The
Birthday Boys: The Complete First Season
(2013/IFC)/Low Winter Sun:
The Complete Series
(2013/Anchor Bay DVD Sets)/Shogun
(1980/James Clavell/TV Mini-Series/CBS Blu-ray set)
Picture:
C+/C/B Sound: C/C+/B- Extras: C+/C+/B- Episodes: C+/B/B-
Here
are two new TV shows you may not have heard about, but ought to know,
plus the first of the classic, original TV mini-series finally
makes it to Blu-ray...
The
Birthday Boys: The Complete First Season
(2013) is a new comedy skit series that goes for the surreal approach
where you see something that looks like a show unto itself or maybe
one you have seen before, then it turns out to be the cast of
regulars here sending up all kinds of TV shows, specials, pop culture
and archetypal situations. We saw this on the early Saturday
Night Live,
SCTV,
Comic
Book Presents
and the like. The results here, led by Bob Odenkirk, are a bit more
hit than miss, but I never laughed hard. At least it is smart.
The
seven episodes here offer everything from gay-baiting to nudity to
outright mockery that offers a cast (eight guys in all) that have
some chemistry and are obviously enjoying what they are doing, but
like Kids
In The Hall,
you don't always feel involved in it. Still, it is a two-disc set
worth a look if you really like comedy and maybe the next season will
be better.
Low
Winter Sun: The Complete Series
(2013) is a U.S. remake of a British hit series, but this sadly only
lasted a single season. As shown on AMC, Mark Strong and Lennie
James play respected Detroit police officers who kill the partner of
one of them in the opening scenes in what starts a slow charting and
unravelling of an intricate corruption in the city hit by hard times.
Then the body turns up in what they thought was a foolproof
cover-up, but things go wrong early, they have to start investigating
like they are the good guys (a nice twist here throughout), a snobby
internal affairs guy is on the case immediately and then we start to
meet the local criminals.
Well
adapted, directed (Ernest Dickerson helmed the pilot) and with a
strong pace backed by an exceptional cast, this should have been a
hit and the ten nearly hour-long shows (over 3 DVDs) have many fine
twists and turns throughout that actually work for a change. Like
some of the great 1970s cop shows that got axed too early for our own
good (or series like Kolchak:
The Night Stalker
for that matter), I strongly believe when people look back, they'll
be shocked this did not make it and there was an opening for a
follow-up season in the end. With only minor flaws, this is
excellent and one of the best shows of its kind in years, so be sure
to go out of your way to catch it. Bravo!!!
Finally
we have Shogun,
the hit 1980 TV Mini-Series based on James Clavell's best-selling
book. For all the boom in TV on Blu-ray, it seems to have taken
forever for any classic Mini-Series to arrive in the format anywhere,
but here is this one. We covered it in its DVD version at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10702/Dallas
Though
you can see the budget limits and some shots look more aged than
others, the writing, acting and directing are consistent and hold up
enough that it could take on just about any Mini-Series today. Now
you can see for yourself.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on both shows are HD-shot, but
Boys
looks better, while Sun
is a little over-stylized, though that in itself bother me. The
format is the only reason both did not look better and they deserves
Blu-ray editions. Both also have lossy Dolby Digital presentation,
but Sun
is better with its 5.1 mix versus the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
on Boys
that
can be limiting. The 1.33 X 1 1080p digital High Definition image on
Shogun is enough of an improvement over the decent DVD set that it
justifies the upgrade, though the print has some slight damage and
dirt here and there at times. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1
lossless mix on Shogun is better than the restored mono option. As
was the case with the DVD, but this is a little warmer, though the
mono sound is often trapped in the center channel. It is the Maurice
Jarre score and some select moments when the surrounds really kick
in.
Extras
on both sets include at least two Making
Of
featurettes, Boys
adds audio commentaries, Bonus Video and Promos, while Sun
adds Episode Featurettes, extensive Deleted Scenes, and a third
featurette Designing
The Precinct
on how they made the existing areas look more authentic. Shogun
repeats the two from the previous DVD set and its select audio
commentary by director Jerry London.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
