Charlotte Rampling

Blu-Ray Review: Vin Diesel’s ‘Babylon A.D.’ Passable Only in High-Definition

BrianTT — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:21:04 -0700

CHICAGO – When did Vin Diesel go from “the next Bruce Willis” to the “the current Steven Seagal”? Diesel’s half-asleep, apathetic performance in the sci-fi action flick “Babylon A.D.” is only one of the problems with a film that was ignored in theaters but has been given a respectable treatment on Blu-Ray.

Director Mathieu Kassovitz garnered international attention with the great “La Haine,” but it’s been a steady downhill foot race since he started making movies in the English language. Halle Berry has probably wiped “Gothika” from her resume. Now, Vin Diesel has his Kassovitz movie to forget, the misguided and deadly dull “Babylon A.D.”.

Babylon A.D. is released by Fox Home Video on January 6th, 2009.
Photo credit: Fox Home Video

“Babylon A.D.” is essentially a blend of “The Transporter” movies and dozens of post-apocalyptic visions of the future. In a bleak and desolated future (is there any other kind?), a mercenary named Thoorop (Vin Diesel) is hired to transport a girl from Russia to New York. Naturally, in a war-torn future, transport is incredibly dangerous. The girl being transported is played by Frenchwoman Melanie Thierry and her guardian is played by the wonderful-but-wasted Michelle Yeoh.

In the casting alone, it’s clear that “Babylon A.D.” was primarily intended for the international market. Besides the fact that the main trio in the film is an American, a Frenchwoman, and a Malaysian, great French actors Gerard Depardieu and Charlotte Rampling even drop into the proceedings in small roles, as does Brit Mark Strong. “Babylon A.D.” has made more than double its domestic gross ($23 million) on the international market ($49 million) and that’s by design.

Babylon A.D. is released by Fox Home Video on January 6th, 2009.
Photo credit: Fox Home Video

As for the movie itself, Kassovitz displays interesting visual flourishes and his eye for design shines through in high definition on the Blu-Ray release. I liked the stark contrast between Thoorop’s dark, urban existence and the green Shangri-La where he picks up his “packages” and a market square bombing is very well-conceived and executed. There’s also a great sequence in a futuristic fight club. Kassovitz has very few flaws as a visual artist.

It’s the script and his work with actors where he clearly falters. Diesel has long struggled with under-performing his roles, blurring the line between “playing cool” and “playing asleep,” and he falls way too often to the latter with this one. I know the square-jawed, personality-free hero is more popular overseas - look at Jason Statham’s work in “The Transporter” movies - but it’s not the right fit for this character, who could have used some more charisma and a little less Ambien.

And no matter how interesting a film looks or how intriguingly distant its hero may be, a movie still needs a compelling screenplay and “Babylon A.D.” is a jumble of ideas that simply never comes together. Everything about the story of “Babylon A.D.” feels derivative of better films and the dialogue is simply awful.

Luckily for viewers of “Babylon A.D.” on Blu-Ray, the format plays up the film’s few strengths. The high definition transfer is one of the best in Twentieth Century Fox’s catalog and the audio mix is nearly perfect. “Babylon A.D.” is immensely more watchable on Blu-Ray that it would be on standard DVD or probably even with most modern movie theater projection and sound systems.

As for special features, they’re hit and miss, but maybe someone at Fox has finally listened to my passionate pleas because the studio’s habit of mini-featurettes finally comes with a “Play All” feature. No more bouncing back to menu screens every four to five minutes.

The featurettes, which can be views “BonusView” or picture-in-picture as the movie rolls, are surprisingly extensive and cover the source material and entire production over more than 35 minutes. Broken apart, the featurettes are “Babylon Babies,” “Arctic Escape,” “Fit For the Screen,” “Flight of the Hummers,” and a very cool animated film called “Prequel to Babylon A.D.: Genesis of Aurora”. The featurettes are a perfect mix for fans.

“Babylon A.D.” also includes a deleted scene, still galleries, trailers, and an inside look at the straight-to-DVD “behind Enemy Lines: Colombia”. It’s far from a “special edition” level of bonus features, but it’s a good mix that complements the film well. Overall, the Blu-Ray release of “Babylon A.D.” is surprisingly well put-together, even if the movie itself is not.

‘Babylon A.D.’ is released by Twentieth Century Fox Home Video and stars Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Melanie Thierry, Gerard Depardieu, Charlotte Rampling, and Mark Strong. It was written by Mathieu Kassovitz and Joseph Simas and directed by Kassovitz. It was released on January 6th, 2009.

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

Blu-Ray Review: ‘The Duchess’ Looks Great, Ultimately Hollow

BrianTT — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 10:05:48 -0700

CHICAGO – Every year produces a movie or two that dazzles with beautiful costumes and lavishly recreated period settings but falls flat when it comes to character. Saul Dibb’s “The Duchess” is a gorgeously rendered film, a great fit for the HD format of Blu-Ray, but lack of character leaves a film that feels hollow.

Keira Knightley, so much better in last year’s “Atonement,” gets to wear most of the lavishly designed costumes in “The Duchess” as Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, a headstrong young woman forced to marry an emotionally distant Duke (Ralph Fiennes) in the 18th century. Knightley needs to prove that she can do something that doesn’t require wigs and costumes. It’s getting repetitive for an actress of her age to be so limited in the roles she chooses.

Georgiana is a head-strong woman in a time and position that doesn’t really support female independence. Despite that, she becomes a fashion icon and celebrity in the social circles she runs in, until things get very complicated at home. The Duke takes a lover, Bess Foster (Hayley Atwell), and the Duchess herself falls in love with an ambitious young politician names Charles Grey (Dominic Cooper). “The Duchess” is a soap opera masquerading as serious drama with infidelity, love triangles, illegitimate children, social scandal, and gossip taking center stage over character.

“The Duchess” is a visual stunner and features a lovely score by Rachel Portman, nomination-worthy costume design by Michael O’Connor and an intriguing supporting performance by Ralph Fiennes, but if you take away the costumes and gorgeous sets, Dibb’s film is nothing but melodrama that would be right at home on a daytime soap opera. Great period pieces transport the viewer to another time. “The Duchess” never does.

“The Duchess” threatens to become more than just a series of melodramatic revelations and awkward conversations between Georgiana and The Duke, but feels too much like people playing dress-up and not genuine. It’s just a series of pretty pictures shot by a director who doesn’t let his film breathe enough for the characters to become real to the audience.

Now, of course, those pretty pictures are all the more vibrant on Blu-Ray and Paramount presents the film in 1080p High Definition with a striking Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. “The Duchess” looks and sounds spectacular on Blu-Ray and I think audiences will actually warm to the film much more with its few strengths amplified by the next-gen format than they did in theaters.

As for special features, “The Duchess” Blu-Ray disappoints. All that Paramount includes are three lonely featurettes, “How Far She Went…Making the Duchess,” “Georgiana In Her Own Words,” and “Costume Diary”. It’s a lackluster collection for a woman and a movie that never did anything in moderation.

‘The Duchess’ is released by Paramount Home Video and stars Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Dominic Cooper, Hayley Atwell, and Charlotte Rampling, and was written by Jeffrey Hatcher and Anders Thomas Jensen and Saul Dibb and directed by Dibb. It was released on December 28th, 2008.

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

Hookup: 25 Admit-Two Passes to Chicago Screening of Keira Knightley’s ‘The Duchess’

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:43:55 -0600

CHICAGO – In our latest edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 25 admit-two passes up for grabs to the Chicago screening of “The Duchess,” which stars Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Hayley Atwell, Charlotte Rampling and Dominic Cooper.

To win your free pass to the advance screening of “The Duchess” in Chicago courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, all you need to do is be one of the first 25 people to submit a comment in this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup. That’s it!

The screening will be held on Sept. 24, 2008 at 6 p.m. in downtown Chicago. Directions to enter this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup and immediately win can be found beneath the graphic below.

“The Duchess” features Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes, Hayley Atwell, Charlotte Rampling and Dominic Cooper.
Image credit: Paramount Vantage

Here’s the plotline of “The Duchess” (source):

This is a chronicle of the life of 18th century aristocrat Georgiana (the duchess of Devonshire) who was reviled for her extravagant political and personal life.

She is a vibrant beauty and celebrity of her time, but she is trapped in an unhappy triangle with her husband and his live-in mistress.

She falls passionately in love with an ambitious young politician. The affair causes a bitter conflict with her husband and threatens to erupt into a scandal.

To secure your free tickets now, make sure you’re logged into your HollywoodChicago.com account. If you don’t yet have one, you can quickly register here. Having an account with a valid e-mail address is required.

Then, simply add a new comment in the form below. In your comment, include an answer to this simple question:

What are your thoughts on infidelity today?

Like all Hookups here, this HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film is simple: The first 25 people to comment below win! We will be in touch with the 25 winners to distribute your passes. “The Duchess” opens in Chicago on Sept. 26, 2008.

This HollywoodChicago.com Hookup is now closed.
As of 7:52 p.m. on Sept. 8, 2008, all passes to “The Duchess” have been consumed. If you continue to RSVP, we will be sure to contact you when new Hookups become available.

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

Tepid Con Job Spoils Sexual Intrigue in ‘Deception’ With Ewan McGregor

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:01:00 -0600

CHICAGO – Despite its timid title, “Deception” has all the right ingredients for a decent tale of mystery: a strong premise, sound acting and the famous femme fatale. It even starts with a promising conviction: How does a background player in life deal with initiation into a secret society?

The real mystery is why this strong beginning led to a such weak and conventional conclusion. Ewan McGregor portrays Jonathan McQuarry: a mousy accountant who specializes in corporate audit assignments. His life is long hours, ever-changing clients and little social reward.

Read Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Deception” in our reviews section.

View our full “Deception” image gallery.

The List is a sex club that allows anonymous coupling with no strings attached. It’s used by power brokers who presumably have no time for relationship entanglements.

McQuarry is let in on The List when he accidentally switches phones with Bose and the encounters start ringing him up. One such encounter – the enigmatic “S” (Michelle Williams) – gets coerced into further meetings by McQuarry despite the rules against fraternization between members on The List.

Their bonding leads to a closer relationship that triggers several strange occurrences involving kidnapping, blackmail and McQuarry’s knowledge of corporate accounts.

Michelle Williams (left) and Ewan McGregor in “Deception”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Ewan McGregor (left) and Maggie Q in “Deception”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Read Patrick McDonald’s full “Deception” review.