George Lopez: Tall, Dark & Chicano (2009/HBO DVD)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Concert: B

 

 

If you thought George Lopez was only as funny as his sitcom, you will be surprised, impressed and left laughing by his new HBO DVD concert release Dark, Tall & Chicano.  Uncensored, Lopez takes to the stage and lets loose a bout racism, politics and other observations that are light years away from being politically correct and goes on non-stop for 90 minutes telling it as he sees it.

 

Here is a man at the peak of his powers, a comic talent who has not peaked commercially by any means and has much more to say than many (especially within the media) would like him to say and is a survivor to boot.  He is in fine form here and is very well aware that he is one of the best in the business, but does not rest on his laurels and is one of the most cutting-edge comedians today.  Hopefully, this is the beginning of a new era of high road that will lead to greater success and more big laughs.

 

The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is a 1080i digital High Definition shoot and can look good, but is a little soft here with some detail issues and motion blur in this trade-down.  Color and the stage look good, so this would be interesting to see eventually in Blu-ray.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has Pro Logic surrounds, but they are not stunning, so you can watch in simple stereo and still get good results.  There are no extras.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo