L'Effet Papillon
Alliance | 2004 | 120 min | Rated R | Region A (locked) | Jan 27, 2009
A young man blocks out harmful memories of significant events of his life. As he grows up, he finds a way to remember these lost memories and a supernatural way to alter his life.
I really do love this film. It was the first (and only) time that I had a chance to see that Ashton Kutcher is far more talented than he ever lets on with his career choices. It definitely is a film with plenty of controversial themes woven into it and it also definitely requires a heady conscious involvement on the viewers part in order to fully comprehend the nature of exactly how the black-outs fit into the picture as a whole. All of the performances are quite compelling too, especially given that all of the actors and characters get to deal with altering universes in which their changing back stories affords them the opportunity to manipulate their performances.
The video and audio are both very solid. The biggest improvement over the DVD rests in the audio with the "time shifting" sound effect being quite visceral and jarring... simulating, for the viewer, much of the personal experience that Evan is going through from his perspective.
What disappointed me a bit though was the fact that it is the Director's Cut and is not labeled anywhere on the case as such. Don't get me wrong, I do prefer the ending that is included on this release. However, I didn't expect it. I have watched the theatrical cut so many times that I wasn't anticipating this ending. Had I known for certain by doing some research beforehand, I definitely would have held onto my special edition DVD. So, it is my opinion that Alliance should have either a) labeled the film packaging appropriately (or at least wrote it on the cover art somewhere), or b) included both endings on the disc in order to keep everyone happy.
Welcome to Sin City. This town beckons to the tough, the corrupt, the brokenhearted, some call it dark. Hard-boiled. Then there are those who call it home. Crooked cops. Sexy Dames. Desperate vigilantes. Some are seeking revenge....
As a reviewer, it is a strange scenario to find myself actually speechless about a home media release. I'm actually grateful that this was a personal purchase of the film and not something that I had to review. I would have had a hard time coming up with enough praise. Aside from the lack of extras, this is a MUST HAVE for everyone that has a Blu-ray player... even if they don't like the film!!!
Sony Pictures | 2005 | 135 min | Rated PG-13 | Region free
| Dec 11, 2007
Set in New York City's gritty East Village, the revolutionary rock opera Rent tells the story of a group of bohemians struggling to live and pay their rent. "Measuring their lives in love," these starving artists strive for...
The only broadway musical that is more powerful than 'Rent' is 'Les Miserables'. And, although a hundred times better in live stage performance, the production team for the film did an unbelievably fantastic job in transforming this force of nature to a celluloid state. Numerous musical numbers in this film are not only emotionally and topically charged, but they also just plain and simply ROCK... literally! All-in-all, 'Rent' was the creation of an amazing artist who, even in his grave, deserves the worldwide respect that this film brings him.
