Danny
Collins (2015/Universal
Blu-ray w/DVD)/The
Wrecking Crew
(2008/2014/Magnolia Blu-ray)
Picture:
B & C+/B- Sound: B & C+/B- Extras: C-/B- Films:
C+/B
Here's
two new releases that deal with hit music, then and now...
Dan
Fogelman's Danny
Collins
(2015) offers Al Pacino in the title role of a longtime male solo
singer with decades of hit and millions of fans, but is
estranged from his son and is unhappy with the nostalgia act he has
become despite the wealth it makes for him. His birthday makes this
emphasized even more so, but his agent (Christopher Plummer) gives
him a surprise gift that break up the monotony and twists things up:
a letter from John Lennon! How?
He
did an interview with a journalist where he was asked about
inspirations and without being able to come up with anyone, comes up
with Lennon, who was inspired to write the letter. However, the
writer kept it secretly in case he could make money from it, but
never sold it. Now Collins has it and is thrilled, though also
unhappy he did not get it in time to respond. The film, based
loosely on a true story, seems as if it will follow this story, when
the script suddenly goes for Scent Of A Woman with a seeing
lead as it suddenly switches to a family comedy!?!
This
happens without warning and though what we actually get is not bad,
what could have been a classic character study deteriorates in front
of our eyes, which is tragic considering Pacino, Plummer and the rest
of the cast are so good. This gets the “cutesies' too much and
though you might want to see it as a curio, don't expect the film
that was promised by the ads and hype. Jennifer Garner, Annette
Benning and Bobby Cannavale are among the solid supporting actors.
The
only extras are faux album cover stills for Collins 'career' and a
very brief promo clip.
Denny
Tedesco's The
Wrecking Crew
(2014) is the excellent documentary about the remarkable group of
studio musicians who became the go to band to play on thousands of
hit records, as well as feature film and TV series soundtracks
throughout the 1960s, et al, becoming one
of those great hidden bands of the time like the amazing musicians in
Muscle Shoals or Motown's Funk Brothers as having made a tremendous
chunk of hits possible that are classics, highly influential,
brilliant, incredible and still set the stand for great music to this
day. At 102 minutes, this can never be long enough, but is a very
rich presentation you should go out of your way for.
The
group had many members including Tommy Tedesco, whose biography we
get part of since his son created this incredible work (much like
Joseph Mardin did for The Greatest Ears In Town about his
father, the late, great producer & music genius Arif Mardin, also
reviewed on this site) and uses this as a gateway into the lives of
everyone involved in the band, plus all the other legendary singers,
songwriters, producers, engineers and legends who worked with them.
Tedesco
had a pretty long career (not without dips) beyond the group
including Glen Campbell, who turned to them when his solo career
picked up (no doubt helping him out), Hal Blaine, Earl Palmer, Carol
Kaye, Earl Palmer,
Mel Pollen, Bill Aken, Barney Kessel, Al Casey, Jack Nitzsche, Jim
Gordon, Joe Pocaro, Bill Pitman, Leon Russell, Larry Knechtel, Frank
Capp and even Sonny Bono among the many and musician interviewees
(besides the band) including Cher, Marilyn McCoo, Billy Davis Jr.,
Herb Alpert (who co-produced this film), Lou Adler, H. B. Barnum,
Chuck Berghofer, Dick Clark, Micky Dolenz, Producer/Composer Snuff
Garrett, David Gold, Bones Howe, Al Jardine, Plas Johnson, Larry
Levine, Gary Lewis, Lew McCreary, Roger McGuinn, Joe Osborn, Don
Randi, Stan Ross, Joe Saraceno, Nancy Sinatra, Carmie Tedesco, Tommy
Tedesco, Peter Tork, Jimmy Webb, Julius Wechter, Brian Wilson and
Frank Zappa. Some is archive footage and you may have even seen a
bit of it before, but it is well-picked and this is a must-see music
documentary for serious music fans. I'll quit here to save the rest
of the surprises for you.
Don't
miss it!!!
Extras
include a list of song credits in the inner sleeve for the film,
while the Blu-ray adds the Original Theatrical
Trailer and nearly six hours of great bonus interviews that could not
fit into the main program (could have been a mini-series or more!)
you should see after watching the main film.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on Danny
is a digital shoot and has few flaws for a simple,
naturalistic-for-the-format shoot. Some shots are memorable, others
just average, but it looks better here than on the weak, soft,
anamorphically enhanced DVD. The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High
Definition image transfer on Crew
has its share of good and rough 1.33 X 1 footage on analog video and
film, but all is well edited together, though you should expect a few
dips it quality that might take you by surprise.
Both
Blu-rays offer DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes with often
dialogue-oriented Danny
sounding the best, but surrounds only kick in during his music
performances and is used by the music score. Still, just fine, the
best here and better than the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on the DVD
version. Crew
has plenty of simple stereo and mono moments, but the music and
especially hit records tend to sound good throughout.
-
Nicholas Sheffo