Tag: Leonardo DiCaprio

Weekend Shopping Guide 8/23/13: That Is The Question

The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the FRED Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

(Please support FRED by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)

While I have great affection for the flawed remake starring Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft, the original Ernst Lubitsch To Be Or Not To Be (Criterion, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$ SRP) is an indisputable classic, newly remastered in high definition and starring the legendary Jack Benny and Carole Lombard as the married thespians in Nazi-occupied Warsaw. Bonus materials include a brand new audio commentary, a 2010 French documentary on Lubitsch, a pair of radio adaptations, and a 1916 German silent short directed by and starring Lubitsch.

There have been many books that purported to present the definitive history of the original Star Trek. Much like Roshomon, many presented a perspective on the show’s genesis. But we’ve finally got the overview that incorporates all of those memories plus original memos, documents, and interviews and places them in a comprehensive context – These Are The Voyages (Jacobs Brown, $39.95 SRP), the first volume of what will eventually be a trilogy, each focusing on a season of TOS. Author Marc Cushman has done the if not impossible, then very nearly improbably feat of remaining neutral while presenting the facts, tales, anecdotes, and recollections behind one of the most enduring pop phenomenon of the 20th century – and beyond.

And speaking of Star Trek, explore the golden age of trading cards with Abrams ComicArts’s Star Trek: The Original Topps Trading Card Series (Abrams ComicArt, $19.95 SRP). It’s a lovely little tome that features every card and card back from the trading cart set, plus additional trivia and even a set of bonus cards. Though, sadly, no bubble gum.

Hey! Are you an Adventure Time fan, desperate for some kind of book to keep you company? Then, HEY! Get The Adventure Time Encyclopedia (Abrams, $19.95 SRP)! But it’s not just any old boring book of facts – because it’s written by the Lord Of Evil himself, Hunson Abadeer… Who just so happens to be Marceline the vampire’s dad. So yeah, it’s goofy, it’s funny, and it’s decidedly odd. Great, right?

Every so often, I’ll get a lovely surprise in the mail from John Swartzwelder (the brilliant writer behind 59 episodes of The Simpsons). I’ve said it before, and I shall continue to say it as long as he continues to write them – If you’ve not yet read his series of brilliantly comic novels starring dim detective Frank Burly, than you do not deserve to be literate. So yes, do catch up, and also pick up the latest – Detective Made Easy (Kennydale Books, $15.95 SRP) – or just walk away and never read again. But hey, I recommend you read them all.

After publishing quite wonderful volumes collecting the Mickey Mouse newspaper strips by Floyd Gottfredson in black & white, the fine folks at Fantagraphics have released the first volume in glorious color – Mickey Mouse Color Sundays: Call Of The Wild (Fantagraphics, $29.99 SRP). As with the previous must-have tomes, there is plenty of supplemental materials within the volume, including essays, rare articles, photos, and more.

For more years than I can recall, the amiable scholars at Twomorrows have been publishing a wide range of magazine and books chronicling every nook and cranny of the comics, creators, characters, and companies fans know and love. Earlier this year, they took that love and scholarly approach to the next logical step, by launching a must-have document of four-color history in the American Comic Book Chronicles (Twomorrows, $40.95 SRP), which will eventually chart from 1940 to today. The debut volume covered the 1960’s from 1960-1964, the second release jumped ahead to the 1980’s (covering from 1980-1989), and the latest volume leaps back to the 1950’s – a decade when the medium came under attack and was forced to censor itself. Get this book, as well as the previous volumes, and then start setting aside shelf space for the rest – which can’t come fast enough.

While it started on somewhat shaky ground, now that we’ve arrived at the third season of Boardwalk Empire (HBO, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$59.99 SRP), the little show about Atlantic City in the roaring 20’s has matured into a brilliant character piece for Steve Buscemi’s Nucky Thompson just as Prohibition makes alcohol a booming business for organized crime. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, featurettes, and newsreels.

To expect anything from Baz Luhrmann but a bloated technicolor extravaganza is to have a poor memory of his filmic inclinations, so it should be no surprise that his take on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, 3D Blu-Ray-$44.95 SRP) – starring Leonard DiCaprio as the titular roaring socialite – is exactly that. And, like every other flawed Lurmann film, it’s worth watching just for the spectacle alone, even if it all collapses under its own weight. Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes, deleted scenes, and an alternate ending.

I have no problem summing up my experience of watching the Oscar-winning drama Amour (Sony, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP) with the term “depressingly beautiful”. Its portrait of a couple who’ve spent a lifetime together facing the end if heartbreakingly poignant. Bonus materials include a Q&A with director Michael Haneke and a making-of featurette.

Find out the ultimate punchline when a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost cohabitate in the fifth and final season of the original UK version of Being Human (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP), which finds Hal, Tom, and Alex as the government comes calling, as does the need to pay bills. Bonus features include interviews, deleted scenes, and featurettes.

Make a rip-roaring adventurous mashup between A Bug’s Life, Fern Gully, and Fantastic Voyage and you get the appropriately named Epic (Fox, Rated PG, 3D Blu-Ray-$49.99 SRP), about a young teenager that finds herself suddenly very small and caught up in a big battle to save the noble Leafmen from an army of evil warriors. Bonus materials include a clutch of featurettes.

Time has not made Star Trek: Enterprise (Paramount, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$129.99 SRP) a better show. Granted, it’s still a far sight better than JJ Abrams’ popcorn abomination, but the real tragedy of Enterprise is the sheer amount of wrongheaded decisions… Frankly, starting with the prequel premise of the show itself. But even if I dislike the show, I enjoy the new Blu-Ray editions immensely, due solely to the unbelievably candid bonus materials. The second season set follows up on the brilliant first season documentary with a pair of documentaries featuring an overview of the second season and its difficulties, and a cast reunion that acts more like a confessional for co-creator Brannon Braga. Perfect.

If you’ve got kids in your life, do them a favor by giving them the gift of the latest pair of Scholastic Storybook Treasures releases – the Mo Willems collection Don’t Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late and the 4-story collection Children Make Terrible Pets… And More Stories About Family (Scholastic, Not Rated, DVD-$14.95 SRP each).

I’m not as terribly big fan of Disney’s cash-grab direct-to-video sequels from a few years back. Some of have been tolerable, most atrocious, and very rare is one that is somewhat good. The Peter Pan sequel Return To Neverland (Walt Disney, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$36.99 SRP), making its debut in high definition, has enough enjoyable moments – mostly with Captain Hook and Mr. Smee – to make the affair a decent watch before it is stashed back in the Disney Vault. Bonus materials include deleted scenes, previews, and more.

It’s refreshing to see Keifer Sutherland in a more nuanced and adult portrayal of a post-9/11 world in The Reluctant Fundamentalist (IFC, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP), a tale of the kidnapping of an American academic in Pakistan that sets in motion a domino effect casting suspicion on a young Pakistani professor. Bonus materials include a making-of featurette and a trailer.

What the Warner Archive has perfected, particularly with its animated releases, is a very clever and utterly successful manipulation of nostalgia which makes purchasing their releases inevitable. They know they have us with the Hanna-Barbera collection releases of the complete Captain Caveman And The Teen Angels and Help! It’s The Hair Bear Bunch (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$29.95 SRP each). Heck, they’ve even got me with the release of the complete first season of Marine Boy (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$24.95 SRP).

This week’s TV sets bring both NCIS series and the still sparkling courtroom tales of Alicia Florrick. First up, we’ve got NCIS: The Tenth Season (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$64.99 SRP) and NCIS: LOS ANGELES – The Fourth Season (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$64.99 SRP). Bot sets contain audio commentaries, deleted scenes, featurettes, and more. And finally, there’s the 4th season of The Good Wife (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$64.99 SRP), which sports featurettes and deleted scenes.

I’m not entirely sure what happened to David Zucker, but the man behind sublime spoofs like Airplane! and Police Squad is almost entirely absent from the ham-fisted Scary Movie V (Anchor Bay, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP). Maybe it’s because in the desperation to keep references near-current it makes the whole affair terribly dated right out of the box. Bonus materials include deleted/extended scenes.

It’s no Tango & Cash, but what Pain & Gain (Paramount, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$39.99 SRP) – starring Dwayne Johnson, Mark Wahlberg, & Anthony Mackie as a trio of personal trainers get caught up on the wrong side of the law – manages to remind viewers is that director Michael Bay used to know how to make fun, funny action films that weren’t senseless bastardizations of licensed properties.

It’s still not my cup of tea compared to the sublime Sherlock, but it seems CBS’ own take on a modern Holmes, Elementary (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$55.98 SRP), has gained traction with viewers. Enough traction, anyway, to guarantee a second season. The 6-disc set contains all 23 first season episodes, plus featurettes and webisodes.

After a shambling second season, hopes were high for the third season of Walking Dead (Anchor Bay, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$79.99 SRP) – especially with the arrival of David Morrissey’s Governor and zombie pet-owner Michonne – but there were more legitimately confusing WTF moments than genuinely enjoyable WTF moments. Shame, really, because there were some bright spots to be found. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, deleted scenes, and featurettes.

One of the marks of a good documentary is it makes you care about a subject you hadn’t considered giving a second thought to, and that’s certainly the case with Scatter My Ashes At Bergdorf’s (E1, Rated PG-13, DVD-$24.98 SRP), which looks the fashion industry’s mecca, the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman.

Besides the fact that the new 3 3/4-scale Doctor Who figures effectively split the figure line in two distinct camps – classic Who in the old 5″ scale and whatever the current characters are in the new scale – my biggest issue is with a decided sloppiness in the paint ops found on the new figures – the first wave of which include the 11th Doctor, Clara, an Ice Warrior, a new-version Cyberman, a Weeping Angel, and a Dalek (Underground Toys, $10.99 SRP each) – leaves something to be desired. It’s particularly noticeable on the Doctor and Clara, where careful attention to paint is necessary in so tiny a scale. And yeah, I do wish they restored the lighted sign and interior effects found in the original 9th/10th Doctor TARDIS toys for the new scale Flight Control TARDIS (Underground Toys, $ SRP). Still, I have high hopes for this new incarnation of the toys, and hope these little bumps are smoothed out for future releases.

So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…

-Ken Plume

##

August 23, 2013
Weekend Shopping Guide 2/24/12: Fade In

The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the FRED Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

(Please support FRED by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)

It’s a little slow-going at times and uneven, but the good of The Fades (BBC, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.98 SRP) far outweighs any deficiencies as it’s a clever take on ghosts and vampire mythology with a nice post-modern twist and an incredible performance from co-star Daniel Kaluuya as the pop-literate friend of our supernatural protagonist who’s faced with the end of the world. Bonus materials include interviews, deleted scenes, outtakes, and more.

Are you steampunky? Have you ever wished you could wear a tiny little folding telescope on your ring finger? So you could feel all steampunky and adventurous and ingenious? Well, Thinkgeek brings you Captain Jules’ Extraordinary Telescope Ring ($29.99), which is exactly what you need – a collapsible telescope (and compass!) that you can wear on your finger. Yeah. That’s cool.

I’m sure it’s just a personal hang-up of mine, but I’m not much of a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio, especially as he’s somehow become the go-to guy for vintage biopics of egomaniacal men. The latest is Clint Eastwood’s otherwise nicely made J. Edgar (Warner Bros., Rated R, Blu-Ray-$35.99 SRP), which dives into the ultimately flawed grand personality behind the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, and his political kingdom of information.

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s big Tintin film is about to hit home video, and the massive amounts of development and concept art that went into making it is presented in The Art Of The Adventures Of Tintin (Weta/HarperCollins, $39.99 SRP). And, if you get the book directly from Weta, you get exclusive replicas of the three parchment scraps that, when aligned, give the coordinates to find Red Rackham’s treasure. And for those with a fancy iPad, the publishers have put out an absolutely phenomenal app version of the book, with every piece of art enlargeable, interactive turnarounds, artist interviews, and even clips from the film.

And speaking of incredible behind-the-scenes books, now that the massive 8-film series has wrapped, you can explore all of the cinematic magic that went into making JK Rowling’s boy wizard come to life with Harry Potter: Page To Screen – The Complete Filmmaking Journey (Harper Design, $75.00 SRP). Comprehensive (and large), you get a look at everything it took to create the films, from casting and special effects to release – it’s all in there.

For years, Newmarket Press has been putting out some quite nice making-of and screenplay books for various films, and this Oscar season brings a pair of tomes from this year’s nominees. First up is Hugo: The Shooting Script (Newmarket Press, $19.99 SRP), the latest from director Martin Scorsese. Also available is a look behind Steven Spielberg WWI epic – War Horse: The Making Of The Motion Picture (Newmarket Press, $34.99 SRP).

I wasn’t expecting much, which is probably why I was pleasantly surprised by the working man’s revenge flick Tower Heist (Universal, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP), which finds everyday folks (with the likes of Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick, Gabourey Sidibe, and Casey Affleck) getting back at a Wall Street swindler (Alan Alda). Maybe that’s because this comedy is directed by the loathsome Brett Ratner. But hey, a decent flick every 10 years is understandable. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, alternate endings, deleted scenes, featurettes, and more.

You can watch Tudors and French Cardinals all you want, but in Italy the power center also had a family name, and it’s that powerful dynasty that’s the subject of Borgia Faith and Fear: Season One (Lionsgate, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), as we look at the depraved Machiavellian center of the Catholic Vatican, Rodrigo Borgia.

It’s no Shrek, which I see as a definite plus for spin-off film Puss In Boots (Dreamworks, Rated PG, 3D Blu-Ray-$27.99 SRP), which finds Antonio Banderas reprising his feline lothario roll for a bit of a romp that finds him going up against the nefarious Jack & Jill. As usual for recent Dreamworks animated fare, the use of 3-D is rather enjoyable, and carries over well to a home theater presentation. Bonus materials include deleted scenes, featurettes, games, and more.

Fighting the nefarious likes of Simon Bar Sinister and Riff Raff, the dated though still fun cartoons featured in the 10-disc Underdog: Complete Collector’s Edition (Shout Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$69.97 SRP) are worth introducing to the kids in your life. Bonus materials include audio commentaries, a featurette, and additional cartoons.

A pair of Showtime series are dropping their latest seasons with the arrival of post-prison new life in the Big Apple Weeds: Season Seven (Lionsgate, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.97 SRP) and a post-confrontation Nurse Jackie: Season Three (Lionsgate, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$39.97 SRP). Both sport commentaries, featurettes, gag reels, and more.

Last week we featured Underground Toys’ collector’s set focusing on the villains of William Hartnell’s First Doctor, and this week we’ve got an action figure set which brings together a trio of Jon Pertwee’s with the Enemies Of The Third Doctor ($49.99 SRP). First and foremost, we get an Auton from the 3rd Doctor’s debut story, “Spearhead From Space”. Then we get the fallen Time Lord Omega from “The Three Doctors”, which just so happens to be coming out in a new special edition DVD very soon. Finally, we get the monstrous swamp-dwelling Drashig from “Carnival Of Monsters”. Here’s hoping they continue this line of collector’s sets with the other 8 Doctors… Though, granted, it might be a little hard to do with the 8th Doctor.

I’m not entire surely what Faustian deal the folks at Hot Toys and Sideshow Collectibles have entered into in order to keep delivering truly stunning 12″-scale collectibles, but each new one brings a fresh rounds of “oohs” and “aahs” for everything from the masterful sculpting to the pitch-perfect scale costume reproductions. The latest cinematic legend to get the platinum treatment of their deluxe DX line (with moveable eyes and more accessories than you can shake a stick at) is the 1989 Michael Keaton Batman ($239.99). From the rubber batsuit to the leather cape, the costume is exactly as you remember it, right down to the jagged-bottom bat symbol on his chest. The figure also comes with 3 different swappable mouths (closed, pursed, and bloodied), batarang, throwing stars, grappling guns, communicator, and more, plus a light-up base featuring the bat symbol. Incredible. I can’t wait to see their upcoming Jack Nicholson Joker.

So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…

-Ken Plume

##

February 24, 2012
Trailer Park: INCEPTION and LOOK AROUND YOU

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

Check out my other column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on TWITTER under the name: Stipp

INCEPTION – Review

A summer film that distills the best of what a blockbuster should be, INCEPTION is the thinking man’s action film that marries drama, wicked fast pacing, and the designation as the best big budget movie so far this year.

In literature, Marcel Proust’s “The Remembrance Of Things” is thought of a classic because of its exploration of memory and the acute moments that are triggered by the nature of living. It’s a familiar smell, it’s a taste that triggers flashes from a time that has forgotten. It’s a wonderful distillation of the nature of the mind and how it is able to start lines of thought merely started by a bite of Madeline cookies, a sip of tea.

To try and contain a review of Christopher Nolan’s masterstroke of space and time within the barriers of the written word is to not appreciate the multidimensional gambits he took in trying to make our own minds malleable. It’s a movie that brings together the talents of an ensemble that could not have been more well-crafted and chosen, a score that weaves its way into what’s happening on the screen as if it were the film’s sixth man that’s comes in at clutch moments, a directorial style that has all along been leading up to this moment, and a story that is nothing short of tight and lean.

To talk about this film’s plot is to take away a layer of ignorance that any person wanting to steep themselves in this world would best avoid, but merely recapping its plot doesn’t do much to diminish the astonishing moments that pepper this film’s running time.

Our protagonist Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is charged with one task in this film: plant a thought in a target’s mind and have them believe it to be his own. The mark here is Cillian Murphy who stars as Robert Fischer, Jr., a corporate player who Saito (Ken Watanabe) would like taken out of his way. The payoff, if this expert in thought extraction could do it, would allow DiCaprio to return to the U.S. a free man. What has kept him out of the country, what has kept him away from his children, what has made him a wanted man, is left for us to discover in small bits and bites on the way through the subconscious of Fischer, Jr.. Using a team that’s assembled of people that has more in common with Hermes than they do with the usual action movie tropes of ragtag mercenaries they all seem more likely to unwind with a glass of wine than they do handling the weaponry that takes this movie from being a clever idea and makes it a clever idea that might be Nolan’s best one yet.

The literal cat and mouse game that ensues once we get the groundwork laid about what is real in this world, what its rules are, what is possible, is without question one that filmmakers have to look at and be amazed by. What Nolan was able to do with a supporting cast that includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Tom Hardy and Tom Berenger is something of an art itself. He was able to make every person earn the right to be on the screen and to harmoniously fit in with one another. There are no standouts, with the exception of DiCaprio’s sublime yet thunderous performance, and Tom Hardy’s real coming out party, per se but that’s the brilliance of the film. As a team they make up so much more than the sum of its parts. The synchronicity they share with one another makes this an uninterrupted experience unlike anything you’re likely to see.

What’s more, this film represents something about Nolan that many already know: he is passionate about telling a good story. Not just a story, but a good one. One that is airtight in its ability to thrill and excite you while also informing a part of human nature. All of his previous efforts are imbued with the small ways our humanity manifests itself in the acts of his protagonists and it’s no different here. Although, in this dream world the manifestations are literally interpreted on the screen, laying bare the psychoses that hobble everyone to some degree. Obviously here, a runaway train on the loose in a city street ought to be nothing less than spectacular if for no other reason than it is spectacular.

But Nolan doesn’t go the easy route as these visuals mean something more than what they are. Every piece of broken glass, every ice cold look from a passerby, they mean more than just what you’re seeing with your own eyes. The deception of inception is that everything is in front of you, nothing is hidden. Every question is answered and that’s the brilliance. What makes your mind hurt by the end of the film as you try and wrap your own sense of logic around what you’ve been presented is how it’s all right there to be interpreted. Lesser directors have made it an art form to hide its secrets, to throw out red herrings to toss you off its scent, but it’s the scent that means everything to Nolan as he made a world that feels too real.

It seems so simple that each and every one of us have a baseline with which to connect with this film. We all have to give in to our minds at night and at the very least allows for every person who sees this movie to understand, on some level, the totality of what’s going on. Examining the nature of memory was what made Marcel Proust such an unforgettable writer and it’s the very same thing that will make Christopher Nolan an unforgettable filmmaker.

Look Around You – DVD Review

A television show that jettisons you back to an age when classroom instruction meant listening to an old coot ramble on about things that seemed antiquated to even the most basic of thinkers, Look Around You is a show that really isn’t for everyone.

Who it is for, however, are those who like their comedy on the subtle side, the kind of funny that comes from the absurd. What writers Robert Popper and Peter Serafinowicz managed to do was bring a piece of scientific nostalgia from the past (think Bill Nye The Science Guy circa mid 1970’s) and give it a language all its own. Look Around You examines common, scientific topics like music, water or the brain in a way that feels like they’re coming at us from that time. From a narrative and editorial standpoint these episodes wouldn’t be nearly as funny until the very laws of logic are conveniently left out of the program’s creation.

Very much like what Tim and Eric have managed to do for many, many seasons on Adult Swim, Popper and Serafinowicz deny you any chance to ground this straightforward science show in any kind of reality at all. It’s the mixture of the brilliant attention to detail and the ways in which these topics are covered as if it’s the gospel’s truth that make this a show that’s a must-see for any fan of alternative comedy.

The joke isn’t that nothing is as it seems, this could be done by any fool looking to make fun of programming from when we were children, but that no one ever gives the punchline. It wants you to go halfway and meet it as an experiment, for example, on the brain ends with the brain in question being suspended in brine and hooked up to a telephone making a phone call to the experiment conducting scientist to say how many nuts are in a jar that’s sitting in front of it. It’s truly bizarre but it’s bold in that it never feels the need to accentuate anything, nothing that would let anyone know this is all a big put-on. The level of restraint shown on this program only shows how serious they were taking this premise, of crafting a very short program of bogus science information that’s presented as if it were the truth, is something I rarely see. Performers want to let the audience in, to get them in on the joke. Look Around You is amazing in that it doesn’t give you anything but situations that you can either take or leave. It’s up to you to find the humor in the situation and that’s more than anyone could ask for out of comedians operating on another level.

About the DVD:

Look Around You is the BAFTA-nominated comedy series based on the unforgettable Open University and Television for Schools programs of the1970s. Through a series of gloriously deadpan experiments, we observe a colony of ants build an igloo, receive a telephone call from abrain, discover why ghosts can’t whistle, and reveal the largest number in the world. Science has never been so silly.

Special Features –

Advanced double-length module: Calcium
Little Mouse: full-length pop video
New exclusive commentaries featuring Robert Popper, Peter Serafinowicz, Tim Kirkby, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Edgar Wright, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, and Tim & Eric
Little Mouse commentary by Jack Morgan (BSc)
Pages from Ceefax
Play-at-home quiz pages
Additional music by Gelg
Test card

July 16, 2010
Opinion In A Haystack: SHUTTER ISLAND

Plot Summary from IMDB:

It’s 1954, and up-and-coming U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels is assigned to investigate the disappearance of a patient from Boston’s Shutter Island Ashecliffe Hospital. He’s been pushing for an assignment on the island for personal reasons, but before long he wonders whether he hasn’t been brought there as part of a twisted plot by hospital doctors whose radical treatments range from unethical to illegal to downright sinister. Teddy’s shrewd investigating skills soon provide a promising lead, but the hospital refuses him access to records he suspects would break the case wide open. As a hurricane cuts off communication with the mainland, more dangerous criminals “escape” in the confusion, and the puzzling, improbable clues multiply, Teddy begins to doubt everything – his memory, his partner, even his own sanity.

****************MAJOR SPOILERS********************

Now that no one will partake in this review due to the spoilers I can pretty much be as candid as I want. It is quite a drag when you walk out of America’s greatest living filmmaker’s latest effort and all you can say is “It’s good, but lame.” Shutter Island is just that: good, but lame. Why good? Martin Scorsese’s style and ability to tell a story is just as sharp as ever. There is a lot of very effective, yet puzzling camera work, editing and story injections that feel fresh and give this movie the only leg it has to stand on. Why lame? We’ve seen it all before. Scorsese’s biggest flub here is simply using the source material (once again, I haven’t read it, but I’m going to assume.) He can try his best(est) to infuse all that beloved style into a giant hunk of yesterday’s rotted fruit, and the end product will still be moldy peaches.

If Dennis Lehane’s book is anything like the film, then I guess it’s the literary offspring of an orgy between The Wickerman (1973), David Fincher’s The Game, and M. Night Shyamalan’s entire cranium. It’s 2010 people”¦twists are lame, especially mental illness twists. I’m not being hard on the flick for plagiarism, not at all, what I am saying is that there isn’t one theme or story element in this entire production that we haven’t seen so many times before that they already haven’t been parodied. I guess the hope is that Shutter Island, with it’s cast and director reputation, will do a 180 on the parody/criticism and bring back these themes to being too legit to quit (no reference intended.)

Did no one on set ever see Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze’s brilliant Adaptation? Remember how one of the huge jokes in that movie was that Nic Cage’s character Donald Kaufman was a writing a script where a detective was chasing a serial killer and in the end it turns out that the killer is him, THE DETECTIVE!!! (WHAT A TWIST!) The joke was, if you didn’t get it, that twists like that are lame, lamer than lame even. It’s the whole stigma of the Hollywood “dream solution.” You can theoretically end every movie and TV show with the plot twist that it was all a dream/mental illness happening in a character’s head. It’s not creative; it’s stupid and disrespectful to the audience. Vanilla Sky was a pretty cool flick, all right up until we get “oh it was just a dream, everything you were invested in was nonsense”¦ok roll credits!” How about the ending of Roseanne or St. Elsewhere“¦so everything we were watching every week was just in someone’s head? THAN WHY TELL THE STORY! If anything, at least M. Night’s twists were marginally respectful to the investment the viewer put into his characters, with that said, he is almost single handedly responsible for making the “twist” lame, and he spent a whole decade making sure it stayed that way (and I like some of his work, but truth is truth.)

*********HERE COME THE MAJOR, MAJOR SPOILERS*******

So what’s the twist? What’s the dream? What is the obvious, makes-you-pray-while-watching-it-that-it’s-not-the-twist-twist? Leonardo’s character, a U.S. Marshall assigned to investigate the disappearance of a female inmate, responsible for murdering her three kids, is actually AN INMATE HIMSELF AND A MURDER AND THE FEMALE WAS HIS WIFE AND HE’S A GHOST!!! Ok, not a ghost, but the other parts are really the twist of the movie. Lame right? This movie’s plot twist would have been lame in the late “˜90s, now it’s just utterly pathetic.

What really hurts is that DiCaprio’s delusion, where there’s a conspiracy at the mental hospital in which it’s being controlled by Nazis/Communists who are turning people into crazy psychopathic “ghost” killers and releasing them back into society, is way more interesting than the outcome. Not to brag, but I could feel the twist coming from a mile away, so the movie had me sitting there, begging for it not to turn the corner and not to become a “dream solution.”

Enough whipping the movie for its twist, besides that, there is actually quite a lot to love. As I said above, Scorsese is still such a sharpened talent that he almost makes the film rise above its last act. There are quite a few scene’s of Teddy (DiCaprio) having flashbacks to his service in WW2 in which he witnessed, and participated in, the killing of several Nazi’s and the gruesome result of a concentration camp: train cargo cars overflowing with frozen, rotting Jewish innocents. These scenes are just as disturbing as one would assume due to the history, plus more on top due to how well they are handled. The good news is that these flashbacks are not “completely” part of the delusion. Basically Teddy was suffering from a pretty severe case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from WW2, which in turn led to him being an alcoholic, which in turn made him neglect the realization that his wife was mentally ill, which in turn led to her murdering their three children, at which point teddy has a fully formed mental breakdown and kills his wife which lands him in a criminally violent mental hospital for two years right up to when we, the audience, join the story. So, in Shutter Island‘s defense, some of his delusions are real, they are just scrambled up, him confusing his guilt of one thing for another.

The other saving grace is the cast. DiCaprio is in top form here and he really does one of the best jobs of his career in carrying a movie. Ten years ago I was not sold on DiCaprio, he was just a sellout pretty boy (it seemed,) but by now I am fully convinced of his chops, and am very much in support of his this constant, and fruitful, team-up of him and Scorsese. DiCaprio’s shining moment in the film, in my humble opinion, is a long conversation he has with the character George Noyce (Jackie Earl Haley, wonderful as always, in a bit part) in which he is trying to find the location, on the island, of his wife’s killer. Mark Ruffalo plays a pretty convincing sidekick and fellow U.S. Marshall through out the film, of course by the end we learn he’s actually Teddy’s primary care physician. Of course you can’t go wrong with Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow (better known as Brewmeister Smith to all you hosers,) two men so regal and talented in their delivery that they could make Dane Cook’s stolen jokes sound poetic. There’s even a very short, but pivotal, scene starring Elias Koteas (Casey Jones!) as a character completely cooked up by Teddy’s delusion. It’s a small scene, however it’s nice to see Koteas act under Scorsese, hopefully it won’t be the last time.

I’ll say this, I’m glad I saw the movie, lame twist and all, if not only for the acting and Scorsese’s direction. Is it worth the $87 ticket price (not adjusted for inflation)? No clue. However, while it’s lame, it’s less lame than most chick flicks. Seeing Nazis get brutally shot, even for only a minute, is way more satisfying, financially worthy, and cathartic than the banality of seeing a movie about Valentines Day.*

*If Garry Marshall’s Valentines Day is in anyway about Nazis or killing Nazis, I stand corrected. I haven’t seen it.

Thanks for reading, I’m Bob Rose, and this sentence is over.

February 19, 2010
Weekend Shopping Guide 6/05/09: You Can See My Back In That Shot

The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Quick Stop Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

(Please support Quick Stop by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)

When I was a young college freshman near the end of my first (and only) disastrous year at NYU, I was able to arrange for a press ticket to a taping of The Dana Carvey Show (Shout! Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$24.99 SRP). And then they say me up front. Way up front. In fact, you can see me during Carvey’s monologue in the 7th episode, which was also the last aired. You’ll find that episode, plus an unaired 8th, in the long-awaited DVD release. The show was hit and miss, but it had an almost literal ton of up-and-coming talent, including Stephen Colbert, Steve Carrell, Robert Smigel, Louis CK, Charlie Kaufman, and Dino Stamatopoulos. The set also contains an interview with Carvey & Smigel, plus deleted scenes.

For years and years and years, ever since I first saw one when I was a kid, I’ve wanted a book that opens up to reveal a cut-out hole. You know what I mean? The kind you could hide things in. Like a jewel. Or booze. Well, Thinkgeek now gives you that Book Vault ($34.99). You absolutely, positively know that you want one. How can you not? It’s a friggin’ book vault!

Another Pixar film in theaters means another eye-candy filled “Art Of” book, which is exactly what you get with The Art Of Up (Chronicle Books, $40.00 SRP). As usual, the hardcover tome is packed to the rafters with production artwork, designs, interviews, and more.

Forged in the fire of the Writers Strike of 2008, released on the internet to rabid fan acclaim, and long available on that selfsame net, everyday people can now get a copy of Joss Whedon’s online musical, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (New Video, Not Rated, DVD-$14.99 SRP) wherever they’d like. Bonus features include a musical studio commentary, a standard commentary, making-of featurettes, and Evil League Of Evil application videos.

Much of the comedy in Eddie Murphy’s game-changing stand-up concert Delirious (Entertainment Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$29.97 SRP) has not aged well, and some of it is just uncomfortable. Still, if you can get past those bumps in the road, there’s still a fair amount to laugh at. The 2-disc 25th anniversary edition contains additional footage, a making-of featurette, and an interview with Murphy.

It’s pure popcorn, but I think Air Force One (Sony, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$28.95 SRP) is the last great Harrison Ford movie. From that point forward, a once winning movie star couldn’t pick a solid project to save his life, steadily devolving into a caricature of himself. Ignore all those future failures and instead relive this last great one in full high definition, which ports over the audio commentary from the standard DVD release.

Another great flick making its transition to high definition is the Civil War epic Glory (Sony, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$28.95 SRP), which benefits from the audio/visual upgrade. It was a fine film to begin with, but the battle scenes have certainly been plussed. Bonus features carried over from the standard edition include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and featurettes, with the addition of a Blu-Ray exclusive virtual Civil War battlefield map.

I must admit, Revolutionary Road (Paramount, Rated R, DVD-$29.99 SRP) is a good film, but a very difficult one to make it through… Perhaps because the young 50’s couple we’re following (a reunited Leonardo DiCaprio & Kate Winslet) are coming apart at the suburban seams. Bonus features include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a pair of featurettes. A Blu-Ray edition ($39.99 SRP) is also available, with identical features.

June has become decidedly jazzy with a trio of deluxe Legacy Edition catalogue releases from Sony Music. First up is a 3-disc edition of Dave Brubeck’s Time Out (Sony Legacy, $24.98 SRP), containing the original album, se second disc with 3 years worth of live performances, and a DVD with performance footage, and interview with Brubeck, and a photo gallery. Next up is Charles Mingus’s Mingus Ah Um (Sony Legacy, $24.98 SRP), with 2-discs containing the original album, alternate takes, and bonus tracks. Finally, it’s Miles Davis’s Sketches Of Spain (Sony Legacy, $24.98 SRP), with the album, alternate takes, and bonus tracks. Sweet, daddy. Sweet.

Paramount isn’t the only one unleashing a tidal wave of Blu-Ray catalogue titles, as Universal dips into their extensive roster for a batch of their own, many of them must haves. So what does the batch consist of? Field Of Dreams, Fletch, Inside Man, Spy Game, Children Of Men, Seabiscuit, Bruce Almighty, and Cinderella Man (Universal, Rated PG/PG-13/R, Blu-Ray-$29.98 SRP each). Bonus features are identical to the standard editions, so the A/V upgrade is the big bonus here.

I still can’t fathom what people saw in the three flicks currently comprising the X-Men Trilogy (Fox, Rated PG-13, Blu-Ray-$79.98 SRP). They’re poorly written, badly acted, and in no way capture the source material. But people still saw them. In droves. And must have enjoyed them. No accounting for taste. For those that dug them, the trio – X-Men, X-Men 2, & X-Men: The Last Stand – are now available in a 9-disc Blu-Ray box set, porting over all of the bonus materials available in the standard editions.

Sergio Leone’s The Good The Bad And The Ugly (MGM/UA, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP) made an icon out of Clint Eastwood, and it gets a spiffy high definition treatment that translates all the grit quite nicely. The bonus features are a direct port of the excellent special edition DVD from a few years back, including audio commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, and the theatrical trailer.

Over 20 years after its single season run, The Jetsons returned to television with brand new episodes, the first 21 of which are being released as The Jetsons: Season 2 Volume 1 (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP). The 2-disc set also contains a featurette looking at the evolution of the series.

The BBC’s nature documentarians can always be counted on to deliver stunning visuals, and that’s certainly the case with Nature’s Most Amazing Events (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), which is 2-discs packed with exactly what it says on the tin. A Blu-Ray edition ($34.98 SRP) is also available, which cranks everything up with even more impressive high definition.

I can’t see William Conrad in the episodes features in Cannon: Season 2 Volume 1 (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$36.98 SRP) without thinking of all of the voice work he did on the Jay Ward cartoons of the 60’s, particularly Fractured Fairy Tales. The 3-disc set contains the first 12 episodes of season 2, plus episodic promos.

The movie’s a dud, but it’s still fun to flip through both Terminator Salvation: The Official Companion (Titan Books, $29.95 SRP) and its companion The Art Of Terminator Salvation (Titan Books, $35.00 SRP). Both are packed with plenty of photos, art, and info. Shame the movie couldn’t have been… you know… good.

Though often a director, I always get a kick out of Kenneth Branagh, the actor, who is in fine form in the UK series Wallander (BBC, Not Rated, DVD-$34.98 SRP), in which he stars as the titular Swedish detective. The 2-disc set features a trio of episodes, plus featurettes and a Branagh interview.

Surprisingly, Fargo (MGM/UA, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP) is still, I believe, the most successful, accessible Coen Brothers film. It’s not my personal favorite (hello, Hudsucker Proxy), but it is a quirky delight. And guess what? Now it’s available in high def, with an audio commentary, a featurette, and a trivia track.

The folks at Sesame certainly are pushing Abby Cadabra, aren’t they? The latest team up with their little red cash cow is Elmo And Abby’s Birthday Fun! (Genius, Not Rated, DVD-$14.93 SRP), where the duo travel to Fairy Tale Land to celebrate Little Red Riding Hood’s birthday.

Nancy Botwin moves her mini pot empire south of the border in the fourth season of Weeds (Lionsgate, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP), and the trip to Mexico doesn’t exactly make things easier – or safer. The 3-disc set features all 13 episodes, plus commentaries, featurettes, and a gag reel.

It’s not my cup of tea, but Army Wives (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$45.99 SRP) seems to have gotten traction with audiences in its second season, which arrives on a 5-disc set with featurettes, deleted scenes, and bloopers.

Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, and Jamie Bell star as a trio of simple farmhand brothers who goes up against the Nazis in Defiance (Paramount, Rated R, DVD-$29.99 SRP), a flick that was largely overlooked at the box office but makes for quite a good at-home watch. Bonus materials include an audio commentary, a quartet of featurettes, and more. A Blu-Ray edition ($39.99 SRP) is also available, with identical bonus features.

In Direct Contact (First Look Studios, Rated R, DVD-$28.98 SRP), Dolph Lundgren stars as an ex US Special Forces soldier whose imprisonment in Russia is lifted if he agrees to undertake a daring rescue – only to find out it was all a ruse, and means he’s now a pursued man. A Blu-Ray edition ($29.98 SRP) is also available.

So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…

-Ken Plume

##

June 5, 2009
Weekend Shopping Guide 2/20/09: Chefsapoppin’

The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Quick Stop Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…

It’s a shame that Gordon Ramsay is mostly known for the over-produced Hell’s Kitchen and Kitchen Nightmares when his UK output is so wonderfully engaging. Case in point – and well worth checking out – is his celebration of food, The F Word (BFS, Not Rated, DVD-$29.98 SRP), which finds Ramsay tackling a different menu item each week in his F Word restaurant, which also includes a celebrity component and trips into the field. Also, as a way of showing the viewers and his kids where the food on the dinner table comes from and give them more of an appreciation, a different animal each season is raised by the Gordon clan, and then served at the end of the season. This season found them raising six turkeys. The 3-disc set features all 7 episodes, but sadly no bonus features.

I should have spotlighted this last week with the re-released Back To The Future DVDs, but as there’s no time machine currently available, I’ll just have to let you know now about the pretty darn nifty Back To The Future license plate replica ($29.99 SRP). You probably don’t own a Delorean, but I’m sure it’ll look just fine on your beat up Toyota Camry. Just be sure you remember that it’s not legal to use it in place of your real plates.

One of the few shows I actively miss is Showtime’s late, lamented piece of macabre humor, Dead Like Me, about a group of “Reapers” tasked with delivering the souls of the just-about-to-be-deceased to the afterlife right before their often grisly deaths. If you’re unfamiliar with the show, the best way to go is the brand new Dead Like Me: Complete Collection (MGM, Not Rated, DVD-$69.98 SRP), which features not only the two seasons of the original run, but also the brand-new direct-to-video movie that picks up with the characters a few years down the line, and is good enough to leave me wanting more.

Some have attacked it as “snarky” or “one-sided”, but I’m not entirely sure what film they were seeing, as I found Bill Maher’s Religulous (Lionsgate, Rated R, DVD-$29.95 SRP) to be a pretty even-handed attempt to try and figure out what makes those of a religious bent believe the things they believe. All I can say is to give it a spin and come to your own conclusion. Bonus features include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a reel of Maher’s monologues from around the world.

Sleuthing angel of death Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury) returns to her suspicious ways in the complete ninth season of Murder She Wrote (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP). The 5-disc set features all 22 episodes. Be sure to see if you can figure out all the ways she committed the crimes.

Another week, another high definition catalogue upgrade – this time it’s the still great Boondock Saints (Fox, Rated R, Blu-Ray-$34.98 SRP). The special edition features a air of audio commentaries (the Billy Connolly one alone is worth the price of admission), deleted scenes, and outtakes.

The fifth season of Sabrina The Teenage Witch (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$39.98 SRP) finds our rapidly aging lead entering college and rooming with Punky Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye). Oh, Punky. The 3-disc set features all 22 episodes.

I know it’s been praised and it has quite a pedigree, but I found Changeling (Universal, Rated R, DVD-$29.98 SRP) – the true story of a mother (Angelina Jolie) whom police reunite with her kidnapped son, against her protestations that the boy is not her real child – to be a turgid, airless affair for so interesting a conceit. Maybe director Clint Eastwood’s minimalism found a flick that was calling out for a little more oomph. Bonus materials include an in-depth featurette on Eastwood and Jolie, and a look at the real Christine Collins.

It’s not one of his better films, but there’s enough Friday-night popcorn thriller energy to Ridley Scott’s Body Of Lies (Warner Bros., Rated R, DVD-$34.99 SRP) to make it worth a look-see. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as a CIA agent on the hunt for a terrorist, whose search is orchestrated by an agent back at the home office (Russell Crowe). What unfolds is your basic “Who do you trust?” thriller. Bonus features include an audio commentary, additional scenes, and featurettes. A Blu-Ray edition ($35.99 SRP) is also available with identical bonus features, plus BD Live capabilities.

Barbra Streisand’s directorial opus Yentl (MGM, Rated PG, DVD-$29.99 SRP) arrived back on DVD in a new 2-disc edition, featuring a brand new extended director’s cut, an introduction from Barbra, audio commentary, deleted scenes, featurettes, Streisand’s 8mm concept film, galleries, and more.

Equal parts Losin’ It and American Pie, Extreme Movie (Genius, Not Rated, DVD-$19.95 SRP) is an attempt by a crapload of writers to make an over-the-top flick about a group of teenagers making that oh-so-important transition into manhood – mostly involving awkwardness and midgets. Bonus features include an audio commentary and a making-of featurette.

They’re certainly not his finest or most memorable films, but Warners has decided to dip into the vaults for what its branding as the “Paul Newman Film Series”. The five films being released are The Helen Morgan Story, The Silver Chalice, When Time Ran Out, Rachel, Rachel, and The Outrage (Warner Bros., Not Rated/Rated PG/Rated R, DVD-$19.98 SRP each). Don’t expect gems, but they’re good to have out, nonetheless.

The High School Musical hubbub leaves me cold, but I know there are easily dozens of teens that will eagerly snap up the big screen iteration of the quickly aging teens’ tuneful adventures, High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Walt Disney, Rated G, DVD-$34.99 SRP). The 3-disc set features an extended cut of the movie, deleted scenes, cast goodbyes, a sing along, bloopers, and more. A Blu-Ray edition ($39.99 SRP) is also available, which adds exclusive senior awards and cast profiles. If that weren’t enough, fans can also pick up the Blu-Ray edition of the original High School Musical: Remix Edition (Walt Disney, Not Rated, Blu-Ray-$34.99 SRP).

I really wanted to like the adaptation of Toby Young’s How To Lose Friends & Alienate People (MGM, Rated R, DVD-$27.98 SRP) – about a British journalist eager to rub elbows with celebrities yet loves to expose them – if only because the book was a good read and the film stars Simon Pegg and Jeff Bridges. But what I found was viewing experience best summed up by the word “flat”. Sad, really. Bonus features include audio commentaries and a making-of featurette.

The Clampett’s adventures in the land cement ponds continues in the full, official, and sparkling release of the complete third season of The Beverly Hillbillies (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP). Ignore all of those awful collections of public domain episodes and support the continued release of these official versions. The 5-disc set features all 34 episodes, plus a featurette, original episode sponsor openings and closings, and a photo gallery.

We’ve finally caught up with the current season with the release of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 8 (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP). The 5-disc set contains all 22 episodes, but there’s not a single bonus feature in sight.

So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…

-Ken Plume

##

February 20, 2009