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(10/20/05 3:12am)
Making a movie about the Crusades for post-9/11 audiences takes serious sack, and few Hollywood power players have a bigger one than Ridley Scott. His "Kingdom of Heaven" tells the tale of Balian, the French blacksmith (Orlando Bloom), who through a chance meeting with his father Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson) ends up a knight charged with the protection of Jerusalem from invading Muslims and power-hungry Christians alike in 1184 A.D.\nScott smartly keeps Kingdom grounded in secularism, pandering to neither Christian nor Muslim viewers in any way. Both sides are shown as equally misguided in their motivations. In a time where wars for land, wealth and notoriety were waged in the name of God/Allah, Balian rides the fence in full realization of how ridiculous such wars are, but fully accepting of his position as a man sworn to do honest good in the face of such atrocities.\nAesthetically, it's tough to top a Ridley flick. Cinematographer John Mathieson drops jaws with expertly staged and gloriously blood-soaked battle scenes and the 12th century setting is made wholly believable via well-crafted sets and elaborate costumes. The actors mostly hold their own, with the always reliable Jeremy Irons and David Thewlis representing opposing views of the Crusades. A masked Edward Norton is effectively spooky yet wise as King Baldwin IV and the arresting Eva Green impresses as Balian's eventual love interest. Yet it's Bloom himself who fails to fully inhabit a role of such importance. Bloom, yet to prove himself a viable leading man, is relegated almost to supporting status here, despite his top billing.\nExtras on disc two of this set include the History Channel's "History vs. Hollywood" segment on the historical accuracy of the film, A&E's "Movie Real" program on the making of the film, as well as three mini-docs on costuming, set design and visual effects. Also added here is "The Pilgrim's Guide," which is essentially a Pop-Up Video feature where notes on the film's production as well as historical trivia run in step with the movie and a curious interactive production grid allowing viewers to customize most of the making-of material to their chronological liking.\nThe recent rash of high-budget historical epics brought on by the success of Scott's own "Gladiator" in 2000, rendered ugly with artistic failures like "King Arthur" and Oliver Stone's bloated "Alexander," has been given an attractive makeover with "Kingdom of Heaven," a film which conscientiously uses history to make valid conclusions about problems plaguing today's world.
(10/13/05 4:00am)
Steven Spielberg's first foray into World War II films, unless you count 1979's godawful pseudo-comedy "1941," "Empire of the Sun" concerns itself with the fate of a young British boy (newest Batman Christian Bale, aged 12 years here) stolen away from his comfortable, upper-class existence and forced to endure the war in a Japanese prison camp in China. Generally and perhaps unfairly dismissed as one of Spielberg's select few failures as a director, "Empire of the Sun" is actually a somewhat harrowing tale of one youth's steadfastness in the face of incomprehensible adversity.\n1987 was a bad year for legitimate entertainment on all fronts, as one could argue was most entertainment from that decade, but Steve and company managed to piece together a solid telling of J.G. Ballard's autobiographical novel, which sees the young Bale conjuring up an impressive performance, as well as Malkovich respectfully hamming it as only he seems to know how.\nBale is convincing as a child ripped from his cushy existence and forced to exponentially mature in a harsh environment, yet the film tends to verge on maudlin at times, even though it never detracts from the overall experience. Viewing wartime from a child's point of view presents its advantages (heartbreakingly honest exposition), as well as its disadvantages (gratuitous belly-aching), yet Spielberg never enters the cream-puff territory of his worst films (1989's "Always" and 1991's "Hook"), but instead presents the story of J.G. Ballard without embellishment, and with a truly sympathetic eye.\nThe disc is curiously bereft of extras, except for the decent making-of doc, "A China Odyssey," and a spiffy digital transfer completed in 2001, but as with most of his films, Spielberg's vision is enough on its own to warrant a purchase. Allen Daviau's gorgeous cinematography, John Williams' always dependable scoring and Tom Stoppard's incisive screenplay are cause enough to give this mostly obscure offering an honest look.\nAlthough Spielberg would later prove himself the unsurpassed master of WWII filmmaking on both the epic emotional and historical front (1993's "Schindler's List") and the visceral combat and camaraderie front (1998's "Saving Private Ryan" and 2001's "Band of Brothers" miniseries), "Empire of the Sun" is still a curious peek into the mind of a director who was struggling to tell a unique war story of his own, but hadn't quite found his ultimate focus.
(10/13/05 4:00am)
The conversation goes like this.\nSuspiciously attractive Valley girl: Do you wanna be with me?\nMush-mouth SoCal pop-collar: (long pause) Yeah and no.\nSAVG: Well which one?\nMMSCPC: Yeah, but no, too.\nSAVG: Ok. You can always call me, yeah?
(10/13/05 3:22am)
The conversation goes like this.\nSuspiciously attractive Valley girl: Do you wanna be with me?\nMush-mouth SoCal pop-collar: (long pause) Yeah and no.\nSAVG: Well which one?\nMMSCPC: Yeah, but no, too.\nSAVG: Ok. You can always call me, yeah?
(10/13/05 2:50am)
Steven Spielberg's first foray into World War II films, unless you count 1979's godawful pseudo-comedy "1941," "Empire of the Sun" concerns itself with the fate of a young British boy (newest Batman Christian Bale, aged 12 years here) stolen away from his comfortable, upper-class existence and forced to endure the war in a Japanese prison camp in China. Generally and perhaps unfairly dismissed as one of Spielberg's select few failures as a director, "Empire of the Sun" is actually a somewhat harrowing tale of one youth's steadfastness in the face of incomprehensible adversity.\n1987 was a bad year for legitimate entertainment on all fronts, as one could argue was most entertainment from that decade, but Steve and company managed to piece together a solid telling of J.G. Ballard's autobiographical novel, which sees the young Bale conjuring up an impressive performance, as well as Malkovich respectfully hamming it as only he seems to know how.\nBale is convincing as a child ripped from his cushy existence and forced to exponentially mature in a harsh environment, yet the film tends to verge on maudlin at times, even though it never detracts from the overall experience. Viewing wartime from a child's point of view presents its advantages (heartbreakingly honest exposition), as well as its disadvantages (gratuitous belly-aching), yet Spielberg never enters the cream-puff territory of his worst films (1989's "Always" and 1991's "Hook"), but instead presents the story of J.G. Ballard without embellishment, and with a truly sympathetic eye.\nThe disc is curiously bereft of extras, except for the decent making-of doc, "A China Odyssey," and a spiffy digital transfer completed in 2001, but as with most of his films, Spielberg's vision is enough on its own to warrant a purchase. Allen Daviau's gorgeous cinematography, John Williams' always dependable scoring and Tom Stoppard's incisive screenplay are cause enough to give this mostly obscure offering an honest look.\nAlthough Spielberg would later prove himself the unsurpassed master of WWII filmmaking on both the epic emotional and historical front (1993's "Schindler's List") and the visceral combat and camaraderie front (1998's "Saving Private Ryan" and 2001's "Band of Brothers" miniseries), "Empire of the Sun" is still a curious peek into the mind of a director who was struggling to tell a unique war story of his own, but hadn't quite found his ultimate focus.
(09/29/05 4:00am)
Last fall, "Desperate Housewives," along with newly crowned Outstanding Drama Series Emmy winner "Lost," helped resurrect ABC's nightly line-up from the direst of ratings doldrums. Beginning with a bang in the form of a suicidal gunshot, the steamy storylines of suburban housewives Susan (Teri Hatcher), Lynette (Felicity Huffman), Gabrielle (cutie Eva Longoria), Bree (a mannequin-like Marcia Cross) and Edie (a brutally Botoxed Nicollette Sheridan) weave amongst one another with the darkly comic delight of "Dallas" in its prime. The whole season is even one big "Who Shot J.R.?" moment as the ladies attempt, eventually successfully, to solve the "mystery" of their friend's suicide.\nThe show works just fine on the level of weekly guilty pleasure, in the same way dieters afford themselves a slice of cheesecake now and again, but like cheesecake, "Housewives" offers a brief moment of pleasure followed by a weeks' worth of guilt. Guilt for what? I guess I could only watch so many flaccid vignettes of Gabrielle cavorting with the cookie-cutter gardener or the hussy-fied antics of an aging Edie before feeling, well, icky. Ickier still is the constant voice-over narration, provided by the spirit of the first episode's suicide victim, which pontificates on all goings-on in smug tones. The show's writers are clearly whip-smart when it comes to punchy dialogue, and the actresses all hold their weight, but so much of the show still manages to feel as wooden as Wisteria Lane's perfect picket fences.\nBonus features on this 23-episode, six-disc set consist of seven deleted scenes with optional commentary from writer Marc Cherry, self-congratulatory commentary by Cherry and director Larry Shaw on five episodes and giggly commentary by the female leads on some of their favorite scenes, which comes off like the "Laguna Beach" girls sharing gossip in the powder room. Also included are six supposedly "Unrated & Extended" episodes, which is misleading considering they're no racier and barely longer than the original airings. Perhaps most tellingly is the duo of mini-docs featuring Meredith Viera of "The View" and the omnipotent Oprah, both doing their best to show support for the program and to boost real-life housewife viewership.\nThe constant barrage of generously airbrushed advertisements in various media for the Season 2 of "Desperate Housewives" promise this season will be "juicy." While that come-on is about as tempting to me as seeing the word "juicy" written on the back of an 8-year-old girl's gym shorts, there's little doubt that the show's ratings will continue to soar. Unless the writers run out of soapy plotlines involving marriage melancholia, illicit sexcapades and near-laughable gunplay, like on so many primetime soaps in the past, in which case the women of Wisteria Lane could jump the neighborhood shark.
(09/29/05 12:58am)
Last fall, "Desperate Housewives," along with newly crowned Outstanding Drama Series Emmy winner "Lost," helped resurrect ABC's nightly line-up from the direst of ratings doldrums. Beginning with a bang in the form of a suicidal gunshot, the steamy storylines of suburban housewives Susan (Teri Hatcher), Lynette (Felicity Huffman), Gabrielle (cutie Eva Longoria), Bree (a mannequin-like Marcia Cross) and Edie (a brutally Botoxed Nicollette Sheridan) weave amongst one another with the darkly comic delight of "Dallas" in its prime. The whole season is even one big "Who Shot J.R.?" moment as the ladies attempt, eventually successfully, to solve the "mystery" of their friend's suicide.\nThe show works just fine on the level of weekly guilty pleasure, in the same way dieters afford themselves a slice of cheesecake now and again, but like cheesecake, "Housewives" offers a brief moment of pleasure followed by a weeks' worth of guilt. Guilt for what? I guess I could only watch so many flaccid vignettes of Gabrielle cavorting with the cookie-cutter gardener or the hussy-fied antics of an aging Edie before feeling, well, icky. Ickier still is the constant voice-over narration, provided by the spirit of the first episode's suicide victim, which pontificates on all goings-on in smug tones. The show's writers are clearly whip-smart when it comes to punchy dialogue, and the actresses all hold their weight, but so much of the show still manages to feel as wooden as Wisteria Lane's perfect picket fences.\nBonus features on this 23-episode, six-disc set consist of seven deleted scenes with optional commentary from writer Marc Cherry, self-congratulatory commentary by Cherry and director Larry Shaw on five episodes and giggly commentary by the female leads on some of their favorite scenes, which comes off like the "Laguna Beach" girls sharing gossip in the powder room. Also included are six supposedly "Unrated & Extended" episodes, which is misleading considering they're no racier and barely longer than the original airings. Perhaps most tellingly is the duo of mini-docs featuring Meredith Viera of "The View" and the omnipotent Oprah, both doing their best to show support for the program and to boost real-life housewife viewership.\nThe constant barrage of generously airbrushed advertisements in various media for the Season 2 of "Desperate Housewives" promise this season will be "juicy." While that come-on is about as tempting to me as seeing the word "juicy" written on the back of an 8-year-old girl's gym shorts, there's little doubt that the show's ratings will continue to soar. Unless the writers run out of soapy plotlines involving marriage melancholia, illicit sexcapades and near-laughable gunplay, like on so many primetime soaps in the past, in which case the women of Wisteria Lane could jump the neighborhood shark.
(09/22/05 4:00am)
In 2000, seven years and four albums into his career, Manchester, England's own David Gray infiltrated the mainstream with the gorgeously infectious electro-folk of White Ladder. Seemingly stunned by that LP's six million sales, Gray offered up a sparse hit-and-miss, A New Day at Midnight in 2002, followed now by Life In Slow Motion, a record combining the heartfelt delivery of his early albums with the anthemic tendencies and everyman balladry of his later works, minus White Ladder's electronic flourishes.\nSlow Motion begins with Gray lamenting a Friday night out gone terribly wrong on "Alibi," a fine opener that still strives hopelessly to live up to the gripping first tracks of his past two records. Next, Gray flaunts his best Springsteen impression with the initial single, "The One I Love," a song that mirrors The Boss' "Brilliant Disguise" all the way down to the "woo-hoo's." Gray, like Springsteen, was once, as some might have forgotten, dubbed a "New Dylan," and his lyrics still hold an amazing amount of water, even if his music isn't up to par with the inspired compositions on White Ladder. Four songs in, no listener could deny that the first half of Slow Motion exists primarily as a catalyst for the bombastic title track, on which Gray finally graduates from the studio to the stadium with the help of an epic Pro-Tools orchestra and his first ever bona fide sing-along chorus. Bono and Chris Martin would be proud.\nIf the first half of Life in Slow Motion is a pensive build-up to the title track, the second half is a kind of continuous release, with Gray's pent-up emotions and undisclosed concerns finding a suitable vent of escape. Commencing with the gracious but incisive "From Here You Can Almost See the Sea," one of Gray's most understated songs, the disc's second set of five tracks continues with the wonderful "Ain't No Love," which manages to combine witty, Dylan-esque wordplay with the tunefulness of Sir Paul McCartney's "Let it Be"-era hymns.\nEvery David Gray LP has a couple of tracks that fall flat, those here being the unintentional snoozer "Nos Da Cariad" and the awkwardly titled "Hospital Food," neither of which are especially memorable or musically/lyrically inventive. No matter, since the album tidies up its messy shortcomings with the dual high-notes of the epic-length road-tripper "Now and Always" and "Disappearing World," a fittingly pretty finale to a mostly agreeable record from one of today's most dependable songwriters.
(09/22/05 1:45am)
In 2000, seven years and four albums into his career, Manchester, England's own David Gray infiltrated the mainstream with the gorgeously infectious electro-folk of White Ladder. Seemingly stunned by that LP's six million sales, Gray offered up a sparse hit-and-miss, A New Day at Midnight in 2002, followed now by Life In Slow Motion, a record combining the heartfelt delivery of his early albums with the anthemic tendencies and everyman balladry of his later works, minus White Ladder's electronic flourishes.\nSlow Motion begins with Gray lamenting a Friday night out gone terribly wrong on "Alibi," a fine opener that still strives hopelessly to live up to the gripping first tracks of his past two records. Next, Gray flaunts his best Springsteen impression with the initial single, "The One I Love," a song that mirrors The Boss' "Brilliant Disguise" all the way down to the "woo-hoo's." Gray, like Springsteen, was once, as some might have forgotten, dubbed a "New Dylan," and his lyrics still hold an amazing amount of water, even if his music isn't up to par with the inspired compositions on White Ladder. Four songs in, no listener could deny that the first half of Slow Motion exists primarily as a catalyst for the bombastic title track, on which Gray finally graduates from the studio to the stadium with the help of an epic Pro-Tools orchestra and his first ever bona fide sing-along chorus. Bono and Chris Martin would be proud.\nIf the first half of Life in Slow Motion is a pensive build-up to the title track, the second half is a kind of continuous release, with Gray's pent-up emotions and undisclosed concerns finding a suitable vent of escape. Commencing with the gracious but incisive "From Here You Can Almost See the Sea," one of Gray's most understated songs, the disc's second set of five tracks continues with the wonderful "Ain't No Love," which manages to combine witty, Dylan-esque wordplay with the tunefulness of Sir Paul McCartney's "Let it Be"-era hymns.\nEvery David Gray LP has a couple of tracks that fall flat, those here being the unintentional snoozer "Nos Da Cariad" and the awkwardly titled "Hospital Food," neither of which are especially memorable or musically/lyrically inventive. No matter, since the album tidies up its messy shortcomings with the dual high-notes of the epic-length road-tripper "Now and Always" and "Disappearing World," a fittingly pretty finale to a mostly agreeable record from one of today's most dependable songwriters.
(09/15/05 4:00am)
Before its premiere last autumn, ABC's "Lost" drew baseless comparisons to "Survivor," "Cast Away" and every previous deserted-island vehicle since film and television began. Thirty minutes into the pilot, anyone fearing a watered-down "Robinson Crusoe" retread was silenced, and most who experienced "Lost" from its initial episode were hooked until Season One's three-hour finale last May. Rarely does a television show emerge so fully formed, containing characters with such depth, cinematography so striking, production values so exhaustive or a storyline so concurrently enthralling and maddening. "Lost" is one of these rare shows, and this "Complete First Season" box set presents, in a concise package, all 24 episodes in the series so far.\nIf "Lost" has a single negative characteristic, it's that anyone attempting to mount the bandwagon mid-series is in for a truly confusing ride. What's this monster/security system terrorizing the castaways? Where did the polar bears come from? Who are the "Others?" What's inside the hatch? What do these individual character flashbacks tell us about what's happening on the island itself? The good thing for novices is that most of us longtime fans don't even know the entire answer to most of these questions, and it's best that way. "Lost" reveals itself, unhurriedly but undeniably, in paper-thin layers and, if you can't handle the merciless suspense and utter lack of gratuitous reveals, you'd best not invest your time. Anyone accustomed to the writing and storytelling talents of those involved, including creator J.J. Abrams and producer Damon Lindelof, shouldn't quibble over their ability to bring this tale to a logical and thrilling conclusion, no matter how many, or how few, seasons it warrants.\nHighlights among the eight-plus hours of special features on this seven-disc set include director, writer and cast commentary on five of the season's episodes, 13 deleted scenes and unaired flashback segments offering further insight into the massive cast of primary characters, as well as the perfunctory blooper reel revealing the cast to be mere mortals after all. Most essential to devoted "Lost-philes" are the series of documentaries covering the original impetus of the series ("The Genesis of Lost"), the meticulous procedure of location scouting in Hawaii ("Lost: On Location") and a look at the arduous casting process ("Before They Were Lost"), which whittled down hundreds of potential cast members to a much smaller stable of mostly lesser-known actors whose characters' stories fans of the show have since become invested in.\nWith Season Two premiering on ABC September 21, "Lost" should soon prove itself either an extraordinarily enigmatic one-season-wonder or a mesmerizing dramatic series with serious staying power. Given the sustained excellence of Season One from the first to final frame, I'd put my money on the latter.
(09/15/05 2:08am)
Before its premiere last autumn, ABC's "Lost" drew baseless comparisons to "Survivor," "Cast Away" and every previous deserted-island vehicle since film and television began. Thirty minutes into the pilot, anyone fearing a watered-down "Robinson Crusoe" retread was silenced, and most who experienced "Lost" from its initial episode were hooked until Season One's three-hour finale last May. Rarely does a television show emerge so fully formed, containing characters with such depth, cinematography so striking, production values so exhaustive or a storyline so concurrently enthralling and maddening. "Lost" is one of these rare shows, and this "Complete First Season" box set presents, in a concise package, all 24 episodes in the series so far.\nIf "Lost" has a single negative characteristic, it's that anyone attempting to mount the bandwagon mid-series is in for a truly confusing ride. What's this monster/security system terrorizing the castaways? Where did the polar bears come from? Who are the "Others?" What's inside the hatch? What do these individual character flashbacks tell us about what's happening on the island itself? The good thing for novices is that most of us longtime fans don't even know the entire answer to most of these questions, and it's best that way. "Lost" reveals itself, unhurriedly but undeniably, in paper-thin layers and, if you can't handle the merciless suspense and utter lack of gratuitous reveals, you'd best not invest your time. Anyone accustomed to the writing and storytelling talents of those involved, including creator J.J. Abrams and producer Damon Lindelof, shouldn't quibble over their ability to bring this tale to a logical and thrilling conclusion, no matter how many, or how few, seasons it warrants.\nHighlights among the eight-plus hours of special features on this seven-disc set include director, writer and cast commentary on five of the season's episodes, 13 deleted scenes and unaired flashback segments offering further insight into the massive cast of primary characters, as well as the perfunctory blooper reel revealing the cast to be mere mortals after all. Most essential to devoted "Lost-philes" are the series of documentaries covering the original impetus of the series ("The Genesis of Lost"), the meticulous procedure of location scouting in Hawaii ("Lost: On Location") and a look at the arduous casting process ("Before They Were Lost"), which whittled down hundreds of potential cast members to a much smaller stable of mostly lesser-known actors whose characters' stories fans of the show have since become invested in.\nWith Season Two premiering on ABC September 21, "Lost" should soon prove itself either an extraordinarily enigmatic one-season-wonder or a mesmerizing dramatic series with serious staying power. Given the sustained excellence of Season One from the first to final frame, I'd put my money on the latter.
(09/15/05 12:18am)
Steven Spielberg was 27 years old when he made "Jaws." He was hired on pure faith by the producers, and not since someone put Alexander the Great in charge have the top brass possessed keener foresight. Alexander was nothing if not a populist, and one who knew how to spin straw into gold with the best of them. Spielberg is not much different, conquering the film world with equal grace, all the while making films the people want to see (and never cheapening the final product in the process). Back in the day and with a shoestring budget, he made a film about a killer shark terrorizing a tiny New England town, a seemingly insurmountable task on paper, into an enduring piece of pop cinema that's shown at least 10 times a week on television to this day.\n"Jaws," released initially in 1975, ended up becoming the first honest summer blockbuster movie, and while that whole overhyped genre has fed the public some real stinkers in the last three decades, Spielberg should be given honest credit for making many studio execs feel a little less shaky about bankrolling projects helmed by virtual unknowns. As is made painfully clear throughout the extras in this set, "Jaws" was a serious bitch to make, and production was almost shut down on many occasions, making the eventual outcome of the film as a modern masterpiece all the more amazing.\nThose who already own the 25th Anniversary one-disc of "Jaws" need not feel that Universal has unleashed the film again just to boost cash flow. Despite containing the majority of the same features as the 25th Anniv., this new set includes a two-hour never-before-seen-in-its-entirety making of the film doc, featuring unearthed interviews with the notoriously tight-lipped Spielberg (who, I am convinced, will never record a commentary track). Also bundled with the set is a commemorative 60-page photo journal, and, for the first time on disc, the original theatrical mono audio track which stays true to the first-run sound of the film, and finds John Williams' iconic orchestral score at its nightmarish best.\nThirty summers after "Jaws" made its initial splash, Spielberg is poised to overtake the national consciousness again, this time by way of the malicious aliens of "War of the Worlds." In the doc on disc two of this set, the director reminisces "When I first hear the word Jaws, I think of a period in my life when I was much younger... and I think because I was younger, I was more courageous, or I was more stupid. I'm not sure which." It would be the first major success in a storied career filled with courageous decisions and unforgettable images.
(09/08/05 4:29am)
PBS' American Masters series will air Martin Scorsese's "No Direction Home: Bob Dylan," a chronicle of Dylan's turbulent career from 1959 to 1966, on September 26 and 27. Accompanying the film is this 2-disc soundtrack, which is not so much a cohesive collection of the songs contained in the film itself as it is a primer for this period of Dylan's career, wherein the span of 7 years he went from recording a shrill blues number with a high school friend to redefining rock and roll as the world knew it.\nBeginning with two home recordings featuring a 19-year-old Robert Zimmerman (purportedly two of the first he ever put to tape), and culminating with an ominous alternate take of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," disc 1 sees Dylan transform from humble traditional folk singer to insightful lyricist and unlikely leader of a cultural revolution. Mostly demo recordings and live tracks, including superior versions of "This Land is Your Land," "When the Ship Comes In," "Chimes of Freedom," disc 1 feels like the calm before the storm in some ways. Dylan's talent was palpable, and he oozed a sense of hesitated readiness to overtake the world.\nDisc 2 begins with the unmistakable hum of an electric bass on "She Belongs to Me," and soon plunges headlong into a searing live version of "Maggie's Farm" from the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. From that moment onward, folk was no longer folksy, and the next 10 tracks chart a course of excellent alternate takes from the "Bringing It All Back Home," "Highway 61 Revisited," and "Blonde on Blonde" studio sessions (don't miss one of the best recorded versions of Dylan's finest song, "Desolation Row"), culminating in a live performance of "Like a Rolling Stone" in England from the late spring of 1966. During this performance, half the crowd applauds Dylan; the other half, irritated and somewhat befuddled by the newness of what they were hearing, jeer and dub him Judas, emphasizing that Dylan was always too forward-thinking for some.\nAs with each of the previous Dylan Bootleg Series sets, Volume 7 comes with a thick booklet containing candid photographs, detailed descriptions of the songs on both discs and extensive, eloquent liner notes from those who were personally caught up in the whirlwind that was Dylan's early career.\nMore than any of the Bootleg Series offerings up to this point, No Direction Home gives fans an accurate chronological account of a time period in which one man was almost single-handedly flipping the popular music world on its head, and delivering rock and roll from its 3-chord love-song origins into uncharted territory.
(09/08/05 4:00am)
PBS' American Masters series will air Martin Scorsese's "No Direction Home: Bob Dylan," a chronicle of Dylan's turbulent career from 1959 to 1966, on September 26 and 27. Accompanying the film is this 2-disc soundtrack, which is not so much a cohesive collection of the songs contained in the film itself as it is a primer for this period of Dylan's career, wherein the span of 7 years he went from recording a shrill blues number with a high school friend to redefining rock and roll as the world knew it.\nBeginning with two home recordings featuring a 19-year-old Robert Zimmerman (purportedly two of the first he ever put to tape), and culminating with an ominous alternate take of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," disc 1 sees Dylan transform from humble traditional folk singer to insightful lyricist and unlikely leader of a cultural revolution. Mostly demo recordings and live tracks, including superior versions of "This Land is Your Land," "When the Ship Comes In," "Chimes of Freedom," disc 1 feels like the calm before the storm in some ways. Dylan's talent was palpable, and he oozed a sense of hesitated readiness to overtake the world.\nDisc 2 begins with the unmistakable hum of an electric bass on "She Belongs to Me," and soon plunges headlong into a searing live version of "Maggie's Farm" from the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. From that moment onward, folk was no longer folksy, and the next 10 tracks chart a course of excellent alternate takes from the "Bringing It All Back Home," "Highway 61 Revisited," and "Blonde on Blonde" studio sessions (don't miss one of the best recorded versions of Dylan's finest song, "Desolation Row"), culminating in a live performance of "Like a Rolling Stone" in England from the late spring of 1966. During this performance, half the crowd applauds Dylan; the other half, irritated and somewhat befuddled by the newness of what they were hearing, jeer and dub him Judas, emphasizing that Dylan was always too forward-thinking for some.\nAs with each of the previous Dylan Bootleg Series sets, Volume 7 comes with a thick booklet containing candid photographs, detailed descriptions of the songs on both discs and extensive, eloquent liner notes from those who were personally caught up in the whirlwind that was Dylan's early career.\nMore than any of the Bootleg Series offerings up to this point, No Direction Home gives fans an accurate chronological account of a time period in which one man was almost single-handedly flipping the popular music world on its head, and delivering rock and roll from its 3-chord love-song origins into uncharted territory.
(09/01/05 6:17am)
As if Steven Spielberg's status as king of the box office hadn't already been established by the summer of 1982, "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" only further solidified said status, while proving Spielberg's ability to dream up note-perfect family fare -- a genre he has occasionally tapped to varying degrees of success over the last 23 years, never outdoing "E.T." in terms of the number of hearts successfully warmed.\nMost everyone already knows the story of E.T., concerning a so-ugly-he's-cute alien accidentally left behind during an experimental trip to Earth. A youngster named Elliott finds E.T., befriends him and they both teach each other some standard life lessons. Then the government shows up, almost killing E.T. Of course he miraculously survives, and finds his way home to the tune of a stirring orchestral score. This was what audiences saw in 1982. What they didn't see were updates to the film made for a 2003 DVD version, with government agents with flashlights in their hands instead of handguns (political correctness gone awry?), and several gratuitous CG shots of E.T. inserted by ILM under Spielberg's guidance, possibly in order to make E.T. seem more real to today's children. In fact, they succeed in making him seem less real, but these minor additions only slightly detract from the overall impact of the film to those familiar with the original theatrical release.\nOf course E.T. wasn't the first or last time Spielberg would deal with aliens. 1977 saw the epic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" portray life in the rest of the universe, as E.T. does, in a generally benevolent and exploratory light, while this summer's "War of the Worlds," the most viscerally powerful film Spielberg has made since "Saving Private Ryan," portrayed aliens as destroyers and colonizers of our world. Both of these are better films than "E.T.," simultaneously inspiring awe and humility in the face of what is out there to greet us in the rest of the universe, but neither have the same deep emotional impact.\nExtras on this single-disc edition include original on-set photos and early concept drawings, a featurette showcasing John Williams' memorable score, and an interactive for-kids-only tour of our solar system hosted by E.T. himself. Perhaps most valuable, though, is the all-too-brief 2003 reunion of the director and his cast as they reminisce about their experiences during production in 1981.\nWhile one can only futilely hope Spielberg will agree to release "E.T." on DVD in its original form sometime in the future, this slightly revamped version is the best we can expect for the time being, and the time-tested quality of the screenplay, acting and point-of-view cinematography renders this version more than satisfying.
(09/01/05 4:00am)
As if Steven Spielberg's status as king of the box office hadn't already been established by the summer of 1982, "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" only further solidified said status, while proving Spielberg's ability to dream up note-perfect family fare -- a genre he has occasionally tapped to varying degrees of success over the last 23 years, never outdoing "E.T." in terms of the number of hearts successfully warmed.\nMost everyone already knows the story of E.T., concerning a so-ugly-he's-cute alien accidentally left behind during an experimental trip to Earth. A youngster named Elliott finds E.T., befriends him and they both teach each other some standard life lessons. Then the government shows up, almost killing E.T. Of course he miraculously survives, and finds his way home to the tune of a stirring orchestral score. This was what audiences saw in 1982. What they didn't see were updates to the film made for a 2003 DVD version, with government agents with flashlights in their hands instead of handguns (political correctness gone awry?), and several gratuitous CG shots of E.T. inserted by ILM under Spielberg's guidance, possibly in order to make E.T. seem more real to today's children. In fact, they succeed in making him seem less real, but these minor additions only slightly detract from the overall impact of the film to those familiar with the original theatrical release.\nOf course E.T. wasn't the first or last time Spielberg would deal with aliens. 1977 saw the epic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" portray life in the rest of the universe, as E.T. does, in a generally benevolent and exploratory light, while this summer's "War of the Worlds," the most viscerally powerful film Spielberg has made since "Saving Private Ryan," portrayed aliens as destroyers and colonizers of our world. Both of these are better films than "E.T.," simultaneously inspiring awe and humility in the face of what is out there to greet us in the rest of the universe, but neither have the same deep emotional impact.\nExtras on this single-disc edition include original on-set photos and early concept drawings, a featurette showcasing John Williams' memorable score, and an interactive for-kids-only tour of our solar system hosted by E.T. himself. Perhaps most valuable, though, is the all-too-brief 2003 reunion of the director and his cast as they reminisce about their experiences during production in 1981.\nWhile one can only futilely hope Spielberg will agree to release "E.T." on DVD in its original form sometime in the future, this slightly revamped version is the best we can expect for the time being, and the time-tested quality of the screenplay, acting and point-of-view cinematography renders this version more than satisfying.
(08/25/05 4:23am)
Writer and artist Frank Miller's original seven-part graphic novel "Sin City" shook the comic-loving throngs to its collective knees when it was gradually released throughout the 1990's, and filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, a huge Miller fan himself, took notice. He'd wanted to make the stories into a film (or films) for some time, but the technology to make them accurately resemble the original works simply wasn't available until recently. Once it was, \nRodriguez went to work.\nWorking alongside the author and artist of the books himself, as well as longtime pal and \noccasional collaborator Quentin Tarantino, Rodriguez fashioned three of the original seven "Sin City" stories ("The Hard Goodbye," "The Big Fat Kill," and "The Yellow Bastard") into the most accurate and faithful comic-to-film adaptation imaginable, taking few if any artistic liberties with the material, aside from the fact that the film is in motion and not on the page. The result is one gut-buster of a movie, moving along at a frantic pace and, as with all its characters, it takes no prisoners.\nAs a visual document alone, "Sin City" is a wonder to behold. Gritty black and white is predominant, with only splashes of color here and there meant for emotional or visceral effect. Select characters' eyes show up in vibrant tints while the rest of their bodies remain faded. Vehicles adopt an otherworldly feel, and the film's prevalent brutal violence takes on an almost Looney Tune tone, which benefits and detracts from the vignettes in equal amounts.\nMiller's graphic novels are rooted deeply in classic film noir and hard-boiled crime fiction at its pulpiest, and the dialogue and acting follow suit. The male actors (Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Benicio Del Toro) paint their lines on a canvas with the superficial introspection and subtle ferocity of Fred MacMurray in "Double Indemnity," while the female leads (Jessica Alba, Jamie King, Brittany Murphy, Rosario Dawson) purr and pout like so many Claire Trevors. The dialogue is rather frequently stilted, this being the film's lone Achilles' heel, but all actors (with the possible exception of Dawson and a brief appearance by Michael Clarke Duncan) manage to rise above the level of camp to truly inhabit and seemingly revel in their roles.\nThere are almost no special features on this disc aside from a scrawny making-of featurette, but the abundance of features on small-screen editions of all of Rodriguez's other films (even "Spy Kids 3") assure that a beefed-up special edition can't be too far away, most likely dropping around the same time as Tarantino's "The Whole Bloody Affair" edition of "Kill Bill" this winter.\n"Sin City" will thrill fans of the original graphic novels with its faithfulness, fans of film noir with its tone and visual style, and fans of "Pulp Fiction" with its non-linear, narrative-refracting structure. Rodriguez has already announced a sequel set for next year, assuring Frank Miller's "Sin City" will remain in the pop-cinema forefront for some time to come.
(08/25/05 4:00am)
Writer and artist Frank Miller's original seven-part graphic novel "Sin City" shook the comic-loving throngs to its collective knees when it was gradually released throughout the 1990's, and filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, a huge Miller fan himself, took notice. He'd wanted to make the stories into a film (or films) for some time, but the technology to make them accurately resemble the original works simply wasn't available until recently. Once it was, \nRodriguez went to work.\nWorking alongside the author and artist of the books himself, as well as longtime pal and \noccasional collaborator Quentin Tarantino, Rodriguez fashioned three of the original seven "Sin City" stories ("The Hard Goodbye," "The Big Fat Kill," and "The Yellow Bastard") into the most accurate and faithful comic-to-film adaptation imaginable, taking few if any artistic liberties with the material, aside from the fact that the film is in motion and not on the page. The result is one gut-buster of a movie, moving along at a frantic pace and, as with all its characters, it takes no prisoners.\nAs a visual document alone, "Sin City" is a wonder to behold. Gritty black and white is predominant, with only splashes of color here and there meant for emotional or visceral effect. Select characters' eyes show up in vibrant tints while the rest of their bodies remain faded. Vehicles adopt an otherworldly feel, and the film's prevalent brutal violence takes on an almost Looney Tune tone, which benefits and detracts from the vignettes in equal amounts.\nMiller's graphic novels are rooted deeply in classic film noir and hard-boiled crime fiction at its pulpiest, and the dialogue and acting follow suit. The male actors (Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Benicio Del Toro) paint their lines on a canvas with the superficial introspection and subtle ferocity of Fred MacMurray in "Double Indemnity," while the female leads (Jessica Alba, Jamie King, Brittany Murphy, Rosario Dawson) purr and pout like so many Claire Trevors. The dialogue is rather frequently stilted, this being the film's lone Achilles' heel, but all actors (with the possible exception of Dawson and a brief appearance by Michael Clarke Duncan) manage to rise above the level of camp to truly inhabit and seemingly revel in their roles.\nThere are almost no special features on this disc aside from a scrawny making-of featurette, but the abundance of features on small-screen editions of all of Rodriguez's other films (even "Spy Kids 3") assure that a beefed-up special edition can't be too far away, most likely dropping around the same time as Tarantino's "The Whole Bloody Affair" edition of "Kill Bill" this winter.\n"Sin City" will thrill fans of the original graphic novels with its faithfulness, fans of film noir with its tone and visual style, and fans of "Pulp Fiction" with its non-linear, narrative-refracting structure. Rodriguez has already announced a sequel set for next year, assuring Frank Miller's "Sin City" will remain in the pop-cinema forefront for some time to come.
(07/28/05 4:00am)
Casey Carlyle (hottie and former child-spy Michelle Trachtenberg) is a math whiz on the road to Harvard who just wants to be a professional ice skater. Of course this plan doesn't fly with her overprotective perfectionist mother (a typically strung-out Joan Cusack), and it's not until she accepts the guidance of a disgraced former ice skater (a thoroughly weathered Kim Cattrall), and the cheesy pickup lines fed to her by her mentor's son (Tiger Beat bait Trevor Blumas) that Casey realizes her dreams. "What's wrong with wanting to feel strong and graceful and beautiful?" she asks. From scholastic to fantastic indeed.\nActually, "Ice Princess," as well as Casey's dreams of skating stardom in the face of a rare opportunity to attend Harvard that she treats like a burden, rings false on most every note. When the highlight of a movie is a cameo by Olympic figure skater Brian Boitano, you know you're in trouble. Regardless, it's what we've come to expect from Disney live action over the years, and should fit nicely on a DVD shelf next to Vin Diesel's career-ending "The Pacifier" and Lindsay Lohan's kiddie-pandering in "Herbie: Fully Loaded." Though unlike most recent Disney features, there are no honest adult jokes or situations to be found in "Ice Princess," at least not to the surreal degree of the Lohan-sung theme song to "Herbie" aptly titled "I Wanna Come First."\nOther than a smattering of commentary by the actors, an alternate opening and a few inconsequential deleted scenes, there is no insight here into the making of the force of nature that is "Ice Princess." Possibly the best feature is often-overlooked ability to utilize the French audio track, on which the majority of the film's wooden English dialogue actually translates into better delivered lines.\nYoung girls (ages five to fifteen) might find "Ice Princess" to be a transcendent work of cinema, and I suppose that's the film's intended core audience anyway. (Although the recent hyperdriven success of the sixth Harry Potter novel has opened my eyes to the fact that certain things intended for children have an eerie crossover power.) Avoid "Ice Princess" unless your inner child has a serious hankering to get out on the ice and promptly fall on its ass.
(07/27/05 10:10pm)
Casey Carlyle (hottie and former child-spy Michelle Trachtenberg) is a math whiz on the road to Harvard who just wants to be a professional ice skater. Of course this plan doesn't fly with her overprotective perfectionist mother (a typically strung-out Joan Cusack), and it's not until she accepts the guidance of a disgraced former ice skater (a thoroughly weathered Kim Cattrall), and the cheesy pickup lines fed to her by her mentor's son (Tiger Beat bait Trevor Blumas) that Casey realizes her dreams. "What's wrong with wanting to feel strong and graceful and beautiful?" she asks. From scholastic to fantastic indeed.\nActually, "Ice Princess," as well as Casey's dreams of skating stardom in the face of a rare opportunity to attend Harvard that she treats like a burden, rings false on most every note. When the highlight of a movie is a cameo by Olympic figure skater Brian Boitano, you know you're in trouble. Regardless, it's what we've come to expect from Disney live action over the years, and should fit nicely on a DVD shelf next to Vin Diesel's career-ending "The Pacifier" and Lindsay Lohan's kiddie-pandering in "Herbie: Fully Loaded." Though unlike most recent Disney features, there are no honest adult jokes or situations to be found in "Ice Princess," at least not to the surreal degree of the Lohan-sung theme song to "Herbie" aptly titled "I Wanna Come First."\nOther than a smattering of commentary by the actors, an alternate opening and a few inconsequential deleted scenes, there is no insight here into the making of the force of nature that is "Ice Princess." Possibly the best feature is often-overlooked ability to utilize the French audio track, on which the majority of the film's wooden English dialogue actually translates into better delivered lines.\nYoung girls (ages five to fifteen) might find "Ice Princess" to be a transcendent work of cinema, and I suppose that's the film's intended core audience anyway. (Although the recent hyperdriven success of the sixth Harry Potter novel has opened my eyes to the fact that certain things intended for children have an eerie crossover power.) Avoid "Ice Princess" unless your inner child has a serious hankering to get out on the ice and promptly fall on its ass.