Accountant (2001*)/Closer: The Complete Series (2005 - 2012/Warner DVD Set)/Innerspace 4K (1987/4K Ultra HD Blu-ray + Blu-ray Sets**/***)/Picture Of A Nymph (1988/88 Films Blu-ray**)/Randy & The Mob (2007/*both Lightyear Blu-rays)/Wandering Ginza Butterfly (1972/***both Arrow/Blu-ray/** all MVD)

4K Ultra HD Picture: B Picture: B-/C+/B-/B/B-/B- Sound: B-/C+/B-/C+/B-/C+ Extras: C-/C/C/C+/C+/B- Main Programs: C/C+/C/C+/C+/B-

Now for action and crime with various degrees of humor...

Ray McKinnon's The Accountant (2001) is the Oscar-winning live action short about two brothers (Walton Goggins, Eddie King) are in financial trouble with their property, et al, so they find help in the title character (McKinnon, also acting here) to come out and help. When he arrives, it is not what they expect.

Playing like a Coen Brothers imitator at time, it overdoes some things a bit, which might be the point, but some cartoonishness holds it back and at only 40 minutes, that says something. Goggins is now a very successful character actor, making this a curio. Now you can see for yourself.

An Original Theatrical Trailer is the only extra, but you can read more about McKinnon's Randy & The Mob below, which includes this film.

The Closer: The Complete Series (2005 - 2012) is a reissue DVD set of the series that delivers all seven of its hit seasons with some extras, none new and all repeated from the older releases. We covered five of them on DVD in their original release as follows:

Two

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5643/The+Closer+%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%80%9C+The

Three

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7224/The+Closer+%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%80%9C+The

Four
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8571/The+Closer+%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%80%9C+The

Five

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10132/The+Closer:+The+Complete+5th+Season+(2009/Warn

That gives you an idea of the show, its strengths and weaknesses. For me, it did not impress me much despite the talent involved and decent budgets for a TV production, but it was enough to be a hit as long as it was and that was more than enough for viewers. I would say start with the first season and if you like it, then try the rest. Otherwise, move on. At least if you try more, you can get this convenient set now.

Joe Dante's Innerspace 4K (1987) is essentially, a send-up (of sorts) of the 1966 sci-fi hit Fantastic Voyage, but with different tech and ideas. You are either a fan of the film, or like myself, not, now issued in 4K and regular Blu-ray sets. We previously reviewed the film on Blu-ray and it was by a fan of it:

https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13675/Innerspace+(1987/Warner+Blu-ray

Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan and Martin short help sell the film and more than they get credit for, even with some chemistry, but it is just not enough for me to buy it. Dante is doing a decent job too, but it just never worked for me and the only plus is that none of the visual effects are garbage CGI, so it should at least get credit for that. Otherwise, fans should be happy.

Extras are expanded from the older Blu-ray and include a newly restored original lossless 2.0 stereo, original 70mm 6-track mix in DTS-HD MA 4.1 surround and newly remixed Dolby Atmos audio

• Brand new audio commentary by film critic Drew McWeeny

• Archive audio commentary with director Joe Dante, producer Michael Finnell, visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren and actors Kevin McCarthy and Robert Picardo

• Shrinkage: The Making of Innerspace, a brand new hour-long documentary featuring newly filmed interviews with director Joe Dante, producer Michael Finnell, visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren, visual effects artists Harley Jessup and Bill George

• Behind the Scenes with Joe Dante, previously unseen video footage shot during the production of Innerspace

• Behind the Scenes at ILM, previously unseen footage shot by visual effects supervisor Dennis Muren during production

• Original storyboards

• Continuity and Behind the Scenes Polaroids

• Production stills gallery

• Posters and Promo stills gallery

• Theatrical trailer

• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Doug John Miller

• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring two original artwork options

• and collectors' perfect-bound booklet featuring new writing by film critics Charlie Brigden, Michael Doyle, Josh Nelson, Jessica Scott and Andrea Subissati, a short guide to Joe Dante's stock company by Scott Saslow, plus the original exhibitors pamphlet.

Wu Ma's Picture Of A Nymph (1988) has a Taoist Monk (Yuen Biao) take in a scholar (Lawrence Ng) even after burning down his house because actual demons are on the loose and they are still coming at them. The Monk is joined by his master (Ma Wu) to protect that scholar, but they now have a female ghost (Joey Wang) and a evil King Ghost (Elizabeth Lee) to contend with.

Often beautifully shot, it has some nice moments and is also done with a subtle sense of humor, sometimes more so. The results are consistent and flow nicely, but the humor (which is intended, but not overdone al the time) still results in a film that is not bad, but would have worked better and been more effective with less of it. Still, nice to watch and I was glad I caught it.

Extras include a LIMITED EDITION RIGID SLIP CASE WITH NEW ARTWORK BY SEAN LONGMORE

• LIMITED EDITION 40 PAGE PERFECT BOUND BOOK

• LIMITED EDITION PREMIUM ARTCARD

• AUDIO COMMENTARY BY FRANK DJENG (NY ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL)

• AUDIO COMMENTARY BY DAVID WEST

• IMAGE GALLERY

• and an ORIGINAL TRAILER.

Ray McKinnon's Randy & The Mob (2007) has McKinnon as the former, a financially troubled title character who now has the IRS to content with, plus he has troubles with organized crime, whose fixer (Walton Goggins) is about to give him a visit. His solution, get the help of his wife and gay twin brother!?!

As odd as his award-winning short film The Accountant (see above,) Lisa Blount and Bill Nunn also show up in the much larger cast, but the results are like a mixed sitcom with no laugh track and really, no laughs. This might be funny to someone, but I was not impressed, though I like some of the actors. Some might also take issue with the gay twin.

Extras include a 'Making of' Featurette, Cast and Crew Interviews and BONUS feature film: THE ACCOUNTANT (40 Minutes original short/2001/Academy Award Winner: Best Live Action Short Film).

Last but absolutely not least, Kazuhiko Yamaguchi's Wandering Ginza Butterfly (1972, including its sequel Wandering Ginza Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler) is a solid pair of action revenge films with Meiko Kaji as a pickpocketing convict who was also jailed for killing a yakuza boss! Somehow not getting life for this, she goes back to her home turf, only to find another yakuza boss trying to take over her uncle's business. In the sequel, she goes after those who killed her father.

These are two of the best films of their genre and time, despite some humorous (likely intended) cartoonish characters, but the humor works and just complements the great dialogue, acting and fight scenes which are some of the best of the time. Both also feature great action climaxes that get built up very well throughout each respective film and both have the energy and spirit that not only made the best yakuza films of the time possible, but monster, action and even anime TV series that defined Japanese pom culture at the time and at its best.

No doubt Tarantino was influenced by this film, especially for the Kill Bill films, but what he cannot capture or imitate (and I do not think he is trying) is the pure, raw Japanese feel that even informs the James Bond film You Only Live Twice (1967) so I highly recommend this set and also think they were smart to quit whiel they were on top. If anything, these films deserve a larger audience and it is definitely out there.

Extras include a brand new feature length audio commentary for Wandering Ginza Butterfly by Japanese cinema experts Patrick Macias and Matt Alt, hosts of the Pure TokyoScope podcast

• Archival audio commentary for Wandering Ginza Butterfly by Japanese cinema expert Chris D.

• Back to Back in the Yakuza Multiverse, a brand new interview with Patrick Macias and Matt Alto

• Genre Mill Memories, an archival interview with director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi

• Butterfly and Scorpion, an archival appreciation of star Meiko Kaji by Japanese action and pink film expert J-Taro Sugisaku

• Original trailers for both films

• Reversible sleeve featuring new artwork for both films by Andy Bourne

• and a collectors' booklet featuring new writing on the films by Asian cinema expert Camille Zaurin.

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 Innerspace 4K is the best visual performer here, but by a narrow margin as some shots just do not look as good as others, but the best shots really impress. The old Blu-ray was a little soft for whatever reasons, but this is about as good as this film will ever look, while even the regular 1980p Blu-ray of the film is better than the old Blu-ray. Sound is here in lossless Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems), original lossless PCM 2.0 Stereo and even in the original 70mm 6-track mix that offered 4.1 sound in 70mm blow-up prints, here in DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 4.1 surround. Each have their plusses and minuses, but none can quite hide some of the age of the original stationmaster. Still, the sound here is also as good as this film will ever sound and the stereo is based off of the 35mm prints with old analog Dolby A-type analog noise reduction. The results are as thorough as could be asked for.

The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on The Accountant and Randy & The Mob were shot on 35mm film, but with a low budget and both show their age, even with the former shot on Kodak color negative. Color, detail and depth are not bad, whiel both films also offer PCM 2.0 Stereo only, despite having 'Dolby Digital' in their end credits. Guess there were not 5.1 mixes for either and from the sound of it, the money just was not there, so both sound as good as they ever will.

The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer can on Picture Of A Nymph impresses with its detail, color and depth from a new 2K scan, making it the second-best presentation here and a pleasant surprise, while the PCM 1.0 Cantonese Mono is not bad, but no match for the picture and, no matter the codec.

Last but not least, the 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on the two Wandering Ginza Butterfly films can show their age in parts, but they still look really good, have fine color and some great demo shots. The PCM Japanese 1.0 Mono sound should have been in 2.0 Mono in both cases, but they are still not bad and they are very enjoyable.

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on all Closer episodes still look fair for the old format, while the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes on each episode are also fair, repeating the quality of the old DVD releases. Adequate at best, maybe this will get a Blu-ray release down the line, but this will have to do just a little bit longer.

- Nicholas Sheffo