Stranger Than Fiction and Babel - DVD Releases for this Week
June 5th 2007 23:03
This week there are two DVD releases of note and while naturally no one is going to buy them at full price (well except perhaps for the odd obsessed fan or cashed up collector) it's good to know what's available on the market. It's all part of the DVD revolution after all.
This week's releases begin with Stranger Than Fiction. This sophisticated comedy is unarguably one of the most unexpected movies of recent years. The story line is somewhat absurdist to hear. Harold Crick (brilliantly underplayed by Will Ferrel) is an everyman who begins to hear a woman's voice narrating his daily activities. Naturally he thinks that he's gone nuts but as events progress he discovers that the voice actually belongs to author Karen Eiffel (Britisher Emma Thompson) who is in the middle of writing her latest novel. One problem, she's planning to kill her main character off!
Sounds slightly bizarre yes, and the presence of Will Ferrel may leave you queasy. But don't be concerned. The writing is beyond sublime and the story moves apace with an uncluttered and organised progression leading to a climax and a twist that will leave you delighted with its ingenuity.
Ferrel gives the performance of his career thus far alongside the always brilliant Emma Thompson, with a charmingly wacky character, Queen Latifah as her "handler", Dustin Hoffman in a delightfully cynical role and Maggie Gylenhaal as an off the wall but realistically played love interest for Ferrel.
This Single-Disc edition is becomes available today (Wednesday, June 06) for Full Retail Price of AU$29.83 and it will be bound to come on special within a month. This is definitely one to buy before it is shamelessly put in a three-pack movie collector edition with two other of Ferrell's puffier comedies.
The heavier release of the week is last year's award sweetheart and "reach out between cultures" movie Babel. It is easily one of the finest drama's ever made with a cast of such a diverse and talented nature as is only ever assembled once in a lifetime.
Top-billed stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are hardly the chief draws of this film. Rather their co-stars Gael Garcia Bernal, Rinko Kikuchi and Adrianna Barrazza steal the show with performances that deserved Oscars but didn't have the momentum to get them.
Babel is basically a collection of stories all dramatic and telling enough alone that end up being brilliantly linked by a common plot thread, the nature of which is "all American's are thoughtless, selfish bastards!"
We love to hate America sure, but the reason this shoulda-been-a-classic stumbled at later award ceremonies is unquestionably because it takes its message just a little too far. By the end the Iraqi terrorists begin to look justified and you almost want to join them. Basically rather than seeking to bring cultures together and resolve injustices caused by miscommunications, it aggravates them by portraying one culture in a particularly bad light - and let's face it, making American's look bad is no real trick is it? They can do it well enough without anyone's help!
That negative aspect aside, the stories are spectacular, well written and connected, realistic human interest stories of age-old relevance to every nation and culture. Adriana Barrazza is a particular stand out. Her particular story of love and devotion gone wrong will leave you desolate with the passion of its portrayal.
This two-disc Special Edition release is available on Thursday, June 07 for Full Retail price of AU$29.83 and chances are it will not come down for a while given its artistic nature. Give it a few months and it may come down to AU$19.98.
He's not crazy, he was just written that way.
Sounds slightly bizarre yes, and the presence of Will Ferrel may leave you queasy. But don't be concerned. The writing is beyond sublime and the story moves apace with an uncluttered and organised progression leading to a climax and a twist that will leave you delighted with its ingenuity.
Emma Thompson and Queen Latifah as author Karen Eiffel and professional "Handler"
This Single-Disc edition is becomes available today (Wednesday, June 06) for Full Retail Price of AU$29.83 and it will be bound to come on special within a month. This is definitely one to buy before it is shamelessly put in a three-pack movie collector edition with two other of Ferrell's puffier comedies.
Babel on DVD
The heavier release of the week is last year's award sweetheart and "reach out between cultures" movie Babel. It is easily one of the finest drama's ever made with a cast of such a diverse and talented nature as is only ever assembled once in a lifetime.
Top-billed stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are hardly the chief draws of this film. Rather their co-stars Gael Garcia Bernal, Rinko Kikuchi and Adrianna Barrazza steal the show with performances that deserved Oscars but didn't have the momentum to get them.
Babel is basically a collection of stories all dramatic and telling enough alone that end up being brilliantly linked by a common plot thread, the nature of which is "all American's are thoughtless, selfish bastards!"
Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett deliver fine performances over-shadowed by those of lesser known co-stars
We love to hate America sure, but the reason this shoulda-been-a-classic stumbled at later award ceremonies is unquestionably because it takes its message just a little too far. By the end the Iraqi terrorists begin to look justified and you almost want to join them. Basically rather than seeking to bring cultures together and resolve injustices caused by miscommunications, it aggravates them by portraying one culture in a particularly bad light - and let's face it, making American's look bad is no real trick is it? They can do it well enough without anyone's help!
Oscar nominee Adriana Barrazza in the performance of a lifetime
That negative aspect aside, the stories are spectacular, well written and connected, realistic human interest stories of age-old relevance to every nation and culture. Adriana Barrazza is a particular stand out. Her particular story of love and devotion gone wrong will leave you desolate with the passion of its portrayal.
This two-disc Special Edition release is available on Thursday, June 07 for Full Retail price of AU$29.83 and chances are it will not come down for a while given its artistic nature. Give it a few months and it may come down to AU$19.98.
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