American
Graffiti 4K (1973/4K
Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray*)/Double
Trouble
(1967/Elvis/MGM/Warner Archive Blu-ray)/El
Gangster (1965/MVD/VCI
Blu-ray)/French
Revelations: Fanfare Of Love
(1935) + Bad Seed
(1934/Flicker Alley Blu-ray)/My
Big Fat Greek Wedding 3
(2023/Blu-ray w/DVD/*both Universal)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B- Picture: C+/B/B-/B-/B- & C+ Sound:
B- & C+/B-/C+/C+/B & C+ Extras: B-/C/C/B-/C Films:
B/C/C+/C+ & B-/C
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Double
Trouble
Blu-ray is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner
Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.
Now
for a wide variety of comedies from a wide range of time and eras...
George
Lucas' American
Graffiti 4K
(1973) is now known as a major classic and one of the most imitated
films around, a remarkable capturing of the Summer of 1962 in Los
Angeles, et al, with the raw lives of teenagers growing up with Rock
and Pop music still alive, though Rock was considered on the way out
or down or just another trend (The Beatles and counterculture soon to
arrive would change that permanently) and is also one of the great
slice of life films.
Too
bad Universal had zero faith in the film and wanted to shelve it.
Producer Francis Coppola was suddenly flush in Godfather
money and when he heard this, told the studio to sell the entire film
back to him so he could take it elsewhere or release the it. They
did and it became the #1 film the studio released that year, a huge
hit. It also added music to the soundtrack like no non-musical ever
had and invented the soundtrack-driven non-musical as ewe know it
today.
Universal
has now issued the film in a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray set with
no new extras and though the film is a classic, the playback
performance is very disappointing, but more on that below.
Otherwise, the film is a classic, has only gained in value and grown
in greatness and its influence remains steady, only outdone by Lucas'
next film as his most influential. Before she passed, I got to speak
with the brilliant Cindy Williams about the film and she told me how
very specific they were in every single shot they took here, every
angle, every moment, the performances and so much more. There is
plenty of comedy here, but also some of the best acting of all
involved including actors known now more for comedy than drama.
William, Mackenzie Phillips, Candy Clark, Ron Howard and Suzanne
Somers more than show their actual dramatic acting sides and Williams
would do the same a year later in Coppola's The
Conversation,
yet another classic!
It
did not hurt that oldies stations all over the country were playing
this music with great commercial and fan success, so how a studio
that also owned one of the biggest record companies around did not
catch onto that. Either way, it shows that Lucas can do more than
fantasy space opera or science fiction material (as he did with
THX-1138)
and as I rewatched and saw so many great future names in their early
prime, I was re-reminded that by having to turn producer and juggle
the Star
Wars
franchise, his visual effects powerhouse Industrial Light &
Magic, improve movie (and later home) theater playback technology
with his THX program and fight for so much more, we likely lost a few
more feature film classics from Lucas as director and are all the
poorer for it. That is why seeing American
Graffiti 4K
in this 50th
Anniversary Edition
(compromised performance notwithstanding) reminds us that Lucas was
as important a filmmaker as any of his great contemporaries at the
time, so had he had a chance to make more films, he'd be remembered
more as such. That's yet another reason to celebrate 1973 as another
brilliant year for filmmaking from Hollywood's last golden age!
Extras
include Digital Code, while the discs add an Original Theatrical
Trailer, feature length audio commentary track
by George Lucas, The
Making of American Graffiti
featurette and Screen Tests. The legacy Blu-ray also retains:
Norman
Taurog's Double
Trouble
(1967) is the comedy director's sixth of nine Elvis films, also
called 'Elvis Musicals' and though all of his films made money, this
is one of the dullest and it is hard to believe it did enough
business. Elvis does NOT play twins, but is pursued by two beautiful
women (Yvonne Romain and Annette Day) in the midst of forgettable
music, stolen gems, detectives, spies and more formula than in a
maternity ward.
The
film has limited energy and that this is his film during The Summer
Of Love shows you how he had just practically entered another
dimension of safe reality that had zero to do with what was happening
in the world or country, the reason why he was being written off as a
has-been and was still unaware of what had really happened to him and
his popularity. Even more shocking, it is hard to imagine as you
watch this that he was about to make one of the biggest comebacks in
music and entertainment industry history. Yes, it is that dull.
Still,
it is one of his films and it was a small hit, so it deserves to be
preserved, restored, remastered and reissued as much as any film and
any of his films, but it just is beyond obvious despite a Jo Helms
screenplay and being one of the early productions of the later
prolific Irwin Winkler. Professional at best, this is for
completists only.
Extras
include an Original Theatrical Trailer and two classic Technicolor,
theatrical Tom And Jerry animated cartoon shorts: Rock 'N' Rodent
and Surf-Bored Cat.
Luis
Alcoriza's El
Gangster
(1965) offers a Mexican title character (Arthur De Cordova) who was a
success in the U.S., but is trying to retire without any of the law
on either side of the border still wanting to jail him or worse. He
returns home and moves near his family, but some of the old fellow
criminals who used to be in his life want to have the kind of reunion
he absolutely does not want, so here he goes again and his nephews
are not helping the situation one bit.
The
result is a film with some laughs and interesting moments, but not a
howler either, though it has a different look and feel to it and not
just because it is from Mexico. The Gangster Genre was considered a
bit dead at this point, though gangsters might show up in action
films, crime films and other dramas, the big Hollywood gangster films
were bombing and other comedies were surfacing. It would take
Coppola's Godfather
films and the more brutal Italian crime dramas of the 1970s to
deliver a permanent revival, but to this film's credit, it is not
just a big screen TV situation comedy. The actors are decent here
and directing has some energy and is not bad. Glad it got save and
restored as it is here, but it is as much a time capsule as anything.
Those interested should catch it.
The
only extra is a video essay by Dr. David Wilt, a solid film scholar
worth taking in after seeing the film, but I want to add a special
bonus note for hardcore film fans. Shot in 1964, at the 1:15:18
mark, there is a billboard on the right-hand side of the frame and it
gets larger as the motor vehicle gets closer, it is a big ad by the
Bolex Camera Company for their latest regular 8mm movie camera. By
the next year, the sharper Super 8 film format (smaller sprocket
holes, 50% more frame area) would be introduced, which they made some
cameras for it, but did not think it would take off and missed the
boat. After three models, any other Super 8 camera with their name
on it would be manufactured by someone else!
A
new double feature of two early, key, mid-1930s french films entitled
French
Revelations
lives up to its name by pairing two key films related to Billy
Wilder. Richard Pottier's Fanfare
Of Love
(1935) was the inspiration for Wilder's classic Some
Like It Hot
(reviewed elsewhere on this site, both about two out of work actors)
and
Billy Wilder's Bad
Seed
(1934) is the legendary filmmaker's first-ever feature film. The
first film was not bad and still funny for its time (but instances of
black face really hurt it and age it badly) while Wilder's debut has
all the energy, timing, great eye for shots and amazing directing
skill he quickly became known for.
In
Bad
Seed,
which has nothing to do with the classic 1956 Patty McCormick drama,
but instead is a still very funny romp about a group of car thieves
that a young rich guy (Pierre Mingand) gets involved with when his
father forces him to sell their beloved Buick. Instead of it being
pat like that, all madness breaks loose as the police are slowly
starting to catch up with the thieves, though not knowing they are an
organized group yet. Some beautiful women get involved and conflict
starts to develop within the organization.
The
car chases have a surprisingly good amount of suspense and the comedy
produces genuine laughs, but this is photographed so well, that makes
it even more involving, while the cast is great and all very
comic-able. I figured this would be interesting, but better than I
expected and I just wished it were longer than it very packed 78
minutes. A young Danielle Derrieux is also in the cast, showing her
star power at a very young 16 year of age. A real gem and surprise
that all serious film fans should catch up with, it is more than
enough of a reason to grab this disc!
Extras
include a nicely illustrated color paper pullout on the film with
informative text, essay by film scholar Richard Neupert, tech info
and illustrations, while the disc adds two feature length audio
commentary tracks for each respective film. August Ventura covers
Fanfare,
while Jan-Christopher Horak covers Bad
Seed.
Nia
Vardalos' My
Big Fat Greek Wedding 3
(2023) is the latest iteration of the star and director's arc of
'travel to Greece and be romantic' feature films and a TV show she
has been making for the last 21 years, but here it is and to be
honest, it has been nothing but diminishing returns despite the great
cast, money in the productions and undeniable beauty of Greece. This
time, it is a family reunion, but this all feels too repetitive
within the franchise and with similar franchises like Mamma
Mia!,
Moonstruck
and others.
Since
the last outing, Micheal Constantine has left us, so they do give him
a fine sendoff, but after that in the beginning, the 92 minutes just
keep getting more flat, obvious and repetitive, so to say this is for
fans only is an understatement. Lainie Kazan steals her scenes, but
you've seen it all before if you've seen the first film and the
results is something only for the most hardcore fans. Andrea martin
is also a welcome addition, but its just way too safe and just not
that good.
Now
you know.
Extras
include (per the press release, on both discs) a GAG
REEL
ON
SET WITH NIA VARDALOS: The
MY
BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING franchise
comes full circle as writer and star Nia Vardalos adds a new role,
and takes Toula's ongoing adventure to another level, by taking a
seat in the director's chair.
For
more on the previous films, try our Blu-ray coverage of the first
film:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11888/Beaches+(1988/Touchstone/Disney+Blu-ray)/The
The
first sequel:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/14321/My+Big+Fat+Greek+Wedding+2+(2016/Universal
And
the forgotten, similar, yet not connected My
Life In Ruins:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9168/My+Life+In+Ruins+(2009/Fox+Blu-ray
Now
for playback performance. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on Graffiti
4K is
a new mix for this release, but it has some issues, including an
early song shoe-horned in that has a jump of fidelity and
recalibration of speed that is so noticeable, it is distracting. The
film originally has 4-track magnetic stereo on some of its better
35mm prints, so who know what happened to that soundmaster. The
older Blu-ray repeats the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo
lossless mix that disappointed then and plays really old and low now.
But
the real issue is the image. Shot in the 2-perforation Techniscope
format, the 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, HDR (10; Ultra HD
Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Graffiti
4K
looks like it started with a new scan of some sort, then someone got
VERY carried away and did everything they could to remove grain
unnecessarily and like the poor older 1080p Blu-ray transfer included
here, made things look too waxy and bizarrely fake. Detail is ruined
and depth of field look odd too, which would never be on a quality
film print, especially the 35mm dye-transfer,
three-strip Technicolor prints that were made at the time that the
color here can only hint at. So why did this happen again?
Well,
it is an industry-wide problem that keeps happening at almost every
video company in the world: one one seems to know how to do a
transfer of Techniscope (aka Chromoscope, when it does not use the
Technicolor format or even labs) without botching it badly.
Techniscope
films that have been botched in their Blu-ray and even 4K release
includes several of the Clint Eastwood Man With No Name Spaghetti
westerns, The
Ipcress File
and endless home video releases since VHS and Beta to date of more
than a few B-movies.
Better Techniscope restorations and transfers on 4K and Blu-ray
include the two Peter Cushing Doctor
Who
feature films, Bird
With The Crystal Plumage,
Robinson
Crusoe On Mars,
Pierrot
Le Fou
(both from Criterion, Messiah
Of Evil,
Thunderbirds
Are Go!,
Cat
O'Nine Tails,
Slaughterhouse
Five,
A Boy
And His Dog
and (not bad) A
Bullet For Sandoval.
Graffiti
should have easily been among the latter and maybe they should have
asked Walter Murch to remaster it all. Too bad they did not.
That
means the 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on
Double Trouble, though in tiny spots can show the age of the
materials used, but this was shot in real 35mm anamorphic Panavision
with the usually solid labwork by Metrocolor, is the best-looking
release on the list. Though the compositions are nothing too
memorable, the quality is consistent and inarguably holds up very
well, maybe even better than one might expect. The producers cut
corners on the sound, so instead of the 4-track magnetic sound such
widescreen films were getting at the time, they only offered the film
with optical monophonic sound, so the
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix is not some kind of
surviving soundtrack because someone misplaced or destroyed the
stereo sound. This never had any stereo, while the film had zero Top
40 hits. Thus, unless they add stereo tracks from a soundtrack album
release, this is the best this film will ever sound.
The
1080p 1.66 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image on El
Gangster can also show its age in parts, but it was only
preserved so well, but some solid restoration work has been done here
and you get some great shots. The PCM
2.0 Mono has been fixed up as well as possible and is likely the best
this will ever sound, though with more money, some film issues could
be fixed a little more. Otherwise, a fine viewing for a near-orphan
film.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfers on the French double feature can show the age of the
materials used and by their own admission, but both are lucky to have
survived and the Wilder film comes from the only surviving copy of
the film. Shocking the debut film form one of the most important and
legendary filmmakers of all time was almost lost, but considering its
condition, there are some remarkable and beautiful shots here
throughout. Fanfare used an incomplete 35mm nitrate negative
(they lost a reel, some shots and/or some of the nitrate deteriorated
beyond use and they had to throw it out before it caught fire or
exploded) so it looks a bit better (they had two nitrate 35mm prints
to fill in for bad or missing negative footage) and also looks good
for its age and the circumstances. With some more money, a little
more work could be done to fix a few frames here and there, but the
performance of both are good otherwise, as is the PCM 2.0 Mono sound
on both films, from the surviving monophonic soundtrack materials,
likely optical. I do not think much more work on the sound could
make it much better, but they otherwise sound about as good as they
ever will.
That
leaves us with the 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image
transfer on Greek Wedding 3 and it is an HD shoot that somehow
does not look as good as the first film and on some ways, not the
second either. The first was shot on 35mm film and the sequels in HD
digital and the digital just does not do justice to Greece either.
Just compare to the superior cinematography of the country in the
1981 James Bond film For Your Eyes Only.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is better, but nothing
special and there is some good music, but this is a
joke/dialogue-based film, so one can only expect so much, yet this is
the best-sounding release on the list by default. The included DVD
has an anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image that is passable, as is
the case with the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Just not so
impressive, but professionally competent at best.
To
order
Double
Trouble
Warner Archive Blu-ray,
go to this link 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
-
Nicholas Sheffo
