
All
Together Now: The Complete Collection
(1991 - 1993/Umbrella Region Free PAL Import DVD Set)/The
Con Is On (2018/Lionsgate
Blu-ray)/Life Of The Party
(2018/Warner Blu-ray w/DVD)/Super
Troopers 2 (2018/Fox
Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture:
C/B/B & B-/B+ & B- Sound: C+/B/B & B-/B+ & B-
Extras: C+/C-/C+/C+ Main Programs: C+/C-/C+/C
PLEASE
NOTE:
The All
Together Now
Import DVD set is now only available from our friends at Umbrella
Entertainment in Australia, can only play on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K
Blu-ray players that can handle the PAL format and can be ordered
from the link below.
Here's
a group of odd and unusual comedies, including a belated sequel...
We
start with a hit sitcom from Australia that did not cross over the
the U.S., but may have had some success elsewhere. All
Together Now: The Complete Collection
(1991 - 1993) stars real life Rock singer Jon English as a successful
singer from the 1970s who finds out he has twin children he never
knew he had... several decades later in the early 1990s. He turns to
good friends Tracy (now longtime Aussie TV star Rebecca Gibney), Doug
(Garry Who) and music agent Wayne (Bruno Lucia) to help out and some
culture clashing is inevitable.
Steve
Jacobs (as Thomas) and Jane Hall (as Anna) are the now-teenaged twins
and the theme song might suggest The Beatles classic, but it is yet
another one of those formulaic, self-congratulatory TV themes that we
heard way too many of by the early 1980s, warmed-over versions of any
sincere versions thereof from the 1970s. Either way, the show is
amusing if not outright funny, as saccharine a Who's
The Boss
save the use of drugs you would NEVER see so openly on a U.S. sitcom.
The writing is mixed and usually still safe, so the only real reason
this was a hit is the cast, who have some chemistry and hit a chord
with audiences down under at the time.
By
the final season, Gibney and Who started to disappear from the cast,
plus the show was getting played out and long in the tooth for what
it was, so that led to its cancellation as it lost any energy and
flow it had. Umbrella Entertainment has issued the entire series in
a new Region Free PAL Import DVD box set for you to catch all 101
episodes for itself. The
Young Ones
its not, though you might find a couple of common denominators
between the two. I was amused enough at times, but other parts did
not work as well as the makers thought they did. Thus, some of the
extras are more interesting than the episodes. The cast is likable
and grows on you. Here, you can see why.
The
1.33 X 1 transfer can show the age of the materials used, even though
it is a more recent videotaped production, as the sets come with
disclaimers about image issues. Apparently, the master videotapes
had issues and were saved in older backups in most or all cases. The
image is usually very clean per se, but we get analog
videotape flaws including some video noise, video banding, tape
scratching, PAL cross color, faded color (especially brief dropouts
in some scene and scene transitions) and tape damage. Otherwise, it
is very watchable and the lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo is more
consistent, if not perfect.
Extras
include concert clips on the third and fourth season sets are here as
tribute to English, who died in 2016 after heart surgery
complications, but the real highlight even over that are the
hilarious, very long Gag Reel section on the first two season sets.
Why more bloopers did not survive from the last two seasons is a head
scratcher, but these are some of the funniest goofs I have seen in a
long time and as funny or funnier than anything reviewed in this set
of releases... and then some.
Uma
Thurman, Tim Roth, and other fading stars align for the empty feeling
heist flick The
Con Is On
(2018) which crash lands on video. Watching this film will give you
a big sense of deja vu as there isn't anything here that we haven't
seen before. It also has as many F-bombs as you can fit into a
picture and is, in short, bad behavior on full display. There's no
denying that Uma Thurman still has got it, but it's just a shame that
she's stuck with such lackluster material.
The
film also stars Sofia Vergara, Alice Eve, Crispin Glover, Parker
Posey, Maggie Q and a few other faces that you've seen before.
Two
con artists (Thurman and Roth) flee from England after owning a large
debt to a mob boss and relocate to LA. While they fit in very
quickly, they soon get mixed up in a devilish plot to steal jewels
that may be their ticket to freedom. Trouble is that the jewel plot
isn't exactly cut and dry and pretty convoluted to put it lightly...
The
film is presented in 1080p high definition with a 2.39:1 widescreen
aspect ratio and a fine sounding DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1
lossless mix. The colors are nice and the film isn't shot half bad
considering its less than stellar screenplay. A digital HD copy is
also included.
Special
Features include The
Con Is On
Trailer and other Lionsgate previews.
Melissa
McCarthy stars in Life
of the Party
(2018) which is a sort of spin on motherhood and college life and
feels like it very well could happen. When Deanna (McCarthy) sends
her daughter off to college, her husband calls for a divorce on the
same day. Being a college dropout, Deanna decides to reset her life
and go back to college... with her daughter. Along the way, Deanna
rediscovers herself amongst the young people and gets a new handle on
life.
The
film also stars Gillian Jacobs, Christina Aguilera, Julie Bowen, and
Adria Arjona.
Life
of the Party
is presented on 1080p Blu-ray with a 2.39:1 widescreen aspect ratio
and a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless track. The film has a
natural look that isn't too stylized but works fine for the source
material. The colors are nicely balanced and saturated with no
glaring issues. Also included is an anamorphically
enhanced,
standard definition DVD with a lossy 5.1 Dolby Digital mix and a
digital HD copy.
Special
Features include...
'80s
Party
Mom
Sandwich
Line-O-Rama
Bill
Hate-O-Rama
Gag
Reel
Deleted
Scenes
Life
of the Party
is a easy watch and fine for what it is. The material isn't as
raunchy as some of McCarthy's other films and will appeal to the
older crowd perhaps more than the younger one.
Broken
Lizard Productions (Club
Dredd)
returns with the sequel to their very own Super
Troopers 2
(2018), a
satirical cop comedy that gained cult status over the years. While
nobody really asked for or expected a sequel, it's not a complete
wash as it does have some funny jokes here and there and the original
cast has returned. Just don't expect a cohesive story or one that
isn't completely predictable from frame one.
The
film stars Jay Chandrasekhar, Paul Soter, Steve Lemme, Erik
Stolhanske, Rob Lowe, Brian Cox, Lynda Carter, and Kevin Heffernan.
This
sequel is a fish out of water story that pits the original wise
cracking highway patrol cops and places them in Canada. When a
border dispute arises between the U.S. and Canada, the Super Troopers
are brought back to work (for some reason) and tasked with
establishing a Highway Patrol station in the disputed area. Of
course, the Canadians don't take too kindly to them and they end up
in one silly situation after another.
Presented
in 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and
a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix, the presentation is up
to standards and sounds fine. The colors are nicely balanced and
saturated with an appropriate amount of detail in each frame.
There's also a standard definition DVD of the film (with a lossy 5.1
mix and the same widescreen specs,anamorphically enhanced) included
and a digital HD copy.
Special
Features include...
Making
of Featurette
Extended
& Deleted Scenes
Kevin
Heffernan: Method Actor
Theatrical
Trailers
If
you're a diehard fan of the original then this is worth a one time
watch. However, it's very disjointed and feels more like a bunch of
gags strung together than an actual cohesive film. For more on the
first film, try this ink to our Blu-ray coverage...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7962/Super+Troopers+(2001/Broken+Lizard/Fox+Blu-ray)
To
order the
All
Together Now: The Complete Collection
Umbrella import DVD set, go to this link for it and other hard to
find releases at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
Nicholas Sheffo (All)
and James
Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/