The
Day Kennedy Died
(2013/Smithsonian/Inception DVD)/JFK
Remembered: 50 Years Later
(2013)/John F. Kennedy:
Years Of Lightning, Day Of Drum
(1965/Warner DVDs/part of the Oliver Stone JFK
Blu-ray set)/Oil City
Confidential: The Story Of Dr. Feelgood
(2009/Cadiz/MVD DVD)/Springsteen
& I (2013/Eagle
Blu-ray)/This American
Journey (2013/Cinema
Libre DVD)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ (Oil: C) Extras: D/D/D/B-/C/C+ Films:
B-/B/B/B-/C+/B-
Now
for another round of documentaries, including three of many being
issued to mark the 50th
Anniversary of the JFK assassination.
First
we have The Day Kennedy Died
(2013) from The Smithsonian Channel which runs 92 minutes, does not
address the single bullet theory as a problem, has some great
narration by Kevin Spacey and has enough rare and unusual footage
that it is a worthy entry. Like other Smithsonian DVDs, there are no
extras.
The
next two have been issued in conjunction with a reissue of the
Blu-ray of Oliver Stone's 1991 classic JFK,
including a new work and a classic documentary restored. Robert
Kline's JFK Remembered:
50 Years Later (2013) is
more of an overview of his entire life, his family, his upbringing
and private side not enough of these documentaries are dealing with.
It is a strong, solid, must-see 90 minutes and though there are no
extras, it is also a valuable, vital volume like the Smithsonian
release.
Last
but not least is Bruce Herschensohn's John
F. Kennedy: Years Of Lightning, Day Of Drum
(1965) is one of the first and still the best, narrated by no less
than Gregory Peck, restored to its original condition, looking and
sounding great, talking about his legacy, the greatness of his
presidency cut short, how his classic liberalism survived (peaking in
the 1970s) and how he made huge differences in such a short time.
Peck is extremely well-spoken as usual, but his conviction the
achievements is uncanny and I can see why this one is part of
the new (read expanded) Oliver Stone JFK
Blu-ray set.
There
are no extras on this DVD either sadly, but you can read more about
Stone's still-controversial epic hit motion picture on Blu-ray in its
first release in the format at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7810/Oliver+Stone
Next
we have a new documentary from Julien Temple, a concert and music
video director whose work extends well into the occasional narrative
film (see Absolute
Beginners elsewhere on
this site) is back with a new documentary that covers two subjects he
has been covering for decades very well: England and Rock Music. Oil
City Confidential: The Story Of Dr. Feelgood
(2009) is one of his best works dealing with how the Thatcher Era
destroyed the once highly industrial and successful Canvey Island and
how out of all the misery came the rise of a Blues/Rock band with a
Punk attitude called Dr. Feelgood.
Cadiz
just released East End
Rejects (reviewed
elsewhere on this site) about the rise of the band The Cockney
Rejects ans the two stories have a great many parallels, but Feelgood
was a bit older and any exploitation was more of the common
adult kind in the
then-music business. We get extensive interviews, great vintage
footage, rare histories you would never hear anywhere else and a
portrait of another British music original. All serious music fans
should give this one a look.
Extras
include a Canvey Island postcard and rich 16-page booklet inside the
DVD case, while the DVD adds Wilko Out-Takes, vintage Lee interview
and feature length audio commentary track by director Temple.
The
Ridley Scott-co-produced Springsteen
& I (2013) is an odd
release that compiles footage by fans of the popular
singer/songwriter/musician for a very long 142 minutes, tries to give
us a more personal idea of why the man continues to be so popular and
put into something beyond words why. The result is a long, drawn out
disappointment that gives many enthusiastic fans a voice, but not
only fails to add up to explaining or showing what is intended, but
is sloppy, unorganized and somehow ignores and throws out by default
the longer history that made him so popular from the 1970s onward. I
was not looking for a deep intellectual analysis, but this
compilation just does not work. It has a few nice moments though.
Extras
include six performances, two of which has him joined by Paul
McCartney and isolated Fan Submissions.
Finally
we have Paul Blackthorne's This
American Journey (2013),
the surprise on this list has the director/actor and his Australian
photographer best friend doing something they always wanted to do:
travel across America and meet the people who live all over it. From
New York to L.A., with Pittsburgh, Memphis and so many more locales,
they find the country is in better shape with better people than you
mighty think or they thought from all the bad things that have been
happening there (here) since the 1980s.
Running
90 minutes, it is the increasingly rare side of the country the media
has buried under bad reality TV, bad news, bad business interests and
artificial crisis. We see the people being denied tomorrow by
Reagan-era policies still tearing the country apart and get to know
some great people who never get a voice and represent so many great
people we will never hear about. Cheers to the duo for pulling off
such a smart, interesting work that could and should have gone on
longer. Maybe someone ought to make this into some kind of TV show,
but could it retain the integrity this documentary has? Don't miss
it.
Extras
include a Photo Gallery, Trailer, Extended Interviews and Deleted
Scenes.
The
1080i 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Springsteen
should easily be the best image performer on the list as it is the
only HD presentation, but the compilation is made up of so much rough
digital video, more of which is standard definition and sloppy than
expected that it too often looks like a DVD. The
1.33 X 1 on the Warner JFK
and Years
DVDs, along with the anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the
Smithsonian Kennedy,
Oil and Journey
DVDs can more than compete with it.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) and PCM 2.0 sound on Springsteen
can collapse into monophonic sound too often and the lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1 sound Oil
is poorly mixed and unnecessary compression results. Its lossy Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo mix is better and clearer. Journey
also has lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 and lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
mixes, but its 5.1 is better. That leaves the Kennedy
DVDs with lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo save the 1965
film with restored, lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. They are all equal
to each other in the end sonically.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
