Vicki Christina Barcelona

I’m not a big fan of Woody Allen.  I’ve seen a few of his movies and they always manage to disappoint.  So I wasn’t excited to see this one, even if it had won an Academy Award.  The story follows Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), two young Americans spending a summer in Spain.  (Hence the title)  The two meet a charming "Casanova," Juan Antonio Gonzalo (Javier Bardem) and agree to go to his home.  While there Gonzalo’s beautiful but volatile ex-wife Maria (Penelope Cruz) arrives. When they all become romantically entangled, the smoldering sparks begin to fly in hilarious fashion.  It’s a fairly interesting premise, but I’ll let you decide how you feel it pays off.

The disc is pretty bare in the special features department.

Australia

I really love Baz Luhrmann.  Romeo + Juliet was very different, but great in its own right and Moulin Rouge! is one of the most original, beautiful musicals of all time.  When I first heard he was making Australia with Rouge!’s Nicole Kidman and the wonderfully talented Hugh Jackman, I was excited.  I assumed it would be a musical and couldn’t wait to see what this trio cooked up.  Then I found out it was not actually a musical but a Drama/Love-Letter to the trio’s homeland, Australia.  When the movie came out there was a very mixed reaction, some loved it, some hated it.  I never ended up seeing it in theaters.  The movie is one of the most beautifully shot films to come out in a long time.

Set in Australia on the brink of World War II, Lady Sarah Ashley, an English Aristocrat (Kidman), travels to a cattle ranch she inherited from her late husband.  When Australian cattle barons plot to take her land, she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn local known as The Drover (Jackman) to drive 2,000 head of cattle across hundreds of miles of the country’s most unforgiving land, only to still face the bombing of Darwin by the Japanese forces that had attacked Pearl Harbor.  When tragedy strikes and Lady Sarah becomes unofficial guardian to a “half-caste” boy, the unlikely couple must come to terms with a prejudiced society, dishonorable business associates and the impending arrival of the Japanese.

This is a long movie and so the home format works great for it as you can break it up into 2 parts, or just pause it to go to the restroom or get a bite to eat.  This movie won’t be for everyone, but if you like epic love stories, it’s likely that you will enjoy it.

The Special Features include a Featurette on Australia (the country, not the movie), 2 Delete Scenes, and A Set of Behind the Scenes looks at the filmmaking process

Let the Right One In

This was one of my favorite movies of 2008.  A beautifully dark vampire story that not only makes you care for the vampire, and this one’s not a peaceful lover ala Twilight’s Edward, but a cold blooded murderer, but also packs in the shocks and scares.  I was Super Excited when I received this Blu-Ray for review.  And while the features are good with a number of deleted scenes and features, I can’t recommend you buy this disc.

 Unfortunately Magnet Films/Magnolia Pictures who distribute the film have included a very different version of the English subtitles on this release.  The new version seems to be almost an afterthought and don’t stand up to the great Theatrical subtitles, mainly because the new subtitles leave a lot of the emotion and humor on the wayside and some of the dialogue goes without subtitles at all.

 Magnolia has said they will be releasing a version that has the theatrical subtitles, which will look identical to the current release except on the back next to English Subtitles it will say (Theatrical).  But they will not be recalling the old version or replacing it.  Just thought you should have a heads up.

My Name Is Bruce

This movie is not for everyone.  It’s made for B horror fans, specifically those that love Bruce Campbell.  It’s hilarious, cheesy, and amazing.  You know if you want it or not, so I’m not going to say anything else.

Role Models

I first saw this movie, well before it was a finished product and quickly fell in love.  I had been excited to see it since I first heard there was a new movie with Paul Rudd, because really that’s all I need.  But throw in Chrisopher “McLovin’” Mintz-Plasse, as a LARPer and I was sold.  But the movie was even better than I could have anticipated.  In fact it was one of the funniest movies of last year.

Yes, this is another of the ‘R’ rated comedies, so you likely already know if you’re even remotely interested in it.  But just in case here’s a bit of the plot.  Paul Rudd and Sean William Scott play immature adults who work for an energy drink, much like Red Bull, going to schools to promote it.  Neither of them are responsible in any way and they very quickly get into trouble and get community service working for ‘Sturdy Wings’ AKA Big Brother, Big Sister.  The pair are each teamed up with a kid who is somehow worse off than they are.  Rudd’s Danny gets paired up with Mintz-Plasse’s Augie, a nerdy Live Action Role Player, whose own parents rag on him.  Scott’s Wheeler get paired up with Bobb’e J. Thompson’s hilarious Ronnie, a loud-mouthed, boob obsessed kid who drives off each of his mentor’s after less than a day.  And of course these kids teach them something about themselves.  But really it’s hilarious and all the feel good moments are worth it to see the foresome show up for the ultimate role-playing battle that ends the movie.  Funny and brilliant.

Twilight

What more can be said about this movie.  It’s the opposite of Let the Right One In, with a love-story between a girl and her vampire.  It’s kind of cheesy, aimed at teen girls, and yet I really enjoyed it.  So have several other guys I’ve talked to, and all of our wife’s have loved it as well. 

So if you like romance, vampires, supernatural danger, or baseball then maybe you should look past the stigma it’s got from everyone and give it a chance.

Marley & Me

I’m not gonna lie, I haven’t gotten around to seeing this one yet.  I’m not a dog person, My wife is allergic and the last dog I had was sometime in middle school, and so I just wasn’t that interested.  I thought my wife would want to watch it, but she didn’t, so we haven’t watched it.

But if you’re a dog person, or a pet person apparently this movie is for you.  It’s based on a bestselling book, it’s got Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson and it centers on a man and his relationship with the most unruly, but loveable dog of all time.  The movie follows this family as it starts and then grows all the way up to…well I shouldn’t ruin the movie, just have some tissue close at hand.

The 3-Disc Edition includes a DVD copy, a Digital Copy, and these Special Features:  19 Deleted Scenes, 5 featurettes, a Gag Reel, and much more. 

Slumdog Millionaire

Still one of the 2 best films I saw last year (the other being The Dark Knight). It’s simply the most uplifting movie I’ve seen in years.  It’s the story of one man’s life and his love for the girl of his dreams.  Of course it’s all told through flashback as he reveals how each part of his life has given him the answers to each of the questions on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.  If you haven’t seen it, or purchased it yet, run out and do it now.  It’s the best movie on this list.

Special Features include: A Making of, 12 deleted scenes, From Script To Screen: Toilet Scene, Indian Short Film – Manjha, Bombay Liquid Dance Music Video and 2 commentary tracks.

Labels: Blu-Ray, New to BluRay

This first column will be a three-parter as I’ll be covering the new Blu-Ray releases of the last month and a half or so.  (Originally this was supposed to start a couple of weeks ago but I was sick for quite some time and have just got caught up at work and at home.)  So sit back and relax while I let you know about some of the best new releases on Blu-Ray.  In Part 1 we will take a look at some older movies that are being released on Blu-Ray for the first time.  Part 2 will look at new releases and Part 3 will focus on the recent Bond movies which have hit Blu-Ray recently.

The Passion of the Christ: Definitive Edition

Passion is perhaps one of the most controversial movies of the last decade.  First no one wanted to make it, leading director Mel Gibson to financing most of the picture himself.  Then the Jewish community got up in arms over its depiction of the role of the Jewish people in the death of Jesus Christ.  Yet it is one of the highest grossing R rated films of all time and tells a heart wrenching story that is almost impossible to watch.  Yet it’s a film that I think everyone, no matter your religious affiliation, should see at least once.

It doesn’t matter what you believe about the story of Christ, but seeing it on film it is a beautiful, terrible story.  And it’s all told in the original language, which is quite a feat since the language it long dead.

In HD the movie looks amazing, I’ll be honest I couldn’t bring myself to watch it all again, as it’s too painful, but what I did watch looked amazing.  And if you want to see the film, but can’t handle the violence, there’s a new cut of the film just for you that’s been edited for violence!  That version runs an entire 5 minutes shorter than the theatrical version!  So I really don’t know how much they cut out.

The Special features are spread over the BluRay Disc and a standard DVD and include the 2 versions of the film, and enhanced mode with Biblical Footnotes, and Commentaries from Gibson and other Filmmakers and Theologians and a Music Commentary in HD.  On the standard side we get a Making Of, Deleted Scenes, a Historical look at the Crucifixion, and more.

Overall not a movie I’ll watch over and over again, but one I feel I should have in my collection in case someone wants to borrow it, or one day to show my kids (although that will be quite some time in the future). 

Donnie Darko

There’s not a lot more I can say about this amazing movie I didn’t say here.  The special features mostly come from the previous releases of the film, either the original theatrical cut release or the director’s cut, (Both of which I owned on DVD).  Probably the best reason to upgrade, besides the fact that it’s in beautiful HD, is that you get both cuts of the film in one package.  If you’re a Darko fan it’s definitely worth picking up, especially if you only own one cut of the film on DVD.  

The French Connection

The French Connection is one of those classic thrillers that time can’t seem to ruin.  I’d never seen the movie before receiving the Blu-Ray and I was blown away by how well the film holds up.  Gene Hackman is wonderful as NYC detective Popeye Doyle as he teams up with Roy Scheider’s Buddy Russo to break up a drug ring and ends up going farther than he ever dreamed after an attempt on his life.  Based on an incredible true story the movie won a slue of Academy Awards including Best Picture.

Special Features include a New HD intro from William Friedkin along with a commentary from him, commentary from Hackman and Scheider, a new Trivia track, 8 deleted scenes all in HD, 7 new HD featurette’s a BBC Documentary, and more. 

Silence of the Lambs

Has there ever been a film villain as good as Hannibal Lector?  That’s a question I find myself asking every time I see Silence of the Lambs, one of the best movies of the 90s.  Anthony Hopkins is brilliant in the role and quite frightening, even when he’s behind bars, and the tongue slurp thing he does is just a classic.  Sadly the quality of the villain was ruined a bit by the subsequent sequel (Hannibal) and prequel (Red Dragon) films.  But if we take just this brilliant film into account I think it’s safe to say Lector is definitely in the top 3 great film villains (on the street…depending on the street.) Sorry Flight of the Conchords joke I couldn’t resist.

As for the transfer, the film looks wonderful in HD and the great scene near the end between Foster’s Agent Starling and the completely whacked out Buffalo Bill (played by Monk’s Ted “Capt. Stottlemeyer” Levine, which weirds me out every time I think about it) is even more suspenseful in HD.   Special Features include 4 featurettes, a Making of, a look at adapting the movie, 22 deleted scenes, a gag real, and a whole bunch of promos. 

The Princess Bride

This is simply one of my favorite movies of all time, and it’s also one of the best books I’ve ever read (it’s just like the movie including the grandpa reading the story to his grandson.)  And it’s one I can’t wait to share with my own son (and any other kids I have in the future).  I plan on reading the book to him either over several nights as I put him to bed, or one day when he’s at home sick, then sharing the movie with him.

But back to the movie, it’s amazing, the perfect blend of fantasy, romance, action, and comedy.  The characters are rich and have great backstories and the cast is one of the finest casts of B actors ever assembled.  With Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, Mandy Patinkin and Andre the Giant, the entire cast shines, and with cameos from Billy Crystal and Carol Kane and of course Peter Falk and Fred Savage as the Narrator and his sick grandson, respectively you can’t beat this movie.

And on Blu-Ray it looks better than it ever has.  And it comes with a feature I wish more Blu-Rays would include, (at least those directed at kids) a separate copy on DVD.  Now this may seem redundant, but some of us have portable DVD players and computers with DVD drives we use, especially in the car, for our kids, and having a DVD version you can use is a great thing.  In fact I believe Disney is now including a DVD copy in all of its Blu-Ray releases and I think it’s wonderful.  For this alone I would recommend this Blu-Ray release.  You can see it and all it’s glorious special features in HD and still be able to take it on the road with you and your portable DVD player.  Special Features include commentary from William Goldman, Cary Elwes’ Video Diary, As You Wish: The Story of The Princess Bride, a Dread Pirate Roberts featurette, 4 other featurettes, the original trailer, and some Easter Eggs. 

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Labels: New to BluRay