Day
Of The Locust
(1975/Paramount/Arrow Blu-ray*)/I
Can (2023/Mill Creek
DVD)/Madame Bovary
(1949/MGM/Warner Archive Blu-ray)/Sting
Of Death (1990/Radiance
Blu-ray/*both MVD)/War
Blade (2023/101 Films
DVD)/What Happens Later
(2023/Bleecker Street/Decal Blu-ray)
Picture:
B-/C/B-/B-/C/B- Sound: B-/C+/C+/B-/C+/B- Extras:
B/D/C/C+/D/C- Films: C+/C+/B-/C+/C+/C+
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Madame
Bovary
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 new set of dramas, half of which are solid restorations...
John
Schlesinger's The
Day Of The Locust
(1975) is an epic film based on the dark Nathaniel West novel about
the dark side of Hollywood in its pre-WWII Golden Age when it was on
a huge roll in the face of The Great Depression and all the studios
were growing at rapid rates with hit after hit after hit after hit.
That was a big attraction that drew people from all over the country
and even all over thew world to go there and try to make it, but the
book is the semi-true story of how ugly the dark side of the town was
at the time. No one wanted to touch it, but Schlesinger
was one of the hottest filmmakers around, coming off of the five big
hits in a row.
The
recent six feature films in a row he had just helmed included A
Kind Of Loving,
Billy
Liar,
Darling,
Far
From The Madding Crowd,
Midnight
Cowboy
and Sunday
Bloody Sunday.
With his Cowboy
producer Jerome Hellman and its legendary writer Waldo Salt,
Paramount could not resist making the film, despite the hugely
successful studio head Robert Evans not wanting to make the film.
After the owners wanted to shut the studio down, he revived it with a
huge string of hits and his instincts were still in top form. This
film was made in the last Golden
Age of the 1970s when Hollywood would still spend the big money on
big movies by adults, for adults that were smart, about something,
mature, intelligent and built to last.
William
Atherton is a sketch artist trapped in a lesser job at a local movie
studio, looking for more breakout work, but happens to live in a
complex with its share of eccentrics, movie hopefuls and a few
combinations of both. He becomes interested in a beautiful model who
is starting to get speaking lines (Karen Black) and is not the only
competition for her. Things are half-promising at first, then
several events and incidents kick in and things descend into a huge
mess that shows the dark underbelly of both Tinseltown and The
American Dream.
I
had not seen the film in eons and started remembering the parts that
never worked for me, despite the great acting talent and intents of
certain scenes and pieces of dialogue throughout. The film pulls no
punches in showing darkness and ugliness. Unfortunately, it lands up
wallowing in some of it too long in its 144 minutes length. Instead
of cutting those bits, they should have used the time and money on
other aspects of the book and story, especially with how great this
looks and how authentic it all feels and plays. Many of the stories
within are true ones and the cast has chemistry.
Atherton
(later of Real
Genius
and the Die
Hard
films) and Black (Five
Easy Pieces,
Altman's Nashville,
the 1974 Great
Gatsby,
Easy
Rider,
Burnt
Offerings)
are joined by Burgess Meredith, Donald Sutherland, Bo Hopkins,
Geraldine Page, Billy Barty, Richard Dysart, Gloria LeRoy, Nita
Talbot, William Castle, John Hillerman, Paul Jabara, an uncredited
Morgan Brittany as Vivian Leigh, Pepe Serna, Natalie Schafer (the
Gilligan's
Island
alum back to playing the rich women that put her on the map decades
ago in the first place) and Jackie Earle Haley. What a cast and
there are others who are also int the film that were a big part of
the town too!
Evans
was correct, it cost a small fortune and was too dark to be a hit and
bombed. Now however, you get all kinds of dark films, but they are
just dark to be dark with no point. Despite its issues and flaws,
this is the best film that will ever be made of the book and unless
you get someone who comes along with rare, huge clout, you cannot get
any
such film made today. That is why saving, restoring, and reissuing
Day Of
The Locust
reminds us what real, mature, dark cinema of substance and taking
risks is all about. When it does hold up, it is remarkable.
Extras
include a nicely illustrated booklet on the film including
informative text and a reversible sleeve, while the disc adds three
Stills Galleries, a feature length audio commentary track with new
and vintage audio, Radio Spots, visual essay Jeepers
Creepers, Where'd You Get Those Eyes?
by Lee Gambin
and two Making Of featurettes: Welcome
To West Hollywood
with Glenn Kenny showing how much he likes the film and Days
Of The Golden Age
with movie costume and costume historian Elissa Rose discussing and
explaining the wardrobe in great detail.
Tyler
Sansom's
I Can
(2023) is another tale of triumph in sports being personal, which can
be formulaic and often is, but this film tries to be different. At
first, but seems to appear to be about a young gal breaking into
baseball, still very male dominated. In this case, she has a issues
with her arms that she is able to overcome played by an actress who
has these in real life, but does not let that stop her.
So
the trick here is to deliver something good and different as not to
be like previous such films, so it takes extra effort from the acting
cast, director and script. It is almost as much of a hard challenge
as what the main character faces, but they do come up with the energy
and just enough heart to distinguish themselves, so this is not bad.
However, it just cannot beat the odds of sports film cliches, no
matter what physical shape anyone on screen is in, but cheers to all
involved for their best shot and they at least made something they
can be proud of and has some good moments.
There
are no extras.
Vincente
Minnelli's Madame
Bovary
(1949) remains one of the best and most authentic adaptions of the
Gustave Flaubert novel, still a classic piece of literature after all
these years, as the rightly legendary director has the underrated
Jennifer Jones in the title role. The woman who marries one man
thinking it will make her happy (Van Heflin here) only to be
miserable again until another, more exciting man (Louis Jordan, known
for his romance films, romance persona and later as the villain in
the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy)
shows up and offers her what she wanted in the first place.
MGM
does go all out budget-wise on costumes, sets, production design and
got some great talent here that all melds very well, even all these
years later. It is also one of the high watermarks by which all
other versions are matched to and judged. No, it is not a perfect
film and has some off moments, but having James Mason playing the
author in court was a smart move, then he goes into the story and
questions the oft-banned book being judged.
Warner
Archive has once again delivered another great restoration for
Blu-ray, you can see all the shot Minnelli was going for as vividly
as ever and more effective as a result. Running just under two
hours, it is not able to cover all of the book, but totally
understands it and all involved pull off a fine film, a real piece of
pure cinema form the Classical Hollywood period. Cheers to the
supporting cast too that also includes Christopher Kent, Gene
Lockhart, Gladys Cooper, George Zucco, Ellen Corby, Alf Kjellin, Paul
Cavanagh, Harry Morgan and Frank Allenby. When they say 'they don't
make them like this anymore' or the like, this is the kind of film
they mean. It is also the best entry covered here.
Extras
include an Original Theatrical Trailer, MGM short promo film Some
Of The Best (1949) showing MGM's lineup for the year and an
animated MGM Technicolor short in HD, Love That Pup. You can
read about other adaptions of Bovary at these links, starting
with the 1991 version with Isabelle Huppert on Blu-ray...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16076/Dalgliesh:+Series+1+(2021/Acorn+DVD+set)/Last
The
2000 Frances O'Connor/Hugh Bonneville BBC telefilm version on DVD...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11710/Designing+Women:+The+Final+Season+(Season
And
the sexed-up Sins
Of...
version on DVD with Edwige Fenech...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11328/The+Sins+of+Madame+Bovary,+Sex,+Demons
Kohei
Oguri's
Sting
Of Death
(1990) takes place in 1950s Japan and has a husband having an affair
his wife finds out about, but they agree to try to keep the marriage
going, no matter if it will work out or not. Considered a key drama
in its time due to an apparent lack of them when released in
theaters, the goal of the film is to show how this does and does not
work out, succeeding often.
Unfortunately,
it is also more predictable than expected, but what could we expect.
It is honest, realistic and somber, so that all works, along with
references to conformity in the society at the time, only years after
the end of WWII. The actors are fine, but we get plenty of talking
in confined locations, usually indoors. Based on a novel by Toshio
Shimao, it is apparently very close to the book.
Keiko Matsuzaka and Ittoku Kishibe are convincing enough as the
leads and those interested should check out this new restoration.
Others might not be as impressed.
Extras
include a reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original
theatrical release posters, Limited Edition
booklet featuring a newly translated interview with director Kohei
Oguri and the Limited Edition of 3000 copies are presented in
full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving
packaging free of certificates and markings, while the disc adds a
documentary on the Japanese film renaissance of the 1990s featuring
interviews with Kohei Oguri, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Kaneto Shindo and
others (Hubert Niogret, 2011, 52 minutes,) a separate interview with
film scholar Hideki Maeda (2023) and an Original
Theatrical Trailer.
Nicholas
Winter's War
Blade
(2023) is another war rescue film, this time taking place during WWII
when a British soldier has to go in and save a French resistance
fighter who may have some valuable film the Allies need ASAP. He'll
have help from others to do this, but it will be on the fly and very
dangerous, as you would expect.
Not
badly directed, the cast of unknowns is not bad here at all and when
you add the costume design, pace and production design, it feels and
plays period authentic enough and has some realistic moments. Yes,
there is too much CGI visual work and this is a digital shoot, but
the makers keep the tone consistent and those interested will find it
worth the look.
There
are no extras.
Meg
Ryan's What
Happens Later
(2023) is a new drama/comedy with the director returning to acting as
the ex-lover of an old flame (David Dochovny) at the same airport,
trying to get to their destination. Unfortunately, they have to deal
with each other when a storm cancels their flights for a while and
strands them with almost no one else around. Now, they have to deal
with unfinished feeling and the like, whether they like it or not.
Based
on a play by Steven Dietz, it is yet another stuck-in-a movie, but
Ryan was smart to pick a strong new male counterpart when she could
have fell back on old friends she had previous big screen success
with (Tom Hanks, Billy Crystal or even Dennis Quaid) and has chosen
well, because the two have chemistry and are totally convincing.
Usually a major comedy actress, she more than proved her dramatic
ability in Courage
Under Fire,
while Duchovny is generally all-around underrated and more than just
his highly successful X-Files
character.
They
are good together, I like them together and though the film is not a
big success overall, they are and those interested will want to give
it a good look. Glad Ryan is back!
The
only extra is an Original Theatrical Trailer for the Helen Mirren
film Golda, but you can only see it before the film starts.
Now
for playback performance. The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition
image on Locust is from a new 4K scan of the original camera
negative and looks the best I have seen it in eons, but it can still
be a bit soft, though the whole film as shot through various forms of
gauze to make it look older. Thus, this is how the film should look,
but there are still shots that are a little off and it may be the
format or just age in the negative. We'll compare wherever they get
to a 4K version. The sound is here in three versions of DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) lossless sound: 1.0 Mono, 2.0 Stereo and 5.1, but I
thought the 2.0 Stereo was the most detailed, effective, warmest and
most convincing. The film was originally theatrical mono and though
we have had some mono films upgraded to 12-track sound (DTS: X and
Dolby Atmos,) this is a film that could only handle a simple stereo
upgrade as far as I am concerned. John Barry's music score is a big
plus.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on Bovary can, of course, show the age of the
materials used, but this is far superior a transfer to all previous
releases of the film and Minnelli definitely was using diffusion in
some form throughout being it is a melodrama and literary adaption.
The results are nice and the DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix is the best this theatrical
monophonic sound will likely ever sound down tot he Miklos Rosza
score, but it shows its age and has sonics that go so far.
Otherwise, a great restoration job.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Death
show the age of the materials used a little and it is a little soft,
again because it too is a melodrama, but it looks fine overall for
the format and the
lossless Japanese PCM 2.0 Mono sound is not bad. The film may be
quiet, but has its share of sound and is as good as this film will
ever sound.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Later
is a little of the soft side, which is odd for a new HD shoot, but
color is not bad and not too dull. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is dialogue/joke-based and
they talk often, but it has a consistent enough soundfield and is the
best-sounding release here by a very, very narrow, slim margin.
The
anamorphically enhanced image on both DVDs (2.00 X 1 on Can,
1.78 X 1 on War) are a bit soft, though color is not bad in
either case, but I wish these were both a little clearer. Both have
lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and War adds a lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1 mix, but they are about sonically even with their
dialogue and other sounds. Both could use lossless and maybe HD
presentations.
To
order the Madame
Bovary
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
-
Nicholas Sheffo
