The
Bowery Boys: Volume Four
(1946 - 1958/Monogram/Allied Artists/Warner Archive DVD)/Leap
Frog Letter Factory Adventures: Counting On Lemonade
(2014/Lionsgate DVD)/Sabrina:
Secrets Of A Teenage Witch - A Witch and the Werewolf Movie
(2014/Lionsgate DVD)/SpongeBob
Scary Pants Collection
(2014/Nickelodeon DVDs)
Picture:
C+/C/C/C+ Sound: C/C+/C+/C & C+ Extras: C/C-/D/C-
Main Programs: C+/C/C/B
PLEASE
NOTE:
The
Bowery
Boys: Volume Four
is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner Archive
series and can be ordered from the link below.
Here
are some new family releases that all happen to be child friendly,
even those with issues...
The
Bowery Boys: Volume Four
(1946 - 1958) concludes the rollout of all the theatrical films of
the group of actors who debuted together in the 1937 Samuel Goldwyn
production Dead
End,
which we reviewed long ago at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2033/Dead+End+(1937
They
became known as The Dead End Kids, then the East Side Kids, but ended
as The Bowery Boys and Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey and company ended a
great 21 year run as Monogram transformed into Allied Artists. They
were a little old to be Boys by 1958, but enough chemistry was there
and all quit while they were ahead. Warner Archive has issued the
sets for fans, the curious and to be honest, these are more
entertaining that you might think and I don't know why they did not
get more play a few decades ago when The Little Rascals/Our Gang was
such a hit in TV syndication.
Nevertheless,
we get an early entry in this final series, then the rest of it
including Mr
Hex
(1946), Trouble
Makers
(1948), Triple
Trouble
(1950), Bowery
Battalion
(1951), Here
Come The Marines
(1952), Jungle
Gents
(1954), Bowery
To Bagdad
(1955), Spy
Chasers
(1955), Jail
Busters
(1955), Fighting
Trouble
(1956), Hold
That Hypnotist
(1957) and In
The Money
(1958). The titles give you the idea of the sense of humor, good
humor, of guys trying to find something fun and new or having
something unexpected happening to them. The quality of each film,
even when politically incorrect a bit, is consistent enough and I can
see the appeal which holds up well enough. These are good enough to
more than deserve rediscovery.
Trailer
sets on the first two DVDs are the extras.
Leap
Frog Letter Factory Adventures: Counting On Lemonade
(2014) is too short at 35 minutes, but the content is educational
enough if not long enough making for a decent idea for a release.
Being short to not overload young viewers (4 - 7 years old in this
case) is not an excuse for such shortness, but this is a solid, basic
mathematics release and is worth it if your child will pay attention.
Digital
Copy for PC, PC portable and iTunes capable devices and educational
curriculum commentary are the extras.
Sabrina:
Secrets Of A Teenage Witch - A Witch and the Werewolf Movie
(2014) is the latest variation of the famous Archie Comics character,
but since the fun success of Sabrina's first animated TV appearances
in late 1960s Filmation series (including Sabrina
& The Groovie Goolies,
reviewed elsewhere on this site), new revivals have been very lame
from live action messes to other animated duds. This CGI version
with Ashley Tisdale voiccoiding the title character may be more
removed from the original comic strip character than purists might
want, but it is the first time since the 1970s any version has had
any of the fun and charm of the classic version.
That
does not make this short 63 minutes release, pushing it a good bit in
calling itself a movie, that good, but it has its moments. In this
case, that is progress and maybe resurrection.
Digital
Copy for PC, PC portable and iTunes capable devices is available.
Finally
we have the SpongeBob
Scary Pants Collection
(2014) DVD set, which is really a packaged reissue of two older DVD
singles: Ghouls Fools (with 7 episodes) and Halloween! (with 10) in
time for the holiday. All is fine for the most part, unless you have
these, but they are so old, we never covered either of them. This
might work for completists, but you might be better off with Blu-rays
or full season versions, so only get this set if you want it for a
gift or holiday reasons.
A
Music Video and Videogame Sneak Peak are on the 2002 Halloween
DVD.
Bowery
is all in black and white with its earlier Monogram films in 1.33 X 1
and later Allied Artists films anamorphically enhanced at 1.85 X 1.
All look really good for their age, shot well and from nice prints,
so this is as good as anything on the list. The older SpongeBob
transfers also hold up very well, but surprisingly, the
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image transfers on the new Frog
and Sabrina
DVDs are a little softer than they ought to be. Color is at least
good in those cases.
As
for sound, Bowery
has lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono for all the films averaging out to
performance that is a bit on the weak side due to age, while the rest
of the shows are in lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, but the SpongeBob
Ghouls
DVD is a little weak, maybe being down a generation.
To
order The
Bowery
Boys: Volume Four
or any of the previous volumes in the series on Warner Archive DVD,
go to this link for them and many more great web-exclusive releases
at:
http://www.warnerarchive.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
