Color
Purple 4K (2023 musical
remake/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)/Cutting
Crew: All For You The Virgin Years 1986 - 1992
(Cherry Pop CD Set)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Sound: B+/B Extras: C+/C Main
Programs: C+/B-
PLEASE
NOTE: The Cutting Crew CD set is now only
available from our friends at Cherry Red Records U.K. and can be
ordered from the link in the review text.
Now
for two new music releases that recall the 1980s.....
Blitz
Bazawule's musical remake of The
Color Purple 4K
(2023) is based on the successful stage musical, which itself is
based on Alice Walker's classic book and Steven Spielberg's hit film
that put many an actor on the map. You can read more about the
original hit film at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16372/Apple+Seed+(2019/VCI+w/DVD*)/Before+Now+&
This
time, Fantasia Barrino is the adult Celie, Taraji P. Henson steals
some of the movie as local star and traveling artist Shug Avery,
Danielle Brooks is Sofia, Colman Domingo has the thankless role of
Mister and Corey Hawkins is Harpo. They are good casting, supported
by some impressive new talent and
other veterans like Halle Bailey. H.E.R., Ciara, David Alan Grier,
Jon Batiste and Academy Award-winner Louis Gossett, Jr. giving it
their all to their great credit and energy any musical needs.
Unfortunately,
the film expects too many to have already either read the book or
have seen the film and as a result, it makes the story lose its
impact, which is why I think it was a mixed critical and commercial
success. Celie's ordeals do nto seem dire enough to make the
storyline as effective as before. It is too much of a relatively
upbeat musical on some levels. Still, anyone who is a fan of either
should see it at least once just to see what they think does and does
not work, but for this viewer, once was enough.
Extras
include Digital Movie Code, while the disc adds these featurettes...
Creating
The Color Purple: A Bold New Take on the Beloved Classic
Join
the director, Blitz Bazawule, filmmakers and cast on their
high-stakes, high intensity, heart-stopping, and awe-inspiring
odyssey to bring Alice Walker's beloved novel to life.
Hell
Yes! The Iconic Characters of The Color Purple
The
cast, producer Oprah Winfrey, and director Blitz Bazawule explore
the characters - their personalities and intricate interpersonal
dynamics, as well as their relatability and lasting impact - and
how the actors connected and grew as performers.
In
The Flow: Creating The Color Purple's Biggest Musical Moments
Rehearsal
footage reveals what it took director Blitz Bazawule, producer
Scott Sanders, Quincy Jones, the cast, and the music team to push
through the stumbles and missteps and hone all the rough edges to
get each musical number exactly right.
and
Then
we have the 3-CD set Cutting
Crew: All For You The Virgin Years 1986 - 1992
from the band whose two big international hits are ''I've
Been In Love Before''
and especially, ''(I
Just) Died In Your Arms''
that are always playing somewhere at any moment in the world as you
read this. The 'virgin' of the title of the set is not a girlfriend
of the lead singer or any other band member, but of Virgin Records,
the great record label that was smart enough to sign them at the
time. Died
helped put Virgin Records on the commercial map.
''One
For The Mockingbird''
was a third hit from their 1986 debut album Broadcast,
but the hits somehow stopped after that album, which is
more surprising when you hear the follow-ups. The
Scattering
(1989) and Compus
Mentus
(1992) are richer sonically, a little less lite and romantic and lead
singer Nick Van Eede shows new sides to his vocals too.
Singles
for The
Scattering
included the adult contemporary-only hit ''Everything
But My Pride''
and two others that did not do as well: ''(Between
A) Rock and A Hard Place,''
the title song and ''The
Last Thing''
that are not bad, but were not picked up. Versus some of the singles
in that particularly lame year, including some of the worst #1
Billboard Hot 100 hits until recent decades (and still...) these
would have been a definite improvement. Ditto to the "If
That's The Way You Want It"
single from Compus
Mentus
(1992) that barely charted, but the now-defunct Capitol/EMI (the
company was sold off to the three other major record labels in a
story that needs a big separate essay) bought the company out and in
the first of many, many, many bad decisions that eventually caused
the company to collapse, they dumped any further promo of the album
or band. The band is still recording and playing to solid crowds and
Universal Music now owns these albums.
Now
you can hear what you missed and appreciate the talent of a group
that was much more than a one or two-hit wonder, one that might have
had more hits had Virgin stayed independent just a little bit longer,
but this has happened to way too many talented music acts and you
wonder why music has become as bad, generic and horrid as it is these
days. Though one of the original members (original guitarist Kevin
MacMichael died young at age 51 from cancer in 2002!) died too young
to see the band survive to this day (now 2023 as this set arrives and
we post this coverage,) Cutting Crew ands all of its members past and
present can be very proud of an underrated legacy that is long
overdue to be reheard and rediscovered now after far too long.
Since
people still play, enjoy and love those early international hits,
that will be more than enough curiosity interest to get them to hear
how well made these albums are. Overall, a pleasant surprise I am
happy to see finally arrive!
You
can read the track list and a few other facts about the albums and
this set at the link to order it here...
https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/cutting-crew-all-for-you-the-virgin-years-1986-1992-3cd-b
Extras
include a very thorough booklet on the band, these albums and their
music history, including illustrations and tech info. Each CD has
bonus tracks, some of which have never been released before, but see
the specifics at the link above.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1, Dolby
Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition
image on Color Purple is from a 4.5K Ultra HD shoot, which
immediately distinguishes it from the memorable 35mm shoot of
Spielberg's original film and is lusher, but it lacks a little too
much of the grittiness and period authenticity of the original film.
Musicals are usually lush, but even Scorsese's New York, New York
(1977) and Herbert Ross' Pennies From Heaven (1981) show how
to go bleak in the genre. This film could have taken a few pointed
from them without being as deconstructive. It looks consistently
good, but not always as memorable as it could have been despite its
Director of Photography being Dan Laustsen, a Guillermo del Toro
alumni who also lensed some John Wick sequels.
The
lossless Dolby Atmos 11.1 (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older
systems) mix on the film is pretty good and a little more dynamic
than the original film, which was issued in Dolby's older analog
A-type 'Dolby System' noise reduction format, but this is a musical
and needs the dynamic range even more. It is well recorded, mixed,
mastered an edited, but does not stick with you too much, but the
musical as a genre has been mostly dead for decades and anyone making
a new one has to reinvent it all from top to bottom. Sonic
innovation has been missing form most attempts in recent years,but
this is fine for what it is.
The
PCM 2.0 16/44.1 Stereo sound on all the Cutting Crew CDs sound
good, though the first CD and album with the big hits might have a
little more echo than expected, but that is the style of the album.
The later albums get richer, beefier and more layered sonically as
the band changes their sound a bit. For the format, I do not think
these discs could have sounded much better.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
