"I will not bite... much."

Boy who should have been killed at birth, meets girl who is outside of his class, they fall in love, she falls pregnant, girls daddy finds out...lots of fighting and battle speeches ensue....oh and there are lots of Vampires and Werewolves.

Why this film was not direct to DVD is questionable. It is filmed almost in complete darkness (most probably to hide the rather obvious puppetry and CGI despite a $35 Million budget) the acting is questionable the story is obvious (I wonder if Shakespeare's estate got paid?), the dialog (see the topic heading) and well the whole thing is a bit of a miss really.... wait for Free to Air TV for this one....

"You are NOT my son..."

To begin with let me just say that Changeling is a good movie. It is well crafted, superbly acted and perfectly shot. Had I not known more about the real life story on which it is based, it would almost be a 5 star movie. However the artistic license taken by the film regrettably marred it for me.

I do not think directors should be allowed to claim their movies are true stories if they do not intend to uphold the facts of their case. Regrettably I cannot tell you which specific facts are incorrect as they are major plot points, suffice to say that if you have no interest in the real story then you may enjoy the film for what it is. A work of fiction.

Asia Extreme

Well I got a bit carried away on the long weekend and thus no updates ensued....

Anyway, I thought today I would show some of my Korean Limited Editions, this has mainly come about thanks to The Uninvited, which started in theaters over in the U.S and which happens to be a remake of one of my favorite Korean horror movies... take a look at the trailer below...

So the original film is called "A Tale of Two Sisters", there have been a few releases around, but the first 1500 of the 2 disc Korean Edition came in a nice digipak with a film cell.

A Tale of Two Sisters - Korea

Contents:

Digipack
2 DVD's

Film Cell

I also have a soft spot for Kim-Ki Duk, who churns out almost 2 films a year... below are a my 2 favorites...

Samaria (Samaritan Girl) - Korea

Contents:
Numbered Limited Edition: 04919 of 10,000
1 DVD
1 CD Soundtrack
1 Booklet

3-Iron (Bin-jip) - Korea

Contents:
Special Packaging
2 DVDs

I also invested a little in the "Girl's High School Horror" series, whilst I could not find a limited edition for Whispering Corridors...Memento Mori and Voice both managed to get the LE treatment. I did have Wishing Stairs, but it was the least worthy of the series so I sold it...ce la vie...

Memento Mori - Korea

Contents:
Special Box Packaging
5 DVDs

1 CD Soundtrack
1 Diary & Photo Book - 110 Pages

Voice - Korea

Contents:
Special Packaging
2 DVDs

1 Production Notes Insert

Whilst I could add quite a few more, I think I shall save them for a horror movie post a little later down the line...

I saw Changeling over the weekend so expect a review of that some time in the next days or so....

Clint Eastwood has a gift. He is a gifted Actor, Director and Writer and to be able to have the privilege of watching his films is an honor. This is the 2nd Eastwood Film in a year (The first being The Changeling). The fact that this film is as good as it is, is testament to his hard work and dedication to his art. It is an honest look at today's society through the eyes of a retired, racist, widower who is forced into the lives of his Asian neighbors following the attempted theft of his Gran Torino and the attempts of a local gang to corrupt their youngest Son.

It is not necessarily an easy film to watch as it does contain a number of disturbing themes, but I would certainly recommend seeing this one at the movies if you get the chance, it is beautifully shot and framed in the widescreen format.

Music Gets the Best of Me

Being a movie collector isn't as easy as one might think, especially if you are spoiled for choice with multiple releases of you favorite films, I know some collector's that just buy the cheapest edition they can find and thats cool, more movies for the taking. Personally I hunt around, read reviews and try to find not only the best presentation, but the nicest edition too.

One thing that particularly draws me to certain versions is the inclusion of the soundtrack CD. Here are a few examples of such editions :)

A Very Long Engagement - France

Contents:
Special "Velvet" Book Packaging

2 DVDs
1 CD Soundtrack
80 Page Book featuring Storyboard Art and Photos

The Girl With A Pearl Earring - Korea

Contents:
Special Magnetic "Velvet" Packaging
2 DVDs

1 CD Soundtrack
24 Postcards

Lady in the Water - Germany

Contents:
Special Book Style Packaging
1 DVD
1 CD Soundtrack
Amazon Exclusive Bookmark

Last Life in the Universe - Korea

Special Packaging
1 DVD
1 CD Soundtrack
8 Large Postcards

Stay away from my shiny things!

I love movies, all sorts of movies. I used to buy on average around 2-3 DVD's a week. I knew right from the dawning days of DVD that it was going to be popular with collector's. I kept up-to-date with releases for my favorite movies around the world so that I could own the best version and my collection grew and grew. As I got more and more interested in foreign and independant cinema I expanded my collection to include limited editions. Now with Blu-ray I am torn, I have some very cool editions of movies on DVD that I would love on BD, but giving up the nice packaging for awful blu-ray cases isn't an option, but I can't afford the double dip....oh well, if this is all I have to worry about in life then I guess I shouldn't complain!

Anyhow, I thought over the next few days I would share some of my favorite limited Edition DVD sets :)

House of Flying Daggers - China

Contents:
Deluxe Box Packaging
Number Limited Edition:
2 DVDs

1 CD Soundtrack
Making of Photo Book
Bamboo Pen
Postcards
Bookmarks

The Prestige - Thailand

Contents:
Special Packaging
1 DVD
1 Pocket Watch
Trick Playing Cards
Misc. Novelty Item

Ghost World - Japan

Contents:
Ghost World DVD
CD Single for Jaan Pehchaan Ho by Mohammed Rafi
4 Badges
2 Cloth Dolls
1 Sticker Sheet
1 Screenplay with Storyboards and artwork (Japanese text)


I shall post more over the next week or so....

Let My People Go!

I am not religious, and yet I have quite a soft spot for the film The Prince of Egypt. I especially loved the music (with the possible exception of Mariah Carey!) You can imagine how annoyed I was when one of the best cues did not make it onto any of the 3 official soundtrack CD's released....but here it is in all its glory. (Obtained from a Promotional Only CD)

Hans Zimmers composition for the Hieroglyph Nightmare

Monkey wannabe

One of my favorite actors is Christopher Walken, even in the most pitiful role I can still find something to like about his acting. One of my favorite of his roles was Gabriel from the original Prophecy Trilogy (I say original because there have been 2 more godawful sequels made without his presence) The music for the first two films was done by David C. Williams, the third was done by Steve Boeddeker who continued using David C. Williams themes. I actually don't mind when this happens as it gives consistency to the series....imagine Return of the Jedi without the Star Wars fanfare...it wouldn't work. Michael Kamen did an amazing score for the first X-Men and the John Ottman fucked it up with X-Men 2...lamest score ever....but I digress. Today I am uploading the end credits "remix" of The Prophecy theme for your enjoyment.

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