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Around The Fire
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Although many films geared towards teens are released seemingly each and every month, there are a number of films with fairly known actors that never see a chance at the box office; films like All I Wanna, starring Kristen Dunst, and "Girl"; "Around The Fire" is another similar film, although not quite as interesting as the other two. It stars Devon Sawa("Idle Hands") and Tara Reid (American Pie)in the story of a teenager overcoming his problems with substance abuse.
The story involves quite a few flashbacks as to how Simon(Sawa) has gotten to the point of finding himself locked up. Starting off in school, he gradually finds friends with a hippie crowd who's following around a "Grateful Dead"-ish band, including a girl named Jennifer(the always appealing Tara Reid). The movie flashes back and forward, watching Simon start off as a good student who stumbles due to too much drug abuse. We also see his past and the problems his parents had, but these aren't shown in that much detail.
I had mixed feelings about "Around The Fire". The film does almost cross into the "After School Special" realm in the way that it shows drug abuse, but considering this is a first effort from director John Jacobsen (as well as a first effort from the writers) and the budget is a fairly small one, it does show definite promise. The actors are adequate but not too remarkable; Sawa's performance as the lead doesn't carry the film too well, but there are a cast of colorful supporting roles to fill in the gaps, with Reid being the most engaging supporting player.
"Around The Fire" has some flaws now and then such as the somewhat predictable nature of the story, but all-in-all, I found it to be a nicely done first effort from the writers/director. It's the kind of first film where people might find problems, but I'm sure the director will go on to bigger films.
The DVD
VIDEO: A-Pix has given "Around The Fire" a very good effort, although it lacks the polish of some of the best transfers that we see on new titles each week. For the most part, images on this 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer are fine in terms of sharpness with the majority of the presentation looking good, but the occasional sequence looking slightly on the soft side. Detail is ok as well, not remarkable but respectable. Colors seem natural and nicely presented, especially vibrant during the scenes with the hippie folks, who wear bright colored outfits. Flesh tones are good and usually look accurate.
Aside from some varying degrees of softness at times, there isn't much else of fault with this transfer, aside from a few scenes that display some minor pixelation and look slightly harsh, but these instances are few and far between. A little more consistent sharpness would have made this an excellent effort, but as it is, this is a good job from A-Pix.
SOUND: This is a nice presentation although parts of the sound aren't quite as successful as others. The main focus of the audio seems to be the rock and funk soundtrack which actually sounds very good, with a deep, heavy presence that's pretty enjoyable. Surround use is occasional but otherwise silent - the surrounds offer some ambient sounds and sometimes the score, but the majority of the audio comes from the front. Dialogue sounds varied throughout; sometimes it sounds natural and clear - at other points, it sounds a little thin and hollow.
MENUS:: Some nicely animated menus with the music from the film in the background.
EXTRAS:: Interviews with the cast, outtakes and trailers for other Unapix films.
Final Thoughts: Although it's awkward at times, "Around The Fire" is a very good directorial debut. A-Pix's DVD contains good audio/video quality and a handful of nice extras. Recommended as a rental, although if you're a fan of the actors you might want to give this one a try since when it is released on August 22, 2000 it can probably be found as low as $13.99.
Although many films geared towards teens are released seemingly each and every month, there are a number of films with fairly known actors that never see a chance at the box office; films like All I Wanna, starring Kristen Dunst, and "Girl"; "Around The Fire" is another similar film, although not quite as interesting as the other two. It stars Devon Sawa("Idle Hands") and Tara Reid (American Pie)in the story of a teenager overcoming his problems with substance abuse.
The story involves quite a few flashbacks as to how Simon(Sawa) has gotten to the point of finding himself locked up. Starting off in school, he gradually finds friends with a hippie crowd who's following around a "Grateful Dead"-ish band, including a girl named Jennifer(the always appealing Tara Reid). The movie flashes back and forward, watching Simon start off as a good student who stumbles due to too much drug abuse. We also see his past and the problems his parents had, but these aren't shown in that much detail.
I had mixed feelings about "Around The Fire". The film does almost cross into the "After School Special" realm in the way that it shows drug abuse, but considering this is a first effort from director John Jacobsen (as well as a first effort from the writers) and the budget is a fairly small one, it does show definite promise. The actors are adequate but not too remarkable; Sawa's performance as the lead doesn't carry the film too well, but there are a cast of colorful supporting roles to fill in the gaps, with Reid being the most engaging supporting player.
"Around The Fire" has some flaws now and then such as the somewhat predictable nature of the story, but all-in-all, I found it to be a nicely done first effort from the writers/director. It's the kind of first film where people might find problems, but I'm sure the director will go on to bigger films.
The DVD
VIDEO: A-Pix has given "Around The Fire" a very good effort, although it lacks the polish of some of the best transfers that we see on new titles each week. For the most part, images on this 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer are fine in terms of sharpness with the majority of the presentation looking good, but the occasional sequence looking slightly on the soft side. Detail is ok as well, not remarkable but respectable. Colors seem natural and nicely presented, especially vibrant during the scenes with the hippie folks, who wear bright colored outfits. Flesh tones are good and usually look accurate.
Aside from some varying degrees of softness at times, there isn't much else of fault with this transfer, aside from a few scenes that display some minor pixelation and look slightly harsh, but these instances are few and far between. A little more consistent sharpness would have made this an excellent effort, but as it is, this is a good job from A-Pix.
SOUND: This is a nice presentation although parts of the sound aren't quite as successful as others. The main focus of the audio seems to be the rock and funk soundtrack which actually sounds very good, with a deep, heavy presence that's pretty enjoyable. Surround use is occasional but otherwise silent - the surrounds offer some ambient sounds and sometimes the score, but the majority of the audio comes from the front. Dialogue sounds varied throughout; sometimes it sounds natural and clear - at other points, it sounds a little thin and hollow.
MENUS:: Some nicely animated menus with the music from the film in the background.
EXTRAS:: Interviews with the cast, outtakes and trailers for other Unapix films.
Final Thoughts: Although it's awkward at times, "Around The Fire" is a very good directorial debut. A-Pix's DVD contains good audio/video quality and a handful of nice extras. Recommended as a rental, although if you're a fan of the actors you might want to give this one a try since when it is released on August 22, 2000 it can probably be found as low as $13.99.
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