Carrie
(1952/Paramount/ViaVision/Imprint Region Free Import
Blu-ray)/Northern
Shade
(2021/Bayview Blu-ray)/Nothing
Is Impossible
(2022/Sony DVD)
Picture:
B-/B/C Sound: B-/B-/C+ Extras: C+/C/D Films: C+/C/C-
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Carrie
(1952) Import Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at
ViaVision Entertainment in Australia, can play on all 4K and Blu-ray
players and can be ordered from the link below.
Here's
a new group of drama releases for you to know about....
William
Wyler's Carrie
(1952) is a somewhat underrated film by the highly successful and
enduring journeyman filmmaker who had many huge critically acclaimed
hits and other films that offered mixed results or were not as
effective. The underrated Jennifer Jones is the title character (and
NOT the title character from the Stephen King novel and films of the
same name) who goes to the big city of Chicago hoping for big things.
Instead,
she lands up in a love triangle with two very different men (Laurence
Olivier and Eddie Albert) as she lands up in low-paying work and with
little opportunity. To the film's credit, the things it tries to say
are mature and some of them as relevant as ever, though I thought
about how much worse the same situation would be for her character
today. I like the acting, cast, costumes and sets, but the script
can be a little flat and predictable.
I
felt like that the only other time I saw the film eons ago, but some
parts have definitely aged well and better than I would have thought
back then. Even if it is not a great film, it is an ambitious one
and one worth a look. Miriam Hopkins also stars.
Extras
are decent and include
a NEW Feature Length Audio Commentary Track by professor/film scholar
Jason A. Ney
NEW
Neil
Sinyard on Carrie:
interview with the author of A
Wonderful Heart: The Films of William Wyler
Original
Theatrical Trailer
and
a Limited Edition slipcase on the first 1500 copies with unique
artwork.
Christopher
Rucinski's Northern
Shade
(2021) is another tale of a former military guy in retreat, home in
isolation who just wants some piece, but when Justin (Jesse Gavin)
finds out his brother Charlie has gone missing, then somehow been
brainwashed to join a militia, he teams up with an investigator to
fix this on his own. Guess this can happen when you lose touch with
family?
From
there, the film has several cliches for every interesting moment it
manages to come up with, as the cliches interfere with the film ever
breaking out on its own, over and over and over and over and over
again. Running 96 minutes, this sadly adds up to a bunch of missed
opportunities with a screenplay that plays it way too safe. I didn't
like the title either, but the actors at least seem to be trying.
Extras
include Deleted Scenes, a dedication, Behind-the-Scenes clip and
trailer, none of which are listed on the package.
Matt
Shapira's Nothing
Is Impossible
(2022) wants to be a drama, melodrama, sports film and faith film,
but it does none of them particularly well, proving the title is not
always correct. A high school janitor (David A.R. White) used to be
a top basketball player there, but the loss of a gal and father in
medical trouble has worn him thin. Instead of just settling for the
job and droning on in misery, he decides top try to rejoin the team
(?!??!!) and get his gal back (?!?!?!?!) in one of the poorest
'faith' releases I have had to suffer through.
Nothing
is convincing here, the story is implausible, the actors look bored
to death, the acting is very flat, this is not directed, shot or well
thought out. The camera work is dull and editing just lags and lags
and lags. Guess the makers we happy with the results, but it looks
like a project they did not have the time, money or energy to finish,
so they just cut together what they had and this it. You have been
warned and for that matter, do not operate dangerous equipment or
heavy machinery if you try watching it.
There
are no extras.
Now
for playback performance. The 1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white
digital High Definition image transfer on Carrie
can show the age of the materials used, especially with a few more
instances of dirt and light scratched than expected. Still, this
looks good and the gray scale is fine, with some shots more detailed
and with more depth than others. The PCM
2.0 Mono is about as good as this film will ever sound, but could use
a little more work.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on Shade
is a new HD shoot, but it is a little darker than I would have liked
and affects detail and depth, but part of it is its style. In a rare
occurrence, the sound is presented in a PCM
5.1 surround mix (instead of DTS or Dolby lossless) and it also
sounds good, but the sound can be a little uneven and some scenes
sound better than others.
Finally,
the anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image Nothing
is a little weaker and softer than it should be for a new HD shoot,
any style choices or even this format. The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1
mix fares a little better, but this is a dialogue-based program with
limited sonics, so only expect so much.
To
order the
ViaVision/Imprint Carrie
(1952) Region-Free import Blu-ray,
go to this link for it and many more hard to find titles at:
https://viavision.com.au/shop/carrie-1950-imprint-collection-200/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
