Black Sheep's Blu-Tuesday

We're going to try something new this week.  As I cannot always find figures on last week's sales on time to post this column, I will also begin each week with the most exciting Blu-Ray release announcements from the last week.  I assume you don't check these sorts of things every day like I do so I figure summing it up once weekly will work for you.  The title that gets all my attention this week is the Oscar-nominated, A PROPHET.  I caught this one just before the telecast, where it lost to the inferior THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES, and I was floored.  It will be released on August 3.  Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning are more likely to find a larger audience with the home release of THE RUNAWAYS, July 20.  And looking even further ahead for all you collectors out there, the original 1933 version of KING KONG will make its way to Blu-Ray on September 28.

As for this week's releases ...

ALICE IN WONDERLAND

The first time I saw Tim Burton's wildly successful version of ALICE IN WONDERLAND, my ex had told me that morning that he was already seeing someone else just a short while after we split.  Needless to say, I did not have an easy time focusing on the explosion of matted colour on the screen.  The second time I saw it was the following weekend and, not to be outdone, I was on a date of my own.  I was able to see the film a lot clearer but I can't say I enjoyed it anymore the second time around.  Burton's vivid imagination is something of a cliche now that it is just being used by Hollywood to put a supposedly fresh spin on classic tales.  That hardly matters though when ALICE IN WONDERLAND is the biggest film of Burton's career and only the sixth film in history to cross $1 billion in international ticket sales.

LIFE

Unfortunately, I was stuck in traffic somewhere on the 401 yesterday when the good people at Warner Bros. tried to deliver this brand new BBC Earth series, LIFE.  Subsequently, I have not yet had the chance to watch any of it but I do know what I'm doing as soon as I post this.  The people who brought you the breathtaking series, "Planet Earth", are doing it again, but this time, they're going to focus more on the inhabitants of the planet instead of the planet itself.  The original series was narrated by Richard Attenborough, just like "Planet Earth", but most North American retailers will be carrying the version that played on the Discovery Chanel, narrated by Oprah Winfrey.  I'm somewhat skeptical of this but also certain that whatever imagery will be on my screen will quickly allow me to drown out any voice around.

THE WOLFMAN

I can't say I remember disliking this film as much as most of my colleagues did when the film played in theatres.  I gave the film two stars and a lot of people said I was still being pretty generous.  The truth of it is, THE WOLFMAN has very little to sink your ravenous, razor-sharp teeth into.  It is all show with very little substance and honestly, the show is only passable really.  You spend most of the movie in the dark, literally as the action has to take place at night for the most part, as to why you're even there to begin with.  This is because Joe Johnston infuses the classic horror tale with modern ideas like daddy issues and girl trouble and does a bad job selling that too.  Even more mind boggling is how such a great cast got roped into this mess.  The wolf himself, Benicio del Toro, even served as a producer on this.  I don't get it.

ALSO AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY:

Tom Cruise teams up with Steven Spielberg for the surprisingly enjoyable and suspenseful, WAR OF THE WORLDS.  Will Smith and Martin Lawrence do wonders for their careers with BAD BOYS.  And a bunch of Clint Eastwood classics, from SPACE COWBOYS to THE ROOKIE with Charlie Sheen, make their way to Blu-Ray, either individually or as part of the new CLINT EASTWOOD COLLECTION.  And yes, I was being sarcastic when I said, "classics".

Source: Blu-ray.com

THE WOLFMAN

Written by Andrew Kevin Walker and David Self
Directed by Joe Johnston
Starring Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving


Sir John Talbot: Never look back, son. The past is a wilderness of horror.

Theoretically, I would welcome any monster movie these days that wasn’t about vampires and that also wasn’t geared towards teenage girls. When that alternative is THE WOLFMAN though, a remake of the 1941 George Waggner film, I find myself longing to have every drop of blood sucked from my body instead.


THE WOLFMAN is a bit of a pet project (pun as fully intended as the moon that brings out the beast) for star, Benicio Del Toro, as he also serves as co-producer. I suppose he saw the appeal as a potential blockbuster that would make the Oscar winner more of a household name. The possibility was certainly there but he also should have considered whether a decent script was there as well. Del Toro plays Lawrence Talbot, a British-born, successful actor (I can hardly buy Del Toro as American, let alone a British-born American), who was exiled to the United States as a child by his father after a particularly traumatic family tragedy. He has only returned home now because his brother has gone missing.

The search for his brother leads Lawrence and the rest of this small, late 19th-century town to the discovery of The Wolfman. That discovery leads to Lawrence being bit by the beast and subsequently succumbing to the curse that comes with. The townsfolk are baffled by the atrocities inflicted by the beast upon the innocents because they have never seen anything like this before. This makes sense to me. What doesn’t is how they all seem to be familiar with Wolfman lore, like how silver bullets are required to kill him or how he only comes out when the moon is full. If this is where the legend begins, how would they even stumble upon these conclusions, let alone know them outright?


Man and beast and the differences or lack thereof between the two is a central Wolfman theme. Modernizing the tale though does not bring any new insight on the pairing. In fact, it almost seems too simplistic to still be considered revealing about human nature. Yes, man continues to struggle with its own animal instincts but these primal urges are all for show in THE WOLFMAN. The tale was clearly only updated to present it with visual effects that would do the gore justice rather than reinvigorate it with relevance. And as there aren’t that many fight sequences (waiting for lunar cycles to pass before seeing the title character reappear does not make for a great deal of suspense), even that purpose seems like an after thought.

Watching THE WOLFMAN means watching a lot more than just innocent people dying gruesome deaths on screen; it also means watching the combined talent of the ensemble cast being torn to shreds. Anthony Hopkins, as Lawrence’s father, is a kooky old man who has lost his own plot, let alone the even thinner plot of this film. Emily Blunt is as lovely as always but reduced to nonsensical character development. And Del Toro, aside from his baffling accent, is never strong enough to be considered manly or fierce enough to be seen as beastly. Fortunately, Hugo Weaving is on hand as the inspector assigned to the case. Weaving brings that special brand of bland that, if we’re all very lucky and this film does find a sizable audience, we will all get to see again in the sequel.


I have not seen the original so I cannot fairly compare but I can say that I expect THE WOLFMAN to be about raw aggression that cannot help but be let out on an unsuspecting public. Director, Joe Johnston’s take is decidedly different, focusing more on daddy issues and about finding the right woman to tame the beast. With such insipid back story, I’d say the beast in question has already been domesticated.