14 posts from February 2009

I've basically mentally checked out at this point. Not at this point in life, mind you, but in terms of this week and at work and whatnot. Sure, it's Friday and all, the obvious brain check-out day, but I've basically been mentally on vacation since about...oh, Tuesday. Monday night, maybe. Luckily, that's because I'm actually going to be on vacation as of 6 PM tonight...and really, not a moment too soon. I don't know if it's because of naturally built-up fatigue/frustration or because I'm itching to get away, but it's going to be a challenge just to get through today. It also hasn't helped that this week has been utter balls in most every respect....

But why dwell on all of that (just because it will all be waiting for me when I return from my vacation)? Clearly, I should celebrate my liberation from the workplace for this brief northeastern respite. And indeed, I am celebrating, as evidenced by my utter lack of interest and engagement in work this past week. I don't know...it's all felt somewhat hollow and pointless this week. Forgive my melodrama, but it's kind of a buzzkill when I get into the mindset that my job is ultimately meaningless and my seemingly-solid relationships with other people are like trite dust in the overused simile that is wind.

And as much as I'm looking forward to my trip (this is my rescheduled trip to Syracuse and New York City) and seeing my friends and old stomping grounds, I can't help but feel a sense of sadness about the whole thing. I miss having Jim and Jennie here in Los Angeles on a permanent basis and my planned two day visit with them next week is a mere crumb off of that relationship pie (oh, my tortured metaphors). And then there are my New York friends...while I would fervently disagree that my move to Los Angeles "took a toll" on my friendships with them (I'd counter that we have a deep reservoir of friendship and that distance won't deplete it), it can be said, at least for my tastes, that my brief seemingly annual visits aren't really enough to fully satisfy. Plus, being amongst friends in the northeast usually serves to amplify the silence when I return to LA.

Well, that was pretty bleak. But what can I say...it's been that kind of week. Fuck it, it's been that kind of year so far. I'm not usually quite so pessimistic (I look at myself as a pessimistic optimist: I want things to be good but I understand that they probably won't be), but I've felt a little beaten down of late.

And now it's the end of the day...the end of a very stressful day. While the first part of this week dawdled along, I found myself soundly slammed with a dumpster-full of work that needs my attention prior to my absence. And now, at 5:06 PM, do I feel that I'm ready for my vacation? Not really...there was one thing that I had told myself that I had to do today and I still haven't had a chance to get to it. Why not do it now instead of writing on my blog? Eh...there's a reason why I left it to the end of the week. Unfortunately, my boss has a 5-6 PM meeting right now, so our final catchup will have to take place after 6...lame. So much for starting my vacation on time....

But boo fucking hoo, I guess...an extra hour or so isn't the end of the world when one has an 11-day respite in front of them. Still, who the fuck schedules a 5-6 PM meeting on a Friday? Satan, that's who. Or someone who specifically hates me and wants to do me wrong. But fine, I'll deal with it and then I'll be off into the night. I suppose I should at least attempt to be productive and take care of that pesky project....

So Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy (and Mouse Hunt) director Gore Verbinski wants to make a new cinematic version of Clue, the classic board game of the same name. First of all, allow me to be one of the first to say: buh?? So after directing a billion dollar franchise and cementing himself as a major Hollywood director (though oddly, no one ever seems to talk about him...you don't hear anyone calling for Verbinski to helm various geek projects in development), the man chooses to make...Clue. Sure, lots of directors who make big budget films often tackle a smaller project to refuel their creative engines (Tim Burton did Edward Scissorhands after the first Batman, Christopher Nolan did The Prestige after Batman Begins), but it's usually a more personal/risky project that said director now has the clout to bring to life. It's not usually Clue....

It's not that I doubt that Verbinski has "the chops" to make this an interesting movie. I mean, the guy did take a semi-lame Disney ride and make into a really fun adventure movie...before he sank the metaphorical ship with the sequels. I'm sure his plans for Clue are at least interesting...but still, Clue? I mean, I have all the love in the world for the classic 1985 film adaptation (especially since my high school drama club mounted a theatrical production based on the film script...I played Colonel Mustard), but does the boardgame really warrant two movie adaptations (especially if one of those will likely take it really, really seriously as opposed to the brilliant comedic version)? But whatever, I guess...as long as this "reboot" prompts Paramount to create special features for the original film and release it on Blu-ray, I'll be content.

I had brunch with two friends from college today...I don't have that many "friends from college," as a lot of my friends from that era were carried over from high school and remained "high school friends." Still, I have around 10 people with whom I'm still in touch that are straight-up "friends from college," and the point is that I saw two of them today...they happen to be married to one another now, so it was actually a two-for-one deal. For those who are familiar with my collegiate chums, it was Sean and Charlotte...Sean was the "Drunken Party-Goer" in Cuz I Love You and Charlotte was "The Girl Off To The Far Right At The Bar During The Tracking Shot Through The New Year's Party"...she was also the First Assistant Director. The three of us (along with a guy named Jason, who now lives in Italy and just became a father) were in a group for our Junior year Color Sync class, wherein we made our eight-minute movies.

The point is, it was really good to see them...lately, I have to be reminded how nice it is to get out of my apartment and see people. Especially when it comes to friends. I don't mean this to sound arrogant (cue something arrogant...), but I tend to forget that people sometimes actually want to see me and spend time with me, that I'm not some horrible burden of a person. I don't know...either way, I tend to get lazy and self-conscious and uncomfortable with being social and I really shouldn't. Today was a nice reminder that I enjoy being with friends, that it's good to get the hell out of my apartment once in a while, and that I'm not a social cripple.

With that said, on to the Academy Awards!

As per my ways, I'm not actually watching the Academy Awards, but thanks to IMDB's up-to-the-second posting of the winners and The AV Club's very amusing Live Blog, I'm pretty current with the winners (for reference, they just announced Best Actress...by the time I get to discussing Best Picture, I think the ceremony will be over). There's really not much to discuss, but I feel like wringing the last drops from this awards-rag, so here goes:

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
I still have yet to see this movie, but wasn't the buzz in this category all about Doubt (and rightfully so)? Wherefore art thou, Amy Adams or Viola Davis? I really can't say too much about this win except a) I guess Penelope Cruz is a good actress after all?, and b) dammit, now I have to see Vicky Cristina Barcelona. I genuinely had no interest in seeing that movie outside of a vague desire to see every Woody Allen movie at some point. Ugh...but hardly a controversial win.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Dustin Lance Black, Milk
I really liked Milk, but I don't know if the screenplay was its best asset. Still, I can't be too critical of this win, especially since I now don't have to watch Frozen River (also, thanks Kate Winslet!) and/or In Bruges. And as much as I love Wall-E, I still feel that the screenplay wasn't its best asset, either. Milk is a fine choice, even if I'm still confused as to why Dustin Lance Black got an enormous credit during the trailer.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
And the Slumdog triumph train leaves the station. I still love the screenplay for Doubt, but admittedly, the screenplay for Slumdog Millionaire is well done in its own right. This was another pretty predictable win, but at least fucking Benjamin Button lost here. That's what counts.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Wall-E
As it should be. Had there been some sort of Kung Fu Panda upset, I would have died a little inside...not that Kung Fu Panda was bad, but it would be like The Fugitive winning Best Picture over Schindler's List (ah, the old Schindler's List comparison...no one can argue against that and come out looking good).

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
La Maison En Petits Cubes
Whaaaat??? No Presto??? Fuck that! Admittedly, it's the only nominated animated short film I saw this year, but it was so good!

BEST ART DIRECTION
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Someone said that Best Art Direction usually comes down to "most art direction." Yep, that seems about right. Again, I'm glad The Dark Knight didn't win here and the other nominees were sort of underwhelming. I did see Changeling recently, but my opinion remains the same. Besides, if there's one thing David Fincher's movies have, it's neat art direction.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
The Duchess
I haven't seen this movie and I still probably won't. Allow me to briefly journey back to the 1995 Academy Awards, where Braveheart, Twelve Monkeys, Sense & Sensibility, Richard III and some movie called Restoration were nominated for Best Costume Design. This was the first year I noticed that, sometimes, random bullshit movies that no one has ever heard of win in this category, thanks to Restoration's win. And now, The Duchess. The Academy sure does love frilly things. Hoop skirts are like the Holocaust movies of the costume voting bloc.

BEST MAKEUP
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Shocking! Oh, wait, not shocking...predictable. And earned, in this case. Like I said before, Benjamin Button actually deserved to win in this category and in Visual Effects.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Slumdog Millionaire
Grr...this is where The Dark Knight should have won. I'm not saying that Slumdog Millionaire's cinematography was bad (though thanks to my crappy cinematic experience, I'll have to wait for Blu-ray to make a real judgment call), but I still feel that The Dark Knight pushed certain limits and actually advanced the art of cinematography this year, while Slumdog Millionaire was just another well-shot film. At least that digital nightmare Benjamin Button lost....

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Spielzeugland
Okay...I haven't seen any of these, so I'll trust that this was a well made live action short film. Of course, seeing as how it was about the Holocaust, it really couldn't have gone any other way.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Divorced from all the sentiment, the guy gave an awesome performance. Like I said, any one of the nominees could have won in this category and I would have been satisfied, so it might as well go to the sentimental vote. But in this case, the sentimental vote happened to also be a good vote. It does make me wonder, though: in Entertainment Weekly's post-Academy Awards issue, they usually talk about what each major winner is doing next...what will they say about Ledger?

BEST DOCUMENTARY, FEATURE
Man on Wire
Yay, the only nominated documentary I saw this year won! It was actually a great movie and worth seeing. Was it the best documentary of the year? Uh...sure, why not? I didn't see anything better (except American Teen, which, again, is hardly an actual documentary).

BEST DOCUMENTARY, SHORT SUBJECT
Smile Pinki
Fine by me! What is this even about? (Checking IMDB....) Oh...I guess it sounds pretty deserving. This reminds me of an awful joke I once made in eighth grade science class: we had to do current events, wherein we reported on some science-based news article. Someone brought in an article about a kid who was having surgery so that he/she could finally smile. They passed the clipping around and there was a picture of the smile-less kid who was about to have this life-changing surgery. I raised my hand and told that class that "he doesn't look very happy about it." Heh...hello? Is this thing on?

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Again, well deserved and I can't really argue with this.

BEST SOUND EDITING
The Dark Knight
I call bullshit! Wall-E deserved this one! Yes, yes, I'm sure The Dark Knight's sound effects were well edited, but Wall-E was all about the sound! How did it not win in this category!?

BEST SOUND
Slumdog Millionaire
Or this one!? Come on! I think out of all of this year's awards, these two bother me the most. Wall-E deserved these two awards. Oh well...I guess it'll have to settle for its Best Animated Feature award.

BEST EDITING
Slumdog Millionaire
Yeah, I can see this. While I liked the editing in The Dark Knight, I'm okay with Slumdog Millionaire winning here. As long as it wasn't Benjamin Button, I'm satisfied.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Slumdog Millionaire
So I guess they got rid of the "Best Comedy/Musical Score" and "Best Dramatic Score" categories? When did that happen? Whatever...Slumdog Millionaire was a predictable winner in this category, and it was deserved. The Academy likes to reward offbeat scores for Best Picture nominees. Plus, it is actually a good score.

BEST SONG
"Jai Ho," Slumdog Millionaire
I'm actually surprised this won...I figured that the two Slumdog Millionaire nominations would split the vote and the award would go to the recognizable Peter Gabriel. But whatever...it was still an extremely weak category this year.

BEST FORIEGN LANGUAGE FILM
Okuribito
So my studio had two nominees in this category tonight (The Class and Waltz With Bashir) and both lost...bummer. We've actually had winners in this category for the last two years (The Lives of Others and The Counterfeiters). But still, I haven't seen any of the nominees, so outside of company loyalty, I'm not fazed one way or another. It would have been nice if The Class or Waltz With Bashir had won, as I intend to see those two, but I don't think I'll see this one...I'm not that interested (it's like the Japanese Frozen River).

BEST DIRECTOR
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Since when do they put Best Director before Best Actress and Best Actor? Fuck that! Best Director should be the penultimate award. Barring that, I'm not displeased with this win for Boyle, particularly since the competition was so damn weak. Danny Boyle will always have a place in my heart for Trainspotting (and now Slumdog Millionaire), but I do find his work to be up and down...he's like the British Steven Soderbergh. When you see one of his movies, you have to wonder: will we get the awesome Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, 28 Days Later) or the maudlin/crappy Danny Boyle (Millions, Sunshine, A Life Less Ordinary)? I can't say that his work is always great, but when he's good, he's really good. It's a just win.

BEST ACTRESS
Kate Winslet, The Reader
I was talking with my dad on the phone today and he was asking me who would win tonight. He asked about Best Actress and I said, "Kate Winslet." He said, "Sure, like usual." I said, "She hasn't ever won." He was surprised: "Really? Huh." I think that's basically how the Academy felt this year about Winslet. And so, she won...finally. I still haven't seen The Reader, but I'm sure she was fine...like I said before, she always seems to give a Winslet-esque performance, which is good, but they're...similar. Whatever, I'm not complaining. (Though I did recently see Changeling and Rachel Getting Married...I thought Angelina Jolie was okay, but Anne Hathaway...wow. Rachel Getting Married itself was so-so as a movie, but Anne Hathaway was pretty damned amazing. Had I but known, I would have possibly picked her as my "Should Win." Still haven't sat down and watched Frozen River, though..and I probably won't now.)

BEST ACTOR
Sean Penn, Milk
Huh! Interesting! In a night of extreme predictability, it was nice to have a surprise win...even though, really, it's not that surprising. Now, if Richard Jenkins had won, that would have been surprising. The race was really between Mickey Rourke and Sean Penn, and if I had to guess, I'd say that Rourke just reverted to his cocky shit-tastic self too soon for the Academy voters. Talking shit about Marisa Tomei, planning on becoming an actual professional wrestler, crying about his dog or something, and being a general asshat...Sean Penn must have been sitting back and laughing for the last month or so. And really, I'm okay with Rourke losing, particularly since Penn did such an amazing job...like Heath Ledger, he really disappeared into this role. I'm not saying Rourke didn't, but the guy is just such a shit. Nicely done, Academy.

BEST PICTURE
Slumdog Millionaire
Well, who didn't see that one coming? And frankly, I'm okay with it. Out of all five nominees, this was my favorite (and since Synecdoche, New York didn't have a chance of getting nominated, Slumdog Millionaire had to do). Sure, this will probably be included in one of those bullshit retrospective "Worst Academy Award Winners" lists where supposed pundits blather on about how Saving Private Ryan, Pulp Fiction, Raging Bull, Goodfellas and LA Confidential were robbed (to which I say: shut the fuck up already), but what are our future judges going to suggest should have won? The Reader? Frost/Nixon? Benjamin fucking Button? I suppose Milk was the only other choice, and I would have been okay with that as a winner, too. But in a pretty decent year for popcorn entertainment, the heavy-hitting dramatic showcases mostly faltered. This was what we had to work with, and Slumdog Millionaire is clearly a movie "of the times" that also makes you feel good. Hopefully future generations won't judge us too harshly.

All in all, it's a very uneventful list of winners, with the one "upset" coming from Sean Penn, who basically had a 49% chance of winning over Rourke's 51% chance. But I'm actually glad that there's nothing to anger up the blood...no Benjamin Button sweep, for instance. I just don't feel like ranting at the moment. In fact, I feel like sleeping, which is what I will do.

In the spirit of writing about "fluffier" topics rather than concentrating on discussing the tragi-comedy that is my current lifestyle, allow me to put on my nerd hat for a few paragraphs and geek out about upcoming Blu-ray releases. Yes, that's right...I'm going to talk about Blu-ray releases. If this doesn't interest you in the slightest, then I would suggest checking back in a day or two for an updated post about non-niche, sub-mainstream topics. However, if you have a slightly nerdy movie-bone in your body and have been on the fence about buying a Blu-ray player, then by all means, read on....

While the early months of the year are usually pretty barren for home video releases, this year has quickly proven itself to be an exception...between January and February, there have been such exciting Blu-ray releases as Zodiac: Director's Cut, Friday Night Lights (the movie), Groundhog Day, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Clerks II, Office Space, Sideways, Raging Bull, Pretty Woman, Amadeus, Capote, The French Connection and Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder...and those are just the ones that I wanted! That's not including the titles that didn't interest me enough to own, but were pretty strong releases for the first two months of the year: The Last Emperor, Dexter: Season One, Election, The Pink Panther (1963), The Bourne Trilogy, Any Given Sunday, A Time to Kill, Donnie Darko, Gandhi, Kramer vs. Kramer...and those are only the releases I didn't buy that are worth mentioning (I left out crap like Napoleon Dynamite, Doom and the 2005 King Kong...but those are still releases that are exciting to some people, I guess). For Blu-ray owners, it's been an amazing two months and 2009 has just started.

Which leads me to my discussion of upcoming titles. It would probably be easiest to go studio-by-studio to discuss their various wares...when talking about Blu-ray, it's often more interesting to go by studio than by release date, as each studio brings their own strengths and weaknesses to their releases. But indeed, while I do have a modicum of insider info when it comes to other studios, I admit that my discussion is mostly based off of trusted internet chatter, press releases and interviews. So here goes:

WARNER BROS.
When it comes to Blu-ray, the internet community seems to have a love/hate relationship with Warner Bros. And indeed, while they're probably my favorite studio overall (I love their studio lot, I love so many of their movies...they've always been the prototypical "movie studio" in my mind), I have to admit that they spent a lot of 2008 slacking on their Blu-ray output. Oh, sure, they put out some absolute gems in terms of titles last year (The Dark Knight, The Shawshank Redemption, JFK, Dirty Harry, The Matrix Trilogy, Beetlejuice, Poltergeist), but they also committed some cardinal Blu-ray sins: BD-25s where BD-50s should have been used for less compressed encodes (Speed Racer), a constant practice of DNR on virtually every catalog title (Digital Noise Reduction: reduces grain but eliminates detail), and lossy audio when every other studio is committed to lossless on all releases (again, Speed Racer, Interview with the Vampire, Get Smart).

While this post isn't about "grading" the studios, when it comes to Warner, these issues are real sticking points when it comes to any discussion about their Blu-ray output. However, the studio seems to have gotten the message, at least when it comes to the audio issue: so far in 2009, I think all of their Blu-ray releases have had TrueHD lossless audio (I don't feel like doing the research to determine if it's actually been "all," but there haven't been any major snafus yet). Unfortunately, they still seem to have at least some degree of DNR as part of their standard operating procedure, and when it comes to disc sizes, it remains to be seen how that will shake out...so far, there haven't been any releases from them that have cried out for a BD-50 that have been crammed onto a BD-25, but on the other hand, I know for a fact that most studios just use BD-50s as a general rule at this point. There's nothing inherently wrong with using a BD-25 when the movie (and its lossless audio track and its special features) fits on it with a healthy bitrate, but....

Anyway...2009! Very exciting year for Warner in terms of Blu-ray. One of the most exciting releases is actually happening on March 10th: the aforementioned Batman Anthology, with Batman (1989), Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, all in glorious 1080p high definition with lossless audio and all of their special features.

In terms of catalog output, it's also hard to beat Warner's titles, and the studio is proving that by whipping out both Gone With The Wind and The Wizard of Oz on Blu-ray by the end of the year. Frankly, I'm not a massive fan of Wizard of Oz, but I'd certainly watch it in high definition. But Gone With The Wind...I love that movie. I know it's a really underrated title, but I'll go out on a limb and declare my love for it. The prospect of a high definition transfer for that movie...it makes my quest to get a larger, better HDTV this year all the more imperative. Sadly, I apparently have to wait until 2011 for high-def Citizen Kane, but oh well...there's still King Kong (1933) and North by Northwest this year (though I'm not really interested in either, they're still pretty significant).

For newer catalog releases, the studio is bringing movies like Heat, The Wedding Singer, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Woodstock (again, these are titles I'm interested in...there are many more for varied tastes, like Tango & Cash, 2010, American History X, Final Destination, True Romance, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films, etc.), along with many more. Warner is usually pretty good about bringing popular random catalog titles to Blu-ray, and I've still heard rumblings about The Goonies and the Gremlins movies this year. And in terms of TV stuff, I'm personally looking forward to Pushing Daisies: Season Two (and maybe Fringe...that show is growing on me), but they're also doing some additional current shows. Now if they could just do TrueHD tracks on TV product.... And then they have the HBO catalog, which excites me both for the prospect of Six Feet Under on Blu-ray (that's just wishing, there don't seem to be any actual plans for that) and for the reality of John Adams on Blu-ray this summer.

And then there are the new releases. I don't usually get that excited about new releases because a) it's usually assumed that they're coming to Blu-ray (newsflash: Terminator: Salvation is coming to Blu-ray! Source: Common Sense) and b) it's impossible to know if I'm going to get excited about the Blu-ray release until I've seen the movie itself. Still, I can't help but get a little bit excited about the eventual Blu-ray release of Watchmen, especially since director Zack Snyder has been talking about a 205 minute version of the movie. I hope I like the movie.... And then there's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which I automatically already like.

PARAMOUNT
Ever since Paramount came back to Blu-ray after those dark HD DVD days, they've been one of the best studios in terms of title selection and quality. Well, fine, no one was really clamoring for a Last Holiday Blu-ray, but The Truman Show, There Will Be Blood, Sweeney Todd, Zodiac: Director's Cut, Dexter (which I've only just started watching, but it's pretty good so far), Iron Man and Tropic Thunder have been pretty welcomed. And I have to say that their 2009 looks pretty stunning so far: the underrated Primal Fear, South Park: Season Twelve (the season was so-so, but HOLY SHIT SOUTH PARK ON BLU-RAY!! Plus, they're remastering all of the old episodes for HD, which bodes extremely well for past seasons on Blu-ray), Mean Girls (for those who like that movie), Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Wayne's World 1 & 2, and, of course, all six Kirk/Spock Star Trek movies and Star Trek: Season One. While I don't care about the show, I have a strange love for the Star Trek movies, so this is kind of amazing news. Paramount is also planning on releasing the rest of the original Star Trek episodes to Blu-ray throughout the year (meh) along with the four Next Generation Star Trek movies (awesome! Except for Insurrection...and Nemesis). I've also heard strong rumors pointing toward a Father's Day release for Braveheart....

But no Paramount home video discussion would be complete without Indiana Jones, and while I'll believe it when I see it, Lucasfilm and Paramount are allegedly planning the original three Indiana Jones films for Blu-ray by the end of the year. That would obviously be an astonishingly awesome release, both for the movies themselves and for the relatively rapid speed at which Lucasfilm is bringing them to this format (given that it took them six years or so into DVD's lifespan to release the movies on that format).

Otherwise, I actually spoke with a CBS/Paramount person at CES this year about some of their TV on BD prospects, but unfortunately, there wasn't anything that really leapt out at me (South Park is from Comedy Central, so a different division). I did suggest Cheers on Blu-ray, but alas, nothing is planned. But like I said above, more South Park appears to be a definite possibility.... And as for their new releases, I'm very interested to see the new Star Trek, but hold out little hope that Transformers 2 and GI Joe will be at all worthwhile. Still, all in all, a pretty strong slate from Paramount so far, and that's only part of their year.

UNIVERSAL
If all Universal gave us this year was the Back to the Future Trilogy on Blu-ray, I wouldn't ask for anything else from them. Happily, it sounds as though the Trilogy may be a distinct possibility according to various sources, even though the studio just re-released the Trilogy on DVD. Think about it: we could be getting the Batman films, the Star Trek films, the Indiana Jones films and the Back to the Future films on Blu-ray this year...amazing.

Beyond the BTTF films, though, Universal has been pretty quiet about their Blu-ray plans for the year. They've hinted at catalog titles like Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore (already released on HD DVD) and have announced some popular genre titles like Pitch Black and the Fast and the Furious Trilogy. But in terms of stuff that they're planning for later this year that would excite me...not much word. It's a good bet they'll release An American Werewolf In London (with a new epic documentary) to coincide with Halloween and their theatrical release of The Wolfman, though.

With Universal at this point, it's more about speculation and wishful thinking. For instance: it would be nice if they released some more of their HD DVD titles to Blu-ray, just to get those off my shelf, like Twelve Monkeys, The Big Lebowski, The Breakfast Club, Apollo 13, Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, Notting Hill, etc. I would also heartily welcome the American Pie movies (only the first two) and About A Boy, along with a variety of other catalog titles. And then, there are the big ones: the Spielbergs. Jaws (which I don't care for that much, but I acknowledge its status), ET, Schindler's List, Jurassic Park/Lost World.

It would also be nice to get some more diverse TV product from them...I've grown to hate Heroes (and stopped watching a while ago) and I have yet to get into Battlestar Galactica, and to date, those have been the two high def Universal TV properties (BG on HD DVD, Heroes: S1 on both, S2 on BD). Where's The Office on Blu-ray, Universal? Where's 30 Rock?

DISNEY
Kindly enough, Disney issued that press release at CES which highlighted some of their key releases for the early part of the year, and so far, they've stuck to it. In fact, today marked the official announcement for Pixar classics A Bug's Life and Monsters Inc on Blu-ray...very exciting! In fact, now that they've gotten Cars out of the way on BD (which is the one Pixar title I actively dislike), any Pixar Blu-ray release is welcomed news. To that end, there have been strong rumors that Finding Nemo will find its way to Blu-ray this year, probably alongside the home video release of Up. That just leaves the Toy Story films (rumored to be released near the theatrical release of Toy Story 3 next year) and The Incredibles (guessing next year) in terms of their catalog.  

The one area in which Disney has been a little bit iffy of late has been their live action catalog releases. Sure, they do an amazing job with their animated titles (Pinocchio next month, Snow White in October and Beauty and the Beast next year) and their new release titles (I'm sure Bedtime Stories and Doubt will be high quality releases), but their catalog titles have been somewhat few and far between. To coincide with the April 7th release of Doubt, they're releasing...No Country for Old Men. Again. With new interviews and a Digital Copy. Wouldn't it have been better to pair some other award-winning title with Doubt, like Shakespeare in Love or Good Will Hunting or something? Why re-release a title you just released on Blu-ray a year ago (that was pretty great to begin with)? A waste!

Beyond that, their live action catalog titles have just been sparse in terms of scheduling. I just received Pretty Woman from the studio today and their press release promised a few others that don't interest me (Sin City, Rounders) and then...not much. Armageddon has been rumored for later this year, which is cool and all (yes, I like Armageddon), but where's Who Framed Roger Rabbit (which I know for a fact they were evaluating at one point)? Adventures in Babysitting? Quiz Show? Mr. Holland's Opus? The Rocketeer? Dick Tracy?

Happily, the press release also highlighted Lost: Seasons One and Two for this year, which is great news. I'm hoping they tie it into the fifth season finale in May rather than the fifth season BD release in (likely) December. Still, I'm actually anxious to rewatch seasons one and two of Lost in light of the mindfuck that is season five, so the sooner the better.

FOX/MGM
I really can't complain too much about Fox of late. Sure, they were once the studio that predictably used MPEG-2 encodes (with variable results), removed all special features from their Blu-rays and charged $40 for a lame catalog title. But those criticisms are so early 2007...by the end of '07, the studio finally got their act together and started using AVC encoding (so hot right now...AVC) and including all existing special features (and even started leading with their BD-exclusive special features). Now, they're a reliably great studio.

Which is why I'm so excited for X-Men and X-Men 2 on April 21st. They're both 3-disc sets (with all existing special features...the first X-Men even has that amusing Spider-Man Easter Egg from the original DVD release in 2000) and should be great sets. Plus, Fox and MGM released a pretty stellar catalog lineup in February...Raging Bull and French Connection for the cineasts, Office Space and Futurama: Into The Wild Green Yonder for everyday Joes, and several other solid titles. They've also announced The Silence of the Lambs and The Princess Bride for March and Big and There's Something About Mary for May, all excellent catalog releases, along with several new Bond titles timed to Quantum of Solace (Fox/MGM has the home video rights for that title while we had theatrical). The studio also announced This Is Spinal Tap for Blu-ray earlier this year, but it's been delayed for now, while rumors persist about Rain Man and Fargo also coming.

Fox also seems to focus on one of their franchises around November, with the Die Hard films in 2007 and the Planet of the Apes films in 2008. This year, it looks like the Alien films are on deck...I'll be very happy to get rid of the extremely bulky Alien Quadrilogy DVD set for a nice sleek Blu-ray set. Like I said, Fox has been great with including all special features lately, and they're one of the few studios that seems to love seamless branching (having multiple versions of a movie available on the same disc), which is one of my favorite special features. To that end, it's more than likely that all of the Alien films will have their theatrical and extended versions included in high definition.

However, for a studio that's been so progressive with their special editions and Blu-ray releases, it's surprising how many crappy non-anamorphic DVDs they still have lying around for good movies: Raising Arizona, Strange Days, The Abyss, True Lies, Broadcast News, etc. Hopefully these titles get major upgrades sooner or later to Blu-ray (though it's the James Cameron factor that's been holding up The Abyss and True Lies). There's also been talk of a new version of The Terminator on Blu-ray to coincide with Terminator: Salvation, but again, there's the James Cameron factor to consider there.

As for TV product, Fox made the bland choice of Prison Break to inaugurate their TV on BD efforts. Of course, they then followed it up with Firefly, which was an inspired choice. So who do I have to fuck to get Arrested Development on Blu-ray? Fox also has its animated fare like The Simpsons and Futurama that would be great for BD, as well as fan-favorite Buffy the Vampire Slayer. There haven't been any more Fox/MGM TV on BD rumors floating around, but I can still hope....

LIONSGATE
I really have little to no interest in the Lionsgate catalog...off the top of my head, I can't think of a single title beyond Terminator 2: Judgment Day that interests me from them. Happily, the studio just announced a new Blu-ray edition of T2 for May 19th...very exciting. It looks like the Blu-ray will have both cuts of the movie (thankfully, as I prefer the extended version) along with tons of special features.

CRITERION
Criterion--the tiny arthouse company that releases obscure, classic and/or foriegn films to great acclaim--only started releasing Blu-ray versions of some of their titles in December with such awesome choices as Bottle Rocket, Chungking Express and The Third Man. Mostly recently, they've announced the Akira Kurosawa film Ran for Blu-ray in May, which thrills me. Beyond that, they listed a few other titles for the year on their website, including For All Mankind and Gimme Shelter, and there's been a hint for Black Narcissus (which I actually already own on Blu-ray, thanks to a BFI UK release...but I'd get the Criterion and replace this version). Plus, they seem full of random surprise titles, too (Ran wasn't on anyone's radar until it was announced), so each month is exciting.

ANCHOR BAY / THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY
Unfortunately, I haven't heard any rumors about the few Anchor Bay titles that would interest me (Freaked, The Long Good Friday) and they already released one of my favorites of theirs: Heathers. And as for The Weinstein Company, with the purchase of Clerks II and Zack and Miri Make A Porno earlier this month, I've pretty much exhausted my interest in their wares.

So there you have it: more blathering about Blu-ray than you may have cared to read. I actually started this post in the morning and it's now 8:34 at night (I'm not still at work, though...I came home). Time to actually go watch some Blu-rays instead of talking about them....

Okay, my original post got deleted in the middle of writing it, so this will have to do for now...after a lot of YouTube searching, I've finally found a true treasure. You know how Quentin Tarantino has had that stupid multi-colored 70s-era "Feature Presentation" bumper before Kill Bill and Death Proof? When I get enough clout in Hollywood, I plan on dictating that the following clip has to be attached before the opening studio logos for everyone one of my movies. I know the "Clip" character is probably a copyright of AMC Theaters or something, but I will buy the character...this has to go before all of my movies:

I still do that little gesture and noise to this day when I screw something up, and if I do that "deedle-dee-dee-dee-duh-deeeee-deeeeeeee" music cue for most of my high school era friends, it's like a secret handshake. My love of this clip stems from the eight months I (and many friends) worked at our local AMC Theater in Sarasota during my senior year of high school (East side!!!!). Sadly, all AMCs have stopped using this intro thanks to all of the newer cell phone-specific reminders, but I'm bringing it back....

After a weekend of illness (basic cold) and general antipathy towards any sort of expression outside of nose blowing, I suppose I'm back to continue my blogging efforts. Truly, the internet would collapse without my insight on soup and Blu-rays. Wouldn't it be interesting if I actually had stories to tell or fun adventures to share? Yeah, I think so, too. Once upon a time, one of my blog-savvy friends suggested that I start a blog to talk about movies and/or DVD releases. I initially scoffed at the idea (who would care about my thoughts?), but apparently, that is my wheelhouse when it comes to offering thoughts to the world (at least for now). Ironically, now I can't talk too much about DVD/Blu-ray releases, at least not from the point of view from which I would like to do so.

But that aside, I did have a pants-wetting moment of excitement yesterday when my Warner contact told me that he/she had put aside a copy of the aforementioned Batman Anthology on Blu-ray for me and that I'd have it soon. Perhaps it's a little head-shakingly sad to be so excited about this sort of thing, but I do love these movies and I do love seeing my favorite movies in high definition (well, I don't exactly love Batman & Robin, but it brings back such fond hating memories).

Speaking of hating, I made it through Valentine's Day. I sometimes find that the buildup to such things is often worse than the thing itself. In this instance, especially with the day itself falling on a weekend, Valentine's Day wasn't so painful. I mean, sure, it forced me to reflect on my bachelor status with a resounding sigh, but at least my nose wasn't rubbed in happy couples all day. That's one nice thing about Los Angeles: if you don't want to see people, you don't have to. In New York, it's frustratingly difficult to get away from people...even in one's own apartment, one is subjected to loud neighbors and street noise (not that you don't get that here, but it's still more subdued somehow). I chose not to see people on Saturday, and lo, I did not. Mission accomplished. Of course, it would have been nicer to be with someone and be amongst the "haves" that day, but I guess solitude and isolation are the next best things, right?

Also, there is a picture of a woman sitting cross-legged in the ad next to my posting area (for NexTag) and when I'm typing and not concentrating on the ad, the woman's knee and leg look like a penis. Just saying.

Let's see, what else? Oh, yes, the world is collapsing. There are so many economic and social issues at play here that I don't even know where I would start when it comes to discussing them...so I guess I won't? Instead, I'll just say that this may well be the year where my low-grade Academy Award fever finally gets flushed out of my system, leaving me with no interest in the proceedings whatsoever. I mean, I'll always care a little bit about the nominations and the winners going forward, but the seams are definitely starting to show. Is it because the event itself has finally actually become irrelevant or has it always been this way and I've only recently had my rose-tinted glasses smacked from my face? This, of course, does not affect my extreme yearning to win one (or six), but as an external spectator, I think I'm ready to give the whole affair a thumbs down.

But here's a stab at a real issue: California's economy...how embarrassing. Is this the ultimate result of voting Arnold Schwarzenegger into office or would this have happened anyway? I suppose it's not just his fault...this is a bi-partisan fuck-up, to be sure. It's already too late for 10,000 state workers who were laid off yesterday, but maybe our stupid state government can get it together and stop bickering over bullshit and pass a budget. I suppose the real culprit here is Politics and not one person. Also, where is my $62 state tax refund, California? Damn you!

All right, I suppose I ought to get back to work...at the job I am grateful to have in this wintry economic climate. I guess I should break the icicles from my appendages and return to my tasks.

In the midst of this shitty, shitty week, there were at least two things today that somewhat perked me up. First off, there was matzah ball soup at the studio commissary today at lunch, a mere day after I remarked to Jamie that I yearned for such a thing. And as a part two to that, it was great matzah ball soup. The balls were soft enough to be edible, yet firm enough not to dissolve in the broth. Plus, there were large chunks of vegetables and chicken in there...we may not have many major Academy Award nominees this year, but fuck, this studio can make a great matzah ball soup.

The second thing that cheered me up a bit was the fact that we got our Blu-ray copies of Synecdoche, New York in today. Exciting! Sadly, I think this is the last Blu-ray title of ours that I'm excited about until June with Ghostbusters and Dr. Strangelove (which we also announced recently). Between now and then, there's basically a bunch of movies that range from "I would watch that" to "how could we make that movie, let alone release it on Blu-ray?" Movies like Universal Soldier: The Return, John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars and The Grudge make me ashamed...but I guess I should be semi-proud of titles like Rachel Getting Married, Winged Migration and Roxanne, right? Plus, we are doing an extended version of The Da Vinci Code in late April...I hated the theatrical version, but maybe with nearly 30 more minutes of footage, it will be...better?

As a side note, I would love to sit here and talk about all the movies we're releasing on Blu-ray and all of the stuff I hear from Theatrical and talk about work stuff, but I unfortunately can't get into too much detail about unannounced titles...which is a shame, because I could go on epic rants about all of this. All of the above titles have been announced (though Roxanne still hasn't been officially announced...an exclusive!). But anyway....

It's been a rough week...not for any one reason in particular, but just in general. I've had somewhat of a cold yesterday and today, so that sucks. Perhaps it's because my body doesn't like rejection.... Actually, I've determined that I'm more angry about that situation than sad, but enough about that. I'll just stop with these two "good" things and leave it at that for today.

I went to Las Vegas and now I'm back again. It was a very quick trip, as I had indicated: Saturday night to Sunday night. All in all, it was fun and was worth the effort...doing something spontaneous like that felt good. Actually, at the time, it felt bad...it was so alien for me to just book a last minute flight and jaunt off to Vegas for a single day. But I saw my dad and stepmom, and that was nice, and I got away from Los Angeles and my boring existence for a day, which was also welcomed. It was a pleasant way to spend a weekend.

Which is more than I can say about today. First of all, rain. I enjoy a nice rainstorm just as much as the next brooding, disaffected, single twenty-something, but rain is best when either a) it's the weekend and I can nap or lounge about as the rain justifies my sloth, or b) I'm in a good mood and the rain serves as a pretty background. On a day like today, though, when I'm tired from my whirlwind-ish weekend and life generally sucks, the rain merely compounds my unhappiness and acts as a splashing chorus to my bleak mood.

Second of all, work. I'm just not into it today...plus, we're working on some of my least favorite types of projects: presentations, documents, finances. No fun "what titles should we release on Blu-ray" meetings, no brainstorming...just arduous, dull tasks (and not even enough to keep me busy...the day is dragging). That's why I'm trying to elbow my way into a screening room to grab clips from some of our upcoming titles this afternoon...I can be alone for hours in the dark with movies and a control board. Plus, it keeps me from thinking about anything too serious.

Which leads me to "third of all": my pathetic, sad joke of a personal life. Like I wrote the other night, I pretty much assumed that Annie wasn't interested in me from her ever-expanding silence via e-mail, the lack of a call back about our alleged second date, and the "gosh, things sure have been busy, try me next month" excuses. But through all of that, I stupidly thought she was actually busy, that we really did have a good time on our date, and that she would at least be interested in a second outing. So what if she put me off for a month between December and January? So what if she didn't return my phone call? We had a good time...right?

Apparently, wrong. She responded to my last-ditch e-mail from Saturday, explaining that things have been busy and that she hasn't had much time to do anything. Then she cheerily said that, hey, maybe we could hang out at some point in the future, but that she's started dating someone, so.... But at least she was friendly about it all, right? Always look on the bright side!

Except there is no bright side. I suck, I hate dating, I'm terrible at it, girls hate me and I want to go home, eat a bucket of ice cream and cry myself to sleep (in a manly way). No, it's not that Annie specifically was "the One"...who knows? What I do know is that I had a good time on our date and really liked her and I'm sad that she didn't like me. I'm sad that I didn't even get a second date. I'm sad that every girl I like doesn't like me (there has only been one instance where I've actually liked a girl and she liked me back from the start, and that was my second girlfriend Krystal). I'm sad(/mad) that Annie didn't just tell me that she wasn't interested a month and a half ago, instead of clearly using me as a "backup." I'm embarrassed that I put myself out there and put on that stupid "date behavior" for someone who wasn't worth it.

I desperately want someone to tell me what the hell is wrong with me...all my friends have are empty statements like "you're a great guy," "any girl will be so lucky to have you," "you're such a catch," etc. Bullshit, clearly none of those things are true. It would be nice if someone could just tell me what the hell is wrong with me. I'm strongly inclined to ask girls I've liked in the past why they didn't like me...Jamie, for instance. We're great pals now, no lingering feelings...can she tell me now why she didn't want me? Or Andrea? Or Cassie? Is it looks? Is it personality? Is it some intangible quirk that makes me repellent? And don't fucking say I'm desperate...I'm only desperate because everyone fucking rejects me.

Comments would be appreciated. In the meantime, I'm off to hopefully hide from the world in a dark room. Also, if any of my friends are reading and hope to catch me this Saturday, don't bother...I'll be keeping my phone off and not going outside on that fucking bullshit day. Fuck you, world.

So I'm off to Las Vegas in a few hours. Why? Well, it was always the plan for my dad and stepmom to be in Las Vegas this weekend (apparently to see some of my stepmom's cousins?), and I had sorta-kinda been planning to meet them there for the weekend, but a) flights were surprisingly expensive even in advance for the LAX-LAS weekend route, and b) I thought I was going to have a date this weekend with Blind-Date Girl. But fate, failure and the promise of splitting the airfare intervened, and now I'm off to Vegas on a 10:50 PM flight (coming back tomorrow night).

And as for that failure...well, Blind-Date Girl's name is Annie. There doesn't seem to be a reason to keep her name private anymore. She never called me back. I suppose I could have called her again later in the week, but that felt desperate. Besides, I e-mailed her today, which is only slightly less desperate. I tried to be naive about things in my e-mail, saying only that, if her week was anything like mine, it was hectic, and I was sorry that we didn't get a chance to chat, but if she was still interested, I'm around. It wasn't quite the painful "phone call scene from Swingers," but it did smack of either complete denial or desperation. If you add "depression" to that list, that's pretty much how I'm feeling in a nutshell (and yes, I know it's weird to feel denial and depression, but I go back and forth). I really can't believe she never got back to me...not because I'm so fucking wonderful, but because she genuinely sounded interested in getting together in her last e-mail. Anyway...no response to today's e-mail, either. It's done.

In semi-related news, I went to see Coraline today, and one of the trailers was for Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (seriously, how has this "series" kept going?! Does anyone care about these characters or these movies?). But really, the trailer only confirmed what I was feeling: women are scum.

Another entry in the "I only sort of know what I'm talking about" section of my blog: Watchmen writer Alan Moore sorta kinda talks about why he hates films based on his work, superhero myths and America in general. Admittedly, when I read the interview's headline and saw the source (Total Film, a UK film magazine...this and fellow UK publication Empire Magazine are the best printed source for movie news, putting all American publications to shame), I was hoping for an actual in-depth interview with the elusive Moore. Not being hugely familiar with the man's work outside of select tomes (I've only read From Hell and Watchmen in full), movies based on his work (hated League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, disliked From Hell, liked V For Vendetta), and his reputation, I would have welcomed a true first person account of his exploits as they pertained to Hollywood.

Instead, we get a shambling half-assed pseudo-interview, wherein Moore goes off on America and accountants for a while as he tangentially references his experiences. And frankly, an interview like this doesn't really warm me up to Moore's point of view. Sure, it's understandable that he hates the film version of League of Extraordinary Gentleman...I hated it, too. Okay, I get that Hollywood has screwed him over and clearly tempted him to make deals with the devil over the years. Hey, I even understand that he resents these movies for misrepresenting his work and being more of a showcase for the ridiculous actors and filmmakers involved (really, Sean Connery? "A bigger explosion"? You, sir, are a whore).

But with Watchmen...I don't know. Given that director Zack Snyder has basically photocopied the graphic novel and pasted it on screen, I somehow feel that this was the project where they were going to show reverence. This was the project where they might have brought Moore on set and been like, "So, squid or no squid?" Even Hollywood saw how badly League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was for everyone involved...this is a semi-new era, in which comic book movies are allowed to be dark, allowed to be lengthy, allowed to be expensive, allowed to be subversive. I wonder if Moore would have at least considered lending his opinion to the project if they had started pre-production after The Dark Knight had grossed a bajillion dollars.

I get it, Moore is tired of being beaten down by Hollywood...fool me once, shame on you, etc. But you could also stop sounding like a crazy, rambling ex-junkie who wouldn't piss on the world to put out a fire. Okay, you're cynical, but shut the fuck up about it. Or at least, stop talking about how "all comic book movies are bad" or "the book is always better." Guess what: if there were a form of literature that came closest to the concept of a movie, it would be the graphic fucking novel. And Snyder is literally putting those images with your words up on screen...what more do you want? If a movie is going to be made based on your work (and it was going to happen sooner or later), this seems like the best possible approach. Now you're just sounding like a bratty kid: "No, I don't wanna see Watchmen...I don't know why, I just don't. It's stupid, they didn't do the...thing...it's just dumb!"

Of course, if Watchmen comes out and sucks a nut, then I'm erasing this post. Not really, but the movie could still easily suck...I know making an exact copy of something doesn't ensure quality. Look at Gus Van Sant's "remake" of Psycho...logically, since "X" basically equaled "X" in that situation, the result should have been the same, right? Instead, the "remake" was "Y": terrible. Movies aren't math...so yes, I understand that Watchmen could literally paste cut-outs from the graphic novel on the film stock and have people do voices for them (like the Motion Comic) and it could be awful. But if the filmmakers are amenable to doing this project "right" and they want your input, why be a dick? It's easy to toss in the towel after something like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen...it's harder to get knocked down by that and get back up to make Watchmen the "right" way.

In other news, blahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. No call yet from Blind Date Girl...though in thinking about it last night, I realized that it was silly to expect a call yesterday. If we were e-mailing, I wouldn't have expected a return message the next day...that's not how the dating game is played. Heaven forfend you show too much interest by getting back to the other person too quickly (though, yes, there is such a thing as being too eager...it's a balance). But I am hoping for a call today...unless she's thinking that, as the girl, she should never have to be in a situation wherein the onus of contact is on her shoulders and that I should call her back. I hope that's not the case...ugh, dating. Or the lack thereof.