Just Friends (2005/New Line/Warner Archive Blu-ray)/Rick and Morty: The Anime (2024/Adult Swim/Warner Blu-ray)/Tunnel Vision (1976/MVD Blu-ray)

Picture: B-/B/B- Sound: B-/B/B- Extras: C/D/B- Main Programs: C-/C/C+

PLEASE NOTE: The Just Friends Blu-ray is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.

Now for some attempts at comedy that usually did not work out...

Roger Kumble's Just Friends (2005) is the kind of bottom of the barrel comedy that was being made in the grossout cycle of the time with Ryan Reynolds playing young adult Chris who grew out of being a fat, depressed teen, trying to get together with a gal he liked then but had no chance with. But Jennifer (Amy Smart) only thinks of him as (read the title) so he might as well still be very overweight, a state that is not portrayed in the best of light, so this would now be called 'fat shaming' or the like and its long before the new cycle of weight loss drugs.

That means this film would not get made today, but too late, its here two decades later. A would-be hit pop singer (Anna Faris) and a competing guy (Chris Klein, before his personal problems destroyed his career) add to the new conflicts, but this is a flat, dull, one-note film that is barely a one-joke film and was bad then and has aged horribly. Reynolds is the #1 curio reason to reissue this, but despite the talents of the quartet of actors, the directing is dull and script beyond predictable and lame. Not recommended and for the very, very, very curious only.

Extras include a feature length audio commentary track with the filmmakers, 11 Behind The Scenes featurettes, two 'faux' music videos, 6 Deleted/Alternate Scenes with optional commentary, Gag Reel and an Original Theatrical Trailer.

Rick and Morty: The Anime (2024) is a slight change of pace for the hit series that is still highly popular, but the makers decided to do a limited series in the anime mode (ten episodes in all) with Takashi Sano returning to these characters he previously worked on in two previous projects (Rick and Morty Vs. Genocider and Summer Meets God (aka Rick Meets Evil)) for a run of limited episodes and this includes giant insect attacks.

Well, for diehard fans, this might be fun and can be a little amusing, but it only goes so far and the two styles (on purpose, as part of a joke maybe?) do not always meld, but some fans might like that. Unfortunately, I was not entertained much and already have ODed on this franchise, despite all the other writers on this site who have covered the show over the decades. If you love the duo, you'll want to see this. Otherwise, you might get bored quickly and want to skip this one.

There are oddly no extras.

Brad Swirnoff and Neil Israel's Tunnel Vision (1976) is one of many comedy skit compilation films that came out of the late 1960s as a response to censorship and standards limits on broadcast TV of the time when it was all analog and you only had three networks. The Vietnam fiasco and counterculture response to it also inform this, long with all kinds of experimental films of the time, but both the original Saturday Night Live and SCTV had arrived. That is why some icons from both shows are also here.

The idea is to do skits that would not only not appear on commercial TV, but even many movies, at a time when comedies were becoming more and more outrageous. This includes fake promos and scenes for fictitious shows, some other intended-as-shocking moments and absurd parts that take risks, but barely work more often than not. Part of a cycle that is underdiscussed, other such films at the time include Cracking Up (which followed this film doe its creators,) Kentucky Fried Movie, Prime Time, Loose Shoes (aka Coming Attractions,) The Groove Tube, Putney Swope and experimental moments in earlier Woody Allen and Brian De Palma films. Some of this is funny, more than a few moments definitely are not, a not-too-small percentage of this is of its time and younger audiences might miss some of the references or intertextual points, but home video eventually killed this kind of theatrical release and the cast makes it a curio in itself.

Israel (Real Genius, the Police Academy films, Americathon) had been working at CBS, the number one network since ratings began, but was having all kinds of problems (thus, this film's title a bashing of the network) there and by the time he left, the network lost head of the network Fred Silverman to rival ABC, who finally claimed the #1 network spot for the first time ever for them or any other network. From the poster art, the eyeball in the mouth of an unidentified woman (the commentary tells us it is Robert Altman regular Shelley Duvall four years before Kubrick's The Shining) and that gives you an idea of the sometimes bizarre tone of the mocking. Despite the classics CBS had going at the time, they had plenty of duds and other issues.

As you watch, look out for Chevy Chase as himself, Howard Hesseman, Ron Silver, Betty Thomas, John Candy, Tom Davis, Al Franken, William Schallert, Laraine Newman, Larry Gelman, Joe Roth and Joe Flaherty as 'Joseph O'Flaherty' among others you may recognize, maybe only by their voice or face. Co-writer Michael Mislove was a member of the comedy trope The Ace Trucking Company and these talents crossed paths again on many movie and TV projects, et al. In all that, Tunnel Vision is not a comedy classic, but has more than enough to make it required viewing to be seen at least once by all serious comedy fans.

Extras include a nice slipcase, plus...
• New! Interview with Co-Writer & Co-Director Neal Israel conducted by Stuart Shapiro (HD, 45:07)

• New! An outstanding feature-length audio commentary track by cult film historian Marc Edward Heuck that is extremely informative and should be heard immediately after viewing the film.
• Tunnel Vision Continuity Script
• Archival Photo Gallery (SD)
• New! Photo Gallery
• Radio Spots
• Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible Artwork
• and a Collectible Mini-Poster.

Now for playback performance. The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image on Just Friends is lacking in clarity, detail and depth because this is an older HD master and this also means the color is a bit off, so at the same time, the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is more sonically limited than it should be, even for a joke-based comedy. The combination looks older than it should and will disappoint its cult of followers and the curious.

The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on Morty is up to the same kind of color, detail, clarity and depth we've seen with the show on Blu-ray before, but the Anime elements are meant to look a little harsher and they can also look a little out of place, intended or not. Despite this, it is the best-looking entry here, which extends to its DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix. The combination is fine for what it is, but is competent at best.

The 1080p digital High Definition image on Tunnel Vision is here in its original 1.33 X 1 and slightly widescreen 1.66 X 1 transfers looking as good as it likely ever will, but know most of it is shot (purposely in most cases) on old NTSC analog videotape to mock and approximate the limited and even stressed look of TV in the 1970s as color videotape finally arrived, flaws and all, scanned in 4K from the photochemical final negative. That includes actual analog videotape flaws we encounter with normal tape-based productions of the time like video noise, video banding, telecine flicker from the few filmed images, tape scratching, cross color, faded color and tape damage. In that, it is consistent and the PCM 2.0 Mono sound has been remastered well enough, including sound flaws (intended or not, most are not) and sounds (be default) as good as this ever will.

To order the Just Friends Warner Archive Blu-ray, go to this link for it and many more great web-exclusive releases at:

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/ED270804-095F-449B-9B69-6CEE46A0B2BF?ingress=0&visitId=6171710b-08c8-4829-803d-d8b922581c55&tag=blurayforum-20

- Nicholas Sheffo