Where The Sidewalk Ends

1950 - 20th Century Fox
Directed By Otto Preminger



SYNOPSIS

When troubled Detective Dixon (Dana Andrews) accidentally kills a murder suspect, he goes at great lengths to cover it up. When the murder gets pegged on a taxi driver, as Dixon falls in love with the man's daughter (Gene Tierney) he grapples with telling the truth or pegging the killing on a mobster (Gary Merrill) he's been trying to bring down for years.

MY THOUGHTS

The director and stars of the film noir classic Laura re-team and deliver a film that is nearly as good as their previous effort.

Director Otto Preminger crafts a well-paced noir that looks like it was crafted in the dark underbelly of society where the story takes place.

The acting is strong, though Gene Tierney's role is far less interesting or crucial to the film as she was in Laura. Her character Morgan is only incidentally involved in the plot. She happens to be the daughter of the accused and be romantically interested in Dixon, but she has no bearing on what transpires. It's a weakly written role by the usually outstanding screenwriting legend Ben Hecht.

The rest of the characters (and the story as a whole) are strongly written, especially Dixon, whose dark familial past (mentioned early on) affects his thinking later. Dana Andrews is one of those actors that seems to be perfectly crafted for being a film noir protagonist. He can play a lead with ease and able to layer his characters with subtle darkness that fits the style of film perfectly.

The story set itself up for an easy, happy, cop-out ending, but it decided not to go that route and is a better film for it.
Where The Sidewalk Ends is a stellar film noir and should be far better known than it is.

Blu-Ray Review: Being There

1979
Directed By Hal Ashby

If you've never seen Hal Ashby's amazing Being There, stop what you are doing and go see it. The film contains one of the best lead performances of all time delivered by Peter Sellers. He's best known for over his top Inspector Clouseau... yet here he is the complete opposite... so understated. He is amazing to watch.

On Blu-Ray, the film is also amazing to watch. The transfer is so good... every time Jack Warden appeared I though to myself "why didn't anybody think to trim his nose hairs?" The film lacks any flashy visuals that would stand out in high-def, but the film shines by itself.

The trailer, two cut scenes and an inferior alternate ending are included as special features. The gag reel that plays during the films credits is also included by itself ... but stay tuned for some funny hi jinks after it plays out.

The disc also has a 15 minute look back at the film. This features actress Illeana Douglas, who visited the set to see her grandfather Melvyn Douglas (who costarred and won an Oscar.) It's pretty much a fluff piece, but entertaining.

I wish there were a commentary track that went into detail on the making of the film. That would have sealed the deal as this being a perfect package for Being There... instead it's just a good package.

Blu-Ray Review: The African Queen

1951
Directed By John Huston

When a studio owns a film it didn't make, it treats it much like the cliched red-headed stepchild. There are few exceptions to this rule (Warner Brothers owns the MGM and much of the RKO libraries and treats them with respect) but every other studio seems to follow this adage.
The African Queen was an independent production that wound up being owned by Paramount Pictures. Fox Video gave it a VHS release in the early days of home video and repackaged it a few times over the years before Paramount acquired it. When DVD came on the scene in the late 1990s, the film frequently could be seen in "Why Isn't This On DVD?" lists... but never on disc... despite being the only film featuring the pairing of two of Hollywood's all-time great stars Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. By 2009, the film needed major restoration and Paramount ponied up the money to put the classic out in high-def.


The image quality varies but is never bad. Between 50-75% of the footage was shot on location in Africa. The daytime shots are the best looking of any in the film. The colors and image clarity are as vivid as any modern film, yet it still has that classic Technicolor look.
The rest of the film was shot on sound stages in England. The images are far grainier and lack the pop of the sun's light.
The African Queen also featured early green-screen work that was glaringly bad in the original release, which has been painstakingly fixed to make it palatable to modern audiences.
Though the on location/studio footage is definitely noticeable, it is not distracting enough to pull you out of the film.

Included is a new hour-long documentary detailing the making of the film.

It is great to finally have one of the great classics in high-def, looking better than ever.















There is also a more deluxe version that contains a reproduction of  Katherine Hepburn's book on the making of the film and a few other goodies.

Blu-Ray Review: Fantasia/Fantasia 2000

1940/1999 Walt Disney Pictures

Fantasia exists as probably the pinnacle of film animation still to this day, more than 70 years after it's release.

Fantasia is the third of Walt Disney's animated features. The audio/video bar was set very high with the company's release of its first two, Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio... and Fantasia kicks those already stellar discs butts.
The image transfer rivals any modern day film on blu-ray. It's a definite upgrade from the already-stunning quality from the previous DVD release of the film.

Fantasia 2000, the latter day sequel, also looks great in 1080p, but the film as a whole pales in comparison. It's animation lacks the sophistication of the original. Largely using computer animation, 2000 lacks the shear beauty of the painted cels of the original, and its missing the older film's cohesive feel that joined the wildly different animation techniques into a whole. 2000 recycles the famed Sorcerer's Apprentice segment from the first film and it is noticeably more beautiful than what precedes and follows it. The sequel is also nearly an hour shorter.


The host segments in the original were very dry like you were in a music appreciation class... but that suited the long-hair material. In 2000, each segment is hosted by a celebrity (many of whom are trying to be funny and falling flat on their face,) which gives the film a very cheap TV-special feel.
The music, however, is top-notch.

Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio were loaded with special features. The same can't be said for this one. A 15 minute feature on a recently discovered book detailing some of the special effects techniques is the ONLY making-of feature of either film (apart from commentaries.) I remember there being a making-of doc on the earlier DVD. That nor any other previous special feature from that edition is included.

UPDATE: I've discovered these earlier special features as a part of the disc's Disney Vault BD Live function. They're only available with an internet connection.

There are other new features: one on a scrapped 1970s sequel called Musicana and another that looks at the Disney Family museum in San Fransisco.

The highlight of the special features is the inclusion of Destino, an abandoned 1946 short by Disney with Salvador Dali that was finally completed in 2003. In addition to the beautiful 5 minute short, there is an exhaustive 90 minute documentary that traces both unique visionaries, their friendship, collaboration and falling out, and the ultimate completion of the project. The inclusion of Destino does make up for the lack of other features.

Though it's not a perfect package, having a flawless-looking Fantasia on blu-ray is cause enough to celebrate

Country Strong

2010 Screen Gems
Directed By Shana Feste


SYNOPSIS

Country superstar Kelly Canter (Gwyneth Paltrow) is in rehab after a drunken meltdown at a concert that lead to the death of her unborn child. While in rehab she meets and romances Beau (Garrett Hedlund) who is an orderly at the facility by day and plays the honky tonks at night. Kelly's husband James (Tim McGraw) springs her from rehab to resume her tour and mend her public image. James has his eye on (in more ways than one) beauty queen Chiles Stanton (Leighton Meester) to open for Kelly. He reluctantly also allows Beau to open for her as well... but Kelly may not be ready to return to the big time.

MY THOUGHTS


Hollywood seems to churn out films about musicians with demons like a McDonalds makes burgers.

Walk the Line, Coal Miner's Daughter, Tender Mercies, Crazy Heart to name a few of just the country music takes on this 'troubled musician' genre.


It's a VERY limited genre story-wise. The character either rises to fame or starts out on top and either succeeds or fails to conquer his/her demons. That's it.


Country Strong combats and trumps this limitation by paring up the Kelly Canter story with Beau's 'destined for fame, but doesn't want it' and Chiles' 'desperately wants fame but lacks the confidence for success' stories. The way these three character arcs interweave and affect each other ultimately makes the film more unique.
 
Like those films previously mentioned, Country Strong's greatest assets are in its performances. The film is not about country music, but those who make it. You don't have to like country music to enjoy the film. The acting is strong enough to carry it.

I first heard several months ago that Gwyneth Paltrow was going to play a country singer and sing the songs herself. I laughed and said "yeah right, that'll be a mess." Late last summer, I heard a clip of her singing the title track and I soon found myself trying to lift my jaw from my desk. Paltrow as a country singer is a revelation. Her portrayal of Kelly is another one of her great roles. Kelly's relationship with James, her husband/manager, echos Coal Miner's Daughter. Paltrow is never able to completely escape the cliched 'troubled musician' but does bring enough freshness to make Canter a compelling character.


Sounding just as amazing as Paltrow (or even more so) is Garrett Hedlund. He reportedly never sang or played guitar before tackling this role but you would never know. He sounds like he'd been doing this for years. Beau is complex but likable and come across as a three-dimensional and very real person as opposed to an actor playing a part. At the same time, he's also the heart and soul of the film. It's one of Hedlund's best roles and likewise he turns in the best performance of his career so far.

The songs Paltrow and Hedlund perform, along with Leighton Meester, are mostly new, but could easily become hits and maybe even classics, if radio picks them up. Unfortunately the soundtrack album features so few of the songs performed in the film by the actors (4 by Paltrow and 1 each by Hedlund and Meester.) Thankfully, iTunes compiles many of these overlooked tracks in a More Music From Country Strong album.

The best thing I can say about the film is that it makes me want to take up the guitar and go hit the road singin' country(and avoiding the pitfalls)... and for someone who's not a die-hard country fan... that's sayin' something.

Tron: Legacy

2010 - Walt Disney Pictures
Directed By Joseph Kozinski



SYNOPSIS


20 years after his software programming father's mysterious disappearance, Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) tracks a mysterious page from his long-abandoned workspace. Sam accidentally activates a laser which transports him inside his dad's computer. He finds an extraordinary virtual world where he is captured by the forces of the tyrannical CLU (Jeff Bridges.) After being forced to compete in several gladiatorial competitions, Sam is rescued by Quorra (Olivia Wilde.) She takes him to his father Kevin (Jeff Bridges) who's been trapped all these years. Now they must work to get home and stop CLU's plan to escape into the real world.

MY THOUGHTS

Tron: Legacy is a fun thrill ride.

It's one of the rare sequels that can exist completely on its own but the film is filled with many homages to the 1982 original that long-time fans will enjoy.

That original pioneered the use of CGI the same way Legacy pioneers 3-D. The 3-D is amazing. Never gimmicky, it actually enhances the story and heightens the action. Tron: Legacy is my first experience with real 3-D after seeing some up-converted films. I could get used to 3-D if it was done with this quality.

Also enhancing and heightening the film is Daft Punk's amazing score. Mixing a standard orchestral score with Daft Punk's usual electronica dance music creates one of the best soundtracks in years. It's rare that the soundtrack will actually make a film better (Star Wars comes to mind as another example.) I hope this is just the first of many times Daft Punk will score a film.

The action (though sparser than I expected) is great. The disc battle and lightcycle competition are loving nods to the original and kick those 1982 battles' asses. The concluding battle is more than reminiscent of the Millennium Falcon's fight following the escape from the Death Star in Star Wars. Unfortunately there's little action in the meantime, but the entrancing visuals of The Grid make up for it.

Set design, both virtual and practical, create an alien world that is somehow both familiar and unique. It looks very different from the original film but also complimentary.

The acting is solid. Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner reprise their roles from the original and they're on par with those performances. Garrett Hedlund shines in his first lead role, bringing an angsty badassed-ness to Sam. Olivia Wilde brings a unique naivety to Quorra that is as endearing as her figure in that tight black suit.

The film is not perfect however. The screenplay has too many confounding moments. Where does Kevin get a roasted pig in a virtual world... and if he and Sam are digital versions of themselves... why would they even need to eat said pig? If the feast is supposed to be symbolic of a traditional family meal in the real world... it is not expressed very well. This is one of many head scratching moments. Still, the script does have a few twists and turns that'll keep you guessing.


I liken Tron: Legacy to a roller coaster, if you go in expecting a life-changing experience, you're an idiot. Instead just turn your mind off and enjoy the wild ride. It's a blast.
If possible see it in IMAX 3-D while you still can.

Happy 2011!

I want to wish you a happy new year! More new reviews and other goodies are on the way for Blues In The Night in 2011. Stay tuned!
Andrew