Film
Three Years of Blu-ray
Last week I discussed the remarkable growth of the Blu-ray high-definition home video format since it was put on the market just three years ago this summer. This week I’ll go over several notable “older” films released to Blu-ray in each year the technology has been available to the public.
Love for Sale in Soderbergh’s “Girlfriend Experience”
Steven Soderbergh’s “The Girlfriend Experience” is as lean and brutal as its chief attraction Sasha Grey, the young starlet whose appearances in more than 150 porn videos lend the movie an air of authenticity — real or imagined — to the story of a high-priced call girl working in NYC during the midst of the current economic collapse. Adding another chapter to the tale of Soderbergh’s fascinating balancing act that alternates between big budget Hollywood fare like the “Ocean’s 11” series and the modestly priced, intimate digital features that offer a different kind of introspective artistry, “The Girlfriend Experience” is the most successful of the director’s smaller scale projects.
They Hope They Get It: Documentary Looks at “A Chorus Line”
“Every Little Step,” a documentary chronicling the grueling audition process for the 2006 revival of “A Chorus Line,” achieves some of its lofty goals while leaving just as many stories of the venerable musical frustratingly unexplored. Directors Adam Del Deo and James D. Stern are clearly more interested in the macrocosmic, shaping their movie around the ineffable desire that sees so many hopefuls compete for so few jobs. The movie conveys the strange unity that binds together the affectionately-monikered “gypsies” who bleed, perspire and weep as they face nearly insurmountable odds to find work in their chosen profession. For anyone interested in the workings of Broadway theatre, “Every Little Step” should not be missed.
Blu Ray Boasts Birthday, Better Sales, Bigger Variety
BluRay home video technology has been on the market for three years this month (as of June 20), but sales were unimpressive until the competing HD-DVD format was discontinued last year. Now, as high-definition TV sales gradually increase, not only are dropping prices helping BluRay to cut into standard DVD sales of recent titles, but more and more older films are finally showing up in BluRay versions. Many can now be found in the $10 to $20 range – comparable to standard DVD prices a few years ago, and causing DVD prices from major studios to plunge into the $5 and $10 range.
Crazy Train: Third Version of “Pelham” Gets the Red Light
It should go without saying that the freshly released Tony Scott remake of the 1974 Joseph Sargent version of “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” is utterly unnecessary. Most remakes, reinterpretations, and re-imaginings are. Blasting off with a thumping remix of Jay-Z’s “99 Problems,” the new “Pelham” honors the original hijack/caper movie at least as far as painting a portrait of life in and around the NYC subway system. While the original movie’s tough, gritty New York attained a cult following (with members including the Beastie Boys and Quentin Tarantino), Scott’s version of the city emphasizes a post-Giuliani metropolis understandably concerned with the safety of its metro transit customers and inevitably oriented toward the possibility of terrorism.
“Bat Boy” Bloody Entertaining
“Bat Boy: The Musical” is a lively amalgamation of musical styles by Laurence O’Keefe, which may call to mind various Broadway hits and pop songs from 20s jazz to tango to rock, country, gospel, and hip-hop. The story was inspired by a 1992 supermarket tabloid feature about a half-boy, half-bat supposedly discovered living in a cave.
Crazy Train: Third Version of “Pelham” Gets the Red Light
It should go without saying that the freshly released Tony Scott remake of the 1974 Joseph Sargent version of “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” is utterly unnecessary. Most remakes, reinterpretations, and re-imaginings are. Blasting off with a thumping remix of Jay-Z’s “99 Problems,” the new “Pelham” honors the original hijack/caper movie at least as far as painting a portrait of life in and around the NYC subway system. While the original movie’s tough, gritty New York attained a cult following (with members including the Beastie Boys and Quentin Tarantino), Scott’s version of the city emphasizes a post-Giuliani metropolis understandably concerned with the safety of its metro transit customers and inevitably oriented toward the possibility of terrorism.
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