Scott Hettrick

Mann and Milch, unlikely partners as two of three executive producers of the new HBO series about the underbelly of horse racing called “Luck” (9 p.m. ET/PT on Sunday nights beginning January 29) joined the show’s two highest-profile stars, Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte, on a panel during HBO’s presentation at the Television Critics Association tour Friday in Pasadena.
<Story continues along with review of all nine episodes of “Luck” below the following 85-second video interview with Hoffman and Mann…>

My father took our family to a movie in 1969 starring Steve McQueen called “The Reivers,” an adaptation of the William Faulkner novel, featuring slow-motion scenes of horses racing that Dad thought represented some of the most impressive cinematography he had ever seen.
I think he would have thought the same about the powerful scenes of horse racing at Santa Anita in “Luck.”

But even some of those who follow horse racing and are familiar with Santa Anita expressed disappointment with the one-hour pilot that HBO showed as a sneak preview last month. Too many characters and too much insider jargon that combined to make it a little hard to follow, and nothing much of significance happening which made it feel a little slow and not very engaging. Providing even more challenge in the pilot, most of the characters are degenerates and criminals who don’t initially exude much charisma or humor, though they do each have personalities that will eventually emerge.

For those viewers who were not bowled over by the pilot, I recommend sticking with it with a few more episodes; the second hour ramps up considerably, even if it is still not “The Sopranos.” In fact, mob-like violence eventually creeps in during later episodes, particularly as Hoffman’s character, who is being released from prison in the first scene of the pilot, becomes entangled by episodes four and five with a yacht-residing heavy rival for Hoffman’s Ace character played by Michael Gambon (the polar opposite of his avuncular Professor Dumbledore in the “Harry Potter” movies).
It is that juxtaposition of the seedy side of horse racing set against the idyllic ambiance of Santa Anita that offers the primary intrigue and focus of the show. Milch described it as the “double-ness” of Santa Anita, the real world and the “Santa Anita of the mind.”

The momentum of the mid-series episodes, including a mild earthquake tremor that literally shakes up the motley crew while dining at the local “Rod’s Grill” near the track, tends to stall a bit before regaining energy in the final installment.

Along the way, despite the multitude of characters already in place, new high-profile actors like Gambon continue to be added, such as Joan Allen. Her role as a persistent horse welfare activist (a la Bo Derek?) and her motivation is as vague as many of the other characters, but she appears to become a potential romantic interest for Ace.

Another actor gaining screen time after the pilot is Hall of Fame former jockey Gary Stevens (“Seabiscuit”), whose story arc carries him through a recurrence of his battle with alcoholism that threatens his career. Stevens displays an impressive and extensive range of acting skills that his prior acting roles had not allowed.

For Hoffman, the series presents a new opportunity to work unencumbered by studio executives.
“I’ve not had this experience before,” he said. “You can’t get a shot at doing your best work in the studio system.”
HBO does not have committees analyzing and making recommendations, he said. He also enjoys having three cameras filming at the same time to catch different angles so that actors don’t have to repeat the same shot multiple times.

Also somewhat unique to this HBO series is the wide variance in running times of each “one-hour” episode by as much as 20-minutes.” Each episode has a different director and some run about 45-minutes while others run 50-plus minutes and 60-plus minutes, including the 66-minute finale.

Hoffman and the producers all expressed interest in seeing the expensive series be picked up by HBO for several more seasons.
Maybe that would give Milch time to write in a visit to Santa Anita from Tony Soprano or even Carrie and friends from that other former HBO series “Sex and the City.”

– By Scott Hettrick

“Beauty and the Beast” is perhaps even more stunning in 3D than “The Lion King,” which surprised the industry with a whopping $94 mil. at theaters last fall initially intended as a brief run to promote the Blu-ray 3D debut.
The 1991 “Beauty,” which has grossed $350 million worldwide since then, was one of the first animated films to use some digital animation. That helped greatly in the 3D conversion. Among the most notable new attributes:

- Belle’s opening number walking across bridge and into village is filled with so many shots showcasing 3D that it looks to have been originally designed that way.
- Extravagant “Be Our Guest” number does not disappoint with obvious 3D benefits of dancing plates
- Signature “Beauty and the Beast” ballroom dance even begins with dazzling display 0f 3D from bottom and top of staircase.

Meanwhile, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, which had an exclusive five-day window at IMAX theaters last month, picked up another $14.2 mil. this weekend, increasing total domestic box-office to close to $190 million, surpassing the original movie in the series.

Another 3D movie, “The Adventures of Tintin,” picked up another  $4.4 million, bring the domestic gross total-to-date to $68.9 million.

– By Scott Hettrick

And what an effect; midway through the film the screen image enlarges to show the vast vista of the desert via a helicopter-type shot flying into Dubai, with every bit of the seven-story height of the screen filled to give a proper sense of awe for the 160-story Burj Khalifa tower just before the camera swoops to the top and tilts to give the audience a look down. It’s not long before the eye-popping view includes Tom Cruise performing stunts on the outside of the building 130-stories high.
This is where the other advantage of IMAX kicks in: the screen image is so large that it fills your entire field of view, enormously heightening the impact and thrill. This is the definition of being immersed in the experience.

The only thing that would have created an even bigger impact would have been to present these scenes in 3D as well.
<Review continues below following video of director Bird explaining about shooting in IMAX and showing video highlights…>

The movie’s jolting pre-title sequence featuring Josh Holloway (Sawyer from “Lost”) in a rather surprising role begins in full-screen format before scaling back to a more standard (but still larger than normal) widescreen rectangular shape. Thereafter Bird seems to rather arbitrarily switch back to the full-screen format for the iconic fuse-burning title sequence and a couple other sequences before later adopting the format specifically for the most visually compelling sequences, including chases and action scenes.

It’s not just the IMAX scenes that are visually compelling: Cruise’s Impossible Mission Force cohort played by Paula Patton is a knockout when dressed to the nines in low-cut, one-shoulder dress and delivers vicious knockout blows to anyone who gets in her way. She’s pretty much the perfect action-movie actress package.
And Cruise’s sleek new ride, the BMW i8 with the see-through doors, is nearly as eye-catching.
Cruise still looks pretty darn good himself, at least when he is wearing clothes (his bare chest, stomach, and arms are starting to show some age) and when donning sunglasses reminiscent of “Risky Business.”
And Jeremy Renner (“The Hurt Locker”) is a nice addition as a slightly brooding and mysterious new member of the team.

Bird takes a risk by extending the movie well beyond the concluding action climax but the gamble pays off when he scores an unexpectedly poignant moment.

The attempted humor, particularly near the beginning with Simon Pegg returning five years after the last installment in this series as the goofy techno-nerd, doesn’t always work, and some of the storyline and plot elements seem a little more superfluous and less convincing than the J.J. Abrams-directed “Mission: Impossible 3,” still the best in the franchise.

But none of that matters much. “Ghost Protocol,” especially with the IMAX enhancements, offers the biggest thrills and the most fun you will have in a movie theater throughout the entire holiday season.
And that experience will begin exclusively in 300 domestic IMAX theaters this Friday, Dec. 16, and 200 international IMAX theaters this week, before the Paramount Pictures release opens in traditional cinemas five days later on Dec. 21.

– By Scott Hettrick

* “Arthur Christmas“ is easily the more broadly enjoyable of the two. It’s hard to imagine anyone not finding this clever twist on Santa Claus charming and delightful.
The computer-animated family film from British production company Aardman, traditionally known for stop-motion films such as “Wallace and Gromit” and “Chicken Run,” has delivered an unexpected holiday gift for Sony Pictures Animation.

The story follows three generations of the Claus family trying to come to grips with the transition of leadership to the next in succession. With the current Santa (Jim Broadbent) of retirement age and showing signs of slipping, the likely next-in-line is eldest son Steve (Hugh Laurie), who has been preparing for the day for years with his high-tech mechanization and military style management of the entire North Pole process, including a super-sonic sleigh. But the even older GrandSanta (Bill Nighy) favors the traditions of his day and the passion of his younger unassuming and nerd-ish grandson Arthur (James McAvoy).
It all leads to a slightly predictable but nonetheless amusing scenario in which young Arthur finds himself trying to save the day using his Grandsanta’s dilapidated sleigh led by the few surviving reindeer to reach the chimney of a young girl who was inadvertently bypassed by Steve’s digital distribution.

Director and co-writer Sarah Smith, with the assistance of Sony Pictures Imageworks, uses the 3D to good effect in almost every shot. While it seldom pushes off the screen very much, the depth and space between objects close and far is palpable throughout, especially in scenes depicting the factory command center full of tiered rows of elves, and the aerial shots from the perspective of the sleighs.

* “Hugo“ is full of heart and a loving tribute to one of the original pioneers of cinema, Georges Méliès of turn-of-the-century France. The film, set in a train station in 1930s Paris, takes awhile to build up a head of steam and feels more like a period European film for its long-ish running time of more than two hours.
But the sweetness and sentimentality of the story about an orphaned young boy trying to complete the dream of his father while secretly keeping the giant station clock tower properly wound up, is sincerely conveyed by director Martin Scorsese and the cast of Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen, Asa Butterfield, and Chloë Grace Moretz.

Even more impressive is Scorsese’s use of 3D, which greatly enhances the impact of the story, subliminally drawing the audience in visually, as it should. He also uses 3D to create more obvious dynamic effect, starting with the first scene in which the camera moves at a fast pace through the station, past the trains, and between the crowds to immediately establish the setting and the feeling of the hustle and bustle far more effectively than could be done in traditional 2D.
Likewise, 3D provides a far more dramatic visualization of the enormous vertical scale and scope of the station clock tower to initially enhance the sense of detachment of Hugo from the swarms below, and later to emphasize the scope of his view of the Paris skyline, and finally to create a heightened sense of fear and suspense during a chase to the top of the staircase.
Even Méliès’ iconic film “A Trip to the Moon” gets a tantalizing 3D makeover, as well as impressive colorization.

– By Scott Hettrick

* “Bolt 3D” ($49.99 four-disc combo) is not only the best of this group but also the best Disney animated movie in nearly a decade when it was released in 2008 — it deserves a sequel, at least for Blu-ray. The story of a TV hero dog actor that has to perform heroic feats in real life to save his young girl owner, is clever, cute, funny, and filled with very impressive action sequences and more, all enhanced on this Blu-ray 3D:
–  Terrific and impactful use of 3D in an amazingly dynamic and exciting opening chase scene, and in numerous sequences throughout such as on a train and in an alley.
– Elaborate and detailed backgrounds and settings showcased brilliantly here in Blu-ray HD.
– Hilarious hamster comic relief character called Rhino who gets a starring role in a so-so animated short in Blu-ray bonus features.
– Fun theme song and music video “I Thought I Lost You,”  and charming in-session video with Miley Cyrus and John Travolta singing duet (when Cyrus was still charming).
– Plethora of solid traditional Blu-ray-only bonus features, including making-of, deleted scenes, interactive game (that needs better instructions for play on a laptop)

* “G-Force 3D” ($44.99 three-disc set) is the Blu-ray and 3D version of Jerry Bruckheimer’s 2009 family live-action and computer-animated action/comedy featuring high-tech gadget-wielding guinea pig would-be spies.
– Fun, if a little silly.
– Short (88-minutes including several minutes of credits).
– Stellar voice cast: Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell, Jon Favreau, Penelope Cruz, Tracy Morgan, and Steve Buscemi.
– 3D shows far more depth here than in theaters and has many brief sequences of flying rodents, breaking glass, etc., that successfully break the frame and appear to pop out of the screen.
– Enjoyable bonus features (Blu-ray only), especially in-depth “Cine-Explore” picture-in-picture behind-the-scenes; two mini-docs with Bruckheimer, director Hoyt H. Yeatman, Jr., and his 11-year-old son; and three music videos: “Jump” by Flo Rida featuring Nelly Furtado, “Ready To Rock” by Steve Rushton, and “Go G-Force.”

* “Chicken Little 3D” ($44.99 three-disc combo) brings the industry’s first digital 3D theatrical film from 2005 to Blu-ray 3D. The modern twist on the classic children’s cautionary tale is only 81-minutes and not particularly memorable but the 3D is solid as showcased here. There are a handful of typical bonus features here, including audio commentary by the Barenaked Ladies, a sing-along, music video by the Cheetah Girls, and a making-of filmmaker Q&A.

 * “Meet the Robinsons 3D” ($44.99 three-disc set) is a 2007 theatrical release that was the last of Disney’s string of so-so movies of the early-to-mid 2000s, but which features decent 3D that is also showcased well here. The Blu-ray-only bonus features are average — a “Kids of the Future” music video featuring the Jonas Brothers is a sign of the times — and include a standard-def  featurette about inventions.

– By Scott Hettrick

• “The Lion King” Diamond Edition 3D (Disney, 4-Disc Combo Pack, $49.99) is enormously impressive and satisfying on many levels, starting with the 3D HD disc:
  - More depth and emotional impact than ever.
  - Clear distinction of depth between images in foreground and those on multiple background planes in opening pre-title sequence soaring over the plains of Africa and running with the indigenous herds of animals.
  - No sense of gimmickry.
  - Much more powerful moment when Rafiki presents young Simba in air atop Pride Rock
  - Far more intense sequences amidst the bones in the animal graveyard and deep inside the dense overgrowth.
  - Viewer drawn much closer during tender moments when young Simba curls up under the paw of his dead father and when Nala leans in to affectionately rub her head against Simba’s neck upon finding him alive. Simba’s reflection in the water feels tangible.
  - Fun 3D preview for “Cars 2.”
  .
  Treasure trove of new and previously-released bonus features on other discs:
  - 3 1/2-minutes of voice bloopers & outtakes cleverly set to animation as if the animated characters themselves made the flubs.
  - 38-minute elegantly and admirably produced retrospective “Pride of the Lion King” featuring almost all the current and former Disney top brass involved with the movie and Broadway play adaptation, and several voice cast.
  - 20-minute illuminating and fascinating personal video memoir of the evolution and production of the movie by producer Don Hahn.
  - 14 minutes of a handful of deleted scenes with director intros
  - Hours of additional sing-alongs, interactivities, and previous DVD bonus features.
  .
• “Beauty and the Beast” Diamond Edition 3D (Disney, 5-Disc Combo Pack, $49.99) is perhaps even more stunning in 3D than “The Lion King.” It was one of the first animated films to use some digital animation, which helps greatly in the 3D conversion. It is the 3D that is the most dynamic aspect of this new edition:
  - The opening menu instantly dazzles with impressive depth of text options that pop off the screen.
  - Belle’s opening number walking across bridge and into village is filled with so many shots showcasing 3D that it looks to have been originally designed that way.
  - Extravagant “Be Our Guest” number does not disappoint with obvious 3D benefits of dancing plates
  - Signature “Beauty and the Beast” ballroom dance even begins with dazzling display 0f 3D from bottom and top of staircase.
  .
  And all the terrific bonus features of “Beauty and the Beast Diamond Edition” 2D Blu-ray released a year ago.

– By Scott Hettrick

From Hong Kong to Minnesota, Atlanta, and many other locations of the story about a deadly virus that is carried to the U.S. via Damon’s on-screen wife played by Gwyneth Paltrow, the anxiety associated with the resulting global panic envelopes the IMAX audience.

Interestingly, neither Damon or Paltrow or even Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, dominate the story. They are each simply characters in the story about innocent victims, medical researchers, and a blogger. In fact, that might be the only weak aspect to the movie, that there are almost too many stories and none in which the audience has enough time to become fully emotionally invested. Subplots involve an extra-marital affair by Paltrow discovered by her widower, the kidnapping of a key health official by a remote villager who seeks the first antidote to save his people, the uncertain motive of a high-profile blogger who discredits another health official, any one of which could have been more compelling if explored in more depth.

But in this world of TV procedurals like NCIS, Bones, and CSI, “Contagion” is an appropriate big-screen companion, and IMAX offers the biggest screen version.

The Warner Bros. Pictures presentation is rated PG-13.

– By Scott Hettrick

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Guest reviewer/blogger Randall Reeves is a former film/video/TV producer-writer-co-host now living in New Mexico.
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For those unfamiliar with the story, the extremely dead, yet dapperly skeletal Jack Skellington has mastered his holiday so much that he has earned the title of the King of Halloween. But mastery of this holiday no longer thrills Jack. On a long and thoughtful walk he wanders into a place where doors to all the holidays exist. By chance, he opens a door that sucks him into all the glitter and glee that is Christmas Town. Finding this new holiday joyful and rewarding, like his Halloween used to be, Jack Skellington endeavors to take over Christmas and make it his very own.

The story borrows heavily from “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch That Stole Christmas,” the classic Rankin-Bass stop-motion movies, and the entire horror genre. It also borrows from the time Tim Burton spent with drawing all sorts of clearly non-Disney characters while attending California Institute of the Arts. In fact, the main characters, Jack Skellington, his rag-doll girlfriend Sally, and Jack’s faithful and ghostly dog Zero were all created almost 10 years before the release date, while Tim Burton was still attending Cal Arts.
The sets appear to be carved into the soft ground like a sharp pencil in clay. The set pieces seem impossibly balanced with no concern for gravity or accessibility. The characters are rightfully nightmarish, including a blue behemoth, an entire corpse family, mummified children, werewolves, vampires, and a buggy burlap bad guy named Oogie Boogie. Yet all the characters are as love-able as they are frightening.

As soon as the movie became available on the little seen LaserDisc format, I purchased it. As soon as it became available on the antiquated VHS format, I purchased it. As soon as it became available on the waning DVD format, I purchased it. When Disney released the movie in its digital 3D format in 2006, I went to the theatre to enjoy it all over again.
I was blown away by how much more immersive the viewing was in 3D. My wife, a converted fan, vowed to never again view “The Nightmare Before Christmas” unless it was seen in 3D. Alas, in 2006 a 3D copy of the movie was impossible to own in any home video format.
Until now.
Today (Tuesday, Aug. 30) Disney is re-releasing the now cult classic movie with its massive and loyal following in a Blu-Ray 3D version ($49.98 for 3-disc combo pack) for which happily rivals and perhaps exceeds what was seen in the theater in 2006. Virtually every scene in the newly re-imaged movie has staging that is enhanced by the 3D experience. Tree limbs pull back as the camera zooms in. You duck to avoid impact. The camera zooms down the hall of a town meeting and it feels like you are brushing shoulders with the dead. As Jack flies through the air in his bony reindeer-pulled coffin, you can almost feel the breeze. The characters so skillfully animated in 1993 seem even more lifelike (even in death) in this 2011 Disney Blu-ray 3D version.

As a consumer who has resisted the temptation to buy a 3D TV, I totally get it now. It’s not a gimmick; it’s a method of enriching the story. It makes the story more believable. It makes the experience real, even when it cannot possibly be real. The 3D in this version is impeccable. There are no losses where the image mysteriously flattens. There are no glitches where the 3D stutters or loses its connection to the viewer. There are even newly-created end titles, which give proper credit for those responsible for the 3D conversion. 3D images of “Nightmare Before Christmas” concept art (many drawn by Tim Burton himself) fly through the air making the credits as worth watching as the rest of the movie.

As charming as the movie was in 1993, it is re-energized and even more enchanting 18 years later in this much-anticipated Disney Blu-ray 3D release.
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2D Blu-ray bonus features:

• Tim Burton movie introduction recorded after watching Blu-ray version for first time and lauding the much-improved texture and clarity.
• Uncut version of half-hour “Frankenweenie,” with Burton introduction of his 1984 black-and-white short that he notes is currently being produced as a feature-length stop-motion theatrical film.
• Audio commentary by Burton, director Henry Selick and music designer Danny Elfman, with Burton noting his only familiarity with traditional Christmas from his childhood home of Burbank, Ca. was the Rankin-Bass and Dr. Seuss Christmas TV specials. Elfman says he immediately got the score and lyrics of “This is Hallowe’en…” in his head upon first meeting with Burton.
• Burton introduces poem on which “Nightmare” was based, read by Christopher Lee over images of Burton’s original concept art.
• “What’s This?” a thorough tour of the revamped and “Nightmare”-ized Disneyland Haunted Mansion with optional fun  pop-up trivia.
• Burton’s famous six-minute black-and-white stop-motion short film “Vincent,” an homage to actor Vincent Price, who narrates.
• Many different presentations of deleted scenes, storyboards, and unused concepts, with audio explanations by director Selick
• Previously produced and still entertaining 25-minute making-of featurette.

From the opening pre-title sequence soaring over the plains of Africa and running with the indigenous herds of animals, producer Don Hahn and stereoscopic supervisor Robert Neuman, the latter of whom did 3D so well on Disney’s “Tangled,” imbue the movie with a clear distinction of depth between the images in the foreground and those on multiple background planes without injecting any sense of gimmickry. The triumphant moment when Rafiki presents the young Simba up in the air atop Pride Rock is much more powerful; sequences amidst the bones in the animal graveyard and deep inside the dense overgrowth are far more intense.
The audience is drawn much closer during tender moments when young Simba curls up under the paw of his dead father and when Nala leans in to affectionately rub her head against Simba’s neck upon finding him alive. Simba’s reflection in the water feels tangible.

(l-r) Producer Don Hahn, stereographer Robert Neuman, directors Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers

An enthusiastic D23 Expo audience in Anaheim last night (Aug. 20) was treated to the first public screening of the new 3D edition of the 17-year-old movie that will have a limited theatrical run next month before being released on Blu-ray Oct. 2 along with a long-delayed 3D version of “Beauty and the Beast.” Hahn, Neuman, and directors Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers discussed the movie on stage Saturday night before the screening began.

About four-minutes of clips from the Blu-ray 3D version of “Lion King” and a teaser from “Beauty and the Beast” have been playing in the Exhibit Hall at D23 since Friday on Panasonic equipment. The home version and the big-screen version both look equally impressive.

Disney introduced the studio’s first attempt at converting movies to 3D – “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2” –  at the first D23 Expo in 2009 with far less dynamic results.
Hakuna Matata – this time Disney got the 3D conversion right on “The Lion King.”

– By Scott Hettrick

• The movie itself and the disheveled Dude is enough
• Vintage Coen Brothers off-the-wall characters and situations
• Jeff Bridges and entire cast give performances of their careers
• 28-page booklet with hilarious movie quotes, quizzes, interviews, Bridges’ photos
• Interactive elements are fun to keep track of utterances of the f-word,  pop-up picture-in-picture comments, interviews, behind-the-scenes
• Bonus features galore including making-of, finishing lines of dialogue trivia, previously-released ten-year anniversary interviews, and fun interactive map of shooting locations.

– By Scott Hettrick