Yes Man Blu-ray Disc (Peyton Reed, 2008)

Warner (USA)
2.40:1 1080p
104 minutes
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish, DD 5.1 Portuguese
Subtitles: Optional English, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Extras: Downtime on the Set; Jim Carrey: Extreme Yes Man; Future Sounds: Munchausen by Proxy; five Munchausen by Proxy music videos; Gag Reel; Deleted Scenes; On Set With Danny Wallace; Say Yes to Red Bull!; Party Central With Norman Stokes; BD-Live

Released: 7 April 2009

It’s been a long time since I last saw a “new” Jim Carrey movie, and it’s been a really long time since I last saw a “new” Jim Carrey movie in a movie theatre. I’m not alone judging by box-office figures. Yes Man, released in December 2008, grossed roughly $97 million dollars, which is far off the numbers that Carrey notched during the 1990s (especially when you account for inflation). It’s not that people don’t like silly/stupid comedies (as evidenced by the box-office numbers for Judd-Apatow productions)...maybe people got tired of seeing Jim Carrey.

Yes Man was a very pleasant surprise for me. Although the premise is similar to the one used for Liar Liar, this movie is sweet, charming, and life-affirming without making me shake my head at “false sincerity”. Jim Carrey plays Carl Allen, a bank loan officer who’s depressed after his wife leaves him. An acquaintance encourages him to attending a “Say Yes!” seminar, at which our protagonist is accosted into saying “Yes” to every request made upon him. Carl begins to experience a variety of new things, such as learning to play the guitar, learning to fly airplanes, and learning to speak Korean. Having to say “Yes” all the time may seem arbitrary, but the movie does a great job of showing how important it is to embrace new possibilities. For example, Carl and his new girlfriend take an unplanned trip to Nebraska, where they visit a museum for telephones and a chicken-processing factory as well as attend a college football game that their friends watch on TV.

Jim Carrey usually walks a fine line between hilariously zany and annoying with mixed results, but he’s enjoyable at all times during Yes Man. Zooey Deschanel is talented and pretty, making her character a total charmer. The big surprise is that Carrey and Deschanel both have extended singing bits that are quite good. Rhys Darby is a riot in several scenes involving Carl’s boss, a daffy New Zealander who hosts “Harry Potter” marathons with guests dressed in themed costumes.

I could do without some of the sex jokes, and the Second Act Crisis is obviously forced. Otherwise, watching Yes Man is a fine, agreeable way to spend the evening.

Video:
The 2.40:1 1080p image has that clean, “flat” look that is common with contemporary comedies. Even with the wide framing, the focus is mostly on Jim Carrey and his fellow cast members in the foreground (directors don’t really block for three-dimensional space these days). The picture is clean without appearing excessively smooth or “plastic”.

Audio:
The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English audio track is nothing spectacular, though it is competent and efficient. Most of the directionality effects are placed across the front and involve moving vehicles. Low-frequency effects appear during percussive music cues but are nowhere near the bone-crushing levels of action movies.

Extras:
“Downtime on the Set” shows the filmmakers having a good time making a funy movie. “Jim Carrey: Extreme Yes Man” lauds the star for performing his own dangerous stunts, including bungee jumping. “Future Sounds: Munchausen by Proxy” is a mockumentary showcasing a fictional band. There are five Munchausen by Proxy music videos (basically deleted scenes), and you also get a Gag Reel.

The Blu-ray has several extras not found on any of the SD DVD releases. There are a handful of deleted scenes, the best of which is probably the body-skating sequence that is shown in a small window during the end credits. “On Set With Danny Wallace” follows the author of the source book as he visits the production. “Say Yes to Red Bull!” features Jim Carrey going nuts after drinking some Red Bull, though his behavior is probably exaggerated because Red Bull doesn’t really make anyone that hyper. “Party Central With Norman Stokes” presents additional footage from Norman’s Harry-Potter-themed party.

Finally, those of you with BD-Live connections can access “commercials” for a character’s new business.

--Miscellaneous--
You also get a Digital Copy disc and a cardboard slipcover. Considering that the MSRP of the Blu-ray is only $1 more than the two-disc SD DVD set, I advise getting the Blu-ray.

Yes Man Two-Disc Special Edition (Peyton Reed, 2008)

Region 1 Warner (USA)
2.40:1 16x9 enhanced
104 minutes
Audio: DD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English, French, Spanish
Extras: Downtime on the Set; Jim Carrey: Extreme Yes Man; Future Sounds: Munchausen by Proxy; five Munchausen by Proxy music videos; Gag Reel

Released: 7 April 2009

It’s been a long time since I last saw a “new” Jim Carrey movie, and it’s been a really long time since I last saw a “new” Jim Carrey movie in a movie theatre. I’m not alone judging by box-office figures. Yes Man, released in December 2008, grossed roughly $97 million dollars, which is far off the numbers that Carrey notched during the 1990s (especially when you account for inflation). It’s not that people don’t like silly/stupid comedies (as evidenced by the box-office numbers for Judd-Apatow productions)...maybe people got tired of seeing Jim Carrey.

Yes Man was a very pleasant surprise for me. Although the premise is similar to the one used for Liar Liar, this movie is sweet, charming, and life-affirming without making me shake my head at “false sincerity”. Jim Carrey plays Carl Allen, a bank loan officer who’s depressed after his wife leaves him. An acquaintance encourages him to attending a “Say Yes!” seminar, at which our protagonist is accosted into saying “Yes” to every request made upon him. Carl begins to experience a variety of new things, such as learning to play the guitar, learning to fly airplanes, and learning to speak Korean. Having to say “Yes” all the time may seem arbitrary, but the movie does a great job of showing how important it is to embrace new possibilities. For example, Carl and his new girlfriend take an unplanned trip to Nebraska, where they visit a museum for telephones and a chicken-processing factory as well as attend a college football game that their friends watch on TV.

Jim Carrey usually walks a fine line between hilariously zany and annoying with mixed results, but he’s enjoyable at all times during Yes Man. Zooey Deschanel is talented and pretty, making her character a total charmer. The big surprise is that Carrey and Deschanel both have extended singing bits that are quite good. Rhys Darby is a riot in several scenes involving Carl’s boss, a daffy New Zealander who hosts “Harry Potter” marathons with guests dressed in themed costumes.

I could do without some of the sex jokes, and the Second Act Crisis is obviously forced. Otherwise, watching Yes Man is a fine, agreeable way to spend the evening.

Video:
The 2.40:1 anamorphic widescreen image has that clean, “flat” look that is common with contemporary comedies. Even with the wide framing, the focus is mostly on Jim Carrey and his fellow cast members in the foreground (directors don’t really block for three-dimensional space these days). The picture is clean without appearing excessively smooth or “plastic”.

Audio:
The DD 5.1 English audio track is nothing spectacular, though it is competent and efficient. Most of the directionality effects are placed across the front and involve moving vehicles. Low-frequency effects appear during percussive music cues but are nowhere near the bone-crushing levels of action movies.

Extras:
“Downtime on the Set” shows the filmmakers having a good time making a funy movie. “Jim Carrey: Extreme Yes Man” lauds the star for performing his own dangerous stunts, including bungee jumping. “Future Sounds: Munchausen by Proxy” is a mockumentary showcasing a fictional band. There are five Munchausen by Proxy music videos (basically deleted scenes), and you also get a Gag Reel.

--Miscellaneous--
You also get a Digital Copy disc and a cardboard slipcover. Considering that the MSRP of the Blu-ray is only $1 more than the two-disc SD DVD set, I advise getting the Blu-ray.

Austin Blows

Many people my age like to talk about how much they love Austin, Texas. I have the opposite feeling--this town blows.

I have lived in and traveled to many different places around the world. I have never seen such lousy and idiotic drivers as the ones here in Austin. There's a higher percentage of Austinites who drive with their car lights turned off at night than I've ever encountered anywhere else in the world. There's a higher percentage of Austinites who drift between lanes than I've ever encountered anywhere else in the world. A guy drove his car into my gf's car at an intersection (he had a Stop Sign, she didn't). Just today, someone rear-ended my parents' BRAND NEW Prius while my mom was stationary, waiting to make a left turn into a parking lot while going to work. You know, it wasn't as if my mom made a sudden stop or was in reverse against the flow of traffic; she was at a COMPLETE STOP.

This town's residents love to think of themselves as "green" environmentalists, yet it's quite clear that many of the "greenies" are self-deluding, hypocritical chodes. Of the two times that I've been to the Whole Foods headquarters here in Austin, I've been thoroughly disgusted by the obnoxious self-righteousness of Whole-Foods employees and its customers. They walk around as if they're better than everyone else, but all they're doing is "being green" because it's "cool". In short, they're affecting "being green" as some sort of materialistic fashion/social statement than actually "being green". The best way to "be green" with regards to groceries is to buy from regional sources to reduce the carbon damage from transporting goods, but Whole Foods sells a variety of water, beer, and other nonsense from HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD. Who bloody needs Fiji Water? WATER IS WATER. Who bloody needs European beer? ALCOHOL IS POISON. Let's not forget the SUVs that clog up the underground parking garage. It can take up to an HOUR--yes, 60 MINUTES--to leave the Whole Foods garage. In the meantime, every car just sitting there contributes to global warming without even at least going somewhere.

Oh, yeah...people will always tell you, "The music scene is great." So what? What are you going to do, listen to whiny local bands every night?

Austin blows, and I'm relieved to be leaving.

Careful (Guy Maddin, 1992)

Region 1 Zeitgeist (USA)
NTSC, 1.33:1
100 minutes
Audio: DD 2.0 mono English
Subtitles: Optional English SDH
Extras: audio commentary by Guy Maddin and screenwriter George Toles; Waiting for Twilight; Odilon Redon, or The Eye Like a Strange Balloon Mounts Toward Infinity

Released: 24 March 2009

Note: Guy Maddin’s Careful was originally released in Region 1 on DVD by Kino Video, but Zeitgeist is regaining home-video distribution rights to some of its older titles (such as Irma Vep). The video and audio are probably improvements upon the Kino disc, though fans will want both editions since the two audio commentaries are not the same.

Guy Maddin is a singularly unique filmmaker, and describing his movies as an acquired taste doesn’t begin to cover how much of an adjustment that the average viewer has to make in order to sit through one of them. Take, for instance, Careful, which is Maddin’s homage to the mountain movies that were popular in Weimar and Nazi Germany. The basic story has some quirks and themes that aren’t found in mainstream fare, though the real shock is the movie’s visual aesthetic.

Maddin employs a wide variety of tricks, including but not limited to odd iris framings, jump/rough edits, heavy grain, etc. The color palette has wild variations, from tinting in the style of silent features and de-saturated hues reminiscent of two-strip Technicolor (similar to what Martin Scorsese used for the early parts of The Aviator) to naturalistic complexions. There’s also pervasive print damage, extreme soft focus, and extreme out-of-focus, all of which add up to a haze or fog that blankets the movie from beginning to end. When described in words, the movie’s visual style may seem innocuous, but it actually is a rather high barrier of entry for neophytes.

The story takes place in an Alpine, vaguely Germanic village where the inhabitants have to be very quiet in order to avoid triggering avalanches. This silence extends to surgical procedures to hush animals kept as transportation, pets, and food. The silence is an obvious metaphor for repression; the villagers can’t blow off any steam, so their psychological compositions become rather skewed. The residents are discouraged from energetic physical activity, which is an inversion of the German mountain films’ philosophy.

The primary narrative begins with Johann proposing to Klara. Upon delivering the news to his mother and brother Grigorss, Grigorss snaps breadsticks in his clenched fist in obvious displeasure, but the three eventually dance in celebration with the sons taking turns pairing off with their rather young mother. Meanwhile, a third brother is locked away in the attic, barely staying alive with food sneaked upstairs by Johann. At night, Johann has incestuous dreams about his mother instead of healthy thoughts about Klara. This group is only the first of many instances of sibling rivalry and Oedipal complexes/Electra crises.

Whether or not one can “get” Maddin depends on your willingness to meet the director at least halfway, though the movie’s humor is undeniable. The puppet/shadow shows and the use of matte backgrounds/rear projection is intentionally awkward and silly. The costumes, particularly the uniforms that Johann and Grigorss wear for their butler school classes, are laugh-out-loud ridiculous. While it’s obvious that Maddin has a fondness for silents and early talkies, he doesn’t mind aping the primitive constructs that characterized pre-classical cinema.

Video:
Aside from noting that the movie is presented in the 1.33:1 aspect ratio, there’s nothing more to add to what I already wrote about the movie’s visuals in the main review.

Audio:
This disc has an evenly-balanced DD 2.0 mono English audio track. Though music cues are lively and forceful, they never drown out dialogue when dialogue is meant to be heard. Bear in mind, though, that due to the nature of the story, there are times when you see the actors’ mouths move but are not supposed to hear them since they’re whispering.

Extras:
There’s a new audio commentary by Guy Maddin and screenwriter George Toles. It appears that they contributed an audio commentary to the previous Kino DVD, though presumably due to licensing issues, Zeitgeist asked the pair to record a new talk track. Though they admit upfront that their memories of the production aren’t entirely fresh, they provide plenty of anecdotes and insights to delight fans.

“Waiting for Twilight” is a documentary about Guy Maddin that was shot in 1997 during the production of one of his movies. Maddin mentions that he’s going to stop making movies, but obviously, he hasn’t made good on this promise/threat.

“Odilon Redon, or The Eye Like a Strange Balloon Mounts Toward Infinity” is a short film directed by Guy Maddin that pays tribute to a French painter.

--Miscellaneous--
The transparent keepcase lets you see the movie and DVD production credits printed on the inside of the cover art. The package also includes a postcard and a fold-out booklet with J. Hoberman’s original review from 1992 as well as DVD chapter listings.

A Woman Called Golda (Alan Gibson, 1982)

Region 1 CBS/Paramount (USA)
NTSC, 1.33:1
199 minutes
Audio: DD 2.0 mono English
Subtitles: none
Extras: promotional featurette

Released: 24 March 2009

A Woman Called Golda is a TV mini-series from the early-1980s starring Ingrid Bergman (in her final filmed performance). The production is a sort of “greatest hits” compilation of moments from Golda Meir’s life, from her childhood days in Czarist Russia and her young adult days in the United States to her emigration to Palestine and her stewardship of Israel as Prime Minister. A Woman Called Golda covers important historical events which are intrinsically interesting, but the narration is the usual pedestrian style favored by docudramas made for American TV audiences.

The story begins with Meir’s visit to her elementary school in Milwaukee. After a brief address, she answers questions from the students. This is terribly convenient for viewers who watched the show because of Ingrid Bergman’s star power but knew little about world affairs, but it’s also highly unrealistic. The students ask questions far beyond their imagination or comprehension; if this really happened in real life, then adults probably drafted the questions for the kids. You know what to expect of the rest of the picture. A question leads to an answer that is then illustrated by flashbacks. Eventually, the Q&A sessions give way to “contemporary” events, as Meir returns to Israel to discuss peace with Anwar Sadat of Egypt.

Part 1 is rather slow, even with the usually excellent Judy Davis playing a young Golda Meir opposite Leonard Nimoy as Meir’s husband. Part 2 takes viewers through a rapid series of noteworthy milestones, such as the creation of separate Jewish and Arab sections in Palestine and the various wars fought in the area between 1948 and 1980. Despite the U.S. government’s decades-long policy of supporting Israel in almost unconditional terms, A Woman Called Golda does attempt to show how numerous Israeli leaders, including Meir, had deep reservations about the international community’s division of land cherished by Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike as well as the exodus of Palestinians from their ancestral homes, which in some ways is analogous to Jews being expelled from other countries.

Note: The back of the DVD cover art states, “This film may be edited from its original network version. Music has been changed for this home entertainment version.” This seems to be a common occurrence with pre-1990s TV programming, with music licensing contracts not anticipating possible future home-video incarnations.

Video:
The 1.33:1 video image looks faded, tired, and worn. Print damage and dust are abundant. Many objects look like they have ghosts, a problem that usually plagues multi-strip Technicolor movies with color strips that have warped and become mis-aligned. Resolution is rather low, with only close-ups of actors’ faces yielding any appreciable sense of detail.

Audio:
Like the Video, the Audio is in a sorry state. The actors’ voices are usually thin and brittle, and you have to crank up the volume to be able to hear them. However, music cues (both diegetic and non-diegetic) are very loud, as are gunfire and explosions during the war-filled second half of Golda Meir’s life. You’ll have to fiddle with the volume controls on a constant basis. Things are not helped by the fact that many of the actors speak with heavy accents, rendering their English line-deliveries very difficult to comprehend.

You’re going to have to rough it without subtitles as the disc only has optional English closed captions, which are accessible only if you’re sending a 480i signal to your TV. If you’re using an HDMI connection like me, then you’re going to have to hunt for spare cables to go the old-fashioned analog way in order to get the closed captions.

Extras:
The only extra is a promotional featurette.

The Odd Couple: Centennial Collection (Gene Saks, 1968)

Region 1 Paramount (USA)
NTSC, 2.35:1 16x9 enhanced
105 minutes
Audio: DD 5.1 English, DD 2.0 mono French, DD 2.0 mono Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English, French, Spanish
Extras: audio commentary by Charlie Matthau and Chris Lemmon; In the Beginning...; Matthau & Lemmon; Memories from the Set; Inside The Odd Couple; The Odd Couple: A Classic; theatrical trailer; stills galleries

Released: 24 March 2009

Paramount Pictures is re-releasing some of its beloved catalog titles in new Centennial Collection editions to celebrate the studio’s 100th birthday. The Odd Couple carries the Number 7 on its spine.

The Odd Couple is widely-known as a comedy, so I sat down for my first viewing expecting uproarious laughs. After all, I had seen Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in other comedies, and they were hilarious. However, I found myself wincing a lot, not because the jokes fell flat but because I didn’t notice any jokes at all. I didn’t even feel that there was a lot of irony or black humor. To me, the movie is serious stuff.

Felix Ungar (Lemmon), an obsessive-compulsive, has suicidal thoughts when his wife wants a divorce. Although Felix clearly loves his wife, he’s also correcting and picking up after her. Oscar Madison (Matthau) is Felix’s best friend but also a complete slob. Oscar invites Felix to stay with him, but the polar opposites clash repeatedly.

Although I’m rather fastidious myself and wouldn’t be able to stand staying in Oscar’s apartment for more than ten minutes, it was clear that Felix has severe psychological problems. Oscar is only trying to help Felix, but he’s driven out of his wits. During the climactic argument between the two, I actually thought that Oscar might hurt Felix.

The Odd Couple reminded me of an article in The New York Times about how people aren’t usually laughing because they’re happy; rather, people usually laugh because they’re nervous or uncomfortable. The couple of times that I chuckled during the movie were due to nervousness and discomfort. The laugh-out-loud and broad comedic elements (such as Felix loudly clearing his sinuses) were irritating and out-of-place.

Some moments that were clearly designed to be comedic highlights simply played like straight drama to me. For example, one might imagine the sequence with Felix and Oscar on a double date with two British women would solicit hearty laughter, but the hesitation and desperation felt genuine; emotionally-impacted people frequently are hesitant and desperate in awkward social situations. What I’ll always remember about this movie is the pain and frustration of people who mean well but can’t find a compromise.

Video:
The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen image is a pleasant surprise. Although there is a thin layer of dust during some scenes, the transfer boasts rich, vibrant (albeit naturalistic) hues and a high level of detail for a standard-definition transfer. Expect to see some grain typical of productions from the 1960s, which is actually rather beautiful and textured.

Audio:
The DD 5.1 English audio track is yet another glorified mono mix. Most of the sonic activity emanates from the front center speaker, though what one gets is of decent quality. None of the audio elements sound thin, hollow, or brittle, which is important considering how dialogue-heavy the production is.

Extras:
--Disc 1--
The only extra on Disc 1 is an audio commentary by Charlie Matthau and Chris Lemmon, the sons of the movie’s leads. The fathers were lifelong friends, so the sons have many anecdotes to share about the actors’ numerous collaborations.

--Disc 2--
“In the Beginning...”, “Matthau & Lemmon”, “Memories from the Set”, “Inside The Odd Couple”, and “The Odd Couple: A Classic” are featurettes that cover a broad range of topics from the story’s origins as a theatrical play inspired by a real-life pairing of mis-matched personalities to the filmmakers’ and fans’ appreciation of the movie version.

You also get a theatrical trailer and several stills galleries.

--Miscellaneous--
The discs are kept in a slim double keepcase. You also get a booklet and a cardboard slipcover.

To Catch a Thief: Centennial Collection (Alfred Hitchcock, 1955)

Region 1 Paramount (USA)
NTSC, 1.78:1 16x9 enhanced
106 minutes
Audio: DD 2.0 surround English, DD 2.0 mono English, DD 2.0 mono French, DD 2.0 mono Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English, French, Spanish
Extras: audio commentary by Dr. Drew Casper; A Night With the Hitchcocks; Unacceptable Under the Code: Film Censorship in America; Writing and Casting To Catch a Thief; The Making of To Catch a Thief; Behind the Gates: Cary Grant and Grace Kelly; Alfred Hitchcock and To Catch a Thief: An Appreciation; Edith Head: The Paramount Years; If You Love To Catch a Thief; theatrical trailer; stills galleries

Released: 24 March 2009

Paramount Pictures is re-releasing some of its beloved catalog titles in new Centennial Collection editions to celebrate the studio’s 100th birthday. To Catch a Thief carries the Number 6 on its spine.

If a viewer’s first brush with Alfred Hitchcock is To Catch a Thief, then he/she may be left wondering about all the fuss concerning the “master of suspense”. To Catch a Thief offers slick entertainment, but ultimately, it yields little that satisfies.

In the movie (based on a novel by David Dodge), a rash of jewel thefts in and around Cannes in southern France leads the police to think that John Robie (Cary Grant), aka “The Cat”, has taken to his roof-climbing ways again. However, Robie hasn’t stolen anything in 15 years, so he allies himself with an insurance agent in order to catch the real thief. Robie also decides to use the American heiress Frances Stevens (Grace Kelly) as bait. Robie and Stevens fall in love, but even she thinks that he’s the burglar.

The film´s title refers to both Robie’s quest to catch the real thief as well as to Stevens’s seduction of Robie. However, despite the parallel plots unfolding simultaneously, you might be surprised to find that there’s little that happens in To Catch a Thief that could sustain a feature-length narrative. Robie never seems to be actually trying to catch the new “cat”, nor is there any sense of urgency in the pacing. The last act, which takes place at an elaborate costume ball, takes much too long to unfold. The denouement is both obvious and arbitrary.

To Catch a Thief also suffers from never maintaining a consistent point-of-view. Sometimes, we see the story from Robie’s perspective. As the film progresses, the audience is shoe-horned into Stevens’s understanding of events. Just when we have become accustomed to seeing things from one limited angle, the movie lifts us to the position of third person omniscient observers. Since the kind of information that the viewer receives from the movie is inconsistent, I got the sense that Hitchcock was cheating in order to keep the audience guessing about the outcome.

The best way to enjoy To Catch a Thief may be to focus on little touches such as shots of a black cat skittering across tiled rooftops, Grace Kelly’s gorgeous costumes (designed by the legendary Edith Head), and the French-ness of the production. (There are numerous passages with characters speaking only French.) There are the usual Hitchcock-ian touches, from a cameo by the director to the “an innocent man being wronged” theme, from height fetishes to food fetishes, from stunning ice queens to stunning settings.

Video:
This is Paramount’s third try with To Catch a Thief on DVD. The first DVD looked very muddy, and the second DVD had excessively-saturated colors. This time around, the 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen image finally looks “right”. Colors are far more muted than what you got with the second DVD, though the palette is naturalistic and not faded as with other pre-1990s’ movies. Detail and sharpness are fairly high for a standard-definition transfer (undoubtedly aided by VistaVision’s inherent “resolution” compared to regular 35mm photography).

Audio:
The DD 2.0 surround English track is basically a boosted version of the original mono mix. The audio exhibits little hiss, and the actors’ voices aren’t thin or hollow. The music sounds pleasing enough, though I would guess that Hitchcock presciently avoided music that would tax the audio technologies of his day. Expect a front-heavy aural experience.

Extras:
--Disc 1--
Disc 1 offers an audio commentary by Dr. Drew Casper, a film historian who specializes in Hitchcock studies. Dr. Casper prepared for his turn at bat with meticulous notes and presents the information as a casual lecture, which makes sense considering that he teaches in a university. (This commentary replaces the one by Peter Bogdanovich and Laurent Bouzereau for the previous “Special Collector’s Edition”.)

--Disc 2--
“A Night With the Hitchcocks” is a condensed recording of a recent appearance by Hitchcock’s daughter and granddaughter at a university lecture, where they answered students’ questions about their famous forebear.

“Unacceptable Under the Code: Film Censorship in America” details the back-and-forth that filmmakers had with censorship boards as well as Hitchcock’s way of dealing with the situation. Basically, he wrote outrageous, completely unacceptable scenes that he never intended to shoot anyway. By the time that the script had been whittled down to something acceptable by the censors, Hitchcock had already pushed the boundaries beyond what his contemporaries dared to show.

“Behind the Gates: Cary Grant and Grace Kelly” is a brief celebration of two icons.

“Writing and Casting To Catch a Thief”, “The Making of To Catch a Thief”, and “Alfred Hitchcock and To Catch a Thief: An Appreciation” are self-explanatory, though I appreciated the candor expressed by the interviewees.

“Edith Head: The Paramount Years” devotes a couple of minutes to one of the most successful costume designers in Hollywood history. Edith Head won 8 Oscars for creating beautiful gowns that draped the shoulders of Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, and other actresses. (This featurette has appeared on several Paramount DVDs.)

“If You Love To Catch a Thief” is an interactive guide to some of the movie’s locations.

Finally, you get a theatrical trailer and several stills galleries.

--Miscellaneous--
The discs are kept in a slim double keepcase. You also get a booklet and a cardboard slipcover.

My Plans for Fall 2009

Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter Blu-ray Disc (Daniel Delpurgatorio and Mike Smith, 2009)

Warner (USA)
2.40:1 1080p
26 minutes
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 English
Subtitles: Optional English SDH
Extras: Under the Hood; Story Within a Story; Watchmen Motion Comic, Chapter 1; First Look at Animated Green Lantern; BD-Live

Released: 24 March 2009

Warner’s promotion of Zack Snyder’s live-action adaptation of Watchmen continues with the Blu-ray and DVD release of Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter. Tales of the Black Freighter is the comic-book-within-Watchmen, and the tale-within-a-tale is revealed in snippets as a young kid reads various installments over a period of time. Tales of the Black Freighter is now presented as its own animated short that hews closely to what’s seen on the page. There is minimal expansion upon the existing text, though the violence is now vivid and rather upsetting when compared to the stillness of a printed picture.

Perhaps because of its brevity, I found myself surprisingly receptive to this telling of Tales of the Black Freighter. The dependable and charismatic Gerard Butler (he played the Spartan king in Zack Snyder’s 300) has a good voice for animation, and he’s practically the only voice that you hear for most of this piece. The animation styling is striking, probably because much of the work was done by Korean animators. Tales of the Black Freighter tackles many grand themes, such as missing the big picture and causing harm while meaning well, with a straightforward nimbleness that eludes the full text of Watchmen.

This title is basically a naked grab for fans’ pocketbooks. You can get the complete Watchmen Motion Comic as its own Blu-ray or DVD release. The rest of the material here could’ve been included as special features on the Watchmen Motion Comic Blu-ray/DVD or the Blu-ray/DVD of the live-action adaptation.

Video:
No complaints here. The 2.40:1 1080p image boasts some of the richest dark hues that I’ve seen of any source so far. The blacks and reds are deep and ominous as befits the material. Sharpest and detail are excellent. Whereas the Watchmen Motion Comic Blu-ray and DVD looked similar, Tales of the Black Freighter clearly looks better on Blu-ray than on DVD.

Audio:
Though loud and busy, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English track is not particularly impressive. It sounds like a mix typical of today’s action movies. Low-frequency response is deep and resonant when appropriate, and stay on the alert for various groans and creaks associated with maritime disasters. The rears are also fairly robust.

Extras:Under the Hood is a 38-minute faux-“TV special” set in the alternate reality of Watchmen. The material is based on the “autobiography” by the first Nite Owl, and there are interviews with some of the principal and secondary characters from the main narrative. Although Under the Hood is presented in 1080p video, it was intentionally degraded to make it look like an old tape recording.

“Story Within a Story” is a featurette about how the original graphic novel was released with news clippings, book excerpts, and other materials taken from the Watchmen diegesis. People involved with the new live-action adaptation talk about how Tales of the Black Freighter and Under the Hood replicate that experience for people watching the movie instead of reading the source graphic novel.

You also get Watchmen Motion Comic, Chapter 1 and a “First Look at Animated Green Lantern”, which will hit DVD and Blu-ray later this year.

Those of you with BD-Live access can view additional featurettes and video clips.

--Miscellaneous--
The package includes a Digital Copy disc, an insert advertising other Watchmen-related products, and a cardboard slipcover.

Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter (Daniel Delpurgatorio and Mike Smith, 2009)

Region 1 Warner (USA)
NTSC, 2.40:1 16x9 enhanced
26 minutes
Audio: DD 5.1 English
Subtitles: Optional English SDH
Extras: Under the Hood; Story Within a Story; Watchmen Motion Comic, Chapter 1; First Look at Animated Green Lantern; previews for other products

Released: 24 March 2009

Warner’s promotion of Zack Snyder’s live-action adaptation of Watchmen continues with the Blu-ray and DVD release of Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter. Tales of the Black Freighter is the comic-book-within-Watchmen, and the tale-within-a-tale is revealed in snippets as a young kid reads various installments over a period of time. Tales of the Black Freighter is now presented as its own animated short that hews closely to what’s seen on the page. There is minimal expansion upon the existing text, though the violence is now vivid and rather upsetting when compared to the stillness of a printed picture.

Perhaps because of its brevity, I found myself surprisingly receptive to this telling of Tales of the Black Freighter. The dependable and charismatic Gerard Butler (he played the Spartan king in Zack Snyder’s 300) has a good voice for animation, and he’s practically the only voice that you hear for most of this piece. The animation styling is striking, probably because much of the work was done by Korean animators. Tales of the Black Freighter tackles many grand themes, such as missing the big picture and causing harm while meaning well, with a straightforward nimbleness that eludes the full text of Watchmen.

This title is basically a naked grab for fans’ pocketbooks. You can get the complete Watchmen Motion Comic as its own Blu-ray or DVD release. The rest of the material here could’ve been included as special features on the Watchmen Motion Comic Blu-ray/DVD or the Blu-ray/DVD of the live-action adaptation.

Video:
Whereas the Watchmen Motion Comic Blu-ray and DVD looked similar, Tales of the Black Freighter clearly looks better on Blu-ray than on DVD. The colors are still beautifully deep, but sharpness and detail are clearly lacking in some scenes. Jaggies are also visible, especially when there is a lot of rapid motion.

Audio:
Though loud and busy, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English track is not particularly impressive. It sounds like a mix typical of today’s action movies. Low-frequency response is deep and resonant when appropriate, and stay on the alert for various groans and creaks associated with maritime disasters. The rears are also fairly robust.

Extras:
Upon loading, the disc plays several previews for other movies and products.

Under the Hood is a 38-minute faux-“TV special” set in the alternate reality of Watchmen. The material is based on the “autobiography” by the first Nite Owl, and there are interviews with some of the principal and secondary characters from the main narrative. Under the Hood was intentionally degraded to make it look like an old tape recording.

“Story Within a Story” is a featurette about how the original graphic novel was released with news clippings, book excerpts, and other materials taken from the Watchmen diegesis. People involved with the new live-action adaptation talk about how Tales of the Black Freighter and Under the Hood replicate that experience for people watching the movie instead of reading the source graphic novel.

You also get Watchmen Motion Comic, Chapter 1 and a “First Look at Animated Green Lantern”, which will hit DVD and Blu-ray later this year.

--Miscellaneous--
The package includes a Digital Copy code, an insert advertising other Watchmen-related products, and a booklet advertising Warner Blu-rays.

Primal Fear Blu-ray Disc (Gregory Hoblit, 1996)

Paramount (USA)
1.78:1 1080p
130 minutes
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Extras: audio commentary; Primal Fear: The Final Verdict; Primal Fear: Star Witness; The Psychology of Guilt; theatrical trailer

Released: 10 March 2009

Watching all the corruption on display in Primal Fear (which is set in Chicago), I couldn’t help but think of three things:

1) Corruption is practically inextricable from the Chicago political scene.
2) Everyone is knee-deep in corruption, and Rod Blagojevich was tossed out of office mostly because he didn’t have any friends left (and not necessarily because he was dirtier than other politicians).
3) How clean or tainted is Barack Obama?

The movie paints Chicago as a city that is so corrupt that characters who appear to be villains and thugs are actually the ones fighting the good fight against businessmen who want to squeeze poor minorities.

Primal Fear is also effective at showing how the American legal system is filled with frustrating (and even idiotic) quirks. For example, sometimes the defense can’t introduce certain kinds of evidence, and sometimes the prosecution can’t introduce certain kinds of evidence. Therefore, you have to sneak your evidence into a trial via backdoors. You can also introduce evidence or arguments against the rules, thereby earning a Contempt citation from the judge and with the judge instructing the jury to disregard what you just said; however, the jurors have already heard what was said, so are they really going to disregard what you said?

This backdrop is much more interesting to me than the front-and-center narrative, which finds Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Edward Norton, and Alfre Woodard overacting and smarming to the point where I just wanted to shut off my TV. Gere’s huffing-and-puffing (literally) during a climactic confrontation is particularly astounding. Yes, Gere plays a smug, self-satisfied lawyer, but all of the main characters are portrayed with such brittleness and annoying tics that one hopes to see a “Less Is More” banner displayed on every director’s baseball cap.

Video:
While some scenes look very good, most of the 1.78:1 1080p image looks its age. There are some moments with noticeable print damage, and colors tend to look faded and yellow-ish. Sharpness is high for most of the running time.

Audio:
There are some loud moments, though the front-biased Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English mix tends to favor dialogue and light music cues. Directionality effects are robust when needed (such as during a foot chase that ends under bridge with passing train),

Extras:
First up is an audio commentary with participation by the director, writer Ann Biderman, producer Gary Lucchesi, Executive Producer Hawk Koch, and casting director Deborah Aquila.

“Primal Fear: The Final Verdict” is a brief overview of the production.

“Primal Fear: Star Witness” looks back at the casting of Edward Norton in the role that made his career. This featurette includes clips from his audition tape.

“The Psychology of Guilt” examines the use of psychology in legal proceedings.

Finally, you get the theatrical trailer.

Primal Fear Hard Evidence Edition (Gregory Hoblit, 1996)

Region 1 Paramount (USA)
NTSC, 1.78:1 16x9 enhanced
130 minutes
Audio: DD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English, French, Spanish
Extras: audio commentary; Primal Fear: The Final Verdict; Primal Fear: Star Witness; The Psychology of Guilt; theatrical trailer

Released: 10 March 2009

Watching all the corruption on display in Primal Fear (which is set in Chicago), I couldn’t help but think of three things:

1) Corruption is practically inextricable from the Chicago political scene.
2) Everyone is knee-deep in corruption, and Rod Blagojevich was tossed out of office mostly because he didn’t have any friends left (and not necessarily because he was dirtier than other politicians).
3) How clean or tainted is Barack Obama?

The movie paints Chicago as a city that is so corrupt that characters who appear to be villains and thugs are actually the ones fighting the good fight against businessmen who want to squeeze poor minorities.

Primal Fear is also effective at showing how the American legal system is filled with frustrating (and even idiotic) quirks. For example, sometimes the defense can’t introduce certain kinds of evidence, and sometimes the prosecution can’t introduce certain kinds of evidence. Therefore, you have to sneak your evidence into a trial via backdoors. You can also introduce evidence or arguments against the rules, thereby earning a Contempt citation from the judge and with the judge instructing the jury to disregard what you just said; however, the jurors have already heard what was said, so are they really going to disregard what you said?

This backdrop is much more interesting to me than the front-and-center narrative, which finds Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Edward Norton, and Alfre Woodard overacting and smarming to the point where I just wanted to shut off my TV. Gere’s huffing-and-puffing (literally) during a climactic confrontation is particularly astounding. Yes, Gere plays a smug, self-satisfied lawyer, but all of the main characters are portrayed with such brittleness and annoying tics that one hopes to see a “Less Is More” banner displayed on every director’s baseball cap.

Video:
While some scenes look very good, most of the 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen image looks its age. There are some moments with noticeable print damage, and colors tend to look faded and yellow-ish. Sharpness is high for most of the running time.

Audio:
There are some loud moments, though the front-biased DD 5.1 English mix tends to favor dialogue and light music cues. Directionality effects are robust when needed (such as during a foot chase that ends under bridge with passing train),

Extras:
First up is an audio commentary with participation by the director, writer Ann Biderman, producer Gary Lucchesi, Executive Producer Hawk Koch, and casting director Deborah Aquila.

“Primal Fear: The Final Verdict” is a brief overview of the production.

“Primal Fear: Star Witness” looks back at the casting of Edward Norton in the role that made his career. This featurette includes clips from his audition tape.

“The Psychology of Guilt” examines the use of psychology in legal proceedings.

Finally, you get the theatrical trailer.

--Miscellaneous--
Instead of the usual DVD shrinkwrap, you get a plastic bag that resembles the bags used to collect, store, and display evidence in a criminal proceeding.

A Mighty Heart Blu-ray Disc (Michael Winterbottom, 2007)

Paramount (USA)
2.35:1 1080p
108 minutes
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Extras: Journey of Passion: The Making of A Mighty Heart; Public Service Announcement; Committee to Protect Journalists; theatrical trailer

Released: 24 March 2009

Paramount, like Universal and Warner, is playing catch-up as some titles that were released on the now-defunct HD DVD format are slowly appearing on Blu-ray. A Mighty Heart was originally released on DVD and HD DVD back in October 2007.

In this day and age of Hollywood freelancing, I find it touching that some performers routinely appear in movies funded by specific studios. Angelina Jolie is one such actor. Despite her wild-child/independent-streak image, she has regularly made movies with Paramount: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider--The Cradle of Life, Beyond Borders, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, A Mighty Heart, Beowulf. The Paramount-Angelina Jolie connection is rather odd because despite her celebrity, Jolie isn’t capable of opening movies the way that Julia Roberts and Jodie Foster can. Beyond Borders (a movie about landmines) probably was greenlighted to keep Jolie interested in additional Tomb Raider installments, but that series is dead at the moment.

A Mighty Heart is yet another message movie from a clearly socially-conscious activist. (Paramount’s box-office experience with Oliver Stone’s World Trade Center should’ve warned studio execs away from another post-9/11 on financial grounds, but with Jolie’s boyfriend Brad Pitt producing, I guess studio head Brad Grey just wanted to make his former production-company partner happy.) Unfortunately, Jolie doesn’t seem to understand that her approach to social activism is too in-your-face to be effective. It’s not that she’s confrontational...it’s just that her efforts impart a “holier-than-thou” attitude. The same problem plagues A Mighty Heart. When Jolie (as Marianne Pearl, the wife of beheaded Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl) and others grandstand about journalists’ rights and duties to the world, the movie stops dead in its tracks.

Nevertheless, you should give A Mighty Heart a try. Despite the heavy news coverage of Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping and murder, most people don’t know much about the Pearls’ background. Plus, these events take place in the few months right after 9/11 in Pakistan, so viewers can get a sense of how chaotic and important Pakistan is in strategic terms. At its best, the movie exhibits skillful moments that recall United 93’s docudrama examination of today’s unsettled world.

Video:
The 2.35:1 1080p image is the usual clean, progressive image from a major studio. However, the picture quality varies wildly due to the use of mixed media (including 35mm film, hd video cameras, and analog NTSC video cameras) and jittery camerawork. Undoubtedly, there is a British tradition of documentary immediacy (director Michael Winterbottom has the same career roots as Paul Greengrass), but this movie’s jittery camerawork isn’t systematized as with, say, The Bourne Supremacy. The Blu-ray video is much sharper and detailed than the standard DVD’s, though due to the use of mixed media, some shots appear practically identical to what you get with the SD DVD.

Audio:
The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English track is dialogue-heavy given the subject matter, though the movie features the expected generically “tense” music (a lot of thumping beats to accompany the jittery camerawork). The rear surrounds show some activity when police and soldiers raid terrorists’ hideouts, but mostly, what you get are clear, well-reproduced voices from the front of the room.

Extras:
The Blu-ray is a bit light on extras, though the bonus materials keep the movie’s focus on journalists’ rights. Unlike most of Paramount’s high-def releases, the extras are presented in standard definition.

“Journey of Passion: The Making of A Mighty Heart” is a standard-issue promotional featurette with talking-heads interviews and film clips.

“Public Service Announcement” is a commercial for the Daniel Pearl Foundation, a charity that contributes to journalists and musicians’ development.

“Committee to Protect Journalists” is a featurette about an organization’s goal of providing aid to journalists who are threatened or imprisoned.

You also get the movie’s theatrical trailer.

Finally, you can bookmark your favorite moments.

The Kite Runner Blu-ray Disc (Marc Forster, 2007)

Paramount (USA)
2.35:1 1080p
127 minutes
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Extras: audio commentary with Marc Forster, Khaled Hosseini, and David Benioff; Words From The Kite Runner; Images From The Kite Runner; trailer

Released: 24 March 2009

Paramount, like Universal and Warner, is playing catch-up as some titles that were released on the now-defunct HD DVD format are slowly appearing on Blu-ray. The Kite Runner was originally released on DVD in March 2008.

The Kite Runner is based on the acclaimed novel by Khaled Hosseini. I have not read the book, but based on my good friend John Puccio’s plot synopsis, I feel confident in opining that the movie probably improves the narrative flow by jettisoning much of Hosseini’s protracted final act. Alas, the movie still has a preposterous ending, with a retiring novelist and a young boy springing into action and successfully running away from heavily-armed Taliban soldiers.

The movie begins with two boys, Amir and Hassan, enjoying carefree times in Kabul, Afghanistan during the 1970s. The Soviets had not yet invaded their country, and Islamic fundamentalists had not yet terrorized their own people. However, neighborhood bullies rape Hassan, and Amir silently witnesses the act without telling anyone about it. Ashamed and disgusted with himself, Amir tries various ploys to force Hassan from his life.

On the surface, Amir seems like any other unreasonable jerk, but the movie does a great job of showing how guilt can turn into mis-directed anger. The Kite Runner is a moving, even powerful, character study for two thirds of its running time. However, its conclusion is so contrived that it basically lost all credibility with me.

Amir goes back to Afghanistan in order to rescue Hassan’s son. It turns out that Hassan was his half-brother. This half-assed “rescue” involves little more than the clean-shaven Amir pasting a fake beard on his face and walking up to dangerous Taliban officials in order to demand meetings. Amir and his nephew manage to escape from a Taliban compound deep inside Afghanistan without a whole contingent of Taliban fighters chasing them to the border with Pakistan.

I usually eschew plot summaries because one can discern the plot for oneself without another person’s regurgitation. However, The Kite Runner’s final third is poorly-conceived and undermines the rest of the movie’s effectiveness.

Video:
In general, this disc offers a pleasing 2.35:1 1080p video transfer. The image is sometimes a bit soft, though this is probably attributable to the lack of computing power for visual effects during the kite duels. Colors are naturalistic and strong, even when they are meant to be worn and faded. This is in contrast to old movies that have not been preserved well, where even colors that are meant to bloom look tired and muddy.

Audio:
This isn’t an action extravaganza, but the primary Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track is frequently a lively affair due to a jaunty music score and creative mixing during the kite duels. Stereo separation is very wide across the front, and the surrounds offer plenty of discrete wind whooshes. The subwoofer kicks in a few times during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and when the Taliban shoot their AK-47s.

Extras:
Before the movie begins, you get a “Public Service Announcement With Khaled Hosseini”, who provides information about NGOs helping to rebuild Afghanistan.

Next up is an audio commentary with director Marc Forster, novelist Khaled Hosseini, and screenwriter David Benioff. Mainly, the three fellas compliment each other or talk about narrative in general terms.

“Words From The Kite Runner” is a brief featurette about how the principal filmmakers developed the book into a movie. “Images From The Kite Runner” shows behind-the-scenes footage of the production as well as various post-production activities (such as creating the music score).

Finally, you get the theatrical trailer.

Things We Lost in the Fire Blu-ray Disc (Susanne Bier, 2007)

Paramount (USA)
2.40:1 1080p
118 minutes
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 French, DD 5.1 Spanish
Subtitles: Optional English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Extras: A Discussion About Things We Lost in the Fire; deleted scenes; trailer

Released: 24 March 2009

Paramount, like Universal and Warner, is playing catch-up as some titles that were released on the now-defunct HD DVD format are slowly appearing on Blu-ray. Things We Lost in the Fire was originally released on DVD and HD DVD back in March 2008.

Things We Lost in the Fire is one of those “Let’s Invite a European Director to America and then Handcuff Him/Her With a Bland Script About Generic Socio-familial Problems” productions. American Beauty was one such movie, and it won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Cinematography. I guess Sam Mendes, the British director of American Beauty, thought that he could make lightening strike twice. Mendes produced Things We Lost in the Fire, and he invited the Danish Susanne Bier to take the helm.

Things We Lost in the Fire was clearly designed as awards bait, and I guess we should be grateful that most critics and guilds ignored it. In the movie, Audrey (Halle Berry) disapproves of her husband Brian’s (David Duchovny) friendship with drug-addict Jerry (Benicio Del Toro). However, after Brian dies in an accident, Audrey invites Jerry to live with her and her children. Jerry gets along well with the kids, which upsets Audrey. Therefore, she throws him out of the house, which causes him to relapse into abusing drugs again.

As you can see, the movie’s set-ups are forced and illogical. Why would Audrey invite Jerry to live with her if he was a source of tension in her marriage? Why would she be upset about Jerry getting along with her kids? Would she prefer that he terrorized them?

Near the end of the movie, there’s a scene set around a dinner table with characters talking about Brian’s likes/dis-likes. Rather than a bittersweet remembrance of a beloved man, the dialogue feels like an interrogation. That scene is emblematic of the contradictory tonal problems that plague the whole movie.

Video:
The movie has a generally dark look aside from a few outdoors scenes (which are still dark when compared to “sunnier” movies). Also, colors in general are muted. The combination heightens the graininess of this 2.40:1 1080p video transfer. The visual moodiness complements the gritty subject matter. Aside from the intentional grain, the picture is fairly sharp and detailed.

Audio:
A dialogue-driven production, Things We Lost in the Fire doesn’t offer a memorable Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English track. What we get is efficient and functional, though the material yields limited dynamic range and an intimate sound field. Nothing feels constricted, but the audio is suitably low-key.

Extras:
In lieu of an audio commentary, the DVD offers “A Discussion About Things We Lost in the Fire”, which mixes bland talking-heads interviews with film clips.

You also get a couple of deleted scenes as well as the theatrical trailer.

Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic Blu-ray Disc (Jake S. Hughes, 2008)

Warner (USA)
1.78:1 1080p
325 minutes
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, DD 5.1 English
Subtitles: Optional English SDH
Extras: Watchmen Production Diaries #4; Sneak Peek at Animated Wonder Woman; BD Live

Released: 3 March 2009

Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic is my first--and unfortunately not the last--lengthy exposure to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s celebrated graphic novel. The overall gist of the project is an alternate-reality 1985, with Nixon still in office as a popular president and with costumed superheroes driven underground by law. The world is on the brink of nuclear war, and even the most-powerful of the superheroes, a blue-hued god-like being, doesn’t care enough about humanity to find a peaceful solution to the world’s problems.

Some of the characters’ backstories are very intriguing. There’s an entire chapter (twelve total) devoted to Dr. Manhattan’s change into the aforementioned blue-hued god-like being; a lab accident decomposes Dr. Manhattan into sub-atomic particles, and he becomes capable of manipulating other atoms. The story’s focus on Dr. Manhattan’s perception of time is philosophically astute and intriguing. Equally worthy of attention is Rorschach’s backstory, one that follows an abused and misunderstood young boy to his assumption of a masked identity, one whose sense of justice is so rigidly absolute that the lack of flexibility becomes his undoing.

The downside of it all is that the rest of the story is filled with whiny self-pitying. It gets very tiresome hearing at least eight other major characters lamenting the same gripes over and over again. The finale is ludicrously overblown and simplistic, with everyone capitulating to yet another former superhero who’s neither cleverer nor stronger than the others.

After hearing about how great Watchmen is for years, I was very, very disappointed.

This version of Watchmen basically breathes life into the graphic novel’s artwork. Objects that were once static in comic panels now have some movement, though facial expressions tend to be limited. Dialogue and internal narration blurbs still populate the frame. I would imagine that the novel’s truest fans will prefer this adaptation over the live-action one that’ll appear in theatres in the U.S. on 6 March 2009.

Video:
The 1.78:1 1080p image looks very strong. Although most of the action unfolds at night, objects are clearly delineated, and nothing disappears into a haze of murkiness. Dr. Manhattan always appears to be comprised of video noise, which is meant to impart his electrostaticity.

Audio:
The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English doesn’t sound dissimilar from the accompanying DD 5.1 English (which is basically what’s also on the simultaneously-released DVD). The mix is driven by a single person’s voice acting, though there are subdued music cues and sound effects that add to the noir-ish atmosphere. Towards the end of the movie, there are a couple of big explosions, but even the explosions sound subdued given the low-key nature of the production. Stereo separation is limited mainly to the front, with the rear surrounds disappearing for long stretches.

Extras:
“Watchmen Production Diaries #4” has Dave Gibbons, the man who drew the graphics for Watchmen, talking enthusiastically about the live-action version. I suppose this clip is meant to impart a sense of legitimacy to the enterprise since Alan Moore refuses to be associated with just about all movie adaptations of his works.

The “Sneak Peek at Animated Wonder Woman” is basically a long-ish commercial for another Warner product.

You can also watch a clip from the live-action adaptation by accessing Warner’s BD-Live portal.

--Miscellaneous--
The package includes additional goodies. You can save a Digital Copy from a DVD-ROM. You get a voucher for a movie ticket (up to $7.50) to see the new Watchmen live-action adaptation. There’s an insert that advertises the graphic novel and a videogame. You also get a cardboard slipcover.

Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic (Jake S. Hughes, 2008)

Region 1 Warner (USA)
NTSC, 1.78:1 16x9 enhanced
325 minutes
Audio: DD 5.1 English
Subtitles: Optional English SDH
Extras: Sneak Peek at Animated Wonder Woman; previews for other programs

Released: 3 March 2009

Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic is my first--and unfortunately not the last--lengthy exposure to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s celebrated graphic novel. The overall gist of the project is an alternate-reality 1985, with Nixon still in office as a popular president and with costumed superheroes driven underground by law. The world is on the brink of nuclear war, and even the most-powerful of the superheroes, a blue-hued god-like being, doesn’t care enough about humanity to find a peaceful solution to the world’s problems.

Some of the characters’ backstories are very intriguing. There’s an entire chapter (twelve total) devoted to Dr. Manhattan’s change into the aforementioned blue-hued god-like being; a lab accident decomposes Dr. Manhattan into sub-atomic particles, and he becomes capable of manipulating other atoms. The story’s focus on Dr. Manhattan’s perception of time is philosophically astute and intriguing. Equally worthy of attention is Rorschach’s backstory, one that follows an abused and misunderstood young boy to his assumption of a masked identity, one whose sense of justice is so rigidly absolute that the lack of flexibility becomes his undoing.

The downside of it all is that the rest of the story is filled with whiny self-pitying. It gets very tiresome hearing at least eight other major characters lamenting the same gripes over and over again. The finale is ludicrously overblown and simplistic, with everyone capitulating to yet another former superhero who’s neither cleverer nor stronger than the others.

After hearing about how great Watchmen is for years, I was very, very disappointed.

This version of Watchmen basically breathes life into the graphic novel’s artwork. Objects that were once static in comic panels now have some movement, though facial expressions tend to be limited. Dialogue and internal narration blurbs still populate the frame. I would imagine that the novel’s truest fans will prefer this adaptation over the live-action one that’ll appear in theatres in the U.S. on 6 March 2009.

Video:
The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen image looks very strong. Although most of the action unfolds at night, objects are clearly delineated, and nothing disappears into a haze of murkiness. Dr. Manhattan always appears to be comprised of video noise, which is meant to impart his electrostaticity. In this instance, the DVD looks almost as good as the Blu-ray.

Audio:
The DD 5.1 English mix is driven by a single person’s voice acting, though there are subdued music cues and sound effects that add to the noir-ish atmosphere. Towards the end of the movie, there are a couple of big explosions, but even the explosions sound subdued given the low-key nature of the production. Stereo separation is limited mainly to the front, with the rear surrounds disappearing for long stretches.

Extras:
There are two discs, and each disc plays previews for other programs upon loading.

On Disc 2, the “Sneak Peek at Animated Wonder Woman” is basically a long-ish commercial for another Warner product.

--Miscellaneous--
You get a voucher for a movie ticket (up to $7.50) to see the new Watchmen live-action adaptation. There’s an insert that advertises the graphic novel and a videogame. There’s also a booklet that promotes Warner’s Blu-rays.

Chris & Don: A Love Story (Guido Santi & Tina Mascara, 2007)

Region 1 Zeitgeist (USA)
NTSC, 1.78:1 16x9 enhanced
90 minutes
Audio: DD 5.1 English, DD 2.0 surround English
Subtitles: Optional English SDH
Extras: deleted interviews; home movies; theatrical trailer

Released: 24 February 2009

Chris & Don: A Love Story introduces viewers to a couple who are beloved in certain circles but are not necessarily household names. Christopher Isherwood wrote Berlin Stories, parts of which were used to create Cabaret. Isherwood met Don Bachardy on a California beach, and they became inseparable even though Bachardy was 16-years-old at the time and Isherwood was 30 years older than Bachardy.

Chris & Don is narrated by Michael York, who was one of the leads in the movie version of Cabaret. The documentary traces both men’s lives from their births to their adult professions, from their friendships in Hollywood to Bachardy’s current life after Isherwood’s death in 1986. Isherwood wrote literature but also wrote screenplays. Bachardy eventually became an artist noted for his career as a painter. Although he paints a variety of subjects, he tends to specialize in portraits.

The movie has a lighthearted wistfulness. Clearly, Bachardy misses Isherwood, though you get the sense that they were well aware of reality given their age difference. As such, Bachardy is still vigorous and working. At one point, he reveals that he and Isherwood referred to each other by animal alter egos. Bachardy is a cat, and Isherwood is a horse. When they wrote notes to each other, they would draw pictures of cats and horses. Sometimes, Bachardy sleeps in Isherwood’s working room, and he faces the windows so that he can fall asleep while looking at the moon and the stars. The movie ends with a poignant animation of a horse on the moon shining a light on a cat, who is comforted by the light and falls asleep.

Video:
You get a crisp, clear, and bright 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen image that is limited in resolution only by the cameras that were used for the production. Understandably, vintage home movies are faded and scratched, though the movie also features a number of well-preserved still photographs.

Audio:
The DD 5.1 English audio track is largely driven by the center channel since much of the movie is comprised of interviews, dialogue, and narration. There are some music cues that are spread across the front soundstage, but the rear channels are mostly silent.

Extras:
There are several deleted interviews with Don Bachardy, Leslie Caron, Gloria Stuart, and John Boorman. These include a clip of Don Bachardy denouncing the lack of gay-marriage rights. The movie was released in 2007 before the Proposition 8 vote in 2008 (which reversed California’s granting of gay-marriage licenses). One wonders if the directors would’ve included the clip in the final cut had the movie been released after the Proposition 8 vote.

There are also a handful of home movies shot by Christopher Isherwood, Don Bachardy, and their associates. You get to see footage of the two on various movie sets.

Finally, you get a theatrical trailer.

--Miscellaneous--
A booklet provides reproductions of several Don Bachardy paintings. The transparent keepcase allows you to read film and DVD production credits printed on the reverse side of the cover art insert.