The
Best Of Tim Conway (from
The Carol Burnett
Show/1969 - 1978/Star
Vista/Time Life DVD)/Drive-In
(1976/Columbia/Sony DVD)/Grace
and Frankie: Season Two
(2016/Lionsgate DVD Set)/Insecure:
The Complete First Season
(2016/HBO Blu-ray Set)/When
Comedy Was King
(1959/Sprocket Vault DVD)
Picture:
C+/C+/C+/B/C+ Sound: C+/C+/C+/B/C+ Extras: C-/D/C-/C/B-
Main Programs: B-/C+/C+/B-/B-
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Drive-In
DVD is now only available online and can be ordered from our friends
at Movie Zyng via the order button atop this review or on top of our
right hand sidebar.
Here's
our latest group of comedies, all of which have their good laughs to
offer...
The
Best Of Tim Conway
is a new
single DVD compilation that makes good, if not perfect choices, of
how to show how hysterically funny the man was from
The
Carol Burnett Show
on its 50th
Anniversary. Running from 1969 to 1978, Conway began as a guest
star, but was on so often and so often a hit that he eventually
became a regular (especially after Lyle Waggoner left to be Steve
Trevor on Lynda Carter Wonder
Woman
TV series). So good and such a great fit in the cast, it seems like
he always was there.
We
get four episodes and they do a decent job of showing Conway at his
best, but to be honest, you cannot fit enough on a single DVD, so the
compilers were fighting against pulling off the impossible. Still,
this is as good a start as any, especially if you have somehow sadly
never seen him in great comic form as he is here. Some had hoped
this disc might be highlights from one of his own variety comedy
programs, but like his over-the-top comedy successor Dana Carvey,
Conway had several shows that just did not work out despite what felt
like endless talent. This intro is worth a look.
The
only extra is the Dog's
Life
blooper clip.
Rod
Amateau's Drive-In
(1976) is
a counterculture comedy of sorts, reveling in some dumb humor without
wallowing in it, produced by George Litto (who also produced some key
Brian De Palma films) with a cast of unknowns sending up small town
life built around the title locale when there were still many of
them. There's sex, a gang rivalry, some dimwits who intend to rob
the place's receipts, some politically incorrect humor and all in a
time capsule of a film that captures by default the mood and time of
moviegoing then.
They
are also watching a bad disaster movie in all this and this even gets
semi-cartoonish, but it is plenty of fun in the way its made and
paced, plus it also qualifies as a teen comedy despite the characters
feat-rued are of all age groups. That makes it funnier.
There
may not be too many giant laughs, but you will never be unamused or
bored. I wonder if this film might even get a belated cult
following. We'll see.
There
are sadly no extras.
Grace
and Frankie: Season Two
(2016) is
the new hot cable TV comedy reuniting blockbuster comedy 9
To 5
feature film co-stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as best friends in
their twilight years, still dealing with dysfunction, some toxicity,
a few slight regrets and being survivors. Though you get some great
supporting acting from a cast that includes no less than Martin
Sheen, Sam Waterston and Ernie Hudson, plus a new group of actors we
may soon see again, the scenes between Tomlin and Fonda are so
strong, it makes the rest of each episode seem restrained and
limited.
There
are 13 episodes on this 3-DVD
set and you don't have to have seen all of the first season to enjoy
this, but it helps. An interesting show that works a little more
often than not, it is worth a look for the many moments that add up.
Extras
include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and other
cyber iTunes capable devices, while the DVD case adds an episode
guide sheet and DVD a Gag Reel.
Insecure:
The Complete First Season
(2016) is
a new hit HBO comedy with Issa Rae (who created the show) as Issa and
joined by her best friend Molly, whose relationship is not as tight
as it could be. Issa is having a few personal crisis of her own and
part of it is really dealing with a re-segregated world, yet there
are also issues of being female and just dealing with people who can
drift to the air-headed side. The teleplays are very observant, but
also expect more explicit language and situations than usual.
Most
of all, I was just surprise dhow bold it was in being funny and how
she is saying things that need to be said, are not being said or not
being said enough. There are some off moments in each show, but it
has to establish a narrative base its first time out. I just wonder
if after this debut season they can really get crazy and take off.
Either way, it is a success and one of the most underrated TV shows
anywhere of the past few seasons. Cheers to HBO for letting Miss Rae
go for broke here!
Extras
include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and other
cyber iTunes capable devices, while the Blu-ray adds a look at the
fictional Conjugal
Visits
'reality TV' show the characters watch and two Behind The
Scenes/Making Of featurettes in Insecure:
In The Room
and On
The Insecure Set with Issa Rae.
When
Comedy Was King
(1959) is
an important documentary compilation film, bringing together clips of
many silent film classics (sometimes being in this film was the only
way some of them survived!) and was THE crash course film to see, a
hit in its time that was broadcast to fine ratings over the years
into the late 1970s, early 1980s. Done comically, it is never
boring, shows how funny the big names of the past really were and
still are, makes you want to see more of all of them and especially
now in the digital visual effects age, you can really appreciate the
time, money, effort and risks to do the physical comedy that was
done.
Now
that we've lost way too many of these films through neglect or
(because the nitrate film they were shot on can be unstable and catch
fire!) just a lack of foresight and money to save them, it becomes a
key document in all new ways. Luckily, as we've reviewed on DVD and
especially Blu-ray, many of the films that are left are being
painstakingly restored and have seen so many of them that way since I
last saw this film decades ago, my love of silent comedies is shared
by more people than I could have imagined. This film likely helped
that situation.
Dwight
Weist is the original voice over man on the film and he did a pretty
good job, but likely never imagined people would still be watching
this one six decades later, but that's how good a job they did. This
is definitely worth a good look and if you are not used to these
films, expect some laughs and surprises.
Extras
include a very informative feature length audio commentary track by
silent film historian Richard M. Roberts, plus three rare silent
comedy shorts from Roberts' personal collection.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on episodes of
Insecure
are our visual champ, all digitally shot in HD and looking pretty
good throughout as has been the case with practically all HBO Blu-ray
releases. It makes for a fun sit, you can see the actors more
clearly and this is also well edited.
The
DVDs tie each other for second place, despite the varied formats they
represent. The 1.33 X 1 image on Conway
is from 2-inch analog color videotape and are as good as the previous
Carol
Burnett Show
entries we continue to cover. The anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1
on Drive-In
comes from a fine color print that is accurate and makes me want to
see it in HD or on film.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Grace
is a similar shoot to Insecure,
but the DVD is going to be softer, yet this is well-shot enough to if
not as solid. That leaves the
1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image transfer on
King
slightly showing the age of the silent-era filmmaking and the
materials used, but this is far superior a transfer to all previous
releases of this compilation and is bookended in an anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 frame.
As
for sound, Insecure
has a very well recorded DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on
all of its episodes, also well edited and mixed. Again, up to HBO's
usual standards and warm in playback
The
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on and Grace
could have been second best, but it has its moments of quiet that
help the comedy and drama, plus it can be lite in parts. As a result
the other three DVDs with their surprisingly clean, clear and lossy
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono can more than compete.
-
Nicholas Sheffo