|
"BLACK SWAN" Blu-ray Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: ****1/2 (out of 5 stars) BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: **** (out of 5 stars) Rated R Studio: Fox Searchlight Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Darren Aronofsky’s psychological thriller uncovers the brutal and competitive nature of the professional ballet world. Nina (Natalie Portman) is a beautiful ballerina who is quickly becoming detached from reality. When she wins the part of the lead in her company’s performance of “Swan Lake,” she slowly slips into insanity, facing unwanted advances from her director and confusing messages from a rival dancer (Mila Kunis).
WHAT I LIKED
Unlike many film fanatics out there, I don’t find Darren Aronofsky to be a director who can do no wrong. Same goes for other directors like David Fincher and Christopher Nolan. Any of these directors has the potential to make great films, they all have the ability to make not-so-great films. And some (like Aronofsky and his dreadful “The Fountain”) have proved they can do just that.
So the buzz leading up to “Black Swan” wasn’t felt by me. I was interested in the movie, sure, but I wasn’t dying to see it. However, when I finally had a chance to see it, the movie blew me away. Aronofsky has always been a director who gets wrapped up in his own art so much that it can be counterproductive. Such was the case with “The Fountain,” which was like a Terrence Malick film... all visuals and no substance. Even as good as Aronofsky’s “Requiem for a Dream” was, it felt at times like it existed to experiment with filming techniques rather than drive a plot.
“Black Swan” offers a perfect balance between Aronofsky’s more poetic works and his down-to-earth style of “The Wrestler.” He doesn’t abandon the style of the film, but he also uses all of his stylized moments to further the story.
And in the end, “Black Swan” is as much of a horror movie as it is an arthouse film or award piece. It follows the journey of a woman going insane, and he brings the viewer into her mind perfectly. You never quite know what’s real and what’s fantasy, but not in a cheap and lazy way. We are experiencing Nina’s journey, for better or for worse, for real or not.
Ballet carries a stigma of being soft and fluffy, but Aronofsky breaks that stereotype, buoyed up by Tchaikovsky’s brilliant and dark “Swan Lake” score. One of the best films of 2010, “Black Swan” is a sight to behold.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Not a whole lot. This is easily my favorite movie directed by Darren Aronofsky.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
The two-disc Blu-ray combo comes with a digital copy disc for portable viewing. The main disc also unlocks BD-Live extras, including behind-the-scenes options and Live LookUp, powered by IMDb.
The bulk of the bonus materials come in a feature-length behind-the-scenes documentary called “Metamorphosis.” This examines the development and production of the film, from a small independent picture to one that was contending for the highest honors in film.
Additional featurettes include “Behind the Curtain,” which looks into the influence that ballet had on the production; “Ten Years in the Making,” in which Aronofsky and Portman discuss how they developed and prepared for the film; and “Cast Profiles” from Fox Movie Channel, in which the stars reflect on their character development.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Fans of dark award films.
|
"CASINO JACK" Blu-ray Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: *1/2 (out of 5 stars) BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5 stars) Rated R Studio: Fox Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Kevin Spacey stars in this award-bait film about Jack Abramoff, a real-life Washington lobbyist who was finds himself in jail after charges of corruption. Told primarily in flashback form, “Casino Jack” examines the complex business dealings that brought the charges of corruption and how Abramoff handled the situation which got quickly out of control.
WHAT I LIKED
For all of its foibles, “Casino Jack” has spirit and spunk. It plays like a labor of love, and the people behind it and acting in it are really hoping to make a difference. Sadly, that didn’t work very well because audiences and critics seemed to have forgotten this movie as soon as it came out. But the heart is there.
I did like the delivery of the film, and how it was assembled. The vision behind it was solid, offering a punchy look at political lobbyists, trying to boil it all down for the average person to understand. And overall, the film is well acted.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Recently, I had the chance to see the film “The People Versus George Lucas,” which rips apart the filmmaker for all of the things he’s done to the “Star Wars” franchise. While that film made some good points (yes, Han shot first; yes, Jar Jar Binks was annoying), it just seemed too little too late. Had it come out in 2006, on the heels of “Revenge of the Sith,” it would have meant something... but five years later, not so much.
I feel the same way about “Casino Jack,” which would have been far more pertinent had it come out two years before it had. By the time it was released, the politics behind the story was old news. Everyone was out of office, and its finger-pointing was all for naught. Plus, it tackled such a complicated issue, the entire film reminded me of the classic “Saturday Night Live” sketch from the early 1990s in which they faked a “We Are the World” video to explain the Whitewater scandal.
Finally, while this film is pretty well acted, I got extremely annoyed with Kevin Spacey doing impressions of movie stars. I know this was Jack Abramoff’s shtick, but it became more of a showpiece to demonstrate Spacey’s impressionistic abilities rather than tell a decent story.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
This disc comes with some features, but not many, and definitely not enough to push a buy or rent if you’re not interested in the political angle of the feature itself. There’s a gag reel and a group of deleted scenes. The only other bonus feature is “Casino Jack: A Director’s Photo Diary,” which amounts to not much more than another version of a production stills slideshow.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
People who really want to stick it to George W. Bush a couple years too late and those who don’t get annoyed at Kevin Spacey’s Hollywood impersonations.
|
"STREET KINGS 2: MOTOR CITY" Blu-ray Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: **1/2 (out of 5 stars) BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars) Unrated Studio: Fox Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Ray Liotta and Shawn Hatosy star in this sequel to the theatrical 2008 crime drama. In this version, we find ourselves in the streets of Detroit, where an undercover narcotics team is getting picked off one by one. Marty Kingston (Liotta), the former leader of this team, works with a cocky homicide detective (Hatosy) to try and solve the murders.
WHAT I LIKED
Back in the day, long before DVD and Blu-ray, when second-tier films got their premieres on Showtime and Cinemax before finding their way to VHS, “Street Kings 2: Motor City” would have been very much at home. That might sound like a backhanded compliment – and I suppose it is to a certain degree – but it’s also a tip of the hat to the VHS revolution which existed in concert with the heyday of premium cable movies.
“Street Kings 2: Motor City” is not a great film. It’s not even a great cop film. But there are certain badass elements to it that make it enjoyable in a very decadent way. Ever since he starred in “Goodfellas,” Ray Liotta could walk onto a cop picture and get a red-blooded American movie fan excited. Sure, he phones in his performance a bit here, but it’s fun to see him moving back to his roots instead of doing films like “Charlie St. Cloud.”
I can’t say I’ll remember much about “Street Kings 2: Motor City” once I eject it from my player and it starts to collect dusts, but I didn’t have a terrible time watching it. It’s a forgettable film, but enjoyable while it lasted.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
All the problems that weigh down “Street Kings 2: Motor City” are what weighed down the straight-to-cable crime films of the 90s. It’s a relatively weak story with unlikable characters. In fact, Liotta’s character is the most likeable in the film, and he’s clearly painted as the gray character. Shawn Hatosy is such an unappealing actor that I had to consciously realize that he was supposed to be the good guy... and that was a stretch.
Filled with bad dialogue and line delivery meant to pay a mortgage rather than win any awards, “Street Kings 2: Motor City” is really only something a fan of the genre could love.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
The two-disc Blu-ray comes with a DVD of the film. Bonus material includes deleted scenes and an interactive personality guide that matches you with a particular firearm. Short, behind-the-scenes featurettes include “Murder Scene Deconstructions,” “Creating a Convincing Cop Story,” “An Explosive Opening” and “Motor City Setting.”
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Die-hard fans of cop movies... any cop movies.
