January '12 Digital Week I

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Saturday, 07 January 2012 15:00

Written by Kevin Filipski

Blu-rays of the Week
Contagion (Warners)
Steven Soderbergh’s nail-biting suspense drama realistically paints a horrifying portrait of the outbreak of an unknown disease that engulfs much of the planet. In a series of plausibly shot, edited and acted sequences, the movie scarily shows what our globally connected 21st century world might look like.

A superb ensemble cast, from Matt Damon and Kate Winslet to Laurence Fishburne and Jennifer Ehle, make this a most entertaining but truly frightening film. On Blu-ray, Soderbergh’s stark, documentary-like style is preserved; the extras comprise featurettes about the film and the science behind it.

Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (Sony)
In keeping with cowriter Guillermo del Toro’s cinematic obsessions, this semi-frightening thriller features a young child terrorized by monsters only she can see--and it appears that the adults can do nothing about it. Eerie and suspenseful moments are negated by the too-literal appearances of tiny creatures who are lethal except when it’s convenient that they’re not.

Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes are wasted, but young Bailee Madison is a rip-roaring screamer of the first order. The movie’s hi-def image is very good; extras include a three-part making-of featurette.

The Guard (Sony)

If you want to see the great Irish actor Brendan Gleeson knock heads with our very own Don Cheadle, then don’t miss John Michael McDonagh’s uproarious, pitch-black comedy about an unorthodox Galway cop who teams with a visiting FBI agent to bust a cabal of  international drug smugglers. 

The maniacal Gleeson, on the same wavelength as the acidic script, expertly demonstrates how to walk the overacting tightrope without falling off. The Blu-ray image is super; extras are McDonagh’s short, The Second Death; deleted  scenes/outtakes; and McDonagh, Cheadle and Gleeson’s commentary/film festival Q&A.

I Don’t Know How She Does It (Anchor Bay)
He once made the better 2006 Truman Capote movie, Infamous, which did not have Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Oscar-winning performance; now Douglas McGrath is reduced to helming an inoffensive but forgettable rom-com (from Allison Pearson’s novel) with Sarah Jessica Parker as the ultimate career woman who’s destroying her family.

Parker is always one-note, but an appealing supporting cast--Greg Kinnear, Pierce Brosnan, Kelsey Grammer, Christina Hendricks and Olivia Munn--makes the 90 minutes palatable. The movie has a decent hi-def image; lone extra is a conversation with Pearson.

Proof (Miramax Echo Bridge)
David Auburn’s magnificent drama--2001 Tony and Pulitzer Prize Best Play winner--reached the screen in 2005 to mediocre results, thanks to John Madden’s uninspired direction and a dull cast: Anthony Hopkins never convinces as Gywneth Paltrow and Hope Davis’s father, they are not believable sisters and poor Jake Gyllenhaal looks confused.

If they kept the original stage cast, it would have worked far better: but Larry Brygmann, Ben Shenckman, Johanna Day and the incomparable Mary Louise Parker are apparently not big enough names. The muted Blu-ray image is an acceptable improvement over the original DVD release; no extras.

Puncture (Millennium)
This compelling, strange-but-true story follows a lawyer (Chris Evans, who’s excellent) that’s also a drug addict, and whose personal-injury firm takes a case involving contaminated needles. Adam and Mark Kassen directed, and Mark plays Evans’ partner, giving the whip-smart attorneys a believable rapport.

The movie is low-key for the most part, so its scenes of drug taking--culminating in a final, fatal instance--become that much more powerful. The hi-def image is solid; unfortunately, there are no extras.

Shark Night (Fox)
A tongue-in-cheek shark-attack movie was done with far more wit and style than David R. Ellis’ cheesy 3-D mock-thriller: of course, I’m talking about Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, 36 years ago. Here, Ellis is stuck with a goofy premise, cardboard characters and a need to have stuff fly at the camera to induce 3-D effects for viewers.

The lone time it works is the final shot; otherwise, the killings--and technique--stale quickly. The movie looks fine on Blu-ray even without the 3-D effects; extras are four behind-the-scenes featurettes.

DVDs of the Week
Eames: The Architect and the Painter and Jane’s Journey (First Run)
Two terrific documentaries take the measure of three of the most important people in their respective fields in the past 50 or so years: Eames chronicles the extraordinary lives and artistry of designer Charles and his wife, painter Ray; Jane’s Journey is a straightforward portrait of beloved chimpanzee expert/activist Jane Goodall.

Both intelligently made films include insightful interviews with their subjects, colleagues and close friends. Eames’ extras include deleted scenes; Jane’s extras include Angelina Jolie interview.

I’m Glad My Mother Is Alive (Strand)
Veteran director Claude Miller and son Nathan’s thoroughly absorbing character study features a splendid cast of unknown faces in a true story about a young man, whose mother gave him and his little brother up for adoption, who tracks her down and begins an unsettling relationship with her and his half-brother.

This sober, reflective tale is made all the more remarkable by the performances of its leads, Vincent Rottiers (son) and Sophie Cattani (mother),who lend an authenticity and immediacy that bigger stars would obviously lack.

Justified: Season 2 (Sony)
After shutting down a criminal family’s ruthless reign, U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens (a perfectly-cast Timothy Olyphant) returns to battle another menace to society in the form of Mags Bennett (splendid Emmy-winning performance by Margo Martindale).

This fast-moving, very entertaining crime drama justifies its existence by equaling the taut short story by Elmore Leonard on which it is based. All 13 episodes are included on 3 discs; extras include outtakes, deleted scenes and on-set featurettes.

The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh (Naxos)
Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s epic fantasy opera needs a first-rate staging. In this 2008 production from Sardinia, Italy, it’s only partly forthcoming: director Eimuntas Nekrosius cleverly evokes the Russian folk tale about a city that miraculously holds off Mongol invaders but does not visualize all the story’s riches.

Still, Rimsky-Korsakov’s glorious music is well-played by the orchestra under conductor Alexander Vedernikov and the vocalists, led by soprano Tatiana Monogarova and bass Mikhail Kazakov, are luminous. One quibble: the video and audio are not synched on disc one.

Transform Your Body with Brooke Burke (Sony)
40-year-old Dancing with the Stars winner Brooke Burke is a mother of four, and these two workout DVDs display how she keeps her amazing figure.

Each disc contains three separate workouts, so by getting both Tone and Tighten and Strength and Conditioning, women will have a half-dozen chances to try and look like Brooke, while husbands and boyfriends will have a half-dozen chances to look at Brooke. Extras include interviews with Burke and workout guru Greg Joujon-Roche.

CD of the Week
Reger, Violin Concerto (Hyperion)
Max Reger’s Violin Concerto is, at 56 minutes in length, the ultimate in Romantic era music (Reger died at age 43 in 1916). Its surging strings and emotional washes of sound provide a sturdy orchestral base for the formidable solo lines for the showcase violinist, and this recording has a superb soloist in Tanja Becker-Bender, who dispatches this uneven but eminently worthy work with ease.

Also on this disc are Reger’s Two Romances for violin and orchestra, played beautifully by Becker-Bender and the Berlin Concerthouse Orchestra under conductor Lothar Zagrosek.

Music Review: Planetary Adventures with 30 Seconds To Mars

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Monday, 02 January 2012 16:09

Written by Christine Natanael

30 Seconds To Mars
Hammerstein Ballroom
December 7, 2011

When the brothers Jared and Shannon Leto, and Tomo Milicevic released This Is War in 2010, little did they know just where the tour for the album would take them or the journey it would become. Not only have they touched millions with their music, but they have helped so many with their compassionate charitable work.

The band's journey was marked by a new milestone on Wednesday December 7, 2011, at Hammerstein Ballroom in NYC where the Echelon (their fans) got to share in two great experiences: the presentation from Guinness Book of World Records of an award presented by James Montgomery, for achieving the greatest amount of shows in one tour cycle, (a round 300 on the plaque, but 309 in actuality); and simultaneous live streaming of the show via VyRT on UStream.

Those in the sold-out venue experienced a multi-media experience at the hands of the band itself and the filmmaker Bartholomew Cubbins, a full sensory immersion in the 30 Seconds To Mars Experience. Teenagers, toddlers, and adults alike were there to interact with the band, the music, the film and each other. It was  a celebratory experience of positivity from the first chords of "Escape" and "A Beautiful Lie" to the encore of "Kings and Queens".

Jared made his way to the back of the venue by the soundboard and light techs and took audience requests for the tunes "Kings and Queens", "Alibi", "Was It A Dream?", "Hurricane", and "The Kill", before returning to the main stage for "Closer To The Edge".  But 30 Seconds To Mars is not just the Jared Leto show. 

Guitarist Tomo Milicevic added his tone and technical precision as throughout the evening as drummer Shannon Leto punctuated and poly-rhythm-ed across the event, with a highlight being his coming centerstage to produce a beautiful tone on a large white singing bowl.

Older favorites such as "Search and Destroy", "Buddha for Mary", and "Capricorn", were also included in the set.

Jared let the crowd know that from their passion for the band they have and could make reality from a dream with the statement: "Dreams Are Possible" before bringing up two of the cutest little kids from the audience and introducing Bam Margera.

During the encore of "Kings and Queens", there was a slight mishap when young female fan down front went down and Jared stopped the show in order to call out from the stage for the medics to attend to her.  But she was revived quickly and soon joined the band onstage with so many people, including one guest who was hoisted out of his wheelchair to be brought up to be a part of it all, ending the night joyously.

Also on the evening's bill were local NYC group Semi Precious Weapons who are signed to Interscope Records and who toured with Lady Gaga as the opening act on her The Monster Ball Tour.

Tonight's 30 Seconds To Mars show will be held at St. Peter's of Chelsea with 100% of the proceeds going to aid those in Haiti who are still suffering from the devastating earthquake.  Non-perishable food items are being requested by the band to be brought by attendees of the event.

December '11 Digital Week V

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Friday, 30 December 2011 20:00

Written by Kevin Filipski

Blu-rays of the Week

Apollo 18 (Anchor Bay/Weinstein Co)
This faux found-footage documentary apes predecessors like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity by setting up a decent premise of a secret, disastrous moon mission that discovers lunar horrors later covered up by authorities and doing little with it.

Since the movie comprises “previously unseen” footage from 1974, the format is academy ratio, and it’s grainy and decidedly “un” hi-def, so Blu-ray isn’t that superior to watch. Extras include director/editor commentary, deleted/ alternate scenes and alternate endings, none of which are appreciably better or worse than the one that was chosen.

Archer: Season 2 (Fox)
This animated spy spoof, which follows the adventures of the world’s most dangerous spy and those with and against him, has a Ralph Bakshi tone to its visuals and its humor, so it’s obviously cartoonish in every sense. All 13 episodes of the show’s second season are included; the amusing voice actors include H. Jon Benjamin as Archer and Aisha Tyler as his sometime companion Lana Kane.

Too bad this is merely a cartoon, for it would be great seeing Tyler doing her stuff in the flesh instead of mere voiceover; extras include several featurettes.

Capriccio (Decca)

In Richard Strauss’s final stage work, a regal Countess must choose between two men--a composer and a writer--making this the ultimate (and most memorably melodious) opera about the endless argument of words vs. music.

Renee Fleming magically brings the Countess to life with her immaculate voice, the perfect Straussian instrument, while Andrew Davis conducts the Met Orchestra with precision if not a full sense of Strauss’s dramatic sweep. The Met Live in HD broadcast has an immaculate clarity on Blu-ray; soprano Joyce DiDonato briefly interviews Renee during her introduction.

Final Destination 5 (New Line)
In the fifth and probably cleverest of this unnecessary series, several teens find that, after surviving a fatal bridge collapse, an unknown force wants them dead. So they are picked off one by one in improbably amusing ways, until the final scene, which brings the series full circle…for those who cares.

The multitude of gruesome deaths--especially one during Lasik eye surgery--are almost too vividly displayed in hi-def; extras include alternate death scenes, clips from all five movies’ killings and special effects featurettes.

Futurama: Volume 6 (Fox)
Unlike the season boxed sets for Matt Groening’s other, better hit show The Simpsons, Futurama’s volumes feature 13 unrelated--and typically uneven--episodes, all new to hi-def. This hit-or-miss compilation includes humorous shows with punning Groening titles like Ghosts in the Machines, All the President‘s Heads and Silence of the Clamps.

The show’s visuals gain in color and texture on Bluray; extras include commentaries on all episodes, deleted scenes and featurettes.

Glee: The Concert (Fox)
I’ve never been a fan of Glee, which annoyingly elevates crap like Journey and Madonna to classic status. The recent tour by the show’s cast--singing in character for thousands of adoring, mostly young fans--is showcased in this 80-minute performance, with Broadway veteran Lea Michele the easy stand-out, singing Katy Perry (why?), a Streisand tune from Funny Girl and the show finale of Queen’s "Somebody to Love."

Michele is far too talented to be stuck on Glee for long (one hope). The concert looks OK on Blu-ray; extras include two unseen songs, extended performances and introductions by cast member Jane Lynch.

Going Places (Kino Lorber)
Bertrand Blier’s 1974 success de scandale stars a young Gerard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere as a pair of louts objectifying and degenerating woman all over France. Despite the rampant misogyny, it’s amazing how forceful the presences of Miou-Miou, Jeanne Moreau, Bridget Fossey and another young starlet, Isabelle Huppert, are: perhaps because they aren’t onscreen long, they don’t grate like the men do.

Blier’s well-made, superbly shot (by Bruno Nuytten) and scored (by Stephanie Grappelli) journey is entertaining if you ignore the nasty ramifications. Visually, the Blu-ray is first-rate; no extras.

The Moon in the Gutter (Cinema Libre)
Jean-Jacques Beineix’s visually striking 1983 drama is the last word in moody atmospherics and confused storytelling. Gerard Depardieu, Nastassja Kinski and Victoria Abril are lost in a morose study of murder, rape, suicide and the impossibility of love. Beineix is a gifted stylist but, as Diva and Betty Blue demonstrate, he’s not much for plotting or credible characterization.

Supposedly, the original four-hour version made more coherent psychological sense, but that’s not what we get here. The movie has a muted loveliness on Blu-ray; extras include Beineix’s debut Mr. Michel’s Dog and an interview.

DVDs of the Week
Brighton Rock (IFC)
Graham Greene’s classic crime novel, also a probing psychological study of good and evil, has been updated to 1964 by writer-director Rowan Joffe, which retains the sleazy Northern England atmosphere, and the acting--from Sam Riley (villain), Andrea Riseborough (innocent ingénue), Helen Mirren and John Hurt--is impeccable.

But the story plays out uninvolvingly, remaining distant and aloof. Extras include a making-of featurette, on-set footage and cast/crew interviews.

Elusive Justice (PBS)
Jonathan Silvers’ incisive and absorbing documentary about the decades-long global manhunt of escaped Nazi war criminals by a loosely linked network of committed individuals shines a necessary light on the ongoing battle between good and evil.

Actress Candice Bergen narrates this two-hour long film, which is not only one of the best programs to ever come out of the PBS stable of documentaries, but also another reminder of how important it is not to give up fighting the good fight.

A Good Old-Fashioned Orgy (Sony)
This silly sex fantasy by writers-directors Alex Gregory and Peter Huyck about a group of friends deciding to have an orgy “like they did in the 70s” has moments of comedic bliss, but the mostly coarse and derivative humor seems directly out of the current stable of Saturday Night Live performers-writers, of whom Jason Sudekis and Will Forte are here.

Happily, the women--Leslie Bibb, Lake Bell and delectable Michele Borth--make it worth watching the promise of an orgy. Extras include writer/director/star commentary, deleted scenes, gag reel and How to Film an Orgy featurette.

CD of the Week
Mariusz Kwiecien, Slavic Heroes (Harmonia Mundi)
Polish baritone Mariusz Kwiecien has headlined at places like the Metropolitan Opera, where he’s performed Mozart roles including Don Giovanni. For his first solo recital CD, Kwiecien has chosen a selection of arias from Russian, Polish and Czech operas, and the results are impressive.

Accompanied by the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra under sympathetic conductor Lukasz Borowicz, the singer storms through arias both familiar (Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and Mazeppa) and unfamiliar (a trio from Stanislaw Moniuszko’s operas), with the standout finale--from Karol Szymanowski’s masterpiece King Roger--a perfect fit for Kwiecien’s powerhouse but subtle voice.