DVD Review: Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire

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With the success of the Harry Potter books, it is not a stretch that the movie version of these popular books will keep on coming every other year like clockwork. The lastest entry of the boy-wizard franchise, “Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire”, played in our local cinemas on 17 Nov 2005 to a fairly successful box-office collection due to the legion of fans of both the previous films and the book series. The fourth installment of the currently 6 book series, “Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire” sweeps the stage clear for the entry of a much darker sensibilities in the tone of the stories. The change in the tonal feel of the series fairly reflect the aging core group of readers who first discovered the adventures of this boy-wizard and his cohorts in Hogwarts School of Wizardry.

Much has been written about this movie (I didn’t write a review of the movie when I watched it last year but other reviews are available here) and many have came out to say that this is the best movie of the franchise to date. While I agree that the fourth movie was much darker than the previous 3 movies, I kept having the distinct impression that this particular cut of the movie seemed a bit rushed and erratically paced. The action scenes with each TriWizards trials moves the movie along with little help from the action happening in between which could easily be boiled down to how Harry prepares for the next challenge. To be fair to the filmmakers, they did have to condense a veritable tome length of 700 pages of the original material into the 158 minutes runtime of the feature film so there were quite a few finer points of the plot that had to be cut out.

Like the other Harry Potter movies, a special 2-disk DVD presentation of the movie was released to the market on 7th March, 2006. The DVD set comes in a 2-disk DVD set that was shipped in a cardboard sleeve similar to the one they used in the last DVD set. I have to say that I found the cardboard sleeve a bit redundant as it had the same info from the DVD case printed on it. I could easily throw these cardboard sleeves away and not miss anything important from the packaging so to me it felt a little wasteful of them to continue to ship with this packaging format. I have to say that I missed the packaging that they had for the DVD sets for the first and second Harry Potter films which were much more imaginative than the ones they had now.

Disk 1 of the DVD set contained the feature presentation accessible after the short signature menu screen that highlights the titular goblet in this outing. The picture and audio quality of this DVD set seemed considerably better looking than the somewhat grainy feel of the last DVD set. The light scenes look crisp and the darker scenes, while were more problematic than the brighter lighted scenes, was much better than my cinema experience which had me guessing what was happening on the screen. Like the previous DVD sets of this franchise, there was no audio commentary track available for this movie. With quite a few plot points dropped from the original material, it would have been interesting to hear how the process of choosing what stayed and what got cut happened. It could also be interesting to listen to the now very articulate main casts discuss about their experiences making the movie after making 4 of them.

Disk 2 was where the bulk of the special features of this DVD set were. The features were divided into four grouping represented by the three TriWizards trial and the Hogwarts Castle icon on the map-like navigation menu. Each TriWizards trial grouping started with optional mini games playable using the DVD remote. While these mini games were fairly simple to get through, there wasn’t any reason to recommend going through them as there were no rewards for successfully completing the mini games. It would have been better if they at least put in some DVD easter eggs that would be revealed after successfully completing the mini games.

The “Hogwarts Castle” icon brings the viewer to a collection of short featurettes that detailed the production of the movie and scenes in between the three action set pieces. The deleted scenes segment was located here under the “Additional Scenes” heading. Most of the deleted scenes were taken out because they interrupted the pacing of the film which I whole agreed. The full rock band performance scene which I am thankful that it was mercifully cut short in the film was also included here. The "Preparing for the Yule Ball" segment was interesting to watch in terms to how they planned and executed the scene. For the final segment of this grouping, "Reflections on the Fourth Film", viewers get to watch the three main actors of the Harry Potter series talk at length about their experiences with the film. While there were some repetition in some of the responses to the questions, it was an engaging session to watch and listen to these fairly articulate young actors.

"Harry vs. The Horntail: The First Task" featurettes traced the design and implementation of the CG dragon for Harry’s first trial. They also show that Daniel Radcliffe who plays Harry Potter did more of the stunts himself in this film outing as the film production favored more practical effects instead of the CGI replacements from previous films. Also available in this section is the “Meet the Champions” segment which charmingly introduces the other three competitors in the TriWizards tournament. This segment followed Stanislav Ianevski (Viktor Krum), Clemence Poesy (Fleur Delacour) and Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory) as they went through a typical day of shooting from start to finish. It was fun to watch these new comers to the franchise as well as the to see a bit of the behind the scene happenings on set.

The focus of the second featurettes, "In Too Deep: The Second Task", was Daniel Radcliffe preparation for underwater work done for the second trial. Instead of doing the scenes fully with CGI effects, they built a huge indoor blue screen water tank for the extensive underwater scenes that Daniel had to do. He also had to learn how to use scuba equipment as well as how to perform underwater without the breathing apparatus to complete the illusion that Harry Potter had grown gills for the lake challenge. It was a fairly revealing segment to watch for the lengths that the production was willing to go to create the special effects practically instead of relying on CGI special effects fully.

"The Maze: The Third Task" featurettes focused on how both practical and CGI components were combined to make the magical maze that Harry Potter had to traverse in the last trial seem more daunting and massive. This was a fairly entertaining segment to watch for the technical details of the magic that happens behind the special effects we see on screen. The final segment of the featurettes was “He Who Must Not Be Named" which also is my favorite segment of the whole 2nd disk of this DVD set. This segment highlighted preparation that went into bringing Lord Voldemort to screen. Easily considered as the Darth Vader of the Harry Potter set, they had to really work to make sure that Lord Voldemort’s first screen appearance would do the character justice given the importance of this character in the series. Played by an almost unrecognizable Ralph Fiennes, Lord Voldemort came through with flying colors in that what was shown on screen was as close to the way the character was described in the books. With so little focus given to the older characters in the special features in this DVD set, it was a refreshing segment to watch.

The 2nd DVD disk had additionally features that could be access using a computer DVD ROM drive but I did not get the chance to test them out. With the trailers for upcoming CGI animated films “Ant Bully” and “Happy Feet” rounding up the DVD set, the “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” DVD set is fairly easy to recommend as an addition to any DVD library irregardless if you like the books or not.

DVD Review: Rent

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I first heard about “Rent”, the stage production, way back in 1995 while I was studying in the US. It was somewhat of a phenomenon back them and it piqued my interest being that I’m a big fan of stage musicals (I know … OGT alert). Being that I was studying way up north in Wisconsin at the time, the odds of me actually getting to see the show (or any show on Broadway for that matter) was as good as a snowball surviving in hell. Needless to say that I didn’t get to see it but I keep hearing good things about the show. Once in a while another comment would come up about so and so performing in “Rent” and my curiosity radar gets a ping again about this show. Unlike Webber’s shows that seems to be more popular locally, there was fairly little information about shows like “Hair” and “Rent” here.

I have to admit that I had to think twice before purchasing my copy of the “Rent” DVD. Having getting burnt before with sub par film adaptation of stage productions (think “Phantom of the Opera” and “Evita”), I didn’t know if I would like this big screen adaptation of “Rent”. It didn’t have a lot of recognizable names (at least to me) in the cast and other that the very basic awareness of the story I didn’t really know what to expect from it. The critics reviews available online about the initial theatrical run of this film was not exactly encouraging but there were a few that were passionately positive about it nevertheless. Being that purchasing these original DVDs are still considered a luxury purchase for me, buying the “Rent” DVD was one that I took at a risk hoping that I would eventually like the movie.

“Rent” is an urban based rock musical written by Jonathan Larson that tells the story of a group of young people living in the fringe of society in a bleak Lower East Village of Manhattan circa late 1980’s. The audience follows the story through the lives of a large ensemble cast which includes aspiring songwriter Roger (Adam Pascal); Roger's roommate and wannabe filmmaker Mark (Anthony Rapp); computer genius Tom (Jessie L. Martin); Tom's cross-dressing lover Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia); and Benny (Taye Diggs), who betrayed his friends when he married their landlord's daughter and is now threatening the group with eviction from their seedy loft apartments. Mark’s ex-girlfriend Maureen (Idina Menzel) who dumped him for lawyer Joanne (Tracie Thoms) and Roger's downstairs neighbor Mimi (Rosario Dawson) rounds up the remaining cast all of whose narrative are driven by the songs of this musical.

Broadly adapting Puccini’s “La Boheme”, Larson updates the play to a modern setting with Roger the songwriter replacing Rodolfo, the poet, Mark the wannabe filmmaker standing in for Marcello, the painter and Benny replaces Benoit the landlord trying to evict them. Mimi in “La Boheme” is similarly updated from being a seamstress with tuberculosis to an exotic dancer with AIDS. The musical's subject matter and location of AIDS and the bleak Lower East Village of Manhattan may have changed dramatically since the time when this stage production was originally staged but it still resounds loudly especially to those who lived through those dark times. The underlying theme that “Rent” presents remains relevant today: young people trying to figure out their place in a world they don't necessarily respect, or want to be a part of.

In adapting the stage production to film, director Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, Harry Potter 1) stayed true to the original material for the most part. Several songs in the original were converted into smart and funny dialogue sequences between the musical sequences. Being a rock opera, the musical sequences are the meat and potatoes of this film. I would have to say that I was thrilled to watch almost all of them performed by this energetic and passionate cast with the exception of a very select few that seemed to come across as a bit flat on film. With almost 26 musical numbers through out the movie, it was hard for me to pick favorites but I have to single out "Light My Candle" - Roger & Mimi, "Will I" - Steve, Gordon & Cast, "Take Me Or Leave Me" - Maureen & Joanne, "I'll Cover You (Reprise)" - Collins, Joanne & Cast and "Finale B" - Cast of RENT as the songs that stayed with me at the end of the first viewing. After viewing the DVD at least 7 times to date, I have to say that I beginning to love every one of the songs (with the exception of "Over The Moon" - Maureen which is a bit too weird for me to get into) and can’t wait to get the original soundtrack CD of the movie.

It goes without saying that the cast of “Rent” the movie is the best possible cast Chris Columbus could ask for as 6 or the 8 original stage cast returned 10 years later to reprise them. These were the 6 people who starred in the first production of “Rent” and have indelibly left their mark on how the character should be. It was fortunate for them that they were cast in the original stage production at such a young age that they don’t seem to have aged too much for their film character reprise. The two newcomers to the group, Rosario Dawson as Mimi and Tracie Thoms as Joanne, fitted so well with the rest of the cast that they looked as if they have been doing it for as long as the original cast did. I did some very basic comparison between their performance in the original stage production versus the movie, using the snippets of both the original stage recording and the original soundtrack, and thought that their performances on the film sounded much better that the former. All of the cast’s voices have a more matured quality to them compared to their pervious performance of the material and this makes for a more polished end product.

Disk 1 of the 2-disk DVD set hold the full feature with the standard language and subtitle options. I found that I prefer watching the movie with the subtitles on so that I could possibly memories some of the lyrics for my personal shower-time remix sessions. The picture and audio quality has no discernable points to dock as it was pretty clean and clear. A commentary track featuring Chris Columbus (director), Adam Pascal (Roger) and Anthony Rapp (Mark) is also include on Disk 1 of the DVD set. All three talked comfortably almost the whole time about their experiences in making the film. There were parts of the commentary in which they responded to the criticism made against the movie by some of the critics. While it was illuminating to hear them respond to the critics, I thought that the responses were too flippant to what was essentially valid criticism on what was happening on screen. Their comments made them seem a bit too defensive about their work which is actually good without having to rationalize it. Other than that particular point, I found the commentary enjoyable to sit through and share the passion that they had with the material.

Disk 2 of the DVD set included a selection of delete scenes with optional commentaries by the director. Most of the scene were cut for pacing as well as to better mold the emotional content of the movie. Among the cut scenes were 2 fan-favorite musical numbers that were filmed but never made it in the final cut. The crown jewel of the 2nd disk however is the feature-length documentary about the writer, Jonathan Larson and the story of how “Rent” came to be. This crowd-pleasing, inspirational and tear-inducing documentary traces the journey of Larson from childhood to his lean days while creating “Rent”. His early struggles and his successes up to the point when “Rent” was finally realized are shared with the audience through interviews with the people linked closely to him. The audience will definitely be touched to find out that Larson died at such a young age on the eve when his greatest work was to be staged to the public. The documentary continues with how Larson’s death didn’t stop the show and how it be came such a hit even while everyone involved in it was still mourning their lost. The documentary concludes with a section about the making of the film version of “Rent” after 10 year of it’s successful run. This documentary, which is a totally joyful profile of Larson's dedication to his art, is a touching memorial not only to him but to the dreams he represents in everyone.

Fans of the “Rent” stage production are known as “Rent-Heads” which I now proudly to proclaim myself as one after watching the film on DVD. This 2-disk DVD set was one of those risky purchases that turned out to be better than I could ever dreamed of. The film was one that left a profound impression to me and now ranked in my all-time favorites list and I would have never get to know it if I didn’t buy this DVD set. A good transfer and fairly enjoyable commentary track adds to the enjoyment of owning this DVD but the brilliantly poignant documentary has to be the highlight of special features included in the DVD which makes the DVD set a worthy addition to any DVD library. All in all, it is a very easy DVD presentation to recommend to those who enjoy musicals.

DVD Review: Mirrormask

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I have to admit that I am more familiar with Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean’s collaborations in the comic books than in anything else. Gaiman’s work in the popular “Sandman” series published by DC comics is still ranked high in the list of comics that I would always recommend other people to read. McKean’s work on the cover art for the same comic book series also remains today as the most imaginative covers on any comic book that I’ve seen to date. So when I heard that they will both collaborate on a feature length film, I have to say that I was really excited about the prospect of seeing what the result will be. Having finally able to watch “Mirrormask” on DVD recently, I have to say that the end product was a mixed bag for me.

“Mirrormask” tells the story of Helena (Stephanie Leonidas – looking eerily like a young Helena Bonham-Carter) who lives the life of a performer in a traveling circus that her family owns and operates. While other people dream to run away and join the circus, Helena longs to live a more normal life. She spends her time between juggling and other circus work by sketching to escape the boredom that she feels around her. When her mother (Gina McKee) is suddenly stricken with an undisclosed illness and rushed to hospital, her world suddenly is thrown into turmoil as the circus begin to slide into a financial and operational crisis. Helena feels especially guilty as she feels that she was responsible for her mother’s illness as she had exchanged harsh words with her mother just before her mother collapsed.

On the night before her mother’s scheduled operation, Helena falls asleep and drifts into a bizarre dream world seemingly reflecting her inner fears, guilt and turmoil. In this dream-world, Helena meets Valentine (Jason Barry) who is a fellow juggler like her who has just lost his juggling partner due to an attack by a shadow-like wraith. It is from Valentine that Helena learns that the Queen of Light (Gina McKee) who rules this land had fallen into a deep slumber and it was up to her to help release her so that she can return Helena to her world. In order to wake up the Queen of Light, Helena must obtain the Mirrormask charm that was stolen by the dark princess who had come to these lands from the domain of the Queen of Dark (Gina McKee).

Her quest to find the Mirrormask takes her to many wondrous and surreal locations that looks very much like the sketches that she has done in the real world. She also begins to unravel the mystery of what had happened to the Queen of Light and realizes that the Princess of Dark is actually a doppelganger version of herself who seems to have taken her place in the real world. She learns that the Princess, like herself, was bored with life in the Dark Kingdom and wanted to escape it all by replacing Helena with herself in the real world. Helena would later find herself captured by the Queen of Dark who wants to convert her into a copy of the daughter to replace the one that she herself had lost.

With the help of Valentine and other assorted characters that she encounters in her quest, Helena was able to free herself from the Queen of Dark and retrieve the Mirrormask charm. With the charm in hand, she was able to return herself and the Princess of Dark to their own respective places before the switch became irreversible. Helena returns to the real world a changed person with more appreciation of her life and her parents after the life changing experience that she when through in her dream world. Fittingly enough, she finds on her return to the real world that her mother had also recovered from her illness and she would have another chance to make things right with her mother. Helena returns to her life and the circus a much happier person and soon would encounter a young man who seems to be a reminiscent of the Valentine whom she shared her quest with in the dream-world.

The storyline in “Mirrormask” is something that a lot of people will be familiar with as it is influenced heavily by “Dark Crystal”, “Labyrinth”, both made earlier by the Jim Henson Company which also made this film, and by “The Wizard of Oz”. The combination of disparate storylines while seemingly ambitious at the onset grinds to a mind numbing crawl in places making the whole seem to move with dream-like speed much like what was happening on screen. Characters spend too much time arguing with others or themselves to really move the action forward that at times the audience wishes that they would just shut up and move on. When the story does start to pickup the pace again, the forward momentum is not sustained long enough before the audience is thrown into another long exposition scene.

It is a good thing that “Mirrormask” is such a visual feast to indulge in between the long narrative scenes. Dave McKean’s art has always had a 3-demensional feel to it in the printed medium that translated beautifully to the CGI rendered scenery that makes up most of the dream world. Helena’s dream-world is filled with surrealistic representations of people and places that exist in her real world which include memorable images like human-face cat sphinxes, flying fishes and gigantic floating figures locked in permanent embrace. The look of the film is definitely something that sets it apart from any other that came before it and it is amazing to see how much they have done with very little money since the reported budget for the whole movie was a relatively measly USD4 million compare to other US film productions.

There is a wealth of supplementary material on the DVD release of “Mirrormask”. The one that I found most interesting as a fan of their work is the feature length commentary included in this widescreen presentation. Both Gaiman and McKean talk at length about their experiences planning and making the film. They also provide quite a few technical description about how they created the images on screen and the limitations that they ran into with the limited budget. This fairly descriptive commentary track should be enjoyed after viewing the movie for the first time as it does delve into the secrets on how they made the beautiful CGI scenes.

“The Making of Mirrormask” featurettes is comprised of eight different segments. Each can be played separately or you can utilize the handy “play all” feature. The segments include an interviews with Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean on their background and how they came together to make the movie. We also see the behind the scenes story about how the Jim Henson Company became involved with the production of this movie after the success of the DVD releases of their earlier “Dark Crystal” and “Labyrinth” movie. We also get a segment on the cast and crew of the movie talking about their experiences making the movie.

We also get 3 segments that focus on the production effort of making the movie. One that I found interesting was the “Production day 16” featurettes that used a split-screen to show the finished product on one side and the production activities that was involved on the day of filming that sequence as captured in fast motion. The notes included really highlights just how much effort it took to make the short sequence work. The other 2 production segment focuses on the creation of the Monkeybird segment seen later in the movie as well as the floating giants from the two of the more memorable scenes in the movie. As in the previous production day segment, there are no narrative going through these 3 featurettes but they do have a jazzy musical score accompanying the segment.

The featurettes conclude with “Questions and Answers” in which we see both Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean answering questions from fans about “Mirrormask”. Most of the questions came from their Mirrormask panel discussion at the San Diego Comicon (one of the biggest comics convention in the world) as well as from an early presentation of the finished filmed in the US. Both seemed clearly comfortable in front of their adoring fans and answered each questions with their own unique wit and style. While this segment may not appeal to all, fans of the pair would appreciate the featurettes as it gives them an insight on the real Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean that they have only seen before in the printed medium.

The special effects, awe – inspiring images and massive use of CGI is certainly a curious spectacle in “Mirrormask”. The story about the stress in the young girl’s life seeping into her dream world when she experiences a life changing lesson is reasonable, but not consistently compelling or particularly original. The mileage on the wealth of supplemental material on the DVD might depend on how much of a fan the viewer is with the pairs work and how much they are interested in the production of film that they have watched. “Mirrormask” is a mixed bag in terms of trying to recommend it as you can either like it or hate it with a vengeance. Like in Helena’s dream world, the grey areas are often too blurry to care.

DVD Review: Serenity

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I first found out about the short lived “Firefly” TV series from reading the recaps that they put up on the TelevisionWithoutPity website for the show. From what was written about it, it sounded like a fairly novel approach to the sci-fi genre on television since the show combined sci-fi with western elements set in the future. The last time that I think we saw something like this was the “pioneer wagon trail” feel of the original “Battlestar Galactica” TV series so it has been missing from the sci-fi TV shows for quite some time. Despite the growing legion of fans tuning into the show in the US, the rating was never good enough for the powers that be to continue the show beyond the 12 weeks that have already been aired.

Fueled by fan demand, the show returned to the limelight in the form of a complete series DVD set that was released in 2002. Brisk sales and word of mouth recommendation helped the series to reach audiences that missed this gem when it was first aired. The renewed response to the series prompted Universal to recall the old cast and creative team to return to the universe of “Firefly” albeit in a feature film form instead of the small screen. With a budget of USD $50 million, “Serenity” gathered together all the principle cast and crew of the series to continue their adventures much to the delight of the fans of the series.

“Serenity” was released in cinemas in September 2005 to critical acclaim from critics and fans alike but was not a big commercial success that the fans had hoped for. I can’t even recall if it played in the local cinemas here in Malaysia since I would have definitely remembered it if I watched it in my local cinema. It is a pity that this movie didn’t get released locally as I honestly think that this was a very well made movie with interesting characters that are unlike the characters found in the other sci-fi films of recent years. After a quiet run in the US, the film was released on DVD in December 2005.

Continuing where the “Firefly” series left off, “Serenity” chronicled the story of the rag tag crew of a decrepit spaceship called “Serenity” set 500 years in the future where human beings had to leave Earth after an ecological disaster and live on other terraformed planets in the universe. Captained by Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), the Serenity crew included Wash (Alan Tudyk) as the ship’s pilot, Zoe (Gina Torres) who was Wash’s wife and Mal’s first mate, Kaylee (Jewel Staite) who is the ever-horny ship’s engineer, and Jayne (Adam Baldwin) who just seems to be a rough and tumble crewmember who can’t wait to start cracking heads. When Mal agreed to provide passage to a closed lipped doctor Simon Tam (Sean Maher) and his catatonic sister River (Summer Glau) in exchange for his medical assistance, the crew of Serenity had little idea of how much their lives would change from that point on.

Unbeknownst to the crew, River was an escapee from a secret training facility where she was being forcibly conditioned to use her burgeoning psychic powers to be a super-assassin for the Alliance who controlled most of the inhabited planets. Exposure to the members of the Alliance parliament that came to observe her progressed allowed her mind to glean buried secrets from the parliament members who had counted on her conditioning to keep the secret for them. When River was eventually rescued from the facility by her brother, she suddenly became the object that the Alliance desperately need to recover in fear that their hidden secrets would be exposed.

As River began to piece together her shattered mind, the direct result of her forced conditioning, the Alliance dispatched their best Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) to recover River before she figured out the secret that was driving her insane. The crew of Serenity was also in dire financial state after their last heist was interrupted by the band of space-faring cannibals feared through out their sector of space known collectively as the Reavers. On the run from both relentless adversaries, the crew of the Serenity found little option other than to help River figure out the secret that was at the heart of their dilemma.

The Serenity crew may be a collection of bounty hungry mercenaries, but in their souls, they remain rebels fighting against the Alliance. And when a deep dark Alliance secret is finally made clear, they become willing to sacrifice their lives to expose the amoral government. This set up the exciting climax as they race to make sure that the inhabited universe knew what they now know in hopes that past mistakes could finally be admitted and corrected. The crew was ultimately successful in their endeavors but not without a high price for their victory against the oppressive Alliance.

The character concepts in this film were clever and the interpersonal relationships intriguing. Mal put on a rough and gruff exterior to hide the emotional pain of the loss both of his personal freedom and his love interest. River was tortured by the person she’s become as a product of her involuntary conditioning. The Operative was a compelling villain, someone who projects empathy, seemingly invulnerable to anger, and yet remained unapologetically lethal. The interplay between the rest of the characters were no less fresh and humorous to watch given the nature of the events that was unfolding around them.

The DVD release for “Serenity” was for the widescreen version of this film which, much like other sci-fi films of this scope, benefited greatly from the transition into the big screen compared to the shows humble beginnings on TV. The picture quality on this DVD release was wonderfully crisp especially in scenes where the action was filmed in low light or pitch darkness environment which happens quite frequently. The audio quality of this transfer was also fairly balance with the appropriate channels given to the action sound and the dialogue. I was also pleased at how the quality of the CGI effects for a movie of this budget was transferred beautifully to the DVD.

There was also a wealth of supplementary features that accompanied the film on the DVD release. Most of the features like the deleted scenes and featurettes about the making of several scenes in the movie would greatly satisfied the fans of this movie. I particularly like the “Re-igniting Firefly” featurettes that told of what the cast and crew went through after the end of the original TV series and how the fans support helped them to make this movie that we were now seeing on DVD. The gag reel that they include in the special features menu was also a welcomed addition to the list as it was really funny to see the way the actors screw up their lines.

Writer/director Joss Whedon may also be heard in a feature-length commentary available on the other audio track on the DVD. He was fairly engaging in his commentary where he emphasized the technical aspects of the show, describing lighting, editing, special effects, practical effects, how his cast almost universally does its own stunts, and other aspects of the show. He talks almost non stop for the duration of the film and it was clear that he was as passionate about the film and it’s characters as the fans were. The film was made for only an estimated $40 million; all that money looks like money well spent based on what was up on the screen and I enjoyed listening to his description of how that was done.

Although “Serenity” came out of a cancelled TV show, it had a self-contained story that would satisfy even those who never seen an episode of “Firefly” before. For a supposedly small fan film, it had good special effects, an intriguing plot, interesting characters, droll dialog, and sufficient action should satisfy the casual viewer. Fans of the original series would be excited to see some of the questions and storylines from the original show finally got tied together into a satisfying resolution. The DVD transfer is pretty good, the audio track is excellent, and the generous supplements of value making it an easy DVD selection to recommend for your consideration.

DVD Review: Michael Bublé – Caught in The Act (Live)

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I bought the CD thinking at first that it was the latest CD release by Michael Bublé whom I am not shy to admit that I am totally smitten by from the very first time I heard his music. It was only when I got home and opened the plastic wrapping that I realized that it double disk package with an audio CD and a DVD of his live performance that was televised as part of the PBS TV “Great Performances” series that they showed last year in the States. Having only heard him sing on his CDs before, this impulse purchase was turning out to be better than my other impulse purchases.

The first disk of the set was an audio CD containing 8 live recordings of Michael Bublé’s songs from his televised performances. The audio on these recordings were crystal clear including the rambunctious sequels from his audience in attendance during the recording. Michael continues to prove why he deserved the accolade of the new great crooner of the new generation with his wonderful performance of the popular standards on this disk. While there were no new songs in this CD collection, it was a refreshing listen to hear them performed in a live performance. It was clear on hearing this live recording that Michael sounded as good and in tune in a live performance as he did in a studio recording.

Moving on to the meat of this set, the DVD contained 18 songs performed live in front of an audience at the Wiltern LG Theater in Los Angeles. The appropriately art-deco inspired venue was a fitting intimate setting for Bublé to bedazzle his fans with his energetic performances. Backed by his touring band of musicians, Bublé showcased songs from his 2 well received albums with the ease of a seasoned performer and the great crooner that he indubitably is.

For most of the time he was on stage it was clear from the DVD that this crooner from Vancouver was feeling good and was almost bursting out in exuberance. He had very good rapport with his audience who clearly loved him. At one point of the performance he even rushed through the audience shaking hands, giving hugs, accepting kisses and at least at one point, as he admitted himself, getting his posterior groped by the audience. It was hard not to go through the DVD without breaking out smiling at his antics.

His charm and charisma was further enhanced when he lets his wonderful smooth vocals loose on the standards that have made him famous. All of his best known songs were performed live on this DVD including my favorites like “Home”, “That’s All”, “Save the Last Dance for Me”, “You Don’t Know Me” and “How Sweet It Is” among others. He even tried his hand on “This Love” by Maroon 5 to show that he could also do pop songs if he wanted. The intimate setting and small stage was thoroughly filled by his stage presence that it was nothing short of mesmerizing to watch.

To help out on some of his performances, Bublé invited guests like Laura Pausini for "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine," Josh Groban and Chris Botti (dvd bonus) for "Song for You" who were all magnanimously talented and gracious. Bublé’s interaction with his guest was as charming and gracious as the person himself. It was wonderful to see how they fed off each other’s energy in their performances.

To round out this wonderful DVD disk, they have included a bonus performance of “Song For You” featuring Chris Botti and a backstage pass feature on how the live performance was planned. It was very refreshing to get to know Michael Bublé as a person from the interviews that was included in the backstage pass bonus documentary. This was clearly a performer who was enjoying what he did at the moment and it was hard not to be impressed by this young talent.

With a running time of almost 2 hours, the “Michael Bublé – Caught in The Act Live Performance” DVD + CD set was turning out to be a fairly enjoyable impulse purchase. Crystal clear audio and video recording of a charming, charismatic and energetic performance from this wonderful crooner are just a few reasons why it is easy to recommend this set to fans of Michael Bublé. Short of being able to attend one of his live performances, this set is an enjoyable alternative at least until he comes to our side of the world for a performance.

DVD Review: Space: Above and Beyond - The Complete Series

(picture curtesy of Amazon.com)

“Space: Above and Beyond” (S:AAB) was a short-lived television show that was originally aired on US television during the mid 90’s while I was there finishing my degree. I remember watching the premier episode and was hooked on the series almost immediately after that. Unfortunately for me back then, the series was only at mid season when I completed my degree and had to return back to Malaysia. A few years after that, a local television station picked up the series and I finally able to watch the episodes that I missed the last time I saw the series in the US.

Like “Star Trek” and “Babylon 5” , S:AAB appealing storylines and engaging characters quickly endear the series to a groups of hardcore fans. Thanks to the internet, fan groups started putting up websites supporting this TV series almost immediately after the first few episodes aired. I was personally privy to this development in Malaysia when a group of the show’s fans, myself included, got together to share our appreciation of this show was shown on Malaysian TV. The fans of the show would group themselves as squadrons like the main characters on the series and I think that for the Malaysian chapter of the S:AAB fans were called the “Firebirds” squadron. We all had made up call signs based on a type of bird and were given ranks based on how long you have been in the group. It was my first time being in any type of fan group and I still remember the times that we did managed to get together quite fondly today.

Ever since the DVD market expended to include the release of TV series on DVD, S:AAB continued to be one of the well beloved shows that has always been on the top of any DVD release wishlist. It was a show that the fans wanted to watch again and hopefully relive the excitement that they remembered from the time it was originally aired. The show’s fans were further encouraged after the success of the DVD released of another short lived sci-fi TV show, “Firefly”, whose sales number was impressive enough to convince them to produce “Serenity” which was a feature film continuation of the cancelled series. The fans patience finally paid off when the DVD set for “Space: Above and Beyond – The Complete Series” was released in late 2005.

“Space: Above and Beyond – The Complete Series” DVD set compiles all 24 episodes of this series that chronicles the trials and tribulation of a group of young US Marine Corps Space Aviators thrown together to serve together as the “Wildcards” squadron when Earth finds herself at war with an alien civilization in 2063. With an ensemble of characters that came from diverse backgrounds and personalities, audience followed their journey week after week through several interesting and thought provoking storylines as they progressed from green recruits to becoming a decorated fighting unit. The first season of this show, which regrettably became the show’s only season, ended with a wonderful cliffhanger which left the team suffering heavy casualties and had only 2 surviving members.

While the DVD set has been largely anticipated by the fans, I have to say that the final product was a disappointment. Unlike the more recent and better produced “Firefly” DVD set, the video quality of some of the episodes were borderline unacceptable and suffered greatly at being packed into the double-sided disk. Several scenes especially on disk 1 side A looked like a pixilated copy of the original most probably due to the compression that they had to put the source material through to fit 4 hour episodes on one side. While the video quality noticeable improved in the latter episodes on the DVD set, this defect was enough to ruin the experience to reliving the series for me.

Fortunate for the set, the same could not be said for the audio quality of the DVDs. Each sound effects and dialogue lines were reproduced clearly in Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround. I wished that they had taken the same care of the video quality as they did with the audio quality. The difference in quality between the two aspect of the DVD set was too pronounced to ignore.

The biggest crime that the makers of this DVD set made in the eyes of fans of myself was the crime of not knowing their own product. The most glaring of examples is the inclusion a shot of the Babylon 5 space station in the menu selection screen for every disk when the two shows were not even related. The lack of any bonus material to speak off other than several TV spots for some of the episodes was also a big disappointment for the fans who would have appreciated a commentary track from the creators explaining the final fate of the characters that they loved from the show.

All in all the DVD release was a very disappointing one that is hard to recommend to anyone other than the fans of the show. Substandard video quality and lack of special feature presentations unfortunately would not make this set appealing to buyers who the makers hoped would help to repeat the sales numbers enjoyed by the “Firefly” DVD set. While I am thankful that I at least am able now to see the show that I still remember fondly on DVD, I sincerely wished that they had done a better job of producing the set. It was very disappointing to see the horrible treatment that this wonderful show continue to receive till today.

The Sweetest Sin

My copy of Frank Miller's Sin City (Recut, Extended, Unrated) DVD came in the mail yesterday and I’m really looking forward to finally watch it. Due to the nature of the material, it goes without saying that it was not shown in the local cinemas during it’s initial run last year. I purposely skipped buying the first release of the DVD because there were already news of an extended version being released when the first DVD went on sale. It was a good thing that I waited because not only do I get the same material from the previous DVD release on disk 1 but I also get an extended cut and a whole boatload of new material created exclusively for this DVD set on the second disk. They also included a copy of the original graphic novel that inspired one of the segments in the movie. It would be fun to compare the scenes on screen with the ones out of the book and see how that closely they repoduce the printed images.

I have not sit through the whole DVD yet although I did initially plan to do so this weekend. Seeing that I will be spending this coming weekend at my parent’s house and going for a second attempt at dodol-making for Aidil Adha, I may not be able to find the time to sit thorough the whole set. Not being able to view it on my own home theater setup at my apartment would also be an additional mark on the minus column of viewing it this weekend.

(what's in the package - pic curtesy of Amazon.com)

I guess that a review of the DVD set will have to wait for another day.

DVD Review - The Outsiders - The Complete Novel

(image curtesy of American Zoetrope)

I first watched “The Outsiders” when I was 12 years old and living in an Army camp in Kota Bahru, Kelantan. I don’t remember who’s idea it was but we rented the movie from the local video store one day and I instantly identified with the story at first sitting. I first saw the movie during a time in my life that I was running around in a group of friends not unlike the “Greasers” in the movie. My old gang were the children of the lower ranking officers in the camp and we had our own version of the “Socs” which consisted of the children of the higher ranking officers in the camp. Of course we didn’t really have fights or rumbles between the 2 groups but at 12 years old, the animosity between the groups were felt like it was a matter of life or death. Of all the characters that I saw in that movie, I identify the most with Ponyboy as like him I was the youngest one in our group and the one who was just acting tough because the others expected me to.

Looking back, it was amazing how similar the story was to the experiences that I was going through at the time despite the fact that the original story was set in Tulsa, Oklahoma in the early 60’s. This was one of the strengths of “The Outsiders” as written by S.E. Hinton in which the story was universal enough that the themes applied to most teenage experiences wherever they may be and in any time period they happen to live in. When I figured out the movie that I watched over and over was originally from a book, I went out to see if I can find a copy to read. I remembered looking for the book in my school library and the disappointment of not finding it. Somewhat obsessed with the story, I even asked my English teacher about it and she was the one who told me to try the State Library where I finally found a copy. This was the exact moment when I started to fall in love with S.E. Hinton’s books especially her earlier works that still have a special place in my heart.

For years I often wondered how the movie would be like if they followed closely to the original book. I’ve always been more partial to the story of the Curtis brothers as presented in the book than the Dally story that they focus on more in the movie. The movie in of itself was a wonderful favorite of mine but I always wished that we had more of the family interaction in it especially those between Sodapop and Ponyboy. I always thought that of the 3 brothers, Sodapop was the glue that held them together and this role was conspicuously missing in the movie. I also remembered the thing that bugged me the most all those years was how the opening and closing of the movie was totally different from the book. The movie always felt like an incomplete adaptation of the book and for the longest time it was the only version that we had to watch.

When I heard that they were planning to re-release a recut version of “The Outsiders” on DVD, I was a bit apprehensive about what would be changed in my favorite movie. As more details came out about the 22 minutes of previously unseen footage incorporated into the pervious version start to surface on the Net, I realize that I had to break my own rule about double-dipping and purchase a copy of this DVD even though I already had a copy that I purchased much earlier. Needless to say that I was very excited when I finally got my copy in the mail from Amazon.com. It went straight into my DVD player the first opportunity I got to watch it that evening and immediately I knew that this was a great buy.

To start off, the picture and audio quality is much better in “The Outsiders – The Complete Novel” DVD than it was in the original release DVD. The print was fairly clean and the same visual flaws that was in the original release appeared here suggesting that the problem might have been in the master copy they used. The quality of the visuals were also shared in the new scenes that was added to the original release so visually they look like they had always been part of the movie. The audio sounded much better to me than the original print of the previous version. There is not much use of heavy bass for explosions and such but the ranges that they do use came out crisp and clear. The remastered audio and visuals on this DVD makes it easy to highly recommend it as the version of the film that fans would want to have in their collection although there is a caveat to that recommendation that I will be expanding more on later in this write-up.

In this re-release, Coppola went through his historical archives and reintegrated scenes that he had to cut out from the original release. Much of the cuts were made after receiving feedback from audience previews prior to the films original release. Unfortunately for fans of the book, these cuts were scenes that dealt mostly with the relationships between the Curtis brothers which many felt was the core of what the book was about. To see them reintegrated into the movie was nothing less that a resounding victory for the fans who have long clamored for a more complete version of the adaptation to their favorite story. In this new cut, we have a new opening and ending to the film that follows closer to how the original book opened and closed. We also see more of interaction between Ponyboy, Sodapop and Darry as well as more emotional scenes that were missing from the original cut. I have to say that the most poignant addition for me in this version was the night time scene between Ponyboy and Sodapop in which Soda comforted Pony after being yelled at by the older brother. It was a favorite of mine from the book and I was happy to see that it got included into the recut version.

Coppola also replaced much of the soundtrack in this new version of the movie with songs reflective of the times and the Greaser sub-culture. In his commentary, he stated that he always thought that the original soundtrack was a bit heavy and operatic compared to what he envisioned it to be. While some of the soundtrack changes in this case worked with the new cut, others were woefully out of place if not completely jarring. The song that he had playing in the scene in the park where Ponyboy and Johnny got attacked by the Socs was totally wrong for the intend of the scene and I personally thing that replacing the original soundtrack with the beach-surfer song here is nothing less than criminal. The same could be said in the Curtis brothers reunion scene at the hospital after the fire at the abandoned church which previously was evocative of the emotional content of the scene but now was conspicuously missing. I have to admit that the epic sounding Dally’s theme that used to play in the background in the scenes of his flight from the hospital after Johnny’s demise was sorely missed in this version. Although the soundtrack to the original version of the movie was at times may sound overblown and corny, it was one that resounded well with the fans and fondly remembered all these years. It made this film stand out from the other teen movies that was released around and about the same time “The Outsiders” was released. It was unfortunate that Coppola felt like he had to change that essential mix that made this movie unique.

There are 2 commentary tracks on “The Outsider’s – The Complete Novel” DVD set. The first one was by Coppola himself in which he gives wonderful insights about the characters and the process of making the movie. Halfway through the commentary, he seemed to repeat himself on more than one occasion especially on the subject to the music that he replaced in this new release. I wonder if this was to justify the reasons of doing something that he knew would be a sore point for the fans watching this version of the movie. All in all it was not the best commentary that I’ve heard from him. Fortunately the second commentary by some of the original cast members was much more exciting to listen to. The cast commentary included thoughts from C. Thomas Howell (Ponyboy), Diane Lane (Cherry), Patrick Swayze (Darry) & Ralph Macchio (Johnny) who recorded it in a cast reunion previewing the re-cut version of the film. There were also comments from Rob Lowe (Sodapop) and Matt Dillon (Dallas) which were recorded separately but so seamlessly spliced together that one could image they were all in the same room. Notable absence on the commentary track were Tom Cruise (Steve) and Emilio Estevez (Two-Bit) but I guess it was because they were minor characters in the movie comparatively to the others. Those on the cast commentary track gave wonderful personal anecdotes of making the film and occasionally ribbed each other at how young they were when they made this movie. Their joy at watching this movie again after all this time was apparent in their commentary track and it made watching the movie with them enjoyable.

Disk 2 of this set holds a few notable bonus extras for this new release. At the heart of it was a new making of documentary entitled “Staying Gold: A Look Back at the Outsiders” that tells the story of how the movie came about and the process of making the movie. Fans would learn that Coppola actually filmed the whole movie on video once as part of the rehearsals before shooting the first frames on film which for most filmmakers at the time was simply unheard of. We are also treated to wonderful behind the scenes footage as they were filming that must have long languished in the archives and unseen before now. In another DVD extra, viewer’s get to visit the locations where the film was originally shot in and around Tulsa, Oklahoma with S.E. Hinton who wrote the original book as a teenager. It was wonderful to see how much of the original locations and buildings was still around and looked relatively unchanged to the way they were shown in the movie. The other bonus extra worth highlighting is the “Casting The Outsiders” documentary which documented the unique casting method that Coppola used to cast for this movie. It was interesting to see how many young actors who have now become big stars themselves trying out for the various parts in the movie.

All in all, “The Outsiders – The Complete Novel” DVD set is an easy recommendation to make. Fans of the original movie will find that this new cut with the additional 22 minutes of footage reinserted further expands the story and provides richer details of the relationship between the characters than in the first movie. Fans of the original book would like this version much better than the original as it follows the book much closer this time around. The extra bonus features on Disk 2 adds another layer to the appreciation of the movie which would be a welcome addition to any fan’s collection. If there was a flaw in this release that would have made it truly exceptional then it has to be the unfortunate replacement of the original soundtrack with songs that clearly undercut the what was happening on screen. This flaw was something that would be enough to convince people to hold on to their original copy of the DVD instead of replacing it totally with this set. Flaws aside, this will be the version of this beloved story that the next generation of fans will come to discover and love.

Stay Gold, Ponyboy

Got my copy of “The Outsiders – the Complete Novel” DVD from Amzon.com in the mail yesterday. Immediately pop the DVD in the player to watch the extended version of one of my all time favorite movies to see what Francis Ford Coppola added to this newly recut version. What I saw absolutely floored me ! The movie was good before but this version elevated it to at least an “Excellent” level with the new additions. I can’t say that I’m liking the musical score change that much but I’ve only had a chance to watch it twice last night.

I’m watching it again tonight to listen to Coppola’s director’s commentary track on Disk 1. The cast commentary track that I listened to last night was insightful and fun to listen to. Since I have both version of this movie in my DVD collection, I’m thinking of writing up a compare and contrast review of the two version over the weekend for one of the entries next week.

Watch out for it in this space.

Came In The Mail Today

I’m so excited !

The copy of the 50th Anniversary edition of “East of Eden” and “Rebel Without A Cause” 2-disk DVD set that I ordered from Amazon.com arrived today in the mail. I must have watched these 2 movies more than 20 times each but I have yet to tire of watching James Dean in action. He is still my favorite actor even if he has been dead for 50 years now. I remember growing up wanting to be cool like he was in “Rebel Without A Cause”. I also identified personally with his anguish at his failed attempts at getting his father’s approval in “East of Eden”. For the longest time I had my fair share of fantasies involving him in that famous red jacket.

I took a sneak peak at several scenes as soon as I came back from the office and was pleasantly surprised to see the quality of the restoration work done on the file. I’m really looking forward to watching the supplementary material on the DVD. I guess that I would be able to write up about it in this blog once I’ve finished watching the set.

PS: It seems that they will be showing “Desperate Housewives’ on 8TV in July. That’ll be something to look forward to on TV.

Post Scripts from The Edge (of Sanity)

Brain. Freeze. Can’t. Think. Writer’s. Block. Must. Stop. Speaking. Like. Captain. Kirk.

PS: Got my DVD copy of Star Trek V: Undiscovered Country today and thus completing my classic ST feature film collection. Hopefully they would re-release the ST: TNG feature films in this collector’s item edition someday.

PPS: They are going to start showing “The O.C.” on Ch8 beginning this coming Saturday at 10:45pm. I am so looking forward to seeing this show after reading so much about it on TWOP. The main male leads are simply delish eye candy and the HoYaY level on this series is in the category of 1st season Smallville and 2nd season Angel. I am definitely counting the days before this series comes on air.

PPPS: Amazon.com has put up the “Popular: Season One” DVD set on pre-order status and I, of course, have put in my order. This series only ran for 2 seasons in the States which was a shame because it was really funny and had a lot of potential. I found out about the show when the showed both seasons on TV2 awhile back. The show was funny, campy, had a lot of style and of course nice male eye-candy.

PPPPS: The holiest of holy grails in DVD is finally coming as they are finally going to release the 1st Star Wars trilogy in a 4 DVD boxed set later this year. The news is that they would put the 1997 special release edition instead of the original theatrical version which is fine by me but has been criticized by some of the purist. Regardless of the controversy, I’m just happy that it is coming on DVD.

Shopping for discounts

I have been buying most of my DVDs from Amazon.com since I first got my DVD player back in 1999. I have no complaints about their service to date and they still have the best shipping rates to Malaysia for DVDs that I’ve seen on the Net. Their 30% discount for pre-release orders are really hard to pass by and on top of that they also have an additional discount if you get your friends and family to purchase the same DVDs that you purchased online.

If you are already ordering your DVDs online and would like to get additional discounts to any of the titles that I’m ordering below, drop me a line and I’ll be glad to include your email in my discount circle. I think the discount is 10% on top of the already discounted price but it is first come first serve only. In the future, I will post any new orders that I make on this site so anyone interested on getting the discount can send me an email.

Delivery estimate: Apr 26, 2004 - May 5, 2004
1 of The Matrix Revolutions (Widescreen Edition)

Delivery estimate: May 4, 2004 - May 13, 2004
1 of Babylon 5: Complete Fifth Season

Delivery estimate: Apr 20, 2004 - Apr 29, 2004
1 of Ripley's Game

Delivery estimate: Apr 13, 2004 - Apr 22, 2004
1 of Will & Grace: Season Two

Delivery estimate: Mar 24, 2004 - Apr 1, 2004
1 of Schindler's List (Widescreen Edition)

Delivery estimate: Mar 24, 2004 - Apr 1, 2004
1 of Dilbert - The Complete Series

Delivery estimate: Mar 24, 2004 - Apr 1, 2004
1 of Futurama, Vol. 3

Delivery estimate: Mar 24, 2004 - Apr 1, 2004
1 of Maurice

Delivery estimate: Mar 18, 2004 - Mar 26, 2004
1 of Star Trek Voyager - The Complete First Season

Delivery estimate: Mar 18, 2004 - Mar 26, 2004
1 of Queer as Folk - The Complete Third Season (Showtime)

Delivery estimate: Feb 19, 2004 - Feb 27, 2004
1 of Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country (Special Edition)

Delivery estimate: Feb 19, 2004 - Feb 27, 2004
1 of The Critic - The Entire Series

Delivery estimate: Mar 5, 2004 - Mar 15, 2004
1 of Camp

Delivery estimate: Mar 5, 2004 - Mar 15, 2004
1 of Roswell: Season 1

Delivery estimate: Mar 1, 2004 - Mar 10, 2004
1 of Angel - Season 3

Crybaby ....

My copy of the “Dawson’s Creek: Series Finale” DVD finally came in the mail today! I was so excited about finally getting it that I decided to take off early from work today and rushed home to watch the DVD. Once I reached home, I quickly changed into something more comfortable, pop in the DVD in the player and settled down to watch the best 2 hours of television that I have watched in a while. Of course I have to mention that I totally turned into a sobbing mess watching the poignant scenes in the DVD. I was sobbing my eyes out like baby that I was thankful that none of my housemates were around to watch me cry at watching a stupid teen angst television show. They already make fun of the way I always end up in tears at the end of “E.T. The Extra-terrestrial" and I don’t need to give them more fodder to rib me with. Anyway ... tonight I’m totally exhausted and emotionally wrung out from watching the DVD. I still have to sit through one more sitting of the whole thing to listen to the commentary track or else I would not be able to sleep tonight thinking about it. I just hope that I would be able to control my emotions this time.

I also got news today that the business trip that I suppose to be on this month has been rescheduled for this coming November. If all goes well, I will have to travel to Penang from the 3rd to the 11th of next month and then to Singapore from the 12th until the 21st. Tried as I might to avoid it, it seems that I’ll be spending almost all of the fasting month this year on the road, which I totally hate. It means that I would have to cancel my annual breaking of fast get together with my friends this year. I’ve been having it every year without fail for the past 7 years that I really hate to have to cancel it this year. Of course this also means that I don’t get to break fast with my family this year since I will only be back in town just in time for Hari Raya (Eid Mubarak). Since it doesn’t seem to be anyway of getting myself out of this arrangement, I guess that I have to suck it up and just do it. I just hope that they put me up at a nice hotel this time around. I got to choose the hotel that I wanted to stay in when I was in my old company but I don’t know if they have the same policy in my current one. Hopefully they would have but I guess I would know more when they give me the reservations.

DVD Review: Angel (Season 1 & 2)

One of the few TV series on local television that I look forward to week after week is “Angel” which airs locally on Thursdays at 11:10pm on TV2. This series that is now in its fifth season in the States is a spin-off from another popular television series, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, that was also shown on local TV sometime back. It was on that show that I first learn about the titular character of Angel who was a 200 year old vampire who happened to have a soul and continue to roam the Earth seeking redemption for all the things that he had done before. While the character initially appeared on and off in the Buffy series, it would soon be one of the fan favorites from the series and in time would merit a spin-off series of his own. The self-titled spin-off series takes Angel out of Sunnydale into the city of Los Angeles where he continues to seek redemption by championing the cause of humanity against a multitude of evil entities. The television series has, to date, been collected into 2 DVD boxes set that covers all episodes in season 1 and 2 respectively. I had the opportunity to revisit some of my favorite episodes from the show recently after purchasing the latest instalment of the “Angel” DVD boxed set.

At the end of Season 1 of the series, Angel has finally accepted his new role of humanity’s champion against the prophesied darkness that was steadily descending on the world. As we come back to them in the beginning of Season 2, we find Angel (David Boreanaz) embracing his occupation in full force with the help of his friends Wesley (Alexis Denisof) and Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) who helps him run Angel Investigations Agency. They are soon joined by Gunn (J. August Richards) who Angel first befriended in the previous season. While initially things seemed to be happening smoothly for Angel, his mortal enemies who happened to be lawyers at the firm of Wolfram and Hart had set their plan in motion to convert Angel to the dark side and to convince him to work for their benefit. The plan that they initiated involved Angel’s long time vampire paramour, Darla (Julie Benz) who was resurrected after being killed by Angel.

Unaware of the plans laid against him, Angel finds himself increasingly isolated from his friends and becomes more obsessed with Darla who has returned to him as a mortal. This isolation continues to escalate when Darla loses her new found soul and was turned into a vampire in order to save her life again for the second time. Feeling the burden of guilt for not being able to save Darla from her fate and the fear that he would have to kill his old lover again for the second time finally pushes Angel to sever ties with the others in an attempt to spare them his pain. This betrayal and mistrust did not sit well with the others how vow to continue his work without him. While Angel continued to find a way to atone for his guilt, the rest of his crew struggled to find their way in the world with some limited success. After several events unfolded to show Angel the errors of his ways, he goes through an epiphany that his place is with his friends in their fight to save humanity from the evil that he could not eradicate alone. While it was awkward in the beginning, Angel successfully regained their trust and was accepted back into their fold.

As implied in the above season synopsis, the producers of this series had rightly steered the series away from the monster of the week format that made the majority of the episodes from the first season of the series. In Season 2, we find more multi-part episodes that build the character arc of Angel. In this season, we learned more about his past as a an evil vampire who terrorized 18th and 19th century Europe with Darla at his side until the day that he was cursed with a soul that reflected back at him all the hurt and terror that he has visited on other. The inclusion of this mythic arc allowed the viewers to become more involved and vested into the main character of the series. The multi-part format allowed the audience to slowly digest the significance of each episode as it contributes to the bigger story that was being told. In season 2, episodes like “Dear Boy”, “Darla” and “The Trial” were essential to set up Angel’s fall into the dark side before he has to face his paramour again in her evil guise in the wonderful two-parter of “Reunion” and “Redefinition”. The story arc was later admirable concluded in another two-parter of “Reprise” and “Epiphany” which finds Darla realizing that she would never be able to turn Angel to her side.

While Angel was facing his trials with Darla in season 2, the other members of his group were also facing their own trials. The character of Gunn who comes in initially as a leader of his own pack of vampire hunters finds himself increasingly drawn away from his own crew while he worked on cases for Angel. This absence led to some tragic events to the members of his original gang which caused him to reevaluate his position with his previous associations. While Gunn faced this decision, Wesley was slowly finding himself in the position of the leader of their investigation agency as Angel began to isolate himself more and more from the others. This was a decision that scared the character as he has always been comfortable being the position of the follower. Since he was thrust into the limelight of a leadership position, Wesley had no choice but to fit himself into the role and hope that he does not screw things up this time.

Season 2 also saw the introduction of the Host, a green-skinned, red horned demon who can read another person’s future when the person sings, played wonderfully by Andy Hallet. The introduction of this new character not only takes the series to a new wonderful direction but also increases the streak of humor inherent in this series. As a series, “Angel” has always had a humorous side to it, a streak that is much more apparent in this series than from Buffy, which was further enhanced by the running gag that Angel was a terrible singer and would have to embarrass himself to get guidance from the Host. The introduction of this karaoke bar proprietary who happened to be green also gave the opportunity for the cast to show their previously unknown talent for singing as part of a storyline. I have to say that if it were not for the inclusion of this character, I would have never guessed that Christian Kane who plays Lindsey, one of the evil lawyers from Wolfram and Hart, had a really beautiful singing voice which he shared with the audience in a scene from “Dead End”.

Unfortunately Season 2 of Angel ends on a bit of a down note in terms of the story arch. A few interesting storylines were set aside at the end on the season as the characters were transported into the Host’s home dimension in an attempt to rescue Cordelia who was accidentally sucked through. There the crew finds a world where humans are slaves to demons and Cordelia was crowned as a princess slated for sacrifice. In saving her, the group managed to free the enslaved population and found a new addition into their group in the form a long lost Los Angeles resident, Winifred Burke (Amy Ackers) who would play a greater role in Season 3. While the final 3 episode of Season 2 are admirable in themselves, they felt thematically off from the other episodes of the season which may frustrated some viewers. Fortunately the dropped storylines were picked up again in Season 3 which make that DVD set a must for fans of the series.

All in all, Season 2 of “Angel” was when the series really came into its own and we now see that it can stand separate from Buffy which it was spun off from. Wonderful planning of the character arch in multipart episodes by the producers of the series made watching Angel enjoyable and addictive as the audience wants to know what happens next week after week. Even the episodes that were not directly linked to the mythology arch had something to offer to the viewers whether it be a throwaway line that expands the arch idea or just another example of the hilarious with and humor inherent in the series. Many fans of Angel agree that Season 2 was one of the best seasons for the whole series and this DVD set does it great justice. The 6 DVD set beautifully presented the season in widescreen version of exceptional picture and audio quality. I was sufficiently happy with the quality of the set enough to ignore the paltry offerings that were included as special features in the DVD set. As a fan of the series, this wonderful collection of one of the best episodes of the whole series was a welcomed addition to my collection. I just can’t wait for the next set to come out and continue the journey of “Angel”.

Season Rating: 4/5 stars
DVD package set rating: 4/5 stars

DVD Review: Babylon 5 Season 3

It has been noted by industry watchers that the fastest growing segment of DVD sales today is now devoted to box sets of popular television shows. The DVD format has given a new lease on life to many much beloved TV series which previously were limited by their air time on affiliated channels. The demand for these boxed sets have been steadily growing that it seems that there is at least one new TV series boxed set being released in DVD format every month. The producers and copyright owners of these TV series have suddenly found themselves sitting on goldmines that have been largely untapped while their series languished in syndication. As a result, they have begun to embraced the DVD format fully and taking the advantage of the current insatiable demand for TV series of past years.

One such TV series that have found a second chance to shine is “Babylon 5”. Much touted as the best written sci-fi television series ever created, “Babylon 5” ran for five years in the United States from 1993 to 1998. In the five years that it was on air, Babylon 5; more commonly referred to as B5; won several Hugo awards for sci-fi writing accomplishments and won the hearts of many viewers around the world who have been acknowledged as among the most supportive fan base for any TV series every. This large fan base, colloquially known as “Lurkers”, is also very active on the Internet where numerous websites had been devoted to the discussion of the series and some are still active until today 5 years after the series ended. I have to admit that I count myself as one of these “Lurkers”; as well as being both a “Trekkie” and “X-Philes” card carrying member; ever since watching the first episode they produced.

For the uninitiated, B5 was written by J. Michael Straczynski (JMS) and chronicles the story of an Earth space station located in neutral territory between the years of 2258 to 2263. The Babylon 5 space station was the last of a series of failed space stations built by Earth as a place where humans and aliens could interact peacefully and avoid the mistakes that previously resulted in a devastating interspecies war between Earth and a major alien culture. While it started as a neutral diplomatic meeting place for humans and aliens, it would later become more and more important for the future survival of all races as the universe faced the threat of the returned of a long prophesied evil force. As the focal point for the forces on the side of light and good, B5 triumphed in the face of adversity and intricate webs of deceptions. In every episode of the series, fans were drawn in ever deeper into the engaging conflict involving many of the best written characters that have ever been seen on television.

The third season of “Babylon 5” DVD box series opens with the station and her personnel standing at the crumbling edge of an abyss. The war with the dark forces of the Shadows was intensifying at all fronts and B5 found itself increasingly isolated by the Earth forces that seem to have an agenda of their own. Increasing evidence had been uncovered showing that the Earth forces were actually conspiring with the Shadow forces in an attempt to gain more power in the universe at the expanse of personal freedom and the lives of other alien races. Finding itself fighting alone, B5 began the creation of a space fleet to protect itself from the threat of the Shadows and Earth forces whose action forced B5 to sever all ties and declared independence from Earth. From that point onwards, B5 was the only force capable enough to gather support from other alien races in their fight against the evil forces threatening to leave the universe ablaze in their wake. I recommend interested parties to visit the B5 Lurkers Episode Guide for some good analysis of the episodes of season 3.

As with the other 2 box sets, season 3 of B5 contains all 22 episodes arranged in the order it was presented on 6 DVDs. Each DVD contains 4 episodes of the season with the exception of the last DVD which contained the last 2 episodes of the season as well as several short documentaries of the series production. Each episode of the series has been digitally remastered for a widescreen presentation with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. While the picture and sound quality for most of the set have been exceptional, several scenes seems come out worse for wear from the digital treatment. I’ve noticed that scenes involving life actors interacting with blue screen elements suffered the most as they seem too muted and soft compared to the crisp lines and colors of the other scenes. The end result seems too jarring a transition and a bit distracting for an attentive viewer. I feel that this problem was more noticeable in season 3 DVD set as more of such scenes were produced than in previous seasons.

Also included in the box set are 2 feature length commentaries by the writer and 1 by the principle actors. The actor’s commentary track was recorded for Episode 15, “Interludes and Examinations” by Bruce Boxleitner (Capt Sheridan), Jerry Doyle (Mr. Garibaldi), Richard Biggs (Dr Franklin) and Ed Wasser (Mr. Morten). While the cast’s exuberance while recording the commentary was infectious, it was at times difficult of follow as they tend to speak over one another. The commentary has the feel of a boisterous gathering of family recollecting many anecdotes that happened during the filming of the episode. I have to say that I missed hearing Claudia Christian (Ivanova) in the actor’s commentary as I though that she did a wonderful job in the previous season cast commentary.

The remaining 2 commentaries were recorded by the series writer for Episode 10: “Severed Dreams” and Episode 22: “Z’ha’dum”. As he did in the previous 2 box sets, commentaries by JMS are always insightful to me in that he tends to explain the writing process involved in producing this accomplished work. He would also relate the work involved in producing this series week after week and the problems that they would run into as they tried to complete each episode within the budgetary limitation. I personally find his comments enlightening and educational to me although his delivery could be dry at some points. JMS also recorded a season introduction featurette at the beginning of the first DVD of the set as he did for the previous box sets. First time viewers are advised to defer the introduction to the end as it contains several spoilers that may affect the enjoyment of the watching experience.

The bonus features included on the last DVD of B5 season 3 focuses on the make-up and design of the alien races seen in the series. While it is technically interesting to watch, I found the subject matter a bit dry and uninvolving. The bonus features are rounded up by a collection of short presentations of several of the technologies, characters and location presented as if they were computer files from Babylon 5’s computer system. Most of the information here is well known to “Lurkers” like me but may be interesting to new viewers trying to understand the universe of B5. Last but not least, the final DVD of the set contains an Easter egg; an unlisted special feature; containing the outtakes and blooper reel from season 3. Like in the season 2 set, this gag reel is quite hilarious to watch and worthwhile to search for.

All in all, the B5 Season 3 box set still shows several shortcomings in the picture quality as in the previous season sets. The commentaries are not as good as the commentary tracks in season 2 but are still enjoyable to listen to. I wished that they could have chosen a better subject for the short documentaries in the special features section but I guess that new viewers would find them interesting. I do hope that they continue to include the blooper reels in future box sets as I find them enjoyable to watch. The price of the box set is a bit steep by Malaysian standards but as a fan of the series, the question of adding this box set to my collection never arose as it was simply a given fact. For me, the fact that I am owning a piece of television history in the form of “Babylon 5” DVD sets makes it worth every cent.

Rating :
Story (5/5)
Picture Quality (3.5/5)
Sound Quality (4/5)
Commentary Tracks (3.5/5)
Special Features (3/5)

Overall Rating (3.9/5)

DVD Recaplet

A few random thoughts about a few upcoming DVD releases now available for pre-ordering at Amazon.com

Matrix Reloaded
I actually missed the first 10 minutes of this movie the day that I bought tickets to see it at my local cinema. Somehow I didn’t realize that my watch was running 10 minutes late and knew about it when I went in to find the movie had already started. Of course by that time, I couldn’t find my favorite seat and had to settle with another. As a whole the movie was a disappointment compared to the first one but then again I didn’t get to see the whole movie. I might consider revising my views once I get to see the film on DVD.

Star Trek V: Final Frontier
Universally panned as the worst ST feature film, this is the only ST feature that I have never seen in my life. As a card-carrying Trekkie, I’ve made it my quest to watch it someday and it seems that I would finally get my wish. I actually like the 2-disk Special Editions that they have been putting out for these classic ST movies so getting this next one is actually a non-brainer regardless of the reputation this film has.

Tick: The Entire Series
I didn’t get to watch this show while I was in the States and wasn’t even aware that they had cancelled it. I only manage to catch a few episodes when they had it on one of our local TV stations but didn’t really follow the series due to the ungodly hour it was on. What little I did get to see, I totally liked. No one had to twist my arm to want to add this DVD set to my collection.

Dawson’s Creek: Series Finale
Definitely a hot item to get for this year! After reading the recaps and forum responses on TWOP about this 2 part finale, I knew I had to have it. To sweeten the deal, it seems that this release will actually have the extended cut of the finale with scenes that were never shown during the original broadcast. Not that I needed any more excuse to get it other than to watch Joshua Jackson in action.

Smallville: The Complete First Season
I’m actually a big fan of this series and have been watching it week after week on TV3. I’ve only missed a few episodes from the first season but that’s enough reason for me to get the complete set. Of course, trying to spot HoYaY moments between Clark and Lex would be an added bonus now that I have full control of the remote.

The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (Platinum Series Extended Edition)
I initially bought the first installment of TLOR Extended Edition because I wanted to see the extra scenes integrated into the movie. With the seamless integration of the extra scenes and magnificent hours of extras, I immediately knew that I wouldn’t want anything else than extended edition DVDs for the rest of the trilogy. I have to say that this release format is the best value for money that you can get in the DVD market today.

The Adventures of Indiana Jones Box Set
One of the most requested DVDs among fans, the Indiana Jones movies have been a long time in coming. I can’t really imagine why George Lucas is so reluctant to move to DVDs. Technically, DVDs would be superior to the VHS and Laserdisc releases that we had before and yet fans of his movies had to wait for ages for his movies on DVD. I don’t really know if the Indy set will be release on individual disks but I’m actually looking forward to the extras on this box set that I don’t mind getting it.

Will & Grace - Season One
One thing I like about buying DVDs is that I could get box sets of series that would never see the light of day on local TV. If it were not for Amazon.com, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy both versions (UK and US) of “Queer as Folk”. Of course there is the possibility that customs would confiscate my copies as they come in from the States but I’m lucky that I only had that happen once to me. I really hope that my copy of “Will & Grace” will come in safely as I’ve heard a lot about it and am really looking forward to see what the fuss is all about.

I won’t promise anything but I may review these DVDs for my online diary entries when I get them. Until then, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for their safe arrival.

DVD Review: X-Files Season 7 & Children of Dune

Since nothing much happened today that is blog worthy, I thought that I’ll fill in today’s entry with my thoughts about the DVDs that I watched this past weekend.

First up is X-Files Season 7. It took me awhile before I got through all the episodes in this excellent DVD set. On the whole, season 7 was a mixed bag of good, bad and god awful episodes. Among my favorites of the season are “Hungry”, “Closure” and “Signs and Wonders”. I think that the worse of the lot is a toss up between “Hollywood A.D.” and “FPS”. I really hated those 2 episodes. Image and sound quality for the set seems to be acceptable to me but I’m not really skilled enough to tell if there is any defect. The price for the package is a bit steep but having all the season’s episode in one neat package makes it worth it for a fan like me. Plus this season had an appearance of Krychek which is always a good thing.

I also got a chance to watch the “Children of Dune” DVD set in one sitting. I’ve always been a fan of the series but it has been awhile since I read them. This series was shown earlier this year on the Sci-Fi channel in the US but being in Malaysia meant that I have no access to see it during the original airing. I had a love/hate response to the first series “Dune” since I remember that book most vividly and also had the feature film version of “Dune” for comparison. So watching “Children of Dune” this time around is a bit refreshing since I’ve forgotten how the stories continued.

“Children of Dune” is actually two stories, “Children of Dune” & “God Emperor of Dune”, rolled into one. So undoubtedly some of the details were compressed and some others omitted totally to fit into the mini-series format. I have to read the books again to figure out which details got cut out but overall the story flowed smoothly, except from a few loose plot threads, so I guess that the cuts didn’t impact the story that much. CGI shots this time around showed improvement over the predecessor so I guess that they put in extra money after the first mini-series. Costume design also looked better than the first one except for that awful wedding suit that the groom wore in the last episode. Man … it was ugly and I’ll be happy if I never see it again.

The special features of this DVD set are a bit on the slim side. I wished that they could have added some audio commentaries that could explain the effort that they took to combine 2 fairly plot heavy books into one story. Picture and audio quality is quite clear and I must say fairly enjoyable to experience due to the dense amount of action happening on screen at one time. Price wise is acceptable for this polished production.

Both sets are available from Amazon.com.

Watching Too Much TV

Pre blog musings.

Thought that I start off with some stuff from earlier this week.

Sub: Dawson's Creek
I'm really sad that to hear that this series has ended :( I really liked this series ... from what I manage to watch on M'sian TV and from the time I was in the States. I would also really miss my weekly DC recaps fix from http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com ... they really don't spare the snark!

From the recaps and forum at the TWOP site, I gather that the series finale was well recieved and that many were pleased with how the J/P/D triangle got sorted out finally. Also read that MW ran circles around everybody else in terms of acting ... sigh ... now I just have to be patient and wait until they release DC S6 on DVD. Hopefully it would not be a long wait ... until then I have to be satisfied with DC S1 DVD set.

BTW ... Jackers and Doug ... sigh. I'll pay good money to see that.

Sub: Babylon 5 Season 2.
Finally got around to listen to the audio commentary from the latest B5 DVD release last night and throughly enjoyed it. JMS's track is as enjoyable as B5 S1 collection though he does seem to be obsessed about hair and tables this time around. The best audio track has to be the cast commentary ... it's a total laugh riot! The chia pet hair comment really crack me up.

The set is definitely a keeper. I guess that I should start saving for future sets. Man ... I can just hear my credit card groaning. Last year was from the ST:TNG sets ... this year it's the B5, Angel & DC sets. Not to mention the X-Files set ... grrr.

Note to self : Should plan to get more selves for the DVD's. Running out of space soon with the set boxes.

Sub: Misc.
It's Thusday so tonight is Angel night. They just started showing season 3 on TV2 and I don't want to miss and episode. Yeah ... I've read the recaps on TWOP many, many times over but so what. Seeing goofy,dopey DB again every week now is definitely a high point of the week. I know ... it's pathetic but hey ... I'll take whatever I can get.