General Education (2011/Well Go USA Blu-ray)/Lola Versus (2012/Fox Blu-ray)/30 Beats (2012/Lionsgate DVD)

 

Picture: B-/B-/C     Sound: C+/B-/C+     Extras: C/C/C-     Films: C

 

 

Here are three releases that disappointed, but could have almost worked…

 

 

Tom Morris’ General Education (2011) had such great potential to be a genuinely funny film with humor that was not situational or formulaic, but knowing, yet it settles for bad jokes, bad comic timing, absurd humor that is lame and some jokes that have racial issues one too many times.  It is not that it should be politically correct all the time, but when it is not, it is lame and tired.  It also never seems realistic enough for the jokes to be backgrounded by and even a good cast cannot save it.

 

Levi (Chris Sheffield) is flunking his science class at the same time he is getting a scholarship, as his father (Larry Miller) wants to continue the family legacy in any way he can and his mother (Janeane Garofalo) is trying to keep the family together in one piece.  Levi’s siblings have their own issues, as do many of the people around him, but why a nice, smart guy would be so irresponsible does not work for starters.  If handled well, this could have been an indie winner worthy of Real Genius (1985), but it is so sloppy with such an inevitable idiot plot that it is a shocking shame it fails to pick up on every chance it gets. The cast even has chemistry, some of whom we are likely to see again.  Otherwise, this comedy is way too ‘general; for its own good.

 

Extras include a feature length audio commentary track by the crew, amusing Outtakes, Making Of featurette and Original Theatrical Trailer.

 

 

Daryl Wein’s Lola Versus (2012) is another comedy with absurdity that also missed the boat, though it also had great potential and a fine cast, starting with Greta Gerwig from Whit Stillman’s Damsels In Distress (reviewed elsewhere on this site) as the title character searching for a man she can be with and love, but she has trouble choosing which one and had not totally found herself.

 

One boyfriend (Joel Kinnaman from TV’s The Killing and the new RoboCop) has left her, but might still want her, while she becomes involved with another male friend (the naturally funny Hamish Linklater) who happens to be a friend of his sort of.  Then there are other men she encounters and usually rejects, a female friend who is ‘that other friend’ and her counterculture parents (Bill Pullman and Debra Winger) who support her but may or may not be responsible for her problems.

 

Despite the great set-up, this is less effective than Damsels and its humor also keeps finding itself one-note and hardly funny.  Again, the cast has chemistry and I liked these actors, but again, all that will not work if you cannot write a script, know when to edit and direct with a capable vision.  New York City at least comes off looking good here, but this is very disappointing and don’t expect Lola to be a very memorable classic female character because she is not fully developed to take on a life of her own.  What a shame.

 

Extras include a feature length audio commentary track by Director Wein and Co-Writer/Actress Zoe Lister-Jones, amusing Outtakes, Deleted Scenes and an Alternate Ending that worked better, Fox Movie Channel piece on the film and two featurettes: The Filmmakers and Greta Gerwig: Leading Lady.

 

 

Last but not least, we have Alexis Lloyd’s more experimental 30 Beats (2012), which has some humor and is a drama, but is also about people interacting in relationships and will they or will they not have sex.  We meet 10 people who have the opportunity, starting with one who then meets another, then we follow the met person and so on and so on until the end.  It is a little too much like Haggis’ Crash (2005) on one level, but it is its own work, down to gritty New York City camerawork that works to its advantage.

 

What sex there is is not goofy and the mostly unknown cast (Jennifer Tilly is the exception and is still sexy after all this time) works here, but I thought this was more about its form (the look, the connections) than its content and at 88 minutes, they could have used more time to develop more of the characters and the point, though this is not too mechanical to the maker’s credit.  It will also likely be remembered for up and coming actors (Paz de la Huerta, Justin Kirk, Thomas Sadoski, Lee Pace, Ben Levin, Condola Rashad) and possibly become a curio.  See it if you are really curious now, but only expect so much.  A trailer is the only extra.

 

 

The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on Education and 1080p 1.85 X 1 AVC @ 30 MBPS digital High Definition image transfer on Lola are about even in color (which is slightly limited), some motion blur, minor detail issues and overall consistent look.  Lola was shot in the Super 35mm film format while Education is an HD shoot, giving Lola a slight edge as it is styled here and there in unusual, subtle ways.  That leaves the purposely styled-down anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Beats which achieves its own look, but is easily the poorest performer here as expected and a little more.  Still, it has some interesting shots, but expect limited Video Black, detail, depth and other issues from its HD shoot.

 

The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes on Education and Lola should be even sonically, but while Lola is a little more towards the front speakers than I would like, Education has music and sound effects that can be a little shrill with dialogue that sounds too monophonic or limited in the way and range it was recorded, adding up to an awkward soundfield.  The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on Beats is actually its equal, though it hardly has a soundfield, its share of silences and plenty of dialogue moments.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo