Sandler, Stimpy and Mr. Squarepants on UMD

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After releasing six UMD (Universal Media Disc) titles in August to mark the studio's official support of Sony's new Playstation Portable (PSP) media format, Paramount is back in September with three more releases, "The Longest Yard (2005)", "The Ren & Stimpy Show: Volume 1" and "Spongebob Squarepants: The 1st Season (Volume 1)". Here are some of my thoughts on all three releases:

The Longest Yard (2005)
Even after watching Adam Sandler tough it out as maniacal 31-year old waterboy-turned-college football star, Bobby Boucher in the 1998 comedy "The Waterboy", I'm still having trouble picturing a funnyman like Sandler in the role of a macho football player, especially in the recent remake of "The Longest Yard". In a role made famous by Burt Reynolds (admittedly a guy's guy back in the '70s), Sandler finds himself with big cleats and even bigger shoulder pads to fill. Undoubtedly, this remake is a competent and fast-paced comedy in the tradition of many of Sandler's other works. It's just that it fails to capture the original's dramatic moments and its accidental comedy, preferring to substitute almost everything from the original with one gag after another--which is not to say that that is a bad thing.

As it stands, this new film should not be described as a remake but rather a re-imagining of the 1974 film. Using raw comedy to specifically market the film to a contemporary audience that grew up watching Sandler but who may not know of Reynold's original, "The Longest Yard" succeeds on its own terms. It is when compared to the original that the sharp differences between the two begin to show. But no matter what, the audience that would go see this show is the same one who went to "The Waterboy", "The Wedding Singer" and "Happy Gilmore". By recruiting sharp-tongued Chris Rock to do what he does best (spew as many denigrating jokes as humanly possible) and in a blatantly shameless example of stunt casting, convincing Reynolds to return to star as Coach Scarborough, this film manages to mix different flavors--something old and something new--to create a yummy recipe that would leave you tickled, if not laughing most of the way through. Like many of Sandler's other movies, logic in this film does not factor into the story as much as, say, trying to generate laughter at every turn. On that level, "The Longest Yard" is able to push through, after much difficulty, to barely complete a touchdown.

In what proves to be an alarming trend for Paramount's UMD releases, movies that are originally displayed in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 are horrifyingly reframed to 1.78:1, in order to fit precisely onto the PSP's LCD screen's dimensions. Although I can sympathize with the fact that Paramount is trying to use as much screen real estate as possible on this tiny portable, it still doesn't detract from the fact that altering a film's OAR is always a no-no in my books. While the video transfer looks clean, the images are actually slightly grainy and in some instances quite dark. This is disappointing considering the fact that I've seen mostly stellar video transfers in all of the UMD releases that I've reviewed so far. The 2-channel English language audio is clear, with optional English subtitles, no chapter selections and no bonus material on this UMD.

UMD Value: 6

The Ren & Stimpy Show: Volume 1
Series creator John K. definitely hit a raw nerve with his animated TV hit series, "The Ren & Stimpy Show". The majority of people who actually saw it on television loved it while the network (Nickelodeon) that paid for and broadcast the show, essentially cowered in perpetual anticipation of a lawsuit. In what has become common lore among the show's rabid fan base, the fight over creative control of the show, between the talented artists at Spumco and the network executives who wanted some of the material that has appeared on the show toned down, led to the departure of John K. and many of the talented people at Spumco after just two seasons. The series essentially went downhill after that and it never recovered that passionate level of disgusting potty humor and lunacy that the show was so famous for.

Early this year, Paramount released a 3-DVD set that contained all the 32 episodes from the show's first two seasons (what I would like to call the golden years). For this UMD release, Paramount has put together only the first 10 episodes of the show. In future, Paramount should consider releasing multi-UMD packages for season-long TV series. Or better yet, let fans vote on their favorite episodes and then put the vote winners on a "Best of" compilation.
The ten episodes on this UMD are:
"Stimpy's Big Day", "The Big Shot", "Robin Hoek", "Nurse Stimpy", "Space Madness", "The Boy Who Cried Rat", "Fire Dogs", "The Littlest Giant", "Marooned" and "Untamed World".

These episodes are all displayed in their original broadcast ratio of 1.33:1 (fullscreen). If I remember correctly, the video transfer from the DVD release suffered slightly from the presence of dirt and scratches. Amazingly, I only noticed very, very few instances of this problem on this UMD. An improvement? Maybe, but I don't really think Paramount would go out of their way to clean up the video just for this UMD release. For all I know, this could all just be in my tired mind! Anyway, the colors are, again similar to the DVD, slightly muted and not as bright as I would have liked them to be. There is an option to play all of the episodes in one go or you can also pick and choose which of the ten episodes that you would like to watch individually.

UMD Value: 6

Spongebob Squarepants: The 1st Season (Volume 1)
Whether or not you are a parent, there is no way you could avoid coming into contact with a cute yellow sponge named Spongebob Squarepants, the beloved Nickelodeon animated character that has grown into a marketing behemoth worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Created by Stephen Hillenburg, a former marine biologist, Spongebob Squarepants is a character that extols the virtues of its origins--the simplicity and innocence of a regular kitchen sponge, which brings forth the character's child-like demeanor so well without coming across as dumbed down. Spongebob, who is square in more ways than one, conveys a Jerry Lewis-like zaniness that goes down very well with both its intended younger audience as well as parents.

Paramount has released plenty of "Spongebob Squarepants" episodes on DVD, starting with single disc collections and more recently, releasing an entire season of the show on a multi-DVD set. Seeing how popular the show is, it is only a matter of time before our spongy friend gets his own UMD title. This UMD consists of ten funny episodes taken from the show's first season.
They are:
"Reef Blower", "Tea at the Treedome", "Bubblestand", "Ripped Pants", "Jellyfishing", "Plankton!", "Naughty Nautical Neighbors", "Boating School", "Pizza Delivery" and "Home Sweet Pineapple".

Video-wise, the episodes on this UMD look incredible. The fullscreen (4:3) images contain beautifully-reproduced colors that are vibrant and bright and the transfer is as clean as a whistle. The 2-channel English audio is very clear and you also get optional English subtitles. There is a "Play All" function and also the option to watch an episode individually. As for any bonus material, there is one--kind of. Called "Credits", it plays the ending credits for all the episodes continuously. Really, it does! This feature is in a word, weird, as I do not see any reason why anybody would want to watch the ending credits, unless just to listen to the whimsical ending theme song.

UMD Value: 6

Final Analysis:
The only issue that I have with Paramount's UMD movie releases so far is that the films' original aspect ratio or OAR (if they are not 1.78:1) is modified and reframed to fit the PSP's widescreen LCD that itself has a ratio of 1.78:1. This is most likely done to take full advantage of the PSP's small 4.3" screen. However noble that effort may be, a film's OAR should always be preserved and not meddled with. Hopefully, in future, Paramount would release a UMD movie without modifying its OAR.

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