Kenny Chesney Summer In 3D (2009/Image Blu-ray 3D) + Country Strong (2010/Sony Blu-ray) + Kylie Rare & Unseen (MVD DVD)
Picture:
B & B-/B-/C Sound: B-/B-/C Extras: C+/C-/D Main Programs: B-/C-/B-
I have
rightly been complaining about how mad music has been in recent years and it is
not because of age, but the lack of quality.
This also means anyone doing anything well is not getting enough credit
and others are not being given the chance they deserve. In the Country genre, it is especially a
disaster with most of the artists sounding like warmed-over 1970s Rock and the
few willing to take chances (especially political) has made the genre a sick
spoof of itself.
Fortunately,
there are still artists that are for real and represent how great the genre can
be. Kenny
Chesney Summer In 3D is a look at the rightly highly popular
singer/songwriter on tour in what remains one of the few music Blu-ray 3D
titles to date. It falls somewhere in
between the impressive Lang Lang: Live
In Vienna 3D
which you can read about at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10675/Lang+Lang:+Live+In+Vienna+3D+(2
and more
than easily upstages the horrifically bad Step
Up 3D which you can read about at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10618/Legends+Of+The+Guardians:+The+O
The great
thing about the Chesney show is that it is not just a strong sampling of six
locations of his hugely popular concert touring, but the man himself discusses
his life, career, fans and the music extensively and thoroughly in one of the
best such narratives by a music artist I have ever seen and heard in many video
format. He has his act together, works
hard, plays hard, is very talented and the only surprise is why he has not had
a monster crossover hit. A definite
successor to Garth Brooks, it is not just some back-to-basics approach he has,
but he brings back Country to where it really belongs making so many of his
contemporaries look dated, tired and even irrelevant, but I do not want to use
his great work merely to bash so much I do not like that I hear and quickly
forget.
That is
because this is an artist totally in touch with his fans, what he is saying in
his music and hits the nail on the head over and over again. Even non-Country and non-3D fans (the program
is here in 2D) will be impressed by how good this is and I will not be
surprised if other music artists do not start imitating the approach of this
work.
I then
expected that Shana Festes Country
Strong (2010) might offer more of a new openness in the Country world, but
it sadly represents the opposite regressive side of the world of that music as
it stands. A terrible retread of A Star Is Born (all versions), Gwyneth
Paltrow is a big Country star on drugs and alcohol that her husband (a very
good acting performance by Tim McGraw, one of the few Country artists in real
life making good music today) has pushed her into also serving as her
manager. However, the film gives even
more time to a new artist on the rise (Garrett Hedlund of TRON: Legacy) who cares about her and is also getting involved with
a younger female singer (Leighton Meester) who was once a beauty queen and has
insecurities of her own.
Unfortunately,
the script is a predictable formulaic wreck, this is often unintentionally
funny, the film is all over the place and ought to be called A Star Is Cornponed! The actors are trying, but Miss Feste does
not know how to deliver anything original and there are plenty of issues
here. Among the most glaring is the odd
tendency to give Mr. Hedlund better lighting than his female co-stars;
something only a female director or cinematographer would do. The result is that he is the most well-lit
cowboy since the co-stars of Brokeback Mountain. See this at your own risk.
Though it
would seem that Country music would have nothing to do with Kylie Minogue, she
has admitted that a one-time Country star was her #1 influence. That would be Olivia Newton-John, before she
moved into Pop, Rock and Disco. That is
among the revelations in the surprisingly rich compilation documentary Kylie Rare & Unseen, which covers
her career from child star singer to her triumph over the world music scene and
the evils of breast cancer for which she is a survivor.
Like Chesney,
she is the kind of great (and grateful) music star that used to make up the
entire industry and for those who thought she was only about a couple of hit
songs and a limited success, this program shows how insanely successful she is
outside of the U.S. with Madonna/Lady Gaga sized record sales and sellout tours
to match. There are also nice personal
clips, rare clips and good editing that keep the hour-long program worth a good
look.
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 MVC-encoded 3-D Full Resolution digital High Definition image on the
Blu-ray 3D version of Chesney is a
little better than the 2D 1080p digital High Definition image on the same disc
as the 2D has motion blur and flaws the 3D does not. In addition, it is more accurate than the
awful Hanna Montana 3D disaster and at least as good as the forgettable Jonas
Brothers 3D debacle as far as playback quality is concerned. Ultimately, this is more about depth than
effects, yet that makes the concert seem more palpable and the hand is not
overplayed in this respect. Also expect
analog video and stills that are not 3D ready, but the editing is exceptional
just the same.
The 1080p
2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on Strong
is 2D only and softer than I expected throughout, hardly looking better than Chesney and its slightly dark
downstyling does not help either. Maybe
they did not want this to look like a concert or documentary, but this approach
did not work in its favor. That leaves
the anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Kylie, which has plenty of once 1.33 X 1 analog NTSC and PAL video
that is not the sharpest or clearest.
The result is soft overall.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 mixes on the Blu-rays are evenly matched, with Chesney relying too much on .1 LFE top
bring out the fullness of the concert experience and the surrounds not being
the fullest, especially versus similar Blu-ray concert releases with the same
kind of lossless sound. Then his
narration is not going to be sonically wide-ranging, so that also cuts into the
performance. Strong is dialogue-based, too much towards the center and front
channels and its concert audio is also lacking.
However, this ranges from smaller venues to a lack of ambition to record
those parts with the best of fidelity. The
Dolby Digital 2.0 on Kylie is a mix
of mono and some stereo elements, but is flatter overall than expected.
Kylie has no extras, but both Blu-rays
have extended/additional music performances.
Strong adds the Original
Ending (which makes no difference), Deleted Scenes (ditto) and Blu-ray
exclusives like BD Live interactivity, movie IQ interactivity and three more
featurettes: Friends In High Places: The
Cast Of Country Strong, Putting Words In Their Mouths: The Songwriters and A Little Bit Country: The Costumes. Donnie & Marie never show up either.
- Nicholas Sheffo
