SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009)

When I first saw the trailer, I was not enthused. I have not been a fan of Guy Ritchie's directorial style and it looked like the film would be dismissing Holmes' mental prowess in an effort to turn him into an action hero. Thankfully, my deductions proved incorrect, as Ritchie has created his best film to date and Robert Downey Jr. turns in yet again an impressive, and no doubt franchise-launching, performance.

Sherlock Holmes opens in London 1891 with Holmes and Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) stopping what would have been the latest murder in a series of ritualistic killings. The culprit is Lord Henry Blackwood (Mark Strong), and before he is hanged for his crimes, he requests an audience with Holmes, informing him that death will not stop his plans of three more murders. Holmes pays Blackwood's boasts no mind until they start to become prophetic.

While Holmes investigates how Blackwood has overcome death, which has panicked the city, he has personal matters to attend to as well. Watson is moving out of their apartment on 221 Baker St. because he is due to be wed and wants to retire as Holmes' partner. Also, Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), the only woman who has bested Holmes, a fact that makes her all the more attractive, returns to offer him a case at the behest of a mysterious stranger.

Unaware of all the games afoot, Holmes and Watson work together to solve a thrilling adventure that combines black magic and new science.

Based on an original story by Lionel Wigram and Michael Robert Johnson with a screenplay by Johnson and Anthony Peckham and Simon Kinberg, the script shows a good understanding of Conan Doyle's work. The character of Holmes is a believable person. He's not just a gifted intellect but suffers foibles as well. Although more physical than other portrayals, Downey's Holmes is true to the source as the character was revealed to have had great potential as a boxer in The Sign of Four. Ritchie's use of slow motion is a great device to show Holmes conceiving of and calculating his actions. Conversely, Law's Watson gets a bit of a short shrift. There are moments of characterization that come through, but he isn’t fully developed beyond fighting alongside Holmes. Hopefully, this will be rectified in future installments.

Some of the action sequences border on being over the top, yet they always work in context. However, some of the CGI effects do suspend disbelief, but they aren't on screen too long.

Sherlock Holmes is a rare treat, a smart blockbuster that cares about the small details as much as it does the large ones. It's a wonderful, unexpected Christmas present from Warner Brothers, and I didn’t think to get them anything.

Natural Born Killers - The Director's Cut

In celebration of its 15th Anniversary and because the distribution of the director’s cut reverted back to Warner Brothers, a new release of Natural Born Killers is now available. Based on a story from Quentin Tarantino, Oliver Stone tells the tale of serial killers Mickey and Mallory Knox (Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis) as a way to comment on problems with 1990s American society, such as violence, the justice system and the media.

The tone is set immediately as the couple is introduced in a diner that quickly explodes into an orgy of violence, so over the top it is cartoonish, as is the frenetic way the scene is shot, constantly shifting perspectives and formats. It should be immediately obvious with its black humor that Natural Born Killers is a satire. Tragically, not everyone has comprehended this and a few have used it to excuse their deadly actions, unwittingly proving some of the film’s points.

Natural Born Killers is also a love story. We see the characters Mickey and Mallory meet, and after he escapes jail, Mickey, who suffered emotional damage as a young child, helps Mallory escape her father’s abuse. The two head out into the world, making their own rules of right and wrong as they go. In turn, the world can’t get enough of their exploits thanks in part to journalist Wayne Gale (Robert Downey Jr.), host/producer/director of American Maniacs.

Mickey and Mallory are eventually captured, tried, and sent to jail. After a year passes, they are declared insane and are to be transported to a mental hospital. This doesn’t sit well with Warden Dwight McClusky (Tommy Lee Jones) and he plans with Detective Jack Scagnetti (Tom Sizemore), a psychopath himself, to have the couple killed. Meanwhile, Gale sets up a jailhouse interview with Mickey to take place after the Super Bowl. It enflames the other prisoners and a riot breaks out. The ensuing chaos provides opportunities for Mickey and Mallory’s escape as well as their death.

Natural Born Killers is an amazing, visceral overload. Cinematographer Robert Richardson and his team do a brilliant job bringing Stone’s, at times hallucinogenic, vision to the screen. The sound and music departments are fantastic in the way they use music and blend pieces together to evoke moods. If you enjoy the film, you have to get the Trent Reznor-supervised soundtrack. High marks also go to the actors who fully commit to their roles.

This Warner Brothers release offers a new introduction by Stone who states this is the “final version.” There's about three to four minutes added to the theatrical version.  He also delivers a very informative commentary track revealing his intentions, his symbolism, and the reasoning behind the stylistic choices. It’s a great listen for fans of the film and the art of filmmaking.

There is also a second disc of special features. “NBK Evolution: How Would It All Go Down Now?” (22 min) starts out talking about the film and then looks at how the characters might be affected by the current state of the Internet and its social-networking aspects. “Chaos Rising: The Storm Around Natural Born Killers” (26 min) is a piece created in 1996. The title indicates it’s going to deal with the controversy the film generated, but that’s given very short shrift at the end. It’s more of a making-of feature with Stone, the cast, and producer Jane Hamsher.

Stone features predominantly in the remaining features.  There are six Deleted Scenes (21 min) with an option to view them with his commentary; an Alternate Ending (5 min), which isn’t any better than the original with an introduction by him; and he is the sole guest during a Charlie Rose Interview (12 min).

Natural Born Killers is a near masterpiece but it suffers greatly from Stone’s heavy-handedness as he drives his message home. In the climatic scene, the characters annoyingly state the obvious rather than talk naturally and it is a disappointment. Yet, even with its flaws, the film gets so much right that I highly recommend the experience for those not put off by sex and violence.

TROPIC THUNDER: Unrated Director's Cut (Blu-ray)

Tropic Thunder, Ben Stiller’s comic take on Hollywood, tells the story of a group of actors shooting Damien Cockburn’s (Steve Coogan) Tropic Thunder, the film version of Vietnam veteran John “Four Leaf” Tayback’s (Nick Nolte) book Tropic Thunder about his war exploits. Stiller’s film has more clever inside-Hollywood jokes than laugh-loud funny ones, but there’s still plenty of comedy for the average viewer.

After a few days into the shoot, Cockburn’s film falls behind schedule and overbudget. This is due in part to the difficulty of working with a cast comprised of action star Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller) who recently misfired with the drama Simple Jack in which he played a retarded character, Australian method actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.) who has undergone pigmentation treatment to play African American Lincoln Osiris, and the heroin-addicted, funny fat man Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black). Studio executive Les Grossman (Tom Cruise) orders Cockburn to get the film back on track or it will be shut down. Tayback suggests Cockburn drop the actors in the jungle to create a sense of reality. The actors are given a scene list and a map and are told camera and special effects have been set up.

Speedman gets the group lost and they all leave him. Flaming Dragon, a Vietnamese drug gang capture Speedman. They recognize him and make him perform Simple Jack, the only movie they have at the camp. They also attempt to negotiate a ransom with Speedman's agent, Rick Peck (Matthew McConaughey), but Grossman will have none of it, especially considering the amount they can make back from the insurance. The actors discover Speedman has been captured and devise a plan to break him out similar to the one in their script, but they only have blanks and no idea where they are at up against a fierce drug gang who knows the jungles.

Thankfully, Tropic Thunder stays funny throughout and keeps its tone consistent, from the faux trailers that precede the film to the awards ceremony that concludes it. Too many comedies get all sappy by the end, which has become an unfortunate trend in Hollywood started by American Pie and continued by Judd Apatow and his cohorts.

Downey Jr.’s Osiris is a classic character that could easily have been buffoonish and minstrel-esque, but he, the writers, and director Stiller strike the perfect tone. As director, Stiller also assembled a talented crew (director of photography John Toll, special effects supervisor Mike Meindarus) to create an authenticity to the war scenes of the film within the film.

The video was presented in 2.40:1 widescreen 1080p, and the visuals look very good in Blu-ray. All the colors were well rendered, from the lush green jungles, to the orange fireballs. The video was vibrant when it needed to be, such as the party sequence that was cut from the theatrical release or the commercial for Alpa Chino’s Booty Sweat. Toll’s work looks great and shouldn’t be dismissed around Award season just because it’s in a comedy.

The Dolby True HD audio makes great use of bass, particularly in the music and effects. The surround places you in the middle of the action scenes as the bullets and explosions go off. The dialogue in the action scenes was mix is tad low and was not easy to make out unless someone was yelling.

The disc is packed with Special Features. There are two commentary tracks. Filmmaker has Stiller, producer Stuart Cornfeld, production designer Jeff Mann, co-writer/exec. producer Justin Theroux, editor Greg Hayden, and DP Toll. They are altogether and talk about the film’s creation and point out cut scenes cut. Cast Commentaries has Stiller, Black, and Downey Jr. still in character as Lincoln Osirus and later Lazarus (who remarked in the film “Man, I don't drop character 'till I done the DVD commentary.”). It was shot the night of the film’s premiere and the trio are very funny together.

Other features include “Before the Thunder” (presented in High Definiton), a great look at pre-production; “The Hot LZ” (HD) is on the set; “Blowing S#%t Up” (HD) focuses on the effects of the two big explosion shots, in the opening and the bridge; “Designing the Thunder” (HD) covers production design; “The Cast of Tropic Thunder” (HD) presents little bios; Tom Cruise’s Make-Up test; Deleted and Extended Scenes and Alternate Ending (HD), all with commentary; and “Full Mags” (HD) presents the entire raw footage of two camera film magazine rolls as Stiller and Downey Jr. worked on a scene.

The two funniest features are “Rain of Madness” (HD), a 30-min faux documentary about director Cockburn and his Tropic Thunder, and the MTV Movie Awards spot. The former spoofs Coppola and his wife’s film Hearts of Darkness, while the latter is minute-for-minute the funniest thing on the disc as Stiller, Black, and Downey Jr. attempt to create a viral video capitalizing on Kung Fu Panda and Iron Man that will turn people on to Tropic Thunder. Stiller’s nephew is unimpressed as he awaits the release of The Dark Knight.

BD-Live Features include “Dispatches from the Edge of Madness,” Additional “Full Mags,” and Video Rehearsals.