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: 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.

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.

Paul Rudd (Knocked Up) stars as Danny, an energy drink peddler who with his co-worker, Wheeler (Sean William-Scott) avoid jail time for having a meltdown on a high school campus. His girlfriend Beth (Elizabeth Banks) Instead they must complete 150 hours for Sturdy Wings, a mentorship program similar to Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Assigned to the two worst children, Danny must form a bond with socially inept Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) whose only interest is LARPing while Wheeler gets Ronnie (Bobbie J. Thompson), the most vulgar, gangsta-wannabe 10-year old you’ll ever come across.

The two pairs struggle to adjust to their forced arrangements but in time they build surface friendships with each other camping and other day long activities?anything to get through the ordeal as fast as possible. Wheeler finds that he and Ronnie have enough similarities to get by. They both act like kids and they love the ladies, well, parts of them. And Danny accompanies him to his LARP outings meeting other eccentrics like Kuzzik (Joe Lo Truglio) and perhaps the most creative casting of 2008 outside of Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder, Dr. Ken Jeong (Knocked Up) as the King. But like all good things, Danny and Wheeler mess up big again, and lose the trust of their “littles” facing the wrath of Galye Sweeney (Jane Lynch), creator of Sturdy Wings and violate their community service. Augie gets kicked out of his LARPing group, and Wheeler puts his little member before Ronnie. It all builds to a climax with Danny and Wheeler facing jail time again and risk it all to be good “bigs” by supporting Augie and forming their own LARP tribe, a tribute to the rock band KISS and head into Cos-play battle that looks like something out of a low-rent local renaissance festival.

Role Models is fast with the laughs and full of improvised lines that will have you rolling. Rudd has fast become this generation’s poster boy for young cynics, selfish and quick to douse any fun being had around them with dry wit venom. His performance is the anchor that holds the ship sturdy in seemingly unchartered waters. But the two young actors, Thompson and Mintz-Plasse (Superbad’s McLovin’) step up and will easily win you over. And as much as LARPing is poked at, I think even their biggest champions with a sense of humor would be proud at the loving care given to put a pretty positive spin on it. It might be the film most unlikely of films to win you over, but that’s what makes it so good.

Video: A-
Role Models hath a 1080 AVC-encoded MPEG-4 transfer and maintains the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio of the theatrical release. This isn’t the type of film where you’re looking for high definition to impress you, but it does. Colors are saturated at a comfortable level and skintones look pleasing and natural. There’s good contrast and shadows throughout the film whether it be day scenes in the sunlight or camping at night with campfires being the only source of light. Don’t bother looking to be distracted by any artificial enhancement or marring effects because there simply are none. Universal does a smash-up job here.

Audio: B+
On the technical side, Role Models does an admirable job at once again startling you in high definition with a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. By no means are we talking a sci-fi film here, but as a dialogue-driven film, most of the audio accurately placed in the center channel speaker and ramps up for big music moments and big scenes, but there some ambient background noise that gets pushed to the surround channels. Spanish and French 5.1 DTS tracks are also available.

Extras: B+

All of the featurettes are in high definition and in 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo.

Starting off, there’s anAudio Commentary with Director/Co-Writer David Wain and it’s worth a listen or two. He talks about the plot points, and where cuts were made and why, and working in the improvisation style. I think I would have liked one of the child actors on the bill just to have that second point of view who could ask questions and converse with Wain but this is not a bad place to visit fresh after watching the film.Rather than have several small featurettes, Universal gives you the option of U-Control Picture-in-Picture – which I’m beginning to really enjoy on the blu-ray format. It gives you a chance to go through the film again, and perhaps know a little more behind a scene and see final moment behind. Some of the many things to learn about are the truth behind the Minotaur, behind the camera stuff, interviews with cast and crew as they explore their own characters at different moments of the story. No doubt that much of this material will be split off into featurettes for the DVD, however the picture-in-picture experience is exclusive to blu-ray.

Deleted Scenes and Alternate Takes (49:49)- is a whopping mass of extra and extended takes which are showing up more on these outrageous comedy films. There’s lots of good stuff here to laugh at, and also some character developing of Ronnie’s mom who is revealed to be strongly attracted to Wheeler, but I think wisely the crew decided against that and all of the scenes relating to that. This is a blu-ray exclusive also.

Bloopers (3:55)- I’m not sure why they couldn’t fit these in either in the U-Control Picture-in-Picture or the Alternate Takes but these are your typical bloopers.

On the Set of Role Models ( 7:41)Co-writers Paul Rudd, David Wain and Ken Marino chat about the film and how it came together.

Game On: Creating a Role Playing World (9:43) is a good featurette about taking the bold turn in featuring LARPing and trying to be faithful to that world but having fun with it.

In-Character & Off-Script (8:07) – three little skit scenes with “Sturdy Wings Salutes: Martin Gary, Kuzzik: Proud Xanthian, Davith of Glencracken.

Ye Olde Crest Maker – a useless exercise in creating your own crest from 4 templates, not one of them is worth revisiting.

Overall Shock Value: B+

Comedy is such a subjective thing that I often caution recommending any comedic film to everyone. If you like vulgar comedies, and you’ve got a little geek in you, then Role Models gets my full endorsement. As for the unrated vs. rated, I could barely tell the three minute difference but there’s a little more nudity and a little more vulgarity. But remember that there’s enough “Aww shucks” sweetness at the end to balance all of that out. Role Models will come out of nowhere and please you. Any film that does that is a good one in my book and here it’s honored with bonus material that compliments the blu-ray format with multiple ways to view the film after the first run. So gather a bunch of your rowdiest drinking friends and watch Role Models. It’’s so good you may even be inspired to make costumes and go LARPing afterwards. You never know.

Ernie Estrella

FEATURE: A

The villain group, SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-Intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) takes down a plane carrying nuclear warheads with an undercover agent posing as a pilot. Intelligence suspects the plane is submerged underwater after it goes off the radar somewhere in the Bahama waters. Agent 007 (Sean Connery) leads a team in Nassau to find the weapons before they can be used against the allies. He meets not one, but two curvaceous redheads, Domino (Claudine Auger) who is linked to mysterious Largo (Adolfo Celi), a shark aficionado with a mansion off coast. Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi) enters the arena who turns out to be a SPECTRE agent with a nasty bedside manner. Can he and his allies find the plane, the nukes, and save the day in time to tag both Bond girls? Of course, we are talking about James Bond here.

Terence Young directs, sadly his final Bond film arguably the best of the lot. A raw energy flowed through his three films, unseen in many of the later films. He created spy epics without unwarranted excess. Mystery, suspense, and seduction were always present in nearly every frame under Young’s and Thunderball, achieved the perfect blend of those qualities with an imaginative spy script. Fortunately as directors come and go, and different men get fitted for the tuxedo, the constant force behind the films remains constant with producers, Alfred Broccoli and Harry Saltzman who with Thunderball managed to salvage the production from legal troubles when former Ian Fleming collaborators, Kevin McClory and Jack Whittingham tried to sue back in 1961, when it was thought to be the first Bond film. Thankfully, the much-storied past off-camera did nothing to tarnish what happened on-camera.

It’s the fantasy world of espionage that we’re drawn to, men–dark and mysterious, women–exotic and deadly, situations–we’ve played out as children. But it’s the most capable agent, James Bond, was born a movie icon because he was unpredictable. He got the job done but he was never a boy scout, these were stories based off pulp fiction. 007 killed who he needed using his body as a weapon and then seduced the weak for the good of gaining information–but he always used his smarts and thought on the fly. Connery conveyed all of these qualities better than anyone else and is a big reason Thunderball remains as one of the best 007 films ever. Released for the first time on blu-ray, Thunderball remains a timeless gem that now has the benefits of high definition to match the quality of the film for years to come.

PRESENTATION: B+

The packaging is a standard case in a cardboard slipcase. There are two stickers that cover the slipcase, one of which is a promotion for e-Movie Cash towards the new Quantum of Solace film. The problem though is when you pull the label off to reveal the redemption code, part of the ink of the code and the adhesive stays behind. I wound up using the the adhesive of the other sticker to clean up the case, a tedious and unnecessary annoyance.

As in all of the newer James Bond releases, the same menu design is carried through with a modern and sleek appearance. A spiraling gun barrel frames the screen as silhouettes of shapely women and clips scroll by. The navigation has a spy theme with choices like “Language Decryption” for “Audio”, and “Initiate Mission” for “Play.” Moving within each selection like the extras can be a little cumbersome moving up and down and then to the left to get out of that nav bar, and “Play All” is only an option that shows up some of the time. Once you’ve viewed a special it automatically moves down the menu when your natural instinct is to move to the next selection. Another awkward default is that in the commentary selections it starts at the last track and you have to move up to see the rest. White subtitles are available in English and Spanish.

AUDIO: A–

With each film, the sound mix gets better and better. In this, the fourth 007 film, more sound effects pan around and behind you like gunfire and helicopters. The subwoofer gets much more constant work than in Dr. No and From Russia with Love. The rumble from jets is robust and plumes of the explosion are accompanied with the rattling of your floorboards. Everything sounds great on this new, 5.1 DTS-HD lossless audio track and it’s exciting to hear a film this old sound so good. The original English and Spanish Mono tracks are included for the nostalgic, and so is a French 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack.

VIDEO: A+

The 1080p transfer is AVC MPEG-4 encoded and is in 2.35:1 and the Lowry Restoration process works wonders on Bond–the Connery films especially. The set designs have so much more depth to them with frescos on the walls and ornate decor throughout and in general seem like more color-rich films than the 1970’s era of 007. Maurice Binder’s title sequences dazzle in the high def. Crisp details of those voluptuous silhouettes have defined edges and the primary hues illuminate the room you’re watching it in. Blacks are deep, dark, and truly black. The range of blues and greens in the Nassau coral reefs can be picked up at a glance and underwater sequences look like a freshly-cleaned aquarium. Note the dramatic contrast in outfits in the climactic scuba brawl especially when the camera pans out to fit over twenty stuntmen in one shot. In older versions of the film both sides look they’re all wearing dark suits when the allies are actually wearing bright red-orange scuba gear.

EXTRAS: A+

Like all of the Bond blu-rays, they’ve transplanted all of the extras from the recent DVD releases. They are in standard definition, widescreen and sport a 2.0 Dolby Stereo mix. Each of these Bond films have a different degree of strength concerning the extras. Some have a literal vault of archival footage, which can be nice, but also can be dull. Thunderball though is a strong all-around disc complete with two phenomenal Audio Commentaries and some great finds in the MI6 Vault.

John Cork of the Ian Fleming Foundation returns to moderate the first commentary to teach us yet more lessons in Bond 101. His comments allow you to study particular points of scenes while the folding in the excerpt interviews with the cast and crew members such as director, Terence Young, composer John Barry, Luciana Paluzzi, and Ricou Browning who coordinated the underwater scenes that add new dimensions to the viewing experience. Cork hosts the second commentary with screenwriter, John Hopkins and editor, Peter Hunt. They even have a little fun here mixing in the Spanish audio for a change and playing the original title song “Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” sung by Dionne Warwick. Whether you’re a casual fan or a diehard double agent, these two extras are invaluable pieces of cinematic history–DO NOT pass them up.

In the MI6 Vault is an NBC TV Special from 1965 called, The Incredible World of James Bond (50:54) which is an encyclopedia of sorts of the first four Bond films. Lots of it is redundant material if you’ve watched all of the early films, and is a comprehensive overview if this is your only Bond purchase. A Child’s Guide to Blowing Up a Car–1965 Ford Promotional Film (17:09) make believes that you’re a bored young boy with an over-zealous and cinephile father who’s been invited on the set during the shoot of the car chase. It’s an ingenious way to do a behind-the-scenes spot, but it runs a bit long for my taste and…frankly gets annoying, but it does have cool title sequence. On Location(13:06) is a cool trip down memory lane with set designer, Ken Adam and the pre-production footage of him, Harry Saltzman, and Albert Broccoli scouting where and what to shoot. The Rocket Man Movies (3:54) interviews Bill Suitor, the man strapped to the infamous rocket pack Bond uses to getaway in the opening scene. He discuses what it feels like to go up in the air with the suit and the revelation of why Bond suddenly though, “safety first.” Thunderball Boat Show Reel (2:51) is a publicity clip of a much shorter alternative cut of scuba brawl scene, where amusing 1965 TV commercials advertise the official 007 raincoat, pants, and secret agent spy pen and paper in Selling Bonds (2:05).

007 Mission Control is the throw-away extra which allows users to access all of the major elements of film strung together in different branches: opening credits, women, allies, villains, mission combat manual, Q branch, and exotic location. The best purpose I see for this is to showcase the action scenes for reference material or to pull out the great Maurice Binder credits. Three 1995 featurettes make up the “Mission Dossier”, Making of Thunderball (27:34) takes you on a basic overview of the big moments of the film, casting and Connery, Claudine Auger, and Luciana Paluzzi reflect on memorable scenes. The Thunderball Phenomenon (31:04) gives background to the James Bond “novel” beginnings, memorabilia and Ian Fleming facts, and the insane popularity of the series. The Secret History of Thunderball (3:56) shows that there were varying versions of a handful of scenes where different dialogue was used, or it was dubbed differently or the scene was taken out completely. No real explanations are given though. In the “Ministry of Propaganda” are three theatrical trailers (8:26), six TV spots (3:31) and ten radio commercials (5:03). An extensive gallery full of promotional and behind-the-scenes images closes out the extras.

BOND. THUNDER BOND – OVERALL SHOCK VALUE: A

As stated above, Thunderball encapsulated the right mix of spy games and sexual tension. Its fresh screenplay aimed big, but succeeded with the basics. The action was never over the top, nor did the gadgets seem out of this world. The Bond girls electrified the screen and Connery’s leading man mojo is as fierce as ever. The only thing it lacked was a legendary villain. Trumping the recent DVD with better sound and even better video, another classic film benefits from the blu-ray treatment.

FEATURE:

Forgive me to open an old sore but remember when Tom Cruise wanted to make an Iron Man film, and star as Tony Stark? Hot off of his terrible yet somehow profitable Mission: Impossible franchise and New Line Cinema aggressively trying to make it happen. Think about that for a second… with his obligatory running scene, lots of deep inhaling and sighing…indeed… what an awful film that could have been! Instead, patient Iron Man comic fans were rewarded with Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwenyth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, and Director Jon Favreau. Up to that point, Iron Man was a just a rocking Black Sabbath song to the rest of the country. Keyword: Was.

For those still in the minority, Stark, a billionaire industrialist and arms dealer to the US government, is wounded by shrapnel and captured by terrorists. He is forced to create them a powerful weapon but instead builds a battle suit of armor for himself and escapes. Ridden with guilt when he sees the weapons he created fall into the hands of his captors, Stark gets inspired to engineer new armors modifying them and testing them becoming a hero to rid the world of his warfare and thwart those trying to steal his tech. Though not your typical hero, Stark balances his shrewd businessman tactics with smooth playboy moves as a public persona, but when alone is a technological genius.

With such a heroic arc, Downey was an inspirational casting. With so many clouds that hovered over career, he had turned it around with memorable roles in Scanner Darkly (2006), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) and Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), but the one thing that escaped him was a blockbuster role that everyone could reach the masses. Here he’s the center of attention delivering the brash and cocky side to Stark while channeling the brilliant engineer. We experience his discovery while he tests the suits and dream for a bit. He’s not perfect and that’s how we’re sold on Tony Stark. In the pending sequels Downey will face Stark’s bout with alcoholism and battling demons from within something he brings to the table from personal experience.

Paltrow ravished as Stark’s strawberry blonde assistant, Pepper Potts, Howard’s Col. James Rhodes complimented Stark and Bridges’ played up a villainous Obadiah Stane. The cast chemistry was there and with a script devoted to please the comic fans with the timing of computer effects advancement, Iron Man laid it all out.

Favreau gets Co-MVP (Swingers, Elf), by breaking out of the small film world and tapping into those sensibilities with the blockbuster tools. When he created a Myspace page devoted to Iron Man brainstorming sessions with longtime readers, it showed this guy cared about creating a faithful, yet modern adaptation of Iron Man. The result is a slick composite of stories spanning the 70’s and 80’s Armor Wars with Obadiah Stane to the Extremis re-launch and even the under the helmet experience of the 90’s comics. Though asked to compress all of Stark’s story elements, Favreau wisely chose to save some of those (alcoholism, Rhodey in War Machine) for the eventual sequels. The ability to do that without the nagging pressure of the usual big studio heads (See Spider-Man 3) and the confidence in Favreau’s plan paid off!

For the big screen, Iron Man was made contemporary taking it out of the Korean War origin and applying the Middle Eastern angle showing the timelessness as well as its relevance in the modern world. Because of that it struck a nerve with longtime readers of the comics and those introduced in the theater. More importantly Marvel Studios had a successful launch and could develop many more quality films if they take a similar approach to their vault of characters and ideas.

Presentation:
A slipcase holds the usual Blu-Ray disc holder. At Comic-Con, Marvel was giving out lenticular slipcases for the DVD release but sadly none for Blu-Ray. Menu design is simple, having a slick animation sequence with video feeds and the Jarvis HUD (Heads-Up Display) spiraling Iron Man. There are a total of 15 chapters although you can add bookmarks while watching the film. Subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese. DIsc one also has preview trailers of Star Trek, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and The Incredible Hulk as well as a commercial for the Iron Man animated series.

Video:
The feature is in 1080P, AVC encoded and sparkles in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Blacks are deep, and colors pop like in the Santa Monica pier or the Mark III armor. All of the reflective metal surfaces and battle worn textures the video show nicely. There’s still some film grain and softness to the image which, personally I enjoy because it recreates the theater experience rather than mucking up the picture with edge enhancement. There are only a few scenes, like when Tony is either lifting off or landing, where you truly know the armor is done by CGI.

Audio:
There are three soundtracks: 5.1 Dolby TrueHD, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. There will be a bit of disappointment with the lack of a English Dolby Digital track for those who may not be fitted with a receiver that can read the HD Audio tracks, it simply defaults to a DD 2.0 mix. The Dolby True HD track though is a lively track, with lots of punch when Stark is testing out the repulsors and the big battle at the end. Dialogue is clear whether Jeff Bridges is shouting or Downey Jr. is whispering something to Paltrow’s Pepper. The heaviness of all of armor and metal comes booming through with resounding explosions, thuds, and clanks that will have your neighbors covering their ears. You’ll have fun replaying the opening scene and chapter 11 (the jet scene) as demo material. With all the flying and gun shooting there’s plenty for your surrounds to create an encompassing aural environment making this a definite reference disc in home theater rooms across the country. The upgrade to HD audio is worth every single penny.

Extras:

DISC ONE

Starting with Stan Lee, Gerry Conway, and Gene Colan to the characters’ renaissance in the Bob Layton, David Micheline and John Romita Jr. era, THE INVINCIBLE IRON MAN (47:04) is a very comprehensive documentary on the men behind the comics of Iron Man. Warren Ellis and Adi Granov were rightly spotlighted for their modern-day reboot of the character (Iron Man: Extremis) that would later become the template for the film. Others who participated were editors, Joe Quesada, Tom Brevoort, writers Joe Casey, Dan and Charlie Knauf and artist Patrick Zircher. Every major landmark is covered even Ultimate Iron Man except the current Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca run on Invincible Iron Man. This feature was probably produced well before those comics were planned but it is one of the best superhero comics today. This feature can be seen in one sitting or in six separate chapters.

In the 11 EXTENDED/DELETED SCENES (23:56) two smaller arcs are taken out of the film: Stark’s very tight friendship with Rhodey and in Dubai, how Pepper stumbles on Tony’s secret adventures. Both arcs also revealed more of Stark’s playboy lifestyle which to some of the tame may have been too unlikable. There’s also an alternate ending showing a more emotional parting of Obadiah and Tony. When you go back to how smooth the film runs, these cuts were better left on the floor but deleted scenes always show the importance of the editing process, where if you decide to cut out one thing, everything related to that scene must go as well.

Of the Blu-Ray exclusives the HALL OF ARMOR takes users on an interactive tour of the Mark I, II, III, and Iron Monger suits with 360 degree views and close-ups on specific parts and their functionality. BD-LIVE features include being able to fly around in the different suits, 3-D schematics of the weapons and a IQ Trivia quiz.

DISC TWO

The beef is in the 109-minute behind-the-scenes, I AM IRON MAN featurette which can be viewed into seven parts separately or all altogether covering principle photography, the acting underneath the armors, contributions from Stan Winston Studio (molding and body casting) and Kyle Cooper’s Prologue Films (the cool end credits and HUD), and the incredible mass of post-production work orchestrated by Favreau. See him bounce from different parts of Skywalker Sound and you’ll see how he lost so much weight over the course of Iron Man. Comic book fans will get a kick out of Marvel’s top brass editorial and writing staff that included Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar, Axel Alonso, and Joe Quesada touring the studio and giving their input on how Stark is portrayed in the comics. These types of meetings should be mandatory for all comic book film adaptations because of their closeness and familiarity with these characters. It was also a surprise to see former
comic artist, Stephen Platt show up as one of the conceptual artists.

Favreau attempted to use special effects only where it was needed and when viewing WIRED: THE VISUAL EFFECTS OF IRON MAN (27:00) the development and contributions of Industrial Light and Magic (Mark II, III, Iron Monger), The Orphanage (HUD Interface), and the Embassy (Mark I) are explained and it’s amazing to see just how seamless their work was in the film.

After watching the ROBERT DOWNEY JR. SCREEN TEST (6:03) you’ll understand why he’s one of the best actors today performing three scenes, in addition to THE ACTOR’S PROCESS (4:13), which shows a rehearsal of Bridges and Downey Jr.’s pivotal scene guided by Favreau. THE ONION WILDLY POPULAR IRON MAN TRAILER TO BE ADAPTED INTO FULL-LENGTH FILM (2:38) is a comedy short done by the popular media spoof, The Onion, that works especially well if you or someone you know overreacts to movie trailers, subsequently expressing defamation on the internet. There’s an extensive GALLERY of conceptual art and production stills. Comic book fans familiar with Adi Granov’s art will enjoy looking at alternate armor designs and how much the art direction was based off his stunning work. Rounding out the second disc are four Theatrical TRAILERS in DD 5.1. The two domestic trailers show you the goods throughout while the international trailers do a better job of concealing the
Mark III armor until the end.

All of the featurettes are in high definition, widescreen (except the Onion short) and in Dolby Digital 2.0. It is however lacking a commentary track, which is disappointing, only because Jon Favreau and crew really devoted themselves to making a great film and would have provided an entertaining track. A very minor gripe, and greedy but there’s still plenty to pique the interest Iron Man whether it’s casual and diehard.

The Round-Up

Marvel Studios took a second tier character and made him a house-hold name. Concerns of what Marvel has to offer after Spider-Man and the X-Men have been squashed because not only have they established a new franchise in Iron Man, but they’ve laid the foundation to open the rest of their universe if you wait to watch after the credits. There was no doubt in my mind how much fun Iron Man was this summer; if Spider-Man was a home run, then this left the ballpark! It’s with my biggest recommendation that if you want to recreate that experience at home that this blu-ray release is the best way to do that.