Boys
In The Boat
(2023/MGM/Warner Blu-ray)/Monkey
Man 4K
(2023/Universal 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Vuot
Song: Journey From The Fall
(2006/MVD/Whole Grain Blu-ray w/CD)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B/B-/B- Sound: B/B+/B-
Extras: D/B-/B- Films: B-/B-/C+
These
dramas offer character studies, can veer into various genres and
definitely all take place in a world just far enough from our own to
make them even more interesting...
George
Clooney's Boys
In The Boat
(2023) is the story on how the U.S. Olympic Rowing Team was formed at
the University Of Washington for the infamous 1936 Olympic Games in
Berlin, Germany, when the Nazis had taken over the country and were
trying to show the world how great they were. Well, their plans did
not always work out and is one of the stories long overdue to be told
and told again.
The
screenplay is very thorough, the look and style of the film very
smooth and authentic and the cast is solid, including mostly unknowns
who we may be seeing a lot more of if were lucky. Callum Turner, one
of the more recognizable actors here, is Joe Rantz, a focus point to
show how bad The Great Depression is and tough his life is as he
tries to find work, go to school and juggle much more. The
screenplay eventually builds up to include his friends, other rowers
and the situation at hand, until it works its way to Nazi Germany.
It
is based on a true story, but for a change, you can believe it and it
is not faint or loosely using that term for a change.
Clooney
is a fine actor, big star and successful producer, but this is his
ninth feature film where he is at the helm and he is a better
journeyman director than he gets credit for. He gives everyone in
the cast their moments and it all synergises into the climax of the
film. A tribute with some pleasant surprises, even when some of it
is what you expect, this film barely found its audience and maybe the
double strike is one of the reasons. However, it is one of last
year's best films and I definitely recommend it. Joel Egerton and
Luke Slattery also star.
There
are sadly no extras here, but maybe if this can get a 4K edition, who
knows.
Dev
Patel's Monkey
Man 4K
(2023) is an action/revenge film with a difference as the protagonist
(Patel stars and gives it his all, one of the best actors of his
generation) plays the young adult version of a young boy who had a
very loving mother whom he lost, primarily because of a kingpin thug
who beat her and worse. We see the mother/son relationship at first,
then are in the current day as he is looking for work. Little do we
know he has other plans too.
The
film lays out all the background it wants to and is better at it than
most action films of our time, yet I have to warn viewers it is very
graphic and violent, but that violence has context, so the film lands
up having more impact. He is fearless here helming his first feature
film, one he fought to get made and you too will be glad he did.
Yes, we have seen a few things here we have seen before and the
script has a few lite nods to that, but it is as good as any such
film of the last few years and those who live that kind of thing need
to make this one a must see.
The
locales and sets are a plus, as are the cast including Pitobash,
Sharlto Copley, Makrand Deshpande, Sikandar Kher, Brahim Chab and
Ashwini Kalsekar, who I think is really effective here in ways she
makes look too easy. Hope we see all of them and more in more
upcoming films because this film just has all kinds of talent. Catch
it if you can stand the intensity.
Extras
(per the press release) are many and include:
ALTERNATE
OPENING
ALTERNATE
ENDING
DELETED/EXTENDED
SCENES
True
Shakti
Mother's
Death
Training
Montage
Lucky
Kid
Alphonso
Death
Post
Credit Button
A
LABOR OF LOVE - First-time director Dev Patel shares how this
project came about as well as some of the obstacles he and his crew
faced along the way. Cast and crew highlight Patel's unique scope
of skills and contributions to the film as well as partnering with
Monkeypaw Productions.
MONKEY
MAN OF ACTION - In MONKEY MAN, Dev Patel transforms from underdog to
hero, establishing a style of action that is uniquely his own. This
piece goes behind the scenes into Patel's stunt and fight training,
taking a closer look at how the movement in these scenes was
captured.
FATEFUL
ENCOUNTERS - Throughout our hero's journey, Kid comes face to face
with many individuals. Some embody good and others evil, but each
encounter shapes Kid's actions. Cast discuss their characters and
what drew them into the light, or darkness, that their roles
required.
ROOTS
EXPOSED - MONKEY MAN explores the story of a beloved folktale and
its place in our modern world. Writer, director, producer, and star
of the film, Dev Patel, shares his passion for bringing this story
along with the representation of his culture to life.
and
a FEATURE COMMENTARY with Director/Actor/Writer/Producer Dev Patel,
Producers Jomon Thomas and Sam Sahni, and Co-Producer Raghuvir
Joshi.
Ham
Tran's Vuot
Song: Journey From The Fall
(2006) is a rare Vietnamese film that deals with the people who
fought in vein with the United States during the disastrous battle,
then abandoned and left behind as the communists won and genocide
followed. The screenplay leaves no stone unturned and gets to the
moment the U.S. leaves and leaves them behind, even after falsely
promising to bring many back to safety in The States. Instead, it
was a disgrace at what happened and this film explicitly shows the
kind of horrors that followed.
A
father (Long Nguyen) intends to stay behind as Saigon crumbles, but
tells his family to get to the U.S. any way they can. His mother,
wife and son manage to escape and get a boat that way, but of course,
it will not be easy. The film runs over two hours and is a little
long for the times it gets uneven in places, but it is very
ambitious, honest and thorough, making it one of the key films on the
subject up there with Apocalypse
Now,
Full
Metal Jacket,
The
Deer Hunter
and Platoon.
Cheers to the bold cast and solid directing by Tran. Definitely
worth a look if you can handle the subject matter.
Extras
include a decent-sounding CD soundtrack with the fine Christopher
Wong score, while the disc adds a full-length audio commentary with
cast and crew
Deleted
scenes, B-roll and on-set footage
Cast
and crew interviews
Original
trailer and TV spots
Extensive
historical testimonials, cultural notes and teaching supplements.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, HDR (10;
Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Monkey
Man 4K
is the best performer on the list as expected with some great shots,
editing, composition and use of color throughout. The 1080p 2.35 X 1
digital High Definition image on the Blu-ray is softer than expected
with less color range and is not that good, especially in comparison.
Both offer Dolby
Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) sound mixes that
have some great moments and are one of the better soundtracks of this
kind for a major motion picture this year.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer is styled to
look like the mid-1930s and this works without looking dumb or phony,
never condescending or overdone. So good, I bet this could really
deliver in 4K. The
Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems) is on the
quiet side, but has some fine sound editing and mixing.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 AVC @ 25 MBPS digital High Definition image transfer
on Journey
can look great and rough, as it is shot on Super 16mm as was Joel
Schumacher's Tigerland
and parts of Spike Lee's Da
5 Bloods
as a select choice of format for dealing with Vietnam dramas. Even
George Lucas was going to use it when Apocalypse Now was his feature
film project before Francis Coppola took over, going for all 35mm
Technovision anamorphic filming. So it van be soft, but more than a
bit of that is intended and the style chosen. The
lossless Vietnamese and Spanish DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 and
Vietnamese PCM 2.0 Stereo mixes can show their age the the budget
limits of the film, but considering that, they sound pretty good,
though the 5.1 mixes worked better for me.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
