Film

The Jackass boys are back and I had a chance to see this film with some friends in theatres in 3D. To prevent burying the lead, if you’re interested in purchasing this film… do it now, the film was converted to 3D after the fact and it simply didn’t need to be… The only thing that popped out was the staged gimmicky opening scene that consists of a series of airbags and confetti going off, but to really justify paying a premium price for a 3D Blu-ray we deserve a bit more.

As for the film itself, it’s hard to critique. It’s essentially a series of clips that either consist of practical jokes, hidden camera style pranks, and footage of self-mutilation. It’s definitely catering to a specific market and it’s definitely not a film that’s fun for the whole family.

The funniest moments for me were the uses of super slow-mo camera as they pulled pranks on people by throwing water in their faces. Honestly though this sort of thing can be seen for free by watching Time Warp on the Discovery Channel. However the film quickly begins to go too far with a barrage of disgusting gag reflex testing stunts that I can’t mention here. Honestly you know if you’re going to like this film, just don’t expect the same quality compared to the first two films. Things feel a bit stale and “bottom of the barrel” and even with a few funny parts, I really just found myself checking my watch for most of it.

Video

Jackass 3’s video is displayed using the mpeg-4 AVC codec. The vide o quality is hit and miss due to the fact that we’re seeing the events from a bunch of cameras of varying qualities. The main cameras used are really high quality high definition cameras that do a great job providing sharp and clean footage.

The colors are bright and skin tones come through nicely, however there is some blown out highlights once in a while which aren’t rare for footage that comes from a video source. The nice thing about the video cams used is the fact that they produce details very nicely and the details are sharp, most notably skin texture.

Audio

Jackass 3’s audio comes at using the DTS-HD Master 5.1 audio. The score and foley is pumped up to help make up for the lack of true surround sound and although we’re given some nice centered dialogue there’s some surprisingly pieces that have been mixed to make use of all of your speakers. However these scenes are few and far between and are most noticeable in the opening and closing credit scenes which are usually the most elaborate.

For most of the film we’re given a clean and front heavy mix but it’s spiced with some nice uses of LFE and surrounds that help out the fairly plain mix.

Special Features

Jackass 3 has a small amount of extras, but they’re honestly the best possible extras for the subject matter. Deleted scenes and outtakes are pretty much just more of the movie to watch, so that’s always good. There’s also an “MTV: Making of” featurette which is as in depth as I would ever be interested in the film. Although it is only 3 extras, would you really want a commentary track?

Final Thoughts

Albeit the film doesn’t really stand out as a Blu-ray essential, the film does provide some decent content when good quality high definition cameras are used. However with hit and mix audio and video presentation, the film isn’t anything special but if you’re a fan then it may be worthwhile to await the inevitable 3D release of the film if that is something you’re into.

Film   

First, let’s be perfectly honest with ourselves.  The main draw of Jennifer’s Body is Megan Fox’s body.  Oops! I meant to say actress Megan Fox.  Is there really any dispute in the fact?  Would the opening box office turnout even have been so high with only Amanda Seyfried in the starring role?  I would like to think not.  I, like probably half of the moviegoers here, was really interested in one thing here.  No, it wasn’t to see what if anything more would be shown of Megan Fox’s sexy body after the leaked production photos last year.  That’s what Google Search is for.  C’mon guys!  Get your perverted minds out of the gutter.  I simply wanted to know whether Miss Fox could sink or swim in her first leading role or if she was just another pretty face destined to become just a Hollywood fad after her 15 minutes of fame had expired.  However, I personally don’t think Michael Bay would let that last part happen as long as he is still making movies.

 So just how awful was Megan Fox in her first starring role?  I am going to go out on a proverbial limb here, hoping not to go out too far and risk a branch breaking and boldly say that she truly was the charm of this film.  From her quirky, adolescent delivery of corny one-liners to her sh#$-eating, bloody grins, I found myself engaged, amused and entertained throughout.  While her performance is hardly good enough to warrant any Oscar nods, it was exactly the kind of deliverance that I was expecting from her in this juvenile role.  Actually I did not know what to expect, but let me state what I just said in a different way you all can understand.  Simply put, if you were satisfied with her performance in the Transformers films, then there is no way she can disappoint you here.  I believe Miss Fox deposited a sincere portrayal of the yuppie high school cheerleader, we have all come to know and love, that just so happened to have a need for feeding on the flesh of the living and practicing male population control.  But what else is a succubus to do? 

So does the inclusion of Megan Fox make Jennifer’s Body a Blu-ray movie worth plopping down your hard earned Benjamin’s for?  If you were initially curious like me, a Megan Fox fanboy, or just a fan of Cody’s quirky writing style, then I think this Blu-ray warrants a purchase.  However, if you are easily annoyed by the slow moving nature of Cody’s writings or a Megan Fox hater, then your time may be better spent scouring ebay looking for a still sealed mint condition Hordak figure.  I am not saying this because Jennifer’s Body is a bad movie, but on the contrary I believe it to be much of an acquired taste like beer first is in your youth.  It was just the right mixture of homogenous ingredients to get me over the hump of some of the bad movies I had seen in the August/September 2009 timeframe.  The film is a dark, brooding horror-comedy that feeds on your brain much like the undead zombies feed on fresh flesh.  Aligning perfectly with the split mixed critical reviews, you are either going to find this movie appealing in a guilty pleasurable kind of way or you will simply be appalled by it.

If you found the vomit scenes in Drag Me To Hell too gross to handle, then just keep moving on, as this is not the film you are looking for (as I make my Jedi-like wave).  Although the film is violent in nature, much of the gore is kept to a minimum.  In retrospect, if you cut out the very infrequent F-bombs that were used, I really cannot see a reason as to why this film could not have achieved a PG-13 rating.  The R-rating is probably what kept the box office numbers low.  But who does not like a good, abrasive, cutting edge R movie anyway?  The movie studio is really going to hate me for this, but I feel this is my civic duty to let all the fanboys know that Megan Fox does not have any nude scenes.  You have actually seen more nudity of her on the Internet (hence my reference to Google Search before), during production of this film, then you will ever see within the movie’s 102 minute runtime (or 107 minutes depending on which version you are viewing).

It has been said that writer Diablo Cody wrote Juno at Starbucks in a Target store.  So don’t be alarmed when you hear a random shout out to Super Target within the movie.  Little inside jokes like this are what I find clever in filmmaking; with the exception of Revenge of the Sith‘s lightsaber handle swaps.  Besides the eye candy of Megan Fox, Jennifer’s Body also stars Mamma Mia!‘s Amanda Seyfried and everyone’s favorite newspaper editor, J.K. Simmons.  In addition to the well-known cast members, the film also rocks a sonic soundtrack that will appeal to even the broadest range of alternative fans.  If you are like me and you enjoy a hot female lead, a campy B-movie storyline/feel and essential horror gore, then you will probably like Jennifer’s Body.  Notice, I used the word ‘probably.’  As I stated before, this film will not appeal to everyone.  You just have to keep an open mind, accept the fact that you have bought this Blu-ray for Megan (or Amanda if she is your cup of tea) and be able to appreciate the mundane from time-to-time.  If I had to break the film down in mathematical terms, I would quantify a statement that Jennifer’s Body equals the quirkiness of Juno plus the horror comedy elements of Drag Me To Hell.  Take that for what it’s worth. 

Before we move on to the technical aspects of the Blu-ray release I guess it would be nice of me if I gave you a very brief synopsis of what Jennifer’s Body is even about other than spending 5 paragraphs talking about that fact that Megan Fox stars in it.  Cody is on record saying that she wanted the film to speak to female empowerment and explore the complex relationship between best friends.  I find it hard to digest the word ‘complex’ in Cody’s statement.  There is nothing about Jennifer’s Body that is complex.  Yes, the film does explore the affinity between best friends (Fox and Seyfried), but I would hardly call this relationship complex.  They wear BFF necklaces.  How much more juvenile can we get?  In case you are wondering, BFF stands for Best Friends Forever and is pronounced ‘biff’ with a short ‘i’ (as a tribute to Back to the Future I have read).  But think about this.  What if your best friend was so completely the opposite of you that no one outside of your relationship really understood you or why you two were friends in the first place?  Now, what happens if your best friend all the sudden transforms into an unstoppable flesh eater that will stop at nothing until her male appetite is relinquished?  Will you stand by her or would you put a stop to the killing even though you know she would never harm you?  Jennifer’s Body never markets itself as a true horror film, but in my belief that won’t stop the film from achieving a modern day cult classic status due to its sometimes witty and clever dialogue and brilliantly fun performances (in which Megan Fox really does deliver the goods).  All right, enough fluff, let’s get move on to the Blu-ray vitals!

Video    

Jennifer’s Body sinks her teeth into Blu-ray with a delectable 1080P video presentation that will leave even the most petite succubus wanting seconds.  The nectarous video transfer sees an AVC MPEG-4 encode celestially filling your entire HDTV screen real estate with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio.  The seductive Megan Fox never looked better as every delineated shadow is accounted for.  The video presentation is almost perfect as the exceptional transfer is consistent throughout and exquisitely captures Diablo’s vision and moody undertones.  The movie looks exactly the way I saw it in the theater, minus the annoying teenagers kicking the back of my reclining chair.  After much internal debates with myself, I finally settled on a score of 4.  While this presentation is hardly reference quality, it does however faithfully reproduce the theatrical exposition of the film in the privacy of your own home.  Isn’t that what the Blu-ray format is supposed to do?  If the answer to that question is a Rob Zombie “Superbeast”-like hell yeah, then Jennifer’s Body is a bloody victory. 

Everything is done right in this transfer (skin tones are “dead” on, Megan’s tattoos are flawlessly covered, detail is staggering, colors are vivid when required and the print is cleaner than a fat kid’s plate after eating cake), but what really stands out the most are the exceptional black levels. For a movie that is consistently drenched in dark shadows and horror-like atmospheres, the black levels are unrivaled.  One scene that comes to mind takes place near the end of the movie where Jennifer is laying in bed and then she turns out the remaining lights in her teenage bedroom.  Even with all the lights off, the subject matter (Megan Fox) and all her surroundings are brilliantly captured and visible just like I was there on the set seeing it through my own set of 1080P eyes.

Audio 

Jennifer’s Body is even more bodacious and infectious on the Blu-ray format thanks to the rocking and thunderous DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track.  The surround track is sumptuous on a number of accounts.  Sure, the track will never be a true reference quality that rivals the great action movies on the Blu-ray format, but the quirky and brooding atmosphere of Jennifer’s Body is faithfully intact here thanks in large part to its impressive audio.  I never thought I would have ever been reaching for my remote control to turn the volume down.  I initially thought the other way around.  When the action heats up on the screen the surround track kicks it up into high gear and encompasses you in the center of it all.  The dialogue always remains loud and clear throughout.  But most of all, it is the score and alternative pop songs that are truly the masterpiece here.  You want to talk about a film soundtrack?  I bought it as a blind buy weeks before the movie’s theatrical release last year and it is still a heavy hitter in my car’s CD library (and in Gregg’s iPod).  The songs rattled my Onkyo subwoofer and gave it an exhausting workout like it has not had for a long time.  Just like the movie is to many fans, I think they will be pleasantly surprised here with a Blu-ray audio track that deserves to be recognized for what it is…killer.

Special Features 

The Blu-ray debut of Jennifer’s Body is outfitted with a pretty succulent supplement package.  The succubus tale of Jennifer’s Body is accompanied with quite an arsenal of Hi-Def goodies.  Unfortunately, most of these extras are quite short in runtime, thereby preventing me from awarding a higher score in the special feature category.  The real crown jewel of this Blu-ray release is the inclusion of a Director’s Cut version of the film, which appears in addition to the theatrical one.  The Unrated version of the film adds an extra 5 minutes of runtime to the feature.  Make no exception here; the inclusion of this extra footage is a much welcomed addition to an already tantalizing film.  Usually, unrated editions add unnecessary footage and end up burdening the overall viewing experience, but that’s definitely not the case here.  The seductive story of Jennifer Check only benefits from the add-on treatment.  How often can you say that?  Anyway, let’s get down to business and check out every special feature of Jennifer’s Body.

Below are some pictures I took of the back cover art, the inside packaging of the 2-disc set (Digital Copy on the left and the Blu-ray disc on the right) and the paper insert with the Digital Copy activation code on the flip side (valid until December 28, 2011).  Click on the below images to enlarge for maximum viewing pleasure.

Below are some screenshots I took of the Blu-ray disc main menu selections. The menu choices remain static on the bottom of the screen as different movie scene images cycle in the background.  Click on the below images to enlarge for maximum viewing pleasure.

• Unrated Version – As stated before, you can choose between the theatrical version of the film and an Unrated Director’s Cut.  The runtimes between the two differ by only 5 minutes (theatrical – 102 minutes & Unrated – 107 minutes).
• Audio Commentary on the Theatrical Version - The audio track features Director Karyn Kusama and Writer Diablo Cody.
• Audio Commentary on the Unrated Version - This audio track features only Director Karyn Kusama.
• Deleted Scenes (HD) – Here you will find 6 polished deleted scenes clocking in at a total runtime just shy of 14 minutes.
• Jennifer’s Body: The Dead Pool (HD) – This 14-minute featurette takes a quick look behind-the-scenes into the production of the film, set locations and special effects such as the unhinged jaw of Jennifer Check used during her feeding scenes.  This was really worth it for me.  I recommend checking this one out.
• Cast & Filmmakers’ Behind-the-Scenes Video Diaries (HD) – There are near 13 minutes worth of short video diaries from various members of the cast and crew.  There’s nothing of real substance here so let’s move on.
• Gag Reel (HD) – I was kind of surprised this one lasted as long as it did clocking in at almost 5 minutes in length.
• Megan Fox is Hot (HD) – When I first heard about this special feature I thought what a great way to market to the Megan Fox fanboys and move Blu-rays.  Naturally, this was the first extra I watched.  I hate to say it, but it was nothing special.  Heck, it does not even last one minute in length.  Boo!  Give me more!
• Megan Fox Peer Pressure PSA (SD) – I was actually quite bummed that this 40-second charm was not present in Hi-Def.  The quick satire was fun and right to the point.
• Fox Movie Channel Presents Life After Film School with Diablo Cody (SD) – The longest special feature on the Blu-ray disc features a 26-minute interview of Diablo Cody by three film school students.
• Trailers (HD) - There are trailers for Gentlemen Broncos, All About Steve, Whip It and Fame.  Sadly, there are none for Jennifer’s Body.
• Digital Copy (SD) – Last but not least, the included DVD disc in the set contains a portable copy for your favorite media player.  Enjoy it on the road!  

Final Thoughts 

I am sure by now you have grown tired of me singing nothing but praise for Jennifer’s Body.  Ordinarily, on a movie such as this one that is split equally amongst critics, I would be obligated to give this one a rating as a rental.  However, due to my over poignant fondness of this film, the Blu-ray’s sonic audio surround track and an equally impressive video transfer, I am going to whole-heartedly recommend a purchase of this title.  For the fans who somewhat enjoyed it during its theatrical run, give it a second chance on the Blu-ray format, and I am confident you will be pleasantly surprised like I was.  For all the Megan Fox fanboys out there, well then this goes without saying.  I was so surprised to see that by 7 PM all the Best Buy stores in my area were completely sold out of this Blu-ray title.  Either there were only a few copies to go around or the cult following buzz that was missed as an opportunity in the film’s initial marketing is taking off faster than I expected.  Whatever the case is, you will definitely get your money’s worth here.  If nothing else, you always have good eye candy (I can just hear Gregg snarling at me now as he is reading this).  For what it’s worth, I am in love with Jennifer’s Body, the Blu-ray of course.  Thanks for reading!

I hope you enjoyed my review of the Fox’s Jennifer’s Body Blu-ray release.  Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments below.  I look forward to receiving any and all feedback from my readers. 

Jennifer’s Body was released on Blu-ray December 29th, 2009.  If you like what you read in the review above, then please show your support for our site by clicking the shopping cart link above to order and save with Amazon’s Everyday Lowest Prices.  Thanks!

Film

All in all, I found The Hangover to be a better film than I had been anticipating, being a good bit funnier than most films featuring rather crass and over the top comedy. The film’s plot is fairly simple. A coupe of days before his wedding, Doug (Justin Bartha) and his buddies Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and his future brother-in -law Alan (Zach Galifianakis) drive to Las Vegas in Doug’s soon to be father-in-law’s shiny Mercedes for a couple of days of partying before the wedding, a bit of an extended bachelor party if you will. However, after they arrive, all the wheels fall off with Phil, Stu and Alan awaking the next morning in a stupor in their trashed suite without Doug, who they can’t seem to locate.

In addition to not knowing where Doug was, they had no recollection whatsoever of the prior night’s happenings and spend the rest of the film trying to retrace their steps the best the could to see how they lost Doug so they can locate him and rush him back to LA for his wedding. Not wanting to give too much of the plot and surprises away, these guys really know how to party and really get themselves into a boatload of trouble with the police as well as local gangsters. They even run afoul of Mike Tyson who makes a very funny appearance as himself in the film.

While I enjoyed the film, I can’t really imagine myself watching the film multiple times. I would therefore only rate this film as a rental. However, if you are looking for a light comedy with plenty of slapstick action and sometimes crude sexual humor, The Hangover, may just fit the bill. For reference, I watched the unrated version of the film. It was readily apparent to me while watching which scenes and segments of scenes did not make the theatrical release.

Video

After watching so many visually stylized films in the recent past, it was a pleasure to watch a film with as natural a look and color palette as The Hangover. While I watched in its entirety only the unrated version of the film, I did compare it briefly with the theatrical version and they looked identical. Hence my comments on the video quality are applicable to both versions of the film presented on this release.

The film features a very natural color palette with plenty of bright and well saturated primary colors. Skin tones were rendered beautifully as well. Blacks were fairly deep and stable although not quite as inky as some of the best looking films I have seen. Detail, clarity and depth of field were all excellent. I did not detect any evidence of edge enhancement or digital noise reduction. facial and background details were rendered very well. Overall the image presented on this release is clear and highly detailed without much in the way of intermittent softness that one often sees in films, especially during dark interior or night time scenes. I have no doubt that fans of the film will be very happy with the image presented on this Blu-ray release of The Hangover. I know I was.

Audio

While I was impressed with the video quality, I can’t say that I was all that impressed with the audio. There was nothing really wrong with the audio sonically other than that noted below, as it had the type of overall fidelity that we have come to expect from lossless audio codecs such the Dolby True HD track included here. The dialogue track was well recorded and well placed in the mix. Overall dynamics and bass response were no better than average.

Where this audio didn’t cut it for me was in the the use of the surrounds. The surrounds, while active throughout the film, were not used very aggressively and hence did not provide the degree of immersion that I really love and that really helps pull you into the narrative. In short, the audio was too front heavy for my taste. The other area where I found the audio to be lacking was in the fidelity of the music used in the film, with the exception of the wedding band at the end of the film. The musical score sounded like bad cassette versions of the songs taken from fourth generation masters. While this did not detract too much from my enjoyment of the film, I did expect better from a new film. I recognize that this is not the fault of the codec but the original sound design. Nevertheless, I expect better.

Special Features

Frankly, I was not all that impressed with the extras included with this release. The extras include an audio commentary with Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Ed Helms and Todd Phillips. Also included is a 15 minute segment entitled “Map of Destruction”, which re-traces each step the guys took during their visit to Las Vegas, I guess just in case you want to have as much fun as they did on your next visit to Vegas. Also included is a 30 second compilation of all the crashes and slap stick comedy that takes place in the film. Why? Good question.

Also included and thankfully only 1 minute and 52 seconds long is the “Three Best Friends song featured near the end of the film. The extra “The Madness of Ken Jeong” shows the various takes that comedian Ken Jeong improvised during the filming of one scene in the film. Not surprisingly, the best one was the one included in the film. “The Dan Band” consists of the rather inappropriate wedding band at the end of the film’s performance of the song Fame. Also included is a set of photographs from the the digital camera brought to Vegas by the boys not shown in the film, showing some of their exploits in greater detail. Many of the pictures feature shall we say scantily clad young women? The final extra is the traditional gag reel. The release also includes a disc containing a digital copy of the film. The release is also BD-Live enabled.

Final Thoughts

The Hangover is a funny film that features very good video and only so so audio that would make a great rental on a Friday or Saturday night.

Film 

My apprehension of the film grew when I discovered that it would focus around Chun Li.  I know it’s obviously part of the title.  Hey, some intros are easier to come up with than others.  Though a popular character in the game, she did not have the amount of fanfare that other characters such as Ryu and Guile had.  Without further delay though, I popped the Blu-ray disc into the PS3 and gave it a watch.  

The film starts off with a very young Chun Li and her parents, moving from home to home as her loving yet mysterious father finally takes his wife and daughter to Hong Kong.  Hoping to lead a life of peace there, he makes sure his daughter maintains her piano lessons while instructing her in the ways of martial arts.  Chun Li takes to the learning with ease but all is disrupted one night.  An assassination plot goes awry as former boxer Balrog, played by Michael Clarke Duncan (Daredevil, The Green Mile), carries out the orders of his boss, Bison.  The house is ransacked in the chaos and while Chun Li’s father manages to escape death, he does not escape Bison, played by Neal McDonough (Desperate Housewives, Flags of Our Fathers). 

The story of Bison is altered for this film and while straying from the original story is usually frowned upon by fans, this was a welcomed change.  Bison is actually the son of Irish missionaries and McDonough does a convincing job of carrying an Irish brogue throughout his delivery.  At his command is the aforementioned Balrog and vanity-obsessed Vega, who is played by Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas.  I’m sure that sentence will garner a few sneers and ‘are you serious?’ comments but the guy does a decent job in filling the role, although it is difficult to gauge his acting ability from the few minutes of screen time he has. 

With Chun Li’s dad forced to work behind the scenes for Bison, Li enters adulthood fatherless while hoping to encounter her dad again some day.  Her travels ultimately lead her to a mysterious Zen master named Gen who picks up Chun Li’s training where her dad left off.  On the legal side of things, Interpol Officer Charlie Nash (Chris Klein; American Pie) teams up with Hong Kong local Detective Maya Sunee (Moon Youngblood; Terminator: Salvation).  

The unlikely group of good-hearted individuals share the ultimate goal of bringing down Bison and his violent crime syndicate.  There are several places where this film succeeded where its predecessor did not.  The first is the acting, although not spectacular (Chris Klein’s ‘I’m trying to be ultra-cool’ mannerisms were a bit much), it blows away what we saw in the Van Damme version.  Okay, so it doesn’t take much to top the old film in that category…you got a point there.  What is tremendously better is the story.  Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li provides a solid flow that remains consistent while not trying to flood the screen with every possible character in the Street Fighter universe; a flaw committed in the first Street Fighter movie as well as Mortal Kombat II.  

What was I thinking??  I’m almost done with the ‘film’ section and I forgot to mention the film’s star, Kristin Kreuk (Smallville) as Chun Li.  Kreuk’s acting is above ‘acceptable’ and her martial art movement is not simply plausible, it looks like this lass has been doing this stuff for years.  Granted, she does have a gymnastics background, but martial arts is a different road and she seems to pull it off with ease.  In the end, it was a shame that this movie was not promoted more.  Its box office draw was minimal and the film suffered financially as a result.  It is one of those cases where you should not base your opinion on a movie you haven’t seen just because that film didn’t meet expectations in ticket sales. 

Video 

Overall, the film looks beautiful in its 1080p High Definition delivery.  Other specs include the 2.35:1 aspect ratio and the AVC encode, all of which provide a somewhat grainy yet mostly crisp portrayal in the best resolution money can buy.  Some of the night scenes make the slight grain more obvious than the daylight shots, but don’t expect this to hamper your viewing experience.  There was one night scene in particular that did look pretty rough as a jumbo jet flew overhead, but we’re talking about a scene that lasts all of 3 or 4 seconds, so again, no worries.  Flesh tone irregularity is something I have yet to see in a Blu-ray film and The Legend of Chun Li was no exception.  The technical visuals of this film are pretty satisfying if nothing else. 

Audio 

While not the best sound experience I’ve encountered on Blu-ray, it is certainly an impressive one to encounter.  After watching a handful of films that gave me the impression my subwoofer died, I was elated to listen to this film bring it back to life.  From the thumping bass of the club music to the midnight crackle of gunfire, you will find a complete utilization of your surround sound. Dialogue, as usual, comes at you from the front while other front-heavy sounds are also augmented in the back.  Did I mention the subwoofer?  I did?  Good, let’s talk about it some more.  I find it curious that even non-action films don’t submit a more complete usage of this.  Sure it’s easier for a car crash or someone being thrown through a wall to breathe life into the subwoofer, but good grief, bring the audience in!  It was such a relief to hear that big black box on my floor roar to life. 

Special Features 

After my last review, I commented on how the classic films on Blu-ray seem to gorge themselves on featurettes while newer films are starving for them.  With that being said, The Legend of Chun Li bucks that trend by offering a satisfying array of extras.  Not only that, but you’ll find disc 2 includes the digital copy while a third disc is solely reserved for an animated comic comprised of six chapters which is titled Street Fighter – Round One: Fight!  Don’t get too excited though.  It’s not a cartoon but an animated comic, which means no one really moves on the screen.  For instance, while Ryu stands outside talking, the only thing moving is his red headband in the wind.  For hardcore SF fans though, this disc will be an added treat. 

• Audio Commentary by Producers Patrick Aiello and Ashok Amritraj, and Actors Neal McDonough and Chris Klein
• Street Fighter: In-Movie Enlightenment Trivia Track – This is sort of like VH-1′s Pop-Up Video, just without the little bubble sounds and the trivia covering someone’s face. You will find windows appearing on the bottom of the screen that contain information and facts about the Street Fighter video games as well as the storyline.
• Deleted Scenes – Here we find 14 scenes shown in standard definition (15:32).
• Marvel vs. Capcom 2 - Shown in 720 High Definition, this is a quick preview of the downloadable video game set to music (1:13).
• Becoming a Street Fighter - Ah, finally an extra with substance to whet the High Def palette. This featurette reveals the training that the actors went through to perform their fighting scenes. None of this 720 stuff either, this extra is delivered in 1080i (17:49)!
• Chun Li: Bringing the Legend to Life – Another 1080i extra, this one looks at what went into the film’s creation as well as its casting (6:32).
• Fox Movie Channel Presents Making a Scene - What a letdown after seeing the past two extras. This is shown in dirty standard definition and really doesn’t cover anything all that different from those previous two featurettes (9:26).
• Still Galleries - You’ll find three galleries showing viewers still photos and storyboards in High Def. Feel free to cycle through them at your own pace:
• o Recreating the Game: Arcade to Film Comparisons
• o The Fight in Black and White: Storyboard Gallery
• o Behind the Fight: Production Gallery
• Fox on Blu-ray - Trailers for Miss March and The Marine 2.

Final Thoughts 

One thing I wanted to mention was my frustration in the ‘Top Menu’ button on my PS3 remote control having no effect on this disc.  No, there’s nothing wrong with the device.  I think it’s the way the disc was made.  There were times when I really just wanted to buzz back to the featurette choices without having to cycle all the way through each storyboard.  It was either that or stop the disc and hit ‘play’ to go back into it.  Technical difficulties aside, I really enjoyed this movie and it’s a must for martial arts fans.  It may not be the best kung fu flick out there, but as I mentioned earlier, the story is solid, the fighting is impressive and the action is entertaining.  This film is a no-doubt rental, though for me it would be a buy, and I’m not even a fan of street fighting games. 

The Film 

I remember watching the Blair Witch Project in the theater and seeing my girlfriend at the time so memorized and intimately in to what was playing on the screen.  You want to know what I was doing?  I was actually praying to God, something I don’t do very often, for lightning to come through the theater ceiling and strike me dead.  I hated it that much.  The only theatrical movie I ever recall walking out on was The Chronicles of Riddick.  There have been more than a number of Blu-ray rentals that have gone in my player and have come out within the allotted 30-minute window.  You see, my wife and I have this 30-minute rule, where if we can agree that the movie is a dud we will shut it off.  Unfortunately, I did not have that luxury when we were watching Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy, as I had to review that Blu-ray.  If memory serves me correctly, I gave that disc a .5 film score, the lowest I ever given any Blu-ray I have reviewed.  The only reason it got that score was because it elicited a few laughs from me.  I am pleased to report that I made it through all of Miss March without a pause, a tired wipe of my eyes or an urge to stop it, despite my wife constantly reminding me how awful the movie was.  I guess she is just not into poop jokes, lesbians or rappers named Horsedick.mpeg.  Yeah that’s right.  I said Horsedick.mpeg. 

I’m probably not the best person to be reviewing this movie, because after all, I am a big fan of The Love Guru.  That’s all Martin Liebman, over at Blu-ray.com, has to hear to instantly dismiss my 1-point film score.  Razzies or not, at least it won an award.  That’s something every movie cannot claim.  I know.  I am being facetious of course.  Regardless, I can see Miss March taking home a Razzie herself, but did you really think this movie was going to take itself that seriously?  I hope you didn’t.  Yes the acting is atrocious, down right pathetic at times, but did you really think anyone was going to the theater or buying this one for the acting?  Of course they are not.  They are buying it for that girl on the cover and the Playboy theme.  Here’s where I have to disappoint.  You would think with the underlying Playboy theme there would be plenty of nudity to go around, but I’ve seen more clothes shed in a Kathy Bates film.  Heck, I’m not even sure the girl on the cover is the same actress in the movie.  She’s no Kelly Clarkson, but the actress in the movie does not look as good as her cover counterpart.  That’s just an observation of course.  I told you.  I hate it that I am so shallow at times.  We need to talk serious now.

Miss March is a 2009 comedy directed by and starring Trevor Moore and Zach Cregger, stars of the IFC show The Whitest Kids U’ Know.  The film was release in the United States on March 13^th and it only made 4.5 million dollars in gross revenue.  How sad!  The disappointment does not stop there.  Users over on Rotten Tomatoes only awarded the film a 4% approval rating.  That’s one of the lowest scores I ever heard of.  I found this next critic’s statement so hilarious that I wanted to share it with all my readers.  James Berardinelli, an online film critic, wrote about the film, saying, “This is bad. Not bad in a way that it might be fun to see when inebriated. Bad in a way from which only death provides immunity. Forget waterboarding – just show Guantanamo detainees Miss March and they’ll say anything.”  I think you get the point.  Miss March can be a terrible film if you let it be, or a guilty pleasure if you so choose.  It’s sort of like picking between the forces of good or evil.  Do you want to be a member of the Joe squad or of Cobra?  Which side is the Baroness on again?

So anyway, the story goes a little something like this.  There are these two best friends who bonded ever so long ago over a Pamela Anderson Playboy magazine, found accidentally while searching for a Hank Aaron baseball card.  One of them is a complete social idiot.  That would be Tucker (Trevor Moore), who became an instant subscriber to Playboy magazine that very same day.  The other friend, Eugene (Zach Cregger), is an advocate for abstinence and so is his girlfriend of 4-years, Cindi (Raquel Alessi).  One day out of the blue, Cindi tells Eugene that she wants to have sex with him.  Very nervous about doing so, Eugene promises to have sex with Cindi on prom night.  That fateful meeting of the minds, for lack of a better term, never transpired, as Eugene got drunk and fell down a flight of basement stairs landing himself in a coma.  Fast forward four more years and Eugene finally awakens only to find out his beloved high school sweetheart has gone on to become a Playboy Playmate.  A now more mature Tucker, yeah right, convinces Eugene that time is of the essence and breaks him out of the hospital for a cross country trek to the Playboy Mansion to get back the girl of his dreams.  This is where the movie kind of takes on a Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle kind of plot, but just not as good.  Don’t get me wrong, there are some hilarious scenarios scattered throughout, but they are more like fools gold as they are constantly overshadowed by the horrible acting.  Along the way, the viewing audience is also treated to the hysterical antics of The Office’s Craig Robinson as Horsedick.mpeg.  There’s also a rather quick, but forgetful, cameo by the man himself, Mr. Hugh Hefner.

I have one last quick topic of discussion and then it is time to dish the dirt on the technical specs of the disc.  Last year, my wife and my friend went to Comic-Con in San Diego.  We parked far away from the convention center everyday.  On the last day we passed this lady in the street with the biggest eyes we ever saw.  My friend nicknamed her “Crazy Eyes.”  To this day, all he has to do is make these eyes and it sends my wife into a world of uncontrollable laughter.  That’s why I cracked up when I read Aaron’s review and found the only thing I could agree upon with him, and I couldn’t agree more.  Aaron goes on to say, and I quote,  “The entire film is filled with Tucker talking about how many women he’s been with, but with how annoying he is, this is very hard to believe.  He’s a moron.  Moore deserves a Razzie award for overacting.  It seems like his eyes are going to pop right out of his head in every scene as he strains to be funny.”  I am sorry if you don’t get this one.  I know my friend reading this will appreciate the shout out.  So let’s move on to the technical mumbo jumbo of what this Blu-ray disc has to offer viewers, beside a movie that requires one hell of an acquired taste.

Video 

Miss March finds its way to the Blu-ray format with an AVC MPEG-4 video transfer, presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio.  Beside the film score, this is my major point of contention with the other reviewers of the Blu-ray disc.  I thought, for the most part, the video presentation looked pretty solid.  The colors always looked bright and vibrant, especially in the outdoor shots.  The outdoor shots were so sharp, bright and clear that I literally found myself in a three-dimensional stare down over the serene backgrounds.  There was this one aerial shot over the city of Chicago where the water down below just glistened and I felt like I could put my foot in it and it would be real.  Of course, all can’t always be well with video presentations or else we would be giving movies scores of 5 across the board.  The one thing that distracted me, slightly throughout, was the existence of a thin layer of grain, especially in the darker scenes.  There were a small handful of scenes to contend with that could have used a bit of sharpness to them; as a result they looked a bit flat.  Black levels remained solid, but strayed into the bright category a few times, resulting in hot flesh tones.  However, my chief complaint of video transfers was thankfully nowhere to be found in Miss March, as the print was immaculately free of any debris and speckles.  While I wanted to award the Blu-ray disc a video score of 4, hindsight 20/20 is telling me to stick with a moderate 3.5.  Sometimes you should listen to that little voice in your head.

Audio 

Wasting perfectly good space on the Blu-ray disc is a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio surround track.  It makes me wonder what the 5.1 refers to after watching this movie.  Of course, I am just kidding.  I think I heard something come out of the rear channels once or twice, but not nearly enough to boast about.   One thing is for sure.  The dialogue was always loud and constantly clear through the center channel.  I was so relieved that I never had to grab the remote and raise the volume up past my normal listening mode, like I find myself doing for most comedies of this type.  A bombastic bass mix did come out and shockingly play every once in awhile during the Horsedick.mpeg rap music scenes.  Other than that, the normal soundtrack music just blended in gracefully between the two front channels.  So that concludes my praise for the soundtrack and now begins a discussion on my biggest pet peeve.  What is that you ask?  Well, it’s when the lips don’t match the spoken words.  Nothing drives me crazier then when these two forces of evil fight each other.  I thought I was crazy when I noticed it the first time during the viewing until my wife yelled out emphatically that the lips did not match the words being spoken.  This happened not once, not twice, but a total of three times during the movie.  That was enough for me to justify my decision to cap the audio score at an even 3.

Special Features 

The supplemental package of the Miss March Blu-ray is nothing to brag about either.  In fact, you could sarcastically joke and say, “What supplements?”  Unless you have a use for that digital copy junk, which I don’t, then you are going to be sorely disappointed in the special features department, if you were not already with the movie.  On the plus side, the sparse supplements that inhabit the Blu-ray disc are in High-Definition, but that’s not enough to save or redeem this disc from its meager offerings.  Let’s take a closer look at what we have to work with on this disc.  Let me hit the pause button on my keyboard as I hunt for my magnifying glass.

• Viral Videos (HD) – Here we have about 5 short videos encompassing about 14 minutes of MPEG-2 runtime.  If these viral videos were meant to publicize the film, then I wish I would have seen them beforehand, as I would have never wanted a viewing then.  The videos include “Sound Design,” “Timmy’s Audition,” “Darren’s Audition,” “Sam’s Audition” and “Lesbian’s Audition.”
• Down and Dirty (HD) - Available in an edited or uncensored version, this 2-minute documentary takes a faux look at the obscene rap star Horsedick.mpeg.
• Theatrical vs. Unrated - I just wanted to make sure my readers know that you could watch the film in either a theatrical or an unrated version.  I chose to watch the unrated version for the above review.  You can choose your own fate.
• Digital Copy - Yes, there is one of these included on a separate DVD disc.  Yippee!
• Trailers (HD) – There are two film trailers that precede the disc’s menu.  Those trailers are Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li and The Marine.  Should I say more?

Final Thoughts 

How do you end a review like this?  You do so by begging people not to be fooled by the pretty girl on the cover and by reiterating the recommendation that if they have an inkling of desire to still see this, after reading the above review, then they should take a bike ride to their local video store to rent it.  Why do I suggest a bike ride?  Well that way, in case you feel like you can’t get those 90 minutes of your life back after watching this film, then you can at least rest assured that you did not waste any money on gas and you got some cardiovascular exercise at the same time.  See, I am looking out for you and the overall health of our growing obese population.  Ultimately, Miss March was so bad that I gleefully had to keep it, as I immediately filed it under the M’s in my Blu-ray collection after my first viewing.  Will I ever watch it again?  I probably won’t, but then again, how do you throw away that pretty cover? 

I hope you enjoyed my review of the 20^th Century Fox’s Miss March Blu-ray release.  Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments below.  I look forward to receiving any feedback from my readers.

Miss March was released on Blu-ray July 28, 2009.  If you like what you read in the review above, then please show your support for our site by clicking the shopping cart link above to order and save with Amazon’s Everyday Lowest Price Guarantee.  Thanks!

While participating this past July, as a member of the press at San Diego’s Comic-Con extravaganza, I came across these three girls promoting the following week’s release of Miss March on DVD and Blu-ray.  I thought I would share a photo below with my fellow readers.  Looking back, I think to myself and wonder.  Wow!  They actually spent money to promote this film.  I guess Fox was desperate to make whatever they could back, after the film’s horrible box office tanking.  I mean after all, if a pretty girl on the cover lured me in, think of the power of three pretty girls, live and in person.  Don’t give into the dark side!

Film

The plot on Fired Up is as over the top as they come, but hey that just makes it all the more fun! Or not… Shawn and Nick are two young adults who have nothing on their mind but girls, so when they find out they’re going to a football camp in Texas where there are apparently no women. So the two opt to drop football camp and join cheer camp instead where there are said to be 300+ women. Not to my surprise the plot turns quite sappy and predictable as the two begin to enjoy cheering and even fall in love. I’ll let you guess how this one ends…

I become more and more surprised with some of the dribble they put out these days, honestly. Usually I can find at least something moderately likeable about comedies, a few odd ball laughs maybe, but I quite literally found Fired Up abysmal. It is becoming more and more obvious to me now that studious are putting in as little effort as possible to flood the market with frankly boring movies in order to turn a quick profit. I’m not trying to sound too unmelodious, but it just really disappoints me that this is what some films have come to. I say this being a huge fan of stupid movies, I love a good comedy I have just grown completely tired of the same old formula.

As a side note, I know as an audience we haven’t come to expect much from the casting in a film like this, but I must mention it was quite weak. The cast physically suits their roles as attractive and young, but the delivery just isn’t there in the lines which takes away what little appeal the script did have.

The thing that bothered me about this film most was its one dimension; its predictability and lack of fresh jokes. The script is just too limited by its lackluster premise that you know exactly what’s coming. I’m not going to completely condemn this film however, as I have no doubt it will entertain teenagers and but outside of that small target audience I really can’t recommend checking it out.

Video

Presented in 1080p 2.40:1 aspect ratio and encoded in MPEG-4 ratio Fired Up comes to Blu-ray with an impressive looking transfer. Detail presentation is very solid with little subtleties like hair and wrinkles clearly seen in every shot.  There wasn’t a single scene throughout the movie that looked compressed or soft which was very nice to see.  Color presentation is also top notch, although flesh tones can seem a bit enhanced in many shots.  However the vibrancy and color depth make up for this.

I was glad Sony gave this transfer the same care as it does for its higher budget movies.  Fans of the movie will be more than pleased to see the quality here.

Audio

Sony has included a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track and it is one that presents the given material very well.  The quality of the track is very high as we are given a presentation that sounds great while maintaining a correct balance between dialogue and music track.

The soundtrack is actually quite varied as we are given tracks ranging from Avril Lavigne to Whitesnake.  It is the frequent songs that really push the track over from being an average front heavy comedy.  Overall if you like the content of the film than this audio track will definitely surprise you.

Special Features

• Audio Commentary – Commentary by Director Will Gluck and actors Nicholas D’Agosto and Eric Olsen.

• Making of Feature – A lacklustre making of feature that focuses on the film’s production including an in depth look at the dance and cheerleading routines.

• Double Duty – A closer look at the how the two actors appeared as both football players and cheerleaders.

• Gag Reel – A short but funny gag reel that will provide laughs for fans of the movie.

• Digital Copy

Final Thoughts

I don’t think it comes as a surprise that this movie was rather disappointing. But I would have hoped that it held some integrity but instead we are left with just another dull and predictable comedy that will soon be forgotten. The audio and video transfers are both solid and will please the viewer. The features were somewhere in the middle, making Fired Up a purchase for fans only; otherwise I wouldn’t even warrant it with a rental.

To my chagrin, I was very excited to watch this one, as I have been a fan of MacFarlane’s Family Guy show for some time now.  I knew about this release several months beforehand and even debated on picking this one up, so imagine my surprise when I opened my mailbox to find a review copy of this Blu-ray feature.  My wife and I were both ecstatic!  Coincidentally, we even chose to watch this over Edward Norton’s Pride and Glory, yet another reason for me to build a time machine out of a Delorean.

The Film 

After doing some research I found out this release actually spawned off from a series of episodic cartoons that were originally aired on YouTube.  Upon being aired, Seth Macfarlane’s YouTube Channel, SethComedy, became the most watched YouTube channel of the week.  Supposedly, since the 12^th episode, the profanity has been uncensored.  To be completely honest, I must be living in a cave because I had no idea about any of these happenings other than my being a casual MacFarlane fan, from my association with his Family Guy TV show. 

Let the record show that I love and adore the Family Guy sitcom.  I laugh my #*$ off each and every show. That is why I was so excited to tackle this most recent viewing/review of Seth MacFarlane’s Cartoon Cavalcade of Comedy: Uncensored!. Wow!  Was I ever caught off guard.  What’s the correct expression to use here?  I got served!  I got served a nasty dish of brown pudding, only the kind that is not referred to as chocolate flavored.

Personal opinions aside for a very brief moment, the advertising tagline of this release asks the audience to “prepare for non-stop, raw and brazen laughs.”  I want to know where this title is the advertisers are referring to?  This certainly does not describe the collection of 50 animated shorts that I just watched.  Make sure you take note here.  My wife and I laughed at a maximum of only 3 of the 50 scenes.  The two that stand out in my mind are Optimus Prime’s transformation after sexual intercourse and what the Bee Gees would sound like riding a roller coaster.  I can’t remember what the other one was.  What does that say for this collection?  For these reasons alone, I give it a .5 film score for eliciting at least 2 laughs from my frumpy soul.  What happened here, Seth?  Maybe I am just a minority.  I like to think it is just I, but my wife who laughs at everything, just watched this in utter disbelief over how lame this release really was.

To recap, I did not like this.  It’s very obvious.  The following is just need to know information as it relates to the content of the Blu-ray release.  This collection, as previously stated, contains 50 animated shorts in total.  They contain characters such as Bob Dylan, Ted Nugent, Quentin Tarantino, Super Mario, Jeff Goldblum, Optimus Prime and many more that I don’t have the energy to list or desire to mention.  If you thought I left out Jesus Christ on purpose, that’s because I did.  I did not want religious fanatics to get angry with me for mentioning his name here, but now that it is out on the table, yes Jesus Christ was depicted in here, probably in not the most favorable fashion either.  I think you get the point.  The only cool thing for me was that most of these characters utilize the familiar Family Guy voice talent.   I should underline the word only in that last sentence.

Video 

When I purchased my first HDTV in the summer of 2005 one of my fondest earliest memories of that experience was remembering how great the Family Guy analog cable broadcast looked on it.  The colors were so rich and vivid.  I was living the dream, or so I thought.  I guess this is why I had such high expectations for this particular Blu-ray release of Seth MacFarlane’s.  Was I ever mistaken.  I can sum the video experience up of this Blu-ray release in one word.  Putrid!  The colors were more washed and faded then the failed attempts of restoring the bleach white color to my tighty whities.  Even the stains on those are brighter than the colors to be found here.  There was nothing pretty about this transfer.  I really can’t imagine how it could look any worse on the standard DVD format.  It was really that drab.  You want to talk about jaggies?  It is like I am living the construction of my house all over again, remembering how I yelled at the painter for not being able to paint straight lines.  The majority of the diagonal lines to be found here all suffer from jaggies.  I guess you can’t expect much from something that really was probably never envisioned for anything greater than Internet resolution.  What a shame it had to be released on the glorified Blu-ray format. 

Oh yeah, I guess I should mention the technical specs huh?  The feature presentation, on this Blu-ray disc (I am still searching for that one…ha ha), is presented in a 1080P MPEG-4 AVC video codec and an aspect ratio 1.33:1, but whatever, it still looks like sh$#.  Like my video professor at Cleveland State University always said…”sh$# in, sh$# out.”

Audio 

Where”s Waldo?  What?  I am just kidding.  I should have asked where’s the audio, in a tone much like that elderly woman (God rest her soul) from the old Wendy’s commercials.  The abomination of this cartoon series on the Blu-ray format does not stop with the video department, oh no, it spills into the audio aisles too.  Cleanup in aisle four (I yell in my loudspeaker…if only I had one)! 

The audio cut of choice here is a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track.  When you think of the High-Definition audio tracks you usually visualize a nice thick piece of beef, at least I do.  So instead, think of going to the grocery store deli counter and ordering up some ham, but asking for it sliced.  Like the video, not one moment in time are you ever aware that you are watching a Blu-ray from the quality of this audio track.   Maybe I should have said from the lack of quality of the audio track.  I think I heard something putter out of my rear speakers once or twice during the whole presentation, although I could have mistaken rear audio for my cats possibly playing behind me.  Considering this was originally intended to be an Internet series, as I stated before, it should come as no surprise that a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track was wasted on this release. 

Much like how fellow Into The Blu reviewer Gregg Senko weights the film score more heavily, I am awarding a bold score of 2 to the audio section for the primary reason of the clarity of the dialogue.  The dialogue was always intelligible throughout.  I never once lifted my trigger finger to turn the volume up, other than to check and make sure I actually had the receiver set up to decode a 5.1 mix because I thought maybe there was a reason why I heard nothing out of the rear channels.

Special Features 

Next up for discussion is the lack of any real supplemental material, other than the free television episode downloads.  If you spend anymore than a minute reading the below special features, then you are plain and simply a slow reader.  You should be able to read about all the countless special features just as fast as you could watch them on this Blu-ray disc.  I hope everyone knows I am being facetious, of course.

• Red Carpet Premiere (SD) – This 4-minute special feature about nothing is truly a waste of your time, unless you have a burning desire to know exactly what a cavalcade is.  I wish I had looked the word up in the dictionary, as opposed to sitting through this.
• Still Galleries – There are three galleries available here.  They are the Rough Character Models, Cleaned Up Character Models and Colored Character Models.  This is basically another waste of your time.
• Pre-Menu Trailer (HD) – Can anyone tell me why the only true High-Definition experience on this whole Blu-ray disc is a trailer for Fox’s Notorious film?  I mean, why not a trailer for Live Free or Die Hard or AVP?  Relax…I am being facetious again.
• iTunes Downloads – On the package of the Blu-ray case is a sticker containing codes redeemable for free downloads of the very first episodes of Family Guy, American Dad and Futurama.  This is primarily why I gave the Special Features a score of 1 because at least you get something worthwhile for your money.

Final Thoughts 

It’s like waking up on Christmas morning and there being no presents under the tree.  That is the bad taste that this Blu-ray release left in my mouth, the unbeatable stain on my clothes and the everlasting impression on my tortured soul.  After watching this, I don’t believe in Santa Claus anymore, I like waking up in the morning with stomachaches and church suddenly seems like more fun.

So let me save you all the time and define just what a cavalcade really is.  The American Heritage Dictionary defines a cavalcade as a succession or series.  So in other words, what we have here is a succession or series of cartoon failures.  All personal bias aside, the technical specs of this Blu-ray release alone warrant a grade below an F, if that is possible.  If I had to do the classic television commercial taste test here, I would have never been able to distinguish between which one was the DVD and which one was the Blu-ray source.  It’s that bad folks.  Do yourself a favor and stay very far away from this one.  You would not lie next to a smelly pile of fresh dog poop on a hot summer day would you?  If the answer is no to that question, and I sincerely hope it is, then take the same recourse of action here with this Blu-ray selection.  You can thank me later.  By the way, just a little food for thought, you can purchase the first three episodes of Family Guy, American Dad and Futurama on iTunes cheaper then buying this Blu-ray release solely for them.  Do your homework, stay in school and abstain from this Blu-ray.

I guess I should also mention for the one or two people who are actually reading this review that this Blu-ray release comes packaged in Fox’s ecological, half your money’s worth, Blu-ray style case.  This is a separate subject for another outing.  I put my readers through enough here for one sitting.

I hope you enjoyed my review of the 20^th Century Fox’s Seth MacFarlane’s Cartoon Cavalcade of Comedy: Uncensored! Blu-ray release.  Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments below.  I look forward to receiving any feedback from my readers.

Seth MacFarlane’s Cartoon Cavalcade of Comedy: Uncensored! was released on Blu-ray May 12, 2009.  If you still want to buy this, despite what you read in the review above, then please show your support for our site by clicking the shopping cart link above to order and save with Amazon’s Everyday Lowest Price Guarantee.  Thanks!

Film 

Sin City is based on a series of graphic novels by Frank Miller. There are two versions of the film presented on this release, the theatrical release and a re-cut, extended unrated version. Of the two, I found the extended unrated version the superior option. The film was written, produced and directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriquez with a special quest director credit given to Quentin Tarantino for his role in directing one scene in the film.

The film features an all star cast, including Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Jessica Alba, Benicio del Toro, Brittany Murphy, Elijah Wood, Rosario Dawson, Jaime King, Carla Gagino, Alexia Bledel, Rutger Hauer and Josh Hartnet. The unrated cut features four stories all set in Basin City, a gritty and grimy town with rampant corruption of the government and the police force. While all stories are different, they all take place in and around Basin City and feature some of the same characters who float in and out of the various stories.

The first story in entitled The Customer is Always Right which stars Marley Shelton as a woman wearing a red dress out on alone of a balcony who meets her demise at the hands of Josh Hartnett.

The second story is entitled That Yellow Bastard which stars Bruce Willis as police officer John Hartigan who has a bad ticker and is obsessed with saving the life of a young girl from a serial child rapist and murderer who happens to be the son of the powerful and corrupt Senator Roark. While rescuing the 11 year old Nancy Callahan from Roark Junior, Officer Hartnet shoots Junior Roark several times, including blowing off his genitals. He is framed by a corrupt officer as the child murderer and after an extensive hospitalization, agrees to a long prison term to save the life of Nancy Calligan and her family at the hands of the Roark family. After serving out his prison term, Officer Hartigan is released and is followed by the Old Yellow Bastard who is intent on capturing and killing Nancy who, along with Officer Hartigan, are the only ones who know his secret. Officer Hartigan sets out to protect Nancy who is now an erotic dancer played by the stunningly beautiful Jessica Alba. I Oh, by the way, did I forget to mention that this film has some stunning eye candy with Jessica Alba in erotic attire, a naked and spectacular looking Carla Gugino who is a real eye opener in her role as a lesbian parole officer, as well as Rosario Dawson, Brittany Murphy and Alexis Bledel, just to name a few, all of whom look incredible in high definition.

The third vignette is entitled The Hard Goodbye which stars Mickey Rourke as a disfigured thug named Marv, who finds a beautiful woman named Goldie who he had just met that night, murdered in his bed and him framed for the murder, He sets out to find the person who killed his angel after escaping from the police and tracks down the murderer on the Roark farm where he takes care of business before meeting his own demise at the hands of the criminal justice system.

The last of the four vignettes is entitled The Big Fat Kill and stars Clive Owen as a good guy, intent on saving the lives of a group of hookers who control a section of the city, protected by an agreement between them, the police and the mob.

As noted previously, this is a gritty and violent film that has plenty of eye candy. However, it is much more than the sum of its parts, as it successfully weaves together different story lines with common characters. I have never quite seen a film like Sin City. It captures your attention early and never lets go. It is an excellent film and is one that is a must see. Very highly recommended.

Video 

The word that leaps to mind to describe the look of this film on Blu-ray is flawless. I am sure the film isn’t perfect in all respects but it came close enough for me to give the video a perfect score of 5 out of 5. The film is presented in glorious black and white with just a slash of color, with the red dress in the The Customer is Always Right, the the golden color of Goldie’s hair to the red color of blood and the yellow skin color of the Old Yellow Bastard. The film delivers a deep and inky black that will surely test your display’s ability to render deep blacks. White, such as the band-aids on the face of the Mickey Rourke character in particular, are pure white and look stunning against the inky blacks in the rest of the image.

The film has a utterly three dimensional look to it with incredible clarity and detail. Shadow detail is excellent as well, which is important given how the film takes place at night. While I have seen many films presented in black and white, I have never seen one that looks quite like this one. This is a spectacular looking film that is presented in all of its glory on this Blu-ray release. Sin City is reference in all respects and fully deserving of a perfect score.

Audio 

The lossless audio track on this release is every bit as good as the video presentation. The lossless audio track is encoded with DTS HD Master Audio at 48 kHz/24 bit in a 5.1 mix and is one of the better sound designs I have yet experienced at home. The one thing that strikes you from the outset of the film is the quality of the dialogue track, which is presented with incredible fidelity. The actors sound as though they are in the room speaking to you rather than through a set of speakers.

The fidelity of the rest of the audio is just as impressive as the dialogue track, sounding smooth, rich and full with incredible transparency and imaging. Dynamics are just off the charts with deep and rich bass that will put your sound system to the test. Even better, the surround speakers are actively engaged throughout the film creating a totally immersive feel that helps draw you into the world of Basin City. This is one fantastic sound design that is presented with incredible fidelity on this DTS HD Master Audio track.

Special Features 

Disc 1 contains the theatrical release in addition to several extras, including a commentary with Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, a commentary featuring Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino and an audio track containing the reaction of the Austin audience to the film. where the film was shot. The commentaries are accessible via Cine-Explore.

Disc 2, which has the extended unrated cut, features Kill ‘em Good, an interactive comic book which is exclusive to Blu-ray and is the only extra presented in HD. Also included are several Robert Rodriguez featurettes, including a 15 Minute Film School, All Green Screen Version, The Long Take, Sin City: Live in Concert and 10 Minute Cooking School. In addition and the most interesting IMHO, are the featurettes How it Went Down: Convincing Frank Miller to Make the Film, Special Quest Director Quentin Tarantino, A Hard Top with a Decent Engine: The Cars of Sin City, Booze, Broads and Guns: The Props of Sin City, Making the Monsters: Special Effects Make-Up, Trench Coasts and Fishnets: The Costumes of Sin City, all of which detail the topics you would expect from the titles. Also included are the teaser and theatrical trailers for the film. All in all, there is a ton of material here for fans of the film and the Frank Miller graphic novels.

Final Thoughts 

Sin City is a great film with reference audio and video. What more can you ask for? Very highly recommended.

Film 

The film starts off with a transport ship innocently gliding through the depths of deep space.  There are a handful of passengers on board, each in a cryogenic stasis to weather the burdens of extensive travel in a literal no-man’s-land.  The ship suddenly finds itself in the path of stray space debris which compromises the hull.  The vessel begins its unintended rapid descent to the desert world below, cooked by three suns that provide seemingly incessant daylight.

Riddick (Vin Diesel) happens to be a passenger on board that is unique amongst the others…he is a felon.  He makes his escape amidst the wreckage while the rest of the survivors, in their worrisome panic, search feverishly for both Riddick and water.  It doesn’t take the ship’s passengers long to realize that they are not the only inhabitants on the planet.  One by one, they slowly get picked off by the nocturnal winged creatures that reside underground, surfacing only when that rare moment of night envelops the planet.  These vicious feeders arguably rival most of the other sci-fi monsters to have graced the big screen, even H.R. Giger’s Alien (I know I’ll catch some flack for that one, but hey, the Aliens couldn’t fly).  Hunting in massive packs with teeth sharper than a Turbo Ginsu, the local wildlife make quick work of their prey.

As for the story itself, it is unique but lacks a big punch that normally makes you want to buckle up for the whole ride.  I can’t put my finger on it but much of Pitch Black is like drinking soda without the fizz.  There’s still some minute satisfaction, but ultimately you long for more substance.  I really did not find myself identifying with any of the characters, so whether they became bat food or made it to the exit, I didn’t care.  Will Riddick make it off the planet?  Will the rest of the passengers survive?  You’ll just have to give it a watch…oh, and you may want to leave a light on…just to be safe.

Video 

Unfortunately, the video quality did not match up with that of its cohort; The Chronicles of Riddick. The grain was quite visible in the dark scenes and as night fell with the film’s progression, the dancing grain became even more prominent.  The video imperfections did serve as a distraction at times, which is regrettable because there were some scenes that did offer the pristine clarity you will see in The Chronicles of Riddick.  Pitch Black is brought to us in the same 1080p VC-1 encode that Chronicles delivered.  I guess it’s just proof that the encode isn’t the be-all, end-all of the video quality.

Audio 

The audio was impressive and the distant thud of feet landing behind someone in the sand, coupled with the later effects of the nocturnal bat monsters (I honestly do not know what else to call them) swooping about was an enjoyable experience.  The dialogue comes across in a very clear manner without the listener needing to strain or find the rewind button.  Whether it’s a ship breaking up in re-entry or raindrops meeting a puddle below, the DTS-HD Lossless Master Audio does a fine job of taking you to this desolate planet and engaging all the ferocious natives it has to offer.

Special Features 

Ugh!  That’s two discs in a row that Universal has done this.  They provide an impressive array of extras, but they’re pretty much all in standard definition.  Have I mentioned how disappointing that looks on a high definition television?

• My Scenes – (SD) Bookmark your favorite scenes from the film.
• An Introduction by David Twohy - (SD) Direct David Twohy provides some quick but interesting background information on the filming of Pitch Black (2:25).
• The Game is on – (SD) An extended trailer of the new video game, “The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay” (1:49).
• Johns’ Chase Log - (SD) Viewers get to hear the audio diary of Johns (Cole Hauser), the bounty hunter pursuing Riddick.  The documented chase takes place during a time before the movie (7:12).
• The Making of Pitch Black - (SD) The title of this featurette says it all (4:44).
• Dark Fury: Advancing the Arc - (SD) This extra gives fans a look at the animated film starring Vin Diesel that takes place in a time immediately following Pitch Black (1:30).
• The Chronicles of Riddick Visual Encyclopedia – (SD) Similar in concept to “Johns’ Chase Log,” this extra provides recorded narrative relevant to the back-story of Pitch Black (2:18).
• A View Into the Dark – (SD) Here we have a featurette that includes interviews with Vin Diesel and David Twohy, as they discuss the evolution of Riddick (4:06).
• Feature Commentary with Vin Diesel, Cole Hauser and Director David Twohy - (HD)
• Feature Commentary with Director David Twohy, Producer Tom Engleman and Visual Effects Supervisor Peter Chiang - (HD)

• Outside of the ‘Extras’ menu is the increasingly common BD-Live feature along with the U-Control option.  With U-Control, fans of the film can access picture-in-picture and the backstage item known as “Pitch Black Raw.”

Final Thoughts 

Pitch Black has the right chemistry for being a great film.  It’s suspenseful, it’s gritty and it has a big name attached to it in Vin Diesel.  However, it just seems that the match was lit too early.  There wasn’t enough dynamite put down in time (figuratively speaking) in this movie to give it a big enough bang.  Maybe it’s because the film was rushed.  It was, after all, shot in a mere 60 days.  That is impressive to say the least, but a hurried schedule can have a negative outcome on the final product.  It’s definitely worth a rental but spending your hard-earned dollars, pesos or euros on this to own, may be a decision best revisited before executing.  Don’t shut it off and leave yourself in the dark.  Give Pitch Black a chance, but don’t expect greatness.

Film 

The Chronicles of Riddick is a sequel to Pitch Black only in the sense that both revolve around the same character, Richard B. Riddick.  The similarities stop there as both films can stand on their own as far as their stories go.  Riddick is one of the last of his race, the Furyans, whose planet was wiped out by the Necromongers, a race vehemently determined in their crusades throughout the universe.  Their goal?  To convert you to their religion.  Should you defy conversion, you face certain death.  However, conversion isn’t merely saying, “Okay, I believe whatever you do,” …if it were only that simple for the victims.  Many of the victims bowing to the brute force of their dark adversary become Necro soldiers, some become Lensors; zombie-like beings bestowed with thermal imaging technology to seek out foes of the Necromongers.  Others become ghastly, near-dead beings capable of telepathy. 

This massive army of evil is lead by the Lord Marshal (Colm Feore), who himself possesses supernatural like abilities.  The Lord Marshal can steal souls and even separate his own from his bodily shell.  Initially that race is of no interest to Riddick (Vin Diesel), but the optically gifted escapee soon loses a close friend to the hands of the Necromongers.  Big mistake, Lord Marshal.  You may be able to do a great impression of Mortal Kombat’s Shang Tsung, but ‘this ain’t no Johnny Cage you’re facing.’  Riddick is the man with a plan and oh does he do a masterful job of unfolding it in the film. 

Also joining the cast is Karl Urban as Vaako, Lord Marshal’s right-hand-man, and Judi Dench (of James Bond fame) as Aereon the Elemental.  What a combination between those two.  Dench is a fine actress to the last.  Urban is a great actor too…until he starts talking.  I have now seen Karl Urban in three films that I know of; Pathfinder, Doom and The Chronicles of Riddick.  Tron is a film that cracks my top 20 films of all time.  I recently read that Urban could be taking the lead role in the upcoming 2011 sequel, Tron 2.0.  Please, no.  So far, it feels like every film this guy touches at the box office tanks.  He has the opposite of the King Midas touch.  I had to laugh at one point when Vin Diesel referred to Karl Urban as a great actor in one of the extras.  I can frown and talk raspy.  Do you see me on film?  No.  That’s why I’m sitting behind a desk typing this review…but I digress. 

Back to the meat of the film’s story, Riddick must travel from planet to planet, from penal colony to Necromonger mothership, in order to take down this almighty race and have his ultimate revenge.  There is plenty of fast action and discharged bullet casings to satisfy actions fans but I did feel like the film could have been a bit shorter.  I know, I know…I was watching the 15-minute extended director’s cut.  Still, another 15 minutes slashed from the film reel would have been a welcomed subtraction.  At times you’re waiting for the story to take you somewhere, thinking it will, only to realize when it’s over, this scene and that one really weren’t necessary.

Video 

There are scenes of grain here and there early on but man oh man does this film look beautiful in its 1080P, VC-1 encode delivery.  If you are looking for small nicks in the armor, grease on the face and grains of mineral in the cave walls, look no more.  The Chronicles of Riddick is quite the handsome Blu-ray indeed.  In some cases, the special effects seem a bit lacking, but this is from the initial studio creation and is no fault of the video transfer.  What I mean by ‘a bit lacking’ is some of the visuals aren’t all that convincing.  For instance, a wall of fire quickly envelopes a sun-scorched planet, but the ever moving thermal front is rather disappointing and blatantly low-income digital.

Audio 

What Richard Simmons did with Sweatin’ to the Oldies, The Chronicles of Riddick will do to your speakers.  “And a left and a right…aw right!  What a workout!”  The sound is truly a grand experience on this disc.  There was one scene that utilized my sound system better than any other film thus far and that was the throbbing pulse of a ship’s engines.  The sub-woofer began conducting this sound effect symphony whereas the rest of the speakers soon followed.  If you want to talk about an experience that will immerse you, this scene was it.  If I didn’t know any better, I thought that ship was outside my window.  That is not to say there was nothing else to offer, quite the contrary.  The thrust of a blade penetrating Necro armor, the exchange of gunfire and even the subtle noises one would most often overlook were delivered extremely proficiently.  My only negative was some of the dialogue, particulary a handful of lines early on in the film, were a bit harder to hear.  Don’t let that stop you though.  This disc is rockin’. 

Special Features 

I am beginning to learn that when a disc says its special features are both 1080 and 480, take the 1080 claim with a grain of salt.  Such is the case here.  You can bookmark scenes under the “My Scenes” extra and those are of course 1080.  You can watch the film with commentary and this too is obviously in 1080.  However, any extra that doesn’t involve actually watching the film itself is in 480p.  Boo, hiss.  This is disappointing. 

• My Scenes – Bookmark your favorite scenes from the film.
• Deleted Scenes with Commentary by Writer-Director David Twohy – This 8-minute featurette is the first of several 480p extras on the disc.
• Virtual Guide to The Chronicles of Riddick - Close to 8 minutes, this extra seems to be geared towards the hard-core fans of the film.  It features console-like graphics and displays segmented video with short dialogue.  It is done in a manner to present the material as real life(480p). 
• Toomb’s Chase Log - Toomb was a bounty hunter on the heels of Riddick throughout the film.  In this 10-minute extra, viewers get to experience the Toomb-narrated ship log.  One thing I found odd on this is his mention of going to Korriban, which is a planet in the Star Wars universe (480p). 
• Visual Effects Revealed - A 6-minute gander into the computer generated effects of the film as well as that of the effects on the studio sets (480p). 
• Creation of New Mecca - This 11-minute venture takes a look at the characters and delves into the building of the New Mecca set, the city where our story begins (480p).
• Riddick Rises - This 13-and-a-half minute extra provides interviews with Vin Diesel as we look at the evolution and transition of his character (480p).
• Keep What You Kill - the motto of the Necromongers; the longest extra at 17-and-a-half minutes, each of the main characters is covered in detail by the actor/actress portraying him or her (480p).
• Feature Commentary with Writer-Director David Twohy and actors Karl Urban & Alexa Davalos (1080p)
•  There is also a section outside of the extras known as U-Control.  Within this option, you can enable picture-in-picture, the “Complete Chronicles,” the “Chronicles Compendium” and “Anatomy of a Fight.” 

Final Thoughts   

The Chronicles of Riddick is some decent sci-fi but the story telling gets a bit heavy-handed at times.  As I mentioned earlier, there is some more time that can stand to be axed from the film reel.  For instance, Judi Dench’s character seemed to be more of a token role than something actually pertinent to the film.  She’s a great actress but her character didn’t strike me as vital to the story.  Any way you twist it though, there is still a good amount of action to be had on this disc and the audio and visuals will not disappoint.  Sharpen your knives, strap on your UV goggles and take flight with Vin Diesel in The Chronicles of Riddick.