Def
Jam Comedy All Stars
(1993 - 2008/Time Life DVD Box)/Easter
Sunday (2022/Universal
Blu-ray w/DVD)/8-Bit
Christmas (2021)/Ed,
Edd N Eddy (1999 - 2007)
+ Foster's Home For
Imaginary Friends (2004 -
2009/both Cartoon Network Complete
Series/all Warner
DVDs)/Ski Patrol
(1990/Orion/MGM/MVD Blu-ray)
Picture:
C+/B & C+/C/C+/C+/B- Sound: C+/B & C+/C/C+/C+/C+
Extras: C+/C/C-/C+/C+/C Main Programs: B-/C+/C-/B-/B-/C
Now
for a very wide variety of comedy for all ages and then some...
Russell
Simmons' Def Jam Comedy All Stars
(1993 - 2008) have been issued on DVD in the past in discs and small
sets here and there, but now, here is a far more complete 12-DVD set
that captures much of the history of the bold, huge hit HBO cable TV
series that is still
way too explicit for broadcast television, Ultra HDTV and always will
be. We see some of the greatest talent in the business in action,
plus many names you may remember who did not get as far as they
deserved or some that maybe you did not think were as funny.
Younger
here than in most media you may be seeing them in now, the talent is
a 'who's who' of the entire industry and includes
Martin Lawrence, Chris Tucker, Cedric the Entertainer, Dave
Chappelle, Queen Latifah, Tiffany Haddish, Tracy Morgan, Steve
Harvey, Bernie Mac, Jamie Foxx, D.L. Hughley, Bill Bellamy, Paul
Mooney, Mike Epps, Kevin Hart
and many, many more.
Of
course, this kind of shocking language and the situations they entail
are far more common today, and not just because of Rap or Hip Hop by
any stretch of the imagination, because this show was on before the
Internet was a thing and that is why it was so shocking and even
somehow 'forbidden' at the time despite forerunners of such comedy
having huge commercial success like Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy and
even Lenny Bruce. Therefore, the new thing to watch is the audience
reactions to the many jokes as these are all viewers from the late
analog and pre-internet era. That means they might laugh at some of
these jokes more than others or not laugh at all. That adds a new
layer to the 23 hours of programming this set has to offer and those
interested will get new things out of it. Old fans will love the
flashbacks.
Extras
(per the press release) include
Bonus Episode ''2
Raw 4 TV''
Bonus
DVD: Shaq & Cedric the Entertainer Present: All Star Comedy
Jam: a comedy showcase hosted by Cedric the Entertainer and
including stand-up performances by Kevin Hart, Tommy Davidson, Aries
Spears, and DeRay Davis!
And
a high-quality 24-Page Def Comedy Jam Collector's Booklet
featuring archival photos, jokes, and the story behind HBO's
groundbreaking series.
Speaking
of great
stand up comedians, Jay Chandrasekhar's Easter
Sunday
(2022) features one of the most underrated and smart comics of the
last few decades, Jo Koy. From his stand up work to the documentary
Spike Lee made about him, he has been an underrated talent Hollywood
(once again!?!) did not know what to do with. The comedy set on the
title holiday (though we do not see as many things from that holiday
as expected) has him as a struggling actor and comic (under another
name) trying to make his life work.
Unfortunately,
his life is all over the place and though he became popular for a
popular beer advertisement on TV, et al, it has not brought him the
next step of success. Then we meet his family from his son to his
mom to everyone else, sometimes based on his stand-up routines, but
also with all kinds of great jokes and in-jokes about being Filipino,
though more of these work than even I expected.
This
also means a cast of really good actors we should see more of and Tia
Carrere, who I always felt we never have seen enough of to begin
with, but that's another essay. Though the screenplay starts to get
stressed towards the end, this was more entertaining than expected
and with such a rough year of bad movies, one of the better comedies
we have actually seen. All in all though, it is Jo Koy who created
this, keeps it going and proves he can carry the lead of a feature
film. Especially with as bad as things have been lately, we need to
be seeing much more of him.
Extras
include Digital Code, while
the discs add (per the press release) GAG REEL, DELETED SCENES,
MAKING
EASTER
SUNDAY:
This film has been a passion project for Jo Koy, and it's been quite
a journey to see it all the way from ideation to production.
FAMILY
MATTERS: If there's one take-away from the film, it's that
family is the most important thing. In this fun piece meant to get
to know our cast and some of our key crew, we talk to them about the
roles they play, how similar they are to their real selves and their
own family members, as well as ask them questions about their own
family to try and get to know our cast a little better.
A
DAY IN THE LIFE...: What does a day in the life of our talent
look like, told from their own POV? Using footage shot by our
talent themselves on iPhones handed out to them during production,
they give us personal, in-depth looks into their days and what it's
like to be on set filming a movie like Easter Sunday.
TAGLISH:
In this short piece, we have Jo and some of our Filipino talent give
us a brief description of what Taglish (a hybrid between English and
Tagalog) is and let us know some of their favorite words or phrases.
and
a FEATURE-LENGTH AUDIO COMMENTARY WITH DIRECTOR JAY CHANDRASEKHAR
AND ACTOR JO KOY.
Michael
Dowse's 8-Bit Christmas
(2021) is another attempt to make a Christmas release people will
want to see annually, but even with Neil Patrick Harris (whose been
playing it too safe lately,) the 98-minutes-long romp set in the
1980s about a young 10-year-old trying to get the latest videogame
(on the original Atari era) plays like a very weak, very flat and
predictable, but much, much less funny A
Christmas Story and feels
like a TV movie.
Forgettable
and not very ambitious, I had hoped for a surprise, but got a near
lump of coal instead. What was the point? Who knows. Will it
become a cult item? I'd be surprised.
Extras
include brief character profiles and the featurette 8-Bit
Miracles.
Ed,
Edd N Eddy (1999 - 2007)
is the first of the Cartoon Network Complete
Series sets we are
covering and if you are not aware, the three title characters are
three goofy, eccentric young men who land up in situations even more
outrageous than they are and to be blunt and understate the matter,
are far from prepared to deal with pretty much any of them. Creator
Danny Antonucci's show helped give its network an identity beyond
classic TV series and theatrical short cartoon reruns and rightly
lasted five seasons.
Being
issued on the Network's 30th Anniversary, these 66 episodes ten DVD
discs and should please fans who want them, want them again or others
who have never seen the show before and want them in one packaging.
Extras
repeat the original sets' extras, include a small paper episode
guide, then the discs and include a How
To Draw featurette, a few
additional featurettes, promos, a Music Video and a few other
animated bonus pieces.
Foster's
Home For Imaginary Friends
(2004 - 2009) is the other big Cartoon Network Complete
Series set here and it is
also a show that holds up and has its charms. We covered two of the
seasons that explain it all at these links for the previous, separate
DVD sets:
Season
One
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5315/Fosterâ
Season
Three
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13211/Foster%27s+Home+for+Imaginary+Friends:+Seas
These
are the same discs issue before, but hey look good and fans will not
be disappointed. Those who have the separate sets will only want
this if they are extremely serious fans.
Extras
(not listed in the case!) include a small paper episode guide, then
the discs repeat the original sets and include those in the links
like audio commentaries, Music Video, promos, Easter Eggs, a holiday
special, End of Episode Gags, a few Gallery of Friends pieces, and
Bonus Episode Destination
Imagination, but more
than the Eddy
set.
Lastly,
we have Richard Correll's Ski
Patrol (1990) which is a
late entry into the 1980s skiing comedy cycle that began with the
like of Hot Dog... The
Movie (1983, reviewed on
Blu-ray elsewhere on this site) that had its many imitators, at a
time when you also had many people filming and starting to tape
skiing, the usual skiing competitions and films that featured great
skiing (the 1981 James Bond classic For
Your Eyes Only) and a
feature film loaded with skiing stunts, Fire
and Ice (1984).
This
one came from a creator of the seemingly endless and pointless Police
Academy comedies, but
instead of Warner Bros., it was an indie pick-up with a good guy lead
(Roger Rose) going back to work for the season at a popular ski
resort run by a longtime owner (the great Ray Walston) who
unknowingly has a greedy schemer (Martin Mull in another thankless
role) aided by our leads arch rival. This is lite and not as
sexually bold as earlier teen comedies in the cycle, proving how
conservative things had become and how the indie film market was
being eclipsed by home video in new and even unfortunate ways.
One
of the ways this shows its age is everyone is still using
straight-cut skis, now long ago replaced by ones with wavy sides,
though the older ones can obviously still be used. Some of the
moments are still politically incorrect, but the film is a mixed bag
that does not always know what to do with its talent, though it does
have some interesting and amusing skiing to go with the other thing
the makers knew what to do with, its often impressive locations. Its
a curio getting decent treatment here in this new release and those
so inclined should check it out, just don;t have high expectations.
T.K. Carter also stars.
Extras
include a mini-poster, reversible cover, an Original Theatrical
Trailer and a few trailers or other MVD movie releases.
Now
for playback performance. The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition
image transfer on Easter Sunday looks as good as anything here
and for a simply shot comedy, looks better than dozens of bad shoots
we have had to suffer through just this year, with good color, detail
and even depth. The end credits say it is 'filmed' but we don't know
if that is a verb or actual 35mm photochemical film, but we'll update
this as soon as we know. The anamorphically enhanced DVD is not as
clear, but passable, though I'd love to see this in 4K. The lossless
Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix is just fine for a dialogue/joke-based comedy,
warm and professionally recorded. The DVD offers a softer, lossy
Dolby Digital 5.1 mix that is passable at best. There is more nuance
in the TrueHD mix.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Ski
Patrol can show the age of the materials used in a few small
places, but this is far superior a transfer to all previous releases
of the film and the color reproduction is excellent. It is rich and
not oversaturated, but the actual color you would see when they were
filming. The PCM 2.0 Stereo has Pro Logic surrounds, so if you have
a home theater system, try that and several other surround modes
until you get what you want. Unfortunately, the film used cheaper
and more distorted Ultra Stereo, an analog noise reduction system
that was not even as good as Dolby's older A-type Dolby System and by
this time, Dolby had introduced their more advanced SR (Spectral
Recording system and digital sound for movies was only a few years
away. Thus, this was two generations behind upon release, so only
expect so much in performance. Otherwise, this is solid.
The
DVD sets of Def Jam, Ed and Foster's all are
presented in their original 1.33 X 1 broadcast frames (anamorphically
enhanced to place the block style image with black bars on the side
and they look as good as they likely ever will, though I wonder if
upscaling on the Cartoon Network titles (repeating the separate
seasons issued years ago) would yield some better results. All offer
lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and sound good for that, but lossless
tracks might help more. The final Def Jam special is in an
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image and has decent, lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1 sound.
That
leaves 8-Bit with an anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image
that is somehow the softest presentation here and lossy Dolby Digital
5.1, which is on the lite side, so be careful of volume switching and
high playback volumes.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
