Figure skating is a sport that’s been begging for a full-blown
parody. While skating has generated such memorable films as the
terrific romantic comedy “The Cutting Edge” and the
tearjerking favorite “Ice Castles,” we hadn’t seen a
full-blown, inspired romp until this year’s
BLADES OF GLORY (***, 93 mins., 2007, PG-13; Dreamworks/Paramount).
Released earlier this winter to a robust $118 million domestic gross,
this thoroughly goofy and occasionally hilarious Dreamworks release
boasts the sure-fire comedic teaming of Will Ferrell (as a bad-boy,
Elvis Stoyko-type) and Jon Heder (the artsy, slightly fey Johnny
Weir-styled pretty boy) as two men’s singles champions who are
banned from the sport after they brawl with one another during an
international competition’s concluding medal ceremony.
Faced with grim prospects (Ferrell gains employment in a kids’
skating show; Heder works at a skate shop), Heder’s old coach
Craig T. Nelson hatches a plan: the sport’s governing body offers
no restrictions on the duo returning to competition in the pairs
competition, so Ferrell and Heder opt to take on skating’s
Gold-medalist winning duo (Amy Poehler and Will Arnett as a pair of
creepy siblings)...by skating with one another!
With its ridiculous costumes and inherent pretentiousness, skating is
an easy target for ridicule, and the best thing about “Blades of
Glory” is that it generally bypasses the most obvious targets,
letting the outlandish outfits and routines speak for themselves, and
instead concentrates on developing the chemistry between Ferrell and
Heder, who prove to be a solid comic team together. First-time feature
directors Will Speck and Josh Gordon authentically capture the essence
of Olympic-styled competition (from its choreography to the broadcast
tandem of Scott Hamilton and Jim Lapley), then layer loads of laughs on
top of it, courtesy of a script credited to Jeff and Craig Cox, John
Altschuler and Dave Krinsky. The sequences of Ferrell and Heder skating
to Aerosmith’s “Armageddon” ballad and -- in the
film’s memorable climax -- Queen’s “Flash
Gordon” theme are hilarious, but so are a number of sight gags,
the best of which involves Nelson’s secretive “Iron
Lotus” skating maneuver, as captured on a videotape smuggled in
from North Korea.
Jenna Fischer (from TV’s “The Office”) makes for an
appealing romantic interest for Heder, while Poehler and Arnett (a
real-life married couple playing the villainous siblings here) are
quite amusing on their own. But it’s really Ferrell and
Heder’s work here that makes this silly lark so much fun, capped
by a strong Theodore Shapiro score and a memorably daffy, inspired
climax. Comedy fans shouldn’t miss it!
Dreamworks’ regular DVD looks fine, but their first HD-DVD
exclusive presentation is even better, offering a clean, spotless
high-definition 1080p, VC-1 encoded transfer. The movie looks vibrant,
and the Dolby Digital Plus sound has a full, robust feel to it on the
audio side. Ample extras include deleted scenes and alternate takes, an
interview with Scott Hamilton, several featurettes on the making of the
movie, and a gag reel -- almost all of which are in HD as well.
New on Blu Ray
REMEMBER THE TITANS: Blu Ray (***, 2001, 113 mins., PG; Disney):
The first collaboration between the Walt Disney Pictures brand name and
producer Jerry Bruckheimer resulted in a feel-good 2001 football drama,
the true story of a Virginia high school football team in the early
'70s fighting racial prejudice as well as their on-field opponents.
Denzel Washington is terrific as a black coach designated to take over
the racially polarized Alexandria school district's football squad,
while Will Patton -- as the white coach relegated to a backup role with
Washington's arrival -- ends up helping bring races together in a movie
that is every bit as corny, syrupy, and saccharine as you might
anticipate from a Disney release, but also highly entertaining
nevertheless.
The performances of the youthful cast go a long way to making this a
perfect family film, as does Boaz Yakin's crisp filmmaking and Trevor
Rabin's score. I could have done without the one-too-many Motown
sing-alongs (didn't we put the cinematic kibosh on such cliched
sequences years ago?), and the movie could have used a bit more action
on the field, but at a movie-going time where good movies are a
precious few, “Remember the Titans” is solid entertainment
and a moving true story that deserves to be seen.
Disney’s Blu Ray release is a keeper: the 1080p HD transfer is as
crisp as you’d anticipate, while uncompressed 5.1 PCM sound
maintains a boisterous presence throughout. Extras include two
commentaries, an ABC TV special, deleted scenes and other featurettes
carried over from the standard definition version.
New and Coming Soon on DVD
THE GRADUATE: 40th Anniversary Edition (****, 106 mins., 1967, PG; MGM/Fox):
Mike Nichols’ seminal coming-of-age comic drama is back on DVD
next week in a new Special Anniversary Edition courtesy of Fox and MGM.
Though the set is a little sparse on extras, fans of this chronicle of
the life of one Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) will still
appreciate the new features as well as the set’s remastered 16:9
(2.35) transfer along with new 5.1 DTS and Dolby Digital mixes, both of
which come to life when Simon & Garfunkel’s classic songs
appear on the soundtrack. Needless to say this release is a major
upgrade on all prior MGM DVD editions, finally doing justice to the
picture’s Panavision cinematography.
For extras, the DVD includes a new featurette, “Students of the
Graduate,” offering comments from filmmakers like Harold Ramis
and critics including David Ansen and Owen Gleiberman, all giving their
thoughts on the legacy of this 1967 classic. An older conversation with
Dustin Hoffman is culled from the 25th Anniversary VHS and laserdisc
releases, as is the retrospective featurette “The Graduate at
25.” The original trailer is also on-hand, but will be of the
most interest for buffs here are two new commentary tracks: one
featuring Dustin Hoffman and Katharine Ross, the other with Mike
Nichols and Steven Soderbergh. The Hoffman-Ross track is chatty and
fun, but the Nichols-Soderbergh track will prove of more interest for
scholars.
Overall, this is a must-have upgrade for “Graduate” fans,
with Fox’s release also offering a mini-soundtrack CD (available
supposedly for a limited time only) sporting Simon &
Garfunkel’s four songs from the film.
GREY’S ANATOMY: Season 3 (2006-07, 1105 mins.; Buena Vista):
ABC’s hit medical drama/soap opera is back on DVD in a seven disc
set preserving the third-season adventures of McDreamy, McSteamy and
Company. Here, the cast bids adieu to Kate Walsh (heading off to
topline her own spin-off) and Isaiah Washington (heading off to rehab
and a guest stint on “The Bionic Woman”) during these
Season 3 episodes, four of which are exclusively extended for DVD.
Other extras include selected audio commentaries and featurettes, plus
superb 1.78 (16:9) transfers with 5.1 Dolby Digital sound.
UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE: Seasons 1 and 2 (Paramount): The
Comedy Central series finds it way to DVD this month, first in a
Complete Season 1 set (available now), offering the original pilot,
commentary and other extras, and later in a Season 2 box (available
September 18th) with more commentaries, early live performances by the
group, deleted scenes and more.
TWO AND A HALF MEN: Complete First Season (2003-04, 24 Episodes, Warner):
CBS’ top-rated Monday night sitcom debuts on DVD in a complete
First Season set, preserving the Charlie Sheen-Jon Cryer comedy’s
initial 24 episodes. A gag reel, outtakes, a backstage tour with their
young co-star Angus T. Jones, and a Making Of featurette round out the
set, which is presented in 16:9 (1.85) widescreen transfers and 2.0
Dolby Digital sound.
SAMURAI JACK: Season 4 (292 mins., Warner): Season
4 box-set preserves over four hours of Genndy Tartakovsky’s
acclaimed Cartoon Network series in full-screen transfers and 2.0 Dolby
Digital sound. Extras include a deleted scene, series promos, and two
featurettes.
SUPERNATURAL: Season 2 (2006-07, 903 mins., Warner): Creator
Eric Kripke’s chilling tale of two brothers (Jensen Ackles and
Jared Padalecki) traveling the country, searching for their lost father
and running into all sorts of supernatural creepies along the way was
one of the fledgling CW Network’s few solid performers during its
second season. With more attention turned to the series’ core
story, “Supernatural” ramps up the thrills and dramatic
interest in its second season, which Warner brings to DVD next week in
a box-set offering unaired scenes, commentary on three episodes,
Padalecki’s screen test, a gag reel, and an interactive U.S. map
offering a guide to “urban legends and factoids pertaining to
each episode.” Recommended!
BLOODRAYNE 2: Deliverance (2007, 95 mins., R; Vivendi):
Uwe Boll strikes again, this time with his sequel to his arguably most
watchable videogame-to-film adaptation (though that doesn’t say
much, admittedly). Kristanna Loken is nowhere to be found, but the
curvy Natassia Malthe makes for an agreeable enough substitute in this
follow-up, which pits the red-haired vampiress against Billy the Kid
(Zack Ward). Michael Pare shows us he’s still alive and kicking
in this latest Boll concoction, best left for undemanding teenagers and
video game addicts only. Vivendi’s DVD includes a digital comic
book, deleted and extended scenes, commentary, interviews, and the
complete “Bloodrayne 2" video game on a separate PC-DVD.
GRACIE (***, 97 mins., 2007, PG-13; New Line):
Amiable drama about a fiesty teenage girl (the appealing Carly
Schroeder) who defies the odds and bucks the system in her desire to
play high school boys’ soccer. Dermot Mulroney and Elisabeth Shue
co-star as Gracie’s parents in this inspirational family picture,
directed by Shue’s husband (“An Inconvenient Truth”
helmer Davis Guggenheim), which arrives on DVD in two weeks with
commentaries from Guggenheim, a separate commentary from Shue and her
brother Andrew (who also appears in the film and co-wrote the story), a
Making Of featurette, the original trailer, a 16:9 (2.35) transfer and
5.1 Dolby Digital sound.
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