An early Michael Bay film

I got the Bad Boys Special Edition DVD from the library last week and finally had a chance to watch it. I already owned the original release, which had virtually no additional features, but it was released when DVDs came out in 1997. So, I was able to snag the re-released SE to see what they had to discuss.

Overall, they didn't say much. as It was quite a weak showing. You've got a discussion of a few stunts and special effects that were done, and then a detailed look at how each of the film's guns fired in real life. Snore. There were also some music videos and trailers - all of which can be found on Youtube.

Finally, there was a Michael Bay commentary track. This was certainly the highlight. It was recorded right before Pearl Harbor was released, so approximately 2000-01. This gave a good perspective of where his head was at while filming Bad Boys, since he had only done the big budgets of The Rock and Armageddon.

The commentary was generally pretty interesting. He's a fairly narcissistic guy and repeatedly impressed upon the audience how wonderful it was that he directed this picture while only being 29. He disclosed which sections of the film were improv'd by the lead actors as well as specifics that were done on the cheap and he'd have polished if there were more than his "meager" $15 mill of a budget.

If you already own the original or SuperBit version of this film, I certainly wouldn't go after this one. If you're a Bay fan, the commentary might be a worthwhile listen, but the remaining extras are worthless, so really at best try your local library or maybe even Netflix it, if you're desperate.

P.S. I've had significantly more success acquiring special edition and re-released versions of movies from my library rather than Netflix. The latter seems to carry as old a version as possible of DVDs, so keep this in mind.

Idol 2009

So, we've got 11 left (Jorge and Jasmine were just both booted).

It is a VERY solid group this year. It's almost too hard to choose. But, clearly, there are some superstars and then some that are simply "decent."

Here's the two groups:

Danny Gokey - the dude has a great voice and even better tactics on how to use his voice.

Adam Lambert - His theater background keeps his perfoming in high gear and his quality of vocals and ability to work songs into his own way.

Allison Iraheta - Gravely rocker (like Amanda Overmeyer from last year) but MUCH better

Lil Rounds - A Mary J wanna-be but one that can actually sing

Then we have the rest:

Anoop - great personality, but not quite the voices of the top 4

Kris - Doesn't voice and guitar but can't match the top group

Both Matts - Voices aren't as strong as the top four

Alexis - Judges loved her, but I think Allison crushes her

Megan - Judges say "quirky", I say "weird"

Scott - His blindness will win him votes, but his vocals aren't on par with even the rest of them. Heart doesn't last long in Idol.