Each week we take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of the home entertainment offerings, reviewing and rating the films and the special features packed onto the discs.
Here are the essential picks from the releases out on the 1st of July 2013.
Release of the Week
Oz the Great and Powerful
The Film
Wrenched from the reins of Spider-Man and thrown headlong into the typhoon of anticipation that was the Disney produced prequel to The Wizard of Oz Sam Raimi acquits himself ably here with a wonderful return to Oz.
Two elements serve this film well, the first is the sumptuous production design which looks terribly cluttered on the DVD cover art above but is a visual leap of imagination on screen and is at times jaw-dropping. Raimi keeps a tight hold on the film, and provides a decent guide through the world of Oz and does a fine job with his cast, who are the second essential ingredient in the film’s success. James Franco is a blustering mix of ego and innocence, Michelle Williams makes the most of slightly-undewritten role and Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz are both a lot of fun
The joy here is in taking a walk through the world of Oz as imagined by a visual master with a great mix of wicked humour and wide-eyed innocence. Raimi is as perfect for this film as Tim Burton was for Alice in Wonderland, and taking in the film again I can see it becoming a firm favourite.
[Rating:3.5/5]
The Special Features
The highlight isthe Production Design featurette which, despite the prosaic title of Before Your Eyes: From Kansas to Oz, is a remarkable look at the work of Robert Stromberg and his team. The imaging of Oz, the expansion and elevation of the idea of the fantasy world so familiar to us through the work of Cedric Gibbons among others is continued here with some beautiful concept and production art on display – for a film as visually stunning as this the special feature makes the most of the riches on offer.
James Franco documents his behind the scenes journey in a fun featurette which has most of the cast and crew striking a candid (and often rather silly) tone which makes this worth a watch. There’s a nice ten minutes on Walt Disney’s road to Oz which, as well as having some great archive footage, draws a very interesting backstory to the film. Of course it’s a Disney film so the unofficial title of the feature could have been Walt – the Great and Powerful. All in all a decent package.
[Rating:3.5/5]
Here’s a little exclusive treat for you as well, this is part of the Walt Disney Road to Oz which looks at the film’s place in Disney history and the effect that history has on the film.
Highlights of the week’s releases
Grave of the Fireflies
The Film
Starting with the death-by-starvation of a 14 year-old boy, Grave of Fireflies is a far more sombre film than much of Studio Ghibli’s back catalogue, but it’s also a much more resonant and powerful one. Set in Kobe in the last weeks of World War II, the beautifully animated movie follows the slow and upsetting demise of a pair of young siblings. It’s a tragedy in every sense of the word, and an astonishingly compelling piece of filmmaking.
The movie does sometimes feel a little like a series of vignettes, as the protagonists, Seita and Setsuko, move through the simple story; it also sags somewhat as the pair reach a temporary refuge, but this simplicity allows a huge amount of room to explore Seita’s character, and his relationship with his little sister.
It also allows a Western audience the opportunity to experience a well covered period of history from the other side of the battle line. This humanising of an old enemy may be a little uncomfortable, particularly when that enemy is so helpless, but it’s also at the core of the film’s power, and it would make Grave of Fireflies worthwhile viewing on its own. As it is, it rounds off a remarkable film that must be seen.
[Rating:4/5]
The Special Features
There’s a pretty mixed bag of features on the Blu-Ray, which come together to feel a little like reading the movie’s Wikipedia entry. An interview with director Isao Takahata, filmed some time in the last few years is a little dry and formal, but satisfyingly comprehensive, and serves as an interesting contrast to the Japanese release featurette – a series of much shorter interviews filmed before the film’s 1988 release with Takahata and a few of the production team.
There are also interviews with a pair of historians who explain the context of the firebombing of Japan, and an interview with Roger Ebert where he explains the film’s significance. Taken together, these features offer an interesting insight into the movie, but there’s nothing particularly revealing in any of them.
Far more interesting are the storyboards. These comprise boards detailing un-used scenes, as well as an option to run all the used story boards alongside the finished movie, although this is probably of more interest to animation geeks than casual viewers.
[Rating:3/5]
Ben Mortimer
Kiki’s Delivery Service
The Film
For some reason, Kiki’s Delivery Service has always felt a little like the poor relation among Hayao Miyazaki’s work, which seems a little unfair. It may not have the beautiful designs of My Neighbour Totoro, or the maturity of Spirited Away, but the coming of age story of a teenage witch and her talking cat is easily the most fun and most entertaining of all of the director’s films.
From start to finish there’s a breezy sense of joy that blows through the film, whether that’s in the characters, the performances, the animation or the pithy dialogue. It’s even true of the film’s English language dub, which stars a young Kirsten Dunst, and is notable as one of Phil Hartman’s final performances.
What’s particularly noticeable about Kiki’s Delivery Service is its rewatchability. It’s the sort of movie you can put on over and over again. It might not be particularly intellectually challenging, but it’s entertainment in its purest form, and in its own way, utterly perfect.
[Rating:5/5]
The Special Features
Although it feels a little like someone rooted through the Ghibli archives for half an hour and threw in the first things that came to hand, the special features on the Blu-Ray are quite reasonable. In addition to the picture-in-picture storyboards, the disc also includes a very long, up close look at Ursula’s painting – which will probably be of great interest to… someone? Maybe.
Far more interesting is the documentary content. The series of interviews with Miyazaki, and his producer Toshio Suzuki, about the creation of the film are terrifically candid, but irritatingly short. Clearly edited so that we cut away before one of the pair says anything too revealing. There’s also a ‘behind the microphone’ featurette with interviews with the English language voice cast. Here we get a startlingly young Kirsten Dunst, an utterly nonchalant Janeane Garofalo and an insight into the professionalism of Phil Hartman.
The absolute highlight of the disc, though, is the Locations of Kiki’s Delivery Service featurette: an utterly bizarre documentary that follows the world’s most awkward and inept TV host as she goes to Stockholm to search out locations that inspired Kiki’s delivery service. Quite apart from the fact that Miyazaki himself dismisses the notion of being inspired by any one European town in the previous interview (thus rendering the whole doc completely spurious), it is also bizarrely voyeuristic as the ‘host’ mooches round Stockholm, finding interesting sights then ignoring them as she plunges her nose into a printed copy of the storyboards for the film.
[Rating:3/5]
Ben Mortimer
Round up of Recent Releases
Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters
The Film
With a premise hanging loosely between the twin towers of fairy-tale retooling and supernatural gorefest and a cast smacking of contract-fulfillment Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters looks like the sort of film The Asylum aspire to ever time. Not to be unfair to either party here but the result is something of a let down on all counts. The fault lies not with the cast who acquit themselves admirably, leaping and pouting and having a lot of fun, nor production design which may not have enough of an identity of its own to make it stand out however there are some inspired visual choices in amongst the leather and blood, the fault lies with a half baked idea written up in a cliche-stuffed script and no firm direction or tone.
Despite the best efforts of all involved the film never makes good on its potential and falls into the trap of holding too tightly to an existing story without giving us anything new or exciting – Red Riding Hood from last year is the most direct comparison and that’s not a good thing.
[Rating:2/5]
The Special Features
There is a brief Making Of in which everyone looks really, really tired. There’s some behind the scenes footage but nothing to shed any light onto the film.
[Rating:2/5]
Broken
The Film
Broken is the debut feature from acclaimed theatre director Rufus Norris, and he brings a deft hand to a familiar tale. 11 year-old Skunk (Eloise Laurence) witnesses a horrific attack while walking home from school and the film deals with the fallout, immediate and long-term. Bleak is a word you’ll hear most when people discuss this film and there is no getting away from the grim atmosphere and suffocating tension which pervade the film. Tim Roth is outstanding as Skunk’s father, holding in the fear for his daughter’s future while treading water in the the lifelong quagmire of quiet local violence.
It is Eloise Laurence however who is the standout here. Holding her own on-screen with the likes of Roth and Murphy is no mean feat, and perhaps attests to Norris’s ensemble sensibilities as a director and the cast’s collegiality. She is the centre around which the other characters orbit and we empathise immediately with her. Norris seems unafraid of pushing his young lead into dangerous territory and she, as an actress, shines out. It’s a tough watch, but an ultimately rewarding one.
[Rating:4/5]
The Special Features
There are a number of interviews on the disc, each one a useful insight into the thinking behind the film. Norris talks about the fact that love is at its heart and the actors seem to concur. Nothing special, but a nice addition to the overall package.
[Rating:2/5]
Also out in the last two weeks
Movie 43
One of the worst films I have ever seen, devoid of redeeming features it is a colossal waste of money and talent. Hitchcock once spoke of a hope he had where one day he could simply type in a script to a computer and the finished film would emerge out of it.
If that were the case here the person typing the script would have been a drunken 12 year old tripping on a shroom sandwich smashing his face into the keyboard repeatedly. In Hell. Forever.
[Rating:0/5]
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope
Morgan Spurlock sets his sights on the geek haven of Comic-Con and comes up with a documentary which won’t redefine your view of the modern fan, but will restore your faith in the genuine love fandom inspires. Spurlock never shies from documenting the commercial onslaught which powers the convention circuit but it is made with love and is the perfect introduction for the non-conner and a loving tribute to the geek hordes.
[Rating:3/5]
Cloud Atlas
The Wachowskis and Tom Twkyer offer up one of the most divisive films of the year with their adaptation of David Mitchell’s centuries-spanning song of life, love and the echoes and effects our lives have through the ages. It has a great cast, Ben Whishaw and Jim Broadbent stand out as usual, and the visual flights of fancy are a treat but the film’s length becomes a problem for some as the concentration needed to fully explore the themes and uncover the clues and cues the directors have laid down never relents. This is a good thing, and perhaps the best reason for picking it up now that it’s out on Blu-ray.
[Rating:3/5]
Note: Stoker is also out this week and it is one of my favourite films of this year. We didn’t get a disc sent out so we can’t confirm the special features however it’s a film you need to see so if this is your first chance to do so then please do. We’ll certainly be picking up our copy.
