Fulvue Drive-In.com
Current Reviews
In Stores Soon
 
In Stores Now
 
DVD Reviews, SACD Reviews Essays Interviews Contact Us Meet the Staff
An Explanation of Our Rating System Search  
Category:    Home > Reviews > Concert > > Stand-Up > Satire > Music > Stella – Live In Boston (Shout! Factory DVD) + Unwigged & Unplugged Live Concert DVD (Courgette Records)

Stella – Live In Boston (Shout! Factory DVD) + Unwigged & Unplugged Live Concert DVD (Courgette Records)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C/D     Concerts: C+

 

 

Showing that the cycle of releasing live concerts on DVD is starting to get thin, two comedy discs have arrived, but with a twist.  Both feature comedy troops from previous film and/or TV successes doing comedy paired down, including music and the usual audience interaction.  One has Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter and David Wain of Kids In The Hall and The State in their new Stella act from the TV series of the same name.  You can read more about the TV show at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4195/Stella+%E2%80%93+Season+One

 

You can also read about The State at this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8796/The+State+%E2%80%93+The+Compl

 

 

 

Then we get Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer (at least as funny as the other guys) from their cycle of comedy send-up films like This Is Spinal Tap (see our Blu-ray review elsewhere on this site) among others in Unwigged & Unplugged Live Concert DVD that follows much of the same format, but with more instruments.

 

In both cases, the shows run around two hours (115 for Stella versus 2.25 hours for Unwigged) and though the participants have chemistry and are good comedians, I was not laughing much in either case.  The jokes seem coined to their previous work too much, there was a certain predictability in both cases and though I admit I did smile a bit, neither did much for me for the outright laughs I had hoped for.  In total, these are good concerts, but they are for fans and the curious only. 

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on both are High Definition shoots, traded down to the lower definition of DVD, resulting in both cases are softer than I would have liked and both are not the most well-lit such productions we have seen lately either.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on Stella is limited to their talking with audience sounds as ambience and a limited soundfield overall, while Unwigged has Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo that keeps it simple and knows its limits.  Only Stella has any extras and they include an Ice Cream Encore, Footage from the 2003 Fez Performances and episodes of Wainy Days & Michael Showalter Showalter.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


Marketplace


 
 Copyright © MMIII through MMX fulvuedrive-in.com