The
'Burbs
(1988/Universal/Arrow U.K. Region B Import Blu-ray)/Finding
Joy (2012/Inception
DVD)/French Affairs
(2014/Cinema Libre DVD)/What
If (2013/CBS Films/Sony
DVD)
Picture:
B-/C/C/C Sound: B-/C+/C+/C+ Extras: C+/C-/C-/C- Films: C
PLEASE
NOTE:
The
'Burbs
Import Region B Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at
Arrow U.K., can only play on Blu-ray players that can play Region B
locked discs and can be ordered from the link below.
Here's
four comedy releases that show how lightweight comedy can never be
more than lite at best...
Joe
Dante's The
'Burbs
(1989) is part of a cycle of comedies Hollywood put Tom Hanks in that
did not sell or particularly work, with the case here being the film
tries to criticize the idea of the suburbs while still celebrating
its banality somewhat and trying to inoculate the audience to the
idea of its worst sides and therefore, the beginning of the Reagan
Era in the peak year for bad films celebrating it. There are two
versions of the film in this release, but Dante's choices are only so
much better and not enough to save the film or argue it is lost in
intent.
The
split of the good family versus weird/odd/'bad' family is milked for
all the humor it could offer, but despite performances that try to
make this work from supporting cast members including Carrie Fisher,
Wendy Schall, Corey Feldman, Bruce Dern, Dick Miller, Robert Picardo,
Courtney Gains, Nicky Katt, Henry Gibson and Gale Gordon. That is
not to say this does not have some interesting or good moments, but
they are sparse like just about all Dante films and some of this has
aged in ways no one would have expected when they were making it.
Now you can see both versions for yourself and decide.
Extras
include a
collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by Kenneth J.
Souza, author of Scared
Silly: The Films of Joe Dante
and an article looking at the collaborations of Joe Dante and
composer Jerry Goldsmith, illustrated with original archive stills
and posters, reversible sleeve featuring original and newly
commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys for the non-Steelbook
version, while the Blu-ray adds an Isolated Music and Effects
Soundtrack, a new audio commentary with writer Dana Olsen, moderated
by author Calum Waddell, There
Goes the Neighbourhood: The Making of The 'Burbs
- a new feature-length documentary including interviews with Dante,
actors Corey Feldman, Courtney Gains and Wendy Schaal, director of
photography Robert M. Stevens and production designer James H.
Spencer, the original Workprint cut of the film transferred from
Director Joe Dante's personal copy of the film, on home video for the
very first time with deleted and alternate scenes, A
Tale of Two 'Burbs
video featurette comparing the differences between the Workprint and
Theatrical cuts of the film, with optional audio commentary from
Dante, Alternate Ending, presented in HD for the very first time and
the Original Theatrical Trailer in HD.
Carlo
De Rosa's Finding
Joy
(2012) could
have also been better, but it is everything we have seen in indie
comedies with little new to offer as Kyle (Josh Cooke) looses his job
and that is accompanied by more and more bad news in semi-mumblecore
comedy where if he can just get together with Joy (Liane Balaban)
he'll find... joy? Or he'll yawn all the time like I did. Barry
Bostwick and a scene-stealing Lainie Kazan also show up, but nothing
can save this long, long 96 minutes that too often seems on automatic
pilot. See for yourself if you don't believe me.
A
trailer is the only extra.
Pierre-Loup
Rajoy's French
Affairs
(2014) is
as flat, but more pretentious and thinks it is more than it is as a
therapist starts to have an affair with the husband of a client (a
big no-no, of course), causing conflict with her own son (who himself
decides to get involved with a hooker!?!) in a script that tries to
juggle all of this and thinks it has panache. However, it is a mess
that is not totally believable and never really takes seriously all
the lines of decency crossed throughout. To say there is a lack of
ironic distance is an understatement. Oh well...
A
trailer is the only extra.
Last
and as least is Michael
Dowse's What
If
(2013), a predictable meet-cute comedy that also runs on and on with
Daniel Radcliffe trying to move away from Harry Potter films with
flat results. He drops out of medical school only to meet the
attractive Chantry (Zoe Kazan) with advice (not necessarily good)
from friend and encourager Allan (Adam Driver from HBO's Girls
and the new Star
Wars
sequel) playing to type. This plays like a bad TV movie with some
good actors and nice locale shots, but its quickly forgotten and all
can do better. Not
if is
more like it.
Two
featurettes (Opposites
Attract and the badly named Blurred Lines) have some overlap and are
the only extras.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on the main
transfer of 'Burbs
can show the age of the film stock and materials used, but this is
far superior a transfer to all previous releases of the film and as
good as it will likely ever look. It was never a visual knockout and
we get some good shots here, but this is not stunning by any means.
It is the best performer on the list as the
anamorphically enhanced DVDs are all softer than expected HD-shoots,
with Affairs
at 1.85 X 1 image and the others two 2.35 X 1. Blu-ray versions
would likely yield better performance as all three have some good
shots.
Burbs
is also the sonic winner, originally a Dolby A-type analog theatrical
film release, the sound is here in PCM 2.0 Stereo, even though it is
limited in fidelity somewhat and is joke/dialogue-based. Still, it
is not bad for its age and has Pro Logic-like surrounds via its
original sound format release. As for the DVDs, What
and Joy
are here in lossy Dolby Digital 5.1, but those mixes are not very
strong, so the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on Affairs
can compete with ease. Since they are all joke and dialogue-based,
lossless presentations would only help so much here.
You
can order the expanded 'Burbs Blu-ray (if your player can
handle Region B Blu-rays) by going to this link:
http://www.arrowfilms.co.uk/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
