It seems fitting that I review a film, made by twin brothers, and starring my twin, Denzel. I am kidding. Ok, working with your brother can’t be easy. I can’t even watch a movie with mine without an argument. The Hughes brothers’ last feature was From Hell, in 2001. The Book of Eli is evidence of a maturing filmmaking team. The film is a work of art, and “work” is the operative word, here. Eli is a carefully constructed and assembled film that only suffers from a little pacing problem here and there. A collage of visual effects, sound engineering and set design and action sequences.
It’s a scorched Earth of the future. Our setting is a harsh land, with much dust, people barely living, with little water and without hope. The heat can be felt coming up off of the road. A scruffy-looking Denzel, playing the titular wandering hero Eli, shows us that he isn’t slowing down. He dropped major weight that he had put on for his role in The Taking of Pelham 123 and trained extensively for the fight sequences. Oldman plays the surprisingly clean-cut nemesis, a powerful man who rules over a bustling, filthy, frontier town, whose quest for a particular book takes a turn when he meets Eli.
This isn’t a film about the end of the world. The story and setting speak of the things that we take for granted. The things we covet and the things that have true value. That being said, it’s also an action packed, wandering lone-wolf-kicking-butt-and-taking-names kind of movie. The action sequences have a great flow to them. These scenes build to a boil beautifully and then explode, but it’s the story that pulls you in. Often, stories that remind audiences of an organized religion can hurt a film these days. Anything spiritual is generally easier to discuss in more ethereal terms. Sure, the danger is there, but The Book of Eli never becomes preachy.
As you would expect from greats, Oldman and Denzel, the performances are more than solid; however, Mila Kunis may not have been the best choice for the female lead of the film – a young girl captivated by Eli, who follows him out of the ramshackle town she calls home, into the wild, wild wasteland where she becomes instrumental in the destiny of his much coveted ‘book’. She definitely looked the part, but her portrayal of the Solara character seems to be missing a layer or two. It’s unfortunate, but not too distracting.
The 1080p/VC-1 transfer is outstanding. True and sharp, the de-saturated colors of the barren landscapes are achieved with detailed matte paintings and digital magic. With no loss of detail, textures are clear without popping out at you. Blacks are rich and suffer only a little in some of the more heavy contrast shots.
The soundtrack is at times appropriately bleak and then hope-inspiring. It is sprinkled with little blurps and noises, adding a sonic texture to the film that helps to create and lead your ear to anticipate tense moments. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 surround soundtrack makes the most of its muscle during the action sequences. Bullets whiz and ricochet. Blades slash and swish. Wood splinters and debris flies in stunning clarity and explosive force. Dialogue is cleanly audible, with a lot of the front-end of the sound doing the work there–The low-end booms without ever becoming obnoxious. My only complaint here would be the volume of the P-i-P track in Maximum Movie Mode: It’s too low compared to the film. Designed to be watched along the course of the film, the level jump, back into the film, is too high, and it will have you riding your volume button a bit.
Packed with extras, including Warner’s BD-Live link, this combo pack came with a DVD and digital copy to make sure that all of your bases are covered. Presented in HD, feuturettes introduce us to the film’s composer, Atticus Ross, and through cast and crew interviews, we delve into the deconstruction and construction required for the look and feel of the film. “Focus Points” of the filmmaking process are viewable both as separate features and as incorporated vignettes from the Maximum Movie Mode feature. Also included, are (very few) deleted scenes and a motion-comic type of piece entitled “A Lost Tale: Billy“, which gives us some further insight to the Carnegie character played by Oldman.
This film definitely merits a viewing. Proving that they can not be counted out, the Hughes brothers deliver a worthy film about a righteous journeyman, affecting the landscape of the new west as he goes on his own private pilgrimage. I am anxious to see what they have planned next.
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]]>Do you see that video up above? That’s a clip from a new Dark Knight featurette called “Truck Flip“, detailing one of the practical effect shots from the film, with director Christopher Nolan and special effects supervisor, Chris Corbould narrating. This featurette is not included on the Blu-ray edition of the film that you probably already own. And it’s only a part of a package of 31-minutes of brand new, never before seen bonus content, only just revealed. Could this mean that Warner is preparing one of their Ultimate Collector’s Edition box sets for the film?
Given how embarrassingly feature-light The Dark Knight Blu-ray turned out, it’s quite likely that we’ll eventually see a UCE boxed set. But there have yet to be any solid indications of a new disc release for the title. Certainly nothing official from Warner Home Video. This new 31-minute collection of extras is only currently available to those who download the film from iTunes. But I’m guessing that it’s a timed exclusive and that Apple will lose the right to be the only one to offer it by the holiday season. Now, we could, by all rights be allowed access to these new features over BD-Live but that wouldn’t figure into the usual studio cycle of double and triple-dipping hot titles like this. So I wouldn’t bet the bank on that happening. But I won’t be surprised to find a new Dark Knight Blu-ray boxed set on the shelves this December or next, complete with this collection of new featurettes and more. That sounds about right. And hey, if we’re lucky, perhaps we’ll even get a Nolan commentary track this time around!
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]]>I’m kind of desperate to rush out and grab up my number one pick this week. It’s such a profound favourite of mine that I can barely think about any of these other titles as a result. Ah hell, let’s just dive right in…
I know full well that Mystery Train is far from Jim Jarmusch‘s best film. But it’s the one that I happen to like best. Maybe it’s because my initial viewing of it was at a very pivotal time for me and my appreciation of film. Or maybe it’s just because it was my first exposure to his work. But Jarmusch’s filmmaking just captured me here. It spoke to me and spoke to the potential of the medium as I understood it. Before Mystery Train, I wasn’t aware that you could tell more than one story in a film!
This is anthology filmmaking at its best, as far as I’m concerned. Three tales, each focusing on a collection of outsiders as they converge and spiral through the city of Memphis, with the spirit of “The King” always lingering just off screen. The town is lonely and dark, the music timeless (Elvis Presley, Otis Redding, Roy Orbison, etc.) and the performances outstanding across the board. I can’t wait to check out what Criterion have done with this film on Blu-ray. Here’s a list of special features from their site:
DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised and approved by director Jim Jarmusch (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
- Q&A with Jarmusch in which he responds to questions sent in by fans
- Excerpts from the 2001 documentary Screamin’ Jay Hawkins: I Put a Spell on Me
- Original documentary on the film’s locations and the rich social and musical history of Memphis
- On-set photos by Masayoshi Sukita and behind-the-scenes photos
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by writers Dennis Lim and Peter Guralnick
I think I can safely say that I enjoyed The Book of Eli a lot more than I was expecting to. It’s a lot of what’s good about the best spaghetti westerns multiplied by a healthy dose of Mad Max – a moral man who just happens to be a bad-ass, making his way across a post apocalyptic wasteland. Films like this always force the protagonist, whether Max, Clint or, in this case, Eli as portrayed by Denzel Washington, to protect or fight for a MacGuffin (“a plot element that catches the viewers’ attention or drives the plot of a work of fiction.”) And, as I’m sure you can guess, Eli’s all about his book. The Blu-ray looks and sounds just short of perfect, with stylish photography and very effective, moody music. Not too shabby.
Full review later in the week.
You’ll never believe me when I tell you this. I haven’t seen a single one of these films yet. I’ve never seen either of the Vengeance films (Sympathy for Lady Vengeance or Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance) or the very famous and apparently incredible Oldboy. None of them. I was really hoping Palisades Tartan would get me a review set of discs here but no luck. I have a feeling, however, that when I finally pick these discs up, I’m going to love these films. My girlfriend places Oldboy on a list of three films I’ve yet to see that she’s certain I’ll love (the other two being Cinema Paradiso and Stardust.) Have you grabbed up this disc set? Is it as awesome as I’m assuming it is?
4. FLASH GORDON
I’m not going to write out the lyrics to the Queen theme song here. Much as it feels like a natural impulse to do so when addressing this film. The infamous 80s adaptation of Flash Gordon seems to have gone down in trash cinema history as a result of having a truly incredible, truly camp soundtrack that has stood the test of time. And for that reason alone, for the opportunity of hearing Freddie Mercury blasting through your speakers in lossless audio, I’m recommending this new Blu-ray disc. It’s a vast improvement over the DVD in the audio department and manages to look a whole hell of a lot better at the same time. Sadly, the effects are still crap and the production design, the height of cheese. Hail Ming!
Loathe as I am to feed into the current Michael Cera infatuation at hand, I’m placing Youth in Revolt in the number five slot this week, if for no other reason than if you see the film, you’ll have the singular pleasure of enjoying the actor playing his character Nick’s moustachioed, douchebag alter-ego, François Dillinger. Which is something slightly different for the previously one-note performer. Those not tired of his typical shy nerd-schtick can catch up with Cera this summer in the adaptation of the popular Scott Pilgrim comics, where he’ll be combining his geek powers with all-out, video-game-style action sequences.
ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK
Clicking an image will take you to Amazon.com where you can learn more about and purchase the Blu-ray disc:
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There are parts of Luc Besson‘s Léon, as the film is know everywhere else in the world, that feel dated. As much as I love Bjork and her music, as soon as her song Venus as a Boy started playing over a scene, I felt like I was back in the 90s. That and the fashion on display in every shot of the film, of course. Oh, and Natalie Portman is a little, 11-year old girl. Yeah. That was a long time ago. It struck me while watching the film again for the first time in ages that it must have been very influential for a lot of guys my age. I still see echos of Besson’s screenplay popping up in films and comics – that relationship between sympathetic killer and indigent innocent, the forbidden romance, the over-the-top melodramatic villain. All stuff that’s become commonplace in geek-media in the last decade and a bit. And the way the characters dress is still popular in nerd culture, despite the fashions in question being quite dated (round glasses, trench coats and chokers anyone?) Nevertheless, despite the film feeling of a specific time and place, it still plays. It’s still strong. And it’s such a fun ride!
Léon is somewhat of an extension of the popular “cleaner” character Reno played in Besson’s La Femme Nikita. Léon The Professional is not a direct sequel but it plays that way in spirit where Reno’s character is concerned. And he makes the most out of the starring role. It would be easy to say that Natalie Portman steals the show in this, her very first screen role. But while this is most-likely her finest performance, Reno out-classes her by a mile. His is a winning and subtle portrayal in every regard. I won’t even talk about Gary Oldman‘s over the top, villainous DEA Agent here. Oldman is, without question a genius. But I find everything he does here distracts from the film. It’s all too obvious. Too much “acting”. Reno’s Léon doesn’t need an antagonist to keep me interested. I could watch him take care of his plant, perform pig-puppetry and drink milk for hours. Genius.
Sony‘s new Léon The Professional Blu-ray disc looks and sounds phenomenal! Can this studio do anything wrong with their Blu-ray releases? Every catalogue title they issue, while perhaps not lighting the home video world on fire, is handled with so much respect and regard for the film and its presentation, they might deserve a reward for their efforts. The source material in this case is not the stuff of demo disc material. But this Blu-ray presentation is the best Léon has ever looked, filled with detail and an accurate representation of colour. The contrast has been bumped a little but I think the results are overall quite pleasing. The DTS-HD Master Audio is immersive and quite dynamic for a 15-year old film.
The Blu-ray may not feature as many supplemental materials as you’d hope, but what we’re given is quite good. Chief amongst them is the ability to watch either the American theatrical or “uncut” versions of the film, through seamless branching. Believe me when I tell you, the extra 24 minutes of footage in the longer cut makes all the difference. The longer cut also features an exclusive “Fact Track” that’s far more engaging than I was expecting. It plays along the bottom of the screen, like subtitles as you watch the film. There’s are also a handful of featurettes which are all quite good. Most of them were created in 2004 and show the cast and crew looking back on their experiences 10 years on.