Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008/Weinstein/Genius Blu-ray)
Picture:
B Sound: C+ Extras: D Film: C+
Woody
Allen is an underrated filmmaker, one of the greatest survivors in movie making
history and has been directing films he has written for over 40 years. He is currently in a period where is films
are not as discussed or recognized as they should be, but that does not change
the fact that he is very talented, one of the most prolific American filmmakers
ever and is the kind of writer/director more current new filmmakers should give
reconsideration to. Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) is his latest film and it has been
getting its share of note.
The title
refers to two good friends (Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson) are visiting the
well-known location and are having a pleasant time and talk when they are
explicitly hit on by a rather ambitious man (Javier Bardem) who immediately
wants to bed they both at the same time.
Vicki scoffs at him, but Cristina is intrigued enough to go with him and
find out more. She eventually gets more
involved than maybe she should and things get more and more complicated.
There are
some good ideas here and the actors are not bad at all, but they sound too much
like they are reading Allen’s “think-through” script lines (including
Christopher Evan Welch’s awkward narration) than actually living them, which
becomes odder when sex is involved. Some
of this becomes a bit predictable too, especially if you have seen most of
Allen’s other films, but at least the film is about something and few films are
these days. Patricia Clarkson, Kevin
Dunn and Penelope Cruz also star.
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image is a little soft throughout, but it
still looks pretty good for the most part.
It is Allen’s first film in Blu-ray and High Definition, making me want
to see more announced soon. MGM has the
early films, followed by Sony, Miramax and now The Weinstein Company. Hope they look better too. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is almost
monophonic and restrictive to the front speakers. You have to really listen to hear what the
actors are saying sometimes, but that is typical of Allen, who is pretty much
the last filmmaker to do mono or very simple stereo on a regular basis. There are no extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
