October 2006

Universal announces initial slate of UK HD DVD releases

Source: DVD Times

Looks like the first batch is nothing that we haven’t already seen from the US. Still, the cover art of certain titles, especially Serenity and The Bourne Supremacy, looks considerably better than their American counterparts, and this announcement, as well as the November 13th release date, should please those that don’t like the thought of importing.

In other news, Warner has announced the release of an HD DVD version of Casablanca for November 14th. Not to be outdone, though, the Blu-ray camp has responded by announcing another equally lauded World War 2 classic for December 5th… that Michael Bay meisterwerk, Pearl Harbor.

Man to Man with Dean Learner - clips

Man to Man with Dean Learner, the new talk show from the creators of Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, starts this Friday on Channel 4 at 11:05 pm (meaning that it will no doubt disappear into obscurity just as Darkplace did). To whet our appetites, some clips have been uploaded on to MySpace, the home for pretentious emo kids and attention-seekers everywhere:

• Title sequence
• Clip from Episode 1
• Dean interviews Garth Marenghi

It’s hard to say anything conclusive about it based on these short clips, but I have to confess that I really hope it’s better than this. That laugh track really needs to go, for a start.

Delivery deluge

Today has been quite a day for deliveries, with the HD DVD releases of The Machinist and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the latter a review copy) and the DVD of the 25th Anniversary edition of The Fox and the Hound (again, for review) all arriving.

I’m going to discuss The Machinist first because it’s definitely the most noteworthy of the three arrivals. It constitutes several first for me: my first non-US HD DVD (it’s Japanese), my first HD DVD from a distributor other than one of the major Hollywood studios (it’s a Toshiba release), and my first HD DVD using MPEG4/AVC/H.264 as its compression format rather than VC1.

I was a little wary regarding this release given the mixed reports that have come through so far regarding Toshiba’s Japanese releases, all of which have used MPEG4 rather than VC1. Essentially, MPEG4 has been characterised as an inferior format, and I was expecting to be a bit let down by The Machinist. I needn’t have worried: it looks excellent, and in places is up there with Serenity in terms of detail. For the most part, the image is razor-sharp, and the grain, too, looks excellent. The Machinist is stylistically a very harsh film, with heavily desaturated colours and very pronounced contrasts. All of this is maintained with aplomb on the HD DVD.

Unfortunately, it is slightly marred by a few instances of unsightly edge enhancement. I should point out, however, that this was actually present when I saw the film at the cinema. It was the first time I’d ever seen edge enhancement on a projected film print, and it’s indicative of the move towards using digital intermediates as opposed to conventional chemical colour timing in a laboratory. The fact that the entire film is stored on a computer gives technicians free reign to monkey with the image until their hearts content, and it does seem that they have gone way overboard with the artificial sharpening in some shots here. These are exactly the same shots that were affected when I saw it at the cinema, so it is the filmmakers themselves who deserve the blame for this rather than Toshiba.

The film comes with English and Japanese Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 audio tracks and Japanese subtitles, which can be disabled either on the fly using the remote control function or via the menu. A handful of extras are included - a documentary, deleted scenes, two trailers and some filmographies. For these, the subtitles unfortunately can’t be disabled. Oh yeah, and, oddly enough, this HD DVD comes in a standard amaray case, which is most annoying given that it’s a completely different size from the rest of my collection:

Meanwhile, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is, comparatively speaking, a disappointment. I’m not exactly sold on the film itself (I think Johnny Depp’s interpretation of Willy Wonka is cringe-worthily awful, the musical numbers are atrocious, and the subplot involving Christopher Lee as Wonka’s father one of the worst additions I’ve ever seen in a book-to-film adaptation), and the HD DVD’s transfer is a real let-down. Reviewers and laymen alike have been raving over it - “Best HD DVD yet!” “10/10!” and so on. Unfortunately, this is actually the worst-looking HD DVD I’ve seen so far. Like the other two Warner releases I’ve seen so far, it’s slightly edge enhanced, but, unlike Million Dollar Baby and Constantine, it’s also quite soft. Some of this is intentional - as with The Machinist, it was digitally colour timed, and Tim Burton, it would seem, took the opportunity to add a further touch of artificiality to the movie by cranking up the automated spot remover beyond what most people would consider a reasonable level. A lot of the time, the actors’ faces, even in close-up, look like those of porcelain dolls, and in some scenes, such as the early flashback to when Grandpa Joe worked at the factory, they look waxy and smeared.

These are not, however, the fault of the HD DVD. What is, however, is the overall diffuse look of the film. Throughout, it looks ill-defined and almost outright blurry, but for one occasion: the first Oompa-Loompa musical number after Augustus Gloop has been sucked into the pipes of the chocolate river. Suddenly, the softening disappears and, for a few brief moments, it becomes a 10/10 transfer. The grain that was sorely missing comes back, the individual blades of grass stop being merely a swathe of poorly-defined green, and it all seems much more three-dimensional. It doesn’t last, though, and, almost as soon as the song has finished, it goes back to its murky, diffuse look, which remains for the rest of the film.

Also problematic is the encoding. This is the first time that I’ve seen noticeable compression problems on an HD DVD, but they are here for all to see. I don’t have the specific time code references to hand (I’ll make sure to note these down when I come to do my official DVD Times review), but on at least three occasions, parts of the screen disintegrate into mushy macroblocks. One occasion involves swirling melted chocolate, while the other takes place in the midst of a series of explosions as Charlie, Wonka and Grandpa Joe right the Great Glass Elevator. These can’t have been easy scenes to compress, but this is the first time I’ve seen an HD DVD encode slip up so badly, and I genuinely hope it’s not the start of a trend. Although, given the rave reviews the transfer has been getting, even from so-called experts, I have my fears.

Finally, The Fox and the Hound, and it’s the least impressive of today’s deliveries by far. Actually, it’s a downright disgrace. Despite being promoted and packaged as some sort of 25th anniversary special edition, Disney have done a really crummy job with it. In terms of extras, there seems to be nothing here that wasn’t already present in the underwhelming line-up for the previously-released UK version of the film - we’re talking a rudimentary behind-the-scenes featurette, a couple of bonus shorts, a sing-along and a narrated “storybook”.

Of course, what really counts is the audio-visual presentation, and I’m sorry to report that it’s a complete disaster. First, the original mono mix of the film is nowhere to be seen. In its place is a Dolby Digital 5.1 remix, which sounds weak and clumsy, and very clearly wrong. Worse still is the transfer, which is nothing more than a recycle of the pan and scan LaserDisc master used for the previous DVD. That Disney would put out something so shoddy in this day and age is an absolute joke, and I am very strongly recommending that anyone thinking about picking up a copy of this seriously reconsider before plonking down a wad of cash for this lazy botch-job. This is 0/10 for video, 0/10 for audio - who are they trying to kid?

Update, October 17, 2006 03:55 PM: Regular Disney DVD reviewer Dave Boulet, whose comments about The Little Mermaid’s transfer were right on the money, has given The Fox and the Hound’s DVD an absolute savaging at DVD File - and, for once, I actually find myself nodding my head in agreement as I read a review.

My adventures in the real world

Today I was at the Job Centre, where I had to jump through various hoops to prove that I was deserving of a Jobseeker’s Allowance. The good news is that I qualify. The bad news is that I don’t see any money until the end of next week, and I’m going to have to go in every second Tuesday afternoon to sign on and demonstrate that I’ve been actively looking for work. Still, the place was considerably more cheery than the last time I was there. The dingy, public toilet-style lighting and grotty 1960s corridors have been scrapped in favour of an open office plan with comfy chairs, gaudy wallpaper and approachable if slightly patronising staff.

And then on the way back, I narrowly missed the bus. The next one wasn’t due for another half-hour, so I decided to walk part of the way. Then, just under half and hour later, when I was nearly half-way home, the next bus went sailing past me. Result: my legs are killing me.

The Omen (remake)

Fox have served up an acceptable enough disc for their remake of The Omen, but, given how utterly shoddy the film itself is, there’s really nothing to recommend here at all. I would strongly advise anyone contemplating picking up a copy of this remake to instead seek out the infinitely superior original, now available in an excellent 2-disc Collector’s Edition set.

Haven’t we seen this film before? I’ve reviewed the 2006 remake of The Omen, a lazy piece of filmmaking that seems to exist for no reason other than its 6/6/06 release date. Fox’s R2 UK DVD is serviceable enough, but the old adage applies: you can’t polish a turd.

Blu-ray: Lyris goes undercover

No, we didn’t buy a Blu-ray player - how daft do you think we are? A store in town did, however, and this afternoon, armed with the copy of Underworld: Evolution I so rashly purchased before the Blu-ray scandal broke, Lyris headed out to give Samsung’s BDP-1000 the once-over. It’s not exactly the most scientific investigation of the century, but it is a reliable report from someone who knows what they’re talking about having viewed what is supposedly one of the better Blu-ray releases on properly set up equipment. The word of the day, it would seem, is “meh”.

The DVD Wars

Okay, so the name of the site is a little misleading because only one of the high definition video formats has any claim to the name of “DVD”, but this is still a fascinating site nonetheless. Essentially, it charts various statistics relating to HD DVD and Blu-ray, using Amazon.com as its primary source, including the number of titles currently available, the average sales rankings, and the number of Google searches for each format.

Some interesting titbits: HD DVD has never had more than one title with a sales rank of under 100 at any given time (last week it was Batman Begins, this week it’s V for Vendetta); Blu-ray has never had a title with a better sales rank than 1000; consistently more people run searches for Blu-ray on Google than HD DVD when it’s (incorrectly) spelled as “HD-DVD”, but when properly spelled as “HD DVD”, it jumps right ahead. (Although, of course, that may include searches that inaccurately use “HD DVD” as a catch-all for any high definition optical media.)

Interesting results however you look at it, and well worth keeping the site bookmarked if you’re interested in seeing how this whole format war plays out.

Today is Darkplace day!

Just a reminder to everyone that the UK DVD of Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, Channel 4’s best show in years and one of the funniest spoofs I’ve ever seen, is finally released today in stores for all to buy.

Check out my review at DVD Times if you’re not already convinced, or, if you are, head over to Play.com and pick it up for only £11.99.

Hurry, or Dean Learner will have to go back into skin.

Dial M for Masterpiece

Most people have a favourite Hitchcock film. If you have any interest in cinema - hell, provided you own a television - you cannot have failed to come into contact with several of his masterpieces. Ask anyone which is their favourite Hitchcock film, and chances are they’ll name one of the following: Rebecca, Notorious, North by Northwest, Rear Window, The Birds, Psycho, Vertigo. Broadly speaking, I like all of these films, and would consider a number of them to be among the best ever created. My personal favourite Hitchcock, however, is a little unusual, in that it’s one of Hitchcock’s least Hitchcockian efforts: Dial M for Murder.

I first came into contact with this film as part of the Media Studies class I took in my final year at school. When it started, I initially thought “Oh no, not a crummy 1950s drama” (I was rather set in my ways regarding movie-watching preferences back then). But, as the minutes ticked by, I found myself getting drawn into the narrative in a way that really hadn’t happened to me before. More than anything else, I was struck by the intelligence of the script as Ray Milland, in the most wonderful gleeful bastard mode, reeled the hapless Anthony Dawson into his diabolically twisted plan. The script is ingenious: a backwards whodunit in which we are told verbally, in extreme detail, precisely how a murder is going to be committed, before showing it happening and going horribly wrong, despite the fact that its instigator thinks he’s covered every possible angle.

Hitchcock isn’t really doing anything hugely revolutionary with the camera here, although the film is noteworthy for being designed to be projected in 3D, a choice made all the more bizarre by the very static, stage-confined nature of the script (based on a play). As such, this film doesn’t cry out for attention in the manner of Vertigo or The Birds, both of which featured major technical innovations. Instead, it’s quietly confident and decidedly dependent on the writing and acting, both of which are top-notch.

One of these days, I’m going to write a full-blown review of this film. Until then, I just want to reiterate how great I think this film is. No, it doesn’t really stretch any boundaries, and I can’t really imagine it having been much of a stretch for Hitchcock to direct. But I’ve probably watched it more than any of his other films and, despite having seen it so many times, I still enjoy it just as much every time I dig it out and watch it again as I did when I first saw it back in 2000. Excellent stuff.

Mickey Mouse in shameful sex orgy

Source: Daily Mail (Ban this sick filth!!!!11~)

As if Disney didn’t have enough to contend with thanks to Christian nutters campaigning against them in America due to their belief that the word “sex” appeared on-screen in The Lion King, Disney has yet another sex scandal to add to its roster. This one, however, is not the invention of crazy religious people with over-active imaginations but a real incident. At the Disneyland Paris resort, a bunch of performers dressed as Disney characters got together for some simulated sex. Unfortunately for Disney, someone with a camcorder video’d the shocking incident and uploaded it to YouTube, which, until it was removed, permitted audiences around the world to see Minnie Mouse being roughly buggered by Goofy.

According to Yahoo! News, “appropriate action” was taken against the miscreants, although the fact that the events apparently took place in a backstage dressing room makes me wonder what the fuss is all about. Surely what goes on behind closed doors isn’t really any of the public’s concern? If I were them, I’d be spending more time working out how someone armed with a camera managed to get into a staff-only area.

The Do-It-Yourself Giallo Generator

A Yellow Parrot in a Darkened Room

Directed by Carlo Plagiarino

A frantic young woman is found dead with her head and hands cut off on stage, in front of an audience which doesn’t understand what’s going on. Her brother is unsatisfied with the official explanation of the killing. After discovering an old painting, he discovers that he himself is actually responsible; his own lover is forced to kill him before he can kill again.

I posted this link before a couple of years back, but it’s so damn neat it bears repeating. The Do-It-Yourself Giallo Generator perfectly captures everything that makes the wackiest gialli so wacky, from the ridiculous animal-themed titles with no relation to anything in the film, to the convoluted and/or nonsensical plots. Anyone who is a fan of the genre should get a kick out of this well-observed send-up.

Missed opportunities

Crap! I’ve just realised that yesterday was Friday the 13th, and I didn’t even take the opportunity to go on a scary movie binge. The closest I got was Hammer’s To the Devil a Daughter, the only remotely scary aspect of which is how far it departs from the Dennis Wheatley novel on which it purports to be based. I’ll have to make this year’s Halloween an extra-special horror-filled extravaganza to compensate.

Site update

I’ve made a couple of minor visual changes to the site. Namely, I made the text below each post (containing time, comments and categories) slightly smaller to prevent posts corresponding to a lot of categories from spilling over on to a second line, and I altered the visual style of the roll-over graphics for the buttons linking to the five main sections (see just below the site’s header graphic).

V for Vendetta and Miami Vice specs unveiled

The cover art and full specs for the upcoming HD DVD releases of V for Vendetta (October 31st) and Miami Vice (December 5th) have been unveiled (see here and here respectively).

V for Vendetta:

• 1080P 2.40:1 Widescreen
• Dolby TrueHD: English 5.1
• Dolby Digital-Plus: English 5.1, French 5.1
• English, French and Spanish subtitles
• In-Movie Experience - Director’s Notebook: Reimagining a Cult Classic for the 21st Century - Director James McTeigue (joined by stars Natalie Portman and Hugo Weaving and other creative team members) traces in detail the V saga from graphic novel origin through the movie’s execution.
• Designing the Near Future
• Remember, Remember: Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot
• England Prevails: V For Vendetta and the New Wave in Comics
• Freedom! Forever!: Making V For Vendetta
• Saturday Night Live Digital Short
• Cat Power Montage
• Theatrical Trailer

Miami Vice:

HD DVD side (HD30):

• 1080P 2.40:1 Widescreen
• Dolby TrueHD: English 5.1
• Dolby Digital-Plus: English 5.1
• English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
• Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Michael Mann
• Miami Vice Undercover
• Miami & Beyond: Shooting on Location
• Visualizing Miami Vice
• Behind the Scenes Featurettes

DVD side (DVD9):

• 2.40:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
• English, French & Spanish DD5.1 Surround
• English DVS DD2.0 Stereo
• English SDH, French & Spanish subtitles
• Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Michael Mann
• Miami & Beyond: Shooting on Location
• Miami Vice Undercover

Additionally, it should be pointed out that the HD DVD side contains the unrated director’s cut of the film, whereas the DVD side features the R-rated theatrical cut.

Looks as if both are going to be fantastic packages. In the case of Miami Vice, I’ve no idea whether or not the extras themeselves will be in high definition on the HD DVD side (similar to the recent Blu-ray release of Click), but either way, having all the extras on the HD side (and indeed, more than there are on the standard definition side) is indeed convenient. This, and the inclusion of a Dolby TrueHD track, shows the major benefit of having been able to get dual-layer HD DVD/dual-layer DVD combo discs working.

I’m looking forward to seeing this film, by the way. I’ve never seen the TV series on which it’s based, and the only Michael Mann films I’ve come into contact with are Manhunter and The Last of the Mohicans, but I’ve heard so much about Miami Vice, both good and bad, that I’m itching to make up my own mind about it.

Update, December 19, 2006 05:47 PM: Fixed dead link.

Mother of Tears production begins soon

Source: Dark Discussion

Dario Argento : effettuati i sopralluoghi a Torino nell’ultima settimana di agosto, partiranno il 23 ottobre, e proseguiranno per sei settimane, le riprese del suo nuovo film, La terza madre , protagonista Asia Argento; cast tecnico locale: 30 unità.
Produzione Opera Film tel. 06/80691277

Hi everybody

it seems the locations in Turin were surveyed at the end of August and a tunnel for the final horrific scene was chosen. The shooting will start on October 23rd with a local crew of 30 people and it’ll last for six weeks.

Even though Turin has always proved visually magnificent in Argento’s films, I still hope the movie will be partly set in the Italian capital. Just imagine Dario’s visionary flair in the catacombs of Ancient Rome…

Ciao
Carlo

This is most excellent news, although the news that the production is to take place in Turin rather than Rome (which I believe I read before) is rather surprising. Given that we know from Inferno that Mater Lachrymarum holds rule over Rome, I’m assuming Turin will be standing in for the capital city in much the same way that it did in Profondo Rosso. Still, I’m slightly disappointed that we won’t be seeing any of the landmarks - I’d love to have seen the exterior of the library from Inferno again, for example. Ah well, perhaps there will be some location shooting.

Update, October 12, 2006 10:36 PM: Fangoria has a piece on the news as well. Apparently Udo Kier will be playing “a priest/exorcist”.

Halloween: what can you expect?

As I’m sure won’t have escaped your notice, Halloween 2006 is only slightly over two weeks away. DVD Times always does a special round-up of scary reviews to coincide with the special event, and in the past I’ve always made a point of contributing as many as I can. This year will be no exception, and I’ve got several titles in the pipeline that I intend to cover.

This year, I’m going to make a point of reviewing as much HD DVD material as possible. Unfortunately, high definition horror films are a little scarce at the moment, but I’ve been able to come up with a few:

• Constantine
• Land of the Dead
• The Machinist
• Sleepy Hollow

In addition to those, I’ll be covering some standard definition releases as well:

• The Beyond: Limited Edition (R0 USA)
• Death Laid an Egg (R2 Japan)
• Plot of Fear (R0 Italy)
• Seven Notes in Black: Collector’s Edition (R2 France)

Obviously, I can’t guarantee that every single one of these will be finished in time, but I wrote Plot of Fear’s review today, so it at least should be going up.

Update, November 04, 2006 10:43 AM: I’m disabling commenting on this entry because it seems to be attracting an inordinate amount of spam.

Alias: Season 5

I’ve pre-ordered the R2 UK release of the fifth and final season of Alias (or Alias: The Complete Fifth Series, as it says on the packaging) from Play.com. I’ve heard mixed reports about the breakneck-paced spy drama’s final hours, but, having only seen the first episode of the season myself, I’m looking forward to seeing the final 17 episodes (the show had to take a break part-way through the season due to Jennifer Garner’s pregnancy, which resulted in a shorter than usual run) and making up my own mind about them. For my money, Season 1 was very good, Season 2 was excellent, Season 3 was not quite as good as what preceeded it but still of a high standard, and Season 4 was overall a disappointment.

Alias: The Complete Series, a deluxe box set featuring all five seasons, a bonus disc and a whole bunch of unique material like an exclusive hardcover book and packaging designed to look like the Rambaldi Box from the show (see details here for the UK release and here for the US version, due out a day later), is due out at the same time. If I hadn’t already collected Seasons 1 through 4, this would be a very tempting prospect, but I think I’ll pass. As much as I’d like a Rambaldi box, I don’t have $200 to spare!

So who’s really in Mother of Tears?

There’s been a lot of speculation regarding the cast of Dario Argento’s upcoming conclusion to the Three Mothers trilogy, Mother of Tears. Back when it was originally announced, an Italian film news site ran a bogus story featuring a made-up synopsis and attaching several actors who, as it turns out, have nothing to do with the film. The real story has since emerged (and been pulled, presumably because US producer Myriad Pictures doesn’t want people to look forward to the movie), and several actors have come forward to confirm that they are appearing in it. Therefore, without further ado, the full list of attached names and whether or not they’re really attached:

• Asia Argento - Yes
• Chiara Caselli - No
• Ennio Fantastichini - No
• Valeria Golino - No
• Udo Kier - Yes
• Sienna Miller - No
• Daria Nicolodi - Yes
• Giordano Petri* - No
• Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni - Yes
• Max von Sydow - No

There you go. The cast of Non Ho Sonno ain’t in this one, people, so I strongly recommend ignoring anything in the film’s IMDB profile, as some fool keeps adding those erroneous names to it almost as quickly as I can delete them.

* This person doesn’t even seem to exist, given that Mother of Tears is the only film in his IMDB profile.

It’s official: I’m a sponger

As of today, Captain Whiggles is officially collecting what is known as a Jobseeker’s Allowance. That’s right, I am to receive £45 per week provided I’m actively seeking a job. And that I am: I’m currently pursuing a few lines of inquiry, including a transcription job, the Prospect Solution post I mentioned a while back, and a few other less appealing ones. Still, until I actually successfully find a job, just think: you, the British taxpayer, will sort of be paying me to spout off on the Internet… which, in a way, is kind of neat. Don’t worry, though: I intend to spout extra-hard to earn my keep.

V for Vendetta coming to HD DVD

Source: High-Def Digest

Against my better judgement, I bought the standard definition release of V for Vendetta back when it was released in August, knowing full well that an HD DVD version, probably with an exclusive In-Movie Experience feature, would be coming out shortly. And it turns out I was right: Warner has announced that they will be releasing it on October 31, with “an In-Movie Experience interactive video commentary track, plus the exclusive ‘Director’s Notebook: Reimagining a Cult Classic for the 21st Century’ featurette”, in addition to all the extras of the 2-disc standard definition release. Naturally, I’ll have to pick it up. The film is flawed but definitely interesting, and rather unique for a Hollywood product.

Under Siege and Excalibur are also hitting shelves on the same day. I may pick up Excalibur too, as it’s a film I’ve been curious to see for a while.

Update, October 12, 2006 09:30 PM: Front and back cover art now available at The Man Room.