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Girlfight: Special Edition
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
One of a number of recent indie features that, for whatever reason, didn't get much notice at the box office, "Girlfight" is still very deserving of a look as it reaches home video later this month. The film stars remarkable newcomer Michelle Rodriquez as Diana, a Brooklyn teen whose impressive intensity and temper tends to get her in a lot of trouble at school as she gets into fights. Anymore problems and she'll most likely be thrown out of school.
She sees an opponent hit her brother in the ring and she goes after him. With her power and temper, she finds that boxing might be the right thing for her. The two children live at home with their father, who gives son Tiny money for boxing lessons although he doesn't even like the sport and his time would be better spent elsewhere. She hangs out around the ring enough and finally convinces one of the trainers, Hector (Jaime Tirelli), to take her on as a student.
Meanwhile, she also starts to fall for another talented local boxer named Adrian (Santiago Douglas), much to her father's anger. The film is somewhat predictable at times, and we can see where things are headed for towards the ending, but the journey there is enjoyable - the two leads have good chemistry together and the dialogue is well-written and usually feels realistic.
All of the performers, who are newcomers or unfamiliar actors, are very good. The stand-out though, is easily Michelle Rodriquez, who makes Diana a character who is incredibly engaging and fully-realized. Where this could have been a rather one-dimensional angry character, Rodriquez shows more sides and in turn, carries the film marvelously and makes us want to cheer her on. "Girlfight" is not a film without a few flaws, but I was impressed with much of it and found the film as a whole quite entertaining. A strong debut for not only Rodriquez, but for writer/director Karyn Kusama, as well.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Girlfight" is presented in the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and it is anamorphic. The low-budget feature looks generally very good, with only a few minor flaws. Sharpness and detail are usually pleasing, with only a few sequences throughout the movie where softness slightly creeps in, such as during some dimly lit interior scenes.
Aside from the slight softness, there are a few other little problems that appear on a couple of occasions. Some trace amounts of pixelation appear, although I didn't find these flaws to be distracting. Shimmering and other flaws are largely absent. I noticed some print flaws in the form of a slight scratch or two and a handful of minor marks - noticable, but not distracting.
Colors largely seemed natural. Although some parts of the film seemed to offer a more subdued color palette, the look seemed accurate and right, with no problems. Overall, I didn't find "Girlfight"'s presentation to be fantastic, but I thought the 1.85:1 transfer was still very good.
SOUND: Although not exactly anything even resembling a more agressive action picture, I was pleasantly suprised by the Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation provided for "Girlfight". Although many scenes are dialogue-driven, there are sequences that really give the viewer a good sense of space and dimension such as a scene early on when a elevated train passes by and sounds like its passing overhead. Ambient sounds in general are well used and effective. Although surrounds aren't always or agressively put into play, they recieved a bit more use than I'd expected.
The energetic and exciting score often fuels the film's energy when it makes an appearance. Audio quality is very good - the score sounds crisp and clear, and dialogue remains natural and clean sounding. As a good deal of the film is dialogue-driven, the sound isn't terribly active, but I felt that when the movie had an opportunity to open up the sound more, it didn't miss out.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated and basic, with most of the menus using the same background.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary from director Karyn Kusama, who provides a very enjoyable discussion of the challenges that it took to produce this small film on a 24-day schedule. She peels back the layers behind the majority of the film's scenes, talking about the locations, working with the actors and the compromises that sometimes that had to be made to keep the film within budget.
For those who are aspiring filmmakers themselves, Kusama's commentary is definitely recommended. Although some aspects of the discussion focus on the story and the director offering her praise for the actors involved, I thought she really shared a great deal of her feelings about what it was like to work on her first film and the limitations that sometimes kept her from going all the way towards what she had in mind for some scenes.
This is a great commentary track that I felt was very informative about the filmmaking process and it's definitely worth a listen. Kusama is able to talk throughout the entire commentary and only rarely stops for a pause of silence.
Featurette: A short, very promotional featurette, the 5 1/2 minute length is made up a little too much of clips from the movie. Still, there are occasional bits of interview footage which do offer some minor information about the production.
Trailers: Trailers for "Girlfight", "Black and White" and "Charlie's Angels".
Final Thoughts: "Girlfight" wasn't seen by many in theaters and that's unfortunate because it is an entertaining film with a fantastic performance from Michelle Rodriquez. Sony/Tristar provides good audio/video quality and a couple of fine extras. Even if as a rental, "Girlfight" is worth checking out.
One of a number of recent indie features that, for whatever reason, didn't get much notice at the box office, "Girlfight" is still very deserving of a look as it reaches home video later this month. The film stars remarkable newcomer Michelle Rodriquez as Diana, a Brooklyn teen whose impressive intensity and temper tends to get her in a lot of trouble at school as she gets into fights. Anymore problems and she'll most likely be thrown out of school.
She sees an opponent hit her brother in the ring and she goes after him. With her power and temper, she finds that boxing might be the right thing for her. The two children live at home with their father, who gives son Tiny money for boxing lessons although he doesn't even like the sport and his time would be better spent elsewhere. She hangs out around the ring enough and finally convinces one of the trainers, Hector (Jaime Tirelli), to take her on as a student.
Meanwhile, she also starts to fall for another talented local boxer named Adrian (Santiago Douglas), much to her father's anger. The film is somewhat predictable at times, and we can see where things are headed for towards the ending, but the journey there is enjoyable - the two leads have good chemistry together and the dialogue is well-written and usually feels realistic.
All of the performers, who are newcomers or unfamiliar actors, are very good. The stand-out though, is easily Michelle Rodriquez, who makes Diana a character who is incredibly engaging and fully-realized. Where this could have been a rather one-dimensional angry character, Rodriquez shows more sides and in turn, carries the film marvelously and makes us want to cheer her on. "Girlfight" is not a film without a few flaws, but I was impressed with much of it and found the film as a whole quite entertaining. A strong debut for not only Rodriquez, but for writer/director Karyn Kusama, as well.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Girlfight" is presented in the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and it is anamorphic. The low-budget feature looks generally very good, with only a few minor flaws. Sharpness and detail are usually pleasing, with only a few sequences throughout the movie where softness slightly creeps in, such as during some dimly lit interior scenes.
Aside from the slight softness, there are a few other little problems that appear on a couple of occasions. Some trace amounts of pixelation appear, although I didn't find these flaws to be distracting. Shimmering and other flaws are largely absent. I noticed some print flaws in the form of a slight scratch or two and a handful of minor marks - noticable, but not distracting.
Colors largely seemed natural. Although some parts of the film seemed to offer a more subdued color palette, the look seemed accurate and right, with no problems. Overall, I didn't find "Girlfight"'s presentation to be fantastic, but I thought the 1.85:1 transfer was still very good.
SOUND: Although not exactly anything even resembling a more agressive action picture, I was pleasantly suprised by the Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation provided for "Girlfight". Although many scenes are dialogue-driven, there are sequences that really give the viewer a good sense of space and dimension such as a scene early on when a elevated train passes by and sounds like its passing overhead. Ambient sounds in general are well used and effective. Although surrounds aren't always or agressively put into play, they recieved a bit more use than I'd expected.
The energetic and exciting score often fuels the film's energy when it makes an appearance. Audio quality is very good - the score sounds crisp and clear, and dialogue remains natural and clean sounding. As a good deal of the film is dialogue-driven, the sound isn't terribly active, but I felt that when the movie had an opportunity to open up the sound more, it didn't miss out.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated and basic, with most of the menus using the same background.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary from director Karyn Kusama, who provides a very enjoyable discussion of the challenges that it took to produce this small film on a 24-day schedule. She peels back the layers behind the majority of the film's scenes, talking about the locations, working with the actors and the compromises that sometimes that had to be made to keep the film within budget.
For those who are aspiring filmmakers themselves, Kusama's commentary is definitely recommended. Although some aspects of the discussion focus on the story and the director offering her praise for the actors involved, I thought she really shared a great deal of her feelings about what it was like to work on her first film and the limitations that sometimes kept her from going all the way towards what she had in mind for some scenes.
This is a great commentary track that I felt was very informative about the filmmaking process and it's definitely worth a listen. Kusama is able to talk throughout the entire commentary and only rarely stops for a pause of silence.
Featurette: A short, very promotional featurette, the 5 1/2 minute length is made up a little too much of clips from the movie. Still, there are occasional bits of interview footage which do offer some minor information about the production.
Trailers: Trailers for "Girlfight", "Black and White" and "Charlie's Angels".
Final Thoughts: "Girlfight" wasn't seen by many in theaters and that's unfortunate because it is an entertaining film with a fantastic performance from Michelle Rodriquez. Sony/Tristar provides good audio/video quality and a couple of fine extras. Even if as a rental, "Girlfight" is worth checking out.
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