The Dark Knight LIMITED EDITION Steelbook Blu-ray / Ultraviolet Includes Sneak Peak of the Trilogy

What has been said about the Dark Knight cannot be elaborated on so I won't. The film is muscling its way into my #1 favorite comic movie adaptation of all time.

The reason for my review is in hopes of saving you some money. This double disc Special Edition doesn't deliver the price you pay for it. There isn't even deleted scenes!!! I would save your very hard earned dollars and buy the single disc version and wait for the inevitable ULTIMATE re-release that will come later on down the road.

But nonetheless, a great film you will not be dissapointed; I just wish the studio would have given a better Special Edition release than what we have here. So enjoy!

Christopher Nolan has a vision. And whether you agree with it or not, he undeniably completes it in "The Dark Knight"--a vicious, engrossing, overwhelming, intelligent eventfilm that re-defines 'comic-book-flicks'. In Nolan's grim, dark-depiction of Gotham-City (the crime-ridden hell protected by legendary superhero Batman), the director strives to make everything real (something he began in the well-received "Batman Begins"). He makes it plausible, possible. And yet there's more to it: just as 'Begins' was a dissection of myth, the nature of symbols and heroes, 'Knight' is the escalation of that notion. It's a biblicalconfrontation of 'good-and-evil', yet as 'good-and-evil' really exist: a conflict of ideals, something that can't be purely-defined but that is relative to a viewpoint. In Nolan's world, the line of villainy and heroism isn't crossed... it's non-existent. The bad-guys don't see themselves as bad-guys, and as such something so unnervingly-real comes across it might fly past some people's minds (no insult to anybody, it's just common that people don't look deep into 'popcorn-flicks'): the battle is a complete ambiguity.

The film runs at nearly 2.5-hours, yet never ceases to lose interest or momentum. It doesn't waste a scene or moment; every event is utilized and necessary. 'The Dark Knight' tells a story worth telling and it takes the proper amount of time to tell it. Action-sequences are frantic, old-school, eye-grabbing stunts (vastly superior to 'Begins') and in their chaotic intensity we see that they serve purpose to the story, yet more interesting are not played for pure entertainment-value: we are meant to watch, petrified, simply hoping that the outcome will go the hero's way. Attention is never lost because we are immersed in a breathtaking, almost completely-unpredictable story (it packs many a shock), that makes us think and more importantly gains our emotional-investment. We come to care for the characters, because they are believable, developed, and personified fully.

Everyone has great-chemistry together. Maggie Gyllenhal is a more mature Rachel Dawes than Katie Holmes. Morgan Freeman provides his authoritative presence to the role of badgadget-inventor/Wayne-Enterprise CEO Lucius Fox, and under anyone else's portrayal, the part would be less-memorable. Gary Oldman underplays his world-wearied lawman with such honest-nobility, you never feel for a second any of its forced-acting. The irreplaceable Michael Caine makes a gentle, reassuring, father-like presence as Alfred, and the movie would surely fail without his strong-presence and interjected-moments of light-humor.

And while everyone (rightfully) pours the praise unto Bale and Ledger, I think most are glancing-over Knight's breakout-performance. As Harvey Dent, Aaron Eckhart does more than hold himself in the company of such a renowned-cast. He makes his presence known, whether he's playing on the easy-going charisma of Gotham's 'White-Knight' or the broken and damaged, twisted-soul of Two-Face. He achieves a full-impact with the tragedy that comes unto his character, and so closely connects with Dent, that he makes his pain tangible for us: we sympathize even as we become terrified. He captures both facets of each personality flawlessly.

Now, some people cite that 'Knight' has a potential fatal-flaw in the supposedly woodenacting of Christian Bale. Admittedly, his development is not as grand as in 'Begins' (yet that film gave us such a good psychoanalysis of Wayne, we hardly need more), yet what Bale pulls off is admirable. Wayne is not an eccentric personality. He is a disillusioned man who can hardly find any joy in having no family, giving up his love-interest and spending his life fighting a battle that may never end. He's dark and conflicted, and Bale plays up on that brooding-mood by making Wayne look as though a thousand dark-things were on his mind. He's not wooden...he's a humorless, quiet individual. Even when Wayne is acting as a frivolous playboy for the public, every now and then Bale offers us a powerful glance that reminds us its all a façade; that deep down, something more disturbed irks him. Occasionally he offers a broken-smile when exchanging banter with Alfred, letting us know that beyond the dour depression of the Caped-Crusader lies a damaged human-being. It is only in the guise of a growling masked-man, that he can unleash his true, ferocious personality.

Finally, who could forget Heath Ledger. Now, when he was first-announced for the part, I was (along with many other people) asking myself: "Why?". Mr. Ledger had proved with 'Brokeback Mountain' he could deliver a potent performance. But he hadn't before. It is only, after seeing this film, that I know the answer to 'why?': I see the significance of his loss.

When Heath appears in this movie, he is completely unrecognizable. His voice is distinctly-altered; a near-whiny, pedophile-like tone that sends shivers down the spine. His face is completely splattered with makeup that renders him both freakishly-nightmarish and strangely-funny. And when you see him, you don't think it's him. In this, his final performance, Ledger proved he was a chameleon. His two iconic performances in this, and 'Brokeback', could not be more different. I am convinced he could have been anything in his career. He commits so intensely to character that the line of actor/portrayal dies. His every tick and gesture only further-enhances his character. Heath never hams the role up or goes for something cheap: he delivers a fully-immersed display of psychotic madness...or do we just label him that to feel safer? The movie writes the character brilliantly; blending terrifying truth into his every social-accusation, and making us question why we laugh at his sick-jokes.

'The Dark Knight' has had an incredible-amount of hype running for it, from the get-go, mounting ever-higher, until Heath Ledger's too-soon death. And the finished-product does more than exceed all of the near-impossible expectations placed on it. It becomes something much richer than a super-hero-franchise-saga. Christopher Nolan has opened a new door in cinema: allowing action-flicks to become more serious, capable of intelligence. He has transformed this into a piece of artwork, full of beauty, terror, moral-conundrums. This movie has changed things...forever.

There's no going back. 10/10

Buy The Dark Knight LIMITED EDITION Steelbook Blu-ray / Ultraviolet Includes Sneak Peak of the Trilogy Now

Ok, the movie is a 5 star, this is a little info on the case and bat pod if anyone is curious about it size. We have it at work and I have already seen it. It is actually VERY small, the case and the bat pod. The bat pod is maybe 4"-5" long, and the case is just a bit larger then the blu rays. I was expecting a bat pod the size of the one available at in the toys at most stores which is 10"-12" long.

AT $50+ dollars, I would get the Bluray 2 disc and the $20 12" bat pod, which s a much better bat pod and value in my opinion.

Read Best Reviews of The Dark Knight LIMITED EDITION Steelbook Blu-ray / Ultraviolet Includes Sneak Peak of the Trilogy Here

First of all, this is a GREAT film, not just a great Batman film.

Others have compared Christopher Nolan's two Batman films to the Tim Burton Batman films, so I won't repeat their observations. Let me simply say that everything about this movie, from the script to the casting to the CGI to the acting and ultimately the directing is superb.

Now to Plato. The meta-message of The Dark Knight is a meditation on the nature of good and evil, the veneer of civilization, the virtues of principle and the necessity and the danger of bending principle in emergencies, the differences between evil for gain or power and evil for mere destruction and chaos, and the tension between public duty and private loyalty. Finally there is the question of the place for facts and the place for "sacred" myth.

(Caution: this review refers to specific scenes and characters.)

The mafia in Gotham is evil for gain and power. They want money and they want influence. They also want order. When the manager of the bank objects to the robbery he complains that the usual rules and courtesies among criminals are being violated. The corrupt police officers are evil for gain as well. They too need general acceptance of rules and procedures.

The Joker is evil for evil's sake. He sows chaos and disorder and wants to expose the thin veneer of civilization. He seeks only to unmask what he sees as contradiction and hypocrisy in human nature and to demonstrate that so-called good citizens are really evil underneath.

Scarecrow, who was featured in Batman Begins and has a minor role in the drug bust scene in The Dark Knight, is a deranged psychiatrist whose evil comes from desire for power over others as he uncovers the weaknesses in the minds of others.

The Mayor is out for power but does not resort to evil. Police Lieutenant James Gordon represents incorruptible good. This is ultimately stressed when Gordon must make a choice between public duty and personal relationship. Batman faces that same dilemma when he must decide whether to rescue Harvey Dent or Rachel Dawes. Likewise, the passengers in the ferries must choose between what they are told will be personal survival and the deaths of others, in another of The Joker's nefarious experiments. When the Wayne Industries accountant is about to reveal the identity of Batman, The Joker announces that the accountant must die, and citizens try to assassinate him. Personal safety trumps adherence to the good sometimes, but not all times.

Batman seems weaker than The Joker because he adheres to rules. The Biblical injunction, "Justice, justice shall you pursue," has been understood as demanding that justice be pursued justly. Evil, especially evil for its own sake, makes no such demand. We see this every time terrorists deliberately target innocents and hide themselves behind children knowing that those in pursuit will not purposely aim at innocent bystanders. This gives evil a huge temporary advantage.

Yet sometimes the good must bend and even break the rules. Abraham Lincoln suspended the right of habeas corpus during a critical interval during the Civil War. Batman asks Lucius Fox to preside over such a broken rule to locate and catch The Joker. When and how can we know when good can break rules to catch evil? Batman answers by creating a mechanism to restore the rules as soon as the crisis is over.

Alfred Pennyworth indirectly poses the question, "Knowing that evil, if attacked, will double its efforts and create even more destruction, is it really wise to go after evil?" The bad guys cause huge destruction after Batman and Gordon squeeze the mafia, creating enormous conflict and guilt in Batman. But without disturbing the hornet's nest, evil would prevail anyway. So the battle must be joined in any event.

Harvey Dent is extremely complex. He berates Gordon for compromising his police unit by accepting some corrupt officers to his staff. Gordon answers by claiming that sometimes those who know corruption can be the most effective in fighting it. Dent is identified as the "White Knight" whose public persona will rally the public against evil. But Dent himself participates in an untruthful diversion to help trap The Joker. Even he compromises good for the sake of fighting evil.

When Rachel and Dent are being held in danger Batman and Gordon each race to save them. Batman declares he is going to save Rachel but is tricked into going to Dent's location. Rachel dies and Dent is severely injured. In a brilliant make-up creation the right side of Dent's face remains normal and the left side is severely and dramatically changed. He has physically transformed from a White Knight into his derisive nickname, "Two Face." Reminiscent of Jekyll and Hyde, Dent's nature is now permanently divided.

The death of Rachel has destroyed Dent's belief in good and has dissolved his commitment to the public's welfare. Now he only thinks of his own personal pain and loss. But he is not a creature of pure evil. His hurt and grudge turn him into a near nihilist. The lucky coin with two heads has been transformed. One side is now ruined and becomes for him the oracle of ethics. Life and death depend solely on chance; solely on the flip of a coin.

Furious at Gordon for the actions of the corrupt police officers in Gordon's unit who betrayed Rachel, Dent finds Gordon's wife and children. Recognizing that Gordon's young son is dearest to him, Dent demands that Gordon reassure the son as Dent flips his coin to decide the boy's fate.

Batman, for whom good and evil, life and death, are not decided by chance, intervenes. In their fight Dent and Batman both plunge to the ground from a height. Batman survives and tells Gordon that the myth of Dent's goodness must become the rallying point for the city. Dent remains the White Knight, while Batman allows himself to become The Dark Knight, spurned by the public, identified wrongly but necessarily as the source of evil, who can then secretly work for the good. Only Gordon and his son know the true story behind this myth. Gotham thus gets the hero it deserves.

The Joker is captured but his fate is left hanging, literally and figuratively. We do not even know for certain whether Dent died, or unconscious, has survived his fall. All we know for sure is that the complexity of fighting evil and the compromises permitted for good are unsolved. Civilization continues but only barely. The Joker has destroyed Rachel, transformed Dent, and caused everlasting turmoil and doubt within Batman.

The need to resort to myth over facts after arguing previously for the absolute value of Truth, ends Plato's Republic, with the famous story of the myth of the cave. We too are left in the dark, in the company of The Dark Knight, at the end of this superb film.

We can only wonder what the sequel might have been, with The Joker and Two Face challenging Batman, had Heath Ledger survived.

Speaking of Heath Ledger I want to mention a few things about his performance as The Joker. There is a small pantheon of presentations of psychiatrically deranged individuals in film. Among the best are Olivia Thailand in Snake Pit, Gregory Peck in Spellbound, Jack Nickelson in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, and Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. Ledger's perhaps surpasses them all.

For those with a psychiatric or medical background like myself, the use of his slight head tics and the seemingly random movement of his tongue suggest that The Joker has been in a psychiatric institution and medicated with drugs that left him with a case of tardive dyskinesia, a rare but serious and irreversible movement disorder that can be a side effect of certain psychotropic medications. This touch, which I believe was meticulously and masterfully added to the portrayal by Ledger, makes The Joker both more convincing and more dangerous.

I am told that Ledger immersed himself in The Joker's state of mind before and during the filming. It is not unknown for an actor to have difficulty extricating himself from such a wrenching and demanding role. Joaquin Phoenix and Faye Dunaway have each spoken about this as they worked to emerge from Johnny Cash and Joan Crawford. If this was so for Ledger then The Joker got an undeserved bitter laugh while we have only tears.

Addendum July 23, 2008: One of The Joker's henchmen must have gotten into my spell checker to change Olivia De Havilland into Olivia Thailand. Sorry for that.

I want to expand on one point distinguishing Batman from Dent. When The Joker reveals the locations of Rachel and Dent, Gordon asks Batman which location he is going to. Batman says Rachel's but I believe he is aware of The Joker's double crosses and switches, and knowingly goes to Dent's location. That Batman expresses no surprise at finding Dent rather than Rachel confirms this view. Bruce Wayne would have rescued Rachel but Batman, a true hero, puts his public duty above his private preferences.

After Rachel is killed Dent loses his sense of public duty and loses faith in goodness. Batman, equally in love with Rachel and equally convinced she will marry him, retains his public duty and goodness, though he is burdened with grief and guilt. Perhaps a White Knight cannot endure crushing disappointment. Perhaps only a Dark Knight, who has already experienced the crushing loss of viewing the murders of his father and mother, and holding himself responsible for that tragedy, can make his way through darkness without losing his way.

A final note, in response to a commenter who took issue with my portrayal of Gordon as incorruptibly good, I agree that Gordon made pragmatic choices, and refer to them in the essay. But as a person he is beyond bribery and never loses sight of his duty to the citizenry. So how about personally incorruptible but one who made some seemingly necessary but ultimately unwise alliances.

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This is just some information regarding the Bat Pod. Please be aware, the Bat Pod and the display stand are 100% plastic. The Bat Pod is also not removable.

In my opinion, they are not worth the extra money.

Get the film, but don't splurge on this plastic toy.

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Four Lions (2010)

One of those films that took me by complete surprise, `Four Lions' is a pitch perfect `dark comedy' that delivers one laugh after another with an unexpected touch of poignancy that elevates the material to create something special.

`Four Lions' details the haphazard terrorist plot conceived by five dimwitted Jihadi suicide bombers. Mainly focusing on three conflicting personalities (Omar, Waj and Barry), `Four Lions' takes a stab at the root (or roots) of terrorism; exposing the allegiance and trivial stupidity that steeps itself in the act. Omar and Barry butt heads from the start. Both are leaders (self-proclaimed as they may be) and both expect a degree of servitude. Omar is arrogant, considering himself superior in intellect (and most likely he is), while Barry is abrasive and condescending in his own right; using his brutish demeanor to demand a faux respect. Waj is more of a simpleton; completely confused by his own allegiance. He wants to believe in something but he can't commit his heart to their actions. Instead, he becomes a pawn; taken advantage of by the more dominant personalities. By focusing on these three characters, `Four Lions' shows the polar sides of terrorism; the way that influence can overtake both and strong and the weak. As these characters devise their plot against oppression, they struggle to explain themselves and thus struggle to convince themselves that what they are doing is really the right thing to do.

As an intellectual piece, `Four Lions' is far smarter and deeper than one may expect. It is a blatant farce, an unapologetic comedy and yet it is laced with such stark realism. That said, it is the comedic shamelessness that really makes this film so incredible. The script is one of the best I've seen put to use on the big screen in a long while. The sharpness of the dialog is perfectly complimented by the visual antics. The explosions never lack in comedic weight, and the one-liners delivered are side-splittingly hysterical.

"I'm not confused brother! I just took picture of my face, and it's deffo not my confused face."

The repartee between the actors is also borderline genius. Everyone totally gets their respective roles and they go `no holds bar', attacking the characters without hesitation. Best in show props go directly to Nigel Lindsay, who layers Barry's ignorance with such undeniable wit. He's pitch perfect in every scene.

In the end, I can't recommend this movie enough. It is controversial, sure, but it understands how to approach the subject so as not to `cross the line' while simultaneously `crossing it'. Taking jabs at both sides of the `war on terrorism', `Four Lions' feels real and authentic despite the outlandish nature of the whole thing. It's preposterous, but on the other hand it's so crazy it just might be true!

Chris Morris co-wrote and directed a very dark, shockingly wicked, tour de force about four inept British would-be suicide bomber jihadists. This ferocious farce grabbed me immediately. Terrorism can be as much about idiots as ideology. Here's a brilliant film that does not flinch or blink in the face of the horrific reality of our times. Can urgent truth be funny? Yes. Time called it "The blackest, ballsiest political comedy since DR. STRANGELOVE." Can mockery and ridicule dilute hate? Maybe. Maybe not. But laughter sure can. Is Allah laughing?

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Note: Paragraph 2 is a synopsis, and only paragraph 5 that contains spoilers.

Four Lions is a daring little comedy with balls of iron. Using terrorism as a source of comedy maybe one of the hardest methods to make people ponder about this important issue. Especially the way that Director Chris Morris pursues the subject, one often fears that the topic may be used as the butt of jokes, and form a debased comedy. I have no clue how Morris does it, but he never crosses the moral/ethical line of GLORIZING the terror or demeaning the victims.

This comedy is based on a group of extremist Muslims who decide to demonstrate in the face of all this consumerism and corruption of the West, the beauty of their religion by commiting horrible deeds-that in their eyes are nothing but noble. Take note that they are from Sheffield, England. Four of the men are identifiably Muslim, but one stands out like a nerd on the football team. He is a white convert to Islam, and the most radical, impatient, and extreme of the pack-trying to convince them to attack a Mosque. Two members, Omar and Waj, get sent to a terrorist training camp with disastrous result-keep watching after the credits to understand the extent of their tragic contribution. After returning, all five, which includes the new recruit Hassan, decide to find a target to express their rage.

These are not organized or trained newbie terrorists. They act independently on their dogma, and hilarity ensues. They are also quite well rounded, unlike the terrorist picture many of us may imagine: isolated people lacking in friends, and lovable family. Omar, for example, has a son, wife, and quite a large group of friends-many which are British. They have no detailed philosophy besides the idea that this consumer Western society is corrupt, and needs to be punished. There is almost no discussion of Bin Laden, Al Qaeda, or any terrorist organization. However, They strive to be Jihadists, and ascend to Heaven. It's that simple in their eyes. No discussion of their victims ever take place, and for good reason. These characters are simplistic in their desires, so even a superficial thought of their victims innocence may thwart their plans.

Chris Morris reportedly has done years of research for this film, predating the 7/7 London Bombings. Unfortunately, we don't see the fruits of his research directly on screen. If his research finds its way in to the final cut of this film, it must be very subliminal because I could not see any evidence that this was deeply researched. Due to his research which included collecting personal account from countless different sources, it seems that Morris at parts is unable to shed light on the emotional aspects. Truths that are self-evident to him are not necessarily evident to us, and certain aspects require more emotional investment.

Many examples of such emotionally ambivalent scenes are spread throughout the film, however they are most evident during the scenes involving Omar's family. Of Course, Omar's son does not know about his father's true intents, but he is teaching his son the moral reason for his task through Disney's Lion King. After their overseas debacle, he explains to him that Simba must lie for now until he can accomplish his true goal. These intimate scenes are done well, as we begin to realize that these men are not hopeless young teens without futures. One of the most out of place scenes occurs after Omar deserts his fellow brothers, disappointed and depressed about their plans. His wife's word about his plans, and eventual demise, are so cold heartedly encouraging that we suddenly recall this is a piece of fiction. She seems to be actually encouraging and advocating his plan, clearly aware that its execution will leave her without a husband, and her son a father. Before this scene we saw these two adults use a water gun to force a friend out of their house. They may share the same ideas about the "depravity" of Western culture, but they are a loving couple. Morris, in this scene, makes the woman out to be absolutely heartless about her husband, and maybe ready to get rid of him by granting his services to the Lord in Heaven. This scene is made all the more preposterous by the inclusion of their son in this conversation. Another complaint maybe that the wife is simply a foil character with nothing worthwhile to express. As said before, Morris has done much research on this topic, and maybe the families of terrorists are as "open-minded" as this, willing to give up their husbands, and parents in the Lord's service. Even if this is the case, Morris needs to stray from his facts, and show more compassion in these scenes, or progress to this line of though gradually, not spontaneously.

Four Lions also suffers from a smug sense of profundity. It often feels that the film believes besides laughs it is giving us an earnest and deeply insightful view about terrorism. Whenever Morris decides to make his work more insightful, the comedy suffers drastically. True, we are talking about people blowing themselves and others up by explosives, yet a truly comedic tone fits this successful premise well. The film's serious moments are so far and in between that they never make the impact that he desires. A prime example is the concluding scene when Omar wants to make Waj, one of the co-conspirators, to give himself up. When this fails, Omar marches in to a pharmacy completing his mission. This serious scene steals from the comedy of the four men running around for twenty minutes in preposterous costumes ranging from Honey Munster to an ostrich. After this, a somber songs begins that is truly not in the spirit of the film. I believe Morris believed he had made a serious statement, like the one at the beginning and conclusion of American Beauty. Four Lions loses it's touch, and becomes somewhat disjointed from its black comedy elements when it choses to take such a drastically different route.

Despite all this criticism, I found Four Lions to more insightful and original than most current comedies distributed in the last few years. Morris of course does not succeed in all his goals, but miraculously saves himself from much criticism that his Brass Eye series received in the last decade. He looks at the issue at a very specific angle which makes the comedy, despite the subject, extremely funny. His characters are somewhat stupid and carless which are necessary elements for a film on such a bleak subject. If only the bomber's of 7/7, and hijackers of 9/11, were as independent and clueless as these men are, the victims of their actions would be miniscule in number.

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I was mostly bewildered the first time through this film. The Northern English dialects, often intermixed with other non-English foreign accents and naturalistic speech made the movie all but incomprehensible. Parochial cultural references (Not TJ but TK Maxx, Rubber Dinghy Rapids, Mr. Bean), British slang (slags) and a sprinkling of Arabic (kuffars, wasalaam) also hindered understanding until I got around to looking these things up. However you can find the English subtitles on the Web. The subtitles were faithful to the dialogue but you'll probably have to adjust the synchronization. All that extra effort will pay off. FOUR LIONS is very funny and the comedic acting and timing are superb. The two exceptions were Hassan and Omar's wife, who showed in their facial expressions that they were in on the gags.

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*** THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE BLU RAY VERSION ***

Five twenty-something lads from Sheffield wanting to be Afghan terrorists on British soil is not exactly an easy sell for a film even for the most liberal minded of viewers. This is the kind of material that walks a thin line between black humour and the need to tell the truth no matter how offensive or uncomfortable it may be. But "Four Lions" 'so' works. Written and Directed by CHRIS MORRIS his debut is an edgy risk-taking movie and absolutely chockers full of laugh-out loud moments and for all the right reasons...

It goes like this the constantly babbling, but worldly naïve Waj is easily influenced by the disillusioned but far more radical Omar (Kayvan Novak and Riz Ahmed). Both 'brothers' want to do 'God's will' which they believe is to become Mujahideen soldiers and start their own Islamic Jihad somewhere in affluent materialistic England. They essentially want to blow something up. Helping them away from Western materialism and Chicken McNuggets is the self-appointed cleric Barry (a fantastically funny turn by a scene-stealing Nigel Lindsay). Barry rabbits on about 'surveillance protocols', eats SIM cards and once planted a 'twin towers' cake in a local mosque to incite the faithful. Rolling under garage doors like an SAS commando and sidling up to people's porches likes he's Jason Bourne Barry is convinced that a passing mother and child is a cop and the American Feds are watching him on satellites in space. Barry is the worst and most boorish of the five. A converted white man and bearded radical, he is full of nice things to say about open-mindedness like "...we've got women talking back bruv! We've got people playing stringed instruments!" Barry orders silver nitrate from Amazon and wants to "Boom! Fast track to final days! Proper war!"

Thrown into this pool of misguided idiots is the slow and permanently bewildered Faisal (Adeel Akhtar) a hapless bomb-maker who stashes thousands of bottles of hair peroxide in his lock-up. Fassal wants to attach detonator devices to crows and fly them into Government buildings (hence the poster). Last but not least is Hassan (Arsher Ali) an on-the-fence believer who wants to go 'proper' Afghan. Hassan talks the lingo about 'a new purpose in life' but Omar suspects that maybe he doesn't have the balls to actually do the dirty deed. None of them do. It's all a big game to the other four and Omar will need to make it 'real' this time. Plots are hatched in the bedsit above the men's shop Bolby Tailoring, rocket launchers go off backwards and Omar's microwave oven gets sacrificed in the name of the 'cause'. And on the mayhem goes to the London Marathon of 2010 where they're dressed as chickens with something more than lean cuisine beneath their feathers. But of course it stops being funny very, very fast when the consequences and repercussions of what they're doing becomes all too real...and they get more than hurt...

How do you deal with extremism humour is one weapon Chaplin knew this. But part of this script's genius is to go deeper into the monster's psyche to show us how 'religion' seriously screws with a person's moral compass especially if that belief system has an 'our way is the only way' core mentality. There is also the lure of power the power of a gun how it gets you noticed even respected. And of course that's amplified if you're prepared to have a bomb strapped to you and seek martyrdom.

The danger in all this is that despite the film's best intentions Muslims are tarred with a terrorist brush but the writing is smart enough to address this and even deal with racism among their own ranks by slagging both off with real skill. Subtle touches include Omar receiving an e-mail at work (he's a security guard) telling that his trip to the Pakistan is in 2 days time (spy talk for a training camp). He tells his boss he's attending a 'shotgun wedding' and if you look real close you'll see that the e-mail address is hilaryclinton055.

Housed in a fetching book package, the BLU RAY picture quality varies from very good on the indoor sequences (bedrooms, cafes and sheds) to crystal clear and superlative on the outdoors shots (Afghanistan hills, London streets). As the dialogue is all Sheffield in Northern England and comes at you fast and furious, the lone ENGLISH SUBTITLE will probably be more than handy for overseas viewers. The extras include DELETED SCENES and 2 featurettes. The deleted scenes are short, but wickedly funny, while the 2 featurettes are unrelated to the film itself, but act as background to the project. First is a real-life documentary called "Lost Boys" which follows 4 Pakistani lads in a car as they drive around their hometown of Nelson in Lancashire. They talk of fights, racism and persecution nothing to do every night. You can just see how they're ripe for recruitment. The 2nd is even stranger an interview with Ahmad who is a white lad accused of Muslim extremism and arrested under the Terrorist Act. He shows paintings that express what he feels about Islam (deeply loves it). Neither feature makes judgements but they do give you insights into why stuff happens...

To sum up with our media and politicians locked into a sort of sickening and stifling political-correctness of late material like "Four Lions" is refreshing to say the least and even a bit brave. And the fact that you're laughing so much for three quarters of the movie, but hurting with sadness at the end is testament to its heart. It elevates "Four Lions" above clever froth into the realm of something that stays with you and makes you think and reassess...

I loved this film. And Film 4, Wild Bunch and Optimum Releasing and all associated with "Four Lions" are to be praised to the nines for it.

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Chico & Rita Collector's Edition (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD/CD Soundtrack Combo) (2012)

Chico and Rita is the third Latin movie throughout the last two decades(after Buena Vista Social Club and Estudio 54), inspired on Latin music, but unlike the previous ones it's much more ambitious about its proposal.

Fernando Trueba made an amazing journey through some unforgattable moments and first-rate figures of jazz to tell us a love story thatlooks like a tragic bolero sprayed with this bitter ending cadence ruptruras, troubles and nostalgia.

Both are from humble origin, but each of them bursts on stage and shine like a star for its own account. And despite the conflicts come and go the love never does.

A memorable tribute to Chano Pozo, Gillespie, Parker, Casablanca, Boggie, Tito Puente, Miguel Valdez and Tito Rodriguez, among other ones. Interesting artistic proposal and refreshing gaze to the Latin Universe.

I love good animation, I love great music, and I love a good movie.

Three for three on "Chico and Rita". Two Afro-Cuban musicians who meet in classic "cute" movie fashion and then have an on-again, off-again, love affair in various locales (Havana, NYC, Las Vegas, etc.), and always, there is wonderful music (mostly jazz and Latin jazz) in the forefront or the background.

Let me pull on your coat about something here the guy who plays the original piano pieces for this film is 93 years old. He's also playing the piano and conducting the Havana ballroom orchestra present in parts of the soundtrack, albeit when he was much, much younger as those recordings were made in the 40's and 50's. His name is Bebo Valdes, and he is as old-school as it gets at 93, but, man, that cat can still play.

I've ordered this film in advance as I know I will want to watch it at least a few times, and therefore I have no hesitation in recommending that you watch it at least once. Even if you don't particularly like jazz or animation, it stands on it's own as a great little movie.

Just a heads-up though there are some adult moments and some animated nudity in the film, so bear that in mind if you're considering watching it and you've got children around the place.

Buy Chico & Rita Collector's Edition (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD/CD Soundtrack Combo) (2012) Now

Watching this nostalgic love letter to Cuba, jazz, and enduring passion unfold, I was struck by how little the medium of animation is used to tell serious adult stories. "Chico & Rita," therefore, benefits greatly from this straightforward and unorthodox approach. Had the exact same screenplay been filmed with live actors, I think the tale might have been equally compelling. But there is something about the simplicity and beauty of the hand drawn passages that really evokes an artistic vibe. And as the movie is an homage to an era, a culture, and an art form, it's fascinating to see this world come alive as if from thin air. "Chico & Rita" was Oscar nominated as Best Animated Feature in 2012, and it is truly a must-see for lovers of quality adult entertainment. A visual treat with its earthy pallette, the movie also boasts an impressively colorful soundtrack that recalls the jazz age in vibrant detail. Lushly romantic, I think those that adore "Chico & Rita" will be rapturous in their praise. But it isn't necessarily a movie for everyone as it unravels as much from mood as from the actual story.

The actual plot spans many decades from the streets of Cuba, to the clubs of New York, to the movie sets of Hollywood, to the seedy motels of Las Vegas. Seriously, I had no idea that the movie would have such a grand scope or such a broad narrative. An elderly Chico, a former piano man, hears one of his songs on the radio and it causes him to reflect on a long and tumultuous relationship with his true love Rita. Rita, a sultry singer, worked with Chico before setting upon a life of fame and glamour--but their two paths were constantly intertwined. Although madly in love, the two never seem to connect in any meaningful way for an extended period. But despite all their mistakes and the physical obstacles in their path, there is always an underlying hope for a happy ending. The two seem fated to be together, but fate may not be enough to overcome tragedy. Melancholy, sweet, and unrelentingly romantic, the film still maintains a refreshingly hard edge throughout.

Spanish director Fernando Trueba (Belle Epoque) has a sure handle on the tone and cadence of the movie. As I mentioned, the mood of the piece is just as important as its narrative. And the music really helps to capture the spirit of the story telling. From genuine jazz riffs to English language ballads, everything fits perfectly. Although I did love the movie, it does tend to get a bit rushed as the years spiral by in quick fashion. So after a detailed beginning, certain sequences can seem a bit choppy. The pace is so luxuriant and leisurely, I thought some of the time shifts were a bit jarring. But it's a small point in the grand scheme of things.

Limited Edition Collector's set: This 3 disc compilation has the DVD, the Blu-ray, and the soundtrack. If you love jazz, I suspect you'll be interested in purchasing the soundtrack so this might be a convenient way to get both the movie and the CD at a combined price point. Also included (and quite fascinating) is a sixteen page excerpt from the source material, which happens to be a graphic novel. It's a cute, if not particularly substantial, addition. I'd have loved a bit more, but I guess they didn't ask me. Overall, though, an easy recommendation. About 4 1/2 stars, an impressively adult endeavor. KGHarris, 9/12.

Read Best Reviews of Chico & Rita Collector's Edition (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD/CD Soundtrack Combo) (2012) Here

Chico & Rita is a beautifully animated film, with an excellent storyline. It creates an ambiance the viewer wants to be part of, and expressive characters we can almost touch. It is a love story that follows a young pianist and a young singer starting from the late 1940s Havana. The film takes us many places geographically and emotionally. The situations and dialogs are very real and sharp. The film is happy and tragic, just like life itself. One needs to be a certain age to understand the motivations and emotions within, therefore I would recommend it for viewers 18 years of age or older.

Want Chico & Rita Collector's Edition (Three-Disc Blu-ray/DVD/CD Soundtrack Combo) (2012) Discount?

I rarely watch animations and almost never review movies. This one is so exceptional that I feel compelled to gush a little so forgive me in advance.

First, this movie weaves in factual events with a great storyline. For example, the circumstances leading to Chano Pozzo's actual death are portrayed, as is the overall allure to many Cuban musicians of what musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker and their New York peers were creating. In real life Dizzy did as much as any major jazz musician in NY to include the Afro-Cuban rhythms into bebop and beyond.

The music itself is a character in this movie. What a feast! It inspired me to start listening to pure Cuban music by some of the pioneers cited in the movie. Consequently, I have fallen in love with musicians to whom I would have never paid attention like Machito (a good starting point is Ritmo Caliente), Cachao (start with Master Session 1) and a plethora of others who pioneered this music.

Of course the animation simply beautiful and the storyline that is gritty, musical and touching are reasons enough to watch this movie. Like the music, both Havana and New York City are also characters in this movie. The scenes are period-correct and the colors are also consistent with the era. It's uncanny how well the essences of both cities are captured and personified.

Do be aware that some scenes are explicit, making this an adult movie in every sense of the word. It's also a love story. And a musical.

If you love music, and especially Afro-Cuban influenced jazz that came out of the late 1940s/early 1950s, you will love this movie. Heck, if you are a sucker for a great love story you'll also love it.

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Werner Herzog: Encounters in the Natural World

This beautifully packaged box set contains three full length documentaries and two shorter features by the great German film director Werner Herzog.

LA SOUFRIÉRE

This short piece concerns a Carribean island which was evacuated after rumblings from a volcano, which threatened to blow with the strength of five or six atomic bombs. Herzog and his crew went there after the evacuation to film absolutely eerie footage of a deserted town, with a sea full of dead snakes. They interview one of the residents who refused to leave. "Where should I go? Death waits forever, it is eternal."

GRIZZLY MAN

This is Werner Herzog's tribute to Timothy Treadwell, the grizzly bear enthusiast who was torn apart and eaten by the creatures he loved in 2003. It consists mainly of footage shot by Treadwell himself in the wilds of Alaska. The film can be very tense to watch, especially the scenes near the start where Treadwell is touching the bears, and you are constantly waiting for them to knock the camera from his hand and decapitate him.

In some ways Treadwell reminds of the late Steve Irwin, both in his manic demenaour, and the fact that he died at the hands of the wildlife he sought to protect. He also reminds slightly in his mannerisms of the comedic actor Jim Carrey, making the footage shot just hours before his death seem all the more eerie.

One friend of Treadwell's has criticised this documentary for portraying Treadwell as a man with a death wish, while not focussing on the fact that he spent 35,000 hours living in direct contact with the bears before he was finally killed an amazing feat. But the film is actually fairly even handed, and interviews both Treadwell's admirers and his unsparing critics (including one man who claims "he got what he was asking for"). Herzog himself defends Treadwell not as an ecologist but as a filmmaker, and truly some of the footage he captured moves into the realm of art.

The difference between Herzog and Treadwell is that Treadwell saw bears as his 'friends', whereas Herzog looks into the bear's eyes and sees "only the vast indifference of nature." Neither is quite right in my opinion. Treadwell was wrong in thinking the bears would ever consider him one of their own, yet Herzog ignores the research showing that cats are capable of friendship, and that magpies lay wreathes for their dead. Konrad Lorenz wrote movingly about swans and geese, who mate for life and show clear signs of mourning when their partner dies.

Although man can never 'return to nature' like Treadwell wished, and although the human and natural world are separate in many ways, they still intersect and interact. Both are necessary. Nature is necessary to man, so that he may know himself. And man himself is necessary to shine the light of consciousness into the dark unconscious that is nature.

ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD

Full of odd questions ("Is there such a thing as insanity in penguins?"), Werner Herzog lands on the ice runway at McMurdo base in Antarctica for five months devoid of night. McMurdo looks like an ugly mining settlement (reminds me a bit of Norwegian Arctic towns like Alta and Hammerfest) but "as banal as it appears, it is filled with professional dreamers"...dreamers whose favourite food, funnily enough, is Frosty Boy Ice Cream.

The scientists see the ice as a dynamic entity, not the static monolithic environment many think when they hear the name 'Antarctica'. There are cracks in the ice that sound like ghostly footsteps, and seal calls which sound like Tangerine Dream. Life forms in the sea are "like science fiction creatures" as one scientist puts it. It is "a horribly, violent world" full of strange, Lovecraftian organisms, some of which seem to possess "borderline intelligence...almost art."

Some of the scientists Herzog interviews have a religious sense of awe in the face of their discoveries, while others seem almost braindead. "Yes, it's a truly wonderful moment when you increase the known biodiversity," one tells him, sounding about as excited as if he had just filed a report on the origins of sawdust. But another talks with spiritual and poetic insight of the sub-atomic particles called neutrinos.

The whole film, in fact, is full of surprising insights for instance, that the British empire started to fail only after Shackleton had reached the South Pole. In other words, when no further expansion was possible. Strangely, in a film about uninhabited Antarctica, Herzog delivers a moving defence of the languages that are dying out around the world: "Tree huggers and whale huggers are acceptable, but no one embraces the last speakers of a language."

Herzog gets all apocalytic towards the end of the film, talking about the imminent demise of humanity, but whether or not one shares his pessimism, there is little reason not to watch this stunning documentary.

THE WHITE DIAMOND

Beginning with some great film footage of the early age of flight, including the explosion of the Hindenburg Zeppelin, this documentary then turns to modern day airship fanatic Dr. Graham Dorrington. It gradually emerges that Dorrington's friend Dieter Plage was killed flying a similar airship ten years earlier, and it is clear that Dorrington feels a certain degree of guilt over the death. Despite this, he persists in his quest to fly an airship over remote jungle in Guyana. The airship itself has a bit of a 'steampunk' look about it, and reminds me of Lee Scoresby's balloon in 'The Golden Compass'. With the help of this contraption, Dorrington aims to film the rainforest canopy one the richest biospheres on earth.

The human element in this film is not so intense as with other Herzog documentaries, yet it does contain some amazing cinematography, such as the swifts flying madly into a waterfall, their secret kingdom. Perhaps the film would have been better if cut in length (it's not often you can say that about a Herzog film), or perhaps more footage of the rainforest canopy and less of the crew arguing. It's still worth watching, however.

THE FLYING DOCTORS OF EAST AFRICA

This is a short, straightforward film about doctors in East Africa. It isn't narrated by Herzog, and isn't terribly interesting (unless you find the brutal monotony of African tribal warfare enlightening). If you want to watch something of Herzog's set in Africa, 'Cobra Verde' would be far more worth your while (see my review of that on Amazon).

'La Soufriére' 5 stars

'Grizzly Man' 5 stars

'Encounters at the End of the World' 4 stars

'The White Diamond' 3 stars

'Flying Doctors of East Africa' 2 stars

Herzog on Blu-Ray? Of Course!

While an odd collection of his work, to be sure, this collection does make a little sense. The characters that try, and sometimes succeed, to live beyond the told and tried world are all here. But the landscapes are always the central character. If I were to choose, I would certainly have chosen other films. Scream of Stone or Dark Glow of the Mountains, perhaps. So What? I was surprised to see Grizzly Man so popular when it came out, so what do I know? While some of his newer films have been strangely other than what I am used to, I cannot fault him for doing what he does. He makes me scratch my head often, and I love that. The films presented here are somewhat of a jumble, but they do have a common thread. Timothy (Grizzly Man) tried to do what all Herzog heroes do, to live outside, beyond. White Diamond's protagonist is a dreamer in that same sense. And oh, so tragic, and flawed. Encounters saw some praise, but also was more or less about the people that live that life so far south of the rest of us. There are threads that run through Herzog films that reflect the maker, and all are present here. He is the man with the courage to risk death to film a volcano exploding, and so are the figures he shows us. It is the reflection of our best hopes and fears, or the terror of our impotence and self-destruction. But there is also the inspiration of what we could be, if only we could find our true potential. This is all meager prose, and his films really do speak for themselves. I, myself, am happy to get all these films in the best format possible. I gave my copy of Encounters to a dear friend to share with her kids, now that I have a double. Films should be shared, and Herzog should be shared with the entire world.

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This is a majority of Herzog's movies that are currently on Blu-ray. I recommend this set to anyone who like nature films, Werner Herzog or documentaries. I couldn't recommend it more highly in any case. I'm a little biased to be posting a review though.

Read Best Reviews of Werner Herzog: Encounters in the Natural World Here

The main reason I rushed to buy this set was to see La Soufiere and The Flying Doctors of East Africa since they were previously unavailable or hard to find. Unfortunately they don't work! All special features seem to work on all discs except for The White Diamond, clicking on them only returns you to the main menu. I am so pissed off I spent my money on this and waiting with such anticipation and now I have to go through a return process at my own shipping expense. Does anyone have a clue why this is? I see reviews of all titles on here, is it working for anyone else? I want these titles on blu-ray but I'm not going to re-order it if it doesn't work.

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Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009)

Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant took me by surprise more than any other movie last year, and I couldn't wait for it to come out on Blu Ray. Horror comedies, in my opinion, are hard to pull off because the director is trying to serve two audiences at the same time. The Vampire's Assistant pulls this off very well as it simultaneously creates a dark, moody atmosphere while never letting things get too serious.

You can read about the story in the description, so I won't get into detail about plot elements. The main story moved along at a good pace with never really any down-time or uneccesary scenes. If anything the movie is probably a little on the short side. This film, I believe would have been more well received if some of the characters and plot points were fleshed out a little more. There is simply too much story to cram into just under two hours. Despite the time constraints the cast does an excellent job of creating a dark atmosphere, all centered around the delightfully absurd world of a freak show. The comic elements are subtle but work better than other horror/comedies such as Zombieland (which I also love).

Visually the film is a delight, with excellent make-up and special effects, as well as sets that perfectly set the tone for each scene. Everything from the old theater, to the graveyard and the freak's camp are visually stunning. The wolf man was probably the most impressive character in the film, and listening to the director (special features) talk about his vision of the wolf man and how it came to fruition in the film was very interesting.

I typically do not watch the special features, but I watched every single one and came away wishing there had been more. The tour of the freak camp was very cool, and each feature was presented in a creative manner.

This is a highly underrated film that probably could have done better at the box office with over-the-top gore or slap-stick comedy elements, which have become the status quo for Hollywood blockbusters. I'm not saying this film is for everyone, but if you're into vampire films and don't mind a good bit of comedy to keep things from getting to depressing, then I think you'll really enjoy The Vampire's Assistant. Get some popcorn, turn down the lights and turn up the volume. The show is about to begin...

I will preface my review of this movie by saying that I much prefer Blade, From Dusk til Dawn and Underworld type vampire flicks that all have tons of action, violence and gore in them. Whenever you get into the PG-13 world you are going to get a much more friendly and watered down film with less brutality, violence and language. Reality and financing dictates that the movie studios have to appeal to a broader audience when possible to make enough money to allow the films I mentioned previously.

I am not familiar with the book that this movie is based upon. That being said this was a fun 'teen oriented' vampire movie with no significant violence or gore. This is a PG-13 (unfortunately) flick; you know it's going to be in the vanilla spectrum so don't expect Blade or Underworld. The CGI animation and coloring of John C. Reilly's pet spider was amazing, but then again any quality CGI animation done nowadays should be and usually is amazing. The makeup effects, set design and costumes were well done and give the movie an interesting modern Gothic appearance and feel.

The characters were interesting and I found myself pretty involved in the story. Comparing this film to the wildly successful Twilight films, the two out so far any ways, Cirque is much more interesting. There are no moping or perfect looking Twilight characters and Cirque was just more interesting than both Twilight 1 and 2. I love John C. Reilly and vampire movies so this was my primary motivation for seeing this in the theater. Reilly's character was not in his usual comedic or musical roles so it was good to see him do something completely different. Willem Defoe has a smaller role in this film and plays a very interesting vampire character as well.

All in all this movie is worth seeing and if you are a genre fan it is probably worth owning.

Buy Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) Now

Cirque du Freak is based on the first trilogy of The Saga of Darren Shan, a set of twelve books (four trilogies) by the Irish writer Darren O'Shaughnessy (pen name: Darren Shan, just like his hero's). These teen/young adult oriented novels have a worldwide following and been translated to over 25 languages.

Darren is a teen with a charmed life: popular, smart, from an upper class family, he is destined for a productive and orderly life of college-job-family. This order however is disrupted one night, when, after some prodding from his troubled best friend Steve, Darren attends a late night performance of Cirque du Freak. When Darren's actions put Steve's life in danger, a vampire performer from Cirque du Freak is the only one with the power to save the young man. And so, Darren strikes a deal: in exchange for his friend's life, Darren will abandon his family and become the vampire's assistant; a half vampire himself. Unbeknownst to him, a war has been brewing between the two fractions of the vampire world. Both Darren and Steve are destined to be major players in the coming events...

Even though, clearly, I am beyond the teen/young adult years, I found the story compelling enough to investigate further. I am pleased to report that most of the film's production values, including CGI, were impeccable. John C. Reilly as the vampire Larten Crepsley was surprisingly convincing. The number of big name actors who made an appearance in the film was astonishing. So, why only two stars? Well, there were two major problems:

1) The actors chosen to portray Darren and Steve not only lacked chemistry, but lacked the abilities to emote deep feelings. Consequently, what should have been a dramatic decision to leave his family comes across as nothing more then a minor blip on Darren's schedule. What should have been a complex feud between two friends who go on to become leaders of the opposing vampire fractions, seemed as nothing more then two silly characters bickering at one another.

2) Secondly, even though the story was great, the script was poor. Despite the fact that we learned of the events in a chronological order, their lack of clarity was unacceptable.

The film ended with many unanswered questions. Counting on audience support, there were three sequences planned, one for each trilogy. I suppose those plans must be on hold at the moment, given the poor turn out at the box office. Shame really. I think the books disserved better...

Read Best Reviews of Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) Here

The film is visually lush and entertaining. As usual, John C. Reilly does not disappoint. I saw this movie on cable, and loved it so much I added it too my collection!

Want Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009) Discount?

I first saw this movie on HBO and loved it. Its fun and campy. I did see a lot of bad reviews on line about it not following the story line of the book series. And yes, it doesn't follow the books for the most part. If you want something that closely follows the books then this is not for you. If you can watch it as entertainment then go for it. It does have the basic plot of good vs bad and in this movie it's good vampire vs bad vampanese. It's geared for children but adults will enjoy it as well. I did enjoy the movie enough to buy all 12 of the Cirque Du Freak books. If you can view each as two seperate works and not try to match movie to books and just enjoy it as entertainment then you'll enjoy the movie.

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G-Force (2009)

Didn't see this on the product listing.

All details are according to Disney's official website for this DVD.

1-Disc DVD

*bare bones, movie only

2-Disc DVD

BONUS FEATURES:

* G-Farce Bloopers And Flubs

* Deleted Scenes

* Exciting Music Videos

-"Jump" By Flo Rida Featuring Nelly Furtado

--"Ready To Rock" By Steve Rushton

--"Go G-Force"

* Blaster's Boot Camp -High-Tech G-Force Training

* G-Force Mastermind -Producer Jerry Bruckheimer And CG whiz/Director Hoyt Yeatman Reveal The Inspiration Behind The Movie

* DisneyFile Digital Copy -Watch Your DVD In The Living Room And Your DisneyFile Digital Copy On The Go!

3-Disc Blu-ray + DVD

* Exclusive To Disney Blu-ray

-Cine-Explore With Darwin, Blaster & Their Creator

-Bruckheimer Animated: A Look Back At His CG Work

-Access Granted: Inside The Animation Lab

* G-Farce -Bloopers And Flubs

* Deleted Scenes

* Exciting Music Videos

-"Jump" By Flo Rida Featuring Nelly Furtado

--"Ready To Rock" By Steve Rushton

--"Go G-Force"

* Blaster's Boot Camp -High-Tech G-Force Training

* G-Force Mastermind -Inspiration Behind The Movie

* DVD Of Film

It is my prediction--but what do I know?--that "G-Force" will NOT win an Oscar for Best Picture. It may not even pack 'em in the theaters the way "Cars" did. What it will do is entertain children--AND adults--and even teach a lesson or two.

It is a summer ritual that I take my great-nieces (2) and -nephew to see a movie at the theater. We all chose "G-Force" because of television ads. Prior to going, Carolina (age 5) went up to everyone she knew and quoted--with great voice intonation and perfect facial expressions--this line from the movie: "You put a bow on me, you lose a finger!" After we saw the movie Carolina added the second line: "You put a dress on me and you lose the whole hand!"

It won't be a bad spoiler, will it, if I say that not only does this character get a bow and a dress, but she gets lipstick as well! That's the final insult, but Juarez (the character), must play along to win her freedom.

And that's one vital point of the plot: Win their freedom. They've been sold as pets! Blaster and Juarez, guinea pigs--make that scientifically and genetically altered guinea pigs--are actually government agents trained by Ben (a human) to use sophisticated weapons to obtain secrets for the government. In short, they are spies with special talents.

Although the plot is fun and perhaps a little scary for wee ones (not my 5-year-old Carolina), the older crowd (5 and older) seemed to really enjoy the movie. Obviously, the humor is meant for all ages because I heard myself laughing--out loud (I'm grandparent age)! Even Carolina kept whispering, "This is awesome!"

Of course, Colby (the 9-year-old) loved Blaster. He always loves the "goofy" ones (because he considers himself a "goofy" one). Tracy Morgan wonderfully delivers this voice--and sometimes steals the scene. The main character, Darwin, the capable leader, is narrated by Sam Rockwell, and is deliberate, yet carefully heroic.

In fact, I was sure Nicholas Cage voices Darwin, but no, Nick plays the mole, the brilliant technology character. Who would have thought it?

But the real surprise is Juarez, voiced by Penelope Cruz! Juarez was my particular favorite, who plays the keep-'em-guessing governmental agent with exactly the right tempo--a little mild flirting, but focused concentration on the job at hand. It is this character with the "lose a finger" line. Delivered perfectly! Juarez is totally delightful!

However, the best thing about "G-Force" is the message. Bottom line: Everyone is special. Everyone has talents. It sometimes takes a skilled person to instill that self-confidence and bring out those talents. The scientist Sam is the one in the film. In "ordinary" life (there is much talk of being ordinary), it is often teachers who bring out these talents. It was a good lesson.

One neg about the movie: The poster accompanying this review is a very weak choice for advertisement (that little blue one next to the reviews). When the picture is small, the front guinea pig (Darwin) looks like an elephant or perhaps a Jewish man from the Old Testament. I know the poster depicts a brave scene, but I suggest replacing it with one of color that shows the courage and derring-do of these wonderful guinea pigs.

Note: Parents, please don't buy your child a guinea pig just because they are so cute in this film. Animal activists are worried about this. You know, the-bunny-and-chicks-at-Easter syndrome.)

You might also rethink your kitchen appliances! If you ask why, you might lose a finger...or a hand...or worse!

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I thought this was a really good and very funny movie! I thought the guinea pigs were cute. This movie is filled to the brim with action, suspense, and comedy! A team of super intelligent guinea pigs named Darwin, Juarez, Blaster, and Speckles infiltrate the residence of Leonard Saber, who has been under FBI investigation for years. Saber has a sinister scheme that is set to occur in 29 hours. When the G-Force are shut down by the FBI, they must band together to stop Saber by any means necessary. When the evil plot happens, the gang must stop an unlikely villain who has betrayed them. Will G-Force save the world? I highly recommend G-FORCE!!!

Read Best Reviews of G-Force (2009) Here

What happens when you take a secret government program of trained animals and combine them with the latest in high-tech spy equipment? The result is G-FORCE.

The film became the first 3D film on the big screen by producer Jerry Bruckheimer ("National Treasure" films, "Pirates of the Caribbean" films, "The Rock, "Con Air" and "Top Gun") who teams up once again with Academy Award-winning visual effects master Hoyt H. Yeatman ("The Abyss", "Mighty Joe Young", "The Rock" and "Con Air") who directs the film.

The film about animals saving the world didn't go to well with the critics but at the box office, "G-Force" was quite successful as the film which was budgeted at $82.5 million made over $281 million worldwide.

Featuring an all-star cast, "G-FORCE" revolves around a secret US Government program using guinea pigs Darwin (voice by Sam Rockwell) as the squad leader, Blaster (voice of Tracy Morgan) as the outrageous weapons expert with attitude and Juarez (voice of Penélope Cruz) as the sexy martial arts pro and taking part in top secret espionage missions.

Joining the guinea pigs is star-nosed mole, Speckles (voice of Nicolas Cage), the computer and information specialist, the computer and information specialist and Mooch, the reconnaissance expert. Also, featuring pet shop layabout Hurley (voice by Jon Favreau) and territorial hamster Bucky (voice of Steve Buscemi).

The film also stars Bill Nighy as the sinister industrialist Leonard Saber, Will Arnett as Special Agent Kip Killian who is bent on shutting down G-FORCE, Zach Galifianakis as the creator and father figure of G-FORCE, Kelli Garner as the team's veterinarian and many more.

The "G-Force" Blu-ray release comes with the Blu-ray, a DVD and a digital copy.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"G-Force" is featured in 1080p High Definition (2:40:1). The actual merging of CG animation and real characters actually works extremely well for this film. Sony Pictures ImageWorks did a wonderful job on the CG and special effects. A lot of good ideas were implemented in the film in terms of the animation of the G-Force team. Especially hair effects as you can see the detail of the animals when they are wet or dry. As usual with Disney releases on Blu-ray, picture quality is fantastic. Along with the details of the G-Force team, their surroundings are detailed and when outdoors, the colors are vibrant. Blacks are nice and deep and I spotted no problems with artifacting, banding at all.

Audio is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD (48 kHz/24-bit) and French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. Lossless audio is actually pretty well done. Good utilization of the rear channels for the action scenes, as explosions and glass shattering comes out quite clear from the surround channels. "G-Force" tends to use quite a bit of music from the Black Eyed Peas, Lady GaGa and Flo Rida, so the music is quite clear and contains quite a bit of bass. Subwoofer tends to utilize the bass of the music quite a bit. But overall, a solid lossless audio track.

As for the voice acting, I felt the talent did a good job. Nicolas Cage really surprised me with his squeaky, nerdy voice for tech master Speckles. Penelope Cruz as the voice of female guinea pig Juarez worked quite well. Although, Tracy Morgan sounds like Tracy Morgan but overall, the voice talent did a good job.

Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"G-Force" contains several special features in 1080p or 1080i, English 5.1 or 2.0 Dolby Digital and with English SDH, French or Spanish subtitles:

* Cine-Explore with Darwin, Blaster and their Creator While watching the film, you can watch along with Darwin, Blaster and Directory Hoyt Yeatman. As you watch, the movie will pause when a video comes up, showing behind-the-scenes of the film. Unlike previous Blu-ray releases where the picture is picture-in-picture, Cine-Explore features the film in a stylized window while other G-Force related footage or facts are being shown on screen. Very cool feature!

* Blaster's Boot Camp (4:41) A featurette with Blaster (voiced by Tracy Morgan) explaining the training that one must do in order to become part of G-Force.

* G-Force Mastermind(4:13) Director Hoyt H. Yeatman talking about how the concept came from his five-year-old son. Young Hoyt talks about how the idea came about and his experience of working on the film.

* Bruckheimer Animated -(3:12) A featurette about Jerry Bruckheimer's involvement in CG work for past films. Featuring Jerrry Bruckheimer and Hoyt Yeatman and how the two worked together in "Armageddon", "Con Air", etc. and past films that Bruckheimer utilized animation and technology.

* Access Granted: Inside the Animation Lab (7:51) Utilizing Sony Pictures ImageWorks to do the animation and special effects for the film. A tour is given by Hoyt Yeatman of the headquarters and showing how various parts of animation were created (lighting, hair, etc.).

* G-Farce Bloopers (1:49) Bloopers from "G-Force".

* Deleted Scenes -(6:18) A total of six deleted scenes: March of the Cockroach, Mooch's Donut Regiment, B-B-Bunies, Undercover Pets, Hurley Under Attack, World Domination.

* Music Videos Featuring three music videos: "Jump" by Flo Rida feat. Nelly Furtado, "Ready to Rock" by Steve Rushton and "Go Go-Force".

* Learn How to Take Your Favorite Movies on the Go (1:04) A promo trailer for DisneyFile Digital Copy.

JUDGMENT CALL:

"G-Force" may not have been a popular film among the critics but for a family film, "G-Force" was actually fun. The idea of "G-Force" came from Hoyt H. Yeatman's five year old son at the time about wanting to use his animals to take on bad guys. And it's an idea that visual master Yeatman toiled around his head and six years later, became a feature film.

Special effects were done quite well and there are many big budget films where CG animation and real-life filmmaking just doesn't work but for "G-Force", it worked quite well (especially if it costs over $80 million to make, it better work well).

Parents may wonder why the film has a PG rating and there is mild action with the team trying to take on Saber's "weapons" but in terms of the rude humor, there is a lot of farting (courtesy of the gassy guinea pig Hurley) and scenes where the rodents are stuck in a sphere and you hear jokes such as "get your butt out of my face. No, you get your face out of my butt" type of jokes but that is the worst it gets. Now of course, there are scenes where a child puts one of the G-Force team members in a remote control car and crashes it into G.I. Joe action figures or tries to jump a ramp with it inside the car. And another scene where a girl plays dress up with the guinea pig and puts nail polish and lipstick on the animal. Of course, parents who have children with hamsters or guinea pigs will best explain to them not to do that at home despite seeing it onscreen.

As far as the Blu-ray release is concerned, you get a solid 3-disc release (Blu-ray, DVD and digital copy) and plenty of special features to keep the children busy during this holiday season. The "Cine-Explore" feature was especially well-utilized on this Blu-ray release.

In the end, this film is a enjoyable, action-packed family film targeted for the children. I've read many reviews by critics who just have a disdain of rodents saving the world via technology and look at it as a stupid concept. Granted, for some of those reviewers, I'm sure when they were children, the concept of Lassie, Flipper and Benji were probably regarded by critics of their time as a bit over-the-top as well. Granted, those animals were not hooked up to high tech devices and were used to save the world but granted, this is not the film to exactly take seriously. The same happened with the release of "Stuart Little" back in 1999 and critics had a hard time moving past the talking rodent but sure enough, that film inspired sequels and direct-to-DVD movies and was quite successful.

Overall, I felt it "G-Force" was a fun concept. Where "Stuart Little" was more of a happy film about family, "G-Force" was about camaraderie and trying to save the world. Sure, the concept is farfetched but if you're taking this film that seriously, you're not going to enjoy this film at all. I watched it along with my six-year-old and we both enjoyed it. And as a parent, I felt it was a fun film with action, hijinks and a lot of music from The Black Eyed Peas.

Definitely a family film and a Blu-ray release worth checking out!

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Ben (Zach Galifianakis) has spent his life working with rodents. And it's paid off. This FBI scientist has figure out a way to communicate with them and train them to go on covert missions. But his funding is about to be taken away. As a last second hail Mary, he sends out his crack team, consisting of a fly, three guinea pigs, and a mole, to infiltrate a house and get a file off a computer.

The mission is a big success, or so it appears. The next day, at the review, things go horribly wrong and the project is shut down. The rodents manage to escape to a pet store, but the FBI wants them to keep the entire project completely secret. Can the rodents escape and foil the plot they've uncovered? Or will the FBI track them down first?

I talked into seeing this movie by my roommate. The previews just never convinced me it would be great. And I was right.

Now don't get me wrong. There were some genuine laughs in the film. The mice we meet in the pet store stole the show, for example. I couldn't stop laughing at them. The effects were very well done, too. But the majority of the movie wasn't that great.

The plot was full of cliches from start to finish. That's not necessarily a deal killer for me, but the rest of the movie has to be good enough to make up for it, and it wasn't.

One of the big problems was that the movie just didn't feel like it was going anywhere. There were lots of jokes and pop cultural references, and I felt like they were designed to hide the fact that the plot was weak from us. Even the characters were flat and dull. And I really feel sorry for the humans in the movie who were little more than cardboard characters. Even the dialogue the characters had was so trite it was cringe worthy.

If you can see this movie for free, you'll find a few good laughs. But it isn't worth paying any money for.

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Meatloaf: Guilty Pleasure Tour, Live From Sydney

64-year-old Meat Loaf hits the stage in Sydney (shortly after a disastrous live performance at the AFL final) accompanied by an army of HD cameras filming what he announced to fans would be one of his final trips to perform in Australia/New Zealand. He makes restitution in full for the AFL nightmare.

The Set-list:

Hot Patootie Bless My Soul/Time Warp

If It Ain't Broke, Break It

Bat Out of Hell

Peace on Earth

Living on the Outside

Los Angeloser

You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)

Rock and Roll Dreams Come Through

Stand in the Storm

I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)

Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

Paradise by the Dashboard Light

Boneyard/Freebird/All Revved Up medley

Mercury Blues

+a 30-minute documentary offering a backstage look at Meat in preparation for taking the stage

The Good:

The video is outstanding; I'd even go so far as to say flawless. It's simultaneously grand and intimate, basked in vivid colours, and tack-sharp HD. The audio mix on the Blu-ray is equally without fault offering dynamics, impact, clarity, and openness. The addition of a violinist and a sax-player to the band adds a great twist to some of the sound. In particular, the sax-player (Dave Luther) is musically astounding; I've always felt that live rock is aided by the presence of a sax and this is absolute proof. Meat's band has for for 30 years been the single best in the entire business and they are note-perfect here for every second of the performance. Some pieces have been changed out from the long-term lineup, most notably Justin Avery is in and Mark Alexander is out. While I loved Alexander, Avery's take on the songs is fresh and captivating he takes the old and familiar and makes them new and intriguing; he's a jaw-dropping talent. Meat's voice isn't what it once was owing to decades of destructive abuse; however, it gets stronger as the show goes along. Meat himself is a showman without equal in the music industry and he turns in an honest, genuine, heart-felt evening of fun. It was also wonderfully refreshing to have some new songs inserted into a setlist that had remained largely unchanged for several tours. The documentary is a great add-on.

The Bad:

Nothing big really. As mentioned, if you're watching a concert only to hear flawless, prerecorded, Mariah-runs then you're unlikely to be wowed. If, however, you came for a big show by one of the best showman ever, then this shouldn't be a concern. I thought a couple of the tracks were unusual choices and I always wish that Meat would draw in some of his great Bad Attitude tracks as that album has been largely forgotten despite representing one of the best recording outings of his career.

The Verdict:

Essential for any Meat Loaf fan. The best video/audio offering of any Meat concert. The vocals have been better on past concerts, but they in no way leave you feeling let down. The best band that Meat's ever toured with. 5 stars out of 5 without reservations of any sort.

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Bird With A Crystal Plumage (2009)

THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE

[L'Uccello dalle Piume di Cristallo]

(Italy/W.Germany 1969)

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (Cromoscope)

Theatrical soundtrack: Mono

Even those who don't care for writer-director Dario Argento's later baroque extravaganzas may warm to his debut feature, a well-received thriller in which an American writer living in Rome (Tony Musante) witnesses an assault on a woman in an art gallery and is subsequently targeted by the would-be assassin, a crazed psychopath who's been terrorizing the city with a series of brutal murders. Typical of an Argento thriller, the hapless hero's investigation unleashes a cycle of violence which culminates in a climactic unmasking that will take some viewers completely by surprise.

Loosely inspired by Fredric Brown's novel 'The Screaming Mimi' (filmed under that title in 1958), Argento's first film is a fairly straightforward thriller with horror asides, anchored by a strong narrative, an increasingly bizarre series of supporting characters, and a strong Everyman hero who slots the puzzle together piece by piece before realizing that the most important clue to the killer's identity was there in front of him all the time. Musante is given excellent support by English actress Suzy Kendall as his girlfriend (the scene in which she's besieged alone in her apartment as the killer hacks through the door with a knife is truly the stuff of nightmares) and Enrico Maria Salerno as the cop charged with finding the killer before he/she strikes again.

Despite Argento's prior screenwriting credits, including significant contributions to the script of Sergio Leone's ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1969), producers were unconvinced of his directorial abilities and wanted to pull him off the picture during the first few weeks of shooting, but Argento persevered under an iron-clad contract and ultimately proved his critics wrong with the finished product, a genuinely engrossing mystery punctuated by scenes of explicit horror.

The film puts a late-1960s Italian spin on the kind of movie that Hitchcock had already popularized in America, and is leavened with the same kind of uproarious humor: Salerno gets the best line of dialogue during a police line-up when he despairs: "How many times do I have to tell you? Ursula Andress belongs with the transvestites, not the perverts!" And later, an outrageously camp antiques dealer offers a jaw-dropping description of one of the killer's former victims: "It was said she preferred women. I couldn't care less I'm no racist, for heaven's sake!" Briskly edited by Franco Fraticelli, and featuring a brief appearance from distinctive character actor Reggie Nalder (MARK OF THE DEVIL, SALEM'S LOT) as an assassin-for-hire, "Bird" is arguably Argento's warmest, most humane thriller until TENEBRAE in 1982.

I really couldn't tell you why I have yet to watch every film in Dario Argento's filmography. A few years ago it was easy to claim ignorance of many of this Italian director's important works because it was often so difficult to find any of them in an uncut form. Fortunately, DVD arrived on the scene and salivating film fans with dollars to spend prodded numerous companies to start churning out any movie they could get their hands on to satiate the masses. It wasn't too long before practically every Argento film arrived on store shelves, with many of these releases being the uncut, unrated editions. Even Troma, the flagship of flaccid filmmaking, released a so-so version of Argento's "The Stendhal Syndrome." People outside of the world of Italian horror cinema have most likely never heard of Dario Argento, unfortunately. These days, more people are familiar with the director's beautiful daughter Asia than with the horror maestro himself. What a shame. Argento's films, at least the ones I have seen, are masterpieces of style injected with truly cringe inducing gore. And to think it all started in earnest with this engaging Hitchcockian thriller, "The Bird With the Crystal Plumage." Argento and his fans never looked back, but this is an apt starting point for those unfamiliar with this director's work.

An American reporter staying in Rome witnesses a truly shattering event one evening when he sees a gruesome assault takes place inside of an art gallery. Barred from interfering with the proceedings due to huge sliding glass doors, Sam Dalmas can only look on with horror as two figures, one clad entirely in black and the other a woman, struggle with each other over a very shiny knife. The person in black flees the scene of the crime, leaving behind the hapless woman with a knife wound to the abdomen. When Dalmas does his duty by calling in the police, his story leads the officers to cast a doubtful eye on the concerned American. The police insist that Sam stay in Rome until the investigation turns up some clues, much to the consternation of Dalmas and his pretty girlfriend Julia. It seems that Sam was planning to leave Rome, but all bets are off as more murders occur that the police suspect are linked to the crime seen by Dalmas. Moreover, Julia and Sam start receiving grim phone calls from an unknown person who almost certainly is the figure behind these crimes. Our hero is in a real fix, with his only supporters being his woman and a friend who works at a museum. At least the cops start to come over to his side as the bodies pile up, especially once they listen to those eerie phone calls. A unique sound in the background of one of these calls provides the break Dalmas needs to identify the killer he saw on that fateful night. The conclusion has more twists and turns than a cyclone.

"The Bird With the Crystal Plumage" helped inaugurate the era of the Italian giallo (Italian for yellow), so named because in Italy cheap paperback crime novels came with yellow covers. These are the films with the anonymous, black-gloved killers toting gruesome looking knives while stalking their mostly female prey. The crimes are often seen from the point of view of the killer, giving the audience the impression that they are part of the heinous murders. Argento plays the giallo for all its worth here, matching this disturbing technique with a great score by the inestimable Ennio Morricone and camera work rarely seen in the horror genre. The cinematography here is simply divine, with the director including a shot from the point of view of a man falling from a tall building and an ultra cool scene where the camera points at a lighted doorway from inside a darkened room. All these elements combine to make this film a taut thriller of enormously entertaining dimensions. Moreover, of the few Argento films I have seen to date, "The Bird With the Crystal Plumage" contains one of his most coherent plotlines.

Gorehounds might find themselves a bit disappointed with the lack of the trademark Argento gore (no sharp corners to bash a head against here!) in this movie, but the stellar camera work, truly creepy scenes of murder and mayhem, and the strong performances from Tony Musante as Sam Dalmas and Suzy Kendall in the Julia role more than make up for the 'PG' rating. Still, that rating made me wonder a bit about what the people at the MPAA were thinking when they viewed this picture. There is upsetting violence here, along with some truly disturbing scenes that hint at where Argento would go in the future. The way the killer caresses those weird looking blades (one of which, I am almost certain, appeared in a later Argento film called "Deep Red") and the participatory effect the audience feels during the killings makes you wonder how this movie got off with such a mundane rating.

The DVD version of "The Bird With the Crystal Plumage" is strictly bare bones: you get the film and a trailer, which is good considering its relative obscurity but could have been better. As others have said, the audio is quite muzzy at times and the picture quality isn't anything to write home to mother about. After viewing this picture and a couple of other Argento films, I must say I really enjoy how these movies mess with your mind. Just when you think you know what's going on, good old Dario throws another curveball. He does this in many of his films, but he does it here for the first time. What a joy it is to watch it today!

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Ever buy a widescreen movie and wonder if its true ws aspect? Even though it has the black strips at top and bottom something is very amiss with this print. The credits cannot be read as they run off the screen on one side or the other or both. The movie itself deserves four stars but while watching, it is evident thats its not ws ratio. Hopefully someone, perhaps Anchor Bay can give us the real deal.

Read Best Reviews of Bird With A Crystal Plumage (2009) Here

This blu-ray was discontinued months ago by Blue-Underground and is simply no longer available through normal distribution channels. Amazon has been listing this as "temporarily out of stock" and taking orders for well over a month: it simply is NOT available! Amazon needs to update their listing for this blu-ray.

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For many years, I'd felt that of the Argento films I'd seen, Deep Red (Profundo Roso) was easily my favorite. However, recently I ordered on DVD that movie, Suspiria, Inferno, and Bird Witb a Crystal Plumage. And while I'm glad to have all four in my collection, I've concluded that at least for the time being Bird has become my top choice, which surprises me.

Bird really benefits from the increased production values of DVD over VHS (I've owned a copy for the past decade): the cinematography (thank you, Vittorio Storaro & crew) is astounding. There are times when I feel like I can reach right out and touch buildings, foliage, people. It's that visually tactile. Also, the film is very tight. Little, if any, wasted space and it's a talky picture, too. Fortunately, a good chunk of the dialogue is funny, sometimes hilarious (check out the scene when protagonist Tony Musante visits a painter whose work looks to be a significant clue in a series of mysterious murders that Musante is investigating in tandem with the police).

The mystery's a good one, too. And the use of repetition works like repeated motifs/actions should: a fascinating revelation of the process of memory and how we may construct and reconstruct events through it. Though Bird's use of repetition looks something like DePalma's Blow Out (released over a decade later than Bird), it has more in common with that other late '60s enigmatic masterwork, Blow Up.

We also benefit from an imaginative musical soundtrack by the recent lifetime Academy Award winner, Ennio Morricone, who scored several of Argento's earliest efforts, including Four Flies on Grey Velvet (where has that gone?) and Cat o' Nine Tails. While I enjoy the pulsing, thrashing musics of Goblin in Deep Red and Suspiria, Morricone's pieces are more surprising and impishly playful in much the same way Argento plays with us including his use of a false ending.

Okay, so it's his first major direction. And the dubbing into English is, well, dubbing into English. But the suspense builds and builds, intelligently, leaving this viewer more than satisfied after repeated screenings. If you're into Argento and you've overlooked this one, please get with it! And if you're a newcomer to this horror/mystery master, this is an excellent place to start. And do see it on DVD.

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