It’s a dogs life in Lady and the Tramp, and although that seems obvious, it’s the design that makes such an idea work. One of Disney’s more well known illusions sets the point of view low, or where appropriate, higher. It depends on the positions of the dogs, not the human characters, hence why there are numerous viewpoints of animated human legs.

This is of course crucial, almost making it seem sensible that dogs can talk. This is their world, shared through their eyes and their problems. Disney’s story avoids a “fish out of water” approach, even if there literally is a fish out of water during the Siamese cat sequence. Lady, voiced with such warmth and sincerity by Barbara Luddy is an honest, strong willed dog, inadvertently broken down by the outside world.

Lady and the Tramp, at times, feels forced, or maybe obligated if the word fits better. Struggling to find closure, the feature pushes forward with a glowing-eyed rat and shadowy dog catcher as if each Disney feature of the day needed something villainous. Whereas prior entries naturally built a narrative around the idea of a dangerous entity (even one off screen in Bambi), here it feels sudden and necessitated because it’s the popular thing to do.

The film finds conflict where it doesn’t feel warranted. With the energy of Tramp, the sweetness of the romance, and heart-wrenching feelings of being ignored, there’s enough to build a stable flow and push Lady out onto the streets for her freedom adventure. Even with the heavy dramatic shift, little is lost. Walt’s admiration for dogs is evident as they’re captured with their own subtle quirks, mannerisms, and movements. They’re as individualized as humans.

What matters is that even with their anthropomorphic movements and sturdy grasp of the English language, they remain dogs. There’s no attempt to take it any further or humanize them. They remain a dog in a humans world, something always around to remind a viewer of their place. Side characters are the only ones allowed to break that rule, i.e., the clever beaver who becomes thrilled with his new “log pulling” device.

Lady and the Tramp is simply smart. How it’s presented, animated, and colored is across the board brilliant, the end product of animation geniuses in their prime. The eventual sequel serves as a direct comparison, with it disillusioned design and immersion breaking visual style. That’s what happens when this story loses all of its subtlety, and thankfully, the original will continue to exist.

Movie ★★★★☆ 

Disney’s process in bringing their animated classics to reinvigorated life on Blu-ray involves a skillful application of DNR. The idea is to preserve the animation as cells, not film, hence the elimination of grain. The idea has opponents, while the masses viewing the end results were typically too floored by the quality to care (and rightfully so). Lady and the Tramp marks the first time the process seems obvious. It’s not glaring or applied in a slip shod manner. It’s more subtle than that, relegated to shots where the animated part of the frame slips into the background.

That’s where fine lines begin to wash themselves out, lacking the precision the pencil sketch and coloring would usually still hold. This isn’t a matter of softness so much as it is a loosely defined, almost watercolor-like look. It’s simply not there in close where Lady is as pure, crisp, and resolved as anything else Disney has produced. Maybe “unclean” is the best way to describe it, unnatural for animation of the period, and an entirely digital application.

What effect does it have on the viewing experience? For most, probably none. The generous saturation, brightness, and beautiful paint strokes that build the backdrop of this romanticized world leaps from the screen. Detail within Disney’s classic animation is all about the backgrounds, flooded with minor quirks, additions, and imagination. For as much work would go into motion, an equally keen eye was given to where that movement would play out. This AVC encode captures that concept marvelously.

As per the expectation, the video presentation hits all of the usual aspects on the head. The nighttime romp that leads to Luigi’s diner is bathed in heavy contrast from light sources and depth generating blacks. Color springs to new, HD life, all controlled without exaggeration. Compression is never a factor, even within the chaotic action or chases. Disney pushes out another winner, even if their tricks are beginning to show.

Video ★★★★☆ 

Remastered into a DTS-HD 7.1 track, this is more of an accentuation or expansion of the original audio. The purists are given a nod via a 3.0 uncompressed track which carries the same fidelity and life. The wider mix spaces the film beyond the 2D origins, such as the train as Tramp is first introduced. A camera pan winds down to his sleeping quarters near the tracks, the engine leaving the station in the left stereo.

The same goes for the music, one of the most memorably melodic of the golden age features. From the drums in “We Are Siamese” to the piano cues within the main score, this is a pristine, fluid presentation. A sweep into the surrounds is handled deftly, and in a way that brings the music new life. Dialogue carries a vintage scratchiness, enough to lend it age and character, without losing the purity.

Audio ★★★★★ 

Little has been discovered or found in the Disney archives, at least if the slate of bonus features is to believed. The Blu-ray houses an inviting chat with Diane Miller Disney as she remembers her fathers life during the creation of Lady and the Tramp, put together alongside Disneyland. Three deleted scenes also include a newly done recording of a deleted song which never made it that far originally. Disney’s Second Screen support is here too for iOS and PC users.

Everything else is hauled over from DVD editions, including the hour long making-of and 13-minute visit with storyboards. Lady was planned for 1943, and that version is partially reconstructed via storyboards in a separate feature. An alternate recording of the Siamese song is included, and the fun Puppypedia has Fred Willard looking at the various species of dogs. Excerpts from the TV show Disneyland are shown in brief, while another cycle of (different) deleted scenes include introductions. A music video and BD-Live freshen things up before the bonus menu expires.

Extras ★★★★☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Lady and the Tramp Diamond Edition Review

Son of No One paints a grim picture of post 9/11 NYPD. The lockers are littered with graffiti, they’re run down, dimly lit, and everyone speaks with hard F-bombs. Never mind the general disrespect, since Son of No One portrays them as idiots.

It’s hard to imagine there’s any credibility in these images when street cops put two street brawlers together in the back of the same squad car, and uncuffed. Because, clearly, that situation will alleviate itself on the way to the station. Once there, they begin treating suspects like animals, letting them fight for their own amusement, until a Captain steps in if only to prevent murder. Marion Mathers (Ray Liotta) seems to take in as much joy from the rumble as everyone else.

Even the gist of the film, someone writing letters to a reporter about two unsolved murders back in the ’80s is littered with stupidity. No one has the good sense to fingerprint the notes, and instead, what unravels is endless questions, suspects, and death. All of this because the identity of the writer isn’t known, yet it could have been in a matter of minutes.

Son of No One is almost effortlessly stupid, so naïve about its own ignorance that it drives along as if there’s nothing wrong. Dramatic musical cues ratchet up non-tension, and character back stories qualify as nothing short of drivel. One wonders why there’s even a loose 9/11 connection, as if it adds anything to the dramatic weight.

Internal conflict becomes the sole narrative punch, Johnathan White (Channing Tatum) forever living in guilt from his upbringing in the projects. He was the killer, inadvertently as those murders may have been back when he was 12-ish. Yet, despite knowing the witnesses, he only bothers to question one of them. There wouldn’t be a movie if asked both, but then again, there’s not much of one here anyway.

Movie ★★☆☆☆ 

Anchor Bay dishes out a pleasing encode of a clean film source, so at the very least, this cop drama has something going for it. A grain structure is in place, resolved with a general purity and natural texture. There’s never a sense this isn’t film, even as the focus seems to shift wildly during certain scenes. Even then, grain remains grain-like, never noisy or mushy.

Preserving the film stock means preserving the high-fidelity detail that goes along with it. Close-ups are intricate and refined, pleasing to view in HD. Facial definition is extreme if a little on the inconsistent side. Again, that shifting focus makes things a little wonky in spots. Those instances are few, and Son of No One is generally a sharply appealing stunner.

Aiding the look are rich black levels, which even in the darkest environments still produce necessary depth. They never lose their grip, adding the all-important dimensionality to a disc that is pouring it on. A rich contrast situates itself on the other side, especially dominating during some exteriors. Aside from irritating flicker during some aerials, said scenes outdoors are immense.

This cold, sometimes lifeless color palette isn’t terribly distracting. If anything, holding back on the flesh tones, warming them up only in specific circumstances, benefits the pale narrative. Nothing here swerves into a generic realm; merely realistic with a little life sapped out of it.

Video ★★★★☆ 

Nothing gives this mix any energy, so basic and droll it’s amazing anything slips out from the center. Come to think of it, not much does. A chance for ambiance inside the office of the reporter, namely elevated trains passing by, split the stereos evenly. There’s not even an attempt to separate.

With almost no action, the drama is purely talkative. In the barren halls of the project apartments, even the thought of an echo is too much. This TrueHD mix just sits without ever moving. Dialogue is consistent without any obvious flubs or audible ADR, and the balance isn’t difficult to maintain. Gunshots are drab enough that there is little opportunity for a volume spike.

Audio ★★★☆☆ 

Director, writer, producer Dito Montiel and editor/executive producer Jake Pushinsky offer a commentary, a highlight since there’s hardly anything else. A slim selection of deleted scenes and a trailer are it otherwise.

Extras ★☆☆☆☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

The Son of No One Review

Dream House isn’t just inept, it’s downright handicapped. Produced with a story that hinges on a botched contract killing, it’s a wonder how no one, anywhere on the crew or cast, didn’t think this through. What hired gun goes into a contract without ever seeing a picture of the victim? What disgruntled husband gives vague directions like, “second house on the right?” Does the home in question not come equipped with a number?

By that point of Dream House it’s all but over anyway. Whatever interest was generated by a twisty second act has long since been lost. At 90-minutes, this should come across as a punchy, precise thriller. Instead, it carries the mental length of a three-hour epic as Daniel Craig seems bored as the static family man, pulling the same coy, reserved performance usually reserved for his controlled heroes.

The entire second half begins to contradict the first, one of those narratives that could have been cleaned up if just one person spoke the truth. Somehow, someone found that to be smart screenwriting. A eventual reveal of the truth has protagonists willing expressing their mistake from five years prior, and right in front of the people who could condemn them in court. Its exposition the piece wasn’t wise enough to squeeze in anywhere else.

Dream House likes to pile on distracting events and curve balls to avoid playing its hand, but instead creates mounting confusion or clear signs that it’s all just a play on the audience. What cop would casually drive away from a home that was nearly driven through by a madman just because the owner was in a panic? Isn’t that something that requires a report? Dream House does stuff like that, even if it’s just for the hell of it, as if that builds any sense of mystery. All it really does is solidify the stupid.

There is a premise here; the idea, if nothing else, is uniquely structured and potentially powerful. It’s one of those that needs a distinctive presentation, careful planning, and less alienating gimmicks. There’s a reason why the film doesn’t want to know the truth, but none for why the characters can’t reveal it.

Movie ★☆☆☆☆ 

When it’s all said and done, there’s a likely reason the first half of Dream House looks like an absolute wreck. That something is spoileriffic, although even when all is revealed, it doesn’t quite click as it should have. On the disc, direction Jim Sheridan discusses his penchant for physical effects, yet the entirety of the first 45-minutes are bathed in clear digital manipulation. This soft, flat, and smooth appearance makes it seem as if Universal’s DNR button had been installed in the new release department as well as the catalog room. Grain is rendered obsolete.

It doesn’t help that Sheridan’s chosen look is an illogical, stingy orange and teal, turning these otherwise beautiful snow covered exteriors into something that looks like they’ve been covered with blueberry Kool-Aid. Flesh tones are obnoxiously orange and the smoothing makes people appear as if they’re comprised of chalk. Primaries feel stifled and rarely have a chance to escape. How not lovely.

By the time the back half allows a different visual precedent to take over, much of the visual appeal has been lost. Facial detail is finally a presence, even if it’s all over the place in terms of consistency. Certain close-ups are mesmerizing in their ability to resolve the finest textures. Medium shots never quite find a comparable groove, although long shots of the home offer some pleasant resolution.

Black levels get a pass here, capable and respectful of shadow detail. Contrast works the other half with only a marginal bite, white feeling a little clipped for the sake of the obnoxious color palette. The VC-1 encode keeps itself on the high end of the compression spectrum, never producing any visible signs of its existence. The translation to disc doesn’t seem to be at fault, at least not in any obvious form.

Video ★★★☆☆ 

Other than a few lines of clearly dubbed in dialogue from Daniel Craig, Dream House maintains a clear path to its center-focused lines. Aside from moments where the stereos are employed to spread things out, there’s little going on of note.

The DTS-HD mix is then saving for the finale, a fire fueled bass-fest. Flames sprout up with an intense low-end roar, a lighter, gentler rumble keeping them active. Eventually, there are explosions, a house shaking type of moment that’s hard not to appreciate. Crisping interiors capture a precise placement of the fire, burning walls and the like crackling in each channel.

Everything else is typical, a moment of ambiance here and a broken branch as someone is sneaking around the house popping into the right rear. Elements play well with each other and the dry score doesn’t carry much oomph. It hits when it counts.

Audio ★★★★☆ 

Burning Down the House marks the first bonus, a brief three-minute tour of the finale and the controls put in place to keep safe. The Dream Cast is a documentary about Sega’s final video game console… err,  it just praises Craig and others for six minutes. Building the Dream House details the complex construction of the home in its various forms. It’s the best thing here at five and half minutes. A Look Inside is nothing more than a promo.

A trailer, D-Box support, and BD-Live access are left.

Extras ★★☆☆☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Dream House Review

Hugo (Asa Butterfield) inhabits a clock tower, spending his days scrounging for food amidst a bustling Paris train station, and fixing the multitude of gears, clocks, and winding mechanisms. It’s a depressing cry for help in a way, forever seeking a connection with his dead father, and a means of keeping that family life alive internally.

Hugo also has a complex, involved automaton. Purposes for the metal machine only become clear later, and when they’re in view, it’s more than Hugo himself could have hoped for. The reality is, for all of its emotional weight and orphaned survival, Hugo is biographical. In regards to who becomes the central driving force.

It’s all too easy to write Hugo off in the first act. After all, it seems little is happening as the kid scrambles from one place to another, under the watchful eye of a dry, almost heartless security officer. There’s something that pulls the viewer in, enough to hook a movie lover in it’s midst where it won’t let go: the visuals.

This isn’t a superficial set designers dream. From the ground up, Hugo was imagined in three dimensions, and that’s clear even in the flat canvas of 2D. This is more than bland objects being scattered around the screen, but a series of angles, consistently applied foreground focus, and a directorial style pushes the actors into a stern, centralized look into the lens. You feel as if Ben Kingsley is involved in a stare down with yourself.

Eventually, Hugo weaves its story, intertwined within this magical, imaginative fairy tale as much as it is with film’s humble beginnings as an art form. Those who have studied the origins will catch on quicker than others, while a general mainstream audience might learn something. Who knew film studies could be woven into such a grand piece of entertainment?

The masterstroke goes to author Brian Selznick, who not only delivered the book this is based on, but did so for children. Most kids don’t even understand the concept of the early silents, let alone they existed. Black & white is likely a foreign concept in and of itself, so to take that and help it appeal to that demographic is giving the younger set the credit they deserve.

That’s another reason Hugo is such a tremendous success; it’s appealing to all. The best kids films always are, and Scorsese does it without babbling sidekicks or a Disney-like demeanor. Paramount’s healthy, seemingly unrestrained budget lets Hugo create a personalized sense of identity, one that scholars will dissect as time moves on, if they haven’t already.

Movie ★★★★★ 

The stand out for Hugo are, undoubtedly, the environments. None flash by without something to take note or, whether that be a movie poster, book, toy, brick structure, or gear. Nothing is lost within these power visuals, the type of material that can define a format, or in this case, Blu-ray. That first visit to Ben Kingsley’s toy shop is extraordinary, littered and busy with junk or rundown products. It’s magnificent, textured, and virtually punches any doubters square in the face.

More impressively, it handles all of this without any mistakes. With a litany of reference exteriors and clicking gears, Hugo never once shows weakness. Fine lines never fall victim to aliasing, and glamorous pans across city skylines never bother themselves with flicker. Even amongst the darkest interiors, this remains a clean, clear presentation. It’s as if digital never once heard of low light noise.

Even in close, this mightily textured world reproduces an astonishing level of facial detail. Even with the youngest members of the cast, their faces carry easily discernible, natural definition. Period clothing, with heavy wool and other thickly defined materials shine in HD, even in medium shots where the facial detail takes on a mildly disappointing smoothness. It’s not so much this disc as it is the source photography.

If anything here misses a mark -and widely so- it’s the lifeless color palette. While the golden hues give the piece a majestic, fantastical quality, they’re backed by deadened blues. Hugo looks no different than any other Michael Bay blockbuster, and that’s a depressing shame. There’s no reason for orange & teal domination to carry the entirety of the piece. What makes sense during those dramatic lows doesn’t suit the brightened highs.

Clips from silent films, painted frame by frame by hand, have more artistic flair than Hugo’s miserable blanket look. While clearly no fault of the home media in question, it can certainly dull the urge to display the film as a demo or reference, when clearly, it could have been. That’s not to say this needed to be brilliantly vibrant every second of its existence, but a dash of another primary certainly would have helped. Instead, it feels woefully uninspired, and that (clearly) isn’t something associated with Hugo.

Video ★★★★☆ 

For whatever minor failings can be associated with the video, they all but evaporate when considering the audio. A true award winner that produces a sense of place, space, and fluidity, every ounce of precision afforded to this DTS-HD 7.1 mix is graciously taken. Set in motion within the world of clocks and thus clicking gears, every interior of the station will reproduce something that requires attention. This is evident before the company logos stop their march across the screen.

Hugo moves into a master shot of the station, busy travelers panning to the sides and flawlessly behind as the virtual camera pushes forward. For all that the visuals do to set scale, the expansiveness of the audio does it better. There’s a sense of constant width and depth that even with 3D, isn’t complete without the aural qualities. In 2D, it feels necessitated.

The myriad of chases leads to an increase in saturation, a particularly tense one involving the kids almost silent until the panic sets in. The flood of adults begins to swell until it encompasses all of the soundfield for the rest of the scene. Subtle cues, including a high exterior on a clock, is given dramatic tension as the winds pick up, and not in a traditional, swirling way. The effect isn’t supposed to be noticed so much as it’s supposed to be absorbed.

The only dramatic disappointment is a train crash, a replication of a true life event in which the vehicle bursts from the upper floor of the station through the window. Bass is seemingly forgotten, yet it was there when the engines were droning on seconds ago. One can logically assume a train that falls 20 or so feet onto concrete will deliver a bit of a thump. This mix doesn’t think so. That said, when you’re only missing one cue in all of this bliss, you’re excused.

Audio ★★★★★ 

It’s a shame Hugo died at the box office. There’s such a wealth of material that could be pulled from the creation, and instead, Paramount slaps this one together to push it out the door just to get it over with. Shoot the Man, the generic making-of, is padded with footage from the main feature and is overly promotional. The Cinemagician focuses on the silent filmmaker the film becomes semi-biographical about (no spoilers needed here).

The Mechanical Man details the impressive creation of a key character in the film, an entirely gear-controlled automaton. Big Effects, Small Scale looks at the miniature creation for the train crash. Sacha Baron Cohen: Role of a Lifetime is a fluff piece on Cohen, and in-character. In total, there’s maybe an hour of content, but little of it is memorable or worth your time.

Extras ★★☆☆☆ 

Full disclosure: This Blu-ray was provided to us for review. This has not affected the editorial process. For more information on how we handle review material, please visit our about us page to learn more.

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Hugo Review

Foreign film fans dread the word “Americanization,” so much so that it might as well be four-letters long and be referring to their mothers, and that’s more mature than what happened to Project A.

This is an ’80s martial arts dream project, Jackie Chan teamed with Sammo Hung and Biao Yuen for a bit of seafaring escapism. Then, in comes an American distributor who slashes the opening credits to replace them with an an embarrassing CG pirate flag, cuts out the entirety of the soundtrack to replace it with shameless, lifeless synth, and dubs it with the most hackneyed accents possible.

Oh, and there are fight scenes cut. Seriously.

The logic is mind-boggling, especially since most translations end up slashing dialogue or trimming some of the fat from the narrative, but no. Project A suffered the elimination of its hallmark, its bread and butter, and as distressing as it is, quite a bit of its entertainment value.

Narrative be damned, Project A fumbles from one scene to next, its fun, lively Navy vs. cop struggle utilized for all its worth until it turns into a confusing mis-mash of character criss-crossing. In come stolen guns, pirates, shady characters, convicted murderers, and players who change sides with alarming frequency.

Some of that lies direct in Project A’s lap, while the rest is in the hands of the carefree dubbing. What can be destroyed, at least not with any totality, are the fights… err, the ones that remain anyway. With free-for-alls that are crafted entirely for their scale beginning with a vicious piece of mayhem in a bar and concluding with a wacky pirate conflict, nothing Project A does feels miniscule. Falls are tremendous: off balconies, through tables, onto upright chairs, and most memorably, from the face of a clock.

Chan’s insistence on paying tribute to the grand clock hanging from Harold Llyod’s Safety Last resulted in Chan performing the stunt three times, without wires, and without padding. Of course, the American cut excises the third attempt from the end credits, because who would want to see that?

When it’s untouched, the magic of Project A just glistens, including a meticulously crafted bike chase/brawl that is simply unimaginable if you’re not in the mind of these action stars. The free-flowing editing keeps each stunt in line and logical, a hallmark of any Chan-related fight sequence. In its purest form, Project A ranks amidst Chan’s/Hung’s/Yuen’s most eclectic, energetic, and aggressive. Truncated? It’s stunted and restricted, and that’s not fair.

Movie ★★★★☆ 

Because the Stateside treatment can actually get worse, there’s this AVC encode from Echo Bridge who clearly care about the content as much as Miramax did when they licensed it. Crushed onto a single disc four pack, compression runs rampant, reaching ludicrous levels within darker environments. In Project A, there are a lot of nighttime or dim interiors.

The first 10-minutes are a tragic mess, saddled with a case of judder before moving into the bar where a blue scratch runs through most of the scene. Even when the print is stable, it’s been haphazardly handled with excessive damage and little to no concern has been made towards keeping it intact. This has clearly been sourced from aged elements, and mastered as rapidly as it could be cranked out.

Colors overstep their boundaries with bleeding primaries and overly rich flesh tones. When it doubt, take the easiest way out to make it appear lively apparently. Black levels are domineering too, forging ahead and forgetting that shadow detail is actually allowed to exist. While not readily apparent, it’s likely there some contrast boosting applied too. That would explain the elevated, aggressive grain which doesn’t seem logical even from a low level film stock. It’s made all the worse by the suffocating encode that clumps it all together.

Project A’s North American HD debut is one step shy of a total loss. Appreciable detail is left, just spotty. Resolution boosts this presentation over muddier, lower res DVD counterparts for sure, even if it can be called a minimalist boost. Sweaty close-ups will reproduce individual beads of sweat, and pores squeeze their way through the swarming encode on a few occasions to find a way out of their confines. It’s not enough to give it a pass, but at least there’s a sense that if a caring studio lands this one, future editions could shine.

Video ★★☆☆☆ 

Audio materials are in better condition than the visual brethren, maintained without any flagrant errors, unless of course the dubbing is personally considered an error. It should be. Anyway, pushing rants to the side, fidelity is crisp, letting dialogue out without any scratchiness or skips. Even if it’s clearly not natural, the dubbed words sound in place, not studio recorded as so many of these tend to be.

A handful of explosions fill the space afforded to this DTS-HD 2.0 mix, while other directional effects are meager at best. Fights situate themselves evenly with limited directionality even as objects like barrels roll on by. Crowds are contained and shattering glass or stray objects never break out. It’s mediocre, but considering all else, that’s not such a defect.

Audio ★★★☆☆ 

Project A is given multiple commentaries, lush retrospectives with all involved, and a full slate of trailers.

Oh, wait, sorry. That was in a fantasy land where someone cared to give this film the special edition it deserves. There’s nothing here at all actually.

Extras ☆☆☆☆☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Project A Review

In an era of internet-spawned projects, Scarlet Worm is a stand out. Six strangers are brought together by their love of film over the ‘net, drive cross-country to take up residence in a foreclosed home, pool together whatever money they had, and made a movie.

If you don’t know that, you’ll probably wonder why the brothel is clearly just a barn with a few sacks laid over it as décor. That would be because all of the interiors take place in one single location, just decorated to match the needs of the scene. You have actors who are reading lines (not acting them), and the no-budget stylings that even student films might scoff at.

For all of that, there’s still something here, the vintage Western narrative able to weave between the flubs, slap dash locations, and hard to swallow performances. It’s all held down by Aaron Stielstra, playing an aging hired gun who believes in his actions, going so far as to take pride in how they’re performed. They’re legendary, Print (Stielstra) making a name as he stuffs his victim in the carcass of a cow, a death fitting the crime.

His mistake, unknowingly, is taking on a young apprentice, hot headed and seemingly lacking the mindset. They’re pushed into action to take down an unflinching brothel owner, one that aborts his clienteles babies in a fashion barely deemed acceptable in the old west. Scarlet Worm depicts everything with a vicious attitude and unflinchingly graphic style.

That’s part of the problem too, the gore overstepping boundaries, even if that is to assume there were any. Filmmakers here want to show it because those artists of years prior did so without ever considering if it was necessary. An aborted fetus surely has more impact as an unseen entity, not blatantly staged for multiple edits.

There’s a lot of that in Scarlet Worm, two of the prostitutes carrying on their morning conversation in the nude as if it adds anything to the feel. Then again, anything to save on wardrobe costs.

Regardless of its motives, the film brings back a style lost, a steady camera willing to savor the sights, even if they’re puny in scale. To Scarlet Worm, that doesn’t matter. It’s a labor of love, working within its constraints to tell a rich, winding story. After all, that’s what film is for in the first place, production values be damned.

Movie ★★★☆☆ 

Shot on digital, there’s an attempt at style that never comes across. The brutal, white-out inducing contrast does more to hide the meager scale than add visual flair. Everything feels blown out, a blistering heat insinuated, if never actually found.

Scarlet Worm will suffer from a little of everything, from compression that ranges between YouTube to standard cable down to murky, imprecise medium shots. Close-ups seem to hit their mark later, the first half rendering fine detail lost to the contrast and general blandness of the camera’s capabilities.

The encode to Blu-ray itself doesn’t produce any substantial concerns. The AVC codec here is healthy, beefy, and more than adequate to handle the material as presented. That leaves those compression complaints solely on the source. Saturation is bright, save for some flashbacks that tinge themselves a distinctive shade of sepia.

There also seems to be some type of filter employed, a bizarre haze that gives the piece the look of a watercolor. At least, that’s seems to be the intent. The reality is that it looks more like a smudged lens. Whatever the case, this was never going to be much of a looker in terms of fidelity. That’s the nature of shooting on this type of scale. In terms of Blu-ray though, there’s not much here to see.

Video ★★☆☆☆ 

The disc simply crumbles when it comes to audio, the Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo as dry, flattened, and scratchy as possible. Without true sound design, Scarlet Worm captures almost everything directly on set, which means background noise is constant, and ambient sounds are a bother. Dialogue is tough to discern, if not lost entirely to the muffled, unclean nature of the recording.

Again, it’s all to be expected. At the very least, there’s a sense of directionality when the guns start firing off. The stereo effect is there, if a little lost in the shuffle so to speak. Gunfire is dulled to a bare minimum. Even releasing this uncompressed won’t save it.

Audio ★★☆☆☆ 

There’s a firm level of involvement in the extras from those who created the piece, going so far as to record two commentary tracks. Writer David Lambert joins most of the tiny cast for the first, with actors/producer Mike Malloy and Eric Zaldivar take the reigns of the second chat. Of Worms and Dogs is a brief making-of that reveals the story of how this came together with plenty of random snippets inserted as people have fun behind the scenes. A string of trailers remain.

Extras ★★★☆☆ 

Full disclosure: This Blu-ray was provided to us for review. This has not affected the editorial process. For more information on how we handle review material, please visit our about us page to learn more.

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Scarlet Worm Review

You have to appreciate a film like this, one that’s doing nothing else other than biding its time so it can avoid showing the creature. It’s not as if it has a budget to do much else. Excitement is generated from a toothy tadpole attack at a senior dinner party and the youngest cast member sitting in a basement, staring at it off-screen monster. The latter seems to take up 45-minutes real time.

The kid is stunned though, showing signs of cheap craftsmanship and puzzle solving on the part of the filmmakers. After all, what other excuse is there to show a woman’s decapitated head lying on the ground with flesh begin ripped off?

Is Deadly Spawn gratuitous? In the best way possible. The movie loves blood, at least as far as the budget allows it to. The alien creature, a denizen born from a stray meteorite, is a goofy, red teething monstrosity. Whatever flaws exist in the suit or the puppet driven heads are masked by the teeth… so many teeth.

This creature feature creeps along, almost entirely in one home, as teenagers and a young horror fan slam doors on the alien. They rant a bit, talk over each other, freak out, and scream. That’s all there is, but that’s also taking this sub $20,000 monster mash too literally.

Deadly Spawn acts as an entry gate into the realm of no-budget horror, a genre where even the hilariously campy Critters is considered too grandiose for inclusion. Appreciation doesn’t come from the pacing, litany of no-name actors, or cinematography. Enjoyment isn’t even “spawned” from the B-movie antics. It’s being able to piece together that somewhere cared, knew what they were doing, and had a memorable ride making it.

That’s how the props in the bedroom, from posters of Beast from 20,000 Fathoms to Green Slime and Famous Monsters magazines, become a show of class. Maybe it’s not class in the strictest sense, but there’s nothing here that’s mocking sci-fi/horror icons so much as Deadly Spawn has every intention to show them a layer of respect.

Lo and behold, almost 30-years later, Deadly Spawn is still around, still finding fans, and still seeing re-release. You can’t say the same for the cycle of modern Asylum schlockbusters being shopped around based on their marketable cheese. Those films, if they even deserve such a moniker, are cranked out en masse to meet loosely defined deadlines. Deadly Spawn is a labor of love.

Movie ★★★☆☆ 

The slip inside The Deadly Spawn Blu-ray contains the following quote from producer Ted A Bohus: “… we probably used a dozen film stocks. So the color imperfections and grain you see is due to the pre-print material.”

That would be all well and good if there was a visible grain structure. Even the cheapest 16 mm stocks will exhibit some form of gritty appearance, yet there’s nothing here. Two reasons exist for that, the first being a woefully crunched AVC encode. There are DVD editions with better bitrates than this. With some fluctuation to account for, it’s never enough to appease the frame, with compression introducing a staggering amount of artifacts, mosquito noise, and image break-up.

Non-existence reason number two? DNR. Not a single frame goes by where digital manipulation doesn’t come into play. Faces and skin have a unmistakable flat, pasty, and plastic appearance. Close-ups reveal an unacceptable level of smearing, the slightest motion enough to send the disc into a tizzy. Little to no definition is allowed to seep in, and a handful of shots are on the level of a degraded VHS tape, sans the artifacts associated with the format.

Deadly Spawn is so sloppily encoded, there’s a massive flub at 1:15:06 where a complete digital breakdown occurs before the screen turns completely gray, breaking the boundaries of the 1.33:1 frame. There’s clearly been little attempt at clean-up on the source itself, the myriad of scratches left to their own devices, along with the strips of off-color fading. There is certainly worse out there.

Black levels are one of the only reprieves from this debacle, and only because they soak up everything. The opening scene takes place outdoors as two campers investigate the meteorite, the screen barely able to push any of the image. It doesn’t get any better in the house either, the basement producing only partially visible strips of light. That’s not only for effect. Allowing some leniency for low grade film stocks still doesn’t lend this one a pass.

Colors are intensely oversaturated, especially reds. It’s more in line with the flubs of DVD, which is a format this shares a startling resemblance too. Before anyone becomes too up in arms over this lashing of a no-budget ’80s flick, be aware the standard has been raised monumentally. Any film, even ones like this, can look remarkable in HD. What has been done here is intentional, needless, and shameful.

Video ★☆☆☆☆ 

Audio can be given a little leeway, as unlike film stocks, recording equipment and conditions make all the difference. Deadly Spawn has a full on “tin can” effect. Each line of dialogue is recited with a substantial warping, partially from an aged source, and probably from a wimpy on-set system. Every background noise, creak of the floor, or outside noise is evident.

Issues are compounded by the damage, including obnoxious popping and wavering volume. Fading is impossible to miss whenever the score ramps up, and lines are lost to the muffled overall quality. At the very least, none of these concerns sound digital. The PCM mono offering stays out of the way, presenting the material as clear as it could be. Clear being, of course, all relative.

Audio ★★☆☆☆ 

If Elite/MVD Visual skimped everywhere else, the finances afforded to the release ended up here in the bonus features. Producer Ted Bohus and editor Marc Harwood offer their time for a commentary track, the next menu option being an alternate opening. Casting and Gags is 36-minutes of loosely constructed rehearsals and goofing off, all saved to the wonders of VHS. Some bloopers and outtakes define themselves, while a local news interview from a New Jersey station is 40-minutes long.

Take One is another interview, again from a local show, and running for 25-minutes, replete with the worst case of edge enhancement you’ll likely ever see. Visit with the Deadly Spawn is a vintage trip through the creature shop where the monster was made, which in reality is more of a spare bedroom. A series of trailers, sideshow, and comic book preview remain.

Extras ★★★★★ 

Full disclosure: This Blu-ray was provided to us for review. This has not affected the editorial process. For more information on how we handle review material, please visit our about us page to learn more.

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

The Deadly Spawn Review

It’s hard to bring a power fight to life on the screen. Faster, more energetic martial arts have a natural grace and fury, but sheer strength needs exaggeration. You need a budget for stuntmen who will go through tables, take a bump onto concrete, and the ability to show a punch in full glory. If you have none of those, you end up making Recoil.

Steve Austin wanders with this character, aimless and dry. There’s no purpose other than revenge, and yet this small town biker gang is far removed from the goons who bumped his family. He’s doing it because, uh, he’s a nice guy with a shotgun?

Recoil is the general small town revenge movie. Think Walking Tall only stupider. Austin’s starring vehicle is the type where the head of the meth-dealing bikers and FBI agents can’t connect despite the town being a single street in length. All sides have to find other things to do before the inevitable conclusion, which of course can only go one way.

Much of Recoil seems built upon the shoulders of its possible match-ups, i.e., MMA’s Keith Jadine vs. pro wrestler Steve Austin. That’s all well and good, while the end result is sort of like the payoff at the end of a SyFy Channel versus movie. Of course, Mega Python vs Gatoroid probably had more going for it.

This is a direct-to-video project sold entirely on who they get to adorn the box cover, nothing else. A series of blatantly obvious stunt doubles -including a (surely underpaid) guy who is set on fire- dull any of the fights. Then again, with Danny Trejo pushing 70, it’s not as if anyone thinks he’ll stand trading punches with Austin anyway.

It’s hard to say if there’s a point to Recoil, except the obvious financial gain for all involved. When it’s over, nothing has changed short of the funeral homes bank roll given the body count. Everyone goes their own way, there are no implied continued relationships, and there’s probably a stunt guy still on fire because they couldn’t afford fire extinguishers.

Movie ★★☆☆☆ 

Vivendi punches out an AVC encode with a wobbly start. A forest sets a backdrop for Austin’s first act of revenge, the complexity of the foliage causing sharpening concerns. Short of some aliasing and a hint of flicker, any obvious tinkering falls to the wayside afterward.

This clearly digital production is fitted with a brazen contrast, a little too obsessed with washing out the screen while it searches for intensity. Recoil has to find it somewhere, and if it’s in the image, so be it. There’s minimal loss of definition, the film’s rather meek visual style sticking with stable close-ups and stern focus. Clarity afforded by digital photography adds to the extensive, mostly consistent facial detail.

Lost are the black levels, although even when they fail to hit their mark, noise is noticeably absent. The image isn’t overly smooth; it merely carries a crisp sheen. Little will come between the positives of digital filmmaking and the end result.

Saturation can take a backseat dependent on the scene. A dingy yellow takes over during a brawl between Trejo and a flunkie who failed to pay a debt. Outside, flesh tones have a natural, untouched quality and primaries still resonate. Nothing feels overly tweaked, even for style purposes. Much like the film, Recoil’s visuals are stylistically absent, although impact on general quality is nill.

Video ★★★★☆ 

Talk about boring. This mediocre, sub-par, non-existent audio mix is a drag. Gunfire has never sounded so unexcited. Vintage films make it sound more impactful with stock studio sound effects. There’s no added bass, the highs are flat, there’s zero imaging involved, and a cheap echo effect isn’t going to salvage it.

Recoil is satisfied with itself just by processing dialogue, and it’s not doing anything with that either. There’s no attempt to mix it up, make it echo, and travel in any direction. Short of the pitifully generic score which will clone itself into the surrounds, not simply bleed out towards them, this might as well be a mono mix.

Audio ★★★☆☆ 

Sheer boredom continues the rampage through this dud with an eight minute making of, a scattered selection of deleted scenes, and a trailer.

Extras ★☆☆☆☆ 

Full disclosure: This Blu-ray was provided to us for review. This has not affected the editorial process. For more information on how we handle review material, please visit our about us page to learn more.

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Recoil (2011) Review

Sometime between the release of Twilight: New Moon and Breaking Dawn: Part 1, somebody crafted an internet meme. It showed Carl and Ellie from Pixar’s Up, with a caption that went something like, “Up told a better love story in three minutes than Twilight did in five movies.”

What it failed to mention is that Up also pulled it off without words, merely emotion. What that meme did, beyond make a point, was become a vision into the future. For 45-minutes, Breaking Dawn wanders aimlessly, hopelessly caught up in what it believes is a romantic interlude. Instead, it’s a flood of pop songs that a corporation paid to gain impressions, mindless gibber jabber about who is love with who, and zero plot or fiction development.

Nothing in the first half of this movie needed to be shown or told outside of a montage. A disgruntled fan edit could trim this entire section down to five minutes, slap a song on it, and basically tell the story of Up, well, minus the actual feeling. This is what happens when one studio finds their fiction necessitates two films as a closing piece on a billion dollar franchise. Copycats come crawling out of the woodwork, and shocking no one, the impersonator is never as good as the original.

Between the arid, vapid performances, Breaking Dawn does have a loose story to tell. There’s a pregnancy, which sadly does not turn into the greatest episode of Maury Povich ever. Bella (Kristen Stewart) is stuck turning impressively thin as a baby saps away her nutrients, quite possibly the sole memorable special effect of this series. Bella’s frail cheeks and bony structure are legitimately unnerving, at least until the CG wolves come in to ruin any illusion of reality.

Breaking Dawn hops around standard territory; Twilight fans apparently don’t want things to change. Jacob (Taylor Lautner) and Edward (Robert Pattinson) still fawn over this emotionless girl, although at least this is miles away from a high school. Now it’s all contained in the Cullen household, Stephanie Meyer quick to think when writing the book. Singular locals means lower budgets and higher profits for all.

Most of the money seems to have been dumped into the wedding sequence, lavish (and undoubtedly splinter-laden) seats, flower dressings, and visual filters all employed. It’s amazing that for all of its fanciful, dreamlike qualities, no one explains how they found a priest to perform this ceremony. The gay community still fights for equality while mixed breeds of vampires and humans wed at will. This world truly isn’t fair.

There’s more feudal werewolf/vampire nonsense that never found fictional traction in the first place, flashbacks, shirtless-ness, a fight here or there, and a clip from Bride of Frankenstein, which (for the record) was also a better love story than Twilight.

Movie ★☆☆☆☆ 

Breaking Dawn is more than a little filter crazy. Instead of a flatter, pale make-up, vampires are dulled with digital processes. It’s a consistent effect, aside from those panning close-ups where fine detail seems to seep in inadvertently. It’s as if they were rushed during the process to meet a specific release date while the franchise was still hot… weird. Medium shots are disappointingly frail and restrained too, and not just with the vampires.

As with the rest of this series, this Summit AVC encode comes from a film-based source. The stock is fine grained, resolved as well as it could be. The few glimpses of a grain structure can be counted on one hand. It’s so limited there are times when it’s easy to be fooled this is digital material. A stray moment of noise is nothing to be concerned with.

This is, by far, the saturated entry of the franchise. While other Twilight films were color corrected to match Stewart’s droll mood or singular facial expression, this is the first time saturation plays a definitive role. Colorists almost seem confused, flushing the flesh tones with a vivid orange, if only to accentuate the pale look later. Momentary shots of Edward give him the trademark pasty face, yet leave his throat alone. It’s as if a small section of him shows life. The true benefit though are those instantly recognizable forests, now lush plus overloaded with appreciable greens and plentiful earth tones.

Black levels can be a bit tipsy, wandering off during a handful of shots where lights are removed from the sets. In other words, they tend to leave when they’re needed the most. A dry contrast is serviceable, at times brilliant, other times almost lost to the dimness of the image. This is arguably the most inconsistent looking movie of the franchise, if only because of the methodology applied.

Video ★★★★☆ 

A vivid DTS-HD 7.1 mix adores these locations, filling them with ambiance and natural elements. It can be tough to appreciate the little things in a series where wolves battle vampires in preposterous ways, but those elements exist. The two additional surrounds do not go unwasted, instead filling with audible cues and minor immersion. A sorrowful score will swell as it needs to, immediately too as the opening frames begin firing off. An impressive rain effect is accentuated by the music and that instant shirtless-ness.

Miniscule pieces are employed to create a full-bodied mix, Breaking Dawn the type of film that toys with audio concepts that can add life to the visuals. Wolves begin speaking to each other mentally (whatever), the mystical effect able to fill the soundfield with their voices, not merely pop from the center. Dreams and other visions will break off from the fronts and become situated in the surrounds for support, capturing the foggy, unclear ideas being presented on screen.

Finally (and it takes a miniature millennium), there’s action. Wolves charge and are knocked aside with weight. The LFE is generous in its usage as these creatures are bumped off their feet. Even their steps are emphasized with a little oomph. Even if the effects are shaky on their best day, audio design slips in to salvage their scale.

Audio ★★★★★ 

Even though there’s bound to be super duper Twlight home video collection down the road (and just pray to whatever it is you worship they don’t re-release these in 3D), Summit’s feature slate is noteworthy. First time franchise director Bill Condon goes solo for a commentary track, adding to the insight that is brought in from a nearly 90-minute making-of, Love, Death, Birth. While clearly on the promotional side, there’s enough behind-the-scenes footage, anecdotes, and design material to give it a pass.

Jacob’s Destiny covers the character arc that took five movies to happen, which more or less turns it into an awkward 90-degree character dive, not an arc. Bella & Edward’s Personal Wedding Video is made up of on-set footage and in-character wedding wishes.

Extras ★★★☆☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Review

Plunged right into the heart of the ’80s, Amour of God takes Jackie Chan into the realm of a Satanic cult choosing to be fussy over some ancient religious relics. They’re so protective of these pieces, they manage to find four like-minded athletic women who can brawl in high heels, because apparently there are four of them out there. Who knew?

Armour of God nearly killed Jackie Chan when a seemingly simple leap across a chasm went sour. Nature decided to take out its frustrations, a tree branch snapping and the ensuing fall putting a hole in Chan’s head. On top of that, he’s partially deaf in one ear because of it.

Dedication being a go to word for Chan, not only he did he finish the film, he did so with a preposterous and mind-numbingly stupid leap off a cliff onto a hot air balloon. Some people don’t consider death, and those people become stuntmen who can only pray the cameras are rolling as they take leaps where fate decides the outcome.

Most of the painful flips, vicious kicks, and mountain leaping bring Armour of God to life in the third act, the front half choosing a more methodical narrative approach. Aside from a fruit-kart loaded car chase, Chan keeps to himself, planning out strategy to rescue his ex, do so in tandem with her current boyfriend filling in as a sidekick. Exposition dumps are plentiful, and comedy can sag, leaving the film without the energy of its eventual sequel.

There’s still a lot to like here, this more reserved style offering a break from the constant need to find reasons to punch people in the face. It gives the simplistic narrative room for development, and an overly graphic opening that doesn’t gel with the bone-crunching kick-happy action later unfortunately.

Armour of God still produces martial arts memories, including a flaming log that creates a number of near misses, a dinner room slugfest full of flip-happy stunt work, and yes, the four-on-one high heeled finale for the hand-to-hand stuff. It’s a masterwork of pristine editing, careful planning, and casting, because there are only a handful of people willing to take these bumps.

Movie ★★★★☆ 

Saddled with three other Jackie Chan effort on a singular BD-50, Armour of God has some struggles to overcome… which it won’t. There’s no means around the compression problems, the thickly grained ’80s film stock dying out under this mismanaged AVC encode. You can’t blame a compressionist for a lousy business decision, but people are still paying money for this. And hey, Chan deserves better.

For the most part, this comes across as a film of the era, the color scheme deep and the black levels hearty. Manipulation feels minimal, a stray shot or two filtered out of existence before this one springs back to life. Armour can’t afford to lose much definition since it has so little to begin with, and while those black levels never lose sight of their goal, they take shadow detail out of contention. Entirely. The black robes of the monks are solid, hair becomes a singular body, and cave interiors are made up of splotchy blacks, not rocks.

Echo Bridge clearly used elements on hand too, print damage a constant bother. With a going price of $10 or so, these four films were mastered from whatever the prior owner handed over. Restoration never entered the equation. At the very least, the aspect ratio is correct.

Close-ups, at least the ones not under the mercy of the abhorrent black crush, may lack a modern crispness, but it’s not a complete loss of fine detail. Peeking through the mass of compression is a great looking stock, and with a little work, Armour of God could shine. This isn’t the release where that’s going to happen, although it’s a glimpse of what’s possible. As depressing as it can sound, this may be the best US release in HD that will ever see the light of day.

Video ★★★☆☆ 

Presented in DTS-HD 2.0, the dubbing is where most of the concerns lie. Not only does it come across as a rushed, sloppy translation, quality ebbs and flows with little logic behind it. Some lines come through spaced and flat, others are natural to a vintage dub. Echoes within castle walls disappear and reappear at will, because why should logic play a role for foreign audiences?

Otherwise, there’s a natural age to most of the elements, the score struggling to reach a true high, and explosions forcefully ear-piercing without the needed fidelity. Treble is pushed through as if the speaker(s) have been damaged in some way. Note there’s no positional work, the mix two channel mono.

Audio ★★★☆☆ 

Nothing bonus-oriented here. There’s no room left on the disc for even a trailer.

Extras ☆☆☆☆☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Operation Condor 2: Armour of God Review