A must-own for any film buff, Warner Brother has released a box set containing 24 of Humphrey Bogart’s most beloved films.  In going through this collection, it becomes apparent just how significant he was to the cinematic landscape.  He was one of the first true “movie stars,” and while not every film he made is perfect, his contributions to the industry are undeniable.

What’s great about this set is that it contains not only the classics such as Casablanca, the Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, etc., but also those a little less familiar.  Somehow, films like The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse and Virginia City have been under my radar, and I relished the opportunity to familiarize myself with them.  This set is as much an homage to Bogart as it is to classic film in general.

Each disc of this seven-disc set contains four Bogart films, and as a bonus, the last disc contains the 2008 documentary “The Brothers Warner,” in it’s entirety.  Directed by Harry Warner’s granddaughter Cass, this is an insightful and inspiring look at the family behind the studioand their desire to “educate, entertain, enlighten.”  Of course, she doesn’t fully explore some of the darker sides of their story, but she doesn’t exactly sugarcoat everything either.  It’s a fair look at one of the most significant families in Hollywood.

As a film and a history buff, I was eager for the opportunity to learn more about this pivotal family.  However, what I really found myself drawn to was the wealth of archival footage she was able to utilize to tell this story.  It appears as if she had free reign of the Warner Bros. archives, and there is some fascinating behind-the-scenes material of the workings of this iconic studio.

Not only does this box set contain the 24 films and the extra documentary, but there is also a hardcover book detailing all 24 of the films.  As mentioned above, not all of the films included are that well known, so I really appreciated this inclusion.  Each film is given a brief summary and a little bit of analysis.  Some contain critic comments of the day, and some just give a historical perspective.  The book also has photos and original posters from several of the films.  There’s nothing truly remarkable about the book, but I was grateful to have it as a reference.

Rounding out the set are a series of cards featuring looks at the original posters as well as recreations of significant correspondence within the studio regarding Bogart himself.  Some are memos among studio personnel, and some are actual letters from Bogart detailing his thoughts on various projects.  It was a neat addition that rounded out the set well.

Overall, Warner Bros. has done a great job putting this collection together.  I already have several of these films individually, but I love that they were released together in one collection.  Whether you’re a fan of Bogart specifically, or just a fan of classic cinema, you can’t go wrong with this terrific collection.

There is a lot to admire about Splice, but there isn’t much that I actually enjoyed.  As directed by Vincenzo Natali (the infinitely superior Cube), what had the potential to be a clever sci-fi monster movie ends up hindered by both the pretentiousness of the filmmakers as well as unrestrained ambition.  In trying to be too many things to too many people, the film is never able to find it’s own voice.  I appreciate the film for the moments rather than the whole.

Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley star as Clive and Elsa (an homage to Bride of Frankenstein), genetic scientists experimenting with DNA splicing.  They work for a pharmaceutical company, splicing DNA from various animals together in an attempt to find medical breakthroughs.  However, when they are forbidden to include human DNA, they do what any self-respecting scientist would do; they add it anyway.  This leads to the creation of Dren, a weird little creature that begins aging at an accelerated rate.

Clive and Elsa are fascinated with the concept of seeing a creature’s developmental process within a sped-up time frame, and begin raising the child as if it is their own.  They have been delaying having a child, and Dren serves as an outlet for their parental instincts.  Unfortunately, what starts out as a cute little childlike creation starts exhibiting violent tendancies.  Clive and Elsa begin to experience a combination of wonder and fear of their creation.

As the story escalates, things get weirder and weirder.  Instead of being the monster movie it seemed to be building toward, the film examines Clive and Elsa’s relationship from the sexualized perspective of a now adult Dren.  As I said, I can appreciate what the filmmakers were attempting, but this awkward change in tone slams the film to a stop.  After awhile, I couldn’t figure out the point of the movie.  Is it supposed to be a morality tale about genetic manipulation?  Or is it a character study about the challenges of raising a child?  And what exactly is the point of taking the story in the sexual direction that it ends up going?  Finally, the film settles into the monster-movie mode they had seemed to be building towards, but by this point, it was too late.  The lack of focus had completely lost me.

Having said all that, the film itself is technically impressive.  It looks like a gritty, low-budget independent film, and yet it features sophisticated effects, stunts, and production design.  There is a dark moodiness to everything that is highly effective.  The filmmakers definitely understand the mood of their film, even if they didn’t have a complete grasp on their story.  As for the effects, they are a combination of CGI, puppetry, and very clever makeup.

The character of Dren is brought to life by actress Delphine Chaneac, and she does a brilliant job.  With her inhuman facial features, and jarringly fast method of movement, she is able to portray an unsettling monster with just enough humanity for us to uncomfortably recognize ourselves.  The character never really speaks, so she has to utilize nothing but body language to convey an ever-changing emotional spectrum.  It’s a fascinating performance, and one that deserved a better screenplay.

There is only one bonus feature on this disc.  Entitled “A Director’s Playground: Vincenzo Natali on the Set of Splice,” this feature runs slightly over 30 minutes and showcases the filming of several key sequences from the film.  I love features like this, where the camera serves as a “fly on the wall,” simply observing the production rather than becoming a part of it.  That’s not to say that there aren’t interviews, but there is a lot of material where the cameraman simply stands back and watches what happens.

I had high hopes for this film.  I heard about the incredible reception it got at the festivals, and I was really eager to see a unique horror film, which this isn’t.  However, I don’t want my pre-conceived notions to make it seem as if I’m critiquing the film for what it isn’t.  I’m critiquing the film for it’s lack of thematic focus andinclusion of awkward story twists.  As the film progressed, I began to realize that the filmmakers were, in effect, splicing together a film from the DNA of other, better films.  The end result might not be quite as unsettling as Dren, but it’s definitely a creation that I could have done without.

As far as I’m concerned, Scrubs finished a very successful run with Season 8.  It had what I would consider to be one of the best sitcom finales in recent memory, and ended the series in a brilliant way.  It was funny, emotional, and provided a perfect sense of closure.   In fact, the ending was so perfect that I had no desire to see any more of these characters or their world.  And based on Season 8’s finale, nobody involved in the show did either.  And yet, out of the blue, the show got a renewal.

So, for whatever reason, a decision was made to bring Scrubs back.  How would they do that?  None of the characters had anywhere else to go.  The producers decided that the only way to bring the show back would be to introduce a new group of characters and feature the original cast in a peripheral capacity.  It became apparent after the first episode that the new cast was not going to live up to their predecessors.  At best, they were simply not funny.  And at worst, they were gratingly obnoxious.

Not only did we get a new cast of characters, but a new location as well.  Season 9 takes place at a medical school.  Whereas the show always took place at a teaching hospital, this new setting is more like an actual campus.  And of course, the new students are taking courses tought by the original cast.  I’m sure hilarity was supposed to ensue, but it really never did.

What made Scrubs so successful was the ensemble.  Every character was unique and played off of each other in a hilarious way.  While they were often cartoonish and over-the-top, the chemistry always felt real.  They weren’t always realistic, but they were still people.  The new cast feels like a collection of “types.”  I guess the lead would be Lucy, a young and naive student who is obviously supposed to parallel JD in Season 1.  However, she comes across as completely unlikeable from her very first scene.  She tries so hard to be lovable that it becomes cloying.

She hooks up with Cole, the “bad boy” of the school.  Supposedly, his parents put a lot of money into the school, giving him free reign.  The difference between him and Lucy is that he’s supposed to be unlikeable.  Mission accommplished.  He has this smug smirk that drove me crazy, and his character arc throughout the season is completely unbelievable.

The rest of the season focuses on Drew and his relationship problems with Denise, one of the interns introduced in Season 8.  Neither of them are compelling by themselves, and they’re an especially dull couple.  In one of the DVD extras, creator Bill Lawrence describes this season best by calling it “Scrubs Anatomy.”  The humor took a backseat to everybody “hooking up.”

I just don’t understand the point of this season.  There wsa no way that this new cast was going to improve on the material that had come before.  The whole thing just felt desperate.  The returning characters are obviously phoning in their scenes.  Nobody seems inspired or energized by the changes.  Even the cutaways, always memorable highlights in the past, are obvious and pointless.

Unfortunately, the extras on the DVD are as bad as the season itself.  The first feature is called “Scrubbing In,” and is a six minute look at the transition to the new cast.  Featuring interviews with the original cast, Bill Lawrence, and some of the new kids, this feature is almost depressing in how unexcited everybody seems to be about everything.  This feature makes it even more apparent that this season exists as a mandate by the studio rather than any sort of creative inspiration.  Other features include the requisite deleted scenes, some completely generic bloopers and a horrible feature called “Live From the Golf Cart.”  This is a two minute segment featuring the incredibly obnoxious security guard characters from the season.  I’m not sure I’ve ever seen characters less funny than those two.    

I hate to see a show go out with a whimper like this.  It’s especially hard in this case, considering how strong the finale was the year before.  It’s telling that the back of the box emphasizes that you have to buy this set to “complete your Scrubs collection,” selling to completists rather than focusing on the material itself.  I watched every episode of this season, and I can honestly say that I didn’t laugh once.  There is no reason to own this set, even for completists sake.  As I said at the top, the show ended for me in it’s eigth year.  After I’ve finished writing this, I have no reason to acknowledge this season ever again.

For the most part, I tend to watch television very analytically.  It’s very rare for me to find a program that I can just let myself turn off my brain and enjoy.  The Big Bang Theory, now in it’s fourth season, is one of those rare exceptions.  There’s just something entertaining about this group of characters, no matter how ridiculous the stories may be.  For being a show about a group of geniuses, the show can be very stupid.  And yet, it’s almost always funny.

The show revolves around the interactions between four nerdy physics geniuses and Penny, the down-to-earth blonde next door.  The first couple of years were spent integrating her into their circle, and by the third year, she was officially one of the group.  It is in this season that she began dating Leonard, probaby the most normal of the four.  Because the writers took so long getting them together, it feels natural by the time the inevitable hookup occurs.  They may not have a lot in common, but their chemistry is believable.

At times, the characterizations delve into over-the-top caricatures, but they’re always grounded by their interactions with each other.  All five members of the cast are hilarious, and bring their own unique sensibilities to their characters.  The standout is Leonard’s roommate Sheldon, as played by Jim Parsons.  He is arguably the most eccentric of the bunch, completely lacking in any and all social skills.  The character is grating and obnoxious, and yet Parsons has found a way to make him likeable.  Portrayed almost like a child with a genius IQ, there is an innocence behind his abrasiveness.  Somehow, he makes it endearing.

The remaining cast members are Howard and Raj.  While they are always a part of the main cast, their purpose seems to be providing one-liners, and occassionally having their own stories on the side.  Don’t get me wrong, they are very funny as well.  It just feels like they are an extension of the main cast.  Shows like this always give ideosyncracies to all of it’s characters, and Howard and Raj are no exception.  For example, Howard still lives with his mother, and Raj can’t speak around women unless he is drunk.

Therein lies one of my biggest problems with the show at this point.  They started the joke with Raj not speaking to women in the first season.  The show has already begun it’s fourth year, and they are still milking that joke.  I understand that sitcoms don’t evolve their characters all that frequently, but when a defining characteristic is a punchline, the writers might want to consider trying something new.  All of the characters seem to have the same quirks as when they began.  They have evolved in terms of their interactions with each other, but not in terms of the humor.

Despite this, it’s still a very funny show.  The constant pop-culture references always make me laugh (especiallly a still-ongoing battle between Sheldon and Wil Wheaton, playing himself).  I also enjoy the catchphrases and running gags.  It’s a very old-school show in terms of humor, lacking the sophistication of something like Modern Family or 30 Rock.  However, in the right context, broad humor such as this can be very funny.

There aren’t many extras on the Blu-Ray set for Season 3.  In fact, there are only three bonus features.  There’s a gag reel, a tour of the set, and a brief question and answer session with the cast while they’re hanging out on the set.  I did appreciate getting to see the actors for who they really are, and not the characters I’ve always associated them with.  However, there isn’t a lot of substance.

Overall, this is a very entertaining, and very popular show.  It’s just fun to watch.  Every episode is practically interchangable, and yet I still find myself looking forward to it each week.  There’s no need to pick up the previous seasons in order to catch up for the current year; however, if you’re just looking for a mindless but entertaining diversion, than this would be a great option.

It’s hard to believe that Fringe started life as an X-Files wannabe, sci-fi procedural of the week.  Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed the show from the beginning.  But it really didn’t really feel like they were laying the groundwork for the show to become the epic experience that it is Season 2.  I’m going to get into spoilers here, so if you aren’t current, than don’t read this.

So, it turns out that Fringe is a show about a secret war that is raging between multiple universes!  Universes which contain alternate versions of each of us.  How cool is that?!  There are interviews on the Season 2 Blu-Ray release where co-creator J.J. Abrams (Lost) alleges to having this planned from the beginning, but I’m not sure I entirely believe him.  The show always had an underlying mythology, but it felt like it was going somewhere smaller.  I initially thought the show was going to be simply about Massive Dynamics, a corporation seemingly connected to the sci-fi craziness happening in the world around them.  It seemed like there were a lot of secrets, and I was sure we were in for a lot of twists and turns.  I suppose it’s the scope of those twists that caught me off guard.

In looking back, it makes sense how the current story arc relates to the original stories.  It just feels different.  It’s as if they went and shoe-horned in this new and improved storyline.  It works, but it doesn’t necessarily feel natural.  However, now that the secret is out and the audience is aware of the trans-dimensional nature of the show, the writers are given so much more to do.  The majority of our three leads have very specific connections to the other world (I won’t reveal more than that), and these connections ground the over-the-top science fiction in a relatable way.  In doing so, the writers have brought a level of humanity to a story that could be portrayed as nothing more than sequences and ideas.

It seems as if Season 1 served as an introduction, both to the characters and the nature of the world in which they reside.  Season 2 seems to have ramped up the storytelling and mythology on a grander scale.  And Season 3, which has barely begun, is hopefully going to be the year in which they are able to start paying this all off.  I wouldn’t recommend jumping into Season 3 without the buildup.  Season 1 has a few episodes that relate, but it doesn’t seem as important in the grand scheme.  However, Season 2 is critical in establishing where the show is going.  Warner Bros. has just released Season 2 on Blu-Ray, and I would highly recommend picking up the set and getting current if you aren’t already.

This is really a fantastic Blu-Ray release.  As mentioned earlier, the scope of the show is just huge.  Every week feels more like a movie than it does a show, especially the latter half of the season.  The picture on the Blu-Ray is flawless, and really does justice to the cinematic nature of the show.  The show is filled with creative and original special effects, epic stunt work, and masterful directing.  At this point in the show, everything is just clicking.  All departments of the production seem to be working at the top of their game, and the efforts come through on screen.

The extras on the Blu-Ray reinforce just how much creativity and effort goes into creating this show.  A feature called “Analyzing the Scene” is available on several episodes, and like the name implies, provides a greater insight into the creative process behind individual sequences.  Everything from costuming and makeup, to effects and stunt work are covered.  There are also several commentaries, deleted scenes (or dissected files, as they’re called here), and a short feature on the props used in the show.  This feature is enthusiastically hosted by series star John Noble.  There’s also the requisite gag reel, and a feature running just under 30 minutes that dissects the mythology of the show in Season 2.  It’s an interesting feature, but kind of pointless if you’ve actually watched the episodes.  It mostly just serves as a recap of what was just seen.

The show got a slow start, and while it was never bad, it’s definitely gotten a lot better.  It’s fascinating to witness the creative evolution of the show over these past couple of years.  Season two is an exponential improvement over the already-entertaining Season 1.  There’s still a lot of potential in this story, and if Season 3 evolves the show as much as Season 2 did, this could end up one of the all-time classics of science-fiction.