Black levels are nicely handled, keeping a firm hold on the image depth without losing shadow detail. Night and day exist on equal levels, the film losing none of its boldest qualities should the sun go down. Contrast is much the same, controlled and offering the image some bite. Sharpness can take a hit, seemingly a focal decision (or mistake) that intrudes on the otherwise consistent presentation. It’s as if the transfer/Reitman is cheating us out of a few close-ups that would have otherwise reproduced the fine detail hi-def fans are always looking for.

This has come to be known (by me) as the �Coens gambit’

There are a ton of parties within No Strings Attached, a constant flow of gatherings reproducing tons of chatter and loud music. There’s a short bar concert at that really gets the bass flowing, even as the characters leave to chat outside. The low-end never stops pumping out material.

The same goes for any music, the soundtrack lively in the soundfield, situating itself in the surrounds naturally without becoming overly forceful. The stereos are not just for songs either, dialogue splitting off when it has a few opportunities to widen the space a bit. Otherwise, it’s a firm center channel presentation that is quietly impressive and balanced.

Inside the Sassy Halls of Secret High looks at how the parody TV show came together and how the cast/crew enjoyed working with it. Six deleted scenes and two alternates deliver 15-minutes worth of stuff, followed by more deleted material on BD-Live.

Natalie Portman’s first comedy of the year, and a return to the big screen for director Ivan Reitman. But is No Strings Attached any good?

2011 looks like it may be the year that Natalie Portman follows up her award-worthy performance in Black Swan with the Ivan Reitman directed romantic comedy No Strings Attached, pairing a serious and more �worthy’ film with something fluffier, presumably to cleanse herself of all the psychological trauma and baggage that comes with playing a demented ballerina. The alternating of tones, I mean. Not the ballerina thing.

Modern Love details the process of writing modern relationships in comparison to the past

Portman’s co-star is Ashton Kutcher, who is, of course, famous both for being Bruce Willis’s son (apologies to Ricky Gervais) and for irritating other celebrities in MTV prank show Punk’d.

(A quick digression: the print of No Strings Attached I saw was accompanied by the trailer for Justin Bieber’s upcoming 3D concert film Never Say Never, a surprise that was met with audibly pained gasps of horror from the audience. The Kutcher-helmed Punk’d finished in 2007, but it was recently announced that the concept was due to be revived and reimagined, Batman Begins-style, with a new presenter at the helm, Justin Bieber. Such is the intricate tapestry of asinine 21st century pop bullshit.)

Kutcher plays Adam, a wannabe TV writer who is struggling to get his scripts noticed, at least without employing some serious nepotism on behalf of his dad (Kevin Kline), who happens to be a famous sitcom actor. When Adam discovers Dad has been sleeping with his ex-girlfriend, he gets paralysingly drunk and calls everybody in his phone book in desperate need of a rebound hook-up.

Eventually, he wakes up naked and on the sofa of Emma (Portman), a girl we have already been introduced to in a couple of rather pointless prologue scenes that seem to exist solely to employ a couple of child actors and give the cast the chance to wear some different clothes.