The Cable Guy: 15th Anniversary Edition (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)
February 15, 2011 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
Audacious and disturbing, Ben Stiller’s dark comedy “The Cable Guy” features one of the more creepier performances by Jim Carrey. If you enjoyed the film, this 15th Anniversary Blu-ray edition is definitely for you!
Images courtesy of © 1996 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: The Cable Guy: 15th Anniversary Edition
FILM RELEASE DATE: 1996
DURATION: 96 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:40:1), English, French 5.1 DTS-HD MA, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish, French, Chinese, Korean, Thai
COMPANY: Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
RATED: PG-13 (Dark Thematic Elements and Crude Humor)
RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2011
Directed by Ben Stiller
Written by Lou Holtz Jr.
Produced by Judd Apatow, Andrew Licht, Jeffrey A. Mueller
Co-Produced by William S. Beasley
Executive Produced by Bernie Brillstein, Brad Grey, Marc Gurvitz
Music by John Ottman
Cinematography by Robert Brinkmann
Edited by Steven Weisberg
Casting by Juel Bestrop
Production Design by Sharon Seymour
Art Direction by Jeff Knipp
Set Decoration by Maggie Martin
Costume Design by Erica Edell Phillips
Starring:
Jim Carrey as The Cable Guy
Matthew Broderick as Steven M. Kovacs
Leslie Mann as Robin Harris
Jack Black as Rick
George Segal as Steven’s Father
Diane Baker as Steven’s Mother
Ben Stiller as Sam Sweet/Stan Sweet
Eric Roberts as Eric Roberts
Janeane Garofalo as Medieval Times Waitress
Andy Dick as Medieval Times Host
Owen Wilson as Robin’s Date
Jim Carrey is Chip Douglas, cable installer. Raised on television sitcoms, he wants life to look just like My Three Sons. And when he meets single guy Steven Kovacs (Matthew Broderick), he sees his chance for some serious male bonding. But Chip’s idea of friendship – which includes physical assault, a game of ‘Porno Password’ and a medieval joust – may be hazardous to Steven’s health. In Chip’s own immortal words, “I can be your best friend… or your worst enemy.” Directed by Ben Stiller (Reality Bites).
In 1996, Ben Stiller who was known for his TV series “The Ben Stiller Show” and the 1994 film “Reality Bites” directed a dark comedy starring Matthew Broderick (“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”, “Glory”, “Godzilla”) and Jim Carrey (“Ace Ventura”, “Dumb & Dumber”, “The Mask”, “In Living Color”) in the role of the antagonist. The film would also star Jack Black, Leslie Mann, Janeane Garofalo, Owen Wilson, George Segal and Andy Dick.
Despite the split reviews from film critics, “The Cable Guy” which was budgeted at $47 million ($20 million went to Jim Carrey alone) would earn over $102 million in the box office.
The film revolves around Steven M. Kovacs (played by Matthew Broderick), who had recently moved out of his girlfriend Robin Harris’ (played by Leslie Mann) apartment. On the first day of moving in to his new apartment, he waits for the cable guy to arrive. His friend Rick (played by Jack Black) tells him that if he slips the cable guy $50, he can get free cable channels.
When the cable guy arrives, Steven is shocked about how strange this guy is. The Cable Guy, Ernie “Chip” Douglas (played by Jim Carrey) ends up rearranging Steven’s apartment (in order to get the best viewing area) and when he leaves, Steven tries to ask Chip about something he has heard about free cable. At first, Chip tries to make Steven feel bad for bringing something up illegal but needless to say, Chip likes to have fun with Steven. And Steven ends up calling Chip a friend.
This triggers something within Chip and now as a “friend” to Steven, he wants to take him on a trip to see the satellite where cable is beamed from. At first Steven is reluctant but he goes. The two hang out and Steven starts to learn some strange details about Chip.
The following day, as Steven has a date with Robin and invites her to his home to watch a movie, he sees dozens of messages left by Chip. Steven ignores it. While he and Robin try to watch cable, the cable seems to be off. When he calls Chip to check on it, within seconds, Chip is there and reveals that he turned off Steven’s cable because Steven was not a good friend and didn’t return his call. But in order to fix the relationship, Chip tells Steven that he must hang out with him the next night and Steven agrees.
Needless to say, things between Steven and Robin are still not good and she wants her space. To make him happy, Chip takes Steven out to a restaurant known as “Medieval times” and the two partake in knight suits and go into battle. Chip and Steven do battle and Chip seems quite brutal but in the end, Steven wins and their friendship gets stronger (in Chip’s mind).
The following day, Steven is shocked to find out that Chip had broken into his house and installed a full entertainment system. Upset that Chip broke into his house, Steven makes it up to him by throwing a karaoke party at his pad and introduces him to a woman named Heather. Thinking that Heather was a good friend of Chip’s, needless to say, Steven and Heather have a good time with each other. That is until the next morning when Chip reveals that since he treated him and paid for it, he can do the same for him next time. Shocked, Steven is angered that Chip had hired a prostitute. Steven then kicks Chip out of his life.
Chip wants to make it up to Steven, so Chip feels to get Steven back is by getting Robin back with him. So, while Robin is on a date with a guy (played by Owen Wilson), when he goes to the restroom, Chip beats him up and threatens him. When Chip goes to meet with Robin, he convinces her to get back with Steven.
But as Steven shows his gratitude towards Chip, Steven feels that Chip is way too strange for him and tells him that he has no room in his life for another friend.
And now, Chip starts stalking Steven and Robin until he gets Steven’s attention and gets their friendship back, by any means necessary.
VIDEO:
“The Cable Guy: 15th Anniversary Edition” is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:40:1). On Blu-ray, the film looks very good. You can see quite a bit of detail, especially when you see Steven and Chip in their knight outfits, you can see the beads of water from the rain on Chip’s leather jacket and the detail of the leather. You can see the skin pigments on the characters, as well as the rain or grime (towards the end of the film) on the characters. There was one scene during the deep rain and you see a bit of steam rising and during that moment I saw a bit of banding but for the most part, this film looks very good on Blu-ray. There is a good amount of grain, blacks are nice and deep (and there are a lot of scenes shot during the dark) and scenes that will occasionally showcase color.
But overall, watching this film in HD, I’m confident that the Blu-ray looks much better than its 1997 DVD counterpart.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“The Cable Guy: 15th Anniversary Edition is presented in English, French 5.1 DTS-HD MA and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital. For the most part, the film is dialogue and musically driven through the front and center channels. Dialogue is crystal clear as is the music by John Ottman (“X2″, “Superman Returns”, “The Usual Suspects”).
Where the surround does come into play is more towards the second half of the film, where rain and thunderstorms can be heard through the surround channels. When Chip is on top of the Satellite tower, you can hear his echoes coming through the surround channels, you can hear the thunder, the helicopter’s spinning blades also quite clearly through the surround channels as well. I didn’t notice any LFE but for the most part, the lossless audio was good for this type of film.
Subtitles are presented in English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean and Thai.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“The Cable Guy: 15th Anniversary Edition” comes with the following special features (presented in standard definition, English stereo and optional Spanish subtitles):
-
- Audio Commentary – A hilarious and informative commentary by Judd Apatow, Jim Carrey and Ben Stiller.
- Gag Reel – (6:31) Bloopers during the filming of “The Cable Guy”.
- HBO First Look – (24:14) The original HBO First Look on the making of “The Cable Guy”.
- Deleted/Extended Scenes – (24:03) Featuring nine extended and deleted scenes.
- Comedy Central Canned Ham Presents: The Cable Guy – (21:38) Judd Apatow interviews the cast and crew of “The Cable Guy”.
- Rehearsals: (17:14) Rehearsals for the following scenes: Basketball, Medieval Times, Breakfast, Ending Mud Fight, Karaoke Alt. – Bust A Move
- Nightmare Camera Test – (1:15) Jim Carrey testing out his nightmare eyes and look on the camera.
- Leslie Mann Audition – (3:01) Judd Apatow auditioning Leslie Mann for the role (note: Both would meet for the first time and eventually got married).
- “Leave Me Alone” Music Video – (4:34) Jerry Cantrell’s music video for “Leave Me Alone”.
- Original Theatrical Trailer – (2:28) The original theatrical trailer for “The Cable Guy”.
When I first saw this film back in 1996, I was freaked out!
It was one thing to get used to Jim Carrey on “In Living Color”, “Ace Ventura” and “Mask” but his character role of the Cable Guy was just too bizarre and disturbing. And it didn’t help matters much as I knew someone that had similar qualities to Chip, that freaked me out even more.
But as far as black comedies go, typically I’m all for it, but somehow, “The Cable Guy” was frightening and one can only imagine the possibilities if this film was made into a horror/thriller film. Jim Carrey knows how to play creepy guys and in the case of “Chip”, possibly one of the most disturbing characters to watch in a comedy.
But here we are 15 years later with the release of “The Cable Guy: 15th Anniversary Edition” and as I was in 1996, here we are in 2011 and I still find the film hilarious and Carrey’s character more disturbing as ever.
But watching it again, I think there was a time when Carrey used to be too obnoxious and overplayed his characters. While “The Mask” was tolerable, I felt that his version of Riddler in “Batman Forever”, the Grinch in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and Lloyd Christmas in “Dumb & Dumber” were too over-the-top. As the Cable Guy, it was too obnoxious and too creepy and for some, I guess the fact that he was quite audacious does help for the role. I felt that the character of Steven must have been too sympathetic because there are constant red flags all over the place when he first met Chip. What could have been a hilarious comedy becomes too dark to the point that I felt uncomfortable watching this film.
If “The Cable Guy” was a horror film, I would have felt that Chip would be much more creepier than Jason and Freddie, because we know that disturbing individuals like Chip do exist. Could you imagine if “The Cable Guy” became the bromance version of “Fatal Attraction”?
If there was a benefit to this film and for its talent, everyone went on to bigger things. May it be Ben Stiller, Matthew Broderick, Jim Carrey, Jack Black, Owen Wilson and even producer Judd Apatow, not too say that the “Cable Guy” launched their careers but it sure did showcase their potential of going on to do bigger projects, especially for Jack Black and Owen Wilson.
As for the Blu-ray release of “The Cable Guy”, the 15th Anniversary has over 50-minutes of never-before-seen extras. The picture and audio quality is the strong points of this 15th Anniversary Edition release, while the special features does show its age, it would have been nice to have an interview with Stiller, Apatow or some of the cast members 15 years later or something shot recently to celebrate the film’s 15th year anniversary.
Overall, “The Cable Guy” is one of those films that you will either enjoy or dislike, similar to the 50/50 split from the film critics and it has been the case for many Judd Apatow and Ben Stiller films, it all comes down to whether you enjoy black comedy. For me, I loved the first half of the film, I loved the humor, especially when Chip mimics “The Silence of the Lambs” to even the most crazy scene when he meets Steven in jail. But the enjoyable comedy side of “The Cable Guy” tends to get left behind in the first half as the film starts to delve to focusing on Chip as we see a much more of a pest than ever.
Once again, if it’s a good thing or bad thing is up to the viewer but for me, the film had its share of audaciously funny moments but Carrey’s character became more psychopathic, more disturbing as the film progressed.
If you are a big fan of “The Cable Guy”, then the 15th Anniversary Edition on Blu-ray is for you!
Year One (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)
October 15, 2009 by Dennis Amith · Leave a Comment
“A film partnering funnymen Jack Black, Michael Cera and writer/director Harold Ramis. Overall, fans of the film will definitely enjoy the number of special features packed in this Blu-ray release and you do get both the theatrical and unrated versions of the film. This is probably one of the few films where I felt that the alternate ending should have been used instead of what was used in the final cut of the film. Overall, not as strong as other Apatow produced films but for those who enjoy that style of comedy, will find ‘Year One’ to be humorous, crazy and moronic.”
TITLE: Year One
DURATION: Theatrical Version – 97 Minutes/Unrated Version – 100 Minutes
BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (1:85:1), English, French and Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD MA, Subtitles: English, English SHD, French, Spanish, Portuguese
COMPANY: Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
RATED: PG-13: Some Material May Be Inappropriate for Children Under 13
Release Date: October 6, 2009
Directed by Harold Ramis
Based on a story by Harold Ramis
Written by Harold Ramis, Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg
Executive Producer: Rodney Rothman
Producer: Judd Apatow
Co-Producer: Harold Ramis and Laurel Ward
Associate Producer: Andrew Epstein
Music by Theodore Shapiro
Cinematography by Alar Kivilo
Edited by Craig Herring, Steve Welch
Casting by Tara Duncil, Chris Gray, Jeanne McCarthy
Production Design by Jefferson Sage
Art Direction by Richard Fojo
Set Decoration by Dorree Cooper
Costume Design by Debra McGuire
Starring:
Jack Black as Zed
Michael Cera as Oh
Oliver Platt as High Priest
David Cross as Cain
Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Isaac
Vinnie Jones as Sargon
Hank Azaria as Abraham
Juno Temple as Eema
Olivia Wilde as Princess Inanna
June Diane Raphael as Maya
Xander Berkeley as King
Gia Carides as Queen
Horatio Sanz as Enmebaragesi
David Pasquesi as Prime Minister
Matthew Willig as Marlak
Harold Ramis as Adam
Rhoda Griffis as Eve
Gabriel Sunday as Seth
Eden Riegel as Lilith
Kyle Gass as Zaftig the Eunuch
Bill Hader as Shaman
In June 2009, a new comedy film starring Jack Black (“King Kong”, “Be Kind Rewind”, “Tropic Thunder”) and Michael Cera (“Juno”, “Superbad”, “Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist”) was released in theaters with a large tie-in with the NBA Finals and also featured a commercial aired on Super Bowl XLIII.
The film which was directed and and a screenplay co-written by Harold Ramis (“Ghostbusters”, “Groundhog Day”, “Stripes”, “Caddyshack”, “Meatballs”) and “The Office” writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg. The film would be produced by Judd Apatow (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”, “Pineapple Express”, “The 40 Year Old Virgin”, “Knocked Up”), cinematography by Alar Kivilo (“The Lake House”, “The Lookout”, “The Ice Harvest”) and music by Theodore Shapiro (“Marley & Me”, “Tropic Thunder”, “Semi-Pro”).
The film revolves around two men who come from a village (a village of cavemen/women) and Zed (Jack Black) is known as the worst hunter/gatherer in the village. He finds out that Maya (June Diane Raphael) wants to get married and the man that wants to marry her is Marlak (Matthew Willig), the strongest hunter in the village. Although self-confident, Zed believes he can be better than Marlak even though his only true friend in the village, Oh (Michael Cera) thinks he’s full of BS.
As for Oh, he is a shy man not confident for himself. Not a great gatherer, he has interest in Eema (Juno Temple) despite not knowing how to communicate with girls and thus giving off a gay vibe.
But when Zed takes a bite out of the forbidden fruit (from the apple tree – which Eve ate an apple from), Zed feels that the glowing fruit may have given him magical powers. But unfortunately, because he at the fruit, against his village’s rules, he is banished. In the process of leaving the village, Zed accidentally burns his village and thus forces Oh to join with him (and essentially and unknowingly making his village homeless and slaves to a slave owner).
While Zed and Oh, go beyond their village (which they were taught that anything beyond the mountain is the end of the Earth), they end up in the farm area where they see two men fighting. Cain (David Cross, “Arrested Development”) and Abel (Paul Rudd, “I Love, You Man”, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”) in which the two see Cain murdering his brother. With Cain’s father Adam (Harold Ramis) wanting Cain punished for murdering his brother, Cain takes Zed and Oh to the city where they learn that their village members are slaves and are being taken to the city of Sodom.
Now Zed and Oh must come up with a plan to rescue their beloved women and the village.
“Year One” is literally a parody of stories from the Bible and also stars Xander Berkeley (“Fracture”, “24″) as the King of Sodom, Olivia Wilde (“The O.C.”, “House M.D.”, “The Black Donnellys”) as the princess of Sodom, Oliver Platt (“Frost/Nixon”, “Nip/Tuck”, “The West Wing”) as The High Priest, Vinnie Jones (“X-Men 3: The Last Stand”, “Loaded”) as the Sodom warrior Sargon and Hank Azaria (“The Simpsons”, “Huff”, “Mad About You”) as Abraham.
The Blu-ray release includes both the standard theatrical version and the unrated version of the film which has three more minutes of extra footage.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Year One” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1) and the quality provides excellent detail. From the detail of the sand in the desert, mountains in the region, trees in the village, detail on the clothing, you name it… the picture quality for “Year One” is solid, not reference but still a very good looking film. Good trace of grain and no DNR (Digital Noise Reduction).
As for the audio, the audio is presented with an English, French and Portuguese 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack with a Spanish 5.1 soundtrack as well. The Blu-ray features one of the few films that were released from Sony that uses a DTS-HD MA soundtrack instead of Dolby TrueHD. For a comedy film, audio is satisfactory. Dialogue is clean and understandable. For the most part, the film is front and center channel driven but the crack of thunder can be heard quite nicely throughout the channels. But it’s too bad the alternate ending was not used because that is where the majority of the action is featured in the film. But overall, the lossless audio is fine.
Subtitles are featured in English, French, English SDH, Portuguese and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES
“Year One” comes with the following special features (all presented in High Definition, in English stereo and Spanish and Portuguese subtitles):
“Year One” is one of those films that Apatow or even Happy Madison film fans will enjoy. In other words, films that are comedy-driven, not meant to be taken seriously and for the most part, films that many people tend to see as moronic, idiotic and pushing the button.
For “Year One”, I will say that for an Apatow-produced film, it was not one of the best films and truthfully, I was surprised this was written by Harold Ramis because it is definitely one of his weakest written films to date. The funny has its humorous moments and as expected, both Black and Cera are a good pairing. It’s just that the screenplay felt a bit mediocre.
The biggest surprise when watching this Blu-ray is that included is an alternate ending that features more action and although a bit more dark, it was a pretty good ending that of course, people who knows the tragic story of Sodom will understand why the alternate ending was appropriate. The fact that they spent so much for that ending scene and didn’t use it, is quite a surprise and sure, it was bleaker and humorous but I think those action sequences of destruction would have been more entertaining for viewers. I just felt that the ending Ramis did choose keep, was to saccharine and to easy going. In the commentary, Ramis said he chose the Obama versus the George W. Bush version. But personally, for those familiar with the Sodom and Gomorah storyline expect nothing but destruction of the city of Sodom in someway.
But overall, for those who did enjoy this film will enjoy the fact that the Blu-ray does come with a lot of special features and that the picture quality is pretty solid. And again, you get both the unrated and theatrical version of the films. If anything, despite the film’s shortcomings, the Blu-ray release for this film is packed with features, Sony really utilizing some of the BD-Live capabilities for this release. So, if you did enjoy this film, you’ll more than likely enjoy this Blu-ray release.
