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(Taylor Carlson)-{Blu-Ray}:
From what I can tell, this is the same transfer that
was used with the HD-DVD release. All in all, this is a
good thing. Detail is solid throughout, grain consistent,
and the somewhat (intentionally) drab color pallet somehow
comes across looking excellent. My only complaints are the
occasionally-soft image quality, and detail sometimes being
lost in the darker scenes. All in all though, the film looks
pretty damn good.
Audio:
It’s hard to review the audio on a movie like this,
because it’s not really the kind of movie that benefits
from a good audio track – being that it’s mostly dialogue-driven.
I wasn’t expecting much, but I was hoping they’d do a little
more with the audio at the very least – this just sounds
too similar to the DVD release. Still, the track gets the
job done and it’s not like I have any major complaints.
"Colleen Sidi"-
(DVD Review)
Halle Berry stars in this emotionally draining drama
about a widower and her husband's drug addicted friend,
Benicio Del Toro. After Audrey's husband Brian (David Duchovny)
is killed in the middle of a random act of domestic violence
her whole world is torn apart. She turns to Jerry, a down
and out addict whose only friend was do-gooder Brian. In
a charitable act Audrey moves him into her garage in an
attempt to seek redemption in her soul and cope with the
loss. Jerry faces a daily conflict to stay off drugs and
began to take on a surrogate act of parent to Brian and
Audrey's two young children. Actually seeing the children
adjust to life without their father was one of the most
heartbreaking parts of this film. Little moments on the
basketball court, in the movie theater, or the pool give
this film pure raw emotions that make it more realistic.
The best part about this movie was Berry and Del Toro. Both
characters were strong and yet somehow dependent on this
new relationship that was formed out of grief. Don't be
fooled by the previews, this movie is a heavy, heavy drama.
There is no humor, no sex, very little violence, just sad,
depressing drama. The story is good, the acting is good,
it just never seems to go anywhere. I know it's about recovery
and self-discovery but it's just so sad. Berry has the same
kind of depth as in prior roles like "Losing Isiah" or even
"Monster's Ball." I think Del Toro is a fine actor, he just
seems somewhat one-dimensional. His characters are always
struggling with inner-demons and his emotions seem unchanging.
Essentially this film is about coming back to life after
recovering from a loss, whether it be something emotional
of something physical, it's about moving forward and moving
on.
Image and Sound:
Nothing outstanding in the way of the effects of this
film. The editing is kind of choppy and I was somewhat distracted
by the way the camera followed the people and not the scenes.
The movie was set in Seattle so it was kind of dark due
to the rain, but I wouldn't expect a movie of this content
to be cheery and sunny. It is filmed in dolby digital with
virtually no music. If the silence was meant as a quiet
homage to the grief, I felt it was effective.
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| Special
Features: |
(Taylor Carlson)-{Blu-Ray}:
Things We Lost in the Fire on Blu-Ray is more-or-less
identical to its HD-DVD counterpart that was released a
while back. This is also true of the bonus features. In
other words, bonus-wise all we get on the disc is a discussion
on the film, deleted scenes, and the theatrical trailer.
A disappointing collection of features – this reviewer was
really hoping they’d do more than just port over the (minimal)
HD-DVD stuff.
"Colleen Sidi":
There was a "Discussion about Things we Lost in the
Fire." This short featurette is a discussion with the director
about the direction of the film and where the script came
from. She spoke of casting Halle Berry and the dynamics
of the film changing when it became interracial. It offers
a little insight to the director's vision. There was a handful
of deleted scenes, nothing really worth mentioning. It allowed
for a little more background on Del Toro's character but
nothing I missed from the movie. All that was left after
that was theatrical trailers and previews.
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