Angels
Sing (2013/Lionsgate Blu-ray w/DVD)
Picture:
B & C+ Sound: B & C+ Extras: D Main Program: B+
Michael
Walker (Harry Connick, Jr.) is a good man, husband, father, and son,
but everytime when it comes to Christmas, he seems not to care. Even
with a loving family, well intended parents, he can't muster any
Christmas cheer. Traumatized by an accident years ago on Christmas
as a child, he become a total Grinch on Christmas, but when tragedy
falls on his own son, Michael gets a chance to make up for all the
lost Christmas over the years. With the help of caring neighbors,
and a mysterious man named Nick, Michael tries to find the courage to
believe in Christmas once again in Tim McCanlies' Angels Sing
(2013).
Michael
was already haunted by the death of his brother drowning on Christmas
when he fell through the ice with their new Christmas skates, since
then he has never celebrated Christmas. While searching for a new
house, he is given a beautiful grand house by a mysterious man named
Nick, the only catch is he has to keep the traditions of Christmas
lights with the neighborhood, but when his own son gets into an
accident, his own son loses faith in Christmas, Michael then realizes
his own mistake and has one chance to save Christmas for his boy and
his family.
This
is yet another Christmas movie (in a record year of them), like most
Christmas movies I have seen though, it is beautiful and heart
warming, but from the start you can seen where the movie is going. A
man loses faith in Christmas and then regains it. The interesting
part is not as much the story, but the sheer amount of characters in
the neighborhood who are into music, lights and the Christmas spirit.
To have your entire neighborhood show up at your door, work together
to save one man, his family and Christmas, if that doesn't move you,
I don't know what will.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on the Blu-ray
is not bad for a Holiday release, most of which tend to be purposely
on the soft side and the color is not bad either, but the
anamorphically enhanced DVD version is more than a bit soft. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on the Blu-ray also has a
pretty consistent soundfield, though music makes a little more of
this than usual, but that is expected for the genre and the lossy
Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on the DVD is the same, but with less fullness
and warmth. Extras
include gallery and trailer, but that is like coal in your stocking.
-
Ricky Chiang
