Film

The finale to this trilogy does not add many new elements. Rather, this is a thorough wrap-up of all the character threads and plot lines previously laid out in the series. The story telling style comes full circle as Blomkvist returns to being the central hero he was in the first film, with Salander mostly forced to the peripheries of the main adventure, thanks to her hospitalization then incarceration during the majority of the film, but retains plenty of opportunities for action in due time.

This flipping of central roles in the action means also means a return to the slower pace of the first film. Of course, this film is not devoid of chases or action, it simply means it is more methodical in the handling of its characters. This film is for those who are invested in these rich characters and our interests lie in what happens to them, not in the intense moments they can offer.

Also like the first film is heavier significance is placed on the press, more specifically on Blomkvist’s “Millennium” magazine which published the articles that gained himself the legal trouble that brought Salander into his world. Blomkvist wishes to tell the truth about Salander, but this time it is not legal issues he might face as a consequence, but his life and the lives of his magazine coworkers could be at stake. The burden of the truth might mean sacrifices would have to be made for the greater good…for evil to be truly punished in the end. Blomkvist does not wish others to be harmed so like a true hero, places himself on the front lines to receive the brunt of the retaliations.

The performances by the actors have been solid throughout the series but once again, Noomi Rapace steals every scene she is in with her riveting embodiment of Salander. There are touches of Linda Hamilton’s incarceration scenes in Terminator 2, mixed into her persona, along with her deceptively fragile looking mien that hides a very intense person who is willing to push herself well beyond her limits to survive.

Video

Widescreen 1.78:1. Like the Girl who Played with Fire, the picture is not as crisp as one might hope for in a Blu Ray. The shades look decent enough, and there is an orange hue that masks many flaws during brighter exterior scenes, but there are still many moments where a haze is visible.

Audio

5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio is in English along with two 5.1 Dolby Digital tracks (one English the other Swedish). All of the tracks have a great delivery in all speakers. The English dubbing is not distracting while the original Swedish dialogue is perfectly mixed with the score and sound f/x.

Special Features

Trailer: Self-explanatory.

Interview with Actress Noomi Rapace: A twenty minute interview on the set while Rapace gets prepared in makeup. It is a long interview but not laborious if one wishes to delve a little bit deeper into Rapace’s method for training and preparing to perform as Salander. Very nice for fans.

Interview with Michael Nyqvist: The man who played Blomkvist touches on how he beat out several other leading men for this role. Not quite as interesting or humble as Rapace’s interview, but at least it is not some fluffy red carpet assembly of sound bites.

DVD copy of the Film

Final Thoughts

With this third film you see the trilogy as one whole. There are journeys within each film but the most important pieces are the character’s arcs that stretch the length of all three films. They seamlessly fit together and make for a thrilling adventure through each hour that passes. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest is a fine film on its own, but more importantly this has been a wonderful series for fans of mysteries and thrillers.

Film

In my previous review I had alluded to how Lisbeth’s portions of the stories ran at a more exciting pace and were able to grip my interest more tightly than the rest. To all those that felt the same way, this sequel puts the focus squarely on Lisbeth, and only benefits from this. In fact, I could see subscribing to the rumblings out there that this is a rare case of a sequel surpassing it’s predecessor in quality. This sequel runs at a much tighten pace than “Dragon Tattoo” and the story feeds well off of its already richly developed lead characters, as well as adding a few interesting new ones.

Not to say that the film simply follows Lisbeth exclusively. Reporter Mikael Blomkvist, the protagonist of the original film, returns to investigate a sex trafficking operation before being roped into Lisbeth’s life again. Blomkvist and Lisbeth do not get partnered up again, so there journeys are told in parallel scenes.

Just as there was in the previous film, there are many intense sexual encounters. Sex continues to link many of the characters together, be that in a positive manner or a strongly negative one. There are also moments of physical violence that the camera does not shy away from. Moments of sex and violence are peppered tactfully throughout the film so that they do not seem exploitive, but rather necessary to the story. They are crucial to the intensity of the film and do a wonderful job of adding interest to what is already a very engrossing and detailing storyline.

Video

Widescreen 1.78:1. The picture is not very sharp at all. There is a certain fuzziness apparent in close ups that is normally reserved for a lackluster DVD transfer. A disappointing treatment, but not all too surprising considering how much concern went into every other aspect of this film.

Audio

The lone track is 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio in Swedish. The sound is quite lush in all speakers. Fire is a very prominent theme in this film, and scenes of infernos make for the finest examples of the sound quality. When the film is inside a burning building, it looks and sounds like one, totally immersing you into the moment. The dialogue and score are also very clean, but the flames are what make this soundtrack truly special and are well worth experiencing in surround.

Subtitles in English.

Special Features

Cast & Crew Interviews: Shot from the interviewers point of view via a handy-cam. Random people involved with the film are approached and questioned while working. It makes for a decently wide variety of tidbits and viewpoints since we get interviews with everyone from people on screen to assistants handling props. As well, it is easier to digest than the standard fluff interviews with stars we usually get from major releases.

Nidermann vs Roberto: Behind the Fight Scene: A candid look at the assembly of the biggest fight scene in the film. This is slow and plodding, just like a true film set. Dozens of crew members mill around behind the camera and the action, there are frequent stops and a lot of takes. For those that think filmmaking is a glamourous occupation, learn well from watching this. “Hurry up and wait” is an old phrase people in the industry like to use, and you get a slight taste of it here.

Sneak peak at The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest: A sample scene from the next film that reveals Blomkvist’s motives for the next plot.

Final Thoughts

This series deserves its acclaim. Two films into it and it has shown nothing but a gaining momentum while being perpetually gripping and intriguing. Lisbeth has become a truly iconic character and Noomi Rapace has done an amazing job bringing her to the screen. Fans and newcomcers will not be dissapointed at all with this sequel, and all should be excited for the final installment.

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Film

Mikael Blomkvist is facing jail time for slander and manages to be hired for one last job. With the aid of a terribly troubled computer hacker named Lisbeth Salander, Blomkvist attempts to solve the disappearance of a woman from over decades before. While investigating, Salander’s troubles with her current legal guardian escalate to very dangerous levels along with the dangers of discovering a serial killer secret linked to the cold case they are working.

This film is a rare case where a film adaptation lives up to much of the hype surrounding the immensely successful and popular series of books by the late Stieg Larsson. As a stand-alone film, this is a powerful story. As an adaptation, it has taken cherished characters (especially that of Salander) and given them another life in this new medium while sacrificing little in the transfer.

Running at over 2 and a half hours long, one could certainly argue that almost too many efforts where made to be faithful to the source material, in that there are too many details wedged in that may add some context to the character’s motivations, it does not make for a thrilling pace. Considering this along with the capabilities of our two lead actors, there is a very clear tipping of the scale in favour of Noomi Rapace as Salander for both her performance and her character’s story is all the more engrossing, making Blomkvist’s subplots and/or contributions to the main plot feel like they are bogging down the film’s pace.

If the long length does not turn people away, perhaps the horrific brutality within Salander’s story will. I am not criticizing its inclusion, for I admire how it did not shy away from the most crucial points in her character’s arc, but simply warning those that may not wish to subject themselves that has a stronger impact than anything presented by the Gore-porn genre such as Hostel and its ilk, yet has nowhere the same degree of visual explicitness.

Video

Widescreen 2.35:1. The black shades in this film are perfectly crisp, which is often essential for the mien, costuming and settings of this film. As a contrast, exterior shots in nature are vibrantly bright and beautiful. Though things run more frequently on the dark side, there is a wide breadth of fine visual examples in this film. A great job has been done by the production team and those making the blu-ray and DVD.

Audio

5.1 Dolby Digital and 2.0 Stereo are available in both English and Swedish. Not surprising, the Swedish track is mixed very well, and ranks as superior to the English dubbing. Honestly though, the English track is not as distracting as I thought it might be. The performances are good and they did not slouch in the mixing. The sound effects are quite immersible both tracks when they need to be and all in all great care went into balancing score, effects and dialogue.

Subtitles available in English

Special Features

(on Blu Ray only)

Interview with actress Noomi Rapace: This is a very fine interview. Rapace explains her joy of the books pre-auditioning, her challenges portraying such a well known character as well as the traumatizing events she faces.

Interview with Producer Soren Staermose: This interview mostly focuses on Staermose’s obligation to honour the books while searching out all of, what he felt were, the appropriate pieces needed to assemble this film.

UK Theatrical Trailer

Sneak Peak of The Girl Who Played with Fire: Self-explanatory.

The Girl Who Played with Fire trailer

Photo Gallery: Presented as a slide show with music.

The Vanger Family Tree: Literally, a still picture of their family tree. A visual testament to how intricate and detailed Larsson’s mystery plot was. It is like catching a glimpse at a key element Blomvist and Salander needed to solve in order to learn the truth behind he disappearance.

Did you know? A series of written out facts surrounding the composition and success of Larsson’s books, all posthumously.

DVD copy of the film. Presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital English and Swedish.

Final Thoughts

Both the filmmakers and those created this Blu Ray/DVD combo packaged were dedicated. There is ample service to the fans here, that will be equally enjoyed by those getting their first impressions by this film. A story that is not for the faint of heart, but rewarding for those aching for a solid thriller.

Then there are film such as the Lord of the Rings Trilogy with extended editions that go on and on with seemingly endless battle sequences which were too long as it was in the theatrical cut and obnoxiously too long in the extended cut. Sitting there, I have to guess that they figured that since we went to the lengths to create this footage in the first place, we might as well let the world see it. Again that college essay mind set at work. You know, since I had to learn this stuff for the exam, I will at least show you that I did. I wish I could guess at what they were thinking when they put the extended cut of Hall Pass together, but I don’t think that anyone can figure that out, not even the filmmakers themselves. Not even the college essay theory can explain this mess.

Film  

Hall Pass, whether the theatrical cut or the Enlarged Edition (I can hear Bevis and Butthead laughing now in the background at that one) is an awful film. Hall Pass is a stupid and crass film, with the enlarged edition even more so.

The film stars Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis as two 30ish husbands who can seem to get sex off their minds. Their lovely wives who frankly deserve better ( played by Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate) decide to give their husbands hall passes. The halls pass is a week off from their marriage, where they can seek out sex with other women to get it out of their systems so they can return and focus their attentions on their wives. The wives leave for Cape Cod for a week of relaxation while their men go crazy. However, while on Cape Cod, the wives turn out to have better luck than the husbands in the extra curricular department.

The film is like a bad Saturday Night Live sketch extended from 5 minutes to two hours. It is devoid of anything really funny and instead is a crass and crude as you can get. Hall Pass is a bad film, embarrassingly bad, and one that you are better off skipping in its entirety.

Video  

The best thing that I can say about the video presentation here is that it is better than the film. It is a solid is unspectacular looking film with a nice natural looking color palette with nice levels of detail and decent blacks. Film grain is heavy however so if you don’t like film grain and prefer you films as clean as computer animation, Hall Pass will not be your cup of tea and really shouldn’t be anyway, grain or no grain. The film has good depth and clarity but far from reference quality. The film itself is in pristine quality and I was not able to detect any obvious errors with the encoding of the film.

Audio  

I was not expecting a reference audio presentation when I sat down to watch the film. However, even so, I was disappointed with the audio here. The film is a bit front heavy as one would expect with a comedy. While the surrounds do kick on occasion, most of the action remains centered in the front of the room. The real issues I had with the audio here is with the overall fidelity. I found the sound to be too thin and bright for my tastes, a bit on the shrill side, more like bad lossy audio rather that a DTS HD Master Audio track. The audio is just another reason to pass on this release.

Special Features  

There are two extras included with this release, consisting of an “outrageously funny” additional scene as well as a “hilarious” gag reel. I found neither to be either outrageously funny or hilarious. When you have to say you are outrageously funny or hilarious, this is usually a sure sign that you aren’t. Hall Pass is a combo pack release which contains a DVD copy of the film along with a digital copy, so you can take this mess of a film with you.

Final Thoughts  

Simply put, Hall Pass is a terrible film, one that I found to be crude and crass and at times relentlessly so. The audio is weak and the video just good with meager extras to boot. In short, there is really nothing here to recommend about this release. I suggest that you skip this one entirely.

Film  

The best way I can think to describe Battle: Los Angeles is that is a cross between Independence Day and Black Hawk Down, albeit without the humor of Independence Day. In fact, there are scenes lifted right out of both films in this film. The comparisons are obvious. Aliens invade the Earth. They position their attack ships outside of major cities all over the planet The aliens are tall with big heads and spindly legs. They have advanced weaponry that we can hardly deal with. We have a parent with a young child, wounded in the attack who dies. We have an alien with an achilles heel and a brave soldier who figures out how to breach their defenses and bring down each of the mother ships around the world which are controlling each of the attacks. Sound familiar?

On top of this is the gritty look and unrelenting action of a film like Black Hawk Down, presented in a documentary type fashion with hand held jerking cameras. In fact, it is the unrelenting action which is the saving grace of the film as it keeps you are least mildly interested in the film and helps you to overlook the plot and even the lifted dialogue and scenes from other films. It is because of this and the reference video and audio presentations as noted below, that I can give this film a recommendation.

Video  

The video presentation here is darn near perfect and is reference material all the way. The film does not exactly have a bright color palette as it is filled with browns and grays but has exquisite levels of clarity, depth and detail. Blacks are deep and inky. Shadow detail is fantastic.  Each skin pore and blemish, each hair on a soldier’s face is clearly visible as are the fine textures of the uniforms and clothing as well as the metal skin of the military equipment. If you are looking for demo reference material to show off your system and show just what the Blu-ray format is capable of delivering, Battle: Los Angeles is the release for you. The video presentation here is simple sensational. Need I say more?

Audio  

The audio here is a perfect match for the video presentation and is just as reference as the video. The sound mix is superb, with the surrounds engaged aggressively throughout the entire film, placing you smack dab in the center of the action. When the soldiers are holed up in a home in Santa Monica hiding from the advancing alines and trying to regroup, it sounds like you are in the room with them as the room ambiance is captured beautifully. You can hear things falling in the alleys around you, with gun blasts in the distance. The dialogue is beautifully recorded and well placed in the sound field and never ever gets lost in the mix. Dynamics are superb with deep and room shaking bass. The overall fidelity is simply superb, sounding smooth, rich and lifelike with transparency and imaging which is simply off the charts. The sound is just effortless, never straining  and sounds superb, regardless of the volume levels. Listen to this baby cranked up! It really doesn’t get better than this. Superb.

Special Features   

Battle: Los Angeles comes with several extras which while standard fare, are at least mildly interesting. The film comes equipment with what is described as “Command Control” which enables you, via picture-in-picture, to watch storyboard comparisons, battle points and items of interest while watching the film. Quite frankly, watching the film is enough for me. This is a feature that you will only want to access once you have watched the film one time through.

The bulk of the extras consist of featurettes about the making of the film and include “Behind the Battle”, “Aliens in LA”, “Preparing for Battle”, “Creating LA in LA”, “DIrecting the Battle”, “Boot Camp” and “The Freeway Battle”. These featurettes are rather self explanatory as they take you behind the scenes to show how the film was made and show how particular scenes were staged and filmed and feature interviews with the cast and crew.

Final Thoughts  

I found Battle: Los Angeles to be mildly entertaining due mostly to the non stop nature of the action in the film. In addition, this film features reference audio and video presentations that were simply superb. Whether that alone is enough of a reason to purchase a particular title, I will leave up to you.

Film  

For the most part, I enjoyed Unknown, at least up until the end, where the film really revealed itself for what it was, the film Total Recall, set in Berlin rather than on Mars, with Liam Neeson in the lead role rather than the former Governor of California.

Liam Neeson is Dr. Martin Harris, who travels to Berlin for a conference with his wife (January Jones). When checking into the hotel, Dr. Harris realizes that he left his briefcase at the airport and he hails a cab to take him back to the airport. On the way back, his cab is involved in an accident and flies off a bridge into the river. He is knocked unconscious in the accident and is rescued from drowning by the cab driver, played by Diane Kruger.

Dr. Harris awakens in the hospital a few days later and realizes his is missing the conference. Against the advice of his doctor, he returns to the hotel only to discover that his wife does not recognize him and that there is another man in the role of Dr. Martin Harris. He spends the rest of the film trying to prove that he is who he claims to be during which there are several attempts on his life. In the later part of the film, his true identity is revealed to him and the real purpose for his visit to Berlin.

If you haven’t already seen Total Recall, you will no doubt really enjoy this film as it does really draw you in and has some real suspense. If you have already seen Total Recall, you will really be disturbed by the last section of the film when you realize just what a remake of Total Recall Unknown really is. Are there no really new original ideas left in Hollywood? Rated as a rental only.

Video  

All in all, this is a fine encode . The film features a rather cool blueish appearance which is becoming all too common in films these days and is a trend that I can really do without. Most of the film takes place either at night or in dimly lit interiors. Nevertheless, the film maintains a excellent level of clarity, detail and depth throughout the film. Black are deep and inky with excellent shadow detail. The film features well saturated colors and is free of digital noise that can plaque dark looking films. While I could do without the overly stylized color scheme, the encode boasts excellent levels of detail and clarity and is free any obvious technical errors, including digital noise reduction or edge enhancement.

Audio  

I found the DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 audio track to be every bit as good as the video presentation. The film features active and at times very aggressive use of the surround speakers to create a nice immersive sound field during the entire film. The dialogue track is well recorded and well placed in the sound mix. Overall fidelity is quite good as is the placement of the various sound effects within the sound field. Bass is deep and tight and dynamics are excellent as well. In short, this is a fine sounding film, whose sound design is every bit as good as the visuals, perhaps even a tad better.

Special Features  

The extras are about as sparse as they come and consist of two brief featurettes, both of which are presented in HD. The first is Liam Neeson: Known Action Hero and the second Unknown: What is Known? The first is rather self-explanatory and takes a look at Liam Neeson’s role in the film. The latter is a brief behind the scenes look at the laming of the film and both feature interviews with the cast and crew. Most of the material in both featurettes is rather duplicative, which much of the latter appearing in the former. The release also includes a second disc containing a DVD and digital copies of the film.

Final Thoughts  

While there is a lot to like about Unknown, the problem is that the film is essentially a remake of Total Recall with the same basic plot line in a very different setting. I guess there is little new original material left to make out there in Hollywood or so it would seem by the releases in the past few years. It seems that most of the new faire consist of nothing more than remakes, sequels and more comic book super heroes. Rated as a rental only.

Concert  

If you are a fan of Sheryl Crow, you will love this release. The band that she has performing with her on this tour is superb and really drives the music and worth the price of admission. However, as much as she tries, Sheryl Crow’s voice is just not strong enough to get out in front of the music and drive it forward. Nor is her stage presence all that strong. I found her to be just too laid back, despite the excellent work of the band, which is the real star of this performance.

The concert was filmed in November 2010 at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles. While I have never been there, it sure looks like a real gem of a theater and a real art deco treasure dating back to 1930. Next time I am in LA, I will have to check it out. The Blu-ray release features 18 total tracks in order of appearance: Our Love is Fading, A Change Would Do You Good, 100 MIles From Memphis, Can’t Cry Anymore, Strong Enough, Summer Day, My Favorite Mistake, Redemption Day, Long Road Home, Every Day Is A Winding Road, Sideways, Roses And Moonlight, If It Makes You Happy, Soak Up The Sun, Peaceful Feeling, All I Wanna Do/Got To Give It Up, I Want You Back and I Shall Believe. The set is heavy on an R & B flavor that I had not associated with her music before and which I found to be really infectious, especially given how well the material was performed by this nine piece band.

If you are a fan, you will really enjoy this release. I know that I did,even with my misgivings noted above as well as below.

Video  

The video on this release is superb and some of the best I have yet seen on a Blu-ray concert release. The image is at all times razor sharp and loaded with fine details, from skin textures, the tassels on Sheryl Crow’s shirt, to the smudges on the face of the guitars, it is all visible on this release. I have seen other releases that are just as sharp at times as this release is, but with camera shots that can get a bit soft at times, especially crowd shots and distant shots. Not here. The image throughout the entire release is razor sharp. Colors are very natural looking as well and nicely saturated. All in all, this is a great looking release and one that should be a thrill for her fans.

Audio  

With one misgiving, I found the audio on this release to be superb. The audio was well mixed with deep bass and pin point imaging. Instrument placement across the front soundstage was superb. Imaging and transparency were both excellent with the result being a sound field of excellent depth, both from front to back and side to side. Overall fidelity was very good as well. The surrounds were used often and aggressively to create a nice immersive sound field, placing you in the Pantages Theater during the concert, although I did feel that a bit too much of the music was bleeding its way into the surrounds for my taste.

The main issue I had with the release and the reason I had to knock the overall score down a peg, was the mixing of Sheryl Crow’s vocal, which was too buried in the mix for my taste, so much so that it was almost lost in the mix at times. I know that this is not the result of the recording as the vocal in the two channel LCPM track included with the release had a much more pronounced vocal smack dab in the center of the mix and more out in front of the music. But for a better job mixing the center channel, the audio on this release, at least the 5.1 mix, would have garnered a higher score. While I greatly preferred the DTS HD Master Audio track, I also switched to the 2 channel mix, which I found to be a bit too bright and lacking the soundstaging, dynamics and bass response of the lossless multichannel mix, which is the real winner here and how this concert recording should be experienced in my opinion.

Special Features 

The only extra included with this release is a behind the scenes look at the filming of the concert and features rehearsal versions of two songs, Eye To Eye and Stop which were not included in the concert tracks. The behind the scenes featurette is presented in high definition.

Final Thoughts  

While not a huge fan of Sheryl Crow, I nonetheless enjoyed this concert release due in large measure to her wonderful supporting cast and feel that fans will be more than pleased with this release. Recommended for fans only.

Film

This film was released only four years after the infamous attempt to bug the Democratic offices in Watergate, which spurred the entire course of events in this film. This was a bit of a passion piece for Robert Redford as he began production while its main characters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (who would be played by Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman, respectively) were still reporting on related elements. Redford spent tireless hours, acting officially as the producer and star, researching the stories and the characters in order to deliver a compelling but painfully accurate adaptation.

By making these two reporters the main characters, the film became more of a detective story instead of merely a dramatization for what could easily have been a documentary. By seeing the actual methods these two men apply to uncover the details of Watergate, and “follow the money,” makes the audience all the more engaged in their findings. This, despite the fact that most everyone knows exactly how the film ends well before it begins.

The script by William Goldwin is top notch. It does not hurt that he had a very talented cast to deliver it, but he certainly does capture more than just the facts from the original stories/books he is adapting. As well, Goldwin had the benefit of strong direction by Alan Pakula. In particular I thought he made outstanding use of deep focus shots that depict Woodward typing away in the background, while actual news footage of Nixon plays in the foreground. They made for beautifully orchestrated reminders of how real these incidents, along reporter’s magnificent efforts, were.

Video

Widescreen 1.85:1. The film has aged some, and this is not the cleanest transfer onto Blu Ray I have seen. It looks fine on an HD screen but most definitely hazier than any release from the last 10 years would look.

Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 in English as well as French and Spanish 1.0. I’d say that very little has been boosted to make the film seem grander, but there is just so little to boost. The chattering of typewriter keys and anxious tones of voices are about as boisterous as it gets. This film does not require much by the way of a major sound, but certainly some more effort could have been made into immersing us into a newsroom atmosphere, sonically. Mind you, they did not fail, just fell a bit short from their potential.

Subtitles are available in English, French and Spanish.

Special Features

Commentary by Robert Redford: This man had his fingers in all parts of the film’s productions and recalls everything with enthusiasm. He does take long breaks to watch with us and starts many thoughts with “the idea here was.” All in all, he provides some very nice tidbits.

The next three featurettes all have a similar format, with an elderly sounding narrator, a patriotic score that never ceases, and the general vibe of a television special.

Telling the Truth About Lies: The Makinng of All the President’s Men: Compilation of interviews with the stars, producers, reporters, as well as Woodward and Bernstein themselves. A few of the interviewees imply that this sort of story could not be created today, in the way it was back in the 70s. Indeed, this is a rare case that could only exist because of the time it happened.

Woodward and Berstien: Lighting the Fire: Many speak of the same interviewees now speak about how inspirational Woodward and Bernstein became. The way they worked this story became the high water mark for any up and coming American journalist.

Out of the Shadows: The Man Who Was Deep Throat: Perhaps the most iconic character from the film, famous for being illuminated only by his cigarette ember as he feeds hints to Woodward inside an empty parking garage.

Now that Deep Throat has been revealed as former FBI Associate Director Mark Felt, we get to see a miniature biography on the man instead of some nearly cryptozoological account of a mysterious persona. Trained directly under J. Edgar Hoover, some suspect that his motivations for revealing these clues came as a combination of patriotism and revenge for not being selected to replace Hoover when the opportunity arose. A nice profile of a terribly interesting person/situation.

Pressure and the Press: The Making of All the President’s Men: Similar to what is documented in the previous trio, only this was made very close to the actual premiere of the film, which makes its tone interesting in contrast. The events are still very fresh and the mysteries (including Deep Throat) remained up in the air. An interesting piece that helps add some extra context to how people might have reacted closer to the time of the events and film’s debut.

5/27/1976 Dinah! With Jason Robards: A strange looking talk show where Dinah and Robards discuss the film. A nice enough interview that, like the previously mentioned featurette, helps add some emotional context to people’s first reactions to the film.

Trailer: The tone gives another hint towards the significance of the time of iots release.

This edition also comes with a very large booklet that includes a Timeline, Biographies of the actors and a review. The packaging simulates a very nice quality hard cover book. All very nice.

Final Thoughts

The story is undeniably interesting and important, with or without the film, but the fact about how tight Redford got with Woodward and Bernstein to deliver a dramatic retelling of their quest, along with its close proximity, time wise, to the original story makes this a rare occasion where a new medium does not sensationalize the history it depicts, it becomes a direct part of it.

Film

Time shifts back and forth as the story of a filmmaker who has been struck blind during a car accident is told on both sides of said accident. As well, there is focus on another story, that of a young woman who must act outside of her character in order to advance herself in life, help her ailing father, as well as literally perform as a film actress who is the object of effective for both a film producer and the director (who happens to be the man who is eventually struck blind).

Along with being a sexually charged thriller, this film is also a love note to film noirs of yesteryear plus some touches of Hitchcock (and any debatable connections therein). The tension is boosted by very loud strings in the score and the melodrama is running on all cylinders.

What I found to be the most intriguing element of this film, as well as the most unnerving, was its use of the “Male Gaze.” Laura Mulvey’s essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” writes extensively on the Male Gaze, and the many forms it can take within cinema. A great amount of this can be applied to Broken Embraces, and I will touch on some of that now. This film opens with a blind man seducing a young woman who volunteered to help him read the newspaper. The audience is meant to adopt a male gaze in this instant, and yet it is that of a man who literally cannot see. Perhaps we are meant to fill in for his lack of vision as he acts out a male fantasy, and the audience receives no real context until after the fact. Nevertheless, the film’s narrative continues to lionize this older man, and in fact, both of the older male, main characters (the producer and director of the film within the film), by placing stunning women into their beds and eliminating all young male competition by making them all either homosexuals by confession or by implied, suggestive actions (groping each other in maybe/maybe not playful manners). As Mulvey says in her essay “The determining gaze projects its fantasy on to the female figure which is stylized accordingly.” More often then not, Penelope Cruz, who plays the hopefully main actress, is the subject of these fantasies. A telltale scene would be when the director plcaes a cavalcade wigs onto Cruz’s head while he takes pictures of her reflections. His “Stylizing” of this fantasy is manifested in his altering her looks to suit his visual desires. She is not even allowed to look at him directly in this case, only through the reflection of her mirror can she see who is watching her.

During the entire film, all eyes, and lenses, are on Cruz. Lenses indeed, as the male gaze of the older men (the filmmakers) is further reinforced by the fact that both spend every possible moment either watching Cruz or filming her (I remind you of the just mentioned picture taking/wig scene). The film within the film is a major part of this, but more pertinent is the fact that Cruz is being spied on by her lover’s son, who films her every move for the sake of his father. The son’s gaze is non-sexual as he is a homosexual with no predatory attractions to Cruz’s character, but his lens becomes the gaze of his father who does indeed lust after Cruz, and wished to control her life as well. All of the lenses in the film are part of a Male Gaze, thus the lenses filming Broken Embraces become likewise. Blindess, as a theme, only becomes another of the constant reminders in this film that we are seeing everything through the eyes of an older male fantasy.

The car accident is revealed at the end of the second act, and the act that remains is a series of secrets being exposed at a somewhat uninterested pace. By then, we are invested in these characters, but most all the true action halts as there is no more situational tension, just conversations.

Some relationships die, others grow closer. The film within the film is a bomb but is being mended for a re-release as a cathartic act by the director. There is a very definite arc the story takes for the blind filmmaker where a tragic amount of loss is rectified with a sizable amount of personal gain. With the aforementioned failure to maintain interest in the third act, it is only this arc that we have to cling to by the end, and just barely at that.

Video

Widescreen 2.35:1. The picture quality has its greatest clarity during the closeups. A slight haze finds its way into some of the wider shots, but nothing that was all too distracting.
The bright colours of the film within the film are esspecially vibrant, nearly enough to burn forever in your retinas.

Audio

Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and French 5.1 Dolby Surround are the two tracks available. I had mentioned the strings being very prominent in the score, and the soundtrack does a very fine job of making their presense more than felt…almost rattling. You will feel the music in your core and the dialogue sounds very fresh. A nice job.

Subtitles available in English and French.

Special Features

The Cannibalistic Councilor: A short film made from the film within the feature film (make sense?). This is a monologue about promiscuity and indulgence that is of a completely silly and upbeat tone, filled with vibrant colours and plenty of cocaine. A totally contrast to the feature film. Carmen Machi does do a great job with her frantic, comic delivery.

Deleted Scenes: Three scenes that are plenty interesting for those that have just finished watching the film, particularly the emotions within the blind restaurant scene, but most likely cut for time purposes, what with Broken Embraces already clocking in at over two hours long.

Trailers: For this and other films by the same company.

Pedro Directs Penelope: An interesting split-screen view of Pedro Almodovar barking the subtext at Penelope Cruz while she is shooting reaction shots to another actresses’ speech. Funny at points but odd to watch for any person who believes that an actor should be trusted with their own research of the subtext and might be turned off by Perdo’s puppeteering.

Variety Q&A with Penelope Cruz: A set of standard issue questions lobbed at Cruz, and she answers them very politely.

On the Red Carpet: The New York Film Festival Closing Night: A couple clips of red carpet interviews (read: fluffy, easy to answer questions).

Final Thoughts

This melodrama was well-executed enough by the actors. Pedro Almodovar, as both writer and director, could have used a little more discipline and perhaps placed a bit too much of his personality into this piece to make it easier to trim it down all stages of production.

Film

The editing style of the opening has shots and scenes crashing against each other with non-diegetic sound f/x of metal and explosions, attempting to make the proceeding life story all the more intense to witness. What follows that is not so much an explosive tale, but more a cavalcade of weak pop songs that do not have the strength to carry the film alone so they are separated by Bieber being smug as a young celebrity, him being a brat in his pre-fame days, and far too many shirtless shots for my comfort.

There are two stories being told in this film. The first being the biography of Bieber, the other a day by day countdown to his sold out show at Madison Square Garden. I can forgive much of Bieber’s aforementioned smugness and brattiness to him being an adolescent who has been launched into super stardom. I even managed to alter my opinion of him slightly when I saw that he is actually capable behind a drum kit. Beyond that, this is a film solely for one of his squealing fans and I am not a part of that flock.

Video

Widescreen 1.78:1. Despite having to fight against aged home videos and a fleet of stage lights, the picture quality comes off very well. The only traces of fuzziness are backgrounds during the concert scenes or the expected haze of showing a cheaply shot youtube video on an HD screen. Beyond that, Justin’s heavily tailored image is clear.

Audio

English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio as well as 5.1 Dolby Surround in French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Oh my, how I am forcibly immersed into the constant screams of his fans. Being a concert film, the sound is always crucial and all of Bieber’s mediocre pop tunes come through with plenty of clarity, as well as the similar mediocrity of guests Usher, Miley Cyrus and the like.

Subtitles available in English,French, Spanish and Portuguese

Special Features

Concert Sance off: Essentially an extended scene. A full look at Beiber’s dance crew getting a chance to demonstrate their dance moves. Entertaining enough, and it is one of the few tings on this disc that doesn’t not incessantly praise Bieber.

Favorite Girl: The complete ballad where Bieber starts off suspending over the crowd in a giant metal heart.

R.I.P Hair Flip: Bieber’s haircut was just about as famous as himself. This documents said haircut being removed, filmed on what might have been a phone camera.

Giving Back: Another extended scene from when two of his handlers hand out tickets to random fans. A very nice gesture and great way to get screaming/crying girls on camera, and from the point of view of the filmmakers, it pays for itself as far as that is concerned since they want to display as much Bieber hysteria as possible.

DVD copy of the film.

Digital Copy of the film.

BD-Live

Final Thoughts

Young people have been pre-sold on this formula for a long time. This film is more polished than his image, and said image is manufactrued to the point that it is hardly decipherable from the previous pop sensation, nor the one that will follow in the next two years or less.