Patrick Wilson

DVD Review: Director’s Cut of ‘Watchmen’ Gives Fans Half a Release

BrianTT — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:42:41 -0600

CHICAGO – Despite the serious problems I had with Zack Snyder’s “Watchmen,” it was a Blu-Ray and DVD title that I was highly anticipating. With the film’s detailed production level, lengthy running time, and broad scope, it would seem to be tailor-made for a loyal home audience. Whether you like the film or not, that audience is getting screwed.

DVD Rating: 2.0/5.0

Let’s leave aside for now any possible disagreement over the actual movie. We’ll get to that later. The DVD is undeniably, irrefutably, a place-holder. There is no way this is the final word on DVD and Blu-Ray on “Watchmen,” a film that has not only seen its share of controversy but also had secondary home releases to date, including “The Complete Motion Comic” and “Tales of the Black Freighter”.

Watchmen: Director’s Cut was released on DVD on July 21st, 2009.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Why don’t we look into the DVD/Blu-Ray crystal ball? I can guarantee that there will be a future release of “Watchmen” that delivers a far-more-complete package, including at least “Freighter” and maybe even the “CMC” in one set and with literally hours of special features about the making of the film, artwork, promotional material, interviews, etc. Heck, there will at LEAST be a version that includes the theatrical and director’s cut on one DVD. Is that too much to ask the first time around?

Watchmen: Director’s Cut was released on DVD on July 21st, 2009.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

It also feels like this is probably not the last “Director’s Cut”. This version includes 24 extra minutes which we’ll get to, but is not the long-rumored 205-minute version of the film that will reportedly splice “Freighter” material back into the film. Anyone want to bet that hits stores in 2010?

Now that I’m done ranting about the blatant double-dip I feel is inevitable, let’s move on to the film itself.

I love the book. I wanted to love the movie, but it is a deeply flawed film that misses a lot of what makes the book work. Snyder undeniably recreated a majority of the imagery from his source material, but he compiled them in a way that made for a brutally disjointed experience. Like a karaoke singer, “Watchmen” gets a lot of the words right but misses the meaning.

“Watchmen” is about the very definitions of the words hero and villain. When our good guys are working on weapons that could end the world and our bad ones are taking out the scum of the Earth vigilante-style, who is the real superhero? What can a masked man possibly accomplish?

The biggest problem with “Watchmen” is an overabundance of ideas. “Watchmen” could have been a 12-hour HBO mini-series. It simply doesn’t work as a 3-hour film. None of the action is given any time to sink in. “Watchmen” is an experience to be savored, to be read in installments, not to be pounded into a viewer’s head. It’s like watching an entire season of highlights from “Lost” in 160 minutes. It’s not given a chance to breathe, as each revelation, each origin story, and each character arc is hurried through to get to the next.

Watchmen: Director’s Cut was released on DVD on July 21st, 2009.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

On a positive level, I do admire the ambition of Snyder’s work, Jackie Earle Haley steals the movie as Rorschach, and Billy Crudup gives a genuinely sad performance. Watching the film again, I didn’t react as negatively as I did the first time, although I still think all of my criticisms of it hold true and any theory that this is a film that will be rewarded and revered by the passage of time is just wrong.

So, what’s new in this version? Most of the new footage involves minor changes - a line of dialogue here and there, a new character beat every once in awhile. None of it is major and none of it rescues the film from its flaws. I do think this version is a bit more fleshed-out, but it certainly doesn’t solve Snyder’s pacing problems or radically change anyone’s opinions of the film. This is not “Blade Runner”-level differences. So, don’t expect your opinion to change by more than half a star at best.

Watchmen: Director’s Cut was released on DVD on July 21st, 2009.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Special Features:

“The Phenomenon: The Comic That Changed Comics” (28:46)

You would think that this feature would be driven by the graphic novel, but when it starts with a sound bite from Malin Akerman, you soon realize that it’s driven by the film and the actor’s experiences with one of the best books ever written. Ever wonder what Carla Gugino thinks of “Watchmen”? Wonder no more. Luckily, there are enough journalist and industry insights to keep the featurette from becoming too much of a commercial for the film. It’s essentially a love letter to the book by Alan Moore (whose name is, almost hysterically, barely even mentioned in the featurette, clearly because of his disassociation with the film) and Dave Gibbons. Even though it’s odd to hear from the lead singer of My Chemical Romance about “Watchmen” but allow almost no recognition of the actual AUTHOR, there is enough interesting material here to warrant a look.

“Watchmen: Video Journals” - “The Minutemen” (3:36), “Sets and Sensibility” (3:57), “Dressed For Success” (3:06), “The Ship Has Eyes” (4:23), “Dave Gibbons” (3:25), “Burn Baby Burn” (2:15), “Shoot to Thrill” (3:17), “Blue Monday” (3:02), “Attention to Detail” (2:56), “Girls Kick Ass” (3:06), and “Rorschach’s Mask” (3:46)

Watchmen: Director’s Cut was released on DVD on July 21st, 2009.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

These are a series of EPK-style quickies at behind-the-scenes material and certain characters mostly fueled by cast & crew interviews. Why not organize these into one documentary about the making of the film? I find mini-featurettes annoying, especially without a “Play All” feature, although there is some interesting material spread throughout the 11 journals.

“My Chemical Romance - “Desolation Row” Music Video” (3:15)

A decent video for a pretty good song.

All in all, without BD-Live functionality (and we tried to get a Blu-Ray copy for review but were denied one by Warner Brothers), the special features on a film that will surely have a loyal following run just over an hour. Anyone really think this is the final word on “Watchmen”?

‘Watchmen’ is released by Warner Bros. Home Video and stars Malin Akerman, Carla Gugino, Billy Crudup, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Matthew Goode, and Patrick Wilson. It was written by David Hayter & Alex Tse and directed by Zack Snyder. It was released on July 21st, 2009. It is rated R.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: Anne Hathaway, Patrick Wilson in Supernatural ‘Passengers’

BrianTT — Thu, 14 May 2009 19:20:09 -0600

CHICAGO – There have been several interesting movies about plane crashes, none more so than Peter Weir’s amazing “Fearless” with its career-best performance by Jeff Bridges. There’s something nearly supernatural about surviving falling from the sky in a several-ton hunk of metal. It’s that otherworldly quality that Anne Hathaway and Patrick Wilson use for creepy thrills in the moderately effective “Passengers,” now on Blu-Ray and DVD.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0

When a movie doesn’t even open in Chicago and heads straight to the Netflix queue, most viewers, including this critic, have a natural pessimistic apprehension. But I couldn’t believe that such a talented cast as Anne Hathaway, Patrick Wilson, Andre Braugher, Dianne Wiest, and David Morse could produce something truly horrible.

I was right. There are parts of “Passengers” that truly work. It’s not horrible and vastly superior to the loathsome “Bride Wars”. But it’s also easy to see why Sony didn’t know how to handle it with a script full of odd tones changes and a final act that simply gets away from everyone involved.

Passengers was released on Blu-Ray on May 12th, 2009.
Photo credit: Sony

Wilson (“Little Children,” “Watchmen”) plays a rather unusual survivor of a horrific plane crash. He remembers an explosion and then waking up on a beach. He seems almost invincible and baffles the therapist (Hathaway) brought in to handle the survivors. The great Andre Braugher (“Homicide: Life on the Street”) plays Hathaway’s superior.

Passengers was released on Blu-Ray on May 12th, 2009.
Photo credit: Sony

The first act, as Hathaway starts to work with her patients and realizes that they all have different stories and theories about the crash, is truly interesting. Hathaway is believable and Wilson is intriguing. And when survivors start to suggest that perhaps the airline is trying to silence them in whatever way possible, the conspiracy theory drama has an interesting edge.

Hathaway brings gravity to her role and Wilson is always a fascinating actor. The two actually have chemistry, although the romantic entanglement feels superfluous to the mystery of the crash.

It’s when Ronnie Christensen’s screenplay starts to live up to its tagline that “Passengers” begins to unravel. “Behind the mystery lies a secret…not of this world.” “Six Feet Under” director Rodrigo Garcia excels at the character and drama usually missing from supernatural stories but doesn’t have as firm a grasp on the material that feels like a discarded “X-Files” script (even ‘The Cigarette Smoking Man’ makes an appearance).

Bluntly, when Hathaway starts screaming about her missing passengers and a ghostly, haggard man shows up claiming to be one himself, “Passengers” stops being effective and becomes mostly boring. It’s an interesting set-up with a dull follow-through, but might be worth a rental for serious fans of the stars or the supernatural. “Passengers” may not work, but I was expecting a heck of a lot worse.

The Blu-Ray release for “Passengers” is a good one with excellent video quality and crystal clear audio. Sony continues to rock in these departments and the well-mastered 1080p picture can not be faulted. Neither can the expertly mixed TrueHD 5.1 audio track.

Special features on “Passengers” include deleted scenes, a commentary with Rodrigo Garcia and Patrick Wilson, “In the Night Sky: The Making and Manifest of Passengers,” and “Analysis of the Plane Crash”. The deleted scenes are interesting, fleshing out the final act into something more emotional than what kind of felt like a cheap twist in the theatrical version. It’s a well-rounded and complete collection for a film that’s not quite.

‘Passengers’ is released by Sony Pictures Home Video and stars Anne Hathaway, Patrick Wilson, Andre Braugher, David Morse, Clea Duvall, and Dianne Wiest. It was written by Ronnie Christensen and directed by Rodrigo Garcia. The Blu-Ray and DVD were released on May 12th, 2009. It is rated PG-13.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Video Game Review: ‘Watchmen: The End is Nigh’ Feels Like Relic From Era of Book’s Publication

BrianTT — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 13:56:43 -0700

Video Game Rating: 1.5/5.0

CHICAGO – If Alan Moore still paid attention to the products based on his creations, the downloadable game “Watchmen: The End is Nigh” might make him give up once and for all. His book that so masterfully deconstructed the superhero genre has been turned into an old-fashioned brawler, in which the player is supposed to get thrills from beating up an endless stream of bad guys. “Watchmen” truly has become like any other superhero franchise, complete with a lame video game to accompany it.

“The End is Nigh” tries to provide back story for the Zack Snyder film and Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons’ book by offering up some of the heroic, butt-kicking adventures of Nite Owl and Rorschach, played by Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley in the film. But it turns a story about man’s capacity for evil and the fallibity of the hero into a button-mashing brawler. And not a very good one at that. “Nigh” is a dull, repetetive game worth maybe the cost of a rental but far from the $19.99 plus tax you’ll have to pay online.

Watchmen: The End is Nigh
Photo credit: Deadline Games

The games that “End is Nigh” reminded me of most are ones most of us stopped playing years ago. I’m talking “Golden Axe” years ago. Watch as five guys run at you. Watch as they take turns standing there and waiting for you to kick their butts, break their limbs, or smash their heads in. Watch another five guys run at you. Repeat with the occasional cut scene.

Watchmen: The End is Nigh
Photo credit: Deadline Games

The very loose story for “End is Nigh” takes place ten years before the events of the legendary book. You can play as Nite Owl or Rorschach, as the two face a stream of useless bad guys with some of the most ridiculous AI in a long time. The story attempts to explain how Richard Nixon stayed President until 1985.

“Nigh” feels like an incomplete game, like you’re playing a beta version of a half-complete title. Yes, there are some cool finishing moves and other elements that work, but this fan of the book can’t help but feel that the brutality of the game kind of goes against everything Moore and Gibbons were attempting. It fits with Snyder’s shockingly violent film but not the dialogue-driven original source material.

A punch, a kick, a special move, and a finishing brutality can be fun, but it’s the numbing repetition of “Watchmen: The End is Nigh” that’s truly shocking. It’s almost literally the same fight after fight from Chapter I to VI and through the roughly two hours the game will take you to finish. So, the game costs more than seeing the movie, takes less time, and is nothing but repetition.

Watchmen: The End is Nigh
Photo credit: Deadline Games

What works about “End is Nigh”? The voice work is good (although the enemy banter is horrific and repetitive) and some of the backgrounds are impressively rendered. It almost makes it more depressing that the gameplay/AI don’t live up to the rest of the design. And the lack of online play is shocking. If you’re going to pay $20, you should be able to play co-operatively with someone online. How is that NOT included in a title so tailor-made for online, co-op play?

With titles like “Flower” stretching the boundaries of gaming and coming in at half the cost and the acclaimed “The Lost and the Damned” DLC for “Grand Theft Auto IV” stretching 12 hours with multiplayer capabilities for the same cost as “The End is Nigh,” this offering feels like a relic of a time gone by. It might have worked as the first downloadable game or at half the cost, but “The End is Nigh” is just another poorly-made movie-licensed game. “Watchmen” fans deserve better.

‘Watchmen: The End is Nigh’ was released by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and developed by Deadline Games. It is rated M (Mature). The title is available as a downloadable game on the PlayStation Network, and also for the Xbox 360 and PC. It was released on March 5th, 2009.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Zack Snyder Turns ‘Watchmen’ Into Loud, Disjointed, Brutal Mess

BrianTT — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 11:29:00 -0700

Rating: 2.0/5.0

CHICAGO – For years, fans of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s masterful and influential “Watchmen” have been waiting for a filmmaker willing to faithfully and slavishly adapt their favorite graphic novel. Well, we got what we wanted in Zack Snyder’s frame-copying vision of this legendary book, but as someone once said - You should be careful what you ask for because you just might get it.

Snyder’s take on “Watchmen” is like a karaoke singer who hits most of the notes but doesn’t understand the lyrics to the song. The filmmaker has recreated a majority of the panels from his source material, but he’s compiled them in such a way that makes for a brutal, disjointed, misguided experience.

Read Brian Tallerico’s full review of “Watchmen” in our reviews section.

There are enough good ideas in the original that people unfamiliar with it and still refusing to read it may have something to talk about after seeing “Watchmen” but those elements that work are in spite of the people who made this film, not because of them. Except for a few strong performances (balanced out by a few awful ones) and the strength of the ideas at the core of “Watchmen,” the film is a complete disaster, one of the biggest disappointments of the last several years.

The opening credits to “Watchmen” arguably make up the most effective sequence in the film. Set to “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” Snyder introduces us to his alternate universe, one in which masked crusaders have come and gone and Richard Nixon is still President in 1985. The world is on the edge of nuclear armageddon as the U.S. and U.S.S.R. have their nuclear weapons pointed at each other, held back from launching them by the existence of a God-like figure named Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup).

Continuing reading for Brian Tallerico’s full “Watchmen” review.

‘Watchmen’ stars Malin Akerman, Carla Gugino, Billy Crudup, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Matthew Goode, and Patrick Wilson. ‘Watchmen,’ which was written by David Hayter & Alex Tse and directed by Zack Snyder, opens on March 6th, 2009. It is rated R.

Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl II, Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre II and Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach.
Photo credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

‘Watchmen’ at Chicago’s Navy Pier IMAX Adds Morning Screening on March 6, 2009

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:22:30 -0700

CHICAGO – If you’re like many others who crave braving the opening-day crowds to see the highly anticipated new “Watchmen” film, HollywoodChicago.com has learned that Chicago’s Navy Pier IMAX theatre has just added one additional screening at 7 a.m. on Friday, March 6, 2009. Chicago moviegoers could even catch the flick and make it to work by 10 a.m.

“Watchmen,” which is a movie adaptation of one of the most celebrated graphic novels of our time, stars Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino, Matt Frewer, Laura Mennell, Stephen McHattie, Rob LaBelle, Gary Houston, James M. Connor and Mary Ann Burger from “300” director Zack Snyder.

Opening weekend will begin with a sold-out screening at midnight on Friday, March 6, 2009 (i.e. late Thursday night on March 5, 2009). IMAX tickets for opening weekend – including the newly added 7 a.m. screening – are now on sale. Tickets are $15 for adults, $14 for seniors and $13 for children. They are available at the Navy Pier IMAX theatre box office at 700 E. Grand Ave. or online here.

The “Watchmen” ensemble.
Image credit: Warner Bros.

“The film and story are so detailed,” said “Watchmen” director Zack Snyder in a Tuesday statement. “The minutiae of its setting and characters are integral to the film. Seeing the film presented in IMAX will allow audiences to be fully immersed in the world of ‘Watchmen’.”

Here is the “Watchmen” plot description (source):

In a gritty and alternate 1985, the glory days of costumed vigilantes have been brought to a close by a government crackdown. After one of the masked veterans is brutally murdered, though, an investigation into the killer is initiated.

The reunited heroes set out to prevent their own destruction, but in doing so, they discover a deeper and much more diabolical plot.

Before “Watchmen” opens, Chicagoans have one last chance to see “The Dark Knight” in IMAX. Featuring the Oscar-winning performance by the late Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight” was originally released in July 2008. “The Dark Knight” will be screened for the final time in Chicago on Thursday, March 5, 2009. Tickets are now available now for the final days of “The Dark Knight”.

See our 26-image “Watchmen” slideshow of world-premiere arrivals.
See our 26-image “Watchmen” slideshow (part one).
See our 26-image “Watchmen” slideshow (part two).
Read more “Watchmen” coverage on HollywoodChicago.com.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Slideshow: 26-Image Gallery For ‘Watchmen’ With Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Billy Crudup

BrianTT — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:10:08 -0700

CHICAGO – This 26-image slideshow contains the second half of the official press images (check out this link for the first half) from the Warner Brothers production of “Watchmen,” based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, starring Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. Written by David Hayter and Alex Tse and directed by Zack Snyder, the film opens on Friday, March 6th, 2009.

Synopsis: “A complex, multi-layered mystery adventure, “Watchmen” is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the Doomsday Clock—which charts the USA’s tension with the Soviet Union—moves closer to midnight.

When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the outlawed but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion—a disbanded group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers—Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future.

Their mission is to watch over humanity…but who is watching the Watchmen?”

You can click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through this slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below. All photos are credited on their captions when needed and courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Watchmen_27: Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre II.
Watchmen_28: Matthew Goode as Ozymandias.
Watchmen_29: Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl II, Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre II and Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach.
Watchmen_30: Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan.
Watchmen_31: Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian.
Watchmen_32: Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach.
Watchmen_33: Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre II.
Watchmen_34: Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl II.
Watchmen_35: Matthew Goode as Ozymandias.
Watchmen_36: Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan
Watchmen_37: Carla Gugino as Silk Spectre.
Watchmen_38: Matthew Goode (center) as Adrian Veidt is flanked by Walter Addison, (left) as Lee Iacocca and Sonya Salomaa (right) as his assistant.
Watchmen_39: Director Zack Snyder on the set.
Watchmen_40: Jackie Earle Haley as Walter Kovacs.
Watchmen_41: Matthew Goode as Adrian Veidt.
Watchmen_42: Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson) fights off a rioting prisoner as Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman) lends a hand.
Watchmen_43: Matthew Goode as Ozymandias and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian.
Watchmen_44: Dave Gibbons, the co-creator of the graphic novel Watchmen which is now an action adventure film.
Watchmen_45: Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian and Carla Gugino as Silk Spectre.
Watchmen_46: Director Zack Snyder directs Robert Wisden as President Nixon.
Watchmen_47: Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach.
Watchmen_48: Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian.
Watchmen_49: Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre II.
Watchmen_50: Left: A frame from the graphic novel Watchmen of Rorschach as drawn by Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons. Right: Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach.
Watchmen_51: Left: A frame from the graphic novel Watchmen of Dan Dreiberg as drawn by Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons.
Right: Patrick Wilson as Dan Dreiberg.
Watchmen_52: Left: A frame from the graphic novel Watchmen of Karnak in the Antarctic as drawn by Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons. Right: Karnak in the Antarctic.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Slideshow: 26-Image Gallery For ‘Watchmen’ With Malin Akerman, Patrick Wilson

BrianTT — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:36:12 -0700

CHICAGO – This 26-image slideshow contains half of the official press images (the second half can be found here) from the Warner Brothers production of “Watchmen,” based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, starring Malin Akerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Carla Gugino, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. Written by David Hayter and Alex Tse and directed by Zack Snyder, the film opens on Friday, March 6th, 2009.

Their mission is to watch over humanity…but who is watching the Watchmen?”

Watchmen_01: Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian.
Watchmen_02: Archimedes rises into the dark sky.
Watchmen_03: Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian. Photo by Clay Enos.
Watchmen_04: Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre II and Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl II.
Watchmen_05: Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre II and Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan.
Watchmen_06: L-r: The Minutemen, the original group of costumed heroes, are pictured in 1940: Apollonia Vanova as Silhouette, Niall Mater as Mothman, Dan Payne as Dollar Bill, Clint Carleton as the original Nite Owl, Daryl Scheeler as Captain Metropolis, Carla Gugino as the original Silk Spectre, Glenn Ennis as Hooded Justice and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (kneeling) as The Comedian. Photo by Clay Enos.
Watchmen_07: Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl II. Photo by Clay Enos.
Watchmen_08: Matthew Goode as Ozymandias. Photo by Clay Enos.
Watchmen_09: Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach. Photo by Clay Enos.
Watchmen_10: Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre II. Photo by Clay Enos.
Watchmen_11: Jon Osterman (Billy Crudup) is transformed into Dr. Manhattan.
Watchmen_12: Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach.
Watchmen_13: Laura Mennell as Janey Slater and Billy Crudup as Jon Osterman.
Watchmen_14: Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan at a press conference.
Watchmen_15: Patrick Wilson as Dan Dreiberg.
Watchmen_16: Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach.
Watchmen_17: Dr. Manhattan (Billy Crudup) reflected in the helmet of an astronaut suit.
Watchmen_18: L-r: Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian, Malin Akerman as Silk Spectre II, Billy Crudup as Dr, Manhattan, Matthew Goode as Ozymandias, Patrick Wilson as Nite Owl II and Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach.
Watchmen_19: Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach.
Watchmen_20: Matt Frewer as Hollis Mason, the original Nite Owl, and Patrick Wilson as his successor, Dan Dreiberg aka Nite Owl II.
Watchmen_21: Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach and Patrick Wilson as Dan Dreiberg.
Watchmen_22: Malin Akerman as Laurie Jupiter (left, in background), Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan and Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach (right, in background).
Watchmen_23: Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan.
Watchmen_24: The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) leaps from the Owl Ship.
Watchmen_25: Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan.
Watchmen_26: Malin Akerman as Laurie Jupiter and Patrick Wilson as Dan Dreiberg.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: Mixed Bag of Clichés, Quality Performances in ‘Lakeview Terrace’

BrianTT — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 08:44:35 -0700

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Neil LaBute’s “Lakeview Terrace” delivers as close to the “marginal thumbs up or down” line as any movie released in 2008. There are some intriguing ideas about race and excellent performances, but the film feels like a missed opportunity to be something greater, even if a strong Blu-Ray release helps the final product.

The issues of racial and social tension used to belong to the “urban drama,” films set in major downtown cities like New York or L.A.. “Lakeview Terrace” tries to take some of those themes and move them to the suburbs. Neil LaBute, the famous playwright and writer/director of at least two above-average films - “In the Company of Men” and “The Shape of Things” - has always been fascinated by how good people co-exist with evil, making him a better fit for this “suburban drama” than you might first expect.

Lakeview Terrace was released by Sony Pictures Home Video on January 27th, 2009.
Photo credit: Sony Pictures

The basic set-up for “Lakeview Terrace” is not unlike what we’ve seen before in thrillers like “Unlawful Entry” and “Pacific Heights” and the film certainly falls prey to a lot of the storytelling traps that held back its genre brethren, most notably in the final act. But there is enough talent in front of and behind the camera to justify a viewing for fans of this kind of material or the people involved and the Blu-Ray presentation enhances the entire project.

Photo credit: Sony Pictures

Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson) is a single father trying to raise two children in a world that he has grown increasingly disturbed by in his role on the LAPD. Turner has seen kids gone bad on his beat every day and he’s started to snap. He starts by clamping down on his children’s behavior - correcting their grammar, pulling the iPod buds out of their ears - and then turns his eye to his new neighbors.

The bubble of a world that Abel has created is shattered by the arrival of the Mattsons, Chris (Patrick Wilson) and Lisa (Kerry Washington) in his back yard. The interracial couple pushes all of Abel’s buttons. There are big issues like race at play in David Loughery and Howard Korder’s script but it is the little ones that feel like LaBute touches - the liberal vs. conservative difference, the fact that Chris refers to living in a neighborhood that Abel has spent decades working to afford as a “starter home” - and are far more interesting.

Essentially, Abel snaps under the pressure of the changing world around him. He starts to harass his kindly neighbors with increasingly violent and dangerous behavior. The Mattsons won’t move. Something has to give.

The problem with a film like “Lakeview Terrace” is that it almost always writes itself into a corner. The first two acts of the film are intriguing and complex. Jackson is better than he has been recently and Wilson (“Little Children,” “Watchmen”) and Washington are intriguing young actors. But the final act succumbs to the inevitable, over-the-top ending.

The ridiculous twists and turns of the conclusion of “Lakeview Terrace” will sink the project for a lot of viewers. Wouldn’t it be great to see a movie about a crazy neighbor that doesn’t end predictably? Wouldn’t it be fascinating to see not how the Abel Turners and Chris Mattsons of the world butt heads but how they are forced to live next door to each other? That would have a been a great movie instead of the merely okay “Lakeview Terrace”.

Sony continues to produce nearly flawless video and audio transfers with this release. The video is presented in 1080p High Definition with a 2.40:1 aspect ratio and the accompanying Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track fits it well.

Special features included in Sony’s release of “Lakeview Terrace” are a commentary with LaBute and Washington, deleted scenes with commentary from LaBute and Washington, and three featurettes - “An Open House,” “Meet Your Neighbors,” and “Home Sweet Home”. Each featurette has a different focus with the first looking at the development of the story, the second detailing the casting, and the last documenting the actual production.

A comprehensive collection of special features and a superior video/audio transfer help push the so-so “Lakeview Terrace” over the hill and into the neighborhood of quality Blu-Ray releases.

‘Lakeview Terrace’ is released by Sony Pictures Home Video and stars Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington, and Jay Hernandez. It was written by David Loughery and Howard Korder and directed by Neil LaBute. It was released on January 27th, 2009.

Read our interview with “Lakeview Terrace” director Neil LaBute.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

‘Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic’ Coming to Blu-Ray in March 2009

BrianTT — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:48:39 -0700

CHICAGO – Warner Brothers made an announcement today and released the cover art for an exciting new tie-in with the upcoming March 6th release of the highly anticipated “Watchmen”. The studio will release “Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic” on Blu-Ray on March 3rd, 2009.

To tie in with the release of the Zack Snyder adaptation of the Alan Moore masterpiece, one of the best graphic novels ever made, Warner Brothers will make it easy to see where it all began in Blu-Ray form. The adaptation stars Matthew Goode, Malin Akerman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino, Billy Crudup, and Jackie Earle Haley.

Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic
Photo credit: Warner Brothers

See the original “Watchmen” with the digital version of the most celebrated graphic novel of all time. The illustrator of “Watchmen,” Dave Gibbons, oversaw the entire process, one that adds limited motion, voice, and sound to the original panels. All twelve chapters of the story are included in almost five hours of material.

“Watchmen: The Complete Motion Comic” will be available for an MSRP of $35.99 on March 3, 2009.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Slideshow: Nine-Image Gallery of New ‘Watchmen’ Banners, Posters From ‘300’ Director Zack Snyder

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 21:28:30 -0700

CHICAGO – Warner Bros. recently released new posters and banner artwork for the highly anticipated 2009 film “Watchmen” from “300” director Zack Snyder. We present to you a nine-image slideshow of the new, high-quality “Watchmen” images for your viewing pleasure.

“Watchmen,” which is slated to open on March 6, 2009, stars Billy Crudup, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Carla Gugino, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Malin Akerman.

You can click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through this slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below. All image credits for this “Watchmen” slideshow belong to Warner Bros.

watchmen1: Silk Spectre
watchmen2: Manhattan
watchmen3: Nite Owl
watchmen4: Rorschach
watchmen5: Ozymandias
watchmen6: Comedian
watchmen7: A “Watchmen” poster
watchmen8: A “Watchmen” poster
watchmen9: The “Watchmen” button

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com