Der
Hund Von Baskerville (1929 w/1914
versions aka Hound Of The
Baskervilles/Flicker Alley Blu-ray
w/DVD)/The Old Man & The Gun
(*Blu-ray w/DVD)/Widows
(4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray plus Blu-ray/DVD Sets/*all Fox 2018)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B- & C+/B & C+/B & C+
Sound: B- & C+/B & C+/B+ B C+ Extras: B/B-/C+
Films: B-
Next
up are mystery/action films then and now, including one thought lost
forever...
We
start with a film thought to be lost, Richard Oswald's Der
Hund Von Baskerville (1929), one of
what apparently is the most filmed book of all time, the Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle/Sherlock Holmes book that is considered as strong as
anything Doyle ever wrote. The family of the title is about to
encounter some gruesome, unexpected deaths and they apparently are by
a deadly dog that has come out of nowhere. Holmes (Carlyle
Blackwell) is requested, but too busy, sends Dr. Watson (Georges
Seroff) to investigate in his stead. Upon arrival, things
immediately become more bizarre with more death to soon follow.
We
have reviewed several versions over the years, but this is among the
oldest and very welcome that any version has been found. I was
surprised how atmospheric this version is and once again shows how
strong and rich German Cinema was before the Nazis ruined it, et al.
More on how this was saved below, but its great to catch it and fans
of Holmes or any mystery films should go out of their way. It runs
66 minutes and that is with two early reels still missing.
Extras
include Der Hund von Baskerville
(1914) that Richard Oswald was also involved with as writer and
director that also runs the same length of time as the 1929 version
and uses more color tinting than expected (but I liked it too), an
illustrated booklet essay by film historian Russell Merritt, an
original commentary by Conan Doyle: The
Hound, explores the link the story
has across cultures and an original commentary: Restoring
Der Hund, presented by film historian
Rob Byrne, giving a complete picture of how this film came back for
new audiences to enjoy.
David
Lowery's The Old Man & The Gun
(2018) is based on a true story of a man who loved to rob banks and
did it was charm and ease, played here by Robert Redford, who says
this will be his final acting role. We get some interesting, even
fun, intertextual references to him, especially visually, but it is
still a good film without them. A recent robbery gets the attention
of a local police detective (Casey Affleck, once again at home in a
role that requires understated acting) and our robber has accomplices
(Danny Glover, Tom Waits) and a new love interest (Sissy Spacek)
gives us more about the robber and his life.
This
one deserves a larger audience than it got and somehow got lost in
the shuffle of so many other releases, but I know this has a much
bigger group of fans and viewers waiting for it and I hope they get
to catch up with it soon. Lowery can direct and it is worth going
out of your way for.
Extras
include Digital Copy, a stills gallery and featurettes Everything
Else We Shot, Prison
Cats, On
Filmmaking, 31
Wake-Ups, Joining
The Hunt and a feature-length Audio
Commentary By Writer/Director David Lowery.
Finally,
a film many are citing as one of the best heist films in years.
Steve McQueen, one of the boldest and most challenging filmmakers
today, is back with yet another intelligent, mature, honest and
daring film about persons you would meet in real life facing awful
challenges for which they have limited choices to deal with. Widows
(2018) is one of the year's best action and mystery films. the
outstanding cast attests to the respect of his directing skills and
the writers. I was hoping this would be remembered at awards time,
reminding me a bit of the underrated hit film Set
It Off, though based on a surprise
hit British TV mini-series.
Several
men, led by a particularly fired up aggressor (Liam Neeson) are in
the midst of one of their biggest heist jobs when things quickly go
wrong. They land up dead, but that also means a huge dollar amount
was destroyed and that money belonged to someone. Leaving the wives
and/or girlfriends behind, instead of just being shocked or horrified
by the results and moving on, one of them (Viola Davis) starts to get
harassed and is also in need of money, so she decides maybe she
should recruit the others and do the next big money heist themselves!
She
has a book from her dead lover (Neeson) and starts talking to each of
them (Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki) and see what they can
pull off.
The
original British TV production put Lydia LaPlante (Prime
Suspect) on the map and has been a
favorite of many for years, even spanning a TV sequel, but this film
does not necessarily leave that opening here. It is very hardcore
honest about life, relationships and realities, including political
ones represented in part by Robert Duvall as an old school politician
and Colin Farrell as his son ready to go into a direction that he is
warned is unwise.
The
film has some issues, but I liked it and am glad it immediately got
the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray treatment because we get a great cast, great
Chicago locales and a kinetic enough thriller that delivers enough to
more than justify it. I will not say much more, except if it is your
kind of film, go out of your way for this one.
Extras
include Digital Copy, a stills gallery and the Widows
Unmasked: A Chicago Story featurette
Plotting
The Heist: The Story
Assembling
The Crew: Production
The
Scene Of The Crime: Locations
The
2160p HEVC/H.265, HDR (10+; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced 2.35 X 1 Ultra
High Definition image on Widows
was shot on 35mm Kodak Vision 3 color negative in the Super 35 format
and it can suffer some detail issues because of shaky camera work,
but the shaking is not fake and the actor benefit the most. The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image on the Blu-ray is not
bad, but you loose some subtle things that work when you can see it
all more clearly. We also have a set that is the Blu-ray with an
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image that is passable, but too far
away from the look the film achieves.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Gun
is a decent HD shoot that never looks phony and is well edited
throughout. Nice naturalism in spots too, the anamorphically
enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is passable, but not as nice as the Blu-ray.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on Hund
(centered in a 1.78 X 1 frame) can obviously show the age of the
materials used, combining an incomplete 35mm nitrate print with
portions of an abbreviated consumer 9.5mm (aka 9,5mm) print meant for
European markets in a format that was only popular in Europe and the
U.k. and France in particular. Meant to compete with 8mm and 16mm
film from Kodak, Pathe created the only film format where the
sprocket holes are in between the frames, not on the sides, dubbing
it Pathe Baby. In the early days, they made movie film with DuPont,
but ironically joined Kodak later, who eventually produced film for
the format.
This
is the first time I've seen 9.5mm used for any restoration, but it
works well enough, though expect scratches in all the footage, but
some of it still looks pretty good for its age. The anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 image with the same 1.33 X 1 centered image is fine
for the format, but you can see more on the Blu-ray and get more of
the atmosphere.
The
Dolby Atmos 11.1 (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) mix on
Widows
is the sonically most articulate and able of all the soundtracks only
in its 4K version, while the Blu-ray offers a formidable DTS-HD MA
(Master Audio) 7.1 lossless mix that will do. Gun
has a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix that is pretty
decent, but dialogue and period driven, so it is a bit more laid
back.
Hund
on Blu-ray presents it new music score in a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio)
2.0 Stereo lossless mix that is fine, but I did not get much more out
of it than a well-done work that fits, though it did not stick with
mew. The lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 on the Gun
DVD and lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo on the Hund
DVD are passable.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
