Hey folks, Harry here with the first DVD column of March. There’s some cool stuff here, but I still haven’t had a single week thus far this year that had me freaking out. Part of why the columns got behind. This may be the best, but too many things that should be getting a High Def treatment aren’t… LOOKING AT YOU DISNEY! As always the pics and titles link over to Amazon, where if you purchase the item, this column gets a percentage. For which I thank you for greatly. Now – get on with it…
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
The very best Blu Ray of the week in my estimation. Transfer, extras and content all make this my pick of the week. Those of you that read my reviews know how much I loved this film, and on Blu Ray… nothing has lost its luster. For one, an amazingly creepy, disturbing and awesome short called HIGGLETY PIGGLETY POP! OR THERE MUST BE MORE TO LIFE, based upon Maurice Sendak’s book. It is nightmare inducing in aesthetic, but beautiful in all the best of ways that Sendak’s work implies. Watching the behind the scenes magic making this movie is captivating – as are the crazy shorts that also fill this wonderful disc. Much applause for this affair!
PONYO
How to explain the wonders of PONYO to those that are uninitiated by the wonders of Miyazaki? Well, first off – what’s different about PONYO in comparison to all other films by Miyazaki? There is no other Miyazaki film that I have seen that is more whimsical, so full of cheer and so full of pure unadulterated glee. Essentially, this is Miyazaki’s version of THE LITTLE MERMAID, but the story is nearly unrecognizable from the perspective of the Disney version. You have the option of the star studded English dubbed version or the original Japanese. Personally I love both versions. Also there’s some great extras giving us a peak at the World of Ghibli and the creation of PONYO. The Storyboard Presentation is my fave of the extras though.
2012
I really dislike this film. Not quite Emmerich’s worst, that’d have to be GODZILLA, but 2012 is scraping that same sewer. THAT SAID. The FX are extraordinary. The maddening vision of the end of the world via Emmerich has never been so impressive. This film’s brightest spot is with Woody Harrelson, otherwise… it is pretty dead. The extras are legion here and feature such modest extras like: Roland Emmerich: The Master Of The Modern Epic! C’mon, you know you’ve got enough booze to make that extra hysterical. This film is pretty dreadful, but absolutely hypnotic while it is doing that. Apparently there were deleted scenes, because while watching I thought I saw about 20 scenes worthy of deletion. But that was probably just me. If you happened to like this film, it’s a must get… the features and quality of presentation are simply superb. They fully explain themselves… That said… there are better films to pick up this week, right?
MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO
Ok. Nevermind the annoying fact that we’re not getting a Blu Ray of the 1950’s Disney animated ALICE IN WONDERLAND…. Which has got to be the marketing tie-in dropped ball of the year thus far. But then, they release PONYON on Blu Ray – brilliantly so, I might add… but then release a trio of Special Edition 2-dvd sets of three great Miyazaki films in boxes that curiously look EXACTLY like the PONYO Blu Ray packaging… you will note these are NOT Blu Rays. If you don’t have these titles. By all means pick them up. They’re well worth it. I just wish they’d release them in High Def. Now – if you have kids that are TOY STORY nuts – there is a TOTORO toy in the new TOY STORY 3 – so if you want your kids to be the cool kids that scream out TOTORO when this character hits the screen in TOY STORY 3… you know what to do. BRAIN WASH PROPERLY!!!
CASTLE IN THE SKY
Mark Hamill provides a voice. REQUIRED PURCHASE. Wish it were Blu Ray, but it is a brilliant film despite the format. Great title!
KIKI’S DELIVERY SERVICE
After PORCO ROSSO, my favorite Miyazaki film. I have a male friend that so loved this movie in his college days, that he had fantasies of dressing up like KiKi and going cowtipping. I KID YOU NOT. Possibly the weirdest fantasy ever admitted to me personally. That creepy story aside, there is nothing creepy about this film. Again, wish it were Blu in more than packaging colors.
CLASH OF THE TITANS (Blu Ray)
Really makes you wish they had a different stock to have shot this movie on. That said, it is a pretty perfect transfer. I’m extremely fond of this Harryhausen, but you can feel all the work that isn’t his here. His work is filled with subtle character nuances that are all Harryhausen. That said, the live action side of this film never really was up to par with films like GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD, 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD or JASON & THE ARGONAUTS. CLASH is a fun film at the very least. The score causes the whole thing to soar. That said, for a whole group of folks, this is their very favorite HARRYHAUSEN film. I’ll respect their choice, but I disagree. But then, for most of those, CLASH was their first Harryhausen. However, for me – it was my last Harryhausen, as my parents had shown me all of the Harryhausen films on high rotation throughout my youngest years. Before you can get to the menu, there is a 5 minute behind the scenes look at the new CLASH OF THE TITANS. And I kinda love it a lot. The bummer? The extras have been around for ages and are nothing new for Harryhausen nuts. No Commentary, no newly shot documentary. I imagine we’ll see an even spiffier treatment down the road. At least I hope so.
John Carpenter’s ELVIS
Fucking Awesome. I had never seen this, until the disc came. I was offered a chance to see it full screen once, but I just can’t imagine watching anything by John Carpenter in full screen. God, I’m so glad I didn’t see that version. There’s a sense of Carpenter’s eye throughout. The composition is completely counter to FULL SCREEN. Kurt Russell’s ELVIS is a thing to behold. Next to his role as Jack Burton and Snake Plissken, I think Kurt’s ELVIS beats the others. A really great effort by John Carpenter, finally in widescreen!!! SO GOOD!
ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1933)
And the winner for Version of ALICE IN WONDERLAND least friendly to drug use… it is this one. The film is a brilliant nightmare. Everybit as surreal as Tim Burton’s latest incarnation, but far more subversive and in the manner that they achieved their effects… fucking scary. The stuff of nightmares. Shit scared me as a kid, when I saw this on MATINEE AT THE BIJOU, which is where my dad recorded it from. Gave me nightmares. That said, it is a piece of magic from the year of KING KONG. Kinda must be seen just so you can attempt to try to describe it to others.
THE NEVERENDING STORY (Blu Ray)
I watched this right before heading out the door to go see Burton’s Alice tonight. The transfer is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. The sound though gives you cold shivers it sounds so good. This new 5.1 mix is hot! Really great sound mix. Love it. The film is still wonderful. Some day, I hope we all live to see a special edition of this film. I’ve heard there’s a great longer cut by Wolfgang, that is astonishingly great. Like Robert Altman’s much longer POPEYE… another pipe dream of mine. Sigh.
NINJA
I found this to be a complete and total bore. NINJA is such a loaded word of awe from childhood. But too many ninja movies just don’t work. This is another of them. But, I know that there are NINJA fetishists out there – and you should know of this. There’s some moderately interesting action here and there, but nothing I’d spend time really writing about. Rental at best.
COLD SOULS
Dark & Odd – a perfect Paul Giamatti role… playing himself. He’s fantastic as himself. The film is fun science/fantasy/fiction. Worth picking up, as most of us never had a chance to have this play a theater nearby. Check it out.
THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN (Blu Ray)
One of the great Shaw Bros. martial arts classics starring Gordon Liu. And I believe this is the first Dragon Dynasty Blu Ray. The first of HUNDREDS hopefully. One of the great martial arts films, this was the second bill of my past Movie Night. A revenge film that is 90% training and 5% revenge crazed vengeance. BUT IT WORKS! The training is obscenely genius. Watch how many steps Gordon does before each edit. He knew his shit and there seems to have been no wires. Gorgeous transfer, original language and subtitles. A very happy experience!
GENTLEMEN BRONCOS
I hatd NAPOLEON DYNAMITE and loved NACHO LIBRE – but I have yet to actually see GENTLEMEN BRONCOS – I’ve heard either extreme on this film. I’ll be picking this up tomorrow to see for myself. I was introducing something opposite its FANTASTIC FEST premiere. Alas. Evil scheduling conflicts! Sigh.
RETURN TO THE 36TH CHAMBER
The sequel didn’t get the Blu Ray treatment, sad face cry cry. This is actually the more fun film. Though the original is the better movie. Well, depends what you’re looking for. However, I’d buy the Blu and wait on this one. If the numbers are good on the original, we’ll probably see this on Blu shortly.
ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1999)
For my money, the best live action adaptation of ALICE IN WONDERLAND to date is this Hallmark telling, which is literate, bizarre and well acted by an all-star cast. Watched this tonight. Ben Kingsley’s Catepillar and Martin Short’s Madd Hatter must be seen to be believed. The FX are pretty TV, as you’d figure… but stylistically, it all works. Whoopi Goldberg as the Chesire Cat is CREEPY! Very Scary!
That’s it for this week, next we’ll be looking at UP IN THE AIR, PRECIOUS, BOONDOCK SAINTS II, OLD DOGS, CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY, PARIS, THE STONING OF SORAYA M, TENSPEED & BROWN SHOE, THE BROTHERS WARNER, SERVICE, TAPEHEADS and that’s about it. Next week is pretty week, so I might bang out two weeks worth at once, so I don’t get behind due to SXSW. Ambitious I know, but easily doable. Till then, see ya later…
