Paramount / 2011 / 264 min. / NR

THE SERIES:
After being off the air for over a decade, Mike Judge resurrected two of MTV’s most popular animated characters last year bring Beavis and Butt-head back to television screens everywhere. The adventures of the high school dim-wits from Highland, Texas haven’t changed at all over the intervening years with the duo still trying (unsuccessfully) to pick up “chicks” and criticizing everything with their trademark smirks, stuttering laughter and potent “That sucks.” In addition to their biting commentary on the popular music scene this new series also adds movies and television shows into the mix, with the first episode taking a glorious stab at the insipid TWILIGHT franchise and several episodes featuring clips from “Jersey Shore.”

The original BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD series was criticized for having the characters do extremely dangerous stunts, frequently with having the characters end an episode with a dire outlook for their survival. If you are worried the show has soften in tone over the years, don’t. Going back to that premiere episode, the duo end up in a hospital ravaged by a plethora of life threatening diseases; they haven’t soften in the slightest.

This set includes all 12 episodes of the new season:
“Werewolves of Highland/Crying”
“Daughter’s Hand/Tech Support”
“Drones”
“Holy Cornholio”
“Supersize Me/Bathroom Break”
“The Rat/Spill”
“Doomsday/Dumb Design”
“Copy Machine/Holding”
“Used Car/Bounty Hunter”
“Time Machine/Massage”
“School Test/Snitches” and
“Whorehouse/Going Down”

If you are a fan of the metal rock obsessed slackers, then this is a reason to rejoice. Beavis and Butt-head are still the same biting, controversial and hysterical losers they always have been and now they are skewering a whole new generation of pop culture!

THE DISC:
The full frame 1.33 picture is surprisingly… blah. While color saturation looks to be okay, is has a weak, almost pastel tone to it. Line detail seems soft compared to other animated fare we’ve reviewed here lately. While none of this really distracts from the viewing experience, the picture certainly doesn’t pop like one would expect it to.

The Dolby Digital soundtrack is clear as a bell and completely serviceable. BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD is almost entirely dialogue driven against a near silent background. When music videos and other live action film clips are used, we get a slightly richer sound, but never an immersive surround mix, nor was one ever intended.

THE EXTRAS:
The supplements include:

The “2011 San Diego Comic-Con Panel” with creator Mike Judge and moderator Johnny Knoxville (really!) is well worth checking out as the two have a great rapport and deliver an excellent and informative piece here.

The “Beavis and Butt-head Interruptions” features four sections of Butt-head calling various “celebrities”: “Gym. Tan. Butt-head,” “Settle Down Snooki,” “Beavis and Juice-head” and “Vinny Reloaded.”

The goodies are rounded out with the “Silence Your Cell Phone” Announcement.

MY SAY:
Heh heh… BEAVIS AND BUTT-HEAD are back. And this set is as cool as a GWAR music video. Heh. Heh. Yeah, cool.

Reviewed by Jeff Allen

The Asylum Home Entertainment / 2012 / 90 mins / UR

THE FILM:
There are two kinds of teen sex comedies: first there are the coming of age movies where we get our small group of male high school friends who are desperate to lost their virginity and go on a wacky, mad-capped quest to achieve their goal. These films are very much driven by the strict set of stereo-typed characters we grow to know, love and root for through out their adventures. Think of movies like LOSIN’ IT, PORKY’S, AMERICAN PIE and THE LAST AMERICAN VIRGIN. The second type of teen sex comedy exists pretty much to show as much female flesh as they can within their running time. They usually have the barest (no pun intended) of plots and don’t exactly cross the line into pornography, but get as close as they can. CELEBRITY SEX TAPE firmly falls into this later group.

The group over at The Asylum has cranked out CELEBRITY SEX TAPE and since this particular genre doesn’t really require much in the way of talent (like horror films require one to write a scary script or a science fiction film usually requires something intelligent in the story), they really don’t need to do much other than to have hot women shed their clothes to deliver a finished film. And that’s what we have here: a premise that requires lots of nudity and character stereo-types that exist to deliver base humor and gross-out visual gags.

Here we have the good guy Ross (Jack Cullison), his best friend Ed (Jonathan Brett), book-smart but dating-challenged guy Marcus (Colbert Alembert), wacky unintelligible foreign guy Kwan (Howard Cai) and internet porn obsessed guy Doug (Andre Meadows) as our college buddies looking for sex. When they get invited to a swanky Hollywood party, Ed manages to have sex with a mostly forgotten B movie actress while Ross films it with his cell phone. When Doug uploads it on the internet, it becomes a viral success, reviving the actress’ career and bringing the wrath of her insane agent upon the group. He demands $500,000 from them in the next 30 days or else he will kill and/or expose what they did to the police. The group decides to try to find other washed up actresses to have on-line sex with to raise the money and are soon flooded with offers. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, what could go wrong is that the THREE writers of CELEBRITY SEX TAPE couldn’t really think of a decent problem for our group to wrangle with for the second half of the movie. They set up their premise and everything worked out. 40 minute movie and it’s pretty much done. While they do come up with material for the second half, it feels EXTREMELY forced and existing only to fill up a running time.

Overall, the movie is juvenile and amateurishly made; nothing that is unexpected mind you. The cheapness of the production feels right for the tone of the movie. Acting is broad and over the top across the board. CELEBRITY SEX TAPE is predictable and rather bland but does deliver on its promoted promise of lots of nudity, sex and gross jokes.

THE DISC:
The anamorphic 1.78 transfer is okay. Color saturation and the abundant skin tones are all accurate. Detail is very good with shadow detail being acceptable but not spectacular.

Like other Asylum DVD releases, the soundtrack is available in either a Dolby Digital 2.0 or a 5.1 surround mix. Being a teen comedy, there isn’t really a need for an immersive soundscape, but the 5.1 mix offers several juicy directional effects and both offer excellent clarity. Nothing to complain about on the technical front.

THE EXTRAS:
The supplements are completely fluffy and forgettable.

We kick off with a very short “The Making of CELEBRITY SEX TAPE” which offers little more than the main cast members describing their characters.

The “Gag Reel” is either actors flubbing their lines or mugging to the camera.

The “Deleted/Extended Scenes” feature, literally, a second or two added to the end of two of the films big sex scenes and a small deleted scene that added nothing.

MY SAY:
If you are looking for lots of nudity strung together by the barest of plots, CELEBRITY SEX TAPE is just what the doctor ordered. If you’re looking for a good movie, there are lots of other titles in the big red box and your streaming rental queue that will do the trick.

Reviewed by Jeff Allen

BBC / 2011 / 58 mins / NR

THE EPISODE:
The Christmas specials for DOCTOR WHO have become a tradition since the series re-launched in the mid 2000’s. With the exception of the first one (“The Christmas Invasion”) they have been stand alone stories that anyone, long time fans or viewers who have never seen the show before, could jump on board with and just have a great time with The Doctor for an hour. Over the past few years, the quality of the stories have been superb with such episodes as “The Next Doctor” and the hugely popular “Voyage of the Damned” standing out as some of the most memorable of their seasons. You really have to wonder how long the show could continue its run of outstanding and excellent Christmas stories.

This year’s story, “The Doctor, the Widow and The Wardrobe,” is sort of a take on C. S. Lewis’ THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, at least in title and several key plot devices. Think of it as a companion piece to last year’s Charles Dickens’ themed “A Christmas Carol.” The Doctor (Matt Smith) crashes to Earth in 1938 England, locked backwards in a space suit. Kindly mother of two Madge Arwell (Claire Skinner) helps him back to his TARDIS and off he goes. Three years later, he returns to repay the kindness as Madge and her children Cyril (Maurice Cole) and Lily (Holly Earl) are evacuated from London during the blitz and sent to live with relatives in Dorset. The Doctor greets the trio calling himself “The Caretaker” and shows them around the huge (and apparently abandoned) mansion he has “repaired” especially for them with all sorts of fun things. Under the Christmas tree is a large box addressed to the family, wrapped in blue and glowing from within. Cyril can’t resist and opens it early to discover it is a portal to a snowy forest where the trees grow their own Christmas ornaments. However, tree harvesters from Androzani Major soon appear to melt the entire forest down with acid rain, threatening not only the lives of the family, but of the living souls in the trees themselves.

“The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe” is the most intimate Christmas story we’ve yet had from DOCTOR WHO. While there is the impending doom of the forest and its inhabitants, the real focus of the story is the Arwell family’s happiness. It is a nice story; a very enjoyable episode. However, it never really grabs you the way other Christmas specials have done. It all feels a little too light and airy; it lacks the real emotional weight that other Steven Moffat scripted stores have had in abundance. I think this is due to The Doctor never being anything but manically happy. Even when he is faced with a serious issue (Madge’s horrible secret she is keeping from her children, the acid rain beginning to fall or Cyril possibly being under the spell of tree people) he doesn’t for a second acknowledge there is a problem that he isn’t in control of. If The Doctor isn’t showing the slightest bit of concern, why should we be worried at all? I’m not saying this episode is bad at all, it just isn’t the best we’ve had.

THE DISC:
The anamorphic 1.78 transfer follows suit with previous Blu-rays of DOCTOR WHO, very rich colors and strong detail. Textures are extremely well defined in both the dark mansion and the bright snow filled settings. Nothing to complain about here.

The DTS-HD High Resolution 5.1 surround mix is also very nice and full sounding. Atmospheric effects (always important in the new series) are clear and deliver a nice immersive soundscape. Murray Gold delivers another excellent score which is perfectly presented here.

THE EXTRAS:
The extras are… interesting if a bit on the weak side.

First up is the great “Prequel” to this episode. One of the best things to come out of the new series are all these excellent little shorts like the “Meanwhile in the TARDIS” and the “Night and the Doctor” pieces from the full season sets. These are pure joy for Whovians and I hope they never stop being made.

Three 45 minute-long television specials are also included: “The Best of The Doctor,” “The Best of Companions” and “The Best of Monsters.” These are fun little clip programs where celebrity Doctor Who fans (like actor Mark Stoppard and The Dresden Dolls’ lead singer Amanda Palmer) chime in on their favorite moments of the series. The thing that completely killed me on these is that they focus ENTIRELY on the Matt Smith era; a whopping two seasons worth of episodes to talk about. Needless to say, every single episode is discussed in some respect over the course of the three shows. With titles as all encompassing as they have, I was expecting a far deeper look at the show; maybe not going all the way back to the William Hartnell era, but at least the best bits since Christopher Eccleston and the re-launch of the show. They are fun, fluffy and disposable.

MY SAY:
Not the best Christmas special by a long shot, but a very sweet, very fluffy bit of holiday confectionary from the best science fiction television series of all time. A must own for all Whovians and a definite story worth seeking out for everyone else.

Reviewed by Jeff Allen

Kino Classics / 1937 / 111 mins / NR

THE FILM:
If you are one of the millions of people who fell in love with THE ARTIST this year, this is the movie you can thank for much of its story. A STAR IS BORN is one of the most famous and beloved films in the history of Hollywood. It has officially been made three times (in 1976 with Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, in the hugely popular 1954 version with Judy Garland and James Mason and this 1937 original) but its simple story has been used as the basis for countless other films. There is good reason for this: the story is not only very adaptable to really any profession, it is a timeless tale that everyone can relate to with characters everyone can indentify with.

Esther Victoria Blodgett (Janet Gaynor) loves the movies and would do anything to leave her North Dakota farm life for the glamour and glitter of Tinseltown. When her grandmother gives her the money to follow her dream, she is on the next train to Los Angeles fully expecting to be a star in no time (although she is perfectly willing to accept smaller roles or even a part as an extra to start out.) Needless to say, the cold reality of show business hits her hard as she is unemployed for quite a while. After reluctantly accepting a one night position as a waitress for a lavish Hollywood party, she catches the eye of her favorite actor, Norman Maine (Frederic March) who immediately falls for her as well. He manages to get her an audition in his next big film and soon her star is on the rise. Unfortunately, thanks to his excessive drinking, his is on the decline.

Director William Wellman’s resume is peppered with classic films of every genre from gangster (1931’s THE PUBLIC ENEMY) to epic adventure (1939’s BEAU GESTE) to drama (1943’s THE OX-BOW INCIDENT) to comedy (1942’s ROXIE HART, the first film version of the smash musical CHICAGO), but if you were to pick just one film from his illustrious career to represent him as a filmmaker, A STAR IS BORN would be it. The film was nominated for all the top Academy Awards of 1938 (Picture, Director, Actress and Actor) and while it only won a statue for writing, it has gone down in the history books as a much more popular and influential film than what did win Best Picture that year, THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA. Wellman hit just the right note across the board with A STAR IS BORN. It is fast paced, timelessly funny, brutally honest and still a tear jerker.

The film boasts terrific performances from all of the leads, but I have to point out one performance that completely steals the movie. Lionel Stander is wonderfully acidic as the fast talking; take no guff from anyone studio press agent. Legendary author Dorothy Parker was one of the writers of this film and there is no doubt that her cut-to-the-bone wit was the source for many of Standers’ lines. While Gaynor and March certainly dazzle and capture our hearts, A STAR IS BORN crackles with even more life whenever Stander is on screen.

THE DISC:
After literally decades of horrible home video releases due to the movie being in the public domain, A STAR IS BORN is finally given a proper release. The full frame 1.37 transfer from Kino is easily the best this film has ever been afforded on home video. However, do not go in expecting a restored image on par with Paramount or Warner Brothers’ classic films on Blu-ray. Kino simply does not have the resources to do an extensive frame-by-frame restoration. They shoot to find the best print in existence (in this case, from the George Eastman House) and deliver it in the best manner they can. A STAR IS BORN has a pretty consistent level of light speckling, a few light scratches and a few scenes with missing frames (the end of the boxing scene and the announcement of Esther and Norman’s wedding come immediately to mind), but these are minor when compared to the quality of the image as a whole. Color is well saturated, sometime crossing over to the extraordinarily rich range and for the most part is stable. Film grain has not been touched at all and is never a problem. Detail is generally good.

The Linear PCM 2.0 mono track fares about the same. Some age related hissing and popping are fairly consistent, but never distracting. The sound quality is generally good with all dialogue and ambient sounds clearly discernable. Max Steiner’s beautiful score has never sounded better on a home video release. As of this printing, this is THE definitive home video release of A STAR IS BORN.

THE EXTRAS:
A short “Wardrobe Test,” a gallery with some great vintage poster art and the films’ original theatrical trailer are all that is offered.

MY SAY:
There is a reason this movie was given two big remakes and was the inspiration for countless others: it is a great film that remains as funny today as it did 75 years ago. Recommended!

Reviewed by Jeff Allen

FUNimation Entertainment / 2011 / 75 mins / TV-14

THE SERIES:
The world of .hack (pronounced “dot-hack”) is a massive one that is primarily divided into two sections: a series of video games and a series of animes (there are also mangas, novels, card games and on an on but we are going to narrow it all down to what you need to know to follow this disc, which thankfully isn’t a whole lot!) .hack takes place in two worlds: the “real world” and a MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) called “The World.” “The World” is kind of like “World of Warcraft” or “Dungeons and Dragons,” a near infinite virtual reality kingdom where one can create their own character (you could be anything from the super buff warrior to a cute and fluffy cat with killer powers,) join guilds and makes alliances and generally go off on quests, collect items for points and slay all sorts of giant hideous monsters. That’s pretty much all the background you need to follow this latest OVA (Original Video Animation) in the .hack series.

.hack//QUANTUM follows three girl gamers, the cute and easily distractible Sakuya, the strong and silent warrior-type Tobias and the quiet in the real world but wild in “The World” warrior Mary. Most of the action takes place in “The World” as the trio unintentionally causes several other players to become trapped, their bodies stranded in a sort of limbo that is spreading throughout the virtual kingdom. However, this limbo may not only be limited to the computer servers that house “The World” and a far more sinister plot may be unfolding in the real world.

Even though there are numerous animes and characters and stories in the .hack universe, .hack//QUANTUM really does not require knowing any of them. This is a great place to jump in and test the waters to see if .hack is you cup of anime tea. Our heroines and their mysterious companion, Hermit, are all immediately likeable and accessible. The story works on several levels, as a quest/adventure and as a more serious conspiracy mystery giving it a much more adult tone than it initially appears to have. Even though the story sometimes drifts off into seemingly inconsequential tangents, it never strays off the main plot for too long. After all, all three episodes only run for a total of 75 minutes; there isn’t time to stray from the main action for very long. At the end of the day, .hack//QUANTUM is an extremely enjoyable anime. I don’t know how it all fits into the overall world of .hack but on its own it is loads of fun. Jump on board and enjoy!

THE DISC:
We have only received a few items from FUNimation to review so far, but every single one has delivered a stunning presentation on the picture and sound front. .hack//QUANTUM is no exception; this is just a magnificent looking disc. Bright colors and extraordinarily well defined line detail seem to be the norm for this company and long may it continue! The subtle difference in color saturation between the “real” world and “The World” in .hack//QUANTUM (very similar to what the Wachowski Brothers did in THE MATRIX films) is very pleasing.

The soundtrack is available in the original Japanese and FUNimation’s English dub in a great Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix. Once again, I have to give the edge to the English dub track. It is loud, it is active, it is seriously immersive and it is loads of fun. While purists won’t have anything to complain about with the Japanese track (it is crystal clear and offers excellent fidelity) the English track is an explosively dynamic mix. Yet again, FUNimation gets top marks on an excellent Blu-ray presentation.

THE EXTRAS:
Okay, you know how I said you don’t really need to know anything about the world of .hack to understand and follow the OVAs? That doesn’t apply to the supplements here. I have no idea who these characters are or how they fit into .hack, but I can say these goodies are very enjoyable and well worth checking out.

“Go, Our Chim Chims 1, 2 and 3” are three short piece featuring three little animated purple creatures talking about psi waves and… stuff.

“Yui Ogura’s ‘Yui-Yui’” are three live action sections featuring a very amused (she laughs at everything) and enjoyable hostess: “Cooking” has her learning to make a charaben; “Club” has her and her friends playing around Ogikubo Station and “Cult Quiz” has her giving answers to a quiz that was on a previous DVD/Blu-ray release.

Promotional videos and trailers from both Japan and the US round out the supplements package.

MY SAY:
.hack//QUANTUM is a really enjoyable and more importantly self-contained anime. If you have never seen an anime before and have no idea what they are like, I highly recommend checking this one out as it is accessible and hugely entertaining.

Reviewed by Jeff Allen

BBC / 1984 / 99 mins / NR

THE EPISODE:
The story on the latest “Special Edition” double dip from the vast library of DOCTOR WHO DVDs is truly one for the ages. Voted by the shows legion of fans as not only a great story, but THE Best Doctor Who story of the classic era (and when the poll was taken three years ago, it ranked as the best story in the entire 47 year run; including the new series!) “The Caves of Androzani” is absolutely DOCTOR WHO at its finest. If there is a single story to show fans of the new series why we loved it back in the day, this is it. It has everything DOCTOR WHO strived to be and most of the times succeeded at, but rarely as well as here. A great operatic villain that may not be a villain at all; a beautiful and spunky assistant who does a little more than just scream; a rip-roaring story that was complex and intelligent; and The Doctor sacrificing his own life without a moment’s hesitation to save his companion.

Written by one of the classic era’s greatest writers, Robert Holmes, and directed by the equally legendary Graeme Harper (who still directs stories in the new series) “The Caves of Androzani” has an age old feud, exploding planets, killer robots and shades of The Phantom of the Opera all rolled into one. Arriving on Androzani Minor, The Doctor (Peter Davison) and Peri (Nicola Bryant) accidentally (and unknowingly) become infected with a slow acting poison. They are soon immersed in the personal feud between the powerful business tycoon and war profiteer Trau Morgus (John Normington), who controls the mining of the valuable drug spectrox from the neighboring planet Androzani Major, and the disfigured roboticist Sharaz Jek (Christopher Gable) who is orchestrating revenge fueled attacks against the man who disfigured him. Will The Doctor and Peri be able to find an antidote to the poison before time runs out, or will they be caught in the crossfire of the escalating war? This time, The Doctor may not actually make it.

There is so much to praise in this episode, it is difficult to know where to start. To begin with, there is Harper’s direction. One of the complaints from fans who have only seen the new series is that the classic era stories move so slowly. While that is very true, this story is an exception. Holmes’ script and Harper’s direction keep this story moving at a breakneck pace. Harper knows DOCTOR WHO and given a great script, he will deliver a spectacular episode. His ability to think quickly and creatively is perfectly demonstrated by an actor’s flub: Normington’s Morgus directly addressing the camera. The actor misunderstood the directions given him and breaks the fourth wall looking directly into the camera lens. Having no time to reshoot and correct the error, Harper has Morgus address the camera whenever he delivers one of his introspective monologues, thus turning an error into a stylistic decision. It is touches like this that make Harper one of the series’ best directors and this one of his greatest triumphs.

While not quite the iconic Time Lord Tom Baker is, Peter Davison truly nails the essence of The Doctor in this story. Clever, worldly, sarcastic, fearless and selfless to a fault, Davison’s performance in this story permanently placed him in the upper echelons of Great Doctors. To date, his is the only regeneration that hits an emotional level deeper than the sadness of just seeing The Doctor change. His calling out the name of fallen companion Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) set the precedent that the current series clings to with an iron grip: that the past is not forgotten and The Doctor’s character is shaped by the companions he travels with. I said it before and I’ll say it again: This is DOCTOR WHO at its finest.

THE DISC:
While these “Special Edition” re-releases of classic era DOCTOR WHO boast restored picture and sound, there is only so much you can do with the original materials. The classic shows never looked particularly stunning (especially compared to the new series) and the change from filmed exteriors to video-taped interiors is always glaring and jarring. However, the full frame 1.33 picture here is quite nice and looks better than it did when it was aired originally aired on PBS back in the mid-1980’s. If you look at it side by side with the original 2001 DVD release, you can notice some minor improvements but nothing immediately noticeable.

Likewise, the Dolby Digital 2.0 sound mix probably offers a little more clarity, but it is so slight I was unable to notice it. The episode looks and sounds as good as it probably ever will. The main reason for these “Special Editions” is that the original DVD releases had very few supplements and this new release loads up on the goodies in the manner equal to the recent releases. So what do we get here? Let’s see….

THE EXTRAS:
“Chain Reaction” (the original title for “Caves of Androzani”) is the big making of for this story and features input from virtually every major player in front of and behind the camera. Well worth checking out.

“Directing Who: Then & Now” has Harper discussing how directing the series has dramatically changed from the classic series to the new series (he helmed such new series episodes as “Rise of the Cybermen,” “Turn Left” and “The Waters of Mars.”) This is a fantastic featurette and must see viewing for all Whovians.

“Behind the Scenes: The Regeneration” is the footage from the original DVD release with commentary from Davison, Bryant and Colin Baker.

“Behind the Scenes: Creating Sharaz Jek” looks at the mask application with actor Gable, again brought over from the original DVD.

A little over four minutes worth of “Extended Scenes” are available (about twice the amount that was on the original DVD.)

The original BBC trailer for the first episode is here.

“News” contains the three announcements about Davison’s departure from the original DVD: The BBC One O’Clock News and Nine O’Clock News from 7/28/83 and the “South East at Six” segment with Davison and producer John Nathan-Turner from the following day.

“Russell Harty” is a fascinating but slightly embarrassing piece featuring Davison and Colin Baker appearing on the talk show. They both come off as feeling very uncomfortable.

A Photo Gallery, the always recommended Production Notes and a trailer for the “Seeds of Doom” DVD round out the goodies on this set.

It looks like the only thing missing from the 2001 DVD release is the “Who’s Who” biography section of the cast.

MY SAY:
I absolutely can not recommend “The Caves of Androzani” highly enough. This is what classic era DOCTOR WHO is all about and with a doubt one of the finest moments from the series’ five-decade long run. Highly Recommended!

Reviewed by Jeff Allen

Flat Iron Film Company / 2011 / 90 mins / NR

THE SERIES:
Felicia Day is one talented and hard working geek girl. She is destined to go down in the history books as one of The pioneering and driving forces of web-based entertainment thanks to her award winning and internationally successful web series THE GUILD and now the ambitious fantasy mini-epic DRAGON AGE: REDEMPTION. A lover and self professed hard-core gamers, Ms. Day took her passion of gaming and desire to be an actress and turned it into a very successful career. With the help of friends she created, wrote and stars as Cyd Sherman (aka Codex) in the low budget web series smash THE GUILD, a hysterical and very witty series about gamers and their adventures dealing with each other. With DRAGON AGE: REDEMPTION, she takes webisodes to a new level. Instead of chronicling the people who play the games, she is attempting to bring the epic sized landscapes they play in to life.

DRAGON AGE is a phenomenally popular dark fantasy role playing video game from BioWare. The world of Dragon Age has been expanded to novels, physical games (ala Dungeons and Dragons), anime episodes, comic books and now a webseries. Ms. Day is a huge fan of the game and thanks to her partnering with BioWare for this series, her character, Tallis, was incorporated in the actual game franchise in DRAGON AGE II. However, Ms. Day may be a little too close to the material on this one as the movie requires you to know the game. Really well.

The story is simple enough: Elven assassin Tallis (Day) reluctantly teams up with rogue Templar Knight Cairn (Adam Rayner) to stop the evil mage Saarebas (Doug Jones) from performing a blood ritual which will allow him to conquer the world. There is a little more to it (a few more characters) but basically, that’s the story. Should be easy enough to follow, right? Well, it is and it isn’t.

Day wrote the script and is clearly extremely well versed in the nuances, titles, names, relationships, backstories, and general lore of the Dragon Age world. One of her biggest goals (as is stated several times in the supplements) was to make the film and characters as true to the source material as she possibly could. From the look of the characters down to popular fight moves and killing blows, her DRAGON AGE movie would be authentic. Not having played the game before, I have a strong feeling she succeeded because 90% of what the characters say and reference are completely foreign to me. All through DRAGON AGE: REDEMPTION I knew what the characters were doing, I sorta kept up their relationships but had practically no idea what they were ever talking about. With THE GUILD, Day has been and continues to keep the world of hard core gamers accessible to us non-gamers. In this film, she doesn’t quite succeed. She is playing to the people who know and love the game. Period.

Taking a step back though, DRAGON AGE: REDEMPTION is a marvel at what filmmakers can accomplish with very little money today. Costumes, sets, the CGI effects, everything looks really well done. This is a far more polished production than THE GUILD and truly raises the bar on how sharp a low budget web-based series can look. While this may not be a far reaching success on par with, say, DR. HORRIBLE’S SING-A-LONG BLOG, DRAGON AGE: REDEMPTION is a huge step forward in web-based entertainment.

THE DISC:
The anamorphic 1.78 transfer is uneven. Close ups offer excellent clarity and fine detail but long and medium shots come through murky and blocky at best. It doesn’t look like Flat Iron was given a strong print of the series to work with, possibly having to use mid-grade digital files. Regardless, the final product suffers when it should shine.

The Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo mix fares better but its low budget roots are obvious. Dialogue is clear and S. Peace Nistades’ fun score is presented well enough, but for the most part the sound is a bit tinny and weak. An immersive soundscape is not really to be found. Granted this is a very low budgeted, web based series and what they accomplished is to be commended and applauded. Just keep that in mind when viewing.

THE EXTRAS:
As with all of Ms. Day’s web based endeavors on disc, the supplements are plentiful and rich:

We kick off with commentary tracks for all six episodes with Day and director Peter Winther. The pair offers loads of fun stories from the set and original intentions that couldn’t quite be accomplished with their time and budget.

The entirety of the rest of the supplements can all be watched as one giant documentary/promotion thanks to a very handy “Play All” function:

“Bringing The Game To Life,” “Characters,” “Costumes,” and “Stunts” comprise the main behind the scenes featurettes and together deliver a very satisfying documentary on the making of this ground breaking project.

The “Blooper Reel” is mildly amusing but nothing to write home about.

“Dragon Age Origins,” “Dragon Age II,” “Dragon Age II: Legacy DLC,” “Dragon Age II: Mark of the Assassin DLC” are all promos and promotional videos for the various games.

Three segments of the “Bioware TV series” leading up to the launch of the web series are here: “Interview with Creative Director Mike Laidlaw (2 parts)” and “Interview with Felicia Day.”

The Script is also on the disc as a PDF file.

MY SAY:
While it certainly has its problems, DRAGON AGE: REDEMPTION is a milestone in web-based entertainment. Die hard fans of the game should really enjoy it. The rest of us will wonder what the characters are talking about but still marvel at just how much was accomplished with so little. Recommended!

Reviewed by Jeff Allen

New Video / 2011 / 83 mins / PG

THE FILM:
The SEEDS Academy (Sports for Education and Economic Development in Senegal) is an opportunity for young West African students to receive a full scholarship to a top U.S. prep school. In addition to regular scholastic subjects (reading, writing, ‘rithmetic and everything else academia demands today), the SEEDS Academy trains students specifically to play basketball at the NCAA level with the ultimate target of a career in the NBA. In a world where poverty and illiteracy is the overwhelming norm, this opportunity is not only like winning Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket, a huge lottery payout and The Big Game all together, it’s a chance to become a national hero and an inspiration to your countrymen.

Following young hopefuls as they struggle, fight, cry and scream to attain their dreams has been a popular topic for documentaries for several decades now. The formula has become so popular that we now have numerous television series that follow suit every week. After all, what are “American Idol” and “America’s Next Top Model” but weekly versions of these types of documentaries? A major and oft-times life changing prize is offered (a record contract or in this case a full scholarship) and we meet a small group of hopefuls who put everything in their life on the line in hopes of achieving this goal. Stories like these are win-win situations. If the subject(s) we are following win, the movie is an inspiring feel-good film. If they lose, it is a heartbreaking tear-jerker. The drama is inherent. Either way, it is an emotional journey every person in an audience can identify with and fully get behind.

While this type of film (following everyday people through their lives) can arguably said to have started with Michael Apted’s SEVEN UP! saga back in 1964 (the series where a group of British children were interviewed at seven years of age and Apted went back and re-interviewed them in seven year intervals to see the arcs of their lives), the all encapsulated version really took off with another basketball story, Steve James’ acclaimed 1994 documentary HOOP DREAMS.

HOOP DREAMS captured the imagination of film goers everywhere in 1994 and its Oscar loss was as hugely controversial as DO THE RIGHT THING and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN’s were. I know this isn’t a review of HOOP DREAMS, but it is impossible not to compare ELEVATE to that film. They deal with the same subject matter, in a similar fashion with ELEVATE taking it to an international level. While the story of Aziz N’Diaye, Assane Sene, Dethie Fall and Byago Diouf is just as enthralling as Arthur Agee and William Gates’ it can’t help but have the been there seen this feel to it. Our quartet in ELEVATE have a much more challenging road before them (they are coming to a completely different country, they have to learn not only social etiquette but modern slang and they are Muslim attending a Christian School) but for some reason, director Anne Buford was unable to amp up the drama. ELEVATE is a good, solid movie. It will move you, sometimes to tears and sometimes to cheers, but at the end of the day it is really just HOOP DREAMS Lite.

THE DISC:  
The anamorphic 1.85 picture is acceptable. This is a documentary and none of the footage is staged or professionally lit, so there are several instances where whites blow out or color and detail are weak, but overall the picture is fine.

Likewise the Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack is completely serviceable. Much of the dialogue is subtitled, due to the heavy African accents rather than poor or inaudible sound. Technically New Video delivers a completely acceptable transfer.

THE EXTRAS:
The trailer is all you get.

MY SAY:
While ELEVATE has been making the rounds on the film festival circuit, it has yet to really win many awards. Despite it being very similar to the high watermark documentary HOOP DREAMS, it is still an inspiring film that comes heartily recommended.

Reviewed by Jeff Allen

MALCOLM X

Warner Bros. / 1992 / 202 min. / PG-13

Spike Lee indisputably made one of the landmark movies of the 1980’s – DO THE RIGHT THING (1989).  His groundbreaking, multi-character, rap-fueled look at contemporary race relations one hot summer day in Brooklyn was a galvanizing tour de force that still holds up today. 

Though it is not as generally well regarded, Lee also made one of the great movies of the 1990’s with his biopic of black firebrand Malcolm X.  Featuring a powerful, controlled Oscar-nominated performance by Denzel Washington in the title role, MALCOLM X can be seen as the movie where Spike Lee truly established himself as a world-class filmmaker, able to paint on a broad cinematic canvas.  Making its beautifully rendered debut on Blu-ray, MALCOLM X tells the true tale of an important, polarizing American figure.

Working from “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” as told to Alex Haley (“Roots”), Lee’s movie spends its first hour in the 1940’s establishing the character of Malcolm Little, a zoot-suited, low level Harlem street criminal more interested in straightening his hair and bedding white women than he is in raising black consciousness.  With the eminent cameraman Ernest Dickerson exquisitely controlling the images, Spike Lee (who also plays Malcolm’s pal, Shorty) shoots these scenes with a burnished, nostalgic glow.  Though Lee could have easily gone for a realistic, docudrama feel, he takes the opposite tact.  Using swooping camera moves, colorful, expressionistic lighting and choreographed swing musical numbers, the director employs the lessons of classic Hollywood studio moviemaking as much as the NYU film school aesthetic he was better known for.

When Malcolm is arrested and imprisoned, his consciousness is raised by Baines (Albert Hall), a devout follower of Elijah Muhammad (Al Freeman, Jr.) and his Nation of Islam.  By the time Malcolm is released from prison, he is already on his way to a leadership role in the black separatist organization/church, which is only cemented when Muhammad takes the electrifying speaker under his wing.

But Malcolm X wasn’t fully formed from nothing.  In flashback episodes, we see how his father, a preacher espousing black equality, was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan, which also burned his family out of their house.  Elijah Muhammad becomes a father figure to the adult Malcolm and views the younger man’s break from his organization as a personal betrayal, which ultimately leads in Malcolm X’s brutal assassination.

The film also follows Malcolm’s courtship and marriage to Betty Shabazz (a luminous Angela Bassett).  The life of an on-the-road, nationally known black activist not only puts strains on Malcolm’s family life, it puts the very safety of his wife and children on the line, as well.

Far more radical in the late ‘50’s and early ‘60’s than more mainstream civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm’s incendiary speechmaking scared the bejesus out of white America.  Hearing those words today, commandingly delivered by Washington, the truth of them burns as brightly as the brilliant rhetorical flourishes.  Spike Lee’s MALCOLM X definitively and dramatically captures Malcolm, his words and deeds, for all time.

THE DISC

Ernest Dickerson’s beautifully varied cinematography is given careful, loving treatment in this 1080p, AVC-encoded transfer.  This great, underrated film looks stunning on Blu-ray.  The rich color palette vividly pops in the 1940’s scenes then tones down (with a few detours) as Malcolm’s life progresses.  With superb detail and rich contrast, this is a joy to watch…

…And listen to, as well.  The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is smooth throughout, with side and rear channels put to particularly good use.  Dialogue is generally crisp and clear, with Washington’s many speeches particularly arresting.  Terence Blanchard’s striking score is a particular standout.  Kudos to WHV on the overall quality of this release.

EXTRAS

Pick up MALCOLM X and get two movies in one.  The set includes a second disc with a DVD of a 1972 documentary on Malcolm X by Arnold Perl (who died in 1971 but shares a co-writing credit with Spike Lee for the 1992 feature).  With an archival look and contemporary interviews, the 92-minute doc both reinforces and expands on the information Spike Lee included in his feature. 

A commentary track also adds to your enjoyment of the film, as Spike Lee, cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, editor Barry Alexander Brown and costume designer Ruth Carter offer up background info in separately recorded comments.

“By Any Means Necessary: The Making of MALCOLM X” is an excellent half-hour behind the scenes look that doesn’t shy away from financial trouble and other issues Spike Lee ran into in the making of his passion project.

20 minutes of deleted scenes, with Lee’s introductions to each clip, are relatively interesting.

A slick, 40-page booklet is also included in the package.

Theatrical trailer.

MY SAY

An important, compelling biopic told with prolific cinematic style by Spike Lee and featuring a towering central performance by the great Denzel Washington.  Though the running time of this gorgeously produced Blu-ray may seem daunting, the 3 hours and 22 minutes fly by.

--Reviewed by David Newman

Breaking Glass Pictures / 2010 / 97 mins / NR

THE FILM:
Director Danny Buday’s first full length feature film certainly makes one think of the movies of Cameron Crowe. More specifically, it makes one think of the way Crowe uses a nearly non-stop string of classic songs to help set the mood and atmosphere in his films. Unfortunately, 5 STAR DAY’s use of indie pop tunes is more akin to Crowes’ ELIZABETHTOWN rather than his ALMOST FAMOUS; distracting and really, really annoying. One of the big selling points on the back of the DVD box is the “Great Indie Soundtrack featuring: Doves, Guster, Tristen and The Henry Clay People.” Usually when a low budget indie film is promoting its soundtrack almost as much as its cast and story it is a red flag screaming “if you don’t like the movie, we at least have good music!” To be complete fair, the music was really good. I liked it a lot, but I would probably enjoy the soundtrack far more than the predictable, episodic string of music-video montages that is 5 STAR DAY.

Our story opens with birthday boy Jake Gibson (Cam Gigandet) reading his horoscope and being told he is going to have a “five star day” where everything is going to be absolutely fantastic. Surprise, surprise! His birthday begins with his being fired from his job, then coming home early to his girlfriend having sex with someone else on his kitchen counter, the bathroom sink breaking and flooding his apartment and ending with his beloved vintage Porsche being stolen. To cope with this, Jake decides to make his upcoming college class presentation all about debunking astrology. To do this, he finds three other people born on the same day, at the same time and in the same hospital as he was, track them down and find out how their birthdays were this year to see if any matchup with the horoscope. Naturally his journey is a life changing and (it’s an indie film) life affirming one.

5 STAR DAY is not a bad movie. Not by a long shot. But it is a film we have seen a million times before. Maybe not the exact plot, but the same characters, the same life changing journey scenario, the same gimmicky macguffin that brings our characters together. The cast performs the functions their characters are assigned: Gigandet is the good hearted pretty boy trying to make sense of things. The three people he is looking for follow suit: Jena Malone is our sweet also good hearted girl that life has dealt a difficult hand to; Brooklyn Sudano is a sweet and good hearted girl that suffered a near-tragic blow on the day and Max Hartman is a sweet and good hearted singer who is given life altering tragic news on the day. None of them are bad and perform their duties well. The story moves along at a decent enough pace. The only negative I can see is how the narrative has to stop every 5 or 10 minutes so one of the indie pop songs can be highlighted for a couple of minutes. But none of this really matters. A week or so after sitting through 5 STAR DAY, you’ll probably forget it even existed.

THE DISC:
Ambitious in scope, 5 STAR DAY was shot in a 2.35 aspect ratio and given a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound mix. The transfer on this DVD looks okay. Nothing spectacular to report as color saturation is fine, detail is decent if not overly crisp. It looks like a low budget independent film, which is exactly what it is.

The only reason for a surround sound mix on this film is for the nearly non-stop barrage of indie-pop music montages. Yes, they sound fine but when you get to the actual story, there is little else to hear. Dialogue is clear and actual atmospheric effects are limited; the immersive quality of this film lies almost completely in the music.

THE EXTRAS:
The supplements kick off with a commentary track with Director Buday and Cinematographer Jason Oldak. It’s an interesting and informative track but nothing really spectacular.

The main making of featurette, “5 STAR DAY (behind the scenes)” is comprised of B-roll and nothing more. Main characters (cast and crew) and identified but that’s about all you get here.

A small handful of “Deleted Scenes” add nothing you don’t already know and are presented in a horribly jerky transfer.

“Short Film by Danny Buday: Dependency” is the entire first film from the director. Running a little over 20 minutes it examines a drug fueled night of, what else, an indie rock band and its lead singer who is trying to cope with just being released from rehab.

A “Photo Gallery” and the film’s trailer round out the supplements.

MY SAY:
Yawn. While 5 STAR DAY isn’t horrible it is severely mediocre and instantly forgettable in a way only low budget indie films of this type can be.

Reviewed by Jeff Allen