Anacona on Blu-Ray

Main Feature (1H 29M 20S)

Question: Is this one of the worst films ever made?

Answer: Quite possibly. Then again, this is possibly also one of the worst films featuring a giant snake.

I am truly amazed at this film. I am very rarely left open-jawed and at a loss for words, but this is one of those moments. Since I’m finding it a struggle to communicate I will partially dissect this disaster step by step.

Jon Voight, who (let’s be honest) was the best hope for some decent acting, plays a character named Sarone who speaks as though he is constantly chewing marbles, and affects a ridiculous “Tony Montana” accent. Eric Stoltz is another actor I have a lot of respect for but his character, Dr. Steven Cale, quickly goes from being a strong leader to being just as incompetent as everyone else on this little expedition. And where stereotypes are concerned, it’s also possible that Ice Cube plays the blackest black guy outside of a Spike Lee movie. In fact, early in the movie his character, Danny Rich, is shown to be very protective of his radio which reminded me of Radio Raheem from Spike Lee’s classic, Do the Right Thing. I am grasping for positives here and all I can muster is that Jennifer Lopez and Kari Wuhrer are both gorgeous.

The story here is pretty much Aliens if it were set in an Amazonian river and the aliens were replaced by a really big snake. The lead character is an attractive female who manages to stay strong whilst watching a group of incompetent men fail to take care of the terrifying issue at hand. Human greed is once again shown to be the root of all evil, not to mention being blind to some incredibly obvious dangers. In the Amazon jungle no one can hear you scream. The big question is whether or not anyone would hear a sound if a tree happened to fall in that jungle with no one nearby when that event took place. I apologize if that was too random but I am trying to cheer myself up after watching this monstrosity.

Due to the improved visuals of the Blu-Ray format the landscape really comes to life in this release but the major downside of this improved clarity is that you can now witness how awful the special effects are. In one scene a tiny snake bites the finger of one of the characters and the offending reptile looks like one of those very cheap rubber snakes you might find in a joke shop.

Anyone familiar with the famous shot in Jaws in which the camera simultaneously tracks in and zooms out to emphasise the horrified reaction of Roy Scheider may share my startled reaction when I noticed the exact same shot used on the face of Jennifer Lopez. I wish to point out one thing. I am not complaining about seeing the face of Lopez – she is beautiful. I had a lot of time for Scheider but even if he had appeared on every one of the countless makeover shows on American TV he still wouldn’t come out looking anywhere near as pretty as J-Lo. Such an homage leaves me stunned in a manner which could only be outdone by a Wayans brothers movie featuring a classic shot from Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Avoid this film unless you really love garbage cinema.

Extras

Move along. There is nothing to see here.

Summary

Here is a recipe in how to end up with a rating of one star out of a possible five. Take one pathetic film and add no extras at all.

Rating       *

In Cold Blood on Blu-Ray

Main Feature (2H 14M 29S)

This film is based on the Truman Capote novel of the same name. I have not read that novel so for any of you out there who may have read the novel but have yet to see this film, I am unable to provide a comparison. I also believe that the novel was based on real-life events, so this should certainly interest those who enjoy watching true stories.

The editing is fantastic and the film seamlessly cuts from one conversation or action to another. One phone conversation cuts to a very different phone conversation. One man leans over a basin and this cuts to a different man pulling his head back after splashing his face with water. I have rarely witnessed such smart editing and it’s a shame that most contemporary editors and directors appear to have lost – or ignore – the impact an intelligent edit can make.

The wonderful visual editing is accompanied by an unmissable shift in music. The cheerful, pleasant, and homely music of the middle-American happy family is replaced by something more urgent, dark, and sinister when the camera is focused on the main antagonists. The mood shift which is created by jumping back and forth between the two groups lets the audience know that events are building up to something big, and the script does not disappoint.

I noticed a couple of beliefs in this film which seem so out of place in today’s society. The first is that “God-fearing” Americans should somehow be able to avoid any criminal activity. The second is that children raised by single parents have a good chance of growing up to be killers. Another prominent theme is that in order to obtain what rich people have, poor people will do anything at all, up to and including the act of mass murder.

In Cold Blood is a pretty solid example of film noir and I am sure the Coen Brothers took a great deal of inspiration from this. Robert Blake and Scott Wilson are great as the criminal duo and Director Richard Brooks did a fine job, but I believe it is the Editor Peter Zinner who deserves the most praise.

Extras

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! – “Heartache, as no extras were found on Blu-Ray”

Summary

The film starts off wonderfully only to lose itself in the middle. It pulls itself back together in impressive fashion at the end. A great film with a gripping story – but the fact this is without a single extra is the most criminal aspect of this Blu-Ray release.

Rating       ****

Roxanne on Blu-Ray

Main Feature (1H 46M 50S)

This is one of those films from my childhood which I have fond memories of. I must have watched Roxanne a dozen times as a kid and loved it because of all of the slapstick comedy. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of seeing an idiot get hit in the face with a tennis racket. This is from the period in Steve Martin’s career when he was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood and the appearance of his name in a film’s credits would guarantee a huge audience. Nowadays, he appears to be on a mission to destroy what remains of a once glittering career, which is a damn shame. This is by no means Steve’s funniest performance, nor does Daryl Hannah look her finest. Having said that, the combination of the funny and the looking great is not to be missed.

This the classic tale of guy meets girl with a slight twist. The guy named Charlie isn’t very attractive mostly due to his enormous nose but he is highly intelligent and cultured. The guys likes the girl named Roxanne a lot but another guy, Chris who is played by Rick Rossovich, appears on the scene who is more attractive though happens to be an idiot. The attractive idiot Chris asks the intelligent large-nosed Charlie to help him win over Roxanne’s heart so he can have sex with her. The intelligent large-nosed Charlie agrees to help the attractive idiot Chris because it’s an opportunity to let Roxanne know his true feelings even if it’s through another’s mouth. Roxanne likes how Chris looks but also, unbeknown to her, likes the intelligence and passion of Charlie. Hilarity ensues as many misunderstandings punctuate the fun and games along the way. I hope I made that clear enough for you.

This is a nice film. The complications surrounding love and sex are dumbed down enough so that it becomes more easily accessible for the average viewer. One thing which also struck me is the lack of evil characters. Charlie is taunted by two morons at the beginning and once more in a bar later in the film but those characters are too dumb to be true villains. This film offers up an equal measure of happiness and silliness. Daryl Hannah is pretty, Steve Martin is pretty funny, Rick Rossovich is pretty vacant, and overall the film is pretty good.

Extras

You won’t find any of that newfangled nonsense here.

Summary

The main feature is enjoyable but I am growing more and more frustrated with Blu-Ray releases of older films not having any extras at all. Pretty much every film in the Eighties and early Nineties had some sort of documentary made on them for publicity reasons and we ought to at least be treated to that.

Rating       ***

The Quick and the Dead on Blu-Ray

Main Feature (1H 47M 46S)

Since the first time I first saw this film I have felt that it’s under-rated, not to mention misunderstood. The Quick and the Dead is directed by none other than Sam Raimi, famous for his wonderful gore-filled yet tongue-in-cheek Evil Dead trilogy, so it should come as no surprise that this, too, brings together a variety of genres.

This is of course a Western film and the core of the film stays true to the more common themes found in that genre. There is no doubt which of the characters are the goodies and which are the baddies and even the reformed bad guy causes no upset because you know he is a good guy at heart. This clear-cut approach comes from the earlier and more common Western films from the likes of John Ford in which everything is black and white. The writer, Simon Moore, could easily have run with this format but he instead throws in a bit of female revenge which is reminiscent of Abel Ferrara’s equally under-rated Ms. 45. The main character, played by the ever stunning Sharon Stone, is known mostly as “the lady” which I see as a nod towards Sergio Leone’s ‘man with no name’ character, made famous by Clint Eastwood. Then we have the graphic violence, which I happen to enjoy watching, such as the big hole in the head, more in keeping with Sam Peckinpah.

Stone is ballsy and beautiful in equal measures as “the lady” seeking revenge for an event during her childhood which continues to torment her dreams. Crowe is the preacher with a dark past looking for salvation. Hackman is a no-nonsense tyrant who rules over the people of his town with an iron fist. A young DiCaprio is the cocky yet innocent gunslinger who fights for acceptance. If this cast were assembled today it would be major news, as, while Hackman and Stone were hugely successful at that time the careers of both Crowe and DiCaprio have rocketed more in recent years. The entire cast, even the supporting actors, do a brilliant job – the main testament to this is the fact that at no point did this film seem like a contemporary western. It wouldn’t feel out of place alongside the westerns of the late sixties.

Sharon Stone surprised me in this film and managed to pull of her role as one part of a double act with the veteran Gene Hackman. I have read quite a lot about how Stone was the weakest link in this film and I want to emphatically shoot that idea down, pun intended. Stone played her role as the emotional and frightened little girl trapped in a grown woman’s body to perfection. Comments such as “she looked depressed the whole film” and “she looked scared” when used as negatives come from those who don’t understand the character or the Western genre. This is also one of Raimi’s biggest stylistic successes as Director and he shows he has more than enough flare to breathe new life into an aging genre.

Extras

This town ain’t big enough for the both of us. Apparently, this town also ain’t big enough for any extras.

Summary

I hope that one day critics will agree that this is Raimi’s most under-rated masterpiece and that the intriguing cast-list produced some solid performances. However, the lack of extras on this Blu-Ray release chock full of stars is shocking! I have listened to some great commentary from Raimi in the past and I can’t get my head round the fact that not only does this lack the one feature I hoped for but it fails to offer anything at all.

Rating       ***

Starman on Blu-Ray

Main Feature (1H 54M 58S)

I am a huge fan of John Carpenter and Jeff Bridges and while I was pretty sure I had seen this movie many years ago I was also confident I had forgotten almost everything about it. Carpenter fails to hit the highs he achieved with other films; the same can be said of Bridges and Karen Allen. At the end of the day, in spite of these small disappointments, you’re left with something quite pleasant.

Starman appears to adopt many elements from previous movies in the sci-fi genre. At various points in the movie we are treated to short bursts of music which bear more than a little resemblance to the wonderful score from Vangelis in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. Near the beginning of the movie Allen is shown walking around in a top and panties which reminded me of the scene at the end of Alien, another from Scott, in which Sigourney Weaver as Ripley walks around in a similarly revealing outfit. The most glaring example for me is that the story is almost a carbon copy of Steven Spielberg’s E.T. If you replaced Bridges with a rubber alien, Allen with a young boy, and added a cute kid to the mix then you’d pretty much have the script for that much more popular effort from Spielberg. It could of course be said that the script for James Cameron’s Terminator 2, in which a human spends time teaching an outsider (in that case a futuristic robot) basic human slang and customs was influenced by the core theme found in Starman.

This film is a bit of a departure for Carpenter as it lacks the level of cynicism or hopelessness found in some of his better-known work. They Live is effectively Carpenter’s take on Body Snatchers with a touch of satire of the media thrown in for good measure. The Thing, In The Mouth of Madness, and even the comical Dark Star are films which deal with loneliness and the thin line between clarity and insanity. Despite the severity of the chase, with our two protagonists pursued by those who wish to cause the alien harm, any possibility of doom and gloom is warmed by the feeling that everything will turn out okay in the end. Once again think E.T. and you won’t go far wrong in what to expect in this film.

I mentioned at the start of this review that Starman is a pleasant film and that is true. It’s pretty uneventful. It is not that this fails to love up to higher expectations in the action department – because that isn’t what the film is trying to achieve. The problem I have is that everything is so predictable. From the moment the alien takes on the form of Allen’s late husband his character development, each of the secondary characters, their motives and development – everyone just kind of meanders down to the expected ending. There are no twists and turns and the biggest difference between this and carpenter’s other films is that no risks are taken in what amounts to a highly commercial family film.

Extras

None. Zero. Zilch.

Summary

An average film which avoids doing anything bad but unfortunately also avoids doing anything particularly good. The extras are nonexistent and I find that disgraceful on a Blu-Ray considering how much space each disc can hold and the amount of money the consumers are expected to pay for the product.

Rating       **

Main Feature (1H 52M 43S)

Screenwriter Jenny Lumet does a good job in getting down to basics and providing a believable tale of the classic middle-American dysfunctional family. Natural dialogue is much rarer than it should be and that aspect of this script impressed me far more than the story itself in which nothing much actually happens.

Director Jonathan Demme, most famous for Silence of the Lambs, in a departure from his usual techniques made the interesting choice to film this in a fly-on-the-wall documentary style which works wonders for Lumet’s script. It is difficult to sum up Demme’s importance to this film but the cast are so relaxed while performing in such a wild atmosphere and that is testament to his man-management abilities.

Anne Hathaway is outstanding as the lead character Kym and this comes as a surprise to me as I had her pinned as little more than another run-of-the-mill actress. My dismissive attitude was purely based on her previous career choices which haven’t really given her an opportunity to show what she’s capable of. I also couldn’t help but notice is that while I previously found Hathaway very pretty I now see that she shares a special kind of beauty with Winona Ryder. Rosemarie DeWitt also puts in a great performance as the title character Rachel and both she and Hathaway are very believable as bickering sisters. The rest of the cast do a great job, appearing natural on screen, which is especially impressive considering that many are musicians and not trained actors.

There is an eclectic mix of music on offer which helps in creating a very individual wedding on screen. The use of live music while the actors are performing their roles is an interesting approach which could so easily have fallen to pieces but it works really well here. With film history filled with so many dull weddings this one may leave you wishing you could attend yourself.

Extras

Commentary 1 (1H 52M 43S) – Producer Neda Armian, Screenwriter Jenny Lumet, and Editor Tim Squyres talk about the film.

Commentary 2 (1H 52M 43S) – Actress Rosemarie DeWitt talks about the film.

The Wedding Band (7M 47S) – Director Jonathan Demme and musicians talk about an interesting choice to have live music being played on screen while the actors are doing their thing.

A Look Behind The Scenes Of Rachel Getting Married (15M 48S) – The cast and crew talk about the natural process of coming together and forming a solid team who bounced off each other creatively.

Cast and Crew Q&A at Jacob Burns Center, Pleasantville New York (49M 20S) – This is a substantial Q&A session with nine members of cast and crew. It’s a shame that Hathaway and DeWitt couldn’t attend but Demme is very much a driving force on his own.

Deleted Scenes (18M 52S) – This is the usual selection of scenes which weren’t deemed good enough or didn’t fit in with the rest of the film. There is one scene I really like with Kieran talking to Kym after she throws a tantrum during a game of foosball.

Theatrical Trailer (2M 25S) – Does exactly what it says on the tin.

Summary

This is a surprisingly good film and Hathaway, who puts in a great performance and runs away with the show, is someone I really look forward to seeing more of in future. If Hathaway can put together a string of films with this type of edgy role I can see her going places very quickly. The extras are decent and it’s nice to see a couple of commentaries on there. You are sure to enjoy this if you like Girl Interrupted, documentary style films, and cynical observations of the Middle American family unit.

Rating ****

Main Feature (1H 45M 8S)

Twenty five years ago Director Ivan Reitman, with help from writers Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, created one of my childhood favourites, Ghostbusters. I have rarely seen a comedy in which the actors fire off hilarious line after another. The comic timing of Murray, Aykroyd, Ramis, and Moranis in particular is something to behold. It is hard to think of another eighties film packed with so many iconic moments such as the team’s run-in with the librarian, Venkman’s coldness during the psychic test, the “cougar” incident, the arrest and release of the gang, and of course that giant sugary white man-beast. This is one of those films which have an ability to immediately put a smile on my face and I wouldn’t be surprised if I were to watch this again shortly after finishing this review.

I feel as though I have died and gone to childhood heaven with this release combined with the Ghostbusters videogame which I reviewed here – http://www.teamteabag.com/2009/06/19/review-ghostbusters-ps3/. It is certainly a great time to be a fan of Ghostbusters and the long-awaited Ghostbusters III might be just around the corner.

I feel the need to add something and I accept that this is incredibly superficial of me. The thing is, I’m a huge fan of Sigourney Weaver, both for her acting ability and looks, and seeing her once again looking smoking hot in that ridiculously sexy dress was a sight for sore eyes. In my defense, if I failed to notice how great she looks in this I may as well wait for the Ghostbusters to show up because it would be pretty clear I no longer had a pulse.

Extras

Commentary (1H 45M 8S) – Director and Producer Ivan Reitman, Writer and Actor Harold Ramis, and Associate Producer Joe Medjuck. This is one of the best commentaries I have heard to date. You can tell that Ramis and Reitman have spent a lot of time together and that they really enjoyed doing this commentary. On the other hand Medjuck seems out of place, lacks the same level of rapport, and doesn’t have as much to offer.

Slimer Mode (1H 45M 8S) – This picture-in-picture is interesting and shows you the group appear as while they look back on their experience with Ghostbusters. There are too many contributors to mention but outside of Reitman, Ramis, Aykroyd, and Weaver, are the likes of film historian Paul M. Sammon and Animation Supervisor Terry Windell. Beside input from cast and crew there are fun little facts which pop-up with information relating to the film.

Ecto-1: Resurrecting The Classic Car (15M 37S) – This is a great little documentary featuring the work of Cinema Vehicle Services in refurbishing that classic Cadillac from twenty five years ago. The highlight has to be Aykroyd showing up with a grin on his face and once more driving around in that vehicle after all those years.

Making of Ghostbusters – The Video Game (11M 18S) – In this you get to see the cast of the original film as they reprise their roles for the recently released videogame plus a look at the physics behind the game.

Ghostbusters Garage: Ecto-1 Gallery (5M 27S) – Photographs and short video footage of the work the team at Cinema Vehicle Services did to bring this classic car back to life.

Ghostbusters The Videogame – Preview (1M 43S) – Trailer for the videogame.

Scene Cemetery (7M 40S) – A selection of scenes which weren’t included in the film but most aren’t very good.

1984 Featurette (9M 45S) – This is a playful collection of videos featuring the cast and crew interacting behind the scenes.

Cast and Crew Featurette (10M 53S) – As above but a more detailed look at why the cast and crew felt compelled to make this film together and how they went about creating it.

SFX Team Featurette (15M 22S) – The SFX team discuss their experiences on the film and as with the other extras this is light-hearted and fun.

Multi-Angle Featurettes – Three scenes from a slightly different angle with a before and after version of each.

Storyboard Comparisons -Three scenes are shown alongside their original storyboard form.

Blu-Wizard (1H 45M 8S plus up to an additional 48M 22S) – This is a helpful addition for those who’d prefer to watch the main feature with extras together rather than watch them individually. Before using this feature you can choose which extras you wish to pop-up while viewing the film.

Summary

This is one of the best Blu-ray releases I have had the pleasure of viewing and it’s down to the quality of the extras as much as always fantastic feature. All I need now is that proton pack I have had my heart set on since I first saw one in the film and immediately recognised how incredibly cool they are. I am not sure if that “cool” should be replaced by “geeky” but it matters little as I’ll be the one running around, living the dream, and zapping ghosts!

Rating *****

Main Feature (1H 58M 37S)

I have seen this film quite a few times and each time I am left with a different overall opinion. I am always left feeling impressed with Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter but that I prefer the more openly psychotic portrayal from Brian Cox in Manhunter. Jodie Foster, fresh from her Oscar-winning performance in The Accused, puts in a good performance as the gifted FBI cadet Clarice who finds the strength to overcome her fears. I can’t put my finger on why my opinion on this film has differed so much in the past because watching it again, noticing how each performance fits so well into the picture as a whole, it’s clear to me now that everything is so well balanced. Ted Levine’s performance, as Buffalo Bill, is much ignored in favour of Hopkins and Foster due to a lack of on-screen character development but he did a wonderful job with with such few lines and for me is the equal of Hopkins.

Director Jonathan Demme was an odd choice at the time as his less than glittering career was based on comedies but he stepped up to the plate and when presented with the opportunity to prove his talents he grabbed it with both hands. Demme did a great job but it could be argued that his greatest achievement was working with this cast which had its doubters and getting the most out of them as a team.

It’s little surprise now that this swept the Oscars but at the time no-one expected that from a thriller about serial killers but it’s clear the success is down to the cast and crew pulling together and clicking so well. This stands as one of the most critically acclaimed films based on a novel and is certainly one of the best American psychological horror films of all time.

One of the most important aspects of any psychological thriller or horror is the use of music and this film is blessed with the genius of composer Howard Shore. It is easy to forget that Shore worked on films such as Silence of the Lambs before his work on recent successes such as The Departed, Gangs of New York, and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Silence of the Lambs isn’t as violent or gruesome as I remembered but I accept that, being a fan of Takashi Miike, my current threshold on violence might be abnormal. Apart from less than impressive video quality this is still an enjoyable watch and is at least the equal of any psychological thriller in more recent years.

Extras

Deleted Scenes (20M 29S) – Many of these “scenes” aren’t proper scenes at all and consist of only a few seconds here and there. The clips which are longer, a good example is the drawn out Clarice target practice scene, don’t add anything to the story and were understandably removed. The clips are of a really poor quality and there’s a lot of visual and audio distortion.

Out-takes Reel (1M 46S) – The first out-take is quite funny and has the Coroner using up 30 seconds as he struggles to pull on a pair of rubber gloves while trying to maintain a serious expression on his face. There is also a nice moment where Anthony Hopkins does a funny impression of Rocky.

Breaking the Silence (1H 58M 37S) – This is a Standard Definition version of the film interspersed with occasional video of the cast and screenwriter in a picture-in-picture style plus additional facts and figures in text form. This is the closest thing the Blu-ray edition has to a Commentary and I don’t think it works as well due to the gaps between each comment and I’m confused as to why this is SD and not HD. There is one comment I found very interesting and that is when the Screenwriter, Ted Tally, admits that his film version of the “Buffalo Bill” character isn’t as rich as he appears in the book.

Understanding the Madness (19M 35S) – This is a very interesting documentary in which FBI agents describe psychological profiling and how useful such information can be. The agents also go into some detail on real-life serial killers and what aspects of their personality and actions can be found in the Hannibal and Buffalo Bill characters.

Inside the Labyrinth: Making of The Silence of the Lambs (1H 6M 28S) – Is a substantial documentary which is packed full of information and a must-see for fans of the film and anyone interested in the creative side of film-making.

The Silence of the Lambs: Page to Screen (41M 17S) – For one reason or another I’ve not yet read the novel but this documentary makes me want to rush out and purchase it. This gives us an insight into the author Thomas Harris and the level of detail and precision he went into when creating this story.

Scoring the Silence (16M) – Howard Shore talks about his love of film music and the choices he made in order to create the soundtrack for this particular film. Shore comes across as an exceptionally thoughtful composer and his explanations for the choices he made really add to the film as whole.

Original 1991 “Making of” Featurette (8M 7S) – This is a nice extra because it takes you back to an old fashioned style of documentary film-making, complete with trailer style voice-over, found in the Eighties and early Nineties.

TV Spots (5M 55S) – This, similar to the above Featurette, is great because it’s like watching an old VHS tape and reliving all the old trailers complete with some entirely inappropriate Blade Runner and Halloween style music.

Theatrical Trailer (1M 49S) – Once again this is a great addition as it takes you back to a different era in film trailers.

Teaser Trailer (1M 5S) – Like above but shorter, more fast-paced, and minus the voice-over.

Anthony Hopkins Phone Message (34S) – This is a cute little message, from Hopkins as Lecter, which probably won’t be used in reality but is an interesting addition.

Summary

After watching the main feature I wasn’t sure how I felt because while I certainly enjoyed the film the visual quality understandably comes into question when compared with more recent motion pictures filmed in HD.

As this is a review of the Blu-ray edition and not merely of the main feature I reserved my judgement until I had viewed the extra features and I must say that the quality of the documentaries alone are enough to earn this Blu-ray top marks.

Rating *****