Blu-ray Review: Doctor Zhivago (1965)

In retrospect, 1965 was the year that represented the end of the old studio system, before the new blood of the late '60s ushered in a revolution in American cinema. It was in that year that two of Hollywood's biggest ever hits were released, both belonging to defiantly old-fashioned genres: the musical and the epic. The musical in question was The Sound of Music, against which the epic Doctor Zhivago was unlucky to be competing for awards and commercial success: it was one of the biggest commercial grossers of all time, but was topped by Julie Andrews classic (they still lie eighth and third respectively on the list of adjusted box office), which also romped home with the major Academy Awards. Hollywood tried to capitalise on the success of both films in subsequent years, but all those efforts were doomed to failure, proving almost financially ruinous in some cases. What's remarkable looking back now on Zhivago is how much popular taste has changed: it's a great film, certainly, but not an easy one to love, with pacing and moral grey areas from which modern blockbusters would recoil in horror.

Much was expected from David Lean in the wake of Lawrence of Arabia. It was to Boris Pasternak's novel he turned, banned in Russia for being anti-communist and therefore the beneficiary of much publicity and controversy in the years since its first publication in Italy, in 1958. The story provided both the scope and scale to match Lawrence, but also a romantic core that the purely male-centric desert epic wholly lacked. Zhivago is a love story set against the backdrop of the First World War and the Russian Revolution, spanning years, and proved far from easy to adapt (Lean's screenplay was again penned by Robert Bolt). The difficulties of the source novel are evident in the finished film, notably an erratic pace and a romance that barely appears for two hours of the running time, but it is these apparent flaws that in fact contribute to its compelling uniqueness.

Zhivago has been much likened to a Russian Gone With the Wind, which may be an easy comparison to make but remains valid. Structurally they echo one another, in terms of a slow beginning set prior to an outbreak of war, followed by the main characters being thrust into a conflict before returning home to a scene of devastation. (And that's all in the first half.) Similarly the romances are unconventional, never actually coming to fruition until near the end of each mammoth film. Zhivago bests its precursor, however, due to its director's vision and storytelling genius. Many of its most brilliant sequences could come from a silent movie, their power generated entirely through Lean's mastery of technique married to Maurice Jarre's haunting music. Witness the chilling suicide attempt scene, or the famous onset of spring montage in which snow dissolves into a carpet of daffodils. Evident throughout is Lean's meticulous planning; there's barely a cut that isn't perfectly motivated, or a transition not imbued with meaning.

With such emphasis on the visuals and scale in a Lean film, the actors could get lost in the scenery, but Zhivago boasts some indelible performances that ensure that doesn't happen. The casting of the Egyptian Omar Sharif was an offbeat choice for the title character, but the actor's commitment and sheer likeability render any concerns about his manifestly non-Slavic origins moot. Julie Christie's Lara, meanwhile, is one of cinema's greatest ever beauties, Lean's camera often lingering on her captivating eyes and golden hair (one of the film's concessions to '60s styling - who knew hairspray existed in revolutionary Russia?). The magnetic Rod Steiger secured an Oscar as the sort-of-villain Komarovsky, but Tom Courtenay is just as good as Lara's brother Pasha, who experiences one of the most dramatic, moving arcs.

Again and again, though, the crux of the film comes back to the core romance, but those expecting a traditional love story will likely be disappointed. Not only do obstacles constantly intrude, preventing their first kiss until well after the intermission, it's an adulterous relationship even once they do admit their feelings. Zhivago is married to Tonya (Geraldine Chaplin), who is portrayed as more or less a saint, so one can't help but feel sad for her despite the chemistry and fireworks of her husband's illicit affair. It's actually elements like these that elevate the film to greater heights: it would have been much easier and more dramatically straightforward to make Zhivago single or even a widower in the purpose of eliminating a difficult moral quandary for the audience.

In fact, it was audiences who saw the greatness of the film first, critics having been unfairly savage. This was in an age when critics actually had influence over a film's success, so the fact that Zhivago was able to weather such scorn is a testament to its hypnotic power. Lean himself threatened to never make a film again after the critics' barbs, but it would in fact be the even more hostile reception of his next film, 1970's Ryan's Daughter (again unjust, but that's another story), that sent him into self-imposed exile.



Release Information
Country: UK / Region: Free / Version: 45th Anniversary / Discs: 1 BD, 1 DVD / Distributor: Warner Bros.

Presentation
For its 45th anniversary, Doctor Zhivago has received the full restoration treatment, but the image and sound quality remains occasionally hamstrung by the source. It's a shame that Lean was not allowed to shoot in 70mm, as he had wished, as it's ironically the quest for the best possible print quality that has caused the original negative to become so worn through overuse (Lean didn't want dupe prints to be used). Nevertheless the restorers have worked some digital magic here, eliminating any sign of print damage or even specks of dust. Detail in many scenes is exemplary. The visuals are mainly hampered by the presence of very noticeable halos around hard edges, such as people walking in snow. Some investigation has revealed that these anomalies seem to be inherent in the print, rather than a result of newly applied edge enhancement, but they remain distracting at times.

The sound, although present in DTS-HD 5.1, sounds thin at times, with limited use of surround channels (the first scene at the train station, when Tonya arrives, sounds particularly tinny). It's a faithful rendering of the source, however, and the wonderful score in particular sounds lush and full-bodied.

Extras
A two-part 40-minute featurette is the only new extra created for this release, but it's a good one, featuring the involvement of many fans of the film from today's Hollywood set. There's surprisingly in-depth textual analysis of certain scenes which offers excellent insight, pointing out things that are easy to miss when you're wrapped up in the story. The commentary, featuring Sandra Lean, Omar Sharif and Rod Steiger was recorded for the earlier DVD but it's still a worthwhile listen, though the 200 minute runtime does make for some gaps, which is reasonable enough. The rest is on Disc 2, which duplicates the second disc of the previous DVD set, the highlight of which being the very good hour-long "Doctor Zhivago: The Making of a Russian Epic" from 1995, which is put together with a little more care and detail than many modern documentaries, which are a dime a dozen. It's only a shame that Julie Christie doesn't contribute. Other than that, there are a handful of vintage featurettes and interviews.

It's nice to have the film contained on a single disc, and not a flipper like the previous DVD, but it's a shame that Warner Bros have left almost 10GB free on the Blu-ray - why not increase the bitrate of the feature, or at least put the rest of the features on the first disc?



Summary
A magnificent recreation of a time embroiled in political upheaval, Doctor Zhivago may not be as acclaimed as Lawrence of Arabia, but David Lean's mastery of his art is still plain to see, producing a typically brilliant combination of scale and substance.

News: Ridley's Blade Running again

Apparently Prometheus has given him a taste for revisiting past successes. Yes, Sir Ridley of Scott has, according to Deadline New York, signed up to "direct and produce" a new film that is in some way related to his 1982 classic, Blade Runner (see FilmVerdict Blu-ray Review). Just like Prometheus is in some way related to Alien - in that case, all the signs point towards a prequel.

Whether Blade Runner's new cinematic offspring will take the form of a prequel, sequel, side-quel or whatever remains completely up in the air. I'd be most interested if Harrison Ford came back to reprise his role from the first film. How cool would it be to see an old, washed up Deckard try to reclaim some past glory? Unfortunately that's unlikely for many reasons. The main one is that Ford has made no secret of loathing the whole filming experience first time round. However, Ford is not the box office draw he once was, Cowboys & Aliens having recently slightly flopped, and he has, of course, proven willing to reprise an old character in the case of Indiana Jones.

The fact is that Blade Runner's world is endlessly fascinating and looks great, so the material is ripe for new exploration. However, I'd be completely against this if it was from anyone other than Scott himself. A small pipe dream that surely won't come to fruition is that he uses the same effects technology as the last one - say no to CGI. And hey, Doug Trumbull has just worked on The Tree of Life, so he's still on his game, right?

So, revisiting Alien, Blade Runner... next, it'll be the long awaited Gladiator sequel.*

*Warning: completely baseless conjecture.

Blu-ray Review: Rango (2011)

Rango is what Gore Verbinski made while not directing the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean. Freed from the shackles of a mega-franchise, and the pressure to meet a too-tight release date, Rango is a quirky, offbeat animation with the director's stamp all over it. After seeing the Rob Marshall-directed latest Pirates, efficient if anodyne, it's evident that the source of much of the surreality and kookiness that defined the earlier entries in the series was Verbinski himself. Certainly, those qualities manifested themselves in perhaps less successful fashion in At World's End, but the real problem there was lack of a script. In Rango, not only is he able to let his idiosyncratic imagination run wild, it's married to a good story penned with the assistance of seasoned scribe John Logan.

The eponymous Rango is the hero of the tale, a pet chameleon, who, through a vehicular mishap, finds himself stranded in the middle of the desert. Soon he stumbles upon the ramshackle settlement of Dirt, where numerous desert-dwelling animals have formed a town straight out of the wild west. Rango, a wannabe thespian, styles himself as a travelling gunslinger and accidentally manages to become the town hero. It emerges that Dirt has a severe water shortage which may have suspicious origins, so it's up to Rango to solve it. Surprisingly, for a family film, that involves numerous similarities to the plot of Chinatown, while simultaneously allowing Verbinksi to indulge his obvious passion for the Western genre with numerous references to the likes of Once Upon a Time in the West and High Noon. Hans Zimmer is able to build on his Morricone riff in the third Pirates with a full score indebted to the maestro.

The real treat with Rango is the design of the film. Not only is it unique - the motley band of critters are all full of character but none are exactly cute - it is also beautifully crafted. The textures and dirt-encrusted tangibility of the visuals set it apart from any other computer animation. Moreover, the film's eccentric, sometimes mischievous, sense of humour is extremely endearing, with jokes more aimed at adults than young 'uns. There are sights and sounds here that straddle the border between genius and madness - witness the attack on a carriage by bat-riding prairie dogs scored to Ride of the Valkyries, for example. Such wanton oddness is refreshing in a big-budget film, and it is entirely down to this individuality that Rango manages to be such a wacky delight.

Release Information
Country: UK / Region: B (unconfirmed) / Version: Triple Play / Discs: 1 BD, 1 DVD / Distributor: Paramount

Presentation
As expected, Rango looks flawless. The detail in the animation - by CGI wizards ILM, this being the first time they've produced an all-animated movie - is incredible, and is shown off brilliantly in this stunning presentation. The DTS-HD soundtrack is similarly faultless, bringing to life Verbinski's world in all its peculiarities.

Extras
There are two versions of the film to watch, the extended cut being about five minutes longer, its main difference being an extended ending (not necessarily an improvement, but it is amusing). A commentary accompanies the extended cut, while the theatrical can be watched with Picture-in-Picture storyboards. Elsewhere there's a healthy two-part, fifty-minute Making Of, and an enjoyable twenty-minute piece looking at the real creatures that the characters were based on, presented by a guy who seems to be the South African Steve Irwin. The deleted scenes are simply a compilation of those added to extended cut.

Summary
Rango may not get off to the most promising start, but when the titular character reaches Dirt, the film explodes into eccentric life with a character all its own.

Cinema Review: Captain America - The First Avenger (2011)

As the last of Marvel's A-list names to reach the big screen in the current batch of comic book adaptations, the challenge faced by Captain America is more than simply living up to what's gone before. It presents the unique difficulty of its innate jingoism. Who could take seriously a hero calling himself Captain America, except proud Americans? The way the filmmakers of Captain America: The First Avenger (to give it its whole, clunky, sequel-teasing title) tackle this thorny issue is inspired. They embrace the inherent cheesiness of the concept while simultaneously managing to suppress its ridiculousness. In this incarnation, Captain America is a promotional tool concocted by the US military to raise money for the war effort against Hitler. The goofy costume, faithful to the last thread, even makes an appearance, but no-one is expecting a straight face here. That's not to say, though, that the film is a comedy. It in fact plays everything with real sincerity, sidestepping the potential pitfalls with ingenuity and style.

Of course, this Captain America does not last the whole film without upgrading his duds: the one shown in the promotional photography is the more practical, and frankly cool, version that appears once he starts kicking Nazi butt, against the orders of his superiors. Such an upstanding, morally sound character could have been dull, but in the hands of Chris Evans - the best thing about the Fantastic Four movies, another Marvel property - he's likeable and interesting. He's given a great arc, with an origin story that feels worth the time spent on it; in fact this is one of those occasions where the origin half of the tale make be the best. Evans' Steve Rogers starts out hilariously scrawny, thanks to the wonders of CG trickery, before beefing up in the super-soldier experiment that turns him into the one-man army of the title. The early scenes for once seem worthwhile rather than perfunctory, demonstrating great wit and sense of period.

Indeed, the period setting is one of the reasons Captain America feels so fresh. The World War II era may be well mined on screen but not in this genre, resulting in a mix of the familiar (evil Nazis!) with the new (evil Nazis versus a superhero in World War II!). In fact, Cap's super-humanness is toned down to simply heightened levels of strength, speed and agility, making him more relatable than, say, the impervious Superman. The film's Indiana Jones overtones cannot be a coincidence, director Joe Johnston having worked alongside Spielberg, his career starting at ILM before directing the likes of The Rocketeer (a test run for this film, it now seems) and Jurassic Park III. Hugo Weaving's villain, the diabolical Red Skull, is a match for Raiders' menagerie of menaces, chewing the scenery with glee.

Where it falls short of Indy's genre-defining heights is in its pacing - sometimes sluggish where it should be sprightly - and reluctance to go all-out in the action scenes, none of which offer anything new. But still the film's emphasis on character is commendable, its steady action-adventure construction endearingly old fashioned. Alan Silvestri's score is also a throwback, with not an electronic note to be found and with a pleasing propensity for the traditional fanfare and recognisable themes. These elements cohere in what may be Marvel's best internally produced effort yet - yes, better than Iron Man - and certainly its best lead-in to The Avengers. Unfortunately, the need to set up next year's big conflagration cheapens the finale of this film somewhat, but it still does manage to stand alone as a satisfying adventure within its own right, to an extent that its stablemates have not managed.



Summary
An enjoyable wartime adventure cast from the same mould as Indiana Jones, Captain America may not be quite the effortless heroic yarn it aspires to be, but its sheer entertainment value is hard to knock.

Cinema Review: Super 8 (2011)

Super 8 sets its stall out early with its opening logos. After the familiar Paramount peak, we see a boy cycling in front of the moon: the Amblin logo, Steven Spielberg's company, its iconic motif of course spawned from E.T.. Only then is it followed by J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot insignia. Not only does it show just how reverently Abrams regards Spielberg, it also encapsulates the tone, subject matter and even time period of the film to follow. Super 8 is a shameless Spielberg riff through and through - and manages to be the best Spielberg film since the heyday of The Beard himself. A cinematic love child of Close Encounters and E.T., albeit with a rather less friendly alien beastie at its centre, Super 8 encapsulates exactly the sort of exuberant fun, married to real heart and soul, that propelled the young Spielberg to such unmatched heights of critical and commercial success.

Like E.T., and also fellow 80s classic Stand By Me, Super 8 is a story of childhood, in which precocious young actors are the stars, but, also like them, it is not a 'kids save the world' movie. Rather, it is about a group of friends thrust into an unfamiliar situation, and who deal with it as best they can. Such a movie relies hugely upon its young performers; fortunately, in Super 8 they shine. Their naturalism and ease in front of the camera is a testament to their individual talent, a brilliant casting job, and superb direction from Abrams. A mark of many of the best directors is how well they coax convincing performances from children; in that respect Abrams excels. What's more, each of these kids feels human and fully developed - sure, they do slot into broad types (the chubby one, the geek, etc.) but they feel like friends you could have had in high school. Their behaviour and interplay comes across as entirely authentic, spontaneous and often hilarious. It's a mark of the sheer entertainment value of these scenes that the science fiction stuff almost feels like a sideshow.

That's not to say that Abrams drops the ball when it comes to the thrills. Not a bit of it. Super 8 is as tight and intense an experience as you could hope for, propelled by pitch perfect pacing and numerous moments of great suspense. The plot kicks off when our central band of boys (and girl), filming their own zombie movie, happen to get front row seats to a mammoth train crash. Naturally, it's not just any train crash - it's a US Air Force train, whose contents are a closely guarded, and now missing, secret. Cue the military invading the small town of Lillian, and some déjà vu for fans of Close Encounters. The crash itself is an absurdly extended cacophony of chaos, which sets the wheels of the plot into inexorable, gripping motion. The way Abrams drip-feeds the mysteries is reminiscent of Lost - the TV show he co-created - but this time, you don't have to wait six years for an answer that may not even be given. Here, the script is honed and polished enough that every element has a payoff and a reason for existing, making the resolution all the more satisfying.

The heart of the film lies with Joe (Joel Courtney) and Alice (Elle Fanning). At the beginning of the film, Joe has just lost his mother; his subsequent difficulties with his lone parent father (Kyle Chandler, receiving deserved exposure) form an emotional backbone to his arc. Alice is the outsider of the group, invited into the boys' inner circle by their need to have a leading lady in their homemade film. She's slightly older and wiser than them, so the casting of the experienced Fanning is ideal. Her story too is tremendously moving, reaching a tearful, beautifully performed moment late on that may tug on the most sceptical heartstrings. Abrams proves an assured hand at balancing such emotional peaks with visceral action, his prowess in the latter already having been shown in his two previous features (Star Trek and Mission: Impossible III). Super 8 feels his most fully cinematic venture yet, the director relaxing his propensity for shaky, tight close-ups and having the confidence to pull back to wider shots with fewer cuts when called for.

If there's a misstep, it's in the alien itself: a malformed jumble of undiscernable body parts, once finally revealed. Its closest cousin is the Cloverfield monster (another Abrams producing gig). Basically, it's neither memorable or clear in its design, the director having apparently prioritised anatomical originality over anything relatable. Thankfully, the creature is not lingered on much, never even quite receiving a clear wide shot, so it doesn't prove to be damaging, and it's more of a plot catalyst than an integral component. This is a film driven by a childlike sense of wonder and lack of cynicism - traits all too rare in both films and reality these days - and demonstrates the inspiring potential of the blockbuster, reaching back to the days when it was not a dirty word.



Summary
Driven by nostalgia but not dependent on it, Super 8 is the best film of the summer, the best film of the year so far, and one of the best blockbusters in many a moon.

Cinema Review: The Tree of Life (2011)

Life, the universe and everything. That's the unambitious subject matter of Terrence Malick's fifth feature. Never one to think small, Malick has here made a bewildering yet beautiful dreamlike fusion of music and images. Apparently taking his cue from 2001: A Space Odyssey, the film spans from prehistory to modern times, yet this film is diametrically opposed to Kubrick's rigidly structured approach. The Tree of Life is a free-flowing, meandering, practically formless film, resembling the fractured non-linearity of memory, which is surely intentional. The result is even less mainstream and conventional than the director's previous films, none of which could be described by either of those terms. This is a pure expression of Malickness.

Say goodbye to dialogue, A-to-B storytelling, even an apparent aim. The beginning of the film is particularly mystifying, jumping between three disparate settings and times: leafy 1950s American suburbia, the glass-and-concrete modern city, and the birth of the universe. The beauty on display is inarguable, be it the lush woodland or the rupturing crust of the early Earth, but it lacks any sort of handle to give an audience member something to hang on to. It comes across like an art installation: striking, intriguing, but also a bit distancing, and yes, even pretentious. Malick overdoes some of his stylistic tics, such as the rambling inner monologues, and the gradual "tilt up to treetops" shot (seriously, there's a drinking game in there somewhere). The prehistoric scenes are spectacles to behold, but you're left to ponder the point of, say, the dinosaur flopping on the beach, any explanations unforthcoming from the film itself.

Eventually, some sort of focus does emerge. This is fundamentally the story of the childhood years of three brothers in 1950s America, who live in fear of their domineering father (Brad Pitt, as unlikeable as he's ever likely to be, while still remaining human). That's it as far as plot goes. We follow the characters through the short chapter of their lives, watching them interact, misbehave, and learn life lessons. It's hard not to see it as autobiographical in some way. However, Malick's unwillingness to concede to anything approaching convention at times seems wilfully obtuse; you yearn at times for a simple conversation between characters. Malick's mastery of the camera is still in evidence; his visuals tell a story with more potency than words could.

Of the three time periods, it's the modern day one that never finds an identity. Sean Penn wanders around streets and buildings looking a bit lost before he stumbles on some strange windswept beach. To detail further would spoil the ending of the film, but suffice to say, its religious and spiritual overtones, not to mention overall weirdness, may be too much for even those people who have made it that far.



Summary
Esoteric and maddening, The Tree of Life is certainly unique. To some, it will be like watching paint dry; to others, a thing of transcendent beauty. Its vision - and the suspicion that it will benefit from repeat viewings - earns it three stars, but its ambition is not quite matched by its distancing, mannered execution.

Blu-ray Review: Hereafter (2010)

Hereafter is a bit of an oddity, and certainly stands out from Clint Eastwood's previous directorial ventures. Normally a man who sticks to reality rather than fantasy, Hereafter represents a rare dip into the supernatural for him. It's a three-pronged narrative, following three characters, each of whom experience some connection with the 'hereafter': the afterlife. We first meet Marie (Cécile de France), a French journalist who survives the Indian Ocean tsunami of Boxing Day 2004. Next is Matt Damon's George, a clairvoyant with a genuine ability to speak to the dead, who's trying to leave his job behind. Finally, there are young Londoner twins Marcus and Jason (Frankie and George McLaren), the former left to fend for himself when his brother is involved in a traffic accident.

Each strand offers something of value, but each are also let down by serious shortcomings. Marie's introduction kicks the film off in spectacular fashion, with a stunning recreation of the tsunami that laid waste to so many coastlines. It's an incredibly well done sequence, merging stunning visual effects (earning the film its only Oscar nomination) with a visceral sense of danger, the camera being swept along by the current with the stricken characters. Frankly, these opening fifteen minutes are easily the best part of the film, and are almost worth seeing the film for on their own. However, the momentous event really has very little bearing on the rest of the film; even its status as a plot catalyst is only tangential (Marie nearly drowns and momentarily enters the hereafter).

George's thread is probably the most consistent overall, thanks in large part to Damon's committed, believable performance. He shares some endearing scenes with Bryce Dallas Howard, whom he meets at a cookery class, which are well written and played but unfortunately lead nowhere. The twins' storyline is sadly let down by very poor acting from the young performers; it's their first film role and it shows. Some line readings are so wooden they sound like they're from a school nativity. Clint must shoulder some blame - some of the takes used should never have been accepted, and you wonder whether his famous propensity for shooting at speed prevented him from getting the best from them.

These threads never really complement each other, and they are cut together like a TV show, without any finesse. Of course, they ultimately have to converge, but when they do it feels arbitrary, rather than the plotlines all coming to a natural conclusion. Moreover the scene in question is just strange: a book fair at which Derek Jacobi, playing himself, reads from Charles Dickens. George is there because he's a Dickens fan, Marie because she's publishing a book on her near death experience, and Marcus because, er, it's convenient for the movie. The hints of the hereafter feel out of place, at odds with Eastwood's insistence on drab realism everywhere else; the film comes across as a sort of Sixth Sense without ghosts or any real conviction. Also the film suffers from its multi-character approach; Marie's and George's stories could both be better served if the film just concentrated on one of them and developed their arcs further.



Release Information
Country: UK / Region: Free / Version: Double Play / Discs: 2 / Distributor: Warner Bros.

Presentation
Despite the disc housing over four hours of 1080p content (see extras), the film looks pretty superb. Eastwood mercifully eases off his recent tendency to desaturate colours; here the palette is often vivid (particularly Thailand the film's opening), if still slightly tinted towards the colder end of the spectrum. Again, the tsunami sequence excels in its detail, and is also a high point in the soundtrack. The soundfield is fairly active overall, but dialogue is always prioritised.

Extras
The typical Warner Bros. no-frills approach: static menu, but no start-up trailers. There are 40 minutes or so of Focus Points - short featurettes that you can watch branched into the movie, for some reason, or alone - and some are more interesting than others. The ones that discuss whether the hereafter really exists may prompt eye-rolling, but there are interesting glimpses behind the scenes. Then there's the 90-minute documentary The Eastwood Factor, made by Clint obsessive Richard Schickel, narrated by Morgan Freeman. It's an overview of Eastwood's directorial career up to Invictus (no mention of Hereafter then), and it's a treat to see some of his classic efforts in 1080p, even if the doc is no more in-depth than a glorified clip show. Probably at least 60 minutes of it is footage from his films.

Warners seem to be experimenting with a new release strategy with Hereafter: You can only get it in Double Play (DVD & Blu-ray) or Triple Play (also Digital Copy) formats - not DVD only.



Summary
One of both director Eastwood's and writer Peter Morgan's weaker efforts, Hereafter never goes anywhere, despite highlights, mainly the tsunami sequence and the Damon/Bryce Dallas Howard scenes. Ironic that it's a film about the afterlife, because it's pretty much dead on arrival.