
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
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Nicholas Sheffo