Archives for October, 2011
Directed by Julie Taymor
Starring Helen Mirren, Djimon Hounsou, Russell Brand, Alfred Molina, Chris Cooper, Alan Cumming, David Strathaim, Ben Whishaw, Felicty Jones, Reeve Carney, Jude Akuwudike
The Tempest is of course an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest. Which means that it’s hard to go into this without some heavy preconceptions, mostly bad. If you’re a fan of The Bard your probably remembering all the failed adaptations you’ve seen and wondering what the odds are that this one is any better. If your not a fan of the famous playwright then your likely to think this is going to be a bunch of pretentious twaddle. Well Twaddle it is not, but it doesn’t quite rise to the level of masterpiece either, though it comes close.
The Movie:
Prospero, Helen Mirren, is a woman wronged, or more precisely a Duchess wronged. After the death of her brother the Duke, Antonio, played by Chris Cooper, accuses her of witchcraft in order to usurp the Dukedom. A charge that is hard for Prospero to overcome seeing that she actually enjoys reading books and messing around with beakers and test tubes. This is the sixteenth century after all. So Prospero and her four year old daughter Miranda are exiled. Well exiled is pretty generous phrasing for their punishment, they are set to sea in a mast-less, rudderless boat. Gonzalo, played by Tom Conti, one of the King’s counselors, takes sympathy on Prospero and Miranda and has the boat loaded with food, water and a chest full of Prospero’s favorite books but unfortunately no oars or compass.
Twelve years later King Alonzo, David Strathaim, is sailing home from the wedding of his daughter. In attendance is his son Ferdinand, portrayed by Reeve Carney, his brother Sebastian, Alan Cumming, and then there is Antonio, remember him, he’s the one who stole Prospero’s Duchy, and the faithful counselor Gonzalo. Also on board are Stephano and Trinculo, Alfred Molina and Russel Brand, the King’s butler and jester respectively. Fate has brought them near to Prosero’s island and she conjures a great storm to strand the travelers on the island and set the stage, sorry couldn’t help it.
Just to get them out of the way let me introduce you to the two native inhabitants of the island. First there in Ariel, Ben Whishaw, a fairy like spirit that Prospero freed from an enchantment and now serves her in hopes of someday winning his freedom. Then there is Caliban, played by Djimon Hounsou, a monster in roughly human form that Prospero has raised along with Miranda. At least until he tried to rape Miranda, now he lives in a hole in the rocks and is treated as a slave.
Prospero commands Ariel to ensure that the travelers all come to shore safely, but separately. Ferdinand is the first to wash up and quickly comes upon Miranda and Prospero. From first sight he is taken with Miranda and being the first non monstrous male she has seen in twelve years Miranda is rather taken with him. Which is of course what Prospero has planned all along. Seeing how quickly the two youngster’s affections grow Prospero starts to worry that a love that grows too easily may prove brittle so she sets Ferdinand to menial tasks such as gathering driftwood with the idea of keeping the two somewhat separated. The other gentleman, the King, Sebastian, Antonio and Gonzalo come ashore on a different part of the island. The King is distraught that his son may be dead so the four set about searching the island for any sight of him. Seemingly forgotten Stephano and Trinculo eventually wash up as well and chance upon Caliban. With a little help from a surviving jug of wine the two befriend Caliban who convinces them to help him overthrow Prospero and take over the island. So the board is set and the pieces set in motion.
Well that’s the tale. How well is it told? For the most part very well. Most of the dialog is delivered convincingly, the few times it falters is noticeable for the most part because the rest comes off so well. Some of the monologs drag a bit but Taymor is usually able to weave visuals and the score with the words with skill. All of the acting is superb. The entire cast turn in great performances. While the media of film perhaps doesn’t suit the monologs that well, it is perfect for the portrayal of Ariel. Taymor uses effects shots to make his magical nature shine. The direction is solid only faltering in a few of the scenes with Stephano and Trincilo. The scenes in question are meant to be comic, but they end up just being ridiculous. Which again is disappointing mainly because Molina and Brand are so much fun in their earlier scenes. I never thought of Russell Brand as Shakespearean but he pulls it off quite well. The score is ambitious. There are the renaissance strains you might expect, but the are also some Morricone and jazz influences thrown in that fit surprisingly well but for a few instances that are a little overwrought, but it works more often than not. In a way the film is its own worst enemy. Most of it works so well that the few clunky bits really jar.
7/10
The Video
The film is presented in 1080p with a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The color is great with natural skin tones and deep but detailed blacks. There is plenty of detail with light grain visible in some of the darker scenes. I never noticed any aliasing, moire, or other digital artifacts. In short the video looks great.
9/10
The Audio
The audio is presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound in English and Spanish. There are English and Spanish subtitles. The sound overwhelms the dialog in the early storm scenes but everywhere else the mix is superb. I never expected such a strong score in an adaptation of a play, but besides a few missteps it really adds a striking dimension to the production.
8/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features
The Blu Ray disc comes in a standard blue tinted transparent Blu Ray case with a cardboard slipcase. There are a fair amount of bonus material. Their is a live rehearsal with Taymor, Hounsou, Molina and Brand and a making of featurette. Two audio commentaries, a music video and rehearsal footage of Brand.
7/10
This is a rather bold but at the same time traditional adaptation of the play. Taymor makes a great effort to leverage the power of film to tell an old story and she succeeds more often than she fails.
Overall (not an average)
7/10
The Review:
The Movie 7/10
The Video 9/10
The Audio 8/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features 7/10
Overall (Not an Average) 7/10
Accredited online colleges have film production and entertainment field classes for people who would like to learn more about the behind-the-scenes production of films like these.
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Directed by: William Lustig
Starring: Tom Atkins, Bruce Campbell
Ok so Maniac Cop is a grindhouse classic such as grindhouse films were by the late 80′s. Lets just get that out of the way. Some of these “classics” are great films while others aren’t really good. The bad ones have cult status usually because of some particular scene or element that pushed the envelope of the era in which the film was made. Maniac Cop is definitely a title that most people have heard of so that gives it status, but is it good?
The Movie
Larry Cohen (It’s Alive, Phone Booth) provides director Bill Lustig a fairly run of the mill paint by numbers story. A slasher is running around New York City dressed like a cop and committing some grizzly killings. It’s not a Death Wish sort of vigilante thing either. He’s just killing everyone. He’s not stupid though; he manages to frame another cop for some of the murders that’s played by Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead). While Campbell’s character rots in jail his girlfriend and his partner team up to discover the true identity of the killer. As you watch the film there’s absolutely nothing story-wise that you haven’t seen before.
The thing is that the film is actually highly entertaining. Lustig crafts a visually interesting version of a hybrid action/horror film here that’s paced near perfectly. He also builds a cast that has solid chemistry and are all literately perfect for the film. Campbell is always entertaining and Robert Z’Dar (Cherry 2000) as the killer cop chews the scenery throughout the film in a truly wonderful way. Lustig does play with the ideas of the ultimate protector being the ultimate killer but more importantly he manages to set up some scary and almost humorous situations in the film too.
The story will not surprise you in the least but how much you enjoy the ride probably will.
7/10
The Video
This HD presentation was crafted from an original HD master and you can tell. This lower budget movie is nearly 25 years old and overall this disc looks fantastic. Detail and color balance are strong and consistent throughout the film with no issues of blooming and minimal artifacting. The grain in the video comes solely from the actual film itself rather than from compression issues. Black levels could be a little deeper but that’s a pretty minor complaint considering this movie looks better than you could ever hope for.
8/10
The Audio
There are a total of three HD Master tracks provided on this disc. That’s probably a little overkill especially considering how solid the 6.1 track is. Sure the movie is from the 80′s so the source is only going to allow for so much immersion but the work that Synapse has done to make this film a truly surrounding experience is commendable. Balance, dynamic range, and overall low end are all shockingly strong and consistent throughout the film. The one oddity here is that there/s a brief audio dropout toward the beginning of the movie. Considering all of the attention Synapse paid to designing this audio presentation its hard to believe they wouldn’t correct this issue, especially since it doesn’t exist in the other mixes.
7.5/10
Packaging and Bonus Features
The single disc release comes packaged in a standard slim blu-ray amaray case with classic Maniac Cop artwork for the cover. It’s good enough but not particularly striking either.
A previous release of Maniac Cop featured a pretty great audio commentary with the director, the writer, the composer, and star Bruce Campbell. For some reason that commentary isn’t provided on this blu-ray and that’s particularly sad because none of these folks participate in the interviews done for the film. Atkins and Z’Dar do participate in the interviews and offer up good but not great behind the scenes information. There are also some deleted scenes and PR material.
5/10
Maniac Cop, like The Evil Deadand a few other films has constantly been issued to home video over and over again. With that said this is the best looking and sounding version of the film so far. The bonus features feel really thin and anticlimactic without the commentary and honestly the packaging is dull. All of that siad though; this is still a really fun film to watch and a must for horror films of the 80′s.
Overall (Not an Average)8/10
The Review
The Movie
The Video
The Audio
The Packaging and Bonus Features
Overall (Not an Average) 8/10
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Chuck is easily the most unappreciated show on TV. It’s dramatic, action packed, and hilarious. What’s not to like? At any rate the show returns tonight for its final season. When we last saw the gang Morgan had been passed the Intersect so hilarity is sure to be the name of the game for the premiere. Check out the clip below and make sure your DVR is adjusted to the move from last season’s Monday time slot to the new one this season on Friday nights.
Secret Weapon
Facing certain death, team Carmichael puts the newest Intersect into action in this preview from the Chuck season 5 premiere airing at 8/7c on NBC Friday October 28th.
Link: http://www.nbc.com/chuck/video/secret-weapon/1363579
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One of NBC’s most anticipated new shows finally makes its debut this Friday at 9/8c directly after the season premiere of one of the most under appreciated shows on TV, Chuck. Grimm is one of a couple of fairy tale themed series hitting the small screen this season. Of the two Grimm appears to be the darker in tone. Check out this preview of the show and a behind the scenes featurette!
Special Extended Preview
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Meet David Giuntoli
The star of Grimm shares the story of his character, Nick.
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For this episode of the show we set up live from a media suite (hotel room) at the Geek Media Expo. We hit all the news that’s worth hitting from a porn scam to comic book cancellations and much more! WE also give away a boat load of prizes!
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Directed by Rob Marshall
Featuring Johnny Depp Penélope Cruz and Ian McShane
Captain Jack Sparrow is back on a search for the Fountain of Youth. Does the franchise need its own youth returned?
The Film
The fan favorite sensation that is Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) returns for his own movie, setting him on a path of mistaken identity and conscription to find the Fountain of Youth for the dreaded Blackbeard (Ian McShane). Penélope Cruz plays Angelica, Blackbeard’s first mate and a former love interest to Jack Sparrow. As the adventure begins Angelica fears for Blackbeard’s life
The film captures the fun and humor of the shrewd (and drunk) Captain Jack as he outwits the rest of the characters . Depp easily fills his shoes all over again as the character’s antics continue to thrill audiences. The rest of the cast also do an excellent job fulfilling their roles, and it’s great to see Jack, Gibbs and Barbossa again.
The world continues to expand by playing on the supernatural elements established in the original trilogy. The appearances of mermaids and captured ships are unexpected yet still believable in this world. The audience is left with the sense of wonder and excitement of living a pirate’s life through the eyes of these characters in this fictional version of the Caribbean.
Despite being the first film in a new trilogy and moving away from the previous Will Turner/Elizabeth Swann love story, this film likes to rehash certain overly familiar and tired elements from the previous films. On Stranger Tides features an innocent budding relationship naive and untainted in the life of piracy (a priest and a mermaid in place of William and Elizabeth in the original trilogy) and a famous and mythic pirate antagonist (Blackbeard in place of Davy Jones).
While the relationship aspect is simply boring and unemotional, the use of both Blackbeard and the Fountain of Youth so soon probably hurt the film the most by adding too much famous gimmick to the plot (especially after the franchise just used Davy Jones) without bringing the writing along to support it.
On the flip side of this, this fourth film doesn’t feel anywhere near as large or epic in scope as the previous two. While using these historical elements like Blackbeard and the Fountain of Youth, as well as competition between England and Spain, the danger of the series is nowhere near on the same scale as the East India Trading Company wiping out all of piracy on a global level. Eternal youth doesn’t have the same imminent threat as the mystical Davy Jones taking his Kraken and going on a killing spree.
In this film it’s fun to see the actors do their work. The action and the setting are exciting. However, the plot is weak and gimmicky. The film tries to capture the swashbuckling fun and foreboding danger of the originals, but it comes off as a rehash taking what did well in the previous films. Only some of those still work.
5/10
The Video and the Audio
The Blu-Ray is definitely a step up from the DVD, with crisper colors and sharpness. Presented in 2.40:1 and DTS-HD 7.1 surround sound, the film both looks and sounds nice. I wish there were more scenic shots to take advantage of.
8/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features
The Blu-Ray/DVD combo comes in a standard Blu-Ray case with slip cover. Disney almost doesn’t want you to notice the DVD. The DVD itself is plain gray, as opposed to the graphic-covered Blu-Ray. Plus it’s hidden behind promotional inserts.
However, one of the neat things I noticed in stores is that the Blu-Ray/DVD combo is available both in this standard smaller Blu-Ray case, as well as a standard larger DVD case (with red accenting on the case art instead of blue). I haven’t noticed this for other combo releases. It’s an interesting concept to allow customers to choose which shape they prefer in their media shelves, but it’s probably an unnecessary extra production cost in the long run.
The DVD and the Blu-Ray have almost the same bonuses, like commentary and bloopers. It’s good to see Disney not nerf the DVD and give too much preferential treatment to the Blu-Ray. I’m partial to the Lego version of the story, told in shorts. They could have done away with the intros in each individual short when playing all though, and more original adventures would have been appreciated.
The Blu-Ray features Disney’s Second Screen, which is a sort of visual commentary that you can sync with the Blu-Ray playing so that you can follow the film with production art, behind-the-scenes photos, info blurbs, short videos and more arranged in the timeline of the film. The syncing can be done automatically from the website or mobile app, which happened as I both watched the Blu-Ray and the Second Screen features from my laptop.
This can also be viewed separately simply by visiting disney.com/secondscreen, which means you can view it alongside the DVD as well (without any syncing, so you’re on your own with that) and simply by yourself online.
The Second Screen feature an interesting little bonus, but it makes the watching of the film more interactive and less passive, and that’s not necessarily the viewing experience movie watchers want.
8/10
Overall (Not an Average)
The film can be a fun summer film to lose yourself in, but the writing is weak. Resting so much on obvious pirate lore doesn’t save the film. While the extras are there, the most notable Second Screen feature is available online at Disney’s website anyway, so there’s not much of a need to bother with a full purchase. If you need to watch it, renting or streaming will suit you just fine.
5/10
The Review
The Film 5/10
The Video and Audio 8/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features 8/10
Overall (Not an Average) 5/10
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The 30th Anniversary of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi is upon us, well almost anyway. To celebrate the movie’s birthday in 2013 Hasbro is working with Star Wars Insider Magazine to give fans the chance to pick one of their favorite characters from the Star Wars franchise to be immortalized as one of the company’s 2013 line of Star Wars action figures.
There are twenty Star Wars characters in the running. The winning character will be announced at Hasbro’s 2012 Collector-Fan Media Day event at Toy Fair in New York in February 2012.
“Everybody loves collecting Star Wars and this is a rare chance to vote for a character to be made into an action figure, says Jonathan Wilkins, Star Wars Insider editor. “There are some really diverse characters to choose from; from the movies to the Expanded Universe; from the dreaded Emperor Palpatine to the cute Princess Kneesa. We want as many fans as possible to get involved! Who will you choose? You can read more about the history of the fan poll in the latest issue of Star Wars Insider, out now! Get voting!”
The action figure to be created will be decided on solely by this poll so you truly do have a say in what character will be on your shelf next to the Darth Vader head banks and the Luke Skywalker 12 incher that’s missing the light saber because your dog got hungry one day. Click the link below to vote:
www.Titanmagazines.com/insiderhasbropoll
Voting ends at midnight December 1st, 2011.
May the force be with you.
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Ok so the previous version cut off a few minutes in. Now we present the entire uncut 90 minutes for your enjoyment!
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We’ve Got an Early Look at the Chuck Season Premiere!
Our favorite bumbling super spy returns to TV on Friday October 28th at 8/7c. In anticipation of his return NBC has sent us a few clips of the premiere:
New Client
Casey and Chuck each have a different approach to new customer acquisition in this preview from the Chuck season 5 premiere:
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Zoomed?
Morgan rolls the Intersect his own way in this preview from the Chuck season 5 premiere:
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This week all the news from NYCC seems to be either about zombies or Avengers and we aren’t complaining! Here’s an epic episode recorded in the new Comix City Too!
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Directed by Frank Henenlotter
Starring James Lorinz, Patty Muller, Charlotte J. Helmkamp
Can a well meaning scientist recapture his true love even though she is a re-animated corpse turning tricks in the city? Well…
The Movie
There have been many, many takes on the Frankenstein story since the beginning of cinema, some good (the 1931 classic with Boris Karloff), some not so good (Frankenstein Unbound) and a lot that are just plain mediocre (The Bride, 1994’s Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein). Then there are the truly bizarre takes on the story (Frankenfish, Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein). Frankenhooker falls somewhere in the middle of this category.
In Frank Henelotter’s version we are introduced to Jeffery Franken (James Lorinz) and his fiancé Elizabeth Shelley (Patty Muller). When Elizabeth is killed in a freak remote controlled lawnmower accident (it happens) the only thing Jeffery can think to do is attach her head to a re-animated body made up of body parts from hookers. So far it sounds like a solid plan. What could possibly go wrong? But when Elizabeth awakens with not only the body of a hooker but also the mindset of one, things (shockingly) fall apart quickly.
Cult movies are always an acquired taste. Granted some fans acquire that taste faster than others. Bad acting, even worse special effects and little if no storyline makes for a tricky minefield of likeability at times. Frankenhooker gets around some of this by just having fun. It’s easy to see that the filmmakers and actors knew they weren’t making a masterpiece so they enjoyed themselves and went with it.
For the most part I enjoyed this movie. It wasn’t too schlocky and it certainly wasn’t highbrow. I absolutely did not see the ending coming at all. Well worth the ninety minute time investment. With Halloween coming up Frankenhooker could easily become background decoration for any adult friendly Halloween party.
6/10
The Video
This looks a hell of a lot better than it should! For a cult film that was made on a small budget the digital transfer looks really good. Presented in HD 1080p Widescreen (1.78:1).
6/10
The Audio
Presented in DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround it sounds just fine. Every line is audible and I’m sure with a higher end audio set up I’d be able to tell.
5/10
The Packaging and Special Features
Much like all dvds these days the packaging is simple. But Synapse Films really went all out on the special features. We get four featurettes, audio commentary and the ever present theatrical trailer. The featurettes are pretty cool especially “Turning Tricks: Jennifer Delora Remembers Frankenhooker.”
7/10
All in all this is highly entertaining. For a fun time this Halloween checkout Frankenhooker on Blu-Ray.
Overall(Not an Average)6/10
The Review
The Movie 6/10
The Video 6/10
The Audio 5/10
The Packaging and Special Features 7/10
Overall (Not an Average) 6/10
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![Super 8 (Single-Disc Blu-ray Edition) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JFt1LlPoL._SL75_.jpg "Super 8 (Single-Disc Blu-ray Edition) [Blu-ray]")
Check out this early Concept Art from Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Pirates still make bank. The latest installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise hits DVD and Blu-Ray on October 18th and to celebrate we have a slideshow of concept art and character designs utilized in the creation of the film. The film was directed by Rob Marshall and stars of course Johnny Depp, along with Penélope Cruz and Ian McShane.
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![Band Of Brothers [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Wb5TwvL1L._SL75_.jpg "Band Of Brothers [Blu-ray]")
Since I’ve been reading comics I’ve always leaned toward Marvel’s more grounded real world approach to storytelling. That doesn’t take anything from DC’s more sci-fi approach, Marvel’s books were just my preference. Marvel’s characters seem of the era in which they are written and they live in real cities and deal with real issues where DC’s characters live in fictional cities and even though they go through real drama it always felt like it happened through a generally less gritty existence. Hardcore DC fans may disagree with me and that’s fine. After all this discussion is from a Marvel fans perspective and as a Marvel fan this has always been my perception of DC books. I have read some DC. I’ve always been a fan of Green Lantern, Action Comics, the Justice League, and the grittiest book in DC’s line up Batman. I was one of the few people excited about DC’s new 52 because I felt this would be my opportunity to jump back into the DC U. I’ve tried off and on in the last few years but DC’s books aren’t really that inviting to the “jump in”, even at the beginnings of story arcs. I know many readers are opposed to Marvel’s use of recap pages but those would be really helpful for readers hoping to jump into a DC series. At any rate, these so called “soft reboots” seemed like the place to jump in. I read my favorites from my youth; Justice League, Action Comics, and Green Lantern. I also checked out Legion LOST. Justice League #1 This was not really a Justice League book. It’s the beginning of the Justice League though.
The focus here is on the first meeting of Batman and Green Lantern. In this new world heroes aren’t acknowledged as such. They are costumed freaks that need to be arrested. They also seem to think that about each other for the most part. The actual story in this book is sort of weak sauce. Batman’s investigation is built on knowledge he shouldn’t have and coincidence. The story here is really just a tool for these two heroes to meet. The star of the book is in their interaction. Batman is a badass and that’s so well represented here that any shortcomings of the story didn’t matter to me. Also the world was fairly well defined and honestly a bit too familiar. More on that later though. Action Comics #1 This Superman is young and inexperienced. He tries to help and usually does but he almost does it in a Hancock way causing as much damage as help. His alter ego still writes for a newspaper but now he lives in squalor and has nothing but bad luck. He can’t get his bills paid because he’s too busy saving the day. Does this sound familiar? Again more on that later. This doesn’t seem like a Superman story for better or for worse. Green Lantern #1 This story doesn’t feel as much like a reboot as the others. Green Lantern has had his ring taken from him and Sinestro has had a ring forced on him. The writing here is great because it didn’t matter that I hadn’t read the previous Green lantern stories. Even if you’re so unfamiliar with green Lantern that you don’t know who Sinestro is the story gives up enough character development to catch you up. This book is a set up for Green Lantern’s story and it’s fascinating enough to get me back for future installments. Like Clark Kent the Lantern’s alter ego can’t seem to exist successfully in his sort of secret identity. The difference here is that he can’t be a hero either. He’s a failed hero desperate for another chance.
Legion LOST #1 This book felt the most like classic DC storytelling and not coincidentally it’s the toughest to get into for a non DC reader. The Legion is back in the past to stop a villain from destroying humanity. The setup is easy to jump into but there’s no character development in the book. The issue relies too much on prior knowledge of the series to truly understand what’s happening and who these people are. They slide in and out of hero names and real names way too often making it a little tougher for a Legion noob to learn who is who. The story is somewhat interesting though and hopefully there’ll be better character development as the issues come out. At least at this point you can jump into the story. Overall for the Marvel fan these books are a good way to bring some DC books into the old hold box. The biggest problem though is that it feels like the powers that be at DC have decided that it’s a good idea to immolate some elements of the Marvel U to tell these new stories. Action Comics feels way too much like Amazing Spider-Man. This isn’t at all who Clark Kent is. The setup in Justice League also feels like Marvel U. As much as I appreciated being able to add some DC books to my hold list I’d still like to see DC tell stories their way rather than following a Marvel formula. All they really needed to do was make their books more accessible. They did just that but they also redesigned their entire universe and reformatted their style of storytelling. It all seems like a pretty extreme change. It may have been wiser to do this in an alternate universe similar to Marvel’s Ultimate Comics line. There’s no denying the gamble is paying off for DC in the short term based on the sales of the number 1’s. The question is will all of these people that are dipping their toe in stay around for the long haul. On a side note I actually read these books digitally on the iPad. The convenience factor of being able to get these books day and date without filling up my hold box at the comics shop or causing me to make extra trips to the shop definitely was a major factor in deciding to check these books out.
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Directed by: Wayne Isham
Starring: “Weird Al” Yankovic
Weird Al’s latest show takes him to the far-off and rarely unexplored land of Toronto.
The Film
The Alpocalypse Tour features the Toronto stop of the same-named tour for Weird Al’s latest Alpocalypse album. It’s not all the new stuff though. Weird Al does a good mix of new and classics from “Polka Face,” “CNR,” and “Party in the CIA” to “Amish Paradise,” “Fat” and “The Saga Begins” (which is the best way to consume The Phantom Menace). The songs are all well-written parodies, and he covers enough genres for anyone to find something in the concert they would like.
The performances are very energetic. It’s hard to believe Weird Al has been doing this for 25 years. From running around and serenading women in the live audience, showing off his expert segway driving skills and even simply moving around at all in the “Fat” suit, it’s remarkable how lively Weird Al still is after all this time. Weird Al’s band manages to keep up as well with their own costume changes and playing off Weird Al.
The actual filming is well done. The film utilizes several different cameras and angles, with the cameras themselves moving around very dynamically. The audience gets to see the show from several different perspectives. Props go to the costuming for making the costumes look good in even the close ups, where that wouldn’t matter as much otherwise for the live audience.
This film is well constructed, and the concert itself is a fun and entertaining show. Definitely worth a watch for Weird Al fans.
9/10
The Video and Audio
The film is in widescreen, although the DVD case doesn’t list the exact proportions. The audio is excellently edited. All the songs are loud and clear. In place of the dead time between songs and costume changes, the live audience applause is seamlessly cut to from song to song to make the entire experience continuous.
9/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features
The concert comes on a single disc in a white standard DVD case. The artwork is pretty neat with a well-drawn Weird Al fighting the apocalypse with a sword in one hand and an accordion in the other.
The set is packed with plenty of extra clips. A middle portion of the concert that’s cut from the film is added in the bonuses. The disc has music videos of “Perform This Way” and “Polka Face,” both of which are also performed in the concert.
Also included are random and quirky clips from Weird Al’s YouTube account, as well as comedic shorts he did on College Humor, AOL and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. These are good for a quick chuckle to add to the rest of the comedic special. Personally, I prefer some behind-the-scenes stuff, but there’s plenty out there with Weird Al, so it’s not a big loss.
The main drawback is that aside from the extra performances from the concert that were cut from the film, almost everything can be found online for free. Some more DVD-exclusive content would have helped add some value.
7.5/10
Overall (Not an Average)
Weird Al fans will get a kick out of this concert. However, since the concert will probably be aired plenty on Comedy Central (it is a Comedy Central special), and most of the bonuses are online for free, there isn’t much added value to owning the DVD. If you want everything on here in one easily-accessible spot, then this is for you.
7.5/10
The Review
The Film 9/10
The Video and Audio 9/10
The Packaging and Bonus Features 7.5/10
Overall (Not an Average) 7.5/10
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We take a minute to talk Steve Jobs, Marvel on Android, Expendables 2, Netflix nonsense, and Spider-Man!
