Love,
Simon (2018/Fox 4K Ultra
HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/My
Letter To The World
(2018/DVD)/A Quiet Passion
(2017/Blu-ray/both Music Box)/Sense
and Sensibility
(1995/Sony/Columbia/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray)/Six
Films by Nikolaus Geyrhalter
(1999 - 2016/KimStim/Icarus DVD Set)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B Picture: B-/C/B/B/C Sound: B/C+/B/B/C+
Extras: C+/C/B-/B/C+ Main Programs: C+/C+/B-/B-/B
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Sense
and Sensibility
Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Twilight Time, is
limited to only 3,000 copies and can be ordered while supplies last
from the links below.
The
next set of films all feature individuals against worlds they are not
necessarily respected in, made to feel welcome in and even facing
circumstances beyond anyone's control that makes the realism of the
given situation all the more so...
Greg
Berlanti's Love,
Simon
(2018) is a teen movie with the twist that the title character (Nick
Robinson) is gay and hardly anyone knows it yet, including his family
(Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel are his parents) and the film is
very practical in dealing with this versus the endless number of
'gay' releases where the coming out/discovery/self discovery is
accompanied by a phony 'everything will be fine if you come out'
angle which is always highly dishonest.
Unfortunately,
we get plenty of other cliches and predictability throughout, few
surprises and despite a good cast and some good locales, this is not
very, even though Fox has issued this as an 4K Ultra HD
Blu-ray/Blu-ray set. Its as dull as most boring 'heterosexual' teen
films, though not as stupid, gross and pointless as many have been in
the last decade or so. Didn't buy the ending either.
Extras
include digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and other
cyber iTunes capable devices, while both discs add a feature length
audio commentary track by Director Berlanti, Producer Isaac Klausner
& Co-Screenwriter Isaac Aptaker, then the Blu-ray also adds
Deleted Scenes, five Behind The Scenes/Making Of clips and a Photo
Gallery.
The
next two releases involve actress Cynthia Nixon dealing deeply with
the work of writer Emily Dickinson. Solon Papadopoulos' My
Letter To The World
(2018) and Terence Davies' A
Quiet Passion
(2017) thoroughly consider the life and work of Miss Dickinson, a key
all-time writer who has hardly been addressed. World
is a documentary look at her life, while Passion
is the dramatic feature film recreation that has been criticized for
taking too many liberties with the history and truth of her life.
One would need an essay to sort all that out, but in what we get,
this is very interesting just the same.
The
documentary is a bit flat at times, but knows when to end after 81
minutes, while the feature film runs 126 minutes-long and even with
the changes, it tends to still be an interesting watch like Michael
Collins,
even when you know or find out they've changed too much. Nixon (now
running for public office as we post this coverage) is actually
really good here and very convincing and with Davies, does get the
period and its silent density correct, so it becomes a mood piece
that is effective, even when the film fails to follow what we know as
the actual history. Davies has that kind of directing talent and it
makes it worth a look.
Both
discs offer Emily Dickinson Poems recited by Cynthia Nixon and
Terence Davies as its sole extra, while the Blu-ray ads an Original
Theatrical Trailer, A Tale of Two Masters: Behind the Scenes of A
Quiet Passion featurette, CBC Interview with Cynthia Nixon and Q &
A with Terence Davies and Cynthia Nixon at Lincoln Center.
Ang
Lee's adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense
and Sensibility
(1995) is one of his best films by default because it lacks the
predictable pretensions so many of his later films had (and still
have) that led to his recent artistic implosion. However, with her
starring role, Academy Award for the writing and energy in all this,
Emma Thompson is as much the author of this particular adaptation and
film as anyone and I highly doubt Lee would have been as successful
making this film without her.
She
and Kate Winslet are sisters dealing with sexism, class division and
other issues in a rare comedy/drama based on Austen's work that does
not ring phony or regressive. Helping in all this is a great
supporting cast including Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, Gemma Jones, Greg
Wise, Imelda Stanton, Harriett Walter and Hugh Laurie that would turn
out to be rare than anyone could have imagined at the time.
Despite
its huge commercial and critical success, Sony has decided to release
this film as a Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray, which they
occasionally do with their more recent gems. If you love the film,
get it while supplies last!
Extras
include another nicely illustrated booklet on the film including
informative text and yet another excellent, underrated essay by the
great film scholar Julie Kirgo, while the Blu-ray adds an Isolated
Score Track of Patrick Doyle's music in lossless DTS-MA, Feature
Length Audio Commentary with Actress Emma Thompson and Producer
Lindsay Doran, second Audio Commentary with Director Ang Lee and
Co-Producer James Schamus, featurettes Adapting
Austen,
Elegance
& Simplicity: The Wardrobe of Sense and Sensibility,
Locating
the World of Sense and Sensibility,
A
Sense of Character,
A Very
Quiet Man,
Deleted Scenes, Emma Thompson's Golden Globe Acceptance Speech and an
Original Theatrical Trailer.
Finally
we have Six
Films by Nikolaus Geyrhalter
(1999 - 2016), two of which we extensively discussed in previous
reviews. The films here are...
Pripyat
(1999) about people who could not leave the area where the Chernobyl
nuclear accident occurred and still exists. As relevant as ever, the
situation is as bad or not worse nearly 20 years later as we post
this coverage and with more accidents and negligence since, shows
most people have not learned and too many of those who could fix
things simply could care less. It is a powerful 100 minutes.
Elsewhere
(2001) is extensive and we covered it at this link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10674/Elsewhere+(2001/Nikolaus+Geyrhalter/Icarus+DVD
Our
Daily Bread
(2005, 92 minutes) has no talking, but speaks volumes as we see
advanced, mechanical means in which much of our food supply comes
from high-tech machinery and much, much more. It is compelling to
see, but some might not be able to handle it.
Abendland
(2011, 90 minutes) shows us first-world countries, et al, at night to
point out how there are ups and downs to 'progress' and the director
tries to come up with some new ways to consider it all.
Over
The Years
(2015, 188 minutes) is a highly detailed look over a period of 10
years of how manual human labor is replaced with automation and how
that affects and displaces workers who are people who have to do
something to survive. The recent discussions of A.I. in the
workplace and more robots make this pone more relevant than ever.
and
Homo
Sapiens
(2016, 94 minutes) is another piece with no talking and we reviewed
it at this link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/14676/Homosapiens+(2016/Kimstim/Icarus+DVD)
Extras
include an illustrated booklet on all six films including informative
text, a survey of of the director's films covering 17 years of work
and trailers. If you have patience and are interested in this kind
of documentary filmmaking, you should get this set and half of the
films are making it to home vide for the first time, so this is the
Geyrhalter title to get now.
The
2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1 HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra
High Definition image on Simon
has good color and is shot decently, but for the good quality of the
picture here in 4K, it was odd to see that with a little more motion
blur than we should have seen, something that continues on the
regular 1080p AVC @ 32 MBPS digital High Definition image transfer on
the Blu-ray that makes it even harder to watch.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on the HD-shot Passion
has less motion blur than either version of Simon,
but it is still there, though this is a better-lensed project and
color is not bad. Nice that they did not overdue the styling.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Sensibility
has style and was shot on 35mm film, but it does not overdo it
(despite its director) and is the best presentation here by a hair.
Director of Photography Michael Coulter, B.S.C., gives this a rich
look that puts it above all the (endless!) Austen productions (big
and small screen) since.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the DVDs are HD shoots and
can have some motion blur, but are more than watchable enough.
As
for sound, both versions of Simon,
plus Passion
and Sense
offer DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes that are all
well-recorded, well-mixed and professionally finished, so they tie
sonically for first place. Sense
also offers a slightly lesser DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo
lossless mix that's good for older systems, but not as good as the
5.1 version.
The
DVDs all offer lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo that is passable and
fine, but far from anything dynamic or impressive, they are
dialogue-based if that, so you are only missing so much.
To
order the Sense
and Sensibility
limited edition Blu-ray, buy it and other great exclusives while
supplies last at these links:
www.screenarchives.com
and
http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo
