Category: Movie Dramas (Page 159 of 188)

Blu Tuesday: Slumdog Millionaire, South Pacific and Riddick

March 31, 2009 /

Today’s Blu-ray offerings aren’t quite as good as the avalanche of titles from last week, but there are still a number of strong films to consider, including some of 2008’s biggest earners and a handful of catalog reissues.

“Slumdog Millionaire” (Fox Searchlight)

Most avid movie fans are probably going to want to own the Best Picture winner, but “Slumdog Millionaire” is so good that it deserves a place in everyone’s collection. Director Danny Boyle has never made a bad film to my knowledge, but this is by far his best thanks to the amazing cast of actors led by Dev Patel and Frieda Pinto. I’m still a little confused why Patel wasn’t nominated for an acting award (surely the Academy could have given him Michael Shannon’s spot), but considering just how many other awards it won at this year’s Oscars, I’m willing to overlook the omission. Unfortunately, while the movie looks absolutely brilliant in HD, Fox’s Blu-ray release doesn’t include any additional material. Some kind of BD-Live trivia game (done in the style of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” of course) would have been fun, but it doesn’t really change the fact that this is the must-own title of the week.

“South Pacific” (20th Century Fox)

The Rodgers & Hammerstein classic isn’t exactly my cup of tea (read: musical), but it’s certainly one of the most unique films in the genre. Along with utilizing colored filters throughout the course of the movie, it’s also the only musical I’ve ever seen that features a song performed exclusively as thoughts in its characters’ heads. Fans of the film really have no reason not to upgrade, because for a 50-year-old film, the picture looks absolutely incredible. The two-disc set also includes a host of extras like a special “Road Show” edition of the movie, karaoke sing-a-long subtitles, two audio commentaries, a rare Mitzi Gaynor screen test, a full-length documentary and much, much more.

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Trailer Alert: “Where the Wild Things Are”

March 25, 2009 /

The film adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s beloved children’s book, “Where the Wild Things Are,” has endured a difficult road on the way to the big screen, including reshoots and even rumors that Warner Bros. would be replacing Spike Jonze as director. Now that the movie has a firm release date, however, it looks as if we’ll finally get to see it after all. The first trailer made it’s debut on “Ellen” earlier today, and well, I think it speaks for itself. Check out the preview below and let us know what you think.

External Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, Trailers

Essential Art House Vol. II

March 24, 2009 /

The second collection of past Criterion releases – stripped of their DVD extras (and more than half their cost) – presents an even better, more accessible collection of films from the cinephile-sanctified vaults of legendary distributor Janus Films than the prior volume. This boxed set (the titles are also sold separately) is highlighted by three of the most entertaining and emotionally open films by three of the mid-20th century’s most revered filmmaking powerhouses: François Truffaut’s innovative 1959 coming-of-age drama, “The 400 Blows”, starring a 14-year-old Jean-Pierre Léaud, set the pattern for the genre worldwide, while also launching France’s iconoclastic New Wave of the 1960s; Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 “Ikiru” is a deeply moving and gently humorous film about a milquetoast bureaucrat (Takashi Shimura, the fish-faced badass leader of “The Seven Samurai”) facing certain death from stomach cancer without benefit of a billionaire buddy or bucket list; and 1954’s “La Strada” is a wondrous surefire tearjerker by the great Federico Fellini and starring his wife, the even greater Giulietta Masina, as a Chaplinesque waif, and America’s own Anthony Quinn as a very mean muscleman. England’s 1944 “The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp,” starring Roger Livesay and Anton Walbrook – two great actors, too little remembered – and featuring an astonishing film debut by gorgeous 24-year-old A-lister-to-be, Deborah Kerr, is from the still-not-legendary-enough team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It’s one of the most enjoyable comedy-dramas ever made, as well as an eye-opening, Technicolor, quasi-wartime propaganda epic, and my current unofficial “all-time favorite movie,” if you really want me to name one.

Definitely worthwhile, but not anyway near the same category, is another British entry, George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion.” Co-directed by star Leslie Howard (“Gone with the Wind”) and stage-to-screen specialist Anthony Asquith, and with Wendy Hiller as the definitive Eliza Doolittle, it’s a solid but sometimes slow adaptation of the Shaw play, which you may know as “My Fair Lady,” but without the music or sentiment, or “Pretty Woman,” but without hookers and with actual wit. Finally, we have 1959’s “Black Orpheus”, Marcel Camus’ retelling of the myth of Orpheus, samba style. It’s a beautiful but slow ride that has millions of fans – just not me. All in all, there’s no faulting this collection. However, the absence of DVD extras makes a strong case for curious viewers to simply join Netflix and rent the original Criterion releases, great bonus features and all.

Click to buy “Essential Art House Vol. II”

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Blu Tuesday: Twilight, Bolt and Bond

March 24, 2009 /

Get ready to clean out your bank account, because there are plenty of great high-def titles hitting stores this week. So many, in fact, that I don’t have the space (or time) to talk about every one. James Bond fans will probably see the biggest dent in their savings, however, as five different titles have received the Blu-ray treatment. Let’s go ahead and jump right in with arguably the biggest title of the week.

“Twilight” (Summit Entertainment)

It’s not very often that a film adaptation is better than the source material, but then again, Stephanie Meyer’s novel really isn’t as good as its rabid fanbase would lead you to believe. Female moviegoers may have made “Twilight” a pop culture phenomenon, but that doesn’t mean guys won’t enjoy it too. It’s no “Lost Boys,” but it’s still worth seeing once. For some strange reason, however, the Blu-ray edition is exclusive to Best Buy and Target until May 5th, when Amazon unleashes their ultimate collector’s edition. Diehard fans looking to get their HD fix would be better of just waiting for that version, because despite the fact that it contains the exact same bonus material (audio commentary, deleted/extended scenes, making-of featurette), it also contains a sneak peak at the upcoming sequel, “New Moon.”

“Bolt” (Walt Disney)

Credit Disney for one thing: they understand the needs of their consumers. While many studios have adopted the idea of including digital copies, Disney has taken it one step further by packing every major Blu-ray title with a digital copy and a DVD version of the film. After all, kids tend to watch movies on the go, and since there currently aren’t any portable Blu-ray players on the market, it encourages parents to purchase the hi-def version without having to buy a DVD version for the road. Unfortunately, the extras aren’t quite as revolutionary, though there are a few cool art galleries that make me wish I could buy some of the prints for my home. Plus, kids and parents will both get a kick out of the “Super Rhino” short. It’s a great complement to what is easily Disney’s best CG film to date.

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Action Movies, External Movie DVDs, Horror Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movie DVDs, Movies

Welcome to the Concession Stand

March 17, 2009 /

Welcome to a new feature here on Premium Hollywood…and, believe me, it’s one I’ve been wanting to premiere for quite some time. I’m someone who enjoys trying new foods and new beverages, and I’ve often thought it would be fun to write a column which gave me the opportunity to write about the experience. Unfortunately, I’m forever buried in DVDs that need to be reviewed. Finally, I had an epiphany: why don’t I figure out a way to combine the two?

And, thus, “Concession Stand” was born.

The beverage: Mountain Dew Voltage.

Last year, over a quarter million votes helped Voltage win the so-called “DEWmocracy” election, with the taste, name and color of the product all developed by the customers themselves…well, y’know, with a little help from the folks at PepsiCo. (What, like they’re gonna give the yokels all the power?) As the bottle proudly trumpets, it’s your standard Dew brew, but charged with raspberry citrus flavor and ginseng. The color of the beverage is a slightly disconcerting shade of blue, but the raspberry mixes with the traditional Dew flavor rather well, making the taste not so far removed from a Sweet Tart. If it’s icy cold, it goes down fast and smooth…which is good, since it’s so sweet that drinking it slowly may result in you taking awhile to finish the bottle, but caffeine fiends with a sweet tooth will have no problem chugging it down to score the inevitable rush.

When I was pitched the opportunity to check out Voltage, they sent me three bottles of the stuff, so I scoured my to-be-reviewed pile to see if I had three DVDs featuring the same person in some role or other. Lo and behold, I did…and that person’s name was Lea Thompson.

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