What I Watched This Week (w/e October 26th 2008)

Blu-ray

Cars - I watched this twice, once for the film and once with the Cine-Explore mode which incorporates two commentaries and PiP and featurettes by seamless branching. I liked the film more than previous viewings and was stunned by the AV quality - it is probably the best looking Blu-ray Disc I've seen. :)

Futurama: Bender's Game - After being underwhelmed by the first two Futurama films, they are back to their best with this. Review to follow shortly. :D

Casino Royale - I watched this again and went through the hours of extras - follow the link to the review. :D

Stuck - My first review disc from overseas was an all region Blu-ray from the US. The film was much better than I expected with fine performances by Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea. :)

DVD

The Godfather - I had to watch this for Uni (oh, such hardships!) and it remains a fantastic piece of filmmaking. There are great performances by all, the script by Coppola and Puzo is intelligent and full of memorable lines and Coppola's direction is sublime. I consider Part II to be a better film but prefer this. :D

Horton Hears a Who! - I haven't read the book but, if it's anything like Dr. Seuss' others, there isn't that much material to develop and it shows. The story could easily have been done in 10 minutes and it feels artificially elongated and drags in many places. The voices are OK, Seuss' rhyming narration is good but too infrequent and the bizarre sing-a-long ending to Can't Fight This Feeling felt really weird and out of place. The animation was puzzling as it begins with a photo realistic water droplet, but then you see Horton who is strangely smooth and artificial in appearance. :(

Monty Python's Flying Circus Series 1-4 - I wasn't provided with series 4 to review but have seen the episodes enough to comment. This is a really nice set containing some brand new and exclusive extras. :D

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre - I don't know further releases of this there will be as, by my reckoning this is the third in the UK alone and they haven't even started on Blu-ray yet! I already have the R1 Ultimate Edition and this 3-disc Seriously Ultimate Edition just pips it with a couple of new interviews. :D

Cinema

Burn After Reading - Due to the trailers I was really looking forward to this and the previews do contain the best bits, though edited differently to the finished film. Brad Pitt is the highlight, with a performance that shows he has real comedic talent and the film looks and sounds (thanks to Carter Burwell's score) like an overblown spy thriller. Like so many of the Coen brothers' films, it really is a film full of idiots - or loveable losers as they tend to be - and the summing up by J. K. Simmons at the end says everything about the film. :)

The Rocker - I've seen this film before - it's basically School of Rock but with high schoolers - with Rainn Wilson playing a role that could easily have been played by Jack Black. There are enough dick, fart and bodily function jokes to go around and it's not boring, merely predictable and unoriginal. :|