Gravity
(2013/Warner Blu-ray w/DVD)/Mr.
Nobody (2009/Extended
Director's Cut/Magnolia Blu-ray)/You
Will Be My Son
(2012/Cohen Media Blu-ray)
Picture:
B- & C/B-/B- Sound: B+ & B-/B-/B- Extras: B-/C+/C
Films: B-/C+/C
Here
are some new dramas of interest and you may have heard about more
than just the first one, which became a bigger hit than anyone might
have thought....
Alfonso
Cuaron's Gravity
(2013)
offers an interesting twist on a cycle of the usually bad stuck-in-a
movies we have been seeing too often and often suffering from seeing.
Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are astronauts on a space walk
doing repairs when some nitwits set off a missile that destroys a
satellite, but it is not obliterated; it becomes thousands of little
pieces and they land up heading for the duo and their co-workers at
speeds higher than bullets fly. Therein the many crisis begin in
what is a pretty suspenseful 90 minutes and put over by some good
acting and money on the screen.
It
is definitely more
suspenseful than any cut of Apollo
13,
but Director Cuaron
(Children
Of Men)
knows his way around a genre in smart ways and that pays off here at
best when he confidentially takes on situation after situation. The
script is thankfully tight, even when some moments are predictable
and this tends to be a little more familiar cinematic-groundwise than
I would have liked, but I can see it appeal and though it did not
stay with me (the rollercoaster ride aspects do not make up for lack
of exposition) I still thought it lives up to some of its hype just
the same and understand why someone would enjoy this.
Extras
include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and iTunes
capable devices, 5 Shot Breakdown sections, the multi-part Behind The
Scenes featurette Gravity:
Mission Control,
a 10-minutes short that ties amusingly into the film by Jonas Cuaron
(who co-wrote with his brother/director) entitled Aningaaq
and Ed Harris narrates the documentary short Collision
Point: The Race To Save Space
in what is now the second look at how space junk is a problem that is
upon us and the press continues to ignore it!
It
also follows another great documentary on the subject simply entitled
Space
Junk 3D,
an IMAX film on Blu-ray 3D we reviewed at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12392/Bernadette+(2013/Cinema+Libre+DVD)/The+Best
The
films of Stanley Kubrick (especially 2001:
A Space Odyssey
(1968, also reviewed on Blu-ray elsewhere on this site)) influenced
Gravity
heavily, but also highly informs Jaco
Van Dormael's Mr.
Nobody
(2009) with Jared Leto playing what may be the last mortal in the
world (genetic engineering, plastic surgery, science and other
artificial means of technolgizing humans have managed to dehumanize
the world permanently here) awaits his final fate (in part due to a
hideous reality TV show where people get to vote if he should be
euthanized or let to die a natural death) as we slowly find out more
and more about him.
In
this Extended
Director's Cut, which is only slightly better than the shorter 2009
Theatrical version also included here, has multi-layered flashbacks,
scenery trying to imitate Blade
Runner
and several Kubrick films, a use of hard science in several scenes
trying to mix philosophy and quantum physics to explain our narrative
journey (which does not always gel and is not original enough to
really work; maybe explaining the idea of time slips thoroughly might
have helped) and though Leto is impressive trying to be the title
character at several stages of life (think Little
Big Man
meets the final David Bowman in 2001,
but with questionable make-up work) even political points are not
very effective.
The
problem is that we have seen too much of this, from generic ads and
signage (A
Clockwork Orange,
Gilliam's Brazil)
to allegedly profound connections to family, lovers, golden moments
of the past and ultimately the script cannot decide if it is trying
to say something or not, say something on it understands what it is
talking about and/or jut trying to tell a readerly story out of
order. The resulting mash-up makes some good work slowly implode and
the device that what we are watching turns out to be a fake version
of reality is done so often to death here that it is ultimately the
film's undoing.
Extras
includes a 720p HD/lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 only version of the film
in its shorter theatrical cut release, AXS-TV look at the film,
Original Theatrical Trailer, Deleted Scenes and
a Making Of featurette.
Gilles
Legrand's You
Will Be My Son
(2012) is
a French drama about a winery, family, people, that business and how
a longtime grower (Niels Arestrup) clashing with his son (Lorant
Deutsch)
in
private and business matters, but when Phillippe (Nicolas Bridet)
enters the picture and loves the winery more, this son of his estate
manager (Patrick Chesnais) makes him rethink the future and what
he'll do with his legacy, especially when that son's father starts to
get very, very sick. Toxic and dysfunctional troubles follow.
The
good news is that the scenery (albeit a bit faded and slightly
phony-looking at times) and the acting is good here. The pace is not
bad, but the situations are highly predictable, corny, melodramatic,
dull and it all limits the realism and viability of who we are seeing
on screen. Not enough exposition is given to any character and the
result is also stuffy and nearly pretentious. I have seen better
documentaries on wine in recent years, so it was not even realistic
in that respect, making this a very mixed bag and a bit of a
disappointment. The more curious and interested might like it a bit
more.
Extras
include an Original Theatrical Trailer, Deleted Scenes and an
interview with Actor Lorant Deutsch and Director Legrand.
All
three films are presented here in 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High
Definition image transfers that look as good as each release can
possibly look in this format, but I found some flaws in each whether
it was some digital issues with Gravity
(shot in 3D and some 65mm negative stock, but not included in this
edition in Blu-ray 3D, yet available as such now as well) or a
slightly faded (intentionally or not) look and even color in the
other films which are two of the last to use (and will ever use, as
they have all been discontinued) Fuji 35mm film stocks. It's
anamorphically enhanced DVD is weak and hard to watch, especially by
comparison. Nobody,
shot in the Super 35mm format, adds Kodak stocks in its mix, stocks
still being produced, while Son
is shot in real anamorphic 35mm Panavision.
All
three Blu-rays also feature DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless
mixes, but Gravity
is well mixed and presented with exceptional directionalized sound,
stereo dialogue (too many film settle for mono as the .1 part of
their 5.1, 7.1 or likewise mixes too often these days) and the DTS-MA
5.1 here is a fine mixdown of the Dolby Atmos 11.1 used in select
theatrical screenings and venues. Nobody
has some fancy sound editing and mixing at times, but it can also
have more than its share of quiet moments, often by design on purpose
and Son
is quiet and dialogue-based, but it is well recorded throughout just
the same and the music score never overwhelms the rest of the mix.
The Gravity
DVD has lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and is good for that format,
but it is the poorest performer here by a sliver.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
