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Dude, Where's My Car?
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Looking back, maybe I was originally a little too harsh on "Dude, Where's My Car?" after seeing it in the theaters last Winter. After a while, I suppose I've come to an understanding with it's sensibilities. It's certainly not a film that was unfortunately missed at the Oscars this year, but there's a few good laughs to be found. It's a film that tried to cross the stupidity of the "Bill and Ted" characters with the stupidity of "Dumb and Dumber", but simply doesn't have the amusing dialogue and situations of either film, but I will admit that it does go off in some oddly creative directions.
"Dude, Where's My Car?" revolves around Jesse and Chester (Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott), who wake up one morning to find out quite a few things - more than they've probably ever woke up to. First, their car is gone. Second, they had a party at their girlfriends - twins Wanda (Jennifer Garner) and Wilma (Marla Sokoloff) house, and trashed the place. There's also aliens who want their "continum transfunctioner" back, a cult who go around wearing vests made up of bubble wrap and ostriches who serve as guard dogs. In other words, quite a lot that never was featured in the trailer.
It's the screenplay that really is what lacks the most in the film. Kutcher is a professional at playing stupid on "That 70's Show" and he extends that well to this role. Scott is close behind in the low-IQ factor, as well. If they ever did a prequel version of "Dumb and Dumber", these two would be a perfect choice. The girls in the film - the very good Sokoloff and Garner, are really given little - if anything - to do.
The film bounces oddly between episodes, some not really having a great deal to do in pushing the film along, and some awkwardly skipped to from the previous events. But, in a film like this, I suppose I really shouldn't be expecting a great deal. It's generally good natured and seemingly so pleased about being so stupid (or, stoopid, as the characters would probably say), that it ends up as being pretty harmless, delivering a few decent jokes.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Dude, Where's My Car" is presented in it's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and Fox really has provided a sweet anamorphic transfer for the picture. It's not a picture that has too many interesting visuals, but there's really few flaws during the presentation. Sharpness and detail are really quite good - the daylight exterior shots are especially sharp and well-defined; there's even some nice moments of depth to the image.
A couple of problems popped up, but really nothing that I found too distracting. A bit of light pixelation came up once or twice, but only literally once or twice. Print flaws were, as expected, just a very minor speckle or two. Colors looked terrific throughout the movie. As the film maintains a rather cartoonish feel and tone, the bright, well-saturated colors look perfect throughout the picture. It's very good work from Fox, with only a couple of very rare flaws.
SOUND: Dude, no DTS? Unfortunately, Fox (who has been a strong supporter of the DTS format recently) does not let us hear all of the witty verbal humor of "Dude, Where's My Car" in DTS, but the Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation that's included here does cover all of the bases fairly well. Unfortunately, like almost all comedies, the sound really never gets too far past first base. With the exception of a couple of stray sound effects, the film is mainly dialogue and music driven and often, simply has the sound coming from the front.
MENUS:: Fox offers some amusing animated menus for the picture, with a very goofy transition between menus.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary from director Danny Leiner, actor Aston Kutcher and actor Seann William Scott. The three, who have obviously had a few drinks as the track starts - and stop for a moment later in the track as more refreshments arrive, contribute a raunchy, hilarious tour of what went on during the filming of "Dude, Where's My Car?". There's some very funny stories throughout the track and the three often have some very amusing things to point out as the movie plays on. I have to say that the commentary is funnier (at times, much) than the film itself. You're not going to learn a great deal about the technical issues behind all of the complicated visuals in the film, but you will be entertained.
Extended Scenes: 7 extended scenes are included - a couple of very funny bits are included, but most of the 7 included are pretty short in length.
Ads: Trailer (full-frame/dolby 2.0), 3 TV Spots, music promo ad.
Featurette: A fairly simple promotional featurette that really just goes over the story, providing interviews with the cast and crew.
Final Thoughts: "Dude, Where's My Car?" isn't going to win awards anytime soon, but those who are in the mood for some joyfully stupid humor might find it worthy of a rental. Fox's disc provides good audio/video quality and one of the most entertaining commentaries I've heard all year.
Looking back, maybe I was originally a little too harsh on "Dude, Where's My Car?" after seeing it in the theaters last Winter. After a while, I suppose I've come to an understanding with it's sensibilities. It's certainly not a film that was unfortunately missed at the Oscars this year, but there's a few good laughs to be found. It's a film that tried to cross the stupidity of the "Bill and Ted" characters with the stupidity of "Dumb and Dumber", but simply doesn't have the amusing dialogue and situations of either film, but I will admit that it does go off in some oddly creative directions.
"Dude, Where's My Car?" revolves around Jesse and Chester (Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott), who wake up one morning to find out quite a few things - more than they've probably ever woke up to. First, their car is gone. Second, they had a party at their girlfriends - twins Wanda (Jennifer Garner) and Wilma (Marla Sokoloff) house, and trashed the place. There's also aliens who want their "continum transfunctioner" back, a cult who go around wearing vests made up of bubble wrap and ostriches who serve as guard dogs. In other words, quite a lot that never was featured in the trailer.
It's the screenplay that really is what lacks the most in the film. Kutcher is a professional at playing stupid on "That 70's Show" and he extends that well to this role. Scott is close behind in the low-IQ factor, as well. If they ever did a prequel version of "Dumb and Dumber", these two would be a perfect choice. The girls in the film - the very good Sokoloff and Garner, are really given little - if anything - to do.
The film bounces oddly between episodes, some not really having a great deal to do in pushing the film along, and some awkwardly skipped to from the previous events. But, in a film like this, I suppose I really shouldn't be expecting a great deal. It's generally good natured and seemingly so pleased about being so stupid (or, stoopid, as the characters would probably say), that it ends up as being pretty harmless, delivering a few decent jokes.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Dude, Where's My Car" is presented in it's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and Fox really has provided a sweet anamorphic transfer for the picture. It's not a picture that has too many interesting visuals, but there's really few flaws during the presentation. Sharpness and detail are really quite good - the daylight exterior shots are especially sharp and well-defined; there's even some nice moments of depth to the image.
A couple of problems popped up, but really nothing that I found too distracting. A bit of light pixelation came up once or twice, but only literally once or twice. Print flaws were, as expected, just a very minor speckle or two. Colors looked terrific throughout the movie. As the film maintains a rather cartoonish feel and tone, the bright, well-saturated colors look perfect throughout the picture. It's very good work from Fox, with only a couple of very rare flaws.
SOUND: Dude, no DTS? Unfortunately, Fox (who has been a strong supporter of the DTS format recently) does not let us hear all of the witty verbal humor of "Dude, Where's My Car" in DTS, but the Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation that's included here does cover all of the bases fairly well. Unfortunately, like almost all comedies, the sound really never gets too far past first base. With the exception of a couple of stray sound effects, the film is mainly dialogue and music driven and often, simply has the sound coming from the front.
MENUS:: Fox offers some amusing animated menus for the picture, with a very goofy transition between menus.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary from director Danny Leiner, actor Aston Kutcher and actor Seann William Scott. The three, who have obviously had a few drinks as the track starts - and stop for a moment later in the track as more refreshments arrive, contribute a raunchy, hilarious tour of what went on during the filming of "Dude, Where's My Car?". There's some very funny stories throughout the track and the three often have some very amusing things to point out as the movie plays on. I have to say that the commentary is funnier (at times, much) than the film itself. You're not going to learn a great deal about the technical issues behind all of the complicated visuals in the film, but you will be entertained.
Extended Scenes: 7 extended scenes are included - a couple of very funny bits are included, but most of the 7 included are pretty short in length.
Ads: Trailer (full-frame/dolby 2.0), 3 TV Spots, music promo ad.
Featurette: A fairly simple promotional featurette that really just goes over the story, providing interviews with the cast and crew.
Final Thoughts: "Dude, Where's My Car?" isn't going to win awards anytime soon, but those who are in the mood for some joyfully stupid humor might find it worthy of a rental. Fox's disc provides good audio/video quality and one of the most entertaining commentaries I've heard all year.
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