Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Penny Dreadful: The Final Season

 

+++Warning, this contains minor spoilers from the prior season, but no major season three giveaways+++

Season three, which would ultimately be the final season of Penny Dreadful picks up after the events of season two, resulting in the characters being scattered and alone. Ethan is whisked back to America after turning himself in for the murders at the inn, Vanessa is still in London undergoing therapy, and Sir Malcolm is in Africa. As the prior season had, this one has a bunch of mostly parallel storylines that intertwine over the course of the season. The main storyline this season involves Dracula, who has been teased since season one, and the storylines of the big three characters culminate in a battle versus Dracula.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the show looks and sounds great in HD once again. There are a lot of CGI effects that get worked seamlessly into the practical shots, so it really does look like it was shot in Victorian London. The extras are fairly sparse, especially for the final season of the show. There are a handful of short making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes that run about 12 minutes in between all of them, and then some character profiles.

Overall, the season is good, but it ends pretty abruptly and makes the curious choice of introducing new major characters who never get fully developed storylines because of the short run of episodes. If the writers and showrunners knew that the show would end after this season, it would have made more sense just to focus on the existing characters. Eva Green again deserves props for her portrayal of Vanessa. She can go from playing Vanessa as an upright Victorian woman to someone who is completely insane with ease. She can also be made up to look like a supermodel at one moment and then made to look like she has been sleeping in a cardboard box under a bridge the next moment. One of the best episodes of the season is one that shows Vanessa's time being institutionalized in an Asylum in a flashback episode. Green has to change directions with the character multiple times during that episode and does a wonderful job. The show is definitely still an adult drama with a lot of violence and nudity, but if that does not bother you, it is definitely worth your time to watch (if you like horror stories). If you have not seen the show yet, definitely start with season one, and do not try to jump in at the end. If you have seen and liked the prior seasons, then you will probably like this one as well.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Penny Dreadful: Season 2

 

+++Warning, this contains minor spoilers from season one, but no major season two spoilers++++

The second season of Penny Dreadful is in part a continuation of the first season's storylines and in part a reset for the show, introducing new storylines. Again the characters get individual story arcs that then intertwine throughout the season. Ethan's story arc is the aftermath of the inn massacre that we see him wake up from. What happened is not exactly hard to figure out, but he finds himself pursued by a Scotland Yard police inspector. Vanessa's story arc involves a coven of witches led by Evelyn Poole, the professional spiritualist introduced as Madame Kali in season one. We also get more of Vanessa's backstory and find out how she got her powers, mainly through a flashback episode in the third episode of the season. Frankenstein is still being threatened by the creature, which introduces a story arc involving a character played by Billie Piper that bleeds over into Dorian Gray's story.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the A/V quality is again outstanding. There are some extras, but they are not very extensive. First, there are a series of video production blogs that run for 2-3 minutes, then there is a feature about the fans of the show, a feature about the history of the occult, and character profiles. Unfortunately, there is no extensive behind-the-scenes documentary or any commentary tracks.

Overall, the show continues to be very good. It is well written and very well acted. Eva Green is again strong in the lead role and shows her acting range as she can go from being a proper Victorian-era woman in one scene and stark raving mad in another. And the costume and makeup department does a wonderful job making her look like a supermodel when Vanessa is normal to someone that looks like she lives in an alley in a box when Vanessa is out of her mind. Timothy Dalton does a great job as Sir Malcolm, dealing with his failings as a father while also trying to help Vanessa avoid a similar fate to Mina's. The show is very dark (as you would expect) and has a lot of violence and sex. So, if that turns you off then you definitely want to skip this. It deals not only with supernatural themes of witchcraft, werewolves, vampires, and the like, but also incorporates religion and religious themes into the storylines. So, it is not a show that will appeal to everyone, and it is definitely not family-friendly. But, if you are a fan of 19th-century horror stories, this is definitely worth checking out.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Sin City: A Dame to Kill For

 

A Dame to Kill For is the 2014 follow-up to 2005's Sin City. It was again written by Frank Miller and directed by Miller and Robert Rodriguez. It brings back many cast members from the original movie, including Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Powers Booth, and Bruce Willis. It also brings on several new cast members, including Josh Brolin, Eva Green, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ray Liotta, Julia Garner, Lady Gaga, and Jamie Chung, to name just a few.  As was the case with the original movie, A Dame to Kill For will not appeal to everyone. It is filmed to have the look of a comic book and has a lot of over-the-top violence. I call it a follow-up to the original movie because it is not a straight sequel. Similar to the original film it is made up of several shorter stories involving different characters. Some of those stories occurred before the events of the original movie and some occurred after. One of the earlier stories involved Micky Rourke's Marv, and you definitely have to suspend your disbelief because even under the makeup, Rourke looks a lot older than he did in the first movie (and he did not exactly look young then). The story that involved Nancy, Jessica Alba's character, is a sequel to the events of the original film. The titular Dame is Ava, played by Eva Green, who is involved in one of the prequel stories. She gives a wonderful performance and again shows off her acting range.

The Blu-Ray's A/V quality is outstanding. The movie looks and sounds great in the HD format, and even though a lot of it was shot against a green screen (the movie uses a mix of practical effects and CGI) and a mix of black and white and color, everything pops in HD. And it is hard to tell what is CGI and what was done practically. The Blu-Ray is definitely light on extras as there are just a handful. Those include a 15-minute high-speed edition of the movie, which basically shows the movie against the green screen background (and with the nudity removed), a 14-minute character profile feature, a couple of short features on the makeup/effects and the stunts, and then the trailers. So, not a lot, but what was included is good.

Overall, the movie is very good. Chances are, if you are not a fan of the original movie, nothing about this one is likely going to appeal to you. It does have a lot of violence, that as I said above, is very over-the-top and almost cartoonish. There is also some nudity (mostly from the stunningly gorgeous Green), and a lot of skimpy outfits on most of the other women including Jessica Alba and Rosario Dawson who reprise their roles from the first movie. The movie is well-written and acted. There are a couple of cast replacements with Dennis Haysbert replacing the late Michael Clarke Duncan and Jamie Chung replacing Devon Aoki. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Powers Boothe do a great job in their roles, as does Green and Alba (whose role is expanded from the first movie). So, if you are a fan of the first movie, this is definitely worth picking up.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Penny Dreadful: Season 1

 

The eight-episode first season of Penny Dreadful aired during the spring and summer of 2014. It was a horror series that aired on Showtime and starred Eva Green, Timothy Dalton, Josh Hartnett, Harry Treadaway, and Reeve Carney. It is set in England in the late 1800s is based on the old vampire, Frankenstein, and Dorian Gray stories. There are actually several different story arcs that are mostly independent of one another (especially in the first season) and then intertwine at points. The main storyline involves Dutton, Green, and Hartnett's characters. Dalton plays Malcolm Murray, a British explorer whose daughter, Mina, has been abducted. He enlists the help of Ethan Chandler (Hartnett), who is an American with great marksmanship and, along with Mina's best friend Vanessa Ives (Green), tries to find Mina to bring her home. They also enlist the help of a young Dr. Frankenstein (played by Treadaway), who, quite separately from the plot to find Mina, has created a literal monster (played by Rory Kinnear). Dorian Gray (Carney) basically seduces a bunch of people and sets his sights on Vanessa.

The Blu-Ray set is a four-disc set. The series looks and sounds great on Blu-Ray. The show uses a lot of practical effects, but there is some CGI, and everything blends seamlessly. The show uses a lot of shadow and darkness, which can border on being a bit too dark, but other than that, the A/V quality is fine. For extras, there are several short behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes that total about twenty minutes, give or take, in length altogether. They are all separate, however, range from about a minute and a half in length to just over three minutes and cannot be played all at once. Then there are two episodes from the Showtime series Ray Donovan.

Overall, the show is very good. It uses a lot of characters from old horror stories like Van Helsing, Dracula, Frankenstein, and more and weaves them into the story. The series is very well written and acted, with Green, who has a pretty incredible acting range, doing much of the heavy lifting. She can go from classic, gorgeous Victorian upper-class to raving psychotic with ease, and throughout the series, she does both. There is a lot of violence as well as sex and nudity in the show. So, it is definitely not family-friendly. But, if you are looking for something that is a good blend of horror and drama with a lot of the classic horror story characters, this is a great one.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: 300: Rise of an Empire

 

300: Rise of an Empire is the 2014 sequel to 2006's 300. It is directed by Noam Murro, but Zack Snyder, who directed 300, co-wrote the screenplay and is one of the movie's producers. The main roles are played by Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey, and Rodrigo Santoro. The events in the movie are set partly during the events of the original movie but occur mostly after the stand of King Leonidas. It is centered around Themistocles (played by Sullivan Stapleton, probably best known for the series Blindspot and Strike Back) and tells a fictionalized version of the Battle of Artemisium and the Battle of Salamis, in which the Greek and Persian Navies did battle. The Persian navy is commanded by Artemisia (played by Eva Green of Casino Royale and Penny Dreadful). Lena Headey, Peter Mensah, David Wenham, Andrew Tiernan, Andrew Pleavin, and Rodrigo Santoro all reprise their roles from the first film. Heady, as Queen Gorgo, has a larger role in this movie than she did in 300, and Rodrigo Santoro, as King Xerxes, is more involved in this movie (meaning less of a background character) than he was in the first one.

The Blu-Ray's A/V quality is outstanding. The movie has many CGI effects that really stand out in HD. The Blu-Ray also includes quite a few extras. Those include about 35 minutes worth of making-of material (broken up into four featurettes), a 20-minute documentary on the real historical figures, and a short featurette on the training regimen that the actors went through to prepare for filming the movie.

As the first movie was, this one is very violent, with a lot of over-the-top dismemberment and killing. It uses a lot of slow-motion action, which gets irritating sometimes. There is also quite a bit of sex and nudity, mostly involving Green, who is never shy about nudity (or does not seem to be anyway). Of course, it is not a documentary, so it does take liberty with and embellishes real-life events. So, the movie is not going to give you a true history lesson, nor does it try to. It is just meant to be a blockbuster action movie that is loosely based on something that happened in history. The writing is okay, but the overall story is not as good as it was in the original movie, and the acting is good. Green is really the standout as Artemisia playing her as a ruthless and cunning warrior who counts on men to underestimate her. While I cannot say that everyone, even people who really liked the first movie, will love this, if you are a fan of action movies and do not try to overanalyze it, it is enjoyable.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Clone

 

Clone, which was also released under the name Womb, is a different, and frankly kind of weird movie starring Eva Green (the first Bond Girl in the Daniel Craig Bond movie Casino Royale and the star of the series Penny Dreadful) and Matt Smith (from Doctor Who).

The plot of the movie is not overly complicated. Green and Smith play Rebecca and Thomas, a young couple in love. When he is killed in an accident, she decides to use his DNA to create a cloned embryo and carry him to term and raise the clone as her child. Then the movie basically spans a twenty-year time frame as the clone grows up and yet Rebecca never ages.

I will not say anything more to avoid spoiling the movie for those who have not seen it. I will say that while not everything in the movie made a lot of sense, and it could be slowly paced in spots (which is something for a movie that is just over an hour and a half long), Green does a great acting job. There are times in the movie when there is not a lot of dialogue and Green pretty much carries the movie via her facial expressions. It most definitely has the feel of a small-budget independent movie, but it is mostly well-written, and very well acted. I do think it could have spent a bit more time on Thomas and Rebecca's relationship before his death and which would have provided a bit more depth to the end of the movie.

The movie looks very good on Blu-Ray, with great cinematography of the locations in Germany. There are not much in the way of extras, just a few trailers, no making-of or behind-the-scenes material. I have not seen the movie streaming on any of the major streaming services, however, so if you want it the DVD or Blu-Ray is probably your best bet.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Camelot

 

Camelot was a series that aired on the Starz Network that was a version of the King Arthur mythology. It starred Joseph Fiennes as Merlin, Jamie Campbell Bower as King Arthur, Eva Green as Morgan Pendragon, and Tamsin Egerton as Guinevere. The story is set around the sudden death of King Uther which sends the kingdom into chaos. Merlin installs Arthur as the king but his claim to the throne is challenged by his half-sister Morgan, who uses dark magic to try and take the throne.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the show looks and sounds great in HD. The 10 episodes are spread across three discs and there are a series of featurettes that range from about a minute long to nearly 15 minutes. The longest is a making-of documentary that features interviews with the cast and crew. There is also a five-minute blooper reel. A good amount of material for those who like watching the bonus features.

Overall, the show was very good but was not around long enough to really establish a foothold. Green is really a stand-out as Morgan, the main antagonist of the series. It definitely has some of the main elements of the Arthurian legend, but definitely puts its own spin on the story. It does have a lot of violence and sex as many of the series on the premium cable stations have. The show was ultimately canceled not because of bad ratings but because of scheduling conflicts for Fiennes and Green. It was a well-written and acted series that should have had a longer run.

DVD/Movie Review: The Dreamers

 

The Dreamers is a movie that was made back in 2003 by director Bernardo Bertolucci, who also directed the controversial film starring Marlon Brando, Last Tango in Paris. Like that movie, this movie is pretty hyper-sexualized. It is set in 1968 Paris. A young American played named Matthew by Michael Pitt, goes to Paris to learn French and ends up getting into the movie scene. He meets a brother and sister played by Eva Green and Louis Garrel, who have a very creepy relationship that borders on incestuous. They invite Matthew to their house when their parents are out of town, and engage in all sorts of debauchery.

The film definitely earns an NC-17 rating, as there is a lot of nudity, much of it by Green, and leaves almost nothing to the imagination. It definitely has the feel of a low-budget independent film that is really not "about" any one particular topic. While it does make a lot of references to a lot of movies of the era in which it was set (and older), it is mostly to show off the young cast in various states of undress. Of course, Green is stunningly gorgeous and has never been shy about getting naked on film, and this, really her first big break in movies, is no exception.

For those who get the DVD, the extras include a commentary track on the film by the director, writer, and producer, a making-of documentary, a featurette on the 1968 political climate in France, a music video, and the trailer. A good amount of bonus material, especially for a non-blockbuster movie.

Overall, the movie is not going to appeal to everyone. Some people will get it just to see Eva Green nude, and will not care about the plot (or lack thereof), others will totally hate the plot regardless of the nudity, and others will hate the nudity and sexual content regardless of how much they would otherwise like the plot. If you are a fan of independent films that are kind of period pieces, then you may like this. If you are simply a fan of Eva Green, you will love this, and if you are one that gets turned off by nudity and strong sexual content, you should avoid this like the plague.