Herb Kane
Screenwriter
- Joined
- May 7, 2001
- Messages
- 1,342
New York Minute
Studio: Warner Brothers
Year: 2004
Rated: PG
Film Length: 91 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Enhanced Widescreen
Audio: DD 5.1
Color/B&W: Color
Languages: English & French
Subtitles: English, French & Spanish
MSRP: $27.95
Package: Single disc/Keepcase
The Feature:
Twin sisters Jane Ryan (played by Ashley Olsen) and Roxy Ryan (played by Mary-Kate Olsen) are about as opposite as you can get. Jane is an honor role student and in line for the prestigious McGill award that will allow her to study at Oxford University taking her far away from her troublesome twin. Roxy is a music loving, drum playing, habitual truant who has skipping school down to an art. For almost four years now Roxy has been outsmarting truant officer Lomax (played by Eugene Levy) who has made it his mission to find and arrest her. Lomax dreams of becoming a police officer and believes that bringing down Roxy is his ticket onto the force.
In order to win the McGill award Jane must present a speech at Columbia University in New York and the only thing that could stop her is her sister trying to help her. Roxy has decided to ditch school once again and head to New York to a video shoot for the rock group Simple Plan. After Roxy gets the sisters thrown off the New York bound train, a man slips a microchip into her purse unbeknownst to her. Needing to get to New York and with no other train scheduled, the sisters accept a ride by a limo driver who knows Roxy has the microchip and wants it back. He kidnaps the sisters, locking them in the limo, but the girls escape through the sunroof and the foot chase is on. Only one problem, Jane has left behind her daily planner in the limo and it contains her speech. To make matters worse, Lomax has followed Roxy to New York and is set on bringing her back.
Along the way each twin meets a hunky guy who offers help in their own way, a small dog with a hidden secret, and a man who unwittingly keeps crossing paths with the twins. The girls cover a lot of territory in New York in a short time, managing to get to the video shoot and even retrieve Jane’s daily planner. Through their travels, they discover that they’re not so different and that perhaps, just perhaps, a sister can be the best friend of all.
Once the disc is inserted, we get several trailers for upcoming Warner releases such as The Polar Express, Scooby Doo 2 – Monsters Unleashed, A Cinderella Story as well as a couple of books the sisters are flogging. The 4 minute promo sequence is easily skipable.
The Feature: 2/5
:star::star:
Video:
Murphy's Law... wouldn't you know it, one of the best WB transfers of the year finds itself attached to a movie featuring the Olsen twins... but it is superb and I have very few negative things to say about this presentation. The near perfect picture is shown in its OAR of 1.85:1 and is widescreen enhanced.
Colors were absolutely gorgeous, vibrant and nicely saturated. Blacks were inky and whites just couldn't be any more crisp and clean. Skin colors always looked real and accurate. Contrast and shadow detail was picture perfect.
The level of image detail was outstanding, almost never even slightly soft, save for a few wider shots – no big deal. There was no sign of any film grain whatsoever and the picture had a beautiful look of depth and dimensionality.
As you'd expect, the print was immaculate and free of any blemishes or other distractions - absolutely pristine. There were no issues relating to light or shimmer problems. In fact, my only reason for not allotting a perfect score to this transfer was a minute amount of edge enhancement (most of the film takes place in the sunny outdoors) and a slight amount (and I mean slight) of compression artifacting.
Absoloute gorgeous...!!
WARNING: A FULLSCREEN version also exists.
Video: 4.5/5
:star::star::star::star:1/2
Audio:
Presented in DD 5.1, this track does a pretty good job and teeters on the cusp of being aggressive. The entire track is clean and free of any distracting noise or hiss, as one would expect for such a new film.
Dialogue was always exceptionally bold and clear. There was quite a bit of music present to accompany this film as never found itself in the way. The dynamic range was better than average, although much of the soundstage took place up front.
The surrounds were employed effectively albeit slightly on the anemic side and your sub will appreciate a slight workout with some .1 info.
A better track than you might expect for a teen flick.
Audio: 4/5
:star::star::star::star:
Special Features:
There are several lightweight features that are present to complement this tween flick starting with:
[*] Bloopers which is a collection of out-takes of Mary-Kate and Ashley as well as other cast members. As you might expect, Levy is hilarious. Duration 3:05 minutes.
[*] Also included are two Alternate Endings. The two alternate endings have been added however, there's no question they chose the right one. Duration 5:03 minutes.
[*] In A New York Minute is a behind-the-scenes featurette which looks at the making-of the movie with commentary by the Olsen twins who co-produced the film. There are also insights provided by Director Dennie Gordon on choosing the cast as well as her recollections of working with the Olsen twins. Duration 14:15 minutes.
[*] Mary-Kate and Ashley's Behind-The-Scenes Slide Show featuring their personal photo albums - several photos, both personal shots as well as production stills are shown accompanied by music from Simple Plan. Duration 3:04 minutes.
[*] Lastly, the Theatrical Trailer is included and as expected, it is in perfect condition. Duration 2:07 minutes.
Special Features: 2.5/5
:star::star:1/2
**Special Features rated for the quality of supplements, not the quantity**
Final Thoughts:
Just to clarify, New York Minute lasted in theaters for about... a New York minute - and there's a reason for that, but hey, I'm willing to take one for the team every now and then. Truth be told, I have two young boys (7 and 9 years) and admittedly, they liked it. And that's pretty much where the recommendation ends, but in this case, isn't that all that matters...? Not that it matters to these marketing geniuses, but if the twins are to be taken even remotely serious, they’ll have to do a better job at selecting their material. That’s not to say this is a terrible film as it makes for a somewhat entertaining 91 minutes, but I’m not sure how long they can ride the wave for similar outputted material... (sadly, probably longer than I could ever imagine…).
Even though the supplemental material is fluff, the presentation is typical of most new Warner releases - near perfect. If you're littler ones are fans of the Olsen twins, you just may want to check this one out, but a rental should suffice. Just don’t say you weren’t warned…
Overall Rating: 2.5/5 (not an average)
:star::star:1/2
Release Date: August 17th, 2004
