DVD
REVIEW: THE NINES
01/25/08
After seeing so many films
based on sequels, remakes, novel adaptations, video games
and television shows, it is refreshing to see that not
everybody is following the same format. That is the case of
John August's film "The Nines". An original and emotional
puzzler film that picks on audience's brains like no other.
"The Nines" marks the directorial debut of acclaimed
screenwriter John August, (Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory, Big Fish, Go).
Because of the complexity of the film John August couldn't
have picked a better story to make his directorial debut,
who better than the writers' vision to direct an
originality. The film is divided into three parts or
stories. The first story called “The Prisoner”, tells the
story of a troubled television star (Reynolds) who finds
himself under house arrest. This story plays similar
to the film "Memento", yet the difference is that it is not
the cast who is lost and trying to find himself, it is the
audience who falls in a desperate state of knowing what's
going on and the thrill ride begins. The second story called
“Reality Television” is a "Making of" a documentary about
the creation of a network television drama. There is no
reason to believe that John August is sharing some of his
personal experiences in the world of television in this part
of the film, making it a very interesting story. The last
story is called "Knowing" which follow the tale of a
videogame designer who finds himself with car trouble deep
in the woods. These three stories overlap each other at some
point and it is up to the audience to put the pieces
together.
In addition to John August ingenuity, it is necessary to
mention the cast. The selection of the cast was without
question the best, performing at a high level even
with the difficulty of playing three different characters in
the same film. However, it is Ryan Reynolds who runs the
table with his performance. After watching the first story,
where he plays an actor, it is impressive to see Reynolds
performance in the second story where he is actually playing
John August. It is like watching two different actors.
Overall the film is a must see especially if you are a fan
of the TV show "Lost" or if you like stories where the
pieces are presented to you, but it is up to you and your
imagination to put it all together and solve the puzzle.
The DVD comes with a lot of nice features to continue the
mystery of "The Nines". It includes two feature commentaries
– the first with Director John August and Ryan Reynolds and
the second with John August, Editor Douglas Crise and Actor
Melissa McCarthy, a featurette entitled “Summing Up The
Nines” and “Script to Screen,” where users explore the
creative process by watching clips from the film alongside
script pages and storyboards. The disc also includes an
original short film from John August with optional
commentary, an explosive alternate ending, and deleted
scenes.
VIDEO:
1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO:
English
5.1 (Dolby Digital).
Subtitles - English Spanish - Optional
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Summing Up The Nines
A
good 21 minutes documentary about the film production. The
documentary tell us all about how the film was created, cast
selection and directors' ideas for the film.
Script to Storyboard to Screen Comparison (5:23)
God
Short Film with option commentary with Director John August,
Actor Melissa McCarthy and Editor Douglas Crise
A funny satirical short film, the best feature of the DVD. A
must see (11:26)
Deleted scenes: A total of 8 deleted scenes
all worth watching and an original ending. All with option
Commentary with Director John August and Editor Douglas
Crise (13:01)
Feature Commentary with Director John August and Actor Ryan
Reynolds
Feature Commentary with Director John August, Editor Douglas
Crise and Actor Melissa McCarthy
Photo Gallery Montage (3:18)
RATING BREAK DOWN:
| FILM REVIEW |
|
|
VIDEO |
|
|
AUDIO |
|
| BONUS
FEATURES |
|
Submit Your Movie Review
MORE MOVIE REVIEWS
>>>
