Horseman (Blu-ray Review)
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Loading ...'The Horseman' is not (repeat NOT) a western.
Revenge films are among the most basic and often among the most satisfying genres in all of moviedom. It doesnt take long to set up a situation where we find an emotionally devastated protagonist (usually the relative of someone who has been slain, or at the very least kidnapped), give him the tools to enact his justice on the perpetrators, and then simply sit back and watch the chips (and broken bones) fall into place. When the modern revenge film found its voice with the Death Wish s...
Video
The Horseman is not going to win any videophile awards for its VC-1 encoded 1080p image (with a 1.78:1 aspect ratio), and yet it is perfectly evocative of director Kastrissios vision, Im sure, especially considering the films paltry budget. What were greeted with here, aside from the ubiquitous use of post-processing (more about which later), is a rather grainy stock with blown out contrast that gives the film a perfect indie verité quality, which is exactly what I bet Kastrissios wa...
Audio
On the other hand (and/or ear), The Horsemans staggeringly robust DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix will leave you ducking for cover as thumps, cracks, moans and groans fly about the room as all sorts of mayhem is unleashed. This is a really bombastic soundtrack that takes no prisoners and delivers a lot of sonic punch, especially considering the films relatively small budget. While the smaller, more dialogue driven moments of the film are delivered with crispness and clarity, its in the e...
Supplements
Aside from two quite excellent Commentaries, one with the director, and the other with cast and crew, The Horseman also offers these SD supplements:
- The Making of The Horseman (35:58), is a cut above the typical EPK-fest, with some nice background on the lesser known talents in front of and behind the camera.
- Deleted Scenes (9:08) presents three scenes, including some extended as opposed to totally deleted items. Nothing really earth-...
Final Words
Make no (broken and twisted) bones about it, The Horseman is violent, bloody, gruesome and often gasp inducing in its absolute mayhem. That said, there's just an inkling of some actual moral consciousness running beneath the surface of the gore which augurs well for Kastrissios once he becomes a bit more mature as a writer and craftsman. This certainly isn't family fare, or for the even moderately squeamish, but if you're a fan of this kind of vengeance flick, The Horseman is rec......
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Horseman (Blu-ray Review)Home (Blu-ray Review)
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Home is where the heartand the highwayis.
The mosquito buzzing at night in your bedroom. A distant car alarm that wont stop. That distracting
hum from the back of your plasma TV. The incessantly barking cocker spaniel next door and the
neighbor upstairs who wears lead shoes and apparently enjoys rearranging his furniture at three in
the morning. The midnight drip drip drip of the faucet. Sound can be the ultimate aggravator,
worming itself into your brain, expanding and exaggerating, fraying nerves and putting tempers on
edge...Video
Kino International brings Home to U.S. audiences with a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer thats
framed in the films original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The film makes a strong but understated appearance
on Blu-ray, with an un-tampered-with look that does justice to Agnes Godards evocative, naturalistic
cinematography. Fine detail is more than adequately reproduced here, and you can easily discern facial
texture, the threading in clothing, the knobbiness of a terrycloth towel, and even make ...Audio
Since sound plays such a huge role in Homes story, I expected this discs DTS-HD Master
Audio 5.1 surround track to be fairly robust. In a way, however, its curiously restrained, although I still
think that its successful in ratcheting the familys ever-increasing tension. In the beginning of the film,
before the highway opens, the mix is dominated by dialog, with only hushed ambiencecrickets and
airy wind, mostlytaking up residence in the rear channels. Once the roar from th...Supplements
Sleepless by Ursula Meier (1080i, 33:39)
The best inclusion on the disc is Ursala Meiers second short film, from 1998, which won awards at
several international film festivals. Do note that while the film is technically presented in 1080i, the
image is windowboxed within the frame and obviously upscaled.Interview with the Director and Cinematographer (1080i, 32:36)
In lieu of a directors commentary or making of documentary, we get an insightful conve...Final Words
Stifling, suffocating, paranoiacHome is a grim examination of how external forces can alter
the emotional dynamics of a family. Whatever you want to call itenvironmental fable, character
study, pastoral gone claustrophobicthe film is an exceptionally strong debut from director Ursula
Meier, who coaxes yet another ravaging performance out of Isabelle Huppert and teams up with
cinematographer Agnes Godard to paint an increasingly bleak family portrait. This is another great
rel......Read full review: Blu-ray.com
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Home (Blu-ray Review)Road to Perdition (Blu-ray Review)
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...A masterpiece of sight, sound, and story debuts on Blu-ray as a stunning package from Paramount.
Is one more body going to make a difference?
Road to Perdition is an innately gorgeous exhibit of art moving at 24 frames per second.
The film, as directed by Sam Mendes (Jarhead) and
photographed by Conrad Hall (American Beauty), is
as visually captivating as it is thematically enthralling, a potent combination to be sure...Video
It's almost criminal to give Road to Perdition's fantastic and wonderfully faithful 1080p
transfer
less than a perfect score, but wobbly opening title credits and some random pops and speckles
over the image prove just enough to knock the total down a half-notch. Don't let those nitpicks
detract from just how gorgeous Paramount's high definition presentation truly is, though. Road
to
Perdition isn't one of those eye-popping, three-dimensional, brightly-colored, and ...Audio
Road to Perdition's Blu-ray release features a reference-quality DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless
soundtrack. Paramount's latest offering is consistently smooth and seamless in presentation.
Thomas Newman's (Revolutionary Road)
Oscar-nominated score enjoys a warmth and richness that blends seamlessly with the visuals and
seems to float into the soundstage with no effort and with a realism that's hard to top. The tra...Supplements
Beginning with a brief introduction to the film's Blu-ray release with Director Sam Mendes (1080i,
1:18),
Road to Perdition features a nice assortment of extra content. A feature-length
audio commentary track with Director Sam Mendes is one of the highlights. He offers up a
wonderfully absorbing track,
discussing a string of pertinent thematic and technical issues that frame the picture within a context
of
the difficult and involved work that went into the making of the fi...Final Words
Every year, there are always a few select films snubbed from contention in the race for Oscar's best
picture. Every decade, there are one or two films that stand out amongst those as the best of the
unjustly left behind. One such picture is Director Edward Zwick's Glory, and another is Sam
Mendes' Road to Perdition. Though not completely overlooked during awards season -- Conrad
Hall won a much-deserved post......Read full review: Blu-ray.com
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Road to Perdition (Blu-ray Review)Cairo Time (Blu-ray Review)
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Winner of the Best Canadian Feature Film award at the Toronto International Film Festival, Ruba Nadda's "Cairo Time" (2009) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Mongrel Media. The supplemental features on the disc include an audio commentary director Ruba Nadda and cinematographer Luc Montpellier; making of featurette; conversation with director Ruba Nadda, Patricia Clarkson, and Alexander Siddig; and the film's original theatrical trailer. In English, without optional subtitl...
Video
Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer,
Ruba Nadda's Cairo Time arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Mongrel Media.This is a strong high-definition transfer. Fine object detail is good, clarity pleasing and contrast levels consistent throughout the entire film. The color-scheme does not disappoint either; yellows, reds, blues, greens, browns and blacks are rich and well saturated; overall, the film has a ...
Audio
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English Dolby Digital 5.1 and French Dolby Digital 5.1. For the record, Mongrel Media have not provided optional English or French subtitles for the main feature.
I am slightly disappointed that Mongrel Media have not included a loseless audio track of some sort on this Blu-ray disc. Cairo Time is complimented by a wonderful music score, courtesy of Niall Byrne, which certainly would have benefited from a strong loseless treatme...
Supplements
On Cairo Time - a wonderful conversation with director Ruba Nadda, Patricia Clarkson, and Alexander Siddig in which they discuss their work on the film, their impressions of Cairo, the characters they play, etc. In English, not subtitled. (26 min, 480/60i).
The Making of Cairo Time - in this featurette director Ruba Nadda explains how Cairo Time was shot, what are some of the challenges her team had to overcome while shooting on the streets of Cairo...
Final Words
Canadian director Ruba Naddas Cairo Time is a beautiful, old-fashioned romantic film with fantastic performances by Patricia Clarkson and Alexander Siddig. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of Canadian distributors Mongrel Media, looks and sounds very good. My only minor complaint about it is that it does not offer a loseless audio track. Still, Cairo Time is a wonderful film and well worth owning. RECOMMENDED. ......
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Cairo Time (Blu-ray Review)HD Moods - Rebel (Blu-ray Review)
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...This is one 'Rebel' with a cause.
Theres always a certain amount of hype that attends even minor home video releases. You know the drill, it includes everything from pull quotes from some reviewer in Podunkville to breathless, purple prose adorning the keepcase insert. One quickly learns to take all of the public relations hoo-hah with a grain (or even a pillar) of salt. When every film or home video release is deemed A masterpiece! by at least one voice in the wilderness, the only thing that ultimately matters is how you ...
Video
Rebel, like its sibling Rise, is a spectacular feast for the eyes (perhaps even more so than Rise), with a sterling AVC encoded 1080i transfer (in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio). Despite some fairly heavy post-processing effects, and an interlaced image, there are no egregious artifacts to report. Instead we get a blisteringly sharp image that may not depend on the beauty of nature as much as Rise does, but which supplements the basic source material with a wealth of gorgeo...
Audio
It's rather odd that Topics, which is really jumping to the head of the line in this genre with these new AMOS releases, would have their Blu-rays default to a Dolby Digital 2.0 mix when the Blu's come with not one, but two, uncompressed lossless audio options, a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and an LPCM 2.0. It's even stranger that the slipcase and insert hawk the Dolby option and not the lossless options. That said, these are extremely robust soundtracks, with some pretty overpowering low end, esp...
Supplements
No supplements are included on this budget priced disc....
Final Words
Rebel proves that Rise was no fluke, and that Topics has an extremely potent new brand with these AMOS releases. If you ever bought some of those old VHS tapes that featured compilations of the then-nascent CGI genre, you might have some idea of the fun and variety that Rebel has in store. Yes, this is niche marketing at its perhaps most obscure. But take a chance on these AMOS releases, and I doubt you'll be disappointed. Rebel comes very highly recommended.......
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HD Moods - Rebel (Blu-ray Review)Rambo (Extended Cut) (Blu-ray Review)
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Not exactly the hyper-violent extended cut I was hoping for, but still worth a look.
Given the number of franchise reboots in recent memory, it wasnt terribly surprising when I first heard of Sylvester Stallones intention to bring the Rambo franchise back to the big screen. After all, the reluctant action hero still resides among Hollywoods list of iconic characters, gradually acquiring a growing fanbase over nearly three decades. Though I wouldnt count myself among the devoted followers of the original trilogy, the film buff side of me always has a sense of reserva...
Video
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 22Mbps), John Rambo incorporates all of the strengths found in the original Blu-ray release, while seamlessly integrating the new footage as if there from day one. Fine object detail is abundantly clear, revealing every blood splattered CGI effect with almost too much precision (occasionally wavering into fake territory). Whether were witnessing shots of the lush green jungle, or close-ups of actors faces, every text...
Audio
Perhaps it was just my ears playing tricks on me, but I felt the volume level on this release was a little higher than the prior edition. After only stepping away for several minutes between my double-feature viewing session, I quickly found myself fumbling with the remote to diminish the ensuing earthquake that pounded my home theater. Quite simply, John Rambo is the type of film that will literally take your breath away with the constant aural assault, leaving a lasting impression tha...
Supplements
Rambo: To Hell and Back (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 83:33 min): Structured as a complete production diary of the 42-day shooting schedule, this supplement can be played in its entirety or easily broken down over the course of multiple nights. In essence, this fascinating behind the scenes supplement displays on-set footage of the cast and crew while Stallone provides an enlightening after-the-fact commentary track. If you ever thought Stallone was simply a knucklehead action star with big muscle...
Final Words
Forming a recommendation on the extended Blu-ray edition of John Rambo is almost an exercise in futility. On the one hand, we have Stallones incredible production diary, which almost elevates this into thumbs up territory for the avid Rambo fan. However, the lack of meaty additions to the film itself leaves little cause for current owners to upgrade, creating a difficult decision between the two options. Both editions can be had for around the same price, but each offers a slightly ......
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Rambo (Extended Cut) (Blu-ray Review)James and the Giant Peach (Special Edition) (Blu-ray Review)
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...A hit-or-miss family film receives a hit-or-miss release...
It isn't often that a children's film tries to teach young viewers that their ideas are valuable -- that a fresh perspective can solve innumerable problems -- and James and the Giant Peach aims to do just that. Sadly, it misses the target. Somewhat loosely based on Roald Dahl's famed novel of the same name, producer Tim Burton and director Henry Selick's partially animated adaptation boasts a fantastic, smartly conceived second act, one bursting with stop-motion magic and wonder, but op...
Video
Assessing the quality of Disney's problematic 1080p/AVC-encoded presentation proved to be quite difficult. On one hand, videophiles will appreciate the faithful aspects of the transfer: its wonderfully grainy texture, Selick's subdued color palette, the preservation of his unforgiving shadows, and the gauzy, diffuse-lensed haze that settles overtop many of the film's live-action scenes. On the other hand, many will rightfully criticize the transfer's many apparent problems: rampant crush, prin...
Audio
Thankfully, James and the Giant Peach's stalwart DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track fares better than its video transfer. Dialogue is intelligible and well-prioritized, Postlethwaite's soothing narration is situated perfectly in the soundscape, and the tiniest sound effects earn a seat at Disney's sonic table. The rear speakers are a tad restrained at times, as is the LFE channel, but the whole of the soundfield kicks into high gear anytime a mechanical behemoth or rotting pirate ma...
Supplements
Unfortunately, the Blu-ray edition of James and the Giant Peach doesn't offer many more special features than its near-barebones standard DVD counterpart. A BD-exclusive "Spike the Aunts" interactive game headlines the new release, but the remaining material -- a sugary archive EPK (SD, 5 minutes), a Randy Newman music video (HD, 3 minutes), a still frame gallery, and the film's original theatrical trailer (SD, 2 minutes) -- is short, dated and dry. ...
Final Words
James and the Giant Peach didn't work for me, but who am I to question the power of nostalgia? Those who followed James to New York at a young age will probably enjoy Selick's film as much today as they did in 1996. Still, newcomers beware: James lacks the punch and polish of classics like The Nightmare Before Christmas and modern stop-motion marvels like Coraline. Alas, the film's Blu-ray release is primed to disappoint. Its problematic video transfer is a bit of......
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James and the Giant Peach (Special Edition) (Blu-ray Review)City of God (Cidade de Deus) (La Cité de Dieu) (Blu-ray Review)
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Winner of the Visions Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles' "Cidade de Deus" a.k.a "City of God" (2002) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Alliance. The only supplemental feature on the disc is the documentary film "News From a Personal War". In Portuguese, with imposed English or French subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked". ...
Video
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer,
Fernando Meirelles' City of God arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Canadian distributors Alliance.This is a pleasing but somewhat inconsistent high-definition transfer. Generally speaking, fine object detail is good. The close-ups, even the ones during the extremely dark nighttime footage, look very good. Contrast levels fluctuate dramatically from episode to episode, but they reflect ...
Audio
There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: Portuguese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1. For the record, Alliance have provided imposed English and French subtitles for the main feature. This means that the film can be viewed either with imposed English or imposed French subtitles. The film cannot be viewed without selecting one of the two options.
The Portuguese DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is a good enough reason to strongly recommend this Blu-ray disc...
Supplements
News From a Personal War - an outstanding documentary film about the favelas, the drug industry in Brazil, and the ongoing war between BOPE and the drug lords. The film contains interviews with various drug traffickers and soldiers. In Portuguese, with imposed English subtitles. (57 min, 480/60i). ...
Final Words
Fernando Meirelles'City of God has already achieved something of a cult status - but, arguably, for all the wrong reasons. Canadian distributors Alliance have put together a competent package, which should please fans of City of God in North America. RECOMMENDED. ......
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City of God (Cidade de Deus) (La Cité de Dieu) (Blu-ray Review)Puccini: La Bohème (Royal Opera House 2009) (Blu-ray Review)
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...If it's Tuesday, this must be Puccini.
Did someone go and create a La bohème of the Month Club and not tell me about it? Sometimes it seems like it, what with the glut of Blu-ray versions of Puccinis venerable ode to art, love and abject poverty which seem to litter my mailbox seemingly every few days. Lets review, shall we? Weve had the film version, the English National Opera version (sung in English, in case you were co...
Video
Aside from the lighting issues alluded to above, La Bohème's AVC encoded 1080i image is nicely sharp, with excellent black levels helping to at least partially alleviate the often overwhelming darkness. Aside from Musetta and the restaurant scene, there's not an awful lot of color here to contend with, but what we're offered does display a nice gradation of shades, and detail is good enough that the artists' shabby clothing can be seen in all its raggedness. The snow scene comes off qui...
Audio
Both of the lossless tracks on this Blu-ray are quite good, though occasional balance issues do occur. I opted for the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, which certainly presents a nicely spacious soundfield, within the rather narrow confines of the Royal Opera House. The LPCM 2.0 track, which I spot checked, is really surprisingly narrower, especially when compared to other Opus Arte releases, where the differences between the 5.1 and 2.0, while noticeable, aren't quite this abrupt. The 5.1 mix is...
Supplements
Aside from the cast gallery, the disc includes two HD interviews, one with director Copley (4:09) and the other with conductor Nelsons (3:57), wherein both men talk about their backgrounds with opera in general and La Bohème in particular. The insert booklet has a fascinating essay about the origins of the opera, and Puccini's "contest" with Leoncavallo to see who could set the source material most effectively....
Final Words
If you're an ardent traditionalist, you'll be hard pressed to find much to complain about in this Bohème. If you're a really curmudgeonly, persnickety traditionalist (as am I), you may question the curious lack of overwhelming emotion in this production, as well as some of the tempo markings by conductor Nelsons, but those are ultimately probably pretty minor quibbles. This is a lovely physical production, with strong and lyrical performances by the doomed lovers, and it comes re......
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Puccini: La Bohème (Royal Opera House 2009) (Blu-ray Review)How to Make Love to a Woman (Blu-ray Review)
(No Ratings Yet) Loading ...Or, an Idiots Guide to Lovemaking
With a tagline that oh-so-cleverly reads, Dont beat around the bush, two things are immediately
apparent about the straight-to-video flop How to Make Love to a Woman: 1.) Its going to be
one of those crass sex comedies where men are portrayed as total ignoramuses when it comes to the
topography and workings of womens nether-regions, and 2.) itll inevitably try to make a tender,
heartfelt point about the importance of communication in sexual relationships. The latter makes
...Video
E1 Entertainment brings How to Make Love to a Woman to Blu-ray with a 1080p/AVC-
encoded transfer that does what it can with the films low-budget look. Like most comedies, the
lighting here is overly bright, giving the cinematography a flat, lifeless quality. This results in colors
that, if realistic, seem a bit limp. There are moments when the film has more pop and depthlike the
club scenes or the reunion in the rainbut in general the overall appearance is somewhat dull, with
...Audio
The same could be said for the films DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, which serves its
dialogue-driven purpose but rarely offers any notable embellishments. The rear channels are only
sparsely used for anything besides music, and when they do pipe up with environmental atmospherics
like club chatter or wind and sand during Andys walk on the beach with Laynethe effect is
somewhat jarring because youve been conditioned not to hear any ambience from the back of the
soundfield. ...Supplements
Interviews (SD, 15:14)
Includes brief interviews with Forest Kline, Jenna Jameson, Josh Meyers, Mayday Parade, Ronnie
Winter, and others.Making of Featurette (SD, 14:59)
A typical "making of" documentary, mostly comprised of on-set footage and interviews where the
participants talk nice about one another.Outtakes (SD, 25:22)
Twenty-five minutes of deleted scenesnot at twenty-five minute gag reel.Music Video (S...
Final Words
Straight-to-video comedy is generally more miss than hit, and thats certainly true of How to Make
Love to a Woman, which strains to be funny and emotionally honest, but comes up short in both
regards. The title sounds like a Woody Allen or Pedro Almodovar filmyou might imagine a sexy battle
of the sexesbut dont be fooled. This train to Orlando doesnt even make it to Atlanta. I cant get no
satisfaction, indeed.......Read full review: Blu-ray.com
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How to Make Love to a Woman (Blu-ray Review)
(4.67 out of 5)
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