Enchanted: DVD Review Disney’s latest edition to their lineup is an, er, um, enchanting tale that puts an amusing twist on their classic storytelling abilities. Anyone who has enjoyed the original Disney movies over the last century would be amused by this latest piece of cinema. Enchanted is a greatly entertaining movie, and I thought is was cool trying to see how many of the classic stories that the folks over at Disney incorporated in one way or another into this fine film.

Now, I’ll be honest, I’m not all that big on Disney myself, I’m more of an anything-but-singing movie kind of guy, but I was actually pretty entertained throughout this movie, which make me happy being that I just became a father last week (to a daughter, I foresee many more viewings of princess movies in my future.) Another great thing about this film is that when the nieces and nephews stopped over they were pretty much glued to the couch while watching. I think they got tricked by seeing the animated sequences in the beginning and by the time they came into the live action parts the kids (ages 2, 3, 5 and 6, boys and girls) were totally hooked.

The extras are pretty standard, bloopers, deleted scenes, etc, but most of the younger audiences aren’t really interested in cranking through two hours of production diaries learning about how they made it (and I’m sure there will be an extended version sometime.) All in all, a quality picture, and if you have young kids, something you may not mind watching 300 times.

***

  ¶ 9:30 PM 0 Comments

  Sunshine: Blu-Ray Review Sunshine is the latest film to be released for writer/director Danny Boyle. This is a film that I simply loved in the theatre. I thought it was an instant classic, a must see for any sci-fi fan out there. Now that it is out on Blu-Ray I must say that this is the only way to see it if you missed it in theatres. The film itself has such fine points of detail that you will completely miss them if you view it on a regular tv watching on DVD. The crystal clarity of HD is the only way to experience it, and if possible, try to have a sweet audio set up to. Oh, and an awesome chair.

I really can’t say enough about the quality of this movie, but take that with the fact that I have been forced to love sci-fi all my life, and so often you get simple junk that is all CG and no story, or crap geek stuff that even I can’t enjoy. Then there are the Battlestar Galactica’s out there that just hit a homerun with me. Fortunately this title is so chock full of extras that it is totally ownership worthy.

The special feature starts with your usual commentaries and deleted scenes but also move onto production diaries, which seem to go on for a while. Trust me, if you want to know everything about Sunshine then you will be able to learn my friend. Also, there is an “Enhanced Viewing Mode” where as you watch the movie at certain points the filmmakers will come up on your Picture in Picture and talk about the set, or scene, or preparing for the role. Then my favorite part, Danny Boyle put a couple of short films from a couple people who worked on the film in the bonus features. This to me was really awesome and as a film lover I really like it when I see the makers of a movie going the extra mile to give me extras.

Also, I need to note that this was my first experience with a dirty disc. When I first popped it in the video behind the menu wouldn’t play and I got about ¾ through the movie before the player just locked up. I whip out the disc and check out the underneath and for whatever reason it is just covered in spots and what looked like a gash right through the middle. I pulled my shirt up and ran it over the disc a couple times and viola, shining like it was brand new. I couldn’t believe it, a DVD would have to had something done, it was like the dirt just fell off the disc itself. Blu-Ray is totally great.

****  ¶ 1:07 AM 0 Comments

  GRΣΣK - Chapter One: DVD Review

ABC Family is a station that I can honestly say I never watch. It really isn’t that I don’t like the shows, it is just a channel that I pass on my way to the stuff I do want to watch. So, I really didn’t know at all what to expect from the first season of their new original series GRΣΣK.

The show starts off with a geeky looking kid at his first day of college bumbling around to the new and exciting world of adult life. He decides after meeting his roommate (who is another geek, but a racist devout Baptist from the south) and going to his first college party (that turns out to be all geeks who don’t know how to party) that he wants to join a frat on campus. The series follows him and other characters through this year at college.

The first thing I didn’t get was who the studio is making this show for. It is rated TV-14, but there is no way I would ever approve of a fourteen year old watching this show. Within the first episode there are people drinking, wild parties, guys getting drunk and having sex with random girls, guys getting drunk and having sex with each other, girls defending their decisions to have sex with guys without even knowing them, and many other random college stereotypical situations. Personally, I do not think at all that watching this show gives teens a good idea of what college is like or that young teens should be watching people party and have sex.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not so conservative that thinking these themes should be banned or anything, just that they are too mature for a younger audience. The problem is, the social drama that is going on the show is just not mature enough for the people who the racier scenes would be appropriate for. It is sort of like a Sex and the City: The College Years feel to it, but with more useless drama. All of which I don’t think apply to a name like ABC Family. The channel name itself tends to make you think that the whole family would enjoy the content, but they are apparently moving in other directions. Hey, it worked for MTV. At least, they think it did..

*1/2  ¶ 12:30 AM 0 Comments

  No Country For Old Men: DVD Review Originally we snuck into this film before watching it win at the Oscars and I was glad that we did. I whole heartedly agree that this was the Bes t Picture of 2007 and that it was flawless in its execution as a film. Each of the characters are astoundingly wonderful to watch. The cinematography is excellent and the Coen Brothers put another notch in their belt of great films. It isn’t easy to peg down this film with a genre, and it is a period piece but not from so long ago that it looks alien. All told, this film is a great experience and a must have for anyone who is a lover of great cinema.

The DVD itself isn’t all that spectacular aside from the film itself. The special features are somewhat lacking. The ‘making of’ featurette is roughly 25 minutes and very insightful to anyone who wants to know more about what was put into piecing this film together. The ‘working with the Coen’s’ feature is around 9 minutes and doesn’t go more in depth than the making of part, as well as the 7 minute ‘diary of a country sheriff.’ The authors of the DVD could have probably clumped all three of these together because they aren’t all that different, and it feels like they maybe broke them up to give the feel that there are more extras on the DVD than there really are. Incredibly there are no commentary tracks which I found most disappointing, I was dying to hear what were going through the directors heads when I was watching in the theater and am still left wondering..

I would say that this film is defiantly worthy of anyone’s collection, just be sure to watch it after the kids are asleep because there is some extreme violence going on in this film, but all part of an exquisite landscape that is No Country. This wondrously thought provoking movie is absolutely worth more than one viewing, especially after watching the featurettes on the making of the film itself.

****1/2

  ¶ 10:40 PM 1 Comments

  Dan in Real Life: DVD Review Have you ever had someone tell you only half a joke? This is what it’s like watching Dan in Real Life. It’s a comedy that isn’t funny, a drama that has no drama. It seems that it would be outrageously funny with the killer cast that was involved, but it just goes to show that with a mediocre script you get exactly that, mediocrity. It’s like they were saying to each other in a script meeting, “We’ll get Steve Carell and he will just show up and make it hilarious!” Yeah, that didn’t work.

In a featurette about the making of this film director Peter Hedges says that this film is a “human comedy.” I really didn’t understand what he meant by that, was he trying to make a comedy for humans? Cause you missed it bro. He may have been trying to point out that his comedy was for ‘real people’ but I have never known a family that does crossword puzzle races, or morning workouts on the front lawn, or overly elaborate talent show, maybe that only happens in Rhode Island. Actually, I think that this family was the most unrealistic family I have ever seen. I really never knew who half of the cast was supposed to be and it seemed like random people kept popping into the picture constantly.

The whole film ended up being such a mess. There didn’t seem to be an original thought in the entire piece, everything was super safe and from the first hint of an actual story you can tell exactly how everything ends. Now, Carrell is great on The Office, Dane Cook has a hilarious stand up act, but when you put them together behind the Peter Hedges comedic force it all falls into such a safe and comfortable area that funny and dramatic are so far the only way you can see them is to close your eyes and nap until the credits.

1/2

  ¶ 10:35 PM 0 Comments

  The War is Over! Unless you've been living in a cave, under a rock, or have been held at Gitmo for the past few years, you know the battle for the High Def DVD format is over. Sony's Blu-Ray beat out Toshiba's HD-DVD. The HD-DVD system may have been cheaper and more user friendly but Blu-Ray can hold a lot more data so they can put a lot more features on the disk.

I don't want to start a new war here, I just want to ask you a question.

Did you wait till the smoke settled or take the plunge early?
Did you screw up?
Did you get sucked in by Toshiba's last minute price cutting and now feel like the guy that bought the Beta-Max system.

Leave a comment and let us know.  ¶ 7:03 AM 1 Comments