Cat
On A Hot Tin Roof (1958/MGM/Warner
Archive Blu-ray)/Indignation
(2015/Lionsgate Blu-ray)/Looking:
The Complete Series and The Movie
(2014 - 2016/HBO Blu-ray Set)/Men
& Chicken (2015/MVD
Visual/Drafthouse Blu-ray w/DVD)/Mr.
Church (2016)/The
Sea Of Trees (2014/both
Lionsgate Blu-rays)
Picture:
B/B/B-/B & C+/B/B Sound: B-/B/B/B & C+/B/B Extras:
C-/C/C+/C/C-/C- Main Programs: B-/C/C+/C/C-/C
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Cat
On A Hot Tin Roof
Blu-ray is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner
Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.
Now
for a new set of dramas that are often odd or at least different,
most of which attempt comedy, but with mixed results at best...
Richard
Brooks' feature film version of Tennessee Williams' Cat
On A Hot Tin Roof (1958)
shocked Hollywood and the country by taking the controversial book
and making it into a surprisingly solid film. Yes, there are some
key changes made, but the tension of the dysfunctions remain. Paul
Newman is an unhappily married man who misses his hometown sports
days and messing around drunk at night reliving the past, gets
himself injured and homebound in a cast. He is married to a
beautiful southern gal (Elizabeth Taylor, impressive here too) that
any man would want, but the bed-ridden husband could care less!
The
book (and Newman himself for most of the film, in fairness to him)
suggests he may be gay or gay again, but struggling with it, et al.
Her Maggie The Cat is a classic character and doesn't know what to
think of what is going on, nor does anyone else in their extended
dysfunctional family in their dysfunctional town. This is stirred up
more by Big Daddy (Burt Ives) whose 'Mr. Money Bags' and everyone
wants to be on his good side, especially if he gets ill. He is, and
tensions between he and Brick (Newman) are getting worse.
Warner
Archive has issued this MGM classic on Blu-ray in a fine new transfer
with some extras that spell out the rest, but the extras should be
seen after watching the smart, observant film. I was surprised at
how well it aged and in some ways, is as truthful as ever about human
nature.
Extras
include an Original Theatrical Trailer, feature-length audio
commentary track by Williams biographer and scholar Donald Spoto and
a self-titled behind the scenes featurette subtitled Playing Cat &
Mouse about the tensions going on, including more tragedy for Taylor.
James
Schamus' Indignation
(2015) is another drama about sexual tensions based on a book by a
key writer (Philip Roth), but we also have anti-Semitism as a young
man from New York (Logan Lerman, really good here) going to college
and dealing with some of that, but also just trying to concentrate on
his work when he becomes interested in a pretty young female student
(Sarah Gadon) that lands up having more than just a passing effect on
the two. Things move fast for them, so he wants to hit the breaks
with his future in mind, but it will not be that easy.
He
also has the strange inquiries of his Dean and fighting against the
general conformity of his school in 1950s America. Lionsgate has
issued the mixed film on Blu-ray in a decent edition, but the script
can unfortunately get stuck on cliches, a little predictability and
does not add up as much as it could have. I like the look for the
production design, the acting, some of the look and some of the
directing. Though not a big success, the leads could become stars
soon and it is at least a film about something being ambitious.
Extras
include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and other
cyber iTunes capable devices, while the Blu-ray adds two Behind The
Scenes/Making Of featurettes in Timeless
and Perceptions.
Looking:
The Complete Series and The Movie
(2014 - 2016) was HBO's attempt to have another gay-themed hit like
their U.S. version of Queer
As Folk,
but it just ran into overlap and repetition despite the start we
covered at this link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13296/Looking:+The+Complete+First+Season+(2014/HB
After
the second season did not work out the network let the makers wrap it
all up in a telefilm, so this Blu-ray set gives us the complete story
of these San Francisco-based characters that has its graphic moments
and graphic situations, but is somehow still a bit contrived and a
bit of mainstreaming does not help. Scott Bakula shows up as one of
the men 'in the life' as a side character, but is no better or worse
than the unknowns who make up the show.
Though
this is groundbreaking enough for a major pay cable network to have,
it is still behind the best works on the subject, but was not awful
for its subject matter. Still, I cannot see this appealing to
viewers much beyond a gay target audience.
Extras
include a Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and other
cyber iTunes capable devices, while the Blu-rays add 16 cast/crew
audio commentary tracks.
Anders
Thomas Jensen's Men
& Chicken
(2015) has a very frustrated man (Mads Mikkelsen of Casino
Royale
and TV's Hannibal)
trying to get it on with women and lucky to have a supportive brother
(David Denick) as their father is ill and about to die. When this
happens, he leaves an old videotape telling them they are not blood
relatives with him or each other, then the tape drops off not
finishing whatever the shocking truth is. Thus, sticking together,
the brothers go on a sort of road trip where they land up finding
their dysfunctional relatives and almost wish they hadn't.
Though
performances are good, Mikkelsen is always bold and he film's not
afraid to get down, dirty or graphic, it is sold as a comedy and it
was never funny, only mildly amusing at best and not like Scorsese's
King
Of Comedy
(1983) where nothing is actually funny. Maybe I am missing something
about Danish humor, but I doubt it on this scale. However, it is a
film of note there well promoted and I'm glad I saw it. Just wish it
had worked better.
Extras
include an illustrated booklet on the film, Original Theatrical
Trailer and trailers for other Drafthouse releases.
Bruce
Beresford's Mr.
Church
(2016) is a huge, awful miss of the film and maybe the worst thing he
has ever helmed, trying to have Eddie Murphy in a dramatic role (read
Oscar-begging contest) as an unorthodox housekeeper who helps out a
young gal (eventually Britt Robertson) and her mother, who (you
guessed it!) becomes ill. With no father around, guess who gets to
fill in... badly?
The
illicit appeals to pity get worse as he becomes passively repugnant
and this is everything you've seen before, but WORSE as we get so
many shots of Murphy that it looks like there are building a stills
portfolio to send the academy. He looks bored and you'll gel bored
watching all 105 LONG minutes of this melodramatic sudsfest. YAWN!!!
Extras
include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and other
cyber iTunes capable devices, while the Blu-ray adds four dull Behind
The Scenes/Making Of featurettes.
Gus
Van Sant's The
Sea Of Trees
(2014) can also be boring, but it at least things it is trying to be
thoughtful as Matthew McConaughey is a man whose life and self are a
personal mews, so when tragedy strikes, he goes to Japan to find
himself. Eventually, this means being out in the middle of nowhere,
then getting literally stuck in a forest with a man (Ken Wantanabe)
who is not well himself, but might be more disconnected from society
and might be able to help.. a bit. Naomi Watts is his ill wife and
again, lots of cliches, yet the film thinks it is being existential
somehow. Unfortunately, despite the likable talent involved, it
never worked out that way or says anything we haven't heard before.
Too bad, because van Sant can be effective when he wants to be.
Extras
include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and other
cyber iTunes capable devices, while the Blu-ray adds a self-titled
Behind The Scenes/Making Of featurette subtitled A
Story Of Beauty & Tragedy.
All
five
feature film Blu-rays are about on par with each other looking good,
though each have their flaws and limits. Cat
is the oldest film here, in a really impressive new transfer in a
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image with the nest color on
the list and remarkably, better shots overall than the rest, sharing
the same frame and 1080p as Church
and Indignation,
while Men
(with an anamorphically enhanced DVD in the same frame that is soft
and the poorest performer on the list) and Trees
are offered in 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image
transfers. The rest are digital shoots and I have to say they'll
date a bit in a few years.
That
leaves the 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on
Looking
can look good in interiors, but there is this odd thing where outdoor
sequences look degraded a bit on purpose and it makes no narrative
sense or helps the show at all.
The
four newer feature films and Looking
are presented in DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes, all tie
for the best sonic performers here and have consistent soundfields,
but none really offer anything more impressive than that, especially
since they tend to be dialogue-based. Cat
comes in second with a decent-sounding DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0
Mono lossless mix that is as good as I have ever heard the film, so
fans will be pleased and I doubt it could sound any better.
The
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on the Men
DVD is the weakest performer here and sometimes some dialogue is not
clear.
To
order the Warner Archive Cat
On A Hot Tin Roof
Blu-ray, go to this link for it and many more great web-exclusive
releases at:
http://www.wbshop.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
