The Snow Queen (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)I recently took this off the shelf at my local video rental store because the picture on the box showed a white haired Bridget Fonda dressed in a beautiful sparkly white dress and a snow white cloak made of feathers. It looked to me like Hallmark Entertainment was going to at least try to do this film up right.
As it turned out, a lavish budget did provide many beautiful costumes, sets, and location scenery, but the simplicity and innocence of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale got lost in three hours of so-so acting, a poor screen play, dreadful dialog, bad film editing and lousy direction from David Wu.
In the original fairy tale the protagonists are two children named Kay and Gerda. In this film Kay has been changed to Kai and both Kai and Gerda are young adults who are in love.
One day Kai gets beguiled by the Snow Queen who rules the season of Winter and he is kidnapped and taken to her Ice Palace. Gerda begins a long (and in this film I do mean LONG) quest to discover his whereabouts and to rescue him. In order to do this she must travel through the lands of the other Seasons. She meets with the eccentric denizens of Spring, Summer and Autumn and each of them attempts to kidnap her. The idiosyncratic Andersen's take on the seasons was odd enough in the original story, but in this film is all the more exaggerated.
Kai has a talking Polar Bear (crafted with skill by Jim Henson's Creature Works) for a prison guard. His involvment with the polar bear is one of the many reasons this movie drags. Several ridiculous minutes are spent with Kai teaching the bear to ice-skate, for example.
The actors portraying Wolfgang, the father, Gerda, and Kai are tolerable if not note-worthy. Bridget Fonda, in my opinion, was not right for the part of the Snow Queen. Her performance is lackluster and she delivers her lines as though she's LaFemme Nikita rather than a character in a fairy tale. She looks the part but she doesn't seem particularly frosty or seductive as the script calls for her to be. Her lines are delivered in a flat emotionless way that I suppose is meant to be icy, but comes off as dull. You really wonder how in the world Kai could have been beguiled by such a person.
The interior sets, the costumes, the lighting...all the cosmetic trim of this film are beautiful and they are what made me so want to love this movie, but the magic is missing and I was never able to get swept away by the story.
At three hours in length and with a plot that focuses on mature themes of love lost, grief and seduction, even suicide, this film is most decidedly NOT for children of any age. Yet, with the corny talking bear and a talking reindeer and some really silly robber characters, I can't say it is a film for adults, either.
There is some really cheesy dialog that is too much like modern slang for example when the Summer Princess comments on Gerda's dress by saying, "That peasant look is so last year," or later when she asks Gerda, "Do I look a porker in this dress?"
There is a whole lot of trite symbolism featuring red roses that further takes up time for no real benefit. In the original story Andersen has a "demon" creating havok with a magical mirror but in the film the minor league demon has been changed to Satan himself and they actually say the mirror is crafted in Hell. They make the devil look really cliche in this film and I feel it was too heavy-handed and out of sync with the rest of the picture. Sadly, this production just doesn't work. Even with a big budget, lavish decorations and costumes, talented actors, and a story that has enchanted people for over a century and a half, it still falls flat. I'd say skip this one...and for sure, do not try to make your kids sit through it. It's no fun.

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The Color of Magic (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the second attempt to make a movie out of a Terry Pratchett novel and it succeeds rather well. In this case, the movie is based on the first two novels in the 'Discworld' series, 'The Colour of Magic' and 'The Light Fantastic'.
Rincewind (David Jason), an inept wizard, is expelled from Unseen University. On a dare, he snuck a look at the Octavo, the book used to create the world, and one of the eight great spells lodged in his head.
At the same time, Twoflower (Sean Astin) arrives in Ankh-Morpork to "look at it". He's the Discworld's first tourist and he travels with the Luggage, a box made of sapient pearwood that moves about on hundreds of little legs and will follow it's owner everywhere.
After conning Twoflower, Rincewind is dragged to the Patrician's palace and ordered by Lord Vetinari (Jeremy Irons) to guide Twoflower safely through the city.
Twoflower, introducing the concept of fire insurance to Ankh-Morpork, inadvertently causes the entire city to burn down and he and Rincewind escape and Rincewind is plunged into several life threatening situations which he survives by sheer luck.
The good parts of this movie are Jeremy Irons as the Patrician and Tim Curry as Ymper Trymon, second in command of one of the eight orders of wizardry at the university. Both play their roles with relish and Curry's performance is as good, if not better, than that of Cardinal Richelieu in 'The 3 Musketeers'.
The bad parts? Well, a lot of the good scenes in both novels are left out. There is no travelling shop, no Hrun the Barbarian, no flying rock and no Tethis the sea troll. There is also no gingerbread cottage or broomstick flying.
Also, they unfortunately chose a white actor to portray Twoflower, when it's made clear in both 'The Colour of Magic' and 'Interesting Times' that Twoflower is Chinese. A real shame, but Sean Astin does a fantastic job at portraying Twoflower's attitude of looking at the world through rose coloured glasses.
And they got Cohen the Barbarian's (David Bradley) teeth wrong.
Although this movie takes a while to get going, it does get funnier as it goes along and there are some great one-liners. "I am having a near Rincewind experience."
Christopher Lee reprises the voice of Death, as he did in the animated versions of 'Soul Music' and 'Wyrd Sisters' and he has some of the best parts in the movie.
Aside from the little annoyances, the movie is quite good, the actors are superb, it's got all the wittiness you'd expect from Pratchett, and I loved it.

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Inside a magical realm known as Discworld, a naive tourist is on holiday until a terrible fire breaks out, forcing him to flee along with an incompetent wizard.As the clueless pair set out on a magical journey across the disc, neither realizes that they are merely pawns in an elaborate board game being played by the Gods. After encountering a pair of barbarians, they take a trip to an inverted mountain housing dragons that only exist in imagination, survive a fall off the edge of the disc and attempt to beat the wizard\'s former classmate to a collection of spells that could save Discworld from total destruction.

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Important Things with Demetri Martin: Season One (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Entertaining, fun... Demetri Martin's "Important Things" is probably one of the best and most complete Comedy Central DVD releases that I have watched!
The DVD release is a show hosted by comedian/musician Demetri Martin. In February 2009, "Important Things with Demetri Martin" scored Comedy Central's most watched premiere for the network with 2.4 million total viewers since 2003 ("Chappelle's Show" drew 2.5 million). The show is produced by Jon Stewart's Busboy Productions and One Verse, Inc. and is probably one of the freshest comedy half-hour comedy show I have seen in a long while.
Demetri Martin, known for his deadpan humor starts off his show with jokes (stand-up comedy) but then integrates sketch comedy segments with other actors, animation and he's also a talented musician who can play the guitar, keyboard, harmonica and who knows how many other instruments and also, you get actual sketches, word play and other things that you probably would never imagine seeing in a show. Sure, "Saturday Night Live" may also have similar type of things that we see on "Important Things with Demetri Martin" but its the execution that makes this series quite entertaining and fun.
The show is built around a certain topic and for the first season, there are a total of seven episodes (each episode are 21 minutes long) that are featured on this DVD. Included are (spoiler-less summaries):
* Timing - The topic of the episode is timing and stand-up comedy that revolve around timing. Sketch comedy include a scene featuring Amanda Peet and Demetri Martin in which Martin has trouble showcasing his anger during a drama scene but off-camera he has a lot of anger, a police officer who raids the wrong home, "What?" Slam Poet Champion, Jerry Pappas: Time Gigolo (a gigolo who uses a time machine and using his knowledge to get with women in the past), a guy early to a rave and two guys in a dungeon. Also, included are Demetri's drawings and one of the coolest music performances by Demetri Martin (playing a guitar, harmonica, bells, keyboard, tambourine while showcasing jokes on a tablet).
* Power - The topic of the episode is about power and stand-up comedy revolving around power. Sketches include Parking War - two men arguing over a parking spot, a yellow belt opening a package of headphones and another with the yellow belt fighting depression, a superhero sketch titled "Revenger", Creedocide (how to kill rats in your home) and Demetrocles. Drawings plus a musical performance by Demetri.
* Brains - The topic of the episode is about brains and stand-up comedy revolving around brains. Sketch comedy include a man who gets to eat at T.G.I.F. with Benjamin Franklin, Shakespeare and Galileo, "What?" Slam Poet Champion, Dadz, a genius and an idiot, Early Important Fairy Tales - The Royal Food Taster and Demetrocles.
* Games - The topic of the episode is about games and stand-up comedy revolving around games. Sketch comedy segments include Devin Cottonfield - Emotional Escape Artist, Annihilator board game, Men's passive aggressive race, humans pranking birds in "Nuthouse" and Da Mici.
* Chairs - The topic of the episode is about chairs and stand-up comedy revolving around chairs. Sketch comedy segments include Employees talking bad about their bosses at the urinals (while their bosses are in the toilet overhearing them), a yellow belt trying to relax on a beach chair and another segment with the yellow belt fighting gravity, a man who must make a decision - sit with the beautiful woman or next to old man, Demotrocles and the origin of gum found under a chair.
* Safety - The topic of the episode is about safety and stand-up comedy revolving around safety. Sketch comedy segments include Spring Haven - Home for the Elderly, An S&M Couple whose safe word is..., pube-safe home security, Health Class 1231 A.D., a man with a neck brace, a scientist who needs to deactivate a proton accelerator but forgot to bring his security ID and Early Important Fairy Tales - The Royal Food Taster.
* Coolness - The topic of the episode is about coolness and stand-up comedy revolving around coolness. Sketch comedy segments include Hoodwinkers Inc., dadz, man with a dragon tattoo on his face, the shower cap with hair, Da Mici and two men in a dungeon. Also, a musical performance by Demetri Martin.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
"Important Things with Demetri Martin" is featured in full screen and audio is in Dolby Digital.
Video quality is a mix bag as some scenes are shot with a variety of video. But for the most part, the video quality is well-done and the audio is clear and understandable. For audio, my preference for my receiver setting was stereo on all channels and as a comedy DVD, it was good to see the audience responsive to the jokes.
There are no subtitles included on this DVD.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
"Important Things with Demetri Martin" comes with a good amount of features. Included are:
* Brain Injuries
* Parking War Outtakes
* Basketball 1
* Basketball 2
* Cult Leader in Love (with commentary)
* Killing Someone with Kindness
* Killing Time in the Studio
* Dinner with Hero Outtakes
* A Tiny Guy Helps Find a Contact Lens
* A Yellow Belt Breaks his silence
* Safety Dummy
* Early Production Graph
* Early Production Lineup
* Audio Commentary for Timing, Power, Coolness and Games with Demetri Martin, Michael Koman (Supervising Producer) and Dan Mintz (Writer).
* Free Tiny Poster
* Important Things with Demetri Martin sticker
JUDGMENT CALL:
This is probably one of the most entertaining Comedy Central DVD's that I have had the opportunity to review.
What I enjoy about Demetri Martin's comedy is his deadpan humor. The man is a quick thinker and for those who have caught his comedy routines, his improvisation on stage is very cool. But what makes "Important Things with Demetri Martin" is that he and his writers really think outside of the box in trying to present a show that is different from what anyone has seen before. Granted, I'm sure coming up with topics can be challenging but for the most part, he is able to pull it off.
The whole execution of the show was fun to watch. The stand-up comedy, the drawings, the music and of course the sketch comedy segments are hilarious but also included are these short segments that take place before or after a commercial which are cool and also during the stand-up comedy, you will see text written on the audience. It's just something that is quite different and for the most part, the presentation is quite fresh. Even the sketch comedy, these are topics that you won't see on "Saturday Night Live" or other shows.
The DVD is full of bonus features and after watching the bonus features which some include outtakes, I was surprised to find commentary for many of the episodes and that was pretty awesome. One of the things that surprised me was listening to the commentary and hearing that some jokes are conceived on the show within minutes of the show starting or created during a break. But also to hear some of the behind-the-scene commentary on how the sketch comedy scenes were conceived was quite fun to listen to. Especially learning why Demetri Martin wears the same clothing, mainly because some segments work with the audience and some don't and they can shuffle scenes around for different episodes if needed. And some of those scenes that didn't go so well with the audience make it into the special features segment. Another interesting thing, maybe not so major but pretty cool to see, is that the menu is interactive (which Demetri Martin makes comments during a selection) which was pretty cool.
"Important Things with Demetri Martin" is definitely one of the best Comedy Central DVD's that I have ever seen (and I have seen many). Seven solid episodes, a lot of special features and bonus items and pretty much, a complete DVD that doesn't really skimp on anything.
Fans of Demetri Martin or those curious about this DVD, you will not be disappointed and frankly, you'll be getting your money's worth with this DVD release. "Important Things with Demetri Martin" is highly recommended!

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Important Things with Demetri Martin is a stream-of-consciousness sketch and variety show from comedian Demetri Martin. Each episode focuses on a single topic—chairs, power, games—through the prism of Demetri's unique point of view.

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