Life
Of Chuck
(2025/Neon Blu-ray)/Patterns
(1956/Rod Serling/Film Masters Blu-ray)/7
Women
(1965/MGM/Warner Archive Blu-ray)/Sunset
Boulevard 4K
(1950/Paramount 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/White
Lotus: The Complete Third Season
(2025/HBO/Warner DVD Set)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: B-/B-/B-/B/C Sound:
B/C+/B-/C+/C Extras: B-/D/C/B/C+ Main Programs: C+/D/C+/B+/C+
PLEASE
NOTE:
The 7
Women
Blu-ray is now only available from Warner Bros. through their Warner
Archive series and can be ordered from the link below.
Now
for a mix of dramas to consider....
Mike
Flanagan's The
Life Of Chuck
(2025) combines two sides of Stephen King's writing: Horror and other
non-Horror stories (think Shawshank
Redemption)
as the title character (Tom
Hiddleston) figures as important in some way, but it is half-humorous
and half maybe foreboding? Then the film and screenplay have its
three parts numerically backwards.
In
the opening, the Internet has crashed, so too is the country and
probably world. Interesting post-apocalyptic idea, but they don't do
as much withy it or go as far with it as they should. The actors are
good, the editing and shooting not bad, more CGI than I would have
liked and it is just very mixed. It is nice when it works, but when
it tries to be Forest
Gump,
The
Truman Show
or Benjamin
Buttons,
its collapse and being stuck is as bad as anything that happens to
the characters. Now you can see for yourself and to think this is
getting Oscar buzz.
Extras
include
The
Making of The Life of Chuck
featurette
Exclusive
On-Set Interviews with Tom Hiddleston, Chiwetel Ejoifor, and Mark
Hamill
Audio
Commentary with Writer/Director Mike Flanagan
and
Trailers.
Fiedler
Cook's feature film of Rod Serling's Patterns
(1956) has been reissued by Film Masters on a new Blu-ray edition
that is very similar to the older Film Detective Blu-ray. As
I noted in that review...
''[The
film] has Van Heflin in his most underrated performance as an up and
coming corporate executive, hired off of being an engineer to be in
the rather cold, inefficient offices of the big company that seems to
want him to replace longtime executive Briggs (Ed Begley), but both
are pawns for the CEO (future Twilight
Zone
alum Everett Sloane) who want to replace the 'old guy' early with the
new hire so he himself can wield the most continuous power there.
However, the personable engineer is not stupid and so easily bought
off, controlled or sold out, leading to a battle rarely seen or
heard.''
There
are still, sadly, no extras. However, it is an underrated film and
everyone should see it.
John
Ford's 7
Women
(1965) is the legendary filmmaker's last feature film, not one that
is always discussed and different in that it has his only all-female
cast for the most part, in China (though you can tell these are sets)
in a mission where the women running it are about to come into
conflict.
A bit more melodramatic than you might think, the solid cast of Anne
Bancroft, Sue Lyon, Margaret Leighton, Flora Robson, Betty Field,
Anna Lee, Mildred Dunnock, Mike Mazurki, Woody Strode and Eddie
Albert make this more watchable in its uneven and aged moments. At a
tight 87 minutes and marking the end of one of the most important
directing careers of all time, it is worth a look for all serious
movie fans and filmmakers.
Extras
include
the live-action tie-in short to this film: John
Ford's Magic Stage,
Oscar-winning M-G-M cartoon The
Dot & The Line
(in HD) and an Original Theatrical Trailer. Plus, you can read more
about its great soundtrack at this link:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/253/Never+So+Few/7+Women+(Limited+CD
Billy
Wilder's Sunset
Boulevard 4K
(1950) is back and now in Ultra High Definition for a new generation
to discover what a key, excellent classic it is. We previously
covered it in its excellent Paramount Centennial DVD set at this
link:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7808/Paramount+Centennial+Collections+%C3%A2%E2%82%
Known
for its classic tale of an older actress Norma Desmond (Gloria
Swanson) and her younger, ambitious writer friend (William Holden,)
it is also well known as a very successful hit stage musical, yet the
semi-Film Noir original film remains as stark, relevant and memorable
as ever. Even in an age of streaming, Ultra HD, hundreds of
channels, The Internet and other options, the basic truths and real
politik of the story is as relevant as ever and shows how some things
change and others remain the same.
So
well made and acted, I like it, though others love it more than me, I
still am always impressed seeing it and it is a must see for all
serious film fans and even for those who usually do not watch many
movies.
Extras
include
Digital Copy, while the discs (per the press release) add Feature
Length Audio Commentary with Ed Sikov, author of "On
Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder"
(legacy)
Sunset
Boulevard: The Beginning:
a retrospective look back at the film from cast, crew and film
makers (23 mins, legacy)
Sunset
Boulevard: A Look Back:
another retrospective look at the film (26 mins, legacy)
The
Noir Side of Sunset Boulevard:
a look at the film through the genre lens (14 mins, legacy)
Sunset
Boulevard Becomes a Classic:
a look at the film's legacy (14 mins, legacy)
Two
Sides of Ms. Swanson:
a look at the life and career of star Gloria Swanson's (11 mins,
legacy)
Stories
of Sunset Boulevard:
more stories from the film (11 mins, legacy)
Mad
About the Boy: A Portrait of William Holden:
a look at Holden's career (11 mins, legacy)
Recording
Sunset Boulevard:
a look at the film's musical score (6 mins, legacy)
The
City of Sunset Boulevard:
a look at the locations used in the film (6 mins, legacy)
Franz
Waxman and the Music of Sunset Boulevard:
a look at the life and career of the film's composer (14 mins,
legacy)
Morgue
Prologue Script Pages: reproduction of the "original" and
"revised" scripted pages for the film's cut opening
sequence
Deleted
Scene: The
Paramount Don't Want Me Blues
(1 min, legacy)
Hollywood
Location Map:
an interactive Sunset Boulevard map with clickable icons that lead
to short video subjects on the locales
Behind
the Gates: The Lot:
a brief history of the studio and its famous gate (5 mins, legacy)
Edith
Head: The Paramount Years:
a look back at the life and career of the film's costume designer
(14 mins, legacy)
Paramount
in the '50s:
a look back at Paramount's best films from the 1950s (10 mins,
legacy)
Still
Galleries (1080p): Production, The Movie, and Publicity (legacy)
and
an Original Theatrical Trailer
Lastly
we have The
White Lotus: The Complete Third Season
(2025) from creator Mike White, which is not as good as the first
season we reviewed at this link...
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16174/Abe+Lincoln+In+Illinois+(1940/RKO/Warner+Archive
Yet
narrowly so as Jason Isaacs brings his family to Thailand, with equal
subplots involving a trio of friends and a business lady trying to
fix her life and help her son. Not having seen all of the second
season, each set of stories do stand on their own, but despite some
nice locales, a mostly decent cast and other interesting moments,
some others (without going into it so you will read no spoilers) fall
flat and this just does not have some of the energy and life the
debut season did, though neither were runaway successes with me.
Patrick
Schwarzenegger got some press for his odd role in the show, but at
the same time, the performance was uneven and exactly what happens
with him, his brothers and other characters here is more ambiguous
then was reported. It has issues few are addressing outside of the
sometimes discussed controversies, but that is a separate essay.
Otherwise, the show is a hit out of aa sense of soap opera as much as
quality and in this case, I have seen Thailand look better.
Extras
include Unpacking
Each Episode,
Thai
Tea,
Invitation
To The Set: Welcome To Thailand,
Closet
Tour
and a Getting
To Know The Characters
section.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.33 X 1 black &
white, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High
Definition image on Sunset
Boulevard 4K
is from a new restoration Paramount made several years ago to save
the film and it is pretty decent, though you can see where some parts
have not survived as well as others. Still, the Video Black is the
best feature of the 4K version, though so\me might like some shots on
the 1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on the regular Blu-ray at times. Still, the 4K just edges
out the other for me and is impressive. The
lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 upgrade is not perfect on both discs, but
is better than the DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix
that is 'restored' but not as good.
The
1080p digital High Definition image transfer on Life
Of Chuck
has various aspect ratios and can be on the soft side here and there,
but it has its moments, while the
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is the newest film here and
is the best sonically on the list, including over the TV show. We'll
have to see a 4K version to eventually compare.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on Patterns
is pretty much the same transfer on the older Blu-ray edition, though
Video Black might be a little inkier. This obviously will need some
kind of 4K restoration down the line, but more than worth reissuing
as it is. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix is also the same
audio, which I hope gets a little more work done to it to be restored
at some point.
The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer on 7
Women
can show the age of the materials used, but this is far superior a
transfer to all previous releases of the film in MetroColor and real
anamorphic Panavision. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix is fine for its age
from its original theatrical monophonic sound, not the 4-track
magnetic stereo scope films used to get all the time. Sadly, a
stereo upgrade was not attempted despite the music score still
surviving in excellent stereo as featured on the limited edition CD
soundtrack we covered years ago and is still in print.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the White
Lotus
episodes are softer throughout than I would have liked, while the
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes are a little more limited than they
should be too, a little too low in volume as well, so be careful of
high playback levels and volume switching. Obviously, a Blu-ray or
even 4K release would serve the series better and the sound was
better on the debut season DVD set. Just know this before taking
this set on.
To
order the 7
Women
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
