Y Tu Mama Tambien Blu-ray Ana López Mercado

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'And Your Mother Too')

directed by Alfonso Cuarón
Mexico 2001

This beautifully filmed, expertly acted film about two 17-year-old, middle class Mexican boys on summer break is deceivingly complex. The basic plot of the film is that best friends Tenoch (Diego Luna, BEFORE NIGHT FALLS) and Julio (Gael Garcia Bernal, AMORES PERROS), who think of nothing but sex, convince a beautiful 28-year-old woman, Luisa (Maribel Verdu), to go on a road trip with them to a nonexistent beach. They get lost. They flirt and giggle and fawn over Luisa hoping to win her over with their boyish charms. And that's about it. But that simple plotline merely provides structure for the poetry and meaning that is woven into the film with photography and narration. Periodically throughout the film, while the action continues normally, the sound stops. A voice over then gives information--sometimes a brief biography of one of the characters (birth date, name of father and mother, consequences of birth, primary childhood experiences), or a note about what each of the characters is really thinking, or a news report or historical comment that brings Mexico's tangled politics into the context of daily life. Never is the voice connected to a character in the film. It simply floats. Meanwhile, underwater photography, roving shots of the Mexican countryside, and affectionate close-ups on the characters communicate a solemn-ness that is not present in the plot. All of these pieces fit together easily, resulting in an excellent, whole, thoughtful film.

***

"Y Tu Mama Tambien" is described on its Web site as a "teen drama," which is like describing "Moulin Rouge" as a musical. The description is technically true but sidesteps all of the reasons to see the movie. Yes, it's about two teenage boys and an impulsive journey with an older woman that involves sexual discoveries. But it is also about the two Mexicos. And it is about the fragility of life and the finality of death. Beneath the carefree road movie that the movie is happy to advertise is a more serious level--and below that, a dead serious level.

Excerpt from Roger Ebert's Chicago Sun Times review located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: June 8th, 2001 - Mexico

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Comparison:

Icon Home Entertainment - Region 2 - PAL vs. MGM (Unrated) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Icon - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Thanks to Gregory for the MGM Region 1 Screen Captures

1) Icon - Region 2- PAL - LEFT

2) MGM - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Icon - Region FREE - Blu-ray - RIGHT

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Icon Region 2 - PAL	MGM Region 1 - NTSC	Icon Entertainment Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:41:06 (4% PAL speedup)	1:45:44	1:45:38.041
Video	1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.80 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7.11 NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 29,624,254,605 bytes Feature: 26,657,452,032 bytes Video Bitrate: 29.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Icon
Bitrate: MGM
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0)	Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1908 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1908 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles	English, French and none	English, and none	English, and none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Icon Home Entertainment Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1 Edition Details: Audio Commentary With Alfonso Cuarón, Gael García Bernal & Diego Luna You Owe Me One - A Quickie By Carlon Cuarón (11:00) Making Of (22:26) Interview With Alfonso Cuarón (28:04) 3 Deleted Scenes (5:00) Color Bars (:27) Cast And Crew Quotes No One Under Seventeen Admitted (3:00) Awards Trailer UK Trailer UK Radio Spot TV-Spots Posters Soundtrack Portions DVD Release Date: October 7th, 2002 Keep Case Chapters 19	Release Information: Studio: MGM/UA Video Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Edition Details: • Color, Widescreen, Dolby • Commentary by cast members (in Spanish) • Theatrical trailer(s), TV spot(s) • Three deleted scenes • Short film "Me la Debes" • Making-of featurette • Widescreen anamorphic format DVD Release Date: October 22, 2002 Keep Case Chapters 32	Release Information: Studio: Icon Home Entertainment 1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 29,624,254,605 bytes Feature: 26,657,452,032 bytes Video Bitrate: 29.99 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: You Owe Me One - A Quickie By Carlon Cuarón (11:00) Making Of (22:26) 3 Deleted Scenes (5:00) Color Bars (:27) No One Under Seventeen Admitted (3:00) Cast And Crew Quotes Original and UK trailers Blu-ray Release Date: July 26th, 2010 Thick Blu-ray Case Chapters 14

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Icon - Region 'FREE' - Blu-ray - October 2010: This appears to be a decent 1080P, dual-layered, transfer by Icon that advances over the SD-DVDs in the expected areas with a higher level of detail and providing the visuals with a sense of depth. Colors tighten up and comparatively the DVD image looks flatter and video-like. The matched screen captures should help tell the story.

Audio also gets a bump to lossless status with a DTS-HD Master at about 2000 kbps. There are some relevant effect noises here - many of which establishing locales and a... playful spirit. There is some unexpected separations - overall quite serviceable. There are optional subtitles through your remote but not via the menu and the disc defaults to English - but we can state they are removable. My Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

Extras, unfortunately, lose the Cuarón commentary and interview but keep the scattered Making of, 3 deleted scenes and "You Owe Me One" short by Carlon.

Even getting past the gratuitously visible sexual relations - this is still a great film. I'm a huge Cuarón fan and this held up well after almost a decade. It was great to revisit in 1080P - which caused me to recall what a solid command of the medium this gifted Mexican director has. Unfortunately, after this he did a Harry Potter - probably for a large amount of money - but returned with the impacting and unforgettable Children of Men. My favorite film of his - is still Great Expectations - an opinion shared by, recently passed, film journalist Robin Wood. Y tu mamá también is a marvelous film - and the Blu-ray is region free with a flawless transfer - priced well for excellent value. Absolutely recommended!

***

ON THE DVDs: There is not a lot of difference in the two version in regards to the image quality. Both are anamorphic and both are very good... Please note that audio commentary is in Spanish and is not subtitled on the MGM disc - where it is subtitled in English on the Region 2 disc. The menus on the Icon DVD are extremely elaborate and well thought out. The Icon offers a choice of 5.1 or 2.0 sound. In the end the commentary is the swinging factor and so we recommend the Region 2 release.