Curb
Your Enthusiasm (2000 -
2021/HBO DVD set*)/Reacher:
Season Two 4K
(2024/Paramount 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Set)/VEEP
(2012 - 2019/HBO Blu-ray set*)/West
Wing (1999 -
2006/Blu-ray/*all Warner Complete
Series Sets)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: C+/X/B-/B- Sound: C+/B/B/B-
Extras: B-/D/B-/B- Main Programs: B-
Now
for three hit series that are at least minor classics and another
that may be on the way to becoming one....
Curb
Your Enthusiasm: The Complete
Series
(2000 - 2021) became the long-running spiritual cousin and sort of de
facto 'show about nothing' continuation of Seinfeld
with co-creator of that series, Larry David, as the protagonist here,
funny without trying and never hitting a bad note. We covered the
following separate DVD seasons previously as the links accompanying
them will show:
Six
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7007/Extras:+The+Complete+Series+++Curb+Your+Enth
Seven
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10080/Entourage+%E2%80%93+The+Complete+Sixth+S
Eight
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11789/True+Blood+%E2%80%93+The+Complete+Fourth
Nine
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15142/Bad+Mom's+Christmas+(2017/Universal+Blu-ray
Eleven
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16149/Adventures+Of+Ozzie+&+Harriett:+The+Complete
The
series ran twelve season in all and in all that time, the show was
always highly rated, critically acclaimed, Larry David became more of
a comedy icon, boosted by his hilarious turn as real life Senator
Bernie Sanders on Saturday
Night Live
and it was said they were even distantly related.
Extras
were not made for every season or season set, but they repeat the
previous DVD set releases and include include
Season
One
Audio
Commentary with the cast, Larry David, Jeff Garlin, Cheryl Hines and
Bob Weide on ''The Pants Tent''.
Exclusive
Interviews with Larry David conducted by Bob Costas of HBO's ''On
The Record''
Season
Three
Season
Five
Season
Six
Season
Seven
The
Seinfeld Reunion: It Could Only Happen On Curb...
Rebuilding
The Seinfeld Sets
Larry
David as George Constanza
A
Seinfeld Moment On Curb... Interview with Larry David and the
Seinfeld Cast.
Season
Eight
Season
Nine
Cast
Memorable Moments
Deleted
Scenes
Season
Ten
Season
Twelve
BTS
of the Last Day on Set: Speeches
BTS
of the Last Day on Set: Gifts
BTS
of the Last Day on Set
Leon's
Bungalow Tour
A
Farewell from Susie
Larry's
Favorite Episodes
Larry-isms
First
& Last Scenes
So
that is the complete Curb Your
Enthusiasm
round up all fans can now get in one solid package and newer
pressings, so those who do not have it will want this set, unless
they are optimistic about a Blu-ray release. Otherwise, it will do
until Seinfeld
itself gets to Blu-ray and maybe 4K... someday.
Reacher:
Season Two 4K
(2024) continues as a surprise hit TV series after two feature films
with Tom Cruise as the title character (the first one was decent, the
second an odd miss that killed any future series) in what should have
been an easy A-grade movie series. Instead of trying for a third
film, Alan Ritchson takes over the title role here of author Nick
Santora's hero, has to deal with members of his former military unit
turning up dead and in disturbing ways.
Thinking
and not worrying that he may be on the list, he gets a new team
together (including some old team members) to investigate and
immediately, the trouble starts hitting closer and closer. A strange
figure simply known as 'A.M.' (Ferdinand Kingsley) is also somehow
involved, so Rancher will have to figure out several mysteries while
taking on whomever tries to kill him and his team in the process.
It
has been a while since a TV show in the genres this covers has
arrived and been this good, but here it is to my surprise and working
well. Great shows like this were being made all the time until the
mid-1980s, when genres got played out, producers got dumb,
cable/satellite TV welcomed any filler of any time just to fill
channels and the ideology shifted to a dumbed-down side. Reacher is
a fine return to form in all kinds of ways and is very recommended.
There
are sadly no extras, but maybe next time.
Veep:
The Complete Series
(2012 - 2019) has the hit Julia Louis Dreyfus political comedy series
coming out in a full Blu-ray series. The entire show has already
been issued as a DVD set and we covered it at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15654/Veep:+The+Complete+Series+(2012
That
includes links to the individual coverage of most of the seasons we
covered over the years and not only does the show hold up, it has (of
curse) taken on a new meaning and gained a new irony since it wrapped
up during the pandemic. Dreyfus continues to be a major star, figure
and icon and I even liked her way back on the season of Saturday
Night Live
she did where they botched featuring a now-well known group of
comedic talents before they were famous.
The
show keeps becoming more prolific in its own way and Dreyfus can add
herself to the list of great TV funny ladies that include Lucille
Ball, Vivian Vance, Carol Burnett, Tracy Ullman, Marlo Thomas, Mary
Tyler Moore, Karen Valentine, Valerie Harper, Suzanne Pleshette,
Isabel Sanford, Jane Curtin, Penny Marshall, Cindy Williams, Betty
White, Rue McClanahan, Joanna Lumley, Jennifer Sanders, Dawn French
and so many more that have followed.
But
it takes more than just being funny, you have to have great timing, a
sense of irony and be able to carry off the non-comic parts of the
character being played and against life itself for one to have any
credibility. Dreyfus does this in Veep
and that is why it will endure and be as important as any work she
has ever done.
Extras
repeat all the extras from the DVD Complete Series set and individual
Blu-ray and DVD releases.
The
West Wing: The Complete Series
(1999 - 2006) is the second political show here albeit a drama this
time, about the U.S. Government that also has become a time capsule
in the face of recent events from a time not too long ago that people
could confidently believe in and have enough trust of their
government before the bottom recently fell out. Created by the
prolific Aaron Sorkin, Martin Sheen is The President of the United
States, Josiah ''Jed'' Bartlet, struggling to stay in power, stop
enemies foreign and domestic from trying to tear the country apart
(et al) and deal with endless personal, national and international
crisis.
Its
hard for any such show to compete with real life, especially these
days, but the acting, writing and plotting allow this to be a
melodrama with nuance and the series was able to survive the weekly
TV grind and keeps its look and feel in tact while delivering new
situations, character and ideas all the way though. Sure, we have
sene some of this before, but like real like politics, always will,
so it hits few false notes throughout to its credit in these
respects.
Rob
Lowe, Alison Janney, Stockard Channing, Richard Schiff, John Spencer,
Bradley Whitford, Janel Moloney, Dule Hill, Alan Alda, Jimmy Smits,
Elisabeth Moss, Mary-Louise Parker, Moira Kelly, John Amos, Ron
Silver, Gary Cole, Marlee Matlin, Janeane Garofalo, Steven Root,
Oliver Platt, Nina Siemaszko, Terry O'Quinn, Annabeth Gish, Teri
Polo, Kristin Chenoweth, Adam Arkin, Mark Harmon, Ed O'Neill, Connie
Britton, Armin Mueller-Stahl and Lily Tomlin are among the regulars
and semi regulars the show was able to feature throughout its
critically and commercially successful run. All involved can be
happy that they delivered some of their better work here and melded
together so well.
This
set arrives on the show's 25th
Anniversary making its Blu-ray high definition disc debut and its
timing could not be more profound and ironic as we see one of the
toughest elections of all time in any democracy. Hopefully, it will
not be ONLY a nostalgia piece not long after we post this coverage.
Extras
repeat those of the DVDs save the annoying 'previously on' bits, we
get 21 audio commentary tracks on choice episodes,
cut/unaired/deleted scenes, outtakes, some Making Of featurettes and
a documentary special from the time of Season
Three.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.00 X 1, Dolby
Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition
image on Reacher
is one of the few good-looking action dramas on TV being produced
right now with the color decent and slightly dull without looking
like a cheap HD shoot or bad horror series. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes are really well recorded,
mixed and mastered, strong without overdoing it, yet they are all
apparently mixdowns. I do not know why they did not go for DTS: X or
Dolby Atmos on these discs, but the shows are apparently in Atmos on
some streaming services. It is still always engaging with none of
the sound being just thrown in to spice up the soundfield. That also
means the makers are concentrating on the narrative more than most
such shows of the last few decades.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers on both Warner
Blu-ray shows look as good as they ever have, though I thought early
Veep seasons were a little more blurry and shaky than they
should have been despite the style chosen for the show. Now that
we're in the Ultra HD era, Veep is a time capsule of regular
High Definition, 2K HD and that fits its era. West Wing was
shot on 35mm color photochemical negative film, debuting in high
definition here and looking good, but sometimes the Video Black has
some crush too it and image some slight color and detail limits, so
this is a show that could even benefit from a 4K release. Still,
fans will be happy and it is definitely ahead of the DVD versions,
including the final season we covered years ago.
As
for sound, Veep
offers solid DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes that can be
limited by the documentary sense of the show, plus imitation of
location audio (limiting a potential soundfield, but exactly right
narrative-wise) and sound can veer towards the center channels.
Still, the show will never sound better. West
Wing
offers DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Stereo lossless mixes with Pro
Logic surrounds that have not been bumped up to 5.1, DTS: X or Dolby
Atmos and that is probably for the best. The show will never sound
better and trying to expand it might water the audio down too much or
even a little in a way that would ruin the presentation, its
naturalism and intimacy.
The
1.33 X 1 (Season One through Six) and anamorphically
enhanced 1.78 X 1 image (Season Seven through Twelve)
on Enthusiasm repeat the transfers on the previously reviewed
DVD sets and are just fine for the format, though I wonder if this
might go to Blu-ray, depending on if the hand-held camera work was
shot in a way that would not work in HD. The lossy Dolby Digital 2.0
Stereo (Season One through Six) and lossy Dolby Digital
5.1 (Season Seven through Twelve) are also as good as
they are going to sound, though the latter shows in 5.1 have a slight
sonic edge, narrow as it is. Unless they try for Blu-ray, this is as
good as the show will get on disc.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
