Amy Adams gives birth to a baby girl
May 18, 2010 by J!-ENT · Leave a Comment
Congratulations to Amy Adams and her fiance Darren Legallo. Adams gave birth to a 7-lb. daughter named Aviana Olea Legallo on Saturday according to PEOPLE Magazine. Adams’ rep has told the publication that Adams and her daughter are at home and are doing great.
Julie & Julia (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)
December 6, 2009 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
Adorable, entertaining and delightful! Featuring a wonderful performance from Meryl Streep and Amy Adams and a Blu-ray release featuring plenty of special features (not available on the DVD version). Definitely recommended!
Images courtesy of
TITLE: Julie & Julia
DURATION: 123 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:85:1), English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, French, English – Audio Description Track 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English, English SDH, French
RATED: PG-13 (For Brief Strong Language and Some Sensuality)
COMPANY: Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
RELEASE DATE: December 8, 2009
Based on the book “Julie & Julia” by Julie Powell
Based on the book “My Life in France” by Julia Child and Alex Prud’homme
Directed by Nora Ephron
Screenplay by Nora Ephron
Executive Producer: Donald J. Lee, Jr., Scott Rudin, Dana Stevens
Produced by Nora Ephron, Laurence Mark, Amy Robinson and Eric Steel
Co-Producer: Dianne Dreyer
Line-Producer: John Bernard
Music by Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography by Stephen Goldblatt
Edited by Richard Marks
Casting by Kathy Driscoll, Francine Maisler
Production Design by Mark Ricker
Art Direction by Ben Barraud
Set Decoration by Susan Bode
Costume Design by Ann Roth
Starring:
Meryl Streep as Julia Child
Amy Adams as Julie Powell
Stanley Tucci as Paul Child
Chris Messina as Eric Powell
Linda Emond as Simone Beck
Helen Carey as Louisette Bertholle
Mary Lynn Rajskub as Sarah
Jane Lynch as Dorothy McWilliams
Joan Juliet Buck as Madame Brassart
Crystal Noelle as Ernestine
George Bartenieff as Chef Max Bugnard
In August 25, 2002, a woman named Julie Powell began her blog on salon.com titled “The Julie/Julia Project”. A government employee by day and wife by night, she wanted to do something challenging in her life.
As a fan of Julia Child and remembering the dishes her mother would cook from “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” by Louisette Berthole, Simone Beck and Julia Child, Powell made the decision to blog about her one year experiment which was to create as many as 536 recipes from the book and document it on her blog. We see in the film the challenges that Julie faces in trying to recreate the recipes, especially when the media start contacting her and how much stress she puts herself through and how it starts to affect her, her relationship with her husband and her day job.
To say the least, the blog was popular and gaining Julie Powell recognition in various newspapers and publications for her dedication. Powell then wrote a book about her experience.
Meanwhile in 2006, the book “My Life in France” was published and is by Julia Child and her nephew Alex Prud’homme. The book was written during the last eight months of Julia Child’s life before her death in Aug. 2004. What many people were not aware of was Julia Child’s personal life and the book would feature the love shared by husband and wife Paul and Julia, would feature letters that Julia wrote to her penpal and letters that Paul Childs wrote to his brother, photographs and most importantly, their time living in France.
The book would detail Julia and Paul moving to Paris, Paul’s job with the USIA and how the two explored restaurants in Paris. To avoid boredom, how Julia would join the Le Cordon Bleu program and her wanting to teach cooking of French cuisine to Americans and how she became a member of the club The Gourmettes which she would meet Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle (the three would write “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”) and how Julia Childs went on to get a book published.
Director and screenwriter Nora Ephron (“When Harry Met Sally”, “Sleepless in Seattle”, “You’ve Got Mail”) began working on an adaptation on both books to a film and is essentially two films in one. The adaptation of both stories are featured but showing how Julie Powell (played by Amy Adams, “Doubt”, “Enchanted”, “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian) shared a similar passion of food through Julia Childs (played by Meryl Streep, “Mamma Mia!”, “Doubt”, “Kramer vs. Kramer”) and eventually how making the recipes helped her with her life.
Similar to Child’s life in France where cooking is what made a difference in her life and also showing how Julie’s husband Eric (played by Chris Messina, “Vicky Christina Barcelona”, “Made of Honor”, “Six Feet Under”) and Julia’s husband Paul (played by Stanley Tucci, “ER”, “Lucky Number Slevin”, “Shall We Dance”) were instrumental in giving support to their wives.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Julie & Julia” is featured in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1) and features beautiful cinematography from Stephen Goldblatt (“Charlie Wilson’s War”, “Rent”, “Conspiracy”, “Angels in America”). For Julia Child’s story, we see the shots in Paris, late 40′s and early 1950′s. Set design and costume design were well done but it was important for Goldblatt to capture that feel of Paris but most importantly the decoir of that time. It’s important to note that in the special features, it is mentioned several times that the look of Julia’s life in the past, is how Julie Powell imagined Julia’s life, so it’s a characterization of Julia and Paul Child.
For Julie’s story, this is a couple who lives atop a pizzeria and for the most part, are not making a whole lot of money. The timing of Julie’s storyline is months after 9/11 and but where Julia Child’s features the somewhat upper middle-class living, Julie’s life in a 900 sq. ft. room, small kitchen and just the surroundings of Julie and Eric’s life is captured well.
Detail of both lifestyles are well-captured in film, shots of the food are colorful, blacks are nice and deep, skin tones are natural but it’s the various shots that stay in your mind. From Julie and friends sitting above the rooftops overlooking the NYC skyline and Julia and friends eating at a cafe or restaurant. But both different timelines are well-captured and presented amazing well in the film.
As for audio, “Julie & Julia” is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD MA (And French and English – audio description track 5.1 Dolby Digital). The film is primarily dialogue driven and is front and center channel driven where you will hear music being played Audio description is pretty much just that, a female voice describes what is happening during each scene while the normal audio of the film is playing.
Subtitles are in English SDH, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin and Portuguese.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Julie & Julia” comes with the following special features in Standard and High Definition and in English Stereo. Included are:
- Audio Commentary by Director Nora Ephron – Featuring a detailed, informative commentary by Nora Ephron. Ephron explains the differences between Powell’s real life and what was featured on screen to Julia Child’s home in Paris and how the set is an almost an absolute exact replication. To how Ephron had problems working with the cat in the film and more. But also interesting is the commentary in regards to Julia Child’s impression of Julie Powell’s blog.
- Secret Ingredients: Creating Julie & Julia - (27:43) A featurette about how the film and adaptation came about. Interviews with Nora Ephron, Julie Powell and more. Norah talks about her passion of food and her appreciation of Julia Child and what she wanted to accomplish with the film which includes making sure the food eaten by the talent were wonderful. Interviews with the talent of the film of working with each other (Streep and Tucci, Adams and Messina) and more.
- Family & Friends Remember Julia Child – (47:39A very entertaining featurette from family and friends talking about Julia Child’s the person on television and offscreen and how wonderful a person she is. From her and Paul Child’s love for each other and friends and family confirming how passionate she was about life. We also learn about the final day of her life and most of all, what she has meant to the people’s lives that she has touched.
- Julia’s Kitchen: Take a tour of Julia Child’s kitchen -(22:31) Exclusive to Blu-ray, this featurette is about Julia Child’s kitchen at the Smithsonian. Featuring interviews with Paula Johnson (Curator, Smithsonian Institution), Rayna Green (Project Director and Curator, Smithsonian Institution) and Nanci Edwards (Project Manager, Smithsonian Institution). How Julia’s kitchen became part of the Smithsonian Institution. Friends and family talk about the importance of Julia’s kitchen.
- Cooking Lessons: Featuring Julia Child and other world renowned chefs including Jacques Pépin, Suzanne Goin and more - An exclusive to Blu-ray. Featuring “Poaching Eggs with Julia Child & Jacques Pépin” (4:14), “Making Hollandaise Sauce with Julia Child & Jacques Pépin” (2:38), “Mark Peel prepares Scrambled Eggs” (4:50), “Suzanne Goin prepares Braised Beef Short Ribs” (5:43), “Steven Lewandowski & Drew Nieporent prepare Butter Poached Maine Lobster” (5:26).
- movieIQ with Julia Child’s original recipes – BD-Live includes collecting and e-mail your favorite Julia Child recipes while watching the film! You will need a Blu-ray profile 2.0 player (that can connect to the Internet) for this feature.
- Previews – Trailers for upcoming Sony Pictures Home Entertainment releases.
Adorable, entertaining and delightful! “Julia & Julie” once again shows us once again why Meryl Streep and Amy Adams are wonderful actresses.
Although not working together like they were in the film “Doubt”, both actresses were both wonderful in their roles. Meryl Streep as Julia Child is very convincing but what I found quite wonderful is seeing a side of Julia Child that I was not even familiar with. One thing in my household is that my wife enjoys watching her old programs on PBS, so we watched this film together and she was quite impressed. For me, I was more impressed about the relationship between her and husband Paul and seeing how she became passionate about food and even treated badly when she entered Le Corden Bleu. Stanley Tucci brings that side of Paul Child that many people are not familiar with and it was great to learn from friends and family of how well he played the part.
I was surprised because I thought after seeing her in PBS for all these years, I thought she was a chef previous to hosting her own cooking show. So, it was great to know this personal side of Julia Child and if anything, watching this part of the film encourages me to purchase the book “My Life in France”.
As for Julie Powell storyline, Amy Adams does a wonderful job playing this wife who works at a job and is just not feeling her life is all that exciting (when compared to her other friends) and thus setting a goal for herself by cooking all the recipes from “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and blogging about it.
I suppose for today’s social media crowd, a film about blogging and use of Paypal is something that today’s viewers can definitely connect with. As with Nora Ephron’s “You’ve Got Mail” using the Internet technology of e-mail for her romantic film, it was great to see Ephron doing a film about blogging.
What I found was quite amusing is seeing how many people have responded to Powell’s blog. After watching the movie, I definitely had to check this blog out and after reading the comments written (around the time she made her first post), I realized that Powell touched and inspired hundreds of people to do something similar. I’ve known so many people who have blogged about cooking and even I have blogged about the food and recipes that I’ve cooked over the years. So, the fact that Powell was able to write a book about her blog and an adaptation made for film is wonderful (note: The last time I have seen this happen was for the Korean film “My Sassy Girl”).
As for the Blu-ray release, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment really went all out in making sure the release contains plenty of special features. In fact, the commentary and “Secret Ingredients” feature is on the DVD release but everything else is exclusive only for the Blu-ray release. Definitely a good way to drive people to upgrade to Blu-ray.
Overall, “Julie & Julia” is an entertaining and heartwarming film featuring strong performances from its talent, also well done cinematography. “Julie & Julia” may be a film about two different stories but it was great learning about Julia and Paul Child’s personal life in France and what led to Julia Child being the International star. And of course, watching how a blogger would inspire man people through her action of cooking every recipe from Julia Child’s book.
A wonderful Blu-ray release and may you be Julia Child or Julie Powell fans, bloggers, people who love to cook or you are wanting an entertaining movie, “Julie & Julia” is definitely recommended!
Enchanted (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)
September 27, 2009 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
“Magical, enjoyable and highly entertaining! Disney fans who enjoyed classics such as ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ or ‘Sleeping Beauty’ will find ‘Enchanted’ to be delightfully fun! Featuring awesome picture and audio quality and plenty of special features, definitely a Blu-ray worth having in your collection. Highly recommended!”
© Disney. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Enchanted
DURATION: 107 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:35:1/1:85:1 storybook beginning), English Dolby TrueHD (48 kHz/24-bit), English, French, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
COMPANY: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
RATED: PG (For Some Scary Images and Mild Innuendo)
Release Date: March 18, 2008
Directed by Kevin Lima
Written by Bill Kelly
Executive Produced by Christopher Chase, Sunil Perkash, Ezra Swerdlow
Producer: Barry Josephson, Barry Sonnenfeld
Associate Producer: Susan Ringo, Ron Rocha, Doug Short
Music by Alan Menken
Cinematography by Don Burgess
Edited by Gregory Peter, Stephe A. Rotter
Casting by John Papsidera, Marcia Ross
Production Design by Stuart Wurtzel
Art Direction by John Kasarda
Set Decoration by George DeTitta Jr.
Costume Design by Mona May
Starring:
Amy Adams as Giselle
Patrick Dempsey as Robert Philip
James Marsden as Prince Edward
Timothy Spall as Nathaniel
Idina Menzel as nancy Tremaine
Rachel Covey as Morgan Philip
Susan Sarandon as Queen Narissa
Julie Andrews as The Narrator
Jeff Bennett as Pip in Andalasia
Kevin Lima as Pip in New York
Enchanted cleverly combines a heartfelt romance with a gentle spoof of Disney films of the past as an animated heroine from a far away kingdom finds herself transformed into a real live woman in bustling New York City. Academy Award® nominee Amy Adams (2005 nominee for Best Supporting Actress; Junebug) leads an all-star cast as the lovely Giselle, a storybook princess-to-be lost in the Big Apple. Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon (1996 winner for Best Actress in a Leading Role; Dead Man Walking) plays the evil sorceress Narissa who exiles Giselle from her fairytale kingdom and James Marsden (Hairspray) is her handsome prince, with Patrick Dempsey (“Grey’s Anatomy”) as a contemporary knight in shining armor and Tony Award® winner Idina Menzel (2004 winner for Best
Leading Actress in a Musical; “Wicked”) as his girlfriend Nancy who suspects Giselle might just be a little too good to be true.
Enchanting, hilarious and highly enjoyable, I have no doubt that “Enchanted” will become a Disney classic that will be watched for many generations.
The 2007 romantic comedy/musical/fantasy film known as “Enchanted” was a box office success when it was released in theaters during the Thanksgiving Week. The film received critical acclaim, two Golden Globe nominations, three Academy Award nominations and made $340 million worldwide.
The film is produced by Barry Sonnenfeld (“The Tick”, “Pushing Daisies”, “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” and the “Men in Black” films), directed by Kevin Lima (“Tarzan”, “102 Dalmatians”, “Eloise” TV films and a character designer for “The Little Mermaid”, “Oliver & Company” and “The Rescuers Down Under”) and a screenplay by Bill Kelly (“Premonition” and “Blast from the Past”). The film’s music is composed by Alan Menken (Pocahontas”, “Aladdin” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Little Mermaid”) and cinematography by Don Burgess (“My Super Ex-Girlfriend”, “The Polar Express”, “13 Going on 30″ and “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”).
The film kicks of in an animated format in fairytale fashion (narrated by Julie Andrews, “The Sound of Music”, “Mary Poppins”) as the film takes place in land called Andalasia. A woman named Giselle (voice and played by Amy Adams, “Julie & Julia”, “Doubt”, “Charlie Wilson’s War” and “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby”), who is quite a talented seamstress who is trying to make her prince along with her animals that come to help her while she sings. She dreams of her prince that would one day come.
Meanwhile, the Prince (voiced and played by James Marsden, “X-Men” films, “27 Dresses”, “Superman Returns”) goes to look for the princess in hopes that he can marry her but his mother, the Queen/Witch (voiced and played by Susan Sarandon, “Bull Durham”, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, “Shall We Dance”) does not want that to happen. So, she has her worker named Nathaniel (voice and played by Timothy Spall, “The Street” and “Harry Potter” films) keep tabs on the Prince by keeping him preoccupied with him fighting ogres.
But the Prince and the Giselle eventually meet and the two fall in love and are now planning to get married and Giselle will become a princess. With the Queen angered that the two are together, on the day of the wedding, the Queen disguises herself into an old hag and pushes Giselle into a magic portal. Next thing you know, Giselle comes out of a sewer hole in New York’s Times Square in a land that she is not familiar with. Lost and alone, Giselle tries to search for her prince.
We are then introduced to a family of two, divorce lawyer Robert Philip (Patrick Dempsey, “Grey’s Anatomy”, “Freedom Writers”, “The Practice”) and his daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey) are riding in a taxi. The daughter who loves princesses hopes for her father bought her a princess book but with the father so busy with work, gives her a book about famous women in history. Robert tells his daughter the big news that he will be getting married to Nancy Tremaine (played by Idina Menzel, “Private Practice”, “Rent”), but Morgan is a bit weirded out in having a stepmother.
Meanwhile while driving home, Morgan thinks she sees a princess, who happens to be Giselle who is looking for her prince. Lost in New York, Robert and Morgan take Giselle into their home, where she crashes and falls asleep.
The next following day, Giselle gets used to her new surroundings and sings her song and gets all the animals (birds, bugs and rats) to assist her to clean the home. Morgan wakes up to see the magic, wakes her father but the father is shocked to see all these rats in their home and both try to get the birds and rats out of their apartment. When he goes into the bathroom, he sees Giselle taking a shower (assisted by birds) and next thing you know, Nancy comes to the apartment and is upset that a woman is in his apartment (and only wearing a towel).
As Robert tries to assist Giselle in finding her prince, he is touched by Giselle’s naivety of love and romance and her belief in magic in romance and happily ever after. Because he is a divorced father, he tries to teach Giselle that happily ever after doesn’t exist but Giselle tries to counter him and both seem to learn from each other during their short time together.
Meanwhile, the Prince goes through the portal to find and search for Giselle along with Giselle’s chipmunk friend Pip. Meanwhile, Nathaniel who is working with the Queen, is given three poison apples that he must get to Giselle in order to kill her before the prince can find her and get married to her.
Will Giselle survive her stay in New York? Or will the Queen/Witch get to her first?
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Enchanted” is a splendid film that looks absolutely great via 1080p High Definition. It’s important to let viewers know that only during the beginning, during the storybook animation, the film is presented in 1:85:1 aspect ratio. So, you will see black borders on all four sides (window-boxed). When the film shifts from animated to modern New York, the film then becomes 2:35:1.
The film transfer is absolutely vibrant. The animation is crisp and clear, colorful and just beautiful onscreen. The film portion is detailed with colors showcasing the New York City from the grimy parts of New York City, to the beautiful shops and colorful, lush settings of the park. You can see the detail from the threading of the clothing, to the gravel on the road. It’s important to note that this was a film that is also devoid of grain. As much as I’m a proponent of grain, the film is not exactly DNR’d (digital noise reduction) to the Nth degree. There is no waxiness, the film retains its color and detail. So, needless to say, the film does showcase awesome picture quality.
As for audio, being an older release, this was during the time that Disney was using DolbyTrue HD (the company has since moved to DTS-HD Master Audio). Presented in 48 kHz and 24-bit) The film is dialogue and music-driven but as dialogue and music are front and center channel driven, there are a good number of special effects that can be heard through the surround channels. The ambiance of New York can be heard, as well as the sound effects which includes the wicked Queen’s evil magic which envelops the soundscape all around you with use of the LFE.
The film definitely becomes immersive in sound and music. Dialogue is clear and understandable and for the most part, the lossless audio is very good. The film is also presented in English, French and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital.
As for subtitles, the film is presented in English SDH, French and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES
“Enchanted” comes with the following special features:
- PIP’S PREDICAMENT: A POP-UP ADVENTURE – (5:32) Giselle’s chipmunk friend Pip stars in this new short—magical pop-up, storybook style. While Giselle gets used to life in New York, Pip embarks on a daring mission to rescue Prince Edward.
- FANTASY COMES TO LIFE – Discover the cinematic wizardry that went into the making of “Enchanted” in three behind-the-scenes featurettes: “Happy Working Song” (6:24) – How animal trainers and special effects were utilized in the early memorable scene from the film, “That’s How You Know” (5:53) – How hundreds of people took part in the musical scene at Central Park, “A Blast at the Ball” (5:25) – How the finale was created, Susan Sarandon’s costume and more..
- DELETED SCENES – (7:53) Six deleted scenes including exclusive intros by director Kevin Lima discussing why he cut the scene.
- BLOOPERS – (2:09) Bloopers from “Enchanted”.
- Music Video – (3:30) Carrie Underwood singing “Ever, Ever After”
- THE D-FILES – Enchanted is loaded with witty hidden references to classic Disney films. The DFiles” rewards players who spot them with a short featurette showing the original Disney reference. High scoring players are treated to three extra special videos: “So Close,” “Making Ever Ever After” and “True Love’s Kiss.”
With the upcoming “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” coming out on Blu-ray, I’ve been wanting to watch “Enchanted” for awhile now. And definitely to catch this film which had been praised by critics and has done quite successful in the box office. So, having watched the film, I can’t help but say that I absolutely loved it.
From the gorgeous animation to the fairytale storyline, I absolutely enjoyed how the film paid homages to the classic Disney animated films and capturing the fantasy/musical and dramatic storyline. Everything seems to work and for the most part, it’s a great combination of Disney magic of animation and it’s live film all in one. Yes, we have seen this before in “Mary Poppins” and “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” but it was captured quite well in “Enchanted”.
Although the character of Giselle could have been quite annoying, Amy Adams manages to pull of the character quite well. Patrick Dempsey comes into the film with success from his “Grey’s Anatomy” TV show (and I grew up watching Dempsey’s films during the 80′s), so it was great to see the chemistry between Adams, Dempsey and youngster Covey work quite well in this film. Also, James Marsden, Timothy Spall and Susan Sarandon did a great job, and dare I say, Sarandon looks absolutely delightful in this film.
If anything, “Enchanted” is just a fun Disney film that captures that magic that viewers have seen since the 1930′s (starting off with “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”) and this film is like one big homage to Disney past and present.
As for the Blu-ray, as they are today…they were back in 2008 during the release of “Enchanted” on High Definition. Awesome picture and audio quality, plus plenty of special features. This is a very solid Blu-ray release!
Overall, “Enchanted” is definitely an instant Disney classic. A good combination of animation, music, CG and fantasy plus that romantic comedy vibe that all comes together quite splendidly for this film. Definitely a film worth having in your Blu-ray collection! Highly recommended!
DOUBT (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)
April 5, 2009 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
“ ‘DOUBT’ is a powerful and thought provoking film that features amazing performances from Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis.”
© BVHE. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: DOUBT
DURATION: 103 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:85:1), English 5.1 DTS-HD (48 kHz/24-bit), French 5.1 Dolby Digital, English SDH and Spanish subtitles
RATED: PG-13 (for Thematic Material)
COMPANY: Miramax Films/Paramount Vantage
RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2009
Directed and Screenplay by John Patrick Shanley
Based on an original play by John Patrick Shanley
Produced by Mark Roybal, Scott Rudin
Executive Produced by Celia D. Costas
Associate Produced by Nora Skinner
Original Music by Howard Shore
Director of Photography: Rogear Deakins
Film Editing by Dane Collier, Ricardo Gonzalez, Dylan Tichenor
Production Design by David Gropman
Set Decoration by Ellen Christiansen
Costume Design by Ann Roth
Cast:
Meryl Streep as Sister Aloysius Beauvier
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Father Brendan Flynn
Amy Adams as Sister James
Viola Davis as Mrs. Miller
Alice Drummond as Sister Veronica
Audrie J. Neenan as Sister Raymond
Susan Blommaert as Mrs. Carson
Joseph Foster as Donald Miller
Mike Roukis as William London
Sister Aloysius (Streep), the rigid and fear-inspiring principal of the Saint Nicholas Church School, suffers an extreme dislike for the progressive and popular parish priest Father Flynn (Hoffman). Looking for the wrongdoing in every corner, Sister Aloysius believes she’s uncovered the ultimate sin when she hears Father Flynn has taken a special interest in a troubled boy. But without proof, the only thing that certain is doubt. An in Blu-ray High Definition, with a picture as clear as Sister’s rules, and sound as sharp as her tongue, this film will stay with you long after the credits have ended.
Amazing performances from Streep, Hoffman, Adams and Davis. ‘DOUBT’ is a thought provoking film that leaves you feeling a bit unsettled at the film’s end.
“DOUBT” is a film based on the Tony Award winning play “Doubt: A Parable” by John Patrick Shanley. The play was so successful would take the popular play and bring it to the big screen and Shanley would be the screen writer and director.
Eventually, the film struck a chord with critics as “DOUBT” received five Academy Award nominations for Best Actress (Meryl Streep), Best Supporting Actor (Philip Seymour Hoffman), Best Supporting Actress Amy Adams and Viola Davis and Best Adapted Screenplay (John Patrick Shanley). And after watching the film, you realize that this film is definitely deserving of each of those nominations.
The story of “DOUBT” takes place in 1964, several months since the assassination of President John F. Kennedy at St. Nicholas Church school in the Bronx. Enter the following characters:
Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) – The new, young priest of the parish. Popular with the parents and the kids because of his progressive views. Very close to the children and helps coach their basketball team. Believes the school should be more accessible for the parish and thinking that people should be thought of as “members of the family”. Also, a few changes such as introducing a secular song into the Christmas song lineup. Things that Sister Aloysius is definitely against.
Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) – A very conservative nun who dislikes seeing the changes in today’s society and is also the principal of the school. Ruling with an iron fist, all the other sisters at the school are scared of her and her style of handling the children are quite strict. No ballpoint pins and an expectancy for the children to perform well in school without having to be coddled. Very good at using intimidation and fear to keep the students and her fellow sisters at the school in line.
Sister James (Amy Adams) – An inexperienced nun and teacher at the school. Very fearful of Sister Aloysius but has to work with her in reporting back to her in terms of the behavior of Father Flynn after she is suspicious of him being around the school’s first and only Black student, Donald Miller (Joseph Foster), a bit too much, especially when the two are alone with each other.
One day at school, Donald Miller was called to meet with Father Flynn. Then she catches the Father putting a shirt into Miller’s locker. But what was more disconcerting was when Donald returned back from his meeting with Father Flynn. Looking very fearful and even smelling liquor in his breath. So, Sister James suspects something may be wrong and Sister Aloysius is convinced that Father Flynn is doing something inappropriate to the children.
For Sister Aloysius, she has had this problem before with another priest at a previous school and was eventually stopped but with St. Nicholas being ran by men, she feels that if they went to Monsignor Benedict about Father Flynn, they would not be treated with respect and possibly be transferred for subordination.
So, Sister Aloysius believes the only way they can work this out is if both of them confront Father Flynn in regards to Donald.
Of course, Father Flynn denies any wrong-doing but is severely disappointed with both sisters. He tells them if he wants to find the truth, then she should talk to him or the mother. And thus, Sister Aloysius decides to do just that. She meets with Donald’s mother (Viola Davis).
We learn from Mrs. Miller that Donald has been moved to different schools. Being the sole Black child at these schools, he has taken a lot of bullying, been harassed and has not made any friends. And when things are not going well in school, things are not looking good at home as he is physically abused by his father. When Sister Aloysius tells Mrs. Davis about her suspicions, Mrs. Davis doesn’t care. Because her son has found a person that truly cares about him and is willing to protect him. If her son is put in the center of this controversy in public, she has no doubt that her husband will beat her son to death.
Mrs. Miller pleads with the sister to please keep Donald out of this for his sake. All he needs is a few months and he will go to high school and he will be fine. And if she needs to do something, then get Father Flynn removed but to please keep Donald out of it. Mrs. Miller also drops a bombshell to Sister Aloysius about her son, which helps corroborate the Sister’s feelings about Father Flynn’s guilt.
Meanwhile, Sister Jane feels that perhaps Sister Aloysius doesn’t like Father Flynn and without proof she is going after him. Sister Aloysius tells her that she knows that Father Flynn has committed something terrible but Sister Jane feels that without proof, in her mind, Father Flynn is innocent and he was just trying to protect Donald.
But Sister Jane starts to have her doubts when she sees Father Flynn try to help Donald (who has his belongings knocked down by a student) but then give him this passionate hug that eventually makes her start to doubt.
This sets up a major confrontation between Sister Aloysius and Father Flynn. How far will Sister Aloysius go to have Father Flynn removed from her school (and possibly losing his job) and will Father Flynn continue to deny any wrongdoing or is there something else going on? Does the sister really believe that Father Flynn is truly guilty or is she going after him due to her intolerance of wanting to change the school?
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“DOUBT” is featured in 1080p High Definition with an aspect ration of 1:85:1. The picture quality is very good as you can see the pores on the skin of Philip Seymour Hoffman, so it is done quite well. But the film is mostly shot indoors. The colors are not so vibrant as the sisters and Father Flynn are typically wearing black and white. The school is featured in shades of brown and when shots are done outdoors, skies are gray and definitely not scenes that showcase much colors. In a way, there is a sort of darkness when watching the film, even though it is a film that takes place in a Catholic school.
Cinematography courtesy of the talent Director of Photography Roger Deakins (“No Country for Old Men”, “Shawshank Redemption”, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” and many more), Deakins knows how to capture a mood and since he is one of my favorite DP’s, he manages to capture light and dark moods of the film.
As for audio, audio is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD (48 kHz/24-Bit) and French 5.1 Dolby Digital. One thing that really came out quite well through my system in hearing the various soundtrack in DTS-HD is the music. From the choir to the score, it comes out quite clear during the film. For the most part, the film is dialogue-based. Dialogue is clear but this is not a film to expect major usage of your rear channels.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“DOUBT” comes with several informative special features:
- From Stage to Screen—(19:06) An intimate discussion with playwright, screenwriter and director John Patrick Shanley about the history of “Doubt”, including his inspirations for the story, the acclaim the play’s Broadway run received, the Pulitzer Prize and the process of adapting it for the screen. Joining the conversation are Meryl Streep and Sister Margaret McEntee (a consultant on the film and Shanley’s former teacher).
- Scoring Doubt—(4:37) Renowned composer Howard Shore discusses his inspiration for the music in the film and his collaboration with both John Patrick Shanley and producer Scott Rudin.
- The Sisters of Charity—(6:28) In an insightful and lively dialogue, Meryl Streep and John Patrick Shanley discuss the interviews that Shanley did before shooting with real nuns to discuss their lives and make sure they would be accurately portrayed in the film.
- Feature Commentary with John Patrick Shanley - (103 minutes) For the commentary, we get a bit of insight of John Patrick Shanley’s experience of going to a Catholic school in the Bronx and trying to utilize what he remembers and making it come to life on film. Shanley talks about the various talent, various scenes and how certain shots came about.
- The Cast of Doubt— (13:30) Ew.com’s discussion with actors Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis. A fun and insightful conversation with the talent and their feeling about the film and if the critics would get it.
“DOUBT” is a thought provoking film. Taking what we have seen in the last decade with certain pastors accused and having gotten away for child molestation, “DOUBT” tries to show viewers that even back in 1964, a perspective of how this was happening and despite some people having doubts about a priest and a few of those individuals with a close relationship with the younger altar boys, what makes this film much more entertaining is watching Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman really going off each other and both delivering powerful performances.
Meryl Streep’s transformation to Sister Aloysius is just impressive and her ability to project intimidation to even the viewer showcases her multiple-award winning talent. Philip Seymour Hoffman is just a man who is well liked but to Sister Aloysius, it’s about how far she will go to use her intimidation against him. But as intimidating as she is to the Father. The truth is that the system and hierarchy of how things are handled in the church reside in the leadership of men, not so much towards the women. So, Hoffman then engages in intimidation towards Sister Aloysius. Needless to say, the exchange between both individuals is quite powerful. Which one of these individuals engages in their own perfidy?
The other impressive performances go to Amy Adams as Sister Jane. She exhibits innocence, purity and someone trying to comprehend why Sister Aloysius is the way she is and if she can possibly bring something new to the school with her warmer style. Unfortunately, this style is similar to Father Flynn’s and a style that Sister Aloysius is against. So, to see the fear and intimidation that the Sister Jane is feeling is well projected by Adams.
And Viola Davis as Mrs. Miller. Despite having only several minutes on screen, her performance as a mother who has seen her son tormented and defeated, beaten and made to feel as an outcast, is willing to let him allegedly be in the companionship of the father, because he is the only person that has been there to protect him. Twisted logic it may be, but considering the time this film takes place and that he was the sole Black person being integrated into the school, you feel sympathy for Mrs. Douglas but at the same time feel a bit disgusted. Nevertheless, Viola Davis really did a great job portraying the mother in this film.
“DOUBT” is indeed a powerful and though provoking film. The final minutes leave you feeling a bit unsettled. But the film is indeed a pleasure to watch because of the power of the performances by the four key talents of the film.
They made their characters so believable and because of that, “DOUBT” was able to flourish into this intriguing and gripping film. By the end of the film, you have no doubt in your mind that Streep, Hoffman, Adams and Davis were definitely deserving of their Academy Award nominations. Highly recommended!
