Cry
Macho
(2021/Blu-ray*)/Fabulous
Dorseys
(1947/Film Detective Blu-ray)/The
Red Shoes 4K
(1948/Criterion 4K Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Saint-Narcisse
(2020/Film Movement DVD)/Waltons'
Homecoming
(2021 remake/DVD/*both Warner)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: A- Picture: B/B/B+/C+/C+ Sound: C+ (Cry:
B) Extras: C/B/B+/C+/D Main Programs: C/C+/B+/C+/C
All
kinds of dramas and melodramas are arriving for the season and here
are five of them...
Clint
Eastwood's Cry
Macho
(2021) is one of the oddest films the legendary star and actor has
made in a long time, the most off-the-mark since Pink
Cadillac
(1989) with Bernadette Peters. The premise, dialogue, and
performances are not convincing either. Based on a novel, Eastwood
is a cowboy forced into quitting by his longtime condescending boss
(Country Music legend Dwight Yoakam) only for the man to ask his
former employee to get his son out of Mexico (at his age!?!?) as a
favor.
He
says he is a young boy being abused by his mother down there, but
this turns out to be several lies (as very, very expected) that he
gets, though he goes down there just the same. The boy (Eduardo
Minett) is much older and a hustler, but naive and eventually goes
back with him to get to the U.S., though all kinds of things get in
their way. This does not make it any kind of road movie or character
study either, but that's it in 104 minutes and explaining any other
problems and issues would spoil what little the film has to offer.
Apparently,
this project was delayed many times over the years (including with
different stars, et al) and is also supposed to take place in 1978,
though there is only so much to show us that and again, they are
often in isolated areas. The supporting actors are not bad, but
there are some problematic moments too, so expect some oddity here as
well.
For
the curious only.
Extras
include Digital Copy, while the disc adds two Behind The Scenes
featurettes: Back
In The Saddle
and Macho
& The Mustangs.
Alfred
E. Green's The
Fabulous Dorseys
(1947) is a biopic with touches of a backstage musical, but mostly
melodrama as we get a variant of the story about the two music
brother legends (who eventually play themselves in the film!) reached
fame, popularity, hits and fortune from a small Pennsylvania town.
Hardly with the depth of either character study or documentary, it is
still interesting as a time capsule and showing off some of their
hits, Janet Blair plays a hometown gal friend who is shown as key in
their lives.
I
did not buy that or some of the other cliches here, but it uses its
88 minutes consistently with some energy at least, so it is worth a
look for those interested. Its not a bad-looking monochrome film
either.
Extras
include a booklet on the film with an essay by Don Stradley, while
the disc adds the featurette The
Fabulous Forties: Big Bands On Screen
very much worth seeing after watching the film with thorough details
on a key cycle of music dramas of the period that featured the new
music of the time and a feature-length audio commentary by film
scholar Jennifer Churchill.
Criterion
is starting to issue classics in the 4K format and Powell &
Pressburger's The
Red Shoes 4K
(1948) is the first we get to see and it is very, very impressive.
We covered the previous regular Blu-ray edition with all the same
extras and its extraordinary restoration and preservation at this
link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10124/The+Red+Shoes+(1948/Criterion+Collection+Blu-r
If
that was not enough, go to the tech section below to read more about
what a solid upgrade this is even over the already-impressive
Blu-ray.
Bruce
LeBruce's Saint-Narcisse
(2020) is supposed to take place in 1972 and have some connection to
the new openness of the sexual revolution of the time, but it has so
many surreal moments and isolated locales, that such a period feel
never really happens. The tale of a self-centered, sexually free
Dominic who even carries print pictures of himself (it is the analog
era) never totally gets examined, but we see religious oppression,
other kinds of sexual oppression and this is also tied to his lesbian
mother who may still be alive despite him being told otherwise.
With
the religious imagery, much mostly male nudity and male-to-male sex,
a sort of revenge thriller side is also revealed, but it cannot
complete with the one film it kept reminding me of, Paul Verhoeven's
underrated 1984 thriller The
Fourth Man
which often did well what the script skips here. In its 101 minutes,
we get too many missed opportunities, things that do not add up and a
conclusion that was too abrupt. This might become a curio, but after
the little hype I read on it, I was not impressed or found much
original here.
Extras
include Deleted Scenes, a montage of clapboards and a feature-length
audio commentary by the director.
Finally,
one of the few times a TV movies was remade, The
Waltons' Homecoming
(2021) tries to recreate the original telefilm that launched the hit
TV series about a family trying to survive The Great Depression, et
al. All the older telefilms were issued on DVD a while ago, as have
every season of the actual show, so if anything, why is the series at
least not on Blu-ray yet among counterparts like Little
House On The Prairie
or The
Andy Griffith Show?
If
it was out of hope this would lead to a relaunch of a new version of
the series, that was a big mistake, especially since the original
show has not been remastered for HD. The new cast (including Bellamy
Young, Logan Shroyer and Ben Lawson) has actors that fit the roles,
but they just do not have the chemistry or synergy the original cast
had. I was not even the biggest fan of the original show (too much
melodrama and obvious situations) but at least understand what made
it a hit. And at this point in our history, can the Great Depression
be nostalgic?
This
runs a long 80 minutes and is for fans only.
There
are no extras.
Now
for playback performance. The
2160p HECV/H.265, 1.33 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD
Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Red
Shoes 4K
is a demo disc with some shots even above my rating, now THE ultimate
demo to see what British three-strip Technicolor does and should look
like. The 1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer from
the older Blu-ray (included here in the new set; both discs have the
same solid PCM 2.0 Mono) still looks good, but it cannot compete with
the detail, range and visual surprises the 4K version has. If you
need to see why dye-transfer,
three-strip Technicolor is a big deal, you just need to see two 4K
discs: this and The
Wizard Of Oz!
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image on Macho
can be slightly darker than I would have liked, though this was
issued in 4K, no copies were available like that at press time.
Still, there are some good shots and compositions throughout just the
same, while the
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is well recorded with a
good soundfield and easily the sonic champ of all the titles on this
list.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on Dorseys
can show the age of the materials used, but this is far superior a
transfer to all previous releases of the film and the 4K scan looks
like it came from more than one source, so this film is somewhat an
orphan film. Most films before 1950 that United Artists distributed
either became such and/or landed up with a smaller production company
holdings. With that, you still get some good shots to go with the
many that are second generation and we get a few signs of damage here
and there. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix has some sonic range
issues, but also can sound warm and forward, though some might feel
too forward. Still. This is better than expected considering.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image on Saint
has some slight softness and darkness at times that is not good, but
is consistent in the look chosen otherwise. The anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the new Waltons
telefilm tries to imitate the look of the old show and previous
telefilms, but the results are mixed and not as good, plus this can
be soft in unexpected places. Both discs offer lossy Dolby Digital
5.1 that is fine for the format, but would likely sound at least a
little better in a lossless codec.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
