East
Side Sushi (2015/Samuel
Goldwyn/Sony DVD)/Finding
Gaston (2014/Film
Movement DVD)/Noma: My
Perfect Storm
(2015/Magnolia Blu-ray)
Picture:
C+/C/B- Sound: C+/C/B- Extras: C/D/C+ Main Programs:
C+/C+/B-
Though
its not quite a cycle yet, we keep seeing more releases related to
food and here are three of the latest...
Anthony
Lucero's East
Side Sushi
(2015) is our one drama about a young Mexican woman (Diana Elizabeth
Torres) has a food stand, but she's sick of it and getting robbed, so
she by chance becomes intrigued by what is going on inside a sushi
restaurant. She eventually gets a job there, but faces lite racism
('only Japanese' should be in front serving) and some lite sexism
(without trivializing either) stops her from getting to where she
wants to go.
The
drama (with a little comedy) has some cliches and predictable
moments, but it is what the actors do in their performances and the
sides of life we see here that we don't see in serious filmmaking
enough that make it worth a look. I had never seen these actors
before, but I liked them, thought they even had chemistry and hope to
see them all again in a new project. Not bad for what does work.
Deleted
Scenes, Behind The Music and Behind The Sushi
featurettes are the only extras.
Patricia
Perez's Finding
Gaston
(2014) is the first of our two documentaries is a too-short 79
minutes look at how innovative chef Gaston Acurio making Peruvian
food a big hit among diners looking for something more. The dishes
are interesting, but so is the chef, which is why more questions
should have been asked, more interviews done and more history about
the food and country included. However, this is not bad and is worth
a look for those interested.
There
are no extras.
I
can say the same about Pierre Deschamps' Noma:
My Perfect Storm
(2015), but it has 20 more valuable minutes to show how
also-innovative chef Rene Redzepi and his world-famous NOMA
restaurant (though many apparently not heard of it) trying
alternative takes on all kinds of dishes. Though not that
dramatically more so, it is more well-rounded than Gaston, yet makes
for a good flipside to it and is part of a series of such profiles we
have enjoyed more and more over the lats few years. Not bad, but
again, only for the most interested.
Extras
include an Original Theatrical Trailer, Deleted Scenes, Testing The
Menu featurette and Noma Cuisine Gallery.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on East is a pretty
good digital shoot and being a narrative film, that is expected and
is just fine, but the same on Gaston is rougher since it is a
documentary that has some good shots, but can be softer and have some
detail issues throughout I wish it did not have. The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Noma
is also with its location video issues, but the tighter letterboxing
backfires on the presentation and cuts into its quality.
On
sound, the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on East is not bad for a
dialogue-driven drama with some comedy, but the lossy Dolby Digital
2.0 Stereo on Gaston
has some location audio issues, as does the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio)
5.1 lossless mix on Noma,
cutting into the enjoyment of both. It is just not as bad on Noma,
but should be less of a problem on both.
-
Nicholas Sheffo