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| Summer
2007 Reviews (continued) |
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| Although
set at Christmas time, The Holiday
conveys little holiday feel so it hardly seems likely to become a
seasonal standard. Taken as a simple romantic comedy, however, it is
somewhat more successful. Two women in the same emotional space but
half a world apart geographically (Iris, in England, and in love
with a man who is going to marry someone else, and Amanda, in L.A.,
with a partner who's just been unfaithful) contact each other
on-line and agree to exchange houses. In doing so, new romances
begin for both. The two women are played by Kate Winslet and Cameron
Diaz respectively and their new romantic interests by Jude Law and
Jack Black. The four stars, but particularly Winslet and Diaz, all
give winning performances and although the plot is predictable and
overly long, the film is lushly mounted and directed (Nancy Meyers -
Something's Gotta Give) with
obvious enjoyment and considerable attention to an interesting
narrative structure. The result is an amiable time-passer. Character
actor watchers should look for some fine work by Eli Wallach as a
veteran Hollywood screenwriter. The visual presentation is
pristine-looking and characterized by fine image detail and solid
blacks. Colours never pop off the screen, although that's more a
function of the way the film was shot. Overall, a solid though not
exciting visual experience. The uncompressed PCM sound does a very
nice job with the material. Surround effects are generally subtle
but noticeable. The film is obviously dialogue-driven and that comes
across clearly and precisely. The disc's supplements are not
inspiring. Nancy Meyers' audio commentary (with other crew members,
but none of the cast) has plenty of technical information, but needs
a more anecdotal approach to liven it up. The making-of documentary
is the usual puff piece although Kate Winslet offered some
insightful comments. Worth a rental. |
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| Planet
Earth is everything you've heard and much more. The BBC's
eleven episode television series, drawing on over five years of
round-the-world photography commissioned from many of the world's
top nature photographers, documents the natural world of our planet
with stunning detail and footage of rare natural events never before
captured on camera. Some of the camera work actually staggers the
imagination with thoughts of " how did they manage to film
that?" arising in every episode. The episodes each focus on a
different aspect - From Pole to Pole,
Mountains, Fresh
Water, Caves, Deserts,
Ice Worlds, Great
Plains, Jungles,
Shallow Seas, Seasonal
Forests, and Ocean Deep.
I personally enjoyed the From Pole to
Pole, Mountains,
Caves, Deserts,
Shallow Seas, and Seasonal
Forests episodes most, but there is a wealth of
information and marvelous photography in all, so that everyone's
special interests are well served. The series is given a low-key
narration by David Attenborough that provides gravitas but never
intrudes on the power of the images on screen. The material is
completely addictive, so don't be surprised to find yourself
watching multiple episodes at a sitting or even (gulp!) the entire
nine hours worth at once. The BD visual presentation is superb
across the four discs that make up the set - definitely
demonstration-level material. Visual pop is the norm with image
detail as good as it gets and colour fidelity truly excellent.
Whether showing vast vistas, or the detail of some small insect
life; whether in bright sunlight or the darkness of deep caves - the
BD presentation handles all with aplomb. Less impressive is the
sonic experience. The Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround is at best adequate
in absolute terms although it's above average in relative terms for
documentary filming. The surround component is mainly low-key for
the most part with emphasis across the front. David Attenborough's
narration is clear and precise except for a few passages that tend
to get overpowered by the music. The latter by the way does not
perhaps provide quite the majestic themes one might like, but it is
effective. Unfortunately there is no bonus material included. The
DVD set contained some behind-the-scenes footage for each episode
and an impressive three-part documentary Planet
Earth: The Future, but none of that material has made it
to the BD version (nor I gather the HD one) for some inexplicable
reason. Why high definition enthusiasts don't rate an extra disc
like the DVD package is unacceptable. Despite this omission,
however, the basic content of the set is such that it is still
highly recommended. |
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| For
a film that seems like one we've seen a number of times before
(teacher deals with tough class and makes good), Freedom
Writers is quite beguiling. That's chiefly because Hilary
Swank gives an enthusiastic and appealing performance as the
real-life teacher Erin Gruwell who inspires the "unteachable"
teens in her Long Beach high school classroom to embrace tolerance
through telling their own stories and hearing those of others. With
Swank as the film's anchor, the best way to approach the film is to
let its inspirational story flow over you rather than dwelling on
the ease with which Swank's character seems to triumph. I'm sure the
reality was much more difficult than portrayed here, but since the
end result is what matters in this case, that's a minor quibble.
Worth admiring too are several superb characterizations by those
playing the students. Most of the other actors are saddled with
stereotypical characters in the teaching establishment while poor
old Grey's Anatomy heart-throb
Patrick Dempsey is wasted in an underwritten role as Swank's
husband. The HD and BD visual presentations look identical. Image
detail and skin tones are extremely good and everything looks very
natural although there's little visual pop at any time. The HD sound
benefits from a DD Plus 5.1 presentation that gives it somewhat more
presence than the straight DD 5.1 track on the BD, in terms of
background effects and bass aspects of the music numbers. Dialogue,
however, seems equally good on both HD and BD. The supplements seem
to comprise a nice package, but beyond the audio commentary with
director Richard LaGravenese and Hilary Swank which proves to be
quite an interesting effort, the rest (various making-of supplements
and some deleted scenes) is mainly puffery. Freedom
Writers is certainly worth your time as a rental and a
slight nod goes to the HD version due to the modestly superior
audio. |
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| A
film often overlooked when considering the best comedies of the
1980s is John Landis's Trading Places,
a gem of a production that gave wonderful starring opportunities to
Dan Ackroyd, Eddie Murphy, and Jamie Lee Curtis and very welcome
supporting roles to two very familiar players from the Golden Age,
Ralph Bellamy and Don Ameche. The latter two play a couple of
super-rich brothers trading in commodities who decide upon a small
wager over whether environment really makes the man. In this case
they engineer career switches between a snobbish young stock trader
(Ackroyd) and a street hustler/con artist (Murphy). When the
subjects of the switch discover what's really going on, their
revenge is sweet. It's clear from the supplements on the disc that
the film's various participants really enjoyed making Trading
Places and that enthusiasm is well-translated to the
screen. Particularly welcome is the opportunity to see Eddie Murphy
in his prime when he was really funny as opposed to the lame excuses
for comedy that he's become associated with more recently. He, Dan
Ackroyd, and Jamie Lee Curtis, all abetted by Denholm Elliott, work
very well together as the collective worm that turns. The humour is
continuous throughout the film and varies effectively from verbal to
sight to slapstick. This is an adult comedy with a modest degree of
nudity and language that is appropriately used in context (one of
the extras provides an interesting insight into Don Ameche's view of
some of his character's language), and will keep you smiling or
laughing out loud throughout. Paramount has done a stellar job on
remastering the title for high definition. There's no discernible
difference between the HD and BD offerings. Compared to the earlier
DVD offering, the image now looks very clean, crisp and clear. Image
detail is exemplary and colours look accurate though not vibrant.
There's no visual pop here, but I can't imagine anyone being unhappy
with the high quality exhibited by this catalogue title. The BD has
a 5.1 track while the HD offers a 5.1 Plus effort but there's no
discernible difference. Neither provides an audio experience that is
particularly memorable. That's not to say there's a problem with the
audio. Being dialogue-driven, the film fares just fine in terms of
clarity, but there's little surround effect and fidelity overall
seems weak. The supplements are highlighted by a making-of
documentary that has most of the main players and director John
Landis participating. While it's the usual blend of clips and
congratulations, there's a little more forthrightness than usual,
making it an entertaining watch. One of the other featurettes is
also useful in that it helps to explain the stock market trading
sequence at the film's end. Recommended. |
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| Among
recent films, Memento comes
first to mind when viewing Premonition,
except that this time rather than time running backwards, it's
shuffled randomly like a deck of cards. Premonition
covers one week in the life of suburban housewife Linda Hanson
(Sandra Bullock), a week during which her husband is apparently
killed in a car accident, or is he? The day after, Hanson awakes
from sleep to find him having breakfast in their home. Except we
soon learn that it may not be the day after at all but one several
days before. The film progresses in this fashion, gradually
revealing the whole story to us, but it's never clear if the
disjointed narrative is actually a premonition of Bullock's or a
manifestation of post-event mental trauma. No matter how you view
it, there are some gaps in logic that go unexplained, but
nevertheless, the situation is thought-provoking and will leave you
mulling over the possibilities long after the film is over. Bullock
provides a persuasive performance and really anchors the film
throughout. It's one of her best opportunities among her recent
films (Miss Congeniality 2,
Loverboy, The
Lake House) and she makes the most of it. Julian McMahon
is also fine as her husband, but Kate Nelligan is wasted as her
mother. Sony's BD presentation offers a clean and nicely detailed
image, but I was seldom blown away by it. It conveyed the sense of
being little different than an excellent DVD image. The PCM sound
does its job in offering a fine audio experience in terms of clarity
and accuracy, but the track itself has little that really stands out
- base effects are minimal and surround effects are subtle at best.
The disc's extras are a good mix. The audio commentary by Bullock
and director Mennan Yapo is generally interesting although there are
a number of silent stretches. Also of value is a documentary on real
people who claim to have had actual premonitions. The making-of
documentary is a modest cut above the standard self-congratulatory
efforts. Less interesting are some deleted scenes and a gag reel.
Fans of Premonition should be
satisfied with the disc overall, but for those who haven't seen the
film before, I suggest a rental. Barrie Maxwell barriemaxwell@thedigitalbits.com |
Barrie Maxwell - Main Page
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