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Mystery, Alaska
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
"Mystery, Alaska" looked moderately interesting from the previews in theaters, but left quickly when box office was as cold as Alaska itself. Watching it at home, Producer/Writer David E. Kelly("Ally McBeal")'s work is improved here over his previous outing("Lake Placid") but still, the film leaves a lot to be desired.
The biggest problem with the film is that it really doesn't provide a terribly interesting character in the entire bunch - and there's quite a few of them. The town is populated by a wealth of "colorful" characters, including the town's sheriff, played by Russell Crowe of "Gladiator" and "L.A. Confidential". He's the best thing about the film, but one performance doesn't liven up a film with about a dozen poorly sketched out ones.
The plot goes a little something like this. The members of the town really don't do much but think about hockey and fool around with each other. A former member of the town(Hank Azaria), who has gone on to become a sportswriter, comes back to the town with the suggestion of the local hockey team playing a team from the NHL.
Kelly's script doesn't do the film any good, either. The director on this movie is Jay Roach, of "Austin Powers" fame. He's pulled back from going all out by the script, which simply takes no risks, and packs a number of cliches. What I was most suprised about is how slowly this all moves. There's little to the plot, and it's stretched out to a near-unbearable 120 minutes. Obviously, in a film like this, where the local hockey team must play a national one, it's all leading up to "the big game". What matters is whether or not we like the journey there, and in this case, I can't say I did.
It's really not a bad idea for a film at all. All it needs is some sharply written characters and about 30 minutes of editing to take out a number of plot threads that are pretty much useless in the scheme of the greater story. The final product is what we have to live with though, and the end result is unfortunately, a pretty dull affair.
The DVD
VIDEO: The anamorphic transfer for "Mystery, Alaska" is a fine one from Disney, but titles like "The Insider" show that they are capable of more than the effort shown here. For the majority, sharpness is very good, although there was occasional bit here and there that looked slightly soft. Colors do not stand out, but still look very natural and pleasing; there are really no problems to be seen in this area. Flesh tones remain accurate and natural, and for the most part, the DVD presents the 2.35:1 image from cinematographer Peter Deming("Austin Powers", "My Cousin Vinny") nicely, putting the fantastic scenery of Alberta, Canada on display.
The flaws are minor, but noticable. There are a couple of small instances of shimmering, which are visible, but not hugely distracting. The print used also has occasional small marks visible. Other than that, "Mystery, Alaska" presents an enjoyable looking image, but it's not the most impressive effort that Disney has served up recently.
SOUND: The sound for "Mystery, Alaska" certainly isn't an agressive film in terms of audio, but there are elements of it that exceeded my expectations. I was instantly gripped by the marevelous score by composer Carter Burwell, who has been the composer for a number of Coen Brothers movies. The score is really the best thing about the audio, coming through loud and clear, filling the listening space wonderfully. Aside from that though many scenes fold up to be simply dialogue-driven, with dialogue that sounds clean and clear.
MENUS:: Disney has never done anything much with their menus, and this is no exception. The menus are basic, non-animated, and simply film-themed images. Easily navigated, but not much to them.
EXTRAS:
Preview Trailers: Again, Disney includes their extremely annoying preview trailers that appear before the film begins. I skip past them before the announcer can even begin. I wish Disney would finally get rid of these, or allow them to be chosen once the menu appears.
Featurette: A bit on the short side, this featurette doesn't really give much insight into the making of the movie beyond the usual interviews with everyone talking about how much they liked working with each other. A forgettable 4 1/2 minutes.
Trailer: The trailer for "Mystery, Alaska" is included. It's an instance where the best parts of the movie are included in the trailer.
Final Thoughts: I have to say I was pretty underwhelmed with "Mystery, Alaska" as a movie. The DVD isn't terribly remarkable, either. Although the audio/video quality from Disney is pleasing, there isn't much to offer beyond that.
"Mystery, Alaska" looked moderately interesting from the previews in theaters, but left quickly when box office was as cold as Alaska itself. Watching it at home, Producer/Writer David E. Kelly("Ally McBeal")'s work is improved here over his previous outing("Lake Placid") but still, the film leaves a lot to be desired.
The biggest problem with the film is that it really doesn't provide a terribly interesting character in the entire bunch - and there's quite a few of them. The town is populated by a wealth of "colorful" characters, including the town's sheriff, played by Russell Crowe of "Gladiator" and "L.A. Confidential". He's the best thing about the film, but one performance doesn't liven up a film with about a dozen poorly sketched out ones.
The plot goes a little something like this. The members of the town really don't do much but think about hockey and fool around with each other. A former member of the town(Hank Azaria), who has gone on to become a sportswriter, comes back to the town with the suggestion of the local hockey team playing a team from the NHL.
Kelly's script doesn't do the film any good, either. The director on this movie is Jay Roach, of "Austin Powers" fame. He's pulled back from going all out by the script, which simply takes no risks, and packs a number of cliches. What I was most suprised about is how slowly this all moves. There's little to the plot, and it's stretched out to a near-unbearable 120 minutes. Obviously, in a film like this, where the local hockey team must play a national one, it's all leading up to "the big game". What matters is whether or not we like the journey there, and in this case, I can't say I did.
It's really not a bad idea for a film at all. All it needs is some sharply written characters and about 30 minutes of editing to take out a number of plot threads that are pretty much useless in the scheme of the greater story. The final product is what we have to live with though, and the end result is unfortunately, a pretty dull affair.
The DVD
VIDEO: The anamorphic transfer for "Mystery, Alaska" is a fine one from Disney, but titles like "The Insider" show that they are capable of more than the effort shown here. For the majority, sharpness is very good, although there was occasional bit here and there that looked slightly soft. Colors do not stand out, but still look very natural and pleasing; there are really no problems to be seen in this area. Flesh tones remain accurate and natural, and for the most part, the DVD presents the 2.35:1 image from cinematographer Peter Deming("Austin Powers", "My Cousin Vinny") nicely, putting the fantastic scenery of Alberta, Canada on display.
The flaws are minor, but noticable. There are a couple of small instances of shimmering, which are visible, but not hugely distracting. The print used also has occasional small marks visible. Other than that, "Mystery, Alaska" presents an enjoyable looking image, but it's not the most impressive effort that Disney has served up recently.
SOUND: The sound for "Mystery, Alaska" certainly isn't an agressive film in terms of audio, but there are elements of it that exceeded my expectations. I was instantly gripped by the marevelous score by composer Carter Burwell, who has been the composer for a number of Coen Brothers movies. The score is really the best thing about the audio, coming through loud and clear, filling the listening space wonderfully. Aside from that though many scenes fold up to be simply dialogue-driven, with dialogue that sounds clean and clear.
MENUS:: Disney has never done anything much with their menus, and this is no exception. The menus are basic, non-animated, and simply film-themed images. Easily navigated, but not much to them.
EXTRAS:
Preview Trailers: Again, Disney includes their extremely annoying preview trailers that appear before the film begins. I skip past them before the announcer can even begin. I wish Disney would finally get rid of these, or allow them to be chosen once the menu appears.
Featurette: A bit on the short side, this featurette doesn't really give much insight into the making of the movie beyond the usual interviews with everyone talking about how much they liked working with each other. A forgettable 4 1/2 minutes.
Trailer: The trailer for "Mystery, Alaska" is included. It's an instance where the best parts of the movie are included in the trailer.
Final Thoughts: I have to say I was pretty underwhelmed with "Mystery, Alaska" as a movie. The DVD isn't terribly remarkable, either. Although the audio/video quality from Disney is pleasing, there isn't much to offer beyond that.
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