This week’s Blu-ray wonders: Knightley's 'The Duchess' and LaBeouf's 'Eagle Eye'

 

Blu-ray widescreen and DVD widescreen, 2008, PG-13 for sex, nudity and adult themes

Best extra: Making-of documentary taped in hi-def.

THINK OF THIS MOVIE as a Gainsborough tableau vivant. Or maybe an 18th century fashion show. Otherwise, this Harlequin romance-type biopic about a beautiful, unhappy ancestor of Princess Diana will have you groaning, the acting talents of Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes and Charlotte Rampling notwithstanding. The parallels between the lives of Georgiana Spencer, the Duchess of Devonshire, and the former Princess of Wales, are obvious, albeit never mentioned in any of the special features.

The Blu-ray imagery is spectacular, highlighting those gorgeous costumes and historical locations; it’s something completely lost in standard-def. Another bonus: the musical score shines with the Dolby TrueHD soundtrack.

In the making-of documentary, Knightley remarks on how similar the world of the duchess was to “today’s celebrity culture.” The director discusses the good fortune of being permitted to use many of the actual historic locations for shooting, such as the estate of Chatsworth, where the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire lived. Other hi-def features include a glimpse at Georgiana’s actual letters to her mother, from which the book on which the movie was based drew much of its material; and a short documentary about the elaborate – and fabulous – costumes.

“EAGLE EYE”

Blu-ray widescreen and DVD widescreen, 2008, PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and for language

Best extra: The hi-def 'making of’ documentary reveals that the movie’s genesis started nearly a decade ago, from the mind of none other than Steven Spielberg.

SHIA LABEOUF RETEAMS with “Disturbia” director D.J. Caruso for this breakneck thriller, a mix of “Enemy of the State’s” hi-tech spy gadgets and “2001: A Space Odyssey’s” computers gone bad. 

Spielberg first considered his story science fiction; but by the time the cameras started rolling, the tale of a slacker and a single mom (Michelle Monaghan), manipulated by an all-powerful supercomputer, could only be set in our paranoid present. Satellites, security cameras, cell phones, and computers are used as weapons. 

The Blu-ray transfer is impeccable, effortlessly recreating how it looked in theaters. Detail is exceptional and grain is always present, keeping things consistently film-like. The uncompressed audio is excellent as well, with lots of surround sound activity and atmosphere. 

The five brief featurettes presented in hi-def, though self-congratulatory, manage to get across a good amount of behind-the-scenes info, especially pertaining to the special effects, and even dive into the issue of personal freedom with experts sounding off on how we are under constant surveillance by modern technology. There are also a handful of deleted scenes and a gag reel.

—Josh Boone

Blu-ray widescreen and DVD widescreen, 2008, PG-13 for some strong language, sexual humor and drug references

Best extra: A commentary, with actor Ricky Gervais and director David Koepp, offers moments of comedy gold – particularly for fans of the Gervais style.

ONE EXPECTS MORE of British comedy whiz Gervais. While “Ghost Town” has its moments of brilliance – almost always thanks to Gervais’ turn as curmudgeonly, antisocial dentist Bertram Pincus – the foundation of this romantic comedy is pure, run-of-the-mill Hollywood pablum. Gervais’ part could have just as easily been played by any of a number of comedic leads, and the result would have been nearly identical.

But blame the material, not the Brit.

The commentary track’s high spots aside, the disc’s extras prove as pedestrian as the film itself. “Ghostly Effects” separates itself a bit, particularly for the special effects nuts. Otherwise, don’t waste your time.

— Robert Hatfield

“SERENITY”

Blu-ray widescreen, 2005, PG-13 for sequences of intense violence and action, and some sexual references

Best extra: The 20-minute featurette "A Filmmaker's Journey" is a breezy and entertaining run through the film's production, starting with table readings and fight training and moving through the shooting and even into editing. A feature-length version of this featurette would have been appreciated.

JOSS WHEDON’S ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer") short-lived but critically acclaimed sci-fi western TV series "Firefly" had a fan following strong enough to greenlight a movie even after being cancelled with less than a season in the can. "Serenity" resolves all the loose threads left dangling by the series and also works as an entertaining standalone film for audiences not familiar with "Firefly."

"Serenity" looks fantastic on Blu-ray, with beautifully saturated colors and detail, and sounds just as good, with a powerful uncompressed audio track that takes full advantage of the technology. The soundtrack manages to deliver crisp dialogue (a must in Whedon's witty universe), and fantastic explosions and firefights.

While the extras lifted from the previous standard-def releases of the film (there were two) are strong, the U-Control features exclusive to the Blu-ray are just okay, with the Whedon and cast commentary available as a visual commentary and a weak picture-in-picture feature, which pulls almost entirely from extras found elsewhere on the disc.

Coming off the standard release are two commentary tracks, a solo track with Whedon and a second bringing together Whedon with stars Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau, Ron Glass, and Adam Baldwin. Both tracks are solid, with Whedon delivering the goods on his solo track, speaking ceaselessly about bringing his television show to the big screen, the fan base that made it all happen, Glau's background as a ballerina that made it possible for her to do nearly all of her own stunts and fight work, and more. The cast commentary is less informative but fun if you're a fan of the show and talent involved. The disc also includes deleted and extended scenes, outtakes, and a handful of short featurettes exploring different aspects of the film.

Highly recommended.

— Josh Boone

DVD widescreen, 2008, R for language, sexual content and nudity

Best extra: There are only a few, and none really stand out.

WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU, Mark and Jay Duplass? After their sweetly funny debut "The Puffy Chair," one would have expected this one, a parody of low-budget horror films, to exceed expectations. Instead, it barely meets them. The setup: Four desperate actors, smitten with an indie film they've recently seen, decide to produce their own to enhance their careers. Disaster ensues -- and we aren't talking about the maniac who shows up unexpectedly with a bag on his head. All the parody elements are there, and it has its amusing moments. But it simply moves too slowly to sustain interest.

In the feature-length commentary, the duo informally chat about the parodic elements in the film as reflected in their own careers, such as the Q and A with the ego-laden director at the beginning. Nuts and bolts of shooting and cameos of friends also get chat time.

If that isn't enough Duplass for you, try the featurette "Jay and Mark Answer Questions They've Already Answered." With toddlers bouncing in their laps, the brothers answer questions they expect they'd be asked in an actual interview. (If true, then said questions would have been very informal.) They share that the movie was grounded in fact: the actors were, indeed, desperate; that the script was not, indeed, improvised; and that the genesis of the idea was whether a man with a bag on his head would be scarier than a traditionally gory one.

Their infectious chumminess during both discussions makes you want to root for them for this, their successful Sundance debut. But in order to do that, they need to get back to writing more engaging material.

“TOWELHEAD”

DVD widescreen, 2008, R for strong disturbing sexual content and abuse involving a young teen and for language

Best extra: The sole extra is "Towelhead: A Community Discussion," a self-important panel discussion dealing with the film's title (a derogatory term for an Arab) and whether or not it should have been used as the title for a major motion picture distributed by a studio.

SET DURING THE Gulf War, the story concerns a shy 13-year-old Lebanese American girl who moves in with her father in a suburban neighborhood where everyone is white except for them. Upon discovering that sex gets her the attention she wants, she willingly gives herself to an African-American boy at her school (whom her Arab father forbids her to date because he is a racist) and is molested by her next door neighbor (played by "The Dark Knight's" Aaron Eckhart, who you'll never look at the same way again). 

The film was written and directed by Alan Ball ("American Beauty," "Six Feet Under") and is extremely disturbing material because of the numerous sexual situations the underage protagonist finds herself in. That said, the film does tell a convincing coming-of-age story about a young woman's journey to self awareness and self respect.

Ball does a good job balancing the cringe-inducing moments with humor, particularly in the performance of Peter Macdissi, who plays the girl's father in the film, and gives one of the great performances of the year.

—Josh Boone

DVD widescreen, 2007-2008, not rated with language, sexuality and nudity

Best extra: Besides deleted scenes and a gag reel, there's only one: a short making-of documentary.

BY TRANSPLANTING THEMSELVES from Miami to L.A., the hotbed of vanity, plastic surgeons Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) gave their characters a much-needed face lift this season. They found fame through a television show called "Hearts and Scalpels," and straight-man McNamara (briefly) became more successful with the ladies than lothario Troy. The usual crop of guest stars shone brightly, including Portia de Rossi as a new lover of McNamara's ex wife, Julia; and Lauren Hutton as an image consultant.

Oddly, this season has more episodes than any so far -- 14 -- yet it's still being billed as the first half of the season. But "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City" had supersized seasons, too; and like this one, they remained compelling. Good news, because with "The Shield" now gone, F/X will look toward this show to pick up the slack.

Extras are thin -- there's the usual gag reel and deleted scenes, and a short featurette recapping the season with the actors and creator/executive producer Ryan Murphy.

“WEDDING CRASHERS”

Blu-ray widescreen, 2005, R for sexual content/nudity and language

Best extra: The extras, mostly disappointing, are identical to the DVD release. Although the commentary with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson is amusing, they spend the majority of the track making listeners laugh instead of discussing the film, and are often silent.

VAUGHN AND WILSON deliver comedy gold in their hit film "Wedding Crashers," which debuts on Blu-ray this week with so-so results. The picture quality is a marginal improvement over the standard release but fails to wow in hi-def. The uncompressed audio is fine for a dialogue-driven comedy that's light on surround sound.

The Blu-ray contains both the theatrical cut and the "Uncorked Version," which includes 8 minutes of footage considered too racy for the R-rated version. The Vaughn/Wilson commentary appears on the "Uncorked" cut of the film. The theatrical cut features a better commentary by director David Dobkin, who is more active on his track than the actors and discusses some of the technical process of making a film. There are also two short featurettes: one focusing on the production design of the numerous weddings in the film, the second a promotional piece which just shows clips from the film we've already seen.

There's also a music video and four deleted scenes. But no gag reel? Now that's a missed opportunity.

Not worth the upgrade.

—Josh Boone

“SURFER, DUDE”

Blu-ray widescreen and DVD widescreen, 2008, R for pervasive drug use, language and nudity

Best extra: Matthew McConaughey provides a brain dead audio commentary with long stretches of silence and little to say about the film.

ONE OF THE YEAR’S worst films (receiving 0% on Rotten Tomatoes) arrives this week if anyone cares. Matthew McConaughey, who continues to show no interest in being a serious actor, shows off his bronze chest and searches for the perfect wave while Willie Nelson and Woody Harrelson smoke loads of pot. This is about as bottom of the barrel as it gets.

The Blu-ray looks quite good, with a strong transfer containing tons of film grain and uncompressed sound. It's as good as you would expect a recent film to look and sound. Extras include some deleted scenes and a featurette. Includes a digital copy for those masochistic enough to watch it on a portable device.

—Josh Boone