Saturday, December 31, 2011

Last Days

  • TESTED
From the groundbreaking director of GOOD WILL HUNTING and FINDING FORRESTER, GERRY stars Academy Award(R) winner Matt Damon (Best Original Screenplay, GOOD WILL HUNTING, 1997; THE BOURNE IDENTITY, OCEAN'S ELEVEN) and Casey Affleck (OCEAN'S ELEVEN, SOUL SURVIVORS) in a suspenseful and highly provocative story of two men pushed to the limit! A pair of best friends (Affleck and Damon), who've nicknamed each other "Gerry," set out on a desert hike. But what begins as a simple daytime adventure turns into an intense life-and-death journey that will test the strength of human endurance and ultimately, their friendship! Written by Damon, Affleck, and Director Gus Van Sant, this uncommonly compelling and starkly visualized film is a must-see motion picture that has earned the overwhelming praise of critics nationwide!In Gerry, two young men (Matt Damon and Casey Affleck) wander beautifu! l, barren, and surreal landscapes, gradually growing more and more lost. This film from Gus Van Sant (director of Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, and Good Will Hunting) has no story, hardly any dialogue, and even less in the way of "action" or "events." Yet the movie is by turns maddening and hypnotic; although few people will agree on which are the maddening scenes and which are the hypnotic ones, you will leave Gerry with one or more stunning images in your head. In fact, Gerry is probably more pleasurable to remember than it is to sit through. Committed performances, flashes of dark humor, and a smattering of visual effects give the movie some shape, but the more you just surrender to the emptiness of the landscape, the more rewarding Gerry will be. --Bret FetzerFrom the groundbreaking director of Milk and Good Will Hunting, Gerry stars Matt Damon (The Adjustment Bureau) and ! Casey Affleck (Gone Baby Gone) in a suspenseful and! highly provocative story of two men pushed to the limit.
A pair of best friends (Affleck and Damon), who've nicknamed each other "Gerry," set out on a desert hike. But what begins as a simple daytime adventure turns into an intense life-and-death journey that will test the strength of human endurance and ultimately their friendship. Written by Damon, Affleck and director Gus Van Sant, this uncommonly compelling and starkly visualized film has earned the overwhelming praise of critics nationwide.In Gerry, two young men (Matt Damon and Casey Affleck) wander beautiful, barren, and surreal landscapes, gradually growing more and more lost. This film from Gus Van Sant (director of Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, and Good Will Hunting) has no story, hardly any dialogue, and even less in the way of "action" or "events." Yet the movie is by turns maddening and hypnotic; although few people will agree on which are the maddening scenes and which are ! the hypnotic ones, you will leave Gerry with one or more stunning images in your head. In fact, Gerry is probably more pleasurable to remember than it is to sit through. Committed performances, flashes of dark humor, and a smattering of visual effects give the movie some shape, but the more you just surrender to the emptiness of the landscape, the more rewarding Gerry will be. --Bret FetzerAn official selection in the 2005 Cannes Film festival, GUS VAN SANT'S LAST DAYS is inspired by the final hours of Kurt Cobain. The film introduces us to Blake (Michael Pitt, The Dreamers), a brilliant, but troubled musician. Success has left him in a lonely place, where livelihoods rest on his shoulders and old friends regularly tap him for money and favors. The film follows Blake through a handful of hours spent in and near his wooded home... a fugitive from his own life.

DVD Features:
Deleted Scenes
Music Video:"Happy Song" by! Pagoda
Other:The Making Of
Outtakes:On th! e set of Gus Van Sant's Last Days: The Long Dolly Shot

Gus Van Sant's Last Days is a film about the death of Kurt Cobain. While the name of the main character has been changed from Kurt to Blake and the setting of the suicide changed from a greenhouse in Seattle to a greenhouse in upstate New York, there's no mistaking this film is the product of Van Sant's imagination pursuing the final, lonely moments of the great '90s icon. Rock biopic fans seeking a traditionally gratifying plot should run as fast as they can from this movie and see Rock Star or Sid and Nancy instead; Gus Van Sant's methodology is all about the slow, oppressive creep of time. One shot lingers excruciatingly long on some random foliage outside Blake's (Michael Pitt, The Dreamers) mansion. In another, he makes cereal. Then he sits on a bench for awhile. Or mumbles dialogue to a Yellow Pages ad salesman played by a real-life Yellow Pages ad salesman. Or gradually collapses while ! watching a Boyz 2 Men video. Meanwhile, Blake's parasitical hangers-on are slightly more animated, occupying his chilly house and clearly on their way to becoming as existentially destitute as he. Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon appears, pretty much reprising an interventionist role she must have played with the real-life Cobain, but this rock star is far beyond rescuing from the brink. Later, when Blake ventures into town to see a punk show, he is cornered by an acquaintance played by Harmony Korine, who tells him a hilarious story about playing Dungeons and Dragons with Jerry Garcia. Where the accumulation of small moments like these don't add up to much drama, they create a pervading sense of dread and sad inevitability. In his life, Cobain railed against all that was phony and hyped; by crafting a visual poem resolutely defiant of rock star spectacle, Van Sant honors the late singer as sincerely as he can, by keeping it real. --Ryan Boudinot

The Dark Knight (+ BD Live) [Blu-ray]

  • Condition: New
  • Format: Blu-ray
  • AC-3; Color; Dolby; Widescreen
When a Medieval World theme park worker (Lawrence) is magically transported back to 14th century England, he must do battle with an evil king, deadly assassins - and really bad plumbing!In Black Knight, Martin Lawrence plays an amusement park employee who is magically transported back to medieval times and helps return a queen to her rightful throne (while learning some valuable lessons along the way). Despite the script's lack of logic and originality, Lawrence is an engaging performer, with a loose-limbed amiability that makes him most enjoyable company, even if he's not necessarily a better actor than most comedians. If Lawrence ever does a movie with a decent script, he might really have something; as it is we'll have to settle right now for the cheesy yet funny sight of Lawrence teaching a medieval band ! to play some Sly and Family Stone. --Bret FetzerThe follow-up to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who reprises the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in his continuing war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to destroy organized crime in Gotham for good. The triumvirate proves effective, but soon find themselves prey to a rising criminal mastermind known as The Joker, who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces Batman closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante. Heath Ledger stars as archvillain The Joker, and Aaron Eckhart plays Dent. Maggie Gyllenhaal joins the cast as Rachel Dawes. Returning from Batman Begins are Gary Oldman as Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.The Dark Knight arrives with tremendous hype (best superhero movie ever? posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger?), and incredibly, it lives up to all! of it. But calling it the best superhero movie ever seems lik! e faint praise, since part of what makes the movie great--in addition to pitch-perfect casting, outstanding writing, and a compelling vision--is that it bypasses the normal fantasy element of the superhero genre and makes it all terrifyingly real. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is Gotham City's new district attorney, charged with cleaning up the crime rings that have paralyzed the city. He enters an uneasy alliance with the young police lieutenant, Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), and Batman (Christian Bale), the caped vigilante who seems to trust only Gordon--and whom only Gordon seems to trust. They make progress until a psychotic and deadly new player enters the game: the Joker (Heath Ledger), who offers the crime bosses a solution--kill the Batman. Further complicating matters is that Dent is now dating Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, after Katie Holmes turned down the chance to reprise her role), the longtime love of Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne.

In his last completed role before h! is tragic death, Ledger is fantastic as the Joker, a volcanic, truly frightening force of evil. And he sets the tone of the movie: the world is a dark, dangerous place where there are no easy choices. Eckhart and Oldman also shine, but as good as Bale is, his character turns out rather bland in comparison (not uncommon for heroes facing more colorful villains). Director-cowriter Christopher Nolan (Memento) follows his critically acclaimed Batman Begins with an even better sequel that sets itself apart from notable superhero movies like Spider-Man 2 and Iron Man because of its sheer emotional impact and striking sense of realism--there are no suspension-of-disbelief superpowers here. At 152 minutes, it's a shade too long, and it's much too intense for kids. But for most movie fans--and not just superhero fans--The Dark Knight is a film for the ages. --David Horiuchi

On the Blu-ray disc
Th! e Dark Knight on Blu-ray is a great home-theater showoff ! disc. Th e detail and colors are tremendous in both dark and bright scenes (the Gotham General scene is a great example of the latter), and the punishing Dolby TrueHD soundtrack makes the house rattle. (After giving us only Dolby 5.1 in a number of big Blu-ray releases this fall, Warner came through with Dolby TrueHD on this one.) One of the most interesting elements of The Dark Knight was how certain scenes were shot in IMAX, and if you saw the movie in an IMAX theater the film's aspect ratio would suddenly change from standard 2.40:1 to a thrilling 1.43:1 that filled the screen six stories high. For the Blu-ray disc, director Christopher Nolan has somewhat re-created this experience by shifting his film from 2.40:1 aspect ratio (through most of the film) to 1.78:1 in the IMAX scenes. While the effect isn't as dramatic as it was in theaters, it's still an eye-catching experience to be watching the film on a widescreen TV with black bars at the top and bottom, then seeing th! e 1.78:1 scenes completely fill the screen. The main bonus feature on disc 1 is "Gotham Uncovered: The Creation of a Scene," which is 81 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage about the IMAX scenes, the Bat suit, Gotham Central, and others. You can watch the film and access these featurettes when the icon pops up, or you can simply watch them from the main menu. A welcome and unusual feature is that in addition to English, French, and Spanish audio and subtitles, there's an audio-described option that allows the sight-impaired to experience the film as well.

Disc 2 has two 45-minute documentaries on Bat-gadgets and on the psychology of Batman, both in high definition. They combine movie clips, talking heads, and comic-book panels, but aren't the kind of thing one needs to watch twice. More engaging are six eight-minute segments of Gotham Central, a faux-news program that gives some background to events in the movie, plus a variety of trailers, poster art, and more. The! BD-Live component on disc 1 is more interesting than on some ! earlier Blu-ray discs, which could be simply a matter of the content starting to catch up with the technology. There are three new picture-in-picture commentaries, by Jerry Robinson (creator of the Joker), DC Comics president Paul Levitz, and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.--he's a Batman fan who's made some movie and TV cameos), plus you can record your own commentary and upload it for others to watch. There are also three new featurettes ("Sound of the Batpod," "Harvey Dent's Theme," and "Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard") and two motion comics ("Mad Love," featuring Harley Quinn, and "The Shadow of Ra's Al Ghul"). No longer available is the digital copy of the film (compatible with iTunes and Windows Media, standard definition, download code expires 12/9/09). --David Horiuchi

Product description
The follow-up to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Chri! stian Bale, who reprises the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne in his continuing war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to destroy organized crime in Gotham for good. The triumvirate proves effective, but soon find themselves prey to a rising criminal mastermind known as The Joker, who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces Batman closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante. Heath Ledger stars as archvillain The Joker, and Aaron Eckhart plays Dent. Maggie Gyllenhaal joins the cast as Rachel Dawes. Returning from Batman Begins are Gary Oldman as Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.

Stills from The Dark Knight (click for larger image)

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