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analysis w/e 14.5.11 |
DVDs out 9.5.11 |
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@ DVDfever Youtube |
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May 11 2011 
DVDfever co uk
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Director:
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Cast :
Throughout this film we hear the words of Leto, as Mark Chapman, talking about the 3 days he spent in New York City leading up to that fateful day, we see that he stayed at the local YMCA before moving into the Sheraton hotel because the former wasn't exactly 'a la carte' in terms of accommodation, and we learn of his obsession with the aforementioned book and its lead character, Holden Caulfield. We also see him befriended by Lindsay Lohan as another Beatles fan, Jude, who turns up regularly outside Lennon's apartment in the Dakota building, with her friend Jeri (Ursula Abbott). She encourages him to get his then-latest album, Double Fantasy, and we don't actually get to learn of Lohan's character's name until, while spending a few minutes with Chapman, Jeri calls out, "Hey, Jude, um, we're goin, right?". Hmm... sounds like a potential song title... For the role of the killer, Jared Leto reportedly put pints of Hagen Dazs ice cream in the microwave so he could drink them, and mixed them with olive oil and soy sauce "to get me bloated even more", and put on 67 pounds in total for the role. Also, the actor playing John Lennon is called... Mark Chapman(!) Oh, the irony! Chapter 27 makes for an easy watch, as it's only 80 minutes long even though it could use some trimming even from that short time, and it's good to see Lohan actually acting properly in a movie, rather than doing children's nonsense like that Herbie film or falling out of nightclubs without any knickers on. Trouble is, it's just not particularly interesting. We know he killed John Lennon but we don't know why, apart from the fact that he's a complete nutter with an obsession for Catcher in the Rye, as he narrates his tale in retrospect.
There are scant extras: just a Theatrical trailer (2:00) in 1.85:1 anamorphic but looking a bit washed out, and a Making Of (11:00), presented in 4:3 with on-set filming footage and soundbites from Leto, Lohan and director J.P. Schaefer about why they wanted to make the film. Well, most of it's in 4:3 although Leto and Schaefer's interview clips are in letterboxed 16:9 which seems a bit odd when Lohan's in 4:3. The film contains a mere 12 chapters, which isn't too bad given the short running time, but I always work on a rule of thumb of one every five minutes as a reasonable figure. Subtitles are available in English and the main menu is animated as well as being scored with a looped piece of music from the film. Before the menu even appears, though, we see trailers for PS. I Love You and The Good Night, but, Momentum, we are long past the age of the rental video where this practice was commonplace. You now have somewhere these should go: the extras menu. Please don't make them stick out like this.
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2008.
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B 37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier. PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
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Chapter 27's
title comes from the fact that there are 26 chapters to the acclaimed novel, Catcher in the Rye, which Mark Chapman
(played here by Jared Leto) was carrying at the time when he assassinated Beatles legend John Lennon in cold blood
by firing five gunshots into him on the 8th December, 1980. At the age of 8, it was the first time I had one of those
"You know where you were when you heard the news..." moments, like I'd always heard about in relation to JFK.
The film is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and looks very good throughout, although is a little soft on occasion.
However, there are no issues with artifacts. There's no DD5.1 soundtrack, just a straight-forward Dolby Surround one,
which is functional but not oustanding. However, the dialogue is clear.
