IN TIME
Blu-ray Review by Kevin Carr
MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5 stars)
“In Time” is one of those movies that when seen in the first run theaters, it’s not terribly impressive. But watching it on home video, it seems so much cooler. It’s that kind of forgettable speculative sci-fi that I’d end up watching again a decade or two in the future at an all-night movie marathon and loving the hell out of it.
The story takes place in the not-too-distant future when people are genetically engineered to not age past 25. Then they get one more year on their clock, which is conveniently placed on their arm, and those minutes are used as currency. The poor literally live day-to-day while the wealthy store thousands of years for their own personal benefit. After facing a family tragedy, one man from the ghetto is given a century from a mysterious stranger, and he then decides to enter high society to eve the time score.
Written and directed by Andrew Niccol, who did other neat speculative pieces like “Gattaca” and “The Truman Show,” “In Time” tries to handle issues that seem greater than the film itself. It benefited in its release by coinciding with the Occupy Movement, making an obvious hero out of the futuristic Robin Hood. Unfortunately, a lot of these greater themes get cobbled by really bad time puns, stilted dialogue and predictable plot points.
Still, there’s a lot to like in this film. Timberlake, whom I’ve always thought was a good actor, has decent chemistry with co-star Amanda Seyfreid. The production design is slick, emulating the same feel we had from “Gattaca.” Taken as late-night weekend viewing, it’s still a lot of fun, and it’d be a great companion piece for other dystopian societal pieces like “Repo Men” or “Surrogates.”
The Blu-ray is really pretty slim on bonus content. Aside from coming with a DVD of the film and Digital Copy (which is pretty much standard for most first-run releases), there’s some deleted and extended scenes (featuring more time puns and Justin Timberlake dancing) as well as a 15-minute mockumentary called “The Minutes.” This featurette has the cast ad-libbing their way through interviews about their characters and society. Interesting, yes, but a little drawn out, relying on the actors to write the script. Finally, there’s some BD-Live access and Live Lookup by IMDb.
THE BIG YEAR
Blu-ray Review by Kevin Carr
MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars)
The entire existence of “The Big Year” as a film flummoxed me. It was released with little fanfare, and even in its initial marketing push, the movie was confusing at best. If you don’t believe me, check out the trailer either on the disc or on the internet. You’ll find that it literally tells you nothing about the movie.
That’s because “The Big Year” is about birding, or “bird-watching” to those not hip to the new PC lingo, and more specifically about three very different men attempting a Big Year, which is an annual competition to spot and document the most number of species of birds in a year. Sure, the idea of three men to do a Big Year holds greater meaning and significance, serving as an allegory for each one’s life. But it’s about birding, a niche movement if there ever was one.
Still, by leaving this out of the trailer, presumably for fear of turning off an audience from such a fringe topic, was a mistake. And that’s a shame, because few people saw “The Big Year,” even though it is an undeniably charming movie.
The story follows Brad (Jack Black), a divorced computer programmer who lives with his parents, Stu (Steve Martin), a retiring CEO who wants his freedom from his company, and Kenny (Owen Wilson), the current Big Year record holder trying to cling to his greatness. The three find themselves at odds as they each try to top the other in number of birds spotted.
If you can get past the obviously obscure subject matter, you’ll find a really sweet film beneath. It’s a beautiful shot movie, taking the crew to real locations rather than putting the cast against a green screen for the duration of the production. And the acting is quite superb, with a surprisingly stellar cast. Black, Martin and Wilson each have plenty to give their own story, and director David Frankel manages to make the movie about each one rather than weighting it too far towards a single character. Plus, there are fantastic smaller parts throughout featuring well-known actors like Brian Dennehey, Tim Blake Nelson, Rashida Jones, Anjelica Huston, Jim Parsons and Dianne Wiest.
I saw “The Big Year” in theaters and was mildly impressed. However, watching it again on Blu-ray brought an unexpected warmth. It’s an extremely sweet story told with care and empathy. It’s not a knee-slapper, but it’s got a lot of heart. It’s the kind of film that you might catch on cable, enjoy watching and leave with a happy feeling. Not all movies can achieve that.
But it’s about birding... I still can’t get past that completely.
The Blu-ray comes with the standard DVD which also includes Digital Copy, in addition to the extended cut of the film. There are several deleted scenes and a cute gag reel. “The Big Migration” is a behind-the-scenes featurette that takes a look at the production of the film and how it actually traveled into nature rather than making it on a set, which I definitely respect. There’s also BD-Live extras with additional behind-the-scenes content.
TEXAS KILLING FIELDS
Blu-ray Review by Kevin Carr
MOVIE: * (out of 5 stars)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5 stars)
Inspired by true events, “Texas Killing Fields” tells the story of homicide detectives who are trying to solve a serial killing spree in which the bodies are dumped in a marshy area nearby called “The Killing Fields.” Sam Worthington and Jeffrey Dean Morgan play the detectives, who try to balance their authority with the tenuous respect and trust they have with the locals.
The final result of “Texas Killing Fields” is deeply flawed, and it was doomed from the start. That is, it was doomed from the script stage. What is a relatively straightforward detective story is unnecessarily twisted and convoluted to the point of making little sense from scene to scene. Characters’ actions are often inexplicable, and we later find out they are connected to each other in ways that would have made more sense a half hour before.
Ever since 2009 when he came on strong with “Clash of the Titans” and “Avatar,” Sam Worthington seemed to be the next go-to guy for blockbusters. However, unless he’s starring in a big-budget 3D effects extravaganza, the guy is one of the most dull actors on the planet. His performance in “Texas Killing Fields” is beyond forgettable, almost inducing a level of amnesia on the viewer to the point that it clouds the mind.
Attempting to help Worthington along are other current bandwagon stars, including 2010’s it-girl Chloe Grace Moretz and 2011’s it-girl Jessica Chastain. While decent actors, they’re given nothing to work with in this movie, their performances falling flat.
But the most pervasive problem with “Texas Killing Fields” is the grim, dreary and humorless writing. While murder is nothing to laugh at, the characters are written in such a way that everyone’s existence is drab and without a shred of levity. In short, this makes depressing characters slogging through a depressing story for a depressing movie.
The only special feature included on the Blu-ray is a commentary track featuring director Ami Canaan Mann and writer Donald F. Ferrarone.
THE DOUBLE
Blu-ray Review by Kevin Carr
MOVIE: ***1/2 (out of 5 stars)
BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: *** (out of 5 stars)
Even though “The Double” got a theatrical release, it was so severely limited and short-lived that this might as well be a direct-to-DVD film. And with those movies, it’s a crap shoot in terms of quality. Sometimes it results in a humdrum film that feels most at home in a late-night cable line-up. Other times, it can be surprisingly entertaining.
When it comes to “The Double,” the latter was the case for me. And that’s a pleasant thing to have happen as it breaks with the normal way of things.
“The Double” stars Richard Gere as retired CIA agent Paul Shepherdson, who once spent his career tracking a brilliant assassin named Cassius. When a U.S. Senator is assassinated, he’s brought back into the agency to track Cassius once again. Along for the ride is young agent Ben Geary (Topher Grace), who has spent years studying both Cassius and Shepherdson’s methods. As they work to track the assassin, they both discover some harrowing truths about the man behind the Cassius name.
First, this film is to be commended for its production value. While made on a relatively slim budget, it still has the slick look of an international thriller. The technical side looks and sounds great, with tight editing and solid pacing.
But beyond just the look and feel of the movie, which holds up against bigger productions that get wider releases, “The Double” also tells a neat little story. I’m not going to say that this film has a completely unpredictable plot, but it also isn’t a bore. I may have seen some things coming in the story, but it was nonetheless interesting to watch things play out.
Gere and Grace work well against each other, giving off a adversarial vibe but without spraying the set with testosterone. It’s a slower burn than you’d expect from most CIA thrillers, and I’m okay with that. Also, it works enough outside of the box that it doesn’t feel like a random episode of some procedural television program. I appreciated that.
It’s not often that a movie comes across my desk that I’m happy to have seen. But with its limited release and very little to make it pop off a video story shelf (or catch my attention in my Netflix queue). So I’m pleasantly surprised and glad I had a chance to see it.
The Blu-ray comes with an audio commentary featuring writer/director Michael Brandt and writer/producer Derek Haas. There’s also a behind-the-scenes featurette and the original theatrical trailer.
PAC-MAN: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
DVD Review by Kevin Carr
MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: * (out of 5 stars)
I grew up in the 1980s, and I remember when the Pac-Man video game first became a sensation. I remember hoarding quarters and seeking out the video game at pizza parlors and drug stores around town. I remember spending countless Saturday afternoons at Chuck E. Cheese’s when it was an arcade instead of a kiddie playground. I also remember watching the original “Pac-Man” cartoon on Saturday mornings in 1982 and 1983.
Warner Archive has dusted off this Hanna-Barbera classic and released the first season on DVD. This includes thirteen episodes on two discs, amounting to a little more than five hours of 80s cartoon programming. For me, the nostalgia meter was off the charts.
The premise of the show stayed close to the rules of the game, as best as it could considering the giant leap of media. Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man lived in Pac-Land with their baby, dog and cat. The dreaded Mazmaron, who wants to get his hands on the power pellets in Pac-Land, sends his henchmen ghosts there to bring them back. Yeah, it pretty much follows the similar pattern to other cartoons like “The Smurfs” and “The Gummi Bears,” but that’s the 80s for you.
The cartoons were fun and worked hard to keep the Pac-Man theme going. Sure, we had Pac-Man and his family experience various genres like a western ghost town, a cemetery with real ghosts and even the Pac-Man equivalent of the White House.
Taken in short 12-minute blocks, these Pac-Man shorts were totally 80s but still work in a nostalgic way today. It’s a weird footnote in cartoon history, but “Pac-Man: The Complete First Season” is just as good as its less-forgotten contemporaries like “The Snorks” and “Richie Rich.”
As with most releases from Warner Archive, there are no special features included on these two discs.
