Billy
Idol: Live At The... Hoover Dam
(2023/MVD/Vertigo/Kaleidoscope Blu-ray)/Prince
And the Pauper
(1937/Warner Archive Blu-ray)/Trolls
Band Together 4K (2023
aka Trolls 3/DreamWorks
Animation/Universal 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B/B-/B- Sound: B*/C+/B+
Extras: C+/C/C+ Main Programs: B-/B-/C
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Prince
And The Pauper
(1937) Blu-ray is now only available from Warner Bros. through their
Warner Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.
Music,
comedy and sometimes both are part of our next releases here...
Billy
Idol: Live At The... Hoover Dam
(2023)
remains one of the survivors of the New Wave of the 1980s and coming
directly out of Punk Rock, is still popular and has never sold
himself or his audience out. The new show has the gimmick of taking
place outdoors at the title locale and I really like that they not
only did this, but that it worked so well. They start in daylight
and play into the night. Wish more music acts would do this kind of
thing.
The
16 songs in the show are:
Cradle
Of Love
Dancing With Myself
Flesh For Fantasy
Cage
Bitter
Taste
Eyes Without A Face
Dementia
Mony Mony
To Be A
Lover
John Wayne
Running From The Ghost
One Hundred
Punks
Blue Highway
Rebel Yell
Hot In the City
and
White Wedding.
Not
bad and the equal of the concert we covered of his 15 years ago,
mixing up the playlist a bit since that show, but still playing all
the hits. He can still sing and still has his act together, plus the
band is really pretty good. Rock may be getting older, but it is far
from dead. He also tries to do some variant vocal phrasing on his
hits without trashing the older vocal approach altogether. All in
all, he has survived so many of his competitors (some of whom are
sadly gone already) and it is a show worth a look, even if you are
not a fan. Yep, he was just a little bit better than his detractors
thought.
Extras
(per the press release) include
an exclusive Q&A: Steve Stevens, Acoustic Dam performance: ''To
Be A Lover,''
''Eyes
Without a Face,''
and ''Rebel
Yell''
and a 6-panel concert booklet.
For
more on the
New Wave icon, try our coverage of the (out of print and expensive as
we post) Billy
Idol In Super Overdrive Live on Soundstage
Blu-ray:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/9274/Billy+Idol+In+Super+Overdrive
William
Keighley's The Prince And
the Pauper (1937) remains
one of the best live action versions of the Mark Twain classic set in
the 16th Century about the title characters, who happen to be dead
ringers for each other, though not biological brothers, changing
places to see what life is like on the other side of a class system,
even if they are not that articulate to think that. As relevant as
ever, they are played by real life twins Bobby and Billy Mauch, who
do a better job than they got credit for.
The
twist here is that Warner Bros. has Errol Flynn as the lead, Miles
Hendon, who is not sure of what is initially happening. Flynn's star
was on the rise and the result was another early hit, backed with a
supporting cast that includes Claude Rains as the villain, Alan Hale,
Eric Portman, Henry Stephenson, Murray Kinnell, Rex Evans, Montagu
Love, Fritz Leiber, Ian Wolfe and Robert Warwick as Lord Warwick.
Twain
actually appeared in a 1902 short version of the book, Alexander
Korda did a silent version in 1920, plus several animated versions
were so so. This is the best sound version still, though there have
been a few more attempts, some of which were ambitious and included
TV adaptions. Oddly, it has not been remade as much as some of
Twain's other classics. Either way, this one is definitely worth a
look and I'm glad its been restored and preserved.
Extras
include an Original Theatrical Trailer and three Warner animated
classic shorts: Plenty Of
Money And You,
Streamlined Greta Green
and Sunbonnet Blue.
Lastly,
we have Walt Dohrn's Trolls
Band Together 4K (2023
aka Trolls 3)
bringing back the gang from the previous two films for songs, jokes
and apparently, fun adventures... at least if you are very young or a
huge fan of the franchise.
Voice
acting Anna Kendrick, Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse,
Kenan Thompson, Kunal Nayyar, Anderson .Paak and Justin Timberlake
are joined by Camila Cabello, Amy Schumer, Eric Andre, Troye Sivan,
Andrew Rannells, Kid Cudi, Daveed Diggs, Zosia Mamet and RuPaul.
That makes it as strong a cast as any of the films have had, but
getting all of them together for a romp that is very similar to the
last ones only goes so far. I am not the audience for this release
and though it is professionally done, it also has some mixed moments
that do not help it.
Thus,
it is for fans only and the money is on the screen, but we have seen
this kind of massive romp before and though it has its moments, once
will be enough for most people. Still, it did well enough, so expect
more sequels.
Extras
include Digital Code, while
the discs (mostly per the press release) includes:
Sing-Along
version
It
Takes Three: In this original short, Poppy, Viva, and Tiny
Diamond get sucked into the Hustle-verse, only to discover that it
is devoid of hustle. The trio decides to sing their way out
hopefully generating enough harmony to re-ignite the Hustle-verse
and escape.
Deleted
Scenes with intro by Head of Story Colin Jack
Fun
in the recording booth
Hi,
Hi, Hi: Join *NSYNC in the studio as they reunite for the first
time in 20 years to record an all-new song for TROLLS BAND TOGETHER.
Building
the Band: The band is coming back together for another volume of
Trolls based fun! Meet the new characters and the cast members
behind them and catch up with your returning favorites!
Broppy
Brozone
Viva
Velvet
and Veneer
Bridget
and King Gristle
Tiny
Diamond
Together
Again: Learn the backstory behind *NSYNC's involvement in Trolls
Band Together and how their Troll personas came to life.
Animating
Trolls: In this BTS piece, filmmakers and crew dive deep into
their animation process to show how the unique locations and
textures of the film were created.
How
to Draw: Step into the BroZone green room with story artist
Wendy Sullivan and learn how to draw your own BroZone album cover
featuring John Dory, Spruce, Clay, Floyd, and of course, Baby
Branch! Plus, we'll learn how to draw Viva!
Baby
Branch
John
Dory
Spruce
Clay
Floyd
Viva
How
to: Hug Time Bracelets: Poppy and Viva LOVE their Hug Time
Bracelets and now you can make your own! Follow the simple steps
and let your artistic side shine with two different bracelet options
that you can make for all your friends and family.
And
a Feature Length Commentary Track with Producer Gina Shay,
Co-Director Tim Heitz, Head of Story Colin Jack, Production Designer
Ruben Perez Reynoso and Visual Effects Supervisor Marc J. Scott.
For
more
Trolls,
try these links of our coverage of the previous feature film
releases:
Trolls
4K (4K w/Blu-ray)
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/14761/Blaze+and+The+Monster+Machines:+Race+Into+V
Trolls
World Tour Blu-ray w/DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15743/LEGO+DC+Shazam!:+Magic+and+Monsters+(Warn
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, Dolby
Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition
image on Trolls has some great color and for the scheme they
settle on, fits the previous films and original toys very well. The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on the regular Blu-ray
is passable, but not as color rich and softer than the 4K, but is
included for convenience if nothing else. The
Dolby Atmos 11.1 (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems)
lossless mixes on both discs are just fine and have some fun
moments,but nothing that stuck with me either. The DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 5.1 lossless mix
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Idol
is a solid HD shoot and slightly richer than the 2009 concert we
covered from 15 years earlier, also showing the limits of 1080i and
HD video of the time. The disc has
three soundtracks, but the Dolby Atmos 11.1 (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown
for older systems) lossless
mix is a disappointment, sounding compressed, off and like a
last-minute addition the release did not need, while the DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 5.1 and even PCM 2.0 Stereo lossless mixes sound much
better.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on Pauper can show the age of the materials used a
little bit, but this is far superior a transfer to all previous
releases of the film. Because of its age, it shows softness a little
more than one might like, but has survived very well otherwise and
warner Archive has done their best as usual to restore the film to
pristine condition. The DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix from the original theatrical
monophonic sound is as good as this film will ever sound, but it is
just older-sounding than expected and has its sonic limits for sure.
Its still clearer than the Dolby Atmos on the the Idol concert.
To
order the Warner Archive Prince
And The Pauper
(1937) 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
