DVD Review: Up

Film: Up is this year's obligitary Pixar film and is destined for Oscar success. Up tells the story of Carl Fredricksen. Carl is a retired balloon salesman who recently lost his wife. Carl makes it his mission to uphold the promise to his wife that they'll go to Paradise Falls.

After tieing hundreds of balloons to his house, Carl begins to fly to Paradise Falls. Whilst in the air Carl realises that boy scout Russell stowed away on his porch and ends up traveling to Paradise Falls too.

Once they've reached Paradise Falls, Russell befriends a huge bird (which he names Kevin) and a dog called Dug. The main antagonist is Carl's childhood idol Charles Muntz who is stranded on Paradise Falls.

Up is one of the best animated films in recent memory but I suppose thats usual with Pixar. The imagary is beautiful and the character relation is nothing like anything seen in traditional Hollywood films. Up is a fantastic family film and a dead lock for Best Animated Feature.

*****

Disc:
Partly Cloudy: The usual Pixar short film that was placed in front of up in the theatres. Great little short film and I'm surprised it's not nominated at this years Oscars.
The Many Endings of Muntz: The different ways in which Muntz would have met his demise.
Adventure Is Out There: A doc about the real Paradise Falls.
Dug's Special Mission: Spinoff about Dug which ties in nicely with the film.

****

DVD Review: Funny People

Film: Funny People is Judd Apatow's third film as director. It focus round George Simmons' (Adam Sandler) battle with a cancerous disease and how his life is changed through his battle. The supporting cast is filled with Apatow regulars; Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann and Jonah Hill.

For what it is, Funny People is a decent film. Personally, It's not Apatow's best (That has to be the very quotable 40 Year Old Virgin) but I think the reason for that is that Apatow has calmed down on the obvious comedy and focused more on character development and a dramatic side to the film. Adam Sandler delievers one of his most powerful performances to date and I was very surprised when he wasn't nominated for Best Actor Musical/Comedy at the Golden Globes. Seth Rogen is fairly underrated for his serious acting ability, the guy can act and I think somewhere down the line we'll see a true Rogen dramatic performance.

I also think it's a travesty that people think Jonah Hill is better than Seth Rogen. Personally, Jonah Hill is overrated. It doesn't take much effort to play the same character in every film your in. His night guard in Night At The Museum 2 could be the day job of his character in Superbad.

Funny People is quite lengthy coming in at 2 hours and 26 minutes. The film very much so can be divided in half and possibly could have been sequels. Nevertheless I'd recommend Funny People to fans of Apatow & Sandler as you see alot of the formulaic choices of the director and like I said a great performance from Adam Sandler.

***

Extras:
Gag Reel: Simple gag reel, mainly showing Adam Sandler goofing around.
Deleted Scenes: Doesn't really move the film forward but thats why they've been deleted!
Extended/Alternate Scenes: Again nothing more to add but you may feel you enjoyed some of these scenes more than those chosen.
Line-O-Rama: Differents lines the cast improvised during filming.
Documentaries & Music: Standard production docs and music from the film.
From The Archives: Adam Sandler & Seth Rogen's old stand up routines.
The Films of George Simmons: A look at the fictional films of George Simmons.
Prank Call: More Amateur footage of Adam Sandler as a late teen.
Yo, Teach!: An episode of the fictonal TV series.

****

DVD Review: Borat

Borat, you all know what it is.

So I watched Borat for the first time and I've gotta say that I didn't think it was as funny as most have made out. Maybe that's because I saw Bruno first?

I have to admit though, I love the idea of Sacha Baron Cohen running through America and doing shit like this. Of course some of is intended to offend and I feel I should show the Feminist segment to my Women On Film tutor. (She called me a chauvinist, I'm NOT!!!)

All in all, Borat was a good film with a few laughs here and there, obviously don't check it out if your expecting a serious Oscar contender type film.

The Pamela Anderson bit was probably the most laugh out loud moment, did she know about that?

***

EDIT: Just watched the "Censored Footage" on the DVD. These should have been included in the film! Well maybe not the Supermarket/Cheese one.

So if you count the film + deleted scenes i'd give Borat:

****

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