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Category:    Home > Reviews > Drama > Melodrama > Love Triangle > Class Division > Literature > Crime > Hate > Military > Carrie (1952/Paramount/ViaVision/Imprint Region Free Import Blu-ray)/Northern Shade (2021/Bayview Blu-ray)/Nothing Is Impossible (2022/Sony DVD)

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


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