Home Theater: Deadwood, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

By Bob Grimm

HBO's 'Deadwood' finally on #$*! DVD

Deadwood: The Complete First Season

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Sunday nights are usually when I do my writing, but I do take breaks for HBO's "Sopranos" and "Da Ali G Show." One particular night, I left the TV on in the living room and went into the study to do some writing. While typing, I heard the most ungodly string of profanity drifting in from the living room, and figured HBO was showing another "Sopranos" episode. I went and hunkered down in front of the TV for what I thought would be more adventures from Tony and the gang, and discovered that the curse words were coming from some old Western show.

I love this show! Based somewhat on real history, "Deadwood" tells the story of a former marshal (Timothy Olyphant) who goes to the lawless town of the show's title to open a hardware store and dodge f-bombs. Ian McShane, who kicked major ass as Judas in Jesus of Nazareth, won a Golden Globe a few weeks ago for playing the town's saloon owner and proprietor of Deadwood's most foul mouth. What he does to a prostitute in the show's first episode is the stuff of nightmares.

The show acknowledges a few of the western legends of 1876, including Wild Bill Hickok (Keith Carradine) who curses enough to make Chris Rock blush. This show looks great, and producer/writer David Milch has come up with what could be modern entertainment's the most unique and unsparingly nasty take on what the Wild West might've been like.

Special features: Yes it's a TV show, and yes this package came out relatively quickly. No matter, because HBO has given the show a deluxe boxed set treatment, and it's quite nice. Various commentaries from Milch and cast members are peppered throughout the season. Best features are the documentaries, one of which deals exclusively with Milch's decision to make the show so profane.

Sky Captain still fails to fly

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

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I can commend writer/director Kerry Conran for working tirelessly like a crazy man and getting his dream film to the screen. I can compliment him on his vision and his ability to make it come to fruition. I also reserve the right to say that Sky Captain is one boring-ass movie, and I believe I will exercise that right.

Shot entirely in front of blue screens utilizing computer animation, the film looks pretty cool for about 10 minutes. Then the sad reality that the script is a dud kicks in, and when the story fails to engage, you find yourself looking harder at the technical achievements. Overall, the film struck me as a glorified weather report, with cold fronts and cloud masses replaced by bland vintage robots and airplanes.

It's pretty obvious that the actors are surrounded by fakery, and are perhaps even a little bit tired of the process. Jude Law, who was in just about every movie produced last year, is okay as the hero, but just okay. Gwyneth Paltrow looks pretty cool in those retro outfits, but her performance is rather droll. Most importantly, the film doesn't look that great. It's dark and grainy, with little going on visually to distinguish it as anything unique.

I admire Conran's ambition and tenacity, but his movie made me sleepy. I put this one right next to The Polar Express as examples of technological breakthrough not necessarily amounting to quality entertainment.

Special features: The package contains the original short that got the big studio to pony up a whole lot of dough for the feature film. Some commentaries wax poetic on how hard it was to make the film, and documentaries galore fill the two-disc set to make fans hop with glee. Detractors, however, have no need for any of this and should just rent Star Wars. Now that's a real movie!