Electric Shadow

Dwarfed

I wish I really had much of an idea what was going on in this show, but PBS running episodes out of order made it impossible for me to get hooked on Red Dwarf. It always seemed really enjoyable and witty, but I felt like I was on the other side of a set of iron bars watching people inside the zoo watching the show from the other side of their own set of bars. I hope that made sense, because I'm not certain how else to explain it without a diagram.

The best I could gather for all these years (and I intentionally haven't researched it much) is that these guys are a crew of misfits stranded in space. In Red Dwarf: Back to Earth, the crew are thrown through a portal in space and find out they're just characters in a TV show and are likely destined to die. They decided to track down both the actors who play them (Malkovich Malkovich?) and the show's creators in a desperate bid for survival, as the end of a show means death for them. This big reunion show remains controversial among fans because it broke the fourth wall and changed the rules of the show in ways it never really had. In some ways, that's what keeps things interesting, as no concept can survive in a vacuum. It apparently worked well enough financially that a new series has been commissioned, for better or worse. Extras on the Blu-ray released by Warner Bros./BBC Video back on October 6th include separate Cast and Director commentary tracks, a Making-of documentary, Deleted Scenes, Outtakes, some Featurettes, Trailers, and Web Videos along with a couple Easter Eggs (denoted on the packaging).

Amazon has the Blu-ray for a cool $20. The DVD is $18.49, nice to see price parity.
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Ken Burns and The National Parks

The biggest stumbling block for Blu-ray fanatics in watching this latest dissertation by Ken Burns is going to be the fact it was shot on 16mm and doesn't look like all the ultra-HD, digitally-shot Planet Earth. The two things that piqued my interest most about The National Parks: Americas Best Idea were my lifelong fascination with the parks and the fact that Burns isn't changing his game for anyone.

The going logic is that if you like his style and the subject, you know it won't be a waste of time, and that remains the case. The recently-released Blu-ray set includes the Peter Coyote-narrated, 12.5-hour piece split into six parts (as it aired) along with a stack of extras. The Scripture of Nature (1851-1890) [116:00] covers the discovery of Yosemite and the US government establishing Yellowstone as the first National Park, but with no means or body to keep it preserved. The Last Refuge (1890-1915) [131:00] takes us into the beginnings of the Conservation movement and the Theodore Roosevelt presidency. Another notable is that Roosevelt is the one who set aside all 800,000 acres of Grand Canyon during this time period. The Empire of Grandeur (1915-1919) [114:00] covers only a few years, but a great deal of progress with the establishment of the National Parks Service and various new parks, including Bryce Canyon and Arches, favorites of mine. Going Home (1920-1933) [117:00] carries us through the turbulent 20's and the "democratization" of the parks by way of automobile. Great Nature (1933-1945) [116:00] appropriately covers the entire FDR presidency. He was responsible for one of the biggest expansions of the Parks system. The struggles facing conservation efforts, particularly during such an expansion, play a big role here. The Morning of Creation (1946-1980) [116:00], the final episode, covers the post-war period explosion in attendance at the various parks thanks to widespread automobile ownership in addition to one of the major dustups of the Carter presidency, in which the President set aside 56 million Alaskan acres for seven National Parks. That decision remains a hit button issue to this day, with industry and conservationists still duking it out. The extras are spread across the discs. Disc One has The Making of The National Parks as guided by Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan. Disc Two features Capturing the Parks, which is more of an on-location behind-the-scenes thing. Disc Three includes the Musical Journeys Through The National Parks featurette, which reminds me of the old Disney shorts that set famous music to beautiful locations. Disc Four is home to all the Outtakes, as narrated by Burns. Disc Five is home to a mini-documentary about the people who've dedicated their lives to the ideals of the parks called The National Parks: This Is America. Disc Six rounds things out with Contemporary Stories From America's National Parks. It's made up of five short films focusing on varied topics including the San Antonio Missions park, Mount Rushmore, Yosemite's Buffalo Soldiers, Inner City Kids working in the parks, and the establishment of a WWII Japanese internment camp as a national historic site. I found the supplements on the last two discs to be the most worthwhile. all the extras are also available on the DVD. I don't know why anyone would get the DVD to only save two dollars off the $71.99 Amazon is selling the Blu-ray for. It might be the kind of thing you want to own, or would rather get through your Netflix queue.
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FF09: Love Exposure

Shion Sono, the director of import cult classic Suicide Club and recent genre hit Exte: Hair Extensions delivered a four hour, coming-of-age novella that surprised and delighted me in equal measure. Love Exposure deals in thematic shifts rather than simple plot twists, starting with an emo coming of age drama focusing on protagonist Yu. His mother dies when he's very young, and then his father joins the priesthood. Even as we go from situational comedy to broad farce to meet-cute love story (and back and forth), the story jumps narrators to Yoko (the girl he becomes infatuated with), and then later to another girl (who becomes infatuated with him...and Yoko). The stage is set and the pieces are explained about an hour in, when the title card finally drops.

Yu poised to practice Peek-A-Panty Kung Fu
The storytelling touches on finding oneself both as a teenager and an adult, religious fanaticism and cults, hentai (perversion) culture and sexual curiosity, as well as the zen art of upskirt photography and life of an unintentional cross-dresser. Suffice to say that short of retelling the events of the film step by step, it's a tough nut to crack. The simplest reduction I could come up with is that it's about the complications of human intimacy from varying perspectives. I should mention here that the one moment of striking, graphic mutilation in the film threatened to send me on a one-way trip to the lobby. To my great surprise, I was engrossed in the film only moments later.

I must mention here that Love Exposure delivers some of the most comprehensive, even-handed social criticism of religion in modern society that I've seen on the screen of late. The well-intentioned practitioners of true faith don't have the resources or popularity to keep up with false prophets with bigger bankrolls and more sinister plans. The film is really captivating in a way that feels more like you're watching a four-hour television miniseries all in one sitting. It is extremely weird, but no more so than real life is in one's teen years. The description "really weird four hour Japanese movie that is all over the place" probably doesn't look irresistible to US distributors (even just home video), but I've yet to run into someone who said they hated or even simply disliked the movie. When it really comes down to it, the story of Yuda falling in love with and pursuing Yoko is more interesting than the best parts of the various meet-cute rom-coms of the last decade. Here's hoping it's available for consumption in the US at some point.
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Disc Roundup (Movies) 10.6.09

The past couple weeks of Disc Roundup columns will be hitting throughout Monday, with Fantastic Fest reviews and other items interspersed.

New Release of the Week Not Quite Hollywood (DVD only) Feature Commentary with director Mark Hartley and various OZploitation Auteurs 17 Deleted and 4 Alternate Scenes Interviews: Brian Trenchard-Smith (by Quentin Tarantino), Director Richard Franklin (Audio only) Funding Pitches from Quentin Tarantino & John D. Lamond, Image Gallery, Original Theatrical Trailer One of the reasons this documentary succeeds so well is that it tells the story of Aussie exploitation cinema as well as it evangelizes individual auteurs and films. This movie is the master class on Aussie exploitation cinema from the 70's and 80's that had never really existed outside conversations between cinephile friends. The doc traces these movies from their beginnings to their decline. This movie has contributed to more than one friend picking up an addiction to tracking down every film made by Brian Trenchard-Smith.

Barry Humphries, screenwriter, actor, and close associate of Dame Edna Everage
The extras are among the most comprehensive and worthwhile of any single new release this year. The Extended and Deleted Scenes are great whether you watch them right after the feature or pick up with them later on. The feature commentary, however, is great to watch immediately after the feature. The Tarantino/Trenchard-Smith interview is all right, but rambles off-topic (big surprise). Among my favorite extra is an easter egg anecdote of Bob Ellis, an Australian critic, slagging off Peter Weir. Just thinking about one of the things he said in particular makes me chuckle. The movie is great, and it's one of those "own, don't rent" titles. Amazon has it for $15.49. Catalog Release of the Week Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Blu-ray only) It's beautiful, and the extras are Pixar-quality when it comes to design and content. Reviewed here. New Release

Mirageman (DVD only) Behind the Scenes featurette From my review: "A young man named Maco (Marko Zaror) and his kid brother are orphaned after their parents are killed in a brutal attack. Maco is mistaken for a masked superhero by TV reporter he saves, and Maco's little brother becomes obsessed with this new vigilante. "The team behind Kiltro got back together for another round of South American martial arts action in Mirageman. They also brought Mandrill, their newest film, to Fantastic Fest this year. Unfortunately, I couldn't get in to either show. They also apparently announced that this very movie was going to be remade in English and 3-D. The action in this original is taut and well-choreographed, but it never really rises above martial arts film tropes, so don't expect a revelation. On the other hand, it's nice to have a fight movie that has nothing to do with Thai boxing, ninja, or Chinese kung fu." Trick R Treat (Blu-ray & DVD) It's impossible to find this movie anywhere. I still haven't had a chance to get my hands on the thing. The movie is really well-made and the most fun I've had with a horror movie in a long time, but I don't want to unreasonably raise anyone's expectations as many already have. This movie is not the second coming of horror. It's a breath of very fresh air, without a doubt. The Creepshow-style anthology structure works well. There's thankfully some gender role reversal in places, which is a rarity in the genre known for helpless, whorish women. The format of the film and the world writer/director Mike Dougherty has created lends itself nicely to sequelization that wouldn't get stale the way Saw has (like so many slasher series from the 80's). Could it have taken the title of "the" Halloween movie series away from Saw? In 2007, yes it could have. Saw was at its weakest from franchise fatigue going into Saw 4, but taking risks has never been the modus operandi of the studio system. The same goes for 2008 in terms of opportunity. 2009 is turning into the Year of Paranormal Activity simply because no one has tried to take on Saw for years and Paramount strapped on their balls this time. Unlike Saw or Paranormal Activity, Trick R Treat is something my wife can actually sit through and not be uneasy and uncomfortable afterward. TRT's got its squirm-inducing moments, but it earns them and doesn't make you wallow in misery. Suspense and mythology win out over vivisections and induced night terrors. It's worth a rental at the least and a purchase if you can find it. I'll review the Blu-ray when I can actually get my hands on it. Year One (Blu-ray & DVD) Theatrical and Unrated Cuts, Alternate Ending, Deleted Scenes, Extended/Alternate Scenes, Line-O-Rama, Gag Reel, Feature Commentary with director Harold Ramis, Jack Black, and Michael Cera Featurettes: Year One: The Journey Begins, Making-of, Sodom's Got 'Em, Leeroy Jenkins: The Gates of Sodom Blu-ray Exclusives: Year One Cutting Room, Real-time info track via BD-Live, In-Movie BD-Live messaging I really, really was dumbfounded at how intellectually hilarious this movie was. By that, I mean that it wasn't conventionally funny, but academically comment-generating. "Ah yes, I see, here they are jousting at the ridiculous patrilneal, tribal society of the time and the unsustainable moral code of the era. How observant and witty." Notice there were no indications of actual entertainment in there. I really enjoyed just about every moment of the film spent with Cain (David Cross), but that about covers it. I'll have something more substantive about the DVD/Blu-ray itself when I have a chance to dig into the extras. Did they cut a bad movie out of the makings of something decent? Dark Country (DVD only) Commentary by director Thomas Jane, screenwriter Tab Murphy, and producer Patrick Aiello Featurette: Journey to Dark Country Thomas Jane makes his feature directing debut and stars in Dark Country alongside Lauren German and Ron Perlman. Jane and German play a couple who find a car accident survivor whom they save and then subsequently flips on them. The trailer, DVD case, and anything you read about the movie make no bones about the fact the couple does the guy in and tries to cover it up so that they can't be held responsible for the murder, however in the right they may have been. The movie carries no critic quotes, which either means no one saw it or no one liked it. Assassination of a High School President (DVD only) I missed this one but have heard nothing but praise for it, mostly from people who act or seem to wish they were still in high school. My Life in Ruins (Blu-ray & DVD) I'll probably never see this movie in whole or part. The Children (Blu-ray & DVD) A very popular Fantastic Fest 2009 title that I'm hopefully catching up with soon. It's Alive (2009) (DVD only) I don't understand how anyone put effort or money into a remake of It's Alive (1974). Seventh Moon (Blu-ray & DVD) A Fantastic Fest 2008 movie I walked out of before it started when I saw there were only about 8 people in the audience for its second show. Catalog New to Blu Contact Audition A Charlie Brown Christmas How the Grinch Stole Christmas Horton Hears a Who Wolf Out of this bunch, I'll probably pick up A Charlie Brown Christmas and Contact before long. It's nice the rest are on here, but none are absolute "gotta-haves". Catalog

Esther Williams Volume 2 (DVD only) Thrill of a Romance Fiesta This Time for Keeps Pagan Love Song Million Dollar Mermaid Easy to Love The first time any of these Technicolor films have been on DVD, this set is significant for a variety of reasons, not the least being that Fiesta gives us another title starring Ricardo Montalban that wasn't previously available. My writeup on the set is here. Reissue Chinatown: Centennial Collection (DVD only) A cleaned up DVD transfer and new extras are on display here, but I'll wait for a Blu-ray (rumored to hit next year). My Fair Lady (DVD only) Feature Audio Commentary by Art Director Gene Allen, Marni Nixon, and Restorers Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz Vintage Featurettes, Footage, and Audio, "Alternate" Audrey Hepburn Vocals, Poster and Lobby Card Galleries, Rex Harrison Radio Interview, "Comments on a Lady" Featurette, Trailers CBS has re-taken ownership of this title on home video from Warner Bros., who released a lovely (not going to write "loverly" to be cute, sorry) Special Edition a few years ago. This disc does have some extras on it, but not everything that was on the WB SE two-disc set. Most notably missing from the previous edition is the More Loverly Than Ever: My Fair Lady Then and Now documentary. The transfer looks to be the same from a side-by-side comparison. Disc Roundup (Movies) is posted each week at some point, depending on how many discs there are to get through. Unless otherwise noted, screener copies of titles reviewed were provided by the respective studio. If you think I've missed something, feel free to send me an email.
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489: Criterion's Monsoon


The greatest challenge facing Criterion's Blu-ray of Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding was mastering it for HD when it was originally shot on 16mm and blown up to 35mm. I recall Universal's original DVD edition suffering from a small amount of red shift, and color fidelity was my greatest concern about an HD master. As with Chungking Express and El Norte, they've ended up with rich color depth and stunning image quality, with better contrast and clarity than one might expect from a movie shot on 16mm. The DVD edition from Criterion is from the same new HD master. [Pal Jason Whyte points out that the original DVD was non-anamorphic letterbox, so this marks the first proper 16x9 widescreen release for Monsoon Wedding.]

Criterion has achieved a coup de home video here thanks to including 7 Mira Nair short films that total over three hours of material varied in content. India Cabaret [59:22] (pictured above right) is set in a strip club and confronts gender roles and sexuality. So Far From Home [49:22] is about a married couple separated by an ocean. Laughing Club of India [35:03] is one of her better known shorts, dealing with...well, laughing clubs that get together and...laugh. I don't know why I'm at a loss in explaining it, but it's worth watching (as all the shorts are). Migration [19:00] features the brilliant Irfaan Khan (A Mighty Heart, Slumdog Millionaire) in a supporting role and focuses on the AIDS epidemic in India.

"India" from 11'09'01 [11:50] was Nair's contribution to the short film anthology project about 9/11 and the wake it caused. After the tragedy of the day itself, many young men of a certain complexion were rounded up and accused of things the exact opposite of who they were and how they acted. The Day the Mercedes Became a Hat [11:21] takes place in the final days of Apartheid, as some white families started instinctively fleeing in misplaced fear. How Can It Be [9:07] is the shortest film of the bunch and, as a result, it's got the most to say in a compressed, potent manner. The topic here is the concept of marriage and what it entails: fidelity, conflict, and divorce. The power of the furies is in full effect here.

The included Feature Commentary track is the same one that was available on the 2002 DVD edition, which I fondly remember listening to nearly a decade ago. Nair's enthusiasm and free-flowing anecdotes make it one of the better investments I've made in commentary listening to this day. New to the Criterion edition are a 20-minute Interview with Naseeruddin Shah (the father in the film) conducted by director Mira Nair and a 10-minute chat between cinematographer Declan Quinn and production designer Stephanie Carroll. The Shah/Nair piece is chock full of meaningful and moving anecdotes from both participants, and the Quinn/Carroll piece squeezes a lot into a small space of time, interspersing behind-the-scenes footage as well. The Theatrical Trailer is a great point of reference for how good the Criterion transfer of the feature is on this disc, trust me.

Pico Iyer's very thorough A Marigold Tapestry essay comprises the majority of the content of the included booklet, and is supplemented by synopses of the short films and notes on the transfer and production.
Amazon currently has the Blu-ray listed at $27.99 and the DVD at $34.99 (both editions are $31.96 on Criterion's site).

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Why I Read Karina Longworth and Few Others

When I learned that Karina Longworth is now without a publication for whom to write, my first instinct was to hastily post something in support of her. I then second-guessed myself thinking "does noteworthy film critic and columnist Karina Longworth actually need the help of nobody me?" I suppose she doesn't, really, but a solidly-written reader testimonial can't hurt. Additionally, I relish the opportunity to speak out about the dearth of quality film writing out there.

I don't read the majority of online movie sites. Just because I follow and converse with someone on Twitter doesn't mean I read their stuff. There are only so many hours in the day, and as my wife likes to remind me, only so many of those hours can be dedicated to reading others in addition to my own writing. I keep an eye on (in no particular order): Glenn Kenny, Patrick Sauriol at Corona Coming Attractions, Anne Thompson, CHUD (Devin Faraci specifically), In Contention, Awards Daily, HitFix, AICN, Twitchfilm, most of Cinematical, whatever Russ Fischer is writing, La Finke, and of course Jeff. I read print people like Ebert, A.O. Scott, Michael Phillips, and others. I'm sure there are a few I'm missing. The key for me is how I prioritize who I read when pushed for free moments (read: every day). Karina is the top of that list, because she has never wasted my time, unlike various over-entitled print writers and the flood of onliners that are no more than content aggregators, thieves, or freebie-paid publicists. I'm not buddy-buddy pally-pally with Karina. I've met her in person a grand total of once, at Fantastic Fest this year. Our conversation consisted of exactly four sentences outside The Highball. I have no vested interest in promoting her writing, nor has she ever given me a reason to, aside from her enlightening, carefully-crafted work. I discovered the magnificent Sita Sings The Blues because she championed the film early on, and that's just one example of how I, the reader, owe Karina Longworth. She was specifically selected by director Charlie Kaufman to participate in a featurette on the Synechdoche, New York DVD, and has been an in-demand panelist at plenty of noteworthy film festivals. In the middle of film festival insanity, I often miss more panels than I'd like, but I do my best to attend ones that feature her as a panelist or moderator. She knows her stuff and then some. She has the chops of the best of the "old guard" of print folks, along with the implied discipline and ethics that are not the norm in the online space. Karina is worth the investment of a decent salary, benefits, and a publication that can give her writing adequate exposure and access to proper festival credentials. There are many who are accredited by Cannes, Toronto, and others that I don't read specifically because they don't rate. I suppose I'd pay more attention to those festivals if writers like Karina (and for that matter, others) were accredited for them. I don't trust a lot of the festival buzz out there, because it comes from people who don't have my trust. Karina does. Her brand is credibility, integrity, and a finely-tuned sensibility for analyzing film as an art form. If you feel the same way I do, please do pass on what I've written here in email, tweets, or whatever digital means of discourse you use. [Ed. note 5:07pm CST - It's been misconstrued by a couple people who've contacted me that I'm inferring all online writers that I don't read are whores. I hope it's obvious that logic is behind me on this one and that the state of public education in the US is indeed grave.]
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TCM's Esther Williams Volume 2


Original studio art from the Easy to Love (1953) poster
If there's one channel I want in HD, it's Turner Classic Movies. I often lose hours of my day on the weekends to films I have or haven't seen. Its all the same to me. My affinity for this channel among hundreds explains my "drop everything" attitude when packages that contain new to DVD catalog titles arrive.

The scene from Easy to Love (1953)
I love the westerns, capers, and crime movies, as well as some of the musicals. The bunch of song and dance shows that I've always found most compulsively watchable are what I considered the Desperate Gimmick pack, where all kinds of ridiculous things happen: aerial pyramids on plane wings, skiiing stunts, ice skating, and of course the Esther Williams signature aquatic ballet.

Fiesta (1947) features the great Ricardo Montalban as Esther's Matador twin brother. She has to take his place, since they look so alike!
Depending on the particular one you catch, they're the crazy stunt pictures of the day. Esther rarely if ever used a stunt double, and as a result, injured herself pretty seriously on occasion. The most notable instance of her tempting fate was the 115-foot dive in The Million Dollar Mermaid (1952) that broke her neck and put her in a body cast for the better part of a year.

A favorite shot composition from Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)
The TCM Spotlight: Esther Williams Volume 2 set includes six Williams-starring vehicles that have never been on DVD, all notable for one reason or another. Each disc features an animated short coupled with a live action short, one of the things I've been spoiled with on WB vintage titles.

A silhouette dance number from This Time For Keeps (1947)

The kind of dance number (and hips) you never see anymore from Pagan Love Song (1950), which co-stars Howard Keel.
A couple of Tom & Jerry shorts, a Droopy Dog, and three Tex Avery shorts can be found along with some terrific live-action (including three "Pete Smith Specialty" ones) are only the beginning of the extras included. Here's a rundown of the included goodies: Thrill of a Romance Passing Parade live-action short The Great American Mug Wild & Woolfy animated Tex Avery short 3 Outtake (cut) Musical Sequences Theatrical Trailer Fiesta Passing Parade live-action short Goodbye, Miss Turlock Hound Hunters animated Tex Avery short Theatrical Trailer This Time for Keeps Pete Smith Specialty live-action short Now You See It* Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse** animated Tom & Jerry short 1 Outtake Song Theatrical Trailer Pagan Love Song Pete Smith Specialty live-action short Curious Contests The Chump Champ animated Droopy Dog short 7 Outtake (cut) Musical Sequences 2 Versions of 2 Songs Theatrical Trailer Million Dollar Mermaid Pete Smith Specialty live-action short Reducing The Wise Little Quacker animated Tom & Jerry short Radio Show with Esther Williams and Walter Pidgeon (Audio only) Theatrical Trailer Easy to Love Vintage Fitzpatrick Traveltalk Short Romantic Riviera Cobs & Robbers animated Tex Avery short Theatrical Trailer

Thrill of a Romance (1945) played Esther's "civilian" husband against the handsome, virtuous soldier returning from WWII
The transfers on the films themselves are all excellent, up to and exceeding the same standard to which Warner has held all of their early Technicolor titles. The trailers and supplemental short films range from SD-TV quality to super-clean. The TCM Spotlight: Esther Williams Collection Volume 2 hit the street on October 6th, and Amazon currently has it for $41.99. For a six-DVD, six-movie set, that breaks down to about $7 a movie.

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Disc Roundup (TV) 9.29.09


Catalog Release of the Week Traffik: Remastered 20th Anniversary Edition (DVD only) Interviews with writer Simon Moore and Brian Eastman, Extended UK Broadcast version of Episode 6, Photo Gallery, Production Notes, Cast Filmographies The brilliant Channel 4 miniseries from 1989 that inspired Steven Soderbergh's Traffic has been re-mastered and reissued by Acorn Media. The new DVD edition includes the full five hour series as it originally aired along with an interview with the series' creators. With the majority of the new TV season disappointing big-time, it's a good chance to catch up on really good, solid storytelling. New Release of the Week Yellowstone: Battle for Life (BBC Earth) (Blu-ray & DVD) Featurette: The People of Yellowstone Paraphrased from my recently-posted impressions: BBC Earth has put together yet another reference-quality nature documentary, this time about the first National Park. The 2.5 hour doc follows the wildlife of Yellowstone surviving through the seasons and highlights the stunning beauty of the park itself. I hope the fact they didn't put the bears, wolves, and bison on the cover doesn't mean people will pass it up on the shelf. New Release Life on Mars (US): The Complete Series Featurettes: To Mars and Back, Sunrise to Sunset With Jason O'Mara, Flashback: Lee Majors Goes to Mars Blooper Reel, Deleted Scenes, Audio Commentaries This US version of the dynamite UK series failed to catch on with audiences or critics. Critical opinion seemed to really revolve around the "why remake it? what was broken?" topic. Having recently started my way through the original (Acorn Media released Series 1 in July, Series 2 coming in November), I have to agree that nothing was broken with it and it stands on its own. I love it and it's wonderful. At the same time, the US version isn't bad at all, and it was the best way to get the story to US audiences. By no means am I a remake-loving heretic, but it's in the nature of the storytelling tradition that things be recycled and done over. There are places here and there that the US version nails it (dare I say?) better than the original. It's like knowing the answers to the test in advance. The single reason I'm most glad the remake happened is that it means more than just the anglophiles out there like me will be exposed to the property and (I hope) see the original. I've already had the ending of the original spoiled for me, and I've received confirmation that the US version went a wildly different direction entirely with a similar device. O'Mara, Mol, Imperioli, and Keitel deserved better. The Real Story: Part 1 The Real Story: Escape From Alcatraz The Real Story: The Amityville Horror I routinely find myself trying to find something on the hundreds (thousands) of channels I pay for each month and see something interesting on the Smithsonian Channel, only to realize that it's one of a few channels I don't have. I'm glad I'm getting the chance to sample their programming by reviewing discs like this on for this column. In the world of shows purporting to be "the truth behind" some event, The Real Story is among the better put together I've run into. It's filled with re-creations, interviews, and voice of God narration relating the facts of legends like, in this case, the escape from Alcatraz and The Amityville Horror. Both of them have been plumbed for inspiration for various movies over the years, and the shows Smithsonian made about them are really pretty good. Kings: The Complete Series Deleted Scenes, Audio Commentary I heard very, very bad things about this show toward the beginning that turned to outright disgust only a couple episodes into the first and only season. I'm not sure when or if I'll crack this one open and watch it, after finding the following in the synopses of Disc 2: "David is torn between his family and his king the peace treaty with Gath threatens his homeland." I know the show is dead and buried, and I've seen typo-ridden booklets and packages for TV shows, but whaaa? How I Met Your Mother: Season 4 The Unit: Season 4 Catalog The Patty Duke Show: Season 1 Cagney & Lacy: The Menopause Years I just love the title of this set. TV on Disc is generally posted a few days after the corresponding week's Disc Roundup (Movies) and covers the week's TV releases on DVD & Blu-ray. Unless otherwise noted, screener copies of titles reviewed were provided by the respective studio. If you think I've missed something, feel free to send me an email.
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Meet Joe McDoakes


From 1942 to 1956, George O'Hanlon starred as Joe McDoakes in a series of 63 theatrical shorts for Warner Bros. Joe was the definitive hard-luck guy, appearing in the opening behind a giant 8-ball. Nothing ever seemed to go his way, from martial strife to problems with work, money, and leisure. Warner Archive has wowed me yet again with a 6-DVD set that collects every last one of these shorts, which haven't been available on video until now. The first short, So You Want to Give Up Smoking (1942), was originally intended as a case study of the basics of moviemaking for a class that creator Richard Bare taught at USC. Warner Bros. picked up the short and it was going to become a series until World War II got in the way. Over the decade plus that followed the resumption of production, the shorts would ditch the dialogue-free, narrated format, and eventually be Oscar-nominated three times in the Best Short Subject One Reel category ('47: ...Want To Be in Pictures, '48: ...Want to Be on the Radio, '49: ...Think You're Not Guilty).

O'Hanlon is best known to modern audiences (myself included) as the unmistakable voice of George Jetson. The amount of exposure O'Hanlon got for these McDoakes shorts made him an unforgettable, immediately-recognizable voice for the rest of his life. In many ways, McDoakes is the part he could never really get away from, since in a lot of ways, his other cash cow part (George Jetson) is no more than a slightly-modified cartoon version of the part that made him famous. Classic TV fans will also recognize one of the assortment of women who played Joe's long-suffering, put-upon wife Alice over the years as Phyllis Coates, who played Lois Lane in the first season of The Adventures of Superman opposite and equally-billed with George Reeves. Cameos throughout the series include everyone from Iron Eyes Cody (So You Want to Keep Your Hair, 1946) to Doris Day & Gordon McRae (So You Want a Television Set, 1953),

"Ronnie" Reagan in So You Want To Be In Pictures
Highlights from the various installments I've watched thus far: repeated references to avoiding Communist/Socialist catchphrases in So You Want to Be a Politician, the non-speaking cameo appearance of future SAG President and POTUS "Ronnie" Reagan in So You Want to Be in Pictures (above), and the note-perfect satire of the Western genre in So You Want to Be a Cowboy. Latent racism and sexism are all over the place. The racism is much more mild than the sexism, but it's in there. From Joe's wife constantly being referred to as "Little Alice" to the encouragement of disliking and acting out against the institution of marriage while married, there's plenty of fodder for Gender Roles courses at universities across the country.

From So You Want to Keep Your Hair
Since there are ten hours of these shorts, I haven't had a chance to get through them all. I have, however, been playing one or two before each of the various discs I've been catching up on, and it's played like gangbusters to my audience of one (two if Ashley is around). The transfer is taken from the best available master and wasn't specially cleaned up or remastered, but all the shorts I've watched looked great. Warner Archive has all 648 minutes of 63 shorts for $39.95.
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The First National Park

BBC Earth has just recently released Yellowstone: Battle For Life, yet another reference-quality nature documentary. This one is about the first National Park, which is still one of the most lovely to visit. The 2.5 hour doc follows the wildlife of Yellowstone surviving through the seasons and highlights the stunning beauty of the park itself. I hope the fact they didn't put the bears, wolves, and bison on the cover doesn't mean people will pass it up on the video store shelf, because it's every bit as good as the Planet Earth series. There's plenty of flora and fauna on display, and for those who've never been, a view of just how biodiverse one National Park can be.

The 1080i video track and DTS-HD Master Audio track will greatly exceed the quality of presentation available on a HD cable provider. No, you didn't read that wrong, this is a 1080i transfer rather than 1080p (probably in the interest of squeezing it onto one disc). Trust me, it still looks great. There's a "People of Yellowstone" featurette included as well. Yellowstone: Battle For Life hit the street back on 9.29. Amazon has the Blu-ray for $17.49. It's also available on DVD, but if you're buying it, you want it in hi-def.
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Other Musings on Human Condition

I'm fairly convinced that Criterion's The Human Condition is circling the top honors for my favorite DVD release of the year, so I feel no remorse continuing to plug the living daylights out of it. I found myself daydreaming and writing about a thing or two that occurred to me the other day.

Thing One The treatment of women is one of the strongest undercurrents in the three films, including both Kaji's wife Michiko and the "comfort women" of the labor camp featured in Volume I. Two lone women appear in the basic training setting of Volume II, and the most diverse collection of women are on the run from advancing Soviet troops in Volume III. Kaji encounters Michiko more than once after Volume I, sometimes in person, at others in hallucinations and yet others in dreams. Many of the women he meets on the way to find her in Volume III have similarities to her in personality and in temperament. Aside from the anti-war stance taken by the books and film, the portrayal of women's oppression in Japanese culture is a close second for what was most controversial during the film's original run and for some time thereafter. Thing Two As much as I enjoyed Inglourious Basterds as the jaunt away from reality that it was, it doesn't hold a candle to a third or even a sixth of Kobayashi's career masterwork (nor did it aspire to do so). Juxtaposing The Human Condition to the other notable WWII film of late is an interesting look at two things about the same event that couldn't be more different. For every inch of Basterds that is referential and singly-voiced, Human Condition is equally engrossing and universal. My review of the set can be found here, my preview photos of the packaging are here, and you can read about how I think Kaji's journey relates to Lawrence of Arabia here.
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FF09: Toy Story 1 & 2 3-D Double Feature

One of the strangest one-day-to-the-next experiences I had at Fantastic Fest was seeing around four hours of Toy Story one afternoon and then four hours of Love Exposure the next day in the same time slot. I'll get into Love Exposure soon enough, but the recent news that the Toy Story 3-D Double Feature is remaining in theaters for a bit longer finally kicked me into gear completing my Fantastic Fest coverage.

If you've missed the double feature 3-D version so far, make sure to catch it before it disappears. This recommendation goes double if you paid to take kids to Monsters Vs Aliens. There's got to be some justice in box office receipts favoring quality. Dimensionality is what set Pixar apart from the pack when Toy Story changed the animation landscape in 1995. That's precisely why I don't feel this is some cheap gimmick and see it as a finer-tuned, enhanced version of two movies I already love. The 3-D application here for me is as wholesome as using brighter projection bulbs than existed when a film existed. We're talking about fine-detail depth, not goofy stuff shooting out at you. Just as with UP, I'm fine seeing these movies "flat" rather than "deep", but there's something truly majestic about the 3-D presentation. The application isn't full of things flying at you, but rather, it adds a moving diorama feel to the proceedings that indeed more comprehensively immerses you in the action. I like the right applications of pop-up-in-your-face, but not when or if that is added to a movie that didn't have it to begin with. If anything, movies like these that are depth-of-field rendered are returning to their source files more than anything, and a case could be made that this is a more accurate and pure presentation of what the original animators sculpted with digital scalpels. The youngest of kids in the audience had trouble maintaining focus through the second feature, but they all behaved in general. The young guy next to me with his dad couldn't have been much more than 5 or 6, and had a Nintendo DS in his hands prior to the feature with some LEGO videos on it that he thought were the funniest thing in the world. I saw the first Toy Story when I was 12, when I'd moved on from toys and was into girls. This kid was already over physical toys and into digital gadgets before he'd gotten multiplication down pat! The digital information divide has made some of the most recent generations like different species to me. I'm still trying to wrap the fact that high schoolers and middle schoolers are using smartphone computers that fit in their pockets at ages when laptop computers were new and remarkable gadgets to me. I'm very curious to see how parents, adults, and kids of various ages take to the new movie next summer, especially relative to how Pixar has evolved and matured so beautifully throughout their first couple decades. Speaking of Toy Story 3, the trailer looks wonderful on the big screen in 3-D. Seeing it and thinking about the themes it teases while watching the first two movies makes for a really rich new experience.
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FF09: John Gholson's Day 7 & Day 8

Sweet Karma - Canada - Directed by Andrew Thomas Hunt Synopsis: A mute goes on a quest for vengeance when her sister ends up missing as a prostitute for the Russian mob. I've seen movies at Fantastic Fest that I've disliked much more than Sweet Karma, but I've never seen one I thought felt more out-of-place at the festival than this one. I must've be spoiled by the over-the-top exploitation vibe of the fest, because I kept waiting for Karma, the title character, to go really nuts, delivering a huge, splattery mess of revenge that never happens. Sweet Karma is a grimy, modest film with just enough strippers, nudity, prostitution, rape, and mobsters to make it marginally more gritty than something you'd catch in the 1990's on pay cable in the middle of the night. The sleazy sexuality outweighs the violence, which is a problem if you're trying to make a revenge movie. Hunt's more confident when he's shooting something titillating, and it keeps Sweet Karma more than a little unsatisfying. Private Eye - South Korea - Directed by Park Dae-Min Synopsis: A private investigator and a young medical student end up in over their heads as they uncover a series of murders. Boyish director Park Dae-Min seemed really happy with the Fantastic Fest audience reaction to his first feature. He has every right to smile--Private Eye is a solid piece of who-done-it storytelling. It's a continuation of South Korean filmmaking trends, where our friends from the East are making Western-style films that deliver the goods. It's pure, old-fashioned movie-making, unfettered from the needs of the American corporate studio system to cross-promote and co-brand. The lead actors, Jeon-Min Hwang and Dal-Su Oh, are fantastic. They've created a crime-fighting duo that bears the influence of Holmes and Watson, while remaining refreshing. I want more of these two. Park Dae-Min didn't rule out the idea of a sequel. I told him I wanted more than that--Private Eye III and IV, please. Keep 'em coming. If the sequels are as good as this debut, we'll have a couple of new iconic film detectives on our hand. If this sounds interesting to you at all, please check out Moises' review as well. I'm having a hard time here articulating what makes Private Eye work so well, other than to say that it's an exceptionally well-made movie. Merantau - Indonesia - Directed by Gareth Evans Synopsis: A spiritual quest, called merantau, leads a young man trained in Silat into opposition with a human trafficking ring. I usually avoid the martial arts films at Fantastic Fest, for no real reason than I find they're all of a certain quality. At a festival, I go for the bigger gambles--I'd rather take a chance on something that isn't as predictably entertaining as most martial arts films. After Merantau got a lot of buzz after its first screening, I decided to go ahead and take in a showing and see what all the fuss was about. Mainly, that fuss is about Iko Uwais, and how much of an incredible bad-ass he is. Merantau's story--goody-goody country boy helps a stripper-with-a-heart-of-gold and her orphan brother--is remarkably pedestrian, but, ohmygod, Iko Uwais is amazing. He's deceptively boring as an actor, adequate but not exciting. Once he starts fighting, however, you can not take your eyes off the man. He's fluid and brutal, and the fights are choreographed into long, unrelenting sequences where he takes on opponent after opponent without stopping for one breath. I think there's a better movie than Merantau awaiting Uwais in his future, but for fans of martial arts, Merantua may very well become a minor classic because it introduces such a major new talent. The Revenant - USA - Directed by D. Kerry Prior Synopsis: A dead soldier returns to life as a zombie, but he'll need his best friend to help him stay undead, by furnishing him with plenty of fresh human blood. I sort of, almost, really like The Revenant. It's a worthy zombie comedy, with an unusual take on the typical alpha male buddy movie. The undead vet, Bart (David Anders), decides to choose his victims with the mis-placed authority of a street vigilante, but his friend Joey's (Chris Wylde) reasons for helping Bart may have less to do with Bart, and more to do with Joey being a chronic thrill-seeker. The Revenant has a lot going for it. It's funny and gross, it's well-shot and well-acted for a low-budget indie, and it's legitimately weird. The downside is that The Revenant features too much of a good thing--it's a shaggy movie, that often shambles like a zombie through too many repetitive scenes of Bart's street justice and constant feeding. At the fest, Prior confessed that the film had yet to find distribution. That's a shame, because he's made a slickly professional film that horror fans are really going to dig. I'm hoping he can tighten it up (please, please, please lose the nonsensical, poorly green-screened subway shootout), and get The Revenant into fighting shape so that it can garner distribution. Festival reaction to the film has been strong, and I have no doubt that The Revenant will find a home soon. Daybreakers - Australia - Directed by The Spierig Brothers Synopsis: In a society controlled by vampires, a hematologist bucks the authority of the corporation he works for to help a small group of humans develop a cure of vampirism. I can say this about the Spierig Brothers--they know how to make a fantastic B-movie. Daybreakers is a no-frills excursion into a fascinating, horrific vision of the future, filled with interesting concepts and lean action, and, man, this thing is lean. Daybreakers sets up its world and the conflict in the blink of an eye, then wham-bam-thank-you-Sam (Neill, that is, playing the villain) and it's all over. Breathlessly paced, it's easily the most satisfying vampire film of its kind since Blade, zooming along so quickly that you barely have time to consider any plot holes caused by the movie's undercooked psuedo-science or timeline. That's the trick with B-movies, distract the audience with just enough cleverness to keep them from noticing that almost all of the thrills are visceral in nature. I can't complain much about a movie this efficient--a near perfect peanut butter-in-my-chocolate junk food blend of action and horror.
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Spine Number 496: CHE


Criterion has at long last announced a killer edition of Steven Soderbergh's CHE. The comprehensive extras, as reported previously, are the cause of the long wait for the announcement and release. The DVD Edition is 3 discs (each feature on its own disc and a third for extras), and the Blu-ray is 2 discs (not sure how things are split up there). The extras include the following (with my added comments): High-definition digital transfers of Che: Part One and Che: Part Two, supervised and approved by director Steven Soderbergh, with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition Audio commentaries on both films, featuring Jon Lee Anderson, author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life [Ed. note- This guy is not only considered a subject matter expert, but depending on your feelings about Guevara himself, something of a controversial guy.] Making "Che", a new documentary about the film's production, featuring interviews with Soderbergh, producer Laura Bickford, actor-producer Benicio del Toro, and writers Peter Buchman and Ben van der Veen [Ed. note- I have the expectation that this will be every bit as comprehensive and engrossing as the Benjamin Button doc from that disc.] New interviews with Cuban historians as well as participants in the 1958 Cuban Revolution and Che's 1967 Bolivian campaign [Ed. note- I may see family members in this. You may think I'm kidding, but I'm not.] Deleted scenes [Ed. note- Apparently one of the big delays was giving Soderbergh time to compile these. I assume that was time well spent waiting, based on his previous Criterion contributions.] Theatrical trailers A booklet featuring an essay by critic Amy Taubin
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Sarah Connor Collateral Damage

I'd blame myself for the cancellation of The Sarah Connor Chronicles if I felt the Nielsens ratings system applied to me. The show was actually quite good, I just wish the myriad means of digital distribution out there allowed shows like this to have their popularity accurately measured. The ratings don't take into account who DVR-ed the show, which accounts for a huge segment of active viewers at this point.

As I said in the Roundup for 9.22, I never kept up with this show during its run, but if I had, its cancellation would just eat at me like the other good shows that have gotten the axe. Catching up on it now, I really dig this "on the run" sci-fi show more than most of what I flip past. Maybe it was destined to be best remembered as something that was limited to a few years, but just two seasons was too few. The Blu-ray presentation of Season 2 is appropriately in-depth and high quality. Fans couldn't ask for much more than a third season. Extras include: Commentaries on 4 Episodes (including finale) with Exec. Producer Josh Friedman and Cast & Crew, Unaired Scenes, Gag Reel Featurettes: The Continuing Chronicles: Terminator 8-part featurette gallery, The Storyboard Process, Cameron vs. Rosie Fight Rehearsal Blu-ray Exclusive: Collision with the Future: Deconstructing the Hunter Killer Attack from the Series Finale

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 2 hit the street on 9.22. Amazon has the Blu-ray for just $6 more than DVD for $42.49.
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The Mentalist and Power of Suggestion

I've become hooked on yet another crime show thanks to my penchant for satisfying my curiosity for popular things. After putting in the first disc of the first season of The Mentalist, which airs on CBS, it took no more than 15 minutes for Ashley and I to while away an afternoon absorbed in the show. Psychological manipulation is the bedrock of confidence men, illusionists, and TV mentalists. All three of them are fundamentally the same thing: professional, influential liars. They use the untruth to uncover the truth. Simon Baker plays Patrick Jane, a mentalist-turned-police-consultant. He uses his powers of persuasion to help solve crimes in the wake of the murder of his wife and daughter by a serial killer named Red John, who haunts Jane throughout various episodes in the first season. Prior to his personal tragedy, Jane had been a TV charlatan like so many we all (hopefully) flip past on late-night TV. He's flanked by California Bureau of Investigation agents played by Robin Tunney, Tim Kang, Owain Yeoman, and Amanda Righetti. Tunney was a hot up-and-comer years back, Kang you've seen in Shell and AT&T U-Verse commercials (and the excellent Rambo 5), Yeoman was in Generation Kill, and Righetti was in the Friday the 13th remake. Now I get why Aussie-born Baker has become something of a sensation. He plays "American" much better than Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, or Hugh Jackman. I really dug his short bit in Women in Trouble when I saw it at South by Southwest. He's got a sure-footed, lived-in style of acting that's common among all the greats. I'm not saying the man is an instant legend, but he's more than got the chops to get there over a long career. The show is well-scripted and tightly-paced, with the potential to run for a long while.

Season 1 was released on DVD September 22nd. Amazon has it for $40.
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One eskimO Throwback

I got a press release a few weeks ago about something I don't usually write about because I don't keep up with it: music. Warner Brothers' Premiere Digital imprint partnered with UK band One eskimO to produce something they call a "visual album" by producing ten animated shorts to go with the songs on their new album.

The people who did the animation are the same who did the Gorillaz videos, and it's really rather lovely. It reminds me of back when I paid attention to music videos and MTV played them. If record labels want to sell music, they'll use media like this to entice fans and the curious. Imagine what could be done if The Beatles had done Yellow Submarine in this way, with each track sequentially corresponding to a piece of overall narrative.
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Going to Dogville



The same dog actor starring in (l. to r., top to bottom) Hot Dog, College Hounds, Who Killed Rover?, and The Dogway Melody. His work ethic reminds me of Jude Law's output in 2004.
If you've frequented the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, whether during a festival or not, you've undoubtedly seen clips from one or another of the "All-Barkie Comedies". The common genres of films released in the early days of talkies are all lampooned in the form of theatrical shorts. They starred dogs that were dressed up in human clothes and made to "talk" and "act" by obviously nefarious means. They use a lot of the same dogs in featured parts, like the fella pictured above. The dogs involved were all unquestionably mistreated and abused, but the Barkies are important artifacts of cinema history. Warner Archive's The Dogville Collection features all 9 shorts made from 1930-31 that were put together by the same team that would soon thereafter bring us The Three Stooges. In various polls of theatergoers, the Barkies were voted more popular than any other shorts running before features, even ones that critics and historians have elevated to more prominent heights. The same reason audiences in the 30's loved these movies is why the atrocious "spoof" movies continue to do well: people like to laugh at things that make fun of the artistically successful. If someone did new versions of these, I'm reasonably sure people would love Barkie versions of Obsessed, The Proposal, or Zombieland. As a whole, the Barkies are very much hit and miss, depending on the one you pick. Some hew so closely to their source material that they become just as tedious as the stale genres they assail, whereas others end abruptly or nonsensically. I feel terrible laughing at some of the gags that rely entirely on "here's how we made this dog do this," but I'll be damned if it isn't funny. I've gotten through the first disc of them, and they look and sound great considering their age. My favorite thus far is their "Great Woof Way" backstage musical The Dogway Melody. There are no extras, as is the case with the rest of the Archive titles, but I've been dying for the shorts for so long that I don't really care. The Dogville comedies are no more politically correct than many of the Our Gang shorts (also on Warner Archive), but just as with those films, these shouldn't be categorically erased from availability.

This is the perfect example of why the Archive program is out there, and why I'm glad to be a customer. The Archive folks were good enough to send a review copy of this and a couple others to me, but trust me when I say they're still getting plenty of my money otherwise and I'd have gladly spent the $25 myself. In fact, I probably will a couple times over to gift this to a couple friends with upcoming birthdays. I've just found this vintage 6-page article explaining how the trainers worked with the dogs.
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Watchmen Redux Redux

This went out officially a couple weeks ago, but had a couple things to say on it. The Ultimate Cut version of Watchmen that had already been soft-announced a while ago was officially announced for release on November 7th, and the final running time clocks in at 215 minutes, or 3 hours and 35 minutes. This is the version I've been most curious to see since the film's theatrical release, not that I think it will be a more definitive version than the Director's Cut. The new Ultimate Cut Edition incorporates most of the Tales of the Black Freighter animated thing into the Director's Cut and includes the following extras according to the press release: Audio Commentary with Zack Snyder and Dave Gibbons The Phenomenon: The Comic that Changed Comics [28:50] Learn how the subversive, thematically complex, award winning comic that changed literature, inspired analytical debate, and won countless fans, was created. Real Super Heroes, Real Vigilantes [27:28] Explores the fascination and psychology behind real-world vigilantes and where that behavior crosses over into actually donning the hood and behaving as superheroes. Mechanics: Technologies of a Fantastic World [16:46] The creators of Watchmen had a great understanding of engineering and science, allowing for plausible mechanics in their characters tools and the world itself. This featurette will guide the viewer through the filmmakers process of turning these technologies into cinematic reality. Watchmen: Video Journals My Chemical Romance video Desolation Row [3:16] Under The Hood [36:00] A retrospective look on the biography by Hollis Mason - the original Nite Owl - and the world of those who stood for hooded justice. Story Within A Story: The Books of Watchmen [26:00] Weave through the nuanced layers of detail to see how a comic-within-a comic acts as parallel commentary to the acclaimed work of Literature, Watchmen. Digital Copy of the Theatrical Version Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comics
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Bloom a la Blu

Genres that I can never get enough of include: crime (heists in particular), westerns, and con artist jobs. I'm sure there are more, but those immediately come to mind. I hadn't watched Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom until Summit provided me with a review copy of the rental-only Blu-ray. I didn't find myself outright disgusted and appalled with it, as Jeff did, but instead enjoyed it a great deal. The movie charmed me and I was eager to dig into the supplemental features on the Blu-ray, which hasn't been the case with many movies this year.

I wasn't part of the throng of enthusiastic bloggers/writers/journalists/fans who "pimped it large" during Bloom's limited theatrical run, which never reached more than 200 or so screens nationwide. It feels to me like Summit didn't know where to put it, and I still firmly believe it was a good move to put it against summer blockbusters instead of Oscar season. I'm not terribly familiar with the release date moves that happened before that, so sorry for my ignorance. Recent missives hurled hither and yon all over the net as a result of recent FTC regulation changes have found various writers shouting "sellout" and "who can be bought?" into the air and at one another. Unlike some of my colleagues, I don't really know Rian well on a personal basis. Unlike a number of buzz campaigns for other movies I've seen come and go, I've seen a great deal of voluntary disclosure from writers who've had "face-time" with Rian or an ongoing friendship of some sort. It's one of those advocacy campaigns that really came from the right place, and that means a lot in an atmosphere where people get into the blogging racket exclusively to touch the famous people and work their own angle. The reason I'm bringing this up aside from now disclosing myself that I met Rian briefly at Butt Numb A Thon X last year (and have maintained a very limited correspondence with him) is that this whole FTC thing is thematically tied to the thing about Bloom that won me over. There are plenty of solid, on-the-level people doing this online writing gig, but make no mistake, there are tons of aspiring and working writers in it for what they can juice the gig for and nothing more. They have a sense of entitlement that the con should always go their way, and instead of hone their skills and do what they do well (usually not much for these hucksters), they skate by misrepresenting themselves to their readers. Penelope (Rachel Wiesz) is getting conned from the moment she runs into the Bloom boys, but I quickly got wise to the fact she was smart enough to know pretty quickly that she was being taken. The people who go wild for the hucksters among the movie bloggers (love, hate, or disagree with the term) are just like Penelope: getting exactly what they want out of the con. These are the envious, the want-to-be's, the people who wish they had the life, access, and perks and none of the work. It was really rather poetic to see this whole debate play out all over blogs and Twitter while I was tucking in to this movie. I found the whole damn thing appealing and easily re-watchable, from Brody & Ruffalo to Wiesz and physical comedienne extraordinaire Rinko Kikuchi. The Feature Commentary with Johnson and producer Ram Bergman was a great listen, partly thanks to the fact it seems Rian is quite a DVD devotee himself and knows what makes for a good commentary. I should also mention here that I participated in a call he put out for questions or contributions on Twitter (before he had any idea who I was) while he was recording this track, and so as a result my Twitter handle comes up shouting out Fantastic Fest toward the end. Also mentioned are friends and colleagues Will Goss of Cinematical and James Rocchi of MSN Movies/Redbox, both to hilarious effect, whether you know them or not. One of the best solid anecdotes thrown out is regarding why Johnson thinks Robbie Coltrane did the movie (it relates to his lust for vintage autos). The other extras are worth watching (again, for once!). From Sketch to Celluloid [12:29] is a comparison of early and later storyboards to finished film. The Behind the Scenes featurette [15:35] is more easy to pay attention to than others that seem to just plant a camcorder on the ground 100 feet from the action. The twenty Deleted Scenes [32:48] with or without commentary by director Rian Johnson are more illuminating on the shaving-down process than other sets of similarly cut material on other discs I've reviewed this year. Why on Earth it is that Summit has decided to forego making Bloom available to purchase in time for the lucrative Holiday Buying Season here in the US absolutely mystifies me. It's rental-only until January, when you'll be able to buy it in stores and order it from online outlets. My pledge earlier today regarding those who illegally download Trick R Treat stands for this title as well, but unfortunately, that big window has resulted in more than a few "general consumers" on Twitter spouting off about how angry it makes them. "I don't want to pay to rent it now and then pay to own it, I just want to buy the damn thing!" they say, and I can't help but agree with them. There is still time for Summit to bump that release up, right? Leave your opinions on this in the comments, and I'll be sure that they're passed on to people at the studio. Do be civil, but don't hold back from being brutally honest.
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