Bride Wars

Bride Wars:(Just for fun, I thought I'd start this review with two of my least favorite movie review crutches.) There's a point in Bride Wars where I really want to hate it. Pulled from the screener pool simply to please my wife, this chick flick is not poised to please me - my wildest dreams include only hope that ogling Anne Hathaway will A) ease the pain, and B) go unnoticed by said wife. So, as the strains of Natalie Cole's This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) begin to haunt my ears not three minutes into the movie, I commence dipping my poison pen into the old Ebola-tainted inkwell. Visions of angered female readers emailing me telling me I just Don't Understand Women's Movies dance in my head.
Egregiously facile set-ups enrage me. Lifelong best friends Liv (Kate Hudson) and Emma (Hathaway) emerge as ridiculous polar opposites. Liv's the tough-as-nails, wealthy prosecutor; harsh make-up, brutal bangs, tons of attitude. Emma's the poor, dowdy (how's that possible?) teacher with a heart of gold. They've been fetishising the marriage ideal together since they were mere girls, and as they both find themselves engaged, their bitter friends begin popping pills and hitting the Ben & Jerry's like pre-menstrual Medusas. I can't believe I'm watching this. Then - oh no! - their high-powered wedding planner (Candice Bergen) books them both at The Plaza for the same day, dashing their plans to be each other's bridesmaids. Do the claws then come out, even between lifelong buds? Oh baby!
And thank heavens, as wedding planning mania and escalating sabotage schemes steer Bride Wars from sappy, potentially brain-damaging pabulum to ridiculous farce. Healthy doses of outrageous, hyper comedy set pieces nearly bring me to tears (probably due to my skewed sensibilities, but hey, I'll take it). Not surprisingly, Hathaway gets the lion's share of hilarious bits. Emma's pathetic wedding invitation (and the aftermath) blindsides me into gales of laughter. When she crashes Liv's bachelorette party, taking charge of the sexy-bride dance competition, I'm pretty close to heaven - such a combination of raw allure and humor is a real gift.
Even Hudson (looking like she's spent the years between Almost Famous and now riding with the Hell's Angels) quickly breaks through her clichéd character to grab some laughs of her own. And, piercing Bride Wars' shallow veneer, Liv's special relationship with her fiancé, and her growing realization that crushing Emma's dreams (while her own take a beating) isn't the best karmic move, brings some heart to a movie that might eventually wilt under tired tricks and silliness. Finally, a pivotal romantic plot twist comes too late, but gets Bride Wars where it's going - back to the land of cheesy happy endings.
Bride Wars is a smooth machine, with some nice role reversals. The men exist as thin props for the ladies - either bitchy or saintly, but never more than supporting objects. The women, crazy as they are, are self-directed and decisive, and they carry the movie. Bolstering Hudson and Hathaway, Bergen lends some efficient gravity, and Kristen Johnston (3rd Rock From The Sun) eventually snags some serious yuks in her brief turn as Emma's boozing coworker. I thoroughly enjoy Bride Wars, while my sappy wife even sheds a few tears. We both win! (Note to self: rom-coms go much better with beer.) Not terribly deep, but more than I expect, Bride Wars is funny fluff perfect for a low-impact date night.
The DVD
Video:Our DVD-Rom screener for Bride Wars looks pretty shabby by comparison, but at least the 20th Century Fox 'don't resell our screener' burn-in only appears three times, mitigating damage to viewing enjoyment. Since this is a DVD-Rom screener this assessment is worth little, but for what it is worth, tons of digital grain, aliasing and bad detail levels make this 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen presentation a sub-par DVD viewing experience.
Sound:English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound Audio and French and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 Audio are the available choices. Though this screener is not representative of retail product, the mix seems nicely balanced, with dialog and soundtrack elements avoiding competition, and a hearty dynamic range to enjoy. As a romantic comedy, the movie doesn't appear to sport a terribly active mix, so those of you (like me) using only stereo speakers won't be disappointed.
Extras:English, Spanish and French Subtitles are on hand, as well as four Trailers. The remainder of the slight extras include three Deleted Scenes (about four minutes total) that were clearly wisely cut, and a four minute puff piece titled The Perfect White Dress that sings the praises of Vera Wang's wedding gowns. Challenge yourself to count how many times the words 'taste' and 'timeless' are used.
Final Thoughts:You he-men in the audience, take it from a guy, Bride Wars will not kill you. It's actually pretty funny, and though clichés run rampant, (and a happy ending is as tidy all get-out) it has a heart in the right place. Kate Hudson goes from harsh to huggable as a litigious bride, while Anne Hathaway steals the show as a radiant, noble tramp (at least when she's dancing). With more laughs than you'd expect, (but essentially zero extras) this is a painless way to please your partner on movie night, earning a solid Rent It.

Metamorphosis: Beyond The Screen Door

The Metamorphosis, a short novel first published nearly a century ago, remains one of German author Franz Kafka's most memorable works. This slow-burning tale is defined by the strange fate of our central character, Gregor Samsa, a salesman who awakens one morning to discover that his body has changed completely. Gregor has become an insect-like creature for reasons unknown, and his family and friends react accordingly. Sadly, Gregor's life doesn't get any easier: he eventually succumbs to the shame and isolation caused by his terrible new identity, never returning to his former self. The Metamorphosis has been studied, written about and mulled over since 1915, and for good reason: it's a simple story well told, and one that can be interpreted on many different levels. Kafka's novella is hardly the first surreal story in existence, but it's paved the way for countless like-minded works during the last century.
First things first: this release's cover art trumpets Norith Soth's Behind the Screen Door as the first filmed adaptation of Kafka's tale...which isn't true by a long shot, even if the film's 1994 release date was off by a few years. A handful of TV and film adaptations were found with minimal research (both domestic and international), including the 1987 production starring a young Tim Roth. What does set this version apart from most adaptations, though, is the relatively loose translation here: it's essentially a "modern retelling" that tweaks certain roles, personalities and events to suit the story. Fair enough...and like Kafka's original, this story is unabashedly odd and intriguing. For this alone, Beyond the Screen Door should sit fairly well with fans of Kafka and other like-minded creators, including David Lynch, Terry Gilliam and David Cronenberg.
If nothing else, Behind the Screen Door manages to alter the atmosphere a bit, though most of the foundation remains similar: Tom Gregor is our central character and he's still the victim of a grotesque transformation. Self-absorbed family members still ridicule Tom while depending on him to pay the bills, his boss berates him for missing work and a young woman rejects him after an awkward social encounter. Apparently, he's also had a past relationship with his young sister, who turns to prostitution as the family's money quickly dries up. Accordingly, it seems to be his constant emasculation that drives Tom towards solitude and triggers the drastic transformation. Our story jumps between Tom's former life and his new identity, creating a more abstract and contemporary take on Kafka's original.

Behind the Screen Door has a number of successful elements...and a few not-so-successful ones. First, the good news: we really get inside Tom's head for the duration of this film, though compassionate viewers may grow weary of his non-stop suffering. A few not-so-subtle nods to Kafka's original pop up at times, including a rather interesting take on the "apple infection" that eventually dooms our hero---and by this point, it's almost a mercy kill. Still, other elements don't seem to add much: for starters, the overly awkward editing---and vocal dubbing, on some occasions---may lead first-time viewers scratching their heads (yes, it's all part of the show), while peppered voice-over narration leads us around by the nose before abandoning us to the film's unnatural structure. These are almost necessary evils, but they're distracting enough to feel more pretentious than practical.
As an aside, I'd also like to point out one curious little "Easter Egg": stick around during the lengthy end credits and you'll hear a miniature commentary by Brent McCarey, whose association with the film is unknown. I can't say that I agree with all of Mr. McCarey's comments regarding the film's subtext and symbolism, but it spices up an otherwise bland credit sequence.
On a technical note, Beyond the Screen Door revealed itself to be quite a mysterious production, as far as background details go. Very little can be found regarding any behind-the-scenes information; in fact, this film doesn't even appear on the director's own IMDB page. One listing on Variety.com even cites the film's running time as 80-odd minutes, whereas this DVD clocks in at just under an hour. Had Beyond the Screen Door been a more straightforward affair, it might've been easier to spot any potential trimming. For now, one can only assume that Pathfinder Entertainment's one-disc release, packaged together with the like-minded short film Telephone (covered below), represents the complete story. Let's dig a little deeper, shall we?

Galaxy Quest

It still surprises me that almost 10 years after it hit theaters, earning a respectable take at the box office, that a real cult following hasn't grown around Galaxy Quest. Sure you can find a good amount of people who know about it (a sure sign of cinematic taste and a way to determine friendship worthiness) but it remains as underrated and under-appreciated as ever. Is it because star Tim Allen gives it the air of a kiddie movie? Is it bias against any sci-fi without the word Star in the title? Is it the PG rating? Whatever it is, people are missing out on something great, a situation they can now correct with this Deluxe Edition DVD.
The story is an absolutely brilliant take on the concept of popular culture: What if a race of aliens came across one of our television shows, say, Star Trek, and decided it was a form of recorded history instead of entertainment, and based their whole culture on it? Well, in this case, the Thermians, a naive peace-loving alien race, rebuilt their society based on the ideals and technology of the long-canceled TV show Galaxy Quest, a thinly-disguised version of Gene Roddenberry's baby, and now, at a critical juncture, they need help from their inspiration, not knowing the stars of the show are merely actors, not noble adventurers. So you have people who live their lives based on a TV show, turning to the people they watch on TV to lead them in real life. If that's not relevant today, what exactly is?
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There are a lot of layers to enjoy in this well-rounded film, from the chance for redemption for the actors, whose greatest success is far in their past, to the dangers of idolizing people you really don't really know, to the power and joy of believing in something good. While the very damaged actors at the core of the film are fun to watch live their very inner-focused lives and try to rise to others' expectations of them, the story of the Thermians is touching and engaging, as they are simple creatures seeing success in others and attempting to replicate it in their own lives. There's even a story for the fanboys mixed in, as young Brandon, a Questerian of the highest degree, lives his life around Galaxy Quest, only to have his devotion pay off in a big way.
All of these ideas are fine, but without the right people in these roles, you couldn't believe or care about them. The cast here though is loaded with comedic genius, from the stars down to even third-tier roles. Allen is perfect as a blowhard former star living off his past, never dipping into what could have been an easy imitation of Shatner, while Rickman breathes real life into a character that could have been just the stereotype of a fussy actor. While Weaver, as the show's sex symbol, who's unsatisfied with her role, holds a bit of a secondary role to the leads, her comedic chops are on full display (along with other assets.)
The rest of cast is just loaded with top-notch comedic actors, including the great Enrico Colantoni, Jed Rees, Patrick Breen and Missi Pyle as Thermians and the perfectly deadpan Tony Shaloub, hilarious Daryl Mitchell and the wonderful Sam Rockwell on the crew. Rockwell, in particular, steals just about every scene he's in (which should be no surprise to anyone familiar with his work), with the line, "Can you form some sort of rudimentary lathe?" forever burned into my brain. The movie also served as the film debuts for Justin Long and Rainn Wilson, further illustrating how good the casting was in this film.
The quality casting is aided by a script that is chock-full of hilariously quotable lines, all of which fit seamlessly with the storyline, leanding a realism to this sci-fi comedy that's necessary to make it a great film. You can laugh out loud as Rockwell pulls off another brilliant one-liner, only to be smacked with emotion as Colantoni's alien leader sees the ideals he built his life around get smashed before him. The believability is only enhanced by design and special effects work that is simply great, including fantastic sets and space vistas, some excellent CG animation and impressive animatronics and make-up (though the main baddie felt a bit too Ninja Turtles rubber suit for me.) Considering we are talking about a film 10 years old, that it holds up so well is a definite plus.
On a side note, imagine if the creators could have made the film about the actual Star Trek, with the actual cast playing themselves? With William Shatner's knack for self-parody, it could have made for a meta sci-fi film on par with Being John Malkovich. That doesn't take away from the brilliance of Galaxy Quest, but a boy can dream, can't he?
The DVDA one-disc release, this DVD is packed in a standard keepcase, which is inside a slipcover with an impressive 3D lenticular animation of the cover art. The disc features a static, anamorphic widescreen menu with options to play the film, select scenes, adjust languages and check out the extras. Audio options include Dolby Digital 5.1 English and Spanish tracks and a Dolby Digital 2.0 Thermian track (see The Extras), with subtitles in English, Franch and Spanish, along with closed captioning.
The QualityThe packaging indicates the anamorphic widescreen transfer has been digitally remastered, and looking at them side-by-side, it's definitely not the same, with the most obvious change being an image that's slightly wider and which shows more image from top to bottom and side to side, making the framing feel more appropriate (for instance, one scene now shows the screen the characters are looking at, whereas before they were simply looking offscreen.) The color saturation is a touch muted n this new disc, which makes scenes like the rock monster battle feel more natural (reds burned hot on the old disc,) while the level of detail has gotten a bump up, while thankfully not making the CG special effects look bad.
Disappointingly, the DTS track that was available on a separate DVD in 2000 is not included here, but the audio, presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, fits the film excellently, keeping things low-key and focused in the center channel when on Earth, before filling the surrounds with bold, dynamic sound effects and a sweeping, epic score by David Newman. There's not a lot of the aural acrobatics you hear in space action flicks, but there are some impressive touches.
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Buff The Vampier Slayer Seasons

At the young age of 16, Buffy was chosen to hunt vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness. After the ordeal at Hemery High Buffy Summers wound up at Sunnydale High. Joined with Willow Rosenberg and Alexander "Xander" Harris, and her watcher Giles, Buffy fights the challenges of High School and saves the world...a lot.

"In every generation there is a chosen one... she alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the slayer." Buffy Summers knows this tale by heart, and no matter how hard she tries to be just a "normal girl", she can not escape from her destiny... Thankfully, she is not alone in her quest to save the world, as she has the help of her friends, the hilarious (and surprisingly quite effective) evil-fighting team called "The Scooby Gang". Together, Buffy & co. will slay their demons, survive one apocalypse after another, attend high school and college... and above all, understand that growing up can truly be Hell sometimes... literally.

Bethesda Plans Fallout TV Show, Movie

It could take a decade for Bethesda to make Fallout 4 but the franchise won’t be neglected in the mean time. According to a couple new trademark filings, Bethesda is considering a movie and television series based on Fallout. Dwell On It noticed that Bethesda had recently applied for a Fallout trademark for “Entertainment services in the nature of an on-going television program” and for “motion picture films about a post-nuclear apocalyptic world”. Trying to turn a game into a movie is old hat by now but a television show? That sort of thing isn’t attempted very often, at least not lately. A guy and his dog wandering the wasteland, solving people’s problems while searching for the water chip to fix their vault? Meh, worse ideas have been greenlit. ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda, has some pretty big entertainment industry players on its board of directors: producer Jerry Bruckheimer, CBS president and CEO Leslie Moonves, and MGM chairman and CEO Harry E. Sloan. With those three backing them up, Bethesda’s got more than enough clout to get a Fallout show or movie off the ground. Just filing a trademark doesn’t mean they’re actually going to produce anything just yet, though.

Cast bid Sheridan adieu

ANGELES - FOR the cast and crew of ‘Desperate Housewives,’ it was a Saturday afternoon of warm hellos and bittersweet goodbyes, as they greeted an auditorium filled with cheering fans but also bid adieu to one of the show’s leading original cast members.Nicollette Sheridan, who plays Wisteria Lane’s saucy ‘Edie’, makes her final appearance as a series regular on the episode airing on Sunday. Co-star Teri Hatcher, whose sweet ‘Susan’ was often at odds with Edie, got misty-eyed when recalling the filming of Sheridan’s final episode.‘I made a scrapbook as my sort of parting gift, and it reminded me of how great those two characters were together,’ she said.Excepting Sheridan, most of the ‘Housewives’ principals participated in a panel discussion on the show as part of the two-week PaleyFest, an annual festival celebrating television held by The Paley Center for Media.Sheridan’s relationship with ‘Housewives’ creator Marc Cherry has been described by some as contentious. Sheridan was recently quoted in ‘TV Guide’ as saying she felt ‘Housewives’ writers were unjustly ignoring Edie. But cast mates on Saturday said Sheridan’s last days on the set were amiable and professional.‘Her attitude made them completely bearable,’ noted actor James Denton, whose plumber ‘Mike’ was the longtime object of Edie’s affections. ‘It could have been tough and sad, but she was so great.Denton noted that Sheridan made a point to thank the show’s writers and cast, who were gathered at the table-read of the script for the first episode that she will not be in.‘She said, ‘While you’re all together, I’m here to say thank you for everything. You guys are great. You guys are awesome,’ Denton related. ‘She walked out of the room and Felicity (Huffman) looked at me and said, ‘classy,’ and it sure was.’Veteran character actor Kathryn Joosten, a two-time Emmy winner for her portrayal of nosey neighbour ‘Mrs. McCluskey,’ said she would miss Sheridan.‘She was my playmate. We got to throw barbs at each other,’ Joosten said. ‘I won’t have anybody to fight with.’ — AP

The Nature Mill Indoor Composter

Urbanites rejoice, because the Nature Mill company has created an odorless indoor composter specifically made to fit in the average kitchen cabinet!A traditional composter can be impossible to fit into a small urban living space. Generally they are bulky, messy, time consuming, and some can be odiforous. A traditional composter naturally breaks down food and yard waste through aeration, the addition of beneficial bacteria, and by exposure to the warm spots created in a bin through the heat generated by decomposing matter. Here’s the hitch though, traditional composters require labor, work slowly when exposed to cold temeratures, and cannot process meat and dairy, while this indoor model can!The indoor composter from Nature Mill is energy star rated, and utilizes electricity to keep your scrap material constantly warm, rotated, and aerated, speeding up the decomposing process. This model will provide you with a new batch of compost about every two weeks, and can process about 120 pounds of garbage per month! Another added benefit is that with this warm composter, meat and dairy products can be added and will break down with the rest of your garbage and scraps! The composting process is as simple as scraping you food scraps into the composter, and emptying the compost drawer when the “fill” sensor lights up!
Just one small bin full of this rich compost can feed and fertilize up to 10-40 square feet of garden, and it can be diluted with water to become a liquid fertilizer suitable for everything from house plants to fruit trees! Check it out either on the home website linked to above, or purchase one at Target or Costco, and turn your waste into compost gold.