Masked and Anonymous (2003)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	Dolby Digital Trailer-Rain Theatrical Trailer
Rating
Year Of Production	2003
Running Time	101:54
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Larry Charles
Studio Distributor	Spitfire Pictures Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Jeff Bridges Penélope Cruz Bob Dylan John Goodman Jessica Lange Luke Wilson Angela Bassett Steven Bauer Bruce Dern Ed Harris Val Kilmer Cheech Marin Chris Penn
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$39.95	Music	Bob Dylan

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	Unknown	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

    Do you like Bob Dylan's music? If so, this movie may interest you. It's not actually about Bob Dylan, but in some ways it is. Sound confusing? Well, that should get you ready for this film. As Bob Dylan's character says at the end of the film "I stopped trying to figure everything out a long time ago".

    This film seems to be the definition of the term 'vanity project' and I can only assume that somebody wanted to make a film involving Bob Dylan and got a lot of his fans together to do it. This project was directed by Larry Charles, one of the writers and producers of Seinfeld although I would suggest you don't read anything into that link, as it bears no relation to Seinfeld at all. It was written by Charles and Bob Dylan under the assumed names of Sergei Petrov (Dylan) & Rene Fontaine (Charles). The cast includes many big name actors such as Jeff Bridges, Jessica Lange, John Goodman and Penelope Cruz along with many cameos.

    The film is set in a future America, ruled by a dictator (who is dying) and torn apart by civil war. An aging legendary rocker, Jack Fate (Bob Dylan) is sprung from jail to play a benefit concert to be shown on 'The Network' which is government controlled. The concert is being organised by Uncle Sweetheart (John Goodman) and Nina Veronica (Jessica Lange). Uncle Sweetheart owes some hoodlums a lot of money and he hopes to skim from the concert to pay them back. A disillusioned reporter, Tom Friend (Jeff Bridges) is assigned by The Editor (Bruce Dern) to cover the concert. He is accompanied by his Metallica loving but very religious girlfriend, Pagan Lace (Penelope Cruz). Other characters/cameos include Bobby Cupid, a bartender and friend of Jack Fate (Luke Wilson), the president's mistress (Angela Bassett), the ghost of a black & white minstrel (Ed Harris), an animal wrangler and philosophical weirdo (Val Kilmer), a young and confused soldier (Giovanni Ribisi), the guy who plans to take over when the president dies, Edmund (Mickey Rourke) and 2 roadies (Chris Penn & Christian Slater).

    This film is either

• A) An intricate and searing satirical expose of what's wrong with America, told by using Bob Dylan's music, or
• B) A vanity project which showcases Bob Dylan's music but really doesn't make a lot of sense, or
• C) A large pile of crap that happens to be full of major Hollywood stars.

    I have decided to go for option B) , however, C) was certainly in the running and was very unlucky to miss out in a close contest. A) dropped away very quickly and had to retire hurt.

Video

    The video quality is excellent.

    The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is probably the original aspect ratio or close to it.

    The picture was clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise. Shadow detail was excellent. There was some very light grain from time to time.

    The colour was very good throughout with all colours being well saturated and free from colour bleeding.

    There were no noticeable artefacts.

    There are subtitles in English for the hearing impaired which are clear, easy to read and very close to the spoken (or sung) word.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio quality is very good.

    This DVD contains one audio option, a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack encoded at 448 Kb/s.

    Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there were no audio sync issues.

    The music used is almost entirely written by Bob Dylan and includes live recordings which form part of the film and also many covers of his songs both in English and foreign languages. The music comes across very well on this transfer and sounds excellent. Bob's backing band in the film includes 1980's one hit wonder Charlie Sexton.

    The surround speakers are used constantly during the soundtrack, both for the music and for directional effects.

    The subwoofer was used regularly to support the music and for effects such as thunder.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu includes a scene selection function and the ability to turn the subtitles on and off.

Theatrical Trailer (2:52)

    The trailer is just as enigmatic as the film and includes Bob Dylan's music.

    The Region 4 version of this disc misses out on;

• Commentary by Writer/Director Larry Charles
• 5 Deleted Scenes
• 15 minute Making of Featurette.

    The Region 1 version of this disc misses out on;

• Nothing

   Based upon the above, the Region 1 wins, if you really want to own this film.

    The video quality is excellent.

    The audio quality is very good.

    The disc has no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall