rate the last movie you saw

[AndyDursin]

John, I'm very, very impressed. Here's what I'll be writing in my review next week about the sampler disc --

The "taped" look to the show is completely gone and there's a clarity in the image -- obviously since it's coming from the film negatives and not the old broadcast tape master -- that is immediately noticeable and will be even more obvious the larger your TV is. Suffice to say, it looks like you're watching film, and it gives added depth to the program it never had before.

The effects -- as they mentioned, they are essentially the exact same, original effects, just remastered for HD. There's been no obvious attempt I can discern at "rethinking" them along the lines of the original series in HD -- they are basically the same concepts, same effects, "recomposited" as it were for HD. It gives the show a uniformly crisp appearance that is light years ahead of the glossy, standard-def appearance the series always used to have, though I suppose if people were expecting something different than the original FX being reworked for HD, they will be disappointed.

The DTS MA audio is fine, though it sounds a little flat in terms of the music (there's little surround activity), which makes me think they essentially took the original stereo tracks and just moved them into 5.1 without doing any other remastering.

Overall this gives a very satisfying taste of the full season sets that will be coming along, starting later this year.

[mkaroly]

Excellent news about TNG...although my wallet is going to be in dire pain when these sets come out...(nervous lol)...

[AndyDursin]

Battling through a cold to write up this week's column...

http://www.andyfilm.com/1-24-12.html

In brief:

THE THING 6.5
Not bad, respectful remake (err, prequel) to the Carpenter film. I love Mary Elizabeth Winstead but she's the only distinguishing characteristic in an otherwise bland acting ensemble. Good FX but sort of a yawn if you've seen the prior film.

DRIVE 6.5
Loved the first 10 minutes, didn't like the rest nearly as much, with a lame ending. Overpraised.

PICNIC 8.5
Great job by Twilight Time -- a gorgeously overblown '50s Hollywood melodrama based on the Broadway play with a luminous Kim Novak and superb George Duning score.

WINGS 6
I'm not a huge silent movie aficionado, I confess -- but it seems a lot of critics didn't love this 1927 Oscar winner either. Some spectacular aerial shots, though, make it worth a rental for old-time Hollywood fans.

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD 10
A classic, but Universal's Blu-Ray has some obvious filtering that prevents the image from seeming pristine Not a dealbreaker in terms of whether or not it's an upgrade from DVD -- because it is -- but not what it could've been either.

[AndyDursin]

WOMAN IN BLACK 6.5

Great atmosphere to spare in an effective, old-fashioned ghost story -- until the bottom falls out with an incredibly lame ending that ruins the whole show.

[Eric W.]

Ben Hur on Blu-Ray

10/10 for everything. Picture. Audio. Story. Content. Music. Extras.

One of the best movies of all time with one of the best scores of all time IMHO really shines exceptionally on Blu. Not to be missed.

[Monterey Jack]

WOMAN IN BLACK 6.5

Great atmosphere to spare in an effective, old-fashioned ghost story -- until the bottom falls out with an incredibly lame ending that ruins the whole show.

Pretty much my take on the film. Shame such a superior spook show had to be marred by that lousy conclusion.

[AndyDursin]

WOMAN IN BLACK 6.5

Great atmosphere to spare in an effective, old-fashioned ghost story -- until the bottom falls out with an incredibly lame ending that ruins the whole show.

Pretty much my take on the film. Shame such a superior spook show had to be marred by that lousy conclusion.

Yeah, it hurt, because it was going so well. Unfortunately it was so bad, it ruined everything that came before it. As in, I have no interest in revisiting it because it was so lame...probably didn't help that the movie was building and building towards it and then it just sucked. A real missed opportunity there

[AndyDursin]

Surprisingly I want to see Chronicle....got a lot of good reviews. I didn't want to go because its 83 minutes but the critics liked it and its going to turn a profit (like Woman in Black) after one weekend at the box office.

[AndyDursin]

LETHAL WEAPON

7.5/10

Hadn't seen this one in a long time, and frankly I think it's both entertaining and also probably overrated by series fans. The interplay between Gibson and Glover sells the film, the characters are strong and the orchestral/jazz fusion collaboration of Kamen, Clapton and Sanborn is terrific -- but the story...daughter of a former special ops agent in Vietnam smuggling heroin into the U.S. dies, sending Gary Busey after Mel & Danny...isn't very interesting or special. The action scenes are well executed but lack the grandeur of the more cartoonish -- but slicker and more entertaining -- second film. Even the 1.85 cinematography seemed out of place to me from the wide, 2.35 appearance of the sequels. Overall, good, but not great IMO, and probably in line with how it did at the box-office (2 ended up grossing over twice as much, $147 mil vs. $65 for the first film).

The UK Blu-Ray is part of a remastered box-set that's yet to be released in the U.S. (likely will be this year, but who knows) and Warner has been sitting on it forever -- the new documentary (in the box set's fifth disc) was shot in early 2010. The transfer is ten times better than the older Blu-Ray (which is godawful), the DTS MA sound is good, and there are 30 minutes of deleted scenes -- some of which are exclusive to this package and are quite interesting (the movie is thankfully in the theatrical version and not the "extended" video version, though the scenes from that cut are in the supplement). Donner's commentary is also, regrettably, almost worthless since he's slipped a bit in recent years and has to be prodded by some off-camera moderator.

The box-set btw also includes 2 (again far better than the U.S. Blu-Ray) plus 3 and 4, and the new doc shot in 2010 (on the 5th disc). If you're a LETHAL WEAPON fan you can wait for an American release or import the box-set, which is nicely priced and certainly an upgrade on the 1-2 Blu-Rays available domestically.

EDIT -- Can be had for about $36 shipped from Amazon US --

[Paul MacLean]

The action scenes are well executed but lack the grandeur of the more cartoonish -- but slicker and more entertaining -- second film.

I have to agree. I always found Lethal Weapon 2 the more entertaining and well-made film, by a wide margin. Joe Pesci added an appealing effervescence to the mix, and overall the second film balanced the humor and "darkness" much more evenly than the first Lethal Weapon. A drugged-out girl jumping to her death and Gibson sticking a pistol in his mouth didn't really blend with the first film's more lighthearted, wise-cracking humor (for me anyway).

[Mike Skerritt]

I love the first film, though I get that in most every way it seems like it's ported over from a different movie universe. The whole franchise got sillier from movie to movie (LW2 for me achieves the best tonal blend), so it's always surprising to revisit the first film and see how truly dark it is. The sequels are action-comedies; the first one is really a dramatic thriller. In that way it's not as tight as the sequels (really, we're supposed to believe that Murtaugh's daughter is dating Mr. Joshua?), but it packs a much more emotional wallop. The burgeoning friendship between Riggs and Murtaugh is handled beautifully, and so once the strands are pulled together it feels like real stakes are involved.

It's a shame that Donner & Co didn't follow Shane Black's treatment for the sequel more closely. Riggs died at the end of the first script for it. That said, it's kind of miraculous that LW2 managed to come flying out of the gates as a glossy action flick with a lot of one liners and still settle into an emotionally satisfying finish.

[AndyDursin]

The action scenes are well executed but lack the grandeur of the more cartoonish -- but slicker and more entertaining -- second film.

I have to agree. I always found Lethal Weapon 2 the more entertaining and well-made film, by a wide margin. Joe Pesci added an appealing effervescence to the mix, and overall the second film balanced the humor and "darkness" much more evenly than the first Lethal Weapon. A drugged-out girl jumping to her death and Gibson sticking a pistol in his mouth didn't really blend with the first film's more lighthearted, wise-cracking humor (for me anyway).

It didn't really work for me either. I understand the fact that it has an "edge" with Gibson being suicidal, but that aspect is essentially ignored after the first 10 minutes so it didn't bring much of a dramatic element to the film (or at the least I think it's an overpraised component). Visually I found it uninvolving, especially by Donner's standards, and the main body of the plot is barely above any direct-to-video cop thriller of the era. As Mike points out the scenes with Gibson and Glover are what really work in the film, but as a total package, I found it dated and underwhelming. Entertaining but not a great film.

I recall 2 being much more satisfying at the time, the right balance between what 1 was trying to do and the sillier 3 and 4 (which I still have never sat through all the way). I will get to it in time

[Mike Skerritt]

I understand the fact that it has an "edge" with Gibson being suicidal, but that aspect is essentially ignored after the first 10 minutes so it didn't bring much of a dramatic element to the film (or at the least I think it's an overpraised component).

It's not so much ignored as subsumed by the growing relationship developing between Riggs and Murtaugh. It's the catalyst in their partnership right up front (the bit with the jumper), but then Riggs saves Murtaugh's life and the movie shifts its focus to Riggs becoming a part of Murtaugh's family life. So then by the end we see his suicidal tendencies channeled through a protective/vengeful instinct.

I'm not trying to argue it's a perfect film by any stretch, but I do think that's an element that works strongly for the film and not against it.

On a different note, Encore has been running the first three movies in HD this month and it's proof that home video was not kind to these films. LW2 in particular looks gorgeous.

[AndyDursin]

On a different note, Encore has been running the first three movies in HD this month and it's proof that home video was not kind to these films. LW2 in particular looks gorgeous.

These remasters look very good. I'm guessing Warner is saving them in the US for a 25th Anniversary release at some point this year -- but they've been sitting on them forever. The "new" doc was shot in early 2010, and they've still yet to release it here, keeping the currently available BD's -- which are atrocious -- in print.

[Monterey Jack]

These remasters look very good. I'm guessing Warner is saving them in the US for a 25th Anniversary release at some point this year -- but they've been sitting on them forever. The "new" doc was shot in early 2010, and they've still yet to release it here, keeping the currently available BD's -- which are atrocious -- in print.

One wonders if Mel Gibson's recent publicity snafus have contributed to Warner Bros. sitting on this set for a U.S. release. Plus, his last starring role, Edge Of Darkness, didn't exactly set the box office on fire.