Black
Venus (2010/MVD/Arrow
Blu-ray)/Cargo
(2017/Umbrella Region Free Import Blu-ray)/Castle
Rock: The Complete First Season 4K
(2018/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray Set)/Jack
Irish: Season Two
(2018/Acorn Blu-ray Set)/Sea
Hawk (1940/Warner Archive
Blu-ray)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: A Picture: B/B/B+/B/B Sound: B/B/B+/B/C+
Extras: B/B/B-/C+/C+ Main Programs: C+/B/B+/B/B-
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Cargo
Import Region Free Blu-ray is available from our friends atUmbrella
Entertainment in Australia and can play on all 4K and Blu-ray
players, while The
Sea Hawk
is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner Archive
series. All can be ordered from the links below.
These
are various action thrillers with some mystery across time and
mediums to consider...
First
off, a bizarre 'freak show' picture, Black
Venus
(2010) is an interesting film directed by Abdellatif Kechiche (Blue
is the Warmest Colour),
the winner of several prestigious awards. While a bit huffy and
puffy, Black
Venus
is exactly the kind of film that you would expect to win numerous
awards for its study on humanity and relentless political undertones.
Black
Venus
tells the story of Saartjie Baartman (played fine by Cuban actor
Yahima Torres), also known as the 'Hottentot Venus', who was the main
attraction at a freak show due mainly to her physique and larger than
normal buttocks. She grows more and more popular over the course of
the film and becomes a curiosity to scientists and normal folk.
The
film is presented in 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect
ratio of 1.85:1 and a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix, both
of which are of a high standard of the format. The film is
eloquently lit and shot and is definitely worth its weight on those
merits alone. Money is on the screen in terms of production design.
There are tracks in both French (with English subtitles) and English.
Special
Features include...
Brand-new
appreciation of Black Venus and the cinema of Abdellatif
Kechiche by critic Neil Young
Theatrical
trailer
Reversible
sleeve featuring and original newly commissioned artwork by Peter
Strain
and
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new
writing on the film by Will Higbee, author of Post-Beur Cinema: North
African Emigre and Maghrebi-French Filmmaking in France Since 2000.
If
you're into artsy period dramas and festival darlings, you might want
to check out
Black Venus.
I found it to be a little predictable and nothing too special aside
from its interesting filmmaking style.
The
Australian post apocalyptic thriller Cargo
(2017) lands on Blu-ray and stars Martin Freeman (The
Hobbit Trilogy).
The 'drama with a touch of zombie movie' features Freeman as Martin
- a man living with his wife and on year daughter, Rosie in Australia
during the zombie apocalypse. When his wife gets infected he has to
tend to the daughter, knowing that he was bitten (and will turn), he
has 48 hours to get his daughter to safety before he becomes the
undead.
The
film also stars David Guulpilil, Caren Pistorius, and Susie Porter
and is directed by Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke. Cargo
is directed by Ben Howling and Yolanda Ramke.
The
film is presented in 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect
ratio of 2.35:1 and a nice sounding 5.1 DTS-HD MA (Master Audio)
lossless mix, both of which are of a nice quality for Blu-ray. The
film is very nicely shot and cinematic, with some beautiful shots of
Australia and its territories.
Special
Features include...
Cargo:
Shaping a Fragile Future
featurette
Cargo:
Maternal Combat
featurette
Interviews
with Cast and Crew
Q&A
- May 9 2018, Melbourne GPO
Tropfest
2013 Short
and
a Theatrical trailer
It
reminded me a little bit of Children
of Men
in some ways, though not as cinematically impressive, but Martin
Freeman's performance is enough reason to give this film a spin!
If
you're a fan of Stephen King, then you won't want to miss Castle
Rock: The Complete First Season 4K
(2018), which lands on the 4K UHD format to stunning avail. Produced
by JJ Abrams and featuring quite a few actors that are no stranger to
King's cinematic universe, the show centers around the fictional town
of Castle Rock, Maine, where all of the stories and characters of
King's literary works exist. First airing on the streaming platform
Hulu, the show is incredibly cinematic, twisted, and not to be
missed!
The
impressive cast includes Andre Holland (American
Horror Story),
Bill Skarsgård (who played Pennywise in the new film series of IT),
Sissy Spacek (the original Carrie
actress), Scott Glenn, Melanie Lynskey (Two
and a Half Men)
as Molly Strand, Jane Levy (Suburgatory,
Shameless)
as Jackie Torrance and recurring guest star Terry O'Quinn (Lost)
as Shawshank's Warden Dale Lacey.
The
first season follows Henry Deaver (Holland), a death row attorney who
returns to Castle Rock, Maine, his hometown, after he receives an
anonymous phone call from the infamous Shawshank State Penitentiary.
The call is about an anonymous young man (Skarsgård) who is found
locked in an underground cage that's located in a long-abandoned cell
block beneath the prison. Upon his discovery, the mysterious young
man whispers Henry's name. Curious about how and why someone left
this boy imprisoned, Henry is drawn into the case and attempts to
help him despite the fact that the boy was described as 'the
Devil'... this is just one of many layers to Castle Rock that are
better left a mystery to a first time viewer...
Ten
episodes make up season one and include Severance,
Habeas Corpus, Local Color, The Box, Harvest, Filter, The Queen, Past
Perfect, Henry Deaver,
and Romans.
The show spans two 4K UHD discs or two 1080p Blu-ray discs, both of
which are included in this set.
Castle
Rock
is presented in 2160p HEVC/H.265, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced
Ultra High Definition image on the 4K UHD disc with a widescreen
aspect ratio of 1.78:1 and great sounding DTS-X 11.1 lossless (DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) 7.1 mixdown (48kHz, 24-bit) for older systems).
This is an obvious improvement over the show's original streaming in
1080p and has impressive textures that are more apparent when using
HDR (High Dynamic Range). The score by Paul Newman is center channel
and considerably haunting, adding even more cinematic depth to the
feature.
Also
included is a 1080p Blu-ray version of the film with the same
widescreen and audio specs, though some compression issues evident
when placing it side by side to the 4K UHD. Also included is a
standard digital copy.
Special
Features include...
Blood
on the Page (New Featurette)
A
Clockwork of Horror: Merging the styles of Stephen King & J.J.
Abrams (New Featurette)
Inside
the Episode: Severance
Inside
the Episode: Habeas Corpus
Inside
the Episode Local Color
Inside
the Episode: The Box
Inside
the Episode: Harvest
Inside
the Episode: Filter
Inside
the Episode: The Queen
Inside
the Episode: Past Perfect
Inside
the Episode: Henry Dever
and
Inside the Episode: Romans.
Guy
Pearce (Memento,
Iron
Man 3)
stars as Jack Irish in Season
2
(2018) of the hit Australian television drama. Adapted from the
novels by Peter Temper, the murder mystery follows Jack Irish through
his many misadventures as a detective turned criminal lawyer turned
debt collector and troubleshooter. His partner Linda (Marta
Dusseldrop) helps Jack on his many investigations and the two have a
complicated relationship. In this season, he follows an apparent
suicide of a student and other deaths that follow under similar
bizarre causes, leading him eventually to Mumbai to uncover the
truth.
The
show also features Aaron Pedersen, Roy Billing, Shane Jacobson, and
Damien Richardson.
Season
2 is
comprised of six episodes that span two 1080p Blu-ray discs at three
episodes per disc. Each episode has a 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio
that's paired with a standard DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless
mix, both of which are an obvious improvement over its original
television broadcast. Watermark and commercial free, the show is
nicely shot and highly cinematic for a TV miniseries.
Special
Features include...
Season
1 Recap
Cast
Interviews
Tweet
Recordings
and
a Behind the Scenes Featurette
I've
always been a fan of Guy Pearce and this was the first I've seen of
him in this role, which he plays very well.
Last
but not least is Michael Curtiz's The
Sea Hawk
(1940), Warner's big budget pirate and sea-ship epic made in black
and white when you could still do epic films in it, but who need full
color when you have Errol Flynn battling Claude Rains and dodging
world geopolitics in this genre classic that still has plenty on the
likes of Cutthroat
Island
and those Pirates
Of The Caribbean
films. Often imitated and spoofed, some of it may have not aged as
well as other parts, but the studio went all-out and that shows
bigtime.
England
and Spain are battling for essentially world supremacy at the time
and guess who gets his for profit ship and crew in the middle of it
all? If not, we wouldn't have a movie, but then we get huge sets,
great costumes, an Erich Wolfgang Korngold score that is considered
among his best and fighting sequences (including the swords) that are
among the best of its era and hold up well today.
Then
there's the great supporting cast including Flora Robson pitch
perfect as Queen Elizabeth, Donald Crisp, Brenda Marshall, Alan Hale
and a cast of extras that are more than fired-up to the task of
bringing this all to life. This has been considered a big film for
many years, even decades, so I was a little surprised this is a
Warner Archive exclusive, but its arrival on Blu-ray is most welcome
and you might even recognize some of it if you've never seen it
before as several Bugs Bunny cartoons sent it up. Add all the other
imitations and it is a must-see for all serious film fans.
You
can add picture playback to that list, because despite the age of the
film showing up at time in some of the footage, the 1080p 1.33 X 1
black & white digital High Definition image transfer is far
superior a transfer to all previous releases of the film on home
video and the majority of it looks like it is fresh off a
well-preserved 35mm camera negative. You can even expect demo shots
higher than my final rating.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix is as well mixed and
presented as a film this old can be, but it still shows its age and
this was at a time when they were just starting to experiment with
stereo (Disney's Fantasia
arrived the same year), so it is as good as this is going to get.
Extras
aren't bad and include the featurette The
Sea Hawk: Flynn In Action,
Original Theatrical Trailers including one for this film, a Leonard
Maltin intro, Newsreel of the time, live-action
Alice In Movieland
short and the classic black and white Porky Pig cartoon Porky;s poor
Fish, also looking great!
To
order the
Cargo
Umbrella import Blu-ray, go to this link for it and other
hard-to-find releases at:
http://www.umbrellaent.com.au/
...and
to order The
Sea Hawk
Warner Archive Blu-ray, go to this link for them and many more great
web-exclusive releases at:
http://www.wbshop.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo (Sea
Hawk)
and James
Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
