BUY IT AT AMAZON: CLICK HERE!
STUDIO: Warner Bros.
MSRP: $68.92 RATED: NR
RUNNING TIME: 430 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Documentaries
• Rare Screen Tests
• Wardrobe Tests
• Additional Scenes
• Premiere Footage
• Photo Galleries
• Giant – English Dolby Surround Stereo

Note to Nick and Readers: I apologize for not getting this review posted sooner. A new house has taken up most of my life as of late. That’s my excuse.

Whether you like it or not, James Dean is a cultural icon.

I’ve always gotten this young Marlon Brando vibe from James Dean. I feel this now more than ever, particularly when watching scenes where Dean goes from being quiet to abruptly exploding with emotion. These three films and verbal recollections from people who knew him are the only things we have left of Dean, so one can’t predict what would have become of his career. Yet, considering his spontaneous acting and his dedicated work ethic, I like to believe that he would have built up quite an impressive resume for all of us to enjoy.

East of Eden (1955)

Cal (James Dean) loves his father Adam (Raymond Massey). The only problem is that Cal’s father loves his other son, Aron (Richard Davalos), more. A lot more, actually. Whatever Cal does just doesn’t seem to be up to his father’s standards. This leaves Cal in a constant state of confusion, a state in which leaves him pondering how he will gain the love and affection of his hard-nosed father. A key to Cal’s better understanding of his efforts to gain his fathers love comes in the form of Abra (Julie Harris), Aron’s soon-to-be wife and a close friend of Cal’s.

Cal has to face his father after throwing a furious temper tantrum and destroying a group of ice blocks by tossing them down a slide from inside a factory that Cal’s father is considering to purchase for his lettuce company. Cal’s father scorns his son for his actions and forces him to read verses from a Bible, verses he feel will help his son get on better path to life. Even though Cal aims to gain his father’s love, he refuses to go along with his disipline.

After discovering that the chilled cars full of his lettuce on a train have gone bad, Cal’s father is left penniless. Seeing the pain and disappointment of his fathers plan gone bad, Cal sets out to get his fathers money back and to earn the love he feels his father should have for him. Cal invests in beans, but not before asking his estranged mother, Kate (Jo Van Fleet), for the starting money. After some consideration, Kate gives Cal the money and Cal quickly profits due to a jump in price once the war (World War I) begins.

As a side note, I feel in order for this film to work better, there needs to be a lot more focus on the sibling rivalry in replacement of the massive amount of time Cal spends moping throughout the film. From the beginning we can tell that Cal’s character is on a set course for destruction unless he gains the love for his father. I’ve never read the novel, so I’m not sure if there is more emphasis on the brothers in that medium.

Eventually ending events come at a furious pace once Cal reveals to his brother that their mother is still alive. This makes the ending feel very rushed, most likely due to condensing the novel into movie form. This reduces the film from the epic nature that I was expecting.

James Dean demonstrates a good acting performance here, possibly better if not for the stunted character arc he is forced to portray. There’s room for improvement here, yet the subtle nuances Dean gives to Cal force us to care more about him even when the film ends with a giant whimper.

First is a new 50th-Anniversary documentary titled East of Eden: Art in Search of Life. The documentary spends much of its beginning discussing the relationship between Kazan (the director) and Steinbeck (the writer). There are a number of interview segments and stories told from the cast, crew, and family member’s perspectives to fill in the rest of the running time.

A vintage documentary Forever James Dean does a pretty decent job depicting Dean’s childhood and how he looked into that experience when playing Cal in front of the cameras for East of Eden.

Also included are a number of “deleted scenes” which are pretty much alternate versions of scenes that were used as screen tests. Plenty of time is dedicated to silent wardrobe, costume, and production design tests which I will admit I watched on fast forward. The track lasts over a good 15 minutes and I discovered the intense boredom these camera tests provide about five minutes in.

Finally, there’s footage from the 1955 New York Premiere of the film in addition to the theatrical trailer.

8.5 out of 10

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

With this, Jim tends to be a loner and the film opens with him lying down on the sidewalk in a drunken stupor next to a toy monkey. Jim cares for the monkey by covering him up with a piece of newspaper, as if he is tucking him into bed. (This is a good example of Dean’s creative acting spirit, as his impromptu acting tends to shine through many of his scenes throughout the film.) From here Jim is whisked away to the police station where he is questioned by Officer Fremick (Edward Platt). We spend a good amount of time at the police station where we are introduced to two of our other main characters; a young girl named Judy (Natalie Wood) and a disturbed young man named John ‘Plato’ (Sal Mineo).

Judy is your run of the mill teenage girl from the 1950’s. At least she is according to Hollywood standards from the time. There’s something explosive building up inside Judy but we just can’t quite put our finger on it just yet. Plato, on the other hand, comes off as a very quiet and disturbed young man. During the sequence inside the police station, you can actually overhear an officer asking Plato why he “shot the puppies”. These early introductions in the police station give us a good indicator of who these kids are. Or do they?

As the film moves forward, we discover more in regards to Jim’s misguided nature; Jim’s father won’t give him a straight answer on how to handle teenage life, fearing that something terrible will happen to him. Jim’s love for his father shows through in these scenes and it’s obvious to me that Jim would probably stay out of a majority of the trouble he gets himself into if his father would simply lead him in the right direction and tell him to do the right things. But its trouble that once again catches up with Jim and his parents decide that they will flee town once more. This pushes Jim over the edge and he leaves their home in a furious manner. This explosive father/son dynamic is what fuels the plot, yet it’s these short scenes that don’t seem take importance over other grander scenes throughout the film.

In my eyes, Judy is the weakest and most underwritten character of main trio. I mean, Christ, her boyfriend dies and she immediately latches onto the guy that played a part in that? Nevertheless, with some reflection on my part it all makes sense. (The teenage mind is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?) Like Jim, Judy has problems of her own at home. Her father no longer feels that she should be clinging all over him, that she’s “too old for things like that”. This problem for Judy seems like the end of the world to her, but in reality her problem is minor compared to the range of emotions she will go through before the film draws to its conclusion. For me, Judy’s strongest moment in the film is after Buzz takes the leap in the car and everyone is at the edge of the cliff looking down. Everyone evacuates, except for Judy. She stands there in desperation and leaping after Buzz doesn’t seem out of the question. Jim sees this and slowly reaches out to her. Judy does the same and Jim pulls her back from the edge. For me, it’s the strongest scene in the film. Its quiet nature allows it to go unseen, but there’s a ton of emotion flowing through the scene and validates Jim and Judy coming together in the third act of the film. Without this scene I don’t think I could believe the bond between Jim and Judy being as close as the director shows us by the end of the film.

As the police arrive, Plato flees from the members of Buzz’s gang and ends up shooting one of them in the process. The police chase Plato down and end up forcing him to flee inside the nearby observatory. Jim and Judy manage to sneak inside the observatory with the intentions to lure Plato out safely. Tensions rise just as Jim is leading Plato out of the building but not before tragedy strikes. One of the party members is shot and the standoff comes to a grinding halt. I won’t say who receives the fatal blow, as I feel I’ve said enough for those that haven’t had the experience of watching this classic piece of work.

Days after seeing the film I’m finding myself randomly mimicking and manipulating Dean’s famous “I’ve got the bullets!” line in the workplace and at home. Where did the paper go? “I’ve got the paper!” Where’s the soap? “I’ve got the soap!” If you’ve seen the film you know what I’m talking about. And yes… it doesn’t make much sense in my mind either.

Without a doubt, Rebel Without a Cause is the film that shot Dean to his legendary status.

All for good reason.

A theatrical trailer is also included which presents the film in a slightly different affair than I’ve seen before. There’s the traditional buildup of music with “shocking” title cards, but instead of showing us quick shots of the characters, the trailer shows us actually full length scenes from the film. I can’t imagine how that would work in a movie theater going experience today because I can only imagine someone in the audience screaming “Spoilers!” the entire time. Then again, some movies are known to have shown us the plot of the entire film using 3 second edits.

That leads us to disc two which first features a vintage documentary titled James Dean Remembered. This documentary absolutely screams the 1970’s which you can singularly tell just by the outfits the interviewer and interviewees are sporting. In the documentary, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo, and even Sammy Davis Jr. (among others) are interviewed regarding their experiences in working with or simply hanging out with Dean. Sammy Davis Jr. reveals probably the best information regarding Dean’s private life whereas Wood and Mineo seem to be regurgitating public facts as if they are insider info only shared between them and Dean himself.

Next is a brand new documentary entitled Rebel Without a Cause: Defiant Innocents which dwells quite a lot on the production aspects of getting Rebel Without a Cause on the screen. If I remember correctly, it runs in at just around 20 minutes, 10 minutes too short in my opinion.

Also included are some additional scenes, sans any audio. A group of scenes are ones shot in black in white before the director learned that in order to shoot in CinemaScope that he had to film in WarnerColor. This allowed the director to go back and reshoot the Observatory scenes which he wasn’t too happy with in the first place. There are also a number of color scenes including an alternate ending with Plato sporting his pistol on the top of the Observatory rather than jumping out from the front doors.

Segments from Warner Bros. Presents TV series are also included in the set. One segment in particular features a now famous Drive Safely commercial spot with James Dean himself. Ironic is the only way to describe it.

Finally, there are a number of wardrobe and screen tests thrown in for good measure. Warner really loved doing these babies, I tell you!

10 out of 10

Giant (1956)

Giant, James Dean’s last film before his fateful meeting with a station wagon, was Warner Bros. highest grossing film and claimed that title for 22 years before the release of Superman in 1978 when Christopher Reeve and crew snatched the title away from Giant’s cold Texan hands. There is a magnitude of good reasons why Giant claimed that title for so many years and I will describe those reasons using a number of single words.

Strong… performances, that is. A young Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor play a believable young couple that falls in love when Hudson comes shopping for a prize horse and leaves with Taylor on his arm. The two continue their lives on Bick Benedict’s (Hudson) half million acre ranch and their story spans across two (or three if you want to be technical) generations. Rock Hudson maintains a strong presence that slowly degenerates as his character grows older. This breaking down is important not only to Hudson’s character, but also to the story itself. Elizabeth Taylor plays the young Leslie Lynnton with such poise that it’s hard not to compare her to Scarlett O’Hara from Gone With the Wind. This comparison is quickly thrown out of the window once Leslie displays her ability to control her emotions and to immerse herself in her new Texan surroundings.

James Dean portrays a Benedict ranch hand named Jett Rink. Rink has a number of scenes early on in the film, but he doesn’t come into play until later in the game, particularly at the two hour mark. This is when Rink hits oil on his small section of land bequeathed from Bick Benedict’s late sister. Rink then becomes a major player in the last hour and a half of the film as we follow his wealth in a number of set montages. Dean plays the character of Rink very well, but I can’t help but to want more intimate moments with his character, especially if his character is what pushes the last half of the story. The lack of focus throws the film into a tailspin, one that I feel it doesn’t quite level itself out of. Granted, there are plenty of great character moments in the closing moments of the film, but it’s not quite as satisfying as it needs to be.

Epic… Giant is unnecessarily epic, in my opinion. The second portion of the film pushes the film towards an unnecessary “epic” level even though it does take the time to address racial issues which are pushed early into the story. It feels as if the first two hours are a completely different movie in terms of tone and story when compared to the last hour and a half. Where a film like Gone With the Wind showcased its characters over a number of decades, it may have been a better idea to make the second portion of Giant another film, released shortly after or after a period of time in order to let the first part of the film breathe by itself. (I know I keep comparing this to Gone With the Wind, but I can’t help not to in some cases.) The second portion of Giant would be a sequel of sorts, if you think about it.

Aggressive… or adessive, which means “speaking, while speaking.” Giant is adessive particularly in terms of race issues, especially in the beginning of the film where we see Leslie tackling the racial discrimination against the Mexican “wetbacks” head on. Leslie sees the Mexican people as human beings on an equal level with her in terms of humanity and sets out to help them. There remains an obvious class difference between Leslie and these people, but we see her doing her best to ensure that the life of these people is better off. Bick is displeased with Leslie’s actions at first, but eventually he lets her have her way and simply doesn’t pay much attention to what she is doing to help. It isn’t until the second part of the film that Bick becomes involved after his son Jordan (Dennis Hopper) marries a Mexican woman and faces social issues at every turn. Giant speaks mountains in the last minutes of the film and it leaves us with the hope that the world will be a better and more understanding place for Bick’s grandchildren and for our own grandchildren, a message that still shines through even after the number of decades that have passed since the film’s release.

Giant is indeed an epic film that delivers on so many levels but eventually comes crumbling down on itself in the second half. It is a glowing tribute of James Dean’s acting career and I only wish that we would have been able to spend more time with his character when it was really needed.

The second disc takes a queue from the film’s title and is all about the special features. To begin with, there are two very similar toned documentaries. The first is titled, Memories of Giant which features interviews with a number of the film’s cast and crew. This documentary does seem to become a little repetitive, as if the editors were forced to stretch things out to an hour running time. The second documentary, Return to Giant, features interviews and footage from the small town of Marfa, Texas. In my opinion, this is the better of the two documentaries, as it displays the relationships between the cast, crew, and local townspeople during the shooting of the film. As the documentary plays out, you feel as if these people were at a movie summer camp, something I became oddly jealous of wanting myself.

Also included is a New York Premiere TV Special Hollywood Premiere Featurette which is essentially a live broadcast such as you would see today before the Emmys and Oscar ceremonies. There’s a lot of ego stroking throughout the featurette which becomes annoying very quickly. It was interesting to see how Jack Warner interacted live on camera; he had a number of canned jokes that he slipped in quite well in his short appearance. There’s a ton of awkward moments, moments that you can’t help but to have when you are broadcasting live on the air. The quality of the broadcast is poor, but that’s the best they could do back in the day.

Next is a Project Kickoff Newsreel which shows the cast and crew heading for Marfa, Texas in order to shoot the film. Also included are two Behind the Cameras segments which discuss a number of things I already learned from watching the two documentaries beforehand.

Three (or is it four?) theatrical trailers are also included. The original teaser trailer is a book style, much like the teaser trailer for Gone With the Wind. The trailers that allow are essentially the same; the title cards are the only things that drastically change from one re-release trailer after another.

There are also a number of production notes which really help give you insight on the pressure that was put on director George Stevens each day as he attempted to put the story of Giant on film. Many of the notes are from Jack Warner himself which mostly consist of him harking on the budget (James Dean made very little for his performance) and running time of the film. I really enjoyed reading these, even though I had to use the zoom feature on my DVD player in order to read most of them.

Finally, is a set of production stills which show much of the behind the scenes elements of the filming of Giant. Overall, a quite impressive and informative set of special features alongside this film.

8.0 out of 10

Now required reading before you can join the C.H.U.D. Message Boards.

The Look

When I reviewed Gone With the Wind some months ago, I assumed that I would never see a better looking restoration of a classic film; boy was I wrong. This restored transfer for Giant is immaculate. From the opening sequence I sat in awe. Believe me, when you see that black locomotive against the green hills of Virginia, you will know that you’re in for a good visual ride. Everything is sharp, crisp, and colorful. To be honest, the transfer is simply breathtaking at times.

10 out of 10

The Noise

In terms of sound this mix sounds pretty damn good. Giant gets the complete Dolby 5.1 remix and there are moments where this really shines through, especially in terms of sound effects. The score does ring a little to monotone, but I wasn’t expecting anything this fine.

9.0 out of 10

This is what I like to call "Pulling a Bob Dole".

The Goodies

These discs are packed I tell you. Included along with the film on the first disc is a commentary with film critic Stephen Farber, screenwriter Ivan Moffat and George Stevens, Jr. The trio does a good job discussing the film, especially Jr., whom worked on the film alongside his father. There’s also a documentary entitled, George Stevens: Filmmakers Who Knew Him which includes the likes of Warren Beatty and Frank Capra (among others). There are number of great stories throughout the hour documentary, including many stories regarding the filming of Giant itself.

Badass.

When it comes down to it, the first two hours of Giant sweeps up the imagination and sets you smack down in the heart of Texas. The rock solid performances of Hudson, Taylor, and Dean aren’t to blame here. It’s the last hour and a half of watching Bick and Leslie dealing with their older children and also watching a crumbling under characterized Jett Rink that set the film askew. You grow to only care about one of the Benedict children, Jordan, as he deals with the struggles of marrying a Mexican woman. But that just isn’t enough as the two portions of the film feel worlds apart from one another without a solid transition to connect the two. A simple fade out and fade in just isn’t going to cut it here.

No matter the species, James Dean was definitely an ass man.

Long… When it comes down to it, I could have lived with the first portion of the film without needing the last hour and a half portion. The portion I speak negatively of is on the second side of the first disc. I personally didn’t feel the length of the film until I had to flip the disc over. After that point, everything just seems to trudge along until the closing moments. The two portions of the film feel very disjointed, and I don’t believe that it’s due to having the film on separate sides of a disc. It has to do with a number of issues that I will address below.

"Oh milk… I’ll never ever stop loving you."

The Look

From the start you can tell that some work was done on the original print for this release. Everything looks much cleaner and sharper which really helps make the picture not look as old as it really is. There are some contrast issues I wish they would have picked up on, but I wasn’t even expecting this level of quality so I can’t complain too much.

8.5 out of 10

The Noise

The sound is a different issue compared to the work put into the quality of the transfer. The score could have used some work, as it sounds very stiff and monophonic. It’s not your high-caliber full Dolby mix, but it’s nothing to go running home crying to your momma about either.

7.0 out of 10

Dean was disappointed when he learned that his agent signed him up to star in the new hour long, Heimlich Removers Gone Bad 3.

The Goodies

The included commentary by Douglas L. Rathgeb is pretty solid. With older films, it’s hard to find anyone associated with the film to do any commentary, so studios usually settle the problem by grabbing a film historian. That solution usually goes two ways; good or bad. In this case, Douglas is the author of The Making of Rebel Without a Cause and he seems pretty knowledgeable on the subject at hand. He tells quite a few interesting behind the scenes stories that I’d never heard before which really helps present the emotion behind the performances.

One of the Nation’s Bitchslapped. Which is pretty close to Punched in this case, considering the size of that man hand.

Plato, on the other hand, looks to Jim as a father figure and it’s apparent that Jim isn’t prepared for that role; he’s got enough problems of his own. Plato’s obsession with Jim is later revealed to have a connection to Plato’s parents. After this discovery, Jim’s life doesn’t seem that bad when compared to Plato’s. Plato’s inconsistent lying and fibbing to the people around him doesn’t seem to have any consequences as nobody seems to believe what he’s saying anyways. He’s a pathetic character that just happens to meet Jim at the right place at the right time. Judy’s connection to Jim after the incident at the “chickey run” sets up another person that Plato embraces as his own; most likely in placement of his mother. With this dynamic, I find Plato to be the most interesting and layered character in the film even though we are to led to look more towards Jim and his progression throughout the film.

After the incident and argument at Jim’s home, the three main characters flee to an abandoned mansion near the observatory where the trio visited earlier that day. Jim and Judy flee there first and Plato later joins them to warn Jim that Buzz’s gang is out looking for him to seek revenge. Plato is packing heat unbeknownst to anyone other than Plato’s nurse, whom tried to stop him from fleeing his house with the weapon. At the mansion, fun is had until Buzz’s gang show up with the police shortly arriving to investigate the disturbance.

Mr. Howell was appalled upon seeing what really goes on inside the Skipper and Gilligan’s hut every night.

With so much already against him, Jim’s also the new kid in town. This feeling for Jim isn’t anything new, as we learn that his family moves him around quite a bit. We don’t ever quite know for sure what caused Jim’s family to move to their current location but we can guess that at the sign of trouble, Jim’s family packs up and flees to a new location. Also against Jim is a local “group” of kids that set their eyes on him. This group quickly embarks to “make friends” with him during a field trip to a local observatory. (Note: Judy is a part of this “group”.) Their leader, a confident young man named Buzz (Corey Allen) slashes one of the tires on Jim’s car with the hopes of catching Jim in a heated moment. Jim goes through a wave of emotions in this scene, which ends with him overpowering Buzz during a knife fight; a scene that sets the stage for a deadly “chickey run” later that night.

I don’t have a caption for this image, but I love how the guy in the background is about to use a section of a fence as a weapon.

The Look

The film, especially in darker lit scenes, seems a bit washed out to me. I found there to be a noticeable lack of contrast particularly with darker colors. The film doesn’t have quite the vibrant spectrum as say Gone With the Wind, but a little bit more work could have gone into making this release a little easier on the eyes.

7.0 out of 10

The Noise

The sound, on the other hand, is a completely different matter. This is a complete Dolby 5.1 remix which sort of baffles my mind a bit. To me the film doesn’t need the treatment, considering a film like Rebel Without a Cause still lives within its basic stereo mix. Nonetheless, the new soundtrack enhances the film experience and makes things easier to hear, especially in the film’s quieter moments.

8.0 out of 10

They were cornered. There was no escaping the shadow of Giant Head.

The Goodies

Where to start? These sets are packed full of special features, this one in particular.

When the Metamucil didn’t work the boys had to turn to group squatting therapy.

East of Eden is a much quieter film, one with a little more intimacy with the main character than I expected there to be. In one way this intimacy is a good thing and in another way it hurts the film as we are forced to see the events unfold from the very confused perspective of the main character. Abra is probably the saving grace of this nuance, considering she feels for both Cal and for his brother. She’s a neutral party that can see things in terms of the bigger picture and her perspective gives Cal the tools he needs to get closer to his father. Harris’ performance is of a sweet nature, just the right touch in order for us to make her storyline believable.

"Boy, humans and water coolers don’t intermingle. At least not in these parts. Give Canada a shot."

Speaking of the war… World War I plays a significant role in the story due to Aron’s disapproving of it in addition to his father’s position on the local war board. Both Aron and his father have unfavorable viewpoints on the war, and when Cal gives the money to his father as a birthday present, he is presented with a furious and negative response from his father, but not before being outdone by his brother announcing his recent engagement to Abra. This spins Cal out of control and he sets out to get back at both his brother and his father.

BUY IT AT AMAZON: CLICK HERE!
STUDIO: Warner Home Video
MSRP: $19.97 RATED: R
RUNNING TIME: 111 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES: Commentary by director Bud Yorkin, Amy Madigan and Ann-Margret

Women who are pregnant or have high blood pressure should not partake in the high octane excitment of Bingo Nite.

The Flick

This one is for all the ladies reading this review. All zero of them.

The two women in Harry’s life are played by Ellen Burstyn and Ann-Margret. Burstyn plays Harry’s wife, Kate Mackenzie. She does an excellent job at portraying the character’s slow change from a bored housewife who only cares about making others happy to a woman who decides to finally make herself happy for once. Margret plays the new love of Harry’s life, and it’s to the film’s credit that she isn’t portrayed negatively in the slightest. This isn’t a Lifetime movie where the husband and his new flame are automatically evil and only out to destroy the housewife. They are real characters and while their actions might be considered somewhat selfish, the characters deserve happiness and it’s hard for a viewer to begrudge them that indulgence.

He wants the ball and he’s going to score.

The Look

Over The Top 2: Back To The Minors lacked the same excitement of the original.

The Noise

"Oh, wow. An officially liscensed Tucker Carlson replica bowtie. Thanks honey!"

The Goodies

Sometimes, Gene Hackman is simply overcome with shame over Superman IV and bursts into tears.

The Artwork

5.0 out of 10

BUY IT AT AMAZON: CLICK HERE!
STUDIO: Warner Brothers
MSRP: $19.98 RATED: R
RUNNING TIME: 103 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Featurette: "From the Ukelele to the Strat"
• Featurette: "The Making of Dolly Dagger"
• Additional concert performance

Here’s a
revelation for you: Jimi Hendrix may not have been human. In that subset of
humanity composed of musicians, he was revered by those we consider gods: Pete
Townshend, Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger — okay, so worship has waned a bit in the
years since those men were in their primes, but Hendrix himself has remained
firmly on the Mount Olympus of musicianship, despite his crushing lack of
self-confidence.

Jimi Hendrix, the 1973 documentary now
released on DVD, is a distant glimpse of the man, which nevertheless manages
to communicate quite clearly the contrasts that encompassed his life.

The Flick

Jimi Hendrix picks up with its subject’s life
in the latter years of his tour in the military, as he played with bands
composed of his fellow servicemen. After being medically discharged from the
army, Hendrix moved to New York City and took up with any musical
group that would have him, playing lead guitar in an array of blues and soul
bands back East. Acquaintances from this period laughingly recall how Jimi got
fired from a number of these groups because his animated playing drew too much
attention away from the lead singer.

This
pre-fame content takes up roughly half of the documentary’s running time.
Through interviews juxtaposed with concert footage, the filmmakers set up a
cognitive dissonance; most of Hendrix’s acquaintances who speak during the
first half describe him as being a self-conscious, shy, low-key, all of which
become hard to believe when the audience sees Hendrix onstage, miming sex with
his guitar, playing lead with his teeth, his right hand moving like a crazed
spider on the fretboard. It’s the ultimate rock metamorphosis, the
quintessential evidence of the apparent magical effects that music can have on
a person.

Jimi was never very good at making love to the camera.
He always missed.

After
slumming around for a while, Hendrix was seen in performance by Chas Chandler
(of The Animals) and invited to come to England to advance his music career.
Hendrix leapt at the opportunity, uprooted, and crossed the ocean. Here, the
film starts to widen, drawing in interviews with such wildly different people
as Little Richard and Al Hendrix, Jimi’s father. The remarkable thing about all
these new interviewees is that they are all in agreement as to Hendrix’s
character. They approach him differently, from standpoints both critical and
admiring, but all are unified under the opinion that Hendrix was a walking
legend, whether or not he wanted to be, admitted to it, or even believed it.

The
portion of the documentary focusing on Hendrix’s leap to fame is understandably
the most thrilling. The filmmakers show us full-length performances of
"Purple Haze" on British television, and it’s positively
electrifying. Even more so is his rendition of "The Star-Spangled
Banner" at the Woodstock festival in 1969. Watching
Hendrix perform is like watching a man in complete comfort; it’s a sensation
that can’t help but inspire sympathetic reaction in the viewer.

It’s
jarring, then, to see Hendrix himself interviewed in a few rare segments. He is
hesitant to the point of being inarticulate, and often too quiet to understand
clearly. He seems often to be addressing himself in a language that only he
understands. In one of these interviews, a bit taken from an old Dick Cavett
talk show, there are criticisms leveled against his performance of "The
Star-Spangled Banner." Cavett tells him that the way he played the song
was "unorthodox." Hendrix’s reply is quick and defensive, and he
seems not to know what "unorthodox" means. "It wasn’t
unorthodox," he says. "I thought it was beautiful."

Those two
terms are not mutually exclusive, as evidenced by Hendrix’s life, which dealt
heavily in both unorthodoxy and beauty. There have been arguments that Hendrix
was often high or on an acid trip during his public appearances (famously so at
Woodstock), and it’s a reasonable
explanation for his lack of lucidity. His former girlfriend, Fayne Pridgon,
shares a great anecdote about how Hendrix always had to take twice as much of
any drug as his friends did, because he was naturally so firmly grounded that
it took half the dose to bring him up to a level of normalcy, and then the
other half to get him high. I’m always hesitant to write off any facet of an
individual as being entirely chemically-induced, though, so I’ll just say this:
Yes, there were drugs, and it’s obvious that Hendrix liked what they did to
him, no matter how they interfered with his public appearance.

"The Star-Spangled Banner" has never been so lovingly throttled.

The
emotional arc of the film comes to a somber close with the various interviewees
discussing Hendrix’s unfortunate death, apparently caused by a drug overdose. The
film was made in 1973, only three years after Hendrix died, so the memories are
still very fresh in the minds of those interviewed. Rather than focusing on the
time of his death, though, each interviewee responds to the question: What did
Jimi mean to you? It’s poignant, but not warm; the impression given is these
people, some of them legends in their own right, are holding their memories of
Hendrix as precious, not to be fully shared with the world. The result is a
denouement that feels barely brushed by Hendrix’s ghost.

As
distancing as that might sound, it’s just about tone-perfect. Hendrix was a man
consumed by his music; he had an all-too-familiar hatred of the business
surrounding music-making, and a downright Hollywood-esque disconnect between
his on- and off-stage personas. He put all his effort into the creation of
music; that’s where he invested his time, his health, his imagination, and we
can assume that’s what he intended to be remembered after his death.

The
structure of Jimi Hendrix is easily followed and unobtrusive. Interviews are
broken up by concert performance footage from a variety of venues. There are
enough different interviews that the filmmakers were able to edit them nice and
thin; there’s no fluff to the exposition. The performances are downright
enthralling, in my opinion, with no flashy tricks in filming. You get to see
Hendrix distilled down to his best, his most memorable performances. The
downside is that while the filming is handled capably, the film stock used for
these performances is of an invariably poor quality by today’s standards. The
use of different stocks, interspersing black-and-white with color, is a bit
distracting at first. It’s alleviated somewhat by the fact that, in most cases,
the stock switching only occurs between segments.

The
filmmakers’ choice that interested me the most about Jimi Hendrix was the
decision not to include any authorial intrusion whatsoever. The audience
doesn’t even hear the interviewers asking questions of their subjects. It
mirrors closely Hendrix’s decisions to put his music up as figurehead, not
himself as a musician.

Using nothing more than lighter fluid and a sulfur match,
Jimi was able to conjure what the primitives called "fire".

Spare and
fervent, Jimi Hendrix is the sort of documentary I would show to
filmgoers unfamiliar with the genre. It’s a study of contrasts in its subject
and in itself, with simple but affecting drama. The concert performances make
for a perfect entry point, especially for fans of rock-and-roll. The
understated methods of the filmmakers elevate the substance over the style,
leaving plenty of room for both Hendrix’s style and his substance.

8.0 out of 10

The Look

It’s
unfortunate, but the footage used in the film is all of a degraded quality.
Scratches and blurs and heavy grain mar the interviews, and the handheld
footage from some of the concerts were never of a good quality to begin with.
The transfer is a fine, 1.85:1 widescreen — none of these problems with the
look stem from the conversion of the content. That just means that all the
blemishes come through extra clearly. It looks all right on a standard TV set,
but on anything capable of high-definition it can start to look pretty
wretched. These problems are the result of limited means, rather than
deliberation, and that, along with the fact that Jimi Hendrix was released
in 1973, makes them easier to forgive.

I’ve also
got to mention the use of color. Hendrix wore some outlandish (by today’s
standards) costumes when performing, full of bright oranges and blues. When
preparing the film for transfer to DVD, the visuals were restored and enhanced,
and the color especially looks great, very bright, very well-defined. It gives
the performance segments (the ones in color, anyway) a Wonderland quality.

6.5 out of 10

This is the face of a man with a personally fulfilling day job.

The Noise

It ain’t
the visuals that you’ll remember from this disc, though. It’s the music. The
soundtrack was remastered by longtime Hendrix engineer Eddie Kramer and remixed
into Dolby 5.1, and, as a result, the concerts sound just great. The guitar is
present right up front, and all the wide ranges that Hendrix coaxed out of it are
captured perfectly. His vocals are a bit muddy, but he was never the most
intelligible singer, anyway.

The
interview segments don’t get the same treatment as the performances, and are
occasionally difficult to hear. Some of the speakers are mumblers, and
individual words get lost under the ambient noise. This is never a problem with
Little Richard, thank goodness.

8.4 out of 10

The Goodies

There are
few extras, but they add up to an additional 75 minutes. There’s a nice
featurette called "From the Ukelele to the Strat" that features
extended and additional interview segments from the film. It’s an additional
hour of friends, family, and fellow musicians reflecting on their memories of
Hendrix. It’s worth watching for the added insight, and the additional
biographical information. The film covers only the period of Hendrix’s rise to
success and his death, but this featurette stretches further back, for those
who are interested.

There’s
also a fascinating short featurette about sound engineer Eddie Kramer, where he
takes the audience through the mixing process of Hendrix’s "Dolly
Dagger". The equipment he used may not be relevant today, but his brief
insights into the theory and practice of mixing are rewarding.

Finally,
there’s an additional concert performance from the July 4, 1970 Atlanta Pop
Festival. The quality of the camera work here is comparable to that of the
segments included in the film.

Also, the
chapter select features each performed song as its own segment, so you can
easily jump to "Hear My Train a-Comin’" if you need a good cry.

7.9 out of 10

Little Richard milks the strategic placement of the microphone for all it’s worth.

The Artwork

This is
just about perfect. It’s a still modified slightly from the film, taken from
the performance of "Hear My Train a-Comin’". The focus is entirely on
Hendrix, but he doesn’t even notice. He’s alone when he’s with his music, a
transported sort of fellow. It’s not heaven, it’s not hell, it’s just not
Earth.

The fact
that the figure is off-center makes a nice change, but the centered placing of
the dominant title and "deluxe edition" tag kind of removes its
impact.

7.2 out of 10

Overall 7.8 out of 10

BUY IT AT AMAZON: CLICK HERE!
STUDIO: Warner Brothers
MSRP: $24.98 RATED: R
RUNNING TIME: 103 Minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
• Project history
• The Look of The Jacket: special effects featurette
• Deleted scenes

Every few years Hollywood dusts off a movie like The Jacket (not to be confused with The Tuxedo). It is a direct descendant of movies like Altered States, Jacob’s Ladder (not to be confused with the Huey Lewis song) and (more recently) The Butterfly Effect. It is stylized, and confusing, and hinges more on freaky head trips than actual substance.

I’m not saying it is devoid of substance. But the plot really takes a bask seat to the freaky nature of the movie and the head trips that the main character goes through.

This still comes just before the money shot in the new Paris Hilton sex tape: One Night in Paris, Texas.

The Flick

The Jacket is an altered-state movie. The main character, Jack Starks (Adrian Brody) is an injured Gulf War vet (he was shot in the head). Back home he is wandering a highway hitchhiking (not unlike John Rambo in the beginning of First Blood). He helps a mother and daughter fix their car (they turn away from giving him a lift) and his hitching efforts are eventually rewarded when someone (not C. Thomas Howell) stops to pick him up.

To this point the movie is played pretty straight. There are a few MTV-esque fast cuts and edits, but nothing too bad. Director John Maybury is setting the stage here. Giving us a little plot and a little style. Unfortunately, as the movie goes on, he ends up giving us too much style and too little plot.

Psychological effects of The Phantom Menace still haunt many people.

The main plot rounds out with Jack all of a sudden on trial for killing a police officer. The guy who gave Jack a lift was pulled over (with Jack in the car) and shot the officer. Jack conveniently can’t remember (his memory is bad given the bullet to the brain) anything about the driver, or if the driver even existed. He’s found guilty and the judge sentences him to the crazy ward under the care of Kris Kristofferson (who is only a smidge less crazy that Gary Busey).

It seems Kristofferson’s character has an edgy treatment he wants to try with Starks. So, the Doctor puts Stark in a straight jacket, injects him with some drug and then throws the patient into a morgue draw.

In Hollywood a good smile can mean a big boost to your career. Just ask Tom Cruise or Ewan McGregor. Unfortunately Adrien Brody will have to rely on his acting skills alone.

That’s where we start getting freaky. Inside the draw Starks goes a little crazy (naturally). Maybury begins to overuse the “style” he is creating. There are a lot of quick cuts, dark scenes with random flashes of light and quick camera movements. The plot then goes out the window. Ya see, while inside the Jacket, Starks goes forward in time. Yea. He doesn’t even hit 88 miles per hour.

I can suspend disbelief a little. If Starks was imagining the future, I’d be down with it. Even if he gleamed knowledge from the future and used it in the present. I’m cool with that. But physically traveling into the future because he was trapped in a box? Hell, at least Aston had to think about what he was doing in The Butterfly Effect. Starks goes in the drawer, starts screaming and then is magically walking around in 2007.

Single White Female indeed.

The plot doesn’t go anywhere from there. A silly murder plot (ala DOA) is throw in as some substance. Mostly Maybury just uses an overabundance of “style” to set the tone and flow. If it weren’t for Brody who does an amazing job as Starks, this movie would be pretty bad.

Adrien Brody attacks the character of Starks. The audience has to believe that Starks is completely sane. However, there has to be a few moments of doubt – after all, Starks was committed to a mental institution.

Playing a character that is sane and possibly insane can be a hard line to walk. Playing a convincible insane character is hard enough, to compound it so the characters in the movie think your character is insane while the audience thinks you are sane… that’s something.

Suddenly Doctor Reid realized life wasn’t as bad as he thought. Yes, his wife left him for screwing a dead patient. But, at least he wasn’t that chick’s sweater.

On the flip side of good acting is bad acting. Keira Knightley gets that award here. Overall she isn’t that bad but her accent is. It is HORRIBLE. The film takes place in the US – so Knightley does her best Yankee bloke. The result isn’t pretty. Try and picture the sound of a drunk and drugged Paris Hilton imitating James Earl Jones.

The sound she makes is pretty distracting. I cringed every time she was on screen. I didn’t want her to talk. I’m all for her broadening her horizons, but perhaps she should stick to movies where she can leave her accent intact.

Maybe she can team up with another “master of the accent” Kevin Costner and the director of Saw (another over edited, “stylized” movie) in Jacob’s Ladder to Alerted States Effect.

6.5 out of 10

“I don’t care. You’re my agent so do it. I want to star in a one-man production of Steel Magnolias. Make it happen."

The Look

The movie is all about style. If the quick cutting, MTV style of filmmaking is your particular brand of LSD, then it looks great. If you saw Saw and said “That’s it! No more of this ‘stylized’ crap,” then you’ll be disappointed.

Ultimately this movie looks fine. There is nothing in it that will set it apart from any other generic thriller you’ve seen recently.

5 out of 10

The look : Channeling the acting prowess of Keanu. The line of dialogue: Whoa.

The Noise

You can hear Knightley butcher the New England accent in 5.1. What more can you ask for?

5 out of 10

The Goodies

Generic stuff. Studios realize they need to put something on DVDs for viewers, but do they need to put the same stuff on over and over? The generic “special effects” feature and project history are included as are some deleted scenes (which were wisely trimmed).

How about some mad scientist talking about time travel? Or an old Houdini routine with him escaping a straight jacket? Impress me with quantity or quality. I don’t care which. But a generic featurette and deleted scenes? At least romance me a little!

3.75 out of 10

Fans at early screenings of The Fantastic Four turned away from the screen with such violent force that they had to be treated for whiplash.

The Artwork

I really like the artwork. Like the movie it is slightly disturbing and gives you a feel for the style of film waiting for you. Plus it places more emphasis on imagery than on the stars. Anytime that happens you have to be impressed.

8 out of 10

It’s not a huge piece of news, but it does allay some fears that I saw online a few weeks back – a sticker for the new Harry Potter film has a small image of Mad Eye Moody on it, and he looks pretty OK.

See, an image of Brendan Gleeson, who stars as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher with a crazy magic eye that can see in any direction, popped up, supposedly from the film. The thing was that Gleeson looked pretty normal. Not Mad, nor Mad Eyed or even particularly Moody. But now this sticker, with its tiny image, has cleared up a lot of the questions. And I have to say that Moody looks pretty good to me.

To see the rest of the sticker, click the image below.

On the soundtrack for Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, we are briefly reminded of an angry young chubby dude who helped invent gangsta rap. Today’s Variety brings us to the reality of what happened to that boy from South Central – he started making silly comedies.

Are We There Yet? was just an embarrassment, but not enough to take Ice Cube off the Pacifier career track – his next film will – after remaking fucking Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House – will probably be Teacher of the Year, a comedy about two junior high teachers viciously competing for the titular honors.

Cube as a gangbanger in Boyz N The Hood was fine. Cube as a soldier in Three Kings worked. Cube as a daddy day care on wheels in Are We There Yet?? Not so much. And now Cube as a JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER?

Sure, Eazy-E is actually dead, but now I feel like Cube is symbolically gone as well. Let’s lower our heads and remember what a good day for this guy used to be:

Just waking up in the morning gotta thank God
I don’t know but today seems kinda odd
No barking from the dog, no smog
And momma cooked a breakfast with no hog
I got my grub on, but didn’t pig out
Finally got a call from a girl wanna dig out
Hooked it up for later as I hit the dough
Thinking will I live, another twenty-fo’
I gotta go cause I got me a drop top
And if I hit the switch, I can make the ass drop
Had to stop at a red light
Looking in my mirror not a jacker in sight
And everything is alright
I got a beep from Kim and she can fuck all night
Called up the homies and I’m askin y’all
Which court, are y’all playin basketball?
Get me on the court and I’m trouble
Last week fucked around and got a triple-double
Freaking brothers every way like M.J.
I can’t believe, today was a good day

Drove to the pad and hit the showers
Didn’t even get no static from the cowards
Cause just yesterday them fools tried to blast me
Saw the police and they rolled right past me
No flexin, didn’t even look in a niggaz direction
as I ran the intersection
Went to Short Dog’s house, they was watchin YO! MTV Raps
What’s the haps on the craps
Shake em up, shake em up, shake em up, shake em
Roll em in a circle of niggaz and watch me break em
With the seven, seven-eleven, seven-eleven
Seven even back do’ little Joe
I picked up the cash flow
Then we played bones, and I’m yellin domino
Plus nobody I know got killed in South Central L.A.
Today was a good day

Left my niggaz house paid
Picked up a girl been tryin to fuck since the twelve grade
It’s ironic, I had the brew she had the chronic
The Lakers beat the Supersonics 
I felt on the big fat fanny
Pulled out the jammy, and killed the punanny
And my dick runs deep, so deep, so deep 
put her ass to sleep
Woke her up around one
she didn’t hesitate, to call Ice Cube the top gun
Drove her to the pad and I’m coasting
Took another sip of the potion hit the three-wheel motion
I was glad everything had worked out
Dropped her ass off, then I chirped out
Today was like one of those fly dreams
Didn’t even see a berry flashing those high beams
No helicopter looking for a murder 
Two in the morning got the fat burger 
Even saw the lights of the Goodyear Blimp
And it read Ice Cube’s a pimp
Drunk as hell but no throwing up 
Half way home and my pager still blowing up
Today I didn’t even have to use my A.K.
I got to say it was a good day.

Sticking with what’s worked so far (modest budget + scares = cash), Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures has wrangled a cast for its latest production, which has imported Hong Kong movie brethren Danny and Oxide Pang directing (in Saskatchewan, of all places).

Currently known only as The Untitled Pang Brothers Horror Project (hey, I bet they change that), the movie has drawn The Practice legal hunk Dylan McDermott, Carlito’s Way dancer Penelope Ann Miller, Panic Room kid Kristen Stewart and really tall guy John Corbett into the mix. 

What’s it about?  The official line: An ominous darkness invades a seemingly serene sunflower farm in North Dakota and the Solomon family is torn apart by suspicion, mayhem and murder.

The movie, formerly known as Scarecrow but likely changed to avoid confusion with Batman villains and unwatchable direct-to-video slasher movies, was written by CHUD graduate Mark Wheaton (hey, Smilin’ Jack!), who put together pieces left by previous writers and Stuart Beattie (Collateral) and Todd Farmer (Jason X).

For those who don’t know, The Pang Brothers gained attention for their Thai crime thriller Bangkok Dangerous, about a deaf-mute hitman, before shifting to the horror genre with their creepy pants-soiler The Eye and its lesser follow-up.

Have fear of flowers on our message boards!

Just for kicks, go to Sean Astin’s IMDb page. Look at how much work the guy’s done since completing Return of the King. That’s a lot of stuff there! Half of which I’ve never even hard of (which isn’t a good thing, but you should know by now that I kinda suck). Of all the cast members from LOTR, Astin’s been the most prolific. Just kind of surprising, that’s all. Good for him.

Anyway, it looks like Adam Sandler’s found another cohort for his filmic endeavors. The ex-Goonie will be reteaming with Sandler for his next sure-to-gross-lots-of-cash-comedy, Click. I’ve done a couple of items on this film in the past (here and here) so I’m just going to copy and paste (we’re good at this) the brilliant synopsis for ya right here: "Click tells the story of a workaholic architect who finds a universal remote that allows him to fast-forward and rewind to different parts of his life. Complications arise when the remote starts to overrule his choices."

Get your own IMDb listing without having any credits on our message boards!

Wilson over at BlackFilm manages to get himself lots of pictures and posters. Usually I am jealous, but tonight I find myself relieved. See, he has premiered the US poster for Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, the tremendously good first film in Park Chan-Wook’s vengeance trilogy (they’re unrelated beyond theme – Old Boy is the second film and the soon-to-be released in Korea and on the streets of Chinatown Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is the third), and it really kinda stinks. Had CHUD.com gotten the poster I wouldn’t have been able to tell you just how boring it is, and how it doesn’t even begin to hint at the strange and sometimes funny violence and madness that is the hallmark of this film. And that wouldn’t be selling out – it would just be courtesy.

But we didn’t premiere it! And so my commentary lives. The film is hitting theaters in the US in August and you really should see it – don’t let the poster make you skip it, because you’ll be sorry. Dark and sort of comic, Mr. Vengeance is about a deaf-mute, organ thieves, a kidnapped girl, Achilles tendons, electric torture, and the complete futility of revenge. It’s as good as Old Boy, and possibly with a more accessible emotional core. Don’t miss this one.