DVD Review: Chinatown Special Collector's Edition (1974)

Paramount Pictures is releasing Chinatown: Special Collector's Edition DVD on November 6, 2007, and we managed to get an advanced copy to examine. The DVD of this Roman Polanski classic includes the theatrical trailer and four featurettes:

• Chinatown: The Beginnng and the End!
• Chinatown: Style
• Acting Chinatown
• Chinatown: The Classic

As you can judge from the titles of those featurettes, they're all about Chinatown. While the amount of special features isn't anything to get excited about, the quality of the featurettes are quite good. They go in-depth to how Chinatown was conceived by screenwriter Robert Towne, who, as it turns out, was good friends with Nicholson. According to him, he was tired of seeing his friend struggling to make a living, so he wrote this movie with Nicholson in mind. Since the character Jake is sharp-tongued and sarcastic the entire movie, that's really not that surprising.

Some of the featurettes even include interviews with Nicholson himself, which was a bit surprising. I was expecting him to be "a bit too big" to do interviews for DVDs these days.

All that being said, this special collector's edition isn't worth buying, unless you don't own Chinatown at all.

Of course, Chinatown is a classic. You can read my full Chinatown movie review here.

Hostel 2 is better than Hostel?

I hated Hostel with a passion. It's not that I didn't like the nude women or some of the gore, it's just that the whole movie was so ludicrous and stupid that I couldn't fully appreciate the "beauty" of the film. Some critics liked Hostel because it was a "smart satire of American culture" or what not, but I thought that was a load of B.S. Hostel was a cheesy horror movie trying to capitalize on the trend known as torture porn. Nothing more.

And in reality, the gore was a bit goofy at times (the eyeball hanging out of the girl's head looked extremely fake) and, more importantly, the plot was so bad it made most horror movies look like they had Award-winning stories.

So, Hostel: Part II (Hostel 2) is now out on DVD, and having watched it, I must say it's a lot better. That's not saying it's all that good, or that it's reason to make a third one, but the movie is a lot more coherent, features better, more believable characters and its gore is a lot more realistic. There are some pretty lame parts (the opening sequence and the final minute of the movie), but there are a few torture scenes that are quite elaborate and somewhat clever.

All in all, it wasn't too much of a struggle to watch Hostel 2, and that's saying a lot. You can read my full Hostel 2 movie review here.

DVD Review: Ratatouille (2007)

Ratatouille (2007), one of my 14 underrated movies of the year, is coming to DVD on November 6th. The movie was a bit of a box office disappointment in terms of Pixar standards, but is certainly going to be a hit on the small screen. It is an excellent movie and easily one of the best films of the year.

You can read my full Ratatouille movie review here.

The DVD is a bit of a disappointment, a precursor, I'm sure, to a two-disc special edition. The features are pretty slim, and somewhat misleading.

The only real highlight is Fine Food & Film, a featurette that looks at how the Pixar guys came about creating a movie about food. The featurette includes interviews with acclaimed chef Thomas Keller ("acclaimed" because it says so on the box), as well as the creators of the movie.

The animated short Your Friend The Rat is pretty lame; I tuned it out within a minute.

The deleted scenes are where I really have a problem. I absolutely hate DVDs that advertise deleted scenes, only when you try to watch them you realize they were deleted at the screenplay review stage. The deleted scenes here are not CGI, but instead rough hand drawn animations with voice overs. The commentary introducing each scene is slightly interesting, but a deleted scene shouldn't be a deleted scene until after it is "filmed" and then cut.

The DVD also includes the short film that ran before the film, titled Lifted, which is a pretty funny little animation about a teenage alien doing "driver's ed" by abducting a human.

Overall, the DVD looks like it was put together at the last moment and will not appeal to fans who really like DVD features. Oh, at least the DVD includes a $10 rebate if you also buy Ratatouille on Blu-Ray. Are you kidding me? Why would you buy the movie on two different formats?

Movie Review: Surf's Up (2007)

I recently watched Surf's Up, which is yet another penguin movie. But, unlike Happy Feet, Surf's Up relies more on screenplay and less on cute looking critters dancing like they're on crystal meth. I found Happy Feet dreadfully dull after the first 20 minutes, but Surf's Up keeps on entertaining from start to finish.

It just has these three things going against it:

• It's a penguin movie, and March of the Penguins, a documentary featuring the real thing, was more entertaining.
• It's still not as good as the really good animated films, like those from Pixar
• It won't appeal to little kids. The humor is dry and very dialogue-driven; little kids will find Happy Feet a bit more visually stimulating.

Still, for those of you who like animated films, Surf's Up is one of the better ones of the year. Read the full Surf's Up movie review here.

Movie Review: Fido (2007)

Fido, a zombie movie that is quite different from most zombie movies, is now out on DVD, and I have a copy in my possession. As such, I have written a movie review for the film.

I was rather looking forward to this picture, as 1) zombie films are hard to mess up (though Resident Evil 3 certainly proved me wrong with that one, 2) zombie comedies are generally funny and 3) a movie about a boy and his pet zombie just sounds entertaining.

Unfortunately, the film fails to live up to its potential, as it just isn't funny enough. Read my full Fido movie review here.

Movie Review: Captivity (2007)

I just watched 30 Days to Night, which has a pretty bad ending, but it does not even compare to the God-awful ending that Captivity, starring hottie Elisha Cuthbert, offers. I mean, talk about out of left field, the bleachers, the street and the warehouse across the street out there.

Captivity is essentially a Saw rip-off (and I thought Saw sucked), only with less amounts of gore and less excitement. At the same time, it does offer one of the grossest scenes I've ever seen, which involves sticking a funnel down Elisha's throat and forcing her to swallow a blended concoction of noses, ears, guts and blood. Lovely.

Read my full Captivity movie review. The horror picture lands on DVD next week, and offers a making-of featurette, an on-the-set featurette and some deleted scenes, including alternate endings (although they aren't that alternate).

Movie Review: 30 Days of Night (2007)

I just wrote a movie review for 30 Days of Night, the new vampire flick starring Josh Hartnett. I had really high hopes for the movie, but unfortunately it failed to meet expectations. While 30 Days of Night has some things going for it, it lacks the proper direction and editing to make it anything more than a standard thriller. The ending is atrocious, too.

Josh Hartnett is surprisingly good, and I think given the right roles he could be a popular leading man. Melissa George is decent in a supporting role, but really doesn't get much to work with. Ben Foster is once again a creepy highlight, and he doesn't even play a vampire.

Read the full 30 Days of Night movie review.

DVD Review: Transformers Two-Disc Special Edition

Transfomers, arguably the most popular movie of the summer, is now out on DVD (as of this Tuesday), and it's safe to assume that the DVD (one-disc, two-disc and HD DVD two-disc) will be topping the charts for the coming weeks.

So, is the two-disc special edition worth the extra dollars? I'd have to say... yes.

The two-disc special edition is not the most jam-packed DVD you'll find on the shelves, but it still has a good two hours of honest, legitimate special features (vs. those editions that include a bunch of useless and seemingly filler bonuses).

The special features are split into three segments, each of which vary in length from 45 minutes to over an hour:

• Our World
  An in-depth look, broken into chapters, at the production, cast and stunts of Transformers. There's plenty of behind-the-scenes goodness here, including interviews with the cast (and not just promotional interviews where they're saying, "You'll see stuff here that's never been done before), on-set footage and more. The feature drills into several of the stunts of the movie, and it's surprising to see how many of them are not just special effects. Apparently, Michael Bay and his crew destroyed over 200 real cars in the movie...
• Their War
  This featurette looks at the creation of the Autobots, Decepticons and military vehicles used in the movie. This one will appeal to Transformers fans a lot as it discusses how the creators went from the original toys and cartoons to the robots found in the movie, and why changes were made. The in-depth look at how the production worked with the military is also pretty interesting.
• More Than Meets the Eye
  This one looks at the making of the desert attack sequence.
  

Other features include several of the film's trailers (which are quite cool) and conceptual art.

Overall, the Transfomers: Two-Disc Special Edition has a lot of honest, in-depth special features. There may not be a lot of features, but what lacks in quantity is made up for with quality. Fan boys should definitely invest the extra dollar or two into this more enhanced version. Also, you can read a Transformers movie review here.

The Hoax (2007) movie review: No Shattered Glass?

One of my favorite movies is a one most people haven't seen, the true life-based drama Shattered Glass, starring Anakin Skywalker - I mean Hayden Christensen - as journalist Stephen Glass, who famously made up a bunch of stories to make himself famous. With that in mind, I was drawn into seeing The Hoax, a Richard Gere-starring drama with a similar theme, even though it didn't look nearly as good.

The Hoax is a true story (how true, I don't know) about journalist and writer Clifford Irving, who managed to trick a major publishing house into paying him a million dollars for a groundbreaking biography based on personal interviews with billionaire recluse Howard Hughes, a man who hadn't been seen in public in years. The only problem is that Irving never actually spoke with Hughes to get his permission, and in fact his entire piece of work is based on fabrications.

The Hoax is one of those movies where it's hard to fathom them ever being true. How a man could think that he'd get away with writing a fake biography about someone still alive - especially with someone as many resources as Howard Hughes - is pretty unbelievable. And furthermore, to risk everything by running up a publishing company for a million dollars in the process? And yet, Clifford Irving did it. That alone makes The Hoax worth watching.

Read the full The Hoax movie review.

Movie review: Michael Clayton (2007)

Wow, what a year 2007 has been. And it's only October. Last year, we were scraping bottom well into late November before good movies started cropping up, but 2007 has been gifted with all kinds of really good movies, from comedies (Knocked Up, Hot Fuzz, Superbad) to action (300, The Bourne Ultimatum, Transformers) to dramas (Eastern Promises, Zodiac, Rescue Dawn), and that's only to name a few. Now, we have Michael Clayton, George Clooney's latest drama-thriller.

Written and directed by The Bourne Ultimatum writer Tony Gilroy, Michael Clayton does for legal thrillers what the Bourne franchise did for spy flicks - take the genre to a whole new level. It's not that the legal thriller hasn't had its fair share of great successes - several John Grisham adaptations come to mind - but Gilroy's approach is certainly don't-bullshit-and-slowly-build-tension-until-it-bursts. There are some slow sections in Michael Clayton, and those expecting a fast-paced thriller might find themselves falling asleep in the first half, but those of you who have patience and know a good movie when you see it will certainly find something to campaign around. For much of the movie, you don't really know what the title character's job is, but then, when it reaches the amazing and surprisingly quick ending that it has, you realize he's been doing it all along. Michael Clayton is a movie with a few twists, or at least new directions, and a mounting sense that there will be only one winner.

Read the full Michael Clayton movie review.

DVD Review: Grindhouse presents Planet Terror (2007)

Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror, the intentional B-grade zombie film that was the first half of the theatrical flop Grindhouse (I'm quite certain it will be a cult classic, though), arrives on DVD next Tuesday, October 16th.

Planet Terror is about several individuals, including a stripper (Rose McGowan) who has a machine gun as a leg and a mother who can't use her hands because her husband has injected her with a numbing agent, who have to face off against a horde of zombies and even more dangerous military personnel. The movie is camp, but done so quite specifically. The first time I watched it I liked it but didn't love it; the second time around, on DVD, I appreciated Planet Terror a bit more - the gore is great, the women scorching and the excitement non-stop. It's not a perfect movie, but that's okay - in reality, it was never meant to be. Read the full Planet Terror movie review here.

The 2-disc Special Edition version of Planet Terror is well worth it even if you are even a mild fan of the Grindhouse movies. Planet Terror is a great movie to watch with friends, and the special features are just as good:

10-Minute Film School With Robert Rodriguez
This is a very insightful little featurette with Rodriguez showing us "how easy" it is to make a movie such as Planet Terror. Of course, not anyone can just inject computer graphics and gore, Rodriguez does break down his film pretty well, showing how he did a lot of the snazzy things in the film, from the machine gun leg to heads blowing apart to explosions and a dozen other things.

The Badass Babes and Tough Guys Of Planet Terror
The great thing about the featurettes on this DVD are that they are insightful, short and too the point. There are some great 45-minute featurettes out there (see Pirates of the Caribbean), but it's tedious watching something so long. These two 12-or-so-minute featurettes look at the hot women in the movie and the reasoning for their casting and characters; and the men - I didn't really pay attention to that one too much.

Casting Rebel
Is Robert Rodriguez's son really called Rebel? Anyway, it's his son who's the kid in the movie, and Rodriguez talks about his decision to cast his son. Of course, the other stars praise the kid - not that there was anything wrong with him, but would they really say anything bad even if they thought he sucked?

Sickos, Bullets and Explosions: The Stunts of Planet Terror
This one looks at the special effects and such in the movie. It's a fun one and delves into the behind-the-scenes workings of several of the big stunts in the movie. The big explosion scene at the end is certainly the highlight.

There are a few other special features, and don't forget that the movie itself is extended and unrated (I noticed a little more almost-nudity, among other things). The special features are quite good, as they provide a more detailed glimpse into the workings of the movie without spending too much time on any one thing. Recommended.

Movie Review: The Sleeping Dictionary (2003)

Here's my review for The Sleeping Dictionary, which was released on DVD way back in 2003...

We all know it, even the women: Jessica Alba is one hot young woman. She epitomizes good-looking in the 21st century. Most men would risk the herpes rumor just to have one night with her. And that's why I risked everything - and I mean everything - by watching The Sleeping Dictionary, a movie I neither needed to nor particularly wanted to watch, other than to see Alba walk around half naked the entire time.

The Sleeping Dictionary is about a young, uptight British officer who is sent to Sarawak under orders from the government. There he finds a native culture unlike anything he's ever known, and an incredibly beautiful girl named Selima (Alba) who, by chance, has been selected to be his "sleeping dictionary," his guide to learning the local language, and his personal concubine. Now, most men would take full advantage of this situation, but John (Hugh Dancy), with his conservative values, denies Selima at first, causing plenty of tension and fighting between the two. But as they slowly become more accustomed to one another (i.e. screwing), John finds himself falling in love with this girl who is completely off limits, at least in an emotional sense. While his duties lead him to a British girl, his heart remains with Selima, but will they and can they ever be together?

The movie is a surprisingly decent romantic drama set against a backdrop of British expansion into innocent "native" lands. It is quite clear that writer/director Guy Jenkin wanted to make a sweeping epic out of his picture, but he just isn't the right man for the job. His film is entertaining and presents likable and interesting characters, and the romance between Alba and Dancy is believable. The chemistry between the two is good, and that alone makes The Sleeping Dictionary enjoyable.

But...

There's just something missing from the film. It lacks a certain edge needed for a period piece such as this, and the movie comes off just a bit too much like an excuse to highlight Alba's looks. It's not that Jenkin flaunts her looks, but The Sleeping Dictionary seems built around the capabilities of Alba. No offense to Alba, but she's no Meryl Streep. Perhaps at some point she will be able to power a drama herself, but right now, and especially a few years ago when this film was released, her acting capabilities are a bit limited. The Sleeping Dictionary, overall, feels a bit light and fluffy, which seems to match quite well to Alba's performance. It's not that she's bad - she's actually quite decent here - but there is something about the whole screenplay, casting and acting that don't seem quite right for a movie looking to be a sweeping, epic, period piece drama.

The Sleeping Dictionary is a surprisingly fun and enjoyable little romantic drama, but it isn't a movie that could have ever won awards. There is a little bit of sex and nudity throughout, for those who are interested, though it is quite clear that Jessica Alba used a double for those scenes. It's still nice to pretend, isn't it?

Movie Review: Black Sheep (2007)

Okay, I'll admit it... This isn't my best written movie review by any means. For one, I'm tired (I fell asleep halfway through writing it). Two, I'm hung over. And three... I'm ashamed that my Seattle Seahawks embarrassed themselves so badly.

Without further ado, here is a part of the Black Sheep movie review...

Humanity has faced its share of monsters. We've survived alligators, crocodiles, sharks and snakes, but never have we faced such a serious threat: sheep. Yes, those lovable, cuddly, wool-providing livestock can be quite ferocious, especially when they're infected with a radioactive substance that turns them into flesh-loving mutants.

Black Sheep, the B-grade New Zealand horror flick, is about just such a likely attack, as a man and a woman find themselves at the center of a crisis where deadly sheep are unleashed upon the countryside, and one bite from the animals could cause massive mutation.

Read the full Black Sheep movie review...

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer DVD review

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer hit DVD this last week, and with it comes several special features. We'll get to the movie later, but first here's a quick DVD review:

The first of two discs contains two separate feature commentaries, one of which by director Tim Story and the other by the producers and writers of the film. While I don't have the patience to sit through the film two more times, it would be interesting to hear how they justify the embarrassing product placements and geographic inconsistencies in the film.

Also included in the 2-disc set are some deleted scenes (none of which are overly exciting, as you might expect), several production featurettes and one very long documentary about the pre-production and production aspects of the movie (conveniently split into two chapters). This documentary is one of the better ones I've seen, although I still set the Pirates of the Caribbean pre-production documentary as the standard. Fantastic Four 2 didn't have nearly as many problems involved (nor is it as complicated), but it's fun to see some of the elements that go into the film and see the actors off camera.

Overall, if you were a fan of the movie, there are some good special features here, but that requires you to be a fan of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer - and those may be hard to come by. The movie was actually better than I expected and it was mildly entertainment (perhaps due to very, very low expectations after the disaster that was the first Fantastic Four), but it is so poorly done at times (and overdone at other times) that it is hard to thoroughly enjoy.

You can read my full Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer movie review here.

Upcoming movie reviews

I've been out of town for a few days (hiking through Grand Canyon National Park and Zion National Park), hence my lack of reviews and other postings... Just to give you an indication of the back log I've created for myself, here's a list of movies or DVDs pending review over the next week or so (in other words, check back often!):

• Lonely Hearts
• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
• The Sleeping Dictionary
• Blood and Chocolate
• Sherrybaby
• Bug
• 1408 DVD
  
• Fantastic Four 2 DVD
  
• Planet Terror DVD
• Black Sheep
• A Mighty Heart
• Knocked Up
• Evan Almighty
• Jericho: The First Season
  

The Kingdom (2007): The best movie of the year?

Director Peter Berg's latest effort, The Kingdom, is a high-intensity action drama that succeeds on all levels. And by that, I mean it blows away most of the competition as being one of the year's best so far. The film, about an FBI team who goes to Saudi Arabia to find out who is behind a devastating terrorist attack, boasts a star-studded cast and gritty imagery throughout. It also marks another large cinematic jump for director Peter Berg, who shows he has improved mightily from the less-than-stellar Very Bad Things less than ten years ago.

Berg's visuals are a feast for the viewers' eyes. The handheld camera work, which has proven to be a successful style in films such as Babel and Syriana, never distracts from the action. Particularly, the visual direction in the film's non-stop 30-minute concluding sequence will leave you with your mouth open. Easily, the sequence has some of the most engaging shootout action since Black Hawk Down.

Read the full The Kingdom movie review.

DVD review: Knocked Up

Knocked Up hit DVD on Tuesday, September 25th (yes, just the other day!) and this hilarious comedy - most likely the best comedy of the year (read the full Knocked Up movie review) - is now out in several new editions, including a 2-disc Collector's Edition. The cover art here implies Amazon.com may not have the latest info, as the DVD in my hands (well, not literally in my hands - how would I be able to type?) says "Extended & Unrated". Watch out!

The cover also boasts over three hours of bonus footage, and they aren't kidding. The DVD includes "Finding Ben Stone", which looks at other actors who were considered before settling on Seth Rogen, an inside look at the stripper scene (how horrible), some video diaries and several other things.

Of course, one of my favorites are the gag reels, and the DVD boasts two gag reels. The DVD also includes 50 minutes of deleted and extended scenes, not all of which I have watched quite yet. I may do another article next week when I get a chance to watch all of this extra footage.

Anyway, it doesn't really matter what the bonus features are like - this is a hilarious, well-written and sharp comedy that you have to buy, because you know that otherwise you're just going to end up renting it over and over and over again.

DVD review: Face/Off 2-disc Special Collector's Edition

Face/Off is one of my all-time favorite action movies. I saw it with my grandpa shortly before he passed away, and we certainly saw John Woo at the top of his American career - tons of explosions, great acting and a unique (if somewhat implausible) plot.

Ten years later, I've grown up a bit and don't find the action film quite as fascinating as I once did, but it's still a great non-stop thrill ride with plenty of over-the-top action. However, to no great surprise, Paramount Pictures has decided to release a 2-disc Special Collector's Edition DVD, a surprisingly good set that fans of Woo especially may want to pick up.

In addition to director commentary, there are seven deleted or alternate scenes that are some of the better deleted scenes you can find these days. They are most interesting with the optional commentary, as you can hear why the scenes were cut. The crew talks a bit about how some scenes (like one of Travolta crying) were cut after poor audience reactions. An alternate ending is also included, which is quite interesting as well.

The real strength of the 2-disc set are several featurettes, including an extremely interesting documentary called John Woo: A Life in Pictures. The mini-film basically has Mr. Woo talking about his struggles as a child to get out of poverty, what kinds of films inspired him (musicals!) and so on and so forth. This is one of the more interesting featurettes I've seen on the DVD.

The other big chunk of special features comes from several chapters of a making-of documentary for Face/Off, which goes fairly in depth and includes actor and crew interviews and other insight. The most interesting thing I learned was that Face/Off was originally planned to be set in the future, but due to budget cuts and a fear that some of the emotion would be sucked from the film, the story was rewritten to take place in modern day.

Read more information about Face/Off.

Movie Review: Eastern Promises (2007)

Eastern Promises does have a lot to promise. Featuring top notch talent such as Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts, director David Cronenberg hot off his last award-winning [and Mortensen-starring] masterpiece A History of Violence and an unsettling plot about a woman who has accidentally become entwined with the Russian mafia, expectations for the film were high. And Eastern Promises lives up to them... for the most part.

As one might expect, Eastern Promises has its fair amount of ultra violence, which Cronenberg seems to enjoy adding even when his films appeal most to adult audiences. Some may find the violence or at least the gore (necks getting sawed at with razor blades until blood is squirting profusely from severed arteries, knives to the eyes, etc.) unnecessary, but that is part of the reason I am a growing fan of Cronenberg's work. Even in the most subtle or raw dramas (I am mainly referring to A History of Violence), he likes to shock the audience with sudden bouts of violence. The audience becomes squeamish, but that's all part of the act: his movie is about regular people who get involved with nasty things, and he makes the audience react accordingly.

Read the full Eastern Promises movie review...

Why Resident Evil: Extinction is a bad movie (movie review)

This weekend is a great weekend for movies. All kinds of Oscar possibilities unleashed themselves upon audiences (at least in the Seattle area), including The Hunting Party, Across the Universe, Eastern Promises and In the Valley of Elah... So why in hell did I go and watch Resident Evil: Extinction?

I'll admit I was looking forward to this second sequel to the popular Resident Evil franchise. Neither the first or second films were particularly great, but they had enough action and mayhem to be entertaining enough. The third had promise: it returns Milla Jovovich to the role of Alice, who has now taken to wandering the ravaged Earth alone. The Earth is now a desert wasteland, not unlike in Mad Max, but amidst the walking dead, the Umbrella Corporation is still searching for Alice with hopes that her blood could cure the world. It's a neat concept, and I liked the direction the film had taken, but...

Resident Evil: Extinction is one of the worst movies of the year.

Read the rest of the Resident Evil: Extinction movie review.