UPDATE: Reps confirm Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel did break up

In the last three years, there have been quite a number of reports of the demise of Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel’s relationship. But now various media outlets are reporting that sources have told them that the couple have split.

UPDATE: The reps have issued a joint statement for both Timberlake and Biel. According to the statement:

Addressing the media speculation regarding Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake’s relationship, we are confirming that they mutually have decided to part ways. The two remain friends and continue to hold the highest level of love and respect for each other.

Jessica Biel and Liam Neeson posing with director Joe Carnahan for the German premiere of “A-Team”

The actors Jessica Biel (L-R) and Liam Neeson pose together with director Joe Carnahan on the red carpet for photographers as he arrives for the Germany Preview of ‘The A-Team on July 29, 2010 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Steffen Kugler/Getty Images). Content © 2010 Getty Images All rights reserved.

Jessica Biel attends the UK premiere of “The A-Team” in London

Jessica Biel attends the UK Film Premiere of ‘The A-Team’ at Empire Leicester Square on July 27, 2010 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images). Content © 2010 Getty Images All rights reserved.

Jessica Biel promoting “The A-Team” in Madrid

Actress Jessica Biel attends ‘The A-Team’ photocall at ME Hotel on July 26, 2010 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images). Content © 2010 Getty Images All rights reserved.

Jessica Biel at the premiere of “The A-Team” in Hollywood

Actress Jessica Biel arrives at the premiere of 20th Century Fox’s ‘The A-Team’ held at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on June 3, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images). Content © 2010 Getty Images All rights reserved.

Planet 51 (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

Delightful!  “Planet 51″ is a fun sci-fi animated film for the entire family that looks vibrant and sounds great on Blu-ray!

© 2009 Ilion Animation Studios, HandMade Films International, Antenna 3 Films, Lem Films Limited and Chuck & Lem, S.L. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Planet 51

DURATION: 91 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:35:1), English, German 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English – Audio Description Track 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish, German, Turkish

COMPANY: Tri Star/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

RATED: PG (For Mild Sci-Fi Action and Some Suggestive Humor)

RELEASE DATE: March 9, 2010

Directed by Jorge Blanco, Javier Abad, Marcos Martinez

Written by Joe Stillman

Executive Producer: Mercedes Gamero, Ricardo Garcia Arrojo, Peter D. Graves, Albie Hecht, Stephen Margolis, Albert Martinez Martin, Patrick Meehan, Javier Perez Dolset, Juan Antonio Perez Ramirez, Mercedes Rey Jose A. Rodriguez, Michael Ryan

Produced by Guy Collins, Ignacio Perez Dolset

Associate Producer: Thomas D. Adelman

Music by James Seymour Brett

Edited by Alex Rodriguez

Casting by Ruth Lambert, Karen Lindsay-Stewart, Robert McGee

Production Design by Julian Munoz Romero

Art Direction by Fernando Juarez

Featuring the voices of:

Dwayne Johnson as Captain Charles T. Baker

Justin Long as Lem

Jessica Biel as Neera

Gary Oldman as General Grawl

Seann William Scott as Skiff

John Cleese as Professor Kipple

Freddie Benedict as Eckle

Alan Mariott as Glar

When Chuck the astronaut (Dwayne Johnson) lands on a distant planet filled with little green people, he is surprised to discover that we are not alone in the galaxy. But he gets the shock of his life when the residents of Planet 51 mistakenly believe that his presence is the start of an alien invasion of the human kind! Luckily, Lem (Justin Long) quickly realizes that Chuck is friendly and makes it his personal mission to help him return safely to his ship.

In Nov. 2009, the most expensive movie produced in Spain titled “Planet 51″ created by Ilion Animation Studios and HandMade Films with a screenplay by Joe Stillman (“Shrek” films) was released in the US.  With a budget of $70 million, despite heavy competition from Hollywood blockbusters “New Moon” and “2012″, “Planet 51″ earned $94 million worldwide.

“Planet 51″ revolves around a world with a society of green aliens similar to the USA in the 1950′s and at the local theater, the popular sci-fi film “Humaniac” is being screened.  Lem (Voiced by Justin Long) is an alien who gets a job at the Planetarium.  Lem has a big crush on Neera (voiced by Jessica Biel) but each time he wants to get close to her, her hippie friend Glar is nearby and it seems that he may be trying to get close to her as well.

Meanwhile, a mysterious spacecraft which was orbiting Planet 51 is detected by “Base 9″, a hidden army base which has artifacts from planet Earth.  One of the artifact, which is a rover wakes up when a signal is picked up and begins its mission to look for an astronaut and collect rocks.

The mysterious aircraft lands in Lem’s back yard and an astronaut from NASA, Charles “Chuck” Baker (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) comes out and plants the US flag on the planet.  But when he looks around the planet, what was supposed to be uninhabited has homes and building where green people live and this freaks out Chuck who immediately goes into hiding.

With many people on the planet fearing aliens (due to the sci-fi films of the time such as “humaniac”, the people of Planet 51 think there is going to be an alien invasion.  Immediately, General Grawl (voiced by Gary Oldman) along with Professor Kipple (voiced by John Cleese) try to gain more research studying the alien spacecraft and quarantines the area to prevent its citizens to become “zombies”.

As for Lem, while cleaning up at the planetarium, he finds Chuck in hiding and immediately the two realize they speak the same language and that Chuck is no threat.  Chuck then lets Lem know that he has 74 hours to get back into his spacecraft or else the spacecraft will leave without him. Meanwhile, the NASA rover continues to look for the astronaut while evading the General’s forces and hostile citizens but yet  finds a friend in Lem’s comic book geek friend Skiff (voiced by Seann William Scott) who looks at Rover as his newfound pet.

So, Chuck depends on Lem (and his friends) in hiding him temporarily and help find a way to get him back into his well-guarded spacecraft.  But is it possible?  Especially with General Grawl and his men ready to kill anyone who may be deemed as helping the alien (Chuck) and those who are helping him?

VIDEO:

“Planet 51″ looks very good when it comes to details. Presented in 1080p High Definition (2:35:1),  I enjoyed the overall atmosphere created by Ilion Animation Studios.  From the creation of the homes, the gates, the plants, the skies…the whole ’50s feel of the town looks quite vibrant and beautiful.   But when it comes to the green citizens, there is much less detail.  Although green, even Shrek is green but you can still see the spots within its skin.  Not so much for the aliens of “Planet 51″, although a lot of detail can be seen in the astronaut uniform of Chuck.   But overall, the animation was well-done from Ilion Animation Studios and the presentation is absolutely vibrant in HD.

AUDIO & SUBTITLES:

“Planet 51″ features audio in English and German 5.1 DTS-HD MA.  Also, an English audio description track in 5.1 Dolby Digital is included.  Because the film incorporates many action scenes, from the sound of the vehicles zipping through the air, Chuck’s spacecraft with its engine roaring or the hidden base opening up, there is good use of the surround channels and LFE.  Dialogue and music are also clear and understandable through the center and front channels.  But overall, a pretty solid lossless soundtrack!

Subtitles are in English, English SDH, Spanish, German and Turkish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Planet 51″ comes with the following special features in High Definition with English Stereo and English with German subtitles:

• Target 51 Game - Play as Charles “Chuck” Baker in galaxy mode or survival mode.   The game also comes with an optional iPhone controller App download from iTunes!
  
• Extended Scenes – A total of three extended scenes: A Total Disaster, When Aliens Invade, What Do Zombies Say?
  
• The World of Planet 51 – (2:52) Featuring the CG clips of the locations and key areas featured in the world of Planet 51.
  
• Life on Planet 51 – (12:04) The making of “Planet 51″ plus a look at how ILION Animation Studios in Madrid, Spain created the film.
  
• Planetarium – The Voice Stars of Planet 51 – (3:18) A featurette with interviews with the voice talent of “Planet 51″ including Justin Long, Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Gary Oldman and Sean William Scott.
  
• Planet 51 Music Video Montage – (2:10) A video montage of scenes from “Planet 51″ along with a song “Aliens Exist” by Blink 182.
  
• Animation Progression Reels – (15:53) Featuring six animated progression reels.  Featuring four split screens with a pre-rendered CG clip, storyboards, and more.
  
• Previews – Sony Pictures Home Entertainment trailers
  

EXTRAS:

“Planet 51″ comes with a DVD version of the film and also a Digital Copy included on the DVD.

“Planet 51″ is a fun and entertaining sci-fi film.  Although, the cold war reference, especially dealing with the fear of aliens may go over the heads of children, “Planet 51″ manages to be a film similar to E.T. but in this case, the human is the alien and for the most part, the green aliens speak perfect English. Also, the film does a good job for paying homage to various sci-fi films such as “Alien”, “2001: A Space Odyssey”, “Star Wars”, “Terminator”, etc.  If anything, the humor of the cold war, especially classic and current sci-fi films will easily make fans of the genre quite appreciate of the film.

While, the human “Chuck” is more of a guy that is all talk and makes himself out as a guy who has “the right stuff”, Lem has been the alien guy who really never stood for himself and has had his share of low self-esteem.  Through helping Chuck and overcoming a variety of obstacles, we see how Lem begins to feel more comfortable with himself and eventually, using his new-found self-esteem to get closer to his dream girl Neera.

Despite the film not receiving the greatest reviews, “Planet 51″ is a CG-animated film that may not have any deep overtones but there is really cool CG animation when it comes to the actual living areas.  The detail is quite beautiful on Blu-ray and the lossless soundtrack is quite awesome as well.  The Blu-ray has a good number of special features as well.  And if you are a parent looking for a fun and safe film for the kids while going on a trip, the Blu-ray release does include a DVD and also a digital copy as well.

Overall, “Planet 51″ is a good movie and I think those who are able to pick up on the jokes of the film will enjoy some of its slapstick humor.  The film has enough gags to please the children (as my seven year old who watched it in the theater and once again with me on Blu-ray was giggling throughout) but anyone expecting anything more or anything deep may be disappointed. But in the end, I was quite satisfied with the film overall.

Jessica Biel at the premiere of “Valentine’s Day” in Los Angeles

Jessica Biel. Valentine’s Day Los Angeles Premiere held at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Photo Credit: Michael Jade/AdMedia. Content © 2010 AdMedia All rights reserved.

Jessica Biel and Dwayne Johnson at the premiere of “Planet 51″ in Los Angeles

Actors Jessica Biel (L) and Dwayne Johnson arrive at the premiere of Sony Pictures’ ‘Planet 51′ at the Village Theater on November 14, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Content © 2009 Getty Images All rights reserved.

Easy Virtue (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

“Despite the financial and schedule challenges the crew and talent had in trying to create this film which is adapted from the popular Noel Coward play from 1924, I found ‘Easy Virtue’ to be sexy, entertaining and fun.”

Images courtesy of © 2008 Easy Virtue Films Limited. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Easy Virtue

YEAR OF FILM RELEASE: 2008

DURATION: 96 Minutes

BLU-RAY DISC INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition (2:35:1), English, German, Portuguese Dolby TrueHD5.1, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English, English SDH, German, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish

COMPANY:  Sony Pictures Classics/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

RATED: PG-13 (For sexual content, brief partial nudity and smoking throughout)

Release Date: September 15, 2009

Based on a play by Noel Coward

Directed by Stephan Elliott

Written by Stephan Elliott and Sheridan Jobbins

Executive Producer: Paul Brett, Louise Goodsill, Douglas Hansen, Ralph Kamp, George McGhee, Peter Nichols, Tim Smith, James Spring and Cindy Wilkinson Kirven

Produced by Joseph Abrams, James D. Stern, Barnaby Thompson

Co-Produced by Alexandra Ferguson

Music by Marius De Vries

Cinematography by Martin Kenzie

Edited by Sue Blainey

Casting by Celestia Fox

Production Design by John Beard

Art Direction by Mark Scruton

Set Decoration by Niamh Coulter

Costume Design by Charlotte Walter

Starring:

Jessica Biel as Larita Whittaker

Ben Barnes as John Wittaker

Kristin Scott Thomas as Mrs. Whittaker

Colin Firth as Mr. Whittaker

Kimberly Nixon as Hilda Whittaker

Katherine Parkson as Marion Whittaker

Kris Marshall as Furber

Christian Brassington as Phillip Hurst

Charlotte Riley as Sarah Hurst

Jessica Biel, Colin Firth, Kristin Scott Thomas and Ben Barnes bring Noël Coward’s witty comedy of manners magnificently to life in this “deliciously cheeky” (Ella Taylor, The Village Voice) adaptation from director Stephan Elliott (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert).

When British playboy John brings his new wife Larita – a race car-driving feminist from Detroit – home to meet the family at their country estate, pretty much everyone’s expectations are disappointed. His snooty mother is offended by Larita’s carefree American ways, while Larita does everything she can to get her mother-in-law to loosen up, which only annoys her even more. John’s sisters have diametrically opposed feelings about their new sister-in-law, but his father is intrigued to have finally found another who sees through the family’s façade – and takes great perverse pleasure in watching his wife meet her match.

A 2008 film capturing that 192o’s era style and feel in a sexy, humorous and enjoyable take of the popular 1924 Noel Coward play.

The last time “Easy Virtue” made it on the big screen was back in in 1928, via a silent film directed by Alfred Hitchcock that featured more darker undertones, but “Easy Virtue” is brought back to the big screen courtesy of writer and director Stephan Elliott (“Eye of the Beholder” and “The Adventures of Priscilla”) and co-writer Sheridan Jobbins (“Alexa’s PArty” and “House of Fun”) and follows the play much more closely than the Hitchcock film.    The two are joined by composer Marius De Vries (“Moulin Rouge!”, “Eye of the Beholder”, “The Avengers”, “Romeo & Juliet”) and cinematographer Martin Kenzie (who has worked on “Babylon A.D.”, “Syriana”, “Mamma Mia!” and “Tomorrow Never Dies”).

The film features a talented cast which includes Jessica Biel (“7th Heaven”, “Stealth” and “Next”), Ben Barnes (“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”), Kristin Scott Thomas (“Confessions of a Shopaholic”, “The Other Boleyn Girl”, Gosford Park” and “The Golden Compass”), Colin Firth (“Mamma Mia!”, “Bridget Jones” films”, “Love Actually”) and Kris Marshall (“Sold”, “Heist”, “Murder City”).

“Easy Virtue” had one of the most difficult film productions.  The film had significant slashing within its budget and was down to $12 million (the crumbling of the US economy and the  American dollar didn’t help either) and to make things more challenging, Stephan Elliott’s pre-production and production schedule was cut in half.  So, needless to say, the pressure of the short schedule and low budget forced the filmmakers to do some guerrilla filmmaking but in exotic locations.

The talent had to wing the film without any rehearsal time and rehearsal was literally shooting the film with several takes in order to make the film look believable. In fact, the talent knew what had to be done and thus, the female talents never fraternized on the set or grew close in order to capture the emotion of the film.  And at post-production, the producers cut the runtime of the film down to under 100 minutes.  Needless to say, for the film “Easy Virtue”, its filmmakers and talents had a major challenge but in the end, I felt that the cast and crew managed to pull it off.

The film revolves around a professional race car driver and American widow named Larita (Jessica Biel) who has fallen for John Whittaker (Ben Barnes).  Barnes then takes her to meet the Whittaker family who live in a large mansion in rural area of England and look extremely wealthy and refined. The setting of the film is after World War I during the early 1920′s.

The Whittaker family also includes:

Veronica Whittaker (Kristin Scott Thomas) – The family matriarch, cold-as-ice and very dedicated to her family lineage and her land which was created by seven generations of Whittakers who were farmers.  Not very pleased with her young son’s marriage to Larita but wants him to stay home.

Colonel Whittaker (Colin Firth) – The quiet father who seems to be unhappy with his life and is often supportive of Larita in front of Veronica and probably the only member of the Whittaker family outside of John that Larita can talk personally to.  Colonel Whittaker has not been the same after fighting in World War I and has viewed life much differently since then.

Marion Whittaker (Katherine Parkson) – The eldest daughter that waits for a man named Edgar to come home.  For some reason, every time she sees a picture of a man, she thinks he looks like him.  Also, has a fascination about reading death and murder.

Hilda Whittaker (Kimberly Nixon) – The youngest daughter who likes/dislikes Larita.  Likes her energy and style but dislikes how the guy she does like, Phillip Hurst seems to have his eyes on Larita.

Other Characters:

Furber the Butler (Kris Marshall) - A person who assists Larita and sometimes doesn’t like how he is treated by Whittaker family.  Thus he enjoys helping Larita anytime he can.

Sarah Hurst (Charlotte Riley) - A woman that grew up with John Whittaker and many have thought those two would marry but although John has married Larita, she still manages to care for him but also remains cordial to Larita.

Philip Hurst (Christian Brassington) – A man that Hilda Whittaker likes (he refers to her as sausage fingers) and is attracted to Larita.

As Larita tries to become patient with her husband and loves him unconditionally, she knows that the women of the Whittaker family do not like her.  From her accidentally sitting and killing their beloved family dog and not enthusiastic about the life of high society (since Larita was raised by a father who worked at a Detroit steel factory), she wants to move to London with John, so she can continue her race car driving career and that John can work and get a job.  Something that Mrs. Whittaker is totally against.

So, it becomes a battle of who will John listen to…mother or new wife.  And thus, Mrs. Whittaker will do what she can do make her feel unwelcome and her stay at the Whittaker home unpleasant.

Can Larita stay tolerant towards the Whittaker women and continue to live at their home while unhappy and what happens when news about her ex-husband’s death comes out into the open?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Easy Virtue” is an interesting film that easily benefited from the various locations of where the film was shot.  As mentioned earlier, the crew and cast had enormous challenges due to the cut in budget and so, a lot of the filming took place outdoors and in various indoor shots in well-respected areas of England.  The costume designer did a great job in capturing that 1920′s feel with the clothing.

The film is presented in 1080p High Definition (2:35:1).  Overall, I felt the look and feel of 1920′s was nicely captured by cinematographer Martin Kenzie and although not a reference quality, vibrant style of film, the scenes are quite clean, no sign of bad artifacting.  Blacks are well-done, skin tones looked natural and for the most part, picture quality was well-done.

As for the lossless audio which is featured in English, German and Portuguese Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital), “Easy Virtue” is a dialogue-driven and music-based film.  In the commentary, Director Stephan Elliott talks about his proudest moment outside of the film itself is the music.  Composer Marius De Vries does a great job but it’s the music which you will often hear Ben Barnes or Jessica Biel singing that sounds just right and natural.  Music from Noel Coward that seems just right and capturing that 1920′s style and feel.  So, for the most part, the film is front and center channel driven.

Also, although “Easy Virtue” is not a musical, it was quite cool to hear the jazz 20′s styles of music but featuring songs sung by various cast members.

Subtitles are featured in English, English SDH, German, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Easy Virtue” comes with the following special features are provided in Standard Definition, English Stereo & Mono with English, German, Portuguese and Spanish subtitles:

• Commentary with Director Stephan Elliott & Writer Sheridan Jobbins – A very informative and fun commentary.  From Director Stephan Elliott who wanted to give Jessica Biel the opportunity to do something different for an acting role (and also when Justin Timberlake came to the set), to Colin Firth having to do the dancing scene, Kristin Scott Thomas who felt that she couldn’t take on the part of playing someone so cold and of course, the many challenges the film faced due to the cut of the budget and schedule time for the film.
• Deleted Scenes – A total of four deleted scenes which include: Standard Immigration Policy, Breathless Already?, You must stop egging father on and what will you do?.
• Blooper Reel – (8:48) A blooper reel but also contains scenes that were cut from the film that were necessarily not bloopers.
• New York Premiere – (6:12) The cast and crew talk about their experience working on the film.  The talent’s favorite scenes from the film and more.

“Easy Virtue” was a fun and entertaining film. I enjoyed a film that was based in that 1920′s era and enjoyed the various fashion and just the overall look and feel of the film.

I am unfamiliar with the original play but I thought that the film was well-cast and the subtle changes to make it more for a modern audience was also well-done (especially hearing in the commentary of how certain scenes were supposed to go).  It was great to see Jessica Biel take on a role so different from what she has done in the past.  The character of Larita is such a strong woman and despite being a tomboy who loves machinery and racing, she exhibited beauty and humor in her role but also a woman who felt by being forced to live at the home in a life that she did not want, she was slowly being poisoned by the man she loves.

Kristin Scott Thomas was absolutely great in playing the cold, Veronica Whittaker.  She is such an accomplished actress and to know there were no rehearsals, I felt that she nailed her role and did a great job.

Ben Barnes as the young John may be known for his dashing heroics in “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” but I felt that he did a great job in portraying a man who is in love with his wife but also his dedication to family.

And for Colin Firth, it was one of the few roles where he played a man with only a few words.  But it’s that anguish you see in him that comes through in the film and although he doesn’t have a tremendous amount of speaking lines, he more than makes up for it at the end of the film.

Again, I enjoyed this film but I’m not in the place where I can say that it follows what Noel Coward may have wanted or not wanted.  I am familiar by reading the many comments from many Noel Coward fans who have supported or have shown disdain towards the film.  It’s also important to note that the film was given a positive review by the Noel Coward Society in which they have said in their review of the film:

Coward was the master of the well-constructed, impeccably witty play that eventually reveals some home truths about the emotional repression of the English middle-classes and the stifling repression endemic to the British class system. All of those elements are present in this adaptation. There are still lines of such wit and savagery that they easily connect with a modern audience and the message about the need to break from from the shackles of the past and embrace the possibilities of a new, uncertain future is timeless.

Who knows what value the Noel Coward brand has for a modern audience, but this is enjoyable and accessible enough to provide a substantial specialist hit.

With that being said, despite the low-budget and mounting challenges that the film had faced, it would have been nice to see a director’s cut of the film after knowing that a good portion of the film was cut by producer Barnaby Thompson.   But I think what we have seen in the final cut worked very well.

As for the Blu-ray, for those who enjoyed the film will definitely find the commentary to be quite interesting.  It’s quite evident that director Stephan Elliott had a difficult time with the shortened schedule and possibly countless squabbles with the producers.  Picture and audio quality were very good and although the special features was not plentiful, I felt the commentary made me appreciate the film even more.

In the end, if they had more time and money, would the film have been any different?  I don’t know.  But knowing the challenges that the crew and talent had to work with, what they were able to make possible and because of the fact that I’m not too informed when it comes to Noel Coward’s works, suffice to say, I found “Easy Virtue” to be quite entertaining, humorous and enjoyable.

Justin Timberlake and girlfriend Jessica Biel stroll through Tribeca

Justin Timberlake and girlfriend Jessica Biel stroll through Tribeca on a warm March day in New York. Pictured: Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel Picture by: MAP / Splash News. Content © 2009 Splash News . All rights reserved.

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