Dominic Cooper

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

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Mamma Mia!: The Movie’ Makes Musical Magic

BrianTT — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:28:35 -0700

CHICAGO – To some people, a “Sing-Along” version of “Mamma Mia!: The Movie” might sound like a threat. “No, Timmy, you can’t watch The Dark Knight for the hundredth time and if you don’t do your chores, I’m going to make you sing along with Pierce Brosnan again.” But “Mamma Mia!” has a very specific, very satisfied audience and they will be giddy with ABBA glee at the Blu-Ray release of their favorite movie of 2008.

It might have slipped under your radar while film goers were deluged with superheroes this summer. Maybe you didn’t notice that the ABBA musical with Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Brosnan, Colin Firth, and dozens of singing-and-dancing Greeks made over $140 million domestically and over half-a-BILLION worldwide. It’s the number one film in the history of the United Kingdom, passing “Titanic” just last month. Yes, ever. I always knew those Brits were different.

Mamma Mia! is available on DVD/Blu-Ray on December 16, 2008.

“Mamma Mia!: The Movie” tells the story of Sophie (the movie-stealing Amanda Seyfried), a young Greek woman who longs to have the birth father she’s never known attend her impending wedding. She reads her mother’s (Meryl Streep) journal, learns of the summer of sin in which she was conceived, and decides to invite all three potential papas, assuming she’ll know him when she sees him. Of course, she doesn’t, and hilarious hijinks ensue, all to the musical stylings of ABBA.

Mamma Mia! is available on DVD/Blu-Ray on December 16, 2008.

My own critical reaction to “Mamma Mia!” is somewhat conflicted. Yes, Brosnan sounds vaguely like a wounded water buffalo and the choreography looks like it was staged by someone on an Ouzo bender, but “Mamma Mia!” eventually wore down my defenses. Having seen the play, I’m not sure a much-better film version could have been produced. Amanda Seyfried will eventually be a star and Meryl Streep nails the numbers she needs to, particularly “Slipping Through My Fingers” and “The Winner Takes It All” in the final act. They carry the movie over the many rough patches.

“Mamma Mia!” is the ugly duckling of musicals. It’s not very well-made and features some ridiculous choices and performances but it’s hard NOT to fall for it a little bit by the time the group takes its final curtain call in the Greek sun. “Who cares about the stupid plot, the choppy editing, or the weak supporting cast? They’re singing “Dancing Queen” again!!”

With the clear knowledge that they have not just a cult classic but a film that fans are going to watch repeatedly, as my generation did “Grease” and “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, Universal pulls out all the stops with the Blu-Ray release of “Mamma Mia!” It’s as comprehensive and well-organized a Blu-Ray release as I’ve seen during this crowded holiday season. Fans could spend days with this title and that’s not counting the repeated viewing.

First and foremost, all musicals need to look and sound right. The colors of the Greek isles need to pop off the screen and the vocals need to be mixed perfectly with the music. Check and check. The 1080P High-Definition widescreen picture looks more vibrant on Blu-Ray than it did in theaters and the English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 features the perfect mix of dialogue and disco tunes.

Mamma Mia! is available on DVD/Blu-Ray on December 16, 2008.

What will truly stand out for the musical fans who find “Mamma Mia!” checked off their holiday wish list are the copious, detailed, and interactive special features. To start, there’s the aforementioned “Sing-Along” version, which is just a karaoke subtitle track on the flick’s musical numbers. Now you too can sing along to “Honey Honey”. Try not to scare the neighbors.

But that’s just the tip of the mirrorball with the “Mamma Mia!” Blu-Ray release. With “My Movie Commentary”, fans can join in the celebration and record their own video and/or text commentary on the film and send it to their friends. “My Chat” allows fans to discuss the movie live while they watch it. Surprisingly, Universal doesn’t include BD-Live capabilities on “Mamma Mia!” but these two special features more than make up for it.

As for traditional DVD features, where do we start? There’s a feature commentary with director Phyllida Lloyd, picture-in-picture featurettes accessible through U-Control, a “Behind the Hits” trivia track that provides full details and trivia on the ABBA songs and albums as they play in the film, and featurettes like “Anatomy of a Musical Number: Lay All Your Love on Me”, “The Making of Mamma Mia! The Movie”, “Becoming a Singer”, and “A Look Inside Mamma Mia! The Movie”. Deleted scenes include an entire musical number called “The Name of the Game” (with great vocals by Seyfried but clearly cut for pacing near the end of the film) and there’s even a music video for “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!”

Can a home release have too many special features? Not if it’s a movie like “Mamma Mia!”, where “too many” is never enough. Give in and enjoy one of the most comprehensive and impressive Blu-Ray releases of the year, whether you want to or not.

Mamma Mia! is released by Universal Home Video on DVD/Blu-Ray and stars Meryl Streep, Amanda Seyfried, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard, Julie Walters, Dominic Cooper, and Christine Baranski. It was written by Catherine Johnson and directed by Phyllida Law. It will be released on December 16th, 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