Benny & Joon + De-Lovely + Fiddler On The Roof (w/DVD) + The Greatest Story Ever Told + Lars & The Real Girl + Much Ado About Nothing (1993/Branagh) +
Mystic Pizza (1988/MGM Blu-rays)
Picture: C+/B-/B-
& C+/B-/B-/B-/C+ Sound: C+/C+/B
& C+/B-/C+/C+/B- Extras: C-/B-/B/C+/C-/C-/C- Films: C-/B-/B/C+/C-/C+/B-
MGM has a
very interesting back catalog. They have
all the modern United Artists films since the 1950s with few exceptions, plus
the Orion, American International, Filmways and Samuel Goldwyn Company films
(never a part of any part of the old MGM).
Now, they are issuing the titles in two ways. In, in terrific new special edition Blu-rays
and DVDs form Criterion and in Blu-rays on their own. Here are seven such examples.
We start
with the overrated would-be comedy by hack Jeremiah Checkik (the guy whose
remakes of Diabolique and the
British TV Spy classic The Avengers
are just plain horrific) delivered a moderate hit for the studio in Benny & Joon (1993) best remembered
for having a young Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson. If it wasn’t for that equally horrid hit
record (the one everybody would run 500 miles just not to have to hear again),
this might not have even done that well.
Though the actors are fairly good in it (including Aidan Quinn, Julianne
Moore, Dan Hedaya and Oliver Platt), I never liked this film and even with Depp
emulating silent comedy stars with some effectiveness, it is a wash and a
nostalgia piece at best. The 1080p 1.85
X 1 AVC @ 36 MBPS digital High Definition image is weak and looks like an older
HD master, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 lossless Stereo mix has weak
surrounds and also seem second generation.
The film was a Dolby analog A-type stereo release and this shows
it. Extras include a weak Checkik
feature length audio commentary, Theatrical Trailer, reel of behind the scenes
workings and Music Video for “that song” we’ll not identify.
I
actually reviewed the somewhat underrated Irwin Winkler biopic De-Lovely (2004) on DVD a good few
years ago and liked it. Here is the
link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1723/De-Lovely
This
looks and sounds like the same transfer materials with the 1080p 2.35 X 1 AVC @
38 MBPS digital High Definition image is a little richer that the DVD, but new
fidelity shows some new limits, but the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless
mix is more compressed than expected as compared to the Dolby Digital on the
DVD as well as the Dolby and DTS lossless foreign language choices on this
disc. Why? It is a real problem disappointment. Extras repeat the DVD’s content.
I also
reviewed the double DVD set of Fiddler
On The Roof which includes a DVD as well:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4941/Fiddler+On+The+Roof:+2-Disc+Collect
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 AVC @ 20 MBPS digital High Definition image is a little richer that
the DVD then and included here, but it could still use some work. Still, the upgrade is noticeable and will
make fans happy more than not (though far from the best this would have looked
in three-strip, dye-transfer Technicolor prints issued at the time), while the
new DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 7.1 lossless mix is the best the film has sounded,
though this is limited by the fact that the film was a 6-track magnetic stereo
film in 70mm blow-ups where most of the sound was in the front speakers. That is better than any previous Dolby
Digital 5.1 mix (including what is included here) recreating what a large
single-screen theater would have sounded like at its best. Extras repeat the DVD set’s content.
As luck
would have it, we also covered the latest DVD of George Steven’s The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
even longer ago:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1477/Greatest+Story+Ever+Told
The 1080p
2.75 X 1 AVC @ 24 MBPS digital High Definition image has a disclaimer at the
beginning and end of the review that the materials are not in the best shape,
but are the best they have at this time.
Though better than the best DVD version, you get plenty of color issues
(though far from the best this would have looked in three-strip, dye-transfer
Technicolor reduction prints issued at the time or the fidelity of actual 70mm
prints), detail issues and other rough patches that show this film need some
serious work. One of only ten films in
the Ultra Panavision 70mm format (first introduced as MGM Camera 65), it was
expensive as any of them and was not the huge hit Ben-Hur was. However, it has
somehow managed to be remembered more than other films shot this way, including
The Hallelujah Trail, Mediterranean Holiday and maybe Raintree County. However, it does not look as good as the
Blu-ray of Battle Of The Bulge and
the HD-DVD due on Blu-ray of the 1962 Brando remake of Mutiny On The Bounty. It
also has people asking if Khartoum is
next.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is more or less the best the film has
sounded to date, though this too is limited by the fact that the film was a
6-track magnetic stereo film in 70mm prints where most of the sound was in the
front speakers and some of this could also use some work. This is still better than any previous Dolby
Digital 5.1 mix being a little warmer, especially where the score by Alfred
Newman is concerned. Extras repeat the
DVD set’s content, though all the stars cast throughout the film make it more
bearable.
Craig
Gillespie’s Lars & The Real Girl
(2007) is a comedy that tried to take a risk, but it never really works as Lars
(Ryan Gosling) is a loner with issues, who decides to have a new girlfriend…
one he can order by mail… a mannequin!
Though the idea has some potential, this is basically a mumblecore
independent work that never really works out.
Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson and the cast cannot boost this much
and Gosling may be consistent, but it was quickly forgotten until this Blu-ray
was issued. Now you can see for
yourself.
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 AVC @ 38 MBPS digital High Definition image is not a brand new HD
master, but a resent enough on that is not bad, but the DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 5.1 lossless mix has a weak soundfield, likely in part from the low
budget and the fact that this is a dialogue-based film. Extras include a Theatrical Trailer, Deleted
Scenes and two making of featurettes.
Kenneth Branagh’s
Much Ado About Nothing (1993) always
seemed like a forced film to me, with the joy and energy tempered with
something not working (turns out he and Emma Thompson were soon to go their
separate ways) despite a fine cast that includes Thompson, Denzel Washington,
Robert Sean Leonard, Michael Keaton and even Keanu Reeves. It is faithful enough to the Shakespeare
work, but seems to get lost in itself and is not as effective as his 70mm Hamlet (a different kind of work, but
still by The Bard, reviewed elsewhere on Blu-ray on this site) but you can see
it and decide for yourself.
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 AVC @ 36 MBPS digital High Definition image is not bad but looks like
an older HD master, while the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 lossless Stereo mix
has weak surrounds and also seem second generation. The film was also a Dolby analog A-type
stereo release and this shows it. Extras
include a very brief making of featurette and a Theatrical Trailer.
Last but
not least is one of my favorite independent releases, Donald Petrie’s Mystic Pizza (1988) underrated
comedy/drama about three young ladies (then-unknown Annabeth Gish, Julia
Roberts and Lili Taylor) working at the title restaurant and dealing with big
changes in their lives that do not always offer them hope in the future. Gish and Roberts are sisters who do not get
along (Gish is stereotyped as virginal, Roberts the reverse) and it is likely
this film that got Roberts the overrated, problematic Pretty Woman, a huge hit that set her for life as a star.
Though
some parts are predictable, it is the acting, humor, some outright hilarious
moments and palpable sense of interaction that makes this film work. It remains one of the best films of all
involved, also including Vincent D’Onofrio, William R, Moses, Adam Storke, a
young Matt Damon and Conchata Farrell, but it is the chemistry throughout that
really delivers the film. Even the pizza
looks great!
A sequel
was proposed a few times and it is not too late. I would like to see that, but only Roberts likely
has the clout to make that happen. I
hope she tries.
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 AVC @ 32 MBPS digital High Definition image is a little noisy and
grainy, but color is pretty good throughout.
I have seen this in 35mm from its original release and I guess this is a
somewhat older HD master, but it is watchable enough. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 lossless
Stereo mix has better Pro Logic type surrounds than expected, despite the film
being issued in the inferior analog Ultra Stereo noise reduction format, which
offered more harmonic distortion than Dolby analog A-type stereo releases. I like the use of music and the recording of
dialogue holds up well for a production its age. The only extra is a Theatrical Trailer.
- Nicholas Sheffo
