Heart
& Friends: Home For The Holidays
(2014/Frontiers Blu-ray)/Tyler
Perry's A Madea Christmas: The Movie
(2013/Lionsgate Blu-ray) + Hell
Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned: The Play
(2013/Lionsgate DVD)/A
Very Funny Christmas
(w/Mr. Stink
and Gangsta Granny/2012
- 2014/BBC DVD)
Picture:
B-/B-/C+/C+ Sound: B-/C+/C+/C+ Extras: C/C-/C/C Main
Programs: C+/C/C/C
Now
for yet more holiday releases, but these are not phony like the last
batch we suffered through...
Ann
& Nancy Wilson have yet another Blu-ray
(only Peter Gabriel and the Rolling Stones have as many it seems)
with Heart
& Friends: Home For The Holidays
(2014), a new holiday show hat covers a Led Zeppelin hit (guess which
one), a bunch of classics for the season and this includes guest
stars like Shawn Colvin (Rockin'),
Richard Marx (All
Through The Night),
Pat Monahan (Please
Come Home For Christmas)
and Sammy Hagar (All
We Need Is An Island,
Santa's
Going South),
though this is not strictly a duets show. They sing Barracuda,
The
River,
Seasons
and Remember
Christmas
with mostly all of them closing on Ring
Them Bells.
Sadly,
this only runs just over an hour and an
illustrated booklet is the only extra. They could not play more
songs or add more extras? Either way, not bad for what you get.
Tyler
Perry's A Madea Christmas: The Movie
(2013) is
the (once again) non-musical version of the stage musical that was
already a hit, which you can read more about at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11312/Becoming+Santa+(2011/Cinema+Libre+DVD)/Prep
Once
again, song are replaced with more comedy, additional scenes and
casting that includes a scene-stealing Anna Marie Horsford, Kathy
Nijimy, Larry The Cable Guy, Chad Michael Murray, Lisa Whelchel and
Alicia Witt. Amusing variances don't make this great, but it has a
few amusing moments just the same.
Digital
Copy and the behind-the-scenes featurette Jolly Follies are the
extras.
Hell
Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned: The Play
(2013) is being issued at the same time, a musical without any Madea
about a businesswoman who could use a good man to complete her life,
politically incorrect as that is. This is not bad, but is also
predictable (safely for Perry's audiences) and has good casting as a
plus. It is a bit long at 117 minutes and is really meant for his
built-in audience, but it is at least quality consistent, especially
after so many imitators have come along to challenge him to little
avail.
Digital
Copy and the behind-the-scenes interviews are the extras.
A
Very Funny Christmas
(2012 - 2014) was not too funny to me, but includes telefilm special
adaptations of David Walliams holiday comedies Mr.
Stink
(which was boring and forgettable despite its attempts to amuse in a
on-note way) and Gangsta
Granny
with Julia McKenzie (Miss Marple) as a grandmother who gets crazy
with her grandson and nearly gets them in trouble with The Queen
(Joanna Lumley) in a tale that is also silly, but I at least smiled a
few times. Both are really meant for young children and maybe
families, a little British at that and some points might be missed by
audiences in the U.S., but nothing
really stuck with me here.
Digital
Copy, behind-the-scenes featurettes on both telefilms and a
featurette on Walliams are the extras.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on the two
Blu-ray releases look good, though Heart
has more color-range, but both have minor detail issues and Madea
has more motion blur. The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the DVDs have some soft
stylings and motion blur, but tend to be consistent in their look and
tie for second and last place for playback performance.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Madea
should be the sonic champ here since the Heart
Blu-ray only offers (very oddly) PCM 2.0 Stereo and a lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1 mix, but it is joke-based and has an uneven soundfield.
The PCM on Heart has some warmth missing from the lossy Dolby mix,
but that is slightly better with more overall detail. Why no
lossless 5.1 mix? That is like a lump of coal in the stocking
people!
The
DVDs offer lossy Dolby Digital, but in different configuration with
5.1 on Scorned,
which is stage-based and not bad, but is a little weak overall, so
the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on the BBC
programs can more than compete.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
