First up is Colleen Atwood who has a mile long list of films to her credit including many of Burton’s films and won two Oscars for Memoirs of a Geisha (2006) and Chicago (2002) and has been nominated for several others. She just finished The Rum Diary (2010) based on Hunter S. Thompson’s novel and Johnny Depp’s latest film, The Tourist (2011). She will be teaming up with Depp and Burton again for Dark Shadows (2011).

You’ve worked with Tim Burton multiple times. What has it been like to work with him, and how are his films different to work for than say your next film, The Rum Diary?
Colleen Atwood: Tim is one of a kind, he is really an artist and visually gifted.
The choice of material really determines a lot of design, so in that way, his sensibility would be quite different from that of Bruce Robinson who did The Rum Diary, which is a very gritty journalistic story.

What is the look that you are going for The Rum Diary? What was the inspiration?
CA: The look for The Rum Diary is based on journalistic photos of the time, the budding sixties, contrasting the oil and sugar rich, with the abject poverty of the island.

What is so attractive Burton’s films?
CA: The collaborative process with Tim is a rare gift in the world of film.

How close did you make the costume designs to Tim’s original sketches?
CA: Usually I see the sketches later, as Tim does not just stick a drawing in front of me.

How close do you work with the director?
CA: The director is my first collaborator, even before the actor. For me it is a very close working relationship.

With working with Burton as many times as you have, are there any sort of things that you automatically know to do or to come up with style wise? Or is each film sort of a different beast?
CA: Every film Tim makes is a new experience, there are no givens. I’d say a graphic sense would be the strongest continuum.

Why are (the right) costumes important for a movie?
CA: The right costume determines the character, helps the actor feel who he is, and serves the story.

How much power does the clothing have over the character?
CA: Clothing serves to help create character, along with the writing and acting.

I read somewhere that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp both do sketches of Depp’s characters before filming. I was wondering how their creative process plays into yours?
CA: So far it has been great. With the Hatter, we pretty much all came up with the same vibe.

For these Burton films, but also for movies like Public Enemies, you designed a lot of costumes for Johnny Depp. Does the process get easier if you know an actor?
CA: The level of trust is an important part of collaboration, so I would say that makes it more relaxed, but it also makes it more of a challenge since you always want change it up and come up with new ideas.

When do you know, when a character is finished?
CA: Never.

When you took on the “Alice” project, did you aim to separate the costumes from the Disney animated classic, or did you try to play off the animated movie? Was there a balance that you felt had to be met?
CA: I really didn’t look to the animated version as much as I did to the Tenniel and Carroll illustrations-then I moved on.

How much inspiration did you draw from the original book?
CA: I gave a sort of nod to the young Alice, then departure…oh and the hat…

Which character’s costumes did you find the most challenging to design, and which came most easily?
CA: In Alice, the technical side of Alice’s shrinking and growing were very challenging. Stayne (Crispin Glover) was originally not a real costume, but we couldn’t quite get it right, so we ended up actually making it in order for it to work.

How many dresses did you make for Alice and what have inspired you to create them?
CA: Alice had around 8 looks, and multiples of most of them, so there were around 20 hand-made costumes. The script and idea of Alice as an exploring spirit really inspired me.

What was the inspiration for the red and white world of Alice in Wonderland?
CA: The Red Queen and White Queen were named in the script, so for the Red Kingdom it was the playing card motif and for the White Kingdom the inspiration was more Nordic meets Louis 14

What were the challenges of making costumes for such oddly-shaped characters and CGI?
CA: I love an odd shape, so all the bodies in Alice were wonderful fun for me. The CGI element was interesting because so much of my process is in the actual draping on a body. I swatched all the virtual fabrics, trims and buttons to help in the visual process and give continuity to the world.

What stories would you like to tell with the clothes?
CA: So many. I love the story “Daughter of Fortune”, spanning the 1800s in North and South America. I love anything that is a great tale.

You have also done films like Public Enemies. How is the experience of working on a film with historical references different than that of something that allows more creativity, like Alice?
CA: I love the experience of examining history that my work gives me.
The gritty reality of John Dillinger’s world is as fascinating to me as the fantastical world of Alice. The human factor of the story is what attracts me.

What movie are you most proud of?
CA: I really don’t have that emotion with my work on a one by one basis. I think that I am very lucky to be able to do the work I have done, and am happy to be creating what I create.

What has been your hardest movie to design for?
CA: Planet of the Apes was physically the most difficult movie of my
career. The challenges were vast, and the day to day running of that sort of film is daunting

Designers are often dressed minimalistic and in black, because they’re ‘full’ of clothing. How are you dressing yourself?
CA: I am fond of black, but try to add a little white around my face.
I wear jeans a lot for work because they are good for a 14-hour day, which is my norm.

Any final thoughts on ALICE IN WONDERLAND?
CA: Alice in Wonderland was a dream project. The collaboration between Tim and Johnny, along with the amazing cast, made bringing such a historic piece to the world of 3D animation, one of my favorite projects for life.

Next we have Dermot Power, a conceptual artist who has worked on films such as V for Vendetta, Batman Begins, and the Bioshock videogame. He worked with Tim Burton to help establish the eerie and wickedly fun atmosphere of Alice in Wonderland. This is a virtual presentation of Dermot’s artwork with moderation by Mindy Johnson of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Dermot Power, David Jessen, VP of DVD Productions at WDHE, and Jim Davy, producer of the Alice in Wonderland Blu-Ray/DVD. I am in the conference via phone and ask a few questions at the end of the conference.

Mindy Johnson: Dermot, talk a little bit about, when you first got the call for this film. And we’re going to shift to a couple of your – one of your first images of Alice. But if you’d like to give us some insight into certainly your work with Tim.

Dermot Power: Yes, I got a call from Tim’s assistant, (Derrick). And I’ve worked with Tim in the past on “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” and – but there was a big team of concept artists on that, and I never actually met Tim himself, but he knew my work. So he sort of asked his assistant to track the guy who did that type of stuff on the other film down, and he wanted to have a chat. He was quite (led) into the production of “Alice in Wonderland,” and was trying to get the design and look of the film you know to match his vision. It was a dream come true for me, because I’m a big fan of Tim Burton, and to sit there and have a chat with him, and I’m obviously a big fan of “Alice in Wonderland.” In fact, I’ve worked on another “Alice in Wonderland” production about 10 years before. It was a great opportunity.

The bonus was that, while I was having a chat with Tim, he said, “Well, where do you want to work?” And he said, you can work here in the editing, where he was, or from home or – and then he said, “But you know – you know Arthur Rackham?” I’m like, “Yeah, of course.” Arthur Rackham is the 19th century illustrator of “Alice in Wonderland,” and I’m a huge fan of his work. Tim was like well, ‘I bought his studio. So do you want to work in the studio?’ So that was where I ended up working for almost a year. Tim bought (Arthur Racken)’s studio which just happens to be very near where he lives in London and he set up an office there himself. And then I was up in the literally in the attic like the artists in the garrot. Yes, it was great. It was great opportunity.

MJ: Brilliant. I can imagine the inspiration you got from that.

DP: Yes.

MJ: We’re looking at one of the early pieces, (Dermot) if you could explain sort of the construct of this – of Alice, as she is first approaching Wonderland.

DP: So that shot I actually one of the very first shots I did. What I did was I did a very quick sketch for Tim of what I felt the woods should look like. Have that feel, the feel for them which he really liked. And then I took distance from an edited sequence so I knew exactly where – I mean Alice is just a figure in a green environment. And there was nothing in it. What was important to me was to have – with all the things that I designed is contrasting forms. So you know Alice is running straight into the woods on a straight path and crossing her path is this straight tree and then off that you have these very curved shapes that the trees, twisting trees and twisting ferns. Of course when you work for Tim Burton you attempt to find spires you know and excuses for drawing them everyplace so that was the thinking there. And very dark and lines…menacing out in the field I wanted to go for. In fact I did a much more detailed visual of the same shot and when Tim saw it he was like ‘yes, that’s cool’ but you know we don’t – he didn’t need me to do that. He wanted me to do the quite sort of very impressionistic – I don’t want to say simple, but minimalist illustrations that go to the point and didn’t hide the point of the design and the detail. I think before I had arrived on the firm there was a lot of beautiful t-frames illustrated by some of the guys like (Dillion Cole) and people like that at Sony. And I think the problem with that is their’s is so finished and beautiful it’s a little distracting so Tim asked me to come in and just do these quite minimalist, but strong concepts for the shapes and the things that she’d see in Underland.

MJ: Great. Let’s move to the next image of Alice as she is miniaturized. And can you talk a bit about the combination of incorporating the live action imagery into at artwork.

DP: Yes, sure because the sequences were already edited. So I had kind of the luxury of working on what was going to be the final edited sequences in the film, which is very unusual. Usually that’s because I came in quite late and into the production I had that luxury. So, again it’s quite simply done. The painting of the various elements around her but their very, very carefully placed if you know what I mean. So those dandelion clocks and all these kind of little elements, I tried to place them so that it’s a very kind of pleasing composition. But again very simply done, not, I think what it is when I design I like to leave a lot of creative input to the person next along the line. So I prefer to work to that level and then people can put their details and colors and everything in afterwards. I think next is maybe the Hatter.

MJ: Is the Hatter in the concept piece?

DP: Yes that’s purely a concept, in that it doesn’t, it’s not taken from any other edit or anything. It’s just a moment that Tim was trying to think about that hat which was on top of the may pole, in the scene where the Mad Hatter is trying to…it’s like a symbol of what has happened. I mean that didn’t end up in the film actually. But it was sort of trying to think about scale of the hat to the Hatter and that’s quite a conversational piece. I love drawing it to engage in a dialog, conversation with Tim about what he’s thinking about the scene. Rather than the previous image, which was very directly drawn to guide the animators and people afterwards as to where things should be in the sequence. This is more kind of a discussion piece. I remember Tim had in mind what he wanted for that sequence where the village is being, Mad Hatters village is being burned out, it was very, very tricky to get what he needed because it needed to be quite minimal. And I was trying to, I was looking for symbols to put across what had happened. And the top hat, the Hatter looking under the hat. I don’t know if you see that little skull under there. That would have never had made it in a Disney Alice in Wonderland. Maybe a Tim Burton one but yes, I don’t know what I was thinking there.

MJ: Definitely, let’s move to the next piece. Now you also did some design work on props as well.

DP: Yes very little. I did a couple of different of pieces of props. My role kind of became whatever Tim would throw at me I would solve it. So if he needed me to do a prop I would do the prop. In fact the dodo, what was quite funny was I did another, maybe I should have sent you that. I did another exact visual of the dodo carrying the flamingos in the caddy, croquet caddy, and I completely got it wrong. In that I had it that the pelicans were trying to burst out of the caddy and they were full of energy and they were, and the dodo was like being crushed by the weight of this and he was sweating and it was completely a different take on it. Tim came in and he looked at it and just was, because he doesn’t say an awful lot. And he just went, ohh ahh, like that. I mean it was completely wrong. He just went, no like this, he drew that essentially, I mean I drew that what you’re looking at but he very quickly did a sketch. What’s wonderful about working for a director who can draw is that he can explain himself, he doesn’t need to say anything he can just do a quick sketch.

MJ: Absolutely. We’re now looking of course at the image with the red queen and the flamingo and the croquet match.

DP: It’s more to the left of the flamingo, but the background, it’s just to design all the shapes that would be behind her head. That’s sort of how I like to design. I don’t think there’s any confusion in about what that background is, even if it isn’t full of photographic detail.

MJ: And moving on to the chambers.

DP: Yes, I think Tim wanted the inside of the palace to reflect the crazy kind of shapes and crazy world that you see from outside. And for inspiration I actually had a researcher dig out as many strange and extraordinary buildings as I could, that I tried to do it myself, I love working with researchers because that way when I’m drawing something else they start digging things out. That’s actually very inspired, now I can’t remember the name but we might have to dig that out, it’s a hotel that (Gaudi) did. It has very similar kind of…it’s got that swirling kind of cast ceiling, it’s based on a real thing. I think Tim wanted everything to look really kind of bonkers and it was really nice to find some actual architecture that was almost as bonkers. I mean it’s not exactly it, but its inspired by it. Yes.

MJ: Well speaking of architecture that’s inspiring, looking at the next slide, if you talk a bit about this.

DP: Yes, again this is part of the sequence where she arrives at the palace and then goes on to the moat of heads. The real sort of doing this is to put across some of that sort of Tim Burton gothiness. I didn’t design the palace though. It had already been done, it was more a case of saying, you know if you guys can find an angle, to give you a flavor of these gothic arches and spiral, that would suit what Tim’s looking for. You’ve moved on to the red queen looking down at the floating heads?

MJ: Yes.

DP: Yes. That’s quite an interesting one because I wasn’t familiar with all of the script and everything that was happening. I mean I read the script and forgot some of it but when Alice was jumping across the heads I got it wrong. I thought it was, that she was jumping across giant heads and not that she was tiny. Which was kind of stupid of me to think that. So I kept, this sequence, I kept drawing the heads quite big and then Tim would come in and go, yes they need to be a little smaller. And then I’d keep making them smaller and smaller and smaller and eventually I was like are these supposed to be human sized heads?

MJ: Yes.

DP: Yes, yes, yes, but because he doesn’t say an awful lot it took me redrawing it, and redrawing it, and redrawing it, but that sequence of her looking in the, down on the moat is, I was really pleased because it’s a lock shot it was almost exactly like that in the film. That’s what Ken Ralston’s team did, which was amazing there, it’s really beautiful. The shot where she’s jumping across again that’s a more finished illustration because Tim was going to the San Diego Comic Con and they wanted some artwork to show from the film and so that was a more simple illustration but I kind of tightened up a little bit. That’s why you’re seeing a rare color one. So I think the other one was as well where the queen was looking down on the head. It’s quite important to Tim as well when I’m doing these visuals that I don’t bring it up to a level of detail that’s trying to mimic the film. Because the film, you don’t want to, I mean for my own personal way of designing I don’t see the point in that, I think designers are trying to inspire and help get to the final vision. But I’m not so sure you need ever to pretend that the frame is the final shot, film sequence, a shot from the film. And I think Tim appreciated the fact that I paid a lot of attention to the kind of light and the mist and everything. You don’t look at that and think oh this is a frame from the film. It’s still quite painterly, which I think he really likes.

MJ: Nice. Moving on to a couple of Jabberwocky images.

DP: They’re actually very late Jabberwocky images, because they already had it done. I think Tim gets notions and ideas and he just wants to explore them and he said oh have a go, because I think what happened is at one point the Jabberwocky that ends up in the film is mostly, it’s very similar to a dragon, traditional dragon but it doesn’t fly in the film. There was decision made at some point by Tim that it wouldn’t fly that it would walk through the woods. He was wondering if he needed to change the design completely. So, again, to help him think about it, I’ll just do a couple of drawings. The one on the left is very much based on the Jabberwocky from John Tenniel’s 18th century illustration, from the original book. When I looked at that illustration, I looked at it as if it was a puppet on strings, if you know what I mean? So when you look at that, if you imagine what my thinking with this, it should be hanging there as if the loose head and limbs have been held by strings. That’s the kind of look I was going for. Also, because every dragon has been done, it’s so difficult to come up with a new one. I just thought I wouldn’t do a dragon. I’d just do something completely different. And the one on the right, again, it’s more like a demon or something. I think Tim liked them, but then they went with the original design anyway. So, fun to do, though, great fun to do.

MJ: Last one for your concept pieces, we do have a few slides of some of the final artwork that, as you mentioned, appeared in the film. Can you talk a bit to these?

DP: During the designing of some of the inside of the palace, I’ve put in a lot of picture frames and then of course they needed to be filled with something. And Tim was like, ‘well, what are you going to do?’ So I was, ‘oh, I’ll just build scenes and sequences from the original Alice in Wonderland book. So that’s the lion and the unicorn and I think represent – I’m trying to get my history right here, but represents the two sides of the British Empire in the 18th century – 19th century. So it was a great excuse for me to just paint some crazy stuff from the originals books. At that point – I’ve been on the film about eight or nine months and I think Tim trusted me to – you know, he knew I got into his mindset. I knew what he liked, and I think he trusted me to just kind of risk on these things. So because they were just going to be a theme in passing in the frames, they didn’t need a lot of art direction from him. The mural, and the red-green on the Jabberwocky, that was because when I revised the throne room and the sequence where the Mad Hatter walks in through the doors and is being presented to the queen, the walls looked a little bit grey and dark and dank, and I thought, you know. So I suggested to Tim, like, I’m going to get the name wrong, but what’s the castle, that palace in Germany?

MJ: Neuschwanstein?

DP: Yes. That’s the one. There are beautiful murals on the walls in that palace, so I said why don’t we do something like that but have it really, really faded, like it’s been up there for years? And so I did. The way the tone and colors are laid out, (embossed) on those little corners and all these things, don’t really mean anything, except that when they were in the sequence, it balanced all the little colors out. So in the red rooms and the blue rooms, it just adds in the shot where you are. Because they were so faded and scrubbed out, you’re just going to get an impression of something being there, these guys are ancestors – very obviously. They had the heart motif, wherever we could put it in. Because it’s something you’re going to see so quickly in the film, of course you can pause the DVD now, but there’s not a huge amount of detail there, but I think it’s just the right amount for a quick little shot. Towards the end of the film, I just thought I’m going to go mad here. I’ll just draw some really crazy shapes and – you know, in the style that I really love to work in and not try to be imitating (inaudible) painter (that kind of thing), just to see what would happen. And Tim really loved that, so he was like, yes, yes. The crazier the better, which is probably not surprising as well.

MJ: Well, beautiful work. And I want to move on to your extraordinary work in the Oraculum. That was a pretty important prop; an important (McGuffin) in this story. Talk a little bit Dermot, about how this was approached. And not only from a design standpoint but in terms of story.

DP: From the design point theory, I think that a placeholder for the Oraculum with some of the Tenniel illustrations. And a couple of other bits and pieces, again it was one of those things where I was chatting to Tim about it and I just said well if you want me to I’ll bash it and illustrating it I’d love to do it, (I’ll have a go).

I think originally we talked about doing it in a kind of John Tenniel style and part of the problem is doing that as illustrations from a book work in the context of the book and it’s weird when you try to ape that style for another thing like the Oraculum. It didn’t quite work as well. That’s my excuse for very quickly just doing it the way I like to draw. So what I did was I said OK this thing is going to end up being a foot and a half or two feet tall by I don’t know maybe 8-10 feet. It’s going to be huge so. I’m not sure how much time we have. So what I did was I started on the sequences that I knew the camera was definitely going to be on. Obviously where Alice is looking at the Oraculum and the sequence where she’s fighting the Jabberwocky, and the idea was that it should look like an illustrator’s version of events and not an exact copy of it. Because I could have taken the actual green screen sequences and traced the Oraculum illustrations over it but I think Tim wanted it to look like it was an artist impression. And so what I did was I did very detailed illustrations of the main part and then for the left and right, because they would end up in the camera, possibly in the camera I then just illustrated whatever.

And again like the, I just randomly picked scenes from the film or characters from the film and just kind of illustrated them in there in a way that, because the viewer in the cinema, in the theater just wants to get an impression that the Oraculum doesn’t stop at that point that you’re looking at. So it was really enjoyable to do. And then I think late in the process it was decided that maybe we should have a 3D element that you can separate out the different layers of the scene. Which meant that the Oraculum took, I don’t know, 3 times longer to do because I then have to cut out Alice and the Dodo and the mushrooms and then put them on a separate layer and illustrate everything behind her. So there’s layered versions of the Oraculum where you can switch each character off and there’s details in behind. Which was it was great fun to do that. Again this film, project gave me a chance to do every kind of art style that an artist is apt to do. From very chunky paintings and murals to these, I end up doing these very tight line drawings. It was great fun.

MJ: A lot of great variety. It is the Oraculum that’s being utilized as part of the living menus on the upcoming blue ray release of Alice in Wonderland and so we’re going to kind of stroll through these particular images that are broken down, not only of your drawings Dermot but also the screen imagery of the menus and, David perhaps if you could talk just a bit about how these were integrated and utilized in the set up of the Blu-ray.

David Jessen: Well when you enter the Blu-ray this is our other menu system and in the U. S., Mexico and Canada currently we call it our living menu system. So if you’re BD Live connected what happens is, the very first thing that occurs is that whatever your weather is in your particular climate Dermot was very generous and gracious to design new Oraculum art for us that features whatever that is, either it’s a sunny day, a cloudy day, a rainy day, a snowy day, a clear night, a cloudy night, a rainy night, a snowy night, and the cool thing is that this is new Blue Ray exclusive material that you can get nowhere else. So it’s pretty cool. Also if you not on BD Live connected the fact that you get to see the Oraculum in its entirety. It’s the first opportunity also a person would have to actually see it laid out for them in the menus and have it and own it.

MJ: We’re running edited sequences of these various illustrations, Dermot if you could talk a bit about these

DP: Oh it’s fantastic, I’m just bowled over by what you guys have done, and it’s beautiful. Seeing my drawings come to life like that, it’s just fantastic.

MJ: (David) if you can just talk a little bit about as to how this works. When you turn on your disk.

DJ: So when if you’re BD Live connected and you put your disk in, it’s automatically going to pin your local weather through the BD Live system in the States and in Canada and the U. S. and Mexico and it will load these pieces of art and these little animations that we have done. Like its right here it’s showing that if it’s raining in your climate it’s going to be raining on screen in the Oraculum magically. And it will depend on whatever it is, if it’s sunny you’ll have a beautiful sunny image, if it’s snowing you’ll have some snow. It’s just a magical way to bring your blu-ray disk to life.

MJ: Two more sequence of these and then Dermot in terms of creating this type of art work, did you have to do anything above and beyond just the standard illustrations?

DP: I think what you guys have done its fantastic to see it now real, it’s the first time I’m seeing it. It’s beautifully realized. The rays of the sun coming out, that’s absolutely perfect. It was difficult because you didn’t have a defined boarder and for ink drawings, you know if you do cloudy night for example it can be a little difficult just knowing where to border what you’re doing and things like that. Really it’s just an excuse for me to feel like a traditional book illustrator for a week or so, or a few days. I really enjoyed doing it. But yes it’s great to see it being used so, so beautiful.

MJ: There’s a sequence of the additional art, Oraculum artwork that is also on the DVD menus.

DJ: What’s wonderful is, we at Disney are always trying to find a way to extend the film experience organically and work with the film talent to do that, and I think this is the perfect example of that.

Jim Davy: When we first saw Dermot’s Oraculum art we just thought what a perfect way to have that be the theme for the menus for the whole disk experience.

DP: Yes that’s great, and to have something made drawn for the film which can be the end of its existence and have another life outside of it is kind of a rare opportunity for me. To tell you the truth it’s fantastic.

Ernie Estrella: Concerning the living menus and these seem to be more the norm back when DVDs were being pumped out and they seemingly been scraped recently–sadly I think, (especially with Blu-Ray). What made the decision to go with the more intricate menus and kind of utilize some of the Blu-Ray technology where it seems like it hasn’t been utilized properly I think enough?

DJ: It’s funny that you say that I mean, because at Disney, and I head up creative productions for DVD and Blu-Ray we’ve been, menus have always been integral to the experience. We always try to make menus organic to the entertainment experience so it’s a holistic experience and with living menus we did use them on “Sleeping Beauty.” We then followed up with “Earth” and we had them on “Snow White” so the magic mirror had artificial intelligence so whenever you put your disk in he would say something new to you and he knew what the weather was and were now continuing it with Alice in a different way. So be sure to check out those other disks.

MJ: As (Jim) mentioned Dermot artwork is so compelling that, and such a key part of the story, that.

JD: One thing I should add actually on these menus we forgot to say is that if your BD Live connected not only does it show your current weather in that very first panel with the White Night, but there’s a little banner there and an icon that Dermot created and it shows you tomorrows forecast. And it has a little temperature, Fahrenheit and Celsius and a little icon of what tomorrow’s weather would be. That wasn’t shown there but on the example that will be there on the actual product.

DP: It won’t work in the UK.

JD: We’re slowly rolling BD Live out.

DP: Yes, yes, I know, it’s always raining here.

EE: Dermot you were talking about the variety that you’re able to do on this film as far as the different styles your able to do. Maybe you can talk about, was this kind of the biggest draw for you or was it more working with Tim Burton or the ability to work with this kind of range?

DP: To me it’s working with Tim Burton really. The thing is when I started, as often happens in film, it was quite late in the production and Tim asked me to help out visualize, come up with the environments behind the green screen edits. I was meant to be in it for, actually I was due to start another production and I had to cancel it because Tim said oh I just need you for 6 weeks maybe and then it just expanded. So I had no idea when I was starting, the range of work I would end up doing and I think what happens is because I was around Tim, he was downstairs or literally in the attic of the (Rackem) Building, whenever it would occur to him, he had an idea or something to do and we talked about it, I would go ‘OK I’ll just draw it.’ Whatever he would throw at me I would just go ‘oh lets, I’ll have a go, I’ll have a go,’ and it was very casual. So from doing the Oraculum I was like ‘I’ll have a go if you like.’ Because I’ve been working as an illustrator for I don’t know 20 years or something, working in the film industry 15 years, I’ve kind of developed a wide range of styles for different things.

So I’m not intimidated by trying anything and because Tim is an artist he’s not fearful about asking for anything. He can read very quickly whether a design or drawing is working. So it’s not as if a director who is not sure is asking you to do things and then is not sure, he’s sure immediately. Not everything worked but most of the things I was doing he was like, ‘Yes-yes! Just keep going!’ It was really, really enjoyable. But the draw in the first place was just to work with him because I know he’s great fun to be around and to work for and he’s a real visionary. He drags the best out of people. We talked about this before we started that a lot of the kind of motion captured, live action crossovers have been done up in them. But I think Tim used the tools that have been developed, including the skills that have been developed over the last few years at Sony for other productions. He just knows how to get the best out of people and I kind of knew that if I was working around that environment was going to be really creative and really energetic and a bit crazy and hard to predict what was going to happen. And it doesn’t get more fun in life than asked to do what you do and then not being absolutely sure what tomorrows going to bring. It was wonderful.

EE: Because of the range that your able to play with what would you say of all the pieces you did for Alice was the most maybe challenging or time consuming piece that you did.

DP: Well the Oraculum was the most challenging but it needed to work on the screen; it needed to work when you saw it very quickly and if you saw it very closely. We didn’t want it to look modern so it was a bit of a challenge. I work completely digitally–and I have for the last 15 years–but I’ve like 8 or ten years before that when I worked traditionally with paint and ink and everything. So I had to go out and buy nibs and ink and draw a little bit in the real world on real paper to make sure it looked and then scanned it in and make sure it looked correct. Doesn’t have that line wave and everything. So that was technically kind of difficult. I think when you work a long time in the film industry you get used to; it’s all about puzzle solving, about doing what’s appropriate. So I never really thought all this was too difficult. Not really.

EE: On the Oraculum, in the blu-ray menus, did you have input as far as what would be animated?

DP: No, no, (Ken Ralston) was and his team at Sony sort of said can you do some layers, well actually they asked me to, can I send over some layers, but I don’t really work in layers digitally. So no not really, and then of course when it came to the Blu-Ray menu, all the ideas were Jim and his team. I’m right about that, not crediting the wrong people?

JD: Yes we took Dermot’s art for the menus and we saw that in the movie the team there animated certain sections and we thought that would be fun to do the same thing for the menus and animate certain things, clock hands moving, leaves blowing through, some subtle details of animation throughout the menus.

DJ: And of course we had Tim’s input along the way.

DP: Yes it’s great, it’s like here’s a crazy idea, go for it. It’s great. Yes.

You can visit Dermot’s website to see more of his powerful conceptual art. And be sure to check out the Alice in Wonderland blu-ray and my review to see both Colleen’s and Dermot’s work on the film. If you haven’t already, make sure you visit the big Q/A session with AIW’s special effects crew, Ken Ralston and David Schaub. Click Here for that article.

Year: 2010
Running Time: 109 Minutes
Rated: PG
SRP: $ 39.99
Studio(s): Disney
Release Date: June 1, 2010

Film/Feature: C+
This Alice in Wonderland is a reaches a bit to be a “sequel” of sorts, but doesn’t do much to deviate from the conventional structure of what alice is about, except this time she’s older, more independent, sharper and has a nasty wit about her. Alice (Mia Wasikoawska) is free thinker in her day and she’d be cast as an outsider trying to fight the system of arranged marriages and all that is Jane Austen. Spurred by a marriage proposal, Alice has visions of another world, but are they dreams or memories? She follows a rabbit from her dreams down a fifty-story drop in the forest only to be confronted by the “Eat Me” and “Drink Me” concoctions that will make her fit into the spastic world of Lewis Carroll.

Pale as a frequent blood donor, Alice believes “Underland” is a dream, while the everyone she meets is skeptical that she is their savior. There’s the Tweedle twins (Matt Lucas), the March Hare (Paul Whitehouse), the Absolem (Alan Rickman) and the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry). Her reluctance and failure to remember this world goes against the Oraculum a prophecy scroll that shows what’s to come, and Alice is depicted killing the menacing Jaberwocky with the Vorpal Sword; thus resolving the land of the war between the kingdom’s patriarchal sisters: The hot-headed (and bulbous) Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) who has stolen the crown from her younger sibling, the aloof pacifist, White Queen (Anne Hathaway). The creatures of Underland need Alice to remember who she is and grow some courage quick. Once she does, she can steal the sword from the Bandersnatch, find the White Queen and lead an all out attack of the Red Army. That’s not too much to ask from someone who appears to be suffering from amnesia, is it?

While many waited to see Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, it’s been too soon since Sweeney Todd and even Depp played a deranged and spaced out Hatter isn’t as special as it could be. Depp played up the mad angle since many hatters back in the day went crazy from the glue used in the industry. Wasikowska is a surprise treat, portraying such naïvety and sweetness and is contrasted by the vitriolic Carter as the Red Queen stealing every scene she’s in. Hathaway is too bohemian, but Crispin Glover as the Red Queen’s Knave is just right.

The problem with Alice, well actually Wonderland, is that it’s not bizarre enough. Gothic, yes, but such dark and twisted re-imaginings have become run-of-the-mill for Burton, and truth be told, it’s almost mainstream these days. It’s a byproduct of Burton’s success and long tenure as a filmmaker. With Emily the Strange and Twilight gone mainstream, Burton’s goth have become like a passé. It’s odd, I know. Burton walks the fine line of what I consider style over substance. One film he’s just off, the other he’s just on. In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Sweeney it was just enough Burton, too much in Planet of the Apes and Sleepy Hollow; but it’s so perfect in Ed Wood, Big Fish, and Nightmare Before Christmas so he’s earned the benefit of the doubt.

On a visual and technical level, I have no problems with Alice, I only wish Underland and the darker concepts were taken further and deeper story-wise. Some of the visuals will be permanently etched in such insidious ways, like the Red Queen’s moat. But I should catch myself, since this is a Disney, PG film, so we’re not going to see them go crazy. If only the story had a much more luxurious travel to the end perhaps I wouldn’t have been so content with Alice ‘s decision at the end. It all just felt a bit rushed, like they were trying not to be late to the tea party. If Alice’s adventure was supposed to be like a dream then it worked, just like the dreams where you wake up way too early.

Video: A+
I’ve seen my fair share of blu-rays this year and few can boast a better transfer than Alice in Wonderland’s 1080p AVC-encoded transfer in 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Close ups reveal detail of the white, caked makeup on Johnny Depp’s face. Every strand of the Cheshire cat can be plucked if only you could reach into your screen. One impressive scene of note is the tea party when Alice reunites with the Mad Hatter. There’s layers upon layers of fog billowing in and out each frame and the depth perception is phenomenal. There is a wide scope of colors of eye-bursting hues like the orange in Mad Hatter’s hair, the blood crimson of the Red Army, and there’s a wide spectrum within the range of grays and browns too. In between are clothes with a pastel color palette. It’s stunning that there’s this level of detail, texture, shadow delineation and atmosphere considering most of the film was shot in front of a green screen. It should be interesting to see just how well this picture holds up when the eventual 3D version comes out for the new televisions.

Audio:A+
Not to be overshadowed is the blissful 6.1 English DTS-HD audio track, an active and at times knockout soundtrack that is full of swirling sound effects, a Danny Elfman score and just the right amount of bass during the action scenes to help make you feel as if you were standing next to Alice fighting dragons. Dialogue holds true in each scene, is clear and is never too faint to hear. Disney knows how to Other audio selections include: 2.0 English Descriptive Video, and 5.1 French and Spanish Dolby Digital tracks and subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French, and Spanish.

Extras: C
Blu-Ray Exclusive: Living Menus This is no extraordinary extra but it is a cool detail piece. I’ve always felt that blu-ray menus have taken a step back compared to DVD menus in the early 2000′s. The menus here connect to BD Live: and upon loading up, you’ll see your local weather as well as be greeted by a part of the Oraculum that mirrors your local weather. I was able to sample this on a cloudy day and sunny day and confirm these do change with the weather. Readers out there with snowy or rainy weather feel free to post comments if you see different images. I won’t get too many chances in California.

Wonderland Characters HD (27:56) features a selection of characters and their quirks Finding Alice, The Mad Hatter, The Futterwacken, The Red Queen, Time Lapse: Sculpting the Red Queen, The White Queen.

Making Wonderland HD (19:29) is a general making-of extra that focuses on primarily the post-production part of Alice in Wonderland including Scoring Wonderland, Effecting Wonderland, Stunts of Wonderland, Making the Proper Size, Cakes of Wonderland, and Tea Party Props. I’m a sucker for anything that involves scoring films, but the bits about the effects and Alice’s changing proportions could have been longer. The cakes and props featurettes are fun too.

DVD Copy a great option for those with DVD players in their cars or portable players for the vacation trips.

Digital Copy another option for those who can stomach watching full-length feature films on tiny mobile devices or on their computer and is compatible with iTunes and Windows Media Player.

Overall Shock Value:B–
Alice in Wonderland pushed the edges of Lewis Carroll’s story but it could have been shoved much further. It’s not to take away from the film’s success, but it’s just knowing there was potential for meatier story that keeps it from being a landmark film. What one has to remember is that it set out to be a family film first, and I think it achieved that well enough. The extras department was underwhelming considering the artistry and craft in Alice; it’s certainly one of the most visually memorable films of 2010 so far and a cargo full of supplemental material would have supported that. Despite those shortcomings, this is a visual show-stopper, and the sound is splendid. I’m going to recommend Alice in Wonderland with a Rent It stamp of approval, but it might be a keeper for film students and parents of gothic children who want to see a fairy tale they can stand behind.

And please check out Ernie’s other Alice in Wonderland articles including a lengthy Q/A interview with Ken Ralston and David Schaub, two of the wizards behind the visual effects of Alice in Wonderland, and a two roundtable interviews with costume designer Colleen Atwood and conceptual artist Dermot Power.

Year: 2009
Running Time: 162 Minutes
Rated: PG-13
SRP: $39.99
Studio(s): 20th Century Fox
Release Date: April 23, 2010

Film/Feature: C+
In case you haven’t heard, there’s this film called Avatar, and it’s kind of a big deal because it made more money than Hollywood could ever imagine and now we have 100 3-D films in the pipeline as a result. I’m kidding of course, sort of, and in the same way the Matrix sold DVD players, Avatar will do the same for blu-ray. Both successful and controversial, Avatar quickly comes to consumers in this stripped down movie-only release and is sure add to director James Cameron’s legacy of money-making blockbusters.

Avatar is about a paraplegic Marine veteran named Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) who enlists in the Avatar Program and infiltrates the Na’vi a sentient race of giant blue-skinned warriors who are connected with everything that lives on the moon Pandora in the Alpha Centauri star system. Pandora is full of hostile creatures but also beautiful things humans can only dream of. It is also full of rich resources like unobtanium that can be mined out and be worth millions back on Earth. Jake is serving two purposes, one for the science exploration and understanding of the Na’vi and the military strategic angle because underneath their home base, Hometree, is the largest known mineral deposit of unobtanium.

Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) leads the Avatar Program and has been trying to bridge a peaceful truce with the Na’vi to learn of their culture and Pandora’s ecosystem. It is under her command that Jake is taken in by the Na’vi, and is the first human to truly be accepted into the Omaticaya clan of the Na’vi. What she doesn’t know is that Jake is gathering information for Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) and Administrator Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) in exchange for treatment that will restore mobility in his legs. Selfridge is leading the mining expedition, is unsympathetic to the lives they’re trampling on with their mining machines. Jake gets in with the Na’vi under the tutelage of Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and is of course suspected by others in the tribe to be trouble as all outsiders are and Jake must prove to them that he is indeed true of his word. Once it is discovered that there is no way the Omaticaya clan will work with the humans or desire anything they can offer, Quaritch and Selfridge decide to take the area by force.

To get it out of the way, let me just say that Avatar is not an original story. I’ve heard all the comparisons to Dances with Wolves. Personally, it reminds me of the wonderful but sad 1986 Rolad Joffé film, The Mission starring Robert DeNiro and Jeremy Irons, about peaceful Jesuit missionaries trying to save South American tribes from being enslaved and forced out of their lands by of Portuguese and Spanish plantation owners. That film was based on the events revolving around the Treaty of Madrid in 1750, Avatar is undeniably influenced by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney’s invasion of Iraq as well as humans’ assault on mother Earth with industrialization and pollution.

Avatar’s pop culture significance stems from our current environmentally consciousness (hence its release on Earth Day), paying respect to few remaining indigenous tribes still left on this planet (and those that have been wiped out completely), and showing the crime of razing native civilizations from their land for the extraction of natural resources for capital gain. The fact that this story remains relevant, shows that no one has learned the lessons of it being told before, again and again. We have gotten to a point where we have forgotten the past sins. It’s no more “white guilt” as some have called it, than it is human history. One group of people trying to impose their will on the other for no other reason than personal gain and to exercise power.

Does that make it a good film, or more importantly an enjoyable film? That’s debatable and left to be discussed by film buffs, James Cameron-ites, and those who come out to see a film three times a year. I’d have loved to have seen Cameron not rest so much Avatar on what he’s done in the past; echoes of Aliens ring throughout from Sigourney Weaver’s Dr. Augustine character resembling Ripley, Michelle Rodgriguez’s Trudy Chácon to Jeanette Goldstein’s Vasquez, and Ribisi’s slimy Selfridge to Paul Reiser’s equally despicable Burke. If not for the awesome and creative world that was put before us by the countless animators and artists, the story of Avatar would leave you wanting much more. A special nod goes to Zoe Saldana for giving one of the most convincing and emotional performances as an animated character in recent years. By the end of the film, I cared about what was happening to these overgrown smurfs.

It’s not what you tell, but how you tell it, as they say, and Cameron keeps finding new ways to get us into theaters. Based on the box offices, and the recent numbers on Blu-Ray and DVD sales, Avatar appeals to the masses and I’m not here to convert anyone into liking the film; you either do or you don’t. (I did, but recognize it’s trite shortcomings.) I am here to tell you that it looks fantastic on blu-ray, which brings me to the analysis of the disc.

Video: A+
This will be the most high scrutinized part of the blu-ray because everyone who saw this in the theater will attach their 3-D experience to the film. There’s no possible way this looks good on 2-D, right? Wrong. The 1080p AVC-encoded transfer in 1.78:1 aspect ratio looks damn impressive with brilliant colors and loads of high-detailed depth. That high definition in conjunction with the depth in many scenes makes it appear almost three dimensional. There’s not that polarized or stereoscopic three-dimensional feel, but all I can say is that it is a completely different experience and I mean that in a good way. Look, I enjoyed the 3-D moments as much as the next person and when this gets its eventual 3-D release I will understand the need to recreate that original experience but this blu-ray release shows how magnificent a high definition 2-D image can benefit a film that was intended to be seen in 3-D. I could truly ramble on about this at great lengths, but just know that the depth on this film is as good as I’ve seen on any film and is in now way a lesser experience. The size and quality of your television, however, may lessen the visual impact, but everything else is golden. Blacks are immensely deep, primary and neon colors explode on the screen. There are no moments of digital artifacts, halos, or moments when the picture breaks down despite the high speed action. Textures remain true and stable and the gradual swirl of colors in the skin of the Na’vi are reproduced wonderfully. The detail in reflections, strands of hair, the vines of the Tree of Souls, and any scenes where the living plants show their neon colors/energy make for dazzling light show that will light a fire in your senses. I had a feeling it would look good, but not this good.

Audio: A
I can see Avatar being many folks’ first experience into blu-ray. Who knows, maybe it will inspire people to step up to a surround sound set up and for the first time in their lives, experience high definition audio as well. If so, they’ll be greeted to a 5.1 English DTS-HD master audio track. This soundtrack is aggressive and full of home theater audio moments where front-to-rear and side-to-side sound effects will turn heads all around. It has a punchy bass but I’ve heard films that go to the extremely far end of trying to blast your family room apart. Avatar won’t do that. In some instances I think it holds back. I was expecting a resounding thud when Hometree topples to the ground. There was another scene early when machine guns are spraying bullets and instead of being a directional sound moment, it got pushed to the center channel. Dialogue is distinctive, clear, and easy to understand. It sounds good where it needs to sound good, but I’d be lying if I said it was perfect. Other audio selections include: 5.1 English Dolby Digital, 2.0 English Descriptive Audio, and French, Spanish, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks; subtitles are available in English SDH, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Extras: D

Avatar DVD Avatar in standard definition. Yeah that about sums up the extras. But this does allow you to easily take Avatar on the go, in your van, and on your portable DVD player. I must point out the differences in the two formats because it’s hard to explain unless people have both formats available to compare with.

So here’s a quick run down of the DVD experience. It’s like night and day. With the added clarity of the blu-ray there’s not much that separates the foreground and the background. That’s why even on a 2D level, the blu-ray at times gives the perception that a 3D image is still there.

All of that is absent in the DVD. You still get the story, and some of the technical wonder, but it’s a noticeable step down. And you can live with that with a movie shot on traditional film stock and then transferred, where there’s that acceptable level of grain we’ve all come to love. Avatar though, is rich with technical and visual wonder, extreme color and levels of detail that you want as clean an image as you can get. Should you bring this home, you’ll be able to see the difference.

Now, this is not a shot at DVD, because that technology is great. For this instance though, the experience between DVD and blu-ray is incredible. This disparity is magnified by the type of film visually, that Avatar sets out to be. That gap may be much closer with a film that’s not designed to be as clean, and as detailed, one with much more intended grain. That variance in film to film, transfer to transfer is why I tell people that blu-ray maintains the intended look of the film, preserving how the film was meant to be seen.

There’s also a $25 coupon for Panasonic Blu-Ray disc players or entertainment systems to be used in conjunction with the purchase of the Avatar Blu-Ray or DVD.

Overall Shock Value: B
Avatar is one of those films that achieves such delight on a technical level that it overcomes the been-there-done-that story. There’s going to be a lot of speculation at how the Avatar experience is going to translate at home. I’m here to say that it translates beautifully. I can’t endorse how the film looks on DVD, because this is one of those films where the high definition experience needs to be preserved as close to the original as possible. If it the capacity of one entire blu-ray was needed for the film alone, then that effort was not wasted.

With only the movie and no extras, I’d say it’s hard to be completely immersed into Pandora outside of the nearly two and half hour running time. If you want to wait for extras, then you’ll have to wait this November. They are pricing this release as an affordable purchase for those who want to take the Avatar experience home ASAP, and for those who have been missing out, with a new blu-ray player and see what all the buzz is about.

So whether it’s an impulse buy or just to hold you over until the fall, Avatar on blu-ray is worth a Buy It recommendation if you can score a great sale, or if all you want is the film. Otherwise, plan for the collector’s release this Thanksgiving.

Year: 2009
Running Time: 98 Minutes
Rated: G
SRP: $44.95
Studio(s): Disney Studios
Release Date: March 16, 2010

Film/Feature: A–

You’re never too old to enjoy a Disney film, and if you find yourself at that place, then you may have lost your ability to have fun. Luckily for Disney animation, they haven’t lost their touch in making family films to lose yourself for an hour or two and let your inner-kid enjoy itself. In a brave move, Disney went against the grain and made a new hand-drawn animated feature going back to its roots to put their spin on another fairy tale. This time it was the Brothers Grimm tale of The Princess and the Frog.

Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) is a young and independent woman raised by a hard-working parents (Oprah Winfrey and Terrence Howard) and is saving up to open her own restaurant. She has been childhood friends with Charlotte, who was raised in a well-to-do aristocrat family and has taken the “wishing upon a star” literally. Tiana on the other hand, thinks good will only come to those who work for it.

Fifteen minutes in, and you might look at the cover of the box and wonder if you bought the right film. Disney’s twist of the Princess and the Frog fairy tale finally takes form when Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) and his servant, Lawrence arrive to look for a rich suitor because they are broke. Charlotte’s father gets wind that a prince is in town and gets whatever his little girl wants and throws a big ball for his daughter to meet the prince. However, New Orleans is a town of opportunists like Dr. Facilier (Keith David), a voodoo magician who promises to fulfill their wishes before showing up to the ball. But the servant has taken the form of Prince Naveen, and Naveen has been turned into a frog. Naveen is able to convince Tiana that he is a prince, and all she needs to do is give him a kiss and he’ll revert back to his human form.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work out that smoothly and Tiana is instead turned into a frog and the leap into the swamps and bayou with the help of Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley), a trumpet-tooting alligator and Ray (Jim Cummings), a romantic ragin’ Cajun lightning bug to find Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis), a good witch who they hope to have some answers for them. If they remain in frog form too long, they could stay that way forever. The story is light road tale of perseverance, but has enough plot elements that keep pulling along your interest throughout.

It’s impossible to avoid the attempt Disney is making to fill a lacking hole in their library of films that would appease the African-American audiences. Tiana becomes the first African-American princess that Disney has ever revolved a story around and they did it successfully with a talented cast headed by Anika Noni Rose whose strong voice and cheerful spirit fit her character’s design of a strong-minded and head strong woman. Keith David plays Dr. Facilier, a conniving conjurer, and toned-down version of the popular folklore occult Shadow Man. His voice has prominence, a chilling ring, and David’s singing chops aren’t bad either.

There’s still a gap in how much this story can touch you as opposed to what comes out of Disney Pixar Studios but that’s the difference in working off a fairy tale and doing something completely original. The Princess and the Frog’s message of ‘not just wishing and a star and waiting, but also doing something about it’ is clear enough to not feel like it’s a one-note story, and so is its other lesson of ‘not working so much you forget to have fun.’ There are themes of class, work ethic, small business, and much more. Fun characters and music by Randy Newman solidify this release as a must-see for young, old, girls and boys; and there should not be any questions one whether or not everyone will enjoy this.

Video: A+
Disney’s triumphant return to drawn animation is supported by this terrific high definition 1080p AVC-encoded transfer in 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Backgrounds have layers of painted detail, characters have loads of vibrant hues and color that are as visually stunning as some of the very best Disney films. Nice touches like opaque reflections in water, the amber glow of an oil lamp and smoke from a shotgun have no banding or signs of artificial enhancement. I want to call to attention three chapters which make for good visual tests of this blu-ray (as well as audio). Chapter 4 is Tiara’s first big musical number and the animation goes from the “Disney” style to 1940′s deco art full of bright oranges and yellows only seen on gerber daisies. Chapter 5 is Dr. Facilier’s introduction and his lair is full of the occult and voodoo magic. Rich purple hues and psychedelic imagery that are reminiscent of a Victor Moscoso painting. Every scene has something much deeper to look at and other good stuff like deep blacks and smooth gradient color will impress. And shadow delineation, accentuated by the shadow monsters have clear definition.

Audio: A+
Accompanying the strong visuals is the equally impressive 5.1 English DTS-HD master audio track. The music reflects each of the delicious flavors of the southern creole cooking pots. From the dixie jazz, to the gospel chorals, and the rhythm and blues will have you snapping your fingers, clapping your hands and shaking your thang down Bourbon Street. Your ear will be able to place where the instruments were from the drums to the sharp brass section. Dialogue is flawless as distinct accents don’t make the words any less difficult to hear but instead make them that much more memorable. Mama Odie and Louis for example, have subtle but very different accents that help distinguish not only who they are, but what region of New Orleans they’d be from. The shadow monsters have an eerie and haunting sound that swirls all around. Ray’s buzzing moves around the room as he moves on the screen and every musical performance is over-the-top with highly active sound movement, native surround effects heard in the swamps and a well-balanced mix of it all. Again, pay attention to Chapters 4, 5, and 11 offer up some of the very best this blu-ray has to offer. Other audio selections include: French, Spanish, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks and a English 2.0 DVS track; subtitles are available in English SDH, French, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Extras: B
I’ve got to knock Disney a few on their extras department which left lots to desire. First of all what’s on the disc is very short. We’re talking about a family film which should have a wealth of material, that will not only consume time, but shed a lot of light on the film. For being one of the first hand-drawn films in a long time, most of the featurettes could have been grouped together for one sitting or allow the option of playing them individually instead of forcing to view it in two-to-five minute segments. Another thing I have to take down on is for a Disney musical film, where are the Sing-a-long extras? A big-big-big misstep there. When I compare these to say, a Disney Pixar film and the hours of material there, I wonder why so little was given to The Princess and the Frog.

Disc One
Audio Commentary by Co-Directors John Musker and Ron Clements and Producer Peter Del Vecho is a scene-specific, on point track that covers a variety of subjects from Randy Newman’s musical contribution, the setting of New Orleans, and creating a brand new story, with new characters with the Disney twist of a classic fairy tale. All three men contribute equally, do not talk over each other and give a fine diversion for budding animators or Disney loyalists.

Work in Progress Track HD Here’s a neat blu-ray exclusive track which allows you to view the film alongside in-progress storyboards, pencil layouts, and rough animations as a Picture-in-Picture feature. I think what would have made this even better though would have been the ability to view this during the commentary. In fact, they should have fused the two tracks as a CineExplore commentary, often seen on other family films.

Deleted Scenes HD (11:43) There are five deleted / alternate scenes in storyboard form with different voices that were cut before animation and voices were recorded. The reasons they didn’t make the cut were mainly due to time constraints.

Music and More HD (4:04) Here’s where I really took issue with the extras. In this section there is only one option, so I’m not sure where the “and More” comes into play, but this is just the music video for “Never Knew I Needed” by Ne-Yo, which is only used on the closing credits. Where are the extras on the songs, the musical elements of the film? This is where a sing-a-long extra needed to be placed, a usual staple of classic Disney releases.

Bringing Life to Animation HD (8:08) Two scenes, “Dig a Little Deeper” and “The Proposal” are broken down with live action sequences used as visual references for the animators, a technique that was used throughout the golden age of Disney. They show different angles and choreography, along with commentary by Musker and Clements.

Magic in the Bayou: The Making of a Princess HD (22:11) John Lasster joins the production party to discuss the creative energy behind The Princess and the Frog and the universal buzz among the cast and crew that a new hand-drawn animated feature was pumping through the veins of the Disney offices, as well as the all of the major themes and elements of the film.

The Return to Hand Drawn Animation HD (2:43) The excitement of the return to a 2D film lit a fire under the animators because it’s what brought so many people to work at Disney in the first place. The animators of the film talk about wanting to continue the art of Disney filmmaking.

The Disney Legacy HD (2:31) A look at the great animators of Disney and their impact on the current animators who were able to work with people who worked alongside Walt Disney.

Disney’s Newest Princess HD (2:51) The attention swings to actress Anika Noni Rose and the 1920′s inspired character, who is a strong and independent woman who little girls can aspire to.

The Princess and the Animator HD (2:26) The supervising animator for Princess Tiana, Mark Henn talks about creating another strong princess character for Disney having worked on Ariel, Belle, Mulan and Jasmine.

Conjuring the Villain HD (1:50) Animators and Keith David talk about the story’s villain, Dr. Facilier.

A Return to the Animated Musical HD (3:13) a short featurette about the musical score for The Princess and the Frog involving Randy Newman’s composition of jazz, gospel and the blues.

Art Galleries Peruse a number of the developmental, conceptual, and design art for the film including Character Design, Visual Development, Layouts and Backgrounds and Storyboards.

What do you See: Princess Portraits is a guessing game where images are created by fireflies and you have to guess which Disney princess it is. Hosted by Mama Odie, after ten tries

Disc Two: DVD
The DVD includes the full film, deleted scenes, audio commentary, the Princess Portraits game, and the music video by Ne-Yo. If you have a family and you have outfitted your fan or travel packs with the ability to watch DVDs on the go, you will love this added option. However, to those thinking that the DVD version will suffice, the digital sound and vision of the blu-ray is unmatched.

Disc Three: Digital Copy Disc
Take The Princess and the Frog with you on the go to watch it on your laptop, desktop computer, or portable media player.

Overall Shock Value: A–
As a fan of all types of animation, Disney’s hit it our of the park with another musical twist on a classic fairy tale and presenting an enjoyable film that should connect with plenty of families on family night. There some real delightful performances especially by Keith David and Anika Noni Rose both in their acting and singing. The visuals are splendidly classic but also has that jolt of high definition pop. The Princess and the Frog offers a diverse option for families who want to expand from the classic Disney canon with a great message and a infectious blend of music ranging from jazz, gospel and blues. A definite Buy it! especially with every format imaginable is available in one package.

Don’t let Ben Stiller have all the humiliation. Start painting yourself blue for the anticipation and arrival of the Avatar Blu-Ray and DVD in the US and Canada, which will coincide with Earth Day on April 22, 2010. I’m eager to see how Cameron’s latest epic film looks and sounds in the home theater. Na’vi willing, PCS will get the blu-ray to tell you what that ideal high definition experience will be before it comes out.

Around the rest of the world, the release dates will vary. Sorry, Italy.

FRANCE – April 21
BELGIUM – April 21
NETHERLANDS – April 21
SPAIN – April 21
CHINA – April 22
BRAZIL – April 22
RUSSIA – April 22
NORTH AMERICA – April 22
GERMANY – April 23
JAPAN – April 23
SWITZERLAND – April 23
MEXICO – April 23
UK – April 26
DENMARK – April 27
NORWAY – April 28
SWEDEN – April 28
NEW ZEALAND – April 28
AUSTRALIA – April 29
FINLAND – April 30
ITALY – May 6

Year: 2009
Running Time: 430 Minutes
Rated: TV-14
SRP: $ 29.99
Studio(s): ABC Studios
Release Date: February 23, 2010

Film/Feature: B+
Knowing the their prized show, Lost was ending after this season ABC realized they’ll need something to take its place. They scored a science fiction show that was originally supposed to air on HBO which was based in the real world, but plays with the storytelling devices through a variety of glimpses of the future. A world-wide phenomenon occurred where every human experienced a blackout for 137 seconds, and experienced in that same time period, a taste of May 27, 2010, six months in the future. If people saw someone else in their flash-forward, then that person experienced the exact same vision.

The main story revolves around a group of FBI Special Agents investigating the cause of the blackout. The lead story is of Mark Renford played by Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love) and his wife, Dr. Olivia Benford played by Lost alum, Sonya Walger. In their flash forwards he sees armed men hunting him down at his office, Mark is back drinking and the men looking for him bear the same tattoo on their forearm. His wife’s flash forward sees her cascading down her stairs in lingerie into the arms of another man. Mark’s partner, Special Agent Dimitri Noh (John Cho) sees no flash and suspects he will not live to see the day on everyone’s mind. Another agent, Janis Hawk (Christine Woods) is a lesbian and single, yet whose vision is that she is nearly six months pregnant.

The team begins to gather clues like a similar occurrence happened in Somalia in 1991, a dark shadowy figure seen in Detroit during the blackout who did not lose consciousness, and a mysterious person known only by D. Gibbons. In Mark’s flash forward he remembers his peg board being filled with other clues gathered from the upcoming investigation. Along the way about episode 4-7 FlashForward gets a bit bumpy and loses some of its interest and speed. The government looks into the money being spent on this sector of the FBI and is threatened to be closed. A common theme in Lost is destiny versus freedom of choice. It surfaces here too. Will a glimpse of the future be enough for people to accept that as their fate? Or were people meant to see that to change the future?

There are good characters, with some plausible and not-so-plausible angles. Dimitri Noh trying to find out why he has no vision of the future and desperately trying to change that is a splendid leading role for Korean-born, American Cho and is one of the strongest stories in the series. It’s probably one of the more fuller characters he’s portrayed. I also like Sonya Walger’s Olivia trying everything to change her future but fails to deter her apparent path of destiny. When the show’s antagonists slowly reveal themselves it proves that this ball of yarn will be quite a tangled mess. The show is not without its faults. Fiennes is out of his element doing action, the show takes some giant leaps in explaining the science.

It’s difficult enough for a show like Lost viewers to buy into the sci-fi strangeness of some remote island, but a global occurrence such as this, well, that’s an ambitious story to tell. FlashForward puts a good foot “forward” (sorry I had to say that) and by the end of part one of season one, it recovers from the lackluster middle portion of this box set. Not only does this series flash forward, but it also begins to show what each character was doing prior to the blackout. Managing all of these storylines coherently is not an easy task by any means and yet after ten episodes I’m still in it to its end. Here’s hoping that FlashForward will be given every chance to fill in those blanks.

Video: A-
The transfer is a 480p encoded transfer in 1.78:1 aspect ratio enhanced for 16×9 televisions. The series is shot in high definition and the result is a visually strong and stylistic series that’s bright and full of high contrast and real world textures and skin tones. At times scenes are lit with blue hues and slight over-saturation, but it’s a nice looking image that lacks the fine detail of high definition but the much of the source information makes it over relatively unharmed in the DVD. You almost think it’s high def at first which tells just you how good it looks for a DVD.

Audio: B+
FlashForward gets a 5.1 English Dolby Digital audio track. Since this is not a high definition audio track, there isn’t the destructive sound that comes out of a DTS-HD track but all of the action sequences are full of subwoofer activity and lively movement from front to rear channels. Most importantly, center channels will pump out the dialogue clearly and in synch to the moving picture. There are no other audio choices and subtitles are available in English, English SDH, French, Spanish

Extras: C-
There’s a small smattering of extras here but it’s mostly to promote the second half of the season. There will hopefully be a more full plate of supplements when the full season comes out on DVD and Blu-ray.

Creating Catastrophe: The Effects of a Global Blackout SD (7:06) mainly shows the behind the scenes of creating the opening devastation scene where part of the Los Angeles freeway was closed.

FlashForward: A Look Ahead SD (4:48) is an extended preview of what I imagine to be a clip of episode 11.

Could SD (1:32) is a TV spot for the second half of season one.

Overall Shock Value: B–
After the first ten episodes I was sold on the show. It was an easy sell for me that moved a little faster than Lost as far giving viewers the feeling they are moving towards something real. But this is a much bigger story than what Lost is trying to tell. The phenomenon is on a global level and I’m interested to see how the writers get out of this jam. There are some questions about the future of this show given two of the creative forces, creator David Goyer, and showrunner Marc Guggenheim are no longer involved with the show. Whether it makes the cut in the summer or not, FlashForward served as a good filler while we waited to see the last season of Lost, which I think would be a wise lead-in if the show wants to get strong enough ratings for a return. This DVD is just the first half of the season and is meant for those who want to catch up on the show as the second half kicks in March 18, 2010 with a two-hour season finale set for May 27, 2010. And if that’s exactly what you want, this DVD looks and sounds great, and is worth at least a Rent It based on the skimpy supply of extras and inevitable full season box set.

ON EXTRACT’S STORY AND CHARACTERS

While so many other comedies tend to shoot for these big company stories, you tend to reside in settings with small town folks as the main characters (King of the Hill, Office Space and now Extract) what draws you to these small town stories?

Mike Judge: I would say my stuff resides in suburbs of big towns also, or small towns that are near big towns. I guess that’s because I’ve mostly lived in places like that — Albuquerque NM, Richardson TX, etc. I think that a lot of writers in film and TV in the past have tended to come from NY or big east-coast cities, and there have also been great stuff written about really small hick towns, and so I feel like I can maybe bring a different perspective on things with a suburban setting.

Did you always have Jason Bateman in mind for the lead role?

MJ: I started writing this a long time ago – I think it was shortly after Office Space came out. I originally wasn’t thinking of any actor in particular, just writing it. Jason had done King of the Hill and I always liked him, but when I saw him in Arrested Development, I thought he would be perfect for this, and when I rewrote it and finished it, I was imagining him as the lead. It’s a similar character to what he did in AD, but I think Joel is a little less slick or something. Jason was the first actor I gave the script to and he said he liked it and wanted to do it, so it was him from the get go.

Even with all of the pressures Joel faces at home and at work what is it that makes him a successful boss?

MJ: I think what ultimately makes Joel a successful boss is that he genuinely likes making extract. For me, I enjoy directing movies, making animated TV shows, and in order to do that, you sometimes have to tell people to do things they don’t want to do, or make choices that people don’t agree with. And I really don’t enjoy telling people to do things they don’t want to do, but it goes with the territory. I think there are some bosses out there – and these would be bad bosses in my opinion – that are in it because they actually get off on telling people to do things they don’t want to do; they get some kind of weird pleasure out of making people do things for the sake of making them do things. They get off on the power of it all or something. I think Joel really likes making extract and seeing it get out there in stores and restaurants, and that informs all the decisions he makes, so it’s always coming from the right place. I think that’s how to be a good boss.

From the special features Jason and Ben talk about their long dialogue. How much did you let them improv or is it all from the page?

MJ: I like to let the actors feel like they can be loose with the script up to a point because I want them to feel comfortable and when they really get the character and what’s happening in the scene, then the improv wouldn’t drift too far anyway. I’m not really precious about my writing, but I usually find that in the editing room we end up pretty close to what was on the page. I think if you write good dialogue, it sounds like people spontaneously talking, so audiences think it’s improvised, which is a good thing I think. I would say in this movie, the most improv that would up in the movie came from Ben Affleck. He threw some stuff in there that I just loved and it wasn’t in the script.

Did Ben Afleck find it liberating to play a quirky supporting player for a change? He was great in the film–

MJ: You would have to ask him if he found it liberating, but it sure seemed like he did. I think he had a lot of fun doing it, and it was a blast for me to work with him on it. I really liked what he did. I had never met him before this and when I heard he wanted to do it, I was surprised at first – pleasantly so – and then when I met with him, he started telling me about a guy he knew growing up in Boston and he started imitating him and I just thought it was great. We did a read through of the script early on and I just loved watching him and Jason do these scenes and play off each other.

Was there instant chemistry when the actors began working together or did it take some time for them to gel?

MJ: For the most part it was instant. And most of them had already worked together or knew each other, so it all gelled nicely.

Was it your idea to cast rocker Gene Simmons as bench lawyer Joe Adler?

MJ: Yeah, I had originally described the character as looking like Gene Simmons with a pony tail and a suit and tie. I was kind of naive though, in that I thought no one would recognize him without the Kiss makeup on. I didn’t realize how huge the reality show was. The only time I had ever seen him without the makeup was on Politically Incorrect about 9 years ago and thought he would be great playing an agent or high-powered attorney.

One of the enjoyable performances was from Clifton Collins Jr. as Step. He’s been incredibly diverse this year, can you talk a little about him as an actor and what he brought to the film?

MJ: I love Clifton and have wanted to work with him for a while. I just never had a part that was right for him. I actually hadn’t thought of him for this part either. He usually plays a chicano gangster or a serial killer, so I hadn’t thought of him, but then he walked into the room with a trucker hat on, and suddenly he went from looking like a chicano gangster to Festus from Gunsmoke. I love him as a redneck. He also makes a great Romulan. He’s a true chameleon. And now he’s a big award-winning country music video director also, with Zack Brown Band.

Watching the special features on “Extract”, Mila Kunis mentioned that she may have been based on an actual person you know but curious, were the characters based off people you actually knew. And if so, how would you personally deal with a person so intrusive like Nathan?

MJ: No one is based specifically on one person, but I think most writers base characters on people they have known. The character of Nathan wasn’t any one specific person, but I did have a neighbor – a woman – who was a nightmare. It was in a gated community, so there was only one way out, and she would flag you down and just park herself in your window and just start talking. She would basically make it so you had a choice of either listening to her forever, or being rude and interrupting her, or even worse, pulling away while her arms were rested on your window.

There’s a dignity to the characters – and the work itself – in your film. Talk about establishing that element while at the same time finding the humor in the colorful characters.

MJ: That’s pretty important to me because I’ve worked these kinds of jobs, and I remember feeling like Hollywood was sometimes out of touch with us, and always appreciating it when it felt like a movie or TV show got something right – like there was someone out there in Hollywood who understood what most of us go through. I also used to feel like a lot of characters in movies and TV seemed to have endless cash and free time and you either didn’t know much about their job or they didn’t seem to have to have one. Finding the humor while still having some dignity to the characters is something that is also important to me. I don’t think about it that much; I’d like to think it comes naturally. To me it’s just like when I would sit around with my friends telling stories about people I work with and doing imitations of them and that sort of thing.

ON WRITING AND DIRECTING

In your previous films you’ve had a hand in directing, writing and producing. Which is your so-called labor of love out of the three?

MJ: I mostly like the writing and the editing, and I like when it’s over.

Animation or live action – which do you prefer, and why?

MJ: I think they’re more similar than you might think from the the point of a writer/director. I liked animation when I was just doing short films myself – doing everything myself. That was really satisfying work – making a film one frame at a time, getting it back from the lab and watching it for the first time. That was about as good as it gets I think.
Would you ever do a live action TV series or a another feature-length animated film?
Mike Judge: I would definitely like to do a live action TV series. I don’t know that I would do another feature-length animated film any time soon. Unless maybe it was a CG project.

How different in approach is your storytelling when it comes to animation and live action? Do you bank ideas that were too cinematic when you were working on HILL and GOODE FAMILY and save them for your feature work?

MJ: Actually they are pretty similar approaches. And you can actually get pretty cinematic in TV animation I think, as the Simpsons has done. I think I never got too cinematic with King of the Hill just because of the nature of the show and the characters, not really because it was animated.

Has the gradual embracing of your first two live-action movies made it easier to be patient for a film like “Extract” to find its audience and a fan following?

MJ: Yes. Also keeping the budget low on this has helped.

Did you shoot the film digitally? If so, how did you like/dislike the process of working in digital?

MJ: I shot it on all on film. In fact, we didn’t even do what’s called a “D.I.” which is how most films are finished nowadays. So if you saw it in the theater, you saw a print that was struck right off a negative. I actually like what happens to the look of film when you put it through that process.

What were the challenges of filming in a fully functional working factory?

MJ: Because we were on a tight budget, we had to shoot a lot of stuff while they were still working – they were really bottling. A lot of the background that you see in the movie is actually real people working – not extras. It was loud enough in there that they couldn’t hear us yelling “action” and “cut” and they just kind of got used to us being there, so I got some pretty natural acting in the background because they weren’t acting like they were working; they were really working.

I noticed in Extract that you were mostly able to stay away from pop culture references (outside of Dancing with the Stars), how difficult is it to write a story that doesn’t entail some of that dated material?

MJ: Well, when I first wrote the script, that reference was Will and Grace. That shows you how long ago I wrote it. I’m not big on pop culture references in general – probably because I’m pretty out of it lately, and I’m not great at doing that kind of comedy anyway. I also wrote it back when only a small percentage of the population had cell phones. That’s why there’s all this stuff in there with landlines, pay phones, busy signals, call waiting, etc. I was a little worried about that, but no one seems to have been bothered by it.

Have you enjoyed the resurgence of rated R comedies and has that opened up any other doors for you given that your material has a bit of an edge to it, or has it inspired you to go even edgier than what you’ve done previously?

MJ: I think there have been some great R comedies in the past couple years – The Hangover, Superbad, etc., but for me it’s not ever about edgy or not edgy. Something is either funny or interesting or it’s not, and sometimes something funny falls into the R rated territory, but not always. Some people are surprised to hear that Office Space is R rated, because it doesn’t seem that edgy I guess. I think anytime anyone has ever tried to be deliberately edgy, or to “push the envelope,” it’s usually sucked and lost money. I think there are a lot of movies that are hard-R rated that are really good and made money, but it’s because they are good, inspired movies.

Where does your fascination with groin jokes come from?

MJ: I do find it fascinating that a guy getting hit in the nuts always gets a laugh in movies – even from me – and I’m also not above using that for a cheap laugh myself. At some point, an evolutionary biologist should try to figure out why we laugh at that. I think if they figure out why a sense of humor and laughing even evolved in the first place – how that could possibly have contributed to survival of the species – then one of the first things they should figure out is why getting hit in the nuts always gets a laugh in movies and cartoons. I could go on about this for hours, but I won’t. I actually talked about this with Pulitzer Prize winning author Jared Diamond.

Would you ever consider doing a sequel to “Office Space”?

MJ: I kind of feel like this movie is sort of a follow up to Office Space. I based Office Space on my own experiences working in the cubicle world, and I based a lot of this on my experience being a boss and running what was basically an animation factory on Beavis and Butt-Head. I think when you go from complaining about the man keeping you down, to becoming the man, you realize that being the man is no picnic either. At one point a while back I considered doing a sequel to Office Space, but I wouldn’t do one now. Since that movie came out there have been two great TV shows – the British Office and the American one – and dozens of commercials set in cubicles, so I kind of feel like I wouldn’t want to go back to it at this point.

Thanks goes to Mike Judge, Miramax and Click Communications. Here is a full PCS review of the Extract Blu-Ray.

Buying a last minute gift for a movie or TV fan, or maybe you’re trying to come up with a list for someone trying to get you a next-to-impossible-to-find gift? Or perhaps you’ve got some holiday gift cards to use, maybe a Christmas bonus? Wanna cash in on some After-Christmas sales? Keep this 2009 PCS Gift Guide: Movies and TV list handy for all your last minute pre-holiday needs and post-holiday wish fulfillment!

#10 Watchmen The Ultimate Cut and Director’s Cut Blu-Rays
SRP: $60 (Ultimate Cut) $36 (Director’s Cut) Find it online from $40-$50 (Ultimate Cut) and $17-$20 (Director’s Cut)

As a website that’s deeply rooted in comic book coverage, I couldn’t help but place Watchmen and both of its blu-ray editions. What? Both? Yes, and this is why. The entire 186-minute Ultimate Cut is everything you could possibly ask for. See the spliced animated feature length Black Freighter film mixed in with the director’s cut for a marathon movie experience. Packaged with the Ultimate Cut is the Watchmen Motion Comic, in case you want to see and hear the original comic. There enough featurettes and discussions as to where Watchmen belongs in our current culture. It’s everything you could dream up of short of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons epic reading the damn thing to you. Yeah, just try to make that happen. All of the extras from the Director’s Cut has been ported over to the Ultimate Cut EXCEPT for ONE THING: Maximum Movie Mode.

Maximum Movie Mode is on the Director’s Cut blu-ray, and is, (excuse this pun) the Watchmen of all picture-in-picture commentaries, featuring Zack Snyder beside two large screens; one for watching the film and the to pull up behind the scenes extras to which he pushes through all of it to bring up specific points in creating the film. He’ll explain something while it’s going on and then pause the movie to discuss something else. Snyder talks about Watchmen ad nauseam–until you don’t want to hear the name Rorschach ever again. While Snyder is doing his thing, trivia, side-by-side comparisons to the comics, and others run simultaneously. Now, in comparison, the Ultimate Cut’s has two newer commentaries, a new one by Snyder and one by artist Dave Gibbons, co-creator of Watchmen, over the entire, Ultimate Cut experience. So my final recommendation is to get the Ultimate cut, and find a used or discounted copy of the Director’s cut just to see Maximum Movie Mode.

#9 Marvel Animation Lion’s Gate 6 Film Set
SRP: $49.98 Find it on Amazon or other online outlets for approx. $35-$40

None of these are perfect animated Marvel films for the comic book fan who analyzes each comic-related item with a magnifying glass, but they’re entertaining enough for the average fanboy and especially for any geek-in-the-making. Start them off with next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow and then they can graduate to more of the classic Marvel stories with a modern take Doctor Strange and The Invincible Iron Man movie, which features the Mandarin. Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2 are two cracks at trying to capture that magic Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch imagined with their Ultimates comic, which was a modern take on the Avengers and is a partial road map for what the Marvel films are building towards. But everything culminates to the animation and action in the Hulk Vs. DVD which features two animated films, recreating the classic Hulk Vs. Wolverine battle, and another fight between hulk and Thor.

The extras are on the underwhelming side, but all of the movies are technically sound. The voice acting on these six films are as good as anything I’ve seen from an animated Marvel feature and know that the stories progressively get better and better if they are viewed in the order of release starting with Ulimate Avengers (2005) and ending with Hulk Vs (2008). Again, these are great introductions for that young Marvel Zombie who wants something with a little more teeth than Super Hero Squad, and is looking for a good connection from the animated product to the comic material they’re based on.

#8 Disney Blu-Ray + DVD + Digital Copy Disc Combos
Bolt, Pinocchio, A Bug’s Life, G-Force, Monsters Inc., Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and Up
SRP: $36-45 each. Find it on Amazon or other online outlets for approx. $15-$25

Whether you loved them as a kid or plan to watch them with your own kids, these films strive to appeal the masses without really aiming to do so and often to achieve it. There is unfortunately no box set containing all of these Disney releases, but the reason that I list them down as the perfect gifts is that they include every way possible to watch these films. Whether you’re into downloading, have to go on a long road trip, or are going up on a plane, sometimes a little bit of entertainment goes a long way. Each combo package has enough extras to last for however long you need it to. Many of them have Academy Award-winning short films, interactive games, sing-alongs, music videos, archival footage, and Disney’s great multi-media experience Cine-Explore Experience Commentaries. They all have some of the very best transfers and sounding audio of the year, and whether you’re outfitted for blu-ray now or plan to in the future, you have what you need to prevent you from buying that film in another format ever again, at no extra cost. If you hunt around you can even find coupons specifically for these films, which will help you save even more money. Disney has shown a full support of the format and was one of the first studios to offer all the formats on one package, at one low price.

#7 Battle Star Galactica: The Complete Series (2004-2009) on Blu-Ray
SRP: $350 Find it on Amazon or other online retailers for approx. $200-$225

How do you sum up five years of probably one of the best, if not THE best television series that’s been made in the last ten years? Simple. Buy this box set. Blindly. That’s my best possible recommendation for this box set. There are 20 blu-rays that make up this box set that treat this series with the class it deserves: high definition transfers, movie theater-like sound, and extras out the wazoo. There are 22 commentaries, and 57 podcast commentaries, six extended episodes, video blogs, Univeral’s blu-ray exclusive U-Control, behind-the-scenes until you’re Cylon in the face. The giant box opens “up” to reveal smaller boxes and encased at the top is a cool Cylon Centurion action figure to dance about on your cubicle or home office. Where you’re going to put this thing, I don’t know but if you’re hardcore enough to spend two large bills on this box set, then I’m sure you already know where you’re going to display it. If you’re persistent, this box set could give you a year’s worth of daily entertainment if you can stay sitting for that long. Throw a treadmill walk in there or some Yoga ball workout, because by the time you get through everything your brain may go Galactica.

#6 The Bourne Trilogy Blu-Ray
SRP: $120 Fint it on Amazon or other online retailers for approx. $75-$85

Not to be forgotten in the great gift sets of 2009 is Universal’s blu-ray treatment of the Bourne Trilogy released at the beginning of the year. For those who have either gotten a new blu-ray player or home theater this is an incredible box set to begin any collection. The three superbly satisfying films showcase room-rattling acoustics, high-grade video transfers where the fast-paced action will test the abilities of your display, and hours of extras to keep you immersed in the world of Jason Bourne. Now in a few weeks, you may want to wait for Universal’s flipper technology to hit the streets so that you can have the DVDs as well, then by all means do so, but this box set may see a dip in price by retailers who want to stock the flipper discs. I actually prefer this set with the magnetic “Bourne” clasp and sleek faux “steel” stylings of the slipcase, though I’m sure I’ll gripe when the fourth Bourne film comes out in 2011 and it will sit by itself next to the box set.

# 5 Hogan’s Heroes: The Komplete Series DVD Kommandant Kollection
SRP: $180 Find it on Amazon or other online retailers for approx. $125-$150

Before Lt. Aldo Raine and the Inglourious Basterds were making buffoons out of Nazis, Col. Robert E. Hogan and his Heroes were doing it on a weekly basis on network television. Six seasons of Hogan’s Heroes are spread through 27, well-produced DVDs, mostly in color with some episodes of Season 1 in black and white. In a time when reality television rules the world, it’s good to remember what classic television was capable of doing in providing laughs-at zee German’s expense. There was a lot of cool stuff for fans of spy work and military, and most importantly well-written stories. It was a pretty bold move for television at that time to try and make satire out of World War II and the “camp” life. It featured a cool cast of actors in the sixties that included Richard Dawson who’s still sharp as ever, the late and great Ivan Dixon, and former actual concentration camp survivor, Robert Clary to name a few. Thankfully I had older siblings to make sure I knew about Heroes as a kid and now I’m reminding you of how truly great this series was.

As far as extras go, a majority of them are spread in Season 2 and Season 6. Unfortunately there are only two commentary tracks in the entire box set, but there’s tons of promo material, gag reels, a Patricia and Bob Crane Wedding Film, three new Richard Dawson interviews (The Early Days, The Cast, and Fond Memories), The Extended Pilot with Gilligan’s Island Introduction and perhaps my favorite extra out of the entire set was seeing episode 1.27 “The Safecracker Suite” as an alternate version that the German TV board got a hold of and recorded a new German audio track so that they didn’t look like fools on the show. Don’t worry it’s got English subtitles. Each season has its own folder of discs and everything is housed in a well-designed slipcase with acetate sleeve. Hogaaaaaaan!

# 4 Lost Season 5 Dharma Initiative Edition Blu-Ray
SRP: $120 Bargain Shoppers: Find it on Amazon or Target for appox. $75-80

There is a handful of television shows that really exemplify the beauty of high definition, and Lost belongs in that elite club. If you haven’t been catching the show on blu-ray, then do so because it’s the best these shows have ever looked and they’ve never sounded any better. Like in seasons prior, Season 5 has a ton of supplemental material and easter eggs, but after the lightweights make it through the episode discs and extras and go to bed, the “Lost-ies” can enroll in the blu-ray exclusive, Lost University which is like a full blown school of Lost-related classes and workshops, complete with lectures, homeworks assignments, exams, and higher learning like survival tactics, learning foreign languages, and the philosophical and scientific explanations of what is going on in the show. In other words, there are days worth of extras (because it actually makes you wait for days in between classes) on BD-Live/Online to keep you immersed in what the Dharma Initiative has in store for you.

And if you want to take it a step further, track down the Dharma Intiative version of Season 5 on blu-ray. The discs themselves are the same, but housed in “floppy” discs holders, and included are four Dharma Initiative patches for you to sew onto your jump suit (not included); a fifth chase patch is randomly packaged. In addition to trifold brochures is a retro orientation folder with a VHS instructional videocassette. Housing all of this is a distressed and aged, cardboard box with a “moldy facade.” It’s hard to deny the fervor that Lost fans have shown in recent years and these blu-rays are the best possible way to own and watch the series.

# 3 The Mel Brooks Blu-Ray Collection
SRP: $140 Find it on Amazon or other online outlets for approx. $95

It’s hard to find a funnier box set than the Mel Brooks collection. Yes it’s politically incorrect, yes, they’re off-the-wall, but Brooks is one of our finest comedic iconoclasts. In addition to the movies is a 120-pg hardcover booklet that’s as wide as the box and full of anecdotes for each film with production notes, Brooks’ diary logs and funny stories. This makes the PCS Gift list because Brooks’ films have stood the test of time and people still talk about them today, and they continue to be as funny today as they were when they were first made.

The set Includes high definition blu-rays of The Twelve Chairs (1970) Blazing Saddles (1974) Young Frankenstein (1974) Silent Movie (1976), High Anxiety (1977), History of the World Part I (1981) To Be or Not to Be (1983) Spaceballs (1987) and Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). The transfers on all of the films are of high quality, especially Young Frankenstein with Twelve Chairs looking the worst of them all specifically because of the grainy appearance but it is also the oldest of the set. Extras vary from disc to disc but Brooks is often found providing solo commentary tracks and on several discs are isolated score tracks. Definitely one of the best gift sets, just released this week.

# 2 Futurama DVD Series Set in Bender Head
SRP: $200 Find it on Amazon or Costco for appox. $145-160

If you found it tough to keep track of Futurama as it moved from different time slots to another network and then the four straight-to-DVD animated features, then DVR no more. Originally conceived as a limited edition 2009 Comic-Con Exclusive, (but is now available at your local Costco) are all 72 episodes and the four widescreen animated features: Bender’s Big Score, The Beast with a Billion Backs, Bender’s Game, and Into the Wild Green Yonder spread throughout 19 discs, and housed in a giant plastic Bender Head. The box that holds the set has printing on all six sides of the cube so it looks like a well-preserved Futurama head floating in liquid. The first thing I thought when I opened this thing is, “This thing is bitchin!” Afterwards, it was, “Where am I going to put this?” Keep the box and put it safely on a bookshelf in your office so you can sneak an episode here and there proudly display your love of Slurm!

Now, while Fox is planning to recast the voices for new season in 2010 (blasphemous!), you can re-watch, or finish wherever you left off with the classic Futurama cast. It’s probably the most underrated animated comedy in the last ten years, and dare I say smarter and better constructed as a whole, than the Simpsons. There is an audio commentary for EVERY SINGLE episode, storyboards, animatics, cool how-to-draw galleries and featurettes to keep you busy until our world actually resembles the cynical and bizarre world of Futurama.

#1 AK 100: Criterion Collection 25 Films by Akira Kurosawa
SRP: $400 Find it on Amazon or other online outlets. $285-$325

And the grand daddy of them all, the gift that would make movie-lovers swoon. AK 100 celebrates 100 years of Kurosawa’s life. This linen-bound collector’s set comes with an illustrated book with an introduction and notes on each film by Stephen Prince (The Warrior’s Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa) and a remembrance by Donald Richie (The Films of Akira Kurosawa). For those that don’t know, these two men have contributed to several audio commentaries and supplemental material that have come with all of Criterion’s wonderful DVD presentations. For those who know film or are filmmakers, there is possibly no more influential a filmmaker as Kurosawa and if you haven’t made the effort to start a library of his work, then there’s no better place to start than here.

Includes: Sanshiro Sugata (1943), The Most Beautiful (1944), Sanshiro Sugata Part Two (1945), The Men Who Tread on the Tiger’s Tail (1945), No Regrets for Our Youth (1946), One Wonderful Sunday (1947), Drunken Angel (1948), Stray Dog (1949) Scandal (1950), Rashomon (1950) The Idiot (1951) Ikiru (1952), Seven Samurai (1954), I Live in Fear (1955), Throne of Blood (1957), The Lower Depths (1957), The Hidden Fortress (1958), The Bad Sleep Well (1960), Yojimbo (1961) Sanjuro (1962), High and Low (1963), Red Beard (1965), Dodes’Ka-Den (1970), Kagemusha (1980), and Madadayo (1993).

Year: 2009
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Rated: PG
SRP: $29.98
Studio(s): 20th Century Fox
Release Date: December 1, 2009

Film/Feature: C+
Ben Stiller steps back into his role as Larry Daley, a night guard who gets spooked when the exhibits in the New York Museum of Natural History come to life. Daley is now famous and bogged down with success because he pursued his dreams – the message of Night at the Museum – and is smote by the lure of filthy riches! As an unhappy infomercial pitch man, he suddenly gets sentimental when he finds out that his beloved posse of exhibits come-to-life, are being boxed up and sent to the Smithsonian archive.

Upon arriving in the nation’s capital, his old friends; Jedediah (Owen Wilson), Octavious (Steve Coogan), General Custer (John Hader) and Dexter the super capuchin, run into some rival “exhibits” who want to impose their superiority complexes all over the Smithsonian led by Egyptian Pharaoh Kahmunrah (Hank Azaria) with his henchmen Ivan the Terrible (Christopher Guest), Napoleon Bonaparte (Alain Chabat) and Al Capone (Jon Bernthal). Jedediah makes a distress call to Daley setting up for another “Night at the Museum.” This time it’s the Smithsonian–the mother of all museums. This of course opens up the realms of possibilities to the Air and Space Museum, pop culture exhibits like Star Wars and Sesame Street, the national monuments (giant Abe) and the National Art Museum. Yes, American Gothic and Degas can come to life.

Kahmunrah’s evil plot comes to light when he needs to get his hands on the tablet which brings everything to life, and tries to open a gate for his world to enter ours. He holds Jedediah captive in an hourglass and haphazardly everything becomes a panic. But it all feels like some cheap way to pit to the cast of the prequel against the new cast, not in any meaningful way; not in any way that makes the audience feel like something truly bad can happen if Kahmunrah is successful. Look, his biggest threat is to suffocate a tiny wooden figurine with sand. Just wait until morning, Larry, it’ll all work out. There are some other moments that will pull at the corners of your mouth, like an action nod to 300, or seeing Craig Robinson cast as one of the Tuskegee Airmen, but outside of being a big mosh pit for some of your favorite historical figures, Battle of the Smithsonian plays out like most blockbuster sequels. Good concept, but poor execution.

The most genuine and interesting figure Daley meets on this Night, is Amelia Earhart played Amy Adams who no doubt, steals every scene with her Vaudeville-esque dialogue and sharp wit. Unlike the prequel, Stiller has someone to play off of, and strangely, be a love interest. She’s a glorified doll, Larry! Seriously though, Earhart is by far the most fleshed out character in this film. Her sense of direction is as present as her pursuit of adventure and I won’t be surreptitious and just say that Adams does the best Amelia this year. In fact, it weren’t for Adams, I’d think far less of this film. We get dollops of character growth bridging over from the previous film like Octavius and Jedediah, once sworn enemies are now homies, and a regretful Custer who comes to grips with being most well-known for his great failure. The most significant, cringe-worthy progression of them all is Daley who realizes at the end of the film that true happiness is practically unattainable because he goes back to his night guard job, which made him unhappy in the first place. Huh?

Battle of the Smithsonian did two things for me. 1) it made me want to go to the Smithsonian and see everything for myself because reminded me that it’s one of our country’s best man-made wonders; and 2) inspired me to see the original Night of the Museum to recapture that unsuspecting magic that’s just not present here. It’s sure to play well with tight-knit families who are bound to be distracted for two hours. Director Shawn Levy’s sequel to his box office winner attempts to carry the honor of being the first feature film shot in the National Museums, but truthfully, the Smithsonian deserved much better.

Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) and Larry Daley (Ben Stiller)

Video: A
Battle of the Smithsonian comes to high definition by way of 1080p AVC-encoded transfer in 2.35:1 aspect ratio, and it’s a great looking film. If you don’t believe me, take the DVD (Disc2) that accompanies the the film and pop that in for comparison. You’ll see that the colors are much more vibrant, details in like the capuchins’ hair is clear and easily definable. The scenes at night are particularly exceptional with deep dark blacks, and the lighting provides great the well-balanced contrast. When characters are shot in black and white (Al Capone and when Daley and Earhart jump into the photo) a dozen more shades of gray are seen than what’s seen on standard definition. The metallic luster of the tablet comes through on the screen and there’s enough grain to give the sense that you’re watching something cinematic instead of a documentary. My biggest problem comes from the inconsistencies of the digital effects. For instance, as seen in the extras, the black and white VJ-Day scene was almost all green screen but is really difficult to tell, even Lincon looks pretty good in several scenes. But other FX shots like the balloon dog (an actual work of modern art), the singing cherubs, and especially the Einstein bobbleheads, look SO fake that they almost take you out of the film. I’m not sure how much of that has to do with the way they put the film together or the transfer, but I’m going to assume it’s the former.

Audio: A–
To go with the high def picture, this film gets a 5.1 English DTS-HD Master Audio track that starts out well. There are lot of little spatial and environment sounds that travel to the rears along with music. The scene in particular of note is when Daley and Earhart are in the Air and Space Museum and planes are zipping by and rockets are whizzing and blasting off reminds one of how nice it is to hear a film in surround sound. The dinosaur roar has a nice rumble to your subwoofer, and when glass breaks you can hear the shards flying all around you. The big battle royale at the end is a bit underwhelming as most of that audio comes from the front and center channels, a bit anti-climactic as far as audio goes. Other audio selections include: French, Spanish, Portuguese; and subtitles are available in English SDH, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, and Cantonese. Sorry to those who speak French and are hard of hearing, no soup for you.

Ivan the Terrible (Christopher Guest, left), Al Capone (Jon Bernthal) and Napoleon Bonaparte (Alain Chabat): Not their best moment in history.

Extras: B-
This is a mixed bag of nuts for me. In some instances it’s kind of like walking through the dinosaur fossil room; cavernous and impressive in size and inspires imagination, but at the end of the day, not a lot of meat on the bones. Probably the must-see supplement is the Secret Doors and Scientists special which couldn’t have been long enough for me. I love the inclusion of the DVD and yes, the digital copy disc. A major downer for me was the lack of subtitles for the extras; it’s one of those things that have become standard and if you’re playing to as broad as an audience as they hoped, these extras should be geared towards everyone. So that’s a big misstep.

Audio Commentary by Director Shawn Levy is a chatty scene-specific track that’s not very heavy with technical information nor is it full of stories that you’re dying to hear. A lot of it is what happened on that day of the shoot, what lines were improvised and what wasn’t, as well as, some discussion about Rhythm and Hues’ digital effects contributions. Two-thirds in though it seems like Levy’s coffee wears off because he takes longer breaks between thoughts.

Audio Commentary by writers Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon keep the energy up all the way through the end and that’s the benefit of having a team in the same room doing the commentary where you can hear each person bounce conversation, but again did not lean too much towards any one way of commentary style, so unless you REALLY love Night at the Museum films, this one isn’t a memorable track, but in relation to this disc, they’re a nice change from Levy.

Museum Scavenger Hunt Game HD is an elaborate variation of the trivia track where users must use the four colored buttons to navigate and seek out historical figures and artifacts while the film is playing. I’m always for different ways to see the film. I mean if you’re going to buy this blu-ray I would expect anyone who does to see it more than once or twice. And again, given the target audience, this is an extra that would play well to kids in a discovery mode.

Curators of Comedy: Behind the Scenes with Ben Stiller HD (27:52) that’s heavily centered around interviews with the cast, some publicity for director Shawn Levy (who you’ll get to know quite well), and set design and recreating parts of the Smithsonian where they couldn’t shoot. It’s solid work, more than an average EPK piece, but not to the diary level of some making of specials I’ve seen.

Secret Doors of the Smithsonian HD (15:58) takes a tour of the museum, the people who work in the museum and those who handle the exhibits, artifacts, and the research done at the famous Smithsonian. Many of the curators and scientists who conduct research on site are interviewed as well brief tours that go into the offices where most people don’t get to go. If you really have a thirst for history and knowledge, then 16 minutes is just too short. I could watch another two hours of Smithsonian tours.

Show Me the Monkey Featurettes HD (18:00) is actually three short featurettes about working with simian actors Crystal and Squirt, the capuchin monkeys who plays both Dexter and Able in the Night of the Museum series. What’s fascinating is the third special that shows the home these capuchins have and what their trainers do for their daily regiment. Crystal in particular has been in too many big movies to count, and is a testament to her and her trainers.

Museum Magic Entering the World of Photograph HD (5:41) reveals the process in recreating the 1945 Times Square VJ-Day moment where the famous picture of the sailor and nurse kissing was taken.

Deleted Scenes HD (26:44) with optional commentary by Levy shows 11 cut scenes including a different ending.

Directing 201 with Shawn Levy HD (19:19) A day in the life of Levy while on the set of shooting Battle of the Smithsonian. This particular day was Steve Coogan’s final day of principal shooting as they film his and Owen Wilson’s big green screen battle with the giant feet, and Levy bounces to shooting multiple scenes, to editing visual effects, and laying down audio. It also shows the other crew members who he communicates with like the costume designer, action choreographer, and assistant director.

Phindering Pharaoh With Hank Azaria HD (4:50) See how the great voice actor Hank Azaria honed the voice for his Egyptian Pharaoh.

The Jonas Brothers in Cherub Bootcamp HD (3:53) A fake doc about the Jonas Brothers rehearsing for their appearance in the film as the sing-songy cherubs in the film. Thankfully, it’s a short piece where the brothers have a pretty good sense of humor about themselves.

Gangster Levy HD (1:57) If you haven’t discovered by now, Shawn Levy is littered throughout this entire disc, almost to the point of nausea. He’s a great, energetic guy who comes off as a interesting and a bit snarky. But this is yet another Levy-centric special, starring in an black and white Al Capone clip.

Gag Reel HD (8:10) The obligatory gag reel full of line gaffs and goofs that’s sure to get a few snickers and giggles.

Historical Confessions: Famous Last Words HD (6:29) Several of the actors talk catty about each other’s characters while in remaining in character. It’s cute but probably not worth revisiting more than once.

Cavemen Conversations: Survival of the Wittiest HD (4:18) is an “interview” with the three cavemen which is funny for the first thirty seconds, but runs way too long. Nothing will make you beg for the Geico Caveman commercials faster than this.

The Making a Scene SD (9:36) is quick EPK/TV show hybrid on how Air and Space Museum sequence was put together.

Fox Premiere SD (5:28) is a red carpet event with questions for the cast and crew at a premiere that was held at the Smithsonian.

Trailers HD is an interesting collection of other Fox productions including Post Grad, Aliens in the Attic, Fame, (500) Days of Summer, All About Steve, Amelia, and Glee.

Disc 2 is a DVD of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Museum for viewing the film on DVD players, whether they be in your vehicle, portable DVD player or computer.

Disc 3 is a Digital Copy of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Museum for viewing the film on portable media and computers.

Larry hanging with Lincoln

Overall Shock Value: C+
I’m certainly not above enjoying a good popcorn film but Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian is only enough to get your feet wet. Extras will entertain, but only so far. It does look terrific in high definition and the sound is fine; but the story just seems like a clown car plot, in other words, how many people can we fit in this before people begin to notice there’s not much story? If the family is itching to see something new and familiar, but doesn’t want to get too involved with anything too deep then this is it. Otherwise, Rent It.

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.

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: C
If you were hoping for a live action version of the cartoon, then G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra hits that mark. If you expected the film to transcend what the cartoon was, well then, you’re out of luck. But in comparison to Hasbro’s other brand-gone-wild, Transformers, I think G.I. Joe is more faithful adaptaion of the beloved 1980′s cartoon, which was really about two opposing covert teams in some special arms race, showcasing tricked out weapon-vehicles, specialized soldiers, in every terrain known to man. As a kid you never cared about what these things would look like in real life, you just wanted the toys. So after 45 years, what did you really want out of a GI Joe movie directed by Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, Van Helsing)? An extension of the cartoon? Or some crazy bastardization with cool effects? The Rise of Cobra is a bit of a mixture of those two, something in the middle of not-so-good and not-so-bad. And based on all of the Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes outfits I saw at Halloween, I think the goal has been accomplished.

It’s a basic year one type story where Duke (Channing Tatum) is recruited out of the US Military forces into a special international operations unit called G.I. Joe and with him is another soldier and friend, Ripcord (Marlon Wayans). Duke has orders to protect four warheads with nanotechnology created by James McCullen (Christopher Eccleston) of the MARS industries. Think Haliburton on steroids. When unleashed the weapon can eat and destroy metal. Duke’s unit comes under attack by some covert team of soldiers with extremely advanced weapons, led by someone from his past, a woman named Ana (Sienna Miller) who now goes under the codename, Baroness. G.I. Joe saves Duke and Ripcord and brings them back along with the warheads to the Pit where they meet the leader, General Hawk (Dennis Quaid) and are properly introduced to Scarlett (the voluptuous Rachel Nichols), Snake Eyes (the ever silent Ray Park), Heavy Duty (the imposing Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Breaker (Said Taghmaoui).

Duke had some history with the Ana dating back four years prior when they were engaged to be married. Her brother, Rex (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) was in Duke’s unit and was apparently killed in a poorly-timed air strike. The relationship between Duke and Ana incinerated after that, sending Ana to the side of this black ops team who will be later revealed as Cobra. Alongside are Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee), Arnold Vosloo (Zartan), and McCullen. The other story we get in Lost-like flashbacks is the story of rival ninjas Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes, two of the most popular characters from the animated series, and are centerpieces of the satisfyingly good action scenes in Rise of the Cobra, whether when they are young (played by Brandon Soo Hoo and Leo Howard) or in their present grown-up selves.

The story is not as tight as an old fan would hope. With all of the military-related action films done in the last 15 years, the bar is pretty high these days what passes for a good script. But I’ll give them this, they did consult G.I. Joe comics writer Larry Hamma and the work he did in the 80′s and use the nanotechnology, as well as technology that is being planned for real use in the military. The tech eventually gets a bit too fantastic when Duke and Ripcord try out the Joes’ new weapon, the accelerator suits. Looking as if they were patterned off HALO outfits, these suits give the soldier inside enhanced agility, speed, and strength. Cool in theory, but in reality these suits get mixed results. Everything builds to an underwater battle that brings the Baroness back in Duke’s arms and revelation of what we will come to know as Cobra as well as a much bigger threat for the inevitable sequel.

Where the movie really loses me is in some of the bigger set designs that are almost done completely in computer animation and that’s not so bad, but it’s got that strange cold feeling like Sky Captain or Phantom Menace where it’s so close to being a fully animated film, instead of looking real, that it’s almost not worth pretending to be a live-action film. In that case, the film could have been just given over to the team who created the excellent G.I. Joe Resolute, which all of us at PCS are all fans of. Any scenes where it’s all vehicles waging all out destruction or are establishing a new setting, take you out of the moment of the film in the air, in the snow and especially underwater. In the commentary, director Stephen Sommers even says at one point where a G.I. Joe aircraft is landing into the Pit, that it’s not his favorite shot because they simply ran out of time. It does look like a student animation project.

I wanted to like this film more, and after I heard what I heard I wanted to dislike it more. But hearing and seeing are two different things, and I had to see it for myself. Truth be told, I think it’s like a computer-game hybrid stylish take of an extended G.I. Joe cartoon episode. Everything looked right, which was a plus. I was fine with almost all of the casting choices. The action sequences, weapons and vehicles all delivered, but the acting? Not so much. It’s reminiscent of the early 90′s acting in comic book movies. A little stiff, a bit wooden, and for too simple for my liking. Actors like Gordon-Levitt have been so impressive in other films but look like a shell here. It’s a lot like people describing the acting in the Star Wars prequels: Great actors who act like impersonators of themselves. Storm Shadow, Snake Eyes and the Baroness offer the most interesting arcs, everything else is forgettable.

Does it keep the spirit of the 80′s cartoon? Yes. Is it realistic? Hell no. Although lots of people die in this film where nobody died in the cartoons. But if you imagined a PG-13 live action version of the G.I. Joe franchise to be better than this, go watch The Hurt Locker or HBO’s Generation Kill instead because believe me, those guys are truly bad-ass. Rise of Cobra falls short of what G.I. Joe always was to me and that’s an action-packed bonanza that ironically portrayed the battles of war accurately. Take a look at the real action of Desert Storm and compare it to an episode of G.I. Joe. It’s pretty close. The battles here are taken to the proportion of a Star Wars prequel and that’s not a good thing. Sommers again in the commentary referred to Thunderball as a childhood influence. That also is not a good thing. However the sequel is set. Cobra is established, and hopefully the filmmakers up the ante and raise the quality of the script and acting, so that fans and non-fans can talk about a great G.I. Joe film. Until then it’s the 80′s animated series and Resolute for me.

Video/Audio: B+
Rise of Cobra on DVD has 480p encoded transfer in 2.40:1 aspect ratio. It’s a great looking film, even on DVD with good reproduction on colors and detail. Knowing how good this would look on blu-ray makes me hold back on giving a higher rating. The soundtrack on the DVD is a beefy 5.1 English Dolby Digital audio track. It’s an active sound stage with lots of explosions and spatial sound effects that moves all around you. Rear channels are active with atmosphere and environment noise as well as residual music. Other audio selections include: French, Spanish, and subtitles are available in English, French, and Spanish.

The blu-ray is presented in 1080p and English 5.1 DTS-HD which I’m confident are upgrades worth checking out.

Extras: C+
I honestly expected a bit more from the extras section considering a passionate fan base would probably want to sink into every single aspect of the film. Maybe the DVD was rushed or perhaps there wasn’t much budget for lots of supplements. Subtitles are available in English, Spanish and French.

Audio Commentary by director Stephen Sommers and producer Bob Ducsay is not the best commentary track I’ve listened to because these guys really believe they put forth the best G.I. Joe film they could make. They do reveal the studio’s resistance for the back story between the ninjas among other anecdotes but it’s a very loving and apologetic track for a rather mediocre film.

The Big Bang Theory: The Making of G.I. Joe SD (29:34) shows how the comics and cartoons of the 80′s were used as a foundation for the film and the arduous task of making a popular children’s cartoon into a big studio action film scene. Action sequences, the accelerator suits, and the final underwater scene are their special effects are broken down.

Next-Gen Action: The Amazing Visual FX and Design of G.I. Joe SD (21:08) is set by set breakdown and the computer generation of the these creative pieces through the efforts of Digital Domain. Helicopters being crushed by a concussion cannon, detailing the Pit, the Night Raven, and the underwater finale were some of the sequences explained. Again, the end sequence was created with Thunderball in mind, huh, go figure.

There’s a 3D Holographic Video Game that can be played with your webcam but after doing the recommended plug in, every time I tried to access the game on the GIJOEexperience.com site, it crashed my browser. So if you’re able to get it to work, you can play a ninja battle game.

The extras disc is also used as a Digital Copy Disc to download on home computer and portable electronics such as iPod and PSP.

To close out the extras, check out Previews for Avatar: The Last Airbender, Transformers 2 Revenge of the Fallen, Star Trek, Monsters vs. Aliens, and the excellent G.I. Joe Resolute cartoon.

Overall Shock Value: C+
Like it or not, G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra accomplished its goal of bringing back the popular brand, capitalizing on the grown-up fan base from the 80′s and being able to sell more toys and licensed products to their kids. Like Hasbro’s other franchise, Transformers, it made a global impact that financially is unmatched in the brand’s run. It certainly looks right and feels a lot like the original animated series come to life, but unfortunately, it’s not much more than that. If you’re a home theater fanatic like myself, I would opt to save the pennies and make the jump up to high definition if you can because the high def picture and audio would add to the experience greatly. Still the DVD is probably best suited for devoted G.I. Joe fans who have to get their grubby paws on everything saying, “Yo Joe!” and I think boys who are in their early teens will probably get a kick out of it too. Otherwise I’d recommend Rise of Cobra as a rental and pray for something deeper and more ambitious for the second installment.

Year: 2007
Running Time: 92 min.
Rated: R
SRP: $26.98
Studio(s): Magnolia Home Entertainment

Film/Feature: B-

Three godfathers of modern day Hong Kong cinema, Tsui Hark (Time and Tide, Once Upon a Time in China), Ringo Lam (City of Fire, Twin Dragons), and Johnny To (Election, Exiled) collaborate in what’s best described as a relay film. Each director tells the story he wants to tell in the style he wants to do and then hands it off to the next storyteller. Even though there are some points where you’ll want to scratch your head, those familiar with each director will be able to tell who did what parts, but the transitions are very subtle. If this is your first dip into any of their works, then it may not be the best endorsement of how great they each are, because even though it has its moments, Triangle will be best appreciated for its experimental devices rather than its actual execution.

The synopsis is as follows: Three drinking buddies, Sam (Simon Yam), Fei (Louis Koo), and Mok (Sun Hong Lei), are struggling to make ends meet, when one night a mysterious old man appears an offers them a unique financial opportunity. He claims that buried beneath a high-security government building, lies an ancient treasure of great wealth. In agreement, the three men set off to commit the heist, but what they find puts their honor and friendship to the ultimate test.

Fei is the shady one out of the group and has “connections” with Triads to make this work. Sam has a mired marriage and past that will get him in trouble. And Mok, well he’s just trying to make a score with the least amount of trouble involved. It’s a basic story that really gets derailed in Lam’s intermediate part of the film who shifts the focus onto Sam and his marriage. His wife, Ling (Kelly Lin) believes that Sam killed his first wife and will kill her too. Ling has her own skeletons since she’s having an affair with a cop who she convinces to keep an eye on her husband and why he’s so secretive. Ever hear of the expression, three’s a crowd?

Now that we’ve veered completely away from the original plot of the film, Johnny To comes in and brings the film back on its track in what is a brilliantly-directed final act. All of the seemingly non-related parties involved in the story converge in a tiny province city where the real action takes place and only one party comes out alive.

Each director got his opportunity to do something special, but only To actually delivered. While I’m glad that we didn’t get three over-the-top action sequences, there could have been a bit more collaboration between them to tell a more coherent story from the back to the front. Because of that I liked many parts of it, but not the whole. I was strangely under a spell in Lam’s more emotion-filled middle as convoluted as it was. Hark had to establish so much in his section, so I felt less of him came through, but To brought it home in a fun and memorable way that’s best left unspoiled. Is it enough to salvage the rest of the disjointed film? I think so, but I also know many may agree so strongly. If HK action films are one of your favorite genres, then Triangle is just another film you should try with an open mind. It’s slick, it’s fun, and it’s also wildly out there. But I would also add that Triangle isn’t nearly as good as any of the three directors’ solo endeavors.

Video/Audio: B-/B-
Triangle is shown on DVD through a 480p standard definition transfer in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The colors while clear are a bit dull side so there’s not too many scenes where the hues are going to pop off of your television. There’s a fair amount of grain, especially in To’s night finale, but is a steady viewing experience that’s indicative of many of the Magnolia home releases.

The audio is best heard in the 5.1 Dolby Digital Cantonese track which is a front-heavy experience. Some residual effect noise gets to the rear channels like the echoing of gunfire and crickets chirping, music of course but lots of it from the front. The subwoofer is used sparingly and is not a film where bass is going to really kick in. There are no giant explosions, or hip hop music, just a little bit of drums and percussion in the score. Other audio selections include: 2.0 Dolby Digital Original Cantonese, 5.1 English Dub Dolby Digital, 2.0 English Dub audio tracks and subtitles are available in English and Spanish.

Extras: C-
Behind the scenes SD (13:32) On the set of the film’s climactic night scene and a peek into To’s working behind the camera. The funny thing is watching the actors holding a cigarette in their hands between practice takes.

Making of Triangle SD (6:15) is an average EPK moment that a hardcore HK film fan could skip but it’s enough to provide green HK film fans a broader bit of knowledge at which to expand their next venture into the genre.

Trailers for Ong Bak 2, World’s Greatest Dad, and Not Quite Hollywood, a documentary about Aussie genre films and the phenomena of Ozploitation.

Overall Shock Value: B-
I’m an easy guy to please when it comes to HK action, and even though I wasn’t completely satisfied with Triangle, it entertained me much more than what’s usually showing out there. It’s a solid Saturday rental, and you can determine if you love HK films as much as I do, or are just a casual fan. There’s not a lot of extras that will push Triangle into a must-buy opportunity, but for Johnny To completists like myself, Triangle just qualifies as recommendable treat that’s good for some late night debate.

Year: 1985
Rated: G
Running Time: approx. 11 hours
SRP: $24.99
Studio: Shout! Factory
Release Date: September 15, 2009

Feature: A-

If you never bothered your mind or eyes with the two Michael Bay Transformers films, then your are still pure of what the real Transformers once was, an epic chess match between two rival groups of robots set perfectly on the canvas of animation cels. The Shout! Factory is celebrating 25 years of the Transformers by releasing the DVDs in two ways. You can either plunk down the lettuce for the Matrix of Leadership box set that has a ton of extra Transformers memorabilia or you can get it el cheapo way by getting the individual season sets.

Season Two, Volume One collects the first 28 episodes of the follow up season. Everyone should be familiar with Optimus Prime and the Autobots doing battle with Megatron and the Decepticons. Good vs. Evil, More than Meets the Eye, Robots in Disguise and yadda-yadda you get it. Why I love this series so much and especially why I like this season even better than the first is how much has been built up and how the next wave of characters/toys were prominently featured in this season. No one here is saying they didn’t get enough of Soundwave, Hound, Bumblebee, and Starscream. But in this season the Dinobots, the Constructicons, Insecticons, all had recurring roles in this season. Autobots like Perceptor, Blaster, Cosmos, Beachcomber, Grapple, Hoist, Red Alert, Skids, Smokescreen, Warpath, and Powerglide weren’t just introduced, they had feature roles. Decepticons like the Triple Changer Astrotrain and Blitzwing, Dirge, Ramjet, Thrust were more regular than the first wave of Decepticon jets. And need we be reminded of Omega Surpeme?

One of the biggest knocks I hear about the Transformers is how simplistic the stories were and for some reason that gave the filmmakers who made the live action film a free pass to have absolutely no story. There was quite a bit of complexity in the Decepticon plans and made for some memorable episodes even upon revisiting them for this review. Some of my favorite episodes include “Autobot Spike,” which was a modern retelling of Frankenstein, Dinobot Island where a Jurassic Park-like island is found and exploited for fossil fuels. “The Insecticon Syndrome” and “Quest for Survival” which shows the mistrust between the Decepticons and the Insecticons. The two part “Megatron’s Master Plan” had an elaborate scam that framed the Autobots who are then exiled. The “Master Builders” show the Contructicons preying on the weak mind of Hoist and Grapple to help build a solar energy tower. There were stories down in Atlantis, on another planet, and in another time. And one of the crazier two parters had the Dinobots going to Cybertron to retrieve Cybertoronium for the Autobots and Decepticons who are on the fritz. Instead Grimlock and the Dinobots ditch them all because he’s through taking orders.

A handful of these episodes had more meat on the bone than either film ever did. They just did, and there’s no sugar coating it. There was less emphasis on Spike and his romance with the Autobots. This was all about good vs. evil and both of them against those in between. Characters played each other, Decepticons were deceived by their own, Autobots had to acclimate the suddenly new robots that appeared out of nowhere like Blaster and his loud racket. The same went for the other side. But you understood that it was a way to get more out of your new action figure you just bought. Today there remains a story that was thought out, and the animation–despite its glitches–was rich. This is the golden age of the Transformers and the reason why people ever paid attention to it. Make sure future generations get to see it by passing this box set down and stories of computer love to your future generations of bot lovers.

Episode Listing
Disc 1
Autobot Spike
The Immobilizer
Dinobot Island, Part 1
Dinobot Islant Part 2
Traitor
Enter the Nightbird
Changing Gears

Disc 2 ?
A Prime Problem
Atlantis, Arise!
Attack of the Autobots
Microbots
The Master Builders
The Insecticon Builders
Day of the Machines

Disc 3
Megatron’s Master Plan, Part 1
Megatron’s Master Plan, Part 2
Auto Beserk
City of Steel
Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 1
Desertion of the Dinobots, Part 2
Blaster Blues

Disc 4
A Decepticon Raider in King
Arthur’s Court
The God Gambit
The Core
Make Tracks
The Autobot Run
The Golden Lagoon
Quest for Survival

Audio/Video: B/B
These are standard DVD presented in full frame 4:3 aspect ratio. Audio is 2.0 stereo.

Extras: D-
Nothing to speak of here because there are no extras. It’s not a big deal, I’m sure that keeps the price low but for those looking for something more won’t be satisfied by that. Being a 25th Anniversary, one would expect something added to these discs, but I know that they try to put all of the extra stuff for the extreme fans who buy the super Matrix of Leadership box set which contains all of the G1 episodes in one cool collective box set. There is a nicely designed episode guide booklet that’s included so there’s almost nothing as far as extras are concerned.

The Shout! Factory will also release box sets of G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero in separate seasons beginning with Season 1.1 DVD box set on July 21, 2009. Details are below.

“A must-have for any aspiring hero, the 4-DVD box set features the first 22 episodes, including the three 5-part mini-series The M.A.S.S. Device, The Revenge of Cobra and The Pyramid of Darkness.” There’s a special SNAKE EYES and STORM SHADOW tattoo from the Arashikage ninja clan and other exciting bonus content. G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero Season 1.1 DVD box set is priced at $29.99 SRP.

G.I. JOE: A REAL AMERICAN HERO SEASON 1.1

Synopsis
G.I. JOE is an elite group of special operatives, fighting for freedom wherever there’s trouble. In this animated series based on characters from Hasbro’s popular line of 3″ action figures, the G.I. JOE team will stop at nothing to defeat COBRA – an enemy with the singular goal of world domination!

Bonus Features Include:
– Knowing is Half the Battle PSAs
– Looking Back with writer Ron Friedman
– Archival Hasbro toy commercials
– G.I. JOE’s original 1963 Toy Fair presentation
– Printable script for “Jungle Trap”

Technical Information
Street Date: July 21, 2009
Packaging: The 4 DVDs are collected in thin packs with a deluxe foil board sleeve with embossed accents. For a limited time, the DVD set will include rub-on tattoos.
Rating: Not Rated
Suggested Retail Price: $29.99
DVD Selection Number:
Running Time: Approx. 480 min.
Discs: 4
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Technical Info: English, Stereo.

Due to circumstance, Conan becomes involved as an observer and investigator in a series of mysteries, each typically lasting one or two episodes. Though the crimes may be fiendishly clever, in the end, Conan always discovers the perpetrator, and herein lies the beauty of the series.

As with any good mystery novel, clues revealing the culprits are provided to the viewer. To keep the answers from being too obvious, the audience isn’t privy to all of Conan’s insights, but we can basically sleuth the crime along with him. When he’s discovered the truth, Conan reveals it to us, and the genius way that he pieced it together. The result is a very satisfying series of puzzles with rational solutions, which makes at least one additional viewing of each story worthwhile.

A newcomer to Case Closed can easily jump into the Fourth Season DVD. Certain aspects of the supporting characters, and some of Conan’s amazing technological gadgets, may be a bit confusing when first encountered, but you?ll catch on.

What’s tricky is the series’ running hook. Conan’s really a teenage detective named Jimmy Kudo. Poisoned by some bad guys, he?s magically regressed to the age of an 8 year old body. To protect the people around him, Conan keeps his true identity a secret, and obviously hi-jinks ensue.

Visually, this series has a deceptively simple look. The clean appearance not only makes it easy to watch, but highlights important visual clues for you audience sleuths.

Though gore and mayhem are downplayed, Case Closed features murders ? and a lot of them. The violence is not extremely graphic, but there are plenty of images of corpses and the disturbing results of violent death throughout this series. It?s probably unsuitable for small children.

For lovers of mystery stories and puzzles, this is a great series. We?re looking forward to FUNimation’s release of Season 5, currently scheduled for May 2009, and hopefully they’ll eventually make it through all 500+ episodes that have aired in Japan.

Daniel Craig steps into the tuxedo and behind the Aston Marton again to reprise the role of 007. For the first time in the franchise, there is carry-over from the previous film, Casino Royale. Still hurt from the death and betrayal of his lover, Vesper, Bond picks up probably a few hours after Royale’s ending and makes it a personal vendetta to find out what she was up to and is willing to risk his status with M and British Intelligence over it. After M is shot at by a double agent for the secret agency, Quantum, Bond goes into full throttle. Bond follows a lead to Panama where stumbles onto something when he rescues Camile (Olga Kurylenko) from Dominic Greene (Mathieu Almaric) a businessman and major player within the Quantum circle. Money is tied directly into control and in times when fossil fuels are at a commodity, power players jockey for whatever else can be controlled. Greene though is far more insidious than what he appears to be, determined to control what resources remain in third world Bolivia, if he could just get rid of that mangy 007. Bond takes his anger out on Quantum, fueled by revenge for a woman, but the woman is not who you expect.

The same old Bond conventions are here: several exotic location shoots, fancy car chases, fancy boat chases, oh and fancy plane chases? Yep. Bond girls, check, M, check, huge secret black spy operative (Quantum) who threatens all, yeah check. Q and the gadgets? Mmmmm, no, so that means it’s gotta be bad right? No. What’s being done to the franchise in this modern take on Ian Fleming’s secret agent is take the formulas out, and instead of each film feeling like it’s a random film with all the checks and balances, we get to see the consequence of his actions, an evolutionary arc within the Bond character. The downside of all this is that seeing Casino Royale is essential to see what bug has crawled up Bond’s ass, and if one doesn’t have this history, Quantum of Solace is a little thin on actual development.

The selection of the main crew was a strange assembly. Marc Forster who has been hit or miss with me (Hit-Stranger than Fiction, Miss- Monster’s Ball), has been known for more emotional, thought out dramas so they brought on board Dan Bradley for the second unit whose experience in the Bourne franchise is very apparent ten minutes into the movie. Paul Haggis who is as hot a screenwriter as you can get, co-wrote this with Neal Purvis and Robert Wade and all of the gaps seemed to be controlled with the right people, but there was just too much action. While Casino Royale had a slow build in between, Quantum of Solace finally felt like it was getting somewhere at the halfway point. We see a much more interesting relationship between M and Bond, and Camille’s story is fully realized and this is where Forster’s strengths come through but it’s all a little too much too late. There’s no doubt that the action is where it needs to be, but I was hoping for a much better blend.

As a companion to Casino Royale, I think Quantum of Solace works just fine, an emotional release, or comedown if you will for the Bond character dealing with Vesper’s betrayal. Rarely do we get to see a character exercise that in another film. But by itself, Quantum gives you so much action in your face, you almost forget that you want a full story to go along with it. By the film’s end we do feel like the character of 007 has experienced a journey that he will take to his next adventure. He battles mistrust and himself as much as evil crime syndicates and for some Bond fans, that might not be enough, but as a whole, the franchise is still in good hands.

Video: B+
The original 2.40:1 theatrical aspect ratio is maintained on the DVD, with anamorphic widescreen. All of that high-speed action is held together well, with no artifacts, or pixelation. Colors are strong and might I say that Craig over-tanned or has too much make-up because he’s got a bit of an orange thing going on in his face. Black levels hold up nicely, strong and deep throughout the film and despite some stylistic purpose of slight grain, the image is very clean. This transfer is great, it’s just not as good as a high definition encoded blu-ray but as good as you’re going to see on a SD-DVD.

Audio: A-
You get the choice between a 5.1 DTS and a 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack, both sound damn good with excellent sound movement in all directions, utilizing all of the channels wisely in the actions scenes. LFE sound is prominent throughout the same scenes as there’s some rattling that will go on in your room. All of this is fine but more importantly is balanced with the clean dialogue from the center channel. There are several accents spoken through the entire film and there was not a problem hearing any of it. If I were asked to prefer one soundtrack over the other, I’d have to go with the DTS track, because there’s just that added punch of the booming explosion and piercing of gunshots that travel around. Again, the knowledge of high definition audio makes me pull back on the rating, so I know it can be that much better, but really, a very satisfactory audio experience.

Extras: D+
One pass through the extras and it’s safe to say that a bigger, badder edition is sure to come for both formats. Whether you see it on DVD or Blu-Ray you get the same extras so no exclusives this time around, but given the two-disc blu-ray for Casino Royale that was released during Quantum’s theatrical release, the wait will be worth it. Getting back to this release, most of the material is EPK (Electronic Press Kit) fluffer-nutter of which will likely never get revisited. And what’s worse is that they’ve spread and divided the extras into smaller segments to give a cosmetic appearance that there is more than what’s really there, kind of like three pieces of candy in a pinata.

Disc One
A Music Video “Another Way to Die” (4:31) by Jack White and Alicia Keyes and 2 Theatrical Trailers.

Disc Two
Bond On Location (24:48) – Interviews with Marc Forster producers Barbara Brocoli, Michael G. Wilson, Daniel Craig on shoots at Panama, Bolivia, and Italy. Camera set up, making the locations work within the story, and doing stunts in the tight quarters of the Italian cities is also discussed. This is probably the only must see extra in the bunch, I’m afraid.

Featurettes – Shooting Starts (2:56) On Location (3:13) Olga Kurylenko and the Boat Chase (2:15) Director Marc Forster (2:45) The Music (2:37) - Don’t be fooled by the quantity, the following are a list of EPK vignettes that skim the surface of different elements of the film.

Crew Files (46:18) – is a collection of 34 webisodes profiling key crew members ranging from camera riggers to makeup artists and their contribution to the film. Each has a little, okay, very little to say in their own words over some behind the scenes footage. Each of these last a little over a minute and don’t give you quite enough of what you want to know. Surely the interviews have been edited down or it’s being saved for the inevitable collector’s edition double-dip.

Overall Shock Value: B-
What’s been done to the James Bond character in the last two films has been a superb rejuvenation. This darkness within Bond, the calculated recklessness has taken the character back to the roots of Ian Fleming’s novels while keeping in stride with modern thrillers like the Bourne franchise. Building off of Casino Royale and evolving the character from an agent and his orders was a good move, however there was just a little too much action and not enough building going on in Quantum of Solace for my liking. The DVD still offers a great audio experience and video transfer but the extras do suck. Quantum still a good Bond film, just not a great one.

Ernie Estrella

Behold and drool.