Hotel Babylon Series One (2006)

The BBC have finally released their first high definition disc titles in their home country, several months after they debuted Planet Earth across the Atlantic - good to see that UK tax-payers who fund their overseas expansion actually get some advantage (not!). Unfortunately the best new release for those that hadn't already purchased Planet Earth (which is superb) on import has been cancelled a mere week before its scheduled release. So if you were excited to see Bleak House advertised in full-page ads all over the home cinema/DVD/film magazines last month you're in for a disappointement. Yet another great way to spend the tax-payers money - glossy ads for titles you don't have - don'tcha think?!

Moving quickly on, we have four or five other high definition titles to look forward to. And, to their credit, the Beeb have released all the titles on both the available formats: HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.

That being said, the initial list of titles seems a bizarre one at first glance. Does anybody REALLY want to see the infantile mess that is Robin Hood Series 1 on high definition disc? And what about the subject of this review (its coming, honest!) trash-TV 'soap' Hotel Babylon?!!! Have the BBC completely lost their minds?

Well no, as it happens. I approached Hotel Babylon with some trepidation. I'm not too snobby to enjoy trash 'camp' TV, but learnt after getting drawn into the likes of Footballers' Wives, Bad Girls and Cutting It that plotlines soon become more and more ludicrous, and a sort of naffness unique to certain gay hairdresser establishments in the North ('Isn't the Eurovision Song Contest fab?!') quickly sets in. Watching several episodes of these shows back-to-back is a bit like watching The Jerry Springer Show - addictive, but you feel like you need to take a shower afterwards.

The TV advertising for Hotel Babylon, with its Z-list ex East-Enders actors did nothing to convince me that Hotel Babylon would be in any way different from these 'trash TV' shows. My bad!

There's still a high 'trash' quotient of course but, based on an insider's guide as to what really happens in five-star hotels (I don't think I'll EVER use a hotel glass to drink out of again!), this glossy soap delivers it with real panache and style. With individual scenes separated by consistently stunning high-definition helicopter shots of London during the day and night, the series really impresses on this high definition disc.

The scripts are, for the most part, well constructed, and the characters, with the sole exception of the obligatory super-bitch character fairly believable.

The real surprise is the main lead Max Beasley, someone I'd previously labelled as an out-of-work musician 'faking it' as an actor, who as Charlie delivers a performance that's subtle, sophisticated, real and charismatic - completely at odds with the rather ignorant, real-life persona heard and seen on chat shows (and the extra's on this three-disc set). Beasley plays the part of the newly promoted assistant manager, the series narrator, and slightly-naughty-but-essentially-good guy hero of the series. He's effectively the viewer's guide to the series and it's very bizarre that he only gets second-best billing, after the over-exposed Tamzin Outhwaite.

Outhwaite plays Charlie's boss, the general manager of the hotel of the title, and repeats her endless previous performances (ie she plays herself) on the few occasions the script actually gives her something to do. I can understand that she's more of a household name than Beasley, but even so she is effectively a rather minor character in the series so her name as the star of the show seems just plain wrong.

In the eight, hour-long (real hour, not American TV hours that equate to 40 minutes!) episodes we get some nice self-contained stories, with ongoing story arcs that add character depth for most of the four or five main characters. The best scenes are invariably those taken directly from the book, with elaborate little cameos to illustrate each point. The series has had a lot of money spent on it and it shows, particularly in these little 'hotel life' recreation scenes, although the 360 degree fast spin-round effect soon gets tiring, particularly if you've already tired of it in the likes of Smokin' Aces.

Alas the series does, on a couple of occasion, feature ridiculous character reversals that just wouldn't happen in real life, usually just to up the 'trash' or 'pantomime' level of the plot - none of which is necessary as the series has enough strong characters and plot points to hold the viewer's attention throughout.

The BBC have done a great job on the high definition transfer of the show, and the series is a real visual treat for the eyes - a long, long way from the East-Enders production values I was expecting. There's the expected end-of-series cliff-hanger cop-out (Didn't Dallas do all this many, many years ago) but at least give the audience some sense of closure instead of leaving everything hanging in the balance.

The extra's are good value too, if far too gushing in places. I don't know if it was intended that the producer and director gush about how beautiful Outhwaite is for comedic effect whenever she looks particularly haggard or 'mutton dressed as lamb', but it soon wore thin. Luckily, although the commentary track is far too self-congratulatory and gushing, the other 'on the set' featurettes and cast interviews do make up for this. All-in-all, a surprisingly good high definition presentation of a rather good TV series for the masses.

I'm not convinced it's a purchase, but this one's definitely worth a rental, and the BBC appear to have got off to a good start with their high-definition releases. Those who thought that high definition was only about cinema are going to get a shock when they start looking at the TV series making their way onto the format, and Hotel Babylon is up there with the best of them. Recommended!

Days of Glory (2006)

There aren't many films that can bring into effect a change in the law, but Days of Glory (released under the title of Indigènes, in its native France) did just that. Focusing on the way African Moslem soldiers were treated very much as second class citizens during the Second World War, President Chirac's wife was so moved by the film that her husband changed French law to ensure that soldiers from former colonies who'd fought to defend France received the same pension rights as their native French counterparts.

Although the film has ultimately righted an injustice with this change in law, the film-makers make it clear there are still some changes that need to be made, pointing out parallel scenarios elsewhere in the world, including the lack of rights of the Ghurka's who sacrificed everything to help Britain out in past World Wars.

The story is not a pretty one, but is beautifully told in this extraordinary film, which was rightly nominated for a 'Best Foreign Language Film' oscar at this year's Academy Awards.

Unfortunately, for this viewer, the key message of the film was somewhat diluted, by what appears to be somewhat exaggerated saber-rattling, as evidenced in the extra's. As the film becomes more successful the story of how many African soldiers were affected gets more and more exaggerated. Initially we're told that 200,000 Moslem soldiers fought for France, then suddenly the number becomes 230,000 and by the time we get to a Q & A with the director, as recorded for Al Jazeera TV, the number has miraculously leapt to 500,000! Such propaganda can only dilute and lessen the impact of the important message which the film has to impart.

The film follows four soldiers making their way from Algeria, through Italy and France to Alsace between 1943 and 1945.

Said (Jamel Debbouze, last seen in the under-rated Angel-A) is a naive, poor Moslem who works as an orderly for a weary sergeant, Martinez (Bernard Blancan). Martinez is a pied noir who tries to speak up for his Arab troops, but seems to lack initiative on too many occasions, seemingly because he appears to be full of self-loathing for his own mixed parentage and doesn't want to rock the boat with his superiors.

Abdelkadar (Sami Bouaijila) has no such fear of his superiors. An excellent sniper, he fights injustice wherever he sees it and is keen to get promotion, not for reasons of blind ambition, but so that he can be seen to be equal to the French soldiers he fights alongside.

The movie has already drawn critical comparisons to Saving Private Ryan, primarily because of its identikit ending. Thankfully Days of Glory lacks the saccharine sentimentality that Spielberg lays on with a trowel at various points throughout that earlier, admittedly impressive, film. Here, the War set-pieces, whilst impressive, are not in the same league as Spielberg's earlier opus, and the gore is thankfully less in-your-face, but this is, I think, the better film.

The narrative thread is relatively loose, with the emphasis being on anecdotal scenes that stay in the mind long after the film is over: The meal menu which meant that only native French soldiers could have tomatoes with their lunch; the freezing feet of those Arab soldiers who wore sandals, not realising they'd have to march through snow; the innovative use of German propaganda leaflets dropped for Moslem soldiers, to fix holes in foot ware; the looters who refuse to rob a Church alms box because, on seeing a statue of Jesus on the cross, realise that it would be wrong to steal from an enemy's God when that God has clearly suffered pain.

Director Rachid Boucharab rights a terrible injustice with this powerful, moving tale of friendship and loyalty at a time when the French promise of liberty, equality and fraternity for the African soldiers proved extremely hollow. The two-hour film has an epic feel which, thanks to a superb, if largely unknown, cast delivers a powerful punch that pulls at the heart strings in all the right places.

The picture quality on this high definition Blu Ray disc, is quite simply stunning and shows that when the format actually tries to introduce quality it can easily be the equal of HD-DVD. The sound is equally impressive, and unusually for a Fox title this appears to be a region-free release, possibly because it's been released in Europe and not the USA, as of the time of writing.

The extra's are, unfortunately, presented in non-anamorphic standard definition, but include a 'warts and all' hour long Making of documentary that was made for a French television station. The disc also features a 10 minute introduction to the film from director, Rachid Boucharab, a 'UK Exclusive' copy of am Audience Q & A with the director and writer, filmed for Al Jazeera television, clocking in at just over 15 minutes, and an on-screen Historical Background essay which documents the research that was carried out before work was started on the film.

Films with subtitles always struggle with British audiences, but to dismiss this minor masterpiece based solely on the fact that it is in a foreign language, would be a minor crime. It's a film that needs to be seen by everyone, with its plea for tolerance and understanding all the more relevant given the current situation in Iraq.

Days of Glory, which is also available on standard DVD, is a great advert for the high definition Blu-Ray format, and has sufficient depth to pay repeated viewings. As such it's a recommended purchase over a rental, and comes highly recommended.

Where are the reviews?

A three month contract in Ireland means I don't have access to my home theatre system or indeed the time to publish the full reviews this blog was set up to carry. However occasional "mini reviews" are appearing over on my personal blog in the meantime.

Normal service will hopefully be resumed in late September 2007 when fuller reviews will be published here to tie in with the launch of the new Shiny Discs web site.

What? No Reviews?! (Yet!)

I love HD-DVD, and I hate Sony. Sony are the most arrogant company I've ever had any dealings with, which is one reason to hate them. The fact that they endlessly produce over-priced, over-hyped goods that look great but break down the second the warranty expires is another. They appear to use the public as if they were their R&D department, and the public are the ones who end up paying the cost of Sony's expensive research and development which often leads to a dead-end product. They invented Blu-Ray, and persuaded other companies on board leaving just Universal, Microsoft and Toshiba fighting the HD-DVD corner that had originally had far more supporters and made far less promises but actually delivered on all its promises (admittedly LG have since jumped on board, with rumours that others will follow, but it's too little too late - the marketing war has been won by Sony supporters like Pioneer, Panasonic, Fox and Disney).

The first Blu-Ray titles were a joke, and the quality of the transfers was an insult to high-definition, with the high pricing being so outrageous it was farcical. But if the first discs were bad, the players were even worse. Over a thousand pounds for a very basic player. And for that you get clunky, buggy, malfunctioning hardware written to a specification that's not due to be finalised until June 2007. To quote hardware manufacturer Meridan (NOT an HD-DVD supporter) 'Anybody who buys a Blu-Ray player before June is buying a beta product' - and paying a ridiculously high price for it too!

But it doesn't take an idiot to realise that the Blu-Ray movie selection is already much improved in 2007 over HD-DVD, or that only Universal are exclusive to HD-DVD, while Fox and Disney are exclusive to Blu-Ray. Too many good films are being released on Blu-Ray to be ignored by any film fan, and Universal have not stepped up to the mark on HD-DVD, despite the advantages (much cheaper production costs for disks and players which have the same picture quality as Blu-Ray) that format offers. In spite of HD-DVD's much earlier launch the companies involved have failed to follow through and this week marks the first week there hasn't been even a single title released on HD-DVD (although production ramps up again next week) while Blu-Ray plays the marketing game of getting all the press column inches, and actually getting titles out on shelves.

Hence this blog! Because, despite owning over 100 HD-DVD disks and loving the format, I have succumbed to the Sony monster and ordered a PS3 so that I can watch good movies in high definition that I can't watch on HD-DVD. I am assuaging my not insignificant guilt with the knowledge that Sony apparently lose money on each unit sold. Did I already say that I hate Sony?

I wish Blu-Ray would die, really I do, and HD-DVD is my format of choice. When a title's available on both formats I go straight to the HD-DVD version. But I'm too impatient to wait for HD-DVD to get its act together on more titles, even when a film company is 'exclusive' to HD-DVD. The recent move to expensive 'combo-only' format for HD-DVD releases is the final nail in the coffin for me. I can't play Region 1 discs, so why would I want to pay more money for a 'standard' picture and inferior physical format just because some moron at a marketing company thinks it's a good idea? Plus I have to admit that the Blu-Ray camp are doing a far better job of releasing films day and date (at least in the States) with the standard DVD release than HD-DVD's supporters who insult us by giving us stupid 'combo' formats and then charging us a premium surcharge for having done so. I feel that money spent on standard DVDs today is money thrown away when high definition format versions are available, so I've made the switch to Blu-Ray to avoid buying into the inferior 'standard definition' DVD format, where there's a choice available.

HD-DVD is a region free format. Blu-Ray officially isn't - which is ridiculous and one reason nobody should buy a Blu-Ray player over an HD-DVD one. However many of the early Blu-Ray titles appear to be region free while they work out the logistics of implementing region-specific discs, and this site is doing a pretty good job of identifying which US Blu-Ray disks can be safely purchased to play on a UK player, so I'll be buying some Blu-Ray discs and reviewing them over the next few months, in much the same way I've been reviewing standard DVD discs on my UK DVD Review blog and HD-DVDs on my HD-DVD Review Blog.

The PS3 player hasn't been released in the UK yet, but advance reviews of the US version indicate it's the best Blu-Ray player on the market (not a difficult thing to achieve), and it's significantly less than the £1000 asking price of the other Blu-Ray players. So I've taken the plunge. Expect reviews to start appearing here shortly after its UK release on 23rd March.