Studio and Year: Fox 2000 Pictures- 2011
MPAA Rating: G
Feature running time: 109 minutes
Genre: Drama / Comedy
Disc Format: BD-50
Encoding: AVC (MPEG-4)
Video Aspect: 1.85:1
Resolution: 1080p/24
Audio Format(s): English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, French/Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Starring: Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester, Katie Cassidy
Directed by: Thomas Bezucha
Music by: Various Artists
Written by: Thomas Bezucha, April Blair, Maria Maggenti, Kelly Bowe, Jules Bass
Region Code: A
Blu-ray Disc release Date: October 18, 2011
[singlepic id=37 w=252 h=316 float=left]Synopsis (courtesy of imdb.com):
A young woman, her uptight step sister and her best friend use their savings for a long anticipated dream trip to Paris, which turns out to be a big disappointment. When they decide to take a break from their lousy tour and duck into the lobby of a luxury hotel, one of them is mistaken for a spoiled British heiress. Before they get the chance to reveal their true identities they are wrapped up in misadventures during a vacation to Monte Carlo instead.
My Take:
Well, let’s start by saying that I know what I’m getting into before reviewing this movie. It’s a simple-premise movie with one implausible scene after another implausible scene. The overall story is cute, a good fare for the target demographic and Selena Gomez fans alike.
What I wasn’t prepared for is the weird colour scheme of overly warm palette with weirdly boosted secondary colours. A movie that should at least be good as a mini-travelogue is tarnished with the choice of colour timing. Picture is also somewhat un-sharp and looking low-budget. Which is a pity since the movie is filled with potential to be glamorous and eye-candy for videophiles.
Sound design is actually pretty good although surround channel opportunities have been wasted.
Overall, this is a case of “could’ve, would’ve”. It could’ve been a gem and would’ve been if just the director of photography can act more professionally (heck, the DP didn’t even bother using proper Polarizer or ND filters when needed), or if Selena Gomez can even bother trying to study the British accent with any care whatsoever, or if the sound design have been designed more professionally, or… Sigh… The list goes on 🙁
All in all, however, the movie still have its merits regardless the insurmountable of flaws.
Equipment used for this review:
Anthem MRX-700 Receiver
DSPeaker Anti-Mode 8033s IIR Subwoofer EQ
Grandviewscreen 96” 21:9 matte-white 1.0-gain screen
PSB Century 300i (front and surround speakers)
PSB Image C5 (centre speaker)
PSB Subseries 300 (subwoofer)
Panasonic PT-AE4000U projector
Pioneer BDP-LX55 BD player
Ultralink Ambiance MKII speaker wires
Viewing room is as per THX and SMPTE recommendation with 45-degree Field of View
Audio: 6/10
Video: 6/10 (due to production faults, not the fault of the disc)
Storyline: 5/10