Film Intuition: Review Database

Movie Review: Christmas Story (2007) -- English Dubbed Version

2009-11-07T18:20:00.000-07:00

Now Available on DVD

Trailer

AKA: Joulutarina; En julberättelse

Thanks to Christmas carols and television specials, by the time children who celebrate the holiday hit grade school, they can recite the entire roster of names possessed by Santa's tiny reindeer including the red-nosed Rudolph. And while they can additionally fill in the blanks regarding how many times Santa Claus checks his "naughty or nice" list to differentiate between the lumps of coal for stockings and the toys built by the hardworking elves at his workshop in the North Pole, the one thing they can't answer is just how in the world the bearded man became jolly old St. Nick.

In this creatively ambitious and impressively original Finnish made family film, director Juha Wuolijoki and screenwriter Marko Leino (who collaborated with two others including the director on the heartwarming storyline) bravely offer a new narrative explanation that centers on the coming of age of the man Christmas revelers likewise came of age with while celebrating in their youth.

Exquisitely capturing the snow covered desolate Lapland village where the film is set thanks to first rate lensing by cinematographer Mika Orasmaa, we're presented with a Dickensian tale of tragedy and triumph centering on the evolution experienced by a boy named Nikolas as he becomes the sleigh driving gift giver who delights millions of children each and every year.

After losing his parents and sister in an icy tragedy near the start of the film, the young goodhearted Nikolas matures quickly as the residents of the humble fishing community decide that the best way to take care of the boy is to each take turns sheltering, clothing, feeding, and nurturing Nikolas for a single year. In this cooperative environment, Nikolas then finds himself with a brand new family and home every single Christmas morning.

Although the locals are stunned when the reclusive Scrooge-like carpenter Iisakki takes in Nikolas after they're hit by a perilous shortage of resources, Nikolas is the most surprised individual of all when he realizes that instead of a mere young manservant for the grump he must call "master," he becomes a far more gifted woodworker.

Whittling presents annually which he delivers for the former "brothers and sisters" with whom he'd previously resided, Nikolas' carving skills improve even more under the master's tutelage especially when he finally gains access to Iisakki's hidden workshop. Embarking on a tradition of bringing the residents their gifts-- sight unseen-- every Christmas morning as the amount of presents and their quality improves with age, eventually Nikolas makes strides. In doing so, he goes from heartbroken orphan to becoming Father Christmas by relishing in his anonymity, discovering the traveling benefit of reindeer and moving towards that famous red suit.

Initially, however you may find yourself distracted by the lack of synchronization between the audio in English and visual disconnect of mouths moving rapidly in the original Finnish audio track. Luckily, the combination of voice talent by actors including the incomparable John Turturro, Noah Emmerich and Katherine Borowitz, along with the truly involving story and high quality of the feature releasing from Lighting Media and Anchor Bay Entertainment makes it much more successful than a traditional foreign dubbed work.

While I suspect that it's only a matter of time before someone remakes the movie completely in English since foreign films are always ripe fodder for Hollywood interpretations, honestly it's one that you wouldn't need to see in a different format even as I saw it in a simple screener, minus any bells and whistles including bonus features or extra material. Unfortunately, due to its unimaginative new title of Christmas Story, I fear this Finnish film will simply blend into the scenery among other holiday releases.

However, despite its melancholic opener and general audience reluctance to foreign films, this uplifting PG-rated movie is one I urge parents to seek out to offer a new alternative to the primarily commercial approach of Santa Claus movies.

A beautiful work filled with the ingredients that make our classics including A Christmas Carol, Nutcracker and other holiday movies so endearing, director Juha Wuolijoki's Story also garnered prestigious accolades in time for its DVD debut including a seal of approval by The Dove Foundation and an All-Star honor by the well-respected Kids First! Coalition for Quality Children's Media.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

TV on DVD: Traffik -- 20th Anniversary Edition (1989)

2009-11-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

Now Available from Acorn Media

Steven Soderbergh's Oscar Winning Remake

Since it's only been nine years since Steven Soderbergh's quadruple Oscar winning remake of the six episode miniseries Traffik was released in 2000, it'd be easy for most viewers to assume that the twenty year old original Channel 4 production would feel extremely dated by comparison to the gloss of the Soderbergh stunner.

And admittedly from a technical standpoint, this prediction would prove to be accurate as overall time has not been kind to the print of the Alistair Reid helmed and Simon Moore penned epic, despite the remastered product delivered via this 2-disc Anniversary Edition of the '89 series that originally played in America on PBS' Masterpiece Theatre.

However, the quantity in years has little to do with its undeniable quality as I was startled to discover that, instead of adhering to the same warning label to dispose of old medication after an annual fill date has passed, the scope, storyline, and impact of UK's Traffik has actually grown increasingly potent with each successive year.

The award-winning and critically acclaimed miniseries was a masterfully ambitious undertaking in its desire to analyze as Moore stated, the drug trade as though one was studying the automotive industry to dismantle it piece by piece from inception to assembly line to end consumer. By illustrating the massive scale of the process along with bravely acknowledging that trying to rid the planet of drugs is an unrealistic goal and a war that can't be won, Traffik is a visceral experience that forces you to study the international epidemic in all stages around the globe.

Instead of trying to get through to you in soundbytes, the filmmakers use the roughly three hundred minute running time to dynamic effect as you're pulled into identifying with individuals you seldom see in most filmed portrayals of the war on drugs that mostly dwell on police officers and junkies. Although the titles of the six episodes consist of "The Farmer," "The Addict," "The Criminal," "The Chemist," "The Politician," and "The Courier," our main ensemble cast of characters moves from one label to the next as they evolve, their plotlines change, and situations grow incredibly complicated.

Thrust into a drug bust at the start of episode one, Traffik sets the events of the next several hours in motion as a seizure in Hamburg, Germany by undercover cops ties to a prominent businessman who makes a living allegedly eradicating drugs and helping to turn a new leaf for poppy farmers in Pakistan.

Yet just moments later, we move back to one of those very farmers whose fields are burned in an effort the outside world views as progress as meanwhile and just before his aforementioned arrest, the same German businessman greets a British parliamentary officer studying the process on a fact finding mission. This continues until eventually we follow these and other individuals as the story grows but even when we're only in the presence of a single character, the bigger picture of every situation is always in view.

It's never about just one farmer, one addict, or one police officer and the way the writer and editors manage to tie it all together makes Traffik not only one of the most forward thinking, intellectually stimulating, and influential miniseries of the twentieth century but also one that still resonates for viewers all the more in a post 9/11 world. This is especially apparent when the film's characters address American involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan and the conflicting messages of different governmental agencies working against one another as one states that "America is never a problem if they're fighting themselves."

It's a revealing line that hits us especially hard today and events in Traffik foreshadow not only our future problems with that region of the world but also the future of human drug smuggling as one sequence included was just echoed a few years ago in the Oscar nominated Mexican docudrama Maria Full of Grace. In other words, the movie from the past feels at times like we're looking in a mirror as the miniseries is filled with the earliest glimpses of situations we're currently facing today.

In this regard, it's similar to the eerie experience of watching Mike Nichols' underrated and illuminating Charlie Wilson's War. However, whereas Charlie had the benefit of being both a true story and one made after 9/11 so that it could multiply the allegorical effect in hindsight, screenwriter Simon Moore's Traffik was an original work. Yet despite this distinction, Moore's work was rooted in enough truth that I'm awestruck that its impact on audiences in 1989 or 1990 (when it played in the United States) wasn't larger than being only used as Hollywood fodder a decade later.

Similar to Soderbergh's decision to focus primarily on three intertwined stories set in various locations (within the United States and Mexico), Traffik's central structure chronicles a trio of interconnected plotlines as well. However, the former film manages to widen the lens to include a multitude of characters along with far more moral ambiguity in its emphasis on events that take place in Pakistan, Germany, and England.

Yet, instead of making drugs just a device or risking that Traffik would simply feel like the "issue movie" of the week, the miniseries set itself apart by instead deciding to view the issue in terms of the people whose lives are affected by it. To this end, this gritty, unflinching, and deeply authentic work is filled with brilliant moral and ethical questions including the humanistic response that the best way to fight the situation is to try and remove the reasons people reach for the escapism of drugs in the first place. And while it never deludes itself into imagining a solution is within reach, the underlying thesis of Traffik is far more hard hitting by suggesting that to achieve this, global communication is needed to address social inequality, health care crises along with monitoring corruption from the highest levels of government on down.

While obviously one couldn't cram this much plot into a theatrical running time, Steven Soderbergh's intelligent and truncated modern film was augmented by the clarity across the board from Stephen Gaghan's screenplay, sharp editing, and three strong and distinct visual palettes. In fact, the one area where Traffic greatly surpasses the original was in its artistic success in providing viewers with an immediate cinematographic shorthand to give us our bearings at any given moment in a way that Reid aspired but didn't quite achieve in the original as England and Germany blend together visually every once in awhile.

Yet despite this one flaw which can undoubtedly be attributed to limited technology and budget in '89 UK television production, Reid's staggering achievement is further bolstered by Simon Moore's ingenious screenplay and an incredibly talented international cast. Moreover and especially in this slim-packaged restoration from Acorn, you'll find that Traffik hooks you with its first dose and continually addicts with side effects you can't help but crave in a work that's hard to shake, impossible to forget as a filmed experience you'll want to push onto others since you'll realize it's one you can't stop talking about.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

DVD Review: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009) -- Double DVD "Scrat Pack"

2009-11-06T01:45:00.000-07:00

Now Available on DVD & Blu-ray

Photo Slideshow

Celebrate Ice Age

AKA Ice Age 3; Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

In 2008 and 2009 respectively, the most recent titles from Pixar Animation have taken viewers beyond the clouds in both Up and way past Buzz Lightyear’s “Infinity and Beyond,” with Pixar’s beloved Oscar winning odyssey about a lovesick garbage collecting robot named Wall-E. Despite this fact and aside from DreamWorks Animation Studios whose logo also celebrates Mark Twain-esque fishing on the moon, for more than ten years, the weather from those exact same animated clouds has grown increasingly sunny in the forecast of what is rapidly becoming one of Pixar’s biggest competitors.

For, just one year after they completed the most authentic and lovable Dr. Seuss adaptation with 2008’s entirely computer generated charmer Horton Hears a Who, the Oscar winning company returned to the franchise that’s nearly synonymous with their name by releasing the funniest installment to date in their wildly and internationally successful Ice Age series. Similar to the other two large animated studios, Fox’s Blue Sky Studios opted to embrace the popularity of 3-D in 2009.

Technically, Paramount and DreamWorks should’ve had the advantage for the trend with the earliest release date given to their effort Monsters vs. Aliens. Unfortunately, aside from Seth Rogen’s hilarious turn, some genuinely cool effects and the ease of their 3-D format on our eyes, the weak storyline relied far too heavily on 3-D as it no doubt suffers without those glasses at home and without the theatrical sensory experience.

However, rising to the challenge of delivering a work that could stand on its on regardless of whether or not it was being presented in 3-D, thankfully Pixar’s Up and Blue Sky’s Ice Age didn’t go for a B-movie extreme homage. Instead, the animators wisely stayed with the fundamentals that have always served their films the best in the past by ensuring that the script and characters were all first rate and we would feel invested in their plight regardless of how many dimensions we could see.

While Up earns the extra creativity edge for introducing us to something completely new and different in lieu of a sequel, in the end and for sheer viewing pleasure, laughter, adventure, thrills and stellar jokes, it’s actually Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs that I feel will be played the most often in family room disc-players. Essentially this is due to the fact that much like Wall-E, Pixar’s beautiful Up once again returned to a melancholic and pathos filled well from time to time.

And the result of this decision may make some reach for tissues out of sadness and concern for the elderly in our families as opposed to needing those same tissues for tears that spring up when you and viewers of all ages in your family laugh yourselves into a coughing fit via the introduction of Simon Pegg’s Ice Age character, Buck.

Obviously, this isn’t to discredit the gorgeous quality of the genuinely moving Up but more to acknowledge that Fox’s Blue Sky Studios just keeps dazzling us year after year to the point that Pixar, DreamWorks, and Blue Sky are now on the same playing field as America’s historic animated House of Mouse in Walt Disney Studios.

However, before I continue on, I must confess that I did miss the theatrical press screening for the 3-D presentation of Ice Age 3 and the 2-disc “Scrat Pack” studio screener that Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment was kind enough to send my way was purely in 2-D so I’m unable to judge the original presentation. Yet I can state that even when presented without eye-popping 3-D effects and the fact that, due to Deluxe content protection services, the 2-D feature film was not quite as sharp as the finished result would be for sale in either the Blu-ray or DVD format, just like the studio screener of Horton, the transfer (even the press one) is extremely impressive with sharp contrasts between the characters and backgrounds and dynamite depth perception.

To test out both the feature film (disc one) and the Scrat short films and extra features filled second disc thoroughly, I compared both in a DVD player on a traditional television set and a Blu-ray upconvert player on an LCD HDTV. Needless to say, the upconvert was a vast improvement, especially where the feature film was concerned since it delivered the best cost effective 3-D like transfer of the movie minus the format in DVD.

Still those without HD will be pleased to know that a majority of the extra features (if not the theatrical level Scrat shorts) on the second disc didn’t look or sound incredibly different in the two tech set-ups, which you can take into consideration if you're pondering the various editions. While additionally the DVD was released in two distinct price ranges based on whether or not you want the Scrat Pack or just the film, similar to the most cost effective value combo packs that Walt Disney Studios have extended because of their success with consumers, Fox’s Blu-ray works the exact same way, by giving you all the extras and three versions of the film including Blu-ray, DVD, and a digital copy for your portable device.

And while I for one am still anxiously awaiting a combo pack that offers all three of the films and the shorts in one edition, the greatest and most welcome surprise about Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs was that Fox and Blue Sky Studios had actually managed to surpass the previous works including the fast-paced and unique 2002 title and the action over character misstep of 2006’s Ice Age 2: The Meltdown.

While aside from Roger Ebert who favored it to the point where it received three and a half out of four stars, critical reaction to the movie was mixed. Additionally the original work is still the best rated one of the trilogy on critical aggregate websites including Rotten Tomatoes and MetaCritic, with some journalists arguing it was far more like Dr. Seuss than the style established previously. However, I think the Seuss accusation was an easy and inarticulate blow in a similar vein to those who like to throw Shrek comparisons around every time they watch a film from DreamWorks.

As far as the purity charge went in addressing the visual style of Ice Age, in my mind, Dawn of the Dinosaurs moved the franchise in the right direction by-- as referenced in the Fox notes-- braving a “post-Jurassic Park” challenge of researching the era to “introduce species of dinosaurs new to motion pictures.” Furthermore, the animators remained true to the palette and groundwork established in the original 2002 movie but expanded upon the setting to utilize caves and other locations that made logical sense in developing a storyline that finds Manny, Sid, Diego and the rest “beneath the ice… into a world that they’re not equipped to handle.”

To this end, Dinosaurs follows the seasonal flow of 1’s evolution from “fall into winter,” 2’s move into spring which “presented environments where the ice was melting,” until this returns once again to “a more familiar environment [of] a vast frozen tundra introduced in the original film” to solidify the setting of the titular Ice Age.

Yet, even though Meltdown and Dinosaurs director Carlos Saldanha (also co-director on 1) and his co-helmer Michael Thurmeier described the third film as the most ambitious one yet since it “almost feels like a genre movie,” they were dedicated to balancing Ice Age’s tradition of “a smart, character-based comedy” with the desire to provide “an epic sweep and adventure that’s new.”

However, the movie begins in familiar terrain as we experience more mishaps of the squirrely rat or ratty squirrel Scrat who this time is challenged for his acorn by a beguiling beauty in a delightfully funny device that repeats later on. And soon, we catch up with the main trio and realize that Sid and Diego have started to feel left out by the upcoming birth of Manny and Ellie’s baby as Queen Latifah’s Ellie is far more balanced than her over-protective husband (Ray Romano) whom she accuses of trying to baby-proof nature. Yet before you begin to fear Ice Age is becoming a domestic family sitcom, it leads viewers on a thrilling Joseph Campbell rooted storyline that blended together Blue Sky named influences like Moby Dick and Simon Pegg cited ones including Indiana Jones, Sherlock Holmes, and Apocalypse Now.

Although Denis Leary’s Diego is ready to ditch his surroundings and go it alone, John Leguizamo’s Sid realizes he has a biological clock of his own which he foolishly decides to attempt to satisfy by taking care of three eggs in the hopes that after they hatch, he will then have a family of his own. Of course, when he fails to realize the eggs are extremely large and that perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to steal a mother’s unhatched young, Sid gets hit by reality in a scary way when his new children are born and it takes him a long while to realize they’re dinosaurs.

When the angry T-Rex arrives to claim her young, Sid doesn’t give up without a confrontation and after he’s taken along with the “babies” he wants visitation rights and custody of to continue raising them the way he’d hoped, the rest of the Ice Age crew goes on the search for Sid. Out of their element and with deadly carnivores lurking about, even Ray Romano’s Manny is outmatched so the group is pleased to receive help from an expert named Buck. Unfortunately, they soon realize that he may be an expert but that doesn't make him sane. Soon they uncover Simon Pegg's true nature as Buck is a mentally unbalanced, hermetic one eyed weasel who talks to rocks, fights with skeletons he feels are part of himself and leads them into the Chasm of Death because the phrase “Big Smelly Crack just made everyone laugh.”

Moving in and out of an accent that’s so hard to pin down that I didn’t realize it was Pegg until late in the film, Buck’s speech goes from posh London to Cockney to slightly Australian inflected at one point and Pegg’s screw-loose audio performance is easily the funniest character in the already lovable ensemble cast. Moreover, he reminds you what a comedian can do with the right animated part like Robin Williams as the genie in Walt Disney’s Aladdin, Dustin Hoffman in DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda, or Tom Hanks and Tim Allen’s characters in Pixar’s Toy Story.

Thoroughly entertaining, Ice Age has achieved that delicate balance to be the type of film that works for all generations of audience members. From the start, it infuses the characters and plotline with the thrilling adventure it needed to compete with summer movie season and appeal to the “what happens next” preference of its youngest viewers.

However, it’s doubly appealing since it incorporates the charm, warmth and humanity that was so effective in DreamWorks’ Madagascar movies and Pixar’s Finding Nemo which stems back to Walt Disney’s earliest storytelling model from the first animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (which coincidentally turned 70 this year). One of the best animated films of 2009 and the strongest entry into the Ice Age series, Dawn of the Dinosaurs also signifies the dawn of one of the most underrated and overlooked but creative animation studios working today that’s so versatile it contributed to grown up pop culture as well including Fight Club and The Sopranos.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

TV on DVD: The Haunted Airman (2006)

2009-11-06T00:48:00.002-07:00

Now Available to Own

Photo Slideshow

If there’s one thing the BBC loves more than a miniseries or a new crime and punishment television show, it’s adapting literature—the more obscure the better—for a new miniseries, crime and punishment television show, or a standalone work where period costuming is a plus.

In America, this type of programming would usually be found on PBS. Likewise, it would most likely be broadcast directly from the UK since it seems that lately our basic networks only invest in reality gimmick programs about spouse gain or weight loss or spin-offs of crime and punishment TV shows. Our preference for crime and punishment seems to be one of the main things British and American television networks have in common other than a shared language.

Essentially, the BBC routinely says “yes” to things our networks would say “no" to such as the idea that outside of Hallmark Hall of Fame Presentations, viewers want to see period pieces on the idiot box instead of another hour of Jay Leno or a show about “the real housewives” or just "desperate ones.” And while so many networks in the United States missed the boat in the case of Matthew Weiner’s brilliant period work Mad Men, we do understand that some classic literature is best left to HBO or skipped altogether. For, in the case of supernatural or “occult” author Dennis Wheatley’s yawn-inducing The Haunting of Toby Jugg, the BBC should’ve taken a cue from us and just said no to this pointless period piece as we no doubt would have done.

Well actually, had we realized back in 2006 that British actor Robert Pattinson, the man who would be Edward in the big screen adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight was the lead actor of this forgettable seventy minute work, we may have agreed. For, it would have been the investment of a lifetime, when we realized we could run it endlessly on a loop any time a new Twilightwas going to hit the theatre since Team Edward would always watch and ad revenue would garner enough to take care of our national deficit.

However, despite the fact that Pattinson always had a “jawline… so finely chiseled it could split granite,” as UK’s The Stage critic Harry Venning described in the original 2006 TV review, the bottom line is it's just not worth it. Likewise, as we’ve discovered, Pattinson does quite well with fans when denying his lust and looking tortured in a pseudo-thriller yet even Team Edwardmay have eventually tuned out after all of the shirtless scenes were over. This is especially a problem when one understands that for a movie which is based on The Haunting… and called The Haunted Airman, very little haunting actually occurs.

Well, something is going on with Pattinson's Flight Lieutenant Jugg but we're not sure we care all that much. Still we should care a great deal from the start when we're introduced to the poor chap who was a heroic World War II pilot not merely because he's now in a wheelchair but because he's forced to reside in a creepy psychiatric asylum/hospital in the Welsh countryside located four miles away from the nearest phone.

Yet why he is there and what's going on, we're never quite certain. Is he simply tormented by those he’d killed as a pilot and in some state of psychological hell or purgatory despite his avowed atheism? Or is he merely suffering post traumatic stress disorder exacerbated by his shady shrink (Julian Sands) who intercepts Jugg’s love letters he writes to Julia (Rachael Stirling), his guardian/aunt (by marriage)? The only thing we do know is that he needs to get the heck out of Dodge, especially when large spiders, alarming visions and other unexplainable phenomena occurs.

And given the fact that he's a wounded soldier especially, in most cases we should empathize with our hero and moreover fear for not only his sanity but safety as well since he's in such a strange location. Yet most of the time, we feel as though we’re experiencing everything through a museum thick encased glass, completely removed from the main character and everyone else. As if visiting a stranger once a week for some sort of high school volunteer project, we’re never fully let into Jugg’s world and wonder if Wheatley’s novel was full of internal monologues, description, or psychology that couldn’t be successfully captured on film as, far more frustratingly, exceedingly dark blue gray filters are used so that we can barely make out the action even when we are indoors.

While you understand the importance of not filling the movie with inauthentic light sources or night sequences that are illuminated by fluorescent buzzing which would pull you out of the era and further acknowledge that the made-for-television work wasn’t shot with the same care as a feature film, the poorly lensed BBC movie ultimately looks like the camera was dragged through the mud.

With Robert Pattinson stuck in a coolly detached, off-putting storyline and predictably dispiriting ending, writer/director Chris Durlacher’s newly released DVD makes for a forgettable, ill-conceived BBC period piece that would’ve possibly benefited from a little more crime and punishment style definition, a handful of candles or a tiny amount of that Edward like sunlight vampire glitter from the first Twilightmovie. For die-hard Pattinson fans only and even then watch at your own risk and away from heavy machinery, this sleeping pill substitute is so weak that it may turn you over to Team Jacob.

Robert Pattinson

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

TV on DVD: Peanuts 1970's Collection, Volume 1

2009-11-03T15:22:00.000-07:00

Now Available to Own

Read Jen's Review of Peanuts 1960's Collection

With Schroeder's confession that, “like everybody else, I've sold out,” Sally's decision that she doesn't want to return to school because she can't open her locker, and Charlie Brown's acknowledgment that his “anxieties have anxieties," we quickly discover that Charles Schulz's beloved Peanuts have come-of-age in the 1970s.

Of course, Schulz's comic strip-- which he repeatedly described was drawn more for adults than children-- was always filled with precocious dialogue. Still, being that the 70s also found our nation in the midst of Vietnam, Watergate, and the sexual revolution-- it was only natural that Schulz's characters began to adapt to the changing times.

And perhaps this is best appreciated by his creation of Snoopy's iconic yellow bird-kick, Woodstock, whose name-- as shared in the set's succinct documentary-- obviously hearkened to the yearning for peace, love, and music staged to drown out the chaos of the war torn society in 1969.

Therefore, in the strip-- and before he was utilized to stronger effect in the specials-- Woodstock took on an enigmatic life of his own. Essentially Schulz offered Snoopy a motherless companion (possibly a personal decision for Schulz who had a hard time getting over the loss of his mother), whose conversations were drawn using dashes or “hieroglyphic” shapes that only Woodstock's best friend could translate.

As such, some scholars felt that Woodstock's existence provided the ensemble (and Snoopy in particular) with an ideal Laurel and Hardy device whereas others felt it fit right into the absurdly creative hero's journey of a dog and his bird. Whatever the case may be, Woodstock and Snoopy's alter-ego Joe Cool were available to help keep the laughs flowing, as the pressures of school along with the-- then unnamed-- perils of multitasking began to invade the daily lives of the Peanuts gang.

Filled with more exquisite music from Vince Guaraldi (including the option of two free iTunes downloads) who provided the specials with a funky blend of jazz and rock along with the strains of Beethoven performed with gusto by the obsessive child prodigy Schroeder, the collection boasts six remastered TV specials including two that had never been made previously available to viewers on DVD.

Although the Thanksgiving and Easter Beagle episodes are instantly memorable to those of us who recall waiting for the TV air-date of Peanuts holiday programs throughout the calendar year, the first volume of the 1970's doesn't have the impact that the 60's volume did with such iconic classics as The Charlie Brown Christmas Special and the Great Pumpkin. Advantageously however, and similar to the 60's set was Warner Brothers' decision to release the definitive collection by decade with this initial installment of 70's classics that further enrich the celebration of the 60th anniversary of Shulz's Peanuts by including episodes which I previously hadn't seen.

This time around, we're treated to It's a Mystery, Charlie Brown along with the set's opener and my own music loving, new-found gem-- Play It Again, Charlie Brown. The amusing Play was as delightful as the 60's new-to-disc work He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown, which centered on Snoopy's escape to Peppermint Patty's when he was sent to obedience school.

And while in the 70's Charlie Brown isn't dumbstruck by his 60's crush of "the little red haired girl," since schoolwork now demands that There's No Time For Love, Charlie Brown, in the 70's set, Lucy's hormones are the ones raging as she steps up her efforts to lure Schroeder away from Beethoven. Enjoyably, once again the delightful scene-stealer Peppermint Patty acts as the wise-beyond-her-years advice giver who really should be running Lucy's psychiatric stand as she helps Lucy figure out a way to flatter Schroeder into noticing her by landing him a gig. And two episodes later Patty is back assisting Marcie in her field trip stage fright as half of the Peanuts gang unknowingly end up in a grocery store instead of the art museum.

Running roughly 175 minutes and nicely remastered to clean up the dated TV prints of the animated shows, the amount of care applied to each individual special in terms of a wonderful audio track and improved picture clarity makes this another must-own for fans.

Yet, nonetheless, I do wish that WB had release the entire decade in one set or perhaps had served up all of the decades as a all-encompassing collection to prevent excess purchase of the same specials since no doubt, they'll eventually be presented in some sort of compilation down the road. Still until then, I'm happy to enjoy these classic specials any way they're offered to us and doubly so when remastered to beautiful effect and made accessible with audio tracks and subtitles in as many languages as there are titles included in the 2-disc set.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

Blu-ray Review: The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)

2009-11-02T21:00:00.000-07:00

Now Available on DVD & Blu-ray

See the Original

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Like Mifune was to Kurosawa, Rowlands was to Cassavetes, and De Niro and Di Caprio are to Scorsese, two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington is to the brothers Scott. Although it’s Russell Crowe whom we usually associate with Ridley Scott and the smiling “need for speed” testosterone fueled early Tom Cruise fare of Top Gun and Days of Thunder that seem synonymous with Tony Scott, Denzel Washington has been cast in a number of challenging roles by the two British-born directors.

A sampling of these roles for Washington consist, of course of going toe-to-toe with Ridley and Russell in his dominant work American Gangster or becoming Tony’s ultimate intellectual sparring partner to Gene Hackman in the chess like submarine film Crimson Tide. Drawn to their passionate work ethic, Denzel Washington himself acknowledged the reason they re-team so often in the production notes for his fourth collaboration with Tony Scott via the Columbia Pictures/MGM release of The Taking of Pelham 123, explaining that since, “Tony works harder than anybody... he has a good heart... so whenever he calls, I come running.”

And while running is exactly what he ends up doing very late into this film, written by Oscar winning screenwriter Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential, Mystic River), for a majority of Pelham, he’s essentially stationary, quite unlike the Scott directed, Helgeland penned Man on Fire or Scott’s other recent Washington work, Déjà Vu.

Tony Scott’s most wholly satisfying and richly complex character driven action film in several years is also--as it turns out--the best popcorn movie of the summer that nobody saw. For, instead of flubbed franchise flicks, subpar superheroes or cinematic spins on Saturday morning cartoons, The Taking of Pelham 123 throws you in your subway seat and gives you nothing to grab onto. Within moments, you’re jerked to-and-fro quickly in sync with our “motorman” Tony Scott and the guy who loves to ride those breaks, editor Chris Lebenzon who employs a rhythmic Requiem for a Dream like "hustle and flow" of cuts.

Yet, I will admit that at first, I feared the two were such slaves to the rhythm that like Tony Scott's Keira Knightley bounty hunter vehicle Domino, it was going to dance as fast as it could until it tripped to acid (literally as Domino did in a bizarre sequence). Luckily it moves from an irregular heartbeat to a simply quickened one, once Lebenzon established Scott’s vision to make Pelham a piece of “Subterranean” Homesick “Steroids” by using the two "s" words that T.S. references in one of the Blu-ray's informative extras.

Based on John Godey’s novel which was adapted into a 1974 film with Walter Matthau, Helgeland decided he didn't want to follow the same destination of the earlier movie in a simple and pointless remake since all involved thoroughly appreciated the original. No, instead he pulled out all the stops of Pelham and created an entirely new map to reroute this train for 2009. He did so complete with a character who wasn't around more than thirty years ago in the form of John Turturro's police hostage negotiator and also by making his screenplay incredibly reflective of our post-9/11 society.

Multilayered, taut, thought-provoking and sharp, Helgeland uses the framework of a real-time action thriller to address (both covertly and overtly) life in these United States. The ambiance of Pelham mirrors ours wherein the bedroom doors of politicians have been flung open, anyone with a fast internet connection can create their own newsroom, and the gray areas between black and white are growing wider than ever given the current economic climate.

Although on the surface, the idea of watching two of our most charismatic American movie stars-- Denzel Washington as the good guy and John Travolta as the bad guy-- may seem a bit familiar, thankfully it was anything but. And initially, I feared it was going to be a cross between Washington in Inside Man and Travolta in Face/Off or Broken Arrow, yet Helgeland managed to keep the characters evolving in unexpected ways, even when they must use semi-cliched good guy/bad guy movie speak.

As an homage to Matthau in the original, Washington's character is renamed as he portrays Walter Garber, a New York transit dispatcher who discovers John Travolta's ruthless "Ryder" has decoupled a train and is holding nineteen people hostage for the price of ten million dollars to be delivered in an hour. Coming right after a discussion with a friend about terrific against-type casting such as pitting Colin Farrell and Ewan McGregor against one another in Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream and how that film benefited from such a bold choice, I confess that I found myself wanting to switch around several roles once the plot and the decoupled train rolled away.

However, I was deeply impressed that it not only moved past the point of predictability with interesting characterization along with some genuine risks like giving James Gandolfini a role as the city's mayor. Furthermore, because it did make bold choices like relishing in Travolta's obvious joy in cutting loose as a calculating killer and making Luis Guzman one of his morally waffling accomplices, the authenticity was there from the start. And as screenwriter Helgeland noted, since he enjoyed introducing us to individuals we met on the fly, in real time and in the midst of whatever they happened to be doing, feeling a connection of who these men were definitely made it more effective for audiences.

Similarly, because the ensemble is so strong and as a film buff it's fun to connect the actors in your head when you realize just how many have worked alongside one another before, it makes the Sony Blu-ray exclusive feature Movie IQ even more irresistible. Similar to the Fox related IMDb feature included on their Wolverine disc, Sony's Movie IQ reveals details about the film itself such as music etc. and also-- via an internet connected Blu-ray player-- to ensure the film consistently stays up to date. Closing and opening a window as you watch to control the interruptions, it allows you to discover the filmographies and biographies of all involved to connect the Coen Brothers films, Spike Lee Joints, or other titles and individuals they have in common.

While I haven't seen the original film, which undoubtedly worked to my advantage since I had nothing with which to compare it, if you have an interest in '70s cinema, you'll find you'll begin moving past modern comparisons like Speed or Inside Man given a French Connection style car chase and a few Dog Day Afternoon moments. Similar to a weakness of Speed, unfortunately we don't really get a chance to know our passengers aside from a few generic or pertinent issues like "young man with wireless internet enabled laptop," the little kid, etc. On the other hand, reminiscent of one of the strengths of Speed, we begin to piece together more information about our villain and hero as they converse.

Of course, it is a Tony Scott film and his signature is undoubtedly spectacular action sequences along with an unrelenting desire to push further and venture into more extreme areas as Denzel Washington is just inches away from real moving trains. Thus it won't come as a surprise when I share that his trademark multiple-camera employed expertly choreographed scenes rivet from the start and you do feel like you're hijacked by the adrenaline fueled danger as well.

However, in a work that is far more intelligent than Domino which sacrificed substance for style and fetishistic violence, we're just as enthralled by the sight of the two men trading banter on the radio while everyone around them prepares to act as we are with a car crash or standoff. This difference in utilizing a solid foundation of a terrific screenplay sets Scott's film apart from some of his "need for speed" predecessors.

Fortunately it's enhanced by the razor sharp clarity of a Blu-ray that never jumps the track in a theatrical level presentation of crisp camerawork cut to the rhythm Scott dances best to as a director with a rich, balanced audio track. Likewise, the 2-disc Blu-ray set includes the film as a digital copy and BD-Live features that offer you the chance to analyze just why you were so taken by Pelham.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

DVD Review: TCM Spotlight: Esther Williams, Vol. 2

2009-10-30T02:00:00.001-07:00

Now Available on DVD

Photo Slideshow

Titles Included:
Thrill of a Romance; Fiesta; This Time for Keeps; Pagan Love Song; Million Dollar Mermaid; Easy to Love

“I think the joy that showed through in my swimming movies comes from my lifelong love of the water. No matter what I was doing, the best I've felt all day was when I was swimming.”
– Esther Williams
(As Quoted by Harold Johnson)

Although she may have missed the opportunity to compete in the Olympics when World War II canceled the 1940 games, when three-time national championship swimmer Esther Williams crossed over into Hollywood, her grace and athleticism inspired a new genre and created a Golden Age of Aquatic Musicals.

Forever changing the way we viewed the sport of swimming and likewise-- mostly subtly due to her stunning and statuesque, tall, muscle-toned physique-- also fostering a genuine respect for female athletes, Williams' breakthrough film Bathing Beauty was followed by more movies than even Williams herself imagined.

As she explained to Harold Johnson, logically Williams was wise enough to question even back back then just, "How many swimming movies could they make?" going so far as to ask department stores to hold her place as a model, assuming "this movie-making thing wouldn't last." However, her home studio of MGM proved their commitment to Williams in no uncertain terms, building "a special 90-foot square, 20-foot deep pool... complete with hydraulic lifts, hidden air hoses, and special cranes for overhead shots."

Yet admittedly the scripts being churned out by the "Dream Factory" fluctuated in quality as the pleasantly predictable Aqua Musicals primarily centered on light romantic comedy. Usually structuring the "boy meets girl" paradigm by adding in an extra love interest-- one recurring theme that permeates throughout was one of impossible romance as Williams' films evoked a (most likely unconscious) mermaid in love with a land-based man operatic feel that was sometimes enhanced by real live opera. However, despite some of the duds, Williams was always as "Easy to Love" as the song so often sang to her that ultimately resulted in the title of the final film included in the Turner Classic Movies/Warner Brothers Home Video release of the second volume of Esther Williams classics.

Although as a musical addict and classic film lover who had seen every title in the set before, I was a bit dismayed that I was missing out on the opportunity to savor Williams' finest films all in one edition. Nonetheless, this exquisitely designed, space-saving package delivered beautiful discs with vintage movie art and the type of extras that only TCM could find in the MGM archives.

Boasting classic live action and animated shorts (containing MGM's beloved duo Tom & Jerry), outtakes, lost footage and bonus musical sequences that weren't featured in the original films, the set more than makes up for its two biggest disappointments including Fiesta and Pagan Love Song via the above-and-beyond, more than just the requisite trailer bonuses that make the price-tag of the set worth it.

In featuring six "movies [that are] available only in this DVD collection," while the picture and sound quality of the dated prints depends on the title, overall, they still stun especially via the extraordinarily colorful yet downright dangerous aquatic choreography of the iconic Busby Berkeley. This is witnessed most notably in the Annette Kellerman biopic Million Dollar Mermaid, which incidentally is the same title that Williams used for her autobiography co-written with Digby Diehl.

With pyrotechnics, slides, lifts, and countless extras, Williams was an early stunt pioneer, pre-dating Jackie Chan for fearless reality by rarely using a double and spending seven months in a full body cast in Berekley's Mermaid choreographed 115 foot tower dive. Although audiences only saw the perfectly applied waterproof makeup and her megawatt smile beaming at the camera throughout, it's impossible not to applaud her work ethic, courage, and determination. In fact it's even more impressive when you consider that her career that consisted of so much time in the water that she napped in the pool with her feet on the deck throughout the intense productions in which she swam well over one thousand estimated miles, water-skied and dove while pregnant, and bravely returned despite headaches, ruptured eardrums, and several instances of nearly drowning.

Her endurance as both an athlete and especially a pioneering one for women of the time is what makes the lightweight cross-dressing and out-of-the-water film Fiesta bearable as Williams impersonates her twin brother to be a successful bullfighter while he studies music in Mexico.

While at times I couldn't help but wonder if classic movie lover Pedro Almodovar may have been slightly influenced by the gender role questions mildly posed in that film for his Oscar winner Talk to Her, it's otherwise forgettable yet at least more watchable than the scenic but shallow Pagan Love Song. Strictly run of the mill and barely feature length, Pagan finds Tahitian islander Williams (filming in Hawaii actually) in a South Pacific-lite cringer opposite Howard Keel.

Popular leading man Van Johnson makes a nice romantic partner for Esther Williams in the bookend films included from the sweet comedy Thrill of a Romance wherein he falls for Williams while her husband of a few hours ditches her for a business deal on their honeymoon and when she does the chasing in the picturesque closing work Easy to Love filmed at Cypress Gardens.

In another love triangle picture that's a few scenes too long to fully hold our attention-- This Time for Keeps--Williams reunites with the renowned "Wagnerian Operatic tenor" Lauritz Melchoir. The singer, who had previously mesmerized with the power of his voice in his debut Thrill of a Romance appears in Time along with Jimmy Durante doing double duty as musical accompaniment and comedic cupids best appreciated in a bit involving a bicycle built for two.

However, easily it's Million Dollar Mermaid which will be considered the set's standout in this gorgeously transferred film that still excites (when you don't think about the injuries!) via the inspirational true-life story of an Australian girl's fight against the limitations of her disability to become a sensation at the Hippodrome.

Yet despite the popularity of Mermaid, you may be surprised to discover just how endearing and charming the others are-- in spite of some weaknesses-- such as my other set favorite, Thrill of a Romance. As enjoyable a way to unwind as backfloating under a moonlit sky in warm water, the medicinal powers of MGM musicals haven't dipped in more than five decades. Moreover, this Williams collection is inviting enough to make you want to turn that backfloat into strokes to retrieve the original volume and collect them both to see the Bathing Beauty in her most iconic roles.

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DVD Review: Fermat's Room (2007)

2009-10-28T19:44:00.001-07:00

Now Available on DVD

Barring a fictitious title such as “Who Wants to Be a Nobel Prize Winner,” if you were asked to choose a game show for which a quartet of mathematicians would be ideally suited, no doubt Jeopardy would be near the top of the list. For although they may each have been gifted with A Beautiful Mind, let's just say that nobody looks at the obsessive geniuses on display in Darren Aronofsky's Pi and the Chuck Lorre/Bill Prady sitcom The Big Bang Theory and thinks, “Hey, get these folks on Survivor stat!”

While obviously I realize this isn't a task that would normally fall into your lap (unless you're a TV executive desperate for ratings) and I've never actually met anyone who says “stat” outside of medical melodramas, it's the type of strange hypothetical that flows through your mind in the mesmerizing Spanish puzzler Fermat's Room which pits four mathematicians in a battle to stay alive.

Enticed by the curiosity and exclusivity involved, four mathematicians are lured by a riddle they must solve in order to accept an invitation to a gathering of top minds. And sure enough, the connection that the group of strangers have to one another is eventually revealed as the engrossing work continues when they find their way to a mysterious dinner party hosted by a man named Fermat.

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The journey begins with a Clue style set-up complete with an homage to the comedy film as far as the arrival of guests goes as one character picks up another one on the side of the road (a la Professor Plum and Ms. Scarlett) yet with none of the intentional screwball banter of the '80s classic. Once they've reached the necessary point, the guests must cross water to arrive at a destination where they soon realize is less of a meeting of the minds than a battle of the wits to stay alive.

Instructed to leave all of their cellular phones behind, right after their host Fermat is unexpectedly called away for an emergency, the foursome discover an electronic device that presents them with a variety of riddles, mathematical problems, and brain teasers they must solve in the designated time. However, it's not just a fun new toy as the answers must be submitted or the hydraulic press style walls will move inward, crushing the room and the occupants like Star Wars' trash compacter.

A riveting intellectual near real-time thriller, this film festival import engrosses immediately, despite some obvious twists that seem fairly easy to predict including the fact that the four are given aliases that we realize have much more significance than the colors used in Clue and Reservoir Dogs. However, admittedly I was stumped as to why they didn't try removing the batteries, texting elsewhere, trying to “beat the game” or manipulating the electronic device that made the walls close in on them as a claustrophobic nightmare.

Yet, thankfully just as the clever screenplay begins to reveal more about our leads as it unravels like a perfectly knitted square, the logic of the rest of their actions feels right as they use all of the objects at their disposal including books and furniture while attempting to secure the corners to build a strong fortress. This decision logically buys them some time as they cleverly test their construction by waiting a few extra moments to answer the riddles when the allotted time has run out.

Transferred to DVD in anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen and 5.1 surround sound of the original Spanish audio with Spanish and English subtitles, the picture quality of the disc from IFC Films and MPI Media Group is a bit grainy overall with some weak definition and soft flesh tones, which makes the title best viewed in a dark room film on a bigger screen television wherein you can adjust the sharpness and color. Yet, because the film is so satisfying, you'll be quick to overlook the less-than-stellar clarity and absence of a bonus feature aside from the trailer since it's a work that is sure to garner a greater cult film status on DVD, which makes me optimistic we may be treated to another release of Fermat's Room in the future.

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Although some have argued that the film features inauthentic and gorgeous individuals along with puzzles that are below the genius level and Fermat is guilty on both accounts, the creative team of former TV scribes Luis Piedrahita and Rodrigo Sopena are smart enough to understand in their fast-paced, 92 minute feature filmmaking debut as writer-directors that to fully engage the audience, we need to feel as though we're able to understand at least a fraction of the riddles with which they're saddled.

As nothing is more yawn-inducing than listening to mathematicians rattle on using terminology that most can't begin to grasp, likewise those in charge also knew that presenting an internationally appealing cast instead of stereotypical nerds would also work on another level of getting superficial individuals in the door. Thus, by doing so, they opened up a “math thriller” of life and death to an audience who may not have otherwise attended.

Admirably avoiding overt gore or horror exploitation for the smarter approach of subtly startling scenes including one on a road that reminded me of another overseas stunner With a Friend Like Harry, the highly recommended Fermat's Room should easily appeal to sophisticated viewers looking for a cinematic puzzler. To this end, it will particularly attract devotees of Clue, Tell No One, Gosford Park, drawing room mysteries like Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, Sleuth and David Fincher's The Game in the way that it leads you down a variety of possible final solutions in addition to discovering not just whom the true villain may actually be but furthermore whether or not they have any accomplices in this mathematical death trap.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

TV on DVD: Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut) -- 40th Anniversary 6-Part Documentary (2009)

2009-10-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

Now Available on DVD & Blu-ray

Despite the fact that I grew up in the same state from which Python member Terry Gilliam hailed before a continental change found him joining up with the rest of the Flying Circus, Monty Python wasn't a big part of my introduction to comedy... at least not directly.

Yet as I discovered in this incredibly thorough six part documentary celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the legendary comedy team, the influence of the men from The Ministry of Silly Walks who brought us a Fish Slapping Dance and "The Lumberjack Song" was everywhere. Although due to the fact that this reviewer was merely a Minnesotan toddler when the Pythons abandoned the Spanish Inquisition to go their own separate ways amidst a trail of Spam-crumbs, it's no wonder that the term Pythonesque wasn't part of my early vocabulary.

Although as my interest in comedy grew, so did my interest in the Pythons, most notably when I stumbled onto John Cleese's A Fish Called Wanda co-starring his Python cast-mate Michael Palin and laughed so hard that my dad kept yelling from the floor below to “keep it down.” Needless to say, with Wanda as my gateway drug, I became hooked on humor-- the more obscure or least-mainstream the better-- and must admit to a certain love of “finding things first” to this day whether it's jumping on a bandwagon before it becomes trendy or the experience of relishing in something from the past that is no longer in popular discussion.

Still, I must confess that my initial encounter with Monty Python via one of their films left me thoroughly confused the first time around. Yet the classic sketches in this set and the group's deep admiration and exploration of the boundaries of humor further analyzed by their fans including Dan Aykroyd, Stephen Merchant, Steve Coogan, Simon Pegg, Tim Roth, Russell Brand, Seth Green and others made me eager to see more of the original series.

Although it recently screened in nightly installments on the Independent Film Channel, which produced the documentary alongside Eagle Rock, viewing all six parts on disc form can be a bit of an exhaustive and daunting venture. However, the format tries to keep things fresh by combining together the one-on-one Python interviews with archival footage and intercutting it with reactions from those whose careers were heavily influenced by the group which is often compared to as the comedy version of The Beatles.

Ironically the fab four who brought viewers The Magical Mystery Tour were fans of The Flying Circus as well, as the documentary cites that Paul McCartney would stop recording sessions when they were on and George Harrison (along with other musicians including Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd) helped fund their cinematic endeavors. Bouncing back from an overly long and poorly edited but vital origins episode that some may actually want to skip just to visit the days of the Circus, the documentary is a must for fans yet a bit repetitive and no doubt could've been restructured and shortened to its advantage.

It begins to unravel once it passed the midway mark as sadly in a few places I wished we were witnessing more vintage Python material and less filler of the surviving members making some remarks about one another that ran the gamut from passive aggressive to bitter as in “___ didn't think it was funny so I kept the original script at the end” or “__ was really difficult at times” or “the reason _____ worked is because of ____ and not ___.” While they're all very professional and justifiably proud of their accomplishments you still get the sense that there's some hard feelings and disagreements regarding what happened and why in their very own “Cheese Shop” in which Cleese reveals his real family name is actually Cheese.

However, the documentary excels when it includes the background of certain sketches and the way they worked from rhythmic pseudo-intellectual approaches to sight gags, the history of censorship battles and Gilliam's need to rescue the tapes of the show from the BBC, along with some wonderful analysis from comedians of our generation. Well worth the viewing is Steve Coogan's near Python audition as he displays his gift for impressions, memorization and obsessive mimicry or being a one-man VCR to reenact skits verbatim complete with stage directions.

Likewise, I enjoyed Simon Pegg's beautiful comment that as a teen he loved a skit wherein two Pythons had to look away from one another to try and keep it together since watching the men enjoy humor while being humorous made it all the more memorable. Further footage finds others discussing the way they poked fun at Upper Class Twits and the reactions alone and subsequent footage could've been its own portion of the set. For in the end, while you need to hear the history of the Pythons from the Pythons, the reason the Pythons are still going strong at forty is because of its groundbreaking effect of outside-the-box thinking of playing with our expectations in a way that's influenced comedy ever since.

So despite some of the gossipy digs, which actually-- in my mind-- took a little of the pleasure away from the idea of celebrating the source, the documentary which includes some cutting room floor footage, more interviews (which were left out for a reason), very few sketches along with Gilliam's photo gallery serves as a gift to enthusiasts as well as comedy buffs who want a far more in-depth definition of Pythonesque than you can find in the dictionary.

TV on DVD: Angel and the Badman (2009)

2009-10-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

Now Available On DVD

(The Remake & The Original)

Let's face facts, Pilgrim: if you're saddled with an originally-made-for-television remake of a classic John Wayne western starring the dude from La Bamba and Beverly Hills 90210's Luke Perry, it's best to go in with low expectations. Yet, this becomes a much easier task if you haven't seen the John Wayne film in question since as talented as Lou Diamond Phillips may be, there's only one Duke and he hung up his hat a long time ago.

However and much to my surprise, this Canadian filmed take on Duke's 1947 Angel and the Badman centered on the love of a good Quaker woman taming a gun-slinging cowboy is ratcheted up a few gun belt notches by excellent production values and a tender, emotional turn by The Game and 88 Minutes actress Debra Kara Unger.

Wounded near the start of this newly released DVD from Lionsgate Entertainment, the tough legend Quirt Evans (Phillips) is given shelter in the Quaker home occupied by the peace-loving and widowed Temperance (Unger), her parents, and her young son. Nursing him back to health during the delirium following rudimentary, Old West bullet removal surgery, Temperance is thunderstruck with Florence Nightingale syndrome falling irrationally in love with the outlaw while he rambles though two days of fever and chills.

Once Quirt comes to and begins to regain his strength, his attraction to Temperance grows incredibly fast as well to the near Shakespearean style rapid obsession which prevents him from leaving their home once he can physically do so. Despite a couple of longing looks, mild flirtation, and one scene of stolen kisses early on, the intensity of their attraction doesn't feel entirely genuine. This makes it a little tough to fully buy into as Quirt's decision to stay in town hinges more on Temperance than it does to close his business transaction with Luke Perry's dangerous outlaw, Laredo Stevens. Yet this being stated, it's incredibly refreshing to see that they've cast a truly talented, beautiful and age-appropriate romantic lead to match with our hero even if a forced faux love-scene near the finale of the film feels completely out-of-character, context and time period.

Still, all in all, it's a better than average TV time-waster for those not holding it up to Duke's masterpieces, even though it's actually just as watchable as some of his repetitive, lesser fare in his impressive, overflowing filmography. A nice afternoon rental, this Lionsgate release will most likely do even better on cable considering some of its storytelling hurdles like a one-dimensional town marshal whose job essentially consists of entering the scene to deliver a “You don't mess around with Johnny Law or I'll Hang 'em High” like sermon for 95% of the movie. Equally rushed and poorly conceived is a subplot about the Quakers being just as unwelcome in the community as the gunfighters are which is resolved almost as soon as it's introduced and seems to serve merely as an excuse for Phillips to act tough.

Likewise, it suffers from the lack of a truly unique villain we'd love to hate since I believe Perry receives less screen time than the cameo of John Wayne's grandson Brendan as one of Quirt's friends. However, while it's relatively short on action for the genre, the movie gets the look and feel right in a polished new adaptation of Angel and the Badman where love can stop a bullet.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.