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[TV] Saturday Morning Cartoons: 1960s Volume 2

Arya Ponto — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:58:00 +0000

Back in May, I reviewed the first volume of this collection. At the time, I pointed out how the set is aimed at adults who want to watch the cartoons out of nostalgia, but aren’t big enough fans to pursue real collections. It’s a casual set, one that aims to recreate the feel of a Saturday morning cartoon line up. As with those genuine Saturday mornings, what you’ll get is a mixed bag of the truly creative and the truly asinine.

Much of what I said about the first volume said can still apply here. I know that sounds like I’m too lazy to come up with new criticism, but to be fair, that’s because WB didn’t bother doing anything new with the release, either. In fact, it’s 12 shows on 2 discs again, but the cartoons included are mostly the same as the first volume—just different episodes of them. It gives the two volumes a sense of continuity, but at the same time, it curbs the very thing this DVD set wanted to be in the first place, which is a sampler dish of various classic—some forgotten—Saturday morning cartoons.

Instead of sampling different and more diverse cartoons, we get more Flintstones and Jetsons. More Porky Pig, this time accompanied by a few Bugs Bunny and Road Runner cartoons. More Quick Draw McGraw (El Kabong!), Peter Potamus, Magilla Gorilla and Atom Ant. Not that more of these shows are a bad thing, but they offer no variety, and the episodes shown are by no means the best.

As with the first volume, these well-known toons are mixed in with more obscure ones, primarily adventure oriented. Here we get the first episode of The Adventures of Young Gulliver, a nonsense concept that tries to modernize Gulliver’s Travels, where a kid named Gulliver and his dog are shipwrecked on Liliput Island during a treasure hunt with Gulliver’s dad. Then there’s Young Samson, an even more nonsense concept where a teenage boy named Samson and his dog Goliath (a boy and his dog were so in, apparently) can magically turn into a the biblical Samson, who is a superhero now, and a lion. Yes, the dog turns into a lion. Look, I don’t even know...

But most bizarre, I think, is The Space Kidettes. It’s a show that doesn’t have any more to it than its punning title suggests. It’s a bunch of cuddly kids walking around in outer space, chased by a space pirate. They just walk around in space. In this episode, they meet Space Hero, a generic superhero who I guess patrols space, or whatever. In case you’re wondering, no, I do not believe they are better even if you’re high.

If there was more of a general theme or gimmick to the set, anything that would encapsulate the chosen cartoons, it might have more traction. But given that it’s random samples that are included just to promote other already-released sets, this seems like a major waste of money. As with the first volume, though, I can’t chastise it completely. After all, it’s still useful to simulate a Saturday morning cartoon experience for your toddlers better than actually tuning in to current Saturday morning cartoons. As a whole, the set is actually more entertaining than the first volume, if not just from the Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry cartoons (which includes a favorite, “Saltwater Tabby”) alone.

DVD Bonus Features

Again, like Volume 1, the features are simple 3-minute featurettes on the making and history of a certain cartoon. Or maybe I should say, “the feature is,” since there’s only one. It sucks because I would’ve liked to hear more about the absurd obscure ones like Young Samson, particularly on why they thought that was a good idea.

What we get is a feature on Magilla Gorilla, and it’s amazing how uninformative it is. I’m sure these interviewees have more interesting things to say that were left out, but what’s included instead are talks of Magilla’s premise, which anyone would’ve gotten by watching just 15 seconds of the cartoon. A mention of how Magilla was one of the last of the talking animal cartoons from Hanna-Barbera as they began to move towards adventure toons like Johnny Quest sounds like an interesting point, but it’s never elaborated upon.

[TV] How to Build a Star Trek Communicator

Arya Ponto — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:34:00 +0000

The folks over at Make Magazine has done something really cool. This is a Star Trek communicator from the original series that lets you make or receive phone calls by pairing it with a cell phone via bluetooth. This awesome gadget is created by former Project Runway contestant Diana Eng, with help from Dave Clausen. Here Diana explains how the communicator works with an iPhone.

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If you want to make your own, you will need this Star Trek toy communicator as the base, a bluetooth module and a microcontroller—then a bunch of tools and parts to finish the job. It's not something you can do without some level of expertise, however. Hacking, drilling and programming are involved. If you think you can do it, Diana has schematics and instructions over here.

If you can't manage that, well... The toy communicator makes sound effects.

WATCH OUT!: Ultraviolet (1998)

Arya Ponto — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:12:00 +0000

With The Twilight Saga: New Moon coming out in just two weeks, I thought I’d declare November “Vampire Month” for Watch Out!, as we take a look at some really great underappreciated movies involving vampires. For this first week, however, we’ll take a look at a TV show instead. It’s called Ultraviolet, and while it only lasted 6 episodes (or one season of British television), you can say that it’s quite ahead of its time.

Ultraviolet came out in 1998, roughly around the same time Buffy the Vampire Slayer took off, starring a few guys who would later earn much bigger popularity from other TV shows: Jack Davenport (Coupling), Idris Elba (The Wire) and Stephen Moyer (True Blood). I don’t remember how I first discovered this gem—it’s been years—but it might have something to do with hearing it mentioned many times by horror fans who named it as the complete antithesis of Buffy. Ultraviolet is a clinical, cynical and stubbornly realistic take on the genre, as evidenced by its refusal to use the word “vampire” even once. Instead, they’re referred to as either Code Five or the derogatory term “leech.” It also maintains a medical and scientific angle, but thoroughly exciting nonetheless, depicting the use of modern technology to investigate and combat the vampire phenomenon.

The pilot sets up a who-do-you-trust question that resembles class warfare more than a battle of good versus evil. The main character, a conflicted cop played by Davenport, is told by the vampires that the government team hunting them is a modern-day Inquisition backed by Vatican money (“Did they tell you I was evil? That’s what the church always say. Women, black, disabled, gay… and now us. Do you like living in the middle ages?”). Instead of providing the easy answer that the vampires are lying, the heroes confirm that the goal of the vampire conspiracy is to save mankind from our capacity for self-destruction (war, AIDS, global warming). That doesn’t sound too bad, does it? The problem is that their plan involves enslaving mankind, so they must be stopped.

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"We're not the cops."

The cynical tone of the show is established immediately by this no-win conflict, while also making a commentary on the security-over-liberty intrusion of authority figures—something we didn’t really see making much appearance in American shows until after 9/11. Ultraviolet resembles that of a street-level, gritty procedural like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; not so much the format but the perpetually somber mood. It wrestles with how the existence of vampires interacts with everyday topics like pedophilia, adolescent violence, immigration and religious prosecution.

While it’s the pragmatic approach that interested me, it’s this consciousness that elevates it above camp. The third episode, for example, concerns a rape victim who may be carrying a vampire baby, bringing up topics like artificial insemination and, of course, abortion. The show doesn’t deal with it lightly, making sure to emphasize the horror of choosing between losing a child and an irresponsible birth.

A skinny US DVD set was released in 2001, containing all six episodes. It’s still available to purchase from Amazon or rent from Netflix and Blockbuster Online.

{end watch out!}

[DVD REVIEW] North by Northwest - 50th Anniversary Edition

Saul Berenbaum — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:00:00 +0000

I’m gonna explain my real feelings on North by Northwest as carefully and explicitly as I can. Of course, my opinions are for you to take or leave. If you’re as understandably attached to the film as so many people still are, please have at it, I encourage you to enjoy it as many times as you can before the next 5 or 10-year anniversary comes along to celebrate with a new release. Though honestly, despite my feelings on the film itself, I sincerely doubt a more impressive release will be seen on this format.

North by Northwest is a relic of a bygone age of cinema to me. More than most of Hitchcock’s works, North by Northwest feels far too much like a movie to work as an effective thriller for me. Antiquated effects sequences, bizarrely cut sequences which are distracting to the modern cinematic eye and would be harshly criticized in any release nowadays—all of this just takes away from that suspense Hitch prided himself on maintaining.

The worst offense North by Northwest perpetrates (and a huge problem of mine in regards to Psycho and several other Hitch efforts) is the expositional dialogue. In Psycho, in order to make everything clear-cut with a nice ribbon on top, the penultimate scene is simply an in-depth explanation of everything that’s wrong with Norman Bates. North by Northwest goes a step further by having sporadic 3-minute dialogue sequences every half hour or so to make it clear to the Hitch’s undiscerning 1959 audience just what the hell is going on. The real tragedy of all this is that I know Hitch was every bit the master of visual storytelling he’s made out to be, but these scenes that are scattered about all over his supposed masterpiece (of which he has dozens), just rob the film of its timelessness, much more so than even some of the horrible cinematic special effects. For the record, I’m not counting the rear projection in that bunch, 'cause I dig it.

As classic as its few memorable set pieces are, the film is at its best in the few moments when it attempts actual character drama, most notably when Cary Grant chides Eva Marie Saint in the fashion she absolutely deserves to be, and a single tear glides down her cheek. Both of them give great performances when they’re given the chance, but far too often they’re simply running from various cronies. For a film well over 2 hours, the lack of constant plot progression (and, honestly, the relative lack of intrigue for the second half) can grate on the nerves.

North by Northwest has without question served as one of the most influential thrillers of the last century, but at its golden anniversary, it simply stands as far too dated to consistently thrill. There are 5-minute sections where I was completely riveted, but it wasn’t a constant. Nor was it enough to recommend the film to anyone who hasn’t grown over the years to love it passionately and inexorably. If you fall under that heading, please stop reading and order the disc, because from here on out I have absolutely nothing remotely negative to say about it.

Blu-ray Audio/Video

Wow. This movie is, legitimately, fifty years old, and while there’s no way it could’ve been “Shot This Year,” simply because of its production design, it certainly looks as vivid and clear as any current release. Colors fly off the screen, foreground action is beautifully separated from the back, and film grain appears natural and beautiful. In terms of sound, the 5.1 mix is immersive and virtually flawless. I never found myself wondering where the rear channels were hiding, and dialogue came out about as clear as anyone could ever hope for a half-century-old master. I truly hope this is indicative of a greater consistency in catalogue releases. Honestly.

Blu-ray Extra Features:

First, special note has to be made of the Warner’s Digibook packaging. I now have three of these releases. They’ve typically got a few interesting notes among the 30-40 pages of material, and are worth looking at once or twice. But gosh, this one is so much more beautiful than anything I’ve seen in the series. Every page is great. Every time you turn to the next section you’re greeted with more pleasurable art and gorgeous design, as well as an actual substantial amount of information, unlike my rather disappointing Digibook release of Poltergeist.

Once you actually get the disc in the player, there’s a commentary by screenwriter Michael Lehman, several hour-plus documentaries focusing on the film’s cinematic influence, and on leading man Cary Grant. Among the rest of the trove you’ll find pretty much everything you could realistically expect on the subject on North by Northwest. This being the first US release of a Hitch flick on Blu-ray, it also stands as the most fully loaded Hitchcock release on any digital format. As overblown as I believe the film to be, Warner has to be commended on every aspect of this release. It’s a masterstroke, even if the film may not be.

[ALBUM REVIEW] Strange Light

Bryon Turcotte — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 12:40:00 +0000

The craftsman David Berkeley converts pure feeling into a beautiful quilt without missing a stitch. I have tried, but I feel there is no way for you to truly experience this recording through words alone. David’s third studio album, Strange Light will touch your soul differently each time you listen. I can honestly say that it touched me deeply.

The first cut, “Hurricane” has a sensitive, touching beginning which brings you into a warm story with crying lyrics. The arrangement and subtle accents really drive this tune forward and beyond. With a nice build and dynamic stability, it stands as a wonderful love song of commitment and strength. “Willis Avenue Bridge” paints a gorgeous picture filled with memories and visions of winter. This is a sad and touching story of the spirit of one’s life moving forward but with the memory of sadness and regret. Definitely one of my favorites, this tune brings you into a tragic, fractured moment brilliantly.

“Sweet Auburn” takes you waltzing through a story of longing and love for someone sweet but distant. Berkeley draws a wonderful sketch of the heart in a state of falling. You can clearly picture the nervous butterflies in his words. The next track, “Oh Lord Come Down” shows the beautiful vocal companionship between Berkeley and Sara Watkins of the band Nickel Creek. A nice spiritually flavored song with broad strokes of hope and faith; it is executed gracefully with sensitivity and grace. In “Halloween Parade” you can feel the cold air, see the dark sky, and smell the hazy smoke standing below the fall sky. It is a very visually touching piece mixed with powerful but tasteful additions from the other musicians. His delivery is simple, intelligent and full of depth. “Scraps of You” is another touching track featuring soft, subtle guitar and vocals, which float over a pleasant wave of tasteful musicianship. The builds and layers are smart and spread nicely by his musical partners. Todd Sickafoose gives us a wonderful gift through his upright bass solo and punctuates the feelings with each note simply.

A straight up shuffle, “Milwaukee Road” would make any old Nashville session player shiver with goose bumps. This tune could easily have risen from the grooves of an old 45-RPM record through the voice of Haggard, Cash or Williams. It is an instant classic. “Glory” drifts through the air like a falling maple leaf with its color bouncing off rays of afternoon sun. The harmonies and mandolin plucks stroke the heartstrings with angelic care. “Measure of a Man” flows and builds nicely as it progresses. It is a search for answers, which is delivered with sensitivity and mystery. Towards its conclusion, it rises like a threatening wave but crashes nicely on the shore. “High Heels and All” is an example of fine songwriting and arrangement. Simply said, parts of this song will bring your heart to joy and tears to your eyes. It is a perfect mixture of instrumentation and emotion.

“The Only Broken Man” pleads with a desperate call for rescue. With sadness and darkness, he could break the strongest heart into a million pieces. “Angelina” ends the album with another beautiful rendering of a relationship’s growth. He paints her face and spirit so clearly; you can see her smile as they talk that day in Harvard Square. It makes you crave the need to meet the girl who could inspire such a beautiful song. Berkeley has truly created a piece of art with this recording. Words cannot shine its light as much as the tones of his music. Buy and Listen.

[DVD REVIEW] The Dead

Saul Berenbaum — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:08:00 +0000

If there’s one type of film that simply doesn’t float my boat, it’s the late 1800s/early 1900s period European costume drama. I’m not into it, I feel I can’t relate to many of the characters. The films which fall into this category that I can watch at length are few and far between, and if anyone mentions Brideshead Revisited to me I’ll likely slip into a light coma.

John Huston’s final film, The Dead, falls under this heading. It was the immortal director’s dream project for many years. He did not live to see the film’s release. Directing from an oxygen tent, he meticulously adapted James Joyce’s short story in the most non-indulgent manner a director of his stature and ability could endure. With the help of an Oscar-nominated screenplay penned by his son, Tony Huston, and with his daughter Anjelica filling the lead role, a poetic swan song was crafted, steadily garnering a quiet but devoted fan base over the last two decades. And deservedly so – what begins as a captivating exercise in nearly non-narrative cinema, without a clear, guiding conflict, develops into a poetic cinematic lament, both warming and chilling. Stunning visualizations of the dead of winter conclude the film, and fittingly, Huston’s legacy.

When would Huston’s final effort be given a US release on a digital format? The rumors spread for years, Criterion were in talks, until finally Lionsgate announced a standard-def release for the Christmas season of 2009. That release is here, no doubt, but it is not the film Huston left for us. Instead, Lionsgate has bewilderingly cut ten minutes of critical character development from the first third of the film, inexorably raping it of its greatest strength. As the majority of the film takes place at a dinner party, and no sequence for the first three quarters of the film features fewer than five characters, what we are left with is a somewhat confusing and largely empty shell of The Dead as it was intended to be seen. While all the characters maintain very recognizable traits, losing such a length from so early on in the film creates an intrinsically different, and indisputably inferior work.

DVD Audio/Video

Lionsgate, not content with simply hollowing out the core strength of the film, decided to very slightly shave some of the frame off, cutting the aspect ratio down from the original 1.85:1 to 1:78:1. If you are unfamiliar with my meaning, go find a photo album, take out your favorite treasured moment and cut a sizeable portion from every side of the photo. Then imagine doing that 24 times every second for the length of a feature film, and I hope you can understand how it creates an unquestionably different aesthetic.

The transfer on the disc is also far more muddy and warm than the film has traditionally been shown as, losing much of its subtle grandeur as a result. The 2.0 audio track is noticeably unclear at points, and for such a dialogue-heavy piece, that really is just unfortunate.

DVD Special Features

Always intended to be released alongside The Dead was an hour-long companion documentary entitled John Huston and the Dubliners, which is nowhere to be found on the disc. As a matter of fact, nothing relating to the film is available here. The sole “Extra Features,” are some stock promos for other Lionsgate releases and some of the most downright ugly box art to adorn my shelf.

My DVD rack has housed everything from Meatballs IV to Cannibal Holocaust, but such a monumental degradation of an artist’s vision, and an artist’s memory, shall be chucked into the garbage after I submit this review. Lionsgate can do better. Lionsgate has done better in my eyes this week, when they released the disappointing horror film Night Watcher, but they released it as its director intended. A flawed film can make its home alongside the rest of my collection, but the work of a true master robbed of its artistic integrity and purpose… I just don’t see how that makes any sense.

[TV] Three Sheets: Seasons 1-3

Max Alexis — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:33:00 +0000

Three Sheets is a show that follows Zane Lamprey, a happy go lucky seeming guy, around the world. Zane does what many shows do. He goes and tries the local food and meets the local people and learns the local customs. But don't let that fool you—this is not your usual show. Zane Lamprey is all but a licensed alcoholic, and this show is all about booze. Sure, the people are interesting, and sure the customs are fun, but booze is booze, and this show doesn't attempt to appeal to anyone but its most basic audience: drinkers.

Whether Zane Lamprey is hanging out in Taipei drinking a variety of snake parts (blood, bile, and poison...right, and soaked testicles) or merely binging his way through the country of Belgium, several things can always be guaranteed with Three Sheets:

1. Zane Lamprey will eat local food and start drinking.

2. Zane Lamprey will drink some more.

3. Zane Lamprey will drink more than you saw "That Guy" in college ever drink.

4. Zane Lamprey will make some comment about how "the day hasn't even started" and then will proceed to almost inhale entire bottles of beer, wine, exotic liquor, or whatever else.

5. Zane Lamprey will continue to act drunk as he gets progressively drunker. Occasionally this includes major social faux pas, like standing up and screaming/hitting the table in Seoul or pointing to people who are saying, "You make me uncomfortable when you point" while Zane points and laughs.

6. Zane Lamprey will wake up and try whatever they put in his face to cure his hangover (ranging from magic mushroom tea to a soup made of clotted cow blood, intestine, and many other interesting ingredients).

I'm a bit torn on this show. On one hand, it appeals to my hedonistic side. Who doesn't want to imbibe on exotic drinks, lounge while meeting others and eating fresh foods on the beach or a jungle, and be paid to travel and eat and drink? The show is informative, even educational, on different liquors, drinks, and their history. The scenery is gorgeous, the people who Lamprey interacts with are all interesting, and Lamprey himself is extremely likable. Being both a great television host and someone who seems like he'd be great to hang with, Lamprey is a very enjoyable person to watch and makes the show extremely endearing to viewers.

On the other hand, even for a seasoned alcohol aficionado, Zane Lamprey often goes from whimsically fun to outright scary, sometimes going so far as to regularly mock friend and occasional show pony Steve McKenna, who regularly over-indulges and ends up as a drunk mess.

While in the Philippines, Lamprey takes a straight shot of double distilled Lampanog, a 166 proof (83% alcohol) liquor based on the sap of coconut palms. Sure, we've all taken a shot of 151 when we were freshmen in college (no? Just me?) but most of us didn't consider that the starting point for our day. Lamprey goes on to pound shot after shot after shot of the single distilled stuff (still an 80 proof drink) while sitting in the sun for hours. He also makes a point to always discuss how little water he drinks during the course of these binges. In Jamaica, Lamprey drinks so heavily early on in the day, he misses the last part of the show - getting a feel for many drinking customs and associating with people who live there. He passes out early in the afternoon and doesn't rejoin his hosts until the next morning. Not to leave anyone wondering, during the "Post Game Recap" of his drinking, they make sure to underscore - again - that Lamprey didn't drink water throughout the day. And in Belize, after another chaotic day complete with Viper Wine and Cashew Wine, the hangover cure was to start drinking again. Heavily!

When I could get past the shock and dismay I felt watching this man constantly drink himself into a stupor, I could get myself to appreciate easily the most interesting part of the show: the Hangover Cures. In Jamaica, some suspicious combination of what could be magical mushrooms and weed put Lamprey into a content daze. From drinking more alcohol to eating strange parts of animals to having the pressure points in his feet brutally massaged, the fascinating different ways countries across the world tackle the dreaded hangover was as diverse as it was interesting.

Three Sheets has its own drinking game (the rules of which are explained in the Costa Rica episode) and a producer/cameraman team that is interactive with Lamprey and seem to be good sports about their job (who can blame them?).

DVD Extra Features:

The Three Sheets box set only has some outtakes and webisodes. They aren't heavy in special features, and the outtakes are also shown at the end up each episode. Basically, they don't offer anything special on top of the show itself.

The DVD case is large and awkward, with 7 DVDs shoved into one case with thick storage plastic. What does this mean? The case doesn't close and the discs fall out. It's like it was designed by a drunk Lamprey after too much of the bad sauce in some strange country.

[TV] Justice League: The Complete Series

Lex Walker — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:30:00 +0000

Before I start gushing about just how great this cartoon and, by connection, this set are, let’s establish two things. First, for every good thing I have to say about the entire set I include a single footnote: this should be available in a Blu-ray release as well, the animation would be sharper and bolder, the audio would be stunning and the entire package would have had that much more relevance considering the current trends of digital media. Second, this is so much more than just a ‘cartoon’. As is said a few times in the extra features of the series, Justice League may be the greatest superhero animated series to have ever existed. So what does that imply about this complete series set? One of the best ever?

Bruce Timm, the animation giant who gave Warner Brothers Batman: The Animated Series, their first commercial animated success that didn’t feature a Bugs Bunny off-shoot, has a reputation for animated greatness. DC Comics has a pantheon of heroes with an impassioned following and a classic sensibility. Combine the two and you get (so far) three compelling and top-shelf animated programs. Batman: The Animated Series and Superman were excellent unto themselves (the former eclipsing the latter), but they were both just paving the way for the coup de grace of animated series. Bringing an ensemble cast of seven superheroes to life, with some more well known than others, Bruce Timm and his talented cast and crew gave each persona a unique personality and a set of conflicts to exist within each pairing of the group. Again, some might call this a cartoon but it achieved more in its run than many “adult” series ever did.

A major component of the show’s first level of awesome (of which there are three) is the voice acting. Not only did it maintain the top voices of the preceding two series, Justice League attracted a bevy of terrific talent that filled out the roles in ways that never detract from the story at hand but also make the attentive ear perk up and say, “Wait, is…is that J.K. Simmons?” Yes it is. Name dropping is shameless – when you do it for yourself. But since we’re trying to give you some scope as to the titans the series attracted to its supporting cast here’s a list of names: Clancy Brown, Jennifer Hale, Corey Burton, Mark Hamill, Powers Boothe, CCH Pounder, Dana Delany, Olivia d’Abo, Ted Levine, Rene Auberjonois, Gina Torres, Oded Fehr, Ron Perlman, James Remar, Michael Ironside, Virginia Madsen, John C. McGinley, Adam Baldwin, Lauren Tom, Eric Roberts, Robert Englund, Dennis Haysbert, Patrick Duffy, Jeremy Piven, Lisa Edelstein, Kurtwood Smith and Neil Patrick Harris. That list is pretty ridiculous right? That’s not even all of them. But before we move on to point two, we have to acknowledge the stellar performances of the main seven including Carl Lumbly, Phil LaMarr, George Newbern, Kevin Conroy, Maria Canals-Barrera, Michael Rosenbaum and Susan Eisenberg.

The second and third successes of the film are closely linked: the stories told and how they’re portrayed. The writers for the show took out all the stops and adopted many of the popular Justice League storylines. In order to update them certain alterations were made but from what I can remember from the comics, the changes aren’t ever so drastic that they disappoint. At times the changes even work better thanks in large part to the team dynamics established in the first two seasons. However, any comic book fan can tell you that the most extensive and best comic book plots would take more than 20 minutes to tell and Bruce Timm and co. knew it. Occasionally you’ll find a standalone episode in the first few seasons, but by the time you reach Justice League Unlimited they’re almost nonexistent. Some of the more impressive arcs stretch on for four to five episodes with the longest reaching a stunning eight (there’s even a great extra feature about it). The added bonus of getting to see some of the more obscure characters (like the Question – who is fantastically hilarious) interact in the Justice League Unlimited episodes makes for a refreshing effect on the concept as a whole. The first two Justice League seasons were phenomenal, but adding a huge supporting cast only opened up the potential, it never limited it. Justice League fans couldn’t have asked for a better incarnation of the series and, unfortunately, this will cast a huge shadow over any live action movie they attempt.

DVD Extra Features:

Here’s the major downside of the set. While the specially made tin case makes a much more formidable impression sitting on your shelf as opposed to the four cardboard case sets that are currently offered, you can’t help but feel like you’re getting gypped in the extra features department. With only one new extra feature complementing those already existing for the older releases, it comes as an even bigger disappointment when you realize that the new extra feels like a rehash or summary of some of the better and longer older ones. Many of the same sentiments from the “Cadmus Exposed” round table (including Bruce Timm, Mark Hamill (moderator), and producers) and “Justice League Chronicles” are spliced into smaller pieces but in the form of newly filmed interviews to discuss the topic of character interactions.. It says nothing new and really does nothing to further complement the set.

But, if you have never bought the sets before, we’ve compiled the extra features list for each season right here.

Justice League: Season One:

Featurettes include a set of storyboards, character designs, audio commentaries for three episodes, a promotional spot and a round table panel with the show’s creators.

Justice League: Season Two:

Included are audio commentaries on three episodes; “Voices of Justice” – a featurette where cast members answer questions posed by fans and a look into a recording session; “Look, Up in the Sky!” – an excerpt from the quite entertaining and worthwhile documentary about Superman produced by Bryan Singer and Kevin Burns; and “Justice League Declassified” a behind the scenes look at the show.

Justice League Unlimited: Season One:

Included are audio commentaries on two episodes; “And Justice for All” – a featurette about changing the direction of the series by adding a huge roster of heroes to the cast; “Themes of Justice” – a Justice League jukebox.

Justice League Unlimited: Season Two:

Included are the aforementioned featurettes “Cadmus Exposed” and “Justice League Chronicles”, a retrospective clip show of the favorite moments from the series by the show’s creators and a music only track of the series’ final episode.

The real benefit of this metallic behemoth is having all the seasons of one of the greatest animated series ever cobbled into one smashing looking package. So if you already own them all, it’s a toss-up for you: sell off your old copies for the shiny new package or just stare wistfully and maintain your pride in having the “original” releases.

[MOVIE REVIEW] The Men Who Stare at Goats

Arya Ponto — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:48:00 +0000

“More of this is true than you would believe.”

And so begins The Men Who Stare at Goats, the very amusing political comedy based on journo Jon Ronson’s non-fiction book of the same name. The film, written by screenwriter Peter Straughan, operates on roughly the same level as his previous film How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, also based on a journalist’s real-life findings. Straughan took the unbelievable story of the US military’s funding of a “Jedi Warrior” division and gives it a loose through-line and many-a comic mischiefs.

Ewan McGregor is small-town reporter Bob Wilton, who after his wife left him for his editor, decides to go to Iraq in 2003 and write a story about the newly started war. He fails to even enter the country, but finds both an opening and a potentially far more interesting story when he runs into ex-special forces soldier Lyn Cassady (played with hilarious bug-eyed quirk by George Clooney). Cassady spills to Wilton about Project Jedi, a new age army squad back in the 1980’s founded by hippie Vietnam vet Bill Django (an in-his-element Jeff Bridges) that researched the use of psychic abilities in combat—apparently given funding by President Reagan because he was a Star Wars fan. The name of this film comes from an experiment in which Jedi Warriors try to kill goats by staring at them.

True story? Who knows. It is a fun story, nonetheless.

The bulk of the film consists of Wilton and Cassady wandering around the desert getting into various troubles. The plot is incredibly vague: Cassady is heading towards a secret location in Iraq and Wilton tags along. Cassady allows this because he sees psychic potential in Wilton (“The Force is strong in this one”). The terms Jedi and The Force are used many many times in the movie—to the point where I expected a George Lucas shout-out in the credits—and act as a recurring in-joke with McGregor since he was Obi-Wan Kenobi. Oddly enough, the gag doesn’t get old, probably because the movie doesn’t put any emphasis on it.

Amidst the silliness, there are some half-baked political commentaries shoved in, which is to be expected, but here feels rather lazy. A random Iraqi character shows up and serves as a detour for Wilton and Cassady, only so it can make the point that both Americans and Iraqis have bad apples and are not representative of the two countries as wholes. Yeah—verrry perceptive. It also takes the time to point out that private security firms operating in Iraq actually made its streets a lot more dangerous thanks to their incompetency, which is depicted in a humorous scene where two firms engage in a shootout, each thinking the other are insurgents.

Occasionally, the movie flashbacks (accompanied by semi-grating voiceover by Wilton) to Cassady’s army days, training under Django and his unusual methods. It’s through this that we meet Larry Hooper (a delightfully smarmy Kevin Spacey, who plays a wonderful prick), another Jedi Warrior who’s jealous of Cassady’s psychic talents. The Men Who Stare at Goats is largely carried by its actors, using their distinct charm to elevate the mostly plain material. Clooney, Bridges and Spacey are all insane in their own ways, while McGregor’s typical hysterics brings a good straight man / audience surrogate for all the craziness than ensue.

What’s interesting about Psychic Op is that over the years, it has morphed into Psychological Op. “You can turn invisible?” Wilton probes Cassady at one point. “Well, that was the goal,” he answers. “Eventually we settled on just not being seen.” Everything else follows the same route, since superpowers are of course unattainable. The psychic warfare of the Cold War gets updated into the current war as psychological warfare—which makes the film a long-winded criticism of the use of sensory interrogation methods as ridiculous and ineffective as trying to develop Jedi powers.

While the movie is somewhat forgettable and its satire not nearly as pointed as it wants to be, it’s still a consistently chuckle-worthy film, somewhere between Burn After Reading and Three Kings in potency. Too bad it arrives at an awkward time, too early to detach itself from current events but too late to actually be timely. The film has the flavor of Coen Brothers Lite. Maybe in a few years, it can find an appreciative cult audience the way Coens’ offbeat comedies tend to.

[MOVIE REVIEW] The Box

Arya Ponto — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:17:00 +0000

It’s a simple question with a not-so-simple answer.

If someone asks you to command the death of another human being you don’t know for a million dollars, would you do it? It’s not a question of options, smarts or assessment. It is a yes-or-no morality that has only one answer. You either place high value on a stranger’s life, or you don’t.

This is the question that drives the story in The Box, a movie by Donnie Darko writer/director Richard Kelly and based on a short story by Richard Matheson that casts a very harsh judgment on humanity. In Langley, Virginia, the year 1976, NASA scientist Arthur Lewis (James Marsden) and his wife Norma (Cameron Diaz) are visited by a stranger named Arlington Steward (Frank Langella), who gives them a box with a button inside. Push it, and they’ll receive one million dollars, but somebody they don’t know will die. While this sounds like the beginning of a conspiracy thriller—and for the first 20 minutes or so, it is—it quickly beams up into the chilling realm of possessed husks, mysterious dimensional portals and mad science. In a word: awesome.

There are two endings to this story that are known to science-fiction fans. One is of course Matheson’s own, where the twist is that the couple never really “knew” each other. The other is from an episode of The Twilight Zone, where another couple is given the box with implication that the Lewises will be their victims. The movie gives nods to both, but then takes off on its own path. Matheson’s story is an examination of human relationships, while the Twilight Zone episode is a story of retribution. Kelly aims even bigger, looking at it from a global social perspective. He takes a few cues from French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, whose play No Exit is referenced in the movie, by confirming that “Hell is other people,” making the box in which we torture each other Earth itself. This film is all about taking hypothetical situations and making them literal, in order to remove all context of life and boil it down to black or white. What do you value more?

Maybe that’s a simplistic way to look at life, but it does make it easier to assess society’s materialistic priorities, which we see in the Lewises. The family is pressed for money, but Arthur drives around in a luxurious Corvette. Leaving a Christmas tree lit overnight is a fire hazard, Norma points out, yet Arthur wants to anyway because it appears more festive. It has to be deliberate that the story is set during Christmas with a wedding involved, and certain attention given to gifts and job ambitions. The film doesn’t make big statements about any of this; they just permeate throughout.

Imagine Michael Haneke and Arthur C. Clarke writing an EC Comics issue together, and you’ll have The Box. It’s a unique film because even though it continues on after the button is pushed, philosophically speaking the film’s conclusion has already been reached long before the story is over. It doesn’t matter what happens to the characters afterwards. As soon as they push the button, the verdict is in: humans are an ugly, selfish bunch and we all deserve to be wiped out by Roland Emmerich.

Richard Kelly has taken Matheson’s ethics quandary and takes it to a metaphysical, astral, hard sci-fi levels obviously inspired by the works of Arthur C. Clarke. The Box contains as many references to Clarke as Southland Tales to the works of Phillip K. Dick. The main character shares his name, the son collects Astounding Science Fiction, there’s a direct homage to 2001: A Space Odyssey in the middle of the film, and Clarke’s third law of prediction seems to be the foundation of which The Box’s world is built upon:

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

And so the film is littered with bizarre happenings that cannot be explained by logic or our current understanding of technology, resembling the magical. Don’t be surprised to be a little confused by it—that’s its entire appeal. In typical Richard Kelly fashion, he doesn’t explain away the how or why of everything that transpire in this film, but he still leaves you with the understanding of the points he’s making.

This is not the mainstream genre film it appears to be at first, but a methodical litmus test for existence. Despite a few clunky executions, The Box is the kind of existentialist science-fiction movie that we desperately need to see more of.

[MOVIE REVIEW] A Christmas Carol

Arya Ponto — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:52:00 +0000

If you don’t already know the story of A Christmas Carol by now, well… It might not be your fault, but it is an impressive feat. As one of the most well-known stories in the world, Charles Dickens’ 166-year-old story of redemption is one that has been adapted into countless plays, movies and television specials; including a Disney cartoon I fondly remember (with Scrooge McDuck playing the part of Ebenezer Scrooge, of course).

Even if you don’t know the story, surely you recognize elements of it. The grumpy Scrooge, the three Christmas ghosts, the poor family with a dying kid, the scary confrontation at a graveyard, the sickeningly sweet ending. It is the very definition of a classic. Scrooge, played by Jim Carrey, is a rich grinch desperately in need of learning the spirit of charity and giving embedded in Christmas. He does one Christmas Eve after a foreboding visit by The Ghost of Christmas Past, who shows Scrooge his former Christmas experiences; The Ghost of Christmas Present, who shows how Scrooge’s family and friends spend Christmas; and The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, who presents a sobering vision of how others react to Scrooge’s death.

So when Robert Zemeckis chose to contribute one more version using a big budget and the latest of computer wizardry, what exactly is he adding to the famous tome? Apparently nothing more than frantic movements and bloated chase scenes.

A Christmas Carol has last this long because of the universal moral it contains, which condemns greed and encourages giving. It makes for a timely tale—Scrooge’s moral lesson would make a fun companion to Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story—but that’s not why it’s a favorite fodder for adaptations. For that you can thank Dickens’ skeleton-bare plot, which keeps Scrooge’s transformation to its bare minimum. He’s greedy, he learns what he did wrong, he learns guilt, he learns regret, then voila, he’s a new man. Different filmmakers can come in and visualize Scrooge’s journey as they see fit. Zemeckis’ approach is to liven it up by keeping the camera in constant motion. His Christmas Carol is sweeping, swooping and bouncing off the walls—turning a morality play into an insecure high-flying adventure.

Some sequences work because Zemeckis commits to making the film as creepy as possible. When the ghost of Jacob Marley visits Scrooge to warn him of the three Christmas spirits, the film doesn’t try to be anything but a horror movie. Likewise with Christmas Yet to Come, an embodiment of death, whose arrival is signaled by the disturbing death of the Ghost of Christmas Present. It’s not a pleasant death scene.

Others, however, are such unnecessary and inappropriate transitions that it’s baffling why—other than to brag about the animation’s potential—that Zemeckis even bothered. This includes The Ghost of Christmas Past propelling Scrooge into the atmosphere like a rocket and The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come summoning a dark chariot to hound Scrooge around London in a long and largely boring chase sequence. Why these scenes exist is a mystery bigger than Santa's delivery timeframe.

There is an equal split between effective dramatization and frivolous crap added into the story to make it a livelier cartoon. It’s too bad that second half exists, because Carrey’s performance as Scrooge and Gary Oldman’s as Bob Cratchit bring Dickens’ dialogue to life with captivating believability, hence the film’s best scenes are those quiet interior ones that Zemeckis simply lifts from the novella verbatim. In these scenes, Zemeckis lets his visuals breathe and his animated characters appear the most convincing; owing much to the impressive motion-capture that retains the physical performances, as opposed to just their voices. But his constant attempts to reach realism in the human models is still fruitless. They’re just as creepy and lifeless as ever. Watching two characters huge is like watching two dead-eyed dolls bang together.

The Polar Express was a creepy bore, while Beowulf was a fun revisionist epic (mostly thanks to the strange satiric humor and brutish glee in Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary’s script). A Christmas Carol is simply defunct. It’s too stilted to be fun, too erratic to take seriously, and as a Christmas movie it has nothing new to offer. I’m glad this comes out before the real holiday season, so people have about two months to forget it.

[DVD REVIEW] Il Divo

Erin Burris — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:59:00 +0000

Watching movies is fun. Two hours to watch others partake in their version of reality, so we may escape from our own. We can watch anything we want. Usually we watch movies for fun, but sometimes we watch for an interesting story. For me, subtitles tend to take away the fun. Even if you're a speed reader, you will never catch everything the characters are doing on screen because you are wasting so much time with your eyes glued to the bottom. Constantly scanning from the bottom dialogue, to the middle and top for the picture, can be draining. It can really take away from the fun. Unless of course, the movie and story are just so good that reading subtitles feels like a small hurdle you’re willing to jump just for the two hours of fun. Il Divo is not like this at all. Perhaps if I spoke Italian, I would’ve gotten much more from this film. This way, I could’ve escaped into the world of the Mafioso, and enjoyed the slow story coupled with the intensity of the hard camera movement…but because of the subtitles, I couldn’t get into it at all and therefore couldn’t escape from my reality into Il Divo.

The camera jerked about from character to character dancing at parties, raced down hallways and careened around the streets, circling before settling on the character of choice. It was very hard because I constantly felt like I was missing something. So much thought and planning went into each individual camera movement, including the lighting. It was incredible in that sense. The cinematography really attempted to spice up the lack of story.

I knew from the beginning the story would drag on. It began with a little background, told by blocks of text on the screen. The information kept coming, until finally I said out loud “How much more will there be?” And then during the final scenes of the film, I again asked, “When will this be over?” The movie just dragged from beginning to end, and the only real shred of credibility the film has is the way it was made—not to mention the acting was pretty good too, but these things can’t save a film that is shrouded by a boring story. I’m sorry to say this because this was actually a true story, but it just didn’t hold up well in film. Or perhaps, it just missed a bit of the action.

Il Divo unveils the untold story of Guilio Andreotti, an Italian politician who was a member of the Christian Democratic party, and served Italy as Prime Minister for various years throughout his decades in politics. He is both loved and hated by his fellow party members and the people of Italy. The reason he is both revered and persecuted, was because he had ties to the Italian Mafia. He answered to them and not to the people, or so some thought. The quiet, strong standing Andreotti, spent his time in politics staring our from behind his large rimmed glasses, thinking and professing words of wisdom to those who were lucky enough to speak with him. One of the most compelling stories in the film (I won’t say his life, because I’m sure his life was much more interesting and the filmmakers just made it seem awfully boring) was his relationship with his wife. She withstood years of his life in the spot light and with time, couldn’t take it any longer…we watch their relationship flex and bend (while reading the subtitles, of course).

Honestly, I’d love to say that the film is worth it…because who doesn’t love a good foreign film? But reading subtitles while trying to keep up with the swaying camera, just to try to wring something good from the ordeal, isn’t worth it. If you’re into the Mafia, you’re better off renting The Sopranos, because at least it will make you laugh.

DVD Extra Features:

As far as the extras go, Il Divo has a few, but they tend to be somewhat boring just as the film was. There was a “making of” featurette and deleted scenes, but also an interview with Director Paolo Sorrentino, which was interesting. Even though directors tend to be extremely arrogant, it’s still pretty cool to hear what they have to say about the film they spent months mapping out and shooting. Aside from that, the extras don’t make this movie with the purchase.

[TV] Zorro: The Complete Second Season

Anders Nelson — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:00:00 +0000

By the time that Zorro had completed its first season, the Disney company had virtually cornered its television demographic through various programs, not the least of which were Zorro, Walt Disney Presents, and the Mickey Mouse Club. Uncle Walt having the dedication to perfection that he did, he set the bar pretty high for the second season, wanting to maintain everything that had made the show so popular (granted, most shows face such a challenge, but many producers are content to allow their product to suck as much as it did the first time around). Back again to kick around some more bad guys are Diego de la Vega (Guy Williams) the young, rich son of a don whose alter ego should be painfully obvious to anyone in the immediate area, his faithful manservant Bernardo (Gene Sheldon), who speaks only through pantomime, and Sergeant Garcia (Henry Calvin), the obese, villainous comic relief. Added to the mixture is Anna Mara Verdugo (Jolene Brand), a strong, ongoing love interest for Zorro, as well as guest appearances by then popular stars Annette Funicello (popular Mouseketeer) and Cesar Romero (among the more famous Hispanic stars at the time, later appeared as the Joker in the Adam West Batman series). There’s also a little bit more drama, as Leonard Maltin graciously points out in his video introduction, as de la Vega begins to struggle more and more with his dual identity (all that much harder to keep when there’s the constant chanting of ‘Zorro’ by the chorus in the opening credits).

How does this compare with the first season? By and large, it still takes place in the same world of endless stables, canyons, and other centerpieces of the Western mythos. Zorro still works hard to correct the wrongs of the rich and powerful, all with a smile on his face and a song in his heart, and without fail, he makes the world a little bit of a better place, at least until some other callous villain enters the picture and decides to stir up a little bit of trouble. Without my telling you any more, you could probably guess that there aren’t any episodes where gunshots produce any more than smoke or Zorro broods depressingly against a moonlit sky. As I said before, this is a completely antiquated program, and you should be prepared for that before you invest in the twenty-three hours (I kid you not) that this set has in it. You have to really be into it.

But it’s also possible that spending that much time with a virtual time capsule could give you new appreciation for the era. I’m never going to use the phrase ‘good old days’ without first qualifying it, but it is clear upon first viewing just how much swordplay and general fighting goes into Zorro, and just how talented in practical effects so many people had to be to make this possible on a weekly basis. In addition, there’s all sorts of swinging on chandeliers, falling off ladders, and other impressive pieces of gymnastics nearly every five minutes, and it doesn’t take long to wish that you saw House do that every week. There’s a quality of craftsmanship that is present in the stunt work, in the musical cues, and in the ensemble that is consistent but never obtrusive. Without getting into a whole digital versus analog argument, it’s clear even from something like this that there’s something special about practical technologies, and that we should be careful to preserve them in the rush to convert everything to the binary system.

One last thing to be mentioned before I hand it off to the special features (admittedly the star of the set), and that is the way that the show handles its Hispanic characters. Considering that this show premiered in the same decade as John Wayne’s infamous turn as Genghis Khan in The Conqueror, it’s probably worth mentioning that I didn’t cringe once. In a supplementary documentary, his widow discusses Williams’s (who was Hispanic himself) working with Walt Disney to perfect his accent, which had a distinct character to it, without ever coming across as a direct affectation. Without calling it a landmark in race relations, I will say that the Disney demonstrates more respect and grace here than it is typically credited with having.

DVD Special Features:

The set also contains Zorro: The Postponed Wedding and Zorro: Auld Acquaintancce, originally broadcast on Walt Disney Presents, as well as “Behind the Mask” and “A Trip to the Archives”.

The "Dollars Trilogy" Free on Hulu

Arya Ponto — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:27:00 +0000

A quick heads-up for Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood fans. All three of their "Man with No Name" westerns are now up on Hulu for free viewing. Hulu is only going to have these movies up until the end of November, so don't waste time, pilgrim. You can watch all three films right here.

A Fistful of Dollars originally followed the trend of remaking Akira Kurosawa's samurai films as westerns. I say trend, but really there was only, what, The Magnificent Seven? Fistful uses the plot of Kurosawa's Yojimbo as its premise, then reshapes it into Leone's own signature style. Then came the pseudo-sequel, For a Few Dollars More. Leone never meant for the three films to be a trilogy, but it just turned out that way due to Eastwood's same look and acting style in all three. The Good, The Bad and the Ugly is a prequel of sorts, since it takes place during the Civil War and Eastwood has yet to acquire the famous poncho at the beginning of the film. I always flip-flop between this and Once Upon a Time in the West as my favorite Leone (or favorite western, really).

A Fistful of Dollars

A stranger in San Miguel becomes involved in a vendetta between two families. Playing one family against the other, he rescues a beautiful woman from captivity.

For a Few Dollars More

Clint Eastwood is the 'Man With No Name,' who teams up with equally lethal Lee Van Cleef in pursuit of a sadistic killer and his band of desperadoes in this non-stop action classic.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Clint Eastwood portrays the invincible 'Man With No Name' in a lethal pursuit of $200,000 in Confederate money. Lee Van Cleef and Eli Wallach also star in this renowned western.

[TV] Zorro: The Complete First Season

Anders Nelson — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Not long ago, I sort of chastised Disney for a series of DVD releases of older material on the basis that they did not have a clear idea of who the set was intended for. I felt a little bad about it, but that was before I took a look at their new Disney Treasures collection of the new season of Zorro. It’s become somewhat vogue to criticize the Disney company (Lord knows how many times Family Guy has held up their product as an object of ridicule), but there’s really no two ways around it: when they set their mind to it, they really have no serious competition, and this new Zorro set speaks to that tradition of excellence. It’s really, really cool.

For many Americans (particularly those of the ‘television generation’, as Leonard Maltin repeatedly refers to it in his introduction), the Disney primetime television show is the definitive version of Zorro, eclipsing even the 1940 Mark of Zorro as the most popular version of the character. Set in old California, Zorro follows the adventures of Don Diego de laVega (Guy Williams), a former University student recently recalled from Spain by his wealthy father, Don Allejandro de la Vega (George J. Lewis). Diego is something of a disappointment to his father, demonstrating none of the ambition that would befit a person of his station. Unbeknownst to his father, however, Diego leads a double life, moonlighting as the populist hero Zorro, who protects the afflicted of California from the predations of wealthy landowners. Aiding him in his adventures is the mute manservant Bernardo, who is the only person to know Diego’s secret and acting as a virtual stand-in for Alfred (one of many direct parallels to the Batman mythos).

In its aesthetic, its social politics, and its proposed solutions to problems (one episode has Zorro dressing up like a ghost to frighten away guards), Zorro could hardly be more antiquated, and might be hard for a post-Frank Miller audience to relate to, which Disney wisely recognizes here. Instead of packaging this as an introduction to Zorro for a new generation (an attempt that almost always fails). Disney presents this as a key part of its history, and approaches the collection as such. The episodes (all 39 of them; they didn’t mess around with their television seasons back then) are laid out in a pleasing fashion, the special features are all easy to find, and the entire package is contained in a collectible tin that feels like it was designed with a new car in mind. In addition, the set also contains the one hour specials Zorro: El Bandido and Zorro: Adios El Cuchillo, which originally aired on Walt Disney Presents, as well as an exhaustive history of the character and a whole lot of Leonard Maltin. In short, this set is nothing if not complete, with none of the promotional materials standing in as documentaries or padding that plague so many DVD sets, nor is there the suggestion that they’re holding anything back in the hope that they’ll be able to release an expanded set if this one proves to be popular.

To get back to the show for a moment, it really is very good, but is definitely not for all tastes. It’s outdated, and can only be looked through the prism as such. Once that is taken into account, the show can be greatly enjoyed, even if the advances made between now and then in the formatting of television seasons can’t help but be noticed. One thing that transcends that gap, however, is the indelible performance of Guy Williams as Diego de la Vega. At once suave and funny, handsome and self-deprecating, he is everything that a movie star once came to represent. It is all the more impressive when you think that he had to do it for 39 episodes in a season.

DVD Extra Features:

The set also contains Zorro: El Bandido and Zorro: Adios en Cuchillo as mentioned, as well as an excerpt from “The Fourth Anniversary Show” and “The Life and Legend of Zorro”.

[DVD REVIEW] Who is KK Downey?

Jess Goodwin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

“There's this hilarious dive karaoke bar with this like one-armed waitress that totally hits on everybody.”

This is just one of the many pearls you will hear in Who is KK Downey?, a very indie flick devoted to the hilarity of hipsterdom. That this “hilarious dive karaoke bar” is the perfect place for a funeral's after-party is the tabasco-flavored icing on the vegan cake that reads “Congratulations on a Short Parole!” for no reason.

Who is KK Downey? revolves around two über-hip twenty-something losers, Terrance and Theo (played by co-creators Darren Curtis and Matt Silver, respectfully). They live together, play in a band together, and more or less fail at life together. After Theo's manuscript about KK Downey, a southern boy with a sordid past, is rejected by his manager because no one wants to buy a book by a chubby white boy from the suburbs, he and Terrance concoct a plan: they'll bring to life the character of KK and pass off the book as a memoir.

Cut to three months later: KK's fame suddenly escalates to epic proportions (indeed, there is something strangely Warhol-esque about this character). Everyone loves KK; he's an inspiration to all. “For the first time, one piece of art united all the scenesters from all the scenes,” one reviewer says. “Even the most jaded cynic could be heard to remark, 'Pretty dope, dude.'”

Everything's going swimmingly for the boys — the money's rolling in, girls are interested, the drugs are aplenty — until Connor Rooney (Pat Kiely, another co-creator), the douchebag boyfriend of Terrance's ex, decides to do a little investigating. He doesn't buy the wonder that is KK, and after making an ass of himself and getting the hell beat out of him, finally finds a little relief in the form of the real deal behind KK Downey.

The film is funny largely because of its deprecating self-awareness. Whether the creators are true hipsters themselves or just reacting to the taunting that's arisen in response to the movement, they didn't let a chance for complete absurdity pass them by, from Theo's crossed eyes to Terrence's father's employment at a helicopter factory (which, as revealed in the commentary, was an on-the-spot joke made up by the actor playing the dad).

While the movie seems generally ridiculous, and its characters completely unbelievable, its accuracy shines through during the opening credits. As also revealed in the commentary, the parties Terrance goes to are real, which means the hipsters are real. A non-hipster may watch this movie and think that there is no way people like this can exist — people who are in it just for the irony, the stupidity, the bragging rights — but they are real. They live in Williamsburg (Brooklyn, not Virginia, though I'm sure they'd get lots of street cred if they did).

DVD Extra Features:

The extras (or VIP Special Features) on this disc are pretty basic. There are “Behind the Scenes Stills;” a montage of Facebook- and Twitter-worthy photos; some deleted scenes; about two-and-a-half minutes of outtakes to show how fun-loving the cast and crew are; the film's trailer; and a commentary which, sadly, seems to shed no light on exactly what the filmmakers were trying to achieve.

[ALBUM REVIEW] Daisy

Tyler Barlass — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:31:00 +0000

I guess it's not too big of a surprise that Jesse Lacey would eventually lead his band, Brand New, into the dark tunnels of despair that they seem to currently be treading in. Despite the band's pop punk origins, Lacey's transformation from lovelorn wordsmith to tortured soul was actually pretty seamless. 2006's The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me was the highlight of this transition. It was an album that succeeded in setting a consistently dark and somber mood and yet was also filled with contagious and instantly memorable tracks. On the band's follow up, Daisy, the dark mood has no doubt stayed in tact, but the memorable songs are few and far between.

Brand New bookends Daisy with the odd sounds of traditional gospel music being played over what sounds like a scratchy record player or phonograph. It's just one of the many slightly unsettling things that the band employs on their new record. The opening song "Vices," eventually breaks through the lulling sounds of the gospel music into a fierce display of heavy guitars and high pierced screams. It's intended to be a startling surprise for the listener, but it isn’t hard to see coming. Though the many soft/loud dynamics that Brand New utilized on The Devil and God seemed endlessly creative and refreshing, the same tricks just seem less innovative and almost banal on Daisy.

Frontman Jesse Lacey is, as usual, the central figure on Brand New’s newest album. His vocals range from a soft murmur to a throaty scream as he commands each of his self-penned tunes. And while the lyrics on Daisy seem a bit less personal than on past Brand New albums, Lacey still no doubt shouts (or whispers) them with striking conviction. Lacey’s vocal assuredness still can’t save a string of mundane tracks that, though they carry on the solidly dark aesthetic of the record, bring down the album as a whole. “Bed” might sound like a catchy sing-along track upon first listen, but its simplicity and somewhat nonsensical lyrics, or at least uninspiring by Brand New’s standards, hurt its longevity.“You Stole” on the other hand is a slow paced track that never seems to find its footing. It’s a song that lingers on in uninteresting territory for far too long, and once it finally does find its climax of feedback and wailing guitars, it seems almost tacked on. “In a Jar” may be the worst track on the album. Running along on a repetitive bassline, Lacey’s vocals turn into a drone as he utilizes his most effective muse, religion. But unlike other songs which successfully dealt with religious struggles - “Jesus Christ,” “The Archers Bows Have Broken,” - “In a Jar” just doesn’t pack the same punch lyrically or musically.

There are songs on Daisy that do prove that Lacey still has plenty of songwriting chops though. The album’s first single, “At the Bottom,” which mixes in some shimmering piano playing throughout the verses of the song, is an absolute winner. The following song, “Gasoline,” happens to be my favorite track on the album. If the other harder moments of Daisy adhered more to the example set on the thrilling “Gasoline,” the album would be that much better for it. The song rides on Lacey’s screeching vocals as the hard hitting percussion lays the groundwork for the blazing guitar feedback that engulfs the high octane chorus.

Of the three albums that Brand New has released since their embarrassing 2001 pop punk debut, Daisy would have to be considered the worst (though to be fair it's stacked against some pretty heavy competition). While it does contain some of the more uninspired moments in Brand New’s catalog, the album still has a handful of pretty exciting songs. It also holds true to what the band is trying to accomplish, that is creating an album full of rather dour songs that fit into the dark aesthetic that the band is close to perfecting. That being said, despite its unevenness Daisy is still a pretty interesting listen.

[ALBUM REVIEW] Paint the Fence Invisible

Bryon Turcotte — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:00:00 +0000

When I first heard Paint the Fence Invisible from Boston’s Drug Rug, I was not only amazed how addicted I became within the first few minutes, I was also stunned how so many classic influences can sound so new. Thomas Allen and Sarah Cronin are musical soul mates complimenting each other like peanut butter and jelly. This record has personality and joy woven between every hook. I could probably name all of their influences, but I need to keep this review under six hundred words. If you like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The New Pornographers, The White Stripes, or most music that came out of the late sixties, you will love this record. It is a modern gem.

“Follow” tricks you at the start, but lays a short path to the record with a psychedelic, strange introduction. Its short, but sets the stage for a masterpiece of ten stunning pop songs. “Haunting You” is a great freight train of harmonies with a chugging rhythm. Their voices are united and infectious. The influences behind this song remind me of great times, long summers and happiness. We get hit next with the jangly “Never Tell” which captures all the elements of joy, happiness and love we remember from those early seventies classics. You can avoid the Beatles flavor of this one, but they do it so well you forget about the influence and focus on the pop.

“Blue Moon” sways with a tight, warm vocal. I can’t help but compare the genius of vocal layering to that of The Association or the Mamas and the Papas. They should be proud of this one. Huge influential shoes to fill are no problem for Allen and Cronin. The razor sharp vocals of Cronin come through loud and clear on “Hanah Please” and great gifts are given every second. The twisting organ tone and sharp punch makes this song tap your feet immediately. “Don’t be Frightened by the Devil” is full of wonderful sonic shapes and texture. Like the chemically induced dream songs of our past, this one is already a classic. Genius in structure, they have captured a sound that is so cool it has to be listened to more than once. Sounds like this defined a time. They may be redefining our time with this cool number.

“Noah Rules” first hits your ears like an old southern spiritual, a chain gang song or a blues classic. It begins to morph into an explosion of sound distortion with chops, that quickly takes you to the roads of Alabama via a spaceship from Mars. It is yet another masterpiece of sound and vocal arrangement. An easy favorite, “Coffee in the Morning,” is bewitching and hypnotic, and almost frightening. The emotion in this song is so deep you can hold it to your chest and feel it beating. “Passes On” must be appreciated with headphones. The distorted bass and groove ride alone with a cool snap of the snare and sparse acoustic guitar. Listening behind the scenes is the real joy.

“Sooner the Better” has a Spanish energy mixed with a wonderfully warm vocal and Beatlesque charm. This is an excellent pop song with loads of influence. The album ends with the title track, “Paint the Fence Invisible,” which leaves with a simple, childlike sound capturing a love affair between Sarah’s voice and a brightly plucked single guitar. I was torn whether I should weep or cringe. Drug Rug has captured a unique sound but also given homage to those who came before. Gifted artists of the simplistic and warm, both Allen and Cronin have produced a top shelf classic.

[DVD REVIEW] March of the Penguins - Limited Edition Giftset

Jess Goodwin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:00:00 +0000

March of the Penguins, Luc Jacquet's 2005 documentary about Antarctica's emperor penguins and their harrowing annual journey to complete the circle of life, will melt even the iciest of hearts. It showcases an odd dichotomy — unbearable cuteness and sniffle-inducing sadness — that will pull at your heartstrings no matter how many times you watch it. If you don't shed a tear or two, out of sorrow or otherwise, you're probably a sociopath.

Narrated by Morgan Freeman (before there was any question about whether or not it was okay to be Morgan Freeman), the story appeals to a number of emotional triggers; you'll laugh, you'll cry (hopefully), you'll worry. The movie's stance on its subject matter is for the most part objective, but the content is delivered in such a way that you can't help but feel for these penguins. As Freeman points out, “They're not that different from us, really.” They're mating rituals echo our own, as does their devotion to their children. The similarities are what get you — they may just be animals, and it may just be nature taking its course, but it's still sad when a penguin, weakened and fatigued, gets left behind to disappear into the cold, or when a couple loses its chick to the harsh weather, or their own inexperience or bad luck. We don't know what the penguins might be thinking, if it can even be explained in a way that we would understand, but we can imagine that a mother cries out when she returns from her long quest for food to find that her chick has not survived, or the crushing disappointment a father might feel when his newly-hatched chick freezes to death. One particularly heart-wrenching moment reveals a mother penguin bemoaning the loss of her chick, frozen in a surprise blizzard.

This is surely what made this film as wildly popular as it is. It did well at the box office, bringing in roughly fifteen times as much as it was made for, and took 2005's Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, along with a slew of other awards. Audiences young and old loved it, and even if you've already bought March on DVD, this new edition is well worth it.

DVD Extra Features:

Why is it worth it? The extras! Along with March, Disc One includes “Of Penguins and Men,” an hourlong documentary about the making of March of the Penguins; National Geographic's “Crittercam: Emperor Penguins,” featuring footage taken by cameras attached to some of the penguins; “8 Ball Bunny”, a classic Looney Toons cartoon about Bugs Bunny's attempts to help the adorable albeit overly-sensitive little Playboy Penguin, who gets left behind while his stage show heads out of town; and the trailer.

On Disc Two of this edition is another hourlong documentary, On the Wings of Penguins, which chronicles the African penguin, or “jackass penguin.” It seems a bit more geared toward the kids, what with the kitschy music and sometimes goofy post-production shot edits; but it's informative and cute, and while by no means comparable to March, is a decent supplement.

The set also includes a stack of stills from both March and Wings, and, what may be the best part of this release, the softest stuffed toy penguin ever.

[DVD REVIEW] Night Watcher

Saul Berenbaum — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Night Watcher is one of those independent horror flicks Lionsgate picked up as of late. I think it upset me a bunch, really. Mainly because it represents a missed opportunity for something that might really stand out. Intercut with some of the most tedious and underwhelming stalking sequences I’ve seen in a while are moments of drama that honestly touched me. The human story in Night Watcher is way better than anything about it the title might suggest, but it’s just such a shame that it’s squandered on a horrid reveal, bewildering technical screw-ups and an infuriating final shot.

First, that reveal I was talking about. I would think that a film possessing such a unique and captivating visual style as Night Watcher would pride itself on its ability to tell a story though images. For a while, it really does well there, but when it comes time to reveal whodunit, all the finesse just turns to ash. The who, how and why are relayed over a 5 minute Intimidating Killer Monologue almost as horrendously as the one in Burton’s Sleepy Hollow. And, like Burton’s flick, the end result of the rushed reveal is just that all the good qualities you’ve noticed thus far in Night Watcher no longer seem as impressive.

The technical problems I mentioned are mostly sound related. Bad ADR stands out worse than usual due to pretty bad audio mixing. I noticed the film was edited by its director, Will Gordh, but I’m not certain if that includes sound, which I can tell you from personal experience is a bitch to edit on your own. Regardless, if your movie’s being distributed by Lionsgate, a once-over before shipping out the DVDs to stores would probably work out all these kinks.

And oh, that ending.

[Spoiler Alert] The killer is revealed to be a guy we’ve seen onscreen 3 times before, totaling about 3 minutes. From what we know about him, it’s possible he could snap, but he’s so far removed from the principle cast most of the time that when the mask finally came off, I had no idea who it was for a second. And then I just got disappointed. Yes, given all the information you get, you could “call it”—and even why—but I still felt incredibly cheated. So this girl just happened to talk to this guy on a daily basis while he just happened to be stalking her all the time? It’s just a cinematic lie, and coupled with one or two instances where the action onscreen simply does not cut together in the wonderful way movies are supposed to and just ruins whole scenes.

DVD Audio/Video

The film has a unique, blown-out visual style I honestly kind of dig, and since it’s all shot handheld and digital it’s hard to say if this’d look much better in HD. I can’t find what format it was shot on, but I think the intention comes across pretty fine in SD. There’s a 5.1 mix, too, which is nice.

DVD Extra Features

There’s a commentary by Gordh, which is kind of refreshing, honestly, since Lionsgate really doesn’t put those on many of the indies they pick up. After that it’s pretty much your typical Lionsgate horror promos, each one more disgusting yet strangely enticing than the last.

Gordh can clearly get good performances out of actors and the script he was working with, by Daniel Vincent Gordh and David Murray, has a lot of strong moments—even great ones. But I just can’t forgive the film for spending so much of its time on its so very average qualities. And I can’t really recommend it either.