House Of The Rising Sun (2011/Lionsgate Blu-ray)/Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost (2011/Sony DVD)/Zen: Vendetta – Cabal - Ratking (2010/BBC Blu-ray set)
Picture:
C+/C/B- Sound: C+ Extras: C-/C/C+ Main Programs: C-/C+/B-
Three new
crime dramas show the mixed state of the genre…
Brian A.
Miller’s House Of The Rising Sun
(2011) has Dave Bautista somewhat interestingly cast as a cop on the outs who
starts working for criminals to protect one of their upscale clubs until things
backfire and he is caught in the middle.
With its nearly idiot plot, this one tries to get by on fights, frontin’
and clichés, but never really adds up to much despite some efforts and support
from Amy Smart, Dominic Purcell and Danny Trejo. I wanted this one to work, but it never did,
despite some potential and interesting possibilities. Extras include cast/crew interviews, feature
length audio commentary by Miller & Bautista and a Making Of featurette.
The
latest Tom Selleck telefilm Jesse Stone:
Innocents Lost (2011) is the fifth we have covered following these releases
covered on DVD at the following links:
Night Passage/Death In Paradise
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5477/Jesse+Stone:+Night+Passage+++Deat
Sea Change
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6617/Jesse+Stone+%E2%80%93+Sea+Cha
No Remorse
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10137/Jesse+Stone+%E2%80%93+No+Rem
This is
about on par with the last telefilm, which shows the series is slowly going
decline or just running out of things to do, but Selleck is doing what he can
to make it work and this case of a friend being accused of a crime he did not
commit is more serviceable than the teleplay would otherwise have it. Kathy Baker, Stephen McHattie, William
Sadler, Sal Rubinek and William Devane also star, but there are no extras.
Finally
we have the newest BBC detective show, offering three episodes of Zen: Vendetta – Cabal - Ratking (2010),
all with Rufus Sewell as the title character trying to solve various murders in
Italy
while juggling the politics of his business and still have a personal
life. Caterina Murino co-stars in this
nicely produced series based on the successful book series by Michael Dibdin
resulting in something more stylish and fun than the usual police procedural. Ben Miles, Catherine Spaak and Peter Guinness
also star and we get a nice making of featurette entitled Zen - An Italian Adventure.
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Sun has detail issues, motion blur and is inconsistent throughout,
while Zen takes the classical
approach and lands up looking better by not being goofy with the color or
detail, plus editing works better than most such shows. The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 Stone DVD is as soft as the last Stone DVD and they are the poorest
picture-wise in the series to date.
Though Sun has a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1
lossless mix, it is towards the front speakers when it is not having problems
with its location recording, has a problematic soundfield throughout and is
just not good enough for DTS-MA. Stone has a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix, but
it is just spreading around a simple stereo soundtrack, yet the Dolby Digital
2.0 Stereo on Zen is actually a
little richer for a lossy audio format, but all three ultimately has the same
so-so sound.
- Nicholas Sheffo