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“WATCHMEN: TALES FROM THE BLACK FREIGHTER / UNDER THE HOOD”
“THE ODD COUPLE: CENTENNIAL COLLECTION”
“MIDSOMER MURDERS: SET TWELVE”
Blu-ray widescreen and DVD widescreen, 2008, PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sexual content
Best extra: A hi-def documentary “Bond on Location” highlights exotic filming locales in Europe and Latin America.
BEFORE YOU POP-IN the latest Bond (Daniel Craig) on your Blu-ray or DVD player, you gotta re-watch “Casino Royale.” Clearly it’s a prequel to “Quantum,” so get out the popcorn and have a 007 marathon.
“Quantum” picks up the gritty new Bond just after Vesper’s death. For the next 106 minutes – 40 minutes less than “Royale” – we watch him score a high body count of revenge.
Director Marc Forster, who has spent most of his career spitting out art-house flicks – “Finding Neverland,” “Stranger Than Fiction” “Monsters Ball” and “The Kite Runner” – had big shoes to fill. The proceeding spy thriller, directed by Martin Campbell, has been touted as the best Bond ever. Forster steals a few pages from the “Bourne” trilogy using rapid-fire editing techniques and handheld camera action.
Forster’s strengths lie in characterization. Carry-over characters from “Royale” include CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright) and René Mathis (Giancarlo Giannini). The mysterious Mr. White (Jesper Christensen) also returns to inform MI6 boss M (Judi Dench) and Bond that Quantum, the modern version of SPECTRE, has agents everywhere. That’s when M’s bodyguard starts blasting away, revealing he’s not really devoted to queen and country.
Overall, the hi-def imagery is spectacular providing great detail. Still, even that’s topped by the DTS HD soundtrack, literally, the best of any Blu-ray I’ve heard to date.
Disc extras are somewhat disappointing. They include seven brief hi-def featurettes highlighting behind-scenes footage, including the high powered boat chase sequence, and interviews with the director, blue-eyed Daniel Craig, composer David Arnold and Bond girl Olga Kurylenko, a Russian model turned actress. You’ll also find 34 video blogs that originally aired on the web but, for some reason, there’s no commentary. Forster is normally a talker; he’s provided tracks for his other flicks.
“Quantum of Solace” isn’t as satisfying as “Casino Royale,” but, in tandem, this Bond is hard to beat.
— Bill Kelley III
Blu-ray widescreen and DVD widescreen, 2008, PG-13 for some violence and a scene of sensuality
Best extra: The Blu-ray is exclusively sold at Best Buy and Target until May 5th and the Target edition is the better deal and includes a digital download of both the film and all the special features for iPods
WHAT MORE CAN BE said about the "Twilight" phenomenon? The film grossed over $350 million worldwide and sold three-million copies last Friday at midnight on Blu-ray and DVD. Based on Stephenie Meyer's immensely popular teen romance novel series, the story follows forbidden love between a high school girl and a hunky vampire. The sequel, "New Moon," is already in production and will be in theaters this fall.
The Blu-ray edition boasts one of the best hi-def images you'll see on the format with razor-sharp detail, deep blacks and vibrant colors. This lossless audio track utilizes the entire sound field and does a nice job balancing the dialogue, score, rock songs, and sound effects while creating an enveloping atmosphere.
Extras include nearly 60-minutes of featurettes which can be viewed in a video commentary or separately (in hi-def) and include interviews with Meyer discussing the origins of the books and a fairly in-depth look at the film's production and post-production with lots of emphasis on the film's special effects. There's also a commentary with director Catherine Hardwicke and stars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, who spend the majority of the track being silly and making jokes. There's not a lot of depth here but it’s nice to hear the stars not taking themselves or the film all that seriously. Also included are a selection of extended and deleted scenes (HD), three music videos, and a brief look at the overwhelming crowds at Comic-Con that greeted the film's stars for a Q&A prior to the film's release.
This is one of the year's biggest home video releases and fans of the film should be satisfied with all the bonus features and the strong HD transfer on Blu-ray. Recommended.
— Josh Boone
Blu-ray widescreen and DVD widescreen, 1964, PG for violence
Best extra: A 25-minute hi-def making-of documentary with interviews with Sean Connery, director Guy Hamilton, set designer Ken Adams and co-star Honor Blackman (Pussy Galore) who calls Connery, "the sexist man I've ever met."
HOW MANY TIMES have you watched “Goldfinger”? Twice – a half-dozen? I’m close to 20, but then, I’ve owned three different videos, a laser disc and two DVDs. Whatever, it’s one of the best of the old-school Bonds.
Still, it’s never looked as good as it does on Blu-ray. It’s actually light years better than the DVD and infinitely more rewarding than a low-grade HD airing on cable or satellite. And let’s not mention the Apple TV download. Blu-ray colors are rich and deep, restored by the wizards at Lowry Digital using hundreds of G5 Macs to process the hi-def brilliance. Also, the sharpness is unmatched in its 1080p imagery shown at 24 frames per second. This is exactly what the camera captured (HDTV with 24 fps input is required. No other source can reproduce that quality). MGM also struck a new DTS HD multi-channel soundtrack, boosting the audio experience up from its original, uneventful mono track.
Based on Ian Fleming’s seventh novel, 007 is pitted against mega-villain Goldfinger, played by German actor Gert Fröbe, who has secured the world’s supply of gold and plans to detonate a small nuke inside Fort Knox rendering the U.S. supply useless. During his commentary, Hamilton admits he hired Fröbe, but didn’t know the actor couldn’t speak English. He was forced to dub Fröbe’s lines.
Bonus features include a 10-minute hi-def featurette on the Aston Martin DB5, the most famous Bond gadget ever; a three-minute BBC interview with Connery on the movie set; 1964 interview with Blackman, who actually had a pilot’s license; footage of Hawaiian Harold Sakata, (Oddjob), who became a professional wrestler after winning the Silver Medal in weightlifting for the U.S. in the 1948 Olympics; details of the Fort Knox set built at Pinewood Studios in the U.K.; photo galleries and a 30-minute hi-def documentary on the “Goldfinger Phenomenon,” showing how Bond became the hottest marketing property during the mid ‘60s.
— Bill Kelley III
Blu-ray widescreen and DVD widescreen, 1983, PG for violence and sexuality
Best extra: A commentary with a Bond historian and director Irvin Kershner, recalls how an opening sequence was originally shown to studio executives. It featured a ticking-clock soundtrack where Bond tries to release a kidnapped woman. You guessed it; the studio replaced the clock with what’s considered the worst Bond theme song ever.
SEAN CONNERY was finished playing James Bond. In fact, he had said, “Never again.” But by the early ‘80s, independent film producer Jack Schwartzan had found a loophole giving him the legal right to produce a rogue Bond, bypassing the franchise and remaking Ian Fleming’s “Thunderball.”
Yet Schwartzan’s biggest coup was convincing 53-year-old Connery to play 007 again after a 12-year hiatus. The bait? The Scottish actor got script approval and was guaranteed millions.
During “The Big Gamble,” a standard-def documentary, Kershner reveals that Schwartzan was in court nearly every day defending his right to make the movie. One of the biggest challenges was the script. Four different writers were involved. Legally, they couldn’t pull a single subplot from the original “Thunderball,” although using Fleming’s novel was crucial.
This time SPECTRE holds the world at ransom with two stolen nuclear cruise missiles. Bond is on a wild goose chase, racing from the French Riviera to the Bahamas in an effort to disarm warheads with help from CIA agent Felix Leiter (Bernie Casey). A young Kim Basinger plays the innocent Domino, mistress of evil kingpin Largo (Klaus Maria Brandauer); Barbara Carrera is SPECTRE agent No. 12 and Max von Sydow is SPECTRE chief Blofeld, the man with the white cat.
Blu-ray imagery is not on par with other restored Bonds. There’s excess grain and softness during the opening sequence but, afterwards, it’s quite satisfying. Any Bond fan would want this thriller for their collection.
— Bill Kelley III
Blu-ray widescreen, 2007, PG-13 for strong thematic material including the sexual assault of a child, violence and brief strong language
Best extra: A commentary with director Marc Forster (“Finding Neverland”), author Khaled Hosseini and screenwriter David Benioff. The Swiss director quickly becomes a moderator, asking compelling questions of the two writers.
ALTHOUGH IT APPEARED on DVD over a year ago, the timing is still intact. Paramount is releasing the Blu-ray of Forster’s art-house film to ride James Bond’s coattails. The Swiss/German director made “The Kite Runner” and “Quantum of Solace” back-to-back.
For an American production, filming in Afghanistan was unthinkable. To re-create the Afghan capital, Kabul, Forster and his gang of mostly Afghan actors settled on Kashgar, China, the most Western province. It works well as the setting for Hosseini’s international best-seller, which the author describes as a thriller, a coming-of-age, and a father-and-son story.
The bulk of the movie – told in yellow subtitles – recounts the tranquil days of the 1970s before the Soviets invaded, when young boys battled the skies with their kites. Hosseini says a newspaper article about the Taliban banning kites was the genesis of his fictional tale.
The story surrounds two Afghan boys, Amir and Hassan. These best buds – which you’ll discover are much closer – are brilliantly played by two first-time actors discovered at a school in Kabul. A well-documented onscreen rape scene, mostly implied, caused trouble within the Afghan community. But it is uncomfortable viewing for every viewer; parents should be aware.
Two standard-def documentaries highlight the production, which used a radio controlled helicopter to produce the kite sequences. Dozens of interviews are included in which you’ll learn how actor Khalid Abdalla (“United 93”), of Egyptian descent, traveled to Kabul to immerse himself in the culture in order to play the older Amir.
Blu-ray imagery is detailed and provides good contrast, especially during the wide shots showing the amazing Chinese landscapes. It’s clearly worth an upgrade from the standard-def version.
— Bill Kelley III
Blu-ray widescreen, 2007, R for language
Best extra: A 20-minute making-of documentary with interviews with the cast and crew. Just a slight disappointment - it's in standard-def.
CLEARLY, ANGELINA JOLIE has the distraught mother and wife role down. She was nominated for two Oscars; one for Clint Eastwood’s “The Changeling” and this riveting docudrama, “A Mighty Heart.”
Nearly two summers ago, “A Mighty Heart” barely found an audience. In fact, it lost money. Still, for director Michael Winterbottom, Jolie (Mariane Pearl) and producer Brad Pitt, the film was a labor of love.
Winterbottom's hand-held hi-def camera puts you inside the courageous lives of Daniel "Danny" Pearl (Dan Futterman), a Wall Street Journal reporter and his wife Mariane, a French radio journalist, who is six months pregnant. They are covering the war on terrorism just after Sept. 11, 2001. Based on Mariane's memoirs, we pick up their story on Jan. 23, 2002, as Danny heads for an interview in Karachi, Pakistan, with the elusive Sheik Mubarak Ali Gilani. The plan is to explore a story on shoe bomber Richard Reid. Danny tells Mariane he should be home by 9 p.m. He never returns. For five weeks, the director and his fabulous cast - Jolie in her finest role - recreate the intense investigation, which involved Pakistani authorities, the FBI, an American diplomatic agent (Will Patton) and longtime journalism friend Asra Nomani (Archie Panjabi). In the documentary, you'll discover that Winterbottom made sure that "Mighty Heart" did not become a standard Hollywood production. First, the camera was always rolling, forcing the cast to stay in character for endless hours. There were no lunch breaks, no makeup checks or spacious, air-conditioned trailers for the stars.
The hi-def imagery is somewhat limited by the low quality of the HD cameras that actually taped at locations where Danny Pearl was to meet the sheik.
Additional extras include an interview with Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, in which he tells viewers that seven more journalists have been killed in Pakistan since Pearl's kidnapping and slaying. There is also a short message from CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour about the Pearl Foundation. Don't miss it.
— Bill Kelley III
“WATCHMEN: TALES FROM THE BLACK FREIGHTER / UNDER THE HOOD”
Blu-ray widescreen and DVD widescreen, 2009, R for violent and grisly images
Best extra: The “Story Within A Story: The Books of the Watchmen” documentary features actors and crew from the film as well as folks from DC Comics. You’ll learn more about the complexities of Alan Moore’s masterwork.
WARNER BROS. isn’t kidding about the “grisly” images in this R-rated sidebar to “Watchmen.” The tale of a mariner whose ship and crew are scuttled by the Black Freighter of the title is right out of “Tales From the Crypt” … the shuddery old comic version, not the slick TV show we watched on cable. Garish reds, blacks and grays give it the same impact as those scary old tales.
“Black Freighter” is not recommended for pre-sleep viewing. Not unless you’re trying for nightmares.
The story is presented in the format of the recently released “Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic” only better. I’m happy to report they’ve passed on the “audio book” format to make better use of DVD’s possibilities. The animation is improved and women actually voice the female characters. But check it out for yourself. One of the extras is a complete first chapter from the “Motion Comic.” If you’ve wanted a preview on your home equipment, here’s your chance. It’s obvious that the lone male voice of actor Tom Stechschulte is just wrong on characters such as Laurie Jupiter.
Gerard Butler of “300,” also directed by “Watchmen’s” Zack Snyder, is the voice of the mariner. He’s good. Really good. Nina Simone sings “Pirate Jenny,” a ballad from “The Three Penny Opera,” over the end credits. Stay for her complete interpretation; she is excellent. The song was Alan Moore’s inspiration for “The Black Freighter.” Also, Tyler Bates composes original music.
Illustrator and co-creator Dave Gibbons advises that Alan Moore wrote “The Black Freighter” as an allegory for “Watchmen” in The “Story Within A Story” documentary. DC Comics folk Gregory Noveck, Len Wein, Paul Levitz, and Jenette Kahn tell us more about the creation of a world-within-a-world in Moore’s book. DC made a decision not to run ads in “Watchmen” and, to fill those pages, creative newspaper clippings and excerpts from Rorschach’s diary and psychoanalysis were printed. Pages from Hollis Mason’s autobiography, “Under the Hood” also ran.
“Under the Hood,” rated PG, is the second feature. Viewers saw snippets in the movie, but you can catch the entire “documentary” from the fictional “Culpeper Hour” here. This beautifully executed piece features Stephen McHattie (Hollis Mason/first Nite Owl), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Edward Blake/The Comedian), Carla Gugino (Sally Jupiter/Silk Spectre), Matt Frewer (Edgar Jacobi/Moloch the Mystic), Jay Brazeau (news vendor) and others from the film. Vintage commercials pepper the show’s breaks.
If you’re a fan of the Moore/Gibbons book or the film, don’t pass up this one.
— Mike Reynolds
“THE ODD COUPLE: CENTENNIAL COLLECTION”
DVD widescreen, 1968, G – great for the whole family
Best extra: Commentary from the star’s sons, Charlie Matthau and Chris Lemmon is both funny and heartwarming.
THIS MIGHT BE one of the best comedies ever made. Lots of folks think so and you can hear them talk about it during the five documentaries available on this two-disc centennial set from Paramount.
Penned by the amazing Neil Simon, the film stars Walter Matthau as slobby sports writer Oscar Madison and Jack Lemmon as ultra fussy commercial photographer Felix Unger. These two divorced pals become roommates and friction and laughs ensue. That’s the plot. It relies on brilliant comic timing and stunning dialogue that youngsters and adults can enjoy without embarrassment.
I dare anyone not to laugh when Lemmon lets loose with his “moose call” sinus-clearing action in a crowded New York diner – or when Oscar flings a plate of linguini at a kitchen wall. “Now,” Matthau deadpans, “It’s garbage.”
The charm of the film is that everyone knows these two men are pals. Oscar and Felix are best friends, just like Matthau and Lemmon were in real life. That relationship is confirmed repeatedly throughout an engaging commentary from their sons, Charlie and Chris, and in interviews with director Gene Saks, Larry King (friend to Simon, Lemmon and Matthau), David Sheiner, who plays Roy in the film, and Carole Shelley, who plays Gwendolyn Pigeon, one-half of the “Coo-coo Pigeon sisters.”
There is some repetitive material among the bonus features; you may hear Chris talk about how his father felt more films should blend drama and comedy as was done in “The Apartment,” a movie in which Jack Lemmon won an Oscar for Best Actor. And there is a touch of that in “The Odd Couple.” These two guys, lovable in their individual ways, are their own worst enemies. Both are divorced, both love their families, but personality quirks keep them from living happily with anyone, including each other.
In other words, “The Odd Couple” is about people we know and love. Be sure to add these guys to your collection.
— Mike Reynolds
Blu-ray widescreen and DVD widescreen, 1980, PG
Best extra: A 1958 short film by Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard
FRENCH DIRECTOR Francois Truffaut’s 1980 film is a passionate kiss blown to theater, one of the great loves of his life, and a metaphor here for filmmaking.
The movie is set in Paris during the occupation by Nazi forces. There is no on-screen violence. No knuckle-cracking suspense. Instead, the viewer senses an everyday anxiety French citizens must have felt during World War II.
Like the director’s 1962 “Jules and Jim,” this film also involves a love triangle, with the elegant Catherine Deneuve playing the wife of a Jewish theater director (Heinz Bennent) who flees to survive. She takes over the theater and stars in a show with Gerard Depardieu, a seemingly thoughtless womanizer on whom she develops a crush.
Most of the film takes place inside a theater with no windows onto the war. Even when these thespians venture outside, the film’s lighting and sets make the real world look like an extension of the stage.
Truffaut successfully creates an undercurrent of suspicion, where anyone might be a spy or a resistance worker. Yet no one guesses who is hiding in the cellar.
The many special features include 1980 interviews with the director and cast on French television, including one that is set in a bistro. Also, recent interviews have cast members recalling the camaraderie on the set, and the respect they had for Truffaut, who died in 1984.
The most amusing extra is a playful 1958 film by a young Truffaut and Jean Luc-Godard, the filmmaker who helped found the realism-embracing French New Wave approach to cinema that Truffaut followed. Called “The Story of Water,” it trails a young woman as she tries to get to Paris during a flood.
The DVD edition was used for this review.
— Teresa Annas
DVD full-screen, 1970, unrated, adult themes
Best extra: An essay by author Stephen Prince that is included in the accompanying booklet
ALTHOUGH IT DOESN’T occupy a lofty spot in the Akira Kurosawa filmography, “Dodes’ka-den” holds a critical place in the great director’s artistic life.
A series of sobering and transcendent vignettes about the residents of a slum, the film was his first in color. Even though Kurosawa was an accomplished painter, he had resisted shooting in color, author (and Criterion regular) Stephen Prince writes in his fine essay. The bold, stylized palette he created — carefully restored by Criterion — also defined his late-career masterpieces “Kagemusha” and “Ran.”
“Dodes’ka-den” was a turning point for Kurosawa in another way, too. He had just been fired by 20th Century Fox from “Tora! Tora! Tora!” because the studio was worried about his disregard for costs and his mental stability. Determined to reclaim his position in Japan, he worked fast and came in under budget, but the movie, although it was an Oscar nominee for best foreign film, was a critical and commercial flop. Kurosawa attempted suicide.
The recollections of longtime script supervisorTeruyo Nogami, included in the accompanying booklet, shed considerable light on his mood during the shoot.
Also included is an excerpt from the documentary series “Akira Kurosawa: It Is Wonderful to Create,” something fans have come to expect when Criterion goes to the Kurosawa well (this is the 20th time).
— Craig Shapiro
DVD full-screen, 1982, unrated
Best extra: None
INGRID BERGMAN RECEIVED an Emmy and a Golden Globe award for best actress in a mini-series for “A Woman Called Golda,” and deservedly so. In a totally credible and understated performance, she portrays the single-minded, iron-willed, yet soft-hearted person who became the first woman prime minister of Israel.
The series covers her life beginning with her family’s escape to America from the pogroms of Russia, to coming of age in Milwaukee, to her move to a kibbutz in Palestine, to her role in the establishment of the Israeli Jewish state. Also starring Judy Davis, Ned Beatty, Leonard Nimoy and Robert Loggia, the series provides a fascinating history lesson as well as a sensitive and thoughtful biography.
— Peggy Earle
DVD full-screen 2002, PG
Best extra: This DVD set only offers a “gag” reel that, frankly, could have been left out. Somehow, this doesn’t really seem to fit in, given the serious nature of the show.
JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL, “JAG,” is a legal drama television show that was originally supposed to be “Top Gun” meets “A Few Good Men” and first aired on NBC in 1995. It was cancelled the following year and picked up by CBS in 1997. The show then ran for nine more seasons. Altogether, there are 10 seasons and 227 episodes.
Season 8 is contained on five discs and stars David James Elliott, Catherine Bell, John M. Jackson, Karri Turner and Patrick Labyorteaux.
The coolest part of “JAG: The Eighth Season” is a two-part murder mystery that launched the “NCIS” series.
— Cliff Redding
“MIDSOMER MURDERS: SET TWELVE”
DVD Widescreen, 2008, unrated
Best extra: Text interviews with the two lead actors, John Nettles and Jason Hughes
HERE’S THE IDEAL British murder mystery series for squeamish people like me, who are allergic to gore and too much tension. Most of the characters, even murderers, are quiet and polite and well-spoken.
Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby (played by John Nettles) and his sidekick, Ben Jones (Jason Hughes), are amusingly low-key, to the edge of boring, as they go about unraveling the oddest array of deaths.
But that works in the show’s favor: They are the bland background against which a steady stream of offbeat and colorful characters stands out in sharp relief. Also appealing: Each episode is set in one of the charming villages of Midsomer County in the south of England.
The plots are surprising and eccentric and held my interest to the end.
The television series dates to 1997, and the 50th episode is part of this package of four 100-minute shows. Top British actors make guest appearances, a major reason the popular series is such a quality product, said Nettles in a text feature about the 50th show.
These latest episodes explore a town curiously composed of angry feminists, a church choir with an overly ambitious choral director, the wife of a pop impresario who might have done in her best friend, and a desperate woman who pays her bills by acting out men’s fantasies as an idealized, pie-baking wife.
The special features, which include cast filmographies and a biography of Caroline Graham, whose books inspired the series, are duller than Barnaby, who registers excitement with a slight rise in intonation and eyebrows. Or, perhaps, a grin.
— Teresa Annas
DVD full-screen, 2006, not rated (made for television).
Best extra: None
IN 2006, A&E subsidiary The History Channel put together a mediocre docudrama on vampires. Not great, yet not too dreadful. But the lure of the DVD release of “TWILIGHT” – which sucked in every under-18 moviegoer and spit out new legions of “vampire” fans – was too much. Enter some new packaging and a sticker with the magic word “Twilight” on it, and “Vampire Secrets” was ready for another go.
Although it claims to examine vampires throughout history, the docudrama is woefully inadequate when it comes to bloodsucker mythology and its variations in nearly every early culture. There is an extremely brief mention of Indian, Chinese, Greek and biblical myths. Way too much time is spent on Bram Stoker’s creation and its repercussions.
What’s with all the screen time for Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who was technically a serial killer, not a vampire? And it seems that not even The History Channel can differentiate between vampire lore and Dracula fiction, as the rest of the time is spent on pop culture variations of Stoker’s character, author Anne Rice’s brooding vamps, vampire role-playing games, vampire sex appeal and even psychic vampires.
It only gets worse as the purported documentary delves into the current “vampire underground” and gothic subculture, interviewing “real” vampires and those who fall under their spell. Puh-leeze. They should have been honest about the whole thing, and named it, “The Dastardly Effect of Bram Stoker’s Dracula on the Lore of the Vampire – Recycled to Capitalize on the Popularity of Twilight.”
— Tiphaine Czahor
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