Tagged: review

Review: ‘Adam’ on DVD

It used to be, actors could stretch by performing “ugly”, burying themselves under layers of makeup or by playing disadvantaged people such as Dustin Hoffman’s [[[Rain Man]]] or Larry Drake’s Benny on LA Law. The current favorite seems to be playing people with Asperger syndrome as popularized with Christian Clemson’s award winning work on [[[Boston Legal]]]. As with anything on a David E. Kelly series, the portrayal tended to be over-the-top or poignant and rarely anything in between.

A more authentic performance can be found on Adam
, a small movie you probably overlooked last year. 20th Century Fox released the movie in the fall and the DVD is being released Tuesday. The film stars Hugh Dancy ([[[Beyond the Gates]]]) as the title character and Rose Byrne ([[[Damages]]]) plays his neighbor. The movie won the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize at Sundance and is well worth a look.

The disorder is considered by many to be some form of high functioning autism but it means the person has difficulty “reading” people and is prone to repetitive patterns of behavior. Adam has been cared for by his father since his mother died when he was eight, but the film opens at his father’s funeral. Left alone, the only one seeming to look out for him is Harlan ([[[The Wire’s]]] Frankie Faison), Adam’s dad’s war buddy. Without him, Adam is the kind of person who would fall through the cracks in society’s safety net. While capable, Adam still doesn’t fit in well with others so he loses his job at a toy company and is left adrift.

During this time, he meets his new neighbor, Beth, a budding children’s author and school teacher. She thinks he’s cute and just a little weird, but he also opens her eyes to the wonders of the world, beginning with a tour of the universe starting with the Big Bang. When she learns of his condition, rather than be repulsed, she reads up on it and a romance begins.

While Adam struggles to find a new job and adjust to Beth being a part of his life, she is tormented by her father (Peter Gallagher) being tried for fraud, shattering her rock steady belief in him. When she needs Adam the most, he is incapable of giving her the emotional support she craves.

The film was shot in 28 days and the chemistry between Dancy and Byrne helps make the movie work. Both give solid performances and Dancy of course, shines by making Adam sympathetic and real. The movie was written and directed by Max Mayer, who ComicMix readers know from Alias
and he clearly has affection for these people but wisely avoids predictable moments, including the ending.

The movie is accompanied by a fine commentary track and the original Sundance ending among the bonuses. Five deleted or alternate scenes are included, complete with Mayer’s commentary. Of them, we see that Faison’s Harlan was trimmed from a more substantial part and it’s a shame since he helps keep things warm. Fox Movie Channel also ran a nine minute piece where the Australian-born Byrne talks about the acting craft with three college students.

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Review: ‘Doctor Who: The Complete Specials’

51addwtuzil1-5099152Doctor Who made Scottish actor David Tennant a big star while Tennant helped take the new incarnation of the venerable British series to greater success after relaunching with Christopher Eccleston. In many ways, they needed one another so when Tennant received numerous other acting opportunities, his schedule grew complicated. Then, as was inevitable, he announced he was moving on.

Series producer Russell T. Davies oversaw the revival and helped successfully spinoff [[[Torchwood]]] and the [[[[Sarah Jane Adventures]]]. But even he announced the time had come for new challenges so it was decreed that in 2009, there would not be a new season, but instead there would be four specials scattered throughout the year.

Now that the TARDIS has been officially handed over to Matt Smith, who will headline a new season this spring, BBC Video has collected the specials in a lovely box set, going on sale Tuesday. Included is 2008’s Christmas special [[[The Next Doctor]]] along with [[[Planet of the Dead]]], [[[The Waters of Mars]]], and the [[[End of Time Parts One and Two]]].  The five disc set also comes complete with all the [[[Doctor Who Confidential]]],[[[ Doctor Who at the Proms]]], Deleted Scenes and other featurettes.

Reviewing this as a piece, we see that the Doctor is solitary creature and is a cranky one at that. He needs a companion, someone to anchor him to humanity and remind him of the mortal stakes that sometimes might slip a Time Lord’s mind. Sure, he takes delight in new places and situations, but when the tension rises, without a trusted ally, he is less than his best.

Davies had a finite number of shows to work with and seeded the changing of the guard by mentioning the four knocks early on but unlike the Bad Wolf business, these are far more disconnected than one would have expected. Spoilers ahead…

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Review: ‘The Invention of Lying’ on Blu-ray

invention-of-lying-7271100Ricky Gervais is a terrific writer and comedian but since the success of [[[The Office]]], he has struggled to fully realize his ideas in the limitations of a motion picture. Last year’s Ghost Town had terrific ideas that weren’t fully explored and the same fault spoils [[[The Invention of Lying]]] from being a more satisfying movie.

Now out on DVD from Warner Home Video, the movie stars Gervais in a parallel reality where no one knew how to lie. When he has a brain spark and tells the first lie, hilarity ensues. As we open, the world is not only colorless and devoid of joy, but people feel compelled to offer unsolicited information. As we meet Gervais’ loser of a screenwriter, he is picking up Jennifer Garner for a date only to have her greet him with the news that she was upstairs masturbating, a joke that’s overplayed in the following minutes.

Stuck writing about the 13th Century, Gervais apparently has struggled to make the Dark Ages interesting and is fired by his weak-willed boss (Jeffrey Tambor). Low on cash, he can’t pay the rent, until he suddenly is inspired to tell the Bank Teller that he has more money in his account than the computer records. Beginning here and throughout, the lie is never challenged, never verified, so he tells people things and they accept it on face value. Skepticism seems missing in this reality as well.

When his dying mother (Fionnula Flanagan) fears the great void of an afterlife, his newfound gift provides him with the words he needs to comfort her. Those overhearing him believe he knows things they do not and embrace the newfound truths. The world beats a path to his door, demanding to know what he knows. In one of the best scenes, Gervais composes ten rules about the Afterlife, tapes them to two pizza boxes and arrives bearing the equivalent of the Ten Commandments.

As his romance with Garner evolves, the movie loses track of how the world changes based on these new rules. A series of newspaper and magazine headlines give us a glimpse but it’s a missed opportunity. Instead, we focus on the odd triangle of Gervais, Garner, and Rob Lowe with Garner struggling to decide between optimal genetics or someone who will make her happy.

A humorous romantic comedy is spoiled by Gervais’ unwillingness to really see how things change as he becomes the world’s first liar. The unrealized opportunities would have made this a far richer and more enduring movie instead of this mildly entertaining bit of floss. Gervais surrounds himself with terrific comedians such as Tambor, Tina Fey and Jonah Hill then gives them nothing to do. Gervais is aptly cast in a film he co-wrote and directed. Garner is sweet in her simplicity and watching her evolution is one of the few highlights although is totally predictable.

The Blu-ray edition looks and sounds sharp, not that it needs to be at its best. The extras are a rich assortment, beginning with a nearly 18 minute feature on a Brit pal coming to America to appear as an extra in a scene that wound up cut and is included in the deleted scenes. The scene, the dawn of man, comes complete with narration from Sir Ian McKellen. Among the 13 minutes of deleted scenes we see some glimpses of a larger world but the cuts aren’t necessarily missed. A Truly “Honest” Making-of Featurette provides 7 minutes of humorous asides and not much real information. Better is the gag reel and forgettable are the four video podcasts. Following their new format, this comes complete with a digital copy.

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Review: ‘The Burning Plain’ on Blu-ray

19889-burningplain3dhirzrgb2-7330555Screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga ([[[21 Grams]]], [[[Babel]]]) was determined to take greater control over his stories by directing and made his debut in the well-intentioned [[[The Burning Plain]]]. The movie, out now on DVD from Magnolia Home Entertainment, played at various festivals before receiving an unsuccessful theatrical release. Starring Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger, the movie is told in Arriaga’s patented nonlinear manner, but keeps us at arm’s distance from the characters.

In short, the story is told in three parallel timelines that eventually begin to converge. Basinger plays Gina, an unhappy mother who is having an affair with Nick (Joaquim de Almeida) and doing a poor job of hiding it from her eldest daughter, Mariana (Jennifer Lawrence). In attempting to keep her family together, Mariana trails them to the trailer they use for their trysts, setting the gas line on fire, hoping to flush them out. Things don’t go well and later, at the funeral for the former lovers, Mariana catches the eye of Nick’s oldest, Santiago (Danny Pino) and the two teens begin an affair.

Years later, Mariana now calls herself Sylvia (Theron) and is a self-destructive, near-suicidal restaurateur in Portland. Her precarious life is thrown into turmoil when the daughter she abandoned is brought to her after Santiago is injured in a crop dusting accident.

Structurally, the movie is well crafted and fascinating to see things fall into place. On the other hand, because two of the three timelines are close in setting, there needed to be more visual cues which storyline we were watching. This is a strong drama about people engaging in happy pursuits but none take any pleasure in their acts and guilt is an overriding undercurrent to all the major players.

The greatest failing, though, is to explore any of the characters. Why was Nick so attractive Gina couldn’t resist? Why was Gina so unhappy at home? What prompted Mariana/Sylvia to abandon Santiago and her daughter? All the characters are there but none of them are deeply written to allow us to really feel for them.

This is a shame because the three main women – Theron, Basinger, and Lawrence – give riveting performances.  In fact, Lawrence justly earned the Marcello Mastroianni prize, for the best young emerging actor/actress at the Venice Film Festival. You want to know more about them, their worlds, and what drives them all but Arriaga lets us and them down. The film is rounded out with many other familiar faces in smaller roles including John Corbett, Robin Tunney, Rachel Ticotin, and Brett Cullen.

Beautifully photographed, it features a haunting soundtrack from Omar Rodríguez-López and Hans Zimmer. All the elements were there for a stronger film.

The Blu-ray comes complete with a 43 minute Making Of featurette where Arriaga goes to great pains to introduce us to all the major players behind the camera. Along the way, we see how the film was shot and the themes of earth, wind, fire, and water that he subtly assigned his characters. A 15 minute piece shows us the unusual collaboration between Rodríguez-López and Zimmer and there’s a four minute puff piece from HD Net.

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Review: ‘Smile’

smile-cover-scan-web1-9036381Smile

By Raina Telgemeier
Scholastic Graphix, 214 pages, $10.99

The adage says that you should write what you know and Raina Telgemeier knows more than a little about the awkwardness of adolescence, compounded by a dental problem. While in sixth grade, Raina fell and knocked out her two front teeth which meant surgery, braces, appliances, and feeling utterly weird while maneuvering through the ninth circle of hell that is middle school followed by the eighth circle, high school.

She channeled those feelings and experiences into [[[Smile]]], a charming memoir coming out now from Scholastic’s Graphix imprint. The San Francisco-native bravely shared her fears and frustrations in this lively and heartfelt story that is perfectly aimed at 9-13 year old readers who just may be having image issues of their own.

Telgemeier is no stranger to the artform, having justly earned a following with her graphic stories featuring the enduring [[[Baby-sitters Club]]]. With her husband Dave Roman, she also cowrote [[[X-Men: Misfits]]], a Manga-style story from DelRey. This is a woman who knows and understands the form and uses it with authority.

What’s interesting in this story is that Raina was not comforted when others turned up with braces, something that was all too common when my kids went through these years. The story uses her dental issues as the spine but you can see that she is also somewhat withdrawn, haunted by the harsh teasing of her social circle, all of whom appear clueless to her personal concerns. On more than one occasion, she is the butt of jokes and pranks and she endures them stoically, with no one but her supportive parents noticing how brave she has been throughout all this.

The dental and social issues receive a rude jolt of larger problems when Raina experiences the 1989 earthquake that shattered portions of the city and even postponed the World Series. It really isn’t until she’s in high school that she takes the bold steps necessary to find some measure of happiness.

She has younger siblings at home who find her annoying plus her somewhat cruel friends, but Raina also shares the heartache she felt for one student, something every reader will no doubt identify with. The 214 pages are broken into chapters that cover her school years in a breezy way, keeping the focus on her dental treatment and evolving relationship with friends. Other issues such as academics are merely window-dressing, adding context and flavor but not cluttering the story.

Her drawing is a delight, the storytelling straightforward, and nothing is left ambiguous. She’s frank and honest, using this story as an emotional catharsis of sorts, while letting her readers know that it’s okay to be shy or getting medical work done is just another part of growing up.

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Review: ‘Fame’ on Blu-ray

Our pop culture-obsessed world can catapult people at any time from obscurity to fame. It could be a flash in the pan or something longer lasting, with timing and circumstance determining someone’s longevity. Actual talent may help but over the last decade has proven to be less and less important.

A movie exploring these themes would be an interesting experience and deserves to be made. The remake of Fame could have been that but chose not to be much of anything instead.

The Alan Parker movie was a product of its times and was an R-rated, tough drama about the difficulties standing in the way of those lucky enough to attend New York’s School of Performing Arts. In addition to their artistic pursuit, it was still high school with academics emphasized since those who did not “make it” had a grounding to help with alternate options. It was a little bit grim, and it showed us that not everyone was cut out to be a performer. They were teens who shed inhibitions, perfected their craft, or made horrible mistakes. The teachers were tough and the battles lasted four years.

Writer Allison Burnett and director Kevin Tancharoen applied a buffing cloth to the rough edges that made [[[Fame]]] the success it was. As a result, they crafted a PG film that glossed over the difficulties and failed to examine what it was like at PA today. They focused too much on soap opera and gloss, a thoroughly unrealistic portrayal of today’s teens. Little about the role of reality shows, the Internet, the explosion of work opportunities thanks to cable, and technological changes can be found here with the exception of constant texting.

It’s a same since the film, now out on DVD from MGM Home Entertainment, stars Kherington Payne, who rose to prominence thanks to her appearing on [[[So You Think You Could Dance]]] and Kay Panabaker worked on the Disney Channel.

The movie takes audiences from auditions through graduation, compressing four years of dramatic stress and change into 107 minutes. The story works better when it breathes and the Blu-ray disc contains a 123 minute extended version which is recommended (although I urge you to see the original just re-released on Blu-ray from Warner Home Video).

Burnett establishes too many characters, gives them challenges and then fails to actually resolve many of their storylines. Panabaker, for example, is a singer/actress who has trouble loosening up and infusing her performance with heart and soul. Sometime before graduation she improves and takes a lead in the graduation performance but that breakthrough moment is entirely missing. Similarly, dancer Kristy Flores has troubles with her teacher (Bebe Neuwirth) and it hangs there, incomplete. Better served is hip-hop performer Collins Pennie who is verbally worked over by his drama teacher (Charles S. Dutton) to finally let go over his rage at being abandoned by his father and channeling it into his music.

Academics are almost entirely ignored here along with sex and drugs. The parents are barely seen and most are less than supportive, especially the clichés that are Naturi Naughton’s parents. The teachers are a collection of familiar faces including Neuwirth, Dutton, Kelsey Grammar, and Megan Mullally and rarely are given anything interesting to do. Blessing this disappointment is Debbie Allen, who gained her fame by appearing in the original, who appears as the principal.

The Blu-ray has excellent video and sound transfers and comes complete with shiny performer bios, 18 minutes’ worth of deleted scenes (several of which would have helped but none solving the overall dramatic problems), a dance video and a piece on the talent search to cast the film. The package comes complete with a digital copy.

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Review: ‘The Surrogates’ on Blu-ray

You have to admire Robert Venditti. He was working for Top Shelf, had an inspiration for a story examining how society could be changed if everyone used an avatar, a surrogate if you will, rather than interact with one another. Management loved the idea, bought the story and in 2005, The Surrogates
arrived.

You have to therefore be disappointed by the Jonathan Mostow-directed film version of the graphic novel, Surrogates, which fails to examine any of the fascinating ideas in detail, favoring a tired plot. The movie came and went fairly quickly in September 2009, garnering poor reviews and meager box office. In case you missed it, Touchstone Home Entertainment releases the home video version next week.

Staring Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, Ving Rhames, and James Cromwell, one would have hoped for something deeper than what we were given. In a world we’re told has 98% of the population using surrogates — androids wirelessly connected to their human master – an unregistered surrogate is destroyed, killing its human, who turns out to be the son of the man who perfected the technology. Willis and Mitchell’s surrogates investigate and action ensures.

The graphic novel is set in 2054 while the film merely says fourteen years ago. Still, we know we’re in a near future and as imagined, little has changed except surrogates have filled the streets and subways and offices in lieu of real people. The nature of work and commerce seem unchanged. Leisure time is shown as merely an amped up version of today’s clubbing. In fact, it’s so much like today that one wonders if the surrogate program was a failure. After all, if surrogates are stronger, faster, more agile, and far more indestructible, that would change many things. Also, 98% of the world means the poor from other continents which in turn would change global politics.

Lots of great ideas, none of which are examined. Instead, you get hints of how surrogates are nothing like their hosts or idealized versions while people lie on special chairs, plugged in. We gain no knowledge of how that has changed people’s diet or health (one wonders about muscular atrophy, for example).

Willis’ surrogate is damaged early on and he’s forced to leave his apartment, including his wife who has retreated from reality in the wake of their son’s death years earlier. He’s disoriented at first, but he’s Bruce Willis and quickly adjusts so the investigation continues. His mission takes him the local enclave of those who reject surrogates, forced to live within a fenced portion of the city, where things are considerably less shiny.

In a brisk 89 minutes, Mostow favors action over substance, much as he did in [[[Terminator 3]]]. Everything is nice and shiny, well designed and things blow up real well. Unfortunately, the emotional heart and soul of the graphic novel has been excised.

The Blu-ray disc comes complete with four deleted scenes, including one that shows the surrogates’ prejudice towards a “meat bag” being among them. A great notion that should have been explored not dropped. There’s a 14 minute look at modern day robotics, A More Perfect You, showing how we’re well down the road towards building surrogates. A very brief feature interviews Venditti and Brett Weldele and talks about the graphic novel. A music video rounds things out.

Overall, a wasted cast and concept and a movie that can easily be dismissed.

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Review: ‘Misfits’

misfits2-3284522

Imagine if you will, being a teenage juvenile delinquent who suddenly acquires super powers. What would you do? The writers of [[[Misfits]]] (originally aired on E4 in late 2009, and now available on DVD via Amazon UK) obviously spent a lot of time considering this. The show follows five young people who have been sentenced to community service. A freak storm imbues them all with different powers. Each of the characters is trying to come to grips with his or her own new abilities while still dealing with the regular life issues that they experience every day. As this is a British program, the language and visuals are far more racy than American broadcast TV, and seems to fit genuine teenage behavior more accurately as a result.

Viewers might initially have to adjust to the shocking and rather obnoxious behavior of Nathan (played by Robert Sheehan), a young man who seems to act out to get attention after feeling neglected and ignored by his parents, but he grows on you as his character develops. Kelly (Lauren Socha) has some anger management issues triggered by the fact that people tend to make snap judgments and classist remarks aimed at her. Beautiful, spoiled daddy’s girl Alisha (Antonia Thomas) goes out of her way to ensure that every male present is fantasizing about her, and is especially interested in capturing the attention of Curtis (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett), a track star whose mistakes destroyed his chance for the Olympics and who is being punished heavily as an example. The fifth member of the group is Simon (Iwan Rheon), a socially awkward techno-geek who enjoys filming everything going on in the world around him.

While the standard setup for supers is to have a battle between Good and Evil, Misfits explores the way most people would realistically respond to such a situation. Everyone’s actions and motivations (and powers, which I will not spoil here) match his or her own personality and situation. Each episode presents a new challenge with the powers while regular situations are also being hashed out. For those viewers who like to see romantic situations explored, you will not be disappointed, either. Misfits is fun, fast-paced and well thought through – and more than a few scenes will leave most audiences rolling with laughter while still providing plenty of food for thought.

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Review: ‘Robin Hood: Season Three’ on DVD

BBC’s retelling of the [[[Robin Hood]]] legend began in 2006 and quietly ended in 2009, never quite living up to the hype and expectations. The series was incredibly anachronistic and its budgetary limitations were clearly evident throughout its 36 episodes. When the series was good, it was highly entertaining and when it was less good, it was tolerable.

BBC Video has just released the third season on DVD in the states so if you missed it on BBC America, here’s your chance to see for yourself how it all wrapped up.

The series began teetering during its second season, especially when Lucy Griffiths chose to leave the show and they killed Maid Marian, making for a major departure from the legend. Then we heard that Robin himself, Jonas Armstrong, announced he was leaving after the third season. As a result, we began hearing them all chant “We are Robin Hood”, setting up the expectations that once Armstrong left, the Merrie Men would carry on, keeping his spirit (and the series) alive. The BBC went so far as to announce a producer had been asking for a fourth season revamp but the third season ratings changed their minds.

We open the third season with Robin and company returning from the Holy Land where Marian was buried. He’s still smoldering with hatred, wishing nothing more than to gain revenge against Gisborne (Richard Armitage) for his love’s murder. And here’s the problem, for two seasons now, Robin, Gisborne, and the Sheriff (Keith Allen) have all had one opportunity or another to dispatch the other, ending the misery. In every case, they back off or get thwarted and by episode 27, it’s gotten very tiresome. Similarly, I’ve lost track of the number of times the villagers have thought ill of Robin and the men when they know better. Then there are the anachronisms in dialogue to appeal to modern day viewers.

On the other hand, this season set up several threads that at least provided a more interesting spine to stir things up than the second season did. The arrival of Friar Tuck (David Harewood) and Gisborne being sent away to explain his failures to Prince John in person start things off nicely. The return of the Sheriff’s sister, Isabella (Lara Pulver) and seeing her replace her brother changed things up nicely. On the other hand, the later revelation that Gisborne and Robin shared a heretofore unknown half-brother, Archer (Clive Standen), doesn’t do anything but shift the focus away from the regulars.

And that’s been a consistent problem along with the earlier issue over the enmity between our hero and the Sheriff. The Merrie Men (Alan, John, and Much) have been ill-served with little time spent on their characters. They fight, get captured, get freed, argue, and bring supplies to the townsfolk. We never circle back to John’s wife and son or learn more about the others. The writers and producers certainly did these three actors (Joe Armstrong, Gordon Kennedy, and Sam Troughton respectively) a disservice. Also, the fun byplay between Robin and Sheriff from previous years is all but missing. If anything, the actor to really shine throughout the three seasons is Armitage who has been conflicted between his upbringing, his loyalty to the crown and the Sheriff, and the unrequited love for Marian.

The show builds up to a major climax, bigger than the previous seasons and actually adds a punctuation mark that nicely brings down the curtain on the series.

The five disc set comes with A Legend Reborn a self-congratulatory behind-the scenes featurette, A New Look (a nice piece on the costuming), a piece on the Trebuchet: Creating Chaos and video diaries that are mildly entertaining.

As this entertaining but less than satisfying series ends, we can turn our attentions to yet another look at the legend with the big budget Ridley Scott/Russell Crowe feature this spring.

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Review: ‘Leverage’ Season 2.5 – The Runway Job and The Bottle Job (SPOILERS)

Over the last year or two, the more engaging dramatic series have been popping up on TNT, USA and even AMC. They run from the gravitas of[[[ Mad Men]]] to the lightweight entertainment that is [[[Psych]]]. An increasing proportion of my viewing time seems to be focused on these networks and I’m happier for the variety.

John Rogers, who used to write [[[Blue Beetle]]] for DC Comics, co-created Leverage for TNT, a show about criminals banding together to do good. Starring Timothy Hutton and a fine ensemble, the series debuted to terrific reviews and strong ratings in December 2008. Those first 13 episodes were collected on DVD just before the first half of the second season arrived in July.

TNT kindly provided us with the first two episodes of the second half season, which debuts tonight at 10 p.m. Spoilers ahead…

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