Electric Shadow

Carradine in Golden Boys


Carradine in the featurette From Zen Master to Shipmaster: The Life and Career of David Carradine, whose title is not terribly accurate
David Carradine, Rip Torn, and Bruce Dern are retired sea captain roommates looking for a housekeeper. I must have missed the reason why, but one of them has to marry this lady so that two of them can live for free. I replayed the opening minutes of the movie to try to figure this out and gave up. Did I mention the movie is set on Cape Cod in the days of horse-drawn carriages? It may read like a sketch slotted in the closing half hour of Saturday Night Live, but if you trust the quote on the front cover of The Golden Boys, it's apparently "a cross between Grumpy Old Men and Three Men and a Baby." It's not really either one. The first half hour of the movie just blows by, and it feels like nothing of consequence has happened. By the time it was completely over, I wasn't sure if I'd taken a nap or not. Everyone tried their damnedest to give the script as much as they could, but you can only be so exciting when playing crusty old sailors. To be completely honest, I would probably not have sat through all of it had David Carradine not died. Peter Boyle was cast in this movie (then called Chatham) just before he died. I'm convinced that cursed it even more than the lousy script. The picture itself wasn't nearly as interesting or entertaining as From Zen Master to Shipmaster: The Life and Career of David Carradine [40:07], which is more a Making-of/Behind the Scenes featurette than a Carradine career tribute. The bits with David telling stories are indisputably the most tolerable parts of the whole disc. As an avowed Grumpy Old Men fan, I take great offense when a lazy comparison is made like the one on this movie's cover (admittedly by a critic, not the studio). I'm sure if I were a fan of Three Men and a Baby, I'd be offended there too, since this movie has nothing in common with it. It'd have been accurate to put the following on the front: "Do you love the afternoon special at Luby's? Do you hate when those damn kids carry on with their jibber-jabber and damn fool music? You'll love this here movie, by golly!" I must note that I really do dislike slagging off the months and months of work people put into making a feature, but this is a great example of how to not write or complete a period film. The reason to touch this disc is to sift through that featurette if you have an interest in Carradine.
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The Redbox Putsch

David Poland has made some strong points about the Redbox "Revolution" going on. I agree in particular with the idea that this whole controversy has been promoted by and for the benefit of Redbox itself. This issue is not as simple as "rentals for a buck," because Redbox also resells their used discs from the same machines. If Redbox had their way, they would eliminate retail outlets and mail-order rentals from the equation entirely and act as the single provider of discs to the masses. They're demanding price-fixing and disguising it as consumer demand. They're disguising a Putsch they started as a grassroots movement.

The thing I'm sure no one goose-stepping with the Redbox fascists cares about is the fate of movies that aren't the Eloi* Top Ten Pick in terms of home video distribution. Prices will go up on documentaries, indies, and arthouse movies, and consumers will be more and more resistant to VOD pricing. They can go down to McDonald's and grab a 60-piece McHolesterol and White Chicks 2 for a total of five bucks! What a deal! Whereas I had no hesitation in paying $9.99 to watch Bobcat Goldthwait's wonderful World's Greatest Dad (review forthcoming) in HD on my TV, I know people will resist that in a Redbox-dominated world. Indies will not be able to compete in a world that prices non-megaplex movies out of the market entirely. In my mind, ten bucks costs less than paying for two tickets at the cinema when (or if) a local theater gets the movie I'm after. To Redbox Brownshirts, $10 is an outrage when they can rent The Pink Panther 2 down at the grocery store for $1. Even $5.99 or $2.99 will seem miserly for something "weird" and "arty" like The Cove or Ong Bak 2. If Redbox wants to rent everything for a buck, then I want them to diversify selection first. Buy up a few million copies of some indies and docs. If you want to really change the industry, there's a great opportunity. Any time I've walked by one of their "boxes" it's filled with shit I don't really care about, like 12 Rounds, with faint sprinklings of things like Coraline that I do like. It's also my understanding that the guys who founded the company are righties. If they do take over most of the rental continent, don't expect to find movies they might find "objectionable" like Michael Moore movies or documentaries with any kind of ideological bent. I should clarify that I'd have the same issue with this if they were lefties. Limited space equals limited choices and thereby the Redbox platform puts what I can see and how in the hands of some rich guy. I'm all for lowering prices on home video sales and rentals (Blu-ray particularly), but this is nothing more than a manipulative attempt by one company to corner an entire industry. For once, I'm siding with the multinational corporations (for the moment). ------------------------------------ * I'm using my editor's shorthand for the knuckle-dragging masses with no taste out of convenience, not in an endorsement of everything he writes using that term.
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Submarinenstein


Word is spreading like wildfire that Robert Zemeckis is remaking Yellow Submarine in motion-captured 3D. Pitchforks are being sharpened and the torches are being lit all over Twitter and message boards. I have a feeling die-hard Beatles fans and cinephiles will be up in arms about this until they see that glorious first reel. Does anything ever truly need a remake or "reimagining"? In this case and others, it's the only way to ensure their preservation. Show me a studio other than Disney willing to clean up and restore catalog animated films and I'll eat my hat. Anyone think we'll see Rankin/Bass animated features like Flight of Dragons restored? A pile of them aren't even on DVD! Lionsgate can't be bothered to have anyone clean up The Last Unicorn better than the German master they found for the most recent DVD. I could go on and on. The buzz of a new release related to The Yellow Submarine License means that we would likely see the original film properly remastered for HD. Even if the Zemeckis mo-cap version is terrible and/or bombs horribly (neither of which I'm hoping for), the revival of the brand happens regardless. The restoration cost could be rolled into the always-hidden advertising budget as tie-in marketing, and thus guarantee that a Blu-ray of the original will happen with complete certainty. This is the same reason I'm thrilled to hear they're re-adapting Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, a story that made me ecologically conscious at an early age. Ditto for Where the Wild Things Are. They'll clean up the originals and at the very least put them on DVD. If I hate the new ones, the originals will be there to continue being passed on, as will the books they're based on. I'm not a remake cheerleader (never have been), but some of them actually work. You'd have to be terribly naive or uninformed to believe that a studio would sink the significant cost of restoration into something that won't pay them back double. This is a good thing for people who like the first Yellow Submarine movie, period, end of story.
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Disc Roundup: Week of 8/11


Disc of the Week The GoodTimesKid (DVD only) Azazel Jacobs' The GoodTimesKid is a minimalist film accurately described on its DVD sleeve as in the vein of films from Jim Jarmusch and Jacques Tati. In stark opposition to the other new releases of the week, GoodTimesKid offers something that one doesn't really get to see with the majority of new releases. The movie is and feels distinctively handmade. There's a URL in the credits for the lead actress' clothesmaking business. I'm reasonably certain that there isn't a single cell phone seen or heard throughout the running time. The movie is about two men named Rodolfo (director Jacobs and Gerardo Naranjo) and the woman (one-named Diaz) on the rocks with one of them. Kid's 77 minutes concern the wanderings of the three of them over the course of a single day. The youthful vigor and sense of abandon in the filmmaking and acting is extremely refreshing. Anyone accusing the filmmakers or their characters of "hipster" pretension really means to use the word "aimless." The Rodolfos and the girl all lead dirty, unkempt lives, but not as a means of expressing their style. The movie was completed in 2005 and has only now found a DVD release. The effort and boutique treatment that Benten Films has given to the DVD is equally impressive as the movie itself. Supplements include a Director's Commentary that also features both costars; Deleted Scenes; a Photo Gallery; the Original Trailer (not your standard trailer); Let's Get Started, the short that led to the making of GoodTimesKid; and The Whirled (1956-63), a short by the director's father Ken Jacobs that helped inspire the movie. There's an insert book with an essay by Glenn Kenny, and there's a cardboard slipcase that features different art than the disc case. If I didn't know better, I'd think that Criterion had started an ultra-low-budget indie label. This is not just the best disc released this week, but one of my favorite discoveries of the year so far. The GoodTimesKid is more than a breath of fresh air, it's an afternoon where you never look at your watch and throw your phone in the lake. New Releases

The Class (Blu-ray & DVD) The Class is a really solid movie that won the Palme D'Or at Cannes last year and was deservingly nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. Those who think public education must be so much more easy-going in other countries should give this one a look in particular. Based on an autobiographical novel, it follows Mr. Marin (Francois Begaudeau), a teacher at an inner-city school in Paris trying to negotiate the challenges of his individual students and the cultural cocktail they represent. The Class does much more than work off of the existing template for inspirational teacher movies, and deserves consideration if only for that. If not for The GoodTimesKid, this would be the Disc of the week, far and away. Even those given to watching French films like this one that play almost non-existent theatrical runs missed this movie. High-profile arthouse films like this one are picking up more viewers as the expanded choice of Netflix queues take over from blockbuster-flooded local video stores. My hope is this will only get better with the proliferation of set-top VOD. Extras on both formats include a Making-Of featurette and Select Scene Commentary. The Blu-ray adds an Actors' Workshop and Actors' Self-Portraits.

The Tiger's Tail (DVD only) MGM released this 2006 John Boorman film straight to DVD in the US. Aside from being an extremely insipid doppelganger story, the worst thing about it is Kim Cattrall's "Irish" accent. Since her presence is probably part of why the film got made, I tolerated it. Tail is a Prince & Pauper-styled moral drama crossed with some thriller elements and some minor comic tinges. The whole movie is saved by paying attention only to Brendan Gleeson's masterful performance and not the blunt, overly-simplistic plot. Gleeson plays Liam O'Leary, an arch-businessman made rich by the "Celtic Tiger" boom of the late 20th-Century irish economy. Liam pays very little attention to his wife Jane (Cattrall) or his son Connor (Gleeson's son Briain). I was also glad to see Ciaran Hinds in a supporting part as a priest pal of Liam's. A vengeful, separated-at-birth twin enters Liam's life in the opening minutes of the film and sends his world into upheaval, oh my stars and garters! Life lessons are learned, a twist pops up here and there, and the movie is only a great excuse to watch Brendan Gleeson act opposite one of my favorite Irish actors (Brendan Gleeson). There are no extras, just the movie. 17 Again (Blu-ray & DVD) The best explanation I have for why this movie works reasonably well is that Thomas Lennon is one of the most talented comedians living or dead, and they kept the plot relatively simple. More fleshed-out thoughts on this one after I take a look at the extras: a couple featurettes and some trivia track stuff along with BD-Live features I hope I can make work. I Love You, Man (Blu-ray & DVD) In my review back at SXSW in March, I referred to this movie as akin to a really good cheeseburger. That isn't to say it's cheesy and full of bad nutrition, but that sometimes this is just the thing that hits the spot. "Like I did, a lot of people will look at promos for I Love You, Man determined to be a neg-head on it. "Oh great, one of these," many will say. I came out thinking it's a perfect "watch anytime" kind of thing. When I'm done with the latest depressing "end of the world"-tinged doc and want to watch something that grabs me by the gut and makes me chuckle, this is it." I've found in the months since then that it's gotten me re-addicted to Baja-style fish tacos. The Blu-ray includes 3 Deleted Scenes [HD 3:48], a few Extended Scenes [HD 12:39], a so-so Gag Reel [HD 11:25], and a Making-Of [HD 17:29]. The Feature Commentary includes director John Hamburg, Paul Rudd, and Jason Segal, and it's really laid back. There's a set of Extras [22:24] which are better described as "Extra Takes" or alternate riffs from different parts of the movie dominated by Jon Favreau. Rounding things out is the movie's Red Band Trailer in HD. Paris 36 (DVD only) I almost drove to Dallas to see this at AFI Fest. I still haven't seen it, but want to very much. Alien Trespass (Blu-ray & DVD) Allegedly fun and campy. I'll catch up to it. Gigantic (DVD only) Goodman, Asner, Dano, and Deschanel (in that order)? I'll give it a look down the road. The Wild Man of the Navidad (DVD only) It kills me that I missed this one at Fantastic Fest last year. New to Blu

Starman Blue Thunder St. Elmo's Fire About Last Night... Cutthroat Island TMNT Collection (3 live-action & recent CG toon) The Ninth Gate This week was good to catalog titles filling in gaps on Blu-ray, particularly with another John Carpenter movie (Starman), a couple 80's movies, and a schlocky action movie. I can't speak for any of the transfers on these, but will write something up as soon as I do. Imported TV Pulling Season 2 The second and final season of Pulling is now available. As i said when I reviewed the first season, toss all Sex & The City comparisons out the window and enjoy it on its own terms. TV New Release 90210 Season 1 Apparently, this show has done so well that they're reviving Melrose Place as well. I caught part of a single episode in which a High School was putting on a production of Spring Awakening: A New Musical. I like the score to Awakening a great deal. 90210 I don't
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Buzz in the District

I didn't see District 9 at Comic-Con, and I regrettably missed the screening last Friday with the director and star in attendance. I saw a press screening last Thursday morning, and even a week later, I can't completely side with all the of rave reviews out there, but certainly not with Armond White's slam. I'm certain the effusive praise for the movie is coming out of feelings of relief. My greatest fear for District 9 is how it can endure the impossibly high expectations others have put on it.

District 9 is a real science fiction film, unlike many modern effects-based movies that use sci-fi elements to dress up what would otherwise be a conventional action movie. I'm still amazed that all of the aliens were completely CG and that the budget was around $30 million. When you see the movie, you won't believe it. I wasn't very fond of the faux-documentary style that opens the picture, but just as it started to bug me, it faded. I wouldn't go so far as to proclaim it one of the greatest science fiction films of all time, as others have done, but it is undeniably brilliant. The backstory I'm about to describe is gone over in the opening minutes of the movie, so no one bite my head off about spoilers. District 9 is told entirely in flashback, but principally takes place 20 years after an alien craft is mysteriously disabled over Johannesburg. The helpless surviving aliens are herded into a refugee camp and treated like little more than oversized bipedal zoo animals. They're given the derogatory nickname of "Prawns" over time and humans of all colors and creeds show open prejudice against them. The apartheid allegory at play and the portrayal of a gang of Nigerian gangsters will be the two things I'd wager will be most hotly-debated as time goes on. Lefties unfamiliar with apartheid (they exist) will erroneously link the imagery to immigration policy and existing family prisons like the T. Don Hutto facility just miles from me here in Austin. Righties will go on about how the government involved should have just exterminated the "bugs" rather than let them be a burden on taxpayers. On a side note, the local news reports featuring concerned citizens speaking out about the Prawns reminded me of those at the beginning of Children of Men. The snarling, sub-human Nigerian gangsters have cannibalistic tendencies. They know nothing but greed, murder, and hunger. Some will equate their depiction as overt, careless racism. I don't know whether people will be bothered because it really was offensive, or because Michael Bay put those little Sambots in Transformers 2. In an ideal situation, District 9 would win the weekend with a tally greater than its budget and set a precedent for more low cost, high ingenuity, and auteur-driven sci-fi. The first thing very well may happen, but the latter is a lot less likely. The marketing is wisely misrepresenting the movie as all action, like the Halo movie that director Blomkamp never got to make (and no longer has interest in). People word-of-mouthing it as the Second Coming should dial themselves back a bit so as to not hype it too hard for their friends. The movie is very well-made, thrilling, and truly exciting at points. There's also definite sequel potential, and for once in a long while, I'm very eager to see this mutate into a franchise.
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Old vs. New

I'll have more to say on this whole Wells, Maher, Ebert, and Scott v. The Young thing later, but I had to get some quick thoughts out there to start the morning. First, out of no due allegiance to my editor, I have to say that by and large, I agree with him. I've often disagreed with Jeff on things he's said about The Generation of Doom (my generation), and vehemently so. The disconnect here isn't old versus young, it's misinterpretation of who the target is. It isn't fanboys, and it isn't every single "young person" out there that "Uncle Jeff" shakes his fist at from his internet porch. What these guys are decrying is the social movement required for a movie to make anything resembling respectable money by current standards: (1) The movie has to have wildly enthusiastic, heavily-hyped advance screenings where swag is given out that bubbas will wear three years later to dinner at The Olive Garden. (2) Tons of TV ad time has to be secured, preferably during Shark Week, a sporting event, or prime time network reality shows. (3) Whatever the movie is, it must be visible on every High Fructose Corn Syrup-stained wrapper, cup, and box to be found at fast food restaurants or your local cinemegaplex. (4) And finally, for God's sake, there should probably be some immediately recognizable actors, like That Guy From Dance Up, Or Step It, Or Whatever It Was Called or possibly That Chick From The First One With The Boobs. More later on this, but for now: throwing around the age card is not only a lazy defense, but missing the point of what these guys are actually angry about.
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Green Lantern: First Flight & The Future

Now that Ryan Reynolds has signed on to play Hal Jordan (the Green Lantern) in Martin Campbell's live-action, big-budget deal, this recent direct to video animated movie could be viewed through another lens. What will they keep, and how big will they go? One would assume there are some major themes and cast members in common, as the Lantern universe is more strictly defined than Superman or Batman, who have giant rosters of potential villains. I'm most interested to know just how "weird" they'll let the tentpole movie go when it comes to creatures and other-worldly things. As with all comic adaptations, they have to rein things in a lot or they lose the general public. It's all going to come down to how much they rein things in, especially on a "traditional" sci-fi property like GL. Green Lantern: First Flight blows by at a lean 77 minutes. First Flight flies right through the origin story and leaps headfirst into the world of the Green Lantern Corps, the universe's power ring-equipped police force. A behind the scenes power struggle is brewing as Jordan is thrust into this organization, and it comes as no surprise that the red-skinned, Snidely Whiplash-mustachioed Sinestro isn't such a good guy after all. The box proudly touts the PG-13 rating, and the movie seems to include just enough "swear words" (like "ass"), blood, and violence to not seem too kiddy for adults watching, yet just edgy enough for younger kids to feel cool for sneaking it under mom/dad's radar. One kill in particular was surprisingly graphic to me. Overall, it feels like a cartoon made for adults who still love their comics, but it won't scar kids for life if they see it too young. The voice cast is impressive, with Law & Order: SVU's Chris Meloni as Hal Jordan, Victor Garber as Sinestro, Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer as Boodika (another Lantern), and a That Guy congregation of Michael Madsen, John Larroquette, Kurtwood Smith, William Schallert (every 80's cartoon in existence), and Larry Drake. The style of performance is what one expects from the top-notch pedigree of DC/WB animated product produced by Bruce Timm. Warner Bros. is doing a single disc version of First Flight that includes a promo for the upcoming Superman/Batman: Public Enemies animated DVD, a Behind the Scenes of Blackest Night, a current major DC Comics crossover that involves the Lanterns, and trailers for three other animated comic movies. The 2-Disc DVD Special Edition includes all the single disc extras plus a Windows Media-only Digital Copy, Behind the Story with Geoff Johns (GL writer/current mastermind), featurettes profiling Sinestro and other GL characters, and my favorite toss-ins, a two-part Justice League Unlimited episode and Duck Dodgers episode "The Green Loontern". The Blu-ray puts everything on one dual-layer BD-50 disc. The animation upconverts nicely on the DVD, but as always with animation, Blu-ray is the choice for those with the right equipment. Green Lantern: First Flight hit the street on July 28th. Order the DVD from Amazon by clicking here (Blu-ray here).

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Disc Roundup: Week of 8/4


check out DVD Beaver's writeup for great screen captures
Release of the Week Big Trouble in Little China (Blu-ray only) This has been one of my most-anticipated high-def upgrades since I started obsessively tracking what is and is not available on Blu-ray. The 1080p resolution of the picture is the biggest "get" for fans of the movie like myself who have worn out VHS tapes of it over the years. The added clarity makes it look like a completely different movie for me and others who never saw it on the big screen. All of the extras from the most recent DVD special edition carry over, including the John Carpenter/Kurt Russell Commentary. Enjoyable for me was the Spanish Trailer, which re-titles the movie "Rescue in Chinatown," or more literally, "Rescue in the Chinese Neighborhood." Big Trouble can be found for right around $20, and is the Disc Release of the Week partly on its own merit, but mainly because it's the only true must-own of the week. titles like this one being handled correctly will be what makes Blu-ray sink or swim in the long run. New Releases

The Soloist (Blu-ray & DVD) This is a much better movie than people gave it credit for during the takedown campaign that pre-dated its actual release. I don't know if it would have made the Best Picture nominee list, but it didn't deserve to be buried in April. Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx are both very solid, Foxx in particular. What really angers me most about all the damning-with-faint-praise buzz now that I've seen the movie are the slams against Foxx I read months ago. Downey puts it best in one of the featurettes when he says that when someone portrays schizophrenia and does it badly, it's just dreadful. What Jamie put together is an absolute mimicry of Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, and I mean that as the highest compliment. I would not consider this a movie I think everyone would want to go out and buy, but the movie and all the supplements deserve at least a rental. The blu-ray includes Director's Commentary with Joe Wright, some Deleted/Alternate/Extended Scenes, and various featurettes that are worth looking at (unlike many).

Race to Witch Mountain (Blu-ray & DVD) Disney has wisely decided to issue their family films on Blu-ray with the DVD and a Digital Copy included, thus removing any and all inclination to "rip" video through other means. The movie itself is better than I expected, mostly thanks to Dwayne Johnson's showmanship, which makes a lot of things he's in tolerable all on his own. I never had any attachment to the original whatsoever, and it didn't knock my socks off. I can say, however, that seeing Drew "Moriarty" McWeeny as a Featured Background Artist did encourage me that he may have finally found a steady job. Extras include Bloopers and Deleted Scenes on both the DVD and Blu, with a "Which Mountain" feature exclusive to the Blu-ray that points out references to the original movie.

Mutant Chronicles (Blu-ray & DVD) I wish I could say this movie has some redeeming value other than being unintentionally hilarious. Loosely-based on a role-playing game from some years ago, there's a great deal of talent on display despite a plot out of the mind of a middle-schooler and effects that are often shockingly bad. Thomas Jane is once again squandered, Ron Perlman plays a priest with a better-than-most Irish accent, Malkovich plays a guy with so few lines he must have only worked for a couple days, and Benno Furman barely gets a chance to do anything but act "sinister" and "bad-ass." As long as one goes in expecting it to be terrible, it's watchable while planning a couple accidental naps. A friend recently remarked on Twitter that you learn the most from movies that don't turn out well, and I completely agree. For every Criterion multi-disc set, I have a super-in-depth special edition of something like Mutant Chronicles. Believe it or not, for a movie this negatively-reviewed and generally dismissed, there's a metric ton of supplements included. There's a Feature Commentray with Simon Hunter & Ron Perlman, a Making-of Documentary, Deleted Scenes, Greenscreen/Storyboard Comparisons, a Promo Teaser Short Film with Director's Commentary, a Making-of for the Promo Teaser (thorough!), Cast & Crew Interviews, Storyboards, Concept Art & Visual Effects featurettes, an HDNet promo, a San Diego Comic-Con Panel Q&A, Webisodes, and the Theatrical Trailer. Most movies that do as poor of business as Mutant Chronicles hit DVD without so much as the trailer. Magnet (genre subsidiary of Magnolia) allows the curious to see how the sausage was made, which I think is utterly brilliant.

Delgo (DVD only) Independently produced and released, Delgo fell victim to the mass failures of independent labels that followed the tanking worldwide economy. It was released in the middle of December 2008, which is why most people forgot it existed. I'd rather expose kids to this than all the gimmicky crap 3D CG-animated stuff out there, as there's some real effort, ingenuity, and interesting creature design at play. It's also notable in that it features Anne Bancroft's final performance. The voice cast is full of famous people, from Malcolm McDowell and Val Kilmer to Burt Reynolds and Michael Clarke Duncan to Jennifer Love-Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. to Louis Gossett Jr. and...Kelly Ripa? Lots of famous people worked on the cheap, let's put it that way. The movie is not terrible by any stretch, relative to movies of its type. did it blow me away? No, not really, but it was authentically original, and that nice in CG animation. It actually reminds me of some of the less-remembered Rankin-Bass animated fantasy movies, like Flight of Dragons. The visuals really deserve a Blu-ray upgrade at some point. The check disc I received looks all right, I suppose, and the financial prospects for the movie bode not too well for sales, but this movie will look a lot better in 1080p. In terms of extras, there's a Directors' Commentary, Behind the Scenes, fully-animated and rendered Deleted Scenes [13:00], and a Sound featurette. Also included is an original animated short, Chroma Chameleon [4:48], which I'm assuming accompanied Delgo's theatrical run. The major uphill battle Delgo has on home video is the fact it doesn't have accompanying toys that kids expect to compliment their new favorite movie of the moment. I hope the filmmakers have a grassroots campaign going, because otherwise this worthwhile family-friendly title will get buried by the likes of Ice Age 3: Yawn of the Dinosaurs. New to Blu

Sling Blade This is one movie that has aged really well, as has Thornton's performance as Karl. The picture on the Blu-ray is as close to the look of the print I saw back in '96 as I think I'll see again until (I'm assuming) it's re-struck as a repertory title for its 20th anniversary in 2016. The Blu-ray includes all of the following: Mr. Thornton Goes To Hollywood; Bravo Profiles: Billy Bob Thornton; A Roundtable Discussion with Billy Bob Thornton, Dwight Yoakam, Mickey Jones, and Producer David Bushell; A Conversation with Billy Bob Thornton and Robert Duvall; A Conversation with Robert Duvall (on his own); A Conversation with Billy Bob Thornton and Composer Daniel Lanois; The Return of Karl; On the Set: Billy Bob at Work, Doyle's Band: The Johnsons, Doyle Gets Pummeled; "Doyle's Dead" with Intro by Thornton; and finally a Feature Commentary with Thornton.

The Waterboy It's been over ten years since this came out, and it's still on my "tune-out and veg" list of movies I'll come across on cable and just leave on for three hours on TBS. Do I endorse the horde of imitators that have flooded multiplexes since 1998? No, not at all. nor am I surprised that Touchstone included no extras here. The movie doesn't really need them. No one cares how they did Sandler's makeup, they just want to watch him tackle people. My Cousin Vinny Tomei won an Oscar for this, and the movie's good too. Haven't looked at this disc yet. New to Region 1

Ulysses (DVD only) There were crap all-region versions of this out there previously. I'm waiting for this to arrive to put it through its paces, but I'll keep beating the drum: more Kirk Douglas movies on DVD is a good thing. You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story I'm going to track this one down at some point when I want to soak in studio history. The reviews are raves across the board. Reissue The Tigger Movie: 10th Anniversary Edition (DVD only) Does my credibility take a minor blow for including a Winnie The Pooh spin-off movie in a DVD roundup for a column with the word "Arthouse" in the title? Probably. Do I care? Not at all. Disney appears to have remastered this one, included a Digital Copy, and a couple Tigger-centric episodes of The New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh along with a pile of interactive extras. The whole reason I'm covering this is to emphasize what they're doing right here: bundling Digital Copy and actual added-value (more than just the movie, i.e. the TV show episodes). The "movie" (more like extended episode) is just over an hour and teaches some lessons about what family means. To my delight, this may inadvertently start a "nature versus nurture" kinship conversation in a lot of conservative households that don't know what they're getting into. I blame socialism, naturally. TV Catalog

Stargate Atlantis: Fans' Choice I never got into this show, and this is the perfect gateway drug or shortcut, depending on how one reacts. Fans of the show voted for the full, feature-length version of the Pilot episode, "Rising," and the unedited Series Finale, "Enemy at the Gate" to be released on Blu-ray. They even voted on packaging design. Either I'll get sucked in and decide to catch up on the whole thing, or I'll watch the very beginning and very end. SPOILER ALERT: I watched both and skipped everything in-between, reasoning that I'd never have time to catch up on yet another show. It looks a hell of a lot better than shows like this usually do on broadcast TV. The Young Black Stallion Season 2 My wife and I have two horses. We will probably own this at some point. TV New Releases Flight of the Conchords Season 2 It would be advisable to start with the first season of this show. ------------------------------------------------- Splitting the Disc releases from VOD wasn't a big deal, but structuring the VOD Roundup has been more time-consuming than ever expected. A big one with plenty of backdated on-demand stuff is coming later this week.
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VOD Roundup: Week of 8/11

World's Greatest Dad RiP! A Remix Manifesto http://www.hulu.com/watch/88782 http://www.hulu.com/my-so-called-life Second Skin http://www.hulu.com/watch/87648 http://www.hulu.com/spaced
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Planes, Trains on Blu?

A few days ago, Paramount announced a new DVD special edition of John Hughes' Planes, Trains, and Automobiles with no matching Blu-ray. This disappointed me greatly, as Paramount's recent Blu-ray port of Ferris Bueller's Day Off is fantastic. Whether Hughes had died yesterday or not, I should certainly hope that Paramount quickly announces plans for the same edition to be released on Blu-ray. If they don't, they're making a huge mistake going into a very important holiday season for the format. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is a "buy, don't rent" title for a large number of people that will be picking up players in that same quarter of the year, and it would be the no-brainer among first additions to a Blu library. For that matter, I found the only major Hughes movie currently on Blu-ray aside from Bueller is Home Alone. No Weird Science, Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, or Pretty in Pink are to be found. Not to be unsentimental, but Universal and Paramount could sell new Blu-ray users copies of all these movies in a couple months' time without breaking a sweat. Some thoughts on the Bueller Blu, as I noted a couple months ago: "Similar to the other two catalog releases from Paramount last week, Ferris Bueller's Day Off has jumped to Blu-ray, carrying over the supplements of the Bueller...Bueller Edition that hit DVD in 2006. The movie itself looks and sounds better than it ever has, which should be the bare minimum expected at this point. What has impressed me most with the catalog titles is that they haven't overdone the DNR or edge enhancement as far as I can tell. There's an appropriate amount of grain in the picture such that it isn't too clean and plastic-looking."
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Che DVD Eh


Canadian outfit 101 Distribution is releasing both parts of Che on Region 1 DVD tomorrow. The imports are $27.99 apiece. Even if those were Blu-ray prices, I'd still balk. The rumored Criterion editions could at least be announced, right? All I want is a date to look forward to with bated breath. Amazon is shipping both, Part 1 here and Part 2 here if you just can't wait.
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Disc Roundup: Week of 7/28



Release of the Week (tied) When it came down to it, I really couldn't choose between two releases that seem to have flown under the radar of many this past week. Repulsion is a big deal, yes, but both Sita Sings the Blues and Big Man Japan are just as deserving of praise and one's viewing time. Sita Sings the Blues (DVD & Free Download) Sita Sings the Blues is one of the best movies of 2009 that few have seen outside festivals. It stands little to no chance of being nominated for a Best Animated Feature Oscar for reasons completely divorced from the film's quality. Divorce itself is at the heart of the movie. Nina Paley's husband went to India for work and broke up with her in an email. The resulting animated musical movie juxtaposes the Indian epic of Ramayana and Nina's marriage. The visuals are gorgeous, the story heart-rending, and the creator truly worthy of admiration and support. It's a work of genius in every sense one can exaggerate that word. Even with all its intriguing beauty, the movie itself is only half the story. Music clearance issues that Nina's website does a better job of explaining than I could are the culprit behind the movie's very "non-traditional" distribution model. Long story short, she reluctantly went into massive debt to clear the music rights and decided to give the movie away for free. Her website actively points viewers to various completely cost-free ways to watch it. It is still possible to financially support the film by buying shirts, pins, and now DVDs. The key is that no one's making you or threatening to sue you for hundreds of thousands of dollars if you don't. How novel. Nina's own thoughts about and active hatred for copyright (a concept invented by the English I might remind) are intriguing to say the least. I would encourage anyone who utilizes any of the free viewing methods to buy something and help pass the movie on. This week was the official release of the Amazon-buyable or Netflix-queueable DVD. Big Man Japan (DVD only) I loved Hitosi Matumoto's brilliant take on not only superhero movies but also Japan's "giant monster battle" movies. The "final shot" in Magnet's Six Shooter Film Series, it also stands as one of the best disc releases among its peers. Shot in faux-documentary style, the movie follows the sixth in a family of supermen who grow to enormous size when shocked with electricity and defend Japan against giant monsters that appear out of nowhere. "Big Man" himself has always been a government-backed agent of their Ministry of Defense, but he isn't terribly popular with the general populace. They post signs and spray graffiti defaming him, and he keeps trudging on with the job he was born into with no alternative, past or present. He has an estranged wife and daughter, and a part of me really hopes there's a Big Girl Japan at some point. The movie's nature doesn't lend itself to endless sequels, but a single followup could be really done well. The transfer is about as good as one can get with DVD resolution, and for the time being I'm unaware of any Blu-ray plans. The extras are more extensive than one would expect of an east Asian import. The Making of Big Man Japan [1:08:08] picks up six years ago in 2003, during the initial story meetings for the movie. Allow me to repeat: Big Man Japan has an hour-plus Making-of doc. The Making-of is subtitled the whole way through, as is the alternate version that includes Commentary and its own custom subtitle track. Also included are some Deleted Scenes. New Releases (Blu-ray & DVD) Green Lantern: First Flight (Direct to Blu-ray & DVD) The best comic book movies that WB/DC Comics have been making that don't involve Batman are all animated. I'll be taking a more in-depth look at this one in the coming days, but rest assured that the voice cast is solid (with Law & Order: SVU's Christopher Meloni as the Green Lantern). The story is very true to the comics for those who care, and the reasons it was rated PG-13 don't make it unfriendly territory for kids under 13. There are single disc DVD and deluxe 2-disc DVD & Blu-ray editions to choose from. The 2-disc packages include Digital Copy via an insert. Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 (DVD & Blu-ray) Harvard Beats Yale is one of the best-reviewed and most under-viewed documentaries of last year. Kino released it this week and many missed it. Fire up your Netflix queues, folks.

An American Affair (Direct to DVD) Gretchen Mol plays the ex-wife of a CIA spook who's been in an ongoing affair with President JFK. Cameron Bright, now a teenager, plays her peeping tom neighbor. Noah Wyle plays Bright's dad, a writer. The movie starts in early 1963. You get where this is going. I didn't care too much for the early-on tack they take in implicating the Cubans as integral to the Kennedy assassination, but the movie is about more than just that. It's something of a meditation on adolescence, innocence, and corruption. I'm recommending friends pop it into their Netflix queues because I think they'll be surprised. Severed Ways: The Norse Discovery of North America (DVD only) I haven't had a chance to touch this one, a Viking movie set to black metal music, but will be giving it a spin soon. I'd never heard of it until the press release arrived. Fast & Furious (Blu-ray & DVD) I'm not a gearhead in any respect, but I enjoyed this flick well enough. The chemistry between Vin Diesel and Paul Walker is great, but Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster don't actually have much to do. At the end of the day, they set things up for at least one more sequel. The most significant extra on the two-disc DVD and the Blu-ray is Los Bandoleros [20:23], a short that sets up the movie. Written and directed by Vin Diesel and shot on location in the Dominican Republic, it's really quite enjoyable. I liked it much more than the feature itself. There's a five-minute Gag Reel that's kinda so-so. Also included are a Feature Commentary with the director and a few featurettes, mostly about stunt sequences and driving. There's a Digital Copy on both the DVD and Blu-ray 2-disc editions. The single-disc has only the Commentary and a couple featurettes. Dragonball: Evolution (Blu-ray & DVD) Filed under "so bad it's not so-bad-it's good" by everyone I knew who had seen it, this one really crashed and burned. Devoted fans of the anime Dragonball Z (like my wife) thought a live-action adaptation was a doomed idea conceptually. Personally, I get a great deal of enjoyment out of adaptations that are so laughably bad as this one, but this one isn't even at the level of Street Fighter. I should also spoil for everyone that the word "Evolution" in the title does not have anything to do with the movie. They could have just called it Dragonball. Ashley and I suffered through this so that those reading could know that there are much better ways to spend 85 minutes this week, like sleeping. It grossed under $10 million domestically, and made its budget back (just barely) overseas; however, I hear there is talk of a sequel. Yes, I'm serious. The Blu-ray transfer looks great and shows off the goofy-looking makeup and effects at their best. Extras on the Blu-ray and DVD include 8 Deleted Scenes, a Gag Reel, a Stunt Work featurette, and two Fox Movie Channel presents pieces, one on star Justin Chatwin and the other focusing on crafting a scene in the movie. There's also a music video, almost missed that. The Blu-ray exclusively features a Digital Copy and a BD-Java Scavenger Hunt game called Goku's Quest, which is really just a click game that runs concurrent to the movie. Bart Got a Room (DVD only) I think I missed this one at the Austin Film Festival last year. Whether it was then or not, I missed it all the same. I intend to rectify this as soon as I can get my hands on a copy. Miss March (DVD & Blu-ray) I haven't seen this one and don't expect I ever will. I'm told fans of sketch group The Whitest Kids U Know were very disappointed. New to Blu

This is Spinal Tap The only time I've seen Spinal Tap look nearly this good was a beat-up print when I programmed it as part of a Midnight series in college. All the extras from MGM's previous DVD edition are carried over. New extras on This is Spinal Tap (on a separate DVD) include The Tap performing "Stonehenge" at Live Aid in 2007 and some promos for Stonehenge Decoded done as a faux interview with Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest).

12 Monkeys All of the extras on 12 Monkeys carry over from the most recent DVD edition. The transfer is splendid and it sounds clearer than ever. A River Runs Through It I haven't had a chance to glance at this one, but all reports are good. Inglorious Bastards The original inspiration for Tarantino's Basterds previously hit DVD. Here we get the same features plus a better transfer. New to Region 1

Repulsion (Blu-ray & DVD) One of Polanski's long-requested titles absent on DVD, Repulsion gets the royal treatment from Criterion. Reviews all around the web have praised this as yet another solid entry in the Collection. As always, I recommend this Criterion as a blind or long-awaited buy for collectors and cineastes alike. Amazon currently has the Blu-ray for $19.99. Imported TV Torchwood: Children of Earth I never watched this show regularly, so sue me, but I'm making my way through this miniseries and am enjoying it a lot. More on this one in the coming days. Torchwood Season 2 Life on Mars (UK) Season 1 (DVD only) The better-than-the-US-one UK original is on DVD. Worth a look. TV New Releases

Dollhouse Season 1 (Blu-ray & DVD) Another one I'm catching up on, Dollhouse gets better as the first season goes on, but that's not to say it isn't quite excellent from the beginning. Why on earth Fox has this in a death slot is beyond me. Joss Whedon masterminds and Eliza Dushku stars in something of a mystery thriller about an underground organization that provides its clients with programmable humans whose memories are erased after each "encounter." It's thought-provoking, dark, and very unique among network TV shows. The set includes two unaired episodes: original Pilot "Echo" and "Epitaph One." Audio commentary is included on select episodes, some Deleted Scenes are thrown in, and five featurettes round things out. Battlestar Galactica Season 4.5 (Blu-ray & DVD) Battlestar Galactica Complete Series Set (Blu-ray & DVD) This set is sure to be one of the major-selling behemoths of the year. Once I got behind on this show, I gave up and decided I'd wait for the complete series set. Little did I consider such an endeavor would involve weeks of my time. Jim Breuer: Let's Clear the Air Jim is known to many as goat boy or "that stoned-lookin dude from Half Baked," but he's a lot more than just that. He's a family man first, and not a stoner at all. He just has legendary circles under his eyes that make him look baked all the time. This is his most recent standup special, where he opens up a bit about who he really is and reflects on virtually his entire career. There's a Photo Shoot featurette and a Fireside Chat with Jim's dad included. Is it me, or does anyone else think it's weird this is the only standup special released during Funny People's opening week? Catalog TV

Early Edition Season 2 This is often said about TV series, but I can assert with some authority that there's no way in hell a network would greenlight a show about the morning paper telling the next day's news anymore. Give us 20 years for newsprint to be good and "retro," then knock yourselves out, writers. I never watched this show when it was on, but my wife said she did and loved it. The thing I like most about Early Edition is that the show works based on one gimmick and it doesn't get stale, like Quantum Leap years before. The Green Hornet VCI Entertainment released a pile of Green Hornet serials I haven't had a chance to look at yet. They're the only outfit even doing shows like this. The Donna Reed Show Season 2 Ah, 1950's female steroetypes are alive and well on DVD. The first season is now on Hulu as well. ---------------------------------- Well, this week's installment came together a good deal later than I had hoped, but this coming week's Disc Roundup is already well on its way to completion. I've been light on free streaming and VOD titles, so I'm playing a bit of catchup there. I'm also splitting that content out into its own weekly column (The VOD Report) due to volume in both the physical and streaming worlds. The Disc Roundup will still hit later in the week, with VOD coming earlier.
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Defining Funny

Now that I've seen the movie, I couldn't disagree more with the writers and sites painting Funny People as one of the primary ingredients in a bad summer for Universal. These individuals are inventing a story for themselves to perpetuate. It's all bullshit spin designed to drive their ad-views and comment sections. Be prepared for a movie that's 2.5 hours in length that resembles very little in Sandler's repetoire, and you'll be fine. The movie earns its runtime, even if the pacing slows in the last act. Various armchair directors have cited arbitrary numbers of minutes that "should have been cut," as if editing a movie were based only in numerical metrics. Those recommendations are about as precise as saying "let's drop one out of every 24 frames, sound like a plan?" It felt as if Funny People could have used a few little nips and tucks throughout, but I'd rather err on the side of length than on chopping content. While I enjoyed Funny People a great deal, I'll agree with the haters that it won't be for everyone. Part of the issue is the length. When confronted with a 146-minute runtime, a number of friends confided that they immediately filed Funny People under "wait for home video." Even two hour runtimes put people off these days. The American public has become accustomed to everything fitting in a nice, neat 100 minutes, and anything that doesn't feels "weird." The reason people will dislike Funny People is that those who love Adam Sandler for The Waterboy and Billy Madison generally can't stand Reign Over Me or Punch Drunk Love. Likewise, fans of Judd Apatow's previous movies won't immediately know what to do with this movie, which is a more mature, evolved thing than 40-Year-Old Virgin or Knocked Up. No matter what you do, some people will turn up their noses at a filet when they asked for a fatty cheeseburger. They don't want to savor anything, just give 'em something that goes in and then goes right back out. The loud-breathing kid sitting next to me two nights ago who couldn't stop saying "woooow" and "duuuude" is the manifestation of this confusion. He's one of these guys who are not interested in growing and bettering themselves, but rather, would much prefer to be wealthy and famous for no good reason and get laid all the time. He may have a wonderful personality, but there is no chance in hell this kid ever gets laid. I'll call him DudeWhoa. DudeWhoa and many like him are assuming that, since Funny People stars Sandler and is about comedians, that he's going to get a hybrid of a Dane Cook standup special and Billy Madison: The Later Years. He came expecting to repeat-quote his way through the movie, but it's impossible to do that with Funny People. Aziz Ansari's Randy is extremely authentic to the quotable-but-worthless comics this kid's generation loves. I've gritted my teeth on open mic nights I've both participated in while watching these morons perform. Ansari has undoubtedly endured this as well, because in his short presence, he embodies everything about hack comics that I want someone to choke out of them. The context added by a simple "people actually like this stuff?" from Seth Rogen's Ira made it difficult for DudeWhoa to laugh at Randy and not set off a signal that he's an idiot. I could hear it in his grunting though: he really badly wanted to lose it laughing at Randy's killer jokes! After a while, DudeWhoa seemed to go on the offensive, blurting out "laaaame" and "psh yeah, profound...whatever dude." Even after I told him (I didn't ask) "how 'bout you shut the fuck up," he kept dramatically exhaling like he was stuck at Macy's waiting for his mom to try on jeans. His final thoughts on the movie as the credits rolled was a simple "Duuuude what the fuck, I mean seriously." That was the end of the sentence. He sat there for a couple more minutes and then exited, talking loudly the whole way out the door.
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Night of the Creeps on Blu too


You heard it here first: cult favorite Night of the Creeps is coming to Blu-ray on October 20th in addition to the already-announced DVD. Features are identical to the DVD with the exception of BD-Live and Blu-ray Rewards access. Full feature list (as already got out there) is as follows: Audio Commentary with Members of the Cast Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Fred Dekker Deleted Scenes Alternate Ending - Theatrical Version Original Theatrical Trailer Trivia Track 6 Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes: Birth of the Creeps - Writer/Director Fred Dekker discusses his influences and early filmmaking experiences and how NIGHT OF THE CREEPS evolved into his debut feature film. Cast of the Creeps - Actors Jason Lively, Tom Atkins, Steve Marshall, and Actress Jill Whitlow talk about their experiences on the film, and how they have dealt with the film's enduring cult success over the past 25 years. Creating the Creeps - Make-Up FX Creators David B. Miller, Robert Kurtzman and others discuss the extensive make-up creations in the film, and how they brought the slithering sluglike "creeps" to life. Escape of the Creeps - A detailed look into the film's post-production and why the film was barely released to theatres with Writer/Director Fred Dekker, Composer Barry DeVorzon, and Producer Charles Gordon. Legend of the Creeps - Final words from the cast & crew on the film's enduring cult popularity plus interviews with the film's biggest fans. Tom Atkins: Man of Action - A detailed look at the career of Tom Atkins with testimonials from filmmakers he's worked with over the past thirty years. Footage from the June 2009 cast reunion screening at The Original Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
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12 Monkeys and Spinal Tap in HD

Both of these Blu-rays, which street tomorrow, feature vastly improved transfers, particularly on Spinal Tap. New extras on This is Spinal Tap (on a separate DVD) include The Tap performing "Stonehenge" at Live Aid in 2007 and some promos for Stonehenge Decoded done as a faux interview with Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest). The rest of the extras on Tap and all of the ones on 12 Monkeys carry over from the most recent DVD editions. Both are highly recommended, worthy upgrades. More tomorrow on these and others.
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Technical Issues

Posts from the last few days have been unexpectedly, bizarrely edited outside my control. Now that I've got things sorted out, things are back to normal. Stay tuned for some This is Spinal Tap and 12 Monkeys Blu-ray impressions from me later.
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Emo Potter IMAX3D

I saw the IMAX3D version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince last night, and I'm not on board with the "best in the series" reviews I saw up near its time of release. Before I get into what I thought of the movie (which I waited to see until now), I should mention a couple things about the IMAX presentation. The trailers start in 3D and the 3D portion of the movie is completely front-loaded, and probably composes a fair portion of the first half hour. Once you take the glasses off, you never put them back on again. The sequences not in 3D that you'd expect to be in 3D? Quidditch, battles, and other action-filled stuff that makes you wonder why you have space goggles sitting in your lap. I haven't read the books at all, so apologies to those whom that offends. The pace was glacial, mostly owing to only being able to cut so much from the book and the movie still serve the purpose it needed to:  bridge the gap from Order of the Phoenix and set up dramatic conflict for both halves of Potter 7. There were plenty of enjoyable bits, but it didn't knock my socks off like Harry Potter and The Magic Touch of Cuaron did. Half-Blood Prince was well-directed and pitch dark compared to the previous ones, which I liked. I kept waiting for it to stop feeling like an adaptation as much as a movie.
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Test

House That Blu Built

http://gizmodo.com/5324436/a-peek-inside-a-blu+ray-factory http://www.news.com.au/technology/gallery/0,23607,5057861-5014321-1,00.html
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