Blu-ray Review: Without A Paddle

The rip-off of deliverance is available in crystal clear Blu-ray

In 1972, a movie was made about a group of friends who traveled down the fictional Cahulawassee River in rural Georgia. These friends canoe down the river, get mixed up with some hillbillies, and end up losing one of their buddies along the way. Deliverance was a ground breaking film at the time, and has been awarded 3 Academy Awards along with several Golden Globes.



Though it is set up as a parody and rip-off of Deliverance, Without a Paddle is nowhere near as good, nor as ground breaking, as it could be. Instead, Without a Paddle is a teen-flick full of college humor and pranks. From feces filled bags to stereotypical hillbillies, the movie has nothing near the wit and sophistication of Deliverance. Toss in a bunch of pot jokes and bad actors and you have the makings of this movie.

WAP tells the story of Jerry (Matthew Lillard), a corporate tool who loves to serf, Tom (Dax Shepard), a deadbeat who simply seems to continue his college life, and Dan (Seth Green), a hypochondriac doctor who has never been laid in his life, as they attempt to have one last adventure. When they were younger, the guys, along with a fourth friend named Billy (Carl Snell) pledged to find the infamous D.B. Coopers treasure.

Though the three had moved on, Billy had plotted and discovered where the treasure was. Trying for years to get the guys to go on a vacation, Billy was stuck with the knowledge but without his friends to share it with. However, upon the death of Billy (for reasons we never know, but it serves as a good plot point), the guys take this vacation to honor their dead friend. Along the way they encounter a resistant sheriff, two pot farmers, and D.B.’s partner (played by Burt Reynolds as homage to his character from Deliverance). The movie ends with the guys all growing up and fulfilling their duties.

Though the movie is an adventure-comedy, the laughs are few and far between. Too often WAP relies on sophomoric humor and crude jokes. While there are some good scenes (most notably the bear cub scene), the vast majority of the film just roles on with nothing. This lack of humor, with laughs few and far between, made the movie a chore, and not that great of a watch.

Along the same lines, as it is an adventure, you would expect it to be, well, exciting. Needless to say, WAP is not that exciting of a movie. Though the actors all did their own stunts, it is clear that most were within the confines of a stage, and the few that were real were not that good looking. The only real stunt performed was clearly done by stunt doubles, as you could tell from the camera shots on the class-5 rapid near the end of the film. Without any real action, this movie felt boring and really pushed the audience away from it.

Though the acting, script, and action of the movie are severely lacking, I really enjoyed the way it looked on my TV. The water flowed and bubbles realistically, with the sky-blue coloring sticking in my mind. With Tom and Jerry, I could see most of their facial hair and where it was coming from, which made me feel up-close and personal. Overall, the quality of the film, as well as the transfer onto Blu-ray, went a long way in making up for the lackings of the movie itself.

Likewise, the sound quality of WAP was well done and deserved a better movie to go with. I never lost dialog, nor did I have any issue hearing the background noises from the river. I enjoyed having the sounds of nature surrounding me, and this movie happily obliged. Just like with the film quality, the sound of WAP was far better than the actual movie.

As for extras, WAP has none that are really worth while. They have the normal director’s commentary, 13 deleted scenes that were even less funny than the actual movie, and promotional trailers. Frankly, these all were a waste of space, as they fulfilled no need and just served to bore me as I went through them. There was one extra, however, that was somewhat worth it: MTVs look at making the movie. I really enjoy filmmaking and so when I have a chance to see how a movie was made, along with the various techniques and stunts done, I really like it. Sadly this look into the making of WAP was far too short and didn’t make up for the lack any other useful extras.

Overall, I believe that Without a Paddle is not worth the purchase price. The movie is crude, badly written, and really seems like a waste of an hour and a half. Though some people might find it hilarious, I did not, and I do not think that the vast majority of people will. If you are planning on getting the movie, however, the image and sound quality of the Blu-ray version make it worth the upgrade price.

Movie: Though it possessed some good actors, nothing could save it.
Blu-ray Quality: The color of the river will stick in your mind
Sound Quality: surround yourself with the peaceful sounds of nature
Extras: only one extra was worth it, and it wasn’t even that long
Overall: a waste of an hour and a half

Without a Paddle is Rated PG-13 for drug content, sexual material, language, crude humor and some violence.
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Blu-ray Movie Review: Sin City

Sexy Dames, Lots of Blood, and a Castration: what’s not to love?

Ahh, Sin City, a city with a name more perfect has never existed. The city is streaming with sin, with pestilence, and with irony. Sin City calls forth to the tough, the thugs, the corrupt, and the lonely. They surge into the city like fleas on a dog, their bites stinging and their bellies fat with blood. Even without the steady stream of new faces, Sin City plays host to thousands of other deadbeats and lowlifes. The police force is corrupt, strippers and hookers stand on every corner, and there is no end in site. Sin City, the last place on God’s green earth that you would ever want to live.



Sin City tells three stories that are intertwined and run closely together. Though they interact throughout the movie, we are lead to believe that they really are just separate events throughout the course of a day in Sin City. We start off by meeting Hartigan (Bruce Willis), one of the few uncorrupt cops in the hell hole of a city, and, more importantly just a few days away from retirement. With his wife home making a juicy steak, Hartigan has just one more case to wrap up, that of Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba). Needless to say, this one last case doesn’t end the way he wants it.

Flash forward and we meet Marv (Mickey Rourke), a two-time felon who is always in trouble. He has a beat up face, thousands of scars, and a penchant for coats. Oh, and he is obsessed with some dead hooker named Goldie (Jaime King). He travels through the underground of the city, searching for her killer, and finding all sorts of ‘fun’ in the process. On his hands there is blood, and I don’t mean that figuratively.

Jumping to the third and final story, we meet Dwight (Clive Own), “a felon with a new face and just one fingerprint away from the gas chamber”; what a chirpy and energetic character. While he might sound bad, he is a vigilante with a passion for dames and a desire to see justice done. We follow Dwight as he and his hooker friends try to keep the mob from returning and ruining Old Town, a part of Sin City where the hookers rule and the cops know their place. Explosions, trickery, traitors, and a sexy little Asian named Miho (Devon Aoki) are all just elements of this story. Finally landing with the girl of his dreams, Dwight is the only one to have a happy ending (pun intended).

Joining these great actors are even better known names. Benicio Del Toro shows up as Jackie Boy, the rival of Dwight. Josh Hartnett shows up as The Man, an unknown (personally I think that this is Dwight before surgery) hitman who is hired to kill those hiring him. The stunning Brittany Murphy plays Shellie, another lover of Dwight’s. Frank Miller himself even shows up, playing a bit role as a murdered priest. These actors all contribute to the look and feel of the movie, and they make it so much better.

Topping all of the other actors, however, is a character who doesn’t say a single thing. All we know is that Kevin smiles a lot, has really reflective glasses, is faster then Marv, and eats humans. Elijah Wood, in his first acting job since Lord of the Rings plays Kevin remarkably well, and gives him an interesting personality. All we know of Kevin we learn from others, yet somehow we feel connected to him throughout the movie. Wood plays this role well, and gives us the emotion we need simply from a face. It is amazing how far you get drawn into this character, and that is a credit to Wood.

Sin City, for those of you who do not know, if a movie directed by Richard Rodriguez and based off of the graphic novel by Frank Miller. Similar to Miller’s other works, the graphic novel seems extremely well thought out and planned. All of the characters are real, there is proper growth, and they are all three dimensional. To add to the feel, Miller would hire great artists and colorists to get everything to jump off of the page at you.

To recreate this feel in a film was hard work, but Rodriguez was up to the task. Sin City was a series of five stories, though only three are usually talked about. The stories are told in an interesting manner, with characters linking them, and events in common, but they are really supposed to be separate; well, that at least is what the production team claims (I have my doubts). By keeping the stories unique, and by having different stories in one movie, Sin City is able to capture the actual feel of the graphic novels, and this is something that I enjoyed immensely.

Taking it even further, Rodriguez utilizes imagery and coloring to bring the graphic novels to life. When we look at the world, we normally see it in hues and pastels; only the important things (break lights, eye color, stunning blonde hair, and perk pink nipples) capture our attention. Miller colored based on this, and Rodriguez translated it into the film. Things that would seem normal and mundane are in black or white, to symbolize how useless they are. Only the interesting, and intriguing, stuff are in color, and it symbolizes the importance to the story. This is a good method of engrossing people into a story, and it helps to show what needs to be seen.

There is no better way to see this contrast, and to have the colors leap out at you, then by watching it on Blu-ray on your HDTV. Seriously folks, I have never seen a better transfer to HD in my entire movie viewing life. Sin City raised the bar with their image quality, and they clearly are ready to set the new standard. Marv’s blood jumps at me, with the red glistening and reflecting just like it would in real life. The perk pink nipple of Goldie, well, let’s just say that they were very lifelike. Movements of fabrics, hair, and even bullets didn’t seem to cause any ghosting or blurring, which is very rare in a transfer. Everything in Sin City looked perfect, and it all looked absolutely jaw dropping.

Adding to the intensity of the coloring and quality of the movie, the sound that came out of my 5.1 system just shattered my perceptions of what was possible. The narration was front and foremost, the dialog was perfectly balanced, and the score streamed by my ears. I was fully immersed into the story, and I actually jumped in surprise when I heard sounds behind me. To give you an example of what it felt like, imagine being in a city and having somebody shoot at you: first the bullet whips by you (rush of wind), then you hear the gun (bang bang), followed by random ricocheting in the distance (for about 10 seconds). This is exactly how it sounded coming from my system, and this just amazed me.

When I see a movie with great image quality, I normally expect to see far less extras, as they needed the room on the discs. Sin City was not the norm. The two-disc Blu-ray edition is jammed pack with extras and special additions. I really liked the extended and recut versions of the movie. We see far more interactions between the characters, more intertwining of the stories, and a better take on Miller’s novel. In reality, I really do not understand why these scenes were cut and believe that they should have been in the original version. The only downside here is that they are told story by story, and that really throws off the way you saw it in theaters.

My favorite extra, however, was “The Long Take”. This was a 14 minute look into a scene directed by the great Quentin Tarantino. In the scene, Dwight imagines that he is talking to the dead Jackie Boy, hilarity ensues. I really liked the conversation, the actions, and the emotion that both actors put out here. As the actual film used less then 10 seconds of this clip, I am really glad that they added it into the film, and it is something that I recommend to everybody.

I simply can not praise Sin City enough. The movie is flawless, the imagery stunning, and the sound perfectly balanced. This is the perfect movie for any comic book guy, graphic novel reader, teen, or college kid. Heck, I am willing to bet that most adults would love Sin City. Even if you already have it on DVD (as I do, twice), I recommend that you get it on Blu-ray. Yeah, it is that much better.

Movie: Compelling story, good script, and great acting
Blu-ray Quality: Wow, just wow, the new standard of HD images
Sound Quality: Sounded like I was really being shot at
Extras: Loved the extras, and there were tons of good ones
Overall: Can not praise Sin City enough


Sin City is rated R for sustained strong stylized violence, nudity and sexual content including dialogue. I do not recommend that you let any kids younger then 15 view this movie as it is extremely violent.
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DVD Review: The Tale of Despereaux

1 Mouse, 2 Giant Ears, and 90 minutes of a poorly told story

The Tale of Despereaux, a recipe
Take one part mouse
Add two enormous ears
Toss in a poorly written story in the Elenorian Chivalric style
Add a pinch of computer rendering
Mix well, bake for an hour and a half, and then watch
This recipe will yield a 90 minute movie that is great for younger viewers, though most adults will consider it bland and boring.



Despereaux is a movie about a mouse, a rat, and a princess. The movie starts off with a rat named Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman) sailing on a ship in order to get some soup. Roscuro scurries through the town, finds the royal soup maker, and then attempts to get a sip. However, do to circumstances outside of his control, he tumbles into the soup and is almost eaten by the queen herself; the queen, seeing the offending rodent, passes out and dies. Adding a highly unrealistic twist to the story (think King Henry), the king is so saddened that he bans soup forever and locks himself up. Oh, and he also bans rats.

Fast forward a few days/months/years (we never know how long) and we see the birth of a new, and interesting creature, Despereaux (Matthew Broderick). Despereaux is a mouse, and one with ears roughly half the size of his body. Due to this unusual aspect, he develops no fear of humans, is able to do amazing feats of acrobatics, and doesn't act like a mouse should. Heck, the youngling doesn't even cower when shown a knife or a cat. These unnatural feelings and actions cause the young mouse to be alienated from the society.

Due to the fact that he is an outcast Despereaux is eventually removed from the community, and thus he is sent to live outside of their boundaries. Through a series of events and interactions, the young mouse meets up with Roscuro (no, the rat didn't just disappear, he is still around) and they go through a series of adventures. Within these adventures, their friendship grows, disappears, and then grows again, as the two lonely rodents work to bring soup back.

Though I normally like this sort of spoof of the chivalric story, I actually did not like Despereaux that much. The movie seemed to forced, to contrived, and just didn't flow too well. The book gave us a nice area to work in, and had several amusing stories and situations, but the movie didn't follow it well. No, Despereaux took several unrelated adventures and tried to piece them together, so that they could make a movie out of it. While this might work for the target audience (read, preschoolers), it didn't work for me and I am betting that it will not work for most other adults.

Though I do not like the story, I do like how it is presented. I believe that CG is overused these days, and it causes movies to lose my interest, but for stories like Despereaux CG is a needed reality. With this in mind, I actually liked the use, quality, and rendering of the graphics. I could see hairs moving realistically, the mouths were roughly film quality, and the reflections in the water were worthy of awards. Short of a few bad sequences (notably when Despereaux returns to his village covered in flower), the overall quality of the movie was really impressive. If it looked this good on DVD, I wonder how it will look on Blu-ray.

As for the actual DVD materials themselves, Despereaux comes with only one feature worth your time. “The Making of Despereaux” is a feature which is worth the 11 minutes of your time that you need to watch it. You get to learn about the making of the movie, what procedures were used, and all sorts of little tidbits about how to render properly and compose full CG animations. As I am extremely technical, I really enjoyed this little tidbit and thought that it was entertaining and a good learning experience.

As for the other extras, I found that they were poorly planned and just not good at all. Why would you include a feature called “Top 10 Uses for Oversized Ears” if you are simply going to show a minute long clip of boring and useless information? I don't want to watch it, and I am sure that it is not even targeted well for the younger kids. I also don't want to watch a preview for your new movies, even if they look kinda cool. The only extra, besides The Making of that was halfway decent were the games. Though these were simple and did not appeal to me, I am sure that the target demographic would actually enjoy them.

In short, the extras of Despereaux were lacking and poorly done.

Overall, I think that Despereaux is a good movie for anybody with kids, planning on having kids, or babysits a lot. For anybody else, it is not a good pick. The movie is non-linear, confusing, and backtracks far too often to introduce new characters. The only thing saving the movie at all is the amazing CG that was rendered by the artists; kudos to them. Even the extras, which will normally save a bad movie, could do nothing to help the movie out. I would recommend that you pass this movie on for more entertaining fare; though, if you must buy it, I do recommend the Blu-ray version.
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Blu-Ray Review: The Matrix: 10th Anniversary Edition

I like steak so I chose the Blue pill

Just ten short years ago, two brothers created the 28th best film of all time (As rated by IMDB readers). the Wachowski brothers, Andy and Larry, had limited film experience, yet they teamed up and put out a movie like the world had never seen before. Utilizing stunning special effects, ground breaking freeze-motion, and tieing into the emerging computer world, this movie caused every person who saw it to pause and ponder. Yes, just ten years ago, The Matrix was born.



The Matrix tells the story of Neo (Keanu Reeves), a small-time employee in a tech firm by day and a hacker by night. During the first few scenes with Reeves, there is the feeling that something is wrong with the world. Neo can not tell you what it is, but something is amiss, and something just isn’t right. To explain the real world, Neo meets up with Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and sees the truth. That is, Neo sees that the world really isn’t a world, but it is merely a computer situation.

After being removed from the simulation and thrust into the real world, Neo is forced to come to terms with thousands of new things. He can learn Kung Fu, how to fly a helicopter, and get anything he wants all by being plugged into a machine. He must accept that food does not really taste good, that he will be living a limited life, and that everything he thought he knew was wrong. In short, Neo must restart his life, while at the same time finding out what his true destiny is.

I have always been a big Matrix fan and have loved the movie ever since it first came out. Though I abhor the sequels, the original movie is great, a classic, and a very good watch. The Matrix uses many literary metaphors and stories to tell a compelling tale. From Alice in Wonderland to several Sartre and Niche stories, you can follow the course of illusion and existentialism throughout the movie. The Matrix also nicely ties in various historical and biblical references, as the ship is a type Mark: 3:11 and called Nebuchadnezzar.

Another thing that I like about The Matrix is the symbolism that is inherent in the movie. From the references already mentioned, to the color hues in the film, this movie makes sure to use any and all symbols that it can. The Matrix talks about right v. wrong, the concept of what it is to be human, and even the technology struggle shown in Frankenstein. Even the names of the characters tie into the symboligy, as there are three main parts to the puzzle (Trinity), a new man (Neo), and a change to the world (Morpheus). The Wachowski brothers pulled all of the stops to make sure that The Matrix showed the world as it was and is.

Back in 1999, when The Matrix first came out, the movie was used by geeks, audiophiles, and rich people to show off exactly how impressive their surround sound system was. The movie had rich audio and booming bass, which set the standard for all DVDs to come. Though it is no longer the standard, the audio in The Matrix: 10th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray was still exceptionally good, clear, and perfect on my 5.1 sound system. I could hear all of the dialog, had no issues with volume, and even was able to hear the clattering of each shell casing as it hit the ground. Though the audio is no loner the standard, it still is up to par and a good mix.

Along the same lines, the visual quality of The Matrix: 10th AE is stunning and superb. The colors, which are hued greener or bluer, depending on if you are in the Matrix or not, are vibrant and bright. The black levels are deep and properly adjusted for HD viewing. Overall, the transfer was well done and the movie looks really good on my HDTV. That said, however, if you are looking for the modern HD look, where you can see pores and sweat, then the transfer will be disappointing. The only downside of the transfer was that the film retained a grainy look; this look, however, actually fits with the mood of the movie so it wasn’t that bad.

Did you know that Carrie-Anne Moss was an actress in a TV show called The Matrix, an unrelated show that was on Canadian television a few years before the movie? Well, I didn’t, but I do now thanks to a 30some page booklet that came with the movie. You can read biographies, filmographies, production information, trivia, and even an essay about the movie in this book. This is unusual and lacking in many other anniversary or special editions of movies, and it is something that I really enjoyed.

The Matrix: 10th AE comes jammed with tons of extras that are well worth your time. Besides the booklet, the Blu-ray itself has four commentaries, a documentary about the sequels, and the normal slew of deleted and extended scenes. Additionally, there are an amazing 19 featurettes comprising 3 general categories of the film. All of these extras are worth watching, as they all take you further and further down the rabbit hole. The only downside here is the fact that they are all the same as the DVD, HD-DVD, and Ultimate Collection versions.

Overall, The Matrix: 10th Anniversary Edition is a great movie to add to your shelf. This represents the first time that The Matrix has been put out on its own on the Blu-ray format so you don’t need to waste precious space with the sequels. That said, however, if you already own the Ultimate Collection then you don’t need to get the movie as there is nothing new in this release. The Matrix is perfect for geeks, nerds, and any action junkie, as well as all teens.

Movie:this movie is one of the best ever made
Video: the transfer is well done and the colors are good, but it isn’t what you have come to expect from Blu-ray
Audio:the sound is amazing and well done, but not nearly as grand as it used to be
Extras: You truly can find out how deep the rabbit hole is by watching these extras
Overall: There is no excuse for sci-fi lovers not upgrading to the Blu-ray version

The Matrix is rated R for sci-fi violence and language.
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Blu-ray Review: Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comics

A drop of blood on a smiley face button never looked so good

In the 1980s, two comic books redefined how the genre (and its fans) were interpreted by the world. Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore's Watchmen branched the stereotypical stalwarts of comics and took an emerging new genre and made it much better. The stories were still told via graphics and text bubbles, but they went further than Superman and the like. The stories were darker, the action was harder, and the sex was rampant. Suddenly, comics were more than a past time, they started to emerge as an actual means of telling the story. Thus, graphic novels, which had existed since the 1970s, emerged into the publics vocabulary.




Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comics spins a dark and compelling tale. Starting in the 1940s, the tale follows the adventures of masked superheroes who serve the interests of their country. From creating the atom bomb, to fighting in her wars, these heroes (the Watchmen) strive to help America out while they still manage to fight crime. In the late '60s, however, Nixon decides to outlaw the masked crusaders, and they are forced to live normal lives. Only two remain on the government's payroll, Dr. Manhattan and The Comedian.

After retiring, most of the Watchmen stopped talking to each other and started to work in their separate lives. However, after the murder of Edward Blake (The Comedian) -- don't worry, this is the start of the movie, there is nothing spoiled here -- they are forced to unite once again. Rorschach, a man with an ever changing mask, believed that somebody took out Blake because he was a hero, and not for any other reason. With this in mind, Rorschach starts to unite all the other Watchmen as he digs deeper and deeper into a conspiracy that is far larger than anything he could ever have imagined.

What is so fascinating about the Watchmen graphic novel series is the quality of the artwork. Unlike most comics, Watchmen focused on the art as a means to tell a story, and therefore it was a primary concern to artist Dave Gibbons. Due to this, Gibbons made sure that all of his art was well done, that there were only a few mistakes, and that the images served only to progress the story. This was groundbreaking for the time, but it has since become the status quo for modern graphic novels.

What is cool about Watchmen: TCMC is that it stayed true to the overall feel and look of the graphic novels. Watchmen: TCMC literally takes the pages from the books and puts them on your TV. To make this interesting, they add a narrator and they added a little bit of animation to each frame. Cars will 'move', people will 'walk', and mouths will 'speak', but the overall imagery is the same. It is all very basic, but the animations tend to fit the overall feel and look of the story.

The only real thing detracting from Watchmen: TCMC is the fact that the entire thing is voiced by Tom Stechschulte. Yes, Tom voices everybody, including the women and children. While this makes Watchmen: TCMC seem as though it is being read by a person to themselves (as most graphic novels are), it doesn't go over that well. Most of us do not read in a monotone - we all create voices for each character - and the fact that Stechschulte speaks in one voice doesn't help in this regard. Personally, I really think that this harmed the movie, as it threw me off and caused me to do double takes (the listening version of a double take, of course).

Speaking of the sound, Watchmen: TCMC is presented in a perfect 5.1 blend of music and Sellers' voice. The music, as composed by Lennie Moore, fit the mood and theme of the movie quite well. There are no instances where the music overwhelms the narration, and no instances where it works the other way; all of the sound is blended thoroughly and completely throughout the movie. The only thing missing in sound is variation of Sellers' voice, but that is asking for too much.

As for the video quality of Watchmen: TCMC, one merely needs to pick up a copy of Watchmen. What you see on the page is exactly what you get on Watchmen: TCMC on Blu-ray. The compressed image plays at about 10 mbps, but it doesn't affect the overall look of the movie at all. The colors are vibrant and stunning, as the yellows, greens, and blues all jump out at you. What is especially nice is the fact that the black levels are deep, yet they still contain the proper ink feel from the graphic novels. Personally, I do not believe that the masked heroes looked any better then they did on Blu-ray.

Though Watchmen: TCMC on Blu-ray is a stunning visual piece, it is severely lacking in another area. There is basically nothing in the extras category of the menu that is worthwhile. I don't want to see a preview of the new Wonder Woman movie, nor do I want to see the cast members of Wonder Woman talk about their various roles for about 15 seconds. The Video Journal, which sounded promising, was really just a quick piece where Moore explains how happy he is with the translation of his novels onto the big screen. For such a beloved and important graphic novel, Warner screwed this section up by leaving out any useful or good extras.

Overall, I believe that Watchmen: TCMC is a movie designed to serve one of two purposes. It exists to draw people into the realm of Watchmen, and is mainly to be seen before the actual movie. On the other hand, it also exists to serve a strong demand from people who loved the novels when they came out. Watchmen: TCMC is perfect for these people; it is also good for any person who likes comic books, graphic novels, or Watchmen on the big screen. Due to the imagery of the movie, I strongly urge you to get this on Blu-ray over standard DVD.

Movie: The movie is flawless and stunning and only held back by the single voice narration.
Blu-ray Quality: A drop of blood on a smiley face button has never looked so good.
Sound Quality: Well mixed and well formulated.
Extras: There is nothing important here.
Overall The movie is great for anybody who loves comics.

Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comics is unrated but intended for mature audiences only. References to sex, drugs, and violence abound.
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DVD Review - Quantum of Solace

Bond, James Bond. That simple line conjures up images of sexy women, elite card games, and a man in a tux. James Bond is a man of class, a man of elegance, a man with a rich taste, and yet a man who can kill you with the blink of his eye. Bond has been able to save the world over 20 times, and yet he still always gets the girl. Bond is known as the man that always gets away from the bad guys, but, you can now truly capture him. Yes, you can take James Bond home with you, if you get Quantum of Solace on DVD that is.



Quantum of Solace is the second Bond movie of the new canon. Instead of relying on separate episodes that were unique, as all of the old films did, the new James Bond movies tell an actual story arch. Starting with Casino Royale, and moving into Quantum of Solace, Daniel Craig plays a new version of Bond, one that is dark and mysterious. This is a new take on the series, and one that is quite interesting.

Quantum of Solace starts off exactly where Casino Royale left off, which marks the first time in the Bond series that one movie lead into another (they are usually not even referenced). James is still on his quest for vengeance, and still circling around the world, trying to figure out exactly what Quantum is. Through a series of betrayals, car chases, roof chases, and many hand fights, a picture of the organization emerges. However, at the very end, we are left knowing only slightly more then we did when we started.

Quantum of Solace takes the normal Bond stalwarts and uses them in a new way. There are still Bond girls, but they are no longer necessarily the object of James’ desire. James is still elite and proper, but he has been updated into the new millennia (most notably by playing Texas Hold ‘Em instead of Baccarat in Casino Royale). M is still there, but she is a woman, and definitely a balance to the sexism that Bond seems to portray. The gadgets are still there, though they are laid back and there is no more Q. Yes, Quantum of Solace is still Bond, but it seems to be a different one.

I really do like this modernistic revitalization to the Bond franchise. While they still keep to the same elements that have served them well in the past – technology, car chases, shooting, Bond outsmarting everybody, girls – the new stories provide a more compelling character study to entertain the modern Jason Bourneified audiences. We expect wit, intelligence, and vengeance from today’s heroes, and the new Bond delivers it. By having Craig create a new Bond from scratch, we are able to see an evolution of a character, and that is highly important for the survival of this franchise.

One of my favorite things about Quantum of Solace is the new interplay between M (Judi Dench) and Bond. Both Dench and Craig are great actors, and their emotional roles are played exceptionally well. M clearly cares about Bond, and she also cares about her organization. She gets placed in a paradox where she must defend MI6 as it is loosing prestige at the cost of having Bond taken in and probably killed. This internal struggle is portrayed expertly by Dench, and is truly understandable. To make it even harder, the two have a mother son relationship, and so M truly has sacrifices to be made. Both Craig and Dench are able to pull this acting off seamlessly, and so the emotional drama seems real.

I also really like the new vengeful approach that Bond has. Though many of my friends like the old chauvinistic Bond (though they would hate those characteristics in any real human), most don’t like the new take on him. I, on the other hand, like the new Bond, as he shows us why he is what he is later in life. Instead of a person who should have AIDS by now, the Craig version of James keeps his class and womanizing while being respectful and proper. He also is in love with a woman, and that is the first time we have seen this since the second movie, when Sean Connery’s character was married. To me, this new emotional depth to Bond really adds to the story, and helps the franchise out drastically.

One thing that I find missing from the new Bond franchise is the lack of Q. While there were gadgets in Quantum of Solace, there was no Q character, and that was severely disappointing. I love the wit, sarcasm, and general attitude that was always portrayed by the role. The man that gave Bond his gadgets was a great character, and it was always interesting to see what cool new technologies they came up with this time. I am hoping that in the next rendition, they decide to add Q and some of his goodies back into the series; he is sorely missed.

As for the actual DVD, the video and audio qualities were about as good as you can get short of getting Quantum of Solace on Blu-ray. The colors were vibrant, the black levels deep, and the action sequences occurred with very little ghosting or pixilation. The overall transfer was done perfectly, and it was quite stunning. As for the audio, the DTS 5.1 surround sound was exceptionally impressive. Using all of the channels, the sound literally immersed you into the movie, as you would hear cars speed by you and bullets hit the floor at your feet. I was quite impressed with the sound, and it helped the movie out greatly.

Though there were several extras on the Quantum of Solace DVD, the only good one was Bond on Location. This thirty minute clip was basically a mini-documentary about all of the locations that the crew went to to film this movie. Ranging from the deserts of Peru, to small towns in Italy, the crew went all over the world for Quantum of Solace. I really liked how they explained the history and idiosyncrasies of each locale, and were able to show exactly how they were used in the movie. Though this is not essential to the experience, I really believe that Bond on Location helped to add to the Quantum of Solace feel.

Overall, I believe that Quantum of Solace is a good addition to any Bond collection. The movie is well done, engrossing, and an interesting character study. Additionally, the video and audio qualities of the DVD are stunning. I believe that Quantum of Solace is a perfect gift for any Bond lover, spy-flick aficionado, or any college kid. You can grab Quantum of Solace on DVD for $29.98 at stores across America.

Quantum of Solace is Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some sexual content.
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DVD Review: Slumdog Millionaire

Last year, one movie captured America’s hearts and minds. The movie, which was on the path to nowhere (straight-to-DVD release), reached out and was seen by millions of people across the country. The same movie won eight academy awards, the most for a single movie since the Lord of the Rings series. That very same movie is now available for you to own on Blu-ray and standard DVD. Yes, America, Slumdog Millionaire has just been released for you to own.



Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of Jamal Malik (Dev Patel, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, and Tanay Chheda), an orphaned kid from the slums of Mumbai. Starting with his early education, and ending with his final question on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, the movie follows Jamal through his entire life. Told in a series of flashbacks, all of which are tied to the current question posed on the game show, Slumdog Millionaire weaves a tale of love, betrayal, longing, and the story of a hero. This story is bound to move anybody who watches it.

Joining Jamal for most of the story are Latika (Freida Pinto, Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar, and Rubiana Ali) and Salim (Madhur Mittal, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, and Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala). Latika is the lover and close friend of Jamal, and Salim is Jamal’s brother and long-time friend. Throughout the movie, the three characters grow up together (which is why there are three actors for each) and learn to love each other. Though they all have distinct personalities, which come into conflict a lot, all three characters are very similar in their actions and mannerisms.

Slumdog Millionaire tells a basic rags-to-riches story, as well as one of redemption and love. What is interesting about this, however, is the fact that the movie itself runs along the same story arc. When Warner Brothers cut their independent film division, it looked like Slumdog Millionaire (which was owned by WB) was destined to go straight to DVD and not be released. Fox Searchlight, seeing the potential in the movie, bought the rights and started to release it slowly. Using their perfected methods, much like they did with Little Miss Sunshine and Juno, Fox released it in certain theaters, slowly expanding. This resulted in a huge buzz being built, and the movie became quite popular. Obviously, this worked, as they were able to get eight Academy Awards out of this; it must have been written.

I find this method of advertising and releasing a movie to be very interesting and unique to the industry. Nowhere else, in video games, music, books, or even most other movie studios, will you see a system in place like the one that Fox has. Three years in a row, they take an independent movie (which the Academy will normally ignore) and get enough support and buzz behind the movie. This buzz not only enlarges the audiences as it slowly spreads across the country, but it also makes voters look at it. I hope that Fox continues to use this operation to get great movies around the country.

Though Slumdog Millionaire is considered an English movie, roughly a third of the actual movie is shot in Hindi. This is due to the fact that director Danny Boyle wanted the movie to be entirely in English, but was unable to find suitable young kids that spoke it well enough. With this in mind, the entire first third of the movie is shown with subtitles, though they are surrounded by a colored background that blends into the movie. I really like the fact that the subtitles do not stick out, yet are easily readable. I am sure that this is a hard thing to achieve, and so I appreciate the efforts that it took. My only concern is that they didn’t explain how the boys learned English (though they could have learned it from tourists that they conned); this detracts from the movie a little.

One of my favorite things about Slumdog Millionaire is the acting. Though the extras seem to want to draw attention to themselves, the main actors were quite good. I really liked how well the little kids acted, and the fact that they were able to maintain the proper character. Had Jamal been anything but happy, hopeful, and idealistic at the start, the movie would not have worked. Had Salim not had desire, lust, but still love in his eyes when young, his older character would not have made any sense. The children played their roles perfectly, and they made sure that the future version of themselves fit, and I really like this.

Though some copies of Slumdog Millionaire do not contain the proper extras , mine came with everything that it should have. This was very important, as I was able to find an extra that I actually enjoyed quite a bit. Deleted scenes are usually something that I can ignore but, in Slumdog Millionaire, the deleted scenes were actually quite interesting and a good learning experience. These scenes are fully produced, and are basically the scenes that Boyle wanted left on the final cutting floor. They add a fair bit to the story, are quite long and intensive, and actually draw you into the movie even more. I would argue that these deleted scenes alone are a good reason to buy the DVD, as FOX rentals no longer have extras. If you grab the Blu-ray, you can get the 'anatomy of the toilet' extra, which sounds too great to miss.


One thing that I do not like, but I am sure that most Americas do like, about Slumdog Millionaire, is the actual ending. See, I am not a person for Disney endings. I like sweet endings, but only rarely and only when they fit. I don’t like forced endings, sweet because they 'need' to be. Frankly, I love it when the hero dies, the boy and girl split up, and/or when the dog gets shot for having rabies. With this in mind, the ending (actual story ending, the dance number was sweet) of Slumdog Millionaire, though it is needed in the culture it was produced in, was quite disappointing compared to the rest of the movie.

Overall, I believe that Slumdog Millionaire is a movie that most Americans can enjoy. It is your stereotypical love lost/love found story, and it can speak to everybody. The story is told in an interesting and compelling manner, and it will certainly draw you into it.

Slumdog Millionaire is rated R for some violence, disturbing images and language.
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The 'History' of Caligula: An essay for class

The 'History' of Caligula

Robert M. Barga

For a full version of my Movie Review please go here:

http://whalertly.blogspot.com/2009/03/blu-ray-review-caligula-1979.html

or: http://blogcritics.org/archives/2009/03/12/101729.php

Caligula is one of the most mature, and most pornographic, 'main stream' movies ever to be released. The movie, which was released in 1979, contains the acting of some of the best actors of the era, interjected with the hard core sex of some of the worst actors of the era. Controversy has surrounded the film since it showed up, usually regarding the mature nature of the film, the blatant interjection of porn, and the blind side that the producers pulled on the actor. Usually ignored in this controversy is the fact that the history of Caligula is not exactly what is desired from a retelling of hisotry. Caligula and real history really do not seem to go together.

Caligula tells the story of a fledging Roman youth (I wonder what his name is) as he migrates from being the heir to the throne to being the emperor to being beheaded. This movie starts with Caligula’s rise to power, when he is frolicking in the woods having sex with his sister. It then moves on to when he ascertains the throne of Rome and discusses his popularity and love. Finally, the movie comes crashing down due to the madness that is associated more often with Nero. The movie does this in a somewhat slow paced fashion, which surprisingly fits the film. Oh, and on a side note, it interjects hard-core pornography throughout.

Moving on from the discussion of the plot of the movie, it becomes apparent that the history in Caligula is lacking. Ancient Rome was not sexually obsessed in any manner. As a Roman History major put it, “They were much more open about sex; however, they were also far more conservative then modern America.¹” Basically, the Romans were fine with the concept of sex, but they were not having sex all of the time, nor were they having sex in public. This is a major theme of Caligula, and one that is greatly incorrect. No matter what somebody might see saying otherwise, the Romans were not hyper sexualized.

The rise to power by Caligula was not one of deceit and killing, as it was depicted in the movie. Instead, Caligula's family was killed by his adopted uncle, and then he waited until that uncle died naturally to become emperor; in the movie Caligula kills his uncle and his sister (with whom he has sexual relations) is still alive. After this, for the next two years, Caligula led a decent, moral, and much enjoyed reign².

According to Caligula, he not only killed his uncle, but he immediately led a perverse and violent regime, one not enjoyed by the people. This is a great falsehood, but it is one that is acceptable for the movie. As his actual reign moved into a immoral and horrific one, it made sense for the movie to start with this setting, so that it can move quickly into the actual meat of the movie. That is, the movie is designed to be inaccurate here because the otherwise needed character interplay and growth would be too large.

The rest of Caligula's reign, after those initial two years, was marked with gruesome and perverse interests. This seemed to occur immediately after his illness³. As his mind changed, Caligula started to kill off random people, including many family friends. He also decided to randomly invade Britain, much to the hatred of his generals⁴. Caligula focused mainly on this nature of the emperor, and it was done quite well. Though it was far too focused on his sexual perversions, the actual nature of his other attacks, specifically the move on Britain, were well covered by the movie. This made sense, as the actual nature of the movie was to examine the perversions and immoral aspect of Caligula.

Caligula seems to divulge from the real nature of Caligula's history because it needs to target a specific audience. People who enjoy pornography, or anything of this nature, seem to want to look at immoral and more violent fare. A movie which focuses, for the most part, on the immoral nature of Caligula fits far better into this demographic. Toss in incest (which never happened), gay sex (when in Rome...), and a ton of violence and you have a nice mix for this audience.

It seems as though Caligula was designed to focus far more on the later nature of Caligula's reign, once he had gone crazy and off the rocker. Additionally, it added several untrue features to further the overall enjoyment of the target audience. Most movies seem to do this, and Caligula is in no way alone with this. Caligula has a few parts of history correct, most specifically when talking about invading Britain, but it generally failed its exam. Overall, it seems as though Caligula missed the mark if it was aiming at history – as do most movies based on history (see 300⁵) – but hit the mark if it was aiming at its target demographic.

1IM conversation with Lucas Proctor, copy can be provided

2“On the Embassy to Gaius”, Volume Two – Philo of Alexandria

3“On the Embassy to Gaius”, Volume Two – Philo of Alexandria

4“Natural History” Volume Eleven - Pliny the Elder

5“300 Vs History” - http://www.bayareanewsgroup.com/multimedia/mn/entertainment/300_history_031407.pdf – last seen 3/15/09

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DVD Review: Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder

Everybody that I know that who watched The Simpsons has liked The Simpsons. Sure, some think that Family Guy is a better show, but they all like Homer and Marge, and they all give them their props. The same is true about people who have watched any episode, or the newer straight-to-DVD releases, of Futurama. I mean, what is not to love about a vulgar-bending machine, a man transported through time, and an one-eyed sexy chick? Just like he did with The Simpsons, Matt Groening created a lovable set of characters, and put them in an interesting universe.



For those of you who did not know, Futurama is an American animated sitcom that ran on FOX from 1999 until 2003. The show was then canceled (as FOX is apt to do) and replaced with worse material. After being canned, the series moved to Adult Swim on Cartoon Network for a few years. The series is now shown right after South Park every night on Comedy Central. The DVDs of the seasons are also available, if you want to catch up on the story.

But, Futurama was not satisfied with being canned and no longer shown on TV. No, they wanted to do more with their characters, and so they went for the trail less often followed. Instead of trying to find some odd cable channel to show their stuff, Groening and staff decided to make four (as of now) straight-to-DVD releases. These movies continue where the series left off, but add new depth and twists along the way.

The series tells the story of Fry (Billy West), a pizza delivery boy who is frozen in time. Once he is thawed, he joins the crew of an interplanetary delivery service and does menial tasks around the known universe (in one episode, they go beyond the universe). Besides this change in setting and time, the show follows a normal sitcom style.

Unlike most of the series, Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder does not tell the story of Fry on his own. Instead, it intermingles two peoples stories, that of Fry and that of his love interest, Leela (Katey Sagal). Along the way, Wild Green Yonder tosses in the normal cast that had been featured in the series. Bender (John Di Maggio) is a crude robot, but he is Fry’s best friend. Amy Wong (Lauren Tom) is an annoying Asian chick who happens to be Leela’s best friend. Then there is Hermies (Phil LaMarr), your token black guy who also handles all of the money. Wild Green Yonder brings back your favorite characters and voice actors, and it also tosses in a bunch of cameo voices, like that of Snoop Dog.

Wild Green Yonder weaves a tale about denial, love, corruption, conspiracy theorists, and eco-terrorists. It starts off normal, and morphs to a situation where Fry and Leela must go head to head in a battle over the environment. Each of them thinking that what they are doing is the right thing. Along the way, you get attacks on conspiracy nuts – I mean theorists – and the eco-groups that are out there (I am looking at you Greenpeace). The overall story adds very little to the canon of Futurama, but it is still funny, and still a great movie to watch with friends.

I think that Wild Green Yonder is a good movie to watch when you are with friends or just bored at home. The story isn’t that great, but, face it, very few animated movies made from TV shows really have a great plot line. No, they just expand on what you are used to from the actual series, and hope that it translates well into the new time slot. It seems as though Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder was attempting to do just that, and that is what they did.

Even though the story was not really there, the overall movie was pretty good. The punch lines, true to form, were actually hilarious and on cue. Rarely did the show have to resort to body humor or menial jokes. Sure, there were the Asian jokes, and Bender’s non-stop vulgarity, but the movie used these moments rarely and made sure that they were somewhat in taste. Also, true to form, Scruffy, the unknown janitor, was downright hilarious.

While I personally liked Wild Green Yonder, I am somewhat worried about how it will be perceived by most people. See, the movie really doesn’t have any time, or make any attempt, to backtrack and cover up the included assumptions, inside jokes, and any real character development. No, it just hits the ground running and only looks back when it stumbles. This could be bad for most newcomers to the series, as they will be lost and totally confused without the background. Straight-to-DVD movies should do their best to get people into the series, as it helps to sell the episodes on DVD. Not giving the introductions keeps people from being interested in watching the show on TV; this causes you to kiss your ad revenues goodbye. By ignoring new people, as Groening did here, you are only harming your market value.

Overall, I think that Wild Green Yonder is a good 90 minute watch. The movie ate up the time, was never slow, and kept my attention during the whole time block. Additionally, the humor was what I had come to expect from the series, and it had me laughing during most of the film. With the sole exception of the character introductions, I think that this movie is a good fit for any person who likes humor, The Simpsons, or sci-fi. For any existing Futrurama fan, Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder is a perfect movie for you.
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Blu-ray Review: Body of Lies

In this day and age, it is hard to find a film about war, be it a real one or a covert one, without finding that it leans one way or the other on the issues. If you are talking about a real war situation, it is even harder to create that film without your bias showing. Many director's, and script writers, have attempted to do this with a whole slew of movies, and only a few have succeeded. Director Ridley Scott (of Blade Runner fame) and writer William Monahan (writer of The Departed, another DiCaprio movie) hide their biases extremely well. Though they show up occasionally, Body of Lies is clear of most political and cultural biases, which is a good thing in a movie.



Body of Lies tells the story of Roger Ferris (Leo DiCaprio), a divorcing undercover agent who is stationed in various states across the Middle East. Roger tours the Middle East on CIA assignment to take out terrorist bad guys. Basically, he is the CIA's covert agent and gets to kill a whole bunch of people while looking quite bad ass in the process; who doesn't want this role? He is one of the smarter people you will be meeting in the movie, and he has a very unique outlook and take on the culture that he is immersed in. Additionally, his gut is usually right on and he is often ready to do what his country needs him to do. Think of him as Bond, except cooler, and American.

Roger has a hotheaded, culturally insensitive, and downright odd boss, Ed Hoffman (Russel Crowe). In normal Croweian manner, Ed is blunt and forceful, but intelligent at the same time. Ed is a family man, lives in DC, and is always at his kids events when he is planning destruction of the Middle East. In fact, he seems so out of place that the viewer is left wondering how he ever advanced in the field without doing anything. He has the same brain as Roger, but he thinks that shock and awe is a great tactic. The interplay between these two serves as a debate over which tactic is better in the military: that with blunt force or that which literally gets only your target. Frankly, the acting from both Crowe and DiCaprio during this interplay is so well done that the viewer actually gets into the debate.

Though it seems as if the two-man power struggle over their methods is the main debate in Body of Lies, a smaller debate is brought out by the third main character. Mark Strong plays Hani, the chief of Jordan's intelligence service. He is a man who is tired of the world, tired of politics, and just wants to go home. But he understands international politics, especially those with the US, and he cares only for his country. Thus, he is forced into the movie to deal with the CIA and their puppets. Hani serves the role of fostering a debate about American action; Roger will promise him something, and Ed will ignore that promise. In this small debate, Body of Lies is getting us to understand and look at how American's conduct our international politics. Monahan and Scott are trying to get us to discuss, and think about, how we promise one thing, but often do the other.

Though there are some missed opportunities for other debates, or for more character interactions, Body of Lies pulls off its mission flawlessly. The movie gets the dramatic interplays down perfectly and leaved the viewer thinking about exactly what should happen and how our country should, or should not, change. This sort of result from a movie is what you want to see in good work, and it is quite evident here. I would recommend Body of Lies to any student of international politics, as it is a good examination at the real interplays that occur. For everybody else, a fast paced action movie is always a good watch.

Body of Lies has one other little touch that makes the movie stand out from the stereotypical genre it is in: the coloring levels. Though I first noticed this in The Matrix, where the coloring levels were more green when you were inside the simulation, it is obviously noticeable when you are watching Body of Lies. When Roger is in the Middle East, and we are in an action scene, the imagery becomes much more vivid, much brighter, and much more intense. When we see Ed at his kid's soccer games, back in the US, the color becomes blue-tinted, and everything fades a bit. Though this seemed like a camera problem at first, I quickly noticed that it was intentional and was being used to reflect the feelings of the actors at that given moment. This use of color, to control your own mood while watching, is done quite well. It deserves this moment of acknowledgment as it really does draw you more into the characters.

Speaking of how Body of Lies looks, let's move onto the technical aspects of this blu-ray release. Body of Lies is presented in your typical 2.4:1 wide screen aspect ratio. The imagery is captured well on the disc and makes it look better then the original theater version. There is no ghosting during the movie, and all of the scenes look as they should. The black levels were full and dark, and all there was plenty of contrast. The entire movie was crisp and rendered well.

The actual visuals of the movie were stunning. From the dirt being kicked up by the jeep, to the hair on DiCaprio's head, everything was visible in full resolution. Throughout the movie, the detail that is added catches you off guard. You can read the screens of the laptops and see all of the small hairs sticking out of Crowe's face. The details and clarity of the film are impeccable. The movie also adds a sense of depth to it (see the helicopter scene), using the coloring and the blu-ray quality to seemingly have the objects on screen jump out at you, or immerse you even more. I was wowed by the quality of imagery presented to me, and I think that all but the most videophile of you out there will be wowed as well.

Body of Lies soundtrack is presented in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound. The overall quality of the sound is suburb and the mixing is just as good. My favorite part was that the explosions sounded realistic, and were properly adjusted compared to the other noises throughout the movie. It always annoys me when an explosion is only two times the sound of a car driving, and Body of Lies made sure that I wouldn't be annoyed by their explosions. My only real complaint in the sound department is that the dialog does get lost during the fast paced scenes. This makes it harder to follow. While this may just be because they used realistic levels, it actually harms the movie slightly.

Body of Lies on blu-ray comes with the usual cast of extras. It has the director's commentary, where Scott, Monahan, and the novel's writer, David Ignatus, discuss the book and the adaptation. It has Interactive Debriefing, which is basically just a grouping of clips from Crowe and DiCaprio talking about their roles, how they worked, and the like. There are four deleted scenes, which would not have added much, and an alternate ending, which I think was arguably better then the one included in the movie. There is the BD-live extra and a digital copy for you to have on your iPhone or laptop.

There is one more extra, which happens to be my favorite, in Body of Lies; Deconstructing Body of Lies is a nine-part featurette that takes you even further into the movie's story. Running a full 90 minutes, this series is the length of most movies, which makes it tedious, but also very informational. This extra looks at various character relationships, the costuming, the interplays, the sets, and the rest. It is a compilation of the usual featurettes from other movies, but it is all interlaced well and given to you as one long extra. Frankly, I really like this setup and think that anybody who enjoyed Body of Lies will also like this feature.

Overall, I feel that Body of Lies is a great movie to add to your blu-ray collection. The movie is a surefire way to get you and your family/friends to think about the issues facing America overseas, think about how we act, and think about what you want your country to do. This movie is a discussion maker, and you should use it as one. I recommend Body of Lies to anybody who is a student of political science, international relations, or anybody who just wants to learn more about American interplay in the Middle East. If you have the choice, the quality of the movie makes it worthwhile to grab on blu-ray over standard DVD.

Movie: The movie is flawless and well done, it is only missing a few opportunities
Blu-ray Quality: Stunning, simply stunning
Sound Quality: Great balancing and mixing, superb quality, occasionally looses the dialog
Extras: Typical extras, but Decontructing Body of Lies is great
Overall: Great movie for students, teachers, and anybody who is interested in American Foreign Policy.

Body of Lies is rated R for strong violence, including some torture, and for language throughout.
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Blu-ray Review: Tommy Boy - Holy Schnike Edition

Tommy Boy, one of the funniest movies of the '90s, has come out in a brand new format. Thirteen years after its initial release, the movie is finally available in Blu-ray High Definition and comes packed with extra features to make it worthwhile. The film, which only got a 46% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, has amassed a cult following giving it an 83% from the community. The combination of three talented comedic actors (David Spade, Chris Farley, and Dan Aykroyd) makes this an absolutely hilarious movie. The audience also fell in love with the character of the self-depreciating fat man. The Tommy Boy Blu-ray releases on December 16, just in time for Christmas shopping.



Tommy Boy tells the story of a lovable loser, Tommy Callahan the Third (Chris Farley), and his quest to save the city of Sandusky, Ohio from going under. After his father (Brian Dennehy) passes away, Tommy is tasked with saving the family auto parts manufacturing company. To make matters worse, the company is the only business that is keeping the city alive, and Tommy's love interest and all of his high school buddies work there. Thus Tommy, in his effort to save the company, hits the road with his partner, Richard Hayden (David Spade), to sell auto parts to stores around the country. As with all road comedies, the usual high-jinks soon occur.

Tommy Boy is one of the better comedy movies; while most focus on body humor and fart jokes, Tommy Boy has a sense of wit and satire to it, making it hilarious. Sure, there is some bodily humor, like the great "fat guy in a little coat" scene, but some of the best comedy comes from the two main actors, Farley and Spade, just chatting back and forth. Their one-liners, along with some of the facial expressions on Farley, make this absolutely hilarious. Spade and Farley, accompanied by an all star cast including Brian Dennehy, Rob Lowe, Bo Derek, and Dan Aykroyd, combine to make this a rip-roaring, side-holding, fully unforgettable movie. You will laugh throughout as its one-joke-after-another pacing is perfect. Under all of the laughs, however, there is a love story to follow, and the typical good vs. evil story. That said, the evil in Tommy Boy is sexy and funny in its own right.

The film is presented in 1080p high definition with a 16.9 aspect ratio. The extra materials, with the exception of the theatrical trailer, are all in 480p and formatted in full screen. The image quality of the movie is good but not up to the normal standard of HD content. The image transfer is not as perfect as you'd want. That said, however, it is still quite good quality and you can still see each wisp of hair on Spade's wig.

Tommy Boy outputs English audio in the 5.1 Dolby True HD format. It also has Spanish in 5.1 Dolby Digital and French in 2.0 Dolby Digital. The audio is perfectly blended, though it gets a bit loud when Farley screams. You can hear all of the dialog, yet you're still able to pick up all of the background noises in shops, and all of the noises from the road. The only issue is that it is not balanced; some scenes are far, far louder than others, which makes you need to reach for the remote often.

DVD Extras

• Commentary by director Peter Segal
• Tommy Boy: Behind the Laughter
• Stories From the Side of the Road
• Just the Two of us
• Growing up Farley
• Storyboard Comparisons
• Deleted Scenes
• Extended Scenes
• Alternative Takes
• Gag Reel
• Photo Gallery
• TV Spots
• Theatrical Trailer

Normally I do not like deleted scenes, as I feel that they were left out of the movie for a reason; however, with Tommy Boy, I must say that the deleted scenes were by far the best extra. Some of the scenes that were left out of the movie were far funnier than those that were included. I think that most of the scenes add to the overall movie, and thus it is a good feature to check out.

Like deleted scenes, I normally do not like featurettes, as I find them boring and full of information I really do not care about. Who really cares about how a movie was made, or how many takes a specific scene took? That said, with Tommy Boy, I really like the Tommy Boy: Behind the Laughter featurette. The stories in it, along with the focus on all of the actors, is quite amusing. I found the part about Beverly Barish-Burns (Bo Derek) and her bikini to be quite hilarious and true. This feature was impressive, and gave me some nice information, and even more laughs, about a movie that I enjoy greatly.

Overall, I think that Tommy Boy: Holy Schnike Edition is a great title for your DVD and Blu-ray collection. The image quality is good, the sound is good, and the jokes are as funny as ever. The extras make the Blu-ray version so much better than the standard DVD version, and with the price not that restrictive, now is the time to get Tommy Boy. Buy it for yourself, buy it as a gift for your father or brother, or buy it for that comedy-loving friend of yours.
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DVD Review: Mamma Mia! The Movie

Mamma Mia!, the play that enamored millions. Mamma Mia! the rock opera based on the songs of a successful Swedish pop band. Mamma Mia!, one of the highest grossing films of 2008 (currently the 48th highest of all time) is available on DVD as both a standard release and two-disc special edition on December 16th, just in time for Christmas shopping.



Mamma Mia! tells the story of a love-struck young girl named Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) looking for her real father. Living in a work-in-progress hotel on a small Greek Island with her mother Donna (2 time Academy Award Winner Meryl Streep), Sophie is planning on marrying her fiancé Sky (Dominic Cooper) and wants to have her father give her away. Being the sneaky intelligent girl that she is, she steals her mother's old diary and discovers three potential fathers, Sam Carmichael (Pierce Brosnan), Harry Bright (Colin Firth), and Bill Anderson (Stellan Skarsgård). Being completely love-struck, she invites all three to come to her wedding.

From the opening boat ride to the ending featuring Pierce Brosnan dancing in a full-length disco outfit, this movie had me dancing and singing along. The soul-searching by Sophie is still quite moving no matter how many times you've seen the movie. It's the same as it was on the silver screen, but that isn't what makes this DVD collection worth it. No, what makes this collection worthwhile are the included extras.

While several of the special features are great, it's a toss-up between which two of them I like the most. One of the two best extras is the “Anatomy of a Musical Number” feature. I really liked this song in the movie and thought that it would be interesting to watch how they made it. Needless to say, it was not only interesting, it was also astonishing. All of the little details, from the way that Sky shot the arrow to the fact that the extras had to hold their breath underwater until their cue made this feature a good watch. This extra allowed me to see my favorite scene in the movie, to see exactly how they made it, and to enjoy it more. Plus, it featured the alwaysattractive Amanda Seyfried crawling towards the camera about ten times. What a plus!

The sing-along feature is my other favorite. Featuring the movie clips for each song, you are can get up and sing along while superimposed song lyrics flash onto the screen. This is a nice feature if you are interested in learning the lyrics, rewatching your favorite songs, or if you're an ABBA fan and want to listen to the songs on your TV. With the option to show the lyrics and pick a specific song, this extra is perfect as a party karaoke device.

If you loved the movie in the theaters, you should get the DVD version for your home. The image quality is nice (though I recommend the Blu-ray version if you have an HDTV and a capable player), the music is amazing, and the story is pretty good too. It makes a great Christmas gift for your daughter, for your son's girlfriend, or for your wife. Plus, it's a great gift to give to any James Bond fan, provided you're sure they won't kill you as a result.
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Blu-Ray Review: Madagascar 2: Escape 2 Africa

Why is it that every time you have a blockbuster movie the company needs to go and make a sequel? When was the last time this sequel was nearly as good as the first? With the sole exception of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 animated movies have never really created good sequels. Shrek two was okay, but the third was terrible. Then look at Disney, with all of their straight-to-DVD spin-offs, are any of those good? DreamWorks is like every other company in Hollywood; they are trying to milk as much out of the same story elements as possible. Guess what, just like most other sequels, Madagascar 2 falls flat on its face.



Madagascar 2 tells the story of four friends who are trying to head back to New York after escaping from it in the first movie. Why they want to go back we are never told, but I assume that free and easy food has something to do with it. They leave the island of Madagascar on a broken down airplane piloted by some interesting penguins and promptly crash in the savannas of Africa. There they encounter other creatures just like them and they start to question themselves. Don't worry, the movie doesn't get too existential; it would lose its primary audience if it did.

This posse is led by the charismatic Alex, King of New York, a lion with a dancing problem, who is voiced by Ben Stiller. The trusty best friend role is played by Marty, a zebra that is black with white stripes, who is voiced by Chris Rock. The role of comic side-kick is split between a fat hippo, Gloria, who is voiced by Jada Pinkett Smith, and a hypochondriac Giraffe, Melman, voiced by David Schwimmer.

While three of the four main characters are voiced by super-stars, the movie has a host of other stars voicing the 'minor' characters. Sacha Baron Cohen voice Julien, and annoying little rodent of some sort. Cedric the Entertainer voices Maurice, and his buddy, the late Bernie Mac, voices Zuba. The final big name voice actor is Alec Baldwin, who voices Makunga. While this list of stars makes it seem as though Madagascar 2 would be a good movie, it isn't. This is a perfect example of how movies can give great actors crap roles that even they can not overcome. The script has flaws, the plot is full of holes, and the story is shoddy at some moments. Very few actors can overcome problems like this, and not even Stiller or Rock could climb out of the holes.

You know that there is something wrong with a movie if it starts to look towards its bit characters for support. Sure, bit characters are always worthy of a laugh or two, but they rarely should become main characters or be needed to carry the story. In Madagascar 2, the penguins (what species are they anyway) and the old lady needed to step in and carry the story. Both of these characters, while funny, should never have left their bit character locations and really did little to add to the story. They were needed plot elements, but they were relied on far too much. This is an indication for how badly conceived Madagascar 2 was.

Don't get me wrong, Madagascar 2 didn't do everything badly. In fact, the animation was exceptionally well done. Though it is not of Pixar caliber, the CG in Madagascar 2 showed very few problems and looked good. The grass swayed realistically, the manes hung freely as they should, and the few pratfalls that happened followed proper physics. Overall, the animation was exceptionally good and easily one of the best animated movies of the year. On a side note, there is a phrase used in plays and movies: if a pistol goes off in the third act, you had better show it in the first. The animators should have paid attention to this phrase, as they focus on Marty's rear in the early movie and it looks distinctly different then it does at the end. This sort of slip up is easy to make, but it shows a lacking in the editing department.

Speaking of how the movie looked, let's move onto the technical aspects of the movie. Madagascar 2 is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio and is you typical wide screen. The film is clear and precise, with all scenes crisp and rendered well. There is very little ghosting during the fast movement scenes (which is to be expected from CG) and the overall animation appears well on my TV. I was unable to discern any visual problems with the movie and it looked absolutely stunning.

The quality of the film in Madagascar 2 was equally good. The colors were all vibrant and they captured your attention well. The physics behind movement, which the artists seemed to work on, were displayed well as you could see each individual strand of hair move in the Alex's mane. Though there were only a few areas during the movie that included black levels, they were all done well and appeared perfectly. One of the best scenes, on the Blu-ray, is when the plane is crashing back into Africa. The smoke billows realistically and the colors and contrasts look properly done. This is a credit both to the animation and to the quality of the film, as it shows that both are well done.

The sound of Madagascar 2 is presented in Dolby TrueHD. I am starting to wonder, with all Blu-ray movies that I have seen the sound is output in Dolby sound, is there another company? Anyway, the sound is available in the normal 5.1 channels. The overall sound quality was above average and the mixing was superb. Rarely was any background sound or piece of dialog lost during the movie. Save for a few scenes where the background music got a bit too loud, the movie was easy to understand and the sound was put together well.

Madagascar 2 on Blu-ray comes with the normal extras. There is a director's commentary section, as well as two featurettes. For some reason, they chose to label an additional seven extras as vignettes, but they are essentially the same as the featurettes. There are also a few music videos to complete the selection. Overall, I do not think that many of the extras from Madagascar 2 are a deal maker on the normal DVD version of the movie. That said, on the Blu-ray version there is a special commentary from the animators which is interesting to watch. I usually do not like commentaries, but any from animators always interest me, as I find what they do fascinating. While the extras were rather useless and boring to me, I am sure that they would be appreciated by any younger person watching this movie.

Overall, I feel that Madagascar 2 is a movie to add to your collection only if you have young ones of your own or that come over often. The movie is sure to entertain them and keep them out of you hair for an hour and a half. Though the movie stumbles and the plot has holes, the quality of the animation and the film make it worth it to purchase Madagascar 2 on Blu-ray if you buy it at all.

Movie: 2/5 - the plot had holes and the movie was dull
Film Quality: 5/5 - the colors, black levels, and vibrancy of the movie were suburb
Sound Quality: 4/5 - Good mixing and quality
Extras: 3/5 - Typical extras, but could be exciting for kids
Final: 3/5 - A good movie for those with kids, but nobody else

Madagascar 2 is rated PG for some mild crude humor.
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Blu-ray Review: Election (1999)

What do you get when you cross a high school presidential election with an overachieving teenager and an interfering teacher? Well, besides a guaranteed lawsuit, you get one funny and great movie. Toss in a few superstars and you have a blockbuster, or what should be one, for the teen demographic. Election fits this bill perfectly, and, it has the hilarity that you expect from this sort of set up. Starring Reese Witherspoon as the overachieving, pompous, and arrogant candidate Tracy Flick, Election is a great teen-comedy that takes the genre to new heights. Chris Klein plays her competition, Paul Metzler, who is an all-American quarterback from a rich family but with a heart of gold. The cast is rounded out by Matthew Broderick, who plays Jim McAllister, a beloved teacher who just gets in a little over his head.



Election tells the story of a typical high school presidential election, just with a slight twist. You have the usual prissy girl, running simply for the esteem. Then you have the typical popular dude, who is running simply because everybody likes him. Lastly, you have the stereotypical outcast, who is running just to mess with the system. Election takes these three main characters and simply plays with them, pitting them against each other in odder and odder situation. Using these amusing moments to advance the story line, Election rarely seems to lag or fall behind.

Election also tells the story of Jim McAllister, a teacher who just was not thinking well. From scamming an election to cheating on his wife, Jim simply is not ready for his role in life. The movie follows his digression a from loved and honest teacher, you know, the type that are way too dedicated, to his fall and divorce. Along the way he steals an election, sets up a Manchurian candidate, and has an affair with his best friends ex-wife. Oh, he also wants to have sex with one of his students and loses a fight with a wasp.

While Broderick did a great job of playing McAllister, the star of the movie has to be Witherspoon. Playing the preppy candidate who will do anything (literally) to achieve victory, Witherspoon actually draws us into her character and plays Tracy convincingly. With girl-next-door looks, and a brain to envy, this girl can capture you and then spit you out half the man that you were. Witherspoon plays such a convincing character that you actually are surprised when she starts to cuss (granted, it is in a fantasy), even though you have seen it before. This immersion into a character, and the investment it draws from the audience, is evidence of a great acting job.

While Election is not one of the great movies of all time, it is a great movie on its own. The pacing is good and the script is to die for. There is very little that detracts from the actual movie, and I believe that it will actually make you laugh out loud. I highly recommend renting or buying this movie simply to watch it.

Moving on to the technical aspects, Election is presented in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio which makes it a decent wide screen. The film is decently clear, and the transitions are quick and accurate, but there are a few remaining ghosts from the previous versions of the film that hinders its HD quality. Watching it on my TV, I was able to see some of the problems that were inherent in film at that time. The transfer from SD to HD, in this case, was not done as well as it could have been.

With that in mind, however, the film was of good quality. The colors were vibrant and looked especially good on all of the posters that covered the school during the campaign. All of these signs seemed to jump out at you, they were that bright. The black levels were decent throughout most of the film, but near the end, for some reason, they seemed to become sub-par and not really what I have come to expect from HD. While this transfer was nowhere near as good as I have seen before, it wasn't as bad as it could be. It seemed to be an average transfer, and shouldn't be noticeable to anybody using 720P or less.

As with most bluray movies, sound is presented in Dolby TrueHD. Unlike most blurays, however, the sound is available only in 5.0, not the normal 5.1. While this was abnormal, it was not that noticeable as my PS3 decided that it was going to output in 5.1 anyway. The overall sound quality was average, though the mixing was decent. You rarely lost any dialog or important sounds, which is pretty good. Additionally, you couldb hear background noises from classrooms during the movie (these were actual classes with real teachers and students), which added to the realism. While the sound was slightly front heavy, and seemed as though it would be better in 2.0, it was of decent quality.

While the overall quality of Election is good and the movie is great, it is missing one highly important feature: extras. Election comes with only one extra, and that is a director's commentary. I have always hated these commentaries and believe that they should be removed from all movies in the future. With the exception of the sing-along commentary from Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog, none of them have ever been worth my time. Extras are highly important on DVDs and BDs these days, and lacking them greatly harmed the value of this movie.

Overall, I believe that Election is a good movie to add to your collection if you like teen comedies. The movie is funny and the script is perfect. I truly believe that most teenagers will like this movie and it would be a perfect gift for them. It also is a great gift for college kids, as most of my friends loved it as well. Save for the fact that it is lacking in extras, the bluray is a good buy for its price.

Movie: 4/5 - I enjoyed the movie immensely and think that the script is amazing
Film Quality: 3/5 - Ghosting effects and sub-par black levels harmed this score
Sound Quality: 3.5/5 - Decent mixing and good quality
Extras: 1/5 - It has commentary (whoop-di-doo) and nothing else
Final: 3.5/5 - A good movie for any teen or college student

Election is rated R for strong sexuality, sex-related dialog and language, and a scene of drug abuse.

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