Employee
Of The Month
(2021/Film Movement DVD)/National
Lampoon's Vacation 4K
(1983/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)/Man
From Toronto (2022/Sony
Blu-ray)
Picture:
C+/B (4K)/B- Sound: C/C+/B Extras: C-/C/C- Films:
C+/C+/C-
Here
are a set of comedies, one that spawned a series and two newer ones
that... well...
Veronique
Jadin's Employee
Of The Month
(2021) is a short 78 minutes, but it is a work-based comedy where the
two female leads (Jasmina Douieb and Laetitia Mampaka) accidentally
kill their boss and have to kidnap his cocky subordinate. Almost
like the middle of Jane Fonda/Dolly Parton/Lily Tomlin classic 9
To 5
(reviewed elsewhere on this site) but deadlier, the film also tries
to imitate every other such comedy (both versions of The
Office
as well among others) that it is like a 'greatest hits' of many
previous releases.
The
cast is good, energetic and keep the comedy tone going, but they
needed a more well-thought out script. I don't think I missed any
French humor either, especially as it is trying to be broader. A sad
miss, only see it if you are really interested.
Trailers
are the only extras.
Harold
Ramis' National
Lampoon's Vacation 4K
(1983) was a surprise hit and the kind of mid-budget film (comedy or
otherwise) the big studios used to make all the time, but now, rarely
bother. Though not a great comedy by any means, the film spawned a
film series and continued Chevy Chase's run as a big box office star
for about a decade more before it all ended.
For
their 100th anniversary, Warner Bros. has chosen this as a key film
for thew 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray treatment and it is one that needed the
upgrade. The sound is about the same, but the picture is finally
correct and accurate.
In
the film, the Griswald family decides to get a new station wagon (and
BOY, do they get one) and go to several famous locales for their best
vacation yet. Too bad madness after madness will ensue for their
whole trip. Beverly D'Angelo can more than equal Chase in the comedy
department, though she never gets the full credit for it as his wife,
while young Anthony Michael Hall and Dana Barron are the children.
The
pacing is at least consistent, but the supporting turns by the likes
of Imogene Coca, Randy Quaid, John Candy, Eugene Levy, Eddie Bracken,
James Keach, Brian-Doyle Murray, Jane Krakowski and Christie Brinkley
keep the film going and no matter what you ultimately think o the
film, it is people-powered and most films today sadly are not. If
you are going to visit or revisit it, 4K is the way to go.
Digital
Copy and a feature-length audio commentary track by Harold Ramis,
Chevy Chase, Randy Quaid, Anthony Michael Hall, Dana Barron and
Producer Matty Simmons are the only extras. However, we did cover
the 4K edition of Christmas
Vacation, which you can
read more about at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16212/A+Christmas+Story+4K+(1983)/Elf+4K+(2003)/N
Very
lastly, Patrick Hughes' The
Man From Toronto (2022)
is the kind of film Siskel & Ebert used to call the 'dog of the
week' and could make the 'dog of the year' list, a package-deal
comedy with leads Kevin Hart (highly overrated) and Woody Harrelson
(wasted here) as Hart's 'entrepreneur' rents the wrong place for his
family and gets mistaken for the title killer. Harrelson is that
killer, but not with this processed screenplay and it is everything
you have seen before... but worse.
Has
Hart ever made a good film? This one is not it. Harrelson is just
picking up a paycheck with also wasted Kalie Cuoco and Ellen Barkin,
both so far superior to this dreck that I would need a separate essay
to explain. The rest of the cast looks bored, but all of them
combined cannot match my boredom. This is 100 minutes of my life I
will never get back.
Digital
Copy and lame Deleted Scenes are the only extras.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1, HDR (10;
Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image has rich color
as its highlight and fortunately, daytime and daylight look like it
versus prints and copies of this and films like it where fading makes
such shots look overcast. Ironically, 1983 was the year (after a
lawsuit from Martin Scorsese against Kodak, et al) started
reformulating their color film stocks to stop a chronic fading issue
across all the producers of movie film. This can be grainy and show
its age, but is the best it has looked since it original theatrical
release. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix shows its age and you
can immediately measure the difference with the great Lindsey
Buckingham theme song for the film (and the series) ''Holiday
Road'';
arguably his biggest solo hit thanks to this film. It is in warm,
rich, sharp, clear, thick PCM 2.0 Stereo on the menu, but is flat
with the rest of the film on its soundtrack.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Toronto
is an HD shoot that is softer than it ought to be for any HD
production at this point, sometimes to the point of being annoying.
Then the
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is dialogue/'joke' based
with music that gets in the way (usually a tech issue, maybe no such
a bad thing here) so expect a trying combination.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image on Month is at least
very colorful and though the softest on the list, has better color
than Toronto, believe it or not. As for sound, the French
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 and lossy French Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
mixes are the same way, but done slightly better technically. This
might benefit from a Blu-ray release.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
