Cry
Freedom
(1987/Umbrella Import Blu-ray)/A
Guide To Recognizing Your Saints
(2006*)/Hold
Back The Dawn
(1941/Arrow/*both MVD Blu-rays)/Never
Ever
(2016/Film Movement DVD)/Parasite
(2019/Universal Blu-ray)
Picture:
B/B+/B/B-/B+ Sound: B/B+/B/B-/B+ Extras: D/B/B/D/C Films:
B/C+/B/C/B
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Cry
Freedom
Import Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Umbrella
Entertainment in Australia, can play on all Blu-ray players and can
be ordered from the link below.
Now
for more awards-season filmmaking, including the latest big winner to
hit the jackpot...
Denzel
Washington and Kevin Kline star in the late Richard Attenborough's
Cry
Freedom
(1987). The incredibly well made film features stunning realism in
this true story that follows the horrors of racial war in South
Africa. Winner of several awards and wide critical acclaim, the film
looks and sounds great in this new Blu-ray release from Umbrella
Entertainment.
The
film also stars Penelope Wilton, Kevin McNally, Josette Simon, John
Thaw, and John Matshikiza to name a few.
The
story centers around South African journalist Donald Woods (Kline)
who is forced to flee the country after attempting to investigate the
death in custody of his friend, the black activist Steve Biko
(Washington). What he finds in Africa will not only shape his life
but the lives of others as well. Kline and Washington are brilliant
together on screen here and really make for an interesting watch!
Cry
Freedom
is presented in 1080p high definition with a 2.35:1 widescreen aspect
ratio and a 2.0 DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) Stereo lossless mix that is
clear and consistent throughout. The film is very nicely shot by
Ronnie Taylor (Sea
of Love)
in 35mm and still holds up nicely today.
No
extras.
A
Guide To Recognizing Your Saints
(2006) is
an okay movie with a stellar cast. Robert Downey Jr. (pre-Iron
Man),
Shia LaBeouf, Dianne Wiest, (a quite young) Channing Tatum, and
Rosario Dawson line headline the picture, which is based on a true
story based on the young life of the film's director - Dito Montiel
(who also directed LaBeouf in Man
Down
and Tatum in The
Son of No One
and Fighting).
This film is part of MVD's Marquee Collection of titles.
With
his father ill, Dito comes home to find his 'saints', or his loved
ones that he lost, left behind or can't help but remember. The film
is a story of relationships old and new, as well, the relationship
between Dito and his father before his death and takes place in
Astoria, Queens.
A
Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with a
widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (original aspect ratio is 1.85:1)
and two nice sounding audio mixes in lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 and LPCM
2.0. The transfer is nice with lush colors and nothing that hinders
the presentation in any way.
Special
Features include:
Shooting
Saints:
The Making of Featurette
Full
Monty interview
Young
Laurie Audition Tape
Deleted
Scenes
Alternate
Openings and Endings
Trailers
and
Audio Commentary with Director Dito Montiel and Editor Jake
Pushinsky.
Who
doesn't love a classic black and white romance film? Arrow Academy
presents the newly restored Hold
Back The Dawn
(1941) from Paramount Pictures onto Blu-ray for the first time.
Starring
Charles Boyer and Olivia de Havilland, the film follows Georges
Iscovescu (Boyer), who hopes to get into the US by any means
necessary. When he finds out there is an eight year waiting period
to do so, he ends up cooking up a plot with his dance partner, Anita
(played by Paulette Goddard), to marry a woman whose a US citizen and
then dump her once he gets to where he wants to be. Once Georges
meets Emmy, he ends up falling in love with her for real. However,
an immigration officer threatens to muck up Georges' new proposal to
Emmy.
As
mentioned this is the first time that Hold
Back The Dawn
has been presented in high definition and it's presented here in
black and white with a 1.37:1 full frame aspect ratio and an
uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM audio soundtrack. The film looks
startlingly fantastic here considering its age, and doesn't look
nearly as aged as you'd expect.
Special
Features include:
New
audio commentary by film scholar Adrian Martin
Love
Knows No Borders,
a newly filmed video appreciation by film critic Geoff Andrew
The
Guardian Lecture: Olivia de Havilland,
A career-spanning onstage audio interview with Olivia de Havilland
recorded at the National Film Theatre in 1971
Rare
hour-long radio adaptation of Hold
Back the Dawn
from 1941 starring Charles Boyer, Paulette Goddard and Susan Hayward
Gallery
of original stills and promotional images
Original
trailer
Reversible
sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jennifer
Dionisio
and
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new
writing on the film by writer and critic Farran Smith Nehme.
Never
Ever
(2016) is
a French romantic drama that's your run of your mill sexual drama
with some interesting photography and setting.
The
film centers around a filmmaker (Mathieu Amalric) who becomes
obsessed with a body artist named Laura and the two begin to have an
affair. But things take a sour turn when he dies in a tragic
motorcycle accident and leaves Laura alone... or is there someone
else living with her? Nothing is as it seems in this film, that seems
mostly aimed at pseudo-intellectuals.
The
film stars Julia Roy, Jeanne Balibar, and Elmano Sancho to name a
few.
Never
Ever
is presented in anamorphically enhanced standard definition DVD with
a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and a lossy 5.1 French Dolby
Digital surround sound mix with English subtitles. Despite the
compression issues evident with the DVD format, the film looks and
sounds fine.
No
Extras.
Finally,
it was the biggest winner at the 2019 Academy Awards ceremony and now
Bong Joon-ho's Parasite
(2019) is on Blu-ray disc in this first, relatively bare bones,
release of the film on Blu-ray. The studio decided not to put out a
4K UHD version at this time, however the Blu-ray is top notch and
looks and sounds fine for the format.
The
multi-layered film brings up many relevant topics to today's society
including power, money, upper and lower classes, etc. while examining
many other modern themes of the human condition in a unique way.
The
story centers around two families, the Park family (which are quite
wealthy and have a beautiful home) to the destitute Kim clan, who
live in poverty. Through a series of smooth manipulation, the Kim
clan end up working for the Parks in their home, the teenage son
tutors their high school daughter (and sparks a romance), the teenage
daughter is an art teacher for their young boy, Mr. Kim assumes the
position of the driver, and Mrs. Kim ends up stealing the spot of
housekeeper (who has some secrets of her own.) The biggest scene of
the film happens in the third act and is certainly shocking and out
of nowhere. All in all, this is a film that definitely needs to be
seen.
The
film stars Song Kang-ho, Jo Yeo-Jeong, Woo-sik Choi, So-dam Park, Seo
Joon Park, and Hye-jin Jang.
Parasite
is presented in 1080p high definition on Blu-ray disc with a
widescreen aspect ratio of 2.39:1 and a great sounding audio mix in
Korean DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) lossless mix with
English subtitles. The image and presentation here is fine for the
format, however, a 4K UHD version of the film down the line is
inevitable. The film is uniquely shot by Hong Gyeong-Pyo and has an
interesting award winning score by Jung Jae-il. This is fine
filmmaking across the board and it translates well to home video.
The
only special features are:
Q
and A with Director Bong Joon Ho
and
Trailers
While
it may not have been everybody's pick for best picture on Oscar
night, Parasite
is certainly an interesting work and effective storytelling from
visionary director Bong Joon-ho. It also doesn't hurt to get more
casual moviegoers exposed to international films.
To
order the
Cry
Freedom
Umbrella import Blu-ray, go to this link for it and other
hard-to-find titles at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
-
James
Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/