When You're Strange Blu-ray Review

I really know next to nothing about The Doors, having been born nearly 15 years after they burst onto the scene and just over 10 years after Jim Morrison died. One thing I do know is that they were the subject of probably Oliver Stone's worst film to date (and that includes Alexander), the incredibly tedious and clichéd film, The Doors. Another point of interest is that Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Brian Jones and Kurt Cobain are all members of the '27 Club' as they all famously died at that age.




This documentary, When You Are Strange, comprises archive footage of the band along with photos, narrated by Jonny Depp, and, from what I've seen, is aimed both at diehard The Doors fans and newcomers alike. The documentary covers both their music and the notoriety about their performances, recording sessions and Jim Morrison. Holding the documentary together is a framing device of sorts showing a bearded Jim Morrison driving a powerful sports car -- a 1967 Shelby GT500 -- through the American desert pursued by fans and journalists before flashing back to what made him such a popular, notorious and celebrated musician.

The film charts the rise and fall of The Doors from their humble beginnings when UCLA film school alumni Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek met up because they recognise each other's songwriting potential and agreed to form a band, joining up with jazz drummer Jon Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger who had a background in Spanish flamenco! Due to their remarkable and unique sound along with the incredible lyrics (often with double meanings), they were an instant success with their self titled debut album going Gold and making a star out of front man Morrison who rose from a singer too shy to look at the audience to someone who positively milked the attention, revelling in his fame and the adulation he received, particularly from female fans.

Whilst Morrison and the rest of the band used LSD to 'open their perceptions', Morrison was the one who used drugs most heavily and turning from LSD to alcohol which led to him being drunk on stage and in the recording studio and eventually using cocaine as well as all the other narcotics he was putting into his body before dying of a heart attack in a French hotel room aged 27. At that point, the band had been together less than six years but had made six Gold (or Platinum, depending on how you measure sales) records.

When You Are Strange isn't all about Jim Morrison and gives due credit to the other members of the band who wrote the songs and, collaboratively, made the music so interesting as they performed without a bass player, with keyboardist Ray Manzarek playing the baseline with his left hand and the melody with his right. Although the band (particularly Morrison) insisted that all songs be credited as written by The Doors rather than the individual who penned the lyrics, the documentary does identify the songwriter.

It is slightly odd that they do mention the car commercial that wanted to use Light My Fire, a deal that was vetoed by Morrison who was still in London following a European tour when the rest of the band were in the US but doesn't identify the company as Buick or that the deal was vetoed in style when Morrison contacted Buick directly and threatened to smash up a Buick live on television with a sledgehammer should the commercial ever be aired.

Whilst watching When You Are Strange, I seemed to remember watching another documentary on The Doors but whether this was a sense of déjà vu or because I really had seen another film about the band I'm not sure. In any case, this provided me with a great deal of information about one of the finest rock bands of the 20th century and a real insight into Jim Morrison's psyche and magnetic personality that turned him into a singer with a magnetism not seen since the days of Elvis Presley. I found this film to be an extremely accomplished piece of work that will appeal to hard-core fans and newcomers alike.

THE DISC

Extra Features

Documentaries don't usually come with a great deal of supplementary material as they narrated so there isn't much mileage in a commentary and all you could really add was an interview with the filmmaker. This disc doesn't even come with that so the solitary extra feature is the theatrical trailer.

The Picture

I was extremely sceptical about the point of putting something made up of 40 to 50-year-old footage on a Blu-ray Disc in high definition but these misgivings were quickly put to one side as it quickly became clear that the majority of the material had been restored to such a degree that it looks incredibly good at 1080p with bright colours, sharp edges and incredible detail for something of that age.

Director Tom DeCilla and his research team have done a superb job in getting as much footage of The Doors as possible, some of it never before seen, and the mixture of rehearsal footage with the band in the recording studio and on stage with private footage of Jim Morrison works extraordinarily well.

The Sound

Given the choice of DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 or LPCM 2.0 stereo, I went for the former which is a beautifully balanced and mixed track, presenting the dialogue and music clearly and with no sign of hissing or other audio artefacts that you would expect to come with film stock from the 1960s and ‘70s. Although the documentary is predominantly frontloaded, the surrounds are occasionally used to bring the audience into play when it comes to concert footage or The Doors’ infamous appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. I did flick to the LPCM track about halfway through to see if there was much difference and was surprised to find that there wasn't with the stereo track but through my amp with Pro Logic IIx simulating a rear channel meanings that this was just as good as they DTS option.

Jonny Depp's narration is, as usual, superbly delivered and adds a great deal to the film – I had previously only really associated his non-acting roles with things to do with Hunter S Thompson but he shows his versatility as a narrator here.

Final Thoughts

As one of the greatest rock bands of the 20th century and the performance of some of the finest songs ever written (Light My Fire, The End, Break On Through), one could make a documentary about The Doors’ music which should please their fans and provide those unfamiliar with their music with a great introduction. In When You’re Strange, Tom DeCilla manages to incorporate a great deal of music with the story of the rise and fall of The Doors and Jim Morrison's great skill as a poet, songwriter and performer whilst battling substance abuse and eventually dying when the band were one of the biggest musical acts in the world. I got the distinct impression that Morrison had fallen out of love with music a while before his death and that the end of The Doors was an inevitability as they couldn't go on without their front man and star attraction.

This is the sort of thing that will appeal to hard-core fans who just want to find out a little bit more about their favourite band and its singer with the attraction of previously unseen footage. When You’re Strange is also extremely accessible and the sort of thing that will appeal to general music fans who, like me, don't own a single Doors record but will get to the end credits and immediately look on the Internet seeking to either buy a 'Best Of' or all six albums.

Lymelife DVD Review

The period family drama is one of those genres where, if you get it right, it works like a charm but, on the other hand if you get it wrong, the result is a boring and pretentious piece of nonsense this is an absolute chore to watch. Perhaps the best of the recent films was Ang Lee's The Ice Storm, a tremendous piece of work with amazing performances throughout and terrific attention to detail to recreate the winter of 1973. In the case of Lymelife, and early shot through one of the character's bedrooms shows a series of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back memorabilia (including Lego models) and there are frequent references to the possibility of military action in the Falkland Islands so, although the year isn't mentioned, you know you're in the late 1970s or early' ‘80s.


The film follows Scott Bartlett, a shy teenager who is bullied at school and nicknamed 'Fartlett' by those who are jealous of his father's wealth as his dad, Mickey Bartlett, is a real estate developer who is selling off plots of land and houses on Long Island and estimates that they will be millionaires in a year. Scott is friends with a girl his age in the neighbourhood, Adrianna, who is far more confident and outgoing than him and doesn't mind yelling and swearing at the older kids in school bully Scott, who she says feels like a younger brother to her.

Adrianna's home life is a bit of a mess as her father, Charlie, has contracted Lyme disease from a tick somewhere in the woods when he was out hunting and, now unemployed, tells his wife, who works for Mickey Bartlett selling homes to rich Indians, this he goes out during the day looking for work when, in fact, he spends all his time in the basement getting high and sketching wildlife that he sees out the window. Meanwhile, Adrianna's mother, Melissa, is busy having an affair with Mickey and, thinking her husband is away somewhere else on Long Island, sleeps with her boss with Charlie covertly looking on.

Lymelife follows in the footsteps of The Ice Storm and American Beauty as a coming-of-age drama set against the backdrop of dysfunctional families and the American dream turning into the American nightmare. The film is apparently semi-autobiographical and loosely based on co-writer/director Derick Martini’s teenage years. The film has that feel of authenticity that comes with something based on truth and, if it is as personal as the press release claims, then it really shows on the screen.

The film stars not one, but two Culkins, with Rory playing Scott Bartlett and his older brother Jimmy essayed by Kieran Culkin who I last saw in 2002’s Igby Goes Down and here, playing a soldier home on leave who may be called into action in the South Atlantic, has changed a hell of a lot in the intervening seven years. Rory Culkin is clearly the best actor on show even with Alec Baldwin and Jill Hennessy playing his parents, Timothy Hutton and Cynthia Nixon as the other two couple and Emma Roberts as the outgoing and feisty love interest Adrianna. All of them give terrific performances with Cynthia Nixon proving there is a great deal more to her than the extremely vacuous lawyer she portrays in the dreadful Sex and the City films.

As I said at the outset, this sort of film can either be a joy to watch or dreadfully pretentious and tedious and, fortunately, this is in the former category as an utterly compelling film with thoroughly believable characters and, even though they are a little out of the ordinary, even the situations seem plausible. There are great comic touches such as the bizarre use of duct tape by Scott's mother Brenda, who pines for life back in Queens, and is now petrified by the thought of a tick giving her son Lyme disease so only allows him to go near the woods with his cuffs and trouser legs taped to his body.

Lymelife is a blackly funny and quirky coming-of-age drama that feels extremely personal. That it reminded me of Ang Lee's The Ice Storm is no surprise as both deal with dysfunctional families in the 1970s and, as Lee's film is a terrific piece of work, so is Derick Martini's directorial debut.

The Disc

Extra Features

Rather disappointingly, there is no commentary or making of documentary -- the latter is perhaps less of a surprise as the film was shot in 22 days, but I would have liked to hear from Derick Martini. The only member of the entire cast and crew who was available for interview was Emma Roberts, who was filmed in London as part of the UK publicity tour and gives a five-minute interview, interspersed with footage from the film, talking about how she became involved, what it was like working with the likes of Alec Baldwin and what her friends and family thought of the film I saw it at the Toronto film Festival.

Apart from that, the only other supplementary material is a stills gallery and the theatrical trailer.

The Picture

Showing that standard definition is far from dead, the picture is sharp, with good colours which showcase the slightly muted palette and excellent period detail, consistent and good skin tones and fine colour and contrast balance.

The Sound

The Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack works well enough with this kind of dialogue dominated film in which there are no action sequences or anything else that really makes you feel that you're missing out by having two channels rather than six. All of the dialogue is presented extremely well, with the actors delivering their lines extremely well so, unless you are hard of hearing, there is really no need to put subtitles on which is just as well because there aren't any!

Although this was shot with a small budget, Martini secured the rights to some music that really helps to reinforce the late 1970s/early ‘80s period (in a similar way to the music in Donnie Darko cementing the 1988 setting) with contributions from The Drifters, Boston and Bad Company to go with some other music by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Bob Dylan which you don't necessarily associate with the late 1970s!

Final Thoughts

Lymelife is a really interesting, funny and involving coming-of-age drama with a superb script, assured direction and great performances by the entire cast, with Rory Culkin and Emma Roberts really standing out. Although the disc is a little on the skimpy side when it comes to special features, this is still a film that those who like American Beauty and The Ice Storm would do well to rent or buy.

Going Postal BD Review

Over the past three years, Sky have broadcast three adaptations of Terry Pratchett novels starting with The Hogfather in December 2007, The Colour of Magic in March ‘08 and, in May ‘10, Going Postal.


As with the other two, it begins with a brief introduction to the Discworld, a circular planet which rests on the back of four elephants which are standing on the back of a giant turtle, swimming through space before focusing on the main city on the Discworld, Ankh-Morpork. We then have a montage of scams perpetrated by conman Moist Von Lipwig who manages to stay one step ahead of the law and all attempts to foil him by changing payment methods and the way in which bonds are bought and sold. However, he hadn't banked on Ankh-Morpork's City Watch, particularly the werewolf Sgt Angua, whose sense of smell leads the City Watch to Von Lipwig.

Sentenced to death by hanging, Von Lipwig is literally hanged within an inch of his life and brought before Patrician Havelock Vetinari who gives Von Lipwig a stark choice: death or become Postmaster General. Considering the latter is probably the best choice (only just), Von Lipwig is introduced to the other members of the Post Office, Junior Postman Groat and Stanley, the pin obsessed assistant. Finding the Post Office bulging at the seams with undelivered mail and that all of his predecessors had extremely short tenures, Moist soon begins to regret his decision. Not only does he have the rather unkempt and smelly Groat and the millions of undelivered letters to cope with, but the Post Office is in competition with the Clacks, a brand-new communications device which uses giant towers to send messages by a semaphore-like system which arrive at the other end on tickertape.

Unable to escape his parole officer, a giant Golem called Mr Pump, Moist soon gets to work trying to update the postal system, motivate his staff, outwit the devious Clacks chairman, Reacher Gilt, and try and get a date with the beautiful chain-smoking head of the Golem Trust, Adora Belle Dearheart. As Moist employs all of his marketing and manipulation to take business away from the Clacks, which Reacher Gilt doesn’t take lying down, the battle for communication across the Discworld is well and truly on.

Although I read many Terry Pratchett books when I was younger, I haven't read the ones on which these TV adaptations were based so was able to view them purely as long movies without any preconceptions about characters, locations or events. I found Hogfather to be a reasonably entertaining and accomplished fantasy drama which was vastly improved upon the following year with The Colour of Magic which, although I found David Jason to be horribly miscast as Rincewind (a wizard who I imagine to be tall and angular), looked and felt more like a Pratchett film so was eagerly looking forward to Going Postal. This is the best of the three so far with terrific casting led by Richard Coyle as Moist, David Suchet as a Reacher Gilt, Andrew Sachs as Groat, Claire Foy as Adora and Charles Dance as Lord Vetinari.

With the recent (and ongoing) turmoil at Royal mail, this release comes as an extremely appropriate time as, although Pratchett didn't write the book with this in mind, the postal system finds itself under increasing pressure from the Internet and SMS messaging which can be seen as the equivalent of the Clacks system. As the film says, there's nothing quite like receiving a letter (or parcel) and all e-mails or text messages in the world can't compensate for a handwritten letter. Going Postal does make you realise the importance and historical significance of the Post Office and, by the end, I almost felt like writing a letter just the sheer hell of it!

This is a TV movie that was extremely well made with great attention to detail and the filming in Budapest certainly provided the filmmakers with some great locations, hard-working crew and actors for the small(er) roles. I found it to be an engrossing watch with terrific characters, some sparkling dialogue and great interplay between the main characters.

THE DISC

Extra Features

The main special feature is a commentary with director Jon Jones with an optional picture-in-picture function that allows you to watch him speaking with one eye on the monitor to his right or go through a selection of images whilst he is speaking. Jones gives a fascinating overview about the filming process, casting and trying to stay true to the source material, mentioning that although Charles Dance has the wrong hair colour (Lord Vetinari has dark hair in the novel), he was accepted by the Terry Pratchett fans on set.

Just as with The Colour of Magic BD (and DVD), when you select 'play' on the menu, you have the option of watching part one, part two or parts one and two with the second instalment following directly on the first or with the introduction by Terry Pratchett (this is available to watch separately from the special features menu) in which he talks briefly about the book, his approach to writing a novel and the adaptation itself. It is a shame that they didn't see fit to cut out the credits and opening from part two and present it as a single three hour film as that would have been the ideal way to watch the film.

There are also interviews with the principle members of the crew and just about every member of the cast. It's a shame that these have to be selected individually, apart from the cast interviews which can be played sequentially using the 'play all' function, as I grew a little tired of selecting the next name. What they have to say is rather typical EPK material but quite informative EPK material at that which casts a great deal of light on the filmmaking process, how they became involved and what they think of the finished thing.

Additionally, you have a blooper reel and some deleted scenes and some image galleries.

The Picture

Like the other two adaptations, this was broadcast on Sky1 and Sky1 HD so it was no surprise that there is a Blu-ray release as well as the DVD and the difference between the two is quite something, especially when you look at the scenes with fine detail and even the credits. Going Postal has a wonderful picture with some brilliant costumes, vibrant colours and excellent contrast levels. Although the CGI and model work isn't quite as it would be on a multi-million-dollar film, it is still very impressive for a TV movie and the Golems look especially good, with a very tall man inside a suit and someone else (Nicholas Farrell, who also voiced Death in The Colour of Magic) providing the vocal talents. Pulling off something like the Golem, a 7 foot tall animated lump of clay, is no mean feat and it is a testament to the parties involved that they look as good and convincing as they do.

When going through the supplementary material, I was surprised that they had only built one Clacks tower and it really shows how good the CGI was that it looks as if there is a whole system of them dotted around the Hungarian (or should that be Discworld?) countryside.

The Sound

Unfortunately, and as with the Blu-ray release of The Colour of Magic, there is no high definition soundtrack or even an uncompressed LPCM 5.1 option but fortunately the Dolby Digital 5.1 option is extremely good. The score and sound design are both extremely impressive and keep the surround speakers occupied which really come into their own when Moist is attacked in the Post Office by a banshee whilst the building burns.



The dialogue is extremely clear and I had no need for the optional English subtitles and, whilst the disc also comes with a DD 2.0 stereo track, the surround option is clearly the way to go as the stereo track is found little more wanting in the more action orientated scenes.

Final Thoughts

Going Postal is by far the best of the three Terry Pratchett adaptations and looks extremely good with terrific costumes and sets and a decent, though not spectacular, selection of extra features. If you enjoyed this when it was on TV in May, then this is something well worth picking up and, if you missed it but liked The Hogfather and The Colour of Magic that this set is one well worth adding to your collection.