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Category:    Home > Reviews > Drama > Urban > Hispanic > Gangs > Crime > Hustling > Murder > Gambling > Comedy > African American > Boulevard Nights (1979/Warner Archive DVD)/God's Pocket (2014/MPI/IFC Films Blu-ray)/Rise Up Black Man (2014/Sound View DVD)

Boulevard Nights (1979/Warner Archive DVD)/God's Pocket (2014/MPI/IFC Films Blu-ray)/Rise Up Black Man (2014/Sound View DVD)



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



PLEASE NOTE: The Boulevard Nights DVD is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner Archive series and along with the upgraded Blu-ray edition, can be ordered from the link below. You can read more about the Blu-ray at this link:



http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16493/Boulevard+Nights+(1979*)/The+Escort+(2023/Ind



Here are three very different urban dramas you should know about...



Michael Pressman's Boulevard Nights (1979) is a sort of lost little gem produced by Tony Bill (My Bodyguard) about Hispanic American youth in East Los Angeles that features a very talented cast that sadly did not get seen more as this film was not the hit it deserved to be, but the characters and culture featured here is as realistic as it is prophetic (including Rap/Hip Hop forerunners) in a real slice of street life film that has aged very well is is likely a minor classic of such a cinematic discourse long before the recent increase (never enough) of great Hispanic talent on the big screen.


Raymond (Richard Yniguez) is an ex-gang member who has found love with a very pretty gal (Marta Dubois) and wants to move on to a better life, but he has his little brother Chuco (Danny De La Paz) who is angry and cannot stay out of trouble from the first scene in the film. The 102 minutes never falls flat, is something special and work going out of your way to see. Carmen Zapata (who just passed away in 2014) and John Fiedler are among the most recognizable of the adult cast, John Bailey, A.S.C., is Director of Photography and Lalo Schifrin composed the music score.


A trailer is the only extra.



John Slattery's God's Pocket (2014) is one of the last performance the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman left behind when we lost him, but as usual, it is top rate work in a really good story about a married man named Mickey (Hoffman) whose wife (Christina Hendricks) is horrified when her son from her first marriage turns up dead under circumstances that do not sound right to her. Mickey has problems with drinking, gambling and shady friends, including John Turturro co-running a flower shop but using it to cover up other things.


If that were not bad enough, a one-time shining journalist (Richard Jenkins) is also in trouble with alcoholism, possibly losing his newspaper reporting job and is trying to write the Great American Novel in all this. Then he is asked to investigate the death and starts to get involved with the mother!


This has some real moments, some very darkly funny moments and some really good acting all around. The title refers to the tough, working-class neighborhood the characters come from and holds nothing back in what it wants to say about it all. Hope the title does not confuse people and they see this one.


Extras include a feature length audio commentary track by Slattery, TV Spots, Original Theatrical Trailer and Deleted Scenes, a little of which should have stayed in the film.



Kendall Irvin's Rise Up Black Man (2014) could sound like a film about 1960s Civil Rights activities or even the Black Panthers, but it is a less political work set now with two best friends (Prince Duren, Dustin Morby) who are about to be challenged by changes around them when one starts to take a black leader with great personality too seriously, who is using the younger man for his own benefits. The other has personal issues he has to deal with. That would seem like a simple story to tell, but the script here is all over the place with Irvin throwing in every kind of scene he can squeeze into a too-long 146 minutes and losing control in the process.


The actors try but the acting is a mixed as the directing and script, so all kinds of possibilities land up getting stopped short in what amounts to a crash course soap opera that lacks character development and should have been some kind of TV mini-series. Instead, down to its oddly cursive credits, it plays more like Tyler Perry on acid or the like. Better luck next time...


There are no extras.



The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image transfer on Nights show the age of the materials used, but this transfer is actually pretty consistent throughout and shows what a good shoot this was considering the budget limits. However, the anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Man is very problematic throughout with all kinds of motion blur, not helped by shaky camera work. It is a digital shoot, but not a good one, making us wonder what portion of this was caused by the shoot, the editing and the transfer. Fortunately, the 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Pocket is very consistent, well shot, nicely stylized and impressive throughout.


The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Pocket is also the sonic winner here with a quiet, dialogue-driven character, but is well recorded, mixed and presented. It also has kick when the surrounds kick in for key scenes. The lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on Nights was recorded decently for its time and sound pretty good throughout, though I bet a lossless presentation could get a little more out of the soundtrack. That leaves the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on Man with way too many location audio and editing issues.



To order the Boulevard Nights DVD or Blu-ray, go to this link for it and many more great web-exclusive releases at:


https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20



- Nicholas Sheffo


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