The Watch (2012) - Rental Version

Movie: 4.5/5
Video: 5/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 0/5
Overall: 3.5/5

"Ohio Has Some Problems."

I like to stroll around the video rental section of my local Drug Mart. It's one of the last places that still rents out movies these days. While checking out the small stack of used Blu-rays, I found a used copy of The Watch for sale. And on top of that, there was a sale with two dollars off the price. For eight dollars, why not?

A small town in Ohio has a serious problem on their hands as a night watchmen for a Costco is killed in a gruesome fashion. Evan (Ben Stiller), is the dead man's boss and vows to catch his killer. Evan starts up a neighborhood watch and is met with an unlikely group. While out on duty, the group discovers a weapon from another world and soon after, alien life.

I thought the film was pretty funny. Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, and British actor Richard Ayoade made this film hilarious. One scene where Ayoade's character describes a home invasion scenario had me laughing hard. There was also a scene where Vaughn's character, Bob, has an emotional heart-to-heart moment with Evan. It kind of made me miss whenever Vince Vaughn used to do serious movies like The Cell or The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

I think it shows that Seth Rogen did have some input on this film as he's credited as a co-writer on the script. Some moments do feel as if it was supposed to be Seth Rogen-esque with how some characters react to certain situations. Which I felt it was a good thing; as we also have Rogen doing more than just acting. One problem I did have, not spoiling the film, was that some of the jokes did tend to drag a bit. I give this film a 4.5/5.

Video: 5/5

20th Century Fox has given The Watch a very nice visual presentation. We have the film in 2.35:1, 1080p, and with an MPEG4 transfer that stays around the 30 Mbps range according to my PS3. It's a pretty solid transfer for the film. Couldn't find one real complaint with this transfer. Demo material if you ask me. I give the video presentation of The Watch a 5/5.

Audio: 5/5

Surprisingly, 20th Century Fox presents the film in a wide variety of audio and subtitle tracks for the film. For the main audio presentation, we have the film in English 5.1 DTS-HD MA and it's a pretty solid throughout the film. For a rental release, Fox gives this their all. 5/5.

Extras: 0/5

This rental version of the film does not contain any bonus material as found on the general release for the public. We do not have the supposed unrated cut, but, the theatrical cut is pretty entertaining as is. Sadly, I have to give the extras a 0/5.

Overall: 3.5/5

Considering this is a rental version, I'm sure most of the public will probably just get their hands on the regular release. I can recommend the film, whether if it's both releases of the film. This film will have some replay use in my future. I give The Watch a 3.5/5.

The Cell (2000)

Movie: 5/5
Video: 3/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 0/5
Overall: 3/5

One of the Most Conflicting Transfers I've Ever Seen!

The only way I've been getting my Canadian Blu-rays is through a grocery-type store called Meijer. They have these Alliance Blu-rays that pop up for $10 and every once in a while I'll look through them in hopes of finding something that's not out here in the US on the Blu-ray format. Well, I finally found a copy of "The Cell". The 2000 film starring Jennifer Lopez and a pre-comedic Vince Vaughn in this sci-fi thriller about going into the mind of a killer. The film, at the time, was pretty unique in terms of visuals; but as CGI has improved over the years, more and more craziness arrives such as Robert Rodriguez' "Sin City" or Kazuaki Kiriya's "Casshern" and "Goemon". I give the feature a 5/5 due to how creative Tarsem is as a director and the story he was able to put on the screen and this is also probably the only good film Jennifer Lopez has in her filmography.

The video is a real problematic transfer. In most scenes, it looks great and a real upgrade from the New Line Cinema DVD from 2000 when the film came out. However, especially in the opening, there's lots of specs and dirt over the image. Also at one point these weird and crazy lines show up on the scene while they about to go into the killer's mind. But after the first twenty minutes or so, the transfer is pretty much smooth sailing. THIS FILM NEEDS TO BE REMASTERED!!! 3/5 for the video.

This Blu-ray contains three audio tracks like most of Alliance's exclusive releases; English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English 5.1 Dolby Digital, and French 5.1 Dolby Digital. The disc starts on default with English 5.1 Dolby Digital, which you'll have to switch over to the English 5.1 DTS-HD MA audio. I listened to the film with the DTS-HD MA audio and I was quite pleased with the track. I've checked through and felt that the two Dolby Digital tracks were on the flat side. Audio gets a 4/5.

Almost every Alliance exclusive has no extras, including this one. Overall, if you want to upgrade from DVD to Blu-ray, I'd recommend it if you can get it for $10. So far, as of July 2011, this is the only release of the film and I do not see Warner Bros releasing this title any time soon. If WB's master is just as bad as the Alliance master, they need to remaster it without question. That's probably why it has not been released here in the U.S. However, as I do state all the cons about this release, it still scores a 3/5 which isn't that much of a disaster.