Flesh
and Bullets (1985 aka
Wife Contract/Vinegar
Syndrome DVD)/The Knick:
The Complete First Season
(2013/Cinemax/HBO Blu-ray Set)/Person
Of Interest: The Complete Fourth Season
(2014 - 2015/Warner DVD Set)/The
Royals: The Complete First Season
(2015/Lionsgate DVD)/Sometimes
Aunt Martha Does Dreadful Things
(1971/Vinegar Syndrome DVD)
Picture:
C+/B/C+/C+/C Sound: C/B/C+/C+/C Extras: C/C+/C+/C/B- Main
Programs: C/C+/C+/C+/C+
These
somewhat diverse thrillers and dark dramas from two different mediums
have more in common than you might think...
Carlos
Tobalina's Flesh
and Bullets
(1985) is
a sexed-up version of a watered-down version of Hitchcock's Strangers
On A Train,
which at this time was about to be ripped off with more commercial
success as Throw
Mama From The Train,
but this version adds casual nudity, lame sex and gay baiting to the
end when it has more than worn itself out. The unknowns are backed
by too-short cameos by Cesar Romero, Yvonne DeCarlo, Cornel Wilde,
Aldo Ray and Robert Z'Dar, so it cannot have these names and not know
what they are ripping off.
The
result is surprisingly dull and forgettable, in part because it does
not have the guts or courage of its convictions
An
Original Theatrical Trailer and alternate VHS version with a
different edit called Wife
Contract
are the extras.
The
Knick: The Complete First Season
(2013) sounds like it could be another jail drama, but instead, Clive
Owen stars as a doctor/surgeon in the early years of medicine circa
1900 at New York's Knickerbocker Hospital. After a surgery that
fails, a lead doctor takes his life, leaving one other well-known
(Owen) to continue to push for innovation and take risks to get to
the next breakthroughs. Stephen Soderbergh created the show that has
some good moments, but it also has its predictability more often that
it ought to. Fortunately, Cinemax gave it a good budget and the show
could pick up its pace next season, so we'll see. If interested, you
should really see it, plus Owen is always good. Michael Angarano is
among the supporting cast.
Extras
include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and iTunes
capable devices, while the Blu-ray adds audio commentary tracks and
Episode Pop Ups to give you more on the show.
Person
Of Interest: The Complete Fourth Season
(2014 - 2015) was
created by Jonathan Nolan and has had some good ideas going for it,
but I never felt like it brought them together and by this season, it
is a hit but not a very exciting one. They keep trying, have Jim
Caviezel (one of the only reasons I can see why this could be a
lasting hit) leading the cast and are dealing with new technology in
odd ways to see where they'll go to make or break their missions.
You really have to start at the beginning on this show and it
reminded me of The
Mentalist
in pace and attitude in good ways, yet has some of its issues. Fans
should just about still like it though, but how much longer this can
go on is a big question.
Extras
include three Behind The Scenes/Making Of featurettes, a Gag Reel and
2014 Comic Con panel with the cast and makers of the show.
The
Royals: The Complete First Season
(2015) is
a new cable soap opera set in British Royal circles that imagines
(problematically) that the Punk Rock ethos has entered the world of
the elite when the opposite is ever true. Elizabeth Hurley leads a
cast that 'reimagines' (that actually applies for once) the whole
world it represents by mixing as many highly unlikely scenarios as
possible for best effect. However, that makes it more and more
unrealistic to the point it might as well not be British at all.
Joan
Collins makes a nice surprise appearance, but that just reminds us
how much better Dynasty was; the best nighttime soap ever (yes, even
over Empire!)
so this show might have some appeal, but I found it too lite and was
not impressed.
Extras
include Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy for PC, PC portable and iTunes
capable devices, while the DVD adds three Behind The Scenes/Making Of
featurettes.
Thomas
Casey's Sometimes
Aunt Martha Does Dreadful Things
(1971) is
a wacky, sometimes amusing B-movie about the title character, a man
who kills, then goes back and dresses like the title character. Two
men are running from the law and guess who one happens to have as his
auntie? They visit 'her' but only more murder and madness ensue.
When a gal starts taking a liking to the visiting 'nephew', guess who
violently objects.
Add
gay images, murder and any other exploitation they could throw in,
the film wants to outdo Hitchcock's Psycho,
et al, but its just too all over the place and unintentionally funny
for that. For what it is, it is so wacky, you have to see it just
once, especially if you are a genre film fan. Of course, it also
wants to get the Whatever
Happened To Baby Jane?
audience and though it is not starring two well-known older
actresses, it could be counted as part of that cycle too in its own
wacky way.
The
only extras is a feature length audio commentary track by David
DeCoteau and Nathaniel Thompson on the film's history, plus its Gay &
Camp sides and how it was part of a cycle of film production in the
1970s the state has not seen since.
Of
course, the 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on
Knick
is going to look the best here being the only Blu-ray listed, but
even if the older films were restored and new TV was all on Blu-ray,
the show is well shot, edited, not sloppy or silly and has fine
period production design, set decoration and costumes. The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the Person
and Royals
DVDs still look good, but lean on slicker editing that can get a
little played out. Still, they are not bad. The anamorphically
enhanced 1.85 X 1 image have been painstakingly restored and though
both can
show the age of the materials used, color looks really good.
However, Martha
just has a few more faded shots than I would have liked, but for an
orphan film like it and its subject matter, that is too be expected
despite an otherwise solid 2K transfer.
Knick
has the best sound too with its DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless
mix well recorded and mixed throughout, though the lossy Dolby
Digital 5.1 on the Person
and Royals
DVDs still have their share of active moments, even when a few are
slicker than they need to be. The lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on
Flesh
and Martha
are the poorest performers, but still manage to sound good at times
for their age. Location recording for the low-budget productions is
a factor as well that no lossless sound could fix.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
