Must be the artist

[tarotgal]

I LOVE commentary on DVD's. It must be the artist in me. But I love hearing about how they planned shots or rewrote parts of the script or tried a new lighting effect just to capture that special something. I bought 'From Hell' on DVD because it was one of the most brilliant movies I've seen in a long time as far as cinematography. The lighting was beautiful, the colors were perfect, and the red harrings and focusing and little details along the way all adding up to the possible killer was so well done it made me physically WEEP in the theater while watching it. Honestly, I wish I could make something so beautiful!

It was sad to hear one of the directors talking about how he was so depressed the movie didn't do better and now sleeps over 12 hours a day and won't do anything for months at a time because it's over. ACK! I feel so badly for him! But I totally *totally* understand how he feels on a MUCH smaller scale, of course.

But the commentary (apart from his talk about depression at the end) was fantastic. And Robbie literally took my breath away! He did! He's SMART that one! Seriously! I expected him to talk about acting- which he did a bit (had some nice things to say about Depp) but my GODS! The man either is a great student of history or researched like hell when he got this part because he seems to know the most vivid details about EVERYTHING important. He started going off about Egypt and Roman culture and why we have a pyramid on our money in the US and kings and religion and lobotomies- he's incredible! I'm SO impressed with this guy!
Though it's really odd working on a Harry Potter story on the other side of my monitor because in there he's lovable Hagrid, and on the DVD he's talking about men shoving their dicks into whores for a fast fuck (literally). It's WEIRD suddenly going from Hagrid to hearing Robbie say 'dick' and 'fuck' in the same sentence. *shudder* Maaaaaaaybe I shouldn't have chosen to do the two at the same time...

I did learn a lot from this commentary, though. And everyone had really neat things to say about Johnny Depp :-) I learned that in England you can patent/own rights to an idea/concept. Ha! And someone apparently owns the concept of injecting liquid into a grape/grapes with a syringe. So they couldn't do that in the movie because they wanted to release it in England and someone owned the concept and would sue them. OH MY GOSH! Can you imagine how tough it must be to make a movie or write a script if people have concepts like that copyrighted?!!!! It's incredible anything ever gets made!

Anyway... I'm going to watch the 20-something deleted scenes tomorrow- with more of the commentary, probably. And then switch back to something lighter like Back to the Future commentary or something :-)

Comments

[tarotgal]

I don't know what a good definition of violent is... but the answer is probably yes. During the few killing scenes, there is a lot of blood, and you physically see some of the slicing up of the bodies at several points (both in action and afterwards) but at the same time, most of the film is very concerned with the psychological aspects of the killer and the backstory for the murders. But it's hard to do an accurate Jack the Ripper story without showing the murders, of course. Though you don't know specifically who committed the crimes until the end, so you don't see the murderer actually killing until then.

So yeah, I'd say there's violence. It's Jack the Ripper, right. But there's SO much more about sexual hypocracy and class structure and mentality, and it's pretty much the most accurate portrayal of the most believed-to-be-true solution. And Johnny is the main character and does a fantastic job, especially in the "falling in love" or "being depressed about losing love" scenes. I'd recommend it. Just close your eyes for the bloody parts if you don't like it. *G*

[tarotgal]

Oohhh Ian did have a big part, as big a part as Robbie, if not bigger. And he did a SPECTACULAR job! Though I did keep thinking "Bilbo" as I rewatched it yesterday *G*

Yeah... you don't actually *see* intestines being ripped out. And for most of the gory parts they show it so fast or out of focus/in the distance. There's one part where there's a human heart in a guy's hand- but again, just close your eyes and it will be fine. There really isn't even a lot of screaming and stuggling or murder sounds.

But OH yes, just rent it first. I bought it because I thought it was a beautiful movie. Really, the light and dark and the camera angle choices, etc. It was all so beautiful. And Johnny Depp was great, too. But it's not something I could watch over and over again if I didn't think it was so pretty. It's rather... dark. You know? So yes, try renting it first. :-) The DVDs have spectacular bonus features, though. It's fantastic.

[tarotgal]

I'm pretty sure I saw that *way* back nearer to when it came out. But it's sort of a blur, so I'll have to see about finding and renting that one day to see it- thanks! I love Robbie. I really do *G*

[ladykorana.livejournal.com]

I ADORE movie commentaries on DVD! I just recently watched the one for Spirited Away, and it was fascinating. It was just full of really neat factoids and tidbits about Japanese culture, and Miyazaki's various inspirations for his films. I love that sort of thing...

Of course, it wouldn't be like me to not mention the LOTR Extended edition commentaries. I've seen all four of them now, and the one with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Phillipa Boyens and the one with the cast multiple times. Best DVD EVER!! Hands down... I love the little details about how hard it was for Ngila Dickson to develop Legolas's costume and how they were revamping it at the last second. I love the stories about how into character Viggo Mortensen really was. I love learning how jealous Sean Astin is of Orlando Bloom's looks and fighting skills. I love the obvious reverence in the cast's voices when they talk about the work they did, and the obvious love and affection when they talk about fellow castmates. I love these people and in a silly way, I'm really jealous that I wasn't a part of the special time they all had in New Zealand, but I'm immensely grateful for the extended DVDs for giving me a little glimpse into some of what they all shared making the movie.

Ok, that's enough rambling from me...at least until the Two Towers Extended Edition comes out in a month! :-)