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Carnage [Blu-ray]
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Review by Gary Tooze
Production:
Theatrical: CinéCinéma
Video: S
ony Pictures Home Entertainment
Disc:
Region: 'A' (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player)
Runtime: 1:19:37.773
Disc Size: 29,202,461,524 bytes
Feature Size: 18,735,267,840 bytes
Video Bitrate: 24.80 Mbps
Chapters: 16
Case: Standard Blu-ray case
Release date: March 20th, 2012
Video:
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio:
DTS-HD Master Audio English 2479 kbps 5.0 / 48 kHz / 2479 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
DTS-HD Master Audio French 1955 kbps 5.0 / 48 kHz / 1955 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles:
English (SDH), English, French, none
Extras:
• Actor's Notes (10:38 in 1080P)
• An Evening with John C. Reilly and Christopher Waltz
(38:03 - in 1080P)• On the Red Carpet (3:30 - in 1080P)
• Theatrical Trailer (2:03 in 1080P)
• BD-Live
Bitrate:
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Description: Following a playground scuffle between their 11-year old children, the parents of the "victim" have invited the parents of the "bully" to their apartment to sort it out. Cordial banter gradually develops a razor-sharp edge as all four of the well-heeled American parents reveal their laughable contradictions and grotesque prejudices. None of them will escape the ensuing carnage in this hilarious new comedy.
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After two boys duke it out on a playground, the parents of the "victim" invite the parents of the "bully" over to work... out their issues. A polite discussion of childrearing soon escalates into verbal warfare, with all four parents revealing their true colors. None of them will escape the carnage.
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The Film:
So not only is "Carnage" not opened up, it feels even more
intensely focused on its quartet of protagonists than the play was. The
tight close-ups of cinematographer Pawel Edelman, the way his camera
moves within the detailed living space designed by Dean Tavoularis, adds
to the let-me-out-of-here claustrophobia of the scenario co-written by
Reza and Polanski.
But it wasn't only the tight confines that likely attracted a filmmaker
often drawn to bleak, amoral themes. Reza's play is a high-style,
abrasive comedy of chaos and hostility that mercilessly skewers its
characters' pretensions and aspirations. This kind of material is never
going to warm anyone's heart, but done as well as it is here, this
pitiless verbal farce can provide bleak satisfactions of its own.
One name for which might be the God of Carnage, the title of Ms. Reza’s play when it came to Broadway in 2009 by way of Paris. The glib alluring notion that spins through 80 minutes of contentious dialogue is that beneath the surface of civilized behavior lurks an unquenchable animal impulse, a principle of aggression we labor in vain to suppress. As the Cowans and the Longstreets go through the motions of mature, reasonable conflict resolution, that old primal force asserts itself in various forms. These nice, complacent people turn angry, competitive, contemptuous and stupid. The spectator, gliding and feinting around the edges of the room with Mr. Polanski’s nimble camera, anticipates violence and perhaps hopes for it to erupt.
Excerpt from A.O. Scott at the NY Times located HERE
Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.
Carnage looks decent on Blu-ray from Sony. Visually there is not much diversity with 95% of the film shot inside an apartment. With the extras included the disc is dual-layered and the feature has a middling bitrate. There is no digital manipulation and the presentation doesn't require dynamic visuals - it is not that type of film. Skin tones and colors are true. There is no noise nor any overly dark scenes. The Blu-ray gives theatrically representational viewing experience.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
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Audio :
The DTS-HD Master 5.0 track at 2479 kbps supports the dialogue-driven film as well as can be expected. Everything is clean and consistent with no requirements for crisp separations of punchy bass. There is virtually no musical score (only in the opening and ending). There are optional subtitles and m
y Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.
Extras :
Extras include a 1-minute piece entitled Actor's Notes where the 4 main performers talk about their characters and roles. An Evening with John C. Reilly and Christopher Waltz runs almost 40-minutes and is a quaint, relaxed video with the two actors moderated by Jenelle Riley. On the Red Carpet has 3.5 minutes of sound-bytes before the premiere. There is also an HD Theatrical Trailer and the disc is BD-Live functional.
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BOTTOM LINE:
I watched Polanski's Carnage without any expectations. I
wasn't even aware that it has such strong comedic elements.
I thoroughly enjoyed the use of language although it can
appear somewhat contrived. The in-your-face themes of
selfishness and self-absorption are often hilarious. The
Blu-ray gave me a very entertaining hour and 20-minutes - the 'Evening
With Reilly and Waltz' was also good. There are plenty
of friends I would lend this to - who would also appreciate
it.
Gary Tooze
March 10th, 2012
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About the Reviewer: Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500 DVDs and have reviewed over 5000 myself. I appreciate my discussion Listserv for furthering my film education and inspiring me to continue running DVDBeaver. Plus a healthy thanks to those who donate and use our Amazon links.
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