Anonymous opens in the cheesiest way: an actor, in modern day New York City goes on stage for an actual show, which is also the storyline of the film. After a painstakingly dreadful monologue attempting to depict legendary writer William Shakespeare. Suddenly, the audience is taken into the olden days, and our story begins. In Elizabethan England, Anonymous focuses on a man (Rhys Ifans), who is the true writer of Shakespeare’s plays. Is Anonymous a terrible movie? Read on to find out…

Glad that you’ve stuck with us this far. To answer my question: yes, Anonymous IS a terrible movie. This (2+ hour film) has not one enjoyable quality, not one. I’ll start with my biggest issue: the acting. Sure, this may be how they acted in Elizabethan time, but did it have to be presented with such dull scenery? Aside from the superb costume design (which recently earned Lisy Christl an Academy Award Nomination for Best Achievement in Costume Design), Anna Foerster’s cinematography doesn’t seem out of the ordinary from the usual Shakespearean drama. As a matter of fact, it seems that a number of scenes resemble Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Not a good sign!

This film was directed by special effects wizard Roland Emmerich, who previously directed big blockbuster hits 2012 and The Day After Tomorrow. Yep, you read that right! Emmerich should have stayed with the blockbuster game, because a Shakespearean drama simply doesn’t work for him. He clearly does not have a good sense on the actors abilities, nor does he take advantage of a semi-interesting premise. Emmerich additionally manages to keep a dull pace throughout, with no stopping, no excitement, and no whirlwind special effects. Not even the fighting sequences are well executed. Yawn. The acting here is way over the top. Rhys Ifans leads here, with an all-star cast of no names including Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Xavier Samuel and Derek Jacobi.

There is one redeeming factor after all: the soundtrack from Harald Kloser is near-perfect in setting the tone for an old-timey fashion. Still, that can’t make this film better than a one-time-watch on TNT. Overconfident, over the top, and overrated; Anonymous is just plain terrible. Normally in my reviews, I have a load to say, but this left me without words.

Earl Of Oxford: In my world one does not write plays. People like you do.

Anonymous looks incredible in it’s 1080p (2.35:1) presentation. Colors go all over the place here, and look beautiful throughout. Actors’ faces have natural, bright, and radiant colors that remain natural throughout, as well as the contrast between the lighting and the actor’s makeup. No bits of grain or static seems to be visible throughout, and my only beef was that some of the nighttime sequences do not bode so well for viewers with rooms that are not well-lit. Otherwise, Anonymous has an astounding Blu-ray presentation.

The Blu-ray presentation for Anonymous continues to be impressive with a superb audio presentation. Anonymous is presented in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. Needless to say, I was blown away. I recently purchased a Sony Bravia and got my speakers worked on, which helps to improve my Blu-ray viewing experience. Anonymous has a bright quality, particularly in its ability to destroy any and all ambience sound that happens during every film, but is able to be kept under the covers here. A smooth soundtrack blends perfectly with the time-set. Although I cannot give it a perfect score based on a few errors I picked up upon (minor, at best), Anonymous has a great audio presentation.

I guess it depends on whether you care about the film or not enough to enjoy these lackluster supplements. The amount given does not make up for laziness! Hey, at least they are all presented in glorious 1080p HD!

-  Commentary with Director Roland Emmerich and Writer John Orloff
- Deleted Scenes
- Who Is The Real William Shakespeare?
- Extended & Alternate Scenes
- Speak The Speech…
- More Than Special Effects
- Film Trailers
- BD Live Compatibility

Now I’m all for a good historical drama, but Anonymous just doesn’t spark my interests. Maybe it’s because I’m not a huge Shakespeare enthusiast. This movie is for history-buffs only, but the Blu-ray presentation warrants at least a single viewing.

A lot of people may ask, “how did Annie Hall take the Best Picture Oscar away from Star Wars?” The majority of those people probably never saw Annie Hall and don’t realize what an innovative and creative film this was. Just because Annie Hall didn’t spawn whiny-talking Woody Allen action figures, sequels, prequels, and cartoons, it doesn’t mean that this film is not as important or influential as Star Wars. Both are masterpieces of different genres so it’s fair to say that science fiction films and romantic dramedy films equally evolved after the year 1978.

For those people who have never seen Annie Hall, you may be wondering why you should see this 35-year old film about the New York City adventures of a neurotic stereotypical Jewish comedian Alvy (Woody Allen) and waspy Annie (Diane Keaton)? Besides the perfectly natural combination of comedy and drama centered around their hot-and-cold relationship and topics such as therapy, dating, love, phony intellectuals, and drug use, Annie Hall is an original and creative piece of filmmaking. The movie not only jumps around all over the place to different time periods of Alvy’s life but also has characters time-traveling in a non-confusing “A Christmas Carol” way – such as Alvy and friends observing his past, his family, his ex-girlfriends, etc. Allen successfully uses many camera techniques such as thought subtitles, splitscreens, breaking the fourth wall, and animated sequences. For a dialogue-driven film, don’t be fooled that characters are just standing around talking their heads away. Allen always has some sort of action going on – movement is a huge part of this film. There are times where characters just talk with each other on a balcony or in a room for a good amount of time, but Allen keeps the scenes propelling along with creative use of camerawork, dialogue, or sight gags. By the time you are done watching the film, it’s hard to figure out how much time has passed because the movie’s creativity and flow is jarring…in a good way. There are so many films plagued by filler or wasted scenes, causing the urge to look at the time. But Woody Allen’s Annie Hall is just another one of those naturally fast-flowing films that have the same characteristics of a Martin Scorsese or Steven Spielberg film – masterful storytelling, creative direction and first-rate acting which make the audience forget about time. There aren’t too many filmmakers that can make film after film in which you can get so easily pulled in and forget about reality, forget that you are sitting in a theater, or forget that you are sitting on your couch. Annie Hall is an example of one of these films.

Besides Annie Hall’s original filmmaking style, we can’t forget about the acting by Diane Keaton. I’m not a fan of Keaton, but this is her masterpiece. I wonder how people felt in the 1970s when they saw her in this film after watching her serious, straight-forward acting style in the first two Godfathers. If it was me, I would be thinking, “she was good in Godfather 1 & 2, but I didn’t realize she could be this talented!” I don’t know if her dialogue was prepared or improvised, but whatever she did, her character is unforgettable. Keaton’s performance was not only amazing, but her wardrobe actually caused fashion to change in the 1970s. Diane Keaton dressed the way she wanted to on the set of Annie Hall, even with costume designers bugging her to change her clothing. I wonder what those costume designers think now, because even today, women are still influenced by Annie Hall’s menswear fashion look. When I think of Diane Keaton, I think of two versions of her – the young stylish Annie Hall look and then the middle-aged turtleneck look. I definitely prefer the Annie Hall look, but I’m still impressed how an underdog actress like Keaton has shaped the fashion world for the past thirty-five years, especially when we see all these award shows and pop magazines with actresses and other pop culture celebrities that are trying to make some type of influential fashion statement.

We can all finally watch this movie normally on an HDTV! When I was younger, I had no problem watching this movie when it played on my ol’ 17-inch square Zenith TV. But once I ditched VHS and became a fan of DVD and then Blu-ray, I’ve been waiting about nine years for a decent home video release of Annie Hall. For some strange reason, Annie Hall was stuck in non-anamorphic, letterboxed DVD limbo. I thought I could beat this by purchasing a multi-region DVD player, but nope, I still lost. After researching the Annie Hall DVD imports from France, UK, and Spain, I discovered too that they were non-anamorphic letterboxed. So I gave up (I should have kept researching because there is now an anamorphic DVD version available in Australia, but I have no idea if that existed when I was looking for it). Finally, I was thrilled to hear that MGM was releasing a Blu-ray version this year. This Blu-ray does not disappoint! After waiting forever, the 1080p 1.85:1 video is a revelation. The video has a good amount of that 1970s grain, thankfully DNR-free, is clean, and has tons of depth. There are times of softness and smudgy colors during dark scenes, but this is a 1970s New York City film – it looks good and totally fits the feel of the film. And once again, this Blu-ray is obviously a huge upgrade from the non-anamorphic, letterboxed DVD. I have a feeling that this Blu-ray presentation is as close as possible to how it was shown in the theaters thirty-five years ago. You may not have the urge to see a 42-year old Woody Allen in high definition, but there are plenty of other reasons – see how beautiful Diane Keaton, Sigourney Weaver, Carol Kane, Shelly Duvall and the streets of New York City and Los Angeles looked in the 1970s.

Just because this movie doesn’t have explosions nor an active soundtrack, that doesn’t mean the audio can’t be reference quality! The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono is almost reference quality for a dialogue-driven film. The movie is full of bizarre characters with a variety of interesting voices – everyone’s dialogue came out clear and crisp. Voices, sound effects, and the few songs in this movie do not come out sounding flat or dull. Set your volume for any level you like, and you will be happy. Sounds slightly come alive during Diane Keaton’s awful-driving scene, which felt as intense as watching some car-racing scene from the Fast and the Furious. You may not hear subwoofer bass and surround sounds, but you will certainly feel the intensity of this “action” scene. For a mono soundtrack, this Annie Hall Blu-ray sounds great! Other audio choices include DD Mono English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, German, and Catalan. English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian, Catalan, Dutch, and Polish subtitles are also included.

Don’t be upset with the lack of extras because Woody Allen never puts them on his home videos. With those expectations in mind, there is no reason to be unhappy that the only extra on this Blu-ray is the movie trailer.

- movie trailer

I have always been entertained by Woody Allen movies and I would watch them if they played on tv but I’m not really one of his biggest fans. I never had the urge to own them on video except for Midnight In Paris and Annie Hall, which are my two favorite Woody Allen films. If there’s one thing I learned (aka “was brainwashed to believe”) from watching his films during my teenage years: If Woody Allen can hook up with attractive, beautiful women by poking fun at his own insecurities and problems, then a funny-looking guy like myself can do the same. I don’t know if I should thank Woody Allen for indirectly helping me hook up with my hot wife, but he may have taught me to laugh at my own problems rather than be embarrassed by them.

I’m happy to report that this top-notch Blu-ray allows us to finally enjoy this rewatchable masterpiece on our home theaters. If you own the letterboxed DVD, you can absolutely chuck that into the garbage!

Does The Double get too convoluted, crushing under its own weight, or does it rise above the rest of the 24 wanna-be’s?

Growing up in the 80′s, I was surrounded with Cold War television.  My father, a WWII vet as tough as anyone you’d ever meet, warned me that “The world never works the way you think it does.”  Perhaps his days on the front lines provided ample examples of the secret war which raged between the various spy networks of the time.  Hollywood only sporadically capitalized on this, until the 1980′s, when several programs made their debuts, chief among them Airwolf and the always amazing The Equalizer.  Both blurred the line between the protagonists and those whom they hunted, so often that everyone and everything became gray.  These ‘Trust No One’ adventures were like Cold War westerns, featuring tough guys with mysterious pasts who many times let their guns speak for them.  While they set the stage for every spy series afterwards, Hollywood was slow to follow-up, instead producing Bond films with cheesy dialogue and plot lines so thick you needed to detonate pastiques just to get to the real plot.   In our post-9/11 world, Hollywood has wised up somewhat by giving fans of the cloak and dagger set almost too many choices: every Spy Game and 24 is met with disappointments like Enemy of the State and Die Another Day.  So, when a film like The Double makes its Blu-Ray debut, one might skip it, due to the overload which pervades the genre.

My concern wasn’t with Gere, who posts a solid effort, rather the casting of Grace which left me disappointed.  Grace seems more like a comedy guy, not really comfortable or capable with the role of government agent; when he makes the discovery that Cassius and  Shepherdson (a name which really should have re-considered, as it doesn’t exactly slip off the tounge) are one in the same, his reaction is more appropriate for someone who just lost his surfboard.  Such casting decisions can kill a film, and Grace’s performance does drag down the story.  Supporting efforts by Martin Sheen (The West Wing) and Stephen Moyer (True Blood) were excellent and prop up the film at the right times. Some might suggest that The Double’s poor outing was due to a story with too many twists, throwing off the few people who actually saw the film.  However, I think its failure lies entirely to a lack of adequate marketing and casting.  Had these aspects been addressed, this film would have fared far better.

 

As a guy, I like action films. It helps if they have some semblance of a plot, but let’s face it, the real reason to enjoy action films are all the explosions, gunplay, gratuitous use of F-bombs, and the sexy women who will probably either dress real sexy or lose their clothes at some random point. Hardly Oscar-worthy material, but hey, we just enjoy it for the entertainment value.

Killer Elite, the directorial debut of Gary McKendry and featuring a cast that includes Jason Statham, Robert De Niro, Clive Owen, Dominic Purcell and Yvonne Strahovski, is an action film that does have a plot, while still having all the good stuff guys enjoy in an action film. Based on the novel The Feather Men by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, another plus in the movie’s favor is that the actual movie is not you’d expect from what was shown in the trailers.

Statham stars as Danny Bryce, a mercenary who got out of the game after a job went bad in 1980. His retirement doesn’t last long, however, as he’s forced back into the game a year later to finish a job that his former partner, Hunter (De Niro) failed to accomplish. Danny must kill the three SAS agents responsible for killing the eldest sons of the disposed ruler of Oman, but must also make them look like accidents and do it all before said monarch dies. If he doesn’t, Hunter will be killed. But while Danny – along with the rest of his old team, Davies (Purcell) and Meier (Aden Young) – race to get the job done and rescue Hunter, they are being pursued by Spike Logan (Owen), the top agent of the Feathermen. The Feathermen are a secret society of former SAS agents who are dedicated to protecting their own, so naturally they don’t care too much for what Danny and his pals are planning.

This is one of those movies that’s hard to describe too much on the plot without giving too much away, especially since there’s an interesting twist towards the end. Trust me, you’ll have to see it to believe it, as it isn’t what you’d expect. That can be said about the whole movie, since as I mentioned, it’s much different than how it was presented in the trailers. Yeah, the kidnap angle is there, but as you can guess, the reasons behind aren’t what you’d expect, and what makes the movie all that much better. And you can’t beat the cast, either. Statham and Owen know how to play bad-asses, and De Niro is good in just about anything he does. Put them all together and it makes for some great interaction, dialogue and even some chuckle-inducing moments (De Niro’s “watch” line speaks for itself).

An interesting aspect is that the movie is set during the early ‘80s, probably when the original Feather Men novel (released in 1991 and supposedly based on true events) took place. This seems to work in the movie’s favor, rather than simply just updating the events for modern times like some movies might have, as that was a time when things seemed a little more clear-cut. Not only that, but the ‘80s were practically the heyday of action films, as some of the best ones came out during those years and made stars out of the likes of Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Van Dammne and many more. And despite the setting, don’t expect this to be a total send-up to ‘80s action films, as things are still a bit more realistic in terms of the characters, meaning there aren’t really straight-out good guys or bad guys, rather just guys either doing their jobs or doing what they think is right. Contrary to how movies portrayed the world in the ‘80s, that is how the world works, even back then, and it is nice to see some sense of realism in an action film, keeping it from getting cheesy and cliche.

Killer Elite comes packing more than a punch with it’s 1080p transfer. While at times it can give the gritty feel it’s done so in a way that’s proper for the film and most likely director intended. Blacks are black enough that you won’t notice hardly any film grain except in a couple instances between Clive and Jason. Overall you just won’t find much to complain about on this release. Another great action flick on blu-ray.

The audio on this blu-ray is definitely top notch. Bullets flying by everywhere can definitely have that affect! While the rears can engulf you during fire-fights, it’s the fronts and center channel that carry the bulk of this load. Dialogue is crisp and well received. You won’t find too much to gripe about if listening in a 5.1+ set up.

Don’t blink or you might miss it! 13 deleted scenes …

Depending on how you like your action movies, Killer Elite might not be for everyone. Still, there seems to be something for everyone, and plenty more to keep things different. So whether you want something different or just a fan of any of the cast, give this one a look. You’ll definitely find something you’ll enjoy. The video and audio quality are top notch blu-ray, while the supplements leave a alot to be desired though. Overall if you’re an action movie lover I think there is something you will find to like in this movie with these all stars.

Purchase Killer Elite Blu-ray Here

Can we even consider a film that stars Kimbo Slice as a quality film? I asked myself this question upon learning about The Scorpion King 3. As you can tell, my expectations going into the film were very low, and what I was expecting was exactly what I got. The Scorpion King 3 was very difficult to watch (can I have the last hour and forty six minutes of my life back please?) between the atrocious acting, the overtly scripted action sequences and the tacky special effects. A film like this should be direct and have a straight forward plot, rather, it had a convoluted plot, making it even more to difficult to watch. My interest was waning after the first half hour.

The once mighty Mathayus (Victor Webster) aka The Scorpion King, has fallen from grace and resorts to a life as an assasin whose sole motivation is to get paid for his work with gold or treasures. He is hired by King Horus (Ron Perlman) to help combat his evil brother Talus (Billy Zane), who is motivated to amass a large army to take over the world. In order to do that, Talus needs the Book of the Dead, which is held by Horus’ last ally, King Ramusan (Temuera Morrison). Horus hires Mathayus and another assasin to protect Ramusan in return for gold. A ‘Cobra’ figure who is the leader of the tribal resistance, is supposed to help Mathayus and his fellow assassin help defend King Ramusan’s army. Upon saving Ramusan and his people, Mathayus and the other assasin (who I will not even name as the character was so poorly acted) both discover that Ramusan cannot pay them for their services. In return, he offers the vows of his daughter Princess Silda (Krystal Vee) to Mathayas who is only motivated by a valuable piece of jewelery she wears. What makes matters confusing is Silda is actually’Cobra’, who is trying to get the valuable piece of jewelery back from Talus. The aforementioned Kimbo Slice (MMA fighter) is one of the dead raised along with David Bautista (professional wrestler). I realize Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was a wrestler turned actor, but at least he can act. Kimbo Slice resorts to grunting and groaning in his appearance during the film.

As usual, Universal delivers in the video quality department. The film uses an anamorphic widescreen 1:78:1 aspect ratio and is quite visually appealing. The contrast appears a little dull but the colors are solid and vivid. The film lacks grain completely which lends to a picture quality that shows exact detaiils like hair strands and fire embers for example. I could not notice any obvious imperfections throughout the film.

Again, the audio quality is quite excellent much like the video quality. Universal uses a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio track which works very well among all speakers. The LFE is superb in the film at times, and the overall bass is quite nice even when I switched my sub off. Part of the reason I love Universal releases is because they rarely fail in the audio department. This disc performs on both the audio and video level, but it’s not enough to save the film unfortunately.

Deleted Scenes-I can’t believe this film was actually edited, meaning that it was longer than it already was. The scenes that were deleted were insignificant, and portrayed some acting that was even worse than the acting that made it to the film. I found the deleted scenes, in some instances to be regurgiated from what actually made it to the film.

Deleted Shots Montage-A montage of action shots from the film. No dialogue just the soundtrack playing in the background.

Gag Reel-Wasn’t the film a gag reel?

Swords and Scorpions: A Making Of-The production crew and cast talk about filming in Thailand. Listening to director Roele Reine talk about the great characters in the movie was quite humourous.

Preparing for Battle-The actors talk about their preparation in preparing for the fight scenes. They make mention of their un-choreographed methods but in reality, they come off very choreographed throughout the film.

Feature Commentary with Director Roele Reine.

The two most famous actors in the film were Ron Perlman and Billy Zane. This film may possibly be the worst films of their theatrical careers. Talus was over the top and acted like a child who did not get his way. It could be that he was scorned and lived in the shadows of Horus, but Zane’s rendition of Talus was unbearable. Ron Perlman was not much better, but I could at least somewhat respect his performance better than Zane’s.

The action sequences were so scripted that they were practically un-believable. The use of slow motion was just bad. The special effects were even worse. There is a scene where Talus rips a soldier’s ear off that looks like it came right out of a cheap magic trick. The use of fire/flames as a special effect looked so adulterated and un-real. What was the impetus behind the making of the film? It apparently is a sequel to The Scorpion King: Rise of a Warrior that serves as a prequel to The Mummy Returns, which was obviously a sequel to the Mummy. Can you wrap your mind around that? The fact that Steven Sommers was one of the producers has to be an all time low for him. It’s either that, or his career is definitely in a downward spiral. I just don’t get why this film needed to be made. Given that it was made, it could have been better but it felt that it was just slapped together. Universal, please do us all a favor and let this be the end of the Scorpion King franchise. Can they even recover the franchise after this? Do yourself a favor and do not purchase this film. As a matter of fact, don’t even waste your money renting it. Heck, you’ll be better off not even wasting your time on it. I usually like to find an upside to bad films so at least I can find some redeeming value in my time and money spent, but I cannot for the life of me see any bright side to this film.

Purchase The Scorpion King 3 here

The Whistleblower tells the true story of Kathryn Bokovac, a police officer from Lincoln, Nebraska who lost custody of her children in a divorce settlement. In search of a new job that would allow her to live closer to her kids and earn a lot of money in a short period of time, she joined the UN Police Task Force run by a British agency called DynCorp (renamed as “Democra” in the movie) in post-war Bosnia in 1999. During her time in Bosnia, she worked as a human rights investigator and discovered that teenage girls were not only smuggled from other countries into Bosnian bars for sex but UN personnel were also involved in the sex trafficking. Once Bokovac started to investigate and report these crimes to her superiors, she was fired. In turn, she let the world know of these awful crimes.

I had never heard of Kathryn Bokavac and these reported UN human trafficking crimes before watching this movie, so The Whistleblower turned out to be one of the most intense and exciting movies that I’ve seen in a while. One would think that director Larysa Kondracki has a whole slew of films in her portfolio, but this was surprisingly her first film. If she continues to make more exciting and well-directed films like The Whistleblower, Kathryn Bigelow better watch out!

Kathryn Bokovac is brilliantly played by Rachel Weisz. She is not only at her most beautiful in this film, her character also exudes great strength and sensitivity. The real Bokovac must have been so flattered to be played by Weisz. Rachel Weisz has been getting increasingly better with each new movie she stars in. I don’t love all her movies, but I’ve been impressed with her in the Mummy films, The Shape of Things, The Fountain and Agora. She has only really headlined two films – the recent Agora and now The Whistleblower – both great films but failed to be box-office successes in the USA. Both films seemed to have been swept under the rug. Almost a conspiracy just like the plot of The Whistleblower, I don’t understand why such exciting and interesting films as The Whistleblower and Agora got ignored in the theaters. It’s hard enough for female stars in Hollywood to headline films all by themselves for an extensive amount of time (Angelina Jolie and Meryl Streep, for example), but it’s a real shame that certain female-led movies don’t get more acknowledgment by the press, public, or get released into more theaters. I’ve noticed that when an up-and-coming actress starts to fade out from the public’s eye, she selects some action or horror film to get placed back in the spotlight again (think of Kate Beckinsale or Charlize Theron, for example). An actress like Angelina Jolie knows how to work the system to stay in the spotlight and get great roles – she’s smart to have a consistent pattern of action movie, art-house/drama movie, action movie, art-house/drama movie, etc. As much as I love her intelligent movie choices, Rachel Weisz may have to work the Hollywood system by starring in some action-oriented blockbuster film to avoid being demoted to straight-to-video movies.

With Rachel Weisz headlining The Whistleblower, she is also supported by an international cast of actors who are all exceptional – David Strathairn and Vanessa Redgrave play Bokovac’s colleagues Peter Ward and Madeleine Rees (Watch the Blu-ray extra to see how different the real Rees is from Vanessa Redgrave. You’ll get a kick out of that). Besides a bunch of scary Serbian UN officers and pimps, rounding out the main baddies are Monica Bellucci, David Hewlett, and Liam Cunningham all playing creepy ice-faced UN personnel. I’m a huge fan of Monica Bellucci and I’m aware that she’s not the greatest of actresses, but in this movie she pulls off a seriously impressive and scary performance in her small role.

The level of detail on the 1080p 2.35:1 video is overall excellent, especially during the day or bright scenes. The many dark scenes in this movie don’t pop, but the black levels are acceptable. Images are detailed without signs of any obvious flaws and colors are natural throughout. The video is spotlessly clean and has not one noticeable or distracting problem. Pause any scene with Rachel Weisz and you’ll notice right away how amazing she looks in HD! It’s a great transfer despite some softness and slight murkiness during the dark dungeon scenes.

The DTS-HD 5.1 sound mix does the job well and adds to the intensity of the film. The movie has a lot of talking, but once in a while there are some explosions and car crashes which do sound great and remind us that we do have subwoofers in our living rooms. Surround sounds are mainly used for background sounds of Serbian streets (which were actually filmed in Romania). Ambient sounds did stand out though, especially during dungeon scenes – the sound mix during those scenes gave me the same creepy goose-bump feeling when watching Se7en. English, English SDH, and Spanish subtitles are also included.

The only extra available on this Blu-ray is a 5-minute clip of interviews with the real Kathryn Bokovac, the real Madeleine Rees, Rachel Weisz, and Larysa Kondracki. I don’t get annoyed when Blu-rays don’t always have extras, but this is the kind of movie that should have more extras. The extras that would have been an educational addition would be the actual footage of Kathy Bolkovac speaking to lawmakers or any other conclusive information about her case. If no one from DynCorp or the UN has been charged with crimes yet, at least let the audience know something about the status of her case!

- Kathy Bolkovac: The Real Whistleblower

The Whistleblower is a disturbing but highly entertaining movie. I was glued to the screen from beginning to end. We watch this film and are reminded that all levels of society are as sexist and sick as ever – from low-class human traffickers that would pimp out their own children all the way to the government and huge corporations that not only ignore these crimes, but also support them. But what can an average person do? Not much…except be respectful to the women you know, support women’s rights, and/or write your congressmen (who will most likely do nothing). Either way, The Whistleblower is still a great movie. Definitely check out this Blu-ray!

Restless aka Pointless aka Lifeless is supposed to be a romantic drama flick that offers neither romance nor any kind of empathy for the main characters. Annabel (Mia Wasikowska) is dying of cancer, likes reading about birds, and takes pleasure sorting Halloween candy. Enoch (Henry Hopper) is obsessed with death, is addicted to crashing funeral homes, has an imaginary Japanese soldier friend, and he likes to throw rocks at trains. Welcome to pretentious land. The two hook up together at a funeral home and have three months to enjoy their love for each other until the predictable outcome happens. The story certainly follows the movie poster tagline, “Who do you live for?” Yes, they live for each other, but director Gus Van Sant and writer Jason Lew forgot to make the character’s journey an interesting and entertaining one for the audience. When I found out I was watching a cancer-themed movie, I expected to be moved or even depressed. For a movie to focus on the characters’ different views about death, Restless should have a heartbeat throughout the duration of the film. But if we don’t care about any of these characters, the movie is neither emotional nor even depressing. In turn, Restless is dead on arrival. Why did this short 90-minute film drag on endlessly with its uninspired direction by Van Sant, boring predictable story, flat acting, no chemistry with the two lovebirds, and an irritating score by the usually reliable Danny Elfman? It’s because Restless is just an experiment.

The creation of Restless is much more interesting than the actual film itself. After watching the movie and Blu-ray extras, as well as researching online, Restless is some kind of experiment. 2011 was a bizarre year for the Howard family. Besides Ron Howard producing Restless in 2011, he also produced and directed The Dilemma, which was the worst film of last year and possibly this past decade. He also let his daughter Bryce Dallas get her first producer credit on Restless as well. Why? Well, it turns out that Bryce Dallas is good friends with writer Jason Lew. They were both classmates at NYU and Jason Lew had first created Restless as a play. With Restless, Bryce Dallas got her first break as a producer and hooked up Jason Lew to get his first break in Hollywood as a screenwriter. Another coincidence is that Henry Hopper got his first starring role in this movie. Henry is Dennis Hopper’s son. The actress that plays Annabel’s sister, Schuyler Fisk, is also a child of a movie star – daughter of Sissy Spacek. Everyone got their chance to be involved in this movie! Restless is basically like a trial-run movie for all the youngsters involved.

The only redeeming aspect of Restless is that the movie was filmed in Portland, Oregon. While the cinematography by Harris Savides is neither amazing nor bad, there are some great shots of Portland which make me want to go visit this city and bike everywhere, especially in their parks.

At least the video quality is not disappointing. Restless features a very good-looking 1080p 1.85:1 transfer. The image is slightly soft (probably intentional by the director), but it does not hurt the video presentation at all. The faces of the actors have healthy natural colors and great detail. Portland’s nature really stands out with lush greens and autumn browns. Contrast is solid as well – black levels come across as crisp and well-balanced.

The DTS-HD 5.1 sound mix here is equally respectable. For a dialogue-heavy film, dialogue is clear without any distortions. Surround use is primarily reserved for the film’s subtle musical score by Danny Elfman, and I mean very subtle. This movie is very quiet so don’t expect to be wowed by the audio, but the offering here is excellent for what it is. French DTS-HD 5.1, Portuguese DTS-HD 5.1 and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 sound mixes are also included, as are English, English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles.

The extras available on this Blu-ray are decent. For anyone that decides to watch this Restless Blu-ray, the extras will give insight to why anyone cared to invest their time and money into this movie. From the few clips of Gus Van Sant barely seen in the extras, there’s definitely that feeling that Van Sant was just doing the Howards a favor by offering his directing services. All the other “behind the scenes” clips mainly focus on the actors buttering up the writer Jason Lew as the next big Hollywood writer. The most interesting extra worth a peak is the “Gus Van Sant’s Silent Version of Restless.” Van Sant used different takes of original scenes to create a feature-length silent film version of Restless with old-timey intertitles added. If Restless was filmed in the actual style of an old silent film (such as with The Artist), maybe the movie could have been original. But this silent film version is just another experiment that Van Sant lazily slopped together for the Blu-ray. I was hoping that the silent film version was a director’s cut that he originally wanted to release in the theaters, but both versions are equally bland.

- Gus Van Sant’s Silent Version of Restless
- Enoch & Annabel: One Love
- Enoch & Hiroshi: The Best of Friends
- Gus Van Sant: Independent Voice
- Being Restless
- Coming to Life: This is Restless
- Deleted Scenes
- Trailers

Gus Van Sant is one of my favorite bipolar directors. He can do great films like Milk, Drugstore Cowboy, To Die For, and Good Will Hunting. And then just out of the blue, he throws in these forgettable duds such as Psycho, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Elephant, and Gerry. I’m not a fan of Finding Forrester, but at least that movie produced one of Sean Connery’s best quotes, “You’re the man now, dog!” Good Will Hunting was such an emotional movie with well-developed characters, memorable music, and incredible performances from Matt Damon and Robin Williams. Restless is the complete opposite – apathetic characters, irritating score, and bland performances from Mia Wasikowska and Henry Hopper. Is this the same director? Had Restless played on television and had I not known of all the talent involved (Van Sant, Elfman, Ron and Bryce Dallas Howard), I would have mistaken this film for a made-for-tv Lifetime movie.

If you want to see one cancer-themed 2011 movie involving Bryce Dallas Howard, watch 50/50 instead and skip Restless.

Sid & Nancy skips past the formation of the Sex Pistols and plays out as a punk rock romance, masked as a biopic of sorts.  The film starts in a pretty depressing place, which will come back later on the film, but then jumps to a few years earlier, where a groupie (Nancy, played by Chloe Webb) joins the Sex Pistols in bed, following a London rock show.  Initially, Sid Vicious (Gary Oldman) rejects Nancy’s advances, but following a trip down heroin lane, the two begin dating and pretty much instantly fall in love (they actually get married pretty quickly).  As all of this is going on, Sid’s relationship with his band has pretty much dissolved.  He eventually breaks off, with an attempt to create a solo career of his own and Nancy serves as his manager.  The rest of the film revolves around the couples frequent squabbling and use of drugs, leading only to tragic results.

This film comes from the mind of writer/director Alex Cox, who was previously responsible for one of the ultimate cult films, Repo Man.  Sid & Nancy feels like an appropriate follow up to that film, as it seems to exist in a stylized type of world.  While it does contain various elements frequently seen in a biopic, watching these characters move through the world depicted in this film is something that does not suggest a true reality.  The film plays like a tragic love story, with a punk rock edge that is certainly well served by the very strong performances, even if Chloe Webb can seem incredibly annoying in this film.

A lot of high regard should go to cinematographer Roger Deakins, who manages to make such a dirty, gritty film look absolutely beautiful at times.  A number of very cool and visually interesting sequences emerge in this film, including one sequence that was used in a lot of the poster art for the film, another that involves an unbroken shot of Sid and Nancy walking together amidst chaos, and of course the music video sequence, where Sid sings his rendition of “My Way”.  Sid & Nancy is very well constructed in this sense and feels very fitting of the vision that Cox had in mind.

I have already commented on how great Gary Oldman is in this role, let alone in general, but I guess I can add a few more descriptives.  Oldman sinks his teeth into this role with all of his might, similar to basically all of the roles he takes on.  Everything he does in this film is the work of a dedicated actor who may seem to embody a silly look to some, but others can completely see how this emersion works for the role.  And balancing things out, Chloe Webb is very good in the role of Nancy.  Now that said, I can’t stand this person, but that’s not due her work, it’s just the persona that she has taken on to play this person.  Both actors do great work in this film, which is a wonderful way to anchor the film with an emotional center, given the punk craziness that is seen throughout.  God Save the Queen.

Sid & Nancy arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p AVC encoded transfer that is quite impressive, given the grunginess of this film.  As I have already mentioned the fantastic cinematography by Roger Deakins, it is nice to see that it has turned out well in its transfer onto Blu.  The film goes back and forth between light and dark environments, something especially interesting to see, given all of the punk looks of the various characters, but the level of detail seems to properly represent the film as a whole.

The DTS lossless 5.1 surround track is appropriately fitting for this film as well.  It manages to do justice the punk rock club environment in scenes that involve the band and large crowds all in the same room together.  The film is not a mess of noise, despite the concert setting of some scenes, and is in fact very dialogue heavy.  Fortunately, the audio mix for this Blu-ray is up to the task of properly doing justice to the film.  It is a quality audio presentation.

This is quite irritating.  For being labeled a “collector’s edition”, the scant amount of extras is disappointing; especially since a Criterion version of this film did exist on DVD.  The two featurettes that are available do benefit from being presented in HD and feature a good collection of interviews from people not directly involved with the film, but hearing from Cox, Oldman, or Webb would have been nice.

Features Include:

For the Love of Punk

Junk Love

Theatrical Trailer

If you want to see a raw, gritty love story with lots of punk edge and the structure of a loose biopic, Sid & Nancy is a good choice.  The benefit is that the film is really solid thanks to the fantastic performances from Chloe Webb and especially Gary Oldman.  It is an intense tale, but it is entertaining, well performed, and quite well staged.  Fortunately the audio and visual presentation does great service to the film.  It is just unfortunate that this “collector’s edition” does not really live up to that title.  Still, check this flick out and enjoy a little bit of anarchy.

As I remain very cautious to not spoil myself on the particular details of these films before I see them, I’ll tread lightly around what the premise for this film is.  Following a brief setup taking place before the events of the first sequel in this series (which was also a prequel of sorts), the film jumps back to 1988.  It is here that we observe the childhood of young Katie (Chloe Csengery) and Kristi (Jessica Tyler Brown) through the camera lens of their stepfather Dennis (Chris Smith).  Dennis, the girls, and their mother, Julie (Lauren Bittner) live in a two story home in California.  Following some strange activity, Dennis (being a videographer by trade) sets up cameras around the house in an effort to capture these occurrences on film.  Waiting, watching, and “Boos!” follow.

It would be easy for me to get really snarky and nitpicky about the biggest factor in this movie:  the ghost…or whatever.  Given that this is a prequel, what are its intentions?  It seems to keep running into the same situation with the same family line it is messing with, by getting captured on camera.  It must also be very bad at accomplishing its goal, unless it is solely focused on creating mischief and frightening annoyance for the various family members.  Each time it takes about 3 weeks’ worth of camera footage, before it finally says, “Screw it,” and unleashes all the big moments in the film.  The ghost is apparently just as stubborn as the various family members in this series who make all the wrong decisions.

Putting those thoughts aside, however, I can’t say that this film did not continue to provide an effective level of entertaining tension for me.  I get just as much out of these films as I do with the audience I am sitting with.  In particular, I purposefully bring my adult male friend with me, who tends to scream like a girl no older than the ones seen in this film.  It is an entertaining process to sit with a packed audience in the dead of night, in a dark theater and all at once find the various instances where the subtle movements and sudden changes arouse so much combined stress.  Giving the film a second go at home (with that same friend), I was pleased that the experience, minus the crowd, was a similar one.

With regards to how the scares are presented in the actual film, I can understand how some audiences continue to not get the appeal and find the proceedings quite boring.  This series has always been just as much a waiting game as it has been a fright fest, with heavy emphasis on the waiting.  Besides a couple fake-outs along the way, the big events of this film only slowly stack up, until reaching their extremes during the finale.  For me, I still get a kick out of it.  Separating myself from the yet unexplained ghost logic, I can get into doors slowly moving, disappearing tables, and other forms of haunted feng shui.

From a production standpoint, Paranormal Activity 3 is both effectively made and too effectively made in terms of capturing scares on camera.  The film finds creative ways to have cameras rigged up.  One particularly great idea was to have Dennis modify an oscillating fan and attach a camera to it, for roving footage.  At the same time, being that this is set in the 80s and the footage is supposedly coming from VHS tapes, it becomes way to clear that these tapes have pretty amazing quality, presented in widescreen.  I can only image a studio meeting between Paramount and the film’s directors (Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, of Catfish fame) resulting in a nixing of the idea to shoot the film in 4:3.  The level of CG manipulation comes into play as well here, but it continues to be well utilized based off of the tension created, which I was already into.

Performance-wise, one of the trickier areas of this series, I did find a level of sincerity present in this film, with one major exception.  Given how Catfish turned out (the jury is still out on its authenticity), I would give credit to Joost and Schulman for being able to handle this family dynamic fairly well.  With that said, based on screenplay requirements, it is the mother, Julie, who goes to great lengths to not want to catch on with all the bad that is really happening in this house.  These are the eye-rolling moments that occur, when you have plenty of evidence needed, but can’t get someone on board to take a little consideration until it’s too late.

My largest concern, having watched this film and considering the others, is where the series will go from here.  A sequel is inevitable, as it certainly hasn’t worn out its welcome on mass audiences (myself included), but what is next?  I think a huge flaw of this film comes from the fact that it seems almost too aware that it has to have a sequel in order to clear up the new information we learn about Katie and Kristi’s family.  Given the status of this film as a prequel, the plot logic remains somewhat of a mystery after getting to the conclusion of this film.

This issue aside, I did enjoy the flick.  It is not necessarily fresh, but it is a horror franchise that I am willing to stand behind for the time being.  Maybe boring to some, but I dig the atmosphere and tension that these films create, along with being a part of the reactive audiences that watch them.  A number of clever scares along the way only help things further.  And once again, having trouble, while trying to sleep, is a good sign that the film managed to effectively get to me.  Count me as looking forward to next Halloween’s entry as well.

It is funny how a lower score would have actually been to this film’s benefit.  Paranormal Activity 3 is supposed to be set in the 80s and based on footage taken from VHS tapes.  This does not feel like the case, watching this Blu-ray that is equipped with a 1080p transfer, which is unfortunate, because it somewhat ruins the authenticity.  Sure I know the film is not rooted in the idea of being “found footage” anymore, but the seeing the level of detail throughout the film via home movies in such a clear format is both a positive of the disc’s video quality and a slight negative on the film.  Weird right?

Less bothersome is the effective audio presentation.  Arriving on the disc in a lossless DTS-HD master audio 5.1 surround track, listening to this film, despite the idea that it should be coming off of old VHS tapes, it was still quite effective.  The key giveaway to spooky stuff soon to occur has always been based around a low bass suddenly arriving (which is then followed by a series of Where’s Waldo meets horror setups and scares).  The soundtrack on this Blu-ray delivers and provides plenty of clarity involving the dialogue (and screams) throughout the film as well.  It is a well handled audio presentation that suites the film.

The Blu-ray comes with very little in the form of extras.  I can address the “unrated director’s cut”, which features ten extra minutes of footage.  This amounts to a few more dialogue scenes and two key scare sequences cut from the film (one that was in the trailer, which contained tons of extra footage not seen in the film).  I would technically consider this the preferred cut, but it doesn’t make a whole lot different about the film.

Features Include:

Lost Tapes:

            Scare Montage – a series of practical jokes played by Dennis on Julie

            Dennis’ Commercial – a cheesy advertisement for Dennis’ photography job.

Digital Copy

DVD Copy

Ultraviolet Copy

The final score is mostly a reflection of the lack of extras, but if you have enjoyed the series thus far and are interested in checking out this third entry or revisiting it, the Blu-ray is pretty solid stuff.  It may look “too” good, based on what the film is trying to do, but the sound quality does it justice.  Given that I personally still enjoy this series, I am looking forward to another entry, but admiring the craft in how this third entry was constructed is still enjoyable enough, even if the gripes in logic still come up.

The Dead Poets Society is one of those films that you’ve either seen it or have definitely heard of it. It’s directed by Peter Weir, whose films also include Gallipoli, Witness, and The Truman Show. He has done well here in creating a classic. It was one of the first movies where Robin Williams wasn’t doing 100% comedy but maintained his signature energy. His personality works very well in a drama because it humanizes his character and but doesn’t overshadow the others. It’s an excellent story with tones of uncertainty, rebellion, love and inspiration.

The film has a fairly large cast of main characters which includes Robin Williams as John Keating, Robert Sean Leonard as Neil Perry, Ethan Hawke as Todd Anderson, Josh Charles as Knox Overstreet, Gale Hanson as Charles Dalton, Norman Lloyd as Headmaster Nolan, Kirtwood Smith as Mr. Perry, Dylan Kussman as Richard Cameron, Allelon Ruggiero as Steven Meeks, James Waterson as Gerard Pitts, and Alexandra Powers as Chris Noel. Chris is a girl that Knox meets that goes to a local public school.

The film is set in 1959 at Welton Academy for boys in Vermont. Knox, Charlie, Cameron, Neil, Pitts, and Meeks are the main characters in the film and live in the same dorm. They all come from rich or prestigious families aside from Neil. His parents want him to become a doctor and establish a social status. This year at school is John Keating’s first as English teacher and used to attend the school. Todd Anderson is also a new comer this year and is rooming with Neil Perry. It is the start of term and they are all seniors so they have most of the same classes, including English.

He begins his first class by entering, whistling the 1812 overture, grabs a book and walks out. He takes the students to see the trophy room and asks them to either call him Mr. Keating or “Oh captain, my captain” from a Walt Whitman poem about Abraham Lincoln. He tries to teach his students that an appreciation of poetry is important to understanding how life works. He pushes them to make it as important as math or science. He also impresses on them that life is short so live it to the fullest.

After Neil discovers their English teacher’s old yearbook, they see that he was a member of the Dead Poets Society. Upon asking him about it, he tells them that it was a secret club he was a part of that would meet in the woods and share poetry. They learn that sharing poetry shows them how to share their feelings and peruse their dreams.

It was filmed in Middletown, DE at St. Andrew’s Private school and not far from where I grew up. This is a perfect setting due to the older architecture and a large campus. As portrayed in the film, the area is full of large landscapes and beautiful scenery. As well as the perfect setting, the director also picked an excellent cast. They really do play well off of each other. It is very believable that they have been friends and going to school together for years. They also all give off that they care about their education but feel the pressure they have to follow in the footsteps of their parents.

All of the performances are amazing but there are four performances which stand out: Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Gale Hanson and, of course Robin Williams. These are the three characters that had, by far, the biggest internal changes over the course of the film. Leonard and Hanson had a bit of rebellion already but their teacher showed them not to be reckless but do something meaningful in life. Hawke’s character is new to the school and he has a very timid way about him. In many ways, he can almost be seen as the main character due to the film following his personality’s alteration.

The transfer overall is very good. Right away during the opening scene, the murals on the wall have more detail and sharpness. There are some minor artifacts only in a few scenes. The grain looks like it belongs and is very subtle. The wide shots of the campus have bright, vibrant colors and give a depth that wasn’t possible in previous formats. The upgrade to blu-ray for this film has a picture that is very sharp and clean.

The audio is a lossless DTS HD-MA and is a great improvement over the DVD format.
It really shows in the music and score with a clarity made for a home theater. The ambient noise of hearing students in the halls or during meals is also very clear. There was a lot of dialogue and small sounds that I have never heard until this screening. Another place where the sound has a boldness in the classroom. When Mr. Keating has Todd Anderson get in front of the class and give him “a barbaric yawp!”, the sound isn’t overdriven. It sounds precisely how it would sound in a classroom.

The score is due to the lack of supplements, not the quality. The best out of what’s here is the look back with the cast and crew as well as master of cinematography featurette.

Dead Poets: A Look Back featuring interview footage with Director Peter Weir, Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard and many others
Raw Takes
Master of Sound: Alan Splet – interviews with David Lynch And Peter Weir
Cinematography Master Class – an intensive and inspirational lighting workshop with Cinematographer John Seale
Audio Commentary with Director Peter Weir, Cinematographer John Seale and Writer Tom Schulman
Theatrical Trailer

The Dead Poets Society is a movie that has been a favorite of mine for years. Even though it is 23 years old now, it has really held up. The new transfer had made it look very shiny and clean in high definition. I would recommend upgrading this if your a fan or just buy if you haven’t seen it. It will make a great addition to any collection, and you won’t regret it.

Dead Poets Society – Purchase Here