All Is Lost Blu-ray Disc Review

All Is Lost could be seen as a thesis as to why Robert Redford is a good actor. His generation of talent are elder statesmen in both mainstream and independent films. Mr. Redford helped to create the Sundance Film Festival and besides his work as an activist, Mr. Redford is also a talented Director. In All Is Lost we never learn his character's name. He do not ever learn why we went out on a voyage into the open sea alone and aside from a short opening narration by Redford and garbled up radio communication there is no dialogue in the film at all. Everything rests upon what the audience intimates from Redford's character's actions and that is why I think this film is like a visual thesis that showcases why Robert Redford is one of the great American Actors of his and just about any generation. 

It is not that he is the only person who could pull something like this off. There are a great many, but Redford brings something to the film that is pure and instinctual that just seems like a perfect match. That is why as we learn from the filmmaker commentary and extra value features the script was written with him in mind as their first choice. 

The story is simply a lone man struggling to survive increasingly bleak circumstances after the hull of his boat is pierced by floating debris. It is a man being humbled by nature and yet it is strangely lyrical and at times almost dreamlike. It kind of reminded me of an early Peter Weir motion picture.

Lionsgate Home Entertainment's Blu-ray Disc edition of All Is Lost presents the film in a beautiful 1080p/24fps high definition widescreen (2.40:1) widescreen aspect ratio with a discrete English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround Soundtrack. A Spanish Language Dubbed Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Soundtrack is also included along with English Subtitles for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired and English and Spanish Language Subtitles.

Extra value features include four vignettes covering the story (3:45), the Filmmaker J.C. Chandor (3:17), Actor Robert Redford (4:25) as well as the sound effects design that if one could credit a second character in the story, it would be the sound itself (11:59). There is also a production featurette (3:45) as well as a four part examination chronicling the evolution of a scene from storyboards, pre-shooting with a stand-in Actor for blocking, time lapsed footage and VFX for green screen. An audio commentary with the Director J.C. Chandor and Producers Neal Dodson and Anna Gerb supports the rest of the extra value content as well as the feature itself. 

A reel of trailers for Mud, Margin Call, Much Ado About Nothing, Emperor and The Conspirator wraps up what is encoded onto this Blu-ray Disc. There is also a limited time only redemption insert inside for an Ultraviolet Digital Copy of All Is Lost included within the Blue BD case too.

All Is Lost will debut on Blu-ray Disc on Tuesday, February 11, 2014 courtesy of Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

(C) Copyright 2014 By Mark Rivera

All Rights Reserved. 

The Final Arbiter Makes The Fiction Database.

I discovered it this morning, but just like there is an Internet Movie Database, there is now a Fiction Database and I am happy to see my book and I are listed in it. Please copy and paste the URL into your web browser.

http://www.fictiondb.com/author/mark-rivera~the-final-arbiter~679788~b.htm

No one makes a science fiction film like Terry Gilliam!

Watch the new trailer by clicking on the link or cut and pasting it into your web browser.

http://youtu.be/rae7_O_6EtU

Warner Home Video To Release Blazing Saddles: 40th Anniversary Blu-ray™

Blazing Saddles:

40^th Anniversary Blu-ray™

 

Comedy Classic ArrivesMay 6 with New Featurette by Mel Brooks and Collectibles

 

Burbank, Calif., February 3, 2014 – On May 6, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) will commemorate the four-decade birthday of the great comedy classicBlazing Saddles, by releasing a new 40th Anniversary Blu-ray highlighted by a new featurette Blaze of Glory: Mel Brooks' Wild, Wild West in which Mel Brooks reflects on his own movie-making chutzpah, Blazing Saddles' lasting cultural impact on audiences of all generations, and alongside co-stars Gene Wilder and Madeline Kahn, proves why his film is, without a doubt, the funniest and most outrageous film ever made. Blazing Saddles 40^th Anniversary Bu-ray will also include 10 quotable art cards with funny quotes and images from the film, plus vintage extra content including Brooks’ commentary, cast reunion documentary, and “Black Bart,” the 1975 television pilot inspired by the movie. The Blu-ray will be available for $24.98 SRP.

 

The unforgettable Brooks comedy, one of Warner Bros.’ most successful ever, is listed as #6 on American Film Institute’s (AFI) list of the best comedies of all time – “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Laughs.”[1] First released in 1974, Blazing Saddlesgrossed nearly $120 million at the domestic box office and has sold more than 4.6million DVDs. The Western film genre spoof is one of Brooks’ top commercially successful films, along with Young Frankenstein, also released that same year. Brooks’ other film highlights includeThe Producers, High Anxiety, Silent Movie,History of the World: Part I and To Be or Not to Be.

 

Mel Brooks is one of only seven people who have earned all four major entertainment prizes -- the Tony®, the Emmy®, the Grammy® and the Oscar®.

 

Brooks started as a writer for Sid Caesar on “Your Show of Shows” in 1951. Later he created with Buck Henry the popular spy sitcom “Get Smart.”  Brooks received his first Emmy^® Award for Outstanding Writing Achievement in Comedy-Variety in 1967 for “The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris Special.” He later earned three more Emmys for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for “Mad About You.”

 

In the ‘60s, Brooks teamed with Carl Reiner for their best-selling “2000 Year Old Man” comedy album series, which continued in various versions for the next four decades. It received two Grammy^® nominations and one Grammy win.

 

Brooks’ earned his Oscar^® for The Producers, for Best Original Screenplay (1968). The film later became the basis for the hit Broadway musical of the same name, which won Brooks three Tony® Awards (2001 Musical Book, Original Musical Score and Musical) and two Grammy Awards (2001, Best Musical Show Album “The Producers” and Best Long Form Music Video “Recording The Producers: A Musical Romp with Mel Brooks”).

 

In addition to his own films, which includeThe Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, High Anxiety, History Of The World Part I, To Be or Not To Be, Spaceballs, Life Stinks, Robin Hood: Men In Tights and Dracula: Dead And Loving It,  Brooks has produced, under his own Brooksfilms Limited banner,The Elephant Man, The Fly, Frances and84 Charing Cross Road, among others.

 

In 2009 Brooks was one of the five recipients of The Kennedy Center Honors and in 2013 he received AFI’s Life Achievement Award.

 

Blazing Saddles stars Cleavon Little as an unlikely sheriff in the town of Rock Ridge, Harvey Korman as the villain, Madeline Kahn as a Marlene Dietrich-style chanteuse, Gene Wilder as the wacko Waco Kid and Brooks himself as a dimwitted politico. Once the lunatic film gets started, logic is lost in a blizzard of gags, jokes, quips, puns and outrageous assaults upon good taste or any taste at all. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards®-- Supporting Actress for Kahn, Best Editing and Best Song.

 

DVD extra content includes:

• Blaze of Glory: Mel Brooks' Wild, Wild West –All new!

 

Vintage Elements:

·         Commentary by Mel Brooks

• Back in the Saddle cast/crew reunion documentary
• Black Bart - 1975 TV pilot inspired by the movie; starring Lou Gossett Jr. and Steve Landesberg
• Deleted Scenes
• Theatrical Trailer

 

Note: All enhanced content listed above is subject to change

The Who's Who Of Doctor Who Book Review

There have been a number of terrific Doctor Who companion books released over the past year in honor of the Time Lord's fiftieth anniversary on television as the longest running  continuing sci-fi series ever. Older than Star Trek, Doctor Who ran continuously on the BBC from 1963 to 1989 and then returned briefly in 1996 for a British and American TV movie that was intended to be a possible back door pilot for more episodes. Depending on how much one enjoyed that film, it was either fortunately or unfortunately not the case and Doctor Who remained dormant for nearly another decade until acclaimed Writer and Producer Russell T. Davies successfully regenerated a new Doctor Who series in 2005 and the series has been continuing since. Davies is a huge fan of Doctor Who and I think during his tenure with the series he expanded the universe while showing great respect for the show's classic years by bringing back characters and in some cases even the original actor who played the character into the new series. 

As a result an entire industry of Doctor Who tie-in merchandise has flourished on both sides of the Atlantic and thus a need for various books for novices and super fans alike to keep track of everything has become almost compulsory rather than a luxury just as it has been with Star Trek.

Written by Cameron K. McEwan, who is the creator of Blogtor Who, the most popular Doctor Who blog site online and a contributor to Den Of Geek, Cult Box and The Huffington Post, with illustrations by Andrew Skilleter, whose work been used across various media including the covers of magazines, DVDs, calendars and books, including his own Backlight: Doctor Who: The Art Of Andrew Skilleter, The Who's Who Of Doctor Who: A Whovian Guide To Friends, Foes, Villains, Monsters, and Companions To The Good Doctor is a worthy guide published by Race Point Publishing.

While not exactly an encyclopedia, the book is an excellent reference resource to the details behind the initiate relationships between the various characters as well as a hard copy of their known back stories and where applicable interconnectivity within the Doctor Who Universe beginning with The First Doctor William Hartnell and just touching upon the new Doctor, who at the time of this writing, the episodes featuring Peter Capaldi as The Doctor have not yet aired in the U.S.

The book breaks down the details into various entries based on character association to include distinctions between the companions, friends and allies, Time Lords and Ladies, villains, robots, aliens and monsters as well as The Doctors themselves of course. The entries are accompanied by a mixture of color and black and white photos as well as color and full page illustrations. 

The book is softcover, but is bound with a durable semigloss cardboard that appears to be multilayered and the binding appears to be strong with a rounded look one might find in a hardcover book and is approximately 240 pages.

An excellent resource for old and new fans alike, The Who's Who Of Doctor Who: A Whovian Guide To Friends, Foes, Villans, Monsters, and Companions To The Good Doctor is available now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Race Point Publishing.

(C) Copyright 2014 By Mark Rivera

All Rights Reserved.

Spend A Day With The Cast Of Downton Abbey On Set In London.

The cast of Downton Abbey, has just posted a new video about helping the victims of the Tsunami in the Philippines. The video is amusing especially when keeping in mind that they’re supporting something so serious. They’re actually giving away the chance to spend the day on set with the cast. Please watch the video linked below and find out what you can do to help and possibly meet the cast on the set of Downton Abbey. Thank you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU2NVWDdiZU

Rest In Peace Philip Seymour Hoffman.

I was away for the past week and slowed down in returning due to the snow on the East Coast. I was shocked to learn of the death of Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. Sometimes when one grows older, they feel down about their age and then someone like this dies and the first thing that comes to mind is how young that person was. Just goes to show how much self perception can effect one's reality.