Selected Indie Movies Make It to BluRay

By Christopher P. Jacobs
Movies Editor

The new BluRay hi-def video format has always been well-supplied with the latest boxoffice hits, especially the loud CGI-heavy movies that can show off the format’s sharper picture and richer audio. The past year has seen a small but significantly increasing number of classic films released to BluRay, demonstrating that movies shot on film had high-definition images even 60 to 80 years ago.

Relatively under-represented on BluRay are independent movies, likely due to the format’s substantially higher production expenses not yet being cost-effective for small distributors. Another good reason is that many indie movies of the past decade were shot on standard-definition DVD-quality video that can not really look any sharper in a high-definition copy. Numerous low-budget films have been shot on film, however, and many are now shot in HD video that can benefit from BluRay’s increased quality.

A few of these are starting to show up on BluRay, especially cult genre classics by directors who later made it big, like Tobe Hooper’s original “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and Sam Raimi’s original “Evil Dead” (both shot on 16mm film). Some more recent low-budget films received little or no theatrical release in the U.S., but could reach their niche audiences on video and now on BluRay can be seen more or less as they were actually intended.
THE SECRET

“The Secret” is a 2007 European-financed, Canadian-shot supernatural character drama with American stars, based on a 1999 Japanese film. Although shown theatrically outside the U.S., it went straight to video in this country. This intriguing mother-daughter body-switching story has a few inconsistencies but is notable for its impressive screen debut of actress Olivia Thirlby, later seen in “Juno” and “The Wackness.” It also has decent performances by David Duchovney and the always-reliable Lili Taylor, whose characterization Thirlby does a remarkable job of channeling after the mother character dies but her spirit inexplicably wakes up in her daughter’s body.

The BluRay disk looks and sounds very good, with a few soft spots in the Panavision picture. There’s unfortunately no audio commentary, but a few interesting interviews with the stars and a brief behind-the-scenes featurette help make up for it. The BluRay is certainly worth renting, and worth buying in the $10 range.

THE SECRET on BluRay: Movie:  B+  /  Video:  A-  /  Audio:  A   /  Extras:  C+
ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE

The late David Carradine appeared in one last Western before his untimely death. Sadly, it was the no-budget amateur effort shot on HD video, “All Hell Broke Loose,” which had some film festival exposure in 2009 but just came out officially on BluRay last month. This South Carolina-made movie has a decent script that captures all the main elements of the western formula and deep enough character development to make it intriguing.

Unfortunately, with a few exceptions, nobody in the cast can really act, and the supposedly 1880s-era sets often betray their modern construction with a touristy-looking theme-park appearance. Editing and pacing are also sluggish, with the 84-minute running time seeming like well over two hours. And while the audio recording is clear, it sounds unnaturally artificial, as if all post-dubbed in a studio.

Still, “All Hell Broke Loose” is an admirable effort that aspiring independent moviemakers would do well to watch as a lesson on what can and shouldn’t be done if they want to reach a mass audience. The BluRay looks sharp, especially for HD video matted to the 2.35 CinemaScope aspect ratio, but the picture has a pale, muted color palate that doesn’t seem intentional. There are no extras at all on the BluRay, not even chapter stops, although at least there is a menu screen. This one’s worth a rental, but only for die-hard indie movie fans and filmmaker wannabes.

ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE on BluRay: Move:  C+  /  Video:  B-  /  Audio:  B   /  Extras:  F
SECRETARY

New to BluRay this fall is the decidedly off-beat dark comedy romance, “Secretary,” which indie distributor Lionsgate gave an extremely limited theatrical release in 2002, a year before “Passion of the Christ” helped that company grow rapidly to mini-major proportions. “Secretary” has been on DVD since 2003, but subtle textures in the image and sound can now be experienced in its BluRay incarnation, which was recently on sale for only $10.

Maggie Gyllenhaal excels in quirky roles, often in quirky films, and this is one of the quirkiest and kinkiest. Here she’s a young woman just out of a mental hospital for cutting herself, trying to adjust to the real world by getting a job as secretary to a somewhat eccentric young lawyer (David Spader). They gradually develop a strange, co-dependent dominant-submissive relationship that draws each of them out of their shells, bringing both a romantic fulfillment and personal empowerment in a way they’d never previously been able to experience.

The film’s frank, if relatively discreet depiction of sexual bondage and discipline fetishes portrays non-physically-destructive sadomasochism as an alternative lifestyle more common than mainstream America would prefer to admit, as something that might be happily practiced by otherwise normal, respectable people instead of just creepy sex perverts. Gyllenhaal’s sensitive interpretation of her character brings out the best in Spader, who could easily have turned his role into a severely disturbing villain rather than the shy, unexpected counterpart and soul mate to this psychologically scarred and needy young woman.

Picture and audio quality on the BluRay are first-rate, although such a dialogue-heavy story doesn’t really need 7.1 surround sound. There is a nice commentary track by director Steven Shainberg with screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson, plus one brief making-of featurette and a very small photo gallery. While possibly not to everyone’s taste, “Secretary” is a thoughtful and challenging story, a key Gyllenhaal film, and a bargain if it goes on sale again for $10.

SECRETARY on BluRay: Movie:  A   /  Video:  A   /  Audio:  A   /  Extras:  C+

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