Toy Story 2: Blu-ray (1999)

As I said in my earlier review of the Toy Story blu-ray there's no real point in giving my opinion on the movie since everyone has seen it already. It seems a lot of people prefer the sequel to the original and while I have a hard time going that far Toy Story 2 more than lives up the original and is very close to being it's equal. All the characters from the first are back with some fine new additions. Woody takes on even more human emotion as he is forced to make an extremely tough choice. The action is upped and there are more pop culture references as well. The animation is also improved as Pixar really developed their ability to render affective humans in the 4 years between films. The only thing that keeps it slightly below Toy Story for me is that I just don't get quite as much of a sense of excitement from it.

I thought the blu-ray for Toy Story would be hard to top but Toy Story 2 manages to do it. It's just as amazing as you would expect it to be. The higher level of detail in the animation comes off fantastic in high def with detail being an incredibly strong point. Colors are bright and pop right off the screen. The audio as well is a sonic force. Constant surround usage, perfect directionality, massive low end and perfectly rendered dialogue make it a reference quality track.

As with Toy Story the is virtually no reason to not own this blu-ray. It's a fantastic movie for everyone and technically the disc is as good as anyone could ask for.

Ratings:
Movie 5/5
Blu-ray 5/5

Toy Story: Blu-ray (1995)

Is there really even a point in writing a review for Toy Story? Everyone has seen it. Everyone loves it and if you don't I feel sorry for you and your lack of a soul. It's also one of the most important movies of the last 20 years.  It changed the way cartoons were predominantly made, ushering in a new era of CG animation. It brought a whole new level of characterization and imagination as well. There are so many fantastic things to say about Toy Story, it even made Tim Allen entertaining! The only downside is that CG animation has come so far in the last 15 years that some of it just doesn't hold up but that is such a minor issue it's easily overlooked.

Toy Story deserves every accolade it's ever received and seems to be another perfect movie for a high quality blu-ray transfer and thankfully it is. There's nothing wrong with the picture quality at all. Colors are amazing, the level of detail is outstanding, the whole thing just looks fantastic. I was very surprised with the audio track as well. I wasn't expecting it to be as active as it is. There is a tremendous amount of low end in all the right places, surround usage is constant, directionality is spot on and dialogue is never lost in the mix.

There is absolutely no reason  not to own Toy Story on blu-ray. The movie is as good as you remember and the blu-ray is reference quality. No Pixar movie has failed yet on the format and the one that started it all is just as impressive as Wall-E, Up, Monsters Inc. etc.

Ratings:
Movie 5/5
Blu-ray 5/5

The Men Who Stare at Goats: Blu-ray (2009)

I was pretty pumped up for The Men Who Stare at Goats when I first saw the trailer. It had a great cast (George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey and Ewan McGregor) and looked to be a quirky style of comedy that I really enjoy. My excitement faded drastically based on critical reviews and early word of mouth that it just wasn't that great a movie.  Now that I've seen it I can safely say that I enjoyed a lot of aspects of the film but it is in no way something I need to see again. The film is fairly entertaining but suffers from tonal inconsistencies and a plot that is lacking in any real story arc.

The movie is very loosely based on a book of the same title. The book features 16 different chapters who's only real connection is the use of psychic experiments so the plot is pretty much entirely made up.  Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) is a small time journalist who's wife is leaving him for his editor. Anger gets the best of him and he attempts to fly to Kuwait to cover the Iraq War. While there he meets Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) who claims to be an undercover Special Forces agent (a self described Jedi) who specializes in psychic warfare. While learning firsthand Cassady's back story he also gets dragged into Cassady's current undercover mission.

There's a lot to like in The Men Who Stare at Goats and the highlight is watching Clooney and Jeff Bridges (who plays Cassady's unit's founder) do their stuff.  Clooney is amazing at playing 2 different types of roles, the suave, smooth talker we've seen in Up in the Air and Michael Clayton and the crazy eyed comedic roles he usually does in his work with the Coen Brothers. He's definitely in the latter mode here as we are never sure if his character is actually psychic or if he's just delusional. Clooney plays it up to great affect and there was more than one time that I found myself laughing just at his eye movements and facial expressions.  Bridges is also in wild man mode. His character is basically an Army hippie and he's allowed great room to go crazy with it to fine comedic affect. There are also a lot of humorous situations scattered throughout the movie with an Army dance sequence and a group LSD trip being my personal favorites.

Now for the bad, the movie treads a middle ground, it's not a bright and sunny, wacky comedy nor is it really a dark satire either. It's somewhere in the middle and the movie suffers by not really going full on for either one. There's also no real plot as it alternates from flashbacks to the present and is mostly just a series of scenes without an overriding arc to bring it all together. The tone is frustrating as well. It swings from serious to wacky on a consistent basis and more than a few times within the same scene. The movie also has a bad tendency to put characters in wigs and expect it to be funny, I'm not saying wigs can't be funny but it doesn't work here.

As good as Clooney and Bridges are, McGregor and Spacey don't hold up their end as the straight men. McGregor is fine in the role he's given but by no means excels, his performance seems to lack emotion and his narration doesn't really add much. There's also a running joke about him possibly being a Jedi which I assume is a reference to him playing Obi-Wan but it never delivers a laugh. Spacey's role is a waste of his talents. He doesn't get much to do and needed more screen time to make his character (the main villain) effective.

The Blu-ray is technically solid but also unspectacular. The video features a high level of of detail but it's not really the type of movie that comes off as amazing in high def. It doesn't feature bright colors or have anything much in the way of fancy set pieces. The audio is front heavy but does open up in the films few action scenes. Dialogue is the most important aspect of the movie and it comes across fine.

The Men Who Stare at Goats is about what I expected going in. It's got some great parts that don't quite add up to a great whole. My early hopes were too high but it's not the disaster I had heard it was either. It's a decent enough movie for wasting time, as it is entertaining, but ultimately I doubt anyone will fall in love with it.

Ratings:
Movie 3/5
Blu-ray 3.5/5

The Fantastic Mr. Fox: Blu-ray (2009)

I don't think I read the book Fantastic Mr. Fox as a child and if I did I definitely don't remember it. This means I have no idea how accurately Wes Anderson's (Rushmore, Royal Tenenbaums, Life Aquatic) film adaptation is. I do know that after watching the movie I can't think of any filmmaker that could possibly make it any better than Anderson did.

Mr. Fox (George Clooney) is a master chicken thief who's family issues force him to retire from a life of crime. He ends up writing a newspaper column that he's not sure anyone even reads while longing for the days of excitement and wanting a better place in his world for his family. After buying a fancy new tree house (getting his family out of the tiny fox hole they were living in) he decides to do one last big heist to secure plenty of food for his wife (Meryl Streep) and son Ash (Jason Schwartzman). Mr. Fox is going to rob the three wealthy farmers who live in close proximity to his new home but the farmers don't take kindly to being robbed. Ash has his own problems growing up and feeling awkward and when his cousin Kristofferson comes to stay with them for an indefinite period he is forced to be around a person who seems to excel at everything he does not, even though he badly wants to.

The story line in itself is very good as it speaks to adults and children alike. Mr. Fox struggles with his desire to be wild and free but still be there for his family at all costs. Ash struggles with his desire to be like his cousin who has talents Mr. Fox seems to appreciate more than Ash's. There are a lot of funny and interesting side characters scattered throughout as well.

The voice talent on hand here is exceptional. Joining Clooney, Streep and Schwartzman are Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Owen Wilson and Willem Dafoe. All give fine performances with Clooney and Murray's scenes together being one of the highlights of the movie for me.

Anderson uses stop motion animation to bring the characters to life and while I'm sure some people will find it off-putting, I really enjoyed it.  If you've ever seen a Wes Anderson movie before you will know what to expect from the feel of the movie. Even using animation there are Anderson staples everywhere, eclectic pop songs, quirky characters, offbeat humor and heavy use of title cards are prevalent throughout the film. His use of heavily detailed sets in his films works incredibly well in animation as well and I can guarantee there are tons of things in the backgrounds that I missed the first time around. Anderson's movies have also always had a dark side to them but for the most part that is not present here. I don't think it would have fit tonally with the movie although I have a feeling there's some undercurrent in there I didn't notice. For the most part it's a fairly simple story told exceptionally well and with a great sense of fun and energy. The only downside is that in fleshing out the book to feature film length there are a few times when the pace slows just enough to notice. This only happens a very small amount during the movie and it is easily overlooked but it does keep the film from being a classic in my mind.

The Blu-ray's technical aspects are excellent as well. As with most animated features there is an amazing level of detail throughout the movie with individual hairs being easily distinguishable and a fantastic use of colors that look great in high def. The audio is not as exceptional as the video but is quite strong nonetheless. It's more front heavy than I was expecting and there's not a lot of bass present. On the plus side dialogue comprehension is outstanding and when the soundscape does open up in the few action scenes as well as when music is playing it sounds fantastic.

Fantastic Mr. Fox is an excellent movie for people of all ages and the Blu-ray is great as well. The animation is beautiful, the characters are fun and the voice work is outstanding. Unless you have a real problem with this style of animation or just don't like things that are family oriented there is no reason not to see it.

Ratings:
Movie 4.5/5
Blu-ray 4.5/5

Drive-By Truckers: The Big To-Do (2010)

Economic downturn affects everyone differently.  For the Drive-By Truckers it means a lot of new subjects to write songs about. DBT have always written songs featuring characters who struggle with day to day living and The Big To-Do is no different. Musically this is the loudest album they have made since 2001's Southern Rock Opera.  It's an electric guitar showcase throughout most of the album with only a bit of calm (mostly) after the storm.

One of the great things about the Truckers is that they write songs from a very strong southern perspective but make them universal enough to be understood by people who have not spent much time there. I'm not usually a giant lyrics guy but DBT is one of a handful of bands who's lyrics I actually pay full attention too. I feel like I know these people even though I live a world away from where their story's are happening.

Front-man Pattersoon Hood wrote 8 of the 13 songs here and as usual they are all solid. Hood writes in a straightforward storytelling style and you get a really strong sense of the people involved. Whether it's from the perspective of a child who's father has died ("Daddy Learned To Fly"), a man who has lost his terrible job ("This Fucking Job"), or a guy lost in the depths of a bender ("The Fourth Night of My Drinking") his characters ring true.

Hood's longtime sidekick Mike Cooley has always been my favorite part of the band. He's not nearly as prolific a writer as Hood and his songs are lot more ambiguous but no less effective. "Birthday Boy" is a humorous tale of a lap dance gone wrong. "Get Downtown" (a revved up rockabilly number) chronicles the the attempts of a wife to get her lazy husband to get a job no matter how menial it is. Bassist Shonna Tucker delivers 2 great tracks as well with "(It's Gonna Be) I Told You So" (a rocking mix of motown and southern rock) the standout for me.

As I said before most of the album is a straight southern hard rock affair with a few exceptions. Tucker's "You Got Another" is a slow and haunting number while Hood's "The Flying Wallendas" and  Cooley's "Eye's Like Glue," a fantastic acoustic ballad of a father trying to relate information to his child, close the album out on a soft note.

I really enjoy everything this band does and The Big To-Do is no exception. The only problem I have is that the album just doesn't quite reach the levels they have in the past. It just feels like something is missing. Every song is good but I don't know if more than a couple are great. A lot of their past albums have taken a while to sink in for me and it's very possible that will happen as I listen to it more but for now I think it's a highly enjoyable album that falls just short of greatness.

Rating: 4/5

Track Listing

1. "Daddy Learned to Fly" (Hood) - 4:44
2. "The Fourth Night of My Drinking" (Hood) - 4:45
3. "Birthday Boy" (Cooley) - 3:36
4. "Drag the Lake Charlie" (Hood) - 3:17
5. "The Wig He Made Her Wear" (Hood) - 5:47
6. "You Got Another" (Tucker) - 5:18
7. "This Fucking Job" (Hood) - 4:58
8. "Get Downtown" (Cooley) - 3:13
9. "After the Scene Dies" (Hood) - 4:07
10. "(It's Gonna Be) I Told You So" (Tucker) - 2:03
11. "Santa Fe" (Hood) - 3:26
12. "The Flying Wallendas" (Hood) - 5:16
13. "Eyes Like Glue" (Cooley) - 3:16

Big Star: Radio City (1974)

In honor of the life of Alex Chilton (he passed away yesterday) I feel it is appropriate for a couple quick write ups on the first 2 Big Star records. Even though they are usually purchased as a combo pack I will be reviewing each individually because they both have different feels.

Radio City is Big Star's second album and the first to be entirely written by Alex Chilton. Co-founder Chris Bell left the band before the recording of the album and while he is believed to have been involved in some of the songwriting he is not credited as such. The album is a bit more experimental than #1 Record and also sacrifices much of the harmonies that dominate that album. That doesn't mean Radio City is any less effective however. There is still no lack of amazing melodies and the loss of Bell enabled Chilton to incorporate more of his weird tendencies and they all work wonderfully. Drummer Jody Stephens also gets to do a lot more in the way of drum fills throughout the album. There's also not as much of a difference on this album between the rockers and the ballads with most of the songs having elements of both or falling somewhere in the middle.

"O My Soul" is a fantastic opener. It's a mix of hard rock and sweet ballad with a lot more instrumental interplay than Big Star had previously shown. "Life is White," "You Get What You Deserve" and "Back of a Car" all are great examples of "jangle pop" done perfectly. "She's a Mover" and "Mod Lang" are the closest thing the album has to straight forward rock songs. "What's Going Ahn" and  the short closing track "I'm in Love With a Girl" show their acoustic side off well with "Love With a Girl" being a personal favorite.

No review of Radio City would be complete without a mention of "September Gurls." To me this song represents power pop at it's finest. Jangly guitars, a beautiful melody, memorable lyrics and emotional singing all combine in perfect symmetry. It's one of my favorite songs of all time and in the last year or so I've fallen in love with it even more.

The lyrics on Radio City expand beyond failed relationships (although that aspect is still prominent). Chilton sings a lot more about fame or more accurately a lack of fame, than ever before. You can also get a much better feel for his disdain for the record industry here as well.

Is Radio City better than #1 Record? I can't decide. While I miss the harmonies the experimentation and inclusion of "September Gurls" make up for it. Like so many other great bands with more than one classic album the best one to me is the one I'm listening to at the time. You simply can't go wrong either way.

Rating: 5/5

Big Star: #1 Record (1972)

In honor of the life of Alex Chilton (he passed away yesterday) I feel it is appropriate for a couple quick write ups on the first 2 Big Star records. Even though they are usually purchased as a combo pack I will be reviewing each individually because they both have different feels.

It's hard for some people to listen to Big Star for the first time and be impressed. You've undoubtedly heard the many bands they've influenced and that can make the music seem less groundbreaking than it was. There weren't many bands playing the power pop style of music at the time (Badfinger, The Raspberries perhaps) and none of them were nearly as good. Big Star never achieved any commercial success but they were one of the most influential bands of the 70's with R.E.M. and The Replacements being among their notable fans and devotees.

The first Big Star album #1 Record was released in 1972 and is the only Big Star record in which Chris Bell plays an equally large a role as Chilton. Their recording relationship was modeled after Lennon and McCarthy  so they share co-writing credits on almost every song ( bassist Andy Hummell's "The India Song" and "My Life is Right" attributed to Bell and Eubanks being the exceptions). I honestly have a hard time distinguishing who sings lead on certain tracks but they work so well together in harmony it doesn't really matter.

Big Star was excellent at combining loud rockers with acoustic ballads while always providing memorable vocal lines. Album opener "Feel" establishes the overall feel of the album very well.It features a mix of electric and acoustic instruments and a first glimpse of Big Star's amazing harmonies. "Don't Lie to Me" and "When My Baby's Beside Me" are both excellent examples of their loud rock. Either one could have been a huge hit under the right circumstances. "In the Street" is probably the most well known of all their songs due to a Cheap Trick cover version being the theme song for That 70's Show. The Big Star version is much better as it doesn't contain the generic feel of the cover.

The rest of the album focuses on slower songs. "The Ballad of El Goodo" and "Thirteen" are two of the most beautiful songs ever recorded. "Goodo is electric and "Thirteen" is acoustic but both are equally as impressive.  The second half of the album is slightly weaker but that's only because of how amazing the first half is. The second half is almost entirely acoustic with "My Life is Right," "Try Again," and "Watch the Sunrise" being standouts. Any one of them would be the best song 90 percent of most bands will ever right. Here they're almost afterthoughts.

Lyrically on #1 Record Big Star tended to focus on the pains of relationships and the contrast between the sunny melodies and the dark lyrics is one of the most interesting things about the album. It's easy to get caught up in the vocals without actually listening to what they're saying but once you do it opens up a whole new level of appreciation.

#1 Record is definitely an all time classic album but whether it's even Big Star's best is debatable. My only complaint is that I wish there was one more rocker on the second half of the album but that's a very minor problem as pretty much every song is fantastic.

Rating 5/5