You have two very different choices on Blu-ray today (Jan. 11), but though wildly different in tone and maturity level, they may actually both have a a large crossover audience of teens and young adults:
“The Social Network” (Sony, $34.96) comes to Blu-ray as one of the leading contenders for the top awards of the season and the Blu-ray offers even more to enjoy:
— Impressive pedigree of filmmakers: director David Fincher and writer Aaron Sorkin
— Terrific Sorkin-esque opening scene of fast-paced smart and verbally challenging dialogue
— Solid performance by Justin Timberlake
— Strong performance by Jesse Eisenberg as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg
— Fascinating anecdotes on audio commentary by Sorkin and cast members: Fincher let Sorkin direct the final tiny scene to be shot by leaving set and driving home; Fincher shot 99 takes of opening scene; refused to shoot one more to make an even 100.
— Fun anecdotes on separate audio commentary by Fincher — lowkey music for title sequence was exact opposite of tone of song Sorkin suggested and different than Fincher initially wanted but that friends said was too dated to Fincher’s era of 1980s.
— Hours of interesting making-of featurettes, including interview with Eisenberg noting how he disliked shooting in L.A. versus Boston because of industry distractions.
“Piranha 3D” (Sony, $34.95) was a fun late summer movie in theaters last year. An intentionally over-the-top horror movie done very well and with all the right ingredients of sexy nude women, fun characters, and the kind of scary moments that make you jump but not squirm.
The only problem with it was that the 3D barely made any impact but wound up making the picture darker because of the glasses, which was extra disappointing because it was the perfect movie for 3D and the filmmakers created scenes specifically designed to capitalize on the technology.
Thus, the 2D Blu-ray version , which bears little resemblance to the original in a story about prehistoric carnivorous fish who attack a lake full of college kids on spring break captures everything else that was enjoyable about “Piranha 3D” and with a much brighter image, and the bonus features offer even more to appreciate (a 3D version is also available, though we have not received a copy for review as yet):
— Farcical fun buckets of blood and dismembered body parts
— Numerous young naked women in party-mode, in peril, or doing a lengthy (and actually very beautiful) underwater bikini-less ballet.
–Even more naked women in bonus features, including girl flashing passing motorcyclist who then does a wheelie to emulate what director Alexandre Aja explains was a metaphor for a penile erection
— Sufficiently engaging performances by Elisabeth Shue, Steven R. McQueen (grandson of Steve McQueen), Ving Rhames and Christopher Lloyd, along with a cameo by Richard Dreyfuss reprising his Matt Hooper character from “Jaws” (Aja also had a billboard homage to “Jaws” shown in a deleted scene in the “Why 3D?” featurette).
— Deleted scenes include an amusing character-establishing scene between pet shop owner Christopher Lloyd and young employee Adam Scott
— Why 3D? is one of the few featurettes thus far about the 3D aspect of production, with cinematographer John Leonetti explaining how shooting with one lens and converting later for two lenses requires shooting most scenes again without the actors so the the backgrounds can be “in-painted” in the space created by the second offset camera during conversion process.
— By Scott Hettrick