Late Spring – The Criterion Collection #331 (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

“Late Spring” is a fantastic film that captures the changing of Japanese family life and the clash between traditional and modern perspectives.  But it’s also a film, among many other Ozu films that shows us why Yasujiro Ozu is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.  Captivating and powerful, “Late Spring” is a magnificent portrayal of the changing Japanese family and a film that I highly recommend!

Image courtesy of ©1949 Shochiku Co., Ltd. 2012 The Criterion Collection. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Late Spring – The Criterion Collection #331 (Banshun/晩春)

MOVIE RELEASE: 1949

DURATION: 108 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: B&W, 1:33:1 Aspect Ratio, Monaural, Subtitles: English SDH

COMPANY: Janus Films/The Criterion Collection

RELEASE DATE: April 17, 2012

Directed by Yasujiro Ozu

Based on the novel “Chichi to Musume” by Kazuo Hirotsu

Screenplay by Kogo Noda, Yasujiro Ozu

Music by Senji Ito

Cinematography by Yuharu Atsuta

Edited by Yoshiyasu Hamamura

Art Direction by Tatsuo Hamada

Starring:

Chishu Ryu as Shukichi Somiya

Setsuko Hara as Noriko Somiya

Yumeji Tsukioka as Aya Kitagawa

Haruko Sugimura as Masa Taguchi

Hohi Aoki as Katsuyoshi

Jun Usami as Shuichi Hattori

Kuniko Miyake as Akiko Miwa

Masao Mishima as Jo Onodera

Yoshiko Tsubouchi as Kiku

Yoko Katsuragi as Misako

Toyo Takahashi as Shige

Jun Tanizaki as Seizo Hayashi

Ichiro Shimizu as Takigawa’s master

Youko Benisawa as Teahouse Proprietress

Manzaburo Umekawa as Shite

Nobu Nojima as Waki

One of the most powerful of Yasujiro Ozu’s family portraits, Late Spring (Banshun) tells the story of a widowed father who feels compelled to marry off his beloved only daughter. Eminent Ozu players Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara command this poignant tale of love and loss in postwar Japan, which remains as potent today as ever—and a strong justification for its maker’s inclusion in the pantheon of cinema’s greatest directors.

Yasujiro Ozu is one of the world’s beloved directors.  Having made many films since the 1920′s up to his final film “An Autumn Afternoon” in 1962, his works have been appreciated by viewers and critics for his family comedies but also his serious family storylines such as “Early Spring”, “Early Summer, “Tokyo Story”, “Floating Weeds”, “The End of Summer” (to name a few).

The Criterion Collection has been one of the major forces in America of bringing Ozu’s films stateside and now they are giving Ozu films the high definition treatment on Blu-ray starting with his 1949 drama film “Late Spring” (known in Japan as “Banshun”).

Based on the short novel “Chichi to Musume” (Father and Daughter) by Kazuo Hirotsu and featuring a collaboration with screenwriter Kogo Noda, “Late Spring” was written and shot during the Allied Powers Occupation of Japan and undergone many changes to fit official censorship requirements.

The film would star Chishu Ryu (who would star in other Ozu films sucha s “Early Summer”, “Tokyo Story”, “An Autumn Afternoon” and the popular “Tora-san” films of the ’70s and ’80s) and Setsuko Hara (“Early Summer”, “Tokyo Story”, “Late Autumn”).

Over 60-years since “Late Spring” was shown in theaters and winning the prestigious Kinema Jumpo critic’s award for “Best Film”, “Best Director”, “Best Screenplay” and “Best Actress”, the film has resonated strongly with Ozu fans all over the world.  Many have regarded “Late Spring” as one of Ozu’s masterpiece and the film has been listed in many “Greatest Films of All Time” polls.

“Late Spring” is also a film that showcases Japanese family tradition and the importance of marriage, but also how Japan would face the issue of tradition and modern views towards marriage and also divorce.  But for Ozu fans, who have watched his silent films and have seen the development of the Japanese family and most importantly Ozu’s honest portrayal of the Japanese family and the sacrifice of the parents for their children (and vice versa).

“Late Spring” is one of those honest films featuring wonderful performances by both Chishu Ryu and Setsuko Hara, as the father and daughter.

The story features a widower, Professor Shukichi Somiya (played by Chishu Ryu) who has a 27-year-old unmarried daughter named Noriko (played by Setsuko Hara).  In Japan, most women are usually married by their early ’20s but because of World War II and the fact that Noriko had ailing health from the work she had to do years earlier, if anything, Professor Somiya had let Noriko live her life and be happy.

And for Noriko, taking care of the household needs and taking care of her father makes her happy.

One day, as Noriko goes to Tokyo to do some shopping, she runs into her father’s friend, Professor Jo Onodera (played by Masao Mishima), who is a widower like her father but has remarried.  For Noriko, she sees remarriage as something as a bit distasteful and even jokes by calling Professor Onodera “filthy”.  But Onodera understands Noriko and both go back to Noriko’s home, so both Professors can talk to each other.

While Professor Onodera talks to Somiya, he brings the topic of marriage up, if there are plans of Noriko getting married.  And it’s something that Somiya has never thought about, as he feels that he never really pressured her to marry.  If anything, he just wants her to be happy.

But when Somiya’s sister Masa (played by Haruko Sugimura) convinces him that it’s time that Noriko gets married, Somiya realizes that it’s probably the right thing to do.  Especially now that he is getting older, Noriko doesn’t have a job and if anything, he wants to make sure she is taken care of.  And for Noriko’s Aunt Masa, she already has a man named Satake that they can have Noriko meet and marry.

And when Aunt Masa tries to tell Noriko that it’s time for her to marry, she doesn’t want to hear anything of it.  But then she tells him that she is trying to arrange for her father to marry a young widow named Mrs. Miwa (played by Kuniko Miyake) which upsets Noriko.

When both Noriko and her father attend a Noh performance, when she sees her father greeting Mrs. Miwa, immediately Noriko becomes jealous. As she goes to visit her friend Aya (who is divorced), she is also told by her friend that it’s time for her to get married which frustrates Noriko even more than everyone is trying to push her to marriage.  As for Noriko, she’s happy the way things are…taking care of her father and being happy.

And when she confronts her father about it, he tells her that he intends to marry Mrs. Miwa and that she should get married.  For a modern woman, will Noriko choose to marry the man that she has been arranged to meet?  And can she bare the thought of her father being remarried?

VIDEO:

“Late Spring – The Criterion Collection #331” is presented in Black and White (1:33:1 aspect ratio). Having owned the 2006 Criterion Collection DVD release, first it is important for me to say that the film does have its share of scratches and film damage (nothing that prevents a viewer from enjoying the film).  While the film does have scenes with missing frames and also occasional flickering, the film does look improved over the 2006 DVD release with much better contrast with the white and grays, but also the black levels are nice and deep.

According to the Criterion Collection, this high-definition transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm fine-grain master positive and a 35mm theatrical print. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI’s DRS while Image System’s Phoenix was used for small dirt, grain, jitter, and flicker.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Late Spring” is presented in Japanese monaural (LPCM 1.0).  Compared to the 2006 DVD release, there appears to be much more clarity when it comes to dialogue.  While there are some moments of audio distortion on certain scenes, nothing detrimental and noticeable unless you are really looking for it.

According to the Criterion Collection, the original soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the film’s optical track. Viewers may notice significant distortion inherent in the original surviving soundtrack materials. Clicks, thumps, hiss, and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube’s integrated workstation.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Late Spring – The Criterion Collection #331″ on Blu-ray comes with the following special features:

• Audio Commentary - Featuring audio commentary by Richard Pena, program director of New York’s Film Society of Lincoln Center.  This was the original audio commentary from the 2006 DVD release and quite informative as Pena is very familiar with Ozu’s work.
• TOKYO-GA - (92 minutes) Wim Wenders 1985 documentary and tribute to Yasujiro Ozu, the documentary features interviews with Chishu Ryu and cinematographer Yuharu Atsuta.

EXTRAS:

“Late Spring – The Criterion Collection #331″ comes with a 22-page booklet with the following essays: “Home with Ozu” by Michael Atkinson (Village Voice writer), Ozu and Setsuko Hara by Donald Richie (author of many books on Japanese cinema) and Ozu and Kogo Noda, an excerpt from Yasujiro Ozu: The Person and His Art (1964) from Ozu, translated for the original 2006 DVD release of “Late Spring”.

As a person who loves and enjoys Yasujiro Ozu films, “Late Spring” has always been a favorite because of how it confronts Japanese perspective on the traditional marriage but now with a modern perspective, different from Ozu films which relied heavily on themes of the traditional Japanese family.

From the beginning of the film, we realize that the Somiya family are different compared to other families shown in previous Ozu films.  For one, Professor Somiya had not shown great pressure towards his daughter Noriko, possibly because she does so much in taking care of him and the house but yet remains very happy.  The other reason is because Noriko had health problems during World War II and as a father, having lost a wife, the last thing he wanted was to lose his only child and I believe that was his drive for not putting too much pressure on her.  She’s happy and that’s all that mattered.

But of course, what seemed natural to Professor Somiya, the more he started to see how others viewed Noriko being single at home.  This is where the traditional Japanese culture clashes with modernism.  In “Late Spring”, we see Aunt Masa giving her brother and also Noriko the third degree about being married.  It’s her duty to be married and be a happy wife.  But for Noriko, she’s happy the ways she is.

And this is where Noriko is unlike previous Japanese wives featured in Ozu’s films.  She is absolutely beautiful, stylish (in Western wear) and is not wearing a kimono.  She has her set way of thinking, the freedom to think that way as it has gone unchallenged until now…when it comes to marriage.  And with someone who is set in her ways…what can her father do?

And thus, the storyline becomes quite intriguing when we are told that Noriko’s father may be getting remarried to another woman.  And this is enough to set the happy Noriko off.  Remarriage has always been seen indecent to her but from this point on, we see the change that takes place between both characters.  The father submitting to the classic Japanese tradition, even though he was brought up in that tradition of arranged marriage, he himself had seen how his wife reacted to it earlier on.  So, as much as he wants Noriko to find the right man that she wants to marry, the pressure from his sister and others have led him to lead Noriko in the path to marriage.

And for Noriko, we eventually see the change in her, as her father getting married leads her to realize that she may need to get married now, because with her father having a new wife, perhaps she will no longer be needed.

If anything, it’s an intriguing juxtaposition of the Japanese family in 1949.  From traditional to modern, and with the modern, we see Professor Onodera having remarried, while Noriko’s good friend Aya has gotten a divorce (which was made legal in Japan a year prior).  And most intriguing is how Ozu manages to confront these changes in Japanese culture when it comes to marriage.

Bare in mind, postwar changes were in store for Japan after World War II and the most affected were women.  The social status of women was them being subservient towards their husband and after World War II, women not only were granted the right to a divorce, they were also allowed to join the workforce.  So, we started to see more freedom for women after World War II and the importance of family started to decline.  In fact, what I enjoy about “Last Spring” is how it is a time stamp of Japanese culture and the changing of family life which Ozu would feature throughout his career through his films.  And for those familiar with Japanese culture today, from the shrinking of the Japanese population to a country with the lowest birth rate in the world, the Japanese family has changed tremendously and we witness those changes through Ozu’s films.

As “Late Spring” will be an introduction to Ozu’s work for those viewing Criterion Collection films primarily on Blu-ray, another fascination that I have towards Ozu films is his camera technique, using low angle shots and also using non-traditional cinematic methods by avoiding panning, tracking and crane shots.  It’s what separates Ozu from Kurosawa and that the reliance of Ozu to use static compositions and also his use of pillow shots used in “Late Spring” and various shots of symbolism which intrigues me each time I read various historians and critics share their own perspective of what they think those shots are all about.

And as mentioned, the efficacy of this film relies on its characters.  It’s one thing to have a talented Chishu Ryu to play the father, but it’s Setsuko Hara, who absolutely shines in this film with her energy followed by her change of emotion.  For those who watch a lot of early Japanese cinema, you don’t see actresses such as Setsuko Hara play a character and is able to captivate the audience.

Overall, “Late Spring” is a fantastic film that captures the changing of Japanese family life and the clash between traditional and modern perspectives.  But it’s also a film, among many other Ozu films that shows us why Yasujiro Ozu is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time.  Captivating and powerful, “Late Spring” is a magnificent portrayal of the changing Japanese family and a film that I highly recommend!

You’ve Got Mail (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

Another delightful and enchanting pairing of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in the 1998 Nora Ephron film “You’ve Got Mail”.  But fans of this romantic comedy will definitely want to upgrade and purchase the Blu-ray release as you also get the Ernst Lubitsch’s 1940 romantic comedy “The Shop Around the Corner” on DVD.  Two romantic comedies for under $10…what a fantastic deal and two films that are highly recommended!

Images courtesy of © 2011 Warner Bros., Inc. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: You’ve Got Mail

FILM RELEASE DATE: 1998

DURATION: 119 minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:85:1), English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, Francois Dolby Digital 5.1, Espanol 2S, Subtitles: English SDH, French & Espanol

COMPANY: Warner Bros.

RATED: PG (Some Language)

Release Date: January 3, 2012

You’ve Got Mail

Based on the play “Parfumerie” by Nikolaus Laszlo

Directed by Nora Ephron

Screenplay by Nora Ephron, Delia Ephron

Executive Producer: G. Mac Brown, Julie Durk, Delia Ephron

Produced by Nora Ephron, Lauren Shuler Donner

Co-Producer: Donald J. Lee, Jr.

Associate Producer: Dianne Dreyer

Music by George Fenton

Cinematography by John Lindley

Edited by Richard Marks

Casting by Francine Maisler

Production Design by Dan Davis

Art Direction By Ray Kluga, Beth Kuhn

Set Decoration by Susan Bode, Ellen Christiansen

Costume Design by Albert Wolsky

The Shop Around the Corner

Directed by Ernst Lubitsch

Based on the play “Parfumie” by Miklos Laszlo

Screenplay by Samson Raphaelson

Produced by Ernst Lubitsch

Music by Werner R. Heymann

Cinematography by William H. Daniels

Edited by Gene Ruggiero

Art Direction by Cedric Gibons

Set Decoration by Edwin B. Willis

“You’ve Got Mail” Starring:

Tom Hanks as Joe Fox

Meg Ryan as Kathleen Kelly

Greg Kinnear as Frank Navasky

Parker Posey as Patricia Eden

Jean Stapleton as Birdie Conrad

Steve Zahn as George Pappas

Heather Burns as Christina Plutzker

Dave Chappelle as Kevin Jackson

Dabney Coleman as Nelson Fox

John Randolph as Schuyler Fox

Hallee Hirsh as Annabelle Fox

Jeffre Scaperrotta as Max Fox

“The Shop Around the Corner” Starring:

Margaret Sullavan as Klara Novak

James Stewart as Alfred Kralik

Frank Morgan as Hugo Matuschek

Joseph Schildkraut as Ferencz Vadas

Sara Haden as Flora

Felix Bressart as Pirovitch

William Tracy as Pepi Katona

Inez Courtney as Llona

Cara Seymour as Gillian QuinnThe stars (Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan) and director (Nora Ephron) of Sleepless in Seattle reteamed for this charming audience favorite. Greg Kinnear, Parker Posey, Jean Stapleton and more great co-stars add note-perfect support to this cinematic love letter in which superstore book chain magnate Hanks and cozy children’s bookshop owner Ryan are anonymous e-mail cyberpals who fall head-over-laptops in love, unaware they are combative business rivals. You’ve got rare Hollywood magic when You’ve Got Mail.

1998.  It was a time when more and more people would be using the Internet, a time when a lot of news showcased people who found love on the Internet.

Having enjoyed “The Shop Around the Corner” (which was an adaptation of the 1937 Miklos Laszlo Hungarian play “Parfumerie”) and the Broadway musical adaptation, “She Loves Me”,  writer/director Nora Ephron and producer Laura Schuler Donner wanted to create a modernized version featuring a romantic comedy centered around love found on the Internet but yet using elements from Ernst Lubitsch’s 1940 romantic comedy”.

And having struck gold with romantic comedies that starred actress Meg Ryan in “Sleepless in Seattle” and “When Harry Met Sally” and the amazing chemistry between Ryan and Tom Hanks in the 1993 film “Sleepless in Seattle” and the 1990 film “Joe Versus the Volcano”, the filmmaker would reunite the two talents for her 1998 romantic comedy “You’ve Got Mail”.

The film which can be seen as a sign of the times as it utilized then-popular Internet provider American Online (AOL) and it’s popular trademark e-mail greeting “You’ve Got Mail”, “You’ve Got Mail” would become a major hit in the box office as the $65 million film would earn over $250 million in the box office and would go on to also achieve success in the home video market.

And now both the original Ernst Lubitsch 1940 film “The Shop Around the Corner” via DVD and “You’ve Got Mail”  (via Blu-ray) was released together in January 2012.

“You’ve Got Mail” is a film that focuses on two characters.  Kathleen Kelly (played by Meg Ryan) is dating liberal postmodernist New York Observer journalist Frank Navasky (played by Greg Kinnear) and is a happy owner of the bookstore “Shop Around the Corner” which her mother started long ago.

While Frank is not so keen about technology, Kathleen has been communicating with a mystery man over e-mail via American Online using a screen name “Shopgirl”.  Both met in a chat room and enjoy their conversations through e-mail.  Because there is no personal discussion nor there is any personal contact, Kathleen is perfectly fine with the anonymous communication with this man, who she knows as his screen name “NY152″.

While Kathleen loves to spend her time communicating with NY152, she is often busy working at her bookstore along with her three store assistants, Birdie (played by Jean Stapleton), Christina (played by Heather Burns) and George (played by Steve Zahn).

Which leads us to the second character, Joe Fox (played by Tom Hanks) is a businessman who’s wealthy family are the owners of “Fox Books”, known for it’s chain of “mega” bookstores around the country and for its discounts and serving coffee.  Also, a threat to independent and smaller book stores who can’t compete with a megastore selling books with a discount.

But for the Fox family, it’s all business.  And the family is planning to open a new store, not far from the bookstore “Shop Around the Corner”, a place which Joe’s grandfather is familiar with and was smitten by the woman who once owned the bookstore but passed it on to her daughter.

Joe is currently dating Patricia Eden (played by Parker Posey), a woman that is the opposite of him.  Meanwhile with the creation of the new Fox Books in New York, he leaves it to branch manger Kevin (played by David Chappelle) to keep an eye on business.

And when he’s not busy with business, Joe loves to go online via American Online and communicate with a mystery woman known as “Shopgirl”, not knowing that she is Kathleen Kelly, the owner of the family bookstore that his own Fox Books will force to make them lose business and close.

One day, while Joe is taking his eleven-year-old aunt Annabel (played by Hallee Hirsh) and four-year-old brother Matthew (played by Jeffrey Scaperrotta) around town, Joe and the children decide to stop by the family bookstore Shop Around the Corner and Joe meets Kathleen Kelly.  Both individuals enjoy their short time with each other but Joe manages to keep it secret that he is the owner of the Fox Books store that will be opening several blocks away.

Needless to say, Kathleen eventually finds out that Joe is the owner of Fox Books and responsible for taking customers away from her store and through the help of “NY152″ who gives her advice to fight back, Kathleen goes on a media war campaign against Joe Fox and Fox Books, meanwhile maintaining communication with NY152 and enjoy those moments.

Eventually, Kathleen “Shopgirl” Kelly and Joe “NY152″, both who have no idea who each other are via e-mail decide to meet with each other for the first time.  But when Joe is about to meet Shopgirl at a restaurant, he finds out that she is Kathleen Kelly.  He then decides to not tell her he is “NY152″ and tries to get closer to her as Joe Fox.  But will she ever accept the man who may end up hurting her business?

Ernst Lubitsch’s 1940 romantic comedy “The Shop Around the Corner” is a film that stars James Stewart, Margaret Sullavan and Frank Morgan and has been well-regarded as one of the top romantic comedies of all time (#28 in the American Film Institute’s “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Passions”) and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1999 by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.

The film is set in Budapest where Alfred Kralik (played by James Stewart) is a top salesman at a gift shop owned by the wealthy Mr. Hugo Matuschek (played by Frank Morgan).

Alfred reveals to his friend Pirovitch (played by Felix Bressart) that he has been corresponding anonymously to an intelligent and cultured woman whose ad that he saw on the newspaper.  For Alfred, communicating with this woman is the light of his life.

Meanwhile, Mr. Matuschek expects all his employees at the gift shop to push sales, especially a cigarette box that plays “Ochi Chernye” when it is opened.  Alfred thinks the cigarette box is annoying and that Matuschek should keep away from it.  Meanwhile, a young woman named Klara Novak (played by Margaret Sullavan) who worked in sales for another store and is desperately looking for a job as a saleswoman at the gift shop.

Mr. Matuschek has no plans to hire anyone new and Alfred tries to tell Klara that his boss is not hiring.  But when Klara shows Mr. Matuschek that she can sell, by using the cigarette musical boxes as an example with customers and selling them.  She is eventually hired.

As both Alfred and Klara are now working together at the gift shop, unfortunately both do not get along at all and are often bickering with each other.

But for Klara, despite the aggravation she feels…nothing is going to ruin her day as the mysterious man that she is communicating with by mail has made her happy.  And she dreams that this man of her dreams will one day marry her.  But Klara doesn’t know the man she has been communicating with is Alfred Kralik and Alfred doesn’t know that the intelligent and cultured woman he is smitten with is Klara.

For Alfred Kralik, he has worked at the gift shop for many years and is the top salesman.  He hopes to ask Mr. Matuschek for a raise but lately, the relationship between Alfred and Mr. Matuschek have soured.  The reason is that Mr. Matuschek has an investigator following his wife, as he fears she is having an affair with one of his employees.  Mr. Matuschek thinks the only person that can do such a thing is Alfred Kralik, because he was the closest one to the family (when in reality, it’s another one of this male employees that is having an affair with his wife).

When Alfred goes to ask for a raise, instead he is fired by Mr. Matuschek and shocked by what has taken place (because he was the most trusted employee with the best sales record), Alfred knows that without a job, he probably should stop communicating with the mystery woman but he has made a promise to meet with her at a restaurant. So, he feels obliged to do just that.

So, along with Pirovitch, Alfred has Pirovitch check inside the restaurant to let him know how the mystery woman he is to meet, looks like.  And sure enough, Pirovitch tells Alfred that the woman that he has been communicating with all this time, is his former co-worker that he doesn’t get along with… Klara Novak.

But despite how Klara does not like Alfred, Alfred now knowing that Klara was the intelligent and cultured woman that he has been communicating with all this time, decides to keep his identity of the mystery man as a secret to Klara, but as Alfred Kralik, try to get close to her on his own.

But will Klara ever let someone like Alfred, a man she doesn’t like or care for, into her life?

VIDEO:

“You’ve Got Mail” is presented in 1080p (1:85:1 aspect ratio) and unfortunately it is a film that slightly shows its age, yet there is enough detail and better colors that makes this version much better than the previous DVD releases.

First the bad.  There are some moments where the film looks oversaturated and also soft and there are moments where you do see artifacts popping up once in a while.  While it shows up a few times, most people will probably not be bothered by it.  But for those expecting a pristine version of the film, it does have its issues which can be seen on a larger monitor/screen.

With that being said, the film still looks better than its previous DVD counterparts.  The colors tend to pop much more, you can see the skin pores on Tom Hanks’ face during closeups and while some areas look its age, some don’t and look very good.  So, for the most part, this is the best looking version of the film thus far.  It may not be the pristine picture quality that I was hoping for, but nevertheless, it does look much better than the DVD version.

As for “The Shop Around the Corner”, the film looks absolutely wonderful considering it is a 71-year-old film.  The contrast levels are good, the film source looks very good for its age and I didn’t detect any major problems with video quality at all.  Grays and whites are well-contrast, black levels are nice and deep and for the most part, the presentation of “The Shop Around the Corner” looks good on DVD.  Too bad, this classic film it was not converted to a Blu-ray release.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“You’ve Got Mail” is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Dolby Digital Francois and Espanol 2.0 stereo.

For this romantic comedy and like most films of the genre, most of the lossless soundtracks tend to be center and  front-channel driven with mild use of surround channels for ambiance.  The same can be said about “You’ve Got Mail”.  Primarily, everything is center and front channel-driven and dialogue and it’s musical soundtrack is crystal clear.

As for “The Shop Around the Corner”, the film’s dialogue is also clear and didn’t notice any more hiss or crackling during my viewing of the DVD.

Subtitles are presented in English SDH, Francois and Espanol.

SPECIAL FEATURES

“You’ve Got Mail” comes with the following special features:

• Audio Commentary - Featuring audio commentary by writer/director Nora Ephrone and producer Lauren Shuler Donner who discuss the film, the cast and more.
• Delivering You’ve Got Mail - (25:29) A 10th year anniversary interview with Nora Ephron and her two leads, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Also, featuring producer Lauren Shuler Donner, co-writer Delia Ephron and more.
• You’ve Got Chemistry – (26:18) A Warner Bros. featurette about iconic couples that appeared in Warner Bros. classic films including Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, William Powell and Myrna Loy, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and others.
• Isolated Score Track – Watch the film with only George Fenton’s musical score.
• First Look Television special – (14:19) The HBO preview for the film.
• Discovering New York’s Upper West Side – (10:09) Nora and Deliah Ephron talk about their favorite scenes in New York City featured in the film.
• Music Video – Featuring Carole King’s “Anyone at All” music video.
• Theatrical Trailer – The two original theatrical trailers for “You’ve Got Mail”: “The Best Way to Meet Someone” (1:24) and “They Couldn’t Stand Each Other” (1:26)

EXTRAS:

“You’ve Got Mail” comes with a DVD version of the classic Ernst Lubitsch 1940 romantic comedy, “The Shop Around the Corner”.

I’m not afraid to admit that I am a big fan of Meg Ryan’s hit romantic comedies and especially enjoy the chemistry and pairing of Ryan along with Tom Hanks.

Back in the 1930′s through the 1950′s, there were Hollywood couples that would light the screen in multiple films, for today’s modern films, there really hasn’t been American couple other than Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, two talents that viewers fell in love whenever they were together in a romantic comedy.

And like many people who couldn’t wait for “You’ve Got Mail” to be released in theaters, I was among the many who look forward to watching the film.  For one, I love Nora Ephron romantic comedies and how she is able to focus on character but also incorporate the city that a film is shot in.

She has an eye for location but also knows what she wants from her talents and Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan have discussed how Nora Ephron’s direction is much different than other filmmakers.  And for Ephron, her love for the Ernst Lubitsch classic “The Shop Around the Corner”, especially for her passion towards the Broadway musical “She Loves Me” would lead to romantic magic for “You’ve Got Mail”.

But back in 1998, this film was highly anticipated because I enjoyed watching Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan together, watching a Nora Ephron film but interesting enough, I also had a similar experience of meeting someone on the Internet with similar circumstances as the characters featured in the film.

And I was there to buy the first DVD release of the film and here we are 14-years later with a Blu-ray release of “You’ve Got Mail”.  And where films such as “When Harry Met Sally” and “Sleepless in Seattle” are not dated due to technology, “You’ve Got Mail” manages to date itself with old technology via modem connection, old product placement during a time when American Online (AOL) was on top of Internet providers and also during a time when mega bookstores were not threatened by the emergence of online bookstores such as Amazon.

But still, despite the older technology and the fads of the time, I was not turned off by it.  In fact, I was nostalgic of how things were back then.

But “You’ve Got Mail” still manages to captivate me as it did back then.  Sure, it was not my favorite Meg Ryan romantic comedy especially when compared to “When Harry Met Sally” and “Sleepless in Seattle” but there is a magic that exists in the film, because of the wonderful chemistry between Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.  The two can literally take on these characters and bring amazing life to them, making them believable and entertaining to watch.  And also Nora Ephron’s ability to make the locations and the music selections compliment the characters as well.

Also, the film managed to bring in a pretty enjoyable supporting cast with Parker Posey, Dave Chappelle, Steve Zahn, Heather Burns and Dabney Coleman.  But also “You’ve Got Mail” would feature actor Greg Kinnear (“As Good as It Gets”, “Ghost Town”, “Little Miss Sunshine”) and “Grey’s Anatomy” actress Sara Ramirez before they became popular.

Also, I was impressed at the time of how the Ephron sisters were able to modernize the film from its original predecessors.  I absolutely adore Ernst Lubitsch’s 1940 classic “The Shop Around the Corner” and I’m so glad “You’ve Got Mail” was not a remake.  Sure it incorporates certain situations that were seen in the original film, but for the most part, everything was new and everything worked.

“The Shop Around the Corner” is simply a wonderful romance film that is different in the fact that both lead characters work in the same gift shop but there is also a dramatic element as the shop owner thinks the lead character Alfred Kralik (played by James Stewart) is having an affair with his wife.  But this classic film is a wonderful feel-good romantic comedy that has managed to stand the test of time, even over 70-years-later…I’m still enjoying this film no matter how many times I have watched it.  And while not on Blu-ray but on DVD, the film still looks very good on DVD!

While the Blu-ray release of “You’ve Got Mail” and its video quality does show the film’s age due to softness and also some instances of artifacting, there is still a good amount of detail and beautiful colors that make this Blu-ray release worth owning and worth upgrading from the DVD release.  If you were an owner of the first DVD release, a lot of the special features do make it onto this Blu-ray, but also the inclusion of the 2008 10th anniversary reunion between Nora Ephron, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in the featurette “Delivering You’ve Got Mail” (which was released in a later DVD release of “You’ve Got Mail”).

Also, the biggest addition for me which I absolutely loved was the inclusion of Ernst Lubitsch’s 1940 romantic comedy, “The Shop Around the Corner”.  While a DVD, not Blu-ray…still you are getting two films when you purchase the “You’ve Got Mail” Blu-ray release and for hopeless romantics, the fact that these two films are included is fantastic!  And did I mention that you can find this Blu-ray release for under $10 on Amazon?  Awesome!

Overall, “You’ve Got Mail” is still as delightful and highly entertaining as when I first watched it in theaters back in 1998.  Sure, things have changed a lot in technology and also economic settings when it comes to the mega bookstores in today’s society, but Internet romance is much more prevalent today than it was back then and more and more people are discovering love online, so the film still has relevance today.

If you love romantic comedy films, you’re going to enjoy “You’ve Got Mail” on Blu-ray for the fact that you get two films for the price of one and if you enjoyed the film back then and owned the DVD, you’re definitely going to want to upgrade to Blu-ray.  It’s a wonderful deal and both films are highly recommended!

The Darkest Hour: Special Edition (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

“The Darkest Hour” is a popcorn alien infestation film with uninteresting characters, spotty acting and lackadaisical pacing.   There was too much sacrifice into making this film set in Russia to appeal to an American or International audience that the film would have been best being an all Russian film, as the characters and the us vs. them storyline would seem much more plausible and exciting.

Images courtesy of © 2011 Summit Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: The Darkest Hour: Special Edition

FILM RELEASE DATE: 2011

DURATION: 89 minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:40:1), English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, Espanol Dolby Digital 5.1, Subtitles: English SDH, Espanol

COMPANY:Summit Entertainment

RATED: PG-13 (Sci-Fi Action and Some Language)

Release Date: April 10, 2012

Directed by Chris Gorak

Screenplay by Jon Spaihts

Story by Leslie Bohem, M.T. Ahern and Jon Spaihts

Produced by Timur Bekmambetov, Tom Jacobsen

Executive Producer: Monni Wills

Co-Producer: Iva Stromilova, Lulu Zezza

Music by Tyler Bates

Cinematography by Scott Kevan

Edited by Priscilla Nedd-Friendly, Fernando Vilena, Doobie White

Casting by Venus Kanani Mary Vernieu

Production Design by Valeri Viktorov

Art Direction by Ricky Eyres

Costume Design by Varvara Avdyushko

Starring:

Emil Hirsh as Sean

Olivia Thirlby as Natalie

Max Minghella as Ben

Rachael Taylor a Anne

Joel Kinnaman as Skyler

Veronika Ozerova as Vika

Dato Bakhtadze as Sergei

Yuriy Kutsenko as Matvei

Niolay Efremov as Sasha

Vladimir Jaglich as Boris

Artur Smolyaninov as Yuri

Anna Roudakova as Tess

Pyotr Fyodorov as Anton Batkin

The electrifying science-fiction thriller The Darkest Hour arrives on 3D Blu-ray™, Blu-ray and DVD April 10th from Summit Entertainment. Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer, Into the Wild), Max Minghella (Ides of March, The Social Network) and Olivia Thirlby (TV’s “Bored to Death,” Dredd) star in this story of five young people who find themselves stranded in Moscow and fight to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack.

With Moscow’s classic beauty as the backdrop, The Darkest Hour features mind-blowing special effects from the minds of visionary filmmakers Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and Chris Gorak (Fight Club, Minority Report).  The suspense never lets up as the invaders begin their assault on Earth, targeting the planet’s power supply.

The United States is known for creating their fair share of alien invasion films but this time around, with producer and filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov (“Wanted”, “Night Watch”, “Day Watch”, “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”) involved, his goal was to create a Russian alien invasion film through a perspective by Russians.

But to make it a global film and with only a budget of $30 million, Bekmabetov would enlist Chris Gorak (art director for films such as “Minority Report”, “Fight Club”, “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”) to direct and Scott Kevan (“Underworld: Awakening”, “The Losers”, “Fame”) as cinematographer and the film woud utilize Bekmabetov’s studio and filming would take place in Moscow.

The film would star American talent Emile Hirsch (“Milk”, “Into the Wild”, “Speed Racer”), Olivia Thirlby (“The Wackness”, “Juno”, “No Strings Attached”), Max Minghella (“The Social Network”, “The Ides of March”), Rachael Taylor (“Transformers”, “Shutter”, “Bottle Shock”), Joel Kinnaman (“The Killing”, “Easy Money”, “Safe House”) and Russian talents Veronika Ozerova and Dato Bakhtadze (“Wanted”, “Crash”).

“The Darkest Hour” would earn $64 million in the box office and now the 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD will be released in April 2012.

“The Darkest Hour” begins with two American men, Ben (played by Max Minghella) and Sean (played by Emile Hirsch) who created a popular social media software, are traveling to Moscow in hopes of selling it.  But when they arrive, the two are upset that Skyler (played by Joel Kinnaman), a Swedish businessman along with the Russian team have sold it.

Upset about what had took place, both men head to a club where two American women, Natalie (played by Olivia Thirlby) and Anne (played by Rachael Taylor) are also present.  While both women are being hit on by Russian men, eventually both Sean and Ben start having a conversation with both women and as the four take a picture together, the lights inside the bar go off.

The four head outside and what they see is a orange rift in the night sky and glowing orange blobs of light descend towards the Earth.

As crowds gather around the light, a Russian police officer goes to confront it but is disintegrated upon contact.  The lights then begin to disintegrate anything in their way and Sean, Ben, Natalie, Anne and Skyler lock themselves in the storage room of the bar for several days.  When they come out, all that is left is ashes of the deceased and Moscow has literally been turned into a ghost town.

Knowing that the aliens are trying to kill all living beings, the group hopes to make it to the American Embassy and hopefully find a way to get back home.  But will these five individuals find a way to make it to the American Embassy and will they discover any more survivors?

VIDEO:

“The Darkest Hour” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:40:1).  The cinematography definitely showcases the beautiful structures of Moscow, there is a good amount of detail when it comes to structures, clothing and because of the CG extra-terrestrials emitting this glowing orange, there are times of beautiful vibrant colors and for the most part, a good balance of digital cinematography with CG effects.

Black levels are nice and deep, skin tones look natural and I did not detect any banding or artifacts during my viewing of the film.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“The Darkest Hour” is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and Espanol Dolby Digital 5.1.  When it comes to audio, although this is not directed by Timur Bekmambetov, because it was produced by him, you expect a lot of action scenes and immersive audio.

The film utilizes the surround channels and LFE throughout the film, may it be the music and its bass, the sounds of disintegration courtesy of the aliens or even the many machine guns or shots at the aliens to the collapse of structures, the biggest positive of this film will be its lossless audio track.

Subtitles are presented in English SDH and Espanol.

SPECIAL FEATURES

“The Darkest Hour” comes with the following special features:

• Survivors - (8:10) A short film showcasing survivors from different countries using radio broadcasts from Tokyo in destroying the aliens.
• The Darkest Hour: Visualizing an Invasion - (12:09) A featurette about the visual effects of “The Darkest Hour”.
• Deleted and Extended Scenes – (4:48) Six deleted and extended scenes with optional commentary by director Chris Gorak.
• Audio Commentary – Director Chris Gorak talks about the cast, shooting in Moscow, using CG the challenges involved in the making of the film due to the Russian Wildfires of 2010.

EXTRAS:

“The Darkest Hour: Special Edition” comes with a slipcover.

As a sci-fi fan, especially fan of alien infestation films, there have been films that captures the horror of an alien infestation, may it be the 1996 film “Independence Day” or the 2011 film “Battle: Los Angeles”, part of the reason why these films succeed is the use of star power and a large budget dedicated to the films visual effects.

While there are alien infestation films that have been shot in a low budget and without star power such as the exciting 2011 UK film “Attack the Block”, at least the pacing of the film was consistent, it was funny and it was going somewhere.

Unfortunately, “The Darkest Hour” doesn’t seem to be going anywhere and the characters don’t grab you at all.

Part of the challenge that filmmaker Chris Gorak and Timur Bekmambelov had when making this film were scheduling delays (due to the Russian Wildfires), a budget of $30 million and the lack of major star power.  While Emile Hirsch has received attention for his roles in “Milk” and “Into the Wild”, unlike American alien infestation films with American bravado, this Russian film focused on survival of weak Americans who survived thanks to the Russian people.

The film is supposed to be a Russian perspective, a Russian version of an alien infestation film and while I didn’t mind the weakness and whining of the American characters, the film had forced dialogue that made things seem too unnatural and thus produced spotty acting.

But where the screenplay fails the viewer is that the storyline and its characters are not really going anywhere.  It’s a survival film that seems more like “Cloverfield”-Lite and because the characters are not so captivating, you just wonder to yourself of “how they will die?”.

There are also some problematic issues such as a blast that throws Sean and Natalie, who were standing next to each other, could have kept everyone within the same vicinity but for Natalie, somehow she has ended a half mile away.  There are scenes that showcase the relationship between Natalie and Anne and why they went to Moscow.  There are times you think the two are hiding something but yet nothing is ever mentioned.

Where the film does work well in a Russian perspective is showcasing the beautiful structures of Moscow, showing the CG devastation of Moscow, showing Russian heroes who will do what the can to help these Americans get to safety. If anything, the Russian characters seem to be much more intriguing and personally, “The Darkest Hour” could have been a much more enticing film if it was a full-on Russian alien infestation film utilizing an all Russian cast.  It’s one of the things that I have loved about Timur Bekmambetov’s “Night Watch” and “Day Watch” films, it’s Russian sci-fi with Russian talent.  It seemed more plausible, much more exciting.

But I can understand the producers wanting to make their money back by making this film more International by using an American cast with English dialogue.

As for the Blu-ray release, “The Darkest Hour” no doubt looks wonderful on Blu-ray and the lossless soundtrack is fantastic!  There are a few special features including the short story “The Darkest Hour: Survivors”, showcasing people of other countries fighting against the aliens.

Overall, “The Darkest Hour” is a popcorn alien infestation film with uninteresting characters, spotty acting and lackadaisical pacing.   There was too much sacrifice into making this film set in Russia to appeal to an American or International audience that the film would have been best being an all Russian film, as the characters and the us vs. them storyline would seem much more plausible and exciting.

While I can recommend this film to those who love alien infestation films, it’s simply not one of the better alien infestation films to be released in the U.S.

War Horse: 4-Disc Combo Pack (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

A beautiful, moving and wonderful film capturing a horse and its ability to bring out the human spirit with the many people it comes across.   “War Horse” is magnificent!

Images courtesy of © 2012 Dreamworks II Distribution Co. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: War Horse

FILM RELEASE DATE: 2011

DURATION: 146 minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:40:1), English 7.1 DTS-HD MA (48 kHz/24-bit), French 7.1 DTS-HD HR, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound, Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish

COMPANY: Dreamworks Pictures/Touchstone Home Entertainment

RATED: PG-13 (For Intense Sequence of War Violence)

Release Date: April 3, 2012

Based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo

Directed by Steven Spielberg

Written by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis

Executive Producer: Revel Guest, Frank Marshall

Produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg

Co-Producer: Tracey Seaward, Adam Somner

Music by John Williams

Cinematography by Janusz Kaminski

Edited by Michael Kahn

Casting by Jina Jay

Production Design by Rick Carter

Set Decoration by Lee Sandales

Costume Design by Joanna Johnston

Starring:

Jeremy Irvine as Albert Narracott

Peter Mullan as Ted Narracott

Emily Watson as Rose Narracott

Niels Arestrup as Grandfather

David Thewlis as Lyons

Tom Hiddleston as Captain Nicholls

Benedict Cumerbatch as Major Jamie Stewart

Celine Buckens as Emilie

Toby Kebbell as Geordie Soldier

Patrick Kennedy as Lt. Charlier Waverly

Leonard Crow as Michael

David Kross as Gunther

Matt Milne as Andrew Easton

Robert Emms as David Luons

Eddie Marsan as Sgt. Fry

Nicolas Bro as Friedrich

Rainer Bock as Brandt

“War Horse,” the Academy Award®-nominated Best Picture, is a story of incredible friendship, loyalty, courage, hope and tenacity. Based on the Tony Award®-winning play, and set against the sweeping canvas of World War I, this deeply heartfelt tale begins with the remarkable friendship between a feisty colt named Joey and his young trainer Albert (Jeremy Irvine). When they’re forced apart by war, the film follows Joey’s extraordinary journey as he changes and inspires the lives of everyone he meets. No matter where they go or what they experience both boy and horse keep forging ahead, driven by devotion and the hope of returning home. Filled with spectacularly rich visuals, “War Horse” is one of the most powerful and moving stories of friendship and love ever filmed.

In 1982, Michael Morpurgo wrote the children’s fiction novel “War Horse”, a story set during the outbreak of World War I.

The book received its film adaptation courtesy of filmmaker Steven Spielberg and screenwriters Lee Hall and Richard Curtis and was released in theaters on Christmas day of 2011 and would earn over $173 million in the box office and in April 2012, the film will be released on Blu-ray and DVD.

“War Horse” would reunite Steven Spielberg with the top talents in the film industry such as cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (“Saving Private Ryan”, “Schindler’s List”, “Minority Report”), editor Michael Kahn (“Saving Private Ryan”, “Schindler’s List”, “Raiders of the Lost Ark”), sound designer Gary Rydstrom (“Saving Private Ryan”, “Minority Report”, “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”) and also reunited Spielberg with legendary composer John Williams (known for creating the soundtracks for the “Star Wars” films and “Harry Potter” films).

The film marks a new beginning for Steven Spielberg.  One, this is the first film in which Spielberg directed a film about a horse as the main character and portraying him at various stages of the horse’s life.  The film also marks Spielberg’s first time cutting the film digitally.

“War Horse” would go on to earn six Academy Award nominations including “Best Picture” and would win the American Film Institute Award for “Film of the Year 2011″.

“War Horse” is story about a thoroughbred named Joey, the horse was purchased by young Albert’s father Peter (played by Ted Narracott) during a drunken stupor and raised and trained by Albert (played by Jeremy Irvine), Joey would show amazing talents and the bond between Albert and his horse Joey was strong.

But with World War I, the cavalry was in desperate need of horses and because Albert’s family has always been struggling financially, his father sold Joey to the Calvary and shipped to France which would be in the care of Captain Nicholls (played by Tom Hiddleston).  Nicholls makes a promise to Albert that he will take care of his horse.

The film would then show how the horse journey through World War I and having been in the possession of many owners, including both opposing sides of the war.

Meanwhile, throughout the years, as young Albert has now grown up to become a young man that enlists in the British Army and will one day be reunited with his horse Joey.

VIDEO:

“War Horse” is presented in 1080p High Definition (widescreen 2:40:1).  When Steven Spielberg brought in cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, you get one of the best in the business.   A man who knows how to capture the shot and in this case, to capture the beauty of Dartmoor but also to capture the essence of peace and serenity via pre-war but also the darkness and fear during the war.  There are wonderful, breathtaking shots that are seen throughout the film with vibrant colors to lush greenery of the area.

There is also wonderful detail when it comes to the closeups of the horses and black levels were nice and deep.  I didn’t catch any banding, artifacts or any problems with the overall video.  If anything, picture quality for “War Horse” is outstanding!

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“War Horse” is presented in English 7.1 DTS-HD MA (48 kHZ/24-bit), French 7.1 DTS-HD HR and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound.  Dialogue is crystal clear and there is amazing use of the surround channels.  From the beginning as Joey is plowing the field to the use of music courtesy of John Williams.  But the film shows how wonderful it could sound via lossless once we get to the war.

As one would expect from a film with war scenes, the film is absolutely immersive as you hear machine guns, tanks, cavalries and their horses marching and stomping to bomb blasts via LFE.  There is good use of the rear surround channels and panning through the surround channels and I was quite impressed by how the overall mix was.  “War Horse” has an amazing lossless soundtrack!

Also, the musical soundtrack is wonderful.  The music is inspired by the serenity of the British landscapes and manages to capture that feel of adventure but also the horse as it goes through its adventures.  John Williams approach was to utilize brass instruments.

The brass is the key to the music of “War Horse”, creating emotion and feeling of the horse trough the ages.  Steven Spielberg said in the booklet notes of William’s composition, “I feel that John has made a special gift to me of this music, which was inspired not only by my film but also by my many of the picturesque settings of the poet William Wordsworth, whose vivid descriptions of the British landscape inspired much of what you’re going to hear.  I’m not sure what I can give John in return, other than a promise of more films to come…for as many more years as we both can imagine!”.

Subtitles are in English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES

“War Horse” comes with the following special features:

DISC 1:

• War Horse: The Journey Home - (19:35) Featuring interviews with Steven Spielberg and the cast and a second roundtable interview with the creative team and crew.
• An Extra’s Point of View - (3:06) A featurette about extra Martin D. Dew and his involvement in the film.

DISC 2:

• A Filmmaking Journal – (1:04:13) A more in-depth featurette on the screen adaptation of “War Horse”, the casting and shooting on location.
• Editing & Scoring – (8:53) Editor Michael Kahn and composer John Williams discuss their involvement with “War Horse” and their longtime collaboration with Steven Spielberg.
• The Sounds of War Horse – (7:13) Gary Rydstrom talks about the sounds of “War Horse” and his goal to make the film sound authentic.
• Through the Producer’s Lens – (4:04) Producer Kathleen Kennedy talks about the photos she took on location during the filming of “War Horse”.

EXTRAS:

“War Horse” comes with a slipcover case, two Blu-rays (one for the film and the other for the special features), the DVD version of the film and a digital copy of the feature film.

“War Horse” is a film that captures the human spirit but most of all, Steven Spielberg ability to capture the relationship and emotions may it be an animal to an extra-terrestrial, it’s one thing that Spielberg has been wonderful in doing.

We have seen Spielberg create a heartfelt film with “E.T.”, we have seen him recently capture human and animal relationships through adventures with “The Adventures of Tin Tin”, but “War Horse” is a challenge that the filmmaker was ready to take on.

How would you be able to create a film based on a horse?  It’s one thing to get the actors to be emotional and caring towards a horse but you have to capture the horse being interested as the actions must seem natural to the viewer.  And sure enough, with amazing trainers, the reactions by Joey the horse as it goes through a lot during its adventures is nothing short of amazing.

“War Horse” is no doubt a collaborative film.  In order to make this film work, you would need a wonderful location, wonderful cinematography, costume and set design, music, sound design and talent and many extras in order to create this sense of dire during World War I.  Characters who come across the horse Joey and eventually are touched by it.  And of course, the trainers responsible in making the horse meet its mark (there are possibly over a hundred of horses used in this film, especially during the war scenes).

For one, “War Horse” is a gorgeous film.  Spielberg brought in his top guns for this film, cinematographer Janusz Kaminski and editor Michael Kahn.  They have had a long working relationship with Spielberg and part of the believability of this film is its look.  From the peaceful pre-war landscapes to the muddy trenches during World War I.  You have the cinematography and editing there, you have the look courtesy of Lee Sandales on set decoration and Joanna Johnston via costume design.  Every soldier on opposing sides have a uniform and you eventually get the sense of how grand this film is.

And of course, when it comes to emotion, to help tie the characters to Joey, you have the wonderful music of John Williams.  And also the sound courtesy of sound designer Gary Rydstrom is absolute amazing.  If you are an audiophile, you will literally hear how immersive this lossless soundtrack truly is on Blu-ray.  It’s one of the best lossless soundtracks that I have heard on Blu!

For the most part, everything came together for this film and I was quite impressed.

As for the Blu-ray release, the video and audio is absolutely magnificent.  There are many special features as well on two Blu-ray discs and you also get the DVD and digital copy version of the film with the 4-disc combo pack.

Overall, “War Horse” is a beautiful, moving and wonderful film capturing a horse and its ability to bring out the human spirit with the many people it comes across.    While it may not be as emotional as Robert Bresson’s 1966 film “Au hasard Balthazar” nor do we see the cruelty the horse must go through from owner to owner, the film is not about the cruelty of man towards horse.  Nor is “War Horse” a war film.  It’s about a horse that brings out the human spirit no matter who the owner is or whatever side the horse is being utilized.  The hope of one young man being reunited with his horse and that hope and even a bit of luck exists, even during dire circumstances.

Steven Spielberg and his crew once again has done a wonderful job and for those contemplating on this Blu-ray release, it really is magnificent.  Not just the film itself but its presentation, its picture quality and its fantastic lossless soundtrack.

“War Horse” is highly recommended!

Lost Keaton (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

If you are a fan of Buster Keaton, these 16 comedy two-reel talkies from the mid-30′s (his work with Educational Films) are hilarious, fun and enjoyable!   Definitely a Blu-ray recommended for Keaton fans!

Images courtesy of © 2012 Kino International Corp. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Lost Keaton

YEAR OF COMEDY SHORTS: 1934-1937

DURATION: 16 Episodes (20 minutes per episode)

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition, LPCM Monaural

COMPANY: Kino Classics

RATED: Not Rated

Release Date: March 20, 2012

Directed by Charles Lamont, Mack Sennett, Raymond Kane, Al Christie

Starring:

Buster Keaton

Lona Andre

Myra E. Keaton

Louise Keaton

Dewey Robinson

“Bull Montana”

Warren Hymer

Dorothy Dix

Joe Young

William Worthington

Lloyd Ingraham

Leo Willis

Stanley J. Sanford

Kitty McHugh

Harry Bowen

Dorothea Kent

Vernon Dent

James Jones

Harold Goodwin

Marilyn Stuart

Dorothea Kent

Eddie Lambert

Gloria Brewster

Barbara Brewster

and many more…

For Buster Keaton, the era of the talkies was a tumultuous time. After signing with MGM, the quality of his ambitious, eclectic comedies began to decline, leading to a period of personal setbacks.  In 1934, he signed a contract with Earle W. Hammons¹s Educational Pictures which, despite its name, specialized in comedy short subjects (“The Spice of the Program”). Keaton’s move to Educational was a return to his roots, crafting a stream of two-reel comedies in rapid succession, as he had done in the early 1920s, when he first refined his cinematic craft.

The films Keaton made at Educational (all sixteen of which are collected here) pay homage to his earlier work (such as Love Nest on Wheels, which revives a number of gags from his very first film, The Butcher Boy), while exploring new possibilities for his recurring comic persona “Elmer”.

When we think about Buster Keaton, we think of one of the kings of slapstick comedy during the silent era.  The master of physical comedy, a talent known for his deadpan expression and his films, well-revered today as one of the best actors and directors of all time and beloved by many.

But in the late ’20s and early ’30s, Buster Keaton was at his all time low.   Due to an affair, he found himself divorced to Natalie Talmadge (of the popular Talmadge family and sister to actresses Norma and Constance), lost his wife, children and the money he had made during his career in silent films.

To make things worse, he learned from Joseph M. Schenk (the man in which Keaton was contracted to) would be taking the job as President of the new United Artists (created by D.W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks) and under his advice, he closed down his own film studio and was under contract with MGM.

That era was the worst decision he ever made in his life (according to Keaton), because he lost creative control of his films, the stunts he was known for had to be performed by a stunt double (as MGM had no intention of their lead actor getting hurt) and Buster Keaton continued his downward slope in his career and also his life as an alcoholic.  Despite his talkie films at Columbia being quite successful and profitable, his life behind-the-camera was not going so well at all.   His life was delaying production and several incidents took place behind-the-scenes that although Keaton would continue to work but focus on making films for Columbia in Europe in 1993-1934, MGM had no choice but to release him and no studio wanted to hire him.

But in 1934, Keaton did return to Hollywood when an old friend got him work at Educational Pictures ran by Earl (E.W.) Hammons.  What was originally a company that was going to focus on instructional films for schools, Hammons learned the profitability of comedies and he began releasing films and shorts.  For Buster Keaton, Keaton made his Hollywood comeback with 16 two-reel comedies and now these comedy shorts (which pay homage to his original work) have been released on a 2-disc Blu-ray release titled “Lost Keaton” courtesy of Kino International (note: These are the same episodes and special features from the 2010 DVD release of “Lost Keaton” but now presented in 1080p High Definition, LPCM 2.0).

The 16 two-reel comedies were budgeted at $20,000 each and $5,000 went to Keaton per episode, while $15,000 were budgeted for sets, props, costumes and supporting casts.  These were low-budget comedy shorts and a production schedule that were shot in 3-5 days and were shot very early in the morning to save money.

“Lost Keaton” features the following episodes (note: spoilerless summaries):

DISC 1:

• The Gold Ghost – (1934, 21 minutes)  Directed by Charles Lamont, Buster Keaton plays the character of Wattie, a man who is out of luck and love and decides to go to a place where he’s alone.  Wattie goes to a ghost town and becomes the sheriff but sooner or later, more and more people start to move in to town.
• Allez Oop – (1934, 20 minutes)  Directed by Charles Lamont, Buster Keaton debuts the role of his comic persona “Elmer”.  Elmer is a clock repairman and falls for a customer and the two go out on a date to a circus where she becomes smitten with one of the trapeze artists.  Can Elmer win her back?
• Palooka from Paducah – (1935, 20 minutes) Directed by Charles Lamont, Buster Keaton plays Jim Diltz, the son of a family of Hillbilly’s (played by his real life family) who need to make money for the family and thus, goes to the big city to support their son, Elmer (played by Dewey Robinson) who is wrestling for money.
• One Run Elmer - (1935, 19 minutes) Directed by Charles Lamont, Buster plays the character of Elmer who owns a gas station in the middle of nowhere.  When another man tries to build a gas station, right across his, the two compete against each other.  The film marks the appearance of actress Lona Andre.
• Hayseed Romance – (1935, 20 minutes) Directed by Charles Lamont, Buster plays Elmer Doolittle, who answers an ad to work at a farm and literally become the man of the woman who wrote the ad.  He first meets the beautiful Molly (played by Dorothea Kent) but finds out the ad is from the tough as nails Miss Green (played by Jane Jones).  Can Elmer escape?
• Tars and Stripes – (1935, 20 minutes) Directed by Charles Lamont, Buster plays the character of Apprentice Seaman Elmer Dolittle, a seaman who is constantly put in the brig because he keeps getting in trouble and is quite clumsy.  But what happens when his commanding officer (played by Vernon Dent) finds his girlfriend (played by Dorothea Kent) flirting with Elmer.
• The E-Flat Man – (1935, 20 minutes) Directed by Charles Lamont, Buster plays Elmer, a man who runs off with his girlfriend (played by Dorothea Kent) to get married.  The two don’t know that a duo of robbers are on the loose and somehow they are mistaken as the robbers and police start to go after both Elmer and his girlfriend.
• The Timid Young Man – (1935, 20 minutes) Directed by Mack Sennett and Buster Keaton (the only time the two have worked together), Buster plays a Milton who is through with women (because a bossy woman wants to marry him) and actress Lona Andre plays a woman (who doesn’t want to marry an old man that her father arranged for her) who is through with men and the two end up leaving town together and getting away from their troubles but somehow the two find trouble.

DISC 2:

• Three On a Limb – (1936, 18 minutes) Directed by Charles Lamont, Buster Keaton plays Elmer Brown, a man who wants to marry Molly (played by Lorna Andre) but her father wants her to marry the police officer Harold Goodwin (played by Homer) and her mother wants her to marry Oscar (played by Grant Withers).  Who will end up marrying Molly?
• Grand Slam Opera – (1936, 21 minutes) Directed by Charles Lamont, Buster Keaton plays the character of Elmer Butts, a man who wants to perform on the Grand Slam Opera radio show.  Considered by many as the best episode Buster Keaton did for Educational Films.
• Blue Blazes – (1936, 19 minutes) Directed by Raymond Kane, Buster Keaton plays Elmer, a fireman who can’t get anything right.  But when a fire takes place in an apartment, Elmer must save the tenants.
• The Chemist – (1936, 19 minutes) Directed by Al Christie, (in the only collaboration between both Buster Keaton and Christie), Buster plays the character of Elmer “Happy” Tripple, a scientist who is expected to develop the next big thing.  That big thing ends up to be a powder when combined with water, produces major blasts that make no sound, which catches the eyes of three robbers who want Elmer’s secret powder.
• Mixed Magic – (1936, 16 minutes) Directed by Raymond Kane, Buster plays Elmer “Happy” Butterworth, who tries out for a job to become a magician’s assistant, despite not knowing magic.
• Jail Bait – (1937, 19 minutes) Directed by Charles Lamont, Buster Keaton plays “The Office-Boy” who needs $98 to buy his girlfriend a ring but since he has no money, he runs into a thug who asks him to fake a crime, take the blame and he will get his $98.  But of course, by confessing a crime, the office-boy gets more than he is expecting.
• Ditto – (1937, 17 minutes) Directed by Charles Lamont, Buster Keaton plays the iceman who falls for a woman (which he doesn’t know are twins, played by Gloria and Barbara Brewster).
• Love Nest On Wheels – (1937, 18 minutes) The final Educational film starring Buster Keaton and directed by Charles Lamont, Buster Keaton plays the character of Elmer and stars Keaton’s family and friends.  Elmer and his family run a broken down hotel and a couple stop by in town to stay at the hotel, not knowing how bad of shape it truly is in.  But a man is demanding money or else he will close down the hotel, can Elmer and family raise enough money in time?

VIDEO:

The episodes in “LOST KEATON” is presented in black and white (1:33:1 aspect ratio) and in 1080p High Definition. It’s important for people to know that the Buster Keaton “Educational Films” were never in the best quality when compared to the full length films.   These were very low-budget films that were not cared for and with that beings aid, one can expect scratches and for a few episodes, missing frames.

According to Kino, the episodes were mastered in HD from 35mm negatives and fine grain master positives from Keaton’s personal collection and other archival sources by Raymond Rohauer.  Some films exist in less-than perfect condition, which is not atypical for low budget “orphan” films such as these.

The biggest question that I have been asked is how different the picture quality is compared to the DVD version release in 2010.  The picture quality is much more sharper and the contrast does bring out the black levels, whites and grays.  But is it a huge improvement, there is a slight upgraded in picture quality but it is not tremendous.

Overall, I’m quite pleased that these shorts which are nearly 80-years-old are in good shape.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

The episodes of “LOST KEATON” is presented in monaural via LPCM 2.0.  Dialogue is clear and understandable.  Audio does differ in each episode (the last two episodes are probably the two that come off with static), but for the most part, dialogue and audio can be heard.

Similar to the video, it is important to note that these Educational Films were low-budget “orphan” films and were not in the best condition if compared to Keaton’s films.  You will hear static and hiss, some popping but considering the source, this is probably the best we are ever going to hear from these episodes.

SPECIAL FEATURES

“LOST KEATON” comes with the following special features:

• Film Notes - The following features short notes about each episode and Buster Keaton’s involvement in those episodes.  Written by David Macleod, author of “The Sound of Buster Keaton”.
• Stills Gallery - Featuring still photography of Buster Keaton courtesy of David Macleod, Bruce Lawton and Douris UK Ltd.  Using your remote (or PC arrow buttons), viewers can cycle through each photo.
• “Why The Call Him Buster” – (1:11) A musical montage of pratfalls and stunts created to promote the upcoming release of KINO’s “Lost Keaton”.

This is the first time I have watched the Buster Keaton Educational Film shorts and I’m quite impressed with what the crew came up with considering the short budget they had, but if anything, Buster Keaton does a great job in showing us that many years after “The General” and “Steamboat Bill, Jr.” and countless other silent films that he had made, that he can still deliver in physical comedy.

In many ways, these shorts kind of remind me of the fun that I enjoyed while watching the Little Rascals shorts but without children, we have Buster Keaton.  In each episode, Keaton does say a few lines but for the most part, his physical comedy that he is known for is what is spotlighted in each episode.

Of course, when compared to his films that he did in the ’20s, there is obviously differences in budget but considering that these were short films on a low budget, the majority of the 16 shorts featured in “Lost Keaton” were quite hilarious and fun to watch.

I have quite a few favorites but I noticed that I enjoyed the pairing between Keaton and Lona Andre (who has this slight resemblance to Myrna Loy) and episodes such as “Three on a Limb” and “The Timid Young Man” but episodes where Buster Keaton does shine are episodes like “Grand Slam Opera” which was an amazing sight to see Keaton reacting and dancing to various music from other countries and he does a fantastic job in those scenes.  Another favorite was the short titled “Allez Oop” in which Buster plays a man who tries to show that he can do trapeze work (since the girl he likes falls for a trapeze artist) and “Hayseed Romance” as Buster is working at a farm and finds out that he may have to stay there by force.

But there are many fun episodes such as “The Gold Ghost”, “Tars and Stripes”, “The E-Flat Man”, “The Chemist” and many more.  As for shorts that aren’t that great, to tell you the truth, there is only one bad one which is “Ditto” (which seems fine at the beginning but has this unusual second half that made no sense).  If anything, I found all 16 episodes to be quite fun and hilarious.  It’s a shame that Keaton didn’t do more of these shorts at Educational Films but then again, Fox Film Corporation which distributed these shorts would end up withdrawing their support of Educational Films in 1937 and less than two years later, Educational Films would file for bankruptcy.

Keaton would go on to make ten more shorts for Columbia Pictures in 1939 but these were considered his weakest work and Keaton vowed to never “make another crummy two-reeler”.

If anything, Kino International has done a wonderful service for Keaton fans by releasing these 16 comedy shorts on Blu-ray.  I remember when the DVD was released and many Blu-ray fans were a bit ticked that Kino would release a Keaton collection, having been spoiled with simultaneous Blu-ray and DVD releases.  But now, the Blu-ray fans can enjoy these talkies.

Once again, picture quality is good for these nearly 80-year-old short low-budget films and audio quality is good, if anything, I wish there was a featurette, possibly interviews with Keaton scholars about his work at Educational Films or something extra included aside from the photo gallery and the same “Lost Keaton” one minute video that was featured on the “Steamboat Bill, Jr.” Blu-ray and DVD release.  But I did enjoy the inclusion of the film notes by David Macleod and now I’m very much interested in reading his book “The Sound of Buster Keaton”.

As for those who owned the previous DVD, is it worth the upgrade?  In terms of having an upgraded 1080p version with better contrasting, then yes.  Otherwise, it’s not a tremendous leap in terms of PQ or AQ when compared to the DVD release but for those who are seeking the best version, there is no doubt that these Educational Films featuring Buster Keaton looks the best on Blu-ray.

Overall, I’m sure silent film fans may find these comedy shorts too different than his silents but for me, I appreciate the work that Buster Keaton was able to do during the silent era and the sound era.  He doesn’t do much acting in terms of spoken dialogue but it works well because what makes the film so entertaining is his physical comedy and also seeing him partnered with leading ladies (who did a good job with their own style of comedy which complimented his physical comedy) in some of these episodes such as actresses Lona Andre and Dorothea Kent.

“Lost Keaton” is definitely a set worth owning and recommended for fans of Buster Keaton and those looking for humorous comedy based shorts from the mid-1930′s.  Definitely recommended!

The Lion King 1 1/2: Special Edition (a J!-ENT Children’s Blu-ray Disc Review)

If you thought the original “The Lion King” looked amazing on Blu-ray, the second direct-to-video film “The Lion King 1 1/2″ looks vibrant and gorgeous in HD!  While it is not essential to watch this film, it’s still a fun family film focusing on Timon & Pumbaa and life before and after they met Simba.

Image courtesy of © Disney. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: The Lion King 1 1/2: Special Edition

FILM YEAR OF RELEASE: 2004

DURATION: 76 Minutes

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:66:1), English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio,French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English SDH, French and Spanish Subtitles

COMPANY: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

RATED: G (for General Audiences)

Release Date: March 6, 2012

Directed by Bradley Raymond

Screenplay by Tom Rogers, Roger Allers, Irene Mecchi, Raymond Singer, Evan Spiliotopoulos

Produced by George A. Mendoza, Jason VanBorssum

Associate Producer: Michael Paxton

Music by Don Harper

Edited by Joyce Arrastia

Production Design by Dennis Greco

Art Direction by James Gallego

Featuring the following voice talent:

Nathan LAne as Timon

Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa

Julie Kavner as Mom

Jerry Stiller as Uncle Max

Matthew Broderick as Adult Simba

Robert Guillaume as Rafiki

Moira Kelly as Nala

Whoopi Goldberg as Shenzi

Cheech Marin as Banzai

Jim Cummings as Ed

Edward Hibbert as Zazu

JAson Rudofsky as Flinchy

Matt Weinberg as Young Simba

Hilarity reigns in the motion picture comedy-adventure that takes you waaay back to the beginning before Simba’s tale began…now more fabulous than ever for the first time in a 2-disc Blu-ray Combo Pack!

From their uniquely hysterical perspective, Timon and his windy pal Pumbaa—the greatest unsung heroes of the savanna—reveal where they came from, how they helped Simba save the Serengeti and what really happened behind the scenes of The Lion King’s biggest events.

Disney has had many successes since Walt Disney created the popular animation studio back in 1923.

With the success of their live action films and their PIXAR 3D animated films, still to this day, “The Lion King”, the 32nd film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics remains as the most successful animated film for the legendary company earning over $862 million in the box office (created with a budget of $45 million) and in terms of overall animation, it’s the fifth highest grossing animated film of all time and the #1 highest grossing film when it comes to hand-drawn animation.

The film earned two Academy awards plus a Golden Globe for “Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy” and is the #4 animated film on the American Film Institute’s “10 Top 10″ list.

“The Lion King” made its debut on Blu-ray (2-disc) courtesy of a Diamond Edition on Oct. 4, 2011, as well as a 3D Blu-ray (4-Disc) and also an 8-disc “The Lion King” trilogy box set which included both direct-to-video films “The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride” and “The Lion King 1 1/2″.

And now in March 2012, both films will be released on Blu-ray separately.

“Lion King 1 1/2″ is the third film of “The Lion King” series, made in 2004 and focuses primarily on Timon and Pumbaa.  Because this is a direct-to-video film and previous voice talent have gotten older since the making of the original “The Lion King”, a few changes were made for casting such as Matt Weinberg as young Simba instead of Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Rowan Atkinson as Zazu.

Created in a “Mystery Science Theater 3000″ style, both Timon and Pumbaa are watching a film of “The Lion King 1 1/2″ as it features their back story before and after they met Simba.

The film begins with Timon wanting more responsibility as a meerkat but because he tends to get into trouble, he nearly gets his meerkat group killed when he fails to alert them that hyenas have arrived to their village.  While his mother is quite supportive of him and his Uncle Max tends to be quite critical of him, Timon becomes an outcast to the other meerkats.

Timon meets a mandrill named Rafiki who tells him that he must find his place in the world via Hakuma Matata and next thing you know, Timon goes to Pride Rock where he meets Pumbaa for the very first time.

Both Timon and Pumbaa have no family and thus, they become best friends to each other.

As the two are able to find a new home and live life via Hakuna Matata, the storyline then shifts to when both Timon and Pumbaa meet Simba for the very first time and begin to raise him.

The film shows a connection to the original “The Lion King” film but also shows how Timon is not so appreciative of Nala coming in and taking away Simba from them.  As Simba heads back to the Pride Lands to confront his uncle Scar, will his good friends Timon and Pumbaa be there with him?

VIDEO:

Each time I have watched a Disney animated classic on Blu-ray, suffice to say, there are no disappointments. Each release has been spectacular when it comes to picture quality and with the Blu-ray release of “The Lion King 1 1/2″, once again viewers are receiving a quality product as this film looks fantastic on Blu!

Forget the fact that this is a direct-to-video film, the detail of this animated film is impressive, vibrant and beautiful!

Presented in 1080p High Definition (1:66:1), the first thing you will noticed about “The Lion King 1 1/2″ is how vibrant the film is. The colors are spectacular, the black levels are nice and deep and the colorful visuals are just breathtaking. There were times where I was expecting to see some banding, especially the gradient pink to purples in the background but for the most part, the film looked awesome with no problems whatsoever.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“The Lion King 1 1/2″ is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and also includes a French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. If you thought the video was awesome for “The Lion King 1 1/2″, the lossless soundtrack was good.  I’ve noticed a good use of the LFE and also the surround channels, but compared to “The Lion King”, it’s not as active and pronounced.   A big difference is that there was good use of ambiance of the Pride Lands in the original film, for “The Lion King 1 1/2″, most of the audio comes to play during the action and music sequences.  But for the most part, the audio for  “Lion King 1 1/2″ was OK but not super active compared to the first film but is expected as this is a direct-to-video release.

Subtitles are presented in English SDH, French and Spanish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“The Lion King 1 1/2: Special Edition” comes with the following special features:

• Timon & Pumbaa’s Vacation Safari - (4:57) Featuring Timon and Pumbaa showcasing video of animals that live in the wild.
• Deleted Scenes – (11:44) Director Bradley Raymond and Producer George Mendoza explain the segments that did not make the final cut.  Note: The seven deleted scenes are presented as sketches or artwork.
• Timon: Behind the Legend – (4:04) Peter Graves does a mockumentary of Timon’s childhood and features interview with Timon, his mother, Uncle Max and Pumbaa.
• Before the Beginning: The Making of Lion King 1 1/2 - (15:02) Director Bradley Raymond and Producer George Mendoza give viewers a chance to see the making of “The Lion King 1 1/2″ with interviews with the crew who were responsible in making the film.
• “Grazin’ in the Grass” Music Video  - (3:12) A Music video of “Grazin’ in the Grass” sung by Raven Symone.

EXTRAS:

“The Lion King 1 1/2: Special Edition” comes with a slipcover case and a DVD version of the feature film. The DVD is presented in widescreen 1:66:1 aspect ratio, English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital and subtitles in English SDH, French and Spanish.

For those who grew up watching “The Lion King” and enjoyed the film and are now adults with their own children, “The Lion King 1 1/2″ is a fun family film as it focuses on the two crazy characters of the original film, Timon and Pumbaa!

The film goes into the past of how these two characters met, but how Timon’s life was prior to meeting Pumbaa and Simba, but also showing the audience of what took place during the time Simba lived with both of them.

While it is a direct-to-video film and is not essential to watch, if you are a fan of “The Lion King”, it’s a wonderful addition to the series and also giving fans more storylines involving the characters from the first “The Lion King” film.

While both “The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride” and “The Lion King 1 1/2″ were released as part of a Blu-ray set last year, I’m actually happy that Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has decided to release these two direct-to-video films on Blu-ray individually.   And I am quite pleased of how gorgeous the film looks on Blu-ray.  Typically one doesn’t put too much stock into direct-to-video animated films but in the case of “The Lion King 1 1/2″, the film looks absolutely vibrant and beautiful look at.  Granted, the losless audio is not as active and pronounced as the original film but it’s still very good.

Overall, “The Lion King 1 1/2″ is a great family film and for parents looking for an animated film on Blu-ray for their children to watch. Also,”The Lion King 1 1/2″ Blu-ray release also comes with the DVD version of the film.

And for those who were fans of the original film who never saw the direct-to-video films and were in awe of the Blu-ray release of the original film, what best now to watch the two than on Blu-ray!

“The Lion King 1 1/2: Special Edition” is recommended for children and families!

A Night to Remember – The Criterion Collection #7 (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

As we approach the 100th year anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the Criterion Collection Blu-ray release of “A Night to Remember” is absolutely magnificent!  Not only does the film look incredible on Blu-ray, there are a number of special features that also make this release quite educational,  informative and worth owning.  “A Night to Remember” is highly recommended!

Image courtesy of ©1958 Carlton Film Distributors Limited. 2012 The Criterion Collection. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: A Night to Remember – The Criterion Collection #7

MOVIE RELEASE: 1958

DURATION: 123 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: B&W, 1:66:1 Aspect Ratio, Monaural, Subtitles: English SDH

COMPANY: Janus Films/The Criterion Collection

RELEASE DATE: March 27, 2012

Based on the book by Walter Lord

Directed by Roy Ward Baker

Screenplay by Eric Ambler

Executive Producer: Earl St. John

Produced by William MacQuitty

Music by William Alwyn

Cinematography by Geoffrey Unsworth

Edited by Sidney Hayers

Casting by Weston Drury Jr.

Art Direction by Alex Vetchinsky

Costume Design by Yvonne Caffin

Starring:

Kenneth More as Second Officer Charles Herbert Lightoller

Ronald Allen as Mr. Clarke

Robert Ayres as Maj. Arthur Peuchen

Honor Blackman as Mrs. Liz Lucas

Anthony Bushell as Capt. Arthur Rostron (Carpathia)

John Cairney as Mr. Murphy

Jill Dixon as Mrs. Clarke

Jan Downs as Mrs. Sylvia Lightoller

James Dyrenforth as Col. Archibald Gracie

Michael Goodliffe as Thomas Andrews

Kenneth Griffith as Wireless Operator John Phillips

Harriette Johns as Lady Richard

Frank Lawton as Chairman J. Bruce Ismay

Richard Leech as First Officer William Murdoch

David McCallum as Assistant Wireless Operator Harold Bride

Alec McCowen as Wireless Operator Harold Thomas Cottam (Carpathia)

Tucker McGuire as Mrs. Margaret Brown

John Merivale as Robbie Lucas

Ralph Michael as Mr. Yates

Laurence Naismith as Capt. Edward John Smith

Russell Napier as Capt. Stanley Lord (Californian)

Redmond Phillips as Mr. Hoyle

George Rose as Chief Baker Charles Joughin

Joseph Tomelty as Dr. William O’Loughlin

Patrick Waddington as Sir Richard

On April 14, 1912, just before midnight, the “unsinkable” Titanic struck an iceberg. In less than three hours, it had plunged to the bottom of the sea, taking with it more than 1,500 of its 2,200 passengers. In his unforgettable render­ing of Walter Lord’s book of the same name, the acclaimed British director Roy Ward Baker depicts with sensitivity, awe, and a fine sense of tragedy the ship’s last hours. Featuring remarkably restrained performances, A Night to Remember is cinema’s subtlest and best dramatization of this monumental twentieth-century catastrophe.

As the world prepares to celebrate the 100th Year Anniversary of the tragic sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 12th, weeks leading up to the anniversary include National Geographic’s photos of the Titanic as seen in the ocean today, James Cameron prepares to unveil his 3D version of his “Titanic” film and the Criterion Collection will be re-releasing a newly restored version of the classic 1958 film, “A Night to Remember” on Blu-ray and DVD.

“A Night to Remember” is regarded as a film that was made when there were survivors of the Titanic still living and it all was inspired by a film adaptation of Walter Lord’s non-fiction book.

For advertising employee/writer Walter Lord, he has always been fascinated with the RMS Titanic since he was a young child.  In 1955, Lord wrote decided to write a book on the RMS Titanic, the largest ship at its time which hit an iceberg in 1912 and sank.  Of the 2,200+ survivors, over 700 were saved and Lord was able to interview dozens of survivors for his book and the details that took place of what happened during the night of April 14, 1912.

From the time Lord wrote his book, nothing has been written about the Titanic since 1913.  In 1953, there was a melodrama from Twentieth Century Fox titled “Titanic” but Lord, who has always been fascinated by the stories of what happened during the night of April 1912, wanted to prioritize his story of the Titanic on historical documents and first-hand accounts of survivors.  A minute-by-minute record of what happened and not make a drama.

Not long after the book was published, the book received its adaptation and filming began in the United Kingdom with Roy Ward Baker (“Asylum”, “The Monster Club”) taking on the directorial role and a screenplay written by Eric Ambler (“The Cruel Sea”, “The Purple Plain”) and produced by William MacQuitty (“Street Corner”, “The Happy Family”, “The Informers”).

The film crew was very concerned with authenticity that they used the actual blueprints of the Titanic to recreate the sets and survivors such as the Titanic’s fourth officer Joseph Boxhal and ex-cunard Commodore Harry Grattidge worked as technical advisors.  The film premiered in the UK and the US in 1958 and won a Golden Globe Award for “Best Foreign Film” and received mostly all positive reviews from critics.

“A Night to Remember” is a film that doesn’t focus on any primary characters but focuses on what took place on the fateful night the Titanic sunk and over 1,500 died.  The film highlights how people felt they were not in any harm because the Titanic was thought of as unsinkable.

The film features the Titanic’s crew who were happy to be part of major liner and we see how the Titanic had levels for different classes of people on the voyage.  The rich were on top and had a bar, listened to music and gambled.  We see the middle/lower-class people in the middle-deck just enjoying the ride and making their own music.  And then we see the various crew members such as the engineers, the cooks and others who worked at the Titanic doing their job.  But around 30-40 minutes into the movie, then we see what takes place after the RM Titanic hits an iceberg and how the Captain and the creator of the RMS Titanic learned not long after the crash of their fate and how they had an hour and half to evacuate people off the ship.  The problem is that they only had emergency lifeboats that could hold around 1,200 people but there were over 2,200 people onboard the Titanic.

So, we see the evacuation process especially how the crew handled women and children only and we see also see three different settings with the crew and the people of the Titanic but also the crew of the RMS Carpathia (who received the distress call from the crew of the Titanic and came in to rescue any survivors) who received the distress call but were 4 hours away and a ship, the SS Californian (note: During a U.S. senate investigation, an investigation showed that the crew of the Californian were only 19 miles away from the Titanic but the Captain who was asleep at the time when receiving reports did not take action because he did not believe it was the Titanic sending the distress.  The Californian did search for survivors after they learned the Titanic did sink and saw the Carpathia racing into help the survivors.) which were nearby but failed to respond until it was too late.

A few people that were shown throughout the film before the accident are then featured for a short while as we see how they survived (or didn’t survive) the accident and the chaos that ensued during that night.  But like Walter Lord’s book, a film that focuses on the night of April 14, 1912 and the events that took place on the Titanic before and after it hit an iceberg.

VIDEO:

“A Night to Remember” is presented in Black and White (1:66:1 aspect ratio).  Having owned the earlier release of “A Night to Remember”, watching it on Blu-ray was fantastic!  The clarity of the film is absolutely amazing and dare I say, it looks pristine!  You can see details from the clothing to even the captain’s beard, that is how detailed this film looks.  Black levels are nice and deep and the white and grays are exceptionally well-contrasted.   There is no sign of blurring nor does it look aged, like its older Criterion Collection DVD version.

I was blown away as how good this film looks in HD (considering the film is over 50-years old) and obviously, this is the definitive version of the film to own at this time

According to the Criterion Collection, this new high-definition digital transfer was created in 2K resolution on an ARRI Laser Scanner from the original 35 mm camera negative, which was restored by the Perivale Archive for ITV Studios Global Entertainment.  Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter and flicker were manually removed using MTI’s DRS and PixelFarm’s PFClean, while Image Systems’ DVNR was used for small dirt, grain and noise reduction.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

The audio for “A Night to Remember” is presented in LPCM monaural. Dialogue and music is absolutely clear and I detected no hiss or any audio problems whatsoever.

According to the Criterion Collection, the original monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from a 35 mm optical soundtrack positive. Clicks, thumps, hiss and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube’s integrated workstation.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“A Night to Remember – The Criterion Collection #7″ on Blu-ray comes with the following special features:

• Audio Commentary - Featuring audio commentary recorded in 1995 featuring Don Lynch (author) and Ken Marschall (illustrator) of “Titanic-An Ilustrated History”.  The duo talks about differences that were learned from recent discoveries of the Titanic, class distinction on the ship, the Californian controversy, how big a gash was on the site of the Titanic, the decision making of the crew, was their a mass panic?, the survivors that Lynch spoke to and more. A very enjoyable and informative audio commentary for those interested in the Titanic.
• The Making of “A Night to Remember” - (57:49) The making of “A Night to Remember” with interviews with original author Walter Lord, producer Walter McQuitty about his experiences when he saw the Titanic being built to making the film, the challenges they faced during filming and the success the film received in the UK and the US.
• Eva Hart: Survivor -  (23:15) A 1990 interview conducted by Ray Johnson with one of the last living survivors who rode the Titanic with her parents, Eva Hart (Hart would pass away in 1996) reminisces of riding on the Titanic and the events leading up to her and her mother being put into a boat.  Hart talks about life after the “Titanic” for her and her mother and her feelings of the Titanic.
• En Natt Att Minnas – (32:25) A 1962 Swedish special celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic with interviews with a few survivors.
• The Iceberg That Sank the “Titanic” – (48:41) A BBC Natural World special about the Titanic and how an iceberg would sail so far into the Atlantic and also examining the collision between the Titanic and the iceberg.
• Trailer – (3:48) The theatrical trailer for “A Night to Remember”.

EXTRAS:

“A Night to Remember – The Criterion Collection #7″ comes with a 24-page booklet with the essay “Nearer, My Titanic, To Thee” by Michael Sragow plus archival photographs.

Back when Criterion Collection released “A Night to Remember”, I remember really wanting to watch this film for so many years and I know that for most people, they tend to compare the 1958 film “A Night to Remember” and the 1997 film “Titanic” and debate which film was better.  Personally, I enjoyed James Cameron’s t“Titanic” when it was first released in theaters and watched it multiple times.   And having watched “A Night to Remember”, I equally enjoyed it.

These are two films about the sinking of the RMS Titanic but in essence, they are two different films.

With James Cameron having modern technology at the time, and a film with the duration of 3 hours, not to mention an incredible amount of money budgeted to make the film, the film is more romantic as Cameron’s film focused on two people who meet, fall in love while riding the Titanic.  But most impressively, the use of technology of the time to showcase the actual accident and splitting of the Titanic.

With that being said, “A Night to Remember” was an incredible film when it was released.  A film that would incorporate actual footage of the Titanic from 1912 to detailed information from the survivors, nothing like it had been done ever before.  In fact, Before Walter Lord wrote his book, there was nothing written about the Titanic in over 40-years since 1912.

There was a melodrama film titled “Titanic” in 1953 but Lord captured in his book a minute-by-minute detail courtesy of the survivors he spoke to and the documents he was able to obtain.  “A Night to Remember” used the actual blueprints of the Titanic as well.  The film was not much about the characters but the ship and the people who were on the Titanic, the Carpathia and the Californian.

The film that would pay respects to those who perished but also to acknowledge the positive that came out of this accident, in terms of rules and regulations and acknowledging that there was quite amount of human error that led to the Titanic’s sinking.  Warnings of icebergs that were not followed up on, a ship nearby who saw the emergency rockets but didn’t take action until hours after the ship had sunk and a ship four hours away that came, although the damage was done and there were an incredible number of people who lost their lives.

It’s obvious that James Cameron’s big budget film may have been inspired by “A Night to Remember” as certain scenes tend to have some resemblance.  But for the most part, the two films are quite different from one another.

“Titanic” focused more on the dramatic aspect and then using modern special effects of the sinking/breaking of the Titanic while “A Night to Remember” focused on the Titanic and its crew and people who were trying to survive, escape or just accepted their fate as well as the crew of the Carpathia and Californian. While the special effects were solid for a film at that time and acting was very well done, what I enjoyed about “A Night to Remember” is that it doesn’t try to focus on a few characters, everyone on the ship is part of the film.

As for the Blu-ray release, as mentioned in my review of the video portion, I was in awe of how pristine this film looks.  Compare this to the older Criterion Collection DVD and while that DVD was good, it does look of a film made in 1958.   Watch this new restoration and it looks incredible!  You can see the detail of clothes, the ship, the hair on the captain’s beard to even the glimmer of ice from the iceberg that had fallen on the ship.    The Blu-ray of the film features so much detail and the film looks so good (considering it is over 50-years-old) that I was very impressed.

Also, unlike the original DVD which included commentary and the making of, “A Night to Remember” on Blu-ray includes a 1990 interview with survivor Eva Hart, a Swedish 50th Anniversary Titanic special ala “En Natt Att Minnas” and also a BBC Natural Worlds special on the Titanic and the iceberg. The included booklet with archived photos is also a wonderful addition and quite simply, this is the definitive version of “A Night to Remember” that people should own!

Overall, as we approach the 100th year anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, the Criterion Collection Blu-ray release of “A Night to Remember” is absolutely magnificent!  Not only does the film look incredible on Blu-ray, there are a number of special features that also make this release quite educational,  informative and worth owning.

“A Night to Remember” is highly recommended!

In the Land of Blood and Honey (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

“In the Land of Blood and Honey” is a powerful film that shows audiences the ugliness of war and a bold directorial/screenwriting debut for Angelina Jolie, who wanted to give a voice to victims of the war and also to create a film that reminds people that we should not repeat the atrocities of the past.  While the film does have its share of flaws and a romantic storyline that was unconvincing, “In the Land of Blood and Honey” is a war film that achieves its message through its visual, heartbreaking presentation.

Images courtesy of © 2011 GK Films, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: In the Land of Blood and Honey

FILM RELEASE: 2011

DURATION: 126 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:35:1 aspect ratio), Bosnian/Croatian/Servian 5.1 DTS-HD MA, Subtitles: English, English SDH,

COMPANY: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

RATED: R (For War Violence and Atrocities including rape, sexuality, nudity and language)

Release Date: March 27, 2012

Written and Directed by Angelina Jolie

Produced by Tim Headinton, Angelina Jolie, Graham King, Tim Moore

Executive Producer: Holly Goline

Associate Producer: Simon Craine

Music by Gabriel Yared

Cinematography by Dean Semler

Edited by Patricia Rommel

Casting by Gail Stevens

Production Design by Jon Hutman

Art Direction by Zsuzsanna Borvendeg, Arwel Evans

Set Decoration by Anna Lynch-Robinson

Costume Design by Gabriele Binder

Starring:

Rade Servedzija as Nebojsa

Zana Marjanovic as Ajla

Goran Kostic as Danijel

Nikola Djuricko as Darko

Dzana Pinjo as Nadja

Branko Djuric as Aleksandar

Alma Terzic as Hana

Milos Timotijevic as Durja

Dolya Gavanski as Maida

Fedja Stukan as Petar

Ermin Bravo as Mehmet

Goran Jevtic as Mitar

In Angelina Jolie’s first film as a writer-director, she unfolds a tragic love story set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War. In a land where people of different cultures long lived in peace, there was a brief moment when love blossomed between Ajla, a Muslim artist, and Danijel, a Serb police officer. Then violence tore through the nation, pitting neighbor against neighbor. Now, Ajla has been taken prisoner — saved from the darkest horrors of war only by her captor, Danijel. As circumstances place them on opposite sides of the conflict, their relationship is ravaged by questions of loyalty and betrayal.

Outside of Hollywood, actress Angelina Jolie is known for her humanitarian work.

When the actress traveled to Bosnia and Herzegovina as a U.N. goodwill ambassador, the stories that she heard from people were heartbreaking, tragic but also enough for her to want to write a screenplay to show what happened to many Muslim Bosniak women during the Bosnian War (which lasted between April 1992 and December 1995 and took a long time for the international community to respond to reports of genocide in the region).

During the pre-production of “In the Land of Blood and Honey”, Jolie was consulting with U.S. diplomat and high-ranking Clinton Administration official Richard Holbrooke (one of the men responsible for crafting the Dayton Agreement which put an end to the Bosnian War), general Wesley Clark in regards to strategic plans and police and foreign correspondent Tom Gjelten.  But also studying the war and interviewing people in Bosnia.

Once the funding for a film complete, Angelina Jolie decided that she also wanted to make her directorial debut with this film.

The film was shot in Budapest and Esztergom and featured talent from various regions of former Yugoslavia and since these talents also had experiences during the war, she incorporated their experience also to the film. But the primary goal was to feature a Romeo & Juliet type of love story between a Serbian officer and a Muslim woman (held captive by Serb forces).

Before the film was made and after the film was made, because the pain of the war is still remembered by those who lived in the region at the time, the film was going to open up wounds but also upset groups who were depicted unfavorably.  While the film is technically written by Angelina Jolie, it’s important to note that this film was a script left open and modified daily as the cast and crew had their own personal experiences from the war and were incorporated into the film.

Despite the heavy criticism, “In the Land of Blood and Honey” was nominated for a Golden Globe for “Best Foreign Language Film” and was a winner of the PGA’s Stanley Kramer Award.

And now, “In the Land of Blood and Honey” will now be released on Blu-ray+DVD and DVD.   The film was shot in both the authentic language version which is presented with the authentic language version with English subtitles on Blu-ray, while the DVD has the English language version.

“In the Land of Blood and Honey” begins with an introduction of how Sarajevo was a city where many people of multi-ethnicities lived in peace.  Ajla (played by Zana Marjanovic) is a Bosnian Muslim woman who lives with her sister Lejla (played by Vanessa Glodjo) and her sister’s baby.

As Ajla goes to a dance club to hang out, she meets a Serbian police officer named Danijel (played by Goran Kostic).    The two enjoy their time together and dance the night away… until a bomb blows up inside the dance club and many are killed.  As Ajla and her sister try to pack things up and try to leave their apartment, hearing rumors that the Serbian forces are forcing people out of their homes.  It happens to them and the Muslim women, elderly and children are separated from the men.

The men are then slaughtered and the young women and teenage girls are then separated from the elderly and children and forced to be the captive prisoners of the Serbian forces who use the women for rape.

As the women are then being interviewed by the Serbian forces, we see Danijel remembering Ajla.  Danijel is a high ranking officer in the Serbian forces and the son of General Nebojsa (played by Rade Serbedzija).  We learn that Nebojsa has a hatred towards Muslims for what they did to the Serbian people long ago and because the Muslims are trying to force his people out of their country, the Serbian forces must respond by force.

As for Danijel, his encounter with Ajla has protected her from being raped by other soldiers (for the time being).

Meanwhile, back in the buildings of Sarajevo, we see Ajla’s sister Lejla suffering as well as the other Muslims in her building as the Serbians have cut off their water, food and medicine supplies as they are undergoing an ethnic cleansing campaign.  Anytime they see a non-Serbian, they shoot them.

But as Ajla’s sister has others watching her baby, while she goes to make a medicine run, unknown to her is that the Serbian forces have returned and have continued to round up now the elderly women and committing more crimes against everyone, including Lejla’s baby.  As Lejla and others are forced to relocate, back in the headquarters of the Serbian forces, the soldiers begin to have suspicions about Danijel because of how he is keeping a Muslim woman to himself.  Is he getting closer to a Muslim woman?

As Danijel tries to give opportunities for Ajla to escape from captivity, with many Serbian officers surrounding the area, will she be able too?  Especially now that she has fallen in love with him.

VIDEO:

“In the Land of Blood and Honey” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:35:1).  The picture quality is excellent as its cool to warm colors manage to capture the bloody war.  There is a lot of detail when it comes to showcasing the tortured and raped women from showing them bruised and bloodied and I have to admit that the film captured the feel of devastation and dreariness thanks to the cinematography of Dean Semler (“Dances with Wolves”, “2012″, “Apocalypto”, “xXx”).

There is a lot of detail for “In the Land of Blood and Honey” on Blu-ray from the destroyed buildings and bricks littered everywhere,  the clothing, surroundings, the close-ups of the talent but once again, realistic imagery of those killed, raped and tortured.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“In the Land of Blood and Honey” is presented in Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian and English 5.1 DTS-HD MA.  The film features a lot of dialogue and a lot of music that are crystal clear via lossless through the front and center channels.  Composer Gabriel Yared’s  (“The Talented Mr. Ripley”, “Cold Mountain”, “The Lives of Others”) music also sets the stage for the emotional levels of the film.   But it’s the haunting sounds of people screaming and crying that you hear a lot through the surround channels and probably the sounds that I remember the most during my viewing of the film.  The sounds of people mourning, the sounds of people being shot and killed.

The audio really sets the stage of the feeling of fear and it’s a tragic, heartbreaking soundtrack to listen to.

It’s important to note that the film was shot in both the authentic language version which is presented with the authentic language version with English subtitles on Blu-ray, while the DVD has the English language version.

As for subtitles, the subtitles are presented in English and English SDH.

SPECIAL FEATURES

“In the Land of Blood and Honey” comes with the following special features:

• Deleted Scenes – (16:15) Featuring eleven deleted scenes.
• The Making of In the Land of Blood and Honey – (10:24) Angelina Jolie, the crew and cast talk about working in the film and how it affected cast members who lived through the war.
• Q&A with Writer/Director Angelina Jolie and Actress Vanessa Glodjo – (1:02:03) Angelina Jolie and actress Vanessa Glodjo take part in an online chat Q&A.

EXTRAS:

“In the Land of Blood and Honey” comes with a Blu-ray and DVD version of the film.

“In the Land of Blood and Honey” was a film that was controversial since its inception and controversial after it screened in theaters.

First, I want to give Angelina Jolie credit first for taking on a film that is not easy to write or  direct.  For the actress who had traveled on many humanitarian missions, Jolie has mentioned many times of visiting countries were women were victims and the international community had done nothing.  The purpose of revising the Bosnian War was to represent many women who didn’t have a voice but also bring attention to a war that is still remembered by many who grew up during the ’90s and to show that brutality and ugliness of war so it never happens again.

Unfortunately, the film would prove to be difficult because there is no neutrality, there is no exploring of history between the religious war that had existed in the country for hundreds of years.  It’s a war film that Jolie chose a side and that was Muslim women were were taken to rape camps and were raped, tortured or killed by Serbian forces.  And also to show the genocide campaign to cleanse the area of Muslim Bosniaks, and unfortunately it doesn’t show the Serbians in any positive light as most of them in the film are seen as barbaric and people who are wanting revenge for the atrocities committed by the Muslims in the past (and of course, there is more to what started the war which one will probably want to do research after watching this film) and have no remorse of cleansing their land of them.  As well, as raping or abusing Muslim Bosniak women.

I am not an erudite on the Bosnian war, nor do I know what is accurate and what is not.  The film has received criticism for its inaccuracy of what happened to people as depicted in the film and some blaming Jolie for putting her own twist to it.  It is important to mention that this is not the case and each day of filming, she incorporated the war experience of the cast and crew in the film.   For example, the scene where Serbian soldiers were sniping at the Muslim people at “Sniper’s Alley”.  Actress Vanessa Glodjo said that when she attended a performing arts school, she had to run to school because snipers were shooting at people.

So, with that being said, a lot of people had their own experience of what they saw and what happened in their own personal experience.

“In the Land of Blood and Honey” obviously takes on a delicate issue and needless to say, everyone has their opinion of this film.  But this is a film that Angelina Jolie no doubt created to pay respects to the Bosnian Muslim victims of the Srebrenica genocide.  Although it was important for Jolie to include cast that were from different backgrounds and perspectives, the film tries little to be neutral as it leans towards the Muslim Bosniaks.  A lot of the Serbian soldiers were depicted as evil but there were some who had difficulty attacking people they knew of different ethnicity.

But for the motivation of the Serbians, despite showing a scene where General Nebojsa explains what the Muslims have done to the country and to his family and the Serbian people.  It’s not easy trying to capture a war on both sides but even when you can try, we have seen filmmakers who have achieve such efficacy such as Gillo Pontecorvo’s “The Battle of Algiers”.  But of course, the motivation is different.  Jolie’s goal was to give the women who were victims a voice but also to show the brutality of a war that many people still remember, but to remember it and hope it never happens again.

And in one sense, part of me felt that Jolie was a brave soul in order to bring this heartbreaking film about what happened during the Bosnian War to the big screen.  In fact the head of the association of mothers of Srebrenica massacre victims spoke out against the film at first but after she watched the final film, she felt the movie was “excellent” and thanked Jolie for creating a film that was objective and sincere.

The problem that I had with the film is in regards to it’s “Romeo & Juliet” love story between a female Muslim prisoner and a Serb officer.  For one, you get a film that shows the atrocities of war.  Jolie was trying to create an art and war film but it’s hard to create such a film when you leave the audience feeling disgusted or heartbroken by seeing genocide taking place and the film then goes back to the relationship that these two have and you wonder if there is any closure that anyone can have towards the end of the film.

Jolie managed to capture the ugliness of war with her film but I felt to have a love story incorporated and then seeing the female protagonist Ajla being beaten, raped and seeing her in such a way, I was hoping there would be some closure.  Nevertheless, “In the Land of Blood and Honey” featured a dark love story within a tragic and heartbreaking environment that I started to lose interest in the actual relationship.

I suppose I was hoping to see a war story that evolved from a doomed romance, rather a doomed romanced shaped by war.  In some way, the film reminded me of Gillo Pontecorvo’s 1960 film “Kapo”, in the sense that the romantic drama weakened the plot, nor was it convincing.

I do respect Angelina Jolie for making her writing and directing debut and giving viewers a female point-of-view of the atrocities that happened during the Bosnia War.  Rarely do you see female directors taking on such a powerful and emotional war film, especially one that was going to receive a lot of criticism.

But with all the heaviness and ugliness of war, it’s hard to build a romance around it, especially between a Serbian officer and his Muslim captive.  It’s not a convincing relationship and while it’s based on the people she interviewed, others who lived during the war have come out and said there were significant flaws in the film and the film was unbalanced.

Overall, “In the Land of Blood and Honey” is a powerful film that shows audiences the ugliness of war and it is no doubt a bold directorial/screenwriting debut for Angelina Jolie, who wanted to give a voice to victims of the war and also to create a film that reminds people that we should not repeat the atrocities of the past.

While the film does have its share of flaws and a romantic storyline that was unconvincing, “In the Land of Blood and Honey” is a war film that achieves its message through its visual, heartbreaking presentation.

Letter Never Sent – The Criterion Collection #601 (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

A visual masterpiece!  Mikhail Kalatozov’s “Letter Never Sent” looks incredible on Blu-ray!  Cineastes who are wanting more Russian cinema in their collection, this film is highly recommended!

Image courtesy of ©1959 Mosfilm. 2012 The Criterion Collection. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Letter Never Sent – The Criterion Collection #601 (Neotpravlennoye pismo)

MOVIE RELEASE: 1959

DURATION: 96 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: B&W, 1:33:1 Aspect Ratio, Monaural in Russian with English Subtitles

COMPANY: Janus Films/The Criterion Collection

RELEASE DATE: March 20, 2012

Directed by Mikhail Kalatozov

Written by Grigori Koltunov, Viktori Rozov

Story and Screenplay by Valeri Osipov

Music by Nikolai Kryukov

Cinematography by Sergei Urusevsky

Editing by N. Anikina

Production Design by David Vinitsky

Costume Design by Leonid Naumov

Starring:

Tatyana Samojlova as Tanya

Yevgeni Urbansky as Sergei

Innokenti Smoktunovsky as Sabinine

Vasili Livanov as Andrei

Galina Kozhakina as Vera

The great Soviet director Mikhail Kalatozov, known for his virtuosic, emotionally gripping films, perhaps never made a more visually astonishing one than Letter Never Sent. This absorbing tale of exploration and survival concerns the four members of a geological expedition, who are stranded in the bleak and unforgiving Siberian wilderness while on a mission to find diamonds. Luxuriating in wide-angle beauty and featuring one daring shot after another (the brilliant cinematography is by Kalatozov’s frequent collaborator Sergei Urusevsky), Letter Never Sent is a fascinating piece of cinematic history and a universal adventure of the highest order.

Visually astonishing!  It’s the words that I can easily describe the 1960 film “Neotpravlennoye pismo” (Letter Never Sent) directed by Soviet filmmaker Mikhail Kalatozov.

Known for directing the 1957 film “The Cranes are Flying” and the 1964 film “I Am Cuba”, “Letter Never Sent” would reunite the filmmaker with “Cranes” actress Tatyama Samjlova who had become of the most talented and sought out actress of the time in Europe.

And while “Letter Never Sent” is not as popular or as critically favored as Kalatozov’s other two films, the film is best remembered for its surreal and visually stunning cinematography by Sergei Urusevsky.

“Letter Never Sent” is a film about four geologists who are sent into an uninhabited area on an expedition to find diamonds.

The leader Sabinine (played by Innokenti Smoktunovsky) is joined by Tanya (played by Tatyana Samojlova), her boyfriend Andrei (played by Vasili Livanov) and Sergei (played by Yevgeni Urbansky).

Their mission is to find diamonds which the Russian government is hoping they find to help with the economy but also for them to establish a new city.

For Sabinine, this is a mission that has not been successful for other geologists, but working on a theory, the group travel to the unforgiving Siberian wilderness.

Sabinine is often seen writing a letter to his wife Vera (played by Galina Kozhakina).  Because everything was so sudden, he didn’t have a chance to say goodbye and he still has a letter which he has not sent to her, but he uses the letter to document his experience in search of the diamonds.

We watch as the group spend months and months digging and studying rocks for diamonds.  As Tanya and Andrei are often seen as playful towards each other, Sergei is having a hard time dealing with it as he loves Tanya, but she picked Andrei over him. But he also has an unsent letter that he written for Tanya but never gave to her.

As the expedition is leading to no diamonds, the geologists are starting to think there are none.  But Sabinine reminds them of their job and they must continue!

And sure enough, in the middle of nowhere, Sabinine finds diamonds in an area that they were digging and the whole team celebrates.  The group can only think about the prosperity it would bring to their country and how they would be looked as heroes when they return.

And as they give the Russian government good news via radio and the group provide markers and a map to find the area where the diamonds were found, the group decide to call it a day and get some sleep.

Unfortunately, by the time they wake up, nature has revolted as the wilderness has caught fire all around them.    The group fears all the hard work will be naught but to make things worse, the radio to communicate with the government has stopped transmitting and now the expedition has become a mission of survival.

And with conditions worsening around the area, will these four geologists survive the entire ordeal?

VIDEO:

“Letter Never Sent” is presented in black and white (1080p High Definition).  I have to admit while watching this film, I was floored by how gorgeous this picture looks considering it was made back in 1959.  There were no blemishes, the detail was strong, no blurring, no problems whatsoever.  I have to go and say that the picture quality is fantastic as close ups show skin pores and grime on the characters faces, contrast levels are wonderful as whites and greys are well-defined, black levels are deep.  I was very impressed!

According to the Criterion Collection, this new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a new 35 mm print.  Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter and flicker were manually removed using MTI’s DRS and Pixel Farm’s PFClean, while Image Systems’ DVNR was used for small dirt, grain and noise reduction.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Letter Never Sent” is presented in LPCM Monaural Russian with English subtitles.  The dialogue and the music by Nikolai Kryukov is crystal clear and hear no hiss or any audio problems during my viewing.

According to the Criterion Collection, the original monaural soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from a 35 mm optical soundtrack positive.  Clicks, thumps, hiss and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD.  Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube’s integrated workstation.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Letter Never Sent – The Criterion Collection #601″ on Blu-ray comes with no special features.

EXTRAS:

“Letter Never Sent – The Criterion Collection #601″ comes with a 20-page booklet with the essay “Refining Fire” by Dina Iordanova, professor of film studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

You often hear about collaborations between a director and their cinematographer and how closely in sync they are in working together on many films.   From Jean-Luc Godard and Raoul Coutard to Wong Kar Wai and Christopher Doyle, these collaborations have often led to the efficacy of a film.

And the same can be said with director Mikhail Kalatozov and cinematographer Sergei Urusevsky.  These two men work brilliantly together and although they have worked on three films, the three films “The Cranes Are Flying” (1957), “Letter Never Sent” (1959) and “I Am Cuba” (1964) are films that the three are best known for.

With “Letter Never Sent”, it was not as highly regarded by film critics when compared to their masterpiece “The Cranes are Flying” but just watching this film, it’s hard to deny it because it is visually stunning.

It’s important to note that when it came to Russian cinema, most people were familiar with films by Sergei Eisenstein, Dziga Vertov, Vsevolod Pudovkin but by 1957 with “The Cranes are Flying” winning the P’alme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, the film resonated strongly with cineaste all over the planet and more and more people became interested in Russian cinema.

Also, the fact that both Kalatozov and Urusevsky didn’t create traditional Russian films, they did things their own way and these films created by the two men were part of the “thawing” of Society society.

Josephone Woll wrote in her book “Cranes Are Flying”, “Within weeks of Stalin’s demise, writers openly rebuffed bureaucratic interference in the arts and defend their right to the individual expression.  But in the rigid hierarchy of the Soviet Union, such a radical change of direction required an official imprimatur”.

And this artistic expression by both men would have an influence on filmmakers Andrei Tarkobsky and Francis Ford Coppola (and his film “Apocalypse Now”).  While Kalatozov’s Stalinist ideology of the time is quite evident.

First, a discussion of the visual aspect of this film.   The film looked amazing, haunting and also incredibly risky.

From the occasional close-ups to capture emotional reactions, the vignette shots of the characters or branches to the quick camera shots as characters can be running, while the camera follows each and every step was fascinating and beautiful. Also, to add the clever editing of N. Anikina of fire consuming the video while the geologists are digging for diamonds to Sabinine thinking of his dear Vera.  For this type of film, you can say it has quite a few moments of romantic situations, some utilizing clever editing which was pretty significant at that time.

You can see the characters being surrounded by trees and branches on fire, embers falling by the many all around them.  The characters having to dive underwater so they do not come in contact with the branches.  In today’s films, these scenes would all be in CGI, but back then, to achieve realism, the talent were put into risky situations.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the fear that we see in the faces of the characters was genuine fear.  While I’m sure the fire was controlled, having falling embers on fire all around you, suffice to say, it’s risky filmmaking that fortunately no talent were seriously injured.

But overall, the cinematography is just amazing to look at.

As for the ideology, that portion of the film also intrigued me as everyone was excited about the expedition in the name of the Soviet government and wanting to initiate synergy into the industrial revolution by finding these diamonds.  Although this film is about four geologist, it is more of a film about four people trying to attain something incredible for their government.   The characters talk about pride for their country.

Sure diamonds came from South Africa, but why would Russians want to do that.  It’s the refusal of capitalism that you see in this film, these individuals are working together for the betterment of Russian society and its government is right.

In fact, these individuals are not interested in taking diamonds back home with them or pocketing it for their own individual desires.  There was none of that.  These people wanted one thing and that was to accomplish a dream of the Soviet people celebrating the riches of what they found and jump starting their country’s economy and industrial progress.

As for the Blu-ray release, this film looks absolutely magnificent in HD.  It looks as if the original print was not even touched because the detail and the quality of the film looks fantastic!   The lossless monaural track is crystal clear when it comes to dialogue, Nikolai Kryukov’s evocative score was amazing and English subtitles were easy to read.  No problems with video or audio at all.  If anything, Criterion Collection has done a remarkable job in making this film look nearly pristine!

If there was one thing that I wished this Blu-ray release had, it would be special features as “Letter Never Sent” comes with none (which is usually never the case for a release from The Criterion Collection). Although, you do get a Criterion Collection 20-page booklet.  Also, it’s important to note that because of the lack of special features, The Criterion Collection usually releases these films at a lower price point for Blu-ray and DVD.

Overall, “Letter Never Sent” is a straightforward, easy to follow film.  In fact, I would say this is one of Kalatozov’s most accessible film out on video.

While the storyline may not be as memorable compared to Mikhail Kalatozov’s “The Cranes are Falling” or even “I Am Cuba”, “Letter Never Sent” is a visual masterpiece that should not be ignored.  Especially when Sergei Urusevsky’s cinematography looks incredible on Blu-ray!  Definitely recommended!

The War Room – The Criterion Collection #602 (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

From filmmaker Chris Hegedus and D.A. Pennebaker is the 1993 political documentary “The War Room” which documents how Bill Clinton’s campaign team overcame a variety of obstacles and challenges and would make Bill Clinton the 42nd President of the United States.  Captivating, entertaining and highly recommended!  The Criterion Collection Blu-ray and DVD release also contains the follow-up 2008 film, “The Return to the War Room” and more!

Image courtesy of ©1993 Pennebaker Associates. 2012 The Criterion Collection. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: The War Room – The Criterion Collection #602

MOVIE RELEASE: 1993

DURATION: 96 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Color, 1:33:1 Aspect Ratio, 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio Surround, Subtitles: English SDH

COMPANY: The Criterion Collection

RELEASE DATE: March 20, 2012

Directed by Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker

Produced by R. J. Cutler, Wendy Ettinger, Frazer Pennebaker

Executive Producer: Wendy Ettinger, Frazer Pettinger

Cinematography by Nick Doob, D.A. Pennebaker

Edited by Chris Hegedus, Erez Laufer, D.A. Pennebaker

Starring:

James Carville

George Stephanopoulos

Heather Beckel

Paul Begala

Bob Boorstin

Michael Donnilon

Jeff Eller

Stanley Greenberg

Mandy Grunwald

Harold Ickes

Mickey Kantor

Mary Matalin

Mitchell Schwartz

Dave Anderson

Collier Andress

Barry Bognato

Saul Benjamin

Eric Berman

John Bickerstaff

Regina Blakely

Liz Bowyer

Susan Brophy

Jerry Brown

Mike Brown

Jay S. Burton

George Bush

Bill Cashen

Bill Clinton

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Chelsea Clinton

Betty Currie

Jacqueline Davis

Sam Donaldson

Bob Duffy

Joe Elcock

John Emerson

Rahm Emanuel

Patricia Enright

Karen Ewing

Liz Fine

Gennifer Flowers

Jeff Forbes

Jodi Franklin

Chris Gallagher Jr.

TIpper Gore

Al Gore

Melissa Green

Paul Tsongas

Dee Dee Myers

Nancy McFadden

Meeghan Prunty

Ros Perot

Lynne Russell

Dan Sakura

Kim Tilley

Betsy Wright

Debby Wilhite

The 1992 presidential election was a triumph not only for Bill Clinton but also for the new breed of strategists who guided him to the White House—and changed the face of politics in the process. For this thrilling, behind-closed-doors account of that campaign, renowned cinema verité filmmakers Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker captured the brainstorming and bull sessions of Clinton’s crack team of consultants—especially James Carville and George Stephanopoulos, who became media stars in their own right as they injected a savvy, youthful spirit and spontaneity into the process of campaigning. Fleet-footed and entertaining, The War Room is a vivid document of a political moment whose truths (“It’s the economy, stupid!”) still ring in our ears.

When it comes to documentaries, D. A. Pennebaker’s name is legendary.

For music, Pennebaker’s work on the 1967 Bob Dylan’s documentary “Dont Look Back” became a landmark in film and rock history and is regarded as one of the best documentaries of all time.

Pennebaker is also know for his music documentary work fon “Monterey Pop” (1967), “Alice Cooper” (1970), “Jimi Plays Monterey” (1986), “101″ (1989) to name a few.

But as Pennebaker is known for his music documentaries, he’s also known for his political documentaries.  Pennebaker was the editor for the 1960 documentary “Primary” featuring John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey for the United States Democratic Party nomination for the President of the United States.

He and filmmaker Chris Hegedus (“Startup.com”, “Down from the Mountain”, “Jimi Plays Monterey”) would repeat the success of “Primary” by creating a documentary in 1993 titled “The War Room” about Bill Clinton’s campaign for President of the United States during the 1992 presidential election.

While the film has been released on DVD in 1998 and in 2004, “The War Room” receives its Criterion Collection treatment in 2012 by a Blu-ray and DVD release which includes the 1993 film but also the inclusion of the 2008 documentary “Return of the War Room” revisiting many of the people that were featured in the 1993 documentary plus many special features including a panel hosted by the William J. Clinton Foundation, interview with strategist Stanley Greenberg on the evolution of polling plus a featurette with the filmmakers as they discuss the challenges of filming “The War Room”.

The film marks the third Criterion Collection release featuring D. A. Pennebaker (“Monterey Pop”, “Jimi Plays Monterey & Shake! Otis at Monterey”) and the second for Chris Hegedus (“Jimi Plays Monterey & Shake! Otis at Monterey”).  The Blu-ray and DVD will be released in March 2012.

“The War Room” is a documentary that takes place during Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign.

While the coverage of Bill Clinton was limited by the Bill Clinton campaign, both Hegedus and Pennebaker were able to film Communications Director George Stephanopoulos and Lead Strategist James Carville.

And what was supposed to be the film crew focusing on the Clinton campaign in New Hampshire for the state’s Democratic primary, became much bigger as the film crew was able to document the Primary but also the strategy that took place at the Clinton Campaign Headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas and how the campaign team were able to revitalize Bill Clinton’s campaign despite the challenges by Paul Tsongas, the Gennifer Flowers scandal, the Bush campaign (especially since James Carville’s girlfriend, Mary Matalin was Bush’s deputy campaign manager) and also Ross Perot’s campaign.

“The War Room” gives perfect insight to the mindset of the campaign that would lead to Bill Clinton’s presidential victory in 1992.

Also included on this Criterion Collection Blu-ray release is the 2008 follow-up titled “Return of the War Room” which revisits everyone who had worked with Bill Clinton during the campaign, including those who worked with on George Bush and Ross Perot’s campaign.  From their memories of the campaign, their feelings of the Monica Lewinsky incident, James Carvile and Mary Matalin’s relationship then and now, how the Internet has changed the campaign scene now compared to how things were done back in 1993 and more!

VIDEO:

“The War Room” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:33:1 aspect ratio).  It’s important to remind everyone that this is a documentary that utilizes archived footage and footage that came from different sources.  Also, the film was shot with a limited budget.   With that being said, this is the best looking version of “The War Room” yet.  In HD, the colors look much natural, not faded nor does it look aged. In fact, I didn’t notice any dirt or debris, any major problems with the footage, the film look absolutely clean.

Although, “Return of the War Room” is a bit different in the fact that video from the “War Room” does feature a few specks, but it’s important to note that “Return of the War Room” is not treated as a double feature but more like a special feature.

According to the Criterion Collection, the film was approved by filmmakers Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker and produced by Frazer Pennebaker.  This new HD digital transfer was created on a Spirit 2K Datacine from the original 16 mm camera negative.  Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI’s DRS, while Image Systems’ Phoenix was used for grain, noise reduction, jitter and flicker.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“The War Room” is presented in 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio Surround. The dialogue is crystal clear and I heard no hissing, crackles or any audio problems during my viewing.

According to the Criterion Collection, the soundtrack was remastered at 24-bit from the original 35 mm magnetic audio tracks.  Clicks, thumps, hiss and hum were manually removed using Pro Tools HD. Crackle was attenuated using AudioCube’s integrated workstation.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“The War Room – The Criterion Collection #602″ on Blu-ray comes with the following special features:

• William J. Clinton Foundation Panel – (25:51) A 2011 Panel discussion hosted by the William J. Clinton Foundation celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Clinton presidency.  Featuring James Carville, Clinton adviser Vernon Jordan, journalist Ron Brownstein and surprise guest Bill Clinton.
• Return of the War Room - (1:25:41) A 2008 documentary by Hegedus and Pennebaker in which advisers James Carville, George Stephanopoulos, Paul Begala, and others reflect on the effect that the Clinton war room had on the way campaigns are run.
• Making the War Room – (41:28) Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker and producers R.J. Cutler and Wendy Ettinger talk about the making of “The War Room”.
• Frazer Pennebaker – (8:58) Producer Frazer Pennebaker discusses the making of the film and what he liked about the documentary.
• Doob – (6:23) Camera operator Nick Doob talks about shooting the film, the challenges, scenes with George Stephanopoulos and more.
• Stanley Greenberg – (10:47) Interview with strategist Stanley Greenberg on the evolution of polling and how it can affect a campaign.
• Trailer – (2:01) The theatrical trailer for “The War Room”.

EXTRAS:

“The War Room – The Criterion Collection #602″ comes with an 16-page booklet with the essay “Being There” by Louis Menand.

When President George Bush made his promise to American and said “Read my lips. No new taxes!”, it was a broken promise that was reverberated over and over in the media and television commercials.  There was no doubt that this would provide Democrats fodder for the November election.

And for those who followed the election, it was one of the most intriguing political confrontations ever seen in American history.  A campaign in which the Republicans and the Democrats have flipped and flopped in various polls, a campaign that had its share of intriguing circumstances and yet, no matter how much mudslinging there was against Governor Arkansas Bill Clinton, he was the underdog early in the campaign that would later emerge victorious in the 1992 President Election.

Many have wondered how his campaign staff pulled it off.  People got to see how it was done courtesy of the documentary “The War Room” by Chris Hegedus and legendary documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker.

And if there is one thing that I fans of Pennebaker can depend on, it’s that D.A. Penneger has a wonderful eye when it comes to creating documentaries and he knows how to make an impact with the public.  He has done it many times in his career and the list of impressive documentaries within his oeuvre is amazing.

Having watched “The War Room” many years ago and watching it again today, it still surprises me how they managed to pull it off.  To get so much access within the campaign staff and earn their trust to film them in their most challenging of moments.  There was no doubt that both Pennebaker and filmmaker Chris Hegedus really took a risk by covering a campaign for then Arkansas governor Bill Clinton.

Why a risk?  There were other Democratic nominees that were doing well in the polls and for Bill Clinton, he was a man that was scrutinized.  When model and actress Gennifer Flowers came out in the media and alleged that she and Bill Clinton had a sexual relationship, for most people, that would doom one’s campaign.  He took another blow when it was leaked that he protested against the Vietnam War in Oxford and also used the influence of a U.S. Senator, which he was employed as an aide, to avoid being drafted.  Once again, there were mounting points of negativity surrounding Bill Clinton but yet he never wavered and his staff and American people supported him.

Rarely do you see this synergy continue with a political candidate that has been knocked down so many times, but he and his staff came out swinging and Pennebaker and Hegedus captured it all on camera.

Similar to what Pennebaker was involved in back in the ’60s with John F. Kennedy as an editor on “Primary”, he and Chris Hegedus was able to capture the campaign of Bill Clinton on camera.

Because the Bush camp was unwilling to let any film crew document them on camera and Ross Perot had not officially announced that he would be running, the only person that would be willing to allow coverage was the Clinton campaign.  While coverage of Bill Clinton would be limited, Hegedus and Pennebaker and a few others in the film crew were given the greenlight to film the campaign, especially of lead strategist James Carville and campaign communications director George Stephanopoulos.

And for the filmmakers, this documentary would show viewers the behind-the-scenes of an actual presidential campaign, the strategy involved, the respond of campaign members to their opponents tactics plus the wide range of emotions that were involved in the campaign.

But for many people who do follow campaigns and who have watched this film, what Carville, Stephanopoulos and the staff were able to accomplish, was like the underdogs beating the favorite team and winning a championship.  With political campaigns, we only see so much through the media but “The War Room” was able to show how the campaign took advantage of President’s Bush’s “No New Taxes” broken promise, how they were able to use television as a way to make Clinton this charismatic leader, while George Bush was looking at his watch.  The campaign was thorough with their research, thorough in trying to make a negative into a positive but most of all, to bring Bill Clinton to the people and let them see how he is and that he generally cares about them.

It’s important to note that as much as the staff were important in making things happen for Bill Clinton, we also get to learn more through the follow-up film “Return to the War Room” and learn how Bill Clinton during the campaign was a big inspiration to the group.  From him showing his leadership and never wavering.  No matter how bad things looked, he persevered and wanted to take it directly to the people and see how he’s the real deal.  This was a problem with the Bush campaign and as Mary Matalin explained in the follow-up film, he was a surprise to the Republican campaign.

So, while “The War Room” shows the viewers how things were behind-the-scenes and almost like a chess game, it was a battle of opposing strategy and taking advantages of opportunities, the follow-up was just as entertaining because we got to learn more about the couple who were working on opposing sides (James Carville working for Clinton, Mary Matalin working for Bush) and learning how they dealt with each other during the campaign and the feelings they had towards one another.  We also learn about the dirty work of politics, how one reacted after the Impeachment trial, how some felt about the overall campaign and how campaigns have changed since Barack Obama won the Presidency and the use of social media.

“The War Room” is a magnificent release from the Criterion Collection and I as continue to wish for more Pennebaker documentaries to be released on Blu-ray and DVD, I’m quite pleased of how much better of a release this one was compared to the 1999 and 2004 DVD release, not just in picture and audio quality but the amount of special features included.  The fact that the follow-up film “Return to the War Room” was included was a big plus for me but the conversation featurette between Hegedus, Pennebaker, Cutler and Ettinger was also a pleasant addition.  And you also get a few more special features included with this release.

Overall, “The War Room” is a wonderful Blu-ray release from the Criterion Collection.  I have always been intrigued by this film for its political strategy but also as an educational film for me while I was growing up.  During that time, I was also studying the campaign and although I was a young adult that was not an erudite when it came to politics, the film was inspirational to the point that I wanted to work on a political campaign, be part of the staff in planning strategies and just working in politics.   What I saw on the film, those were the people I wanted to be surrounded with at the time.  Political strategists, people who wanted to make a big difference by getting their candidate elected.

“The War Room” was an intriguing film that it was one of the factors that led me to work as an intern for a California Senator a few months after the release of the film.  After my internship, I was recruited as a paid staff member for a Congressional and Lt. Governor campaign and it was an intriguing, learning experience.

Overall, “The War Room” is a wonderful political documentary and while I can say it’s easy to recommend to those who are interested in politics and have an interested in political campaigns, just the mention of politics may turn people off and if that is the case, then this film may not be for you.  It’s a film documenting Bill Clinton’s campaign and the strategy and planning that went on behind the scenes.  It’s not for everyone, but for those who are interested in political campaigns and are wondering how this presidential campaign overcame major obstacles and eventually making Bill Clinton the 42nd President of the United States, then you will find this film captivating, entertaining and worth owning.

“The War Room” is definitely recommended!

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