Yearly Archives: 2012
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 2:53 pm
Tram wires cross Melbourne skies
Cut my red heart in two
My knuckles bleed down Johnston street
On a door that shouldn’t be in front of me
(from Wallander‘s title theme)
Wallander (2008-present) is a superb crime/mystery series, far above nearly everything that’s come along since Inspector Morse ended a dozen years ago. Like John Shaw’s unforgettable character, Kenneth Branagh’s existential Swedish Police Inspector Kurt Wallander is an unhappy, troubled man, and like Morse, Wallander‘s episodes really aren’t about the mysteries except insofar as their particulars reflect upon him. He’s in almost every scene, completely dominating the narratives. Where Morse was merely lonely and socially isolated by his tastes and intellectual pursuits (among other things), Wallander is a genuinely, deeply depressed individual who, like many, suppresses severe mental illness with a mountain of work that indirectly only contributes to his depression, like an alcoholic working as a taster at a distillery. It’s a tempting oversimplification to call Wallander a British mystery series by way of Ingmar Bergman, but it really does share a great many of that master filmmaker’s concerns, and Wallander’s relationships with women, both lovers and daughters, at home and at work, is quite similar.
Adapted from Henning Mankell’s crime novels, Wallander (2008-present) had already been adapted into both a film and television series in Mankell’s native Sweden. The second program was apparently a big hit when BBC Four imported it, which in turn prompted this BBC-produced English-language version, with Kenneth Branagh co-producing but not directing himself, as he often has. PBS subsidiary WGBH Boston and the German company ARD Degeto co-produce the series, along with some Swedish funding, which the series filmed in and around Ystad, where the stories are set.
Seasons one and two were released to Region 1 DVD in 2009 and ’10, with a Blu-ray set of the second season only released in 2010 as well. Blu-rays of all three seasons are available in Britain but, alas, there’s no word on the first or third season being released on Blu anytime soon. Regardless, Wallander 3 is a two-disc set containing three 89-minute “episodes”: “An Event in Autumn,” “The Dogs of Riga,” and “Before the Frost.”
The program is better than ever and, overall, the best of the three seasons so far. Branagh and the BBC have already announced a fourth series for next year but it will be their last, as it will include a two-part adaptation of the resolutely final Wallander novel, The Troubled Man. Personally, I think the character too rich to give up after just 11 stories, as it provides the actor with the rare opportunity of aging as his multifaceted, endlessly intriguing character does. The Swedish series has shot 26 feature length adaptations to date, and there is talk of star Krister Henriksson returning for The Troubled Man there as well. I’d hate to see Branagh abandon this in order to direct Thor 2.
In “An Event in Autumn” Wallander investigates the murder of a young woman pushed off a ferry while, concurrently, he and his dog discover decade-old skeletal remains buried in the garden of the remote farmhouse where he and his girlfriend, Vanja (Saskia Reeves) now live.
In the second episode, “The Dogs of Riga,” Wallander investigates the gangland-style murder of two Latvians, whose dingy, with cocaine hidden inside it, has washed ashore. Circumspect Latvian police inspector Karlis Liepa (Søren Malling) arrives, identifying the murdered men as informants and expressing his belief that one of his superiors back in Riga, Latvia is in league with the drug smugglers. When he’s murdered upon returning to Riga, Wallander travels there, determined to find his murderer.
The final episode, “Before the Frost” (the first episode of the Swedish series), the investigation of a murdered elderly woman who witnessed the burning of swans by an insane pyromaniac becomes entwined with the disappearance of Wallander’s daughter’s childhood friend, Anna, soon after she pays a cryptic visit to his house in the middle of the night. Both eventually tie into a fundamentalist Christian group whose actions eerily echo the 2011 Norway attacks.
“The Dogs of Riga” is the most conventional and least satisfying of the three, mainly because it removes Wallander from his natural habitat, lonely and isolated rural Sweden, but it does an admirable job creating and incredibly tense portrait of a pervasively corrupt Latvia. I’ll not be spending my next holiday in Riga.
All three shows but especially the first and the last are impressively unpredictable. The first episode features a violent, terrifying attack that’s quite shocking and realistic in its chaos and clumsiness. The effects of this attack pervade the next two episodes, while the third focuses realistically on the strained relationship between Wallander and his estranged daughter, Linda (Jeany Spark). (Linda is the main character of the novel Before the Frost, not Kurt Wallander.)
And, as before, the series has an interesting, stark visual stylization. Filmed in high-definition, it nevertheless eschews the obvious advantages of the super-sharp format. There are no travelogue-like wide-angle pans showing viewers the beauty of rural and small town Sweden. Indeed, while there’s less of the extreme narrow depth-of-field photography that dominated the first two seasons, the program effectively deglamorizes the country to where the countryside is almost post-apocalyptic. The austere art direction, populated with tasteful IKEA-like furniture, is coldly functional but little else. This harshness is carried over to the visually arresting main title design, with a bright bumblebee yellow pierced by blue triangles, the overcast skies, uninviting seashore, and even Branagh himself. Even Wallander’s cell phone is grating: an obnoxious, shrill ring that sounds like a xylophone playfully running scales, as if to taunt its owner. The ring so sticks in the viewer’s subconscious that it’s become famous all by itself and is now available for download.
Branagh proved himself an immensely talented actor-director at an early age, though he struggled when handed more mainstream commercial offerings. I tend to like him more as a director than an actor; he’s fine in the latter capacity, but I can always see the acting in his performances.
Until Wallander. The teleplays help – with their sparse dialogue nearly all of the character’s complex emotions are expressed across Branagh’s face and in his eyes. And, for his part, Branagh’s familiar actorly tics are largely absent. He’s lost himself in the character, allowing the audience to completely forget whom they’re watching.
Video & Audio
Wallander was filmed using Red One high-def cameras, units that reportedly approach the resolution of 35mm film, with this the first British series to shoot in the format. The results are visually arresting throughout. The shows are on a DVD5 and DVD9, with Dolby Digital surround capturing the bleak tone well, with occasional effective bursts of noise. Optional English subtitles are available. As usual, the BBC has managed to cram ads for their shows everywhere and, as usual, precedes the show with their annoying, Gilliam-esque anti-copying warning. No Extra Features.
Parting Thoughts
This is a great series, not to be missed. Those unfamiliar with it up to now will want to start at the beginning, with season one. Despite an absence of supplements, this series is Highly Recommended.
Stuart Galbraith IV’s latest audio commentary, for AnimEigo’s Musashi Miyamoto DVD boxed set, is on sale now.
Posted in Fun and Games
Posted on November 13, 2012 at 2:53 pm
The Background of One Piece:
One Piece first began as a serialized manga series in 1997. It debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in August 1997. The Japanese pop-culture phenomenon was created by the author and illustrator Eiichiro Oda. The manga has sold more copies than any other manga series ever with over 250 million copies having been sold since initial publication. The manga has yet to end and has received over 60 published volumes. It has continued to receive critical acclaim and enthusiastic recognition from its always-expanding fan-base.
The (also) massively popular anime series is still ongoing and has aired over 500 produced episodes. It is amongst the longest running series of all time — in anime form or otherwise. The show premiered in Japan in October 1999. In North America the series was first released by 4Kids Entertainment originally and was heavily criticized for having a poor dub and for edits considered as significant cuts (sometimes entire episodes went missing). Funimation saved the show for North America, produced an excellent dub, and has continued to present One Piece in its uncut, original form as it is presented here and on all One Piece Collection DVD box-sets.
The Series and Characters:
One Piece follows the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his crew of pirates. He is joined by Roronoa Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Chopper, Nico Robin and Sanji. The beginning of the series takes some time to build as the characters are introduced over a nicely paced span of episodes and stories. There are some other characters that join the crew over the course of the show, which will be noted in this section of future One Piece Collection reviews when the characters are later introduced.
The main character is Luffy. As the series begins he is a 17 year old kooky-wacky kid with a heart of gold and a head of emotions. He looks at almost every scenario with total optimism and is unwavering in his belief that things can work out in the end. As a young boy he ate a Gum Gum “Devil” Fruit by accident that gave him special powers. The main power he gained was a rubber body. He can bend, stretch, and seem rubber-like (he is rubber!) in a way that no one else can. Essentially, Luffy is the most flexible person in the entire world (at least in terms of the characters introduced on the show so far). Luffy was once saved by the pirate Shanks, who Luffy seemed to view as a hero and father figure. Luffy decided then that he is to become the “King of the Pirates!” as the legendary Gold Rogers pirate was once called. It has less to do with stealing treasure or amassing wealth as it does with sailing the seas and experiencing the world with friends. Unlike most of the pirates depicted on One Piece, there is little doubt that Luffy has a pure heart and is not attempting to hurt anyone or gain from the loss of others. Luffy is a character that is unafraid of fighting for what’s right and this is an endearing quality that has no doubt played a significant part in his long-term popularity. He usually thinks with his emotions more than his brain-power though, and when he does use his brain (i.e. “I have an IDEA!”) catastrophe can sometimes ensue. Some viewers of the series might consider him an idiot (other characters on the show have expressed this sentiment as well) but he has things in the right place where they count the most: heart, spirit, and soul. Luffy is easily one of the most endearing, comical, and fun characters in anime history.
Trivia Note: He is also dubbed the “Straw Hat” pirate as he always fondly wears an old straw hat throughout the series. He might also have the largest appetite in any anime, which is certainly saying something.
Roronoa Zoro is one of the most physically strong additions to Luffy’s crew. He used to work as a bounty hunter before he met Luffy. Zoro has magnificent skills with swords and he has a dream of becoming the greatest swordsman in the entire world. He somewhat reluctantly joined the crew at first but he quickly becomes a huge asset and friend. One of his sword techniques requires the use of three blades: one in each hand and another held using his mouth. While those who don’t know him seem to fear Zoro, he is actually a kind of funny guy who takes more naps than anyone else in the crew (even when compared to Luffy). Zoro is probably the most “kick-ass” type of character within the entire One Piece anime.
Usopp is many things to different people. He gained a reputation as being a “liar”, which is true but not exactly telling of his character. Usopp is a storyteller more than anything else. He seems to encourage laughter and happiness in others. It is fascinating to me how he is such a brave and courageous man at times and also a definite coward when something has too much scare-factor for him to face. Most of the time, he pulls through in the end anyway. While some viewers might be inclined to refer to him as a primarily “comic relief” character, there is a lot of sides to Usopp that make him stand out. His dream seems to be to become a strong, confident, and talented sea-adventurer.
Nami is the Navigator. She helps to make sure that the crew heads in the right direction at all times. She also has a dream (clearly a recurring theme of the series with each character) to map out the entire world. Nami is also known as a thief because unlike some of the other pirates of the crew she actually enjoys finding and taking treasures. Ironically, Nami claims to despise all pirates in the early episodes of One Piece until she officially joins Team Luffy. Nami is undoubtedly the smartest member of the entire crew and she is able to use her wit and intelligence to help everyone out of some of the strangest and most dire situations on the show.
Sanji might be the most compassionate of the central characters. He is the cook for Luffy’s crew and he never hesitates to serve food to those in need of a meal. Early in his life, Sanji experienced what it was like to suffer from hunger firsthand and this dramatically impacted his attitude towards others experiencing hunger. He can seem to be the most level-headed of the team at times but then also the most over-tempered as well. If someone rubs Sanji the wrong way he never takes the matter too lightly. Besides having the occasional anger-management issue there is no question that he’s a genuinely nice character who receives enjoyment from cooking, flirting with women, and helping others out in a pickle (the pun was absolutely intended). Sanji’s goal is to find the All Blue, which connects each area of the ocean.
A wacky, well-spirited, and adventurous doctor named Tony Tony Chopper joins the group during the previous One Piece Collection. Chopper is a reindeer with a blue nose. He ate a Human Human Fruit that gave him the ability to speak and act in a human manner. Chopper hasn’t been entirely the same ever since. He can walk, talk, and act as goofy as all the rest of the merry pirates on this show. There are multiple forms that this character can take: the form of a normal reindeer, a reindeer with the qualities of a young human boy, and a monstrous gigantic reindeer with the power of a body-builder man. This makes the character an interesting addition to the series. It was nice to see his relevance to the crew become a part of the ongoing plot. Team Luffy needed a doctor and he was a perfect match.
The mysterious and ever-so quiet Nico Robin is also a crew member. She is perhaps the most peculiar of all of the additions to the Straw Hat Pirates crew, because in previous episodes she had seemed to be more of an opposing force to some degree. Her actions were often very confusing because it is hard to tell if she is with the group primarily for her own (and not entirely disclosed) reasons or if she is turning a new leaf and wants to be a part of the positive proceedings accordingly. This makes her character one that is hard to grasp sometimes but it also makes her a fascinating addition to the One Piece group. As we get to know the character a bit better, however, she does seem to serve as an invaluable asset to the crew and spirit. Nico is a archaeologist and she has a wide range of knowledge about historical events and this gives her a more extensive understanding of some of the potential pitfalls looming before the Straw Hat Pirates that can help them during their adventures. Nico also has some strange powers, indeed, and fans are surely going to continue to see plenty of her abilities in later episodes. Think of some of the skills a certain captain named Luffy has but multiple all of that by a few times at least. You might get an idea (or at least a hint) of what one of her own skills is. Absolutely Impressive!
For anyone who has experienced the joys of watching One Piece there is no question as to why the series has been such a massively huge hit in Japan and around the world. It starts with the characters as the most essential element but it extends far beyond that. There are many high quality production and storytelling aspects to this series, all of which helps it to stand out distinctively from a crowded anime scene.
The art stands apart all on its own as one of the best production elements. The character designs are distinctive and memorable: not only for the central leading characters but for the majority of the supporting players as well. The unique art style crafted by One Piece manga artist Eiichiro Oda has been faithfully translated as the main animation style of the series. This will no doubt please both longtime fans and newcomers who should be able to easily see the wondrous qualities in abundance. There is a silly and comical tone to the art that ultimately helps to make it easier to absorb the many varying aspects of the ongoing story.
The central direction for the entire series is done by Kônosuke Uda. Uda doesn’t have that huge of a list of directorial credits to his name prior to his work on One Piece (perhaps his most significant previous directing job was for Sailor Moon S – the third and best season). Yet there can be no mistaking the massive undertaking and leadership taken on with the One Piece craftsmanship at his helm. The series has a near perfect blend of story, action, comedy, drama, adventure, and more. Oda contributed significantly to this success story through having crafted the characters, artwork styles, and overall genre styling’s with his manga creation but anime general Uda uses that magic to craft even more unique magic with this increasingly well-made series.
The pacing is surprisingly consistent and enjoyable. The story rarely seems to have what usually becomes known as a high episode count of “filler” episodes typically found in any series that runs as long as this show has by this point. While the story occasionally veers towards telling side-plotlines that might seem designed as filler to some members of the audience there is also an undercurrent of smart and finely-tuned scripting that makes it almost impossible to not find some new and entertaining aspect during these moments. Ultimately, the storytelling is so vibrant, full of life, and exciting most of the time that it seems illogical to complain about an aspect that isn’t disappointing at all. One Piece has even altered my concept of the filler episode by bringing enjoyment to those types of episodes as well.
There is a trifecta of One Piece elements that seem worth discussing together. The music used on the show is excellent and definitely adds another layer to the energy and thrill of each episode. The comedy is jubilant and silly so that the primary goal of the storytellers was most likely to bring genuine smiles to the audience. Lastly, the themes and message behind the series prove to be meaningful. This trifecta exists because of the occasionally repetitive nature of these reoccurring aspects. This comment is not meant as a negative criticism, but is instead primarily an observation. The humor often relies upon a re-used joke that proved successful in an earlier episode, and while the show is smart to continue adding original elements on a frequent basis it seems to understand how certain elements can be reused in different circumstances to some degree. The music draws heavily upon a core group of musical themes that seem to emphasis different emotions that are the focus of a given scene. This offers viewers a welcoming blend of familiarity while also establishing some consistency at the core.
The essential message of One Piece: To follow your dreams. It’s the best message a show or film can give towards audiences and it is something that is handled with a level of grace that is uncommon. When audiences are also given a thematic backdrop which suggests it is important to bring some kindness to others and to remember to keep friends close to the heart it becomes vibrantly clear that One Piece is far more than one of the best series on television: it is a show which wears its beautiful heart directly on its sleeve. One Piece deserves to be seen by anyone in the world who considers themselves an anime fan on any level. It is not to be overlooked!
The Collection (Set 8, Episodes 183-205):
One Piece found itself arriving at a bit of a rut at the end of the last volume and this aspect was still front-and-center at the start of this eighth collection. This generally fantastic anime series seemed almost to be running on auto-pilot for several episodes and with no gas in the engine. One Piece became repetitive, almost entirely action-based, and it was going into a lackluster storytelling path that was frustrating for me as a fan of this adventurous, comedic, and smart series. What happened to the series and why were the writers stalling so much?
The answer is that it is probably due to the manga publication dates because the anime script writers have always wanted to emphasize the original storyline as best as possible, without alienating it and the fans that cherish reading the manga. I can appreciate that game-plan.
Nonetheless, I wish the anime could sometimes be stalled itself by going on hiatus. Yet everything One Piece is so popular that it’s doubtful this will ever happen to the anime. Unfortunately, fans can pretty much resign themselves to expecting some overlong and occasionally dull moments. It’s become an aspect of this series that I expect now.
The great news regarding Collection 8? The story stalling doesn’t last forever. In fact, storytelling on the series picks up much faster than it took for the show to slow-down and become aggravating in the first place. The Skypiea story arc is finally concluded. The arc manages to end on an incredible note that has plenty of edge-of-your-seat moments which beautifully wrap up this story arc in a way that is undeniably satisfying.
The big moments between Luffy and Eneru finally arrive, and with one major element in play: Luffy cannot become damaged by Eneru’s lightning attacks because, well, he’s a rubber man. Rubber is immune to the effects. This element makes the final battle for Skypiea unfold even more intensely. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the story takes a strange turn away from the battle and takes us back 400 years to when the great explorer Noland found the city of gold. I don’t know how else to put this, so here goes my comment: these episodes were incredible to behold. I’m not sure what my expectations were for this storyline prior to it happening. I was actually surprised to see the anime even tell this side of the story. Yet it manages to make the entire Skypiea arc so much more involving and meaningful. Learning this backstory was one reason why the prior episodes also seemed to drag on: there was a lack of genuine purpose in them. This aspect of the storytelling becomes rectified, and it makes the final showdown that everyone in the audience has been waiting for seem even more ambitious.
So what does the final conclusion to the Skypiea arc look like? Imagine Luffy as someone who becomes determined at all costs to ring the legendary golden bell to prove to Noland’s son the existence of the city in the sky, to set the record straight on the legend of Noland, and to save everyone in Skypiea from the wicked wrath of the self-called “God” Eneru. Imagine Nami, Zorro, Usopp, and the rest fighting the good fight with all of their skills to save everyone in Skypiea. Truly, the conclusion to the Skypiea arc turned out to be one of my favorites and it managed to do so even despite the annoying filler episodes that preceded it being concluded. Fans are likely to rejoice the last batch of Skypiea episodes as these are stellar additions to a series that was beginning to enter a period of too-many filler episodes: a worthwhile ending indeed.
The rest of the collection 8 set features the Straw Hat pirates in an adventurous side-story with the G-8 arc. These episodes are largely meant a detour from the long arcs One Piece enjoys to take us on, and it’s good as a change of pace to follow an arc as lengthy and involved as what was found on the Skypiea arc with someone that is more focused on these characters as a side story that doesn’t make us go on as long of a journey.
One Piece rebounds beautifully with Collection 8 and continues to be one of the few ongoing, long-running series that manages to be a classic anime even despite the occasionally overlong arcs and filler episodes. The Skypiea arc has a stellar conclusion and the short story arc which almost concludes on this set offers a change-of-pace that was needed. Fans will and should be prepared to enjoy.
The DVD:
Note:
One Piece arrives on DVD from Funimation in a Collection box-set format that combines two of the previously released “Voyage” sets into one. The PQ and AQ are no different from the earlier releases. Funimation hasn’t even altered the menu design for these DVD collections.
Video:
The picture quality is pretty decent looking for a series that was started in the late 1990’s. Funimation has done a solid job of representing the series on DVD. There is some aliasing and the image is a tad softer than recent productions on occasion but the series also comes equipped with colors that pop and shine beautifully and the image is free from annoying compression because each disc contains no more than seven episodes each. The episodes from One Piece are in pretty good shape and the release should please fans looking for decent picture quality. Funimation has released One Piece in the original broadcast aspect ratio of 4:3 full frame.
Audio:
The 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound option for the English language dub is an excellent choice for fans. The surrounds have been actively used to create an enveloping experience with good use of sound effects and enough room for the score to add an element of suspense, fun, and intrigue. The voice cast for the Funimation dub is superb and a huge step up over what 4Kids attempted many years ago. Anyone who watches One Piece through these Funimation releases should be able to appreciate the company’s English dubbed version.
In preserving the original Japanese stereo track the series can also be appreciated with the original audio. English subtitles are provided for the Japanese dub. Either option is worthwhile. I had a slight preference for the more robust sounding surround sound choice accompanying the English dub but both options feature clean and easy to understand dialogue.
Extras:
The selection of bonus materials is limited on each Funimation One Piece Collection DVD release. Funimation included select staff commentary, text-less songs, and trailers promoting other anime series released by the studio.
Commentary with staff members is included on the following episodes of Collection 8:
Episode 193: The Battle Ends! Proud Fantasia Echoes Far!196: A State of Emergency Is Issued! A Notorious Pirate Ship Has Infiltrated!
Final Thoughts:
One Piece is one of the grandest anime adventures. This series manages to stay around as a fun ride with great characters and it does so with epic story-arcs and amusing side-stories. This set contains a sampling of both elements with the conclusion of the Skypiea arc and the beginning (and most of) the G-8 side storyline. I loved these episodes, and consider myself to be a huge fan.
The only downside to this release is that the set represents the last collection from Funimation for the time being. We are likely over a year away from seeing any more collection sets because the Voyage sets are still being released and it takes time for the series to be dubbed in English. Still, the wait will be worth it if you have been collecting One Piece Collection sets. These collection releases represent some of the best value for your money in the entire anime on DVD market.
Newcomers should start at the beginning, but for those of you who are already collecting these One Piece sets, you can now enjoy another must-have DVD release of one of the best anime series around.
Highly Recommended.
Neil Lumbard is a lifelong fan of cinema, and a student who aspires to make movies. He loves writing, and currently does in Texas.
Posted in Fun and Games
Posted on November 11, 2012 at 2:53 pm
Hart of Dixie Season 1 DVD Review
Hart of Dixie is a soap: you know, the kind of show with some love triangles, cheesy humor and drummed up dramatics. Not all soaps are made equal, though. This one is pretty good television. Now that I have that statement out of the way, let me follow it by stating that I find this to be an entertaining series well worth watching and you don’t even have to be a follower of soaps to be able to find something worthwhile about this show (which also serves up amble drama and fine comedy).
The series stars the adorable and utterly charming Rachel Bilson (The O.C., Chuck) as Zoe Hart, a doctor who moves out of New York City to the small community of BlueBell, Alabama when she receives an opportunity to be in charge of a hospital in the town. Upon her college graduation, Zoe was approached by an older gentleman who offered her a job with his doctor’s practice. Zoe then promptly declines: she already decided to work towards becoming a heart surgeon and inside of New York City. The issue wasn’t over though. Apparently, the practice was left to her as a element to his will. Uh, come again? Amazingly, Zoe was given a chance to lead a practice.
Zoe decides to move to BlueBell and to at least give it a chance. She makes this decision in hesitation because she still doesn’t want to leave New York, but it’s been a year since she received the job offer after Graduation and she hasn’t been having as much success with everything in the medical field as she had hoped. Zoe’s a good doctor at what she does, however, she’s told to improve her manner with patients. According to a fellow doctor, everything she does is good on paper but she treats people more like numbered patients.
Upon arriving at BlueBell, Zoe discovers that she was left half of the practice. The community still has another doctor and he owns the other half. He’s also quite popular. Zoe soon learns that she needs to gain some experience with working within the BlueBell community in order to gain some patients that she can treat and in order to keep her half of the practice, which she could lose if she doesn’t come up with 30% of the revenue from serving patients. Luckily, Zoe is a sweet, good person and she manages to start becoming familiar with the town soon enough. It isn’t long before (most) people start to like having her around BlueBell.
The rest of the main cast of characters consists of Lemon Breeland (Jaime King) Mayor Lavon Hayes (Cress Williams), Wade (Wilson Bethel), and George (Scott Porter). Lemon is a sweet angel on the outside and in all of her “social” interactions, and she can be a nice person but it becomes clear pretty on in the series that she has something against Zoe Hart. Ironically, she seems to dislike her because Zoe starts a friendship with George, Lemon’s fiancé, and she’s seemingly worried that something more could be going on. Yet Lemon is still in love with Mayor Lavon Hayes, and he’s still got something for her. All the while, the neighborly fun southern “bad-boy” Wade (who is actually a pretty sweet-natured guy) has a thing for Zoe. Basically, one of the focal points of the whole series seems to be to revolve around the big questions regarding who these characters will romantically end up with in a relationship. I actually think that may be the main area.
Yes, this series is over-the-top, a soapy-soapy soap-soap, and it doesn’t ever do anything too original or groundbreaking (if ever?) and the characters are all only marginally developed in terms of having dramatic depth. However, if there’s one thing about this show that works as needed it’s the excellence of the cast. The actors and actresses who bring these characters to television life are all great at what they do. Each performer is fantastic and you end up as an engaged fan because so many of these characters are as charming, fun, and sweet-natured as could ever be expected from a show of this type. You grow to like these characters so much.
Having said that, the writing and direction on this show is rock solid. It’s not perfect, but as a series with a set plan of ideas (love triangles, humorous encounters, weekly hospital “Zoe as amazing doctor” episodes, etc.), these writers don’t tend to come up short on what they are uniformly good at: writing fun, zippy, charming, and lighthearted episodes that are easy to become entertained by without requiring a great deal on the audience’s part.
The series was created by Leila Gerstein (The O.C., Gossip Girl) and has the involvement of executive producer Josh Schwartz (The O.C., Gossip Girl) so you probably are somewhat familiar with what to expect from this show if you have seen The O.C. or Gossip Girl. If anything about that makes sense. Hart of Dixie is all in good fun and the great cast really manages to make everything about the series seem right at home in Dixie-land.
Video:
Hart of Dixie looks pretty good with its 1:78:1 widescreen presentation. The colors are bright, colorful, and the cinematography has a nice clean, shimmery look to it. The series was filmed using HD Sony cameras and it looks splendid. If only a Blu-ray release was also given to the series it would look even better. Alas, that wasn’t the case. Unless you want to pay for HD digital downloads this is a good way to watch the show.
Audio:
The series is presented with 5.1 surround sound but it isn’t exactly that engaging as a sound mix. The rear speakers seem to hardly ever be used and when they are it just adds a slight additional feeling of being a tad more involved, but for the most part the surrounds just aren’t well utilized and the audio is heavily front-focused.
The dialogue is easy to understand, clean and efficient in how it is presented, but not all that dynamic. The audio is still more than merely acceptable for a lighthearted series without any flashier moments to rely upon a more robust presentation.
Subtitles are presented in English, French, and Spanish.
Extras:
Extras on this release include: Deleted Scenes, Shut Your Mouth! (Gag Reel), and an eighteen minute long making-of featurette entitled “Straight from the Hart of Dixie” which has some behind-the-scenes material, series clips, and interviews with the cast, producers, and crew.
Final Thoughts:
Hart of Dixie is a fun, easy-going, and easy to enjoy series. It’s nothing too original, too daring, too… anything? But it’s an adorably sweet-natured show about finding your footing in life and about discovering that special person who may be there for you when you are ready. It’s not a wholly original creation but I don’t care that much. This show is pure-hearted & good-natured entertainment about characters I actually cared for and enjoyed getting to know in the smallish (fictional) town of BlueBell, Alabama. If you like Rachel Bilson (or any of the other stars) this series is a quality one well worth your time and this DVD release will make a nice addition to any fan’s television-on-DVD collection.
Recommended.
Neil Lumbard is a lifelong fan of cinema, and a student who aspires to make movies. He loves writing, and currently does in Texas.
Posted in Fun and Games
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 2:53 pm
Review:
“Gossip Girl” is the latest effort from “O.C.” creator Josh Schwartz, and the series has become just as much of a hit as “The O.C.” was early on. “Gossip” is based upon the books by Cecily von Ziegesar and stars Blake Lively (“Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”) as socialite Serena Van der Woodsen who, as the series opens, is arriving at Grand Central Station, fresh from a stint in boarding school after she’d fallen too far into her partying ways.
When she arrives back at home, she’s a changed person – quiet, a little withdrawn – but that doesn’t last for very long, as she’s quickly drawn back into drama, opening with a chilly reception from her former pal, Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester), as Blair has gotten comfortable in a higher social rank during Serena’s absence. Serena also has a reunion with Nate Archibald (Chace Crawford) and Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) – interesting for her, as she has a history with Nate.
There’s also Dan Humphrey (Penn Badgley) and his sister Jenny (Taylor Momsen), who are middle-class and commute in to go to the high-end school that Serena and her friends attend in the city. While Jenny winds up in the midst of Blair’s little crowd, Dan has always had feelings from afar for Serena and, to his surprise, the two find themselves getting closer and closer. Meanwhile, Dan’s father and Serena’s mother have had their own rocky past.
While the series continues to move along reasonably well in the fifth season, “Gossip” has patches where its drama is starting to feel rather familiar. Still, a good amount of the twists and turns still entertain in the guilty pleasure manner of prior seasons. The season starts where the fourth season left off, with the character that’s expecting revealed soon after the season opens. Blair is about to get married to Prince Louis (Hugo Becker), although what might have seemed like a dream starts to quickly sour, and Blair finds herself in the arms of another.
While Blair’s relationship dramas are a core focus, the season weaves in a number of other reasonably satisfying story arcs, including Dan’s continued attempts to stop his novel from being published without his approval and a reveal of the true story behind Serena’s cousin, Charlie Rhodes. Speaking of reveals, Chuck also faces a major one this season involving a family member.
The season even throws in a cameo from Elizabeth Hurley as Nate’s new boss – while Hurley doesn’t seem like a right fit on paper, she’s more than a convincing on-screen cougar. Blair’s various dramas are engaging due to Meester’s performance and comfort in the role improving over the seasons, but some aspects of her relationship dramas this season start to feel rather forced or familiar.
Some of the highlights this season include: “GG” (The show’s 100th episode, where Blair goes through with her wedding to the Prince), “The Fugitives” (Serena must be Blair’s double when Blair is needed in two places at once), “Crazy Cupid Love” (Blair decides to play Cupid on Valentine’s Day), “Rhodes to Perdition” (Serena plans a bridal shower for Blair) and “Memoirs of an Invisible Dan” (Dan decides to reveal all about his book, with the hopes that he’ll still get support at the party for his book’s release.)
The series is not classic television in any sense, but it’s a successful guilty pleasure series that wouldn’t be what it is without a solid cast, especially Lively and Meester, who give their characters a level of depth and feeling that one wouldn’t expect. Casting is also spot-on, as both the core and supporting players continue to click well.
Still, while the series generally continues to coast along through much of the fifth season, bringing it to a close after next season before it starts to wear out its welcome (see “One Tree Hill”) feels appropriate.
Season 5
88 5-01 26/Sep/11 Yes, then Zero
89 5-02 03/Oct/11 Beauty and the Feast
90 5-03 10/Oct/11 The Jewel of Denial
91 5-04 17/Oct/11 Memoirs of an Invisible Dan
92 5-05 24/Oct/11 The Fasting and the Furious
93 5-06 07/Nov/11 I Am Number Nine
94 5-07 14/Nov/11 The Big Sleep No More
95 5-08 21/Nov/11 All The Pretty Sources
96 5-09 28/Nov/11 Rhodes to Perdition
97 5-10 05/Dec/11 Riding In Town Cars With Boys
98 5-11 16/Jan/12 The End of The Affair?
99 5-12 23/Jan/12 Father and the Bride
100 5-13 30/Jan/12 G.G.
101 5-14 06/Feb/12 The Backup Dan
102 5-15 13/Feb/12 Crazy, Cupid, Love
103 5-16 20/Feb/12 Cross Rhodes
104 5-17 27/Feb/12 The Princess Dowry
105 5-18 02/Apr/12 Con Heir
106 5-19 09/Apr/12 It Girl, Interrupted
107 5-20 16/Apr/12 Salon of the Dead
108 5-21 23/Apr/12 Despicable B
109 5-22 30/Apr/12 Raiders of the Lost Art
110 5-23 07/May/12 The Fugitives
111 5-24 14/May/12 The Return of the Ring
The DVD
VIDEO: “Gossip Girl” is presented by Warner Brothers in 1.78:1 anamrophic widescreen. The episodes generally looked very good, although some minor issues arose at times. Sharpness and detail often remain first-rate, as the picture looks crisp and detail throughout much of the running time. However, some scenes look softer and there are moments where some mild artifacting is visible. On a positive note, colors remain bright and natural, with excellent saturation and no smearing or other faults.
SOUND: The show is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. Audio quality is just fine, although the show’s sound design doesn’t go far beyond the ordinary – surrounds are used on occasion for ambience and reinforcement of the score, but the majority of the audio is dialogue-driven. Audio quality is fine, with clear dialogue and bassy tunes.
EXTRAS: Gag reel and short featurettes on the show’s fashion and 100th episodes.
Final Thoughts: While the series generally continues to coast along, bringing it to a close after next season before it starts to wear out its welcome feels appropriate. The DVD set offers first-rate audio/video quality, as well as a few minor extras. Recommended.
Posted in Fun and Games
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 2:53 pm
Grim, engrossing U.K. TV mystery from the best-selling crime novel. No doubt in an effort to soak up some of that ancillary James Bond promotional gravy, BBC and Warner Home Video have released The Ice House, the 1997 television adaptation of Minette Walters’ award-winning novel, starring Daniel Craig, Corin Redgrave, Kitty Aldridge, Frances Barber, and Penny Downie. A forbidding, depressing mystery that touches on uncomfortable themes such as pedophilia, homophobia, lawless retribution, and incest, The Ice House is recommended viewing for those U.K. mystery fans who like their “cozy village mysteries” not so cozy. A lengthy featurette on the author is included as a welcome bonus for this good-looking transfer.
Street Grange, Silverbourne. Frightened handyman Fred Phillips (Dave Hill) comes running up to the Grange’s owner, Phoebe Maybury (Penny Downie), who’s enjoying the morning on her patio with housemates Anne Cattrell (Kitty Aldridge) and Diana Goode (Frances Barber). Fred, badly shaken, has found a badly decomposed, partially consumed nude body in the abandoned ice house, located inside an overgrown hillock on the grounds. The police are called, with coarse, single-minded Detective Chief Inspector George Walsh (Corin Redgrave, excellent as always in an unsympathetic, to say the least, role) taking along his Detective Sergeant Andy McLoughlin (Daniel Craig), to interview the “butch beauties” of Street Grange. D.C.I. Walsh is almost positive the body in the ice house is Maybury’s long-lost husband David (Paul Jerricho), who went missing ten years, and whom many people in the local village believe was murdered by Phoebe. The locals, hostile towards Maybury because they believe she also killed her parents for her inheritance, are equally unaccepting of her lifestyle: they disparage her and her housemates as predatory lesbians. That’s certainly the story that D.S. McLoughlin, newly separated from his wife and tilting dangerously towards alcoholism, has heard, an impression confirmed by dismissive, contemptuous Anne. Soon, however, Andy learns that nothing is as it seems at Street Grange, as the nude body in the ice house remains unidentified…and Andy becomes romantically involved with Anne.
I’ve never read any of Minette Walters’ novels, so I can’t speak to how faithful The Ice House is to its source material (which shouldn’t matter anyway: books and movies are two entirely different―and separate―aesthetic experiences). However, the best compliment I can give this three-hour TV adaptation, at least in the context of her works, is that after watching it, I got online and requested the novel from our local library. That may not help Walters’ royalty statement at the end of the year, but like many literary works adapted into movies, it’s a good rule of thumb that having a built-in “commercial” out there for a title―especially one as gripping as The Ice House―can only promote sales long-term.
About a year or so ago I had a reader really take me to task for revealing the end of a movie (despite a big red “spoiler alert” warning in the text), and ever since, I’ve tried to take his criticism to heart and lay off the “big reveal,” even if that does necessarily make a review like this one for The Ice House much more generalized than I’d like. After all, how can you truly discuss the nuances of a mystery, and why it succeeds or doesn’t, if you can’t spell out the mystery itself (to take an obvious example that won’t spoil anything for anyone: how do you really discuss Psycho without revealing what, exactly, Anthony Perkins, and not his dead mother, is doing?). Still, The Ice House‘s mystery line is so cleverly developed within its romance/social issues framework, with believable red herring clues and a genuine “twist” ending (that I didn’t see coming at all)―all the more powerful because they weren’t gimmicky―that I won’t go into the kind of detail that would spoil the movie for anyone else who isn’t familiar with the novel.
Adapted by actress/screenwriter Lizzie Mickery (U.K. television like Heartbeat and The Bill), and directed by Tim Fywell (TV movies like Norma Jean & Marilyn and Madame Bovary), The Ice House‘s overriding tone of gloomy, depressive secrecy and duplicity was a welcome departure from the more “sunny” (if you will), ironic, perverse (but equally deadly) “cozy village mysteries” I usually review here at DVDTalk. While the dark degree of the human foibles and subsequent motives for murder in The Ice House can find sympathetic echoes in Christie’s Marple and Poirot mysteries, or in newer fare such as Midsomer Murders, the ameliorating nostalgia of the Christie period decors or the delightfully wicked, grotesque humor of your average Midsomer episode, are completely missing from The Ice House (if the family dog ate a corpse in Midsomer if would get a laugh; here, it makes someone almost vomit). An oppressive curtain of pain and secrecy hangs over Street Grange, strangling and depleting its inhabitants with a sense of dread manifest literally with a “skeleton in the closet” (or two…). The village locals are no better off, ruled by unfounded prejudice and surprisingly potent, sudden violence, while the police, the detectives who are supposed to bring order and justice into the mystery format, are either dysfunctional, emotional cripples who also rely on ill-informed preconceived notions…or outright liars and active parties to injustice.
By drawing a portrait that has everyone so emotionally devastated by past events in The Ice House, Walters (I’m assuming) pulls off the neat trick of taking what could have been a facile, clichéd plot development―Andy’s romance with Anne―and by contrast, turning it into a surprisingly resonant exploration of instant (but conflicting) attraction and eventual emotional salvation. Considering how personally mismatched the two characters are to begin with, deepened by their adversarial roles, it’s quite touching to see how Walters, Mickery, Fywell, and Craig and Aldridge take these damaged people and create a believable romance, particularly for Craig’s character, who goes from bigoted alcoholic to a copper with a conscience and a lover who acknowledges he needs time to reawaken his innate sensitivity. Don’t get me wrong: The Ice House‘s mystery is crackerjack, deepened by Walters’ grasp of the primal, ugly, subterranean forces at work beneath her enjoyable twists and turns and red herrings. However, I found the central romance, enacted with snappy chemistry between the alluring, enigmatic Aldridge and Craig (in the first performance of his I’ve actually enjoyed), as rewarding as Walters’ one-two punch of first-rate mystery and unsettling social commentary. If you tend to rely on the more “comfortable” English village mysteries when you want a bit U.K. suspense, then you owe it to yourself to stretch a bit with the puzzling, disturbing The Ice House.
The DVD:
The Video:
The Ice House has been side-matted for a crisp, clean 14:9 anamorphic transfer here. Colors are suitably deep and dark, with no pesky PAL conversion issues I could spot.
The Audio:
The Dolby Digital English stereo audio track didn’t display a heavy directionality, but it was, like the video, super-clean, with no hiss or fluctuation. English subtitles are available.
The Extras:
There’s a BBC featurette from 2001, Minette Walters On Writing a Novel, included here. It runs 48:43. Informative.
Final Thoughts:
Depressing, disturbing mystery, with a surprisingly touching romance at its center. The Ice House is highly recommended viewing for fans of U.K. television and mystery.
Paul Mavis is an internationally published movie and television historian, a member of the Online Film Critics Society, and the author of The Espionage Filmography.
Posted in Fun and Games
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