Miracle/Moon
66 Questions (2021/both
Film Movement DVDs)/Paradise
Highway (2022/Lionsgate
Blu-ray)/Rain
(1932/UA/MVD/VCI Blu-ray)/Rachel,
Rachel (1968/Warner
Archive Blu-ray)/Sniper:
The White Raven
(2021/Well Go Blu-ray)
Picture:
C+/C/B-/B/B/B- Sound: C+/C+/B/C+/C+/B- Extras:
C+/C/B-/B-/C/C- Films: C/C+/B-/B-/B-/B-
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Rachel,
Rachel
Blu-ray is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner
Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.
Soon
it will be awards season, so you can start off with these often
well-made dramas, old and new...
Bogdan
George Apetri's Miracle
(2021) is a film that tries to take risks, but does not eventually
know what it wants to say or do as a young nun (Ioana Bugarin) leaves
her convent and eventually disappears. A smart detective (Emanuel
Parvu) is hired to find out what happened and we are shown that she
was sexually assaulted, beaten and killed with some graphic detail.
So
as it is not a mystery outright, is it a character study of religion,
men, Romania, conformity? The screenplay seems to think it is doing
some of that, but I found it surprisingly predictable and even a
little heavy handed. Then there is the ending, which has several
issues and problems of its own, but does not work and shows Aperi had
not thought this out. Now you can see for yourself.
Extras
include a Deleted Scene, Director's Feature-length Audio Commentary
track and the short film A
Very Small Trilogy Of Loneliness
from Apetri.
Jacqueline
Lentzou's Moon
66 Questions
(2021) is a mixed film about a young 20-something gal (Sofia Kokkali)
to help her ailing father (Lazaros Georgakopulos) who she hardly
knows, then starts to learn a secret or two she has to deal with
whether she likes it or not or it brings on other possibilities.
Running 108 minutes, it does not overdue things and almost quits
while it is ahead, but it also drags in spots and despite some fine
acting, has a few predictable parts. The result is a film that is
not as memorable as it might have been, though being from Greece is a
plus as we see so few films imported from there.
Extras
include Deleted Scenes and the short film The
End Of Suffering (A Proposal)
from Lentzou.
Anna
Cutto's Paradise
Highway
(2022) is one of the big surprises of the year, coming from the
Grindstone division of Lionsgate, one usually known for its gimmicky
action and genre releases, nothing too challenging or often memorable
comes form them. For a change, we have a drama and thriller about
human trafficking that should be getting far more press than it is
receiving. For starters, its lead is one of the greatest actresses
alive and one who always seems to deliver: Juliet Binoche!
This
time, she plays a gritty truck driver (playing down her beauty in a
way that will shock some and fool others) named Sally who is trying
to help her prison-bound brother (Frank Grillo) who is set to be
discharged, but has to deal with some sickos behind bars to survive.
To help, she is asked by him to make a delivery for them, but goes
into shock when it turns out to be an underaged girl!
Reluctantly,
she takes her, still in shock and unhappy her brother might be hurt
or worse if she does not. Then things take a wild turn when the man
who meets Sally to get the girl is killed!
When
the body is found, the FBI get involved and they have a semi-retired
adviser, well-played by no less than Morgan Freeman, who is in the
film more than the credits suggest and he gives one of his best
performances of late. Though the ending is mixed, the film never
wallows in its subject matter, handles it smartly and intelligently,
plus the writing and directing is better than many such films we've
seen of late.
This
film deserves as big a release as possible and only a few decades
ago, this would have had a higher profile release. The COVID effect
and the industry's obsession with only hugely-budgeted films have
hurt this kind of mature storytelling. You can see why two great
actors like Binoche and Freeman took this on and I hope their star
power and the respect serious film fans have for them will deliver a
surprise hit out of this. Oscar nominations for some of the great
work here would not be out of the question either.
Digital
Copy, an Original Theatrical Trailer, Deleted Scenes with optional
Director's Commentary and a feature-length audio commentary by the
Director are the extras.
Joan
Crawford was a big star beginning in the silent era and helped put
MGM on the map so well, they became the biggest studio in the
Classical Hollywood era thanks to stars like her. She looked great,
was a sex symbol in her time, the camera liked her and she knew how
to act. However, so many stars as great as her did not survive the
transition to sound and in many cases, it was from being mishandled.
In Crawford's case, she spoke and spoke
well, with a voice that matched her statue and sexuality. On loan to
United Artists, she made Lewis Milestone's Rain
in 1932 and the bold pre-Hollywood Code melodrama was a big hit, big
deal and assured everyone that Crawford would continue to reign as
one of the top actresses and biggest movie stars in the world for
years to come in the sound era.
Crawford
plays Sadie Thompson, a wild call girl who knows what she is doing,
how to handle men, knows men and eventually gets into trouble. When
it looks like she mighty be going to jail, she fells the country for
the South Seas and hopes of a new life. Instead, she meets a
missionary (Walter Huston) as sex, religion, the pleasure principle
and the reality principle hit all head on.
Remade
later as the 3D Miss
Sadie Thompson
(reviewed in its out of print edition elsewhere on this site) and
ripped off a few times, this film is as close to the best-selling W.
Somerset Maugham novel and despite its age, the acting has not aged
as badly as many other films from its time up until the pre-WWII era
and the results of the Code kicking in. Milestone is one fo the
great journeyman filmmakers and his work holds up much better than
many of his contemporaries, but it is Crawford who shows she can act
and she is stunning from start to finish. You can make all the
Mommie
Dearest
comments and references you want to make, but in real life, she was
as groundbreaking and important as other actresses of her time (like
Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis and Mary Pickford, whose foundation
has co-sponsored this stunning restoration) with the proof in the
performance. She hits no false notes and when the big screen was
REALLY the BIG Screen, she delivered like no other. Catch this great
restoration ASAP!
Extras
are many and include a feature-length Audio Commentary
track by Mick LaSalle, writer for the San
Francisco Chronicle
and noted film historian. Commentary track by Richard Barrios Writer,
Historian, and Commentator Liner notes reprinted from Views
& Reviews Magazine
by Jon Tuska, author and film historian. You also get an Alternate
Opening Title and Credits Sequence from the 18-minute shorter, 1938
Atlantic Reissue Original Theatrical Trailer Poster & Photo
Gallery, period appropriate Betty Boop Cartoon in excellent condition
and a Newsreel.
Paul
Newman's Rachel,
Rachel
(1968) is the great actor directing his amazing wife Joanne Woodward,
as the title school teacher in a small town who has more problems and
issues than anyone around her could begin to figure out and she can
only begin to grasp. Not knowing she has serious mental illness
issues, she instead falls in with a religious group that only makes
things worse and people around her who have no clue on how to be
emotionally available as they barely know who they are.
Not
wanting to be alone and wishing she could find someone to love her,
it is a dilemma most people face in their own ways, but she is too
nice, keeps wanting to help children (in place of having them?) and
we wonder what will happen to her.
Based
on the book ''A
Jest Of God''
by Margaret Laurence, the cast is solid, Woodward is amazing and the
film feels authentic throughout, even when parts are sadly
predictable, not because of bad writing, but because of how it
honestly, sadly portrays human nature. It holds up very well after
all these decades and its great to see it getting issued in a
restored edition.
Silent
Promo Footage and an Original Theatrical Trailer are the only extras.
Marian
Bushan's Sniper:
The White Raven
(2021) is NOT another installment in the very tired, played out
series of Sniper films that are very belated sequels to the moderate
hit with Tom Berenger and Billy Zane. Instead, it is a Ukrainian
film set in 2014 and is one of the last films that got finished
before the ugly, insane Russian invasion of the great country. Based
on a true story, this film knows and understands the threat Putin's
Russia posed to the country and sadly, were more correct than they
could have ever imagined.
A
science teacher (Pavlo Aldoshyn) is happy to teach his rowdy students
what he can, but is also happy with the woman in his life he lives
with and loves so much. However, a Russian sniper is going around
and having too much success taking out Ukrainian targets or other
'subversives' and this does not make him or anyone close to him feel
very good.
When
the couple is brutally attacked by Russian soldiers, he decides to
give up education, become a sniper and go all out to get serious
revenge on as many of them as he can, including that elusive main
sniper.
Though
there are conventions of the Western, revenge film, reactionary
action films and a few points that could be read as pro-Ukraine
propaganda, the film has a surprising amount of good acting,
suspense, good editing and action that is lacking in most Hollywood
films of its kind, plus, it is about a real life situation that
suddenly became more real than any dramatic film. With the pride you
get form the film, you can see why the Ukrainian people have been so
successful at fighting and resisting Putin's killers, no matter how
much blood, death and butchery they have brought to their neighbor,
which continues as we post. Definitely give this one a look!
An
Original Theatrical Trailer for this and a few other recent Well Go
releases are the only extras.
Now
for playback performance. The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on Highway
has some softness and lack of detail here and there which does hold
fidelity back, but in this case, it is partly due to the style chosen
for the film and it works well enough that it is not as much of an
issue as it usually would be. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio)
5.1 lossless mix is well done, well recorded and easily the sonically
best title of the six we have here.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on Rain shockingly looks as good as any entry here,
and though the original 35mm film materials can show the age of the
materials used, I have never seen the film look this good in my life
and I have seen several versions over the years. Very impressive.
The optical monophonic film oddly has a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix
that tries to bring the sound to life, but a clear lossless mono
track would have worked just fine.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer Rachel
looks very fine, clean and clear throughout, another superior
transfer from Warner Archive. The film was actually originally
issued in 35mm dye-transfer,
three-strip Technicolor prints and color is really good here, but
maybe it is a shade duller than such prints might be. Otherwise,
most impressive. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix
is as good as this film will ever sound and that is a good thing in
this case.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Raven
is a solid HD shoot, but it too has some softness throughout, though
that again is partly due to the style chosen and it is a war film.
The Ukrainian DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is superior to the same mix with a so-so
English dub, though both soundtracks are here in lossy Dolby Digital
2.0 Stereo instead of a lossless format choice, sounding worse than
the DTS options.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image on Miracle looks about
as good as it could in the older DVD format, but the anamorphically
enhanced 1.85 X 1 image on Moon is softer than I would have
liked throughout and has some degraded images here and there that do
not help it. As for sound, both offer lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 and
lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mixes, but the 5.1 is just that much
better in both cases. The former is in Romanian, the latter in
Greek.
To
order
the Rachel,
Rachel
Warner
Archive Blu-ray, go to this link for it and many more great
web-exclusive releases at:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20
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Nicholas Sheffo