Bad Boy Bubby Blu-ray offers decent video and solid audio in this overall recommended Blu-ray release
Bubby is a demented man-child kept locked his entire life in a squalid apartment by his depraved mother. But when Bubby - who can only communicate by mimicking what others say and do - escapes into the outside, he soon discovers the wonders of sex, crime, rock & roll and pizza. Will this 'mad bastard' be destroyed by the realities of our cruel world, or does a higher calling ultimately await him in the most unlikely place of all?
There are some films that defy logic and stray so far from the mainstream that it's hard for a
casual
-- or even in some cases hardcore -- movie watcher to realize that something so radically
different from the usual deluge of material released on a weekly basis both to theaters and on
home
video even exists on some back, dusty shelf of a small independent video store. It's a shame that
most audiences are never exposed to, and in many cases painfully unaware of, some of the
wonders
of cinema that go unnoticed because they don't have a major studio backing them; a Brad Pitt or
Julia Roberts to slap on a poster, marquee, or video box to sell tickets or discs; or
cross-promotions with a
fast-food joint to make sure everyone and
their cat sees the movie at the local multiplex. Bad Boy Bubby is one such film,
an
obscure little title that's quite unlike anything that passes for mainstream moviemaking, whether
second-rate direct-to-video rubbish or the finalists for the Best Picture Oscar. In this case,
though,
it's something that's definitely not for everyone. Obscure, yes; offensive, absolutely; wondrous,
no
doubt; Bad Boy Bubby is the very definition of esoteric cinema, a film likely to divide even
those viewers that dare explore the twisted world that defines its very existence.
That's one way to keep the cat from scratching the furniture.
Bubby (Nicholas Hope) is a 35 year old man that has never seen the outside of the small,
run-down,
monochromatic, roach-infested dungeon of an apartment he and his mother Flo (Claire Benito)
call
home. He's almost completely helpless, relying on his mother to shave him, bathe him, and feed
him, among other things. When she leaves the apartment for whatever reason, she dons a gas
mask to keep him frightened of the outside world and its supposedly poisonous atmosphere and
instructs Bubby to remain seated and still while she is away, lest he face Jesus' wrath.
Bubby's limited mental acuity leaves him practically incapable of complex thought processes; he
seems only able to imitate whatever he sees and hears, be it his mother's scorns or a cat's
hiss.
When his father (Ralph Cotterill) suddenly reappears after a decades-long absence, Bubby begins
to
piece together the fact that he comes and goes without a mask of his own. Eventually, Bubby
finds
himself in a position to leave the apartment and explore the world outside where it becomes
apparent that neither is ready for the other.
To divulge any aspect of the plot past the point of Bubby's foray into the world would be to
sacrifice the film's integrity and purpose. Bubby's journey is one that each
individual viewer must experience firsthand alongside him, to witness his actions and reactions
towards the world and the reciprocal attitude the world shows him as he attempts to sort out its
many wonders -- people, places, things, and ideas -- as best he can with his extremely limited
experiences and inability to communicate with purpose, intelligence, and proper meaning. While
audiences are able to grasp the basics of the story, the very essence of the experience demands a
performance from the lead actor that pushes the envelop of what an audience expects from a
gifted performer, and
Nicholas Hope
never falters as he explores the hardships, delights, and everything in between most take for
granted on a daily basis. Perfectly combining a rough instability with a personable yet absolutely
confused
countenance, Hope manages to bring the character to life in a way that leaves the audience awed
at the experience. A wholly convincing performance that's always enthralling, sometimes
humorous, and occasionally depressing, Hope creates in Bubby a sense of awe of the world
around him that should be the envy of any performer that's ever attempted to capture the feel of
a character suddenly thrust into a world they know nothing about, whether any number of films
that see a child suddenly occupying an adult's body or simply an everyday person placed in an
alien environment (for instance something like New in Town). In
that light, however, it's important to stress that Bad Boy Bubby is no Big or
happy-go-lucky Romantic
Comedy; this is an explicit, blasphemous, grungy picture that demands its viewer be absolutely
prepared for
all that awaits Bubby on his journey into life.
Bad Boy Bubby's upsetting tone is what lends weight to the experience and fleshes out
the film's purpose. Anything less than the dank, depressing visual style; the explicit imagery; or
the offbeat humor that's sometimes hilarious and at other times insulting; is meant to leave
the viewer feeling uncomfortable, uncomfortable with the notion of a man secluded from the
world and a world that cannot seem to figure out what to do with a man so long secluded from all
that it has to offer, whether good, bad, or indifferent. Bad Boy Bubby plays out with a
deliberately slow pace that sinks its claws into the viewer and never lets go until the final frame,
all the time digging deeper and deeper through the entirety of the production, as the film
see-saws from revolting to fascinating and to everything in between. It often seems to want to
appear as a first-person perspective film; no doubt this is Bubby's story and Bubby's story alone,
and the film uniquely shoots its middle segment with an array of cinematographers that lend to
every new experience a unique appearance that's meant to at least partially replicate the novelty
of each new encounter in Bubby's life. The film also employs a unique audio recording system
meant to capture the sounds of the world as Bubby would hear them, that effect reproduced with
sound traveling around the soundstage and distinctly off to one side or the other so
as to recreate another of Bubby's senses. Truly a film about exploration -- both of the world and
of the individual -- Bad Boy Bubby is the sort of experience that's required viewing for
audiences
yearning for something different and with the fortitude to handle with maturity all it has to show.
Bad Boy Bubby explores on Blu-ray with a 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer. Never once
offering the sort of pristine and eye-catching imagery used to demonstrate the power of the format,
Bad Boy Bubby instead revels in its darkness and grit. The opening act of the film inside
the worn down apartment features plenty of heavy grain, the effect adding a worn, grimy, and
disturbed look to the image. Bubby's jaunt into the outside world allows the transfer to liven up,
but just a bit. Grain remains, but there is more in the way of bright colors and detail to be seen on
the city streets than in the incredibly pedestrian apartment. Still, the movie, and by extension the
transfer, never revels in eye-catching colors or fine details. It's all merely adequate, and no one
object, even the old standbys that tend to look great on Blu-ray -- clothing and building façades, for
instance -- look flat and lifeless. It's all part of the film's intended appearance, however, and this
Blue Underground transfer satisfies in context.
Bad Boy Bubby lets loose on Blu-ray with a pair of 5.1. lossless soundtracks, one each of
the DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD variety. Unfortunately, a production error has rendered parts
of
the Dolby TrueHD track defective on the promotional copies received by reviewers. As a result,
only
the DTS track will be discussed in this review. Blue Underground has assured that this problem
will
be eliminated from retail copies for listeners who prefer, or can only access, the Dolby TrueHD
soundtrack. All things being equal, however, there should be no discernible differences between
the
two. The DTS track recreates the film's unique sound field heretofore described well and makes
criticism somewhat difficult given the uniqueness of the experience. Sound doesn't literally fly
around the soundstage as one might expect it to; in fact, the back channels don't deliver a deluge
of discrete or supportive effects as most of the presentation meanders across the front. Sound is
generally clear when focused; music in particular sounds quite good, whether the gentle playing
of a violin in chapter 16 or an onslaught of bagpipes that play with incredible volume at reference
levels in chapter 19. Sound effects, such as screaming emergency vehicle sirens, flow across the
soundstage nicely. Dialogue often remains focused up the middle but does branch out to other
parts of the soundstage when the visuals call for a more spacious presentation. A unique
experience but nothing particularly earth-shattering, Bad Boy Bubby sounds fine on
Blu-ray, all things considered.
Bad Boy Bubby wanders onto Bu-ray with a few supplements. Christ Kid, You're a
Weirdo (480p, 23:56) offers an interview with Director Rolf de Heer who discusses the origins
of the project and the development of all the ideas that made their way into the final product. He
also speaks on the performances, shooting the film and abandoned filmmaking techniques that
would have made the film too unbearable, the use of multiple cinematographers, the unique
method of sound recording used in the film, ideas for different endings, and more. Being Bubby
-- Interview with Star Nicholas Hope (480p, 14:18) features the actor recalling how he landed
the part and his work on the picture, including its experimental nature, themes, his preparations for
the performance, shooting some of the more explicit scenes, audience and critical reaction to the
picture, and more. Also included is the Bad Boy Bubby theatrical trailer (480p, 1:51) and
the short film Confessor Caressor (480p, 19:37) that propelled star Nicholas Hope to
Bad Boy Bubby.
Sometimes disturbing, sometimes repulsive, but always fascinating, Rolf de Heer's Bad Boy
Bubby
represents one of cinema's obscure treasures that drifts about as far from the mainstream as any
film can go. Not for all audiences but a spectacle to behold for those that can stomach its many
explicit visuals and blasphemous dialogue, Bad Boy Bubby features one of the medium's
finest acting performances to go along with one of its quirkiest but most curious pieces. Blue
Underground's Blu-ray disc offers a faithful-to-the-source presentation. Neither video nor audio are
liable to impress audiences hoping for a glossy and pristine fit-and-finish but they do make for a
pleasant combination that recreate the intended experience. Meanwhile, the disc serves up a few
quality extras. Cautiously recommended.
Blue Underground has announced that they will bring the Venice Film Festival Grand Special Jury Prize winning film 'Bad Boy Bubby' to Blu-ray on July 28th. Video will be presented in 2.35:1 1080p accompanied a both a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and 5.1 Dolby TrueHD ...
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