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The Box Movie Review

Marc Eastman — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:02:36 +0000

When it comes to moral decisions, humans are actually quite fascinating. I say that not because of anything The Box relates in its unbearable two-hour delivery, but because when moral conundrums are taken as the jumping off point for a story, this sort of nonsense is the result.

Based loosely on a short story by Richard Matheson, which was made into a very popular episode of The Twilight Zone, the story begins with a couple receiving a mysterious box with a large red button on top. A creepy man shows up to tell them that he wants to offer them a kind of opportunity. If they push the button, two things will happen: 1) someone, somewhere in the world, will die. 2) they will receive $1 million dollars. It’s 1976, so adjust your monetary thoughts accordingly.

It is pointedly explained, that the person who dies will be, “someone you don’t know.”

Therein lies the gag of the short story, and the Twilight Zone adaptation. They push the button, get the money, and the odd man comes back to tell them that the box will be reset and given to, “someone who doesn’t know you.” Bang. Gasp. Shazam. And, you’ve got a fun half-hour that’s worth talking about, and everyone gets to ask everyone they know if they would have pushed the button.

You aren’t supposed to really think too much, and that’s the beauty of it. It isn’t so much a truly serious moral dilemma, as it is something more like a fable, and perhaps “coffee table ethics.” It isn’t a situational challenge that those working in the philosophy of morality are going to write papers on (not least because – A) it’s a cheat, and B) there’s a pretty solid view that the moral stance in the situation rests on the box-giver, not the button-pusher – the pushing of a button that does not in itself kill a person, ipso facto does not kill a person).

No, it’s just a bit of a laugh really, and a fun story.

The problem with Richard Kelly’s film is that it attempts to be intensely serious in its dilemma. So serious in fact that, like many films, it believes that being long and slow somehow makes you even more serious. Instead of taking a semi-philosophic jumping off point and going for a ride (like The Matrix, or similar), The Box is so serious that it basically comes over as having the deadeningly superior viewpoint of its own moral questioners.

There’s too much time to think in the telling, and before long you’re moved to start taking the general question apart just out of boredom. You start wondering, especially once you are witness to much of the conspiratorial goings-on that are actually involved, if the question isn’t really more like, “If you push the button, I will kill someone and I will give $1 million dollars.” Much like the situation, “If you don’t kill this person, I will kill these other ten people,” we might easily be moved to think that who you kill, and why you choose to do it, is none of our affair really, and doesn’t create a moral problem for us.

Worse, after spending far too long with meaninglessly dramatic sequences piled on top of one another, our plagued couple is presented with another dilemma. Our morally superior testers rather condescendingly up the ante. In a bizarre move that is somewhat difficult to fit into the overall puzzle, what is apparently the “right choice,” this time around is something that seems an order of magnitude more morally reprehensible than pushing the button in the first place. In the end, we’re apparently left with the idea that some decidedly evil unknowns are attempting to determine if we measure up morally. What one is meant to do with that as a movie is anyone’s guess.

Everything to do with morality aside, the film is simply tedious. I would normally say of a film that slogs through two hours that it clearly needed to lose 30 minutes or more, but I can’t see that it would help this film a bit. It isn’t simply that the movie is too long, every scene in it is too long. It is mind-numbingly slow, and clearly on purpose, as though being slow created tension and foreboding on its own. You would want to talk about cutting the unnecessary scenes, and there are a great many of them, but you wonder how you would know where to stop, which is perhaps why they’re there.

The truth is that everything about the movie is wrong, and you have so much time on your hands, with no real tension or action distracting you, that you can’t help but notice. Cameron Diaz is absolutely lost at everything she tries here. James Marsden isn’t too bad, but his portrayal comes across as somewhat at cross purposes to the film’s delivery. Frank Langella isn’t bad really, but seems to be in a few different movies at different times. Even the styling of the ’70s is so silly you feel like it’s trying to make a statement, but what could it be? I mean, no one house had all the most ridiculous design elements from the Worst of the ’70s in it.

When I saw Donnie Darko, there was no one I wanted to see another film from more than Richard Kelly. Now I’ve had Southland Tales and The Box, and there is hardly anyone I’m less interested in. It seems clear that Donnie Darko was just that first album, and I’ve been a fan of too many bands who never did anything worth a damn again.

Rating: ½☆☆☆☆

Are You Screening?

Review: The Box (cinematical.com)
The Box: pushing too many buttons (guardian.co.uk)
Movie Review | ‘The Box’: Simplifying One Life, Complicating Another (movies.nytimes.com)
‘The Box’: A stylish, intriguing mess from ‘Donnie Darko’ director (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Reviews: Donnie Darko, Shazam, Southland Tales, The Box, The Matrix, The Twilight Zone: Vol. 8

Lopez Tonight On TBS

Marc Eastman — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:06:09 +0000

I’ve always had a soft spot for George Lopez. On paper, George Lopez was nothing you’d find me watching, but once I did I was oddly hooked. There’s something about him, and perhaps his theory of comedy, that just works for me.

He’s coming to late night, starting tomorrow November 9th at 11pm est/pt, with Lopez Tonight, and I have a feeling this one is going to be worth checking out. He’s always struck me as a conversational comedian, and I think he’ll make for a fun late night effort. I’ve only managed to catch some clips so far, which I admit means little, but it looks good so far.

TBS’s LOPEZ TONIGHT is ready to get the party started as George Lopez welcomes premiere-night guests Ellen DeGeneres, Eva Longoria-Parker of Desperate Housewives and NBA great Kobe Bryant. The high-energy, late-night series premieres on TBS Monday, Nov. 9, at 11 p.m. (ET/PT).

Additional scheduled guests for the first few weeks include Sandra Bullock, Ray Romano, Jamie Foxx, Jessica Alba, Charlie Sheen, Queen Latifah, Marc Anthony, Ted Danson, Andy Garcia, Larry David, Taylor Lautner, Oscar de la Hoya, Kelly Osbourne, Floyd Mayweather, Eva Mendes, Arsenio Hall and Kathy Griffin, among many others. Additional guests will be announced in the weeks ahead.

It’s time for a change in late night — and there’s no better man to lead the revolution than George Lopez — the hilarious, authentic everyman of today’s entertainment scene. Starting Monday, November 9, 2009, George is ditching the desk, tossing the cue cards and bringing the party back to late night.

With LOPEZ TONIGHT George Lopez will bring his high-energy, opinionated, irreverent and very funny comedy to late night on TBS. This 60-minute program will break out of the pack and re-energize late-night as we know it. From the show’s debut and on, George’s monologue is sure to drive next-morning water cooler conversation at offices everywhere.

LOPEZ TONIGHT will feature a fun, high energy format, with lots of audience interaction. Viewers will be swept into a spontaneous street party, with George playing the consummate host. When “the people’s comic” is in the house, anything can and will happen! Expect the unexpected. The show will showcase George’s spontaneous interactions with the celebrities America knows and loves, and introduce the best fresh new faces. With George, the audience knows the conversation will be casual, fun and above all – unpredictable.

RU?

Reviews: November, Tbs

Disney’s A Christmas Carol Movie Review

Marc Eastman — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:40:01 +0000

One of the things you really have to ask yourself at the outset is, “Why do people keep remaking Charles Dickens’ story?” The easy answer is that we need a decent helping of holiday fare at the theaters, but there are other things we could do, and even redo. It may still be a ways off, but we’re quickly gaining on the 200th Anniversary of this story… surely there are other tales we could explore.

While spitting out a movie just to cash in is never a motive that should be overlooked, the people behind the thirty-odd versions of this particular story don’t seem as a general rule to be those sorts of people. On the other hand, Robert Zemeckis is one of the first names that might pop into my mind when working out a list of those capable of churning out nonsense based largely on the idea that no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the general populace… Forrest Gump, What Lies Beneath, and Cast Away leap to mind.

But, there are legitimate purposes to the various reincarnations of this story on film. There are different audiences, different times, and different levels of adherence to the source. Some spin off radically from the general tale, and some of them are a lot of fun. However, very few, and I mean very few, tell the actual tale as Dickens wrote it. Fewer still give you any sense of why he wrote it. This one does.

The original story relays a serious dichotomy of effect. It is decidedly creepy, with ghastly descriptions. In 1843, a ghost was a ghost by God, and you didn’t want to know one. On the other side of the coin, when the time was right there was a sense of joy and fun that exploded out at you. A happiness that is perhaps unexplainable (perhaps unexperiencable) without a snowball fight, or flight.

To really tell the story Dickens tried to tell, you have to include both parts. A bit spooky is not really enough, it has to be downright scary. You have to be unnerved, and things have to be tinged with evil, not merely not-all-that-niceness. There as well can’t just be the removal of this as the more fun side, there needs to be the sort of joy that seems silly unless you’re a kid, because that’s really part of the point.

Dickens clearly expressed his attitude toward children in most all of his works, and the case is no different here. Children get it. The poor children look in through the window of the rich and beg for scraps, and are genuinely confused about the situation of the world. As much a tale about the Poor Laws and the displacement caused by the Industrial Revolution as anything else, the poor and especially children are much more a part of this story than usually makes it into film treatment. Scenes of children, past and present, at play, at work, at life, are far more integral to what is being said than the majority of films will let you know.

Sure, all the versions you’ve seen give you the broad scope. See, Scrooge isn’t nice. He only thinks of himself and money. But, the cure is that… well, he needs to be nice, and think of others. But, that’s not really the story. The cure is that he needs to be a child. The rest just follows.

In many ways the story works out to more or less the same result in all its tellings, but it is somehow not the same story. Kids slide down the ice, and it is hard not to wonder why, and they don’t know why either, except to say, “why not?” But, Bob Cratchit has a go. A good man, and filled with the joy of life as best he’s able, even old Bob bows in deference to the one who ‘gets it’ like no other, Tiny Tim.

The Ghost of Christmas Present, with Dickensian precision, says, “Come here. Come here and know me better, man,” as if merely being near him is in fact to know him better, yet he does little but laugh uproariously. In further honor of the source, his correction regarding churches and his own “children” show up in this version, and you’ve likely not met them elsewhere.

Such inclusions are everywhere in Zemeckis’ telling of the story, and the bursts of silly and attention to children attest to a great understanding of the overall project. I should also note that this is the first film I’ve ever seen in 3-D that made actual use of the fact. While a scary horse may stick his face out at you on occasion, the ability is most often used to provide depth and perspective in unique and wonderful ways, rather than to have things flash out at you just because it’s possible.

In the end, Scrooge is not simply “better.” It isn’t that he’s nice now and shares his money. The point of the story isn’t that he now thinks of others, and gave his employee a raise. Those things happen, sure, but the point is that he grabbed onto the back of that hansom and had a ride. It is not that he is good now. That’s a boring story, and doesn’t get retold for more than 150 years. He is joyful now, and that’s why he’s good.

It is curiously little-mentioned that the name of this work is, “A Christmas Carol,” as opposed to A Christmas Story, or any number of other things. A carol, not to put too fine a point on it, is not a story. It’s a song of joy.

Rating: ★★★★★

Are You Screening?

Review: A Christmas Carol (cinematical.com)
A Christmas Carol: Finally, it’s Scrooge in 3-D! (nationalpost.com)
Movie Review | ‘Disney’s A Christmas Carol’: Ghosts of Technology Present (movies.nytimes.com)
Film review: A Christmas Carol (guardian.co.uk)
A Christmas Carol (popsyndicate.com)
‘A Christmas Carol’ Review (screenrant.com)
Disney’s A Christmas Carol: A Scrooge for This Season (time.com)

Reviews: A Christmas Carol, Cast Away, Forrest Gump, Kids, The Ghost, What Lies Beneath

WWII In HD On The History Channel – Plus Special History Channel Prize Pack Giveaway

Marc Eastman — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:28:29 +0000

The History Channel has done it again, and you want to mark your calendars for November 15th, 9PM/8C, because you don’t want to miss WWII in HD. What’s really amazing to me about The History Channel is that I simply am not much of a history buff, and they can nevertheless put history together in ways I can’t stop watching.

Archival still of two U.S. Navy sailors working on an engine during the North African campaign circa 1943, somewhere in the Mediterranean. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

If you are a history buff in general, or someone interested in WWII specifically, you don’t need to be sold on this. A 10-hour series on the war told through the eyes of 12 people who lived it, which includes a good deal of footage never before seen – you probably don’t need to know anything else. Of course I could say that it is put together in a nice package, that the stories are told wonderfully, and so on, but you’ve seen some of The History Channel’s bigger projects, and you know the score.

Someone else can convince those already tremendously interested in history far better than I. As I say, I’m not really. For example, I recently visited Germany and went to all the places you simply have to go, especially when someone else is mostly in charge of where you’re going. The Berlin Wall, a concentration camp, and several other of the must-sees were on the agenda. They’ll show you a picture of The Wall, and tell you that looking at a picture isn’t the same as being there, but you know what, it really is. You get there, and think, “Yep, that’s what that picture looked like alright.” Maybe it’s me.

Going to a concentration camp is… really, staggeringly quiet. For me, the building of the giant honorarium and cost of maintaining a camp full of old shacks could probably feed a lot of people. Who knows, I feel the same way about the massive churches dipped in gold I saw there. The whole perspective is probably more strange coming from me – my mother was born in Germany in the early 40’s, and her family, to make a long story short, didn’t have a lot of fun.

For me, it doesn’t really change anything I think or feel about people being burned in ovens just because I stand in front of the thing.

But the truth is, you do have to go there. At least I did. You can see the war, but not at the Berlin Wall. You see it when you walk three blocks west and three blocks east of it. It’s still there. When you land in a big city in what was West Germany, and then walk around a smaller town in what was the heart of East Germany, you’ve seen the history, the war, before your trip starts.

Just walk around with the two kinds of Germans, who spent decades either in the West or the East, and listen (especially if they all think you’re a dumb American tourist who doesn’t speak German). The war is there right now, in the way they speak, the things they say, and the way they think.

German POWs in Europe. Courtesy of HISTORY/Lou Reda Productions

WWII in HD is a documentary about the war that I really couldn’t stop watching, and being at an actual concentration camp couldn’t hold my attention.

Going to the Berlin Wall (or the Berlin line of bricks in the road now) wasn’t actually at all interesting to me. Going to a grocery store in Erfurt was absolutely fascinating. I leave it to you to let that be your guide when I tell you that I very highly recommend this show to you.

WWII in HD premieres Sunday November 15^th at 9/8c on HISTORY!

The ten-part series narrated by Gary Sinise draws upon more than 3,000 hours of WWII footage culled from archives and private collections around the world. Restored and enhanced through HD technology, the series brings to light riveting footage from sources that range from the National Archives and the Army Heritage and and Education Center in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to Homer Helter’s Military Mall in Naples, Florida. The series follows a handful of people as their personal journeys intersect with one another throughout the war. Their stories, culled from diaries, journals, and new interviews, will be delivered with emotional impact by some of Hollywood’s top talents, helping to recreate the war’s events not as detached historical facts, but rather as profound experiences on the level of a great Hollywood epic. The veterans themselves also appear, recounting their experiences first hand. Join us online: Official Site, History’s Facebook Fan Page, and Twitter.

Leave a comment below and include the word, “Win,” and have a chance at a fabulous History Channel Prize Pack featuring items pictured below. Winner will be selected November 20th.

Enter to win a HISTORY prize pack!

- Umbrella

- Coffee Mug

- Track Jacket

- Pen

- Golf balls

- Tote bag

HISTORY’s visually astonishing landmark series WWII in HD presents the story of the war ― viewed through the eyes of 12 Americans who fought in or contributed to the war effort. With original, color footage, never before seen by most Americans, the 10-hour series is narrated by Emmy Award winner Gary Sinise (CSI: NY). One of the network’s most ambitious projects to date, WWII in HD premieres on HISTORY on Sunday–Thursday, November 15–19 at 9–11 pm ET/PT.

To create this series, History launched an exhaustive worldwide search for color footage. As a result, WWII in HD draws upon more than 3,000 hours of World War II footage unearthed from archives and private collections across the globe. HISTORY preserved and restored this footage ― some of which has not been seen since the 1940s ― and converted it to HD for unprecedented clarity.

Diaries, journals, interviews and Dolby “soundscape” are incorporated to enhance these striking visuals. WWII in HD thus transforms a war that many Americans know only through black-and-white newsreel footage into something viscerally real, relatable and newly relevant. One of the goals is for viewers to experience what the war looked and sounded like to those who were actually there.

U.S. Army Sergeant Jack Werner was assigned to the Pacific Theater: Attu, Kwajalein, Leyte, Okinawa. Courtesy of HISTORY/Will Hart

The series follows the 12 Americans throughout the war. Their in-the-moment accounts, culled from original sources and new interviews, are delivered with emotional impact by some of Hollywood’s top talents. The veterans themselves also appear, recounting their experiences firsthand.

As part of HISTORY’s multi-media partnership with the Library of Congress and its collection of nearly 140 million items, HISTORY will incorporate original Library of Congress audio recordings from World War II into the series.

The 12 Americans who served in the war represent an array of wartime experiences. Viewers will hear the story of war reporter Robert Sherrod, as well as Army nurse June Wandrey who served from the beginnings of the war in North Africa to the liberation of the camps in Germany. They will meet Shelby Westbrook, a young African American from Toledo, who became a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen; Jimmie Kanaya, the son of Japanese immigrants, who served in the U.S. Army and was imprisoned in Europe; and Jack Werner, a Jewish émigré who escaped from Austria before the war and wound up fighting in the Pacific Theater rather than against the man and people he despised, Hitler and the Nazis.

Their individual war stories will be voiced by the following actors:

Jack Werner: Justin Bartha

Rockie Blunt: Rob Corddry

Richard Tregaskis: Tim DeKay

Archie Sweeney: Mark Hefti

Jimmie Kanaya: James Kyson Lee

Charles Scheffel: Ron Livingston

Shelby F. Westbrook: LL Cool J

Robert Sherrod: Rob Lowe

Bert Stiles: Josh Lucas;

Jack Yusen: Jason Ritter

June Wandrey: Amy Smart

Nolen Marbrey: Steve Zahn

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Prizes courtesy of HISTORY

Reviews: November, Twitter

North By Northwest 50th Anniversary Blu-Ray

Marc Eastman — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:28:51 +0000

When it comes to classic movies, there aren’t many around with a shot at topping North by Northwest. The treasure of cinema fans and frequent bane of film students is now available in a wonderful Blu-Ray treatment, fully remastered, and with great bonuses.

Cary Grant (as the ultimate man-on-the-run in his fourth Hitchcock teaming) gives a superlative performance while Eva Marie Saint (perfect Hitchcock heroine Eve Kendall) is at her sultry and sexy best in this heart-pounding thriller. Grant plays Manhattan adman Roger Thornhill, who is at once plunged into the world of spies and counterspies, abducted, framed for murder, chased, and (in the signature set-piece) crop-dusted. At the films’ end, he hangs on for dear life from the facial features of Mount Rushmore’s Presidents where he ultimately rescues Miss Saint.

Though there are many special features, and indeed the release makes for a virtual treasury, this is a DVD release in which the main bonus is simply the film itself. Remastered in 1080p, and the product of a full restoration from original VistaVision film, the movie looks amazing. On the whole, remastering is often the sort of thing that sounds good on the cover, but at the end of the day isn’t actually worth all that much. Yeah, fine, it looks a little better, but it isn’t exactly a major transformation that truly changes your viewing experience. In this case it really is. When it comes to certain classic scenes, like the notorious airplane sequence, the difference is almost beyond belief.

The first bonus of the release comes to you before the disc is even in the player. A 44-page book is included, and it’s filled with photos and production notes, and any fan of the film will be happy to have it.

There’s a commentary track by screenwriter Ernest Lehman, and it isn’t a bad track, but it is rather bland at times. Serious fans will definitely enjoy the conversation, but it feels lacking at times. A new documentary is also included The Master’s Touch: Hitchcock’s Signature Style and it could easily have been sold on its own. A really solid look at Hitchcock’s efforts and abilities, it’s a film class in a box. From the ways Hitchcock created mood and tension, to many of his little quirks that mark films as his, this is a great look at one of film’s best craftsmen.

Cary Grant: A Class Apart is a feature-length look at the man and his career. Another feature that is well worth the price on its own to the right audience, this is the sort of overview fans may watch repeatedly. Covering so much of his work and what went into the roles he played, this is a fun ride for anyone, and a surprise as a special feature.

North by Northwest: One for the Ages is a featurette that explores the innovations and influences of the film. Serious fans will get a lot out of this, but it is a bit like watching the movie in film class. Very interesting if you’re of the right mind, but not particularly interesting for more casual viewers.

Also part of the release is the 2000 Documentary Destination Hitchcock: The Making of North by Northwest. Another great look at the film which is actually overlapped in many respects by the other features at this point, this is nevertheless the only “making of,” and it is a solid effort. Serious fans have probably already seen it, but it’s a great addition that ties everything together.

There is also a stills gallery, theatrical trailers and a TV spot. And odd, but curiously fun bonus is a music-only track.

This one’s a no-brainer really. Great restoration treatment, one of the best films ever, and stuffed with great special features.

Own it on DVD and Blu-Ray today!

Enjoy a few clips below, as well as the one in the box at right.

Airplane Explosion

Not safe to drive

Scene at the auction

The arrival of North by Northwest on Blu-ray is a landmark event in home video history, as it marks the very first of the famed director’s films to become available on this state-of-the-art format. Accordingly, the film has received a meticulous restoration and remastering especially for this occasion with Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging scanning the original VistaVision production elements in 8K resolution. The resulting presentation reveals a depth of field and clarity never before possible, only serving to heighten every thrill-packed moment of this beloved classic.

Starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, co-starring Jessie Royce Landis, Leo G. Carroll and Martin Landau, the stylish, action-packed espionage caper was written by Ernest Lehman, with music by Bernard Herrmann. Nominated for three Academy Awards^® including Best Writing, Film Editing and Art Direction, the film was lauded as #4 on AFI’s ”100 Years…100 Thrills” and selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Are You Screening?

Blu-ray Review: “North by Northwest” (50th Anniversary Edition) (popdose.com)

Reviews: Blu, Manhattan, North By Northwest, Ray

Say Anything – Blu-Ray DVD 20th Anniversary Edition Review

Marc Eastman — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:22:54 +0000

“To know Lloyd Dobler is to love Lloyd Dobler. Diane Court is about to know Lloyd Dobler.” So goes the tagline for one of the most iconic, beloved movies in history, and as the special features on this release will suggest repeatedly – To know Say Anything… is to love Say Anything….

Revisiting a film on its 20th Anniversary, and one that everyone already loves anyway, is probably an exercise in futility, but if the cast and director can do it, I suppose I can as well.

In the simplest terms, a High School movie about: first love, entering the odd and confusing age where “teen” suddenly disappears, and the mixed-up world young humans are forced to muddle through, Say Anything… is most interesting specifically because it is miles better than you think it is… and you already love it.

From the complex characters to the unusually adult storyline, the film is more sincere, honest, and real than perhaps anything that has ever related the lives of High Schoolers, teens, or indeed people. It delivers a stronger, more trustworthy statement on being oneself precisely because it not only never makes any such statement, but delivers us rather a muddy result of doing so (Do we really want to check in with Lloyd and Diane in 10 months? 10 years? I’m not so sure). It thus understands (and wonderfully explains) The Road Not Taken certainly better than any other film, but moreover better than virtually any person.

While filled with love, the struggle of attraction, and a great deal more, what Say Anything… is ultimately about has precious little to do with what its about… much like life. It is, in some sense at least, far more about its own understanding instead of a mere plot. What it understands is that, when you get down to it, life itself is just about little moments. They all come together to make us who we are, and in fact they are who we are. At the end, maybe it all fits together in a way that can be made into a nice summary, but you’re still scratching your head at the end and thinking, “What the hell was that story?”

There’s a great bit in the special features where Cameron Crowe and John Cusack both go over the story of the scene with the boom box, and talk about how that scene went different ways. You can even see another version in the alternate scene section. Cusack wanted to leave the boom box sitting on the hood of the car, and basically just sit there. He was apparently pretty serious about it. Crowe eventually had to more or less force the issue.

For a great many people of the appropriate age, this is without question one of the most iconic moments in film history, and it almost wasn’t. More than a wonderful scene, it is a perfect example of the film’s understanding and devotion to its ideals. Not holding up the boom box simply isn’t who Lloyd Dobler is.

Along similar lines, the movie is one of the most satisfying and almost noble expressions of optimism to be found in film, and again, specifically because it doesn’t really mention optimism. Lloyd is optimistic, but his own special brand of same, in the face of everything the world can possibly throw at him. He holds the boom box up, because (as Crowe mentions) it is an act of defiance. It is defiant optimism. Lloyd is not optimistic in spite of getting kicked in the face, his is the optimism of getting kicked in the face. He is not the guy who plays the music outside someone’s window because… well, maybe this will work. That guy sits next to the boom box on the car. No, Lloyd does it because it is what he is going to do, and the hell with what happens. It is not a plea. It’s a protest.

That’s a movie that still works 20 years later, and is still worth talking about.

The Blu-Ray is packed with special features, and the best thing about the collection of bonuses is the various ways in which they tell the story of the effort that really went into the production. It isn’t just the people talking about the movie either. 5 alternate scenes, 10 deleted scenes, and 13 extended scenes paint a very telling picture about the decisions that went into trying to make the final product as perfect as possible.

There is also a commentary track with Cameron Crowe, John Cusack, and Ione Skye, and it’s probably enough to leave this to your imagination. Watching one of your favorite movies with the stars and the director is a great bonus, and in this case it is something almost unnerving. A lot of the side story roads we go down are hilarious, and fans will love this track… and yet, it’s Lloyd, and that’s just weird.

Say Anything… 20 Years Later is an impressive featurette, with Cameron Crowe, John Cusack, Ione Skye, and John Mahoney looking back at the film and reliving the experience. Much of what comes out of this is priceless, especially Crowe’s reflections on getting Cusack on board, and how long it took.

A Conversation with Cameron Crowe is another featurette of reflection, and is mostly just an expansion of the same conversation. There’s good stuff here though, especially when it comes to the characters and the development of the idea.

I Love Say Anything… is a featurette with several comedians revisiting some of the most classic (and quoted) scenes in the film. Not the most interesting bonus to ever land on a DVD, this is nevertheless a fun mix of the film’s most memorable moments.

Perhaps the best bonus is the trivia track. To Know Say Anything… is to Love it is a track setting much like a commentary track, and with this option on, the film plays with trivia pop-ups displaying with great regularity. You get a range of the fairly uninteresting to nuggets that fans will enjoy. You will watch it with this on though, and you’ll enjoy it overall.

To give you some balance, there is also a vintage featurette included. From another time in the film’s promotional history, this one throws us back in time to visit the cast and crew talking up the movie before it was a legend, and it’s fun to see. Along these same lines are several trailer and TV spots for the movie that exist largely to make you feel old, but are interesting curiosities.

Get your hands on this one as soon as you can. Even if you own it already, you really don’t own it until you have all the treats on here, and it looks great on Blu-Ray.

Own it on Blu-Ray today!

Here’s a special treat for you. The release day was celebrated with a Lloyd Dobler attack on New York. In case you weren’t there, check them out.

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Reviews: Blu, Ray, Say Anything

Subtle Sexuality Single Hits – Fans Of The Office Roar – Special Prize Giveaway

Marc Eastman — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:21:11 +0000

Fans of The Office are getting one amazing treat after another, and the show seems determined not to let up for a second. The wedding had fans itching for a while, and just when you thought you’d seen it all, here comes Subtle Sexuality. The Office’s Erin Hannon and Kelly Kapoor working it in and out of… well, the office, and not only are they adding their own brand of brilliance to the show, but they’ve blasted onto iTunes as well.

Their single Male Prima Donna is a clever offshoot of the show’s general sensibilities and humor, and it’s tearing up the charts!*

Now you can win some very special prizes and celebrate your own Subtle Sexuality fanitude!

One very lucky winner will win a Subtle Sexuality T-shirt and CD.

Leave a comment below and include the word, “Win,” and you are automatically entered. U.S. only. Winner will be randomly selected Nov. 29th.

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*I have no idea what I’m talking about right there. I completely made that up.

Straight Outta Da Office: Subtle Sexuality (pastemagazine.com)
Straight Outta Da Office: Subtle Sexuality (tvsquad.com)

Reviews: The Office Special, iTunes

Zorro – The Complete First And Second Season – Disney Treasures DVD Sets

Marc Eastman — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:21:48 +0000

From the Disney vault of treasures comes one of television’s most brilliant classics, Zorro. Starring Guy Williams, Zorro now gets the deluxe treatment in two sets coming to you from the Walt Disney Treasures collection. Coming to you in separate 6-disc sets, the first and second seasons of the show are given the star treatment.

The latest addition to the celebrated Walt Disney Treasures, Zorro, makes its fully restored black & white DVD debut. All 78 episodes of the timeless classic will be included on two new six-disc sets–making up the ninth installment of the popular Walt Disney Treasures, and for the first time, will be housed in collectible black, numbered unique tin cases.

From 1957 to 1959, Disney’s Zorro was one of the most popular series on television starring Guy Williams, Henry Calvin, and Gene Sheldon. The show helped transform the literary character Don Diego de la Vega into the ultimate iconic, beloved swashbuckling masked hero of the time. The adventures of Zorro and his trusty steed Tornado have captivated audiences since their inception, gaining new audiences when it was re-aired on the Disney Channel in 1983 and re-colorizing the episodes in the 1990s. After the series conclusion, the Zorro adventures lived on from 1960 to 1961 on Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color in the form of a four-episode anthology series of hour-long Zorro specials, all of which are also included in Walt Disney Treasures Wave IX.

It’s actually quite amazing how well this show stands up, and it’s as fun to watch now as ever. The real glory days of Disney shine through in this fun-filled adventure show that mixes comedy, drama, and action with incredible precision.

Guy Williams pulls off the double character with ease and charm, and steps up equally to each role. Whether mild-mannered gentleman and scholar, or masked crusader, he has a screen presence as legendary as Zorro himself.

Fleshing out the show’s overall tone are Bernardo, mute (but not deaf) confidant to our hero, and Sergeant Garcia, the fat and bumbling “in” to the military force that will attempt to capture the masked man.

With Bernardo providing a certain casual levity, and many an overheard detail, the show manages a surprising amount of character/viewer camaradarie as Zorro and his most trusted friend work out conversations, hatch plans, and outmaneuver the ne’er-do-well du jour.

Garcia, on the other hand, moves us (generally) straight to an almost slapstick comic relief, such is his oafish, half-witted manner, and it is often delivered just when it is needed most. Chases, swashbuckles, and the giving of what fors are the serious adventure business we’re about here, and sometimes (consider this is the mid-50s) the audience not only needs to slow down, but needs a rest altogether. Garcia’s goofy manner, and interactions with Don Diego also gives the show a save, which keeps the military (who are after Zorro… Boo! Hiss!) from becoming demonized as a whole. This calculated approach gives the entire framework of the show more depth, and leaves more room to play in the grays of the society at large.

What’s most extraordinary about Zorro (after having now revisited it… again) is just how far ahead of the curve it was for its time in terms of overall writing, character development, and attention to the effort of really putting out something deserving of the treatment it now has. Fairly serious classic TV buff that I am, I can’t think of another show of the era (and beyond) and genre that did so much with its stories, or just plain tried so hard. Pick your adventure show from, say the 60s give or take, and the plots pretty quickly show themselves as being of a routine outline with certain points plugged in for any given episode. Not so here.

Given what we must work with (it’s Zorro… a sword may show itself), and the fairly limited options in some grand sense, it is beyond belief how complex a road we travel in 78 episodes.

Each set includes a collectible pin, limited-edition lithograph, and certificate of authenticity (this is a numbered run).

Both sets include exclusive introductions by Leonard Maltin.

Set 1 includes Zorro: El Bandido and Zorro: Adios El Cuchillo.

Set 2 includes Zorro: The Postponed Wedding and Zorro: Auld Acquaintance.

Rarely can a DVD release with very little in the way of special features get such a glowing endorsement from me, but the ability to own the complete collection of such a gem from television history is ludicrously worth the price of admission here. Believe me, you want to snatch this up while you can.

Own it on DVD today!

Enjoy some clips to get you in the mood.

Mask of Zorro

You Shall Not

Zorro to the Rescue

Just Hay

Because I Think So

Catching Zorro

Are You Screening?

Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed In At The House Of Mouse DVD

Marc Eastman — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:07:47 +0000

Now available on DVD, Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse has managed to become a favorite since it first hit the scene almost ten years ago. I’m actually a tough sell when it comes to animated holiday efforts (my plate is full), but this one is a great combination of stories, and it’s put together in a way that’s great fun for the kids. Mine, for example, are huge fans of all the moments that come between the main courses.

Tis the season at the House of Mouse, and a huge crew of Disney characters find themselves snowed in. To take everyone’s mind off their predicament, Mickey and Minnie play some “home movies.” The featured treats are: Donald on Ice, Pluto and the Christmas Tree, The Nutcracker, and Mickey’s Christmas Carol. All of them solid efforts, but the last two are the real stars.

The whole thing carries on with the snowed in theory, and during our breaks we get a lot of fun moments with countless characters. Snow White, Tigger, Ariel, Dumbo, and many more all get the chance to interact like never before, including (rather brilliantly) some of your nasty favorites.

As I said, I’m hard to please when it comes to animated holiday fare, and I’m no great fan of every new animated film throwing out some holiday nonsense or other, but this one is put together well. The stage performances add to the festivities, and the kids will watch this again and again.

Own it on DVD today!

Stay tuned for our holiday bundle giveaway which will include this title and many more.

RU?

Reviews: Dumbo, Snow White, Stay

Plastic Man – The Complete Collection DVD

Marc Eastman — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:18:40 +0000

One of the greatest Saturday morning cartoons ever, and the forerunner of countless camp and/or satirical efforts, Plastic Man, is now available in a 4-disc, 35 episode complete collection.

A superhero like no other, with possible exception of Freakazoid!, Plastic Man and his unique adventures are a treasure of the odd world of vintage television. With girlfriend Penny, sidekick Hula Hula, and the Plastijet, there is no danger too great, and no goofy barb too small. You never can tell what incredible feat of stretchitude is in store for you next, and don’t forget the short-segment format that includes Mighty Man & Yukk, Fangface and Fangpuss, and more.

They don’t make them like this anymore, and the combination of superhero theory mixed with Scooby Doo-esque zaniness is just as fun as ever, and truly brilliant wacky adventures are as sure a win for kids today as they ever were.

The show was co-produced by Hanna Barbera and it really shows. There’s a good deal of the craziness of such things as Wacky Races and Yogi Bear mixing together with Space Ghost and Johnny Quest. The adventure is built around the solid ideas of fun you expect from anything associated with Hanna Barbera.

He can spring, stretch, fly, bounce and even change his shape; there is hardly anything that this superhero can’t do! Joined by his girlfriend Penny and his Polynesian sidekick Hula Hula, Plastic Man travels the world, preventing the proliferation of evil. Plastic Man’s adventures are quirky, offbeat and filled with slapstick humor. Classic animation fans and kids alike will love this compilation of one of DC Comics’ most endearing characters.

The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show is based on the DC Comics superhero, which originally appeared in comic books in 1941. The original Plastic Man discovered his powers after he was sprayed with an unidentified substance that entered his bloodstream, causing a radical physical change that allowed his body to acquire all of the properties of rubber. Produced by both Ruby-Spears Productions and Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Plastic Man Comedy Adventure Show first aired in 1979 Saturday mornings on ABC, right after Super Friends.

The set also includes the Plastic Man Animated Series Unaired Pilot Episode, and an incredibly fun Retrospective Featurette. The featurette is really above-and-beyond all things considered. It’s a trip back in time that puts the show into perspective, and sits you back in front of the tube on your shag carpeting.

A great set and a great show, this would be one of my top picks for kids even among more recent efforts.

Own it on DVD today!

Check out the official website!

Here are some great clips from the classic show.

Bye Bye

Disco Mummy Trap

Dr. Dome in Jail

Rubber Band Romeo

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Reviews: Ruby, abc

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The Box Movie Review

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Own it on DVD today!

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