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Category:    Home > Reviews > Comedy > Relationships > Satire > Australia > Sitcom > Crime > School > Chase > 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 (2

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/


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