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Category:    Home > Reviews > Drama > Comedy > Singing > Music > Documentary > Biography > Danny Collins (2015/Universal Blu-ray w/DVD)/The Wrecking Crew (2008/2014/Magnolia Blu-ray)

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


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