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ENTRY DEADLINE:
We will begin emailing winners for this the week of February 7, 2012, which means you have until February 6, 2012 at 11:59 to enter.

FROM THE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:
More about The Rebound:
Upon discovering her husband’s infidelity, Sandy (Zeta-Jones) and her two kids move from the suburbs to pursue a new life in the big city. There she meets Aram (Bartha), a local coffee shop employee whose wife only married him as a means to getting her green card. The two strike up a friendship which eventually evolves into something more. But it isn’t long before they’re faced with the big question – “Is this real or just a rebound?”

Technorati Tags: Contest, Giveaway, Movie, Romantic, Valentine’s Day, The Rebound, Catherine Zeta-Jones, DVD, Win

Synopsis:
Upon discovering her husband’s infidelity, Sandy (Zeta-Jones) and her two kids move from the suburbs to pursue a new life in the big city. There she meets Aram (Bartha), a local coffee shop employee whose wife only married him as a means to getting her green card. The two strike up a friendship which eventually evolves into something more. But it isn’t long before they’re faced with the big question – “Is this real or just a rebound?”

Technorati Tags: The Rebound, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Justin Bartha, Quiz, February 7, Fox, Movie

SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE SYNOPSIS

Hailed as “pure enchantment,” (New York Times), Shakespeare in Love garnered seven Academy Awards® in 1998, including Best Picture, Best Actress in a Leading Role for Gwyneth Paltrow and Best Supporting Actress for Judi Dench. Co-starring Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth and Ben Affleck, the film captivated audiences with its intoxicating love story, endless wit and all-star cast. For the first time on Blu-ray Disc, the release will also include audio commentaries, a “making of” featurette, a look at the Oscar® winning costumes, deleted scenes and more.

Out of ideas and cash, a young Will Shakespeare (Fiennes), is in search of a muse to break his creative drought. After meeting the lovely Lady Viola (Paltrow), the two find themselves entangled in a secret romance that rejuvenates Will’s creativity. His pen flows like never before until he uncovers two unexpected truths about his new lover – she’s promised to marry someone else and she’s successfully impersonating a man to play the lead in Will’s latest play.

Shakespeare in Love – Film Clip: “The Kiss”

BLU-RAY DISC SPECIAL FEATURES*
• “Shakespeare in Love and On Film” – “making of” featurette
• Academy Award® winning costumes featurette
• Audio commentary with John Madden
• Audio commentary with cast and crew
• Deleted scenes
• Theatrical trailer
• Television spots
*subject to change

Shakespeare in Love – Film Clip: “Ned’s Return to Rose Playhouse”

DIRECTED BY
John Madden (The Debt, Proof, Her Majesty Mrs. Brown)

WRITTEN BY
Marc Norman (The Aviator, The Killer Elite, Breakout)
And Tom Stoppard (Enigma, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Empire of the Sun, Brazil)

Shakespeare in Love – Blu-ray Trailer

CAST
Gwyneth Paltrow (Contagion, Iron Man 2, Iron Man, Emma, Se7en, Two Lovers)
Joseph Fiennes (TV’s “FlashForward,” Luther, Enemy at the Gates, Elizabeth)
Geoffrey Rush (The Pirates of the Caribbean series, The King’s Speech, Shine)
Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, Mamma Mia, Bridget Jones’s Diary, The English Patient, Then She Found Me)
Ben Affleck (The Town, The Company Men, Pearl Harbor, Armageddon, Good Will Hunting)
Judi Dench (J. Edgar, Casino Royale, Chocolat, Her Majesty Mrs. Brown)
Simon Callow (TV’s “Doctor Who,” Amadeus, HBO’s “Rome”)
Jim Carter (My Week With Marilyn, Creation, TV’s “Downton Abbey”)
Martin Clunes (TV’s “Doc Martin,” TV’s “Doctor Who”)
Antony Sher (TV’s “Murphy’s Law,” Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown)
Imelda Staunton (Vera Drake, the Harry Potter series, Another Year)
Tom Wilkinson (The Conspirator, Michael Clayton, Batman Begins)
Mark Williams (upcoming Albert Nobbs, the Harry Potter series, Stardust)

Technorati Tags: Blu-ray, Shakespeare in Love, Tom Wilkinson, Colin Firth, Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Clips, Movie, Romance

Richard and Mildred Loving appear to be a normal couple. They grew up and fell in love in the same Virginia town. Of course, they did have some differences. Mildred was half-black and half-Native American. Richard was white. While this might not turn many heads today, in 1958 when the couple made the decision to get married, their marriage was declared illegal by their home state.

Realizing what the couple had, they fought back and changed history in a Supreme Court case that overturned bans on interracial marriage in 16 states. This exclusive documentary will appear on HBO on Valentine’s Day. The Loving Story is an uplifting saga of two unlikely Civil Rights heroes. Tune in on February 14 at 9 PM EST.

Other HBO playdates: Feb. 14 (5:15 a.m.), 18 (3:30 p.m.), 23 (1:00 p.m.), 26 (9:00 a.m.) and 29 (12:30 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Feb. 19 (12:20 p.m.), 24 (5:15 p.m.) and 29 (8:00 p.m.)

More on the Lovings

Married in Washington, D.C. on June 2, 1958, Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter were arrested in their home state of Virginia five weeks later and subsequently convicted of the felony crime of miscegenation. To avoid a one-year jail sentence, they agreed to leave the state, and could only return to Virginia separately. But that was just the beginning of their story.

The Loving Story offers never-before-seen vintage film and stills of the family that was shot in 1965 and 1966. In addition to this footage, there are present-day interviews with the daughter of the Lovings’, Peggy, as well as neighbors, police, and the ACLU lawyers who argued the case in front of the 1967 US Supreme Court.

From HBO:

The luminous, newly discovered 16mm footage of the Lovings and their lawyers, which was shot by filmmakers Hope Ryden and Abbot Mills, and photographs by acclaimed LIFE photographer Grey Villet capture the intimate realities of the Lovings’ daily lives. The prints were given to the Loving family by the photographer 45 years ago and given to the filmmakers in 2010. (A selection of these photos is currently on view at the International Center of Photography in New York through May 6.)

When the Lovings were unable to have their convictions overturned at the state level, ACLU attorneys went to a federal level and Loving v. Virginia was heard by the US Supreme Court. On April 10, 1967 Richard Loving spoke to the justices through his attorneys by saying, “Tell the court that I love my wife, and it is unfair that I can’t live with her in Virginia.”

The decision came on June 12, 1967 and it was unanimous. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Lovings. From that moment on the prohibition of interracial marriage was stopped in 16 states. This was a decision that continues to shape America’s attitude towards marriage to this day.

The Lovings:

Neither dedicated activists nor participants in the protests of their time, the Lovings spent nine years simply trying to be able to live legally in their home state, and on their journey became little-known heroes of the Civil Rights era. They didn’t ask to be heroes. They just wanted to be happy.

About the Filmmaker:

Director and producer Nancy Buirski says the message of the film is both timeless and timely. Although depicting a universal love story, it comes at a time when, she says, “white supremacy groups are growing in the U.S. – in the very communities that perpetuated and maintained anti-miscegenation laws up to the 1967 Supreme Court ruling. While we’ve elected the first mixed-race president, we also recently witnessed a Louisiana justice of the peace refusing to marry a mixed-race couple.

“Contemporary parallels are gently embedded in the Lovings’ fight for marriage equality. Today, 45 years after Loving v. Virginia, Perry v. Schwarzenegger is making its way to the Supreme Court. This is a story not of just civil rights, but of human rights and the pursuit of happiness, regardless of religion, race or gender.”

Technorati Tags: The Lovings, The Loving Story, Richard Loving, Mildred Loving, Penny, US Supreme Court, Civil Rights, February, Valentines Day, HBO

When the Season Ended:

After fleeing his North Carolina hometown, washed-up major-league pitcher Kenny Powers spent a soul-searching season in Mexico as “La Flama Blanca” – and ended up returning to the States a changed man. Or is he?

From HBO:
Find out when the comedy series EASTBOUND & DOWN, executive produced by Will Ferrell, Chris Henchy, Adam McKay, Jody Hill and Danny McBride, kicks off its eight-episode third season SUNDAY, FEB. 19 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO, just as real-life baseball spring training begins.

Synopsis:

Starring Danny McBride (“Pineapple Express,” “30 Minutes or Less”), EASTBOUND & DOWN tells the story of Kenny Powers, who used to be a star pitcher until his self-destructive behavior knocked him out of Major League Baseball. Picking up a year after season two, the third season finds Kenny in action on the “Redneck Riviera” (aka Myrtle Beach, SC), somehow resurrecting his baseball career by becoming the closer for the minor-league Myrtle Beach Mermen. Even as he tries to pass himself off as the “King of Myrtle Beach,” Kenny struggles to come to terms with growing older and accepting the responsibilities of being a new father.

Upcoming episodes:

Episode #14: “Chapter 14”
Debut: SUNDAY, FEB. 19 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: Feb. 19 (midnight), 21 (9:30 p.m.), 22 (midnight) and 24 (midnight)
Enjoying a new lease on his baseball career as the closer for the minor-league Myrtle Beach Mermen, Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) settles into a life of body-boarding, jet-skiing and hard-partying with his catcher, Shane (Jason Sudeikis). A detour to Shelby to attend the one-year birthday of his child reunites Kenny with April (Katy Mixon).

Episode #15: “Chapter 15”
Debut: SUNDAY, FEB. 26 (10:00-10:30 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates: Feb. 26 (midnight), 28 (10:30 p.m.) and 29 (midnight), and March 2 (midnight)
With the baby in tow, a seething Kenny heads north in search of April. Getting no assistance from Dustin (John Hawkes), Maria (Elizabeth De Razzo) or Jamie (Jerry Minor), Kenny tracks down his erstwhile lackey Stevie (Steve Little), currently employed at Ashley Schaeffer’s (Will Ferrell) car dealership. Kenny crashes a perverse plantation fete the dealer is throwing in an effort to liberate Stevie.

Episode #16: “Chapter 16”
Debut: SUNDAY, MARCH 4 (10:00-10:30 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates: March 4 (midnight), 6 (10:30 p.m.), 7 (midnight) and 9 (midnight)
Pro scout Roy McDaniel (Matthew McConaughey) arrives in Myrtle Beach to ask Kenny to mentor Ivan Dochenko (Ike Barinholtz), a promising young Russian pitching prospect. Stevie lays down the ground rules for his return to Kenny’s team, while grappling with Shane and Kenny’s relationship.

Technorati Tags: Eastbound and Down, HBO, Television, Baseball, Comedy, Will Farrell, Matthew McConaughey, Jason Sudeikis, Danny McBride

Keep reading for additional info:

Synopsis:
Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the evil Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which Tributes? must fight with one another until one survivor remains.

Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

THE HUNGER GAMES is directed by Gary Ross, and produced by Nina Jacobsons Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. Suzanne Collins best-selling novel, the first in a trilogy published by Scholastic that has over 16 million copies in print in the United States alone, has developed a massive global following.

The world will be watching when The Hunger Games hits theaters on March 23!

Technorati Tags: The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins, March 23, Book to Movie, Movie, Poster, Scholastic, Fantasy, Survival

The Blu-ray/DVD combo pack breakdown is as follows:

Blu-ray:
o Original Theatrical Version of the Film
o Unrated Version of the Film
o Lost Tapes

DVD:
o Unrated Version of the Film
o Digital Copy of Unrated Version—Compatible with iTunes® and Windows Media

On February 14, single disc DVD versions of both the unrated and the theatrical versions will be available at Wal-Mart, as well.

Technorati Tags: Paranormal Activity 3, Movie, Horror, Ghosts, Haunting, Paramount Home Video

Synopsis:

Director: Boaz Yakin (writer of Prince of Persia)
Cast: Jason Statham (Chaos, War), Catherine Chan, James Hong, Reggie Lee (Tropic Thunder), Robert John Burke
————————–
A second-rate cage fighter on the mixed martial arts circuit, Luke Wright lives a numbing life of routine beatings and chump change…until the day he blows a rigged fight. Wanting to make an example of him, the Russian Mafia murders his family and banishes him from his life forever, leaving Luke to wander the streets of New York destitute, haunted by guilt, and tormented by the knowledge that he will always be watched, and anyone he develops a relationship with will also be killed.

But when he witnesses a frightened twelve-year-old Chinese girl, Mei, being pursued by the same gangsters who killed his wife, Luke impulsively jumps to action…and straight into the heart of a deadly high-stakes war. Mei, he discovers, is no ordinary girl, but an orphaned math prodigy forced to work for the Triads as a “counter.” He discovers she holds in her memory a priceless numerical code that the Triads, the Russian mob and a corrupt faction of the NYPD will kill for.

Realizing he’s the only person Mei can trust, Luke tears a swath through the city’s brutal underworld to save an innocent girl’s life…and perhaps even redeem his own.

Technorati Tags: Safe, New Poster, Jason Statham, Catherine Chan, James Hong, Reggie Lee, Movie, Action

The Birth of a Nation (1915) – Directed by D.W. Griffith
One of the most challenging of all film masterpieces, D.W. Griffith’s first great feature demonstrates filmmaking innovations and a shocking example of the medium’s potential for cultural impact. Griffith wanted to make a film that would rival the feature-length epics coming out of Europe. With his innovative use of panoramic long shots, iris effects and panning shots, among other techniques, the film was a marvel, and its Civil War battle scenes, staged with the help of West Point, are among the most effective ever put on film. He almost single-handedly established the American film as an art form. The story of two families split by the Civil War and the combination of historical and fictional materials would become Hollywood mainstays. But Griffith’s material – two novels and a play written by Thomas Dixon in a personal campaign to maintain laws against racial intermarriage – triggered massive protests and violence around the nation. The political message so tarnished Griffith’s reputation he made Intolerance (1916) the next year to counter charges of racism. The racist depiction of freed slaves and the glorification of the Ku Klux Klan in The Birth of a Nation inspired both the Klan’s modern resurgence (it would use the film in recruiting drives into the 1970s) and a series of protests that thrust the still young NAACP into national prominence. It also further encouraged black businessmen to finance films of their own, leading to the “race film movement” that flourished into the 1950s.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) – Directed by Rex Ingram
This early anti-war drama, the sixth-highest grossing of all silent films, is a testament to the medium’s cultural impact, particularly when manipulated by master artists like writer June Mathis and director Rex Ingram. Mathis was one of the industry’s first female executives, heading Metro Pictures’ scenario department. Her interest in spiritism drew her to the Blasco Ibañez best seller, which used biblical imagery to depict an Argentine family torn apart by World War I, even though most studios had deemed it unfilmable. When she came up with a script that worked, studio head Louis B. Mayer was so impressed he gave her director and star approval. Hiring Ingram to direct was no issue as he had been rising steadily in the industry, but her choice of Rudolph Valentino to play a key role was controversial. Not only was he a bit player at the time, but Hollywood had never promoted such an ethnic leading man (the dark-skinned sex symbol was of Italian and French lineage). One look at the rushes, though, and Mathis and Ingram not only expanded his role but added the tango sequence to show off his dancing abilities. The result was a national craze for the tango and the gaucho pants Valentino wore in that scene. The role of a society playboy shamed into military service made Valentino a star and turned the “Latin lover” into one of the screen’s most bankable commodities.

Nanook of the North (1922) – Directed by Robert Flaherty
Although Robert Flaherty is often hailed as the father of the documentary and Nanook of the North often called the first feature in that genre, his work is far from what filmmakers would consider documentary today. The director readily admitted that some of his sequences were staged, which would become a common practice for early documentarians. Among other things, Flaherty changed his subject’s name from Allakariallak to “Nanook” and cast his own common law wives to play Nanook’s two mates. He also had Nanook and his fellow Inuit hunt walrus and seal with spears, even though they had recently begun using guns, because he wanted to capture the way they had lived before European influences took hold. Since the only cameras available to the director were large and bulky, his crew even had to construct a special three-walled igloo so they could shoot interiors. The director also may have invented the story that Nanook was dying of starvation as the film premiered. Allakariallak died at home two years later, reportedly of tuberculosis. The filming, however, was the real thing, shot in the remote locale when many so-called documentaries would be made in film studios with actors. With funding from a French fur company, Flaherty brought cameras, a generator and a portable lab halfway to the North Pole with him. When he showed the film’s participants the footage of the walrus hunt, it was the first film any of them had ever seen.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) – Directed by Wallace Worsley
After years of character work, Lon Chaney shot to stardom and started his reign as the “Man of 1,000 Faces” with this lavish adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic tale of the deformed bell ringer in love with a beautiful gypsy. Although most fans know the 1939 Charles Laughton version better, connoisseurs like Orson Welles have hailed this as the story’s and character’s definitive screen version. Chaney fought for three years to get this film made. Nothing came of his efforts until he shared his dream with Irving Thalberg, recently named head of production at Universal Studios. Thalberg helped spearhead a lavish production that established Universal as a major studio, and the film proved to be their most successful silent. The sets covered 19 acres, while the production required a crew of 750, particularly during two months of night shooting – an unprecedented undertaking at the time. Chaney put himself through the wringer for the role, wearing a 15-pound plaster hump and false chest that made it almost impossible for him to stand up straight, while the contact lenses he wore for the role caused permanent vision problems. But the makeup was so convincing at the time that many patrons thought the studio had hired a real hunchback for the role. Beyond his physical transformation, the star delivered a sympathetic, deeply felt performance that set the standard for “human monsters,” to be followed by the likes of Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee and Chaney’s own son, Lon Chaney, Jr.

The Ten Commandments (1923) – Directed by Cecil B. DeMille
Today, the biblical epic is viewed as a product of the 1950s, when filmmakers used spectacular tales like The Robe (1953) to lure audiences away from their TV sets and back into theatres. The roots of the genre, however, lie in such silent spectacles as the Italian Quo Vadis? (1913), D.W. Griffith’s Judith of Bethulia (1914) and Cecil B. DeMille’s original tale of Moses and the exodus. Always aware of his audience, DeMille had already popularized the risqué society comedy with films like Old Wives for New (1918) and would anticipate the return of the Western with The Plainsman (1936). He brought back the epic twice, first with the lavish The Ten Commandments, then with Samson and Delilah (1949). He hedged his bets somewhat with The Ten Commandments; the biblical story comprises only a third of the film’s running time, followed by a modern morality tale illustrating the importance of Christian values. But that first section was as eye-popping as DeMille could make it, even including 2-strip Technicolor sequences. Sixteen hundred workers created the Egyptian sets, which featured 36 foot tall statues of the Pharaohs, 21 sphinxes and 110-foot-tall gates. The parting of the Red Sea was created with miniature shots of Jell-O, which jiggled to approximate the surging waters. Even the modern sequence featured the spectacular collapse of a church built with shoddy materials, a visual comment on defying the commandments. The only director who could top such grandeur was DeMille himself, when he remade The Ten Commandments three decades later.

The Gold Rush (1925) – Directed by Charlie Chaplin
When Amy Adams is left on her own in The Muppets (2011), she sits in a restaurant, sticks two forks into a pair of dinner rolls and makes them do a little dance. The scene is a loving tribute to one of the great sight gags in film history, Charlie Chaplin doing the Ocarina Roll in The Gold Rush. Often hailed as “The Little Tramp’s,” and even the silent screen’s, greatest comedy, the film is a treasure trove of brilliant comic routines and heart-rending pathos. The plot, about Chaplin’s involvement in the Klondike Gold Rush, had an unlikely inspiration – the fate of the Donner Party. That may explain the prevalence of food jokes, as the starving Chaplin cooks and eats his own shoe, is chased around a snow-bound cabin after equally ravenous partner Mack Swain imagines him a chicken, or dreams of entertaining the woman of his dreams (dance hall hostess Georgia Hale) by making the dinner rolls dance. That sequence, possibly inspired by a Fatty Arbuckle routine in 1917′s The Rough House, would be echoed by everyone from Curly Howard in the short “Pardon My Scotch” to Johnny Depp in Benny and Joon. The Gold Rush was Chaplin’s first successful film at United Artists, the studio he co-founded with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith. At the time, it was the longest comedy every made and would become the highest grossing of all silent screen comedies. It was also the film by which Chaplin said he would most want to be remembered.

Battleship Potemkin (1925) – Directed by Sergei Eisenstein
The image of an untended baby carriage relentlessly rolling down a flight of stairs is one of the most iconic in film history. Brian De Palma used it to dramatic effect in The Untouchables (1987), while Woody Allen lampooned it in Bananas (1971). But the legacy of using montage as a tool to move the audience emotionally goes beyond that one masterful image. Drawing on early work by D.W. Griffith, Abel Gance and fellow Soviet Lev Kuleshov, director Sergei Eisenstein used montage to engage viewers, particularly to generate sympathy for the revolutionary sailors on the Potemkin and their sympathizers. By combining rhythmic cutting and recurring images – the czarist soldiers descending the steps, a nurse wearing pince-nez and the legendary baby carriage – he created a powerful narrative entirely out of images. Battleship Potemkin was not an instant hit, even in the Soviet Union. Initially it was banned in some countries because of its shocking violence. Later, countries would ban it for its revolutionary message. Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels declared it off-limits for Germany’s military personnel. But as prints circulated around the world, filmmakers gathered in small groups to view it with admiration. When David O. Selznick saw the film in 1926, he wired his boss (later to be his father-in-law), Louis B. Mayer, advising him to screen it at MGM to teach studio employees how to edit. Filmmakers, and film students, have now been learning from Battleship Potemkin for more than three quarters of a century.

Metropolis (1927) – Directed by Fritz Lang
Without Metropolis, there would be no Star Wars, no Alien no Blade Runner. Fritz Lang’s science-fiction masterpiece was one of the first films to create an entire world convincingly on screen. Working with cinematographer Karl Freund, special effects supervisor Eugen Schüfftan rose to new heights with this film, supervising dazzling miniature sets, mounting a camera on a swing for one sequence and creating the Schüfftan Process, a system using mirrors to combine actors with the miniatures almost seamlessly. That particular effect would become a mainstay of filmmaking around the world, while the sleek, modernistic design of the mad scientist’s laboratory would set the standard for science fiction for decades to come. Beyond that, Lang’s dystopian vision of a future dominated by unbridled capitalism until a workers’ revolt forces some kind of détente represented one of the screen’s first and still most effective uses of science fiction as social commentary. Even the performances – particularly Rudolf Klein-Rogge as the mad scientist Rotwang and Brigitte Helm as the noble Maria, who inspires the workers, and her evil robot doppelgänger – have been echoed in other films. In later years, Lang dismissed the film, partly because of its popularity with the Nazi Party, but even he could not deny its influence and, in many ways, its prescience, particularly when he saw the first manned space flights of the 1960s.

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927) – Directed by F.W. Murnau
Oscar lore labels Wings (1927) the first film to win Best Picture, but the same year it won, in a category then called “Best Picture, Production,” Sunrise won for “Best Picture, Unique and Artistic Production.” Even such an overstated award title ultimately understated the importance of this film, which first brought German Expressionism to Hollywood thanks to the work of director F.W. Murnau. The German filmmaker had developed his craft with such international classics as Nosferatu (1922) and The Last Laugh (1924), but arguably reached his highest level of achievement with this film. Murnau chose a simple story so like a fable the characters don’t even have names. Farmer George O’Brien is tempted to kill wife Janet Gaynor for love of The Woman from the City (Margaret Livingston). In other hands, it might have been old-fashioned melodrama, but Murnau raised it to a level of dreamlike poetry by inventing new ways of telling the story visually. Where most films of the time made only limited use of camera movement, he suspended a camera platform from above the sound stage so the camera could glide, even as it followed his characters through rough marshlands. He also created compositions of depth by having cameraman Karl Struss shoot multiple superimpositions before the invention of the optical printer. It all creates a dreamlike effect that would influence filmmakers as different as John Ford and Orson Welles for years after Murnau’s tragic death, just four years later in an auto accident.

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) – Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
It was this film from Danish pioneer Carl Theodor Dreyer that played the largest role in convincing critics the cinema was an art form. Dreyer threw out the elaborate script his French producers had prepared, instead basing his film almost entirely on transcripts of Joan of Arc’s trial. Then he made the amazing choice to cast a popular stage comedienne, Falconetti, to star. Though he had only seen her in a light comedy on the Parisian stage, he could tell even then that she had a spiritual side he could exploit, which is exactly what he did. To get just the right facial expressions, Dreyer forbade Falconetti and the other actors to wear makeup and moved his camera in as close as possible, using newly developed panchromatic film to capture even minute variations in skin tones. At times he forced his cast to work under extreme duress. Falconetti had to kneel for hours on bare stones, forbidden to show any expression on her face as Dreyer shot repeated takes to capture every nuance of her inner pain. And just to make things more grueling, he shot the entire film in sequence. Her suffering, captured in a film shot entirely in close ups and medium shots, makes the film a profoundly spiritual experience and has been hailed by many as the greatest piece of acting in film history.

Technorati Tags: Movies, Classic Movies, Silent Films, Turner Classic Movies, TV, The Passion of Joan of Arc, Fritz Lang, The Birth of a Nation

Release Info:
Original Release Date: August 12, 2011
DVD Release Date: December 27, 2011
Online Availability: Amazon for $22.99

Some movies do not need five follow-ups under their franchise belt. In fact, if you want to get technical, almost no franchise out there needs five followups. However, in the case of Final Destination it has received exactly that many. I saw the first Final Destination when the film was released on DVD back when it first came out. I am sure I have seen (at the very least) bits and pieces of some of the other movies in the franchise, as well. That being said, I have only ever supported the idea of the first film. While I liked the first film, it seems like there is no room for growth in the series and that makes the additional films pointless in my mind.

Final Destination requires a specific format to be done properly. The only problem with that is that the format is known by the time you watch the first one. Obviously, no matter what the circumstances are, you know what is inevitably going to happen in every other movie to some major degree. In every film a group of people cheat death. Whether they are on a high school trip or a work retreat does not matter as much as the fact that death got screwed out of a couple of extra bodies. One of the people cheating death has a premonition of impending doom right before the life-changing event happens. This allows him to get a small group together and to get them to safety. Of course, death doesn’t like to be cheated so people end up dying regardless of getting out of that original danger.

In theory, this sounds like an awesome plot for a movie, and it is pretty awesome. It’s awesome the first time. I can only assume that the thing that keeps people coming back to the box office for each additional Final Destination are the kills in the movies. While nothing in any of these films is particularly scary, there is an art to causing someone’s death during Lasik surgery that would have gone fine, except for the water that drenched the computer and made the laser heat up, causing the patient’s eye to be burned and eventually cause her to fall out a window after tripping on the missing eye of a teddy bear.

While the plot, though basically predictable, did not get on my nerves, there was something that did. The idea of the movie coming full circle was so annoying to me (once I figured out what that meant) that I considered throwing the Blu-ray out the window in protest. Final Destination 5 serves as a missing piece in a puzzle that was never missing a piece to begin with (and you can only understand what I mean by this if you’ve seen this or have read about the twist ending). They could have come up with nearly anything else and I might have tried to say something nice. I hated this idea. I hated it once I figured out that’s where they were going (I didn’t catch the twist until the end, mind you) and I hate it now as I write this. While the acting was fine and the kills had some interesting moments, the stupid full circle idea would make me consider a number of movies I probably wouldn’t want to watch before watching this again.

The Final Destination 5 Plot
It feels almost silly writing this section because anyone that has seen any of the Final Destination films already knows the plot. A group of people cheat death and death comes looking for them. Still, I will attempt to offer you a few more specifics about this cast of characters and how they are able to cheat death.

Sam Lawton (Nicholas D’Agosto) is caught between two jobs, one he loves as a chef, and another where he works in an office with his friends and his on-again, off-again girlfriend Molly (Emma Bell). When the movie starts we learn that Sam and his co-workers at the office will be going on a work retreat. After the breakfast Sam made them, they will board a bus and head off into the great unknown for some team building things and some time alone. Unfortunately, it’s a little windy outside and the suspension bridge the bus is going over is being worked on by construction. One thing leads to another and Sam is seeing some pretty wicked visions including co-workers impaled on sails and falling head first into the water as they fall out of the bus.

Naturally, these visions do not sit well with Sam, especially when he realizes that the same things are happening. He urges everyone to get off the bus. While not all of them listen, a small group does, and naturally those are the ones that manage to cheat death. Among Sam and Molly are his best friend (who does a horrible, yet amusing impression of Tom Cruise throughout the whole movie) Peter (Miles Fisher), Peter’s girlfriend and office intern Candice (Ellen Wroe), the company boss, Dennis (David Koechner), eye-catching office assistant, Olivia (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood), the likable warehouse foreman, Nathan (Arlen Escarpeta), and the no-good weirdo, Isaac (P.J. Byrne).

Death, not liking the idea of being cheated, goes after each and every one of the survivors in order to fix the wrongs that Sam created by getting them off the bus. Eventually, the group figures this out when the helpful coroner (Tony Todd) explains the details about death’s unwillingness to be cheated. Of course, he also tells them that they have the option of offering death another person’s life which would allow them to take that person’s lifespan and not have to die. While some view this as a viable option, others do not and one by one, they all begin to pay the price.

Storyline/Plot: 2 out of 5 stars
Replayability: 2 out of 5 stars
Acting: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Directing: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Audio/Visual:
While Warner Bros goes all out for the 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encoded transfer of Final Destination 5, the film, at times, has a muted feel to it. Truthfully, the CGI-kills look decent. That’s the advantage of a mainstream series – the horror does look better than the cheese so often experienced with low-budget horror. Still, I would hardly call this worthy of a horror distinction. The only similarity this film has with standard horror is the amount of deaths that occur, with humorous yet gruesome clarity.

Final Destination 5 is presented at a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. The color palette is dark and sinister for this film. Skintones are solid, blacks are rich, and the vibrant array of colors that accompany the special effects present a realistic color palette. It makes the film look even more realistic than its convoluted nature implies. There are minor instances of artifacts present, but these are few and far between. If only the movie were as good as it looks, visually.

The best part of the entire film, no lie, is the superb audio. The deaths look and sound realistic, even if every single death is ridiculous and could only happen in a movie. Warner Bros. went all out for the Blu-Ray with a DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio surround track. The sound effects come through with chilling clarity and the atmospheric soundtrack builds to a crescendo with every single kill. The booming sound echoes through multiple channels, with rear speaker activity enhancing the already robust front channels. This is a full, clear sound with no discernible audio foibles. For the most part, the dialogue is clear and even so you can hear it without too much volume toggling. If you are more into the auditory than the visual this film will definitely awaken and tease your senses.

Visual: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Audio: 5 out of 5 stars

Bonus Features:
The lamest part of the film, beyond its lack of plot, of course, is the fact that fans of this ending franchise get screwed when it comes to special features. There are absolutely no special HD features or easter eggs hidden. What you see is what you get and its mediocre, at best. What is here, is technically in HD, but that’s the quality of the film.

The bonuses are really just a series of Alternative Death Scenes (16 minutes worth – can we say OVERKILL?) that appear to be incredibly similar to what is already in the film and a couple of fairly uninteresting featurettes.

The featurettes include:

‘Final Destination 5:’ Circle of Death: This explains the twist in the film and it also ruins the already abysmal “ending” of the film. If you don’t want to know the twist, watch this after you check out the film.

Visual Effect of Death: Collapsing Bridge: This is not a how they did it feature. It is, instead, a split screen before and after of the shooting of the scene. You need to figure out how it was accomplished for yourself.

Visual Effects of Death: Airplane Crash: This is just like the last featurette, only it is for the plane crash, not the collapsing bridge.

Overall, what is here is pretty crappy and is a disservice to the five or so people who are totally into this series.

Bonus Features: 0.5 out of 5 stars

Bottom Line:
Final Destination is one of those franchises that makes a lot of money based on how interesting the deaths are for the characters. This is a huge series full of nameless actors that really do not matter unless their characters are dying in interesting ways. If that is all you’re interested in seeing in a film, then you are going to LOVE Final Destination 5. If you are looking for something a bit more cerebral, you know, with say, a plot, then you are going to find this film and all but perhaps the first in this franchise, to be a major let down. Fans of the franchise get screwed in the extras department, so if you really want to see this, I recommend waiting until it comes on cable.

Overall Rating: 2.86 out of 5 stars

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