Early Summer DVD Review Round-Up
It's that time again. Have your homies over, pop that corn and settle in for a great early summer DVD marathon! For your viewing pleasure, we analyze a steamy retro-romance, a creature-filled fantasy and a wacky wilderness romp.
From Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
The Other Boleyn Girl
The history books were never like this! England's Henry the Eighth is hot Eric Bana who dallies with the sultry Boleyn sisters (Scarlett Johansson as Mary and Natalie Portman as Anne) resulting in juicy sibling rivalry, betrayal and some history-making decisions that changed a nation forever!
Video/Audio: This title is out also in Blu-Ray but we'll go with the "regular" DVD. The film was shot with HD digital video cameras and this widescreen picture is rich, moody and, with the excellent art direction, often looks like a classic painting! Lots of gold and brown hues and deep blacks. Looks great! Sound is Dolby Digital 5.1 and the dialogue central to the plot comes through clearly as do outdoor horseback scenes etc. Excellent job.
Special Features: Several cool ones! "Deleted and Extended" scenes flesh out the characters much more. There is a whole subplot for Mary (Scarlett) with sick hubby, her child, a countryside romance, etc. Very satisfying for that character. You get Anne reading Henry's fortune with Tarot cards and quite a few longer scenes that were probably cut for pacing but give the story more depth and background. Great feature.
You don't get the usual behind-the-scenes, goofing off featurettes or in-depth actor interviews but the DVD includes interesting history background info. In "To Be a Lady" you see just how non-fun the life of the average and upper crust woman actually was way back in the 16th century. In "Translating History to the Screen" filmmakers and the writer of the original novel Philippa Gregory speak about adapting the novel to the movie version of the story. "Members of the Court Biographies" gives you some great background on the real, historical characters who were a bit different than portrayed in the movie. Really way more interesting than your average history class.
You also get a director's commentary track that is quite entertaining as Justin Chadwick talks about what attracted the actors to the roles and how each actor fleshed out his or her character; Eric Bana was glad to play a lusty, healthy monarch before the "drumstick tossing Henry"; the plus-sized, bloated version we see in most paintings. Chadwick stresses that he wanted to make the film as authentic as possible and describes working with the HD digital cameras etc.
There are "Camera Tests" in which the director gathered up some pals and tested his cameras in a barn before actually shooting the movie. Fun to see.
Wrapping Up: The Other Boleyn Girl isn't so much a dry history lesson as a hot soap opera with some popular and talented actors taking the historical roles. Really a lusty, fun watch. If you've ever had a deeply-felt fight with your sis or BFF over a guy, you can totally identify with this movie. Definitely a rent if not a buy!
From Paramount Home Entertainment
The Spiderwick Chronicles: 2-Disc Field Guide Edition
In this fantasy adventure based upon the popular novels, the dysfunctional Chase family is falling apart and mom, twin sons (played by Freddie Highmore) and teen daughter (Sarah Bolger) leave the big city and go to live in a spooky Victorian home once owned by an aunt. The children start discovering a world of mythical creatures that live both in the house and on the grounds. Jared discovers Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide which explains the creatures and how to deal with them. When the bad guy critters plan to steal the Guide to take over from humans, Jared must recruit his siblings to protect their world from a creature attack.
Video/Audio: The widescreen picture is pretty sharp with good color and flesh tones. Fantasy world scenes are bright and delightful, good shadows and detail. The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio mix is a good division of the orchestral soundtrack with nice separation among your speakers and good, clear dialogue.
Special Features: The two-disc set has extras on each disc. Disc one has a friendly howdy from director Mark Waters in "Spiderwick: It's All True!". Waters talks about all the interesting secret world creatures as if they actually existed. In "It's a Spiderwick World!" you meet the writers and illustrator of the novel series who talk about how they came up with the idea for the fantasy world and story and how the novel was adapted for film.
"Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide" offers a look through the illustrated guide. You can look at the picture of a creature, then select an option to see that critter in the film. Kinda fun. You can also opt to turn on "Field Guide in Movie Mode" which is the flipside, allowing you to watch the movie, see a creature and pop to the book drawing and description in the Guide.
Disc two offers "Spiderwick: Meet the Clan," in which you are introduced to all the actors both live action and voice over. We see how English Freddie tackled the difficult job of playing American twins and watch him and others on set and/or recording their voices. Fun with Freddie, Sarah and gang.
"Making Spiderwick" in a very good "making-of" featurette that explores production design, cinematography, props, music and the extensive special effects with intros by the heads of these departments. If you are intrigued by how the mythical creatures were combined with the live action actors, check out "The Magic of Spiderwick" for CGI details on two different effects companies that worked on goblins, brownies, demon Mulgarath, sprites and fairies. I would have enjoyed even more of this.
"A Final Word of Advice" has director Waters again assuring us that these creatures and their parallel world really do exist. Four "Deleted Scenes" give you a heartfelt explanation of the Guide by Jared, more brownie mischief and a slightly longer intro to Aunt Lucinda. All add to your enjoyment of the movie.
Wrapping Up: Since "Spiderwick" is a more homebound fantasy adventure, it might not reach the majesty of Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter but the film is a very enjoyable romp with great creature effects. This DVD is a worthy representation of the feature film and a great tool to enjoy what went into the blending of fantasy creatures, live action and good acting, especially by the young performers. Definitely a rent if you didn't see the movie and the DVD would make a great addition to your collection. You'll enjoy the film and extras and your parents won't be super bored if they decide to join you on the couch.
Strange Wilderness
Warning: This film is rated "R". Peter Gaulke (Steve Zahn) carries on as host of a hit wildlife TV show called "Strange Wilderness," after his dad dies. Ever since then, the series has gone into ratings hell and is packed with silly jokes and idiot commentary by Gaulke and pals including camera guy Junior (Justin Long), assistant Cooker (Jonah Hill) and transportation guy Danny (Peter Dante). The show will be cancelled unless the guys can get the ratings up in two weeks. Needing a miracle, Peter follows a lead on finding Bigfoot! With travel agent Cheryl (hot Ashley Scott) in tow, the gang heads for South America and a lot of wacky searching.
Video/Audio: This film looks great in widescreen. Bright colors and good shadows and blacks. Dolby sound isn't impressive but just fine. You hear plenty of ambient sounds and the dialogue comes through okay.
Special Features: Not a whole lot. In "Cooker's Song" you get a behind-the-scenes reveal of crazy Jonah Hill doing his song called "Family". Silly but okay if you are a Jonah fan. "The Turkey" reveals the mechanical stunt turkey and how it was used in the movie. Stoopid/cute. "What Do We Do?" is sort of like a gag reel with the guys trying to come up with ideas to save the show. The actors are improv-ing here and this is pretty funny.
"Reel Comedy: Strange Wilderness" was on TV's Comedy Central and is the making-of featurette. Okay viewing. "Deleted Scenes" offer over twenty minutes, 13 scenes and they do add to the film's enjoyment. The movie was pretty short so it's odd some of this didn't just stay in
Wrapping Up: Okay, I really love Steve Zahn. I've interviewed him and find him to be delightful, candid and just a good, funny guy and I like Jonah Hill and Justin Long in most cases. This movie was produced by Adam Sandler and certainly follows the raunchy formula of most of this comedy films but it's just not as funny, tries too hard and isn't as laugh-filled as such a comedy story set-up could have been. If you are a fan of these actors or just up for wacky, raunchy silliness, then a rental is okay.
***
Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.
