"SCARFACE"
Blu-ray Review by Kevin Carr
MOVIE: ***1/2 (out of 5 stars)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: **** (out of 5 stars)
Unlike many people in this land, I didn’t see “Scarface” until only a few years ago. I was too young for my parents to let me see it as a child, and I just never got around to seeing it in college. However, I will contend that it is one of Brian DePalma’s best films.
Telling the story of Tony Montana, a Cuban criminal who came over to Miami on the Mariel Boat Lift and worked his way to the biggest drug lord in the city, “Scarface” is a violent, intense and powerful flick. It’s easily Al Pacino’s greatest role because he had really honed himself as an actor by this point but hadn’t yet become a caricature of himself. It showed drug crime in a gritty, messy way, which hadn’t yet been fully realized on screen.
Even thirty years after the film was released, it’s a disturbing piece of work. Not just for the violence (although that is pretty intense even by today’s standards), but for its moral relativism. Prior to people like Quentin Tarantino, who helped usher in a new anti-hero, “Scarface” made us root for the guy even though he’s a terrible, terrible person.
For the first time, it’s been released on Blu-ray, and the movie looks pretty good, though it suffers from some contrast issues and other grain problems you see in older films like these that were not mastered for the digital home video market. But the full package is definitely worth checking out. That includes the original “Scarface” from 1932 on DVD as well as ten collectable art cards. Vintage DVD features are all included: deleted scenes as well as the featurettes “The World of Tony Montana,” “The Rebirth,” “The acting,” “The Creating,” “The Making of Scarface: The Video Game” and the somewhat humorous “Scarface: The TV Version.”
Exclusive Blu-ray features to this set includes the new feature-length documentary “The Scarface Phenomenon,” which includes some great and not-so-great interview subject but a nice retrospective of the film. There’s also the “Scarface Scorecard” which allows you to track the use of the word “fuck” as well as picture-in-picture video content.
"BRIDESMAIDS"
Blu-ray Review
by Kevin Carr
MOVIE: ** (out of 5 stars)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: **** (out of 5 stars)
While everyone was wetting themselves this summer over the comedy “Bridesmaids,” I was shaking my head. Sure, it had some funny moments, but it wasn’t that great. In fact, I kinda hated it. Then I showed it to my wife to get her take. And as if proving we were meant to be to be together, she didn’t like it either. “Bridesmaids” fell into a special category of critically beloved content that neither me nor my wife liked. It’s in good company, you could say, along with “Firefly” and “Serenity” as well as “(500) Days of Summer.”
What I didn’t like about it was the character of Annie (Kristen Wiig) was an awful person. She was a mopey, whiney, feel-sorry-for-myself kind of character who never really grew. Similarly, her friend (Maya Rudolph) was a wretched person as well, letting her father get roped into paying for a wedding far beyond his means. Additionally, the partial improv dialogue became tedious and less funny than if planned out. I know it’s a feminist film that shows that women can fart, burp and shit their pants just as much as men can, and I’m all for bodily function equality. But I just didn’t like the characters... and that is the essence of a film experience.
But then again, most everyone else on the planet loved it, so why take my word for it? Or my wife’s?
The Blu-ray is actually packed with some great bonus content, so even if you’re like me and didn’t enjoy the film, it’s worth checking out, in both rated and unrated forms. There’s a shit-load of deleted scenes, extended scene and alternate takes. There’s also a lengthy gag reel and plenty of line-o-ramas. The Blu-ray and included DVD feature a commentary track along with commercials for Cholodecki’s. The Blu-ray exclusives include “Made of Honor: Behind the Scenes of Bridesmaids,” “Annie vs. Helen,” “Annie’s Blind Date with Dave,” “Tennis Pep Talk” and a bunch of extra footage of Annie’s awful roommates.
"HANNA"
Blu-ray Review
by Kevin Carr
MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars)
There is no doubt that Joe Wright is a talented director, and he dips his toes in different water with “Hanna.” At its core, “Hanna” is an action flick with an international flavor to it. The film stars Saoirse Ronan as a teenager who has been raised in the wilderness by her father (Eric Bana). When she comes of age, Hanna is given the opportunity to turn on a tracker for the CIA to find her, which triggers an international chase and plot for revenge.
I had a real love-hate relationship with this movie. On one hand, it has so many awesome elements. The action is done exceedingly well for someone who is most famous for doing period costume dramas. And the filmmaking elements are pretty slick, including the editing and cinematography. Additionally, the acting is good for most of the cast (except for Cate Blanchett as the evil CIA agent tracking Hanna). Also, the soundtrack is brilliant, scored by The Chemical Brothers. After hearing what they did in this film and seeing how Daft Punk brought a certain level of amazing to “Tron Legacy,” I hope for more progressive musicians taking on scoring work.
But the movie falters on so many levels as well. Blanchett’s aforementioned performance is absurd as she flip-flops accents more than Julia Roberts did in “Mary Reilly.” The bad guys, while meant to emulate a fairy tale, come across as silly and homophobic. And the second act grinds to a halt. These elements don’t make the movie terrible, but it makes it not great.
The Blu-ray includes a nice selection of bonus features, including a feature commentary, alternate ending, deleted scenes and the anatomy of a scene of Hanna’s escape. Exclusive to the Blu-ray are also the featurettes “Adapt or Die,” “Central Intelligence Allegory,” “Chemical Reaction” and “The Wide World of Hanna.”
"MEEK’S CUTOFF"
Blu-ray Review
by Kevin Carr
MOVIE: ** (out of 5 stars)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5 stars)
Westerns are hard to do nowadays. Everyone always makes them so serious when their history in film has been relatively light and disposable. It’s something I refer to as “The Unforgiven Effect,” which happened after “Unforgiven” won the Oscar and everyone seemed to think they had to make an emotionally serious and hard-hitting examination of the human condition.
“Meek’s Cutoff” is a darling of independent cinema starring a darling of independent cinema. Michelle Williams plays a wife on a wagon train heading through Oregon in 1845. The train hired mountain man Stephen Meek to guide them, but the introduction of a stranger to the train threatens the trust in the group.
I appreciate what director Kelly Reichardt is trying to do with this film. And for those out there who like soft spoken, slow moving dramas like this, it’s a great film. But it dragged for me. It didn’t excite me. It covered familiar ground that I’ve seen in the wake of The Unforgiven Effect, and that bored me, frankly. It also presented people who were so devoid of personality, humor and interest that I didn’t care if any of them made it out alive.
Reichardt made the bold decision to shoot this movie in the 4:3 aspect ratio to emulate the boxed in vision of women in bonnets. I understand that, and to her credit, this gave the film a distinct claustrophobic feel. However, it just looks bad on an HDTV, giving it the appearance of an old television western rather than a modern motion picture.
The Blu-ray comes with the DVD included, and there’s the theatrical trailer on both discs. A small “The Making of Meek’s Cutoff” is also included, but that’s just a hodge-podge of set footage with no real narration... kinda like the film itself.
"SANCTUM"
Blu-ray Review
by Kevin Carr
MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars)
After “Avatar” ripped apart box office records, visionary director James Cameron took his 3D technology underground to produce “Sanctum.” The story follows a group of cave divers who get trapped in an underground cave system. When a sudden flood threatens them, they have to dive deeper to find a way out.
While “Sanctum” isn’t a great film, it’s enjoyable for the thrilling element. The cinematography and use of 3D was some of the best I’ve seen, and it fits well into the man-versus-nature setting. The actors were decent enough, though only a handful were recognizable.
Not a big box office draw, “Sanctum” was considered a bomb in the U.S. However, factoring in worldwide box office returns and the relatively small budget (downright microbudget for a James Cameron movie), the film was a success. It does exactly what Cameron states in the special features it was supposed to do... present a slick 3D thriller on a limited budget.
The Blu-ray comes with deleted scenes and a behind-the-scenes featurette “Sanctum: The Real Story.” There’s also a feature commentary track and the short film “Nullarbor Dreaming,” which tells the story that inspired the film, about cavers trapped underground after a freak storm.
