Black Friday deals I picked up.

I didn't do much shopping this year, but I did pick up some DVD's. A few seasons of shows from a best buy, in Taylor, MI and then I got several deals on used DVD's from Family Video. Here's my haul:

From Best Buy: Dexter Season 4, Justified season 1, The Big Bang Theory season 4. Picked up each for less than $9. I also got a Blu Ray copy of Trainspotting for $3 and for a buck a copy of How William Shatner Changed the World. Also from Best Buy, I grabbed a new pair of ear buds, with Wolverine on them, now I can really rock.


My Family Video deals included Blu Ray copies of Captain America, the first Avenger, True Grit, and Transformers Dark of the Moon, along with standard DVD versions of Pirates: Quest for Snake Island, The Last Lovecraft Relic of Cthulu, Growing the Big One, I Am number Four, Horrible Bosses, Win Win, Your Highness, Boogie Woogie, Legend of the Guardians the Owls of Ga'Hoole, Hard Breakers, Christmas Caper and A Christmas Carol (The Jim Carrey version.)

I'm quite pleased with my haul.

Red State on Blu Ray

Red State unfolds in a small town dominated by a fundamentalist preacher, Abin Cooper. It tells the story of three high school boys who, on their way to an internet arranged meeting with a woman, end up crossing paths with Cooper. The encounter sets into motion a series of events that causes all hell to break loose.

Disclaimer: I first saw this film at the State Theater in Ann Arbor, Michigan during the Red State USA Tour, and the first section of this review was written in March right after I saw the film. You'll notice that it ends with me saying no one could review Michael Park's performance after a single viewing. So tonight, with Blu*Ray in hand, I pick up the second viewing, plus get to see all the awesome special features. Here's the DVD, let's all go inside.

To sum it up briefly and what would happen if the Coen Brothers directed a Quentin Tarrantino script? Probably something similar to Red State.

Let's start with the easy part of this review. Visually this is NOT a Kevin Smith film, it's pure cinematical gold when it comes to how it looks, which is a surprise to anyone that has ever seen any other Smith film. Done on a $4 million dollar budget, this looks like it could easily have been a $10-15 film based on production values, they definitely got the bang for their buck.

Casting wise the film hits it's mark with not a single cast member being a letdown in their role, there is no one that I would think to re-cast, my only complaint is with Kevin Pollack, but if I were to elaborate at all it would ruin a major plot point so I can't. Suffice it to say that it's not his fault, it's the character.

Moving on to the film as a whole, it was disjointed at times, but overall a solid B. The only sticking part to me personally was the sermon in the middle of the film, it drug on a bit too long for my liking, but that could have been more the theater I saw it in, the sound system wasn't the greatest, people near me were loud and I had trouble hearing some of what he was saying, making me lose interest in the scene. Still it seemed to drag on, but the pacing and the story for the first act and the third act were phenomenal. I don't think that you can call this a 'horror' film in the traditional sense, though tonally that is the best category I can think of except maybe quasi-reality.

There are some very funny moments, a few scary moments, and a lot of moments that are just simply tough to process as an audience member. Ralph Garmin gave a fucking eerie performance in a non-speaking role as Caleb, his eyes simply gave me chills. John Goodman was scary good as ATF agent Joseph Kennan. Stephen Root basically played the character he had played in True Blood, just as a cop instead of a vampire, his death scene was my favorite death, and quite ironic in the way it happens. Michael Parks was astounding as bat-shit crazy Abin Coopin, it would be criminal for me to attempt to critique him after having only seen the film once.

This film, unlike other Kevin Smith's flick will not enter the cultural zeitgeist. His best films in no particular order, Clerks, Dogma and Chasing Amy all have made deep impacts into pop culture, his 'lesser' films wouldn't even be remembered by most except that he is so willing to openly discuss his failures. Though I don't think he's made a bad movie, just a few not as good as his others.

This is his greatest film, from a film making standpoint, it's visually pleasing, has many action actions and is often hard to tell that he wrote or directed it. That's a good thing though, he's grown up as a film maker, and its sad to say that he's only got one more project, two more flicks in total before he heads off to retirementville or podcast land.

Even as messy as the overall story is, there are elements of this film that are wonderful. The acting is nothing short of mesmerizing; the editing of action sequences is superb and the setting of the Christian compound is frighteningly authentic. Kevin Smith even scores points for ambition. This is a film that he personally financed and is also possibly his first movie with subtext. While the subtext is still more overt than most, it has some insight into the dichotomy between faith in religion vs. faith in government.

Red State is not perfect, but it is fairly original. In a time where everyone relies on shock value, Red State actually has genuinely shocking moments. I don’t see die-hard Christians loving this film, but if you have malleable religious beliefs or at least possess the ability to separate fiction from reality, you may not hate it.

Special Features include:

• "The Making of RED STATE" Documentary
• "RED STATE of the Union" SModcasts
• The Sundance Speech with Introduction by Kevin Smith
• A Conversation with Michael Parks with Introduction by Kevin Smith
• Deleted Scenes with Introductions by Kevin Smith
• Trailers with Introduction by Kevin Smith
• Poster Gallery with Introduction by Kevin Smith 

Batman: Year One REVIEWED!

    Let's start with the biggest extra feature on the disc, the DC Showcase: Catwoman short, the short films included on these discs are just as good if not better than some of the features. In this case, geek goddess Eliza Dushku voices Catwoman.

In just the second scene of the short here, the viewer quickly learns that while an animated film, it's definitely not for kids, as the majority of the action in the first half of the short is set in a strip club. While never showing full on nudity, it does show the dancer's top get thrown at the main antagonist, Rough Cut from across the room. The dancer is then shown with her long golden hair covering her breasts the rest of the scene she is in.

   The action quickly shifts to a car chase and then a warehouse on the Gotham docks where we find out that Rough Cut is smuggling more than just diamonds this time around.

This short is basically a carryover from the Year One movie, though having watched the short first I didn't necessarily know that at the onset, though I have read the comic so I did know it at the same time, hopefully that's not confusing to the readers out there in internet land.

   The voice cast is excellent, though there isn't much there outside of Dushku, who played the character in the feature length version as well as in this short.

Moving on to the feature film. Batman: Year One, it was an excellent comic, one of the few I've read in recent years for those that have followed former posts you'll know what I am referring to.

   The film starts off with a voice over from Bruce Wayne, and we quickly learn that the voice actor chosen here, is definitely no Kevin Conroy, the man did such a bad job I'm not even gonna bother typing out his name here, he simply sounds like he is trying to mimic Conroy, though he's not very good at even that. Jim Gordon's voice actor, Bryan Cranston, did an excellent job. Overall this is probably the worst overall voice cast in the DCU line so far. Though that's partially because the rest of the films have all had excellent casts.

Overall this film suffers from being too loyal to the source material. Way to many voice overs and not enough action for a movie of this sort. This type of story telling just doesn't work in this medium. It worked super well for the comic, but it just leaves too much to be desired in the film version.

   The story recounts the beginning of Bruce Wayne's career as Batman and Jim Gordon's with the Gotham City Police Department. Bruce Wayne returns home to Gotham City from training abroad in martial arts, man hunting, and science for the past 12 years, and James Gordon moves to Gotham with his wife, Barbara, after a transfer from Chicago. Both are swiftly acquainted with the corruption and violence of Gotham City, with Gordon witnessing his partner Detective Flass assaulting a teen for fun.

   On a surveillance mission to the seedy East End, a disguised Bruce is propositioned by teenaged prostitute Holly Robinson. He is reluctantly drawn into a brawl with her violent pimp and is attacked by several prostitutes, including dominatrix Selina Kyle. Two police officers shoot and take him in their squad car, but a dazed and bleeding Bruce breaks his handcuffs and causes a crash, dragging the police to a safe distance before fleeing. He reaches Wayne Manor barely alive and sits before his father’s bust, requesting guidance in his war on crime. A bat crashes through a window and settles on the bust, giving him the inspiration to become a bat.

   There’s still novelty in seeing different sides to these beloved characters: Jim Gordon beating up corrupt police officers and leaving them naked in the road, Batman really struggling to fight his foes, often times losing the brawl and getting shot/beat up. Neither man is perfect or “superhero”-like – and it’s the introduction of such moral ambiguities – Batman’s incompetence, Gordon’s rashness and disloyalty – that makes the film stand out, much to the same effect as its comic counterpart.

   The true draw to this film is that it humanizes the Bat, we see him not as the nearly infallible idea that so many have come to know and fear, but as a man that is still very much learning his trade, that's what makes this story good regardless of the medium it is being told in.

The film fits somewhere in the upper third or so of the 16 or 17 (I've lost count, sorry...) films already released in the DCU line.

These special features are included on the Blu-Ray disc, which is what I am reviewing from.

•Sneak Peek at Justice League: Doom, the next DC Universe Animated Original Movie

DC Showcase Animated Original Short – “Catwoman”: This all-new entry to the growing canon of DC Universe animated shorts features the first first solo tale centered around Catwoman. The felonious feline’s adventure takes her through the seedy streets of Gotham City.

•Featurette –”Heart of Vengeance: Returning Batman to His Roots”: The Dark Knight Returns provided the denouement of Batman’s life. Frank Miller’s next seminal work would provide his near-mythic origin in Batman: Year One. This documentary uncovers the contemporary genius of Miller and the audience that was poised to appreciate the depths of his work.
•Featurette –”Conversations with DC Comics”: The Batman creative team at DC Entertainment discusses the personal influence of Batman: Year One on their careers. Batman producer Michael Uslan leads the chat amongst well-known writers, editors and artists of the Batman lore, focusing their dialogue on the darker, realistic interpretation of Batman’s origins by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli
• Audio Commentary with Alan Burnett, Sam Liu, Mike Carlin and Andrea Romano
• Batman: Year One, Chapter 1 Digital Comic Book
• Two bonus episodes from Batman: The Animated Series hand-picked by Bruce Timm
• Digital copy on disc of the feature film compatible with iTunes and Windows

   Next up for the DC animated film line, Justice League: Doom, I can't wait!

The Emerald Knight Goes Blu (Ray)

    As if being a box office disappointment and a critical flop weren't bad enough -- it's strange labeling a $200 million worldwide take a flop or a disappointment, and yet it was both -- Green Lantern left film fans and comic fans cold. And, for once, a comicbook adaptation alienated moviegoers of all stripes for the same reasons, regardless of how familiar they were with DC Comics' space-faring saga. Where to begin? 
   Director Martin Campbell's interstellar superhero actioner is too slow, too uneventful, too melodramatic, too anticlimactic, and offers too little too late. More? Its casting is riddled with odd choices and poor picks, its superpower showcases and superpowered showdowns are dull and CG-driven, its attachment to Earth infuriating, its performances clunky and inconsistent, its tone too disjointed, its hero too shallow, its fourth tier human villains too cheesy, its planet-chomping alien menace too cartoonish, and its true Big Bad relegated to the bench until an end-credits sequence calls him in for a sequel that might not ever come to fruition. Long story short...
   Green Lantern has high aspirations but never quite gets off the ground. I expected a lot of CG, I mean how else could it have been done, but this is just bad.  Initially I enjoyed it when I saw it on the big screen, but a few months later and a review on DVD really soured my views on this one.
   Video Quality
   Warner's 1080p/AVC-encoded video transfer doesn't exactly swoop in to save the day. Contrast is rather oppressive and black levels are heavy, unforgiving and, every now and then, abusive, stamping out shadow detail with abandon. It's as if someone cranked up the "in blackest night" dial but forgot to flip the "in brightest day" switch. (On a positive note, the more brutal blacks cover up some of the seams that haunt the film's CG elements, chief among them Hal's suit.) Even when the sun rises, the image lacks a bit of the brightness, crispness and clarity that should rise with it. When the sun sets, matters get infinitely worse. Crush is an issue, as is middling delineation and some muddled fine textures. Videophiles won't be easily satisfied and even those who are will probably be those who mistake the overzealous shadows that press in as thematic when they are, at least in part, indicative of something more troubling: the possibility of an over-tweaked encode. Granted, much of the deteriorating detail traces back to the source. I noticed the presence of noise reduction while watching the film in the theater and most, if not all, of the (reasonably) minor DNR that's visible here comes courtesy of Campbell and company, not Warner. Still, an eyesore is an eyesore. Closeups of Ryan Reynold's face (the refined shots at 41:09, 1:14:47 and 1:44:30 being a few of the exceptions) shouldn't look as flat, indistinct or muddy as they sometimes do.
   Which brings us to the next problem. While superpowered greens and yellows light up the screen with welcome vibrancy, Dion Beebe's palette -- or perhaps Warner's approximation of it -- looks as if it belongs in a film featuring the Dark Knight, not the Emerald Knight. While typically attractive, fleshtones don't always boast natural hues, many a primary sinks into the abyss, and shadows occasionally descend without mercy, eclipsing both the practical sets and CG environments. (Hal's confrontations with Parallax are particularly dreary and dubious. Look no further than the murky mess that is their battle at the 1:42:00 to 1:44:00 mark. Even explosions and spewing fire struggle to push back the prevailing darkness.) Thankfully, there are saving graces. Significant artifacting, banding, aliasing and ringing are nowhere to be found, detail isn't always consumed by darkness, and a variety of scenes, though still relatively dark, look quite good. Some soupy noise tries to disguise itself as filmic grain and fails, but it isn't a major distraction. All things considered, Green Lantern offers a passable, now-and-again impressive presentation, but it also stands as one of the more underwhelming superhero-adventure transfers to come along in some time. I already knew I didn't enjoy the film itself, but I thought the resulting Blu-ray release would, at the very least, blow me away. Instead, it just sort of limps along. Green Lantern was a bit brighter, a bit more colorful and, if memory serves me, a bit more detailed in theaters, but four months is a long time when it comes to memories, so take that with a grain of salt. Even so, I would recommend adjusting your expectations. The video presentation isn't as brave, brilliant or bold as you might assume. I honestly had a tough time deciding between a 3.0 and a 3.5. Fair warning: you may feel it holds steady at a 3.0 or, if you're particularly sensitive to specific issues, descends into 2.5 territory. 
   AUDIO QUALITY
   Ah, this is more like it. While Green Lantern's visuals are trapped in a maddening free fall, Warner's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track kicks on the afterburner and roars overhead. Dialogue is clean, well-grounded and intelligible throughout (minus a few lines dwarfed by mid-battle chaos) and sound effects, be they down-to-Earth or powered-by-will, remain crystal clear from start to finish. Explosions, minigun fire, Kilowog punches, jet engines, toppling buildings and burning stars take full advantage of the LFE channel, and dynamics lend power and presence to an already engrossing soundscape. The rear speakers are responsible for plenty of sonic flash and flair as well. Alien warriors rocket past, energy blasts streak across space, Parallax billows and fills the soundfield, and every intergalactic hotspot and Earthbound locale is nice and immersive. (Even though Lantern's distant planets seem to be slightly more enveloping than our own. I suppose Campbell has more to play with when he's off-world, brief as those opportunities may be.) If the film's transfer came to life with the same vividness and tenacity as Warner's mix, this would be an entirely different review.


parts of this review are taken from bluray.com.