fly

The Fly (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)
$19.98
No doubt, you've heard that classic line before in other films. Well, this is the legendary sci-fi/horror film they are referencing every time they utter those menacing words. Believe it or not, 1986's David Cronenberg film, "The Fly", is both a masterpiece and a remake at the same time, and here's the story:

Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) is a scientist working on a world-changing invention. He has developed a working teleportation system! With two intimidating telepods connected to a high-tech computer, Seth can send objects from one pod to the other by teleportation, but his crux is the human issue. Flesh in general, actually, which only confuses the computer thus far. Enter journalist Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis), who gets involved with both Brundle's invention story and Brundle himself. It's this love story between Seth and Veronica that is the strength of the picture, no small part being the unwelcome third party of Veronica's ex-boyfriend/boss, the insufferable Stathis Borans (John Getz). However, the core of the film is Brundle's transformation story, an allegory for aging, disease, and death. You see, as Seth and Veronica's relationship blooms, his project's development seemingly benefiting, a wrench is thrown into the gears in the form of a tiny insect. An otherwise harmless housefly just happens to fly into one of Seth's telepods as he decides to test it out on himself, and the confused computer ends up merging the two, sending Seth into a downward spiral of physical and mental decay and distortion that at times is more than a little difficult to watch. And you can imagine how hard it must be for Veronica, who soon discovers she is carrying Seth's potentially affected offspring.

Remakes and sequels are rampant these days, with the big Hollywood studios only wanting to take a chance on films that should guarantee some solid returns, and a lot of film fans seem to be more than a little put out about it. Granted, they can feel very uninspired, and many such films, especially the remakes, aren't worth the price of a ticket when you could probably own the usually superior originals for just as much. However, there probably aren't many better cases for the "remake" than Cronenberg's take on "The Fly". The first film version came out in 1958 and spawned a couple of sequels. It definitely had its cheese factor, but myself and many others still enjoy it today. It was bizarre, but very entertaining (as the bizarre often is). The remake takes the same basic premise of a scientist getting into his teleportation pod with an unnoticed fly and coming out in a bad way for it. However, at the same time, it is so very different and adds so much to the story. It's so much more than just an update. As I mentioned before, and as the director points out often in his commentary on this blu-ray disc, the film is largely two things: A tragic love story and an allegory of aging and death. In fact, it wasn't intended so much to be about disease, but the heightened fear of the AIDS virus at the time of the film's release certainly made it seem that way, especially considering the make-up effects used on Jeff Goldblum throughout that did take disease into account as an inspiration. Anyway, this combined romance story and personal disintegration story is so masterfully presented in "The Fly" that it is without a doubt one of the most unforgettable films you'll ever watch! The Oscar winning effects are high on the gross-out meter, but nothing about this film is over-the-top (deleted scenes aside), unless you count a very disturbing childbirth dream sequence. The troubling thing about The Fly is just how realistic it all is, and it IS downright horrifying. Actually, if I had one gripe about this film, it's that I do wish the final incarnation of Brundlefly looked a wee bit more like a fly, though Cronenberg insists that he wanted it to keep the ability to convey emotion. I still think body language could have said enough and Seth should have turned out even more fly-like, but it doesn't affect the movie's excellence and it remains a masterpiece to me.

The performances in "The Fly" (the cast is very small) are outstanding. Of course, Jeff Goldblum always is a treat to watch. The writing at times is sheer poetry. The music is excellent and I already mentioned the Academy honored effects. This is one of those sci-fi/horror films that really does the genre a service by going all the way as a work of storytelling art. The Blu-Ray is no slouch either. The film looks and sounds better than ever and there is a wealth of bonus features, including a very lengthy making-of featurette and a director commentary. There are also galleries, a fly swatting game, and pop up trivia, though the pop up trivia isn't really worthwhile if you listen to the commentary and watch the making-of. Trailers, at least one Easter Egg, and other bonus features are also included. I didn't really understand the Personal Scene Selections feature or how it was different from the regular Scene Selection. Over all though, a very impressive and highly affordable Blu-Ray release I definitely recommend. Sci-Fi horror fan or not, if you are trying to build a genre transcending library of the best films ever, you've got to have a space somewhere for Cronenberg's "The Fly".

FLY Fusion��� Notebooks (Colors May Vary)
$9.99
This is a wonderful product to learn and record notes from class, write essays to download to computer for editing.

Sky & Country
$17.98
Ir is very hard to say anything more than what was already stated in previous reviews but sometimes you just need to write something to say how much you liked an album and that gives you a reason to write a review. Even if I repeat what the other reviewers said it is a fantastic record, with fantastic musicians playing at their best. Mark Turner is incredible here even much better than in the 2004 release of FLY, everything seems more balanced, of course the ECM contributed to the great sound but it is more than that: it is only after listening to it several times and even more that you realize the importance of this recording, there is always more to discover, more to be attentive to... The coherence of the trio is just masterful. Highly recommended!
Another incredible performance of Mark Turner was on the Delbecq Unit release of 2004 called "Phonetics". Check it out, it is also a fantastic record.

Fly
$0.99