Blu-Ray Review: Sucker Punch — Extended Edition

Freshman psychology and fanboy fodder form an unholy union in Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch. The slow-motion auteur’s first film not based on a pre-existing property still feels mighty reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, The Matrix, Moulin Rouge, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Cinderella and The Lord of the Rings, all mashed together in one faux-profound, quasi-feminist blowout.

When Mom dies, Babydoll (Emily Browning) is all that stands between her little sister and their wicked stepfather. However, one errant ricochet takes the sibling’s life and gives the stepfather cause enough to throw Babydoll into the nearest insane asylum, and once subjected to the nefarious deeds of the orderlies (led by Oscar Isaac), she re-imagines the entire nuthouse as a burlesque front for a bustling brothel.

Babydoll’s eager to escape, though, and can dance well enough to keep all men’s eyes on her, so with the help of Rocket (Jena Malone), Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish), Amber (Jamie Chung) and Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), she then re-re-imagines her tasks at hand to take on the form of epic fantasy battles against giant gun-wielding samurai, dragons, robots, orcs and steampunk zombie soldiers.

That’s right: goofy fantasy within grimy fantasy atop a grim reality. Snyder likes to think that his Russian nesting doll of a concept is enough to excuse its hollow center. It’s hard to believe that the female leads are being empowered when they’re forced to wear skimpy outfits for their sleazy superiors and clients, not when they are only ever portrayed are being in charge within dream sequences that carry all the weight of video-game cut scenes and have all the depth of righteous van art. Characters jump and twirl when it would simply be easier to duck from incoming gunfire and swinging swords, because it looks cooler that way, and the camera pulls off dizzying roundabout maneuvers that are intended to impress but instead reinforce the numbing digital slickness of it all.

And if the performances aren’t terribly compelling (especially in the cases of Ms. Chung and Ms. Hudgens), that’s okay, because it’s all imagined anyhow. There are anachronisms galore, as relics from World Wars I, II and Vietnam crop up alongside mechanized battle suits and levitating space trains, because why the hell not. With a little Freudian symbolism sprinkled throughout (the penetration of sex is associated with that of surgical procedures), what appears to be two hours of wet dreams is supposedly bolstered by underpinnings of rape, abuse and death. It’s a very serious attempt to justify some very silly stuff.

Snyder and co-writer Steve Shibuya try to convince us that feminine charms are a weapon in and of themselves, while at the same day embracing the live-action anime ideal that nothing could be sexier than a schoolgirl with a sword. They even get Sweet Pea to spit out a wink-wink speech to that effect: “Don’t you get the point of this? It’s to turn people on. I get the sexy little schoolgirl. I even get the helpless mental patient, right? That can be hot. But what is this? Lobotomized vegetable? How about something a little more commercial, for God’s sakes?” The rest of the film is ultimately all of the above, and – as already proven – distinctly uncommercial. Sucker Punch starts out with a cover of “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This,” as crooned by Ms. Browning herself, but I’d argue that they’re really not.

The Blu-ray transfer flatters the lavish production design, though a healthy amount of included grain seems to soften the digital effects and help offset the fakery of it all. (I could be wrong, but the grain may very well intentionally lessen as Babydoll retreats from scummy halls to pristine landscapes.) An extended cut of the film has been included on its own separate Blu-ray disc, running seventeen minutes longer than the theatrical cut. The changes are mostly accounted for by an Act I musical sequence, an Act II orc battle and an Act III scene between Browning and Jon Hamm that single-handedly fleshes out his role from a fleeting cameo into a more substantial supporting turn. Aside from an extra gunshot here and an added line, it’s hard to see why this cut merited an R rating over a PG-13.

The extended cut disc includes a “Maximum Movie Mode,” during which Snyder discusses the shoot and the changes between the two versions, while still galleries, cast interviews and synchronized storyboards pop up throughout. It’s a nice and thorough approach to the commentary track, but the featured content would ideally also be accessible through its own menu. The theatrical cut disc includes four animated shorts, running 11 minutes in total, that flesh out the mythos behind each fantasy realm; like the scenes in each realm, this are cool but ultimately pointless given the film’s narrative admission that these enemies are already complete inventions. There is also a brief plug for the Sucker Punch soundtrack.

Blu-Ray Review: Lord Of The Rings Trilogy: Extended Edition

Today marks the release of one of the best things to happen to Blu-ray since Blu-rays made their blu way into existence: The Blu-ray Extended Editions of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

Digitally remastered from the films’ original 2K files (unlike the theatrical cut Lord of the Rings Blu-ray release), these movies can now look as beautiful on a television as they did in theaters, no matter the size of your screen. My breath was just as taken away with the stunningly crisp picture (approved personally by Peter Jackson) on an 82-inch TV as it was on a 42-inch, as it was on a 23-inch. And the sound, now presented in 6.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, is powerful, all encompassing, sleek and dynamic. Watching with surround or not, I still felt like I was chillin’ (or as the case mostly was, fighting/traveling/arguing/rescuing) in Middle Earth. The quality is definitely maintained here partly because the film is still on more than one disc, allowing more room for the smallest of details to come through in both picture and sound.

Including the two containing the film itself, each title brings with it five discs. The nine discs of extras are perhaps the most extensive I’ve ever seen. The first disc of extras for each film focuses on the process of book to screen/pre-production. The second disc of extras for each film focuses on the production itself, post production, and theatrical release. The third disc of extras house each correlating part of the Costa Botes documentary.

Now, are the 26 hours of extras also in HD? No. They aren’t Blu-ray, just DVDs. But I almost wonder if this is a sneaky way of immediately pointing out how impressive the remaster actually is. Going from 1080p to DVD-upgraded-by-Blu-ray-player is a very noticeable switch. An even bigger shock is going from the films’ rich HD images to the behind the scenes video footage, so low quality, even the faces in the foreground are slightly blurry. But because you get used to the low quality rather quickly, it thankfully doesn’t remain a nuisance.

Another important note here is that the 26 hours of extras are all exactly the same as the ones on the Extended Edition DVDs, save digital copies and some trailers for Lord of the Rings: War of the North. The downside here, obviously, is if you already own the DVDs, you are paying a lot of money *only* for the Blu-ray discs. But at the same time, I almost appreciate the lack of new extras as it means those who aren’t fortunate enough to own Blu-ray players don’t have to fear that they are missing out on any actual additions to the set they cannot own.

But for those of you who haven’t memorized the extras on the original extended editions, here is a handy dandy breakdown of what you’ll be getting for your $120.

Disc 1/Disc 2 – The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Extended Edition

-The Fellowship of the Ring Extended Edition in HD/6.1 DTS-HD Part One (105 min) and Part Two (123 min)
-Four Commentaries, Directors/Writers, Design Team, Production/Post-Production team, Actors
-War of the North Trailer on Disc 1
-MTV Movie Awards Clip on Disc 1
Council of Elrond spoof with Jack Black and Sarah Michelle Gellar

A recommendation here that applies to each of these movies – because each commentary so specifically touches on different aspects of the films, they really allow you to create your own educational experience. Curious about the lighting and absence of color in Moria or about any of the digital effects? Click over to the Production track. Want to know how on earth Faramir and Eowyn holding hands could have been cut or why certain other elements were added or deleted? Listen to the Director/Writers track. Want to learn about Elijah Wood’s love of beer or hear what was going through each character’s head after Gandalf’s fall? Switch to the Actors track. And if you are curious about the design of the Ringwraiths or what was done to Frodo’s Elvyn cape to make it look like a rock, click over to the Design Team track. Although the names of those speaking only pop up based on which commentary you selected at the beginning, so if you *do* go track hopping, you won’t necessarily know who is speaking when. My personal favorite track was the Actors because not only do you get fun anecdotes and get to hear about the acting process, you also get bits and pieces of what would appear on the other tracks. For example, if you’re curious about King Theoden’s transformation, you’d think you’d get the most info from Design or Production, but it’s actually Bernard Hill on the Actors track that goes into it the most.

Disc 3: The Appendices, Part 1: From Book to Vision

-JRR Tolkien: Creator of Middle Earth (22min)
Brief biography on Tolkien and history of books & fandom
-From Book To Script (20)
Hear the relationship of many of the actors and crew members to the books, then learn about the process of initially adapting the books to screenplays.
-Storyboards and Pre Viz: Making Words into Images (20)
Learn about the importance of story-boarding and the many different ways of creating them
-Three Storyboards that didn’t quite make it into the film (11)
-Two Pre Viz Animatics (3)
-Two Storyboard/Pre-Viz to film side by side comparisons (4)
-Bad End Set Test (6)
FAVORITE ALERT. Peter Jackson and some crew members act out a couple scenes that take place in the newly built (but not yet dressed) home of the Baggins’. The highlight is getting to watch Peter Jackson throw his all into his performance of Bilbo.
-Designing Middle Earth (41)
Going through the production design of the film from start to finish
-Weta Workshop (43)
In depth look at all of the armor, weapons, special makeup effects, prosthetics, creatures and miniatures, it’s the coolest doc on the disc. I swear, co-founder of Weta, Richard Taylor with his loud, bizarrely accented voice could lead a really eccentric cult or something. And, well, I guess he kind of does.
-Costume Design (12)
Learn about the design for many of the characters’ costumes and get some perspective on just how much work goes into costumes for a project like this. If you’d like to know why 40 duplicates had to be made of every single costume, this is the one to watch.
-Galleries with optional slideshows of people and realms
If you ever plan on dressing up as a character from Lord of the Rings, this feature is your saving grace. Sketches, close ups of detailing, the actual pieces on actors – the best reference guide you could possible ask for
-Middle Earth Atlas
Interactive map of Earth. Pick the path of either Frodo or Gandalf and follow their journey on the map, complete with clips
-New Zealand As Middle-Earth (8)
Your guide to visiting Lord of the Rings set sites when you visit New Zealand! A map pointing out which realms where shot where, with location scouting footage and thoughts from location scout and Supervising art director, Dan Hennah

Disc 4: The Appendices, Part 2: From Vision to Reality

-The Fellowship of the Cast (35)
FAVORITE ALERT. Actors on actors. Curious why Ian McKellan and Hugo Weaving got along so well? Or what everyone thought of Viggo Mortenson? Or in which ways Sean Astin went above and beyond to relate to Elijah Wood the way Sam related to Frodo?
-A Day In The Life of the Hobbit (13)
What it is like for the actors playing Hobbits on a typical day
-Cameras in Middle Earth (50)
Behind the scenes footage of production
-Gallery of production photos with Slideshow option
-Scale (15)
How they made a bunch of people who are more or less all the same height, look like hobbits and dwarves, elves and humans, all in the same shot
-Big-Atures (16)
Details on the incredible miniatures
-Weta Digital (25)
Goes over the 550 digital shots in the first film
-Editorial: Assembling an Epic (13)
A look at the editing process. One of my favorite facts here is that Peter Jackson and the editing crew would watch 3-4 hours of dailies every night. Every night!
-Editorial demo – Council of Elrond
Six windows of raw footage, featuring 36 takes in all. An example of what it’s like in the editing room. Nice to see some of the actors takes unedited – the moments between the moments.
-Digital Grading (12)
Explanation for why they went with digital color grading, plus editing bay demonstrations and mind blowing side by side comparisons
-The Soundscapes of Middle Earth (13)
Specifics on the sound mixing and editing process, the team for which ended up winning two Oscars. This especially makes sense when you realize the dialogue in the film is 85% ADR. This is what to watch if you’re curious about what was used to create the aural landscape of individual creatures, as well as the ring and freaky outy Galadriel
-Music for Middle Earth (12)
Goes through different themes, explaining the origins of each and how they were recorded. My favorite is The Fellowship Theme, duuuuuh.
-The Road Goes Ever On…(7)
Footage from the various premieres and a few retrospectives.

Disc 5: The Fellowship of the Ring: Behind-the-Scenes-The Fellowship of the Ring: Behind-the-Scenes Doc (85)
The first of three Costa Botes documentaries, really makes you feel like you are on set, highly recommended. But as the docs are widescreen without being anamorphic, multiple sources have advised me to zoom in on the picture when watching with my BR player in order to get the most out of the images. I personally didn’t mind, but thought I should impart that knowledge onto you just in case.

Disc 6/Disc 7 – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers – Extended Edition

-The Two Towers Extended Edition HD/6.1 DTS-HD Part One (107) Part Two (129)
-Four Commentaries, Directors/Writers, Design Team, Production/Post-Production team, Actors (this time with 100% more David Wenham, Mirando Otto, Karl Urban, John Noble, Brad Dourif, Bernard Hill and Andy Serkis!)
–War of the North Trailer on Disc 6
-MTV Movie Awards Andy Serkis Acceptance Speech on Disc 6

I must take a moment here to note the actors commentary in particular once again. During the credits, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan talk about every name as it comes up, then start listing which movies to watch next and it’s nothing short of hilarious. During the flashback scene between Faramir, Boromir and Denethor, John Noble speaks to Denethor’s motivations for disliking Faramir so and it sounds like you happened to step into an acting master class for a moment. And almost nothing on any of the commentary on any movie is better than hearing Andy Serkis speak about his extremely unique experience on set.

Disc 8: The Appendices, Part 3: The Journey Continues

-J.R.R. Tolkien: Origins of Middle-Earth (30)
More on Tolkien, specifically on how he drew from his experience in the war in writing Two Towers and his relationship with C.S. Lewis
-From Book to Script: Finding the Story (21)
FAVORITE ALERT. Learn about the reasons behind the changes from book to movie, including giving Faramir a proper Hero’s Journey, and the change that almost happened involving Arwen that thankfully got pulled.
-Designing Middle-Earth (46)
-WETA Workshop (44)
-The Taming of Sméagol (40)
FAVORITE ALERT. Tracing the development of Gollum from start to finish. Andy Serkis is a revelation / genius / greatest human being ever. But the animators who ultimately brought Gollum alive are nothing to sneeze at either. If you can only watch one extra for some reason, this is the one. Even Andy Serkis’ audition makes me want to throw up out of sheer admiration and awe.
-Andy Serkis Animation Reference (2)
Animation and Serkis’ performance, side by side. What would they have done without him?!
-Gollum Stand-in (3)
A look at the day producer Rick Porrus had to stand in for Andy Serkis
-Middle-Earth Atlas
Follow the paths of Sam and Frodo, Merry and Pippin, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, or Gandalf
-New Zealand as Middle-Earth (15)
-Production design galleries
-Gollum design gallery

Disc 9: The Appendices, Part 4: The Battle for Middle Earth

-Warriors of Middle-Earth (21)
FAVORITE ALERT. All about the stunt men and combat training for the actors. As someone who was once certified in both broadsword and hand to hand combat, I was helplessly glued to the screen during this one
-Cameras in Middle-Earth (68)
Just like the behind the scenes featurette of the same name on Fellowship, but taking us through Two Towers instead, which was a completely different experience, now tracking more than one storyline and containing more than one epic battle.
-Big-atures (22)
FAVORITE ALERT. Wow. I’ve never seen that many toy soldiers in my life. Holy crap, the detailing of these structures! This people are magicians.
-WETA Digital (28)
Learn about the roughly 791 digital shots in The Two Towers, over 200 more than the number in Fellowship
-Editorial: Refining the Story (22)
Featurette on cutting The Two Towers, featuring editor Mike Horton. Fascinating to see how many decisions that affected the whole movie were made in the editing room, including making the choice to do extensive Gollum pick-ups with Andy Serkis, that ended up truly defining the character
-Music for Middle-Earth (25)
In depth look at the score and individual themes for The Two Towers, the most difficult movie to score of the three, as it has no real beginning, middle or end
-The Soundscapes of Middle-Earth (21)
A look at the creation of specific sounds in this film, including Treebeard, the blended ADR introduction of the White Wizard and the wolves of Isengard. Plus, get to watch some Foley work in action
-The Battle for Helm’s Deep is Over… (9)
On the film’s release with footage from various premieres
-Production photo gallery
-Big-atures galleries
-Pre-Viz Animatic – The Flooding of Isengard
There is something particularly sweet about this animatic, especially when watching it side by side with the sequence from the finished film
-Abandoned concepts galleries
-Interactive sound demonstration
Listen to seven different audio tracks including on set, live effects with foley, computer sound effects, dialogue and music, then hear the finished product at your leisure. VERY cool. I particularly recommend track 4 during the close combat. Weapon sounds are epic cool on their own.

Disc 10 – The Two Towers: Behind-the-Scenes

-The Two Towers: Behind-the-Scenes Doc (106)
The next part in the Costa Botes documentary

Discs 11/12 – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Extended Edition

-The Return of the King Extended Edition HD/6.1 DTS-HD Part One (128) Part Two (135)
-Four Commentaries, Directors/Writers, Design Team, Production/Post-Production team, Actors

-War of the North Trailer on Disc 11
-Dominic Monaghan as Hans Jensen interviewing Elijah Wood on Disc 11
This. Is. Hilarious. Watch it now.
-MTV Movie Awards Spoof on Disc 12
Vince Vaughan and Ben Stiller pitching Lord of the Rings sequels to Peter Jackson

Disc 13 – The Appendices, Part 5: The War of the Ring

-J.R.R. Tolkien: The Legacy of Middle-Earth (30)
More on the life of Tolkien and his experience writing and developing Lord of the Rings, including the creation of the Elvysh languages and dialects
-From Book to Script: Forging the Final Chapter (25)
Goes through combining the end of The Two Towers with the beginning of Return of the King so the events actually play out chronologically, as well as other adaptation tidbits like the choice to separate Sam and Frodo before Shelob’s lair and the choice to add, then remove, a physical fight between Aragorn and Sauron and how the footage was re-purposed. And yes, the multiple endings are addressed.
-Aragorn Battles Sauron abandoned animatic concept
-Designing Middle-Earth (40)
-WETA Workshop (47)
-Big-atures (20)
Can I just have these? And play with my action figures and/or cats on them all day? I’m in awe.
-Costume Design (12)
This featurette mostly addresses characters introduced in The Two Towers, as well as the costume changes the main characters finally get to experience in Return of the King. MAN, the attention to detail on these costumes is staggering. And MAN do I want to own everything Eowyn wore. FYI, Ngila Dickson (and Richard Taylor) would finally and rightfully win an Oscar in 2003 for her work on Return of the King.
-Home of the Horse Lords (30)
FAVORITE ALERT! All about the horsies! Training, riders, the two Shadowfaxes and the best part, the bond Viggo Mortensen developed with Uraeus, the horse who played Brego. Viggo loves him some horsies.
-Middle-Earth Atlas
This time follows the journies of Frodo and Sam, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli, Merry, or Gandalf and Pippin
-New Zealand as Middle-Earth (16)
The final destinations you need to know about in order to fully design your Lord of the Rings tour
-Design galleries
For costumes, realms and an entire one dedicated to miniatures!

Disc 14 – The Appendices, Part 6: The Passing of an Age

-Cameras in Middle-Earth (73)
Finally, the behind the scenes footage that contains one of my absolute favorite bits of Lord of the Rings production lore – that the scene where Sam and Frodo separate before Shelob’s lair took over a year to shoot. Sean Astin’s half was shot in November of 1999 and Elijah Wood’s half was shot in December of 2000. To know why, be sure to check out this feature. Another favorite bit is about how Viggo and Billy tried to help Sean Astin with the Sam/Rosie wedding scene, which leads into the reveal that for some reason Billy Boyd has kissed five members of the Fellowship. Hilarious section around the 40 minute mark. I highly recommend watching this one in its entirety as it ends with the emotional conclusion to production. I promise the hug between Peter and Elijah after his last shot of the pick ups will have you in tears.
-WETA Digital (42)
Detailing the 1500+ digital shots of Return of the King
-Mûmakil Battle Demo
Visual effects demo w/ optional commentary. Breaks down the steps of the effects intro Pre-Viz, environment, live action, animation, massive, rough composite and then the final film.
-Editorial: Completing the Trilogy (22)
This time around with longtime Jackson collaborator Jaime Selkirk editing, the featurette chronicles the work done on the three million feet of film chronicling five different storylines produced by the third film
-Music for Middle-Earth (22)
More of the same, but for Return of the King, this time including a look at Howard Shore’s cameo shot during pick ups and details on my personal favorite piece, Pippin’s Song, which I used to listen to on repeat because I’m a cool person.
-The Soundscapes of Middle-Earth (22)
-The End of All Things (21)
Chronicling the completion of Return of the King in post-production, which was barely finished in time
-The Passing of an Age (25)
FAVORITE ALERT! Extensive footage of the World Premiere in Wellington, which most closely resembled a royal wedding, but bigger. For realsies. WTF. It’s awesome. Here you will also find footage from the rest of the premieres, the most impressive of which is oddly Oslo and the sweep at the Oscars. It’s quite an emotional thing to watch after being engrossed of 26 hours of behind the scenes footage, seeing each department win their Oscar, recognizing every face. Plus, when is the last time a film won Best Picture and everyone on stage was crying? Nothing gets me like teary eyed Hobbits.
-Cameron Duncan: The Inspiration for “Into the West” (32)
Two shorts directed by Cameron Duncan, DFK6498 and Strike Zone

Disc 15 – The Return of the King: Behind-the-Scenes

-The Return of the King: Behind-the-Scenes Doc (112)
The third and final installment of the Costa Botes documentaries.

So what does this all add up to? A box set that is a must own for any movie lover. No question.

I still love these films so much. Cate Blanchett’s booming voice during the prologue of Fellowship still knocks me on my feet, and the fight on Weathertop still legitimately terrifies me. (Plus, after watching Game of Thrones for so many weeks, I got a lot of joy out of seeing young Ned Stark in action.) The very existence of Gollum in The Two Towers is just as impressive now as it was ten years ago and the friction he causes between Sam and Frodo is just as painful. Return of the King is still a sob fest of epic brilliance and my favorite of the trilogy.

All in all, despite one or two effects that seem somewhat outdated, particularly the admittedly rushed CGI of the wolves of Isengard, the Merry, Pippin and Treebeard blue-screen shots and that one shot in Return of the King of digital Legolas climbing up the Mûmakil, the effects in these films hold up outstandingly. This trilogy is truly a landmark, so many firsts, so many effects invented and perfected. It’s easy to forget, because of the effects heavy blockbusters that have now become commonplace and the relative ease with which epic fantasies can now be created, even for television. But these films paved the way for so much, it’s important to remember and honor that from time to time. It is also astonishing to realize that cameras were on set and taping for almost the entire process, pre-production, production, post-production, and pick-ups. How wonderful to know that we can safely expect something similar with The Hobbit.

On that note, yes, in five years I wouldn’t be surprised to see a a brand new twenty five disc set combining both Hobbit films as well as the three Lord of the Rings movies released today. I’d even expect more extras that time, retrospectives perhaps, the one thing really missing from this set. (You’d think there would be more advantage taken of the fact that these are being released ten years after Fellowship came out. My only explanation is that these will pop up on that inevitable Ultimate Crazy Complete Blu-ray Collection, out sometime in 2015.) But five years is a long time to wait to re-watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy, especially if you intend to revisit the world before seeing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at midnight, December 14th, 2012. So with that in mind, I absolutely recommend this box set, duplicate extras and all. Because damn, are they good extras and daaaaaaaaaaamn, are these amazing movies.

Blu-Ray Review: Unknown

In popular culture, the presence of an American in Europe usually leads to either romance or intrigue. Unknown favors the latter, embracing the inherent xenophobia of the situation (namely, an American with amnesia in Europe) and setting this tale of suspicion against the backdrop of the historically troubled Berlin.

For two-thirds of the running time, Liam Neeson is certain that he is Dr. Martin Harris, in town for a biotech conference and the victim of a car accident that saw him and cab driver Gina (Diane Kruger) plummeting off a bridge and into a coma. After waking up, Martin returns to his wife (January Jones, wooden as ever), who doesn’t recognize him and has already found herself a replacement husband (Aidan Quinn), one with the proper documentation to prove himself as the real Dr. Martin Harris.

Of course, we know that Neeson must be right, because ever since the breakout success of Taken, he has embraced his newfound action star status. Director Jaume Collet-Serra has already proven himself a steady hand at handling fundamentally pulpy material on screen (his previous efforts include House of Wax and the gloriously nutty Orphan), and he easily manages to make Martin’s circumstances as foreboding as possible, working in smooth camera tilts whenever confusion arises and constantly evoking the no-man’s-land atmosphere of a place that cannot house you, of people who refuse to claim you. There are blondes that our hero can and cannot trust, apprehensive authorities, suspicious strangers on the street, and while the 6’4” leading man hardly seems vulnerable on the streets of Berlin, his wounded and disoriented demeanor is enough to earn the viewer’s benefit of the doubt.

The proceedings eventually shift gears from slightly Hitchcockian to something a little more Bourne-like, with car chases, fist fights and explosions dominating the initial identity intrigue. But for every conventional tough-guy one-liner uncomfortably shoehorned into the climax, there’s an earlier, wonderfully simple back-and-forth between a private investigator (played by Bruno Ganz) and a colleague of Martin’s (played by Frank Langella) that any other film would omit for the sake of streamlining the narrative, though at the risk of eliminating the echoes of history that resonate within any decent paranoid thriller. Unknown may eventually surrender to convention and implausibility in equal measure, but until then, Collet-Serra grounds the conspiracy with a proper sense of mystery and mood.

Flavio Labiano’s steely cool cinematography is well-served by the Blu-ray transfer, and complimented nicely throughout by John Ottman and Alexander Rudd’s restrained yet sinister score. The disc’s special features are limited to a pair of fluffy featurettes – one about Neeson’s recent career resurgence and the other about the film overall – that run hardly five minutes a piece and yet still share material.

Blu-Ray Review: Fat Girl

There are few films that stay with you, that puncture the doldrums that can often occur when you watch film after film, and just when you think you’ve seen it all, Fat Girl has yet another thing coming.  Fat Girl is the creation of director Catherine Breillat and though it lulls you into accepting the difficult themes of emerging sexuality and repulsive violence, it isn’t mindlessly sensationalist.

Breillat has constructed something magnificent and unexpected, touching and horrifying all at once.  Fat Girl follows two young sisters on a family vacation, the younger sister is a twelve-year-old stoic fat girl, wise beyond her years, and the other a beautiful and lively idiot teenager.  When the elder sister meets a boy on vacation, the younger sister watches the elder slowly lose her innocence, which ultimately has unimaginable consequences.

Made in 2001, the film feels utterly foreign, and while it is a French film set in France, this goes beyond that and feels difficult to place within a large context.  Clocking in at 86 minutes, it never feels rushed or hurried in any way.  The film is very difficult to speak about without giving away key plot points, but there is a deep and abiding oppression and subjugation of women sewn into the fabric of the film, and it becomes so stark as to eventually feel unforgivable, as weighty and permanent as a stab wound.  It can be helpful to think about Fat Girl in the same company as films such as the criminally overlooked Dogtooth or masterfully made Fish Tank, although the film is ideologically closer to Dogtooth than Fish Tank, but I see some of the insolence and independence that explodes from Fish Tank present in Fat Girl as well.

The Criterion Collection Blu-ray release features are few, which are frustrating when the material is so fascinating, but this seems to be part of Breillat’s intent, to offer up as few answers as possible to the hundreds of questions she has raised. What we are left with is some behind the scenes footage that shows several scenes being filmed and a few brief conversations with the actresses, Breillat steadily watching the unfolding action with the intensity of a hawk.  The actresses are incredible, so young and so talented it seems almost impossible and indeed they create some of the best characters I’ve seen on screen in quite a while, especially Anais Reboux, playing the difficult role of the titular fat girl. Two further interviews with Breillat illuminate little, but assist in wrapping the mind around the complexities of the script.  Breillat seems confident in her work, and well she should be, fearless and sure of her decisions even as they portray some shocking moments that hold water even a decade after the film was made.

The physical design of the Blu-ray case is well-done, sort of grainy and difficult to make out, extreme close-ups of pivotal moments and images that make little sense out of context. Creating the design for this film seems a daunting project, as to say too much visually would be disastrous, and so minimalism is the order of the day.

The written portion contains an essay that attempts to make sense of the film by Ginette Vincendeau, exploring the multiple and uncomfortable themes of observation, sexuality, growing up, family and violence. Fat Girl isn’t about any one subject, which makes it difficult to neatly pin down and examine.  There are moments of levity, strange secret moments that occur only in glances between characters, smarmy boyfriends and parents who simply don’t understand, and Vincendeau spends her short essay comparing the film to other films as well as exploring Breillat’s own historical perspective.  Reading the essay before seeing the film will spoil some of the greater moments in Fat Girl, however. Alongside this essay is an interesting interview with, and writings from Breillat, and I must admit it’s wonderful to see a director so heavily involved with the release.

Breillat says it all when she speaks in the special features of the sisters as being one soul in two bodies, two sides of the same coin.  Anyone girl who has ever had a sister will recognize the complexities of the relationship, especially during a scene where the girls are whispering and giggling to one another that no one can make them as angry as the other.  And isn’t this a real truth, no one can make us as angry as our families, our own blood.  We see ourselves, once removed in their actions, and we want them to act in the ways that we do so we can understand, but when they don’t it hurts worse than the meandering actions of a stranger for whom we never could feel the same affinity.

Far be it from me to prescribe or limit the sort of people who might enjoy, (well, enjoy is the wrong word) might engage with this movie, young women with many sisters who have never been considered beautiful will find it particularly difficult, but that may be why they should see it.  Fat Girl forces the viewer to place his or herself within the context of the film, whether they want to or not, and raises huge questions that cannot be readily dismissed. To see yourself reflected in a film, no matter how distorted the image, gives a moment for reflection on darker matters, and that may be the stunning gift of Breillat’s incredibly difficult film.

Fat Girl is now available on Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.

Blu-Ray Review: Hall Pass

“Words hurt” is Hall Pass’ most common refrain (shy of “What’s a hall pass?”), but squandered comedic potential stings a bit more. The Farrelly Brothers – coming off their misguided and borderline mean-spirited take on The Heartbreak Kid – try to make something like There’s Something About Everyone Besides Mary, a mixture of middle-aged desperation and low-brow humor that rarely congeals into genuine hilarity.

Rick and Fred (Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis) are respectively married to Maggie and Grace (Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate), but that doesn’t stop them from gawking at every other woman that passes by as if they were single teens and not married thirty-somethings. The ladies decide to grant the guys a “hall pass,” a week-long, penalty-free pardon from the bounds of matrimony in order to serve as something of a sexual pressure valve.

As a concept, it’s laughable, maybe even morally reprehensible, though well-implemented in last year’s indie dramedy, The Freebie. When the joke eventually becomes that these guys couldn’t capitalize on their glorious “Get Out of Marriage Free” card if they tried, the potential for laughs is there. Unfortunately, the teenage mindset of our leads and their pals (including Stephen Merchant, whose mid-credits epilogue is easily the film’s highlight) means that we get to watch Rick, Fred and friends consume pot brownies on the golf course, botch pick-up lines from the Internet and visit a massage parlor with all the tact of tenth-graders.

The Farrellys cobble their antics together with poor ADR, bad Photoshop work, egregious product placement and a pair of shameless gross-out moments meant to evoke Mary’s most infamous gag that only come off as calculated attempts to elicit the same type of wild reaction at the expense of the relatively reasonable relationship concerns that drove Ben Stiller to do his dirty deed. The wives’ own experience with the hall pass brings a maudlin streak to the picture, while Farrelly standby Richard Jenkins shows up as Coakley, the unlikeliest of horndogs, adding a slightly welcome air of sleaze to the proceedings.

By the time everything comes to a head with a mad dash in a wrecked minivan, only the semblance of a potentially raucous farce remains. The joke is supposed to be that it’s sad to see these guys so desperate for a lay, but in truth, it’s even sadder to see the brothers this desperate for a laugh.

The Blu-ray transfer here fully conveys the film’s sitcom-level technical merits. An included extended cut of the film runs six minutes longer and hardly benefits from it (unless you relish a fleeting appearance by The Social Network’s Armie Hammer as a club bouncer or the sight of Owen Wilson getting smothered by a python). Extras are limited to a single deleted scene involving Coakley bluffing his way out of a DUI (after yet another example of flagrant product placement) and a brief, limp gag reel. I would hardly call the former “outrageous” or the latter “hilarious,” but the text on the back cover insists as much.

Blu-Ray Review: The Superman Motion Picture Anthology: 1978-2006

It is easy to gaze at the list of films currently playing at the multiplex and forget that there was ever a time when Hollywood didn’t crank out a new superhero movie every couple weeks. But there was indeed such a time, and in fact a very long one: the first 75 years of movie history were basically devoid of superheroes.

Then came Superman. A major box-office hit when it was released in December 1978, the film spawned three direct sequels and a fourth quasi-sequel/reboot thingamajig. More importantly, just as the Superman character is the prototype for comic-book superheroes, Superman: The Movie is the godfather of all the superhero flicks that came after it. The people who make the films about Batman, Spider-Man, and the X-Men usually speak in reverent tones about Superman and Superman II, the way people who make mafia movies acknowledge The Godfather.

Appropriate homage is paid by The Superman Motion Picture Anthology: 1978-2006, the new Blu-ray set that includes the four Christopher Reeve Superman films, an extended cut of the first movie, the alternate version of the second one, and 2006's Superman Returns (starring Brandon Routh), for a total of seven feature films. Each one gets its own disc packed with extras, and then there’s an eighth disc packed with more.

As is usually the case with these things, hardcore fans of the franchise will have already bought most of this stuff. Superman, Superman II, and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut were released on Blu-ray in 2006 to coincide with the new Superman Returns, which was also released on Blu-ray. Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace have only been available on DVD before now, but let’s be honest, the only reason you need those on Blu-ray is that you have mild obsessive-compulsive disorder and need to have complete sets of things. (Believe me, I can relate.)

The 2006 Blu-rays had some (but not all) of the bonus features from the previous DVD versions, plus some new extras of their own. This new set finally compiles everything from the DVDs and the Blu-rays, which are as follows:

- Superman: The Movie audio commentary by producer Pierre Spengler and executive producer Ilya Salkind.
- Superman: The Movie Extended Edition audio commentary by director Richard Donner and creative consultant Tom Mankiewicz, who are both a lot of fun. There’s also a music-only audio track for this film, plus footage of screen tests.
- Superman II audio commentary by Spengler and Salkind. Salkind is defensive, pompous, and dull.
- Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut audio commentary by Donner and Mankiewicz.
- Superman III audio commentary by Spengler and Salkind.
- Superman IV audio commentary by screenwriter Mark Rosenthal, who openly mocks the film and its wrong-headed producers. Delightful!

- Superman Returns video journals with director Bryan Singer. He didn’t do an audio commentary (boo!), so here’s this instead.

- All the customary deleted scenes, theatrical trailers, TV spots, and so forth.

- Superman and the Mole-Men, a 1951 theatrical feature that coincided with the Adventures of Superman TV series.

- The Adventures of Superpup. In 1958, with The Adventures of Superman doing so well, somebody figured they should make a version set in an alternate universe inhabited by dogs instead of people. So you’ve got a guy in a Superman costume wearing a giant dog head, like a sports mascot. His name is Superpup. His mild-mannered alter ego is named Bark Bent. This was the pilot episode. It never even aired. It must be seen to be believed.

- TV special: The Making of Superman: The Movie. It’s a blast to watch anything from late-’70s TV, but especially a behind-the-scenes look at a then-current movie.

- TV special: The Making of Superman II. I totally remember seeing this on TV when I was a kid. It’s fascinating to see them explain “cutting edge” special effects that are now hilariously quaint.

- TV special: The Making of Superman III. More of this. You get the idea.

- TV special: Superman’s 50th Anniversary: A Celebration of the Man of Steel. This aired in 1988, several months after Superman IV: The Quest for Peace had embarrassed itself in theaters, and it’s a curious bit of memorabilia indeed. Hosted by Dana Carvey and featuring several Saturday Night Live-related people, it’s a comedic tribute to Superman, not an actual examination of the character’s popularity or significance. Imagine a Superman-themed episode of SNL and you’ve pretty much got it.

- Warner Bros. cartoons “Super-Rabbit” (1943) “Stupor Duck” (1956), and “Snafuperman” (1944). Bugs and Daffy star in the first two; the third features a dopey G.I. named Private Snafu and was part of a series of Private Snafu cartoons made for U.S. soldiers during World War II.

- The 17 animated Superman shorts, each about 10 minutes long, that were produced by Fleischer Studios and then by Famous Studios between 1941 and 1943. They were in the public domain for a while, so you’ve probably seen dirty, scratchy versions of them lying around. They’ve been cleaned up for Blu-ray.

- Featurette: “First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series.” This was the better of the two 1940s animated series, so it gets its own tribute.

- Featurettes: “Taking Flight: The Development of Superman,” “Making Superman: Filming the Legend,” and “The Magic Behind the Cape.” These docs, each about 30 minutes long and hosted by Marc McClure (aka Jimmy Olsen), were produced in 2001. They’re basically updated versions of those vintage TV specials, with new cast interviews and behind-the-scenes trivia.

- Featurette: “Superman II: Restoring the Vision.” A brief but informative summary of what the heck happened to Richard Donner and Superman II, and how Donner’s cut was compiled 25 years after the fact.

- Featurette: “Resurrecting Jor-El.” This shows how the effects wizards used old Marlon Brando footage to put Superman’s dad in Superman Returns.

- Featurette: “The Mythology of Superman.” In which experts give fascinating insight into the cultural origins of Superman, and how the character relates to centuries-old folklore, legends, and whatnot.

- Featurette: “The Heart of a Hero: A Tribute to Christopher Reeve.” This will make you cry.

- Documentary: “Requiem for Krypton: Making Superman Returns.” In case you needed a 173-minute doc about Bryan Singer’s 2006 film, here it is.

- Documentary: “Look, Up in the Sky! The Amazing Story of Superman.” Co-produced by doc guru Ken Burns, this is the informative and entertaining retrospective the Man of Steel deserves, though it focuses mostly on the early years of the character…

- Documentary: “You Will Believe: The Cinematic Saga of Superman.” …probably because this doc focuses on the Christopher Reeve years. There’s some really terrific stuff here from the various people involved, who openly talk about the problems of the last two movies and share highly amusing anecdotes about the production.

The only new feature is this one:

- Featurette: “The Science of Superman.” This aired on the National Geographic Channel in 2006. As far as I can determine, it was never available on home video until now.

Doesn’t that seem like the sort of thing that this new Blu-ray set should have more of?

Warner Bros. owns the rights to the 1948 and 1950 theatrical serials, Superman and Atom Man vs. Superman, starring Kirk Alyn. They’ve been released separately on DVD; it would have been nice to see them here, too, especially since George Reeves’ Superman and the Mole-Men is included. (We do get a few glimpses of the serials in the “Look, Up in the Sky!” documentary.)

Or how about some of the New Adventures of Superman animated shorts that aired on CBS in the late 1960s? Or the half-hour animated adventures from 1988?

Or what about this: In 1975, ABC aired It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane…It’s Superman, a shortened version of the Broadway musical (!) that had flopped in 1966. The network only aired it once, and it’s never been officially released on home video. (You can watch it through Google Video, though.) A collection that includes Superpup should also, I think you’ll agree, include the Superman musical.

It’s great to have all the previous bonus features collected into one set, though, and it will be at least a couple years before Warner Bros. releases another edition. (I wouldn’t be surprised if they update it to include Man of Steel, due in theaters in December 2012.)

Furthermore, all of the movies are presented here in DTS-HD Master Audio, a lossless format that makes the films sound better than they ever have before, even on previous Blu-ray editions. For fans with superior home theater systems, that factor alone might be enough to justify the new set.

Of course, if you don’t already own any of these films on Blu-ray or DVD, buying The Superman Motion Picture Anthology: 1978-2006 is a no-brainer. Even if you do, the set is a handsome tribute to the world’s most famous costumed extra-terrestrial.