The
Boxer (1977/MVD/Radiance
Blu-ray)/The Christophers
(2025/NEON*)/Is God Is
(2026/Amazon/MGM*)/Micki &
Maude (1984/Columbia/*all
Alliance Blu-ray)/The Year
Before The War
(2021/IndiePix DVD)
Picture:
B-/B/B/B/C Sound: C+/B/B/C+/C+ Extras: B-/C-/D/D/C-
Films: C+/C/C+/C/B-
The
following dramas try to offer something more or different, with all
kinds of results...
Shuji
Terayama's The
Boxer
(1977) was one of the Toei Studios few highlights in a really
horrible year for the studio, though it bombed at the time, one of
its more interesting imitators of Hollywood product. Here, it wants
to be Rocky,
but a much more gritty film which includes a younger and older boxer.
That does not make it Raging
Bull
either, but it has enough seriously good moments to see it, even when
it becomes predictable and obvious in parts.
An
older boxer who has seen better days (Bunta Sugawara, off of the hit
Japanese
Godfather)
sees a potential champion in a young new contender (Kentaro Shimizu)
who he thinks might be the next big champ. However, he also has to
fight his own demons, issues, people who see him as a has been and
get the younger man to get the edge he needs to win. None of this
will be easy.
Sugawara
personally wanted Terayama to helm this one and that is more of a
plus than not, but the screenplay should not have always played it
safe or gone for formula, because more ambition and concentration
could have turned this into a classic of the boxing cycle. Instead,
it is more on than off, but is worth seeing for what works and when
it works, it is better than many recent boxing films (especially the
horrid Southpaw)
so its worth a good look.
Extras
include an interview with composer J.A. Seaver (2026)
New
visual essay on Toei studio in the year 1977 by Tom Mes (2026)
Reversible
sleeve featuring artwork based on original posters
and
a limited edition (3,000 copies) booklet featuring new writing by
Roberta Novielli.
Steven
Soderbergh's
The
Christophers
(2025) is one of the prolific director's more 'off' films, as Ian
McKellen plays a reclusive artist who was big in the 1960s, but has
disappeared in recent times, when a young woman (Michaela Coel) is a
forger hired by his two children to get some of his unfinished
paintings and finish them for him (against his knowledge or will) to
secure some serious 'inheritance' money.
Despite
some good moments, acting, casting and believable situation, the film
just does not get the most out of it all and in more than a few ways,
feels like an odd retread of Gus Van Sant's Finding
Forester.
Soderbergh
has been out of his element lately, skipping the Magic
Mike
franchise, Presence
did not work like it should have and though Black
Bag
eventually works, he is just not at the peak of his powers of late.
Only recommended for the most interested.
Extras
include an Original Theatrical Trailer and conversation with
Screenwriter Ed Solomon and Charlie Kaufmann.
Aleshea
Harris' Is
God Is
(2026) is a sometimes wild film about two sisters (Kara Young,
Mallori Johnson) finds out their mother is somehow still alive, gets
together with them and tells them to avenge her by killing their
biological father responsible for the permanent scars they both have
on their bodies and for leaving their mother stuck in bed. Will they
do it?
The
screenplay takes the long way into answering questions surrounding
that and that gives the film some interesting moments, but it also
goes into other directions and lands up a little over the top more
often than I would have liked, undermining it a bit. Supporting
appearances by Janelle Monae, Vivica A. Fox, Mykelti Williamson and
Sterling K. Brown are a plus, but it just could have used its time a
little better. Otherwise, worth a look for those interested.
There
are no extras.
Blake
Edwards' Micki
& Maude
(1984, aka Micki
+ Maude)
reunites the director with his '10'
star Dudley Moore, but Moore was in a strange decline that started
with an ill-advised remake of Unfaithfully
Yours
and continued with Best
Defense,
Like
Father Like Son,
Arthur
2,
this film and especially the extremely horrid Crazy
People.
Not counting Santa
Claus: The Movie
for being atypical of tis decline (despite bombing and not being that
good either,) he totally lost his comic timing and comic sense, which
is on display throughout here.
He
plays a married man who falls for a female musician (Amy Irving) who
he has an affair with. A TV reporter, he seems happily married (Ann
Reinking plays his wife) as he slowly loses it at his job. Edwards
is doing more of a drama with comedy here, but cannot seem to get it
all to work and when he gets both women pregnant, the script does nto
know what to do with that and the film collapses.
Add
some nude male models, wrestlers of the time (including Andre the
Giant) and fairly good turns by Richard Mulligan and Wallace Shawn
and you can see Edwards was trying to add some comic madness to it
all, but none of that really works either. And the Stephen Bishop
song was rightly not a hit.
Unless
you really, really, really want to see this one, you're better off
skipping it.
There
are no extras.
Davis
Simanis' The
Year Before The War
(2021) is an interesting pre-WWI saga following young Hans (Petr
Buchta) as he travels through then-history and crosses paths with
several historic figures, but unlike Forrest Gump, history DOES
affect him and this works better than that film or Benjamin
Buttons,
yet might be more than some viewers might be able to handle in the
beginning.
With
a nice pace, energy, some nice shots and events that ring true more
often than not, this is well made, cast, acted and feels like the
period it takes place in. Cheers to the supporting actors as well,
most of whom I had not seen before. Relevant in odd ways you might
not expect, it is smart and has some nice moments worth catching, so
if you are interested, definitely see it.
An
Original Theatrical Trailer is the only extra.
Now
for playback performance. The 1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition
image on The
Boxer
is a mix of color, black and white and other kinds of images, but
they all work and look good here. Editing is a plus, as are location
shooting, making it more interesting to view overall. The Japanese
PCM 1.0 Mono is not bad for its age, but limited and I wished it was
some form of 2.0 Mono, but would only narrowly sound better than it
does here.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer image on The
Christophers is a newer digital production and is competent and
consistent enough, but you get nothing special either. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix has a consistent soundfield
and plays back just fine, even when this gets dialogue-based.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer image on Is
God Is has some interesting shots and is also a new digital
shoot, with editing not bad, while the
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix also has a consistent
soundfield with some bursts of sound to go with the wackier moments.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer image on Micki
& Maude
is a little soft and an older film, but some of the softness is
inherent to the way it was shot, yet other parts are from the
transfer. With that said, it is consistent, but nothing challenging,
as expected for the kind of film it is. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless mix is a little on the
weak side, even for its age, but dialogue remains clear for the most
part.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on Year Before The War
can look good as the film looks good, but is softer than I would have
liked, while the multi-lingual lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 and lossy
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mixes are fine for their old codec, but the
5.1 is a bit better and I wished this were in lossless sound.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
