Cohen & Tate (1989) + Cop Hater
(1957/MGM Limited Edition DVDs) + The
Father Of My Children (2009/IFC/MPI DVD) + Heathers (1988/Region Free) + The
Man Who Will Come (2009/Region Four) + Playing
For Charlie (2008/Region Free/Umbrella Import PAL DVDs) + Return From The Ashes (1965/MGM Limited
Edition DVD)
Picture: C+/C/C/C+/C+/C+/C Sound:
C/C/C+/C+/B-/B-/C Extras: C- (Man: D/Charlie: C) Films: C+/B-/C/D/C+/C+/C+
PLEASE NOTE: The Umbrella PAL DVDs can only be
operated on machines capable of playing back DVDs that can handle either Region
Zero/0/Free PAL format software (or Region Four/4 software in the case of Man) and can be ordered from our
friends at Umbrella Entertainment at the website address provided at the end of
the review while the MGM Limited Editions are website-only exclusives and can
be ordered from Amazon.com. Also, since
this posting, Cohen & Tate has
been issued on Blu-ray.
As
predicted, 2011 has produced a stream of DVD releases of small and cult films
long overdue in the format or of unusual interest. This list is comprised of import DVDs, one
foreign film from the U.S. DVD market and three more web exclusive releases
from the expanding Limited Edition collection.
One of
the latter is an Orion Pictures film, Cohen
& Tate (1989), directed by Eric Red.
This hard-hitting crime drama has the hitmen of the title role (Roy
Scheider, Adam Baldwin) going successfully after a family in the Witness
Protection Program, killing several officers and most of the family. However, they will be paid in full when they
deliver the young son (Harley Cross) to a powerful, unknown party.
Tate is
particularly psychotic, but Cohen thinks he can control him and a child who is
just a child, angry, upset and scared. I
like the performances, look (shot by Director of Photography Victor J. Kemper,
A.S.C.) and feel of the film that is willing to be very cold, yet seeing it
again years later reminds me of the point where it does not ring true once too
often. Still, it is a risky, mature,
smart work everyone should see at least once.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is good for the film’s age along with
good color from a print that is in good shape.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo was originally Dolby A analog theatrical
sound release and there are some weak surrounds here if you decode with Pro
Logic, but not richly so, though this is well recorded down to Bill Conti’s
impressive score. A trailer is the only
extra.
The big
surprise here comes from William Berke. Cop Hater (1957) is a later Film Noir that
could have been a tired, even silly police procedural and the like, but instead
is a stark drama about a hot New York
City summer in which a mysterious killer is on the
loose and the target is officers of the law.
This could have been dull, lazy and routine, but instead turns out to be
a very smart adaptation of the book from Ed McBain, known for his 87th
Precinct novels. This is the first time
any of them were adapted on film and it is a solid film.
Robert
Loggia plays Detective Steve Carella, originating a role later played by Robert
Lansing, Burt Reynolds, Donald Sutherland and Dale Midkiff. When a close friend and fellow policeman is
killed and left for dead on the street, he is determined to find out despite
having next to no information to go on.
Because it is in the gumshoe detective tradition despite the characters
being actual police, we get an edge and realism in the story police drams still
lack to this day despite the plethora of them being produced by U.S. and U.K.
TV networks.
The
supporting cast is also impressive, including Gerald S. O’Loughlin, Ellen
Parker, Vincent Gardenia and Jerry Orbach.
I cannot believe this was not issued on DVD a while ago or that it was
not rediscovered by now, but I can tell you it is more of a real Noir than the
tired, numerous, lame attempts that serve as guidebooks to failure we see all
the time. All serious film fans will
want to catch this one.
The 1.33
X 1 black and white image is soft, though the source is in good shape for its
age and has good Gray Scale. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Mono is also a bit weak and aged, though there are no major sound
flaws either. A trailer is the only
extra.
Mia
Hansen-Love’s The Father Of My Children
(2009) is a drama about a filmmaking producer father who has a good marriage
with two daughters, but is not having much success with his company. However, the troubles go much deeper as he
has been lying about other finances and is generally in denial of how
irresponsible he is. I liked the idea,
but never bought the setup on how they were independently making these films
and that they continued to do so with such troubles and without
safeguards. In addition, considering the
business, serious questions would have been asked long before they got so bad,
or these are the worse group of independent film people ever. The acting is not bad, nor are the locations,
but it is a mixed film that took on more than it could resolve.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image is softer than expected, though the
source is in good shape. Also, color is
not bad. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix
really stretches out the simple stereo sound with few surround moments really
working. A trailer is the only extra.
We have
reviewed Michael Lehmann’s Heathers
(1988) a good few years ago in its U.S. 20th Anniversary
Anchor Bay DVD release here:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7249/Heathers+%E2%80%93+20th+Anniver
This
version has the same transfer, but the picture and sound never impressed me and
the film is one I never liked. The
performances, comedy and storyline were patchy and it remains for fans
only. A trailer and Return To Westerburg High featurette are the only extras, which is
a fraction of the U.S. DVD.
Giorgio
Diritti’s The Man Who Will Come
(2009) is an Italian WWII drama about a young girl (Gretta Zuccheri Montanari)
who has been speechless since her baby brother died, made more difficult by the
insanity at hand. For now, she and her
family are in a village with several families untouched by the coming battles,
so the film becomes a character study of who they are as they face ugliness and
have to deal with themselves and each other.
We have
seen this before to a good extent, but some moments are interesting and we see
sides of this impending change (and doom) that are not as common as this kind
of film (itself made in the thousands) would usually offer up in a clichéd
way. So I liked some of it, but not all
of it works. Therefore, see it once just
to see what does.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is softer than expected for a new
release, though the source here to is in good shape with decent color. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is good, though
I wondered if there was more sound from the soundmaster and Pro Logic produced
more surround information that is sadly no noted on the DVD case. There are no extras.
Pene
Patrick’s drama Playing For Charlie
(2008) is a mixed film where the child of the title is a newborn and the father
(Jared Daperis) has to get his life in shape quickly to take care of the
baby. However, he is having trouble on
the sports field where he should excel and off the field, makes many big
mistakes. I can imagine a mistake being
made here or there, but the script pushes its luck, though I liked the acting,
situations and potential. I wish this
worked better as it is predictable and we have seen some of this before, but it
is interesting, even when it falls short.
Like Man, the anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X
1 image is softer than expected for a new release, though the source here to is
in good shape with decent color. The
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is good, though I wondered if there was more sound
from the soundmaster and Pro Logic produced more surround information that is
sadly no noted on the DVD case. Extras
include a Theatrical Trailer and 19-minutes long Behind The Scenes featurette.
And
finally, a unique thriller. The always
interesting J. Lee Thompson (Cape Fear
among many others) helmed Return From
The Ashes (1965) with Ingrid Thulin as a woman who has barely survived the
Holocaust and now free, does what she can to find her husband (Maximilian
Schell) who likely assumes she is dead.
Not only is this true, but he has remarried himself to a younger woman
(Samantha Eggar), but he is not playing with a full deck and when the first
wife returns, he intends to kill them both off!
I like
the cast, the ideas and can say that this is a first-rate production, but the
problem I always had with it is that the mystery side never totally worked for
me. It is still a smart and clever film,
including the great Herbert Lom as a no-nonsense detective, but it lacks impact
and though some might suggest it somehow trivializes The Holocaust, I did not find
that to be much of the case. See it for
its fine use of the scope frame and actors if nothing else to see if you like
it more than I did.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 black and white image is softer than expected
despite the limits the MGM Limited Edition DVD-Rs can have. The source print here to is in good shape
with good Gray Scale, but this is just a little softer than I would have liked
for such a sharply shot film in real 35mm anamorphic Panavision. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is not bad, but
weak as well where I imagined it might be a little richer. A trailer is the only extra.
As noted
above, you can order the PAL DVD imports covered here exclusively from Umbrella
at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo