Amore
Mio
(2023/Distrib/Icarus DVD)/Stargazer
(2023/Freestyle DVD)/Steel
Magnolias 4K
(1989/35th
Anniversary/Tri-Star/Sony 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: C/C/X Sound: C+/C/B-
Extras: C-/C-/C Films: C
Now
for a new set of releases centered on women...
Guillaume
Gouix's Amore
Mio
(2023)
Alysson Paradis as Lola, a sudden widow devastated by the death of
her husband, but instead of dealing with it, she decides to be a bit
irresponsible and abandon the funeral with her 7-year-old son and her
sister, Margaux (Elodie Bouchez) and go on a road trip. From there,
it becomes a by the seat trip and they don't seem to know where
they'll go next.
That
is, unfortunately, the problem with the script, once Lola leaves, she
does not know what to do with herself and if it was only her sister,
I could see this being about their history and that she goes to her
because she is that wrecked. We do not get that here and add the
young boy and it changes the tone of the film. She is irresponsible,
so is the sister and even the regard they have for him is highly
questionable and problematic. The acting is off as is the whole
thing, so it starts out bead and gets worse and worse. I don't know
who the audience for this one is, but its just a bad film and one I
would not recommend and even warn viewers to avoid. Very lame.
A
trailer is the
only
extra.
Alan
McIntyre's Stargazer
(2023)
involves young woman Grace (Kate Ginna) getting the chance to bring
to light a woman from a century ago who was a major contributor to
astronomy, but had her ideas stolen and never given any credit for
them. When she gets paired with an aggressive journalist (Matt
Bogart) who pushes her to be on a new talk show, she sees history
possibly repeating itself and her getting the shaft in whole new
ways. The odd twist is that a dancer (Lei Nico) with her own ideas
of fantasy and escape hers some of this and gets involved with Grace,
who start to find common denominators in their goals.
Well,
the actors are not bad and the ideas potentially workable, but what
we do get does not meld well and the tone is a little odd and off, it
runs on and I was hoping it would come together, but it never does.
Trailers
are the
only extra.
Herbert
Ross' Steel
Magnolias 4K
(1989) is now 35 years old (already?) and Sony is giving it the 4K
Ultra HD Blu-ray treatment. No big fan of the film, we reviewed the
long out of print Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11800/Blind+Revenge+(2011/Cinema+Epoch+DVD)/Steel
Though
I like the actresses cast, I thought the film was too long, drawn
out, melodramatic and not always realistic, but fans will be happy
with the upgrade here. At least the cast has some chemistry and you
can see why this might appeal to others.
Extras
repeat the Director's Feature Length Audio Commentary track from the
older Blu-ray, but the isolated music track and booklet from the now
collectible edition are replaced by Digital Movies Anywhere copy,
Steel
Magnolias
1990 TV Pilot for a series that did not work out, In
Full Bloom: Remembering Steel Magnolias
featurette, 10 Deleted Scenes and an Original Theatrical Trailer.
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 Steel
Magnolias 4K
actually looks really good in many stretches with color as good as I
have ever seen it on video and as good as the few times I saw it in
35mm form. As for the sound, Sony has tried to upgrade the sound for
lossless Dolby
Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) sound, but it is
awkward like their attempt with Anatomy
Of A Murder 4K.
That James Stewart film was monophonic, so they were really pushing
it, while Steel
was originally a Dolby A-type analog theatrical release. This makes
the music too clear and exposes the dialogue as not clear enough.
Fortunately, the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is
repeated here and is the preferable choice, though a DTS-MA 2.0
Stereo version is also here, meant to be played back in Dolby Pro
Logic or the like. I'd still like the 5.1, but you got all the
choices you can think of.
The
anamorphically enhanced image on both DVDs (1.33 X 1 on Mio,
1.85 X 1 on Stargazer)
have some good shots, but both are just a little too soft, even for
this older format. Both also have lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
sound and it is on the soft side (in French) on the former and just
clearer enough on the latter to be passable. Of course, they could
sound better lossless, but this is what we get. That did not stop me
from seeing the films fully, but it makes the watch more challenging.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
