Look what the post man delivered this morning…
- click to enlarge -
…full review soon.
Special Edition
Viewed - 20 July 2008 DVD
Picked this up rather cheap recently, and thought it really deserved a review. James (Terminator 2) Cameron’s 1997 epic disaster movie / love story took no less than 11 Oscars at the time, and once you have sat through the 3hr+ movie, it’s not hard to see why. Everything about this grand spectacle reeks of class. The production design is outstanding, fully recreating one of the most famous ships in history, and with a credible cast, some of the finest special effects I’ve ever seen, and a second half that just leaves me shaken & stirred - this movie deserves to go down in history as an icon in cinema.
Ok, that love story may not be based on fact but leads Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio give it their all, and make for a very romantic pairing, their attraction never in doubt. I have heard many people criticise this movie for its slushiness - but without it, it would be a journey of hopelessness and doom…not exactly audience grabbing entertainment. Cameron was right to not have the sinking as the film’s focus, and with that achieves a ‘classic hollywood’ feel comparable to Gone With The Wind. I’m guessing the cover is a nod to that much admired classic of yester-year. Even the camp of Billy Zane’s scorned fiance can’t spoil this.
This 2 disc set boasts a multitude of behind the scenes footage, accessible either as branching segments available whilst watching the movie, or seperately from the menu screens. Add to this 2 commentary tracks, one from James Cameron and another from the cast…as well as faultless THX supervised picture & sound - and an alternate ending (rather pointless), and this is a great movie given the treatment it deserves.
Verdict: 5 /5
For those who can’t be bothered importing the Japanese limited edition box set of Kill Bill Vol.1 which boasts the famed ‘House of blue leaves’ sword fight in full colour (for those that don’t know, all other releases of Kill Bill feature the scene in black ‘n’ white…for I don’t know what reason). Here’s what you have been missing:
I not long ago finished watching the extended cut of Ridley Scott’s rightly-acclaimed American Gangster, and although I see no point in calling this a review after already giving my opinion on the Theatrical version…I would like to add that I think this version, although long (I watched it in two sittings, one laaaate last night, the other this afternoon) is my preferred version, as it adds more flashbacks to Frank Lucas’ mentoring with his boss Bumpy Johnson, which I think add a whole lot to the movie - and overall I think I enjoyed the film more this time around.
Both cuts don’t differ that much, so if all you have seen is the theatrical version, then thats all well and good and you’re not missing a great deal - but if you are approaching American Gangster for the first time, seek out the 2 disk special edition which has both cuts of the film…and make your own mind up.
I don’t know what possessed me, but after watching a YouTube video of some girl’s (mightily) impressive DVD collection - I thought it was high time I had a piece of the pie. Ok, you may say “Haven’t you got enough DVDs?” but to that I always reply - yes! But these are in nice new shiney limited editions, extended cuts, special packaging etc.
DVDs I have ordered online and await with eager anticipation are:
Alien Quadrilogy
(9 disc complete box set)
…oh my god, oh my god, oh my god…
*
Titanic
(Special edition 2 disc set)
Another favourite of mine that I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing in a long time. Looking forward to reviewing this one.
*
From Beyond
(Director’s Cut)
Still not available in the UK, this classic gory horror is now fully uncensored with newly restored footage - result!
*
Dr Strangelove
(The Reel Collection edition)
This will form Part Six of my Kubrick Project
*
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
(Extreme DVD edition)
One of my all time favourite movies in a deluxe package…hubba hubba…
*
Do The Right Thing
(Criterion Collection edition)
The Criterion Collection never fails to impress with superb packaging and stellar image / sound quality - and this film is a classic.
As always I will be posting reviews of each, with additional brief opinions of their DVD editions.
…and finally, we come to Stanley Kubrick’s undisputed masterpiece.
The Shining (1980)
Based (loosely I might add) on the Stephen King novel, this superbly crafted horror movie has Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrence, wannabe caretaker of the Overlook Hotel who gets the rather un-enviable task of house sitting the mammoth mountain-set hotel for the winter, with just his dutiful wife Wendy (Shelly Duvall) and young son Danny (Danny Lloyd) for company. Now this simple set up soon takes a turn for the menacing when we discover that young Danny has a psychic ability, and see’s ghosts of over long-dead hotel guests that haunt the hotel following a murder that happened many years previous under very similar circumstances.
In the hands of an auteur like Kubrick though, this very basic set up is just an excuse for this uber-talented director to let rip with some of the finest camera work and cinematography of his career, and with the one location to bleed for all its worth, Kubrick works wonders, helped endlessly by a heavy-weight performance by Nicholson, who’s gradual descent into madness then finally uncontrollable rage, is totally convincing and turns what could have already been an eye-catching, effective ghost-story into something truly special. A generous nod must also go to Shelley Duvall & Danny Lloyd who add so much power to the scenes they are in, and Duvall especially should be celebrated as one of the forgotten scream-queens of the genre. As a child actor too, Danny Lloyd is very impressive, eerie and heart-breakingly believable throughout, almost stealing the film from his adult co-stars at times.
You may also be pleased to hear (unless your a die hard gore hound) that this is one of those fright-flicks that doesn’t have to rely on big-budget make-up effects to jolt your spine, as its the atmosphere, the direction, the music and especially the performances that set this in a class of its own. Probably the finest horror movie ever made.
The DVD housed in the newly released Stanley Kubrick box set (which is also available separately) is a 2 disk special edition with a beautifully crisp picture presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic wide screen. The sound has been re-mastered in 5.1 Dolby Digital and is very effective, especially during the chaotic orchestral moments when the horror is cranked to the max. Extras-wise this film is given the treatment it deserves, with 1 feature-length documentary by Vivian Kubrick showing the master at work and some brilliant on-set footage, and we also get 3 further featurettes that pick this film apart until only the carcass is left for us to chew on. Add to this a very informative commentary for the movie itself by steady-cam inventor Garrett Brown as well as Historian John Baxter, and this makes for a stellar package.
Click to enlarge images:
I watched Kill Bill: Vol.2 on television last night, and although I enjoyed it to the point I didn’t go channel surfing like I normally do when I watch TV late at night by myself…it’s still seriously flawed. I haven’t seen it since eagerly cueing up at my local multiplex several years ago after absolutely adoring Kill Bill Vol.1.
Yet Quentin Tarantino has to be one of the most hit and miss directors to ever reach mainstream stardom, and although Pulp Fiction remains my all time favourite movie, everything else he has done (Kill Bill Vol.1 aside) is patchy as hell. Ok, Jackie Brown had a good story, but thats more down to Elmore Leonard than anyone else, and its still desperately in need of an editor, as its over-long and stylised when it needs no heavy style, and the characters are mostly unlikable…including Samuel L. Jackson’s small time arms dealer. Tutt tutt. Then look at Kill Bill Vol.2, following up Tarantino’s superb return to form after ‘Brown and is once again over-long, peppered with ridiculous, unintentionally funny dialogue and an ending that pretty much destroys the whole point of the movie. Grr.
Then look to his latest, Death Proof, a poorly acted, ridiculously dialogued movie with a promising, scary first half and a stupid second half. Now what Tarantino has learnt over the years is film technique - he can frame a shot and use camera work and editing well when given the right material - and he can do action as good as the best of ‘em, but he remains self-indulgent and a bit of a geek, needing as I have said once before on this site, to quit wallowing in his boyhood fantasies, ditch the foot fetishes, the comic book, pop-culture referrences and take a leaf out of Paul Thomas Anderson’s book (Magnolia, Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood) and start making real movies.
Come on Quentin, you have the ability - you can do it…and finally get that credibility that the likes of Scorsese and Spielberg have had for decades! Somehow I don’t see Inglorious Bastards doing it.
Oh yes…I have died and gone to heaven. Unreal Tournament III came out on Xbox 360 on Friday gone…and my initial response - gimme gimme gimme! Read the rest of this entry »
Viewed - 05 July 2008 DVD
Lindsey Lohan started out as the next-big-thing teen actress, but has fallen from grace with a rocky personal life, weight loss scares and a frequency with wild nights out. Shame because in the Heathers-wannabe flick ‘Mean Girls’ and the Disney comedy remake ‘Freaky Friday’ she seemed a more than likable actress with pleanty of personality.
In this low-rent horror we get to see her acting muscles truly stretched as she plays the twin roles of Aubrey & Dakota, one a clean-cut strate-A student, the other a sleazy chain-smoking stripper - both whose lives are turned upside down by a serial killer. At first I thought this was going to be a straight forward gutsy girl gets kidnapped by a killer, and fights back thriller, but am happy to report it turned out to be something much more interesting - and very disturbing. You see, Aubrey is kidnappped and eventually found then believes she is really this Dakota person, and that the real Aubrey is still in the hands of the killer, and begins to experience her injuries, with phantom cuts and bleeding, even though by this stage she’s already lost an arm and a leg. This is dark, grousome stuff indeed, but Lindsey Lohan is very beleivable in her split-personality role, and comes off convincingly as both the good girl and the bad girl.
If you want a horror with a bit more imagination than most, some good effects and a twisty story then this certianly does the job, even if it is a bit overly-complicated at times and the final pay-off is lame.
Verdict: 3 /5
The only game in Valve’s seminal The Orange Box to be most neglected by me, has to be the highly regarded puzzle adventure ‘Portal’. I don’t feel good about this, but am so happy that I gave it a proper go now - as in my opinion its pure genius. Read the rest of this entry »
