And just for 2001, God created Blu-ray

The only upside to our country's economy being in the toilet is that it finally made it possible for us to afford an big HD monitor and a Blu-ray home-theater-in-a-box. So over the last week or so, we've been getting our minds blown by seeing some of our fave flicks looking so friggin' amazing. As I'm typing this, it's very late (or very early), and I just finished watching our new Blu-ray of 2001: A Space Odyssey...and I just had to share.

Now, I have no idea just how many people read this blog of mine. Even with a hit counter, it's kind of impossible to know. So I always assume that I'm just talking to my closest friends. They know all this, but for those who may not, during my time in the biz I was primarily an assistant film editor...the key word being film. So as the digital takeover downsized editorial crews and made my hard-earned experience (not quite, but) almost irrelevant, I b*tched about how all things digital could never replace good ol' celluloid. It's only recently that I've begun to appreciate how much the digital experience can enhance the impact of a film. On Blu-ray, watching movies like 2001 and Sleeping Beauty become almost religious experiences. I know how corny that sounds, but I'm totally serious.

Like a lot of things in my life, I owe my appreciation of 2001 to Guy. I remember watching the movie for the first time in his dorm at Furness on this teeny-tiny TV. I watched it...and...I didn't get it. I mean, I was pretty much with the story all the way up to the last act, where poor Dave Bowman gets sucked into that famous split-scan corridor and ends up in that freaky-lookin' hotel room, getting older and older and finally turning into...a giant baby. I just had no idea what the hell was going on at that point. So Guy rightly suggested that I read the book, which I did. And while that helped me understand some things better, it didn't do much to answer the overall mystery of the film.

But over the years, and upon multiple viewings, I've come to understand the movie much better...or at least, understand it as much as anyone can. 2001 is one of those rare, rare films that (I hate to use such a pretentious word, but it's the only fitting one I can think of) transcends the medium and becomes great art. And like all great art, it makes you think more deeply than you usually do, about ideas and concepts that are much bigger than you are. It's a bit draining because they're things you can't quite get your mind around, and after a while you realize that there are no definitive answers. But your brain gets a good workout in trying to figure it all out, and it inspires you to think and dream big...which is really cool.

I didn't think any viewing experience of 2001 would rival the screening of the new, cleaned-up 70mm print at the Cinerama Dome...a screening where Guy and I looked across the aisle during intermission and saw James Cameron within arms' reach, crouching down next to Eric Stoltz and having a chat. That was just...surreal. And I'm still not sure that the Blu-ray beats that, but I'll tell ya...it's pretty friggin' close.

What amazes me most about Blu-ray and HD in general is the level of clarity in the image. The best thing I can compare it to is being extremely nearsighted (like me) and then putting on the best, most perfect pair of glasses. Colors are more powerful, every texture and detail is vivid and super-sharp. At times, it's so sharp that it actually hurts your eyes. There's just too much to look at. But I'll happily deal with the eye-strain headaches if it means I can see movies looking this good.

2001 has always been a beautiful film to look at...but the Blu-ray treatment makes it absolutely drop-dead gorgeous, and with the home theater setup, you get completely immersed in one of the greatest works of art, ever. It's a truly awesome experience. If you have the means, I highly suggest setting yourself up with the whole HD/Blu-ray works. It's a real gift for those of us who live and die by the movies.


(image credit: Tribeca Film Institute)

Save the best New Year's party anywhere!

I miss a lot of things about Philly...the Mummers parade is one of the things I miss most. There's nothing like it anywhere in the world. Thank god for YouTube where at least now I can see the video.

So I was heartbroken to read that the parade itself is in serious trouble. The city no longer awards prize money and is now charging the Mummers for the police and sanitation services...we're talkin' hundreds of thousands of dollars. Needless to say the average working men and women who labor all year to put the parade together can't afford to pay. So...there might not be a Mummers parade in 2010. That really, really, REALLY SUCKS.

So I plan to donate what little I can to the Save the Mummers fund. If you love 'em as much as I do and don't want to lose them either, get over there and give 'em a few bucks if you can spare it.

Valkyrie

When I first heard that Tom Cruise was going to star in this one, a year or so ago, and that he was gonna be wearing an eye patch and speaking with a German accent...I immediately thought, 'oh my god, who in their right mind would let this happen?' I mean, even if you completely ignore the guy's obnoxiously public instances of insanity over the last few years, the fact would still remain that Cruise is just too huge of a personality to take on the lead role in such a serious story as Valkyrie's. Shudder-worthy memories of Kevin Costner playing Robin Hood come to mind.

But y'know what...I was wrong. And I couldn't be happier about it. I mean, yeah, okay, Cruise completely dropped the accent...which is the easy out, but in his case, y'know...it's also the best option. If the guy had even tried to fake it, audiences would've been laughing their a**es off, and forget about trying to get them to pay attention to the story from there on in. So it was really much better that he just didn't even try it. He does speak German for a brief voice-over in the very beginning, and that was enough to suffice.

As for the rest of the flick, it's a fascinating story, one that I'm pretty sure most people don't know about. I for one never learned anything about the German resistance in my history classes back in school. I had no idea that anyone in Germany ever tried to get rid of Hitler...let alone fifteen assassination attempts. And thanks to the solid work of Bryan Singer, Christopher McQuarrie and a phenomenal supporting cast (Ken 'I totally shoulda been Obi Wan' Branagh, Bill 'Sean's stepdad' Nighy, Terence 'kneel before Zod' Stamp, and an almost unrecognizable Eddie Izzard), the story plays out like one of those great old WWII epics...y'know, like Great Escape or A Bridge Too Far.

My only real problem with the movie was the lack of setup. Given the seriousness and importance of the subject matter---and given how little I knew of the German resistance---I really could've used a nice, meaty prologue, or at least a longer introduction to Cruise's character. When the flick starts, it just kind of drops you into the guy's life after he'd already made the decision to get involved in the resistance. The voice-over dialogue that's supposed to smooth over the intro isn't nearly sufficient enough.

But other than that (and the fact that Kenneth Branagh hardly gets any screen time), I thought it was a great flick. And I have to give Cruise his props. The guy might be a million different kinds of nuts, but he managed to pull this performance off. He managed to make me forget, at least for the duration of the flick, that he's still ready to run me over with that Scientology-powered funny car of his. That's a pretty big accomplishment.

Oh...and Happy New Year, by the way.


(image credit: IGN)

Merry Christmas, y'all!

Don't shoot your eye out...and remember to drink your Ovaltine! Fa-ra-ra-ra-raaaah-ra-ra-ra-raaaaah!

Thoughts on a finale

This is a show I didn't get into until it was about halfway through its run (I should thank my bud Carolyn for turning me on to it in the first place). But once I did start watching, man...I was hooked. And I can honestly say that The Shield has been one of the most satisfying series to watch, ever, in my long history of tube viewing.

So while I was eager for the final season to start, as each ep played out and got me closer to the finale, I also dreaded it. And as I watched the finale, I loved and hated every moment equally. I desperately wanted to know how it would end for all of the characters, but at the same time, I wanted the show to just keep going, on and on and on. Seeing the last episode was like saying goodbye to a dear friend.

But anyway...I just had to get some thoughts down about how it all ended. Series finales are such tricky things. Even if the show's had an amazing run throughout, one bad choice in how to wrap it up can spoil the entire thing...y'know, like the now infamous mid-scene, cut-to-black ending of The Sopranos. I only ever watched a handful of episodes of that show, and that even pissed me off. I was so hoping that The Shield's creator/writer Shawn Ryan wouldn't go down that same road and design some vague and pretentious bullsh*t ending, and when asked 'what the &%$@, man??', would just give you a smarta** shrug. And thankfully, I read an interview with him before the season started in which he said that he'd been a Sopranos fan, and thought their choice in endings was pretty insulting. He made it clear then, that he wouldn't do anything like that with The Shield.

And again, thankfully, dude was good as his word. Every character's story came to a good stopping point without being too neatly tied up or too vague. It was a good balance of what was shown to you as a viewer and what was left to you, the viewer, to conclude on your own. I don't think you could ask for better than that.

As far as performances go, very few casts could ever top The Shield's at any point in their run...but the finale was just one amazing string of powerful, powerful scenes. When best buddies-turned-mortal enemies Vic (Michael Chiklis) and Shane (Walton Goggins) have their last conversation/fight, it's as tense as if you were standing right next to one of them while they were in the middle of it...and the whole thing's done over the phone. And when Shane returns home to his wife Mara (Michele Hicks) and their son, and just stands outside in the living room listening to Mara reading a story, sounding happier than they'd been in years...even though Shane had murdered one of the series' most beloved characters, fellow Strike Team member Lem (Kenny Johnson), and even though Mara had built a pretty solid rep over the series' run for being a complete b*tch who lived only to f*ck things up for everybody...even though there was still all of that history right there, their deaths were tragic. A fitting end for them, but heartbreaking at the same time.


I was also thrilled to see a good bit of the finale devoted to my personal fave of the entire ensemble, Dutch Wagenbach (Jay Karnes). So much of the show focused on the Strike Team bada**es, the epitome of cool and street...and then there was Dutch, the super-uncool, whiter-than-white nerd with the cheap suit who hardly ever left the Barn. All through the series' run he'd been the underdog...a genius-level profiler in the making, but also a total schlepp, and even a little smarmy at times. I remember seasons ago, fearing that he'd gone too far in his effort to understand serial killers when he strangled the life out of a stray cat in his backyard (definitely one of the series' most jaw-dropping moments). But I always hoped that he would get his moment, y'know...the case or situation that would let his awesomeness out to play. And I thank Shawn Ryan for giving him that in wrapping up the teenage serial killer plot. Dutch got his chance to face off with Ted Bundy-wannabe Lloyd (played wonderfully by Kyle Gallner) and shut the murdering little pr*ck down. And while Lloyd never actually confessed to anything, the dialogue and the looks between him and Dutch said it all. No cheesy yelling, or tearful breakdown needed. Dutch had him nailed...and it confirmed the accuracy of his profiling instincts. Score one big one for the geeks.

One other thing I loved about Dutch was his relationship with Claudette (CCH Pounder). The two of them made one of the best on-screen buddy pairings ever. Through all the sh*t that'd gone down in the Barn over the years, including Claudette's promotion from Dutch's partner to captain and her ever-worsening illness and tension to the point of Claudette firing Dutch in the next-to-last episode...still, in the end, the importance of their friendship won out. The stubbornly strong Claudette confided in Dutch that she was on the downhill slide of lupus...that no meds would help and she was just stuck in a world of pain. A worried, helpless Dutch asked what he could do for her...and she just smiled and told him to keep doing what he'd always been doing...that she appreciated it. And then she adjusted his tie. I loved that. That was a great way to go out, for both characters.


And then, of course, there's Vic...the white-hot, toxic sun around which all the other characters orbited. Watching this guy cover his butt and maneuver his way out of trouble over the years has been a fascinating and scary ride. For a character this powerful, this legendary, who'd dug himself into the sh*t so deeply, it was really hard to imagine a fitting ending for him. Even death seemed like it wouldn't be satisfying enough. But again, Shawn Ryan came through and made it all work. Yeah, sure, Vic duped ICE into a deal and got away with murder(s)...but the consequences came crashing down on him anyway. He fought bitterly with Shane one last time and then had to listen to Claudette read Shane's suicide note, and see the photos of his once best friend's head splattered all over the back wall. He had to look best friend Ronnie (David Rees Snell) in the eye while they hauled the guy away in cuffs, the only one actually going to prison for the crimes they all committed together. And Vic's reason for doing most of the bad sh*t he did---his family---disappeared into Witness Protection, never to be heard from again if his ex-wife Corinne (Cathy Cahlin Ryan) gets her wish. And the worst punishment of all...Vic's new life as a fed took him off the street and put him smack in the middle of cubicle hell. The great Vic Mackey, facing the rest of his forseeable life as a regular office-dwelling, report-typing, suit-wearing shmuck.

It could've ended there...just introducing us to Vic's pathetic new existence and leaving it at that. That would've been pretty fitting. But it got even better. Watching Michael Chiklis in that last scene was some of the best TV ever. Ever, ever, ever. Without saying a word, Vic reeled in shock at what he'd done, mourned the loss of his family, friends and the life he loved so much, and wallowed in self-pity as the mail guy dumped more cr*p on his desk and the lights shut off around him.

And then...it was as if he rebooted or something. The spark returned to his eyes as he retrieved his gun from the lock box in his desk, stuffed it in the back of his pants, put his suit jacket on and left the building with the same bada** attitude he'd always had. In short, life goes on, and so does Vic...and nothing, absolutely nothing, will ever completely break him down or change who he is.

Now that's what I call a finale. Bravo to Shawn Ryan, Michael Chiklis, to The Shield's entire cast and crew. For seven seasons, you guys rocked it out fierce. Every show should take their cues from you. You'll be missed.

Quantum of Solace

I for one couldn't be happier that the 007 reboot has done so well. While I'll always stand by my belief that (after Connery, of course) Timothy Dalton was the coolest Bond (who got the worst rap), I'm totally diggin' Daniel Craig's Bond. Dude's more than proven that if played truthfully and well, it doesn't matter what color Bond's hair is. And Quantum's a real a** kicker, super-lean and super-mean. Heavy on the blood, sweat and grime, the flick grabs you by the throat from the first shot and rarely lets you take a breath for the next two hours...which is all good...

...but unfortunately, in Bond's case, it's also all kinda bad. Quantum is a solid flick...but I could also see the beginning of a new direction that could easily kill the franchise all over again. There is something to all the talk of the new Bond being a Jason Bourne ripoff. Although...when you think about it for more than a few seconds, it's actually the reverse. Whether they want to admit it or not, the Bourne flicks take their coolness cues from the old Bond flicks, especially when it comes to their stunts and fight choreography. Connery, Lazenby and Moore were doin' that sh*t when Matt Damon was still in a high chair eating banana puree. But the unfortunate fact is that the Bourne movies emerged in that Bond-less period after Brosnan quit...? Got canned...? Can't remember. Anyway, so...even though it's not really a fair comparison, Quantum does seem more like Bourne than Bond.

And I'm a big fan of darker tales, so I do like the gritty, more real-world approach that Quantum takes. However, in doing so, they've pretty much taken everything out of the movie that would make it a Bond movie. I mean, yeah, sure, they had the beautiful main title sequence with that cool Jack White tune, they had the exotic locales, and M's still there...and now they're introducing the new version of SPECTRE in QUANTUM. Great...but everything else you'd expect in a Bond movie is gone: no tricked-out ride, no gadgets, no Q, no Moneypenny, no bevy of hotties with porno names, no villians with pets or metal body parts or killer hats.

And when put like that, it would seem that it's a good thing that none of that's in there, right? Well, yes...and no. Because of all of that fantastical and corny stuff is what distinguishes the Bond movies from all the other spy movies. And to their credit, Quantum did try to incorporate more of the old Bond. He didn't hook up with the main chick, but he did bed this fellow MI6 chick Strawberry Fields, who later died in a Goldfinger homage. They also had a scene where Bond objects to her choice in hotels, refusing to stay in the merely adequate one she picks and agreeing only to the swankiest digs in town.

So they did try. But the problem was, given the warp-speed pacing of the story and Bond's overall dour, no-bullsh*t demeanor...when they slowed down to do those scenes, they felt clunky, awkward...like you'd just hit a speed bump on the Autobahn. Old Bond and new Bond just weren't mixing well...and therein lies the problem. In order to keep Daniel Craig's run from becoming known as the Bourne-knockoffs, Bond's new creative team needs to find the balance between old and new. They need to get over this idea that they're too cool for the kind of fantasy stuff that defines classic Bond. They need to embrace it, be proud of it, and find the best way to incorporate it.

I'm hoping that much of what made Quantum so brutally minimalist and way-too-fast paced was the fact that it was largely a revenge tale, a supremely pissed-off Bond laying waste to the world in order to find those responsible for Vesper's suicide. I'm hoping that with the next movie, they'll be able to get back to more of a classic Bond feel. I'm hoping to see the gun-sight title sequence and hear that brassy theme at the head of the movie, not the end. I'm hoping that the new league of baddies has some physical deformities and a lair. I'm hoping to see some Q, some Moneypenny, some gadgets and another gorgeous Aston Martin with an ejector seat. And I'm hoping they'll be able to do all of that and still keep Daniel Craig's darker edge.

I know they can do it...'cause they already did. It was called Casino Royale.

(image credit: Allmoviephotos.com)

Kung Fu Panda

I know pretty much everybody in the world has already seen this flick a dozen times, but I only recently did when it came out on DVD a couple of weeks ago. And actually, my GF Stacey had told me before the flick was even finished, that it was gonna be good (her BF was foley editor on the flick). But at the time, I have to admit, I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Lots of people said the Shrek movies were really good too, and I barely made it through the first one. I figured if KFP was being put out by Dreamworks, it was going to be just like Shrek...that is, ugly, ugly, uuuuuuuhhhhgly design work, frenetic-bordering-on-seizure-inducing animation, obnoxious characters, all one-liners and no story.

Well, I'm so, so very happy to say how wrong I was. I've watched this flick a bunch of times now, and I gotta say, I love it. The design work is gorgeous (like in the still above...my favorite scene) as is the animation...and often subtle! Really! The characters are wonderful and while the story is simple, it's beautifully told. And...it's actually written well. I mean, really, really well. I didn't think that was possible in animation anymore unless it was coming from Pixar.

And while I'm no fan of hiring A-listers to voice an animated flick just based on their A-listedness...I gotta say, the casting choices were good ones. I was a little worried that Jack Black wouldn't be able to get over himself enough to rein it in a little and actually act, instead of just riffing. But he did...well, in his words...he did awesome! And this flick was definitely Dustin Hoffman's best role in a while. I'm not even joking. I also loved, loved Ian McShane as the baddie. His voice really gave the character personality over and above just being sinister. As for the stunt casts...y'know, Angelina, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen...yeah, well, they were fine. Personally, I think production should've saved the money and hired unknown voice talent who would've been just as good, if not better...but hey. It wasn't like their celebrity-laden voices ruined anything.

So, yeah...this is one of those flicks you can just go ahead and buy without having seen first. You won't be sorry. You might not be quite blinded by its 'sheer awesomeness' and 'bodacity' (Jack Black-isms)...but it's pretty close.

(image credit: Yahoo! movies)