Tim Janis – Costal America

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C     Program: C+

 

 

The Tim Janis Ensemble once again plays their Yanni/Enya-type music over about an hour of footage that shows “sweeping” footage of the U.S., this time with a focus on Maine in Costal America (2005), the HD-shot follow-up to the previous year’s Beautiful America.  I asked about the last title whether it was a concert or a special interest title, but this time, this more easily qualifies as both.

 

George Clooney narrates parts in between, which also mixes in actual concert footage (band and audience) with all the outdoor footage, but with more balance.  The problem is that if you like this music, does it need images?  As for the outdoor footage, it is the same camera angle of an airplane and/or helicopter filming fly-overs, so it is more repetitious than the limited music genre could ever be.  With better editing and more footage of the Ensemble, this one does not have a corporate sponsor.

 

As for the HD shooting, the DVD is anamorphically enhanced this time, but only takes so much advantage of that higher format’s superior picture quality to the extent of which DVD can capture it.  The extra footage is merely letterboxed.  The only sound is Dolby Digital, but only in a 2.0 Stereo mix with healthy-enough Pro Logic surround information, which will make fans of such music happy.  That bonus music footage is more interesting than what we got last time and when you add the better program, you have a better volume.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo