crafted the very first animated feature.

-Magic Mirror Using the latest in Blu-ray technology, the iconic Magic Mirror guides the audience through the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Diamond Edition features with ease serving as the “host for an incredibly immersive experience. The Mirror will recognize viewing patterns, knows where the audience has left off and will even suggest where to navigate next. This marks the first use of artificial intelligence in a Disney Blu-ray release and provides viewers the control to personally create a customized Snow White experience.

-DisneyView Disney’s pioneering animated feature is brought to the modern era of widescreen high definition viewing by allowing the user to expand their viewing experience beyond the original aspect ratio of the film. Utilizing Disney Blu-ray technology, acclaimed Disney artist Toby Bluth was able to “draw” beyond the borders of classic full frame cinema and fill the otherwise dark edges of the screen with beautiful custom imagery, giving audiences a new view of their animated classic favorite.

-About Toby Bluth Disney artist Toby Bluth tells how the movie inspired him to create the superb DisneyView art.

-Mirror, Mirror On The Wall Through BD-Live, this mirror can find the secret princess inside each viewer with a series of questions, then create for them a personal message from their favorite princess who will call them on the telephone.

-What Do You See? To win this exciting interactive game, players must untangle scrambled images.

-Jewel Jumble Players put jewels from the Dwarfs? mine in the proper order to win this game.

-Scene Stealer Allows viewers to upload a personal photo and experience life as one of the Seven Dwarfs on-screen in the actual film.

The Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: Diamond Edition is priced at $39.99 SRP.

STREET DATE: October 6, 2009
Direct prebook: August 11, 2009
Distributor prebook: August 25, 2009
Pricing: Diamond Edition Blu-ray + DVD Combo Pack: $39.99 SRP
Feature run time: 84 minutes
Rated: G
FastPlay?: FastPlay enabled on DVD
Aspect ratio: Widescreen (1.33:1)
Sound: 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
French and Spanish Language Tracks
Languages: English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.
Technical specifications may only apply to feature.

Film: C-
The bar for horror has unfortunately risen so high that we are desensitized. Moderate successes are aped, often formulaic, and a stream of young faces that populate these films, phone in performances and desperately trying to manufacture frightened reactions to extreme gore, carefully timed audio cues and ogrish visuals. Is The Uninvited any different? It is actually, but it’s not any better.

A young girl named Anna (Emily Browning) is released from psychiatric care and reunited with her father (David Strathairn) and older sister Alex (Arielle Kebbel). The reason she was away from home was due to deep depression and mental anguish after her ailing mother died in a tragic accident. So it doesn’t help to see dad move on so quickly and carry on with his very young and fresh girlfriend, Rachel (Elizabeth Banks) who was, get this, her mother’s live-at-home nurse. Multiply suspicion and teen angst times two and you can guess where this plot is headed.

Alex begins to plant the seed in Anna’s head that Rachel is the cause of their mother’s death and Anna’s haunted visions allow this seed to grow like a Jack’s bean stock. Everything culminates to the ever-caring father leaving his children alone with Rachel for a weekend because, it’s just not enough that dead people within Anna’s circle and who is noticeably still haunted, he has a book tour to kick off. What does he care anyway, he’s got young hot tail waiting for him at home. Since he’s obviously not going to see the truth in Rachel, his daughters plot to reveal to him her true nature of being a first class bitch. They also live on an island with only one road in and out.

I’m being a little insensitive but it’s not far off. Truly the film isn’t as bad as I’m making it out to be. Acting is actually solid, the cinematography is nice, and the undercurrents of a real thriller are there thanks to the co-direction of brothers, Charles and Thomas Guard. Strathairn is fine as always, and Banks (who Hollywood is trying to sell as the girl who can play any part) turns in a nice performance as a girl-you-don’t-want-to-trust, but I was just disenchanted through most of the film. There’s just not enough here to make it memorable. Browning has that odd look for a child to make you feel suspicious and reserved, she’s great but that’s it. The night I watched it, I wanted to be scared shitless. I had hoped for some everlasting impressions that fester into deeper psychological digging, a post-film nightmare even, but his movie is so subdued it’s almost appropriate for daytime television.

Uninvited is a remake of the equally average but slightly edgier Korean flick, Tale of Two Sisters. It’s far less uncomfortable than the original with it’s handling of the father-daughter relationship that suggests a mild Oedipus complex. I’ve never been a big fan of Americanized remakes of Asian films, however, Uninvited does deviate enough to stand on its own and not be just another poor translation. It might have helped if the source material was bolder to begin with, though. Instead it takes the basic structure of Two Sisters and then knocks it all down in a clever and neat way, which, in case you haven’t watched many horror films in the last ten years is a wee bit trite these days.

Emily Browning and Arielle Kebbel in The Uninvited

Video: B+
The 1080p High Definition AVC-Encoded transfer is in 1.85:1 contrast ratio. Details like textures and scenery look fine. Contrast ratio was good, blacks were fairly deep and dark. Colors and skintones looked natural. This isn’t the sharpest picture quality with some noticeable grainy throughout the film but it’s overall acceptable.

Audio: B
Uninvited comes to your home theater through a 5.1 English Dolby TrueHD track. The HD audio is nice but it’s a little bit of overkill for what is otherwise a center channel heavy film. All of the scare effects burst nicely to help you jump out of your seat and some music / effects that travel to the rears. It’s nice, but nothing particularly special and a little underwhelming. There’s also a 5.1 French and a 5.1 Spanish Dolby Digital tracks available. Subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Extras: D+
There’s just not much here but what is here is in high definition though and in Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo.

Unlocking the Uninvited HD (19:00) – is a making-of special that goes down the list of usual things to discuss like the casting, the plot, but more importantly the comparison to the Korean original, Tale of Two Sisters and how they adapted this film in comparison to its predecessor.

Deleted Scenes HD (5:37) – 4 scenes cut that were unnecessary and actually humanizes Rachel’s character. The cuts were important because the point of view should remain on the protagonist.

Alternate Ending HD (0:50) – This ending doesn’t really change much of anything but it does take away some of the subtle ambiguity in the ending in case you can’t put two and two together.

Overall Shock Value: C-
Had you not known about Tale of Two Sisters, I’d recommend it as a weekday rental to replace your weekly crime investigation fix. In yet another Americanized horror remake, the filmmakers have a clear picture of what their story is. Still, The Uninvited lacks the fright factor that top-notch horror films have or the ambition of wanting to be better than something ordinary.

Ernie Estrella

The life of a professional wrestler can often be a sad and lonely one, a career where countless dues are paid for a chance of stardom, and after the glitz is gone, can be a retirement of pain and loneliness. But for Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke), it’s all he knows. At the height of his fame, he forged a rivalry with “Ayatollah” (an Iron Sheik nod), and there was a chance of a rematch some 20 years later, but like all athletes, eventually the body fails you and he has a heart attack in the locker room. The one thing he knows best, taken away from him. His free time is endless now, so he asks his part-time job to see if they can get him something with more hours; which brings him to behind the deli counter.

His solitude often brings him to a local strip joint, there he is a frequent customer of “Cassidy” (Marisa Tomei). She understands him, listens to him, pays attention to the details of his life, but is she really this understanding, or is is part of her performance. She has a personal code of not mixing work with pleasure. Now that he’s sidelined for good, Cassidy suggests Randy spend quality time with his estranged daughter, Stephanie (Ever Rachel Wood) who he walked out on when she was young. Even though he’s as big as a bear, his heart is made of glass – shattered, fragmented in so many pieces and with his second chance on life, he aims to make good on it and do his best to start a new life, a new career, and begin to repair what he had so often broken. But this is no Disney movie, this is the story of Randy “The Ram” Robinson and he’s far from being perfect and you know he’s going to fuck it all up-badly. As much as you want it to work out for him you know it won’t. So he risks his life and turns to the one thing that’s always been there: The Square Ring.

Director Darren Aronofsky comes back with a force with The Wrestler, a gritty look into one performer in one big circus and the pain that that life has brought him. Inspired by real professional wrestlers who scrounge small gyms and arenas for a few measly hundred bucks, punishing their bodies with no health insurance, no pension, and no guarantee they’re going to get out of bed the next morning. Sure there’s acting involved, but the physical ballet and gaudy spectacle of professional wrestling often hides the real men and women playing the roles as well as the physical and mental sacrifices they make.

Eerily chosen for the role was Rourke, whose own career had risen and fallen, much to his own management and yet, he delivers the comeback story of 2008-2009. You cannot take your eyes off him, okay, well except for when the equally accomplished Tomei is on the screen, who just seems to get easier on the eyes and more impressive of an actor with age. They both portray people who understand each other’s desire to have all eyes on them, that they are in the business of performing, and they are two people who know the songs by Ratt, Scorpion, and Cinderella aren’t songs exclusive to Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80’s. They’re just two people who can’t escape their profession enough to enjoy their real lives.

I walk away after seeing The Wrestler respecting the men and women who step in the ring, and knowing how fleeting the success of a entertainer can be whether it be an athlete, a singer, or and actor. But what grabbed me was the story of the underdog, to see a man with a big heart try his damnedest to fix his broken life and a man who is trying to win you over; who is fighting not to be forgotten.

Video: B
The picture is gritty and grainy but Aronofsky and company purposely shot it this way though so there’s no reason to be up in arms about it. Still it boasts a 1080p high definition transfer at 2.35:1 ratio and maintains Arnofsky’s vision of the film. The color palette reproduces well from the drab and dull world outside the ring to the garish spectacle inside the ring with neon outfits, and the harsh lighting. Those bright colors hold up throughout the high speed action of the wrestling. Skin tones look a little on the pink side but otherwise are fairly accurate and shadows appear right for correct depth perception. It isn’t reference material, nor was it meant to be.

Audio: A-
It’s a small film, yes, but there’s plenty of opportunity for The Wrestler to shine in a home theater. First of all the driving sounds of 80’s Rock whether it’s Quiet Riot or Guns N’ Roses, hard driving guitars and drums ring out all around you from the get-go in the English 5.1 DTS-HD soundtrack. It will pump you up, get the juices flowing, and during the matches, the crowd noise swirls around you, the chanting the shouting, pan around in a very fun way. Dynamic range is excellent as scenes switch from those scenes where the Ram is by himself in his trailer or shooting up drugs in the locker room where all you hear is the buzzing of the lights, to the raucous scenes in the arena. Clint Mansell’s subdued score (with guitars by Slash) is mixed to get that emotional tug at your heart but not pull attention to itself. A Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital track is also included and English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Spanish are available.

Extras: B-
Highlighted by a solid Making-Of special, and a hard-hitting round table discussion with WWF legends (which is a great idea), Arnofsky has been known to put a better effort with his home releases. This release is sorely missing a commentary track but other than those two joints, there’s not much to smoke on here.

Within The Ring SD (42:43) – In this behind-the-scenes special, Aronofsky along with some of the crew walk you through some of the important aspects, the locations, the composition of the score in a nice comprehensive making of although in some areas you’d like the piece to go a bit further. I do favor these types of featurettes instead of the five to ten vignettes that last 5-10 minutes each to mask the quality with quantity. In Aronofsky’s second film, Requiem for a Dream, a similar making-of was made and I think that familiarity is good here. Make sure to stay through the credits though to see the crew partake in some stunt diving out of the ring on the last day of principal shooting.

Wrestler Round Table SD (25:23) – Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, Lex Luger, “Diamond” Dallas Page, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, and Greg “The Hammer” Valentine are interviewed after seeing the film to get their reactions, how true the story was to their lives, dispelling misconceptions and the emotional and anguish life outside the ring. After watching the wrestler you think one of the first reactions is how much of this is inspired by true life. Surprisingly, a lot of it is.

The Wrestler Music Video-Written and performed by Bruce Springsteen SD (3:59)- Given that there were three songs (two in Slumdog Millionaire) I am shocked that this song was not nominated for an Oscar. One of the Boss’ finest original songs for a film in his long and storied career.

Trailers for Wolverine:Origins, Slumdog Millionaire, Notorius, and Bruce Springsteen’s new CD.

Overall Shock Value: B+
The Wrestler is a tug of war between the rush of entertaining and the slow, painful burn of the crash away from the stage. Rourke’s performance in Sin City showed he has a much larger stage presence if given the chance. And now that chance has come. No matter what Rourke does from here (he’s slated for 8 films in 2010, including Iron Man 2), I think people will always go to The Wrestler for not only a defining role, but for a glimpse inside the man himself. It’s his vulnerability as Randy Robinson, not The Ram that will leave the lasting impression and Rourke leaves it all on the mat. Because like “professional” wrestling, The Wrestler is not all acting.

Ernie Estrella